"Are you still not going to look at me?"

"T..they're waiting," my voice sounded so small even to my ears.

"They can wait."

I slowly looked up at him. Those midnight blue eyes with blood red outer rings kept me in my spot. They were truly mesmerizing. I swallowed as I kept staring into his eyes. He too made no effort to do anything else.

"I've missed you. More than you can imagine." I had no idea what to say to that so I just stared back at him. Certain things I just couldn't say.

"Come inside Your Hi-"

"Prince Phoenix or better yet just Phoenix." I nodded and heeded to his request.

"Do come inside Prince Phoenix."

As we walked in, I spotted Alex walking towards the meeting hall. Thank heavens for that.

"Alex."

"Done staring at each other?" I hoped my cheeks weren't red at that moment.

I cleared my throat and glared at him. "Please show Prince Phoenix to the guest rooms," I forced myself to be civil with my twin. I guess he got the message so he didn't argue or make any more snarky remarks.

"I'm going to join my father in the meeting first." I informed and quickly walked away before either of them could say anything. However, I didn't go straight to the meeting hall. I went to the kitchen and ate some bread as I didn't want papa to be mad.

Once I entered the hall, I was greeted by some of the most powerful beings in the world.

Now, I was one of those beings.

"We were just confirming on how to go about it." my father informed me.

"So far I think this war strategy will work," added the elven King. Prince Zenas nodded at his statement.

"What is that blank area over there, Your Majesty?" I pointed to an empty space in the war map. It was located almost at the centre of the battlefield.

"The Dark Prince will lure all those trolls here and unleash the maximum extent of his powers. Your mother, the fae queen will help him by merging her powers with his. Hopefully, they are strong enough to destroy a very large number of trolls. If not most of them." King Epaphroditus replied. "I'll try my best. I can only do it once." My mother said. I knew she was going to go all out. I was proud of her but the thought of her getting hurt did not settle well with me.

"It will be enough. He will have all the help he needs." Alpha King Silvian spoke. "Plus, I think the princess has some hidden talents," he smiled at me. I gave him a polite smile. "I won't be as powerful as Prince Phoenix but I'm sure I can help."

"You will and you'll definitely be needed in the battlefield Princess Aeval." I nodded at King Caelestinus.

"The battlefield?" came a deep voice.

I turned around to see the Dark Prince enter the meeting room. His eyes never left mine. "Yes, son. She'll fight alongside her army. Just like all of us here." The vampire king sounded exasperated.

"It's too dangerous," he blurted out. I could tell that he didn't want to show his feelings but at the same time he wasn't prepared to hear the news about me fighting in the war with them. He tried to hide his true emotions but I could see them clearly in his eyes. The alpha king scoffed, hiding his laugh. Laughing during an important meeting would be extremely disturbing so I kept my head down.

It wasn't funny at all but Alpha Silvian was making it seem that way.

"I will be fine." I said. His eyes hardened as I said those words. "You've never experienced fighting in a war. How the hell would you know anything about it to make a bold statement like that?!"

I was shocked at his audacity to say that in front of everyone. In my castle too.

"I know I don't have any experience fighting in a war, Prince Phoenix but I didn't train this hard for nothing. I am a royal fae and I possess the gifts of one. Gifts that can help us win. Moreover, what kind of a leader would I be if I just cowered inside my castle while my people and my beloved creatures risk their lives to save this world? What kind of a leader would I be if I hid myself knowing that I could have saved countless lives?"

My parents smiled at me while the alpha looked at the Dark Prince and dragged his finger across his throat. He signaled something to the Prince which got him more irritated. The meeting room started to get hot.

Oh no.

Why did the Alpha King have to make the situation even worse?

The elven King and my brother just watched as they were amused by all that was happening. Prince Zenas and his sister looked worriedly at their eldest brother.

"Do you know what's it going to be like tomorrow?!! It's going to be a bloodbath! Many will die like it or not and you can't save everyone-"

"I will try my best. I will give all that I have for my people." I couldn't just let him talk to me like this. After looking at everyone in the room, I looked back at myself. "After all these years I've finally understood the nature of who I am. I'm finally home where I belong. I'm with my family that I never knew still existed. So listen well, I will do anything to make sure I don't lose any of these again. You underestimate the love I have for my people and this kingdom.

I...I know that you're worried," his eyes widened at this and he looked away. "But if you want me to sit this one out, that will not happen. I will do my part and I will contribute." My voice did not weaver.

My sudden boldness caused his eyes to turn darker than they already were. He was pissed. Thank God I was surrounded by so many others. My father then cleared his throat.

"Is this unnecessary conversation over?" I nodded but I felt his heated gaze on me. Something told me this wasn't over. At least not for him. "Alright then, it's settled. All of us will be going to war no matter how dangerous it will be," my father eyed the Dark Prince and we all continued to make our final preparations for the next day.

~~~~~~~~

I was busy making sure my armor was ready for tomorrow when I heard soft knocks on my door. Fearing it was the prince I tip toed towards the door as silently as I could. The knocking got louder.

Shit. If anything happens I could still scream my lungs out right?

I opened the door and was pushed back by a strong wind. I closed my eyes and staggered back due to the force. Then it was silent so I fearfully opened my eyes and saw a pair of beautiful brown eyes staring back at me.

I squealed and jumped on her.

"INDIAAAA!!!"

"Yeap I missed you too!!!" she laughed. I pulled her in and closed the door. "We can catch up in a few minutes but there's this thing." Her tone changed.

"What happened? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine Eve-"

"Aeval. Aeval Florentine." I shook her hand and giggled.

"Oh. Oh wow okay."

"Yup."

"I like it. I like it very much and you look so beautiful, so bright and" she pinched my cheeks. "You have flesh!!!"

"I do," I laughed. "What are you doing here?!

"Oh nothing. I'm just this awesome witch and I wanna show what all of this is made of," she said pointing at herself in a bored tone.

I chuckled at how calm she was. India was something else.

"So tell me what's the issue?"

She pointed behind me.

"They are." I looked back and my jaw dropped. That wind! It was them! Sitting on my bed were Prince Timothy and Kyle.

I couldn't help the huge grin that plastered itself on my face. I rushed to Kyle and crushed him in a hug. Both of us fell on my bed. "Evie! Or Aeval, or whatever. Do I have to call you Your Highness or something now?" he asked.

"No!! I forbid you to call me that. You're family! I missed you," I kissed his cheek. "My brave knight."

"You can keep calling me that." He hugged me tighter.

"Not to be a mood spoiler or anything, but Kyle needs to tell you something!" India's voice kept rising.

"Yeah, tell her," the young prince added. He's so adorable.

"Tell me what?"

"Weeeeell...."

"Kyle what did you do now?" I demanded. From their facial expressions it didn't seem like good news.

"See, we're not actually supposed to be here," Prince Timothy spoke before Kyle could say anything.

"What do you mean?" I sat up on my bed beside the little prince.

"Tim and I received direct orders to stay in the castle. We snuck out and followed the Dark Prince here." Kyle ended and waited for my reaction.

I stared back at him as I processed the information.

"Nooooo!!! Why??!! O gosh, what is wrong with you guys?!"

"Exactly." India backed me up.

"He's going to hurt the two of you. Slowly and painfully!"

"But we have you. We can count on you for it not to actually happen right?" the young prince asked hopefully. He was so damn adorable. I couldn't say no to that face.

"Prince Timothy-"

"Just Timothy, my sweet princess." He winked.

I narrowed my eyes at the little vampire but I couldn't help but smile at him. "Alright Timothy, here's the thing. You are Prince Phoenix's youngest brother. He wanted you to stay back in Red Kingdom to protect you. You went against his words and put yourself in a lot of danger. The war is tomorrow young man. I have no idea what he's going to do to you once he finds out." His shoulders immediately slumped.

"So I'm taken care of because I'm your brother and you'll protect me from that scary vamp right?"

"Kyle, both of you worked together. You're both gonna get it."

"What?! Aeval you gotta help!"

"I will but I won't be able to be much help if he loses his temper. Alex and I will save Kyle but you," I pointed to Timothy. "You're his family. Wait! Your family is here!! Just run to your father Timothy!"

Why didn't I think of that?

"I could but the problem is he made it clear to everyone in my family that I wasn't allowed to come. So I will get it from all of my family members. I'm also wondering how my mother has not realized that I'm not in the castle."

"Prince Timothy, she probably found out the moment you left Red Kingdom," India rolled her eyes.

"No way!" Timothy said adamantly.

"My dear prince, it's been a whole day since we left. She should know that you're not there by now and why do you think the Queen hasn't called your father out of pure panic?"

She was right. Queen Charlotte probably already knew they snuck out. Timothy looked even more defeated.

I ruffled up his hair. "Alright, both of you just come down for breakfast at four thirty in the morning. Just let everyone see you. I won't let them hurt you guys. At least not here. I cannot guarantee your fate once the two of you return to Red Kingdom though."

"Yesss!!!" Timothy and Kyle hugged me tight.

"Yeah, now let's go. We need to get to our room."

"All three of you are in one room?" I asked her.

"Yeah that's the best thing for tonight. I can hide them," I hugged India good night and sent them on their way. I could see she was having a hard time keeping them in check.

"Kyle I swear if you don't quiet down I will let Rexamus step on you," I heard her grumble before I closed the door.

I was pretty tired myself. I drank some water and turned the lights off. Snuggling myself into my comforter did not help me sleep. How could anyone sleep?! Why was I even trying? Tomorrow was filled with so many possibilities. What if we're not strong enough?

No don't think like that!! I scolded myself. I tried to close my eyes and relax but my heart was too stubborn to slow down its thumping.

I let out a heavy breath and tried to calm myself. The moment I closed my eyes there was a loud knock on my door. It was frantic.

Kyle.

I grudgingly walked to the door to invite my silly brother in. I hope he didn't get himself hurt in this short period of time.

"I told you not to-" my voice faltered and disappeared at the back of my throat, not wanting to come out again. Fearing for my life. I slammed the door shut but it didn't close all the way. Looking down, I saw that the Dark Prince had put his foot at the corner of the door frame to prevent it from closing.

Before I could react further, he pushed the door open, let himself in and closed the door shut. I gulped and looked around me not knowing what I was even looking for.

"Brave little flower," he said lowly. His voice chilled me to the bones. I looked at his eyes and saw they had gotten darker.

"I...I said what I had to say, how I felt."

"Yes you did and now there's nothing I can do to stop you from going to war!" his voice rose up. "A war!" he spat.

"I have to, Prince Phoenix. Being a princess has brought about greater responsibilities. I have to fulfill certain duties."

"Do you have any idea how useless and stupid I feel? Do you know how exposed you're going to be tomorrow? And I can't be there to stop anything or anyone from harming you!!"

"Please don't shout," I held my chest as my heart pounded. Sighing, he ran his hand through his dark hair.

"I know how dangerous it is going to be but we have to face it. There's no running away."

"Don't you think I know that?! All I'm saying is that you could always stay behind and be out of harms way." I gaped at him and slowly shook my head. Deep down I knew he genuinely cared. He let out a defeated sigh.

"I can't stop you can I?"

"No you can't," I said softly. "It is very late, you should rest Prince Phoenix."

He simply chuckled and looked at me. "Do you really think anyone can sleep before a war like this?"

"No but you can rest," I advised.

"I can," he drawled then he looked at his feet. I knew he wanted to say something more but he appeared to be.......nervous?

"Is ther-"

"I want to be with you tonight," his voice was softer than a mere whisper. There was so much longing in his voice.

"I don't kn-"

"Please. Just let me sit here and make sure you rest enough," at this point I didn't know what to feel anymore. My head and my heart were not cooperating with one another.

"Wha..I can rest.." I blurted out not knowing what to say exactly. Why is he talking like this? Why is he acting like this now?

"I'm not going to do anything. I just want to be with you...here. You know, anything could happen in just a matter of hours. Imagine this time tomorrow, will it be like this? Maybe, maybe not."

I tilted my head as I stared into his eyes. Something flashed in them. An emotion that I never thought I would see in an indestructible being like him.

Fear.

I sighed to myself. "But you have to stay there." I told him as I pointed to the sofa opposite my bed. His face immediately brightened up and he nodded. I don't even know if he listened closely to what I just said.

"You promise?"

"Yes, of course. Thank you Little Flower."

~~~~~~~~~~

The young princess woke up with a jolt, surprised at how she actually slept. She remembered a sense of calmness that washed over her. She quickly looked at the time and let out a breath of relief once she saw that it was four in the morning.

She could listen to the sounds of metal hitting metal. They were already getting everything ready.

She sat up in bed to see an arm across her thigh. Turning on the lamp on her bedside table she saw that the Dark Prince was sitting on a chair beside her bed. His body was bent over and his head rested at the side of the mattress.

"You didn't keep your promise," she whispered under her breath. Nevertheless she gently took away his muscular arm and went to get ready for the epic day ahead.

Once she was done, she told two male castle servants to help the Prince ready himself.

~~~~

"Good morning papa. Where is mama?"

"You know, only you can sound like that in this situation."

"Sound like what?" she asked.

He stared at me thoughtfully. "Nothing. Your mother went out to inspect everything. Very Aurora like," I giggled at him.

"Nice armor by the way. Very impressive."

"Thank you so much," she felt more boosted up. The armor did feel as good as it looked. She was covered in a lot of polished steel though.

"Papa, I need to tell you something. This is important so you need to handle this situation carefully. I mean you have to help Alex and myself."

"You know I'll always be here for you, Aeval. You sound serious. What sort of help do you need?" she brought to mind everything she wanted to say and then explained it to the fae king.

Right before she ended her explanation, Prince Alexander and Queen Aurora walked in. "Looking sharp Eve!"

"Look who's talking. However, I don't think our looks are going to matter in a few hours. In fact, it's not going to matter at all. Not when we're getting slashed, impaled, punched, stabbed-" Prince Alexander began to get nervous as his sister went on and on about the many ways in which they could lose their dear lives. He kept looking back and forth to his sister and signaled for her to stop.

"What's the matter?" he quickly looked behind her and shook his head. The young princess knew exactly who was standing behind her. She slowly turned around and was greeted by a very furious Dark Prince. She could feel the ground tremble as his veins became visible.

"Do not destroy my castle Prince Phoenix," King Sindrion warned as his wife stood beside him. The Dark Prince closed his eyes for a few moments to prevent himself from blowing everything up. He then opened his eyes and glared at his innocent little flower.

"Good morning," she said sheepishly. "Tea?" she asked when he didn't say a word.

"Yes! Eat something. We'll be going out in twenty minutes," the king wanted to break the tension. Apparently, luck was not on his side that morning because that was the time when Prince Timothy and Kyle decided to make their grand appearance.

The expression on the Dark Prince's face was something else. It was filled with shock, disbelief, anger, more anger and whole lot of fire just seconds away from burning up the place.

"Oh fuck," Prince Alexander cursed and looked at a frightened Aeval. King Sindrion smacked his forehead and that's when Prince Timothy's other two siblings walked in.

Prince Zenas studied the situation and immediately closed his mouth to prevent himself from laughing like a hyena. Everything will seem a hundred times funnier when you're not supposed to laugh.

The little prince ran towards the princess at once while Kyle took the safer option, running behind King Sindrion Celeste himself. "I'm guessing this is Kyle?" he looked at his daughter.

"Yeap."

"A..Angel? What the.....how...wha ...what the FUCK?!!! What the hell are you doing here you idiot??!!! I told you not to come!!!"

All hell broke lose and we haven't even gone to war.

"He didn't mean to cause any trouble Prince Phoenix," I started.

"You knew about this?!! Why didn't you say anything?!"

"Stop yelling, we can solve this-"

"Timothy?!"

Oh no. God please help.

King Caelestinus and Aplha Silvian walked in.

"I didn't want you to react this way. He's just a boy. Don't punish him," I tried again.