The Cursed Prince

After Gewen departed, Mars finally could sleep. He gave Harlow to the Athibaud sisters and he retreated to his chamber and took a rest. The experience from the night before made him feel exhausted. 

Ahh.. at least, now both his father and mother were okay. Gewen was already on the way, and he, too, would soon leave the capital to go get Emmelyn.

Things were going on track. Mars could finally sleep peacefully. In his sleep, he dreamed of Emmelyn.

***

"What should we do?" Emmelyn finally couldn't take it anymore. They had been stranded in the wilderness for two weeks and, still, they couldn't find the so-called entrance to the hidden kingdom.

If Maxim's mother had never been to Myreen, Emmelyn might think the kingdom was not real and people made up stories about it.

However, Queen Maude was living proof that Myreen was real. She even took Maxim there when he was little, even though the man couldn't remember anything from the trips.

Maxim looked at Emmelyn in a helpless expression. He didn't know they wouldn't be able to go through. Let alone entered, they couldn't even find the gate which his mother explained.

Queen Maude said the wilderness of Hellmoon was actually the entrance to Myreen. However, as far as the eye could see, they would only see vast wilderness, with nothing on it. 

Now, even traveling by dragons felt useless because they had wasted so much time being stranded in Hellmoon. After exploring the area for almost two weeks trying to find some secret passage to no avail, finally, Emmelyn broke down.

She dropped to her knees and started sobbing. She remembered Mrs. Adler and Queen Maude said she was invited to come to Myreen. Apparently, it was not true.

If she was really welcomed there, shouldn't she be able to see the entrance when she got here?

Were they wrong?

Was all her effort for nothing?

"Wait here." Maxim's heart ached when he saw Emmelyn looking frustrated and hopeless.

He decided it was time to force their way in. Fuck it. They had been polite and respectful for two weeks, but the Leoraleis still didn't let them in?

This was too much!

Maxim touched Emmelyn's arm gently and said, "We will enter Myreen today. I will make sure of that."

Emmelyn didn't know what Maxim had in mind. She just nodded and hoped the man could really do something.

Maxim got up and walked toward Renwyck who was casting his gaze around them, trying so hard to see if he missed anything.

"Renwyck, we have waited for a long time. I cannot wait anymore. We have to use force to get in," Maxim said.

"What do you have in mind, Your Majesty?" Renwyck asked Maxim.

"Let's burn this wilderness. That should get their attention," the king replied curtly. "They will be angry and come out to punish us. I don't care about their retaliation. We badly need to enter Myreen as soon as possible. Emmelyn is very upset."

"Your Majesty... it's rude to force our way in like that..." Renwyck disagreed with Maxim's request. "They might open the door for us... but at what cost?"

The wizard truly hoped the king would use reason and be more patient. He had heard that the Leoraleis were very powerful. They would be upset if an outsider burned down this region that might be part of their kingdom. 

And if the Leoraleis were upset, Renwyck didn't dare to think what would they do to punish those who dare to disturb them.

"Renwyck... we have been waiting for a long time. This is too much. I don't want to go back empty-handed." Maxim crossed his arms on his chest, looking very resolute. "This is the last resort."

Even though Renwyck was not supportive of this idea, but he couldn't say no to what the king asked him to do. He had sworn loyalty to the Ashborns and he must do what the king said. He could see how much Maxim had been patient for such a long time, waiting and trying for two weeks, to no avail.

He knew the king was not a patient man to begin with, but Maxim had persevered. He was not hot-headed. The reason he finally made this decision was because he saw Emmelyn look hopeless and want to give up.

"Very well..." the wizard cast his gaze around them one more time and finally made a decision to call Aslain and get on his back. Soon, he and the dragon had flown above the wilderness.

Maxim watched as Aslain moved in a circle and started blowing fire to the ground below him. The wilderness was immediately caught in a massive fire. The temperature rose rapidly and soon Emmelyn had to take off her coat.

She was very surprised to see what Renwyck did, but could immediately guess it was done based on Maxim's order.

"Let's get out of here," Maxim reached out his hand and helped her get up. "I asked Renwyck to burn this place down to get their attention."

"But... what if they are offended?" Emmelyn asked in a disapproving tone. "Or.. what if we are wrong and this place is not it?"

"If we never tried, we would never know. I don't know how else we can find get to Myreen," Maxim replied firmly. "Let's get on Eris and wait."

He helped Emmelyn get on Eris's back and he followed behind her. The next minute, they were already flying above the fire to watch what would happen.

"It's very hot..." Emmelyn muttered. Beads of sweat started forming on her skin.

"Yeah... we should go up so more," Maxim agreed. He tapped Eris's back and the dragon went up higher. Now, the fire below them looked much smaller than before and they felt more comfortable.

Renwyck came approaching with Aslain, and both dragons floated elegantly above Hellmoon wilderness, watching... and waiting.

Only Emmelyn and Renwyck were worried by the Leoraleis' response over the fire. Maxim didn't feel any ounce of fear or remorse. He thought the Leoraleis deserved this for their wickedness.

Even though his mother kept saying they were good people. he didn't think so. He hated how Catalina Leoralei forced him to marry her daughter by making Emmelyn suffer.

.

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Maxim and Emmelyn will finally meet the Leoraleis in the next chapter and Mars will soon depart to Summeria. I also can't wait to write how Gewen would look like after he arrives in Castilse.

Would he still look handsome? Or would look haggard and dirty like he did when he came home from Wintermere that John couldn't recognize him? bahahahahha...

PS: Thank you, Kelly for gifting a dragon to this book! Aww.... I keep repeating myself here, but, really, thank you so much for boosting this book so many times xx