The Cursed Prince

"King Alexander is sick?" Maxim asked to confirm. He wondered why the timing was so bad. "Can we see him?"

"You are not allowed to enter..." the man replied. "You have killed two of the gatekeepers. My superior will soon come and deal with you."

"It was a fair fight and you all attacked us first. We were just defending ourselves," Maxim replied. He kept his cool and didn't respond aggressively. He knew the guard in front of him was just doing his job. "You only did your work, keeping the gate closed to outsiders, but we don't come here to wreak havoc."

"Still... Myreen is not open to outsiders," the guard said again. "I can't let you get in."

"I promise you the king will want to see me if he knew I came," Maxim insisted. "My mother is Maude Ashborn. She was friends with the late queen, Aunt Catalina Leoralei."

At the mention of their late queen's name, the guard suddenly looked shocked.

He tilted his head to look at Maxim better. The queen had passed away for 18 years. So, it was surprising to see an outsider uttered her name, and he even called her 'aunt'?

What was this man's relationship with the royal family? The guard was wondering.

"What's your name?" The man asked again. This time, the animosity in his voice had lessened. He was still unfriendly, but no longer as aggressive as before.

"My name is Loriel Maxim Ashborn," Maxim said. "King Alexander is waiting for me to come."

The man thought about it for a while and finally, he nodded. "Follow me."

He turned around and got on top of his dragon. The other two dragons stayed behind to guard the area, in case there were other intruders coming. 

"Let's go," Maxim whispered and took Emmelyn by the arm to get back on Aslain's back. He pretended not to see her baffled expression. He quickly added, "We can talk later."

Maxim had slipped up and mentioned the fact that his mother was friends with the late queen of Myreen, a Leoralei, and now Emmelyn was looking at him with a mix of confusion and feeling betrayed on her face.

So, Maxim's mother KNEW the Leoraleis???

Why did he pretend that Queen Maude only knew some important people in Myreen and didn't reveal that she was actually friends with the queen of Myreen herself?

What was he hiding??

So many questions were raging in her mind.

Emmelyn stared at Maxim's back with knitted brows, trying to process what she had just heard between Maxim and the guard. She thought her ears were playing tricks on her.

Was she dreaming or hallucinating because she was going crazy after being stranded in the wilderness for two weeks?

Was that true? Did Maxim and his family really know the Leoraleis?

Now that she thought of it again... Maxim was her only connection to Myreen.

Did the curse that befell her have something to do with Emmelyn's friendship with Maxim? She realized she had such good life before she met the man. Her life only started to turn upside down after she was friends with Maxim.

It was not immediately, maybe two months after they met and traveled together, her teacher suddenly received bad news about her son being captured by pirates, and four months later Wintermere fell and Emmelyn's family was killed.

Was all her bad luck connected to Maxim, somehow?

We... can... talk.. later.

Maxim's words kept ringing in her mind as she absent-mindedly got on Aslain's back and sat there, while Maxim sat in front of her, to protect her like before.

As she watched his back, Emmelyn was wondering if Maxim knew something and he kept things from her.

Meanwhile, Maxim felt his throat dry, and he could barely breathe. The king was trying to think of ways to explain to Emmelyn what happened.

He actually didn't know the truth, only assumptions. And he didn't know about it until weeks ago when he talked to his mother in private.

Maxim didn't mean to hide this fact from Emmelyn... he was just waiting for the right time to— to let her know. Now that they were here, maybe he should come clean soon about what he knew.

Maybe... Emmelyn would understand his situation. Maybe Emmelyn could forgive him for unintentionally dragging her into this mess.

Maxim didn't know.

"Hold my arms or waist tightly, we are going in full speed to keep up with the guard." Maxim turned to Emmelyn and told her to hold on to him.

She gripped his arms earlier when they were still fighting against the third guard. So, now he was telling her to grip his arms again.

However, Emmelyn didn't respond. She also didn't hold his arms as Maxim told. Instead, she grabbed tightly on Aslain's back. 

"Why don't you hold my arms?" Maxim asked her. "It's very dangerous. You can fall!"

"Why don't you slow down?" Emmelyn retorted. "We don't have to fly as fast as them."

Her response made Maxim realize Emmelyn was angry at him. Was that because she thought he was covering the truth from her?

Maxim's heart pounded faster and he felt difficulty breathing. The thing he was scared of the most was already happening.

Emmelyn hated him.

The king patted Aslains back and told him to slow down. Since Emmelyn was stubborn and refused to hold on to him, Maxim was worried she would really fall if they kept the same speed.

He let the guard fly with his dragon ahead of them and didn't try to catch up with him. He was sure Aslain would be able to track the guard's route and followed him slowly.

"Your Majesty," Renwyck was flying with Eris beside Aslain. "I will follow him and come back for you later."

"Go ahead," Maxim replied.

Renwyck nodded. He said something to Eris and a moment later, both had dashed forward, leaving behind Aslain and his two passengers who maintained their slow speed.

Emmelyn bit her lip and tried to hold back from cursing and hitting Maxim's back. The realization had dawned on her and she started to piece everything together.

Was that why Queen Maude suddenly looked unwell during their lunch together after Emmelyn told her about her dream?

So, Queen Maude really knew the woman Emmelyn saw in her dream? Was she Catalina Leoralei?

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From the author:

OMG... I can't wait for Emmelyn to learn the truth about everything.

Do you think she will forgive Maxim for hiding the truth? Will she hate him for being the cause of all her sufferings? Or will she understand his pain and blame only the Leoraleis? How would their relationship turn? Will it turn bad or will they still be friends?

I have so many questions, yes.. I am also interested in knowing what you think about them.