May Death Do Us Part

317 Chapter 317 : Higher stakes of the same game

“Make a left over there your grace! By that moldy bolder!” Gavin yelled instructions to the lycan prince as he struggled to hold on to both the princess’ lifeless body and the prince’s thick coat. His arms and fingers were numbing, both from the blistering cold and the weight of the Eira, but he knew he only had to hold on a little while longer and they would arrive at their destination.

At an unwavering speed, Elric followed Gavin’s instructions to the letter. Now that his parents had somehow arrived in Gavaria, and Renly and him had practically attacked the king of the land, he knew that his time was up. If he and Eira didn’t perform the reincarnation spell now, they might never get the chance, and if that happened... he may never see his mate ever again.

Elric growled at the disturbing thought, no... he was not going to let that happen, he was going to see Eira again even if it cost him his very soul.

“There! Right there your grace!”

The large silver wolf halted in front of a narrow path that cut through a small thicket of trees. His pace slowed and his breathing became heavy as he walked along the path towards what seemed like a small clearing ahead.

With every step Elric took, the reality of what he was about to do became more and more apparent. He thought back to the heartbreak in his mother’s eyes back at the palace, and he could only imagine the fury in his father’s once his mother had told him what had happened. But what could he do? Life had been unfair to him in love, it never came easy to him, he had always had to fight and sacrifice for it. This time would not be any different.

Higher stakes of the same game of love

And besides, for the first time ever, he had undoubtedly found his mate, he had found a woman who actually wanted to be with him as much as he wanted to be with her. A woman who wanted no other but him, regardless of how unrefined, reckless and frightening he was. he would have to be utterly mad to let her slip through his fingers so easily.

“Here is fine,” Gavin spoke and nudged Elric to stop

.....

The lycan lowered his body so Gavin could get off and pull Eira with him without accidently dropping her. He quickly morphed back and immediately reached for Eira, practically grabbing her from Gavin’s hold.

Elric secured the princess’ cold body in his arms and looked forward to where the young mage was moving some twigs and branches aside, revealing something that made his spine tingle.

A large pentagram covered the clearing, drawn into the snowy ground by a dark brown liquid.

Elric grimaced when he realized the dark brown liquid was dried out blood, to what or whom it belonged to, he did not wish to know.

After clearling the gruesome ideogram of all forest debris, Gavin took a step back and whispered a few words. Candles that where stationed on each point of the pentagram set alight at the mage’s murmurs and an eerie sound, like a faint whisper filled the open space.

Gavin turned to look at the prince, and Elric was shaken by the urgency in his eyes. “Place the the princess at the center of the pentagram your grace, we don’t have much time. The disembodied whispers that reach your ears as we speak, they are here from the afterlife to claim her soul, we must hurry!”

Elric looked at the pentagram and felt his legs become heavy, was this really going to work? And what if it did not, then what? What if those whispers took Eira away from him forever?!

“Prince Elric!”

The prince took a deep breath and carried Eira to the center of the circle, with much hesitation he lowered her onto the icy blanket of snow. His cold calloused fingers brushed her cold cheek as he whispered to her;

“Please wait for me Eira, I’m coming...”

“Your grace, sorry to rush you, but I must proceed with the spell now!”

Gavin gestured the prince to him by his side, to which Elric obliged and looked away. For some reason, he didn’t even want to watch it happen, he feared if anything seemed like it was going wrong, he was going to rush to her and disrupt the entire thing. It was best he looked away and let the mage do what he needed to do.

*

“Poisoned?... oh gods, Melissa I’m so sorry.”

The redhead nodded and forced a smile. “In a way I feel like I brought this upon myself,” she looked up at Layla and wiped a tear that had trickled down her cheek. “I was selfish, to your son, and to my daughter. I put them both through so much, and all for what? A century old grudge?”

Melissa wiped another tear that had trickled down her cheek, leaving behind a streak of despair on her delicate skin. Even though her lips were curved into a small smile, her eyes were sad and empty.

“This is what I get for putting my own selfish agendas ahead of fate,” she murmured, “and because of it, because if my own selfish and foolish antics, I’ve lost my daughter...” she looked up at Layla who had an expression on that was rather hard to read. The Luna looked like she could not decide on wether to resent or pity Melissa, an understandable reaction to their current predicament. “... and you’re about to lose your son.”

“Not if I can help it...”

The two women turned towards the familiar voice, and there at the door, still looking a little disoriented stood Gareth, and holding him up by the arm was the mage Renly, who too looked like he had been a victim of Gavin’s tranquilizing potion.

Melissa got to her feet and ran towards her husband, worry and relief riddling her beautiful fact as she reached for man’s cheek.

“Darling, what are you doing? You should be resting, you’re not-”

“I’m fine,” Gareth interjected and smiled slightly at her. He then gestured Renly to help him to a chair, where he sat down and recomposed himself before proceeding to speak.

“Before I say anything else, I would like to extend my most sincere apologies to you Layla,” Gareth bowed his head slightly before looking the Luna right in her silvery eyes. “My family and I have never made a proper apology on all the misery and heartache we caused you, so I’d like to take this opportunity to say we are very sorry Layla, for everything.”

Layal pursed her lips at the sincerity in the eleven king’s eyes. After everything that has happened, the war in Ervelon, Melissa’s pregnancy, Elric’s disappearance.... she had subconsciously told herself she would never get an apology, and that life would just go on like nothing had ever happened and she would be alright with that. But now after hearing Gareth’s sinsere words of remorse, her heart was filled with emotions she couldn’t quite tell apart.

“I know that words alone will not make up for all we’ve put you and your husband through,” Gareth added on, “so that is why, I will take it upon myself to save Elric from the grim fate that awaits him if he tries to go after Eira.”

Layla lifted her eyes from the floor back to Gareth’s face and stared at him befuddled. “Go after Eira?”

Gareth nodded and turned to Renly, “go ahead Renly, tell them everything you told me.”

Renly took a quick breath as all the eyes in the room befell him, the situation was dire, and time was of the essence. Gavin was a talented mage, but he was inexperienced, if the slightest thing went wrong during the spell he was attempting to cast, they would lose not only the princess, but Elric, and everyone else wishing a ten mile radius of that spell.

“Your majesties, forbidden magic is at play as we speak....”