The Royal Mark-Chapter 181: The Terms Have Changed

Back to the present day in Qiryn...

Prince Andrius was the one who broke the awkward silence in the dining hall by announcing more news to King Tyrion. "Your Majesty, another piece of news that I wanted to inform you is that there is a current cease-fire between Zemaria and Arcanis.

It happened when they released our mages in exchange for the werewolves who wanted to go back to Arcanis. It was King Alaric who did the deal in our border but of course, we all know that it’s the witch queen’s doing. When I shook hands after agreeing to their terms, he had hidden a piece of paper and let me show you what was written." Prince Andrius took the paper from his pocket and gave it to King Tyrion.

Elandir and Queen Ydril also read the note together with the king. Elandir’s eyes widened, of all the things that he could imagine, this was something that was out of his expectation.

"The witch queen wanted to be marked by both me and Prince Christopher on the night of the blood moon. This is in exchange for freeing Princess Neia and the followers of my nephew. With a spell, I will be able to become a true alpha and be a legitimate heir to the throne. My nephew has already agreed and as a gift, we will not attack Zemaria anymore..."

Elandir stopped reading the rest and crossed his arms. "I don’t believe this. This is not something that Chris would agree to."

"If I may interrupt," Baahu chimed in, "the letter was I think written before the prince and the witch queen came back from Kurzen. The terms have changed. The demon king threatened Prince Christopher that he would not return Princess Neia and wage a full-on war with Zemaria if he went back. So the prince will stay in Arcanis if the demon king will let go of his sister."

Elandir gritted his teeth, ’Mordrak...’

King Tyrion put down the paper on the table and said to Baahu, "The prince must have a plan for him to agree to the term right?"

Baahu continued, "Prince Christopher knew that Zemaria wouldn’t be able to withstand the force of the three kingdoms together. That is why he made sure that we will be able to go back and regroup. He told Lexi that Princess Elsa was our only chance to win. We really don’t understand how is that possible when the princess can’t even control all her powers yet."

"She gained her water element back, and Christopher is right. I have witnessed how devastating your princess’ power can be and it will be more once she fully unleashes her true power. So I understand why he would say that. The blood moon is still months away. If Princess Elsa could only train to gain control of her other two elements then we will have time to stop the ritual and help Prince Christopher regain control of Arcanis." Elandir tersely mentioned.

Everyone started at Elandir which he noticed right away. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

King Tyrion was the first one to speak, "What do you mean by ’we’? You’re not thinking of joining them are you?"

Prince Andrius didn’t wait for Elandir to answer the king’s question and asked his own question right away. "What do you mean true power? Do you know something that we don’t know?"

Prince Drake didn’t want to be left behind and joined the fun too, "Just how much did Elsa tell you? How did you know she has two more elements left?"

"Why ask questions all at the same time? Geez... Well, to answer Prince Drake’s question I’ve talked to Christopher before and I got it from him. What I meant about her true power is that she has four elements, I assume that there’s something more to it.

And Father, yes, I was planning to ask your permission to join Zemaria. Please understand that Chris is my friend, my best friend and I won’t let that bitch control him." Elandir said while keeping his fingers crossed behind his back.

He got carried away with the conversation and was not careful enough so he gave answers that were both true and not.

King Tyrion sighed and put his hand on her temple, massaging it as he could already feel the headache that his only son would soon give him. "What choice do I have? Even if I say no, you will still join them. Am I right?"

Elandir smirked and side-hugged King Tyrion, "I knew you would not say no!"

King Tyrion shook his head as he gestured for Elandir to go back to his seat while the rest chuckled.

"We still have another matter to discuss," Queen Ydril mentioned, gaining the attention of everyone.

"It is regarding the princess. She still hasn’t woken up and our healer’s advice is to let her stay here. Traveling via land and sea might be dangerous for her condition," the queen said.

"May I speak, your Majesty?" Rylie questioned which prompted the queen to nod in approval.

"We were brief earlier about her condition and since her mana is back to normal, I strongly believe that it would be okay for the princess to travel. She has no physical ailments and it’s just a matter of her waking up. Her grandmother is a divine mage and she’s a better healer in the whole of Vectus for a human like the princess."

Elandir, King Tyrion, and Queen Ydril looked at each other to signal one another to speak up for no one seemed to have the courage to tell them the real condition of their princess.

"How about let’s wait for a few more days and while we are waiting, why won’t we help you look for the necklace? Who knows, maybe the princess will be awake once we get back here. What do you say?" Elandir suggested.

"I think that is the most sensible thing to do," Prince Andrius replied.

"B-But–"

"Drake, we need Rylie to help look for the necklace so if you insist on bringing Elsa with us while searching the sea, then who would take care of her?" Prince Andrius cut his brother off knowing that he would just insist on what he wants.

When they thought that Elsa was with Chris when they were abducted by the witch queen, Drake was restless and already wanted to attack both Arcanis and Saldivar. Until now, he still felt responsible and very guilty about Hera’s death and after learning of Elsa’s existence, he made a vow to make it his duty to protect her daughter after failing to protect his sister.

Prince Drake clenched his fist and lowered his head feeling defeated. As much as possible he doesn’t want to leave Qiryn without Elsa anymore, but his brother is right, it would be best to come back for her once they found the necklace.

After eating, the servants led everyone to their respective guest chambers except for Prince Drake who sneakily followed Elandir.

"I am an elf with big ears and a high druid as well. You are terrible in stealth Prince Drake," Elandir exclaimed when they were far enough from others.

"What are you hiding? Elsa is human, elves do not like other races on their land," Prince Drake immediately fired away.

"Is that really what you think? Well, I can’t blame you since there are too many unknowns in this world. Believe it or not, I just want her to get the best care that she can get. She is my best friend’s other half so that makes her important to me too," Elandir replied.

"I want to see her," Prince Drake requested, which Elandir did not say no to.

"I thought you would never ask. Follow me."

The two went out of the castle and went to the stables. Elandir saw the frowning face of Drake so he informed him beforehand, "The princess is staying at one of the cabins near our infirmary and tree of life. It is the house of the healer who is currently caring for her. That is why we need to ride a horse to get there."

"Why not let her stay in the castle?" the prince asked.

"The healer teaches young elves who want to be healers someday and the school for healing is there plus she uses the energy coming from the Tree of Life to help her heal the princess so she can’t really move to the castle with Princess Elsa. She’s a powerful one so there’s no need to worry about Princess Elsa while the healer is with her. She even mentioned that she’s more powerful than Mistress Valeria," Elandir smirked. He only mentioned the last sentence to see how Prince Drake would react to it.

Prince Drake scoffed and said, "That’s ridiculous, divine mages are the most powerful healers in the Vectus that’s why every kingdom wants them."

The smirk on Elandir’s face did not falter as he replied, "Who knows? Maybe you’ll agree with her when you meet her. So shall we?"

Drake nodded and both of them mounted their horses and headed north to the Tree of Life.

**********

A/N: 12/23/2023

Dear readers, I might not be able to upload a Chapter tomorrow because I am really sick today. I have been sick since last weekend and today my body just gave up. But don’t worry the mass release on 12/25/2023 will continue. Thank you everyone for supporting Elsa and Chris up to this point. I am forever grateful to all of you!