The Seelie's Mirror

Chapter 5 Follow the Light

Chapter 5 

Before I could get away from Zhier, he had already tightened his grip on my wrist. Instead of getting cold from the water, I feel it coming from his touch. The once-beautiful length of his blue hair is now tightly bunched. His face and lips are partially obscured by stray strands of hair. His green eyes seem diluted and unfocused, like there's a haze over his vision.

There's something wrong with him, and I can't point out exactly what. All I understand about the situation is that I am not safe.

I stay quiet and frozen. I don't want to do or say something without knowing what metal state he's in. I might piss him off and endanger myself even more. The only thing that I can do is hope for Klovis or Jade to find me.

"You're back." He starts to say. "I can't believe it. You were looking for me."

I start to shiver, not from the cold but from what I understand from his words. Did he misunderstand my words earlier, thinking he was the one I was looking for?

I badly want to tell him off, but I don't think that it would be a wise decision to argue with him. I wish I had taken some self defense lessons from Efeiza, but even so, I don't think that I would be able to outrun him in this situation.

I remain silent and give him a small smile, hoping that it will be a good enough response for him.

Zhier tilts his head to the side, probably wondering what my smile meant. As long as I don't smile, I know that he is going to interpret it however he wants my response to be in favor of him.

"You must be scared and cold, aren't you? Don't worry. I'll take you back." The moment he started to pull at me, I panicked and planted my heels on the ground. The thought of going back to the Seelie realm and being locked up in my room is enough to make me take the risk and fight off his grip. "Livia?"

I want to scream at him to fuck off, but thankfully, I still have the feeling that I knew enough not to upset him. I just have to endure it for now.

I don't want to go back with him! Where are Klovis and Jade?!

My eyes frantically looked around me to search for something that could help me.

"Sire!" I hear the water splashing as a fairy knight makes his way toward us. "We spotted the Unseelie Prince in the area along with his emerald beast!"

And now my question has been answered. And what a funny way to deliver it.

"Doesn't matter." Zhier tells him dismissively. "Just make sure to hold them off long enough for us to bring Livia back to the palace."

Something clicked in my mind as I listened to them talk. For the first time, I found my voice. "Were you...were you tracking us?" If I think about it carefully, Zhier would not have a reason to be here in the first place. Much less bring knights with him, like he is already expecting a fight.

"My betrothed was kidnapped. Do you really think I would sit around and do nothing?" Zhier turns to the knight after lifting me off my feet. "We're leaving. Send the others in to kill Prince Klovis if he so much as becomes unruly."

I have no idea how many knights are with Zhier and how many are after Klovis, but just the idea of them attacking Klovis makes me angry. Klovis is in danger. It's only him and Jade out there! Seeing as they are in peril, it would be futile for me to wait for them to come to my rescue. I have to break free from this psycho and go after them.

"Let go of me!" I raised my fist and hit Zhier square on the nose. The impact sent a jolt of pain down my knuckles, and I barely had any time to register how painful it was before I plunged into the water when Zhier let me go. I swallowed a mouthful of water before resurfacing and running away from him.