IV. The Impact of Her

~ Four ~

Some of the glass cracked and broke.

The guards in the main hall put their hands over their heads as they covered their faces from falling glass.

I slowly turned my face towards Gonzalo. As soon as our eyes met, he was in shock. His eyes widened in horror. He took a few steps back as he kept himself far from my reach.

My jaw clenched as fury whirled inside of me. "Do. Not. Ever. Speak. Of her. In such a manner," I gritted through my teeth.

"Your Highness," Gonzalo pressed on but immediately stopped when I raised my hand towards him.

A whirlwind whistled from my hand, the guards knelt and pleaded with me, begging for me to control my anger.

Gonzalo, however, did not flinch. He stood his ground, his hands clenched into fists by his sides.

I was more than prepared to shoot the whirlwind onto him and I did not care about the possible damage it could implicate on him. However, a hand landed on my shoulder. I turned my head and Elizabeth appeared from a white mist.

"That is quite enough, little brother," Elizabeth spoke as she gently put my hand down. She then stepped forward and stood between Gonzalo and me.

"Your Grace," Gonzalo quickly bowed to my sister, "The guards and I are in your debt."

"Just because I stopped him from killing everybody in this room, that does not mean I was pleased with how you acted, Gonzalo," Elizabeth replied sternly.

Everyone was surprised at how Elizabeth spoke. She was known to be soft-spoken; always gentle with everybody. No one ever dared to enrage my sister. And perhaps, this was the reason. She might have been in rage but to handle the situation with class was intimidating.

"I beg your pardon, Your Grace?" Gonzalo stuttered as he asked.

"I heard the entire conversation. And the both of you acted like children," Elizabeth remarked.

I sighed as I bowed my head in embarrassment.

"But, Your Grace, I was only telling the young prince the unavoidable truth," Gonzalo protested. He continued, "He is more than willing to break tradition; the very core of our entire existence. The very rules that have protected us and our realm from those low-life scums."

"If you continue to disregard their existence as a nuisance, I will not hesitate to rip your lips off of your face," I stepped forward as I pointed a finger at him. Elizabeth immediately put her arm in front of me as she kept her eyes on Gonzalo.

"Your Highness, may I remind you that because of their greed, our race became close to extinction," Gonzalo snarled as his teeth gritted out of anger. He continued with his rage, "We have given them everything. We welcomed them into our arms and what did they do? They plotted to eradicate us and become gods themselves. Their suffering satisfies me."

With a smug expression, Gonzalo added, "I am surprised that they lasted this long."

"Not all mortals are the same, Gonzalo. There are a fair few that have a heart of gold," Ireplied as I kept Laura in mind. Everything that she stood for accompanied my words. Kindness. Understanding. Compassion. A giving heart.

She gave me the reason to believe that even the most evil beings could change.

Gonzalo chuckled as he rolled his eyes. He turned away for a brief moment. He answered, "Thay have fooled you, Your Highness. It is their tactic to lure others and take advantage of their weakness. For a prince, you should have seen through that facade. Why would you believe such a false act of kindness?"