A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

Chapter 22

**So I didn't really take my time writing this since I had the intent on re-writing it with more detail and stuff, but.... I kind of decided that I didn't want to out of shear laziness. ^^' **

The next morning, I woke up only to be summoned to the thrown chambers. Blithe was next to the king as well as Xavier. My mentor looked solemn while Xavier held a look of resentment in his eyes.

The king didn’t look pleased and when I asked, “Is everything alright?”

His eyes narrowed in fury. “I have just found out that this Dilan character has been deceiving us all.”

I looked wide eyed and looked over at Blithe who shook his head and I took it as if he was telling me to pretend I had no idea what the king was talking about. I returned my gaze back over to the king and asked, “He has? How?”

“He’s actually the King of Demons!” he roared. “Apparently he’s gone to the trouble of pretending to be a merman, bought a townhouse and got invited to everything!”

King explains, “Xavier followed him out of suspicion.” I didn’t like that. “And found out who he really was.”

“There has to be a reason for this,” I say.

“He wanted to kidnap you, that was his intent before and it is his intent now. We are no longer having any contact with him,” the king said.

“What about the war?” I ask.

“It looks like there won’t be a treaty after all,” he says with a little sadness in his voice. “I cannot risk your life.”

“Father,” I began with a bit of authority in my voice, a little determined to have him change his mind. “There has to be an explanation for all of this besides the idea of abducting me. Please make contact with him and talk this out. I believe there is something going on that we may not know about.”

He looked at me in thought and with a sigh, he shook his head. “I will not and there will not be any more discussion on the matter.”

“If you do not I will,” I said in the same tone.

The king looked appalled at my boldness and I could see surprise on Blithe’s face as well. “I forbid you to make any contact with the man!” the king yelled.

I straightened my back and looked at him in the eye with determination. “I am going to follow my instincts. You can either follow them with me, or go against them and see even more people die.”

The king sighed again and it looked like he was actually thinking about it. “Alright. We will talk to the Demon King, but since this is your idea, you are responsible for getting him on the phone.”

I nodded and we all walked into the conference room. I called Damien and his receptionist picked up. She gave me less hassle than before and Damien was on the other end. When he picked up, I put him on speaker and said, “This is Princess Ellia. You are in a conference call with my father, Captain Hamilton and General Blithe Connors.”

“You found out, haven’t you?”

“Yes we have,” the king answered. “Why did you go to all that effort, King Damien?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” he asked with a light chuckle. “My fascination with the mortal world brought me to the decision to see Ellia in person.” There was a pause before he continued. “Now that I’ve seen her, I’m very pleased to tell you that I’ve figured a way to end the war.”

My father looked shocked and before Damien could explain further, he snapped, “You cannot have my daughter! This throne is hers and she’s going to keep it.”

“By all means, I do not want to take Ellia away from her throne,” Damien explained in a calm voice. “I want to give up mine.” The king and Xavier gasped in disbelief and of course Blithe and I pretended to be surprised as he continued. “The only way I will honor treaty is if Princess Ellia becomes my wife.”

In the inside, hearing the word ‘wife’ come from him made my heart nearly skip a beat. I was so filled with joy that I wasn’t quite sure what to do with myself.

“You want to marry Princess Ellia?” Xavier asked astounded.

“Yes,” Damien answered.

“How do we know that you won’t trick us?” The king asked.

“I have already been in your home and have had plenty of opportunities. If I wanted to do something, I would have done it already. What does your instincts say, Elle? Do you think I will hurt you or anyone in your kingdom?”

All eyes turned to me and I immediately wanted to say ‘no,’ but I didn’t want to seem eager or anything so I let out a confident, “No, I don’t think you will.”

“Besides,” Damien continued, “by giving up my right to the throne, I will be releasing my demonic powers and become a simple immortal.”

I had read about them. They are immortal like everyone else, but they do not have any special abilities. They are basically humans, but with more advanced speed, agility, strength hearing and eyesight. They would also be able to teleport, but that would be all they can do. They lived among the elementals since we were more like humans as well.

Feeling awfully guilty about him giving up his demonic power, I asked, “Why would you do something like that?” in a low and sad tone.

“Because not only will I do anything to end this war, but I’ve also fallen in love with you,” he answered simply. “My younger brother will take the thrown and has agreed to honor the treaty once I have signed it.”

The three men looked at my wide eyed expression. I looked to Blithe for help. I honestly didn’t know what to do at this point.

I was relieved when he suggested, “I think we should take some time for things to process and make our final decision tomorrow morning in person at the island.”

“I agree,” my father agreed.

“When should we meet then?” asked Damien.

“At Nine,” Blithe answered. “The north beachside will be a good meeting spot.”

“I only request that King Nicholas, General Connors and Princess Ellia come to this meeting,” Damien began. “I will not be bringing any other company along with me.”

Xavier, already looking upset, looked even angrier, but nodded to the king and Blithe. “Of course,” the king answered.

From there the two kings said their goodbyes and once the connection was lost, the three looked at me and I just feigned being shocked. “I think I need a moment,” I said as I slowly stood and quickly exited the door.

Once out I immediately found Aria and told her everything that had just happened.

“He must really love you if he’s willing to give up his demon powers,” she said after a moment of silence.

“I didn’t even know he would have to give it up. I feel so terrible.”

“That’s probably why he didn’t tell you.”

“It kind of makes me wonder if he knew he was going to have to do this all along.”

“He had to have known. Demons can only have a future with other demons. It’s always been like that. In order to be with you, Elle, he already knew that he had to give his powers and crown away. It wouldn’t have even mattered if you were a mermaid or a fairy,” she explained, which made me frown even more.

“I don’t think I can do that to him.”

“Elle, he wants this. He’s known about this rule since he was born. He’s making this choice to be with you.” She nearly threw her hands in the air. “For crying out loud, you guys are practically destined to be together.”

I thought about it and she was right. So I nodded my head and said, “Alright,” in a quiet tone.