May Death Do Us Part

263 Chapter 263 : It’s time we talked

The minute they arrived at their destination, Elric let go of the woman and took several steps backwards. He inspected his environment, perked up his ears and tried to listen for the Gavarian guards who were pursuing him. When he heard nothing but the rustling of the leaves in the trees above, he looked at the red haired princess and gave her a questioning glare.

“Where have you taken me?” Silver haired man asked the young woman.

“Do not worry, we are still in the forest,” she responded, sensing he no longer felt safe with her around. “We are just a bit further away from your cabin. You should be safe here until the guards give up their search and head back to the palace.”

“If it wasn’t for you, I would have never had to leave my cabin in the first place. if you hadn’t dived after me over that cliff that day like some maniac,” Elric spoke, “I would’ve still been leaving a peaceful and quiet life on my own.”

Eira lowered her eyes to the ground and sighed. Elric was right, if it wasn’t for her, none of this would have been happenening. But fate had already intertwined them and there was very little she could do to change that.

“You are right,” she responded in a solemn tone. “And perhaps that is why I feel so obliged to help you. If there is any way I can make your life easier, I would do it without hesitation.”

“Do you want to know how you can make my life easier princess?” The lycan took two steps towards Eira and looked down at her with a menacing glare. “You can get out of here, and never come anywhere near me ever again.”

The princess looked up at the man’s eyes, she expected to see nothing but anger towards her, but instead she saw hurt and agitation. How could she leave Eric like this? Eira strongly believed that the reason she had met this man was to help end whatever rivalry existed between him and her parents so they could all live in peace. No one deserved to live in hiding, shunning all interaction with other people. It was a sad and lonely existence and Eira wanted to change that for Eric.

“Elric let me help you-”

.....

“You know, I am getting really tired of you saying those words constantly and doing the exact opposite.” The man spoke to the purple eyed young woman. “You have been talking about helping me ever since the day we met, but all you have managed to do is to bring me nothing but trouble. Why don’t you go back to your father princess, the reason those guards are out there looking for me, probably after my head, is because of you! So please do us both a favor, and go back to your elven father and never come anywhere near me ever again. Is that too much to ask?!”

Eira shook her head. “It is not,” she mumbled underneath her breath. “I suppose I will take my leave now, and I’m sorry for all the trouble I have caused you. I promise to try and convince my father not to harm you in anyway, it is the least I can do.”

As the red haired princess turned away, the lycan noticed the wound on her neck from when his claw had grazed her before.

“Wait...” The silver haired man grabbed his sleeve and tore a piece of cloth from it. He then crouched down and plucked some leaves from a plant that wasn’t too far from his feet.

“What are you doing?” Eira asked the man who had begun to chew the leaves.

Elric spit the leaves into the cloth he had just torn and wrapped them. He then walked towards Eira and pressed the cloth containing the leaves onto her wound. “That will help keep it from getting infected, hold on to that until you get him and dress the wound.”

The princess held onto the cloth and pressed it against her wound, she was surprised that the cut had not healed yet. Normally, a cut as small as that would heal almost instantly, so why had this one persisted?

“Thank you,” Eira mumbled as a small smile tugged lips. “It’s honestly a little disgusting, but I appreciate it nonetheless.”

Elric knitted his eyebrows in irritation and took a step back, he looked to the side, averting Eira’s purple gaze and dismissed her. “You may leave now, you’ve overstayed your welcome here.”

The princess scoffed before nodding her head. It relieved her heart that even though Elric must have been extremely angry with her, he still thought of helping her with her wound. “See you around Eric...”

The man glared at Eira, “No you will not!”

*

When Eira reappeared in her room, she found almost everybody sitting there waiting for her. Her mother was the first to see her, she got up from Eira’s bed where she had been sitting, and quickly rushed to her daughters side.

“Eira! Oh thank the gods!” Melissa spoke as she hugged her daughter tightly. When she let go of the princess, she cupped her face in the palms of her hands and inspected her frantically. When her blue eyes landed on the piece of cloth that Eira was pressing onto her neck, the look of worry on Melissa’s face turned into anger.

The redhead Queen grabbed the piece of cloth and tore it off her daughters neck. there was no wound there, but the traces of blood were clearly visible.

“That bastard!” Melissa yelled, “did he do this to you?!”

“No!” The princess denied, “it was an accident, he didn’t mean to hurt me!”

The former elven queen walked towards her granddaughter and tilted her chin up. “It looks like it was a nasty wound. He probably tried to kill you and yet you still defend him?”

“Elric is a very manipulative man,” Vivian spoke, “he is playing mind games with you Eira, playing the victim so you can defend him even though he is clearly a monster.”

Eira pushed her mother away and took a step back, “What is it that Elric did exactly that makes you slander him so?!” The princess questioned. “Because as far as I know, he has been nothing but kind to me. He has been living on his own peacefully until I invaded his space. Yes, I went to him! It’s my fault he came to the ball, and it’s my fault father is now invading the only place he calls home!”

“Eira listen to me-”

“No mother, for once you listen to me!” The princess exclaimed. “I want to know what crime he committed that has all of you treating him the way you do!”

Maria, Vivian, Melissa, Estel and Tauriel all exchanged nervous glances.

“Well?!” Eira asked a second time, “what crime did he commit? You’re always talking about how just and fair a king should reign, but what is just and fair about haunting a man down just because he attended a stupid party?!”

Melissa cleared her throat and turned to the other women in the room. It was time she told her daughter about what happened seventeen years ago and set the records straight. Elric was not a man Melissa wanted Eira to be involved with in any way, and she was going to explain why in great detail.

“Please excuse us for a moment,” Melissa asked the other women in the room. “I believe it’s about time my daughter and I had a little chat, woman to woman.”

The other occupants in the room nodded, and one by one they left the room. When the door was closed, Melissa walked to a chair and gestured her daughter to sit next to her.

“I’m alright,” Eira responded, “I would rather stand.”

“After you hear what I’m about to tell you, you may not be able to look at Elric the same again.” The Nosferatu woman pointed to the chair next to her a second time, “please, you will need to sit down for this one Eira.”

The princess’ heart skipped a few beats, what exactly had Elric done in the past that would make her see him in different light? She began to doubt if she actually wanted to know what had transpired between them. But Eira had already decided that if she wanted to abate the situation, she needed to hear the story from both sides.

The hybrid princess walked slowly to the chair next to her mother and sat down. Never had Eira seen her mother look quite so serious before, the air around was so thick that you could cut it with a knife, it was almost choking.

Melissa took a deep breath, before tilting her head up and looking into her daughter’s eyes. “A long time ago...” she spoke in a serious tone. “Long before you were born or even convinced, I was married to Elric.”

Eira’s eyes narrowed at her mother. Had she just said she was married to Eric? She couldn’t be serious could she? Surely her mother was playing tricks on her.

“I was married to Elric, because I thought your father was dead.”