Rivia: Royal Palace, Grand Foyer

• Elianna •

After the night of celebration, everyone had gotten ready to return to Iftia the following day.

Standing in the Grand Foyer, Tazin sent his regards to both of the Princes before Naailah stepped forward and took Rowan's hand. She rested her forehead on the back of his hand as a gesture expressing respect and gratitude while he responded with a well-intended wish, "Peace be upon you, Naailah."

"And upon you be peace," she replied softly.

After releasing Rowan's hand, Naailah walked towards Elianna. She quickly lowered to bow but that was halted by the Princess. Her pale grey eyes zeroed into her amber ones and she reminded, "Please remember what I said, Elianna."

Despite feeling conflicted by the complicated mix of emotions that swarmed to her once again, she nodded, "I remember."

"I'll be waiting for you," Naailah whispered in a voice that was only audible to her before crashing into Elianna and hugged her tightly. It took Elianna by surprise but she folded her arms and returned the hug nonetheless. At the sight, Tazin laughed, "It's rare to see Naailah so attached to someone. The Royal Doctor sure has the magic of a blessed child."

Flinching, all the muscles in her body tensed uncomfortably. She dare not even think about her mark of blessing and the ridiculous mistake made by Thethia. All of them knew about her eyes and what they meant, but she wondered if they knew that she was also a Thethian. A sudden chill ran down her spine forcing her to arch her back and stand straighter in unnatural rigidity.

"We should go," Rowan said, smiling slightly towards Tazin before leading everyone through the teleportation portal.

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Iftia: Lyx Palace, Outside the Palace

• Elianna •

Her teeth chattered and her body shook in the cold as the icy Iftian wind rushed through them. Spending a few days in the heat of Rivia had made her forget about the extreme cold back here. Rowan draped a thick coat covers her shoulder and dusted her with magic warmth. She rubbed her hands together and huffed a mouthful of warm air in futile attempt to unfreeze her fingers. She complained, "I wish I could get used to this."

"None of us ever got used to it," Rowan laughed.

"Exactly," Alec added. "I hate coming back to snowstorms, but it seemed to always be that case."

"Alec's getting too old to stand the cold," Kaylon poked fun, cackling away.

"You're just ten years away from being that way," Tristan reminded.

"You brat!" Kaylon reprimanded as he swung his arm around Tristan's shoulder and locked his head under his arm.

"These monkeys," Ilias sighed and shook his head despondently.

Elianna laughed heartily as she trudged her way through the heavy snow beneath, having difficulty walking when she was already knee-deep into the pile of snow. From the back, she felt a hand circled around her waist and the other behind her knees before being hoisted up. She yelped in surprise and turned to see Rowan grinning charmingly at her. He held her in his hold and strode towards the main gates of Lyx. His longer legs had helped her reach her destination a lot faster than if she was to struggle alone. She blushed furiously but stayed obediently in his arms.

When they entered through the main gates, Rowan told her that he would have to get back to work and the knights followed behind him as they left. She parted ways with everyone and returned to her bedchambers with Thunder. Removing the thick fur coat, she carefully folded it and placed them neatly onto the armchair.

Thunder jumped into its human form and said, "I'll be going to Thethia for a while."

He made his way to the wooden cabinet and grabbed his daggers. Hiding under a dark cloak, he walked towards the portal which Rowan had set in her room that would lead the way back to Thethia.

"Please be safe," she said.

"Always will," he smiled and walked through the portal.

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Thethia: Royal Palace, Throne Room

• Thunder •

"Your Majesty," Thunder knelt before the King with his right palm pressed against his left chest. His other hand held out a clear vial and presented it towards Wynston. "I have come to deliver the vial."

Wynston let out a deep, raucous laugh before stepping away from his throne and took the vial from him and drank it. "You did a great job. The strengthening vials worked so much better than those that were given by the Royal Doctors."

"You overpraised me, the doctor should be receiving these credits," Thunder said, feigning honour.

Eli made these vials. Other than strengthening herbs, she hid minimal dosages of poison. The poison was harmless, but if accumulated, they can become lethal. And the best thing? The person would not die immediately. It would be an extremely slow, painful and torturous death, fitting for the monster who stood in front of him.

"Never glory a talent. Look at Jason Wayland, praised by everyone to be a genius. Yet, he died as a traitor of the Kingdom, burned to ashes together with his title," Wynston said in disdain and Thunder closed his fingers into fists to suppress the boiling anger deep within him. "Good riddance, I would say."

Thunder's gaze remained low, his jaw clenched tightly and the vein in his temples threatened to burst at the pressure of his wrath. But in the eyes of Wynston, he looked composed and even unfazed by the words he said. Those were traits that this tyrant admired and eventually decided to keep him by his side to serve him. More of it, it was because Thunder managed to gain his trust by helping him to get rid of people against his rule.

By getting rid, Wynston would never know that Elianna and he had relocated most of them to the borders of Iftia or Rivia.

"I have got a name for you," the tyrant smirked.

"I am ready to serve, Your Majesty."

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Iftia: Lyx Palace, Elianna's Bedchamber

• Elianna •

She sat by the window reading some medical texts when Thunder appeared suddenly through the portal. He was panting raggedly and his expression grave. He looked at her and rushed, "Eli, hurry. We need to go."

They went through the portal in the fastest speed possible. Threading through the woods with swift accuracy and keen familiarity of their paths, she kept her gaze on Thunder all the time. His face was taut throughout and within his emerald green eyes, speckled worry and tension.

"Who is it this time?" she asked, ceasing her movement.

"We got no time to waste, Eli," he became frantic. "Please don't stop!"

"Tell me," she demanded.

"Earl Martin Wayland," Thunder spoke, voice low.

Befuddled by the name, she stared towards Thunder with horror in her eyes. Her mouth dropped open, wanting to say something but she didn't know what else to say except to ask for the obvious, hoping that it was her ears playing tricks on her.

"Jason's father?" 

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