293 Chapter 293 : The list

As the soldier extended his hand, reaching for Elric’s helmet, the lycan sprung his razor sharp claws behind his back. The moment he had heard the man call out to them, Elric had already decided that peace was not an option, he would kill these men, get himself caught, so they could take him straight to Eira. This plan of moving in disguise was frustrating him, he didn’t have the time to play soldier anymore.

Just a few inches more.. the soldier would make contact with Elric and he would lodge his claws into the man’s stomach and then quickly slice the throat of the other.

The lycan did not want to kill any Gavarian man, he did not want to stir up any animosity between him and the Gavarian people, especially because he was pursuing their princess. But Elric was not known to be a patient man, and his patience had run out.

Elric removed his hand from behind his back, but just before he could stab the man, his comrade grabbed Elric’s arm and pushed the other man away.

“Wait! I recognize you..” the second soldier spoke to Elric. He then turned to his friend and gave him a reassuring nod. “It’s alright soldier, he is one of the men in Sir Alexander and I’s battalion. You may go back to base, I’ll deal with these insubordinate men myself.”

The taller man gave the other a salute and turned to leave, the whole time stunning Elric and leaving him wondering what was going on. Who was this man? He had clearly seen his claws and had seen what he was about to do. So why did he cover for him and his men?

The man took a step back and reached for his own helmet. As he pulled it off his head, Elric’s eyes remained fixated on him and his claws remained barred, just in case his act of help was for his own malicious agenda.

historical

When the man’s head gear was fully off, and the cold snowy breeze whipped his hair from his face, the silver haired lycan was stunned to see who had saved them.

“I am Sir Jonathan Morrell,” he spoke authoritatively. “Second in charge in the Gavarian army and captain of the queen’s royal gaurd.” A smug smile suddenly tugged one corner of the man’s lips giving him a rather sly look. “You of course, Elric of the snowlands, know me as Melissa’s older brother.”

.....

Elric’s eyes widened in shock. This was one of the Morrell twins, Jonathan and Alexander. He was part of the people who fought against him when he was pursuing Melissa all those years ago, why was he saving him now? Was it for revenge?

“If you want to make it to your destination, I suggest you put those away.”

Elric looked down at his claws and slowly retracted them. “Why are you helping me?”

“You want to ask questions Elric, or you want to save my niece?”

With every word that left Jonathan’s lips, Elric got even more confused. So this man knew that he was going to the capital because of Eira and he still had not plunged his sword through Elric’s torso. How strange.

“Follow me, you’ll draw suspicion standing out in the cold, in a shire you clearly do not belong,” Jonathan mumbled as he put his helmet back on and began to walk the other way.

Elric watched the man walk ahead and then hesitantly gave his men an approving nod. They began to follow Jonathan through the thick snow towards a tall grey building. Logically, what Elric would have done was to thank Jonathan for the help and run, but he was curious to know why the man was being so helpful. He thought that all the Morrell brothers despised him.

*

When the birds of the next morning chirped and the sun rays lightly illuminated the palace, Maria walked down the hallways towards Eira’s sleeping chambers to help her prepare for the day. During the winter, the princess was like bear cub, hibernating and never wanting to leave her bed. Had it not been for Eira meeting her suitors, Maria was sure she would sleep in every single day.

The nosferatu woman knocked gently on Eira’s closed door before opening it, “Eira good morning-”

Maria was utterly surprised when she found that Eira was already awake and dressed up, she had even tied up her hair herself and put away her night gown and coat.

“Oh good morning Maria,” the princess spoke with a smile. “I hope you had a good night’s sleep.”

“I did,” Maria responded with a wary smile. “How did you sleep? Did you get any sleep at all? You’re never up this early.”

“I slept just fine.” Eira walked passed Maria into the hallway. “I hope you don’t mind, I took the liberty of dressing myself for today, I didn’t want to be late for my meeting with the king and his council.”

Maria was still a little shocked at all that was happening. Wasn’t today the day princess Eira was to come up with the list of qualifying suitors from which she was to choose a husband? She had expected her to be a bit more downcast than this, especially considering that Elric would not be on the list. But here the princess was looking almost happy and suspiciously calm, was Eira up to something?

“I should get going now,” the redhead spoke before curtsying. “Have a good day!”

Maria watched as the princess practically ran down the hall towards the library. “Oh okay, have a good day as well Eira.”

*

Inside the library, Zhelimir and Damien were already there, bickering about who they felt would make it on Eira’s list and who would not make the cut.

“I bet the list will not even make it to ten,” Damien spoke. “She barely liked anyone she met, I bet you the list will have two people, Isabella and that Maxim man.”

“I thought you had a bad feeling about Maxim,” Zhelimir pointed it out. “Now you want him on the list?”

“Why do you have a bad feeling about Maxim?”

The two men turned to look at Eira who had walked into the library and gave each other nervous glances.

“Gossip should be left for the women,” Eira teased. “It is beneath you.”

The red haired princess sat down on a chair in front of a large table with a plain parchment and a quip next to it. when she was seated, one of the royal guards sat down next to her and rolled out the list of suitors who she had met over the past few weeks.

“I am assuming you do not remember the names of all the suitors you met your grace, so I am here to help you,” the guard spoke. “I will also tell you the specific activities that you did with each of them to help jog your memory.”

Eira dipped the quill in ink and began write down the names of the top ten qualifiers, calling them out by name without waiting for the royal guard to go through his list.

Everyone in the room was stunned at how accurate Eira was at remembering the names of each of the suitors she was penning down, including their titles as well.

When she she reached the last three slots, she paused and looked up at her cousins who were intensely reading the names she had written down.

“Are you not going to add Jacob on the list?” Zhelimir asked in a slightly nervous tone. He had promised Janis that he would help her brother. Even though Zhelimir was sure Jacob would in no way end up with Eira, he at least hopped he would make the final cut, so that if nothing came of it, it would not be Zhelimir’s fault and Janis would not think he did nothing to help.

“Jacob? You mean that psychotic man who almost went on a rampage while Eira was nearby?” Damien asked in disdain. “Why on earth would Eira want to add him on the list? In fact, he should stay as far away from her as possible.”

Eira knew why Zhel wanted her to add Jacob on the list, he was merely trying to be in Janis’ good graces and it would be unfair to not help him out. He was like a brother to her after all.

She wrote down Jacob’s name on one slot, and then proceeded to jotting down Maxim’s name as well. To be honest, it would be rather odd to leave Maxim out, even though she wanted to be mere friends, he was the only one who had actually shown her a good time. Secretly, Eira thought that maybe if Elric did not show up, Maxim may make a good husband, just to keep her parents quiet.

On the last slot, Eira felt her heart race as she placed the tip of the quill on the parchment, the name she would write down here, she was putting down because Isabella had given her a little bit of hope that Elric would not just give up on her, and she prayed with all her heart that he did not, because of he did, she would spend the rest of her life fairly unhappy.