The Pure-Hearted Princess and the Kiss of Darkness

- KATALEYA

I stumble back, my heart skipping a beat at the way he holds my arm making sure I don't fall, his power surging forward, and I don't know if I'm just somehow more heightened to his power but I can feel the difference within it, it is not just a powerful aura that belongs to an alpha but one that is intertwined with the very threads created with magic and fire.

My eyes blaze as Enrique raises his other hand, a blast of blinding power throwing the chupacabra back where it lets out a strangled blood curdling scream before it incinerates completely just as another one pushes out from the crack. Enrique turns, but this time I beat him to it. Raising my hand, I send a wave of light surrounded by glowing petals at the monster. A move that looks more beautiful than dangerous, but the moment it touches him it is torn apart, and I look away as bits of the monster fly everywhere.

No! I wasn't trying to do that! Oh, that's gross!

I am trying to hold back my powers but I'm still overdoing it... I try not to think of the thing I killed and try to remind myself he was a killer and not the fact that it might have had a family.

"Nice," Enrique says, making me look down at the messy scene.

"Nice? There was nothing nice about it." I whisper, looking at the one he had killed far more gracefully.

"I guess we consider different things nice." His eyes glance down at me before they snap up to look into mine.

"I guess we do. That seems to be the common norm between us, anyway. We don't see eye to eye now, do we?" I say softly before I turn and look at the three guardsmen for a moment and smile politely, before turning back to Enrique. "So, what's the plan from here? How do you plan to close this place off or block it off? We have not been able to find a way to close a portal."

"What if we both tried? I mean, you're very strong and capable." I shake my head, trying not to blush at the compliment.

"I'm afraid we can't. If too many powers are forced at a crack, it only weakens the surrounding area of the veil and enlarges the opening rapidly. Trust me, we've experimented," I say, looking down at my hands. After Apophis, we did find a crack, and we tried but it doesn't work like that.

"There are three known cracks in the veils so far and we've tried closing them, in different ways, even combined, but things didn't go well. So now we only experiment on one which has had nothing come through it. However, if you think you and I can try, then it will have to be with the one in the Scottish Highlands, in the United Kingdom." I continue.

"So, then we use magic and barriers created from the strongest metal. We'll create several layers of barriers and walls to make sure they can't make it even an inch through the crack and into my waters."

I swoon internally. Oh, why does he sound so handsome when he talks? I blink and furrow my brows, clearing my throat.

"That is... close to what we have done in England..."

"Hmm, yet I didn't need a Rossi brain to point out the obvious," he mocks, and I almost roll my eyes. Almost.

"But it's a Rossi that..." I giggle and wave my hand. "Never mind."

He looks at me, narrowing his eyes. "You really should learn to behave."

I pout. "But I always do. I'm a good girl."

He smirks but says nothing as he looks across at Rhea. Her eyes are glimmering as she looks back at him and for a moment, I wonder if they are speaking.

Enrique clears his throat. "Now that we know the location, we'll keep guard until we have built several walls of strong metal cages and that won't take long," he says, crossing his arms.

"Excellent idea, Mi Rey, at this rate we will be done quickly," Rhea says, smiling at him. "And the quicker the problems are solved, the quicker the Asheton Reina may return home." I am home.

"Indeed," I say, glancing at Enrique. "I'll see you on the surface." I reach for my mask when he takes hold of my wrist. "We-"

"Let's go, Mi Rey." Neither of us misses the tone in her voice. With every small move, I can tell she is the reason for what he did... Should I speak to him when we are alone... after all, if I want, I can sneak around, and no one can even sense me... Enrique nods, bringing me from my thoughts. "Then let's wait for our guest to head up first," he suggests, letting go of me.

"Perfect, is that alright?" Rhea asks as she watches me almost challengingly.

"I came down by myself, did I not?" I ask, not bothering any further with her as I begin adjusting my gear, ready to swim back up to shore, I step out of the area they had created, the water hitting me, I can feel his eyes on me as I take off, swimming upwards... "At least it's found," Raihana says, sighing as I sit there swirling my straw, the ice in my cup creating a pleasant sound. I've showered and now have an iced coffee in my hand. "We could ask if they need help with speeding up the process of making those cages. It's a clever idea and I guess much easier when it's under the water and we don't need to do something like that in the middle of a city."

Carlos, Uncle Liam and Ahren had gone out for food and drinks, but we had decided to stay home. Delsanra spent a while on the phone with Rayhan, and I think we were all just tired after being out in the sun.

"We should ask if he needs help? It might even give us a chance to get close enough to implement step one," Delsanra adds. I smile. "He is quite easy to annoy." I giggle.

"Forget that. All I saw was the glares everyone was getting when you stepped out of the water. He's so into you." Skyla snickers. "The dude is whipped but doesn't even know it. Ignorance truly is bliss, isn't it, my precious Mal?" Sky coos, lifting her cat up and rubbing her own nose with hers.

"Well, he did invite Kataleya to his engagement, which could be a good time to ask him," Delsanra suggests.

"I'm sure we can all just go. I'm sure the more the merrier, right?" Skyla asks, making Raihana smirk. "True, what do you think, Kat?"

"I like the idea, but we will need dresses." I point out.

Raihana sits forward. "Oh, we can get dresses from anywhere in the world and they'll be here. So, the aim is dress to kill, right?" she asks, her eyes sparkling. I smile. There are rare moments when Raihana's eyes sparkle like that these days. 3 "You mean dress to excite a certain something?" Skyla cackles. "I hope his pants are loose, so it isn't too obvious!" "Sky!" I scold, blushing.

Delsanra chuckles. "I hate to say this, but I love the idea. I heard of a queen once who attended her lover's engagement..." She smiles and I know who she means, Mama...

I always wanted a love story as great as theirs. Somehow, I seem to be getting all the pain that came with it too... but does it mean in the end I will have my knight in shining armour? Why does my heart still hope, although it just hurts me? "Men are assholes," Raihana says, shaking her head.

"I'll leave the dresses to you then," I say as I stand up. "Me and Skyla will go meet Marie at the packhouse, and I guess we can put step 1 into action."

"If you do, alert us first so we are around if something happens," Raihana says. "I'll get those dresses done. You girls have fun."

"There's one more thing..." I say, pausing. "I want to find the ash stone for him..."

Raihana tilts her head. "I wish I knew where to look, but I don't. We would try a locator spell, but I don't think that will work." "No... maybe not..." I sigh. There has to be something...

Hugo's words when I rushed out this morning return and I frown. "Trust in him.' Why did he say that? He has to know more. "Ri, did you manage to check regarding the enchantment thing?" I ask. She clicks on instantly and nods.

"I couldn't sense any spells on him... but I did feel he has been exposed to magic, there were signs of contamination, you can say, a little how the darkness lingers in this place.

I nod, a sudden thought coming to me, and I look over at Skyla. "I'll meet you outside in a short while Sky, I'm just going to ask Hugo something."

Skyla nods as I quickly exit the room to find the butler who served the Escarras for so long. I find him in the garden tending to some plants, and he looks up when I step outside.

He's dressed smartly in smart and a white shirt with pale grey stripes down it. Despite the job he's doing, he is clean and dirt- free. I watch him as everything he has done and said replays in my mind. I cannot deny that he is a mystery and I think I need to ask about the thought that had just crossed my mind.

"Who are you?" I ask quietly, my heart thudding at my wild theory.

"Are you alright, My Queen? It's I, Hugo."

"No... I mean, who are you... you have served the Escarras for so long... you seem to know so much... about so much? There is more to you than you let on. Please tell me, I know you are a good person, I can sense that. But I can also sense the secrets that, for some reason, you hide."

He puts down the shears and stands tall. "I am not an enemy. I can assure you that," he says.

"But you are not exactly what you portray... you are not just a butler..." I say this because he hasn't openly denied anything, so I can't accuse him.

"I see you have connected the dots. I am simply obeying my master's orders."

I stare at him, trying to make sense of my assumption. "But it makes no sense..."

He simply smiles as I approach him, and for the first time I look at him properly, and right now under the shining sun, the tone of his eyes captures my full attention, a beautiful, vibrant amber that in the dazzling sunlight looks like burning embers... "Doesn't it?" he asks as my heart races fast, my assumption suddenly confirmed.

"You are a guardsman," I breathe in complete shock. The corner of his eyes crinkles at my words, a confirmation that needs no words as the truth dawns on me in a mind-blowing revelation.

Hugo is a guardsman.

But whose?