SPELLBOUND

Chapter 621: Mad heart

Those words jolted her.

Her eyes narrowed at him. What did he just say?

"I am an ancient. I was here way before the current royals. Are you now wondering why I've created an army like this?" Klauz smirked at her as though he could hear the thoughts in her mind.

"Because you wanted to overthrow the dark fae royals and take over the throne." Evie phrased it as a statement rather than a question.

"Well, that's a part of it. But overthrowing the royals is not that easy."

"And that's why you have never gone ahead with your plan."

"There's a reason for that, Light Queen. It's not that easy to bring down the royals because when they get cornered, all they have to do is give in to the darkness and fall into madness. They're all cowards who only rely to their darkness when things get hopeless on their side. When that happens, it's not them who will suffer but the entire land. Their fall into madness will cause an unnecessary bloodshed and the funniest thing is that a mad king could only be killed by his own descendant that carry the same darkness in his blood. And after that, the cycle continues to no end. It is like a vicious cycle." Klauz then barked out with disdainful laughter.

"And that's why you've given up because you realized the futility of your plan?"

He smirked.

"I. Never. Give. Up." The danger in his voice skyrocketed. "I simply found the ultimate goal. Why else do you think I've hidden an army this big and strong from them all these years? I found out about the prophecy long ago and started preparing for it since then. I created an army that you and I can lead one day."

Evie shook her head slowly.

"No –"

"Listen," Klauz stepped closer to her, until he cornered her against the railing made of obsidian stone. "You and I will overthrow the royals. You will kill the King of –"

"Stop…" She shouted before trailing off at the feel of his magic around her belly tightening a little. Her heart shook with fear for the safety of her child.

"We are going to stop the destruction. And I know you know exactly the only way how to do it. We must kill them all before the king of darkness awakens. You… are going to kill this future king of darkness… that is all you need to do. I'll kill the rest." He said it as though it was so simple to understand.

Evie could not even say a thing now. Everything that was falling out of his mouth right now was killing her inside. And she could not even use an ounce of power to release everything that was piling up within her. This man had found her ultimate weakness and he was using it against her without mercy.

She had… severely underestimated him.

"I've waited for you for so long, Light Queen. So. Very. Long. You have absolutely no idea how long..." He continued, his cold eyes brimming with intense power, the look within them was almost close to madness. "So don't you ever think you can sway me from achieving my goals. No matter what, we will end this… end them. I will never let these monsters in a man's shape destroy this precious land that belongs to the dark faes."

The resolve in his eyes was something Evie had never seen before. It was like he was living an eternity for this sole purpose. Now she understood this inexplicable strength about him and his army. These people… they were living a life with only one purpose, and it had already been for countless years they were doggedly hanging onto this aim. How could anyone ever make them change their mind?

Evie suddenly remembered that in that war in her vision, this army will in the end be reduced to a smaller number, not even close to five hundred. And those less than five hundred armies of his was as strong as thousands. Evie had a hunch that the reason why Klauz's army was reduced to that number was because of the war that had broken out between him and the royals.

"Klauz…" Evie's voice was weak now. Klauz was just like her. They both had a goal. An unwavering resolve nothing can ever thaw. "Have you ever loved someone so much that you are prepared to get destroyed or destroy the world only if it means that you get to save them?"

He stilled but his eyes slowly darkening, as if her words enraged him. But her voice that was gentled and softened as she spoke held his anger back.

"If that question of yours is what you truly are thinking to do right now, then you are mad! It seems you have caught on the royal's madness for being with them. But it's not too late for you yet. Do not worry, this mad heart of yours will change very soon." He hissed as he pointed at her heart.

That made Evie's insides shiver and clench up in trepidation. Then he grabbed her hand and before she could open her mouth to reject, they had disappeared from the veranda.

They were in another veranda now, one that was much wider. The view was no longer the training grounds but a range of mountains of obsidian crystals and gleaming waterfalls.

"Klauz! What the hell are you planning to do?" Evie felt a surge of panic rising up within her. This setup looked familiar! Too familiar – that she could not help the chill enveloping her.

He pulled her against him and pinched her chin before forcing her to look up at him. "After this, you will realize whom you truly belong to, Light Queen –"

"No!" Evie automatically refuted his claim.

"This heart of yours is deceiving you. You are mine and you will soon understand and feel it all –"

"I said, no! Stop this." Dread gripped Evie's heart when she saw someone suddenly appearing within the circle of crystals below them. That circle of crystals the ones for carrying out the mating ritual! "Wait a moment Klauz!" Evie could no longer stop herself from panicking as Klauz dragged her to the circle. She did not believe that what Klauz was saying could be the truth. But now fear was consuming her, causing her vision to blur a little at the edges. Him bringing her to a mating ritual so confidently like this… does this mean that what he was saying was all true? That he was truly her mate? She felt contradictory emotions swirling within her. The doubts that she had on why Gav never wanted to discuss this and had never mentioned how she was his mate suddenly came back in a wave and overwhelmed her. The fear and uncertainty caused her to choke up.

This cannot be! No!!!