Chapter 6 Deceived Kings

• ELLA'S POV
• I can hear the muffled voices of my mistress and her two favorite servants, celebrating from behind the closed doors of her chambers. Their joyful tones echo through the quiet hallway. The kings must have rewarded her for successfully lifting their curse.
• I am still trying to ponder over what happened when I touched one of the kings. I have never stolen or learned to use any of Princess Hellen's spells. I merely wrote down what she instructed me to. Yet, it was my touch that had miraculously healed one of the alpha king's skin. It was a sight more terrifying than any magic I had witnessed before.
• Magic, as I had come to understand, requires meticulous preparation, such as chants and rituals. But whatever had occurred during the dinner was beyond comprehension. It was as if something otherworldly had taken place.
• Suddenly, the door to our servant room swing open and Julia stands on the doorway.
• "Princess Hellen wants you to join us. We are cerebrating." she informs me and my eyes widen as I rise from the bed where I have been resting.
• "Should I bring the harp?" I ask, they never invite me to celebrate or even eat with them ever, unless I'm there to entertain them. Julia shakes her head before leaving.
• I quietly approach the door to my mistress's chambers. The soft, muffled voices from within grow louder revealing the joyous conversation taking place inside. I knock and enter.
• Princess Hellen, sits at the head of the table her vibrant spirit evident on her smiling face. I walk forward. "Your Highness, I am honored by your invitation. What are we celebrating?"
• She smiles and gestures to the overflowing treasure chest at the center of the table. "The mighty alpha kings have rewarded me handsomely for my efforts in lifting their curse."
• She opens the chest, revealing a glittering mound of gold coins. My eyes widen in awe as I gaze inside. "It's... it's magnificent, Your Highness."
• "Yes, it is. And it is only the beginning. The kings have promised me the other half of this treasure and anything else I desire once the remaining two kings are freed from the curse."
• "I'm happy for you, your highness," I say.
• "You know, Ella, I just also realized something extraordinary about you. That you are not a completely useless human. It has become clear to me that you have power, a power that you never knew you possessed."
• "What kind of power?" I ask, confused.
• "A power to pass my spell's energy. You see, when you touched my hand earlier, and then you touched one of the kings, you transferred my spell's energy to him, healing him." She claims.
• That's such a blatant lie. I might be a lowly human but I am not dumb. "Your Highness, I... I don't understand. I have no such power." I respond.
• Princess Hellen smiles coldly. "What I say is the truth. You will accompany me tomorrow to the other two kings, and you will use your gift to help me free them from their curse. Understood?"
• I lower my gaze. "Yes, Your Highness. I understand."
• Princess Hellen nods, satisfied, as Asher and Julia exchange uneasy glances.
• KING REGAN'S POV
• Tonight, we have a reason to celebrate, for after five long years of suffering under a curse, hope has finally found its way to our doorstep.
• "Let us toast to the beautiful princess Hellen, who has given us hope in these dark times." My brother Kian proclaims and we clink our chalices together in cerebration.
• The curse had made us very valuable to other kingdoms. It's very rare for people of our status to feel helpless or threatened. But we couldn't resist feeling incapacitated after so many great sorcerers failed to lift it. We couldn't go out into the daylight without getting a terrible rash.
• The curse had left us with no choice but to wait until we find someone capable of lifting it. We had initially harbored doubts about Princess Hellen's abilities and criticized her chaotic ritual. However, out of courtesy and to conceal our disappointment, we reluctantly agreed to invite her to dine with us.
• But it was during that very dinner that her ritual that we thought was futile, began to take effect. In a matter of hours, my brother Aleric, whose once pale and blemished skin had long suffered since being exposed to sunlight while going to the northern border, now radiates with a healthy glow.
• Even the most expensive medicinal herbs we had been using couldn't produce such rapid and miraculous results. It was as if the rash had vanished into thin air.
• But my brother, Aleric, insists that he felt a gentle graze from our lowly human mate just before the rash miraculously disappeared. But am certain that his sudden good health has nothing to do with our human mate, the girl isn't capable of properly dressing herself let alone lifting a curse.
• I had hoped that my other brother, Kian, was wrong, when he claimed that a weak human girl is our fated mate. But that hope vanished the moment she entered our throne room this morning behind her mistress and I smelled her enchanting scent.
• I had an immense urge to get closer and inhale more of it. But I changed my mind as soon she was standing in front of us.
• She looked like the dumbest and clumsiest person I have ever met. She did have a lovely pair of innocent eyes, but the rest of her was simply gross.
• "Maybe there is something special about her that we don't know of." Aleric remarks and Kian snorts in disgust.
• "I don't see how that fat mess would have healed you. All she can do is entertain, even her mistress made that clear."
• The girl is indeed a mess. It would be impossible to know if she is fat or not when she is wearing a dress that resembles a sack.
• I still cannot fathom why the moon goddess would subject us to such a cruel fate. Was the torture of the curse not enough that she had to bind us to a dump servant girl? Why did she not bless us with a beautiful royal mate like Princess Hellen?
• "Now that we are all sure the despicable thing is our mate we should be figuring out a way to keep people from knowing." I suggest and my brothers nod in agreement.
• "Once the curse is fully lifted I am sure the mate bond will fade away and we will be free to seek a mate befitting our royal status." Kian says.
• "What if the mate bond does not dissipate with the curse? What if we are still mated to her even after the curse is fully gone?" Aleric asks.
• "If the mate bond does not fade away with the curse, then we shall reject her during the day of the full moon," I propose. "It will be the only time she will be able to sense the mate bond."
• A part of me pities her. Like all other women she must have been hoping for a powerful, rich mate that would love and protect her unconditionally. But we are the alpha kings of Goldcrest and we owe it to ourselves and our kingdom to seek a royal match worthy of our stature.
• "Then it is settled. Once the curse is fully lifted, we will rid ourselves of the unfortunate bond." Kian says rising from his seat.