He paced back and forth across the cell and occasionally threw his prisoner a venomous look. He took a deep breath and said something incoherent underneath his breath. He started pacing again; shot her a glare then muttered a curse.

He'd been doing that for the past thirty minutes now and it was giving Ana a trifling headache. She observed his lithe movement, the graceful sway of his arms, and the dramatic swish of his cloak. If one would've been trapped alone in a dungeon for over a day, any movement from someone other than hers would seem very... entertaining.

"You know, in as much as your pacing back and forth is highly amusing to watch, I need to hit the road. So, would you be kind enough to open the gates and please, please let me out of here? And I'm asking nicely here if you haven't noticed it yet," Ana said as she followed her captor's movements with her eyes. She leaned back against the cold wall of the dungeon, one knee raised, and her arm casually rested atop her knee.

Legolas stopped his pacing and glared at Ana. "If I only knew who you were, I would have slaughtered you the moment I had laid my eyes on you in the meadow."

"Okaaaay Legolas," Ana started as she stood and approached the bars. "You are one angry elf who has lots of issues to work out. Unfortunately, I have no time to be the recipient of your angsts and threats. If you let me go, I might recommend someone to help you. He goes by the name of Dr. Hopper, also known as Jiminy Cricket in another world—not that you needed to know that—however, I'm chummy with Snow and she swears by that Dr. Hopper is a genius. I could, you know pull some strings and—"

"Don't you know when to stop talking, vampire?" he grated. "And I don't need any hopper. And for the last time, vampire, my name is Ivan! Prince Ivan to you."

"Okay, Prince Ivan—?"

"Ivan. Just Prince Ivan."

"Right, Just Prince Ivan, the first thing is I have a name and it's not a vampire. Second thing, I don't respond well to threats, so I'd advise you to choose your words wisely. And third, don't you have some prancing unicorns to feed or fairy dust to sprinkle? You've been hanging out here with me in this cell for like the past half-an-hour. And you're no fun to be with."

Prince Ivan approached the bars. "First, you are a vampire. Just admit it. Second, I will give threats whenever it pleases me. Third, I don't have any prancing unicorns to feed. You cannot hold a unicorn captive. And I don't sprinkle fairy dust! I'm an elf—we don't have fairy dust—and I'm allergic to dust."

"Ah. An elf who's allergic to fairy dust. Now you have given me an idea," Ana said smugly. "You know, you should never reveal your weakness to an enemy."

"Aha! So now you do admit you're an enemy."

"Must you always take everything literally?" She crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes. "Okay, let's start over. Hello, Prince Ivan. My name is Ana Romualdez. I'm from a normal place called Earth, the third planet from the sun. I want to freak out but freaking out won't help so I decided to be open-minded about everything, considering that I am talking to someone with pointed ears. So, despite everything else, I'm glad to have made your acquaintance." Ana resisted the urge to make a curtsy.

When Ivan just stared back at her with a puzzled look, Ana jerked her chin. "Go on. It's your turn."

Ivan scowled at her, nevertheless, he complied. "My name is Ivan, Prince of Elfiro, the elven kingdom in this realm—Enkantria, which also happens to be found on Earth, the third planet from the sun. And I don't see any point with this conversation."

"Well, that went well. Uhm. Okay. Ivan, I have this weird feeling that you don't like me—"

"I despise you," Ivan said, cutting her off.

"Despise is a strong word, considering you don't even know me to hate me that much. So, here's the thing. I don't know why you placed me in this—uh—jail but I guess there's a misunderstanding." Ana took a deep, long breath before speaking again. "I swear I am not a vampire. I have a freakish aversion to blood. I am not an enemy—I am a victim. I just want to go home."

"Go home to your kingdom Sanggre? And what? Ask your brother and father to retaliate with the elves? You vampires hold my brother captive as we speak. I am just returning them the favor."

"But I don't know where Sanggre is! I don't have a brother and a father—I'm an orphan. And I told you a thousand times, I AM NOT A VAMPIRE!" Ana forced her erratic heart to calm down. "Look, I need to go home. I need to go back to the—uh—kingdom of the Philippines. I am best buddies with the king there and he will not take this issue of you abducting me very lightly."

"The Republic of the Philippines has no king," he stated with a glare.

"Oh," she said sheepishly. "I guess you've been there, huh?"

For a moment, Ivan seemed to be weighing his thoughts. He grasped the bars and looked her in the eyes. "If I'll let you go and direct you to the portal to your world, are you sure you will be leaving Enkantria and never come back here?"

"Yes!" Ana exclaimed as she grabbed the bars and returned Ivan's stare. "I'll even promise to forget everything—about you, about this dungeon, about everything else."

Ivan took a deep breath, then manifested a set of skeleton keys from the insides of his cloak. "I'll let you out; I'll direct you to the portal." He opened the lock. When Ana was about to open the door Ivan grabbed the bars of the cell, preventing her from stepping outside. "You have to be quiet."

She made a closing zipper over her mouth gesture and crossed her heart. Ivan looked puzzled with her hand gesture, but nevertheless nodded and directed her outside the lower dungeon.

***

Ivan held a torch as they ascended the curving narrow bricked stairs leading to the upper level of the dungeons. Earlier, he had ordered the guards to leave him and the vampire alone. Now, the dungeon was completely desolated, and he was helping their one and only prisoner to escape.

He needed to do this. He needed her to be out of the realm and prevent that absurd idea of marrying the vampire. Killing her would have been easier to solve his problem. But elves were not raised to be monsters like the vampires were. He would not taint his hands with the unwarranted killing of a helpless and innocent-looking vampire. Despite her being a vampire, she was still a female. And a noble elf respects a female.

So why was he thinking of things that could only be described as less noble when he felt her chest brushed against his back when they flatten themselves on the wall to hide from the approaching guards, or how his skin turned warm when she grabbed his arm to slow him down? Or how he fantasized about running his fingers on those luxurious black hair of hers while staring at those beautiful brown eyes that complemented the rest of her small, lovely face? And what was worse, it was a vampire who made him react that way!

The encantos believed in a natural pull or instinct they call the Tadhana. They feel the power of Tadhana when they found their fated one that they called Irog. And Ivan refused to believe it was the Tadhana that made him feel certain indescribable feelings towards the small, framed vampire with a very sassy mouth but extremely soft-looking lips. Arrgh! Not now Ivan. Do not entertain thoughts such as those, he reprimanded himself. He had already fantasized of roaming his hands across her smooth belly before, and now he was thinking of kissing and savoring her lips?

It isn't the Tadhana. You are just becoming a very perverted elf with very perverted thoughts, lusting over a comely female, he tried to convince himself.

"Where exactly are we going?" the vampire whispered from behind him.

Ivan looked over his shoulder and gave her a glare. "We will use the back door so no one will notice us." Then he continued his pace.

"Why are you helping me now?" she asked. "I thought you wanted me dead."

"I don't kill for no apparent reason. I needed you to be gone from our land. That is all."

"Are you going to be in trouble for helping me?"

"Vampire, it is customary for someone escaping to remain quiet. Otherwise, they will be easily caught."

"Oh," she said. "Sorry. I'll zip it."

They turned a corner and at the end of the hall, Ivan pulled open a wooden door and stepped outside, the cold night greeting them. He pulled his wide hood over his head and held the torch aloft. "We will use this lane here. It leads directly outside the kingdom," Ivan said as he jerked his chin towards the lane.

They walked towards the narrow-cemented lane. The castle was situated atop a plateau and surrounded by massive walls that protected the small town within. Beyond the walls lies the wide expanse of the elven kingdom with villages plenty.

"How did you come about finding your way here in the realm?" Ivan asked curiously.

"I was being chased by weird men. They said that I needed to die," Ana explained. "They were armed with crossbows and old-fashioned pistols. I don't know why they were after me. Then I stumbled upon, I don't know, a portal or something when I was trying to escape them."

"They are probably some hunters. They usually hunt our kind that lives in the human world."

"But I am human!" Ana insisted.

"Apparently, you're not. And I could sense that you are not human. We can sense our kind." He halted and turned to face her. "Wait here. I'll get us a horse."

He was about to leave the vampire when a cold laugh echoed through the air.

"Well, well. What do we have here? Are you planning to elope with my sister, elf?"

He whirled around to find Kristoff leaning his shoulder on a tree with a smirk on his pale face. Ivan gave his old nemesis a murdering look.