"SO YOU read my letters and think it's wise to follow me here," Edric said, half-sitting on the table. His gaze was lost to the fire as he absentmindedly played with the signet ring on his right middle finger. "Did it ever cross your mind that this would make me trust you less? We have a deal, don't we? You keep yours and I keep mine."

"I. . ." Melusine didn't know what to say. She never thought things would play out like this. The initial plan was to observe and watch, not engage with the Knights and reveal herself to the prince. It was supposed to be simple, but everything went downhill the moment she triggered the trap. Of course, she should have expected it. The Knights were in a never-ending chase of cat and mouse with the Hunters. Setting a trap would be a reasonable course of action. Melusine should have thought of that and been careful. It was her fault.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and forced the words out. "I saw it as an opportunity. And. . ." Melusine reached for the leaf pendant the Fairy Mother gave her and twiddled it. Closing her eyes and biting her lips, she bowed her head in her lack of vanity. "I'm sorry. It's so wrong of me. I admit that I had second-guessed your intention and had no reason to trust you but. . . I realized I'm no better." She looked up at him and smiled sadly. "We are in this together. The plan was your idea but I am equally accountable because I agreed.

"Thinking back, I never gave you enough reason to trust me either. I am just Mel to you. Some lady from an unknown land. But you held onto that truth and trusted me with your secret identity and your involvement with the Knights. Between the two of us, you're the one who has so much at stake."

It didn't matter if he was a prince and she was just some pretend noble lady. One was a powerless human and the other a powerful fairy. To hurt and offend and to never atone was equally a crime as to kill, for she would be doing a disservice to her values and morals.

Melusine still remembered the Fairy Mother's words as clearly as day. And to apologize to a human would not make her less of a fairy. If it was true that the Fairy Mother was watching her every move, Melusine prayed she'd be forgiven for she'd only do what she thought was right.

Melusine dropped to the ground on her knees. The trees outside quivered as they whispered disapproval in the air.

Someone else in the room gasped, but she didn't bother to look. There was only her and Edric in that little space she created. Melusine poured all her heart into her words. "Please, give me another chance. I promise to never break your trust again. I'm sorry. I'm really—"

An arm wound around the small of her back and another to the back of her knees. She gasped and stared wide-eyed at the prince as he carried her across the room and settled her on a threadbare couch near the fire.

Anger radiated off the prince. More to himself than to her it seemed. The muscles on his face relaxed at the sight of her. Edrickneeled on one knee as he reached for her face to wipe the tears with his thumb. Melusine did not realize she was crying and suddenly, her face felt hot.

"Do not ever do it again, Mel."

She shook her head. "No, I won't—"

"You won't kneel to anyone ever again. You hear me?" he said in a firm voice. "You could have just apologized and I would have forgiven you."

Melusine's eyebrows almost touched when she frowned. "Just like that?"

Edric nodded. "Just like that." He let out a small laugh as he searched her face as if an answer was written there. "What are you doing to me, Mel?"

"I'm not doing anything," she protested. "Wait. What do you think I am doing to you?"

"What he meant to ask is what are you doing to his heart? It hasn't been long since the two of you met, but you're making him feel things he's not ready to accept." A man whose smile was brighter than the sun with dark hair, pale skin, and tiny freckles on his face cut in front of the prince and took her hand. "I'm Silas by the way. It's a pleasure to meet the lady in our prince's heart." He brought the back of her hand to his lips and kissed it.

As if burned by something, Silas dropped her hand. As he put distance between them, Edric moved to her right, sat cross-legged on the couch's arm, and draped his arm behind her.

Shaking his head and grinning, Silas gestured for the only young boy in the room to come near. "And if you've read my recent letters to the prince, you must already know Coco by his name."

Coco was as tall as Silas' chest with a chubby frame and dark skin. The child gave neither delight nor unease at her presence. But he followed her every move, when she was shifting her arms, tilting her head, or adjusting herself on the seat.

Melusine's back straightened as she leaned forward, having the urge to cage the child in her protective arms and shield him from the world. "I. . . I don't understand. You let children in the Knights?"

Silas nodded. "Children—" he looked at the cage above the fireplace "—and birds."

A parrot with a predominant green plumage cawed. "Squawk. . . Birds. . . Squawk."

"That's Gigi by the way," Silas said, smirking.

"Hey, I'm not a child! I'm thirteen!" Coco stomped his feet. His face was red in anger or embarrassment.

Melusine sputtered. "B-But why? Those fights you had with the Fairy Hunters. . ."

The fairy let her words hang. Edric drew patterns on her shoulder in soothing motions. He whispered in her ear, "Hey, it's alright. Coco's the only young one in the nights and we don't send him to fight in battles. The Knights had to adopt him when one of our men found him as a baby in a burning house where his parents perished."

"The incident you read in the letter was a miscalculation on our part," Silas added. "The king's guards were getting suspicious and we had to pull Coco out before he got caught."

"And Father won't hesitate to torture a kid as long as it would lead him to the Knights." Edric's jaw ticked and Melusine had the urge to run her fingers on it to ease the strain. Her heart raced at the thought of her skin against his.

"So. . ." Silas grabbed the poker propped beside the fireplace and stoked the fire. The flames cast a glowing orange light on his face. "What purpose do you have in seeking the Knights?" He tilted his head to the side, staring at her. "If you don't mind me asking."

Melusine knew the question would come. She refused to directly answer Edric once but she couldn't keep on dodging. The night the masked man was attacked by the red bandits, the leader called him Primo. The attack made more sense, realizing the red-clad group was the king's, Fairy Hunter. It was only reasonable that the Primo belonged to the Knights of Ailes. The Hunters not only hunt fairies, but also those who stood their way.

"I want to see the Primo. He's the one I need to speak to."

The men in the room took her answer as if she'd dropped a bomb in front of their faces. The poker clanged to the floor when Silas' hand loosened and trembled. Coco's face twisted in shock. Edric was the only one who didn't seem fazed. That or he was just that good at masking his expression.

"I'm surprised," Edric said with narrowed eyes. He twirled a finger at the end of her hair and it was enough to keep her distracted. "Apart from the Knights and the Fairy Hunters, the Primo's title isn't known to many. Where did you hear it?"

"I saw it," Melusine whispered in a daze, unable to keep her eyes off his lips.

"What did you see?"

Edric's face was an inch from hers when she spoke, not knowing the words coming out of her lips. "I saw him fight the Fairy Hunters once and they called Primo. Since then I couldn't stop thinking about him and knew I would eventually want to see him."

A shadow crossed Edric's face. He quickly pulled away as if she'd burned him and the distance caused an ache in her heart.

Melusine blinked away the hurt from her eyes. "W-What's wrong?"

Edric stared at her long and hard before he left, clambering up the stairs.

Silas cleared his throat, one hand clamped over Coco's eyes. "Okay. Coast is clear." He let go of Coco who bared his teeth at him. Without so much care, Silas ruffled the boy's hair as he barked an awkward laugh.

Tears pooled in Melusine's eyes from shame, wondering what she said to drive the prince away.

"Look, don't feel bad, okay?" Silas shifted from foot to foot, not quite sure where to go or put his hands. What the man hated the most was dealing with emotional women. "Maybe he's just jealous of the way you talk about the Primo and your interest in seeing him?"

Silas chewed on his lip. He whispered something to Coco's ear and the boy left without so much a protest.

When it was just the two of them, Silas was in front of her, a gentle smile tugging on his lips. "Let's say all goes well with your deal with the prince. What is it that you need from the Knight's commander? Unless it's a confidential matter then you're not obligated to tell me."

Melusine straightened her back and looked him straight in the eye. Silas must be someone whose position was close to the Primo. If she wanted to gain the Knight's commander's trust enough to give her an audience, then Melusine must start with one of his trusted subordinates. "I want to be a part of you. It's all I can think about since that eventful night."

Silas cocked an eyebrow. "Is that all?"

Melusine tilted her chin. "You tell me, Silas. Why would the Knights risk their lives to protect the fairies when their king does otherwise?"

"For maintaining the balance of life," Silas said without second thoughts. "Fairies are the protectors of the world—the ocean, rivers, mountains, forest. You name it. They are guardians of everything that we, humans, are taking benefit of. So imagine if ever the guardian fairy of the rain falls in the hands of the kings. The world will succumb to irreversible drought.

"The king. . . and all the kings before him nurture envy and greed in their blood that they see fairies as a threat and fail to see we need them to survive. That we must coexist."

This was what the other fairies must see. Some humans like the Knights understood the consequence when all fairies disappeared in the world and the imbalance in life it would cause. If her kind could only open their eyes and try to reach out to the good humans, then they could join hands and defeat the real evil. And to hear those words firsthand from a human, Melusine almost teared up.

"Then we're on the same page, Silas. I cannot be on the sideline and let the brave ones do the work. I want to be a part of it."

Silas nodded appreciatively. His lips were pressed on a thin line, but the smile in there could not be hidden. "I may put on a good word to Primo if he ever has a hard time considering your application. And just so you know, you're not the first woman to join our ranks."

"Breakfast, everyone!" a short woman, about Melusine's age, emerged from the kitchen, bearing slices of butter bread. Coco trailed behind her with a plate of poached eggs and a bowl of peeled carrots. Melusine might have overlooked Robby's absence, only remembering when she saw him coming from the kitchen with pieces of carrots bulging in his cheeks. He looked like he was having fun and that was one less thing to worry about.

Melusine let Silas shepherd her to the table. The little dining room was an extension of the common room consisting of a lone square table made from wood and four chairs. Robby hopped on the table without so much a glance at Melusine. The woman pulled Coco to sit on her lap which left an unoccupied chair for the prince.

"Hi! I'm Celia. Silas' friend," the young woman said to Melusine. Celia's dark brown hair was tied into a loose bun, making big rounded eyes stand out on her small face.

"Melissa." Melusine couldn't keep the cheeriness in her voice as she got to know another human.

A tinge of pink invaded Celia's cheeks as she looked at the food bashfully then glared at Silas. "I apologize for not having so much at the table. Silas didn't mention visitors coming. I could have prepared something for you."

Silas groaned as he stuffed a whole piece of bread in his mouth. "The Knights are constantly on a run. Don't be surprised when one of us comes knocking on your door."

"So, is milady one of the Knights now?" Celia served bread with an egg on top of Coco's plate and the boy happily dug in. "Oh! Where is the prince, Silas? Go and ask him to join us for breakfast."

"You're not my wife, Celia, so you don't get to order me around," Silas said. Bits of crumbs sputtered from his mouth. Celia shrieked and grabbed for Silas' hair. Melusine would have diffused the situation, but the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs seized her attention.

The world froze and the sounds died out for a second when their eyes met, but for Melusine, the heart-stopping moment seemed to last an eternity. A ripping sound shredded her made-up world in half when Edric tore his gaze away and sat at the table beside Silas. The bickering pair disentangled themselves and fell into silent eating.

Edric swallowed the last chunk of bread when he looked at Silas and said in a set tone, "I'll look into the smithy and see if they can provide us with a hundred weapons we need. I trust you run a background check on this person."

"A bag of gold is enough to shut anyone's mouth. Besides. . ." Silas licked his fingers at the remaining crumbs. "The forger comes from a long line of family that's in opposition to the dynasty's reign. They say if you manage to steal your father's crown and end the hunt of the fairies, they'll swear allegiance to you."

Edric raised an eyebrow. "That remains to be seen."

"Want me to come with you?"

"No." Edric stood, preparing to leave. He had on not an elegant prince's garb but the mask and disguise of Sebastian. "Find a way to send a message to the rest of the Knights and decide on the next contact point." The blue in his eyes darkened, a storm swirling in them. "My father has plans for the next hunt and one of his hunters claims he had found an entrance to the other realm."

Melusine's body grew cold. The side of the table cracked under the pressure of her knuckle-white grip. No one seemed to notice as everybody was struck by this bad news. It couldn't be true, could it? The Fairy Mother said the red bandits perished that night and no one survived to tell the tale.

Silas was the first to recover. "The Fairy Hunters cannot just go in and attack."

"No," said the prince. "But they'll wait for fairies to come out and kill them one at a time. At least, that's the initial plan."

Melusine had to warn them. But how? She was cursed to never find the entrance to her world until she fulfilled her mission.

"I must go. There's no time to waste." The prince started for the door when Melusine ran after him and blocked his path. Startled, the prince stumbled a few steps back.

"Let me come."

Edric sidestepped her, only for Melusine to follow through. The prince grunted and threw her a sharp glare. "You just won't give up, do you?"

"No. And you're not going anywhere without me."

ALTHOUGH EDRIC had a head start, Melusine was able to catch up with no sweat. After a long-drawn-out battle of staring, the prince finally agreed to bring her along, however, resentfully, which explained his fast walking.

"Can you slow down for a moment?" Melusine grabbed the hem of his tunic and cling to it like a child afraid to get lost, but she lost her grip when a body slammed into her. Edric was already a few steps away and wasn't even looking back to check if she was still following.

Melusine regained her balance, turning to the person to apologize. He was a tall and slender man with short black hair, curled to the tips, that framed his face. He was dressed lavishly in a black-and-yellow cloak with a coral-red colored collar and sleeves. A man in a simple white shirt and black breeches accompanied him and both of them were holding the reins of their horses.

The man she bumped into stared down at her, neither mad nor sorry for the minor accident. If anything, he was more curious at the sight of her as he showed no signs of leaving.

"I-I'm sorry I wasn't looking. I didn't mean to cause you any trouble," Melusine said as she kept on glancing at the entrance to the smithy where the prince disappeared to.

The side of his lips tugged upward. "No worries. That man you were with was being mean. It is not the proper way to treat a lady." He looked over his shoulder, scanning the crowd as if he could spot Edric among them. "To ignore and leave you like that."

"It's fine. My, uh. . . husband just had a bad day." Melusine secretly pinched her thigh for the odd choice of word to tell as a lie. Her husband?

"Well, I must not keep you from your husband any longer. We shall be on our way." The man nodded his head, casting her one last smile before setting off in the opposite direction.

A shadow swooped from above, swirling fast in angry tornados. Melusine looked up and found a flock of ravens, flying in a circle as if in trance.

Black plumages rained down on the sky. One landed on Melusine's open palm and a voice, raspy and grave, spoke in her head. "In her pain, anger, and lust for revenge, an Evil Queen will rise from the shards of her broken heart. See the future fall into eternal slumber. An innocent shall pay the price or let the kingdom burn in her flames."