Chapter 615: Point
His voice was still echoing in Evie's ears even as they materialize in a dark place that looked like a massive corridor with walls and pillars made of black crystals. Black crystals… this was the first time she saw such a colour here in the Under Lands.
"Where is this place?" Evie asked in a controlled voice. Somehow, she had managed to calm down again now that Klauz's blade was no longer pointed at her belly. Even though she had instinctively wanted to rage at him for spouting such nonsense and threatening her child that way, she had realised that it would be foolish to do so. In situations such as this, she knew it was more important to keep her cool and be alert to observe the surroundings and figure things out as she goes along.
But she could tell that he had already put a restricting dark magic on her, and he still was threatening to hurt her baby if she dared to do something that he did not like. Unlike the time when Gideon had kidnapped her, this man clearly did not have any intentions in letting her go any time soon.
And… the words that he had thrown at her before they disappeared from the palace is still haunting her. But she did not want to believe it. There was no way she would believe that. She was no one's mate but Gav's!
"Ferber," he answered, finally stepping away after making sure that the restricting magic he put on her like invisible chains were unbreakable enough. "My duchy." He swept his hands out before him and introduced his land to her.
Evie creased her brows. She knew all the ten duchies in the Under Lands and even the names of all the Lords. Ferber? She had never heard of that name before. It was not mentioned in the map of Under Lands as well.
"Of course you have never heard of it. Those stupid royals had long since erased Ferber from the map after they destroyed it." He continued, his voice coated with centuries of built up anger and hate. "To bad for them, one little boy had managed to survive the slaughter and had developed this place again."
"That little boy… it was you?" She needed to try and get him to talk more in order to collect more information on what was happening. It is never wrong to have more information in your hands.
He faced her. His eyes gleaming with cruelty. "Yes."
"Alright… But why would you bring me here?" Evie wanted to know his motivation more than anything now.
"Because you're mine –"
"I. Am. Not. Yours. I'm taken, Klauz –" Evie bit out with a sharp and succinct tone.
"No, not now. Not yet, Light Queen. But soon…" He held her wrist and lifted it up, showing her the glaring absence of the mating tattoos that was not present on her hand. "You're not marked yet. Therefore, you are considered unmated."
She swallowed. "There is a reason why I am not marked yet. My husband and I performed a ritual to postpone our bond from –" She rushed to explain, partly because she wanted to delay things and drag on the time. But deep inside, she also realised that she was rushing to explain as she felt the insecurity bubbling up again as she knew it was a fact that she and Gav were not a mated pair yet.
"If you think that you can fool me, don't bother. You are just wasting your time, Light Queen –" Klauz cut her off harshly.
"You're the one who's fooling yourself. You are the one who is mistaken. I! Am! Not! Your! Mate!" Evie was so angry and punctuated every word of her last statement and steeled herself. She knew that the upcoming times dealing with Klauz would not be easy. This world will have to crumble first before she would ever accept the fact that she was Klauz's mate. And besides, the thought of the future eased her heart and gave her unyielding courage and faith that this was not true. She reminded herself that she had seen the vision of her future. Something was not quite right here. She needed to find out what was the matter and resolve it as soon as possible!
This man had ended up becoming her strongest ally in that war from what she had seen in her vision. But that was all. He had left after the war ended as if he would never be seen, ever again.
"It doesn't matter whether you believe me or not right now, Light Queen." He grabbed her arm and pulled her a little closer to him. Evie met his gaze with an even sharper look, warning him to not push his luck. "You will see the truth once we carry out the mating ritual."
That statement only caused her eyes to widen, and her heart trembled within her though she pulled a blank face quickly the next second. She could not help but feel horrified at how certain he looked when he mentioned that.
She shook her head. "I'm not sure where did you get that confidence of yours from… but this mating ritual you've been mentioning between us will never happen. Ever!" Evie had to insist again.
"You won't have a choice. Don't forget you're my prisoner now. You only have one choice here, Light Queen. Accept and complete our mating bond or your beloved child will die. Simple." Klauz threatened her in a calm tone, as though he was talking about something as mundane as the weather.
Evie felt her entire being shook uncontrollably. One of the biggest reasons was because she saw the real warning in his eyes. The cruelty in them had not been feigned. One look into those ruthless eyes and she could see that he was not the type of a man who would give out empty threats. She could feel that his threats were real, and he would mercilessly do as he says if she dared to go against him.
How… just how did her future self, turn such a ruthless man like this into one of her most valuable ally?
She fought for calmness even as she felt herself almost spinning out of control. It had dawned on her there was currently no use in trying to reason things out with him. Because right now, he was an adamant monster through and through… a cruel villain with a heart that was as black as pitch.
"Tell me, what's the point of kidnapping me? Don't tell me this is all because you're dying for a mate because you've been alone for so long." Evie retorted with biting sarcasm, showing him that she was not afraid of him. She would not allow him to cow her into submission by using threats and fear.
He smiled. A wicked one.
"You think I'm like those foolish royals who are all slaves to their own desires?" he shook his head. "Don't even compare me to them, Light Queen. This is my payback and one day you will know that all these times, you weren't meant to love and be with one of them. Do you know why? Because they're the real villains you were supposed to hate. They are the true enemies, the source of all this darkness and you're the light who is fated to doom them all to hell."