Chapter 31

Alexis felt her heart palpitations quicken as they neared the dinner room. She was walking alongside Dwayne hoping to maybe rush away at any chance, but whenever she thought to, she recalled Hectors glare and held back.

They came to the room and the two soldiers who stood at the doors gave her a familiar glance. They didn't stop her this time. They just politely opened the door and she and Dwayne stepped into the strained atmosphere.

There was the old pervert, the fancy old lady, the slightly younger one and the even more younger one. Then the two girls and the miserable boy. And despite knowing their names she continued to just identify them by their appearance.

Dwayne walked with an arm around her shoulder. He had a cheery smile while the rest of his family gawked at him. She felt grossed out by his close body.

"Dwayne, that isn't?" Started the previous king.

"It seems you remember father. This is Alexis Dirt, the royal mage", Alexis' face fumed once again at the name, but this time it was because she was embarrassed.

"Well, why is M-Miss D-Dirt here?" Even the old fart struggled to keep his giggles at bay and Alexis just mentally cursed all the snickering faces.

'Alastair...' she glanced to where he usually sat and saw him eating away at his food, not paying a single penny to what they spoke about.

"Come, sit here Miss Alexis." Dwayne pulled her to a seat beside him and she visibly flinched. She didn't want to sit near him.

"Oh, since your here I wanted to know if that rumour"- the old man started and Alexis rudely interrupted him.

"Yes yes, I got stuffed in a prison cell over night no biggy", she rolled her eyes and then was met their astonished faces.

'

Why do they look so shocked?'

"O-oh... I was going to ask if you were actually of Fairy blood..."

'Well... shit'. She could've sworn she heard Alastair chuckle under his breath.

"Oh... well that's awkward..." she replied, wishing a rope could appear so she could hang herself.

She noticed that the miserable boy looked a bit less miserable and the girls didn't look bored out of their minds. Even the old lady seemed to sport a bit of a smile on her grumpy face.

"Well, we've all heard the -ahem- news now so how about an explanation?" He cleared his throat and asked.

'How about no...' but the keen faces before her said otherwise and she quickly fished up a lie. A smirk traced her lips as the smell of sweet revenge came to her.

"I thought I should tell his highness the truth about..." she glanced around awkwardly, "you know... his hair".

The people surrounding her made perplexed expressions, every single one, except his highness who reached for his hair instinctively.

"Yeah I know, I shouldn't have, but that cut is awful. I mean look at it. Hideous". She pointed at it with a disgusted voice.

"It is rather unflattering..." spoke one of the girls and Alastair's head shot towards her. He gave her an inquisitive stare which must have been read as a glare since she jumped in fright.

"Right, it isn't just me! So that's why I was behind bars", she slumped back in a exasperated manner.

She felt Alastair glare and at the same time noticed Dwaynes shaking body.

"Prince Dwayne? Are you alright?" She asked, wanting to expose him and doing just that when the headlights turned to him.

"My dear? You look pale..." said the red headed woman with worry. She was Dwayne mother and the second queen Elizabeth,

Alexis laughed when she first heard her name. She thought it was an ironic coincidence.

"That's right brother, you're shaking?" The miserable red headed teen asked with a worried expression. For a second he looked quite dashing, but on noticing Alexis' stare he shrivelled back inside his shell.

"I-It's N-Nothing", he quietly muttered and Alexis purposefully spoke loudly.

"What was that? You don't like that haircut either?"

"No! Ahahaha ha..." he became silent as soon as he had burst out laughing. The whole family gave him incredulous stares which conveyed more than what needed to be said.

"Why did you laugh?" Alexis innocently asked while tilting her head. "Do you not like hair cut either?"

"Oh no, Miss Mage, I just found it funny how you could speak your mind so openly since my brother isn't the most..." he paused and his father quickly spoke over him.

"My son isn't the most socially adept person and his temper can be a bit out of control, but it's not his fault he has cursed blood running through his veins" the previous emperors voice, disgusted and smug, flared Alexis anger and while she was displeased she noticed something... very interesting.

Hector had showed her how to concentrate the amount of mana she could release as well as how much outwards forces might send.

Doing this got her a quirky ability to see the shadowy aura surrounding mana.

She noticed how the shadowy thing crept from the previous emperor towards Alastair. It was long and threatening, it didn't seem to stop, but it did get sharper, until it was razor sharp at every angle. Her eyes watched it as it circled the emperor, threatening him and she knew well that he could feel it.

"What are you staring at?" Asked Dwayne, but she ignored him and summoned her own mana.

'You must protect me'. His voice buzzed in her head and her mana raced to the darker, sharper mana that got closer to the Emperor. And then like a cat fight, her mana pounced on the sharp mana sending sharp impulses up her arms as it wrapped around the sharp pointy mana, like a snake.

She bit her lip as she felt a stinging feeling in her head as a result and then an idea struck her to also create sharp edges, but she couldn't, instead her mana became larger and larger until it swallowed the pointy mana whole.

It quickly retreated, back to its summoner and as it went, her own mana also returned. She met eyes with the old soul who glared at her and smirked back in retaliation, realising that this fight between them had been her win.

She stood up and walked to Alastair, standing behind him as she drew the dark mana around her extending it longer and longer, until it just barely scrapped the skin of the Emperors family.

She smiled as she saw the look in the previous Emperors eyes.

Fear. Despair. And... greed.

She had just meant to scare him, warn him that despite her lack of skills she was ready to defend Alastair at any attack. It was reassuring.

Another plan played out in her head.

Something in the distant future, which really, just meant a few months.

She pulled it back as fast as she had released it and could've sworn she heard the words "monster" somewhere along the table, but ignored it as she stared nervously at Alastair.

To anyone else she looked like a puppy starved of attention and to Alastair who had waited so long for her eyes to look at him with something that wasn't negative, it looked so mesmerising.

The brown eyes that looked captivating and beautiful, suddenly he saw it. He saw what other claimed her to be.

A fairy.

A beautiful fairy.

"Sit next to me", Alastair demanded, glad his voice hadn't faltered, but he knew the warmth on his cheeks was visible.

And with a smile, she complied.