The deal with devil

"Good morning Princess Nardin." Gabrielle greeted me, as she walked into the room the next morning and opened up my window. It was already dawn.

The night with Liam was quite fleeting, or maybe it was because I wanted to spend more time with him than on other days. I looked around after Gabrielle's voice woke me up in search of Liam but he wasn't in the room.

"Good morning Gabrielle. Did you sleep well?" I responded.

"I did your highness. You had a blissful night, I suppose." She said.

Shit. Did she know about last night?

"I did. You seem rather excited this morning."

"I'm happy you're finally okay." She responded.

"Oh. Have you seen Liam?"

"His training with his men in the battleground."

I nodded.

"Your highness? I have your bathing water ready. The Queen summons you in her chambers." Gabrielle said.

"Oh. Do you know why?" I asked.

"It's not in my place to eavesdrop."

I asked Gabrielle to sit back while I had my warm bath.

"Did you hear a thing last night?" I asked from my bathtub.

"I'm sorry?" She asked confused.

"It's nothing. Don't worry." I said.

After I came out of the bathroom, Gabrielle applied oil on my back as I finally asked her a question that has long been on my mind.

"Gabrielle. Can I ask you a question and expect an honest answer?" I said.

"Of course, Princess." She responded.

"Have you done it?" I asked.

"Done what?" Gabrielle asked not knowing what I was talking about, or maybe she was pretending.

"Are you still innocent?" I asked again, this time, raising my head to observe her expression, and a shy smile formed on her lips as her cheeks turned pink.

"Is that an affirmative response?" I asked.

She smiled again and spoke. "I've had several relationships with different men Your highness, it's almost impossible to remain innocent." She responded.

I smiled. "What was your first time like?"

I could see Gabrielle blush as she covered the oil and I sat up. "It was wonderful at the time it happened." She said and her face fell.

"Are you okay? Did I remind you of a tragic event?" I asked concerned.

"No, no. It's just. We separated after that." She said.

"Why? He didn't like it?"

"He wasn't the one that left me."

"So you did. Why? Didn't you like him?"

"I did. But our love was forbidden. He's a prince and he can never have something to do with a common serving girl."

"That's not true Gabrielle. My first love Edward was..."

"Where is he now?" She interrupted me. "I meant no disrespect your highness but, you didn't end up with him. All forbidden loves never end well." She smiled.

Her words got to me and yes, it was true. But who is this prince?

"Gabrielle. Who took away your innocence? You said he's a prince what is his name? Is he married now?"

"Queen Charlotte must be waiting for you now your highness. I must get you dressed." She responded, clearly dodging the topic.

She dressed me up in awkward silence before I went to meet Queen Charlotte.

I walked into Queen Charlotte's room and she smiled at me after I bowed in respect to her.

"Nardin dear, sit." She said.

She started by showing how excited she was about my recovery before she finally proceeded to tell me how she begot Prince Liam. She wasn't completely honest with me the first time we talked about it but this time she is.

"you made a deal with the devil?" I asked after I listened to her story.

"Yes. Yes, but it wasn't clear to me at that time. I... I... I didn't understand what kind of deal I was going into. I thought it was going to be an easy one." Queen Charlotte responded tearing up.

"What sort of deal? What did you not understand? What is going wrong? I need you to tell me everything." I said.

"Before... The devil..." She sighed and then started again "Before the devil gave me my son, Liam, I agreed to his condition. Liam was going to serve him forever and when he finally decided, he will rule his world, the underworld, and hell. The world of evil. I was... I was so desperate. I was desperate and so I had to agree. But then, he said that since Liam is a devil, I could never let him fall in love. I had to protect him from falling in love, from... From any form of emotional contact with humans. He said if I kept to that, Liam would be invincible forever." She said.

"Then why, why did you break the deal? Why did you... You married me for him and kept us in the same room knowing we could fall in love, why? Have you no love in your heart for your son?" I asked.

"The love in my heart was the reason I did it. You see Nardin, Love is... Love is wicked, ruining, selfish, stupid, and proud but it conquers, not all but our greatest demons. When a devil falls in love, they become weak and sentimental, and it... It strips them of their demonic power and they become useless to the evil world. The devil said that if Liam ever fell in love, he'd lose his kingdom in hell and will be banished forever and so I thought that if it happens, he'd become human and live amongst humans. I didn't understand what kind of banishment he meant."

"And what kind did he mean?"

"Deletion. If he ceases to exist as a devil then he would never exist again." She said as tears ran down her eyes without permission.

"Can we not stop this from happening?" I asked eagerly.

"He still has a pact as a devil. Unlove him, Nardin. Break his heart and make him believe love is a lie. He'll hate you so deeply and would never love again."

"I... I can't do it."

"Oh... Oh but you can. This is the only way to save him. Please, or we'll lose him forever." Queen Charlotte pleaded.

"There has to be some other way. Listen, Your Majesty, we'll find a way around this... Together. Okay?" I assured her.

I wasn't exactly sure of how the turn of events will be but I knew I had to find a way.

After my conversation with Queen Charlotte, I left the palace to seek a solution from someone who I knew would have the solution. My brother, Logain.

Having had a bad relationship with King Dom, my father, I had to put on a disguise to meet Logain at the palace.

I knew my way around the castle so I easily sneaked into his chambers and waited for him to return.

On entering his room, he was startled by my presence.

"Hello brother. I've waited so long for you." I said to him.

He jerked but quickly realized it was me and put on a long frown.

"Nardin, what the hell are you doing here?" He asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I've come to see you." I responded.

"I can see that, clearly. What do you want? You know you're not welcomed here."

"I know, and that is why I must go straight to the point." I said then looked into his eyes without blinking.

"I need to get to the Devil."