Chapter 10 - Ten

Phoebe was in Chadd's room while he went to get the first aid box. She was inspecting her wound, she didn't expect it would hurt this much. After waiting for a while, Chadd came with the first aid box and brought out the methylated spirit and cotton wool. He added a little spirit to the cotton wool and was about to clean her wound when she pulled her arm away.

"How am I sure you know what you are doing?" Phoebe asked.

Chase forcefully grabbed her arm and used the cotton wool to clean the edges of the wound. "Mom and Gwen taught me everything I knew besides this is not the first time I am cleaning your wound, why are you scared?"

"Well, you always clean my wound with Gwen around. She tells you what to do." Chadd notices that there was a little sadness in her tone so he decided not to say anymore.

After he was done cleaning the wound, he applied bandages on the wound. He looked up at her and her eyes were gradually closing. She was dozing off. Chadd couldn't keep his eyes off her. He stared into her eyes and studied her features; her dark curly hair, her crystalline glass eyes, her V-shaped pink lips which he stared at for a few seconds before looking away. He placed his hand on his chest and it was a surprise to him that his heart was beating fast. She's the only girl who could make his heart beat this way.

How was he going to tell her he likes her? Is that even something he's supposed to say? Maybe spending time with her after so long made him have feelings for her. He thought.

He brought himself closer to her as his eyes stared at her lips, he was this close to kissing her when her head fell on the pillow. Chadd smiled. He stroked her hair and pulled the strand of hair on her face behind her ear so he could get a clearer view of her face. He has never seen someone as beautiful as Phoebe. "Maybe I need to get out of the house more often," he whispered to himself with a smile on his face. He stood up to return the first aid kit and came back to put her legs on the bed before pecking her forehead. Just then, the door closed and Chadd turned and he sighted the person's dress so he knew who it was which made him feel more relaxed. He used the bed cover to cover Phoebe before going out to meet the person.

The figure was running away but Chadd ran to catch up with her as he held her wrist and turned her to face him only to find out she was crying. "Gwen," he called. He was surprised to see her crying that he became speechless.

"let me go, Chadd." she tried to pull her wrist from his grip but he held her tighter.

"Gwen, it's not what you think..."

"I saw you kissing her, Chadd." She cuts in.

"I..."

"You are in love with her, aren't you?"

Chadd fumbled with his words that he didn't even know what to say. "It's not what you think..."

"Answer me, Chadd, do you love her?"

Chadd was speechless. He knew he'd be in trouble if anyone finds out he had feelings for her so he decided to play smart, "Of course, I love her. She is my sister." he smiled

"Don't play smart with me Chadd, you know exactly what I am talking about." She wiped her tears while glaring at him.

"I don't know what other love you are talking about. I love Phoebe and I love you, you girls are my sisters, or do you want me to hate her?"

Gwen knew he was hiding something but she decided not to dig deeper into the matter. She chose to use the opportunity to tell him how she felt about him hoping that he has a string of attraction for her. Chadd was about to leave when she held him back.

"Anything you want to say?" Chadd asked.

Gwen moved closer to him and stared into his eyes and within the next split seconds, she kissed him. She intended to say everything in words but she felt action speaks louder than words is she decided to kiss him instead.

🗝️🗝️🗝️

The prince arrived at the Euphrates Kingdom but he wasn't permitted to go in. One of the guards of Euphrates, came out to meet the prince. "And who are you?" the guard asked.

"How dare you address the Prince in that manner?" One of the prince's guards was about to get angry and take action against the guard but the prince stopped him.

"There is only one Prince I know and that's Prince Zod, the only son of King Bashar and heir to the throne of the Euphrates kingdom." the guard of Euphrates answered.

The prince noticed the mumblings from his guards so he gestured for them to be quiet while he stated his mission to the guard. "I am here to see King Bashar."

"Is he expecting you?"

"It was on short notice and I didn't have the chance to write to him."

"Then, I am sorry. I can't allow you to go in." The guard replied.

"It's important."

"The life of my king and his heir is important to us. I can't let a stranger into the palace."

The Prince sighed. He knew the guard was being careful and he understood but then the guard is making things more complicated. If the matter continues like this, he wouldn't be able to meet the deadline and he will have to postpone his journey to the other world. He thought of what to do. "Can you let him know that his friend King Ghardiel sent me to him?"

"I just said I can't let you in."

"For guardians' sake he is not asking you to let him." the same guard retorted back at the guard of Euphrates. "Go in there, tell your King that his friend King Ghardiel has a message for him..."

"If he refuses to see me, I will quietly leave." the prince added.

The guard of Euphrates glared at the other guard before taking his leave.

They waited for the guard to arrive which was taking an eternity.

"Why don't we just march into the kingdom? Besides, other kingdoms are below us. They have no right to treat us this way." Another guard said and other guards agreed as each one gave their points.

The Prince listened and they were right. Havilla kingdom is the greatest, biggest and strongest but then every other kingdom has its king and its own rules governing it. It would be wrong to use superiority to get what you want. The debates continued and the prince had to shut them up. "Marching into the palace without receiving the royal command would make it seem like we are in for a war and we wouldn't want that to be the case, would we?" that was enough to shut them up.

The guard finally showed up. "You may enter," he said while gesturing to the guards in charge of the gates to open up. The Palace gates were opened and they were all ready to march in when the guard stopped them. "Only the prince is permitted to enter."

Everyone looked stunned. The prince looked back at his guards but nodded to them that it was okay while he marched into the palace alone.