Crown Prince Maximilian did not move a muscle, his eyes which held no sign of a pupil or iris stared at the unconscious Olivia. The vampires knew there was something strange happening but they still didn't realize Maximilian's eye change.
Max closed his eyes, and with a big exhale, the blinding light around them disappeared. When his eyes opened again, there were his silver irises and black pupil. He then raised his head but what he was met with were astonished, confused and quizzing gazes. He stared at the faces of those looking at him silently, the questions in their mind surfacing on their ethereal faces.
But even Max himself seemed confused because his brow raised and he looked at the vampires looking at him, seemingly asking them the same questions they wanted answers to. But before any of the vampires could say something, the vulnerable witch in Max's arms stirred. She was waking up for some reason.
"Mother, stop it." Olivia muttered in her sleep. MOTHER, NO!" , this time it was a scream and it pierced through the delicate ears of the vampires. Everyone could hear the raw fear in her voice and they had no idea why but they couldn't help but shudder.
"NO!!!", and with that scream filled with anguish and agony, her eyes snapped open as she tried to sit up in Max's arms. However Max held her tight as her tears flowed out of her eyes. Realizing she was trapped, she stopped trying to struggle and laid quietly in his arms which held a strange familiar warmth.
Olivia stared blankly at the blue sky as her tears dried up.
"Izzy", hearing that name roll out of the mouth of the man she abhored, Olivia felt uncomfortable because for some reason she didn't hate it. No, she didn't even dislike it. In actual fact, she liked it, liked it so must it disgusted her yet she responded.
"Mm?", she hummed softly.
"I'm here. I'm right here,okay?", He said softly. A strange tenderness flowed out of his eyes with these words.
What was even stranger was that those words filled Olivia with so much warmth, her eyes burnt and turned red with tears. Filling uncomfortable with how this man affected her so easily, she tried to move out of his arms.
"Put me down", she spoke with a sigh. "Please."
Max didn't speak anymore, he only put her down as she wished. Olivia didn't say anymore either. It was suddenly quiet, so quiet a sword could slice through the thick silence.
Owen, feeling uncomfortable with the silence spoke loudly.
"Let's move on. This war has just started, it's going to be a long one and we have to win...for her sake" . He muttered the last part under his breath but everyone heard it. Well except Olivia who had no sharp senses. They only bowed their heads slightly in response to this.
The vampires moved on following their prince without complaints. Maximilian however stay behind looking at the silent Olivia who didn't move a muscle. She was looking around and for some reason, she didn't know why but she felt empty and scared.
Trying to recall her dream, or rather the nightmare she had, she closed her eyes. But she couldn't. Whenever she tried her head hurt so much like it was going to explode. She felt quite wary but she could do nothing but move on knowing that her life depended on whether they would be able to win this war or not.
Olivia then looked at the man next to her not understanding why he stayed behind with her. But she didn't speak, she didn't feel like speaking. Especially not to this man who turned her world upside down.
She moved ahead pushing all her bothersome thoughts to the back of her mind. She didn't spare another glance at the icy man next to her and just followed the group that had already advanced quite far.
Max just stared at her curvy figure that swayed slightly as she walked. A cold glint flashed in his eyes as he kept staring. Maximilian couldn't understand what he was doing. Neither could he comprehend how the little witch affected his every move so much, making him do things that he wasn't even conscious of.
He hated her. He hated that she was a witch.
But he also felt something for her, something he didn't want to feel, something he wasn't supposed to feel. The problem was that he didn't even know what he felt for her.
Thinking this, he sighed and slowly the coldness in his eyes melted to be replaced by a neutral, dead gaze.
He looked ahead at the group that had almost disappeared from sight and followed after them. Walking quickly, he soon got to them and went straight to Owen.
"There you are", Owen said the moment his gaze landed on him. "I was looking for you."
Max raised his eyebrow at him, silently asking why he was looking for him.
"You and Olivia...", Owen trailed off, not knowing what to say or even ask.
Max shrugged silently, implying that he didn't know what was going on either.
"You two seem to have a connection."
"She is a witch."
"Who just killed some of her own kind." Owen said but Max didn't say anything so he continued. "It's either she is a sociopath or she is estranged from them....I think she truly isn't one of them. She seems more like the vampire-witches."
Max's gaze turned cold but his voice was even colder as he said, "It doesn't change anything. She is still a pure blooded witch and even has the powers of the Witch Queen. I don't know whether she is a descendant of the previous Witch Queen or if nature is finally choosing a whole new generation of Witch Queens after the past Queen disappeared over two decades ago. So even if she's trustworthy, I won't trust her. Even if she's witty, I won't listen to her. Even if she is lovable, I. Won't. Love. Her!!."
Owen looked at Max and felt he said the last part in an especially strong tone, seemingly trying to convince himself so. He didn't know if he should feel glad that his brother felt this way or apprehensive that he felt this way about a witch.
He could only sigh.