Celina's hands went to grab the armrests, solid wood weirdly reassuring beneath her trembling hands. Her vision was blurred, blackening out towards the corners. For some reason, she couldn't settle her eyes on Javier, flickering around. Only some moments later, she noticed a glass underneath her nose resting on Javier's study.     She eyed the golden looking drink and grabbed it, gulping it down without hesitating.     "Celina!"    Its whisky and it burned running down her throat, almost causing Celina to cough it back up. Her face scrunched at the after taste, but she willed it down, trying to cling to the burn of it, tickling her senses awake. Her head was starting to swim, arms and legs tingling with the sens

/Abels POV/   Abel recognised the parts of the forest as he passed through it. His stomach was a knot of nerves, as always at the thought of going back. The place Abel had grown up in was somewhere along the rocky road, hidden in the trees and far away from the watchful eyes of the road.    Abel exhaled a breath, noticing the warmth rush away as he got closer. The driver pulled his legs up to his chest, pulling the cloak tighter around his body, ducking his head into his knees and away from the sharp sting of the cold air. He was relieved, knowing that the roof of the car was hiding him from the snow.    

Something was off. The Prince could feel it in his gut as he's doing his usual rounds around the Castle. With his shoulders hunched, head bent down, Javier moved his feet as quick as he can without breaking into a run.     A thick fog that crept up from seemingly out of nowhere soaked his clothes. What was happening? He thought to himself. The Prince was racing towards the gates as fast as he could.    He felt faint, motioning towards the nearest guard. "What's going on?"     "I'll check, my lord."    Before he could take a breath, the loud clang of the bell echoed around. His ears rang from the sound, goosebumps prickling across his arms.

The moment Javier's car pulled up, the maid froze in her place. Abel rushed to the theatre room to tell rest of them about the Prince. She lingered in his room, her heart hammering in her chest. If they had not heard that car horn, then the Prince might have caught them in the act. Just thinking about it caused goosebumps to prickle down her arm.      Few seconds passed by when she heard thunderous footsteps approach in her direction. Its Javier. She didn't have to second guess herself. Living along with him in the same castle all these months made her well acquainted.     "Celina?" He whispered, his voice out of breath, chest rising and falling. The Prince didn't let her have a second of own before taking her in his arm. She froze, her arms rigid by the sid

/Javier's POV/    The Prince was tired. He's pretty sure he danced with everyone at some point, twirling so many familiar faces that he lost cost. Then again, it was his birthday, and Javier couldn't deny anyone that easily. He didn't drink anything, but he still felt tipsy by the end of the night, drunk off the laughter, giddiness of people and joy in the air. Primarily because of dancing with his dragon rider—Celina. She was something else—a vision.    People around couldn't resist her, involving her in any and all kind of conversations. He was just tired of that. They couldn't have a moment alone. Javier wanted the birthday to be just his family and maybe include some of his staff. A year ago, she didn't even know him, but now Celina went overboard and made his birthday a celebration, inviting each and everyone she