"Hex?" Aeltharion was puzzled.

He had no idea how Nytherael stumbled upon such an ancient fairy or what transpired while he was searching for Sseraphis. The blanks made him feel a little excluded.

Nytherael pulled him aside and filled him in on everything that had happened since the fairy arrived. Her knowledge of the beast that attacked and tool Sseraphis, her invasion of his memories and the strange reaction he had to Ilyrien’s presence and the conclusion that he had been charmed.

Aeltharion listened attentively, and from the news Nytherael passed him, his face twisted into an ugly frown.

"Ilyrien sent you a message in our matrimonial home, and you snuck out to see him?" He questioned when Nytherael was done.

Nytherael’s face went blank. "That’s what you focus on from everything that I just said?"

"What would you like me to focus on, huh?" He pressed on, feeling disappointed that his and Sseraphis’ presence hadn’t been enough to deter Nytherael from meeting his first love and reignited their old flame before he doomed their lives "Oh, right," it dawned on him. "Maybe I should focus on the fact that you are the reason I am dying, and after my death, Sseraphis and you will die too. Am I right?"

It upset him deeply. If he was the only one losing his life to Nytherael’s mistake, he wouldn’t mind it. But Nytherael and Sseraphis would soon be dragged into it, too, that didn’t settle well with him.

Nytherael’s throat closed up. Sadness shredded his insides as he drowned momentarily on the grief of the consequences of his actions.

"You can blame me... yell at me and scold me," he expressed. He knew he deserved whatever reaction Aeltharion had to the truth. Had the situation been reversed, goodness knows how badly he would take such news. So, no matter how Aeltharion decided to deal with him,he resigned to accept it and not complain.

Aeltharion took a deep breath. His eyes glanced past Nytherael to the fairy who ignored their drama and was busy playing with strange cards.

"For her, I’ll find a way to save you and your..." thought her promise remained incomplete. There was this force inside his heart that trusted her. And seeing that she was older and wiser than they were and possibly more knowledgeable, he believed that she could find a way to save them.

Since a solution was in sight and his mates would be safe, he didn’t see the need to blow things out of proportion and hurt Nytherael.

"I should do all that," he let out, his tone softening. "But we need to find Sseraphis and them settle old scores," he added, ruffling Nytherael’s hair with a gentle affection.

The fairy smiled. She had seen through Aeltharion even her back turned to them and realized the dragon was never going to settle scores with Nytherael. ’You are just like her. Every inch of her,’ her impression of Aeltharion rose to the peak.

Nytherael held back his tears and nodded. "That’s sounds reasonable," he agreed. "I’ll tell Sseraphis the truth too, and you both can hold me accountable together," he bit his and lowered his head.

Knowing his snake, he was in for hell when the beast discovered that he was responsible for their doom and that they were bound to die one after another because death had clung to their bond.

When Aeltharion heard his words, his mind snapped back to the illusion Sseraphis created that trapped Nytherael and the other beasts and found Jura there. It suddenly clicked in his mind why Sseraphis did that.

Jura could see strings of fate and if he could detect the black energy Hadrian used then he could detect that death had slipped into his bond and with a special technique, he could know when and how it happened. His blood ran cold.

He feared Sseraphis was already aware of the truth, and that’s why his hostility towards Nythehad increased. ’No wonder my efforts bear no fruit when I try to melt his hatred for Nythe. How can he stop hating heartfire when he knows that Nythe is responsible for my deteriorating health?’

He knew the only beast that Sseraphis presently held in highest regard and affection was him. Because he was constant and consistent, unlike every beast that had abandoned him.

’That’s explains why he was so unreasonable when I sided with Nytherael and easily feel weak to Hadrian’s attack," he thought. ’Venom must think that I abandoned him too for choosing the one who hurt me against him whose done nothing but care for me,’ he felt bad.

He didn’t regret showing Nytherael kindness and care. The male was still his mate and life partner, but he regretted how he went about it. There were better ways to handle the situation without harming either side.

"Let’s discuss all that once we find him," he patted Nytherael on the shoulder and guided to their seats opposite the fairy.

They looked onto Zarathia for a way forward and a solution to their current predicament that was way above their experience and capabilities.

"Your family raised you well. If only..." her eyes fell on Nytherael. There was no disappointment, but it didn’t hold the same appraisal as it did when she glanced at Aeltharion. "Anyway, I can’t exactly blame you. You were tricked and fell into your enemy’s trap," she let out.

"Can you enlighten us on how he was charmed and by who and what was the intention of the charm?" Aeltharion asked with a sweet politeness that melts hearts, especially of elders.

Zarathia turned to Nytherael, "Why aren’t you as nice as him?"

"I’m a trickster, not a polite master," Nytherael threw a tantrum in the face of such obvious favouritism. Not that he minded much, he understood why she favoured Aeltharion over him, the dragon was the best everything.

Put him any role, and he’d fulfil it with award winning grace that is unmatched. As a clumsy, deceptive, and responsibility fearing fox, he didn’t dare compete because he knew he outright lost.

"You take pride in being a trickster," she asked, narrowing her eyes on him.

Nytherael felt uncomfortable under her gaze, "What?" 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"How come you fell for the softest trick in the book?" She asked. "Frankly, you shouldn’t claim boldly that you are a trickster when you can’t even tell when you yourself have been tricked," she childishly poked.

Nytherael’s jaw dropped. He just got roasted by his a thousand year old ancestor, and he couldn’t fight back. How can he? She was right, soke beast played a trick on him, and he fell for it like a petal falls from a flower until every inch of him submitted.

"I mean, I get that you couldn’t tell tour feelings for that ice fox were coerced by an outside force but didn’t it occur to you that something was a miss when a three tailed ice fox managed to trap a nine-tailed fox underneath lake Qihera for a year and a half?" She asked him. "Even with the strong unknown technique, you are still a nine-tailed fox, and he’s nothing to your abilities. So, how did he manage to trap you?"

Nytherael frowned. He had been focused on fixing his marriage that it hadn’t occurred to him to think deeply about the ice on Lake Qihera.

"Wait, fairy. What do you mean frozen for a year and a half?" Aeltharion asked, his heart stopping as he locked eyes with Nytherael.