Gareth walked through the hallways, his mind filled with Isa’s thoughts. He wondered how she would take it that he had gone to kill Alexander. And what would she do or say when he told her that Alexander had actually spared his life? The thought alone was funny, making Gareth to chuckle darkly. Once a master, now a student. Lol! He still couldn’t believe the once naïve crown prince of Valoria would turn out to be The One.

He had been so much engrossed in his thoughts that he didn’t even notice when he reached at Isadora’s room, nearly passing by her door. He pinched the skin between his brows for that before he turned around and halted right in front of Isadora’s room. He lifted his hand for a knock but for some odd reason, his heart began racing.

’Calm down Gareth,’ He told himself before he took a deep breath as well. He lifted his hand again, his breath coming out in shallow pants. Gods! This was proving to be more tough than he had expected. He clenched his fists mid-air, hesitating for another moment before his fist landed softly on the wooden door. He let out a silent sigh anticipating for an answer but no one came or answered his knock. For a while, he just stood there, patiently waiting to be called in or for Isadora to open but still, no one came. His patience started growing thin now and he was shifting uncomfortably where he stood.

Damn! Was she doing this on purpose? He clenched his fists tightly at that. Still, she had every reason to be angry at him. He deserved it, every bit of it. But the last thing he wanted was to have Isadora hating him. The thought alone brought a bad feeling in his being.

’Just a little longer,’ He told himself. Maybe she was just angry and would let him if he became persistent.

"Isa? Are you there?" He asked. Silence followed making him to clench his fists tightly. Damn! This was turning out to be worse now. What if she had faced something bad? He needed to get in, now!

"I’m coming in Isadora!" He warned. He placed his hand on the door on the handle and surprisingly, the door was open. He gently pushed the door open revealing Isadora’s room but she was not there. He peeked further in and thought she might be in the bathroom... or the garden. But it was not a good idea to check if she was in the bathroom. But curiosity got the better of him and he found himself taking measured steps towards that direction when,

"Gareth? What are you doing in my room?" A familiar voice rand across the room, the inquisitive edge in it could not go unnoticed. Gareth stiffened and halted on his tracks. Craning his neck towards the direction of the door, he found a stunned Isadora looking back at him with a hard glare imprinted on her face. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Errr...I thought you were.." He said scratching the back of his neck, all the while, his gaze avoiding hers.

"You thought I was what Gareth?" Isadora asked, raising a brow. Had he been so shameless as to enter her room without being invited in. And to add gasoline to the already blazing inferno, he actually went an extra mile as to peek in her bathroom! What if she was... naked! The thought alone was too much to bear. She tried to imagine what she would do to Gareth under such a situation and the only solution she could come up with was driving a dagger through his eyes.

"I thought you were in some kind of danger," Gareth finally managed to say. He cocked his head to one side and looked at Isadora at the corner of his eye. Lord no! He had waken the tigress and he was going to receive its claws alone.

"And your nosy, no, caring self, told you to peek inside my bathroom? Huh? What if I was...?" Gareth swallowed the lump on his throat nervously. His Adam’s apple popped up and down at this action. He had already stirred some trouble, and the tigress was now baring her fangs. Would he be able to escape this one.

"It’s not what you think Isa. I only wanted to check on you, your safety," he said pleadingly.

"And what is it that I’m thinking?" Isadora pressed on relentlessly. But either way, a lecture was what he deserved now. He needed to respect someone’s privacy. Isadora couldn’t even remember the last time she stepped in his room. She could only date it way back when she was still young. To date, she couldn’t understand why boys wanted to so much visit a girl’s room and not the other way round.

Gareth pinched the skin between his brows. This was becoming tougher now. What did she think of in the first place? That he wanted to see her nakedness? If that was so, then it would be a diificult task trying to convince her that that was not what he meant. But would she really understand given that she had caught him pants down peeking at her bathroom.

"I met Alexander today," he said changing the topic. He didn’t know how but those were the words that left his lips. But anyways, he was glad it worked because Isadora was now looking at him with a questioning gaze.

"And?" She asked with the same manner. Lol! She was such a knuckle head sometimes, Gareth thought. He had gotten a chance to redeem himself from the tigress’ claws and he was not going to waste it.

"His Majesty, King Griffin had ordered me to bring his head. And so I went to Valoria and confronted Alexander on the palace hallways. Alexander didn’t have a sword and because I’m a man of honor, I gave him one and challenged him to a duel. He who is left standing, alive would be the winner. At first, I gained the upper hand in the duel, almost killing Alexander. But the tide suddenly turned South." He let out a silent sigh and shot Isadora a quick glance. The curiosity on her face could not go unnoticed.

"Why are you telling me this?" Isadora asked out of the blue.

"Well, because you are willing to listen," Gareth said with shrugged shoulders. Isadora frowned at that. Did she really want to listen? Yes she did. But why? Alexander had given her the worst of pains she had gone through, and yet, here she was, willing to listen to a damn ’Alexander’ story. His name alone felt like a heavy burden she had to lift off her shoulders. But would that be even possible?

"Alexander defeated me!" Gareth blurted out after a while.

"He had the option to kill me, but he chose to spare me instead," Gareth said turning to face a surprised Isadora.

"What did you say? Alexander spared you after everything that he had done?" Maybe it is his way of making it up to me, Isadora thought. A smirk appeared on her face at that thought. How dare he! He pretends to not know her and thinks that she would just forgive him by sparing a friend’s life? If that was so, he was in for a big surprise. Not her!

"There’s something else Isadora," Gareth added after a while of silence. Isadora just shot him a dry look. If it was anything to do with Alexander, she didn’t want to hear anything about it. Hell with Alexander!

"I want to hear nothing of it," she said, almost blocking her ears. Gareth was making her to remember about Alexander and she didn’t like it. The way Alexander had treated her the last time left a scar in her heart, mind and soul that she didn’t know would heal any time soon.

"Please leave me alone. Just leave me alone Gareth. At least for a while," she added, tears almost threatening to fall anytime soon now.

Gareth just stared at her confused by her sudden change of attitude. She was curious a few minutes ago and now, this! Did Alexander piss her that much? And how would she take the information he was just about to give her? Anyways, she was not the one so he expected her to ignore it as well.

"I will leave but I have one more thing to tell you, princess. I don’t know how you’ll take this but it’s upto you," he said and let out a silent breath before he said,

"Alexander is The One!"

Isadora looked at Gareth, eyes as wide as saucers. What had Gareth just said? Alexander was The One; her other part? That was impossible! And how the hell did Gareth know this? No one had the ability to recognize The One except for that book.

"When... How’s that possible? How did you know Gareth?" She asked without taking a breath.