May Death Do Us Part

~Mel.. my Melissa is carrying my baby?~

~She’s pregnant~

~with my baby~

~and she’s out there with..~

The handsome dark haired prince pushed the chair he had been sitting on gently backwards and rose to his feet.

“Brother are you-”

“How long have you known this Finwe?” Gareth interrupted his brother. He lifted his head and bored his now flaring purple eyes at the blonde prince. “How long have you known that Melissa was carrying my child?”

Finwe gulped, his brother was speaking calmly but his question still managed to make him feel a little intimidated. “I could tell from the first time I met her,” he responded, “I wasn’t sure at first but after the pixies blessed her, I knew.”

.....

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Gareth added on

“Honestly I thought you knew in the beginning,” Finwe explained, “the way you were doting and protective of her made me think you did. But turns out it was just you being you. I wanted to tell the both of you after you proposed. Why do you think I was in support of your relationship even if everyone else wasn’t.”

Gareth went silent for a few moments and let the information he had just received digest. He then pushed the chair aside and began walking towards the exit. Zander who had anticipated his reaction blocked his path. “Excuse me Zander,” Gareth spoke calmly but firmly.

“Where are you going your grace?” Zander’s deep voice responded with an equal firmness to it. It was more like he was telling Gareth to get a hold of himself than actually asking him a question.

“Where do you think?” Gareth responded, “Mel is out there pregnant with my child. I’m going to get her back.”

“Don’t be haste,” the blonde elf spoke as he crossed his arms over his chest, “you always get so worked up when princess Melissa is involved that you forget to be logical. She’s your weakness.”

“So what if she is?!” Gareth yelled at Zander. For some reason that statement got to him, probably because he was right. Gareth had always had a strong sense of duty and levelheadedness, he was always cool and collected and never jumped at anything. But when it came to Melissa, all logic and reason went out the fucking window, the only thing that rang in his mind was ‘protect her’ and ‘keep her safe’.

“It’s only going to get worse now that you know she’s with child,” Zander continued to speak “I understand why Finwe kept it from you, you would have done something impulsive and reckless.” Zander inched closer to the scowling prince and placed his hands in the man’s shoulders, “that’s where we come in, your friends, let us help you. Let us be the logic and sense of reason in such times.”

Gareth’s scowl melted away, he had gotten so engulfed in the thoughts of everyone being being against him and Melissa that he had completely forgotten that he actually had allies with him, friends who had practically become family. He nodded at Zander and smiled lightly.

“Please sit,” Zander spoke as he pointed at his chair, “I have a plan that may allow you to put Elric in his place and safely retrieve the princess.”

*

“What?”

The silver haired king shrugged and leaned back on the carriage wall as the caravan moved towards Meria, “nothing,” he responded to the beautiful nosferatu woman who was sitting across from him.

“Well then could you please stop staring at me like that, you’re making me nervous,” Melissa pouted.

Her facial expression made Elric chuckle lightly, she was so adorable it was almost unnatural. But then why wasn’t he getting excited about her presence, about her smile, her pout and all those other things that used to get his heart racing before.

“Something has changed about you Lissa,” Elric spoke, his golden eyes never leaving her adorable face. “But I can’t figure out what it is.”

He leaned forward and studied her closely, “how may times did you fuck him?”

Melissa gasped and covered herself with her arms as if the man could see right through her garments. “Elric what is wrong with you?”

“I’m just curious,” Elric responded.

The look on his face was startling because he didn’t look angry or upset about it, he just looked genuinely curious. What on earth was going on with him? He didn’t seem as possessive as he was before.

Melissa lowered her arms and gave Elric a curt look, “that’s non of your business Elric.”

The silver haired king chuckled and leaned back, “you’re right, it’s not,” he spoke and turned his head to look out the window. “But I want to know, do you love him?”

The red haired woman shot her blue eyes to the king who was casually looking out the carriage window. “What?”

“Prince Gareth,” the lycan prince repeated himself, “do you love him?”

*

“Now think, what does Elric have that prince Gareth doesn’t?” Zander asked the men sitting at the table.

“Melissa..” Ivan responded and received disapproving glares from everyone. “What it’s true!”

“What prince Gareth doesn’t have is an army,” Zander continued without paying any heed to Ivan’s outburst. “Elric has amassed an army so large that even if we somehow convinced queen Tauriel to lend us her men, we wouldn’t hold a candle to them. But that’s all about to change.”

Gareth looked at Zander skeptically, “and how exactly am I going to amass an army of my own? The only men truly loyal to me are the six of you.”

“Seven..” Finwe corrected his brother. “You have seven men loyal to you brother, me inclusive. Not only are you the heir to the throne and my future king, but you’re also family, and family sticks together.”

Gareth smiled and gave Finwe a thankful nod before turning back to Zander, “so how exactly do you plan on getting me an army, and what for? Are you insinuating we wage war against Elric like he did to us?”

“Not waging a war exactly. I was thinking more of intimidating him,” Zander responded. “And as for the men, your grace not only are you the heir to the Ervelon throne. But you’re forgetting you’re the sole heir to the Gavarian throne. All the men of both gavaria and Baiviles are to be loyal to you by virtual of your birth.”

“Of course!” Roland added on, “Zander you’re a genius!”

“And if we play our cards right we can convince the dwarves of Lenora to join us,” Finwe spoke pensively, “the question is how?”

“Lady Julia,” Beric responded, “correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t she the daughter of king Dvalin of the dwarves?”

“Yes she is!” Zander commented excitedly, “and Elric has her in Meria, I’m pretty sure he would want to retrieve his daughter without a doubt.”

“If we have Gavaria, Baiviles, and Lenora on our side,” Gareth spoke, “there is no way Elric will stand against us.”

Ivan stood up and cleared his throat grabbing the attention of his comrades, “so basically what you’re all saying is we have to leave on another mission filled with goblins and bloodshed to help the prince here get back his runway woman, when our wives are mere days from reaching Ervelon?”

The group all looked up at Ivan who had a smile plastered on his face.

“Can we leave today?! Gods know how much I’m not ready to hear my wife nag my ear off,” Ivan whined.

“Speak for yourself Ivan,” Beric responded with a dazed smile on his face, “I want to leave my wife with a baby on the way, prince Gareth’s child is gonna need playmates.”

“Then it’s settled,” Zander concluded, “we leave for Lenora in four days. Then it’s off to Gavaria. It will give time to you all to break the months of celibacy you’ve endured.”

*

Melissa drew in a breath and straightened her posture before answering. She looked straight at Elric and with a calm serious face responded to the silver haired king’s question, “I do.” She spoke, “I love prince Gareth with all my heart. I’m sorry Elric, but I can’t lie about that. I care about you a lot, even though you lied to me and tricked me our entire relationship, but I still consider you someone important on my life. But regardless of all of that, my heart belongs to Gareth, it always has.”

Elric continued looking out the carriage windows, he did not respond nor turn to look at Melissa after she gave him an answer.

“I see..” he responded casually, “I’m important to you am I?”

“Yes, you were there for me when I had no one,” Melissa responded in a low voice, “I consider you a good friend.”

“Alright,” the silver haired king responded. He turned to Melissa and gave her a warm smile which confused the blue eyed woman, “I consider you a good friend too, and I care about you very much.”

Melissa was at complete loss for words, was this really the Elric she had grown up knowing? Why was he so calm about all this, nothing made sense anymore.