Mated To The Cruel Prince
Chapter 71: Deal With Eli

Chapter 71: Deal With Eli

"What?" Islinda felt the breath knocked out of her lungs. Her hands began to tremble and suspicion rose in her heart but she refused to believe it.

It can’t be.

Unaware of the change in her emotion, Belinda elaborated, "It was days after you left that Eli came to my store in tears, pleading that I should look for you. He told me that he had seen a Fae in the abandoned cottage when you found him...."

But Islinda was not listening to the rest of her story because she was lost in her thoughts. Islinda began to think about the circumstances regarding their meeting and recalled she had stumbled upon Eli in the forest after she met with Valerie. Could it be the boy had seen her with Valerie and was telling the truth?

What if he wasn’t just a boy?

The thought crossed her mind and her blood chilled to a freezing point. Islinda did not dare to make a move, not to talk or carelessly breathe as the dots began to connect in her mind.

Was it a coincidence that the village chief died the same night she brought Eli to the village?

By the gods, Islinda expelled a shaky breath. Why didn’t she think of this?

The more Islinda thought about it, everything finally began to make sense to her.

How did Remy come to like him if he didn’t bewitch her? She had heard that trickster Fae could beguile one to do their bidding. Remy could not have changed overnight and Islinda always thought it suspicious the way she took a liking to him overnight.

Islinda swallowed, her heart beginning to pound in her chest. Her eyes were finally opened and she was beginning to see what she was previously blind to. How didn’t she realize all of this? She was smart, why did none of this cross her mind?

Then it hit her, Ryder’s death. It wasn’t Valerie that killed him but.... Eli?

Islinda let out a strangled whimper, her legs were suddenly weak and gave out from beneath her so she landed on the floor without grace, shocking Belinda.

"What’s wrong, Islinda?" The woman was by her side, attempting to pull her up to her feet but she gestured to her to stop.

Her face was so pale it looked like the blood had drained from her body and cold sweat broke out on her forehead. She needed to think and standing was not helping.

Belinda stared at her conflicted, and had no idea what to do. She could not have Islinda sit on the bare floor in front of her store and draw attention, but at the same time, she had this nagging feeling inside of her that something was wrong. In the end, she let her be but shifted her weight on both feet, uncomfortable.

Islinda thought harder, feeling her heart break into a million tiny pieces. Valerie had only known the truth about Ryder days after she woke up but Eli had been there that day. He saw everything. He knew everything. He has known everything all this while.

Such a smart kid, she always assumed. But there were moments she swore something was off about him yet did not put much thought into it. He came to her with the guise of losing his mother. Did he even have a mother?

Dear gods, the shock kept increasing.

Islinda always assumed trickster Fae appeared out of the bolder and whisk their victims to the Fae realm, but this one had manipulated himself into her life and preyed on her kindness to get what he wanted.

But what was his end goal? She had no idea. However, wouldn’t it be to have fun destroying her life? Trickster Fae relish causing chaos and pain for their victim and he succeeded.

"By the gods...." Islinda gasped, her eyes filling with tears.

This was all her fault. She had brought the trickster Fae into their lives and ruined everything. The village chief was dead because of her. And Ryder? While Islinda disliked him, it didn’t mean that he deserved to die brutally at the hands of a Fae.

Islinda was lucky enough to meet Valerie who changed her views about the Fae, but Eli was nothing like him. He was evil. But weren’t the Fae’s all the same? One stole her heart and left her while the other was with her but ruined her life.

Wait... one was with her....

Islinda rose to her feet with a hardened expression. Her jaw clenched and her hands balled into a fist, her eyes filled with determination. Eli was not going free for what he had done. He had messed with the wrong human.

Other humans would be scared after this realization but the same could not be said for Islinda who was filled with so much anger she craved revenge. How had she been so stupid? How did she not see the signs? Everything had been happening right under her nose.

Perhaps, the heartbreak she was going through fueled her suicidal thought about dealing with Eli. No, Eli was dead to her. Right now, she was about to deal with the Fae that stole the lives of two people she knew. It was stupid to face Eli all alone, but she didn’t exactly care.

"Islinda?" Belinda grabbed her arm when she stood, narrowing her gaze at her, "What are you doing? Where are you going?"

Islinda turned to her with a smile that might as well have been a sneer, "What do you think? I’m going to get Eli." She said his name with enough poison that alerted Belinda that something was wrong.

"What is going on?" She queried her.

"Don’t worry, you’d find out soon," Islinda said, then gently pulled her arm free from her grasp.

Without a word, Islinda turned and left.

Her destination was back home and she strode with confidence. While she walked, Islinda reached from behind for her quiver, pulling out one arrow that was different from the rest.

She stopped and felt the fletching, and for the first time, Islinda was grateful she had purchased the Iron arrow.