Chapter 78

Claudia's POV
I hummed a lullaby as I brushed my hair. I felt better after seeing Maxwell and I couldn't keep a smile off my face. I couldn't help but feel happy that after that entire time away, I finally saw him. Okay, even though it wasn't the romantic reunion that I had been expecting where the guy takes a girl on a yacht where they have, but it was more than enough. Grabbing the mascara, I opened it and put some over my eyes.
Is it too much
Nah. I bit my lip and twirled around loving the way I looked. I wonder what Maxwell will think once he sees me like this. I mentally slapped my head and groaned, I sounded too girly. I fixed my dress and opened the door only to be greeted by enforcers running through the castle looking stressed and worried.
"Princess, the king wishes to speak with you immediately." I looked sideways to see a very tall man, dressed in a guard suit, staring down at me with panicky eyes. By the looks of it, something very dangerous must have happened.
Or… No.
Before I gave him an answer, I started shooting questions. The guard seemed impatient but tried hiding it by keeping a neutral face. I waited for him to tell me something, anything, about what was happening. The guard remained silent for a few seconds, probably debating what he should say.
"Princess, this is an emergency and the king is requesting you immediately so please accompany me," the guard replied and I growled in annoyance
Why are all the guards around here like that? Never giving you answers? It gets frustrating. Instead of following him, I stood my ground and glared hard at him. "I need to know what it happening, now." I stressed. The guard blew out a hasty sigh.
"The demons are moving this way." That was all I needed to know before bolting down the hall to the main chamber. It didn't take long to reach the chamber and when I was in front of the doors, I didn't hesitate to open them.
"Was what I heard-" My voice died down when I saw a bold man, probably in his forties, standing next to my uncle with a map in his hand. Of course, with me barging into the room like that, all the attention was now centered on me. Awesome luck, I thought dryly.
But my expression turned from embarrassed to shocked when I saw the only person I least expected to be here standing a few feet away from my uncle, with his arms crossed. My jaw practically dropped; why is Maxwell here? When last I had seen him, he had been in the dungeon and now he was … here. I turned to my uncle and looked at him with an expression that said 'what the hell is going on?'.
"Claudia, this is General Matthew, he will be leading our army." I sent the general a smile as a greeting and he replied with a nod.
"Now is not the time for questions Claudia, I requested you here so you can get ready for war." I looked at him and nodded. War, I sighed. After all the training, I was finally ready for war.
"I understand that, but Maxwell-"
"Prince Maxwell will be accompanying us to the place where the war between the two armies will arise and will be our element of surprise." I looked at Maxwell and raised an eyebrow when I saw him smirk. Only God knew what he had done to convince my uncle about what he had in mind.
For the next fifteen minutes, my uncle and General Matthew talked about war strategies, mainly about how the army was to be divided in teams; Earth controllers in a group, same for water and wind controllers. I took a look at the map as General Matthew explained the road we would take to reach our destination, Thaldin. The general also explained that reaching Thaldin would take a maximum of three hours.
"Claudia, please go to your chamber and get ready." I nodded and got up from my chair. I was surprised when I heard footsteps following me up to my room but I didn't turn around, I knew it was Maxwell. I bit my lip and mentally chuckled as I thought of what his expression would be now, frustration maybe? The entire walk to my chamber was like that, me torturing him with the silence. I looked sideways, and brushed of some 'dirt' from my shoulder but I was secretly glancing at him. I smirked as I noticed him rigid jaw, payback's a bitch, right?
A part of my brain was scolding me, telling me that he did no wrong but I inwardly shook my head. Nope, he had to pay for that little stunt he did down in the dungeons yesterday. After a month, he had only pecked me! Okay, I know it was not a good reason for treating him like this but I was having fun and that was what is important right now. I wonder what he'll do when we reach my room. I silently groaned, great! Just great! He would probably stare down at me with that creepy look on his face and ask me 'why were you ignoring me while walking up the stairs'? And guess what, if I told him I hadn't been ignoring you then he wouldn't believe me and would say 'you could've at least said something'.
Ugh, I rolled my eyes as I opened the door to my chamber
Here comes Hell.
"You know I love you right?" A smile stretched across Maxwell's face as I said that. I was expecting Maxwell to say
'I love you too' or at least a nod, actually cross that, I didn't want him to nod
"No, not really." He frowned but I could see laughter filling his eyes
Oh, so hotshot wants to play? I inwardly chuckled and decided that I would play along with him. I narrowed my eyes at him and turned around taking a few steps forward, hoping that Maxwell would stop me