Chapter 917: Rowena Is Going To Find The Mermaids
"I... if I can"t go there, you should look for Rowena yourself." Julian finally said to Prince Liam as he lost the strength in his limbs.
He wanted to chase after her by himself and yet his own body failed him.
"Of course, that"s what I plan to do, but it"s more dangerous at night," Prince Liam uneasily said. "I have to catch her more quickly before she really gets herself in trouble."
"What?" Julian couldn"t believe his ears, but his vision was getting blurry again and he only forced himself to stay awake.
King Xander looked over at his two sons, his heart pounded as he went over towards them and then looked at Prince Liam.
"If there is anything I can do, I"ll take over from here," King Xander said as he suddenly took out something from his suit and handed it over to Prince Liam. "And I believe that you have to take this, take my horse."
Prince Liam looked at his father in awe—but then realized that this was a father"s love. He seized the magical necklace from his father and handed over Julian to the king.
"I"ll make sure that she remains safe, I swear it with my life!" Prince Liam cried out before he chased after Rowena.
Although Julian didn"t quite know what exchange had truly happened, he looked over at the figure of his brother retreating and tried to be confident.
"I will send over the rest of the royal guards to follow after them, Julian," King Xander rea.s.sured his son with a smile. "Just stay strong please—I know that it is already far too late to make amends, but..."
"I"m not worried," Julian said with a cough as he closed his eyes. "Rowena knows how to swim. She"s the type of person who makes a mistake once and never repeats it again. I worry about her a lot, there"s an incredible amount of pressure on her shoulder."
King Xander heard the love and respect in his son"s voice, and it reminded him of his own past with Gabrielle.
There was such a steadfast and unwavering love that Julian held for the Crown Princess of Ashland.
"...I"m actually worried about the mermaids, Rowena might try to pull their hair just to get me a cure," Julian said with a chuckle, despite the ma.s.sive headache he experienced.
His att.i.tude tugged the king"s heartstrings. Even now, Julian still tried to make things light for everyone and joked about Rowena.
***
"Rowena, wait up!" Prince Liam was nearly out of breath before he managed to catch up with the panicked Rowena.
He couldn"t believe that she"d disposed of her shoes, which he granted were hard to run in, and attempted to run barefoot to the Wis.h.i.+ng Mermaid Lagoon.
Especially when it was a night out and
as Prince Liam checked out the window—it was a full moon as well.
"I don"t have any time to waste on you." Rowena continued to run and ignore him. She was filled with an incredible amount of anger because of what Prince Liam had done.
It did not matter to her that Prince Liam actually captured his own mother, what mattered to her was the fact that she and Julian had been betrayed. Rowena thought Prince Liam was a good person, the prince was someone like her... and yet this person unwittingly caused harm to her beloved friend and to other people.
These hopelessly naive people were what struck her the most because Rowena had been like Liam at one point. She lost Leia because of it and she wasn"t going to let herself lose Julian too.
"Wait, I"ll take you by horse!" Prince Liam offered. "You can"t run all by yourself—it"s dangerous."
"This palace has been far more dangerous with people like your mother prowling around unrestricted." Rowena threw a glare at him. "How could you and your father let that woman do anything? I can"t be bothered—I"ll take Hades."
Rowena continued to run, as adrenaline filled her with the energy to reach the stables.
Prince Liam also followed her and finally raised something in his hand. "I—I believe my father wants you to take this."
Rowena looked at him and finally realized what it was. It seemed simple at first, like something you might have picked up at the beach, a seash.e.l.l tied around a lovely string to make a necklace.
However, the more she looked at it, she found a strange pull towards the necklace and felt an affinity.
There was a sense of... magic inside the sh.e.l.l.
Was this necklace a magical item?
"This is the greatest treasure of Verona—the same sh.e.l.l that our ancestor had looted from the mermaids several centuries ago." Prince Liam explained.
He was aware of its existence, but it had been heavily guarded by his father because it had made them royalty. While the pearls created were not powerful, it was still a magical item.
That was why Prince Liam had been interested when Rowena tried to show off the Phoenix feather she had in the marketplace of Verona—he knew such things existed.
He continued to explain. "You could use this as a way to bargain—"
Rowena s.n.a.t.c.hed the necklace away from him and quickly hung it around her neck. She gave him a withering look as she finally freed Hades and grabbed ahold of his reins.
She blurted, "This is not enough to earn your forgiveness and I won"t waste time talking with you. If this is all you have to offer, then I"m leaving—"
Prince Liam panicked and quickly unsheathed h
is sword. "I"m coming with you, but take this as well."
Rowena eyed the blade and saw it was well-made, and though she didn"t have time to ponder why he gave it to her—she chose to carry the sword as well and rode on her horse.
"I see that you are a coward," Rowena said.
"The mermaids bear both a heavy grudge towards my family—and there"s also one who might still attempt to take one of the Verona as their husband..." Prince Liam tried to explain and then looked ashamed. "I... I also don"t know how to swim."
"You should learn to," Rowena said before she and Hades stormed out of the royal stable and headed out into the night.