Mated To The Cruel Prince-Chapter 885: Love Me Like You Love Islinda

With King Oberon secured inside the protective barrier, it felt as though a heavy burden had been lifted from the defenders’ shoulders. Aldric took command, rallying everyone to focus on protecting their city.

"Get the citizens into the barrier!" Aldric shouted, his voice cutting through the chaos.

Andre echoed the command, turning to the soldiers. "Get the people inside the barrier, now!"

The order traveled through the ranks, spreading until every Fae heard the directive. The non-combat faeries began moving swiftly, gathering the injured, elderly, women, and children.

The Spring Fae, with their natural healing abilities, stepped in to assist, tending to the wounded even as the battle raged around them. Prince Theodore and his mother, Queen Nirvana, led this operation, their magic flowing through them as they healed the injured and guided them toward safety.

As they approached the barrier, the witches guarding it sensed their arrival and opened a portion to let them through. With so many faeries flooding in, the witches had no choice but to widen the perimeter, stretching the barrier’s magic to its limits to contain the growing number of refugees.

However, not all of the enemy’s magicians had been defeated. The surviving sorcerers, seeing the faeries’ strategy, quickly devised a countermeasure. One of them opened a portal, and through it, a group of massive ogres emerged, each one towering over the fae.

The ogres wasted no time, pounding their enormous fists against the barrier, trying to break it down. Inside, the witches braced themselves, channeling all their energy to hold the barrier in place.

"Protect the witches!" Aldric’s voice rang out as he realized the enemy’s plan. Then, directing the other rank of soldiers, he roared, "Attack their magicians! Take them down!"

The fae soldiers launched into action, hurling their magic and weapons at the ogres. Though the monsters were tough, they began to fall, one by one. But just as one of the ogres was on the verge of collapse, it hurled its spear with a mighty roar. The force was so immense that it pierced through the barrier, striking one of the witches square in the chest.

The witch fell instantly, her body crumpling to the ground as blood soaked through her robes. The section of the barrier she had been maintaining flickered, then disappeared. Her sisters, sensing her death, let out a collective cry of grief, but there was no time to mourn.

Aldric quickly shouted, "Hold your ground! Cover the breach!"

With tears in their eyes, the remaining witches rallied, struggling to maintain the barrier’s integrity. They strained under the immense effort, now forced to compensate for their fallen sister’s portion. The barrier’s glow flickered with their exhaustion, and Aldric could see the toll it was taking on them.

"We can’t hold this forever!" one of the witches cried out, her voice strained.

Before anyone could respond, another portal opened nearby, and a fresh wave of ogres appeared. Their spears were raised, and it was clear they had learned from the first attack. They aimed directly at the witches, determined to bring the barrier down and leave the faeries vulnerable to massacre.

"Cover the witches! Don’t let those spears hit them! Prioritize their safety!" Aldric barked, his voice commanding.

The fae soldiers engaged the ogres with renewed urgency, but the monsters were relentless, throwing their spears with deadly precision, even as they fell under the fae’s counterattacks. The air was thick with the tension of the battle, and Aldric’s heart pounded as he saw the spears hurtling toward the witches inside the barrier.

"No!" Aldric yelled, desperation lacing his voice.

"Aldric, take my hand!" Islinda called out, her voice cutting through the noise.

Without hesitation, Aldric reached for her, and the moment their hands connected, a surge of power flowed between them. Islinda channeled Azula’s dark energy into him, filling Aldric with a raw, potent force that coursed through his veins.

With a scream, Aldric unleashed his shadows, sending them racing toward the spears that had been aimed at the witches. The shadows coiled around each spear, stopping them mid-air before Aldric hurled them back toward the enemy magicians with terrifying precision. The spears struck the magicians in their chests, and several of them crumpled to the ground, dead.

The battlefield went still for a moment, the sheer power of Aldric’s display leaving the fae soldiers in awe. Even King Oberon, watching from within the barrier, was visibly stunned by his son’s mastery of the dark magic. The silence was broken by a roar from the faeries, their spirits ignited by Aldric’s success. The tide of the battle had shifted in their favor.

With renewed determination, the fae soldiers pressed forward, their vigor returned. The remaining magicians, their ranks thinned, were now vulnerable, and the faeries advanced on them with ferocity.

As Aldric stood there, panting from the exertion and trying to catch his breath, Islinda placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?" she asked, her voice filled with concern.

Aldric nodded slowly. "Yeah, I’m okay." But his thoughts were elsewhere. He raised his head and looked into her eyes. "How did you do that?"

The memory of the moment still coursed through him. The sheer power he had wielded felt like nothing he had ever experienced. All the dark magic he had trained with before felt like child’s play compared to the force that surged through him when Islinda touched him. It had been as though he had tapped into the source of his power for the first time.

Islinda opened her mouth to answer, but before she could speak, her eyes turned completely black. When she spoke, it wasn’t her voice, but Azula’s.

"Who gave you your powers in the first place?"

Aldric stiffened, realization dawning. The night court had made deals with demons for their dark magic, but they had only received a fraction of the true power. Azula had shared her essence with him, and he had survived because of his nature as a dark Fae.

For the first time, Aldric knew he needed Azula’s power to face what was coming.

Aldric took a deep breath, staring into Islinda’s blackened eyes, Azula’s essence clearly in control. He knew he was taking a risk, but the situation left him no choice. "If I let you stay in this body and fight in this war, would you promise not to harm Islinda or the child?"

Azula’s surprise flickered momentarily before her usual disdainful expression returned. She sneered, "And why should I listen to you, dark Fae prince?"

Aldric didn’t back down. He squared his shoulders and replied, "Aren’t you tired of this fight? You are a princess and yet, you’ve been treated for less, all because you refuse to share. You’re bound to me now as much as Islinda is. If she dies, the baby dies, and so do you. Or do you think I don’t know that you lost half your power trying to bind yourself to her when she was just a baby? You believed once you took over Islinda’s body, you’d regain it all. But Islinda survived, and you’ve been hibernating for years, trying to recover what you lost, all to no avail. The truth is, Islinda holds half that power, and maybe it’s time we all accept that and work together."

There was silence. The battlefield roared around them, but in that moment, it felt like time had stopped. Aldric had turned the tide of battle earlier, and the general had taken charge in his place. Now, he waited for Azula’s scornful rejection.

He expected her to counter, perhaps strike a new bargain, but instead, her lips curled into a smirk.

"Deal," she said simply.

Aldric blinked, stunned. "What?"

"I agree," Azula repeated, "to coexist with Islinda, as long as you promise to love me as much as you love her. After all, you’re my mate too."

Aldric was taken aback. "Why?"

Azula’s amusement deepened. "Why? Oh, Aldric, why does anyone do anything? Because I’ve realized my own foolishness. How long will Islinda live? Two centuries? Four? Even if she somehow lives five hundred years, it’s nothing in the grand scheme of things. When she’s gone, I’ll be able to return to my realm. So why should I risk everything now when I’m the only one who gains in the end? Besides..." Her voice dropped as she licked her lips, a wicked gleam in her eyes. "It’s not such a bad thing, having you as my mate."

A shiver ran down Aldric’s spine at her gaze, the predatory hunger in her tone both unsettling and enticing. "So, what do you say, Dark Fae Prince? Do you agree to take me as your mate? To love me as much as you love Islinda? In return, you’ll have all that I can offer, as long as I’m in this realm."

Aldric hesitated, thinking hard. He should have asked for Islinda’s opinion but time was running out. Moreover, Islinda had been the one who suggested they co-exist in the first place. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, at least before Azula changed her mind.

He was already bound to Azula, anyway. Aldric had spent years trying to control the dark power within him, and if embracing Azula meant wielding that power more effectively—especially now, in the heat of battle—then maybe, just maybe, it was the right choice. Learning to love her flaws, to accept her alongside Islinda, would come with time.

"Deal," he said, extending his hand to seal it.

"Deal," Azula replied, binding the agreement with magic. But instead of shaking his hand, she pulled him close and kissed him, a kiss that was hot, demanding, and full of a raw, unbridled energy. Aldric felt a surge of power course through him, so potent that for a moment, he almost forgot about the chaos of the battlefield.

When they finally pulled apart, Azula’s lips curved into a dark, satisfied smirk. "Let’s go kick some ass, my beloved mate." Her voice was a mix of promise and menace, her eyes gleaming with anticipation.

With this newfound power coursing through him, Aldric was good to go.