Mixed Blood: Round Table of Knights - The Fairy of Ice

Nightmare

Anastasia got up on her bed lifeless. She heard that today is a special day and she has to get ready though.

The Allied forces are here and her role is important. With the increased number of attacks from weak-blooded vampires, the coup d'etat from the east, and the invading forces from Lithuania, she knows that all of them are co-related to each other. She must identify which of them is being led by the Duke of Yekaterinburg. Her biggest enemy is still the angel and for her, that creature holds the highest priority to be taken care of first.

She stopped overthinking when the maid knocked on her door to advise her that she has to hurry and proceed to the garden immediately.

The agenda of this meeting is to persuade the Royal family's allies that the trump card of the enemy is far from what they are expecting, thus they need to prepare and prioritize exterminating it. Though she knows that she should also prepare herself on persuading these allies that she is not an enemy too. Where to begin? She doesn't know the answer yet.

Let's cross the bridge when we get there!

Once done proper preparations on her appearance, she moved out of her room and go straight to where the Grand Dukes and Duchess are in--- to the garden.

Garden's Pavilion, Descovick's castle**

Alyssa arrived at the pavilion where all the target audiences are waiting.

"It seems that everyone is here" she opened the conversation with a few claps and got these leaders' attention.

"Sis, the Prince has not yet arr--" Strelna suddenly stopped talking when everyone felt the presence of the person the Duchess was referring to.

The Prince of the Blood Imperial Vasilchikov Durnovo suddenly revealed his presence to the crowd behind them leaning on the pillar of the pavilion. He is a tall young man with blonde hair tied in a short ponytail. He is wearing a military outfit while silently blowing the smoke he inhales from his smoking pipe.

Strelna stiffed when she captured the man's mischievous sleepy eyes. The man is a piece of bad news even to her caliber. Vasilchikov Durnovo or short for Vasil is a woman-eater, a womanizer who loves playing with women. Even with her ability to seduce this man, his power surpasses hers. He is the real-life Casanova.

She is older than the Prince of the Blood Imperial but knowing his personality, he is one of the men she doesn't want to use her powers on.

"I was here first, Strelna. Happy that I crossed your mind though" Vasil, without any doubt teases the Grand Duchess which makes the woman turn pale as death.

"Using your abilities on us is rude, Vasil" monotoned escalation came from the Grand Duke Beznosov as he indulge a sip from his tea.

Vasil laughed mischievously while walking towards the way out of the Pavilion.

"I'm sorry everyone. I wasn't able to go to the welcoming party for our Queen Elena. I had a rough time guarding the piers of the Kaliningrad as the one on the task of defending it against Lithuania's invasion and the Queen's safe departure from here"

Before the Queen's arrival from the Russian territory, Vasil was put on a mission to welcome Queen Elena herself on the Pier of Zelenogradsk and guard the ships against any possible attacks from the Queendom of Lithuania.

"Eh!? You were at the pier? You haven't even come for our rescue in Rybachy!" Strelna shouted in frustration while giving a disappointed tone from her seat.

"Sorry, Strelna. The moment Vasil received the letter for his summon, he immediately moved out to the pier and headed here. He was no longer there when you arrived at the Rybachy. He is here first before any of you and that was a week ago" Alyssa explained.

"Drop that conversation. What I am disappointed is I missed seeing the rumored woman Tsesarevich declared as his wife at the party" mischievously, Vasil look and smiles at the Empress leaking his intention to the rumored woman.

"Oh, same as brother Beznosov, Vasil. He came here wanting to see the woman which is claiming to be a creature from the myths and children's books" Yasupov cheerfully removed the tense atmosphere everyone is subconsciously creating around them.

"You will all meet Anastasia in awhile, do not wor--" Before Alyssa complete her sentence, Vasil interrupted her saying--

"Speaking of the devil. The devil is here"

Everyone changed the focus of their eyes to the woman walking toward them. Alyssa who is beside Vasil figured out what the man wanted to do.

Vasil inhaled the smoke from his pipe and at the same time glowing his red eyes into ruby, he blew it towards the woman who is approaching them.

"Vasil, you--" Alyssa is ready to stop her nephew-in-law when he speaks after he covered Anastasia in his smokescreen.

"It is timely and also the meeting's agenda to know this woman, right? Aunt Alyssa? Now is the moment to expose her nature to all of us here" on his signature mischievous sleepy eyes and smile, Alyssa and the rest of them were engulfed in Vasil's smokescreen.

[Anastasia's POV]

Anastasia was placed in confusion when suddenly the surrounding changed and turned into darkness. She remembers very clearly that she is on her way to the pavilion where she saw the vampires she'll meet as planned.

But where am I?

She asked herself after looking at all angles for something aside from the darkness. She stopped overthinking when she gazed down and saw her hands. She can still see herself even in this pitch-black environment.

I might be inside of someone's spell. These vampires are powerful enough to influence me with these?

She tried to focus and strengthen her mentality to escape this spell but she doesn't have enough luck to escape from it.

Impossible!

She can't escape!

"Anastasia"

She opened her eyes when she heard someone calling her name. This voice sounds familiar to her.

"Anastasia"

She began to run from this darkness to look at the voice's whereabouts. The voice continuously calls her name until she saw a small light from afar.

I found the exit!

She ran as fast as she can until the light devour the darkness. She stopped running when the surroundings changed and her feet walks on the frozen bed of grass.

"Oh there you are, Anastasia"

The voice which was calling him awhile ago, she met him. Her eyes stared at the man in front of her, fully opened as if they will come out from their sucket. The man's face suddenly changes into worry. One step towards him and she and her body automatically step back in response. The man then got confused and worried even more.

"A-anastasia? Is there any problem?"

Her attention was first glued to the man and she hasn't realized that the surroundings they are in completely changed. The new place was also familiar to her. She began to panic and moved back several times as if the man will endanger her life.

"Anas--" the man interrupted to call her name once more when she shouted.

"Don't come closer!"

She was gasping for air. What is happening? Why is this man in front of her? And why is she in the Estofidel? Why is she suddenly home? Her tears started to flow like a river as she go hysterical.

"Anastasia, what is happening to you? Are you ok"

The man who was now panicking and worried stepped closer to try to lessen the distance from her but was put to stop after she cast an ice wall in between.

"I said do not get closer!" with all the hatred she can feel towards the elf man, she made sure to wrap it all in her warnings.

She was still out of breath and casting the wall of ice made her even weaker. She looked for something that will ease the pain of getting her strength sucked dry as her vision becomes blurry. Not from afar, without Anastasia or even the man can see, Vasil and the others are watching them.

"What is this Vasil?" Yusupov asked. Everyone has their eyes focused on the scene in front of them.

"Her nightmare. I opened her mind and force her to relive the most painful memory she had before coming into contact with Loren"

"With her appearance right now, she really is a fairy" Strelna in awe and shock found herself mouthing the words she should be keeping to herself.

"Not only that, the man is an Elven creature" Beznosov, through nodding pointed the man in front of Anastasia.

"Yes, this is the piece her painful memory materializes. This man played the most important part in it" Vasil explained.

As Alyssa watch Anastasia in her agony, she remembered something when she tested her powers before.

"The reason she froze her heart is this man" she concluded.