319 Futile Search

CHAPTER 319

Although in his case, he had never wanted to disclose anything to them. If it was just Jareth they were after, he wouldn't have had any problem giving him away but no, it involved Astrid as well.

Judging from their reaction and words, Terrence could deduce that Astrid also kept her powers hidden from them. 

'Wise girl you are, hybrid. You gained yourself some allies while not being truthful to them. Lucky you, I do not want to disclose your identity. We would have seen if they would stick to you or go after you?'

"You mean to say she is not here? You are sure?"

"You can come in and check all you want but do not blame me for wasting your time," Katrina voiced out from where she stood, earning a glare from Terrence.

"Okay, we would take you up on your offer. By any chance do you know where they went?"

"Pff, what makes you think she would tell you? Did you already forget what she said some minutes back?" Sabrina chipped in.

Terrence scrunched his brows at the two women who were now standing side by side with Clive.

Wait!

Three women, including Elena.

'Now since when did women have a say in this?' Terrence thought to himself. He was beginning to get irritated by their presence in the whole issue.

"Well, as expected. Now shall we? If we do not find them, we would live in peace."

"You cannot do anything if you find them actually, except you want to start a war."

"War? Who said anything about war? Besides, what is a human village doing way far from the main kingdom anyway?"

"That is not your business, elf. Do your search and be on your way."

"Hmm… General Aelfdene."

"Yes, your highness."

"Take some men with you and do a thorough search of the whole village. Take note, do not scatter anything in there."

"Yes, your highness."

After hearing Aelfdene refer to him as your highness twice, Katrina raised a brow at him. "She must be pretty important for the prince of Elvendel to come out in pursuit of her. I wonder what kind of crime she committed to warrant this many troops."

"As you said, it is none of your business."

"I think it is, considering we are granting you access into our homes unguarded."

"You think? You had no choice."

"Enough. You may be an elvish prince, but remember that this is not your territory or your kingdom. Give it up pretty boy we are only doing you a favour," Clive chipped in after some time.

This time Terrence could barely take their insult but to maintain his dignity, he only clenched his fist at his back and put up a fake smile like he was not affected by their words.

Aelfdene got ready about sixty soldiers and they marched forward to the gate.

His eye darted to the side to look at Terrence, waiting for him to give the order.

"Fine, half of them would go. You do not think I would not take precautionary measures to make sure you are not playing any game, do you?"

"If I wanted to, I would not let you in."

"I want the search to be fast so that I can be on my way," Terrence finally explained to him. "The sooner we get this over with, the better for everyone."

"I would take my chances. Twenty of them can go in."

"Thirty."

"Twenty," Clive spat sharply.

"Thirty!"

"Twenty-five, take it or leave it."

"Fine!" Terence nodded towards Aelfdene and he got the cue. Forty-five of his men marched back and the others marked in with Aelfdene.

Katrina stood her ground with her eyes glued to the elvish prince as she studied his appearance.

"Katrina, what are you at?" Sabrina asked in a whisper.

"Nothing, he just seems oddly familiar," Katrina whispered to her friend.

"Why did you suggest that they enter the village to check?" asked Elena.

"If we chase them away and tell them they had long gone, that would only make them chase after Astrid quicker. At least, this way we can stall them to give Astrid and Jareth time on their journey to cover up. It would be a futile search."

"Oh! How smart of you," Elena praised her friend.

"I bet Clive got her queue, that was why he followed suit. For once he is doing something good." Sabrina praised him and let her eyes wander to where he stood.

Even though they had communicated in a whisper, to the elf who had a skilled sense of hearing and an enhanced one at that as a royal, he heard everything they said and that only irked him.

But there was nothing he could do now. His men were already in and they could be saying those to make him leave. Either way, he had to check things out himself.

After about fifty minutes of searching, the soldiers found nothing pertaining to the hybrid or even Jareth or a beast there to instil that they were there again.

Fifty minutes later, they were already out with one report. "Your highness, they were here alright but not anymore," Aelfdene declared.

Terrence looked at the women and gritted his teeth silently before he shifted his gaze to Clive.

"Thank you. We would be on our way now. Sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused." Terrence apologized quickly as he did not want to spend even a minute more there.

They had succeeded in wasting his time but at the very least he knew they weren't there.

"Are you sure you are satisfied with your search? You can give it a second round, you know, just to be very sure." Elena mockingly suggested.

Terrence who knew what game they were playing at simply smiled and rejected her offer.

"No, it is all good."

"We never said what would happen if you did not find them, you surely cannot leave just like that after we granted you free entry into our home, now do you?���

'Urghh! Now, what do these people want?' Terrence was losing his patience.

"I think you should compensate us. You do not want us to think your people are stingy, right?" Katrina chipped in her question as well.

'These two!'

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