The Dragon King's Bride

Chapter 8 : Smoke and Ash

Zofia was dressed in a black dress with floral print on it, hoping deeply it would hide some of her visible bruises, take the attention away from them. She plaited her own hair back before she left the bedroom. She was so unsure if she was supposed to share a bed with Draegon or not. She was certain that he had already tired of her. There was no way he could want more after he had already taken her virtue, perhaps what little beauty she had on her skin, too. No way if she got up and he was gone. 

"You want some crumpets, sir Garison?" Juniper asked Zofia's guard. She dove back into the room and peeked out to see him taking his helmet off. Underneath he had a full head of hair. He was young and rather handsome. She imagined him as an old bald guy who was specifically skilled to protect the queen. Perhaps he was a young virile man who was specifically skilled. Zofia took the opportunity to slip out unseen, with both their backs turned to her. She looked over her shoulder to see if they had spotted her, but she was in the clear. 

"I made them for the queen's birthday." Juniper said sweetly after Garison complimented the chef. Zofia had to hide behind doors and duck out of the way three more times before she was outside. It was her birthday and there was no way she was going to have a guard following her around, nor was she going to let anyone tell her how she needed to spend it. She snuck through the gardens in the hopes of her dress camouflaging her with the beautiful, full bloom geraniums. The stalls were quiet, some of the horses clearly being out, and the guards that Mephis had brought with him were gone. Zophia broke into a full run when excitement washed over her. She ran all the way to the edge of the woods, which didn't even mark the edge of the castle grounds. There was another lake there, one that she had only speculated would be there. It was private and she felt it was just perfect. She anticipated the cold water on her bruised skin. She couldn't wait any longer. She pulled her dress off and left her shoes on top of the pile, then she walked into the pebble-bottomed lake and broke into smiles and laughter. A shrill animalistic screech sounded through the trees, which had her stopping for only a moment before she happily carried on enjoying the water. 

Chaos engulfed the castle when Draegon returned to his room and Zofia was not in his bed - or in the castle for that matter. 

"I will behead you for letting her out of your sight." He growled at Garison, the guard simply nodding as if he agreed. 

"I regret my neglectful guarding." He apologized to the king. Draegon was going mad with worry, every bad scenario clouding his head. He was burning up from inside his clothes as he paced through the castle in search of the queen. 

"Be calm, Draegon. I'm sure she's around here somewhere." Serena yawned at him. She rolled her eyes. "No one would want to steal her." She added to Livina, who chuckled wickedly with her. 

"Did she say anything to you?" Draegon pressed Garison again. He shook his head at the king. 

"No, my lord. She just mentioned that she missed the lake, told Lady Bella." The guard tried to explain. 

"The lake." Draegon realized. It was where she was before he found her that day, and where she ran off to the day after he brought her to the castle. It made sense to him. He rounded his men up and they rode over to the lake in town, only to find that there was only an elderly lady hunched over her washing. 

"She said that no one else was here, she was here the whole morning." Garison reported to the king, who was waiting on his horse. He couldn't think for the life of him where she had gone off to. Was she gone with Niklaus? Had she realized what he had made her body look like and decided to run away? 

"Isn't there another lake, Your highness?" A guard spoke up. Draegon stared at the man for a while, wondering if he should have him killed or to thank him for the reminder. There was another lake. The whole royal entourage rode back to the castle. They dismounted their horses and hurried around the back, through the gardens and towards the edge of the forest.