The Deathly Scream - 𝟙

༒ Fifty-one ༒

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'Can I look at him one more time?' I ask quiet, barely understandable. August keeps quiet too for a moment, I knew what he was thinking but I didn't care. This was my fault and I had to face it one more time.

'Can you hold control over your emotions?' He asks concerned.

'I'm fine', I whisper back before leaning forward and lift the cloth of the body under it.

There my beautiful dragon lays down, never being able again to breath. August helps me by removing the whole cloth so his whole body becomes visible. I lay my hand on his head, like I always used to do, but he would never connect to me again.

'What did that horrible woman do to you?' I whisper, laying my head against his. My tears stream down again. There is no way someone has ever seen me this vulnerable.

'The dragon got poisoned. Whoever did this knows a lot about dragons. We found Narcissus in her blood', August explains.

'Narcissus? That is deadly for any dragon', I notice, lifting my head to look at him. 'This happened on purpose?' I ask to make sure. August nods before standing up and walks towards the edge of the roof.

'You know, Rosalia, Narcissus only grows in the Kingdom of Syrilia'. I turn my head to him instantly, not understanding why he didn't tell me earlier.

'Then we have all the prove we need!' I say a little hopeful but he shakes his head doubtfully.

'You can't accuse a Queen of murder. We already made that mistake'.

'No, I did', I say harsh. 'If we bring this out our reputation is clean again', I try but he doesn't agree.

'Leave it alone, Rosalia. We already told your father, he doesn't want to hear a thing about it. I give up, leaning over the dragon to inspect him for one last time. Maybe they had missed something, maybe I did have other prove we couldn't ignore. But it seemed like nothing was there.

'Cameron is concerned about you', August notices. I sit down when he turns to me again, an annoying smile on his face.

'Yes, I couldn't tell by the letters he left for me', I answer sarcastic while thinking of the envelopes on my desk. 'He shouldn't worry about me, he has other priorities', I notice, which makes him laugh.

'Love isn't a scandal', he notices. I open my mouth to say something but I can't, not understanding where this comes from.

'I do think it is a scandal when he is a candidate for a Selection my sister hosts', I say in disbelief.

'You can't choose who you fall in love with', August mumbles. I laugh vague at the things he is trying to explain me. There was nothing between me and Cameron, and there shouldn't be.

'What do you even know about love? I have never seen you with anyone.'

August sits down on a lower wall, looking at me amused, his glance reminding me of Ezra. 'Well, one day ... I loved your mother', he laughs. I widen my eyes, not sure how to react on this.

'Does my father know?' August laughs a little about that, thinking back of the moment it happened.

'We were best friends, we were practically fighting for Indira's hand. But however, I was born in the castle and your father joined the army when he moved here from the East. Indira immediately fell for his charm, I had no chance'.

'My father's charm?' I ask amused.

'You may not believe it but he used to teas your mother all the time, making her annoyed and stuff. But one day they found each other, I could tell she loved him'.

'And you were good with that?'

'As I told you before, you can't choose who you fall in love with', he reminds me. I stare in front of me, not knowing what to tell him. He could've been king of this island, and still he seemed happy about his position. He lost the love of his life also.

'You still loved my mother when she died, didn't you?' He looks down at the ground, holding his hands together while figuring out what to tell me. All I wanted was the truth.

'I was too late to save her that day. She was already death when I fought myself through other soldiers. Your father sat down next to her body, holding it in his arms', he whispers. Tears come up my eyes again when I realise how much this has hurt him. All this time I thought he was a confidant of my parents but their history seemed to be much more. I would never understand that.

'I'm sorry', I whisper.

I look over at the dragon, sighing when I try to stand up on my shaky legs and lift the cloth to lay it over him again. This night had taken me enough effort. At least I had been outside, although not all my questions had been answered yet. There must be a way to prove Queen Emersyn had killed him, especially because of the poisoning with flowers that only grow in her Kingdom.

August jumps of the wall, trying to help me but I insist that I can do this alone, which makes him smile. I had to find my force back, I shouldn't care that my whole island seemed mad at me. I was going to fix this once I felt good again.

'Can I be present when you burry him?' I ask when we walk down the stairs. Some staff of the castle get a look at me, not as polite as usual when we walk through the corridors.

'Of course, I'll let Cameron escort you'.

'Actually, ask Levi', I notice a little annoyed.

'Whatever you want princess', he says, winking for no reason. I feel another stab in my stomach as I used to feel a lot these last days, and walk back a little out of breath.

'Rosalia?' August asks, supporting me when I threaten to fall down. Everything before my eyes turns black, as if I'm going blind. I can still feel the hands of August around me, him screaming for help when I fall down on the soft carpet under me.

I'm aware of everything around me until a woman appears in my sight. A long dark cloak turning towards me, a wand in her left hand when she walks closer to point it at me.

'You are getting a war', she whispers and suddenly all I can feel is cold around me, as if I'm dying. I try to fight the feeling when out of nowhere, other hands touch me and someone lifts me from the ground. Leaving me in my vision when they run through the corridors with me. I couldn't breathe.