Everything around Zofia smelled like Oak and Ash. Like a sillage that had rubbed of on her at some point. She moved, but her body did not allow her to move more than a few centimeters. Zofia opened her eyes to gauge whether or not her husband, the king, was still in bed next to her. He wasn't. Her heart dropped before she reminded herself that the king had duties to attend to. If he married her for love, he would have stayed, he would have kissed her more, he would have smiled at her more. No, this marriage was political, convenient.
Zofia tried to move again, to get up and leave his bedroom, but she ached all over. She sat up, but the pain between her legs was too much to bear like that. Instead she just fell back on to the pillows. It occurred to her that she got a moment to look at the king's room. The bedding and furniture were dark. As she felt the material around her she realized why, the color was hiding the holes that were burned all through the sheets. There were not just burns, but tears too. She tested the material. It was thick and strong, of the highest quality, likely specially made. She didn't know what he was, she just knew that Draegon was inhuman, but it didn't scare her. It had occurred to her when she had found out that he didn't age, and that he radiated fire. She hoped he was as happy with her, with what she could do. She could touch fire and not burn. A morbid thought settled when she realized that the material in her hands was likely tougher than her skin. Zofia threw the covers off her body and forced her limbs to push through the ache, to stand. She worked over to the mirror, wrapped in his sheet. She dropped it to her feet and took a look at herself.
Zofia hadn't known that bruises and scabs could form that fast. Her thighs bore the majority of the bruises, and her skin was scratched in a manner similar to the sheets, like he had dug his claws into her. She touched the soft underside of her breast where he had left imprints of his teeh in her flesh. Zofia tightened the sheet around her once more. It dawned on her that this was to be her life, that no other man could possibly want her after what Draegon had done to her. Zofia slapped her hand over her raw lips and choked back a sob as she realized, it was her birthday.
Mephis had searched and searched, but he was determined to find. He clutched a napkin in his hand, one that was stained with black blood. It was the napkin that Draegon had pressed to Zofia's hand after Mephis had cut her. He was finally where he thought he would get his answers from. It was a very small, run down cabin. He had two men with him, in case something went wrong. A man opened the door, elderly and sickly. He realized who was before him and quickly gave a bow.
"My lord! To what do I owe this pleasure?" The man asked. It had taken Mephis the whole morning to ride out to the edge of the woods to find this man, he was not in the mood for pleasantries nor small talk.
"I am here to find out about the girl you sold at the market, for ten pieces of gold." Mephis stepped inside the cabin, looking around at the state it was in. There were no other children. Draegon told his father that Zofia had a younger sister, possibly a mother. This man lived alone. He was shaking as he pulled some water off the fire.
"Yes, Zofia. I sold her because the king wanted her and I wanted the money." The man defended himself. He cast his eyes to the ground.
"Never mind that. I want to know about this." He slapped the napkin on to the table. The man snatched it up and looked at it, inspecting it.
"It's true then?" He wanted to know from Mephis.
"You tell me." He insisted in return. "What is she?" He prodded.
"I don't know, my lord. Her mother left after the second one was born. She knew more, said her mother was something odd, like a witch maybe. I didn't believe her none, till one day our barn burnt down with the girl in it. We found her in the rubble covered in soot and ash. Alive." He cowered. "The other one, Faye, she was a strange child too, my lord. Killed her myself, I did." He admitted. Mephis took his gloves, off, tossing them to one of his men. They stood back, pacing backwards unceasingly as Mephis kept tossing clothes out of the open door at them. He shuddered, his skin separating and cracking to reveal a lava-like fire underneath. His bones cracked loudly and shuddered as his form changed. The house burst open as the beast inside it became too large to contain. It spread it's red, leathery wings out and let out a shrill roar.
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.
"There she is" Garison shouted happily as he pointed the queen out, floating in the water as if she were a corpse. Zofia looked up and gave a loud yell when she saw all the men moving towards her. She lowered herself into the water, only allowing her head to show.
"Zofia!" Draegon yelled as he broke into a run. He paused before he got close to the water. He looked carefully at the grass he was still standing on, getting close enough to see if the queen was alright. He held is palm up to the men behind him, urging them to stay back.
"I'm fine!" She shouted, wanting the guards to hear as well. There were five, enough to make her blush at the situation that she had been caught in.
"I was worried sick, and you're swimming!" He accused her in a harsh whisper, not wanting his men to hear.
"I just wanted to swim, it's my..." She started, wanting to remind him that she was nineteen, that she wanted to have some fun on her birthday. He cut her off.
"Get out, come out here, now." Draegon demanded. Zofia paled. She just wanted one last day where she got to do what she pleased, but he was exercising his power as king upon her. She looked down at the water.
"Do you want me to come out naked, your highness?" She asked him, casting her eyes towards the guards. She knew that asking him that question would remind him that he had made her look like she had been attacked - beaten, scratched and bitten. His eyes found her clothes off to the side of the water. He hesitated.
"No." He decided incredulously. He muttered curses under his breath as he pulled his jacket off. He threw it over the same stump that her dress was on, his sword came off second, then he pulled his white long sleeve off. He planned on covering her up with it, so he stuffed it under his arm as he trudged barefoot into the water after her. Zofia kept her eyes on his torso, the sight managing to make her thighs ache for more of his attention.
"Come closer." he scolded her as he reached the water up to his waist.
"Make them turn around?" She pleaded. He turned and darted a look at his men, each of them hurrying to turn their backs to the king and queen as they played in the water like children. Zofia obeyed then, moving over to the king. She kept her eyes on his as she stepped closer, exposing her breasts and all the damage he had done to her. His eyes changed, something in them telling her that he was not only very happy or turned on to see her flesh, but also regretful of how he had hurt her.
Zofia was close enough for him to touch her, but he just stood staring at her. She slowly covered her breasts up and averted her eyes.
"Do you know what I was thinking? I thought you left. I thought that last night was too much for you." He spoke to her softly. He offered her the shirt, which she took carefully, trying to not get it soaked.
"I didn't leave. I thought you had left. I just wanted to enjoy my day." She told him, deciding to not linger on the fact that it was her birthday. Maybe it wasn't important to him since he didn't really age. "Besides you punching someone, and almost bursting into flames, I think I enjoyed myself last night." She tried to tell him. Zofia wanted to open up a path for him, to get closer to her, but she wasn't sure if he would take it. He had others to occupy himself with, she was sure.
"Even the part where I made you look like this?" He asked. He reached out to her and cupped her breast, his thumb moving over the teeth marks that he had left on her. It wasn't sexual contact. It was more out of concern for the injury he had caused her.
"Yes." She admitted. Perhaps that's why the women liked him. A sly thought crossed her mind. Zofia smiled at the king before she threw his shirt back on to dry land with the other things. She took his hand and tugged him deeper into the water with her. He moved because he was caught off guard. If he had known then there was no way she would have been able to move him.
"Zofia!" He scolded her in a harsh, loud voice. Behind him his guards all turned to see what was happening. Zofia's cheerful expression dropped. Draegon watched her, staring with wide eyes as he realized what he had done. There was a long moment of silence between them as they stared at one another. Zofia considered getting out regardless of the onlookers. She hesitated, and suddenly, daringly splashed him. It was her birthday, what better day to act out and actually deserve his scolding? Draegon moved, finally, diving into the water. He tugged Zofia under the water with him, her head disappearing from the soldiers' view with a loud, playful yell. He held her under the surface wit him, looking at her under the water. She struggled to open her eyes, a gigantic smile on her face. Draegon tugged her closer. He was relieved to have found her safely, and he was rather motivated by the fun they were having. He kissed her, his lips melting to hers. She gently dug her nails into his skin, warning him that she was running out of breath. Draegon surfaced with Zofia, but he made sure his lips didn't leave hers.
"Happy birthday." He whispered to her as he only gave her one second to catch her breath.
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