The Dragon Queen

Poisonous Heartbreak

As usual, the Saltarion throne room was an endless storm of nobles fighting to be heard, fighting against some law or other, some trade agreement or tax agreement, shrieking in the name of their kingdoms when in reality many of them could only see as far as their castle walls. Usually Lucia could have handled them easily but today their shouts seemed to bombard her brain with all the strength of a million sledge hammers. She couldn't explain it. She had been perfectly fine earlier that morning. Now, her hands shook when she dared unclench her fists; sweat lined her skin to accompany the unbearable heat that swam through her mind. She didn't even try to concentrate on a word her council members were screaming. Oh, how lovely it would be to go to bed. Yes, if she could just sleep, maybe then she would feel better? "Godara, tris sa esagul? (Highness, what is wrong?)" Thomas' familiar voice suddenly managed to cut through the thick fog that had engulfed Lucia's mind. He had been present in all council meetings ever since Lucia had decided to crown him king, and now she was highly glad of it. Lucia tried to force her eyes to focus on him, she really did. It shouldn't have been that hard; he was only a little way away from her throne. But he was blurry - the entire room was fading by the second into darkness. Lucia quickly shook her head and shook it again but the darkness only grew. "Godara? (Highness?)" Thomas' voice barked and finally the onslaught of shouting ceased. Lucia would have thanked them but her voice wouldn't work. She forced herself to stand - some part of her mind could still think - but her legs were embarrassingly weak beneath her. "Tom, I gos sog hasdres potifa. (Tom, I do not feel well)" her lips mumbled, and she was all too grateful when a hand took hers. Crystal blue eyes broke into her vision, framed by a black that continued to grow no matter how much Lucia tried to blink it away. "Lucia, look at me" Thomas firmly commanded and a pair of arms gently shook her. He may as well have thrown her to the ground. All of a sudden in a whirlwind of black and dim cries, the ground came to meet her with a ridiculous speed. Lucia was barely spared from crashing into the hard ground by Thomas' quick reflexes, and he held her in his arms as gently as if she were as helpless as a baby. She was vaguely aware of him shouting for someone to get help, but his voice was distant, as if he was yelling through the howling wind on the back of a dragon. An ice cold hand suddenly cradled her cheek, briefly snapping Lucia out of her daze enough to hear the words "Cargress utres, ditrute ruldonna, begis. (Hold on, my queen, please)". Never in her life had Lucia failed a plea from her subjects. She tried. By the dragons she tried, clutching onto Thomas' arm because it was her last hold on reality. But the dark, breathless, unbearable, shaking heat defeated her eventually, only accomplishing the inevitable. Lucia couldn't remember what she saw before her wide eyes could no longer see, but she imagined it had been Thomas' shockingly icy blue eyes that, until that moment, had always managed to banish the fog.

Dominic had been quietly tending to his mighty Kiaru when Thomas so stupidly bolted into the dragon stables with all the grace and elegance of a child, and if Dominic hadn't quickly seized Kiaru's reins the dragon would have burned the prince where he stood. That would have been a gift but Dominic doubted Lucia would have liked him any more had his dragon been directly responsible for the death of the man she foolishly cared for. "Don't you know any better than to run towards a dragon?" Domain snapped at him.

"Forget our past disagreements and help me!" Thomas implored, his face bone white with a fear Dominic had never seen. He smirked and smugly pushed past the fatherless prince to begin sorting through Kiaru's armour, though it certainly didn't have his full attention. The terror in Thomas' eyes was far too amusing. "Help you?" Dominic echoed "Now why in all the realms would I do that?".

"Its Lucia. She's ill, terribly ill" Thomas hurriedly explained. The brush Dominic had been using to polished his saddle instantly fell to the floor with a smart click-clack on the stone floor and the only thing he could do to stop himself from fainting in fright was to clutch onto the leather for dear life, his skin now as pale, if not more so, than Thomas'. So this was it, the moment he had been dreading. His head felt so light when he bent down to retrieve his brush with shaking hands that he almost fell over. It took several tries to force his mouth to work and even when he did his voice was a dry high whisper, pitiful compared to his usual sneering tone. "Why... Why do you want me?" he managed to ask Thomas through the lump in his throat. He hardly heard the answer over the screaming of adrenaline in his brain. "You know more about poisons and antidotes than anyone. I've heard you discussing them with Lucia. Surely there must be something you can do for her!" Thomas desperately implored, begging a man who should have been his enemy "Please!".