The Dragon Queen

The King of Ice

In all her time of being queen, Lucia didn't think she had ever seen such a crowd of smiling faces. The great grey and blue castle of Yot, capped and dotted in endless snow and ice, was completely surrounded by crowds and crowds of people, all eagerly awaiting the coronation of their new king. They wouldn't have to wait long. Impatient to finally hand over the crown to its rightful owner, Lucia stepped out of the gigantic entrance hall doors into the howling wind of the North and the screaming cheers. To see so many of her subjects smiling brought a grin to even Lucia's blood red lips, and she raised a nearly numb hand for silence. It instantly came; even the wind obeyed. "Today Yot will have a new king!" Lucia proclaimed, to be met with more cheers that warmed her heart. Thomas would not only be respected here as the Prince of Assar, but adored as a king. Of course, there was a group, a very small group, of protesters who demanded he should hand his crown over to the "true born" heir, even though there wasn't one, but it was amazing how persuasive a dragon could be. Lucia turned back to nod to the nervously waiting Thomas behind her and, with a swallow as if burying his anxiety, he came to her side. As soon as he did, as soon as Lucia felt his hand brush against hers and saw how his icy blue eyes glistened as they swept over the screaming crowd that would belong to him in a matter of minutes, Lucia knew. She turned to him and took her hand in his own. "Thomas" she said, shivering when he caught her in the cold of his eyes "You will protect and defend the people of Yot?".

"I will, Godara. (Highness)" Thomas replied, as if they were all alone "I will serve as you taught me. I will lead the people of Yot to greatness and safety". As tradition demanded, Lucia took her hidden dagger in hand and was grateful when he obligingly lifted his head so she could press the blade to his neck. "I daca sana. (I trust you)" she mouthed to him. She didn't need a blade anymore to know that his words were genuine. He was probably the only person in the Ten Realms that she was completely certain of. "I noleg. (I know)" Thomas returned.

"Misigrasana. (Thankyou)". Lucia cleared her throat. "Swear it" she commanded "By blood and ice, will you be a good king?". Thomas smirked cunningly.

"Of course" he replied elegantly "I was born to be".

"Then...". Lucia couldn't help but smile as she retracted her blade and he delicately knelt down in the snow afore her. If someone had told her that she would have him kneeling at her feet a year ago, she would have thrown them in the dungeons for insanity. As he looked up to her, Lucia briefly registered how perfectly he matched the moody sky above them, the sky that was filled with storms and no doubt dragons. "You may be the one true King of Yot" she granted him. She then took an ebony crown from the hands of a nearby attendant and gleefully placed it on his head. It felt as if a great chunk of stone left her chest when the crown finally left her hands. Thomas was a king now. He was hers now. No other royal, noble, council member, prince, advisor or commoner could ever question that. The shrieking cheers that followed were so deafening that the ice sculptures that were dotted here and there cracked. As one, the ecstatic crowd knelt in respect to Thomas like a wave, but Lucia was quite surprised to see that the new king hadn't even spared his subjects a glance. It was she who was pinned beneath his smouldering icy gaze and suddenly the world was no longer filled with biting cold. Her cheeks flamed as if he had stoked the dragon's fire within her. How he had this power over her she would never know. She should hate it, how air was hard to come by at his command, how her fire ignited on his whim, but instead she relished it. It only worsened when he stood and reached to cradle her cheek with a hand that was freezing in comparison to her own skin. Her breath was shaking when she dared try and speak, but she had to know. "Regalos sana air donnadars, gos... gos sana- (Now you are king, do... do you-)". In a burst of courage it seemed, Thomas suddenly seized her head and brought his lips crashing against hers with such a force that, to prevent herself from falling to the ground, she had to cling to him for dear life. Even when the surrounding crowd gasped in shock Thomas didn't pull away and Lucia didn't want him to. To ensure he wouldn't, her fingers curled into his silky ebony hair. Who cares if the world knew about them now? Lucia was tired of second guessing, mistrusting, denying herself the love that she craved, and gave Thomas the true kiss of a dragon that he deserved. When Thomas separated his lips from hers, he didn't even bother to keep his voice down, not that anyone other than Lucia could have understood what he said. "Ditrute lillonray ruldonna, par rig kuton I egas pagalide par sana to oplasang I timune I statreg I wondaring sana. (My darling queen, for so long I have wished for you to believe me when I say I love you)" he growled, his lips caressing her cheek as he spoke he was so close "Begis, oplasang I regalos exedor I gos sog desirum sana rangara par ils utyaria. I desirum sana. (Please, believe me now because I do not want you just for your crown. I want you)".

"I desirum sana ug potifa. (I want you as well)" Lucia managed to reply. Oh, she really did! "Begis. (Please)" she whispered, cupping his handsome face "Begis bes ditrute donnadars. (Please be my king)". She could no longer deny it and neither could the rest of the realms. He was a king now, master of his own destiny. Her crown would have hardly any influence over him now. Surely she could trust him with her own fragile heart? Thomas' lips stretched into the most beautiful smile that Lucia had ever known to grace his lips, and he pressed a tender, far more gentler kiss to her forehead. The buzzing and whispering of the curious crowd that watched them was simply lost to the wind when he whispered "Conford. Gased frelisay min sana kyanic bes ditrute ruldonna. (Okay. But only if you will be my queen)".