The Dragon King's Bride

Chapter 12 : A Moment of Impatience

Zofia felt like her soul was roaming the castle. The grand staircase was before her, with the big open spaces feeling even bigger around her. She felt lost, she felt dead. She had no idea what was happening, or where she was, or how to get out of there. She ran up the stairs and searched, searched everywhere. 

She gasped violently as she shot up in her bed. Juniper, Nik and Garison looked at her in confusion. They had all three been sitting there, worry plastered over their grey faces. 

"Draegon?" She asked them, her eyes falling on Garison as she wordlessly begged for information. 

"Not yet, your grace. The first men have returned and the second group has been sent out to look beyond where the first had been." He sounded regretful, like the prospect of finding the king was nonexistent. 

"You need to rest." Juniper scolded, pushing Zofia back down into bed. "You are terribly ill." She added angrily. She tucked the blankets in around her again. 

"Very nearly died." Nik added. His eyes were red. He saw Zofia's gaze on him and quickly buried his face in his hands. He resurfaced once he had wiped his eyes. "I thought your heart stopped." He blinked as if it was still a surprise to him to hear that. He looked at the carpets before he looked back at her. 

"My heart?" Zofia gasped. "Oh god, Draegon." She moaned softly, fearful of what might have happened to him to warrant her heart not working. How could she manage to care for him so deeply when he didn't care for her in return? Zofia thought back to the last time they were together, her attempts to cuddle him had turned into him shaking her off. 

"We will find him, your grace. I promise you we will not stop." Garison interjected. He reached out and put his hand on hers. She squeezed his fingers to borrow some of his courage before he let go. 

"Thank you." She said to them all three. They nodded their heads solemly, as if they knew that the king was dead and they weren't telling her about it. She settled back in the bed and put her hand over her heart under the blankets. Her heart thumped at a pace that felt familiar to her body. Nik reached over and queezed her hand for a second, unwilling to look at her still. She squeezed his hand back. 

The doors flung open, banging wildly in the the wind. The three soldiers shouted among one another as they carry the limp body of the king into the castle through the front doors. Zofia woke up to the sound of the commotion. She tried moving, but her body was stuck under the blankets. She looked behind her, seeing that Nik was asleep on her covers, holding her as if he was the king she was supposed to share a bed with. 

"Nik? Something is happening." She urged him to wake up. He looked down at her with dreamy eyes before he smiled at her. He moved his hand over her side as if he was going to make a move. 

"Something's happening?" He questioned before his eyes went wide. He jumped up off the bed and pulled his shoes on. Zofia followed suite and they ran out of the bedroom. 

"They found the king and lord Mephis." Garison announced as he came running from the opposite direction. Zofia hurried past him and paused at the top of the stairs when she saw the state of Draegon as he lay on the cold marble floors. 

"Draegon." She murmured his name before she descended the stairs. She colapsed at his side and burried her face in his blood soaked body. He would have been naked if it weren't for the coat thrown over him. Memphis too, but he had a shirt draped over him.

"Zo..." Draegon pleaded as he grabbed a fistfull of her hair. She calmly pulled his hand out of her locks and nodded at him. They were both in terrible shape, with gashes and cuts and bruises. 

"Nik, tend to the king, please. You two, send for another doctor. The king will know of you finding him when he is awake." She praised them. They ran off, leaving a guard who helped Garison to get the king into his bed and Mephis to the room he had been using for his stay. The rain finally started to clear up outside. Zofia was unsure if she needed to be happy or not. Draegon was back, but he looked like he had tried to fight a kingdom's battle all on his own. Zofia was definitely livid, but more than that she was relieved and happy that they were both alright and home. 

Zofia paced the hallways as Nik worked on patching Draegon up, and another doctor that had been called in worked on Mephis. She paused as a scream of pain erupted from Mephis' room. Zofia rubbed her arms and squeezed her eyes shut. 

"You should be resting. your grace." Garison stared. "After what I had seen last night, I am sure the king will be fine." He assured her. He even reached over to put his hand on her shoulder. Zofia nodded at him. She felt the need to thank him again, bit Nic came out of the room just before she could. 

"He's alright." He said as he wiped the blood from his hands. He had blood on his face and in his hair, too. Zofia understood why as she saw him run his hand through his hair in worry. 

"Thank you." She said as she took the rag from him. She wiped the blood off his face and gave him a kind smile before she moved around him and into the bedroom. She crawled on to the bed and grabbed a hold of Draegon's hand. 

"I'm so glad you are alright." She whispered to him. He looked at her with a cold expression in his eyes. 

"This is not natural, Zofia. It's the work of a witch." Draegon pried his hand from hers. 

"I'm not a witch, even if I am I have no idea how to cause this." She said, gesturing to his body. "Don't you use some witch as an excuse for what you did." 

"Niklaus said that you nearly died. You are lucky he was here." He pointed out bitterly. 

"You are acting like I am a sordid character." Zofia narrowed her eyes at him. "The truth is you have no idea what I am and you are calling me a witch just to slap a title on me. And yes, I am very lucky that Nik was here, because you weren't - you were out fighting the battle of the century and it is likely the reason I nearly died." Zofia stood her boots, not taking his nonsense for another second. 

Draegon huffed. "It's probably the bond." he offered Zofia an explanation. She already knew what it was. There was no other explanation. He had probably died for a moment, just like she had. He looked back at Zofia, his gaze softening somewhat. "I'm sorry I nearly killed you." He said to her as he reached over and touched her neck that was bruised blue in the shapes of his fingers. 

"Forget about it. We both need to rest." Zofia brushed it off. She fluffed her pillow next to him and was about to get under the covers when he cleared his throat. She paused and looked at him, a puzzled look on her face. 

"Zofia." He warned, stopping her by tugging the pillow away possessively. She stared at him, feeling her heart breaking all over in pure confusion. "I do not feel comfortable sharing a bed with you until I am certain that you are not the one causing this." He pointed out. Zofia stared at him, expecting him to laugh at her to tell her it was a joke. He kept staring, watching her as her face paled and she gave a morbid nod. 

"Of course, your highness." She agreed, against all her better judgement. Zofia moved off the bed and towards the door. She had no idea how to feel every time he kicked her in the teeth. It felt like she was being split in half. She felt sick and like her head was on fire. "Get some rest." She urged before she slipped out and closed the door behind herself. 

"You should be resting with the king." Nik pointed out as soon as Zofia came back out of the room. He had been discussing king Draegon's bedridden status with Garison. He had looked more than happy to see Zofia not in there with him, instead free for him to get closer to her. 

"He does not want me to share a bed with him." Zofia admitted. She kept her head down, bowing it slightly in greeting to the men before she ducked into her own bedroom. She shut the door, shutting the world out. She wanted to be alone. Of course no one would grant the queen her wishes, there being a knock on the door before she could even settle in her bed. 

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