Zofia had a terrible dream. The castle was on fire and everyone she loved was inside, burning. Strange guards were filling their kingdom with fear - their eyes rolled back in their heads, making them look blind. They pillaged and plundered till there was nothing left of the dragons and their royal family. 

Zofia shot upright and grabbed at her throat as she tried desperately to catch her breath. Draegon moved beside her and tugged her into his arms. Her bare skin pressed to his, then she realized that she was crying. 

"Draegon. We're in danger. We are all in danger." She told him, burying her face in his chest. He kissed her hair and rubbed her bare back. 

"Let's just take it easy." he hushed her as he pulled her back down to the pillows. Zofia wiped her eyes and nodded at him. He closed his eyes and very nearly fell asleep again. She lay awake staring at him. "What's the matter?" He asked her as he touched her hair. 

"I had a bad dream." She explained. He nodded at her. 

"Is it a... a witch thing?" He wanted to know. Zofia shook her head. 

"I'm not a witch." She told him, but she dropped her head in fear of him not believing her. 

"Really?" He asked. She nodded and gave him a smile. Perhaps he believed her. "Alright. What are you then?" He wanted to know. Zofia shifted, ready to tell him a story. 

"The gypsies told me a story." She started. "A long, long time ago, when there were more dragons, there were elementals too. These people were close with the dragons, befriended them and bred with them. Elementals were in control of the four, having close relationships with them. They could not only control them, but conjure them too. The dragons that were born from the companionship did not only breathe fire, but they were in full control of all the elements. Fearing the power these elemetals held, the witches started to hunt them down. a few went into hiding, but their story ends there." Zofia ran her nails over his chest. He pushed some of her long hair behind her ear and gave her a smile. 

"Perhaps not." He said as he pulled her closer. He kissed her nose and rubbed her back. Zofia smiled widely at him. She could not get any happier than she was in that moment. 

"I'm not feeling great about the attacks. I have a feeling that something bigger is going to come. We need to prepare the soldiers and the people." She told him, turning more serious again. "My dream, it was about soldiers with white eyes." She added, trying to explain to him. 

"If you think so, perhaps then we need to take action." He turned serious too, running his fingers through his hair as worry started to settle in. 

"What should we do?" She asked him. "We might have enemies here, we need to be strategic, careful." She answered her own question, but she still looked to him for answers. 

"Let's have a ball." He offered. Zofia frowned at that, unsure of how a ball would help their people. 

"Are you talking in your sleep?" She asked in a whisper.

"I think it's a brilliant idea. My father might be an asshole, but he always said that your enemies are most upset when things seem to be going better with you than what they intend." He explained to her. 

"I see. So, when we look happy and like we are indifferent to the attacks, then those within our walls who are trying to cause our downfall will act out?" He nodded at her. "If it doesn't work?" She asked him, taking the hand that had been toying with her hair. 

"Then we have a wonderful ball." He offered, smiling. Draegon pulled her closer, hoping to comfort her enough to chase away the bad dreams. "I want to dance with you. We have only danced once, at our wedding. I never told you how I like to dance." He spoke to her hair. Zofia smiled, loving how he was lulling her to sleep with the perfect idea. 

"It sounds wonderful." She agreed, closing her eyes. 

The attacks were escalating. 

Zofia had only been home for a few days and the worry in Draegon's eyes were making him look older than he was. She sipped at her tea as she sat before the members of the council, nodding at something that one of the men were saying. Livina and Garison stood off to the side, Draegon refusing to let his beloved travel without them. Dex was taking his notes, as per usual. 

"We are all very pleased that you are feeling better, your grace." One of the men stood, sucking up to the queen. She set her tea down and stared at him. Draegon wasn't there to deal with the men himself, but he had told Zofia to not take any nonsense from them. He had to go to the border with his men to see to another attack that Davenport led against them. Zofia feared for him and for their people. She was hoping deeply for his safe return. If he didn't, there would be no way she would be capable of running this kingdom alone. 

"Thank you, sir, but I doubt that ass kissing is on the schedule for today." She tried to contain her smile as she raised her brows. The man sunk into his seat as a few others snickered at her comment. "Dex, what is the first order of business?" She wanted to know. Dex fumbled with his papers, seemingly over and over. It gave Zofia a moment to sip on her tea again.

"The old sector, your grace." Dex finally said. Zofia set her tea down and nodded. 

"Very well, the old sector is now completely restored. King Draegon and I will be there tomorrow at noon to officially reopen the gates. I am happy to report that we used much less than the budget predicted." She said to the men. They each seemed to make their own notes. 

"The ball, your grace." Dex informed her next. She gave him another nod. 

"Hmm. There will be a ball on the next full moon, at the grand ballroom. Everyone who can done a dress or tie may come." Zofia and Draegon had spoken about it for a long time, to invite as many people as they could. They had never officially celebrated her being queen, and as a commoner she wanted commoners there. 

"You want to invite people off the streets to the castle?" Someone asked. Zofia raised her brows and eyed the man who brought that up. 

"Indeed, sir. As queen I intend on involving every citizen there is. Of course, no one is under any obligation to come." She waited for his answer then, but none came. She nodded and got up. "Alright then. If that is all. I will see you all next week." She greeted. The men hurried to their feet before she walked briskly out of the room. Her guard followed, Livina on his heels, and Dex ahead of her. 

"Did I do alright?" Zofia asked Dex as she got into the carriage with Garison's help. 

"Perfect, your Grace." He nodded at her. Zofia took a seat in the carriage and wrapped the fur cloak tighter around her shoulders. It was getting colder. Snow was coating the grounds. It was a horrible time for war. Livina was quiet, which pleased Zofia a lot. Perhaps she had learned her place. Zofia looked over at her, seeing her blue eyes focused on her. She narrowed her green gaze before she turned to the window to look at the passing trees instead. 

"You look happy, your Grace." Livina said. Zofia turned her eyes back at her. 

"Thank you, Livina. I truly am." She answered proudly. 

Draegon kicked at the rubble that lay at his feet. He was angry at everything around him in that moment. He looked at the men that surrounded him and the disappointment they wore on their faces too. He sighed and fiddled with his cloak, since he couldn't fiddle with his hair or his beard. 

"Clean this up. We should prepare ourselves for the next attack. We cannot back down now. Our enemy will not rest till we are annihilated, so we cannot stop until they are no longer a threat to us." He tried to talk some courage into the men. 

"Your highness..." A soldier started nervously. He was clad in the old armor. Mephis and his men were still going around distributing the new wear to the men. 

"Speak." Draegon said with a nod. 

"They were not human, your highness. The men, they say it's a curse. Because, you see, their eyes were all white, like they were blind." Draegon blinked in confusion. It was like the dream Zofia had. He wondered if maybe it was not the work of a witch after all. He tried to push that aside, needing to tend to the matter at hand. 

"We need more soldiers in the kingdom." Draegon said as he turned to Mephis, his father nodding at him. Concern was heavy in his expression, too. 

"Everyone is in danger. We should approach our allies. I will ride for them as soon as possible." Mephis added solemnly. The kingdom was close to crumbling. 

Zofia was close to wringing holes in her hands with her fretting. She waited by the front door as Draegon and Mephis finally came riding back to the castle. Zofia waited patiently for the last few moments before she stepped closer to Draegon. He flung his arms around her as she boldly kissed him on his lips. Draegon leaned into her, holding on to her tightly. He looked down at her and gave her a nod, as if to tell her that he was alright. She nodded back at him. Zofia was unsure of what was between them, still, but she was willing to go with it. She couldn't be away from Draegon for long before she would start to feel like death herself, so she wanted to be close to him. She liked to imagine that he felt the same. They all went into the tea room and took in their seats. Zofia stood behind Draegon and watched as the men thought their words over for an eternity before finally speaking.

"This is a war. We are prepared for a war." Mephis said with certainty. He was still beat with worry. Zofia could see the lines under his eyes and she almost thought that she spotted grey in his hair too. She worried for him and for Draegon.

"The men are scared. They should not be scared." Draegon said as he shook his head. He dropped it in his hand and gave a sigh. It seemed to Zofia like they were talking in circles.

"They will always be scared. So long as there is a threat. I will send word to the keep to send more men to the borders, to keep the threats out." Mephis countered.

"You are dragons. Can you not fight?"Zofia wanted to know. Draegon looked at her over his shoulder.

"I am king, if I fall in battle then I leave you all on your own." He refused, reaching back to grab Zofia's hand.

"I will fight." Mephis said, nodding. Zofia nodded at him.

"We have the ball coming up with the next full moon. I am confident that we will find our snake then. I hope it doesn't get worse in the meantime." She worried, biting her lip. Her fingers tightened on Draegon's.

"Zofia. You told me that the men looked blind, in your dream?" Draegon questioned his bride. She nodded, frowning at him.

"It was probably just a dream, or a bad feeling." She pointed out.

"Our men said that the Davenport soldiers had white eyes." Draegon pointed out to her. Zofia frowned deeper. She didn't understand. What if she had predicted something? She did not want to be called a witch again. She let go of Draegon and snatched up the embroidery that she had been worrying herself with. She sunk into the couch and kept her fingers working on the material.

"You think it's the work of a witch, still?" Zofia asked. The two men in the room were looking at her pointedly. She was so happy that there were only royals in the room, that she had no one else to hide from.

"Yes. Is it you, Zofia?" Mephis asked as he leaned forward in his seat.

"We have established that it isn't her, father." Draegon tried.

"Have we?" He questioned his son with a pointed brow.

"I'm not a witch. The gypsies said that I'm not one." She didn't look up from her work. Zofia was embroidering blue and purple flowers on a plush cream cut. She set it down in her lap for another moment. "Besides, how would I, meek little me, have tricked the king into marrying me - knowing somehow that I am his mate? Only to be the wicked witch who gets to burn the castle down?" She complained, strangling her work in her lap.

"You seem to be the only one who trusts them." Mephis pointed out. Zofia managed a laugh at that. It was the worst time to laugh, but she truly couldn't help it.

"Perhaps we need trust in this kingdom. If we cannot trust one another then our enemy deserves to win. This type of thinking could do us in." She warned the men. Draegon gave her a rather proud look. Zofia saw the smile in his eyes. He was barely expressing his emotion to her but she saw it. She was getting a bit of a better hang of the bond, it not being that elusive to her mostly human self. She was starting to feel the way in which it changed her, made her more fiery, a little more royal, maybe a little more dragon.

"Indeed." Mephis seemed pleased as well. Zofia picked her embroidery back up, stitching her worries away as the men went on to discuss their strategy. There was even a strategy for the ball. Oh boy, Zofia was stressed. "I will ride tonight, to ask our allies to join us. I hope to return in time for the ball." Mephis chewed on his finger. It was an unlordly thing to do, but Zofia admired their human aspects, things that strangely made them seem more likable.

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