Zofia was thankful that the dress she had to put back on over her wet skin didn't stay on for long. Her hair was semi dry by the time they had gotten back to Draegon's ashen room, with him pulling it off her. She had little time to obey or protest with the way his lips were not leaving hers for a second. She was pinned to his bed in the next moment, his wet pants pressing to her thighs as he kissed the bruises he had left on her. Zofia tangled her hand into his hair and gently tugged on the strands. Draegon tugged his pants off and pressed closer to Zofia. She moaned to his mouth at the feeling of his skin on hers. He was warm and she loved it, even though she knew he was burning holes in the sheets and likely clawing her all over again. 

This time, Zofia lay awake as Draegon stared at the ceiling. He attempted to be gentle this time around. The pleasure was tenfold. She reached over and touched his hair. He looked over at her and moved so he was facing her fully. It seemed to her like they were just about to engage in conversation, finally, when there was a knock at his door. Mephis did not give them a single moment before he pushed the door open and walked inside. 

"Father, give us a moment alone." Draegon told him, still light hearted from the fun they had. Zofia grabbed a giant tufted pillow and covered herself with it. She scooted back, with Draegon luckily moving in between her and his father to shield her from his view. 

"I apologize for ruining the queen's birthday in such a manner, but we do need to talk." Mephis said coldly. His eyes found Zofia but Draegon moved to shield her some more. 

"Can't it wait? I will get you in the study if you give me some time." Draegon was back to being upset. Zofia buried her face in the pillow, the mood and her modesty both completely ruined. The carelessness for her dress code was a reminder that she was just an accessory. 

"No. It can't wait, and I do not need to talk to you, Draegon. I need to talk to both of you." He insisted, standing there as if nothing was amiss, as if Zofia wasn't completely naked and cowering behind a pillow. She raised her head and looked between the king and his father. 

"Very well." The king boomed, upset. "Juniper, prepare some tea!" he called out of the room. Juniper's slippers scuffed as she hurried to obey him. 

"Well?" Draegon asked, his brows raised at his father. Mephis cleared his throat before his eyes nervously darted around. He backed out of the bedroom, understanding that the queen needed to dress before he could speak to her. 

"Hurry, it is quite the urgent matter." Mephis insisted. Zofia looked over at Draegon as he moved off the side of the bed. She discarded the pillow and moved over She tried to salvage the moment by wrapping her arms around him from behind. He patted a hand that clung to his shoulder before he shook her off and got up. 

"Get dressed." he instructed her. She slipped back into her black floral dress. It was dry, thankfully. The only clothing of hers that she had in his bedroom, another reminder of the boundaries she was supposed to keep. 

Zofia was certain that the matter did not pertain to her, so she sat calmly on the arm rest of Draegon's chair and sipped her tea. He was right beside her, with Mephis sitting on the other side of the desk and Serena beside him. The room was otherwise empty. Draegon had to clear his throat to coax Mephis into talking. His eyes were roaming all over Zofia, which she did not notice - but the king did. Serena sat with a scowl on her face, looking like she had the most bitter taste in her mouth.

"Zofia." Mephis started. She jolted, nearly spilling her tea all over herself. She looked at him with her green eyes, concern pulsing through her. It felt like he was about to tell her that someone she loved dearly had died. "What color is blood supposed to be?" He asked her. She looked at Draegon for an answer. "Don't look at him. Look at me." He insisted. She obeyed. Zofia was tired of obeying and listening and being nice, even as she complied.

"Red?" She questioned. She knew it was the right answer, but she didn't know if it was the answer he wanted. Her eyes shifted to Serena. She was quiet, waiting for something. Why the hell was she even there? Zofia sighed. 

"Why is your blood darker?" He asked her almost instantly. Zofia looked at Draegon again. Mephis slammed his hand down on the table. Zofia nearly spilled her tea again, so she put it down on the table calmly. Her eyes found Mephis like he demanded she do. 

"I don't know. It's still red." She stated plainly, trying not to panic. Why was she being interrogated? Her eyes darted between Mephis' left and right, then down to the desk. "At least it's not purple or green." She wanted to chuckle at the idea of blood being those colors. 

"Do you know what a witch is, Zofia?" He asked her next. She frowned and looked at him, almost looking back at Draegon again. Mephis looked determined. 

"She's a witch?" Serena asked, as if it was the talk of the year. 

"Serena, leave." Draegon told her. Serena got to her feet and bowed to him sarcastically. She smiled and raised a shoulder as if to flirt. Flirting, at a time like this. 

"Temper, Draegon." She reminded him with a playful smile. He shot her a smile and Zofia was left feeling even more like she had been struck in the stomach. Serena left, closing the door behind her, though Zofia imagined that she had her beautiful little ear pressed to the door. 

"Why does she think she can talk to you like that?" Zofia asked Draegon boldly, clenching her teeth. 

"We've been friends for ages, Zofia." Draegon seemed to justify it all with that one statement. She felt cold in her heart. 

"Zofia." Mephis pulled her back to the question at hand. She glared over at him. Both these men were getting on her nerves.  

"My mother told me a bit about them, my lord. She used to talk me to sleep with stories. They are horrible creatures, sorcerers who eat children and kill innocent women to steal their beauty." Zofia tried to keep up. "I... I read a book about one too, who destroyed a whole city because she lost her child." Zofia put her hands together in her lap as she tried to compose herself. 

"That's enough, father." Draegon said as if he was eager to just dismiss this. The two men stared at one another. It was hard for him to think that she had been so happy a moment ago, now she was close to sobbing.

"You want to know what her father told me, Drae? She was trapped in a burning barn when she was younger, found alive once the embers were out." He accused Zofia, staring pointedly at her. She blinked at him. "Her grandmother was apparently a witch. Her father said he killed her sister for acting strangely just a few days ago. It seems you picked the wrong woman as a mate."

Zofia threw her hands to her lips and cried out in agony at the news of her father having killed her sister. "Faye?" She questioned as she got to her feet. "No, no, no. Not Faye." She complained into her hands as she fell to her knees. Zofia felt like a useless, powerless queen. She barely felt like a person. She left her sister, and her sister was murdered by her own drunken father. Draegon burried his face in his hands. He reemerged, grabbing her arm to pull her up. Zofia grasped on to his arm for his strength. 

"Speculations. That's all." Draegon grumbled to his father. "I didn't pick her. You know that." He added, glaring. Zofia registered what he was saying, but the idea of her sister being gone burned with more urgency.

"I know I don't burn. I never have, but that does not make me a witch." She pleaded, her teary eyes finding Draegon. "You know, right? You know that I do not burn?" She asked him. He closed his eyes, seemingly having to think about it.   

"I know, Zofia." Draegon said to her with impatience. He patted her back. Even though she would have preferred him to rub her back, she still found comfort in the fact that he wanted to comfort her. He could just as easily have chosen not to.

"The possibility of you being a witch remains, Zofia." Mephis said to her. He stared at them. 

"I'm not a damned witch. I don't do spells or eat children." She insisted, hoping that Draegon of all people listened to her. Zofia moved, composing herself as she got to her feet. 

"Are you sure?" Draegon asked Zofia. She leaned against the back of the couch for support. 

"I am sure. There is not a slither of doubt in me, I am not a witch. Neither was Faye." Zofia cleared her throat. Mephis handed her a handkerchief, which she took to carefully dry her eyes. 

"I see you have consummated your bond." Mephis pointed out. Zofia adjusted her dress to cover a bruise she had on her shoulder. Draegon nodded. "Then there truly is nothing we can do." Mephis added. He looked over at Zofia. She had started to pace, willing her legs to work and to not fall in under her. 

"I don't understand." She sobbed. Draegon looked at her too. "You make fire come from your skin and you have claws and you hate me for not burning? Isn't that a good thing?" Zofia asked, her voice thick with tears. "I don't even know what you are and I gave myself to you." She wiped at her face with the black handkerchief. It felt like Draegon was cold towards her again. Zofia knew no man would want a used woman. She tried to think, wondering if it was too late to run away. 

"We are dragons, Zofia." Draegon answered her, his eyes softening somewhat. Her breath hitched in surprize and confusion. Never mind witches, dragons were famous for destroying whole continents. "Dragons have a one true mate and you are mine. We identify our betrothed by scent once they come of age." Draegon stared at her. His emotionless eyes scared her more than anything. She was losing her head and he was too calm about it.  She wrapped an arm around her ribs, the other resting atop it to cover her mouth with the handkerchief. 

"You have consummated your bond, becoming a mated pair. I'm afraid if you were to be executed, Zofia, it would tear the king down too." Mephis added. 

Executed? So they chose death for her, simply because she was speculated to be a witch? She squeezed her eyes shut as emotions broke her posture. 

"I would rather be executed than be stuck in a loveless marriage." Zofia said through her teeth. She had loved her sister most in the world and the poor thing was gone, murdered. "This bond... It cannot make you love me, only mate me." She shook her head bitterly.  Draegon looked at his father. A rage was building in the room and Zofia was convinced that it was coming from her. She shuddered, but then she realized that Draegon was struggling to keep up his calm appearance, too. 

"Witches are the only creatures that could bring us down." Mephis explained to her. "I would rather execute you than risk the kingdom I built up." He admitted. He looked regretful to admit it. Draegon raised his brows at his father. 

"This is fucking ridiculous." Draegon said, shaking his head.

"I would not even try to bring you down. This, I swear." Zofia oathed. "If I really am one then maybe I can help, I can be good and I can help?"She offered next. Draegon prodded his father with his eyes. "I wouldn't even know... how..." Zofia breathed, struggling to compose her emotions. She paced, then paused once more to take a few deep breaths. 

"I thought that perhaps you were like us, that you might be able to survive childbirth. Being a witch would allow for that, too." He avoided the topic at hand. Draegon bared his teeth and growled at the man. "There is a possibility of us forming an alliance. She is your mate, as much as it kills you to hurt her, it would kill her to hurt you." He pondered about it. Draegon looked down at Zofia with pure heartache in his eyes. Zofia hadn't known. If she had, then she would have gone as far as to kill herself. Witches had no place in a royal family. At least, that was her reasoning.   

"Is that why you cut me, to test me?" She asked Mephis, turning her teary gaze to him. 

"I wanted to test your blood. I had to if you were to marry my son. Just to test your purity and health." He shrugged. "Something was odd about the color." Mephis admitted. He gave a sigh and sipped at his tea. 

"Not on my birthday." She complained to herself softly. 

Zofia managed to right herself. "So, not only am I meant for you, but I'm completely wrong for you?" She breathed in deeply and pushed her hair away from her hot face. "If this life fails." She reminded herself softly as she took another deep breath. 

"You aren't wrong for me, Zofia." Draegon growled and shot his father a look. 

"I just need some time alone." Zofia said as she got strength back in her legs. Draegon grabbed her arm, but she tried to tug free. He resisted, holding on to her still. Zofia looked at the way he was refusing to let her go. "Draegon, please." She begged him in a stern voice, gritting her teeth, not wanting to look at him as she wiped her face. 

"Will you wait for me in our room? I will be there as soon as I have spoken to my father." He insisted, narrowing his eyes at the older dragon. Zofia nodded and he let her go. She didn't linger for another second before she slipped out of the office. 

As expected, Serena was leaned against the wall, smiling smugly. Her gold dress draped around her perfectly. She moved, closer to Zofia. 

"You won't last long in this castle. You are weak, no way you are a witch. Draegon needs someone stronger by his side, someone like me. I can make him happy, and heal when he claws me. You can't, sweetheart. You're too weak to keep the dragon happy." She grinned wickedly in Zofia's face. Zofia pushed her out of the way before she hurried away. Serena laughed as the queen made her escape to the bedroom.

"We need to have her watched." Mephis said to his son as soon as the door closed. 

"Watched? How can she trust us if we don't trust her? If we start pushing and prodding then she will turn against us. Mate or not, there needs to be trust between us." Draegon put his head in his hands, unable to think that his mate is a witch. He wondered if the fates would allow that. How could this be wrong? Dragons only had one single mate all their lives. Perhaps he had made a mistake, or she had charmed him to think she was the one. 

"She seems rather uncomfortable around you." Mephis felt the need to point out. "Have you ever really spoken to her, or bothered to get to know her?" 

Draegon was quiet. 

"Useless." Mephis hissed at his son. "I leave this kingdom to you and you invite witches in." Mephis accused his son. Draegon stood. 

"My kingdom is none of your business." He shot back angrily. "I suppose you knew mother better? You just stole her from her village and kept her to breed with." Mephis stood as well, his mouth opening at the accusations.

"I train the guards, I ensure the safety of this realm, it is as much my business as it is yours. What would you know about your mother anyway? You killed her before you even got to see her face." He jotted his finger at Draegon. 

"You are the one who is causing this trouble. Zofia is part of this family and it will stay that way." Dragon threw his arms up. 

"Perhaps she shouldn't be." Mephis narrowed his eyes. He knew full well he was angering his son.

"As my mate, there is no other place for her but by my side." Draegon growled. "You killed mother by being unable to control yourself. If you so badly wish I was never born, you shouldn't have caused it." 

"I suggest we step outside." Mephis huffed at his son, his eyes glowing a murderous shade of blue.

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