The Dragon And His Witch

FIVE

For a moment, Drystan was blown away by what Seraphina had just said. Behind him, he could feel his sister blooming with giddy joy at those words. He rolled his eyes and shot her a small glare before turning to his wife.

"Excuse me?" He uttered out.

Seraphina looked at him like he was the least interesting thing in the whole realm and shook her head before looking away again.

"Nothing." She muttered and he knew that she would not be persuaded to say more. So he let it go.

"I think we should leave." Emyr spoke up from behind, gaining Drystan's attention as he nodded.

"I have something to say to Krogon first. And then we'll leave." Drystan told the three of them while Seraphina nodded when he added, "stay here."

And then he had walked away.

Seraphina watched him approaching Krogon before indulging her uncle in a conversation which did not seem pleasing to either of them.

But seeing them standing there, she could not help but see the similarities between the two of them.

Both of them were kings of the greatest kingdoms of the realm. Both seemed to get away with almost anything. And both of them liked to hold control over their own lives and on those surrounding them.

She had a burst of nausea at the mere thought of what she would go through inside the Frost Kingdom. She shuddered just thinking about it before shifting her gaze back to the moonstone floor.

She was so busy in her thoughts that she did not realize when Rosette shifted in place beside her.

"Are you alright?" Rosette asked in a much softer voice than Seraphina thought was possible for the warrior princess.

Seraphina then turned her head to look at her sister-in-law and nodded, "yes, I'm completely fine." She told her, trying to sound convincing.

Rosette looked at her for a few moments with examining eyes before she nodded her head. "Not many people use satire around my brother, you know? Most don't have the guts to disagree with anything he says."

Seraphina's eyes went back to where her husband was standing beside her uncle and she almost snorted before remembering that it was not ladylike and nodded. "Yes, I'm quite familiar with the type." She whispered, hoping that Rosette would not have heard it.

But when the warrior smiled with amusement, she knew that she had heard every word. Thankfully, Rosette did not reprimand her for her words.

"You are different, Seraphina." Rosette said after a few moments. "My brothers knows it too. And believe me, you will be happy in the Frost Kingdom."

Seraphina wanted to cry out at the irony. But she knew that she could possibly not tell the princess that she feared the mere thought of the Frost Kingdom. And the thought of happiness only ever reminded her of the fact that she could never find happiness again. For two years, her life had been nothing but hell and now it was going to be worse than that.

All Seraphina could respond was a half smile on her lips.

"How will you be taking me back?" She asked Rosette after a beat, suddenly remembering that she hadn't seen the three royals come in carriages.

Rosette almost chuckled at that. "Drystan will carry you on his back." She informed her and watched with glee as Seraphina's eyes widened. She could feel Emyr controlling his laughter as well.

But Seraphina's mind only repeated Rosette's words, "isn't that... isn't that forbidden in your culture? For anyone to ride a dragon?" She stuttered out.

"But you're not just anyone, are you?" Emyr spoke up then, coming to stand beside Rosette as Seraphina looked up at him questioningly. "You're our queen, Drystan's queen. Nothing in the kingdom is forbidden for you."

Seraphina did not know what was more shocking. The fact that Emyr and Rosette were talking to her in a way that claimed that they were not going to kill her or lock her up. Or the fact that Drystan would be willing to carry her all the way back.

She wondered why they were making such efforts when the only reason Drystan had married her for was her magic.

She did not realize when Drystan returned by her side until he placed his hand on the small of her back and she had to refrain herself from flinching.

Seraphina looked up at him and found him gazing at her with conflicted eyes before he turned to his siblings, "what did you two say to my wife?"

My wife.

Those were the words that made Seraphina stop breathing for a moment and not in the good sense either.

Rosette and Emyr shrugged, almost unanimously, "nothing she shouldn't know."

Drystan stared at them pointedly for a moment before nodding his head. He looked back at Seraphina, "are you ready to leave?"

She nodded her head, not trusting her voice to give him a coherent answer.

"Is there something you need from your palace before we leave?" He asked again.

"No, there's nothing I want from this place." Her answer came out brisk and cold, confusing Drystan as to why was she talking about her home as if she hated it the most.

"And is there anyone you would like to say goodbye to?"

Seraphina shook her head, not even looking at Caspian or her uncle. "No."

Drystan found her detachment odd.

But then, he knew it was best not to push such topics at the moment.

He nodded his head and removed his hand from her back before nodding to his siblings once and stepping back.

Rosette instantly wrapped her hand around Seraphina's arm and pulled her back slightly before there was the blinding light again and Seraphina scrunched her eyes for a moment.

Once she opened her eyes again, she found the obsidian dragon standing tall and proud in front of her.

"Come, I'll help you up." Rosette offered and Seraphina could only nod her head before Rosette led her to the side of the dragon's neck.

Drystan put forth his foot, the claws clucking off from the floor as Rosette helped her stand on it. Drystan then raised his foot until it was parallel to his lower neck as Seraphina ducked a little to prevent getting hit by his sharp horns.

Nervously, Seraphina sat on the dragon's back before placing her hands on either side of his neck. Being this close to him, she could see that his skin had iridescent structure and the texture underneath her fingers was so strong that she was certain that his flesh could whithstand the sharpest of blades.

"Good, now hold on to him when he rises and trust me, we won't let you fall." Rosette told her in a soft voice and she nodded her head.

Rosette and Emyr then nodded to their brother and Drystan turned his large head to look back at his wife once before he leapt into the sky, making her yelp.

She held on tightly, hoping that this would not be her end just yet and before she could comprehend, they were floating steadily in the air.

The court still gathered on the terrace cheered for her, watching her sitting on a dragon's back with awe. But then she met the cunning eyes of her uncle and a bitterness rose in her throat again. She turned her head away from him before Drystan turned around and appeared flying North.

Seraphina watched down below as her kingdom passed by. She watched the valleys and hills she had spent so much time in as a child. She watched the forests disappear under the clouds.

And she knew that she would never be seeing all this again.

Throughout her life, she had been taught to fear the dragon kingdoms. Elyandria was the only place safe for witches and humans alike. The witches ruled Elyandria, protecting the humans and themselves from the dragons.

But that was until the three dragon kingdoms united to defeat all witches.

A witch's magic was a bane to a dragon's existence. And so, the dragon kings sought to rid the realm of all witches.

They waged war against the gods and the witches and in the aftermath of that war, all magic disappeared from the realm except for smaller forms of enchantments which were of no harm to the dragons.

But that was until Seraphina was born.

And naturally, her existence raised questions in many minds.

And when her powers became too profound to hide, she was discovered by Drystan.

Initially, he had only wanted her to come to his kingdom to learn how to control her powers. And although she never found out why he was so interested in her powers, she knew that he would never demand for more because he had made it clear that if the king and queen of Elyandria did not want, then he would not force anything.

And then when she turned eighteen years of age, his offer came as a marriage proposal. But even then, he had made it clear that it was all her choice.

But that was until a year later when her parents were assassinated and her uncle sent news to the dragon king that Seraphina was willing to marry him.

So now, after twenty-one years of living, Seraphina was on Drystan's back, going into a kingdom she feared and knew nothing about.

She wondered why her life had been so cruel to her. She wondered what had she done wrong to go through so many sufferings, one after another.

She was till lost in thought when she heard the sound of another pair of wings flapping.

Slowly, she turned around and found two white dragons with blue eyes flanking them.

Rosette and Emyr.

She turned back around and this time, instead of looking at the world around her from her height, she bowed her head and allowed a few tears to escape.

The wind carried away her tears but the more she thought of the things she had been through, the sadder she got.

After a point, her sniffs fell freely from her lips.

"Are you alright, wife?"

She suddenly heard Drystan's voice echoing in her head as she looked at him amazed. Her tears still stung her eyes but she was too surprised by the fact that he could still talk to her in this form.

"Yes, I'm fine." She stated, not certain that if he would be able to hear her through all the wind rushing past them, but when he softly turned back to look at her, she saw disappointment in his violet eyes before he turned his head back to the front again.

"Then why are you crying?" He asked in a soft voice which was a massive contrast to his grand appearance at the moment.

"Don't trouble yourself. I'm alright." She stated firmly and to her relief, he did not speak again.

A few more tears escaped her eyes as she dared to raise one hand to wipe at her face. Surprisingly, she felt Drystan slow a little in his flight, giving her time to adjust until she had a firm grip on him again.

So far, she hadn't seen anything of the cruel king that she had heard him to be. So far, he had only been kind to her.

She pushed that thought away from her mind as they flew and when the wind began to get colder, her eyes took in the snow capped mountains in the distance.

Suddenly, she began to feel lightheaded. The farther they went, the more her grip began to get loose on the sides of Drystan's neck.

Her head became dizzy and when she looked down, all she could see was the vast stretch of blue waters.

Nausea and dizziness spelled around her whole body as she closed her eyes for a brief moment and as she felt her limbs getting heavier, it became too difficult for her to continue to hold on.

There was a loud dragon's cry somewhere around her and before she knew, she was plunging down towards the deep blue sea.