The Dragon King's Heart

The man bowed respectfully, "My master named me Thorne."

"Your master? Dante? " Laina asked as she pieced the clues together. 

The man nodded. He got back down on one knee, surprising Laina as she took a step back. At first, she could not quite understand why she felt as if the man felt so familiar to her. A sweet fragrance of roses hung in the air around the man. 

Laina instinctively looked over to her dressing table. The blood rose Dante had given her should have been in its vase. But it was not there. The fragrance of roses she smelled from the man matched that of the blood rose. 

"I have been tasked with your protection. I apologize for scaring you, Your Majesty," Thorne spoke eloquently. 

Laina turned to Marius, seeking confirmation, "Is this true?"

He quickly nodded, "Yes."

With his assurance, she felt reassured. Laina sat back down on her bed, reviewing the situation. The new development did not change her resolve. But there was something more pressing she had to take care of. Without saying a word, Laina walked over to her walk-in closet. 

She rummaged through a section of her closet, revealing a chest. Without must trouble, she brings out the chest and placed it down on the table. She turned to Marius and called him over. 

As she opened the chest, revealing its contents, she instructed him, "The Celestial Realm-"

"Laina you know you can\'t-"

"I know I can\'t go there, Margaret," Laina snapped back, annoyed. She turned back to Marius, "But you can, right?"

He nodded silently in response. He peered into the chest, shocked by its contents. Margaret widened her eyes in surprise too. In the chest were bottles and bottles of elixir.

"Laina..." Margaret did not know what to say. She knew Laina had been making the elixirs, but she never knew how much she had made. 

Laina gave her instructions, "I need you to bring this to Dante and make sure he takes it. Can you do that for me?" 

"Yes, I..." he had questions, but now was not the time to ask them.

"I will leave at once. I will return as soon as I can. But your Majesty, I think there is something you should know..."

She stopped him before he could say it. She had prepared for this moment for quite some time. Everything was kicked into motion when Dante revealed to her that he might one day have to leave her side for some time. She was prepared for this moment. 

"I have increased the concentration of the elixir as much as I can. Hopefully, it would work as intended."

In true fashion, the Queen had prepared for every situation. Marius held his tongue. There was no need for him to speak any further. He took the chest into his possession, ready to leave at once. He turned to Margaret to bid her farewell for the time being before taking his leave.

With one thing settled, now Laina could focus on another. The mysterious bodyguard Dante had assigned to her still raised many questions, but the Queen of Kinshearth had much more pressing matters to attend to. 

Her absence in court and in public since her coronation. no doubt had caused panic and confusion. If she was to be their Queen, she would first have to take care of her people and reassure them. There was no time for her to rest. 

In the days that followed, Laina dove straight into her work. She did not speak about Dante or anything that had happened during the ball. From time to time, Margaret would catch a glimpse of the Queen gazing up into the night sky. She was looking longingly at the moon that hung above, fiddling with the ring on her finger; murmuring to herself. 

Each time Margaret asked her how she was feeling, Laina remained silent. She would either change the topic of discussion or simply refused to reply. Margaret knew it could not go on like this. 

"Your Majesty," Margaret called out to her, hoping to get her attention. 

It was the middle of the night. For the fourth night in a row, Laina stayed up late working in her study room. Realizing she was not getting Laina\'s attention, Margaret clenched her jaw. 

She stood in front of the desk and leaned down, "Laina, you\'re scaring me."

Laina still remained ever so focused on the papers she was reading. Was she intentionally ignoring Margaret? Or had she achieved what she set out to do in the last few days? Bury herself in work to forget.

Margaret grabbed hold of Laina by the wrist and dragged her out of her seat.

"What are you doing? Where are you taking me?" Laina gasped in shock, unsure of what she was trying to do. 

"Kol, Florin, a little help here? " she pleaded with her two bodyguards but neither of them knew how to respond. 

They shrugged their shoulders and followed as Margaret dragged Laina out into the hallway. The cool night air touched their skin, causing Laina to shiver a little.

Margaret bit her lip. She was worried for Laina, now more so than ever. Ever since Dante left for the Celestial Realm, Laina seemed to have closed herself up. She rarely spoke, rarely laughed, rarely connected with others.

She looked around, making sure they were alone. 

"Tell me Laina, what\'s on your mind."

At this point, any answer from Laina, even a single word answer would be good enough for her. Margaret looked straight into her eyes. But Laina was already averting her gaze. She placed her hands on her shoulders, forcing the Queen to look back at her. 

"I\'m fine, really, I am," Laina faked a smile and a chuckle, "What\'s wrong with you today, Margaret? You\'re acting all weird...."

She was in disbelief, "I am acting weird?" she placed her hand on her chest, "Me?"

Laina nodded, "Yes..."

Margaret clenched her jaw. She tensed up for a moment as a million different questions and solutions flooded her mind. In the end, she chose to ignore all of it and went with her gut. 

"Laina. Talk to me, please," she held onto her hands tightly, almost begging, "Please talk to me. What\'s on your mind?"

She continued to make eye contact with the Queen, hoping to spot what she was looking for. Through the brave front she had put up, Margaret knew there was something more. No matter how much Laina tried to avoid, she could not avoid Margaret forever. 

Looking into her eyes, Laina felt as if the wall she had painstakingly built came crumbling down into sand. She wavered, and Margaret caught onto it immediately. Before she could say anything, Margaret pulled her into an embrace.. Laina held onto Margaret tightly as she crumbled to the ground.