Morthia loved the time she was spending with Drayk, but somewhere deep down she knew that something needed to give. Nothing in her life stayed good for a long period of time. Her happy childhood, died the same day as her mother. Her new-found freedom, when she still lived on Valeron, didn't even last one night. Now she was here, the princes of the Empire, heir to the throne. All sound good, but she couldn't help feeling this way. Currently, she was sitting behind her desk, reading a history book while taking notes. It was already late, but Drayk was still with her. Normally he would go home around this hour, but not today. She wondered why he lay on her bed with his eyes closed. His Dragonfire gun in arms reach. She sighed while laying her pen down. Why did she feel like her whole world is crushing down on top of her? She again looked at Drayk, he had lied about his two left feet. And she was surprised how easy the different dances came to her. He opened his eyes, but he didn't look at her. He looks at the door.

"Morthia, come here." He said. He pointed his gun towards the door. She quickly got up and rushed towards his side.

"What is it?" She asked.

"The palace is under attack. Do not worry about your siblings. The nursery shuts down, right after the alarm goes off." He said. She wanted to point out that there was no alarm, but then she saw that his watch was glowing red. And buzzing. He stood up from the bed and with her, slowly backed towards the wall. "Remind me to give you a gun, and some lessons." He whispered. The door flew open and a group of men entered her room. She looked straight in one of the man's eyes, she had seen him before. She only didn't know where. They didn't have guns, only knives. Which was a relief, was it. Drayk pointed his gun at the one closed of them. "I only give you one warning." He said. The man laughed.

"Do you really think, that your toy scars us? Boy, give use the princess and we will leave you alone." The man said, she lay a hand on his arm.

"There is no moon inside our Empire that this would be an option." Drayk snapped at him.

"Look at that, he is in love." The man said. "Only men in love would make such a statement. But alright..." He took a step forward, and that is when Drayk pulled the trigger, a beam of red light shot out of the gun, and hit his mark right in the chest. And as a result, the man fall down, dead. But Drayk couldn't see what came next, the others tackled him to the ground. And he lost grip on his gun, which landed on the ground. She wanted to scream, but there was no sound that came from her mouth. She ducked towards the gun and grabbed it. Aiming at the first man that was on top of Drayk and pulled the trigger. And she did that again, and again. Until, none of the men that had entered her room were alive. Drayk lay on the ground with a dagger inside his chest, he did not move and his was pale. She knelt beside him, and touched his face. It was warm and sweaty, there were footsteps rushing towards her room. More men that came for her, she aimed the gun at the door. While guarding Drayk's body. There was no way in hell that they would hurt him even more.

"Wow, princess." It was Derock. She lowered the gun.

"Commander, your son is hurt." She said, Derock's eyes got wide and he rushed towards her side.

"Drayk, by the Dragon, my boy." He touched Drayk's face, like she had done a few moments before. "Quick, get a doctor!" He screamed and she could hear someone running away. She wanted to ask if everybody else was fine, if her father was alright. But once again no sound came over her lips, she touched Drayk's hair and she felt tears well up in her eyes. Yes, she cared for him and she was not ashamed to admit it. "It is going to be alright, princess. He is strong, a small wound like this is not going to keep him down for more than a day or two." She hoped with all her heart that he was right.

"Morthia!" That was her father, she turned towards him. "Thank the Dragon that you are still alive." He said, and motioned her to come to him. She wanted to shake her head, she wanted to stay with Drayk.

"Forgive me daddy." She said. "But I am scared that if I leave his side, I am never getting back to it." She had called him daddy, not even thinking if this was alright or not. "I left mom's side to get her some water, when I came back she was gone." She started to break, her father's hand were on her shoulders in no time.

"He is going nowhere, my daughter." He whispered in her ear. "Nowhere." She let herself fall in his embrace, finally letting go of the gun. She cried, something she was not able to do in years. Micheal always berated her for even a single tear, but the fear that she might lose Drayk was unbearable. His strong arms surrounding her gave her some sort of strength. "Hear, hear, let it all out now. It is alright." She was not able to see past his arms, she was not even able to breathe properly. The fear of all of this rushed towards her, and there was only one way to get it out of her system.

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"I do not want to lose..." She started, while gasping for breath.

"You will not lose anything." He said, that is when the doctor rushed into the room. "Here, let the doctor do his thing." He picked her up if it was nothing. She wanted to fight against it, but her whole body lacked the strength. What was happening to her, she never felt so weak in her inter life. But as soon as he took her away, she fell into a pit of darkness.

******

"By the Dragon, my king. She was just scared, there was no need to drug her like that." That was Derock's voice. Although she heard it fagely. "She just was attacked and from what I gather she is the one who took all but one of them down. You should be proud of her."

"Who says I am not proud of her. But I am not that type of man who consuls a crying woman." That was her father. "Even not my own flesh and blood. But you are right, she is much stronger than her mother. She looked death in the eye and didn't even blink. She might look like Brialea, but her nerves of steel and her dragon heart are all mine." Her mother was not weak, she was a fighter. "How is your son?"

"He is well, my king. The knife was not poisoned, so that was a relief. I do not know how these men have entered the palace." Commander Derock said.

"I do, they were with the company that decorated my daughter's room. And I do not think the Blackmarket is behind it, they are not stupid to pull something like this. And it is thanks to your son that my daughter is still alive." Her father said, his voice was soft and robbed of emotions.

"I do not know why he was still here?" Derock said.

"Then you are going blind, commander." Her father said. "He is clearly in love and wants to spend every minute that he has with her. This morning they were found asleep in her bed, do not worry they were clothed. But the excuse he gave Crux was that he couldn't deny her request to use his chest as a pillow." This made him chuckle, although it sounded hollow. "I had planned to marry her of to someone of my family, although I hadn't decided who would be the best candidate. But my daughter and your son have taken the decision out of my hands."

"My king, we can not choose who to fall in love with." Derock's voice sounded unsteady, there was something in the air. Even she who was not fully awake could feel it. "If my son knew that you were to give the princess hand in marriage, he would have backed off, I am sure about that."

"Perhaps, but we will never know." Her father said, and she drifted away once again.

*******

Morthia sat on her bed, trying to read a new book she had picked out. She had finished the book, she had taken with her and she wanted to distract herself a bit more. The conversation that her father and commander Derock had while she was 'drugged' was never far off her mind, neither were her worries about Drayk's health. Commander Derock had assured hr that he was alright, but she would only believe it when she saw him with her own eyes.

"I do not care what the doctor says. I need to see her, father. I need to know if she is safe." A familiar voice reached her ears. She closed her book and climbed off her bed. She rushed towards the door, while he opened it. It was Drayk, he was here in her room alive and somewhat well. He was here. Her arms flew around his neck and she lay her head on his chest to hear his heartbeat. He wrapped his arms around her in return.

"Never, ever put me through something like that, again." She whispered. "I can not bear to lose you." His grip around her became stronger.

"I will try my best. And I thank the Dragon that you were unharmed." He whispered in return. She took her face off his chest and looked him straight in his light blue eyes.

"Do a bit more than just a promise." She said. He opened his mouth to reply to her, but she didn't let him. She pushed herself up and kissed him on the mouth. She could tell that he was startled at first, but he relaxed soon and started to kiss her back. His hand made its way to her head, holding it there. For a moment, and she didn't know how long that moment was, they were the only once inside this universe. But that moment felt all too short when someone cleared their throat. They broke off the kiss and stepped back from each other.

"I need to say, son. I agree with the princess here. Never do that again." Commander Derock said. His hand landed on his son's shoulder, who winched. "Sorry." He lifted his hand.

"It is not that I had much choice in the matter, did I?" Drayk said and his father. How wiggled his head, and laughed.

"That is true, and I still hate myself for it." He said. "But lucky for use the princess has a great aim. Even the King was impressed by it, he even agreed that she got trained and she is permitted to carry something that resembles a gun." Drayk nodded and sighed.

"That is a huge relief." He said, and looked at Morthia. "Father, is it alright if I stayed?" His father clearly wanted to tell him no, but Morthia looked at him begging. She wanted to spend as much time with Drayk as humanly posible.

"Well I have a feeling that the ball tomorrow is just an excuse to announce your engagment. So why not." Commander Derock said with a sigh. Drayk frowned.

"Wait the ball is not being moved?" He asked and Derock shook his head. Drayk looked at her and smiled. "I am looking forward to dance with you, a lot." She gave him a smile.

"I am looking for it too."