Her dress felt cold, she never liked the color black. But according to her father, this was the color she needed to wear at special occasions. To represent their family, so she did as she was told. She looked at her self in the mirror, the jewelry was holding black crystals. She was wearing golden earnings without any crystals, but the tiara her father had selected for this evening made up for it. That thing was loaded and heavy to boot. With a sigh, she walked out of the bedroom, it was time to make her way to the ballroom. She stretched her back and started the march. Her shoes ticked on the dragonsteel floor, again there were no carpets inside the hallways.

"Oh my, you look lovely, darling." The voice of her grandmother said. "A bit black, but lovely." Her grandmother was wearing a long red dress, and had red crystals in her jewelry.

"I am just wearing my house color." Morthia replied, and her grandmother nodded.

"I know that, but still it is not a color that would suite you. You are already pale as they come and with your red hair." Her grandmother said. "But your father would be proud of you, when he sees you like this. So that will be a win." The sarcasm didn't escape Morthia, she only didn't have time to react. Because the moment she came near the ballroom, she got swarmed by all the ladies of the court. Young and old, Empyrea and Hemera. She was asked so many questions that she was not able to keep up with them. "Alright, alright. Give her a moment to breath, ladies." Her grandmother said after what seemed forever. But they didn't let up, the only thing was that the questions came much slower.

"Ahh, there she is!" Her father said while walking out of the ballroom. Now the sea of skirts made way and let him through. "Come on, there are other's here who want to meet you as well. All the members of both sides of the bloodline have come from all over the empire to celebrate you. And some other important people, like Minster. People I need to run the Empire from the shadows." She frowned a little, but her face started to light up when she saw Drayk standing inside the crowed. "And there is of course your man." Her father whispered in her ear. He looked around and sighed. "Well here we go." She looked at him with a smile. "Ladies and gentlemen of the court, before I start let me tell you a story. Legend has it that a mighty dragon, the ruler of the planets and giver of life landed on one of those planets. The mighty beast was pleased with what he saw and was surprised how prospers the people on the planet were. He knew for a fact that there was no other planet quite like this one, two individuals rushed towards the dragon. Pleading with him to not destroy their world, to spare his creation. The two were members of separate families, that had led their people. The Empyrea's and Hemera's. The dragon was pleased with their willingness to give their lives for the greater good, so he gave them a gift. A gemstone that was made out of his own breath, and a piece of metal made from one of his scales. He promised that their children will one day rule all of his creation, and he left. Never to be seen again. We do not know who got what and for this story it those not matter. Because both of our families share the trades of the Dragonsteel and the Dragonfire crystal, strenght and a huge temperament." He took a deep breath and he laid his hand on her shoulder. "My daughter, Morthia is a child from the Empyrea's and Hemera's bloodline. She embodies those trades, she is staying with use for only a week and right now she has learned all the basics. I know I am going to sound like a proud father, because I am one. But she even proofed herself at shooting. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present you, my daughter and heir. Morthia Empyrea the daughter of the black and red dragons." An applause arose and the music started. The father and daughter dance, Crux had told her from the start that this was one of the most important dances she would ever do. He took her hand and pulled her a bit closer. "Do not make a fool out of me." He said. This was her first dance in public, she would try her best not to step on his toes. She led him lead her into the dance, the music started out slowly and then quickened pace. She tried her best and even smiled a little. The music ended and she looked down, she had messed up a few steps.

"I am sorry father." She whispered, he nodded and looked a bit frustrated.

"It was your first dance with me. I should have practiced it with you." He said, but she could hear a slight coldness in his voice. He however, pulled himself up and looked at the people in the audience. "I know a lot of you were hoping to pound off your sons, but my daughter already chooses her man. Drayk Hemera this is your moment." Drayk nodded and had a small box in his hands. Which hold a neckless, their engagement neckless.

"Morthia, your father just gave a speech how you are the daughter of both lines. Well so was I, my mother was a member of the Empyrea bloodline before she married." He said, and then opened the box. The crystal was not all the way red, as Crux told her it would be. It was a combination of black and red, which makes sense now that she knows that also he came from the same bloodlines as she did. She turned around and let him hang the neckless around her neck, she could feel him shaking throughout the whole ordeal. "I am done." He whispered in her ear. Her hand went toward the crystal and she smiled. "I will love you, protect you and follow your lead, once you become the Dragon King. I know normally the man is appointed toward that role, but the Dragon knows, that I have no talent to lead our empire." She looked towards her father, who nodded with a huge smile. He was happy about that, so this was a good thing? The music started to play, and Drayk reached out his hand. "Do me the honor to dance with you." She took it and they were on their way to the dance floor. But as soon they took their position the double doors slammed open and a whole horde of men entered the ballroom.

"Oh I am sorry to crash this party, but we do not want a woman on the throne." One of the men said, and they started to attack.

**********

Morthia grabbed the gun from under her skirt and pointed towards the first men, and shot without a blink of an eye.

"Cover my back." She said to Drayk. He didn't reply but he placed his back to hers, while he shot another one. The men were holding knives, just like the once who attacked her in her bedroom. Just like the once who hurt Drayk, that was something that would not happen again. Not so long she was holding a gun in her hands. She shot another man down, and another. Her heart was pounding in her chest, there was so much dead. And almost all were killed by her, and some were killed by Drayk. The man didn't attack the other guests, which was a relief and also strange. Why were they targeting her, simply because they didn't want to see a woman on the throne? That was ridicules, the empire had blossomed under the rule of a female Dragon King, which was well documented in history. "Do we know who they are?" She asked.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"I do not have a clue." Drayk replied, while he shot another one. The attackers had thinned out, by a lot. Only the leader, the one who had spoken was left. He pulled out his knife and run towards her.

"Safe that one!" Her father screamed out of nowhere. She nodded and lowered her gun. If they spared one the Dragon Guard could interrogate him. Drayk also lowered his gun and made himself ready to tackle the guy. For a brief moment she wondered were the rest of the guard was. Drayk jumped, but he missed. The man now tackled her towards the ground and she did her best to fight him off. Drayk did his best to pull the man off her. The knife that he was holding was against her throat, the sharp pain of it cutting through her flesh something she hopefully would not ever experience again. Tears were jumping in her eyes, the man was like a block of steel on her.

"Drayk..." She gasped for air. "Get him... Off me."

"I am trying!" Drayk screamed. "Father, a little help please!" That is when a second pair of arms were wrapped around the man. But they were still not able to move the guy off her. Her vision started to blur, and she could feel herself losing the fight to stay awake.

"By the love of the Dragon, shot that man!" That was the voice of her grandmother.

"No, spare his life." Her father said.

"Do you not have eyes! He is killing your daughter!" Her grandmother screamed. "He is killing her! Shoot him!" Morthia gasped for air, he was indeed killing her and if she lost concesnes she will die. There was no doubt about it, but she didn't want to go against her father's wishes.

"Spare his life, Morthia." His voice echoed through her head. "Spare his life." She closed her eyes, and then she could hear a shot going off. The grip on her loosened up and she was able to breathe once again. Drayk and Derock pulled the man off her and both looked shocked at her. She looked at the man, the shot came from her gun, but she couldn't remember firing it.

"Search him, and control that knife." Derock said, to Drayk. She got picked up by someone, it took her a time to recognize her father. He walked with her in his arms toward her room, there he put her down and closed the door behind him.

"Which part of keep him alive, did you not understand." He asked in his cool and collected voice. She did a step back, she didn't know why but he made her afraid. He had not turned around yet, but she could feel the anger. "Tell me, which part didn't you understand."

"I did understand, I did my best. I do not even remember firing." She stammered. Her hand went towards her throat, it was bleeding heavily. "I was losing concesnes, I couldn't breathe." This part she whispered. He turned around and walked with big steps towards her. He grabbed her by the arm, he raised his hand, ready to strike her. Micheal has done a similiare movement when she was little, but none of those landed. This time it was not the case, her cheek was burning heavily. She let herself fall to the ground, shaking heavily from the pain and fear. The door opened and Drayk rushed in.

"Morthia." He said when he knelt down. He had a serine in his hand. "I need to hurt you for a millisecond. That dagger was poisoned with Black Night, which is a poison that affects your reaction system." He said, placing the needle in her arm. It indeed hurt for just a millisecond. He touched her face after that, the place her father's hand had landed. Drayk turned around in anger, but she stopped him from saying something. By simply laying a hand on his shoulder.

"They were members of a new criminal organization, the Cult of the Dragon." Commander Derock entered the room. "They described everything on this note." Commander Derock handed a piece of paper (need to find something tech for that), to her father. Who read it and then nodded. "The reason we couldn't get him off the princess was because they pumped themselves full, with some kind of tea. Dryak explained that one to me, but I barely understand it."

"It is called Dragonsteel tea, it is not made from the steel itself, but from some kind of herb that was created with the help of the steel. It makes the drinker of this tea stronger and heavier." Drayk explained through his teeth. He was still angry and she could understand why. She was angry too, angry at her father for striking her. Angry at this cult. "The creation of this tea, is forbidden by law." Drayk now looked at her father. "So is the creation of Black Night."

"Yes all forms of poisons made by humans, are forbidden by law." Her father replied, calm and collected. She looked away from him, was he also going to hit Drayk? Was he going to hurt someone else she loved? She never could have dreamed that her father could hurt her like that. Micheal only raised his hand towards her, a couple of times. But those never landed, he never hurt her like that. He always swore that he wouldn't be that type of man. But her father, the man she had dreamed off, was that kind of man. A kind that would hurt her. Now she started to wonder did her father also hit her mother, did he attack her the same way, or maybe even worse. Was that why she ran away? She dared to look at Drayk, he was worried about her. She could see that in his eyes, would be also that kind of man that would hurt her? No he wouldn't hurt her in any way, shape or form. He would rather hurt himself, before he would do that to her. "Let a doctor bind that wound and after that get some rest. The party is over." He walked out of the room, a doctor shot past him and started to bind her wounds.

"I do not understand him, that man was trying to kill her and he is mad at her..." Drayk bursted his frustration out.

"Son, mind your words." His father snapped. Drayk punched a wall and screamed it out. See he would rather hurt himself then others.

"Then one other question, why were we the only once fighting those cult members? Where were you and the other members of the guard. They could have killed her." Drayk snapped back at his father, who hung his head.

"You wouldn't understand, even when I tell you." He said.

"Try me." Drayk said. "Please try me." But his father didn't explain, he just turned around and walked away. And Drayk followed him, leaving her alone with the doctor and her own thoughts.