The Crown's Fire - Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Scared
It was already close to midnight when Ezekiel entered his tent. He oversaw the checking of every man and tent in his army, making sure to eliminate every spy from Helion they came across.

True enough, they found two more men with the mark of the serpent on their bare backs—one hidden among the servants assigned in the armories, and one hidden among infantry soldiers.

Once that was done, he immediately returned to his tent where Cora was currently waiting for him. Quickly getting up from her chair, she greeted him the moment she saw him. “Your Highness.”

Ezekiel simply gave her a nod before his gaze darted towards Tarah. “She’s already sleeping,” Cora informed him. “I’ve prepared the tub for you.”

“Thank you, Cora,” he hummed in gratitude. “You can leave now.”

Cora promptly took her leave, and Ezekiel then went to the partition where the tub was currently located.

Stripping himself of his clothes, he cleaned himself of the sweat and grime he accumulated throughout the day. Winter was coming, yet his body temperature was burning up. He inwardly cursed as he touched his back. The dragon scales were almost on the entirety of his back right now.

[I can smell a dragonrider’s blood!]

Ezekiel’s body froze. He could feel a powerful force inside him trying to control his body. There’s a glistening fire burning within, making the water around him suddenly boil.

[Stay put!] he grunted in his head, unsure if the dragon inside him even heard him. It was obviously the Dragon King Vulcan doing this, so it was no wonder then why he could feel a strong energy coming from within him. It wasn’t coming from his divine energy, but the dragon soul inside of him.

[Succumb to me, and let’s destroy this world!] The dragon maniacally roared.

Ignoring the dragon, Ezekiel focused on his divine energy to stop the dragon inside him from taking even further control. It was a fortunate thing that he was also good at cultivating his divine inner energy and spellcraft, allowing him to always keep control.

[You—You won’t be able to fight and hold me back for long!] the dragon grunted inside his head.

[Just shut up!] Ezekiel hissed as he cast all his divine energy to create a barrier against the dragon’s soul.

After a few moments, when he was sure that he had already effectively blocked the dragon inside him from making another attempt at taking over his body, he let out a sigh of relief.

“I have to do something before this thing gets out of hand,” he whispered to himself as he rose from the tub before drying himself and getting dressed.

If there was no way for him to have this dragon’s soul removed, then he must find a way to gain full control over it instead.

Shaking his head, Ezekiel proceeded to try and rest. He didn’t know why, but instead of walking straight to his makeshift bed, he went to Tarah’s and sat on the side of her bed.

Vulcan had mentioned something about the Dragonrider’s Blood, and he could only wonder what the dragon meant. Maybe Tarah knew something about it, so he took note to discuss the matter with his Seer the moment she woke up.

Staring at Tarah’s beautiful and alluring visage, Ezekiel released a heavy sigh and muttered, “I hope you’re not the woman whom Seer Beirut warned me about.” He had a lot of plans during his reign as king, and he wouldn’t want to be damned just because of a woman.

Tarah moved then moved in her sleep, and he frowned at the familiar refreshing and sensual floral scent with a bright note of grapefruit that wafted onto his nose. He unknowingly leaned in closer, his face almost touching her neck as he stared at her.

Despite all the worries and weariness clouding his mind, he couldn’t help but find solace in her scent like this. He didn’t know if he was imagining things, but it seemed like she had this calming effect on him. He had been thinking about it last night, ever since she had a nightmare and he hugged her.

This feeling was all foreign and alarming to him, which was why he swiftly decided to let her stay in a separate tent back then. However, the circumstances have now changed because of the danger she saw in her vision.

Ezekiel grunted as he backed away. His expression went dark upon recalling the fear on Tarah’s face, but his expression quickly softened at the sight of the peaceful smile that tugged on her face.

“I guess you’re having a good dream this time around,” he hummed, with a satisfied smile unknowingly forming on his lips.

As if hearing him, Tarah stirred, making Ezekiel immediately stand up. It was then that he realized something. He couldn’t believe what he was doing right now.

‘Damn! She’s our Seer!’ he scolded himself. He couldn’t believe that he was acting sneakily like this while she was sleeping.

Turning around to walk, he was about to go to his bed when he heard how Tarah was suddenly whispering in her sleep. He turned back and saw that the peaceful smile on her lips had been replaced by her sobbing.

It looked like she was having another nightmare.

Quickly, Ezekiel sat on the side of the bed and called to her. “Tarah… Wake up.”

“No! Please don’t!” she whimpered, and it was the same as last night when her body became so cold that her lips slowly lost their color.

Worried, Ezekiel gently shook her and patted her cheeks like last night, but his methods didn’t seem to be working this time. Leaning in, he grabbed her shoulders as he raised her body up. She was trembling.

“Tarah! Wake up!”

He was getting worried, and he was only able to sigh in relief the moment Tarah finally woke up.

“I’m sorry,” she apologetically whispered while staring deep into his eyes. “I’m sorry…”

Ezekiel wiped the tears still trickling down her face as he asked, “What is it? Did you see a future event coming in your vision? Is it a bad one?”

Tarah didn’t answer as she simply stared at him.

“Tell me about it,” he further asked.

She had experienced nightmares for two nights in a row now, and Ezekiel wanted to know what the reason for them was.

“I’m… I’m scared…”

That was the only thing she said, and right then, he felt her body press against his. Confused, Ezekiel contemplated on what to do. The right thing to do was to comfort her like last night, but it felt wrong somehow… His body was reacting weirdly whenever she was near him like this.