The Crown's Fire - Chapter 184

Chapter 184: Bury the Past
Katelina and her convoy, along with Commander Cora and her men, spent the night at the manor of Count and Countess Hendrix. From there, they were set to travel directly to Haven Forest early the next morning for the Global Summit, which was five days away.

As soon as they finished dinner, everyone retired early to rest for the journey. Asura helped Katelina clean up and get ready for bed, as she was truly exhausted. However, Katelina was afraid to sleep, so she asked Asura to bring her some manuscripts she had yet to read. These contained more information and spells about dragons and dragonriders that Priest Mauro had found among Priest Saul’s belongings.

“Your Majesty, you should rest,” Asura tried to convince her.

Katelina smiled and said, “I will, Asura. You can leave now and rest. Don’t worry about me. I will sleep soon.”

Asura shrugged her shoulders in defeat. “Let me at least prepare you some tea and a snack in case you feel hungry,” she murmured with a pout, and Katelina nodded.

“Here, please drink this while it’s hot,” Asura handed her a cup of tea. Katelina accepted it and drank it.

“Thank you… Is this a new flavor?” Katelina inquired. Asura gave her an awkward smile and said, “I added some potion to help you sleep.” Then she yawned and said, “Have a good night’s rest, Your Majesty. I will leave now and see you tomorrow morning.”

Katelina blinked as she watched Asura practically run out of her bedchamber. She closed her eyes and released a heavy sigh. Her friend was just concerned about her, and she understood that fully, but she was not ready to have another nightmare. The thought of seeing flashbacks of those kinds of memories made her tremble.

In her dreams, she didn’t see the details, and she feared seeing the full extent of what she had been through with that demon.

Slowly, Katelina felt the effect of the potion Asura added to her tea. Her eyelids became heavy, and she felt a bit dizzy. Katelina quickly stood up from her chair. She tried chanting a spell, but before she could complete it, her body felt so weak that her knees wobbled.

“Damn,” she cursed under her breath, knowing she was experiencing a backlash from chanting the wrong spell since she was unable to think straight. She felt the night breeze suddenly fanning her face, coming from the direction of the balcony.

“What is that?” she thought, noticing something flapping outside. Her vision was already blurry, and she knew she was on the brink of passing out. Quickly, she tried to walk to the bed, but she suddenly lost her balance.

“Ahhh,” she breathed, closing her eyes as she braced herself for the impact of the fall.

Instead of hitting the hard floor, Katelina felt her body being gently lifted. She slowly opened her eyes, despite the overwhelming drowsiness, and saw the familiar face of Ezekiel gazing down at her. He wore a roguish smile as he melodiously hummed, “Go to sleep, Kate. I will stay and look after you. I’ll keep you safe from those nightmares.”

Katelina felt the comfort of the bed beneath her. She wasn’t sure if she was hallucinating or if it was real, but the warmth and safety she felt eased her mind. She snuggled deeper into the familiar warmth cradling her. She felt secure enough to let herself fall into a deep sleep, hoping to avoid the nightmares that had plagued her.

*

Ezekiel kissed Katelina’s forehead and buried his nose in her hair the moment he felt her steady breathing, indicating she had fallen asleep.

“How come you’re not seeking me out about the dragons and the details of your dragon bond with me?” Ezekiel murmured softly.

A few days ago, he had received Cora’s report about the newly hatched dragons Katelina had been caring for. He knew every detail, and just two days ago, he had an encounter with Onyx, who had tried to connect through Katelina’s dragon bond to him and Khal.

Onyx had even questioned them about why their bond with Katelina wasn’t working. Ezekiel hadn’t answered that question directly but had instead told Onyx that he would explain everything to Katelina in person. All she needed to do was seek him out. And yet… no word had come from her at all.

Ezekiel released a heavy sigh as he kissed her head again.

He was already on their journey to Haven Forest and was about to arrive there in three days. He wanted to arrive ahead so he could check everything with the security and preparations the Sorel Guild made for this Global Summit. He wanted it to be a successful one so he wanted to double check everything.

But as soon as he received Cora’s report about Katelina, he immediately flew to Zion in his dragon form. Unfortunately, Lurio was in Valcrez, so he couldn’t facilitate a portal for swift transport.

It was already dark when he arrived at the manor. To avoid causing a fuss, he used Khal’s ability to become invisible as he approached the balcony, following Katelina’s scent. Just in time, he shifted into his human form and caught her as she was about to fall.

He gently caressed her cheek, basking in the sight of her face, uncovered by a veil. Then his expression darkened, recalling Cora’s report just a while ago.

According to Cora, Asura had confided that Katelina had suffered terribly under Devon. She was molested and physically and emotionally abused. And two days ago, Katelina had a nightmare about it.

He gritted his teeth and hissed, “That damn demon!” He had already killed Devon, but right now, he would willingly hunt the demon in hell and kill him over and over again for what he did to Katelina.

But seeing Katelina’s peaceful face as she slept softened his gaze. He leaned closer to give her lips a gentle peck.

“I want you to remember the memory you lost… But if it means you have to recall those horrendous sufferings, then I would rather you never gain them back, Kate. We can bury the past, including our memories together. We’ll just create new ones…” he murmured softly, his voice filled with determination and tenderness.