Larc scooped me up from the floor, crossing the distance between us in seconds, and placed me gently on his bed. The silken sheets slipped underneath me and I began to protest against the fact that I was on his bed, but the Dragon-born whispered soft assurances into my ear that everything was okay.

Once I was settled and not wriggling to break free anymore, Larc retrieved the plate and glass of water from the door and placed the former in front of me. Before I could speak, he held the cup up to my lips and tilted it slightly so I could sip from it. At least, that was his intention. As soon as the refreshing coolness of the water filled my mouth, soothing the dryness that had built up over the past few days, my hands reached for the glass and I began to gulp it down.

"Easy now. Take it slowly before you accidentally drown yourself," Larc chuckled, the deep sound making me tense. That sound had been lovely to hear before, but now it only made me uneasy.

The Dragon-born sighed with a weak smile. "Try and eat something too."

I let him take the empty glass from my hands and turned my attention to the plate. What I thought I might have dug into straight away made me hesitate as I picked up the fork. I had no idea what was on the plate. It looked warm and the smell had my mouth watering, but I had never seen any of it before.

"What is it?" I asked, my voice much clearer now I'd had something to drink.

"This meat on the side here is the thunder-fried heron I spoke of," he began, leaning over me and pointing to a dark-golden brown slab. The sight of the crispiness that surrounded the meat had my stomach growling. "Then this," Larc moved his finger to point to the vibrant green pile that looked a little like mashed potato if it weren't for the colour, "is muyeva which tastes a bit like human cheese, maybe a little sweeter. Lastly, this is oxomon. I'm not sure what it tastes like compared to human foods, but it's quite salty." He pointed towards the dull purple sticks that were thin and spindly. His explanations were so gentle that I almost forgot he had betrayed me and my sister a few days ago.

Picking up my fork once more, I tried the heron first, then the oxomon, and then moved to the muyeva.

"So, what do you think?" Larc questioned, an eagerness hidden behind his cautious expression.

"They're... okay. I'm not too fond of the Oxomon, but the other two are okay." I didn't know who I was fooling, but the thunder-fried heron and the muyeva were more than okay, they were so delicious that my body screamed for more. The heron had the perfect crisp to every bite and the meat inside was juicy enough to keep you wanting. The muyeva had melted on my tongue despite its mashed potato consistency and it did taste like human cheese as Larc had said. Nothing could taste this good without there being some sort of ungoddessly consequences.

I dropped my fork at the thought, suddenly feeling nauseous. "It's not poisoned or laced with sleeping herbs is it?" It would be very easy to poison me when I was so vulnerable. When I was on the verge of starvation and the only food I had was in front of me, it would be very convenient to mix some sort of herb in it.

"It's not, Zofia. Of course it's not. I would never do something like that to you." The hurt from my words made him visibly flinch. "Here, I'll prove it has nothing in it." Larc took the fork I had used — the fork I had my mouth wrapped around mere minutes ago — and took a bite out of everything I had eaten.

I felt a wild blush creep up my neck and onto my cheeks.

"If anything happens to you, it will happen to me now too." A tinge of colour appeared on Larc's face too as he realised what he had done.

"I, uh, thank you." Were the only words I could think of to say.

"Please eat. You need your strength."

Now that the fear of poison and sleeping herbs was gone, he didn't need to tell me twice to continue eating. Leaving only the weird, salty oxomon, I finished the rest of the plate. If only we had this back in the Kingdom of Aerla. My mother would shed tears over how good the muyeva tasted, perhaps Haera would even enjoy it too.

They were so far away now and my heart lurched at the thought of what they were doing, of how they were coping with what was going on. I could only pray to the Goddess that she would watch over them from the afterlife and keep them safe from danger — shadow creature and Dragon-born alike.

"You must be exhausted too," Larc said as he moved the plate onto a bedside table. "You can sleep here if you want. I'll watch over you and the room so nobody can get to you. In the meantime, I'll try and figure out what to do."

"Here? I can't sleep here." This was the bed where Larc slept — the room where he spent his nights. I couldn't possibly sleep in it, it would be too inappropriate. "And what do you mean by what to do next? All I want to do is go home."

The Dragon-born stood to make his way to his balcony. After checking that there was nobody around and lurking behind any corners, he sat on the end of the bed with his arms resting on his thighs. "What exactly happened after you left the cave? Did you find the footholds I made? Or did they fade away too quickly?"

"We found them." Deep down, I knew it had to have been Larc who made the magic holds. There was no chance it could have been the Queen. "We got down the mountain pretty easily because of them."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "What happened next?"

"After that, we made our way through the forest back to Silverwood Village. We didn't encounter any shadow creatures because they had left already, meaning when we got home, half of the village had been destroyed. Everyone was taking shelter in the Temple and that's where Haera and I were reunited with our mother. Though, before long, some royal guards captured me to take me to Nusal and now here I am."

I watched as Larc's leg nervously bounced up and down. "I'm certain my mother made the command to bring you up here. I truly had no idea you were in Nusal, I promise." Despite everything he had done, all the lies he had told, I believed that. "What about the Goddess?"

Sorrow washed over me like the ocean dragging sand back into its clutches. "She's gone for good now. When we left the cave, her body was completely covered in the darkness. There was nothing left of her previous self."

Larc said something in Kaeuni — a short crisp word that sounded a lot like a curse. "That's going to make things a lot more difficult."

"Why? Make what more difficult?"

"I've been trying to find a way to contain the shadowed beasts again to help stop the damage I've caused so far, but I haven't exactly got any plans at the moment."

My eyes widened in surprise. Was he really trying to fix everything? Or was he trying to use the noble motive to get something, another lie in his plans?

"Sleep. We have a lot to talk about when you're at your full strength again." Larc paused, his brows narrowing. "And I can send you home, if that's what you really want. I'm not going to keep you as a prisoner, but there's no guarantee that you will be safe. There are a lot of Dragon-borns in the human kingdoms right now tracking the creatures and if my mother demanded you to be brought back, you will likely be captured again.

He had a fair point. If I went back down to my family, not even Haera could protect me from a group of royal guards. When they captured me in the Temple after we had returned home, they swiped my sister away like she was nothing.

"But what would I have if I stayed here? I'd be in even more danger with Dragon-borns everywhere. At least in Aerla I can lie low and hide." How long would I be hiding for, though? The rest of my life?

"I would protect you with everything I have — with my life. Now that we're married, it would be easy for a seasoned hunter to track down the new bond between us and find you."

In short, there was nowhere I would be safe. Even if I did go back to Aerla, I would risk putting Haera and our mother at risk too. What if they were injured? Or worse? Panic shook my limbs, taking control of me and forcing my breathing to become sharper. I couldn't have that. I couldn't put them in danger more than they likely already were.

"Hey, you don't have to make a decision straight away." Larc reached out to grab my hands, to soothe my stress, but he pulled away at the last moment, unsure of whether or not I wanted that. "Take some time to rest and think about it. Whatever you decide, I will help you with it."

"Why?" I questioned after I slowed my breaths. "Why do you care about me so much?"

"Because you're the only person to show me an inch of kindness for my entire life. That and- never mind." A deep blush coated his cheeks.

"What about the human you were in love with? Was he not kind to you?" He hadn't wanted to talk about him before, even when we didn't know Larc had a past lover, so I wasn't sure if he would talk about it now.

"Harphi? It's... complicated. I thought he was the best thing that ever happened to me until a light was shone on our situation. He-" A knock sounded on the door, interrupting his explanation. "Who is it?" Larc made his voice sterner as he called out.

"The Queen has requested Zofia's presence in the meeting hall, Your Highness." A female voice spoke from the other side of the wood who I assumed had to be a servant or messenger of some kind.

I frantically shook my head as Larc's golden eyes landed on me. I couldn't see the Queen, not after what had happened last time. Who knew what she would do to me? If she would tear the wings off her own son, what would she do to the supposed wife of him?

"She is currently resting. Please inform her that Zofia will not be joining her."

"The Queen also requested me to warn you that if her orders aren't followed, there will be consequences." It sounded as if she was reading off of a piece of paper, her human tongue slow and awkward. The Queen had to have forced her to use my language.

"My answer is still no." He moved to the edge of the bed, ready to approach the door and swing it open.

"I shall inform the Queen that Zofia will visit her when she has finished resting."

Fury-filled Kaeuni left Larc's mouth as he charged towards the door, fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles had turned white. However, when he opened it, the servant was already gone.