Prince

"Your Highness, I searched everywhere. But I cannot find any herb to cure our queen. Her condition is stable for now, but we don't know what that slave girl has used to poison, her highness. Our prince has her under his control. But she refused to reveal the truth" a healer shared with the Raven king, Cadmus Raven.

Cadmus is restless. His wife and his queen Irina, who is a good soul was attacked when she was coming from a party hosted by the Nester Clan dragons. The Nester Clan are the grey dragons.

Raphael found his mother lying in a pool of her own blood and a girl is holding the sword with which Irina was stabbed. That girl is bathed with the blood of his mother. Raphael became furious. He would have killed that girl then and there, but he need the name of the poison which she used on that sword to paralyze Irina. 

The Raven Prince is the most powerful and feared among all the dragon clans. No one has the potential to stop him or go against him. He is just twenty-five, but dragons who are more experienced than him are all scared of him. No one can win over him. His word is a law and no one would dare to go against it. But for the first time, a slave is living even after being at the receiving end of his wrath.

"Did you find anything about who she is and where she came from?" Cadmus asked the chief commander of his army.

Roman, is the commander-in-chief of the Raven army.

"Apologies your highness. For the past one year I have been trying to figure out who she is and to which clan she belongs to. But so far I found nothing. It's as if she is a ghost who came out of nowhere" he said with shame at his failure.

Cadmus is frustrated. He knows his son would have done everything in his power to make that girl speak. But so far she revealed nothing. No one can withstand the wrath of his son, but she did. 

"Irina's condition is looking bleak. We can only save her if the girl opens her mouth, or if you find out about her information" Cadmus confessed to his trusted Chief.

Roman nodded his sadly. He respects his queen Irina who is like a mother to the kingdom. He is angry at that girl who is barely eighteen.

"Your highness, if we announce about what she did to the world, then someone would come forward to identify her" he suggested.

But Cadmus shook his head.

"We cannot do that Roman. Everyone in the Raven palace loves Irina. If this issue comes out, then some of them might try to kill her. There may or may not be anyone who would come forward to tell us who she is. If no one comes to help us and someone kills her, then we might never be able to save Irina" Cadmus shared his opinion. 

Roman hesitated before sharing his opinion. But he feels like he should at least let the king know about what he feels.

"Please forgive me for this your highness, but I think she is innocent. I think someone is using her as a scapegoat. I mean, she is too young and innocent to attempt such a thing. I have been watching her for over a year now. She is quiet and it gave me a feeling that she has seen worst tortures than what our prince is subjecting her to" he shared. 

Cadmus began to think the same. But he is not sure. A very dangerous person can live under a sheep's skin until the time is right to strike.

"I don't know Roman, all I want is to bring my wife back," he said with frustration.

In the royal palace's west wing, where the royal chamber of the king and the queen is situated, Guards and maids are doing their duties, and so does the healers. The paralyzed queen is lying inside the chamber with her gaze trained on the ceiling.

"Your royal highness, Prince Raven, Queen Irina's vitals are not promising. Her pulse is falling and if this continues, she might not live for long" the healers announced to the Raven prince. 

The prince looked at his mother sadly.

"Leave us" he commanded.

His deep voice echoed around the walls, which made everyone scurry out of the room with fear.

Raphael looked at his mother sadly. He sat on the bed beside her and gently took her palm in his hand. He remembered how happy and lively his mother used to be before everything changed. 

Irina is a beautiful she-dragon, who is kind to everyone. She used to be lively and used to fill the room with cheer where ever she went. But a year ago, his mother's chariot went missing when she was returning from a party. They searched for her for an hour before he found Irina lying on the forest floor while his slave standing over her holding a bloody saber in hand. 

"I will do anything I can to find out what kind of poison she gave you. I promise mother, I will make this right" he promised.

Irina is paralyzed, so she cannot move or speak anything. But she knows the truth, but she cannot tell anyone about what happened that fateful night. Two people are suffering because of the sins of others. 

A tear slipped past her lids. Raphael wiped her tears off. He is feeling helpless and frustrated. He tried everything to break her, but the only thing she keeps repeating is ' I didn't do anything, please trust me'.

He wanted to believe her words. He saw honesty shining from her eyes. But he cannot forget what he saw. He saw her pulling the saber from his mother's stomach, while Irina was crying out in pain.