Her palms were in excruciating pain.
She cried out and opened her eyes to see, Ava, a maid, tending to her wound. Looking at herself, she was surprised to see that she was already dressed.
"Did you bath me?" Sage enquired in shock.
"Yes, your Majesty," Ava replied with a smile on her face.
"T.. thank you," Sage said nervously.
She felt awkward after being pushed into the pool by Cyrus. He possessed no heart at all.
"I am your serving maid, your Majesty, please do not run away again." Ava said focusing on injured Sage's palm.
Sage nodded and checked the palm of her other hand to make sure it was unharmed.
"How did that palm heal?" Sage enquired in awe.
"Oh, there were blood stains but I did not see any injury." Ava replied.
Sage was taken aback. She was sure that she cut her both her palms with the sword.
"Oh," Sage sighed and placed herself in a sitting position.
"His Majesty, went into the city for some work. You are to meet Duchess Charlotte for breakfast, afternoon for tea and shopping for the ball." Ava informed.
In disbelief, Sage's eyes widened. She had no choice but to do all of this, despite her dislike for doing so.
'What ball?' She asked her thoughts.
"Who is Duchess Charlotte to C..Cyrus?" Sage asked drawling Cyrus's name.
"Her family, the Soldans have been friends with the Dragos family for so long that they even lived in the castle. She sees his majesty like her own son because she took care of him after his mother passed away." Ava explained and Sage sighed.
"So she's like the king's mother?" Sage asked and groaned as Ava tied her hand with a small white cloth.
"Here, it will match with your coat." Ava said with a smile handing her pair of blue mittens.
Sage nodded and collected the mittens then stood up from the bed.
Ava smiled as she offered Sage the blue coat she had chosen from the wardrobe, which perfectly complemented the mittens.
"You are the queen of Antica. Duchess Charlotte is really strict so, try to impress her." Ava advised and Sage sighed.
She did not plan for any of this, she did not know that she would have to do wifely duties. Stabbing Cyrus did not seem to work which meant she had to work harder.
'Cutting off his head or stabbing his heart? I will do both.' She thought with a grin.
After leaving the room, Sage and Ava proceeded along a lengthy hallway with ornately carved walls.
"Why does the king have two demon panthers?" She questioned with curiosity as she recalled how terrifying and terrible they were and how they obediently followed Cyrus like pets.
"Black demon panthers are guardians of the royal ice dragon heirs since the beginning of time." Ava replied.
"So they are immortal?" Sage gasped.
"Yes. The king is the last ice dragon, which means your firstborn will undoubtedly be followed by panthers." Sage started coughing violently at what Ava stated.
"My queen!" Ava called worriedly facing Sage who had stopped walking.
Forcing a smile, she stopped coughing.
"I am alright," She resumed walking and Ava followed nervously.
Sage didn't want to think about Ava's words and Ava cursed herself for speaking so much. She knew that Cyrus and Sage's marriage was not based on love, or was it?
Cyrus had earlier summoned Ava to the bathing room, where she discovered them all wet with Sage unconscious in Cyrus' arms. Cyrus didn't seem to bat an eye while gazing at unconscious Sage.
"Yo..your Majesty!" Ava called in shock seeing Cyrus's white shirt all soaked with blood and water.
There was no sign of him being stabbed but the steaming pool was filled with blood.
"Drain the pool, it will fill with new fresh water. Take care of her." Cyrus said to Ava and glared at her which caused her to swallow hard.
"What about the nine tailed fox? It was so cute and reminded me of a snow flake." Sage asked bringing Ava out of her reverie.
"Oh, the nine tailed fox is also one of the guardians, the strongest to the fact." Ava replied.
"Stronger than those demon panthers?" Sage asked with a gasp.
"Yes. Knowing how powerful the guardians are, makes me wonder why they could not protect the ice dragons from being wiped out. Cyrus was born when his mother was extremely wounded so, she died." Ava revealed ending her words with a deep sigh.
Sage groaned and shook her head after hearing that because she wasn't sure how to react.
One may easily get lost in the castle due to its incredible beauty and size.
"Were you born during that period?" Sage decided to ask another question.
"No, I was born a few years later after he was born," Ava replied.
Sage could notice Ava's change of mood, she was sad and it looked like she was remembering something that hurt her badly. No wanting to ask anymore questions concerning Cyrus or anything related to him, she asked,
"Where is Amelia?"
"She is serving the ladies now." Ava replied.
"Ladies?" Sage asked confused.
"The duchess's daughters, Mirabella and Isabella Soldan. They are twins." Ava replied and Sage nodded.
Sage was taken to the large dining room where she saw some women seated at the table and the young girls there. The twins who were there, caught her attention because of their exceptional beauty. Both had light blonde hair, blue eyes, and lanky build.
"So, this is the girl Cyrus got married to?" One of them questioned Sage as if she had a horrible mark on her face.
"Do not utter rude remarks Isabella," A woman said with a scoff. She also had blonde hair but her eyes were brown. Sage immediately knew that it was Duchess Charlotte.
"She is the queen, your queen," Charlotte added frowning at Isabella who scoffed.
"She is beautiful, Cyrus picked such a beautiful wife." One of the women present on the table complimented.
"Let me hold those till you are heading out." Ava said to Sage and collected the mittens, coat then left the dining room.
"Come," Charlotte said with a smile gazing at Sage and the empty chair next to her.
"Yes," Sage said calmly and walked towards the chair then sat down.
Charlotte's eyes met the cloth wrapped around Sage's hand and was stunned.
"What is that? Where did you injure yourself?" She asked.
"I.. I slipped on the snow," Sage lied tensely with a smile.
"Too bad," Isabella said and clicked her tongue. "Cyrus wasn't there to catch you from falling." She added with a scoff.
"I do not need him to catch me," Sage said angrily then widened her eyes when everyone on the table stared at her like she had killed the nine tailed fox. "I... He wasn't there when i fell." She added with a calm voice.
"Well, that is disappointing," Mirabella said focusing on her food. "Since the maid has cleaned it up, it will heal soon."
Sage nodded and looked at Charlotte.
"Eat my dear," Charlotte said with a smile.
Sage picked up the fork and knife to cut the meat but her injury stung causing her to wince in pain. She would have ate with her hands if there weren't eyes on her.
"I am not hungry." She said to Charlotte dropping the utensils.
"Very well," Charlotte said nodding.
"Now, I am sure that you are aware of the war going on between Antica and Fireria. The difference between we fire dragons who are living here in Anitca, is that our ancestors have been close with the ice dragons since the beginning of time and we have been blessed to function well in the cold just like ice dragons." She said placing a piece of meat in her mouth. "I am aware that you are a fire mage and I am telling you the truth when I say I do not know why Cyrus got married to you but you are his wife now and I cannot stop that."
"What are you getting to, your Grace?" Sage asked curiously.
"The ice dragons are gone, Cyrus is the only one now but you two can bring out an heir, ice dragon or not, he will still become a powerful being."