The day passed by quickly and when the sun started to paint the sky orange Aliya heard a soft knock on her door. She jumped up from her desk and opened it to find her servant and five other people. She waved them in before walking to the center of her room.

            Where there was once open floor covered only by a lush green rug, there now sat a coffin with a glass top. Inside, visible to all present, rested Luhan. His chest still rose and fell but just barely so that, unless closely examined, he looked dead.

            No words were spoken as the five people the servant brought moved around the coffin and lifted it between them. In unison they turned toward the door and followed the small girl out of the palace and into the forest. Aliya followed, walking behind the group.

            They weaved through the trees as quickly as they could. Aliya would have thought navigating this part of the forest would be impossible but their guild knew her way very well. She cut through the branches and bramble like it was nothing, forging ahead without hesitation.

            They reached the clearing as the sky became streaked with purple, blue and pink. Although clearing was really not the best word to describe it in Aliya’s opinion. She looked questioningly at her hand maid.

            “I thought being on the edge of the cliff would add extra security. Now the only way to get here is either through the forest or up the cliff face.”

            Aliya liked it. No one would stumble upon Luhan here, which is exactly what she wanted. With a nod she ordered Luhan to be sat on the ground near the trees where she stood and then dismissed the others with a wave of her hand. She would be able to find her way back and wanted to spend some time savoring her victory.

            Aliya sat her hand on the coffin lid, looking down at Luhan’s peaceful face. “You should never have come to my kingdom,” she whispered to the sleeping corpse. “This is my domain and only I can be the fairest.”

            Straightening her shoulders, she turned toward the tree line to make her way back. But before she could move her eyes fell on a shadow emerging from the forest.

            “So this is what you call taking care of him?” Prince Minseok’s voice rang out, cold as ice. He walked to the edge of Luhan’s coffin, blocking Aliya’s way.

            “What are you doing here?” Aliya demanded.                   

            “Those stories I mentioned the other night. They talk about more than your beauty. They say you are cunning and cold and heartless. I was warned not to trust you no matter how kind you appeared. I didn’t understand why until now.” Minseok spoke in a low voice, each word weighted heavily. But his eyes were glued to Luhan.

            “Is that so? However did I gain such a reputation?” Aliya didn’t really care about the answer. She was just playing with Minseok, waiting to see if intimidation was enough to bend him to her will or if physical force would be necessary.

            “There are rumors you are a dark sorcerous. And everyone knows not to trust magic wielders.”

            Aliya cried with laughter. “I’ve never heard something more ridiculous!”

            “You deny having knowledge of magic? How do you explain his condition?” Minseok finally raised his eyes to the queen. Anger danced within them, illuminated by the light of the setting sun.

            “Is that why you followed me? You believe I caused his condition with magic?” Aliya didn’t even try to hide the smile in her voice. She was having fun now.

            “I came to ask you where he was being moved to since you hadn’t sent anyone to update me today. But when I got close to your room, I saw you and group of people sneaking out of the palace carrying something large. So I followed, hoping my worries would be proven wrong.” Minseok’s voice was a growl now. “But instead I find you hiding Luhan in the middle of nowhere and hear you telling him it was all because he’s pretty! Now tell me this has nothing to do with you using magic.”

            Minseok’s challenge was clear but Aliya felt no need to lie. She had already won.

            “Yes. I did it. I poisoned him with magic for threatening my position of power. I won’t apologize if that’s what you’re after.”

            “No. Your apology would mean nothing anyway. I want you to cure him.”

            Aliya laughed so hard she had to wipe away tears. “Cure him? I can’t. He’s as good as dead. I told you earlier he’s not waking up so it’s best you just move on.”

            “I can’t,” Minseok said in a tight voice.                                 

            “Oh? And why is that?” Aliya’s voice was teasing.

            “I just can’t,” Minseok growled through clenched teeth. “Just cure him or-“

            “Or what? This is my kingdom! You have no power here and you will do well to remember that.”

No longer amused, Aliya began to move past Minseok. But her path was quickly blocked by a sword. Aliya raised an eyebrow at the prince.

“I may not have political power in your kingdom but I have power with a blade. And I am willing to fight you until you fix what you’ve done.”

Aliya pushed the sword back with two fingers as she backed away. She cocked her head to the side, reevaluating the prince from overseas. He no longer seemed small and quiet. He looked ready to kill. And he seemed to think he could actually win.

“You want to fight me?” Aliya asked once she reached the middle of the clearing. “Are you so eager to join your servant in death? Fine. Now you get to experience the power of a dark sorcerous first hand.”

Aliya called on the power she knew was within her and began transforming into a form more fitting to display it. The ground at her feet erupted into flames. The smoke began to wrap around her body, adding mass and elongating her limbs. Her nails grew into claws and spikes jutted out of her spinal cord while wings unfurled from her shoulder blades. She crouched forward onto her hands as a tail slammed onto the ground behind her. But her hands were no longer hands just as she was no longer human.

Where Aliya once stood now towered a fierce dragon. Her eyes were a brilliant green and immediately zeroed in on Minseok. And if dragons could smirk, this one did before lunging toward the prince with her razor sharp teeth.

Minseok quickly drove the right, barely dodging Aliya’s now man sized teeth. He rolled on to his back just as Dragon Aliya pulled her head back. She was opening for another dive when Minseok jumped out from behind Luhan’s coffin and charged.

Surprised by the bold move, Aliya reared her head back allowing Minseok clear access to slash at her front legs. Aliya howled in pain as the sword sliced through her scales and drew blood. She swiped at him with her other paw before he could hit her again sending him flying toward the left side of the clearing.

Dragon Aliya looked down at her wound while Minseok struggled to stand back on his feet. While she did have scales in dragon form, they were not as strong as a natural dragon’s. It was barely more protection than light armor. The cut wasn’t deep but she would have to be more careful now that he knew she was capable of wounding.

Minseok got back to his feet and ran toward Dragon Aliya’s tail while she was distracted with her leg. When he reached the base of the tail, he swung his leg over to straddle it and stabbed his sword into her flesh.

Aliya roared in fury as she began to thrash her tail back and forth trying to shake the prince off. But Minseok held on. When Aliya realized throwing him off was not going to work she began to twist her long neck around her body. If she couldn’t get him to fall off, maybe she could bite him off. She wanted to burn Minseok to a crisp but knew that would risk setting the forest ablaze and she didn’t want to alert anyone to their battle.

During the pause in movement while Aliya changed tactic, Minseok pulled his sword from Aliya’s tail and began climbing up her back. He used her spikes as hand and foot holds to quickly pull himself along Aliya’s dragon body. He batted her head away with his sword, using her awkward angle to his advantage. He also periodically stabbed his sword into her back. This angered Aliya more than anything but she was also finding it more and more difficult to think straight through the growing haze of pain.

Finally Minseok reached the intersection of her neck and shoulder blades. He wrapped his legs around her neck as best he could and held on to her neck spike. Then he raised his sword to stab into her neck.

At that moment Aliya threw her weight to the side and began to roll over. Minseok didn’t have enough time to move and his left leg was crushed under the weight of Dragon Aliya. His piercing scream was enough to cause birds to take flight and barely covered the sound of breaking bone.

Upon hearing confirmation that she had wounded the prince, Aliya pushed herself upright again and moved to stand over Minseok. She looked down at the small man, his face covered in sweat as he grabbed at his leg. Aliya pulled her head back one last time for a final strike. Minseok was done. He would die and her victory would be complete.

In the moment before Dragon Aliya brought her head down to crush Minseok, the prince raised his sword and threw it. It soared across the clearing and embedded itself into Dragon Aliya’s chest. Aliya wailed, crumbling in on herself in a cloud of black smoke.

When the smoke cleared Queen Aliya was once again herself, curled in a ball and clutching at her right shoulder. There was still enough light from the sinking sun for Minseok to see Aliya’s hand covered in blood.

Her breathing was labored but Aliya still managed to menacingly glare at Minseok. “How dare—,” she began.

“I told you I would fight. Now. Fix. Him.” Minseok was panting but his voice was firm.

Despite the pain, Aliya couldn’t help but chuckle. “You fool! I told you I can’t cure him. He was poisoned with magic!”

Minseok shook his head. He wouldn’t meet Queen Aliya’s eyes as she smiled triumphantly. Instead he slowly pulled himself up to balance on one foot. Then he began to hobble over to the glass casket were Luhan was still entombed.

Once he reached it he leaned all his weight onto it, pushing the top off. He fell on top of Luhan’s body and looked at the face of his former servant. He seemed so peaceful it was almost believable he was just asleep. But that was not the case. Aliya had said that Luhan was as good as dead and now, in the growing darkness of night, Minseok could see it. He reached his hand up to touch Luhan’s angelic face.

“I’m so sorry I couldn't save you,” Minseok whispered. “Please forgive me.” With effort Minseok pulled himself closer to Luhan, bring their foreheads together. Then, as the first tears began to roll down his cheeks, Minseok brought his lips to Luhan’s. His kiss was gentle, lips lightly brushing each other. Minseok rested his head on Luhan’s shoulder for a moment before pulling back with a sob.

When he looked down at Luhan’s face again, his heart stopped. Looking back at him with a small smile was Luhan, awake and full of life. Luhan opened his mouth to say something but before any sound could escape, Minseok let out a strangled cry and buried his face in the crook of Luhan’s neck. The prince wrapped his arms around his servant and whispered affectionate apologizes while Luhan his hair.

“I thought I lost you,” Minseok mumbled into Luhan’s skin. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Hey, calm down. I told you once I would always be by your side. Did you really think I’d let something like this stand in the way?” Luhan smiled down at Minseok, resting his cheek on top of the prince’s head.

“’Something like this?’ You were poisoned Lu. With magic.” Minseok lifted his head to rest his chin on Luhan’s collar while looking at him incredulously.

“So? You still found a way to bring me back. And even if you lost hope, I never doubted you. Nothing can stop love.”

Minseok raised an eyebrow. “Love? Who said anything about love?”

Luhan’s blush was so bright even the night couldn’t hide it. “Oh. Well, I… I meant the love between a ruler and a—,” Luhan was cut off by Minseok’s lips. The prince had leaned back down to seal the distance between them, kissing Luhan with a passion fueled by joy and relief. This kiss was not as gentle as the first but Minseok soon pulled away to gaze down at Luhan.

“I’ll never let anything stand in the way my love for you. And that is a promise.”

Luhan was still too dazed by Minseok’s sudden kiss and recently waking up that he couldn’t say anything. So after looking at Luhan’s flustered face for a few second, Minseok decided to rest on him and just enjoy being beside his favorite person again.