It is foolish. I should be pleased that I am free from my obligations to the girl and yet I cannot shake her presence from my mind.

Apparently there was some mishap at the Ostara ceremony this morning. Something to do with Elissa. Antares's news does little to divert my mind.

Before I am even aware of moving, my feet are taking me to her room. I have to battle the inclination to batter the door down and try not to thump too hard with my fist.

The door opens to reveal a female servant. "How may I help you, my Lord?"

There is open admiration in the woman's eyes, which is just irritating. I manage to keep my voice even. "Is the princess here? She mentioned wanting a tour of the gardens."

"She is with the Queen."

I stride off to the queen's chambers. Seraphina welcomes me in, and we catch up over a private lunch.

Despite not wanting to appear interested, I nevertheless cave in and ask her, "Have you seen the princess?"

"She is sleeping in my room. She was overwhelmed by Ishtar's fire."

The words are like a punch to the guts, stealing my breath and filling my head with images of Elissa's burnt body. What could she have done to have caused Ishtar's wrath?

Seraphina gives a pained smile. "You misunderstand. Ishtar bestowed her blessing on the princess this morning."

My lip curls in disbelief. "She is not a Dragonite."

Seraphina's face tightens and she swallows. Her arms are bare of any marks and it seems our goddess chose once again not to bless my queen. That a stranger was chosen above her must have stung. I cup her face with my hand.

"Sera, I am sorry."

Her curves press into my body as her lips seek mine. She kindled my fire once and we are sometime lovers. However, right now her kiss does not raise even the slightest flicker from my flames, and I am unable to return her ardour.

There is an awkward moment, which is interrupted by a messenger. "Your Majesty. The High King requests an audience."

Seraphina's jaw clenches, but she nods and rises, walking over to an adjacent room. Given that she leaves the door ajar, I take this as a sign that she does not deem it a private conversation.

"My dearest Seraphina. You have the girl?" the king asks in a pleasant tone, as if he were not talking about a person but a thing to be bartered.

"Yes, I have the princess."

"Good. I shall be taking her off your hands soon."

I find myself at the doorway in time to see the greasy king rubs his hands together.

"I think it best if she remains here as my guest," Seraphina responds sweetly, yet her stance holds the threat of a blade.

"Alas, I already have plans for her to come to Avalon."

"That may not be well received by the elven court. Queen Celestia will not be pleased."

Lucifer is unperturbed. "Worry not about my mother. I will deal with her."

"It is not only the elven court that favours the girl. Many of the courts insist on her safety, my own included."

His confident façadeseems to waver for a moment. "I can assure you that Elissa's safety is of the uppermost importance to me. I have already dispatched sufficient men to ensure that she is delivered to me without any trouble."

"That might be considered an aggressive move, Lucifer."

I agree and bristle at the thought of an army traipsing through my kingdom.

"Not at all." He smiles with false warmth. "Before I forget. It is Ostara today, is it not? May your goddess bless you."

"You bastard. How long will you hold this over me?" she snarls.

"Well technically, all my brothers are bastards given that mother never married any of our fathers."

"You stole Azora's egg before she had a chance to breathe fire on it. You know that both she and I are both barren. There is no hope that I will ever be blessed by Ishtar until the egg is returned."

She is seething with rage, understandably so, and the flames flickering in her eyes are ones of anger not lust. I had no idea that he was capable of such a heinous act. My fingers itch to draw my sword and ram it into his cold heart.

"Good to converse with you as always, Seraphina." With a casual wave the king is gone, and the surface of the mirror returns to normal.

Seraphina gives a frustrated scream of rage, grabs a vase and hurls it against the wall. Shards of blue glazed pottery and flowers spray across the floor.

I walk into the room, stepping over detritus and enfold her in my arms. Conflicted feelings war within me. On one hand, I want to avenge my queen and yet I also want to protect my princess.

"What will you do?" I cannot bear the thought of an innocent such as Elissa within Lucifer's clutches.

"I do not know. Azora does not want me to cede to his demands, yet he holds the very future of our line in his hands." Seraphina shakes her head and several tears track down her cheek.

"There you are." Cade bursts into the room, a pottery fragment crunching under his boot. He smirks as his gaze travels hungrily down Seraphina's body. "Am I disturbing you?"

Seraphina marches over, grabs him by the shirt and pushes him up against the wall. I am completely forgotten as his lips eagerly meet hers and their flames mingle along with their breaths.

.......

Queen Seraphina

I stride into the great hall and am immediately hit by the pheromones hanging heavy in the atmosphere. Ostara is a time to celebrate Ishtar in the most primal of ways. She is the goddess of love, war and fertility. Even those not blessed will seek a coupling and worship hedonism long into the night.

My gaze casts over the large space and many women's eyes meet mine, burning with longing. I could easily take my pick and yet in truth, I seek only one.

Seraphina is in the centre of a throng of dancers. Her dress looks to be made of spun golden thread, almost completely transparent, doing little to hide her lush curves. Still it does nothing for me. Luckily, Cade is at her side and it would seem he has proven a good distraction given the way she is practically glowing.

The music pulses in time with my heartbeat, urging me to dance. I push my way through the press of bodies. It is hot, with the flames of my fellow Dragonites lying close to the surface.

"Darling." Her smile is genuine as she spots me.

I kiss her cheek and once more scan the room.

She arches an eyebrow and gives me a knowing look. "She is up there."

Hooking her arm with mine, we ease through the crowd and up the stairs to her private pavilion overlooking the hall. Large open latticework provides views of the dancefloor below, however my attention is strictly on Elissa, who is stood talking with Cain.

She is wearing Dragonite fashion, a long colourful skirt, worn particularly low on her hips and a gauzy shirt over a bustier. The sight causes my flames to writhe excitedly beneath my skin. She appears uninjured and surreptitiously, I glance at her forearms for evidence of Ishtar's mark.

Evidently not casually enough, for Seraphina calls out, "Darling, show him your mark."

Elissa blushes prettily and places her hands protectively over her lower abdomen.

"Go on. I am beyond curious," Cain urges.

She bites her lip, then lifts the shirt. My gaze zeros in on the pale strip of flesh and there, peeking above the line of her skirt is not a single mark, but what appears like the outline of five flames.

My inner fire flares to life and need has me moving across the room. That is, until I hit an obstacle. Frustrated, I growl. The sound of my name penetrates the fog of lust and I find myself facing a wall made by Seraphina, flanked on either side by the twins.

The queen gestures to my eyes. "Darling, your fire is showing."

Mentally cursing, I blink, trying to remove the tell-tale flames of desire from my eyes.

Seraphina drags me to the corner of the room. Her voice lowers and she threatens, "Unless you wish a plague of dragon ticks against your fine derrière, I suggest that you start explaining."

Not wanting to answer, I look down at the bodies below, dancing to the seductive beat of the music. Seraphina grabs my chin, forcing me to look at her and I reluctantly confess, "She kindled my flame."

Her eyes widen and flash to Elissa before returning to me. "It took us three days in bed to ease the mating fever. How are you alright?"

"She is a healer." I give a one-shouldered shrug.

Seraphina gives me a wicked grin, her eyes casting down my body. "Still, it must have been a very hard journey for you."

Pirouetting on her heels, she struts back to where Elissa is now seated and stretches out like a cat on the seat opposite. "Elissa darling, what are you?"

I wait with bated breath as Elissa hesitates before finally responding, "I'm an Elemental."

My heartbeat quickens. Could it be? Fire Elementals are very rare though.

Seraphina asks the question that I dare not. "What element do you wield?"

"I'm not sure. Several?"

My mind whirls. Only nobles have more than one element.