The Dragon Queen and her mates.
Chapter 274: Scars and Bonds

Chapter 274: Scars and Bonds

"Can’t you break it?" Bree asked with a surprised expression as she thought that the man next to her was skilled enough to trace black magic. So how could he not break through the information that these scrolls that he summoned were hiding?

"No," Blaise shook his head. "It seems like the Death Riders truly want this information to be kept a secret. I wonder what they are hiding since they are being so careful. It must be something big."

Bree clenched her jaw and unclenched it before saying to him, "Call the mages of the magic tower and get them on it. Since these dark mages are trying to hide this information, we will need to get our hands on this information at any cost."

Immediately, Blaise called the mages in the tower and asked them to break the spells and taboos used to hide the information.

While he was speaking to the mages, Bree glanced at the man with a hint of surprise in her eyes. She had seen Blaise as someone who often joked around. He had such a playful personality that she often forgot that he was a borderline psychopath at times.

Within her core, she felt her dragon gush over the little cat and even though they were separated by two surfaces, she could feel the cat comforting her dragon. This was really weird for Bree, as she had grown up believing that relying on others for comfort was a sign of weakness. That it was a show of vulnerability.

Being alone in the world despite having a family that didn’t care for her, she had grown up much more quickly.

Because of this, she had grown up as somewhat emotionally reserved. Not knowing how it felt to rely on others. She took showing emotions as a sign of weakness but as she watched her dragon take comfort in Blaise’s cat, she realised that her dragon didn’t look weak or vulnerable.

Instead, she looked happy. Happy because there was someone who she could lean against.

Her thoughts came to a halt when a large hand reached out and held hers. She frowned and turned to look at Blaise, who caught hold of her hand and turned it around such that he could trace every inch of it.

"I didn’t see this when I married you, your majesty," he pointed out as he traced the scar at the centre of her palm.

Bree looked at the scar and pursed her lips before saying, "Of course you didn’t. I got it when I was fighting the urge to kill everyone, including myself, under the effects of those drugs." She was not the one who felt the pain but according to Saphira, her predecessor tried quite hard to remain sane by cutting her palm with her claws to make sure that her mind remained clear enough for her to see through things.

"That must have hurt, right?" he asked as he raised his hand and looked at her with a hint of adoration in his eyes.

His gaze made Bree uncomfortable as she shifted in her seat and tried to pull away her hand from his. But he held onto it tightly.

Giving up on retrieving her hand, she sighed and replied, "It doesn’t hurt anymore." The pain that her predecessor suffered had nothing to do with her; after all, even if she was in pain—what could this man do now? The pain was gone and the person who suffered the pain was gone as well.

Blaise’s eyes softened as he turned her hand and exposed a long, thin, and pale mark on the back of her hand. "What about this? I don’t recall this mark either. In fact, when we married, you were more or less without a scar, your majesty."

"Scars ate the medals of a ruler," stated Bree. "They are proof that I fought along with my subjects. And didn’t hide in my palace like a coward."

She then glanced at the scar that he was talking about and explained, "This scar—I think I got it when I took over the throne. Some of the officials did not want to give me the right to hold the throne and rule over the empire. So, they tried to assassinate me and it ended up in chaos."

She could now recall how those people tried to kill Bree when she was asleep in her bed. But the sixteen-year-old girl still fought them bravely. Even with the drug in her veins, she had stood tall until the guards came and caught those who tried to assassinate her.

When she thought about it, Bree had to admit that her predecessor was a woman of iron and steel will. She actually stayed upright even with her arm bleeding.

"I am sorry," Blaise remarked as if he felt genuinely apologetic for not being able to see through her pain and being their for her. Bree simply shrugged and didn’t say anything. Instead, her eyes trailed to the scar on his neck, which was quite scary and she asked, "How about you?" She pointed to his scar and asked, "How did you get that?"

As soon as she spoke, the light in his eyes extinguished and the amusement flickered off as if someone had blown on the flame of a burning candle. He slipped away from her; even though he was sitting right next to her, Bree could feel that the man was not right next to her.

He was lost somewhere she couldn’t reach. Though it wasn’t fair that he asked her for answers without asking whether she was comfortable or not, Bree didn’t push him for an answer when she saw the dark look in his eyes. Like he was wrestling something twisted. She pursed her lips and handed him the apple that was sitting in the carriage. "You should eat something."

Blaise looked at the apple and chuckled. He knew that she was doing this because she wanted to stop him from overthinking but at the same time she didn’t want to let him know that she sensed something amiss. He took the apple from her and took a bite from it without saying anything.

However, as they came to a stop at the palace, he noticed someone looking at him as if he wanted to take a bite out of his neck.