The Dragon’s Throne 1

“And he’ll continue to do that until he’s stopped,” Eli said. 

“How are we going to stop him?” Anna wondered.

“We’re not, for now.  There are bigger things that are happening and for now, people are safe where they’re at.  Mayor Freeman is a horrible man, but he’s not the biggest issue we have,” Eli said.

“Something tells me that there’s much more going on than you’ve let on,” Anna said.

“There is,” Eli said.  “But those problems are for another day.  Today is for celebration.  Once you are crowned queen, there will be more work to do.  For now, the world is at peace for that brief calm before the storm.  We need to embrace the quiet while we still have it.”

“Am I in danger?” she asked.

“You’ve been in danger since the day you were born,” Lauren said gently.  “For the past three months, you’ve been safer than you ever have been in your entire life.  There’s always been the possibility that someone would kill you before you had a chance to meet Eli.”

“How?  I thought only dragons knew about the prophecy.  If humans didn’t know, then that means-” She stopped, her expression stricken as she looked from one sullen face to another.  “There are dragons that wish me dead,” she said, a statement and not a question.

“There are, and there will always be.  So many can’t get past serving a human queen.  And then there are those that are against the big shift that is coming,” Lauren said.  “If it doesn’t serve them or it threatens to bring to light anything that they would want to keep secret, they will stop at nothing to keep their secrets.  You’re going to run into that more than anything else.”

“Can’t we stop those that are breaking laws and treaties before I run into them?”

“No,” Lauren said gently.  “Because if we knew who these traitors were, they wouldn’t be around to be a threat.”

Anna nodded, but she was quiet.  She didn’t know what else to say, and she wasn’t sure that she could handle anymore that day. 

“Eli was right; there is such a thing as too much information.”

Lauren and Silas nodded, leaving them alone in the cemetery without another word, somehow sensing that Anna needed time to process everything.

“Do you need some more time here?” Eli asked when they had disappeared into the castle to join the other guests in the formal dining hall.

“No,” she said, turning away from the headstone and taking a deep, cleansing breath.  “I’ve spent my life mourning my parents.  I’m so grateful to know that in his last hours, my father was taken care of and he was treated with the honor that his sacrifice deserved.  He died doing the right thing, and there’s always beauty in that, even if I’m sad.”

She smiled at him, arching her eyebrow at him playfully.

“I think it’s time that we took advantage of this moment of free time before we’re expected to be at the coronation tonight.”

“Are you sure?” he asked.

She didn’t say a word, taking his hand in hers and leading him out of the cemetery.