The Dragon Kings' Forbidden Witch

Hours passed.

Thorne had finally allowed himself to slip into sleep, his arms still wrapped around Morgana.

But something stirred him from his rest...not a sound, not a physical sensation, but rather a shift in the air itself, a change in the quality of the space around them.

His eyes opened.

For a moment, confusion clouded his dark gaze. Then understanding crashed down on him like a tidal wave.

His entire room was floating.

Books that had been resting on shelves were now suspended in mid-air, their pages fluttering slightly as if caught in a gentle breeze that existed only within these walls. Clothing that had been draped over a chair was hovering in the corner, individual items rotating slowly in some invisible current. His shoes, his goblets, his furniture...everything that could be moved by the sheer force of will was moving, suspended in a space that had somehow become something other than the normal world.

It was like his chambers had transformed into a floating island, hovering in the sky, completely disconnected from the laws of physics that governed the rest of the palace.

Thorne pushed himself up on the bed, careful not to disturb Morgana, his dark eyes taking in the impossible scene.

He looked down at Morgana.

She was covered in sweat....absolutely drenched in it, her skin glistening in the low light that was filtering through the windows and being reflected off the floating objects. Her breathing was labored, her entire body shaking slightly, and even in sleep, her face showed signs of the internal struggle happening within her.

This wasn’t just a fever anymore.

This was her magic responding to the fever, manifesting her internal state in external ways.

Thorne cursed....a low, vicious word that carried all his concern and all his understanding of what this meant.

He reached out and touched her forehead.

The heat was shocking.

It was almost unbearable to touch, the fever having intensified dramatically in the hours since he’d arrived. Her skin burned beneath his fingers, and Thorne could feel the reality of the danger settling into his bones.

This was serious. This was dangerous. This was a crisis that required action.

He cursed again, his entire body going rigid as the full weight of the situation crashed down on him.

***

Thorne moved quickly, He got out of bed, careful still not to disturb Morgana’s fevered rest, and walked to the door of his chambers. The floating objects continued their slow rotation around him as he moved, indifferent to his passage.

He opened the door and called out into the corridor.

”Silas!”

The response was almost instantaneous.

His servant appeared from seemingly nowhere, his dark eyes alert, ready to respond to whatever command his king was about to issue.

”My king,” Silas said, bowing immediately, understanding from Thorne’s tone and expression that this was urgent.

”Get the Royal Physician here immediately,” Thorne commanded. ”Tell him Lady Morgana is burning with fever. I don’t care if you have to drag him from his bed. Bring him now.”

Silas didn’t hesitate. He didn’t ask questions. He simply bowed and raced down the corridor, his footsteps echoing against the stone walls, carrying the urgency of his king’s command through the palace.

Thorne watched him go for only a moment, then turned back into his chambers.

The moment he did, something changed.

The floating objects, as if responding to some change in Morgana’s fever state or the intensity of her magic, began to fall. Not violently, but gently, descending slowly back to their original positions, creating a mess of scattered items across the floor. Books landed with soft thuds. Clothing settled onto furniture. His goblets came to rest on tables and shelves.

But Thorne paid them no attention.

He moved directly back to the bed, ignoring the chaos around him.

He climbed back into bed and pulled Morgana into his arms, his entire body coiled protectively around her.

”Morgana,” he called out, his voice urgent and desperate. ”Morgana, can you hear me?”

She didn’t respond.

She was somewhere deep in her fever dreams, caught in a place between waking and sleeping, between consciousness and the darkness that the fever was pulling her toward. Her body was tense against his, her skin burning, her breathing rapid and shallow.

Thorne held her in that position, his arms firm but gentle. He held her and waited, his dark eyes fixed on her face, watching for any sign of change, any indication that she was slipping further from him.

***

When Silas finally returned, he wasn’t alone.

The Royal Physician followed him into the chambers with the unhurried grace of someone who had attended to the medical crises of kings for decades. He was short....barely clearing five feet in height, with silver hair that fell past his shoulders and eyes that burned with ancient knowledge and power.

His face was weathered, lined with the marks of a long life spent studying magic and medicine in equal measure. His clothing was simple but elegant, and he carried a leather bag that looked as though it contained mysteries and knowledge that predated modern civilization.

He took in the scene in a single glance, the scattered objects on the floor, the girl burning with fever in the king’s bed, the king’s fierce protective posture, the floating sensation that still seemed to hang in the air.

He moved to the bed without wasting time on unnecessary courtesy, though he did bow.

”My King,” he said. ”I am here to assess Lady Morgana.”

He placed his weathered hand on Morgana’s forehead, feeling the fever. Then he moved his hand to her wrist, feeling her pulse.

Finally, he removed his hand from her wrist and placed it back on her forehead.

A bright light flashed from his hand....magical energy, ancient and powerful, creating a glow that filled the entire chamber for just a moment. It was as if he was using his own magical power to examine her internally, to understand the nature of the fever.

The light faded after just a moment, and the Physician stepped back, his ancient eyes carrying the weight of what he’d discovered.