After my discussion with Lorik I returned to my room, I no longer felt very hungry and I thought it was best if I spent some time by myself. Though Numissa seemed to have other plans for me because when I returned to my room I found three women waiting inside, the one standing in the middle stepped forward and bowed before me."Mistress Emerald, Queen Numissa has sent us to ready you for this evenings events. Please relax, we will treat you with the utmost care and we'll make sure you look stunning." She assured me.

I wasn't feeling very reassured though, the three women shared looks with each other as they slowly crept towards me. I used to think wearing a fancy dress was the worst thing in the world but that thought quickly changed when these women threw me into beauty chaos, its hard to feel relaxed when your bare behind is sitting in a tub of water and three women are scrubbing you down.

Many hours passed as I suffered through their torture and finally it was all over, I stood up from my spot and walked over to the mirror in my room. I stared at the glittering reflection of myself, my hair piled on top of my head in dark curls and my plump lips stained with a rosy color, my grey colored dress swept across the floor and my sleeves drooped at my wrists.

Part of me enjoyed this fancy side of me but another part of me felt like it was all to much and far to fake, I figured this is how I would be living the rest of my life though. Wearing expensive clothes, having my hair done constantly and showcasing fine jewels, all in the life of being a royal.

My body wobbled slightly as I struggled to walk in my low heeled shoes and for the entire walk to the dining hall I kept my head lowered, I had myself so concentrated on my feet that I was completely oblivious to my surroundings and because of that I ended up bumping into someone. Two strong hands latched onto my elbows and carefully steadied me."Careful there, I wouldn't want my little witch to hurt herself." A low familiar voice purred.

Slowly lifting my head I looked into the playful gaze of Cassius, his lips curled into a smirk as he gently let go of me. I blinked in surprise and stared at him, I hated to admit but he looked handsome. His usually disheveled hair was now tame and instead of his regular bare chest he now wore a loose white shirt with a black coat.

Just as my gaze examined him, his amethyst eyes did the same and they quickly narrowed at the sight of my hair. He took a step closer to me before reaching into my stack of curls and pulling out the small hair pins that kept them afloat on top of my head, with each pin he removed my dark hair fell across the width of my shoulders and along my back. With a handful of pins he nodded in approval and grinned."Alright now lift up your dress." He commanded.

Widening my eyes in response I gaped at him."Excuse me!?, I am not lifting up my dress for you...you rude arrogant dragon!" I sputtered.

Cassius rose his eyebrows in question and continued to stare at me with a bored expression."Are you done now?, I hope you are because truly you are the worst at insulting someone." He muttered as he knelt down in front of me.

With out warning he ducked underneath the bottom of my dress and began pulling off my shoes, once he retrieved both pairs of the awful contraptions he stood up and simply placed them inside a nearby decorative vase, along with the hair pins.

I sighed in relief as my toes curled against the cold floor, I know it was silly that I couldn't even wear a pair of heels but they weren't in my nature. I was a little surprised with Cassius though, when I first met him he called me a slave girl and now he was insisting that I be myself.

He linked his arm with my own and smiled down at me before leading me into the dining hall, the once emptied room was now filled with candles and many people decorated the dining table. As we entered everyone eyes locked onto us and I felt uncomfortable being around all of these strangers.

Cassius led me to our seats and even pulled out my chair for me to sit down in, I smoothed down the back of my dress as I sat down in the chair and rested my hands on my lap. Lorik and Numissa sat at the head of the table while Cassius and I sat on their right, on their left sat another couple. A man in late twenties with a blank brown gaze and a woman who seemed to be a little younger, her narrowed eyes locked onto Cassius immediately.

Lorik stood from his chair with a beaming smile on his face, he cleared his throat before he began to speak."My dear family I am delighted to have you all in my home, I know its hard to believe my trouble maker son could actually settle down and get married but he is. He's met a wonderful girl named Emerald who keeps him on his toes and I am grateful to have her join my family, thank you all for being here to share this amazing time with me."

He lifted his crystal glass filled with red wine and raise it into the air."Now please enjoy the dinner and please have fun!"

The table erupted in cheers and mild talking, meanwhile servants walked around the table plating food for everyone. Instead of enjoying myself like everyone else I kept my eyes on the girl sitting across from me, the way she stared at Cassius with such hatred and how a cold smile stretched across her face.

I turned my attention to Cassius and I saw him lifting the wine glass to his lips, something bubbled within the red liquid and I quickly realized why the girl wore such a smile. I jumped up from my chair so fast that I sent it flying backwards, I slapped the glass out of Cassius's hand and watched as it shattered against the dining table. The red wine sizzled as it spread along the table and smoke began curling from the charred substance, some people screamed as they quickly got themselves away from the table while others stared in shock.

The girl responsible for this entire mess tried to flee from her chair but I wasn't letting her go that easy, dark veins flickered underneath my skin as the arms thick vines curled from her chair and strapped her in. They encircled around her waist, across her chest and finally around her throat.

Tears streamed down the woman's face as she tried wiggle herself free."Please!, I'm sorry!, I only wanted to teach Cassius a lesson for dumping me to the side and I didn't think the poison would fatally hurt him!" She sobbed.

Cassius stepped forward with anger and hurt etched onto his features,"Loriana, how could you do something like this?, You and I both agreed that what we had before would stay in the past, now you decided to kill me because I'm going to marry someone else?" He questioned.

She averted her shameful gaze to the ground and sniffled quietly."I felt alive when I was with you Cassius and I feel so depressed when I'm with my lousy husband, I knew we could never be together but I figured we could still keep it in the dark. Then you ended things and to make matters worse I found out you were engaged to another, so yes I wanted you to suffer." She whispered.

Turning my attention to Cassius I rose my eyebrows and gestured to Loriana."So you've been with her to?, Just like you've been with Katia and yet you keep telling me you care about me, but more of your little friends keep popping up." I said bitterly.

Cassius ran his hand along the back of his neck, his eyes held tiredness in them and his demeanor seemed deflated."What do you want me to say Emerald? You've never been with anyone in your life, you have no clue what its like or what feelings come with sharing a bed with someone. Your just a bitter girl who's mommy sold her off to the highest bidder and to be square with you, I think your just jealous that you've got no one." He said in a emotionless tone.

Tears stung my eyes and I clenched my jaw to keep myself from breaking down, his words stung deep because what he said was true. I swallowed my humiliation and lowered my head as I weaved my way through the crowd of gaping viewers, rather then return to my room to ball myself to sleep I ventured my way outside of the castle.

My feet dragged against the dirt ground as I slumped my way towards the edge of Scalefire, nothing but clouds surrounded the small floating island and it would be so easy to step off the edge. There was no invisible barrier to stop me from doing so but I knew the end results for that action, I shut my eyes as the soft wind caressed my skin. I hoped the peaceful feeling could wash away all of my hurt and sadness.

A tingling sensation swept across my back and I felt someones presence behind me, I figured it was Cassius behind me and that he was going to try to convince me to forgive him. Shaking my head I sighed."Go away Cassius, I don't want to speak with you." I mumbled.

Suddenly a dark clothe was thrown over my head and someone...or something grabbed me from behind, I let out a blood curdling scream as I tried to fight off my attacker but I was only rewarded with a harsh blow to the side of my face and darkness.