A loud roar caused the walls to shake and made me stir awake, I rubbed my eyes gently as I sat up from the soft mattress. I couldn't believe how comfortable it was, it was like sleeping on a puffy cloud.

Leaning down I pulled off my make shift slippers and grimaced at the sight of my dirty feet, my pale skin held flecks of dirt from running through the wood around my home. I placed both of my feet onto the cold tile floor and stood up, I walked over to my already open door and walked out.

"Mistress!, Good to see you are awake, please follow me for breakfast." A high pitched voice chirped.

Glancing to the side I found a stubby girl dressed in an old grey dress and wearing a tan apron, she flashed me a small smile before walking off at a quickened pace. I quickly rushed to follow, she led me down the hallway and through two large wooden doors and I found myself standing in the entrance of the dining room...slash war zone.

"Please Queen Numissa!, I am not here to show any disrespect towards you, I love your son Cassius and I think I would make a better bride then who you've chosen." A half clothed, messy haired girl stated.

Tilting my head to the side I walked into the dining room and looked between the two couples, Cassius stood there with only a sheet wrapped around his waist and his angry gaze quickly caught sight of me. Every muscle in his body tensed, his fingers slowly curled into a fist and he slowly began making his way towards me."You!, Because of you I have to get married, I have to be some kind of husband and I have to end my fun life to have you as some useless bride!" He spat

He stopped in front of me and let his eyes trail up every inch of my body."There's nothing about you I like nor would I ever come to love, I mean look at you. You could skip a few meals, your dark hair is messy and those eyes are naturally green. We wouldn't look good together." He sighed

I slowly glanced at Lorik before resting my gaze on Cassius's."You do realize were just getting married right?, There doesn't have to be love between us and you can continue being with whom you like, I'm only here to make sure you stay out of harm. That's my main purpose." I said with a smile

Cassius rose one of his dark eyebrows as he tried to fight his laughter."I'm sorry did you just say your here to keep me from harm? Do you not realize that I'm big, strong and your well...weak." He snorted

Walking over to the dining table I scanned over the goodies on the table before reach for a fresh roll, I brought it close to my face and inhaled the delicious smell before taking a bite."True, but you get clouded judgement when your around certain women and that's not good. Despite what you might think there are women assassins, once one of these girls gets into your bed its not that hard to poison you." I said with my mouth full

The young woman clung to the side of Cassius and frowned."You said we could talk to your parents and that I could be your new bride!" She ran her finger along his chest and kiss his chin."You know I can please you the right way." She purred.

For some reason a small bubble of anger formed within me, I hated how the purring woman curled herself all over Cassius and it wasn't even because she liked him. She used her beauty as a mask and behind that mask held a very ugly person, a greedy and power hungry woman. Her eyes weren't filled with love, instead they were filled with man ideas of how to get rid of Cassius and take everything he's worth.

An orange flame flickered in my hand and the piece of bread I was holding quickly blackened as it began to burn, I gasped in surprise and squeezed my hand into a fist in hopes of banishing the flame. My hand shook slightly from the shock of my little power outburst and my poor bread had turned to itsy pieces of ash.

A small hand gently touched my arm and I looked into a bright blue gaze, the woman standing before me had light blonde hair along with some features from Cassius. She smiled down at me warmly."Please excuse my sons horrible behavior and thank you for being so kind to him even though he has not returned the favor, my name is Numissa and I'm Cassius's mother. It's so nice to have another woman in the house! Sit, enjoy breakfast and I'll have one of the servants get the tailor so we can begin measuring for the wedding dress!" She squealed.

She faced Cassius and pointed to the large dining table."Sit here and wait as well, while the tailor is here I want you to be fitted for a nice outfit. Your little friend can stay if she respects our soon to be princess, she will be apart of this family and deserves the same respect." She said firmly before leaving the dining room.

Cassius shuffled over to the table and flopped himself in one of the chairs, he leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest like a pouting child. His little girlfriend sat herself on his lap and rested her body against his chest. Her narrowed gaze landed on me and she let out a relaxed sigh."You mentioned earlier that your here to protect Cassius's, How can you possibly do that?"

I lowered my head and let out a sigh of relief as my hair covered my face like a curtain, I picked at my already short nails and quietly mumbled."I know how to do certain things, mostly things witches do.."

As soon as I mentioned witches the girl jumped off Cassius's lap and instead stood behind him, her eyes widened and her lips curled into a sneer."A witch! Your dangerous, all of you are! Spreading your sick curses and speaking in tongues, I say you all should be burned. Your Evil." She hissed.

I stood abruptly and caused the chair to fall backwards, my fingers twitched with power and I shot her an icy glare."You no nothing of us, don't speak about what you don't understand. That's your answer to everything! Burn the witch! Kill the witch! Why do their lives matter, their hollow beings with no hearts! They can't love or bare children!" I yelled bitterly.

Gently grasping the girl's wrist, Cassius's looked up at her and slowly shook his head."Katina, watch your words. My mother requested you share respect, if you know what's best for you...you'll do exactly that."

"Watch my words you say? How can you, the prince of Scalefire sit here so calmly when this dirty creature stands in your home! Your loving mother and ruling father have done so much for this kingdom, you cannot let this filthy blooded witch spit her spell ridden words. You need to either lock her away or send her back to whatever filthy hole she crawled out from!" Katina declared.

A single hot tear etched it's way down my cheek as each of her spiteful words slapped me across my face, these words, this attitude. It all shocked me, I couldn't comprehend how she could say such nasty things about me when she didn't know me at all.

Was I seeing into the deep dark depths of how these people actually thought?

If I was truly a filthy blooded witch then there was no reason for me to be fitted for a wedding gown, there was no need for me to marry their son. Surely my presence would taint their precious lives.

I looked Cassius's dead in the eye and spoke with trembling lips."Inform your mother that I'll be in my provided room, I'll make sure to keep my filthy hands to myself."