Chapter 67 - SIXTY SEVEN: Give It To Me

Haa.. Haa.. Haa

Fog from Kel's gasping came out in short bursts as she stood clutching her chest.

Where am I? she wondered, fighting to catch her breath as her gaze flicked back and forth at the snow-capped trees surrounding her.

Squinting at the lines of dark trunks protruding from the frozen web of branches, she could make out three acutely angled corners. 

She was back in the strange triangle-shaped clearing the Dragon Emperor had once brought her to.

Judging by the snow everywhere, she should have been shivering in the cold, but Kel felt more like she was burning alive.

Still panting, she stumbled to the nearest snow drift, desperately thrusting her hands inside. The glistening snow turned into white hot ashes under her fingers, causing them to burn even more.

"No!" She shouted, scooping up handfuls of the white dust and rubbing it all over herself.

Soon, her arms and face were red, covered in burns from the scorching embers.

Driven completely mad with the desire for something to cool the suffocating heat, she limped toward another pile of snow.

"This time…" she whispered, reaching out her shaking, blistered hands.

"Stop that." A voice echoed through the air. The tops of her ears tingled as if a cool wind had blown past.

Heaving her body around, she saw the Dragon Emperor, standing on the opposite side of the clearing.

Her legs started moving on their own toward the man as soon as her eyes landed on him. 

It was too hot to think straight. The bitterness Kel had felt toward the emperor seemingly only moments ago was forced completely out of her mind by the anguish of the flames trapped under her skin.

She didn't care who he was or what he'd done; she wanted help.

"Your Majesty!" Kel croaked, hobbling toward the man's outstretched hand. "S-save me!"

"Shhh, I'm here," he soothed, pulling her into his arms. 

As he did so, the burning intensified to the point of being unbearable.

"No.. wait," Kel wheezed, trying to push him away. "It's t-too hot."

"It's because of the fire," the emperor replied, releasing one of his arms to gently lay a palm against her chest. "In here."

"What do I do?" Kel begged, feeling momentary relief now that she was freed from the man's torrid embrace.

The emperor studied her teary eyes carefully for a moment before pulling her back against his body.

"Give it to me," he whispered, his arms too strong for Kel to break away from.

"I can't!" Kel screeched.

Though she said that, she still urgently struggled to push the burning out of her fingertips and into the emperor's chest. She treated the pain like her regular abilities and willed it to flow to her hands, but she was unsuccessful.

The burning sensation that saturated every part of her being refused to obey her, no matter how hard she tried to direct it.

"I can't do it!" she cried again as scalding tears stung the raw skin on her cheeks.

Tightening his grip, the emperor slid one of his hands around the back of her head. Without any warning, he pressed his lips against hers.

"Mmmph!" Kel squirmed underneath the emperor's surprisingly soft lips as they opened and closed on top of her own.

Her struggles soon stopped, however, as she realized all of the searing pain inside her body was disappearing through her mouth—as if the emperor's kiss was drawing the fire out of her. 

As relief flooded through her, she enthusiastically returned the man's dance, parting and squeezing her mouth in time with his. For countless minutes, the air was filled with nothing but their gasps and groans as their lips melded together over and over again.

When they finally pulled away, Kel's skin had returned to normal and her boiling blood had cooled. The searing pain was gone, dispelled by the emperor's cooling touch.

As they stood breathing heavily, their noses only inches from touching, Kel threw her arms around the man's neck and pressed her lips to his once again. She was ravenous, filled with greedy desire for the relief of the Dragon Emperor's kiss.

This time however, his lips felt as if they were on fire. The skin on his neck burned beneath Kel's fingers.

Recoiling as if she'd touched an iron freshly drawn from the fire, she sprung back. Instead of landing lightly on the ground, her feet plummeted into nothingness.

The emperor and frozen forest quickly flew out of sight as she fell deeper and deeper into darkness. 

Kel gasped, her eyes flying open to reveal an unfamiliar ceiling. She was lying on her back on top of a soft mattress, her head cushioned by a lush pillow.

"Princess!!" Lucy's voice rang out from somewhere to her side. "Does it hurt anywhere? How do you feel?"

The maid's hand softly grasped her own clammy palm.

Kel tried to speak, but her throat was too dry for any noise to pass through. Swallowing, she worked to sit up, but her body felt heavy and numb.

"You poor dear," Lucy went on, her eyes filled with concern. 

That's right. Lucy had always been genuine with her emotions. It was obvious she cared greatly for Kel.

How had her mind gotten so cluttered that she even thought of the sweet, gentle maid as a foe?

Come to think of it, though her physical condition seemed to be in shambles, her mind felt much clearer than it had in weeks. 

"W-what happened?" she finally managed to croak out.

Lucy shook her head. "I don't know either, Princess."

Kel's last memory was of arguing with the emperor in his study. She didn't know how the argument ended or how she came to be in this bed under this ceiling. 

"Where.." she wheezed, scanning as much of her surroundings as she could from her current position.

"Oh, this is the room right next to the study you were in earlier," Lucy explained. "The emperor carried you here himself after you collapsed."

The emperor carried her? Perhaps the feeling of his arms supporting her unconscious frame is what spurred her strange dream.

"You looked like you had an awful fever!" the maid continued before Kel's embarrassment at her lustful dream could fully sink in. "You were all red and sweating! I wanted to come treat you immediately, but the emperor.."

Lucy suddenly stopped, glancing nervously toward her lap. She looked like she'd said something she hadn't meant to.

"But the emperor…?" Kel urged raspily.

"The emperor," Lucy looked toward the door and lowered her voice to a whisper. "He brought you here and then locked himself in with you. Nobody came in or out for almost two days."