Dmitri was extremely worried about Adrianna. When she had fainted for the first time after fighting the battle with his pack, she had been abandoned by her family. He had gone to pick her up at that time because he couldn't bear to leave her. When he had found her up from the forest, her body was cold. His heart had ached and he couldn't understand the feelings he had at the time. He had placed her on the portico of Ed's cottage and left, but not before ensuring that Ed saw her. However, today, it was different. The pain he felt for her was despair.

The carriage entered the royal palace and was immediately flanked by numerous servants who lined up to service the queen. Dmitri got out of the carriage with Adrianna in his arms, and Liam followed them out afterwards. They walked in between the path created by the servants which lead to the palace's main hall. From the outside, the palace had gold-topped towers which looked stately and stunning as the bright daylight fell upon them. There were several sculptures made by masters of the craft that had been set atop pedestals located in the midst of water fountains and perfectly manicured hedges.

As soon as Dmitri entered, right in front of him, he saw a large life-size painting of a woman who bore a strong resemblance to Adrianna.

"That must be Shira…

" he thought.

A servant gestured Dmitri to follow him to the right wing of the palace while Liam was taken to the left wing. As Dmitri walked, he could see how magnificent the palace was. All the floors were made of marble. The rails and pillars were made from ornate mahogany which had been intricately carved. They were polished so well that they shined. There were numerous portraits of the past kings and queens hung in gold frames. All the furniture was handmade by master craftsmen. Every and each item that was present in the palace was so spotless that it looked as though dust didn't exist in the palace. The ceiling of the palace was high and displayed oil paintings that depicted various war stories and maidens.

The air was scented. Although Dmitri couldn't see the gardens surrounding the palace, the scent of fresh flowers floated through the air. It seemed as though everything was straight out of a fairytale.

The servant guided them to a chamber which seemed to be their bedroom. The room was three times bigger than Dmitri's room in his palace. The bed was right in the middle of the room and was covered by a flower canopy. There were white, blue, pink, and lavender flowers that emitted fresh scents. Dmitri carefully laid Adrianna down on the bed as the servants opened the door for the healer to enter. The healer was an old wizard who looked as though he was over a thousand years old. Dressed in a white robe, he had a long white beard. As soon as he neared Adrianna, he put his hand on her forehead. A red light emerged where his hand touched her forehead. Adrianna stirred a little and then fell back to unconsciousness.

"Don't worry, she will be fine,

" he said to Dmitri as he examined her feet Once again, he pressed his hands against her feet and the red light glowed again. When he finished, he looked up at Dmitri who was staring at him with questions.

"Even though we are wizards, there is no magic that we know of that heals bodies. Magic can treat small illness, but Adrianna is not ill. Her energy is just extremely depleted and I am assuming that this was the first time. So you have to be patient.

" The healer explained this to Dmitri in a very gentle tone and then left.

Dmitri felt reassured.

The servants surrounded their queen and started cleaning her. Dmitri left to clean up himself and, when he came back, he saw that Adrianna was immaculately clean and lying on the bed in a light blue muslin robe. He could see her fair body beneath that robe. As she lay there, flower petals from the canopy would fall here and there around her and the whole scene looked ethereal. Dmitri was spellbound and moved closer to lie next to his wife.

"Wake up darling…

" he said as he curled his hand around hers.

He deeply inhaled the perfumed air that had a heavy smell of flowers because of the canopy above them. He looked at those pearly flowers against the backdrop of the ceiling; it was simply beautiful. A flower fell on his face and he smiled. He picked it off of his face and caressed Adrianna's cheeks. He placed a light peck on her cheek and slowly drifted off into a deep slumber.

A white light enveloped the two of them and the flower canopy formed a wall around them. They were wrapped in a cocoon of warmth and love - just the kind of energy that they needed to heal both their bodies and their souls - and secluded from the world outside.