Elias didn’t move. He laid on the ground, the color of his face turned grey.

“Elias! Please.”

Sasha pumped her fists at his heart, but it didn’t seem to help. Panic settled in. The ghosts of the graveyard started to come up from their hiding, the smoke silently moving around her.

“I will give you an advice dear.”

“Aaliyah?” Sasha said. “What is happening?”

Aaliyah moved up to Elias's body, breathing out some smoke over his face. She shook her ghostly head.

“Go get the queen. Tell her Elias life is hanging on how fast she can get the king to the graveyard.”

Sasha felt ill to her stomach. She wanted to throw up, her body was stirring, as if she limps really wouldn’t be able to move. Then she started to run, and she couldn’t stop, she just had this one thought in her head. No room for anything else. The queen. She had to find the fucking queen. She didn’t even notice jumping the graveyard fence, her body majestic, as if she had suddenly gotten wings.

“Nils!” Sasha screamed at the familiar guard. “The queen. Now. Where is she?”

“The queen? I saw her and the king in the kitchen. You are up early, it is time for breakfast.”

Sasha picked up some more speed, not seeing the puzzled guard behind her back. Not caring for the number of guards that left their posture and ran after her.

“Mother!” Sasha yelled when she entered the canteen, getting the attention of a number of the servants.

“Your manner my dear?” The queens said, but although her dry sense of humor, Sasha did saw the worried lines in her face.

“Elias is about to die. The graveyard. The king. Now.” Sasha panted, she gulped in air, tears forcing their way in her face.

She quickly looked around, not seeing the king. Her mother was already rising from her chair.

“Show the way”, the queen said, lifting the dress and hurriedly walking towards Sasha.

“The King?”

“Let me worry about him. He will be there faster than we”, the queen said. Her eyes were shouting fire at her.

“Let's go”, Sasha said.

The queen blew some smoking magic out of her mouth. The smoke had his own life, swirling away faster than Sasha could run. The queen was calling her king, and he would obey. He always did.

The queen started to run when they reached the graveyard. As she had said, there was already a figure there, bending down over Elias. His frame was as a big grey stone, the coat covering both him and Elias. The queen rushed forward, gasping.

“Stay back!” The king ordered his hand on Elias's head.

“What happened?” The queen asked. She glanced in Sasha’s direction shortly but was soon back at worrying over Elias. At the moment she was a mere nuisance. Sasha kept her distance, afraid anything she would do would push Elias over the limit.

“What happened?” The king snapped. He looked up at her.

“He was about to teach me to control the magic I got”, Sasha said, wanting to step closer but still not daring.

“What magic?” The queen asked. She looked around at the scene, the hole in the ground, and the ashes of what was once a tree.

“The ground elemental”, Sasha whispered.

Elias was unnaturally still. His eyelids were not moving anymore, and the ground at his side tried to cover him up, dragging him down in the earth.

“I see.”

The queen sighed and rubbed her hands together. She started to slowly walk in a circle around Elias, whispering in a foreign language. The ghosts were circling together with the queen as if all of the inhabitants of the graveyard suddenly had decided to start an odd dance.

“Will you be able to help him?” Sasha asked.

The king looked up briefly from what he was doing.

“I have not yet failed where there still was a slit of light.”

Sasha sat down at the other side of Elias, still keeping her distance, but now much more comforted.

“He is getting greyer”, the queen said. She moved faster now, almost running. There was a circle in the grass after the queens feet’s and the clouds seemed to have come down to earth, covering them in a fog.

The king slapped Elias on the cheek.

“It always goes worse before it gets better”, he said.

Elias started to coughing, the sound making Sasha smile. In the distance she saw Aaliyah and her companions slowly fade away, returning to their gravestones. She mounted a silent thank you.

“I see”, the king said. “Now son. Which dumb ass is responsible for this shit?”

The king raised from the ground, going over to the queen and embracing her in a tight hug.

“I might not have thought through the outcomes of Sasha training earth elemental”, Elias whispered, his head bouncing back at the ground as he closed his eyes.

“You let her practice the four elements in a graveyard?” The king snarled. “How dumb could you be?”

“I temporarily forgot that she is some sort of assassin”, Elias answered weekly. He looked up at Sasha, hold her gaze, and smiled. “You rebel is far too strong.”

“Well. Who told you?” Sasha said. She swept away the tears, trying to smile towards Elias.

He made a small wave with his hand.

“Come closer and I will tell.”

Sasha looked confused at him. He was still looking so weak. She wanted to ask the king to continue to heal him, but she knew he would do nothing if the question didn’t come from the queen. She missed Ivy.

“I must say you are pretty dumb”, Sasha said and moved closer to Elias's side.

He took a grip around her neck and drew her closer. Before she had the time to think he kissed her. She tried not to crush him with her body, but he wouldn’t have it and drew her even closer. Sasha sighed. She lost track of where she was, time slowed down. All she could feel was the soft lips underneath hers. Lips that just a moment ago had looked as grey as the ashes. Elias carefully kissed her, reacting to her response and slowly, so slowly intensifying the kiss.

“What was that good for?” Sasha said. “You just come back from death.”

“Yeah, and I don’t want to lose you to it”, Elias said and pointed towards his parents. “Want to explain what happened to have them want to kill you?”

Sasha looked at the hatred in the queen's eyes. She preferred not.