The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon

LARA

“You can’t be serious”, I gasped when she told me it was her plan all along to not go with me. Primrose Darmerion Derwood stood with her head held high in front of me, perfect as ever with her long fiery locks and beautiful face. And even the golden chain that was on her wrist again, meaning that Xander was probably visiting, didn’t ruin her royal bearing. She was stunning even when she was defeated. And she was probably the only person in the world who was able to look dignified under such circumstances.

“But I am,” she said calmly, playing with her manacle, “Sean only agreed to take you to Demir. If I go, we will arouse suspicion. And we don’t need that. In the long run, if you two escape together it’s going to be good enough.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, we will never leave without you!” I insisted, feeling slightly frustrated with her sudden attitude.

“Oh, I am going with you if I can,” she snorted, “But I will wait for you in the garden and we’ll escape from there. There’s a secret passage.”

“Prim, do you even realize how many things could go wrong for us?” I run my hand over my face.

“And this is a risk I am willing to take, Lara,” she said with a bit of annoyance in her voice, “Saving Demir is our first priority. He has less than a day before they execute him. If for some reason I stay behind, Xander is not going to do anything to me. He needs me.”

I knew that she was right but I still did not like it. How would I look into Demir’s eyes if she can’t get out?

“Look,” she sighed and came closer, taking my hand, “If Demir is out then he can give a signal to our other siblings and they’ll get me out sooner or later. We need to king our Empire back and this is the main goal. Just trust me on this, all right?”

“Fine,” I g*****d, “But you promise that you’ll do anything to get to us.”

“I will,” she let out a little laugh, “I have no desire to spend even a day in Xander’s presence. However, there is something I want to ask you to do for me… When you are there and if there is a possibility like that…”

She looked down and I could swear there were tears glistening in her eyes.

“If you see Ryker there,” she continued, “Try to rescue him as well. He will probably be in better shape than my brother. He may even help you along the way.”

“Of course, Prim,” I gave her a reassuring smile, “I’ll do what I can.”

“Great,” she chuckled, wiping her face quickly, “And now will you do me the honours?”

She stretched her wrists, and I unlocked her magic-blocking bracelets. They fell to the floor, and I noticed the princess’ eyes sparkle with her golden magic. Funny, but I never really saw her using magic. Except for that first time she tried to kill me.

But the next moment the chain on her wrist melted as if it was made out of thick paint and not solid metal. A million questions popped into my mind, but that was not the place and not the time for them.

“Go,” Prim smiled, “I’ll see you in the garden right next to the place where you found Sideria.”

I rushed for the door but then turned to look at her one last time, “Be there, Prim. If we can’t escape, run alone. It’s better than none of us.”

“All right,” she beamed at me way too eagerly and a bad feeling aroused in my chest. But Sean was supposed to come soon and I couldn’t miss him. So I just waved my hand and left abruptly, leaving the gerdian princess alone and hoping that she didn’t have anything stupid in her mind.

He came right on time and I probably opened the door to my chambers way too eagerly. Sean looked me up and down with an appreciating gaze and then his eyes slid behind me to check the room. Luckily, I transferred Gideon’s sleeping body to the wardrobe room and my place seemed to be clean.

I had a pale blue dress on with sapphire butterflies in my hair, all to give me that innocent look I was going for. I probably even looked like a child because no adult woman in her right mind would style her hair like that. But I was desperate and, thanks to the Goddess of Light, Sean’s features softened when he looked at me again.

“Ready?” he asked and offered me his hand that I accepted hesitantly. There were long angel sleeves on my dress that were covering my wrists not to let anyone know what I’ve been missing. And I put on a few simple golden bracelets to throw possible suspicions off.

We walked in silence for a while, going lower and lower in the palace when his aid appeared and handed him a dark cloak.

“Put it on,” Sean handed it to me, “While we are down there, no one should recognize you. Make sure your hair is all tucked in.”

I followed his instructions obediently and he took my hand again, leading me firmly to the dungeons. The gleam and lavishness of the palace disappeared and shifted to simple dark stone walls and questionable smells. But we kept walking.

And soon we reached the cells. I had no idea how many of them they had here! And the worst thing was that those cells were not empty. Soldiers, warriors, nobles… Some I recognized even though Sean told me not to look.

Yet how could I not? I was looking for that one face that was so dear to my heart. But no matter how much I peeked, I couldn’t see Demir anywhere. Soon the cells were over and I started to worry that Sean tricked me once again.

But it was then when he created a fireball on his palm and one of the guards opened a door before us leading to a dark passage. There was a long staircase leading downstairs and if There was no fire, I would hardly be able to see a thing. Finally, we reached another door and when Sean got the keys and open it before me, I gasped with shock.

It was some kind of a pit. Not even a room, even though it was huge in size. The walls were made of rocks and there were no windows at all. A yellowish stone bridge led to the other side and there I saw what I was afraid of the most. Just a few torches in the walls nearby were illuminating him, but I recognized Demir, who was shackled to the wall, at once and ran to him, ignoring Sean, who was telling me something.

He felt me even before the hood of my cape fell off.

“Lara,” he called my name in a croaked voice and my heart clenched, “Silly girl, what are you doing here?!”

“I needed to see you,” I smiled through tears, looking at him. And he was a mess. Traces of b***d were everywhere on him, his clothes were torn and tarnished as if he was a beggar… but I recognized the expensive gerdian silk he always wore. What were they doing to him? I stretched my hands to caress his cheeks and he leaned into my palms as if it was life-saving water in the drought. That was when I noticed that he was still bleeding and there was actually a small blade in his chest on the right side.

“They left it so that I don’t heal too quickly,” he said as I gasped from shock and turned to look at Sarn disapprovingly.

“New emperor’s orders,” he said and turned away, “We are not allowed to get it out.”

“How good it is that I am not one of you!” I snorted and got it out carefully. B***d started gushing out but I knew that it was probably for the best and soon he’ll heal.

“Looks like we are back to square one,” my dark dragon chuckled through pain, “I am betrayed and hurt again and you try to save me…”

I put my hand in place to stop the bleeding, knowing that it would help better than any medicine. Demir looked at me in shock, realizing that my magic was still in place. But I pressed my index finger against my lips and winked at him.

“I love you so much,” I said through tears and stood on my tiptoes to k**s him. He accepted it greedily and for a moment I almost forgot what was important.

Sean cleared his throat behind my back, “I am sorry, Lara. But we need to go. The time is up.”

“Just one moment!” I probably sounded desperate and started kissing him again, reaching for his palm and intertwining our fingers. “I am sorry, my love, this is all I can give you now,” I said as I put the crystal that opened my and Primrose’s magic blockers into Demir’s hand. He didn’t even flinch but hid the artifact in his large fists.

“Let’s go,” Sean said darkly and started walking. I followed him slowly this time, hoping that Demir will get rid of his shackles fast. But we were already in the middle of the bridge, and nothing was happening. Did he drop it? I turned to look at him and froze when he shook his head.

This was what I was afraid of the most. That the crystal didn’t fit all the magic blockers. After all, what Prim and I had were slightly bulky golden bracelets. And what he had was enormous steel manacles.

That left me with my last option. I had to deal with Sean myself and try and take those off with my own magic. But then the whole castle would be alerted. It was definitely the worst-case scenario.

Sarn stopped and I could feel his back tensed as I got ready to summon my Light. I knew I could take him down, I already did it before…

“What are you waiting for?” he asked me, “Just do it already, Lara! Wasn’t it what you planned this little game of yours for?”