The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon

XANDER

I knew it was too soon, but it was getting ridiculous. How long did she think she could keep this going? I knew I was right about that piece of sh*t from the beginning. No matter how much they denied it, it was clear that Ryker was Primrose’s soulmate. The way she looked at him once she thought that no one was watching always bothered me. She tried to stay away, of course, taught by her previous experiences. Yet she couldn’t fight her feelings either. And that signed Ryker’s destiny at my hands. Because Primrose Darmerion Derwood was mine to begin with. Mine to love, mine to possess, mine to care for, and mine to torture.

I saw her for the first time when she was very young. For a dragon that is. I only saw the princess on the officially released portraits of the royal family before that and those really did not give her justice. Although everybody spoke highly of her beauty, most of them had no idea what they were even talking about. On this portraits the artists always painted her cold and distant. Regal… covered in jewels and expensive dresses, with her hair up. I never cared about women like that and had no real interest in the princess, except for the political one.

Back then her father was still the emperor and I tried to secure the biggest duchy behind the red dragons. I did not really want to marry but was willing to consider it if it was going to help me along the way. One of the princesses was already taken. But two were still available. And I didn’t care about which one I would be getting until one day, after a long and heated discussion at the Council meeting, I went to the royal garden for some air. To be honest, I needed to kill someone more than I needed air. That was why I went as deep inside the gardens as I only could. My legs were bringing me there without me even realizing it. And that was when I saw her… it was actually her laugh that I heard first before even seeing her. So golden and bright… iridescent. Mesmerizing. She was full of life, and I could feel it only from the sound of her voice. I wanted to turn back as I wasn’t in the mood to meet any nobles but that was when she surprised me again. Prim ran out in a quite simple white dress, holding her skirts up all the way to her knees. Her hair was an unruly mess, fiery golden, almost red… each lock as shiny as the other one, and all of them blown by the wind. Her hands, her dress, and even her face had traces of paint on them as she probably was painting that day. And she stopped giggling the minute she saw me, dropping the edges of her dress to cover herself from my hungry gaze. I recognized her at once, yet she was so different. She was vibrant, a splash of colour in this dark and gloomy world.

She smiled at me and was going to say something but then one of her ladies in waiting arrived and took her away blabbering something about being inappropriate. But all I wanted since that day was for her to be inappropriate in my company. I craved her and stupidly asked her father for her hand in marriage. He refused me at once, saying that his youngest daughter wasn’t of age to consider marriage yet. The former emperor never liked me. I think he knew from the very beginning that I will always be his biggest threat. My aim always was to take his place, to conquer the Empire. Since the day emperor Derrien let us out of Agnegard. I was there when he won the War of The Three Kings. It was so easy for him like taking candy from a child. People couldn’t compare with dragons, not even the gerdians. Although the dragons born from them were among the strongest ones. Who knew the dark magic would combine so perfectly with dragons’ fire? I knew I would have to wait for my time, Derrien Darmerion Derwood had too much support in the world. Both Dragons and gerdians were worshipping him like a god and the same could be said about his children. That was why Primrose became even more perfect for me. She was crucial to my plan. The woman that I wanted more than anything was also a royal Princess who could clear my path to the throne. With her by my side, the people of the Gerdian Empire would accept me anytime. All children of the previous emperor and his Empress were considered exceptional in their own ways. But Primrose still was everybody’s favourite. Maybe it was because she was the youngest… but my obsession with her grew stronger every day.

At one of the palace events, I waited for her to get tired and then paid a servant to spill a drink on her. Her father was causing me obstructions and it was next to impossible to see her anywhere else, so I was not going to waste this chance.

She left the ballroom early thanks to my little scheme and I followed her discreetly. I caught up with her soon I started a little conversation. I don’t even remember what we were talking about. Something silly for sure. Something that women liked. But to my surprise, when enough time passed and I pulled her into my arms to k**s her, she tried to distance herself. My dragon went wild, the desire overwhelming him. She tasted so sweet and both of us wanted more. Back then I was sure that she was just playing this game that girls liked to play, where they pretend to be modest while secretly wishing for me to do more to them. However, Prim wasn’t like that. I rushed and I ruined my one and only chance with her. When she pushed me away, she slapped my face with tears in her eyes. And this was the moment I knew that I was going to marry that woman no matter what it cost me. She was both, a jewel and a firestorm. The perfect queen that every king needed, and I was going to be the emperor of the biggest empire in the world. She was what I had been missing all that time.

I kept courting her and she kept avoiding me. This cat and mouse game was so thrilling, so enticing I was thinking of the fiery Princess with every woman that lay in my bed, imagining that it was her moaning under me. I could forget neither her nor how she tasted. And I was constantly craving more. More of her, more of my Primrose…

I kept asking her father for her hand in marriage and he kept making ridiculous excuses. Year after year I waited for her, losing bits of my patience every time.

Then one day I saw her kissing someone else in the garden, right in the place where I met her. Some boy who was not even worth a single strand of hair from her head. Luckily, a war had started and since the red dragons back then used to take part in every campaign, I requested the boy to join us as my squire. His death, although not painless, was at least fast and the road to the Princess’ heart was clear once again.

But then when I returned from the war a few years later, they held a ball in my honour. I was sure the emperor would finally let me marry the Princess then and there, but her father just gave me some stupid award instead. Not even lands.

I was furious and the only thing that could calm me down was her. I wanted to at least dance with her to see her smiling at me for those few minutes that the melody lasted but that also did not work out the way I wanted that day. I saw her dancing with one of her brother’s friends. A dragon and not even a dark one! She always danced with many men, after all, it was her duty. She danced with me when I invited her too. But she had never looked at me the way she looked at him. It was something new and I wanted to kill him immediately… That Ryker. If I had done it back then, I wouldn’t be here now.

She caught my gaze that time and I saw her shudder at the sudden eye contact. Yes, she was not looking at me the way she looked at him at all. And I remember how I clenched the glass in my hand so tight that it shattered to many pieces, making me bleed. I healed quickly of course and even managed to invite her for the next dance. She was smiling more than usual and asking me questions about the campaign and the things at the Duchy. And she didn’t look at that damn dragon even once. He also acted like he didn’t give a care in the world. I almost bought it. Almost…

From that day I kept my eye on both of them at all times. I never was the most honourable man, I wasn’t the most clever one in the room, I wasn’t even the strongest… But one thing that I always had developed better than other men around me were my instincts. They didn’t interact anywhere unless it was required or they were together with Demir. But I could sense that there was more there…

However, to my surprise, nothing was happening for years. Other than one dance at a ball that was always driving me crazy, they shared nothing. She even interacted more with Sean Sarn, but that never bothered me. Those two never had a spark of any kind.

The emperor kept me busy with all his useless tasks, which I knew were there only to stall me. He knew that my red dragons wanted more than what we were given, it was in our nature. We wanted power and in the Gerdian Empire all power belonged to the dark dragons.

I waited for Derrien to realize that giving me his daughter and the title that came with her would be the best option for all of us. But he only sent me to settle things at the border.

And when I came back, it was announced that princess Primrose was getting married! To someone, I didn’t even know of before. A son of some noble or something… And the worst thing was that everyone was so happy about it, her included.

That was when I had enough! Luckily, I wasn’t the only one. I waited for Sean to join me for years. He was the one I needed to pull this off successfully. After all, he was a gerdian dog for years! He grew up in the palace and knew all the exits. At the same time, the royal family was almost like his own. I was afraid that this would be a problem, but the odds were in my favour and his red dragon nature overwhelmed his sense of loyalty to them. I convinced him that he would be helping his own people and it was all the motivation he needed because jealousy was already growing inside him for many years. He also believed that he was not getting what he deserved. It was a shame that I couldn’t convince him to s*******r the royal family in their sleep. That would be a much better option than what we ended up doing instead. But he was reluctant to help us with fewer deaths on his hands. He had a few squadrons of warriors loyal to him only and I had to agree with a lot of what he was saying. Nevertheless, when we rebelled and hit the empire where it hurt the most, he was by my side. That night I wanted to take Primrose with me and make her mine once and for all, but her pathetic fiance stood on my way. I killed him with such pleasure that it was indescribable. Yet the princess turned out to be not an easy target I thought she would be. No, my Prim was a fighter and she made me sweat. I still don’t know how it would have ended if her brothers didn’t arrive on time to ruin all my plants. I had to run and was separated from her for many years after. Long, painful years…

But I did not give up. I spent all this time preparing for what was about to come. I learned from my mistakes and now here I was.

However, when the fight began and I came for what was mine, Ryker stood right there in front of me. De-ja-vous… It was his duty to protect the emperor, yet there he was, trying to defend the princess with his life and for that, I hated him even more. He didn’t say it out loud, but I knew that a man would only fight like this for his soulmate. They were outnumbered and had no chance, yet he struggled even when my men pinned him to the floor. And she screamed for him, she cried for him when I stabbed him for the first time in front of her… She didn’t cry like this for her last fiance…

And when I placed the magic blocking bracelets onto her wrists, she looked at me with such hatred that only made me want her more. That woman was not even realising in what ways she influenced me. And it was amusing…

I tested my theory later and confirmed that he was her mate, the one and only soulmate. When my people were hurting him, Primrose was hurting as well.

And that placed me in front of an impossible choice! Everything inside of me wanted to kill that bastard, but causing pain to Prim was not something I desired. Yet knowing that she had a bond with someone else other than me was not something that I could tolerate. The red Dragons had too much fire in them, Fire was burning us from the inside if something was not the way we wanted it to be. This was why we were so fearless, strong, persistent, and even cruel. It was always a choice between our happiness and someone else’s.

There was that other issue that if I killed that scum, she wouldn’t be able to bear it and would die. A lot of dragons passed this way. On the other hand, she was one of the strongest and her family was known for surviving their dead mates. Yet every time I was near his cell, ready to end all this, something was stopping me. And I just went back to my chambers, past Prim’s doors, knowing that she was sulking and still not ready for me. Luckily, there were plenty of other women ready to satisfy my every need now that I was the new emperor. It didn’t even matter to them that I wasn’t crowned yet. They all were like leeches, ready to do everything to be getting a piece of me. And I took as many as I could every night, knowing far too well that it was still not going to satisfy my need for… her.

The meeting was so long that day, Shawn escaped early and left me alone to deal with all those whining nobles. I never liked things like this, politics was too boring for my liking and I usually looked into it only when I needed something. But at the moment I had everything I ever wanted, so sitting there and listening to all that crap was just unbearable.

Everything felt wrong and I knew that something was up. I could feel my inner dragon roaming and unsettled. He felt it too. I ended up the meeting fast and went straight to the one thing that I cared about – the princess! But what I found was an empty room with melted golden chains I created specially for her. I knew she hated them but I needed her to realize her new place – and that was either with me or wherever I wished to see her. Yet she managed to escape!

The fury mixed with fire in my heart and I ordered the guards I trusted the most to get that boy ready. Luckily, she did not hide for long and I felt her dragon emerging, happy that she made that stupid mistake. Soon I realized, of course, that she didn’t even plan to run and was distracting me so that her dearest brother and his Light Witch could break away. It was all for a show but it was too late because I already ordered to kill her soulmate. Her scream was so desperate and full of pain that I even felt sorry for doing this. But only for a moment because now I knew that she would survive. Somehow I just knew that and it made me happy. She was broken but she was not going crazy -and it meant that when she would get over it, she would finally belong to me and me alone. All I needed now was to wait.

But the problem was that I was tired of waiting. I wanted her and I wanted her now. I wanted at least anything! No gerdian w****s could replenish my thirst for that one woman…

I walked into her dark room and created a fireball at once to illuminate it at least a little bit. I needed to see her. I needed it at some physical level. She was still sitting in a chair I left her the last time I visited, still in the same dress and it seemed as if she hadn’t moved at all for the past few days. Her food remained untouched again and I knew that if it would go on like this I would have to force-feed her.

“You need to eat,” I said, taking a seat in front of her and noting that she still was the most beautiful woman, even with her red swollen eyes and pale face. But what I admired the most about her was her spirit. It was such a shame that I would have to break it to make her fully mine.

She didn’t respond to anything again and I continued, “The coronation is tomorrow. You need to eat and you need to look good. I’m kind to you, Primrose, don’t make me regret it.”

I heard a snort and couldn’t believe my own ears, looking at her again. A reaction – that was progress!

“If you think that there is an ounce of kindness inside of you, then I truly feel sorry for you,” she said with so much venom in her voice that I clenched the armrest of my chair almost breaking it.

“You will not speak to me this way!” I warned her.

“Why?” she asked me without actually looking at me, “If I do, what are you going to do to me?”

“There are so many things that I can do to you,” I tried to suppress my fury, “Don’t test me, Primrose!”

“On the contrary,” she retorted, “You have already done everything you could to me. Surprisingly, there is not much else that you could do now.”

“Don’t provoke me…”

“Provoke?” she sneered, “I’m not provoking you at all. I’m just stating the truth. You already killed me when you killed Ryker and…”

“Don’t speak of him!” I roared, “He wasn’t worth the air that he was wasting!”

“And you would know,” she chuckled darkly.

“I need you to eat,” I decided to change the subject because I knew that this war I was not going to win. Not now. She was not ready.

“I don’t want to,” she cut me off and turned away, her new chains rattling as she did. I did not like the sight of them much – they were bulky and not as elegant as the previous ones. But they had to do for now.

“This is not a question of what you want, Princess,” I clicked my fingers and Sean entered the room with a new tray, “This is something that you need and have to do.”

“Too bad you don’t have anything to blackmail me anymore,” she smirked and I reciprocated.

“Only someone as pure as you would think that,” I watched Sean place the tray on the little table in front of her and take away the old one. And when he was at the door, I sent a huge fireball into his back, knocking him off his feet and slamming him over a wall.

That seemed to do the trick and Primrose jumped to her feet, trying to run in his direction but her chainse kept her in place. I had to make them shorter this time to restrict her movements more. This was necessary until she learned to behave.

“What are you doing?!” she exclaimed.

“Killing two birds with one stone,” I let out a cold laugh.

“Isn’t he on your side?!” she hissed.

“Hmm, I don’t know,” I rubbed my chin, “Whose side are you on today, Sean? Why was that Lady Artes in the dungeons right where we hid Demir? Why was he free when you were responsible for keeping him alive until the coronation? Were your games with the little angel so interesting that you lost your way again? After all, it wouldn’t be the first time you betray someone, right?”

Sean stood up without saying anything. As always, his expression was hard to read. This was both – the reason why I liked him and the reason why I hated him. Yet right now it wasn’t about him. It was her reaction that I wanted. So I hit him again with another fireball that he didn’t even try to block.

“No! Stop it!” The Princess pleaded with me. Now we were talking.

“You see, my love,” I took her chin into my palm and brushed my thumb over her lower l*p, enjoy its softness, “You still care about a lot of things. And all of those things I could break and destroy. So let’s end this game now and you will become a good little princess and take your food in time. Then you will allow the maids to bathe yourself and prepare for tomorrow because I need you as beautiful as ever. For everyone to see that the magnificent princess of the Gerdian Empire was now mine and mine only. Got it?”

“I don’t even know if I care about Sir Sarn that much,” she rolled her eyes but I knew that it was an awful show. She cared about everyone.

“Then how about we get rid of him?” I turned to my advisor and created a fireball that was enough to end his life. And again, he didn’t even flinch or tried to dodge. He stood there, waiting for my decision. And for hers.

She said nothing and I prepared to end this, when her delicate hand grabbed mine and she squeezed it with her tiny fingers.

“No,” she said, “please…”

“That’s more like it,” I chuckled and took her tiny wrist, bringing it to my lips and placing a gentle k**s on it, “Just remember that there are always people that you will care about. It may be one of your maids, your old nanny, or maybe her grandchildren, or simply a child from a street… it could be anyone. So, if you don’t want to play this game again, I suggest you give up now and start doing what is expected from you. You already caused too many problems and lives were lost because of it. Think before defying me again. Especially, when we are in public.”

I helped her to sit back in the chair and moved the table closer to her. Hesitantly, she took some bread from the tray and started eating it in tiny pieces. I was thinking about taking her today for the first time but decided to postpone it again. I needed her to behave at the coronation which would also be our wedding. I needed her to say the vows and act appropriately in front of the whole nation. It was announced that she agreed to marry me and if I was honest, it was the only reason why I didn’t have a rebellion at my door. Everybody loved Prim, she was a member of the most prominent royal family in history and she was that key to the kingdom that I so desperately needed.

Besides, as long as I had her by my side, her family, consisting of kings and queens, could be controlled. Yes, I needed Primrose to look as beautiful and healthy as always.

And as for the rest – we had our whole lives for this. After all, she was already mine…