The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon

LARA

He brought me to a hill covered with flowering white wisteria trees. The plants cover us from the heat and on one side you can see the main square while on the other there is a pretty good view of the sea. Strange, I live here for years and I’ve never been here!

“That’s better,” he turns with a smirk on his face. Honestly, I’ve never met a person who smirks so much. It’s like it’s a smirking competition for him all day every day! Smirk, smirk, smirk!

“What are you thinking about, Lara?” he…well, smirks again. As if he knows exactly what I am thinking.

“Nothing!” I lie and then I finally take in what I see. I slowly walk around him in a circle, trying not to miss any details. He is wearing white today, probably to mix with the crowd. A tunic, pants and traditional golden armour with a white cape. It doesn’t suit him even though a man with his appearance would look great in anything. There are no weapons on him no matter how hard I look. And he didn’t hide his hair colour with illusion. If he changed it to silver, he’d blend it perfectly. However, a lot of people, including myself, are wearing colourful illusions on their heads. So it’ll do. Eyes, however, you can’t hide a colour like this! If someone looks straight into his face – they’ll know! Probably that’s why he brought me here.

“Are you done?” he chuckles and I stop in front of him, crossing my hands on my chest.

“What are you doing here, Demir?” I arch my brow, “Who are you?”

“You already answered that question,” he smiles, coming closer and inhaling deeply through his nostrils. A blissful smile appears on his face as he does that. “I am a gerdian, remember?”

“Uh-huh,” I nod, “And what a gerdian is doing on the White Archipelago? You know that we are not friends, right?”

“I didn’t know that we are enemies,” he grins, “Are we? Then what have you been doing in our territory just recently?”

I bite my tongue. I can’t answer that without incriminating myself. Yet the look on his face lets me know that he already knows everything. I can say whatever I want now, but he knows…

“Don’t change the subject!” I snort, trying to regain composure, “Why did you even bother to find me? And also I want to know how the chaos is you getting into my dreams?!”

“That’s a good question, Lara,” he admits, “But I am only ready to give you information if you are going to do the same.”

“Let’s try!” I raise my chin high. I bet I can answer questions without spilling any secrets. Gideon trained me well. “You start!” I challenge him.

“How old are you?” he asks and I part my lips. This is not what I expected at all.

“Erm, I am not sure,” I mumble, “I think I am around twenty.”

“Why aren’t you sure? Can’t you count?” he furrows his brows.

“I can count just fine,” this time I am the one to smirk, “And that would be two questions, Demir. My turn!”

He gives out a sound similar to a snort but somehow looks impressed.

“So, why have you come to look for me?” I repeat my question and stare at him expectingly.

“I am only interested in you on this whole island,” he replies easily and doesn’t add anything else, enjoying the sight of my opened mouth. Why would he be interested in me this much?

“How do you invade my dreams?” I try to stay calm and ask the next thing that’s bothering me.

“Well, it would be better to start with the fact that sometimes you are the one who invades MY dreams,” he chuckles.

“Impossible!” I object.

“On the contrary,” he smiles as if he is talking to a child, “That’s the easy part…”

“And what’s the hard one?” I ask.

“That’s the third question,” he steps closer, “But I will answer. The hard part is that I can’t stop thinking about you…”

That’s also something that I didn’t expect to hear…

“Why?” slips off my tongue and suddenly he is way too close.

“Too many questions, Lara,” he whispers and pulls me closer by my waist in one swift move so that I feel his rock-hard body through the thin silk of my white dress. And this is the moment that I need to push him away.

Yet I don’t…

He bends lower so that his lips are almost touching mine… His blue eyes with purple rings around the irises close and I come back to my senses.

He must be playing me! What an i***t I am!

In less than a second, I summon light to my fingers and send a strike into his chest, making him g***n. It’s not enough to kill him but it’s definitely enough to make him keep his hands to himself!

“That’s not a question!” I add, stepping back.

“Yet I definitely got all my answers about you, Lara!” he g****s.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I stare at him in shock. Somehow, I like this game less and less. The way this man makes me feel and behave…I don’t like it!

“Another question,” he chuckles, “I’ll give you all the answers the next time we meet, Lara.”

With that, flames of dark magic appear all over his body and I cover my mouth not to scream loudly. How does he even do that?!

“Demir!” I say but he disappears without a trace, leaving me alone on that hill…

I stay there for some time, not knowing what to think. I am sure of one thing only p tonight I am going to tell my brother about everything.

I walk downstairs to try and find Gideon, squeezing bad into the excited crowd that’s still in the middle of celebrations.

I don’t see Gideon, I can’t find Bria… But soon two hands lie on my shoulders and I turn to look who that is.

Fabian smiles as he pulls me into his embrace, “Finally I found you! You get more and more beautiful every day, Lara!”

“Haven’t you called me a dirty foundling when we were younger?” I raise my brow trying to get out of his grasp. This is the last person I want to see now! A roar sounds somewhere in the background and I look around. I had no idea that they will bring animals this year as well! Is this the surprise Deon was talking about? Not that it matters now! I have more important things to worry about.

“I did,” Fabian chuckles lightly, “And I apologize! Boys are stupid, you know? I liked you from the moment I saw you, Lara. But it was just hard to…”

“…behave like a human?” I snort, “I really don’t get it Fabian, why the sudden change of heart?”

“It’s not sudden,” he says seriously, “And it’s not even a chance. I came to ask for your hand two years ago but your brother said it was too early…”

My lips part in surprise. This is crazy! I’ve never received any proposals! Deon never told me anything about this.

“I wanted to marry you a long time ago but your brother told me you were too young. I didn’t want to push you or force you… so, I waited, “Fabian sighs, “Now your brother insists that you are still not of age. And I am disappointed, of course, but I am ready to wait again. I decided a years ago that I will only marry you and nothing will change my opinion! But this time, while I wait, I want it to be official. I want to be by your side and I want you to get used to me in your life!”

I don’t even know what to say to this. Although wait a minute, I do!

“Some waiting that was!” I chuckle, taking his hands off me, “In the meantime, you marked every girl on the White Archipelago with your affection!”

“Practice,” he shrugs his shoulders, “I wanted to be ready when the time comes… I wanted to be able to make you happy…”

Ewe!

He places his hand back on me and I roll my eyes.

“How romantic!” I snort, “You’ve done so much for me! I am honoured!”

“You are always welcome, my golden girl…” he smiles.

Golden girl… that’s one of my nicknames from my childhoods. It was never used in a good sense so I shudder from the inside when he calls me that…

I am about to release myself from his grip once again when the music stops.

Keatar Marten walks in the middle of the stage and raises his hand. Everyone gets quiet because when the leader of the Glowing Citadel talks, it is a sin to disrupt his speech.

“I am glad to see everyone here and so happy today!” the man shows off his pearly whites, “As you all know we had another good year and have many things to be thankful about to the Goddess of Light Brighta! The day of the Summer Solstice is the most important for us within a year and this is the day for the biggest announcements and celebrations! And I have a perfect reason for you to celebrate! Today my son, Fabian Marten, is going to announce who he has chosen to be his beautiful young bride!”

Oh, no! I try to get out of the guy’s hands desperately now that I realize that my future depends on it but it seems useless! His hands press me harder against his torso and his light wings spread behind his back. One flap and we are up in the sky. Now I have no choice but to dig into his shoulders with my nails. He takes me comfortably into his hands and makes a circle above the crowd, which is cheering him up. Did they even notice that it’s me in his hands?

He lands us gently onto the stage, without any additional showing off this time. Our eyes meet and I make sure that he sees in mine everything that I feel this very moment.

“It’s going to be fine,” he whispers, turning me gently to face the crowd. I was sure that I’d hear some gasps and shouts of disapproval, but instead, people explode with excitement. What the chaos is going on here?

“Lara Artes was chosen as…”, Keatar shouts but suddenly my brother lands right in front of me, almost breaking the wooden deck.

“Gideon!” I squeak and throw myself in his arms. His wings close around us and a sigh of relief escapes me.

“Lara,” he lifts my chin with his fingers and I notice how tense his face is, “Whatever happens next, agree with everything that I say. Got it?”

“Yes,” I nod, “Of course!”

“I am going to get you out of this,” he smiles and places a soft k**s on my forehead. And in that very moment his wings open for everyone to see us.

Gasp feel the square we are in, but Gideon ignores them and steps forward.

“Lara Artes is already taken!” he growls.

“Deon!” Fabian grits through his teeth, “Don’t get crazy!”

“Look who is talking! What did you think? That it’s going to be done if you say it out loud first?” Gideon smirks, “Without my approval, you would never be able to marry her! No one will be able to…”

He doesn’t get to finish, since something huge and black in the sky blocks the sun, and the square is covered by a huge dark shadow…