The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon

DEMIR

“Please, not now,” I rolled my eyes, walking straight to my working desk. I still had a few letters and numerous papers to check after I had this little trip to the mountains and then to the White Archipelago. But Ryker and Prim looked like I wasn’t the Emperor of the biggest Empire but a small boy who had no clue what he was doing.

“Don’t give us that!” my sister sat in one of the chairs, her arms crossed on her chest. Her hair still didn’t look perfect as usual. Just what did Lara do to her?

“Look, Your Excellency,” Ryker joined her and I closed my eyes knowing that it was going to be a long evening, “You have no idea what happened back at the Archipelago when you left!”

“I don’t care,” I said honestly and both of them frowned.

“Well, you should!” Primrose gritted her teeth, “That’s in your job description! Literally.”

“They are not a flock of flying birds, you know,” Ryker continued, “If anything, the brother of that girl attacked me with so much force that I felt it. IN my dragon form.”

“And that’s good news because at least now we know very well what they are capable of,” I smirked at my advisor, “They are not a peaceful nation at all and we were underestimating them this whole time. Did you notice that they are training a whole army there? Why would they need it since nobody is even interested in attacking their stupid islands?!”

“So, let me be clear,” Prim straightened creases of her dress, “You knew that they had an army and you STILL brought that girl here?! What if they come for her?!”

“Well, then they will find out that an army of mages with wings is still not enough to stand against dark dragons.”

“That’s if they are on their own, brother!” my clever sister retorted, “Still. That wasn’t in our plans to start any wars… And all that trouble for a mere girl?”

“Say what you really want to say,” I looked at her with a challenge in my eyes.

“Very well,” she suddenly got serious and that fierce look in her eyes reminded me of our mother back in the day, “You are not blind and neither are we! You saw the colour of her hair! I know already that you thought her hair was red. But face the truth, Demir, it’s golden! As golden as could be! And that makes the possibility of her being the girl from the prophecy pretty big!”

“Not that again!” I g*****d but she didn’t budge.

“You should have taken her back the moment you saw the true colour of her hair! Why didn’t you?!” my sister stood up and continued her attack, “You do realize that you risk your life! And not only that! You risk the whole Empire!”

“I can take care of the Empire!” I growled.

“I am not so sure about it anymore!” she sighed, “You were always putting the country first. Always! Until the day you meet that girl and everything changes! The prophecy…”

“Chaos, Prim!” I hit my fist on the cold wood of my desk, “Enough! I can’t put my life on hold because of some stupid prophecy from hundreds of years ago! I am not like you!”

She looked taken aback and I immediately regretted saying it. Yes, it was the tradition in our family to go to the Dragon Seer before our children were born. And my parents did it every time, so Primrose had a prophecy of her own. And just like mine, it did not promise her anything good… Unlike our other siblings, who were promised soulmates, happiness, adventures, families, new kingdoms and so on… All that the Seer said about Prim was that she would become the most beautiful woman in all the lands. Everybody would want her. But she wouldn’t be able to be with the one she truly loved.

She didn’t care about it at first when we were young. But gradually over the years, every time she fell in love with someone… something was happening that drove them apart. The dragon she fell in love with first, found his soulmate on the day he proposed to her at a ball. The next time she fell in love with a gerdian who was a marquis and didn’t have dragon b***d in him. He was killed in a war. And when her third serious boyfriend was poisoned, she gave up and decided not to have any relationships with men anymore. The beautiful princess that made everyone gasp when they saw her, closed her heart and stayed by my side instead of getting married and moving away like all my other sisters.

And it was sh*tty of me to remind her of that in such a way.

“What’s so special about her except for that damn hair?” she asked when we both calmed down.

“She is my soulmate,” I confessed and Prim fell back to her chair, staring somewhere behind me with empty eyes.

“No,” she whispered desperately. And even Ryker, who stood behind her all this time seemed more tense than usual.

“Yes,” I said calmly, “So, Prim, she stays and none of you is to touch her!”

“She will be the end of you,” my sister said, her voice broken, “Just like the prophecy promised… You’ll be the best Emperor, the strongest dragon… But your end will come from a girl with golden hair! Your soulmate…of course! It makes so much sense now!”

“Look, Prim,” I stood up and looked out of the window, from which I saw Lara’s balcony. She was already there, hugging herself with her hands… Hair shining in the moonlight… That colour suited her much more.

I cleared my throat and continued, “Lara is a good girl. Trust me on this. She is not going to hurt me and…”

“She hates you!” Prim chuckled darkly, “She hates your guts!”

“She doesn’t know who I am yet…”

“Oh, I am aware,” my sister snorted, “But she hates both of you. Demir the dog, and yes, that’s how she calls you. And the Emperor of the Empire! When she finds out that you are the same person, then she’ll give you your end that was promised in that damn prophecy!”

“Let’s agree to disagree!” I smirked at her, “Besides, the prophecies may be interpreted in different ways. Maybe it means that she’ll bring the end to Demir the bachelor. And you were worried for nothing.”

“I wish,” Prim whispered to herself and then stood up again, “I need time to think about it. Talk to you tomorrow, brother.”

“Ryker,” I decided to get rid of my friend too, “Take the Princess to her chambers, please.”

“Of course,” he bowed unexpectedly and they both gave me the look telling that they know what I was doing. However, they still left me alone.

I looked out of the window again, but Lara was already gone. And I was exhausted.

Thinking of her, I closed my eyes…

“How dare you!” a harsh slap landed on my cheek.