The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon

LARA

I paced around the room, thinking of the many ways one can kill a person and dispose of the body. Back at the Glowing Citadel, they taught us that Light can dissolve the darkness. Gerdians were the dark ones, so in theory, that should work, right? Right?!

Although that hunk of a man could be too big to do it. It wasn’t fair that such an arrogant piece of a gerdian was so tall… and muscly… and handso… No, I refused to go there.

It was dark already when I decided to explore the chambers he appointed to me. I had to admit that it turned out to be rather spacious. And also, surprisingly luxurious. On the other hand, if he was planning to marry me off to that old Emperor of his then maybe that was the expectation.

The walls were decorated with dark silver tapestries with some patterns on them resembling the dragons and fire. Typical. But when I looked closer it seemed that the embroidery on it was telling some kind of story about a girl and a dragon. I couldn’t help but look more into it. If I got that correctly, the dragon had many women to choose from but he only saw that one. But there were two others who wanted the same girl… The tapestry ended by a castle on fire and a roaming dragon, while the girl was in the hands of others… The whole story made me shudder.

The bed that I was given was a four-poster one, made out of dark wood by some skillful crafter, judging by the intricate carvings on it, with a white and gold canopy covering soft silk sheets and pillows. There was a small white and gold sofa in front of it with a little table and armchairs matching it. And a little dark wood desk in the corner.

But it was the huge passage leading to the balcony that interested me the most, so I went to it immediately to look around. There were no houses without balconies on the White Archipelago. It was considered bad luck, so I was happy to still have access to one here.

The night already cloaked the Gerdian Empire in darkness but the view still took my breath away. The castle I was in, stood on top of a huge hill, and below it spread a city bigger than any other that I had seen before. Myriads of tiny lights let me see how vast the territory was. I had no idea how many people lived there. But there could be no mistake, there were no cities like that back at the White Archipelago. The realization made me feel so small and I hugged myself with my arms. How would I ever get out of here? I didn’t know if Demir was lying to me or not… If I was to win that stupid bet – would he really let me go? Or maybe that girl would bring me my wings and help me escape? Would it be possible for me to fly such a long distance? I couldn’t even see the mountains that were covering the Empire from the borders…

The chill created goosebumps on my skin and at the same moment I felt like someone was watching me, so I hurried inside.

I checked two other doors in my room, finding out that one of them was a wardrobe room with empty shelves and a huge mirror right in the middle, and a dressing table to the side. Also empty. Nobody was waiting for me to arrive here. It was done on a whim.

I couldn’t help myself and came to look at myself in the mirror, gasping at the side. There were circles under my eyes, my hair was a mess and the dress was hopelessly ruined. I sighed looking at what everybody here saw today. Not that I cared about them and their opinions. But it was a humiliating experience.

I clenched my fists and walked out of the wardrobe room, trying the next door without prior hesitation. Luckily, it was a bathroom and everything was working in it. The bath itself was huge but not as huge as the one I saw Demir in while we were in those dreams. The memory heated my cheeks and I ran to the sink to get some cold water on the face. I washed away the dirt only to realize that it wasn’t enough. I needed a bath so badly…

But the thought of somebody walking in was stopping me from actually doing it. I raced to the main door and put a chair to it in hopes that it would give me some privacy. After looking at it some more, I added an armchair and a desk to it. That should do it.

Back at the bathroom, I found some soaps and even a hair essence. Not much, but enough to clean me. There was no way I could relax in here, so I just quickly poured enough water from the tap and jumped in, disposing of my ruined dress. I scrubbed myself vigorously, not wasting any time, and rinsed the soap off within seconds. A few minutes and I was done! I didn’t find any towels in here, so I had to use Air element to dry my body quickly. And then another dilemma occurred to me. There was nothing for me to wear here.

I soaked my dirty dress in soapy water and washed it to the best of my abilities in hopes of it looking somewhat presentable tomorrow. I had never washed anything in my life before, so I had no idea if I was doing it correctly. But when I dried it with my Air, I knew that something was wrong. Very wrong. The fabric of the dress crinkled, and it looked much smaller than before. More beads fell off and the whole thing was looking like a rag… Damn it!

I covered myself with it when I returned to the room and then took one of the sheets to wrap it around me. Putting the dress aside, I fell to the bed… I didn’t even realise how and when the darkness consumed me.

Tingles erupted through my body when someone was caressing the skin on my abdomen. So pleasant and so sweet. The movement went up and down, brushing the side of my thigh and waist…When the fingers pressed harder into my flesh, grasping my bottom, a m**n escaped me… And with that came the realization of what is going on. I opened my eyes and saw a huge figure lying in bed right next to me. I knew at once who that was and there was only one thing that I could do to him. I swung my hand and gave him the most resounding slap.

“How dare you?!” I growled and prepared to hit him again when he caught my hand and suddenly rolled on top of me. The thin silk s**t was separating us now when I realized that he was naked. Naked and in my bed.

“You know, Angel,” Demir smirked, “If that’s how you are going to react then maybe don’t call for me!”

“What do you mean call for you?!” I gaped at him, “I didn’t call you!”

“Yes you did,” he looked so happy and full of himself that I kicked him somewhere in his abdomen… or maybe lower. Wherever it was, it felt as hard as a stone. He g*****d and I used the moment to get out from the damn bed, not forgetting to pull that sheet with me to cover myself. But when I turned in rage to scold him some more, I froze. As he lay there, watching me clenching to the thin fabric with a grin on his face. And not even bothering to cover himself since I got the sheet off him.

“What?” he chuckled following my gaze around his perfect muscles. In our house back at the White Archipelago there were antique paintings of ancient masters with naked warriors on it. Well, those warriors of the past had nothing on that man!

I gulped and he stood up from the bed. It wasn’t the first time he revealed himself like that before me, but I still felt my cheek flushed and turned away from him.

“I like that you are so naughty and so shy at the same time!” he gave out a little laugh, “Our women are usually much bolder.”

“I am sure of that!” I rolled my eyes and physically felt the heat coming from his body right next to me.

However, I soon regained myself and demanded, “But it’s great that you are here now!”

“Oh?” I heard amusement in his voice, “How so?”

“You…,” I was slightly nervous, “Now you have to take me home! You said that you wouldn’t touch me before I asked you and I didn’t ask for… for whatever you were doing to me in that bed!”

His hands lay on my shoulders and I flinched at the touch as his warm breath tickled my ear.

“That depends on how we look at it,” he chuckled, “You called for me and here I am.”

“What do you mean,” I tried to shake off his hands, but he turned me to face him instead.

“Because this is a dream, Lara,” he smiled, tracing my chin with his fingers, “And I am here, looking like…that… only because of your call.”

“You are lying!” I gritted my teeth and he burst out laughing.

“On the contrary,” he shrugged his shoulders, “As far as I remember, I am back in my office right now. Fully dressed. If you replied my call, that’s where we would have been. But yet here we are…”

“What are you trying to say?” I felt how my whole face turned red.

“I am not trying, I am saying it bluntly,” Demir torn off the canopy from the bed as I gasped and wrapped it around himself, “You wanted to see me and you wanted to see me without my clothes.”

“Ridiculous!” I protested and he smiled at me in a way you smile at a silly child.

“So, technically, I won the bet,” he nodded his hand and shook his shoulders as I felt rage washing over me. He couldn’t be serious! “But!” he made a significant pause, “I am gracious and I realize that all this is very new to you. So, I wouldn’t be counting our dreams as you asking me to touch you. Dreams are off-limits. Fine?”

I clenched my lips not to provoke him more. I did know that we already saw each other in the dreams multiple times and denying it would be stupid. So, I nodded and a huge smirk spread over his lips.

“Good,” he said and came way too close to me the very moment, leaning and whispering into my ear, “This rule applies to both of us!”

I woke up with a gasp, panting and feeling my heart racing. It was much lighter in the room already and I heard birds singing outside. The first thing that I checked was the canopy on the bed. And yes, it was intact. Signaling to me that the demon gerdian did not lie…

At that moment, a huge cloud of dark smoke appeared just before me…