The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon

LARA

He was doing that on purpose and I knew that! That brute! There wasn’t an honest bone in his body! And if he thought that it would somehow help to make me ask him to touch me, he was wrong!

Demir really took his time going from the palace to the city, although it wasn’t a long road. But he was making stops every few seconds to point somewhere and name it. Like I was going to remember any of that! We arrived in the centre of the capital of the Gerdian Empire Deverand within half an hour. Demir dismounted from the horse first and then helped me do the same.

I hated to admit it but the city looked impressive. All I knew about it before was that it was shaped like a ring around the palace and that gerdians lived there. But I couldn’t even imagine that one day I’d be able to see it with my own eyes.

And it was so different from what I saw back at home on the White Archipelago. We had limited land so our buildings were tall and our cities grew so that they could touch the skies. Here, however, the gerdian didn’t have such a trouble and the houses were two-three stories at most. The roofs were black, and the stone was any shade of grey from light to almost black one, creating an atmosphere worth the gerdian capital.

Nevertheless, however much I wanted to hate it, I just found myself unable to. It was… elegant. And beautiful. Ladies were strolling down the street in beautiful gowns, men’s dark coats were decorated with gold and silver thread and looked lavish yet tasteful. The streets were surprisingly clean and people looked generally happy with their lives. This didn’t fit well into the picture I had in my brain.

From the corner of my eye I notice that Demir is watching my every move and when our eyes met, a smile grew on his face. I wanted to ignore it but he didn’t let me.

“It’s all right to like what you see, Lara,” he said, “Our people don’t bite!”

“The fact that they look civil doesn’t mean that…”

“What?” he gave out a loud laugh, “That they are not monsters? Seriously, what they teach you back at home about us?”

Well, they taught us that gerdians were heartless monsters oppressed by their awful Emperor that dwell in the darkness with rotten souls, who live only to destroy other nations…

Yet somehow I decided not to tell him that.

“You know,” I cleared my throat, “The usual…”

“Uh-huh,” he chuckled as he tied his horse to a special place designated for them next to a well for animals.

I took a step back when he looked at me and my heal got in between two stones of the pavement, twisting my leg so that I fall down. I did not reach the ground as two strong hands caught me at once while the hood of my cape fell off my hand, letting my golden hair out in the wind.

Neither of us moved, just looking at each other for a while. I saw how one by one sparks of dark magic appear in his blue eyes, dancing wildly… as if they were trying to tell me what he felt. And when the glow became too obvious, he blinked his eyes forcefully a few times to get them back to normal and helped me up. Wind was still whipping my loose hair when he suddenly grasped my hood and pulled it over my head, tucking my locks inside.

“What are you doing?” I asked, slightly shocked by his actions, “I thought we agreed on not touching each other.”

“It was a different kind of touching that we discussed,” he smirked, “You know it very well. And this… This is needed for your safety.”

“Nobody knows me here,” I retorted with a raised brow.

“That’s not the point,” he said, sighing heavily, “It’s best if no one sees your hair.”

My hair. Again. From my early years, I heard that almost every day! And I was sick of it!

“I honestly don’t see how my hair can influence my safety!” I snorted, waving my hand around, “There are other blondes on the street. Why are you not running after them telling them to hide their locks?!”

He leaned to me so that his hot breath kissed my sensitive skin, “Because I don’t care about everyone else, Lara. The hood stays on!”

I hated the moment I realized that a part of me liked what he said. I knew that it was bad and I needed to get rid of that silly infatuation.

So, I did the only thing I saw fit. Looking into his eyes, I slowly but firmly removed my hood and made sure that all my hair fell freely down my back, lifting up my chin high at the same time.

“Angel!” the man gritted through his teeth, “That’s very naughty of you.”

“That’s my hair and my safety! So it’s my decision!” I insisted and this time his eyes lit up with dark magic for a very different reason. The anger was so obvious, especially when a small vein protruded on his perfect forehead.

“Fine!” he said after a while and grabbed my hand, “Let’s go!”

“Where?” I tried to catch up with his big steps.

“To explore the beauty of the capital!” he said, looking somewhere behind me when he turned. His face changes and I also turned to see what attracted his attention.

But there was nothing special except for a man in a wine red cloak with a huge scar on his face.

“Do you know him?” I asked and he flinched.

“No. Don’t look there,” Demir continued dragging me down the street, “It’s impolite.”

I decided to obey him this once and followed him to a shop with the most beautiful windows. Inside were standing illusions of beautiful ladies in gorgeous dresses. They were twirling and curtsying, smiling and waving. And the whole sight was so alluring that I found myself staring with an open mouth.

We walked inside and immediately all eyes were on us. Four painfully beautiful girls surrounded us.

“My Lord, how can we help you?” they ignored me and went straight for Demir, “At Lady Ria Solveigh shop we can fulfill every dream of yours.”

Not wasting time, the gerdian turned to me and wriggle his eyebrows as if to tell me, “Look, everybody wants a piece of me. Join in!”

I rolled my eyes and turned away, pretending to look at the dresses and then really starting to check dress after dress. These were the most intricate and extraordinary garments I ever saw! And even some of the fabrics were unfamiliar to me. There were light dresses as if they were made out of rose petals and some were heavy, lavishly decorated with precious gems. All of them were in darker shades yet even I couldn’t deny that they were simply pieces of art.

“I need you to help my fiancée,” Demir said and I almost choked on his words, sending him a furious glare. What a liar!

“Oh,” one of the assistants didn’t even try to hide her disappointment.

“What does your fiancée need?” another one still tried to stay professional.

“Everything!” Demir winked at me, “From undergarment to her taste to outerwear. Whatever she likes!”

“There is no need,” I interjected and the four girls looked at me with a mixture of anger, disappointment, and curiosity.

“Of course there is,” he smiled, “What we have back at home was bought without you taking part in it. I want you to be comfortable in the castle.”

“Awww,” one of the girls sighed with admiration.

“Oh, you know I am not staying there for long,” I sneered at him but it only made him chuckle.

“Either you pick items, or I will,” he grinned, “And since I have a very particular taste, you might not enjoy it too much! Trust me!”

“Fine!” I snapped as he was eyeing one of the nightgowns that definitely wouldn’t cover too much of one’s flesh. This man was brazen enough to buy that and leave it as the only option for me to wear here.

At that moment, I noticed that he was looking nervously outside of the window.

The girls took me to the next rooms and brought tea in. And without even saying goodbye, Demir left the shop…