The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon

LARA

I didn’t know what I was doing! And why… He didn’t look cold. We had a fire. Brighta, Goddess of Light, why did I offer him to share his damn cloak?!

And he was even worse than I imagined. I thought that we’d turn backs to each other and use the fabric to cover ourselves. Yet he grabbed me into his hands, pressed me against his body, and wrapped us much tighter than it was needed.

So tight that I could feel his warmth. And scent. Forest after the rain…

Suddenly the realization that I actually asked him to touch me hit me and I tried to jump back to my feet but he held me in place.

“What’s wrong?” he asked as if he was really concerned.

“That’s not… I didn’t…”, I mumbled hectically.

“Calm down,” he chuckled and pulled me back, “This doesn’t count. Let’s say that you were saving my life.”

“Uh-uh”, I settled back on his chest, feeling slightly more comfortable and relaxed. At first, I didn’t know how to sleep being held like that, so wriggled here and there a bit finding the right position for me.

“You’d better stop it,” he said in a strangely husky voice.

“Stop what?” I turned to look at him and met eyes filled with dark magic, “I thought your magic was gone…”

“It was drained,” he cleared his throat and turned elsewhere, “I am trying to restore it. Now, sleep.”

He hugged me even tighter and I sighed. It wasn’t like I could do anything anyway. And also I was tired.

His warmth coated me, his breath became slow and I didn’t even notice when I started to fall asleep. Before I drifted off to the land of dreams, I heard his voice again.

“Lara, when we come back, I’ll take you to my library. There are thousands of books in there… From all over the world. You are going to love it…”

“That would be great,” I whispered still not sure if that was a dream or reality…

DEMIR

She slept peacefully in my arms and a part of me wanted to stay like this forever. A big and significant part of me. The part that longed for her and her only.

But the other part of me was thinking. The part that was ruled by logic and my obligations to the Empire. The part that was responsible for so many lives…

She struck me with her Light and it dissipated my dark magic. I never heard of anyone being able to do that. And that, unfortunately, makes Lara very special. The gerdians we’re always the most powerful species because no one could do anything about our dark powers. The darkness was unbeatable. The people from the White Archipelago could never do anything of this sort. Or at least I never heard about it. I knew I would have to do good research when I come back to the palace. But at the moment, this seemed to be a unique occurrence.

That made Lara even more dangerous. I couldn’t ignore the prophecy anymore. She didn’t seem aware of her abilities but it looked like she was capable of bringing me down. One strike and even transportation didn’t work properly. She didn’t even aim at me. And what would happen if she was aiming at me?

The more I was thinking about it the worse the situation looked. Even if she didn’t want to hurt me personally, someone could use her against me. And depending on what kind of power that was, they could even utilize it against the whole Empire.

I urgently needed to find a way to protect myself from her Light.

She wriggled again and mumbled something in her sleep, not having the slightest clue how those movements made me feel. How my whole body ached for her. I wanted to touch her in a different way, I wanted all of her.

There was another problem with her newfound powers. When gerdians find out about what she could do, the target on her back would shine even brighter than now. They would never forget about the prophecy and would spend all their strength trying to get rid of her. Maybe I could reason with Prim and Ryker but what about the rest? The dark Lords would never forget, the dark Lords would never forgive. That was their way of life for centuries.

Even as an Emperor there weren’t too many things that I could do to protect her. My instincts were telling me to hide her in the tallest tower of my castle. So no one would ever see her. Except for me. But unfortunately, I knew that she would never be happy with that. And I desperately wanted Lara to be happy. With me.

I smiled when I remembered how she noticed the dark magic in my eyes just an hour or so ago. It was not supposed to come back so fast. That was strange, but I felt better and better every minute. It was as if… someone was replenishing my energy.

I looked at the girl who was sleeping peacefully on my chest. Was that her? How was she doing it?

What exactly is she?!

Did the people back at the White Archipelago know about her special abilities? Was that why they tried to keep her there at all costs? If that was the case then they would most definitely try to get her back. She could be used as a weapon. Thanks to all the gods the red Dragons did not get her. If they knew then the whole empire would most definitely be in danger.

But what if she could also replenish magic? That would make her even more valuable.

Could she do it for me only because we were soulmates or could she charge anyone?

One thing for sure, no one should know her secret. I needed to find a way to protect her.

The fewer people knew about her, the fewer people I’d have to kill.

I spent the night next to her, breathing in her scent and trying to calm down. As well as thinking of what to do next. I couldn’t let her go now. And also I did not want to. She was mine and the dragon inside me felt the same way.

By the morning it all became clear to me. The only thing I could do was to marry her. It was convenient that what my heart desired coincided with what had to be done. As soon as the title of an Empress would be bestowed on her, all the Dark Dragons would have to act as her protectors. They gave an unbreakable oath to protect the royal family of the Gerdian Empire.

She mumbled something unrecognizable and wrinkled her nose. I knew that she was about to wake up and this nice moment between us would be over, so I carefully brushed my palm over her cheek, taking away strands of golden hair from her eyes.

Her lashes flattered and she looked at me, blinking a few times.

“Morning,” I greeted her and her cheeks became that lovely shade of pink. It suited her. She reminded me of some kind of delicate flower.

“Morning,” Lara echoed and tried to stand up.

“Easy,” I told her, “I’ll help.”

We were on our feet in the blink of the moment, stretching sore muscles and pretending that we didn’t spend the night cuddling.

“How is your magic today?” she asked, trying to fix the creases on her dress when the silence got too awkward.

“Much better,” I chuckled, “I feel like new.”

“I wish I could say the same,” she smiled unexpectedly and stretched her neck, “All my body aches.”

“That’s fine,” I came closer and she didn’t seem to be willing to step away, making me happy,“At the castle, I’ll order the maids to prepare the best bath for you. There are potions that will make all the pain go away.”

“How useful!” she smiled and bit her l*p when wrapped my cloak around her once again. I wanted her to wear my clothes. Anything. It was bringing me a very strange feeling of satisfaction.

“I wouldn’t mind a good breakfast as well,” she confessed and it felt so nice that I forgot about everything…

“Well, I promise you the best breakfast ever,” I said with a smile, “I owe you one breakfast with Emperor, right? Today you’ll find out…”

Her face changed so fast that the words stuck somewhere in my throat.

“Lara, what’s wrong?” I asked her but her lips clenched and she frowned.

I stretched my hand to her but she stepped away.

“Lara,” I tried to touch her but in the next moment, a wave of light knocked me off his feet.

It wasn’t as bad as the last time, my magic wasn’t drained at all. And I had no idea why.

Lara, however, looked as if she was ready to kill.

“You,” she gritted through her teeth, “How could you be so…”

At that moment, clouds of dark smoke, as well as dark flames, started to appear here and there. And soon Ryker was standing right before me, guarding me with his body as usual.

“Seize her!” he shouted and two soldiers ran up to Lara, grabbing her hands and I growled in rage. But also in frustration because I knew what was to follow and this was not how I wanted to tell her. “She tried to assassinate His Majesty!”

Lara’s angry face changed when she looked at me again, her lips parting in shock…