The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon

LARA

I gave him an angry look. Couldn’t he at least try and be nice when he met my family for the first time? It wasn’t that hard!

But Demir slowly kissed my fingers, without breaking eye contact. And I just shook my head and sighed. That… gerdian!

The smirk on his face let me know that he knew everything that I was thinking. And he was enjoying that.

I turned away and started walking in the direction of Gideon. It did not escape my eyes how tense all the men were. Each of them had their hands close to their weapons. And it was my job today to make sure that these were not needed today.

“Lara!” Gideon spread his arms and I ran up into his embrace. Whatever happened, he’d always be my brother, the one I spent most of my life with. We shared so much over the years and I missed him badly.

He gave me the warmest hug, pressing me hard against his body and I felt how my eyes became teary. It was at that moment that I realized that my biggest wish was for the two of them to find a way to coexist in my life.

“Deon!” I smiled, “Did you get my letter?”

“Yes,” the smile on his face faded, “Do not worry, Lara, I know that they made you write all those words.”

I felt a pang of guilt in my heart.

“Well,” I looked at his beautiful golden eyes, “Actually, I wrote all that out of my own free will.”

“Lara,” he brushed his palm over my cheek and I noticed something new in his eyes, something I had never seen there before, “they influenced you somehow. But it’s fine. I will get you home and you will forget about all this. I promise.”

I bit my l*p, catching myself on the thought that I didn’t want to forget anything of what happened recently. I looked down and Gideon cupped my chin, making me face him again.

“Did he…,” he gritted through his teeth, “Did any of them… Lara…”

I saw the desperation in his eyes and understood where he was going with this.

“No,” I hurried to put him at ease, “Deon, no! I was treated as a guest here, no one hurt me or did anything to me. What I wrote in my letter was the truth.”

“You don’t seriously think that he will let you go after the month is over, Lara?” my brother’s grip on me tightened.

“He will not hurt me,” I said with confidence and was surprised to hear my own words, “Not in any way. If I’d want to leave – he will let me go.”

“What do you mean if you’d want to leave,” Gideon’s face changed as the wind whipped his silver hair.

“It’s…complicated,” I sighed. I wasn’t sure that it was the right time to talk about dragons and soulmates, “Actually, Deon, there are a few things that I want to ask you.”

There was something new in his gaze again. I didn’t know what that was but I didn’t like it.

“What could be more important than…” he started talking.

“What was that letter that you sent to the Emperor, Deon?” I interjected and he clenched his lips so hard that they formed a thin white line, “I saw it and I don’t know what to think about it. There was even the blessing of the temple of Brighta. Tell me that it’s fake, Deon! You can’t go back on those things!”

“Lara,” he pulled me even closer and I heard a sound resembling a growl from behind my back, “It’s…it’s not fake.”

The words sounded like thunder on a calm day.

“What do you mean? Explain it to me!” I felt a lump forming in my throat.

“Lara, do you love me?” he asked all of a sudden and I was taken aback.

“Y-yes,” I mumbled, “But…”

“There are no buts in love, Lara,” he said and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, “It’s the only thing that matters. You know very well that you are not my sister and I am not your brother.”

His words were cutting through my heart like a sharp dagger.

“What are you saying?” I whispered.

“We are not related in any way,” he continued, not releasing me, “But we love each other, we are a family already. This is just the next step…”

“Deon…”, I felt tears forming in my eyes, “How…?”

“When Father saved you and brought you to our house and I saw you for the first time, I knew that you were the one for me, Lara,” a vague smile touched his lips, “You were so beautiful with your golden hair and big eyes. I gave you a hug and you cried in my arms. You were so tiny, tired, and scared… Back then I already knew that I’d devote my life to protecting you, to keeping you safe. A few years later Father called me into his office. He informed me that one day I’ll be marrying you and I felt so happy when I heard that. There were no doubts for me. I had strong feelings for you, Lara. None of them were brotherly. Father told me that he intended for us to marry from the first day but we were too young back then, so he took you in as his adoptive daughter. In that way, we insured that you could stay at the White Archipelago.”

I had no words. This was too much. I felt like it was happening to someone else!

“On the next day, Father took us both to the Temple of the Goddess of Light,” Gideon continued, “Do you remember? The priestess asked us in turn if we really loved each other… That was the first time I hear those words from you, Lara. And they changed everything. That was when our engagement was complete. And I became the happiest man alive, knowing that one day…”

“Gideon!” I couldn’t hold back tears anymore, “This is… I was too young for decisions like that!”

“I know,” he smiled, “Father wanted us to marry when you were fifteen. But he died before that and the decision was on me. I watched you play with swords every day, training and having fun with Bri. I knew you were not ready back then and decided to postpone it. I thought that… that we had all the time in the world. I was going to prepare you gradually this year, I wanted to give you time to adjust to the idea… But first Fabian strolled in with his proposal and then the gerdians struck. And here we are… But Lara, none of this changes anything. By the laws of the Goddess of Light, you are mine already. No one can separate us.”

He brushed his thumb over my lower l*p and leaned down… But when our lips almost touched, I flinched back.

“No,” I said, not even bothering to control my tears anymore, “I can’t do this!”

“Lara…”, the painful expression on his face hurt me too, “Please, just let’s go home today and we can think about everything there. I’ll give you as much time as you need…”

“Gideon,” I closed my face with my palms, “I love you very much. But not… in this way.”

“Whatever way you love me, it’s enough for me,” he said unexpectedly coldly and I looked at him again, “But your rightful place is at the White Archipelago. By my side. We came here for you and we are not going back without you.”

His grip on me became painful and he pushed me harshly against his chest as his wings made of pure light spread again – the sign that he was about to fly off.

“Deon,” I struggled against him, “No, don’t! I need… I need to think about everything. This is… too much!”

“You’ll think about it at home!” he cuts me off and prepares to push off when dark flames cover my body. I don’t feel any pain, just light tickles, and tingles but Gideon screams and jumps off me. I noticed a few burn marks on him and gasped. But before I could do anything, everything disappeared…