The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon

DEMIR

For the second day, Prim was sending me signals that were hard to ignore. Yet this time I felt that I was so close to finding her! It was like Lara’s scent was in the air. But no matter how many circles I did above that small akyrian town on the border, I couldn’t feel more of her no matter how hard I tried.

If she was hiding, she did it well and used protective barriers that I didn’t know she could create.

Or someone created them for her… I didn’t want to think of it, but it was also possible.

I returned to the gerdian palace late at night and went straight to my office to find my sister already waiting for me there. She looked much better than the last time I saw her and that meant that Ryker was probably fully recovered by now

“Finally, brother!” She stood up when I entered and didn’t even frown when I walked past her.

“So, what’s all this about?” I sat at my desk and looked at her expectantly, “I was busy, you know.”

“I know,” she admitted, “I even know what you were busy with.”

“And I know that Lara needed someone to push her to leave,” I said bluntly and Prim didn’t even flinch. I knew she had something to do with it! And her being this calm just proves me right.

“What do you want me to say, Demir?” She sighed, taking a seat in front of me, “tell me what did you do,” I looked her in the eye, “Tell me what did you say to her that made her leave me like that!”

“What makes you think…”

“Prim!” I hit my fist on the table. There was no time for all those games.

“I was angry the last time I saw her, all right?” She shifted in her seat, “I like her. I honestly do… but you can’t deny the truth.. It will never work between you two and for the sake of the kingdom…”

“Who are you to decide that, princess?!” I growled, “You have no right..”

“No, Demir, you are the one who has no right for weakness like that! I am sorry but since she appeared in your life – everything changed! Disaster after the disaster started happening… You know I hate our prophecies but I already tried to defy mine. And look what happened…”

“And what – you think that If Lara is out, my prophecy will disappear?” I chuckled, “Don’t be naïve! It has to happen one way or another! You trying to postpone it will not fix anything!”

“I didn’t try to postpone it. I just told her the truth and she came to her own conclusions. If anything, I only like her more now. She truly loves you, brother..”

“Thanks a lot for your blessing, Prim,” I rolled my eyes, “I don’t know what I’d do without your help! For all that we know you might have triggered the prophecy yourself when you chased her away! You have no idea how it feels when your soulmate rejects you and leaves! My dragon is in pain every living second! And so am I! How many dragons do you know who survived losing their mate?! It’s… unbearable…”

“But she is alive, Demir,” Primrose straightened her dress, “Besides, I know two dragons who went through worse and survived. And you have things you need to be doing instead of looking for a girl who made her choice! You are an emperor, remember?!”

She raised her brow and looked at me with a challenge in her eyes. My sister knew how to be cold when it was needed, there was no mercy in her stare.

And however much I hated to admit it, she was right. There was a whole empire that needed my attention. I couldn’t just fly away and look for my beloved as I pleased. It was reckless…

Yet I couldn’t just forget of her either. It didn’t work like that. I would never be able to forget Lara…

“If something was wrong with her, you would feel it,” Prim read my mind, “Do you feel anything like that?”

“No,” I stood up and walked to the window, turning my back to my sister. I hated to admit it but I didn’t feel that Lara was in danger. A soulmate would feel it. And I didn’t.

“You know what that means,” Primrose sighed again. She didn’t need to finish that sentence. We both knew what all this meant.

Lara was fine without me.

She moved on.

“Look, Demir,” I heard Prim’s skirts whispering as she came closer, “She is still young. She spent her life locked at the White Archipelago and saw nothing. To make her an empress now would be just cruel… She needs to see things first and…”

“Did it ever occur to you that maybe I could have shown her those things?” I snapped.

“No,” she shook her head, “Because you can’t. You have work to do. We still have the reds after us. And now Lara’s brother dispatched his people to our border. As you ordered, we are not touching them. But this cannot be good. It is possible that the prophecy was triggered already and now…”

“I get it,” I interrupted her, “I’ll send Ryker and the first squad to deal with them. Hopefully, peacefully.”

“You see,” the princess exhaled heavily, “If it wasn’t someone related to Lara, you would destroy them for such an act of disrespect. But because of her…”

“What do you want me to do, Prim?!” I g*****d.

“I was thinking about how to help you, brother,” she said and put her hand onto my shoulder, “Lara is the soulmate of your dragon. But you are also a gerdian. I think there is a way out for you…”

“A way out of what?” I looked at her in disbelief.

“Of your bond,” she clenched her lips, “Demir, I read a lot about it lately and did some research from the occurrences for the past few years. You can override the soulmate bond with your gerdian b***d. If you mark a suitable woman and marry her according to gerdian laws then you’ll be able to move on too. Just as Lara did. You both will be free… And it will be for the best.”

“You must be kidding me!” I snorted, “And where would I find a perfect girl like that?”

“I know that you don’t like any of the court ladies, brother,” Primrose continued, and I knew that she had already thought everything through, “And the next place to look for a girl who will be able to become your empress and bear your children, is the Dark Selection…”