The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon

LARA

We tore off each other and looked at the gerdian princess who was standing just a few feet away from us with a few leather-bound volumes in her hands. I wanted to take my hands off Demir but he held me in place and his sister sighed looking at us.

“I guess no one can change their destiny,” she smiled sadly, “Even the dragon king.”

“Lara is the part of my destiny that I am not willing to change,” her brother chuckled, “We love each other, Prim. We are soulmates. She bears my mark and we are engaged.”

He lifted our hands to demonstrate our bracelets, making Primrose’s eyebrows shoot up.

“You two are sure fast!” she laughed nervously and put the books she was holding to a nearby desk. Then exhaled heavily one last time and smiled at us, “Well, I tried! Welcome to the family, Lara.”

With that, she came closer and gave the startled me a big and warm hug, to which I didn’t know how to react. Our last conversation was still circling in my mind. But she seemed genuine, and I embraced her warmness. After all, I could understand the desire to protect her brother. I had one too once…

“What are you doing here, Prim?” Demir asked her after we were done and she pointed at the books, “I brought you these. They may help you with.. you know what.”

“You can speak freely in front of Lara, Prim,” my soulmate took my hand.

“Fine,” the princess snorted, “These have all the information we have on the nation that inhabits The White Archipelago. And it may help us in the upcoming war with them. Considering…”

She got quiet and I felt something off.

“Considering what?” I asked.

“Considering that our Emperor does not want to fight them at full force and save as many of them as possible.”

Suddenly, it got really quiet in the room.

“How bad is it?” I asked them both.

“Your brother is persistent,” was all that the princess told me, “He wouldn’t give up… He is ready to risk all your people just to get you back.”

“And this is what strange about it,” I heard myself saying, “This is not like him. Gideon is…pragmatic. He never takes unnecessary risks, he calculates things, he plans.”

“What makes you think he doesn’t do that now?” Demir smiled sadly, “I can already tell that he is not stupid. They take the fight to the cliffs as soon as dragons arrive. Warriors of light can maneuverer better between rocks, they can go lower than dragons…They use every advantage that they have. He is a very good leader. I have to give him that.”

“Still. The people of the White Archipelago never go to wars to other lands. We just live our life, serve our goddess and protect the Citadel of Light. This is our main aim in life, to keep the Light,” I tried to explain to them and both siblings looked at me with concern on their faces.

“Sometimes,” Demir came to his desk and sat on top of it, taking one of the books that Prim brought into his hands, “There are personal reasons for wars, Lara. It is possible that your brother just really wants you back.”

“He wouldn’t risk our people just for me,” I tried to reason and caught his eye.

“I don’t know, my love,” he had a vague smile on his lips, “Sometimes I think that I could risk everything for you…”

“And that’s a very thing to hear from your emperor!” Prim rolled her eyes, “Anyway, I see that you are both tired enough for today and we can discuss everything tomorrow. Lara, I will find you after breakfast. We have a lot to do.”

“Really?” I looked at her in surprise, not having even a remote idea what she and I had to do together after me being absent for so many days.

“Really!” she snorted, “That royal gerdian wedding is not going to plan itself! There are too many things to consider! And we’ll have to start with fabrics for your dresses and…”

“Dresses?” I looked at her in horror, “As in plural?”

“Of course,” she looked at me as if I was saying some kind of nonsense, “You need one for the morning blessing ceremony, one for the main wedding ceremony, one for the reception ball, and then probably one more for the evening. Not to mention your engagement and official announcement. And what you will be wearing on your wedding night…”

“All right!” Demir jumped off the table, “I think we are done for tonight. And I really don’t want my b***d sister to have anything to do with what my wife will be wearing on our wedding night. So, thank you very much, Prim, for all your help, but right now it’s time to go.”

“Of course,” she scoffed, “I need to contact all designers, gardeners, chefs…”

“Off you go, sis!” he pointed her at the door and she just smirked at us and picked up her dress.

“See you tomorrow!” the princess waved her goodbye, “Don’t stay up too late. Too much work to do from now on!”

She left leaving a floral scent behind her and I came closer to my now fiancé. It was still strange to call him that but I enjoyed every moment of it.

He opened his arms for me and I pressed myself against his hard chest in a warm embrace.

“You are sad now,” he stated, not asked.

“This gerdian mark thing will be really annoying with you always knowing how I feel, right?” I chuckled, “How am I ever going to pretend in front of you now?”

“You don’t,” he brushed his fingers through my hair, “We are supposed to always be honest with each other, remember?”

“Yeah,” I sighed, “I want to speak to him, Demir. I want to speak with my brother.”

“I am not sure that’s such a great idea, Lara.”

“I know him. I think I can talk him out of it. Just imagine if we can avoid this unnecessary war!”

“I have to admit,” he pulled me even closer, “That sounds good. But… I am starting to think that maybe your brother is just not in his right mind…”

“Maybe,” I agreed, “That’s also a possibility because all this is so not like him. But it’s only more reason for me to talk to him. I would know. And if that’s the case… there are rules. A mad person can’t be the leader of the White Archipelago.”

“Now we are talking,” my gerdian smirked, “But just for the record, I still don’t like it.”

“Thank you,” I stood on the tips of my toes and reached his nose to give it a light k**s.

However, the next second, he lifted me in his hands and moved in the direction of the bed.

“I think we had enough of everything for one day, Lara,” he smiled at me and I noticed the sparks of dark magic dancing wildly in his eyes, “Time to celebrate your coming back home!”

Home… A smile formed on my lips. The Gerdian Empire was my home now… Wherever this man was – was my home. And it made me truly happy, letting me forget all the troubles. At least for now…