The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon

MIRA

“You mean to tell me that Agnes, the dragoness who hates all humans and especially my family is your aunt and one of the main decision-makers on our case?” I whisper and roll my eyes at the same time as we follow the dragon princess to gods know where.

This doesn’t sound good.

“Why would she hate your family?” Derrien looks at me questioningly.

“Oh, I have news too,” I chuckle, “She was Aaron Brookland’s soulmate. We had a conversation earlier today.”

“That’s a really small world!” my fiancé chuckles, taking my hand, “Everything is going to be all right… Don’t worry!”

“I hope so…”, I sigh, trusting myself to him once again.

We enter a huge room with very high ceilings and a huge balcony on the left. The balcony is where Agnes is heading. White long curtains are being blown by the wind at a peaceful pace and behind them, I notice a figure of a man. Tall and well-built, long black hair – this is not how one would imagine a grandfather.

He turns when he hears our steps and a warm smile spreads over his face.

“Derrien!” he spreads his arms and gives his grandson a long and tight hug. And as soon as he is done, his attention is on me, “And this must be Miradora! What a beauty!”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” I curtsy but as soon as I am up, I end up in the same warm embrace.

“Mira, this is my grandfather, King Orion,” Rien shines, introducing us.

“Come here, girl! We are practically family now!” the king says and I chuckle at that.

“Thank you,” I say, blushing and notice how Agnes rolls her eyes.

“They are not married yet,” she says and Rien quickly moves towards me, as if he is guarding me against something.

“This has been decided already,” he says to her, “She is mine! She is my soulmate!”

“And her ancestor was my soulmate, nephew. It doesn’t mean as much to them as it does to us. They feel it differently,” she says, taking a seat and leaning on it with her back, her arms crossed on her chest.

“You knew one human, aunt”, Rien snorts, “That’s not enough to judge all of them.”

“Your father knew more and look where it got him,” she shrugs.

“My mother was a gerdian,” Rien says calmly, “We are very different. But, please, by all means, tell me what happened to my father. I want to know this as well…”

“Sit down, son,” the King gestures at the empty seats. I want to take one, but Derrien pulls me by my hand and quickly positions me on his lap. That’s a bit embarrassing in the presence of the royal family of dragons themselves but I decide against making a scene at this point in time. Especially considering they all react as if it’s completely normal. Besides, I want to listen to the story too.

“Your father was a great man,” King Orion starts speaking after looking at the skies for a while, “Ever since he was little, he was very promising. So many talents in one boy… He and Agnes were best of friends… We were a very happy family once…”

His voice is trembling and it feels strange, considering what a massive impression he produces when you see his formidable profile.

“When my wife died… and she was my soulmate… I thought I was going to die as well. Demir took the ruling into his hands and Agnes helped me to survive this and come to my senses. And not long after this, she met her mate, Aaron. You already know how that ended. Demir was doing for his sister what she did for me. He saw the agony, the pain, the consequences… Even if dragons survive after losing their mate, they are never the same… Agnes survived too. We are two of the very few who outlived their mates by a lot. Most die within a year or so. After Demir saw what suffering that is, he swore to never seek his mate. He never wished to find her… But as they say – if you want to make the gods laugh, tell them your plans! He got curious… he wanted to know what is there in the world except for Agnegard. And he flew away… And on his journey, he found a girl, beautiful as a nymph… Blue eyes like sapphires, black as night long hair… She was running away from her brother. Her brother… he was a cruel man. Unhealthy. Obsessed with his sister. Not in a good way. She tried to fight him off but she was weaker than him. Demir saved the maiden but at the last moment, she asked not to kill her brother… She was a kind soul… Demir looked at her and knew that she was his soulmate. And because of her, he let her brother go. And this was the biggest mistake of his life!”

The king sighs heavily and takes a sip of his wine and I feel how Rien clenches his fists until his knuckles are white. Carefully I place my hand on his and give him a light squeeze, bringing him back to reality.

“A dragon cannot leave his soulmate once he or she has found that person,” Orion continues, “And your father couldn’t leave your mother! He kept going to see her and they were planning to escape together. But her brother…that bastard Ghardin! He… he…”

It’s obvious that it is extremely hard for the king to speak about this.

“He captured Demir!” Agnes interjects, standing up from her seat, “He planned it well. It’s next to impossible to capture a dragon but he created a special cell for him. The one which will restrain his powers and make him weak while he is there.”

Rien and I look at each other. I know what he is thinking. This must be the exact same cell that he was kept in during his short imprisonment. It explains so well how they had something like this ready in such a short time!

“Only b***d magic can bind magical powers”, I say, “How did they…”

“Get his b***d?” Agnes chuckles darkly, “You guess!”

I don’t say a word. By now it’s obvious that it was Rien’s mother who got his b***d for Ghardin. But why?

“Yes,” the princess nods, “I see that you are both clever enough to figure out that it was her! She betrayed him! And the worst thing, to capture him, Ghardin threatened him with her life. With a knife at her throat, he made the mighty dragon, the famous warrior, our kind’s best hope for the bright future…to enter the cell willingly! And that cell is where he died! He died in tortures because Ghardin was experimenting on him, studying dragons! He tore his limbs, drained his b***d, he picked him apart… It was a horrible death!”

A tear rolls down my cheek and I hold Derrien’s hand as strong as I only can. It seems that I shouldn’t be able to even imagine how he feels right now yet somehow I do! Empty… Like there is a huge black hole inside my heart and I fall down there. Alone, completely alone…

“Rien,” I brush his cheek and make him look at me. I want to tell him so much at that moment but I know that I don’t need you. Somehow, our inner thoughts are in complete synchronization. I feel what he feels and he knows what I want to say.

You are not alone, my love! We will get through this together. You are never going to be alone ever again!

We touch our foreheads and just sit like this for a while, my hands around his shoulders, his – on my waist.

“I went to try and save him with my best warriors,” Agnes continues, “But we only found his dead body. Your mother got married the next day. That’s soulmates for you!”

No one says anything anymore…

“Did you speak to her?” I ask in the middle of this heavy silence and the dragoness looks at me in shock.

“What would I speak to her about?” she sounds appalled, “If I saw her I would have broken her neck! And I swore to Demir to protect the w***e!”

“Don’t speak like this about her,” Rien cuts in, “And if you swore to protect her, then you failed miserably. It was a forced marriage and the husband treated her horribly. Besides, she was already pregnant…”

“And that’s the only thing I regret!” Agnes admits, “I wish I knew! I would have taken you home sooner, protected you…”

“But you were too busy hating all soulmates to find out the other side of the story,” I say, sighing.

“You are too much like him!” Agnes snorts, “Your ancestor!”

“I take that as a compliment!” I grin at her.

“Easy, ladies!” the King suddenly chuckles, “Derrien, my boy, I see why you are so fascinated! She is like a little dragon herself!”

“That she is,” Rien k****s my temple and I give his hand another squeeze.

“Enough of the past!” the King says, “What happened happened! Let’s not drown in sorrows! I want to celebrate finding my grandson! We will have a feast tonight! And all your friends are invited!”

“Grandfather,” Derrien carefully places me on another seat and stands up, “About what we talked about earlier…”

“Yes, my boy, I remember…” the king nods, and his expression changes from excited to a bit sad, “I’ve been thinking about it and I am afraid I came to a conclusion that dragons would not be leaving Agnegard to help you! Derrien, there are just hundreds of us left. We need to preserve our kind and to do that we need to stay here, hidden and secure. I am sorry, my boy, but my answer is no.”