The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon

MIRA

The disappointment is heavy in the room. Our perfect plan of how to save everyone has just been shattered into tiny little pieces. If dragons are not going to help us then everything is bad. With just a half of gerdian army, we have a 50% chance of winning the war with Dargen and the Emperor. And then there is Tristan who is not wasting his time and creating dark mages by the minute. And it makes me sick to think what he has to do for that!

“Derrien, Mira,” King Orion calls for us, “I want you to know that I feel for you both… If anything, you are always welcome to stay here with us. You are a part of the royal family, after all!”

He smiles at us and we are both trying to do the same. Although I know very well that Rien’s brain already storming other possible solutions. And so is mine.

“You can think about it more,” the kind says, “There is no rush! And my doors will always be open for you. And for now, I want to celebrate your arrival! We will have a feast tonight and all your friends are invited!”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” I reply as Rien seems too preoccupied with his thoughts, “It would be an honour for us all.”

“Also, you will stay in the palace with Rien. Your friends can keep living in the house we already provided for you.”

“Thank you, grandfather,” my gerdian gathers his thoughts and forces a smile, “If that’s all right, we will leave now…”

“Of course,” Orion chuckles, “You had a long week. Have good rest, my boy”.

I throw one last glance at Agnes before servants come to show us the way and notice that she doesn’t look too happy about something. Maybe there is still light at the end of the tunnel?

We are brought to another spacious room, not far from the King’s chambers.

“The royal family probably resides in this wing,” I shrug my shoulders, but Derrien doesn’t reply anything.

I look around. The space is huge with the same high ceilings and a similar balcony. There is a bed on one end, also milky white with a canopy hanging at both sides. Two little sofas in front of each other on the other end and a big desk with everything necessary on top of it. There are two doors not far from the bed and I guess that they must be the bathroom and possibly the wardrobe.

“Rien,” I call for my fiancé and he turns on my call, his face looking so tired! I come closer to him and brush my palm over his cheek. “Rien, you do need some rest. Let’s go, I’ll make you a bath.”

He is not saying anything, just does everything that I ask him to as I help him undress while the water is filling the huge marble tub. I make him sit inside and start to carefully wash all the dirt of the past few days off him, using the sponge and soaps provided by the dragon.

“Everything is going to be all right,” I say the same phrase for the hundredth time, “We are going to get through this too.”

I massage some nice smelling soap into his hair as he closes his eyes. I wonder how I am going to get him out of here if he falls asleep right in the bathroom… He is huge and there is no way…

I don’t get to finish my thought as Rien quickly goes underwater and in a few good seconds gets out, washing away all the foam and getting out. I give him a towel quickly and he dries his body, throwing it away.

The next second he is next to me, lifting me up in his hands, walking back to the bed, and throwing me on it as if I weigh nothing.

“Rien!”I exclaim as he relieves me off my dress, his lips caressing his mark on my chest. A soft m**n escapes me as I arch my back.

“Mira,” he returns to my lips, covering them with his, “In the long run, you are all that I need…”

“Silly gerdian,” I brush his hair with my fingers, “Nothing is over yet! We’ll find a way to deal with everything. And then we’ll live our long and happy life together! I just know it!”

“Of course!” he chuckles and k****s me again.

He takes me slowly, enjoying every moment of it. And then we both fall asleep in each other’s arms.

When servants wake us up, it is already time to get ready for the feast. We find two sets of clothes for us and I try to hold back a laugh really hard when I see that they prepared a white suit and armour for Derrien. Have they seen him?

He looks at the clothes for a while but then just sighs and puts them on. I am almost done with my dress, which is also white and very beautiful at the same time – with intricate silver embroidery on the edges. Coming close to Rien, I brush my hand over his jacket, changing its colour to black and giggling. Luckily, it’s a very simple illusion spell.

“That’s more like it!” I k**s him on the cheek. He pulls me closer and his hand lands on my bare back – I couldn’t button the dress on my own.

“Oh,” he smirks, “I feel like taking you again right this very moment!”

“But you can’t,” I smirk, “Otherwise we’ll be late! Everyone is waiting for us. And I bet our friends are worried after our disappearance. So, just help me and let’s go!”

“Get married they said,” he mutters, “It’ll be fun they said!”

“You haven’t married me yet?” I chuckle.

“And we need to fix that as soon as possible,” he places a k**s on my naked shoulder and helps me with my buttons.

When we enter the palace’s dining hall, I have no words! Another stunning masterpiece of dragons. The hall could fit in thousands of people, yet there is only one long table in the middle, filled with around a hundred people. High ceilings are carved with stories from the past – mighty dragons, warriors, and beautiful maidens…

I notice Dereck, Rick and Isidore from afar and wave at them even before the herald announces our arrival to everyone. All eyes are on us as Rien leads me to the king and Agnes.

“Feeling better after some rest?” the king asks hopefully.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Rien replies.

“My boy, just call me grandfather!” the king chuckles but Derrien says nothing to that.

“Your Majesty, let me introduce to you our friends,” I say as our trio comes closer to us, “This is lady Isidore Vierne, Dereck Ashterton, and Rickard Avery. All from prominent families in the Akyrian Kingdom, where I come from. And also the noblest, loyal, and honest of people that I know!”

“This should be true,” the king says as Agnes rolls her eyes, “If you managed to pass all our tests.”

“They did!” I smile.

“Please, enjoy your stay with us! And also enjoy this evening in your honour!

Orion says and leaves us to speak to someone else. Agnes follows him.

We spend the night actively, loads of dragons are eager to meet either of us. No wonder, considering they have all the same people here for the last few hundreds of years or so.

As we sit at the table for the actual dinner, I realize for the first time during the day just how hungry I am.

However, before we can start, king Orion raises his glass and everyone gets quiet.

“I want to drink to my beloved grandson!” he smiles, “After so many years since Demir died… Agnes and I had no hope of seeing at least a glimpse of him again. But now we found his own flesh and b***d! And this has become the best present that I could have ever received! Now I can only hope that our dear Derrien and his lovely soulmate Mira will decide to join us and stay here in Agnegard! They are my family now and should be treated accordingly! Their friends are also honoured guests in my house! Here is to Derrien! Our new prince!”

They all raise their glasses to the skies now and I can’t help but notice a wave of whispers.

“A soulmate!”

“She is his soulmate!”

“Have you heard? A soulmate!”

Everybody takes a sip of their drinks but suddenly Rien raises from his seat! I look at him questioningly but he just winks at me.

“Pardon me, grandfather! I hope you will let me say a few words as well!” he smiles.

“Of course, my boy!” the king chuckles, and Agnes who is sitting next to him suddenly looks tense.

“Thank you,” Rien nods and then addresses everyone, “You all have no idea what it means for me to find you all! A home and a family! Two things that I have been lacking the most during my life. I am amazed at the beauty of Agnegard and at how welcoming and generous our kind is, even though I am not a pure-blooded dragon… However, I am afraid I cannot stay here.”

Whispers fill the room and I look at my fiancé, hoping that he knows what he is doing!

“As I have already said, I have fallen in love with Agnegard. But I can’t imagine living here! For me… real life is when you get to experience new things, meet new people… Real life has no limits. And I am sorry, but this is not what you have here. If I was born here, my life would be sad. I would have never found Mira and a very important piece of my life would be missing forever. I wish that Agnegard was opened and you could go into the real world and experience what I have experienced. I wish that you all could know the love that you feel towards your soulmate. Because without one… it’s not a life worth living!”