The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon

MIRA

“Ouch!” I say when Isidore pokes my head once again. “I am seriously starting to think that you are doing that on purpose!”

“Oh, do you?” she smirks.

And I know the reason. I just mentioned to her that she is sitting next to Dereck at the coronation banquet. Her red cheeks speak volumes. And yet no matter how many hints I give them and even if I ask bluntly, they are both silent… But I know pretty well that those two… are in the middle of a romance blooming. Yes, let’s call it that!

“Ouch!” I look at Isidore again, “You know what? If you accidentally end up hurting my poor skull again it may as well just happens so that we’ll be out of rooms and you will have to share with Dereck!”

The appalled look on her face is totally worth it!

“I’ll stay in Morgan’s house!” she retorts when she has gathered herself.

“I am afraid all rooms are taken there as well,” Morgan snorts, “It’s the coronation of the century after all!”

“You too are absolutely not helpful!” she turns away after she is done with the last hairpin. No one in the whole world can style hair prettier than Isidore Vierne. But only me, the future Empress, is considered worthy enough of the honour. All my hair is up today, creating a cushion to hold that gerdian crown. In just a few moments, Rien and I will give our oath to be the rulers of the New Gerdian Empire!

I repeat my speech in my mind for the one-hundredth time, pacing around the room in my luxurious golden dress and matching cape. Rien will have a black suit and cape with golden details of the same shade… We are supposed to look like a perfect couple always now.

My role today is important! Everybody is waiting for our announcement about the new role of the Akyrian Kingdom. And I will have a surprise for them. Although Derrien is now acknowledged as the ruler of both – the Empire and the Kingdom, in all honesty, Tristan didn’t have the right to gamble with the life of the whole country. He needed to seek permission from the Akyrian Council and he did not… However, all we wanted was to stop the war. And we did. And now the Akyrian Kingdom will get the independence they were fighting for. But this will be better than ever. The previous royal line is now dead, Tristan was the last representative of it. There is his mother, of course, the cousin of the late King Bendar. But women can’t be sole queens… Which is a huge load of crap if you ask me, but this is a problem for another day.

Today we will offer the Akyrian Council, who is present at the Coronation, to have a vote for their new King. And our suggestion would be Dereck! He doesn’t even know it yet. But my brother back in Akyria was working hard as one of the new members of the Council to promote him. He is also seen as a hero who put an end to the war of the Crazy King. The Golden Knight they call him now. And he hates it! That probably happened because we all were wearing gold armour that day. And Tristan installed many recording crystals everywhere, which actually turned out to be pretty useful when we found them. The best moments of the confrontation were spread later, to make sure that the country has a new hero… Because everybody likes to believe in a hero. Luckily, this time they will have a worthy one!

We are also announcing the new rules for the new Selection. Yes, we didn’t abolish it in the end… Gerdians still need wives that can give them children with dark magic. And many special girls are born within Akyria. But from now on the girls decide, not the men! Only willing girls would be able to come to The Dark Selection, they will know why they have been chosen and they can leave if they don’t find a man suitable for them. It is going to be their choice from the beginning until the end. Now the men will have to impress the girls, not vice versa. They will have to earn their trust, respect, and love. Just like Rien earned mine… And the girls will be protected at all times! Luckily, I have a perfect person to ensure that. Lady Cecilia cried when she found out that not only will she get her job back, but that from now on she would be in charge. And now I am not sorry for the girls who will be under her watch, I am sorry for the gerdians… She sure doesn’t trust them now! Good luck, my dark lords!

A lot of changes are waiting for the Gerdian Empire. We are going to check every single couple that got married after the Dark Selection that still exists. We are going to find every akyrian woman and check if they need help if they are being treated nicely. This is going to be my job from now on.

And Rien will be taking care of dragons’ integration with us. A lot of them stayed here and everything happened so fast that we didn’t have time for any rules. Luckily, they respect us both enough to behave. But tension arises within the Empire. Not everyone is happy since gerdians are not the most powerful men anymore.

“Are you ready?” Agnes enters the room in her beautiful white and golden dress and a small, elegant crown.

Soon she will become the new Dragon Queen. Agnes has decided to stay in Agnegard after all. To me, she doesn’t look happy still. That’s why I prepared a little gift for her.

“I have something for you,” I smile and quickly walk to my desk, opening one of the drawers.

“Isn’t it your coronation?” she smirks, “I am the one who is supposed to give you gifts today!”

“Well, I only got this yesterday from my brother. I didn’t have a chance to talk to you properly before now,” I smile, getting a pile of old journals. Her face changes when she sees them.

“Is that…what I think it is?” she says in a broken voice, keeping her posture at all times. Morgan and Isidore quietly leave the room.

“It’s Aaron Brookland’s journals. All that exists. Or maybe all that we know of,” I smile and hand her the bundle, “The upper two are… Well, they were written after he left Agnegard. He doesn’t write freely about dragons and the city but he does write about them in coded words. And he also writes about you… A lot… Our historians didn’t get what he truly meant in those journals, but I think you will…”

She accepts them with grace and something blinks in her eyes. Of course, I would never say it out loud and she will never admit that it’s a tear…

She leaves me alone as well, all my friends have their places assigned during the coronation and have to be there before me. I didn’t tell Agnes about the poem that she would find in the journals, awkward (Aaron wasn’t a good poet) but beautiful none the least. I didn’t tell her about the several drawings of her that are there as well. That’s for her. And I really hope that it all would give her the closure she needs so much.

I feel him before he appears in the room, his flame tickles me as always, his hands wrapping against my waist turning me to face him.

“Rien,” I murmur just before he claims my lips with a passionate k**s. We still have a lot of work to do within the Empire and behind its borders, but the main crisis is over and we would finally have time for each other again starting today. Just spending nights with him isn’t enough for me.

“Mira!” he breathes into my neck and for a moment I forget myself in his embrace.

“Rien,” I chuckle when his hands start looking for the ties of my dress, “If you take it off, we would have to cancel the coronation! It took me 5 hours to get ready today. And also, Isidore will kill you!”

“And that would be terrible, wouldn’t it,” he smirks.

“Of course, it would be!” I roll my eyes and brush my hand over his cheek, “After all, I wouldn’t be able to live without you!”

“You would never have to,” he says, taking my hand in his, “Brace yourself, Mira, we are doing it!”

“I know,” I sigh, “I am ready!”

Flames of dark magic consume us, transporting us to our new life…

ISIDORE

It’s been hours and he hasn’t taken his eyes off me. Ignoring him becoming harder and harder!

“It was a beautiful wedding, wasn’t it?” Dereck smirks.

“Ah-huh. It was beautiful the first time you mentioned it and it still stayed like that in my mind after the other five times you said the same thing!” I roll my eyes. Honestly, doesn’t he get a hint?!

“Isi,” he sighs heavily, unbuttoning his collar roughly, the golden button that was holding it on place flies away and lands on my skirt. I quickly hide it in my palm. We already agreed that what happened in Agnegards would never repeat. And after it happened again in the Gerdian Empire, we refreshed our promise to never speak of it again. And then after the wedding…

“Isidore!” he snaps at me, “Are you even listening? I am your future king, for Gods’ sake!”

“Oh, I am sorry, your Majesty,” I want to slap him…just like back then… I clench my fist with his button so hard that my knuckles turn white… I want at least some memory of him when it’s all over… At least this stupid button!

“Isidore, please,” he looks like he can’t breathe, “I can’t do this anymore!”

“You wouldn’t have to! After tonight we would never…”

He doesn’t even let me finish when he grabs me by my hand and pulls me into his embrace, only to throw me to the cushioned seat and pin me with his body on the top of mine. I lose my breath because of this bastard! Again! Hating my own weakness… He is obviously still in love with another and just using me to forget her…

Something cold lands in on my hand and I don’t get it… What the…

Click…

“What?” I mumble helplessly in his arms when he slams his lips into mine with a smirk.

“No more games, Isi! I had enough…” he whispers into my ear, his hand lifting up my skirt. I know that I wouldn’t be able to resist the temptation, but I am still curious about what he did to my hand.

I bring it closer to my face to see and…

“Dereck Ashterton! Are you out of your mind?!” I shout at him, “Did you just put an engagement bracelet onto my hand?!”

“Yeah,” he says while battling with my underskirt. Somehow he is still so clumsy with all that… his passion and ability to last long compensate for everything though…

“What the chaos were you thinking?!” I scream, laughing hysterically in the process. I try to take the damn thing off but it seems impossible. “What is wrong with this thing?!”

“Nothing,” he chuckles looking at my petty attempts, “Once you put it on, you can’t take it off until one of us is dead.”

He demonstrates me his own bracelet and I gasp for air, he doesn’t lose time and claims my lips once again.

“Outrageous!” I shout, wishing to slap him, but he catches my hand and k****s the wrist next to the bracelet.

“Save it, Isidore!” he says seriously, “No more games! It’s a family artifact! It would have never locked on you if you didn’t love me. Or if I didn’t love you…”

“You, you…” I don’t know what to say, tears start rolling down my cheek, washing away all the desperation of the past few weeks… All the pain, all the doubt… He loves me! I finally found him…

AGNES

He is back here again! Just what does he want here in Agnegard?! He comes and goes as he pleases! And I am seriously considering closing the pass that I gave to him! Enough is enough! There isn’t a single girl in Agnegard that he hasn’t slept with! Is he doing a second round or something?

“My princess,” Rick bows before me, and an eye roll are overdue but I hold myself back.

“I am not your princess,” I said as coldly as I can, “You a guest here, not my subject.”

“I am a free man,” he chuckles with his devilish smile, “And I can serve whomever I choose!”

“I am sure you kind and queen will be happy to hear that!” I snort, “Cut to the chase! What do you want from me?”

“I want to give something to you,” he smiles, piercing me with his beautiful blue eyes. Honestly, beauty is a curse in his case!

“All right,” I sigh, “What is it?”

“Freedom, my princess,” he smirks and I just start walking away. I shouldn’t have even started to talk to him!

“I have a ship at the Topaz Sea,” he says quickly and I stop, listening, but not turning to face him, “It will sail off in two days. I want to travel around the world. I want to see it! After seeing Agnegard and Gerdian Empire I realized how little I know about the world…And I know you felt it too. Am I right?”

“What are you proposing here exactly?” I ask, too nervous to my liking…

“Come with me!” he says in a suddenly croaked voice and I give out a loud laugh.

“Are you kidding me? My coronation will soon take place!” I shake my head and keep walking to the exit.

“Your father has already approved,” he smirks. I don’t see it but I know he does! That devil of a man!

“You are lying!” I turn to face him and see that he is suddenly too close.

“I am not,” he smiles, “Go talk to him about it. But long story short, he’s been alive for hundreds of years and can be a king for a couple of years more… He wants you to be happy. And you are not.”

“And with you, I will be happy?” I snort in his face but his confidence is still there.

“We’ll see,” he raises his brow, still smirking, “At least you could try something new. Aren’t you just dying here among all those ancient people? Don’t you want to feel alive again? You will get to see places, to experience things… Just like your soulmate did when he was alive? I bet you wanted to see all the places that he saw! I can help you with that! And I promise I will keep you safe while…”

“Oh, please,” I roll my eyes at him after all, “I am a golden dragon! If anyone will be keeping someone safe, it would be me!”

“Glad that you agreed!” he bows, far too playfully to my taste. What do I get myself into here?

“I’ll be ready to leave tomorrow,” I say to him arrogantly. On purpose. “And don’t get any funny ideas into your head! We are just traveling companions!”

“Don’t worry, princess,” he grins, “I promise that I wouldn’t even touch you!”

I start to walk away when I think I hear, “If you don’t ask for it yourself…”

CHRONICLES OF THE GERDIAN ERA

Prince Demir Darmerion Derwood was born on the 3rd day of the Second Moon of the 15345th Spring of the Gerdian Era. The first of many children of Emperor Derrien Darmerion Derwood and his beloved Empress Miradora Darmerion Derwood, nee lady Freyn of the Akyrian Empire. He had an active youth, typical for a male dragon, and traveled around the world incognito with his best friend and advisor. He was crowned at the age of 345 when his parents retired and left for Agnegard. He was a great and wise noble leader until the great disaster occurred…