The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon

MIRA

That’s not a nice feeling when you suspect your fiancé of drugging you. And you don’t even know why exactly would he do something like that.

Tristan sits right next to me during breakfast in the garden and my hand is in his as we are both done with our meals and now we are just spending some “quality time” together as the first couple of the kingdom. Noble lords and ladies are walking at a distance but no one comes too close to the guards protecting us.

I look at Tristan and I can tell that he is in love. Either that or he is the best actor in the whole damn world. But I doubt that.

“What are you thinking about?” he asks as he brings my hand to his lips and k****s it gently.

“How do you know I’ve been thinking about anything?” I ask him and he smiles.

“You always wrinkle your nose when you do”, he admits and I giggle a bit.

“I never thought you know me so well!”

“Luckily, we will have our whole lives now to get to know each other,” another k**s, this time on my wrist. Which is intimate, too intimate to do it in the public.

“Naughty Crown Prince!” I giggle and snatch my hand away from him, “Don’t forget where we are! This kind of thing is done when…”

“I don’t think I can wait any longer, Mira,” he leans closer and whispers into my ear, “I’ve waited for you for so long!”

“I know,” I try to master a shy smile, “But I want everything to be perfect. As traditions teach us. You know?”

“I do,” he puts his forehead on my shoulder, secretly planting a k**s there as well. Oh, gods! This is getting complicated! And all I know is just that something is off. My family is so happy about our union, my mother is up in the sky with all the wedding preparations. She has almost everything ready and even Tristan’s mother seems happy, although I don’t think she likes me too much. They both strolled into my room in the morning with fabrics and magazines and seamstresses… And only Tristan could rescue me from them by taking me out to have breakfast together.

“You are thinking about something again,” he says, his breath is on my neck, “What is it?”

“Our wedding,” I say and don’t even lie this time.

“Oh,” a playful smile appears on his lips, “Of course! Mira, I just want you to know that you can do whatever you want with it. There are absolutely no limitations for you – any colours, any flowers, any decorations. Whatever makes you happy – I’ll take care of it!”

“I don’t think our mothers would let me get involved too much though”, I snort, “It seems like it’s their perfect wedding and not ours!”

“Do you want me to talk to them?” he asks, his nose brushing over my earlobe.

“Uhm, no! I don’t want to anger them and, besides, after everything they deserve a treat. Plus they both have impeccable tastes so I think we are safe there,” I try to distance myself, but he catches me into his arms and lifts me up from my seat, placing me on his lap, “Tristan! Stop it! Everyone is watching us!”

“Mira,” he sighs somewhere into my chest, “I am sorry, it’s just hard to keep my hands off you. I love you so much!”

He is looking at me, expectation in his eyes. And something inside me urges me to say the same thing. But that’s exactly what is bothering me. I know one thing for sure – I am not in love with Tristan. I don’t reciprocate his feelings, so why the chaos do I want to say that I do?

“Your Highness! Lady Freyn!” an unknown guard bows to both of us in turns, “Marquis Ashterton has arrived!”

“Oh, great!” I jump off Tristan’s knees as fast as I only can but he immediately stands up and pulls me closer to him by my waist, “Lead him to us!”

“I still don’t know if I should have allowed you to train again”, my fiancé whispers into my ear.

“Oh, actually, that reminds me,” I turn to him, “How about you meet all my friends? We are getting married so soon but you still don’t know anyone except for Dereck and Rick. We need to fix that, don’t you think?”

“If you say so,” he smiles, “Invite whoever you want and tell me the date and time. I’d be happy to meet them all.”

“Great!” I giggle like an i***t but Tristan seems satisfied with that, “I’ll make the list and send invitations. I would also like to invite the same people to the wedding if that’s all right with you.”

Of course,“ he brushes his hand over my cheek and even distinctive coughing behind our backs doesn’t make him take it away. “Lord Ashterton,” Tristan acknowledges Dereck and I turn to see him in his battle outfit with our training swords.

“Your Highness!” he bows, “Lady Freyn.”

“Oh, please, just call me Mira as always! Don’t be boring!” I snort and catch my fiancé’s disapproving gaze, “We are friends, aren’t we?”

“If you say so, my lady,” Dereck bows again like the good little soldier that he is.

“Drop the formalities, Ashterton,” Tristan says leniently, “If you are my wife’s friend then you are mine too.”

“Thank you, your Highness,” Dereck bows slightly again, “It would be my honour.”

“Mira is still not feeling fully recovered so be easy on her,” Tristan says firmly, “I don’t want her to get hurt.”

“Of course,” my friend nods.

“Which reminds me,” my fiancé waves his hand and a maid brings me a glass with familiar medicine.

“Oh, thanks!” I giggle again and drink it as fast as I can. From the corner of my eye, I see Dereck’s concerned look. And Tristan’s satisfied one.

“Then I guess I’ll see you later,” he smirks and k****s me on a cheek, before leaving.

“Mira,” my friend comes closer but I signal him to stop.

“My room. Now. Follow me quickly and distract my maids!”

***

After I emptied my stomach once again and changed into my battle outfit, we leave for the secluded part of the garden.

“So, what was all that about?” Dereck asks.

“You tell me,” I look directly into his eyes, “You are the one who knows more than me!”

“Mira, what happened to you after we brought you here? They didn’t let us see you!” he looks troubled.

“Wait a minute, you brought me here? Not Tristan?”

“No, he handled everything at the Selection castle and gave you to us unconscious. He told us that gerdians were hurting you and this was the only way to save you!” Dereck looks guilty and that’s how I know that this is not the whole story yet.

“Continue,” I say calmly while pretending to check my sword. Guards are watching us from a distance.

“Well,” my friend hesitates and I give him a death glare, “In the middle of the road you woke up. You were asking us to take you back to the Selection castle. You said… You said you were in love with a gerdian.”

“Huh,” I sit on a verge of a stone, “Not possible…”

“Exactly!” Dereck exclaims, “That’s exactly what Rick, Nort, and I thought. And Tristan said that they charmed you, that they were giving you dark potions and drugging you, making you do what they wanted. You didn’t want to come home with us and we even had a fight. I had to give you Somnium Nox. But then something happened…”

“What?” I look at him intensely.

“A dragon came to look for you,” he sighs heavily, “He was huge and looking for something and I didn’t understand it at once. But when it was almost over and we were well hidden, I notice how you look at him before falling asleep. And he… the sounds that he was making. He was hurting… ” Dereck looks upset telling me all that, but he doesn’t stop, “I decided to take you home still. I was sure that this is a safe place for you. Especially since we knew that a war has started with the Empire. I thought that you would make your own decision when you wake up. But when you did… They didn’t let me see you. And then all those articles started to spread about how you are in love with Tristan and how he saved you. It smelled…rotten.”

“Unbelievable,” is all I say.

“But then I came to the palace on the day of your engagement ball and I was attacked on my way. By a gerdian. He said that it’s all my fault. And on his neck, I saw a pendant. Your pendant. I threw it away when I realized that the dragon was looking for you. It threw him off his course as he almost found us. As he later explained to me, he could track you with the help of the pendant and your mark. But your mark was fresh and a bit weak, so the pendant was his best bet. And I blew it for the two of you.”

“Were you the one who hurt him?” I ask.

“No, I don’t know what happened there. He said that the king knows his disguise, so we didn’t have much time. I agreed to help you two to meet, he said he needs at least a minute alone with you.”

“For what?”

“To remind you,” Dereck smiles weakly and we both stay silent. After a while, he looks at me and asks, “Did you? Did you remember anything?”

“I don’t know,” I shrug my shoulders, “I don’t know if I remembered anything in particular. But I felt something… I know him. And I know that he would never hurt me…”

“I am so sorry, Mira,” my friend exhales heavily.

“That’s all right,” I say and slam my knee against his stomach, watching him fall to the ground and g***n with pain and smirk, “I forgive you now. And you are going to do more to really earn it!”