The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon

MIRA

We walk into a room full of women, young and old. Some are way too young and some are so old that they can barely walk. But I guess Tristan just wants their b***d’s abilities and nothing else matters to him.

Some of the faces seem familiar to me but however much I struggle I can’t remember their names or how I know them.

Tristan leads me confidently to the orator’s pedestal and helps me up the stairs, standing in front of the crystal that makes one’s voice louder. I notice, that right next to the crystal there is a piece of paper. Probably my speech.

I throw a careful look at Dereck and he doesn’t look happy with everything that is going on but he still nods to me reassuringly. We both know that for now, we need to go with the flow.

“Ladies, my fiancée and I are really happy to see you in our home.” Tristan says, casually naming the palace our home, “As you can see, lady Miradora is ready to fight already! And she has something to say to all of you!”

He gestures at my battle outfit and that’s how I know that it wasn’t a coincidence that everything happened right before my training with Dereck.

He directs me to the crystal and gestures at the paper. My eyes run quickly through the words and …Oh, gods! I look at him with hesitation in my eyes but he quickly plants a k**s at my temple, whispering, “It needs to be done, Mira.”

I swallow once again. Damn it! I don’t want to say any of it before I figure things out.

“Ladies,” I read the first word and already feel that my mouth is too dry, “Our great Kingdom is in danger. In fact, we have been in danger for a while without even knowing it.”

My voice trembles and Tristan puts his hand on my shoulder, squeezing it lightly in a sign of support.

“Our closes neighbor – the Gerdian Empire has been plotting to attack us for a while now. And as you all know we were never able to defeat them before. Their dark magic is too powerful and because we lost a war many years ago we were sacrificing our women every year. Twenty five young girls were sent to gerdians to do as they pleased. And we were promised that they would be treated nicely…”, I stop talking and receive another squeeze, a bit more harsh this time, “But this is not what is really happening there. In reality, during my time at the Selection, gerdians were treating girls horribly and… and were killing them as they pleased. Only a few including myself managed to survive, all thanks to… my fiancé and beloved, the Sapphire Knight of the Akyrian Kingdom, and our new Crown Prince Tristan Ragnard. This hero…”

My voice breaks again and my eyes fall to a girl in the traditional Southern Tribe dress. She looks at me and smirks. And so is the blonde next to her. I know them and… and I feel bad when I think about them.

I am clearly being used here. I should not finish this speech. I shouldn’t talk to anyone before I figure everything out myself.

“Excuse me,” I say, touching myself in my signature “I am going to faint this very moment move”, “I don’t feel too well…”

I try to walk away but Tristan catches me in his arms and it looks like he is comforting me.

“Mira, if you can’t do it for me and your country, do it for your family and your father,” his voice is stone-cold and I look at him in horror as he gives me another harsh squeeze.

“What do you mean?” I whisper.

“I mean that your father is treated in the royal healing department, it would be a shame if something happens to him there,” he says coldly and pushes me back in the direction of the crystal.

I clear my throat and continue, “No, I have to finish this before I leave. This hero uncovered the elaborate plan of the gerdians to take down our Kingdom and managed to postpone their attack. But they are coming. And when they come next time – they would want to turn us all into their slaves. This cannot happen. We need to stand against them. Together!”

Gods, I hate this speech.

“There is a reason why gerdians were choosing specific girls, within our b***d, there is something that helps us accept dark magic. And if we can accept it, we can possess it. More than that, we can later share it with our men. And this is the key to winning this war and protecting our Kingdom. We can destroy the Gerdian Empire once and for all! But you need to be willing to help us! You need to be willing to fight them! You need to…”

“We are ready!” the girl who is clearly from the Southern Tribe jumps up to her feet.

“We are with you!” someone else stands up.

“I am in!”

“And me!”

“And me!”

“Let’s kill them the way they killed all those girls!”

“For our freedom!”

“For the Crown Princess and her Prince!”

The whole room turns into chaos itself. And before I manage to do anything else, Tristan pulls me by my hand to the entrance. Dereck runs after us but he growls at him, “Your training is canceled, Ashterton. Come tomorrow!”

We are back at my room in no time and as soon as he pushes me inside I hear the sound of the door lock and know that now his barrier starts working again. I thought that it’s for my protection but now I see how wrong I’ve been…

“Mira,” his hands land on my shoulders, and I shrug them off.

“What was that right now?” I turn to see him, angry as the chaos itself, “Were you threatening my father?!”

“No, Mira, of course not!” he sounds sweet. That’s how people talk to children when they lie to them. He takes a step in my direction and I take a step back.

“Then why did you tell that?!”

“Mira, I am sorry I scared you. I just needed you to finish this speech. You have no idea how important that is,” he speaks softly now. Stretching his hand to my face. I flinch but in no time his hands are around me, pulling me closer and pressing me against his torso.

“Tristan! What are you doing?!” I try to push him away.

“I’m so sorry, my love,” he covers my neck with k****s, “I didn’t want to upset you. It had to be done… Soon everything will be over and we will lead a happy life together. Just wait a bit more… Mira…”

He pushes me to the bed and lands on top of me, pinning me to the mattress with his weight, continuing to shower me with k****s.

“Tristan, no!” I say but he doesn’t listen.

“We’ll get married… you will never remember…”, he mutters something completely ignoring me.

“Stop it, please!” I shout but only hear the sound of fabric tearing as his hands start to greedily devour my body.

“Oh, gods,” he g****s, “I’ve been waiting for you for so long… I lose my mind around you…”

He is mad, he is completely mad. And the worst thing – he is so strong, too strong for me! He tears off buttons of his collar and I… give out a loud sob. And then another, and then one more, covering my face with my hands.

He pauses, watching me for some time. And then slowly gets off me. I feel a cold sheet covering me and shudder at the sensation, opening my eyes. Tristan pulls me into a hug and k****s my temple softly.

“I am sorry, Mira”, he whispers, “It’s all right, I will not hurt you. I can wait until our wedding night. It’s going to be amazing. It’s all right…”

And I am not sure if he is saying that to me or to himself… Then, when I stopped crying and calmed down, sitting quietly in his embrace, he stands up and walks away. Only to return with a fresh glass of “elixir”.

“Take your medicine, Mira,” he says calmly and I look straight into his eyes. He is calm.

“I…I already took it,” I say weakly.

“You need to take it again, just trust me…”, he sits right next to me, brushing his fingers over my cheek and then my hair as I obediently take the glass and start drinking. Thank gods Dereck and I managed to swap the bottles earlier today!

When I am done, he waits a bit and then smiles softly at me, “Mira, forget everything that happened right now. You were never upset because of me.”

Huh. That’s how he does it. I swallow and nod, “I wasn’t.”

“Good,” he says and places a k**s on my forehead, “You are really waiting for the wedding and you are very happy that we are very much in love. You want to become mine. Right?”

“Right,” I say quietly.

“And now go to sleep,” he softly pushes me to lie on the pillow, “When you wake up you will miss me.”

“Yes,” I say and close my eyes.

I wait for some time but he doesn’t leave. From time to time I feel his fingers brushing over my skin or hair. And then, in about half an hour, he sighs heavily and places a k**s on my naked shoulder. After that he leaves the room, closing me inside once again.

Tears start rolling down my face as I sit up. I run to the shower and take a long one. I feel so dirty even though nothing happened…

What Tristan is doing scares me. And my family in the palace not out of goodness of king’s heart but for a reason. In that way, they can control me better.

I put on a simple light lavender dress and sit on the bed once again. I get the locket that the gerdian gave me at the ball from under a heavy lamp on my bedside table and look at it once again. He said that he would come for me… And now I know that I want it to be true. I’d be safer with him than with Tristan…

With these thoughts I fall to my bed and darkness consumes me within seconds…

I find myself in an unfamiliar room… A fireplace, a sofa, a desk at the huge window. I don’t know this place and yet I feel like I’ve been here before.

“Mira!”, a voice behind me makes me turn and I see the most gorgeous man, looking at me as if he has found what he’s been looking for, “Mira, you are back!”