Chapter 14 - Liana's POV (Lucian)
All I could see was the brilliant blue from the comet enveloping me.
The place shook with the intensity of a nuclear explosion. The earth under our feet seemed like it shattered. A terrible reverberation was piercing my ears. My head felt like it would end up turning over. I felt a pair of warm hand cushion ear drums. Making the unbearable agony, calm down a little bit.
My eyes were tightly shut.
Or perhaps they were open but had no sight..
It must have been the aftermath of the intense luminescence. That dazzled my optical lobe and eye.
I impulsively held tighter onto the body that was hugging me.
It felt too sturdy and tough, something like a rock.
"LUCIAN! I asked you to stop the dragon spirit from exploding."
It was Draco's unmistakable voice. I turned my head after hearing it.
If it wasn't Draco, then who was it that was holding me. I tried to blink to restore my vision. But the pupils still needed time adjusting.
The cushion around my ears was slowly removed. I could feel the wind and dust around us settling. But the temperature around the place still felt very unsettling. Perhaps it was normal for dragons. " LUCIAN! "
I could faintly see a haze that Draco rough up my rescuer. I badly wanted to intervene.
"HOW COULD YOU LET IT GO. IT WAS OUR ONLY CHANCE TO GET TO THE CULPRITS. LUCIAN. ANSWER ME NOW! DON'T JUST KEEP LOOKING."
"This human could have died. "
A very subtle but bold voice replied.
" WHAT? "
"This human you have brought from her world could have died from the explosion, if I delayed even a moment to make it a shield."
"YOU LET GO OF OUR ONLY CHANCE TO TRACK THE TRAITORS BECAUSE OF A HUMAN?"
I don't know why, but Draco's words hit like a blazing hammer.
'A human', that's all? Did I just mean that much to him?
But why was I complaining? I didn't even know him well. The few moments we spent only told me about his ruthlessness, confirming the hardness of his entirety. "Draco, take your hands off me! Did you forget?"
He gently removed Draco's hands from his neck, and said, " She is a human. You were the one that brought her here from her world. What happens to you if she gets harmed?" Draco instantly backed off. Not at all hesitant.
"
Sorry! Brother. "
WHAT?
MY GOODNESS.
Did I just hear him apologize?
"I got carried away, thinking we finally had our chance. I had set up the perfect trap. And they fell for it effortlessly too."
His sign was heavy and deep.
"Now we are back to square one again. Take her to the infirmary. I will be on my way."
WAIT.
I yelled.
Was he ditching me again? Wasn't it bad enough I was just used as bait.
"Yes Liana. Do you have anything to say?"
He turned back.
I marched forward, completely forgetting my 'vision paralysis' situation.
His strong hands caught me again. Right at my waist.
Lucian.
That was his name.
He looked even more surreal than Draco. His purple eyes, blue long hair, made it very difficult for me to believe he was real. His scaled lower body resembled Draco's. It looked like some armor. But his pitch was black and it was shining against his pale white skin.
I gulped.
These Dragons are surely going to leave me with an unrealistic romantic expectation. I was so grateful, these thoughts were all in my head.
"You should take her with you. In your inner harem."
"WHAT?"
Draco had the exact same reaction as me when we heard Lucian mention 'harem'.
"We don't yet know if this spirit was able to send any message to its allies. I think we still have a chance. We can play on."
What was this Lucian getting at?
"Everybody thinks you brought her as your new mate. It would be more convincing if you let her live in the empty harem. " He paused. "It has been unused since the demise of the Queen. "
Did I see it wrong? Or was it due to my weak vision?
It seemed like he looked away for a moment, hiding the crystalline tear that was forming.
Draco walked back.
Did he see it too?
"
You are right. We still might not have tipped them completely off.
Draco said, holding his shoulders.
He turned towards me and then without any earnings just picked me up.
I was seeing everything upside down, hanging like a sack from Draco's back.
The radiant face of Lucian following from behind must have helped me control the urge of throwing up.
If I did, it would mess Draco's hair.
Who ever heard of a Dragon Lord covered in vomit?
I smiled at my own thoughts.
Lucian seemed amused too.
I saw when I stole a glance. Was he looking at me too? Was it making my heart flutter?
My! My!
To be honest, it takes a lot of effort not to fall for handsome men.
And these were like handsome to the power infinity.
Oh my poor heart. How would you fare?
My hair dangled and banged against Draco's butt as we suddenly zoomed out somewhere.
Everything around my senses seemed too fast to grasp. But I was sure we traversed some large distance. Finally we came to a stop.
Were we inside some treasure mine?
The floor seemed loaded with gems instead of pebbles.
Draco marched forward.
Lucian went to the front.
Damn I already started missing his handsome face.
I thought I heard something humongous open, with a very loud creak.
Dragon was now climbing something.
It looked like a hillock made of gold. Then he stepped inside a threshold.
It was completely covered with lavender.
Draco put me back on my feet over the flowers.
I flinched. They seemed too delicate to trample on.
"Head maidservant Ichiona, please take her from here."
A woman approached who looked so perfect that it made me want to kind of a shell and hide my ugly face.
She bowed at Draco.
I noticed Lucian was already gone.
By the time my wandering eyes got back, I was standing only with the lady, by myself. All alone.