"I, my dear, am your fiancé."
My stomach tightened as I tried to take in his words. The guy was obviously deranged. My fiancé?
"Didn't your parents tell you? They have come to the conclusion that you are old enough to marry, and I am the person they picked." He leaned forward and spoke in a low voice. "Apparently, I'm quite a catch! I had hoped to get to know you before we were formally introduced, but I see you need a little time."
The magical energy had me pinned to the spot, and yet, he was quite obviously insane. I didn't have the first clue why he was in my room, but his explanation left me in no doubt that I wasn't safe. Pulling myself out of his magnetic grip, I ran for the door a second time. This time, it opened at the first try. Pulling the door open, I screamed down the corridor loudly. As they had been trained, the two guards came pelting down the corridor, their swords raised.
"There's someone in my room," I gasped, trying to keep the tears at bay. The two guards ran past me, but when I turned around, the faery had gone. The first guard, an older gentleman with a receding hairline that even his helmet couldn't hide, checked the bathroom while the younger one checked my closet and under the bed. I knew they wouldn't find anything. However the faery had gotten into the room, he'd obviously gone out the same way.
"I'm sorry. I must have had a nightmare." What else could I say? A crazy faery had somehow magicked himself into my room, held a sword to my throat, and told me I was to marry him? It sounded crazy to my own ears. The elder of the two, a gruff-looking man with way too much ear hair making up for the lack of it on his head, nodded, and I noticed a roll of his eyes as he left the room.
"Well, sorry for taking you away from your night of excitement guarding the corridor," I hissed under my breath. Heat rose to my cheeks as the younger guard answered me.
"Don't worry about Jack. He's a miserable old coot at the best of times."
I lowered my head. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. It was unkind, and you both really did help me."
"Hey, that's our job. I'm here to keep you safe."
I looked up into the kindest pair of brown eyes I'd ever seen set onto a handsome face.
He smiled. "Are you sure you are alright? I don't want to leave you upset like this."
After everything that had happened, I felt soothed by his presence, but I could no more have a guard spend the night in my room than a faery. "I'm perfectly fine. I feel a little foolish, actually."
The guard glanced around the room again as though he thought I wasn't being honest with him. When he was satisfied there was no one in my room, he stepped outside. "I'm going to stand guard right outside the door tonight. If you need me, just call out, and I'll be in here in a flash."
He was so kind and concerned that the anxiety I'd been feeling fell away. If the faery did decide to come back, there was no doubt in my mind that the guard would be as helpless against him as I was. Maybe this guard was an amazing swordsman, but the faery had magic, and as I'd already seen, it was hard to fight magic without any of your own.
I thanked him, closing the door. Standing with my back to it, I could hear him settling down at the other side.
As I stepped forward, my foot stood on something sharp. As I looked down, something glinted in the light. Picking it up, I saw it was an amethyst from the faery's sword. Anger filled me. Who did he think he was to just come into my bedroom unannounced and scare me half to death? I gripped the small jewel tightly and stormed across the room, anger filling my every pore. Opening the window, I hurled it as far as I could. Satisfied that it was far away, I turned back to the bed. The dent where he'd lain on top of me was still there. In a fit of anger, I pulled the covers taught, before hopping into bed.
He was no longer there. The strange energy he exuded was long gone, but the fear he'd produced, still pulled at my nerves. I couldn't expect the guards to help me, but there was no way I was going to be defenseless anymore. Tomorrow I would stop playing at sword fighting and start learning it for real.
...
A noise at my door made me jump. My sword was gone, and the candlestick I'd tried defending myself with was in pieces on the floor. Once again, I was at the mercy of whoever was on the other side.
My heart calmed a bit when I heard the voice from the other side. It was the young guard from the night before.
"Your Highness. It is morning, and my shift is coming to an end. I didn't want to leave without knowing if you were alright."
A smile played on my lips. The poor guy had spent the night outside my room, standing to attention, waiting for an attack that never came while I'd slept in a comfy bed, and here he was asking if I was all right.
I opened the door. Immediately, his deep brown eyes crinkled at the side. Just peeking out from below his helmet, soft brown curls flanked his ears. A small smile crept over his face. "Are you ok?"
I smiled back. "I'm fine. Thank you for looking out for me. I'm sorry to have been a bother."
"No bother at all. It was a privilege. Milo Kelly at your service." He nodded his head, and after giving me a lingering look, he set off down the corridor. I half expected him to turn around and say something to me, but he didn't.
Back in my bedroom, I dressed quickly before Dahlia could come to do the job. I didn't want to talk to her about what had happened last night. It was probably better she didn't know. There was only one person I needed to speak with, and if I wasn't quick, I'd miss him for the day.
I found him saddling up his horse in the stables, ready to go out to wherever he needed to go.
"Father, I need to speak to you."
He pulled a fur cloak around his shoulders and hopped aboard Talia, his horse.
"I'm in rather a rush. Can it wait until tonight?"
I stepped in front of the horse, blocking his path. "Not really. I need to know who it was you wanted me to meet last night. Why all the secrecy?"
My father sighed, "I didn't want to tell you like this, but your mother and I think it's time you settled down. I'm so very proud of you, my daughter, but you have your own ideas and plans; and while that is all well and good, it takes ambition and dedication to rule a kingdom. You are spirited, and that's what I love about you the most, but you need someone to guide you. To stand by your side. To help you on your journey."
I tapped my foot, getting more and more annoyed by the second. Why didn't he just come out and say it? That he had me promised to someone. Someone I'd never met before he'd somehow appeared in my bedroom in the middle of the night. I wasn't going to let my father off easily, though. I needed him to tell me outright what he'd planned.
"Who? Who do you want to guide me?"
He shifted in the saddle. "I really would have preferred to tell you this tonight with your mother."
"Tell me now," I demanded. I wasn't usually one to demand anything of my parents, but after having a stranger magic his way into my room, I'd changed my mind.
"Your mother and I think it's time you got married, and we've found someone who we think you'll like. He's not from Draconis, but he's a powerful man. Your mother tells me he's good-looking, though I wouldn't know about that sort of thing. I'm sure you'll like him."
"This man. Is he a fae by any chance?"
Now, my father really looked uncomfortable. "How did you...never mind. Yes, he is one of the fae. He's a powerful man."
"So you said. What if I don't want to marry him?" because I most certainly did not. I'd only just turned eighteen a few days ago. I didn't even want a boyfriend yet, let alone a husband and certainly not the kind of man that called my brother an idiot then snuck into my room in the middle of the night and threatened me.
"Why not give it a little time before making any hasty decisions? He's coming over for tea tonight. You'll get to meet him then. I'm sure you'll find him an agreeable sort of fellow."
Yeah, if you call holding a sword to my throat agreeable. I stepped back and let my father pass, frustration gripping me. Tears of anger spilled down my cheeks at
the thought of what my parents were doing to me. Why had none of this been mentioned before now? I gritted my teeth. Dragon's breath, I really could go for a full-on tantrum, but what would be the point? My father was the king and what he said went.
I spent the day in my room, not wanting to talk to anyone.
My mother found me hours later, still in my bed. I'd spent the day reading and trying to pretend I didn't exist. At least, that way I wouldn't be forced to marry a faery jackass.
"What's the matter?" she asked, noticing the scowl on my face. My mother didn't like scowling, it gave people wrinkles.
"You loved my father when you married him," I stated it as fact. This was no question.
"Yes, of course. I still love him dearly."
"So why is it you are asking me to marry out of duty?" I huffed. "You didn't. I'm not ready for this, and I don't want it."
My mother sighed. Even that simple noise sounded beautiful like the pealing of bells or a breath of wind on a summer's day. "I see you have been talking to your father. Come with me, and I'll tell you our reasons." My mother opened the door to my bedroom and beckoned me out. "We are not doing this to you out of mere tradition. We are doing it to protect you."
"Protect me?"
"Azia, you are a bright young woman, and I know, in time, that you'll be perfect for the role of queen. I know that with a bit of schooling, you will run this kingdom beautifully with or without a husband."
"So why the arranged marriage then?" I asked, darting around her to the corridor outside.
She twisted her own wedding ring on her finger, a gesture she always made when she was nervous.
"I didn't want to tell you this, and it probably won't even mean anything to you, but in the past couple of days, a dragon has been spotted flying over the moorlands."
She stopped there as though that explained everything. It did not!
"So? What does a dragon have to do with marrying me off at the first available opportunity?" The dragons usually stuck to the mountaintops. I used to enjoy watching them as a kid. Their serene beauty belying their fierce nature. They never usually came down as far as the moorlands, but if it was just flying and not bothering anyone, who cared?
She sighed and held the wall next to her as if to steady herself. She looked tired, as though this had been going through her mind all last night. Bringing her hand up to her throat, she began. "Before Draconis was at peace, the whole twelve kingdoms were at war, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it. Even the government in Urbis that oversaw all the laws in all the kingdoms couldn't stop what was happening. There was a lot of dark magic. For years, those people who used their magic for evil were doing pretty much anything they wanted. It was part of that black magic that sent me into a hundred-year sleep."
I knew all this. The stories of my mother's sleep and the kiss that ended it were legendary, but I still didn't understand what that had to do with dragons...or me. I kept silent, knowing there was no point interrupting her. She would tell me.
"It was horrible, and it had gone on for so long that most people had no fight left. Dark magic weighs on you. It's like the worst kind of depression, but worse, because the people it affected didn't even know why they were depressed. No one was happy, and the people committing unspeakable acts were normal folk, turning to the dark out of fear, sadness, and desperation. Sadness creeps into your soul and burns it until you no longer feel, and it somehow becomes a part of who you are. It was like that in my youth and for a hundred years while I slept. In that time, the dragons came down from the mountains a lot. No one knows why. Maybe they were feeling the same things we were all feeling. The people in all the kingdoms were killing each other, so why not the dragons too? Like I said, a dragon has been seen down from the mountain for the first time since I married your father. It is an omen of the worst kind. You can't understand how awful it was. You could never imagine, because your whole life, you have only known peace."
A shiver of fear ran through me. My mother often told the story of how my father fought through a wall of brambles to kiss her, which woke her up, but she never talked about what happened before. I knew that an evil witch had cursed her and that the witch had gone long before my mother awoke, but she'd never mentioned the wars before and the dark magic. "I still don't understand. What has this to do with me getting married?"
She took my hand in hers. "Your father and I want to keep you safe. It was the kings and queens, the governors, the ministers, and presidents that were targeted before. I don't like to think that the same is happening again, but the man you are just about to meet is magic. He can protect you in ways that we can't."
He can protect me from outside dangers? So who was going to protect me from him?
"You want me to marry to keep me safe?"
She shook her head. "I don't really want you to marry, but if anything should happen to your father and me, I want to know you aren't alone. Remy will need care for the rest of his life, and Ash and Hollis are still children. You'll need help. You'll need someone who loves you by your side."
I sighed with frustration. There was no way the faery loved me. He'd only ever looked upon me with disdain and a hint of glee when he knew I was trapped. Hardly the recipe for a happy marriage. "The castle is full of advisors and men and woman who would step up in a heartbeat to help me rule a kingdom."
My mother nodded and took my hand in hers, and once again, we began to walk. "That is true. Our staff are some of the best, but unless they are family, this will never be any more than a job to them. Even our most loyal advisors leave the castle at the end of the day to go home to their own families. I cannot ask them to choose you or us over the ones they love. If you had a boyfriend already...that would be different, but you've never shown any interest in love.”
We made it to the door to the drawing room. The man I was supposed to marry, the same one who had tried to kill me was inside. My mother had said that my father trusted him. I wondered how much he'd trust him if I told him where he was last night.
The fae was talking to my father as we walked in, but as soon as he heard us, his eyes turned to me. His hair was brushed back and the braids he wore tied behind. He wore some kind of ceremonial uniform. One I didn't recognize from any of the kingdoms. It was white with gold trim and amethyst colored buttons. He was off the charts beautiful. Even from across the room, he held me in his gaze. This wasn't attraction. There was no love nor chemistry between us. I didn't even like the guy, but right at that moment, I was drawn to him in a way I'd never been with anyone.
"There you both are." My father stood up and came over to me, breaking off my eye contact with the fae. Just like that, the spell was broken. The asshat had been using magic on me, some kind of attraction spell, and I'd very nearly fallen for it. What would have happened if my father had not blocked his path? It didn't bear thinking about.
"You both look beautiful," my father continued, kissing my cheek, before moving to kiss my mother.
"This is Caspian," he said, sitting back down. "Caspian, this is my daughter, the princess, Azia."
"Pleased to meet you, Azia." He stood and took my hand, kissing the back of it gently. A shiver went up my spine, whether through attraction or nerves or fear, I couldn't tell. Something was messing with my body... or someone was.
I pulled my hand from his. "It's very nice to meet you too," I answered through gritted teeth.
My mother busied herself with pouring tea into four cups, so I sat down, waiting to see what would happen next and wondering what I could do to drag myself out of this mess.
My father clasped his hands together and leaned forward in his chair. "We've been thinking of your future, Azia and..." He nodded to my mother as she handed him a cup of tea.
"She is aware of the reason Caspian is here," my mother butted in. "I've already explained the situation, and she is fully aware of what is going on.
"You're one lucky girl," Caspian said a smarmy smile on his face. Beneath it, I could still f
eel the disdain he held for me. If he despised me so much, what were we even doing here? What a sanctimonious creep.
My mother tugged my father's hand. "Now that everything is out in the open, why not leave these two alone to get to know one another? We can retire to the orangery and drink our tea there." She gave my father a meaningful look, and he stood, taking her hand, and following her from the room.
Clenching my jaw, I breathed deeply through my teeth. I was once again going to be alone in a room with this jerk.
I opened my mouth to say something, words to the effect of "no way," but nothing came out.
Casting my eyes to the fae, I saw him, once again, staring at me. When the door slammed shut behind my mother and father, my voice magically came back to me.
"Stop doing that," I demanded, my finger outstretched, anger coursing through me. He was a manipulator and a magical one to boot.
Queen of Dragons Page 3
