by Jade White
“What a joke that you are saying! Why would you make me queen if you were going to be killed?
“Have you not been listening to a single word I said, Ryia? I am Prince Merek. My brother is Prince Rowan. We are the dragon shape-shifters in the prophecy about King Athalos. It is one of our sons who will kill him.
“Our father is really Maelyss, the King of dragons. When King Athalos finds out we are dragons, we are to be murdered on the spot. You, my young bride, will be queen and take over the kingdom.”
At first, she glanced at me with hate in her eyes.
“If there was another way, I would surely figure it out. I know you hate my guts and I would be quite content if you wished to leave. I would understand since neither of us seemed to be happy about the marriage between us.
“I was expecting queen material, but what would I know? This was after all, my first marriage and I was talked into this setup by my good friend, Marvin. He was the one who told me to give a mail order bride a chance. I should have listened to my gut and dealt with the consequences.”
It was as if something turned itself for a split second inside Ryia, because she showed interest.
“I know none of this interests you. If you can hold on, you will have enough money and a castle to live in. I promise you these things. I just need to figure out how to get you back there safely.”
“You are telling me that you really are the sons of King Athalos? Why are you here with mail order brides? You can marry whoever you want.”
“You said it yourself, Ryia, who in their right mind would want to marry dragons! I guess the truth is that if anyone found out we were dragons, we would die and that is what we are running from now.
“Even our other two brothers would have no problem killing us. I know these words aren’t what you want to hear, but this is my only explanation.
“I used to value my life, but now I have to admit to myself there is a chance that both Rowan and I will not return from this journey. We chose brides to run our kingdoms in case we are killed.”
“I guess we both have secrets that we don’t want people to find out,” Ryia said as she grabbed her sack and pulled out a sword and a shield.
“Amazing isn’t it? I was once as a known warrior until my father decided to allow me to be captured in our village. His last words to me were ‘you must learn how to be a woman’. His words echoed through me for a very long time. I tried hard to be a good wife in training. Then I just didn’t care.
“I wanted to be who I was before I was captured. When you took me away, I remembered how free I was. I used to lead battles and go on my own quests. I wasn’t stuck as a prisoner.”
Chapter Four
Ryia stared at me the next morning. I knew she didn’t get a good night’s sleep. She seemed quite restless and had kept screaming ‘Dad! Dad don’t do this to me!’ over and over. I knew it would take time for her to get used to the idea of being married to me, but it seemed she didn’t really like the idea since she found herself on her own stack of bedding. I did, however, reach over and comfort her whenever she started screaming. Although she never woke up, my simple touch did soothe her. I was hoping that meant that there was a chance between us.
“What are you doing?” Ryia asked.
I shook my head. “I was just thinking of my mother, Queen Bethany. No one has heard or seen her since she left to see her parents. She was due back to the castle a very long time ago. I am beginning to get worried.”
“What do you think it means?” Ryia asked.
“I don’t know, perhaps I am reading more into it than I should. I just feel as if someone found out about Rowan and me. It is the fact we are dragons that could harm lives.”
I had been waiting for Marvin to give me an update, but so far he hadn’t given me the slightest hint about my mother since I arrived here. I was just hoping once we got to the dragon’s lair, there would be answers.
“Why don’t you look for her?” Ryia asked.
“Where would I begin to search for her? It isn’t even like I know where she is! Besides, my life and Rowan's are on the line. If we don’t make it to Maelyss’s lair, we are both going to be dead,” I mumbled. Ryia was silent for several moments. “Well, we better get moving,” she finally said as she looked over at Rowan who was cuddled up to his wife.
I began to wonder if we were ever going to be like that or if I was just the most unlucky man alive. Even if Rowan did get killed, everyone could say he felt love.
“Are you sure we should wake them up?” I asked.
“Of course, I am sure,” she said as she shook them awake.
“What do you want?” Rowan asked as he groaned.
“It is time for you to get up. We are already late in our travels and we have to get to the Dragon Kingdom or did you forget that, once you received your mail order bride.”
I was sure we should have left them a little longer, but it seemed as if Ryia was already angered by the fact that we weren’t traveling. It seemed no matter what we did, it would never make her happy. It was just the night before that she wanted to run away from us.
“What is your problem? I thought you were going to leave us the first chance you got! Why the sudden change of heart? Perhaps it isn’t Prince Merek and me that are the ones that are more trouble than you bargained for, but the other way around.”
“I want to help you both get out of trouble and I know these forests aren’t safe. There are many creatures who are spies.”
I scanned the woods, wondering what she was talking about. I hadn’t seen a creature since we had entered them. I hadn’t seen a bird or even a small chipmunk since we entered the forest.
“There aren’t any creatures here,” I pointed out.
“Doesn’t that concern you at all that you haven’t seen the regular creatures in such a lush forest? That means there is something out there scaring the critters away that are more powerful than they are,” Ryia pointed out.
I shook my head and was sure that my mail order bride seemed to have lost her sanity from the time she went to bed to this morning. I wasn’t about to argue with her, though. Everything seemed to make her fight. She packed the horses up and we were off.
I couldn’t help but wonder why I had ever dreamed of getting married. This was a lot more than I bargained for, but I kept silent. She seemed to be battling the fact she no longer had the life she knew and loved. She wasn’t fit to be a bride, but a warrior. I could tell that since she told me last night. My heart actually broke, thinking how different this must be for her having a person she was stuck with and all she wanted was to go home.
Neither one of us knew where we even belonged. I wasn’t even sure, once we got to the Dragon Kingdom, if we would be welcomed with open arms or attacked. I just knew that we had to hurry. I was beginning to sense my life was passing me by. I stopped and watched her pause at the top of a cliff.
“Silence,” she whispered.
Her eyes were focused on the dirt trail below as if she was hunting something. The sound of hooves echoed through the forest as the view of a campaign began to ride past.
To her, this seemed pretty normal, having to out-think people, but why wouldn’t it, since she was a warrior. She had gone to the battlefield just like Rowan and I both had. Rowan and I exchanged glances as we saw that among the riders were our brothers, Terrain and Sadon. I guess my question had been answered. If either of us had turned into dragons, at least two of my brothers would hunt us down to kill us.
I remembered when they were born, I used to trace my fingers on their skin as if, by magic, it would always keep us together. As we grew older, we did everything together, from archery to practicing our sword-wielding skills. Now here I was, with my youngest brother, watching as Terrain and Sadon were out to kill us.
* * *
“How long do you think it will take to find them? It has been a beautiful summer and I hate to waste all of it searching these forests for them,” Terrain mumbled.
“Oh stop it! I am sure we will find them before they officially get married. Who will they honestly find to marry them as they turn into monsters? I can’t believe it took us years to figure this out about them! We even grew up together as their siblings. This was the worst kept secret, since the problem could have been solved years ago. At least Father has two good sons,” Sadon replied.
“Soon after I was born, Father should have realized something was wrong with Merek. He had many medical conditions that seemed to pop up that no one understood. He first thought that a witch had placed a curse on him. It wasn’t until recently did he realize that Merek and Rowan were part dragons. “No warlock or witch could change that. I am sure that is why Father has put us on this campaign because he will not tolerate any of that. If he could somehow burn them or shame them, to show that they could never hurt anyone in the kingdom, he would have already done so.
“The only problem with that idea is the fact that the whole kingdom favors both Prince Merek and Prince Rowan. This is the only way Father can protect himself from the prophecy coming true. The prophecy stated that one of the sons would be part dragon. I guess what it didn’t state, was which one would fulfill the prophecy since there is two. He will be relieved by the fact that both of them will be killed. This will allow us to move forward and protect the royal blood line without having any tainted princes.”
“I can’t believe for so many years that the four of us grew up together and never did we figure out that there were dragons among us. I still can’t believe our mother decided to have an affair with Maelyss. I am sure it was no coincidence. Perhaps she was told to destroy her husband in such a way. How else would you describe their paths crossing?”
“I am not surprised that Father would want them killed. He has told the guild to kill them if they see either of the princes,” Terrain replied.
I felt my face getting hot with anger by how my brothers, Terrain and Sadon, were speaking of our mother. I wanted to go down there and set them straight on the subject about our mother never being cold hearted, but our lives were in jeopardy.
I was also scared that now the guild knew about the situation. The guild was where all King Athalos’s assassins were located. They blended in so well, their victims didn’t even realize that they were coming.
King Athalos had my brother and I once join him when he went to the guild. We met an assassin who was incredibly silent and smooth, but made himself appear as if he was always there, but in the same breath, he was never there at all. King Athalos had told us that night how the assassin had done his job within minutes. No one saw him and no one knew who was sent to kill the person.
I couldn’t recall the full memory of why King Athalos had sent the assassin, but I knew that he wanted him dead for a reason. I was pretty sure that it had to do with the prophecy or dragons. That was the most common reason why Father had people killed.
It seemed as if anyone didn’t agree with the prophecy or how he was killing all the dragons, he would kill them. He couldn’t have anyone trying to be rebellious. He was afraid of people like that since it would only take one rebel and a good shot with an arrow to kill him.
I did know that he would stay long enough in these towns and villages to make sure that the assassin did his job and he would leave unaffected. I was going to have to ask Rowan if he remembered who was going to be killed, but for the moment we had to stay silent.
We stayed quiet long enough to watch the group pass by without noticing we were on the hill watching them. Our two brothers were indeed out to hunt us and we now needed to make a better plan to get to Maelyss’s kingdom, but also protect our wives. I knew what had to be done and that was taking them to our castles to make sure there was no way that our brothers could find them. It seemed to be that our lives were in the palms of our brothers’ hands and if we didn’t hide the fact we had wives, they too would be killed.
My new wife seemed as if she could read my mind since she suddenly shot me a look. None of us spoke a word as we continued to move on. It was as if the further we walked away from our brothers, the more their haunting conversation came into my mind.
How could I keep word from spreading that I was married to Ryia? I didn’t need her to be hung in the center of the kingdom as an example or King Athalos to send an assassin to kill her.
Mysterious glances from Ryia continued, as if she knew what I was thinking. I looked at her, trying to figure out if she could read my mind or not.
“You are very silent,” she finally said when we were a safe distance away.
“I don’t know what to say. How can you justify the fact that King Athalos, my father, had sent my two brothers to kill Prince Rowan and me? I don’t think there is a way to justify what I am feeling. You are my wife and I am supposed to protect you from anything.”
She looked at me a bit longer as if she already knew what I was thinking about taking her to our castle and leaving her there while Rowan and I ventured to Maelyss’s kingdom.
“I refuse to stay at your castle. I am your queen and I will battle by your side,” she finally said.
“There is no way I am taking you along. Our journey has become quite dangerous. I know you dislike me as your husband, but you are still my wife and I hope one day you will understand the fact that I am trying to protect you. Even though you despise being married to a dragon, there is a part of me that cares about you.”
In my mind, the only option was for Ryia to go to our castle. She seemed to continue to glare at me as if I didn’t even get through to her.
100“It won’t help if we both die. That would surely mean King Athalos won,” Ryia said. “Without me going on this journey, you will get lost. There are no maps or hints to where the Dragon Kingdom is, or where Maelyss is located.”
“This isn’t an option, Ryia! I wouldn't be able to live with myself if anything happened to you.”
“You act as if death is close by. It isn’t like it will even happen! You don’t trust me when I tell you any of this! There is no hint that Terrain and Sadon will turn around and find us.”
I shook my head. “You don’t understand! I am positive, no matter where we go, that Terrain and Sadon will be chasing us. How can I get through to you on this vital matter? Every assassin, as well as the King's men, will be looking for us. If we get you to the castles, then you both will be safe.”
“Don’t you think that they will figure out you got married once they return to the castles to find us?”
I nodded. “I am certain they will figure that out, but you will be crowned queen. There is nothing they can do about it. If you choose to sentence them to be locked up in the dungeon you can do so, as well as anything else you feel like doing. This is why I am trying hard to get you to the castle. You can at least live for the both of us and I wouldn’t have to worry about you being killed.”
It seemed as if the more information I told Ryia, the more she felt the need to fight me on the very subject. I knew in my heart I had to return her to our castle. There, I knew she would be safe. My biggest fear while on this journey was that Terrain and Sadon would kill her as well, since she was the one who would carry our child that was to kill King Athalos.
“Is that all? You are going to look at me with the information you gave me and just apologize that you have to send me to a castle until you return?” Ryia asked.
“Do you want your fate to be as grim as my brother’s and mine? I know you are acting as if I am taking you prisoner, but I really have no choice but to keep you safe. I am trying hard to get you back to the castle before we all have the same fate. Can’t you see that?”
I was afraid of the outcome that this journey was to produce. I didn’t totally understand it, but my mother wasn’t here to explain all the vivid details of what made her have an affair with Maelyss or anything to do with the prophecy. I hadn’t even heard a word about her at all and I feared she was dead.
The day turned into night when we finally reached my castle, perched on the cliffs
that overlooked the beautiful sea. Oddly enough, no one seemed to be inside the castle.
“How did you know that the castle would be here?” Ryia asked.
I started laughing. “King Athalos told me that he had a castle for each of us. When I was to marry, this was my castle. I assume now it is my castle since I am married.”
I knew it would be the time that my townspeople would allow their lips to gossip and it would filter back to King Athalos. I wasn’t looking forward to that meeting. I just knew Rowan and I had better head up to the Dragon Kingdom before that happened. I didn’t think anything could be much worse than the fact the man that raised you was trying to kill you.
“I want to go with you!” Ryia pointed out.
“Have you not listened to anything I have been saying, dear wife? It is too dangerous out there for you!”
“Don’t call me your ‘dear wife’! I already told you that it wasn’t my idea to be married to you! I also told you that I was a warrior. I can handle myself, thank you very much!”
I found out very quickly, even though she had a castle now to guard and protect, this wasn’t what Ryia wanted. I feared I would at least have to lock her in this castle for her to be protected. I knew that it was a very barbaric stunt to lock up Ryia, but it seemed she would try to escape, otherwise. It also seemed as if she was incredibly headstrong and didn’t believe at all that her life was at risk. I tried so hard for her to understand the dangers and the fact that they were real.
During the travel to the castle we had even overheard Terrain and Sadon speaking, and yet that didn’t even change her mind. I was sure that would at least show her that I was trying to protect her, but it seemed the more information I gave her the more she refused to listen.
