Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

ERAX

T here are still ash marks on my hands, sourly reminding me of the stupidity of my new bride. I turn the corner of the corridor and towards the royal quarters, past my room…Why would she try to escape again so soon? And why, in the name of Ciagid, would she go down there where there was nothing but certain death awaiting her? I told her about the traps, but she clearly doesn't trust me.

Can't really blame her for that, though.

I did kill her parents and burn her kingdom to the ground.

Is this going to be our entire marriage? My life spent saving her nice ass from her own petty, foolish mistakes? Why does she have to be so fucking beautiful? She nearly took my breath away when she climbed out between those carts, and I saw her for the first time since she was a child. I could practically hear her heart racing, and her eyes so wide with shock, bright with fear, but strikingly beautiful. Too fucking beautiful.

And then her lips… Fuck, her lips are the perfect shape for devouring.

Didn't expect that.

I hate to admit that I've dreamt of what she'd be like and detested my dreams when I woke. I should hate her for her very existence, for the blood swimming in her veins, for the mistakes her parents made, and the fact that she clearly still loves them like a loyal daughter so blind to reality. I'd almost pity her if I didn't hate her guts so much. Her blood will always come between us, whether she's beautiful or not. Hopefully she doesn't get herself fucking killed though before she's of any use to my kingdom. Then we're really fucked.

I rub my face, trying to get her out of my head, but I see her long rose gold hair that looks soft and yet strong enough to wrap my hand around to arch her pretty neck. I can't stop seeing the swell of her breasts, the inviting dips of her hips. She smelt like divinity, and I wanted to sink into her, to taste her, to know what it would be like.

Mine.

My dragon's feelings on the matter swarm my thoughts. She's possessive of her, and those possessive thoughts are spreading straight through me in all the worst ways. Fuck, my dragon sees her akin to gold. A treasure and she won't let me risk her treasure. Dragons do not share.

Those possessive feelings make me feel like I'm going fucking insane. My boots slam on the stone as I cut through the castle, ignoring anyone who calls for me. I push open the doors to the private courtroom, letting them swing shut behind me, and the bright sunlight shines across my eyes from the open archways. I'm greeted with a boisterous, sarcastic laugh.

Noble leans on the massive solid red oak table that lines the middle of the room. "I heard she stabbed you, Goldeye. Now how did that tiny, pretty little princess of yours manage to stab the king?"

Something about him, my best friend, calling her pretty, clenches my stomach. I have to admit; I was fucking impressed she had the balls to stab me, even if it was futile. Burning jealousy crawls up my throat at the mention of her and I gulp, pushing down the urge to fry my friend to a crisp over a mere compliment. Mine . My dragon barely speaks to me in my mind and her words usually aren't understandable, but I heard her loud and clear.

Mine. She's mine. Ours!

Noble is still waiting for an answer when I push my dragon's emotions out of my head and slam my thoughts down into a pit of ash. The room fills with my courtiers, all waiting for a similar answer but most of them wouldn't dare say a word to me. They are just people who care about nothing more than themselves and the price I pay for being king is working with them in the name of peace. Doesn't mean I have to like them. I barely even trust them.

"She's quicker than she looks," I say. "It won't happen again."

Noble laughs louder, his blond hair glowing in the light, and I resist the urge to punch him and ruin his pretty uniform. "Why are you covered in ash? You look like you've had a fight with a fireplace, and regrettably lost. Who was worse, the princess, or the fireplace?"

Fuck's sake, I don't even want to tell the smug bastard. He would laugh his head off if I told him what she just did in a stupid attempt to flee.

A softer, silky voice interrupts. "I could help you get changed, my blessed king." A small, soft hand runs down my arm. I blow out a frustrated breath and face Ambre. I'm sure she'll be happy that the princess is here, even if no one else is. They're not related by blood, which is lucky for her, but they're family as far as her dad, Mist's uncle, is concerned. Mist, I should not have given her a nickname like that. She is no friend of mine. I'm seriously losing my damned mind.

Ambre is the same age as the princess and maybe it would be good for the princess to have her as a friend. Ambre tucks her long blonde hair behind her ear, blinking her eyes once. Annoyingly, she's wearing barely anything. A slip of a red dress covers roughly half of her body, and it's near enough to see-through. I can definitely see her nipples through it as she saunters closer. I don't know her well, but her father brings her to the castle on occasion when he attends court. Why she is in here is a mystery to me. Usually, I'd be interested if a woman as beautiful as she was flirting with me, but right now, all I can think about is the hot-headed princess I've just dragged out of one of the traps that my grandfather set up for intruders.

Loyalty is a choice, and I am going to be married. Now she is here, I won't touch anyone else. Not that it will be difficult to keep to that mental promise. My cock seems hard in her presence alone, as if she's controlling it.

She hands me a glass of wine and I take it, downing it quickly before going to the table. "No, and you shouldn't be here. It's for my council. Leave."

I don't bother looking to see if she goes. She's wise enough to obey my commands.

I place my hands on the table, looking over the clay map of my kingdom. The entire kingdom is spread out on one table, like it's small, and not the home to millions whose lives rest on my shoulders. Red markers are littered across my cities, like a fucking infection.

"There are more rebellions?"

Noble and the priest look between each other, but it's Noble who dares answer me first. The first of my closest riders are out flying, or I'm sure one of those fuckers would explain it quicker. "The rebellion is growing in alarming numbers." He pauses. "Perhaps the marriage will?—"

The unrest, now named the rebellion, brews fast throughout my large kingdom but mostly in the old Drifting kingdom lands. I've banished that name when I claimed the lands and made it all the Hallowed Kingdom lands, but the borders that don't exist anymore are marked with the rebellions of the traitors that keep appearing. It has always been brewing, like a storm that I can't quite escape, but now it's here and it's fucking suffocating.

I cut him off as he goes on and on about the politics of marriage. "I don't want to talk about the princess or the marriage."

Priest Jean clears his throat. I almost forgot the old man was here. "Well, I did not leave my prayers for no reason. This meeting was called to speak about marriage, my king."

Noble frowns at me, raising his eyebrows. Noble is my best friend, the second one to take a dragon in my command, and my brother like the other riders. There's no one in this world I trust more than him. I know him as much as he knows me, and he probably is wondering why exactly I'm so flustered. Noble points at the red markers. "There's unrest in the cities."

I cross my arms. "I'm well aware of that."

"Yes, but it is worse here," Noble points to the map. One of the third largest cities, which was free of rebellion only last week. "They blew up several of the military establishments, including family homes. I hate to inform you that many children were injured, some of them killed. They rebels are getting riskier and no longer give a fuck who they kill to make their point."

Priest Jean sighs. "They poisoned some of the lakes around here with dragon poison, imported in. The dragons frequent to drink from several of these lakes, but they were smart enough not to and sensed the danger." Anger floods my senses. To hurt a dragon is an insult to the gods who protect us…and if they killed one, I wouldn't show them any mercy. "The gods tell me that this marriage will calm the rebellion and bring much needed peace. The sooner you are married, and she is with child, the better."

No pressure then. I want to snap at him, ask him if he has met the princess. She won't give me a day's peace if she has her own way. "I am also aware of this, but I still don't want to marry her. She's the child of my enemy—people I've spent my whole life making sure ended up dead for their treason. Do you remember what they did? Do you recall how my people's bodies littered the streets that day we walked through them?"

Silence rings between us all, as we all know it's true and there isn't a single thing I can do about the past. I'm a king, with all the power in the kingdoms, except over her. I made sure her father brutally died for everything that he had done in these kingdoms. Marrying his daughter is the ultimate fuck you, but it was never in my plan until I saw her eyes. I think back to the first moment I met her. She was pressed against a wall of the falling castle, smothered in smoke, and yet so rebellious in the face of my dragon. My dragon was a creature she had never seen, who promised a certain death in the name of fire, and she didn't blink. I was covered in her father's blood, for fuck's sake, and she still faced me down, like a warrior, and I couldn't kill her.

I couldn't kill her, like I should have done, and that decision has always haunted me.

I knew keeping her alive would mean only one thing; she would become my bride, or she'd die at my hand. I ended up choosing the former, and I don't fucking know why.

Noble touches the map. "People are still loyal to her family—to her name. The wealthy at least are. The poor are completely behind you. We need unity and it would be a war if you didn't marry her. The rich still remember the times when her parents ruled and how they benefited."

No one dares speak about how exactly they benefitted. The mines. I clench my jaw at the memories I will never be able to erase from my mind. Those mines were truly one of the more horrific sides of the kingdom I witnessed when I took over. Her parents were obsessed with diamonds and gold, with being richer than any other kingdom, like a race that only they cared for. Even if it cost hundreds of thousands of their people's lives and forced half a million of them to live underground and suffer to serve them. Any crime that was committed, whether it was as simple as robbing a slice of bread because they were starving, or murdering someone that was trying to kill them, they were thrown into the mines. Sometimes they were sent down there for no good reason. Their families were sent too, whether they caused the crime or not. They were always taken in the name of the royal family, and once in the mines, they were as good as dead. They were locked in, never allowed to see daylight or feel fresh air again. Children were born in the mud, and died in the same cave, never once seeing an ounce of the outside world. I don't think they even got to see the sky or what a cloud looked like. All the death, pain and misery, just to mine for gold and diamonds to line the pockets of a kingdom that did not care for them. They didn't even need the coin; the king and queen were more than rich enough.

The mines were the worst of it, but slavery was rife in their kingdom. And it was brutal. Freedom was a dream, not a reality, until I flew in on my dragons and burnt that kingdom into a free flame. "The nobles will never be happy because I took away all their slaves, burnt down the mines that fed them gold and diamonds, and told them to fucking serve me or die. I will fly my dragon around that city and burn the fucking cowards to stop this madness." I snarl. I've absolutely had enough of them, the ungrateful little shits. It's been years. Years of this crap.

"Maybe we can make a new plan that doesn't involve burning a city down and naming you a tyrant," Priest Jean softly suggests, ever the voice of reason. It's not surprising. He looks old enough to be a god in his white robes and wrinkled skin. "We'll bring the marriage forward. There's no point holding her here and not making the marriage immediately happen. The kingdom can celebrate the marriage and wait for news of an heir. It will be exactly what we need."

Yes, a celebration for them, and a fucking life sentence for me.

"Go and get the preparations ready. You are dismissed." The rest of my council leave, and I lift my head, looking out of the arch windows, over my kingdom hidden behind the mountains. I was hoping my bride would be some obedient, quiet princess that wouldn't push me too far. Instead, she is defiant, fucking gorgeous, and is already driving me to the point of insanity and we've only been together a day. What will an entire marriage do to us?

"You look like you're about to marry an ugly troll instead of a princess," Noble pats my back. "Smile, you fucker. She sounds amazing."

"I hate her and everything she is," I snarl. "This marriage is going to be nothing but a transaction between us."

"Look, she's been locked up in that boring shithole and she knows you're the person who killed her parents. So, she ran and tried to kill you, so what? It makes her smart and capable." He looks over the kingdom with me. "Traits you might want in your future queen who will be the mother of your children one day. She's probably not even aware of how evil her parents were, as she was just a child herself when you killed them. I know that you want to hate her because of who she was born to be but give her a chance. Like you said, she's gorgeous, strong-willed and you usually like that in women. Your dragon likes her, and she hates everyone. I see all this as a good sign. Give her a few orgasms and your usual charming smiles, and she will soon love you like the rest of the kingdom."

I push off the table, heading to the door. "It can never be more than a marriage for our thrones and for the people. She hates me and I hate her, and I don't plan on changing that. End of story."

Noble laughs like it's the funniest thing he's heard all day. "I've never seen you this riled up, my brother, and you've never lied to me before."

I'm tempted to growl at him, but I leave it, knowing I'll just prove his point. My guards begin to follow me as I storm down the corridor, and I stop mid step. I want to be alone. "I'm going for a ride. Make sure there are guards stationed by the princess's room and she doesn't end up dead while I'm gone." I pause, adding as an afterthought, "Watch her, but unless she is in danger, don't let her see you."

They bow, leaving me to it and I trust them to follow my orders. I don't need their protection, but she clearly does. My dragon is waiting in the courtyard, so in tune with my emotions that she knows that I need to fly before I explode in flames. When I'm up in the sky, I don't feel like I'm chained to the princess, or to the kingdom below, unable to escape either of them.