Chapter 2

Two

The castle came into view, and it took Kaida’s breath away. Even from a distance, Kaida could see how the castle reflected many colors from the pearl scales that coated the outside walls from the original Dragon, Pearlar. The numerous towers were all different heights, though each one was set up with smaller ones in the front, climbing in height until the very back. On the highest tower, the symbol of the dragons was a monument at the top. It was a dragon with its body shaped like an S, but lightning poured out of its mouth and formed a circle around it. Some said that Storm Dragons created the symbol themselves after they conquered the Kingdom, but that wasn’t the story Kaida grew up on.

The story behind the symbol was how the Storm Dragon was the first to share their soul with a Human. They came down from the Heavens to rule over the Kingdom, and humans looked at them as Gods. When they offered to merge their souls with humans to create a new being, the humans gladly accepted. There were many breeds of dragons upon the merging of souls, including Storm, Plasma, and of course, the Elementals; Breeze, Ember, Tidal, and Terrain. The Plasma Dragon was said to be much stronger than the rest, as its breath was deadlier than any other. However, they died out before the Great War happened.

“We are nearly there now,” Dracul said, bringing Kaida out of her thoughts.

“Is this usually how mates are found? By bringing available females to the royal family to choose from?”

Dracul frowned and replied, “That is a relatively new approach to finding a mate. There was a time when it was a battle between the females inside an arena.”

Kaida raised her eyebrows at the statement. “Why does it sound like Dragons are just vicious brutes that take what they want or have people fight for their attention?”

Dracul shrugged. “We are a species that wants the most treasured items. It’s not just jewels that we find as treasures.” Dracul looked at Audra with a smile and a softened expression he only had for her.

Kaida gave her parents a small smile. Most kids her age couldn’t stand when their parents acted this way in front of them. Kaida didn’t mind. It was just how Fated Mates were toward one another.

“You don’t think Enzo would revive the whole ‘battle in the arena’ thing, do you?”

Audra and Dracul laughed out loud. Audra shook her head as well before speaking, “no, no. Prince Enzo had not come off as bloodthirsty when we met him during his youth.”

Before Kaida could ask another question, the carriage stopped in front of a large, inclined staircase. The sight of the castle’s beauty took Kaida’s breath away. The pearlescent glow from the scales along the outside of the walls glistened in the sun’s rays, making the castle appear even more fairytale-like than before.

Her eyes continued to sweep across the entire area in front of her as Kaida stepped out of the carriage. When her eyes landed at the top of the staircase, Kaida immediately rolled her eyes.

Oh yeah. The other four are here.

As much as her parents wanted Kaida to be friends with the other four family’s daughters so there would be cohesion within the realm, it didn’t happen that way. The few times she was around Malinda, Ada, Chusi, and Kaliyah growing up were not in her top favorite memories. They lived up to the name that dragons made for themselves centuries ago of being vicious. None of them seemed to like one another. Only in front of the adults did they act as if they could get along. Once they were alone, the claws came out.

Each of them wore a similar dress that showed off the color of their dragon. Malinda was in a pale gray-blue, skintight dress that showed off the small curves of her body. Her hair was once as golden as the sun, but it had been changed to a dull silver. Ada wore a deep pink that a rose would have been jealous of. The fabric was only loose around her legs and the hem on the floor. Her hair seemed as if it was on fire from where Kaida was standing in the reflection of the sun’s light. Chusi’s black dress complimented her waist-length black hair. The dress was tight like Malinda’s, but Chusi’s curves were wider, and it looked much better on her. Kaliyah’s dress was a shade of gray that reminded Kaida of the color of the clouds just before a storm. Her short-cut, medium-brown hair was styled in spikes, making her look fiercer than any other time Kaida had seen her.

Well, I need to face this head-on, whether I like it or not. Fake it ’til you make it. That’s all I have to do.

As Kaida ascended the stairs in her wrap-style dress with a shade of purple that reminded her of the skin color of plums, all four of the girls glared down at her. Kaida’s parents were talking to the carriage driver while she walked up the stairs, so they were oblivious that these four looked as if they were plotting her death.

“Oh, Kaida, I wasn’t sure if you would even show up. I heard you had been locked inside your tower since your birthday party. Depressed that everyone left early from how bored they were?” Malinda quipped.

The other girls sniggered as they watched Kaida walk up the stairs. She was not going to allow these girls to get to her. They were only phishing for information because, if they knew she didn’t have her dragon, Malinda wouldn’t have said she was depressed that people left. After all, it was “boring.” All four girls moved to form a straight line to create a blockade before the door to the castle.

Kaida was now at the top of the stairs and held her chin high, “oh, how silly of you to think that is why they left! My father shooed everyone away so they could be the only ones to witness my dragon emerging, but thank you for showing kindness in asking.”

“Please, like we don’t know what really happened. We had a friend that attended say that your dragon didn’t emerge while they were there, and it was close to midnight! My father said if your dragon didn’t emerge by then, it was most likely never coming.”

“I guess that is why your father is ranked sixth in the council, then.”

Malinda narrowed her aqua-blue eyes at Kaida, and a growl emitted from her throat. “Don’t you dare bring rank into the conversation? We all know that if anyone were fighting for the rankings, my father would kick your father’s ass and take the second seat for himself.”

Kaida smirked at her, “In your dreams.”

With a slight shove of her shoulder, Kaida pushed past Malinda. She could hear her parents’ footsteps on the stairs behind her, so Kaida knew that Malinda had no chance to do anything with her back to them. Two doormen were standing outside the doors, and they pulled both open. Kaida walked into the courtyard of the castle and then stopped. She had never been to the castle before and had no idea where to go. Her parents caught up with her, her father walking around her to lead the way.

“Those girls weren’t giving you a hard time, were they?” Audra asked.

Kaida shook her head, giving her best neutral answer, “don’t worry about it. I handled it.”

Audra gave her daughter a sideway glance, “you cannot get into any kind of a tussle with those four while we are here, Kaida. We need to show the King, Queen, and Prince Enzo that you can handle relations with all the families within Draagal. Otherwise, Enzo will not see you as someone he wants beside him as he rules.”

“I know, Mother.”

There were vines with flowers that climbed every wall within the courtyard. The sweet aroma of the flowers filled her nostrils, and the scent brought Kaida a calmness she had not felt before in her life. She had never seen a flower with blue and purple rounded petals that were held together with black styles in the middle. She must have been staring at them for her mother to snap her fingers in front of her face.

“Those are the Incantar Flowers that bless the walls of the palace. They are known to have healing properties. Shamans use them to create every kind of potion you can think of from those.”

“Are they anywhere else in Draagal? I’ve never even heard of them.”

“No. The Royals made sure of that.”

When they walked through another set of double doors, Kaida’s jaw dropped at the sight of the large room within. Everything was made of white marble, but each area had its own veins of color to differentiate. There were gold and silver streaks throughout the floor and a sapphire blue in the walls. There were pillars to hold up statues of previous royal dragons. At the end of the room, a small staircase led to the thrones that were made of black marble with white veins. Everything appeared shiny and smooth, and it made Kaida regret wearing heels. She almost slipped several times as she made her way across the floor.

Bad day to have some extra height.

Each family was on either side of the room. There was some chatter going on between the parents, but the girls were still glaring at one another. Even though the other four were friends, catching the prince’s eye was far more important than friendship. Kaida did her best to ignore everyone, but she could feel their stares without looking at them.

The double doors opened again, and Prince Enzo walked through them. The sun behind him caused his medium brown hair to glow like a halo around his head. His broad shoulders were lined with muscles that could be seen through his navy blue and gold suit. His storm-gray eyes stared forward as he made his way through the room to the thrones.

Kaida couldn’t take her eyes off him. Something inside of her felt as if it was engulfed in flames the moment Enzo walked into the room. Every inch of her wanted to throw herself at him as he walked past her, and she could hear her soul crying out to him, begging him to look at her. It took everything inside of her not to throw herself at him when he was in front of her. Kaida felt herself shift from one foot to the other as she fought the urge to demand him to look in her direction.

Enzo turned toward the crowd. His eyes scanned the room from left to right, stopping at each girl for only a moment. Every other girl was looked at first, causing Kaida to want to rip their faces off. But the moment that Enzo’s eyes connected with hers, Kaida felt as if time had stood still. The world fell away as Kaida and Enzo were the only ones left inside the room. He stared at her for only a moment before he stomped down the stairs and walked right up to her. Kaida swallowed hard as her heart thrummed against her chest. Her breathing became erratic as she waited for Enzo to say anything to break the silence. But when he did, the word he said was not the one she expected him to say. Even though she felt it between them, nothing would have prepared her to hear that word.

“Mate.”