Chapter 4

Four

Kaida’s heart skipped a beat when she heard Enzo’s deep voice say mate as he looked deeply into her eyes. The intensity of the stare that their eyes were locked in sent a shiver down her spine. She could see a fire burning inside them, a need for her so powerful that it made her breath catch inside her throat.

“What is your name?” he asked her, his deep voice resonating as a growl.

Kaida swallowed hard before answering. It was difficult to answer as her mouth went dry as he towered over her. “Kaida Hilmir.”

“Kaida.” It sent warmth to her chest to hear him say her name in a purr. “The Gods have decided to bless me with my Fated Mate just when I start looking for my Queen. They must know what they are doing to save me from finding someone who would end up being unfit.”

There were quite a few snarls around them, but Enzo unleashed a wave of power that rolled off him into the room. Kaida heard everyone become silent when he did. Enzo looked over to her father and gave him a smile.

“Dracul, a pleasure to see you again.” There was a subtle hint of an intimidating tone in Enzo’s voice. Kaida was unsure of why it was even there. Her family had been a loyal family to the throne for hundreds of years. There was no sense in even wanting to intimidate her family when they would freely give what the Styrmir family asked of them.

Her father gave Enzo a nod, “a pleasure to see you, too, Prince Enzo.”

Enzo turned to the others within the room with a bright smile. It was the first time since Enzo said “mate” that she remembered anyone else in the room with them. Every single one of them had their eyes fixed on Kaida. Each girl glared at her, and she could feel their hatred from across the room. Kaida smirked at them and then looked back in Enzo’s direction.

“Greetings to you all! I am humbled by the fact that you all promptly arrived at my request. This is proof as to why the Kingdom of Dragaal is not in shambles compared to the other four kingdoms within our world. You all understand the importance of coming together and choosing the best mate that the kingdom has to offer when it is time for a new generation to take over the throne. The Dragon Gods are proudly smiling down on us as they guided us all to come together to bring me, my mate!”

Everyone gave him a joyful cry and a smile with his exclamation. There was no way they would allow their disgust to show for too long.

“Everyone must rest for the festivities that will be held in mine and my new Queen’s honor!” Enzo looked at Kaida, the fire in his eyes still blazed. “We will gather all the families in Dragaal and bring them together to announce our engagement!”

Kaida stepped closer to Enzo, threw her hands out, and decided to add her comments to salt the wounds on her foes within the room. “I cannot wait to share this excitement with you all! A Fated Mate pairing as King and Queen will only enhance the realm within this next generation!”

Enzo beamed with pride as Kaida made her comments. The faces within the room all showed excitement and happiness for the prince. However, the tension in the room intensified as the other four girls momentarily glared in her direction when Enzo’s eyes were no longer on them.

Things are gonna get heated up.

* * *

Two days had passed since Enzo had identified Kaida as his Fated Mate. During that time, she was told that she should be sure to find a suitable dress for the engagement party. Kaida found it to be incredibly weird that Enzo did not want to spend any time getting to know one another in that time, but she would not dare question it. He was the prince! Her ticket to an incredible life despite not having her dragon emerge had shown up with a huge thanks to Fate. There wasn’t a chance in hell she would ruin it.

Kaida made sure to bring her mother along when finding a dress. Not once in her life did she ever attend an engagement party, so she was clueless about what kind of expectations there were on the type of dress she would need. Obviously, she knew it would have to be formal, but there was a general code when it came to dragons. There was always something hidden in their choice of garment. Most simply would dress themselves in their dragon’s colors to show how grateful they were to their dragon. Others sometimes had hidden broches, a small color within the threads that only someone who was trained to focus on minor details could find, and even symbols sewn onto it for all to see.

I doubt I need to make that kind of impression during an engagement party. Though, dragons do have a nasty habit of being territorial and hot-tempered. One false step, and I will be seen as an outcast.

Audra spared no expense and had a dress designed specifically for Kaida. Right after Enzo stated that he would bring together every dragon family in the kingdom to celebrate, he left the room to tell his parents. Kaida’s parents whisked her away to the small town below the castle to find her a dress. After searching in a few, Audra gave up and went to a seamstress who was known to design a few dresses for formal events.

The woman did not feel like a dragon to Kaida. There was no primal energy coming off her in any way that made Kaida feel as if she was among a predator like she felt around most of the people within the kingdom. The woman’s hair was gray mixed with white, her eyes a pale green that she had never seen on a Dragon Shifter, and the coloring of her skin seemed off. Kaida knew better than to ask questions because other creatures within their world could end up binding someone’s soul to theirs or even enslaving them with one question with a hidden meaning.

Fae are weird creatures. I don’t think I will ever understand their magic, but it does explain why Mother has not said anything about this woman’s name.

After thinking it through, Kaida figured that the woman was a Fae, and she should mind her tongue, especially when she noticed that the woman was not only taking her measurements but writing down other notes inside of a notebook. One mentioned “no A-line,” so Kaida was pretty sure she was designing the dress as she measured.

It paid off. The dress looked phenomenal. It was a medium purple at the top that transitioned to a deeper purple and then to black. The thin straps were lined with small spikes with a halter top neckline with an inverted triangle skirt. The stitching created the illusion of scales that made Kaida wish her dragon had emerged. While looking at herself in a mirror, this dress alone would spark any dragon into feeling the need to keep it locked away.

“You look marvelous! Truly a dress for a queen. I cannot wait to see the look on Enzo’s face when he sees you in this.”

Kaida stood straighter as the compliment revived some confidence that broke away on her eighteenth birthday. “I don’t know how that woman created such a beautiful dress in just a day, but this is one of the most beautiful dresses I have ever seen!”

“The Fae can work wonders when their affinity is within the Terrain element. The Seamstress is one of those Fae.”

“Why is she within this kingdom and not her own?”

“That is not a question I dare to ask. For all I know, she is waiting for someone to ask her back to the Court she belongs to.”

Kaida thought about her teachings on the Fae Kingdom for a moment, trying to remember how many courts there were and which was which. “Unseelie or Seelie? Right?”

Audra fixed a few strands of Kaida’s hair that were poking out in different directions, “Correct. And no, I do not know which one she belongs to. Nor do I care. She is one hell of a seamstress, and that’s all I need to know.”

Fair enough. Kaida thought to herself as she continued to admire her dress in the mirror.

Her mother’s dress was less flashy than Audra normally would choose for herself. The most likely reason was so she would not upstage the Queen. It was a very basic black dress, but the sapphire teardrop necklace was to represent her dragon.

“Now. Let’s get you to the party. Prince Enzo is dying to announce that his betrothed is his Fated Mate."

Kaida bounced excitedly and became thankful she decided on a pair of short boots with a thick heel. It made it less likely she would fall on her face with a thicker heel than with the thinner one she’d chosen two days prior. The castle had many stairs, and this would create a better chance she would embarrass herself in front of the entire kingdom.

Audra navigated them to the bottom of their tower, and her father stood at the bottom of the stairs. He wore a black suit with an Emerald Green vest underneath. His smile was radiant as he watched them both descend down the stairs.

“There are my two girls! Hurry, or we will be late.”

Audra looped her arm through his, and then they both led the way to the grand ballroom. Their tower was in the back right corner of the entire grounds. Where they were heading was in the direct middle. It took at least fifteen minutes due to the number of stairs and hallways they had to walk down and navigate before they finally arrived in front of the huge double doors that would lead into the grand ballroom. Enzo’s storm-gray eyes met hers, and his smile reached his ears. He ignored her parents who approached him first and stepped around them to greet her instead. His royal blue suit with golden buttons somehow made his storm-gray eyes pop.

“My mate! I was beginning to worry that you would arrive late.” He gave her a once over, and she couldn’t help but notice how it was a slow overlook from her feet to her face. A soft growl reached her ears when he was finally looking back into her eyes. “I guess I should be thankful that you took as much time as you did. You look like the future queen in this dress.”

Kaida knew better than to shy away from the compliment. Instead, she stood taller and gave him a wink. “I guess the dress did its job already. I just wanted to impress you.”

“A job well done.”

Enzo then turned toward the doors, which were closed, and held out his elbow for her to take. Her parents must have gone inside already because they were nowhere to be found in the hallway. Kaida’s heart thrummed inside of her chest as she looped her arm through Enzo’s. The heat that passed through them from the minor touch made Kaida wonder how it would feel if there was no fabric in between.

Definitely not the time to be thinking about this.

The doors opened, and Enzo stepped forward. He stopped at the top of the stairs to smile at the crowd down below. The ballroom erupted into cheers as someone announced loudly to the room, "Prince Enzo Styrmir and his betrothed Kaida Hilmir.”

Kaida made sure that she walked more confidently than ever as they descended the stairs together. The crowd parted when they reached the bottom as they made their way to the middle of the room. The King and Queen stood behind a table on the other side of the ballroom, beaming at their son and her as every dragon in the room cheered.

Well, everyone but the four sour females that wished that they were me right now.

Kaida could see all four of them in the crowd. Each and every one of them glared at her with an intensity that would give their dragon’s fire a run for their money. Kaida was already aware of how much they hated her before, and it only grew when Enzo uttered the word “mate” on the day they thought would change their lives.

Instead of just smiling gently and giving everyone a small wave like Enzo, Kaida decided to rub it in just a little more. Kaida leaned on Enzo’s shoulder, looking up at him adoringly as she did. Enzo looked down at her and returned the gaze she gave him. When he looked back out to the crowd, his announcement only made what she did even more of a dig toward her enemies, even if he didn’t know it.

“Citizens of Dragaal, the Great Dragon has presented me with the greatest gift He could by giving me my Fated Mate! You can now breathe a little easier. In just a short month, our great kingdom will be governed by a Fated pairing, which will only bring stronger heirs! This will lead to a newer, stronger generation of dragons to keep our kingdom safe from the Outcasted!”

Another round of cheers erupted inside of the room. Kaida was glad that she had gotten the hang of plastering a fake smile on her face after her name day had passed without her dragon emerging. In that moment, she needed the strongest fake smile she could muster.

What if because I am Dragonless… our children will suffer my same fate? Would Enzo still want me to be his queen? Or would he force me to join the Outcasted?