The Dark Bride

Chapter Four

Nefarious

~~

The next day, I walked out to the area in front of the castle where the Kingdom of Darkness usually greets guests. From there, I stripped off my clothes before changing into my dragon form. My shadow grew from underneath me, rising to surround my body in complete darkness. It then grew in size before fading away to reveal my true self. I gave my wings a stretch before doing a few test flaps. It had been a while since I last flew so it shouldn’t have been a problem making a stop in the Kingdom of Fire for a quick rest before continuing to Bengolarrea. And that is what I ended up doing when I stopped at the castle of the Kingdom of Fire. On my way there, I got a rather warm greeting in the form of a fire blast from above from the eldest prince of the kingdom. I nearly escaped the blast by performing a barrel roll to the left before spreading my wings in a way that rapidly decreased my descent, causing the fire dragon to fly right by me. Using my tail, I hit the large, crimson dragon on the neck before jumping on his back. With an area to form my shadow, I used it to bid his wings to his side and we started a free fall towards the ground.

“Fine, I yield! I yield!” I released my dark hold on him and we were both able to land safely on the ground. There, King and Queen Ryuuzaki walked out to see what was going on. While the king had a proud look on his face, the queen was less than impressed by her son’s actions.

“Huojin, that is no way to greet a guest,” the queen called out as the prince’s form took fire before revealing his human self in a similar fashion that my shadows engulfed me as I changed forms. “You are the eldest and should be setting an example for the others.”

“Mother, this is no guest. It’s just Nef! This is how we greet each other.”

“I do not recall attacking you when you last entered my lands,” I retorted as I tried to brush back my hair. Huojin’s tanned skin began to turn red and glow slightly when he turned to look at me.

“You aren’t helping!”

I gave him a sly smirk before replying, “When have I ever?” The king laughed so hard that the ground rumbled and water shot out of a nearby geyser.

“Now now, my queen. You know how these two can be. Come on in, Prince Nefarious. I’m sure you would like to rest before continuing on your journey.” Two servants soon came out with robes in hand, one for Huojin and one for me. After I tied it on myself, I followed the Fire royals inside the castle. As we walked the halls I could hear more than a few maids whispering behind our backs about the great “fan service” that they were getting. Stupid humans, I don’t wear my clothes like this for your enjoyment. We made it to a private seating area meant for just the Fire dragons and fellow royals. I took a seat on a lounger after the king and queen sat together on a couch. “So, excited to meet your bride, Prince Nefarious?”

I simply shrugged my shoulders before giving a verbal answer. “There is a chance that she isn’t my chosen bride.” That shocked the whole room and Huojin suddenly had a dangerous look as he shot up from his seat.

“Explain.”

“She is from the Kingdom of Light.”

There was a unified “What” that erupted from the three in the room and the two younger siblings who were eavesdropping just outside. “Get in here you two,” the king bellowed. The door opened behind me and in rushed the younger prince and princess of the Kingdom of Fire. They both went to either side of me and looked at me with concern in their eyes.

“Don’t you worry, the Head Priest and Head Mage of the Moon Temple are already on their way to see what is going on. If anyone can expose any trickery it would be them.” The Kingdom of Darkness was always the only kingdom that could expose and put a stop to dark magic. Its ability fell under our domain just as light magic or healing magic was in the domain of the Kingdom of Light. So knowing that I had already sent people from my temple to investigate put the others at ease.

“What do you plan to do if she is exposed as a liar,” Huojin asked. He was doing better than usual at holding back his temper that day. I was impressed.

“I’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Nothing is certain as of yet.” I then looked at the two fire dragon twins on either side of me. “So, which of you is going to Bengolarrea with me?” Of course, I already knew the answer.

“I’m the one that is going, you shitty shadow lizard.” Huojin flopped back down into his seat with a huff and his arms crossed.

“Aren’t you a bit old for this battle for the throne?” I wasn’t wrong, out of all the dragon princes that would be going to Bengolarrea, Huojin would be the oldest. He would be the senior by a hundred years at least. The only one closest to his age was the Water prince.

“I’m just within the age limit to compete! Besides, Ryuu is too young, and with the two of us here Adena can’t go.” He did have a point, the rules do state that the eldest prince is the one who must compete. If there is no male heir, then the princess is allowed to join the competition. Very few princesses have gone to Bengolarrea in the past as dragons have a way of ensuring what gender the babies will be while raising the eggs.

There are temperature ranges that will guarantee a male dragon and a lower range that will guarantee a female dragon. So dragons usually don’t have a problem with having male heirs as long as their brides can bear eggs. I stayed in the castle for a while before leaving with Huojin. He did like me, sending his servants and things ahead of him so that we would either meet them there or our rooms would be ready by the time we got there. Once at Bengolarrea, we landed and were greeted by the elves that serve the castle. They helped us get dressed before going inside. Huojin’s bride was on her way and both of our rooms were being prepped. My supposed bride was already inside and the Head Priest and Head Mage were already with her.