The Dark Bride

Chapter Three

Nefarious

~~

Soon after word reached us that the king and queen of Bengolarrea had passed, my father began the needed prep work for the Kingdom of Darkness to hold their Day of Grieving for the former Earth prince. The Testing of Blood ceremony started as soon as we were allowed and was over rather quickly. I honestly didn’t expect to hear of any results from the ceremony as the number of human females in the kingdom had decreased over the years. Due to King Uther’s rule, many humans feared the Kingdom of Darkness and dragons much like they did in the times of old. Before the gods forced dragons to mate with humans.

My mother wasn’t even originally from the Kingdom of Darkness. She was born in the Kingdom of Fire, the land of deserts and volcanoes. A single stretch of land connects the Kingdom of Fire to the Kingdom of Darkness and it had become known as the Trail of Shadows. The unofficial name, the one not written on the maps, is the Path of Death because those outside the Kingdom of Darkness believe travelers die on the trial going to my kingdom's home. After our ceremony was over, all we could do was wait for word from the other kingdoms about my soon-to-be bride. I was on the training grounds days later when a servant came to me saying that word had finally reached the temple about my chosen bride.

I went to the throne room where I knew that my father was waiting when I heard him roar so loud that the dark stone walls rattled. “What!?” Letting out a sigh, I continued into the throne room from the side door where I saw the Head Mage and Head Priest from the Moon Temple standing before the king with emotionless looks on their faces. Those who join the Moon Temple are honestly the bravest of humans in my opinion, knowing that doing so could mean certain death at the hands of the king himself. “You must be joking! It’s a trick! An elaborate lie set up by our enemies!”

“We will test the woman ourselves if permitted to travel to Castle Bengolarrea with the prince.”

Curious as to what was going on, and had my father outraged, I turned to him for answers. “Was there a problem with the Testing of Blood ceremony?”

“These fools want us to believe that your chosen bride is from the Kingdom of Light! That sorry kingdom of deceivers!” My eyes grew wider at this news. Many have called me cold, heartless, or stoic throughout my life. I had no choice but to become like that thanks to how my father raised me. A member of the royal Nox Aeterna family had to be in order to survive. However for a short time before my mother’s passing, she taught me how to be fair and just to others. And I took those lessons to heart. Though back to the matter that was at hand, even I couldn’t believe what my father had said. In the past few generations, the odds of a bride for the Kingdom of Darkness to be from the same kingdom had become slimmer, never in the history of human brides has one come from the Kingdom of Light.

I looked at the two human males standing before the throne for some sign of jest, but the priest just shook his head. “You are to begin preparations to leave for the central continent at once.” With that, the Head Mage and Head Priest bowed before turning to leave. King Uther, snarled as his grip on the throne's armrests tightened, causing the wood to crack and splinter. He then turned and looked at me.

“When this vixen is proven to be a spy or assassin, I order you to kill her slowly in front of the prince of Light. Show that pathetic kingdom that we are not to be messed with.”

“I shall go make preparations to leave then.” With that, I too turned to leave the throne room with my father roaring with anger behind me.

Packing what I needed or wanted for my trip to Bengolarrea wasn’t a hard task for me, especially with the servants doing most of the work. I just told them what I wanted and they fetched it for me. However, my personal butler Amon was being rather insistent that I pack a few more outfits that were “proper for a prince”. I had never liked the formal attire that I was forced to wear at social events. They felt too stiff and clung to my body, which is why I always went for loose-fitting clothes that exposed my chest. Made it feel like I could breathe. Plus, I was never one for trinkets or accessories. They weighed you down and got in the way during a fight.

During the packing, my mind wandered to my potential bride. Ever since my mother first told me stories of Bengolarrea and how she was chosen to be my father’s human bride, I thought of what my mate might be like now and then. But with the first meeting being so close finally I found my mind thinking about this woman more and more. What was she like? What did she even look like? How terrified would she be of me at our first meeting? There were so many questions I needed answers to, the biggest one being if someone had found a way to rig the ceremony. It wasn’t impossible really as it had been done before. Though at that time it was someone of Fire trying to get to Water. Something about the princess of Water breaking a prince of Fire’s heart. It was all drama that went down before my time, but the fact remained that it was possible. Once I was sure that I had what I needed, I had my things and the few servants I picked to travel ahead of me. The ride by carriage would take them a long time and I wished to travel on my own.