Physician to the Dragon Prince

CHAPTER 8 – She is our mate!

CHAPTER 8 – She is our mate!

Radur’s POV

My heart was saddened by her words as if they were swords stabbing my heart repeatedly.  She hated me so much that she stepped onto my bedsheets, messing up my bed. When she bumped into me, I saw her eyes moistening with tears. I pulled her towards me when she bumped into my chest, sending a spark running through my body like never before. I wanted to ask her the reason she was crying, but when I saw the mess she had done to my bed, I began fuming in rage. My whole body started to vibrate with fury and I felt every nerve in me stiffen as my blood boiled.  

I squeezed her upper arms and she screamed in pain. Instantly, I let her go for I never wanted to hurt her, but my ego of being the Dragon Prince moved me to hurt her. I released her arms and demanded the reason for her tears. She was right, it wasn’t a victory that we won over some enemies. Every single person who died in the war was innocent people including her father. I knew that whatever I said to her, she was not ready to accept it. She will understand the truth one day.

Allowing her to leave, my attention shifted to the lunch on my table, but I didn’t have any appetite anymore. Instead, I went to the bathroom to have a warm water bath and it helped me to recover a little bit but not totally. I returned to my chamber and wore a comfortable suit. I needed to sleep to heal the wounds of my heart.

The girl had messed up my bed and I had to change it to something new. I couldn’t ask Agatha to come and change because if she saw the situation, she would know who had done it and I never wanted to punish her. So, I changed them myself. Who would have thought that a prince will have to change his bedsheets one day? I sighed and laid my back on the comfortable bed. Soon, I drifted off with exhaustion.

****

I was sitting in front of a beautiful lake. It was a peaceful night with a starry sky. I laid my back on the green grass and looked at the sky. I saw a bright star emerge from the sky, getting bigger and bigger as if it was coming down towards me. When it got closer, I realized that it was no longer a star, but it was a silhouette of a person. I stood up immediately and waited until the person come closer to me.

It was a woman! She was the Dragon Goddess, Drakaina!

“My child, you seem disturbed with the recent activities,” she pointed out with her kind voice. She wore a red silk dress and her brownish-red swayed in the wind, making her a beautiful sight.  

“Goddess Drakaina, I didn’t expect that you will see me again after our unfortunate meeting.” I bowed before her.

“My child, how can I be angry with my children? Are you here to forget about your sorrow?” she replied while swaying in the wind.

“Yes, Goddess. I am shattered with the recent activities,” I confessed to her.

“Did only the activities shatter you or does her involvement affect you?” she asked with a smile.

“Huh? Who are you referring to, Goddess?” My mind wondered if she was speaking about Emma.

“Yes, you are correct. I am speaking about your Emma. I am here to tell you that the prophecy is going to be fulfilled,” she mentioned.

“What prophecy, Goddess?” I had never heard about a prophecy.

“Oh, my child, among all the red dragons you are so special. The Gods are speaking about you and there is a prophecy related to your mate!” she voiced out and my eyes grew at her words.

“My mate? But…” I paused.

“You got a second chance Radur, the prophecy says that the day the sun turns dark, a meeting shall bring the rise of a kingdom and the end of peace. Upon the day what is false seems real; a random act of kindness shall bring forth the return of dragons.

Upon the day the wind freezes water, a secret woman shall bring forth an era of harmony. She will be the most powerful mate to the dominant king,” she prophesized with a smile.

“I don’t understand it, Your Highness,” I replied.

“Radur, it is about your future queen, your mate. The woman who would bring peace to all the kingdoms,” she said.

“Who is she, Goddess?” I longed to know about her.

“You will find out who she is when you shift into your dragon,” she informed with a smile and started to move away from me.

“Wait, don’t go, Your Highness!” I begged her. I needed to ask her more questions, but she continued retreating before disappearing completely.  

***

I woke up with a gasp, my whole body drenched with sweat and my throat dry. Was that a dream? Did I see the Dragon Goddess? What did she say about a second chance to have a mate? I looked around for water, poured some into a glass, and gulped it down. Then, I noticed that dinner was served on the table. She must come to the chamber to leave my dinner.

I stood up from the bed and went to the dinner table. The food was still hot and I assumed that she had just left the room. I sat on the chair and began my dinner. The soup was appetizing, healing my tiredness and the sorrow of my heart.

It was time to shift into Zammorai and observe my kingdom from above. Determined, I came out from the chambers.

“I am going to shift into my dragon. Do not allow anyone to enter my chambers. I will be back before morning,” I alerted the guards who were guarding my chambers.

“We will do it, Your Grace.” They bowed before me humbly.

I went to the field, the place where I always shifted. My dragon was huge and he needed a lot of space to shift and fly.

I removed my clothes and kept them on a rock before starting to shift into my dragon form. I felt that my legs slowly turning into dragon legs and huge wings appeared on my back.

“Time to stretch, Radur!” Zammorai spoke to me. I was within him now and we hadn’t spoken to each other after a long time. Usually, I wouldn’t shift into dragon form every day. It needed a lot of energy to transform and after transforming, the tiredness wouldn’t go away for a few days.

“I thought that you forgot me. I was waiting for you to give me an opportunity to speak with you.” Zammorai glided freely and happily.

I could observe the kingdom from above, the castle and the village looked so calm. The mountains were covered with green forests. There were fields all around, bordered only by the thick forests in the distance, their patterns only broken up by the occasional tree left to grow in peace. There were farms of the villagers and the road eventually reached a classic farmhouse guarded by a sleepy, old dog.

“The kingdom looks so peaceful, isn’t it?” Zammorai pointed out while stretching his huge wings.

“Yes, but not all the kingdoms are happy with us. We won through bloodshed and I don’t want to continue this bloodshed. I need to speak to my father and brother soon,” I told him and I felt that he agreed with my beliefs.  

“Who is that there?” Zammorai suddenly questioned, his face worried. He flew lower to see who it was.

“Who is that? Why are you so worried about it?” I asked Zammorai.

“She is our Mate! We are blessed with a second chance, Radur!” Zammorai cried out, paralyzing me with shock. We got a mate! The Dragon Goddess also mentioned that I was blessed with a second chance. Could this happen? Can a dragon be blessed with a second chance mate?

“Who is she? Can you see her?” I demanded.

“Yes! She is the prisoner you recently captured from Dartburry. It’s Emma!” Zammorai exclaimed, stunning me with his answer. Everything finally made sense. It was why he behaved like a pussycat in front of her, why he didn’t hurt her when she spoke to us disrespectfully. No wonder I feel her so much! Her heartbeat, her feelings, her touch were enough to run sparks through my body.

“What? Emma is our mate?” I repeated to confirm what I heard.

“Yes, and she is in profound pain! I can feel it. We must go there and pamper her. Quickly shift back to your human form and console her,” Zammorai insisted before landing on the field.

I shifted to my human form and wore my clothes. Walking towards Emma, I noticed her sitting on a rock in the garden. I saw her shoulders trembling as she sobbed. I slowly approached her to hear her sobs growing louder. Why is she crying? How can I console her? She was a prisoner I captured and moreover, she hated me for her father’s death. When I grew closer to her, an urge to kiss her and hugged her bubbled within me. But, I suppressed my feelings and approached her.

“What are you doing here?” I asked and cleared my throat.

She looked at me with her teary eyes. My heart clenched at her tears and saddened face. She looked miserable, her eyes and nose had turned red due to her incessant crying. But yet, tears still flowed from her eyes like a waterfall. She wiped her tears as soon as she saw me.

“Nothing, Your Grace, I need to leave.” She was about to walk away but I pulled her to me, tugging her arm.

“Ow! Aaaah!” she screamed in pain and I quickly released her arm.

“I didn’t give you my permission to leave. You can’t leave from here until you tell me the reason you are crying and why you screamed in pain when I held your arm?” The urge to discover the reason for her tears and screams made me uneasy.    

“My arms are in pain because you squeezed them in your chamber. It was so severe that I thought my bones were getting crushed,” she exclaimed. Did I really squeeze her arm that much?

“I never wanted to hurt you. Let me see it.” I reached out for her hand but she yanked it away immediately.

“No, Your Grace, I am fine. I need to leave, please!” she insisted.

“I warned you that until you answer to me properly, I won’t let you go,” I reminded with my firm voice. She was so stubborn and only my firm voice could control her ego.

I took her arm and moved up her sleeves to examine it. I realized that my handprints had clearly pressed into her cream skin on both arms. I lightly caressed them and she jolted a little bit.

She tried to pull her hands from me but I didn’t let go, “Your Grace, it is improper to do so. If anyone sees this, they will assume that I am seducing you!”

“What has happened to your wrist?” I saw that her wrist had turned red and some scratch marks were on it. Did she have an accident while working? My heart wept and tightened in pain when I saw her state. I wanted to embrace her and shower her with comfort in my arms.  

“I met with an accident in the kitchen,” she lied and I could feel her deceit. I inspected her wrist carefully and noticed a shoe mark on it.

“Don’t lie to me, Emma! You better speak the truth.” I pulled her towards my chest and tightly hugged her as my arms wrapped around her waist. She started wiggling to escape from me but my grip grew tighter around her tiny waist.

“Your Grace, when I was coming back from your chamber after placing your dinner, I bumped into your mistress. I didn’t see her, I swear! But she was ill-mannered to me and accused me of seducing you, reprimanding me for being disrespectful to you,” she cried out softly. My heart clenched at the sight of my mate in pain, but on the other hand, I was furious at Hildry.

“How dare she to do that? I will make her pay for this!” I clenched my teeth as I wiped away her tears.

“Your Grace, please, don’t do anything. I never wanted to seduce you or your feelings and never wanted to be your mistress. It is you who appointed me as your nurse. I am afraid that if Lady Hildry assumes as such, others may also think like that about me. I am a chaste girl and I do not want my name to be tarnished,” she explained, through her cries. I knew exactly the type of person she was and I clearly knew what kind of person Hildry was.

“Come, your wounds needed to be treated.” I turned to go to my bed chambers.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked with surprise.

“I am taking you to my bed chambers. Your wounds need to be sponged with warm water so that they will be healed.” I turned to head inside.

“No, Your Grace. I am good. I will do it myself when I go back to the kitchen,” she refused, her tummy growling at the same time.

“Did you have your dinner?” I question and she shook her head.

“Come with me,” I pulled her to follow me.

“No, Your Grace…” she hesitated.

“Do not utter a word. Come with me!” I commanded and walked towards my bed chambers.