Chapter 1
Note: This is a darker fantasy, not following the "typical" dragon plots.
Be aware of described violence, k*dnapping, loss of loved one, and death.
-Laelia-
Over a week had passed. Nothing. Not even a small message. I knew what that meant. I felt it deep in my bones, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud. I barely ate. Barely slept. Liam tried his best to cheer me up, but there was nothing he could do to make me smile.
I was standing on a balcony, wearing a long white dress that split in two at the front, with white pants underneath. I hadn’t worn pants since I was a kid playing orphan, but it was a nice change. My hair was braided once again, draping over my shoulder.
I looked down at my brother, who was surrounded by Libelle and Kayda, making them laugh. At least they could be cheered up. They tried to help me as well, but nothing worked. However, it was a small relief to see how much they had changed. They were no longer my slaves.
“Do you not wish to go down there?”
I turned around as a deep voice spoke to me. There he stood—The Elf Prince, Rathilion. His long white hair ran down his back, a single braid in the front framing his sharp face. His light green eyes watched me carefully, reading me as if I were an open book.
I turned away, looking down at my brother standing by a small river with the other two. But soon I felt Rathilion’s presence beside me, yet I did not turn to look at him.
“No, I don’t think I would be good company.”
“Your heart is heavy with fear.”
“Who says I am afraid?” I inquired.
We turned to look at one another.
“Are you?” he asked.
I wasn’t sure. Could you be afraid if you already knew the truth? If you already knew what had happened to your family?
“I’m angry.”
“Yes, I see the fire,” he said.
I didn’t comment on that, just stared at the three down by the river. I wished I could go down there and smile, but I had nothing to smile about. Ashes and the rest of my brothers had all disappeared, running right back into danger.
Mayla, Sivanna, Tylon, and Ladon were most likely in the claws of Blaze and Sirrush. Yes, there was a good reason to be angry, but my anger wasn’t just toward the evil brothers. It was toward myself. I felt useless.
“Maybe we should put the fire to use,” he said.
I turned to look at him, feeling confused. “What do you mean?”
“Come.”
He started to walk away and left me there with no answer. I could have stayed where I was, but what good would that do? So, I followed him through the gigantic palace and outside. We walked over snow-white grass.
A huge garden spread out before us, where wild animals came and went as they pleased. A large fountain stood in the middle with a statue of a female elf. We walked over the white stones until we left the garden and continued on to another field, where the grass turned a darker shade of green. Further out, targets were set up.
Rathilion stopped in front of one of them and handed me a bow from a table close by, where daggers and swords were spread out on the dark surface.
“Take it,” he insisted.
I looked from the bow to him, not really understanding. No one had ever handed me a weapon willingly before. “You want me to… take it?”
He nodded. Nervously, I took the bow from his hands. It felt oddly right, and I weighed it back and forth in my grip.
“How does it feel?” he inquired.
“Good, I think.”
He then handed me an arrow, and I placed it against the string of the bow.
“Aim,” he instructed.
I turned slightly, looking at the targets further ahead. I swallowed hard, feeling a bit nervous, before I lifted the bow and pulled the string back. It was harder than I had expected, and my arm shook a little.
“Steady,” he urged as he moved around me.
He pushed my elbow a little higher, helped me straighten my back, and softly placed his large hands on the sides of my neck, ensuring I could get a better aim. He made me one with the bow, but I found it hard to concentrate as he moved closer to me. He was so tall, even taller than Ashes, though not as broad as my husband.
“The target,” he reminded me with a small smile.
I hadn’t noticed I had turned to look at him as he stood behind me, helping me find the right position. Feeling silly for letting my eyes wander, I turned my gaze back to the target.
I concentrated on my mission, pulled the arrow back further, and then let it fly. It landed on the far outside, but it was my first try, and at least it hit.
“Good. I knew you would feel comfortable with the bow,” he remarked.
His voice was deep and firm, but sometimes it softened, like now, and it felt like it was dancing over my skin. Strange, I thought, before he handed me another arrow.
“Again.”
“Should you really be teaching me such things?” I questioned.
He looked at me, appearing puzzled. “Why not?”
“Where I come from, women don’t do this—learning to shoot with bows and arrows,” I explained.
“Here we do things differently. Tell me, Queen of The Dragons and Humans, are you in the North?”
“No,” I replied, still confused.
“Are you in the South?”
“No.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m… with the elves… in the West,” I replied.
“And here, even the women shoot arrows and fight with swords. Or maybe you don’t wish to learn? I thought with the fire burning in you, you’d want to use it for something more than turning it against yourself, calling yourself useless,” he remarked.
“H-How do you know I call myself that?”
He smiled a bit secretively before crossing his green leather-covered arms and nodding toward the target.
“Again, Queen of Dragons,” he instructed.
“Stop calling me that. I’m no longer queen, or did you forget I lost the crown?”
I placed the arrow against the string of the bow and took aim, but then suddenly, a warm body moved closer to me. So close, I could feel him against my back and his breath on the skin of my neck.
“A queen does not need a crown to be one. You were born to be one. No one can take the fire within you. It makes you a ruler and a fighter.”
I felt myself shiver before I accidentally let go of the arrow, which flew past the target and into the huge white wall, where it lodged itself.
“Oh,” I muttered, feeling foolish for letting myself get distracted.
“No harm done,” he reassured me. “Again.”
He kept handing me arrows and continued correcting my stance until the arrows began to move closer and closer to the target’s center as the sun dipped lower in the sky. When I finally managed, with a lucky shot, to hit the middle, he allowed me to take a break.
“My arm hurts,” I said, rolling my shoulder.
“You will recover,” he replied simply, giving me a small smile.
I couldn’t help but smile back at him, and I realized that since Ashes had left, it was the first time I had smiled.
“How long have you practiced with the bow?” I asked as we walked back toward the palace.
“Since I was able to hold one.”
“And the sword?” I continued, glancing at the white scabbard and sword hanging at his hip.
“Since I was able to hold one.”
“Do you ever give a clear answer?”
He just looked down at me with another secretive look in his eye, and I shook my head. But it was nice not feeling so damn useless.
