The Dragon's Love

Chapter 2

-Laelia-

I wasn’t sure where we were heading next, but as we entered the building, he took a different turn, not the one that would lead me back to my room. I followed him, unsure of what else to do. Most of my time was spent just sitting in my room, reading, but I found it hard to concentrate on the words when I felt so worried and restless. Why hadn’t I heard anything yet?

I knew why… because there was no one left to hear from. They were all gone, weren’t they? As my mind filled with dark speculations, I thought back to the night we had left. I still wasn’t sure I had really seen him... I couldn’t believe it was truly him, but what if it was? What if that dark shadow really had been James?

“Queen of Dragons?”

I snapped my attention back to Rathilion. I hadn’t even noticed we were outside again, walking further into the woods.

“I told you to stop calling me that.” I walked up to him. He was standing further up a small hill, waiting for me. He smiled slightly at my words.

“What would you like me to call you then?” he inquired as I caught up with him.

He looked down at me with his light green eyes, watching me, seeing through me. I felt oddly exposed, but strangely, I didn’t hate it.

“Just Laelia.”

He nodded slowly. “Laelia. A beautiful name, like the flower it originates from,” he remarked.

I felt strangely warmed by his words and quickly turned my attention away, only to see the vast field of flowers spread out before us.

“Where are we?” I whispered, stunned.

“Amazing, isn’t it?”

I nodded, unable to form any words. It was. Amazing.

“We call it a little bit of heaven. Or at least that’s the best translation into your language.”

I turned to him, noticing how he admired the field in front of us, which was so full of colors it would take me days to count them all. It was otherworldly. I had never seen anything like it. Just then, a big white stag emerged from the shadows. He was magnificent.

He lowered his head slightly, sniffing the ground, and then looked up, turning his head as if searching for danger. Suddenly, more deer appeared behind him, both young and old, stepping out to graze on the grass and flowers while the big stag watched over his family.

“Unbelievable,” I said.

“Nature hides many things. If you’re willing to wait for it to reveal itself, you’ll see a world unlike the one you’re used to.”

I glanced at him briefly, but his eyes were still on the big stag. We were poorly hidden, just standing between two big trees watching them, but since we weren’t moving, barely breathing, it seemed our presence was tolerated.

“I never knew such things existed. White stags and deer,” I whispered.

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” he promised.

I turned to him and smiled. I hadn’t spoken many words to him since I arrived. This was the first time we’d had a real conversation, and I liked it.

“I believe you,” I said.

He smiled back at me as he heard my words, then we both turned to look at the beautiful sight before us for a little while.

“You’ve lost hope, haven’t you?” I looked at Rathilion, feeling confused, but he didn’t meet my gaze. A darker expression had settled on his face. “You believe them to be dead?”

“How can I believe otherwise? It has been too long.”

“A war is not won in ten days.”

“Ashes wasn’t going to war. He was going to get those we had to leave behind,” I said sadly.

“A war is coming. You know that.”

I slowly shook my head. “Not necessarily.”

He finally looked at me, but his eyes told me I was fooling myself. “Do you not wish to gain back what you lost? You humans have a certain saying… what was it now… Oh yes, an eye for an eye.”

I narrowed my eyes at him and turned away. The fire inside me roared as I walked away from the flower field. I could feel him following, but I didn’t turn around until we were away from the beautiful little deer family.

“How dare you!” I finally said. “You think that’s all we do? Wage war, fight when people wrong us? You think all we desire is revenge?”

“You and dragons are not that different. That’s why there has always been bad blood between the two species,” he said calmly.

I shook my head. He knew nothing. “We do not like war. We do not like blood. ‘An eye for an eye’ was said by someone consumed by their pain, but we’ve had peace for a long time now with the dragons, and now we are finally joined as one. Just because we fight for what we believe in does not mean we like it—the warring, the anger. And it doesn’t mean there will be a war. If Ashes comes back, we will not go for the throne. We just want our friends and family back.”

“You think he wants that too?”

“He knows we do not have an army. What war would he be fighting?”

Rathilion didn’t respond, but I could see that my words had no real impact. He had already made up his mind about the dragon I had married. So I turned away, ready to go back, when he called out to me again, “Laelia.”

I sighed and glanced over my shoulder to look at him once more.

“Be careful of the fire in you. It’s powerful, and I don’t think you realize just how much power you hold.”

I didn’t reply. I just turned away when suddenly the sound of a horn echoed through the woods. Rathilion walked up to me, his eyes scanning the now silent woods, looking almost worried.

“What?” I asked.

He didn’t respond but started to run, and I quickly followed. We made our way back quickly, running through the palace and emerging on the other side just as we saw the gate open. Liam, Libelle, Kayda, and the king and queen stood near the entrance to the palace, waiting.

They all looked worried as the person on the other side appeared, but we couldn’t see who it was. The guards wouldn’t have let anyone with bad intentions inside, would they?

A horse came galloping toward us, and as it drew closer, I saw the rider slumped over its back, barely holding on.

“Who is it?” I inquired.

Liam stepped forward, ready to calm the horse, which was clearly spooked by the strange weight on its back… or perhaps something had been following them. The horse stopped right in front of Liam, who held up his hands and spoke soothingly to it.

It breathed out hard, its nostrils flaring, with two lines of steam visible in the cold air. We all stood there, waiting to see who had arrived. Impatient, I walked toward Liam and the horse, and that was when I saw it.

“Samuel!” I ran to his side where he was nearly slipping off the horse, grabbing hold of him. Liam held onto the horse’s reins as he joined me.

“Samuel!” I called out again, lifting his head so I could see his face.

He looked terrible. Blood and sweat covered his skin, and the side of his arm bore a deep cut. An arrow protruded from his back.

“Samuel, can you hear me?”

He groaned, lifting his head with difficulty, his eyes struggling to focus. “Laelia,” he whispered.

“Yes, it’s me.”

“They got them...”