The Dragon's Love

Chapter 3

-Laelia-

“They got them...”

His words haunted me as the young elf healer stood over my brother. Kayda assisted her, while Libelle and the rest of us watched anxiously. Samuel’s forehead glistened with sweat, his skin so pale it looked like snow, and his dark hair clung to his damp skin. He was badly hurt, yet we couldn’t get any clear explanation from him about what had happened.

Suddenly, I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder. “He didn’t say they were dead,” Liam murmured to me.

“He didn’t say they were alive either,” I retorted.

“Can’t you have a little faith?”

“In those people?” I responded. “I lost a son because of them. We lost a father. Now we might lose our brother, and I might lose my husband. Tell me, how can I have any faith?”

Liam’s eyes filled with pity as he looked at me, though he seemed unsure of what to say. Suddenly, the queen stepped in. “Our healer will take care of your brother,” she assured me.

Her king stood by her side, a strong and supportive presence. It was clear that both respect and love flowed between them.

“And we thank you for everything you’re doing for him. And for us. We would have died without your help,” I acknowledged.

The king smiled and nodded politely, but I couldn’t miss the concern in his eyes. I knew what he was thinking. He had offered us shelter, but that didn’t mean he wanted to be involved in this fight.

“Come. You should get some rest,” Liam urged.

I shook my head. “No. I want to be here. I want to wait.”

“Laelia...”

I shook his hand off my shoulder and took a step forward. “I want to be here when he wakes up.”

“You can’t forget to take care of yourself. Samuel is tough. He’ll fight through this.”

“I know, and I will be the first one he sees when he wakes up.”

Liam sighed. I knew he hated how I distanced myself from everyone, how I focused on the fire burning in my veins rather than spending what time I had left with them. But I couldn’t let go. I was angry. I wanted to make them pay for what they had done to me and my family.

“Okay, but I will come check on you,” Liam warned.

I just nodded, and then people started to leave. Only Libelle, Kayda, and the healer, Amoya, stayed. I sat down on the other side of Samuel’s bed, brushing some of his sweaty hair away as I looked him over.

“You will be okay,” I whispered. “You always come back stronger.”

-Ashes-

Chains hung from my wrists, securing me to the wall behind me. My body ached, my face was swollen. Things had not gone as planned. The place I had known like the back of my hand had changed.

More guards than I could count roamed the hallways. Secret passages were now either locked or so heavily guarded that it was impossible to go anywhere without my brothers noticing. We had barely made it past the many walls, dressed in worn-down capes, before we were discovered.

“Seize them!”

Our group huddled together, watching as a swarm of men stormed toward us.

“How did they know?” Samuel asked, his voice filled with disbelief.

I didn’t know what to tell him. Though we had managed to slip past the front security, I now wondered if it had all been a trap from the beginning. Surrounded on all sides, we quickly drew our hidden weapons. That sparked the fight, and the men charged at us with full force.

It was an unfair battle. Though we took down a good number of them, it wasn’t long before we were wounded and pressed to the ground. Only one man remained standing—Samuel.

He refused to go down, even after they cut him everywhere, even when five guards jumped him as blood poured from his arms and legs. He was relentless. Like a bear, he roared and fought.

In the end, he managed to reach a horse nearby. I watched as he escaped while the rest of us lay shackled and defeated. Three guards pursued him, but I was glad that at least one of us had gotten away.

Go find Laelia, I thought.

Suddenly, the heavy metal door leading into my dark and suffocating cell creaked open, and two huge shadows entered, followed by a third. I looked up slightly, peering through the dark, ash-like hair that now hung in front of my eyes after so many days had passed. I wasn’t sure how many, though.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the great Ashes, now chained like a dog,” Blaze sneered.

I didn’t respond. I just looked down at my dirty, bloody hands that I couldn’t clean.

“Not so mighty now, are you?”

I remained silent, and Blaze didn’t like it. He strode over, grabbed the collar of my ripped shirt, and punched me in the face.

“Calm yourself, Blaze. He is already restrained and vanquished. Soon enough, he will lose his head,” Sirrush said.

Always the rational one, I thought.

“Can’t you see he still considers us beneath him? That’s why he won’t speak or even look at us. We are kings now, not him,” Blaze said.

“You’ll never be king,” I muttered before spitting out blood.

It landed in front of them, and I saw the fire ignite in Blaze’s eyes. Sirrush placed a hand on his chest, calming him.

“You will die, Ashes. The crown, the South, and the North are ours. Don’t you see? We’re already kings,” he said calmly.

It had always annoyed me how controlled he seemed, but I knew better. I knew a storm raged inside him, just as it did in all of us.

“Even if you cut off my head, even if you burn me until I’m nothing but ash, as I did Halia, the crown still isn’t yours. The South and the North will not follow you because they already have a queen.”

“The princess?” Sirrush inquired, almost mockingly.

I looked up at him, a smug smile spreading across my face, and nodded.

“Yes. Laelia. They will follow her.”

“She can’t touch us. We’ll make the people bow to us and show them she’s not their ruler. She’s nothing but a small princess.”

“You don’t know her like I do,” I replied. “She’s as fierce as the northern wind. She won’t bow, and neither will her people.”

The third person, still hidden behind my brothers, shifted uneasily at the mention of Laelia. I wondered who he was.

“She’s just one woman. She won’t stand in our way.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“Are you afraid of a mere woman?” Sirrush taunted.

“Me? No, but you should be.”

“Really?”

I nodded. “Laelia is different. She’s someone people look up to. She’s a force, a symbol, maybe even a goddess in some people’s eyes. She makes people love her without really trying. She gives them hope. Even if you kill me, they’ll look to her. They’ll always follow her.”

It was clear, even to me, that my voice was filled with admiration. I truly did admire her. I had from the first time she looked at me.

“You’re a fool in love,” Sirrush sneered. “And you’ll die as one.”

Blaze smiled beside him, crossing his arms, before they both turned to leave. As the light from the hallway outside spilled into the room, I finally saw who had entered with them.

“James?” I called out.

He turned briefly to look at me. Half of his face was shrouded in darkness, and his eyes burned with hate.

“You thought chains would hold me. You thought taking my family and turning me into a slave would break me. I do not break. I am a northerner, and I am their king,” he declared.

My brothers had already left, oblivious to his dark words. Was he truly working with them? I found it hard to believe, but something more urgent came to mind.

“Your brothers,” I began before he could leave. “Are they alive?”

He only glanced over his shoulder briefly before stepping into the hallway and closing the heavy metal door.