Rejected by My Royal Mate

Ch 2- The Rejection

-Alyna-

I was walking towards the Elders court as my best friend, Irene, followed me, a dogged expression on her face. I stopped when someone bumped hard into me, and when I looked up, I saw Everly Vane smirking at me, her eyes narrowed in hatred, her smile malicious.

Everly Vane. The bane of my existence. It was kind of pathetic for a twenty-year-old to have a bully, but I have one. Everything about my life was honestly pathetic at this point. I wasn't proud.

"Wow, I know you are stupid. Are you blind, too?" Irene snapped at Everly, which made her roll her eyes with a scoff. Ignoring Irene, she turned towards me, her eyes darkening in her anger.

"Poor f*cking Alyna, I heard the prince rejected you and then ran back to his girlfriend. I mean, why would he want you when he had someone as amazing as Riya?" Everly scoffed as she looked me up and down. "I saw him walking out of her room just a while ago. He looked happy, maybe because he is going to be rid of you today. Everyone's saying that he will reject you and then claim her."

Riya Emerson. Theoden's recent girlfriend, and yes, she was the perfect girl. With her Earth dragon, she was calm and fierce, too.

My heart tugged in pain as I looked up at Everly. Was she telling the truth?

Did Theo really go back to Riya after our brief encounter in the room? Of course, he told me to meet him in court for rejection, but still... could he just disregard everything we did and go back to her, just like that? My heart shattered and every shattered shard pierced my insides. I clamped my lips shut to prevent myself from wailing out in agony.

My eyes burned, but I refused to give her the satisfaction of seeing me cry.

"Don't you have something else to do, Everly?" I whispered as I turned away from her, ignoring her hysterical laughter. I felt her hand grabbing me and stopping me. Her claws dug into my skin, breaking my skin. Dark blood dripped down as I hissed in pain.

"Get your f*cking hands off of her," a hard, male voice announced, and I looked up to see Nathan walking towards me, his eyes flashing in anger. Nathan Reyes and Theo were the best of friends. Nathan and I had this ongoing feud, and I never knew why it started in the first place.

Everly fluttered her eyes as she looked at the dragon warrior in his clingy shirt, sweat trailing down his forehead. He was tall, handsome and when he walked, he walked like he owned the whole kingdom. His gray eyes flashed in his anger as he shook his head at Everly, seemingly unimpressed by her fluttering eyes.

"Do not touch her... ever. If I find you doing things like that, Ms. Vane, I am not a gentleman, and I don't think twice before attacking the bullies..." She scurried off mumbling something under her breath.

Nathan gave me a dark look, his eyes blaming me for this. He was always blaming me for one thing or the other.

"Why do you always keep silent?" He glared at me as he motioned me to walk forward.

"I don't need a bodyguard, especially one without a freaking brain." Yes... things like this came out of my mouth only when he was near me.

"Yes, that sharp tongue... but only with me. So, what happens whenever you are with others?" He leaned closer to me, his eyes going dark as a storm cloud, and I felt my heart thundering as he pulled back from me.

We finally reached the Elders court and Nathan patted my back...which was more of a push than a pat.

"He is an idi.ot. You deserve more," he looked really sincere as he walked in and sat in one of the many seats.

My heart squeezed as I walked inside the red-tiled floor, my legs trembling. The court was filled with soft whispers and every eye was on me.

I felt like my body was crawling with creepy, squiggly worms. It was a disgusting feeling that made me want to puke my guts out. I was not a stranger to this feeling, though.

I have had years of experience of that.

I kept looking at my mate, who was standing opposite, wondering what was going on inside his head right now, but he avoided looking at me. His beautiful gray eyes were darting everywhere.

"Alyna Vittorio, do you accept Prince Theoden Silverstone's rejection?"

Do I? Do I have a choice? Do I have a freaking say about this?

I wanted to dig through the floor and bury myself inside and never come back outside, but I just stood there, my breath leaving in fretful gusts, my heart twisting in pain, like a pathetic fool I was.

This is not happening.

But of course, this nightmare was happening. There was no way to wake up from it.

I missed mom at that moment, more than I ever had. I wished she was here. She would know how to make me smile again. She would stand up in front of all of them and tell them to go to hell.

She would tell me to forget the prince, because it was his loss. She would pull my chin up, and tell me to keep it that way, because I was her special girl. 'Chin up, My special princess. Or your Tiara will fall down.' She would say.

I wasn't special, though.

Of course, I had been special up until my sixteenth birthday. I was the most popular girl at school. With my dark red hair like flame, and my curious brown eyes, I was every bit an aristocrat.

Everyone believed that I would one day shift into a fire dragon, which would match the color of my hair.

But by the time I turned sixteen, I realized there was nothing special about me. I waited under the soft sun, waiting for the Sun God to bless me with the power of the dragon.

I had begged and prayed, but no matter how long I stood under the sun, there was no change inside me. I didn't get the dragon's soul.

And then, everyone realized it too. When they realized that I wasn't shifting into a freaking fire dragon like they had hoped, friends became acquaintances and acquaintances became enemies and bullies.

I was the first aristocrat who was without a dragon in over centuries.

F*cking poor Alyna had been the only word in every mouth. And then the bullying began. The gossips. The scornful looks. The not-so-whispered nicknames.

People with Dragon souls who could not shift into an actual dragon were called the Cursed. We were the weak ones who couldn't accept the souls of our fierce dragons.

The last Cursed was 200 centuries ago, and he went insane and killed himself. We learned about him in history class. After him, I was the only one of the Cursed.

Years later, they would probably learn about me in history. Alyna Vittorio - the second Cursed.

I was a blemish on my strong blood line. My mother came from a long line of warriors, and my father came from the most powerful line of aristocrats.

"It is really sad that the Sun God is doing this to Prince Theoden." A barely whispered barb pulled me away from my wandering thoughts.

Of course, Everly... her voice disrupted the overwhelming silence in the court. Shrilly and squeak.

Theoden gave her a sharp look that made her shut up. And it made me even more angry. I didn't need Prince not-so-charming's protection.

I looked away from them, and my eyes met the only person in there who was actually in my corner, other than my father. Irene.

She looked at me and gave me a nod, trying to voicelessly offer me her support.

She has been my only support system for a while, since my mom died and my dad almost lost it. After that, he had recovered, but he wasn't the man I once knew.

He had been a member of the Royal court all his life and he hated I was going through this, but he also couldn't stand up against the Royals. No one could. Especially not for a dragon-less girl like me.

"Accept it, Alyna," Prince Theoden whispered under his breath. My eyes burned. I wished I had the power to breathe fire and incinerate him. "It would be easier for all of us."

Easier for him to forget me just like that and then go back to Riya! But it is not easy for me... Having his claws cleaving the insides of my heart would be much easier for me than this, this staggering pain.

"You can accept his rejection directly, Alyna, or you can play the games," Elder Calay said. His wizened eyes softly assessed me and I felt my lips tremble. I pressed them together, refusing to sob in front of everyone.

Games. I scoffed. What foolishness!

"Games," Irene mouthed the words. "Revenge."

I shook my head in denial, knowing very well what she was asking me to do, and Irene wrinkled her nose.

I would never survive the games. I was not strong enough.

I remembered what Irene had told me yesterday. It was like a nail in your head and you couldn't easily forget the nail in your head.

"It is you, Alyna. You let people walk all over you. You let them bully you. You never stand up for yourself, and that is just plain wrong. It is because you think you are not worth s**t, because you don't have a dragon, but guess what! Even without a dragon, you are a million times better than they will ever be.

"He is rejecting you because he knows you will take it like a good girl and cry yourself to sleep, and give him your blessings for his happiness. Stop being a martyr, Alyna. Stop being so, so spineless. I want you to become the girl, the one before her sixteenth birthday. Can you find that girl for me?"

That Alyna was a spunky, smartass who never gave up on anything. And then I didn't find my dragon, and I had given up on myself.

I had become someone who took the lashings in silence, bullying with grace, not because I couldn't fight, but because I didn't care enough to fight.

When people bullied me, I took it because I just didn't have the strength to stand up for myself. I shouldn't have lost my dignity along with my dragon. And that was on me.

I looked up and my eyes met Prince Theoden's sharp blue eyes. I wanted to ask him why it was so easy for him to do this to me, but I couldn't even open my lips in fear that I might break down and cry!

He cleared his throat as his eyes widened in realization. He subtly shook his head.

Just two days ago, I would have readily accepted the rejection. It was the easy way. The least painful way.

If I decided to play the games, I had to be stuck with him for two months month. 60 days. 60 days with the man who had rejected me.

But yes... Irene was right. She always was. Having a smart, badass best friend was amazing.

I am done being trampled on. I am done being mocked, scorned, bullied.

"I will-"

Theoden glared at me as he grabbed my hand in his, stopping me. "Give us a moment, Elder Calay," he said as he dragged me away from the court.

"You know... this is unnecessary. If you want to punish me -"

"I don't want to punish you."

"If you are with other men, it will hurt me, you know."

"And I care, why?"

~~~