Promised to the Dragon King

The gardens are my favorite place to hide from my mother and her continuous princess classes. I don’t want to get married… EVER! Princesses are rude and most of them think they will rule the world one day. I just want to be normal... You know, walk among the people in the village, buy an apple without people staring at me as if I'm from a different country... That type of thing. “Hmf!” “Oh, Hi, my name is Princess Vanora. I’m sixteen years old, and tonight my parents, or at least my mother, has another one of her famous balls planned where she tries to find me a betrothed to marry when I turn eighteen. I’m their only child and apparently can’t rule this kingdom on my own. Imagine that! I mean, just imagine if kingdoms were run by women…” I heard the swoosh sound pass me, and the next moment I was stuck to the edge of the fountain. Gasping when I saw an arrow sticking out the side of my dress, I looked around in panic, calling for help, only to see more arrows coming over the wall of the castle, almost covering the sunlight! Our guards fell one after another, and I pulled at my dress, finally breaking the wood of the arrow. A guard came to my aid, and ran with me to the safety of the castle doors. Inside, chaos had broken out with the sound of their armour, clinging-clanging as they ran up and down the passages, gathering weapons. Tears stained my face; I ran to my mother’s room, but she wasn’t there, then I tried my father’s room, but he wasn’t there either. Did they abandon me? Did they leave the castle…? “There you are, Vanora! We have been looking everywhere for you!” My mother screamed further down the passage, and I ran into her embrace. “Come, we are under attack.” She grabbed my hand, making me follow her to the war room, where my father was handing out orders to his generals. When he was done, he turned around, his face was as pale as the sheets on our beds. “Vanora, are you okay? Are you hurt?” “I’m okay, an arrow hit my dress.” I showed them the tear in my beautiful dress. Putting his big, strong hands on my shoulders, his kind eyes looked into mine. “At least you weren’t hurt. Now stay here with your mother. Darling, I will send guards to the door.” He let me go, and I felt the sudden cold where his hands left my shoulders. He put his hands on mother’s shoulders, and left a kiss on her forehead. “Everything will be fine. I promise. I have to go.” And with that, he was gone, and we were left to wonder what was going on outside. *** That was the day the war started. Little did we know that the war against the Faerie King would last another two years. Our kingdom suffered great losses, our people were going hungry, our defences were failing, and our troops were made up of mostly farmers by this time. The farms were non-existent, and our people had retreated to the castle. It wouldn’t be much longer before his men would overrun us. “I have to do this.” I heard my father saying as I walked into the room, and saw the tears in my mother’s eyes. “Do what?” “Look after your mother.” Those were the last words my father spoke to me before leaving under the cover of night. I tried to find out from my mother where he had gone, but she wasn’t even talking to anyone. She had almost completely stopped eating, wanting her portion of food to go to our people, not that it really made a difference. There was no longer a divide between a royal and a peasant. We were all in the same situation; just trying to survive this war and come out alive on the other side. I heard the bashing of their ram against our last defence. The castle door… They had finally broken past our soldiers outside the castle, and were storming the castle. My father had been gone for just over a week, and all was lost. These were going to be our final moments. We all knew what they did to the royal family when a war was won. I took my mother’s hand and walked to the square, proudly standing at the steps of the castle, waiting with what was left of our people, watching the wood of the door c***k bit by bit, while the last of the soldiers left in the castle tried to brace the door. If I was lucky to survive, I would be unlucky enough to be either forced into a marriage to someone, or sold as a slave… My mother would not be that lucky, but she had dried her tears, and we stood proud, waiting for our fate when we heard a screeching sound through the air. Within seconds, flames burst out on the outside of the wall and the screams of men dying sent a chill down my spine. His wingspan was bigger than anything I had ever seen. His golden scales shone in the sunlight. “The King is back! Open the gates! Open the gates!” Someone shouted. Chaos surrounded us, as people started running to open the barricades in front of the gates. My mother let go of my hand, joining them. I couldn’t take my eyes off the creature who had come to our aid, majestically swooping through the air, and within minutes he had ended the event that had plagued us for the past two years. I heard horse hooves rushing into the castle as they hit the dry ground, and my mother’s cry of joy when she saw my father, but it all sounded so far off. My full attention was drawn to this mythical creature I never thought existed. “Vanora! Thank God you are okay! Come, we have to find you something proper to wear.” “What? Father? Welcome back, how did you...?” I felt confused as he rushed me into the castle with my mother behind him. “There is no time to explain now. He will be coming inside soon, and we need to make you presentable. Quickly!” He waved at my mother to help me, and we rushed to my room, finding one of my older dresses that had survived the war. It was not one of my more extravagant ones like I used to wear. We used whatever we could over the years, to help our people stay warm. Pulling the red velvet dress over my head, my mother grabbed the golden rope that kept my curtain tied back, and tied it around my tiny waist. She brushed my wild red hair and put my small tiara on my head. The tassel of the cord made the dress look like it was made for a princess. “It will have to do.” She shoved me out of the door, and my father grabbed my hand, pulling me back to the outside of the castle. “Father! What is going on?” I demanded, trying to pull him to a standstill. “Vanora, the only way I could get the dragon king to come and help save our people was to make him a deal. I’m sorry.” Tears started filling his eyes. “What deal?!” My mother asked, bringing my father to a halt just before the doors. “I had to promise him Vanora’s hand in marriage.” My world came to a standstill. The chaos around me stopped, and all that remained were my parents and me. “Marriage? To that beast?” I whispered. All his beauty was forgotten when the reality of what my father had promised sunk in. “He killed all those people with one blow of fire, and you promised him… Me?” Footsteps echoed through the passage, coming from the front door. “Your kingdom is safe again, Your Highness. The Faerie King is on the run.” He took a deep bow. He was dressed in a golden coat, pure white shirt, and white pants. How did he walk through all that death and fire and stay so clean? “I am forever in your debt, Your Royal Highness.” My father bowed, followed by mother who curtsied. I was still in shock at the news that I had been betrothed to a Dragon King without my permission; then my eyes looked into his golden eyes. “Princess Vanora. I’m King Brenton. I’m pleased to meet you.” He held out his hand, and I placed mine in his, feeling my body moving on of its own free will. He left a soft kiss on top of it, not taking his eyes off mine. “Are you ready to go?” “Wait, WHAT?” I found my voice. “I was led to believe that…” He looked at my father. “My apologies, Your Royal Highness. I haven’t yet had the time to explain the full details of the agreement to my daughter.” My father looked at the ground as if ashamed. He should be! He gave me away! “I will give you one week to make preparations, then I will return to my bride.” He said, in a commanding voice, looking at both my parents. Turning his gaze back at me, it felt as though he was looking deep into my soul. “I will see you soon, Vanora.” Turning around, he walked out the door, and as soon as he reached the steps, golden dust started swirling around him. Within a couple of seconds, he turned back into the dragon, taking off in a dust cloud and disappeared. “You gave our daughter to that monster?!!” My mother screamed at my father. “It was the only reason he would have come. It was the only way to save you.” My father pleaded. I turned around in shock and slowly started walking back to my room. Our people were starting to move out of the castle to see the aftermath of what he left behind, but I didn’t want to know. I didn’t want to see what my future held. Being drawn to that monster was bad enough. To know what he could do would just break me. It was my duty as a princess of the kingdom to do what was needed to protect and serve my people, but I had always thought it would be to marry a man, not a beast. *** He sent provisions for our people as part of the gifts for our marriage. Silks for the seamstress to make me dresses to wear when I went to his home country, seeing as I would not be able to change into a dragon. His note read that he did not want me to show up in my tattered velvet dress. His arrogance astounded me!! I had many arguments with my father during the week, but the last one was the worst. “You did not just give me to a beast! You betrayed your entire kingdom!! He didn’t have to fight a war to win your crown! He simply purchased it!” I screamed and ran to my room. *** When the day came for me to leave, a coach in pure gold arrived drawn by two white horses. I had to give it to the King, he had flair. He landed just outside the walls of the castle and walked inside, greeted, and thanked by our people who had no idea how much I was giving up for them. His kind smile was not helping the situation or my temper at all. Holding out his hand to assist me into the carriage, I simply ignored him and turned my head, looking down at the ground. “I… I’m sorry, Your Royal Highness.” My father said. “I can’t go through with this. I can’t send my daughter to be married to someone she doesn’t love!” He pulled me by my arm in behind him. “Do with me what you wish, but I can’t do that to Vanora!” The King’s face didn’t change, except for those golden eyes. The anger in his eyes was indescribable. “We had a deal. Are you sure you want to go back on your word?” His voice was a soft growl. Father hesitated for a second then nodded slowly. “In that case, if she does not marry me, she will not marry anyone else!” He growled loud enough for the ground to shake underneath our feet. I felt cold air starting to blow around my feet and slowly moving up my body, watching as my parents started moving away from me, and our people started running. When I looked at myself to see what was happening, I saw talons forming at my feet and hands, and wings grew from my back. My body turned to a shimmering white colour, covered in scales as I looked on in horror. “You will remain a dragon until the day you agree to marry me!” He shouted, flapping his huge wings before taking off.