Forced to marry the dragon

King Rolo stood in the throne room with a letter in his hand. The letter was brought early that morning by an unknown messenger, but the sender of the letter was not unknown at all.  The Dragon King wasn't one to ask for something, he demanded it, and this time he demanded his only daughter, princess Keila. It was her eighteenth birthday that day and probably her last happy birthday, that's what he thought. The king wanted her to have a nice day, so he decided to tell her later, maybe in the evening. He would give her her last carefree day before he was forced to send her to hell. In the meantime, Keila was in her room getting ready for her favourite day of the year. She had so much to do today and was really excited. Her maid didn't even have to wake her up like she usually did, because the princess couldn't find it in her to sleep any longer.  She woke up early and ran to her best friend's chambers. Mira, her best friend was the daughter of one of her father's general's and a year older than her. She already had her first shift about a month ago.  You see, Keila was the princess of the Shifter kingdom. Her people had their first shift on their nineteenth birthday and would shift into an animal. What animal depended on their soul. Her friend Mira, for example, was a gentle and nice girl and her shadow, as they called it, was a beautiful white weasel. However, her father's shadow was the king of animals, a beautiful almost black fierce lion. She always hoped to be as fierce and brave as him and to have a shadow her father could be proud of. Keila found Mira still asleep in her bed and didn't wait a second before she jumped on her best friend scaring her to death. "Aaaaaah" Mira screamed in horror. "Wake up sleepy head, it's my birthday!" Keila said while smiling from ear to ear. "I'm so sorry your highness, I had no idea." Mira rolled her eyes because Keila wouldn't shut up about her birthday for the past week. "Oh, you are forgiven" Keila replied playfully. "Anyway, we have so much to do, come on, get up."  After Mira's morning routine they left her chambers, as they went Mira asked "Where are we going anyway?" "To Raul's room, duh" Keila replied like it was the most obvious thing.  Raul was her father's second in command's son. They grew up together and he was like her brother, well she loved him like a brother she never had, he, however, hoped for more.  Keila was oblivious to his feeling, but everyone else was well aware, even her father hoped they would get married one day and Raul would become his heir as he didn't have any sons. The king liked Raul a lot, he was twenty, really strong and fierce warrior and his shadow was a white tiger, but most of all he loved his daughter. However, none of these mattered now, Keila would be sent away to marry the dragon prince and the king couldn't do anything about it. Keila knocked on Raul's door and he opened them a few seconds later without a shirt on. Seeing his toned muscular build Mira blushed bright red, she always liked him a lot, who wouldn't?  He was about six feet tall and had tan skin. He had unique white hair, which was surprising for everyone until he finally shifted and with the colour of his shadow it actually made sense. He had blue eyes which were glowing with friendliness and high cheekbones.  Mira thought he looked like a god, but he had eyes only for Keila. With her long red hair and bright green eyes, she was just a bit taller than five feet and was quite curvy but still looked thin. Mira was a little taller than Keila and had wavy dark brown hair but had the same creamy white skin as Keila.  What Mira envied Keila was her curves. She was much leaner and her breasts and ass weren't as shaped as Keila's. But Mira was still very pretty, she just couldn't see it. "Hi birthday girl, happy birthday" Raul hugged Keila with a bright smile on his face. Mira was a little jealous but hid her feeling behind a friendly smile. "Oh, thanks Raul" Keila smiled right back. "Come on guys, let's have my birthday breakfast" with that they made their way to the kitchen. The queen loved her only daughter more than anything, she was, however, a little crazy. It wasn't always like that but given the circumstances, it wasn't that surprising.  The queen was expected to give birth to an heir, but as much as her parents tried it always ended with a tragedy. Her mother was devastated with the number of miscarriages she endured, so when Keila was born they were overjoyed.  Keila's birth encouraged them to keep trying and a few years later a prince was born but he, unfortunately, died a few hours later and that left the queen broken. She usually spent her days in her rooms and didn't speak much.  So Keila didn't expect to see her in the kitchen with a cake in her hands.  "Um, hello mother" Keila greeted confused. "Happy birthday my dear daughter" the queen handed her the cake with a queer smile. She was doing this for her husband, who asked her to wish their daughter happy birthday, it was her last birthday with her family after all. "Thank you" she took the cake not knowing what to do in this odd situation. Raul and Mira were as shocked as Keila was seeing the queen like this. She looked so normal and well-composed. "Good morning your highness," they said in unison. "Ah, good morning. Mira, Raul." She greeted each with a nod and then left the room.  "That was weird" Keila whispered when her mother left. "Anyway, I'm hungry, let's eat." Mira and Raul both nodded and they sat by the table while the servants brought their food.  After breakfast, the princess wanted to see her father but when they arrived the throne room was empty.  Keila thought her father would be here, he usually was. Something on the table by the king's throne caught her eye and the princess unfolded the letter to read it.  As she read her smile turned into a frown and tears welled in her eyes.