The Selection: Bride of the Dark Dragon

Chapter 2

MIRA

The loud knock on the door of my room wakes me up. Looking at the clock, I see that it’s half past midnight. Yet I hurry to open the door, as my mind is still a bit blurry.

“Hello…” Derek’s eyes travel up and down before I realise that I am only wearing my lacy silk nightgown. “If that’s how you greet your guests, then I definitely should visit you more often!”

“My eyes are up here, you know.” I quickly retreat to the back of the room and throw on a matching robe to cover myself. “Come in!”

My battle partner squeezes in, and, gosh, the room is far too small for this tall and muscular guy. He scratches his brown locks and looks around the place with his green eyes, clearly puzzled at what he sees.

“Your chambers are smaller than I expected,” he finally admits.

“Well, I am not a daughter of a Marquis, unlike some people.” I roll my eyes.

“Neither am I,” he chuckles. “Just a son of one.”

True, his father is a Marquis and about the third most influential person in our kingdom. A distant relative of the royal family, even. But somehow, Derek never behaves like the spoiled child of aristocrats he should be. Unlike others. Especially the one that makes me cringe the most…

“So–” my friend sighs.

“So–” I mimic him, even though I know it annoys the hell out of him.

“Mira, I’ve been doing research for the whole day, and I think I have a plan now. But before that, I will ask you again. Are you sure you don’t want to be a part of The Dark Selection? You know, most girls are thrilled to get this kind of opportunity.”

“Well, Der, you know that I am not like most girls,” I retort. “So, no. I am pretty sure I want nothing to do with the Dark Ones.”

“OK then. I found a masking spell; it will help to hide your mark, at least temporarily. I don’t think they will come for you in the next few days, anyway. You know that usually brides run to register themselves and come to the registration fully ready, and all.”

“Yeah,” I snort. “I’ve heard.”

“So, we will help you hide your mark, and tomorrow right after classes we will get you out of the Academy. Nort, Rick and I will get you to your fiancé’s house in a day or…”

“No!” I stop him. “Not him.”

Well, we will have to have this awkward conversation, after all, I think, judging by the very surprised expression on Dereck’s face.

“W-why?” the guy gulps. “I thought you would want to go to him. He is the Sapphire Knight of the Empire, and for sure would be able to protect you the best.”

I swallow. “Der, we are not that kind of couple... .”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that it was an arranged engagement.” I let out an exhausted sigh. “I was fifteen; he was already the great famous knight. Our fathers are friends, and that’s the only reason it happened in the first place. I’ve seen him just a bunch of times, and we haven’t been talking much. He probably only knows my name, my age, and that I am a student here since my studies here were a perfect delay of events for both of us. I am sure he has many women on the side and a great excuse not to get married to any of them. But I don’t think he was going to go through with our wedding in the first place. And neither was I. I was going to propose to break our engagement before I graduate from here. And I am pretty sure he would have agreed. So, yeah, he is not the person I’d go to for help. If anything, it would be an amazing excuse for him. His bride was selected by the Dark Ones, and no one can disagree with that. His reputation would survive that for sure. If we come to him, he’ll probably alert everyone himself just to get rid of me.”

My battle partner doesn’t say anything. A mixture of emotions is on his face, but when our eyes lock, I see determination written in his.

“You can go to my castle, then!” he says firmly.

“Der, no! This is too dangerous!” I close my face with my hands and feel him pull me into a hug.

“Mira, I promised to protect you. My castle has one of the most powerful shields in the kingdom. You would be safe there!”

“Oh, Der, I can’t put you under such risk! Think of your parents…and your little sister. If the Dark Ones decide to take me by force, they could hurt them. They would be within their right and wouldn’t care about anything or anyone else. You know how they are!”

“Then we’ll get another castle! I have enough money to buy a new one! And we’ll create a shield on our own! Nort, Rick and I are graduating this year – we have all the knowledge we need! No one would find us!”

I hesitate. That might work, but it is still not perfect. And if we are found… I just don’t think I would be able to handle the consequences.

“It’s either that, or we will fight the Dark Ones that come for you, in combat!” Dereck adds, changing everything with his words. The Dark Ones are very powerful; even a person of the lowest rank can win over our best knights. We have checked that plenty of times already. No, I can’t let my friends do something this stupid. For me, the best thing would be to escape with their help, and then leave them and run away on my own. My future life would be spent in hiding, but at least I would be free and not forced to be with a man I hate.

“All right.” I nod and receive another hug almost instantly.

“Great!” Der beams at me. “Then pack your things! We are leaving tomorrow!”

After a sleepless night, I put on my favourite dress and the Academy’s uniform robe and drag myself to my first class of the day – Demonology. I glance at my bags, standing next to my bed and all ready for my escape. I can’t believe I won’t even get to graduate.

I walk into the auditorium and slide to the seat next to my friend Tessa – she is from the Faculty of Artefactorics, but we bonded nicely during our first year.

“You look like a ghost,” she says calmly.

“I feel like one too.” I shrug my shoulders.

Professor Szwarten commands some students to help him hang images of today’s subjects – some really ugly species of demons – when our headmaster’s assistant, Lady Evelyn, walks in. She scans the room with her indifferent face, and her eyes stop at me.

“Adept Miradora Freyn!” Her voice screeches through my ears. “The headmaster wants to see you!”

Damn it! This does not sound good.

“I’ll come straight after class.” I smile my most polite smile, but it only makes the woman angrier.

“Now, Adept!” she almost screams. “Do not disobey the Headmaster's orders! He is waiting for you now! You are already late as it is.”

Slowly, I gather my things and follow the annoying secretary to the office. We stop at the massive wooden doors, and then knocks, announcing my arrival.

But I feel strange. Suddenly it’s getting too hard to even breathe.

I am slightly frustrated with everything when Lady Evelyn pushes me into the room, and I suddenly find myself in front of the Headmaster’s desk. The first thing I notice is a man sitting in one of the guest chairs. He doesn’t turn to look at me, and all I see is his black-as-night hair, slightly wavy and falling to his shoulders. His fingers tap on the armrest of his chair and he is wearing an expensive dark coat that reminds me of gerdians pictured in our history books.

The atmosphere is so heavy…it weighs on me drastically. My lips part slowly as I realise that the mysterious man who still did not spare me a glance is one of the Dark Lords…