The Dragon King's Dark Angel

6 - Meeting Aurora

Genevieve

    It had been so long since I ate a good meal, my stomach couldn't handle it, and I was left feeling horrible.  Atreyu was a total sweetheart and held my hair back for me, then he helped me get back in bed.

    Getting sick left my already aching body hurting even more, and I couldn't stop myself from quietly crying in pain.  Truth be told, I still hurt bad enough that I wanted to scream and yell about the pain, but I feared what might happen if I did that.

    I was curled up in a ball, but I could feel the bed dip when Atreyu climbed onto it.  A few short seconds later, I felt sparks tingle across my bare back where Atreyu was soothingly rubbing.  When his hand curved around my side, his fingers made contact with my belly, and that gave my stomach more relief than I would have ever expected.

    Right away, I grabbed his large hand and moved it to the middle of my abdomen.  Instantly, the pain I was feeling started to ease, then the exhaustion quickly set back in.  Within a few minutes, I felt my eyelids grow heavy, and it wasn't long before I drifted to sleep.

    Unfortunately, it was not a peaceful sleep, and I awakened a short time later in a panic that caused me to spring up to a sitting position.  My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest, and there was a layer of sweat glistening all over my body. 

    The nightmare I had seemed so real, it made me think I was back in the hands of those awful beasts.  It wasn't until I heard the door open and actually opened my eyes, then I realized I was still in Atreyu's bedroom.

    However, he was not lying beside me, and he was not the one who opened the bedroom door.  Instead, a woman that resembled Atreyu walked into the room with concern written all over her pretty face.  

    As soon as her eyes landed on me, the pretty woman anxiously asked, "Sweetie, are you okay?  I heard whimpering."

    "Yes, I'm fine.  It was just a nightmare," I timidly responded.

    "Oh, you poor girl.  What those monsters did to you is awful.  Please, let me know if there is anything I can do to help you get through this," she sympathetically remarked.

    "Who are you?  Where is Atreyu?" I nervously inquired.

    "I am the King's sister, Princess Aurora.  King Atreyu needed to speak with his first in command.  He should be back any minute," she quickly explained.

    "Oh... okay.  It was nice to meet you, Aurora.  My name is Genevieve," I politely replied.

    "It's nice to meet you, Genevieve.  I look forward to spending more time with you after you're feeling better," Aurora responded with a smile, then she left the bedroom and closed the door.

    It was the first time since I was taken captive that I found myself alone when not stuck in a cage, and I wasn't sure what to do.  My body was too sore to go exploring, but I didn't necessarily want to lie in bed any longer.

    I carefully climbed off the huge bed, then I slowly walked around the large bedroom and took everything in.  The walls were painted a dark red, and the carpet was such a dark shade of gray that it almost looked black, but it perfectly complemented the red walls.

    The comforter on the bed was red and black with a plaid pattern, and the silk sheets underneath were black.  The curtains hanging in front of the double door leading to the balcony were also made of black silk.  In addition to that, the loveseat positioned against one wall was covered in a red fabric that had black swirls.

    The colors of the bedroom matched the colors of my wings, and I couldn't help but to wonder if there was some significance to that.  If not, that was one heck of a coincidence.

    When I made it around to the balcony door, I opened it and stepped outside.  For the first time since I arrived there, I got a good opportunity to take in where I was at.

    I was several stories high, but I already knew that from when I tried to flee.  However, what I didn't notice was how big the kingdom was overall.  There were little shops and housing almost as far as I could see.  Not to mention, the streets were bustling with people and dragons.

    Wait... dragons?  And that's when I remembered the huge blue dragon that caught me in the air and threw me back into the bedroom.  A second later, I wondered if Atreyu was a dragon, and that thought made my entire body tremble.

    Those beasts who abused me for months were dragons, and I had hoped to never cross paths with another one if I ever got away from them.  Instead, I ended up at another kingdom with a whole bunch of them.

    Suddenly, I heard a familiar, yet formidable sounding voice boom, "You dare to spy on my kingdom!  Now, you want to beg for mercy?  You are a worthless excuse of a dragon!"

    My eyes snapped in the direction of the voice just in time to watch Atreyu slam his fist into the face of a man with dark red hair.  I recognized the man as one of the beasts who tortured me, and I couldn't help but to smile with satisfaction.  He deserved every punch he got from Atreyu.

    Revenge came to mind.  Revenge for all of the horrible things he did to me.  

    Driven by that thought, I started flapping my wings, despite the fact that they still ached something awful.  I flew down from the balcony to where Atreyu had a death grip on the beast's arm, and his fist pulled back ready to strike again.

    As soon as I reached them, I grabbed Atreyu's fist and vehemently snarled, "This one's mine!"

    I didn't care how much pain I was in.  Anger was fueling my actions, and I refused to let the chance pass me by.

    Atreyu immediately looked panic to see me, but he didn't make any objections.  Instead, he lowered his fist and gave me a single nod of his head.

    With Atreyu's okay, I turned to face the awful beast and venomously spat, "You shall spend eternity in the depths of hell where beasts like you belong!  Never again will you torture another innocent soul!"

    I may have been hurt and malnourished, but my fingernails were still long and claw-like.  In one swift move of my arm, I used three of those sharp nails to tear through the beast's throat causing blood to squirt all over my still nude body.  

    Without thought, I hovered my hand over the beast's body after he dropped to the ground, then I chanted the words needed to send his soul to the underground where the dark angels would torture him for all of eternity.  As soon as I was done, my footing got wobbly, then Atreyu reached out and pulled me against him.

    A second later, he dipped his head down to my ear and proudly murmured, "You surprise me, angel.  If you can face him and do what you did, I am confident that you can take your place as Queen without any concerns."

    I didn't necessarily want to be a queen, but I couldn't stop the small smile that formed on my face in response to his praise.  It was then that I decided not to attempt to flee again without giving this gorgeous man a chance to prove himself to me.