by G. Bailey
“The cage doors are open from seven a.m. until five p.m. Please remember, we do not tolerate fighting or the breaking of anything inside the building. If anyone is not in a cage by five p.m., their collars will activate. Have a good day.”
Chapter Four
Isola
I slowly walk out of my cage as Dagan does the same, I see out the corner of my eye. We both pause in the empty corridor, expecting to fight for a moment, but nothing attacks us. I'm not sure which one of us moves first, but the next second, I'm in Dagan’s arms, breathing in his smoky scent as we both hold each other as tightly as we can. Dagan holds me close and only lets go when I feel Thorne moving near us. Thorne pulls me into his arms, kissing the top of my head as I breathe in his scent for comfort much like Dagan. Having them both close to me gives me a second to breathe and get my emotions under control.
“What is going on?” Dagan questions, but it’s more rhetorical as he knows we don’t have any answers.
“I will get Melody, you two get Kor awake,” I suggest, and Thorne lets me slide out of his arms as Dagan nods at me. I quickly make my way down the cages, briefly stopping outside Kor’s cell, seeing him knocked out on the floor and wanting to go to him. I feel better when Thorne and Dagan lift him up and his eyes open, locking on mine for a second before I make myself walk to the next cage where Melody is awake, trying to stand up. I run to my sister, sliding an arm around her waist as she leans heavily on me. Melody looks okay, but some of her clothes are torn, and she is covered in dirt. I imagine it was from the fight in Dragca more than anything here. I don’t see her orb or her cloak anywhere around us.
“The drugs will wear off soon. Once you wake up and start moving, it gets easier,” I explain to her, and she rests her head on my shoulder as I walk her out of the cage and into Kor’s, sitting her next to him with Thorne’s help.
“Come here, doll,” Kor grumbles in a gravelly voice, and I don’t hesitate as I go to sit next to him, wrapping my arms around his waist, and he wraps his arm around my back, pulling me closer to his side.
“Eli will be okay, and we will get out of whatever trouble we are in now,” Kor whispers to me, trying to comfort me, but it isn’t working.
“Eli is with her, and the longer we are here, the more he and Dragca suffer. I don’t even know where Bee is, and I’m freaking out,” I admit. We don’t have time to be stuck here with these goddamn humans when I need to get back to Dragca.
“Bee is safe,” Melody randomly whispers, and I sit forward, meeting her eyes as she looks at me. “This is how it has to be.”
“Is Bee here?” I ask her, focusing on that part and not the “meant to be” thing. Seers and their riddles just confuse me.
“I can’t tell you anymore, only that Bee is safe. Maybe you should speak to a girl with green-tipped hair,” she cryptically states and closes her eyes, resting back against the bars.
“Melody, what do you know? And no bloody riddles, please!” I demand, shaking her arm.
“You know I can’t tell you anything, and I’m tired. Go and look around, and do something stupid,” she mutters in annoyance, not opening her eyes once, and I know she is done with the conversation when there is silence after her words until Kor speaks.
“Go and look around with Dagan. Thorne can watch us until the drugs wear off, right?” Kor suggests. “I feel like me and Thorne need a chat anyways.”
“Are you sure?” I ask quietly, not really wanting to leave any of them.
“Go. We woke up as they were driving us into this place, so they knocked us out again. It will be a while before we are back to normal,” Kor says, explaining why they are still dazed from the drugs.
“Alright. I think it’s best we look around anyway,” I say, being brave and lightly kissing Kor, before pulling myself to my feet. Dagan wraps an arm around my waist as we walk past Thorne out of the cage, and Thorne’s fingers brush against my own.
Call if there is any trouble. I’m always here. I smile at his overprotectiveness and the way he can make me feel safer now just by speaking to me in my mind.
I promise. Behave with Kor, I reply as we get closer to the door at the end of the corridor, and I start to feel a little nervous. I keep my expression as neutral as possible, knowing I can’t afford to show weakness in this place. They already know my dragons and sister mean everything to me, and I will do anything for them…they don’t need more ammunition.
Anything for you, Issy, Thorne replies, but I don’t think a single word back as we step through the door and into the massive room which is full of people. There must be at least fifty people in the room, and every single one of them slowly notices us and pauses in whatever they were doing. The room slowly goes silent as I stare around at the people. There is a mixture of children of all ages, men and women…and each one of them is a dragon. I’m surprised at how many of them look like ice dragons, and all their scents are so overwhelming that I can’t focus on what smells strange about them. Not human or dragon… it’s weird.
“Why are they staring?” I ask Dagan.
“Maybe they don’t get new people in here often,” he replies.
“Dragons turn up here every day, Dagan Fire…but not a royal that is meant to save us all,” my uncle Louis says, walking to the front of all the people. He slowly bows his head, and every other dragon in the room does the same. I’m happy to see him for a moment, but I am unsure of how to deal with him. My uncle was always cold with me, and I don’t know if it is a good thing having him here. I notice how his eyes go to Dagan’s arm around my waist.
“Uncle, what are you doing here?” I ask, noticing him slightly flinch as I call him “uncle” instead of his name. I walk over to him, trying to ignore how everyone in the room rises when my uncle lifts his hands as he stands. They listen to him, which is interesting.
“I came to Earth to find you, to tell you something very important, but then I got caught by the hunters,” he explains. “I had hoped they would never get you, but here we are.”
“Is that what they call themselves?” I ask. “Hunters?”
“A lot changed in this last year, you might want to sit as I tell you all of it and about this place,” he suggests. “Then you can explain what the hell has been going on in Dragca, and why you are here with your dragon guard’s arm wrapped around your waist, and why you’re not on the throne where you belong.”
Chapter Five
Isola
I carefully watch my uncle as we find an unoccupied table, which has empty food plates in the middle, piled up. My stomach rumbles, reminding me that I can’t remember when I last had something to eat. I know finding out what is going on is more important than my hunger, so I ignore it, but Dagan doesn’t.
“I will find us some food and take some to the others. Louis Pendragon, the legendary fighter, won’t let anyone hurt you. I’m sure of it. I will be close either way,” Dagan tells me, keeping his voice low enough for only us to hear him, but my uncle can clearly hear as he nods once at Dagan. He trusts my uncle, like I think I do, but not the other dragons in this room. I stare back at my uncle, seeing how he has a long beard now and his hair has grown to his shoulders. My uncle still has that cold, detached feeling to him as before, but I know something has changed. The uncle I remember as a child was a killing machine my father loved, and the uncle I met again at Dragca Academy was detached from life as he lost so much of it. He couldn’t even see me as his family back then. He could only see me as a reflection of my mother when she was younger. He only saw his sister, not his niece. This version of my uncle is strange to me…he is treating me like a queen, which I am not, and like family, which he has never done before.
“Alright. Thank you and be careful,” I tell Dagan, who squeezes my hip with his hand before walking off and leaving us alone.
“I am going to explain something to you…something hidden from Dragca and its people. Only your father and mother knew, and your mother told me,” he starts off, crossing his arms and resting back in his seat
as I don’t respond. “Dragon shifters and seers are not the only type of magical beings in the worlds.”
“Fates are as well. I met one,” I respond, trying not to seem too shocked.
“Well, I’ve never heard of fates before, but considering Earth has more magic than any of us thought possible, hearing another creature exists isn’t surprising,” he says, muttering it under his breath, and I’m not sure if he is even talking to me.
“What magical beings were you talking about then?” I ask.
“Wolf shifters. Witches. Vampires and angels. I’ve even heard of fairies, demons and pixies being real,” he responds.
“That’s just human fairy tales,” I laugh, but I stop laughing when I see how serious my uncle is being.
“Like dragons are?” he retorts. “Don’t be so naive, Isola.” His scolding tone makes my dragon growl, and my lips itch with the need to say something snarky back, but I know that would be proving his point further. I take a deep breath instead, reminding myself about the collar and knowing I need to relax.
“Have you seen these supernaturals?” I ask him.
“Yes. There are five buildings here, and each one contains different supernaturals. This is clearly the dragons’ buildings. On Fridays, they let us go outside into a gated field, and you can meet these people yourself,” he tells me.
“What day is it?” I ask.
“Wednesday. There is a clock up there for the time,” he points at the giant clock on the wall that I don’t know how I missed. “Being observant clearly isn’t something you have learnt these past few years.”
“What happened to Paris?” I ask, ignoring his insult.
“There was a war between demons and the supernaturals. Paris and most the people inside it were destroyed…or worse. The supernaturals won, and humans declared war on them, and now they are in hiding—or caught and put in here,” he replies like that is nothing. Paris is a massive city, the capital of France and a place Hallie’s mum used to love to go on holiday to. I remember Hallie telling me she was spending the winter in Paris…and if that happened while she was there, no wonder Hallie hates me.
“Hallie’s mum was in Paris,” I whisper to myself, knowing that must have destroyed her, and I can see why she shot at me first before asking questions. I did constantly lie to her about who I was before disappearing, and she had to find out the truth from her father instead of me. I have no doubt Graves twisted everything.
“Millions of people were in Paris,” he responds. “Millions died. That doesn’t matter to us now.”
“What does?” I ask.
“The dragon curse is broken. We all felt it. What else is going on in Dragca, and why are you here?” he asks me. “Our home is important, not Earth.”
“I broke the curse just before we got here. That's not the point though. Tatarina is on the throne, and she has Elias Fire. I need to get him back and kill her. She has a dark spirit, and she was doing something to the magic of Dragca as we fled,” I explain to him, and he doesn’t look one bit surprised.
“You are mated to a half?” he asks. “I wanted to tell you how to break the curse, but I never got a chance.”
“Thorne…” I say, drifting off as his eyes turn red, and he glares at me, huffing out smoke.
“You made her son your mate?!” he angrily questions. “Her son?!”
“Thorne is not like her, and yes, I did. It broke the curse, and I love him. Get over it as I’m not explaining myself to you,” I say.
“I see. Stubborn like your mother,” he responds rather calmly considering his eyes are still red. The mention of my mother does nothing but make me so angry. My uncle must have been around, known what my father was like. He lived in the castle for years, and yet he never helped my mother, as far as I know.
“Did you know that Tatarina was in love with my father? That all of this was for revenge and bred out of jealousy?” I demand. “Did you know how my father cheated on my mother throughout their entire relationship? Did you know how much of a fucking bastard he was because he did all that and allowed a place like this to exist?” I spit out in anger, knowing I’m mad at my father and taking it out on the only person alive that knew him well.
“I begged your mother not to marry him, and she knew from her wedding day exactly what he was, but she also knew that you were on the way. A seer told her if she didn’t marry him, if she didn’t attempt to love him, you would not exist. A queen that could save everything. My sister was too good, too kind to let the dream of you die. Dragca needed you, and she knew that. After you were born, my sister knew you needed the protection only he could give his daughter. My sister stayed with him because she loved you…even before you were born,” he solemnly replies, “and she died for you.”
“She stayed with that monster, that heartless bastard, to protect me,” I whisper back, gulping the ball of emotion stuck in my throat away and praying that I don’t cry right now. I don’t move from the shock, knowing that moving would give me the chance to break down. My uncle covers my hand, almost making me jump from the contact.
“I am not good with emotional things since I lost so much, but you still have family. We will get out of this and put you on the throne. Well, if there is anything left of Dragca when we get there,” he says. “You have a fate to finish and a war to win, Isola.”
“My people are in danger both on Dragca and here. The war she has made will destroy everything good in Dragca,” I whisper, looking around the room for a brief moment. I lock eyes on Jace’s brother, a boy I don’t even know the name of, as he eats his food with two little girls at his side. They both have white hair and look like ice dragons as well, but thankfully they don’t look like Jace or his brother one bit. I don’t know why it would be harder to cope with knowing that Jace’s mother had more children in here, but it would. “Everyone has lost a lot for the throne, for Dragca, but we still do not have peace. It has been war, secrets and a shit storm of wrong for too many years. We will get out of here, and we will build an army with what we can and go back home.”
“Yes, my queen. Luckily, there is quite an army here, if we can all get out, that is,” he suggests, nodding his head around the room. “They will follow you home. We all want a home and a queen to fight for.”
“A queen to believe in, to fight for, is something I can promise they will have when I take back my throne,” I state firmly, and he smiles, patting my hand before moving it away and resting back again.
“With more than one king at your side, it seems,” he suggests, finally bringing up the elephant in the room. I expect him to say it in disgust, but there is nothing in his voice that suggests he doesn’t like the idea of the queen having more than one king.
“Yes, there will be more than one king. Is that a problem?” I ask, following my uncle’s gaze to where Kor, Thorne and Dagan are walking over to us. They look powerful, determined, protective and every bit the men I want at my side. We have come a long way from where we met in Dragca Academy to here, yet the way each of them look at me hasn’t changed one bit. They always saw me as their queen. Theirs to protect. Just like Elias did too. Once I have Elias back, we will be complete.
“Not one bit, your highness. It seems the silly, innocent princess that stumbled in Dragca Academy is long gone,” my uncle muses, and I keep my eyes on my dragon guards, wishing that Elias was with us with every bit of my soul.
“I’m still that princess, but they have taught me how to be a queen.”
Chapter Six
Isola
“Here you go,” Dagan says as he slides a tray of food on the table in front of me and sits down at my side. Kor sits next to him, and Thorne sits on my other side, pressed close to me. I can sense their protectiveness as much as their need to be close to me. I’m not complaining one bit, I want to be just as close to them. I look down at the bowl of creamy soup, the fried chicken and apple on my plate. It’s an odd breakfast, but looking at the trays Kor, Dagan and Thorne have for themselves, there wasn�
�t a good choice of food. Actually, it looks like they got me the best stuff. It’s super cute.
“Where is Melody?” I ask.
“We gave her food, but she didn’t want to come see you like Kor and Thorne wanted to,” Dagan answers.
“Melody is acting like we are taking a holiday rather than being captured. It is odd,” Thorne mutters. “She knows something.”
“Seers are usually wise,” my uncle states as I eat my food rather than replying. “One as powerful as a half royal ice dragon and half royal seer should be observed.” I briefly wonder how my uncle even knows of Melody, but then again, he did spend time with the seers’ army before coming here. There is no doubt Essna told him everything she knew. I hope Essna is still alive and her people are okay. I know it’s going to be a long shot if she is.
“Still, it would be useful if she told us what she knows,” Kor muses.
“The curse of any seer is knowledge, and anything they can tell you, they will. If Melody won’t tell you something, it means you are safer not knowing,” my uncle replies. We all sat in silence after my uncle’s strange statements on Melody, the whole situation feeling awkward as my uncle stares at Kor, Dagan and Thorne the entire time before he randomly speaks. “Food is served at that table every morning and at three p.m. I usually take food back to my cell for snacks, as the doors lock automatically at five. It gets tiresome,” my uncle points at the long table in the middle of the room where Dagan got the food from.
“Thanks for the tip,” Dagan replies.
“The shower rooms are through that door; the library and rec area are in that room, and the rest are cages except for that one.” I follow my uncle as he points at the doors around the room and commit them to memory. My dragons take in my uncle’s words, and all I think is “library” until I force myself to remember where we are. Though a book always makes any situation better. Even when you’re kidnapped.