by G. Bailey
“Why do you hate me?” I ask, seeing his dislike in his eyes.
“Do you have any clue what it is like to be a slave to the throne? Knowing that your only place in the world is to die for the royal family. That the curse will always ruin every part of your life, and knowing you can never really be free?” he asks me.
“Who says I’m free? There is no curse on the throne, but there is a burden that no one, particularly me, wants,” I reply.
“But you can run, you can escape. Magic won't make you choose to allow the curse to kill you, or come back to a king that would kill you for deserting him,” he spits out.
“He wouldn’t do that,” I shake my head as Korbin takes a step back and laughs.
“Tell my parents and sister that. Oh wait you can’t, because they are dead for wanting to be free,” he growls at me. His vehemence makes me stumble back with a slight bit of fear, but then he turns away from me. I take a deep breath before stepping closer, feeling like I need to tell him something, anything that I can to make this better. I didn’t know my father was like that, I didn’t even know the words of the curse until yesterday. I place my hand on his shoulder, his skin burning hot under my touch.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know about my father, or even the specifics of the curse until recently. I would never do that to anyone."
“Then you should know not to touch me. I have to be nothing to you, not even a friend,” he says, glancing over his shoulder and shrugging my hand off.
“I know that,” I reply, feeling stupid for trying to comfort him.
“There’s still a lot you do not know doll,” he states cryptically as he narrows his eyes at me and walks away.
“Run or don’t, but being in the best physical shape you can makes your dragon stronger,” he says, just before he runs off. I stand and watch for second before taking off after him, and we don’t say a word for the rest of the run.
Chapter 9
Dagan
“What happened in there? Why did you tell her about your past? You know we can’t be friends with her, we can’t be anything to her,” I ask Korbin as we watch Isola run towards the academy, dressed in the tightest bloody clothes I’ve ever seen. What the hell is she wearing and why does she look so fucking hot in it?
“I don’t know, she messes with my head when I’m near her, and I forget everything planned,” he says with a groan, rubbing his face as he watches Isola like I do until we can’t see her as she gets into the academy.
“She can’t mess with your head. Your parents–“ I say.
“–I know, I’m not an idiot,” Korbin interrupts, looking over at me.
“I get it, she is attractive and damn innocent in all this. But it has to stop, and she has to bear the price in the end. Being her friend, it’s not part of our job, and is fucking dangerous,” I say, making sure he is looking at me, “Don't get close.”
“Who are you trying to kid? I’ve known you my whole life, and I know when you want something,” Korbin says, making my dragon growl low.
“You don’t know anything, just like you told her,” I growl.
“I know something is up. You looked shocked to see her yesterday. Why?” he asks. I try to ignore how my dragon is thinking about her, how we watched her all the way around the woods and I couldn’t get my dragon to focus on anything but Isola. It’s a total mind fuck when your dragon finds a treasure he wants, and I can’t explain why we can’t have her. It’s more confusing when I can’t stop thinking about her either.
“I remember meeting her, but I don’t want to talk about it,” I refuse to even think about it. I won’t be thanking her for anything.
“Then keep your eyes off her,” he warns.
“It’s all my dragon,” I growl, watching as Korbin’s eyes turn slightly black.
“I get it,” is all he says.
“What are we going to do about Thorne?” I ask, needing to discuss him. I don't know why he's here, he wasn't meant to be.
“Watch him, and hope he doesn’t drop us all in it,” Korbin says as I roll my lip ring between my lips, and look back at the castle.
“We should all take turns watching both him and Isola. We need Elias to actually help us, and not fuck around while he is here,” I mutter, knowing my brother can’t be trusted to do anything that doesn’t benefit himself.
“Talk of the devil,” I mutter. My brother’s dragon is diving out the sky and flying straight towards us. Elias’ dragon is all black, with red claws and a nasty temper, not much far off my brother’s. He lands with a thump in front of us, roaring loud before shifting, and my brother is left knelt on the ground. He stands up, reaching inside his leather jacket and pulling out a cigarette. He lights it up before walking over to us.
“I heard my name,” he says, blowing smoke at Korbin and smirking when he doesn’t look impressed.
“Where have you been? You’re meant to be watching Isola this morning,” I question him.
“I’m here, aren’t I?” he replies, shrugging a shoulder and looking back at the castle.
“She is inside, in the shower by the sounds of it,” he says and smirks at me, “I wish I could join her,” he taunts. His eyes turn black as his dragon says something that makes him grin around his cigarette.
“No fucking her, no messing around, or you will get kicked out of this place, just like you did when we went to school here,” I warn him.
“Sleeping with three of the teachers was worth it,” he shrugs.
“We need to be here, and you know why. If he finds out–” I stop talking when my brother’s face goes serious.
“I’m going to fucking watch the princess,” he snaps and turns around, walking towards the castle before I can say anything else to him.
“Do you trust him?” Korbin asks when Elias is out of sight.
“He’s my brother, of course I do,” I reply.
“And if he chooses the wrong side?” he asks.
“He won’t, so it doesn’t matter,” I state. My brother may act like a complete asshole, but he knows the end goal of being here. We have a job to do, and nothing can mess with that job. It could mean the end of everything, and even my brother isn’t stupid enough to mess that up.
“Your judgement is too clouded by the fact he is your brother. You don’t see how out of control he is, and always has been,” he replies.
“Don’t Kor,” I warn him, and he places his hand on my shoulder.
“I’m your friend, if I didn’t say it, I would be lying to you,” he says gently.
“Elias has never loved anyone, never given a shit. I don’t care what some prophecy says. He won’t fuck this up,” I shrug his hand off and walk away. As I get closer, I pick up the sweet, icy scent of Isola.
“Minee, she will be mine, and you will save her,” my dragon whispers to me. For the first time in years, I slam a barrier down between us before punching the wall near the door.
“For fuck sake,” I mutter. The third prophecy says one of the brothers will fall. Everyone thinks it is Elias, yet it's my dragon that already thinks of Isola as his. The third prophecy, the one that no one knows except for the king and us. Well, and the fire rebellion. The only one who can never know is Isola. It would destroy her, and us.
Chapter 10
Isola
"How was your run?" Thorne immediately asks when I answer the door. He asks nicely, no sign of the ire from our talk last night. I decide to not mention it, and forget he acted weird as I walk out of my room.
“Good but painful, what classes do I have today? Please tell me it’s nothing physical,” I groan.
"It’s Herbololgy, and I’m escorting the princess today," I hear said behind me, and I turn to see Elias leaning against the wall of the stairs just above me.
"I have to stay with Isola at all times, you are not needed," Thorne sneers. He places a hand on my waist, and stares up at Elias, who just seems focused on Thorne’s hand.
"Guys, we are going to be late. You can argue, fight, o
r measure each other’s dicks to see which is bigger later. I need a guide to class," I say, stepping away from Thorne as he coughs on a laugh, and I see Elias smirk.
"Mines bigger, I’m sure, but let’s go," Elias says, and jumps over the bars of the staircase. I look down to see him land perfectly on the floor below.
"Cocky asshole," Thorne mutters, walking down the stairs and I quickly follow. When I get to the bottom of the stairs, the guys are just staring at each other. Both of their eyes are turning black, and Thorne even has fire sparks falling from his fingers.
"Guys?" I ask, trying to get their attention. They both ignore me, and I just give up. Clearly those two can't work together.
"Why are you even here, Elias? Don’t you have work for the king to do? Innocent families to kill?" Thorne asks snidely. Elias steps closer, pulling up his fist and slamming it into Thorne’s face. Thorne crashes into the wall, shaking the tower before standing up.
"Don’t you like the truth, or do you not like the princess knowing what you really are?" he asks.
“Don’t bring me into this, I barely know either of you,” I say, holding my hands up. They continue to ignore me. I might as well just walk away, but I’m scared they might actually try to kill each other, and bring the castle down in the process.
"I don’t care what she knows or thinks," Elias says loudly, and then lowers his voice, "but your family wasn’t innocent. You need to get the fuck over it because you know what they did," he says as Thorne stares at him, not replying. Elias walks past me in the doorway and down the corridor.
"Come on my naughty princess, you're going to be late for class," Elias calls. I look back to see Thorne looking at the ground, his arms burning with fire, but he doesn’t say a word.
“Go,” Thorne says so quietly that if I wasn’t a dragon, I wouldn’t have heard it. I run to catch up with Elias, stopping at his side as we walk down the corridors, mixing in with the students going to class.
“You must think I’m a monster, eh?” Elias asks me, after a few moments of awkward silence.
“Are you?” I question.
“We are all monsters, I think. It’s inside of us,” he says.
“I don’t think you’re a monster, perhaps just damaged and broken. Maybe working for the wrong side, I don’t know. I’m not going to judge you, especially not on something I don’t fully know the details of,” I comment.
“Like you,” he chuckles and stops walking. Elias moves close enough that I’m overwhelmed by his scent. It’s like a smoky musk, like a bonfire on a cold night, and I can’t help but want to be closer.
“What?” I end up asking like an idiot, forgetting what we were even talking about.
“Broken in here,” he steps closer and places his hand on my heart. Reaching forward, he pushes a bit of my hair behind my ear as I suck in a ragged breath. I end up just staring at him, lost in his eyes. Those light blue eyes are so much like Dagan's, but Elias has a black ring around his pupil. Both are seriously stunning to look at.
“You are so, so dangerous for someone like me, princess,” he murmurs, stepping back, and nodding his head at the door like nothing just happened.
“Your class is in there. I’m not listening to that shit about plants again, so I will be out here,” he says. I nod speechless, walking to the door and opening it up, rather than replying to him. I feel his eyes on me and it makes me look back, and Elias smirks before lightly chuckling.
“What’s funny?” I ask. He doesn’t reply to me, only pulling out a cigarette and lighting it up with his finger.
“Nothing you want to know, my naughty princess,” he grins. Shaking my head, I open the door further and walk in.
“Miss Dragice, we have been waiting,” the male voice says as I walk into a room covered in plants. It’s a bit of a surprise in here, considering that you can’t see the walls or floors from the amount of plants and trees in here. Actually, I don't even think there is a floor when I look down to see grass beneath my boots. I walk around a bush near the door to get to an old man stood in the middle of five students. He has a weird, green top hat on, a matching suit and holds a walking stick, which he taps on the floor.
“Come on, come on, we don’t have much time today. I am Mr Oneen,” he urges. I move closer, standing next to a girl who glares at me as she pushes her strawberry blonde hair over her shoulder before moving away. I’ve never had a girl as friend, with human girls hating me from the moment they saw me. It seems nothing is different here, except for the reasons why they hate me. I wonder if she, or any of the others, were in the cafeteria yesterday? It would make sense of all the hate-filled glares I'm receiving. I doubt it would make them feel better to know it was by accident that I nearly killed them.
“Welcome to Herbology. As you know we live in a magical world full of unusual and rare plants. We also have rare creatures that roam the forest, but that is something you will learn about in wildlife class with me later in the week,” he says as he smiles at me.
“No, this class is about the plants, trees, flowers, and even the grass you walk on. It is about how magic is woven into this world and how the plant life can help us, like we can help them,” he tells everyone before walking over to a plant pot and bringing it over.
“Come and see,” he waves us closer, and we all gather around as he puts the pot on the ground. In the soil there is only a tiny plant with light green leaves.
“Watch this,” Mr Oneen chuckles at our confused faces before he starts to whistle. We all watch as the plant shakes, and then starts growing as Mr Oneen whistles louder, occasionally changing pitch. The plant continues to get bigger, and branches stretch out, with little purple shells hanging from them. Mr Oneen stops when the tree touches the ceiling, surrounding us with its branches that hang low. I watch as he breaks one of the purple shells off the tree and comes back to the middle of the circle. He goes to open it and then seems to realise we are all still standing here. He waves one hand in the air.
“Will you all please get one, and open it for me,” he asks. I reach for the nearest shell, pulling it off the branch, and picking open the tough shell. Inside is a small little purple round shaped object.
“As Isola knows, humans have ‘sweets’ which are copied off the idea of these trees,” he says and pops his open purple sweet into his mouth, crunching it around.
“These sweets have healing properties, say if your dragon throws too much fire,” he pauses to smile at me, “Or ice, this will heal your sore throat.”
“In this class I will teach you about the magic of the plants around you,” he says as he places a hand on the tree.
“The magic of the plants, the forests, and even the mountains are what protect our world from the human world. They even look after us by making natural healing elements for dragons,” he says as he steps away and places both of his hands on his walking stick.
“Please go around the room, find a plant of your choice, and take it back to your room,” he instructs, but none of us move.
“What do we do with the plant, sir?” I ask when no one else seems inclined to speak up, and he laughs.
“Oh, I forgot to mention that. I want you to study the plant, tell me what it does, and how it can be used. You will pass the class if you can figure it out,” he waves a hand around the room, “Go.”
I walk out of the cluster of branches, away from the other students and down the rows of different sized and coloured plants in pots.
I stop when I see an ice blue plant. It’s tiny, with only two leaves in a black pot filled with soil. I pick it up, walking back to the teacher, who looks down at the plant.
“Perfect,” he nods his head, gently stroking the plant.
“Perfect for an ice dragon, I guess,” I smile at him. He nods, a surprised look on his face, as he looks at me once more and then back to the plant.
“Did you know your mother chose the exact same plant,” he tells me, shocking me.
“No,” I say quietly.
�
�There is something about the BlueTay plant that calls to ice dragons I believe,” he smiles, “You may leave now, and take it back to your room,” he says and walks away to help another student before I can ask him anything else.
Chapter 11
Isola
“Isola?” Thorne’s voice shouts after the door is knocked three times. I run over, pulling it open and he is stood with three books in his hands and his head tilts to the side.
“Are you going to let me in?” he asks, almost cheekily.
“Are they for me?” I ask, as he walks past me into my room and drops them onto my bed.
“Well sort of, I’m going to teach you tonight. Remember?” he asks and I remember what my uncle said about him teaching me something. There goes my plan to sleep for the rest of the afternoon.
“What exactly are you going to teach me about?” I ask, scrunching my face up at the idea of studying all night.
“Politics,” he says and smiles at my pulled face.
“Really? That’s what you have to teach me?” I ask, groaning.
“Yes, really. You want to rule, yet have no idea of the councils and five selected that rule the five parts of Dragca,”
“I’ve never even heard of them,” I say honestly and he shakes his head, opening one of the books and sitting on the rug on the floor. I go and sit next to him, leaning over his shoulder to see the picture less book written in another language.
“It’s written in Latin, but I will read it to you,” he says.
“You can speak Latin?” I ask, watching as his hazel eyes turn to lock with mine.
“And French,” he says, leaning a little closer and picking up a piece of my hair, twirling it with one of his fingers.
“Tes yeux sont comme de beaux trésors,” he says softly as he lets my hair fall onto my chest.