The wedding? The wedding!!!
I was screaming in my head but kept a smile on my face. The king's hand, Lord Julius Ayke, wanted to see me before we head to the throne hall, where the wedding will take place.
I was asked to sit on the chair, I couldn't fit properly because of the massive dress.
'The king said he has chosen you as his bride but as his hand, I must ensure that you are fit to be the queen of this kingdom.' Julius breamed with latent power when he spoke. He paces up and about which was a bit distracting.
He continues, 'I do not know what the king found in you or why he chose you but… I would like to believe in his choice which is why I am giving you a chance to prove your worth.'
Prove my worth? I laughed in my head but apparently, it came out too.
Lord Ayke glared his big brown eyes at me, 'Is something funny?'
Why exactly should I pretend to be a good woman? If I annoy this man perhaps the wedding will be called off. So I thought.
I rose from the chair, groaning, 'You know, lord Ayke, right? I mean, you have such a calm looking face but you are too uptight, like a clenched ass.'
My vulgar words completely caught Ayke off guard. Not that I care.
I approach him, 'Look, I am an orphan, an ordinary girl, a pickpocket. And I do not know what exactly your king saw in me or why he wants me as his bride but I assure you, I am not fit to be a wife, talk less of a queen. So why don't you go and advise your king to reconsider?'
I played my best shot.
Ayke only shrugged and said, 'The king said you might say something like this in an attempt to weasel your way out of this marriage but it is bound to happen, so how about you stop acting like a hooligan and start being a proper lady? I saw you earlier, running around with no shoes and your thighs were revealed, that is no proper manners for a queen.'
I felt like strangling the life out of him.
Like master, like dog. What did I even expect?
Ayke continues, 'I am here only to require your family name, who should I present you as?'
I was already beyond upset and didn't give a fleeting care about my image, and so without thinking, I said, 'Present me as Aria fucking nobody.'
With those words, I lifted my dress and stormed out of the room.
PRESENT MOMENT…
And that brings us back to this moment, where I will be presented as bride to the king and queen of the fucking kingdom, what a life, right?
The wedding ended peacefully and I was escorted back to the queen chamber, MY chamber.
It's another dress up entourage that came to torture me again.
At least I loved this marroon cotton gown, I was comfortable and could move freely. I hated the corset on the first one, it felt like my ribs were jammed into each other.
The maids ushered me to the feast hall. Men and women dance around to the minstrel's lively ballad.
Instantly, when I stepped into the room, everything and everyone paused.
I have never had this much attention, not even when I stole from the merchant of Golden Tavern, and now, all these lords, knights, and women from reputable families are staring at me, bowing their heads to me, so this is what having power feels like?
I was nervous, what if I trip and fall? Anxiety was rapidly creeping up within me.
Still, I held my head high and advanced further into the room to the high table where the king is seated on his big golden throne and my chair was next to his, the smaller one.
I was happy until my eyes landed on Silas, having power is good but not when it means being wife to a monster.
I sat beside him and kept trying to avoid his gaze.
Lord Ayke approached me and leaned, 'My queen, how do you like tonight's feast?'
I surveyed the room, giving him a short nod, 'It's uh …it's nothing I have ever seen before. I like it.'
'Good.' He smiled, now facing the audience, 'The queen says to carry on.'
Loud cheers and applause erupts into the background as the men and women already on the dance floor continued to sway to the song.
'Your highness, I present to you Lord Mikael Gras, your appointed guard.' Ayke notified.
'My appointed guard?' I whipped my head up, and behold, Lord Gras actually turns out to be the knight I bumped into earlier, the one who stole my breath away - he still looks as dashing as ever.
He walked up the stairs and my eyes followed his movement.
He stand before me and bowed, 'Your highness, I am Lord Mikael Gras, I have been appointed to be your guard and I assure you, from today onwards, your safety will be my first priority.'
He stole my breath away, I could not stop staring at his handsome face. I cleared my throat, regaining my composure, 'Lovely to meet you, I am Aria.'
He glanced up, eyes meeting mine, 'Thank you, your highness.' He nodded, taking two paces behind me and stationed himself there.
A few minutes later, I was growing exhausted and decided to head back to my room, perhaps, a part of me wanted some quiet time with Lord Gras.
Now, we walk back to my chamber. Lord Gras remained two paces behind me, I hated that.
'You can't even walk beside me, can you? How is that fair. I want to talk to you but I can't keep glancing back, now can I? It must be orders from that moron. Don't worry, I can badmouth him since he's my husband, even though he's the king of this rotten kingdom, I mean…' I sighed heavily,
'Do you know what that old fool said to my face? He said I should start acting like a proper lady. How can he look me in the eye and say that to my face? weren't he afraid I would have his head for it, even though I wasn't queen at that time but I was about to be, I could easily have him executed or something of that sort.'
We reached my chamber. I stand by the door and faced Mikael, 'You know, I used to have someone like you who'd only listen quietly to my complaints. If she were here, she would have been so happy that I have become queen, and something tells me that she would have loved you.'
He sharply looked up at me. I chuckled softly, 'See? We are getting somewhere, it is really fun…'
'Your highness.' A maid appeared out of the blue, interrupting me, 'The king requires your presence in the bathing quarters.'
I rolled my eyes, groaning, 'Can't i even have a moment's peace?'
'Forgive me.' She apologized.
'Yeah, let's just go.' I took another glance at Lord Gras before following the maid to the bathing quarters.
We reached and she stopped by the door.
'What are you doing?' I asked. 'If I remember clearly, a king is always bathed by the palace maids.'
'The king bathes alone.'
Ah, it makes sense. He has a secret to hide.
'Fine.' I opened the door and slip in. The room was hot from all the steam and it was dimly lit with a few scented candles.
Silas is seated comfortably in the water, I could see his cleavage from where I stood.
He casts me a glance, 'come here and take your clothes off.'
His command made me feel vandalized. 'Are you out of your mind? I am not doing anything of sort with you. Not over my dead body.' I refused.
Without saying another word, he submerged himself into the water, minutes passed - only complete silence.
'Hey? Silas? Hey!' I was growing concerned, 'you can't kill yourself on the day I become your queen. Silas! Silas!'
I inched closer, dropped to my knees, taking a peek into the tub and all of a sudden, a hand latched onto mine, pulling me inside.
I fell into the water and sharply rose to my feet, 'What is wrong with you?'
Ripples started forming around me, the current was also rapidly increasing.
In seconds, it started freezing. How can it be possible?
Silas rose from the water, black ink drizzling down his broad back.
'What is… ?' That is when my eyes caught sight of his long platinum blonde hair.
He swiveled to face me, gray eyes glowing under the moon light.
There is a long lost myth about creatures who were cursed by a witch a long time ago.
Is Silas? Could he be one of them? Does that mean the myth is true?
I gasped, 'You …You are a dragon blood!?'