The Dragon King’s Substitute Bride
Chapter 53

MIDAS

"Absolutely f*****g not."

"Midas..."

"No." He lifts the cup to his mouth, can feel the way his grip tightens around it.

"If you would just listen..."

"Listen to what Hera? You expect me to let you leave the castle when we all know exactly what happened the last time you went beyond these gates." Does she think he is stupid?

He can see her struggling to keep her composure, the way her hands close in fists but he does not care. How dare she think he would fall for this? "I told you...I am done running."

He sneers. "And why in all the realms would I believe the words of some human slave."

The words replace their mark and her eyes narrow.

She exhales slowly and when she finally does speak, her voice is like ice, freezing the air between them.

"You forcefully took me away from my home and now the portal stands closed for a thousand years. Where in Hades could I possibly go?"

A scoff; well timed, accurately delivered.

"Yes, because we know how well that stopped you the first time."

Her eyes literally flash at him. "Oh by the gods Midas, can you just let that go?!"

Her cheeks are flush with anger and the way her chest heaves with deep controlled breaths, it is obvious how infuriated she is getting and how hard she is trying to control her tone. Midas has never wanted to kiss her more.

She exhales again. "You would have done the exact same thing if you were in my shoes and just forced into marrying the one who took everything away from you..."

Her voice cracks and Midas almost reaches out on instinct to pull her into his arms then he realizes it is him... he is the one she is talking about and he pulls his hand back.

She recovers quickly and tilts her chin up to stare at him defiantly. "So do not sit there dragon king and act like you did me some favor by bringing me here."

He says nothing in response.

She reaches out tentatively to lay a cool palm on his arm, a peace offering and he stiffens beneath her touch.

"You say I am not your prisoner my lord. Prove it."

He sticks his tongue in his cheek and folds his arms across his chest, his face giving away nothing.

She sighs and the sound her chair makes as it scrapes backward on the floor echoes in the silence of the nearly empty room.

She does not look directly at him. "I should have known it was no use trying to reason with you."

Then she moves to leave.

His arm shoots out without he's thinking about it, one large hand wrapping around her wrists and holding her to the spot.

It feels so small in his grip. So small and so very breakable.

He pushes away from the table, loving the way her heart races and her breath hitches when he towers of her, the tips of their shoes touches. "Fine."

"Fine what?"

His jaw works and the words taste like ash in his mouth.

Having his mind changed and taking back is words are two things Midas is not used to doing.

"Fine, you may go outside the castle."

The way her eyes light up and the wide smile that appears on her face makes it almost worth it and dulls the annoyance he feels at giving in to her. "Do you really mean that?"

"Do not make me repeat myself least I change my mind. Plus..."

She does not let him finish, throwing her arms around his neck and standing on the very tip of her toes, her body pressed up against him. Midas freezes, his arms hanging limp at his sides.

It feels like having the wind knocked out of him, sending the blood in his veins rushing at insane speeds to keep up with his racing heart. But she barely notices this.

"I'll go get ready."

He pulls her back. "Slow your horses. You are only going on one condition."

As expected her eyes narrow suspiciously and she deflates slightly. "What condition?"

"You can go...But I am coming with you."

She thinks it over, chewing on her bottom lip.

Midas growls. "You never listen do you?"

Then he wraps her hair around his hand and kisses her.

Hard and fast like he has been dying to do all week.

The ride to the capital is almost uneventful.

Almost being the keyword because by all the gods she knows exactly how to push his buttons and it was either argue with her or keep her quiet in other ways.

So a tiny, enclosed space was not the best idea when it came to the king and his queen.

But to Midas' credit he manages to keep his hands and his mouth largely to himself.

The carriage pulls up at the edge of the capital to avoid drawing too much unnecessary attention to their presence.

He helps her down, taking the excuse to lift her by her waist and set her on her feet and they proceed to walk into the capital on foot after instructing his guards to stay back.

He and Leo had quite a lot they had planned to get done today and so to say the chief Ryder had been surprised at the king's sudden decision to accompany the queen through the capital would be an understatement.

In all his one hundred and fifty years on the throne, he has never once put aside his duties to do anything else.

But his presence in the capital is not merely for pleasure or to make sure his tiny, human wife does not 'accidentally' get lost.

There is something else he needs to do.

Someone he needs to see in relation to the situation with Adarin and Rardath and the cloth seeped in dark magic his Ryders had found.

There are a few glances and pointed fingers and bows sent their way but it is the first day of the week in the dragon realm and the capital's cobbled streets are filled to bursting.

The capital's square is especially busy.

Vendors and merchants from all around the realm have flooded the capital, calling out their wares in loud booming voices, sweaty bodies pushing past each other, children running around and ignoring the calls of their exasperated mothers. Everything and anything could be found in the capital's large market. A cart of fresh fruit lying right next to a store selling shiny new swords and armor, clothes and dresses being sold beside things like rat poison or thick bound ropes. Smells of all kinds, pleasant and unpleasant fill the air in the busy streets and every now and then a breeze, the kind that announces the end of summer would blow, sending banners and signs fluttering.

She takes in everything; eyes wide, mouth open.

He pulls her out of the way of a rolling cart.

"Keep swiveling you head back and forth like that and you are going to hurt your neck."

"I cannot help it. It all looks so...so..."

"Chaotic, loud, noisy?"

"Normal."

He raises one eyebrow at her comment but says nothing in response.

As they pass by a shop with large open display windows, a sweet, sugary scent fills his nose and his mouth waters.

She stops, her nose twitching in the air like a lost puppy. "What...is that?"

He takes her hand in his like it is the most natural thing in the word and tilts his head towards the door.

"Come on."

Before they even step fully back into the bright sunshine, the door of the pastry shop swinging shut behind them, she bites eagerly into the powdered pastry.

She moans loudly and Midas is surprised both at how pleased she seems and at how much such a small sound is able to affect him.

"Gods above...you know dragon king, if your had brought me earlier, I would never have tried to escape in the first place."

He looks at her, the corners of his mouth inching upwards and before he can stop it he is laughing, his eyes crinkling at the edges.

He brushes off the dusting of sugar that has settled on the tip of her nose.

"Gods...you are impossible. What, why are you looking at me like that?"

She smiles. "You laughed. I have never heard you laugh before. I like it."

And then she begin walking away, leaving Midas standing beneath the awning of the local bakery; utterly flustered and with a little tiny fluttering in his belly.

He catches up to her and points at her nearly empty hand. "Want another one?"

"Do the cats of Averia like milk?"

He frowns and she laughs at the confusion on his face.

"That means yes your majesty."

He puts a bag of coins in her hands.

She stops, glancing from him to the bag and to him again. "Wait, you're letting me go in alone?"

He shrugs. "It is like you said. Where in all the realms could you possibly run off to?"

She bites her lip, her entire face lightning up then she smirks.

"Are you sure you aren't worried I am going to sneak away through the back door?"

"Now that I think about it..." He reaches for her and she ducks out of reach, laughing.

"I'll be right back."

And it isn't until she comes back out, practically grinning from ear to ear at the box in her hand, does Midas realize he had been holding his breath the entire time. The bell rings out, echoing through the square and Midas turns his head towards it.

"Come."

She falls in step beside him. "Where are we going?"

"I need to see Arydian"

She frowns, noting the seriousness of his tone. "The king maker?"

He makes a sound in his throat but says nothing more.

"Why exactly are we meeting with him?"

"Not 'we'...I am"

"Has something happened?"

"You could say that."

"What is it?"

"Do not bother yourself with it."

"How am I to be queen if you will not tell me what is going on?"

He sighs. "It is...complicated."

"Uncomplicate it."

"Later Hera. I'll tell you later."

And he is surprised to replace that he actually means it.

They turn a corner and meet Leo standing at the stoop of a small building made out of faded red bricks.

The chief Ryder bows. "Your majesties."

"Rise Leo. Is he in?"

"He is."

Midas nods. "Watch her."

And then he pushes the arched wooden door open and disappears within.

The small exterior of the building is an illusion to hide exactly how large this place is.

A set of steps begin from the door, going downwards to quite a distance below ground level and into the home and workshop/magick apothecary belong to Arydian. "Arydian." He calls out as he descends the steps to enter further into the musty room.

Low hanging lamps cast dim orange glows all over the shop. Illuminating the enormous shelves stuffed to bursting with every weird thing imaginable.

Jars and bottles and books and was that a sack of gold feathers?

The room is so full Midas has no idea how the small, stooped man manages to even remember what he has stored here.

"Arydian!"

Still no answer.

"Old man, where are you?!"

A tiny, wrinkled face peaks put from beneath a mountain of books stacked so high, the king wonders what would happen if anyone asked for something from the middle.

"Midas! What a pleasant surprise."

"You do not look very surprised."

The man laughs, hopping off a ladder with the grace of someone half his age.

"You're right Elian told me you would come."

"Did he also tell you why?"

"Now dragon king. You know I would not remember."

Midas nods as he stares into the bright green eyes of the man smiling at him.

Arydian the shopkeeper and Arydian, messenger of Clotho the present are almost two completely different people, and while one could switch to the other almost instantaneously, they sometimes did not even remember what the other did. The man reaches for a bubbling kettle from the stove stashed in the corner and then rustles about in his cupboard before pulling out a dusty teacup from beneath a pile of what Midas suspects might a bag of rat droppings.

The steamy green liquid sloshes into the cup.

"Tea?"

"No thank you."

The shopkeeper shrugs and sips happily from his cup. "Ah...that hit the spot. So Midas, I do not think I have seen you here in a long... long time."

The king reaches for a jar of something black and gooey, sniffs at it and is surprised to replace it smelling pleasantly like of a freshly baked cake. "Where is Milo?"

Arydian glances around. "Probably out scratching out the eyes of some poor street dog."

Milo is Arydian's cat, a mangy, scrawny beast that tried to chew off Midas' toes when he was much younger.

He wonders how it is possible that it is still alive.

"Why are you here Midas?"

The king snaps a book shut, sending dust motes floating up into the air.

"I wish to speak to Arydian, messenger of Clotho the Present."

The man hops up spryly unto a stool, his legs dangling childishly from it.

"Oh dear, that cannot be good. What is it about?"

"Do you know about the clans of Adarin and Rardath and the troubles they have been having?"

"A vague recollection, yes."

"Well, something new has come up and I have reason to believe the dark elves are behind it."

"If you know this already, why do you need Arydian's help?"

The king stares at the wrinkled old dragonkin man gently sipping from his cup.

"Because I need to know, before I take any decisions if what is going on has anything to do with the prophecy they gave me."

The man blinks slowly saying nothing.

Once... twice and when his eyes open the third time, the bright green orbs have been replaced by the cloudy grey circles of Arydian, messenger of the Fates.

The kingmaker stares at Midas, eyes unseeing.

"I believe you know the answer to that dragon king."

"So what do you advice I do?"

"The wheels have already been set in motion Midas and there is little you can do at the moment. But when the time comes, all will be made clear."

Midas bristles. "And Adarin and Rardath, do I just fold my hands and watch two of my strongest clans kill each other? Ever since they cut off his fingers, Adarin son has been lying in bed sick." "Hmmm...I am afraid it might be a little too late for him. I believe even the queen knows that."

"Hera, what does she have to do with any of this?"

A pile of heavy metal contraptions comes crashing down with a loud jarring sound and Milo slinks out from beneath the pile.

"Oh, dear you are my little monster."

The cat jumps into the old man arms and when Midas looks back at him, Arydian's eyes have become green again.

"Are you okay your highness, we heard a crash."

Midas glances up at Leo who is standing halfway down the steps. "I am fine. I just...wait, where is Hera?"

"She is right behind...." Leo glances back to stare at the empty space where the queen should be.

Arydian's eyes turn grey again.

"Elian says you better hurry."

Midas does not wait to hear the rest of the sentence.