The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon
Chapter 59

MIRA

I wake up feeling like a dozen horses run over me – absolutely broken. Everything hurts, but most of all – my heart. Although my head takes the firm second place. I am never drinking anything in this cursed castle ever again. It never ends well.

I remember our evening with Morgan and Xia. And how I tried to catch up with them later to give Xia her book back and ran into yet another disgusting gerdian. What a repulsive race, honestly! And then I remember how Tristan came to my rescue and how I was absolutely not capable of walking on my own and he had to carry me… And somewhere in that area, my memories disappear completely. But judging by how I am still wearing everything I wore yesterday except for the shoes – he brought me back safely and left. I need to thank him when I see him today.

But I need a shower and something to kill the terrible pain in my head. Looking for the right potion, I open my bedside table, and there they are – two rings – Dargen’s and Dereck’s. I’d better hide Dereck’s better. Or else I could be in trouble. And so could be he.

At breakfast the atmosphere is gloomy. The table above which Fawn was hanging is empty. Actually, if I remember correctly that table belonged to Isidore’s group. And Bella was sitting at that same table right before she died. No wonder no one wants to sit there anymore. It’s like this place is cursed.

I am not particularly hungry, but I feel that I need to eat something dry to keep what’s inside of me. Looking at Morgan and Xia I want to giggle a bit as Morgan is not touching anything except for coffee and Xia is wearing an actual veil that covers the upper half of her face. I do know that this is part of the traditional outfits of her tribe, but I really don’t think that they wear it anymore…

“What’s this all about?” I ask her pointing at her headpiece and holding back a laugh.

“Unlike someone, I haven’t secured a proper groom yet,” she replies, “So I can’t let them see me the way I look today.”

“And that is?”, Morgan raises her brow.

“Just look in the mirror, my dear,” Xia sends a piece of sausage into her mouth. At least she hasn’t lost her appetite.

Morgan and I look at each other and nod understandingly. I guess none of us looks like a fresh rose today.

“And how are you feeling?”, I turn to Desirae, “Why haven’t you come to my room yesterday with the girls?”

“I was busy”, she fiddles with her intricate braid, “My number for the talent show is pretty hard.”

You can cut the silence with a knife. As none of us has anything to say to that. Fawn was Desirae’s roommate, they spend more time together than any of us… and she was preparing her number for the talent show on the day Fawn was found dead? Really? How does that work?!

“Don’t look at me like that,” she sighs, “You have no idea how important all this is to me! If I manage to be chosen by at least the lowest of nobles, it would change the life of my whole family! It’s terrible what happened… And I was questioned for most of the day yesterday, losing precious time… I mean… It’s lonely in the room without Fawn… And… And…”

She starts crying.

“Don’t, dear,” Xia puts a hand on her shoulder, “We understand. A lot is at stake here. And I am sure Fawn would understand you like no one else.”

Morgan and I look at each other and say nothing. It still feels wrong to me. Although I guess, it is hard for me to understand. After all, the Selection can change Desirae’s life for the better, and for me, it is the end of the world.

“Lady Xia Dart,” Tristan is standing right next to me and I jump in my seat blushing lightly, remembering how he carried me completely drunk down the halls of the castle. He must be so happy we are not engaged anymore.

“Sir Ragnard,” Xia straightens her back, “How may I help you.”

“I have found a book and I believe it belongs to you,” Tristan smiles, handing the book to my friend and winking at me.

“Oh my! I thought I have lost it! How nice it is of you to bring it to me,” Xia chatters, “And I thought I left it in Mira’s room!”

I cough choking on the croissant I’ve been trying to eat and immediately feel Tristan’s hand on my back.

“Careful, lady Mira,” he bends to me slightly, “You need to take better care of yourself.”

“Uhm, I’ll keep that in mind, Trista… I mean, sir Ragnard,” I look at him and see the most charming smile. Oh, he is doing all that on purpose! The side of my ex that I never knew existed!

“Ladies,” he bows and leaves.

“What was that all about?” Morgan sips her coffee.

“Nothing!” I say way too fast attracting even more attention.

“Something is definitely up,” Desirae chuckles.

“Agh,” I g***n, “Alright. He kind of caught me drunk yesterday in one of the halls with that damn book of yours, Xia.”

“Would you be punished?” Morgan asks.

“Well, since lady Cecilia is not here yet, I guess the Sapphire Knight has kept it to himself,” Xia says smiling and then lifts up her veil to look at me with her dark eyes, “Mira, have you ever felt sorry that the two of you not together anymore?”

“I didn’t think about it much,” I admit, “Before I came here I didn’t even know if he was taking our engagement seriously. I thought we would break it off at some point..”

“But now you know that he was serious about you, ”Xia finishes for me understandingly.

“Would it change a lot if you knew before?” Desirae asks.

“I don’t know,” I sigh, “Maybe… But there is no sense in talking about it now. You know very well where we are…”

“True,” Morgan finishes her coffee and puts the cup down.

“And yet what a life could it be for you with the Sapphire Knight itself!” Xia says dreamingly, “He is handsome, noble, rich, ambitious… a perfect man!”

“Enough about that”, Morgan shushes us, “If the gerdians hear our conversation it may end badly for all of us!”

I roll my eyes. I don’t care about that. But they do. So I close my mouth and continue torturing the croissant.

The next lesson takes place at a concert hall. This is where the talent show will take place. The stage is not huge, but bigger than what we have back in the dining room. Looking around I note that this place can fit right about a hundred or so spectators. So that would be 50 gerdians plus our teachers and guards.

Lady Cecilia, in an elegant royal blue dress, calls girls in turns to show their numbers and comments on each of them, her critique is harsh but, sadly, to the point. Most girls are singing and dancing. And it becomes incredibly… boring… I wish I could fall asleep here, but judging by the glances Cecilia throws at me from time to time – I’d better not.

Finally, I see Xia come to the stage and wake up as it must be a good show. Yesterday we all agreed to make horrible numbers for the talent show in memory of Fawn and to make a point that we deserve more than just one day of postponing the stupid show. My friend is wearing a very revealing dress with her tribe motives sewn on it, two golden clubs are in her hands, and one of lady Cecilia’s assistants helps her to light up fire on both ends of those. The music starts and she jumps up in the air, twirling those fiery things with ease in her hands. I watch her performance with an open mouth. It can be called a lot of things, but terrible is just not one of them. This is beautiful, amazing, and definitely to gerdians’ taste… However, this is not what we agreed on yesterday. I feel sad to know that she didn’t follow our plan. And when she finishes and bows I catch her apologetic look and smile weakly.

I can’t blame her. I mean, I can but I really shouldn’t. She wants to get married to a gerdian and she was always clear about that. It was probably not fair from me to propose sabotage… And yet it stings. She smiled and promised but never delivered.

And, yes, we were drunk by then… But still…

Alright, doesn’t matter. I am sure at least Morgan would not fail me!

However, I bite my tongue when she performs after a few other girls. She brings a mini-laboratory to the stage and as an expert herbologist, she mixes a few potions and demonstrates their effects. Some of which are very impressive.

She didn’t go with the plan as well.

“Lady Miradora Freyn!” Cecilia yells my name and I stand up. I haven’t prepared anything and I am not ashamed of it. But before I even reach the stage, she starts talking again, “There has been a change of plan for you, lady Freyn. The Crown Prince has a special request for you – he wants to see you dance for him. So drop your explosion plans and perform any dance of your choice. The prince knows you don’t have too much time but he is sure he is going to love whatever it is that you perform. Honestly, I don’t think a girl with an attitude like yours deserves such treatment.. But it is what it is. The Crown Prince’s word is law within these walls. You are going to dance!”

Morgan, Xia, and Desirae, who was showing a shadow theatre, come up to me with uneasy faces and I feel like everybody’s attention is on me. I loathe that feeling. Without saying another word, I turn and walk to the exit.

“Where do you think you are going?!” lady Cecilia shrieks.

“To practice!”, I lie and slam the door. I hate this place!