The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon
Chapter 79

Dargen is smiling but his look does not deceive me. He is furious and one can see it in his eyes. And when those eyes go down to my chest and he notices the dragon mark on me… chaos breaks loose. His fingers grip my wrist so hard that there is no doubt that there are going to be bruisers tomorrow.

He starts pulling me towards the exit roughly and I notice how the room went quiet. I look around but Derrien is nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, Brandon steps in front of the Crown Prince and with a friendly smile says, “Come on, Ryden! It’s just a woman. Just pick someone else and …”

He gets a blow of dark magic right into his stomach and almost falls. Morgan hurries to him and for a second there I feel that Sevill really doesn’t want her this close now.

“Just a woman?” Dargen hisses to the marquis, “Maybe I should take yours then? It’s just a woman, right?! And you can pick someone else!”

Morgan shrugs hearing his words and Brandon steps in front of her, not saying anything anymore, and just lets the prince drag me away. We pass Tristan and he moves forward but lady Cecilia blocks his way and shakes her head. No one is going to help me now.

“Please,” I say when we are alone in one of the long corridors, “Stop! You are hurting me!”

“Hurting you?!” he chuckles darkly and then slams me across the cold stone wall, “Oh, Mira, I haven’t even started?!”

He grabs me by my neck and leans forward so that his face is right in front of mine.

“Your Highness!” I say in a broken voice, trying to bring him to his senses. But it’s no use. His eyes become as black as soot.

“I am going to claw that thing out of your chest!” he growls, “And if it doesn’t help, I’ll burn it out! This is NOT staying on MY woman!”

“That’s good that it’s not your woman then,” I hear Derrien’s voice and feel a surge of relief.

“How dare you?!” Ryden lets go of me and throws a ball of dark energy at Rien, but he blocks that easily, smirking. He takes a step forward and Dargen turns to me with a clear intention to grab me by my neck or hair but this time his hand doesn’t reach me as I dodge him quickly. Rien is next to me in no time and places me behind him, squeezing my hand quickly in the most intimate and reassuring gesture.

The prince is so pissed, he looks like a complete madman! He prepares balls of dark magic in both his hands and is ready to attack.

“This is treason!” he growls, “My title is higher than yours! I have the right to choose first! She is mine!”

“Forget it, Ryden!” Derrien snaps, “You can’t have everything! Right now you can have the crown and the Gerdian Empire as well as any other girl except for Mira. I only need her. But if you do not agree – I will have to take everything away from you! I will personally kill you and take the Empire, which I don’t even want. So, don’t make me!”

“Traitor! This is treason!” Dargen roars, spitting, “You should be beheaded for treason!”

“Oh, yeah? Run that idea with the Emperor! That you want to kill his nephew, best general, and the dragon who won wars for him! And see how that goes for you!” Derrien smirks, “Ryden, even when you become the Emperor. You would need me and my dragon more than you need a queen. So, deal with it! I will be your loyal subject, I will bow to you and serve to you. But only as long as you never even touch Mira again. And the same rule goes for our future family. Think about it. I only make this kind of offer to you once.”

The Crown Prince disperses the dark magic in his hands. He looks at me and then at his cousin. It is obvious that he is nowhere nearly calm but he takes himself under control.

“We will see about it! See what the Emperor says!” he spits and disappears in a cloud of dark smoke.

“Oh, gods!” I exhale heavily and Derrien turns to me, pulling me into a warm hug and kissing the top of my head.

“It’s all right, you are safe! Everything is going to be fine!” he whispers into my hair. And I trust him.

“I know,” I smile, “Now that you are here! Where were you by the way?”

“He cast a spell for me to appear in a different place when I come out of the portal. I guess he saw it coming!”

Interesting…

“Mira,” Rien brushes his hand over my cheek, “I need you to go to your room and pack your things. I’ll go and speak with the Emperor. He would agree for us to be together, of that I am sure. But I need to make sure that Dargen doesn’t twist any important details. When you are done packing, go back to my room and wait there. All right?”

“Of course,” I stand on my toes and wrap my hands around his neck, bringing him closer for a k**s, “I’ll wait for you here.”

“I love you,” he whispers into my lips.

“I love you too,” I reply and touch his soft and warm lips gently. The next moment he presses me with all his might into his body and k****s me as if it was our last time. And when we are done, he disappears in the flames of dark magic.

I decide not to lose any time and hurry to the gerdians’ floor to my room. But when I pass one of the stairwells, I notice a tiny female figure in a pale pink dress walking somewhere with a fire pulsar in her hand. What the… I’ve never seen any of the other girls doing elemental magic before. Just what is going on here?

I take off my shoes and follow the figure quietly. I don’t do this for long when I realize that it’s Alexandra! Isidore’s minion and roommate, the one I have been suspecting for the last few days, the one who claimed not to possess any kind of magic. And now she has created a fire pulsar and is walking somewhere alone right in the middle of an important ball and really far from her own chambers.

Finally, I see her enter a room that I do not recognize. For a few seconds, I just stand there, thinking of what to do next. I wish I could call Derrien back now. He would know what to do.

On other hand, Alexandra is a human mage. And so am I. And a battlemage at that. I can take her down for sure. Considering she is alo…

Someone put a handkerchief to my face, holding me in place, and I recognize the sleeping potion that’s been poured onto it. My head feels heavy and my eyes close… This is so not how it’s supposed to be…