I didn’t like the beatings, and I hoped that when it happened again, I wouldn’t feel it like the last time and would somehow be able to get to him before his father ended up killing him.
This was why we were meeting with the Council. A plan to block our bond and situations like this was their number one priority. A situation that I’d made very clear to Sir Robert could never happen again. But he was a dragon and who was I to give him orders, even if I was the princess.
“You are awfully quiet today, Princess.”
“I told you not to call me that, Master Longwei.”
He smiled. “It’s what you are, the day you own up to it is the day that you are ready to handle your responsibility.”
I wanted to roll my eyes, but a princess never rolls her eyes. Every time I wanted to do that, Stanley’s voice shrilled inside my head like a horrible alarm.
“You are right. Sorry, Master Longwei,” I said.
It made him laugh. “Elena, you are still Elena Watkins to me. You never have to pretend, please.”
I giggled too but it turned into a sigh as I looked out the window, upon my world. “It’s all still so confusing.”
“Which part?”
“Everything.”
“Then maybe you should speak to someone, Elena, one who was part of a Dent, a long time ago but lost her rider.”
I rolled my eyes, even with Stan’s stupid voice shrilling in my head.
“I’ll die before I walk one step up that tower again.”
“She can help you, Elena.”
I shook my head. I guess it wasn’t just my dragon who was stubborn. Every time Irene’s name, our Viden, was mentioned in my presence, I would remember her harsh words the first time she’d given me that horrible foretelling. I guess a first impression was really that strong.
She told me that I, King Albert and Queen Catherine’s daughter, didn’t belong. That my mark was just a birth defect, that I would never ascend and I would never fit in. For someone that had the ability to see into the future, she really sucked with me.
I would never see her as anyone who I could confide in, even if Blake spoke highly of her.
Yes, there was a time when he’d been super sweet to me. A part of me had fallen head over heels for him, but it wasn’t real. He’d only been trying to lure me into doing the most horrible thing ever: to kill him when the time came, since my dragon form – since Cara – had changed into a Rubicon herself.
In some way, killing him would’ve probably been easier than what he had to do now.
Even if Irene’s very first Foretelling had been about us, I would rather free Blake than hear what the Viden had to say ever again..
I saw Dents as evil, and not the way the rest of this world saw them.
Dragons have to do what their Dragonians tell them, no matter how sinister their requests are. Cheng’s father couldn’t break from his rider, who according to Cheng was just as evil as Goran himself.
Becky was controlling too, and it was disgusting how George just did whatever she wanted. He actually loved that part of her with all of his heart.
No, our love would never be real. Not like the love Lucian and I had shared. We’d fought, we’d laughed, and fought some more. It wasn’t easy at times, but it was the real deal.
Blake would become like George, and I would know that none of it was real. I would never do that to him, never, and nothing was going to change my mind.
We stopped in front of the Hall and Master Longwei climbed out first. Flashing lights reflected off his face and into the carriage, and I took a deep breath.
Ever since the truth came out about who I was, everywhere I went the cockroaches with their cameras were there.
I hated each and every one of them, as the one time when I really needed them, the time when I wanted to break free from all the learning how to be something I was not, none of them ever revealed what I was truly going through. They made it look like I was having a royal time without my two best friends, who’d I almost lost in the process.
These people with their cameras were only in it for the money, and Stan or one of his gang would throw bags of money at them to not print what was really going on.
They would do anything to earn that penny. It was disgusting.
I climbed out, and flashing lights blinded me.
“Princess, what will you do if there is nothing that can protect you from the Rubicon’s bond?”
Yes, that piece of information had been in all the tabloids over the past few weeks. How I’d felt Blake’s beating, every single slash of it.
“Mr. Brody,” I answered. “I guess then I will just have to deal with it, like I have always dealt with things, and pray that he will come to his senses.” The last part made a couple laugh softly and I moved through all of them, with a couple of guards at our sides.
More questions came but I only had time for one and I thought I had answered it well enough.
Mr. Brody, or Kevin, was someone I’d met on a regular basis. He was one of the idiots that had been paid off on numerous occasions. He even ran a show on TV called Just Kev, definitely an eye roll opportunity.
I knew that he was the last one I should probably answer, but he was also the most demanding, and always said horrible things about me on his show when I didn’t answer at least one of his questions. His famous line was how I didn’t care and didn’t have a heart or the time to address my people’s concerns, and whether or not I was really a princess worthy of love.
All things that weren’t true, but things that would make everyone believe that it was the truth, especially the people of Areeth, Arianna Kingsley’s father’s kingdom.
We entered the hall and the Ancients were waiting on huge thrones.
My Pappi was the first face that I saw and he had a twinkle in his eye as he winked at me. He smiled and nodded a greeting in my direction.
“Good Afternoon Princess, Master Longwei.”
We both took a bow in front of the five thrones and sat on the two seats right in front of them.
“I hope we haven’t made you wait too long, your Honors,” Master Longwei said and took his seat.
“Not in the least. We know the Princess’s education is of importance now, more than ever.”
I hated the way they spoke down to us, especially the speaker: Admirable Duclin.
I think he was a dragon too, and it was as if he loathed royalty. Well at one stage I would’ve agreed with him, but we weren’t that bad.
My Pappi stared at him, but just took a deep breath and closed his eyes as if he’d passed his afternoon nap, turned his head and stared at the two of us again.
“We have found an old incantation that we have placed on a charm, a bracelet, that the Princess should wear at all times. It will protect her from the lashes. It wasn’t an easy spell to come by, but in some cases, it’s necessary to look in darker places.”
That piece of knowledge made the hair on my arms and the back of my neck tingle.
The Black Market.
I looked at my Pappi and he closed his eyes once, lovingly, in my direction to ease my worries with a soft smile.
My heart still pounded as it was one of the places I would gladly close down in a second if they gave me the chance to rule this world. They still used dragon parts, parts that kept them alive, as the most valuable potions couldn’t function without them, like the coward potion.
A potion my mother had once asked Goran to make her so that she could pretend to be dead and reunite with me.
She wrote about that in her journal, something she’d done on a daily basis after she’d given me up. If I hadn’t relived the pain she’d gone through giving me up that day, her words of what life was like without me would’ve done it.
She’d really wanted me with all of her heart, so much that her and my father’s relationship turned to dust because he couldn’t find the person who was going to betray them. Theirs was a love I thought could never die.
The Ancients stil
l spoke in the background. I hadn’t heard a single word they’d said and was brought back to reality as a short little fat man with medals sewn on his black suit came running in with a wooden box.
He came to a halt in front of me and opened the lid.
Inside was a beautiful, round bracelet with a small heart charm dangling from it. There was a dark blue stone in the middle of the heart.
The guy with the big belly nodded once and I just stared at him and then at the Ancients.
“Princess, you are the only one who can touch it. The spell will begin when it comes into contact with your skin,” my Pappi said.
I reached out with slightly trembling hands as if it was a snake that was going to strike at any moment.
I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and took the bracelet gently.
I awkwardly tried to clasp it on, and on the fifth try, with a couple of annoying sighs coming from the thrones, I finally got the clasp to connect with the link.
“The dark stone will turn to a soft blue when the spell is busy protecting you from whatever pain the Rubicon is going through,” Duclin said.
My Pappi cleared his throat. “You can’t take it off, Elena. If you do, the spell will lose its power and the bracelet will be just that, a bracelet.”
I nodded and took a deep breath.
“I understand.” I stood up and Master Longwei followed my lead.
“I thank all of you for finding something so rare to protect me from danger.” I smiled. It didn’t sound anything like me. The old Elena would never say anything like this, or accept anything from the Black Market.
“Thank you, your Honors, we appreciate this dearly,” Master Longwei added and all of them got up and made their way without a hint of acknowledgement through another door.
I felt as if I could breathe again and we turned around and exited the hall.
More questions filled my head but all I did was dangle my bracelet in the air and tell myself that there was a reason the Ancients were called Ancient.
Pedro, my Pappi’s most trusted apprentice who I’d met that horrible night everything was stripped from me, waited a couple of yards from the carriage and nodded.
When I opened the carriage an envelope waited on the soft leather seat.
Master Longwei closed the door and I sat down, breaking the wax seal.
My dearest Elena.
You have no idea how important this bracelet is. It’s the only object that might protect you from this horrible curse that was placed upon you, a curse that will hopefully soon turn into a blessing. Please, I pray that you will never take it off. We trust and pray with all of our hearts that it is going to work, and will never give up finding something that will, if the bracelet does not live up to its task.
I beg you not to worry about how we came by it, just trust that the stone and the magic behind it is rare and as old as time itself.
But enough of that. Meet me this Saturday at 17 Millherb Road, ask that Moon-Bolt friend of yours, he will find it in no time.
Much love and warm thoughts,
Pappi.
I smiled and felt better about the bracelet dangling from my wrist as I put the letter back into the envelope.
It wasn’t the first time my Pappi had snuck off to meet me for some private time with his great, great, great, great, great grand- daughter.
The last time we just talked while walking in the park, enjoying an ice cream. Pappi was a sucker for ice cream, we were both in disguises and were pleased that nobody recognized us, thanks to Lucille.
The ride back to the academy felt longer than the first.
I was actually looking forward again to something: discovering if this old spell was going to work or not.
When the carriage stopped the bracelet started to sparkle.
I stared at it, and so did Master Longwei. Neither of us knew what that meant as the Ancients said that the stone would turn lighter if it was protecting me in some way, not that it would sparkle.
“Does it hurt?” Master Longwei asked in a concerned tone and I shook my head while staring at it as we walked down one of the cobblestone paths, past the huge statue of my dad and plenty of oak trees.
“Then I should speak to one of the Ancients and find out what this means, Elena.”
“Yeah, that sounds like an idea.”
We reached the main building in record time as Master Longwei’s strides widened and I had to run-walk to keep up. He pulled at one of the doors as if it weighed nothing and the bracelet sparkled even more.
“This is seriously starting to freak me out,” I said softly.
“Soon, we’ll have our answer soon,” was all he said as we rushed down the hall toward the dragon that parted the hall and the lobby of the Academy.
I was still staring at my bracelet and it was brighter than ever. I could swear that it’d gotten brighter and brighter as we moved down the hall toward the lobby.
“What do you think this—” I slammed into Master Longwei who was standing in the entrance of the lobby and hallway.
“Master Longwei?” I asked and looked at what he was staring at.
“I guess I know why that bracelet was shining, Elena.”
Yeah, I knew too, as the reason was standing with his lips against Tabitha’s, kissing her as if there was no tomorrow.
WALKED PAST them, while my heart was stammering inside my chest. Why he still had this effect on me was beyond my knowledge. He’d made it perfectly clear that I was no match for Tabitha a couple of months back.
He was such an idiot and I had no idea what I’d seen in him. None of it had been real, it’d been just one big act.
A hand grabbed me tightly around the arm, and I looked at it.
I slowly raised my head to look at him.
He was still kissing Tabitha, but his ugly paw was around my arm. What was his problem?
He finally broke the kiss, brushing her cheek softly with his thumb. When she saw me, she jumped slightly but her surprised, partially gaped mouth turned into a pair of thin lips and her nostrils widened slightly.
He turned his head, his narrowed peacock blues staring straight at me.
“Now, a word,” he said with his jaw muscles pumping.
He was so arrogant. Prick.
“You have no right to speak to my father the way you did the other day.” He almost spat the words at me.
I started to laugh and I could see it was seriously annoying him.
“I don’t need a babysitter, Elena! Or a rider for that matter.”
I could see this piece of information was making Tabitha glow inside.
“You think I want to be your rider? To be stuck with this fucked up bond or whatever it is we share? I,” I poked him hard, but he stood his ground, “didn’t run away like a coward. I faced whatever I had to face, and dealt with my responsibilities. You need to decide what you are going to do, because to be honest, I’m sick and tired of this game you’re playing, tired of your whining, just tired of everything Blake. So either get that ego of yours in check and own up to your responsibilities or get the fuck away from me, as far as possible, where I don’t have to pay for the shit you get yourself into whenever you can’t keep yourself under control. If you think I did that for you, you better think again pal.”
I could see he wanted to say something else.
“Matter is closed Blake. If you don’t like it, then leave.”
I could hear him grunt softly while cussing in Latin. How I knew it was Latin was hard to explain, but it sounded different, like a higher dialect of English.
My insides wanted to explode, he was the only one that had that effect on me. He knew just what buttons to push, but I kept my pose as I walked up the stairs; I wouldn’t show him how I truly felt inside.
When I entered my room – a place which no dragon’s enhanced hearing could penetrate – I let out a frustrated scream.
Four pairs of eyes stared at me from the couch in the corner.
Becky turned the TV
down. “Are you okay?”
George and Dean both just stared, while Sammy was already making her way to the door.
Her arms wrapped around me. “What happened, did the Council give you anything, did they say anything?”
I huffed. “This is not a council matter. Your brother decided to come back and had some words about my little ordeal with your father. He is so freaking arrogant, do you know that?”
“Wait, my brother is back?” she asked with a slight change in her tone.
“Yes, he’s never going to change, Samantha. It’s been almost three months since I claimed him, and he still refuses to accept me as a rider.”
I looked at Becky. “I don’t know if I can do this anymore.”
“Elena, don’t you dare say that.”
George breathed out loud. “Give him time, Elena. I promise you he is going to be pretty sorry when that time comes.”
“When, George, in two years, three? They don’t even know if this stupid bracelet works.”
“What?” Becky had that worried look on her face. All of my friends had that worried look on their faces.
“Nobody’s shared this messed up bond we have before. So they couldn’t try it out on anyone. It’s just hopeful dreams. The only thing they said was that they got it at the Black Market, or I assume it’s from the Black Market. I hate this, Becky.” I sat on the edge of my bed with my head in both my hands, sounding more defeated than I wanted to let on.
The bed shifted and I could feel her presence right beside me. “He is back, Elena. He is going to be in every class with you, learning. Believe me, as much as he is going to protest, he will be forced.”
I gave her my “unbelievable” laugh and she gave me her “not impressed” glare.
“Who is going to force him Becky? Half the professors are shit-scared of him. I can’t, because he hates my guts and I’m the last person he would ever listen to.”
“I know it sounds like a hopeless case, Elena. I’ve been there, but it’s not.”
“And if this doesn’t work?” I dangled my bracelet in her face, ignoring her last statement as she hadn’t dealt with this for three bloody months. “What then? I just have to take the beatings with him? You saw how long they took to heal, Becky. I walked for weeks with the pain, and the scars are still there.”