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“King Gemar did not want to waste any time in courting. Some men are like that. It’s a good thing he never met his Fated Mate. That would have been messy.”
I never heard about anything like this.“What would have happened if he met his Fated Mate after mating Nande?”
Dracul and Audra glanced at one another briefly before Dracul answered. “The two females would have had to fight to the death in their dragon forms. Dragons always want what they deem is theirs. It is in their nature. It is hard for us to walk away from something we treasure. Since Nande and her dragon were already mated to Gemar, she would not have been able just to walk away.”
Yeesh. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen to me. With me being dragonless… I’d automatically lose there.
As the castle came into view, Kaida’s heart began to race with excitement. Before she could truly get enthusiastic, though, her parents just had to pop that bubble.
“Remember, Kaida. We need to keep up appearances while we are here. If anyone asks about your dragon, you need to redirect the conversation after saying that she is just temperamental and it would be dangerous to allow her out. Do you understand how important that is to do?”
Kaida rolled her eyes so hard that it hurt. “It isn’t that hard of a concept to grasp,Mother.And thanks for just bringing me back to reality by reminding me of how I am dragonless. I almost forgot about it!”
Audra opened her mouth to apologize, but Dracul motioned for her to stop. It wouldn’t have helped at all, and Dracul knew it. The only thing that could remedy how she felt was for her dragon to emerge. Since no one had any idea how to get that to happen, it was best to just leave things unsaid.
Fat chance of that happening around my mother, but a girl could hope. I don’t have time for that right now anyway. My only goal is to hope that Prince Enzo will just like me for being me.
Two
The castle came into view, and it took Kaida’s breath away. Even from a distance, Kaida could see how the castle reflected many colors from the pearl scales that coated the outside walls from the original Dragon, Pearlar. The numerous towers were all different heights, though each one was set up with smaller ones in the front, climbing in height until the very back. On the highest tower, the symbol of the dragons was a monument at the top. It was a dragon with its body shaped like an S, but lightning poured out of its mouth and formed a circle around it. Some said that Storm Dragons created the symbol themselves after they conquered the Kingdom, but that wasn’t the story Kaida grew up on.
The story behind the symbol was how the Storm Dragon was the first to share their soul with a Human. They came down from the Heavens to rule over the Kingdom, and humans looked at them as Gods. When they offered to merge their souls with humans to create a new being, the humans gladly accepted. There were many breeds of dragons upon the merging of souls, including Storm, Plasma, and of course, the Elementals; Breeze, Ember, Tidal, and Terrain. The Plasma Dragon was said to be much stronger than the rest, as its breath was deadlier than any other. However, they died out before the Great War happened.
“We are nearly there now,” Dracul said, bringing Kaida out of her thoughts.
“Is this usually how mates are found? By bringing available females to the royal family to choose from?”
Dracul frowned and replied, “That is a relatively new approach to finding a mate. There was a time when it was a battle between the females inside an arena.”
Kaida raised her eyebrows at the statement. “Why does it sound like Dragons are just vicious brutes that take what they want or have people fight for their attention?”
Dracul shrugged. “We are a species that wants the most treasured items. It’s not just jewels that we find as treasures.” Dracul looked at Audra with a smile and a softened expression he only had for her.
Kaida gave her parents a small smile. Most kids her age couldn’t stand when their parents acted this way in front of them. Kaida didn’t mind. It was just how Fated Mates were toward one another.
“You don’t think Enzo would revive the whole ‘battle in the arena’ thing, do you?”
Audra and Dracul laughed out loud. Audra shook her head as well before speaking, “no, no. Prince Enzo had not come off as bloodthirsty when we met him during his youth.”
Before Kaida could ask another question, the carriage stopped in front of a large, inclined staircase. The sight of the castle’s beauty took Kaida’s breath away. The pearlescent glow from the scales along the outside of the walls glistened in the sun’s rays, making the castle appear even more fairytale-like than before.
Her eyes continued to sweep across the entire area in front of her as Kaida stepped out of the carriage. When her eyes landed at the top of the staircase, Kaida immediately rolled her eyes.
Oh yeah. The other four are here.
As much as her parents wanted Kaida to be friends with the other four family’s daughters so there would be cohesion within the realm, it didn’t happen that way. The few times she was around Malinda, Ada, Chusi, and Kaliyah growing up were not in her top favorite memories. They lived up to the name that dragons made for themselves centuries ago of being vicious. None of them seemed to like one another. Only in front of the adults did they act as if they could get along. Once they were alone, the claws came out.
Each of them wore a similar dress that showed off the color of their dragon. Malinda was in a pale gray-blue, skintight dress that showed off the small curves of her body. Her hair was once as golden as the sun, but it had been changed to a dull silver. Ada wore a deep pink that a rose would have been jealous of. The fabric was only loose around her legs and the hem on the floor. Her hair seemed as if it was on fire from where Kaida was standing in the reflection of the sun’s light. Chusi’s black dress complimented her waist-length black hair. The dress was tight like Malinda’s, but Chusi’s curves were wider, and it looked much better on her. Kaliyah’s dress was a shade of gray that reminded Kaida of the color of the clouds just before a storm. Her short-cut, medium-brown hair was styled in spikes, making her look fiercer than any other time Kaida had seen her.
Well, I need to face this head-on, whether I like it or not. Fake it ’til you make it. That’s all I have to do.
As Kaida ascended the stairs in her wrap-style dress with a shade of purple that reminded her of the skin color of plums, all four of the girls glared down at her. Kaida’s parents were talking to the carriage driver while she walked up the stairs, so they were oblivious that these four looked as if they were plotting her death.
“Oh, Kaida, I wasn’t sure if you would even show up. I heard you had been locked inside your tower since your birthday party. Depressed that everyone left early from how bored they were?” Malinda quipped.
The other girls sniggered as they watched Kaida walk up the stairs. She was not going to allow these girls to get to her. They were only phishing for information because, if they knew she didn’t have her dragon, Malinda wouldn’t have said she was depressed that people left. After all, it was “boring.” All four girls moved to form a straight line to create a blockade before the door to the castle.
Kaida was now at the top of the stairs and held her chin high, “oh, how silly of you to think that is why they left! My father shooed everyone away so they could be the only ones to witness my dragon emerging, but thank you for showing kindness in asking.”
