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“Please, like we don’t know what really happened. We had a friend that attended say that your dragon didn’t emerge while they were there, and it was close to midnight! My father said if your dragon didn’t emerge by then, it was most likely never coming.”
“I guess that is why your father is ranked sixth in the council, then.”
Malinda narrowed her aqua-blue eyes at Kaida, and a growl emitted from her throat. “Don’t you dare bring rank into the conversation? We all know that if anyone were fighting for the rankings, my father would kick your father’s ass and take the second seat for himself.”
Kaida smirked at her, “In your dreams.”
With a slight shove of her shoulder, Kaida pushed past Malinda. She could hear her parents’ footsteps on the stairs behind her, so Kaida knew that Malinda had no chance to do anything with her back to them. Two doormen were standing outside the doors, and they pulled both open. Kaida walked into the courtyard of the castle and then stopped. She had never been to the castle before and had no idea where to go. Her parents caught up with her, her father walking around her to lead the way.
“Those girls weren’t giving you a hard time, were they?” Audra asked.
Kaida shook her head, giving her best neutral answer, “don’t worry about it. I handled it.”
Audra gave her daughter a sideway glance, “you cannot get into any kind of a tussle with those four while we are here, Kaida. We need to show the King, Queen, and Prince Enzo that you can handle relations with all the families within Draagal. Otherwise, Enzo will not see you as someone he wants beside him as he rules.”
“I know, Mother.”
There were vines with flowers that climbed every wall within the courtyard. The sweet aroma of the flowers filled her nostrils, and the scent brought Kaida a calmness she had not felt before in her life. She had never seen a flower with blue and purple rounded petals that were held together with black styles in the middle. She must have been staring at them for her mother to snap her fingers in front of her face.
“Those are the Incantar Flowers that bless the walls of the palace. They are known to have healing properties. Shamans use them to create every kind of potion you can think of from those.”
“Are they anywhere else in Draagal? I’ve never even heard of them.”
“No. The Royals made sure of that.”
When they walked through another set of double doors, Kaida’s jaw dropped at the sight of the large room within. Everything was made of white marble, but each area had its own veins of color to differentiate. There were gold and silver streaks throughout the floor and a sapphire blue in the walls. There were pillars to hold up statues of previous royal dragons. At the end of the room, a small staircase led to the thrones that were made of black marble with white veins. Everything appeared shiny and smooth, and it made Kaida regret wearing heels. She almost slipped several times as she made her way across the floor.
Bad day to have some extra height.
Each family was on either side of the room. There was some chatter going on between the parents, but the girls were still glaring at one another. Even though the other four were friends, catching the prince’s eye was far more important than friendship. Kaida did her best to ignore everyone, but she could feel their stares without looking at them.
The double doors opened again, and Prince Enzo walked through them. The sun behind him caused his medium brown hair to glow like a halo around his head. His broad shoulders were lined with muscles that could be seen through his navy blue and gold suit. His storm-gray eyes stared forward as he made his way through the room to the thrones.
Kaida couldn’t take her eyes off him. Something inside of her felt as if it was engulfed in flames the moment Enzo walked into the room. Every inch of her wanted to throw herself at him as he walked past her, and she could hear her soul crying out to him, begging him to look at her. It took everything inside of her not to throw herself at him when he was in front of her. Kaida felt herself shift from one foot to the other as she fought the urge to demand him to look in her direction.
Enzo turned toward the crowd. His eyes scanned the room from left to right, stopping at each girl for only a moment. Every other girl was looked at first, causing Kaida to want to rip their faces off. But the moment that Enzo’s eyes connected with hers, Kaida felt as if time had stood still. The world fell away as Kaida and Enzo were the only ones left inside the room. He stared at her for only a moment before he stomped down the stairs and walked right up to her. Kaida swallowed hard as her heart thrummed against her chest. Her breathing became erratic as she waited for Enzo to say anything to break the silence. But when he did, the word he said was not the one she expected him to say. Even though she felt it between them, nothing would have prepared her to hear that word.
“Mate.”
Three
Enzo
Ihave found my True Mate, my Queen.That thought rolled through Enzo’s head repeatedly as he looked out the window inside his room. He had the perfect view of Dragaal from his tower, and he often gazed at it while he was caught up in his thoughts. Something about looking at his kingdom brought him a sense of peace. Even with his thoughts were a good thing, something was pulling at him… making him think that there was a chance that this wasn’t a good thing at all.
When he turned to announce to the room that Kaida was his mate, Enzo looked right at his parents. Instead of a smile or a look of joy, it was a look of disdain. Enzo thought the look was directed at them. He would have understood that if it had been directed at him. But it wasn’t. He followed their gaze. It was at Kaida.
Which makes no damn sense.
They were the ones who suggested that he looked amongst the five prodigal daughters of the seated Council members. It was all about power with them, and having the daughters of the five most powerful families in Dragaal would have the highest chance to bring more power to the thrones. Kaida was a Hilmir, the second most powerful family in the kingdom. No one would have been better for the Great Dragon to choose for him as a mate. Yet, his parents looked at her like she was the last option they wanted.
Why?
It remained a mystery. Neither of his parents had spoken to him since last night when Enzo told the Council members and their daughters and everyone else inside of that room that Kaida was his Fated Mate. They left the room without telling him why they were unhappy that he had found his mate. He tried to request a meeting with them to discuss it, but Enzo was denied.
And they wonder why I don’t get along with them anymore.
It didn’t really matter to Enzo whether his parents were happy with who his Fated Mate was or not. They would not have a say in the matter. The Great Dragon hand-picked Kaida and created her especially for him. She was perfect for him in every way. He already could feel that inside of their newly formed bond that rested inside his soul. Kaida was everything that he could have dreamed of and more. He always had a thing for darker brunette women and someone who dared to be different. It wasn’t natural for a dragon to have purple hair, especially someone who would sit on the Council someday. Yet there she stood with purple ends and a look of “I don’t give a shit what you think about it” on her face.
