Chapter 1
The Dragon had me. Fuck my life. I was going to die before I even met my betrothed, which was the whole freaking reason I went on this stupid quest.
“Put me down, you monster,” I screamed as I hit the dark claws that were holding me.
“Why are you here?” the terrifying ruby red Dragon growled as his grip on me tightened.
A gasp made the last of my precious air escape me. My heart was beating a thousand miles a minute as he moved me closer to his massive head. His teeth were as long as my fingers, and his tongue could wrap around my torso twice with ease.
As if realizing I couldn’t answer without any breath in my lungs, he eased up his grip. I took in a big gulp of air, relieved it wasn’t just going to eat me without an answer.
“I’m here to find the king,” I said.
“The king is dead. I am the ruler of this land now, and I need to be left alone,” he growled.
The vibrations of his deep voice moved through me, making my insides clench. Had he eaten the king and the prince? It would explain why their correspondence stopped so many years ago. My heart sank as I realized my entire quest would end in disappointment and possibly death.
“I’m just a servant girl who accompanied the princess on her quest. Please don’t eat me,” I said, hoping he would be more lenient towards someone who wasn’t royalty.
“I will not eat you. I just want everyone to leave me alone.”
“I can do that if you let me go. I promise I will never come back,” I vowed.
He huffed out an amused sound as he studied me closely. “You are not dressed like a servant girl.”
Even my travel attire was of high quality and embroidered with my family's crest. I crossed my arms to cover it as I tried to think of a good reason why I was wearing it.
“My clothes were euhm… burned, so my princess was so gracious to lend me these. She’s a very kind princess,” I said, hoping he would believe me.
He leaned in closer and sniffed me. “You do not smell like a servant girl. You smell…”
He closed his eyes, the scales around his eyes shivering as if trying to remember something.
I just hoped I didn’t smell like his next meal.
His eyes opened again, studying me closer.
One hand moved to my hair as he gently waved a curl around his finger.
The yellow of my hair looked almost like a ray of sunshine against his black claws.
“You are part of my hoard now. You are too pretty to let go,” he said as he moved around the dungeon on his hind legs.
“What? You can’t just keep me! I have people to get to,” I screamed as I hit the hand holding me, doing absolutely zero damage.
“I am your people now as you are mine,” he rumbled as he deposited me in a massive golden cage.
“What is this?” I asked, looking around the gilded bars running up high to a hole in the delicate framework that looked like something had burst out of it.
“The cage they kept me in until I was too big and broke free,” he growled.
I noticed his wing standing at an odd angle, as if he had hurt it during his escape. My heart ached for this creature that seemed to have endured so much.
“Why did they put you in the cage?” I asked.
He moved so close to me I could feel his hot breath fan my face through the bars. “Because I am a monster.”
I flinched as he threw my words back at me. I had been mostly startled that he grabbed me, scared he was going to devour me whole.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
He cocked his head as if trying to determine why I was asking him.
“I do not remember,” he said after a long pause. “What is yours?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m El-Elly,” I said quickly, recovering before offering him my real name.
We might not be the biggest kingdom, but he might have heard of Princess Elowen since we were neighbors, and I had been betrothed to the crown prince of this land.
“Elly,” he murmured as if tasting my name in his mouth.
His voice flowed through me, and suddenly I wanted to offer him my real name just so I could hear it roll off his tongue. What was wrong with me? Why was this Dragon affecting me so much?
I was here to find my betrothed, who he probably ate, and not to get strange feelings for a monster. However, he might be able to help with my problem since my first option was out of the window or in his stomach.
“Why not fly away to a faraway country where no one will bother you, rather than hide inside this old abandoned castle?” I asked.
He held up his crooked wing, showing an old wound that seemed to have never healed properly. “I cannot fly.”
“Oh, maybe I can help you,” I said.
“How?” he asked.
“My mother was a healer, and she taught me some things,” I said.
The queen had healed so many people in our country until she herself succumbed to the strange illness sweeping across our land.
She always taught me that being a queen meant putting the needs of your people before your own, so that was why I traveled all the way here to look for my betrothed in hopes of help.
“Why?” he asked.
“Because nobody deserves to be hurt, and possibly because if I’m useful to you, you won’t eat me,” I said.
He snorted, blowing a small flame through the bars, making me duck. The fire singed my hair, making me squeak as I patted it to put it out. The stench of my burned lock filled the air.
“I apologize, Elly. I will not eat you, nor do I have any intention of hurting you.”
“Why not let me go then?”
He didn’t answer my question, just turned around and walked away.
It gave me some time to study the enormous cave I stumbled into.
I never knew there was this much space underneath the castle.
There was so much I didn’t know about this country and the people in it.
I just knew that my hand had been given to the crown prince the moment I was born.
I met him once when I was five days old, when we had our portrait painted together.
Since then, I received yearly portraits of the growing prince as he did of me.
Until suddenly, at the age of twenty, the portraits stopped coming.
I was fifteen and too young to go search for my missing prince.
Every messenger we sent vanished, and even the team of my father's most trusted soldiers never returned.
The Dragon said he didn’t eat them, but I wasn’t so sure since I encountered no one while traveling across the country.
No bodies, bones, or remains either, which was strange.
My travel companions had gotten quieter and quieter the closer we got to the castle, as if silenced by some kind of spell surrounding the walls.
They had refused to follow me inside, but I had to go.
The moment I had stepped over the threshold, I had dropped down a trap, falling right into the Dragon’s lap.
His hoard, containing so much gold that it glittered like the sun with just a single candle burning, surrounded me. I knew the neighboring country was wealthy, but I’ve never seen this much wealth with my own eyes. Where were all the people, though?
I understood why my parents married me off to the crown prince as soon as I was born.
I knew I was destined to marry him from the moment I could speak, so it was never an issue.
My people needed me, and I would do my best to help them in any way that I could, even if it meant helping this big Dragon.
He turned, pacing, hopping on three of his paws while carrying something in his claws. He put it just in front of the bars so I could reach it. I blinked at the golden chalice filled with water.
“For your hair,” he said, nodding to the burned lock of my blond hair.
It was sweet and not at all what I was expecting him to do or say.
“Thank you,” I said as I grabbed it and dunked my burned hair in it.
He just stood there watching me as I worked on my hair. The lock itself was lost, but maybe I could cut it shorter, and it would get lost in the rest of my hair. I didn’t really care, but I needed to be presentable as a princess always.
Even if no one saw me, I always needed to keep my composure, keep a straight face, and maintain impeccable hair. Being in this cage was freeing in a way, knowing no one else was here besides this Dragon.
“Could I get some more water to drink?” I asked as I was done with my hair.
“Of course,” he said and jumped up, creating a gush of wind that almost knocked me down with his massive wings.
It was crazy how big he was. He could squash me like a bug, but he was gentle, careful of his massive body and how he moved.
There was something about this monster that made my heart jump a little.
It was probably my imagination, but I felt some sort of recognition as he watched me with those big red eyes.
I needed to figure out a plan to get out of here, and seeing as he was the only one around, he would need to be part of that plan, whether he liked it or not.
I accepted the drink gracefully, taking a small sip while he watched me.
I wanted to chug the whole chalice, but that wasn’t princess-like behavior.
“I can get you more water. You do not need to be frugal with it,” he murmured.
The heat in the cave was getting to me, and even though he was watching me with those big red eyes, I decided it didn’t matter. He didn’t think I was a princess anyway, so why not act like someone else?
I tipped the chalice and drank in big gulps. My throat was parched, and it felt like my entire body was on fire. The lands we traveled through were cold, but the cave was stifling hot, probably due to his body heat.
“Thank you,” I said as the chalice was empty again.
He nodded as he went to refill it. I studied him, no longer overcome by fear of dying. He wouldn’t give me water if he was going to kill me soon, right?
His form was impressive, and if I weren’t scared of him, I might even admire him.
The dark red was a gorgeous color, reminding me of a ruby bracelet I had once gotten as a birthday gift.
Sharp spikes covered his head, gleaming almost gold in the dim light.
His wings were a darker color, similar to velvet, although I didn’t think they would be as soft.
He turned towards me again with a full chalice, and I accepted it gratefully. I drank it more graciously, savoring the cool water instead of chugging it down. His eyes never left me, studying me as if trying to figure out who I was. I wondered the same about him.