The Dragon King’s Bride (Shadows of Fire and Fae #2)

Chapter 1

Chapter one

Ava

I don’t want to be here. The thought echoes in my mind over and over again with every rock of the boat as I make my way towards my destination.

A loud dinging sound suddenly rings out, and I let out a long sigh. That must be the bell they’d told us about at departure. It meant we were getting close to port.

Footsteps and chair scrapes can be heard from the floor up above me.

The people who could afford to stay on the upper decks are getting ready to disembark.

I stay in place, taking a quick look around to see if I missed anything.

Nope, nothing. My meager possessions are all packed together inside the trunk at the foot of my bed.

I am not looking forward to carrying it all the way to the castle.

I continue to sit on my bunk as I feel the boat come to a stop.

There’s no point in getting up just yet.

The wealthier patrons will be escorted off the ship long before me.

They were the first ones on, and they’ll be the first ones off.

I don’t mind. The discounted price is well worth the minor inconvenience.

My job is to work the fields from morning to night; sitting for a few extra minutes is not going to bother me.

There’s no point in leaving the room, but I can’t resist walking over to the porthole and taking a glimpse outside.

It’s so filthy that I can’t see much of anything, but even if I could, there’s nothing to see.

Arendale is not visible from this angle.

It’s too bad. I know there’s a procession going on; it would’ve been nice to catch a glimpse of my potential husband.

I snort at my own thoughts. “Potential” is being a little too optimistic.

There’s no way King Kaiser would ever be interested in a serf like me, even if there weren’t dozens of other suitors standing between us—all of whom are ready to kill if necessary.

Calling this whole thing a waste of my time is an understatement.

Unfortunately, the king’s summons was clear: Any woman of age who has never been bedded or wedded must participate in the selection for Queen consort.

As if I don’t have enough trouble keeping my secret as is…

A knock at the door pulls me from my thoughts. “Miss, we’ve arrived. It’s time for you to depart. Are you sure I can’t offer you anything before you leave?”

My spine stiffens at the man’s voice. I recognize it.

This is the third time he’s offered me refreshments since I’ve boarded the ship.

It’s not proper to offer food and beverages to those on the lower decks.

If things were different, I may have just assumed the man was being kind.

Unfortunately, I know better. This man is likely not a real member of the staff; he’s probably an assassin.

“No. Thank you,” I reply tersely, waiting to see if he’ll leave. None of the king’s guards should be present on this ship. I am free to fight my way out if necessary.

“Alright,” he replies with a resigned tone, “have it your way.”

There is a beat of silence as the man evaluates his options. My body is coiled like a snake ready to strike. A moment later I hear footsteps fading away, and I relax. He was probably given the order to poison only those who were unaware. Fighting me was not a part of the deal.

Still, I’ll have to be more vigilant going forward.

If some of the more cunning girls are really wily enough to start thinning out the herd before the competition even begins, then this won’t be the only obstacle I’ll have to face on my journey.

I should start thinking about what kind of traps they may have lain out for me.

Knowing I have a long journey ahead of me, I hasten to grab my things. The corridor is silent, so silent that the wooden door slamming shut behind me makes me flinch. Everyone else must already be upstairs. I am the last to leave.

After spending so many days below deck, the light shining above me is blinding.

Dock workers are rolling up the mainsail, doing away with the only source of shade.

I’m fully exposed to the sun’s unforgiving rays.

Seagulls squawk above me as they circle overhead.

Briny sea water tickles my nostrils. This is the closest I’ve been to the actual sea since departure.

I give myself a moment to take it all in.

It feels good to be surrounded by open air after being stuck in that tiny cabin for so long.

My inner dragon longs to spread out her wings and soar.

It’s too bad I’ll never know that feeling.

Having underdeveloped wings doesn’t stop me from having the same urges other dragon shifters have.

The docks themselves are chaotic and smelly.

Puddles of urine and puke lay unnoticed and ignored in various nooks and crannies.

The dock workers only add to the unpleasant odor.

They smell like a mix of body odor and ale.

Having grown up in the countryside, I’m not used to any of these smells.

Being near them is going to make me sick.

What I wouldn’t give to be back at my fief at this moment…

If only I hadn’t turned down Heath’s proposal.

My life could be so different right now.

In a different lifetime when I’d chosen to say yes, I could see myself back at home right now tending the fields.

It’s bristleberry season, I could be teaching my children how to pluck the berries without pricking their fingers.

Missus Thompson would be in the row right next to me, grilling the other ladies on who they thought the next queen would be.

It would be a simple life, but a life, nonetheless.

At least I wouldn’t be in any danger.

I know exactly why I didn’t say yes. It’s the same reason why I rarely attended any of the town festivals. It’s the reason I don’t have any close friends. I can’t get close to anyone without having to lie about myself. I’m too afraid that they’d accidentally discover what I am.

A loud whistle cuts through the air, pulling me from my thoughts once again. I glance over to my right. A group of sailors is playing a game of cards on top of a discarded barrel. They’re all watching me, but the whistle seems to have come from the one in the middle with the missing tooth.

“Greetings, miss! What’s a pretty young thing like you doing out here all alone? Do you fancy a game of cards?”

I allow my eyes to glaze over with disinterest as I shake my head and continue walking.

It may be a bit rude, but I’ve long since learned ignoring them is the easiest way to de-escalate situations such as these.

These men weren’t like the one that was on the ship.

They aren’t assassins. They’re just a group of drunken fools.

Nevertheless, I hasten my steps, just a little bit.

Just because they aren’t assassins doesn’t mean they won’t be angry at me for my slight.

I can handle them if they do chase after me, but I prefer not to draw any unnecessary attention to myself.

My magic has no midway point. It’s either full power or nothing.

I lack the ability to control it… probably because I’ve never had anyone who could teach me.

It won’t be the same for the girls from the capital, I know.

They’ll have been able to afford schooling and private tutors.

It’s another thing I can add to my list of disadvantages going into this thing.

That list seems never-ending. It’s almost as though this entire competition was rigged from the get-go.

I snort at my own thoughts. There is nothing “almost” about it.

Girls like me are clearly only here to make the noble daughters look better by comparison.

The streets are crowded with people by the time I make my way off the docks.

I do my best to give them a wide berth, aware that there could be an assassin lurking among them.

Food stalls line practically every corner.

Arendale really is enormous. Every street I turn down seems to hold more people than my entire fief.

My stomach growls at the scent of freshly baked bread, but I don’t dare to stop and taste it.

A rat scurries by and an idea comes to me.

I trade a coin for a loaf at one of the nearby shops before approaching the rat.

Tearing off a piece of the loaf, I toss it towards the rat.

It eats it without incident. Feeling a little braver, I dive straight into my meal, chowing down like a girl possessed.

Perhaps I’d gotten things wrong earlier.

Nothing suspicious had happened since the boat, so maybe I can—

A deafening bang occurs somewhere on my left. My head immediately snaps up just in time to see a carriage splinter as it crashes into a nearby wall. A chorus of gasps and screams follows as the carriage seems to spontaneously combust. I go still at the sight. A fire magic trap. That means…

“Oh dear,” the woman beside me gasps. “Wasn’t that one of the carriages carrying a group of candidates from the docks?”

Dammit. That’s what I thought. Suddenly, I’m glad I couldn’t afford to take a carriage to the castle. My scrimping may have just saved my life. So, that’s what they had planned for the girls who made it past the poisoned food.

How awful…

I don’t understand the people who are taking the competition this seriously.

Sure, money and power sound great, but they aren’t everything.

There’s a lot more to life. Take my life, for example.

I’m a serf, the lowest of all the classes.

Yet, even where I grew up, people are still happy, they still find joy in the little things.

How can anyone genuinely believe that money is worth doing something like this?

I shake my head and turn to keep walking. I don’t have to stick around to know there won’t be any survivors. That group was dead the second they got on that carriage. The person who did this may also be watching. I don’t want them noticing me if they haven’t already.

My arms are just beginning to tire by the time I reach the castle.

All those days working in the fields have finally given me some sort of advantage.

I’ve been walking all day, yet I’ve barely broken a sweat.

I believe I’ve gotten a bit of a sunburn, but that’s nothing new for me.

The sun is just beginning to set over the horizon as I make my way inside.

“May I take that to your room, miss?” one of the maids asks me upon entry, pointing at my trunk.

I pause to give it some thought. Then I shrug. Even if this is another trap, there’s nothing in there that can’t be replaced. I made sure to leave anything truly sentimental back at home. I pass my trunk over to her.

“If you’ll follow me, miss. Everyone is waiting for their chance to greet the king in his throne room.”

Another one of the maids replaces the one in front of me as soon as she walks away with my trunk.

She gives me a slight bow, and I can’t help but notice she’s not bending quite as low for me as the other maids are doing for the other girls.

I choose to ignore this, merely following after her as she turns to walk away.

Perhaps it’s a mark of their professionalism that they’re willing to bow down at all.

Sometimes I wonder if my Fae mother was anyone important.

My dad is obviously a serf like me, but he never said anything about my mother’s class.

The only thing he ever told me about her was that she died giving birth to me.

Perhaps he himself doesn’t know. I guess it doesn’t make much sense for her to have been anyone important.

After all, what would a noble fairy be doing traipsing around in enemy territory?

What I do know about my mother is how much I look like her.

As I was growing up, my dad would occasionally make comments about it whenever I did something that reminded him of her.

Sometimes it was a laugh, other times it happened mid-argument.

When I first began displaying signs of nature magic, I’ll never forget the look on his face.

Pride mixed with a heart-wrenching sadness.

He may have avoided telling me any stories about her – I suppose it was just too sad – but the one thing I never doubted about their relationship was that he loved her with all his heart.

I know this isn’t the best place to be thinking about my mother.

It’s dangerous. Here especially, I’d be killed if anyone found out what I am.

It’s best to put all of this out of my mind.

Survival needs to be my number one concern for the time being.

I should start thinking of ways to get myself kicked out of the competition.

That thought flies from my mind the second I see the king on the other side of the double doors.

His eyes flick over me as I enter, and I nearly gasp at what I see.

His eyes are blue. Bright blue. They stand out so much they seem to bore into me.

I have the distinct impression this man can see into my very soul.

Suddenly, I realize that I am not prepared for this. I thought I accounted for everything, but I was wrong. Because while I may be ready for assassins, cunning girls, magic contests, and physical labor… there’s still one thing I forgot to account for.

I forgot to account for the possibility that I may just lose my heart.