The ascending part of the Dragon ride was a bit scary, but after it had reached a proper height and flew smoothly, it was alright. As we flew over the Emerald Sea, even the wind became bearable after a while, either that or my face had become numb from the sea wind. I hooked my veil around my necklace more securely, so it did not fly off. Even though the ceremony was over, I did not feel like showing my face to the Beast, since he did not show me his face completely.
I straightened up after some time, but the Beast's grip on me did not loosen. I was thinking if I should say something. The reason why the Beast attacked my Kingdom was still a mystery to me, and my mind kept wandering back to the slightly burned buildings of Atrofall. I absently rubbed my thumb over the ring on my index finger, something I did when I was deep in thought.
As soon as I realised what I was doing, I felt a jolt through my body. The ring was a gift from Arthur, a promise ring to be exact. He knew he could not give me an engagement ring without exposing our relationship, so he made the promise ring for my index finger. Over the years, whenever I felt stressed, the ring had a soothing effect on me, but now –
Since the Beast was still holding me, I slowly released my grip on the Dragon and took off the ring.
Backstabbing, opportunist, traitor, Basta*d, I cursed that man a few more times before throwing the ring off.
I watched the ring disappear on the horizon and thought how good I would feel if I could throw off Arthur like that with his ring.
"Are you trying to impress me, or are you just being cautious?" The Beast spoke up, and since I was so close to the Beast, I felt the vibration of the words rising from his chest.
A shiver ran down my spine. And I knew he felt that too. I did not like how close we were at all.
"What?" I asked, trying to look back at him, but his grip did not let my body move.
"You just threw off a silver ring," The Beast stated so close to my ears that I flinched on instinct.
I knew he was toying with me, just to get a reaction out of me. I was so focused on his behaviour that it took me a while to understand what he was talking about.
Silver. Right. The Ring was made out of silver, a metal that is banned in the monster's Kingdom because of how harmful it is to some of them. I actually have many weapons made out of silver for this very reason, but he did not need to know that.
"Neither," I answered. "I threw off the ring because I did not like it anymore."
"I see. So, you are the type of human who likes to throw away things when you grow tired of them," The Beast mocked, and I rolled my eyes.
"You seem more like that type," I retorted, and he chuckled, which again vibrated through my whole body.
"Either you are a fool or too brave," He said, leaning forward and placing his chin on my shoulder. My injured shoulder at that.
"Ouch," I winced and he slowly pulled away his head.
"You are hurt," He said, suddenly losing all the humour in his tone. "I thought it was some other human's blood that I was smelling on you. But it is yours."
It was not a question, but I decided to answer.
"Yeah, probably. I bandaged it securely before leaving but I guess it is still bleeding."
I was unsure if he had heard me, as he had not spoken for a long time. I did not say anything; I watched the gleaming sea ahead and soon saw a small dot on the horizon, which was quickly growing larger as we approached.
"My entire Kingdom can smell your blood as soon as we land," The Beast said suddenly as his hands tightened their grip on my waist.
I did not know if he was exaggerating or if the monsters had some uncontrollable bloodlust and would really tear me apart as soon as we landed. Moreover, I did not understand why he cared about it. He had already threatened to kill me many times by now, was that not the plan all along? Or did he want to do the honours himself and kill me after he was done with me, and if that was the case, I would probably die in his bed.
As I mulled over his words and reaction, the view ahead of us got clearer. Then the tall mountains came into view.
We had reached Scafera.
And it looked beautiful.
It was a different kind of pain to already hate something so beautiful that it could easily take your breath away. As soon as we crossed the port and the mountains, the entire capital of Scafera sprawled in front of my eyes. The Dragon got lower, and I could see the city was a beautiful mix of greenery and people. The tall structures and buildings of the city were wrapped in overgrown trees, making it look like a part of the forest that ran parallel to the right of the city. Many canals and rivers twisted through the entire city, and when I looked ahead, I saw that all of the streams began at a tall waterfall. And just over the waterfall stood the tallest castle I had ever seen in my life, and I had seen a lot of castles in my life. Even the castle and its towers were embraced by beautiful vines and trees.
I was so focused on watching my surroundings that I forgot what was coming and did not prepare myself on time. My entire body was hurled forward, my heart leapt out of my chest, and my stomach somersaulted when the Dragon suddenly started descending. I thought this was it, I was going to fall and die, but to my surprise, the Beast was ready. His left arm instantly wrapped around my waist, and he pulled me back to his chest. He tightly held me close to him and rested his right hand on the Dragon's neck, which was enough for him not to lose balance.
The Dragon landed in front of the castle much more smoothly than I anticipated. As the Dragon lowered his head, without waiting, the Beast lifted me like I weighed nothing and jumped down with ease.
"You did not need to help me down, I could have –" I began to protest, since he still had not let go of my waist.
Now I knew the polite thing would have been to thank him, but who thanked someone planning to kill them?
"Really?" The Beast said, and I saw his lips curl under his hood as he put me down on the ground.
And immediately, my legs gave out. I stumbled back to the Dragon and, on instinct, braced my hands on its scaly back for support. As I cursed under my breath and tried to feel my legs again, the Beast turned away from me with a satisfied smirk.
The other Dragons also landed one by one and a tall woman walked up to meet us at the castle entrance with a number of people. Not people, monsters. I had to remind myself again. The tall woman, who approached us, looked like a human at first glance, was almost as tall as the Beast, with strong arm muscles, and short jet-black hair, but her sharp eyes were a mix of bright orange and yellow with thick white rims over and under her eyelids. It was obvious what she was. A Tigress.
"Welcome back, my King," The Tigress bowed in front of the Beast.
"Vyaghri," The Beast greeted her back with a serious tone. "Did you have anything to report to me while I was gone? If not, I would go and have some rest."
"There is something," Vyaghri – which I assume was the name of the Tigress – spoke up without hesitation. Then her eyes swept over me. "We needed to discuss it without prying ears."
I was not even offended by her looks; in fact, I was honestly impressed at how she spoke and held herself. In our Kingdoms, human Kingdoms, nobody could dare to talk to the King so fearlessly, let alone look so intimidating while disrupting his resting plans. She looked like she made herself important.
"Really? You could not hold down the fort for two days, Vyaghri?" Lyall, the wolf, approached us and smiled at Vyaghri, who in return looked at him sternly.
"Do not forget, we have company," Vyaghri glanced at me again.
"Who? The human?" Lyall laughed. "Look at her. She is so weak and fragile like the rest of them. She is as much of a threat as a toothpick."
"And yet with enough precision and determination, you can easily turn people blind with a toothpick," I stood up straight, finally gaining strength in my legs.
Hearing my words, Vyaghri looked at me. Really looked at me and observed me from head to toe, while Lyall's face soured.
"You are delusional if you think –" Lyall began but the Beast cut him off.
"Have someone escorted to her room," The Beast said before marching away leaving me at the entrance with Vyaghri, Lyall, and countless monsters.
[To be contiued]