Page 1 of A Bond of Fire and Roses

CHAPTER ONE

“Wake up, Princess!”

I cough as I open my eyes, surprised to find Dasinth hovering over me. Fire and smoke fills the air around me, smothering the pretty roses that sit beside my bed. It burns the back of my throat as I look up at Dasinth, his face covered in shadows, my family’s gold moon crest gleaming on his red helm and chestplate.

Panic coils through me, Dasinth is the captain of my father’s guard and his most trusted advisor.

Why is Dasinth in my room?

“We must hurry if you wish to live,” he whispers, pulling me from my bed by the arm. “Come quickly!”

I’m too shocked to make a noise. My guards are not allowed to touch me let alone enter my room unless my life is in danger. Not even Dasinth, who is more like an uncle to me than a guard, has entered my room before. He throws a red dressing gown over my small shoulders and a pair of fur-lined slippers onto my feet. Briefly his eyes meet mine, and I see something in them that makes me tremble. Fear.

“Where are we going, Dasinth? Where is Mama and Papa?”

“You must follow and keep quiet, Princess.” He drags me outside into a corridor filled with thick black smoke. Screams and cries echo around me as the warm ground shakes below my feet, but he doesn’t stop. “Do not let go of my hand now.”

“But why?” My small, shaking legs scurry after him. “Where are you taking me?”

I stumble as I try to keep up with him. He does not answer me. I glance over my shoulder, searching for my parents’ bedchamber, but it’s too dark to see anything, the smoke too thick. I’m scared.

“I want Mama,” I cry out. “Papa!”

I scratch at Dasinth’s hand, trying to break free from his grasp. Dasinth tightens his grip as he drags me into another long corridor—one filled with black flames and even louder screams. I stop smacking his hand then, suddenly very aware of what’s happening around me.

The palace, my home, is on fire.

Tears race down my cheeks as I run with Dasinth through the chaos, no longer resisting him. Black flames crackle and hiss around us, licking their way up the walls of the stone corridors. Even the courtyard outside is consumed by the dark flames. I cry as I take in the devastation around me until all of a sudden, Dasinth pulls me behind him and draws out his sword. A shiver runs through me as I sense something coming, something in the wind, as dangerous and dark as the flames around us.

I don’t see what happens, but I hear the clashing of swords and Dasinth bellowing. As the ground trembles again, Dasinth picks me up and throws me back down the corridor. I land on my back, my ears ringing, and turn just in time to see the corridor falling down on top of Dasinth. I try to cry out his name, to scream for help, but nothing comes out.

A boy appears in the corridor, and he offers me his hand. “Hurry, come with me!”

His eyes are wide and his hair dark, but I can’t move. I can’t breathe.

The floor and walls crack, making a huge gap between us and the boy is swallowed up by the smoke in seconds. The black flames that look like a burning black star flood through the rest of the corridor towards me. I dazedly pull myself to my feet, my hearing still muffled, and curl up against the broken wall, the floor nothing but a ledge at my feet.

While the rest of the palace crumbles around me, the black flames continue searing down from the sky, destroying everything in its path. Some of the flames skirt by my feet and burn my toes through my slippers. I scream and pull myself closer to the wall, covering my face with my little hands.

Over the sound of my heart pounding, I hear wings beating like thunder,

I lift my head and look up into an eye of pure gold. There’s a giant monster flying in the air right above me, lowering itself. Its black and gold scales smother every inch of it, and its giant wings spread out so far. The smoke completely clears from around me, the flames burning out quickly, as I realise it’s a dragon from the legends.

The fierce, massive creature continues to watch me before lifting its head, and I see there is someone riding on its back. A boy much older than me with twilight hair and unfamiliar armour, the same black and gold as the dragon. There is a symbol painted on his chest that I have never seen before, a dragon and a crown wrapped around each other.

The boy looks right at me, taking my breath away with how intense his stare is. There’s a long gold scar on his tanned face, and his dark hair is blowing slightly in the breeze. On top of his head rests a magnificent crown.

I know that crown well. It’s my father’s crown.

My breath leaves me as I watch the boy, and he watches me too with hate burning in his eyes—a hate I feel for him too. Blood drips down his head from the crown onto his cheek and he wipes it away, his eyes locked on mine. My legs shake as I force myself to straighten. I am the princess of The Drifting Kingdom, and I will not die cowering before anyone. Tears stream down my cheeks as the boy watches me and I want to scream at him. He leans down, whispering something to the dragon, and I know I’m going to burn at his command. The dragon roars at me with nothing but ash, blood, and smoke. I scream, holding my stomach, praying that my death will be quick and easy.

Instead of eating me, instead of my death, the dragon and the boy fly away over my ruined kingdom. My parents’ kingdom, and it’s burning with the fire of dragons…

A hand grips my shoulder tightly, sharp nails digging into my skin to pull me awake. I blink dazedly at the shadow hovering over me. It takes me a moment to register who the beady eyes belong to. “I asked you a question. You would do well by staying awake in my class to answer it.”

Sister Gabriella squeezes my shoulder, her yellowed nails breaking through my dress into skin. I stare up at her, making sure not to wince or give her a reason to punish me. Her punishments are the worst, and I really don’t want to spend the rest of the day bleeding.

“Forgive me, Sister,” I reply, shaking my head at the memories.

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