Page 7 of A Bond of Fire and Roses

His soft laugh vibrates down my ear. “I actually thought you were a boy for a moment, then.”

I whack his arm, a flush blowing up my cheeks. “This isn’t the time for jokes.”

I really hope he doesn’t think of me as a boy, even in these clothes.

He keeps his arm around my shoulders, careful not to touch my back. He knows what they did to me last night. “You’re smiling and not panicking, so the joke worked.”

It doesn’t work for long. “Where’s the cart?”

Loch turns me to the left. “See? It’s over there.” I follow his gaze and find the cart that he’s talking about, full to the brim with wooden crates. Four black horses neigh impatiently as they wait while the driver loads the final crates. “When he’s done, we will run and get in between the boxes. They won’t see us. We can stay on the cart for the entire journey. This one’s going all the way to the shore.” He looks down at me and I smile at him, my heart fluttering. “No one will find us. No one will use you again.”

He takes one of my shaking hands, linking our fingers slowly, and I enjoy the warmth of his touch as it tries to calm my racing heart. We wait in silence then and don’t dare talk again in case someone hears us. Even though we paid the driver, we can never be too careful. Thankfully, everyone apart from the servants will be in prayer at this time in the morning. They pray to the goddesses as the sun rises until it’s quite high up, which is at least half an hour away from now. The rest of the boxes are finally loaded, and the driver checks his scroll. He scratches his chin before walking to the front and climbing up onto his seat. When he starts whistling but doesn’t drive away, we know he’s waiting for us.

Loch glances at me and then leans down, bringing his lips so close it’s like he’s about to kiss me. He could be my first ever kiss. My heart soars and I almost close my eyes. His voice stops me. “Freedom, princess?”

“Freedom.”

I breathe out the single word that means everything to me, and then we run.

I run as fast as my legs will carry me, holding my best friend’s hand, our fingers interlocked. We climb onto the cart and duck behind the crates. Loch slides in first, going deeper towards the boxes on the left, and then I crawl to the other side. We smile at each other as the driver kicks off the cart and the horses begin to move.

The sound of their hooves hitting the ground is like music to my ears. My heart thumps with them, and I close my eyes, resting my head against the crate. Soon the air is filled with that delicious salty breeze I haven’t smelled in over ten years. I’ve missed it. I open my eyes and lift my head just enough to peer over the crates. In the corner of my eye, Lochlan watches me with an intense stare, but I’m too mesmerised by the shore growing closer in the distance. The seagulls swooping down on a ship with emerald sails brings tears to my eyes.

I’m free. I’m finally free. I can’t believe?—

All of a sudden, the horses come to a halt and start neighing in panic. The driver tries to soothe them while something dark, something huge, covers us in darkness. Cold, gut-wrenching fear consumes me when nothing, but black and red scales spread out across the sky. Fire and roses. That familiar scent. The gold talons, stretching and gleaming in the light.

I’ve met this dragon before.

Once when I was a child, and then every night since in my nightmares.

The dragon lands on a hill by the shore and sends a gust of wind so powerful it nearly tips the cart. Its roar bursts through my ears, causing them to ring, and I let go of Loch to shield them from the onslaught. Loch looks at me with pure fear in his eyes and I feel it too. It’s over.

We’re dead.

Heavy footsteps crunch on the ground outside the cart, and they aren’t from the terrified driver.

“Your majesty!” the driver exclaims. “Can I help?—”

“Get back in your seat!” I know that voice too. Sometimes I hear echoes of him in my mind, in my nightmares where dragon fire burns. “You can come out now, Princess. Your little escape is over.” I don’t respond as I grip the box next to me so hard my nails almost break. How did he know I was here? His footsteps pause by the cart. “I don’t bite, but my dragon does. Get out.”

Tears run down my cheeks—tears filled with the hope for a freedom I was so close to having again. The life I should’ve had. Loch goes to move, but I shake my head and put a finger to my lips. I will face this on my own and Loch can still be free.

I climb to my feet, glancing at Loch one more time. I’m sorry, he mouths to me, but I can’t reply. I can’t even feel my body as I climb out from the crates and jump down to face the Dragon King himself. My entire world seems to shatter at his feet when I land and look up at him. He’s so much taller than I remember. His dragon is huge now, too, standing proudly behind him with its gold eyes on me. Despite the fear wracking havoc in my body, I lift my head to look its rider in the eye. His tanned skin has been made rough from his years of combat and dragon riding. But even the scars on his face do nothing to hinder how beautiful he is.

How regal and yet brutal.

He lifts his head and smirks down at me, his thick arms crossed over his powerful chest. As I look up into his scarred face, I hate how he looks as though he was sculpted by the gods themselves. Even the gold scar, running all the way from his left brow to his chin, looks like it was a kiss left by the gods themselves to bless this fucker. The king is absolutely gorgeous, even if I absolutely fucking hate him. Dark locks of wavy black hair blow in the breeze around his face, and the way the sun hits them makes it look like they have gold strands woven between the tresses. His eyes are perfect green emeralds, brighter than any of the jewels I saw as a child in the castle. I remember those eyes the most. They’ve haunted my every waking moment since that night. Slowly, he drags his eyes up and down my body, and his smirk widens.

“Very fitting attire for a princess. Where were you going?”

I wrap my hands into fists, cutting my palm with how tight I make them. “Anywhere you wouldn’t find me, My King.”

He raises a brow ever so slightly at the way I spit out his title. He will never be my king. He lowers his thick arms, the black scaled leather that covers him from head to toe moving perfectly with his flawlessly toned body as he steps closer. I move back as far as I can, the smell of burning flowers suffocating my senses. He sighs as he rests his massive hands on the two swords clipped to his hips.

At least he’s not wearing my father’s blood-soaked crown this time.

The edge of his mouth twitches as he looks down at me. Despite the inevitability, despite that I should know I shouldn’t do it, I turn away from him and run. My hat falls off in the breeze, allowing my long hair to flow behind me. His amused chuckle echoes behind me, far too close. I pull the dagger out just as he catches me, and the moment our bodies collide, I run the blade through his stomach.

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