Page 23 of The Dragon Maiden

I could not even bear to look at the High Dragon Lord. I could only imagine how angry and disappointed he must be. For some reason, I could not figure out which of those thoughts bothered me more. The guard left the room, leaving the two of us alone. There were no witnesses for this, and fear began to stir in my heart.

“Valora, look at me,” he said. I could tell by the tightness of his voice that he was livid.

I bit my lip and closed my eyes for a moment before lifting my head to look at him. He was in his dragon form, his silver eyes stormy, and I fought the impulse to look away.

“Why would you try to escape?” Dracul demanded, smoke escaping his flared nostrils in his fury.

“I—” His anger frightened me and I could barely speak. Though he had always said he would not hurt me, right now, I was not so sure that he would not kill me on the spot.

“Why?” he roared. “Why did you try to escape?” I could see the betrayal in his eyes and a spike went through my heart.

“I need to find my brother and talk to him,” I said hoarsely. “I’ve wasted enough time here. If I don’t go, I’ll possibly miss my chance of finding answers forever.”

“What answers do you seek from him?” His voice grew louder and angrier the more he spoke.

“To find out what he did that I deserved to get these!” Venom laced my voice as I drew up my sleeves to reveal the numerous scars lining the entirety of my arms. I grew tired of his anger. If he was going to punish me, I would rather he do it sooner than later. “And these!” I pulled at the back of my dress, revealing more of the jagged scars, the fabric ripping at my ferocity.

Dracul paused in shock upon seeing the scars, his silver eyes widening. After realizing what I had done, I hastily pulled my sleeves back down, covering the scars once more. I fiddled with the back of my dress, trying to fix it, but I quickly gave up as there was no way to close it. It was too late anyway—he had seen almost everything.

“What happened?” he asked quietly, his anger subsiding. Based on his expression, he was thinking back to those weeks ago when I had cried.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I said, knowing that I had already given away too much. Previously, he had only seen a fraction of my scars, and now, he had seen almost all of them.

His face turned soft for a moment, before returning into a fierce scowl. “I don’t know what to do with you,” he said. “Time and time again, you try my patience. And with this recent turn of events… I don’t know how I’m going to convince the other Lords to let you stay.”

“Then just roast me!” I threw my hands up in the air as I shouted. Even though I wanted answers, I was so tired of feeling like a burden to everyone. Too many times, I had been so close, yet was still so far from answers. Not to mention the swirling wheel of shame, switching from feeling guilty about leaving to wanting to stay. “Just roast me and make it easier on everyone!”

From the look on Dracul’s face, I knew he was not expecting that answer. “No, I will not be roasting you, Valora.”

I turned away from him, unable to stare at the tenderness that entered his eyes, but he reached out, using a single claw to gently turn me back towards him, his gaze serious once more.

“I just need you to understand the severity of what you’ve done.”

I stared at him. “I do know what I’ve done,” I said. “But the risk was worth the opportunity to see my brother again.”

Dracul shook his head. “How long has it been since you last saw him?”

Once more, I could not meet his eyes, knowing that my answer would not be sufficient. “I haven’t seen in him a long, long time. It’s been over three years,” I admitted. It had been almost two years since my parents had been killed, and Ronan had left home a year before that. The question I had asked the guard earlier came back to me. “How did you know I was going to escape tonight?”

He sighed heavily, as if he did not want to answer the question. After a few moments, I was certain he would not answer, but he surprised me. “We intercepted the note you gave to Henrick,” he said.

My heart skipped a beat as I suddenly worried for his safety.

“He was not punished, don’t worry,” Dracul said, seeing the look that crossed my face. “But he has been reassigned and you will no longer be able to see him.”

“How long have you known about this?” I asked, my mouth suddenly dry.

“About a week, as soon as you gave the note to Henrick. You were not as sneaky as you thought—a few of the other workers raised their concerns to us,” Dracul said. He looked very tired all of a sudden, and I realized how much of a burden this must have placed on him this past week.

The other night came to mind and I wondered if that was somehow his way of trying to convince me to stay, to prove that there was something there for me. It made me wonder if it had just been a ruse or if he really felt the way he had acted. An unexpected tenderness had grown between us, and now my mind spun, wondering if any of that had been real.

“Go back to the other Maidens. I will figure out how to deal with you in the morning.”

I nodded, turning to go. Right now, I would not think about what was going on between us. I had bigger problems at the moment.

“And Valora,” he said, making me pause. “If you are ever caught outside your chambers again at night, you will be killed. That, I can tell you for certain.”

I remained silent, only bowing before returning to the chamber.

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