“Do we have to wear this”, Raisel asked clearly in distress, “Everything is clinging to my skin so tight, I might pass out any time soon” Dragomir turned to look at her, “I beg you please don’t, that will be defeating the whole not attract unnecessary attention to ourselves purpose” “Do I?” “Yes you do, this circus is for the high-class ladies and gents. I think they’ll appreciate it if you don’t show up in high boots and your sword by your side”, he answered, "That would be terrifying" “I’m going to trip over, this dress is just…” “I think you look perfect”, he blurted out before he could stop himself and he was right. She had on the ocean blue dress that just perfectly complimented her ocean blue eyes. Her long dark hair was not tied up in a ponytail, as usual, it was braided in two. He could have sworn he saw a red tint on her cheek but she looked away quickly. They got to the white and red striped tent and handed over their tickets to the man on the outside. He bent his han
Allerick had the description of the lady who had taken the book alongside the man. He was convinced beyond reasonable doubt that it was Raisel. He didn’t know whose company she was in and it hurt him to even think about it. He had imagined her in the past sitting beside him on the throne of Avalon, he had merely toyed with the idea in his head. Now that he thought deeply about it, he didn’t want that any more. She wasn’t worthy of it, not in the slightest. She was a criminal and he wanted nothing to do with her whatsoever. After this realization, you’d have thought he would have just gone back to Avalon and get on with his life but no, he wasn’t going to do that. He still wanted to find her, he still wanted her. He wanted her in many forbidden ways to want a woman and of course, the facts that he had set out to find some magical stone. He would be considered a coward if he returned sooner than was expected. He needed to prove himself to Avalon that he was a worthy king and not a cow
They were going over the plan again for the second time. “You are certain the king has a real-life elder dragon?”, Dragomir asked still in disbelief. “Yes, he does, locked in a cage and chained. A private pet…”, Esmeray answered, “He has an obsession for dragons and loves to have them by his side as a show of his strength”. “Pathetic”, Dragomir spat. Raisel appeared to be thinking, "That would explain this kingdom's unnecessary obsession over these creatures" Esmeray nodded in agreement. “And this dragon has not escaped why?”, Raisel questioned. “The King uses strong magic to suppress the power and strength of this dragon and to keep it in dragon form for a long time, your energy wears off with time”, Esmeray explained with a nonchalant shrug, "Or so they say...He is unable to escape or fight back the attacks, he is just sitting duck...”, she stared at Dragomir briefly gauging his reaction, "To be used for the king's indulgence." Dragomir frowned, “That makes sense. The dragon
Hours passed but they still did not speak to each other. A guard appeared, a different guard from the one they had met earlier. He unlocked the gates, then two other guards rushed inside to pull them out. They were dragged along long corridors until they got to a large door. One of the guards whispered something to the courtesan, he opened the doors and walked in, then he returned almost immediately and ushered them in. They were dragged along the lengths of the large throne room till they came face to face with one of the scariest faces they were inopportune to meet in their lifetime. They were both tossed to the ground before they could say a word, “Bow before the king”, a voice said to them. Raisel looked up to see who had spoken, one of the men pulled her by her hair for her defiance. “Do not hurt her!”, Dragomir shouted. Raisel kept a straight face not willing to give out the fact that she was in a lot of pain. They were both pulled up until they were face to face with the
They had been locked up for days, Raisel couldn’t keep track of how many days it had been exactly. She knew it was occasionally day and night from the small light that streamed through the very high window in her cell. The only connection to the outside world. She had never been trapped all her life, not for any reason whatsoever, it felt like she was going to lose it any moment longer she spent trapped. The guards would occasionally come and serve unpalatable food, suddenly she longed for the wild berries in the forest and the streams where they drank water from. And if she was willing to admit it to herself or anyone else, she missed her companion, the man with whom she had travelled through cities in search of a gem that had been found long before she was born. She needed to meet with him, she had questions that needed to be answered. Surely she wasn’t the only one who had noticed the sense of understanding between him and the dragon. At that moment when they had tossed him to be
One minute she was running to find Fury the other minute she was above ground level, high up in the air held in place by a very large dragon. Yes, she had indeed asked to see a dragon but she hadn’t intended to be picked up by one. Esmeray’s instruction had been clear; go to my house, get your supplies to grab your horse and come back here, while you do this avoid getting caught again. She had protested initially but Esmeray had sworn on her life that she would ensure Dragomir’s safety. Raisel had followed the instructions to the latter, on her way to Esmeray’s house, she spotted a lot of guards littered about like they were in search of something. So to avoid getting caught she had hidden and tried to get past them. All of a sudden there was an uproar and people began to run Helter Skelter. They had pointed to the sky and she had looked up at that moment to see the largest creature she had seen. Somehow, she couldn’t bring herself to move, she stood rooted in her spot and stared at
Dragomir stood patiently outside waiting for Raisel to return. After the talk with the bartender. He had woken up with a banging headache and he couldn’t remember what they had talked about in full. However, one sentence kept ringing in his ear: however, you can make things right with this one. That is what he had done. He dressed up the next day without a care in the world of all the things that could go wrong with coming to meet Raisel. However, things had gone smoothly with no hitches whatsoever. She stared wide-eyed at him, it was surprise at first, her features softened to an emotion he couldn't recognize at first glance but there was no longer anger in her eyes. She showed up dressed in leather, her hair tied back in a ponytail. Except for her missing knives, she did look like her old self again. She waved at the small family that had harboured her and they waved back beaming with smiles. He turned to her, the excitement not leaving his eyes, his hand outstretched towards her
When he landed on his feet, she dropped his clothes on the floor, right in front of him and turned around, She clutched at her chest, fingers trembling, as if trying to keep her racing heart from leaping out of her body. She turned around to face him when she was sure he had changed into his clothes she was wrong, however, he was still struggling into his shirt. “Do not do this again”, she warned, her fingers were shaky, her lips quivering in fright. He burst into laughter. “How is this funny?" she asked, her voice trembling with fear. “You should see your face right this minute”, he pointed out, “I figured out now we didn’t have Fury with us, we needed a faster means of travel" “No!”, she snapped, “We are going to walk wherever we have to, or next time give me a heads up before lifting me like that?”, she shrugged, her arms folded across her chest, "I mean it is only fair that I am informed before I am lifted thousands of feet about the ground level" “Heads up, okay duly noted”,