Chapter 5

~Kamari~

I feel warmth behind me. I open my eyes and see a man's arm wrapped around my waist. I glance behind my shoulder and see Nye. My heart jumps into my throat as I remember what he did or didn't do. I honestly didn't know what happened. My mind is full of fuzziness. A sudden headache grips my temples.

"Ugh." I groan. 

Nye pulls me in by my waist and a hardness presses against my back. My eyes widen, and my face heats up. Oh…

I slowly try to weasel my way out of his grip.

"Kamari," The huskiness in his voice makes my lower abdomen clench. I sit up and glance at him. Nye's eyes haze over, and he stretches out before sitting up. I looked around to see where Koa and Aneth slept. And to my surprise, they slept on the ground. "Aren't they cold?" I asked Nye as if he understood. But Calea told me to speak as if I were talking to another person. So, I continued to do so.

I grab a couple of blankets, but as I stand up, Nye gently grabs my wrist, "Stay." My eyes widen at the sternness in his voice, but I drop to my knees. But as I look over I see a ton of my books opened.

Did he read them? I thought to myself.

I turned back to Nye, "Did you read last night?" I asked. Nye smiles at me, then picks up a book with a black cover and no words. It's one I haven't seen before. "Huh," I take it from him, "I haven't seen this before. Maybe it got mixed up with-" I become speechless when I open the first page. 

Veldon. The Elder Dragon, my family's line drew from.

My jaw drops. "What?" As I flip through the pages, I see handwritten sentences. Did Veldon write this? I ask myself.

I glance at Nye, "Did you read this?"

Nye nods his head. It boggles my mind to see Veldon's writing in the flesh. I have to read it. As I turn the next page, I hear the door open and a stampede of feet running down the stairs.

"Kamari!" Calea's voice riddles with panic, making my heart jolt. I snap the book closed and stand up. Calea and a few other servants, whose faces are pale white and inflamed red from tears, come my way.

"What's happened?" My brows furrow, my heart racing.

Caldea swallows hard, "It's Dwen. He's dead."

****

~Kamari~

The smell of copper invades my lungs, making me taste it in the back of my throat as I enter the room and witness the horror of the site. 

"Good Goddess…" I say under my breath.

Two lifeless bodies lay blue and cloudy-eyed. I cover my mouth as I see Dwen's fatal wound, his throat ripped out—a woman with a broken neck laid beside him. There is so much blood…

I turn away from it. How did this happen? Who did this?

"Kamari," Calea comes to me, pulling me aside. "I'm so sorry you have to see this. But now we need to be careful. Whoever did this has access to the castle."

"Put guards at every entrance. Monitor who comes in and out." I wrap my arms around myself. I saw Dwen yesterday and knew no one who would want to harm him. And for all I knew, they could have been after me. Calea pulls me further away from the crowd and in a hushed voice, asks, "Kamari, I have to ask if there is even the slightest chance that one of your-"

"No." I snap. "They were with me the whole night." Even though I passed out, Nye slept near me. And the others slept on the ground. 

"Are you sure?" Calea's eyes show concern.

"Yes. They have nothing to do with this." I say and turn away from Calea, focusing on the view outside the window. Yet I remember how Nye intently eyed Dwen when he was near me. His eyes got so intense. I shake off the thought. No. This is something different. There is a murderous person in my Castle. "My second day, and already I'm dealing with death." I chuckle and then shake my head.

Caldea gently touches my shoulder, "Eventually, everyone does."

I shake my head. "I have to go back down before they come up. The morning seems to be when they are most lazy." I smile warmly at Calea. But she gives me a meek smile; she wraps her arms around herself. "I will fill his position," she says.

"You're the one I was going to entrust it with." I lay a hand on her shoulder. "Don't let this get out. The Kingdom shouldn't worry about what goes on in my Castle. It's my responsibility. When you can, come down, I have something to show you."

Calea glanced at me, "Will you not give Dwen a funeral?"

A twinge of alarm goes off inside me. It's odd how the first thing I thought about wasn't a funeral for Dwen. I should be sad, crying, and on my knees, asking why the man who took care of me for half of my life was murdered, but I didn't feel that way. We didn't part on good terms; he threatened me and showed me his true colors. Dwen wanted me for his own. I shake my head; they would find it odd if I didn't plan one. 

"Yes. I'll plan it." Emotion is absent in my voice. And the harsh truth is that I didn't want to plan it. I wanted nothing to do with Dwen. Bury him in the forest somewhere, is what I wanted to say. But if others see this side of me, they would think of me as cold… 

"Then I will deal with the rest in your absence." Calea bows to me, "I will bring food for you in a while."

I couldn't wait to leave. The smell caused a wave of nausea. When I round the corner of the stairs, I'm still surprised to smell it. "Ugh," I groaned in disgust, covering my nose with my hand; then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw clothing, specifically a robe. I lean down and pick it up. The cold, thick fluid that drenched it, takes me by surprise, it churns my stomach. I smush it between my fingers, and in the light, I see the dark crimson. 

"Oh no…" I say under my breath as my thoughts drawback to Nye. He did something to me that made me fall asleep. But why? Dread sweeps over me like an ice-cold wave, leaving me frozen. My gut screams at me. You know what happened. And yet, I push it away. I swallow hard as I stand with it in my hands. If Calea sees this, she'll know.

I curse under my breath as I try to figure out what to do with it. I needed to go downstairs. Then, an idea pops into my head. I could see their reactions if I came into the room with it. I made my way down the stairs, and at the bottom, all three were waiting for me. It's a good thing they didn't come up. When they see what's in my hands, I can only see curiosity on their faces. 

"Blood," Nye says. Their voice took on accents I couldn't identify when they spoke. I stare at him. His eyes held no trace of guilt, not the blush of shame, nothing. Then his brows furrow, "You?" He asks.

I shake my head, "No." I let the cloak splotch to the ground. "Dwen. He's dead."

Nye tilts his head, "Sad?" Even his one-word answers were surprising to me. I didn't think they could pick up language this fast, but it might be a blessing. I thought about what he asked and said, "I don't know." A numbness comes over me. "I should be." I wrap my arms around myself. "You would think I would feel an overwhelming amount of grief." I bite my lip, realizing the worst part, "But I'm happy he's gone."

Saying it out loud made my chest feel lighter, but something inside me felt like it was shifting. There has always been a darkness inside of me. I let it sink into my mind because a princess shouldn't have such thoughts. As a princess, I had to be pretty and never messy. I was dressed in fine silks and fabric, and my voice had to be melodic and soft. Never raspy or edged like a sword from anger. My father would ensure that, but I remember my mother being more free-spirited. 

She would take off her shoes in the castle with me, and we'd run around like troublesome kids. Or she'd take me to the forest and we'd spend half the day there, everything changed when she pasted. Father got more strict, arranged marriages even though he knew Kadea could pick me to continue our lineage. The arranged marriage stopped, and my father soon passed. 

Distracted by my thoughts, I suddenly feel a slight touch on my shoulder. Koa comes around to me. "Bad Blood." Koa looks towards the robe, and I follow his gaze. I swallow hard. "I suppose." Then I sigh, "I have to get rid of it. Bury it somewhere." I wanted to wash myself before someone came down here and saw me like this. The smell of blood is getting to me. Nye closes the distance between us; he lifts my chin to look at him. "Stay." He says in a relatively soft tone.

I double-blink, "What do you mean Stay?"

Nye side steps me and grabs the blood soaked robe, then he heads for the Arena. "Wait, Nye. You can't go out there-"

A rumbling growl in his throat was his response. I couldn't stop him if I wanted to. I swallow hard and don't say anything else as he walks away. When I hear his bones crack, I wince, hear the roar of a dragon, and a cloud of dust rushes in, making me cough. 

I knew I couldn't bathe in the castle, but I remember the underway had a bathing area. It wasn't used anymore, but maybe it was good enough. "Koa, Aneth, follow me." I gesture with my hand.

I lead them down a long hall; candles lit the tunnel down to a lone wooden door. I grab the door handle, but it doesn't open when I pull. "Really?" I sigh heavily. Aneth comes to my side. "Move." 

 I bring my hands up as if surrendering. I sidestep, and he grabs the handle with one hand and rips the door off its hinges.

I double-blink, "Remind me not to piss you off. Good Goddess." I say aloud; he turns and gives me a smirk. I had to admit that Aneth looked quite dashing in candlelight. No wonder other women had a hard time resisting them. But I also like being alive. And that overruled sleeping with them. For now…

Behind me, I hear Koa start to sniff the air; he eagerly heads inside and bumps me, " Hey! You say excuse me! Koa, wait, it's dark in there." I grab a candle and carry it with me as I follow Koa. Dragons must have brilliant sight in the dark because I felt blind, even with candlelight. 

Suddenly, the candlelight goes out. I gasp, "Hello?" My voice echoes. I start waving my hands before me, "I can't see you guys-Ah!" My foot slips, and I fall into the pool. The ice-cold waters take my breath away. As I surface, candles light up all around the room. I shudder from the cold, and my body shakes. I pull myself out of the pool, and when I look at it, I see the awful sludge that covers it.

"Ewe." My skin starts to crawl. Great.

"Water," Koa says beside me. 

"Hey!" I nudged him. "Don't do that." These men had no manners whatsoever. It could prove to be a problem. Koa plunges into the sludge. "Oh, that's gross." I shiver, making a disgusted face. When Koa doesn't come up, my stomach clenches, "Where is he?" I look over the edge.

"Water." Aneth sits beside me, "His element."

Element? Oh, that's right. Dragons have elements that they're born with. "So he can breathe under that icky water?"

"Yes. Watch." Aneth slaps the water's surface, and at first, I don't see anything, but then the water starts to bubble. A glowing blue light engulfs the sludge and makes the water clear and blue. It sparkles off the cave walls. And down below I could see Koa under the water, he swam so quickly and effortlessly. 

He was right at home. I smile as I watch him swim, "Can I get in while he's down there?" I ask Aneth, not knowing how he would respond. Aneth taps the water's surface again. I watch as Koa swims up, his head peaking out of the water. If I hadn't known better, I would have thought he was a Siren here to drag me to the depths. Goddess, help me, and I probably would let him. His eyes glow a vibrate teal, and not his usual grey. Koa swims towards me. His hands slid up my calves, and Goosebumps layer my skin, "Come," Koa whispered in a luring voice, sliding his hands to my waist as I was about to jump in with him. I hear Aneth's growl in my ear, and he pushes me away from the edge. "Ouch!" I watch as Aneth leans in towards Koa, baring his fangs at him.

"Why do you do that?" I ask. "Koa's not hurting me-"

"Weak," Aneth growls as he locks eyes with Koa. "Knows his place." 

I double-blink and look back to Koa. Who wore a look of apparition, his nose twitched defiantly. He dives back into the water, splashing Aneth. I was starting to feel like there was a hierarchy between all three.

"Koa is weak." I asses, "Then what are you?" I ask Aneth.

"Stronger." He leers at the water.

"And Nye?" I pull my knees to my chest.

"Leader. Powerful." Aneth turns his gaze to me. 

"So Nye leads both of you? And you're the second one in charge if he's not here." I say to myself aloud.

Figures. No matter where I go, there is always a hierarchy of something. I sigh and say, "Well, I'm either going in, or Koa can come out." Aneth furrows his brows at me. I point to the water.

"I want to bathe." I turn and slide my robe down, showing my bare back, "Naked." I pull it back up," Leave."

I hear Koa come out of the water and turn to see him throw his soaked robe on the ground and pull himself out. I turn my head, hoping he dresses. Aneth walks up to Koa, "Leave," he says. Koa gives him a dirty look and then strides down the tunnel. But Aneth stays.

"You too," I add. "Leave."

"No."

I scoff, "No?"

Aneth's response is crossing his arms on his chest. "You," his amber eyes look me over, and even though I'm covered, I somehow feel exposed. "Naked."

Did he tell me to get naked? "Oh no." I shake my head, "That's not how it works. You leave out of respect for me, as you respect Nye as a leader. It's the same thing-"

"No." Aneth's quick response startles me. He walks toward me, and my heart hammers as he gets inches from my face. His thumb caresses my lips. My body doesn't respond in fear, but something more dangerous. A flutter in my lower abdomen. I swallow hard as my eyes draw to his as well, "Nye leaves," Aneth says in a low husky voice, "Naked."

Something clicks, and I understand what he's trying to say. "Vulnerable…" I search his eyes, and it confirms my guess when he smirks. Of course, he would try to take advantage of Nye's absence. I had to stop thinking of them as human, but it was hard. If I'm teaching them to be more human-like on the surface, I had to act like they were, right?

Ugh. I didn't know anymore. 

Suddenly, Aneth starts to slide my robe down my shoulders. And when I try to step back, I feel him grip my shoulder. "Stay." He says, with a wicked look in his eyes. I shake my head, "No." I say firmly, then duck under his arms, and with my rob tied firmly around my waist, I dive into the water. I don't come up, but I look to the surface to see if he'd followed me. Aneth did not.

I swim up, and I see why once I break the surface. I gasped when I saw Nye gripping Aneth's throat, picking him up off the ground. Nye's eyes glowed their icy hue but in serpent form. His chest pumped in and out, and in an instant, Nye slams Aneth to the ground. The water vibrates from impact, I dip my head into the water, like I was peeking out. After hitting him like that, Nye backs up, watching Aneth. 

Aneth gets up, wiping blood from his mouth. I notice a difference between Aneth and Nye. When Aneth stands, his body shimmers like gold, his muscles carved, but Nye seems leaner and taller, yet the power this man wielded was insane. Didn't match his physical appearance at all. I watch and observe their interaction.

"You draw her blood," Nye's voice turns lethal. Aneth leers at him and says nothing, but his hands clench in and out. I see a drift of red in the water, and when I glance at my shoulder, I see the gash Aneth made. My jaw drops. I didn't feel it because of the rush of adrenaline…

I didn't know what Aneth would have done if Nye wasn't here. Aneth and Nye go at it again, but Nye comes out on top, beating Aneth with a powerful blow to the jaw. When Aneth thuds to the floor. Nye stands triumphant. He spits his blood onto Aneth. I frown in disgust. But that was Nye's way of showing Aneth he was beneath him.

"Koa," Nye calls, and not a second later, Koa comes jogging up to him. Nye gives him a sharp hiss, Koa sees Aneth on the ground, then looks to Nye who gives him a nod. Koa gets down on his knees. I watch as Nye makes himself bleed with one nail to his palm, then places a marking on Koa's forehead and cheeks. When Koa stands, Nye places his forehead against him.

"Stronger," Nye says to Koa. Before walking towards the water's edge. Towards me. It seemed like Aneth had stepped down a notch, and Koa was now Second to Nye. Damn.

But I didn't feel as safe as I thought. The water seemed more pleasant than the surface right now. Nye crouches down to me and holds his hand, "Come." He says. I swim backward.

I shake my head, "No thanks. I'm not done."

Nye stands up and groans with a slight twitch in his eyes. I press my lips together. While locking eyes with me, Nye throws his robe aside and dives in after me. I can't help but squeal. I start swimming the other way, but of course, I'm not fast enough, and he grabs me by the waist and pulls me back towards him. As he surfaces, I feel his heat against my back.

"Let me go. I'm not done; I feel gross." I said, feeling defeated. His hand touched my shoulder where my gash bled into the water. I hissed in pain, "Don't touch it-" Ouch!" I go to stop him, but he smacks my hand away.

"Leave it." He says harshly. A heat starts to radiate from his hand. At first, it burned, but after the burn came the coolness and the relief of pain. I glance over to see an eerie blue light beneath his hand. As he lets go, my gash is gone. 

My jaw dropped. I turn to look up at him, "You can heal?"

Nye gestures to his shoulder. Before my eyes, a gash appeared on his shoulder, the same one I had. "You transferred my wound to you," I say breathlessly. "Why?" It starts to bleed. He caresses my cheek and says, "Your pain is mine."

My heart skips a beat. Nye took my pain so I wouldn't feel it. My eyes start to burn, and I turn away from him. I didn't want to cry in front of them. But what Nye said clung to me. No one figuratively wanted to do that for me. Even when both my parents passed, the council threw me to the wolves. Guess what?! You inherit the throne! Now, run a kingdom with no instructions and a Crazy mentor!

No one ever cared to ask me what they could do to lighten the load, to soothe the ache of feeling utterly alone. It was a different kind of pain I lived with, and even though what Nye did was physically help me, it made my heart ache. 

The burden of ruling became a heavy weight to bear. Is that why Kadea gave me not one but three dragon soul-mates? Kadea saw the weight I carried, feeling an overwhelming amount of emotion. I turn back to Nye, who searches my eyes.

I swallow hard and embrace him, holding him tightly, "Thank you…"