The Dragon Queen (Journey of a late Duke's Daughter)
Suddenly, a chilly air touched the warmth of the room, making the flames of the candles tremble. Miriam stood up instantly, knowing who had entered the chamber. She quickly stepped away from the bed and showed courtesy, bowing her head with respect as a tall frame appeared in the room from nowhere. The masked visitor looked towards Louisa directly. His sharp gaze could see every single bruise on her skin. Wasting no time, he rushed towards her, ignoring Miriam’s existence.
His eyes darkened with every single scratch coming to his sight. Sitting on the bed by her side, his thumb brushed the corner of her forehead around the wound. Even so, Louisa didn’t flinch for a second. Her expression was vacant as ever. The dragon lord slowly cupped her face as he called out her name, “Louisa! What happened?”
The naïve little duchess of Narodnye kept quiet. Her eyes moved to the face covered under a mask, but her lips didn’t utter a word. Her silence became intolerable for the man as he grabbed his shoulder and shook her violently, asking once more, “tell me, Louisa. WHO. TOUCHED YOU?”
His voice reverberated in the wall, shaking the entire chamber. Louisa still kept numb. His patience wore off, and he stood up from his position and turned towards Miriam. Clenching his fist, he looked into her eyes and questioned loudly, “MIRIAM, WHAT HAPPENED HERE?”
His voice was no less than thunder. A feral growl left his lips, followed by his words. But, unfortunately, everything went unnoticed by the duchess as her mind was still buried deep in the trauma of being touched and beaten by that vile king of Frozen Sea.
Miriam, on the other hand, trembled under his gaze. She kept staring at the carpeted floor as she stammered, “… the king came by. He wanted to talk to her… alone. I was outside… Suddenly, I heard low screams. When we broke the door, we saw….”
She gulped her saliva in fear as she looked for proper words, “I saw… her grace was pinned on the floor. She was covered with bruises and… The king… he was… trying to….”
Miriam couldn’t complete her sentence. She didn’t know how the mysterious lord would react. But to her wonder, Louisa spoke up what she couldn’t complete, “he tried to touch me.”
Her voice was loud and clear. Miriam couldn’t help but peep at her once. She was leaning against the bed frame while her eyes were staring at her masked angel.
“I begged for your help. I begged for you to save me. But you never showed up.” As she spoke, her eyes welled up. Her face was washed with agony. The man didn’t say a word. His gaze was fixed on Miriam. His broad back was facing Louisa’s gaze.
“Why didn’t you show up? I begged for you… you promised you would be there... Then why did you break your promise? Answer me.” Louisa yelled again.
The man said nothing. His limbs were trembling in a fury, and his skin started to cover by scales. He closed his eyes once and inhaled deeply, trying to regain his composure, but couldn’t. Her every word was reminding him how much of a failure he was. He couldn’t protect her. He couldn’t keep his promise. The bitter taste of failure filled his heart, pushing his soul towards the darkness.
Slowly, his eyes were changing their colour. He didn’t have the courage to face Louisa anymore. Neither he had time. He was at the edge of shifting into his true self.
Gratsiya_Far · Fantasie
