2. Chapter

Eira

My wrist throbbed from his grip. He dragged me across the dusty square as if I were livestock being hauled to slaughter, not a human being. I tried to plant my feet. I tried to shove away from him. But the prince was like an immovable wall of stone. With every jerk of his arm I felt the hard muscles beneath his coat and the suffocating dominance radiating from him.

The crowd watched our march in complete silence. I saw pity on their faces, but no one moved. Who would dare challenge Zade Blackwood? I was not afraid though. My anger burned hotter than my fear.

"Let go of me, you idiot," I hissed, trying to dig my nails into the back of his hand.

He did not even flinch. He did not look at me. He just kept marching toward the massive dark stone gates. As soon as we crossed the palace threshold the light disappeared. The gigantic walls closed around me and my stomach instantly twisted.

The walls. They were too close. The ceiling pressed down on me even though it was at least ten meters high.

Do not think about it. Do not remember the alley. Do not remember the barrel they locked you in.

I forced the thoughts away but my throat tightened. The air inside was cool and stale, smelling of smoke and something unfamiliar.

He dragged me through endless corridors. The sound of his boots striking the marble echoed like the drumbeat of my execution. Finally we reached a heavy carved oak door. Zade kicked it open with a single strike and shoved me inside.

I stumbled and fell onto a soft carpet. I jumped to my feet immediately and turned toward him, grinding my teeth.

"What do you want from me?" I shouted. My voice echoed against the decorated walls. "If you want money I have nothing. If you want entertainment..."

My words caught as a memory from when I was fourteen sliced through me like a knife. I tensed my body, ready to fight with my last breath.

Zade stood in the doorway and slowly closed the door behind him. The sound of the key turning in the lock rang in my ears like a gunshot. I was alone with him in a locked room.

"Money?" His voice was a deep mocking rumble. "Look around, little thief. Does it seem like I need your coins?"

He started walking toward me. Every step reminded me of a predator. He was tall, far taller than the men on the streets, and his gaze scanned me with those icy blue eyes as if he could see beneath my clothes. He stopped in front of me, barely an arm's length away.

"You smell like dirt and hatred vibrates from you," he said quietly, reaching a hand toward my face.

I instinctively jerked my head away but he was faster. He grabbed my chin firmly and forced me to look at him. His thumb brushed across my scar in the exact place where he had one too. His touch was hot and burned like a coal. A shock ran through my body unlike anything I had ever felt. Something ancient, wild and frightening stirred inside me and I wanted to crush it immediately.

"This scar," he whispered, his gaze darkening. "Who did it?"

"What does it have to do with you?" I shot back stubbornly even though his closeness made it hard to breathe. "Let go of me or I swear I will claw your eyes out."

Zade smiled. There was no kindness in it, only dark amusement.

"I like it when you fight. But understand this. From today you are not fighting in the mud for scraps. From today you are the shadow of my dragon Noctis. And the shadow of a dragon rider cannot look like this."

He turned his back on me and walked toward another door in the room.

"Come."

"I am not going anywhere," I shouted after him.

At that moment two armed guards stepped in from the hallway. Zade only gestured toward them and they grabbed my arms without a word.

They dragged me into a bathing chamber. A huge sunken pool stood in the center, releasing warm fragrant steam. But I did not notice the luxury. I noticed that there was no escape. Only this suffocating room filled with steam.

Zade sat down on a carved chair beside the pool and crossed his legs.

"Wash the street off her," he ordered the three servant girls waiting in the room. "I want to see what is under those rags."

"What do you think you are doing?" I screamed as the servants began tearing my torn shirt off. "Get out of here. Do not look at me."

Panic and rage flooded my mind. I did not want a man to see me. I did not want him to see me. I wanted him gone but he did not move. He sat there and his gaze burned against my skin like he himself was the fire that lived in dragons.

The servants ignored my struggle. They were strong and used to disobedience. Within moments my clothes were on the floor and I stood naked in the steam trying to cover myself with my long white hair.

Zade looked over me. Not like a man filled with lust but like a war commander inspecting a weapon. His gaze moved across my shoulders, my breasts, then paused on the other scars on my hips and thighs. I felt my face burning with shame and anger.

"Enough," he said quietly but there was something vibrating in his voice that made the hair on my neck stand up. He rose and walked to the edge of the pool. "Leave."

The servants left immediately. Once again we were alone. I backed into the water until the hot surface reached my chin. My heart pounded painfully against my ribs.

Zade crouched at the edge of the pool. His closeness was unbearable.

"There is something inside you that Noctis sensed," he whispered. His voice was no longer mocking. "Something not of this world. But do not think that will protect you from me. Here I am the law. Learn to obey or I will lock you in the deepest darkest hole of my prison where you will not even hear your own voice."

When he mentioned a dark hole my heart stopped. My claustrophobia hit me with brutal force. I began to tremble not from cold because the water was hot but from pure terror.

"No," I gasped and for a moment my pride cracked. "Just not a prison."

Zade's eyes narrowed. He noticed. The hunter had found the weakness of his prey.

"Then be a good girl."

He reached into the water, lifted a wet strand of my white hair and slowly wrapped it around his finger.

"Because if you are not I will personally chain you in the dark."

He turned his back and left. I remained in the hot water alone with my demons and a prince who had just destroyed the only thing I had left my freedom. But as I heard the distant deep rumble of dragons beyond the walls I knew one thing.

I would not let him break me. If he wanted a fight he would get one.