Four

Chapter 4

Elena POV

The carriage pulled up at the huge iron gate that surrounded the Dragon Lord's castle, I felt shivers move through my body, unbidden.

I wanted to draw my knee up and pretended that this isn't happening. I wanted to take care of my people, but this cost felt too high now that I was here.

I had to be brave in other to survive. I knew that I really did, but right now my hand wouldn't stop shaking, I pushed them between my knee and held them steady. It was okay. I just had to get through today

And then what? It's going to be the end.

The carriage pulled up outside of the castle. It was huge, so towering, that I couldn't see the top of the tallest tower from the carriage window. It was gigantic, impressive, and imposing.

He was the strongest of all Dragons after all.

If this castle was anything to go by, he was certainly powerful. Money, influence, and the strength to take whatever he wanted.

I would have admired such strength if he wasn't using it against me right now. I shivered and rubbed my arm. The dread sank into my stomach and made me feel sick.

When the carriage door opened, I almost cried out in alarm. Luckily, I just managed to stop myself and hold my tongue. It was the driver of the carriage. He looked frightened and he didn't speak to me, he just offered me a weak smile as he started to unpack my bags from the back of the carriage.

I stepped out, the stones crunching beneath my feet. I felt a million miles away from home.

Suddenly, it felt like it as being years since I'd been in the beautiful rolling hills and the warmth of the castle. Suddenly, this harsh and barren land felt– consuming.

I hated it already.

I took a few steps away from the carriage, only to see two men standing nearby. They look so big and hefty there are built like they were made for fighting.

The Dragon soldiers, maybe?

I shivered as they watched me In silence and cold. The driver finished unpacking the carriage and glanced in my direction.

He wanted to know if it was okay for him to go. I wanted to tell him to stay, insisted that he drove me out of the night now. It was my last chance to leave this place. If I let him drive away, I would be stuck here forever. But isn't that the point?

Wordlessly, silently, I nodded. He needed to go. He had a family to return to, a kingdom that has been kept safe because of my choice right now.

I couldn't go back on my word, not now

The driver made his way back to the front of the carriage and I turned towards the two men who were watching me.

One of them, a blonde man, stepped forward

"Leave your luggage and fellow me. The Dragon Lord wants to see you now."

I felt a cold shiver move around through my whole body, but I couldn't refuse him, instead, I just nodded. "Alright. Let's go." I said trying to sound so calm, confident, and collected.

I needed to show them that I wasn't afraid, even though I most certainly was. I needed to have a facade that kept me in control even when everything was out of my hands.

The blonde man smirked at me and there was a danger in his eyes that made me want to recoil. He looked like he was sizing me up, debating whether I was a fit meal or dinner.

I didn't know anything about him but already I was feeling frightened.

And he isn't even the Dragon Lord!

What had I gotten myself into? Taking a deep breath, I followed him into the castle and up the grand stairs.

It was hard to see much in the dim light. There was one torch lit and the blonde man grabbed it and used it to light our way, other than that, it was nothing but darkness and shadowed moonlight in the castle.

I didn't know how many dragons were here, but there was something eerie about this place, it was quiet, lacking the movement that I had grown used to in the castle.

Usually, they should be someone awake or moving around the castle. For it to be so quiet was very scary.

That and the fact that I was about to come face to face with the strongest of all dragons in the land.

I shivered at the thought.

He leads me up the stairs into one of the side towers. I followed him without saying a word. I was hopeful that if I was quiet and kept my hands down, I might live to see that next day.

But maybe I was just being overly ambitious.

I didn't know anything about Dragons, not really. No one did. I didn't know what they looked like, or what they were like. I knew that the ones still living were known to be ruthless, but that was all.

I had also heard so rumors of the shape shifting and them being able to take alternate forms, but I don't know for sure.

Did they breathe fire like the rumors? How big were they? I didn't know, and that was the part of what made them so terrifying. The mystery that surrounded them made them so frightening.

Couple that with the Dragon Lord being so quick to act when he was provoked, and it was no wonder everyone kept their distance as they did.

No one wanted to cross a dragon. And no one who had faced off against them, and lived, was still around today.

The Dragon slayer of the old was all dead. I swallowed my anxiety and tried to keep my head up high.

As we approached a huge door, my heart began to race. It fluttered in my chest and left me breathless.

My escort leaned forward and knocked, huge, echoing sounds that boomed around the stone staircase.

The Dragon Lord is just behind the door

"Come in Zane." A voice called out

The voice that echoes from behind the door was not what I had expected. Somehow, I had expected roughness, anger, the primal fury that so many people associated with dragons.

Instead, his voice was like whiskey over a rock, smooth, but with a bite.

Somehow, it still sent a chill down my spine.

Zane opened the door and I held my breath. I didn't know what I was expecting, and all of my senses were on edge.

"She as arrived, My Lord." Zane said, stepping into the room, he looked back at me and I understood that I was expected to follow.

I bristled at being treated like this, I had never disrespected my servant like that before, and he was treating me a princess that way?

'Remember where you are Elena' I called out to myself.

I swallowed my pride and dipped and move forward and into the room.

"Thank you, Zane. That will be all. Leave us."

I felt Zane shift and saw him leave out of the corner of my eye. As soon as the door clicked shut behind me, I decided to risk it.

If he was going to kill me, I wanted to at least see the dragon lord in person!

Emboldened, but feeling anything was brave, I lifted my eyes and looked up.

The Dragon Lord was standing beside a huge mohagony desk. He was leaning against it with a casual grace that I had never seen in a man before.

For a second, he took my breath away.

He's nothing like I expected.

I was expecting a barbarian, a monster. I had expected unkept hair and wild eyes, and the making of the feral dragon that we had all heard so much about. I was expecting a beast.

Instead, he looked like a prince. He was tall and we'll build beneath his shirt and trousers rolled up sleeve added an air of casualness to the dark shirt that he wore.

It was open at the neck

His hair was a deep brown, from what I could tell in the dimmed light. Zane had left the touch, but it wasn't casting as much light as I would have liked.

But maybe that was a good thing.

The Dragon Lord was handsome. I couldn't believe it.

He smiled and it was almost predatory. There was a danger in his sparkling eyes that belayed some of the brutality he was famous for.

He's still the Dragon Lord. I can't let my guard down around him even for a second

"Welcome, your highness." he said, pushing himself up away from the desk.

He took a step towards me, his eyes never leaving my face. I felt my heart race in my chest, beating so fast I felt sure that he could hear them.

Somehow, I had a feeling that he knew everything about me already, while I knew nothing about him at all.

I'd never felt so vulnerable in my life.

"I do hope you enjoy your stay"