1. ROYAL BETA BRUM

THE DRAGON KINGDOM: ROYAL GOLD CITY

PRINCESS ZISEALER’S P.O.V

It was the tiny patter of feet that let me know I was dreaming and even in my sleep I could hear and feel my heart drum so frantically with the distress falling on me. I could feel myself just turn over and over in my sheets with the sweat collecting on my skin.

An eleven-year-old me ran down the passages to go gardening with my mother. I wore my little black leggings and my favorite yellow t-shirt which I was gifted on my birthday. My giggles echo through the halls I knew like the back of my hand only for a foreign hand to quickly wrap around my mouth.

My young body thrashed, the shock leaving me shifting and screaming but my sounds are muffled as I am pulled into a room with the door closed shut. My watery eyes pull wide open just as my body is painfully pushed to the wall. The tears stream down my face just when my uncle wraps his hand around my neck. My eyes go wide, my little hands on his large ones, thrashing and fighting with everything I had.

I called to him, begged him but somehow, somehow, I knew he would not listen. It was in the way he had been staring at me ever since I was old enough to understand. It was in the way his eyes glistened with hate each time they lay on me. The shuffling of feet had my eyes turn, the room filled with other men, men I knew, some of them having been working very closely with my father— his advisors.

“Uncle.” My voice cracked, clawing and kicking as hard as I could. I had just began taking fighting lessons but nothing came to mind, feeling so helpless, feeling so scared with the hand around my neck tightening even more. My body was pushed up the wall and it was then I saw my younger brother. My eyes went wider, pleading with his eight-year-old self, thinking he would help me, thinking he would rescue and protect me like I had been protecting him ever since he was born. I wanted to call out to him but I could not breathe, feeling the lower part of my body grow cold and numb.

The thought that my neck was about to snap entered my brain and the horror of it was paralyzing. I could not even describe the fear that took over my body. The hand around my neck moved and soon I was being pinned down to the floor. My shirt was torn apart with the silver of the blade flashing before my eyes. The scream that pulled from my burning throat was one that poured even from my adult body as I jolted from sleep. My body pushed up, my hand running under my pillow to quickly retrieve my knife which I threw with such anger, hearing a gasp echo in the room.

I heaved so hard, shaking with the tears still streaming from my body. The bed sheets were all on the floor, just the fitted sheet left on the bed.

My eyes fell on Aisla—my royal messenger who the knife had missed by just an inch. She still stood pale, staring at the knife nailed to the wall that would have tore her face apart if she had just been an inch more to the left.

“Your majesty.” Aisla quickly bowed after snapping from her near-death experience.

“Your majesty.” The other women in the room also bowed, snapping my head around to see them standing by the walls with towels in hand. My head turned to the jacuzzi filled with water and I cursed because I had over slept.

My body shifted from the bed.

“Good morning.” I greeted back with them bowing even lower.

“Good morning to you too your majesty. His majesty the king has requested for your presence in the grand Cual.” Aisla said out with me pausing. What was he doing in his office? He was supposed to be sleeping yet I could not help the relief that washed over me. That message just meant he was still in the world of the living, that I still had him in my life. Death hung over the dragon king’s head and each day I woke up with the dreadful possibility of him having passed away in his sleep.

Aisla excused herself with the other women jumping into action. My bed was made, my body bathed and soon my meal was served. They all moved fast and I was grateful because I had to see my father. Every morning, I just woke up and ran to his room to make sure he was okay and as of then my anxiety was getting the best of me from not seeing him yet.

My eyes snapped down to my arm, seeing the scars. The scars were always there to remind me of the betrayal, of the day I realized my place in this court, the day I learned that if I did not learn to defend myself then the beasts in sheep’s skin would devour me. Enemies were always around, lurking and watching for an opportunity to strike.

I hated this, my enemies, they were all cowards. They could not just come out and challenge me to death. I knew them, they knew me and everyone knew they wanted me dead so why not face me instead of plotting and scheming. I craved it, craved for the chance to claim justice, to show those that plotted against me how powerful I was, how easily I could squash them.

Being the eldest daughter of a dragon king was the worst curse that could ever be bestowed on a person. By tradition, if the first born is not a male, they kill the baby. My mother had held me in her arms and screamed no. She had shifted to her dragon and burned all those that even tried to get to me. If only she knew, she would have just given up the fight. She should have just let them slaughter me. I was not worth the pain that she went through because of me.

I shook my head. Bathing in self-pity was my brother’s job, not mine. I was a warrior, I was the eldest daughter of king Zahhak. I never fear, they fear me.

Not only had I trained myself to be a force to be reckoned with, I had made sure to start a female army. No woman should suffer by the hand of a man. No woman should be called worthless by a useless man with a dick smaller than his brain cells. Not only did I teach them how to fight, I taught them to never depend on another, especially a useless coward man. They would never fall prey to abusive and psychopathic men who found pleasure in bringing them down. If one wanted a fully submissive woman, they would have to look elsewhere because the women I fought with were strong and fierce. They knew what they deserved and settled for nothing less.

I made my way out of my room to my father. I wanted to check on my warriors but decided to start with father. My heels echoed with my beads dancing on my waist. There were little to no people around because our royal clan stayed at the foot of the mountain while the royal family itself lived in the large caves of Magu which had been there for thousands and thousands of years.

My feet carried me up to my father’s office through the paths and into the caves. Nothing but Gold adorned the walls, every room stylishly furnished. When one stared at the mountain from outside they laughed but when they got inside, it was like heaven. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. There was a large waterfall and a garden with trees at the center of the mountain, so high they nearly reached the peak of the mountain. This divided the inner side of the mountain into a circle. Rivers ran from the core of the mountain, out to the royal clan. Inside the mountain were thousands of caves which were our rooms. Each cave was decorated to the best of our styling team’s abilities and I had seen nothing else so stunning. Most would get lost inside because it was like a maze with all the caves and passages. It was so large that if you got lost, you would die with no one finding you for years.

I was proud of my home, the most beautiful land to ever exist. I had seen most of the different kingdoms, and none held a candle to our land. Our land was rich with minerals. Any you want, you could find. We had caves filled with stones and gold. Our vegetation was so humongous because of our rich soil. The animals reared were large, healthy and magnificent because of the quality of vegetation and environment we had. We were the richest kingdom and you would know the evil that comes with that.

My body straightened up as I reached the door. I did not even knock, wanting to see why father was out of his bed where he should have been. I was ready to give him a piece of mind only for me to freeze as the door swung open, showing two people occupying the grand office.

My anger hit the roof, me swallowing. I could have been jumping to conclusions but I just knew father was up to it again

My feet moved, suddenly cursing for not carrying my weapon.

“My princess, Zisealer please sit.” Father said, his eyes shying away from me because he knew he was just about to start a war with me.

“I would rather stand father because it seems like I might kill someone today.” I spat out.

Only a man carrying a promise of mateship would pull my father from his bed rest. He was all cleaned up, wearing his royal suit which meant we were in the company of royalty. Father sat up and you would never guess that he was dying in pain. A low sigh pulled from him, his face finally turning to mine, a plea on his face but he knew me too well. When it came to me, he had bent a long time ago and learned to curve his stubborn nature.

I don’t know why he kept doing this, it never worked. He could not just mate me off. It went against everything I had been teaching the other women. He could not just toss me around like I was property. When I was ready, I would mate with whoever I wanted but that was probably never going to happen which was why he took things into his own hands.

How many suitors had I sent running back to where they came from? Too many to even count.

I hated men, I hated them all, except for my father.

“Okay, I will just get to the point to save us all time. Royal Beta Brum, I apologize in advance for all that my daughter will say and do. She is not always this rowdy.”

“Yes, I am father, and I am not rowdy. I defend myself and it’s a shame I have to even do that. Whatever you want here, royal beta Brum, I advise now that you take your stupid face, your overbearing ego, your tiny dick and fuck off from my land.” I spat out, turning around to stare at the man seated at the opposite side of my father’s desk.

As soon as my eyes lay on him I got the shock of my life. The man was not a child as the other men my father had brought nor an old hag. He was a man in all aspects. I found my body heating up just from staring at him and it pissed me even more. It was suddenly hard to pass off the next words from my mouth, them heavy on my tongue.

“Any man that goes straight to my father to negotiate for my hand is not worthy to be called a man. If you want me, come to me, look me in the eye and tell me you want me so I can tell you to fuck off. I am not some piece of property to toss around. And you better pray we never cross paths again because only one of us will walk away unharmed.” I shot out, turning on my heel. To think I rushed all the way thinking it was important when father just wanted to push my buttons again.

My father’s sigh filled the room again and I did feel guilty but I had to speak up and fight for myself or I would have been mated off a long time ago to some stupid idiot wanting to make an alliance with our kingdom. I shut the door with much force than I had planned, turning with my hand on my chest. My heart was out of control, the room seeming to be spinning all around. My legs got weak, my whole body shaking. The whole passage was spinning so fast, the urge to cry so intense yet I would never. I was Zisealer Dragonstone, First daughter to king Zihhak, princess to the dragon people—The warrior princess, The death princess. I did not cry, I did not wither. I fought hard every time until I claimed victory. My body straightened up, my eyes clear, eyes only filled with rage and determination to survive. All that mattered at that point was surviving the war my brother called on me.