You're Nothing But Trash

Chapter Seven

The carriage bounced violently over the rough mountain road, throwing my limp body against the wooden walls with every turn. The heavy black cloak trapped the heat around my face, making it hard to breathe through the thick fog of Julian's poison.

My arms were bound tightly with cold iron chains behind my back. Every time the carriage hit a dip, a sharp spike of pain shot straight through my broken left hand. I lay on the dirty floorboards, completely helpless, listening to the heavy pounding of horse hooves outside.

I have been sold again.

Is this how my name will end an heir, has now been used by those who don't even deserve my look. Julian had poisoned me and handed me over to someone even worse.

The Dragon King.

Tales of the Dragon Kingdom, had reached the Averon palace when I was just a child. They were brutal, merciless monsters who ruled the northern peaks. If Evander was a terrifying beast, the Dragon King was a nightmare.

After what felt like hours, the carriage finally jerked to a stop.

The door swung open, letting in a blast of freezing mountain wind. Two massive guards reached inside, grabbed my chains, and hauled me out. My weak legs gave out instantly, and I collapsed onto the snow-covered dirt.

We were standing in a secluded mountain pass surrounded by black cliffs. Two dark carriages stood under the trees, guarded by men in dragon-scale armor.

A tall, broad-shouldered man stepped out from the lead carriage.

He moved with a quiet, terrifying power that made the air freeze. Dark furs covered his shoulders, and his sharp face looked like carved marble. But his eyes were the worst part—piercing, fiery amber eyes with slit pupils that glowed in the dark fog.

A purebred Dragon.

The guard leader stepped forward, bowing low. 

"We brought the Fox, Your Highness. Just as Master Julian promised."

The Dragon King did not say a word. He walked toward me, his leather boots crunching against the snow. His heavy predator aura hit the clearing so hard that even Julian's guards stepped back in fear. My Fox ears pinned flat against my head instinctively, my whole body trembling against the ground.

He stopped right in front of me, looking down at my dirty clothes, my wrapped hand, and my bruised face.

He crouched down, his fiery eyes locking onto mine. He reached out with a bare hand, his long, sharp nails grazing against my chin. His skin was burning hot against the cold air.

"So this is the lost royal of Averon," the Dragon King said, his voice deep and smooth. "Julian said you were broken."

The poison was still in my system, but the sheer anger in my chest burst right through it. I was tired of being touched, tired of being bought, and tired of being treated like trash.

I pulled my head back from his hand and spat right onto his leather boot.

"Touch me again and I will tear your throat out, you ugly monster," I snapped, my raspy voice filled with pure venom.

Silence fell over the clearing. The guards gasped in horror.

Before I could even blink, the Dragon King’s hand blurred through the air.

SLAP.

A brutal, heavy backhand slammed directly into the side of my face. The force of the strike snapped my head sideways with a sickening crack, sending my body tumbling across the frozen dirt.

White light exploded behind my eyes, immediately followed by total, pitch-black darkness. My vision blurred into nothing, my ears ringing so loudly I couldn't hear the wind anymore. Blood filled my mouth, hot and metallic, dripping onto the white snow beneath my cheek.

My whole head throbbed as if it were going to split open. I couldn't move my arms, I couldn't feel my legs, and the darkness kept pulling me deeper under.

"Put the trash in the back carriage," the Dragon King's cold voice echoed distantly through the ringing in my ears. "Lock the iron collar around his neck. If he speaks out of turn again, cut his tongue out."

Rough hands grabbed the chains on my waist and yanked my limp, semi-conscious body across the ground. They threw me like a sack of dead weight into the back of a heavy metal cage wagon.

The heavy iron door slammed shut with a sharp, deafening clang.

I lay flat on the freezing floor, blood trickling from my lip, my vision fading in and out as the poison and the brutal slap combined to crush what little strength I had left. I couldn't even lift my chin off the wood.

The carriage lurched forward violently, tires grinding against the rough gravel, carrying my broken body high up into the freezing mountains toward a kingdom I would never escape.