The Dragon’s Throne 1

Looking back at everything that had transpired since Eleanor had first pounded on her door, Anna could see nothing but mistakes on her part.  When Eleanor had showed up and told her to run, she should have grabbed her purse and run.  They would have only had a five-minute lead, but with the whole of the town coming to her home as one massive horde, they could have easily taken the back road into town while they busied themselves knocking down her door, and they could have taken the Forbidden Road to the east. 

She’d never been down that road, but she would rather take her chances with that road than with dragons and angry villagers.

Instead, she had argued, and the result had been Eleanor getting hurt and Anna having to leave her behind. A sob ripped from her throat, surprising her and she gasped, struggling to catch her breath against the flood of tears that wouldn’t be staunched.  Trying not to wake Eli, she covered her mouth with her hands, biting her fist, but unable to quiet her cries. 

“I’m so sorry, Eleanor,” she whispered in the darkness, hoping that she didn’t wake the king who still held her tightly in his sleep.

She bit her lip, but the tears still flowed down her cheeks and onto the pillow beneath her head.  Closing her eyes, she let the tears flow, sobbing quietly. 

She felt his arms pull her closer, and a soft, hot pair of lips gently kissed her neck.

“It’s going to be alright,” he said softly.  “I know you don’t want to, but you have to trust me.  Everything is going to work out in the end.”

“Nothing is alright,” she said, her voice heavy with misery she could no longer contain.

“Then it’s not the end,” he said simply, kissing her again.  “We will right all the wrongs that have been done, but it’s going to take some time.  But I promise you that the people who have hurt you will not walk away without facing the consequences for their actions.”

“And what about you?  Are their consequences for what you’ve done to me?”

He was silent, his body rigid behind her. 

“What have I done?”

“This.  All of this.  Start with making me dance with you at Festival and just add everything you’ve done to me since.”

“I would laugh, but I feel like you’re serious.”

“I am serious.”

“Do you not love your pendant?”

“It’s not about the pendant.”

“What’s it about then?”

“My freedom.  You say you saved me, but you took me from one situation where I have no choices and put me in another where I have even less choice.  You didn’t save me, you’ve captured me.”

“What if the hands that are binding you are really the hands that are setting you free so you can fly?”

“Don’t flatter yourself.”

“You’re stubborn,” Eli said, sounding irritated with her for the first time.  “But I’m a fair man, so I’ll make you a deal.  You give me a chance to show you how happy you can be here, and that being here with me is freeing and wonderful.”

“If I give you that chance?”

“If you give me that chance and you’re still not happy, then I’ll take you back to the village and I’ll make it clear that you’re not to be harmed or I will personally deal with the human that hurts you.”

“So, that’s it?  I let you show me your world, and if I don’t like it, you’ll let me go?”

“That’s a very simplistic way of looking at it, but yes, basically.”

“And you would really let me go?”

“I don’t think I’ll have to, but sure.  If you’re so unhappy that even after I show you how good life will be with me that you want to leave, I’ll take you back myself.”

“I want to believe you,” she said, her voice still shaking from the heart-wrenching sadness of losing Eleanor the way she had.  “I’m afraid to believe you.”

“I’ve kept my word so far, haven’t I?”

“The only thing you’ve promised is that you weren’t going to kill me,” she said.

“But, did you die?” he asked, and even in the dark, facing away from him, she knew he was arching an eyebrow at her playfully.

“No, I didn’t die,” she admitted.  “But I’m still here.”

“You are here.  You’re in a warm, comfortable bed and you’re safe.  That’s better off than you were a few hours ago. Anna, I want to make your life better, not worse.  If you give me a chance, you’ll see that you can be happy here.  Just give me that opportunity.  Please?”

“Fine,” she said, wanting to end the conversation before she started believing him and set herself up for a broken heart.

He was very convincing.

“Good,” he said, squeezing her and kissing her shoulder.  “You won’t be disappointed.”

She nodded but didn’t respond.  She hated to break it to him, but no matter what he did, she would never be happy here.  The only one who was going to find themselves disappointed was the Dragon King when he woke up one day and found that his little prize hen had flown the coop.

She was smiling when she fell to sleep, exhaustion getting the better of her and sucking her into a deep dreamless sleep as soon as she closed her eyes.  Her last thought was of Eli, his arms wrapped around her so tightly, and how sad he was going to be when she ran away and never looked back.

Then he would know that she belonged to no one.