WHEN I OPENED my eyes the next morning I found myself lying in my own bed wearing one of Lucian’s shirts. How I’d gotten to my room, I didn’t know.
I blushed as last night’s activities jumped into my head. I couldn’t believe that I had done that!
My body felt different as I stretched my stiff muscles. I ached all over and I had to agree with Becky, the first time wasn’t the greatest but I guessed it was who you gave it to that mattered.
I felt so many things running through my mind but regret wasn’t one of them. That was what had come over me last night; knowing that I would always be with Lucian. I didn’t want anybody else. I would grow old with him and be the happiest woman ever.
The last thing I remembered was lying in his arms in his bed and falling asleep.
Last night I hadn’t dreamt about anything. I felt refreshed and energized; something I hadn’t felt for a long time. I got up slowly and took a quick shower. I closed my eyes as the water rushed over my body and remembered the way he’d kissed me and held me against his body. The memory turned my stomach, but in a good way. I could feel his heartbeat against my chest, beating the same pace as mine the entire time.
It had all made my first time so much more special.
When things began getting a bit too warm, I shut down the hot water and turned the cold on full blast.
I fought for my breath as ice-cold water poured down my flushed skin. When the thoughts of Lucian were finally gone I closed the faucets and got out.
I rang the staff’s bell after I’d made myself presentable again. For some reason I couldn’t stop smiling.
“Stop it, Elena, or his Mom will know,” I spoke to myself out loud in the mirror.
A knock on the door announced Denise’s entrance and she gave me a knowing smile.
“Breakfast is on the porch again,” she sang and I followed her down the same path as yesterday.
Lucian gave me a secret wink as I took the chair next to him. He was reading the sports page of the newspaper as I poured a glass of orange juice.
The Queen wore sunglasses so I couldn’t really see her eyes to determine whether or not she knew what the two of us had been up to last night.
It felt though as if she was looking straight at me and I blew out a breath.
Lucian looked up and gestured with one nod to see what was up.
I looked at his Mom quickly and a broad smile appeared over his face as she still looked at me.
King Helmut walked out that minute and I had to compose myself again.
“Good morning, Elena. Did you sleep well last night?”
“I did, thank you,” I said way too fast and he gave me a funny look.
Lucian smiled behind the newspaper.
“Margerite, wake up,” King Helmut yelled and the Queen jumped.
I started to laugh as I now understood that she hadn’t been staring at me, but sleeping.
“Oh, good morning Elena,” she spoke quickly. “I never should have had that last glass of champagne.”
“Darling, you never should have had that last bottle.”
A couple of chuckles and giggles filled the porch.
“It’s a wonder there was nothing printed in the papers this morning,” Lucian said in a soft serious voice, but I could tell he was joking.
“Oh, I know how to handle myself,” his Mom snapped back. “Cat, pillow, now!”
Lucian shook his head. “He’s had like eight strips of bacon while you were sleeping.”
“If that dog dies of a heart attack Lucian, I’m blaming you.”
I dished up breakfast and ate quickly. After we were finished I went with Lucian back to my room so that I could go and pack my suitcase.
As I turned the corner, Lucian pushed me against the wall and gave me a long kiss. “Last night was one of the most amazing nights of my life.” He spoke against my lips.
“Mine too.” I kissed him one more time and he let me go as Cat came wiggling down the hall.
I was really grateful for that dog as he followed the Queen wherever she went.
Around ten we took our seats in their private elevator.
Emanuel strapped me in while Lucian helped himself. I’d only seen Emanuel once since we came. Lucian gave me a quick introduction. The King’s dragon was a bit younger than his Dragonian, he almost resembled Lucian’s older brother, but I knew he was much older than that. He was big, strong, and tall with a bald head. A part of him reminded me a lot about Darius.
“Thank you,” I said as he finished.
“You are welcome,” he said with a soft smile as he punched Lucian hard on the arm.
“Ow!” Lucian rubbed his arm. “Seriously, aren’t we like too old for this?”
I thought it was funny and laughed.
“See you soon, Your Highness.” Emanuel chirped back and as Lucian went to say something, his Mom and Dad entered.
“So we’ll see you Christmas then?” The Queen said looking at me and I nodded.
“Just make a turn before you leave on Wednesday, Lucian. There is something we need to discuss.” King Helmut’s voice sounded serious.
Wednesday? It can’t be that soon.
“Cool.” Lucian sounded like it wasn’t that big of priority.
“Remind him, Elena.”
We both laughed as the door’s started to close. “Bye,” Lucian said.
“Love you, honey.”
“Mom!!!”
We could still hear them chuckle as we began to move.
Lucian held my hand and our fingers locked together. I felt his warm breath on my knuckles as he leaned in for a short kiss.
The elevator dropped in an instant. Lucian definitely loved it while I was still impartial. The deep breath came voluntarily now and I could feel a slight pull as the elevator moved again. The buzzing noise filled my ears and the pain turned into a pins and needles type of feeling.
When we landed, Elm attendants helped us out of the chairs.
It was the same private drop off we’d used when we went to the castle. When we exited the elevator, the Elm port staff bowed and curtseyed.
Lucian just nodded as he grabbed my hand. A tall lady and a small, thin man in a black suit addressed Lucian. The woman spoke to him fast about the arrangements the King must have made for us to travel back to Dragonia.
An attendant opened another door as the lady told us both that our luggage was already in the limo.
We exited a door and found huge sliding doors that led to outside. Flashes of cameras blinded my sight as I walked into the mob of reporters.
“Just smile,” Lucian whispered in my ear as he waved to the media.
“Prince Lucian, are you looking forward to your quest?”
“Of course, I’ve got to find a way to tame the beast somehow,” he replied. We still walked toward the limo as more questions were asked.
“Will Elena go with you?”
“Unfortunately not, but I can promise you this. If she did, I would feel much safer.”
They all laughed.
The driver held the door opened and Lucian let me climb in first as more reporters wanted to ask questions. I saw him wave as he climbed in and sigh as the driver shut the door.
“You’re really good with them.”
“Sweetheart, ever since I was a baby they’ve been in my face.” He chuckled. “You on the other hand are really holding yourself together well. Just remember to stay that way. Look at how Arianna struggled to keep her shit in a row.”
I smiled. “Which Wednesday are you going?”
He gave me a soft unsure smile. “This one,” he finally said.
“This Wednesday?”
He nodded.
“When were you going to tell me?” I sounded upset because I’d only known about the trip for two days.
“I’m sorry,” he touched my arm and I closed my eyes and turned my gaze out the window. “I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“How the hell do they know, Lucian?” I looked at him again, referring to the cockroaches with their cameras.
“They knew because I had to go to the Council to ask permission.”
“When?”
“When I asked to claim Blake.”
“And you couldn’t tell me then?”
He started to lose his patience with me. “I thought you were okay with this, and why I’m doing this, Elena.”
“I am. I just didn’t think it would be three days from now. I thought that I would get at least a month’s warning, Lucian.”
“I’m sorry,” he said again and pulled me closer to him.
What if you don’t come back? I couldn’t say it out loud, but it was my biggest fear. A three day warning for something like this wasn’t enough.
THE NIGHT BEFORE his departure came faster than I’d hoped. I’d spent every possible minute with Lucian that I could. We spent that night cuddled in the tower we’d used for our escape when we went on our King of Lions mission.
It included us sneaking out, but it was worth it.
He was really romantic and had soft blankets and pillows open on the floor. Of course, one thing quickly led to another and I just couldn’t seem to help myself with him.
We both fell onto the floor out of breath afterwards and I crawled underneath his arm. Tears were really close by now. How on earth am I going to say goodbye to him tomorrow? Not knowing if he was going to come back or whether I would see him again would make tomorrow’s departure different than all the others.
I’d never thought that I would feel more than I already did when it came to Lucian, but somehow I did. I couldn’t imagine my life without him and I knew it sounded pathetic because I was only seventeen, but Lucian was the one for me. I was lucky to have found my true love at sixteen. “When will you be back?”
“I don’t know. As soon as I find Tanya and speak to her, I guess.”
“Have you thought more about what it is you are going to ask her?”
“It will come to me, Elena.”
I nodded. Silence filled the tower and I listened to the crickets outside. “What if you don’t…”
“Shhh.” He turned to face me with his arm still under my head. “You are here. I’ll find a way. I’ll never leave you, Elena.”
I kissed him again and felt a tear run down my cheek.
In the morning, we had breakfast while everyone said goodbye to him.
The claws came out when Arianna came closer to our table. “Just come back please, I don’t want to run this country by myself,” she said and he gave her a hug. She kept it friendly and walked away.
“Good choice,” I said softly under my breath.
George made a cat noise and pulled his fingers into a set of claws which made Becky and Sammy laugh.
“Oh, shut up.” I joined in their laughter.
I stayed with Lucian until it was time to say goodbye. We shared a long kiss at the gate and I struggled to let him go. It was a long hug.
He stroked my back as I struggled to hold back the tears. “It’s going to be okay, Elena.”
“Then why does it feel as if I’m never going to see you again?” I couldn’t help it. My eyes were full of tears and he grabbed my arm and pulled me away from him so he could look at me.
“Don’t cry, please.” He kissed me on my forehead. “Otherwise I’m going to cry too and just think how humiliating that would be.”
I laughed through my tears and he wiped one away softly with his thump.
“I promise you, I’ll come back. I’ll find a way.”
I nodded, took a deep breath and kissed him one more time.
“I am going to ask you something and I know it sounds stupid, but please, just do it.”
“What?”
“I thought a bit more about what my father said about Paul.”
I gave him a look.
“It’s not that, Elena. He’s your dragon and I’m sure he wouldn’t do anything to hurt you otherwise he will have to deal with me.” He smiled. “I spoke to Blake. Just tell him if you are going somewhere with Paul, please.”
My mouth opened slightly as I stared at him.
“Promise, Elena.”
“I promise.” It did sound stupid but if it was going to help him sleep better at night and worry less about me, concentrating instead on the task before him, I would do it.
Blake waited on the other side of the gate. He wore some sort of a robe and I shut my eyes as he started pulling it up to take it off.
Still not used to naked people. I could hear the tearing and pop sound as he morphed and open my eyes once again.
The size of him always amazed me. He was as big as a one story house and I couldn’t imagine anyone succeeding in claiming him.
Lucian grabbed his paw and winked as Blake tossed him onto his back. All of us gasped, including Master Longwei and Constance as Blake had never tossed anyone on his back before.
We watched until they were gone.
Becky wrapped her arms around me. “He’s going to come back, it’s not like he’s going into the Acker Woods, Elena.”
My lip vibrated more. I couldn’t tell her how wrong she was, since nobody could know where he was going to. They would pull him back and that would be it. Blake would turn evil and Paegeia would be destroyed forever.
A COUPLE OF DAYS passed and I tried so hard to stay positive. Lucian phoned me every night and hearing his voice calmed my fears of never seeing him again.
We had to do it in private though as we spoke a lot about his trip to the – you – know – where.
I just hoped Blake knew what he was doing for him.
He was still a couple of miles away from the woods and said he needed to check out a couple of places first, do more research and see if Tanya was really inside.
He thought she could be hiding nearby in a village or secluded along the fringes of the forest.
All his leads ended in nothing.
“I’ll be entering the woods tomorrow,” he said a few nights later.
I nodded at his image on my Cammy.
“Hey, we’ve been through this. Now I don’t know if there will be any reception inside, but I’m going to try to phone you, okay.”
I nodded again.
“I love you.”
“Love you more.”
“I doubt that.”
I giggled and his face disappeared.
I struggled to sleep after the call.
The next day I was so miserable, not even Paul could get my mood up and I hated missing Lucian. I couldn’t wait for the day he called to say he was coming back.
See, I’m positive. Then why did I still have a horrible yucky feeling inside like something was going to go horribly wrong?
