y mind was stuffed with questions, things I just couldn’t comprehend: why Al had never told me about Elena, what he must have gone through.

　　In the old days we had shared everything, and I mean everything. I wasn’t just his dragon, I was his companion, his confidant, a shoulder to cry on when nobody was watching, especially when Katie had rejected him. When she’d giving up on life crying all the time, fighting with him constantly.

　　His men and I always thought it was because of Tanya. I even thought that Al had asked her to choose between him and her dragon, and that she’d chosen him, letting Tanya go free.

　　It was an easy thing to think as he’d never gotten along with Tanya and it was difficultfor him that Katie shared a dent with her, a bond so strong that we would never be able tocomprehend exactly how it worked. I was furious with him, none of us could grasp what it would mean if a Dragonian set their dragon, especially sharing that kind of bond, free, but I’d never questioned him as he was also my king.

　　Now I knew better; it hadn’t been just for Katie that he’d cried, but for Elena too.

　　He made me so angry, thinking of those times he’d tried to tell me, I could sense it and had asked him more than once what was weighing on his mind. He’d contemplated it a few times, but he’d always send me away, telling me he wanted to be alone.

　　I should’ve seen it, the way he used to look at Sammy’s dragon figure, staring at her for hours. That one-second warning in his eyes before it turned soft, when he looked at Blake.

　　I thought it was longing for an offspring he could never have, not the one he’d had to give up because of Goran.

　　How didn’t I see it? That it was Goran that had betrayed them?

　　When Blake and Elena found a way to get past those deathly snatchers, I would find him, Iwould kill him, and I would laugh and spit in his face while my blade stuck in his chest. My acid would burn him alive.

　　I didn’t care who his brother was, he’d betrayed us all. He would die, even if it was the last thing I ever did.

　　Footsteps entering the house brought me out of my train of thoughts.

　　I closed my eyes and let the swift come. I could hear everything, someone breathing, a faint heart beating. It was him.

　　“What the ...”

　　I switched on the light. “Hello, son.”

　　He spun around. “Dad?” A confused look was plastered on his face as he looked around, bewildered. “What happened here?”

　　I smiled. “We don’t live here anymore. I bought ground and we are rebuilding the manor.”

　　He narrowed his eyes, thinking hard, and then huffed. “She gave you money?”

　　“No, I had left some money in the King’s vault a long time ago. I never knew he’d transferred it to the new one,” I lied. My son would never accept any of it if he knew itcame from her father.

　　The corners of his mouth twitched. “No more scraping around, turning each pagoleon over twice?”

　　“I learned my lesson, Blake, it will be spent wisely.”

　　He nodded.

　　“So you’re back?”

　　Blake shook his head. “I came because you need to get Elena out of there. She’s feeling trapped and I can’t deal with her emotions right now.”

　　My eyebrows knitted together. “How did you know about her, and what do you mean she’s feeling trapped?”

　　“Seriously?” He gave me a raised eyebrow. “Dad, she is royalty, by blood.” He chuckled. “You really think they were going to take it easy on her? They’re forcing this stinking world on her.” He stared at the empty spot where the table in the kitchen used to be. “They took away her Cammy, she can’t even call for help. Well, except me and to be honest, I don’t care much at the moment, I just can’t deal with her right now.”

　　“Blake, you can feel Elena’s emotions?”

　　He looked at the ceiling and shook his head slightly. He was really getting annoyed. “She asked for you tonight, for Becky, Sammy, Mom, anyone that knows her, but they refused.” He huffed. “They even got her birthday wrong,” he mumbled. So he did care, but wasn’t ready to show it yet.

　　“Yes, it’s tomorrow, not today.”

　　“Just get her out of there, before I lose my mind and who knows what I will do.”

　　“Blake come home. We’re staying at—”

　　“I’m not coming home, Dad,” he said through gritted teeth. “She’s not my rider. I’m the Rubicon! I can’t be tamed.” He roared. His eyes, the same as his mother’s blue peacock irises, turned red.

　　It was the only way I could tell Issy and Constance apart. “Just get her out of there.”He turned around and left.

　　I could hear the transformation, he was becoming silent in ways that I never could have imagined.

　　He needed to dent, but at what cost?

　　Elena! Robert, she needs you.

　　I pulled out my Cammy. “Helmut.”

　　We’d paired phones a couple of weeks back when Elena was still with us. If you need anything, just phone.Well, I was going to need a shitload from my old friend.

　　His face appeared, sleep had frozen his features. “Robert? It’s two—”

　　“What the hell are you guys doing to Elena? I told you Helmut, no pushing this on her. She’s not ready.”

　　“It’s not like that. She is merely learning about her duty to Paegeia.”

　　“Her duty! Forcing her is more like it.”

　　“What? No.” He shook his head.

　　“Don’t lie to me. Blake was here.”

　　His face woke up in an instant. “Blake’s back?”

　　“Not entirely, but he passed by, asking me to free her. Why would he use those words if she was there of her own free will?”

　　“What do you mean, free her?”

　　“You tell me Helmut.”

　　“Look, they told me they will take it easy on her, introducing her to all the advisers and teaching her about her people and kingdom. I still don’t understand why you think she needs to be freed. We saw her tonight and—”

　　“Blake is feeling her emotions. Their bond is stronger than any of us anticipated. If they dent, we are going to see something we’ve never seen before in all of dragon and rider history.”

　　“He’s feeling her emotions? She’s not trapped, she is here out of her own free will.”

　　“By taking her Cammy away, cutting her off from the people that matter to her? Yes, that sounds a lot like free will to me.”

　　“No!”

　　“They threw her a huge party tonight in honor of her birthday. Not one of us was invited, Helmut.”

　　Margerite’s face and shoulders appeared from behind her husband’s holograph. “No, I sent out the invites. None of you replied,” Margerite said. “Elena was devastated about that.”

　　“Are you sure?” Helmut looked over his shoulder at Margerite. “Did you speak to her tonight?”

　　“I said hi, but she had so many friends around her. She enjoyed tonight, but not the wayshe would’ve if Becky and Sammy had been there. She really looked forward to seeing them.” She gave me a stern look.

　　“We didn’t get any invitation, Margerite.”

　　“I gave them to Stan—” She trailed off and stared into space, her eyes closed. Her face assumed the old Margerite’s expression. The one she used when someone stepped on one of her children. “That fucking bastard.” She got out of the bed. I could hear her searching for something and finally heard Stanley’s name.

　　She was right, he was a bastard. Ever since he’d gotten his clutches into Elena, her old life didn’t matter anymore.

　　“You promised me this wasn’t going to happen. This thing is over. She’s coming home.”

　　“Robert she needs—”

　　“No, she needs people around her who know her well. They even got her birthday wrong.”

　　“What!” Both Margerite and Helmut said as she was still waiting for Stan’s face to disappear.

　　“It’s tomorrow and they are making her go to Areeth. They’ll have to kill me first before they drag her to that place. Get her out of there or I will, and you don’t want meto do it my way.”

　　I switched off the Cammy and both their faces disappeared.

　　Lucille, she needed to know what was going on. Becky and Sammy would be beyond upset about all of this. The three of them had been inseparable since the day Elena arrived in Paegeia.

　　They thought that Elena had changed. That her new royal status had turned her into the worst kind of person.

　　A couple of pictures of her having fun were plastered all over magazines with new girls at her side. It did the trick, but it wasn’t like that at all.

　　I felt like a failure again. I’d failed her father as I’d given my dragon oath to succumb to his every wish, and that night, he’d sent me away just like that, for the Rubicon’s sake.

　　I tried to ignore it, but it was his wish, and no matter how hard I’d fought against the pain that boiled through my veins, my core, every inch of my existence, I couldn’t stay. There were too many forces working that night to get me safely to my Isabel who wastaking care of her dying mother in Tith.

　　I rolled up my sleeping bag and left. The drive to Lucille took about fifteen minutes.

　　It was going to be less soon, now that I’d purchased a lot just a mile from her. It was agorgeous piece of land with the most beautiful view of the mountains in Tith. My family would feel free, not cramped up in that wretched piece of crap we had called home for so long.

　　We were going to rebuild the manor, the one we used to live in, now lost behind those Creepers.

　　Just a few more months and our home would be ready. It would have the old kitchen with the old fire place, big cupboards and a huge dining table, the fridge would have so much food, the pantry would always be full. We were never going back to scraping and begging for anything anymore.

　　There would be seven rooms, each one would have their own entry, a huge open balcony with no railing from the outside, so they could just fly in whenever they wanted.

　　Issy would have her library again, and me, I’d have my training room.

　　I hadn’t trained for a long time, but now that I had a reason to kill again, to protect, I needed to prepare.

　　The children could have whatever they wanted. Samantha could finally see and experiencethe old life her brother used to tell her about when they were little.

　　And Blake...I smiled. Blake would be king one day.

　　When he dented, and he would dent whether he liked it or not, he’d rule by Elena’s sideand be the best king, just like Elena’s father had been.

　　The car came to a halt right in front of Lucille’s two dragon gates. I’d always admired them, I admired who they were protecting.

　　She’d lost her husband the night the Creepers came. Etienne and his dragon William had been an amazing pair.

　　She’d been nothing but kind to my family and now, that I could finally repay her, she wouldn’t take a dime from me.

　　You don’t get people like that anymore.

　　Swinging the car around, my hand stretched out of the window and pushed the button. I had to push it a couple of times before Rosa answered.

　　“Rosa!”

　　“Sir Robert?” she answered in a sleepy voice.

　　“It’s about Elena, open up.”

　　The old dragon did and I drove down their driveway as fast as I could. Tires screeched slightly as the car came to a halt right by the sculpture with the dancing legs on a fish’s body. So creepy.

　　When I reached the front door I didn’t even have to knock as Lucille had already opened it.

　　“What about Elena?” she asked in a concerned voice.

　　“Wake Becky, it’s not what any of us think.”

　　“Robert?”

　　“Now, Lucille. She needs to know this.”

　　She nodded, and Rosa rushed up the stairs. She led me to her dining room table and we sat down.

　　“What is going on with Elena?”

　　“They are forcing Paegeia on her. Stan took away her Cammy and that’s why the girls haven’t heard from her. Margerite told me that they sent all of us invitations, she’d given them to Stan who didn’t...”

　　Lucille shook her head. “But those pictures.”

　　“Come on, Lucille. Every time Blake wanted to get back at them, at me, he did something stupid and made sure the press was around.”

　　“She’s rebelling?”

　　“She’s been crying out for us, trying to get our attention and we’ve just sat here, doing nothing.”

　　“That bastard!”

　　“What bastard, Mom?” Becky appeared at the bottom of the stairs. “And who is rebelling?”

　　“Come sit, honey,” Lucille said. “Rosa, can you please get the kettle going. We need coffee.”

　　“Not to worry, I’ll have it ready in two seconds.” Rosa disappeared.

　　“Mom, what is going on? Why is Sir Robert here?”

　　“It’s about Elena, sweetheart.”

　　Her face hardened the minute Lucille said her name. “Oh, please. I’m going back to bed.”

　　“They took away her Cammy, Becky.”

　　Becky froze in mid-step.

　　“She’s been asking for all of us for a long time, and they denied her every single time,” I explained.

　　She turned around. “What! How do you know this?”

　　I looked down at the table. “Blake came back and begged me to get Elena out of there. He’s connected to her in ways I’ll never understand.”

　　“Blake’s back?” Becky and Lucille asked.

　　I shook my head. “He just gave me the message, said he couldn’t deal with it and that I had to get her out of there.”

　　“But those pictures of her having fun, with her new friends...” Becky started.

　　“She rebelled, probably snuck out and did the opposite of what she was supposed to do, sweetheart.”

　　Becky shook her head. “She could’ve come here.” Hurt laced her eyes and tone.

　　“There are guards at all the ports,” I pointed out. “If you haven’t noticed them, I certainly have.”

　　“Sir Robert is right. For all we know, she tried,” Lucille said.

　　She shook her head. “The cockroaches would have said something.”

　　“Unless they were paid a lot of money, Becky.” I looked at her. “These people have all the money in the world to do whatever they want.”

　　She looked at me for a short while. I knew she thought about Elena, and that whatever they had been thinking could be wrong. She took a deep breath, the hurt replaced with anger. “You want to tell me that they are holding my friend captive because of what she has to learn?” Her voice rose slightly.

　　“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

　　She shook her head and got up just as Rosa came back with the coffee. “I need to phone George. This Stan guy is going to regret that he ever took her away under false pretenses and really, he’s going to regret everything he has ever done.” She ran up the stairs.

　　I took a deep breath trying to calm my own anger. Becky might only be eighteen, but with those dark eyes and set mind, Stan was going to remember her for years to come.

　　“Have you told Sammy yet? She was really upset about tonight and I can’t recall her ever feeling so hurt.”

　　“Not yet, I came directly here after I spoke to Helmut.”

　　She blew out a breath. “Good, one royal on our side could get this sorted out as civilized as possible. I was imagining thunder and acid destroying a hotel to get her out of there.”

　　I started to laugh but it disappeared just as fast. I looked her in the eyes. “It will come to that if Helmut doesn’t get her out, Lucille. I should’ve never let her out of my sight.”

　　“Robert, they promised that she could come home if it got to be too much. None of us knew that they would deceive us like this.”

　　“Still, I should’ve kept my promise.”

　　“Don’t worry, tomorrow is her birthday and she’ll be back with us. Being a normal teenager again.” Lucille touched my arm softly.

　　A knock on the door made both of us jump and Becky stormed down the stairs and opened it up.

　　“What about Elena, and who do we need to free?”

　　George asked sleepily.

　　The boy was fast.

　　“Elena, they are holding her against her will. We were invited but Stan douchebag didn’t send us the invites because we are not important.” Becky spoke fast, angry, andher hands were up in the air. “If I get my hands on him,” she mumbled.

　　“Calm down, Becky.” George grabbed her and pulled her into his chest. “We will get her out of there.”

　　It always amazes me how she never had to fully explain herself to him. He just got whatever she was going through and would do anything in his power to fix it.

　　They came over to sit at the table. He greeted me with an outstretched hand and gave Lucille two kisses on the cheek.

　　“Blake came back,” Becky told him

　　“He’s here?” he asked and looked around to see if there was any sign of him.

　　“No, he left again. He just told me about Elena—”

　　“He feels her, doesn’t he?” George interrupted.

　　“You feel me too?” Becky asked him with awe written all over her face.

　　“Not like that, but yes. When you are upset about something, I can sense it if we are not together. I was woken up from it tonight, a second before my Cammy rang.”

　　“Frawsome!” she yelled and we all chuckled.

　　“I don’t understand. This only happened a short while ago with us. How did Blake—”

　　“Their bond is strong,” Lucille said, “and I guess in some way that is the thing that scares him the most. He can feel what she is going through already. He doesn’t want to succumb to that.”

　　“It’s exactly that,” I agreed.

　　“They are lucky they haven’t dented yet,” George said and we all gave him a confused look. “Cause they are going to have to deal with us, instead of him.”

　　We got what he said, and smiled. This would’ve never happened if Blake had succumbed earlier, if Elena had grown up in Paegeia and knew that she was Blake’s rider. What that would have been like, we would never know.

　　“We need to keep this from Elena for now. She has a lot to deal with, she doesn’t need to know about all of this and what Blake feels, about their connection.”

　　ELENA

　　felt a fly on my face. I shooed it away in my sleep and a couple of seconds later it was back. I opened my eyes and found Becky right next to my bed with a feather in her hand.

　　“Happy birthday!” She smiled.

　　I felt like crying, good tears though, tears of relief. This nightmare was finally over.I grabbed her around the neck. “Where the hell were you?”

　　“I was being an idiot, thought you loved your new royal status and had forgotten about us,” she whispered softly.

　　When she said us, I let go of her and found Sammy standing at the edge of my bed. My arms opened and she came rushing toward me. The hug felt good. “Why didn’t you come yesterday?”

　　“Stan didn’t think we were important enough,” Becky said.

　　I closed my eyes and clutched my head. My jaw clenched. “That’s it.” I climbed out of bed and stepped into my slippers. “I’ve had it with all of this.”

　　“Calm down, Elena. It’s over.” Sir Robert’s voice came from the door and I rushed over to him. He folded his arms around me.

　　I didn’t care if he was my stupid dragon’s father. He was one of the few people in this world I could trust, apart from my real friends who’d finally come to take me back to mynormal routine. “I should never have left you, I’m sorry.”

　　“How did you find out?”

　　His face froze for a short while and I looked around. Becky and Sammy looked at one another.

　　The door opened and Queen Margerite’s voice filled the room. “It is over. This was notthe arrangement Stan.”

　　“With all do respect, your majesty...”

　　“Majesty my ass. It’s over, I don’t care for anything coming out of that deceitful mouth of yours. The princess is unhappy and with God as my witness Stan, if you ever cross me again like that, I will set my husband’s dragon on you. Now get out of my sight.” She shut the door in his face and mumbled a couple of other things I couldn’t ever imagine thinking, not to mention saying out loud.

　　When she saw me her face fell and her eyes grew softer. She opened her arms for me and I ran into them. Her lips caressed the top of my head softly. “I’m so sorry about all of this, Elena. Please forgive me.”

　　“It’s okay, you are here now, and on my birthday. Guess wishes that you make when you blow out your candles really do come true.”

　　She giggled. “Still, I should’ve never trusted any of these lowlife, greedy, scumbags.” She pushed me away and looked at me with a soft expression. “Whatever you need to learn about being a princess, you can learn from me, and damn whoever stands in my way,” she said in a motherly tone. “Now go pack your bags.”