CHAPTER FIVE: Now We Meet Again
The little Dragon hovered in place in front of Dolores, tilting his head to the side before releasing a chirp in disagreement. Shaking his head back and forth, he perched on Dolores's knee and gestured towards the moonflower as if he was proving a point.
"I know, I know," Dolores gently said, petting the little Dragon on top of his head. Even though Dolores could feel the ridged edges of the scales, Dolores thought she was being delusional or something.
Thinking of this, Dolores pinched the little Dragon's translucent wings. The smooth leathery texture felt real though she scraped a nail along the membrane. The tiny Dragon made a small irritated cry.
"Sorry! That was impolite, but you know people always tell me dragons aren't real." Dolores stopped pinching his bat-like wing and gently drew him close as you would a pet cat. "They say dragons used to be a common thing on our continent, but then people craved power, hunted them down till they were extinct." She murmurs while absentmindedly stroking the miniature Dragon that was curled in her lap.
He chirped in response, making Dolores meet his eyes. They seem to be asking, pleading with her. "Oh! I...I won't tell others about you, deal?" she scratched behind one of his pointed ears. "I wouldn't want to get you into any trouble. This will be our secret." Dolores whispered, and the little Dragon nodded his head as he purred his delight. Dolores smiled before lifting him to her face. "Thank you," she said sincerely and gave him a soft kiss on the top of his snot. "There. Now I have kissed you too." She laughed as the tiny Dragon red scales seemed to darken.
When Dolores finally left the lake to return to the capital, promising her new friend that she would come back, she immediately was escorted to her new bed chambers, where three maids roughly bathed her, not caring about her cracked ribs. She was then fed and thought the meal was terrific, a roasted chicken adored with colored potatoes. After four fork bites, she had to dash to the bathroom to deposit the contents. She was starving, yes, but the combination of no food and living on soggy oats made an excellent meal foreign. Her stomach would need time to adjust.
When Dolores finally collapsed onto her four-poster bed, she couldn't fall asleep. Despite the exhaustion that crept through her body, her mind swirled with this new life she found herself in. Dolores would attend tutoring to prepare for Adams crowning, the New Moon Ceremony in the coming days. She would learn to walk, talk, sit, stand, eat, and dress like a princess. Thankfully her mother was in the care of a healer, and Diana would now have a permanent lodging near the palace.
Dolores felt strange laying on a mattress, the silk sheets against her skin a pillow cradling her head. She never had a bed with a mattress before. In fact, Dolores had never slept on a mattress before until... that night. Last night during the Rite was the first time she slept on something so heavenly. The thoughts replayed across her mind luring her into a deep sleep.
The week flew by faster than Dolores had expected, thanks to her daily visits to the lake. Exhausted from her lessons on being a noble lady, she unwinded by watching the little dragon pounce on this and that, like a kitten. The little Dragon seemed to be waiting for her each day, and Dolores wondered if the lake was his home. She still hadn't figured out if he was the same Dragon that saved her life.
"You're not the one who saved me, right?" She asked, knowing that he couldn't answer. "Of course not." Dolores picked a handful of rocks and tossed them here and there, watching as he darted after each one. Smiling, Dolores pondered the mystery of the Dragons, the handsome boy who had appeared to her during the Rite. Could he be the Sun God?
She still thought about him, that boy he was her first kiss, after all, and during the past week when the Prince's scrunched their nose in disgust or the hushed voices that seemed to stop when she walked by, she would make herself remember that kiss, how it felt, how it tasted…
"Your highness." The maid's call interrupted her fantasy, startling Dolores into a frenzy. She quickly grabbed the tiny Dragon that had curled onto her lap, placing him in the pocket of her skirt. "You need to start preparing for the New Moon Ceremony for our crown prince." The maid said, her Jordanian accent slipping through. "It starts in the grand hall, at six pm."
Jumping to feet in a very unladylike fashion, Dolores winced when she saw the look of distaste on the maid's face.
"I… I will be there soon. But can you leave me for a few minutes?" Dolores asked, dusting off her dress.
"I will be waiting in your bed chambers, your highness." She gave Dolores a small curtsy before heading back to the palace.
Dolores breathed out a sigh of relief to the Goddess and then slipped her hand into the cut of her skirt. "I'm sorry for that little guy." She apologized but found there was nothing in her pocket. He was gone.
Dolores stood on a small step in her bed chambers, looking out the window. While she considered how her little friend vanished, three servant maids dressed her. "Hua.." Dolores gasped for air when one of the maids pulled at her corset, tightening to Dolores was forced to stand at attention. "Perhaps not so tight." She quietly asked.
"Just how do you expect to be treated like a proper princess if your corset isn't fastened correctly?" The maid pulled tighter, a sharp pain shot through Dolores's body, causing her to bite her bottom lip. Another maid slipped on her dress overhead. Dolores refused to see her reflection, instead choosing to take in the design of her room.
The walls were papered by royal purple with silver wolves printed throughout. Oval bay windows on the end of the room mirrored a straight wall that held her oversized bed.
Dolores hadn't gotten used to the plush mattress yet she’d woken up more than once on the floor beside her bed. She felt out of place in the palace. Especially as the maids forced her into a chair and brutally brushed out her long silvery white tipped hair twisting strands into intricate braids throughout.
Dolores barely listened as the maids tattled on about how fortunate she was, how lucky that she was now a princess. Her tutor, an old crone of a woman, had told her to start acting appreciative. If it was up to her, Dolores would still be a Rouge no matter her blood. That was the problem. She wasn't blessed or lucky. True, she never liked her life as Rouge, but life as Princess, a noblewoman, made her feel uneasy, and her new family didn't accept her as one of them. She was still a Rouge.
When the maids finished their prepping, they gave a slight bow of the head before leaving Dolores alone. She sucked in a breath before she dared a glaze at her reflection in the giant floor-length mirror. Dolores gasped when she saw her face. Only a week ago, her face was covered with dirt, dried blood speckled all over her body, sometimes from her prey but mostly her own. Wounds that were inflicted because she was a Rouge, but that girl was gone now.
The girl Dolores saw in the mirror looked like a Princess. A completely different person from the self she had known. The realization was too hard to believe. She was beautiful, with her high rounded cheekbones and almond eyes paired with slightly arched eyebrows. Her ice blue dress that matched her eye color hugged her waist before fanning out towards the floor. The two straps of the gown only covered the tops of her shoulders before becoming two waterfalls of fabric behind her back. If only he could see me right now… The thought made her blush.
The boy's ruby eyes flashed in her memory. Who was he? Was he even real? The unanswered questions haunted her, forming more confusion and doubt. Am I still dreaming? Am I still in the Gray Tail Pack, living as a slave, and I imagine all these to make myself feel better? A sudden knock at the door had her jumping to attention.
"Your Highness," A maid called from behind the door. "I am here to escort you to the dining hall." Dolores rolled her neck, silently tucking the questions and doubt in the back of her mind. Pushing her shoulders back, she reviewed her week's lessons and opened the door.
Dolores entered the dining hall, accompanied by a host of maids and servants. The ceremony hadn't begun, and the guests huddled in small groups conversing. Dolores noticed while scanning the room that they were all Alphas from the bigger Packs in the kingdom. Packs, all ruled by Zachary, her father, and soon Adam, her brother. She swallowed her rage and recited the proper table manners over and over again.
"Mate…" Silvia howled, shocking Dolores. "Mate!" She cried again, and a strange smell invaded Dolores. The scent was pleasant, a grey amber and agarwood scent that made her feel safe and warm. Dolores scanned the room for her so-called mate, freezing when she saw him.
The boy, the Dragon, the dragon boy she saw in her dream during the Rite of the Dawn, was seated beside the invited alphas. Was he an alpha as well? His suit jacket was tossed casually over his chair, revealing a simple white T-shirt stretched over his chest and upper arms. His body was raw, sculpted muscle, with a warm demeanor. Dolores couldn't help but stare at him, but his eyes. That was what drew her in. His amber eyes with slashing eyebrows above, they looked intense yet kind.
Seeming to sense her too, he tilted his head a fraction, locking eyes with Dolores. He gave her a knowing grin, curving one side of his face in a tender yet possessive smile.