3. History
I am alone with King Ikyn in his throne hall. I am unable to move. I have remained in a low bow with my head down, stuck in time.
"Thank you, My Lord," my father said. Lumi, the betrayer, let out a long, quiet breath of relief. I dared not look away from the floor. I heard no other sounds than my family LEAVING ME ALONE, the large doors opening and shutting again. It has been silent for quite some time. I haven't been able to even straighten myself. I have felt his eyes on me, burning into me.
I still feel his eyes on me. His steps move closer after minutes of the door closing. When my sight of the floor is replaced with his leather boots, I finally remember to breathe. I nearly collapse, falling face first towards the floor. I shut my eyes tight, the only way I'm able to brace myself for impact. Instead, I feel something large and warm against my waist, and another warmth holding my shoulder. I dare myself, yet again, to look fully up at the man who caught me.
King Ikyn is... Smiling? I feel my face heat up. Instead of letting me go, he spins me around quickly, yet carefully. I'm now resting against his propped up knee. My body is frigid. It still won't do what I am strongly trying to encourage it to do. GET ON YOUR OWN DAMN FEET I encourage myself mentally. "M-my ap-p-pologies, My Lord," I finally manage to speak. My throat feels incredibly dry. When he turned me, I didn't realize he rested the back of my head against the crook of his elbow, or that he held onto my hands pressed against my stomach. His touch is surprisingly gentle.
"Ah, now she speaks," his lips curl up, exposing pearly white teeth. His smile lasts for only a moment until he looks stern with me. There is a glimmer in his dark eyes, though. "Eira," hearing my name sends a jolt through my body, "are you afraid of me?"
"M-my Lord?" Damn my nerves! YES, you make me PETRIFIED. I could never tell him that though.
"Ikyn," he answers.
My eyes go wide. Finally, I manage to force myself up. With his assistance, of course. Once I am standing, I bow quickly to him once more. "My apologies, My-"
"Ikyn," he interrupts me. I watch him slowly raise himself up from kneeling. "If you are going to be my queen, you must be used to calling me by my name. Get used to it, Princess." My current title isn't used properly from his lips. He's taunting me. "Do you know why I chose you, Eira?"
King Ikyn is definitely enjoying this. "M-... Ikyn..." I pause, forcing myself to heed his request. "I have the faintest idea, truth be told."
He starts walking around me, circling me like a vulture. "Do you recall the first time we properly met?"
How could I forget?
Ten years ago, when I was almost eight years old, the castle was busier than ever. It was more busy than preparing for a festival. I ran across the gardens, up the guard towers, and peered over the wall. In the distance was a small black dot in the sky. It got bigger, quickly. Not even a few minutes passed until a dragon, three stories tall, was circling over the castle. I was thrilled. I loved when the black dragon came to visit. It was so different from Reildrei. While she was as white as snow, he was darker than the night sky. She was larger than him, but both were still so elegant.
The dragon lowered himself down into the gardens. Overly excited, I ran back down the guard tower, and out to meet the dragon. However, when I reached outside, the dragon was gone. Instead, a tall, handsome knight in shining black armor was standing in the center of the garden. I tried looking for the dragon, thinking maybe somehow it magically got smaller.
The knight spotted me and walked up to me. Without a word, he was searching with me. When we finally looked in every corner of the gardens, I sat and pouted. I was ready to burst into tears. The knight sat down with me. "What were we looking for, that has this fragile princess' eyes glistening with tears?"
"M-m-my draaaagooooon!" I couldn't hold it back anymore. I was so sad I lost my dragon. Next to Reildrei, he was my best friend. He always greeted me upon his arrival and nudged at me with his nose to say goodbye. I thought today we could finally play since I didn't have anything to do today. The knight took off his gloves to rub my back. Rubbing my hands against my eyes, I leaned onto his armor, crying over his lap. He sat with me, rubbing my back until I was left with dry eyes and a sniffly nose.
"Is your dragon really that special to you?" He asked me. When I looked up at him, all I found were his kind eyes and soft smile.
I only nodded my head. He let me breathe until I spoke again. "I'm going to marry that dragon someday."
"Oh, really? How will that work, a human and a dragon?"
I never really thought about it. I didn't understand the concept of beastiality at that age. "I can learn to hunt and feed it! Or have my soldiers hunt for me so I can cook for my dragon!"
"That sounds more like a pet than a husband."
"I can... I can... I don't know. I'll figure it out!" I was determined. I didn't care about logic.
The strange knight found humor in my persistence. I couldn't help but laugh with him. I felt my face blush with the way this dark knight was gazing at me. "Or maybe... I'll marry you instead!"
"Me?" His smile was beautiful. "What about your dragon?"
"Well, my dragon left me. He always leaves and never stays to play with me. But you helped me look for him, even though you didn't know what I was looking for! And you stayed with me when I was sad. And you're still here, talking to me! Even though I think you're here to see my dad, right?"
"That is correct, young Majesty."
"So I can marry you?"
"But I am so much older than you. I'm older than your dad."
That got me laughing. "No way! I'm going to be eight in three days, and my dad looks WAY older than you! I think in another eight years, when I'm a proper woman, I'm going to marry you."
"You don't even know my name, Princess. How can you marry a man you don't even know?"
"Well, what's your name?"
His smile never faltered. Instead, it only got brighter. "Ikyn, My Lady. My name is Ikyn."
"I'm Eira. You're my knight in shining armor, my dark prince, and in eight years you'll be my king. We will rule this kingdom with an iron fist!"
"An iron fist? What's wrong with the peace your father has kept for so long?"
I groaned. "It's too boring! There's nothing to do. I want to see a war, like in my history books. But instead of fighting dragons, I want to find my dragon and marry him, so he'll guide my armies to a bloody victory!"
"Wait, are you marrying me, or your dragon?"
"Whichever accepts my proposal first."
My father came out while my dark knight was teaching me to sword fight with sticks we found laying around. My knight stopped playing with me and turned to my father. They kept their voices low, so I couldn't hear what they were saying. I was too busy fighting imaginary enemy soldiers anyway. When I looked back to see if my knight was watching, he winked at me and blew me a kiss.
I shoved that idea deep in the vaults of my memories. As I got older, I found out that Ikyn wasn't the man I thought he was from my youth.