TAKEN BY THE DRAGON KING

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

Revelations

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Elena

Dracul didn’t move for a moment. For what felt like an age, he just rested, taking deep breaths and regrouping. His breath was short and trembling in his chest.

He seemed to have a lot on his mind, a lot on his plate. My heart pounding as I watched him, everything seemingly suspended in mid-air.

I took a deep breath and held it. I didn’t know if I wanted to hear the answer, but I knew that I had to. I didn’t know how to move forward from here, but I knew that the truth was the first step. I had been kept in the dark for long enough.

“It’s complicated,” Dracul said, finally. His words broke the silence that was hanging between us, but somehow, he still wasn’t saying much, wasn’t explaining anything.

Part of me wanted to be angry with him, but I was still just relieved that he was alive, relieved that he wasn’t dead.

I couldn’t be angry with him, not really, but I could still feel the pounding disappointment in my heart. I deserved to know more, especially if it was about me.

“Is this about your kingdom?” I said, quiet and soft, “The huge craters that I saw in the forest?”

He turned quickly to look at me and I saw surprise in his eyes.

So, I was right. Something bad was going on here, something bigger than the both of us, something hard to explain.This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“You saw that?” He said.

“Yes, I did. And I want to know what’s going on. And how am I involved with all this?” I said, my voice shaking and trembling Over my words.

I didn’t want to do this right now, but I needed the truth. More than that, I needed to move forward in a way that would let me understand my role here.

I wanted to know why Dracul and Gulliver were fighting. I wanted to know what Gulliver had meant by protection. I wanted to know what Gulliver meant when he said that Dracul was betraying his own kingdom.

The man standing in front of me wouldn’t do that. The Dracul I had come to know was loyal. So, what did Gulliver mean? Atticus took a long, slow, deep breath and slowly shook his head, “He was talking about the land.”

He fell silent but it looked like he wanted to say more. I held my breath and tried not to rush him.

“It’s about…” Dracul hesitated, “Our kingdom, it’s dying. From the inside out.”

“Dying?” My voice caught in my chest. His kingdom was dying.

What did he mean by that? How could a kingdom die?

The land would always remain. At least, I had always known that to be true. But now, I was not so sure anymore.

“Yes.” Dracul said. His voice was heavy and weighty. He had a lot on his mind, that much was clear.

If his kingdom really was dying, I couldn’t blame the stress and the worry. That would make a lot of sense.

“It’s dying, and there is nothing I can do about it.” He said, looking at me with piercing gold eyes, “We have tried everything known to our kind. We have used science and agriculture.”

He leaned back, bracing himself against the table, “We have used all of our resources to make this work, but it hasn’t. Nothing works, Elena.”

I nodded slowly, hearing the real despair in his voice. I couldn’t imagine what that would feel like. Watching your land die and your kingdom wither away, powerless to stop it.

I couldn’t imagine working and working to find a way to save your people only to come up blank every time.

I shuddered, the very thought making me feel sick to my stomach, “So, is that why you turned to magic?” I said, hesitantly.

Dracul nodded slowly, “Yes. It was the last option left to us.”

I nodded, swallowing hard, “So how long have you been fighting this?” I asked.

Years.” Dracul said, “But it’s only getting worse.”

I nodded, feeling cold. I couldn’t imagine feeling this hopeless, struggling to find answers for so long, while my people suffered. No wonder Dracul seemed tense.

No wonder the crown seemed so heavy on his head

“But… what does that have to do with me?” I whispered.

I understood this was a huge problem. I understood that Dracul would want and need help. But I didn’t understand what I could possibly do to help him. What could I possibly do to make things better, to improve the situation?

I was a princess, yes, but I had no power here.

Dracul sighed and closed his eyes, “It was an old spell.” He said.

“A spell?” I asked, confused.

“Yes, an old spell that Gulliver found. It was ancient, but it spoke of restoring the lands, through a ritual.”

Dracul sighed and ran his hands through his hair, “But it was hard to understand, to translate. He couldn’t translate it all at once, and we needed time…”

“Okay.” I said, slowly and cautiously, “So, was I… needed… somehow?”

I didn’t know if I was excited about the answer. On one hand, it meant that Dracul had called me to help, called me for a real reason. On the other hand, I had no idea

what the spell would ask of me.

“I didn’t know what we needed you for.” Dracul said, and there was a waver in his voice, “I didn’t know when I summoned you.”

I felt nausea rise up inside of me. The way Dracul was speaking, the clouded expression on his face… I didn’t think that he needed me for anything good.

“What?” I asked, hesitantly, “What did you need me for?”

There was a moment that passed between us, the air heavy and thick, the silence stifling. Everything rested on this, this moment. I had a feeling that this was about to change things in a way that I could never have imagined.

“The spell called for a virgin, of royal blood.” He said, “To be made a blood sacrifice.”

My heart almost stopped. I felt it skip in my chest, a shiver moving down my spine, unbidden, “A… sacrifice?”I whispered.

I couldn’t believe it. I had been brought here to die. Dracul had brought me here to die.

For a moment, I felt a reeling sense of betrayal. He had turned on me in the worst possible way.

He had betrayed my trust. He wanted me dead.

I took a step back, suddenly wanting to distance myself from him. I didn’t want to be close to someone who had betrayed me like that. When he summoned me to his castle, had he known?

When he kissed me and held me close, had he been planning on killing me? When he asked me to breakfast and invited me with, was it all to prepare me for my death?

It was startling, the ache in my chest. It was dizzying and nauseating. I didn’t know how to feel.

“Elena, I didn’t know.” He said, reaching for me.

I stepped back, snatching my hand away from him. I didn’t want him to touch me again.

All I was to him was a way to save his people. And I understood that I did. I understood that a ruler had to do everything to save their people, no matter what… But why did he have to get close to me? Why did he have to give me hope? I had been prepared to die, but I was no longer ready. I had expected death, but now I wanted to live.

Why had he waited like this? It was cruel and it was cold, and I felt the tears bubble up in my chest.

I forced them down. I wouldn’t cry in front of him. I couldn’t. Not in front of him. He wanted me dead.

But does he?

I saw the anguish in his eyes, hidden beneath the surface on his composed face. His hands shook where they rested against his leg.

His hands had been so sure when he had held me close, so steady when he caressed my body. I thought about the way he stormed into my room after talking with Gulliver.

I thought about how he grabbed me and kissed me as he needed me for air, taking me right there and then with no pause, no hesitation, no sense of holding back the passions that burnt within him.

He had held me close with such surety. But now, his hands were shaking. Now, he was no longer sure of things.

Something had changed. Something had changed for him, for me. Something had changed in this Kingdom of darkness, and I was the reason for that.

And then it hit me. The reason he was telling me this, the reason that Gulliver had been so angry to see me in Dracul’s arms.

“But… I’m not a virgin anymore.”