TAKEN BY THE DRAGON KING

Chapter 20 Royal Blood

Dracul pov.

I turned to Gulliver, surprised at his words. He wanted me to bring Elena and now he was asking her to leave?

“What?” Elena said, looking surprised.

I couldn’t blame her. I swallowed the confusion and turned to look at her fully, “Elena, could you wait outside, I will be with you in a moment.”

She looked at me, and then at Gulliver. I expected her to get angry, to ask questions, to be her usual feisty self, but she didn’t say a word.

Instead, she pressed her lips together in a tight line and nodded. Turning without a word, she left through the wide doors, letting them, banged shut behind her.

“What was that about?” I said, turning on Gulliver.

I always felt uneasy around him. I felt uneasy around magic in general, around something I didn’t fully understand, something that felt dangerous and dark and untamed.

I didn’t know want game Gulliver was playing and I never felt like he was being straight with me. He wasn’t lying, but it was like he was dumbing things down.

I hated the feeling, but his conduct was unfailingly respectful. And besides, I needed him. I needed him if I wanted to save my people.

I would have to talk to Elena later and explain what was going on. I didn’t want to have her dragged all the way here for no reason.

That wasn’t fair on her. Even if I had enjoyed what happened in the carriage as a consequence. Even if I did enjoy her company and her touch.

I shook off the thought and focused on the task at hand.

“What do you mean, My Lord?” Gulliver said.

“You know full well if what I mean. You wanted Elena here, yet you asked her to go outside for privacy.” I said,

“why?”

He hummed and I took are a deep breath to steady my racing heart and the tension that was pounding through my chest.

“I didn’t know you want her presence for the full explanation.” He said, shrugging with a roll of his shoulder, “I didn’t know how much you had told her.”

I bit the inside of my cheeks to hold my tongue. Truth to be told, I haven’t told her anything, not really. That was something she constantly reminded me about, but I didn’t exactly have a choice.

This was the private of my kingdom and I couldn’t let anyone know that there was a weak point in our defenses, that we didn’t have the might we said we did.

I needed to keep our people safe and that wasn’t that easy.

I had feelings for Elena, a complicated, a feeling that I couldn’t see to untangle.

But that didn’t mean I could trust her with inside secrets from our kingdom’s most private knowledge. And while I knew I needed her and her help, I didn’t yet know the details. Gulliver had been spending the past month deciphering ancient code, ancient texts.

I was putting the pieces together and picking them up as I went along. It was the only thing I could try and stay ahead of the curve.

Gulliver signed slowly and I could almost feel the weight of his knowledge,

“Alright, so the spell… it hasn’t been used in a long time, My Lord. It has been complicated.”

“Well, we haven’t had a situation like this in a long time.” I snapped back, feeling the tension rise.

“Our kingdom is dying, My Lord.” He said, his voice edgy and hard. I swallowed, feeling the weight of his words.

“Our kingdom itself. The land, the earth, the very light that bright our sustenance. It is dying. Magic is our last defense to replenish what science had been unable to do.”

My heart twisted In my chest. I hated his words because I knew they were all true.

My kingdom was dying and the terrible weight of this reality consumed my thoughts, governed all my actions.

It was the reason I brought Elena here. It was the reason I had pulled away from her when? I wanted nothing but desire. It was why I kept my distance, why I worked late at the night office.

It was all to find a way to save my kingdom. It was all in the pursuit of something better, something to save our people.

And I couldn’t let anyone knows that, not yet. Not until I had a solution.

And so far, no one had a solution. Not a single advisor or expert had been able to help me.

Until now, Gulliver has brought me something that looks like hope.

A solution.

I wanted a solution, even if it meant making unusual choices. I wanted the solution, no matter what the cost. At least that was what I told myself.

Standing here right now, I was starting to feel the first stringing thought of doubt in my chest.

“I know what is happening in my own kingdom.” I said. My voice was low and I had to pull in the threat that hung on my tongue.

“Apologies, My Lord.” Gulliver said, but he seemed anything but apologetic, “Permission to continue?”

“Of course. Hurry up.” I said quickly. I didn’t want to drag this out for any longer than necessary.

“Well, my Lord… as you know, we needed a princess, one of royal blood.” He said, “One pure and virgin. That is critical.”

I felt my stomach clenched at his word and I nodded,

“I know. And we have her. Now what?”I said the trepidation entering me slowly,

“What does she need to do?”

I had brought her here to save our kingdom, to do whatever it took. I did not care about her, her feelings, or her want…. at least, I hadn’t at first.

And now, I was starting to feel very differently. Now I wanted to know what she needed to do, not just for the sake of my kingdom, but for her sake. I wanted to know what Elena needed to do.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

Maybe I can convince her. We are closer now. Maybe she will do it willing… whatever it is.

I thought back to our conversation in the carriage, her willingness to help, to look past the fact that I was a dragon. A monster, to her kind.

Maybe all hope wasn’t lost.

“Do?” Gulliver said, frowning.

“Yes, do. To save the kingdom. Bring the magic to life.” I said.

Virgins were pure. Their powers were incredible when channeled through magic. It was innate, in everyone. And one royal blood, well… that had only left Elena in surrounding the kingdoms.

“She does not have to do anything. We do.” Gulliver said.

He turned and walked over to his desk, pulling a few pieces of paper beneath his heavy tomes of inks.

There was a look of intense concentration on his face, and I watched as he pulled out paper and lay it down on the table closest to me.

There was a surety to his hands and a conviction in his eyes that I had to admire. I had a feeling that nothing could shake his belief in magic, in spell work, in everything that held his world together.

I wished, for a fleeting second, that my world felt just as certain.

“You see, she had to be a virgin for the spell to work. Purity is extremely powerful in this kind of spell. And you can not find a purity like that within our race.” He looked at me and I nodded slowly.

It was long believed that our race was tainted and cursed. The dragon was fated to be born in darkness and live their days in the same dank dark despair.

No purity for us, even for the most untouched maiden. That was why it had to be a human.

“Why royalty, though?” I asked.

“Ah, well, it could be any virgin. But royalty makes the small that much more potent, stronger. Royal blood is special.” Gulliver said knowingly.

“Royal.. blood?” I asked. There was dread in my stomach, and uncertainty, an unease that I didn’t understand fully.

I know that royalty was strong, bloodlines that could be traced back to Enos. But I didn’t understand why that mattered for the spell. Or what Gulliver meant when he said that Elena didn’t have to do anything.

I was sick of being in the dark about my own kingdom.

“What do you mean, Gulliver?” I said, my voice sharp and hard.

“Well , obviously we want strong blood,” Gulliver said, not looking the least bit phased.

“When we sacrifice Elena and activate the spell, we’re are going to need the most potent blood possible.” Gulliver said, “Otherwise we’ll have to kill more virgins.”

My world stopped and my heart skipped a beat in my chest.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I couldn’t believe what I was being asked to do.

Gulliver wanted us to sacrifice Elena…