The Dragon Prince's Flower

chapter 9

Daegon wandered through the crowd, his heart lit from within as he eagerly searched for his mother.
She accepted him. Daliah is his princess now. She is his bride. He couldnt believe it himself, but the bond did not lie to him, he felt her moving through the halls and scaling a set of stairs behind front of the ballroom, presumably to announce her official entrance. His heart swelled with pride for her, debuting to the nobility as an already engaged woman. No doubt the scourge of the ton would be falling over themselves for her, but she only had eyes for him. The thought sent waves of heat and desire palpitating through his body to his fingertips. He squeezed his way past a group of gaudily-dressed princesses from neighboring kingdoms, giggling and gossiping like a crowd of hens over their champagne glasses. Some stopped to stare at him, obvious desire glinting in their eyes.

Daegon did not take a moment to notice them. He already had his bride. No one else mattered. He scanned the room again, catching a glimpse of his mother's platinum gold hair as she talked with a small gathering of her own just as he collided with a man as tall as he was, wearing a black and gold suit. A golden diadem resting on his face, obscuring some of his features, but not the sharp and cold glare of silver eyes looking down on him. Daegon's interest piqued. The silver was the same shade as Daliah's.

"I beg your pardon, sir. I should have paid more attention to where i was going." Daegon smiled politely, genuinely feeling apologetic. This man did not deserve to be brutalized by mistake on such a happy day for Daegon.

"You will beg." He said to Daegon, sneering and wiping his suit with the side of his hand, anger and annoyance clear as day on his face, even behind his golden filligree mask.

"Excuse me?" Daegon squinted, not appreciating the tone this man had toward him. If only he knew who he was speaking to.

"You are excused, but know your place, worm. You just rammed into the Prince of Regalis, I am Icarus Row-Arture Regalis. You should bow when greeting a prince." Icarus's glare hardened at Daegon, his jaw tightening. Oh, Daegon realized. This was her brother.

"You should be understanding of your place, Prince Icarus." Daegon said, returning a glare just as sharp. "You aren't the only royal here today. Your actions and tone reflect on your entire house, as does mine." He said, shoving past Icarus with a shoulder-check. He could hear the arrogant prince scoff behind him as he walked away, returning to his mission of finding his mother.

Misandi sneered as she stood beside Aurelia as he approached his family. She was whispering something in her ear, he could clearly hear her talking about Icarus with disdain. She must have heard the interaction he just had with the prick.

"Mother!" He called, her eyes turning to look at him, a small glint of excitment lighting her eyes at his clear-as-day light steps.

"You found her?" She asked as Daegon stood in front of her, her hands outstretching to grab his.

"I did." He said happily, the smile on his face creeping into a soft grin

"She accepted?" Aurelia squeezed his hand, a smile growing on her own face

"She did." He said, feeling her heart beating softly in his. The feeling was like he'd been made whole, after so many years of being alone, he'll never be so again.

"What wonderful news! We will start the preparations to bring her home with us after the ball tonight." Aurelia said, looking to Misandi, grinning from ear to ear as she excitedly hugged her brother.

"Im so happy for you, little brother!" She said, squeezing him in her grip, an undignified action for a princess, but she cared little for the view of her dignity. She attended these parties for fun and amusement, not the reasons the human nobles did.