The Prince's Songbird Slave ✔️

I Swear

Thoughts around time of publishing - I now have a new name, I love how people never get my actual one right.

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I stared absentmindedly out of the window, trying to ignore the relief I felt that it was still raining - Evelyn hated the rain and had waved goodbye to me at the door of the lodge rather than risk getting wet. It meant that she would be safe inside watching TV instead of wondering about outside where she might run into Freya's fans. Or was it Brand I was more worried about her running into?

Just two days had passed since she'd worn that silver dress and we'd been formally welcomed to the Gaithering. In that short time they'd already become alarmingly close.

I didn't like it.

Not just because I liked her - I'd like to think I'm not that shallow, although I can't deny that I was petty enough to be jealous of their new found friendship. And it wasn't just because id seen his fingers skim her back when he tied proper bows in the silver laces of her dress. Of that he could make her laugh when he whispered jokes in her ear. But it was because something about it seemed sneaky. Freya didn't even seem to care about their growing 'friendship', and that also worried me - wasn't she so possessive of what she thought was hers that sheen listed people to hurt Evelyn last time? I doubted that two years could cause someone like that to chance.

I was well on my way to becoming a nervous wreck trying to work out what she had planned.

I came back to reality when the person in front of me was called forward and disappeared into a small room, and I was forced to focus my attention on remembering what I had to say next.

This was actually a really important moment, the part of the gathering where newlings swore their loyalty to the empire. It might not sound like much, and you might think you just have to half-heartedly repeat some lines, but it wasn't that simple.

The Royals never started any fights or wars between Kingdoms, therefore relationships between the kingdoms were always kept peaceful, though many negotiations still had to take place regarding the trading of goods.

This piece was enforced by the vows I was about to undertake... So I'd better not screw up.

I ran through my promises in my head a few times before the door opened and it was finally my turn.

The outside of the room was fairly humble, smooth stone walls and a solid oak door with patterns etched into it, but the inside was grand. It had a marble floor with flecks of gold flayed through the stone, the marble floor covered be a thick red velvet carpet. The furnishings were made of either dark mahogany or gold, and the room was lit by ethril flame - the breath of dragons long since extinct.

A smooth chuckle reached me ears, drifting from the chair draped in velvet and gold.

"Of all the creatures that roamed this earth dragons were my favourite - their majesty was undeniable," the seated lady paused. "Indescribable," she corrected herself, and waved to a seat opposite her.

I walked over to it and sat down, staring at the table between us, my mind racing.

What if I said something wrong? What if somehow I failed?

"I was given a dragon when I was just a girl," she told me sadly, "it was one of the last few. Back then I had a name, but now only the heavens know what it was, in the many centuries that have past it has long faded to dust and been scattered in the wind. Take pride in your name, Nate Trisenta, do not forsake it."

I looked up, startled that she knew my name. For the first time I really saw the lady before me, the old lady with silvery hair that fell to the floor. Soft creases marked her face but her eyes were as strong and clear as a young adults.