The Dragon King

Chapter 21

King Elyas Andry of Sarkin

EMBERHELM, VRINIAN

"Air..." Elyas is confused for a moment as Marnie keeps saying the word over and over again, but then he realizes that she can't breathe.

Before anyone can stop him, he picks her up and whisks her outside. He sets her down on the ground and kneels to her side. Her eyes are closed, and her rigid breaths ease back to normal. "Marnie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean...."

"I know. It is alright." Marnie shakes her head and opens her eyes. "I'm alright." She stares up at him, and still not believing he is even here. He had not stopped worrying about her since she was taken, and he may never stop. For a fraction of a second, as she looks up at him, he thinks that everything is just fine and forgets the tense and dangerous situation.

"No, you're not!" The voice of Marnie's brother is at their side, and both look up to meet his fierce gaze. "You gave her a panic attack! The very thought of marrying you caused her to stop breathing."

Elyas stands up to face Zircon, hoping to get her brother to see reason, maybe even to understand. "She is not safe here. She will never be safe here as long as your friend is lurking about and do not think that just because his father forbids him to pursue her will keep him away from her. If anything, he will want her more."

"Do not worry about Roland. He won't have the chance to go near her again." Zircon's voice is like a sharp edge of a knife, slowing slicing away pieces of hope Elyas has in taking Marnie back to Sarkin. "I am her brother, and I am the only one who can protect her, regardless of what anyone thinks." Despite his stubbornness and anger, even Elyas can see that tiny flicker of doubt. He failed to protect his sister so many times, and there is no way he could make it a promise.

"Really?" Elyas can't help himself now. Zircon is acting like a stubborn child refusing to give up a toy, rather than a grown man realizing what his sister wants isn't always what he wants. "Where were you when your family died?" Zircon flinches, and Elyas can see the pain he has inflicted. He almost feels sorry for saying it, but he doesn't take it back. "You can't protect everyone, Zircon. You may be a captain now, and you may protect this city, but when have you actually ever protected her? You left her alone to be harassed by your best friend for years. You want to make up to her for leaving her when your family died. You can't stand the guilt. Marnie may stay, but you won't. The guilt of the past is chasing you like a demon from Hell, and the only way you see in keeping it at a distance is to keep yourself fighting, good vs. evil. You can't stay still, for it will never be enough." Elyas glances at Marnie to see that she is watching Zircon. "She doesn't need a protector. She is quite capable of protecting herself. What she needed was her brother, and he was never there."

"You are not going to take her away from me." Zircon's voice is surprisingly calm, as though he has always known he needed Marnie more than she needed him.

Elyas laughs against his better judgment. "Do you even hear yourself? Do you even know what she wants? Have you ever asked her? Do you even know her?" Elyas knows that he has to keep his anger at bay, for he can't afford to hurt Zircon. Marnie would never forgive him. A second of doubt crosses Zircon's face, and Elyas realizes that Zircon doesn't know as much as Elyas had thought. "She hasn't told you." Zircon glances at Marnie, and Elyas fights the urge to do the same. Instead, he decides that maybe he should tell Zircon. He might understand then. "I wanted Marnie to see me as I truly am and not for what the realm has labeled me as. That is the reason she was in Sarkin. She was never in any danger. She could have left anytime she wanted to, and I wouldn't have stopped her."

"But why her? Why my sister?" Zircon is trying to make sense of everything; for the puzzle pieces to fall into place. Perhaps it might not be a good idea for Elyas to tell him, for he might not like where those pieces fall. "She couldn't have been a random target, a victim of opportunity." The moment his mind realizes what he said, he starts to see the truth. "You chose her on purpose. That creature took her for a reason."