The Dragon Bride | ✔️

Chapter Nine

Aph's POV

They were happy times. Lucien was born and the King and Queen were delighted to have him as an heir to the throne of Ignatia. At first, everything seemed to be running along swimmingly.

But as Lucien grew older, he showed less and less interest in learning the ways of how to rule a kingdom, how to fight, how to do anything a king does.

All he ever did was read. Whether it was poetry, non-fiction or mystery, he would read for hours on end. And the King was not happy about it. He didn't like the fact that Lucien was neglecting his duties just to read a bunch of old, dusty books. He didn't really understand Lucien, and hardly talked to him much. Lucien and King Isin had barely anything in common.

But when Synn was born, the King and Queen pinned their hopes on him. Unlike his older brother, Synn did as he was told and fought and learnt how to do everything that Lucien neglected. The King banished the two from seeing each other, in case Lucien influenced Synn too much with his daydreaming ways. But that didn't stop the pair. They met up at night, in the old abandoned watch tower, and Lucien would read to Synn. He would always be enchanted by his older brother, his ideas, his outside-the-box way of thinking.

He often wished that they could see each other more often, but knew that he had to continue with training during daylight hours. Even so, Lucien was still heir to the throne. The King and Queen could only hope that Synn would guide him as a King.

The two brothers held a strong, unbreakable bond. In fact, it was Lucien who rescued young Dahlia from a forest fire, an attack by human freedom fighters. She was half-dragon, half-angel. Quite the abomination. As a little girl, she was incessantly harassed and picked on because of her unspeakable heritage and it was Lucien who helped her through it.

He helped her become stronger, and of course the three of them – Lucien, Synn and Dahlia – were close friends. All three of them were misfits, and that's why they belonged together.

But of course, as any dragon king has to, he needed a bride. A dragon bride. The pearl selected a siren for his bride. She was of noble descent and as everyone in the kingdom agreed, kind and smart and gentle enough to be Queen. But Lucien rejected her. The entire kingdom was in shock. Not only did he defy the black pearl, but he missed an opportunity to give his kingdom an excellent Queen. But of course, there was a reason. How could anyone marry someone when they are in love with someone else?

And Lucien was in love with a human. Of course the royal family were outraged but they couldn't stop him. He married her, and they lived quite happily together for a long time. Or so everyone thought. One day, Synn walked into his brother's room to find the most horrific, heartbreaking sight ever seen.

Do you know how to kill a dragon?

You rip its scales off, one by one, until it is a creature of no importance or power. It is the most inhuman thing to do to any creature. So it is quite ironic that it was a mere human who did it. To Lucien.

Synn had to watch as this woman ripped off each of his brother's scales, him screaming in pain and agony, begging her to stop, tears of betrayal falling from his eyes until he finally died. The sight of it broke Synn and everything he once was. The royal family of course sentenced the woman to death, but even death cannot heal scars. Synn cried his eyes out for so long, and he wasn't ever the same again. He had a newfound hate for humans, and who could blame him?

The King and Queen couldn't let anyone outside the palace know that their son, heir to the throne of Ignatia, was actually killed by a powerless human. It would be the talk of the century, and they'd never live it down. So instead they spread that he shamefully ran away with her, never to be seen again.

And now Synn wants his revenge. Once he's King, he plans to drive out the humans in Ignatia by any means. He knows nobody would dare argue. Nobody would even care much. It's just a bunch of humans, after all.

"And that's why I'm telling you, Kora, to stop him. I know not all humans are such cruel, vile beings. You of all people should know that. So please Kora. Help humanity."