The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon

MIRA

“Are you sure you can do that?”, Derrien’s hand is sliding across my back in a soothing motion.

“Yes”, I shrug at his touch and he looks surprised, “We need to do this now before you dirty the space with your dark magic.”Original content from NôvelDrama.Org.

That was harsh. And now even Brandon Sevill looks surprised at my words. I shouldn’t let my personal feeling get in the way. I was taught better than that. I change to my magical vision and look carefully around the room. I scan every inch of the room but find no traces of any spells, no shards this time… nothing. Fawn is hanging above a table, on the table lies a chair… She probably put it on top to get the rope to the chandelier and then kicked it. I check her aura and see nothing peculiar. It’s fading, almost gone. That means that she died hours ago, probably around midnight.

I go back to my normal vision and meet the expectant gazes of the gerdians in the room, shaking my head to let them know that I found nothing.

“I haven’t noticed anything unusual as well”, Brandon sighs, “Can I put her down now?”

“Yes, please”, I nod, shiver goes down my spine at the thought. But, again, I need to be strong.

Dark smoke surrounds Fawn’s body and she is carefully put down on the table. Brandon starts carefully examining her body while I notice how pale my friend is. That must have been a horrible death…

“There are no traces of any fight on her”, Sevill concludes, “She didn’t struggle. It looks like she did it herself and she did it willingly.”

“Only she was not the kind of person to do something like that!”, I interrupt his trail of thought, “Fawn would never…”

“You didn’t know her for that long”, Derrien places his hands on my shoulders and I shake them off.

“I knew her enough to know that she wouldn’t end her life! And even if she did – she wouldn’t do it like that! Not it the dining hall for everyone to see! Fawn was a timid person, she was not a drama queen!”

“I hate to say it, but she was with Dargen. What if he was too brutal for her to tolerate…”, Brandon suggests.

“There are no traces though”, Rien points out.

Dark smoke appears not far from us and lord Dargen quickly comes closer.

“What the chaos, Derwood?!”, he grits through his teeth, “Why haven’t you called for me?”

“Your highness”, Derrien and Brandon do quick bows, and I curtsy.

“Raise, Mira,” Ryden smiles softly as if we are not standing in front of a corpse of one of his favourites, “Drop the formalities when you are with me. I allow it.”

I notice how Derrien flinches at his words but stays silent.

“Thank you, your Highness”, I say and raise.

“What a pity”, Dargen sighs artificially looking at Fawn, “She was a sweet girl. Have you found anything?”

“Nothing suspicious, your Highness”, Brandon reports, “For now it looks like a suicide. Has anything…happened maybe between the two of you?”

“I ended things with her yesterday”, Ryden says calmly, “She was a nice girl, but not fit to become an empress. I have someone else in mind for that role…”

At these words Derrien slowly steps in front of me, covering me from Dargen’s sight. And I hear the Crown Prince chuckle at that.

“Well, that sounds like a reason to end her life…”, lord Sevill says slowly, probably grasping the situation.

“Oh, please!”, I step forward, “Fawn wasn’t power-greedy! And you were together for what? Like two days? No offense, your Highness, but that is not enough of a reason to end one’s life! Not like this! None of this is Fawn! She wouldn’t…”

“Oh, Mira”, Dargen smiles, “You are not like any other girl in here. You wouldn’t understand how weak others are. How much is at stake for a commoner like Fawn… She was so close to having everything and yet…”

“For a commoner like Fawn it would be a win even to marry a simple knight”, I retort.

“Enough, Mira”, Derrien turns to me, covering me from the prince again, “It’s all too much for you. You need to go and rest…”

“I need a drop of her b***d and a lock of her hair”, I say firmly, “I need to check those myself.”

“Alright”, Rien nods to his friend and Brandon gets out a dagger. At the same time, a tiny box and a small glass bottle appear out of nowhere.

“Mira,” Derrien takes me by my shoulders, “Please, take what you need and go to your room. Wait for me and I will come as soon as I am free. Stay there and do not go anywhere.”

I nod, avoiding his gaze. And he doesn’t say anything else.

I soon as I get what I need, I curtsy abruptly and walk away, without saying anything. Tristan, whom I didn’t even notice, opens the doors for me.

“Be careful, Mira,” he whispers before I walk out. I hide the box and the bottle in the pocket of my dress.

Morgan is waiting for me in the hall and we both fall into each other’s arms as soon as we see each other.

“I can’t believe this!”, she sobs, “It can’t be happening!”

“And yet it did,” I sigh, “Morgan, from now on keep and stay quiet. Bad things are happening here!”

“What do you mean?”, she distances herself from me, looking puzzled, “Hasn’t she killed herself? Everybody talks about it! Isidore…”

“Isidore should shut up too”, I snap and then rub my forehead, feeling tired, “Morgan, we are not safe here. None of us are.”

“Gods, Mira, what are you…”, she starts talking and gasps, “Mira, you mean that Bella didn’t just get expelled from here and left?”

“Someone killed her”, I whisper, “We’d better not talk about it here and now, though. Come later to my room and we’ll discuss everything.”

“Alright”, my friend nods, “Lady Cecilia is waiting for all of us to gather in the class. ”

“Unbelievable”, I roll my eyes but follow my friend. On the other hand, I don’t want to sit in my room alone and wait for Derrien anyway.

The class is buzzing, I hear sobs here and there and only Isidore sits and looks annoyed. Even her minions Alexandra and Ariadna have wet eyes.

We walk to our seats and I shiver when I pass Fawn’s desk. Xia and Desirae look shaken as well and we give each other quick hugs.

“I can’t believe she did this”, Xia whispers.

“That’s because she probably didn’t”, I say and see that Desirae agrees with me fully.

“That’s what I was telling everybody”, the commoner girl nods at me.

“I hope the gerdians would find out the truth fast”, Xia adds quietly, “What were you doing there, though?”

“They let me scan the room for human magic”, I whisper so that others do not hear us, “But there was nothing.”

Lady Cecilia walks into the room and we all stand up to greet her. She looks older today somehow. All this probably wasn’t easy on her as well.

“Ladies, I gathered you now,” she starts with her high voice, “To discuss the upcoming talent show!”

I am speechless…