Wings, Beasts and Claws: Amethyst Flame

Ch. 11 : Through His Eyes

*Prince Dorian*

I should have known that things weren’t as I was told. I should have picked up on the signs before my opinion of someone had formed. It should have been easy for me to notice these things… if I wasn’t blinded by false friendship and lies.

My choice of friends and those I kept close to me had always been a long and tedious process. I didn’t care for those that wanted to suck up to me just because of my station in life. I didn’t want those that saw me as a tool to better their lives or as some omnipotent guard that would let them get away with anything they did wrong. But even through all the nit-picking and information gathering, a fraud still sometimes managed to get through and join my inner circle.

This was the case with the Du Pleasant brothers, Marcus and Samuel.

I had met them during my time at the Academy and, after months of casual greetings without anything suspicious coming up, I allowed them to join my small circle of friends. They were smart and charismatic guys that liked to joke around and gain attention from the ladies. They dated many different girls but never truly settled into a permanent relationship. Thankfully, they didn’t use their newly formed friendship with me to gain more or used me in their little pick-up lines. So I let them stay and warmly welcomed their younger sister Rosanna when she joined the Academy.

It was clear to me from day one that she was enamored with me, but I paid her no mind, being the younger sister of my friends. She would make it a point to stay close to me and wear things that were a touch too revealing for a young Lady. But I just brushed it off as an innocent crush that would more than likely fade with time.

As our little circle grew closer with the passing years I heard stories of cruelty and cold-blooded abuse from Rosanna.

She had claimed that she was secretly the Duke’s illegitimate daughter and was being mistreated by everyone in the family except Marcus and Samuel. Her tear-filled tales of whippings, beatings and confinement within the Du Pleasant estate enraged me. And all that rage was soon targeted towards one person.

Amara Du Pleasant, the Duke and Duchess’ only daughter.

I was made to believe Rosanna's painful stories, so when the time came to pick out the twelve Noblewomen that would become Queeness’, I made sure to add her in. It didn’t matter to me that I felt no connection to her Inner-Light when I was around her, I felt like I needed to get her out of there. To help her escape that deplorable situation.

Then came the day that the Royal physician returned from weeks of travel.

He had been away to examine the remaining candidates to ensure the health of my future Queen. And at my command he came straight to my office and reported his findings. But everything he told me wasn’t what I had been told to believe. And after relaying the basic information about the rest of the Noblewomen, I grew suspicious. Rosanna was in perfect physical health. There were no signs of healing wounds or malnutrition of any kind. She was well fed and well treated by the Duchess and servants while the physician was present. Yet when he approached her sister Amara, it was a completely different story.

The Duchess herself insulted Amara, calling her all sorts of names and even telling the physician that he didn’t need to bother with checking her. That he could make up his report about her and just move along so he wouldn’t waste his time. The physician even stated that Lady Amara didn’t have an assigned Handmaid and the servants of the estate were nowhere to be seen when she was in her room. She prepared her own tea and was all alone when she was examined by the physician.

No maid to ensure she wouldn’t feel uncomfortable.

No Knight standing guard outside to protect her from this unknown man.

Not even a spare change of clothes was set out by a maid afterwards.

But that wasn’t the end of it either. The physician had also been tasked to take one thing from each of the Ladies during the examination. It needed to be something small, and easy to lose track of, something that looked to have been worn by the Lady recently. And so I took this moment to look through the small bags that had come from each house, wanting to give myself a quiet moment to process everything I had just learned. These bags took up most of my focus though and didn’t have names because the physician was meant to be the only one who knew what object belonged to which Lady. The reason for this was simple, I needed to hold this small object and get a sense for its owner and see if their Inner-Light called out to me.

An Inner-Light is what our people consider to be the Soul or the aura that allowed you to be born into this world. It can be seen when a child is born and then once again right before you die, so many people don’t know what their own Inner-Light looks like.

But dragons are different.

We are gifted with the ability to see each person's individual Light when we’re around them. But even with this ability we can’t interpret the meaning of the colors we see or understand what it means when they change in shade or into a completely different color. All we can do is use it to find the person whose Light calls out to us. The one that is meant to complete us. This is why I needed to go through these stolen things in secret, it was the final phase of the selection that would guarantee that I would find my future Queen.

Sadly this method only showed me whose Light was most compatible with mine. I would still need to get to know these women and watch how their Lights change with the more I spent time with them. The dimmer it got, the less compatible we are. The brighter it got, the stronger a chance that a Bond would form.

So I wasn’t expecting anything grand while I was checking these items, and was stunned out of my seat when I held a thick silver bracelet.

It’s light was brighter than I had anticipated, nearly blinding my mind's eyes the second I touched it. It was a deep violet color with swirls of spinning silver and blue. Almost as if I was staring at the night sky at sunset. It took my breath away and I immediately demanded to know who the owner of this bracelet was. But rules had to be followed in this instance and I was left in the dark.

So I reached out to Marcus and Samuel just as the final twelve were making their way to the Palace, wanting to know the truth behind Rosanna's tales as well as distract myself from that ethereal Light.

Most High ranking Nobles and large businesses and Academies had small solid black or chrome metal phones that allowed one to call another's home. They were enchanted tools that lasted for a few months before needing to be replaced, which was an expensive endeavor. So only those with very High social and financial standing had one. They weren’t highly used unless absolutely necessary since letters only took a day or two to reach the sender thanks to the widely used charmed aerial delivery system. And it was with this phone that I contacted the Du Pleasant brothers who were doing volunteer work in our old Academy.

But they kept dodging my questions, bringing up different topics and even complaining about how both sisters were on their way to the Palace when they only wanted one to attend. My suspicion grew even more when they both started talking about our Kingdom's current standing with the other Dragon Royals. Their questions were small and almost innocent, yet the probing and digging that they were doing was obvious.

An argument soon broke out between us when I lied and gave them an opinion that they clearly disagreed with. They even gave away that becoming my Advisors after I was Crowned was going to be a very difficult job for them. So I told them, then and there that I was never planning to name them as my Advisors or grant them seats on my Council, and they quickly snapped. Yelling accusations, hurling insults and even claiming that I would bring the Kingdom to its ruin. It infuriated me to find out that they had planned to get close to me from the beginning and that I hadn’t been able to detect their deceit.

So I reminded them of who I was, explaining their insults and crimes, even going so far as to describe their punishment if they didn’t take back their words and bow down. That changed their tunes and they rushed to apologize, attempting to explain away their behavior. It became obvious that they were still holding on to a sliver of hope at gaining my favor, returning to their friendly words and planning future outings with me and my other close friends. But I cut them out and the rest of my close-knit group turned their backs on them.

It was after this that I had decided to keep an open mind towards all the Ladies that would be a part of the competition, including Lady Amara. But I ran into her and Lady Du Pleasant before the official welcoming.

Rosanna had been in the middle of insulting her and even raised her hand to strike her when I cut in. I had expected for this violet eyed brunette to use this moment in her favor. To play the part of a victim and maybe cry out against Rosanna, turning her into a villain.

But she didn’t.

She remained calm and partially shocked as we all stood there. I had urged her to get her arm treated, wondering who she was, since at the time I had thought that Rosanna’s sister would be blonde, just like her. But she shocked us all when she manifested a brilliant ball of deep amethyst flames within her palm. Its core was a deep blue with various shades of purple dancing between her fingers. She then placed that small flame over her cuts and sighed, pulling back to show that those very tendrils of fire had healed her, leaving behind nothing but thin pink lines.

I can still see her shy and hesitant face when she turned to look at us all, clearly searching our faces as we slowly processed what we had just seen. It hit me seconds later that she was a NonShifter and I took in a deep breath to confirm this before both Ladies walked away. Their scents were clearly different, with Rosanna’s being much stronger and her auras presence being more wolf-like, while this mystery brunette’s scent was much softer and somehow reminded me of the warmth of the sun… or maybe the heat of an open flame.

I later learned who she was and the truth of her parentage, seeing now that Rosanna had been so shameless from the very beginning. She had used her half-sisters story as her own, weaving it to her use and blinding me to what type of person she truly was. It made me feel pathetic and frustrated with myself for believing her lies. I thought back to all the times that I had offered to visit her estate to help her in some way, but she always declined. She’d twist up different situations and managed to convince me to stay away. But now that things were out in the open, I was determined to keep the Du Pleasant family from sinking their greedy hands into me or anyone in the Fafner family’s care.

It was also during the official meeting that I caught a glimpse of who the real Amara Delphia was. Her stories about her mother, the little smiles and giggles that passed through her, the way she looked up to her brother when he would speak, it was all warm and kind and tender. Her rare amethyst eyes were alight with each new memory she would tell us and there was an aura of peace that surrounded her when she fully lost herself in that joy filled past.

So as she and her brother and maid made their way out of the room I decided to open my minds eye and take a look at her Inner-Light. I was instantly blown away by the bright dancing violet Light that emanated from her. It was the same Light that I had seen when I held the silver bracelet and was just a few shades brighter than the purple healing flames she had shown me just moments before.

After she was gone I wasn’t able to focus anymore, feeling anxious and impatient to see her again.

I wanted to see if this brilliant Light of hers was going to grow if I got to know her more. If I spent time with her and let the Bond begin to form between us. But she kept her distance from me. Almost as if she didn’t feel a pull or connection with me at all. It confused and frustrated me as I watched her during dinner, blocking out the mindless chatter that was Rosanna. She was visibly staying as far as she could from me, distancing herself as a candidate as well as staying out of all the other Ladies' cold gossip.

Once I was back in my room later that night I struggled to rest or find a single comfortable position in bed. So I got up and started wandering around the Palace grounds, greeting some Knights on patrol and grabbing something light to eat as I walked. I somehow managed to make it to the Queeness Palace and caught sight of Lady Delphia making her way back inside through the back door. I followed quickly and was saddened at the state I caught her in.

Her hand was tightly wrapped in a fluffy looking cover and stained with crimson that looked to be coming from that very hand. Her eyes were pink and slightly swollen with a glazed over look that seemed almost haunted as she made her way to her room. The peaks of her cheekbones and the tip of her nose were pink as well, alerting me to how much she had been crying.

I wanted to help her somehow, to ease that sorrow and pain that was written all over her pale face. But I couldn’t make myself step out, and before I could convince myself that it would be fine to approach her, she was back in her room.

The days that followed were torturous as the first challenge had been announced and the Queeness’ were all busy preparing for the festival. Yet I still made time to walk by the Queeness Palace, silently hoping that I’d see her. But my luck didn’t hold out and I spent three days with idle conversation with the other candidates that I'd run into. Thankfully, the first day of the festival arrived and I was able to see her again.

I instantly opened myself to her Inner-Light and couldn’t help but smile, seeing how that brilliant violet aura pulsed in rhythm with her heartbeat. And it was after a few hours of greetings and tiresome political conversation with Nobles that I saw her again. Only this time she was accompanied by my very energetic and mischievous nephew. They were weaving through the stands and chatting along happily, with Lady Amara holding his hand as he pulled her along. Seeing her warm smile and how brightly my usually cautious nephew was looking at her allowed me to see another facet of her personality.

She was playful, patient and almost maternal in the way she treated my nephew. And he very much liked this type of attention. So I was grateful when he spotted me and led her to me, giving me a chance to speak to her. Yet, for all the things I wanted to ask and learn about her, all I was able to foolishly do was apologize for the past. Though I did get to tease her a bit when we had arrived at the Palace. And my nephew made matters worse after kissing her hand, making her already pink face become another few shades darker.

Then came the night of her dance, and I felt drawn to her even more.

She was beautiful, angelic, hypnotic, and alluring. She took my breath away and blinded me with the dancing flames that trailed after her as she moved. I couldn’t look away, and when the end was nearing her deep amethyst eyes locked with mine for just a second. That’s when I felt it. A Bond was already forming.

I didn’t know how to proceed after feeling it. How do I tell her? Should I tell her? Would it confuse her since we barely know each other? Would she be frightened? She never showed any interest in even becoming Queen, would she change her mind if she knew?

So many questions raced through my mind as I tried to analyze every angle. But even though I felt lost on what to do next, I was certain of one thing.

Amara Delphia was going to be my Queen.