Love Before Blood

Chapter 6

Avalon's POV

I held on tight to Azriel for the entire flight to the Land of Drakes. The wind was howling in my ears, and it hurt for a little bit. I initially buried my face into his shoulder when he took off because I didn’t want the mask to fly off, but after a while I turned my face away from his shoulder. I saw how amazing the clouds were, the different shades and colors in the clouds. At this point, I didn’t care if my mask flew off into the wind behind us.

We were flying so close this one cloud, I reached my hand out to touch it. Azriel knew what I wanted to do and soared a little higher for me to touch it. I gasped in surprise. It was cold, and when I pulled my hand out, it was slightly covered with water. We then flew straight through a cloud, but I didn’t feel cold at all. Azriel’s body and touch kept me warm.

I decided to look down a little, and I saw actual green trees and grass. They looked so tiny, they looked like dots. There was a herd of horses running through the hills. If I get to experience this for the rest of my life, I think I could get used to this. The flying. I chuckled to myself at the thought, and I could’ve sworn Azriel’s arms under my body shifted.

I looked behind me, and I saw his beautiful wings. They were black with white spots all over, like the night sky. Past his wings I saw his soldiers were wearing matching white uniforms.  And they were flying in a “V” formation. And in the middle of it, a huge black dragon with a navy blue was flying. And there was someone riding on its back, and I think that is Bryce. He didn’t look comfortable at all. In fact, he looked a little sick and wanted to be on the ground again.

Azriel’s hands shifted again but tighter this time. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders again, and he soared a lot higher than we were before above the clouds. When he straightened out, all I saw was a wall of rock. How is this mountain? Wait, is he going seriously to fly through it? Is he crazy?

I put my head into his chest this time and closed my eyes to brace myself for the impact, but there was none. I opened my eyes and there was no rock wall in front of us. It was around us with giant glowing crystals sticking out from the walls. 

The tunnel was huge. There were different dragons flying all over the place, each with a drake riding on them. The dragons had crystals sticking out of their back. “Welcome to the Land of Drakes,” Azriel whispered to me. A group of dragons flew right past us and out the tunnel. “The guards are doing a patrol to make sure no one followed us.”

I nodded my head in understanding. He landed on a platform decorated in white crystals. His landing was gentle. I looked back to see how the dragon landed, but I saw that Prince Azriel’s wings actually disappeared. As if they were never there. Bryce’s landing on the black dragon was a little rough. 

When Bryce got his feet onto the floor, he headed straight for the railing and vomited over the side of the platform onto the crystals. Poor Bryce... “Cassian, what did you do to him?” Azriel asked a man who was a bit taller than him.

“We were just flying,” a man with buff shoulders said,” I didn’t do anything on purpose to make him sick, honest.”

“Sorry,” I said softly. “My bodyguard, Bryce, has never flown before, and neither have I.”

“Don’t worry, Your Highness,” Cassian reassured me,” Your bodyguard will be fine. Hopefully.” I nodded my head. Cassian looks at Prince Azriel and says,” I don’t mean to be rude, sir, but when are you going to put the Princess down?”

In realization that he was still holding me, he set me down on the ground gently. My legs felt a little wobbly, and I nearly fell backwards. Good thing he caught me and saved me from an embarrassing moment. “It looks like your bodyguard isn’t the only one who’s not used to flying,” Cassian chuckles.

I felt heat crawl up my face, but it disappeared after I heard someone clearing their throat from behind us. “The King and Queen are expecting you, Prince Azriel,” she said.

Azriel then offered me his arm and I linked mine with his. The maid led us through a garden, but it looked more like a greenhouse. I could see the clouds rolling above the ceiling, and it felt so warm. In the garden, the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen was standing and looking over her crystals. She was wearing a gold dress decorated in gems arranged to look like flowers. On the other end of the path, there was a tall man with, I think, a crown on his head. That must be the king. “Queen Dia, Prince Azriel and his bride have come.”

She instantly turned to us and a smile lit her face. “Azriel, I’m so glad you came back safely.”

Azriel bowed and I followed suit by curtsying. “Mother, this is Princess Avalon from the Land of Humans,” he said after he got up.

“Welcome, darling. You didn’t unveil her yet, did you?” she asked in a serious voice.

“No, I didn’t,” he said,” You would’ve killed me if I did.”

“Not actually,” she said nervously. She turns to me and says,” Princess Avalon, thank you for coming and joining us in this marriage alliance.”

I curtsied and said,” I am honored to be here, Your Highness.”

She smiled at me and continued saying,” You must be tired. The wedding will be later this afternoon. If you’d like, we can show you to your room so you can rest for a bit.”

I nodded and said,” I would like that very much.”

The maid that led us here gestured for me to follow her. Like earlier today, Azriel released my hand and said,” I am going to stay for a bit to talk to her for a bit.”

I nodded and followed the maid.  The room wasn’t very far. After a few turns, we were already there. “A maid will be standing right outside this door. If you need anything, please let her know.”

“Thank you,” I said. The room wasn’t very big, there was only a dresser and a bed. There was a small window that showed the sky outside.

“We will wake you up in time for the wedding. Rest up as much as you can.” And she shuts the door. I carefully took the dress off and lay it on the side of the bed, trying my best not to wrinkle it, then took off my mask and shoes. I was left in my plain underwear. I didn’t have to wear the corset since I actually didn’t need it. God, it's such a beautiful dress. I noticed the bright light coming in from the windows and I gasped at the view.  It was like there was no land, just a sea of clouds that went on for miles. When my head hit the pillow, sleep took over immediately.

***

Everything is light and bright.  The sky was clear and blue, and the clouds were white. No more of that crappy room. But then I see a door. The door to my room back at the palace.

There was no wall.

Then it suddenly opened and a darkness slowly leaked out from it. “Do you really think you could escape my darkness?” asked a voice that sounded familiar.

“Who are you?” I asked as the darkness from that room slowly crept into the clouds, turning the clouds into a blood red and the sky grey.

“I believe that would be obvious.” Wait, it was my voice.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked.

“You will always have tainted blood,” my voice replied back. “And everything you touch will become tainted like you.”

“No...Stop, please!” I pleaded as the clouds underneath my feet turned red and the sky above me turned into a monotone color.

Then in the doorway, my mother stood there, facing me. She was wearing the clothes she was given after I agreed to the marriage alliance, a simple purple gown. Her face was expressionless. I wanted to run to her, but I was stuck in place.

I saw a pair of hands grab her and run her through with a sword. “You may have done this to save the people of your country, but you can’t even protect the person you love the most. Pathetic!”

Her spilt blood was black and it soon turned all the clouds into grey and then black.  It surrounded me and began to drown me like it did in that dream all those weeks ago. I tried to swim up but my feet were still stuck in place. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, desperate to breathe air.

I can’t breathe...someone save me...

****

I woke up in a cold sweat. Why do these kinds of dreams keep coming back? Are they getting worse?

There was a loud knock on my door. “Your Highness, may we enter?” a maid asked through the door.

“Yes,” I said, grabbing my mask from the side table,” Please, come in.”

They came in and helped me get back into my dress. “Did you sleep alright, Milady?”

“Yes, I did,” I lied as they finished straightening out my dress and fixing my mask. I was still shaken up by the dream I just had. Tainted blood? I shivered and one of the maids asked,” Are you cold?”

“No,” I said,” Just a chill down my spine.” She nodded and tied the cloak around my shoulders. After they finished, they brought me out of the room to an awaiting dragon and carriage. Bryce was waiting for me inside the carriage.

We flew through a different tunnel and out into the city that was outside of the mountain wall. The buildings stood tall and proud. Some old and some new, with children laughing. “Wow,” I whispered in amazement.

We landed in front of what looks like a church. There were a bunch of people waiting outside to see who the princess was. When I stepped out, a maid handed me a bouquet of white flowers, none of which I knew and followed the red carpet into the church. Inside of it, there were rows and rows of nobles lined up and what I believe are soldiers.

The inside of the church was beautifully decorated by arrangements of the glowing crystals I saw in the tunnel earlier.  They looked like colorful stained glass.

I could barely hear the music, but I walked to the rhythm-at least to the best of my abilities. At the altar, there was a priestess who was waiting for me with Prince Azriel in his crown. When I got up to the altar, the priestess gestured for us to kneel for a blessing and exchange rings and crowns.  The priestess was beautiful, wearing white robes and with a moonstone on her head. 

We slipped the rings onto each other’s fingers and said our vows. “And now,” announced the priestess,” to honor the Princess as part of our family, we shall crown her.”

The crown was brought to the priestess by two young servants.  It was made of pure diamond. When they placed the crown on my head, my head felt a little heavier. “Rise, Princess Avalon,” said the priestess. “Prince Azriel, you may kiss your bride.”

What?

I wanted to scream "I’ve never kissed anyone before but there was no way I could do that." The fear of ridiculous comments kept me quiet. Oh god, this is going to be terrible.

My thoughts were everywhere and it scrambled even more when he started to lean in. I didn’t lean in at all, I just let him come to me. Then he pressed his lips to mine. They were cold to the touch, but they started to warm up.

They were soft and gentle. He pulled away and the crowd cheered wildly. Together we walked out of the church and into a carriage back to the palace where everyone was going to be for the wedding reception.