The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon

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It’s really hard to listen to lady Cecilia after everything that I have just found out! She goes on and on about the talent show that we soon have to be a part of, but all I am thinking of is the trip that Derrien is taking me to.

Wham I going to do even? Gods know how long we are going to be there… alone… just me and him… Oh, somehow I don’t feel that it’s such a great idea anymore.

“Lady Miradora!”, our strict teacher is standing right in front of my desk, “It’s wasn’t enough for you to be late? You also decided to not pay any attention to the lecture?! Do you think that you have already succeeded to get yourself a husband? Because I still don’t see a wedding bracelet on your hand, lady!”

It’s like she spits poison in my direction and Isidore, Alexandra and Ariadna giggle at what she says.

“I apologize, lady Cecilia”, I smile politely, “I was just thinking about how to get this bracelet sooner. Isn’t that what we are here for?”

She feels my sarcasm and presses her lips in an ugly smirk, “To get the bracelet you need to be a little bit more than a bed-warmer, lady Mira. To interest a gerdian you should…”

“How would you know?”, I interrupt her and the whole room goes quiet.

“Excuse me?”, she gasps, looking shocked.

“It’s not like you have the bracelet yourself… How would you know what gerdian lords truly like?”

“I have been working at the Dark Selection for years!”, she almost shouts at me, “So many girls…”

“So many girls have received the bracelet, but not you personally. And Gods know what the girls were truly up to, because here, at the Dark Selection, no one would ever share anything that would actually work,” I smirk at her, “At the moment I broke every rule you taught me and it only brought more attention and interest to me.”

“It makes sense”, I hear a girl whispering behind my back, “They were even fighting for her even though she was offending practically anyone she saw at the ball!”

“True”, someone else says.

I turn to have a look at our class and see that even Isidore looks as if she was stricken by lightning. My job here is done.

“Back to class!”, lady Cecilia yells and everyone goes quiet again, “You have a whole weekend before you, girls! Enjoy the dates that the lords have prepared for you! But on Mondays, I want to know what each of you have prepared for the Talent Show! Class dismissed!”

“Sometimes I think you, my friend, have a death wish!”, Morgan giggles as soon as lady Cecilia hurriedly walks away, “She is the last person I would like as my enemy here!”

“Same for me”, signs Fawn, “Mira, she can turn your life into hell if she wants.”

“My life is not heaven as it is”, I roll my eyes, “And somehow she never really liked me. So I don’t think I lost anything much right now.”

“True”, Desirae agrees with me, “I think you hit the point with her today. Girls after girls after girls marry the gerdians she adores so much, but they probably never even looked at her. You know why women come to work here – they hope that they would get noticed as well. At her position, which she does hold for many years, she can have almost unlimited contact with the lords… And yet she is still here. Too old now to be noticed…”

“Maybe it’s true”, I shrug my shoulders, “But it doesn’t make it our fault! She shouldn’t make our life hell just because her’s is not great either. If it’s too much for her, she should just leave the Selection!”

“Let’s change the subject!”, Xia takes me under my hand and smiles, “What do you, ladies, have planned for the weekend? Any dates?”

“Not me”, Fawn signs, “I guess I wasn’t impressive enough even in that beautiful dress…”

“Not true!”, I say, “You looked amazing!”

“I’ve been asked by lord Brandon Sevill”, Morgan blushes for the first time since I’ve known her, “He didn’t say what’s it going to be, though. But I am very excited.”

“You should be!”, Xia nods, “A marquess is such a good catch! I am going out with a marquess as well. On Saturday. And on Sunday with a Count.”

“You really didn’t waste any time at the ball”, I snort, “Wouldn’t they be angry when they find out?”

“How would I know?”, Xia giggles, “I am just an innocent girl who is too frightened to say no to strong and powerful gerdian lords!”

“Oh, my!”, Morgan chuckles, “You are a scary woman Xia Dart!”

“Thank you”, she shows us her pearly whites, “But I am just following Mira’s footsteps! That fight was so enthralling!”

“Oh, please!”, I can’t hold back a laugh, “It was creepy, to say the least!”

“By the way, what about you?”, Xia remembers, “Did the archduke invite you to a real date?”

I hesitate because I can’t tell anyone the truth. I guess a date would be a great legend as to why we left the Dark Selection’s castle, “Yes, he did. But it’s also a surprise, so I don’t know much. What about you, Desirae?”

“I have received an invitation as well. Just before the class started,” she says, “But the problem is I am not sure which one of the lords it is. Some of them didn’t even introduce themselves to me, so the name on the card I received means absolutely nothing to me…”

“Oh,” Fawn covers her mouth, “And what is the date?”

“It kind of said meet me in the garden,” the girl signs.

“Yeah, that’s bad”, Morgan says out loud what we all thinking, “There will be plenty of dates in the garden. If you don’t recognize the man, he might get angry…”

“They are so impulsive”, Xia continues.

“What’s the name?”, I ask, “Maybe we could find out something about him before Saturday?”

“Sir Rickon Odeir”, Desirae says hopefully, “If you could find out…”

Our conversation is interrupted when dark smoke appears right in front of us and an envelope hangs in the air.

“What is that?”, Xia takes it and reads, “Fawn Ritton.”

“Really?”, Fawn looks as white as snow, “Are you sure?”

“I read since I am five”, Xia chuckles, “Yes, I am sure!”

“It’s…”, suddenly Fawn looks even whiter.

“What is it?”, Morgan asks.

“It’s from lord Ryden Dargen!”, the poor girl gasps.

“Lucky you!”, Xia smiles, “A duke!”

“What’s wrong?”, I ask, because I see that my friend is not jumping with joy.

“H-he… He says to come straight to his room after dinner,” a tear rolls down Fawn’s pretty face, “He also says to wear the same dress I wore to the ball…”

I come back to my room, lost in feelings and sadness. We all know what Dargen wants from Fawn… And however much Xia told her that she can turn the situation to her advantage, a girl like Fawn doesn’t look like a seductress or a gold-digger who can enjoy an experience like that…

“Little mage, why are you still not even started preparing?”, Derrien appears in flames.

“Sorry”, I mumble, “I just came back from my lessons.”

“Were they that terrible? You don’t look too well,” he says coming closer to me.

“It’s the dates…” I forget who I speak to.

“Little mage, no one would invite you for a date! You can absolutely forget about it!”, he says firmly and a bit angry even, “You are considered my woman now. No one would dare…”

“Do I look like I want a date to you?!”, I snap at him, “It’s my friends, Derrien! One of them received an invitation from Dargen!”

“And you feel jealous?!”, his eyes flash with magic.

“Are you?”, I retort furiously and he grabs me by my waist, pulling me into his rock-hard body, slamming my lips with his in a greedy k**s…