Drakkon

Chapter Seven

    True to his words, Meilin had left for the North the following day, and it took two weeks for me to finally grow more bored. Although I was free from fearing Meilin since he was gone, I felt more worried about him than I thought I would. Even though I didn't love him, every time I set my eyes on his prized dagger—which was situated on the spot next to my bed—my stomach clenched tightly with worry and I was left to wonder when he would come back. I didn't love Meilin, but I didn't want him to die.

    Jia was also worried, since Meilin had left in order to help Fang finish crushing the revolt. She had gotten wind that Fang had gotten injured and ever since then, she wouldn't stop anxiously talking about the degree of his injuries or whether or not he would be fine. She rarely came to see me in the two weeks since Meilin left, her own mind clouded with fear for her beloved husband.

    "Your hair is so pretty," the  maid, a young girl of fifteen, murmured as she brushed it gently. It was night time and I was seated at the edge of the bed. I was wearing a thin white dress that was typically worn in the Northern region of the Huo Empire. It was comfortable and it was tied around my waist with a thick sash like belt. Although it was typically worn with many different layers, since I was going to bed, there was only one layer.

    I smiled at her as she continued to brush my hair. "Your hair is beautiful as well," I said.

    She blushed. "That's such an honor for you to say, Empress."

    "I'm not the empress yet," I said softly, turning away to stare at the open window, where the inky black sky stared down at us. I briefly wondered what Meilin was doing and if Fang was healed at this point. 

    "It's no wonder the emperor chose you as his bride," she said with a hesitant smile. "You're so beautiful."

    "Thank you."

    After a moment of brushing my hair, the maids stood up and bid me goodnight. When I was completely alone, I sat on the bed and stared at the night sky, lost in thought. My younger siblings were probably missing me at this point since it had been around two months since I was away. My older brothers were probably still wondering how and why the emperor would want me as his wife. I could only imagine what my parents were thinking; they were probably happy and scared at the same time. Happy that I was finally getting married and scared since it was going to be with a ruthless man.

    Sighing to myself, I rested down in the sheets and nestled myself between the plush pillows around me. I had become accustomed to sleeping on the plush beds as opposed to sleeping on the ground like I did at home, but I couldn't help but think of my siblings who were most likely sleeping on the ground with their limbs sprawled around and their snores as loud as day.

    I missed home and since I was lonely at the palace, I was trapped in my own thoughts and my loneliness.

* * *

    I woke in the night when I heard muffled voices and a soft crashing noise, my ears alert and my eyes slowly opening to the darkness of my room. My eyes fluttered towards my open window and I furrowed my brow together at whatever woke me up. Rubbing my eyes, I turned around to fall back asleep when I saw a shadow in the corner of my room move. Instantly, I stiffened and inhaled sharply at whoever was in the room. Two seconds later and I saw another shadow emerge from the window.

    There were people in my room.

    My heart was pounding crazily against my ribcage and I was trembling at the thought of what was going to happen to me. Was this an assassination attempt since I was the future empress? Was someone trying to hurt me since Meilin was away?

    Thinking of Meilin, I remembered that the dagger he had given me was on the nightstand next to me. Slowly reaching my arm out to grab it, I curled my fingers around the cool hilt of the blade, my heart hammering wildly. Right when I was about to lift my arm to do something—defend myself, attack?—someone lunged at the bed towards me.

    I let out a scream and pulled the dagger close to me, scooting back in the bed and clutching the dagger tightly. There was a grunt and the shadow leapt at me, one hand wrapping around my ankle. I opened my mouth to scream but the other shadow—person—swiftly came to my side and pressed a hand to my mouth, muffling my screams.

    Flailing my arms around, I felt the dagger barely graze against one of the men's torso, but he grunted and quickly slammed a hand against my wrist. The dagger fell from my grip and he snatched it off the bed, examining it for a moment before tucking it away. My wrist throbbed in pain but I barely had time to register that as the man wrapped his other arm around my shoulders, keeping my in place.

    "Finally quieted down the Dragon's whore," one of the men said to the other. "Did you take care of the guards outside?"

    "Yeah, the soldiers on our side took them out." The other one let go of my ankle and motioned towards the window. "Let's get out quick before anything goes wrong."    

    "Right, we wouldn't want the plan to get messed up." The one holding me tightened his grip on my shoulders and mouth, bringing me close to him. He whispered into my ear darkly, stopping my thrashing immediately. "You scream or move around too much, and I'll rape the hell out of you. When we're done with you, the Dragon will be too disgusted to ever look at you again."   

    My eyes widened and fear tightened itself around my stomach as he hauled me off the bed. It didn't take long before there was cloth tied around my mouth and hands. I had tried to make noise in the quietest way possible—dropping things and kicking around at the floor—but the men knew what I was doing and hastily pressed a blade to my neck.

    "Let's knock her out with drugs," one of the men said as he looked at me and then to the window. "She might make noise when we're outside; it'll catch the guards' attention."

    "Right," the other one said. "That's what I thought too so I brought sleeping potion."

    I swallowed, inching away from them but freezing when the blade was pressed against my neck once more.

    "Stop moving around too much, whore, or I'll cut that face of yours."

    "Don't cut her face," the other said. "I heard she's really beautiful; wouldn't want to mess that up, right?"

    He laughed. "Of course not."

    Before I had time to think, one of the men pulled down the bindings on my mouth and thrust a small vial against my lips, forcefully tilting the vial back until the bitter liquid entered my mouth. I tried not to swallow it but he pressed a hand against my mouth and the other on my throat. In seconds, I swallowed it, tears springing to my eyes at my helplessness in this situation.

    In mere seconds, darkness danced in my vision and my stomach clenched tightly as the effects of the potion kicked in.