The Dragon Rider Vol. 4 Death of a King

Two

As soon as we made it through the large double doors, I spotted Mary off to the side. She was standing next to a stack of books, with one open in her hand. She had been flipping through the pages like she was searching for something, and seemed to not care of our sudden intrusion.

"Mary, I need your assistance." Spoke William.

He had paid no mind to anything I had said on the way here. It was almost as if he didn't care about anything I had to say. Moving her gaze towards us, Mary gave us a stiff nod before returning to the book.

Flipping the page of her book, Mary began to walk towards a large floor-to-ceiling bookshelf. "You are here about the markings on her arm... Am I right my King?"

Moving my gaze from Mary to William, I noticed a small frown had settled onto his features. He seemed to be deep in thought, as his grip on my arm slowly loosened. Taking this as an opportunity, I pulled away from him.

"What can you tell me about these markings?" Moving towards Mary, I watched as she placed the book she had been flipping through onto the table. Mary sighed as she turned to us with a small frown.

"You know as well as I do what this means, Abagail."

Frowning at her cryptic words, I had to fight the remark that had found its way to my lips. With gritted teeth, I walked closer towards her. Stopping just meters away, I gazed down at her. "Tell me."

Smiling, Mary moved around me and towards a bunch of herbs. "When the great book saved you, she didn't just heal you and make you her chosen... No, she did more than that." Placing a glass lid over a bunch of herbs, Mary stilled. "You know that you are to become the next great book, and with that means you hold all the names of the next riders." Turning her head slightly so she could see me, she smiled. "Until you choose your fate, the names of all those to become riders will appear onto your body as if you were a book."

"This is ridiculous." Came William's sudden voice. "If this is the case, then why hasn't anything happened before?"

"My King, you know as well as I do that the last rider chosen, was Abagail. That was over a dozen full moons ago." Taking careful steps towards William, Mary continued. "With this newfound information, we must protect not only the new riders that are found but more so Abagail. If she is taken by the dark King, he could use her as a weapon in gaining more riders for his army."

Contemplating her words, William nodded. "You're right." Turning to me with hard eyes, William's persona changed. This was no longer my lovely William. Standing in front of me was now the king. "From this day forward, you are not to follow us on any of our missions."

At his words, I couldn't help the small gasp that escaped my lips. "Please tell me you're not doing this. I just got Aurora back! You can't keep us grounded."

Gazing down at me with hard eyes, William bit his bottom lip. "I am your king, Abagail and you are my rider. Don't forget your place."

At his words, my heart sank. He was right. He was my king and he would be nothing more than that. Blinking away the tears that had started to form, I placed my hand across my chest before bowing my head. "Yes, my king." Without looking up at him or Mary, I left.

I was angry, no I was beyond angry. How could he keep me grounded with Aurora when we had just gotten back from war? We still had another war waging in the shadows and they needed my help. Tobin was after me, not them.

Heed his words, for now, my rider.

With heavy breaths, I gritted my teeth. "How can you be calm with this order, Aurora?"

Although his words are harsh, he is there to protect what he must and those he holds dear to him.

Snorting in disgust, I pushed open the door to my room. Opening my mouth to retaliate, I paused in my footing at the person standing in my room. At the sight of him, my blood ran cold. He stood with his back to me, yet I knew right away who it was. Quickly gazing around the room I looked for anything that I could use as a weapon.

How he was in here was unknown to me. At the sight of movement, my attention was moved right back to his figure. Slowly turning around to face me, I noticed the black blood that dripped from his mouth. His once white shirt was stained black with drops of black blood.

Smirking, Markus staggered towards me with slow steps. Backing away I watched as he crouched slightly before lunging at me. Covering my face with my arms, I waited for his blow. Nothing came, not even a gust of wind. Slowly lowering my hands I was shocked to see the area clear and void of him. The only movement in the room was the silk white curtains blowing from the open balcony window.

Breathing heavily I felt Aurora trying to push into my mind. Opening the link, it wasn't just Aurora's voice that I could hear. There were multiple voices that entered, all scared and confused. Licking my lower lip, I made my way towards the open balcony.

"What was that, Aurora?"

It was a shadow. Came Torren's voice.

A shadow was sent to you by someone who aimed to hurt you.

"Can the shadows hurt people?" I was confused. If it was just someone sending him to scare me, what were they really up to?

Shadows aim to scare not harm those they appear to. Although with enough magic, the user can control the shadows to cause harm. Came Aurora's soft voice. Just by her voice, I felt my body relaxing.

Coming to the edge of the balcony I felt the hard cold metal of the railing grace my fingertips. Gazing out at the Kingdom, I found my eyes looking out towards Knights Edge. The village had been rebuilt the past few days, yet I couldn't help but find myself on edge about the village. Everything had happened there. The village was where I found Aurora, where I met William, and where Markus was from.

A soft knock had me jumping in shock. Turning around I found William sadly gazing out at me from the balcony's door. Pushing his hands into the pockets of his silver pants, I watched with a heavy heart as he made his way to me.

Stopping inches away from my body, I felt the soft caress of his fingers against my cheek. The way he gazed down at me had once set my heart on fire, yet right now all I felt was grief. Grief for not being allowed to serve my people, and for Aurora once again being held down.

Lowering his head towards my own, William closed his eyes as his head tilted slightly. Just before his lips could make contact with my own, I turned away. Sighing, William pulled away with sad eyes.

"What's on your mind, my love?" His voice was soft and full of love, yet my heart didn't care.

"My King, I aim to serve the kingdom but not in this way. I won't be a secret love for you, and as a rider, I will serve my kingdom by fighting."

Lowering his hands from my face, I watched them clench by his side. "You are no secret to me or our people, Abagail. I have made my intentions for you clear since I met you. As for riding with the others, I need you protected-."

"I can protect myself!" I yelled. "I'm sick of everyone protecting me. I am healed, William. Let me fight along with the others."

Shaking his head with a sigh, William turned around. "My word is final." With one last glance over his shoulder at me, he left. I stood there for a few minutes, the only sound was my racing heart and the deep breaths as I gazed at the spot he once was.

I respect our King... but I feel we must not heed his words on this.

"What am I to do then?"

Disobey his orders.