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Chapter Fourteen
"Kaloua! Nadi!" I call out, relief filling my voice.
Kaloua sits up, 'Belle?'
"It's me, Kaloua...I'm here..."
He moves away, 'No! No, no, no! You didn't swear the oath, did you?'
I shake my head, 'Of course not, you doofus. I found you on my own,' I leave out the part about possibly risking my life to walk down the path of fate. Literally.
He moves closer to the gate, 'Well, am glad you found me, because I have been so worried that the king might actually get Snow to kill us,'
'Snow?'
'Yeah, he caught her as she was trying to run away. That's the only reason he managed to get us here. How else do you get two fully grown dragons under ground and into a cage?'
I think about it then laugh softly, 'I honestly didn't think about it because I was too worried about you,'
'I am more worried about Nadi. She was punished and torchered pretty badly...'
I look at Nadi and see worry etched into Christian features as he looks at her too. Her wings are torn in places, and are laying limply at her sides. Running across her once delicate looking cheek lays a long cut, which will definitely end up a nasty scar. In fact, she has lots of them, all over her body. Her eyes have lost their defiant sparkle.
"Is she going to be okay?"
I see the pain that Nadi must be feeling replicated in Christian's eyes, "I...I don't know. She's in a lot of pain."
I move closer and Nadi narrows her eyes at me, 'Don't come any closer.'
'Why not? I thought we were over our little disagreement.'
'We are...but...' Nadi looks up at me sadly, 'The king made Snow curse me, to be programmed to kill you, and he didn't do it to Kaloua because he knew that your bond would break the curse. If you come within a meter of me, something takes over and makes me want to kill you.'
I stay where I am and turn to Christian, "We need to find a way to get them out of here...they couldn't have made it in the same way we came."
He nods, "I know, but this room doesn't have any other ways in or out."
I look around and realise he is right. The way we had come in was gone and there is no other holes. In fact, the entire room is pretty much perfectly smooth. I move over to the wall and touch it, the flawless rock feeling like liquid under my fingers.
As I move around the room, I begin to loose hope. We might just be as trapped in here as Kaloua and Nadi are. Suddenly, I hear a popping sound and rush to where it is and see a portal thing forming and grab Christian, pulling him into the shadows as the King and Snow step out of the portal.
"And it seems that your smart little dragon heir still hasn't found my hiding place." the king snickers happily to no one in particular, since they all have faith in me.
"She will find them, Arthur, have no doubt in that." Snow snaps with spite rolling off her tongue.
"I don't doubt she will."
Snow just stands there, and I notice a glowing silver band wrapped around her wrists. Did she have to cast a spell on herself?
"Anyway, I know she's here. I can tell by the fact that these two don't look anywhere near as sad as they did before...someone has visited them." The King says sharply and turns around the room, still unsure as to where we are, "I know you're here Arabelle, and you too, Christian!"
I don't move at first, but then I step forwards,
"Why did you steal them?"
Arthur sighs, "Haven't we already had this conversation? Blah, blah, blah, I want to keep my throne."
"But why steal them? How is stealing my dragon going to secure your throne?"
"Because the only way to get them out is to swear a blood oath to me."
I laugh, "And isn't it obvious I would never do that? I would rather die trying to find them and rescue them myself than to swear a stupid blood oath and have them the easy way."
"I always knew you were a fighter, much like your father," Arthur says, "It's why Christian was always more short tempered than any other Dakota's I guess."
That's when Christian steps out, "I'm not even a Dakota anymore, remember? So don't say 'other Dakotas' as though I still am one."
Arthur glares at his 'son', "Don't even talk to me, you pathetic waste of space."
I narrow my eyes, "Hey! Don't talk to my brother in that way!"
"Your half-brother." Arthur snaps, then turns to Snow and whispers something. Suddenly, I begin to be lifted into the air and magic wraps around me, forming a black dress that flows down to my ankles. And as I touch the ground again, the dress almost seems to grow sparkles around its edges.
"Now, isn't that a bit better than just your undergarments?" Arthur snickers and I feel myself turning bright red, remembering now that I had been very exposed earlier, "But back to the point. I don't want the throne stolen from either myself or my actual son, Harry."
My stomach churns when he says that, "H-Harry?"
"Yes, he will be king after me, so I know that you will still be alive and I don't want you to take his throne. And if you swear a blood oath not to, I will give you back your dragon, and give the rat his too."
I hear Christian give a sound like a growl and I narrow my eyes, "And if I refuse again?"
The king nods to Snow and she shudders as the glowing bands zap her. Suddenly, a large ball begins to form in her hands, made of all four elements; Fire, Water, Earth and Air. Suddenly, the ball flies towards one side of the cave and powers through it, cutting a circle through it for a while. He would do that to Kaloua.
I look to Kaloua, who now has fear fully exposed in his eyes. Nadi is crouched beside him, not showing he fear as openly but it's obvious she is scared too. Christian grabs my arm fiercely,
"Don't do it," he hisses through clenched teeth, "We can figure out another way!"
I shake my head sadly, "But we can't. Not now..." I mumble and step towards the King,
"I will do it, but you need to release the dragons first."
He laughs, "Release those two? Are you barking mad, or do you just take me for a fool?"
"Neither, King Arthur, I take you as a bargainer. You will be willing to change your offer to get what you want, will you not?"
The king goes quiet, "Quiet possibly, yes."
"Then consider what I say now. I will swear the oath and leave the kingdom, if you also swear a blood oath to free Kaloua and Nadi, then allow Christian to become Harrison's advisor. He is destined." I move to Christian's bare shoulder and turn it to the King, "The chip symbolises his role."
Arthur narrows his eyes, thinking hard. "There is something else though. I can tell. Something about Harrison, because when I said his name you nearly had a heart attack right before me!"
I turn to Christian, unsure what to say, 'Your my advisor...advise me!'
'Just tell him. What could possibly happen?' Christian says and shrugs, obviously not wanting to say any more.
I huff and close my eyes, trying to calm my heart, which is racing at a million beats a minute. "I have always been close to Harry, as you might remember, especially when we were kids. The one thing that cut between us was Evangelina. So, well, once I ran away, absence makes the heart grow fonder. Harry went out looking for me all the time and he finally found me and brought me back. That's when he realised that he could never love Evangelina because..." I pause and open my eyes, "because he loved me, and I loved him too. He means...well, everything to me."
When I look at the King to see his reaction, he has a look of shock, but also knowing on his face, "I always thought there was something there. I would have been better off making you and Harrison get married; then none of this would have happened! You wouldn't have been so drawn to reading all those books on dragons and other things."
I nod, "It would have."
Arthur sighs and draws his sword, ready to make the blood oath, "Ok, so hold your wrist out and stay still...this will only hurt a li-"
He didn't get to finish his sentence before an extremely loud BOOM echoed through the cave.