Caught By the Dragon: Maiden to the Dragon, Book 1 - - (romance novel chinese novels TXT) 📗
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I pursed my lips and shook my head. “I don’t know.”
Her smile widened. She clasped her hands around mine and cupped my hands together. Her brilliant blue light pulsed from her hands. I felt a warmth enter my palms along with a weight. She released me and stepped back onto the rocks. I opened my hands and beheld a small vial of crystal-clear water.
I looked up at her and shook my head. “I don’t understand. Why?”
She stepped backward into the pool. The water beneath her bubbled up and surrounded her, but her soft words reached me as clear as the water in my hands.
“Where there is doubt, there is still hope. Heal him and you will find the peace you seek.”
My eyes widened. The water twisted upward and enveloped her. I stretched out my hand toward the woman. “Wait!”
The water swallowed her and retreated back into the pool. The woman was gone. I dropped my arm to my side and looked at the vial in my palm. The clear water sparkled in the dim light of early morning.
I clasped it tightly in my hand and turned to Cayden. He stood and looked from me to the vial. I took a deep breath and pocketed the vial. “Let’s go.”
We returned to the castle and the room. The grave faces were paler, as was Xander. I pulled out the vial. The group parted for me as I walked up to the bed. Xander’s breathing was quick and shallow. He clutched the covers so tightly his hands were as white as the sheets.
I popped the cork and glanced at Cayden and the doctor opposite me. “Could you hold him still and get his mouth open for me?”
Cayden took the arms, Apuleius the legs, and the doctor pried open Xander’s clenched teeth. I took a deep breath and rammed the mouth of the vial between his lips. The cool liquid slid out of the glass and into his mouth. He arched his back and his body tensed. I threw myself over his chest as he began to shake and thrash.
The episode lasted for a long few seconds before a soft blue glow spread from his chest across the rest of his body. The light passed under us, and we could feel the soothing coolness. It relaxed my muscles and my fear.
Xander’s body relaxed and he fell back against the bed. We released him and stepped back to watch the light fully envelope him. The blue pulsed with a soft cold, but with each pulse it sank deeper into him. Soon the light disappeared. We waited with baited breath.
Xander’s eyes fluttered open. He blinked at all of our tense faces. His eyes settled on me and widened. “Miriam-” He tried to sit up, but winced.
I grabbed his shoulders. “Easy there. I bet even dragons need to rest a bit after being almost-fatally poisoned.”
He grabbed my arm and searched my face. “Is it you or some apparition come to take me to the skies?”
I smiled. “I’d have to go with the first option.”
Xander pulled me down and pressed our lips together. I heard a gasp from Stephanie and a chuckle from Apuleius. We parted so I could partake of some air and wipe the blush from my cheeks.
“You could have just said ‘thank you,’” I teased him.
He smiled. “I thought words would be too weak.”
“Not as weak as you, My Lord,” the doctor spoke up. He pulled the sheets over Xander’s bandaged chest and up to his chin. “The poison may be vanquished, but your wounds from its talons are not yet healed.”
Xander fell back against his pillows and shook his head. “You needn’t worry too much for me, Galen. I hardly feel any weakness.”
“But it is still a weakness, nonetheless, and I demand you get some rest,” the doctor insisted. He swept his eyes over the many occupants of the room. “If you would all leave Our Lord may find some.”
Xander nodded at me. “Let her stay. I must speak with her.”
Galen bowed his head. “If you wish, My Lord.”
The room was vacated. I caught a smiling glance from Stephanie. The girl was getting bolder by the hour. When the door closed behind the last person I turned to Xander.
He stared at me with equal curiosity. “Did I imagine your falling into the Portal?” he wondered.
I shook my head. “Nope. I went back to my own world, but this-” I tapped my shoulder where my shirt hid my mark, “-told me something was wrong, so I came back.”
He clasped one of my hands in his and pursed his lips. “Then it appears you have somehow overcome a Maiden’s greatest enticement to remain with her dragon lord. You have managed to survive the Portal after the Marking.” His hand fell away from mine and turned his head away from me. “Under the circumstances, I cannot in good faith keep you with me. You may return to your home.”
I smiled and shrugged. “Why would I want to do that? I am home.”
He whipped his head up and studied my face with flitting eyes. “Do you speak in earnest, or do you humor me in my recuperation?”
“You think I’d lie to you after I just saved your scaly skin?” I teased.
A grin brightened his face. He leaned forward and captured my lips in a searing kiss that spoke his happiness louder than any words. We broke apart so I could get some air. At this rate he was going to suffocate me. Even he was a little short as he studied me with his teasing smile.
I looked around the room and shrugged. “I mean, this isn’t exactly a nice apartment, but it’ll work.”
He chuckled. “If I might tell the truth, the High Castle is not my home.”
I stopped my perusing and curtain measurements to frown at him. “This isn’t your place?”
He shook his head. “No. It is only a gathering place for we dragon lords, a place of compromise that sits at the point where our five kingdoms come together.”
My mind imagined a stone hovel in some distant land. I cringed. “So where is your kingdom?”
“A moment and I will show you.” He leaned back and pulled on the cord. The door soon opened and Darda stood in the doorway. “The map of the lands, if you will.” She bowed her head and retreated, shutting the door behind her. He turned to me. “There is an excellent library here managed by those in the adjacent village. Within its collection are maps of the known world, and then some.”
Darda soon returned with a roll of paper. I sat on the edge of the bed with my legs dangling over as she handed the paper to Xander. He unfurled the paper across his lap. A large, browned map spread out before him. The rough leather was covered from corner-to-corner with seas, mountains, oceans, lakes, and so much more.
Xander tapped on the center of the map where was scrawled the name High Castle. “This is where we are, and this-” he drew his finger across the map in a southwesterly direction, “-is my kingdom.”
His kingdom was a large plain that abutted a large bay. A large dot sat on the bay, and the name on the map read ‘Alexandria.’
He studied my expression. “Do you still wish to see my home?”
I looked up at him and grinned. “Why not? But-” I slid off the bed, “-first you need to obey the doctor’s orders and get some rest.”
Xander grabbed my arm. “Stay with me. I fear your return is but a dream, and I would not awaken without you at my side.”
“Only if you’re going to rest,” I warned him.
He chuckled. “As you wish, My Maiden.”
We slept together in his bed, and when the bright morning came I blinked against the harsh light. I willed my eyes open and looked up at the head of the bed.
It was
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