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Alena's P.O.V

My mouth fell open in amazement. I thought that I was hearing things. I held Leon's arm and turned around slowly to face Ardal. This can't be... They are not serious. "There are two Citadel's of that size. Wintershold and-"

"And Nightwell Citadel." Leon finished for me. "Wintershold belongs to your family, the royals, but Nightwell Citadel is Ardal's family."

I gazed upon the dangerous winding road, it was dark and gloomy, but at the far end, I could see the sun bright light and before I knew it, it was far behind us. I closed my eyes as I knew that the fate was playing his game here. From the very beginning, Leon and I were destined to meet, even if it wasn't in his ball that night.

I could see Leon standing tall and proud before the altar, his eyes would be shining with happiness as he would wait for his pride with open arms.

I could see him holding her bridal style, embracing her protectively as he would stride through the doors of his bedchambers.

I could see his eyes filled with love as he laid her down, kissing her lips gently, but when I saw Leon's pride's, face my face widen in fear as I knew it wasn't me.

"Long ago," said Leon in a hushed voice.

"The dragons made an alliance with this kingdom. For forty years, we lived in peace with them, but after that, hell, break loose when Elmer crowned himself King of the ancient maze. Sadly everyone fell under his command except the Nightwell family, refused to announce him as their new king, swearing loyalty to the crown princess.

Elmer didn't take any of this lightly, he locked them inside the Citadel before he burned everyone alive, but Elmer didn't know that Ardal survived. His father Drake was a dragon he sacrificed his life so his son could live. Elmer wanted their name to be wiped from history and now they are forgotten now." He took a deep breath as he kept his eyes on the road. "After all these years, everyone sided with Elmer and Ardal ended alone in the forbidden kingdom. The boy was a just child, all he knew was the Citadels name and his fathers... My mother couldn't just leave him, she took him in and raised him as her own, but never forced him into anything."

However I never imagined that Ardal was the one to speak, I never thought that he was listening to our hushed conversation. "We the Nightwell, never lost a war or at least I never did."

"So you've been raising your revenge for a very long time."

"If I didn't know better, I would think that you're feeling sorry for him? Such a man deserves to burn in hell." Said Ardal in a sarcastic tone then he added, "I can never turn my back on what he did, I can never forget how he made me suffer. Till this very night I still dream about him, I can still hear their screams every single night."

I closed my eyes, refusing to believe the harsh truth, refusing to believe that Leon might have someone to return to. That thought made me feel hollow inside.

I couldn't help to wonder, "if that's why you're here Ardal? Are you here to get back what belongs to you? Did any of them you knew your story besides Leon?"

However, Ardal didn't say a word. He remained silent, but when I saw Leon's eyes, I wished if I never said a word as he was the one to answer. "My men, are my brothers. We grow up together and we fight for each others. The rest may not know about this, but we never question each other loyalty. All those years, Elmer was stealing, killing and terrorizing the citizens. That evil men make sure, that no one can gather enough power to take him down. He would never allow anyone to settle down and if they became powerful he would make sure that they would disappear just like that. You may look at us like a bunch of savages but in reality we are nothing like that beast."

His words left me speechless because I had never known that degree of loyalty.

"So that means that your father sent you, So your father was behind all this? He was the one who sent you after me so you can control more land?"

Leon laughed bitterly. "if my father knew what I was doing at the moment, he would skin me alive. He might've kicked me out of the kingdom and forced me to survive alone, but he would never allow me to do such a thing. My father is a wise man, he would always find a solution without war at least now."

I looked him straight in the eyes I said, "so your father wouldn't take any of this lightly if he knew. he would never forgive you for kidnapping someone else's bride."

Leon touched my face lately as he spoke, "none of this would matter now. I have already lost my place and the crown prince of the forbidding kingdom. I don't think there's anything more to lose."

"Why did your father do that? What could you've done to allow his demons to show?" I whispered.

Leon Remain silent for a few moment before he spoke, "I've defined my mother, I refuse to follow her orders. Yet, she wasn't the one who threw me out. It was my father."

I snapped my mouth shut, but my curiosity quickly overcomes my cautious. "how could you leave all that behind, how could you? You had everything back there. You had a loving family, I can never understand you." I asked, playing with the a curl of my hair.

"No darling, the hard part was staying there. I could never allow anyone to control my life, not even my own mother."

I looked around me Eden-Green fields who seem to be covered with snowflakes, I could hear the howling of the wolves disturbing the calm Fields. The dark clouds sky transferred into a temple of electric-blue. The ruffling wind were scattering the evergreen leaves. My body shivered as the radiant of light started to warm me up. Deep down, I knew that I had to cherish every moment. All my life, I was locked up in the tower until I met Leon and from the moment I've met him, I understood how to live.

I signed. I knew perfectly that his words confirmed my doubts. "I know that I can never trust Alvin. He selfish and evil all he wants is to control and rule."

"You can believe whatever you want, lass. This is of no important to me."

Somehow his words put deeper than anything else. "Well, If you think that Alvin will give you what you want, you would be mistaken. Starting from that citadel it to the throne. If you think by having me you can win then you're really a fool."

Leon didn't say a word as he gets his eyes on the road, I feared his silence and when he finally spoke, his voice gave him away, "at the moment all we want is the citadel and after that the throne.

And with that he forced his Dragon to go faster, making any further conversation impossible.

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Alvin's P.O.V

I have a burst through the door of my war room, then I turned around slowly slamming the door behind me. All this time we've been very careful until they came back but I have to say that's what's for my advantage. They killed the old man and he didn't the throne on plates of gold, but I was foolish to believe that was the end of it.

They stole the only woman I ever wanted and they dared to rub it in my face. For years, I tried my best to get Alena and when I didn't they took her away.

There was a light knock on my door, drawing me out of my thoughts. He entered slowly bowing his head like the low servant he is. "May I have a word, my Lord, if you please?" Said Malcolm.

"What do you want? State your business quickly," I replied keeping my eyes on the snowy peak of the mountains, "you lost your ability to speak boy? Quit wasting my time and state your business. I don't believe there's anything worse that can happen."

"Lovell, that what's happened. If I were you, my Lord, I would insist that he would come here so we can finish."

"well, you can't be talking about the savages who stole my bride."

"I am talking about to my Lord, But I'm afraid We can take them Lightly And Vivian been weeping The loss of her princess." He added.

I continue to gaze at the mountains, the beautiful white snowflakes was covering them. "you've always been a diplomat, I'm sure that I can trust you with the situation."

"Of course, my Lord." He said as he drew close enough to study my face. "you can trust me with this, we will make them pay for what they did. My Lord, what should I tell Vivian when she asks about the princess?"

"Tell her that I'm taking care of it, tell her that Alvin will bring her back. I'm the law, and everyone knows that you're not too close me." I thunder. "Including you Malcolm. For years, we managed to shut them and now those mercenaries won't bring me down."

Malcolm Took a deep breath before he said he's following words, "It will hardly reflect well if your bride is raped or killed by those beasts. They won't blame them, my Lord. They are going to blame you, your people will never forget this. They will never forget that you weren't able to protect their own princess, you couldn't even keep alive until the wedding night."

I felt my blood boiling as I heard his words, "How dare you? If I didn't need you, Malcolm, you would've been dead." I lashed out in anger. But for the very first time this man might be right. "then we will wait for their next move, right now our hands are tied."

"That's the right thing to do, my Lord." He said about his head again before he left my war room.

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Does the name Drake ring any bells? If you read Black Dragon book 1 it should... Let me know what you think down in the comments!

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