M O R G A N

I woke up in the middle of the night with my heart pounding in my chest. It felt like I couldn't breathe, so I sat up in bed, feeling like I was about to die. For a brief moment in the sleepy haze, I thought my heart would explode in my chest. I imagined the twins finding me in the morning open-eyed, staring up at the ceiling, dead.

It took a few minutes for me to calm down and re-orientate myself. I focused on breathing slowly until the pounding of my heart had subsided. When I finally felt in control of myself, I lay back in bed and thought about the cause of my anxiety, that man.

It had been a few days since we had argued outside the pub. The snow had started to melt, and I'd heard nothing from him. Secretly, I had hoped this was because he had moved on, but yesterday Captain Glen had made a strange announcement on our Facebook community page. Apparently, the long-lost King of the Dragons had finally returned to his people after four hundred years.

It had taken me and Poppy a little while to join the dots and work out that our suspected devil-worshipping vagrant was the same man as Captain Glen's long-lost King.

The homeless mad man was now wandering the village with the mad captain, calling himself Erik, King of the Dragons.

Erik.

Erik, the devil worshipper.

Erik, the King of the Dragons.

Erik, my fated mate.

Erik, the man who threatened to drive me out of my village.

I honestly didn't know who Erik really was, but thankfully no one else in the village had taken King Erik's claim very seriously. In fact, the Elders had met up in the pub last night to have a good laugh about mad old Captain Glen and the satan worshipper he was trying pass off as our King.

While I had laughed along with them and pretended it was one big joke, there were two things I couldn't shake from my mind.

Firstly, on the night Eli had died, he had told me that he believed that once told me that dragons descended from the King had golden wings. Then, secondly, a golden winged dragon had been spotted flying over the fields where I was found on the night of my accident.

So was Erik really the King? And did he have something to do with the terrible injuries I had sustained that night? Or was this an elaborate lie?

Secretly, I hoped it was a lie. I wanted someone to throw a bucket of water over Erik's wings and watch the gold paint wash away from his wings to reveal a very boring normal shade of muddy brown or green. However, I couldn't help wonder what if his gold wings were real? What if he was the King? 

What would happen to me when he ordered me out of the village?

Would the villagers listen to him? This village was my home. I had no where else to go. I had no money or valuables. Even my name wasn't truly mine. It had been given to me by the village when they had adopted me.

I tossed and turned in my bed, wondering what would become of me if this man turned out to be real.

The following day I woke up to a text message on my phone.

It was from King Erik.

'I am visiting the pub at noon for lunch. You will join me to discuss your future in the village.'

I indignantly scoffed at the message. The audacity of the man. Did he think that he could command me about like his idiot followers?

'You may be the village idiot, but you are not the village King. So, don't even try to order me about.' I replied with a smirk.

A reply came through in a few seconds.

'Consider this an olive branch of peace. I am prepared to overlook your past transgressions IF you pledge your loyalty to me as your husband and King.'

My phone nearly dropped out of my hands. This guy was utterly delusional, a complete looney toon.

'Oh, my dude. You are a pineapple short of a fruit basket. That pledge is never going to happen.' I scoffed.

I rolled over in bed and watched the dots wriggle on my screen as he typed his reply.

'I am doing YOU a favour by taking you on as my wife. Of course, I could let my soldiers slaughter you, but I'm willing to respect the decision of the wisps and take you as my bride, PROVIDING you pledge your loyalty to me.'

I rolled my eyes at the response and replied, 'Nah, I'm good.'

There was a pause, and I wondered if Erik had lost his patience and thrown his phone into a tree or something. Then, finally, the dots started wriggling again. I pictured his thumb pressed against the cap locks button as he typed his angry reply. However, to my surprise, his following response was slightly more respectful.

'While I understand your reservations from our previous conversations, I would like to reassure you that I have reevaluated your place in the village. There is a place for you in the village, provided we can come to an agreement.'

'AWWW, it's adorable that you believe your opinion in this village actually matters. You dream big, buddy.'

'MY OPINION DOES MATTER! I AM THE KING!'

Man, this guy had anger issues. I felt sorry for his capslock button.

With a sadistic smile, I replied, 'Only Captain Glen thinks you're the King. Everyone else thinks you're a freak dressed up in a bathrobe.'

That was the message that pushed him over the edge. He quickly responded with:

'Dragon fire scorch you! I curse the wisps for pairing me with a mad woman! Anyone else would be on their knees thanking me! I refuse to engage in this madness any longer through this ridiculous device. Instead, I will visit the pub at noon, and we can have an adult conversation face to face.'

I groaned inwardly and replied, 'I can't stop you from coming, but we have a dress code, and if you come here in that ridiculous robe, I will refuse entry into the pub.'

'Captain Glenn gave me the purple robe to denote my KINGLY status. But if my royal robe offends you, I shall come dressed as a peasant.'

A peasant? I wanted to scream at my phone in sheer bloody annoyance. The arrogance of this arsehole was astonishing. I dreaded him coming into the pub. I wish he had chosen to meet me outside the pub. Then I could give him a piece of my mind. But, while he was inside the pub, I would have to be civil.

Since Eli's death, we were all under scrutiny from the elders. So I didn't want to do or say anything that might draw negative attention to me or the pub.

I took my phone and typed one final message to the so-called King.

'I can't stop you from coming to the pub, but I can refuse to have lunch with you. You are nothing to me or this village. You are just a stranger passing through.'

'Careful, little fox. You would do well to remember that I'm the reason you are still alive. Every breath you take is a gift from me.'

That was an exaggeration.

I re-read the message and wrinkled my nose at the silly pet name. He'd called me it before, and I have no idea why. Perhaps it was because of my red hair. Maybe it was because foxes were associated with evil things in the village. Either way, I was not fond of it very much.

Suddenly, my bedroom door opened. I slipped my phone beneath my blanket as India walked into my room. She was holding her iPad and had a mischievous grin on her face.

"Have you seen the latest post from Sir Glen?" she asked wickedly.

"Sir Glen? I thought it was Captain Glen," I replied.

She handed me the iPad, and I saw our village's Facebook community page. Usually, the village page's feed had posts containing information about upcoming events in the village. There was even the odd passive-aggressive post from an angry neighbour, reminding everyone to pick up their dog's poop. However, today's top post was a photo of Captain Glen on one knee, with his head bowed towards the ground. King Erik stood before him with what looked like an iron poker hovering over Captain Glen's shoulder.

The caption beneath the photo reads, 'It is with great pride that I announce that Captain Glen, defender of the glade, has become Sir Captain Glen. Our King knighted him this morning outside the village pond in front of an audience of three. Sir Captain Glen invites you to celebrate his knighthood at the Fox & Dragon this afternoon. The King will be present to meet his loyal subjects face-to-face. From now on, please refer to Sir Captain Glen as 'My lord' or 'Sir Glen'.'

"Sir Captain Glen? This is so rogue," India said incredulously. "Just when I think the world couldn't get crazier, something like this comes and proves me wrong."

Oh boy, did I know that feeling.