Chapter Five

"Going somewhere?"

I turned to see Aria behind me at the Eastern Gate of the Castle. Her hands were on her hips, her already tiny waist made that much smaller by the corset of her large dress. The large sleeves made her arms look thinner, softer, but I knew she was strong even if she looked delicate and beautiful. She was staring at me with crooked brow, accusingly.

"Into the city." I said, pulling the bandana over my mouth.

"What kind of guard are you? You were going to leave without telling me? Without even appointing me a new guard?" She scoffed.

She had a point. "My apologies, Dragon Bride."

"Oh, so we're back to Dragon Bride? Alright, guard," She sneered the word, "Go into the city then. I may just do the same."

I yanked the bandana off my mouth and closed the distance between us. "You cannot leave the castle."

"Seems like I can do whatever I want if I have no one around to watch me. If I wait just long enough there is a certain cat, I can probably trick into tossing me right where I want to be." She waved a hand at me and turned to leave. "Have a nice time."

I growled at the thought of what Miho had done, the idea of putting her in danger. The idea of her alone in the city, a threat I somehow knew was not an empty one, boiled my blood. Why was I so protective of her? Better yet, when had this feeling blossomed in me? "Going into the city would be very dangerous."

She stopped walking and turned to look at me. Those rich hazel eyes, full of warm colors, were cold. "I think you know I can take care of myself."

"You got a little lucky with the vampires in the forest. They were weak from not feeding and if I hadn't come along, they would have killed you."

"So, I'll just wander around a castle full of people willing to wait another five days before killing me." She sneered.

I closed the distance between her and I again. "Do you understand that this doesn't have to end in your death? Why are you so resigned to that?"

"And what would be my alterative? From what I've gathered my choices are marriage to a stranger or death, or even better! --- Exile in a land full of creatures that want to eat me! Wonderful. There has been one bride chosen in centuries since this stupid tradition and no one will talk about what happened. That does not inspire confidence."

"Is the idea of marrying the prince, becoming queen, really so repulsive to you?" It was a question that had been burning on my tongue since we first spoke. Was I really so repulsive to her?

Her hands were back on her hips and she glared up at me. "Are you even listening to me? In the first place, becoming queen is a major responsibility even in my realm. Becoming queen of a land I know nothing about? A prince would have to be a fool or the making of a careless king to choose me on that merit alone. In the second place it had nothing, and I mean NOTHING, to do with his status in this world. He is a stranger. A stranger, who I might add, has not even had the common curtesy to show his damn face to me yet. Tell me, would you be excited to marry a woman you've never met in world you know nothing about?"

I stepped back from her, feeling my shoulders sink.

"That's what I thought. Stop trying to make me out to be some sort of raging bitch and dragon hater. Now, are you taking me with you or will I have to scale a wall by myself? I can't imagine what the punishment for losing the Dragon Bride twice would be."

I couldn't help but smile. When she wanted something, she rooted her heels in and wouldn't budge. Every time she spoke it both stung and stunned me. I had thought Miho was the strongest woman I knew but Aria continued to show me a completely different kind of strength and, perhaps, she had a point about the entire tradition of the Dragon Bride. My heart ached for her each time she spoke of the injustice she was being subjected too. Finally, all I could say was, "You may want to change."

A little while later, Aria met me back at the gate. Her long, rich brown hair was held up in a high ponytail on her head, a wealth of large loose curls falling down her back with a few wisps dangling around her face. She had washed away the make-up from this morning and I couldn't decide if she was more beautiful now or then. The dragonfly sprite had given her an Elven dress to wear into the city, it was a woven leather bodice and an elf tulle skirt in shades of blue. As she walked toward me, I could see a slit in the tulle that went nearly to her hip, baring her strong, toned leg to me and the knee high Elfen leather boots she wore. The cloak she wore matched the darkest shade of blue from her skirt.

Aria stopped a foot in front of me with a hand on her hip. "Is something wrong?"

I found myself closing my mouth and shaking my head. I reached for her slowly, to keep her from lashing out again, and lifted the hood of the cloak onto her head. "There. The people do not need to know you're the Dragon Bride."

My hands lingered on the edge of her hood. The tips of my fingers brushed down along her cheeks and tangled in the strands of the curls framing her face. Our eyes were locked. I couldn't shift from the swirls of gold and green staring up at me with something I hadn't seen thus far. I had seen her anger, her fear and her stubbornness. Now she watched me with a small sense of wonder and something else I couldn't place. My hands seemed to be working on their own, fingers curling across the back of her neck nearly drawing her closer. I took a deep breath and my lungs filled with her scent, the smell of flowers and sun this time, her. Then I felt her shudder. Her lips parted for a quiet shaky breath, and I felt heat rising long her neck. I had to let her go before I did something else. I had to force myself to blink and pull away.

"Ahem. Yes, we should get going."

Aria merely nodded and I led her though the gates toward the city. We walked a few miles in silence before I broke it, "Where did you learn to fight?"

She turned to me, walking backwards in front of me and shrugged. "Here and there."

I arched a brow. "That's it?"

"Why?" She sounded suspicious.

"I want to know more about you."

Still walking backward, she stared at me for a moment longer, as if gauging the truth of my words and what it would mean to tell me anything about her. Calculating. After a moment she turned and continued on in front of me, but I supposed she saw fit to answer my question. "I never fit in anywhere as kid. My parents were immigrants, my culture was far removed from where they decided to put down roots. My father was an asshole, and my mother was naïve, but she could be cruel too, it was her slender view of the world that made her mean without even knowing it."

She stopped walking. The city was starting to rise over the hill just in front of us. When I came to stand behind her, she went on, "I was attacked by some boys in my school during a basketball game and it changed everything for me. When there was no support at home for the trauma I had, I ran away. I had to learn to fight to survive. After a few years on the streets, a gym owner let me stay in his storage room. I watched him teach classes while I was cleaning and practiced what I saw at night. I finished school through the public library but then I was run out of the gym by his wife. Apparently, he was unfaithful, and she thought I was one of them. I moved around more after that then finally settled in the city...Now... I'm here."

I was starting to believe her statement about being not being the Dragon Bride was true and not just a ruse to escape. I had always been told that the Dragon Bride would be a gift from one of the most prominent families in the Realm of the Mundane, families who kept the myth of our realm alive and prepared one woman from their family as tribute. Aria's ignorance to her situation was not a front. From what I could tell, everything she'd ever said to me had been true. What's more if this story were true and she had been previously defiled by her own kind than it vehemently explained her rage against the concept of being the Dragon Bride. The more she spoke to me the more I wanted to protect her, the more I was left teetering on the line of destroying of her world. For a moment, I thought I might destroy it simply to avenge what had been done to her. My arm slipped around her waist. Before she could recoil from me, I pulled her into my chest. To my surprise she didn't pull away. Instead, I was greeted with the weight of her body against mine, her slim arms pressed into my chest and her head laid nearly over my heart. I wondered if she could hear it flutter before beating steady again. It was a long peaceful moment before she pulled away and I heard myself groan when she disturbed that peace.

"What?" Aria said looking at me skeptically again.

"Nothing." That sounded a lot better than saying I have no idea what's going on with me right now. Better than saying you're everything I despise but I want to protect you.

Those hazel eyes watched me intently for a moment longer before she turned and started for the city again. We were nearly there when large rubber ball rolled into her path. I watched as she picked up the ball and turned to the left greeted by a small orc halfling. Because she had wandered off so far ahead of me, while I lagged in thought, I couldn't hear what she said to the child. Instead, I watched as she centered him around the ball and showed him how to launch a powerful kick that sent the ball back to his playmates. She was roped into the game after that, darting back and forth between goals, surrounded by orc children, unafraid, unbothered by the stark differences between them. Then, just as I was about to call for her, she came back to me, laughing, slightly out of breath and took my hand, pulling me excitedly toward the city.

Inside the city was no different. She seemed more fascinated by the mix of magic and technology, the balance of modern and medieval than the troll lumbering by her or the Centaur in the market. A male forest nymph running a flower stand stopped her to entice her into buying flowers. Whatever he whispered in her ear sent a flush of color to her cheeks and I felt rage split down my spine.

The nymph produced a single white rose and said, "For you, My Lady. A thing of beauty for a great beauty."

Her blush deepened as her fingers closed around the stem of the rose. I heard her hiss in pain and closed the distance between us, ripping the flower from her hand to find her fingertip red with blood. I growled and shoved the flower back to the merchant. "You idiot."

Aria sucked her finger and patted my chest. "Calm down. It was just a thorn." Then she ducked my arm and slipped back into the market.

Blood had stopped trickling from my finger but I still held it in my mouth, idly pressing my teeth into the soft flesh as one thought after another sped through my mind. Dante had been acting strange since I met him at the gate to leave the city. Just thinking of the way his hands caressed my face made my skin tingle. They way he pulled me into his arms after I told him of my past, the warmth and comfort I found there was beyond me. Then his overprotective reaction to rose thorn. There was no denying he was handsome, tall and strong. He was a great fighter and held an air of confidence around him that only came from being tested repeatedly. On looks alone, it would be easy to fall for him. It would have been easy to fall into bed with him in any other circumstance. This was neither the time nor the place.

It was as if my thoughts drew him closer to me. I could feel his heavy, intent sapphire gaze on me from the other side of the stall. When I looked up, he gave me a half smile that I knew cracked his stern features with a light that only made him more attractive, even under his mask. I couldn't help but smile back. We continued along the stall, his fingers lightly brushing across my own when I reached for a brilliantly purple bundle of cloth. Heat rushed up the length of my arm and I felt my lips part. Dante leaned across the stall, his mouth and nose were hidden under the scarf he'd pulled up the moment we set foot in the city, but I could still the curve of his lips and how they arched in a half smile at me. Suddenly he growled and turned away from me. I had to angle around his broad shoulders to see that a merchant was trying to compare their bevy of swords against the steel he wore across his back. I couldn't help but laugh and left him to talk down the blacksmith.

A few stalls over, a little girl tugged at my skirts. I looked down to find mass of ratty dark hair and big dark brown eyes looking up at me. She was filthy, wearing what looked like an old men's shirt like a dress. A smile cracked her small round features before she giggled and slipped something into my hand and ran off. The object in my hand was heavy and smooth. When I turned my hand over I found a long silver chain in my hand and a small shard of amethyst as the pendant. It looked almost exactly like the necklace Harper had given me for my birthday the first year we'd been roommates. Clutching the chain my hand, I watched the girl dart behind a cart and followed her. The closer I got the more she laughed and darted off. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew I shouldn't have been following her. I knew there was no way the necklace in my hand was the one Harper had given me. But the closer I got to the girl and the further from the market we got, the more this sinking feeling of fog seemed to form around me and all I could think was maybe Harper was trying to reach me. Even the sound of Dante calling after me was starting to fade.

We were deep in the forest when I nearly grabbed the girl. I felt her old shirt slip through my fingers as I sank to my knees feeling far more tired than I should have. I felt dizzy watching as the little girl darted off into the dark line of the trees and her laughter echoed eerily around me. The laughter began to pick up, the sound of a thousand voices mocking me. Sand trickled through my fingers and I opened my fist to see the necklace had withered to ash in my hand. Suddenly, Dante's voice boomed through the laughter and I spun, rising to my feet, screaming his name. Like a great lumber jack he came barreling through the trees, his long arms gathering me up against the heart of his body. He pushed hair from my face and shook me. I blinked. Once. Twice. Slowly my vision was clearing and I could see his furrowed brow.

"Aria?" His voice was still so far even though I knew he was right there with me. "Aria?!"

I reached up and wrapped my fingers around his large wrists. "Everything is so heavy."

Hissing, Dante recoiled from my touch. I sank to my knees, watching in a haze as he dusted the ash that had been on my palm off his wrist. It sizzled against his skin and disappeared. Then he grabbed my hand and began to wipe it clean. "Aria. Aria. Look at me."

I felt my head loll in his large hands and forced myself to blink. With each blink my vision became a little clearer. "Dante?"

"I'm here. It's alright. It's just imp magic. It'll fade."

"Not before we make her one of our own." Another voice broke through the haze.

Dante was on his feet, I felt myself pressed to his chest, his free arm reaching over his shoulder for the large sword at his back. "Stay back."

I held onto his shirt and coat for dear life, feeling as though I could only stay upright if I clung to him. Only his strong arm around my back holding me up. All around us the woods were rustling and that sound of snickering was back. I turned my head to see a small creature standing on a rock across the small clearing. It was no bigger than the little girl who had led me here. It's matted dreads were twisted up here and there and bound with tree vines, some leaves still jutting from her head. She was wearing rags and looked like a tiny barbarian warrior, her face was a series of long pinched lines, pointy ears, nose and chin. She pointed long half formed claws at us and demanded, "Give us the girl and you can go unharmed."

Dante growled in response, a deep guttural sound more animal than man. It sounded like the rumbling of some great beast being disturbed. It was enough to give the encroaching imps pause. "Stay back." He warned again and I felt his arm flex, holding me tighter as the sword started to slip from its sheathe.

The Imp queen snorted and took a deep breath. "I can smell her from here. What is one human to you, warrior? Hand her over and be on your way."

He gripped me harder yet and I heard myself whine. A sharp pain ran through my chest. "Dante," My voice was firmer than I thought it would be. "I can't breathe."

As if coming out of his own daze, his gaze snapped to me. "Sorry." He muttered before pushing me behind him. I gripped the back of his coat and buried my face into the muscle of his back. I still felt a little unsteady on my feet.

The imps were gathering closer. Drawing all around us. Their warrior leader threw out her arms and announced. "You can't take us all, warrior! We will have the girl."

We were rushed from all sides. I felt myself stumbled back and lose my connection to Dante. Hands were crawling all over me, pulling at my legs and skirt, arms and hair. I screamed as mounting panic was starting to cripple my ability to think. Kicking and screaming, I felt myself being dragged across the forest floor until finally the hands propped me up on my knees and held my hands behind my back. One cluster of claws held my hair.

"Give up, warrior!" The leader demanded. "The girl is ours!"

My adrenaline had started to pump under the haze of panic and it was clearing my vision. Dante was surrounded. There were dead bodies of imps sprawled all around him and he hadn't even broken a sweat. His heavy breathing seemed to be coming more from rage than fatigue and maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me but I could have sworn I saw smoke curl through the mask when he snorted in anger.

"Never." He said in a deep husky voice full of fire and the imps swarmed him. They were dropping like flies but still coming in droves. There was no way he would be able to keep this up.

I needed to move and quickly. Digging the toe of my boot in the ground, I managed to lift my knee off the floor with the skirts of my dress to cover my motion. It gave me just enough leverage push myself up to my full height. For once I was taller than someone and it pulled the imp holding my hands off his feet. The leader who was holding my hair stumbled on the rock and chose to keep her spot rather than hold onto me, but I heard her scream to have me taken back down. It was too late. I had broken free of the imp holding my arms and slammed him into other to keep my space clear. Another came at me brandishing a sword. I felt the hot steel slice up my arm but as he ran closer, I gripped his wrist with my free arm and drove my knee into his chest. I had no time to nurse my wound, turning immediately and ripping the leader off the rock, the sword to her throat.

"Stop!" I shouted. "Or I'll cut her head from her shoulders."

Everyone froze, including Dante who was poised to strike down another imp. He turned to me, still battle ready though he pushed a hand through his mussed hair. His breathing was steady even as blood ran down his body from the large gash in his chest. If he was in pain, he didn't show it. His eyes were pinned to me. I could tell he was a bit shocked by my threat. I moved through the crowd toward him. The leader was tearing at my already bleeding forearm and screaming for them to get her free. So I pressed the knife to her throat and let her feel the sting of the sharp blade enough to make blood trickle down her neck.

"Get back, all of you."

Imps were hissing at me, lunging at me but none were moving.

"Kill her! Kill them!" The leader screamed.

I held the blade closer, forcing her to stretch her neck as if that would save her. "Try it and she dies long before we do." My back was to Dante now. I could feel his heavy breathing. "Clear a path." I demanded.

When Dante started to back up, I knew they had done as ordered and started to move back with him. His hand was on my shoulder, heavy, bruised. We backed into the forest until I nearly couldn't see the little imps anymore before I shoved the imp woman out in front of me. Dante didn't hesitate, his hand jumped from my shoulder to my free hand and we bolted. The imps immediately took after us. The forest in front of us was starting to clear and Dante gripped my hand tighter.

"You have to jump." He shouted over the sounds of imps screaming at us and the zing of arrant arrows.

"What?"

"You have to jump!"

We were running out of earth. I took a deep breath and instead of slowing up began to run faster. Dante matched my pace with his long legs. Then the earth ran out beneath us and we were in the sky. My heart was pumping and as we descended I heard water rushing below us. There was a crash and silence. I had lost my hold on Dante and let myself sink. The current pushed me and pull me. The water was clear and blue. I watched fish scuttle by me startled by my presence. Long green arms of kelp reached up from the deeps I hadn't plumed yet like ghostly green arms. Finally, I gathered my limbs under me and began to push myself to the surface.

"Aria! Aria!... Aria!" I heard him calling me.

"I'm here!" Where ever here was. Then I felt the presence of two great beasts pushing through the current toward me. That familiar panic started to rise again. I began to shuffle around in a circle. I couldn't see anything only the break of waves of some disturbance which I prayed was Dante. Even so, when his arms wrapped around me from under the water and his strong legs propelled us somewhere I screamed. It was only when my hands grabbed fist fulls of his hair that I stopped. He pushed me to shore like some sort of killer whale at sea world and for the first time, in the midst of it all, I wondered what sort of magical creature he was.

We crawled up on a shore made of smooth river stones until we hit a warm, sun drenched patch of grass and both collapsed. In the distance, something large moved through the water where we had just been. Dante grabbed my arm to keep me from looking. "Don't. We're safe now." His hand came away with blood and he sprang up. It was then I saw the deep gash in his chest and I sprang up as well. He grabbed my arm and my hand spread across his chest.

"You're hurt." We said.

Our eyes locked.

"Mine isn't nearly as bad as yours." I said, pushing my hands under the shoulders of his coat. "Take these off."

Dante shrugged the coat off, then crossed his arms began to pull his shirt up but hesitated. After a sharp inhale, he pulled the tattered shirt over his head and I was fed and eyeful of tattoos and muscle. From neck to wrist, he was covered in violent scenes of war against dragons. Across his chest spread the large black wing of a dragon sweeping down to a precipice to pick up his bride. The shadow of a man was imprinted in the center of the beast.

"You're a dragon." I heard the words before they even processed in my mind.

Dante gently covered my wrist with his fingers. "I am." He said, in a soft murmur. "Do I frighten you?"

My fingers spread across the hard muscle of his pectoral and I lifted my head just enough to meet his gaze. Those blue eyes were swimming with a rushing current like the river we'd just escaped. Was he afraid of what I would say? I curled my hand and pulled from his grasp reaching for the remains of his shirt then met his gaze head on again. "No, Dante." I said firmly. "You're still the man that wouldn't let a worthless human sacrifice be left to vampires or imps."

Tension eased out of him, as if he had been holding his breath and I could only hope he understand how truthful I had been. I had seen too much in my life to let his ability to shift between beast and man change all that had transpired between us.

Gently, I pinched her chin between my fingers, looking into those thoughtful, fierce hazel eyes. "You are not worthless."

At that, Aria broke eye contact and began to strip my shirt to make bandages and wrap my torso and shoulder. All the while, I watched her. The more time I spent with her, the more she was unlike any human I had ever come across traveling back and forth between realms. Sure, I had spent most of my time watching them from the shadows but there had been a few I interacted with and still none had been like her. She had faced vampires, my uncle, played with orc children and threatened an Imp Queen.

She was tucking the edges of the bandages away when I took her hand again. "Aria?"

"Yes?" She said, turning her wrist in my grasp and brushing her fingers along my palm.

"Would you have killed her?"

Her eyes jumped to mine and I saw that steely determination again. "Let me put this way--- Don't start fights with me. I finish them."

I smiled. "You're quite the warrior."

She laughed and shook her head. "No. Just a survivor."

Tomato, tomatoe. It was pointless to argue with her. Instead, I stripped what was left of my shirt and wrapped her arm, then draped my cloak around her shoulders. "Can you walk?" She nodded and we stood. I looked around and instantly knew where we had landed. Motioning along the river bank, I said, "I want to show you something."

"Is it an imp village? Because it would be a shitty time for you to turn on me."

I sucked my teeth. "You really don't trust me, huh?"

I saw her slim shoulders shrug under the weight of my coat. "Just prepared for the worst." She laughed.

I laughed too. She had a dark sense of humor. "You're a handful, you know that."

"I might have heard that once or twice before."

My hand came to rest on her shoulder, leading her through the half worn path toward the caves under the waterfall. As we walked I felt my hand sliding down her back and stopping at her waist. She came closer to me, tucked under my arm but careful not to disturb my bandages and I felt her fingers playing along my lower back above the band of my pants. There was a comfortable silence between us, even when I moved my hand to hers and lead her behind the waterfall and into the caves.

Just as I remembered them, the caves were awash with blue light that reflected off the clusters crystals. The water was shimmering and the around us fireflies danced like living torchlight. I heard Aria's breath hitch from where I stood behind her. I put my hands on her shoulders and she turned to look up at me. Her hazel eyes were wide, her full mouth parted slightly and made me want to kiss her.

"My brother showed me this place." I felt my mouth snap shut. I couldn't believe I had just told her that.

Aria watched me curiously for a moment then slipped out of my grasp. "What is this place?"

"They're hot springs. We would come here after training because the water has healing properties." I hefted my sword off my back and laid it against a tall crystal, then began to take off my boots. At the same time, Aria slipped out of my coat and unwrapped the skirt of her dress and let it fall.

She turned to me, wearing nothing but the leather bodice and lacey flesh toned underwear. When her hands touched my bandages it was my turn to have my breath caught in my throat. The will power it took not to scoop her up and kiss her was something I wasn't aware I had. Instead, I manage to stand still while she unbandaged me then we both waded into the pool.

Aria stepped out a bit further than me, the water shifting about her rounded hips, and she reached up and pulled her heavy curls free of the leather tie. They fell in a cascade down her back and she sank into the water, swimming out a little further. When she turned back to me, I could tell she'd gone out far enough that her feet were not touching the floor. I waded out after her and was still able to touch the floor, the water hitting me at my shoulders. We were inches apart, the water clear enough that I could see her legs were pushed together and she was treading water like a mermaid. Her fingers touched my chest, following the seam of my cut as it healed over with the magic in the water. They crawled up to my collar bone and I put my hand over hers, reaching for her under the water and pulling her closer. Again, I heard that soft puff of breath leave her as I leaned my head down, resting my forehead on hers. Her hand kept moving, followed by the other until her arms were around my neck. I reached down, gripping the back of her thighs and pulled her even closer, her legs wrapping around my waist.

"Dante..." Her voice was an unsteady whisper. I would have given anything to hear her say my name like that, again. My real name.

"Yes, Aria?" I said, my voice husky as if I hadn't spoken for ages but it was really all the lust I had for her.

She didn't respond other than tilting her head up slightly giving me a full view of those perfectly parted lips. The air around us had gone from the warmth wafting off the pool to a heat all its own, fizzing with need and desire. Her fingers combed through the back of my head, where the hair was shorter, almost buzzed down and climbed higher to where it became a little longer. I lowered my head a fraction of an inch and felt her breath hitch again.

"Aria..." My voice had dropped another octave, begging for an answer to an unasked question.

She shuddered and her lips brushed mine. I felt her hand clench at the back of my head and it was all I needed. My mouth devoured hers and the soft moans she emitted. I lost myself in her, kissing her with all the pent up frustration I had; frustration I had thought came from her hot-headedness, her stubbornness, the constant pushback she gave everyone and everything. But in that moment I knew it was frustration with playing this game of cat and mouse when I wanted the mouse so badly. She did nothing to resist me, kissing me with just as much fervor and it seemed to go on for ages. Until I felt her groan and peel away. I groaned too, reaching for her, but she was out of my arms, moving for shallows.

"Aria?"

She stopped and turned, two fingers brushing across her lips where they were red from the roughness of our kiss, her chest still heaving with the heavy desire. "I'm sorry. I can't."

I moved after her, cupping her face with one hand. "Can't what?"

Gently, she pushed my hand off. "This. You're with the captain and I'm betrothed to a stranger." I felt my jaw clench and she went on, "We're healed. We should get back."