Stuck in a Fantasy

Chapter 6

The roar had made me stop for a second too long. The king already had an advantage over me since he was a dragon. My hesitation just made things even easier for him.

After my brief pause, my feet pounded on the gravel of the courtyard behind the castle. Guards started to run after me as soon as their king's powerful roar ended. Soon not a single rock on the ground was still as the stomps from our feet hit the ground. I rounded a corner and pushed my body to go even faster once I saw the dark brown draw bridge.

"She's heading for the bridge!" A voice from behind me yelled.

"Raise the bridge!" Another voice ordered loudly.

Their words made me pump my legs impossibly harder as I watched with fear as the bridge started to rise up off the ground. Another roar from the king resonated through the air and I could tell that he was outside of the castle now... Closer to catching me. I didn't risk a look behind me, knowing it would slow me down, and I heard the flap of large powerful wings.

The bridge was now halfway up and a little too high for me to jump up and pull myself over. Under the bridge there were spearheads standing straight up, ready to impale anyone stupid enough to go through the moat. Weren't moats supposed to be filled with water! Can't they do anything normal in this dimension?

I stopped at the edge of the moat and tried to decide what to do. I could summon a long plank. Or... Or... A hoverboard.

Suddenly I was grabbed by two guards and yanked backward, away from the edge. I struggled against their hold for a few seconds, but they easily overpowered me and made me standstill. I debated summoning a weapon and making them release me, but I was too tired from my escape attempt. What's the point? The king is my soulmate, and even though he burned me, he isn't going to let me go. So I just closed my eyes and allowed myself to take a small break before the king would inevitably show up.

The break wasn't long. Soon strong gusts of wind were crashing into me, making the guards restraining me and me stumble backward. I opened my eyes and beheld a bright blue dragon with solely red eyes. With a final flap of its mighty wings, it landed gracefully on the ground in front of us.

I watched with disgust as the skin on the dragon melted off. The rough blue scales fell to the ground in a smoking heap until the king stood where the large dragon had once been.

The king walked towards me, nude as the day he was born until his face was just a few inches from mine. He glared down at me with his amber eyes and suddenly I felt like he was fully clothed and that I was the one who was naked. "Let her go," the king ordered his men without removing his gaze from me.

They immediately let go of me and I almost fell down. I hadn't realized how much of my weight they had been holding. I was weaker and more tired than I had thought. I looked up at the king, all fight in my eyes probably as dead as I felt. I put my hands on my knees and asked, "Are you going to burn me again?"

The king's face was stoic, but I noticed a small downward tug on the right side of his mouth at my words. "That was an accident," He grumbled to me.

I rolled my eyes but didn't respond. "Did you just roll your eyes at me?" He asked me in disbelief.

"Did you really burn me after knowing me for like two minutes?" I retorted feeling too tired to contain all of my thoughts.

"Did you really kiss me after knowing me for like three seconds?" The king questioned as he crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head.

A few of the guards snickered at our little feud but stopped when we both glared at them. The guards all looked away from us and a few even started to whistle awkwardly. Once we were sure that they were going to mind their own business we went back to our own fight.

"That was different. I was trying to..." I exclaimed before I stopped myself.

Stupid! Stupid! I almost told him that I tried to force myself to jump. That I could travel between different realities. I don't know what he'll do to me if he knows that I can do that.

His eyebrow raised and he asked, "You were trying to do what?"

I went silent and I hugged myself. I was so close to just telling him. I haven't made that mistake since my fourth dimension.

"You were trying to do what?" He asked a bit less patient this time.

"Forget about it," I told him in a quiet voice.

He rolled his eyes, clearly unpleased by the answer, and grabbed my good arm. I didn't even try to struggle against him. What was the point? He was a dragon and I was just an Amari that didn't even have all of her powers yet. I could never win in a hand-to-hand fight with him.

I let him lead me back to the castle. We entered in the way I had before but quicker. With each footfall we took, he seemed to become more anxious and forced me to go faster so I could match his speed. After a couple of corridors, he was practically dragging me since I couldn't keep up with his pace. Before I knew it we were in front of the golden dragon head that was on the doors that led to the throne room.

He threw open the doors without delay and dragged me into the room behind him. Everyone from before was still there plus about twenty more guards. They all watched me with curious eyes, even Taylor, as the king forced me to the center of the room.

I looked around the room that I hadn't been able to take in before and was mildly impressed. The floors were made of large slabs of black marble and had a long skinny red carpet that led to one ginormous golden throne that was decorated with bright red rubies. The throne looked uncomfortable and simple but displayed what it was meant to... That it was a king's seat. Four large windows showed nothing but bright blue skies. Long red banners were between each window and gave the room the elegance it so desperately needed.

"You!" The kind proclaimed after he finally stopped dragging me. He then pointed to a stout older man with a bald head and small beady brown eyes. The man looked at the king with wide eyes and scurried to be in front of us.

The king pulled me closer to him and ordered the man, "Marry us!"

"What?" I exclaimed in shock. I stared up at the handsome naked king to see if he was joking or not... He wasn't.