Dragon Kiss

The Room of The Dead

Chapter Two Part Six

"Tessa please don't be rude. This is my husband Prince Vex" Aria kissed him on the cheek.

"It's fine" Vex looks me up and down.

I'm sure he's taking his time and thinking about what he's going to say next.

"You are a guest here" Vex say's calmly.

"Not by choice."

"Tessa Please now is not the time."

"Your right it isn't" I agree with her "I'll go I need to make arrangements to return home. But first I'm going to go The Arena and see how many people from my home you killed."

"You are the only one from Wintervale that was in The Arena today" Prince Vex seems certain of his words.

"Excuse me for not taking you word for it."

"Tessa, please come join us."

"No thank you. Unlike you I rather see how many of my people were slaughtered for entertainment."

I stand up and leave the room Nala following after me. I do as I say and go to The Arena. A lot of people were eaten by the dragons today and I have no hope of knowing if any of them are from Wintervale. Prince Vex may have saved Aria many years ago but he is only looking skin deep. The bond between the people of Wintervale goes far deeper than that, if it didn't ice and snow wouldn't be slowly covering Dragos.

"You there take me to the dead I wish to see them" I tell a guard.

"I can't do that."

Nala growled and the guard backed away.

"I wish to see if any Wintervale people were over looked. I expect they were since you were only looking with your eyes."

"I'll get in trouble. No one is allowed to do to where the dead slaves are. They are all going to be fed to the Royal Dragons."

Nala growled again this time much louder she was ready to attack.

"You have two choices one you can take me to the people you had slaughtered or two you can die at the hands of my Snow Leopard. Either way I'll be going to where you keep those that you've murdered."

"They are just slaves."

"Not to me."

Nala roared loudly and the guard backed away so quickly he fell over and she pounced on him her teeth were just inches from his face.

"Ok I'll take you call it off."

"Nala come" Nala slowly backed away from him and returned to my side.

The guard took me to where they keep the dead.

"I can assure you none of them are from Wintervale."

I look at the face of a girl around the age of fifteen she's almost identical to Aria. I let out a sigh. I know who this girl is Esily she is Aria's younger sister. She's covered in slashes but they weren't made by an animal they were made by a sword. It looked as if she had been beaten for years. Drops of water fall onto her face. It takes me a moment to realize they came from me. This is the first time I cried in ten years. I get the feeling that she isn't the only face I'll recognize from home.

I turn and glare at the guard.

"What it's just a dead slave?"

"Go get your Emperor" I say trying not to growl.

"I don't have to do what you say, You may be a concubine but you can't order me around."

"Last chance" I say Nala growls and steps towards the guard "Go get your emperor or die. If you're not back with him in fifteen minutes Nala will hunt you down and end you. I sagest you hurry."

The guard just stood there for a moment a look of shock on his face but then he ran from the room. I look around the room. I see dead guards on tables. I'm guessing they just shove the slaves to the floor. These people disgust me so much I hate them for what they've done to us, killing my friends and family for entertainment. It's disgusting and yet Aria fell in love and married one of them. Did she even bother looking for any of them? I shove a guard off a table and place Esily on it. I look at each and every face and put those I recognize on the tables. Some of the men are big and it's a little difficult. But they have all been starved so much they aren't that hard to lift. After I look over everyone I push the tables together. I hear voices coming.

"Hurry up we need to get rid of the bodies before tomorrow's event."

"But that one won the match and you just killed him. He was supposed to be set free."

"He was set free. Death is freedom this is how all the matches truly end The Emperor never bother to check to see if there collars were removed. They are just slaves they aren't worth anything and they never will be. The reason we feed them to the dragons is to make sure no one knows that the only freedom these slaves get is death. Now hurry up we also have to return the dead guards to their families. We have to get rid of the slaves first so they don't have to look at them while they identify their loved ones."

These people make me sick. I finish pushing the tables together. I do a quick once over of the room to make sure that I got everyone.

"Hey you you're not allowed in here what the hell do you think you're doing."

I look at Esily one more time. She was just a child and they tossed her into the arena just so they could have a good laugh. I don't bother to look at the guard.

"Hey I'm talking to you. How dare you put slaves in the place of important people, Concubines aren't allowed down here. Get out now."

I turn around and see one of the guards shoving a body to the floor. I didn't get a chance to see the face but I can see the one that the other guard is holding on to. I use Nala's sight to get a better look and my blood runs cold. That's Nao my younger brother. He looks dead but Nala lends me her ears and I can hear his heart beat. My body is shaking with rage.

"Kill him" I say.

The guard only has time to laugh a little before Nala jumps on him and rips into his throat.

"Wait please I had nothing to do with this it's only my first day I can be a witness to the emperor if you like" The guard hides behind Nao a little bit but I don't think he realizes that Nao isn't dead yet. I can't see his injuries from where I'm standing in this light.

"What's going on?" I hear other footsteps. Nala is ready to attack again as other guards enter the room "You're not allowed in here. Leave now."

Nala pounces and this guard and the one behind him gets the same fate the screams draw the attention of other guards and when they see Nala they attack her. But Nala is quick and evades them before sinking her teeth into. I walk over to the guard holding Nao.