Ryder, Lord of Astaroth

I was never one to get all excited when it came to parties and occasions or anything that involves relating with people outside my small circle, events happening within the palace or anywhere for that matter, which was why I had tried to convince mother that I would not be able to attend but today I had no choice. I could not request to sit this one out, mother, and most especially father would hear none of it.

"You need to and you should socialize more," mother had advised when I walked up to her after the announcement father had made at the dinner table a week before. "This is a good opportunity to get to know your age mates and find a new crush." Mother joked, winked and then laughed. I had just smiled.

"Am I to find a crush or a soul mate, mother?"

"A crush, a soul mate, whatever it is, you are turning eighteen next week and at that age, you get to find your soul mate. Are you not excited?" Mother asked, pulling me to sit in front of the mirror while she loosened my hair.

I gave a sigh of relief as the hairpins came off, I had felt them trying to pierce into my brain all throughout dinner and there was no way I could have shown up looking all shabby and "un-princess-like" at the dinner table because the Duke of Brigham had shown up, unannounced late in the evening and he had brought along his eldest son. Father had said it was impromptu and unarranged but I had been much wiser than that, I knew it had been for an alliance marriage but to which of the princess? that I could not tell, but one thing I knew was that it had better not be a marriage to me.

The young man, Eric Dumieres, was handsome, to say the least, but he was chubby and I knew that he had felt uncomfortable in that armor he had on throughout dinner and he sweated a lot. He was a daunt, I could tell but he had stolen glances at me a lot during the meal, which had made me uncomfortable as he had made it very obvious but I had sent him my own stares which told him to back off. I did not like him. And then father made it much worse.

"Eric, I can see that you like my daughter?" He had asked. "You have been stealing glances throughout dinner."

Eric had choked instantly on the mashed potatoes and I had frozen, exchanging glances at my two sisters also seated at the table. Mother chuckled and placed a hand on father's.

"Now, now. Don't frighten the young man."

"Are you by any chance proposing a marriage Your Highness?" The duke had asked, smiling widely and shaking his son by the shoulder. Eric kept his head low and chuckled nervously, he looked up and met my angry stare which made him put his head back down. It did not help the matter that I had to be sitting opposite him.

"Marriage hmm...?" Father seemed to contemplate, then he smiled to mother and back at the duke. "Doesn't seem like a bad idea to me." Then they laughed.

I fisted my palms under the table, I knew they would plan my marriage to this... man if it were possible, but it was not. It would not happen anyway.

"Why plan a marriage father?" I had spoken up, stopping the men from laughing. "We find our soul mates at the age of eighteen so why plan a marriage if it would not happen?"

My question had subsequently ended the chatter about marriage and the two men had gone on to discuss other things more political and less involving marriage.

"Excited?" I asked mother as she pulled away the hairpins. "I am excited to turn eighteen and find my soul mate but excited about marriage to Eric? No. In absolutely no way can I be excited mother." The last of the pins came off and mother sat beside me.

"What if he turns out to be your soul mate? Would you still be able to reject him?"

"The gods are not so cruel mother."

---

Now standing in front of the century-old mirror a week after and wearing the ridiculous red dress that Gwyn had forcefully picked for me, I could not help but feel stupid. I felt that I and Gwyn looked like lost twin princesses wearing the same outfit, which in the actual sense was not totally wrong, since we were both princesses and we were sisters, but the dresses were of different colors. I glanced at Jenny through the mirror sitting on the bed, making that three lost princesses.

"I look stupid," I commented, turning left and right and staring at myself in the mirror. "Is this not a bit too much Gwyn?"

"A bit too much?" She asked, walking up to me from behind and admiring me in the dress through the mirror, she was ten years younger than I was but seemed to be wiser than me when it came to dressing up and looking good. A shame on me, yes.

The dress was fitting, a dangerous color of red. It hugged my upper body tightly, outlining my slim waist and cupping my full breasts, mother had said I had developed early. The lower part of the dress was loose and not full, with a split by the side that came all the way up to my thighs, exposing a large part of my legs.

"Jenny?" I called my youngest sister who was sitting on the bed to ask for her opinion. "What do you think?"

She looked up from the book she was reading and I felt her six-year-old eyes roam all over my body once, from my perfectly made hair, down the dress to the shoes I had on. "Perfect."

---

The party was well on the way and I had done all I could to escape from the sight of my father after I had sighted him talking to the Duke and his son. What mother had said to me came to her memory again;

"What if he turns out to be your soul mate? Would you still be able to reject him?"

Since the party was being hosted for me to find my soul mate, I had to interact with the young men at the party, occasionally having to dance with some of them whom I found to be attractive and whom I wanted to be my soul mate but neither of us did feel any kind of connection. Eventually, I was getting tired of having to dance and meet others. And the Duke arrived, coming in with his son.

No, I was not going to do this any longer.

Finding one's soul mate was like clicking onto a connection, both would feel it and if at all Eric was destined to be my soul mate, then I would, by all means, avoid us meeting today. I slipped out of the hall quietly and without being detected and went exploring around the castle.

This place was over a hundred years old, being passed down from generation to generation of royal lineage, from king to crown prince who would eventually become the next king. I had lived in the castle all my life, for eighteen years and there were many places within these very walls that I had not seen. Today I would kill time by doing that.

As I walked the dim hallways, a particular painting caught my attention. It was the painting of a handsome Prince in his royal regalia. 1800AD, it read on the plaque below, but something about the painting was off.

At first I thought maybe it was just my imagination, but the painting moved. Its eyes followed my every movement. For a while, I stood there below the painting, mesmerized by the weirdness.

No. I shook my head.

I looked at the painting again and jumped back with a yelp when it winked at me, my back colliding into the chest of a young man who wasn't there a second ago.

"Woah there, easy red." He chuckled.

I pushed away from him in fright and turned to face him. The corridor was dim but I could see him clearly. His well-defined features glowed. I stepped away from him so that my back touched the wall.

I studied him, his skin was pale white and his lips, a tempting shade of red, his long hair cascaded over his shoulders which seemed wet and shiny. He was taller. Much taller and muscular and I found him irresistibly charming. Somehow, he did look just like the man in the painting but this man in front of me was attractive. He was much more attractive.

"You're a long way away from the party. Did you get lost red?"

I could not take my eyes off his red lips as I watched them move as he spoke. I felt the urge to reach out and touch them, he was mesmerizing and yes, intoxicating too. How would it feel to have them on mine?

"I... I'm... I don't know?" I stammered, a bit of fear somewhere at the back of my mind. This was my palace, my castle and someone could have just waltzed in here without being noticed? His bright red eyes were intimidating. How was he able to get into this part of the castle and that too undetected?

"You shouldn't fear...." He smiled and stretched out a hand toward me, I flinched and pressed my back into the wall, my eyes on his hand as if warning him to stay away. He chuckled, smiled, and cocked his head to the side.

"Trying to merge with the wall red? I'm not going to bite you..." He paused, licked his lips letting his eyes travel down my body, I literally felt his gaze on my exposed leg, cool and chilling, causing goosebumps to form and I instinctively drew the dress to cover it. I knew this dress was stupid. His eyes lingered a while and then back up, locking eyes with me then he frowned. "...yet."

I swallowed. "Yet?" my fear returned. "Who are you? And how did you get in here?"

"Ryder," A voice boomed from the darkest part down the corridor. "I see you have brought a snack."

My head snapped. "Snack?"

"She is not!" he yelled, almost like a growl, and then more calmly, he continued. "She is mine." The man, whom I now knew as Rider, grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to him, gripping me by the waist firmly.

I sucked in a quick breath. "Yours?!"

Shocked by the sudden action, I tried to push away from him but his grip was surprisingly strong that he did not even budge. I looked up to him but his gaze was fixed towards the dark corridor like he was looking at someone standing there. I followed his gaze and saw nothing, but the voice that boomed assured me that someone was there. I held on to Ryder. Strangely, I felt safe in his arms, in the arms of this odd man who had appeared from nowhere.

"She is free Ryder. I can smell her." The person growled.

Ryder faced me, the anger on his face softened when he leaned in to whisper to me. His breath fanned my ear and I felt goosebumps form on my skin. Whoever this man was, he sure did know how to awaken some strange feelings in me.

"I need you to trust whatever I do, can you do that red?"

I placed the flat of my palm against his chest to push him away, shaking my head negatively. My feeling safe in his arms did not guarantee that I should trust him.

"Wha... what do you think you are doing right now?" I asked, shaken to my bones but still trying to put up boldface. But Ryder had not requested, it was a demand.

With his other free hand, he reached up and stroked my face, my eyes following his hand. His touch tingled, he placed his fingers on my forehead, drawing it down slowly to my cheeks, down to my chin, and my neck. I swallowed when he kept going lower and closed my eyes.

"Stop." I whispered, not actually wanting him to, then he bit lightly into my neck.

I screamed and grabbed at his shirt, felt his teeth sink deeper, tearing into my flesh and his grip on my waist tightened, like he was squeezing, pulling me into him. The pain only lasted a second then I felt his teeth pull out of my neck, felt him lick the spot and I felt numb, my head began to spin.

"Red is a dangerous color on you Lyra ." I heard him say before I passed out.

In medieval times, where the myths we know of were spun from, there was a season of lords and knights, of witches and sorcerers, of magic and spells, of curses and plagues, of love and sacrifices, and of war and blood. Several kingdoms existed, kingdoms spread out far and wide and had borders that greatly separated them from one another, far into the east and even into the north, where the cold that ravaged there froze life, but still, people thrived in these kingdoms.

Many a time, these kingdoms were ravaged, if not by the cold then by the plague, by famine, by war, or by some sort of curse, and many a time some kingdoms crumbled under these; lost and forgotten, and buried under the black soot of burning flesh and the witches' cry, and they all did perish, save for seven. The seven kingdoms of the east and of the south.

This is not just a tale of one kingdom, and neither is this a tale of just one man, but it starts off somewhere.

And this tale starts off in the heart of Dragonsbane, where the king, Kade Cragore, and his queen, Gwyn Cragore Wixx ruled...

Every day was usually the same in Dragonsbane, it was always the same boring day, repeating itself every time, but today at least would not be so boring. No, today there would be merriment in the castle, today they would have guests and there would be music, and dancing, and new faces, and today she would no longer be forced to see the world through her window. Today, her sister would be getting married.

She twirled from the bed to the window and sighed happily, the sun would set in only a matter of hours and the main event would begin. She looked down from the window to the open courtyard and she giggled as her eyes took in everything it saw, it was a buzz of activities going on down there as every servant was busy with the preparations, carrying flowers here and there, the food being brought in and the tons of colorful fabrics that were used to decorate the whole place. Lyra bounced up and down while clutching tightly to the window, she was excited and she was hyper, barely having slept a wink last night. She smiled, and shivered in excitement before throwing the robe she had on-off her body and raced to the door, pulling it wide open and rushing out of her room. First, she would go see the bride and wife-to-be, maybe tease her a little and help her get dressed, and then, of course, try out some of her dresses while at the same time, dreaming of her own day; the day she would meet her soul mate, her hero, and knight in shining armor and afterward, get married.

Lyra was always excited whenever there was a function at the palace because that was the only time she ever got to meet people. Like literally the only time she had the opportunity to. On other days she would be cooped up in the castle and sometimes, she was never allowed to even go out to the garden, mother had said it was for her own safety but she had seen them allow her sisters go out to attend events they had been invited for, she had envied them but she also believed what mother had said because she never did anything without a good reason and Lyra knew that she was the only daughter that mother really gave all her attention to, whatever she wanted, she got it, maybe it was to console her for not being allowed to leave the castle grounds but Lyra could do nothing about that so she always looked forward to events and parties that happened in the palace.

But this guard over her life would soon end because tomorrow, she would be turning eighteen and there would be another party thrown in the palace for her, tomorrow would be the day she would get to choose her man, her hero and her knight and she would choose someone, only that the person she would choose would not be a prince like how some of her sisters had chosen, she wanted to be like her aunt Jenny, who had gotten married to a knight and a leader in the royal army, she felt like romances like that was heavenly, unlike mother who had gotten married to some important prince.

"Soria!" Lyra yelled as she burst into the room, startling her sister and the rest of the servants who were helping her get ready. She looked around the room and her mouth hung open at the decorations that had been put up, she squealed when she noticed Soria in the most amazing dress she had seen in a long time and marveled at how much it fit her, they smiled at each other and Lyra, without waiting any more time, ran up to her sister, ignoring the maids and jumped on her, bringing both of them crashing down to the bed, there was a rip and a tear and protested screams from the maids but Lyra could only careless. She was just too excited.

"Lyra!" Soria protested, her arms wrapping around her sister. "Lyra, you have torn my dress!"

"Oh," She said and rolled off her sister then sat up on the bed, giving her sister that puppy dog face.

Soria frowned as she examined the damage done to her dress, the entire left sleeve had been ripped off and there was a huge split in the dress which came all the way up to her thigh. "Lyra! It took an hour of fitting to get this done and in one swift second you have managed to ruin it!"

Lyra clasped her hands together and looked at the dress, yikes, she had really destroyed this but it was not beyond redemption. "I'm terribly sorry, I was just very..."

"Excited?" She finished her sentence and sighed, turning to face Lyra with a smirk on her face. "I didn't really like the dress anyway and besides, this is just the dinner dress and not the wedding dress, or I would have buried you in this room myself."

Lyra giggled. "I did like the dress though but is it not a bit too early to be getting into the dress?"

"A bit too early?" Soria stood up from the bed to allow the maids to take off the dress so she could try on another one. "Darling, the sun is beginning to set and the guest would be arriving soon, maybe I too am eagerly excited to wait till when it gets dark."

"And maybe Zaden was too eager as well." Lyra said and folded her lips to keep herself from smiling but the mischief in her eyes was clear. Soria narrowed her eyes at her and almost immediately squealed.

"He's here?!"

Lyra nodded and shot up from the bed, grabbing her sister's hands as they both jumped up and down squealing in happiness, ignoring the dress that she was now stomping on.

"I saw him come into the castle on my way here, looking so dashing in his complete uniform. Ohhh... Soria, I can not begin to tell you how lucky you are to have Zaden for a husband."

"I know how lucky I am," Soria said, flicking strands of her hair and twirling, a huge grin on her face. "And I know how lucky he is to have me for a wife too."

"I cannot wait to find my soulmate and get married," Lyra fell back on the bed, staring dreamily at the ceiling. "I want a warrior like a man you got, not a prince and not a king but a brave warrior who would come take me out of this castle, I am tired of always being locked in."

Soria smiled and laid down beside Lyra, she sighed. "Can't wait."

She was not sure how possible that was going to be, tomorrow Lyra would turn eighteen. Again. Like she had been doing so for the past thirty-eight years now and every year she was to turn eighteen, she would be given a potion that would clear two years off her memory, bringing her back to thinking she was still sixteen. Soria did not know how long this had been going on for but it had been before she was born, and according to mother, Queen Gwyn Cragore Wixx, Lyra was not her sister but her fifty-six-year-old aunt who looked like she was still eighteen years old.

At first, when she had been told, she did not believe it because she thought it was not possible. Sure she had heard stories of witches and sorcerers and she knew that was true but the fact that Lyra was that old? And still looked so very young was something she could not so easily accept, that was until she had seen it the time they had given her the potion to drink, Lyra had woken up the next day, fully convinced that she was only sixteen years old.

Why they had to do that, she did not really know because she was not told the full story but what mother had said was that it was for her own safety and she believed her mother's every word.

Soria turned to face Lyra and she smiled. "Let's get ready."

The castle hall was packed with people who had come to join in the event happening, of course, it was strictly only by invitation, but then mother must have invited a ton of people and it seemed that not only the people of Dragonsbane were invited to this event, she could see her Aunt Jenny and her husband and son, cooped up in a section of the hall reserved only for the royal family and by the look on Revvyn's face, she could tell that he too did not want to be there with his mother and father in their royal restrictions.

She giggled when he looked at her with pleading puppy eyes and she signaled for him to come to her.

Revvyn was much like her, his mother, Duchess Jenny Wixx Dumieres, always loved to impose her own things on him but Lyra still considered him lucky because they did not live in the castle, his father was Eris Dumieres, Duke of Deltora, Dragonsbane, and for the fact that he was not stuck living his life within the castle walls was one thing she envied about him and she would do anything to leave the castle, she even, on more than one occasion, tried to convince mother to allow her to live a while with the Dumieres, even though Lyra was sure that her Aunt Jenny, would be even more strict about her than her mother was, still she would accept that if it meant that she would be allowed out of the castle, but mother would hear none of that.

She was not to leave the castle and if there was a function happening in the castle, she was not to leave mother's sight. She smiled and sighed, thinking of all the parchment she had hidden away in her dresser up in her room, containing detailed mappings of the castle, including the underground tunnels and the secret passageways and the numerous escape plans she had in her head and wishing that she had a glass of wine in her hands right now but mother would kill her if she was seen drinking that stuff. There were just too many things she was not allowed to do and sometimes it frustrated her but she chose to be patient. She would be eighteen and she would be married soon - that was her only source of console now. She would be married soon.

Her gaze moved from Revvyn who was now making his way towards her to her mother the queen, Gwyn Wixx Cragore, and she almost immediately looked away, she chose not to focus on her piercing gaze disapproving of her interacting with the other guests but rather wanted to enjoy her evening instead, this was the one time in months she had been allowed into an event in the castle and she would not be spending it restricted to one section of the hall as a royal in their high and mighty esteem. Revvyn got to her at the same time that the announcement began. The bride was stepping into the hall.

The music slowed, the lights in the hall dimmed and everyone's attention was on the bride. Lyra gasped and so did a few other guests; Soria was an epitome of beauty, the peach dress she had chosen was just her fit, she wore her hair down and only a single headpiece, her smile was the only makeup she needed. Lyra's heart swirled and she could have sworn that Zaden's did too because he exhaled loudly and he could not keep himself from grinning and... was that a tear in the corner of his eyes?

"Beautiful," Revvyn whispered into her ears and she nodded in approval.

"Truly beautiful." She sighed and then turned to him with a narrowed gaze. "Speaking of beauty, when are you getting married, Rev?"

"Ohh no, not you too." He groaned and rolled his eyes, causing Lyra to laugh.

"What? You are a twenty-two-year-old man, and you have not found your supposed soul mate yet?"

"Mother breathes down my neck at every given chance she gets, she collects every invitation and forces me to attend them. Every single one of them."

"Maybe your soul mate is not in Dragonsbane." She shrugged her shoulders and Revvyn looked at her like she had just spoken in some foreign language. She smiled and pinched his chin. "Just think about it."

He seemed to ponder on that for a while and then shrugged his shoulders too. "I am a man, I could get married at whatever age, just look at my father, he did not get married that early, his soul mate..." He said, emphasizing on 'soulmate' and shaking his head. "...did not grow up fast."

Lyra almost roared with laughter but held herself, the hall was mostly quiet now and the only people talking were the priest, Soria, and Zaden when they needed to.

"So maybe..." He continued. "...my soulmate has not turned eighteen yet."

"Well, I would be eighteen tomorrow..."

"So you're my soulmate then?"

"What? No! Shut up." She cautioned him, both of them grinning. "Anyway, I would be eighteen tomorrow and then I would get to meet with my soulmate, he is going to be a warrior..."

"You know you cannot decide that." He interrupted her. "Whomever you connect with is your soulmate, be it a warrior or a prince or just a guard."

She narrowed her eyes at him and frowned. "You mock me."

"Whaaaatttt..... me? Nooooo....." He dragged the words, looking away from her but the grin on his face told the truth that he was mocking her. Lyra smiled and with all her might, stomped on his foot.

Revvyn yowled in pain and everyone turned to him, including Lyra who had scooted a little away from him and now looked at him like she did not know why he would suddenly be loud. Revvyn folded his lips, scrunched his face and brought his face down.

"Yes son?" The priest asked him and he looked up to the man, a confused look on his face. "Do you have a reason why these two should not be together?"

Revvyn chuckled nervously and shook his head. "I love you, Soria."

She laughed and so did Zaden, then the crowd joined in too and soon everyone's attention went back to the couple. Revvyn shot Lyra a death stare, he could still feel the pain in his foot and he could only imagine the look on his mother's face right now, he was surely not going to hear the end of this. Lyra smiled and wiggled her eyebrows at him which caused him to scoff and smile and shake his head at her childishness before he hopped away to take care of his aching toe.

The ceremony was quick, much quicker than she thought it would be and she wondered if it was already midnight, her twenty-year-old sister was almost married, tomorrow she would be eighteen and soon it would be her getting married, the thought of it excited her, causing chills to run down her spine and she giggled, wanting to just jump up and down with joy. She saw Revvyn making his way back to her and she grinned at him, wanting to twirl in her happiness until she noticed what he had in his hand. He came closer and tapped her shoulder like she was not already aware of his presence, then passed a goblet to her.

"I cannot take wine Rev, I'm not allowed to."

"Ohh, this isn't wine. Aunt said to give this to you."

"Aunt? Like my mother?"

He nodded and shifted his body away slightly so that she was in the line of sight of the queen and he pointed to where her mother sat. Lyra looked in the direction which he pointed in and she saw her mother smile and nod her head for her to drink it. Lyra's eyebrow rose up in question as she eyed the vessel in his hand and the dark purple-looking liquid within it, wondering what it could be. Surely she knew it was not poison, it could not be but she could not help being cautious, she took the goblet from Revvyn nonetheless and brought it to her lips just as Soria and Zaden were announced as husband and wife.

"Congratulations!" A voice boomed from the far end of the hall just as the doors were thrown wide open and a group of savage-looking soldiers casually walked in, some grinning maliciously while some had on a straight face. The unexpected intrusion shook Lyra and caused her to drop the goblet after having only drunk a mouth full of the liquid. She turned in the direction of the other guests to see who had been so loud and arrogant to interrupt just as they shuffled to the side, clearing a wide path for him.

The man made his way from the back of the hall to the middle, not for once paying attention to the guests but looking straight at the new couple to the royals who were now on their feet. He didn't smile when he walked up to them.

"No need to be frightened, I have only come for my bride."