Legend of the Inero Dragon Read Free Page B

they
were outside. "What's going on?"
    "Shh." He pressed a finger to his lips. "We
can talk in a minute."
    Quickly, he led her through stone hallways.
Gwen never got to see where she was brought. It was too dark around
the building when she had first entered, and they had been moving
too quickly for her to process the details. From the stone walls
she could see by the dim lighting of the interior, she could only
assume it was some kind of a castle. He unlocked a door, then he
pulled her inside a bedroom suite.
    Immediately, she pulled away from him.
"Please don't hurt me."
    "I'm not going to hurt you," he said. He
leaned against the door and closed his eyes. "I'm trying to help
you."
    "By taking me away from my home?" She folded
her arms to intimidate him.
    "I didn't tell anyone to take you away and I
didn't do it myself," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. He
finally looked up at her again. "If it was up to me, you'd still be
at home. For now, go ahead and get comfortable. I'm sure you're
tired because it's late. Sleep, then we can talk in the
morning."
    Gwen didn't move. "I don't think so. If this
is all some kind of an act to get me to sleep with you—"
    "I'm not trying to have sex with you. I don't
want to," he said, letting out a heavy sigh. "I don't even know
you!"
    The two were quiet for a few minutes. Tired
of standing, Gwen finally settled on sitting at the edge of the
bed, but she didn't let her guard down. Her eyes never left
him.
    After a few minutes passed, he stepped away
from the door, moving to the opposite end of the room to sit in a
chair. He hunched forward, rubbing his hands together as he stared
at the floor.
    "They've chosen you to be a part of the
Elite," he said at last. "Which is another way of saying you've
been handpicked to be my mate."
    "I'm not—"
    "I told you, I'm not interested in that.
Unlike most of my brothers, I believe in proper courtship and
earning the privilege to be your love. I'm not even interested in
having a relationship, necessarily. If I had declined to
participate in this ritual, I would have lost a lot of honor. It
might not mean much to you, but it's important I keep as much
respect as possible. I'm not sure how to explain it so you'll
understand."
    "Honor is important out in the country as
well. To save my family's face I didn't punch out the men who took
me from my home. Without honor, things can become complicated,"
Gwen said.
    His jaw dropped in surprise, and his eyes
went wide as he looked up at her. "Yes, exactly. Back to my
original point though, I did not want to do this to you. I want you
to know that I will respect you, care for you, and make sure you
are safe. I will treat you like a proper spouse should even if we
are forced into this."
    "Spouse? I never agreed to being a wife."
    "That's the purpose of the ritual of the
Elite. What did you think I meant when I said mate?" he asked,
raising an eyebrow.
    Gwen glanced down at her hands; a shiver ran
down her spine. "I'm not sure. How can any of the others be okay
with this? How can you get away with it?"
    The young man shrugged before leaning
forward, his gaze still on her. "My brothers are persuasive. The
line suggested for me to use went something like, 'You're a
princess now and I am your prince. I will give you the world if
you'll be mine.' It's not necessarily a lie, but I didn't want to
feed it to you. I'd rather get to know you first and decide from
there what's going to happen."
    "Why?" she asked.
    "Why do I want to get to know you? Or why do
this to begin with?"
    "Both."
    "I'll start with why I want to get to know
you. It's simple. I'm not ready, and I don't think I could ever
give myself fully to someone I don't know. I can give you more
details about why I think this later, but I think I should explain
the more complicated portion first."
    She nodded, craving any kind of information
he could give her. As much as she wanted to bolt out the door and
make a run for it, she also needed to know. While