Chapter 7: The Choice No Bride Made
The question hung in the cool night air, heavy and absolute. Elena stood at the crossroads of her life. Behind her lay the human world—a world of betrayal, where the man she loved for years had sold her for a sack of coins without a second thought.
In front of her stood a “monster”—a dragon king who spoke with absolute, painful honesty, carrying the grief of a century on his shoulders. She realized something profound.
For a hundred years, every single bride sent to this palace had been a forced sacrifice. They were dragged here in chains, weeping, terrified, and hating the beast before they ever even saw his face. No bride had ever had a choice. They were victims of a political transaction.
But she was different. She had already touched him. She knew his warmth. She knew he saved her without even knowing who she was.
Instead of running toward the garden gates, Elena took a slow, deliberate step toward Kane.
“The girls who came before me,” Elena said, her voice steady and resonant in the quiet labyrinth. “They were forced to be here. They hated you before they even met you.”
Kane watched her, his breath catching. “Yes. They feared me. And fear is a cold thing.”
“I don’t fear you, Kane. You have saved me.” she said, using his true name for the first time.
She took another step, closing the distance between them until she could feel the radiating, comforting heat of his body. “And I’m tired of running from people who are supposed to love me, only to be betrayed.”
Slowly, deliberately, Elena raised her right hand. She turned her palm upward, offering it to him willingly in the moonlight. Kane stared at her hand as if it were a holy relic.
His entire body trembled. For a hundred years, his touch had brought nothing but agonizing death. The psychological trauma of a thousand ashes screamed in his mind, telling him to pull away, to protect her, to hide in his lonely dark tower forever.
He hesitated, his hand hovering mere inches above hers.
“If you touch me… and I die… will you regret it?” she asked.