They finally arrived at the palace gates. Drago dismounted from the horse and stood to face the gates. Immediately the gates were opened for him to pass. His men, on the other hand, could not be allowed in.
"Sir," One called out to him.
"It's okay, you can leave, but bring the girl." He ordered and immediately Rory was brought out her hands tied.
Why she was tied, she didn't understand.
"Untie her," Drago ordered and the men did as told.
Soon the two walked in and the gates closed behind them. Rather, they were met by a displeased character.
"Well, well, well, look who came home," Magnus said as he approached Drago. He looked at him menacingly.
"I don't have time to deal with you," Drago answered seemingly annoyed.
Magnus scoffed. "Is that how you great your elder brother?"
"No, maybe, I don't consider you a brother." He replied before grabbing Rory's hand and walking past him. It was then that Magnus noticed her.
"Mara!" He called out surprised. She had been missing for two weeks only to appear with Drago!
At once the two stopped. Magnus immediately made his way towards Rory and removed Drago's hand from hers and grabbed it.
"What are you doing with my fiancee?" Magnus asked threateningly.
"Your fiancee? Please, she is much safer with me than with you. You didn't even try to look for her when she was missing."
"That's because I thought she was dead! Anyway, none of our matters concerns you!" Magnus said.
"No," Rory, her face darkened spoke up. For the past weeks, she has been asking herself why hasn't Magnus come for her, surely he could find her if he was the crown prince. Surely someone would have reported the attack by Drago that day. Maybe she was blinded by love that she ignored all of his flaws. He simply wanted to marry her for power, he simply wanted to marry Mara for his personal gain.
"I am sorry but I don't think I can marry you." She said, not as Mara but as Rory. She yanked her hand off his and grabbed Drago's hand and they walked away together leaving Magnus boiling in anger.
He was the one supposed to break her not the other way around!
Once in the hallway silence surrounded the two. No one said a word about what had happened or what was to come.
Their silence was interrupted by a loud sound from a nearby room.
"I am really sorry!" Ivan apologized to an older looking woman who seemed to be cleaning.
"No, it's okay, I'll clean it up." The woman said and at the same time, Drago and Rory entered the room.
The room had a huge round table with chairs around. Even without thought one could tell it was a meeting room and to be precise, the one all the princes were to attend.
Edgar who was holding a small book dropped it in surprise upon seeing Drago.
"Oh! Mara!" Ivan who had bent down to help the lady collect the pieces of the broken vase shot up excitedly and went to Rory.
"You are back! We were so worried about you! I thought you disappeared because of me!" Ivan flashed a kind smile.
"I am okay..." Rory answered before taking a quick glance at Drago.
"Mmh? Who are you supposed to be?" Ivan turned to Drago peering at his face.
"I am--"
"He is our brother," Edgar spoke as he approached.
"Our brother?! You mean he is..." A little scared Ivan quickly bowed. "Greetings brother!"
"..." Drago could only stare. He couldn't believe that the young baby he carried when he was young was all grown up. He couldn't help but embrace the boy.
"You have her smile." He said as he pulled away. He then turned to Edgar.
"I'm glad you are back," Edgar said feeling slightly shy to openly say his feelings.
And Drago smiled.
Soon everyone began leaving the room after catching up, Drago too was about to leave when the old woman from earlier called out to him by his name.
"Do you remember me?" The old woman asked.
"Granny?" Drago studied the woman's face and spoke out.
"Ha, I guess the name suits me now that I am older." She laughed slightly. The woman was Drago's caretaker when he was young. She was like a second mother to him. He remembered spending almost all of his childhood with her.
"Son, I am so sorry I couldn't tell you this earlier but I wanted to tell you before I died." The woman let out a cough and Drago immediately supported her. She raised her hand as if to tell him 'don't worry about me' and then continued.
"Your mother's murderer is none other than Magnus, and I am willing to go and tell the king."
As much as the news was surprising, Drago was not surprised. He knew his brother was able to do anything for power.
He nodded. He would clear his name and finally gain his father's love. The two made their way to the throne room.
It had been twenty years since Drago saw his father's face. His father had told him never to appear before him and he just walked to his death.
"Father..."
"You!" The king rose from his throne. "How dare you--"
"Please listen to what I have to say then...you may kill me," Drago begged and the king sat back down.
"I found who killed mother."
"Didn't I say that this should never be brought up?"
"I have a witness," Drago said and the woman walked in. She bowed down and with the king's permission began explaining the events of the wretched night.
"I was heading to her Majesty's room that night when I saw Magnus with a knife. I followed him to her room where the two seemed to be fighting. In the fight, Magnus stabbed her Majesty and she fell down dead. His hands trembling he ran away. I was about to run into the room when I saw Drago. He collapsed on the floor when he saw his mother. He tried to remove the knife from her when officials entered the room. Magnus had called them."
"If what you are saying is true why did you not say that on the night she died." The king asked.
"Because I was threatened. I couldn't risk my daughter's life." The woman said hoping that the culprit would be punished.
****
" Yes, I did it! I needed to make sure no one would stand in my way of being King! Mother wanted to warn you about it and so I killed her."
"That's not true!" Ivan began he couldn't believe what was happening. His brother was the kindest person to him.
"It is indeed true." Magnus laughed audibly. Everyone remained silent. Even the King. He was probably regretting how he treated Drago.
"Magnus! How could you? I trusted you!! And you betrayed me! At this meeting, I was going to make you the official King but...Take him away!!" The king ordered and Magnus was dragged away. He then turned to Drago.
"I think you should be the King." Drago shook his head. He never wanted to be part of any political matter. He didn't care about the throne. The king smiled and Drago was surprised.
"I shouldn't have doubted you. But I do insist you become the next king, If not then at least think about it will you?" The king said and Drago gave a slight nod.
A party was held to celebrate the return of Prince Drago.
The hall was packed with both men and women dressed in lovely gowns and precious jewels and fancy garments. They looked sophisticated.
Rory, dressed in a pretty lavish Violet dress stood watching as the people danced joyously. She couldn't help but wonder if this is the happy ending of the book. The king approached her and greeted her.
"You know, you are a wise girl." He said.
"Thank you, Your Highness." She answered kindly.
"Ah, but unfortunately you can no longer marry my son Magnus, you deserve better. Maybe, if there is someone you'd like to marry I'd be more than happy to arrange it." The king said and immediately an image of Drago popped into her head.
"I will if I find someone," Rory said and they were served with drinks and Rory took a sip as she slightly went back to watching the people on the dance floor. With his drink, the King left her to herself.
"Do you still not enjoy parties? That would be a shame when I wanted to dance with you." Drago stretched his hand towards her.
"Maybe I like them now," Rory said before grabbing his hand and Drago lead her to the dancing floor. "I can't promise you I'm a good dancer."
"Neither am I," Drago said before pulling her to him and they began dancing. Despite the leg-stepping, they enjoyed the music. It was as if they were in their own world filled with two terrible dancers.
The music stopped and the two looked into each other's eyes.
"I wish we could dance longer," Rory said.
"We will, under the stars just the two of us," Drago promised.
"With no foot-stepping?"
"With no foot-stepping." The two then laughed. The rest of the night went on peacefully and It seemed to be the perfect happily ever after.
It was then that Magnus walked into the room. No longer dressed in his princely outfits but prison clothes. Everyone gasped.
"Guards!" The king called out and immediately the guards surrounded Magnus.
"I wouldn't arrest me if I were you. You see, I may have poisoned the king." He said and everyone gasped. The guards moved away and Drago approached him.
"What do you want."
"Funny, you ask. Well, I want to be king." He replied. He then removed a small glass bottle from his pocket. "The only way he can live if you give him this. The antidote." He said and Drago immediately reached out to snatch it but Magnus raised it higher.
"But, you have to promise me that that seat is mine." Drago hesitated. He looked at the King and then back to Magnus. He had just gained his father's love and he wasn't going to lose him. As much as he hated Magnus on the throne, his father's life was more important.
"Fine."
"Good. I knew you'd understand." Magnus gave him the antidote and Drago immediately ran to his father giving him the antidote. He watched as he gulped down the antidote somehow feeling relieved that his father would live.
"Oh, I wouldn't drink it all if I were you...I might have poisoned another person." Magnus cut in and Drago turned to him.
"Who?"
"Why our princess, Mara."
"You..!" Drago already had a sword on Magnus' throat.
"Killing me won't do anything she only has five minutes to live, you should spend your last moments with her." Magnus smiled wickedly knowing very well, that Drago couldn't kill him.
Immediately, Drago's expression darkened, he was now the man before he met Rory.
"Killing you might not do anything but I won't let you escape with this." Drago raised the sword and immediately pierced through Magnus. He collapsed bleeding profusely. He smiled before dying.
Rory swayed, knocking over a chair and tugging the tablecloth clear off. Rory could feel the poison spreading deep into her body like one would fill a water bottle.
"Someone help her!" Drago yelled cradling Rory's head with blood-soaked hands. Her pale, clammy skin sent chills down Drago's spine.
"Hang in there, help is coming." He stroked her cheek; it felt cold. "Hurry up, goddammit!"
Rory placed a feeble hand on his face and breathed heavily. Her eyes slowly turned red as blood pooled inside. She smiled.
"We never got to dance under the stars…" Her wheezing got worse. "Up close you're not as ugly as everyone says you are, hehe *cough*."
Tears rode those scars all the way down his face.
"It shouldn't end like this. You deserve a good life, not this sorrow, this violent place with its monstrous people. Oh, I wish we would have run away when we had the chance."
Her hand slipped off his cheek.
"We could have moved to another kingdom, far from our problems, where no one knew us."
She closed her eyes.
"Live one day at a time with no gold in our pockets."
Her lips parted. She struggled to breathe.
"Be together all our days, love each other no matter what…"
Drago's heart sank as she died in his arms.
"Dance under the stars, every night. Make love then and there, no care whatsoever. Your lips, the only ones I would ever kiss from that day forward."
He leaned in, knowing full well the consequences.
"The last lips I would ever kiss, my love."
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