The Dragon King’s Substitute Bride
Chapter 83

MIDAS

The silence in the throne room of the dragon castle is deafening.

Deafening and heavy and oppressive.

Filled with a foreboding of the evil to come.

The dragon king had stopped speaking abruptly

. The words on the tip of his tongue vanishing in the wake of the realization of what they meant.

The queen sitting by his left and the chief Ryder on his right both turn to glance at him.

But it is she who speaks first. Her voice firm but laced with confusion

"My Lord...?"

Midas turns to look at her.

A distraction....

Those had been her words. What she had told them after she came out of the hut that had been set as a trap for him.

He did not understand it then.

He does now.

"Remember how you said they...the dark elves and everything going on with Adarin and Rardath was nothing but a distraction?"

He sees it the moment recognition comes into her eyes, watches her remember and shudder.

She nods. "Yes. I do."

"Well it would appear that you were right."

She frowns, shakes her head.

"I do not understand."

The 5th realm, closest after the realm of angels to the gods, has always been the most coveted by all the lesser creatures who walked the seven realms.

Right from the beginning, everyone wanted it.

Fought to possess it.

Even a god had once desired to have it as theirs.

As a result, many years ago when the realms were still young, in an effort to safeguard their people and guard against an ambush of their realm, a warning spell was cast, a bond forged.

No one would be able to open a portal into the 5th realm without the knowledge of the King.

But this spell, it was incredibly powerful magic.

And a spell this powerful, it needed to be contained.

It could not be put directly into the King.

Dragonkin are strong but they are mortal.

So it was placed in the dragon castle, the one that sits upon the dark mountain that served as the embodiment of their powers, a gift from the Fire gods.

As long as the dragon King was in the castle, or even nearby, they would know, would feel it the moment a portal was opened into the dragon realm.

And from the very moment that Midas had been crowned king, this ability to sense open portals to his realm had been transferred to him.

The closer he is to the castle, the faster he would know and the stronger the feelings would be.

Even if he were just some distance away in the capital, he would still have sensed it when a portal opened.

A tingling in the tip of his fingers, warmth spreading throughout his entire body and setting his teeth on edge.

The enemy, whoever they are, knew this.

They also knew that even if they somehow managed to keep him out long enough to open one without his knowledge, if he came back to the castle too early, he might still be able to sniff out the echoes of the residual magic of the warning spell. And so they knew that not only did they have to lure him far far away from his castle but they also had to keep him away long enough to be able to open and close the portal undetected.

And now with his being gone from the Castle for an entire Fortnight, hades knows what those slimy dark elves had brought into his realm.

"Midas...?"

The King stares straight ahead, his mind whirling too fast to really hear her, or the worry in her tone.

So it is Leo, who speaks instead, voicing Midas' growing trepidation.

Giving life to the whispers in his head.

"They wanted to open a portal into the dragon realm and they knew if The King were he to be in the castle, would know and so..."

"And so they caused chaos in my realm and sent me on a wild goose chase. Had me riding across the lands for weeks, trying to replace the dark elf responsible for nearly tearing two of my clans apart." Midas' jaw is clenched so hard, it would hurt if he could feel it.

But he can barely feel anything, can barely hear anything beyond the blood rushing between his ears.

It is not just Adarin and Rardath who had been played.

They had tricked him as well.

Him.

The dragon king does not roar when he is angry.

He does not shout or yell or throw things.

No.

When the dragon king is angry, his eyes turn the colour of blood and his voice becomes so cold and so dangerously low that all within earshot know that it is their best interest to stay far away.

Or risk bearing the brunt of his anger.

But at this moment Midas is not just angry.

He is seething. White hot rage covering his body in a prickly heat

So much so that Er'gan temporarily takes over.

And the dragon inside of him does the roaring for both of them. "How. dare. they?!"

They leap from their chair. Anger sending them rising to their feet.

"How dare they think they can come into our realm, without our permission?! Who are they? I demand that you tell me Who they are right now and I will rip their heads from their bodies and grind their bones beneath my feet until they rue the day they were born. Tell me now!" The very walls of the throne room seem to shake and quiver in the face of their wrath.

Even the Chief Ryder wisely takes a step to the side and away from them.

But the King makers, messengers of the Fates, simply look up at them, dragon and dragon king as one.

Cloudy grey eyes unblinking. The gaze of the three men steady and firm.

Arydian sighs. "Your anger is understandable but it will do no good to attack blindly."

"Messenger of the Fates, do not test my patience. Tell me who they are. Who is behind all of this? Tell me right this minute or I shall make you regret it as well."

They feel her hand on their arm, tentative, calming and Midas momentarily snaps back but Er'gan is not ready to let go just yet and the dragon forces himself to the fore front once again.

Midas understands his dragon's rage.

What he does not understand is the fear that fills it's mind and in turn fills his as well.

Er'gan...what is going on, what do you know?

In response the dragon fills the King's mind with another memory.

Midas sees himself reaching out to her, holding her arms the way he had that day when she stepped out of the hut housing the body of Adarin's son.

"Hera...who sent them?"

She finally looking up at him.

"I am not sure but I felt darkness...an evil so strong it had to be chained down, imprisoned. And were it to ever rise again, it would consume us...all of us." His dragon's voice interrupts the memory, pulling him back.

If there is even the slightest possiblity dragon king, that it is what I think it is...who I think it is then, we all are in trouble your Highness. Grave danger. What are you talking about Er'gan. What do you know?

But before the dragon can answer him...

Arydian stamps his staff once against the marble floor, the sound echoing through the room.

Then he tilts his chin up and meets their gaze.

"Give the King back his body Er'gan."

It is not a question, it is a command.

One backed up with the powers of the Fate.

And first dragon or not, even Er'gan is subject to the will of the gods.

Midas, in control once more, stares back at the small, wise men at the bottom of the steps.

Then he turns around and glances at her.

Her eyes are filled with fear but she does not shrink away from him like he expected her to and for that Midas is grateful.

He turns back to the King makers.

His voice betraying nothing of the chaos that had almost ensued.

Or of the discussion he and his dragon had in his head.

"When was the portal opened?"

His question was directed at no one in particular and it is Igor, Messenger of Atropos the past who answers.

"Five days ago your highness. We tried to reach you but you were too far away."

Midas sighs.

Five days ago.

Too much time to even try to figure out where and how the portal had been opened.

He knew the dark elves coveted his throne but this...this elaborate scheme...

Who in all the realms were they working with this time around?

Could the giant clan have decided to once more try their luck with invading his realm again?

Gods help him if they did.

Midas would wipe their entire realm from the face of existence.

Elian, Messenger of Lachesis the Future.

"Dragon king, this storm is only just beginning."

He turns his gaze to the most silent of the three men.

"What realm was the portal opened into?"

The three men look at each other and Igor answers again.

"We are... uncertain."

Midas sighs.

"Then what did they bring in, do you know?"

The silence that follows his question is defeaning and dread steals over him.

He almost does not wish to know.

The king maker sighs.

"It was Wolfsbane your grace. My brothers and I could smell it the moment it was brought in."

Hades...

She glances from Midas to Leo and notices the look of shock on both the face of the king and his right hand.

"What is wolfsbane?"

The Kingmakers turns to her.

"It is posion your grace. Very strong poison."

Poison was putting it mildly.

There is a reason it is found nowhere in all the lands of the fifth realm.

It does not just kill dragon and weredragons alike.

It drives them insane first.

One taste of it and before they died, his army of Ryders would go mad, killing everything and everyone in their path.

And for a dragon or dragon Ryder who had been infected with wolfsbane, there is no cure.

Midas sighs.

"What will you have me do?"

"Find the dark elevin queen"

"Do you not think Arydian, that that would have been the first thing on my mind. Why do you suppose that I was gone for so long even though we had by the fifth day already found the the dead body of the elf who Adarin and Rardath identified as being behind it all. He was most likely killed by his own so we would not be able to trace them."

"Then try harder dragon king."

Midas has half a mind to sneer at the man but he holds himself and simply nods.

"I shall leave for the Elder Forest at first light tomorrow."

"You must take the queen with you."

"Out of the question."

"They know about her. Suspect that she is the reason their earlier plans failed and they are curious. If you take her with you, they will not resist being able to come out of hiding."

Midas tilts his head slowly. "You want me..."

One step then another...until he is standing face to face with the King maker in the center.

His hands are clenched in fists and he chest rises and falls with each word. "To use my tether as bait for some blood thirsty elves?"

Arydian looks up at him with something akin to understanding in his eyes and places a gentle, wrinkled hand on the arm of the dragon King. "The Fates say it is the only way."

"f**k the Fates. I will make my own path. One that does not involve nearly killing the woman I lov..."

"I will do it."

Midas turns around to stare at her where she stands, at the tip of the steps leading to the dragon throne.

He shakes his head, his voice firm.

"No."

"As Queen of this realm, it is my duty to protect it. To protect you. So if my going with you is what will lure them out then so be it."

Midas Frowns. Shaking his head when she comes down the steps to stand before him "Why?"

He does not understand her.

He took everything away from her, tore her from her home. Why would she do this, deliberately put herself in danger. For the people who hurt her the most. "Because it is as you said dragon king. Human or not, this is who I am. And I know it seems like I am being..."

"Foolish and reckless?"

She laughs and raises her hand to his face. "Maybe. But I also cannot stand by and do nothing."

"Aren't you afraid?"

Then is silent for a moment but then she smiles.

"I am....I just trust you more."