Even if the man in front of her confirmed she didn’t harm any of the royal family she couldn’t stop herself worrying as to why one of the two dragon trainers was here talking to her.
Well at least it wasn’t the prince.
At least she didn’t have to deal with royals looking at her in the state she was in.
“If you could follow me, I will take you to the dining room so you could speak with the king.”
Oh.
Great.
Life just couldn’t give her a moment of peace in her heart today and even a slither of hope about not making a fool out of herself.
Myra coughed softly to grab the attention of the dragon rider. “If it won’t be too much trouble could I come back later? I’m sure you can see I’m not very presentable at this time.”
His eyes slowly wandered down her body then back up to her face, a small blush crept up to her cheeks as his gaze didn’t leave her body. “Unfortunately, the king has a tight schedule and has requested to see you now.”
The other guards have already left the main hall and without any further comments Imran started to make his way towards the door.
Soft scales brushed against her leg and the dragon again took the lead walking ahead of Myra.
The small creature must have been raised in the palace. It seemed comfortable moving around every building and not bothering looking around the surroundings.
It was more like Myra was the unexpected guest of the dragon rather than the other way round.
Myra tried her best to keep up with her guides, but how could she when she has been granted this rare opportunity of seeing more than just the royal kitchens. Every corner of the palace was covered in unique markings and she wished she could turn down every hallway she saw, wanted to solve the maze that seemed to unfold before her.
Only when she stopped at the small fountain just outside the building she heard Imran mutter something under his breath that she started to follow more closely.
Eventually, they made it to a room with large glass doors and when they opened she could see the room was filled with plants on every wall, the ceiling also made of glass that exposed the sun on everything inside. In the middle there was a large wooden table and sitting next to it was the royal family and some people she did not recognise.
All of their eyes on her, carefully judging and observing her.
At the top of the table sat the king. Myra only knew it was him due to the whispers of what the king looked like. While everyone had a regal aura around them, his was definitely the most intimidating. King Hanan wore a black robe that went down to his knees, underneath there was black leather pants, his exposed arms were covered in golden jewellery that matched the golden crown on top of his head. His dark hair was cut short and his turquoise eyes were striking against his caramel skin.
To his right sat Queen Omya. The queen was easy to recognise as she was the only one who frequently engaged with the public and walked the common streets. She still wore a simple golden crown on top of her head but her clothing was much more simple. She wore a simple dress that was the same colour as her eyes, a shade of light blue that Myra has not seen before. The queen has shoulder length dark brown hair and she looked as if she couldn’t care less about the commission in the dining room.
The prince, on the other hand, looked furious. His eyes and skin identical to his fathers but instead of having any kindness in his features, Prince Cairo looked as if he wanted to send a knife flying straight at her head. His hair was black as the night itself, reaching just below his ear and beneath the hair was a golden chain that was only visible due to finishing on his forehead with a small blue crystal. He wore a black and red robe with black trousers.
His gaze felt like fire on her skin and even though she wanted to she could not look away.
Imran bowed slightly next to her. “I have brought her my king.”
King Hanan only nods at the guard and continues looking at Myra.
She was close to feeling like a show horse today, watched by everyone she passed.
“My king.” Myra curtseyed as the words left her lips.
“Please sit.” The king pointed at the chair next to the prince. “We have much to discuss.”
The king's knight moved first and moved the chair away for Myra to sit. She hurried to her place and smiled at Imran as a thanks. He looked at her briefly before sitting down on the other side, helping himself to the food on the table.
“I am very interested in hearing how you have stumbled upon the dragon today.” The voice was deep and came from one of the people she did not recognise.
The man looking at her was old. Gray hair reached his shoulders, a scar ran down the left side of his face and his light brown eyes focused on her. Unlike most people at this table he wore a white sleeveless tunic with loose white trousers and looked like he was ready for combat at any given moment.
Before opening her mouth, Myra looked around one more time. The prince still looked at her with the same disgust in his eyes, that was now more visible due to their proximity. Their shoulders were nearly touching and it made her a pile of nervous to be this close to a royal. The rest, thankfully, now focused their attention on the food.
Myra took a deep breath as she started explaining today's events.
There really wasn’t much to say but she tried to recall every single detail that happened. She explained how she took her usual route and all the details before and after the dragon had jumped on her. The older man paid close attention to all the words she spoke and from time to time nodded in acknowledgement.
A frustrated sigh left the prince’s mouth when she finished, but at least he was finally done gawking at her.
“My name is Sayer and I am the dragon trainer in the palace.” He said softly. “I was one of the many dragon riders during the time of war and sadly I am the only one left. Now trying to pass my knowledge to new riders.” For a brief moment Myra could see the sorrow in his eyes as he mentioned the war. “The dragon next to you has hatched just over a month ago and we have been presenting guards, fighters and nobles to her the whole time, but the stubborn thing ignored all of them.” He continued. “Then this morning, when doing my daily checks with the prince, we found the baby dragon missing and heard she sprinted through the gates. Only for her to bring you back to the palace.”
Myra looked at the dragon laying close to her chair. It was half of her body size and it was only a month old. She couldn’t imagine the size of a grown dragon. No wonder poor Madri started panicking when seeing the small white ball this morning if she has been used to seeing the monstrous size of the other two dragons.
“With her bringing you here Myra. It would suggest that you have been chosen as her rider.”
At that moment time stopped.
Her blood started pulsing and her ears started ringing. Or maybe her heart stopped completely. Myra wasn’t sure what was happening all she could do was stare at the dragon trainer.
“Welcome to the family.” Imran mumbled with a mouth full of food. “I can promise you I reacted worse when Brenna chose me. I stood there in front of the king and fainted.” He chuckled.
It was surprising she hadn't fainted with the panic she felt inside.
“Are you sure I’m the chosen one?” Myra's voice cracked. “I would not consider myself suitable for this role, it’s not like I could kill the kingdom's enemies with my baking skills.”
“There is nothing that we couldn’t teach you and with enough practice you will be just fine.” Imran said while looking at the trainer.
“Once a dragon chooses you are stuck with them as the bond forms.” Sayer sighs. “At the moment there are only two riders, the prince and Imran, so we cannot let you walk away with the dragon. We will get you to start training tomorrow and any other details can be explained then as well.”
There were too many questions that formed in her mind. All of which she planned to note down when she got home and ask them to the trainer tomorrow.
Even if it was confirmed that she was chosen, Myra felt as if there had been some sort of mistake. She couldn’t imagine being useful enough for the kingdom, it wasn’t like she had a spell to compel the rebels to eat so much bread they die from fullness.
Yet, she was to start training tomorrow? It’s not like she was a child anymore that could learn practically anything. She turned 22 a few months back and learning new skills will take time. From the rumours about the rebels, Myra wasn’t sure the kingdom had such things as time.
She wasn’t supposed to be sitting here. At this point she would have been nearly back home, she would have hugged her whole family as she arrived and spent the rest of the day helping her mother run the bakery and daydreaming about Wamir.
“What is the training?” Myra promised herself she would ask the rest tomorrow, but she needed to know what she was getting herself into first.
“We will start you off with basic combat training and focus on that for a few weeks, then we will add weapons. We don't know exactly when, but at some point you will have flight training and combat fighting together with your dragon. She just isn’t big enough yet.”
If the trainer sounds that confident in explaining the plan then she could be confident in learning it.
Or at least pretend she was.
“Tell us about yourself girl? I would like to know who is walking in my home.” The queen finally spoke and her voice was as smooth as silk.
The prince focused his turquoise eyes on her and again she didn’t feel like she could look away. His nose and chin were sharp while his lips and cheeks were full. Even as they just sat next to each other, she could tell the prince was at least a head taller than her.
“There is not much to say, my queen.” Myra said. “My family has run the local bakery for generations, which is currently owned by my parents. Me and my sister Ayra help out as much as we can.”
“I hope we will still get to eat from your family bakery even after you join. Don’t think Hanan could part with your rolls.” A soft smile appeared on the queen’s lips.
“I guess that depends on my day to day schedule, my queen.”
“Unfortunately I doubt you will have time to prepare any of the food yourself.” Sayer said. “I expect to see you at the main hall tomorrow at seven in the morning and I would expect you to leave around the sun set. For now, you can stay in your family home since it is local but soon after your flight lessons start you would be expected to move to the palace.”
Myra hung her head low as she thought. She never lived away from her home even if her parents encouraged her to find a suitor and move out.
At least she didn’t have to do it overnight, the dragon trainer gave her time to adjust to her new life.
“Excuse me.” The prince stood up and slowly made his way towards the door. “I have more important things to do than to hear about the life of a lowly commoner.”
Imran shook his head as he watched the prince leave. “Dumbass.” He said under his breath.
While most of the time Myra couldn't care less about what people have thought about her, the prince and his words made her blood boil.
She wasn’t sure what he was expecting from the new rider, but it was obvious she did not meet those expectations.
It made her even more angry that this was their future king, and that is how he thought and treated commoners.
The prince became her first motivation to do well. For her to train hard enough and become a great fighter, so that one day Prince Cairo could eat his words.