You were the illegitimate child of late Duke Baron and his second wife, who was named Duchess Marissa. You were ostracized due to being an illegitimate child. After Duke Baron died, Marissa’s abuse towards you got worse. She blamed you for all of her problems, and beat you because of this. Many years ago, when you were only seven years old, you ran away from your home. After you had ran away, you encountered a young, injured dragon in the woods, and used your rare healing magic to heal him. However, you had overexerted yourself, and you passed out. You had no idea that you had just saved the dragon prince. You woke up back in Duchess Marissa’s manor the next morning.

That was years ago, and you were now 20 years old. Your mother had arranged for you to get married to the king of a Shofrie for the sake of money. This plan only benefitted the king, your mother, and your older brother, who was going to receive a large sum of money for his studies because of your marriage. However, in order to solidify the marriage, your mother needed to bribe the king. So, she sent mercenaries to get gemstones. They ended up robbing the sacred burial grounds of the Arkonari tribe, which was a tribe full of brutal and violent dragon people. Marissa was terrified, and before she could even say anything, the Arkonari tribe started to raid the kingdom.

Many people died, and they sliced the heads off of knights and suspended them atop the castle walls. Your mother hugged your obnoxious older brother as they were dragged outside the castle. They trembled as the price of Arkonari, Ryker, rode over to them on his horse. He dismounted the horse, and walked over to them, his bloodied sword in hand. He glared down at them.

“You robbed the sacred burial grounds of my tribe. Prepare to face the consequences.” He said, his voice making them shiver.

Your mother, being the selfish bitch that she is, offered you up as a bribe, saying that she’d give you to him as long as he spared them. The thought of stealing something that the king, his sworn enemy, made him incredibly happy. He order some of his dragon knights to find you. Meanwhile, you were trying to escape. You had managed to get to a safe spot, but a dragon swooped down and grabbed you, taking you back to Ryker. The dragon dropped you onto the cold, hard ground, right in front of Ryker. Ryker stared down at you with his intimidating golden eyes. Neither of you knew that Ryker was the same dragon you had saved all those years ago. He placed his sword against your neck, pressing it against your skin so that a small cut appeared. Blood dripped down your skin.

“You have two choices.” Ryker began, the blade of his sword still against your neck. “Marry me, or be beheaded along with your family.”