A young girl twirled in front of the mirror. Her white, curly hair framed her round face beautifully. Blue eyes sparkled with joy, and her red-tinted lips stretched into a wide smile.

"Don't forget your coat, it's so cold today that even a dragon wouldn't stick his nose outside," came the voice of a friendly brunette beside her.

Aurora opened the wardrobe and pulled out a light blue fur coat. The soft fur and elegant design perfectly complemented her silver dress.

"Max will love it," the thought flashed through her mind, making her smile even wider.

Who could have imagined that the heir to the great Earth Dragon lineage would invite her to the event of the year?

***

A Month Ago. Aurora.

Kami had gone out on another date with Sky, and I, as usual in the evenings, sat over my third-order spellbook. I couldn’t change the colour of my dress; instead of a solid black, three huge splotches had once again appeared on the fabric.  

For the past few months, ever since I got my hands on the textbook with more advanced spells, I’d been trying to invent a way to change the colour of my outfit. 

It would be both convenient and beautiful, and the mouse-grey uniform issued by the Academy could easily be blue instead. Not extravagant, but at least not so dreary. Coloured fabrics were expensive, and our dragons were only willing to splurge on dragon uniforms, while the commoners trudged around in their drab grey.  

When a knock sounded at the door, instead of a blue sleeve, I was faced with more splotches that I’d have to remove. 

Sighing, I shuffled over to open the door, expecting yet another classmate who had skipped lecture and had come to the diligent student for notes.  

“Next time, I’ll send you to the professor,” I said, adopting the tone of the strict course monitor as I swung the door open.  

The rest of my reprimand caught in my throat. 

Leaning against the wall across from me was a tall, dark-haired dragon. He raised an eyebrow questioningly and surveyed my dress, now smeared with dark stains.  

“Maximilian?” I croaked, surprised to see the arrogant dragon at my door.  

“Sky and Kami got a bit carried away. It’s freezing outside, and the snow is coming down hard, so I’ll just hang out here, princess,” the guy stated calmly, shoving me aside and confidently stepping into my room.  

“What do you mean, ‘hang out’? Do you even know what time it is?” I hissed quietly in reply, glancing around the hallway. 

The last thing I needed was for the heir of Terragon to be spotted at my door.  

“Sky placed a mark on her. They’ll both be out cold until morning. So when I say ‘hang out,’ I’m actually downplaying things. I’m spending the night here,” Maximilian Terragon declared, taking in the room. 

He sniffed the air, confidently grabbed the blanket from Kami’s bed, and, kicking off his boots, sprawled out on the bed, letting his legs dangle off the edge.  

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

For a few moments, I struggled to find my voice in response to such dragonish audacity. I had seen this dragon maybe three times, and he just waltzed into my room, ready to sleep. Only his words about the mark indicated that Kami wouldn’t be coming back tonight. After the ritual, she might be out of it for several days while the dragon’s magic fully melded with her own.  

“Don’t you have any friends?” I quietly asked the guy, who seemed already ready to doze off. 

The young dragon folded his arms behind his head and, despite the short and narrow bed not quite fitting his size, closed his eyes and covered himself with the blanket.

Reluctantly, Maximilian turned his head and stared at me with his grey eyes.  

“I do, princess, but Sky doesn’t need rumours, and neither does your Kami. Her status will only be decided once the head of the family gives approval. Until then, it’s better I crash here to avoid any unnecessary questions. You never know what might reach the ears of Vir Aerolus, thanks to my ‘friends.’ Many of those I could spend the night with wouldn’t mind taking Kami’s place. You seem like a smart girl, yet you ask such blatantly stupid questions,” he replied calmly, with a hint of disdain.  

“Who the hell do you think you are?” I leapt off the bed and stood over the arrogant dragon, furious at both his remarks and his assessment of my intelligence.  

“Not only do you barge into my room, but you insult me, too. And stop calling me ‘princess,’ I have a name—it’s Aurora.”  

The guy smirked and let out a heavy sigh.  

“I know. Kami told me. She also mentioned that if the ritual worked, I could crash here to avoid rumours or the warden getting involved,” he said, turning onto his side as the bed creaked pitifully under him.  

“So, what do you want in exchange for letting me cover for my friend and stay here tonight, Aurrrrora?” Maximilian practically growled my name.  

In the context of how he asked the question, I hesitated to kick the arrogant dragon out. 

If rumours started flying, Kami would never forgive me. But at the same time, why didn’t she warn me about the ritual or the possibility of a guest? I thought we’d become friends over these past three months.  

“Faster, Aurora, or I’ll go back to calling you princess. What do you want? A new dress? Shoes? A cloak? Some trinket? I’m dead tired after training,” the dragon asked more insistently, his eyes flickering black, revealing the presence of a bonded spirit. It was terrifying.  

The idea of what I should ask the heir of a great family for came to me on a whim.  

“A Portalsinger,” I blurted out, freezing as I watched Maximilian’s eyes darken.  

“What did you say?” the dragon growled, more than said.  

“I’ll let you stay if you get me a Portalsinger. I’m sure you and Sky can manage that easily,” I said, my voice trembling slightly from the tension, and the dragon’s eyes shifted from surprised to furious.

"Do you have any idea how much that bird costs, Aurora? For a single trained Portalsinger you could buy a mansion in the capital! Isn’t that a bit too much for just one night on a squeaky cot?" The dragon sat up on the bed, which creaked as though it might collapse any moment, and glared at me with eyes darkened in anger.

“I’m not asking for a trained one. I want a wild one. The forests around the Academy are crawling with young birds. You’re an earth dragon, Sky is an air dragon, if you both put in the effort, you can find a young Portalsinger. I would do it myself, but I’m just a domestic mage, I don’t have enough magic.” I replied calmly, which only made him angrier.

“You want us to wander through the woods hunting down small creatures? I’m a dragon, not a hunter!” he growled.

“Then find a hunter if you’re too lazy. You asked what I wanted, Maximilian. I want a wild Portalsinger. Keep your trinkets for the airheads you can’t spend the night with because they’ll snitch to daddy.” I crossed my arms and watched as the arrogant dragon processed this. 

After about a quarter of an hour, he seemed to have figured out how to get a little bird from the forest without dirtying his aristocratic boots, as he nodded to himself and relaxed slightly.

“You’ll get your wild Portalsinger. Now turn off the light, I want to sleep,” he muttered grumpily before lying back down on the creaky bed.

By morning, the room was empty, as if no one had ever been snoring in the next cot. 

Kami didn’t show up until the evening, proudly displaying the Mark of the Chosen that Sky had gifted her on her shoulder.