Chapter 1 PROLOGUE

Penelope's Pov

No matter what I did, my hands refused to stop shaking.

I tried to convince myself that I was in a carriage but I wasn't in a carriage. I was seated on the back of a dragon.

A blindfold covered my eyes, leaving me helplessly unaware of where we were headed. It was tradition among the barbaric Crimson Dragons that no outsider was allowed to know the exact location of their kingdom. Anyone who learned it would be killed.

And I was an outsider. A human princess from a small kingdom ravaged by war, offered up to forge an alliance through marriage.

My mother had begged my father to reconsider but he insisted on it. So instead of celebrating my coming-of-age ceremony today, I was shipped across the continent on the back of a dragon to marry their king.

“Hold tight!” Cedric, the dragon beneath me, barked in English.

When I didn't respond, he growled a curse in Ancient Tongue.

I swallowed hard and reached forward until my trembling hands brushed against what felt like twin horns.

The Ancient Tongue was forbidden. It was the language spoken by the savage Dragon clans while the rest of the continent spoke either English or Script. I had learned how to speak the Ancient Tongue in secret from a young age. I suppose it finally had a purpose now.

A violent rush of wind tore through my clothes as Cedric dived sharply. My body lurched to the side, and for one terrifying moment, I nearly slipped from his back.

I wouldn't die but…

Wouldn't I suffer the same fate as every dragon's wife?

I had heard countless stories from my handmaids about the dragons and their savage way of life. They said their skin was dark because they bathed in the blood of their enemies. They devour raw meat like wildbeasts and their women were treated as possessions, free for any dragon to rape. Even wives were not spared.

A ripple of fear coursed through my veins.

If ordinary dragons were allowed such cruelty, then what would their king do to me, his human bride? The thought alone made my stomach twist.

Tears gathered beneath my blindfold and slipped silently down my cheeks. I couldn't survive a life of fear and humiliation. I couldn't bear to be trapped beside a husband who would see me as nothing more than a property.

“We're here.” Cedric said.

The wind had gone still yet the air felt unbearably heavy.

We were in Dragon territory. Which means my husband knows I'm here.

He will come for me soon. And if the stories were true, refusing him would only bring punishment or worse... death.

I couldn't bear it.

“My Lady?” Cedric called when I didn't move.

I ignored him.

Slowly, I released my grip on his horns, my breaths leaving me in uneven shudders.

“My Lady, what are you doing?” Panic crept into his voice.

Still, I said nothing.

Carefully, I pushed myself to my feet atop the dragon's back and removed the blindfold.

The sight before me barely registered.

I had already chosen my fate.

I would not live as a toy to be used and discarded. I would rather die than surrender myself to that kind of life.

So before fear could stop me, I stepped off the dragon's back and let the raging wind claim me.

Cedric's roar echoed behind me, distant and frantic as the sea rushed up to meet me below.

I closed my eyes and fell to my death.

“What is going on!” Cedric yelled. He couldn't turn his head to look at me to avoid us crashing into the sea.

I ignored him, taking off my blindfold.

I've already decided my fate. I can't live as a toy to be used and discarded. I'd rather die than let that happen.

So I push off the dragon's back and let the wind sweep me to the sea.

I close my eyes and fall to my death.