Kiss of the Dragon Read Online Free Page A

though I couldn't follow that connection to my other half. I should have been suffering. But I wasn't, at least not yet.
    Maybe it was the power boost the Ambrosia had given us at the joining ceremony. Maybe it was the way we were joined, the fact that our Light had been drawn from us, combined and then returned. Maybe it was something to do with the portals being closed, cutting off that effect before it could reach me. I didn't have an answer, so I chose to just accept this helpful outcome. I'd worry about it if, or when , I was forced to face it.
    For now, my patience and dedication to the task I had set myself eventually paid off. On the tenth day of captivity Sora fluttered through the door to my room in the middle of a Weapon Dance move. I knew she was there, but continued the ritual, until it was complete. Coming to stand before her with a low bow a full minute after she had entered the room. The door was still open behind her. My heartbeat tripled and thundered through my veins.
    "Good afternoon, Princess."
    I had to swallow twice before I spoke. Over a week of not talking makes your voice a little weird.
    "Good afternoon, Sora."
    "I will choose a dress for you," she said holding my gaze with a placid one of her own. "Perhaps a quick wash would be advisable. His Majesty commands your company this evening at dinner."
    I forced myself not react, just nodded briefly and turned on my heel towards the bathroom. My hands shook as I drew a bath, my face was flush with excitement, I willed my body to relax. Used cool water to shock myself out of the heightened anticipated state I had fallen into. By the time I entered the dressing room, I had myself more or less under control. This was what I had wanted. A face to face with Aliath, a chance to negotiate a truce, improve my imprisonment. My ultimate goal, to win his trust and be considered an ally, not a captive at all.
    And it had only taken ten days.
    Ten days of solitude and boredom, interspersed with a self-inflicted vigorous routine designed to dazzle. I knew I was altogether too excited about this change of events. How could I not be?
    I wasn't sure if it was wishful thinking, but I was certain I needed Aliath if I was to survive in this world. Or escape it. I didn't have anything to barter with, except myself. Be that my emotions for him to consume - ick - or what I could offer the Dökkálfa should the portals be opened again. And I was sure they would be. Michel would move Heaven and Earth to make that happen.
    So, this dinner invitation was paramount to a portal opening up in my room back to Earth. A lot rode on its outcome.
    Sora helped me dress in an intricate and beautiful outfit. This one was slightly more elaborate than the original dress I had clothed myself in that first day. Since then I had only worn underwear. This was the first dress I had worn since arriving ten days ago and it was exquisite. Black, but with tiny crystals stitched all over the tight fitting bodice and flowing skirt. The crystals caught the light in the room, making prisms of colours reflect off any available surface nearby when I moved. It was magical. I couldn't determine an image from their positions, I think it was just a random pattern covering the entirety of the dress. The skirt was floor length, but failed to have the copious amounts of petticoats beneath it, making it seem more modern, in an ethereal way. The black fabric was light-weight, almost sheer, and swirled around my legs when I walked.
    It fitted like a glove, as I suspected the rest of the clothes in the dressing room would. The Dökkálfa couldn't have expected my arrival, but then they could have used magic to fill the closet as soon as I turned up in their Court. I'm not the sort to play dress-up, so I hadn't tested that theory, but I was sure it was right.
    Sora fussed with the buttons, I was vaguely relieved not to have to twist uncomfortably in on myself to achieve it, and then she attended my hair. I usually wear