80. Arrival of Dev

When all the subjects were hailing their victory of crown prince’s return, Dev’s eyes were rolled in all directions to spot his lovable bride Akshara. When she was nowhere to be found, he took the turn which leads to his chamber.
A hand on his shoulder stopped him from going further, he looked at the hand which had a royal mark and turned to greet him. Dev lowered his head in a gesture of greeting, “Lord Callido Doloshus! Accept my greetings.”
The royal minister, Lord Callido Doloshus, nodded and stopped him from going further, “Your majesty, Queen has been waiting for your arrival. With no further delay, we shall meet her.”
Dev has greater respect for the elders unlike other dragon princes ever born in the land of Ayruzglow. He sighed and hesitated which was understandable by everyone. He obeyed and eyed Ivan. Ivan patted his shoulder, “Let’s go meet our Queen, your mother first. Then I will take you to meet your siren.” Dev chuckled and Ivan followed him to the throne room.
In the throne room,
The icy walls were decorated with icy flowers of all colours. The giant crystal light was hung on the centre of the roof of the throne room. The royal ministers were seated parallel to the main throne which was shaped after the large skull of the dragon which had giant horns on its head.
The throne was raised fifty steps under a canopy. The queen’s throne was situated a few steps below the main throne to the left which was occupied by the majestic white queen, Mirabella Swiftwings.
Every royal minister, their heirs, soldiers, royal maids and subjects were lined up to meet their crown prince.
The dark knight Jaravles Shirk stood by the White Queen who was seated on the throne nervously. The dark knight asked the queen, “My Queen, I can tell how eager you are to meet your dear son.”
The white queen took a deep breath and replied to him, “Indeed I am. But,” she paused for a second and Jaravles continued, “Worrying about bride selection?”
“Yes, Arav, my son had already chosen his bride, yet I opened the royal gates to allied kingdom’s brides.” The white queen told him.
The dark knight Jaravles listened to every word uttered by the queen and replied to console her, “My queen, our crown prince is a smart child. He would understand your decision.”
When Dev stepped into the throne room, the crowd welcomed him with a loud cheer. The royal maids threw flowers on his red-carpeted path to show their love for their crown prince.
Dev and Ivan walked straight towards the throne room to greet the Queen. Ivan stopped by the throne of prince and stood holding his hands back with an attitude facing the crowd. Dev furthered his steps to his mother.
The white queen, his mother, Mirabella, opened her arms to welcome her son. Dev went into her arms with a wide smile, “Mother.”
The queen hugged him with love and told him in his ears, “Congratulations, son.”
“Mother, I heard you have a surprise for me,” Dev asked in her ears and no reply came back.
The dark knight replied to his question with a nifty smile, “Not more than you have.”
“I won’t disappoint you,” Dev told with a confident smile facing the face of his mother who had a surprised look with arched eyebrows. She looked at the dark knight and moved her eyeballs to her son, “He has?”
Dev shared her cunning smile and positioned his seat that was below the queen’s throne. Dev whispered to Ivan, “My mother has some surprise for me, uncle Arav knows about that.”
Ivan replied without looking at his face, “My father had long retired from family trivial. There is only one person dwelling in his body, that is Dark Knight, not my father. He won’t share the royal matters or surprises with his family.”
Dev smiled widely and waited for the surprise to be revealed itself. He looked at every corner and observed the presence of everyone. He then and there nodded and smiled at whoever met his eyes. He looked at Ivan whose face was locked without emotions. He asked, “Where is Nora? I haven’t seen her.”
Ivan too scanned his eyes and replied to him, “She is not here. She would be the one who welcomes us first. I wonder where she would be if not here.”
*****
On the wait, to enter the throne room, all the brides giggled after a little chat. The blonde hair bride chuckled, “What would we expect to reproduce if we mated with the crown prince - egg or baby?”
The red hair bride replied, “We might give birth to eggs since this is a dragon kingdom.”
Nora cut their talks with her frustrating words, “That’s the matter should be worried by the bride who was chosen by our crown prince. Not you.”
All the brides were irritated and Ash coloured hair bride told her, “What does a warrior doing in the group of brides? Does the warrior think she might be picked for her sword?”
The brunette bride replied to the ash hair bride, “She is been following our crown prince like a puppy but he doesn’t even give his grace to this warrior.”
All the brides giggled, “All men like to have beautiful females in bed not a rough warrior with scars.”
When Nora was about to stroke the bride, a dragon more solid announced to dissolve their conversation, “All the brides be prepared to present yourself to the Ayruzglow.”
Nora held her fist and looked fiercely with prying rage. Indigo rushed to calm her down, “My lady, be calm. Don’t let your beauty be ruined by your wrath.”
Nora took a deep breath and tried all means to calm her down, once her rage lit out, she slapped Indigo. Indigo gasped while rubbing her cheeks of sharp pain. Nora warned her, “I won’t allow any of my maids to advise me. Remember your position, Indy.”
“Yes, My lady,” replied Indigo with downed eyes in anguish which were already filled with tears.
“Good, now tell me how am I looking?” Nora asked Indigo while adjusting her clothes to perfection. She looked straight at Indigo as if she was a looking mirror.
Indigo swiped her cheek and replied with a blooming face to show her sign of loyalty, “You look absolutely amazing in this dress. That Axe... huh, the dungeon girl has little sense of clothes and combination of colours.”
Nora’s face shrunk again, “Want your other cheek to be reddish? (Indigo nodded her head left to right fast.) Then don’t speak of her.”
“Get back to my chamber and gave her a hard time without any signs of torture. Do you understand?” Nora spilt her evil words. Before indigo parted, she called her again, “No, don’t do anything, just lock her up in the dungeon.”
“My lady, I fear what if our crown prince finds out that you locked her in the dungeon? It might cause you a negative impact.” Indigo remarked and Nora agreed to her, “You have point, and then don’t do anything to her. She can’t be presentable to Dev since I ruined all her clothes.”
Indigo was indeed worried for Akshara and thought to her, “What would she wear? Axe, apologize to me, I am in no position to help you.”
*****
In the throne room, the first bride entered with blonde hair and a crimson outfit. She looked stunning in her look. Any man would fall for her extraordinary beauty, but Dev doesn’t cast his eyes on her as she is no Akshara.
The announcer voiced, “Let us welcome our first bride from our nearest allied kingdom, Pahrolymire, known for the beauty of female born in the land, ruled by loyal and talented king Arger Gremjac, known as the descendant of the first merman. She is the daughter of a such legend, princess Zerena Gremjac the pearl beauty.”
Zerena smiled and nodded to accept her presence. Her representative gave her the box and she gifted the queen with the purest white pearls to offer peace from her kingdom.
The white queen accepted it and the announcer showed her the seat. Before she move to her seat, she eyed Dev with a stunning gaze and got infuriated for not getting his return gaze. Ivan patted Dev's shoulder and told him, “Smile at the princess, she is looking at you.”
Dev insisted, “Never mind, she isn’t my Sara.”
The announcer announced the parade of second brides, “Let us welcome our second bride from Eldornagton, known for the land of the volcano and legendary creature basilisk ruled by successor king Cymonynx Toxiskon, his daughter the most energetic soul, princess Enerva Toxiskon the rare gem.”
Enerva appeared in the throne room with curious eyes and with a cherishing smile, her fang tooth captured everyone’s attention. She actively entered with the emerald green outfit with red-shaded hair.
Enerva gifted the white queen with her land’s most precious gems, “My queen, I have bought some precious gems to decorate your throne.”
Everyone was pleased by her appearance and approach. Ivan was impressed by her smile, “Dev, see her smile is alluring.”
Dev countered, “Only my Sara has the stunning smile to refresh my soul.”
“Huh,” Ivan sighed in distress, “Look, the third bride is coming.”
Dev eagerly looked and was disappointed again for mistaking the third bride to be Akshara, “Ivy, look if you want to marry any of them. I won’t mind and I’ll help you talk to uncle Arav and the bride’s father.”
Ivan replied to Dev’s mockery, “Dev, they are princesses and their fathers are kings. I would be beheaded if their fathers knew I was thinking of them in my mind.” Ivan exhaled, “Generals don’t deserve princess.”
The announcer announced, “Let us welcome our third bride from the kingdom known for fairies and nature spirits, Katilawalder, ruled by our valiant King Caleen Evintyron, who has the bloodline of fairy. His daughter, princess Ravina Evintyron the fairy.”
Ravina, the brunette bride entered the throne room with her golden yellow outfit along with her matching accessories looking like a fairy walking the parade. She opened her mouth, “I have brought my land’s most wanted hues from wings of moonlight butterfly.”