The Dragon King's Hated Bride
Chapter 45: Awkward Silence

Chapter 45: Awkward Silence

>>Aelin

The walk back to the room was unbearable. Draegon’s hand rested lightly on my back, a gesture that should have felt comforting, but all it did was make the awkward tension worse. I was not used to it and with everything that had happened, it just felt strange.

I didn’t know what to say to him, and the weight of the silence between us made my thoughts feel louder than they should have been.

When we reached the door, he pushed it open and motioned for me to enter first. I hesitated for a moment, noticing that this was our bedroom, the one in which we spent our first night together.

I still stepped inside.

The room felt suffocating the moment the door closed behind us. He stayed near the entrance, while I found myself frozen in the middle of the room, arms crossed over my chest.

I glanced at him, my heart hammering against my ribs. He stood there, his expression unreadable, his purple eyes flicking toward me briefly before he looked away. The air between us was thick, heavy with words neither of us dared to speak.

"How did you break through it?" I finally asked, my voice quieter than I intended. There was nothing else that came to mind so I asked him this.

Draegon’s gaze shifted back to me, his jaw tightening slightly. For a moment, I thought he might not answer me, but he did

"It wasn’t easy," he said after a pause. His voice was calm but carried a weight that made my stomach twist. "The spell wasn’t like anything I’ve encountered before. It wasn’t just magic—it was manipulative, invasive. It made me believe things that weren’t real. Things I’d never..." He stopped abruptly, as if catching himself, "There were times I had no idea what I was doing. Even my mind wasn’t there."

I took a step closer, my curiosity outweighing the tension. "Then how did you fight it? What broke the spell?"

>>Draegon

I stared at my wife as she asked me the question

***

(The night before)

The memory burned itself into my mind, vivid and searing. I had barely returned from the siren’s call, my body felt heavy with exhaustion for some reason, especially my mind. But there was something different, the fog in my brain was lifting.

When Ruoxy entered the room she came and put her hand on me, pouring her magic into me.

I sat there on the ground, unable to move, the spell chaining me in place as if I were nothing more than a puppet. My claws dug into my thighs as I fought for control, my chest heaving with barely suppressed rage. She was toying with me.

"Still fighting, are you?" she purred, her voice slithering into my thoughts like poison. "How admirable, Truly. But futile, as always." She smiled, "No one can win against powers from the abyss, not even you."

I wanted to lunge at her, to tear her apart, but the spell held me. All I could do was sit there, trembling with fury as her words chipped away at the fragile remnants of my sanity.

She stopped in front of me, her cold fingers sliding under my chin, forcing me to meet her gaze. Those cursed eyes of hers, glowing with a malevolent light, made my stomach churn. "You should thank me, really. I’ve given you purpose. Clarity. You have no idea what we will achieve here?" She got excited, "With powerful people as sacrifices."

My teeth clenched so tightly I thought they’d crack.

"And as for your little human..." Her voice turned cold, "She’s next. Aelin will make a fine sacrifice for the Abyss. There’s something... unique about her. Potential I’ve yet to fully explore." She laughed softly, "Oh, the things I could unlock in her. Perhaps she’ll even enjoy it."

The world narrowed. My breath caught, the air leaving my lungs in a painful rush. Aelin. She was going to take Aelin!!

I tried to move, my claws ripping into the fabric of my chair as I strained against the invisible chains holding me back. I could feel my control slipping as she poured her magic in my mind, my emotions spiraling out of control. Rage. Fear. Guilt. All of it crashing over me in waves that left me drowning.

Ruoxy straightened, her tone light and mocking once more. "You’ll watch, powerless, as she’s torn apart." She giggled, then turned to leave, pausing in the doorway to glance back at me. "Enjoy the show," she said, her smile cruel, and then she was gone.

I sat there, shaking. The room felt suffocating, the spell tightening around me like a noose. My mind spiraled, replaying her words over and over.

I was at fault here

How dare I be this weak and now because of me, my wife would also die a brutal death.

I had barely managed to get control of a little bit of my mind when Aelin tried to kill herself the first time and I didn’t let it go since then. It was exceptionally hard to hold on the little bit of myself but I did

But I couldn’t fully break free from the magic. It kept coming back to consume me

And with the amount she just poured in me, I know I won’t be able to hold on. I closed my eyes in defeat

Right then, when everything felt dark, I felt something in me

Something warm

Something light

It tapped in my mind, fighting off the darkness

***

>>Aelin (Present)

"Somehow," Draegon said, his voice even but laced with an undertone of frustration. "I did it." He paused, then added, "It might be because of your magic too."

I blinked, surprised. "Oh."

"I didn’t know you had magic,"

"Ah," I looked away for a moment, "It’s... something new..."

"I see," he said softly

The words hung in the air between us, awkward and weighty. I wanted to say more, to ask how my magic could’ve played a role, but I didn’t know where to start. What could I even say? I barely understood my own powers.

"It... doesn’t really make sense," I admitted, my voice quieter than I intended. "I don’t know much about what I can do."

Draegon looked at me for a moment, his expression unreadable. "You’ll figure it out," he said simply, though there was something reassuring in the way he said it.

"Maybe," I murmured, glancing away.

The strange tension between us lingered, a heavy, invisible force that neither of us seemed able to break. I wanted to ask him if he was truly okay, if the spell had hurt him in ways he wasn’t letting on, but I couldn’t find the words. Instead, I fidgeted with the edge of my sleeve, my mind racing.

He cleared his throat, breaking the silence. "None of the monsters I’ve fought before were anything like Ruoxy."

That caught my attention, and I looked back at him. His expression had hardened.

"She wasn’t like the Abyss creatures," he continued. "They’re mindless. Vicious, yes, but without purpose beyond destruction. Ruoxy, though..." His eyes narrowed slightly, as if he was trying to piece together a puzzle. "She was intelligent. Calculating. That’s not something I’ve ever encountered from the Abyss. Yet she had magic from the Abyss."

"Then... what was she?" It was still a mystery

Draegon hesitated, his gaze shifting to the floor as though he was weighing his words. "I don’t know," he admitted. "But I’m certain she wasn’t from the Abyss. Not entirely, anyway."

I frowned. "How could she have its powers if she wasn’t from there?"

"That’s the question," he said, his tone darkening. "It’s possible... she learned how to harness them. Or maybe—" He stopped, his expression twisting slightly as if the thought repulsed him. "Maybe it’s easier to wear the skin of a person and live like them than we realize."

!!!!

"What makes you say she was wearing the skin of someone else?"

"I saw her skin peeling off of her," He replied, sending a shiver down my spine, "It had happened a number of times."

A chill ran down my spine at the implication. "You think she could’ve been... pretending to be someone else? No wait- you mean something was wearing her skin-" I paused, recalling her form in the dungeon, "So, it was never her but a monster wearing her skin?"

He nodded grimly. "It’s possible. I don’t have answers... It could be her and that she was a monster all along or that it was never her..." He seemed to drift into thoughts.

I stared at him, trying to process what he was saying.

The whole situation was far worse than anyone thought.

"Did you find no clues about it during the war?" I asked and he softly looked at me.

"The war... didn’t allow us to do anything else but fight." There was a sadness in those violet eyes of his, "We didn’t even know what we were fighting and how to fight them." My heart felt heavy at his words, "It took us countless deaths to understand how to counter them."

"I’m sorry," I shouldn’t have asked.

"There were tens of thousands of us who fought the war, including the people from Havenmoore." His voice was soft, "Do you know how many of us returned?"

I already knew I wouldn’t like the answer, yet I asked, "How many?"

"Only twenty, including me."

!!!