...

'Katie, what's going on?!' Draco asked worriedly because Katherine went quiet for a bit after telling them someone found her.

'Three men with scarfs over their faces came out of nowhere and they want to take me back! Please hurry!' She said in a panicked voice.

"Scarfs?" Draco said in confusion.

Then both of their eyes widened.

No way...

The twins thought at the same time.

'Don't worry Katie! We'll find you in no time. I think we have a good guess who they might be.' Tharion assured with a soothing voice.

'Who-' She started, but the mindlink got cut off.

"Shit!" Draco yelled and punched a vase which was standing close to him.

"Calm down. We won't be able to do anything if we can't control our emotions." Tharion said slowly.

Draco took a deep breath and slightly nodded his head.

'Soldier team A, gather in the ballroom in fifteen minutes.' Tharion ordered through the mindlink.

'Understood.' The dragons said at the same time.

"We'll get her back." Tharion assured his brother.

"That bastard will be sorry for ever taking her." Draco gritted out and exited their room.

Tharion sighed and went after his younger twin.

Hang on Katie. We're coming.

...

"My, my. This outfit suits you so much." The old lady said excitedly as she adjusted some smaller pieces of the outfit.

I looked at my reflection, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

----------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------

Do they expect me to dance or something? What is this shit?

"This is our traditional clothing. When we head towards the party, you'll see a lot of female dragons wearing similar clothing." She explained with a smile.

I guess my confusion was written all over my face.

"So you... wear this all the time?" I asked skeptically.

"Yup. Except for us old folks. But you'll get used to it soon enough. And as you can see, compared to how it looks, it's actually really comfortable." She answered and started doing my hair.

I didn't say anything because she was right. It was comfortable despite it looking like a torture device.

After doing my hair, she proceeded to do my makeup, and after some time we were done.

But while she was doing all that, I was questioning myself as to why I even let her do my hair, make up and change my clothes. I should've just went there in my clothes. But it's too late to protest since everything's already done.

"You can open your eyes now dear." She said softly and started to move something.

I slowly opened my eyes and my reflection was the first thing to greet me. My eyes widened in less then a second.

Woah...

"Heavens!" The old lady gasped out of nowhere and dropped whatever she was holding.

I turned around and looked at her in confusion. The moment our eyes met, her eyes welled up and she burst out crying. My eyes widened even more and I started shuffling my arms, not knowing what to do.

Why is she crying?!

"A-are you okay?" I asked skeptically.

She sniffled, looked at me, and started crying even more.

Shit!

I stood up and cautiously approached her. Then I slowly guided her towards the bed and made her sit down.

What should I do now? If she wasn't an enemy I'd comfort her. But I can't let my guard down because who knows. This might be her plan to lure me in her trap.

So I stood in front of her, fidgeting my hands as she tried to calm down on her own.

"I'm sorry dear. I was just overwhelmed for a moment." She said through her sniffles and gave me a small smile.

I took a step back and let her stand up. She looked at me with teary eyes and smiled sadly.

I couldn't help but think she was seeing someone else instead of me. And her next words confirmed it.

"You look so much like her." She whispered sadly.

I looked at her in confusion.

I look like who?

"Never mind. Let me just put this on and you're all done." She said and showed me a veil which matched my clothes.

----------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------

"What is this?" I mumbled unconsciously and then quickly bit my lip, cursing myself in my mind for getting distracted in this kind of a situation.

"It's because you're a guest. Although mated females don't need to wear it, you aren't related to our horde so it's a type of a respect for your privacy." She explained.

Respect my ass.

And then I remembered something very important.

"Who's your leader?" I quickly asked.

"Niran Hale. You've probably met him at the gathering." She answered with a smile, making my eyes go wide.

I knew it!

"What does he want with me?" I asked angrily.

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait for the answer to that question. It's something he'll tell you himself." She answered with a sigh.

Ugh!

I crossed my arms and glared at the floor.

"Since we're done here, I think we should get going." She said and walked towards the door.

The guard from the other side opened it and the old lady walked out. I sighed in annoyance and followed after her. When I walked out I noticed two more guards next to us.

Great. So escaping them is practically impossible. For now at least.

The old lady walked in front of me and the guards surrounded me. I kept my arms crossed as I let them take me wherever they were taking me.

And after some time we stopped in front of large black double door. The two guards who were standing on either side of it grabbed both handles and opened the door. I looked up and my eyes widened in less then a second.

What the-

...