I was summoned to be hit on by a firebird prince

I bit my lip as I was waiting for my sentence to come. That person was still talking with his falcon. Was it even considered talking when none of them said a word? I wasn't sure, but I saw that there was some kind of communication going on between them. It was never-ending. The longer they talked, the more uncomfortable I felt.

While that man was ignoring me, I stole a few glances at him.

I had no idea who he was, but now that I was able to scrutinize him better, he sure looked like a king or prince. The crown on his head confirmed that. Let’s forget about my rudeness to him and pretend that never happened. Hopefully, he won't put me in prison for disrespecting him. But if he is fair, he should accept that it was his falcon who stole our thing, and I had no other choice but to take it back. I did not want to break his wing.

If I knew how to fix it, I would do it. Although I remembered a few things people used to do in the past as their ritual or folk magic, I was by no means an expert, and I forgot a lot of things. This is why you have notes and books. Unfortunately, I was not summoned with them. Even though I was sure I was holding some of them when I was transported here.

Not living in a happy family, I ran away from home as soon as I could and was able to get a scholarship to attend a college in the capital city. I never knew what I wanted to do, so I chose the thing that was always comforting me and reminding me of golden old times – the fairy tales. So I went to study the Etnology and Folklore. I learned a lot about old tales and customs, which our people used to do in the past. Now majority of them were deemed lost and forgotten.

But after finishing my university degree, I was unable to find a proper job. Living in the capital city was extremely expensive, and I struggled a lot. Then, after only six months, my mother died. She was the only living member of my family, and so I decided to return.

I found a job in a local library in our small town, which almost nobody visited, and I spent days there, reading random old books that were donated to us. I was not happy, but I had everything I needed to survive. I did not have to pay such high bills for rent and other things. Life in our small town was manageable. And then, suddenly, I was pulled here. Without any prior warning. I still couldn't believe it.

“Good, that’s that.”

I jerked my head up, seeing the golden prince stepping away from his falcon and turning back to me. I clasped my hands in my lap, awaiting his words.

“You are right,” he said, surprising me. “It was our fault that what happened. My stupid bird was tricked and thought the magic crystal bead originally belonged to me. So he went to take it back. He did not realize it was stealing.”

He reached out his hand to help me stand up.

I ignored it and stood up by myself, dusting away my shortened skirt. “Good,” I said. “Now that we have finally cleared the misunderstanding, take me back, please.”

“Not so quickly,” he refused.

He reached for me and caught my wrist.

“I still have some questions,” he said.

I looked at him, annoyance growing in my insides.

“I don’t have any more answers for you,” I replied. “And I need to return. It is getting late.”

I knew I was risking a lot, being rude to him, but even in my world, I never had patience with men who tried to approach me, especially when they started touching me without my permission. And this guy looked exactly like such a forceful type. I did not care that he was royalty.

He smirked. Yep. He was not taken aback or angered that I was rude to him. He was amused.

“You are sassy,” he said. “I like that.”

“Let me go.”

“You are forgetting who you are talking to.”

“I do not know who I am talking to. And your bird stole our stuff, so it does not matter what you are. It was your fault, and I did not hear one sorry word from you. And I am sure that you basically kidnapped me, and that is another no-no. In case you did not know.”

He laughed, his white teeth showing.

He pulled me closer to him, and I could feel that hard, animal musky scent lingering on my skin.

“Don’t villains always steal princesses?” he asked.

I could feel my cheeks blushing, but I was still angry. He was physically very attractive, but I valued the actions more than good looks.

I smiled at him, coldly.

“Aren't I lucky I am no princess?” I said.

“You do not behave like some village girl,” he answered, puzzled.

“Go on,” I told him. “You can also mention that I am strange. You are the only person who has not said that yet.”

“But you are the dragon’s bride. So you are either a girl from a village or some princess.”

“Oh, so they even sacrificed a princess to him?” I asked. “Too bad, but I am none of those. And I told you before, I am nobody’s bride.”

“Tell me then, who are you? You are so different.”

“Don’t you see I have no interest in talking with you?”

“That’s the thing that puzzles me. There was no girl in the past who could say no to me.”

This guy, I swear…

“Must be hard meeting someone who is not charmed by you, not even a bit.”

“Can you tell me at least your name?”

“Nope.”

I jerked my hand trying to free it from his grip, but he dug his fingers into my skin.

“I like you. I want you to stay here,” he said.

“I will tell you another thing. If you want something, that does not mean that I have to grant it to you.“

He laughed again. “You don’t need to return to that castle. Dragon is boring, anyway, you will have a lot more fun with me.”

“Just stop making everything worse,” I said. “You sound like an old, drunk leecher. That is not charming at all.”

It was only now that he let me go, confused that his magic was not working on me.

“Goodbye,” I said and turned my back to him.

“Where are you going to go?” he asked me. “You don’t even know where you are. How are you going to find your way back to the castle?”

Well, he was damn right. But I did not want to stay here with him any minute longer. I wanted to tell him something snarky, just to finally shut him up, when I heard a horrible roar echoing across the sky.

I looked up and saw a big green dragon flying toward us. He sat down on the grass, and the earth shook. I almost lost my balance. Now I was not scared by the dragon anymore, but seeing his size was still shocking to me. He was bigger than the carriage that took me to him. He was at least twice its size. Before, I would scream and run away, but now I knew he came for me to take me to the castle. And I could see a small black chicken jumping around on his back.

“Zora!” Korvan yelled at me.

He jumped down from the dragon’s back and ran right to me. You disappeared, and I was scared something had happened to you.

“I did not disappear,” I corrected him, “I was kidnapped by this… man.”

The dragon glared at the man in golden armor.

“It was your bird, Radovan?” Korvan yelled. “Why did he steal the bead from us?”

“That was a misunderstanding,” he responded gallantly. “I already apologized to this young lady for any inconvenience my servant caused you.”

I crossed my hands on my chest. “He did not apologize at all.”

He started laughing again. “So, your name is Zora. I like your cheekiness. I will surely visit you again.”

“No, you will not!”

The heavens shook.

It was because it was not only I who yelled at Radovan, but also the dragon standing next to us. But the thing is, when the dragon started talking, the whole world was shaking. I looked at him, surprised. His voice was completely different now, in his dragon form.

“Are you jealous?” Radovan smirked at the dragon. “I must say you found yourself a beautiful wife.”

“For the last time–“ I screamed.

But I did not have time to complete my sentence. The dragon scooped me up with its claw and then took off. In a second, we were back up in the air, flying back to the castle.

This time, I did not faint, I must proudly say.