PRINCE JARITH RYKOR
I watched Marissa being escorted into the dinner feast to be introduced to my father. She looked wonderful in a Drackon-made dress. It was yellow, in soft satin, and it made her stand out amongst all the rest.
All eyes were on her. She was the special guest of the king. We had never had a human female invited by the king before. Everyone knew that it was important as the hall was filled with nobles of great wealth that had gathered just to see the human. As my eyes moved over the space, there were very familiar faces in the hall, even Braxa, one of my former lovers. It was a festive occasion, but I was in no festive mood.
"Marissa Volander, it is an honor to meet you. Please take a place at my side for dinner," my father said as he took her hand in his and kissed the top of it.
I hated him for that move. Why did he have to touch her? Then he led her over to the table and she glanced sideways at me. I looked away. I could not watch this happen. My father was going to take the one and only human female I had ever been interested in and make her his sex toy. It was too much for me to handle, especially because her delicious scent engulfed me as she moved past me. It was teasing me.
“Let the dinner begin!” my father shouted over the hall. All sat down and large trays of food were brought out. I had missed the bounty of my planet after eating the dull food of Earth that had lost its flavor in the toxic environment. I sat next to my father on his right side, and Marissa sat on his left. On her side sat my brother, Traydon. It was strange; he should have been sitting at my side. The hall was full of the sounds of chatter and clanging plates, but it was not loud enough to drown out my father’s flirtations with Marissa.
"Your planet is lovely, King Rykor. I was not expecting so much beauty. Your race has really utilized nature and incorporated it into your society. I applaud you for it," I heard Marissa tell my father.
"Yes, it is of vital importance to live with nature. We make it a high-priority. You shall take a tour of our structural systems. I am sure that the Gladonetics corporation will have years of study based on our technology here," the king said to her.
"Yes, I would love to see the structural systems. I have so many questions," she said as she ate alongside my father. No doubt he was making plans to take her on a tour of the castle and seduce her, just the way my lieutenant had on the ship. I rolled my eyes at it. I was growing angrier by the minute. They continued on this way, with my father dodging her questions about his new interest in Gladonetics.
“King Rykor, I must ask, we at Gladonetics are very curious about this new agreement you would like to make with us. Can you not tell me a bit about it now?” she asked curiously.
“There is plenty of time for business later. Now is a time of rest and celebration after your long journey. It is also time for…”
My father stood up from the table. Marissa seemed disappointed by his way of deflecting her questions. Then my father shouted, “It is time for the music!”
The crowd cheered and the musicians played loudly. My father stood up and took Marissa’s hand in his own and led her to the dance floor.
Everyone parted as she and the king danced the first dance. Just seeing him put his arm around her and his hand planted on her lower back was enough for me. But then my brother took the second dance, and for the first time, I saw the way he was looking at her. He wanted her. Did he not know why she was brought here? For our father?
Probably not; he could be very naïve in these situations. He was always very quiet and always the dutiful son, unlike me, the rebellious one. Traydon wanted to be king so badly he could taste it. I would almost give up the throne to him if it wouldn't be such a disgrace; no Drackon had ever done so.
I had finally had my fill of the show. I went outside and shifted and took my first flight into the forest after being away from home for so long. I flew past the forest and out to the rocky deserts. I flew all night. When I returned later that night, I landed on the veranda outside of Marissa's room. I fought myself hard not to go in there and kiss her. I could smell her. Before I was able to get a full hard on, I flew away.
The next morning, I’d had had enough. If my father was going to claim her, he needed to do so now, because if he did not, I would take her.
"Father, I have brought back the prize you so wanted: the intelligent human female, Marissa Volander. If you are going to claim her as a concubine, then you should do so immediately. It is unfair to the human that you should lead her on into thinking this is some sort of negotiation. Tell her the truth," I said, pacing back-and-forth in my father’s living quarters.
He laughed a very boisterous laugh. How dare he laugh when I was in such pain because of the desire that I felt for her.
"Son, that is not why I had the human female come to our planet. It is the opposite of that," he said.
"What do you mean?"
"I had her brought here for you. I had to bring her so that you would bond with her on the trip back to our planet. I want you to take her as a mate."
"What!"
"It is true. I want you to take a human wife, an intelligent one. I want one capable of ruling an empire by your side. She has proven that she can run a very large corporation. There is not much difference between running a large business and running a kingdom. She is your match. Dealings with Earth is the future of the Drackon, and I think it would be a very smooth transition if a human female is queen during the transition."
"This was all a trick?! Another one of your senseless assignments because you think I cannot rule the kingdom! What gives you the right to choose a mate for me? I am to choose from the nobles. I am to choose a Drackon female. I am to have a full Drackon son, not a hybrid! This is not your decision to make for me."
"Yes, it is. You will rule the kingdom the way I say that you will rule. You will have a human female wife, and this one is intelligent, beautiful, and pleasant company. You cannot tell me that you did not bond with her on the ship. Did you not bed her?"
"No! Because I thought that she was a gift for you!"
"But you wanted to? You cannot tell me that you escaped the charms of this human female. I think there are few that can."
"That is beside the fact. I hope that you have some sort of negotiation for the Gladonetics Corporation, because your trick is not going to work. I will not take her for a wife!" I said as I moved toward the veranda and shifted into dragon form. I ran and flew off of the edge, into city.
After I had calmed down, I returned to the castle complex. I knew that my father was not going to tell Marissa the truth, so I was going to tell her. She was going to be mad as hell, but she deserved the truth. She had journeyed far thinking that she was here for her corporation, and not to be a stolen bride.
When I finally found her, it was a familiar scene.
"This is the armory; it is where we keep our weapons of war, but also our science of war. Most importantly, the scales that appear on our bodies when we shift; we collect them from our dead that have passed on. We use them to make shields that are impenetrable," Traydon said to her.
"I would love to see it," Marissa said to him.
"And I want to show it to you," he said to her in a very thick voice, full of lust. He was flirting with her and it made me angry. It reminded me of when I caught Lieutenant Axon flirting with her. She smiled at him, encouraging the behavior, and my blood boiled.
"What is going on here?" I intruded. She jumped, startled at my sudden appearance.
"I am showing Marissa Volander around the structures as father promised," Traydon said in a very defensive tone toward me, as though he was trying to claim her.
"I can take it from here," I said, stepping toward him.
"No, there is no need. Marissa and I are getting along just fine," he said back to me.
"Are you defying an order from me, little brother? I am your elder. I am to be king; you will obey me."
"Yes, I am defying your order. She prefers my company anyway. And since when do you care for being king?!"
"I doubt that she prefers a little, annoying youngling like you. I am sure that our guest is just being pleasant. Now go along and bother father with another one of your senseless ideas."
His face turned bright red with anger. His hands balled into fists at his side. He stopped directly in my face and said, "You are going to regret that. You will eat those words."
"I see what's going on here. Father has told you that he wants me to take Marissa as a wife and make her queen. You think that if you win her affection, she will want to marry you and father will make you king. Only you can think of such an absurd plan."
"Anything can happen, brother," he said with an angry snarl. Then he stomped off in another one of his silly fits. He had been having them since he was very young.
He shifted and then flew off into the distance. A fast, angry flying, with reckless abandon. I turned my attention back toward Marissa. Her mouth was wide open.
"Is it true? The king wants me to be your wife?" she asked.
"It is true. I only just found out myself. You must believe me. There is no agreement or negotiations for Gladonetics; he only wanted to bring you here so that I can make you my wife. He has chosen you."
"No! I can't believe this. The nerve of him! Did you know? Did you truly know?"
"No, I did not. If I had known, I would never have brought you here."
She got very quiet and I realized that my words came out wrong. I was pretty much telling her that I did not want her. I did want her, but I did not want to be forced to marry anyone. And I did not want her to be forced to marry either. But my words did not come out that way.
"I want to go home to Earth. I want to go home now," she said as tears spilled from her eyes and she ran away from me toward the rooms of the castle.
As soon as she said she wanted to go back to Earth, I hurt. I did not want her to go. Though she deserved to because my father had tricked her. All along, I had been restraining my desire for her because I thought that she was my father’s. Now that I knew that she was not, it hit me: I no longer needed to restrain myself. I could have her. I could finally bed the human female that was driving me crazy with lust. But now she wanted nothing to do with me because she was angry at the trick played on her. I would have to have her. She could go back to Earth if she wished, but before she did, she would be mine.