Chapter Three
A short time later, she was fully dressed in the white gown, wrapped up safely in its softness with her feet encased in the leather slippers. After that, Draego and Bruddis led her out of the bedroom and down a corridor lit with candle chandeliers to an extravagantly carved wooden door. A man dressed in steel armor stood guarding the door, and he opened it upon their entry. He bowed with respect as they walked by.
Jada wasn’t used to such treatment, but she was whisked ahead without being able to say a word of thanks to the armored man. She was led directly into another massive bedroom, even larger than the brothers’ room, with extravagant golden furniture and beautifully colored flowers in vases strewn over every possible surface. It smelled of lavender and roses, but there was a certain undercurrent of stale sickness still apparent in the air.
A frail-looking, white-bearded man lay underneath a mountain of burgundy and gold blankets, propped up by a mass of pillows. He opened his eyes, blue-green irises studying them as they walked up closer to the bed.
His face was white as a sheet, his breathing shallow and his hands shook, fingers gripping the blankets beneath. Jada noticed the veins in his hands, purple. Such a stark contrast to his chalky pale skin. He was definitely very sick. She bit her lip, empathy surging forth.
“Good afternoon, Father,” Draego said softly, while he brushed his hand over the king’s. The elderly man smiled softly, which seemed to deflate him of whatever energy he had.
“Our bride arrived today. We wanted you to meet her,” Bruddis added as he picked her up by the waist and sat her down on the side of the tall bed, effortlessly, as if she was the weight of a single feather.
The king reached for her hand and took it within both of his. His eyes crinkled with joy, red-rimmed and moist, but she couldn’t help but smile in return. Underneath his obvious sickness, she could see a kind-hearted man concealed deep in his eyes.
The eyes of a king, of a man with vast knowledge of the world, a deep understanding of everything around him. She felt his gaze, saw him study her and at once, accept her, for who she was no matter what happened in her past.
“Take care of my boys. Take care of Draegira,” the old man whispered, his voice gravelly and barely audible. It sounded like it had taken all of his energy to utter those few words. She gripped his cold fingers and nodded.
“Don’t worry, I will,” she responded, feeling compelled to reassure the king.
“You’ll make a great queen. The people will love you,” he whispered as his eyes grew heavy. He released her hand and relaxed into the bed, exhausted at the exertion of speaking. His ribcage rattled from the effort.
“Thank you, your majesty,” she whispered as Draego took her hand.
“Get some rest, Father,” Bruddis added and the three of them made their way back out of the room. Jada turned back as they were walking away and realized that the king had already fallen asleep.
It was incredibly sad.
When she had reached the relative safety of the hallway, she ventured to ask about it.
“Why’s he so sick?”
“His blood has recognized the rise of our blood, that new more powerful alphas have come of age,” Bruddis explained and she looked back at him with confusion.
“What do you mean?”
“Our royal bloodline is very special here on the planet Draegira. It recognizes when the next alpha needs to come in to power, when it’s time for the next of kin to take the throne. It’s been that way for generations. You’ll understand more with time. We’ll have to take you out on the outskirts of town to fully explain what we mean. Despite our humanoid appearances, we are definitely alien to your kind,” Draego explained.
“We have some time this evening before we have to prepare her for the fire shaman’s trials tonight. Why don’t we head out to the plains to introduce her to perks of our bloodline the right way?” Bruddis said with a smirk.
“That could be arranged,” Draego chuckled.
She glanced back at them in confusion. What did they mean by trials?
They stopped along the way and grabbed her fur mantle, before they descended into the depths of the castle, walking along stone hallways and curling staircases. With every step, her eyes skirted around her, taking in the uniqueness of what she imagined was a great big castle. Eventually, they exited the building and ventured out into the chilly fall air. She gasped upon walking into the massive sprawling white stone city, brightly lit under the rays of the sun. It was so beautiful that she felt like all her words had left her.
Speechless, she let her gaze wander, taking in the great big buildings and the spotless streets, devoid of a single piece of trash to mar its beauty. It was otherworldly. Magical.
The three of them walked for a long while down cobblestone streets, heading in the direction of the city limits while she studied the various buildings and people they passed. Women, men, and children all bowed their heads as they traveled down the streets, every single one stopping whatever they were doing to pay their respects. It was a heady sight to behold.
No one bothered them. In fact, they seemed to do their best to allow the three of them a wide berth, one that spoke to both deference and love, and also fear. She looked back and noticed a small group of guards escorting them, but they didn’t make their presence known in any way. They were far behind and probably only there in case any sort of situation came to a head.
When they finally reached the outskirts of the city, Bruddis ran forward into the grassy field, following a well-worn dirt path before whirling around back toward them. He tossed his mantle off his shoulders and quickly unlashed his belt from his waist. In no time at all, he had taken off his leather jerkin, revealing a sculpted chest that was so chiseled that it reminded her of the gods of old, carved from marble.
She wanted to reach out and touch his skin, run her fingers along his hard muscle and kiss him. Startled, she took a step back, unsure of the origin of such lustful thoughts. Where the hell had that come from?
When he unbuttoned his dark cloth pants, she sighed as he pushed them down over his hips and time seemed to slow as she saw the massive girth of his cock for the first time. The bulbous head bobbed up and down, the thick shaft standing straight up toward the sky and she licked her lips, suddenly wondering what he would taste like.
Draego gripped her shoulders and held her still and she briefly wondered why.
Bruddis stood in the field, completely naked and she admired every square inch of him. A lean waist angled down to trim hips and his thighs tensed as he smirked back at her, very much aware of her obvious gawking of his male form.
“Time for you to see what makes us Draegiran royalty,” Bruddis said with serious look. The next moment, he threw his arms out to the sides and a brilliant white light flashed, growing in size with each passing second until it was the scope of a large building. When the brightness finally faded, Jada nearly screamed at what she saw.
It was a dragon. A massive, scaly, horned dragon.
She squeezed her eyes shut, convinced she was dreaming.
She heard the loud footsteps of the giant beast move toward her and she squeaked in alarm, opening one eye to see the dragon’s face mere feet from hers. Taking a deep breath, she opened the other, feeling Draego’s presence behind her in support, his hands tight on her shoulders, not allowing her escape.
Holy shit, he was big.
His body was the color of rust, eyes glowing red as he stared down at her. Long, ivory canines lined his mouth, so large that he could easily tear her in two with a single bite. His lengthy snout moved closer, sniffing the air around her and she shivered with fear. Scales like iron encased his entire body from his back to his belly, while giant crested spikes lined his spine. Two great thick horns segmented with even more spikes curved out from either side of his forehead, giving him the look of a formidable mythical beast. His wings stretched wide, so much so that she had to turn her head to see the entire span of them. Long talons the size of her legs dug into the dirt, his four limbs shifting before them. His tail curled around his massive frame, flicking back and forth as he cocked his head, the red glow of his eyes studying her tiny frame.
Growling softly, Bruddis flapped his wings and her hair flew back at the force of the gust he created. He huffed and a tendril of smoke rose into the sky. Then, with almost a sort of growly chuckle, he threw his head upward and a stream of flame climbed high above, the heat scalding as close as she was. After a long moment, he gnashed his teeth together, cutting off the flames in an instant.
He brought his snout level with hers, bathing her in the scent of burnt smoke.
The ground seemed to shake beneath them as they studied each other.
“How is this even possible?” she whispered, hardly aware that she had spoken out loud.
“My brother and I are shifters. At will, we can shift into our dragon forms. Our royal blood burns hot and everyone under our rule are genetically programmed to defer to our alpha nature. Our father’s blood has sensed our rise in power over the years and has succumbed to the combined influence that myself and my brother have. The force of it will eventually cause him to pass,” Draego explained.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“We’ve come to expect this would happen eventually, although once he fell ill, it has progressed much quicker than we imagined. In normal circumstances, we would have had time to find a bride from Draegira, plan royal balls, perform interviews, but that proved to not be the case. So, we looked outward, and purchased you from the Earthen station for human brides.”
“Why do you need to marry so quickly?”
Bruddis growled quietly and sat down on his haunches.
“Had we not performed the ritual mating with our bride together, our blood would have eventually forced a rivalry between us and wouldn’t allow us to stop until only one alpha survived. This had happened a few times in the past, and the devastation brought on by the fighting was terrible. It’s imperative we prevent this genetic trigger and share a wife between the two of us. Because of that reason, you’ll become our bride within the next few days once everything is in place, thus completing the ritual circle of the royal mating.”
Bruddis watched her intently, a soft rumble emanating from him that shook her to the very core. He growled softly and laid his head down on the ground before her. The sound of his breathing echoed quietly, reverberating around the valley and vibrating her to what felt like the very tips of her toes.
Her initial shock had faded some and she tried to shrug away her fear, pulling her fur mantle closed almost as though it was a shield meant to protect her.
She reached her arm out and knelt before him, placing her palm flush against the heat of his snout. He nuzzled her hand gently, and her courage gradually grew as more time passed. He lifted his head and she held the end of his snout in both hands, staring up into his glowing red eyes.
They felt like they called to her, magnets that dove deep down into the depths of her soul. Her body was calling for him.
“Can I see you fly?” she asked in wonder as her fear evaporated into nothingness. She could feel him, touch him. He was real. Dragons were real.
Behind her, she felt the air shift and she turned, only to find that Draego was no longer in his human form either.
Charcoal gray scales covered his body and he stared back at her with glowing icy blue eyes. He was slightly broader than Bruddis and the two spiked horns emerging from his forehead were connected with webbed flesh. He breathed softly and white steam rose from his nostrils. He turned his head and breathed an icy stream of blue-colored fire, freezing the ground solid and creating a small patch of snowy tundra before them.
Fire and ice. Brothers equally matched with a power that the other was weak against. She had no doubt that if they did fight each other for the power of the alpha, that the damage they could wreak would be immense.
Bruddis gently stood up and leaned his head down next to her.
“Climb up and I’ll take you flying, little human. You deserve to see Draegira like we do, from high above,” his voice sounded in her head.
With as much courage as she could muster, she climbed onto his limb, up and over his elbow, and onto his neck. Situating herself in front of his crests, she wrapped her arms around his neck. Comfortable, she held on tight as his wings flapped behind her, forcing the grass beneath them to lie flat from the winds of his movements.
Slowly they lifted off the ground and up into the air and her fingers tensed against the burgundy scales of Bruddis’ throat. In no time at all, they were several stories up into the air and the trees on the ground looked tiny below. Soaring through the sky, she felt his muscles tense and relax beneath her as he rose up even higher so that she could look at the city down far below.
She looked on in wonder, seeing the fields fly by and the mountains rise up around them. People walked along the street and they seemed small as ants, going about their business as she watched from above.
Bruddis soared lazily around, keeping her safely on his back while Draego dove and turned, flying in tight circles and pirouettes that probably would have thrown her clean off his back. Bruddis flew up higher in the air and paused, flapping his wings and holding his position.
“Want to try a dive?” he murmured softly, an eager enthusiasm clear in his tone.
Nervously, she nodded into his throat and suddenly they were falling together toward the ground, the grass rushing toward them faster than she could have ever imagined. Exhilaration raced through her and she screamed with excitement and terror. Just when she thought they were going to crash into the dirt, his massive form lifted back up as his wings flapped hard and her stomach dropped to her toes. When they pulled up, he stilled in the air and she giggled with joy, happy to be alive.
“Hold on tight, little human,” he said as he flew up in the sky higher than before.
They dove a few more times and she screamed with delight with each one. When the sun finally began to descend below the horizon, the brothers soared down to the ground and helped her to climb off. In no time at all, the loud rumbles of dragons were no more and Draego and Bruddis were once again in their human forms.
“That was remarkable,” she mused out loud and both men smirked back at her.
“Our dragon forms certainly have their perks,” Draego responded. He sighed then, studying the remaining light from the setting sun. “Come now. We must get you washed and ready for the trials. Now that we have the king’s approval, it’s time to put you to the test to find out if you’re worthy to be our queen.”
“What do you mean, put to the test?” she asked softly, her uncertainty growing by the second.
Both men looked at her and shook their heads.
“We can’t say anything more. It’s a sacred tradition on our planet for the queen-to-be, something she must go through. If she passes, then there is a wedding to be had. If she doesn’t, well… We’ll need to find a new bride,” Draego explained.
Even though she hardly knew these men, the thought of failing, of being sent away forever worried her immensely. She studied the two of them and dropped her eyes to the ground.
Did she want this? Even though it had been such a short time, she felt like she belonged with them, that they were hers, and that she was theirs. Her heart faltered at the thought of losing them, at being replaced by another, of another woman in their arms when it should be her.
Was it wrong to fall for complete strangers so quickly?
She didn’t know and instead allowed them to lead her back to the castle, hurrying down the streets at a pace she found difficult to keep up with until Draego picked her up and carried her on his back as though she didn’t weigh anything at all.
When they returned to the castle, the brothers guided her into what looked like a Roman bathhouse, with hot tubs full of heated water with steam rising up into the air. She was quickly divested of her dress and helped into the baths, despite her protests that she could bathe herself.
She still blushed under their ever-watchful eyes, even though she knew they’d seen her naked body earlier already. Her bottom still felt sore from her prior punishment and as she stepped into the hot water and sat down on the tile seat, she hissed at the residual sting.
Bruddis and Draego quietly joined her, rubbing soap over her skin and shampoo into her hair. She sighed with pleasure at their unexpected kindness and tried her best to comply with their wishes, despite only knowing them for a short time.
It seemed as though their serious natures had returned, that their fun and carefree attitudes in their dragon forms had disappeared along with their talons. They were once again princes ready to lead their planet together.
Bruddis seemed more serious than ever, although every once in a while, he would catch her eyes and wink at her. Draego would simply frown and shake his head with disapproval. She felt Draego’s fingers tighten in her hair and she bit her lip, feeling her body begin to pulse with desire once again at the slight twinge of pain.
A short time later, the brothers brought her to a team of women, leaving her with them to prepare her for the event that night. They quickly whipped away her towel, leaving her standing naked before them in the cool air. Her nipples peaked and she moved to cover them, but the older women attending to her knocked her hands away. She could tell they were native Draegirans by the soft red glow of their skin. She had yet to see a human in this world. With a sigh, she wondered if she was the only one.
Her hair was brushed and styled in long waves and a bit of rouge was applied to her cheeks and color to her lips. A small amount of mascara was applied to her eyes before they helped her step into a soft green velvet dress that dipped low in the front, revealing her ample cleavage. A simple sash was tied around her waist. Her toes were threaded into soft leather ballet slippers and an emerald necklace was clasped around her throat.
She felt like a princess when they finally finished with her. It had seemed like hours, but she was finally returned to the brothers’ bedroom and told to wait for them there. Nervously, she sat back down on the bed, wondering what they would expect from her and what her duties as queen would entail.
Would it be like the fairy tales she read as a child? Would she find her happily ever after in the arms of two men rather than one?
When the door finally swung open, she smiled softly upon seeing both of them enter in black cloth pants and a royal doublet with a dragon insignia embroidered on the back. She felt herself studying them, unsure about how she felt about either one. Her body craved them, yet her mind fought the match. In one moment, they seemed cruel and unyielding, yet in others, they were easy and natural to be around.
Upon seeing her smile, both of them grinned back at her and offered their arms for her to take.
“Remember, human, you are to obey our every word and submit when we command it. Do you understand?” Bruddis said softly, his tone deadly serious. She shivered at his warning.
“I understand,” she whispered, as her bottom clenched imagining Draego taking her in hand once again. She shivered when she also remembered how Bruddis had spanked her pussy and she had no trouble coming to the realization that a paddling over their knees was one of their tamer punishments.
Draego took her chin in his fingers, his touch gentle but his expression full of dark warning.
“The correct answer is, ‘Yes, Masters,’” he corrected.
She widened her eyes slightly and breathed deeply in indignation.
“Do I need to remind you who exactly is in charge here?” he asked, his icy gaze narrowing as his grip tightened.
“No, Masters,” she finally whispered, feeling as though her tongue was a ball of cotton. Gritting her teeth, she held his gaze for a moment longer before he begrudgingly let her go.
“Come, the sun is beginning to set. It is time to meet the fire shaman and to let the trials begin,” Bruddis murmured.
She shivered.
Was it a happy ever after that awaited her? Or was it her doom?