The steady sound of Gael’s heart beating kept me sane, but it felt as if we were buried for hours. And who knew, perhaps we were. My tongue had long since grown dry, and my belly ached for food before I heard the first faintest of scratching sounds that I hoped were our companions digging us out.
I couldn’t imagine what kind of pain that Gael had to be in. Here I was, safe and protected under his wing, pressed against his scales, while he had an entire building worth of harm dumped on top of him.
He didn’t complain though, and didn’t even shift. Even as the sound of shifting rocks grew louder, then speckles of light started to break through. It wasn’t until I heard a thundering roar from another before he finally lifted his wing, and I was pulled up by another dragon for safety.
Gael followed, but I could tell he was limping a bit. Once he was out of the rubble and next to me outside of the temple, steam filled the area as the dragons around me shifted.
I waited until everyone was relatively human before rushing to the Prince. I didn’t care who saw at this point, I was just glad that we were alive.
“Never do that again!” I cried, throwing my arms around his neck.
He flinched slightly, and I gently loosened my grip. Oops. My knight in shining armor was a little battered for full body contact. “I can’t make that promise. You have a knack for getting yourself into dangerous situations.”
The Queen stepped forward, her dress covered with dust and a couple of her talons broken off. “My children! Bless the spirits that you are safe. I feared the worst. Come, let us return to our homes and tend to your wounds. We can perform your adoption ceremony after everyone is healed.”
“Pardon Your Majesty,” an unfamiliar Champion said, stepping forward. “But she did not pass the Dragonfire.”
Gael snarled. “How could you possibly think that? She is alive, is she not? The smoke is gone from the basin.”
“Yes, but the Dragonfire trail states that she must leave the temple of her own volition, with no assistance.”
“Yes,” the Queen intoned, “but one would think that this is a special circumstance, considering outside influence interfered with the results.”
“The Mountain works in mysterious ways. I say it is clear that such a dramatic response to her affront makes their displeasure with this whole endeavor quite obvious.”
There were echoes of agreement from all around him, and I felt my stomach drop as all but Myrik, Jayne, Dwyllverys, and the Queen seemed to come to the same conclusion.
“This is bullshit,” I spat, feeling utterly at the end of my rope.
“This is the will of the Mountain,” he countered. “And according to the Queen’s own words, that means that you are fit for only the breeding pens.” He turned to his ruler and bowed. “As one of your Champions that has been without a mate or children in over a century, I submit my claim to have her as my own. I will keep her well, and monitor any visions she might have.”
“No, you will not,” the Prince growled.
“You cannot stop me. I have a right to claim her, as do any of us.”
“Then I claim her as well.”
“I am not some trophy to be argued over!” I interjected. But it was Myrik who hushed me.
“There are some things that you cannot fight on your own. Let your Prince protect you.”
“Then what would our Queen have us do? Two of your Champions have claimed the same asset.”
“This is not how we should be acting,” she countered. “We should be a people united. If I knew granting your wish for these pens would cause such division, I never would have allowed it.”
But the dragon kept barreling forward. “I demand combat.” His orange eyes locked onto the Prince. “If he wants her so badly, he can fight for her.”
Gael’s laugh was dry and terse. “Of course, you would pick an injured opponent. How did a coward like you end up so respected a leader?”
“Insult all you want, but the challenge stands.”
“Then I accept it. See what honor you can find in being defeated by an injured brother.”
I glanced nervously up at the Prince. He was not looking well at all. But what could we do? It wasn’t like he could just tap out.
“I too lay claim to Lady Mercedes.”
My head jerked in the direction of Myrik, who stepped forward to be even with the other men. I tried to read his face, but it was completely stony and void of expression. My heart dropped again, and those bad feelings I had about his intentions finally solidified. I should have known he was only biding his time.
The Queen sighed, and I felt her irritation from where I was standing.
“Fine. You wish a fight? Then have it. But know that I have seen how you act when you have been spoiled with too much agreement, and I will not forget.”
“Of course, Your Majesty.”
“We shall walk to the crest. Upon my count, you can begin your barbaric waste of health.” She looked to the rest of the crowd that had gathered in support behind the aggressor. “Go. All of you. You’ve been given your way, but you will not be able to watch like gleeful little younglings. Leave my sight.”
There was a murmur of displeasure, so the Queen’s voice doubled in volume.
“I said go!”
There didn’t need to be much else said. The Champions all shifted into their dragon forms and took off, flying to I don’t know where. It was only Jayne, Dwyllverys and the Queen that walked with me to the top of the hill that we had marched over earlier. Thankfully, two of the dragons supported me, as my legs were still very weak from being cramped under Gael’s wing for hours. Or even a day. I still wasn’t sure how much time had passed at all. Didn’t I just tell myself I was going to work on that?
Granted, it didn’t seem to matter much as we turned and faced the three men far from us. The Queen remained silent for quite a while, letting them simmer, before speaking with a sigh. “May the spirits have mercy on your foolhardiness. You may commence.”
Their forms rippled and bucked, expanding outward at impossible rates. For a moment, they were revolting mishmashes of flesh and scale, with wings sprouting from their backs as skinless skeletons, before they slid into their full dragon forms. Both Gael and Myrik rushed forward, teaming up to attack the russet dragon facing them.
The clearing filled with the sounds of gnashing teeth and enraged roars. My ears rung with the sheer volume of the cacophony, and even clapping my hands over could not completely erase the sting.
My heart squeezed painfully as they clashed. Power giants all locked in battle over me. I would think it’s stupid if it wasn’t my best friend and closest confidant since my arrival fighting for my freedom in the wreckage of what had once been a beautiful structure to honor the spirits of the mountain that were supposed to be so respected.
The russet dragon lashed out, his claws hooking into the side of Gael’s face and tearing at the flesh there. Tears rushed to my eyes, and I had to look up, away from the carnage. It was there, high above my head, that I saw a very specific area that was completely devoid of the stalactites that covered the rest of the sprawling ceiling. Narrowing my focus, I saw deep score marks across the area.
I hadn’t fallen prey to random dumb luck. I had been deliberately sabotaged. Did the Queen know? Or was she too absorbed with her squabbling children below? Did she blame me for this chaos now? It was impossible tell.
I heard another terrible blow from the field and I turned my attention back to the battle. Myrik had just rammed into the russet attacker, flipping his over his back and into the rubble that had once been the hall. The Prince was gasping, recovering from some attack that I had missed, brilliant spots of blood staining his normally immaculate scales.
But Myrik didn’t take the chance to rush Gael. Instead, he whirled back and continued his assault on the russet dragon. Could it be that he was on our side? Was it foolish of me to hope that could possibly be so?
The fight continued on, and the Prince and Advisor kept their team up on their opponent. The russet dragon was indeed a great fighter, but there was only so much one could do against two—even if one of them was grievously injured.
When it was clear that the tide of battle had turned, and that the russet dragon had no hope of winning, he surged forward in what had to be a Hail Mary.
His jaws wrapped around the throat of the Prince, fangs sinking into the scaling there. Gael reared back as I screamed, but he couldn’t shake the attack. Myrik used this opening to bring his forelegs—and all of his weight, onto the top of their opponent’s head.
The russet dragon released his hold and crumpled to the ground, steam emitting from him in a wave until he was just a man again. The Prince lasted a moment longer, nodding his thanks to the dark dragon, before falling himself.
I pulled from the supportive hold Jayne had on me, wounds forgotten, and rushed for the Prince. When I slid to his side, I was grateful to hear him breathing, but he was covered in damage from the fight. “Can you speak, Gael?” I whispered, fearing the worst despite his rasping intakes of air. “Are you awake?”
He didn’t say anything, but his hand came up to stroke my cheek, leaving blood in its wake.
“Save your tears, woman. He will live.”
I looked up to Myrik. “Thank you. You saved his life.”
“I don’t need your gratitude. I didn’t do it for him.” He looked to the Queen, who I could hear walking towards us. “By your own words, she is mine.”
“For someone who initially fought so hard for her to be treated as one of our own, I am surprised you would keep your claim to her.”
His eyes hardened. “I only wish to do what will benefit our people most, and it is clear that will not be done while she is in Gael’s care.”
My stomach fell farther and farther with each word. This couldn’t be happening. I had known I couldn’t trust him, but I had wavered in that for just one moment…I was going to be property. Used and bedded against my will to bring about the next winged generation. It was the ultimate horror, and if I wasn’t so terrified, I would have probably broken into hysterics right there.
“If that is your wish.”
“It is.” He strode past me without another glance. “Tend to your Prince. I will not require your presence until tomorrow’s eve.”
I said nothing, and the Advisor walked away. I sensed the Queen standing behind me, taking a breath several times as if she was going to say something, but couldn’t find the words. In the end, she merely picked up the Prince and motioned for me to follow. Dwyllverys and Jayne fell in line behind us, equally silent. Whether it was due to shock, or shame, I didn’t know, but I appreciated that they didn’t try to ply me with some sort of false comfort. I was about to lose what little freedom I had.
Violently.
*
Once, when I was about seven or so, I had been in a car accident. It was nothing too serious, my mom and dad were arguing about something adultish, when someone t-boned us in the intersection. Thankfully no one was terribly hurt, but I will never forget the paramedics pulling me from the wreckage first, and making me sit on this stretcher in their ambulance, only able to watch as they tended to my parents. I remember feeling so detached to what was happening right in front of me. A spectator in my own trauma.
And it was sitting in the Prince’s house, watching the healers flit about, boiling this and prepping that, that I felt that same detachment once again. Like I was watching a film reel going at hyper speed rather than my own life.
Nevertheless, I sat there. Unmoving from my spot as I watched the sleeping Prince’s face. They had given him something to keep him unconscious while they tended to his wounds. What I learned as they rushed to tend to him was that all the speed wasn’t to make sure that he would heal, but rather to make sure that he healed correctly.
At first I didn’t quite understand, but then I saw a deep gouge on his head close itself so fast that it swallowed the hair around it. I almost gagged when the healer had to reopen the new flesh and pull all the white fibers out.
When all was said and done, it was evening before they finally cleared from the room, declaring that he was now able to heal without further aide. No wonder the dragons were such formidable enemies. Their skin was as thick as stone, and should it be penetrated, it could heal in minutes. But it also made me wonder what kind of violence the humans had to be dishing out for the feys’ numbers to have dropped so low.
Seconds flitted by as the Prince lay there, breathing deeply. It was hard to imagine that just hours previous he had been bone white and covered in blood. My brain was still having a hard time catching up to the very sudden transition. I had been expecting weeks of watching him recover. Not less than half a day.
He stirred, and I jerked to attention. I wondered if this is what he felt like watching me as I woke from my own attack. How frustrating that must have been for him, considering how fast he was used to his loved ones mending.
“Mercedes?” he murmured, voice pained.
“I’m here,” I said, kneeling at his side. I slid my hand into his, and once more he was blazingly warm as our skins touched. It sent a thick wave of relief through me, but the Prince only seemed more distraught.
“I failed you,” he croaked. “I had one duty to you, and I could not uphold it.”
“No, no,” I soothed, pulling him to me. I pressed his head to my chest, urging all the positive energy that I could into his defeated body. “You risked everything. If not for you, I would be dead under a pile of debris. You did everything you could, Gael. Even you couldn’t help that the odds were stacked against us.”
His hands came up, gripping my back like a life raft. “I cannot bear the thought of you being treated as nothing more than a slave. He doesn’t deserve to speak to you, let alone to touch you, to know you.”
“Hey, don’t worry about me. I’ve gotten out of worse scrapes before. I’ll have him wrapped around my finger in no time.”
His fingers clenched at my clothing, and he buried his face in my neck. “How can you forgive me? How can you still carry so much kindness when my people have done nothing but violate your most basic rights?”
“I’m not going to lie, this is a pretty shitty situation. But I don’t blame you one iota for it. You have been by my side from the moment I was dropped here.” His never-ending concern for me just made my heart ache that much more. I still wouldn’t say I was in love, but there was an undeniably comradery we shared. We were allies on the same battlefield. “Please, this is our last night together for a while, let’s not waste it thinking about our detractors.”
He pulled away for a moment, his lavender eyes taking in my every feature, although his hands never left me. “Then what would you have me do?”
I returned his hungry expression, drinking in every minute detail of him to immortalize it in my memories forever. “Kiss me.”
He didn’t need a second request. His lips crashed to mine, tasting of utter desire and desperation. I responded in kind, my mouth working against his own, greedily trying to take in all that I could. We were two starving souls at our last meal, and who knew when we would be able to eat again.
Our hands tore at each other, shredding and shedding clothing as fast as we could. Our rush was animalistic in our utter need to touch along our entire beings. He ripped the cording from my dress, one hand sliding down from his grip on my neck to caress my exposed breast. My desire only doubled, and I succeeded in freeing him from his already battered tunic.
I wanted to spend an eternity like this, pulling, yanking, always grasping for more, but at the same time there was this unspeakable need to rush. To experience as much as we could as quickly as we could in a last effort to sate our appetites for each other.
As if he was reading my thoughts, the Prince ripped at the lacings of his own pants, pulling himself from their confinement. Without a word, he pulled me into his lap, positioning himself below my center. With his hands at my waist, I slowly lowered myself, feeling that same overwhelming surge of fulfillment spread through every fiber of my being.
I tried to start slow, allowing my body to catch up with where my heart and mind were, but patience was never my strong suit. Soon I was driving my hips down to meet his, the force of our meeting sending shockwaves through my body.
Gael was panting hard, gripping my hair with one hand, pulling my head back so he could lick and kiss at my neck. His other hand he kept on my hip, making sure I had support to keep up our frenetic rhythm.
It was locked in that embrace where my climax slammed into me harder than any collapsing temple. The breath was stolen from my body, and everything tensed in the explosion of pure pleasure. The Prince must have felt my body react so strongly to his ministrations, because he surged forward, until I was flat on my back on the bed, my hips perpendicular to my form as he pistoned into me. I urged him on, begging for more, always more, until he let out a feral cry and reached his own end.
We stayed in that position for several moments. Unwilling to move, unwilling to part. Unwilling to give up even one second of contact. But eventually our bodies needed a respite, and we curled into each other, breathing hard and covered with a thin sheen of sweat to accompany our afterglow.
“Tell me,” the Prince murmured after several moments of us wordlessly stroking at each other. “What kind of magic do they have on the Shimmering Isles to have you bewitch me so?”
I smiled at him, nuzzling the base of his neck. “Oh, you know, just your run-of-the-mill hocus pocus. It’s very serious stuff.”
“I see.”
“Why? Are you complaining?” I asked cheekily.
“Not at all. Simply wondering what the name of it was so I can never be without it again.”
I pulled myself up partially, draping my limbs across his muscled chest. “I’ll find my way back to you. I promise. We have more work to do together, me and you.”
“That we do.” We lay there for several more minutes, before I felt him stir against me. “But perhaps for tonight, we could accomplish a few more tasks?”
I couldn’t help but let out a throaty laugh. “Many more, my handsome Prince.” I twisted until I was straddling his hips, my hands splayed out against his chest. I could already feel his body responding to me, and I smiled wickedly. “And I have the perfect idea for the next one.”