Ge’ono pours me another cup of wine and leaves the pitcher before he departs for his seat with the other judges.

I am alone in the bridal chamber, but with the way my body is reacting to the sight of the males, I’m glad for the privacy. I drink my wine in a gulp, feeling the warmth flood over me, calming my anxiety stricken blood.

If ritual oils and soaps are what awakened my desires and made me irritable, I’m definitely feeling the effects. I don’t know what is going to soothe this burning inside me.

The dragons in the ring begin the battle with laser swords, testing each other’s strength in bipedal form. The lasers crack against each other as their muscles bulge. When they’ve tested each other, one of them shifts and so does the other. The first one is a sleek, golden air dragon, the other is a large, brown earth dragon. They chase each other around the arena, flying and clawing and biting in an aerial battle.

The match is exciting but produces no thrall before it ends after ten minutes. I nibble on my fingernail, anticipation still raging through the growing warmth of wine in my belly.

A servant wheels in a tray of food, probably ordered by Ge’ono. I’m grateful for it. I know I should eat. The server places the tray on the table beside me. It’s filled with pastries and fruit, sweetmeats and cheeses, with some fresh brown bread. I grab a star fruit and gow cheese pie and shove it in my hungry mouth.

My stomach immediately agrees it’s a good idea to eat, and I shove one of each of the finger foods into my mouth in quick succession. Looking up I realize everyone in the arena just saw me stuff my face on the holoscreen. I smile and hold up another cheese pastry. The crowd cheers as the second match concludes without a thrall.

The third match is between a mountain of a stone dragon with stone-gray skin and marble white scales and a similarly large but leaner fire dragon with flame red skin and ember black scales.

They look up at me with their hands over their hearts before turning to each other. The red skinned male wastes no time in shifting into dragon form. He blows a stream of fire over the stone dragon, who shifts just as the fire hits. He emerges from his protective shell and bashes at the fire dragon as he maneuvers away.

The stone dragon’s heavy tail hits the fire dragon’s flank, sending him into a tail spin. The fire dragon corrects, whirling on the larger foe. The fire dragon is skilled in flight and movement, and is far more agile than the stone dragon, who is clearly stronger. The stone dragon uses its massive gray wings to lift himself into the air. Once aloft, its powerful wings carry his heavy body easily over the arena.

He dives at the fire dragon, smashing at him with his thick stone tail. The fire dragon twists below him and manages to miss the blow. The red dragon corrects and slathers the stone dragon in a breath of fire.

The gray dragon takes the full force of the fire dragon’s breath. Parts of his flesh singe from the flame. The stone dragon flips himself into a tailspin, twirling with ever increasing speed. He wheels toward the fire dragon, who darts away, just to come down above the twirling stone dragon in a breath of fire.

The stone dragon throws out his tail at the red dragon as the fire hits him. In midair, as the fire and stone connect, both dragons burst into their thrall form. The thrall form is a bigger, more powerful version of themselves. This is the first time they have been able to access it in their lives. After they claim their fated, they can use it at will.

Both dragons come down hard on the arena floor. They shift there, on their backs, the power of the thrall flowing through them. They spring to their feet. The crowd is in chaos, the judges shout to remain calm.

“Two dragons thralling at once is unheard of,” Ge’ono calls out over the noise.

“We do not have the protocols for this,” another judge proclaims in a panicked voice.

“We must confer,” the judges say, going silent.

A moment later, their voices are heard again.

“There is an ancient reference of multiple mates in an old database I researched some time ago,” says one of the judges. “I assumed it a myth at the time.”

“What were the protocols?” the second judge asks.

“It is mostly the same as any other mating. However, multiple mates must claim their bride at once or there will not be a full mating among them.”

“Can there be more than two?” Ge’ono asks.

“Yes.”

“The games must continue then,” Ge’ono declares.

The other judges nod in agreement. The two thralled males in the battle ring look confused and angry. Their eyes leave the judges and lock on me. They don’t seem happy with having a rivalry in each other, let alone additional males.

I don’t know what to think or feel. One mate is bad enough, but two? And now the judges say there might be more. I pour another glass of wine and stuff another sweetmeat in my face. It looks like this tournament is far from over.