“What will happen if I don’t?” I ask skeptically.
I’ve never heard of a thralled male who did not get to give a mating bite. It is the only thing that relieves the first activation of the thrall.
“We assume he will pass away from his thrall.”
“You mean die?”
“Exactly that.”
“How could I condemn a man to die?”
“The judges are not here to force you to accept five mates. We are here to make sure the games are fair. We believe it is fair for you to have a choice among all these males. You don’t need five males to make hatchlings. So, in the end, it’s up to you.”
“I’ll definitely keep that in mind,” I say weakly. There is a sick pit in my stomach.
“We’ve informed the males of the same thing so you don’t have to tell them yourself.”
“I’m glad for that.”
“You can accept all of them, so don’t worry too much. But if there were one or two you did not like, we feel it is fair for you to refuse them.”
“They are all my fated ones though.”
“We don’t know how multiple mates work any more than you do, Joon. I wish I had more exact information for you. But after the cyborg invasion during the plague, so much of our history is lost. There is very little to go on.”
“I understand, Ge’ono. Believe me. My parents are out searching for lost information now. We are all affected by our fragmented archives. I just never expected it to come back to haunt me quite like this.”
“Are you concerned about mating with five males?”
“Of course!”
“What exactly concerns you?”
“The mating ritual has to be completed with all of them. You said that in the ring.”
“Indeed, that is what our reference on the matter said.”
“I find that concerning…” I mutter.
“Worry not, White Queen, your males surely have experience among them.”
“Knowing my mates have most likely been to the galactic pleasure houses does not fill me with any more confidence.”
“I will have your brothers and mentor sent up to escort you back to Arcadia after your meeting. You need friends and family with you now.”
“Yes. That would help. Thank you, Ge’ono. I apologize for my irritability.”
“No apology necessary. This is a life changing moment for you. It is all to be expected. I will bid you farewell for now, Queen Joon. If you need anything at all, please contact me. You have my information in your communication device.”
Ge’ono bows and turns to leave. I watch him walk away, taking my last grasping sense of security with him. Now all I have to do is to wait for my fate.
I cross the room and take a seat in a large, regal chair made of dark wood, gold leaf and red velvet. I take a deep breath, gripping the arms of the chair. The velvet crushes under my fingers, soft and supple. I squeeze my thighs together in anticipation of meeting my mates.
The door slides open and they all seem to rush in at the same time. There is a commotion of jostling and voices. They are all dressed differently, their styles crossing customs and subcultures of Draxos.
It’s easy to tell them apart, but they are in such a scuffle of disagreement that I almost feel as if they’ve forgotten about me.
“My Queen,” Reese, the water prince, says, sweeping into a bow before me. His wavy dark hair sways like deep sea reeds, his green eyes flash with the lust I feel. The others follow him in a bow and then stand before me in a line.
“I am Reese Brio, prince of Umbria. It is my deep honor to meet you, my Queen. I am your eternal servant. My life’s one purpose is for you to accept my mating bite.”
He takes my hand and kisses it as he kneels before me. His adoration throws me off and I can’t speak for a moment. My heart is in my throat and I try to gulp it down.
“Stand aside, poet prince,” Uri says, pushing Reese out of the way. Uri grabs my hand and kisses it roughly, imitating Reese but with far less tenderness.
His full lips press hard against the soft flesh on the back of my hand. His ember black mustache and trimmed beard tickle my skin. His presence is as overpowering as his kiss. And my body responds, despite his roughness.
“Please try to remain civil, my mates. I know the thrall has overcome you, but it will be far easier if we remain calm.”
“As you wish, lady,” Uri says in a low voice, full of gravel. His black scales and beard frame his jaw. The smirk on his lips mirror the twinkle in his eyes. It’s as if he knows something about me that is secret to even myself. All I want to do is let him uncover it and show it to me in the light of day, no matter how raw and primal. I shake my head, clearing out the images flashing before my eyes.
“Our White Queen,” Donte says, sweeping into a bow.
He stands and appraises me with his emerald eyes. He tips his head to me and I lift my hand for him to kiss it. The other two have already kissed my hand so I figure I will offer a kiss to the rest. To be fair. The feeling of their lips and the smell of their pheromones is doing crazy things to my inner dragon. She growls and spirals inside my mind, blowing sprays of ice across the backs of my eyes. It’s so powerful that I can feel the chill inside my head.
That doesn’t negate the heat rising from my core as Donte wraps his massive hand around mine. His skin is light gray, almost pink with a look of modeled stone. I can feel his deep strength just below the surface of his flesh as he holds my hand. He kisses it, inhaling the scent of my pheromones as his lips caress my skin. He lifts back, looking into my eyes with a soft smile on his lips. He is the oldest of my mates. At a hundred cycles old, he is by far my elder and into the middle age of a dragon. I can sense unknowable secrets behind his stone-gray eyes. I shudder at the gravity of his presence. It feels like a massive globe pulling a stray moon into orbit.
“Thank you, my Queen, I have waited many cycles for my mate,” he says as he steps back, putting his hand to his heart and clearing the floor for another male. Just as I’d asked.
“Please, you don’t have to call me ‘queen,’ any of you. I’m just Joon.”
“Joon, I’m so happy to meet you,” says Mika, the youngest of my mates. The golden dragon reaches for my hand. Instead of kissing it, he grasps it in both of his hands and shakes it, looking me in the eye. “I can’t believe I thralled on my first tournament! Or that it was for such an amazing, brilliant, beautiful woman like you, Joon.”
“Thank you,” I say, smiling at his enthusiasm. His golden curls bob around his head as he shakes my hand again.
“Did you just graduate from the Academy?” he asks.
“I graduated early. I’ve been in research for two cycles already.”
“That’s fab. I’m in my last year myself.”
“Where do you go?”
“The Academy of Bones. I play for the air spree team, so that helped me get in.”
“That’s a good school. You’re on their air spree team? Bones kicked Arcadia Academy’s butt for the last five cycles at finals.”
“You know it,” Mika says, smiling broadly and puffing out his slim chest.
“Can’t this conversation wait for another time?” Flume says, sliding up beside Mika.
Before I can see what happened, Mika is behind Flume. Flume has my hand in his, his lips descending slowly to my flesh. He presses his soft lips to my skin and a spark of energy radiates through me. I wonder if his venom had anything to do with it. But I’m guessing it has more to do with how good he looks in those tight black pants and form-fitting black shirt. In bipedal form, his skin is a dark green, almost black. His hair is shaved close to the scalp and his hands are smooth and quick. He lets go of me and stands back.
“I await a private moment with you, Queen Joon,” he says as he takes his place in the line of males before me.
“As do I,” says Reese
“And me,” says Uri.
The others jostle with each other over the idea of a private mo
ment. I roll my eyes in irritation and remember Ge’ono’s words.
Choosing my mates is going to be the most difficult decision of my life.
Thank you for reading The White Queen: Part One.
I hope you enjoyed the first episode of my weekly serial.
Click below to read part two.
The White Queen: Part Two
Chapter 6
You know, you don't have to accept all your matches’ bites,” my brother Bashard says.
I groan. Bashard has already said that countless times on the ride over from the arena. He lands the speeder in front of a palace on the coast of the Sea of Light near the city of Borai.
Silas opens the exit hatch for me, and I walk out of the ship. Looking up at my new home, my mouth drops in awe. The building is stunning and seems to glow in the afternoon sunlight. My palace is three stories high and built of shimmering white marble. Huge windows look out onto the sea. I shake my head, unable to believe this is my new home.
The palace was provided for me by the people of Arcadia, the game judges, and my mates. Accommodations were arranged quickly after the tournament, since all involved agreed that going back to my student chambers would not be appropriate for a woman in my position.
My position…
Everyone insists on calling me the White Queen…all the time. Most young females are given silly nicknames during the tournament, but none of them stick for long. Mine won’t go away. Apparently, having five mates is a big deal. People think it means something. All I can think is, I’m a scientist, not royalty. I'm certainly not the queen of anything.
As I gaze up at my new home, it begins to sink in that other dragons will now look to me as an authority. Bashard and Silas start to the entrance of my new home as servants file out from the front door. A butler dressed in red velvet bows before me, his hand behind his back.
“Greetings White Queen, Joon D’fray,” he says standing. “I am Quintin, your butler. Your contribution to our race is a blessing, and I am deeply honored to be in service to our new Queen.”
“Thank you,” I croak out.
As one of the few females left of the Draxos, I am used to a certain kind of deference. However, now that I have been mated with five males, the reverence the other dragons show me now seems boundless. I’m not sure how to respond to this strange new sensation.
I follow my butler Quintin into the palace, flanked by my brothers, my mentor Taylon behind us. We walk into a marble entrance hall. Yellow lights sparkle from the high ceiling, warming the bright white marble. It is open and airy inside, making me feel at ease. Quintin escorts us into a sitting room with large windows and a balcony that looks over the sea.
“I am sure you are tired from your journey, My Queen. Please rest and I will bring you and your guests refreshments.”
I nod and thank him before he bows and leaves the room. I am seated on a white fur-covered couch and I gaze out the window. Silas opens the double doors to let the cool ocean breeze into the room. The sheer white curtains ruffle in the breeze, and I take a deep breath, filling my lungs. I let it out, my dragon’s inner ice blowing into the room. She is restless and hungry. In more ways than one.
I still wear the beautiful white dress my beauticians fabricated for me. My brothers stand, one near the balcony, the other near the fireplace. Their ice dragon physiques, light blue skin and stark white hair, remind me of our father. Taylon sits across from me on a chair, giving me sympathetic glances between glances at my brothers.
Quintin returns with a tray of cold wasp honey mead and a plate of salted gow cheese biscuits. He sets it on the table in front of us, fills a golden goblet, and hands it to me.
“I have something else for you, My Queen,” Quintin says. “It just arrived a few minutes ago.”
He leaves and comes back, holding a puffkin carrier.
“Gigi!” I scream, darting to my feet and clapping my hands.
I open the case and extract my little pet puffkin. She licks my face as she bounces in my grasp, trying desperately to get another lick in. I sit and place the little round ball of fur in my lap.
“Who’s a good girl?” I gush. “Gigi want a biscuit?”
I hold a biscuit over her head. She bounces a full measure off my lap and snatches the biscuit out of my hand. Gigi lands triumphantly on my lap and promptly bounces off to devour her prize in secrecy. I giggle and cover my mouth, heat rising in my cheeks as I remember my guests.
“It’s good to see you smile, Joon,” Taylon says. “I was worried about you.”
“Getting five mates worries me,” I say with a laugh.
“You don’t have to mate with them all,” Bashard says.
“Thank you, brother, for your one thousandth reminder of that fact.”
Chapter 7
After my brothers and mentor leave, my mates’ speeders begin to arrive on my landing strip. I watch from the balcony of the sitting room. The first to arrive is the fire dragon, Uri. His brash aggressiveness gives me chills, and I worry what he will do.
I worry what they will all do.
The next to arrive is the youngest male, Mika, who just graduated from the Academy of Bones. I whimsically think back to my time in school. Everything seemed so simple then. But now? I still don’t understand my role as “queen.” I wonder if I ever will.
Donte arrives, the oldest of my mates. Donte and Uri spot each other on the landing strip and exchange words I can't hear. I can see them interact and sense the competitive energy that radiates between them. When Mika joins the tournament of words on the landing pad, two more speeders arrive.
Plume and Reese emerge from their vehicles and join the other three males in front of the palace. Plume points up at me on the balcony and all heads turn to gaze in my direction. Embarrassment rises inside me and my cheeks heat. I lift a shaking hand and wave at them. My heart speeds in anticipation of the chaos that five thralled males will bring to my new palace home.
Quintin emerges from the entrance and escorts the men inside. I return to my place on the fur-covered couch, awaiting their arrival.
They enter the sitting room together, the competition between them in full effect. Their thralled aggression and pungent desire distresses me beyond reason. My inner dragon growls and snarls. My heart thumps like a wild thing and I gulp a sip of wasp honey mead to push down my rushing, unrestrained desire. But even the heaviness of the drink doesn't repress it.
The water dragon Reese, known as the Poet Prince of Umbria, stands before me, his eyes cast to the ground. His hand grips his heart.
“My Queen,” he intones as he bows deeply. “How may I serve you.”
“Please rise. You don’t have to address me as “My Queen” and your service is not required,” I try to say in a confident voice, but it is shaking.
Reese looks up at me, his face awash with concern.
“Of course I will serve you. And you are my queen. But, I will respect your wishes, Joon.”
He stands and nods again, his hand still on his heart. I feel ridiculous and confused. The pressure between my legs pulses with my throbbing heartbeat. I wish I could tear out of this skintight white dress and lay myself bare for all these men.
The thought is right at the forefront of my mind, and I must push it away. It's outlandish and impulsive, and not something I would ever normally do, or even think. I am beginning to feel as if I have turned into another person. I barely recognize my own thoughts anymore.
All four of my other mates bow deep and vow their eternal loyalty and service to me as well, trying to compete with Reese.
“Thank you, gentlemen. Please take a seat. And enjoy some refreshments.”
Once they have all been seated and begun to sip their beverages, I feel slightly more at ease. All this male energy directed at me, at the same time, is overpowering. I wish the judges had forced the tournament to stop as soon as Uri and Donte had thralled, but that's not what happened.
“A banquet has been prepared and will be se
rved shortly in the grand hall, My Queen,” Quintin informs me.
The grand hall has magnificent high ceilings and crystal chandeliers. Red velvet drapes tumble down the marble walls. A white banner with the crest of the house D’fray adorns the wall behind the head of the table. Our crest is two blue dragons entwined and blowing ice in either direction.
Warm light shimmers over an Arcadian pine wood table. It is packed with the greatest delicacies available in the system. I sit at the head of the table, under the white banner of my house.
I have never been a “head of the table” kind of girl. I've always been a “hide in the stacks in the library” kind of girl. But now I am the White Queen of Arcadia, the mate to these five magnificent males. I'd better start getting used to being queen quick, because five sets of eyes are staring at me, expecting me to be the queen they need.
Chapter 8
The servants dish plates for the males and they begin speaking all at once. Uri has managed to get into a chair right next to me, and I am overwhelmed by the intensity of his thrall. His proximity makes the desire worse because I can smell the musky pheromones rolling off his skin.
“I must have you,” he growls, grasping my hand in his.
My fingers seem so small and thin compared to his massive hand. I don't pull my hand away and a jolt of electricity runs through my body, down my spine, and into my core. My sex throbs and I bite my lip. The vision of ripping my clothes off and laying myself on the table, in place of the feast, flits through my mind.
It takes all my self-control not to follow my impulse. This is not me. I am not a denizen of a galactic pleasure house. I am Joon D’fray, genetic biologist in search of the cure. I refuse to let this overpowering desire dictate my behavior. No matter how difficult it is to resist.
“We are all thralled, Uri,” Donte says.
Donte sits to my left and reaches out to grasp my other hand. The jolt of Donte’s desire sweeps over me, bold and unescapable. It hits me like a brick wall. My consciousness wavers as if I'm drunk. I blink my eyes and shake my head, pulling my hands away from the males.
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