Sated: A Reverse Harem Dragon Shifter Fairytale Book (Goldilocks and The Three Dragons Trilogy 3)

by Delia Castel

  Governor Hertz cleared his throat. “You forget yourself, Arctos. I am the engineer of this venture. When we have opened up Chrysos, I will take Merry as my mate and rule by her side. Until I have secured my control over the Kingdom, there will be no having of Merry.”

  Marigold grimaced. Prince Aurelius had said his stepmother had sacrificed his older brothers in a ceremony to open up a portal. That would mean her father was the next in line to the throne. It looked like Hertz definitely planned on killing Prince Aurelius once he’d served the purpose of opening the bubble. And from what Hertz had just said, her own death awaited sometime after. She tried to push herself up, but her limbs failed.

  “Of course,” said Lord Arctos, his voice smoother than honeybee silk. “My apologies for speaking out of turn.”

  The wizards dragged Prince Aurelius over. “We have thawed him and replenished his blood for the ceremony, Lord Dragon.”

  “Tie him to a stake,” said Governor Hertz.

  “And the girl?”

  “Replenish and string her up.” Hertz strolled over to an upright trunk, unlatched its door, and pulled out a royal blue robe with gold trim. After shouldering on the garment, he fluffed his silver hair in its interior mirror and buttoned himself up.

  Marigold would have formed a disparaging comment in her mind, but the long flight had wiped out all her energy.

  White light from the wizards’ raised staff engulfed her, and she closed her eyes, soaking in the magic. If she was to get herself and Prince Aurelius out of this mess, she would need every ounce of energy she could get.

  She would have cast her mind out to Berrin but didn’t dare risk another debilitating headache. Even if her mates had survived the fallen building, they would never guess that Hertz had taken her out of the country and to Chrysos of all places. She gulped, trying not to think of her impossible circumstances. If the brothers would search for her, they would most likely go to the Isle of Festum or the neighboring islet of Ambrosius, the birthplace of her mother.

  Just before Marigold regained her strength, the wizards turned off the spell and raised her to a stake, high above the lower part of the dome, next to Prince Aurelius. Vines wrapped around her wrists, pinning them behind her back and securing her to the post. They snaked around her legs, making escape in her weakened state impossible.

  One of the wizards turned to Governor Hertz. “Lord Dragon, we need the invocation for the bloodletting ceremony.”

  Hertz grinned. “You two have been eager to know this for years.” His shoulders straightened, and he spread his arms, as though making a grand proclamation. “It took years of torturing Aurelius to get the words out of him, but not even he could resist my persuasion.”

  Marigold’s heart twisted, and she turned her head toward her father, who bowed his head. It was hard to tell if he was ashamed or slumbering, but she wanted to wrap her arms around him and tell him that none of this was his fault.

  “Once a month, I would visit him with quill in hand extracting the invocation until he gave me one that looked right!” He erupted into giggles.

  The wizard tilted his head to the side. “Forgive my presumption, Lord Dragon, but may I review it prior to the ceremony?”

  “Certainly.” Hertz reached into his robe and handed over a scroll.

  The two wizards scanned the writing, which looked like it had been scrawled in blood, and exchanged a few words. One of them raised his head. “This is fascinating!”

  “Well,” snapped Lord Arctos. “Did the Prince give the right invocation or not?”

  “With the blood of both the original casters, we believe we can breach the magical shield around the island.”

  Lord Arctos rubbed his chin and addressed the pair. “But the girl didn’t cast the spell.”

  “Her blood is equally as valid,” replied the wizard. “The two of them together will give us the quantity needed to complete the task.”

  Governor Hertz placed his hands on his hips. “I told you my plan was flawless! And you will all reap the rewards when I become the King of Chrysos!”

  “Wizards,” said Lord Arctos.

  The two wizards pointed their staffs at Governor Hertz’ back and blasted him with magic. With a strangulated moan, Herz fell face-ground into the sand.

  Marigold shrieked. “What’s going on?”

  “Ah, Merry!” Lord Arctos turned his head up and grinned. “There is no cause for concern. It is just a small change in leadership. You see, ever since the dragons drove out the fairies, they have been lording it over us, ruling our lands and forcing us into subservience.”

  Her jaw dropped. “Isn't that what bears do to humans on a daily basis in Boreas?”

  He waved off her comment. “Our master has promised us a new age of bear leadership.”

  “I thought Hertz was your master!” she screeched.

  The bears and wizards fell about laughing. “That braggart?” bellowed Lord Arctos. “It was I who worked behind the scenes, fixing things so as to get him out of the way.”

  Sweat broke out across Marigold’s brow. She really couldn’t see her former employer being the mastermind of anything but a last-minute backstabbing. Lord Arctos was lumbering and pretentious, short-sighted, and obsessed with amassing quick and easy gains. But she could see him working for a master who gave him directions on how to outsmart Governor Hertz.

  Terror exploded in her chest, fueling her erratic heart. With the bears in charge, she would die directly after the ceremony, but not before Poda had extracted his revenge!

  Calming down her breathing, she asked, “Who is your master, if it isn’t Hertz?”

  The bear shifter’s chest puffed out, and he was about to speak, when one of the wizards said, “We’re wasting time. Let’s get the ceremony started.”

  “And Merry will be mine afterward?” Poda rubbed his hands together.

  The tallest wizard shrugged. “I’d much rather use all her blood to get rid of the magical barrier, but I’ll leave a drop or three to keep her alive for you.”

  Lord Arctos patted Poda on the shoulder. “Call the militia. We need them to storm the island and slaughter every dragon they find.”

  Poda ran down the beach to another trunk, pulled out a bugle and blew.

  The sound filled the air, making her shudder. The situation had just turned from dire to disastrous, and she had run out of ideas. A gust of cool wind chilled her sweat-dampened skin. She gaped down, not quite believing developments. “Why would you kill all the dragons in Chrysos?”

  Lord Arctos shrugged. “Our master’s plan to kill all the dragons in Habilis worked well enough.”

  “Who is your mas—”

  Prince Aurelius cried out, and a sharp slash across her belly caused her to shriek. Blood trickled down her legs, seeping through the magical barrier. The wizards stood together, incanting something in an ancient language.

  A new bout of terror grabbed at her chest, and she shrieked. “If you break the magical barrier, you’re going to release fairies into our realm!”

  Lord Arctos rocked back on his heels. “That’s the plan!”

  Marigold glanced down at the Governor’s prone body. “Did he know this?”

  “Hertz is a dragon and a natural enemy of the fairies. All he cared about was gaining the wealth of Chrysos and ruling the island as its King.” Poda shook his head. “He was a short-sighted fool!”

  Her stomach plummeted. Everyone knew that fairies were evil beings who toyed with mortals. The dragons had fought valiantly to save their realm from the fairies, only for a stupid bear to undo their sacrifices for the promises of a mysterious master.

  She scanned the horizon, searching for inspiration. Berrin had once told her that Polaris had been stationed on Pleco island, which was near Chrysos. Officers of the King’s Regiment were investigating the magical bubble with a view to rescuing Princess Fornax, the sister of King Vulcan. Surely some of their dragons would patrol the island on a regular basis to check for unusual magic activity
?

  Blood pooled between her toes, dripping onto the golden bubble. Gusts of warm air from below hissed up to the soles of her feet. She gulped. The incantation was working!

  It didn’t matter how much her body ached. If she failed to act, the world would be doomed. Clenching her teeth, she transformed her fingers into claws. A slight pressure squeezed her ring finger, which she flicked with her thumb. It brushed against thin metal, and her eyes widened.

  The poisoned ring!

  Someone had mentioned that it was enchanted to stay on her finger no matter what. Her shoulders slumped. What use was the ring when she was tied to this blasted stake? Sighing, she reached for one of the vines around her wrist.

  “You know, Merry, I have you to thank for everything.” Lord Arctos placed his boot on Governor Hertz’ head, as though resting it on a log.

  She clenched her teeth. “Why?”

  “If I hadn’t confiscated your bracelet all those years ago, I would never have been invited on this jaunt.”

  She grimaced at the understatement. Opening up a portal and releasing wicked, deadly creatures could hardly be described as a fun adventure.

  “Luck fell upon me shortly after your incarceration, when the governor graced one of my parties. I asked him to value a bracelet I had acquired, and his reaction was quite unexpected.”

  Marigold glanced down at the widening rift. She could guess the rest of the story and didn’t want to give Lord Arctos the satisfaction of his attention. She twitched her fingers, cutting the vine as discretely as she could.

  Despite her pretense of not listening, the bear shifter continued. “He told me that the bracelet belonged to a lost Princess, and he demanded to know where I had acquired it.” Arctos shook his head. “To think, I had a dragon Princess cleaning my floors! That would make me an emperor, do you not think?”

  Marigold’s lips tightened. If she got out of this mess alive, she would burn off his fur and carve the word ‘idiot’ on his hairy face.

  Grinning like a lunatic, he waggled his finger. “I did not tell him what he wanted to know right away. Lord Arctos is a smooth negotiator!”

  Prince Aurelius groaned. “What’s happening?”

  “They’ve caught us,” she murmured. “And this windbag is trying to take credit for everything.”

  His head slumped down to his chest. Marigold scanned the horizon again. It might have been a trick of the light, but three pinpricks marred the blood-red sky. She shook her head, not letting herself fall into false hope. They could be anything from a trio of birds to her own wishful thinking.

  “Hertz offered me money, women, jewels, and prestige to reveal the secret of the bracelet. I refused, knowing that the information was more valuable than anything he could give me in exchange.

  “One evening… one glorious evening, he visited me, a jittering mess. The Papaver Palace had stopped sending his supplies, and he asked for a loan.” Lord Arctos bellowed with laughter, slapping his own thigh. “I knew I had him then! It was only a matter of making a few large orders from Magnus Rex, and I managed to wrest every little secret from the dragon, including facts on the bear he had sent to spy on his brother!”

  Marigold glared at Governor Hertz’ unconscious body. For such a clever dragon, he had lost all good sense for the love of papaver.

  “I used the bear to poison his brother. It was my way of isolating Hertz from anyone who wished to come to his aid.” He tapped the side of his nose. “Lord Arctos thinks of everything.”

  “But not the incantation,” said Marigold. The words had spilled out, as she was sick of Lord Arctos acting as though he was the mastermind of everything, when he had just gotten lucky.

  He raised a thick finger, his bearded face splitting into an ugly grin. “You are correct. I needed to get him out of the district to search his mansion, but it was difficult. He sat on that secret like a wyvern sits on treasure.”

  Marigold sawed at another vine as discretely as she could. The two wizards were still incanting and not paying attention to her. Poda stood at the shore, presumably looking out for the militia, and the three specks in the sky didn’t seem to be getting any bigger. The opening beneath her feet became as large as a saucer. Since Lord Arctos had stopped talking, she said, “But you thought of something, didn’t you?”

  “One of his largest gripes was having been banished from his home. To get him out of my way, I made it possible for him to become the new Governor of Austellus!”

  She sucked in a breath. “You were behind the murders?”

  He hooked his thumbs under his lapels, pulled back his shoulders, and pushed out his chest. “It was I.”

  Marigold’s nostrils flared. It no longer mattered that Governor Hertz was innocent of ordering the murders of her mates’ parents. He’d collapsed a building on the brothers, and she still didn’t know if they were alive. At this stage, it was too late to call for help. If only she could transform and burn the wizards!

  A galley ship arrived from the other side of the island, and Poda waved his arms. She glanced down into the rift, which had now quadrupled in diameter. Blood drained from her face, and her stomach churned. It was only a matter of time before these mercenaries would enter the rift in the bubble and murder the inhabitants of Chrysos.

  She glanced at the skies. Those were not birds, but dragons! At this distance, it was hard to tell if they were her mates, but she closed her eyes and focussed on Berrin.

  When she opened them, she found herself soaring through the air, flanked by Polaris and Matheson. Each of them had a wizard on their back, but Polaris also carried a dark-haired woman. Her wings ached, presumably from a long flight, but it was nothing compared to the pain wracking her own body. There was no time to waste. With a cry of triumph, she picked up her speed and roared.

  Berrin’s body was faster and more agile than her own she-dragon form, and she suddenly understood why Prince Aurelius had told her she would be no match for Governor Hertz’ speed. She flew ahead, over the darkening sea, gathering flames in her fire chamber and blowing them on the ship of mercenaries.

  Polaris made a screech of question, and Marigold turned and nodded. He added his flame to the ship and followed her to the shore of Chrysos.

  “Kill the dragons!” bellowed Lord Arctos.

  The wizards aimed streams of magic at her. Tilting her wings to the side, she dodged the curses and rained dragon fire down on their heads. One of them raised his staff, erecting a magical barrier, and her flames spread around them in the shape of a dome. She screeched her frustration and swerved to her own body.

  “Berrin, where are you going?” said the wizard on her back. “The three of us can pull down that barrier.”

  Nodding, she turned to her body. Carefully avoiding her father, she blew a stream of flames at the vines around her wrists and ankles, burning them to cinders. Her body fell face-down into the sand.

  With a triumphant roar, Lord Arctos snatched her body up pressing it to his chest. “Come any closer, and I will kill the Princess!”

  Marigold soared into the sky, released Berrin’s body, only to find her own face pressed into a damp, pungent armpit. The stench of bear musk filled her nostrils and invaded her throat. She tried not to choke in case he noticed what she was about to do. Flicking her thumb over the ring, she pried off the protection and jammed the spike into Lord Arctos’ belly. The bear shifter went rigid and fell to the ground, bringing her down with him.

  She scrambled to her feet and stood on the bear’s back. “Stop those wizards!”

  Her mates’ magical allies pointed their staffs to the wizards’ dome, turning it white and releasing it with a pop. A short, magical battle ensued, but the three dragons ended it with a stream of fire.

  “They’re not burning!” shouted the black-haired wizard.

  “They’ve enchanted themselves fireproof,” replied his blond companion.

  The third pointed his staff. “Flammabiles!”

  This time, when the dragons fired on
the wizards, they burst into flame, flailing about and screaming. It took another stream of fire before the scent of cooked meat filled the air, and they fell down, dead.

  “You bitch!” Poda rushed towards her, his clothes ripping as he transformed.

  Marigold’s fists clenched. The bear-shifter should know better than to attack her in front of her mates! In the blink of an eye, she transformed and gathered a ball of fire in the back of her throat.

  Poda stumbled back. “Have mercy, Merr—”

  With one fiery screech, she spewed out a plume of yellow flames, turning him into a charred lump. Her dragon form melted away, and she blew out a breath of relief. It was over!

  She glanced up at Prince Aurelius, who was still breathing, and smiled. The ship was still alight, the wizards were dead, Lord Arctos and Governor Hertz were lying on the sand. She glanced at the magical bubble. The breach had stretched to the ground, with a diameter of two wagons. Since no fairies were flying out, she assumed it was safe for now.

  The three dragons landed on the beach. Their passengers climbed down, and her mates transformed. Joy overflowed from her heart, spreading warmth across her chest and filling her eyes with tears. She was about to exclaim something when dozens of dragons flew in from afar. Marigold tilted her head. If they were reinforcements, they were too late.

  As they approached, a man in the King’s Regiment uniform stood up on the back of a yellow dragon. “General Auburn, by order of the King’s Regiment, you are hereby under arrest for treason!”

  Chapter 21

  Polaris’ heart plummeted as two-dozen King’s Regiment dragons approached the beach. They formed a blot over the red sky, flying over the smoking remains of the burning ship. He glanced at Marigold, who stared back with open-mouthed shock. Heading the formation of King’s Regiment dragons was Field Marshal Kaustos, the elder who commanded his division.