by Eric Vall
“How are you going to attach it?” I looked from the amethyst to Alyona as excitement filled me. “Are you going to use magic?”
“Yes, it’ll never fall from your ear.” Alyona smiled as she nodded. “You shouldn’t feel any pain, but let me know if you do. I’ve never enchanted anything on the body of a dragon before.”
“I can take a little pain.” I smirked at Alyona as I leaned back in my chair.
The priestess stood from the table with the gemstone in her hand and drew in a light breath as the beautiful jewel began to shine with a silver light.
“Transcend the tongues of the sky and the earth, from the children of the sun to the children of the moon,” Alyona intoned as she brought the gemstone to her lips and pressed a gentle kiss to it. “Grant this blessing unto this gem and let none take that which has been willingly given.”
A warm and gentle light covered the precious stone, and I couldn’t help but be comforted by it. Then the light suddenly receded back into the gem, and I frowned at the absence left by the gentle glow.
“This won’t hurt a bit,” Alyona suddenly whispered in my ear.
The priestess was now standing at my side as she bent closer to me. Her cool fingers sought purchase on the flesh of my ear, and I had to repress the shudder of desire that ran through my body.
“Wait, what?” I asked as I shook the desire from my thoughts and finally processed her words. “What isn’t gonna hurt?”
Alyona winked as she pressed the amethyst gemstone into the lobe of my ear.
It didn’t hurt like cuts usually did, but it was like a strike of pure hot light went through my ears and then into my mind. I frowned as the sensation faded, but I didn’t feel any noticeably different.
I lifted my hand to my ear, and when I pulled it away, there was no blood.
“It didn’t hurt, did it?” Alyona asked, and her warm breath tickled my ear.
“No, it didn’t,” I answered as I touched the gemstone in my ear. “I felt it though. Like light ran through me. Is there a mirror in here?”
“Here,” Alyona giggled, and with her finger she drew a circle in the air in front of me.
A flat, silver surface glimmered in front of us, and I leaned forward to see my new accessory. There really was no back or metal to the amethyst gemstone, it was just there on my ear. Almost as if it had been embedded or merged into my flesh.
“Fucking awesome.” I grinned as I leaned back into my chair, and the silver magic mirror disappeared.
“What is this book called?” Julia picked up one of the books from the table and absently tossed it at me.
“Hey!” I mock growled as I caught the book inches from my face. “It’s called, uh, The Genealogy of the Lords of Hatra.”
“Perfect,” Julia purred as she leaned back into her chair and opened her fan with a snap. “Now we can get down to business, Milady.”
Alyona nodded as she sat back down across from Julia and picked up an ink brush.
“Depending on the representative sent by the Sect, you will be judged harshly,” Alyona explained as she twirled the ink brush in her hands. “The White Jade Sect has a long history of traditions they find sacred and will most assuredly be insulted by ignorance, even if it would be understandable in your case, Evan. Perhaps they would find it even more reason to despise you and label you as a heretic.”
“They can just try.” I gritted my teeth as I listened to Alyona’s explanation. “I’ve already saved Hatra when they were sitting around twiddling their thumbs while the King is at the Breach. I won’t make any promises about not fighting anyone, but if they start insulting my city and me, heads might roll. And my head won’t be one of those.”
“As I said, it depends on the representative.” Alyona tilted her head with a sigh. “I would be happy if I could say the White Jade Sect is solely full of people who have dedicated themselves to serve Rahma, but there are those who have snuck in while His Eminence’s attention has been on the Breach. Snakes who wish to only advance their own ranks and rise in power so they can do as they wish. They would use this situation for their own benefit, even I would have to tread carefully. My leaving the Cave of One Thousand Sages without permission could even be construed as treason if one of the more vicious representatives arrive.”
“Treason?” I echoed as I clenched my jaw. “Can they even accuse you of that? Can’t you get rid of them somehow?”
If they even tried to accuse my princess of treason, well, it wasn’t going to be my fault if they were suddenly dead at my claws.
“They wouldn’t accuse me outright, but they may be able to have me punished,” Alyona sighed and set the ink brush down carefully on the table. “Either way, it would be very unpleasant for the factions involved. As for their removal, I wish it could be so simple. Much of my life has been lived in forced seclusion, so I’ve had little opportunity to find talented people to build my own circle, just like His Eminence’s, and protect Rahma.”
“Circle?” I blinked at Alyona and knew she hadn’t meant any type of geometry, but I wondered what she saw in the king of Rahma.
“Talented people I can trust,” Alyona explained, and a righteous fire that reminded me of the Dark Lady burned in her eyes. “Much like a council, they would be my hands and fight alongside me for the sake of my dream.”
Alyona had never mentioned what her dream was to me, but she’d hinted at it with her every action. She wanted to protect and unify her people so none of them could ever be used as weapons again.
“I will be your hands,” I replied, and my voice was firm and resolute. “I’ll stand by your side.”
“Pardon?” The priestess blinked in confusion at me for a moment before a wild smile spread across her face.
“You’re my woman,” I said and raised my chin defiantly. “I’ll help fight your battles, and you’ll help fight mine.”
“Oh,” my lover whispered as her cheeks began to turn red. “Of course, I am your woman, and yes, I’ll--”
“First, we must make you into a proper lord,” Julia coughed behind her fan in amusement. “How else will you help the princess clean out the sects in Rahma?”
“Where do we start then?” I smirked as I sat back down. “I’m ready to rule and fight for Hatra.”
“We have to do something about that informal language of yours first,” Julia tutted at me as she pulled out her fan. “There’s no issue when it’s solely among us who know you, but with representatives and, eventually, other nobles, you will have to become more formal. Although the future where you interact with other nobles and lords is still far off, we have to prepare you. Hatra’s disgrace will be on your shoulders to bear as well, and you must rise above everything thrown your way unless you are sure you can beat them in a duel. As much as it pains me to say, we cannot afford to lose any face or any fight.”
“Look,” I sighed. “I’m a dragon. Can’t I just kill the fuckers that piss me off? I don’t really care about--”
Before I could finish, the three dryad sisters burst into the room and babbled almost unintelligibly in excitement as they gestured frantically out of the door. Pretty much the only words I was able to catch were “healthy” and “strong,” and I bit back a laugh as I noticed each of the dryads had leaves tangled in their curly green hair.
“Calm down girls,” Julia chided the dryads gently as they caught their breath. “You can tell us what’s going on if you speak one at a time.”
“The dragonsblood!” Polina exclaimed before she drew in a deep breath. “They’re ready to plant around the city. They’ve grown quickly, and there are a lot of them strong enough to be transplanted.”
“They’re so beautiful, too!” Marina giggled happily as she threw her arms open wide. “It’s like they’re glowing, and their flowers are tiny stars that fell from the heavens.”
“Glowing?” I echoed excitedly.
“Evan must study,” Julia sighed.
“Ahh, come on, Mom,” I snickered as I glanced at
Julia. “I just got adopted, killed some giant vipers, re-built the aqueducts, and did a bit of studying. Can’t I go play outside?”
“Oh please, can we?” Marina clasped her hands under her chin and fluttered her eyelashes.
“I promise we’ll take good care of him, Lady Julia,” Polina vowed as she placed her slender hands on my shoulders.
“We’ll bring him right back after we’re done with the trees,” Trina added as she pulled one of my arms flush against her chest. “We won’t be naughty girls.”
A warm flush covered the tips of my ears, and I hoped my tan would be able to hide it.
I glanced over at Alyona, but the princess only watched on with amusement. She had her chin propped on her hands and seemed to be biting back giggles.
“We’ll continue your lessons once you’ve seen to the city.” Julia waved me off with her fan as she rolled her eyes. “Ladies, do take care of His Lordship. I’d prefer for my son to not track mud through the city on his return.”
The dryads giggled and nodded as they latched onto me tighter.
“Then, I’ll be taking my leave.” I paused for a moment as I thought about the best way to address the two women. “Until later, Your Highness, My Lady.”
Then I did my best attempt at a bow before the dryads dragged me out of the room and out into the city.
Chapter 8
I was tugged down the cobbled streets of Hatra by the three dryad sisters as they chatted away happily.
Trina still had my arm tightly wedged into her chest, and while her breasts didn’t have the same fullness as Alyona’s, they were still deliciously soft and perky.
The thought of the princess drew me up short, and I sighed.
“You should probably let go of me,” I murmured to the dryads as I slipped my arm out of Trina’s grasp. “You two as well.”
“Why?” Trina blinked up at me with curiosity in her dark green eyes. “I like holding onto you.”
“Why do we have to let go?” Marina pouted on my other side as she tugged at my robes.
“You girls can’t be all over me like that,” I tried to explain carefully so I didn’t upset any of the dryads. “I don’t want Alyona to get jealous.”
The dryads blinked at the same time before each one made a small “o” shape with their mouths. Then the sisters looked at each other before they all burst out into peals of laughter.
“You think Milady would get upset?” Polina asked as she tilted her head. “Because we flirt with you? Why would Milady get mad?”
“Um, because we haven’t exactly talked about what we are,” I rubbed the back of my head as I tried to put my feelings into words, “and I don’t want to cheat on her. I, well, I really like her, and I want to make it work out between us.”
“Ohhh!” Polina’s light green eyes lit up with delight, and she spun in a happy circle. “Milady and Evan would be very pretty together.”
That was not the reaction I expected from her, but I never knew what to expect when it came to the dryads.
“Such pretty babies you’d have!” Marina let go of my clothes in order to latch onto Polina’s arm. “Wait, would they be called babies or hatchlings? Oh, and with such cute scales and itty bitty tails!”
“I don’t know, I’ve never seen a baby dragon,” Trina mused as she tilted her head in thought and tapped her chin. “Wouldn’t they be eggs?”
“But Milady isn’t a dragon,” Polina interrupted her sister as she came to a stop. “How would she carry an egg? Or even lay it.”
“Oh.” Trina frowned as she and her sisters stared at the ground in frustration. “You may have a point there.”
I thought I heard a bit of a growl from one of them, but I couldn’t be sure which one. My head was spinning, though, and I somehow had to get them back on topic.
“Girls!” I pinched the bridge of my nose as I took in a deep breath. “That wasn’t the whole point of what I just said.”
“You don’t want to make babies with Milady?” Polina asked innocently as she tugged on my clothing.
“No!” My eyes snapped open as the thought of Alyona being pregnant with my child floated in my mind. “I mean, yes. Or maybe. I haven’t thought that all through, and it’s way too early to think about that. The point is you can’t flirt with me.”
I couldn’t get the thought out of my head, of marrying Alyona and having children with her. But that couldn’t happen, could it? She was the precious princess of the nation, and I was a dragon.
Wait a moment. I wasn’t just a dragon, I was a noble now. Maybe that could be reality someday, but now wasn’t the time to try and think about it.
“But why?” Trina frowned in confusion as she looked at me. “Milady won’t mind if you have us, too. There are always many partners for one person. Especially a dragon-lord such as yourself.”
“Yes, she will,” I argued, but then I choked on my words as I realized what the dryad had just said. “Wait, what do you mean she won’t mind? And aren’t the three of you sisters? Isn’t that weird to uh … be together like that?”
“Don’t be silly!” Trina giggled as she covered her mouth with her hand. “Dryads are born from nature, we aren’t sisters by blood like humans are. If that’s what concerned you, there isn’t anything to worry about when you debauch us.”
“You should ask Milady what she thinks.” Marina smiled slyly as she trailed her hand down my chest. “I don’t doubt she has seen her share of harems in the lord’s mansions she’s visited. Maybe ask Laika as well, she grew up with many parents. Most of us have really.”
“Milady might even like to watch one of us ride your cock,” Polina giggled as she covered her mouth with her slender hand. “Would you like that? To see Milady consumed by lust and desire as you take one of us in front of her?”
My eyes widened at those bold words, and I tried to force away the image they summoned. Of Alyona’s face flushed red with desire as she gasped and stroked herself with her fingers while Polina slammed herself down on my dick.
Underneath my robes, my cock twitched.
“Uhhh,” I started to say, but they kept going.
“Ooh, or maybe Milady should be riding your cock,” Trina purred huskily as she traced her mouth with one finger, “while I ride your face.”
My eyes immediately dropped down to Trina’s slender and bare thighs as she slowly hitched up the fabric of her dress. I couldn’t help but wonder how sweet she would taste, if she would taste like honey or candy.
“Why do you get to ride his face?” Polina pouted as she tugged on Trina’s arm. “I want to be fucked by Evan, too!”
By this point, I had already lost the train of the conversation and could only think about the deliciously firm bodies of the dryads writhing underneath and over me as we fucked each other into oblivion.
“Okay, okay, let me think,” Trina said as she moved to lean against me and slowly dragged her fingers against my thigh. “What if instead of Milady riding his cock, Polina straddles Milady as Evan thrusts between the two? That leaves just Marina and I to figure out.”
“What if Trina kisses Evan?” Marina’s sweet mouth formed a circle as she looked down past my waist. “And I suck and lick his cock in between thrusts into Milady and Polina?”
As Marina knelt in front of me and placed her hand on my stiffened cock, I snapped back into reality.
“Woahhh!” I pulled Marina up and stepped away from the three dangerous dryads. “No one is getting thrust into or sucked.”
“Not even Milady?” Polina tilted her head as she leaned forward.
“But then who will take Evan’s seed?” Marina asked as she tapped her lips.
“Milady, obviously,” Trina said as she rolled her eyes.
“Wait, look--” I tried to stop them.
“But if I am sucking and licking him in-between his thrusts into Milady and Polina,” Marina pouted, “it seems I should be able to swallow his seed as a reward for not getting my tunnel filled with his cock, and--”<
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“But in that plan of yours, I’m only kissing Evan,” Trina groaned. “I should be the one to feel his seed in my womb when he climaxes, since he wasn’t penetrating me.”
“Ah, ah, ah,” Polina giggled. “You two have forgotten something very important.”
“What’s that?” Marina and Trina asked as they looked at their sister.
“Lord Evan is a dragon, sillies! I’m sure he can come inside of all four of us many times during our love making. There should be plenty of his seed to go around.”
“Ohhhhhh!” The other two dryads sighed with happy smiles.
“That makes so much sense,” Marina laughed.
“Can you three calm dow--” I started to say, but of course, they were still ignoring me.
“But then that means we’ll all have a chance to bear Lord Evan’s dragon babies?” Trina asked her sisters.
“I don’t think anyone is going to have my ki--” I tried.
“We still haven’t figured out if they are hatchlings or babies yet,” Marina pointed out.
“I think if we lay eggs, they will be hatchlings,” Polina concluded as she scrunched up her nose, “but if our wombs will be with the child, then they would be babies.”
“Oh, I hope I have Lord Evan’s baby in my womb,” Trina sighed at me as she batted her eyelashes and patted her lean stomach.
“You haven’t even received his seed yet!” Marina laughed as she playfully swatted her sister’s arm. “You can’t be pregnant right now.”
“Well, I meant afterwards, when I ride his cock and he fills me with his dragon lord sper--”
“Ladies!” I shouted, and the three of them twisted their heads to look at me.“Look, uhhh … ” I rubbed the bridge of my nose, “I’m going to need to talk to Alyona and see wha--”
“She will love it!” Polina giggled. “She loves you, and so do we, so she’ll want us all to be together and sharing in your thrusts, love-making, and then the spray of your seed. Then the four of us can be sister-wives and take joy in caring for you and the beautiful babies--”