Leashed by the Dragons

by Loki Renard

  “Viewing chambers?”

  Lazarus gave a dark, devious smile. “Ah, you do not know, poor boy. After the great first portal was closed, Casimer set his finest technicians to work to construct a form of portal which would not allow for anyone to pass through it, but which enabled him to see into the human realm. He knew the war was not truly over, and he does not like having blind spots. He used the viewing chamber to keep watch over the dragons who attempted to live in the human world, including the crown princess’ parents.”

  Valkimer and Chak exchanged worried looks.

  “Yes,” Lazarus chuckled to himself. “You are drawing the obvious conclusion now, aren’t you? I am sure he was keeping watch over me, and I am sure he knew when your Paix came to me. He was likely able to watch my movements, all the way through to the portal. He must have seen everything. Which means you were smart to confess, boys. I am sure if you hadn’t, you would have met my fate or worse.”

  Valkimer’s blood ran cold. Chak looked equally shocked. It made sense now, why Casimer had been so measured, why there had been no real shock or fury. He knew. He had known all along.

  “It just occurred to you that Casimer must have known far more than he ever let on?” Lazarus let out a laugh. “I give him credit. Casimer is a wise ruler. He knows that he needs eyes in every corner of his realm. Tell me, where is the girl you brought through?”

  “She is at the palace.”

  “Of course she is,” Lazarus chuckled. “So the king claims another pretty human female and his poor stupid Royal Guard fall over themselves to obey him. I would hasten back there, boys. Casimer has a way with the waifs and strays, and human women are always ripe to be fucked.”

  “Not before you go back,” Valkimer said, nudging Lazarus toward the portal.

  “Oh, I will be back,” Lazarus laughed. “I have done well for myself in the world of humans. They are weak little creatures who worship strength, and I have made many deals among their number. They love the shiny baubles they call jewels, and I can pull them from the gravel which paves their lanes. You can be assured, no matter what you do, that my blood will return. And when it does no dragon will withstand its fury. You will bend the knee and it will be I who sits upon the dragon throne.”

  “At least you have your delusions to keep you company,” Chak quipped. “Good luck, Lazarus. If we see you again, it will mean your death.”

  They pushed Lazarus into the portal and immediately pulled the switch to close it. The space behind Lazarus boiled open and wrapped itself around the man’s frame. His cry could have been one of pain or of rage, it was difficult to tell around the roar of reality twisting and bending around the exiled one as he was pulled back into the human realm and then the world sealed the wound it had made in ejecting him.

  In the aftermath, Valkimer and Casimer pulled the portal apart and melted each and every component with their dragon breath, turning the portal into a metal slurry that cooled into pools at their feet. They stared for a moment at the last remnants of their grand plan, each silently reflecting on what it had gained them, and what it had cost.

  Valkimer lifted his eyes to Chak. “Let’s go home.”

  Chapter Twenty

  “So Lazarus is returned to the human realm, the portal is destroyed, and another shall not be opened.”

  “Yes, sire,” Chak said, bowing before the monarch.

  “Though you no doubt know that already,” Valkimer added from his deferential crouch. “He told us many things before he left. Including the fact that you have eyes on the human world, and must have seen…”

  “Yes,” Casimer acknowledged. “I saw your errand boy. I did not see you, though. It was not until you came to confess yourselves that I realized you had taken a human woman. I am not infallible, gentlemen. I depend on the loyalty and honor of my guard. You have proved that you have both qualities in equal measure. Now go, and take your pet home. Be ready to be called back into service at any time, gentlemen. I will not be making the mistake of leaving you idle for too long.”

  “We beg a few months at least, sire. We have many amends to make to our pet… and preparations to make.”

  “Preparations for what? Another dubious technological feat?”

  “Preparations to join with her for the rest of our lives in the bonds of matrimony. We have missed her all too greatly in our absence, and wish never to miss her again.”

  “Two men with a single bride,” Casimer mused.

  “She is enough for us.”

  “I would say she is more than enough,” Casimer smiled. “And I would say that there will be more than enough to keep you occupied for the next, oh, say, few years.”

  “What do you mean, sire?”

  “I think it is best Brianna tells you that herself.”

  She had never looked so beautiful, so radiant. There was a shine to her smile and a gleam in her eye that made both Chak and Valkimer feel as though they had been punched right in the gut. How transformed she was now from the wretch she had been when they first found her. Fuller in figure, and in spirit. She wore a stunning emerald gown that emphasized the beauty of her green eyes. Her hair was freshly dyed raven black and falling about her shoulders, her skin clear and pure.

  For a moment, neither Valkimer nor Chak could bring themselves to move. They were rooted to the spot, stunned by the woman who was theirs. She had been changing from the moment they brought her into the dragon realm, but being with her every day had blinded them to it somewhat. Now they saw in physical form the potential they had seen when their eyes had first fallen on the skinny girl with the big clothes in the smoky human bar. They saw a beautiful woman, with a strength and rare elegance that set her apart even in a room where King Casimer himself was standing.

  They went to her and embraced her with all the longing and love that had been denied in their absence. She pressed against them both, lifting her face for their kisses and letting soft tears of joy fall at being reunited. It was a tender moment that they had all been yearning for since their separation.

  “We are sorry we had to leave, pet,” Chak said. “But we promise, we will do our very best to never have to do so again. The portal has been destroyed and there will be no other. We are going to look after you…”

  “You’re going to have more than me to look after,” she smiled.

  “No,” Valkimer said. “There shall be no other besides you. Not ever.”

  “There will be one or two more at least,” she smiled. “Three of us in total for certain.” She rubbed her hands lightly over the swell of her belly.

  Valkimer shook his head and kissed her again. “Pet, you are all we ever wanted, and all we ever needed, we will not take…”

  “Are you seriously this dull-witted?” Chak turned to Valkimer, the rare gleam of a tear in his eye. “She is not talking about more women. She is talking about those that grow in her belly.”

  Valkimer looked at her, stunned into silence. “What?”

  “Twins,” she said. “Twin boys. A few weeks after you left I fell sick, but I was not sick. The wise lady told me.”

  Valkimer looked at Chak. “We’re going to be fathers?”

  “That will keep you out of trouble,” Casimer laughed. “You will have no time to bring the wrath of the kingdom down on your heads with a brood to take care of.”

  Chak swept Brianna into an effusive but careful hug, holding her tight. Valkimer looked on as if still stunned by the news.

  “Aren’t you happy?” she asked in a soft, hurt voice.

  Valkimer shook his head quickly. “Pet… I am happier than I ever thought I could possibly… you are sure?”

  She took his hand and placed it on her belly. “They kick, see?”

  Valkimer’s expression, so composed, so stoic, so utterly haughty, melted in that moment. He was as a different man as he stood there and felt the vigorous life inside Brianna’s womb.

  “These are our boys,” he said with a wondering stare. “Already doing battle.”


  “With my bladder, mostly,” Brianna laughed. “Yes. Your boys. Our boys.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “Valk! I want more ice cream! Chak! I need another blanket!”

  Valkimer and Chak cast looks across at one another, their brows raised. They had been home from the royal palace for a few months and in that time the serene Brianna who had met them there had swung from mellow mother-to-be to hellion from another plane. Her hormones were raging wildly and in spite of her innate sweetness and their combined love for her, to say that times were trying was an understatement.

  At that particular moment, they were sitting in the antechamber to the bedroom, banished from her presence. It was particularly galling for Valkimer, who had never been banished from anything, though Chak was not well pleased either.

  At their lovely pet’s request, Valkimer called for ice cream. A servant bought a small bowl of the stuff and Valkimer stood and straightened his clothes, preparing himself before he carried it in to Brianna. She was huge and mostly stuck in bed as her due date drew closer. The burden of twins had made her uncomfortable and ill at times, and now that she was close to the end of her term, the midwives thought it best she rested.

  Brianna didn’t like resting. She didn’t like not resting either. She didn’t like anything at the moment, including him. She watched him over the significant bump of her stomach, her eyes already narrowed with pique.

  “Here you are, your ladyship,” he said, offering the bowl to her. “Ice cream. As quickly as we could get it.”

  Her face twisted up with such total disgust it was as if he’d presented her with a bowl of dung.

  “Not berry ice cream! Do you want me to be sick? Is that it?” She snatched the bowl before he could stop her and threw it. It barely missed Valkimer and went sailing merrily toward the wall, where it smashed into a pile of glassy shards and melted cream.

  Chak came racing into the room, evidently thinking that some battle had broken out, and before either of them could censure her, she turned on Chak. “You still haven’t got me the blanket. I guess I’ll just freeze to death, shall I?”

  “Pet, you are pregnant, but if you keep acting like this, you will be punished,” Valkimer growled. “I will find a way.”

  Her stormy expression showed no concern whatsoever for his attempt at restoring discipline. “Like being blown up to twice my normal size isn’t punishment enough, asshole.”

  Valkimer ground his teeth, turned on his heel, and left the room. Listening to this unrelenting disrespect was becoming almost impossible.

  Chak followed him, putting a calming hand on Valkimer’s shoulder. “She doesn’t know what she’s saying.”

  “Of course she does,” Valkimer growled. “She just thinks she can do these things because she’s pregnant. And she’s right, isn’t she.”

  “It won’t be much longer,” Chak said. “She won’t be pregnant forever.”

  “Then why does it feel like forever,” Valkimer snapped.

  “Because for the first time in your life, and yes, mine, we have to let some things go. A lot of things,” Chak said. “And it doesn’t sit well with either of us. Don’t worry. Her time is coming. And so is ours.”

  “Help!”

  They swung around to see Brianna standing at the door, her face pale and contorted with pain. Holding her belly with one hand, she let out a cry that was almost more animal than human and doubled over. Valkimer and Chak rushed to stop her from falling.

  “Oh… oh, my god… oh, god…” she gasped when she could catch her breath again.

  There was water everywhere, a veritable cascade rushing down her thighs and pooling around her feet.

  “It’s time, pet,” Valkimer said calmly, his earlier irritation gone in an instant.

  She clutched at him, her face contorted with concern. “Valkimer… it hurts… it’s going to hurt even more, isn’t it?”

  He nodded and ran his hand over her belly. “We will make it as easy as we can. We will be with you the whole time. I promise.”

  He saw a change in her eyes. She no longer looked angry. She looked frightened.

  * * *

  Brianna was terrified. Finding out she was pregnant had been a joy. Anticipating the birth had been… well, she had tried not to. Now it was upon her with powerful contractions that seemed to have come out of the ether, and she was more petrified than she had ever been. She had never felt fear like this before. Not when she had been taken in the alley. Not when she’d woken up in an abandoned warehouse with two strangers and a massive needle. Not even when she had been swept up from the ground by a massive dragon that became a man. This was a different kind of fear, a primal undoing. She felt like she was going to come apart and somewhere in the midst of it two souls would enter the world.

  She clutched at the men she had tormented for weeks, begged for their help. And somehow, mercifully and almost magically, they did. They carried her back to bed and placing their hands on her back and belly, they murmured and sang songs she did not understand and somehow the pain became manageable—until suddenly it wasn’t.

  Over the next ten screaming, sweating, cursing hours, Valkimer and Chak did not once leave her side. Servants came with water, food, blankets, three midwives hovered in the background, but it was Valkimer and Chak who held her throughout it all.

  She was in a haze of pushing and pain, begging for it to be over, begging for her babies to be alright. Begging for her life, for at times she felt she would surely die, until she looked into Chak’s eyes and saw the calm strength, or Valkimer used his dragon touch to soothe her pain, and she knew that she was protected.

  She was shouting, screaming with the force of the contractions. Suddenly, deep in the midst of it all, she heard a thin cry. A sound that changed the universe forever.

  Then, what felt like almost instantly, though she later learned was almost an hour later, another one of those cries followed, a wonderful echo of the first. She was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open and with Chak and Valkimer soothing her to rest, she felt herself slipping into exhausted sleep.

  It felt as though she had only shut her eyes for a moment, but when she opened them again, the room was clean and empty aside from Valkimer and Chak sitting next to her on either side.

  “The babies!” she gasped before she saw that they were being held in their fathers’ arms. “Are they alright? Are they okay?”

  “They’re perfect,” Valkimer assured her. “Absolutely perfect.”

  They each handed her a baby, snuggling the little blanket-wrapped bundles up to her chest. Brianna looked down into two tiny faces, and felt a sudden rush of love and completion that overwhelmed her and left her in tears. Suddenly she understood the concept of perfection in a way she never had before. They were perfect. Two little mirror images of one another. Little fingers, little eyes, little noses… little everything. She could not stop staring, nor could she stop the tears of joy that blurred her vision.

  Never in her life had she had a family, and suddenly she was enveloped by one. She was lying in the arms of the men who loved her, and two tiny sons lay in hers, their expressions reflecting the peace and joy she felt. She had become the very center of the one thing that she had missed the most, and it was all thanks to these reckless, ruthless, utterly wicked dragons who had captured her, trained her, and now murmured loving words into her ears and wrapped themselves around her and the babies, two powerful forces ready to protect what was theirs against any misfortune great or small.

  * * *

  A few months later…

  “Are you sure the boys will be alright?” Brianna fretted a little, casting a glance back over her shoulder toward the burning lights of the big house in the distance.

  “They are with my mother,” Chak reminded her, his fingers laced through hers as he guided her into a small cottage. “She’s raised a gaggle of dragons and never lost one. They have my sisters watching over them as well, a half-dozen broody dragon ladies all wishing
they were theirs. They will be well cared for, and tomorrow, we will resume our lives with them. Tonight though, you are ours.”

  Family had descended on the estate following the birth, and had stayed. Valkimer and Chak often joked that they should have bought a bigger house, for every one of the once empty rooms was now filled. Wanting some time to themselves, they had taken Brianna to a little retreat at the very edge of the estate, far enough that they could spend some time together uninterrupted, not so far that she would become frantic at being separated from her sons.

  “Ours, pet.” Valkimer took her by the chin and made her look up into his eyes, demanding her attention.

  She stood there, slightly stunned as she took in the same predatory lust that had so drawn her and frightened her in equal measure on their first meeting. Over the last few months, Casimer’s words had rung true. There had been little time for any of them to get into trouble, least of all Brianna. And yet now, suddenly, she felt as if she might be.

  “Yours,” she smiled. “When have I ever been anything other than yours?”

  “There was a time,” Chak said, his fingers peeling down the corner of her dress, his lips hot on her shoulder and neck as he moved behind her. “Before you knew us.”

  She had almost forgotten it, but there had indeed been a time. A time where she was alone almost always, especially when surrounded by people. She did not miss it.

  “This is a special day,” Valkimer added, releasing her chin to take her hand. He lifted it to his lips and pressed a gentle kiss first to the back of her hand and then let his mouth slide down her arm, working toward the crook of her elbow.