by Alyse Zaftig
“It depends on what you consider powerful. A small amount of power in the right place can help. Think about the first rock that falls during a rock slide. You can do that.”
“I can start rock slides?”
“Or avalanches. A very small amount of magic in the right place can help you.”
“But the Yore didn’t use it before.”
“That’s because when you use the power of nature, you’re blasting innocent people, too. It wasn’t as if the Yore rulers were going to murder thousands of their own people in order to beat back a few hundred Draka. We thought that we would prevail until we couldn’t.”
“How do you know all this?”
“It’s Yore history.”
Phuong hadn’t learned any Yore history in school. She’d learned all about Draka conquests and their space exploration attempts, but she realized that she knew nothing of her own history.
“So how fast can I learn how to do this?”
“Maybe in four years, you’ll be able to light a candle.”
Phuong was angry. “That’s not going to help my mates now.”
Phuong began to flip through the pages. They were all covered with hand-drawn artwork and characters.
“What’s this one?” She could see someone with silver eyes staring at someone whose eyes reflected the silver.
“It’s a mind link.”
“What supplies do we need for it?”
“It just takes incense and powerful focus. But that’s definitely not where you should start.”
“I appreciate your caution, but I want to do it. There’s no time for me to waste dallying around with basics. If Marc uses my blood again and overwhelms my spirit, I want to be able to fight back.”
47
Raining Kisses
Olivier
Olivier and Gahariet went to check in on their mate. “You look exhausted,” Gahariet said. “You did too much today.”
“I’ll survive,” Phuong said, smiling even though she looked totally wiped out. She was a little pale.
Hoa was there in the corner. “Excuse me, Your Highnesses. I need to go home. I need to watch my granddaughter.”
She bowed with her arms crossed to the three royals. Maybe Hoa was growing to like them.
Olivier crossed the room to pull Phuong into his arms as soon as Hoa was gone. He pulled her hair, wrapping it around his hand as he pulled her backwards, raining kisses on her forehead, eyes, cheeks, nose, and finally mouth. Then he kissed and bit her neck. She smelled like flowers and pastries.
“Did you bake something today? We have people for that.”
“Well, we had to find incense, but the only incense that we could find was vanilla-scented. Hoa said that it might interfere with my concentration, but we had to use it.”
“That’s why you smell so nice.” He licked her neck. “Mmm.”
“Save some for me,” Gahariet admonished. He was taking off his shirt and pants and carelessly leaving them on the floor. He came around Phuong’s other side, sliding his hands around her and wrapping her in his arms. His chin came down on the top of her head.
Phuong shivered a little.
“Are you cold?” Olivier cupped one of her breasts and felt that one of her nipples was hard.
“No,” she whispered. She tilted her head, moving Gahariet off of her, while Oliver kissed her mouth.
“There’s no bed in the study,” she said when she broke the kiss.
“We can improvise.”
Gahariet leaned down to grasp the hem of Phuong’s dress. It was ocean blue with navy blue straps at the top, with two cut-outs showing just a tiny bit of the tops of her breasts. Olivier leaned down to taste her skin there.
“You taste good all over.”
Then Gahariet was pulling the dress over Phuong’s head. He picked her up and pulled her away from Olivier, bending her over the desk. Her feet were on the ground. Gahariet’s hand was in her hair.
“Widen your stance,” he told her.
Olivier watched as Phuong spread her legs a little wider. Gahariet’s hand began to rub her lower lips.
Olivier walked to Phuong’s front and rubbed his precome on her mouth.
“Mmm,” she said, licking her lips before taking his cock into her mouth.
Olivier batted away Gahariet’s hands so that he could control Phuong’s head as she gave him the blowjob of his life. His eyes were closed. The only thing he could feel was her warm, wet mouth on him.
Phuong was moving back and forth in a steady rhythm. Olivier could hear Gahariet’s skin slapping against Phuong’s as his brother took her beautiful body over and over again.
Then Olivier’s body was exploding into a million points of light. His breath came in big gasps as he released inside of her talented mouth.
“Stars,” he said when he could talk again. He found a nearby chair and flopped down into it.
He watched Gahariet continue to take her body. Now that he was sitting down, he could watch Phuong’s face as his brother took her small body again and again. At this point, she was pushed up on her tiptoes, and even then, she wasn’t touching the ground all the time. On the upstroke, his brother was pushing their mate off of the ground and pulling her back as he withdrew.
Her mouth was open in a perfect O. He could see her tongue, and it made him begin to get hard again. He’d never get enough of her.
Gahariet’s hand went to grab a chunk of her hair again.
“Come,” Gahariet commanded Phuong.
Phuong’s legs were shaking.
“Ah!” she said as Gahariet slammed into her hard enough to move the table, which was solid oak.
Gahariet leaned down and bit her shoulder hard.
Phuong screamed as she went over the edge.
Then Gahariet’s hand was wrapping around Phuong’s throat, slamming her backwards onto his body.
“That’s right, yes,” he groaned. Gahariet’s eyes closed, and Olivier knew that his brother was coming inside of their mate.
Then Gahariet and Phuong were done.
“I had no idea that I had any strength left after today, but you definitely proved me wrong.”
“We can give you our strength this way, as much as you need while you condition your senses and stretch your limits.”
“You can give me strength through sex? That’s some information that seems very self-serving.”
“No, it’s true. How do you feel now?”
Phuong stretched a little. “Content and happy.”
“How does your body feel?”
She lay there on the table a little longer.
“Much better than it did before we had sex,” she said.
“Your scales are more defined now.” Olivier snapped to look. Gahariet had taken a much closer look at their mate around the end. Olivier was able to get to his feet now, so he went to the table and inspected their mate’s skin.
It was true. She had the scales of a dragon all over her. They were glowing quite brightly, brightly enough that he wondered how he hadn’t noticed. Brightly glowing scales weren’t usual for the Draka.
“You’re become more of a dragon every day.” Olivier leaned in and kissed her fast and hard, not passionately but aggressively all the same. “I can’t wait to meet our children.”
Phuong’s smile was one of the most gorgeous things that Olivier had ever seen.
“I can’t wait either.” She reached for Olivier’s hand and squeezed it.
48
Net
Phuong
Phuong sat down by the lagoon with the spellbook. She felt confined inside of the castle, no matter how luxurious it was.
She flipped through the Yore magic book. Hoa had taught her the basic characters, but she wasn’t all that great at reading Yore yet. She could try, though.
She whispered the words of the spell before she closed her eyes and wiped away everything else, all of her worries, her cares.
Her energy was better than it had been in the morning the previous day.
Whatever the twins had done to her body, it made her stronger.
With her eyes closed, she could feel the life force of several small animals in and around the lagoon. She’d never felt more alive than when she was reaching out and touching all these little sparks. She loved the surge of force that she suddenly had, now that she’d mated with her mates to renew her energy.
But then something went wrong. When she spread the net around herself, she must’ve opened a door, because she could feel Marc coming in.
She tried to open her eyes and shake herself out of her light trance, but he didn’t let her. His taste in her mind made her stomach churn. This time, it was different.. He didn’t waste time trying to convince her that she belonged to him.
His essence began to take over her mind.
“Don’t be afraid.”
It only made her more afraid. She tried to shake him out of her mind, without any clue of how to do that. She didn’t know how to successfully repel a mind attack.
She was a queen. A queen should be able to push him out. She thought about blank whiteness in an attempt to shield her real thoughts from him. She didn’t want him to learn about her plans.
“I don’t mean you any harm, but there are other people who would be only too happy to use you. You are mine, claimed by me, but I will leave the choice to you. Visit your ancestors in these waters. Learn what they want you to learn. Ask them where you belong, if they do not send you straight to me, I will leave you alone. You can live for the rest of your life with the twin princes.”
Phuong didn’t say anything.
Then his presence was out of her mind. She hadn’t reacted in time to tell him that she was definitely not his to claim.
She wouldn’t tell anybody about it. After all, her Yore ancestors had told her to be wary. It wasn’t as if they would suddenly change their minds.
She thought guiltily that she should tell somebody that she was going to the ocean, but she walked by herself to the open ocean. The beach was part of the royal estate, so it was empty.
With her clothing still on, she walked straight into the ocean. The twins had little regard for their clothing, so she got the feeling that she didn’t need to be especially careful. They were rich enough to replace anything that they liked.
The ocean closed over her, holding her like a mother. She closed her eyes and sank straight into a light trance, opening her mind to the ancestors who still roamed in the ocean water.
She began to feel the spirits of the ancient Yore reaching towards her.
“Guard your throne,” one said.
“Guard your throne, a second spirit said.
Then it was a chant as the whole ocean filled with spirits telling her to guard her throne.
Phuong’s eyes snapped open as she awoke from her trance. Guard her throne? What did that mean?
Phuong walked slowly back to the castle, trying to fit together all the puzzle pieces. She was feeling overwhelmed. The spirits only had three words to tell her. It was totally unclear which direction she should be going in. They hadn’t said a word about Marc, but she didn’t know if they knew about him. She didn’t know which throne they were talking about: the Draka one that she got by marriage or the Yore throne that was hers by birth? How was she supposed to guard and from whom?
She was in her wet clothes, so she went upstairs and changed into something dry. She went back downstairs to grab something from the kitchen, picking up some fresh fruit before deciding to go out to the stables that they kept.
There were horses in there. Phuong shared a little bit of fruit with one that seemed especially bold. “You’re pretty, yes you are.”
“There you are,” Olivier said. He walked into the barn and swept her into his arms. She wiggled out of his hold.
“Are you okay? Are you feeling all right? How are the babies?”
“The babies are fine,” Phuong said. “I’ve got to go.”
49
Shopping Trip
Olivier
Olivier turned to Gahariet after Phuong basically ran away from them.
“What just happened?”
“She’s worrying about something,” Gahariet said.
“Do you think it’s about our dad and the Yore king? Did she find out that he helped to speed up the Yore king’s decline?”
“We shouldn’t tell her. It’s ancient history. Most Yore believe we wouldn’t be in power if we’d had more mercy.”
Olivier was quiet for a moment before saying, “She’s different.”
“She’s ours. She’ll be fine. Just give her some time.”
The two of them fell into silence as they walked back to the castle.
* * *
Phuong was finally well. A week after the meeting in the barn, she was basically a new woman. Even though she was healthy and even more powerful, she wasn’t talking much.
She was pushing Olivier and Gahariet away emotionally, and Olivier didn’t like it at all.
Oh, sure, sexually, she was wilder than ever. The three of them slept in the same bed every night.
But instead of accepting their energy and sending hers to them, she was draining them. Olivier couldn’t help but wonder if she meant to store the energy somehow.
Olivier was walking down stairs when he saw Xuan sitting on a chair near the door. He was alone.
“Where’s Phuong?”
“She went shopping.”
“Alone?”
“Yeah. She can take care of herself.”
“She’s pregnant.”
“So?” Xuan asked. “She’s fine.”
Olivier bit back a curse. He didn’t want to get into a fight with his mate’s brother, especially since they were close.
“I have to find her.”
“Be my guest.”
Olivier went running for the levi-car to go to the market.
Olivier got out of the car and ran around the market district to find her, his heart pounding hard in his chest. He was afraid for her. When she was alone, she could be snatched by just anybody.
Finally, he found her in a boutique with more bags than she could carry. There were Yore store attendants who were helping her carry her bags out.
“Oh, good. You can help.”
Olivier was suddenly holding as many bags as he could carry.
“What are you doing?”
Phuong was signing something.
“What’s that?”
“It’s something that authorizes a charge on the royal accounts.”
Olivier’s eyebrows went straight up. Their father didn’t let them sign things straight out of the royal treasury. They had their own personal spending accounts. With their mating so new, they had neglected to set up proper accounts for their mate.
In fact, she hadn’t even met their father. Granted, their father wasn’t a huge presence in their lives, but it was probably the right thing to do.
“Put them in the levi-car,” Olivier sighed. “It’s right at the end of the street.”
He watched as the Yore with all of Phuong’s bags walked to the end of the street.
He stepped in front of her when she walked in the same direction. Olivier grabbed her hand, no easy task with all the bags he was carrying.
“What is wrong? Why did you go out alone?”
“You two are keeping something from me. You aren’t telling me everything. I realized that everything I owned was chosen by you or your servants. I want to wear clothing that I get to choose.”
“You can wear whatever clothing you want.”
“I don’t need your permission. I’m supposed to be a queen, but you have been keeping me in the castle.”
“To keep you safe.”
“I am a queen, not a coward.”
“We’ll help you, I promise. We know that you have a big destiny, but we want you to be safe. We have to get your blood back before we’ll feel safe.”
“I don’t want to wait. Marc is only a blip. I barely know who I am. But I’m going to gathe
r all the pieces and put them together, no matter what the price. I will protect the throne that my ancestors want me to guard.”
“What are you talking about? Did you have another dream? Phuong, you know that dreams aren’t that reliable.”
“It wasn’t a dream,” she protested. “It was a trance.”
Olivier looked at her. “Why didn’t you tell us about it?”
“I wanted to go through it on my own.”
“We’re here for you. We’re your mates, remember?”
“I know,” she said, but Olivier didn’t think that she really believed it.
50
Offering to Help
Phuong
Phuong put her hands on her pounding temples. She knew that she shouldn’t be eavesdropping, but it was clear that the twins were going to fast track their plan. She was barely able to read the Yore characters still, let alone actually use them. After Marc’s secret meeting with her in her head, she doubted that they would have too much trouble when they went in and demanded her blood.
But Olivier and Gahariet didn’t know about that meeting, and she would be there to help them if she could and prevent things from spiraling out of control. Nobody wanted to go to war over a vial of her blood.
She worried about the other people to whom Marc had referred when he’d spoken to her. When they went to the auction house, they’d be going to a seat of black market power. Stars only knew what Marc had down there. She didn’t really want to find out. The pit had been a surprise, and she knew that she and Xuan, even with their careful research, had overlooked some of the defenses.
She knocked on the door, not wanting to eavesdrop anymore.
“Who is it?”
“Phuong.”
“Come on in,” Gahariet called.
She walked into the study.
“Phuong, we were thinking about fast tracking the plan. How would you feel about that?”
Phuong felt just a little bit relieved. She hadn’t realized that she’d been stressed out by the prospect that her mates would keep their plans from her.