Bane of Dragons

by Clara Hartley

  And then he lifted my chin and kissed me.

  Right there, in front of everyone, not caring for the whispers or people judging us. I felt myself glowing with joy and brimming with excitement, almost as if I was drunk.

  “What about Gisiroth?” I asked him, my lips still wet and a little swollen. I was worried the king would still be able to tear this away, to stop Rylan from coming back somehow.

  “He’s not happy about it. But I think that the results will convince him that us hanging out with you isn’t the worst thing for our reputations.”

  I craned my neck to look at the king and saw that he’d already left. The windows of the gallery were open, and light streamed in, making the place brighter.

  “But you’re always worried about your fa—”

  “It’s all right.”

  “I’m glad, big brother,” Gaius said, smiling at Rylan. “You always let Father’s opinions get to you too much.”

  “And the Gavrils?” I asked.

  “They’re going to give us a rougher time,” Rylan said, sighing. “Vancel and his conniving ways. I’m sure you’ll be able to think up something for us, however.”

  I nodded. “I will.” I didn’t mind that.

  Tindyll came up to us, wearing a heavy expression. I mused over whether she’d give me an apology, but I doubted I’d be that lucky. She regarded me with narrowed eyes. She still couldn’t see past the hatred and blame, even though I’d had a working relationship with her for so long. Perhaps my secrets had made her feel betrayed. “Congratulations on your return,” Tindyll said, flicking her gaze between all six of us. “And apologies for your loss.”

  “What do you want?” I asked her.

  “I understand that you will be working with us again. The king spoke with me, and I raised some of my concerns. You’re still to stay at your outbuilding, so as to not pose a threat to the other members in the dorm.”

  This was getting tiring. “So be it—”

  “Sera’s staying with us,” Rylan said, wrapping an arm around me. “There’s no need to concern yourself with such trivialities.”

  Tindyll’s eyes widened. “But—” She sucked in a breath. “I thought to let you know, that’s all. Be punctual tomorrow if you’re resuming work. We will be throwing a celebration for Mei.”

  Mei was accepting flowers and praise from everyone else. I felt happy for her. I’d seen her working hard for this win. But she had pushed me to my wits’ end. I supposed I’d become stronger because of that, and in a way, maybe I should be grateful?

  Yeah, that was going too far.

  Rylan took my hand, and Micah took the other. “Let’s go fetch your things,” Rylan said.

  I beamed at him. “Let’s.”

  We strode out of the council together.

  I saw a rock in front of Gaius after we stepped out. I knew what was going to happen.

  I made to kick it out of Gaius’s way, but I wasn’t exactly the most dexterous person either, and instead of tripping over the rock, he tripped over my foot, sprawling toward me.

  Rylan ducked to catch me, but Gaius slumped onto us. We fell, and that pushed Micah toward the ground as well, and we all came crashing down, with me on top, followed by Rylan, then Micah, then Gaius.

  Gaius groaned. “My back. Why are you all so heavy? You guys have been eating too much.”

  I was staring straight at Rylan, and he grinned up at me. I ran a hand down his braid then kissed his nose.

  “Can you get off?” Micah asked.

  Kael lay down next to the four of us. “Why wasn’t I invited?”

  “Okay,” Frederick said. “This is getting awkward. Should I even be here?”

  I started laughing, then Rylan and Kael did too. Micah and Gaius joined in, and I heard a tentative half-snort, half-laugh from Frederick.

  We probably looked like a bunch of fools, but who cared what people thought?

  I felt like the happiest fool in all of Constanria.

  Twenty-Seven

  The first dinner after our reunion was a blast. It ended with a food fight, and I had some kind of gravy all over me. I probably looked gross, but that didn’t matter.

  I was grinning to myself when I walked up to my room—once again filled with my belongings, though I did get a little mad at Rylan for throwing away all those things I’d left behind. He should have waited one more week.

  I was licking some gravy off myself when I saw Rylan lying on my bed. That stopped me in my tracks.

  “Hey, Sera,” he said, already cleaned up. His hair was wet and running down his neck in clumps. That made him look even more attractive.

  I was squealing on the inside. Then I looked above him and saw three new portraits on my wall, next to Kael’s. “Explain that,” I said, pointing to them. “And why are you in my bed?”

  “I thought I couldn’t let Kael get all the glory.” He stretched his arms in front of him, making his pectorals stretch as well.

  I hope I wasn’t showing my lust too much on my face.

  “And,” he added, “I haven’t been getting any sleep since you were gone. Since you’re the cure for my insomnia, I figure I’d spend some time here.”

  I remembered his messed-up study. “Did you get your study sorted and packed?”

  He nodded. “It’s all better now. Sorry about being stupid.”

  I inched closer.

  His eyes raked over me. “You might want to get yourself washed up first.”

  “I was about to do that.”

  He quirked a smile, but it was slightly melancholic, which made me wonder why Rylan was getting all emotional on me. “I shouldn’t have tossed you aside,” he said. “I was just torn, you know? Between—”

  “You don’t have to explain,” I said, smiling. “I understand. You’re here now. That’s all that matters.” I wanted to give him a hug, but he had already washed up, and I doubted he wished to get smeared by the gravy stains on my robes. I pointed to the bathroom. “I’ll take a shower.”

  “I’ll be here,” he said, watching me with his blue eyes.

  It made my chest thump just a little faster. I dashed into the bathroom, ran the tap, and threw water over my face.

  Wait. Did that mean Rylan wanted to sleep by my side tonight? I mean, we had once, but that was during a really emotional moment. I wasn’t quite thinking straight. And the princes had left soon after I’d fallen asleep.

  My imagination ran wild as I slipped my robes off and stepped into the shower.

  I thought I heard a commotion starting outside over the sound of the running water. What was happening? I dried my hair with a towel after I took my time showering, and put on my nightgown.

  When I opened the bathroom door and peered out, I saw all four brothers squeezed on my bed, waiting for my entrance.

  My mouth fell open.

  They looked too delicious.

  Holy Aereala, smite me now and take my breath away. I didn’t care if I died right after looking at all of them like that.

  “Rylan was trying to have you all to himself again,” Kael said, eyes twinkling.

  Micah said, “He needed help with sleep.”

  “Was his excuse,” Gaius added.

  Rylan muttered something I couldn’t hear, then picked up his volume. “You guys are making this place too warm. We need a bigger bed.”

  There were fans situated in my room—new inventions, which had only been installed in the palace. They were apparently new workings of soul magic that had recently been made by the Intelligence Council.

  The fans did little to cool the heat simmering from the princes, however.

  Gaius kicked Kael off the mattress. “Making space for you, Sera.”

  “Hey!” Kael said, picking himself up from the ground.

  I rushed up to them and took Kael’s spot before he could. “Thanks,” I said to Gaius.

  Rylan propped himself up. “I need to be next to her.”

  “No, you don’t,” Kael said. He was shoving himsel
f onto the bed, next to me, and I let him, though it was getting a little too squeezed. We really did need a bigger bed. “Sera’s mine, remember? She kissed me first.”

  Micah snorted. “You might have kissed Sera first, but I was the first to show her my dragon.”

  “You did?” Rylan asked.

  “Yeah. She even got on top of it and rode it.”

  I raised a finger. “Okay, why does that sound so… uh…”

  “It was a hell of an experience,” Micah continued.

  “You asshole!” Kael said. He cracked his knuckles, as if readying to swing a fist at Micah. “That was supposed to be shared between all of us!”

  “We’ll all get our turns, right?” Gaius asked me.

  “With what?” I gulped.

  “You, riding our dragons.”

  I didn’t want to answer that. I had probably turned a deep shade of red.

  Kael tucked his hands behind his head, almost elbowing me in the face. “We need another game. We’ve already done the kissing thing. So, next one to get into Sera’s kni—”

  I covered his mouth. I did not want to go there. That was way too much for me to handle. “Don’t you dare start,” I said, fake menace in my tone.

  He laughed and winked at me. Then he shoved my head down and slammed his lips into mine. I sucked in his ocean-like scent, feeling his hard body against mine, and lost my breath.

  “I think I’d win,” he said, pulling back with a smirk.

  I looked at the others, and they were peering at me with half-aroused, half-jealous looks.

  That was when I felt something in my mind snap, because my emotions took control and I was shaking with anticipation, joy, and nervousness. A fizzling ran through me. I sat up and swung my index finger toward the door. “That’s it—everybody out!” I was probably blushing way too hard.

  Rylan’s brows shot up. “Wait, wha—?”

  I wanted these four princes, but it was just too much at once. I was feeling strange things in my belly that I wasn’t sure I should be feeling, so I shook my finger at the door and tried to kick Kael off the bed again. He was too heavy to budge.

  “She’s embarrassed,” Gaius said, laughing.

  “That’s adorable,” Kael said.

  Rylan leapt over to me, not caring that he was smashing himself over Gaius, and pulled me into a kiss. It was too many limbs, and too much sizzling. Combined with that strange, warm tingle thing we had going on? I was certain I’d die from how hard my heart was beating.

  “We’re staying no matter what, Sera,” Rylan said.

  Gaius looked at me. “You’re not chasing us away. And get off me, Rylan.”

  “We’ll have lots of fun,” Kael said.

  Micah tapped Rylan. “And your foot’s kicking me. Also, I want to be next to Sera.”

  That statement lit something in Kael’s eyes. “How about arm-wrestling to settle this?”

  “Chess would be more my style,” Micah said.

  I held a loose pillow to my face and squealed. They probably thought that I was crazy, but my feminine parts were making the gears in my head go haywire.

  “We’re not going to get any sleep like this, huh?” I asked.

  “Nope,” Rylan said, slipping himself between Gaius and me. “Not a chance. I guess that defeats the purpose of me coming here.”

  I laughed. “That’s all right.”

  It was.

  Because everything right now was fine. And I could be at peace with myself, because I knew I wasn’t alone.

  I slipped my arms around Rylan, hugged him tight, and smiled.

  “Okay, Rylan,” Gaius said. “That was supposed to by my spot.”

  “I was the first in this room. You all are extras.”

  Micah muttered something, before adding more loudly, “I’m not sure why I’m the farthest away. I don’t want to lie next to Gaius.”

  “I’m happy over here,” Kael said.

  Micah sat up. “Shut up, Kael. Sera, tell him you’d prefer me next to you.”

  My mouth fell open. “What?” I truly couldn’t decide.

  “We need to come up with a better sleeping position,” Gaius said. “Sera, what do you think?”

  Then they all sat up, and four sets of eyes fell on me, waiting for my verdict.

  What had I gotten myself into?

  Annex

  Types of Dragon-kind

  Hidrae

  Full-sized dragon shifters, known to be the most powerful of their kind. They can shift into dragons as large as those of ancient times. They are highly common, and so far the only known hidrae are a handful of nobles, and those of the royal family. They also bear the traits of drerkyn when they half shift.

  Draerin

  They can shift into dragons as well, albeit of a variety much smaller than hidrae. They also bear the traits of drerkyn when they half shift.

  Drerkyn

  Dragon-kind with half-dragon forms when they shift. They can sprout wings, horns, and talons.

  Darmar

  The weakest dragon-kind, only able to bear superficial traits when they shift, such as yellow eyes or patches of scales. They have slightly stronger constitutions than humans. They used to be rare, but have become numerous over the last thousand years, since they have higher birth rates.

  Beasts

  Geckari

  Large, lizard-like creatures that are often used as a form of transport, especially for large loads.

  Ingor

  Wolflike creatures who are commonly raised in select conditions. The effort it requires to raise them makes them very expensive.

  Dynfowl

  Chicken-like creatures.

  Inca

  Ugly canines who are often lazy and large. Perfect as a livestock, and a meat that is often eaten by the upper middle class.

  Places

  The Drae Lands

  The entire continent of dragon-kind. Thousands of years ago, under the rule of the Dragon Mother, it was known as Ayesrial.

  Gaia

  An entire continent of humans, said to have been abandoned thousands of years ago by order of Rayse Everstone, first dragon king of Constanria. The event is known as the Great Separation.

  Beyestirya

  A country of dragon-kind bordering Constanria. It is a landlocked country, facing the worst of the high summers.

  Raynea

  The capital of Constanria.

  Constanria

  A country of dragon-kind that borders the Black Ocean. It’s the largest kingdom in all of the Drae Lands. Ruled by King Gisiroth Everborne.

  Languages

  High Dragon Tongue

  The ancient language spoken by the old dragons.

  Common Tongue

  The language spoken by all Constanrians.

  Historical and Religious Figures

  The Dragon Mother

  The old, false goddess of Constanria. She had a million-year reign over the region, suppressing it with her lust for power and intense use of soul magic.

  Constance Everstone

  The first queen, who started the Great Separation and built the Drae Lands to what it is today.

  Rayse Everstone

  The first king of the Drae Lands.

  Aesryn

  The previous ruler of the Drae Lands, who kept it under her dictatorship for a million years. She was defeated by Constance and Rayse Everstone.

  Sect of the Holy Pair

  The main religion of Constanria, although there are outliers who also worship the Dragon Mother and Constance. They believe in the two gods—Aereala and Gaean.

  Aereala

  The female god of the Holy Pair. She is said to control the heaven and the skies.

  Gaean

  The male god of the Holy Pair. He is said to control the earth.

  Spells

  Invongar respodalis vin garlis ron siras—A failed spell.

  Plantia Involuntis—A spell used to invigorate herbs.

  Arcio involus—A spell used for p
lant growth.

  Plantia arcio—Another failed spell.

  Glacilis provoto—An ice spell.

  Illusio volantaris—An illusion spell.

  Paraci involuntis—A successful spell, to increase the rate of plant growth.

  Lucio—A basic light spell.

  Es rea misreagou—The spell used to harvest bright souls.

  Kisla misreagou—The spell used to harvest dull souls.

  Couela misreagou—The spell used to store souls in soul beads.

  Miscellaneous

  Gaeanea Root

  A starchy herb that has poisonous properties, but a sweet aftertaste. Humans are the most susceptible and can die within an hour of ingesting the herb.

  Hydrocus

  A large fish with a bulbous head. Said to be rare in Constanria.

  Grinche Grass

  A vegetable similar to lettuce.

  Magic

  Soul Magic

  An ancient artform that was banned by Constance Everstone. The magic works by harvesting souls, and chanting spells to use them. Many spells were lost through the ages, after the ban on the art.

  Dark Magic

  Corrupted soul magic, which utilizes the spells of sentient beings, namely, humans and dragon-kind. Immensely powerful, but also said to drive the user mad.

  Soul Beads

  Beads used to store souls for easy casting.

  Bright Souls

  Each being contains two kinds of souls, bright souls and dull souls. Bright souls contain the select and unique properties of the creature it belongs to.