Conflict: The Queen

by Pierce Smith

  Just as Sam was entering the cave, another roar thundered across the sky. Loose stones tumbled to the ground, causing more damage to the cave. Sam hurried to take proper shelter outside the cave in the forest, but stopped when he saw a dragon landing in the glade. Sam thought the dragon was friends with the dwarves but the expressions on their faces showed the same fright that Kyg caused. They were petrified of the dragon.

  Who was the dragon? He looked at Sam as if he knew him, but Sam ran inside as he had never met him. The dwarves ran inside too, but a large flame burnt most of them except three. One fell to his knees, praying to whatever God he believed in. The dragon crushed him in his talons. The other two ran inside, just opposite to Sam. The flame chased them, Sam didn’t bother to look at them, closing his hands over his ears as their screams echoed around the cave.

  Before Sam could think straight he was caged in the talons of the dragon, flying towards the same old auction city from where he ran away a few nights before. They landed on a huge building and the dragon shifted back. Then Sam recognized him. The soldier who had tried to get him while he attempted to enter the city. He grabbed Sam’s hand and they entered into the building .

  Now Sam was the prisoner of yet another jailer. The guard, turned jailer, was really the Auction Master, as Sam found out. He had taken Sam into custody thinking he was one of the slaves that had run away last month. Seizing Sam, he led him to the slave encampment, locking him inside a compound with walls and bars. He threw a relatively clean tunic to Sam, which he took gratefully. Never before had Sam been thankful to receive dry clothing. He changed quickly, happy to get out of his cold, wet, muddy clothes. The tunic covered him completely, another thank you issued from Sam’s lips.

  When the man left, Sam sat down in the dark and cried. In his anger with Kyg, he’d taken off his signet ring that told everyone in the kingdom that he was Kyg’s beloved Consort. Now Sam had no hope of Kyg ever finding him. Lying on his side, he pulled his legs up as far as his rounded belly would let him and cried himself to sleep.

  Misery had turned its face towards Sam.

  SAM HAD NO TOLERANCE for solitude. Whatever he had was lost before Kyg and his throne. He had spent enough time alone in the space shuttle. Traveled alone, worked alone and then left alone while Kyg was busy with his council. He kept himself engaged with court ladies and planning on the various rituals of Byndra. Most of the time he forced himself to remain busy, so the distance of Kyg could be replenished, but here he was forced to review his love for solitude. Since the dungeon master had pushed him into the cell, he could see nothing other than stones, metals and a faded light. A torn cloth to lie on, a blanket, a pair of utensils. Sam avoided talking. He could hear murmurs coming from other prisoners, but he again forced himself not to listen to them.

  He sat in the corner where light failed to reach, reclining against the wall, holding his belly. Soon he noticed there was a toilet seat too at the other end. The guard walked in the corridor, slipping food under the bars and Sam found fresh meat, blood oozing out of it onto a big plate. He threw it in the corner. “I don’t eat raw meat. I’m not an animal.” He shrieked from his place, but ignoring him, the guard walked to the next cell. He could see the guard slipping plates under all the cell bars, and then Sam found him staring back at him through the bars.

  Scared Sam pleaded, “I don’t eat raw meat and I’m pregnant.”

  “We don’t have cooked food, lady,”

  “I’m not a lady either,” Sam grumped. “I cannot eat this.” He returned the plate.

  The guard stared at him for some time, and then filled Sam’s plate with more raw meat, leaving Sam with his food. Sitting, holding the bars, Sam cried. He wanted to throw up again, but his baby needed food not him. This life was getting harder. The dwarves were better. At least they understood Sam’s dietary requirements, but he expected less from these animals. He wished he could communicate like dragons too. Losing hope of his return, Sam stared at the meat. Making his heart harden to chew that flesh, he glanced at something being slipped again under the bars. The guard pushed the plate in further for Sam to take. This time a plate contained a broth with meats and vegetables in it. He walked away without saying anything and Sam pounced on the food. He was hungry. Really hungry.

  Slipping the empty plate aside, Sam sat on the small cloth, trying to find comfort in the dark. He knew Kyg loved his kingdom and throne, but not more than Sam, who was his true love. He would definitely attempt to find him out, but hopefully that shouldn’t be too long. Feeling uneasiness in his belly, he stood and started taking a small walk in his small prison, which was not more than four to five steps. He sat back down. He couldn’t walk there either.

  It was two days since Sam had been imprisoned within the same barred cell. No one came to ask about him. Days were silent, though the nights blasted with loud noises coming from the prisoners. Every night one or more prisoners were dragged out of the prison for the auction. Two to three guards came, to tie the hostages. The fraught hostages screamed out their fear and pain, their ear deafening pleas went unheeded, as they tried to break the walls down to gain their freedom. Each night Sam felt a little more of him die within. Sam saw the hostages tied from head to toe being dragged roughly before him on the stone floor. Their bodies covered with blood while they resisted the guards. Occasionally their open eyes met with Sam’s and it quivered his heart. A day will come for me too, or Kyg will come in time to save me.

  He hid in the corner trying to avoid the scene, but it never happened. The hostages always went before his eyes. One resisted harder and he was beaten the hardest. Sam saw he was half faint while the guards carried him outside. He knew they would be auctioned, and he always wondered what their buyers would do with them. A sex slave? A house slave, or would they feed on them? The thoughts made Sam tremble. He kept sitting, waiting for his time. Until then, he survived there as the cutest stray dog who smiled at the guard every time the same meal was offered by the same guard. Today too, a plate slipped in with the same meat broth.

  Sam sobbed on his being so helpless and useless. Pushing the meat broth into his mouth, he cursed why he had left the palace without telling Kyg he was leaving, or leaving any clues. The prison was thirty floors down in the dungeon, obscured in the darkness except for a faint light coming from a lantern at the end of the corridor. He was one among the many countless cells, and he knew all of them were for auction. The term itself made him shiver. He didn’t know for what purpose he would be used. The broth was gone and he looked for the water. Only a quarter of a glass left in it, and there was no one to ask for more. He drank and slipped the glass to a safe place, so he didn’t spill the water.

  Resting against the stone wall, Sam heard a faint noise. Something rumbled through the prison bars. He looked towards that side but there was nothing there. The voice was clear on that dumbfounded monotonous floor. Something slithered on the floor in a very faint voice again. Alerted, Sam looked all around his room.

  “Help, is there anyone?” Yelling for help, he crawled over the floor to the dark corner to look for a snake, or other poisonous slitherer. There was a shadow sitting in the corner, a little bigger than a cat, sticking its ass to the wall. Seemed he was scared too.

  Sam slid back to his wall giving space to that creature. His mind wandered to what magical creature he was going to face next. He sat staring at the dark shadow, anticipating it would move or at least talk to him, but the creature seemed to await Sam’s move too.

  “Who are you?” Sam questioned, his patience dying in that murky environment. His fantasy compelled him to think what if the creature opened its big mouth and swallowed him whole? Panicking, his eyes became glued on it.

  In response, the shadow kept staring at him. Sam’s eyes were adjusting to the darkness by now and he could see a pair of comparatively big eyes staring back at him. None dared to blink; its tail flicked at its place.

  “What are you?” Sam panicked, his voice agitated at the movement of the
shadow.

  In response after a few seconds, the shadow lit in an orange light. It surprised Sam, because so far he had seen fire emitting creatures and not self-burning ones. His eyes darted back to the creature.

  Bright golden orange scales lit up in the flames. It appeared like a lizard, of course, another form of dragon, a wide head and a long body which was collected together to give a shadow of a cat. It had five pairs of legs and white eyes that glowed in the dark giving it a strange appearance. Slowly, the light dimmed and he saw the orangish-brown-scaled creature had short spines down its back and some under its throat. Now the light had dimmed, Sam could see It had black pupils and a cute little horn above its nose which was darker than its scales.

  “Hello,” Sam smiled, trying to fake sweetness over his face. What if he sets ablaze the whole room?

  In return, the dragon waved his tail, showing he understood Sam’s language. It stepped nearer, out of the dark shadows. Its glow diminished and went back to normal scales. Sam noticed the dragonling was cute, with big eyes and extra big eyelashes. That made it cuter. It jumped another step forward and came to the center of the room, The dragon was confused too. Perhaps it hadn’t seen a creature with two legs before. Its first time encountering an alien?

  “I’m Sam,” Sam spoke again, assuming the dragon would respond in some way. It appeared harmless so far.

  “Firey here.” Its cute little voice came finally, making Sam jump in surprise.

  “Oh. My. Gosh! You speak too?” Sam slid nearer to it.

  “Yeah! I do. And every creature speaks, right?”

  “Right, but a human language?”

  “Okay. I speak my own language, but I take a little time to understand everyone’s language, and thereafter I can speak that language too,” Firey spoke, flicking her tails to the side, making her even cuter. “By the way. I’m Princess of the Fireworm dragons.”

  “Hello Princess Firey, what are you doing? Or are you caught like me for the auction?”

  “No. Not I, but my mother. She is ten stories down from this floor.”

  “Ten more floors?” Sam gasped. “I thought I was in the deepest part of the dungeon.”

  “No. It has hundreds of floors and all are filled with prisoners,” Firey replied. “How did you end up here?”

  “Me?” Sam sighed deeply. “By my foolishness.” And tears rolled out of his eyes.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to make you cry. I’m extremely sorry.” Firey jumped nearer to Sam, but as she touched Sam’s skin, it lit up and Sam felt a little burn. “Oh! I’m sorry again. Fuck. What I did was an accident.” And then she held her mouth listening to her curse word. “My mother would kill me if she heard... fuck... oh god, what I’m speaking...” she kept jumping at her place.

  “It’s okay. I’m not burnt.” Sam consoled her.

  “Okay.” Firey fluttered her eyelashes .

  “Why is your mother here?”

  “She was caught in a battle, months back on our planet. Being pregnant, no one bought her. She made her own nest by using firecombs which is nothing but flammable gels to keep predators away. She laid thousands of eggs, but only I survived among them all. Maybe, because I coped with the lower temperature. We need high temperatures, higher than a burning sun. My mother told me she lived under the base of a dormant volcano, but still full of lava.” She stared at Sam after ending her story. “Tell me something more about you?”

  “I’m Sam. The Consort of Byndra...”

  “Your husband is worried about you...” Firey flicked her tail and her words fetched endless tears from Sam’s eyes. His lips pursed and his cheeks covered in tears. “I’m sorry. Did I tell you I can peek through anyone’s mind and connect through different brainwaves? It’s very easy for me.” Firey jumped closer, rubbing her back over Sam’s belly. “I’ll not harm you now. Earlier, I was scared too, and when I’m scared, I light up spontaneously.”

  “It’s okay. Where is he?”

  “In the bathtub with someone...” Firey shut her mouth again. “I didn’t mean to say that out... but he’s worried about you too.” Firey jumped on Sam’s open palm. She gently sniffed the hand, hummed for a minute, and then slipped comfortably onto it. Firey was a handful for Sam, better to say more than a handful. He used both hands and put her over his belly. She bumped her head softly on it and giggled, flashing her eyes. Sam couldn’t meet a more adorable pet . He caressed her head, feeling the tingling spines and started petting her.

  “It’s okay. It was all my fault to leave the palace. Once I return, I’ll kick that man out of my palace.” Sam knew his rights over Kyg. “But I’ll wait for him here.” Sam hugged Firey closer. “How did you come into my cell block?”

  “First, I explored my floor, but I didn’t find anything worthy. Then I started climbing up and landed on yours. Only you and I are typical here, the rest of them are foolish dragons.” Firey’s words fetched a smile to Sam’s lips. “I wish I could be little bigger, then I could burn this entire dungeon and let you and my mother out of it.”

  “Don’t worry, Kyg will come. I’ll get your mother out too.” Sam kissed Firey’s head. After a short silence. “Can you pass my message to Kyg?”

  “I’m sorry. My waves are not that strong yet. I wish I could help you more.” Firey collected herself and sat in Sam’s lap.

  DOWN IN THE PART OF Bormur near the shipping docks, the stench was overwhelming at times. As Kyg and Xeg searched for Sam, Binya, Uka, Binoth and Tyrset took the slaves to the port to be auctioned off. Kyg’s commanders and warriors didn’t see the treacherous auctioneer that led a dirty and weary Sam up the back of the platform and shackled his hands to the poles that were there.

  Sam was so tired, his legs almost gave out and the pain in his abdomen came back only much harder and made Sam gasp at the intensity. He cried softly trying not to draw the others’ attention, but he wished now he’d never left Kyg. Yes, he was jealous of Kyg lying on the bed naked with a dozen or so others who were drop dead gorgeous, who Kyg could fuck at any time. He hated Erga for saying no sex. Knowing how lusty and sexual Kyg was made Sam worry all the more. Finally, his knees gave out as a sharp pain hit Sam making him cry out. The fucking auctioneer walked to Sam and slapped him across his face, yanking him to his feet. Only for Sam to collapse again falling on his side causing the pain to increase.

  Binya heard the ruckus and turned to see the auctioneer raise his hand and slap a man on the face. Moving to the side to get a better view, Binay’s eyes widened as she saw who the foul man was hurting. “Holy, fucking hell,” she yelled to Binoth. “He’s hitting the Consort!” she bellowed.

  Binoth and Binya both leapt into action, but they were too late. The guttural roar that went through the crowd stopped everyone dead in their tracks. Binya smiled an evil smile, “Now the motherfucker will pay.” Binoth nodded.

  “Bokaynth, the Dead! You are now as your names says.”

  Bokaynth turned and saw the king in his large black dragon form and immediately pissed his pants. He fell to his knees, his hands clasped, “Please, Your Majesty, this is but a slave,” he whined.

  This time the roar was earsplitting, as the dragon morphed back to a very big and naked king, bending and lifting Bokaynth by the neck. He pulled his face close to his. “Think again, puny dragon, the man you are hitting is your King’s Consort.” With that knowledge, Bokaynth screamed out as Kyg tore his throat from him.

  The slaves on the platform moved back as Xeg came forward with the Consort and handed him to Kyg. Everyone on the platform fell to their knees, honoring Sam and Kyg as their King and Consort. His brother and the commanders rounded up the slaves and took them back to the palace. Kyg had sent a message to them that these were not to be sold, but were to be placed at the palace with duties.

  Kyg shifted, careful not to drop Sam and flew back to the palace. Firey peeked out from Sam’s shirt, where she was curled around his bump, protecting the egg.. In the palace, Kyg stormed into Erga’s office and did
n’t wait for an audience with the healer. He barged into the exam rooms, yelling for Erga, who was already running towards the chaos .

  “Your Majesty, what’s—” His words stopped short when he saw Kyg laying Sam on the examination table. He rushed to the exam table and telepathically spoke to Shenarah, to bring the cart that was set up for Sam. Erga would have made everyone else leave the room, but he knew better than to try that shit with his king. As Shenarah cut Sam’s clothes from him, Erga listened to his heart, then ran the scanner over him to see how badly injured he was.

  Erga concentrated on Sam’s belly and noticed Sam held it as if protecting it from something. Even passed out, Sam was not about to let anything happen to their dragonling. As Erga kept monitoring and running tests, Shenarah washed and cleaned Sam up, then draped him in a hospital gown, covering him in warm blankets. Erga took Kyg into the hallway to update him.

  “What happened to him?”

  Kyg growled at him, “You fucking happened to him, to us!”

  Taken aback by what Kyg was saying, placing his hands on his hips, Erga stepped back, “Me? What the fuck do you mean, Kyg?”

  “I mean, by you forbidding us to have sex, Sam caught me in a compromising situation.” He blurted out, before he saw the look on Erga’s face. “And no, I was not having sex with anyone else.”

  “I didn’t mean you couldn’t have sex, I meant take it easy. I know you can be rough and Sam is in no condition to have rough sex.”

  Kyg stepped toward Erga, “Do you think so little of me that you would have to warn me to be gentle with my Consort, the Consort who is carrying my heir.” Kyg wanted to slam Erga’s face into the wall.