The Dragon King

by Candace Blevins

  Mabel nodded. “You have half an agreement. The flesh-eating fireflies were my sister’s idea.”

  Aaron’s body went rigid, his voice pained as he told Titania, “Our relationship has never been about pain, Tanny.”

  The nickname was like a knife in my heart, but I kept my face frozen. He was mine now, but the two of them needed to find a way to part peacefully.

  Titania smiled at me before looking at Aaron with sorrow in her eyes. “Before I saw her with you, I wanted to hurt you for leaving me. Now that I’ve seen the two of you together, I get it. So, in lieu of flesh-eating fireflies, how about you being available to fly me into royal functions as a Dragon when I need to make an entrance?”

  Aaron looked at me, and I realized he was asking for my input. I considered her request and the most political way to handle it.

  “Am I correct that we’re some kind of distant cousin?”

  “Second cousins, once removed,” Titania said, her voice tight.

  I nodded and said, “Either Aaron or I will try our best to be available, should you be in need of a Dragon to fly you into a royal appearance in order to look even more powerful. I assume having the Dragon Queen fly you in will be as impressive as the Dragon King?”

  Titania met my gaze and asked, “You’ll let us be friends? You won’t keep us apart? I’m going to miss him terribly.”

  “One year,” Aaron told her. “You can ask her this question on our first wedding anniversary, but not before, Titania.”

  Mabel put her hand on her sister’s thigh and told her, “Take it, sister. He’s being more than fair after the things you’ve said since they walked in.”

  “I know why she wanted to hurt him, but why did you want to hurt him?” I asked Mabel.

  She didn’t look the least apologetic as she said, “It’s who I am, Sophia. I’m Queen of the Unseelie, and we’re all about pain and torture. As a child under my protection, I’ve kept it from you, but as a mated adult there’ll be no way around exposing you to it in the future. I’m assuming Aaron will explain things to you before you return to my court.”

  “And you’ll help me shield her from it during this visit?” Aaron asked.

  “I will, but don’t ask for it again,” Mabel told him.

  He looked at me and said, “You understand what will happen after the ceremony? It’ll be public sex, but you’ll be dressed so no one will see anything, and you won’t be able to hear them. You can pretend no one’s around, if you wish.”

  If I’d been given this scenario first there’s no way I could’ve done it, but after hearing the original option, with us both totally nude, him bound, and me doing all the work? This suddenly didn’t seem so bad.

  I’d already been seen nude by at least a hundred people and had lived to survive. I’d make it through this, too. Aaron would help.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Aaron

  Titania’s anger took me by surprise.

  I’d dated a few people exclusively over the past hundred and twenty years and she’d taken the news in stride. However, she knew this was destined to be forever, or at least incredibly long-term, and she was genuinely pissed at me for taking myself away from her.

  Most people think Mabel is the one to fear of the two, but if I had to choose which of the two I was going to piss off, I’d opt for the supposedly evil sister. I’d seen Titania deal with her enemies, and a pissed off Summer Queen scared me as few things could.

  I looked to her, got her attention, and made the motion she uses to stop time.

  Titania stopped time and looked at me expectantly. If it were summer she could’ve kept her sister from the conversation, but it wasn’t, so it was the three of us in the room with Sophia frozen.

  “Things happened fast and there wasn’t time to let you hear it from me,” I told Titania. “I feel terrible you’re hurt. Is there anything I can do to lessen the slight you’re feeling?”

  “Are you speaking to Tanny, or Queen Titania?” she asked, her voice arctic.

  “I’d like to fix things with Tanny first, then make sure things are okay with Her Highness.”

  “Mmmm,” Mabel said. “Good answer.”

  I ignored her and kept my eyes on Titania.

  “Raul didn’t want us around his daughter. If he’d had his way she’d have never stepped foot in Faerie.” She glanced at her sister and back to me. “We were obligated to tell him of any conversation about his daughter we engaged in, and Mabel and I made a pact — without having a conversation about it — to never to speak to you of her. We knew you were in her life, we knew you’d inserted yourself into Swan politics a few millennia ago, and we both felt as if her arrival was important. Before we negotiated terms with Raul, we knew we needed to be in her life. Since Mabel had been such good friends with Sophia’s mother, she had an idea of how to go about pressuring Raul to get our way.”

  I smiled at them. “All of Faerie thinks the two of you hate each other. I understand why you keep up the charade, and how it benefits both of you politically. You should be sure to explain it to my Sophia before we leave today, though.”

  Focusing on Titania once again, I repeated, “What can I do to lessen the slight, My Lady?”

  She shook her head. “If I were my sister I’d make you prostrate yourself on the floor and then kick you around a bit, but…” she gave me a sad smile, “honestly, your offer has helped begin the healing process. Tanny will be okay, but Queen Titania will need a way to save face. I know Mabel will crown her, but perhaps I can crown you? And be the first to hug you in congratulations afterward?”

  I nodded. “This is the only time I intend to speak without Sophia being aware of it, but I realized I was wrong for not giving you a heads up before we arrived today, and wanted to do something to right the wrong.”

  She started time again, and Mabel brought up how the actual crowning would go, and suggested that, since I would be Sophia’s king and not her King, it was fitting the deposed Queen be the one to crown me.

  Before we ended our little meeting, the sisters explained to Sophia why it was important she keep the secret of their friendship. “Before today, six people knew we are truly friends. Now, with you in on the secret, there are seven.”

  “Seven counting the two of you, or nine counting the two of you?” Sophia asked.

  “You’re going to make a wonderful Queen,” Titania told her. “Nine, but you’ll never hear us count ourselves in the number. However, we’ve divulged enough secrets for the day. The two of you should go back out to the audience hall with my sister, and I’ll return home. You still need to face your father and Cyrano, Princess.”

  “To what purpose?” I asked.

  “He isn’t giving the crown up voluntarily,” Mabel told us. “He came into Faerie of his own accord, but then didn’t come to me when summoned. He spent the night in my dungeon and I’m afraid my guards weren’t gentle with either him or his companion.” She looked at Sophia. “Cyrano will have to die, preferably by your father’s hand, but if not then either by yours or your Dragon King’s.”

  Sophia started to protest, but Mabel interjected. “He didn’t protect you, and he sent a sadist to whip the skin from your body four times a year. I’ve seen it in his memories, Sophia. He watched from outside the room and fucking beat off on your pain. He’s been in a special kind of hell in my dungeon, but it isn’t enough.”

  “We’ll deal with Cyrano later,” I told them. “I’d like you to mute him while Sophia has whatever conversation you deem necessary with her father.”

  Mabel nodded. “She needs to give him the opportunity to give the crown up willingly, which means he offers it in both worlds. If he protests it being ripped from him here then he’ll still be King in the other world.”

  I looked at Sophia and gave her a small squeeze. “How do you want to handle it, My Queen?”

  “I can beat him at chess, we’ll see if I can maneuver him to my will,” she said simply, and I knew she’d be okay. She knew her fat
her well, had watched him all her life. He may have kept her away from the brunt of the politics, but she’d seen enough to know how he operated. If anyone could convince him to back off and give up his crown, she could.

  Unfortunately, I didn’t think anyone could.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Sophia

  My father was bound to a rusty, worn, broken-down throne, while Cyrano was twisted like a pretzel in the most devious stockade I’d ever seen.

  I wasn’t sure what to do with Cyrano, so I concentrated on my father.

  “You didn’t do right by me, Father, but I’d like to give you a chance to see me for who I truly am. See me for the Queen I can be, and give me your blessing to take the throne.”

  “You told me on the mountain that if I left you alone, you’d leave me alone.”

  “I did, and then you came to Faerie to try to turn people against me, and to lobby the royalty into tossing Aaron in the dungeon. You also made a really lame attempt at strong-arming the Winter Queen into returning me to you even if I returned with a mate, and thus no longer legally belonged to you.”

  “It would seem I underestimated your next moves. It won’t happen again.” He looked to Aaron, standing several steps behind me, and said, “I trusted you, Dragon. What gave you the right to take my baby girl from me?”

  Aaron looked at me in question, silently asking if I wanted him to answer or stay quiet. I turned to my father and said, “First, I’m not a baby girl, I’m a grown woman. Second, he didn’t take me from you. I planned my escape and got away all by myself. I’ve made my own decisions since escaping your prison. He’s offered advice when I’ve asked, but my decisions are my own.”

  “Princess,” he said, his voice placating. “Women need to be protected in our world. I don’t want to send you to the wolves. Let me make sure you’re safe, baby.”

  “You do realize I cut away my own skin with a craft knife in order to shift into a swan and escape my childhood home, don’t you? And the sorry excuse for a man you tasked with taking care of me sent me to a sadist for the floggings I had to endure four times a year. And why did I need to endure those floggings? Because you decreed I should stay a virgin! So, I ask you, my dear Father, who will protect me from you?”

  He just looked at me without responding, and I turned to look at the Winter Queen. “I don’t want Cyrano to witness the crowning, and I’d like my father to be kneeling as he watches. No throne for him, please?”

  “You please me, Sophia,” the Winter Queen said with a sadistic smile. “My chamber maid will show you to a room, where you’ll find an assortment of dresses I feel will work well for your crowning. Feel free to take whichever you fancy. Your mate should be fine in the tuxedo he’s wearing, for now. Let the maid know if you need anything at all. I’ll see you in an hour.”

  She kissed both of my cheeks and turned to issue more orders, one of which was to take Cyrano back to the dungeon. She’d promised he’d be returned to the other world in good health and with no injuries he couldn’t heal by shifting. I’d since learned he no longer needed to be flogged in order to change, which pissed me off to no end, but there was nothing to be done about it so I put it out of my mind.

  The dresses were all white or ivory, some made of mostly lace, others an ethereal, gossamer fabric that seemed imbued with a shimmery magic.

  I tried over a dozen on, and chose the one that made Aaron’s eyes light up the most. The bodice was tight, as if it had a corset built into it, though it just slid on over my head. “It’s magic, isn’t it?” I asked Aaron, and he nodded. “Yes, but it can only enhance what you already have. You’re beautiful, Sophia, and this dress sets off your beauty so much I almost don’t want you to be seen in public wearing it.” He kissed my forehead and added, “But I know you’re mine, so they can look all they want. No one touches you but me, My Queen.”

  * * * *

  I stepped outside under the beautiful blue sky, and walked the red and gold carpet to the huge, ornate thrones waiting by the pristine lake, as if in a dream. The trumpets playing, the audience, the color guard, my dress, and Aaron at my side… it didn’t feel real.

  Faerie is like that sometimes, though, and no matter how dreamlike, its existence is a sure thing. One can die in The Summerlands, and torture can create scars one must live with for the rest of their lives.

  I would be accepting a crown, and from this day forward would be a Faerie Queen. Not a play-pretend Queen, but a very real one.

  I took my seat on the throne and the Herald announced a long list of my ancestors, and then a short list of Aaron’s ancestors. We stood and walked up some steps, and I walked out of my heels before planting my feet on the large boulder. I turned, faced the crowd, and brushed my hand across the dress as I’d been shown. It fell in a heap at my feet as I imagined what it felt like to be a dragon. Seconds later I was pushing off the rock to take flight, and a heartbeat later, Aaron joined me in the air. We flew around the lake a few times, rejoicing in the magic of flight and the gift of each other. I could feel Aaron’s love for me as we soared and dipped, as if our hearts held hands as we flew.

  I felt his intentions, so I pulled away a little as Aaron changed to a swan in midair. I wished I’d had a chance to practice ahead of time, but didn’t focus on regrets. I lifted my wings, pressed down, and remembered what it felt like to fly as a swan. The next thing I knew, I was lifting my arms and pressing down — only my arms were now wings. I breathed easier knowing I’d done it, and I led Aaron back to the dais, and our thrones.

  Mine was slightly larger than his, but I stood on the back of it, as it seemed silly to stand in the seat.

  The Winter Queen walked to me with a large crown, large enough for a human head, but I felt it go on my small head with a perfect fit.

  The crowd clapped as the Summer Queen fit Aaron’s crown onto his head, and I opened my wings to glide to the ground. Someone held my dress in the air over my head, and as I shifted to human the dress magically went back onto me. I knew Mabel had a huge part in making it happen, and I made a note to do something to thank her, without actually thanking her.

  Titania hugged Aaron when he turned human, and it bothered me she touched him when he was naked, but she seemed genuinely happy and not at all angry or bitchy, so I didn’t glare.

  Aaron lifted me up and carried me like a baby to a small circle floating in the lake, and the crowd gasped as he levitated the two of us over the water.

  His landing was so smooth I barely felt it, and I turned into him as he settled me on my feet. Aaron’s new crown was beautiful, and I wanted to lift my arms to feel of mine, but remembered our audience and didn’t. His smile was gentle as he wrapped his arms around me and turned us so I saw the water and the other side of the lake. The sounds around us became muted, and Aaron’s kiss made me forget our audience.

  By the time he sat me on his cock, I wanted it.

  I remembered Aaron telling me he was a bit of an exhibitionist, but I was surprised at the power and intensity behind his thrusts. I was still sore from our first time, and nervous because I knew we had an audience, even if I couldn’t see them.

  Aaron tilted me backwards, aimed up, hit the spot, and I screamed in bliss as he stroked back and forth over it until I forgot how to breathe.

  An orgasm slammed into me, but Aaron didn’t slow or pay attention, kept pounding and pounding, and I flew higher and higher as my orgasm kept me in a frenzy of bliss. I leaned forward, my arms going back around him for support, and I re-oxygenated my body as best I could.

  Aaron only gave me a few seconds to regroup and he had one arm behind my back, the other lifting my leg away from his hips and over his shoulder. The new position tilted me at an angle, but I relaxed and let him hold me, knowing he wouldn’t drop me.

  His hips moved and twisted, and before long I was panting and begging, and at my first, “Please!” he gave me what I wanted. I screamed again as ecstasy slammed into me. The hand at my back moved to my arm, and I went f
arther back as he held me. I lifted my other arm and he grasped it, too, and suddenly he was hitting my favorite spot again and I gave one long, low pitched scream that went on forever. When I ran out of air I pulled more in and did it again, and this time Aaron sped up and I knew he was close. He waited until mine was almost gone, and then he leaned back, pulled me up until our upper bodies were pressed together, and then howled as he came deep inside me, his hips pumping.

  As he finished, I remembered the audience and murmured, “Oh, god.”

  Aaron chuckled and said, “You did well, My Queen.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Aaron

  Sophia’s first order of business when the ceremony was complete was to visit her new land. She hadn’t been to her father’s Summerlands home since she was a small child, and thus had no memory of it.

  I watched her as we approached, smelled her confusion and anger. Finally, she exclaimed, “So, I’m now the owner of a castle?”

  “Yes, Prin…” I stopped myself, turned and pulled her to me. “As much as I like calling you My Queen, I’m going to miss calling you Princess.”

  “Yeah, I think I’m gonna miss hearing you say it, too,” she said as she hugged me and stepped away.

  The soft look in her eyes made me want to pull her into another hug, but she quickly regrouped, threw her arms in the air, and asked, “A castle? Really?”

  I couldn’t help but smile as I told her, “With a moat and everything.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Please tell me it comes with a housekeeper and staff?”