Changed
Dragon Princes Of Endor
By
Scarlett Grove
***
Copyright © 2015 by Scarlett Grove
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Join Scarlett Grove’s mailing list for updates on new releases with her newsletter. Or come visit my website at www.scarlettgrove.com.
Table Of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter One
"If that is my real parents’ home, I'd like to see it," I say. I still don't believe any of this, but getting out of the castle sounds like a good idea to me.
"It is far too dangerous," Trav says, crossing his arms.
"Look, if you let me go with you, I might just be that much closer to letting you make hilock with me," I say, batting my eyelashes. I'm sick of being locked in my bedroom.
He lets out a long sigh and shakes his head. "Fine. Go prepare yourself," he says. "We leave within the hour."
I head upstairs, and Trav walks beside me. "I will escort you to your rooms, lady," he says, putting out his elbow for me to take. I shrug and take his arm. He gallantly walks me to my room, and the door slides open.
"Hey, wait," I say. "Could you unlock the door for me?" I ask.
"This door is not locked," he says, frowning. "It doesn't recognize your form. I will have it replaced while we are gone.” He bows his head slightly before he turns to go.
I hurry to the bathroom to find a tub already prepared for me. I sink into the warm water and wash my hair. When I get out, Uria is waiting for me in my bedroom with an outfit prepared for the journey. "This is a good traveling dress," she says. It has a mid-calf length skirt in a deep burgundy. The outfit includes a fitted tunic, a pair of thick tights that go under the skirt, and knee-high leather boots. It looks more practical than the gown I wore the night before. Uria helps me dress and does my hair and face just before Trav appears at my door.
"Come," he says. I whistle for Clancy.
"What are you doing?" he asks. "That creature cannot come with us."
"He's coming," I say.
"Fine, just hurry." He takes my arm and escorts me quickly downstairs.
Outside, I see what looks like a carriage with no wheels and a giant handle on top, sitting on a stone slab. For some reason, I was expecting horses. I shrug and let Trav lead me into the carriage. Clancy hesitates at the ramp, but I tug his leash and he finally follows in.
I sit on a soft cushioned seat and look around nervously. What is the giant handle on the roof for? I don’t think I want to know. Trav puts Clancy into a cargo hold that looks comfortable enough. Trav inspects me before bounding down the ramp. Gizmel, Uria and a few other servants join me in the carriage as I watch Trav checking the exterior. Finally, he closes the entrance ramp.
I’m not ready for what I see next. Trav suddenly transforms into a giant red dragon and pumps his wings, launching into the air. The carriage shakes as the massive beast grips the handle with his claws.
A moment later, the carriage lifts off the ground. I let out a small cry, gripping my seat, and Clancy whines from his crate. I can see the castle out the window as we rise into the air. The landscape below becomes smaller and smaller as we fly. Clouds pass out the window as I sink back in my chair, stunned I’m riding in a dragon drawn carriage.
After what feels like about an hour of this, the craft stops and slowly sinks to the ground. Trav sets us down and descends outside the carriage, shifting as he lands.
Taking my hand, Trav leads me toward a hillside. As I walk, my leather boots sink slightly into the soft ground. Clancy bounds ahead over the hill. As we hurry after him, a castle comes into view.
I'm awestruck for a moment at the overwhelming beauty of it. While Trav's castle looks like a medieval fortress, this castle seems to be straight out of nineteenth century Germany or some Disney fairy tale. Towers spiral up to the sky and end in points where tattered flags wave in the slight breeze.
"No one has been here for twenty-eight years?" I ask, gripping Trav's arm more tightly.
"There is a caretaker who is loyal to your family, and a small guard to keep looters away, all awaiting your return."
"This place belongs to me? I mean…the lost dragon born princess?"
"Yes, lady. This is your rightful estate. Come."
Our group walks down the grassy hillside and past small grazing deer-like animals that have thick woolly coats. The animals move in a herd as we walk between them, braying as they scatter away. Clancy wants to chase after them, but I grab his leash and hold it until we get inside the front gate of the castle.
I look around my palace. That's the only word I can use to describe it. The twenty-foot tall front doors open. A bent, little man emerges, wearing navy blue knee length pants, a matching waistcoat, and white tights. His long black hair is pulled back in a low ponytail. Gizmel hurries up to him and the two walk toward Trav and me.
"This is the lady I told you about, Hammon," Gizmel says. "This is Rona's daughter."
The little man, Hammon, looks me up and down and frowns. "Is she deformed?" he asks in a breathless, scratchy voice. He seems like he’s a hundred years old. He has the same pointed ears and sharp canines that most of the people in Endor seem to have, but he's short and lacks glowing eyes. Apparently, he isn't a dragon.
"She is enchanted, Hammon.” Gizmel gives me an apologetic look.
"I am your prince, and this is the Princess of Skyland," Trav announces. "We have been traveling. Now invite us inside."
Hammon twitches and shakes as if he's forgotten his baby in a hot car and then waves for us to follow him inside.
We pass through the massive front doors into an equally tall entry hall. The ceiling is fifty feet high with lighting that seems to drip in glass beads from above. Light plays prismatically across the frescoed walls and ceiling. Murals of dragons flying dramatically across the sky swirl around me.
The taller elves lead armies of the smaller ones over hillsides covered in broken bodies and blood. On another wall, the scene drips with flowers and waterfalls as two dragons are entwined in what appears to be an embrace.
Below them are the figures of a man who looks like a dragon born and a woman of similar stature. She is curvaceous and beautiful, with long golden hair and tanned skin.
I walk to the painting and trace my fingers over the woman's likeness. Hammon approaches me and stands beside me with a long sigh. "The lady Rona Skyland, the last of the dragon born princesses."
I look up at him to see a tear trickle down his cheek. His lips quiver, and I can tell that even after all this time he's broken up about it.
"What happened to all the women?" I ask.
"The last time the Org emerged from their vile womb, deep in the mountain, their leader sent a plague on the dragon born. Each year, less females were born. After a thousand years, only one lived. Rona. She had a daughter they called Dolomane. The Skylands knew of the curse and hid the baby so that no Orgs could ever find her."
"Do you think I'm her?" I whisper. Suddenly I feel more sympathetic to the cause, hearing Hammon speak of his late mistress and her child.
"I
don't know, lady, you look nothing like a dragon born. You don't even look Endorian. Gizmel says the child was enchanted, but I don't know about such things."
"Come," Trav says, taking my arm. "We are going to the old wizard’s laboratory."
Just as he turns me to go, a group of men walks through the front door. I blink as the sunlight glints in my eyes. When the figures move farther into the shade of the room, I realize it's Conyac and his men.
"What are you doing here, Blackwell?" Trav growls.
Chapter Two
"I heard you were taking the princess to her ancestral home. I thought I'd come to join you and officially welcome the lady back to her home. Will you be staying in your family's castle, Princess Skyland?"
“I hadn't thought about it." The idea of living in my own house with my own servants sounds nice about now. I'm tired of Trav’s constant pressure to make hilock or whatever it's called. "If we can prove I'm truly Princess Skyland, then I would be happy to stay here. If it's alright with you, Hammon?"
"I would be honored to have a Skyland in residence again. Ecstatic. I've been awaiting the return of the princess all these twenty-eight years."
"Super. Let's see what we can find," I say. The sooner we have this figured out the better. If they can't prove I'm the princess, then they will have to leave me alone. If they can, I can move out of Trav's castle into my own.
"That is out of the question," Trav protests. "I cannot protect you here!"
"I would be happy to post a guard for the lady of Skyland," Conyac counters. Trav growls at him.
"Fine. If we can prove she is the princess today, we will both post a guard. But I will be staying with the lady."
"And I will stay as well," Conyac says with a grin.
I roll my eyes and step between the cockfight. "Guys, please. Let's just find what we came to find. Okay?"
Conyac is wearing a long black cloak with fur around the shoulders, making his already broad shoulders seem even broader. The black cloak and white fur bring out the color of his glowing blue eyes. He smiles at me when he notices I'm watching him. I look away, embarrassed. I haven't gotten a chance to spend much time with Conyac. He has an equal claim to the throne, and to me, as Trav does. I bite my lip thinking about spending time with him. He always seems like such a nice guy. A big, sexy, powerful, nice guy.
Hammon leads us through the front hall, up a winding staircase, down a long corridor, and up another narrower winding stair that leads high into one of the towers.
Looking out a narrow window, I take in the view, and my breath is sucked out of my lungs. I understand now why this is called Skyland. Beyond the castle grounds, the land falls sharply away and plummets into a bottomless canyon. Vertigo overtakes me, and I slump down on the stairs, winded. Conyac is by my side, lifting me up in his arms. I take in the scent of his cologne, alpine and fresh, making me even more light-headed.
I lean against his chest as he carries me effortlessly up the staircase. Trav is behind us, growling. I know he's going to grab me back at any moment. I should have the right to choose which prince I mate with, if I mate with either of them that is.
We make it to the top of the stairs and enter a laboratory similar to Gizmel's.
The tiny man begins bustling around the room, unrolling crumbling scrolls, as Conyac sets me down in a dusty chair. "Are you all right, lady?" he asks me.
"I'm fine. I just got dizzy when I realized how far up we are."
"Yes, Skyland can only be reached by a narrow bridge or by wing. It is the safest fortress on Endor."
"This place is a mess!" Gizmel complains as he searches through dusty tomes, looking for the information he's after.
Trav sits on the other side of me and hands me a metal cup full of water. His expression is blank, and he says nothing. "Thanks, Trav," I mutter, taking the water. I bring the cup to my lips and sip. The cool liquid flows down my throat, making me feel much better.
As I sit between the two princes, a buzz burns in my body, making me come alive in an embarrassingly intense way. Double prince pheromones, not good. My nipples pebble painfully against the cloth of my bodice, and my pussy becomes slick with juice. I lick my lips and look from one man to the next.
Is it Conyac that is doing this to me or the effect of both of them? Trav seems to think I'd get turned on by my "true mate." When they crushed me between them last night, I was more turned on than I had ever been in my life. I even ended up letting Trav go down on me, which was totally out of character.
If it's just Conyac that makes me so randy, then maybe he's my true mate. I shake my head at my ludicrous train of thought. I still don't really believe I'm one of these people.
Gizmel moans as he runs his finger down a yellowed scroll. "These scrolls are disintegrating!" he grumbles.
"Keep looking wizard," Trav commands.
"Perhaps we should take the lady to get some fresh air," Conyac suggests. "And leave the wizard to do his work.
"Yes, yes," the gnome agrees.
Conyac stands and offers me his hand while Trav growls beside me. I take the offered hand and follow the black-haired prince down the stairs, this time, not looking out the window. I don't think I'll ever get used to the sight of the land falling away into nothingness. It's as if we're on a cliff in the Himalayas or something.
Downstairs, Conyac leads me into a throne room. Two massive chairs sit at the end of the hall that is lined with rows of benches. We walk down the red-carpeted aisle, approaching the thrones. Between the two intricately carved gold chairs is a massive crystal globe on an onyx pedestal.
"It is the Mirror of Skyland," Hammon says from the doorway. I turn to see him standing there, wringing his hands, and looking at me expectantly. "It is said to hold the power of the Skyland family within its depths, but most believe it is just a legend."
I step up on to the raised floor where the thrones and crystal sit, and I walk around the massive Mirror of Skyland, wondering what it's for.
"It's beautiful," I say. Conyac waits below me, watching me with his glowing blue eyes, a satisfied smile playing on his lips. Trav bursts into the room and growls as he passes Conyac.
"Gizmel can find nothing. We go. Now."
I sigh and sit in one of the thrones. I'm not ready to give up. Part of me feels at home here. The heights scare the heck out of me, but otherwise, I like it here. I focus on the radiant crystal in front of me. The shadows and lights within the clear gem seem to play tricks on my eyes. I see a man and a woman waving at me from within. I peer into the depths of the Mirror of Skyland, and a subtle hum radiates from the globe. Raising my hand, I place a finger on the smooth surface.
Hammon barks from the end of the room, but suddenly, I'm overcome by some inner need. I put my entire hand on the ball and then the other. Electricity radiates through me, and I cry out. "What is happening to her?" I hear Trav yell.
Conyac catches me as I fall to my knees. "Wait, don't move her," Gizmel's voice echoes through my brain as images and memories shift and move inside my awareness. I can feel something happening to me. It is as if I am being cracked open and the insides are being pulled out. I scream, but I'm not in pain. I can vaguely make out the voices of the princes yelling at each other while Gizmel begs them to wait.
"She has tapped into the power of Skyland. She is the princess," Hammon's voice cracks through the room. I moan as my body seems to break apart and be put back together again. Time stands still, and I'm lost in a white light. Suddenly, I'm back in the room, kneeling on the floor with all four men looking at me frantically.
I let go of the globe and hands are all around me, helping me to my feet. I'm set in the throne, the throne of my mother, and everyone is talking at once.
"What happened?" I ask. I don't recognize my voice. It's deeper, richer. I feel strange, as if I don't fit into my own skin.
"Princess!" Hammon gushes, bowing deeply before me. "I am your loyal servant."
"I'm the princess," I say, somewhere between certainty a
nd questioning.
"Look at her face, her eyes. She is dragon born," Trav says, his voice somewhat shocked.
"Did you doubt it?" Conyac challenges.
"Of course not," Trav says defensively.
"Now that we are sure she is the princess, I assume that means we will be staying with her at Skyland," Gizmel says.
Chapter Three
I rise from the throne, straightening to my full height. I've grown about a foot in stature and now stand only a head shorter than Trav and Conyac. I look down at my hands. My fingers are long and slender; my skin is sleek and flawless.
"How?" I say, looking at Gizmel. My voice is smooth and deep, my sight sharper. I can feel something coil inside me, in the depths of my brain and belly. It slithers behind the shadows of what I know as me.
"The Mirror lifted the enchantment. It must have been the components of the crystalline structure..." Gizmel goes on with his theory of how the crystal lifted the spell, but I am too distracted to hear him. My senses have become ultra keen, and I am overwhelmed by the bombardment of information that is pounding through my eyes, ears, and skin. I need to be alone, in the dark and quiet. Even my clothing feels constrictive.
"Hammon," I state authoritatively. "Take me to the royal chambers. I need to rest."
"Yes, lady," Hammon says, scurrying up to me. He reaches out his hand for me to take as he helps me down from the raised floor where I stand. I follow him into the entry hall.
Conyac and Trav are at my heels, but I turn to them and stare them down before following Hammon up the stairs. We climb to a hallway, and Hammon hurries to open a set of double doors. I stride through the double doors into a massive chamber. There is a huge bed waiting for me there; everything is clean and fresh within.
"Send Uria to me. I need to get out of these clothes," I tell him. Somehow, my confidence level has just shot through the roof. I've never felt so powerful in my life. However, behind the confidence, I feel a sense of melancholy and loss.
Changed Page 1
