The Dragon's Secret Prize

by Jasmine Wylder

  “Till death do us part,” Seph agreed. He knew from personal experience with his parents how short life could be. One could hope for a long life with one’s chosen mate only to have those dreams shattered by sickness, or some other sudden, unexpected event. He had made a promise, both to Asha and himself, that he would not dwell on those things or over-analyze them, and instead be thankful for what they had and to savor every moment. We’re going to watch our children grow up and have children of their own, he thought. Father may have tried to push him into finding a wife and settling down, but Seph had taken control of his own life and made his own choices. And I am happier for every one of them.

  He thought back to the day when their first clutch had come into the world, recalling the tears that had filled his father’s eyes when they had told him one of the girls had been named ‘Mara,’ after Seph’s mother and Cyril’s late and much-beloved wife. Seph still had to marvel every time he saw his father with his granddaughters, how animated the patriarch of the Vovin Clan would become in their presence. It’s amazing how two little girls managed to melt the cold heart of one cranky old Dragon, Seph mused.

  Cyril had come to embrace Asha, as well, welcoming her as a member of the family. Like Seph, he admired her strength and no-nonsense manner. Asha had made it clear early on that she would not allow her father-in-law to disrespect her; that fire had been one of the reasons Cyril had taken a shine to her, and had given his blessings to their union. Seph looked at his wife and the mother of his children, and smiled. Even if Father had wound up disowning me, for whatever reason, I still have a family – the one I’ve made with Asha, my perfect match in every way.

  Looping an arm around Asha’s shoulders, Seph hugged her to his side, determined to keep her there for many years to come.

  *****

  THE END

  Auctioned to the Dragon Warrior

  Description

  Brighid is a virgin at the College of Atlantica, destined to marry a priest she is repulsed by. One the day that she is meant to marry him, though, she is abducted by an alien species of man who can turn into dragons–the Viles. Have her fortunes gotten even worse?

  She soon finds out when she is purchased at auction by a dragon by the name of Eirrick. A warrior with more muscle than anybody she had seen before, he's more terrifying than she could possibly imagine… so why is it that she dreams of his touch?

  Eirrick has his choice of women. But he wants a wife, and that wife is Brighid. He'll convince her that he's the one for her, no matter what it takes. He wakens a fire of desire in her that she has never known. And he has sworn not to touch her until she wants him to… but how can she admit that she does when she has been taught all her life that desire is a man's prerogative, and shameful for a woman to have?

  And the priest that had laid claim to her at the College will not give her up so easily. When he declares war on the dragons, will Eirrick decide that one fragile human is worth fighting for? And can Brighid trust a man who can turn into a beast?

  Chapter One

  Brighid

  The bright sun was stifling, made all the worse by the thick, heavy dress that clung to Brighid’s neck. As a virgin in the College of the sea goddess Atlantica, she rarely stepped out into the sun, much less with her face uncovered.

  Though the heat made her want to vomit, her chest was cold, as if her heart had turned into a block of ice. Brigid sneaked a peek at the other girls standing in a line beside her. They all wore the same uniform as she did, thick black gowns that swept the ground and went to their chins and just past the wrist. Their hair was down freely, indicating they were ready to be taken as wives. All their eyes were ringed with kohl. It looked almost fearsome on the girls. In the morning many of them would have kohl streaking their faces.

  She would be one of them. All the girls were being picked by Atlantica’s priests to wife today, and she already knew who would pick her. Jyah. He was one of the high priests and never had a wife before, so he would be among the first to pick. There was a slim chance one of the others would pick her first but unlikely. Everybody knew Jyah wanted her and given his rising prowess on the battlefield, nobody would want to anger him by claiming what he already thought of his.

  Brighid's hands clenched. Perhaps it would have been better if she had thrown herself in the well where disgraced virgins were sent to be tried and drowned by Atlantica herself. It would be better than this fate. Perhaps in the morning she'd dive into it, or step from the high towers of the temple. Or perhaps Jyah would not be as terrible as she feared.

  A large transport ship, shaped like a bow with stylized propulsion systems like wings coming from the back, descended from the sky. Brighid shuddered. So they had arrived.

  The eunuchs and old maids of Atlantica, who guarded the girls’ virginity and punished those who broke their oaths, activated the energy barriers that would separate the virgins from the priests. They had all spent a decade of their lives out in space protecting the Lantian Realm from intruders, especially the great Beasts of Viles. Now that they were looking at the beautiful faces of human women once more they could hardly be expected to control themselves. It was a good thing they were being married, else they might become just as terrible as the Viles.

  The priests left their ship in a long line of swirling robes and armored bodies. They stood on transit disks and as they floated to the surface they formed a battalion rank.

  Brighid watched only long enough to see Jyah among the others. Even though priests spent their decade fighting, he was an exception. Four months ago he had been grievously wounded in battle and brought to the College for the virgins to tend to. That was when Brighid met him, while tending to his wounds.

  That was when he decided he wanted her.

  Her stomach churned as the High Priestess greeted the priests and thanked them for their service. She closes her eyes as the first warriors were called forward to choose their brides.

  Please, she begged the Ocean Mother, don't let me end in his bed.

  As if in answer to her prayer, a screech split the air. Brighid’s head snapped up. Jyah stood right in front of her. His face turned to the sky and his hand gripped the hilt of his long sword. Brighid followed his gaze. Her breath caught in her throat as plumes of fire burst in the sky.

  “Dragon!” someone shouted.

  The girls screamed. The priests drew their weapons. Brighid stared, fascinated, as the graceful shapes ducked and wove through the air. She knew in the back of her mind that she should be running. She should be utterly terrified.

  Half a dozen of the great beasts veered around and dove for the girls. They scattered. Brighid was frozen. From fear? It didn’t feel that way. Fascination? Not that, either. Just frozen.

  The dragon didn’t seem real until its claws were wrapped around her. Even then, there was no fear. The sharp edges of its scales cut into her dress and the talons were none too gentle but as it drew her against its hot belly and beat its wings at the priests that charged it, she didn’t feel how she ought to have. Full of terror. Pleading to be released.

  Through the crowd, she saw Jyah rushing towards them.

  With a final beat of its wings, the dragon took off again. More of its fellows were rising above the scurrying crowd, dodging this way and that as the priests threw spears at them. Girls writhed and screamed in their claws and Brighid wanted to laugh at them.

  Don’t you see that the priests would do the same as the beasts?

  She gazed at the ground as it got further and further away and wondered, if she prayed hard enough, Atlantica would make the dragon drop her so she would be dashed on the dirt. Her morbid thoughts shocked her from the daze that had taken hold of her. She struggled in the dragon’s grip. A rumbling vibrated its chest. A growl or laughter?

  The dragons wheeled about like a flock of birds. A cavernous mouth gaped open before them and Brighid screamed. But when they passed through the mouth it didn’t close. Instead, it turned into a giant, glittering cave. The
dragons set down and pushed their catch into the center of their circle. Brighid clung to the other girls, her stomach churning.

  But that numbness that had taken her when she first saw the dragons crept back into her and she couldn’t make herself weep like the others.

  All around them, the dragons’ wings got smaller. Their bodies twisted and condensed until what looked like men surrounded them. All had hair that was coarse and blond, braided into chunks down their backs. Many had tattoos and all had scars. Viles, a species of alien that could transform from a humanoid appearance to the dragons that had taken them.

  “We’ve got a good bounty for the auction. And all Atlantica’s virgins.” One of them laughed. “Abelard was right, the risks were worth the rewards.”

  All around her, the other girls started wailing. And no wonder. The auction was well-known. The Viles gathered up stolen women and children and sold them as slaves. Brighid knew what sort of slave that they, as virgins, would become but she still couldn't work up the tears that had her fellow sisters gnashing their teeth. If anything, their dramatics were getting annoying.

  Her lack of tears caught the attention of one of the men. “You’re not wailing about like your sisters. Why not?”

  Brighid wondered for a moment if he was hoping that his cruel tone would make her tears come but shrugged. It was better than the leering that she got from Jyah. The way she would leave the baths and find him by the doors with a swelling in his pants and wonder if he had been watching her. How much worse could the auction be?

  “I suppose I don’t see any change in my fortunes.”

  The Viles’ hairy brows rose. He stepped closer to her and she was surprised that he didn’t smell of brimstone and rotting flesh, as she was so often told. His skin glistened and he smelled of animal fat, presumably rubbed over his body, but that was it.

  “No change in fortunes is it?” He grasped her wrist. “Why’s that?”

  She didn’t like him touching her but tried not to let her revulsion show. “I was sold to the college when I was a young girl. My mother was a harlot and she had no use for me. All my life I knew I was going to be claimed by a man whom I did not choose. A man I would not care for and a man I probably wouldn’t even like. I knew who was going to choose me today and I would rather be blinded by fire and live my life as a beggar than be forced into his bed.”

  The Viles laughed. “And so you will be sold to another man without complaint?”

  “He will probably be as dreadful but if I’m lucky, perhaps not.”

  His grip on her wrist tightened. “I could keep you. You’re a pretty one. Just bend over for me here and I’ll mark you as my own. No market. We’re allowed to keep a girl from each raid in our harem.”

  “Harem,” Brighid repeated. "Bend over?"

  Perhaps this man would be better than the one that she was going to be sold to but she pulled her hand away as a shiver ran down her spine.

  The Viles laughed once more. “Perhaps more frightened that you realize yourself. Cry when we sell you. With luck a soft-hearted fool will take pity on you.”

  “I don’t cry,” she replied.

  The Viles smirked. He strode away and others came to herd the girls down the cave. The lights faded away behind them until they were in pitch-black. It was only then that Brighid realized that the Viles had a transporter. It was the only way they could have appeared the way they had and escaped without pursuit. A transporter. No wonder the priests could never catch them.

  Their captors stuck them in a cold, black room. Brighid clutched at the girls who clutched at her but only for warmth. Even if she had turned down that Viles offer, she didn’t feel frightened. She didn’t feel anything at all…

  Except she did.

  Here in the darkness without anybody being able to see her face, she allowed a smile blossom over it. If she had been alone she would have laughed. A change in her fortunes? Oh, yes, there had been a change. It didn’t matter who she went to now, because she knew who was never going to get his foul hands on her.

  Even if the priests came after these girls, none of them would ever be taken to wife. Not when they might have lost their virginity, willingly or not. It didn’t matter to the priests, they would only think of how the girls were no longer pure and that they didn’t want to raise a Viles baby. No, there would be no reclaiming. And that meant that she would never have to put her eyes on Jyah again.

  Brighid clasped a nearby girl to her as the girl started to cry but her own triumphant lips made no noise. Perhaps Atlantica was real after all, to give her this blessing.

  What if I get someone worse?

  She shook her head. It wasn’t possible. There was nobody worse than Jyah. It simply wasn’t possible.

  Chapter Two

  Eirrick

  The Auction. Eirrick breathed in deeply as he settled himself in a gold-plated chair. This was one of the most elaborate ceremonies that brought the various Viles clans together. And the only one that didn’t usually end in a little bloodshed. Each clan offered up a portion of their take from the year and were given coin to spend purchasing others’ wares. The more an individual gave, the more he got.

  Eirrick had given every catch he had gotten. The books, weapons, currency. He was against taking slaves but he was here to buy a woman. Not for a slave, though.

  A server brought him a bottle of wine and Eirrick waved her off. If there was a chance for bloodshed it was going to be here, at this auction. There was always a chance that someone would become too drunk and desirous and get angry when someone else could buy the person they were after. Better to keep his wits about him, in case he had to violently defend his choice.

  The women were being sold first, as they always were. The auctioneer showed images of each one while giving a brief overview of how the auction would work. Eirrick scrolled through his tablet, marking which ones he might wish to purchase.

  The first one put on sale was a human. Black-haired, doe-eyes. Thin as a wisp and a virgin. Certainly not what he was looking for. But as the cameras panned over her face, his breath caught in his throat. There was a look of steely determination in her eyes. A look of strength. Maybe she wasn't a fighter but that look was one that could wait out a siege or withstand a storm and pick up the pieces afterward.

  “Shall we open the bidding?” the auctioneer crooned. A flash over the woman’s head showed the highest offer as it was being made. Glancing at his tablet, Eirrick saw a small window in the corner, asking if he wanted to increase the bid. He tapped it. His number flashed over her head. A couple seconds later, a countering bid replaced his.

  Eirrick increased his bid. It sat at his number for some time and the audience tittered.

  “She might be human but she is lovely to look at." The auctioneer gestured for the human to turn around. "Shall we see?”

  He meant to strip her. It was a common tactic when the income for a slave wasn't as high as they wished. A well of anger rose in Eirrick as he thought of the men who would freeze frame an image of her naked form to pleasure themselves later to, but wouldn't bother to put a bid on her. He wasn't going to let that happen. As the auctioneer reached to undress the frail human, Eirrick typed in the first sum that came to mind–everything he had been given for the day.

  The gasps when his number flickered onto the screen were audible. The auctioneer stared for a long moment before quietly stepping back. There were no other bids and soon Eirrick found himself ushered to behind the stage to claim his prize.

  She was pretty. Small and delicate but pretty. She didn't flinch as he wrapped an arm around her to usher her away. But was she worth what he had just paid? Eirrick growled in his throat. He had been too impulsive. Mother was going to be furious.

  “I will never get back the money I spent on you,” he sighed. “I hope that you will prove yourself quickly or my brothers will never let me live it down.”

  She remained silent as she stepped into the transit pod that would take them back to his ship. She di
dn't look at him. Had he bought himself a defective woman?

  He opened his mouth to tell her to speak but she beat him to it. “Prove myself. You mean sexually. Am I to warm your bed or will you sell me to others?”

  She spoke in such a calm tone that it surprised him. He didn't answer. The thought of anybody else touching her soft skin, of any other dragon fertilizing her eggs, made his flames flicker and roar, sending the taste of ash to his mouth. It was an odd sensation. Why should he care if another man touched her? He shared his women with his brothers on the ship all the time, many of whom were more beautiful than this one.

  Perhaps this was just his desire for a wife speaking again. A woman who would live with him, whose children would be his as well. Yes, that was it. That was why his feelings were getting the best of him.

  Once on his clan’s ship, he took her by the hand and started to lead her to the harem. She would need time to adjust and the harem was a place for the women to tend to each other. They would ensure she knew what her life would be like. They hadn't gotten far before Lorro, one of his brothers, stopped them. Lorro slapped his back and laughed as he looked at his woman.

  “I heard you had overspent on a woman. Didn't know it was a human… she’s pretty but not that pretty.”

  Eirrick growled a warning that Lorro ignored.

  “And a virgin? Not just any virgin but from the Atlantic College. They don't even let their women touch a man. You’ll have your work cut out for you, showing her how it's done…" Lorro glanced down her figure. "Course, I’d be happy to help you teach her how to please a man.”

  Erick's fist flew. It hit Lorro hard in the stomach, making his brother double over with a whoosh of air. Smoke belched into the air and the human gasped, pressing both hands to her mouth.

  “She is my wife,” Eirrick hissed. “Or she will be soon. I’m not sharing this one.”

  Lorro straightened and laughed. “And what is this one’s name?”