Fated Hope

by Sariah Skye

  Men I thought to myself. Still giving me grief.

  Chapter 20

  I half expected the scene upon arriving in the throne room to be a somber one; Maxxus begrudgingly listening to the stuffy delegates, Finnian scribbling notes furiously or nervously bouncing his leg up and down as everyone spoke and argued over who would go where.

  So the boisterous scene, full of dragons and Loremasters expectedly chugging down mass quantities of ale and gorging themselves on various foodstuffs had me somewhat…surprised.

  “What the—” I said, emerging through the doors to witness the scene before me.

  Maxxus, who’d been conversing loudly with an unfamiliar male—at least from this angle I thought he was a male, judging by the baldness—slammed down his large tankard of ale and patted his companion on the back. “Leorah! Come join!”

  “They must be the ones from—Babua?” Gabriel inquired, quietly whispering over my shoulder.

  “I assume so.”

  Maxxus’ friend turned around, and I was shocked by the heavily makeup-ed face that now looked upon me. Lipstick, eyeliner, shadow, rouge—the works. Perfect, like straight out of an online-video tutorial.

  “Unless there are drag dragons, I don’t think that’s a male,” Daniel observed behind me.

  I didn’t budge, instead choosing to stare daggers at Maxxus, as his companion attempted to regain his attention.

  He smiled once at her and pulled away, walking directly towards her. The smell of ale practically permeated from his pores, and I waved my hand in front of my face and grimaced. “Dear Gods, Maxx—what is going on? I thought this was a meeting to discuss rebuilding Castle Danger—not a goddamned keg party!”

  “Oooh, someone’s in the doghouse!” Daniel said in singsong.

  “I’m afraid that is our fault—Queen Leorah?” The bald female sauntered over to us, swaying her backside as she walked. She wore robes that trailed down her back, that appeared to be in an official capacity, but when she spun around her attire was even more surprising then her appearance.

  “Yep. Definitely female,” Gabriel said, his brown eyes wide as he ogled her skimpy clothing. She wore little more than a bra and underwear, with a sheer white skirt hanging low on her hips. She had an hourglass figure—and unlike me, without the extra sand. No, the extra sand was poured straight into her massive boobs; they made mine look like chicken pox. She smiled widely, showing off her pearly, perfect teeth and I swear, Gabriel practically salivated.

  I elbowed him in the side—hard. Hey, I don’t care if we weren’t together, you didn’t ogle like that in front of another woman, dammit!

  Gabriel sucked in a breath and clutched his chest. Forcing an innocent smile, he mumbled, “Sorry,” to me under his breath.

  “Hrrrrrmph.” I crossed my arms stubbornly over my chest, and narrowed my eyes.

  The bald female and I eyed each other; I’m not sure what I was waiting for. An apology maybe for her being so beautiful while having no damn hair maybe. It wasn’t fair. I tried not to shy away under her scrutiny.

  “Leorah,” Maxxus said, with a nervous laugh. He crossed the room and pulled me under his arm. “This is my mate, and the Queen of Anarach—Leorah. Leo, this is Ganareth, under Princess of Babua.”

  “Under princess?” I repeated, confused at the ridiculous term.

  Ganareth just chuckled, and waved my comment aside with nonchalance. “It just means in Babua that I am one of the children of the King and Queen, but I have no chance at the throne, ever, being there are so many of us. So I serve more of a diplomatic function.” She spoke with a heavy accent I couldn’t quite place; I’d never heard anything like it before on the human Earth and certainly not in Anarach (but I’d never met a Babuan before—clearly).

  “Ah, I see. You don’t hold elections?” I blushed immediately at my ignorant question. I should probably know this, I realized.

  “No, the same family has ruled in Babua for about six thousand years. Probably more.” She didn’t seem fazed by my question, thankfully. Her gaze was apprising the sorcerer, and seer with appreciation. “Brothers?”

  I felt a very low growl rumble in the back of my throat, and she whipped her gaze away from them.

  “They are my family,” I said, my voice warning.

  Ganareth raised a single brow before smiling. “I see. I would be possessive of my brothers too.”

  Maxxus let out an uncomfortable, distracting cough. “Yes, this is the sorcerer Gabriel of the Ord na Draconis Dianthus and Daniel, Seer and attendant of the Court.” Gabriel and Daniel both nodded at her in acknowledgment.

  “Humans?” She appeared surprised. “Huh, Anarach is more modern than I thought.”

  I let out a low whistle. “Criminy, why does everyone think we’re so ass-backward?” I mumbled to myself, wiping a palm over my face. I composed myself and put on a happy expression. “So, how do you like Anarach so far?”

  “Oh, it’s beautiful! I don’t think I’ve seen such a beautiful kingdom!” she praised, before her smile fell. “Of course except for the…Shadow taint.” She spoke the word Shadow in a quiet, barely-audible tone.

  “We’re making great strides making repairs, be assured,” I said proudly.

  “Of course, you suffered a terrible tragedy! Which is why I insisted that Babua be able to assist you in your time of need! Plus, the weather back home is so unbearable, the cold temperatures are a nice vacation compared to the sandstorms.”

  “Sandstorms?” Gabriel asked, surprised. “I thought that all dragons lived in cold climates?”

  “Except us, we are desert-dwelling dragons.” She rubbed her hand over her bald head, and over her eyes. Strangely, I hadn’t noticed until now that she had no eyebrows—no visible body hair of any kind. “It is commonly in the 100s back home, and right now is the sandy season. That is why we have no hair in our human forms; it keeps us from sweating profusely.”

  “Interesting,” I said, genuine. I had known they were desert dwellers but the hairless business? No idea. Dragons weren’t inherently extremely hairy—I only had to shave my legs about once a week—but the idea of never having to worry about a haircut or shaving was appealing.

  “Have you worked out all the details regarding Castle Danger?” I asked Maxxus expectantly.

  “Mostly. We did get sidetracked by the gifts Ganareth brought from home.” He motioned his hand to the spread of ale and food on tables along the walls in the throne room.

  “We’re a bit of a kingdom of excess,” she said, with a smirk. “It is how we make friends. Might I get you some ale? It isn’t even spelled, it is just quite potent. It should wear off within the hour and leave you all ready for your next duties.”

  “Ah, no, thank you. I am…well unable. Doctor’s orders.” I forced a smile. I didn’t want to explain why, so I hoped she wouldn’t ask.

  “Of course. If you’ll excuse me.” One of the other delegates—this time it really was a male (equally as hairless)—called to the UnderPrincess. He was just as scantily clad, no shirt across his buff, oiled and tanned body and he wore nothing more than sheer robes and a loin-cloth of sorts wrapped around his midsection. She left us and joined him, shamelessly wrapping herself around him and practically jumping his bones right then and there.

  “Dear god…” Daniel said in admiration, eyeing the Babuan male.

  “You’re drooling,” I whispered back at him.

  “I don’t care.” Daniel’s mouth remained open. “I think I should introduce myself.” With that, he separated from us and made his way over to Ganareth and her slutty male friend.

  “What in the gods’ name is this?” I scolded Maxxus, pointing at all the food and drink. “We’re here to get Castle Danger rebuilt, not have some frat party!”

  Maxxus chuckled. “I know, I know. But the Babuans are…persuasive.”

  Gabriel grumbled. “I’ll say.” We watched as the male Babuan looked appraisingly at the Seer, and wrapped his free appendage around him. Daniel soaked up the
attention lavishly, enjoying every moment.

  I smacked my hands against my face. “Did we accomplish anything?”

  “I’d say it was more or less a success.” Finnian joined us, parting in his conversation with the Northlands delegates. He held up a clipboard, full of his handwriting. “It’s all right here, the Northlandians have already dispatched their finest crafters and contractors. The Babuans are sending word home to see what materials can be spared—they have an abundance of stone they’re willing to part with. Spelled stone, that is hard to demolish. A necessity in the sandy season, the princess said.”

  “Well…good. How about Dreka?” I looked to Maxxus to see if he was absorbing anything that was said, but he looked woozy on his feet and clearly, his gaze was off somewhere in space.

  I narrowed my eyes at him, pulling at my pink mind magic inside. You. Are. Not. Drunk.

  Suddenly, like a slap in the face, Maxxus came back to the moment; his blue eyes wide and surprised. He groaned, rubbing his temples with one hand and handing me the large tankard with the other. “Leorah, darling, will you please get this far, far away from me?”

  Gabriel stifled a laugh, realizing what I had done. “I got it.” He took the glass in hand and pat Maxxus in solidarity on the arm before walking off to set it on a nearby table.

  “What about Dreka?” I asked him, pointedly once again.

  “Dreka has many builders, they’re sending all they can spare.” Maxxus frowned. “Wow, that stuff really packs a punch.”

  “As a King do you really think you should be…um, imbibing as you are? Shouldn’t we be setting a good example for the rest of Anarach?” I challenged him.

  “I agree, but the Babuans would take it as an insult. It is for…diplomacy,” Maxxus replied.

  I snorted. “Right, right.” I rolled my eyes and let the subject drop, as Maxxus appeared sufficiently miserable. Good.

  “What did you find out when you visited the cell?” Finnian questioned.

  “It appears that someone with earth magic opened the lock, and reclosed it and that was what let Connor free,” Gabriel replied. “We don’t know how it went unseen by the guards, but we’re looking into it.”

  Finnian stroked his chin pensively. “That is…curious indeed.”

  “Earth magic?” Maxxus was astounded. “Who would do such a thing? What about the Shadows?”

  “They’re still there,” I assured him. “Just we don’t think that’s how he got out, but that’s what someone wanted us to think.”

  “This just gets weirder and weirder,” he mused, appearing thoughtful.

  “Any ideas who has earth magic in the guard?” I asked.

  He let out a noisy breath. “Oh, many. Finnian, is there any way to read their minds, or something?”

  “It is an idea, but if they were mind-controlled, they might not have memory or memory imprint of it,” he replied.

  “Then—how?” I snapped my fingers, suddenly realizing. “It has to be Cyril. He’s acting through someone—somehow.”

  Maxxus let out a low whistle. “That is…not good. At all.”

  Finnian shook his head with agreement. “No. Not at all.”

  The “meeting” wrapped up shortly after, much to my relief. The idea of the party atmosphere in Anarach at a time like this bothered me more than I could regale, and I was glad to find myself and Maxxus, alone in our chambers in the early afternoon.

  “Thank the gods.” I yanked my hair down off my head and peeled off my robes and my clothes down to my underwear, tossing them wherever I happened to be as I stalked towards the washroom. “I need a shower.”

  “Leo! I—” Maxxus began to speak, but I entered the room and shut the door, cutting off his words.

  I don’t know why I was being so surly. I really didn’t, except for the bald goddess that was flirting with my man, and the damned King. “You don’t flirt with royalty!” I steamed under my breath, as I ripped off my underthings, tossing them on the bathroom floor. Sona yelped, as my bra landed on her accidentally. She’d been exiting her litter box apparently and was quite taken aback.

  “Sorry!” I called to her, with a laugh. She seemed appeased by this, and waltzed towards the plush rug on the floor and proceeded to clean herself.

  I cranked on the warm spray and stepped carefully into the shower, trying to ignore the thoughts of the desert dragon reeling in my mind.

  “Leo?” There was a knock at the door, and I growled.

  “Showering!” was all I called back. I furiously grabbed for the strawberry scented shampoo and rigorously scrubbed my hair. I was so into shampooing and conditioning, when I spun back around to reach for the soap, Maxxus was standing there, outside the shower, staring at me through the clear shower door.

  I let out a shriek, and fell backwards a tad onto the cold, stone wall. It was a stark contrast with the hot spray, causing me to scream a bit. “Cold!”

  Maxxus put a hand on the shower door. “Leo, I’m coming in. You’re mad, and we need to talk.”

  “Don’t you dare!” I attempted to hunch over, covering my naked body with my arms quite unsuccessfully. I jiggled my finger at him in warning.

  A solicitous smile slowly creeped upon his handsome face. Slowly, strategically, he began unbuttoning his white shirt, taunting me with the view.

  “Don’t think your little tease is going to help you! I saw how you looked at that Susan Powter-looking chick!” I choked down the heat rising in my chest. Just the shower…just the shower, I tried to convince myself.

  “Who?” He shrugged, unbuttoning the last of the buttons and allowing the fabric to fall from his shoulders, down his arms and onto the floor, leaving him standing before me wearing only his black pants and whatever was underneath.

  “Stop it! It’s not going to work!” I warned, as my breath hitched. He began unzipping his pants, and lowering them slightly…and that’s when I noticed he was going commando. “Dear gods…” I muttered to myself.

  He kicked the pants off and stepped forward, grabbing the handle in all his bare-naked glory. I will not get turned on, I will not get turned on.

  However, my legs quivered, and I grumbled. “Traitors,” I complained.

  “Leo, really, it was nothing. The Babuans are a little flirty. Surely you remember that?” he insisted, apologetically.

  “How would I remember that? I’ve been banned from Court crap until—well just now, basically.” I scowled, as he opened the door and took a step towards the shower. I crossed my arms in front of me and spun around. “I’m not looking at you.”

  “Fine.” I felt a set of hands on my ass, and the door shut behind Maxxus. He inched towards me cautiously, pressing his body against mine as the water sprayed down on us. “Then I’ll admire the view from back here.” His hands lingered over my backside, and trailed forward, gently, over my hips and around my middle.

  I sighed, feeling the hot tingle betray my anger between my legs as his hands inched ever so much closer.

  “Stop,” I said without conviction, trying to slap his hands away.

  He pressed his hands to my stomach, where they rest leisurely. “You don’t want to upset the baby, do you?” He leaned over and whispered into my ear, nudging my wet hair aside with his nose and trailing little kisses over the length of my neck, and over my shoulder.

  “Dammit.” My weak spot. I closed my eyes and sank into the hard form of him, laying my head on his damp chest and bit my lip to prevent the contented moan that was trying to escape my lips.

  “I can understand being possessive, really. Everytime I see that Sorcerer look at you, there’s still a part of me that wants to punch him in the face.” Maxxus spoke softly, tracing light paths over my skin, waking my skin up and making my body shudder uncontrollably with excitement. “But even if he does have feelings for you, I know it’s one sided. You’re mine, and you will always be. Just like I am yours. Besides, bald doesn’t quite do it for me.” He ran a hand through the length of my hair, smoothing it down my b
ack. “Wow, it really has grown a lot.”

  “I’m a dragon, that’s what it does,” I said breathlessly, leaning further backwards into the hardness of his body.

  “There’s no one else for me, Leorah, darling. Never has been, never will be. Okay?” Maxxus whispered huskily into my ear.

  “Unh-huh…” The proximity of my mate, the heat of the shower and the relaxation of the water dissolved all my crabbiness, and resolve. I slowly spun on my tip toes and faced him. “So…what are you doing here?”

  Maxxus smiledly leisurely. “Making sure you’re not mad, and making it up to you.” His blue eyes hooded, as he forcefully pushed me against the wall, his hands roughly traipsing over all parts of my body, effectively setting my core on fire. I wrapped one my legs around him, as he suddenly was too far away.

  “Yes. We have a couple hours before we have to do anything. Let’s use it wisely.” His hands were cupping my ass forcefully once again, and with one heave, lifted me easily on top of him. I gasped, clawing at his shoulders as I allowed him to have his way with me, in the shower. Over, and over again…

  When we were both spent, Maxxus had lifted my languid body out of the shower and carefully took me to bed, where I lay, sated and sleepy against his pillow.

  “You are so very beautiful.” Maxxus’ fingers trailed the length of my body gently, pausing to rest on my bare stomach.

  I chuckled lightly. “Will you still think that when I’m huge, though?” I said, holding my hands over myself, indicating a round, baby belly.

  “Even more so, I’m sure.” Maxxus beamed. He crawled into bed next to me in an awkward position, resting his feet on the pillow. He maneuvered himself until he lay his head gently on my stomach, looking up at me affectionately.