by D A Stein
The Dragon Princess & the Pea
D.A. Stein
The Dragon Princess & the Pea © 2019 DA Stein
All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Epilogue
About the Author
Chapter One
Lyon
Jagged lightening forked bright against the black skyline. From the top of our penthouse roof I stood watching. Waiting. For what, I had no idea. I only knew I had to keep vigilant until whatever it was materialized.
My hands stuffed in my front jean pockets, I leaned against the gazebo. A jungle of plants clustered around me. Living here for so many years, I knew how the gardens were situated. I had no need to turn and look, so I kept my gaze on the cloudy, moonless sky.
Thunder growled loud in a deep, animal -like voice as lightning streaked straight over my head. The danger of this weather, especially from up here on the rooftop, gave me a thrill, setting my heart to pounding in an adrenaline-filled rush. Especially when I stood on the rooftop, even as rain began pelting my head in sharp, cold strikes a smile split my lips.
Huddled in my heavy, sheepskin coat, the temperature dropped so suddenly I expected the rain to turn to snow. I looked overhead again, expecting to confirm my suspicion. But instead, a bright object blinked it’s way through the dark night sky.
I squinted, trying to catch better sight, the unidentified object, which appeared to be getting closer as the seconds passed. Larger even. I still couldn’t tell what it was, but it began to take on a golden hue. Like a bright sun yellow with a slight bronze under tone.
The object drew closer as I watched and I drew in a sharp breath. It was a dragon. I didn’t know there were golden dragons. My black and deep blue undertone was rare enough.
My older brother, Darius prince of all North American dragons, was a deep midnight blue color. A dragon so large and majestic anyone who saw him was awed at first sight. Well to be honest, at a second glance as well. Including myself. I wasn’t small by any means but completely unable to compare to Darius. I guess that was why he was the eldest and heir to the dragon throne in the United States.
But this dragon flying toward me now was a sight even more majestic and awe-inspiring than my brother. A gold dragon! I still couldn’t believe it. She—assuming it was a she, because she was so much smaller—wasn’t much by way of size. A medium dragon at best. But that color…I couldn’t stop staring.
At first sight, she appeared to be shooting straight across the sky, like a falling star aiming for our penthouse gardens. As the gold dragon drew closer, she began to tumble, her wings loose and flapping faintly.
It wouldn’t be enough to hold her flight. And Mother would be so pissed if she crashed into our home. I really didn’t want to deal with a pissed off mama dragon, so I launched myself skyward, almost vertically, and shifted into my dragon form. My wings beating strong, catching large pockets of air beneath them, and lifted me higher in the late evening sky. I flapped furiously, diving and turning through the air, trying to get underneath the other dragon before I was too late. But my flight was just getting started and hers had already gained full speed. I had to hope my strength would be enough to neutralize her momentum and change her trajectory before she hit our gardens.
With a slight flash of fire that still lit up the black night, I careened toward her, hoping she would see and feel the heat. Her long, sinuous neck twitched in my direction as her ice-blue eyes settled upon me, and I knew right then that she not only saw me, but she was pleading with me in despair. Those large slitted eyes spoke to me as no one’s else’s had. She needed me to stop her trajectory for her sake as much as mine!
We were awfully close to the roof. Alarmed, I realized both of us might hit this time. I turned my neck to look at my back, then at her, and nodded. Hopefully she understood my non-verbal cue.
Even as I maneuvered myself underneath her and ahead I again nodded, the look on her dragon face seemed so lost, so unsure. It was going to be a lot harder to pull this off without her assistance but we were out of time to devise a better plan.
Please let this work.
I braced myself for her weight, then swooped up. A light brush touched my shoulder, and I jerked my head to the side to see Darius slightly underneath me as well. He motioned, his long neck gesturing toward his back, and I immediately latched my claws onto his scales. Adding his strength to my own, we just might be able to pull this off.
We then slowly rose until the female lightly grazed my back. Only then did she seem to understand, and I felt her body shift just enough to settle her weight atop of me. We were too close to our home to continue this path, so before we could ease her out of the sky, we had to change the trajectory. Darius tilted one of his wings up at a sharp angle and pushed his flight higher to use the pressure to keep us in place as we all shifted. Then he careened his body away from the building before starting to descend.
But at this point, the flight had slowed, and the gold dragon’s breathing was falling in soft waves against my back as we landed to the clay-packed ground below.
After releasing myself from my brother, I slid off of his back so that he could slide the female from mine. We’d done it. We’d landed, and no one had crashed into anything. A sense of stillness behind me caused a dark sensation to creep across my chest. Goosebumps ran up my scales, and I turned around to let my gaze fall on the golden dragon.
At first, it appeared she wasn’t even breathing. But upon closer look, I could see her chest rise and fall. I put my ear to her chest and heard the lightest flicker of a heartbeat. She was alive, but I didn’t know for how long.
I stared at her face, willing her eyes to open. Willing her to wake from her unconsciousness. But even as my brother and I shifted into our human forms, she remained unmoving in the dirt. Luckily we had enough magic in us to shift clothed. Other shifters weren’t so lucky.
As I stared at her unconscious dragon body, snowflakes floated down from the sky to settle around her. It’d begun to snow after all. My brother, at my side, appeared as stunned as I was, as if he, too, thought she was the most beautiful dragon he had ever seen too. As if he, too, was worried about the survival of this dragon neither of us had ever met before.
“We need to get her inside,” Darius muttered.
I shook my head. “We’ll never get her in like this. She needs to shift back first.”
Darius nodded absently as he stared down at her lithe dragon body.
“We’ll need to hurry,” I added, trying to prompt him out of staring into doing something. “She’ll freeze to death out here.”
Darius blinked, then shook his head, as if trying to free himself from some mesmerizing pulled that was interfering with
his usual leadership.
That got his attention. He was one of the smartest men I knew. He had everything. Intelligence, strength, wisdom; the gentleness to know how to use it all. I’d never seen anything slow him down. Much less a woman. But here we were, and I totally understood the affect she was having on him.
“I’ll see what I can do,” he said quietly.
He stared down at her breathing softly for a moment as more snowflakes settled on her large, gold body. Her breathing seemed worse, judging by the labored rise and fall of her chest. I shuffled my booted feet impatiently.
Darius, a tall man at six feet five inches, set his knee next to her scaled head, and with his large hands, he lifted her limp head up, which was almost as large as his whole body. And Darius was a tall man at six feet five inches tall.
“You need to shift,” he said to her.
Nothing. She didn’t so much as move , twitch, or change her pattern of breath. Darius sighed and lowered his body until he was lying on the snowy ground next to her.
“Shift now!” he demanded of her.
At first, nothing happened, but within moments, her body began to move and resettle a little Her body didn’t move for a moment but then it began to move and resettle it’s configuration. Into a human one.
Boy, was she gorgeous. Her hair was long with curls galore, the dark gold color of her beast. She appeared to be tall as my six feet.
Darius came out of his daze and lifted her easily into his arms. I held the door open for him as hes carried her into the doorway.
That was exactly where I wanted to be. The rescuer. The one carrying her into safety. But of course that was Darius, the hero, while I was second best. Always.
The elevator easily held the three of us. I wanted to be the one holding her. I couldn’t help the petulance I felt. It was so unfair I wanted to shout.
This elevator opened right into the penthouse. Darius carried her straight to an empty bedroom. “Call the doctor.”
Of course we had our own private doctor who would immediately come at our call. He was trained by our family to be able to handle any dragon illnesses. There weren’t many of them.
Darius swept past our mother, who stared in consternation for a moment before huffing into her full height, which was considerable. “Darius. Who is that?”
“I have no idea, Mother. She’s unconscious, so I can’t ask her. All I know is she’s a gold dragon that was hurtling toward your gardens.” Darius continued on to the spare room and closed the door on us. He’d probably closed the door to shut out all of her unnecessary questioning and as expected, that questioning redirected toward me instead.
“Well,” Mother said, which was her answer to most things. “What happened Lyon? Who is she?”
Her sharp tone was directed at me and I was unable to stop the wince at the shrillness.
For a moment, the silence was scary, until she continued her questioning in a more even and quieter tone. Which was even more scary. “Lyon? What is going on? And don’t you dare give me that look of oh mother and roll your eyes at me.”
“I’d never think of it,” I assured her. “And I promise you, if I knew what was going on, I would tell you. We’ll have to wait for the doctor, and for her to wake.”
Not knowing what else to do, I stood by the huge windows overlooking the dark city. The electricity must have gone out. We had our own generator for when such frequent things happened during the winter.
I leaned my forehead against the cold Plexiglas. If I couldn’t be with the strange girl, I could be out there in the unknown world somewhere. Anywhere. But I was twenty, and scared. Probably most dragons my age would be excited to go to other countries. That’s what Darius wanted for me-- to represent the family. But I couldn’t bring myself to go.
“Lyon. I’m still talking to you.” Mother cut into my thoughts.
I sighed. “Yes, Mother.”
My lot in life was to be born: first a dragon, second a prince and third... wealthy beyond most people’s comprehension. It probably sounded glorious to most, but that was not my experience.
“Don’t talk to me in that tone, young man. I am your mother and queen and you will show me respect. Do you understand?” Her tone grew shriller as the words went on, until I thought her voice might be sharp enough to cut glass.
“Lyon! What is wrong with you? Is it that girl? Who is she? How did she end up here? I’m sure she’s out to try and steal from us!”
I could hear the cold calculation in my mother’s head churning. We didn’t know anything about this girl yet, but I was certain my mother was getting ahead of herself. There was something in that dragon’s eyes right before I saved her…
“I don’t know who she is,” I said. “ I saw her hurtling toward us in dragon form. Darius came onto the roof and saw, too. He helped me stop her free fall, and got her to shift back. That’s all I know.”
Despair welled up, threatening to overpower me. I couldn’t handle another moment of Mother drilling me.
And just like that, Darius —always the hero—saved me.
He leaned out of the room, leveling his gaze at the both of us. “She’s awake.”
Chapter Two
Amelia
My eyes fluttered open. As they focused, they flitted from object to object, never settling on one thing. Not that I recognized one thing.
I was lying on a large, opulent bed with canopy hangings. The opulence seemed familiar to me. Just different.
The walls were a soothing light peach, shades drawn tight over what seemed like large windows.
My gaze lighted on a small writing desk with a laptop resting on it. Pens and paper were lined up next to it, as if ready for someone to take them up and begin working.
Was that mine? I couldn’t remember. A slight headache began at my forehead as I fought the nothing. Nothing? Why couldn’t I remember?
My breath caught. Where was I, then? I raised onto my elbows and looked down at myself.
I was wearing clothes. A filmsy outfit in light blue that covered everything necessary. My feet were bare, but maybe I removed my shoes?
Tears filled my eyes, but I would not allow them to fall. Not. At. All. I rubbed the heels of my hands against them and huffed out a breath. MY headache pounded a steadier rhythm as I tried to remember. I couldn’t even think of who I was.
Swinging my legs around and standing, I noted the carpet was thick as my toes settled into the softness. I approached a mirror closeby to finally see what I looked like.
I was beautiful, if I could say so myself. I had thick golden curls that travelled to my waist. It was weird, even my skin was slightly gold. My eyes were a pale blue, almost ice like with a blue tint. The eyebrows a darker brown.
But there was nothing about this face I recognized as myself. Who was she, this stranger?
My hands tried to straighten my hair. To no avail, I struggled, brushing the tangles with curled fingers.
That was when the door opened to a man. And what a man. What? Where did that come from? I never looked at men this way. Something came over me, then. I noticed he was tall. Very tall. Handsome. Very handsome. He had blue-black hair that curled about his forehead and collar, and gray eyes . A fluttering began inside of me.
My hand raised to my throat and grasped at a chain that was always there. I remembered that but not anything about what was hanging from it. A locket maybe. Couldn’t tell.
I looked at him again, my lips slightly parted as if to speak but nothing came out. Of its own volition,my hand went from my throat out to him, as if it was pleading with him.
“You’re awake.” I could see the dumbfounded look on his face that he immediately wiped off his face as he stepped fully into the room.
“Yes, thank you. How did I get here and where is here?” I glanced about the room again hoping I might have been here before and might recognize it. My gaze skipped over every item again.
He appeared to understand what I wanted. “What is your name and wher
e are you from? You’re in the state of New York. Actually the city too.”
My hand was still at the hollow of my throat clutching the locket with a death grip. “I…Actually I don’t know who I am. I can’t seem to recall who or where I came from. It seemed like a long distance, though.” My voice rose at the last couple of words as if that would help figuring out who I was and where I came from.
“You have amnesia? “ The tone of his voice was incredulous. His eyebrows rose as he considered this problem.
“I must. I…I can’t remember. I have this locket.” I could not help how eager I sounded.
He came over and gently took the locket between his fingers. Turning it from it’s front that had a dragon with a crown hovering over it. The figures were etched over to its back, where it said, Amelia.
He lowered his eyes to mine and asked, “Amelia? Is that you? This is gold. Do you know what this etching means?” He appeared almost excited by what he was looking at but was also hiding something.
I lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I don’t know. Maybe?” I raised my eyes to his and almost became mesmerized by his silver-colored eyes. I had never seen so light a color before.
A knock at the door interrupted my daze. I almost shook my head to bring myself out of it.
We both turned to the door as a voice asked, “Your Highness, may I enter?”
“The doctor,” he mouthed. “Come Doctor.”
The door opened to admit a tall but muscular man, unlike any doctor I had ever seen. Hey I remembered something else, but this was something I wouldn’t mention right now.
He stopped immediately as he stepped through the door to study both of us. “How can I help Your Highness?” The doctor addressed the man beside me. Your Highness?
