The Dragon King (15 page)

Sophia

Aaron kissed my forehead before he left the room. My logical brain told me I should be terrified to be alone with a vampire, but I liked and trusted Abbott. In part because Aaron told me I could, but my instincts told me he was one of the good guys.

“I’ll give you some things to read later, to give you the intricate details, but in a nutshell, you have seven energy centers starting at the base of your spine and ending at the top of your head.”

He spent about fifteen minutes explaining the type of energy attributed to each, and once he reached the top chakra, said, “You told me Aaron kept giving you energy without seeming to deplete his own. It wasn’t until all of his power was stripped when entering Faerie that he didn’t have reserves to keep topping you off.”

I nodded, and Abbott continued. “Most passenger cars can hold between nine and fifteen gallons of gas, an eighteen wheeler can typically hold around two hundred gallons. However, a tanker truck, one that transports fuel? Those can hold from eight to twelve thousand gallons. So, consider yourself a small passenger vehicle, and Aaron a tanker truck, for now.”

I had no idea what an eighteen wheeler or tanker truck was, but quickly grasped the difference between holding fifteen gallons versus twelve thousand gallons, so I nodded and said, “And I’m guessing the process of learning to hold more isn’t going to be pleasant?”

He shook his head. “It’s quite excruciating. I’m told it feels a bit like being struck by lightning, except Aaron will need to keep pushing energy into you for several minutes at a time, where a lightning strike is over in less than a second.”

I considered what he was saying, and put it all together. “Each of the seven centers will need to be increased.”

His eyes were dark as he tipped his head once to show I was right. “Even a changeling’s body can only take a few minutes at a time before the heart threatens to stop, and it can take hours and hours to make a noticeable difference.” He paused and clarified, “Hours for each energy center.”

I’d once walked into my father’s study to see Cyrano bound kneeling on the floor, his upper body restrained to the footstool. He was shirtless, with my father’s right hand at the base of the back of his neck, and Cyrano was screaming in pain. I’d been told it was training, and they both had assured me it was necessary and, while painful, wasn’t torture.

Cyrano’s face hadn’t matched his words, though I hadn’t smelled a lie. With this new information, it made sense to believe they’d been working on the sixth power center, and that working on the first two would involve hurting someone on or near their genitals.

“There’s so much I don’t know about our world,” I told him. “My father wanted to make sure I didn’t have the knowledge or the training to ever take the crown.”

“Yes,” he agreed. “But now you have two of the most powerful supernaturals on the planet training you, and it appears you have the most powerful person in Faerie on your side as well. Or, at least the most powerful person in Faerie at the moment,” he clarified.

“Oh,” I told him. “The Summer Queen is my Faerie Godmother. When the seasons shift, I’ll have more than an advocate in The Summerlands. Titania’s lessons may be painful, but in the end I understand them. I may not like the way she teaches, but I can’t argue with the outcome. My father forbid me to see her after she taught me how to teleport. I was only allowed around her in his presence, and he often stopped our conversations. Without him around, I’m certain she’ll have much to teach me.”

Abbott leaned back, stretched his legs out in front of him, and crossed them at the ankles. “You’re telling me Titania is your Faerie Godmother?”

I nodded. “But only during her reign. I’m on my own the rest of the year.”

He shook his head. “No, you aren’t. Mabel is obligated to see to your needs during her reign. She wouldn’t technically be your Faerie Godmother, but this is why she provided clothing.” He tilted his head as he considered me a few seconds, and finally said, “She isn’t obligated to crown you Swan Queen if Aaron takes on a swan form, though. That’s either an offer from her heart, or one that makes political sense.”

“Do you think Titania is working in the background?”

He shook his head. “Unlikely. It’s possible Queen Mab would just rather deal with you than your father, thinking you’ll be easier to manipulate. Or, it could be she likes you. Knowing Mab’s history, though, I’d go with the former.”

When Aaron returned Abbott looked to him and said, “You didn’t tell me Titania is her Faerie Godmother.”

Aaron looked to me, his eyebrows lifted. “You told me she would be on your side, you didn’t say why.”

“Sorry. It didn’t seem important at the time, since she isn’t reigning right now. Abbott set me straight on that, though.”

Abbott and Aaron talked about some people I didn’t know, and I tried to keep up with strategy but I was so tired, it was all I could do to keep my eyelids open.

When I awaked in a strange bed with Aaron by my side, I immediately felt like a child who’d fallen asleep while the grown-ups had talked.

Aaron was asleep beside me, though, which made me feel a little better as it showed we were both tired. A light was on in an adjoining room, with the door opened a little so it filtered in. The bed was massive, and we were obviously in a man’s bedroom. Old World furniture fit for a king surrounded us, with lots of deep fabrics, possibly velvet, hanging from the walls, though I didn’t see any windows.

Right. A vampire’s bedroom.

I headed towards the light, hoping it was an en-suite bathroom and was pleased to discover I’d guessed correctly.

I also noted I was wearing an oversized cotton t-shirt instead of the guard’s tunic. It came to nearly my knees but I still had no panties.

Aaron was sitting on the side of the bed in boxer briefs when I returned, and he stood and reached for me as I neared the bed. “You feeling okay?”

I nodded. “Yeah, the food helped, but sleep helped even more. How long did the two of you talk before you brought me to bed? And how long did I sleep?”

“I’ve been asleep five hours, and you slept about an hour longer than me. Abbot sent me in with doughnuts, they’re on the table by the door.”

“Do I want to know where the shirt came from?”

“I sent someone next door to get one of mine, and I changed you.”

I pulled from his arms and used willpower to walk to the door instead of running, as I was ravenous once again. “Why am I so hungry?” I asked, ignoring for the moment he’d dressed me in his clothes.

“Changing forms always takes a lot of energy, but you’ve had a lot more to deal with besides just changing forms.” He sighed and said, “I really wish you’d told me Titania was your Faerie Godmother when we talked about possible allies.”

I took a bite of a Krispy Kreme doughnut and suppressed a moan as it melted in my mouth. “It isn’t summer. I’ve never seen her when she isn’t Queen so it wasn’t relevant.”

“She doesn’t cease to exist the other half of the year, Soph. She’s still alive, still around, she just isn’t the reigning Queen.”

He sounded perplexed, which made me consider his words a little more in depth before I responded. “That may be, but I never see either Queen when they aren’t, well,
Queen
. Is that not normal?”

He shook his head. “No, it isn’t. In the spirit of full disclosure you should know Mabel and I had a, well, kind of a
thing
for a few decades. I was officially her consort. It’s been over for six hundred years, though, and we parted amicably.”

I could tell by the look on his face I’d like what he was about to say even less.

“Titania and I also had a thing, and it’s only been…” He sighed. “I went to Faerie during the Civil War. I asked her for a long-term pass so I could live there for possibly as long as two decades, and was honest about my reasoning. I’d been through enough of mankind’s wars and I just couldn’t bear to be part of yet another one. I could’ve gone back to Europe, but needed a break from the human realm and Titania approved my request.”

I looked at my hand, and then stared at the floor as I slid the last of the doughnut into my mouth. I took my time chewing and swallowing before asking, “And how long were you with her?”

“I lived in the castle with her from eighteen sixty until eighteen ninety-two, when I moved back to this world. She frequently visited me when she wasn’t the ruling Queen for,” he hesitated and finally said, “a few decades, at least. We’ve never officially ended things, though we aren’t an item anymore and we both see other people. When we’re serious with someone else we keep our hands off each other.”

“When’s the last time you had sex with my Faerie Godmother?” I kept my eyes on the floor, unable to look up and meet his gaze.

“The summer solstice is basically a big orgy in Faerie, and the Queen starts the festivities with her favorite partner.” He considered his words and said, “Actually, the day after her reign ended in the fall, she came to this world and visited me a few days. So, then, I guess.”

“When did you last have sex with Mabel?”

“At least five hundred years ago, Soph. I was in an experimental phase, and Mabel is… cruel, in bed.”

“Is Titania going to be pissed that I’ve taken you off the market?” He opened his mouth to speak, but another thought occurred to me and I finally looked at him as I rushed to ask, “
Have
I taken you off the market?”

“I’m yours, Sophia. Totally off the market, but how Titania will feel about us isn’t the pertinent question.”

I held his gaze, waiting for him to enlighten me, and he said, “I’ve been close to both your father and Titania your whole life, and neither told me what Titania was to you. This can only mean they were deliberately keeping it from me. Any idea why?”

I shook my head. “I wouldn’t know where to even begin guessing. You?”

“Abbott feels as I do, that it’s something I need to get to the bottom of. Meanwhile, there are a few things you and I need to discuss so you won’t be blindsided if we both manage a swan form.”

“I’m on my fourth doughnut,” I told him. “If you want some, it’s everyone for themselves right now.”

He chuckled. “I ate nine barbeque sandwiches, you only ate two.” Nevertheless, he walked to me and picked one up in each hand before returning to the edge of the bed to sit.

“The Fae crowning ceremony for Swans involves the audience watching royalty turn into Swans. Traditionally, the couple must have public sex in the large arena as humans, and then
change
so they can fly to the pond where they’re crowned as swans. They then turn back to human, and the magical crowns transform, becoming larger so they still fit. The Queen and king will then take their thrones. Naked.”

I stopped chewing, realized I needed to get rid of the food in my mouth before I talked, and took a drink of water to swallow the bite whole. “I can’t do that.”

“You’ll have to do it eventually, if you want to be crowned Queen. Holding the title in Faerie doesn’t guarantee it out here, but you can’t hold it out here without claiming it in The Summerlands.”

I ruffled and then smoothed my eyebrows with the fingers of my left hand, a nervous habit I’d been chastised for plenty, so I caught myself doing it and put my hands flat on my thighs. “And if I’ll need to do it eventually, I may as well do it now?”

“No, Sophia. Not necessarily. If we’re to try to turn to swans today then your virgin experience will likely be cut short, as I’ll need to orgasm on your first climax so we can
change
together. To have your second experience be in front of people would be too much.” He shook his head and said, “There’s more.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, of course there is. Just tell me the whole thing and don’t try to soften it, okay?”

He nodded. “As Queen to my king, our sex will need to reflect your power over me. I’ll be bound in something like stocks, flat on my back with my legs together, arms out to the side, and even something over my neck to keep my head down. The restraints are designed so I’ll slide out of them as I
change
into a swan, and if I take on a full sized swan form they’re supposed to disintegrate.”

“Then how do we…” I stared at him, incredulous he’d allow himself to be tied down.

“You ride me, Sophia. You do the work. I’m at your mercy.”

My face was as hot as it’d ever been, but he wasn’t finished.

“Because Mabel is cruel, she’ll likely stuff something in my mouth and up my ass, possibly also bind my balls in some way to make it harder for me to orgasm.”

“How do you turn into a dragon?” I asked. I’d seen him do it and there wasn’t a ritual involved, he just seemed to morph from one form to another.

“I just
change
,” he said, but I could see him thinking it through. “Don’t do it here because there isn’t room, but you just think of the form you want, imagine yourself in that form, and reality follows your intention.”

“My father turned me from dragon to swan,” I reminded him. “I felt what he did and I think I can do it, too.” I took a breath and added, “I don’t want us to go to Faerie yet, if you have a swan form, because we need to play around with moving between forms. We need to know our capabilities before we appear in public again.”

“If I have a swan form then the sooner we’re crowned, the better.” He nodded towards the wall behind the bed and said, “There’s a large panel that’ll fall away and lead into a cave. From the cave there’s a way to get out of the side of the mountain, if one has the ability to fly. It isn’t big enough for a dragon, but I’ve jumped out as a man and turned to dragon mid-flight a few times.”

I shook my head. “Yeah, I’m not ready for that, yet.”

“I know, but the point is, we can fly out as swans and then I can lead you to somewhere else so we can experiment with turning from swan to dragon.”

“Is it big enough to fly out of as a human-sized swan?”

“Our wings will have to be folded in, but yes, it’s big enough.”

I nodded and he said, “Okay, if we pull it off then we’ll fly out the hole and go up, turn around, fly over the mountain and then into the valley on the other side.”