The Dragon King (19 page)

Aaron

Sophia’s first order of business when the ceremony was complete was to visit her new land. She hadn’t been to her father’s Summerlands home since she was a small child, and thus had no memory of it.

I watched her as we approached, smelled her confusion and anger. Finally, she exclaimed, “So, I’m now the owner of a
castle
?”

“Yes, Prin…” I stopped myself, turned and pulled her to me. “As much as I like calling you My Queen, I’m going to miss calling you Princess.”

“Yeah, I think I’m gonna miss hearing you say it, too,” she said as she hugged me and stepped away.

The soft look in her eyes made me want to pull her into another hug, but she quickly regrouped, threw her arms in the air, and asked, “A castle? Really?”

I couldn’t help but smile as I told her, “With a moat and everything.”

She rolled her eyes. “Please tell me it comes with a housekeeper and staff?”

My practical Sophia. She wasn’t jumping up and down with stars in her eyes because she owns a castle, but going straight to the practicality of the matter — how to manage the running of a castle. I hadn’t been to the Swan Castle in a few years, but it seemed to always run smoothly and I was sure this wasn’t entirely Raul’s doing, so I told her, “It should, though we’ll have to see what kind of shape your father’s left it. Rumor has it he chose to go with a harem instead of another wife. You’ll probably have to decide what to do with the women.”

She shook her head, looked to the castle, and said, “So, am I going to be welcomed with open arms as the new Queen, or face a ton of hostility?”

“Probably a little of both. I believe the housekeeper will be happy for the regime change. Only time will tell when it comes to the rest.”

The drawbridge lowered to let us in, and rose behind us after we entered. No worries, we could both
change
and fly out, but I wondered why the Captain of the Guard seemed to be at such a high level of alert.

I stood back and watched my mate take charge. She went to the throne room, took her chair, pointed me to mine, and ordered the steward to have everyone in the castle come to her for an introduction.

Six hours later we’d talked to all eighty people who lived full time in the castle, and were left with the six people who more or less ran things.

Her father did, indeed, have a harem of nine women. Two were swans and she’d given them options to choose from, though none of the choices allowed the women to continue living in the castle. Three were human and she’d made arrangements for them to be taken to Titania. They couldn’t leave Faerie, but they’d been purchased as slaves and now they would be as free as humans could be in The Summerlands. It was the best Sophia could do for them.

The other four were citizens of Faerie and had a place to go, so they did.

And now she’d gone over details I might not have thought to ask for several weeks, as well as engaging in a thorough conversation with the head chef about budgets and the number of employees necessary to run the castle. She’d told the stable manager to head on back out to the stables and promised she’d come visit him out there for their conversation.

As she looked over the documents the head accountant provided, I saw her temper begin to flare. “He owns over two hundred slaves?”

The poor man looked terrified, and he stuttered, “Yes, My Queen.”

She rubbed her eyes. “You handle finances in both Faerie and the human world?”

“Yes, My Queen.”

“Where do these slaves live?”

“Many live and work in the castle, some work in your South Carolina home, and he owns a…”

After a several second pause, I took pity on him and finished his sentence. “A brothel, Queen Sophia. Your father owns a brothel.”

She looked at me in question and I clapped my hands and said, “Everyone out. The Queen and I need to check out the stables and then we need to take our leave. Your answers have all been appreciated.” I looked to the accountant. “Please leave all of your paperwork with us. My forensic accountant has frozen all accounts, and you’ll be kept in custody until we can go through everything.” I nodded to one of the guards. “Strip him, dress him in a simple tunic, and put him in your most comfortable holding room. No harm is to come to him, and he’s to be given the food and drink he’d receive as a guest.”

Within moments, Sophia and I were alone and I told her, “A brothel is a house of prostitutes. Women who provide sex for money. The slaves have likely had no choice in the matter.”

She rubbed her forehead, fiddled with her eyebrows, and then calmly put her hands on her thighs. “That business provides the majority of my father’s income. I’ll be able to run the house for several years with the savings he’s built, but I’ll need to find another source of revenue.”

“I don’t have anything against prostitution when the women choose it, but when slaves are forced into it I have a huge problem with it.”

“You’ve known? About the brothel? You knew what he was doing?”

Her voice was accusatory, but I held eye contact as I nodded, knowing we were likely headed into a huge fight.

She surprised me, though, by leaning forward and putting her head into her hands, taking two deep breaths, and then lifting her face to look at me with resolve in her gaze. “We’ll discuss your reasons later. You’re a good man and I’m certain you feel they were the best option at the time. Let’s go talk to the stable manager and then pay a visit to the brothel.”

Sophia owned twenty-three horses, a mating pair of unicorns, three juvenile unicorns, and several dozen assorted donkeys, mules, and other rideable animals.

I was in serious danger of being sidetracked from our task by the three small unicorns of varying ages, the youngest a mere three weeks old. However, Queen Sophia spent less than five minutes fawning over them before promising to come back and spend time with them later.

She pulled me to the side and asked, “I’m assuming there’s a gateway on the property leading to the brothel, as it would make sense for him to move quickly between the two. Any idea where it might be?”

While the short-term best answer might be to feign ignorance, the long-term best answer was almost always the truth. “Yes, Soph. I’ve been through it and I’ll show you, but can we sit and talk about what you’ll see when we get there? I’d like you to have some perspective before you talk to the girls.”

Sophia

I had a feeling perspective was exactly what I needed, so I nodded, gave the mother unicorn one last hug as I told her I adored her babies, and promised to return when I could. “The stable manager appears to have taken good care of you, and as long as I’m convinced this is true, he’ll remain in charge. If it isn’t true, I hope you’ll find a way to let me know?”

She nuzzled my face and I hoped this meant she was happy here. My gut instincts told me all but one of the animals in my new stables were happy, and I had a feeling the huge inky-black horse who’d been angry and hostile had likely been my father’s personal animal. If so, I’d need to find a way to either reunite the two of them, or find another owner the horse could be happy with.

I bid my farewells to the stable manager, and was practically assaulted by a Sprite on the walk back to the main castle building.

Sprites are elemental, and there are more kinds of sprites than I’m interested in trying to count. Nearly all of them seem to radiate sexuality, though, and I wasn’t sure I was comfortable with Aaron’s arms around her, holding her from behind to keep her from striking me.

“You horrid fucking
bitch
!” she yelled, but I took a breath and focused on her, on what she was feeling, and I picked up fear and hurt as she kept screaming. “My sister and I were happy here, and you sent her back to our parents where my father will likely sell her off, over and over and over, so he can pay for his latest gambling debts! How could you!”

I’d sent less than two dozen people away this morning, and only one had been a sprite. “Your sister was in my father’s harem and told me she had a place to go. If she’d told me she didn’t, I’d have made arrangements for her.”

“You didn’t ask what kind of place she’d be going, just if there was a place she could go!”

I looked to Aaron as I realized I’d messed up. I knew I couldn’t apologize to the sprite, but I could try to fix my screw-up. “If I send you on a horse, can you get her back here before she arrives at your father’s house?”

The sprite looked shocked, but stopped fighting Aaron and nodded.

I couldn’t ignore her insolence, no matter how well founded, so I told her, “Then drop to your knees, beg forgiveness for addressing me as you did, and then ask if you may borrow a steed in order to bring your sister back.”

She dropped to her knees, then to her stomach in full obeisance. “My Queen, please forgive my insolence. I pledge my loyalty to you, and I will owe you the greatest debt if you’ll allow my sister and I to work together, here in the castle.”

“I make no promises about the two of you remaining in my castle, but I’ll work to come up with a solution I hope will make everyone happy. You may rise.”

She did and I grabbed her arm and teleported us to just outside the stables. She stumbled as I pulled her into the stables. I knew it was rude, but I needed to show her I had power and wasn’t afraid to use it.

The stable master looked at us in alarm as I let go of her arm and told him, “Provide the fastest mount you have to this woman, but make sure it’s one who’ll return to us out of love and loyalty should it not be returned.”

He nodded and I turned to the sprite. “My mate and I will be in the gardens having a conversation. Bring your sister to us once you’ve retrieved her, but make it quick as I have much to do”

I teleported back to Aaron without waiting for them to acknowledge my orders, grabbed his arm, and teleported us to a seating area in the gardens I’d seen during our castle tour.

When we arrived, I stepped from him and took a seat in an armed chair, one I chose because it would allow me to face him as we talked, and would keep us from touching for a few minutes, at least.

I’d spent my lifetime alone, and I had so much to process. I wanted to go to my old room in my father’s house, lock myself in, and sleep for two days. This wasn’t a viable option, though, so for now I’d make do with sitting in a chair by myself while Aaron explained yet another thing a twenty-five year old woman should probably already know.

“Were we in danger?” Aaron asked, enunciating each word. I looked up in surprise and realized he was extremely angry but working to hold his temper. I’d heard stories –– fables, I hoped — about the famous tempers of the Dragons of old, and I froze, caught by his gaze as I shook my head.

“You will
never
teleport me again without telling me where we’re going unless we’re in danger, Sophia. I love and adore you, but you will
not
treat me as a commoner you can boss around. I understand why you needed to treat the sprite as you did, and I approve, but don’t think for even a
second
you can get away with doing the same to me.”

I pulled my knees into the chair, wrapped my arms around my legs, and put my forehead on my knees. I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths, willing my body to calm, my adrenaline to fade. When it did, I realized I was exhausted — physically, emotionally, and magically.

I looked up, thankful he’d given me a few minutes to compose myself. “I was rude. I’ll try to do better, but I’m not sure I can make promises to never do so again. I hadn’t realized I was running on adrenaline and nothing else.”

“You’ll learn how to tell when you are, and how to make better decisions. It was the right decision with the sprite, so your subconscious probably just did what had been correct before, without considering the different circumstances. I expect you’ll put some kind of override into your thought processes so it won’t happen again, Queen Sophia.”

My heart tripped over itself at my official title coming from his lips, and I resolved to fully apologize to him once we were in the other world. All I could think of to do or say while bound by Faerie’s rules, was to nod my head.

“You needed to explain some more things to me about the brothel?” I asked.

“I do, but I need to make sure you and I are okay, first.”

There was something on my mind, something I should’ve talked to him about before we had sex, and before he was officially crowned Swan King. “Now that you know the secret, you can turn any swan into a dragon. It doesn’t have to be me, Aaron. Any swan can give you babies.”

He shook his head. “Maybe so, but it’s you I love, and it’s you I want to share my life. I don’t want another swan to give me babies. I don’t want anyone but you parenting my children with me, Soph.”

“Do you have enough energy to share?” I hated to ask, but if he did, I desperately needed it.

“I do, but I need to hear an apology from you before I’ll share it, My Queen.”

He had every right to demand it of me, and he was being clear he was demanding a concession from one monarch to another — from the Swan Queen to the Dragon King. An apology in Faerie would give him a favor from me, and a favor in Faerie was a legal thing. The Summerlands kept track of such things, and if in the future I refused to honor my obligations there would be ramifications.

“Can we do it once we’re home?” I asked.

He shook his head, and I put my forehead back on my knees as I considered my options. I could have the fight with him I wanted to have about us being true partners and not two monarchs living together and keeping score, or I could wait to have that discussion in the real world, or I could apologize and… no, the latter wasn’t going to happen in Faerie, and there was another option.

Not wanting to be terribly rude, I told him, “I’ll be back.”

I teleported as he was stepping towards me, his hand millimeters away as he tried to grab my arm. I was pretty sure he couldn’t hold me here, so he must’ve intended to go with me wherever I was going. I didn’t have the energy to teleport us both, and possibly didn’t have the energy to teleport myself, but I drew from the very air around me and barely came up with enough.

I teleported myself directly into the most powerful waterfall I knew of, and let it fill me until I had so much power it almost hurt. This one wasn’t a gateway to anywhere, and I only risked the maneuver because I was certain the Winter Queen wouldn’t kill me for basically stealing from her. Even so, her guards were rapidly approaching when I tried to teleport back to my castle, only to discover I couldn’t.

I rose to my full height, lifted my chin, and ordered them, “Keep your hands to yourselves. I will follow you to your Queen and nowhere else.”

They nodded and I followed, dripping wet.

The Queen appeared before us looking about as scary as she’d ever looked. She glared at me and waved her arm to stop time before demanding, “Explain.”

Her eyes may have lost a little of their venom without an audience, but she was clearly unhappy with me.

“I angered Aaron as I was depleting the last of my energy, and he refused to give me more until I apologized, which I offered to do when we returned home, but he insisted it happen now, and…” I shook my head. “If we’re just going to be two monarchs living together and keeping score, I don’t want… I needed to establish I’m not without my own resources, and he can’t make those demands of me.”

Her eyes softened a little and she said, “I’m going to issue an official proclamation when I start time again, and then you are going to go to your knees and find a way to show your appreciation. If you can do so without invoking an obligation then more power to you, but I need our audience to see you on your knees and accepting my gift. I’ll do what I can for you, but never will I allow myself to be seen as weak.”

I nodded and she waved her arm to put the rest of Faerie back into motion. “You’ve been given leave to bathe in my falls in the past with permission, and I can see your need was dire this time. I give you leave to drink deeply from these falls at any time you are in dire need, and another three times per year when the need is only minor.”

I dropped to my knees and offered, “There is an Arabian horse, inky-black in color and strong of temperament, in my stables. He was the former Swan King’s personal mount, and I believe he would make an excellent addition to your stables, Your Majesty.”

“Come here, dear.” I looked up and she amended, “Please rise, Your Majesty.”

She pulled me into a hug, saying, “I’ll be most happy to have my Shadow’s Curse returned to my stables. Your father won him from me decades ago and I’ve missed him terribly. Your three times a year is now unlimited. I’ll tell my guard, but there’s no need for me to announce it.” She hugged me tighter and said, “Okay, time to make your grand exit. When I step away, give me a regal bow and then teleport out. Right?”

I nodded, hugged her back, and did as she’d said.

Aaron was pacing when I returned, and he gave me a half-second look of relief before appearing even angrier than he had when I’d teleported him.

“Some very powerful people in Faerie would love to see you dead, and you teleport away from me with no clue of where you’re going? I can’t keep you safe when you’re away from me, and I can’t come to your rescue if I have no idea where you’re going!”

And yet, when I’d teleported him
with
me he’d gotten pissed. There was no pleasing him, but I chose to stick to the argument at hand. I kept my voice level, even, and regal as I told him, “If you’re going to reduce us to two monarchs living together and keeping score, instead of lovers in a relationship, then you don’t get to demand to know where I am every second of the day. I filled my own reservoirs, Your Majesty. I’m not without my own resources.”

“I can see this. I only hope the price you paid wasn’t too steep.”

I heard a commotion at my gates and I told him, “I won’t leave the property this time, King Aaron.”

I teleported to the gate and demanded, “Silence!”

Everyone went quiet and I told the guard, “Please let them in and show them to the stables. See that they are given refreshment as they await an audience with the stable manager and me.”

I teleported to the stables and told the manager, “I need to see you in your office a moment.”

When the door closed behind us I said, “There was only one horse in your stables I deemed unhappy, and I’ve discovered the Winter Queen would very much like to have him back. I do not intend to be in the habit of giving away the residents of the stables, though I of course reserve the right to do so. However, the Queen’s men are here now to retrieve Shadow’s Curse.”

He smiled. “Your first day and you’ve impressed me several times already, Your Majesty. Shadow’s Curse does indeed belong with the Winter Queen, and I’m happy you’re reuniting them. I’ve done my best to make him happy, but…”

I breathed a sigh of relief this had gone so well and stepped outside the stable as the Queen’s men rode up. “We’ll leave Snow Spirit here with you,” the leader told me. “She was your mother’s horse and the Queen thought you might like to get to know her. Her Majesty isn’t giving Snow Spirit to you, merely letting her stay here a while.”

I nodded and watched as the man got off the most beautiful white horse I’d ever seen. A stable hand was putting a saddle on Shadow’s Curse so I figured I’d given all the orders necessary for the moment. I walked Snow Spirit into the stables, and the manager led us to an empty stall at the end of the row, ordering another stable hand to bring Snow Storm.

The two horses looked nearly identical, and the manager explained, “We’ll put them in stalls beside each other. They are brother and sister.” He dropped to his knees and looked to my feet as he entreated, “Please tell me you’ll do whatever you can to ensure Snow Spirit remains here, where she belongs?”

“Please rise. I can’t make promises right now, but I’ll keep your request in mind,” I told him as Aaron approached. His hearing was good and he’d likely heard everything said long before he arrived, though I had a feeling he’d been close for longer than he’d let on.

I nodded towards him to acknowledge his presence, and then returned my attention to the horses. I didn’t know how much they’d understand, but I told them, “This is the first day of my reign and I have much to do. I’d love to spend the day with the two of you, but I must take my leave. I’ll come back when I can, though, and I trust you’ll both be well taken care of in my absence.”