A bottle of lotion ascended through a little hole in the surface of the counter. Cora took the bottle, feeling a bit like Alice in Wonderland as she examined it. She set it back on the counter and removed the flannel pajamas that she'd been wearing.
She stood naked in front of the mirror. In her reflection, she saw the muscles in her arms from years of working in the greenhouses, and the wisdom deep inside her green eyes. Her long reddish brown hair framed her broad shoulders and the expression on her face was one of both anticipation and fear.
She wanted to believe that everything would go exactly as she'd hoped, but there was also the possibility that it wouldn't go according to plan.
Maybe her mate would not be as good a man as the other Galatonian princes. Worse things had happened in the lives of women over the millennia.
Cora had to believe that she would be one of the lucky ones. She lifted the bottle and squirted the contents into her palm. It smelled faintly of flowers and musk. It was an altogether pleasant aroma. She began to rub the lotion onto her skin, feeling it tingle on her flesh. As she worked the lotion over her shoulders and crossed her breasts with her palm, the AI brought images of her prince up onto the screen.
"Now you must wash yourself," the AI said.
The screen was streaming picture after picture of Magmus. She let out a moan at the sight of him and turned to climb into the bathtub. She took the steps that circled around the tub and then lowered herself into the warm water. It felt heavenly against her skin, especially after applying the lotion.
"Now please, wash your body with the soap provided and gaze upon your prince," the AI said.
Cora lifted a bottle from the side of the tub and squirted the soap into her hand. She ran it through her hair until it was washed clean.
"Please apply the soap to all parts of the body, including the sex organs," the AI stated. "As you do, please observe Prince Magmus."
Cora squirted more lotion into her palm and swept it over the spot between her legs. A surge of excitement swept through her as the lotion contacted her most sensitive spot.
Images of Magmus filled the screen and seemed to fill her mind. There was a picture of his dragon, huge and green, his teeth sharp and shining in the sunlight of the Earth Lands.
There was a picture of Magmus holding a laser sword aloft, his fur-lined cloak fluttering around him. His brown eyes sparkled at her through the millions of miles between them. His smile lit a torch inside her soul. As she brushed the lotion over her sex, she felt herself climax with an almost involuntary rush of pleasure.
It gripped her whole core and radiated through the rest of her body. She gasped and then let out a long moan as the climax barreled through her and slowly dissipated.
The pictures of Magmus filled the screen and all she wanted was to reach out and touch him.
"Remove yourself from the bath and then dry your body," the AI stated.
Still a little confused, Cora climbed out of the bath and went to stand under the full body blow dryer to the side of the bathroom. The warm air blew over her skin and hair, drying her quickly. She walked back to the AI and prepared herself for the final instructions.
"Now you are ready for insemination."
A medical bed slid from the wall behind her and a robotic arm stretched out from the wall, holding a large syringe.
"You may inseminate yourself or allow the robotic arm to do it for you," the AI said.
"I think I'll do it myself," Cora breathed.
She walked over to the robotic arm and took the syringe that had Magmus’s seed inside it. Her heart slammed violently in her chest. She took a deep breath and let it out, trying to calm herself down.
This was the biggest moment of her life. She was about to become pregnant with her prince’s child, and she wasn't altogether sure how to feel about it.
On one hand, she desperately wanted a child and a family after having dedicated her life up until now to helping the Earth transition into its new phase of development.
At the same time, it was all such an unknown, she didn't quite know how to feel. With the syringe in hand, she lay down on the gurney and listened to the AI's instructions. Slowly, she spread her legs as images of Magmus were projected above her.
She felt almost as if he was there with her in the room, his brown eyes sparkling as he smiled above her. She slid the syringe inside her core and let out a deep breath. Magmus's image grew closer and closer, so close she felt she could touch him. She pushed the syringe stopper and squirted the seed deep inside herself.
As soon as she pulled the syringe from inside of her, her entire body jolted. Cora immediately passed out. When she woke up she found herself in her bed, staring up at medic Yuma.
"What happened?" she asked.
"It is the effect of the seed being implanted before the mating ritual can take place. We have mitigated this effect as much as possible, but this often happens with brides of Galaton."
He ran a medical scanner over her body and then checked the results.
"It looks as if the seed has taken. Congratulations. You are with child."
"You can tell already?" she asked.
"This procedure slightly changes the female humans’ physiology. The seed can take quickly, and we can have the results within minutes."
"Wow, a baby," she breathed.
Medic Yuma left her alone and she snuggled down into the bed, thinking of her child and the mate who waited for her. In that moment, Cora was sure that she had made the right decision.
5
After Prince Shay of the Water Lands returned from space with his bride and heir, Prince Magmus was well aware of the presence of the Mulgor in the trade routes between Draconia and Galaton.
It was left to him to go out into space to protect his bride. All the other princes were happily at home with their mates. It was Magmus's turn to finish this and put an end to the Mulgor's interference with their brides and their trade routes.
Since the princes had become aware of the Mulgor presence, all of Galaton had been preparing a military armada to combat them. The armada was finally complete and ready to travel through space to put an end to the threat.
Magmus was more concerned than ever about his bride. She had been traveling for several months now, and he had not been able to contact her.
The threat of his thrall was an ever-present danger. Even though his bride, Cora, was with child and using the synthesized DNA samples to simulate the mating ritual while in space, it could never actually compare with the real thing.
The only way to end the thrall was to claim her. And he would not be able to do that until they were in the same place.
Just thinking about her made his thrall more intense and more dangerous. He stood at the landing bay outside the Stone Fortress, preparing the army to depart for space. Magmus believed more than ever that it was necessary to open the Mating Lottery to the rest of the dragons on Galaton, but the other princes still refused.
Magmus knew that it was the right thing to do. It had to be done sooner rather than later. But the other princes insisted that he take out the Mulgor and bring home his own bride and heir before they opened the lottery. He understood the princes’ reasoning, but he knew the fighting had to end.
Of all of the princes on Galaton, Magmus had been involved with the trials by combat the longest. The rest of the princes’ brides had arrived and given them heirs now that Shay had returned.
It was only the Earth Lands where the battle still continued so heatedly. And now Magmus was going to space with his most loyal admirals, leaving the Earth Lands vulnerable to the aristocrats who remained behind.
The other princes agreed to send their own men to protect the Earth Lands in his absence. They had all done the same thing for each other before.
After so many years of battle, Magmus did not want to have to continue the fight. But he knew he had no choice.
He stepped up the entrance ramp of his space pod and strapped himself into his chair,
preparing to leave Galaton. He flicked his hand across the control dashboard and the exit hatch closed.
With a flick of his finger, he started the engines. The space pod began to ascend into the sky. He'd left instructions with his most loyal servants and with the princes on how to maintain his lands.
Magmus knew that he was flying off into the unknown. There was no guarantee that he would come back to find his lands still his own.
He had to believe that he was doing the right thing. His bride was the most important thing to him now. Without her, he would die. None of it would matter then.
His family had ruled the Earth Lands for ten million years. But protecting his bride could justify losing all that his ancestors had built.
Without his bride he would die. The Mulgor still blocked the trade routes from Draconia to Galaton. None of the other dragons would find brides with the Mulgor still there.
Even if he lost the Earth Lands, he intended to make the path clear for all of the other dragons of Galaton. He could sacrifice his lands to ensure the continuation of his species.
His space pod shot sharply through the atmosphere and broke out on the other side, into the vastness of space. The stars twinkled in the distant galaxies as he approached the armada.
His pod docked in the mothership Super Nova, where Magmus would lead the crew through the long journey to their ultimate battle with the Mulgor.
Magmus had yet to speak with his bride Cora. Even the thought of her made his dragon restless in a way that was not productive. He longed for the day when he could freely think of his bride, not to mention touch her, hold her and kiss her.
As the exit hatch of the space pod slid open, Magmus forced all thoughts of Cora from his mind. He had to focus on the journey and the battle. Once they had confronted the Mulgor, he would decide how to proceed.
Prince Shay of the Water Lands was sure that he had taken out the main force of the Mulgor. Yet, there were still traces of their presence throughout the trade routes between Galaton and Draconia. Magmus did not intend to leave anything to chance. He wanted to wipe every trace of the Mulgor out of the galaxy forever.
He strode down the exit ramp, and into the docking bay of the mothership Supernova. He was greeted by the admirals, soldiers and technicians gathered in the docking bay.
"Greetings Prince Magmus," said Admiral Saka. "We are ready for launch."
"Very good," Magmus said.
He walked through the landing bay toward the command deck of the ship. The Supernova was the largest ship in the Galatonian armada. The command deck had a huge bank of windows that looked out onto space. It stretched out in front of the captain's chair.
"Captain on deck," Admiral Saka said.
Everyone in the command deck stood at attention for Magmus until he walked through the room and sat in the captain's chair.
Everyone sat at their spaces and the lead technician asked Magmus for his orders.
"Ready checks," Magmus said.
"We are ready for launch," the technician said.
"On my mark," Magmus said. "We enter warp speed. Three two one and away."
The ship jumped into warp speed and took them one step closer to his bride.
As soon as the armada jumped into the next solar system, they were confronted by Mulgor ships spread throughout the system.
A Mulgor mothership sat in the distance with smaller ships orbiting several planets. He couldn’t believe they had come so close to the Galatonian system.
The ship's computer analyzed the space around them, showing the data points on each of the ships that the Supernova located.
Magmus could see that there was a smaller ship orbiting the closest planet.
It was unheard of for the Mulgor to be so close to Galaton. This was an aggressive act of war.
Magmus was ready for the fight. He gave instructions to his crew to lock targets on the closest ship. As soon as they had their targets set, Magmus gave the order to open fire. The lasers shot through space, covering the distance between the Supernova and the smaller Mulgor ship. On contact, the ship exploded into millions of fragments.
The other smaller ships started toward the Supernova, shooting across the vast distance. Three more smaller jets opened fire on the armada but were quickly taken out.
Magmus gave the order to move in on the mothership close to the central sun. The Mulgor mothership sent out a swarm of smaller jets, which Magmus’s armada propelled out to meet. The smaller ships engaged.
His fleet was fast and fresh. Soon they had the Mulgor jets dispersed and retreating to the mothership. Magmus gave the order to chase them down.
They began to lock their guns on the mothership, targeting the command deck, the energy system, and the main hull. As soon as Magmus had targets on the mothership, it popped out of existence in a warp jump.
Magmus frowned. He knew what this meant. The Mulgor armada was moving toward his bride.
6
Cora's holocom pinged on her wrist and she tapped the bracelet to bring up the message on the window in front of her. Magmus’s face spread across the screen in giant proportions. His eyes burned into hers as they looked on each other for the first time.
"My bride," Magmus started. "I must inform you that the Mulgor are in your area. I am currently en route to your location and will be there soon."
"When?" she asked, standing as quickly as a six-months pregnant woman could stand.
"We will arrive at your location within the month. We are chasing the Mulgor down through our trade route and we can predict the speed of their arrival. I will take a secondary ship that can travel faster than the armada to get to you and bring you back."
"This is so frightening," she said, putting her fingertips to her lips.
In the six months since she had left Earth she had spent her time growing her little garden along the window that looked out into space. Her sunlight lamp hung above the plants, creating the illusion of day and night. Her garden had grown as strong as her need for her mate.
"You mustn't fear," he said. "I will not allow anything to happen to you."
"I await your arrival," she said, trying to be strong.
"Farewell," he said. "I dare not spend any longer with you."
His face blipped out and the screen disappeared, leaving only the view of the planet her bride ship was passing. Her heart sank in her chest, and she rubbed her rounding belly. She felt her child kick inside her womb as she marveled at the view that still stunned her every day.
Cora sat back on her couch and hugged her belly. She couldn't wait for the day when her baby finally arrived and she could hold the child in her arms.
Cora had started thinking of baby names for the little one. She wished that she’d had a chance to ask Magmus about it when he had been on the screen, but she knew that he couldn't talk to her for very long.
That fact was the absolute worst thing about this entire arrangement. Cora thought about Magmus all the time, but he could never think about her. It was devastating for her, and she could only imagine how devastating it was for him.
Dragons adored their mates. Being barred from thinking of her or speaking to her would be killing him. She longed to soothe his desire, and the beast inside him, as much as she longed to soothe her need for him.
In the six months she'd been aboard the bride ship, she had spent every day looking at the photographs and videos of him. She did it especially when she was applying the mandatory lotion she had to put on every day to help synthesize the mating ritual.
Using the lotion would allow her to carry her Draconian child. Her attention on Magmus would lessen his thrall by creating the connection between them.
All of that made it much harder for Cora. She felt like she knew Magmus inside and out, but they had only spoken for about three seconds. Now that the Mulgor were a threat, Magmus was coming to get her. They were supposed to be this great love, but how could she possibly be sure when she had never met him?
Magmus had to be th
e man she believed him to be: good and strong and kind. She'd heard good things from the other brides who had already arrived on Galaton. She hoped she would be as happy as they were.
She looked up at her little plants: her tomatoes were ripe and her basil was flourishing. She decided to make a nice homemade sauce for dinner. Cora loved having fresh vegetables in space and still had plenty of seeds and cuttings left to garden for a decade on Galaton.
When she’d found out she was matched with the Earth Prince, it seemed like a perfect match for a woman who was a botanist. The Earth Lands were a great mountain range with a rich forest, fertile valleys and a climate that had all four seasons. Of all the places on the strange planet of Galaton, the Earth Lands were the perfect place for Cora to start over.
Cora waited anxiously for several days as the crew monitored Magmus’s progress through the star systems toward the Morning Glory. Anticipation grew with each passing moment. By the time Magmus’s vessel arrived in her system, she felt like a bundle of raw nerves. His ship slowly crossed the solar system toward hers until it docked.
Cora had dressed in one of the flowing Draconian gowns that she’d found on board the Morning Glory when she’d first arrived. The flowing design looked beautiful as it hugged her round pregnant belly. The silky fabric cascaded over her curves like a waterfall in shades of rich green.
Magmus stepped through the exit hatch into the loading bay of the Morning Glory. Cora was there to greet him along with the medic and several other crewmembers. Magmus was flanked by his own admirals. He wore a skintight Draconian uniform in a green that matched her own gown. She couldn’t believe they had both picked the same color; the coincidence was startling to her.
But contemplating their clothing color choices was only a distraction from the fact that the father of her child and the man she was to marry was finally standing in front of her for the first time.
Cora was a tall woman at five eight but Magmus towered above her with his seven-foot frame. His shoulders were half the width of her arm span, his body tapering into a slim waist and long muscular legs.