"I’m drunk. It has nothing to do with pheromones," I say, but I know I'm lying. I'm not the type that just goes to town with a guy I just met, especially my kidnapper. Great. I have Stockholm Syndrome. My shrink would have a hay day with this one. Maybe it is pheromones, but that doesn't prove I'm the dragon-born princess.
"I can wait princess, but Endor cannot," he says, standing. He brushes out the wrinkles in his clothes, but I can still see his substantial boner.
My mouth waters just looking at it. I need to get a grip. This isn't right. I want to go home. I want my old life back. The momentary pleasure of letting one of these princes inside me would seal my fate forever. "I want to go home," I tell him. "You are keeping me here against my will. I will not mate with you or Conyac, ever. You've taken me from my home and put me in the middle of some barbaric claiming ritual. You can count on me never letting you or Conyac make hilock with me."
"Princess," he starts.
"Stop calling me that. I want to go home. Now. Tell Gizmel to open a portal to Earth. I'm done with this. It isn't any of my business." I'm getting angrier as I begin to sober up. How dare he put his mouth on my privates, even if it was a mind-blowing orgasm. We aren't even the same species.
"You cannot go home, Dani. A portal to Earth can only be opened every twenty-eight years, when the stars come into alignment. That is why it took so long to find you." I look at him like he just ate my dog, which he didn't of course. Clancy is sleeping the floor beside my feet. Then it sinks in. I'm twenty-eight years old. It's a coincidence, I tell myself. It has to be.
"I am going to speak with Gizmel. It makes no sense that you should be human. You are a dragon born. You should be a head taller than ordinary women. Your eyes are dull like a commoner. Your ears are round, and you have no strong teeth. I imagine you cannot even shift. Can you?"
"Shift?"
"Into a dragon," he says as if I'm a slow child.
"Um. No. Definitely not," I say, laughing.
"That is not right. How can you use your queen's power if you cannot shift? I will get to the bottom of this. Be sure of it," he says before storming out the door.
What? No good night? I groan and flop back on the bed. Clancy jumps up beside me and licks my face. Sweet old Clancy, at least we have each other. I hug my dog as he settles down beside me, and I fall asleep in my fancy party dress.
Chapter 8
Trav bursts through the door as the gray light of dawn filters through the window. "What!" I say with a gasp, sitting up in bed. Clancy barks like a car alarm, and I know I look like hell frozen over. Trav grabs my arm and yanks me out of bed, leading me fast down the hallway.
"Where are you taking me?" I groan, trying to pull out of his grip.
"Hurry," he says, tugging me down the hall. We charge up the stairs until we arrive at Gizmel’s alchemy lab. Windows cover the circular walls, allowing in an ample amount of warming morning sunlight.
"Good, you brought her."
"Could I get some coffee?" I ask, trying to pat down my tangled hair. I still have sex head from the oral from last night.
"What is coffee?" Trav asks.
I groan. Figures. This place doesn't have coffee; it becomes even more like the seventh level of hell in that instant. "It's a warm Earth drink made of dried beans that invigorates you in the morning. Got anything like that?"
"Morning tea," Gizmel offers. Trav grunts and takes off down the stairs. Gizmel opens a dusty old tome and runs his finger down the lines of text. A few moments later, Trav arrives with Uria and she hands me a steaming cup.
"Thanks," I say, taking the cup. I sniff the steam, taking in the bittersweet aroma. Taking a tentative sip, I find the flavor resembles a cross between coffee and chai tea. Not bad. I nod at Uria, and she does that annoying curtsy thing again before hurrying down the stairs. "Now, what is all the fuss about?" I ask as the beverage begins to thaw out my brain.
"I've been doing some digging in the archives, and I'm surprised I didn't find this before. I beg your pardon, your majesty," Gizmel says to me. I raise an eyebrow at the title, but say nothing. "We've found information about your placement on Earth. Your parents, the late Lord and Lady Skyland, had you enchanted. It has altered your appearance and prevented you from learning your true identity all this time. Ingenious really."
"My parents are Fred and Valery Storm from Idaho," I say.
"I'm afraid those were adoptive human parents. Lord and Lady Skyland were murdered shortly after they hid you on Earth to keep you safe. Orgs have been planning their return for some time, and an age with only one dragon born female is a perfect opportunity for them to overtake the land. You have many enemies, my lady."
My head is reeling as I try to take it in. Two days ago, I was just a failed photojournalist, and today I'm some kind of dragon queen. I can't make sense of it. I shake my head at him, trying to shake away all the nonsense.
"So, how is this enchantment lifted?" I ask. It's the only thing I can think to say. There has to be some way to prove I'm not who they think I am. If they can't lift the enchantment then that would mean I'm not the princess.
Even if I'm not her, I can't go home for twenty-eight more years. A tear slips down my cheek, and I gasp, trying to hold back the wails of despair and terror that are threatening burst from my lungs.
"I'm working on that," Gizmel says. "The exact formulation is not recorded in the archives. But I have an idea of where I might be able to find it. Skyland Castle has been largely vacant since just after your birth, my lady, but there might be information in the libraries there.
"Then we leave for Skyland Castle today," Trav says.
Chapter 9
If that is my real parents’ home, I'd like to see it," I say. I still don't believe any of this, but getting out of the castle sounds like a good idea to me.
"It is far too dangerous," Trav says, crossing his arms.
"Look, if you let me go with you, I might just be that much closer to letting you make hilock with me," I say, batting my eyelashes. I'm sick of being locked in my bedroom.
He lets out a long sigh and shakes his head. "Fine. Go prepare yourself," he says. "We leave within the hour."
I head upstairs, and Trav walks beside me. "I will escort you to your rooms, lady," he says, putting out his elbow for me to take. I shrug and take his arm. He gallantly walks me to my room, and the door slides open.
"Hey, wait," I say. "Could you unlock the door for me?" I ask.
"This door is not locked," he says, frowning. "It doesn't recognize your form. I will have it replaced while we are gone.” He bows his head slightly before he turns to go.
I hurry to the bathroom to find a tub already prepared for me. I sink into the warm water and wash my hair. When I get out, Uria is waiting for me in my bedroom with an outfit prepared for the journey. "This is a good traveling dress," she says. It has a mid-calf length skirt in a deep burgundy. The outfit includes a fitted tunic, a pair of thick tights that go under the skirt, and knee-high leather boots. It looks more practical than the gown I wore the night before. Uria helps me dress and does my hair and face just before Trav appears at my door.
"Come," he says. I whistle for Clancy.
"What are you doing?" he asks. "That creature cannot come with us."
"He's coming," I say.
"Fine, just hurry." He takes my arm and escorts me quickly downstairs.
Outside, I see what looks like a carriage with no wheels and a giant handle on top, sitting on a stone slab. For some reason, I was expecting horses. I shrug and let Trav lead me into the carriage. Clancy hesitates at the ramp, but I tug his leash and he finally follows in.
I sit on a soft cushioned seat and look around nervously. What is the giant handle on the roof for? I don’t think I want to know. Trav puts Clancy into a cargo hold that looks comfortable enough. Trav inspects me before bounding down the ramp. Gizmel, Uria and a few other servants join me in the carriage as I watch Trav checking the exterior. Finally, he closes the entra
nce ramp.
I’m not ready for what I see next. Trav suddenly transforms into a giant red dragon and pumps his wings, launching into the air. The carriage shakes as the massive beast grips the handle with his claws.
A moment later, the carriage lifts off the ground. I let out a small cry, gripping my seat, and Clancy whines from his crate. I can see the castle out the window as we rise into the air. The landscape below becomes smaller and smaller as we fly. Clouds pass out the window as I sink back in my chair, stunned I’m riding in a dragon drawn carriage.
After what feels like about an hour of this, the craft stops and slowly sinks to the ground. Trav sets us down and descends outside the carriage, shifting as he lands.
Taking my hand, Trav leads me toward a hillside. As I walk, my leather boots sink slightly into the soft ground. Clancy bounds ahead over the hill. As we hurry after him, a castle comes into view.
I'm awestruck for a moment at the overwhelming beauty of it. While Trav's castle looks like a medieval fortress, this castle seems to be straight out of nineteenth century Germany or some Disney fairy tale. Towers spiral up to the sky and end in points where tattered flags wave in the slight breeze.
"No one has been here for twenty-eight years?" I ask, gripping Trav's arm more tightly.
"There is a caretaker who is loyal to your family, and a small guard to keep looters away, all awaiting your return."
"This place belongs to me? I mean…the lost dragon born princess?"
"Yes, lady. This is your rightful estate. Come."
Our group walks down the grassy hillside and past small grazing deer-like animals that have thick woolly coats. The animals move in a herd as we walk between them, braying as they scatter away. Clancy wants to chase after them, but I grab his leash and hold it until we get inside the front gate of the castle.
I look around my palace. That's the only word I can use to describe it. The twenty-foot tall front doors open. A bent, little man emerges, wearing navy blue knee length pants, a matching waistcoat, and white tights. His long black hair is pulled back in a low ponytail. Gizmel hurries up to him and the two walk toward Trav and me.
"This is the lady I told you about, Hammon," Gizmel says. "This is Rona's daughter."
The little man, Hammon, looks me up and down and frowns. "Is she deformed?" he asks in a breathless, scratchy voice. He seems like he’s a hundred years old. He has the same pointed ears and sharp canines that most of the people in Endor seem to have, but he's short and lacks glowing eyes. Apparently, he isn't a dragon.
"She is enchanted, Hammon.” Gizmel gives me an apologetic look.
"I am your prince, and this is the Princess of Skyland," Trav announces. "We have been traveling. Now invite us inside."
Hammon twitches and shakes as if he's forgotten his baby in a hot car and then waves for us to follow him inside.
We pass through the massive front doors into an equally tall entry hall. The ceiling is fifty feet high with lighting that seems to drip in glass beads from above. Light plays prismatically across the frescoed walls and ceiling. Murals of dragons flying dramatically across the sky swirl around me.
The taller elves lead armies of the smaller ones over hillsides covered in broken bodies and blood. On another wall, the scene drips with flowers and waterfalls as two dragons are entwined in what appears to be an embrace.
Below them are the figures of a man who looks like a dragon born and a woman of similar stature. She is curvaceous and beautiful, with long golden hair and tanned skin.
I walk to the painting and trace my fingers over the woman's likeness. Hammon approaches me and stands beside me with a long sigh. "The lady Rona Skyland, the last of the dragon born princesses."
I look up at him to see a tear trickle down his cheek. His lips quiver, and I can tell that even after all this time he's broken up about it.
"What happened to all the women?" I ask.
"The last time the Org emerged from their vile womb, deep in the mountain, their leader sent a plague on the dragon born. Each year, less females were born. After a thousand years, only one lived. Rona. She had a daughter they called Dolomane. The Skylands knew of the curse and hid the baby so that no Orgs could ever find her."
"Do you think I'm her?" I whisper. Suddenly I feel more sympathetic to the cause, hearing Hammon speak of his late mistress and her child.
"I don't know, lady, you look nothing like a dragon born. You don't even look Endorian. Gizmel says the child was enchanted, but I don't know about such things."
"Come," Trav says, taking my arm. "We are going to the old wizard’s laboratory."
Just as he turns me to go, a group of men walks through the front door. I blink as the sunlight glints in my eyes. When the figures move farther into the shade of the room, I realize it's Conyac and his men.
"What are you doing here, Blackwell?" Trav growls.
Chapter 10
I heard you were taking the princess to her ancestral home. I thought I'd come to join you and officially welcome the lady back to her home. Will you be staying in your family's castle, Princess Skyland?"
“I hadn't thought about it." The idea of living in my own house with my own servants sounds nice about now. I'm tired of Trav’s constant pressure to make hilock or whatever it's called. "If we can prove I'm truly Princess Skyland, then I would be happy to stay here. If it's alright with you, Hammon?"
"I would be honored to have a Skyland in residence again. Ecstatic. I've been awaiting the return of the princess all these twenty-eight years."
"Super. Let's see what we can find," I say. The sooner we have this figured out the better. If they can't prove I'm the princess, then they will have to leave me alone. If they can, I can move out of Trav's castle into my own.
"That is out of the question," Trav protests. "I cannot protect you here!"
"I would be happy to post a guard for the lady of Skyland," Conyac counters. Trav growls at him.
"Fine. If we can prove she is the princess today, we will both post a guard. But I will be staying with the lady."
"And I will stay as well," Conyac says with a grin.
I roll my eyes and step between the cockfight. "Guys, please. Let's just find what we came to find. Okay?"
Conyac is wearing a long black cloak with fur around the shoulders, making his already broad shoulders seem even broader. The black cloak and white fur bring out the color of his glowing blue eyes. He smiles at me when he notices I'm watching him. I look away, embarrassed. I haven't gotten a chance to spend much time with Conyac. He has an equal claim to the throne, and to me, as Trav does. I bite my lip thinking about spending time with him. He always seems like such a nice guy. A big, sexy, powerful, nice guy.
Hammon leads us through the front hall, up a winding staircase, down a long corridor, and up another narrower winding stair that leads high into one of the towers.
Looking out a narrow window, I take in the view, and my breath is sucked out of my lungs. I understand now why this is called Skyland. Beyond the castle grounds, the land falls sharply away and plummets into a bottomless canyon. Vertigo overtakes me, and I slump down on the stairs, winded. Conyac is by my side, lifting me up in his arms. I take in the scent of his cologne, alpine and fresh, making me even more light-headed.
I lean against his chest as he carries me effortlessly up the staircase. Trav is behind us, growling. I know he's going to grab me back at any moment. I should have the right to choose which prince I mate with, if I mate with either of them that is.
We make it to the top of the stairs and enter a laboratory similar to Gizmel's.
The tiny man begins bustling around the room, unrolling crumbling scrolls, as Conyac sets me down in a dusty chair. "Are you all right, lady?" he asks me.
"I'm fine. I just got dizzy when I realized how far up we are."
"Yes, Skyland can only be reached by a narrow bridge or by wing. It is the safest fortress on Endor."
"This place is a mess!" Gizmel complains as he searches t
hrough dusty tomes, looking for the information he's after.
Trav sits on the other side of me and hands me a metal cup full of water. His expression is blank, and he says nothing. "Thanks, Trav," I mutter, taking the water. I bring the cup to my lips and sip. The cool liquid flows down my throat, making me feel much better.
As I sit between the two princes, a buzz burns in my body, making me come alive in an embarrassingly intense way. Double prince pheromones, not good. My nipples pebble painfully against the cloth of my bodice, and my pussy becomes slick with juice. I lick my lips and look from one man to the next.
Is it Conyac that is doing this to me or the effect of both of them? Trav seems to think I'd get turned on by my "true mate." When they crushed me between them last night, I was more turned on than I had ever been in my life. I even ended up letting Trav go down on me, which was totally out of character.
If it's just Conyac that makes me so randy, then maybe he's my true mate. I shake my head at my ludicrous train of thought. I still don't really believe I'm one of these people.
Gizmel moans as he runs his finger down a yellowed scroll. "These scrolls are disintegrating!" he grumbles.
"Keep looking wizard," Trav commands.
"Perhaps we should take the lady to get some fresh air," Conyac suggests. "And leave the wizard to do his work.
"Yes, yes," the gnome agrees.
Conyac stands and offers me his hand while Trav growls beside me. I take the offered hand and follow the black-haired prince down the stairs, this time, not looking out the window. I don't think I'll ever get used to the sight of the land falling away into nothingness. It's as if we're on a cliff in the Himalayas or something.
Downstairs, Conyac leads me into a throne room. Two massive chairs sit at the end of the hall that is lined with rows of benches. We walk down the red-carpeted aisle, approaching the thrones. Between the two intricately carved gold chairs is a massive crystal globe on an onyx pedestal.