Sunshine

“Feed this stuff to the people in the streets.” She ordered one of the servants. The maid looked surprised but nodded her head and hurried back to the kitchen.

She continued to sit there sipping the wine wondering if the king would make good on his promises to her, or if it was all just a big joke to him. She leaned back in her chair and propped her dainty little feet on the table. Letting her headrest on the back of the chair, she thought of Seth, and what he would have thought of her performance tonight. He had disappeared before the dinner had even begun. The blonde girl must be very entertaining. Lianna remembered the way the female’s breasts had almost spilled out of her gown and wondered if Seth was really attracted to such displays.

She looked down at her bosom. It was nowhere near as large as the Lady Fraiser’s, but it was not a bad chest. If the way Sorea had looked at her was any indication.

Lianna’s beast purred in her veins at the memory of the hungry look in that males’ eyes. She groaned out loud and felt as though she was losing her mind. She drained the rest of her wine and set the glass down on the table with a loud snap. The top of the chute snapped off and the stem sliced into her palm. Lianna stared at the blood welling up and sliding down her hand, the wound instantly began to close back up.

“Methinks you have had too much wine.” It took Lianna a moment to realize someone had spoken to her. Her head snapped up and she made to stand.

Too quickly, the world tilted, and the table was in her face before she could make sense of what had happened. Strong hands grasped her hips from behind. She gasped and straightened, the back of her head slamming into something hard with a loud crack.

The hands let go and she whirled around, grabbing the table for support as the room spun with her and she tried not to fall over. Her eyes focused on a stiff black coat. She looked up, and up, and saw sparkling black eyes, golden flames brighter than they had seemed earlier. His dark hair fell across his face as he peered down at her through watery eyes.

“What do you want?” Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. Her wine-soaked senses reacting to his nearness in a way that nearly had her trembling beneath his painfully amused gaze.

“Before you almost broke my nose with your damned head, I wanted to help you find your bed.” He rasped pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Oh.” Was all she could manage.

“Have you ever drunk wine before?” He asked, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth as he watched her closely.

“Yes!” She defended herself hotly, straightening away from the table to stand on her own.

Her bold eyes met his, and she promptly forgot what they were arguing about. Her hand reached out to trace the smooth seam of his overcoat near his shoulder. She felt him stiffen beneath her light touch and she smiled at that response. So, she did have some effect on him.

“I almost enjoyed myself at dinner.” She whispered and watched his black eyes widen at her intimate tone.

She swayed dangerously and his arms came up automatically to catch her before she could fall.

“You do not have much experience with people do you? ” He growled; “ Can you walk?” all trace of humor gone. A rock-hard arm slipped around her waist. She snorted and leaned into him, his chest was solid and oddly comforting. Lianna twisted her neck to the side and rubbed her cheek against the fabric of his soft suit.

“You could just find Seth and he will take me to my bed.” She murmured into his chest.

“Not very likely!” He snarled. His tone grabbed her attention and she made the extraordinary effort to pull away. She stood there swaying for a moment, her hand grabbing his arm to steady the spinning room. Her eyes narrowed, trying to focus on his face and she lifted a cool hand to press against her too-warm cheek.

“He left me.” She could feel the emotion welling up within her, she turned away mortified as she felt tears sting her eyes. She stumbled toward the doorway, grabbing ahold of the chairs to steady herself as she went. , reaching to the wall for support when she reached the open arch that separated the room from the hall. She felt him following her and did not care. She leaned against the cool stone for a moment, trying to calm her emotions. Sorea appeared beside her, a curious look on his face. She half groaned-half growled her frustration at him. His eyebrows shot up in question.

“Why won’t you go away? I cannot think properly when you are around.” Lianna squinted at him accusingly. His chuckle enraged her and she stood abruptly away from the doorframe. In her inebriated state, she did not notice the tips of her hair sparking in fury, or the hiss of her footsteps on the cold stone floor. Her steps were heavy and her head felt too light. Somehow her feet ended up crisscrossing and she stumbled over them. Strong steady hands gripped her waist before she could fall, steadying her even as they seemed to burn through the bright orange fabric of her gown.

She could not make her feet move for a moment and he seemed content to hold her. She swayed back against him and his warmth scalded her. Sucking in a deep breath, his scent invaded her and the throbbing in her veins intensified tenfold. A soft moan escaped her outward breath and his hands tightened on her waist. She spun in his arms, the dizzying effect amplified by all the wine. She leaned back in his arms and looked into his face.

“What are you doing to me?” She whispered bracing her hands against his hard chest. She tried to make herself sound stern but knew she failed miserably when the humor returned with a smirk.

“You are drunk.” He stated flatly. Lianna snorted indelicately and pushed away from him. He let her go, his fingers caressing her softly as she slipped from his grasp. Another feral noise escaped her unbidden as she walked unsteadily to the staircase at the end of the hall.

She made it up to the third step before she tripped on a stair that seemed to move back as she set her foot down. His strong hands wrapped around her hips and pulled her back. She felt them like a brand through her thin dress. A hiss escaped her, and she tried to pull away, moving in the wrong direction instead, bringing her bottom flush against his groin. She felt his power strain against hers, a white-hot heat that burned through the iron bands holding her beast in check. He immediately pushed her away as if he too had felt that wild surge inside her. She landed in a heap on the middle stair. She sat up, bringing her elbows to her knees and her chin to her hands.

“You should just leave me here too.” She said to him as he squatted down before her.

“I will not.” Was his soft reply. Something fierce flashed across his face and Lianna was mesmerized, swaying slightly to the side. A hand shot out to wrap around her arm in support.

“Why not? Obviously, all it takes is a come-hither look and a pair of large breasts to convince a male to forget his duty.” She said thinking of Seth and Lady Fraiser again. She made the noise that she knew the male in question would growl about. Then the world tilted sideways, and her hands flew out to catch herself, but she was not falling. He had moved too quickly for her inebriated mind to follow and his strong arms held her securely as they moved upward.

“Are we flying?” She asked, letting her head fall back against his arm, her foggy mind not understanding that he was carrying her up the stairs.

“No. We are falling. ” There was that sarcastic humor again, and her beast rose to the bait.

She poked a finger into his chest and looked up at him.

“You should not try to make me angry. My beast does not play nicely. Sometimes we burn people.” She whispered her eyes going wide like a child’s, as if she did not like to think about it.

She thought she saw him smile again. Why would he smile at that? What an odd thing for him to do!

“I’m serious!” She nearly yelled, forgetting where she was and who she was talking to. Forgetting that no one could know what she was.

“That’s why everyone leaves me.” She said matter-of-factly.

“Everyone is afraid of me. Even I am afraid of me sometimes. But Seth told me that it was okay to be afraid, that it made me better than them.” She had been staring at his chin, her fingers playing with his coat lapels as she spoke quietly.

They came to a stop and he let her feet slide down to the floor, but still held her pressed against his chest for a moment as if he was afraid to let her go. She looked up at him, confused.

“Your chamber.” His voice was low, almost a growl. She felt his warmth in her core and could not make herself pull away from it. She let her eyes fall to his lips. They looked so soft. Her fingers came up to trace the bottom one. The small gesture sent fire racing through her veins, the pleasurable sensation had her beast begging her not to stop. She licked lips gone suddenly dry and dropped her hand.

Her beast was getting impatient and she felt the scalding heat rip through her, burning away the effects of the alcohol. She choked on a gasp, steam curling from her lips. She pushed him away, her eyes darting to his franticly. She barely had time to register his shocked expression before she slammed the door in his face. She turned and leaned back against the solid wood. The fire surging through her begging for release.

Her breath came in small pants as the dragon wrestled with her self-restraint. It roared its defiance as if to say to hell with restraint. Why should she restrain herself, when no one else seemed to?

Lianna stopped. She thought of Seth and the big breasted blonde he had disappeared with. She remembered the way the women at the table had looked at her father, and even Eris had admitted to flirting with the maids.

She turned around, not caring that her beast was glowing in her eyes, Sorea had felt her power and he had not seemed afraid, only vaguely surprised. She yanked the door open to find that the hallway was now empty. She had made a fool of herself and he had escaped her inexperienced advances as soon as he had been able to. She slammed the door closed again, wondering which one of the brunettes he would seek out. She felt the steam sliding through her nostrils and refused to care. She needed to get out of this cage. Now.

She went to the window and pushed it open. She was three floors above the ground. Perfect. She sat on the ledge and threw herself out of the window.

She let herself fall, not shifting until the last second. Long golden wings unfurled, grabbing the air and pushing her back up. She reached as high as she could, and then pushed the air down again until she was shooting upward like an arrow. The icy air filled her lungs and the tension that had been building within her all day slowly released its iron grip.

She did not have any destination in mind, and just enjoyed the feeling of the wind in her face, the scenery passing by in a dark blur beneath her. She listened to the wind’s ancient song lull her beast into a hypnotic state as she soared along with its eastern current.

She felt a presence come up quickly behind her. She banked to the right, rolling through the swirling clouds, and spun around to scan the empty skyline. Her body swooped around, and she turned back to the East, and the looming freedom of the mountains when she saw him.

A giant black beast twice her size. His dark scales blended into the night sky, and he was like a shadow soaring through the sky beside her. She screamed her denial and fell a good fifty feet in her shock before her wings came out to slow her descent. Curiosity warred with incredulity as her brain processed what she had seen.

She swooped back up above the cloud line searching for him, but he was gone. She made large loops, circling around and around before an idea struck her. She dipped back below the clouds, blood surging through her veins. A roar of fury burst from her at his successful escape.

She found the outcrop of rocks she had been searching for. She went in for the landing, overshooting it by a good twenty feet. She shifted in a flash, rolling down the rock and crashing headfirst into the tree near its base. She sat up and screamed until her lungs were raw. Her body was on fire, flames burning her clothes away in bright blue and purple flames. When the storm began to ebb, and the flames finally disappeared she stood there naked near the burning tree. Her chest heaving in response to her wild tantrum.

Where was it? She knew there had been someone else there, flying beside her at that moment, but as the clouds floated away and the moon came out to bath the landscape in silver light, she saw nothing. Lianna cast her aura out as far as she could but still could not sense him. It had been a him. She was almost sure of it but she had been so distracted by her thoughts that she had to admit that she could have been mistaken. NO. That dark powerful presence could not have been a figment of her imagination.

Lianna folded her knees beneath her and sat on the edge of the rock, letting her feet dangle in the air below. Her glorified fit had not drawn him out and she felt like an idiot. A naked idiot now. She would have to sneak back into the castle naked. Seth would have a fit if he found out. She could hear him now raging at her for taking unnecessary risks. If she had been seen by anyone, their little ruse would be over with. A snort escaped her as she watched her toes wriggle in the cold air. If anyone had seen her they would probably not believe their eyes, and no one else would believe them either.

Lianna stared out over the small open space below the rock she was sitting on. The trees here were ancient and gnarled, they seemed to watch her in return. The moonlight did not pierce through the canopy even though most of the leaves had already fallen to the ground. The shadows below the skeletal branches were dark and wholly uninviting. The cold breeze tickled through the few remaining leaves and Lianna felt the ominous aura drift her way and shivered in apprehension.

How long had it been since anyone walked through these woods? A piercing shriek had her nearly toppling off of her perch and she laughed at herself as an owl swooped down to the ground on the other side of the clearing. Lianna watched as its talons closed around a small mouse and it leaped back into the air. A shudder wracked her body and she wondered what other sorts of predators lurked in the darkness. Nymphs? Her mother had said that they lure men to their deaths, but what of women? Was she immune? What did a nymph even look like? Then her practicality came to her rescue. She was a dragon. What did she have to fear? The beast inside her growled it’s approval as if to say nothing. She had nothing to fear.

But dragons did not exist anymore. She was the only one, and would likely be in hiding for the rest of her life, however long that would be. Seth was at least two-hundred years old, and he was still young. Would she be alone and in hiding for the next two hundred years?

A loud crack sounded from the south, cutting off her thoughts and her head snapped up in that direction. The ground beneath her trembled and she fell off the rock, tumbling to the earth ten feet below.

She pushed herself up onto her elbows as another thunderous boom sounded. The hard dirt beneath her gave way, becoming soft and sandy, the rock she had just fallen off of came crumbling down. Lianna jumped out of the way and shifted into her dragon with a loud screech.

What the hell was going on?

Another boom from the mountainside ricocheted through the land, and Lianna watched in horror as the mountain came tumbling down. A wave of dust and debris billowed out, rushing towards her faster than she thought possible.

Outrage screeched from her, and she pumped her wings as hard as she could, shooting up above the mushroom cloud that plowed through the trees, blowing over the forest with a force that snapped them like twigs. Like a golden arrow, she shot to what was left of the mountaintop. Her wings blew the dust away, as she circled above. When the tattered remnants of the majestic rocks became clear through the settling dust Lianna landed on the jagged surface to survey the damage. Her nostrils pinched as the smell of rotten eggs mixed with a metallic taste bombarded her senses.

She sneezed once, twice as the dust nearly choked her. Twin balls of flame shot from her nose, or mouth, she wasn’t sure which. The light lit up the land and her soul stuttered at the scene of destruction.

The mountain had been cleaved nearly in half. The piercing sound that came from her was one of utter loss. The entire mountain was nearly gone, now just a pile of rocks and dust beneath her feet. It was a staggering area that had been decimated in just minutes. Lianna was still trying to comprehend what had happened when her ears twitched. A low growl rumbled from her as she swiftly and silently followed the sounds of squeaky wheels to the northern edge of the pile of rubble.

Flickering lights crawled through the dark ahead of her headed West. She could not hear voices, but the unmistakable sound of squeaky wagon wheels rolling over the rocks and clanking metal had her leaping into the air to investigate.

She flew on silent wings, listening to the unmistakable clanking of irons snaking along the forest floor. Lianna would never forget the sound that had branded itself in her memory the first time she had shifted when her beast had saved her life that day in the mines. The canopy of the trees hid them from view and she could not see what it was they carried in the wagon. She had to hold back a frustrated hiss as she surveyed the landscape.

Lianna could make out a brighter light a few miles ahead near the base of a cliff. The forest surrounding it would prevent anyone from noticing the camp unless they had the advantage of height. She flew around the halo of light, using the shadow of the mountains to her advantage.

She circled the bright clearing, far enough away that she would not be seen, but close enough for her eyes to behold the large camp that had been erected in the hollow area between two large hills. A crude wall of logs had been erected and separated the camp from the woods around it. A small opening on the Northern wall was patrolled by Fae warriors dressed in royal colors. A familiar scent wafted to her on the cool night air. Rotten eggs mixed with the strange metal… and something else she could not quite recall.

Small campfires dotted the interior of the camp illuminating circles of lumpy ground. She looked to where a group of soldiers was herding in a line of stumbling bodies through the gate. A rickety wagon halted and two guards jumped down, shouting at the poor wretches to move faster. Her heart seemed to skip a beat as she realized the lumpy mounds she saw were people, hunched together for warmth in the cold night air. Her outraged screech echoed through the quiet night, causing the males in the camp below to reach for their weapons and search the skies for any threat.

Lianna had seen enough. She angled her wings and banked to the left, soaring away from the encampment as swiftly as her wings could carry her.

She sensed the sunrise approaching as she landed shakily on the side of the mountain that made up the rear wall of Errewyns castle. In a flare of gentle light, the dragon was gone; in her place, Lianna’s form hunched to the ground. It was a slave camp. Obviously, they were doing something they did not want anyone to know about. They worked through the night and were in an ancient part of the forest that had likely not seen many trespassers in a very long time. They blew up a mountain for Mother’s sake! How? Why? Those huge prehistoric trees had been snapped in half like they were nothing. The owl had probably been in one of those trees. How many other creatures had been obliterated by that blast?

Lianna rose on shaky legs, a coolness on her cheek had her hand reaching up to wipe away the tears that fell silently. The sky had lightened to pale pink in the distance and she knew she had to get back to her room or risk being caught. She turned to walk back to the castle, and stopped short, realizing she was naked as the day she was born. How had she forgotten that she was naked?

A low chuckle rumbled through her mind and she stilled. Spinning around in a circle to find where it had come from. Lianna felt her hackles rise when no one stepped forward. She was alone. Casting her power out around her; she tried to feel for anyone who might be hidden behind the rocks, or down in the gardens below. The rear of the dark red castle towered over the land like an extension of the mountains. There was no wall back here because the cliff on which Lianna stood was more impenetrable than any wall the king could build. Glancing around for something to cover herself with, she began to feel very stupid for burning her clothes.

“What the hell was I thinking?” She said out loud to herself. Snorting in self-disgust, she looked up just as a window flew open in the wall directly across from her. Her heart nearly stopped in her chest and she darted into the shadowy crevasse behind her. A capped head popped out, and a long dark braid fell out the window. The maid disappeared for a moment and then came back into view long enough to hang a pair of pants on the nearly-invisible line that Lianna now noticed stretched across the opening and attached to the rocks several feet to her right. The round disc protruding from the side of the cliff began squeaking as the maid tugged on the line and the pants moved closer to her allowing more room for her to hang a white shirt. By the time the woman was finished, several items were hanging on the line and Lianna sent up a prayer of thanks to the Mother for this small miracle.

Lianna quickly pulled the soft buckskins from the line and stepped into them, before dawning the crisp white shirt that fell to her knees. It was surprisingly easy to make her way down the thirty-foot drop and sneak back up to her room. She did not get lost this time, simply following her nose to the third floor and the feline musk that belonged to her guards.

She slid into her chamber and silently closed the door. She stumbled towards the bed and was asleep instantly.