The Dragon Princess (Crystalosias - Saga - Book One)

“I believe you have something that belongs to her.” Derk said as he held his hand out to the guard.

“Slaves don’t keep personal property.” The guard grumbled.

Derk got into the man’s face. “She is no longer a slave. She should have never been a slave. She is now your Tashia.”

The guard’s eyes opened wide as he reached into his pocket and pulled out, what looked like a polished stone.

“I was going to give it to my daughter.” The guard said with a frown as he handed the stone over to his Tasheen.

Derk looked at the stone; then at the guard. “How old is your daughter?”

“Six.” The guard answered.

Derk pulled a pouch off his belt, then searched through it until he found an Opal. “Take this, and have it made into a necklace.” He said as he handed the gem to the guard.

“Thank you, Tasheen. You are too generous.” The guard said with a bow.

Dirk nodded, then turned towards his mate and smiled as he watched her. She was watching the guard, as the man examined the Opal.

“What did you give him?” She asked when he stopped in front of her.

He turned to look at the guard, then looked back at her. “An Opal. He had wanted to give the stone to his six-year-old daughter.”

“Oh.” She said as her mouth opened into a pretty little O.

“Here.” He said as he held the stone out to her.

“Oh!” She said with happiness as she smiled the smile, he has missed these past two years. “Thank you.” She whispered as she clutched the stone to her chest.

He lifted her into his arms and started walking again. “I can’t believe you risked being whipped, for a stone.” He grumbled.

“Wait!” She hollered.

“What now, woman?” He asked with exasperation.

“I need a jar of the soil from the mine.” She whispered.

He rolled his eyes as he set her on her feet, then headed to the mine.

Sahrah sat in the room, Derk had left her in, on his ship, and held the seed against her chest, as she stared at the jar of dirt, on the table in front of her.

When should I plant it? She wondered. And where is Derk taking me?

“Sahrah.”

She looked up to find Derk standing in the doorway of the sliding door, which had startled her; when she had first seen it. And of course, he had laughed.

“Where are you taking me?” She asked.

“To my planet.”

“To be your slave?” She asked with a cry.

He sighed. “No, Sahrah. I didn’t go through all of that, to take you home to be my slave.”

“Sex slave then?” She asked as she scrunched up her face.

He chuckled. “No.”

“I don’t believe you.” She cried. “You let that man watch us. Are you going to fornicate with me in the middle of your city, for all to see?”

“I told you, that was the only way to get you out of there.”

“To let someone, watch us...watch us...OH MY GOD!” She cried out.

“It had to be done, Sahrah.” He said.

She snorted.

“Do I regret that it had to be done in that manner? Yes, I do. Do I regret getting you out of there? No, I do not.”

“Of course, you don’t.” She cried. “Because now you have your own slave!”

He stormed into the room and stood in front of her. “This is what I think of what you just said.” He said angrily as he pulled the rolled-up papers from his pocket, then tore them into many pieces in her face, then tossed them into the air, like confetti and stormed out of the room.

Sahrah pulled her knees up to her chin as she stared at the torn papers on the floor, that had just freed her from being a slave. She squealed when a small round contraption, came into the room and cleaned up the mess.

“Hey, little guy.” She said as it started to head back out.

It stopped and turned to her.

“Are you able to burn that paper?” She asked.

The machine beeped once, then she heard a strange noise and a flash of orange came out from the small holes and smoke rolled up around it. It coughed, then turned and left the room.

She giggled as she watched it leave.

Derk watched the smoking cleaner leave the room and chuckled. He didn’t have to guess what his mate had asked the machine to do, to those slave papers. He looked into the room and found her still sitting in the chair, but her legs were tucked up against her breasts and her chin sat on her knees.

“Sahrah.”

Sahrah looked up to find Derk standing at the door again, this time, with a woman at his side, no not a woman, a robot.

“This is Treyauhna-De. She is a computerized robot. Trey, this is Sahrah Prem, your new owner.”

Treyauhna-De looked at her Tasheen. “Does that mean...”

Derk nodded. “It does.” He then looked back at his mate. “Sahrah. Trey will be your companion, your friend, whatever you need her to be.” He said, then turned and left them.

Sahrah stared at the robot.

“Why, hello Tashia.” Trey said with a smile as she moved to sit in a chair, next to her new mistress.

“What does Tashia mean?” Sahrah asked.

“It means princess, of course.” Trey said with a smile.

“How did you know...never mind.” Sahrah mumbled.

“Derk is the Tasheen of Leboriah. That makes you his Tashia. If you accept, of course.”

“If I don’t accept, do you stay with him?” Sahrah asked.

Trey produced a small piece of paper and a pen. “Sign this.”

Sahrah did, and Trey pulled the piece of paper into her body, then a smile lit her robotic face.

“I am now yours. I will go where ever you go.” Trey assured Sahrah.

Sahrah smiled. “It will be nice to have someone to talk to. It has been so long...” Her words drifted away as she hid her face in her knees.

“Tell me everything.” Trey said as she watched her Tashia.

“Are you going to tell Derk?” Sahrah asked.

Trey smiled. “I am yours, Tashia.”

Sahrah told her new robotic friend, everything that has happened to her, in the past two years. When she finished with Trey’s arrival into her life, she sat there with her cheek on her knees, as she watched the robot.

“I see.” Trey said. “That is a lot of intel, I have it all stored away in my memory bank.”

“Life sucks.” Sahrah mumbled.

Trey laughed.

Sahrah smiled. The robot had actually laughed. Derk had said that she was a computerized robot.

“Trey.”

“Yes, Tashia?”

“Were you a robot first, or a computer first?”

“Ah, like the chicken or the egg. I was a computer, and I asked Tasheen for a body.”

Sahrah smiled.

“You know, you are important to him.” Trey said.

“How so?” Sahrah asked.

“Because he gave you, me.”

“Big-headed much?” Sahrah asked with a laugh.

“My head is normal-sized.” Trey said with what Sahrah would think a confused face, would look like on a robot.

“Never mind.” Sahrah said as she placed her hand on the robot’s arm. “It’s just a saying.”

“I will find this saying.” Trey said as she closed her eyes. When her eyes opened, she looked at Sahrah. “If I was able to feel offended, I think I would be, right now.”

Sahrah laughed. “It was not meant to be offensive. We usually say it, in a joking manner.”

“I understand.” Trey said with a slight nod of her head. “But I meant not to be big-headed, Tashia.”

Sahrah chuckled as she smiled at the robot.

“I only meant that I am expensive and important.” Trey said. “I was given to Tasheen, to give to his mate. The woman he will spend his life with, the woman who will bear him his children, his heir.”

“What?!” Sahrah said with a squeal as she jumped to her feet.

“That is what Dunga is for.” Trey said.

“What the flick is Dunga?!”

“It is what Tasheen did with you, Tashia.” Trey said as she looked up at Sahrah. “You had said that a man watched...”

“Yeah.” Sahrah grumbled.

“Dunga must be witnessed. He had wanted to get you out of there, and by asking for Dunga, they had wanted him to prove to them, that he wanted you for his mate, because if he had not, he would have denied Dunga.”

“I don’t understand.” Sahrah said with a frown.

“Dunga is the sex ritual, it is used to claim a mate, the witnesses prove they are serious. A Dextonian, never releases his seed into a woman, unless he wants her for a mate.” Trey informed her Tashia.

“You know, I wondered about that.” Sahrah whispered. “He had never released inside me before, you know, when we were together two years ago.”

“Dextonian men are very virile. They can easily get a woman pregnant, and if she is not his mate, many problems will ensue.”

“You said witnesses, but there was only one.” Sahrah said.

“Yes, Dunga must be witnessed by no less than three witnesses. But you said the captain was the witness.” Trey said as she looked at Sahrah.

Sahrah nodded.

“The rank of captain; is worth four witnesses. Tasheen had made it less embarrassing for you Tashia, by only bringing the captain along. He made sure there was the least amount of witnesses as possible, to protect you.”

“He had kept saying, forgive me.” Sahrah mumbled.

“He cares for you deeply, Tashia.”

“Then why did it take him two flicken years to find me? And when he did, he wasn’t even actually looking for me.” Sahrah said with a cry.

“He was hurting, Tashia. He had thought you had left him.”

Sahrah collapsed onto the bed and cried. Trey moved to the bed and sat on the edge, as she patted her Tashia’s back. Sahrah took a deep breath as her sobs subsided.

“What is important now, is that you have found each other, again.” Trey said as she tried to reassure Sahrah.

“You said that Dextorian men, can easily get a woman pregnant?” Sahrah said as she looked at Trey. “Does that mean there is a chance that I may already be?” She asked.

“Very high chance, yes.” Trey said.

Sahrah sighed as she looked at the smooth stone, still in her hand. He had gone after the stone and the dirt for her, without any questions. He had asked for her forgiveness, as they fornicated in front of the captain... and there could have been more than the one witness... He had also made sure that her body had stayed against that contraption...

“Ohmigod.” She whispered as she looked at Trey. “Captain Vector had only seen Derk’s backside. He never actually saw me, Derk kept me hidden from him. And when we finished, he covered me, before he lifted me into his arms. He protected me!” With a laugh, she jumped to her feet and ran out the door.

Trey followed closely behind her. “He would be in the controls room, this way.” Trey said as she led Sahrah to the controls room.

When the door slid open, Derk turned to them and frowned. “Trey, why is Sahrah not dressed?”

Sahrah looked down at herself and laughed. She had forgotten she was still naked.

“We have been talking, Tasheen.” Trey said.

“You can wait for me out in the hall, Trey.” Sahrah said.

“Yes, Tashia.”

“What do you want, Sahrah?” Derk asked as he tried not to look at her naked body and failed miserably.

“You protected me.” She whispered.

He looked up into her Ocean green eyes, he had forgotten how beautiful they were.

“During the Dunga.” She continued. “You had kept me in place; so that all Captain Vector could see, was your backside.”

He grinned at her. “Figured that out, did you?”

She took a step towards him and his cock twitched.

“You really do want me for your mate.” She whispered.

He cleared his throat. “I did two years ago.” She stared at him as she frowned, and he continued. “And I still do, now. Even when I had thought you had left me, I still wanted you.”

“Trey told me everything about Dunga, and Dextorian men.”

“Did she now?” He asked with a smirk.

“You tore up my slave papers, does that make me free?”

He frowned. “It does.”

“Free to go anywhere?” She asked.

“I suppose.” He grumbled. “But I’m not taking you back to your planet.”

She smiled. “Even if I am carrying your child, right now, you would let me go?”

He clenched his jaw, but he knew he could never hold her against her will. “Yes.” He hissed.

With a broad smile, she moved across the room, to stand in front of him, her tantalizing breasts, right at eye level.

“Will you help me get my planet back?”

He frowned as he looked up at her. “I cannot, Spitfire. Your people haggled out of the contract.”

She growled with a shriek. “We did not!”

“You refused to fill an order.” He said.

“We only asked for them to wait six months. Six months Derk. That would not have hurt anything. The Crystals are popular, no one would have pulled out of their orders. Who knows, maybe they would have ordered even more, by the end of the six months.”

“But asking for six months; is the same as pulling out.” Derk said with a frown.

“We only wanted more to grow, so that it did not harm our planet.” She cried. “Look what your people have done to it.” She almost screamed.

“Calm yourself.” He said as he pulled her shaking body onto his lap and held her. “I am sorry your planet is dying. But there is nothing I can do.”

“But my people didn’t do what your people say they did.” She cried. “We just wanted the Crystals to have the time they needed to grow.”

“But Crystals don’t grow, Spitfire.”

“Ours do!” She cried out as she tried to pull away from him.

He held her tightly in his arms. “I am sorry.” He whispered as he held onto her.

“What if I could prove that our Crystals grow?”

“Sahrah. It has been two years, and no Crystals have grown.”

“Because royals were killed or went into hiding. The Crystals only respond to royal blood.”

“Then we shall send a search party for any royals, and get them to...” She started to shake her head. “What?” He asked.

“The planet is already dead.” She said with a cry.

“Then how can you prove this?” He asked.

She opened her hand that still held the stone.

He stared at the stone, confused. “How can your stone prove anything?”

She grinned. “Because it’s not an ordinary stone.” She said as she held the stone in her fingers. “It’s a seed.”

He chuckled. “First time I have heard a stone called a seed.”

She made a face at him. “It’s a Crystal seed. It’s a baby.” She said with a smile.

“Do what now?” He asked, his face completely blank.

She giggled at the look on his face. “The Crystals had listened to me. For two years, I begged for them to let me help them. And they finally produced this seed, so that I could grow it.”

“I thought you had said that they only respond to royal blood.”

She smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck and looked into his eyes. “Hi.” She said with a bright smile. “Let me properly introduce myself. I am Sahrah Prem Den. Third daughter to King Zeng of Dentoria.”

Derk’s jaw dropped.

With a giggle, Sahrah closed his mouth.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He asked with wide eyes.

She smiled. “Like you told me about you being a Tasheen?”

He sighed. “But why were you hiding your identity?”

She shook her head. “I wasn’t. I’m the third daughter, the youngest. So, I have no claim to the throne. I grew up learning things that a Warrior would learn. While my sisters were pampered and made ready for the throne. I was raised as the Royal Daughter, not a Princess. I had more fun than my sisters though, I can tell you that.”

He shook his head. “You are full of surprises.” He said with a smile.

“You’re not disappointed?” She asked.

He laughed. “Are you kidding me? I am the oldest son, so that makes me the heir, the fact that you have royal blood, will please my father, very much.”

She frowned. “But we can’t tell anyone.”

He kissed her lips. “My father can be trusted.” He assured her. “He is the one leader, who didn’t agree with what they did to your planet. So, if you can prove him right, that your people spoke the truth, he will back you up, one hundred percent. Especially, since you will be his daughter.”

She laughed. “Slow down, Space Cowboy. I haven’t agreed to that yet.”

He placed his hand on her bare stomach. “You may already be carrying my heir, Spitfire.”

She smiled. “And if I’m not?”

“Then we will try again.” He said as he kissed her neck. “And again, and again, and again.”

She giggled as his lips trailed down to her breasts, then sucked in a breath when he pulled a small pink tip into his mouth.

“Be my mate, Sahrah. I haven’t been able to think about anything or anyone, but you, for the past two years.”

She sighed with a sweet smile. “Me either.”

“Then you will?” He asked as he looked into her green eyes.

She looked into his bright blue eyes and smiled. “I will.”

He grinned as he took her mouth in a mind-shattering kiss.

“Besides. I think my seed has already been planted.” He said as he kissed her jaw.

She smiled. “So do I.”