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085: Love and War
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Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 086: The Wanderer
[Primus]Her face haunts me in my dreams. My beautiful wife. I can't stop thinking of our last evening together when we finally reconnected and pledged to do whatever we must do to stay together.But she isn't here with me and I can't find her. The way to Elfholm is a mystery as no traveler who has encountered the elves remembers where. The illusions are so thick that they often lose themselves. It seems that the harder I search for her, the more difficult it becomes.Fate can be brutal. It doesn't matter how strong you are, how honorable or just, fate doesn't care. A king can be brought to his knees by it's whim. Carnelia is not with me but when I close my eyes, It's almost as if I can feel her in my arms again. Carnelia. My sweet and wonderful mate. It has been two weeks since I last held her. Two weeks since I heard I saw her through a film of darkness.She was so brave. So strong. But I can feel her pain. She needs me more than ever. Whoever has her, they are treating her cruelly.
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 001: Three Months Later
My husband, Primus. Is dead.My mate gave his life because he loved his wife and children so much that he was willing to die for them to have a chance at life.Primus was the very best of mates. He taught me how to love.I would gladly die a million deaths to have him by my side again.But he died at his own brother's hands, another victim of the Starfell War.Or at least, that is what I need to tell myself, because to admit the truth would be madness.My wings, as black as night, float around me as they transform, and I fall into my preferred form, one more human than dragon. Now they are the gossamer sleeves of an elegant silk gown, my scales are gold sequins that make up the bodice and skirt. My hair, braided in hundreds of golden tendrils, is piled upon my head, the crown gifted to me on my wedding day woven between the strands.On my wrist, a black bangle connects me to the Celestial Realm. On my hand, the ring that once connected me to my love.I never thought I'd return to this
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 002: Messages and Maladies
[Carnelia] The dead, cold, glare of Primus’ eyes followed me on my flight back home. He survived, and I know I should be grateful that my mate still breathes, but I am having a hard time finding my gratitude. I want to take him into my arms and fly him back with me. I want to do a lot of things that just aren’t possible. As I approach the closed gate, I take my fourth form, becoming a dragon made of little more than light in the shape of my winged self. I’ve only been able to take this shape in recent weeks, even with an entire kingdom of others to learn from. Despite being a universal dragon who can take the form of any other dragon I encounter, there are still a few things I need to learn the long way around. Ona is waiting for me when I materialize within the landing dock of our closed gate. Princess Ursa, who is officially our heir, is standing by her mother, learning from her as she once learned from her grandmother, how to rule the Celestial Kingdom. After the events of the
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 003: Training Session
[Carnelia]I tried to stay strong and be regal and centered, but seeing my babies suffer made me hesitate to leave them even for a moment. What if I took a selfish moment to be somewhere else only to find they had taken a dark turn? Could I forgive myself if they stopped breathing while I was off attending to a personal need?What kind of mother am I to leave them like I did when they were suffering? I should have sent someone else to speak on my behalf.After seeing them struggle, I stayed there with them all night, refusing to leave. I also had all my food and other essentials brought here, setting up camp in a comfortable corner of the infirmary. I plan to be here for every moment they have left even if that means I do nothing but watch for the next week.This situation feels so impossible, I can't think of anything better to do.I place a hand on my two smallest babies, Nyx and Nox. They are both shadow dragons and hatched on the same day within minutes of one another, giving them
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 004: Undercovers
[Ona] The lights are dim and the air is sweet with the scents of our lovemaking. Everything is quiet and calm. Our children are off living their own lives, especially our daughter, Ursa, who enjoys the privilege of being the crown princess maybe a bit too much. Even Carnelia is finally resting. It took fighting 15 different celestial dragons, and learning their powers and their forms before she was finally exhausted enough to enter a sleep that isn’t haunted by nightmares of her mate alive and yet dead inside. I feel almost guilty, lying in Daax’s arms. But we have lived so much of our lives apart, that I cherish every moment of connection that we have. Who knows when the universe might drive us apart again? And tonight may be our last night for some time to come that we can be so free with one another--especially if my plan is going to work. After tonight, he will be hiding in plain sight as one of the royal guards. I gently brush his blond curls away from the jagged edge
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 005: The Arrival
[Carnelia] The reception chamber for the Northern Gate is cool, even with a dozen dragons standing on the platform. Thankfully, the babies are nestled in carriers that will keep them cozy while we travel. Carefully, I kiss the brow of each of my babies, giving them my love before handing each of them to a unique guard, one who will be serving as their personal attendant for our entire time in Luxandra. At Ona’s insistence, all of them are trained not only to be nursemaids but as skilled warriors. “Are you sure about this,” I ask Ona as her hand rests on the button that will begin the process of reopening this gate. “Are you sure this is the best way?” “Mother would make the same choice,” Ona looks at all of us intently as her hand rests on the button, “Of that I am certain.” The reopening process is complex, requiring several elements to be in place, including the two of us in the same location. Once the engineers ensure us that it is time, Ona places her hand on a small stone plat
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 006: Cold Reception
[Carnelia] I hold my breath, forgetting for a moment how to breathe. What does this mean? How is it that the Queen is so newly pregnant? Why is she displaying my husband like a spoil of war? Ona reaches forward and squeezes my hand, communicating her love for me through her touch. She sees it too. “We don’t know anything, Carnelia. Don’t assume until we know for sure.” “Either Segundus is still alive or…” “Shhh…” she looks around, her eyes wide with fear. “I know.’ We don’t have an opportunity to consider the implications, both politically and personally. An armed escort proudly weaves itself through the crowd, creating space on either side of their contingent as they find their way to us. “By order of Queen Eleanora and Prince Primus,” their leader, stands before us, half his face covered in a golden helm, leaving only his jawline visible, which moves up and down with each word, giving his shadowed face the appearance of being eyeless. “You are to come before their presence imm
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 007: With Care
[Carnelia] The guards standing on the edge of the room move forward. The Queen raises a jeweled hand to give them pause. “Yes, Brother-in-law, you had something to say.” As if pushing through fog, his next words are slow, labored, as if his jaw were stuck together with clay. “She…mine…stay.” His breathing is labored. He does not move forward. But his eyes. For the first time in all of my visits, his eyes connect with mine. “Stay,” he says again. This time I know for certain. He’s talking to me. I nod. Okay, Primus. I'm here. I'm not leaving you. I try to send what love I can through my ring, hoping that he can still feel it, somewhere. He closes his eyes, his face tight with pain. He may look like the strong drake that I married, but he is not himself. Whatever they have done to him, he is fighting to be free. He is fighting to be mine again. Queen Eleanora looks at him with a gaze that is far too clever. “The prince has made a request. We shall treat his family as our fam
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Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 086: The Wanderer
[Primus]Her face haunts me in my dreams. My beautiful wife. I can't stop thinking of our last evening together when we finally reconnected and pledged to do whatever we must do to stay together.But she isn't here with me and I can't find her. The way to Elfholm is a mystery as no traveler who has encountered the elves remembers where. The illusions are so thick that they often lose themselves. It seems that the harder I search for her, the more difficult it becomes.Fate can be brutal. It doesn't matter how strong you are, how honorable or just, fate doesn't care. A king can be brought to his knees by it's whim. Carnelia is not with me but when I close my eyes, It's almost as if I can feel her in my arms again. Carnelia. My sweet and wonderful mate. It has been two weeks since I last held her. Two weeks since I heard I saw her through a film of darkness.She was so brave. So strong. But I can feel her pain. She needs me more than ever. Whoever has her, they are treating her cruelly.
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 085: Love and War
[Kora]I tried to call the Celestial Kingdom using the shared communications devices between our two countries. I wanted to update them on Orion's situation, to ask for aid and counsel. Elfholm has stopped sending messages demanding my presence at their Moon Council. I have tried sending my messages only to find my signals blocked.The False Queen demands my presence at Skyfall. With each refusal, she sends me a new piece of my love. At first, it was just a bit of hair, an article of clothing to remind me of his fragile situation.But it has been weeks.So now it has become talons and horns, fangs and scales.How long do I have before it is fingers and toes? His arm? His manhood?I am tired of being stuck here. I am tired of waiting.My father kept many labs. He was an anxious sort, very suspicious, and tended to over-plan. I can appreciate this about him as these are traits the two of us share. The colossus at my castle was not the only one, and while I am tempted to take this other
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 084: Shards
[Ona]She didn't warn us. She hardly even said goodbye. She looked at us with such sad eyes as she swept her hand upwards and we became encased within a sphere of darkness."I am so sorry..." Her last words faded and distorted as my brother screamed her name, screamed for her to stop.But she couldn't hear him.I held my little brother close while the darkness swept our little family, our remaining guards and nurses, up and out of Elfholm to Luxandra above.Freedom. She sacrificed herself for freedom.When the inky darkness receded, we were only footsteps away from the Eastern Gate in the Realm of Air, close to the home duchy of Eleanora the False Queen. Carnelia used her newly developed abilities to phase our entire number across a vast amount of space.Not even the Elf King himself was able to move us all so far so quickly.What is she becoming now that she is growing up into her power?"We need to get moving," I try to urge my brother, who has fallen to his knees, his hands reaching
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 083: Moonspeaker
[Carnelia]"I refuse," I hold my head high. "Allies do not treat one another like prisoners. If you wanted my help, you should have asked rather than chain me to this realm.""We're sorry, Your Majesty, but we feel it is necessary with your history to keep you contained. It is for your safety as well as the safety of all gathered here," an elderly drake steps forward, the starflower jasmine glowing blue throughout his long tendrils of hair."It took three of us to bring you back from the shadows when you unleashed your small nightmare," he explains. "We must keep you powerless or risk your wrath. We know the pull of a mother to her children. Why did you try to flee? You are safe here?""Why would any mother feel a need to leave quickly with her children and family--fear for their safety." I glare directly at my uncle. "As you say, I am too powerful. If someone were to threaten their lives," I refuse to remove my eyes from my uncle, who matches my gaze with his steely hardness, "I might
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 082: Torn
[Carnelia]The darkness takes me again, but this time, I have learned how to navigate it. The seemingly limitless void takes on shape and form. If I can find my anchor, I can find my way.Remembering the last time the shadows tried to take me, and how I used the shadows to take me to Primus instead, I focus on his voice, his scent, and the way I feel in his arms. He will be my anchor, my mate.The darkness slowly recedes and the silence is replaced with the sounds of my children crying as Primus calls my name."Oh gods, Carnelia," he weeps along with our babies as his hands grasp mine.Looking up, I see a dark, unnatural cloud looming just above the exit to Elfholm. Thalan doesn't plan to let any of us escape after all. I thought my uncle had at least a little bit of honor, but if I think about it, I can see the advantage of keeping us here. Ona and Primus he might let go, but me, my babies--we're his blood. His brother's legacy. Had I been born powerless, he might have let me go, but
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 081: Homebound
[Carnelia] Ona and I began to make plans immediately. We would all leave under the guise of returning Ona and ensuring her safety. Because our children are so very young, we would be taking them with us as well. Once returned, we'd close the gates again. As far as we understand, the Moon Dragons cannot phase into the Celestial Kingdom. The only way to get to the Celestial Kingdom without the gates being opened is by using a 4th form. Yes, the Moon Dragons have a 4th form, but that doesn't mean they'd just be able to enter the Celestial Kingdom without resistance. There are other defenses in place as well. They'd have to bring an entire army of Moon Dragons. And there is no reason great enough for the Moon Council to approve such an open act of war against fellow Celestials. The plan wasn't bad for one cobbled together from excuses, driven by hunches and fear. Elfholm isn't safe for our family any more, not with the Elf King so determined to keep me here. A drake like him wouldn't
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 080: The Queen's Knight
[Athony] The universe can be cruel. Sometimes the mate she chooses for you is a dream. Sometimes she is your nightmare. Often she is both. Eleanora keeps me around because I am useful. She is very stubborn with a willpower of steel--excellent qualities in a queen, but terrible ones in a mate. But she is loyal to those she finds useful. Why else would she still keep Segundus' corpse rotting in a vat of amber fluid? We thought it had been lost to the fire, but the universe isn't just cruel but capricious. She saw fit in her infinite wisdom to hide his corpse below several layers of earth, down a long lost tunnel leading to tracks that go to the sea. We found it a moon cycle earlier, and the joy in Eleanora's eyes was only overshadowed by her smile of victory. "We must have the Technician," she insists. "When that beast is in our grasp, we will win this battle and reclaim our rightful places." "You deserve to be Queen of us all," I bowed before her. As she touched my shoulder to r
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 079: Broods and Bonds
[Carnelia] "Primus" Moving as a shadow I find myself by my mate's side. I became the shadow. My husband is curled up in the nest with our children, snuggly resting by their side, lending them his warmth and protection, but as soon as he senses me in the room, his eyes snap open, glowing green like fresh leaves. "Carnelia."He slowly untangles himself from our brood, and I want to smile at the sweetness of it all but I'm terrified. Not only by what I just heard from my uncle but by what I might become. A creature of shadow. A creature of the void. "You came back to me," he cups my face as he brings himself closer, touching me tentatively like I might turn into vapor and disappear. For all he knows I might, I hurt his heart when I walked away. "I will always come back," I wrap my arms around him, taking pleasure in his solid strength. I need him to anchor me. Without him and our children, I might float away, becoming darkness. I need this. Breathing him in deeply, his warmth comf
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 078: The Shadow Walker
[Carnelia] The shadows call me now. I'm no longer alone when I leave the light. "A consequence of spending too much time too close to the void," Thalan explains as we turn the corner. "I was wondering how long it would take for you to hear them. Had I known you were a universal dragon sooner, I'd have pulled you from the dream immediately, even at the risk of your mind." We pause by a dark window. Everyone is asleep or close to it now. I left Primus with our children. I long to return to them and to reassure my mate that I will not leave him. I don't know how we are going to make this work. My heart is torn in two. But one thing I've never been more certain of is the importance of our little family. Even if I have to burn this world and forge another from its ashes, I'll find a way for Primus and I to rule together in peace. "The void," my words echo as it bounces along the crystal-covered cavern walls. "You keep mentioning this void, but I saw only Primus' dream." "Then how did
