[Eleanora]
He is everything and more that I have ever wanted in a husband. Not just because he is handsome and regal, beautiful beyond words, his celestial parentage shining through with his pearlescent skin and vibrant eyes. Nor is it because of his status, although being High Queen of the United Dragon Kingdoms of Luxandra does have a nice sound to it. Primus Majere is perfect because of his noble bearing, intellect, and honor. He could have done anything to his brother, had him strung from the rafters if it suited him. But he didn’t. He gave him grace. He honored him as a potential heir to the throne.
And then I heard three words that shattered that illusion.
His human wife.
[The Maid] Master Segundus doesn’t like to know we’ve been here. So we move as silently and as quickly as we can when he is not around and he is not aware. It is our duty to serve him, even if he does not desire it. Today, I am tasked with cleaning any mold I find around bookcases and tables. There is a new table that has only been here for about a week, but I must check it nonetheless. My gods, it is heavy! What is he storing in this thing? It is probably just boring books or papers. I will see if I can wedge myself around…Dang it. That hurt. I’m going to need to get someone to help. &ldq
[Primus] Segundus wasn’t expecting to see me awake and sitting next to our father when he came into the hall. He thinks he hid his expression well, but I could see right through his tight smiles and his small bows. He was nervous, and on edge, a clear sign that he needed to think things through and consider the consequences of his words before continuing. I am sure he had hoped to speak to Father and the council alone about my wife before I had a chance to say anything. He was expecting it to take me longer to recover from containment and reorient myself to my surroundings. He underestimated my stamina, strength, and determination. I am a newly mated drake expecting the arrival of his first clutch. That is a powerful force. It is my nature to want to protect her, and I cannot do so if I am stuck in a catatonic state.
[Primus] Taking a deep breath I nod for her to continue. “Just tell me, please. I won’t be mad at you, Ona, for telling me whatever it is you need to say.” Sighing, she takes a deep breath. “One thing I did not share about Daax’s story was what his crew was really doing, pirating the waters and raiding ships.” She begins. “Daax lost his entire family. They had been completely unprepared for the invading army that wiped out their city in a single night. They thought they were safe, living in the Southern Continent. There were treaties in place to keep Luxandra out. They were a sovereign nation after all and on good trading terms with our nation. What would they have to fear?”
[Carnelia] I am awake. Fully awake. And yet, I’m staring at a nightmare. This room is full of horrors. Children suspended in fluid, connected to tubes, naked, and covered in poorly healed scars. Men and women were contained in strange silver beds, their faces visible through a small glass window, their faces in various expressions of rage, grief, or pain, frozen in time, reliving their last remembered horror. I walk deeper into the room. It is cold, colder than the first chill of dawn. My arms and legs are covered in goosebumps, my bare feet cold on the flat stone floor, the color of dried blood and feels stic
[Primus] Carnelia. She is in pain. I don't think, I just react. I can feel everything she is feeling in a swirl of emotions through the rings that we share--her fear, her terror, her confusion. She is alive, but she is not safe, and I need to get to her. I need to find her now. Where is she? I take a breath. Another breath. Feeling outward, following our bond through the rings, I can sense she is close. Very close.
[Ona] Staring into the clear containment chamber, I can see that there is not a single scrap of flesh on Daax that a scalpel has not touched. With forty years to spend tormenting and torturing my mate, Segundus spared nothing. If anything, he was surprisingly meticulous and creative in how he carved him, making it part art and part horror show. I wonder if he was especially ruthless in his attentions because Daax is my mate, that the thought of me mating with a "lowly sun dragon" was a bad enough offense to warrant extra cruelty. Seeing him as he is now I know that even if I free him, he will never be whole again. Not just his body, but also his mind and spirit. This level of destruction goes way beyond breaking a person. This is pulverizing them, removing all traces of who they on
[Carnelia] He won’t stop staring at me. Ona’s mate, Daax, whose first name is Aegir, has not been able to take his eyes off of me since we escaped. I can feel his stare warming my back as we continued our march down the dark tunnel, our naturally glowing sun-kissed skins the only illumination. Ona tried to explain that I reminded him of his sister, lost long ago on that night that he watched his family taken away. Since I have no idea who my family is, I don't even know if we might be related. He certainly looks like he could be my brother. Even so, I know I am not his Jana. I have enough of my memory to know that there is no way that it could be true. Just as the door was about to open
[Segundus] I spent my morning chasing a phantom. My brother's pet human had somehow escaped confinement and has been wandering the halls scaring others who are convinced they saw a ghost. A woman in a long flowing white dress. They even imagined that her eyes were glowing, but I'm sure that was just their fear. From what I gather, the effects of the pod were still working because she was completely unresponsive to any efforts by others to gain her attention, which just led to the mystery behind her sudden appearance. I was interrogating a stable boy about her potential location when I heard the scream. I couldn't tell who screamed, or where the scream had come from, but it was clear that whoever wa