Sacrificed to the Dragon Prince

010: Touch

[Primus]

She entered my home only three nights before and already her allure overwhelms my senses. I can smell her in the walkways, taste her fingertips as they brush against my walls, and feel the butterfly kisses her feet make as she moves through her room. There is no part of me that doesn’t crave to be near her. It makes no sense to me why I suddenly feel this need to be close to anyone, never mind a small, fragile thing like her. Could she even bear my touch if I were in my true form? Would she willingly come to me scaled as I am, or will she only ever want the touch of human flesh? If she could bear it, would I crush her, breaking her without knowing? Even for a human, she is still so weak, still needing so much more care than I have yet been able to give her.

Cold, wet, smelling deeply of earth and my familiar dragon scent, it is dark in my cave. Adjusting my wings, I roll over onto my back to stare up at the bats and stalactites. I get adjusted, curling into a ball, my scales shifting as I change position. In moments like these, resting in my cave, my foreclaws clasping my tail, I see her mocking smiles, her laughing eyes sparkling like jewels in the candlelight, glaring hate when she thinks I am not watching. What it would feel like to have her wrapped around me as I am now, scale to scale, our bodies warming one another.

Impossible, it would feel impossible. Because she is not a dragon. Nothing can change that. Dragons are hatched, not made.

All the times I have touched her have been rough, demanding. I do not know if she would allow me to be gentle with her, to show her I can be soft. I could force her to allow it. But I don’t desire a forced touch. I want to be wanted, for her to come to me and touch me because she desires to be touched by me. Accepting all of me, even the parts that can never truly appear human.

And if that isn’t possible, I at least want it to be her choice.

I know she will never really want to be around me. The best I can hope for is considerate tolerance. For now, that will need to be enough. If only human lives were not so short and fragile, I might have a chance to change things.

The only thing she has accepted from me with her whole heart is Leon. She would rather have his very human attention than any jewel or gift I have given her so far. I have tried to treat her as a queen, but she has no interest in my brutal affection. As much as I enjoyed taking justice on her behalf, it would have felt so much sweeter had she been there by my side, relishing in their pain, taking back her freedom and honor as we killed those who defiled her one by one.

Closing my eyes, I imagine her hands stroking me, exploring my shiny scales with her delicate fingers. She caresses my horns, climbing onto my back and wrapping her legs around my neck, clinging to me tightly with her knees as my spikes caress her gently beneath her skirts, her body gently rocking as she leans forward to grasp the tender scales near my chin. As we move together she would…

“Master,” my servant calls, disrupting my daydream. “It is time for you to dine with the Miss. Shall we prepare her?”

“No,” I groan, “I mean, yes, of course.”

“As you will it,” the servant turned to leave, taking a more tangible form as it began to remove itself from the mud, changing with each step to take the form of a maid, her feet the last to morph from mud to solid flesh.

Tonight I am going to try to do things differently.

Rolling over once more, I change my talons for clawed fingers and feel my wings melt into a cloak of deepest emerald. I take it a little further, removing the scales from my arms, morphing my flesh into a fine velvet shimmering an iridescent blue-green that shifts in the light. Maybe, if I appear a bit softer, she will feel more comfortable in my presence. Reducing my size a bit more than I usually do in this form, I am still taller than any man from Crimson, but not so unbelievably tall that I couldn't walk through their enclosures with ease.

It is not my intention to change my true nature in this encounter. She must understand who she is dealing with. I am a dragon prince--that will never change. I am proud of who I am. My eyes, hair, and horns remain. I need to leave something to remind her of my true nature, after all.

My feet boom in the halls, echoing my approach as I march from the depths of the keep to the main hall above. I make a pass through my favorite room, the library. Pausing to caress the bindings of several leather books, my fingertips search for a very special book, one given to me as a tiny hatchling, by my mother. Eventually my fingers rest on the only silk-spined book, the letters embroidered in gold thread.

I pull it from the shelf. Yes, this one.

Humming to myself, the crystal walls respond with their resonance, a melody of rock as the stones sing their love to me. This will be the music we will dine to.

Carnelia is already seated at the very far end of the table when I enter the hall. That will not do.

"Come," I command. "Sit by me."

"No," she turns her head away, looking towards the night dark glass of the windows on the other side of the room. Reflected on their surface, the sadness of our situation is hard to view. Two people, miserable. Together but apart.

"I have a gift for you," I announce.

"I think I've had enough of your...gifts," she snarls, her dainty lip curling in disgust.

"Have you now," I asked, inquisitively. "So you are ready for me to complete my promise?"

Her deep brown skin goes ghostly pale as all blood and color drains from her face. "There are children in that town. Families. Would you destroy it all because of something said to someone who means nothing?"

"No," I explain. "I would burn it all down for you."

Her cheeks redden as she stomps to my end of the table. Sitting down firmly she shouts, "Fine!"

Deciding to ignore her impertinence, I wave to the servants to fill our plates with food.

"Eat," I nudge, my voice even. "You must be starving."

She refuses to acknowledge me, not looking up, not moving to eat.

After several minutes of silence, she looks up. Staring me boldly in the eye she asks, "You said you have a gift for me?"

Hesitating, I look over to her and sigh. "I do, but can I make a request first?"

She blinks back at me, surprised. "A request?"

"Will…” I pause. “Will you allow me to touch you?"

"Touch me," she barks, her laughter jagged. “You’ve touched me plenty. You’ve grabbed me, shoved me, dropped me, dragged me…”

“No,” she stops her rant, her mouth closing quietly. “I mean a gentle touch. One that I don’t have to force.”

As the words begin to make sense, her eyes go wide with fear. "Oh!" she blushes. “Well…I…”

"It is only a request," I look aside, uncomfortable. This feels too much like begging. "I will not force you."

"But you own me," she reminds me. "Anything you ask is an order. If I don't do what you ask, you will kill everyone I know."

I pause. She's right.

As long as I hold that threat over her, she will never be free.

"I have an offer for you," I decide all at once. "Allow me one touch, just one moment to have you in my arms, and other than when I call you to come serve me, I will let you choose when and if you need to be in my presence. I will release you of the promise you made to me before." I look to the side, staring at the fire as it burns in the pit. "I will not destroy the town over something they have done to you in the past. I promise."

She sits there for a moment, staring at me. “Promise,” she scoffs. “How can I trust you?”

My head turns sharply as I growl, "A dragon always keeps his word. Always.” My word of honor should be good enough for her, why does she fight me?

“However," my eyes burn brighter as I capture her gaze once more. "If anyone in that town ever does anything else to cause you harm in any way, I will spare no one. There are no innocents there. They were all complacent in your misery. They were all more than happy to watch you burn. They proved that when they tied you to that cart and left you to die."

"And if I refuse," she wonders.

"If you refuse,” I take a moment to think it over. “Well if you refuse I have no reason to make a deal, now do I?”

"But…how is that not forcing me?”

“Because you can choose to not do it at all!” I explain. “Is eating dinner and receiving gifts such a hard thing for you? Do you not appreciate your lessons in the mornings?”

“If you are making this a choice, why not make it a real choice?”She demands, angry. "Why make this an exchange at all?"

"BECAUSE THAT IS HOW DRAGONS WORK!" I bellow, frustrated. “You are fooling yourself if you believe that even humans live by different rules. Every relationship is transactional.”

“Relationship? This is not a relationship.”

“We live together, tolerate one another. It is a relationship of a sort. Now choose. A gentle touch from me in exchange for a little bit of power…or we can keep things as they are.”

She looks at me for a moment, making up her mind. "Okay."

"Which one?" I want her to say it.

"Yes," she clarifies. "I will allow you to touch me. In exchange, if I choose to never see you again, never hear you again, never accept another gift from you again, you must accept my decision. Is that understood?"

“Except for when I need you. If I call you for your service you must come.”

She nods. “Agreed.”

“Good.” I smile, satisfied. “As long as you keep your promises, I will keep mine.”

Rising to my feet, I hold out my hand to her. "May I?"

"What are you asking for…exactly?” She stares at my outstretched hand like it might be infectious.

"Do not worry," I assure her. "I simply want a dance."

"But I don't know how..." she squirms.

"You do not need to. I will guide you," I offer, dipping into a regal bow. "But first, you must take my hand. Unless, of course, you have changed your mind."

My heart forgets how to beat, as I wait for her response. I close my eyes as my lungs pull in the air, one breath at a time. Hearing the rustle of her skirts, I smirk. Predictable. Of course she would not..

Warm fingers, rough with abuse, wrap around my own calloused hands.

Touch. She is touching me. She is choosing to touch me.

"Shall we..." she looks down. Her body is very still, standing before me as an open invitation.

I reach my other hand around her waist tentatively. When she doesn't move away, I pull her in more closely.

The resonating sounds of the crystals morph into something more musical, and to their gentle hum we move together. She takes my lead naturally, and even in her stumbling gait, she has an inner grace far beyond that of a simple girl from a simple town.

She lets me hold her like this, dancing, and for the first time in centuries, I feel something deeper than desire or lust—Destiny.

When she looks up at me I feel a tingling sensation moving through me in waves that catch my breath. As I hold her I feel a pull, as if her very soul is calling me to her.

No. It can't be. She's just a human.

"I...I have to leave..." I stutter, "Leon will be coming with me, we will be gone for several days."

"What?" she asks, confused. "What's wrong, did I do something..."

"NO!" my voice echoes in the hall. "No, it's not...I just need to go."

Taking a step forward she tries to reach for my arm.

"I will keep my promise," I declare. "You will not see me unless you desire to see me."

"But...I..."

Pushing her away, I stumble from the room, the book lying forgotten on the table.