The Dragon King (20 page)

They stopped nuzzling each other long enough to rub their cheeks against mine, and I laughed with joy at the soft energy that filled me, replacing what I’d used while teleporting.

I’d heard legends about such a thing – identical brother and sister, so alike they could create energy when together. By touching me at the same time, they safely transferred it to me, and I knew they’d intended to do so.

My eyes watered as I realized what Mabel had given me, even if only for a short time.

“You’re both beautiful, in
every
way.” I told them as I stepped away. “It hurts my heart to leave you, but I must. I’ll return when I can.”

I looked to a stable hand and ordered, “Have the kitchen send refreshments for myself and my mate to the pearl seating area in the garden.”

I didn’t know what it was called, but the pearls lining the area like a fence were so big they came up to my waist, so I assumed they’d know where I meant. I looked at Aaron as I teleported. I’d said where I was going, no way would I risk inciting his wrath by taking him with me.

The seating area was about two hundred yards from the stables, and Aaron walked at a leisurely pace so I had plenty of time to compose myself before he arrived.

“I’m not sure I’m liking this side of you, Soph,” he said as he stepped between two large pearls.

“Right back at you, Your Highness. I thought we were to be mates, lovers in a relationship.” My voice was cold and hard, forged in the fires of isolation for two and a half decades. “I know there’ll be times we have to speak to each other with our positions in mind, and I know you generally address me by my title when you’re teaching me, to help me see when our roles have changed, but…” I shook my head. “I have a number of positions to fill in the coming days, and once I find an advisor and someone to put in charge of my security, and figure out a way to pay them, some of the load you’ve been carrying will go away.” I’d thought of how to word this so the Summerlands wouldn’t start issuing debts and obligations. I put the idea in my head I’d given him my virginity and, if anything, he owed me, and told him, “You’ve helped me a great deal, but I’ve also given you one of my most valuable assets. I wasn’t aware we were keeping score, but now that I know we are,” I shrugged, “I can operate accordingly.”

“Dammit Soph, you pissed me off and I…” His voice was a rough growl, and he turned his back to me, took a breath, and when he spoke again his voice was normal. “People are scared of me, Sophia, or at least wary, and no one would ever grab me and teleport me, or do
anything
that might make me feel as if I’m out of control for even a second. I don’t want you to be afraid of me, but being dragged through space without knowing ahead of time, and without knowing where we’d land, bothered me enough I needed to be sure you’d never do it again. The only thing I could think of to ensure it wouldn’t was to make sure you felt some kind of consequence for it.”

He kept his back turned and I told him, “Before, I could feel and hear the land listening, but never felt as if I was in danger of becoming obligated to you for so much as asking your advice. Now, I can’t even bring myself to ask you
again
to talk to me about whatever you felt I needed to know about the brothel. So, I’m going to go into the house and order someone who works for me to provide a protection detail and then escort me to my father’s brothel in the human world. They receive a salary; I’m in my right to order them around.”

The look in his eyes almost broke my heart as he turned back to me. “You owe me nothing for keeping you safe and helping you take your father’s crown. You’re my love and my mate, and having you in a position of stability benefits me as much as you, as it means I don’t have to worry so much about your safety. As it turned out, you gained more than you gave up with whatever deal you struck to get energy from the Winter Queen, but I wouldn’t count on that always being the case.”

He sat in a chair facing me and said, “We’ll talk about it more at home, but for now I need to tell you what I intended earlier.”

I’d been seated as a Queen, with perfect posture, and while I relaxed my lower back and thighs just a touch, I didn’t alter my position. A few of my staff brought food and drink, and I waved towards Aaron and told him, “Partake of what you need.”

I didn’t intend to eat or drink anything until I could be sure the kitchen staff wanted me here, but it was rude to not offer refreshment to a guest, and I’d started seeing Aaron different when he’d tried to force my hand.

This was a power play. He’d started it, but I intended to finish it.

Even if it meant finishing us, because never again would I allow someone to control me and jerk me around.

Aaron waited until the three women who’d brought enough food to feed two dozen people were gone before saying, “Now you’re just being a bitch.”

“Are you speaking as my boyfriend or my advisor now, Your Majesty? I’m having a having a hard time keeping up.”

He shook his head and looked away, and then turned back to me to say, “In today’s society, my guess is that about twenty percent of the women who prostitute themselves are doing it because it’s their choice. In many cases they’re going to college so they can do something else in the future, and this is how they’re paying for the education. In a few cases they just enjoy sex, and are good enough they’ve been able to build a clientele of people they enjoy servicing, and would still choose this profession even if they had other jobs of equal pay available.”

He paused and said, “I don’t believe anyone in your father’s employ is choosing to do so. Some are slaves who are basically being raped multiple times a day. They’ll never see any of the money they make for your father, and they either do what they’re told or they are likely punished in a heinous manner.”

“And the ones who aren’t slaves?”

“They may not legally be slaves, but most don’t see any other options, which makes them slaves of another nature. They likely receive a good bit more pay prostituting themselves than they can any other way. Many will have a sick parent to care for, or some other family obligation, or they will have been made to believe this is the only thing they’re good for.”

I considered what he was trying to say, and concluded, “You don’t want me to treat them as ‘less than’ because they’ve sold their body. You want me to show them the same respect I showed the staff here when I gave them options of staying or going.”

“Yes. You also need to know a few things about kinky sex, and while I’d rather have these conversations later, I need you to be aware of a few highlights.”

He waited for my nod before he said, “Some of them are paid to let men hurt them — spank or flog them, tie them up, insert strange things into them. Some are paid to let people do things to their bottom, not just their womanly parts. You’ll find a few male prostitutes in your father’s employ, as well.”

I took in his meaning and decided to just accept the information without processing it too much. “Okay,” I said a bit more brusquely than I intended. “Anything else?”

“Some men want to be hurt and demeaned, and will pay for someone to do it, so there will probably be a few women with the skills to do so without actually hurting or demeaning them.”

I couldn’t help it, I asked, “Like the way you were with Mabel?”

He shook his head, “No. She actually hurt and demeaned me, but that’s a conversation for another time, Soph.”

I felt my temper building like a pressure cooker inside me as he said, “I consented to all of it, and found my own pleasure in it. I never want you to be upset with her over the things she and I did hundreds of years ago. She gave me what I needed at the time, but I don’t intend to ever need such a thing again.”

Yeah, definitely a conversation for later. I took a breath and let it go, for now, and asked, “If you were handed the brothel, what would you do?”

“Your Majesty, you unfortunately have no right to do anything with your father’s properties in the human world at this time. You can probably get away with freeing any residents of Faerie he has working or living there against their will, but there isn’t much else to be done at this point.”

“We know there are a few Sprites working there. What are the odds I can free them today?”

“Just you and me? Probably pretty good a few weeks ago, but he’s likely put extra guards on the area so it isn’t a sure thing if we go in now.”

“Was this your way of helping me come to the conclusion we don’t go there today?”

Aaron had no human nervous mannerisms. He didn’t run his hand through his hair or scratch his chin, he just looked at me unapologetically as he said, “Yeah.”

A steward interrupted us, hovering outside the seating area as if he wasn’t sure how to address his new Queen and king. Aaron looked to him and said, “Yes?” and the man informed us the Sprite had returned with her sister.

I sighed and told the steward to have them brought to us while someone made sure the horse made it back to the stables. When the sisters arrived, I questioned the woman who’d been part of my father’s harem. She gave all the right answers, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to keep her around. Finally, I told her, “Report to the head chambermaid. I’ll keep you on for now, but if I find I’m uncomfortable with your presence, I’ll find you employment elsewhere.”

The steward took the two women away and I asked Aaron, “What would your next step be?”

“The cave system we went into from Abbott’s bedroom is also available through my basement. There’s a waterfall in the cave system, not too far from my house, and it leads to Titania’s bedroom.”

I closed my eyes to keep from looking at him. He may as well have stuck a knife in my heart.

“We need to talk to her about moving the gateway so it comes here instead,” he continued. “Though not until you’ve made enough changes so the palace staff is yours and not your father’s.”

“And meanwhile,” I said, looking at my knees instead of him, “we should teleport to her castle and ask permission to use the gateway to go to your house?”

He didn’t speak, so I had to look up to see his nod.

“Come hold my hand and ask me to teleport us, then,” I told him. No way would I beg him to
allow
me to get us there the quickest way.

“I’ll do this today,” he said, leaning forward, his eyes dark, “but only because we haven’t fully had our talk about it yet. You’re going to be a formidable queen, but I need you to drop the power play when it’s just the two of us.”

I shook my head. “It never occurred to me I might need to do so until I was on the receiving end of
your
power play, King Aaron. I will
never again
put myself in a position of weakness around you. Never again will I let you forget I’m not without my own resources.” I was angry enough, and hurt enough, I said this as a vow, and I felt Faerie record it.

Aaron must have missed it, though, because he only said, “As your advisor, I’d point out it’s best to avoid words like
never
and
always
, Your Majesty.”

Somehow, he managed to make his request for a teleport sound more like an order, but the wording was right so I took us to the gates of Titania’s castle without comment.

Titania was still obviously angry with Aaron, but at my request she moved the gate to another room in her castle, and gave me permission to teleport into and out of that room at any time as long as I didn’t exit the room physically, saying, “If you’re coming into my castle, or need to talk to me, you’ll need to teleport outside the gates like everyone else with such powers.”

Sophia

Aaron had warned me ahead of time that the werewolf Alpha of the Chattanooga pack was Duke’s brother, but I hadn’t expected them to be twins.

Thankfully, their energy and smell were entirely different, so I could treat him as his own person. His mannerisms were much the same, but within a few minutes I could see him as Randall and not Duke.

Aaron had arranged for me to meet with several Alphas and powerful loners at Abbott’s bar, which turned out to be a huge billiard club. It was five in the morning and not yet open to the public, and I sat with Isaac, who was apparently Abbott’s partner at the club. Isaac wasn’t a vampire, and felt like a shapeshifter, but I couldn’t put my finger on what he might be. He felt a little like Aaron, but not quite. Isaac was a huge black man, with kind eyes and a handshake that didn’t threaten to break my hand.

Two Hawks were there, both the regional Alpha out of Atlanta, as well as the local Alpha. Both of them
did
make it seem as if they’d like to break my hand with their handshakes, but I let neither of them know how bad it hurt.

The Crow who showed up literally looked like an odd bird, even in human form. I immediately liked him, and his handshake made me think he knew me, even if I didn’t know him.

Aaron’s friend Nathan, the Lion King, didn’t offer to shake my hand, and merely nodded when we were introduced. He had nothing to say the entire meeting.

The local Cougar Alpha and his mate were there, but they made it clear they only showed up out of deference to Aaron and Nathan.

Bud, the president of the Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club in Atlanta, was there with several of his men, including Duke and Brain, though I didn’t act as if I already knew them.

And then there was Randall, the Werewolf Alpha. He was just as big and muscled as Duke, with the added power of every pack wolf in several states. He was formidable. Maybe not more so than the Lion King or Hawk Alpha, but his energy signature
seemed
larger.

Duke surprised me by hugging me instead of shaking my hand, and I saw his brother’s curious look, but no one asked how I knew him.

“Your Majesty,” Randall started once we’d all taken a seat around a large, round table.

I shook my head and interrupted with, “Please, call me Sophia, and I have a few things to say to you all before we begin.”

Abbott’s smile caught my eye, and I smiled back at him before looking around at the rest of the table. “Some of you are prepared to back me because I’m the enemy of your enemy. I want to warn all of you that — while I do intend to take my father’s crown, and I’m prepared to kill him if it comes down to me dying or him dying — my best case scenario is the one where I have the crown and he still gives me away at my wedding.”

The Crow didn’t like this, but didn’t appear to act as if it were a deal breaker. The Hawks, however, looked as if they were ready to walk out. I held the regional Alpha’s gaze a few seconds, and when he looked down at the table I shifted my gaze to look to everyone else.

“I have three options to take over his crown in this world: kill him, convince him to cede it to me, or gain the backing and loyalty of two thirds of the Swan community so their power shifts to me instead of him. I intend to attempt the latter, and want to start by reorganizing the brothel.” I looked at Bud, the president of the Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club. “I’m told you run what amounts to a protection service for prostitutes, and take a small fee from their income in exchange for seeing they’re treated well?”

“I suppose that’s one way to put it, Your Highness.”

“Aaron has explained how you do things and I’d like to work out a mutually beneficial agreement to have you and your men train some of my swans to run things your way.”

Abbott spoke up to say, “She’ll free the slaves first. Your business model doesn’t work when women have no choice.”

“Of course,” I agreed. “As I take control of each of my father’s interests, I’ll free the slaves. I’ve learned some will always need to be taken care of, and I’ll need to make those arrangements. None of those women will work in the brothel, I’ll find other positions for them.”

“While I applaud you for the intention to free the slaves,” Randall said, “I have to wonder at your decision to keep the brothel running.”

An honest response, and I was glad he’d asked. “I’ve had an opportunity to speak to some women who do the same job here in Chattanooga, and I understand that closing the brothel will just make these women find somewhere else to prostitute themselves. Since so many of them are Swans or other shapeshifters, I feel I’ll do better by them if I can create a safe working environment, and for those who would prefer other options, help them find a way to get out of the job. I can’t do any of that if I just shut it down.”

Randall tilted his head and seemed to see me in a new light. The room was quiet a few seconds, and he finally said, “Okay. You aren’t what I expected.”

I wasn’t sure if this was good or bad, but I looked around and focused on Nathan this time. “I understand you’ve had a bigger workload while Aaron has been with me, and I apologize. I realize you have contracts with my father, but I’d like to ask you to go through and see which areas obligate you to the Swans, and which are promises you owe to my father, personally. Can you do this for me?”

He didn’t respond in any way, so I added, “I’ll throw a royal ball in Faerie in ten days. Your attendance at the ball will show you are loyal to the Swans and not merely my father.”

He nodded and said simply, “I’ll go through the contracts, Your Highness.”

I formally thanked him, responding with his title as well, and looked around the room. “I would like all of you, and any of your people you feel should be invited, to attend. Aaron has set up an email address for me. Please get me a list of your people and I’ll provide invitations.”

I let them know how to contact me, and focused on the Hawk Alpha. “Can you tell me what started the rift between the Swans and Hawks, please?”

He looked surprised, but said, “It was really more about us against the Eagles, but your grandfather helped the Eagles fight us in battle, which put them against us in a way we couldn’t erase.”

“Can I get something in writing from you, saying if I’m Queen in this realm, we can work our way into a treaty?”

He looked doubtful. “You realize you’ll lose the Eagles, if you sign something with us?”

I detested the Eagle King and figured he felt the same about me. “I’m not worried about the Eagles. If I’m Queen, I’ll be freeing my father’s slaves and doing what I can to make his less palatable business ventures more acceptable. Vincent Avila is never going to show respect to a monarch who feels she’s there to protect her people instead of use them. Swans are both predator and prey in the wild, it’s a wonder he respects us at all, with his mindset.”

Everyone in the room had a pass into Faerie and would only need an invitation to the ball, with the exception of the Wolves who would also need an invitation into Faerie. I turned to Randall and told him, “I assume you’re okay with an invitation from the Winter Queen? I can arrange for one from Titania if you’d prefer, but since we’re still in winter it’ll be easier politically to request it from the Unseelie Court.”

Randall nodded. “I’ll get you a list of people to invite, and will be happy with whatever invitation you can wrangle for us. My people and I will be on our best behavior, Sophia.”

I smiled. “Thanks for the reassurances. I know you’ll only bring in people with good control, knowing it’s harder for wolves to hold onto their humanity in Faerie.”

He nodded and asked, “So it’s true? You have alliances with both courts?”

I let one corner of my mouth tilt up. “I think I’ll just let the gossip continue on that front for a while.”

By the end of the meeting I’d managed to bring everyone to my side, and our plan of action seemed to make everyone happy.

Over the next week, as Brain got phone numbers for me I called my cousins and invited them to the ball, as well as any other Swans they wanted to bring. I was back and forth from Aaron’s house to my castle, thanks to the gate through Titania’s castle. I spent time with the horses and unicorns, but mostly I met with the head gardener about changes to the landscaping, the housekeeper about changes to make inside the house, and the chef about the menu for the party. I spent time with the Captain of the Guard, even got him and a dozen of his top people drunk one night. We all had a long talk about my father and the way he ran things, and I let two of the men go the next day. I also met with both Titania and Mabel, and they gave me lessons in how to be a Queen in Faerie, as well as helping me hone some new skills.

Aaron and I had a number of talks about us not owing each other anything, about how he wanted us to be partners, too, but I couldn’t shake the way his ultimatum had made me feel. He’d thought I had no choice and he could force me to do as he wanted, and it didn’t sit well with me as I feared he’d just do it again the next time he thought I had no options.

We worked out ways for him to go to work instead of needing to constantly stand guard over me. I spent some of my days next door at Abbott’s, and got to know the humans living with him. They all adored Abbott and in many ways were like one big, happy family. I didn’t want to know the details of how or when they fed him, but I knew they all had very fulfilling lives away from the house — most went to college but a few took the opportunity to work for charities they’d never be able to support if they had to hold down a normal day job.

When I had evening meetings, I went into the billiard club with Abbott and had people meet me there. Isaac seemed to take a big interest in keeping me safe, but told me he wouldn’t be able to come to my ball.

I asked Brain to try to get me in touch with one of the guards who’d been assigned to me when I lived with my father — Jonathan, the leopard who’d
changed
for me, and given me touch when I’d most needed it. I’d almost given up on reaching him when one afternoon I answered a call from a number I didn’t recognize.

“Sophia, is it you?”

I’d always had a secretary and had never answered my own phone before Aaron got me one, but he’d taught me how to handle just about any situation, so I said, “Can I ask who’s calling, please?”

“Your Majesty, it’s Jonathan. I’ve been assigned to your father for weeks, but someone slipped me a note earlier today, with instructions to find some time alone and call this number.”

My breath caught in my throat, but I managed to say, “I’d almost given up on reaching you, Jonathan. Would you be interested in coming to work for me? I mean, not now because I can’t pay anyone yet, but once I take over from my father? I’m going to be very picky about my staff in the human world, and you’re one of the few people I trust from my father’s house.”

“I have savings I can live off of, My Lady. I’ll come help you now. Rumor has it Aaron Drake has been protecting you, along with Abbott Hamilton and some of his men.”

I breathed in relief. “They are, but I’d love to have my own team, Jonathan. Can you get away from my father, or do you need help?”

He chuckled, “Princess…or do I say Queen now?” He didn’t wait for me to answer, “Either way, I’m ex-Special Forces and I’m a shapeshifter. Your father hired me because I’m good. Tell me where to come.”

“Come to The Billiard Club in Chattanooga. It’s near Hamilton Place Mall. If I’m not there, whoever is will get us together.”

“I have a go-bag packed in my trunk and I’m about a nine hour drive from you. I can be there around midnight?”

“I’ll be there.”