Author: Megan Derr
Date: 2022-11-08 05:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Fantasy; dragons; Lgbt; Romance; Shapeshifters; Polyamory; Menage; M M Romance
Description: In the aftermath of the attempted assassination of Prince Tevra by his own family, Najlah and Barkus are assigned to his protection. While playing bodyguard to a measly human is far beneath Najlah's lethal skills, he can't deny he's intrigued by the man whose blood is now sunk into his very bones, a man who proves to have magic literally carved into his skin. Rather than back down in the face of failure, Prince Tevra's family only turns more ruthless, willing to pay any price to obtain the war and bloodshed they're so desperately seeking. But they didn't count on facing a dragon born in a volc

In the aftermath of the attempted assassination of Prince Tevra by his own family, Najlah and Barkus are assigned to his protection. While playing bodyguard to a measly human is far beneath Najlah's lethal skills, he can't deny he's intrigued by the man whose blood is now sunk into his very bones, a man who proves to have magic literally carved into his skin.00

Rather than back down in the face of failure, Prince Tevra's family only turns more ruthless, willing to pay any price to obtain the war and bloodshed they're so desperately seeking. But they didn't count on facing a dragon born in a volcano, a wolf forged in snow and ice, or Tevra himself, who has plenty to say about the family who ordered him stabbed to death in his own bed.

Royal Fire

Heart of Fire 2

By Megan Derr

Published by Megan Derr

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission of the publisher, except for the purpose of reviews.

Edited by Samantha M. Derr

Cover designed by Maria Christine Pagtalunan

Artscandare Book Cover Design

This book is a work of fiction and all names, characters, places, and incidents are fictional or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, places, or events is coincidental.

First Edition November 2022

Copyright © 2022 by Megan Derr

Printed in the United States of America

ROYAL FIRE

HEART OF FIRE 2

MEGAN DERR

He's too vulnerable in his current rooms. Even if they were intending to move Prince Tevra to new quarters, well away from the ones where he'd nearly been stabbed to death in his bed, the security in the palace was abysmal. The way Their Majesties and his brother had nearly been assassinated—Their Majesties twice now in a matter of days—said that plainly enough. If he was the royal guard, he'd resign in shame and humiliation at how bad he was at his job.

Thankfully for everyone, Najlah was not bad at his job, and he would protect Tevra at all costs, just as he'd been ordered.

First, though, Tevra needed to be moved somewhere far safer. As safe as the stupid palace got, anyway, with all its open walkways and countless doors and absurdly large windows that were always open or easily broken.

Barkus cast him an amused look. "Somehow I'm not surprised that's the conclusion you've reached."

What is that supposed to mean?

Barkus only laughed, and his thoughts were not remotely helpful, kept cagey and elusive.

Najlah had the distinct feeling he was missing something, and he didn't remotely like it. He growled and hissed, shifted restlessly in his flames. If you're just going to be annoying, go away.

I'm saying you like him, or at least find him intriguing. Of course you'd want him close. It's the way you are. Not so different than a wolf.

No, not so different than a wolf. If he'd learned anything, it was that for all Tahjili were fire and Lukos were ice, they had a great deal in common.

Najlah slithered out of the flames, shaking off ash and embers, and crawled across the room to where Barkus was sprawled out on a low, wide settee reading a book—one of the very, very few that existed about Tahjil and got nearly everything right.

"Do you really go swimming in lava? I can't imagine it, rock so hot it melts into essentially liquid fire."

Eyes swirling green with amusement, Najlah rumbled and replied, No, we don't swim in it. Lava is too thick for that. It would be like swimming in that sticky stuff you dump on your breakfast cakes but worse. Usually we simply run across it. Some of the horned brutes have fallen into it a few times, but unless it's shallow and they can quickly climb out again, it's likely to kill them. Even we have limits.

"What's the hottest you can tolerate?"

It doesn't get any hotter than crawling into a volcano and running across lava. Even other dragons can't do that; it's exclusive to the black scales, we who live in and around the volcanoes. How much cold can you tolerate?

"I can swim in freezing water for several minutes as a wolf. So I guess the opposite of your lava, after a fashion."

Najlah growled and rose up enough to lick him—face, neck, the bit of chest bared by the shirt Barkus hadn't bothered to lace properly yet. His eyes swirled from green to red, and in short order he had Barkus bent over the back of the settee gasping and panting, begging for more with every hard thrust. Najlah obeyed, leaving marks with tooth and claws, snarling and growling as his own climax took him.

When they were finished, he sprawled out on the floor, leaving Barkus to the settee.

Far, far in the back of his thoughts, he could feel the amusement of the other wolves living in the palace.

He could also smell his brother, likely coming to pester him about something, even though he'd already said Najlah's official protection duties would begin in the morning. At the moment, there were so many healers and guards with Tevra, Najlah wasn't really needed.

Growling, he went and dumped himself in the bath, scrubbing off quickly and climbing out right as Ajith arrived, eyes swirling with smug amusement like always. "I might have known you'd be lying about like the useless spotted lizard you are."

"Stop being annoying and tell me what you want."

"Your charge is inviting the two of you to dinner. He was about to send a servant, but I was coming this way anyway and said I'd do it."

"Since when do you come here to do anything but bother me?”

"I'm heading for the frost gardens to pick berries. This way takes a little longer, but it's usually quieter."

"How adorable, the brute is fetching treats for his bitch."

Ajith bared his teeth. "Mock me all you like. Pretty soon you'll be bringing a human treats."

"Never."

Ajith's eyes were brilliant green with hints of turquoise, a soft rumble in his chest further proclaiming his amusement. "I'm going to enjoy being right."

Najlah made a note to take him down a notch later. Horned brutes were impossible, especially when their bitches were expecting, like they had anything to do with the matter past some rutting. He growled, claws twitching, but refrained. This was not the time nor place to knock some of the smugness out of his brother. "Speaking of His Highness, he is not safe enough where he is."

"That's why you'll be there."

"No. I want him moved here, to my hall. It's quiet, as you said, and he can't remain in the place where he was already attacked once."

Barkus's amusement rolled through his mind as he finished his own bath and climbed out to get dressed. As delightful as he looked, though, more fucking would have to wait.

Ajith snorted, but he looked even more amused than Barkus. "Trying to build your own den, little hornless?"

Najlah snarled, flexing his claws. "I will turn you into food for starving kits, you worthless bag of bones and meat. Cease with your mockery. Go away if you have nothing useful left to say."

Ajith's eyes just swirled a brighter green than ever, with touches of turquoise for fondness. "I'm going, I'm going. I'll pass on your request about His Highness. Shall I tell him you'll join him for dinner as well?"

"Of course."

"See you later, then."

Ajith departed, leaving Najlah cranky and confused. "Why does it feel like everyone knows something I don't?"

"You're intrigued by Tevra, at least as intrigued as you were by me when we met. Not something anyone expected, given he's entirely human."

Najlah started to deny that, because honestly, it was such a stupid accusation. He didn't care about weak, stupid humans who snapped and crunched as easily as firebirds.

That being said, Tevra had some hornless brute toothiness to him, and Najlah could not ignore that.

Fine, he groused, as Barkus's laughter filled his mind. Wait, when is this dinner we're going to? That obnoxious fool I call brother didn't specify.

"I'll send someone to figure it out," Barkus replied, and Najlah could feel it as he sent a request to one of the other wolves, who replied happily, clearly pleased to have something to do. "What shall we do for now?"

"The grounds. I want to explore them, for all it requires going out in the stupid snow."

Barkus grinned and shifted, and moments later they were headed outside, into the wretched cold, kept warm and safe by the warmth of the pack bond.

The snow was exactly as miserable as he'd known it would be, but anything was better than the way he and Barkus had gotten trapped in freezing cold caves for days, with no idea where exactly they were or when they'd find their way out.

He growled crankily as they prowled the castle lands. Well, the immediate lands, anyway. The palace was on hundreds of acres, and included farms, forests, orchards, and more. It was practically a city, even though the royal city was only minutes away by horse or carriage, and even fewer minutes by dragon. Especially for his showoff brother with wings almost as big as his ego.

You're in a mood, Barkus said with an amused chuff. Didn't work out all that energy in the bedroom?

I'm not rutting in the snow, so get that thought right out of your head.

Barkus just lolled his tongue and let the thoughts remain, an idle, delightful distraction from all the cold, wet misery around them. It's nice out here. Not as cold as the mountains, and still a long way from summer and its wretched heat.

Heat? You think your summers are hot?

Not all of us live in lands of fire, demon.

Najlah hissed and flicked out his forked tongue at that. It would always be equal parts amusing and aggravating that people looked at him and thought demon long before dragon. Even though demons were silly human nonsense and dragons very real.

He froze as he caught the barest hint of an out of place scent. Beside him, Barkus growled as he caught it too. Najlah growled inquisitively.

It's called stardust, or at least that's what we call it on the Shide. Made from night-blooming star flowers, it's used for all kinds of things. Smoked in mild doses, it can leave you feeling a little bit like being drunk. In higher concentrations it can be used to knock people out or dope them enough to be manipulated. It can also be used as a poison, though that requires adding other components. On its own you'd have to take more than anyone could ingest in a single sitting. Barkus growled thoughtfully. It's fairly common on the Shide, and on the other side of the mountain, but not down here.

Najlah flicked his tongue out to taste it again, get a better sense of it so he'd remember it in the future. Strange thing to be in the middle of a field of snow and ice.

His mind filled with images of people smoking cigarettes, carelessly tossing the remains to the ground.

Growling again, tongue flicking over and over as he tried to lock onto the scent, Najlah prowled around on the hunt.

He found it a few minutes later, a small burnt end that had melted through some snow and then been covered up again by the wind. He snapped it up, absorbing every scent and flavor it offered. Disgusting. But there was enough of the human who'd smoked it for Najlah to recognize the bastard when he found him.

I can't believe you just ate that thing.

I've eaten far worse by choice. Like lava beetles, for one. Their shells were notoriously hard to crunch through and the meat had a horribly bitter taste when you did finally manage it. Najlah liked them anyway. Especially combined with firebirds, which were on the sweeter end of things. He growled and flicked his tongue out. Your ass, for two.

Ha, ha, ha. Barkus lunged close and nipped his back leg, eliciting a growl and brief tussle before they got back to work.

Najlah was considering whether or not to go into the city when an unmistakable roar rolled through the air, his brother ordering him to get his tail back home now. Ugh. What did he want this time? It wasn't time for the dinner, was it?

Not quite. We've got just under an hour, and I know it doesn't take you that long to dress. You barely get dressed at all.

You try wearing all those stupid clothes with all their stupid layers when you look like me.

Barkus snorted. Your brother manages it, and he has wings.

Horned brutes are admired for their obedience, not their intelligence. Najlah preened at the laughter that got him. I suppose I should see what he wants. He set his feet and roared a reply. He wasn't nearly as loud, but Ajith would hear him anyway.

Then it was back through the snow they trudged, to the service courtyard where deliveries were made all day, every day: foodstuffs, furniture, candles and other day to day miscellany… it was probably one of the busiest places in the whole palace, always on the edge of devolving into chaos. Najlah loved it, especially when he could easily steal from the meat deliveries. When it was fresh and unmarred by things like spices and cooking and still carried a hint of the blood that had been recently drained from it.

Sometimes I think you'd enjoy me more as dinner than as lover.

Lovers are burned, not eaten. Only enemies are eaten. I'm rude, not disrespectful. Najlah turned to flick his tongue out, eyes swirling a brilliant red-orange.

You're both.

Najlah didn't reply, but his eyes shifted to the green of amusement, and Barkus's pleasure rolled through the bond.

As they stepped inside, sadly without contraband snacks, Ajith was waiting for them in the main hallway. "It's about time you showed up."

"When will it be time for you to stop nagging me?"

"When you stop being a brat."

Najlah hissed. "Why were you bellowing?"

"We found bodies. Come and take a look at them."

Najlah hissed again, but this time it was all menace, none of the affection and amusement he used with his brother and Barkus. Bodies? Of who? They'd killed or imprisoned all the assassins, and surely if they'd killed someone before they'd tried for Tevra and Their Majesties, the bodies would have been found long before now.

Ajith huffed impatiently when he asked. "If we knew, I'd have told you. Now come on and take a look for yourself, see what you see. We'll go from there."

"Fine." Growling his dissatisfaction at the way the pile of questions continued to grow, while the pile of answers remained all but barren, Najlah and Barkus followed Ajith through the palace to the dungeons and catacombs below.

The room they stopped in smelled of death and astringent cleaners that burned Najlah's nose and stung his eyes. He growled. Why did they keep the dead piled up this way? It was unhealthy, dangerous.

Looks like they're all victims of suspicious deaths and examined thoroughly for clues before being sent off for proper burial.

Back home, bodies were burned in some places, in others left for the elements and carrion feeders to attend to. Here, they were buried in the ground to return to the earth, often with a tree or some other plant to commemorate.

"This way," Ajith said, and led him down the long, grisly room to the very end, where three bodies were set on high, narrow tables of the sort butchers used. Fitting.

"I don't smell blood from open wounds. How did they die?"

An imperious woman dressed in the livery of the guard, but with an apron covered in blood and other fluids over it, stepped forward. "If you're wondering about the cause of death, we don't know. There's no signs of… well, anything on the bodies. It's like they were fine one moment and fell over dead the next."

Magic, Barkus said. That reeks of Gormestian magic. Hang on. He shifted, shook himself, and said, "That sounds like Gormestian magic. I've never seen it, but I've heard of it. They can put symbols on people that are basically a death curse. They interrupt or stop the heart or something. I don't know where the mark is placed, though."

"Magic like that is usually placed along the major veins," the woman said. "In my limited experience, at least. It travels more easily through the blood that way." She approached the nearest body, pulling on close-fitting leather gloves, and delicately set to work examining it. After a few minutes, she said, "Here, on his upper right arm, where the serpent artery is located. I don't know anything about the mark itself, but I would wager he died instantly, with little to no warning. Probably never even knew what hit him."

Barkus glanced around the room. "Do you have pen and paper I could borrow?" the woman nodded and bustled off, returning almost immediately. Barkus studied the mark carefully, closely, and copied it to the paper. "I think we need to speak with His Highness."

Growling softly in agreement, Najlah gladly led the way out of the foul-smelling room back to less offensive parts of the castle. "Has he been moved yet?"

"Should have been. I had him put in the suite directly across from yours. So keep it down when you're fucking your wolf, hornless."

"Shut up, useless," Najlah replied, flicking his tongue out.

Ajith only rumbled in amusement and headed off with the woman from the dead-body place.

"Morgue, I think," Barkus said. "We have something similar, though it's very rarely used, since we can smell better than humans, and that goes a long way toward solving mysteries. Ours is just a small shed. More often, we use it for storing bodies when it's simply too cold to properly burn them."

Najlah snarled. A place too cold for burning? That was a living nightmare.

"Well, I never thought I'd find myself bound to a creature that is just short of living flame. Is it true dragons can breathe fire?"

Najlah rumbled and chittered, eyes swirling green. No. Seems pointless when we're surrounded by it. We're just good at using the available fire, and panicked humans see what they expect of demons. Spikes and claws and venom are far more useful in a fight than breathing fire in a place where everyone is built to be flame resistant.

"That's what I figured, but I had to ask," Barkus said with a laugh. "You're certainly deadly enough without adding that to the pile."

As they reached the hall where Najlah's rooms were located, he finally took full note of the smell of strangers, flicking his tongue out several times to get a better sense. Three people, not counting Tevra, all of them with a particular metal-leather scent unique to Gormestian soldiers.

"Three is a damned sad retinue for a royal prince."

He has you and me now. We're worth fifty piddling human soldiers.

"Only fifty? What has you feeling modest?"

Najlah flicked his tongue at Barkus.

At the door to Tevra's new room, the soldier stationed there saluted them. "His Highness says you're to be given immediate access, my lords."

Najlah prowled into the room as the door opened—and stopped short when he saw Tevra was not in his bed as expected. Paying more attention, he followed sound and scent to a door across the room. A dressing room. Why was Tevra out of bed? He growled, tail lashing, as he waited for Tevra to emerge.

Behind him, near a table set with food that had not been eaten, Barkus chuckled. Were you hoping he'd be abed and at your mercy?

Be quiet.

Barkus just laughed some more.

Najlah hissed and started to cross the room to knock him right off his feet, manners and decorum be damned, when the sound of approaching footsteps snapped his attention back to the dressing room.

He growled in a frustrating mixture of concern and confusion and unexpected lust as Tevra emerged. He looked nothing at all like the man in the throne room, or the one who'd been confined to his bed, pale and trembling from barely surviving excessive stab wounds and blood loss.

For one, Tevra suddenly had tattoos. Across his cheeks, forehead, and chin, intricate marks that smelled faintly of magic. More ran down his arms in complex, interwoven chains, all the way down to the backs of his hands and even onto his fingers. Every last mark seemed to be more of the sigils like those Najlah and Barkus had found on Ranteth.

He was dressed in leathers and had a sword at his hips, along with daggers and pouches and other things Najlah didn't recognize but which reeked of blood and magic.

"You're a battle mage," Barkus said. "That's not the term you use in Gormestia—I'm sorry, I don't recall what it is."

"Warlock," Tevra replied. "Yes, I am. Normally it doesn't matter, because these days most of my duties are more diplomatic." His mouth tightened, and for a moment he looked and smelled close to tears. "Were diplomatic, rather. Given all the effort my father put forth to have me murdered, however, it seems prudent to return to my old ways. I am sorry if my appearance alarms. I generally mask the tattoos, but between my injuries and the resumption of old habits, keeping them masked proved to be too taxing."

Najlah chittered loudly, eyes swirling bright green, tail thumping the floor.

Tevra quirked a brow. "I can tell you're laughing at me, even if I don't know why."

"Your Highness, do you honestly think someone like Najlah is going to be alarmed by tattoos."

Tevra stared blankly a moment, then shook his head and laughed. "Fair enough. I'm so used to people seeing me and running for the hills, it never registered there was someone more alarming than me in the room. Two, even. Next to a Lukos and a Tahjili, a Gormestian warlock is positively boring."

"You're legend enough that I don't think that's true."

Najlah growled, eyes swirling pink as he looked between them. Explain everything to me. I've never heard that term. Warlock. You said battle mage. Didn't we face such in the caves?

"Are you different than the mages we fought and killed in the caves?"

"Those are ordinary soldiers trained in magic," Tevra said. "I'm something else entirely. It's difficult, painful, time-consuming, and above all, expensive to craft something like me. There are only about a hundred warlocks in the whole country, and they all come from noble or, at least, wealthy families, with a very small handful of exceptions. I have sigils tattooed into my skin to make casting certain spells easier. It took about fifteen years to acquire all of them; many people cannot endure having more than a few. Only two others have anywhere close to the same number as me. I'm the only one in the kingdom with two full arm sleeves and all the facial markings. It's why I'm so baffled my father wanted me dead—I was infinitely more useful to him alive and loyal, which I have always been. Unquestionably." He sighed and dragged a hand down his face. "That is not a problem for you, though. I apologize for whining. What did you need? I am afraid I cannot linger long and will have to delay our dinner. I felt my three spies in the city die; someone activated their curses, even though I'm the only one who should have been able to do that."

"They're down in the morgue," Barkus said. "I'm sorry. We were actually coming to ask if you might know who they are."

Tevra sighed, looking weary and worn, but he only set his shoulders and said, "Lead the way."

Barkus took the lead in the end, and as they left the room, Barkus's cousins stepped forward to join them, falling into place at the rear. That left Najlah to walk at Tevra's side, which suited him fine, claws clicking on the marble flooring, tail occasionally striking it, though never enough to cause damage.

Back in the foul-smelling morgue, Tevra examined the bodies with a blank expression, though there was no mistaking the smell of distress and anguish on him. "They were spies for me; they were also my friends. They've worked for me, and only me, for a very long time. I sent them into the city to do reconnaissance when we first arrived, and when everything went wrong a couple of days ago, I gave orders to wrap up what they were doing and return to me. They should have returned by this morning. When they didn't… and then I felt it when the curses activated. Damn it. This wasn't necessary. It was just vindictive."

Najlah growled, eyes swirling pink, purple, and blue. He cast a look at Barkus, sharing his thoughts and questions.

"I agree," Barkus replied. "Your Highness, tell us more about these curses you keep mentioning. It sounds… cruel."

"It is cruel. Royal spies are sworn to serve the crown with their lives, quite literally. They are not allowed to take up their duties until they're tattooed with a killing curse that only a designated person—usually my father's spymaster—can activate. But these three worked for me and me alone. The law said they must have the marks, but I never intended to use them, even if they did betray me. It's a cruel and cowardly way to kill someone, impersonal and inhumane. I never liked it."

"Do you have such a mark?" Barkus asked.

"No. Royalty are forbidden; it's too much of a risk. As my poor comrades have exhibited. I just don't understand why. They had nothing to do with any of this. Their only duty was to tell me what was being said in the city about the Lukos and the Tahjili. That was all. I was going to send them home for their own safety. They were a threat to no one."

Najlah growled again, tail lashing, eyes swirling vibrantly with purple and blues now. They are trying to isolate him, leave him alone and weakened, easier prey. Common tactic for hunting rock spiders. Separate from the herd, wound, kill. The direct method didn't work, so they're trying different means. But why? Why would they want such an impressive hornless—for a human, anyway—dead? It makes no sense.

Frowning, Barkus conveyed the thoughts to Tevra. "Highness, you must know some reason people want you dead and decided to… consolidate problems… by framing Najlah for your death."

"I really don't know. My father sometimes gets irate that I garner more attention than my brother, the crown prince, but that's not a killing offense. It's not as though I've ever tried to contest Fedor for the throne or anything."

Politics don't interest me on a good day, but I know enough about them to know that is, in fact, a killing offense.

"I agree," Barkus said quietly. "I'll get in touch with my uncle about sending some of our own to look into the matter." When Tevra gave them a puzzled look, he explained. "My apologies, Your Highness. We shouldn't be so rude."

"No, it's not like you're doing it on purpose," Tevra said. "I can see it's just the way you two communicate. Her Grace has offered to help me learn Tahjili as she has time, though I like to think I'm not so crass I would presume upon the time and energy of a woman who is days away from giving birth."

Najlah flicked his tongue, eyes swirling pink. "My sister does as she pleases, like any good bitch, and brutes who disobey get what they deserve."

Barkus laughed. "If she has offered, she means it, and you'd offend her by refusing."

"Is that what he actually said?" Tevra asked faintly.

"He said she's a good bitch, and does as she pleases, and disobedient brutes get what they deserve."

Tevra shook his head slightly. "Where I come from, if you call a woman—anyone—a bitch, you will find yourself punched at best, stabbed at worse. It is very strange to hear it as simply a descriptor or even a compliment."

Najlah growled his confusion at that.

"Not enough time in the day, my lord," Tevra said. "If you're ever that bored, I'll be happy to explain Gormestia's long, sordid history of treating women like lesser beings. Right now, though, I feel we've other matters to attend."

Thwacking his tail against the floor in agreement, Najlah gladly led the way back out of the morgue.

Where are we going now?

Tevra glanced at him. "Assuming you're asking what next, I at least am going into the city. I need to know everything I can about who killed my people and how. I should be the only one who can do such a thing. The curse is bound to my blood, and my blood alone."

Barkus frowned thoughtfully. "They could have taken your blood when they tried to kill you."

"They were trying to kill me—why take my blood?" Tevra asked. "I was as good as dead, save for the fact Najlah realized there was a problem. Even if they had done so, it would have been useless if they'd succeeded in killing me, which they had every reason to believe they would. I doubt even the most thorough strategist would have anticipated Najlah saving me. With me dead, the blood curse would have been nullified. So if they'd taken it to tie up loose ends or potential threats, that wouldn't have helped them."

Najlah growled. "A good hunter always has three escape routes."

Barkus repeated the words, and Tevra sighed. "Fair enough. It is the simplest explanation. I'm off into the city then. I'm sorry that I interrupted whatever you two were doing before my friends' bodies showed up."

"We were investigating the matter of your attempted murder and securing the area, Your Highness, so you were hardly interrupting," Barkus replied. "If you're going into the city, we're going with you. Najlah has been appointed your protector, and I go where he goes—plus you need a translator."

Tevra sighed again. "I'd prefer not to put more people in danger, since my father very clearly wants me dead at all costs, but as you wish."

"Thank you, Your Highness," Barkus said, then turned to his cousins, still following quietly, and silently gave them orders. "My cousins will continue to investigate the palace and grounds. Do we need a guide who's familiar with the city?"

"No, I'm familiar enough for what we need to do," Tevra said. "I've been here before, though covertly and not for some years."

Najlah chittered at that, tail thwacking the ground. Going places he shouldn't? He really is a human version of a hornless brute.

Barkus shot him an amused look, but didn't say anything, silently or aloud. "Shall we be on our way? Do you need a horse, Your Highness?"

"You may as well call me Tevra. If you call me 'Highness' while we're in the city, it's going to draw too much attention, and the three of us are going to draw enough of that as it is. I do need a horse, yes. There's no way I'd keep up with the two of you otherwise. I brought my courser with me; it should be more than up to the task."

Najlah growled, tail lashing, eyes swirling pink. He seemed to spend a lot of his time around Tevra confused. Humans were generally puzzling, but not quite this… vexing and intriguing.

You could just admit you want to fuck him, Barkus said.

I have no interest in humans.

You're a liar. You very much want to fuck this one, especially after you saw the tattoos.

"Pink is confused, right?" Tevra asked. "A courser, if that's what the confusion is about, is a horse bred specifically for speed. As opposed to a destrier, which is trained for battle, and others that are trained to haul or work in fields."

Najlah rumbled in acknowledgement. Dragons had no need for such things. He'd eaten a horse, once, when the stupid thing had gotten lost in the desert and was too starved and thirsty to be saved. Hadn't been very good meat, though that could be because of the aforementioned starvation.

Barkus snorted. "Horse meat is all right, but humans generally only eat it as a last, desperate resort. Horses are too expensive and useful in other ways to waste them on eating."

Tevra chuckled, though his eyes were briefly filled with sadness. "A pity I cannot yet understand you. Well, hopefully after this mess is over, I'll have time for those lessons and that will change. Shall we, then?" He headed off, threading with impressive ease through the palace and out behind it to the enormous stables that were nearly an entity unto themselves.

A stable hand came running up to them and darted off again almost immediately to fetch Tevra's horse as requested. Several minutes later they were off, with Tevra on his horse, Barkus in his wolf form, and Najlah taking the lead, alert for even the slightest hint of suspicious scent or sound or movement.

They made it into the city without issue, but really, getting there was the easy part. As they had no idea what they were facing, they had no idea what to be braced for. An attack could come from any direction and take any form. Their unknown assailants had already used weapons and magic to achieve their ends, so they had an impressive skillset.

Not impressive enough, but not to be dismissed either.

Najlah growled as they made their way through the streets, falling back to let Barkus, who had shifted back to human, take the lead. All around them people stared and pointed and whispered. He'd come into town before, in dragon and human-like form, but there was always the gawking. Whispers of demon in that tone he hated, like they really did believe he was some stupid myth and not just a being from a drastically different environment.

He ignored them, as nothing he said or did would change their minds, and he was working anyway. A distracted hunter was a dead hunter.

We say it, 'the rabbit that stops paying attention becomes dinner.'

"Stop here," Tevra said abruptly, as they came up to a building that had one of those signs indicating it was a sleep-over. No, that wasn't the word they used here. What was it?

"Inn," Barkus said.

Najlah rumbled in thanks and entered the inn first. There were the usual startled noises at his appearance, but he ignored them, focused entirely on smelling.

There. That stardust smell again. Faint, very faint, not coming from the dining room or someone currently smoking.

Growling, barely noticing the way people nearby scattered, he prowled up the stairs, following the weak scent. He could hear Tevra and Barkus behind him. From his thoughts, Barkus was expecting trouble. Najlah hadn't smelled or heard anything out of the ordinary, but he trusted Barkus's instincts.

As they drew closer to the source, which seemed to be the last door on the right at the end of the hall, Najlah could smell magic as well. Faint, but sharp and acrid, not magic he'd ever smelled before. He growled, and Barkus said, "Najlah says he can smell magic, and something about it is strange."

"I can feel it," Tevra said. "Only barely. It's masked, so we don't know it's there. I think someone has set a trap, but I've no idea if it was laid by Verin, the dead agent who was staying here, or by someone who came after they killed her. Allow me."

Najlah growled and blocked the door.

"Lord Najlah, I can disarm the spell. My tattoos are not for show, I promise. Your job is to protect me, I respect that, but I know magic like you know fire. It's literally been carved into my flesh."

That, Najlah couldn't really argue with, especially with the way some of the tattoos had started to glow, as though they were backed by lamplight, save that he'd never seen lamplight come in so many colors. He wanted to taste them.

Barkus laughed, and Najlah shot him a glare before putting his attention fully back on the matter at hand.

Tevra's right arm shimmered and glowed with a rainbow of colors as various marks across it lit up, sometimes just one, sometimes in pairs or threes, then several of them all at once as he rested his hand on the door. "Nothing on the door," he said as the glowing faded away. "Whatever it is, it's elsewhere in the room."

Najlah growled and shoved him out of the way, then swung and slammed his tail into the door, shattering it. Knocking away some of the pieces, he stepped over the rest as he prowled into the room, spikes coming out, the tips gleaming with venom.

The room was empty but smelled of recent occupation—and stardust.

"High— Tevra, did the woman who resided here smoke stardust?"

"No," Tevra said. "Stardust can warp the senses. It's not something Verin would use, even in her off hours. Too risky, given all the secrets she knows, all the deadly skills she's mastered."

"Then someone else was here before us, and they do smoke stardust. We found a used cigarette in the field behind the palace."

"It's a common practice in Gormestia, though the wealthier use pipes more often than cigarettes." Tevra ventured further into the room, more of his marks glowing softly. Najlah wanted to know how they worked but refrained for the moment. Curiosity could be sated when the hunt was finished.

Tevra walked the perimeter of the room slowly, fingers of his right hand following the wall but not quite touching it, his left at his side as though poised to attack. There was a look of concentration on his face that said he would be oblivious to anything else that happened, at least until too late.

Well, good thing he had a dragon and a wolf with him.

Barkus chuckled, amusement and fondness and a smug knowing rolling through the bond.

Najlah hissed at him but didn't argue.

Tevra stirred briefly from his work to cast them a confused look but went back to it when Barkus gave a slight shake of his head. Muttering to himself in what Najlah assumed was Gormestian, he moved to the center of the room and knelt. Frown deepening, he rose and threw his right hand back so the flat of his palm was parallel with the ceiling. Some of his sigils glowed yellow, then pink, then red. On the ceiling, a large, intricate looking sigil glowed the same shade of red. Tevra let out a smug, "Got you."

"What, precisely, do you have?" Barkus asked.

"The spell Najlah smelled and that I sensed. Once I found and negated the masking spell, there it was. Better still, it's an alert spell."

Najlah growled and thwacked the floor.

Tevra smiled at him. "An alert spell lets the caster known when someone in a different location has stepped into the room, unlocked a box… whatever they set it for. It has a limited range, though, approximately a quarter mile or so. It's used frequently by thieves and the sort. My people would not use something like this—too risky if there's a competent enough mage involved."

"I assume you're competent enough?" Barkus asked with one of his amused snorts.

"I'm far better than that," Tevra replied. "We'll need to move quickly once my spell is cast, though. There's nothing I can do to prevent them from knowing it's tripped, and they'll likely either make a run for it or come at us braced to kill. Either way, we must be ready."

Najlah growled. Finally some fun. He jerked his head, baring his teeth briefly.

"Here we go, then," Tevra replied, and once more lifted his hand to the ceiling. This time his sigils glowed green, then blue, then purple—and with a flash of purple light, the sigil vanished from the ceiling, the light coalescing into an orb. "Now!" Tevra said, as the orb shot from the room, giving chase immediately.

Najlah bolted after him, Barkus right on his heels.

People swore and screamed and shouted as they tore through the inn, barely dodging out of the way in time, calling threats and colorful crudities after them.

The chaos was even worse on the streets, all three of them running like they were fleeing an eruption.

An eruption of what, Barkus asked, but then his attention was wholly back on the hunt as they turned a corner so sharply Najlah nearly ran into a wall.

As they burst from the far side of the narrow street they'd run down, Tevra bellowed, "Down!"

In the very same moment, Najlah smelled fire. As the other two dropped to the ground, Najlah surged forward, charging into a blast of scorching blue flames. For a few seconds, he almost felt as warm as he would back in Tahjil.

Beyond the flames was a man who realized his stupidity the very moment he saw Najlah. Not that it mattered, because in the very next breath Najlah had crunched his head like a firebird egg. Wasn't nearly as tasty. Spitting out the remains caught in his teeth, he turned to the next threat.

He made short work of two more, but as he rounded on a third, suddenly there was a great many more than that, an entire circle, and they radiated so much magic that it stung his nostrils. Growling, Najlah moved so he was back-to-back with the other two, forming a defensive circle. What's going on? Because it felt a great deal worse than a standard ambush.

"They're going to break us," Tevra snarled. "Both of you, hold on to me, and draw blood when you do it. If you can mix yours with mine, all the better."

Even as he spoke, the circle of people seemed to almost vibrate in place, or was it the ground? Their eyes glowed a sickly red-brown color, and Najlah felt like he was going to heave up his stomach.

He did as Tevra had ordered, sinking his teeth into his calf, holding tightly without clamping down so hard that he'd do serious damage. He could smell more blood as Barkus acted as well.

Tevra screamed, and blinding yellow light consumed them at the same time that the sickly red-brown color seemed to explode in all—

*~*~*

Najlah woke with a snarl, but before he could lunge, he registered he was in fire. Then the smells struck him.

His room. He was in his fireplace in his room in the palace. How in the world had he gotten here? What had happened? He growled as the memories wouldn't come. Not past the ambush. Biting Tevra.

Pain sliced his head, and the memory of using too much magic too fast, exactly the way he knew he shouldn't.

Najlah rumbled in confusion. That wasn't his thought. It wasn't Barkus's thought either. What in the flames was going on?

The question was answered as someone sat up in his bed as frantically as Najlah had woken up a moment ago. Not Barkus, though, but Tevra.

Where am I? Tevra asked, looking around the room. The palace. This isn't my room, not my old one or new one. Did they move me again? How did I get back here?

Najlah growled. He could hear Tevra's thoughts like he could Barkus's. How was that possible. What was going on?

"Who said that!" Tevra looked around frantically again, then pressed a hand to his forehead. "I think I'm losing my mind."

You're not, Najlah said, growling again. You're mentally bound to me, and presumably Barkus.

"Lord Najlah?" Tevra gave the room yet another sweep. "Where are you?"

Rumbling and chittering in amusement, Najlah uncurled and slithered from the fireplace, shaking off embers.

Tevra's eyes widened. "You—were you in the fire."

I'm a dragon of Tahjil, Najlah said with a snorting snuff. Sitting in fire is the only way I get remotely close to the temperatures to which I'm accustomed, the only way to keep my blood suitably heated outside of the pack bond I share with the Lukos and before that, an amulet.

Brow furrowing, moving to the edge of the bed, Tevra asked, "Why don't you just use sigils?"

Najlah rumbled, eyes turning pink.

"Like mine," Tevra said, standing and slowly approaching him. He extended his arms, and his tattoos seemed to gleam in the light. "You could permanently embed a spell for heat. It would require a constant use of energy, but bound to a pack, it would be a negligible drain at best, and it would also draw upon natural heat in an area. So long as you were close to a fire or out in the sun or whatever, it would keep you well and have reserves to draw on when you're thrust into cold unexpectedly."

I… did not know that was possible. Restuel does not use your markings. Magic is done or not done; it shouldn't require fancy scribblings.

Tevra laughed. "Fancy scribblings let you do much more than a single person can with only their own energy. Sigils draw energy from the world around them, requiring less of the caster and enabling greater strength and power. It has its own costs and drawbacks, as anything does, but the benefits outweigh them, at least for me. Here, these are the ones we'd need for you." He touched several of the runes on his arms and two on his face, causing them to glow the color of burning embers. "The trick would be where to carve them, as those scales don't lend themselves well to the process. They couldn't be burned in, either." He laughed again. "Not in someone who sleeps in fire the way the rest of us do a bed."

Najlah chittered, eyes swirling green, and flicked his tongue out.

He wasn't prepared for the lust-laced curiosity that filled his mind, or the way Tevra's face went red the moment he realized that thought had slipped out.

"Sorry!" Tevra burst out. "I'm not used to this at all. Mind-sharing is a Lukos thing. I've never heard of a human brought into the bond, save the rare few who marry into the pack, which hasn't happened in decades. I don't know how this happened."

Najlah hissed playfully, crawling toward the hastily retreating Tevra. But you have theories.

Tevra stilled briefly, distracted, and Najlah used the opportunity to turn and swing out his tail, deftly sweeping Tevra off his feet so he landed on the thick rug nearby. Then Najlah crawled over him, lust tingling along his spine, turning his eyes red. He rumbled softly, close enough that Tevra would feel it in his own body. "Call me crazy, but I don't think you really care about my theories right now."

Do you? Najlah asked, flicking his tongue out to finally get a proper taste. Tevra tasted like blood and the bitter, acrid flavor he associated with magic.

"I'm more baffled why you're… doing this. You've made your contempt of humans pretty clear."

Najlah licked him, dragging his forked tongue across Tevra's cheek, then took the softest nip of his jaw. Shock and pain and pleasure jolted through the bond, so he did it again—and nearly jumped himself when hands glided along his scales, firm enough to really be felt.

"Is… is this okay?" Tevra asked.

Don’t ask stupid questions.

I still am not certain why you would… with me.

You're as much a hornless brute as a human can be, Najlah replied.

Tevra laughed, the sound delightfully low and husky. That doesn't really explain it, but I think I get the general idea. You'll have to tell, or I suppose, show me, what to do for you. I've never worked with anything but a human body.

Najlah wasn't certain how to respond to that, except with a quiet happiness he didn't quite know what to do with. Barkus didn't mind when he stayed in this form when they fucked, but he'd never encountered a single human who continued to smell like lust when they saw him this way. Let alone one who simply accepted it as a given, instead of taking it for understood that he'd shift.

He got his teeth on the loose shirt Tevra was wearing and tugged at it. Off.

"All right, all right. You'll have to get off me, though; you're heavy."

Rumbling in amusement, Najlah obeyed, waiting impatiently as Tevra hastily discarded his clothes. He glanced briefly toward the bed, where Barkus still slept like the dead. He won't mind?

Why would he mind?

Aren't you lovers?

Najlah growled, eyes swirling pink and blue. We don't ascribe to your stupid human conventions. Are you only allowed one family member? One friend? Of course not. So why would you only be allowed one lover?

Tevra laughed. It seems so obvious when you put it that way. All right, you bossy dragon, what do we do now?

Najlah pushed him back onto the rug, and finally got his tongue on the rest of that long, lean body, going over each and every scar, wounds he had healed, that he had tasted. He knew the weight and flavor and smell of Tevra's blood, had consumed enough that it was in his blood.

"Bossy and possessive," Tevra said with a laugh, the words anything but a complaint.

Najlah rumbled approvingly and kept going, until he finally got his long, smooth tongue around Tevra's cock. They could do the slow, leisurely thing later.

Tevra swore, bucked up into his touch, hands flailing as he sought for purchase that wasn't there. "Fuck."

Rumbling again, eye swirling green and yellow, Najlah replied, I would have to shift for that. This body isn't quite able to fit to a human's that way.

Tevra's face burned scarlet. I'd completely forgotten about that, even though that's how I first met you. Wonder what that says about me.

You are better than every other human I've met, Najlah replied. Except my brother's wife, but she's a bitch, which is different.

He bent back to his task in earnest, tongue twining around Tevra's cock and then slowly unwinding, a rough stroking that had Tevra shivering, shaking, and finally thrashing. Najlah withdrew briefly to get his tongue even lower, to taste his balls and tease at his hole, memorizing the flavors of sweat and musk.

A husky laugh came from behind him, Barkus's voice still rough with sleep. "I might have known you'd waste no time, you incorrigible brat, no matter how much you tried to pretend you didn't want him."

Najlah rumbled and resumed his work on Tevra's cock, until he came with a deep groan, trembling as Najlah licked him clean and slowly withdrew. He growled, pleased with his efforts, and shifted away enough that Barkus could easily fit amongst them.

Sweaty and naked and well-fucked, Tevra still managed to look red-faced and almost shy as he stared at Barkus.

"Is this all right, Highness?" Barkus asked. "Should I withdraw? You're not expected—"

"I should be so lucky," Tevra interrupted with a laugh. "I didn't expect one of you, let alone both. Stop calling me that. I just had my dick down his mouth. I think formality is a bit ridiculous at this point."

In reply, Barkus gave a toothy smile before tugging Tevra in, up against his bare chest, and kissing him like their lives depended on. Najlah growled in approval. Oh, yes, this was going to be fun. Everything else would just have to wait a little longer.

Worries flitted through his mind, coming from Tevra and Barkus, but Najlah growled and pushed them away. Fucking was not the time for fretting.

"You're quite single-minded," Tevra said as he drew back enough to speak, though not terribly far because Barkus had a firm hold on his ass.

Thoughts of fucking Tevra spilled from Barkus's mind, and Najlah rumbled his approval even as Tevra regained that almost shy demeanor again. Such a strange contrast to the tattoos and almost cocky demeanor displayed during their hunt.

"I studied magic to the exclusion of all else, minus those things I was expected to know as a prince," Tevra said. "I don't actually have all that much experience in this area. I've three lovers to my name, all of them a one- or two-night affair."

Najlah rumbled at that, eyes swirling with amusement. From three piddling humans to a Tahjili and Lukos. You really are a human brute.

Tevra laughed, but his reply was cut off as Barkus grabbed his cock and gave it several rough strokes, bringing it back to hardness like he hadn't just spilled down Najlah's throat. Barkus kissed his throat, lapped at it, teeth nipping playfully. Moaning, Tevra moved restlessly against him, hands coming up to do their own exploring.

Shifting, Najlah pressed up behind Tevra, dragging his claws ever so lightly across his skin, chasing Barkus's marks on Tevra's throat with his own teeth. Tevra moaned, writhing between them, body clearly uncertain if it should press forward or back. "You two—"

"Are greatly enjoying having you at our mercy, Highness," Barkus said before kissing him again, feeding at his mouth until they were both breathless, and Najlah was growling from being able to feel it all. "So can I fuck you?"

"Yes," Tevra said as Najlah grinded against him from behind. "You'd damn well better."

Barkus growled softly, kissed him one last time, then withdrew. "On your hands and knees, then."

Tevra moaned and obeyed as Najlah backed up enough to give him room. The moment Tevra was in position, though, he moved back in and rubbed those lovely, well-used lips with the tip of his cock, earning a whimper and teasing lick before Tevra swallowed him, throat and tongue working, his groans adding another layer of sensation.

Returning, Barkus wasted no time pushing one slick finger into Tevra's waiting hole, working quickly up to two. By the time he started with a third, Tevra had pulled off Najlah's cock to practically yell, "Fuck me already, you damn wolf."

Laughing loudly, Barkus slicked his cock, lined up, and thrust into Tevra's body. Najlah growled and put him back to work, and soon he and Barkus had a rhythm going, fucking him thoroughly at both ends, leaving Tevra's thoughts completely whited out with pleasure. He'd been so commanding, even arrogant, in the throne room when they'd met. The same while on the hunt, with his magic. So very much the opposite here, caught between them.

I like it, Barkus said.  He'll do nicely, won't he?

Yes, Najlah replied. Tevra was most definitely theirs now, even if he would have to listen to his brother's merciless teasing.

He held tightly to Tevra's hair and thrust into his mouth a last few times before spilling, as Barkus clamped down tightly on Tevra's hips and drove into him one last time, moaning as he came. Tevra moaned around Najlah's softening cock as his own climax took him.

Gently withdrawing, Najlah shifted back to his dragon form, licked them both, and then returned to his fireplace. Barkus sprawled out on the rug, pulling Tevra with him to practically sprawl atop him.

"I suppose we should figure out how we got here," Tevra said. "The last thing I remember is that group trying to break us."

Najlah hissed. What is breaking?

"It destroys the minds of the victim, an overload of magical power that leaves the mind… well, basically little better than a bowl of pudding. The use of it is a death-penalty offense in most of the magic-using world. Most of the time, though, it's simply not a spell worth using. If you're going to break someone, you're nearly always better off simply killing them, since at that point there's nothing really left of the person, just a shell. Early mages developed it as a healing technique, to help quell the violent tendencies, and other such, of the 'insane' or especially horrific criminals. But there's no finesse to it, they could never pin that vital component of the spell down. It just leaves a person technically alive but functionally dead."

"That is the most horrifying thing I've ever heard of," Barkus replied. "Why would they want to do that to us? Especially since they've already tried to kill you."

"I don't know," Tevra said quietly. "I'm not sure I want to know, but I'm also certain we need to know."

Killing you didn't work, so maybe this is a different method, or the demands of the assignment have changed, Najlah said. I'm sure there are all sorts of things they could do if they had broken the three of us and carted us off to who knows where.

Barkus growled, and if he'd been in his wolf form, his hackles would have been standing like spikes. They never would have made it across the Shide.

There's this thing called the ocean, and these other things called ships, Tevra replied.

Biting him playfully, Barkus replied, "Oh, be quiet, Prince Know-it-All."

Tevra laughed, stole a quick kiss, then rolled over and pushed to his feet. "Come on, as much as I prefer to stay here with the two of you, there are questions that need answers."

Najlah rumbled in discontent, but obediently crawled from the fire and shook off stray embers. I feel my brother probably has something to do with us being back here. He led the way out of the room and through the palace to Ajith's suite—where an unusual number of people were clustered around.

He could also smell blood, hear muffled cries of pain. Snarling, tail lashing, he turned on the guards. "What is going on?"

"What's happening?" Barkus asked.

"Her Grace is in labor," one of the guards replied. "Lord Ajith said we were not to disturb you, as you'd taken significant injury from the attack in the city, but that we were to inform you of events once you were awake. I don't know why the guards posted at your door didn't mention it."

"There were no guards posted," Tevra said. "Bring the Captain of the Guard at once."

Eyes widening, the guards shared a look, and then the one who'd spoken raced off down the hall, pounding steps echoing, punctuated by the rattle of his armor and sword belt.

Najlah growled, eyes swirling with anger. I did not smell blood or anything else nefarious. If there was anything amiss, other than their presence, it was not noticeable to my senses.

"Or mine," Barkus added.

"Nothing magical either," Tevra said. "Strange indeed. It sounds like they either walked away voluntarily or were coerced into it and dealt with somewhere else. He turned to the remaining guard. "Is there anything I can do for Her Grace? I've aided birthing mothers in the past."

"I will see, Your Highness." The guard rapped on the door and slipped inside when it opened the barest bit. After a few minutes, he reemerged and said, "His Grace would be most welcome for whatever you can do to ease Her Grace's pain."

Tevra followed the guard inside, screams pouring into the hall as the door opened again. Najlah hissed, eyes swirling with discontent. Hopefully it would be over soon, though he'd heard talk that sometimes human bitches could be in labor for many hours.

"They can," Barkus said. "My mother was never in labor longer than three hours, but my poor sister was in labor for eight with her twins. Some poor woman from a neighboring clan suffered more than half a day."

Najlah hissed, eternally grateful he was a hornless brute. It was highly unlikely he'd ever have to endure such nonsense.

"Unlikely, not impossible?"

Eyes swirling green, Najlah turned to face him and flicked his tongue out. Not impossible. We're all born female, after all. If a bitch died, and there were no horned brutes to become the new bitch and take over the den, then the remaining hornless brutes would fight for the honor. If I was in an area that lacked bitches, and wanted to start my own den, I could also change.

Barkus's eyes gleamed with something hot and possessive, but he only said, I see.

Najlah rumbled but was distracted by the quieting of Lady Korla's distress. A few minutes later, Tevra reemerged. "Looks like you're an uncle to a strong baby girl, Najlah. Congratulations."

Thank you. Najlah roared so his brother would hear him, and could hear the answering rumble, much softer so as not to disturb mother and child. As though Korla would whelp anything but a female. Her blood runs too strong for anything else.

Tevra chuckled softly. "Even for a human?"

Clicking and chittering, Najlah turned his attention back to the guard who'd yet to return. Surely, he should be back by now.

"Let's go see for ourselves, shall we?" Tevra asked.

Barkus growled. "Yes, let's." He shifted, shaking his head as the change settled, and Tevra bundled up his clothes into the bag he'd brought with him. Najlah took the lead, growling softly, sending most residents fleeing. Good. If things were about to get as ugly as they feared, the fewer people around, the better.

At the back of the bond, Najlah could hear Barkus communicating with his fellow wolves, telling them to stay where they were for now, to protect Their Graces should it be necessary. Though clearly unhappy with that order, the wolves acknowledged it before their presence faded off.

I don't understand any of this, Tevra said. If they wanted me dead, there are far better ways to go about it. Why does it seem like they're escalating? Like they've lost their gods-damned minds? From trying to stab me to death in my bed to using highly illegal magic to get all three of us in the middle of a fucking city, and now they're mucking directly with the royal guard? What do they hope to accomplish with that?

Najlah growled, low and threatening, tongue flicking out frequently to taste for any hints of danger. Who cares. The why is irrelevant. It's what they're doing that matters. I smell blood. Barely, but there. He increased his pace, following the faint scent, growling low as it grew stronger—and stronger.

They spilled into the hallway that led to the armory and barracks, the scent of blood so strong, even Tevra could smell it.

Tevra cast him a brief look. You know, humans get by just fine with how we smell.

No, you don't, Barkus and Najlah said together, making Tevra roll his eyes. Barkus added, "You just don't know what you're missing."

"I think I'm all right with that, actually," Tevra replied. "If I had to smell everything the way you two do, I'd go insane. Anyway, now that I've got the two of you to do that for me, three just feels like overkill."

Najlah rumbled and chittered, but his eyes remained focused ahead of him, tongue flicking rapidly as he took in the scent of blood. Sharp, fresh, human.

The enormous double doors that led to the armory were closed, which was strange. Save for emergencies, the doors were always wide open.

Locked, Barkus said as he tried them. We'll need a key. There's no way we can break these doors down.

"Says you," Tevra said with a laugh. "Move out of my way, wolf."

Barkus chuffed. Oh, ho, our pliant little prince has been replaced by the arrogant one again. Such a delightful contrast. I do like you best when you're sweet and pliant beneath me, but the arrogance is delightfully appealing.

Tevra rolled his eyes, even as his cheeks burned. "Now is hardly the time." As Barkus and Najlah moved to stand behind him, he held his hands straight out in front of him, arms extended. The air practically crackled with magic, prickling Najlah's nostrils, raising Barkus's hackles.

There was a deafening series of pops and cracks, and right before Najlah's eyes the doors splintered, cracked, and fell to the floor in jagged pieces, sending up a cloud of dust like smoke.

Tevra swayed and sank to his knees, bracing his hands on the floor as he drew several long, shuddery breaths. "Haven't done that one in a while. Much easier when I have backup. Normally it'll knock me out cold for a bit."

Najlah rumbled softly, licking Tevra's face as Barkus did the same, seeing for themselves that he was all right.

"You two are like the cat I had as a child, but worse, because you're bigger and I know where your tongues have been," Tevra said with a laugh, and braced a hand on Barkus's back before heaving to his feet. "Thank you." He brushed his hands off, looked at them, then the mess, and said, "Now let's see what's going on with the royal guard."

Najlah growled and took the lead once more, letting his spikes come out as the smell of blood grew stronger, and climbed over the rubble and into whatever trouble awaited them next.

There was blood everywhere. Splashes on the wall. Pools on the floor, bloody footprints going from one pool to the next. Even the ceiling hadn't been left unmarked.

Despite the blood, though, Najlah saw not a single body. It was like every guard that had walked through the doors had been cut down and dragged away. He doubted any of them were still alive.

There are normally thousands of guards in the castle at any given time, Barkus said. It was one of the first things I set my people to when we arrived. We wanted to know what they did and how, so we could mesh our methods with theirs and such. The bulk of the guards are located in the city and garrisons further afield, but a solid force of five thousand is kept in and around the royal palace at any given time. There's no way anyone—anything—could have killed off that many without detection.

Clearly sensing Barkus's tension and worry, the other wolves pressed at the bond, asking to come help, but Barkus remained firm in telling them to stay where they were, continue with his original orders.

"Let's go see," Tevra said. "I suspect something foul is lurking in this place, and that it's been masked from us. I'm starting to think this is part of a bigger scheme, and we weren't supposed to survive our encounter in the city—or this part of the plan was moved up because we did survive it. I just don't understand why."

Najlah hissed. Irrelevant. Knowing why would not change the problem. Why can be answered later, when the bones are bare.

Tevra shot him that look of wry amusement Najlah was becoming intimately familiar with. "We say 'when the dust has settled.'"

When the wind calms, Barkus added. Funny how many different ways you can say the same thing. He sniffed delicately at a pool of blood, then padded over to another. There is something very faint in the blood. Barely there. I've never seen so much blood. It's like it was gushing out of them, but I see no… bits and pieces… of the sort you'd get from such a wound.

"Gushing…" Tevra's brow furrowed. "Like the blood couldn't stop flowing. Like it couldn't clot and was running thin."

Barkus growled deep in his throat, hackles rising. Or that, yes.

Najlah clicked and rumbled. What?

"It's a type of snake venom native to my home," Tevra replied. "It keeps blood from clotting, so victims often die by bleeding to death. Favored by cheap assassins and the like because it guarantees death, or near enough, and covers for a lack of skill. It can be administered orally, via a poisoned blade, dumped in open wounds… Whoever did this, they're nasty pieces of work."

My venom does the opposite, Najlah said with a series of chitters. It turns blood solid; just about the only thing that slows some of the creatures in Tahjil down.

Barkus sniffed the air. They also seem to be gone, if they haven't attacked us yet.

Best not to make assumptions, Najlah replied. They could be biding their time for something. We need to find the bodies. That will tell us much. He prowled onward, following the blood where it went from pools to drag marks, around the corner down to the first part of the barracks, where the officers slept, if he recalled correctly. Ajith had dragged him here once, but Najlah hadn't been interested in the piddling efforts of human soldiers until he'd been introduced to the Shifter Corp he'd joined. All of whom would be useful right now, but they were still incapacitated from the beating they'd taken on the Shide.

Should I have my people come help us after all? Barkus asked.

Najlah chittered. It won't be necessary. These fools are forgetting one very important thing, and I am going to laugh as they die. Tevra and Barkus filled with curiosity and gave him looks demanding explanation, but Najlah wasn't in the mood to share. They could figure it out or find out with everyone else.

"Cagey brat," Tevra said with a huff of laughter.

Crafty hornless, Najlah replied. I can't help myself. Not that I'd try. He flicked his tongue out, but before he could say anything further, the stench of blood grew even sharper, combining with a faint hint of early decay.

Najlah charged toward the scent, slamming through a cracked door—and spilling into a room where bodies had been stacked like slaughtered animals awaiting butchering. Of the parties responsible for the bodies, there was still no sign.

"So much death," Tevra said, eyes filling with tears. "Why? Why is all this necessary? What is so wrong with me that my family would authorize a mass slaughter? Why not just keep trying to kill me? I'm not worth all this."

Barkus rubbed against his thighs, and Tevra sank a hand into his thick fur. Najlah stayed on alert, as he was hardly the 'hold onto' type for such situations. Especially with his spikes out. That wouldn't end well for anyone.

Tevra sniffled-laughed. "There are antivenins for that type of poison, and if Restuel is anything like home, they keep it on hand."

Najlah scoffed. As though he'd let anyone live long enough to receive an antivenin.

Barkus and Tevra chuckled softly, but levity was hard to maintain in the face of so many bodies piled up like trash. It was sickening. Almost frightening. On the rare occasion a dragon started exhibiting such behavior, the bitch herself put the blood-crazed dragon down, and recompense was paid to the wronged families.

"We'll do much the same, though there's no den bitch to do the deed," Tevra said. "Come on, let's explore further. I feel we're walking into a trap, but what can we do? Avoiding it won't get us anywhere."

We survived the last one, Barkus said. Barely, but we did. We're better prepared this time.

Najlah just laughed.

Leaving the room full of bodies, they prowled onward, Barkus taking the lead this time, Najlah taking up the rear. He rarely visited the armory, but whenever he did, it was bustling with life, as active as a den with a day-old litter. This quiet was awful. These humans had done nothing wrong. These deaths were pointless and wasteful—they were mean. Najlah tolerated much when it came to violence and blood, but not meanness.

When the guilty parties got what was coming to them, he was going to enjoy their suffering, and later their remains. They didn't deserve burial.

Eventually, they passed through the barracks and into the pavilion that divided the barracks from the armory. There was more blood here, a distinct trail leading beyond the closed doors.

As they reached the center of the pavilion, the doors behind them flooded with figures, each one dressed in black and scarlet, their faces masked. They looked stupid. Najlah chittered his contempt, tail flicking with the promise of coming violence.

The pavilion filled with more people than the three of them could ever overcome, the doors to the barracks closing with a resounding boom, sealing them in. As traps went, it was predictable and boring, but effective.

"Why are you doing this?" Tevra demanded. "None of those people needed to die! None of them! If you wanted me dead, you should have focused on me, not killed hundreds of innocents."

No one replied, simply braced to attack, dozens against a small trio. Many of them would die, but they'd still carry the day. Unless Najlah changed up the odds.

Even as curiosity and confusion from the other two filled his mind, Najlah rested on his haunches, threw back his head, and let out a series of sharp, piercing, barking cries, the adult version of the cries kits used when they were scared or in danger and needed help. That cry usually brought their mother.

The adult cry summoned horned brutes to defend the den when the danger surpassed what the hornless could handle. This particular cry was going to summon Ajith, a horned brute whose bitch had just given birth.

Even as one of their assailants cried out to launch the attack, a deafening roar filled the sky, seemed to make the building shake, causing more than a few to swear, even drop their weapons. Some had the sense to try and flee, but they were still struggling with the doors they'd barred themselves when Ajith came into view.

Najlah moved out of his way, climbing up on a pedestal meant for officers supervising training, and rumbled for Barkus and Tevra to do the same. Once Ajith landed, his only thought would be kill the threat, protect the den, and it wouldn't do to accidentally be in his way.

Besides, from this high up it would be much easier to enjoy the show.

Ajith landed right in the middle of the fray, crushing and smothering several assailants right from the start.

After that, it was a bloodbath: teeth and tail and horns. He gored several in a single sweeping motion, crunched several others in his jaws before spitting them out, blood trailing down his long neck to drip and pool on the floor. His tail took care of the ones desperately trying to get the doors open, slamming them so hard their bones shattered like dry sticks.

As the bloodbath calmed, and Ajith rumbled that the danger was over, Najlah slithered down from his perch and went in search of a snack.

"Where is the bastard in charge of this mess?" Ajith asked.

Najlah hissed, looking up from his chosen meal. "There was no leader we saw. Pretty sure he, she, they, whatever, hid at the back."

"Here," Tevra said. "His coat… well what's left of it… has the right insignia. Those two over there—" He pointed to a couple of humans that were definitely in more than a couple of pieces, "would have been his second and third in command."

"Thank you," Ajith said, and Najlah conveyed the words before returning to his snack.

Tevra watched, looking a little queasy, but his shoulders set and eyes determined. "You really will eat anything, won't you?" he asked, a thread of humor in the words. He moved hastily out of the way as Ajith prowled close, standing by the wall closest to Najlah, leaving Ajith to his victory meal. "Why do you eat them?"

"They don't deserve the honor of being burned or buried. Enemies are eaten, devoured, reduced to nothing but a pile of stinking shit."

"More efficient than locking them up in a cell to be forgotten, dying a slow, wretched death," Tevra replied. "Or being left to freeze to death on a mountain."

"The Shiden haven't done that for a long time," Barkus said. "As you say, more efficient to just have done. That being said, are there any alive for questioning?"

Ajith looked up from his meal. "I hear a couple of heartbeats over there, in the north-east corner."

Najlah rumbled and went to investigate, digging through bodies before he finally found the people still alive. One had a few broken bones, the other some deep cuts, but both would probably live, at least long enough to talk.

He shifted, and together he, Tevra, and Barkus got the two figures up out of the mess and placed where Ajith could easily grab them to haul off elsewhere.

Tevra sat down on a bench by the far door, looking gray and tired. "Is this normal for you, Najlah?"

Not at all. Tahjil is full of violence, of course, but not of this nature. I never saw anything like this until humans showed up.

"Yes, that sounds depressingly accurate." Tevra sighed. "I really hope we soon figure out why this particular batch of humans, humans I called friends and allies and countrymen, went to all this—" he gestured angrily to the bloodbath around them "—to get to me."

Ajith growled. "I think this is a matter of consolidation. It's…how does Korla say it…"

"Two birds, one stone," Najlah replied.

"Upset relations between your two countries and get rid of me?" Tevra said. "Also given the amount of people they just slaughtered, the royal palace is at a significant disadvantage right now. I would imagine you're not going to look too impressive to the Shiden right now, either."

"Leave the Shiden to me," Barkus said. "We know all about these petty little games humans like to play. They've tried it before to pit packs against one another, or us against the humans at the base of the mountains who have enough sense to live and let live, unlike the rest of the continent."

Najlah chittered.

I'm sorry humans are so stupid, Tevra said, shame and remorse washing through him.

"We're being harsh," Barkus said. "If all humans were terrible, I do not think our fearsome brute there would be married to a duchess and best friends with a king, or have moved here, where he and his brother are nearly always cold."

Najlah flicked his tongue out, eyes swirling with colors. There are benefits. Like cows. Pretty, sparkling jewels. Wolves. Brute princes who like to do as I tell them.

"You're a brat," Tevra hissed, face burning.

Najlah just flicked his tongue, eyes bright with amusement.

"Quit your flirting," Ajith said. "Hornless, I swear. Look this mess over for anything useful. Have those two make certain nobody goes in or out until I've spoken with His Majesty."

"Yes, yes. Go away already. You did your job, now return to your bitch like a good little horned brute."

"I will throw you through a wall again, don't think I won't." Ajith scooped up the prisoners and used his back legs to lunge into the air, where his enormous wings took over, lifting him into the sky and carrying him away as quickly as he'd arrived.

Tevra sighed. "No wonder you were so amused earlier. This bloodbath is going to haunt my sleep for months. Possibly years. If I look too long at any of it, I might start screaming."

Najlah hissed. Not nearly as bad as the day your contemptable countrymen assaulted a young bitch and left her for dead.

"No, I would imagine not," Tevra said. "I heard about that, and hearing was enough. It makes me even more baffled that my people are trying to tangle with you a second time. There's only two of you this time, and they're still losing. Pathetic, really." He sighed. "We'll go watch the door. Have fun in here, I guess."

"It will be all right, Tevra," Barkus said, and drew him close to kiss softly, even sweetly, like a horned brute trying to get out of trouble with his bitch.

Breaking apart, Barkus cast him a look. "You are a brat. If you want to trade out at some point, you know where to find us. I've had my share of picking over corpses."

Tevra looked ill. "One or two, maybe. Not like this."

"Let's go," Barkus said, and led him away, leaving Najlah to forage through blood and bodies for something useful, though he had no idea what useful might look like. Hopefully he'd know it when he saw it.

Three bell tolls later, Najlah had a pile of 'useful,' and people had begun to arrive to help clean up the mess. They were pale, and more than a few fled to throw up or otherwise lose their composure, but those that remained set to work with grim faces, cataloguing the dead to inform families, pulling whatever identifying marks they could off the enemy soldiers to send off, while still more people set to the grisly task of clearing the bodies away and cleaning up the carnage.

Najlah made certain his pile would not be thrown out, but delivered to Ajith, and then availed himself of a few small snacks before finally departing, ignoring the looks that garnered him. Enemies deserved only to be devoured and shit out. If he could, he'd eat every last scrap in the hall, as not a one deserved an honorable burning or burial. Unfortunately, even Ajith couldn't eat that much. At least they'd died far from home, never to see it again. That was a far worse fate than being turned into lunch.

Barkus and Tevra were nowhere to be seen in the hallway, but that wasn't terribly surprising. They'd probably been dismissed once other people arrived, and Tevra especially had needed the break.

Najlah made his way outside and rinsed in the first fountain he came to so he wouldn't track blood all over the palace. He tended to get yelled at for that, and getting yelled at was annoying. Once he was as clean as he was getting until he could crawl into his fire, he headed quickly through the palace to his chambers, rumbling in approval as he could smell and feel the other two were there.

Where else would we be? Barkus asked as he slipped into the room, not bothering to bestir himself from where he lay sprawled on the bed. Next to him, head on his shoulder, was Tevra, sleeping so hard Najlah could glean no dreaming thoughts. He's wrung out. For all that he can hold his own in a fight, he is not used to our levels of violence. Even I was impressed by what Ajith can do in a very short time with very little effort. I cannot imagine what he'd be like expending the full weight of his abilities. I’m amazed you get into fights with him willingly.

Najlah chittered. Brotherly squabbles are nothing like real fights. Ajith was the finest horned brute in our den. Mother was sad to see him go, but she also highly approved of Korla, and all the Tahjili agreed we should have a presence here, especially after all the bloodshed. He went over to the fireplace and climbed into the flames that someone had built up for him, rumbling as he curled around and in on himself, soaking up all the wonderful heat.

He closed his eyes, letting the exhaustion finally have him, body crashing after all the turmoil and violence and foraging of the past few hours. Ajith may have done the hard part, but he'd left Najlah with plenty to do in the aftermath.

He'd also probably be summoning them soon, so best to get what sleep they could.

Barkus replied sleepily, And later we will fuck our pretty prince until he's no longer wallowing in guilt over things that are not his fault.

Rumbling in approval of that plan, Najlah drifted off to sleep.

He woke to worries, restlessness, and it took him a moment to realize the thoughts were not his. Slowly opening his outer eyelids, blinking away ash and ember before opening his inner eyelid, Najlah looked around the room for the source of the unhappiness spinning through his mind.

Tevra was sitting at the table, staring at his food but not touching it, mind too bogged down with guilt, remorse, and bad memories. Najlah rumbled and uncurled from the fire, shaking off embers before prowling across the room. Tevra looked up as he approached, and Najlah growled to see that he'd been crying. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

You didn't. I wake when I wake, or when Ajith yells loudly enough. Why are you upset over things that aren't your fault?

"They are my fault. Tens, hundreds of people are dead because I was so oblivious to my own family that I didn't notice they hated me enough to kill me." He pinched his eyes shut. "I loved my family. I served my father happily, and I would have done the same for my brother. And this whole time they've been wanting me dead. I'm not really sure how to… work through that. A few days ago, I was a prince of Gormestia. Now I'm nothing. Have nothing. No family. No home."

Najlah growled, deep and loud, his entire body vibrating with it. Good brutes should not be wasted on bad dens. You belong with me, with Barkus, serving in Korla's den." Serving the king because that was how it was done here, though it would forever seem strange to him that they did not put bitches in charge of their dens, whatever size or shape those dens took.

That got a weak laugh out of Tevra. "Gormestia—well, practically every man in Gormestia—would say it was madness to trust women in positions of power and leadership. Yet I feel that if my mother had been in charge all these years, my own flesh and blood would not be trying to kill me and use my death to start a war." He pinched his eyes shut, but fresh tears slipped out anyway. "Gods, I wish I could think about something else for a little while. I'm surprised we haven't been summoned to speak with His Majesty."

Politics, bah, Najlah said. What would you prefer to think about? I have stories aplenty. I can show you all my lovely, sparkling jewels.

Tevra laughed. "It's hilarious how much your fondness for jewels resembles how you sound when you talk about your brother and sister-in-law. Your family back home."

Sparkle, Najlah said, rumbling low and soft, which got him another laugh, which was a much better look on Tevra than stupid sadness over things that other people should be feeling bad about, not him. Najlah flicked his tongue out. If you do not want to see my jewels, I can think of other ways to distract you.

"Hmm, I wonder what those ways could be," Tevra said, eyes sparkling very much like jewels.  "All right then, dragon, let's see how well you can distract me from my own head." His eyes shifted to look past Najlah. "How well you both can distract me."

"You two need to stop starting the fun while I'm still sleeping," Barkus grumbled around a yawn, smiling as he sat up in bed. "Come here."

Rumbling, tongue flicking out to taste the growing lust on the air, Najlah happily obeyed, urging Tevra along with him, climbing onto the bed before bothering to shift.

Once they were all piled into the center of the bed, Najlah pulled first Barkus and then Tevra into a kiss, lingering thoroughly on both, immersing himself in their flavor and heat, relatively meager though that heat was.

"Shut up, you're like an inferno, of course no one can keep up with you," Barkus said, leaving a sharp, stinging bite on his throat before moving to settle behind Tevra. "Let's see how well you can take us both, Highness."

"What do you—" Tevra broke off with a moan, his entire body trembling between them, as images filled their head from Barkus on precisely what he meant by taking them both.

"Just wait until later," Barkus said, voice low and rough, "when you're ready to take us at the same time."

"There's no way—"

"Oh, there will be. Not today, but soon," Barkus replied, cupping Tevra's chin from behind and dragging his teeth along his throat, then chasing the faint marks with his tongue, growling against his skin and making Tevra shiver. "You were made for us, pretty prince, and we'll have you every way we want."

Najlah growled in approval as he pressed against Tevra's front, claws dragging teasingly across that soft, soft skin with its beautiful tattoos and the many scars of the knife attack that should have killed him.

"But it didn't, because of you, and no one will ever be allowed to forget that while you live and breathe," Tevra said with a husky laugh before he reached up to grab the sides of Najlah's face and drag him into a hungry, toothy kiss. "What other ways are you going to mark me your property, dragon?"

That elicited another growl, loud enough to fill the room and cause the other two to shiver with the sensation. Najlah broke free of Tevra's hold and resumed his mission to kiss, lick, and bite every last stitch of him, leave not a single part of Tevra's body unfamiliar with his touch. Throughout, Barkus held him steady, occasionally adding some bites and kisses of his own, until Tevra looked debauched and well-fucked long before they'd finished with him.

Rumbling in satisfaction and anticipation, Najlah flicked his head in silent command, and Barkus obeyed immediately, resting back against the pillows, shifting his grip on Tevra's thighs, and spreading him wide for Najlah's pleasure.

He started with his tongue, stretching and slicking the tight heat waiting to be fucked, until Tevra was jerking and wailing, flinging drops of sweat as he begged for more.

Withdrawing, Najlah did as ordered, sliding his cock deep with no fanfare, nipping at Tevra's well-used lips and swallowing his cry. Pulling away, he reached past Tevra to kiss Barkus, then withdrew and set to fucking their pretty, pliant human in earnest, extracting a moan or scream with every thrust, Tevra's weak human nails digging uselessly into his shoulders.

Najlah fucked into him a last few, forceful times and bit Tevra's shoulder as he came, spilling deep, relishing every moan and shudder as Tevra came apart between them.

Moving back, he growled softly as Barkus put Tevra on his back and took his own turn, leaving Tevra wailing and moaning, overstimulated but mind filled to bursting with pleasure, silent pleas for more and harder that had him coming again moments before Barkus climaxed.

Just moments later, Tevra was fast asleep, and it took only a moment to get him cleaned up and situated more comfortably in the bed. Najlah crawled into his flames to clean up and watched idly as Barkus washed up at the large basin before the fire, which must have been left with the food while they slept.

Once Barkus was clean, Najlah shook off ashes and joined him at the table, where the two of them made quick work of the food that Tevra had been ignoring. "I'll have more brought for him," Barkus said, eyes going distant as he spoke to someone else in the pack. "I'm surprised we haven't been summoned yet."

Najlah growled, tongue flicking out. No doubt there is much to discuss, and more still to write and send off. I pity the messengers. Especially since they'd be using the Shifter Corp for that, Najlah's friends that he'd not seen since the mission that had started this mess had gone so horribly wrong.

Though he couldn't complain too much—well, he could, at the obscene loss of life, the flagrant disregard for life and death, the utter cruelty and wastefulness of it all, but he'd also gotten Barkus and Tevra out of the mess, which was easing a loneliness Najlah hadn't even realized he'd been feeling.

Barkus smiled. "Same, dragon. Same. Why don't you go see what's afoot, and I'll stay here in case he wakes up again or has another nightmare. I'm surprised you slept through the first one."

I sleep or I don't. Najlah finished the last of the meat on his plate and shifted back to his true form, licked Barkus's cheek, and then headed off in search of answers.

His first destination was Ajith's chambers, where the guards let him through immediately, though with the gentle admonition that baby and mother were fast asleep.

Predictably, Ajith was standing watch over them, exhausted but upright and alert. Like a typical horned brute, he would remain on watch like that for two to three days, taking precious few breaks for himself, watching to ensure all was well for mother and child during the most dangerous time for them both.

If they were back home, that would make sense, but even Najlah knew the practice was unnecessary here amongst humans, with guards everywhere who were clearly ready to murder anyone who so much as sneezed too close to Korla and the child.

"Sit down, you rocks-for-brains," Najlah said. "Before you fall over and smother them both.”

"Good, you're here. Watch them while I go and work with Their Majesties. We've been coordinating through messages, but it's not the same."

"You should have sent for me."

"You needed rest before you could properly replace me."

"Oh, go away." Najlah hissed for good measure.

Ajith headed into the dressing room to put on clothes suitable for court, and Najlah climbed onto the enormous bed and wrapped himself around the special bedding that held the baby. His niece. So little and fragile, and already a clear mix of human and dragon, with scales and claws and… "She has nubs. I've never seen a bitch with horns."

"She is also he, as fluid as a dragon but in more human fashion," Ajith replied as he came out of the dressing room. "Call for me if something seems even the slightest bit wrong."

Najlah flicked his tongue out, eyes swirling with offense and annoyance. "By the time you got here, the threats would be dead and eaten. Go away. I may not have horns, but I can still protect the den."

"I know. Once everything is sorted, we'll come talk to you and the other two." He kissed Korla's brow, flicked Najlah between the eyes, and headed off with a laugh as Najlah growled.

As the baby showed signs of stirring, Najlah switched to soft rumbles, which immediately soothed his niece back to sleep. Closing his eyes, Najlah settled in comfortably, ever alert for a sound or scent that did not belong.

Thankfully, no disturbances came, save for a messenger to let him know that Ajith and Their Majesties were still in talks. Najlah was almost curious as to what was being discussed. Almost.

Barkus snickered softly in his mind. The great Najlah, interested in politics? I'm not sure my heart can handle that shock.

Najlah hissed and flicked his tongue out, even if there was no one there to see it. Be quiet, wolf. How is our little prince?

Still fast asleep. I'm surprised he hasn't been summoned for those talks you're not interested in. He's certainly trained for them, and at the center of all of this. Makes me all the more curious what is going on. How are mother and child?

Asleep. Perfect. Najlah lifted his head to gently press the tip of his snout to the baby's cheek.

When do they pick a name? In the Shide we do it after the first full cycle of the moon. Here in Restuel they wait… three months? Six? Six, I think, that sounds right. What about in Tahjil?

We are named as we're sorted out. First the kit chosen as bitch. Then the horned brutes. Then us hornless. How long it takes depends on the clutch and the bitch. I was named after… Najlah flicked his tongue thoughtfully. I suppose what amounts to three months. That's not how we mark time back home. We simply go by hunting seasons. Month doesn't matter. What food is available does.

Also when bitches were in heat, but that wasn't a problem for him, save to find somewhere else to be.

I would like to see your homeland someday, Barkus said, sounding wistful. I'm not sure we'd be able to get you to leave again, though, and I don't know I could live in that extreme heat for long, even with magic to help me.

We were planning to visit once my niece is strong enough to make the journey, but we have no plans to remain there. Restuel is my home now. I am a part of Korla's den, even if that's not how they do it here, and will be until she and she alone bids me go elsewhere, which she will not do, not unless the situation is so dire there's no other choice.

Because he loved his brother and her, and now there was his niece, who needed the protection that only a hornless could provide.

I am not remotely surprised, a sleepy voice interjected, that you go completely soft for children. You'd be an excellent parent, if you were ever inclined that way.

Najlah rumbled. I am a hornless, and best suited to that. Though even he hoped they wouldn't see another bloodbath like the one in the armory ever again, or at least not anytime soon, if it must happen twice.

Agreed, two voices echoed in his mind.

Can we come see your niece? Tevra asked, the words almost timid. I could cast some protections.

I will ask, Najlah replied, though he couldn't see Ajith or Korla refusing.

Slithering off the bed, he went to the hallway and called out a series of sharp, piercing barks. After a moment, Ajith replied with his usual brisk roar.

You may come visit.

Happiness burst through the bond from both of them, so clearly Najlah was not the only one 'soft' when it came to babies.

As if knowing she was the center of attention, his niece stirred and started to fuss. Korla stirred in her bed, still tired, bags beneath her eyes, but she smiled, all warmth and love, as she sat up and shifted enough to lift her daughter up. "Are you hungry, little one?"

"Tevra and Barkus are coming to visit. Tevra wants to bestow magic on her."

Korla looked at him in surprise, then smiled brightly. "A Gormestian Warlock wants to bless my child? I am honored."

Clearly there was more to this offer than Najlah had realized. Hardly surprising. He knew next to nothing about Gormestia, and didn't much care to learn, given how stupid they'd already proven to be.

They're not all bad, Tevra said with a laugh.

A knock came at the door, and a moment later Barkus and Tevra stepped into the room

Tevra froze, face going apple red, and he backpedaled for the door before Barkus stopped him with an arm around his waist. He bowed low, and so quickly Najlah half expected him to tip over. "Your Grace, I am so sorry, I did not mean to—"

Korla's laughter drowned out the stumbling apology. "Your Highness, there is nothing wrong with watching a woman feed her child. That aside, you will have to learn that dragons seldom bother with things like modesty. If you are going to walk with dragons, you must learn to walk like dragons. Especially that one, who could not feel shame or embarrassment if he was paid in diamonds to try."

Najlah chittered, eyes bright orange. "Why should I feel either of those things for doing and seeing things that are quite common? It is you humans who are so strange about these matters."

"Fair enough, but back home, wandering into the chambers of a woman is itself taboo, nevermind while the woman herself has her breasts out, and her husband is nowhere in sight. I'd be lucky if I wasn't killed immediately for such a grand offense, and even a royal prince would not escape severe punishment."

Korla laughed so hard she accidentally dislodged her daughter, who immediately made her displeasure known. Fixing the situation, Korla then said, "The funniest part of all of this is that Ajith doesn't even care about my tits." Her eyes were bright with mirth, body shaking with suppressed laughter as Tevra turned so red Najlah was concerned he'd pass out. "Sit down before you fall down, Your Highness."

Tevra started to refuse, but Barkus shoved him into a chair and poured him a cup of cold tea.

"What has happened while I was busy?" Korla asked, the smirk saying she had very much chosen her words to be gentle to Tevra's poor, flustered state.

"Nothing good, Your Grace," Barkus said. "I'm not sure you want to hear it right now."

Korla sighed. "I'm not sure I do either but tell me anyway."

So Barkus did, with Najlah and Tevra interjecting occasionally.

Tucking her daughter away in her little bed, Korla then wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Gormestia will pay for this."

"I'll do everything I can to ensure that is so," Tevra said. "I am sorry. No matter what anyone says, this is my fault. Truly, though, I had no idea my family hated me so much. All I've ever wanted is to serve faithfully."

"No, Your Highness, this is not your fault at all," Korla replied. "You're as much a victim as anyone, if not the greatest victim of all. Please try not to worry about it. We're grateful to have your help and support; it will give us an edge that nothing else could."

Tevra bowed his head. "Your Grace."

She smiled. "Now, I was told my child would be getting a warlock's blessings. Is that true?"

Tevra returned her smile as he lifted his head. "Of course, though I didn't expect anyone to know the custom."

Najlah growled, tail flicking, eyes swirling pink.

"I don't know this custom either," Barkus said, "though I can tell it's apparently no small thing."

"Warlocks are the most powerful mages on the continent," Korla said. "They are rare and prized. To have one bestow protections on a child is an honor, especially a warlock of His Highness's acumen. That is why it's most often called a blessing."

Rather than pride, as Najlah would have expected, sadness swept through Tevra, along with hurt and shame. He rumbled, concerned, but Tevra only brushed his concerns aside, stepping forward and, at Korla's nod of permission, gently lifted the teensy baby into his arms. "Are these… is she going to have horns?"

"She seems to have the parts of both male and female. Fluid, we'd say in Restuel."

"We would say nothing kind in Gormestia," Tevra replied. "I am grateful the gods placed her where she would be understood and appreciated. Are there any particular protections you would like?"

"I am honored by whatever you see fit to bestow."

"They will pain her, there's no avoiding that," Tevra replied. "I wish there was."

"She's a baby, easily soothed again, and she'll not remember it later," Korla said.

Tevra nodded. "Very well, then." He reached into one of the pouches he wore and drew out a small leather case. "Barkus, if you will hold her for me, out like this so I can work the marks down and across her torso… there, perfect." He untied the fastenings of the case and rolled it out across the foot of the bed, and drew out a slim, sharply pointed tool that looked like it was meant for stabbing and slicing, made of something that resembled crystal, though the hilt looked to be bone.

Huffing a laugh, Tevra flicked his eyes briefly to Najlah. "It's called a mage's stiletto, meant for carving runes into most any surface. The blade is diamond, actually, and the hilt wyvern bone." Sadness filled his face and the bond. "My brother gave it to me, along with several others, after a hunt. I was so pleased he'd thought of me and gifted me bones from such a fine, prized trophy." I wonder if he hated me back then too.

Before Najlah or Barkus could reply, Tevra returned his full attention to his task. "I think above all else, our little dear will need runes for fire and ice, to keep her warm and safe no matter where in the world she will travel. Alerts for magic, so she'll know if someone is trying to use it on her without permission. Calling, should our future queen find herself in more trouble than she can or wants to handle. Hmm… I doubt there are physical supplements I can give her that are not outpaced by her draconian nature… Ah, a rune to be overlooked, when she wishes it, and a last, deadly rune that can be used where her physical abilities run out, and those both we will seal until she is old enough to understand the power and danger entailed with them. Does that suit, Your Grace?"

Tears streamed down Korla's cheeks. "More than, Your Highness. I cannot thank you enough."

"Magic is what I do, what I gave nearly twenty years of my life to master. After how rude I was when I arrived, and all the pain and strife my presence has brought, this is a very small thing to do. Now then, little princess, hold still and when they're set, I will soothe your ills."

He set to work carving, working quickly but carefully. The poor baby screamed and cried as her fragile little torso bled, though she soothed slightly whenever Najlah licked the blood away to allow Tevra to see his work clearly.

In the bed, despite her assurances, Korla watched pale-faced, hands clenching her blankets with white-knuckle fierceness.

When the work was finally done, Korla nearly leaped right out of bed to take her back, rocking and murmuring until her daughter calmed slightly.

"Now that's done, I can use magic on her," Tevra said, and runes flashed on both arms as he cast a spell that immediately had her calm and quiet—and moments later, fast sleep.

It surprised none of them that shortly after, while in the middle of trying to talk about how much trouble Gormestia was in once she could get out of bed, Korla too fell back asleep.

Sharing smiles and a flicking tongue, the three men filed out of the room. They were halfway back to their chambers when a messenger came running down the hall toward them. "Your Highness, my lords, Their Majesties request your immediate presence in the throne room."

Najlah growled in acknowledgement, and the servant bowed and departed. I hope they don't expect me to dress up for this meeting.

Barkus gave him a look. "I think they're happy you show up in clothes at all."

"I'm not sure what he wore when we met could be called clothes," Tevra muttered, cheeks going faintly pink as they caught his thoughts and gave him looks. "I'm not wrong!"

Najlah chittered as they changed direction and headed for the throne room, cheerfully tormenting all three of them with what they could do later in his rooms, with or without the pretty wraps and jewels he loved to wear. Barkus helped by imagining Tevra in those things, leaving Tevra red-faced and sputtering—but not saying no.

"You'll be taking your turn too," Tevra said, eyeing Barkus. "Don't think you're just going to enjoy the show, wolf."

"I am always a part of the show, I promise," Barkus replied, a heated rumbled in his voice.

Sadly, the delightful, sizzling thoughts had to be set aside as they reached the throne room, where the guards opened the doors before they'd even come to a stop. The doors closed immediately behind them again, a more somber sound than usual somehow.

On the dais were the king, his consort, and Ajith, still and solemn.

"Why so grim? Are you about to send me to my execution? I would have thought you'd look more cheerful."

Ajith growled in reply. "As ever, you're the only one who thinks you're funny. Come here."

Najlah hissed but obeyed, climbing the dais itself when Poryth, King Wyst's consort, motioned for them to do so. Settling on his haunches, close enough to Tevra his scales brushed up against his clothes, Barkus on Tevra's other side, he growled softly in greeting.

"Welcome," Wyst said, looking tired. "Prince Tevra, I am sorry for all this."

"I am the one who is sorry. What are you going to do, and how can I help?"

"Your brother is on his way. Thanks to Ranteth, we contacted Gormestia via magical means. King Evryn had much to say, none of it honest or useful. Crown Prince Fedor, however, said he would come to speak with us personally—against his father's wishes, interestingly. What are your thoughts on that?"

"My father and brother seldom disagree on anything. If Fedor is defying him to do this, knowing full well the hostility with which he will be met, then something is wrong that we don't know. Perhaps my father acted without telling Fedor what he was doing, or at least the entirety of what he was doing. Or something else could be afoot that Fedor is trying to stop. I wish I could offer more than that, but… well, if you had asked me days ago if my family would have me killed, I would have laughed and called you stupid or mad."

Poryth smiled, expression bitter and sad. "I know a bit about backstabbing family, Your Highness. I am sorry you now know it too. I'm sure trust is not something you feel like giving right now, but you have ours."

"Thank you, Your Majesty. It's true I'm not eager to trust anyone right now, but…" He smiled at Najlah. "Well, dragons do not play games the way we do, at least not this dragon. Neither do the Lukos, when they have the choice. I trust them, and those they trust. I am happy to serve for however long you need me." He laughed sourly. "It's not as though I have anywhere to go, even if I wanted to leave."

Najlah growled, tail striking the floor. You are going nowhere. You're part of our den now. We are the hornless brutes of Korla.

Tevra smiled, some of the shadows fading from his eyes. "Of course."

Good, Najlah said with a rumble.

"Well, I'm glad that's settled," Wyst said with a sigh, though he smiled faintly. "Because we are about to ask a lot of all three of you."

Barkus's brows rose. "That sounds interesting."

"We are in rather dire straits, politically speaking," Wyst said. "We could easily go to war with Gormestia, and they would deserve it, but I do not want more people dead. We already have to bury too many now. Sending more people to die won't help anything. So that leaves me with few options."

Tevra stirred where he stood between Barkus and Najlah. "A united front, that's what you're after. If Restuel, Tahjil, and the Shide were truly, formally united, Gormestia would have to back off. Everyone has been trying for decades to gain some foothold in the Shide—"

"Even those of us who legally own it," Wyst drawled.

Barkus gave a toothy grin. "No one owns the Shide but the Lukos."

"Yes, that is his point," Tevra said, backs of his two fingers under his chin, brow drawn as he stared at the floor, mind working so quickly that Najlah gave up keeping pace. "You own the Shide, Najlah and Ajith speak for Tahjil. The marriage between Her Grace and Lord Ajith binds Tahjil and Restuel, so all that lacks is a formal bond between the Shide and Tahjil. What I don't see is what I have to do with anything. I'm useful for information, and possibly dealing with my brother, but that's it, so what great thing do you have to ask of me that relates to whatever bond you want to put in place between Najlah and Barkus?"

Wyst's mouth quirked, and on either side of him Ranteth and Poryth looked equally pleased. "You're as shrewd a diplomat as rumors hold, Your Highness."

Tevra shrugged as he dropped his hand. "I did as my father asked of me."

"Your loyalty is wasted on him, and I'm sorry he did not appreciate. As to your role… we thought to try something unconventional. It would require some groundwork: first, that you sever all ties to Gormestia. I know that is—"

"Done," Tevra said flatly. "I'll draw up the paperwork myself if I have to."

"You'll not be left adrift, Your Highness. Unlike your homeland, we here in Restuel know how to treat loyalty. The next bit of groundwork is giving the Lukos more internationally official possession of the Shide, while not completely cutting you off from Restuel, however much you would like that."

Barkus laughed. "All the Shide wants is to be left alone, Your Majesty."

"Then assuming your people grant approval, we will designate you the Duke of Shide, and you will hold all the power, authority, and responsibilities commiserate with that title. With those two things accomplished… well, the three of you already have a bond, and I feel we should work with that, rather than sort out the clashing mess of three different… well, marriage customs, let us say, for simplicity's sake."

"There is precedent," Ranteth said, stepping forward slightly. "An old tradition, only seen in old stories and historical accounts now. Literally it was called a binding, sort of an… informal formal union."

Najlah hissed. "How can something be formal and informal at the same time. Politics are stupid."

Ajith chittered, and Tevra laughed. "I guess it does sound a little silly, but it means that while it is official, and, well, binding, it's not as rigid an arrangement as an actual marriage. It's symbolic more than anything."

So just fancy words to attach to what we already have.

"Essentially," Barkus said, conveying what he'd said to the others. "As you say, Your Majesty, I will have to speak with the rest of my clan, and they with the other clans, before I can accept such a position. That being said, I think they will accept, at least most of them, as I was sent here to build the relationships we've long rejected."

Wyst nodded. "Still, this is as I said asking much of the three of you. Though I know you get along well, and have the mental bond, you've not known each other long. This binding is not something we can just do and later undo when Gormestia leaves. It will have effects that echo far beyond the squabbling of our three countries. I will not say you'll be together for life, but you'll be bound for a long time. So think carefully."

Najlah barked and chittered. "We are hornless brutes. We are already bound. What do I care what stupid human words and papers you attach to it? Barkus and I survived those accursed caves, and I know the weight and taste of Tevra's blood down to my bones. Your politics are irrelevant to me."

Barkus cast him a look that was equal parts fondness and amusement before translating. Between them, Tevra was his contained self outwardly, but inwardly flustered. Only you could make something so violent and terrible sound erotic and almost romantic.

"I envy your view of the world, Lord Najlah," Wyst said with a sigh. "If everyone was as clear and straightforward as you, it would be a much happier place. Very well, if none of you objects to this arrangement, we will do the binding ceremony next week, since it will take some time to draw up all the necessary papers. Lord Barkus, send word to me the moment the Shide makes a decision. So far as the binding goes, I'll have materials sent to your chambers so you will know the history and details. Speaking of your chambers…" His mouth quirked. "Do I need to arrange a proper suite for you three, or shall I have them expand where you already are?"

"Expand, if it pleases you, Majesty," Tevra said. "The main chamber has already been customized to Najlah's needs, I think, and knocking down a wall or two to connect the neighboring rooms seems easier than rebuilding all of that in a different part of the castle."

"It shall be done. You three are dismissed." Wyst pushed to his feet. "Now that business is finally concluded, I would like to go see my cousin's new darling. My niece, I suppose, for simplicity's sake."

Poryth laughed. "I'm impressed you lasted this long, beloved." He took the hand Wyst offered, and the royal couple led the way out of the room and down the hall, until they all split up to go their separate ways.

*~*~*

Thanks to the ruthless efficiency of the Lukos in making decisions and Tevra's help with the paperwork, they were ready to do the binding ceremony in just four days.

Which meant Najlah needed to stop dithering and select which jewels he was going to wear.

Any excuse for your sparklies, Barkus drawled.

Tevra snorted softly. "I don't think a Tatoor ruby the size of my thumb deserves to be reduced to sparkly. I know people who would cheerfully commit mass murder in broad daylight for a Tatoor ruby half that size. Where in the world did you get such an obscene collection?"

Having lots of pointy bits makes everyone eager to give me good bargains, Najlah replied, eyes swirling green, tongue flicking. Really, though, I just sold a couple of the stupid opals everyone here is obsessed with. No, three.

"Opals. Do you mean Tahjili black opals? The ones that people have literally killed and been murdered for? The ones that pirates would sink their own ships to obtain? Those Tahjili black opals?" Tevra asked. "How many of them do you have?"

Why would I count the stupid things? Najlah asked. Grumbling softly, he fetched the black case he kept them in from his dressing room and brought it out to Tevra, unlocking it with the key he kept in a hidden slot in the case itself and flipping the lid open.

"Mother of All Life," Tevra replied, swaying slightly before dropping into the chair he'd just vacated to start getting dressed. "That is enough black opals to buy my father's palace five times over. Even I don't have one of these, and I'm a royal prince."

Take your pick.

Tevra swallowed. "You're richer than most kings, Najlah. How can you be so dismissive of these?"

All the green and water that you have here in your kingdoms is far more fascinating to me than stones I can find practically lying around in the dirt back home. They are beautiful, a hundred sparkling colors in one small bundle, but to us they are not rare. They're just part of the landscape. If you want to see the true beauty of Tahjil, stand at the edge of a volcano crater and stare down into the churning lava. Bask in the black sands of my mother's den, or walk the beaches of black rock where lava hits the water and turns immediately to more rock. Opals do not compare.

Barkus laughed. "You certainly don't mind that the rest of the world considers them highly valuable prizes."

Of course not, Najlah said, tail waving back and forth, tongue flicking again. A couple of stupid opals, and I get rubies, emeralds, topaz, sapphire, diamonds of every color, jade, garnets, amethyst, amber with little insects trapped inside… His eyes swirled with colors. All so pretty. All so glittery.

"Yet none are as beautiful as a sliver of captured rainbow on a dark sky," Tevra said softly, holding an opal up to the light. "Nothing in my jewelry case even begins to compare. This one is all pinks and purples, with a couple of specs of yellow and turquoise. It's breathtaking."

So keep it, Najlah said.

Tevra laughed. "How could I refuse? Fair is fair, though. I have a star sapphire I think you would like, if my brother actually brings my belongings as I requested."

Najlah rumbled in curiosity. Sapphires he knew well. He had nearly twenty of them, but he'd never heard of a star sapphire.

Giving nothing away, Tevra only smirked as he finally went off to get dressed.

Barkus laughed. "You two. Here I am proud of my single, solitary topaz."

"Well, I think between the two of us, you'll have far more than that to your name soon. His Royal Majesty of Opals here will keep us well supplied through twenty lifetimes."

Najlah just growled, low and pleased.

When they were all dressed, Najlah in his shimmery drape and jewels; Barkus in his Shidene finest; and Tevra in true court finery, the trio headed out, wending through the palace to the throne room.

What looked like every last noble in the palace was present, along with their entire personal staff and palace staff.

It is something of a big deal that a Lukos, a Tahjili, and a Gormestian prince are essentially getting married, Barkus said. Also, I've been made a duke of an entire mountain range, after decades of nobody getting anything close to cooperation from my people.

Tevra cast him a brief look. Hope you're ready for all the people who will be suddenly eager to make your very personal acquaintance.

Giving a mental snort, Barkus said, How do they expect that to go, for a Lukos who is binding himself to others?

I can hear the 'stupid humans' in that, you know, Tevra replied.

Najlah and Barkus both gave him smirking looks.

Also in the audience, in seats of honor near the throne, were Barkus's parents and other members of his family, as well as the shifter corps that Najlah was part of, though he would likely be formally withdrawing to attend the new duties that came with his binding. Barkus's family had arrived too last moment to have been properly introduced yet, but the pride on their faces and in the bond was unmistakable.

I am honored that I could serve the Lukos and Shidene so well. That they trust me with this where they've never trusted anyone else.

Wyst and Poryth stood in front of their thrones. At their sides were Ajith, Korla, and Ranteth, looking muchly improved from the ordeal that had, in some ways, started this whole mess. Certainly if Najlah had not gone hunting him, mistakenly believing Ranteth responsible for the attempted assassination, he would never have met Barkus or Tevra.

He quite liked his trio of brutes, especially after going so long as the only hornless in Korla's den. Much as he hated to admit it, even with Ajith, he had been lonelier than he realized.

Life is always better with a pack, Barkus said, the thought soft and fond. I like our pack of three.

I've never really had one before. I like it too.

At Wyst's bidding, they turned to face the assemblage, Najlah in the middle, Barkus to his left, Tevra to his right. Wyst then gave one of his speeches, which Najlah could not care less about. They were all the same, no matter how prettily spoken.

Amusement from the other two rolled through his head.

I get the feeling I'm going to be dealing with all the politics, Tevra said.

Barkus replied, It would do me good to learn more of such things. So much to learn about being a duke… I had no idea lords actually did any work.

Tevra's mouth twitched the barest bit, but he managed to maintain his composure. Pity, getting yelled at for misbehaving during their own binding ceremony would be amusing.

The softest, barest growl from behind him warned that Ajith was on to him, and he'd better quit it. Najlah grumbled back and subsided.

As Wyst finally finished his speech, he beckoned them to turn to face one another and take hands, forming a triangle. According to everything Barkus and Tevra had read and conveyed to him, as he had trouble with some of the older books that were handwritten rather than printed, most bindings were between the usual two people, but there was precedent for three and even four people.

"To you, Najlah of Korla's Den, and to you, Prince Tevra of Gormestia, I bind myself, in life and in death. I stand with you against all ills and strife, I walk with you through all turmoil and hardship. I welcome you, on behalf of Clan Shidene, into our pack as family, to always have a home amongst the Lukos."

Tevra went next. "To you, Najlah of Korla's Den, and to you, Lord Barkus Shidene of the Lukos, I bind myself, in life and in death. I stand with you against all ills and strife, I walk with you through all turmoil and hardship. I no longer have a home, but I offer my magic and my knowledge, my loyalty and affection, where my family rejected all of it, and promise to always make my home with you."

For the first time since leaving Tahjil, Najlah regretted he could not speak in a way that everyone would understand. It would have been nice to be properly heard, given how important these ceremonies were to humans and Lukos. Still, Korla was here to speak for him, and that was no small honor.

"To you, Lord Barkus Shidene of the Lukos, and to you, Prince Tevra of Gormestia, I bind myself, in life and in death. I stand with you against all ills and strife, I walk with you through all turmoil and hardship. I welcome you, on behalf of Lady Korla and the Tahjili, into our den, and promise you will always be warmed and protected by the fires of Tahjil."

As he finished, servants standing ready approached with three display cushions, on each a gleaming necklace. Normally bindings were done with rings, but given he and Barkus were shifters, they had opted for special necklaces, solid gold bands in the front, and the rest heavy chain that could be clipped out of the way when in human form and snap loose when shifted. Each necklace was set with three stones: opal, topaz, and emerald, cut to match the curving shape of the band.

Ranteth stepped forward to affix the bands himself, something normally considered beneath as powerful a person as the king's advisor. Important, though, as only months ago everyone thought he'd been responsible for the attempted assassinations of the king, consort, and Ajith. Really, he'd been another victim.

Najlah rumbled softly, eyes swirling brilliant orange with his satisfaction, as his necklace was fastened in place. Once all three were set, they turned to the assembled, who cheered and clapped for them, no one louder than the Lukos.

Wyst gave another short speech and announced the banquet that would take place that evening that everybody already knew about. Then the crowd was dismissed, and Barkus's family all but ran to greet them.

"Barkus," said the man who was clearly his father—not in looks, in looks they were very different, aside from that distinct feral Lukos edge—but in demeanor, and the love and fondness in his eyes before he hugged Barkus tightly. Drawing back, he pressed their foreheads together, cupping the sides of Barkus's head. "You do all of the Lukos proud, my son, and me most of all. You were given to me for blood-strengthening and have strengthened all of us."

"Thank you, Father. It's an honor to do so much for my pack and clan and all the Lukos. Here, you can finally meet Najlah and His Highness Prince Tevra. My bonded, this is my father, Chief Tidus Shidene. My mother, Lady Saraiah, my brothers Yerin and Tasker, and my sister Belmis."

Tevra bowed, despite the fact his rank put him well above everyone else present. "An honor to meet the esteemed Lukos. I'm sorry my former countrymen have been traipsing all over your home."

"They'll not be doing it again anytime soon," Tidus said, a gleam in his eyes that reminded Najlah strongly of Barkus. It was increasingly clear just how much he looked up to and took after his father.

He is everything a clan chief should be. Of course, I admire him.

I admired my father when I was a little boy, Tevra said sadly. It was hard, the day I had to admit to myself he did not deserve it.

Najlah rumbled. I have always admired my mother, and of course Korla is as fine a bitch as any dragon. We don't really do fathers.

I never really noticed before, Tevra said with a silent laugh, but no, I suppose you don't. I wish more of Gormestia could meet the Tahjili and the Lukos, and truly learn that 'family' has no one true shape or appearance. Someday, maybe.

"Shall we to my private dining room?" Wyst asked. "We can speak comfortably there and smooth out the details of the united front we will be presenting to Prince Fedor and his entourage." As everyone nodded, Wyst signaled Ranteth, who led the way out of the throne room.

*~*~*

Prince Fedor arrived three days later, late in the night after being slowed by a last-minute storm. Lucky for him, Najlah and Barkus had not quite started on their plans for Tevra.

Tevra's face went hot. "Was I going to get notice or an opinion on these plans?"

Barkus rumbled and dragged his tongue along Tevra's throat, making him shudder and cling to Barkus's fur. No.

Najlah growled and playfully nipped Tevra's leg. Your opinion is well-established.

"Stop that right now! I refuse to go see my brother and discuss this whole grim mess while struggling not to have a hard cock, you absolute reprobates."

Barkus licked his throat one last time and then withdrew, nudging Najlah back with him. A torment for a less serious time, to be sure.

"I hate you both," Tevra grumbled as he stood to finish getting dressed.

When they were ready, the three headed for the throne room, where they were bid stand on the dais to Wyst's right. At Tevra's request, Barkus and Najlah remained in their non-human forms, partially to unsettle, but mostly to emphasize the choice that Tevra had made and ensure that no one could hide from the full weight of that decision. He was bound to a wolf and a dragon. If that made people uncomfortable, that was their problem to deal with.

Just moments later, the main doors opened, and Fedor strode in, accompanied by two of his own bodyguards and nobles that Tevra identified as Lord Yuli, his longtime lover, and Lady Vitaliya, whom he'd likely make his steward one day when he took the throne. Several paces behind him came ten more guards, carrying chests that looked as though they were quite heavy.

When the chests had been neatly arrayed behind Fedor, who stopped with his companions several paces from the throne, all but two of them departed again, the remaining two kneeling behind the trunks, heads bowed.

I smell blood on Fedor, Barkus said.

As do I, Najlah said. A wound, I think. Deep. Painful.

Tevra frowned. Do I need to tell somebody?

No, I don't think so, Barkus said thoughtfully. Whatever is wrong, he doesn't want it known. Let him have his way for now.

"Prince Fedor," Wyst said as the doors closed and silence fell, his voice colder than the howling winter wind outside the castle. "Let us cut to the heart of the matter, shall we?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. Apologies are not enough for the atrocious things done to your people on my father's command. Nor is my ignorance any excuse. There's nothing I can say or do that will make the situation right or ease the pain of suffering loved ones. I will not insult you by trying."

Wyst grunted. "That's a good start, Your Highness. How about you move on to explaining to me why your father is so dead set on starting a war with us and Tahjil?"

"Money, power, and wounded pride," Fedor replied. "I knew his ambitions, but like a fool I thought he was going the diplomatic route, and he went to great pains to convince me of that. I won't plague you with the details here, but my steward has gone to the trouble to write up a lengthy and detailed report."

Tevra's breath hitched, and he stepped forward without thought before Barkus moved forward to block him and force him back to standing between them. "Your steward? Fedor…"

"You understand correctly," Fedor said, mouth flat as he finally looked at Tevra, eyes dark and sad. "Father has been removed from the throne, effective just hours after we received your message. The matter has not yet been made public, and he makes token appearances in public under heavy supervision until I return and formally take the throne."

Wyst gave a slight nod and rose, descending the stairs and waving off his guards. "That is a very good sign, Your Majesty. What are these trunks?" He offered a hand, and Fedor took it, holding it briefly before they let go again.

"Reparations, taken from my father's private funds. I did not have the final, exact numbers, but I went off the rough estimates you sent to us and brought more than sufficient extra to cover gaps. Each payment is twice what international law demands. Again, it does not make right what we have done wrong, but I hope it helps the families we have hurt. There is a mix of coin and jewels, and should more be needed, you've only to notify me. It will be sent uncontested."

"Fedor…" Tevra said again, and this time Barkus and Najlah did not stop him when he moved forward. "Why, Fedor?"

Fedor looked briefly anguished as he met Tevra's gaze again. "I owe you an apology as well, Tev. Father has always complained about how you are more popular than me, and therefore a threat. I thought it was just him finding something to complain about because of his own insecurities. I constantly fobbed him off and distracted him and never took the matter seriously. If I had, maybe none of this would have happened. I hope you are happy here."

"I am," Tevra said softly, hands curled into fists at his sides. "I would have been happy at your side too."

"That is my mistake to live with," Fedor said with a sigh. "I hope at least you will still send me letters from time to time. I never wanted to lose my brother. I will endeavor to do a better job than Father, starting with repairing our relationships with Tahjil and Restuel, however long that takes. We were in the wrong in Tahjil, and we are in the wrong here. I truly am sorry."

Wyst sighed and returned to his seat. "Well, I can honestly say this meeting is not what I expected. To my knowledge, you and your father have always acted in concert. Indeed, Prince Tevra said you two rarely disagree on anything."

"More often than most know," Fedor said quietly. "I—" he abruptly stopped, swaying on his feet, and then collapsed just as Yuli swore and caught him, carefully lowering him to the ground. The guards who'd remained rushed forward to help, as did Fedor's bodyguards.

"What in the world!" Wyst said.

"Fedor!" Tevra said, rushing down the stairs to kneel by his brother. "He's bleeding. What's wrong?"

"He re-opened the wound," Yuli said grimly. "The stupid fucking bastard."

"Who hurt…" Tevra stopped, mouth set in a flat line. "Why?"

Yuli laughed bitterly, his delicately pretty features twisting. "Why do you think? Their argument wasn't pretty, and your father did not willingly step down from his throne. Even now he is heavily cursed and warded, to keep up appearances until Fedor can return home. He should not be out of bed, let alone doing all of this, but I can't say I'd behave differently in his place."

Standing nearby but out of the way, Vitaliya said, "The king stabbed him in a fit of rage. Even he was horrified when he realized what he'd done. It cemented the need to remove him. If not for Yuli's presence, Fedor would be dead. He's been pushing himself too hard, though, not giving the healing magic time to really work."

At their feet, Fedor grunted. "There is no time to lay about. Get me up."

"Shut up, Fedor," Yuli said.

Tevra gave a brief, shaky laugh. "Yes, Fedor, shut up. Here, let me help, you stupid ox."

"Seems to be a family trait, not staying in bed after being fatally wounded," Poryth said from where he still sat on his throne. "I think we can call this meeting adjourned for now, don't you think, my love?"

Wyst snorted. "Yes, of course. We'll reconvene in a better setting in three days—no argument, Your Highness. Pardon, Your Majesty." He motioned some of his guards lining the walls forward. "Help escort King Fedor and his retinue to their chambers, and see these trunks transferred to the royal vault."

Najlah rumbled. Would you like me to help? He flicked his tongue, enjoying the scent of blood on the air.

Tevra shot him a look, eyes bright with amusement. Should I be worried my bonded wants to taste my brother?

Najlah replied with a playful hiss.

Yuli stared at him. "I've never seen a Tahjili before. The artwork that circulates does not do you justice. Is it true you saved Prince Tevra's life?"

"Yes, it is," Tevra said. "He is offering to use the same… talent? Ability? On Fedor. I can't believe Father stabbed him. Come, let's get him to his room." He rose and moved back so Fedor's bodyguards could take over, and followed with Yuli and the others through the palace to the suite assigned to Fedor.

Once he was stripped down and abed, revealing the ghastly wound that had torn open anew, Najlah crawled onto the bed and set to work, licking away the blood and secreting healing fluid. Such a large wound was not as easy to close up as many little ones, but on the other hand, he wasn't fighting to get a whole slew of small but dangerous wounds closed.

When he was satisfied, he slid off the bed to let Yuli and Tevra take over, going over to Barkus to rub slick scales against soft fur, getting several licks to his mouth in return.

Tingly, Barkus said with a chuff of amusement. Doesn't have that effect on skin, not that I've noticed so far.

Tevra shot them looks. I can assure you it is tingly everywhere. Now knock it off.”

Najlah and Barkus grinned toothily at him, which just got them more glares full of empty threat.

"Thank you, Your Highness," Yuli said. "Lord Najlah, is that the correct honorific? The two of you have made all the difference against his stubborn-headedness."

"I'm still conscious, and whose side are you on?" Fedor asked.

Yuli glared at him. "You're lucky it's still your side, you stupid ass."

Fedor laughed tiredly, eyes falling shut. "Seems all I do anymore is owe apologies. Maybe I should be kicked out right alongsi…"

Yuli sighed and brushed Fedor's hair from his face. "Maybe now he'll get some proper rest."

"The mild sleep spell I cast should help with that," Tevra replied, and grinned when Yuli shot him an amused look. "We'll let you all rest now and see you tomorrow."

Yuli nodded. "He really is sorry, you know, about everything between you and your father. We knew His Majesty disliked you, but we thought it was jealousy and that Fedor had it contained. We're all sorry we were so wrong, Your Highness."

"Well, it ended with me in a life I never knew I wanted," Tevra said. "Make right with Restuel, and I'll be happy. You don't have to go back to being formal with me either, Yuli, please."

"Then go and relax, Tev, and as you say, we'll speak more tomorrow. Thank you again."

Najlah led the way out of the room, eyes swirling with amusement. Your family has a tendency to show up with claws out and then turn into kits.

"We seem to share a knack for almost bleeding out too," Tevra said wryly. "Hopefully that is the end of that tradition. Thank you for helping, Naj."

My pleasure. His blood does not taste as good as yours, but if he ever turns enemy truly, he'd make a tasty snack.

Tevra rolled his eyes. "I'll be sure to let him know he's worth literally eating."

In their chambers, where supplies and equipment were piled up in the front area in anticipation of the renovations that would be taking place soon, Tevra unfastened the buttons of his stiff jacket, shrugged out of it, and tossed it aside. "I hate those things." In the bedroom, he sat in the armchair that was swiftly becoming his spot and set to work on his laced boots, tossing them aside as well the moment they were free. He then sat back with a loud sigh, sprawling in the chair.

Barkus shifted and sat half-sitting, half-leaning on the bed, arms folded across his chest. "I'm glad you do not have to be at odds with your brother. You were right about the gifts he gave you years ago."

"Yes, so I was," Tevra said, looking near to tears for a moment. "I did not expect to end this day with getting the only member of my family I care about back."

Najlah rumbled as he shifted. So you could go home if you wanted.

Tevra stared at him, blinking slowly. "I suppose that's true. My brother would probably like to have my skills and popularity back, if he doesn't hate that the way my father did. However, I meant it when I said I have found the life I never knew I wanted. If the pair of you will still have me."

Barkus and Najlah growled in unison, and Barkus said in his rough-edged voice, "Oh, we intend to have you, little prince."

"That is not what I meant, and you know it," Tevra hissed, even as his body reacted to the words, face flushing pink.

Najlah just rumbled and purred.

Crooking a finger, Barkus said, "Come here."

Tevra rolled his eyes. "I am not a play toy to do your every bidding at your every whim."

"No, you're our bonded and we want you," Barkus said.

Najlah's rumbles grew louder. Now. Between us. Screaming and begging.

"You're both incorrigible," Tevra said, even as he stood to obey.

The moment he was close enough, Barkus grabbed and pulled, wrapping Tevra in his arms and taking his mouth in a toothy, hungry kiss that immediately set Tevra to moaning. Najlah put out the lights in the room and stoked the fire so it would still be burning when he needed it later.

Much later.

He crawled onto the bed where Barkus and Tevra had moved, taking up position behind Tevra, claws and teeth teasing along his soft skin, lingering at every scar where Najlah's mouth had closed his wounds.

"You're so fucking possessive," Tevra said, the words dissolving into a groan as Najlah nipped his throat. "Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to be moving much after you're done with me."

"Because you have good intuition," Barkus said, kissing down his chest as Najlah held him firmly in place at just the right angle to do so. "Also, being able to hear our thoughts probably helps."

"I don't need that to know when you're being smug, possessive bastards with plans to fuck me blind," Tevra retorted. "One of these days it would be fun to see you fuck each other."

"We'll be happy to do so when you're too tired to move tomorrow," Barkus replied with a grin. "Put on a show to please our prince."

Tevra tried to call him names, but the words were overtaken by several loud swears as Barkus licked a stripe up his cock. Instead of then taking him deep, though, Barkus bit one sharp hipbone and then kissed his way along Tevra thighs until he could bite the soft, pale skin of his inner thigh. Only Najlah's strength kept Tevra from writhing and twisting on the bed.

"Well, add making each of you hold still so I can have my turn at you to the list of things you need to do to please me," Tevra said. "Much as I love being your toy, I would like to do some touching and fondling of my own."

Barkus reared up to kiss him, long and lingering, almost sweet. "If you want me tied down for your pleasure, all you have to do is ask."

"Well, this is me asking to add that to the agenda for next time," Tevra said, going for his mouth again, even as he moaned at the talented work of Najlah's tongue and teeth at his throat.

I've no desire to be tied up, but I'm more than happy to do that to everyone else, Najlah replied.

The other two laughed, thoughts rippling with how that surprised them not at all.

"Put him on his back and get him ready for us," Barkus said.

Najlah growled in approval of the order, and as Barkus moved out of the way, he put Tevra against the pile of pillows, shoving another beneath his hips so he was offered up in invitation quite prettily. He spread Tevra's thighs wide and marked the one that Barkus hadn't, giving Tevra a matched set that his clothes would rub against in delightful torment.

Delightful for you, maybe. That is not the word I'd use for it, Tevra retorted, and then he was back to swearing and moaning as Najlah's slick, hot tongue worked his hole, stretching and wetting him.

The smell of him was enthralling, musk and heat and want. Najlah growled again as Tevra's thighs clamped tightly around his head, urging him on, keeping him in place, needy and desperate.

When he was ready, trembling beneath Najlah, every ragged breath a hungry plea, Najlah withdrew to his knees and lined up his cock, sinking swiftly into Tevra's body as he lapped and nipped at his throat, drawing just a hint of blood to lap up hungrily.

"Greedy," Tevra said on a shaky breath, arms coming up to hold fast, nails digging into the back of his shoulders, the pressure only barely there, the bite of them unable to get past scales. "Fuck me already, damn it."

Instead, Najlah rose up, bringing Tevra with him, holding him close, still wrapped in his tight heat.

"Oh, no, you're—" Tevra broke off with a groan as Barkus settled behind him, breathing turning ragged, warm against Najlah's skin.

Settling his hands firmly on Tevra's sharp hips, Barkus pushed his own way inside Tevra's body, making him nearly shout as he clung tightly to Najlah. "You two—" he gasped, panted heavily, then tried to finish, "are going to—" Fuck. Be the death of me. I thought we weren't doing this anytime soon.

We changed our minds, Barkus said, a growl in his voice even in his thoughts. I don't care how prettily your brother apologizes; you belong here with us.

That was never in doubt. Tevra trembled between them as Barkus finished pushing into him. So full…

Najlah bit one side of his throat, Barkus the other, and then they moved inside him with slow, measured thrusts, moving in turns, sliding back and forth across each other as they fucked him deeply, thoroughly, leaving Tevra unable to do anything but hold fast, panting and groaning, pleading helplessly for relief, for release.

Tevra broke first, coming apart with a scream, writhing between them, shaking hard as the climax overtook him.

Barkus pulled out as he stilled and came all over his back, while Najlah sank in deep one last time and spilled deep inside Tevra's body.

"I've never been so pleased that strangers wandered uninvited onto my mountains," Barkus said as he shifted himself and Tevra to lie more comfortably on the bed, arranging Tevra so he rested with his head on Barkus's chest, soft pants filling the air.

Najlah set to work licking Tevra clean, enjoying the taste of all three of them on his skin. When he was finished, he kissed Barkus's mouth and Tevra's shoulder before going to curl up in his flames for a bit to clean up and get nice and hot. Given how badly this day could have gone, I'm glad it went so well, even if it means I didn't get to eat anyone.

Tevra's amusement washed over him, but then he was asleep, mind quickly spinning dreams of the three of them, wild imaginings of what he thought Tahjil might look like. Rumbling his own amusement, Najlah shared images of how it really looked, snorting when the dreaming thoughts did indeed adjust.

I'm glad he has us, Barkus said, and I'm grateful to whatever gods or destiny or luck has given me both of you. As Tevra said, it is not the life I ever imagined for myself, but it is one I will fight fiercely to keep.

Agreed, Najlah replied, crawling out of the fire and shaking off embers as he went to rejoin them.

End

About the Author

Megan is a long-time resident of queer romance and keeps herself busy reading and writing it. She is often accused of fluff and nonsense. When she’s not involved in writing, she likes to cook, harass her wife and cats, or watch movies. She loves to hear from readers and can be found all over the internet.

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