Princess Daughter Ereneya Vaesern Greyson Ruinheart

I slept with one eye open, trained on the door that night. I had gotten more used to humans in the past few months but this? A City this large and I could not sleep, not restfully anyway. The morning came slowly and I was up long before the others. Naravie and Odessa shared a room adjacent to mine while the boys were beyond the next wall, and in the early morning hours all I could do was wonder if this was a mistake. Naravie had pushed herself to hard the first day, I had thought she would say something if she was tired but this… she was stubborn. Whether that was something she inherited from me or her other Parents I didn’t know.

I headed down to the common area of the inn and found myself alone with the distant sounds of the kitchen coming from the back room. I sat in one of the corner chairs and I had to chuckle at myself. When I was younger I would have loved this, would have relished the chance to be on the road and see so many places. But now it was tainted. The world was a dangerous place and I could only do so much to make it less so for my children. I felt my eyes grow wet as I thought what Callax and Masai would say if they were here. Callax would probably be grumbling about how he didn’t get to light a fire and Masai would be laughing at him. The person I once was would have loved to be with them here, and I would as well but… that time was lost. They were gone, killed by my own hand and most likely buried in burning earth if they were unlucky.

I was pulled from my thoughts as someone slipped into the chair next to me. I looked over to see a well built man, probably a sailor of some kind. He had a gods awful smile on his face as he leaned on the table and I looked over to see a whole group of them only a few feet away at the next table. As he breathed I could smell the Alcohol on him and it made me grimace when it mixed with the smell of fish on his breath.

“Why aren’t you just a lovely thing? You come here often, Beautiful?” He asked with a heavy slow slur to his words.

Oh wonderful. I rolled my eyes as I saw the young woman behind the counter of the Inn glance my way. She looked worried. I looked over at the sailor and smiled.

“No I’m afraid I don’t. Would you like to ruin this place for me?” I asked, sarcasm dripping from my words.

“Well no. I’d like to show you how wonderful this place can be. What do you say we head up to my room and get more acquainted?”

Disgusting. I’d been with more than a handful of people in my centuries but never someone this… gross. His shirt was stained with sweat and it was all I could do to not gag as the scent of it assaulted my nose.

“I think I would rather go through myself into the Harbor than bed you.” I said simply, still smiling.

His jovial smile turned into a frown and I just kept smiling up at him as he rose to his feet and tried to be intimidating.

“Listen miss. I wasn’t asking. Now you can either make this easy and come on up or me and my boys will be taking you up there ourselves.” His voice was a low slurred growl as he spoke and the girl behind the counter looked terrified as one of them spoke to her as well.

“Well, you can certainly try. But leave the girl alone, she doesn’t deserve to be hounded by wretches like you all.” I growled, loud enough for his fellows to hear me.

It worked, the one at the counter turned to look over at me and all of them rose to their feet and marched over. Six of them, all heavily muscled sailors, and only one woman? Pathetic. Even back when I was the pathetic prince I would have been insulted by such. The one who had spoken to me reared back and brought his hand to my cheek in what should have been a slap. Instead he was greeted by the crunch of bones as his hand met my cheek. I grinned as he pulled back and looked at his hand. Two of the fingers were bent backwards and tears were welling in his eyes as he cradled them. Good thing he was drunk or he'd probably be on the floor. The rest looked at his hand and one grabbed me by my coat. I brought up a hand faster than he could react and clamped it around his wrist and squeezed.

I felt the cracking and popping of his wrist as I squeezed it and he fell backwards clutching his arm yowling in pain. I leapt onto him and clamped a hand over his mouth before the noise could get too loud and gave him a stern look.

“Now now, its quite early. People are trying to sleep. No screaming or I’ll have to tear out your tongue too.” I said calmly, digging my claws into his cheek.

I released my grip and he was silent as he curled in on himself. The other five were watching and I smiled at them.

“Well now, anyone else care to learn their lesson?”

Four of them ran and the one on the ground scrambled out. Leaving the one who had slapped me and one of his friends.

“You think you scare me?” The one with broken fingers asked.

“No, I think you are too stupid for that.”

They both rushed at me and I sighed as it grabbed the front of their shirts and lifted them off the ground.

“You know, I really despise men like you. The ones who think they can do whatever they want because they have muscle. Lets give you a lesson shall we?”

I dropped the friend to the ground as I pinned Broken-Fingers to the wall. I reached my hand down and grabbed him by the Groin as he struggled against my grip.

“You see, you just wanted someone to touch you here didn’t you? Unfortunately for you, you chose the wrong person. All it would take is a simple squeeze and you wouldn’t be having much fun anymore would you?” I growled as I squeezed him tighter and tighter.

“I-”

“Hush. I want you to remember this. Because if you ever try to force a girl into bedding you again, I’ll find you. And you won’t die but we will get to see what it looks like when you go pop.” I purred as I gave him one final squeeze before I released my grip and he fell to the ground.

He scrambled away and his friend was out the door before him. I turned and walked over to the counter and leaned against it as the Girl looked up at me terrified.

“Relax, I have no quarrel with you. So what are you? I sensed magic when we arrived last night but I didn’t bother to learn what the source was.” I asked, straightening my coat.

“I beg your pardon?” She asked.

“I know its you. You might be well hidden but I’ve sniffed out those in disguise enough times to know magic when I smell it.”

She frowned at me as she waved a hand and the front door shut. Her form drained of color and she stared up at me with pitch black eyes. A Changeling. Here? Fascinating.

“A Changeling. I see. Mother a Witch then?” I asked.

“She was. They burned her in Tesvin a decade ago.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. She was awful. Only good thing she did was not rat me out when she was caught. So what are you then?”

“Dragon.” I said with a hint of pride as I let my horns show.

“Ah that explains the fire on your breath. And the smell of rain on you.” She said as she sniffed the air.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Clouds more than rain. All you get right now is snow.” I mused.

“Whatever. Not all of us have wings to soar upon. Some of us are stuck with mundane little lives.” She said with a sigh.

“You run this place by yourself?”

“I do.”

“Young thing like you?”

“I’m thirty three.”

“So a young thing still then?”

“How old are you then?”

“Nine Centuries and counting.”

“Damn. And you didn’t care to lay with a handful of sailors?”

“Please, I have standards.”

“Oh really?”

“After all this time I better have some. Have they ever… laid hands on you?”

“Once. They got bored very quickly when I didn’t fight back. Thankfully.”

“Want me to hunt them down?”

“No. I think you scared them off for awhile. I learned ways to keep myself safe after that.”

“Well you looked scared when that one tried speaking to you. Felt they had to be taught a lesson after that.”

“Oh I’m quite the actor. It comes with the whole….” She gestured to her pale form and shrugged.

“Oh does it now?”

“It does. So plan to terrorize anyone else this morning, Dragon?”

“Terrorize? No. Maybe some other things though, If I could find someone interested.”

“Oh? Hard to find someone at this hour.”

“True. Do you have some time?” I asked.

She looked up at me with an incredulous look.

“Rather Forward don’t you think?”

“Well I’d rather be blunt than dance around the topic. But you didn’t answer the question.”

“She looked out at the dawn light coming through the Windows and gave me a wry smile.

“You have thirty minutes to impress me. Otherwise, you can handle the dishes from breakfast this morning.”

“Deal.”

She locked the front door and followed me upstairs. Well at least something went well this morning.

Thirty minutes turned into nearly an hour and I ended up doing the dishes anyway as she needed a few minutes to rest. When I left my room I found Naravie and the others gathered downstairs. They all refused to meet my gaze and I sighed.

“Really?”

“We could hear her through the walls.” Irand said quietly.

“Its nothing all of you haven’t done before.”

“It's still rather awkward to hear it, don't you think? Knowing that that was your Mother?” Naravie mumbled.

“Ah yes, you would never be so noisy would you?” I asked and she sunk into her chair.

“Did you really have to sleep with the innkeep though? This early in the morning?” Irand asked.

“She was cute.”

“That was all?”

“She’s not human either.”

“Really?”

“Changeling.”

Irand looked puzzled at that as I headed into the back and began scrubbing plates.

Eventually the Innkeep came down. She was still slightly disheveled but she had cleaned up quite well. I smiled as I finished the last of the dishes and leaned against the door.

“Well I think I won the gamble but you looked like you needed a minute or two.”

“Yes well… I think I believe you are as old as you say you are now.” She said.

It looked like she was trying to shift back but she was having trouble. Her hair was mismatched colors and her eyes were changing back and forth between blue and green.

“Apologies if I made it difficult to concentrate.”

“Are you kidding? That was the most relaxed I’ve felt in years.”

“Really?”

“Yes, running an inn and keeping everything in order is a large ask. Especially for one person.”

“You don’t have any help?”

“They inevitably see my true face and they bolt. I haven’t tried getting any more help in over a year.”

“So its wearing on you?” Irand asked.

“I make do.”

“Would you like a chance for something better?”

“Such as?”

“An offer to be on the staff of a noble house and with the promise of being treated well?” Irand asked while the others glanced over at him.

She barked out a laugh before she gave him a look.

“Oh really? Would you happen to know a noble house willing to hire a Changeling? Most people see my kind and are already lighting their torches.” She said in a mocking tone.

“I do happen to know of a Noble house like that. And I think having a Changeling on hand who is treated well would be a boon. And if nothing else, you look like you could use some help.” He said looking around the inn.

It was a bit old and a bit worn. Time hadn’t been kind to it and she looked as haggard as her establishment. Her dress had patches in it and she had dark circles under her eyes. She glanced around at all of us and gave us a suspicious look.

“You aren’t lying are you?”

“We aren’t. We are trying to make our home more welcoming to magic though.” Naravie said softly.

“And if I were to take you up on this offer, who would I be swearing myself to?” She asked.

“No need to swear yourself. But it would be House Greyson of Calanai.”

“Calanai? Weren’t they the ones who fought off an army only a few months ago?”

“We were. Your actually speaking to the one who destroyed the bulk of their forces.” Tiran said as he gestured to his sister.

“The Sapphire Dragon? Really? You look…. Less than capable of doing that.” She said, choosing her words carefully.

“Her strength lies more in magic. She used her control of water to wash them away.” I offered quickly as Naravie looked slightly insulted.

“Really?”

Naravie allowed her horns to show and transformed her arms and hands to their draconic forms. The innkeep looked startled but impressed.

“So if you all are nobles then why the hells are you down here? Shouldn’t you be at home?”

“We are on a journey to the South lands. If you wish to take up the offer then you are more than welcome to.” I replied.

She looked back and forth between all of us before glancing around at the Inn. I could see the conflict in her eyes before it faded and she nodded.

“If it doesn’t work out, I can always come back. Its not as if this city is going anywhere.”

I smiled as she headed over to Irand and started questioning him. I took the liberty of cooking while they talked.

It was midday before she and Irand had ironed out the details and he had written her a letter with the Seal of House Greyson stamped on it. She was to be a member of the Kitchen staff and when we returned they would discuss a more permanent situation for her.

Irand had learned her name as well, Oparia. Her Mother had apparently been from one of the Lands across the the South Sea and she had settled here after her Mother had been captured by Tesvin. She planned to be on the road before the month was out after she had had time to sell the Inn and pack up her things. I helped her run things as she prepared, not that it was difficult. I had picked the Inn because it was out of the way and I had sensed Magic. But now I could see it was hardly used and its out of the way nature meant few arrived. Oparia had been living off scraps for the past few years to keep the Inn afloat and it became more obvious the more I looked around.

The holes in the walls that were patches haphazardly, the wear on everything within… it was quite apparent in the day’s light. By the end of the day she was already making preparations and she had put up a sign out front advertising the sale.

We spent the next few days there as Naravie recovered her strength and by the dawn of the fourth day of our stay in the Port she was well enough to continue on. Oparia walked with us out of the city so that we could take off. She was quiet as we assumed our true forms and allowed the others upon our backs. I snuck a glance at her as she initially saw us and I smiled to myself. I would never grow tired of others being awed by us.

We bid her farewell and took flight, heading along the coast to the Southwest. Naravie was thankful to stay along the shore and despite repeated warnings she enjoyed diving into the seawater, soaking her own scales in the salty waves but using a small amount of magic to keep Odessa dry. I kept our travel times to the shortened days I had been using on our way to the Port and it helped. Naravie was no longer exhausted at the day’s end, tired yes but not exhausted. And as we approached the two week mark it seemed that it was helping. She was no longer winded when we landed and she seemed to actually be regaining some of the muscle she had lost in the previous months.

As we reached the end of the Gulf in our travels she was sad to leave the beach behind but we had no choice without adding months to our travels. It was three weeks since we had left Port Talon behind us when we encountered a storm and we were forced to land. It came from nowhere, there had been only a handful of clouds in the skies moments before and then there dark heavy clouds around us and lightning struck at us. I ordered Naravie to land and we braced ourselves against the Screeching winds while shielding Odessa and the boys. I had to place a claw upon Naravie to hold her as I saw the wind pushing her back as he claws carved grooves in the soil.

And then I heard it.

Above the din of the storm, a Screeching Roar.

I looked up and scanned the skies until I saw it. One, two, three shapes barreling towards us. The leader was even larger than I, a Green Scaled Dragon with Aquamarine accenting its scales. And flanked by two others, one a Green with dusty Brown and another with Blue and Green Scales. They landed before us and lighting struck the ground between us as the Leader growled out an order to us.

“Tell me what it is you are doing here and perhaps you will leave here intact.” She growled as her eyes, no… eye flared with Pure White energy.