Dragon 4 Chapter 1 (Patreon)

Timeless painted cinderblock walls lined the lecture hall filled with fold out stadium seating and currently packed with students.

It was quiet, as the professor jabbered on at the front of the class. I tried to pay attention, but it was growing increasingly difficult.

Not that the professor was boring.

I could feel the stares of my classmates. They bore into me with almost a physical presence created by the sheer number of them, but I ignored them as best as I could.

Frank chuckled to himself. Some private joke in his head before he, all of a sudden, was pressing his arm against mine, rubbing up against me.

I scowled, turning into his face, beaming with amusement.

“What the heck do you think you are doing?” I whispered as professor Turnball continued on with the lecture in Calc.

Frank gave me a flat stare in return. “I want whatever sort of mojo you have to rub off on me.” He hissed. “I’m not blind.” He nodded his head towards the rest of the room.

I sighed. The change in my notoriety among the paranormal was apparently enough that even Frank noticed.

When I’d walked into class this semester, after being outed as the gold dragon, I’d immediately smelled all the paranormals in the class, and the room was packed. Far more than it was the previous semester.

I’d pulled out my sunglasses so I could shift and look around with my dragon eyes. Sure enough, the room was now stuffed with paranormals. And they weren’t even students I’d seen before. I had a feeling the school’s transfers had massively jumped this semester.

“Frank, there is no way that Maddie is going to let you have another girl.” I told my roommate. We’d had this conversation before; if he didn’t want to lose his dick for good, he needed to let the dream of Maddie accepting another woman go.

“No, I think I learned the trick from you. I just need to pick a girl that is just so insanely hot that even my existing ones will be into her.”

I nearly choked. “That’s not how it works, Frank. Besides, Jade and Scar don’t really like other girls.”

He gestured vaguely towards me, as if I was proof enough. “Then explain how you came home with Scarlett, Jadelyn, Kelly and now this Morgana chick. Also, Morgana low key terrifies me. Is she a serial killer? Actually, you know what? I’ll take one for the team if you need to break up with her and help you find out.”

I glared at Frank. Even the idea of giving up one of my women had the beast rising up in my chest, ready to claw them back. I also was probably giving off my own murderous vibes.

Frank, clearly seeing my reaction, showed me his palms. “Whoa. It was a joke.”

“Sorry. Just too many guys hit on them.” I made up an excuse. Not that I could tell him I was an overly possessive dragon that considered his women part of his hoard.

“For sure, man. When we went to that house party last month, I was pretty sure those frat guys were borderline about to murder you just so they could console your women.”

I snorted as I tried to suppress a laugh, which drew professor Turnball’s attention as she singled me out in the two hundred person class with a glare.

Just the thought of some frat guys trying to console Morgana was too funny. I wasn’t sure they’d survive, especially with how attached Morgana has gotten. I had not realized what it meant to finally get past Morgana’s emotional armor.

Once Turnball’s attention shifted elsewhere, Frank nudged me and broke me from my thoughts about Morgana. “Like that one. She won’t stop staring at you. Maddie might just fall in love seeing her for the first time.”

I followed Frank’s line of sight out of instinct, and I regretted it the moment I did. Our eyes locked, and I was now staring at the one paranormal I’d been ignoring as politely as I could.

The Fall Lady, second in line for the winter court, was currently spending her off season going to college. That didn’t seem fishy at all.

Jadelyn had warned me of fae politics, and I had done my best to steer clear.

Unfortunately, that slight moment of eye contact was like giving her permission to approach. A wicked smile spread across her face, and she turned back to pretend to listen to the lecture.

She was in all of my classes, and she kept finding small ways to do something for me. She was trying to win my favor after her mother had left me out to dry with Nat’alet, the rogue fey, turned old god, who had been stealing skins and walking around in them while trying to rile up a war between the magi and the paranormal.

Just your typical Tuesday for me now.

But Fall had taken an active role in the Paranormal Council that quietly ruled over Philly. There, she had backed me one hundred and fifty percent. Rupert, Jadelyn’s father, had noticed, and he was now cracking jokes with Claire about wedding shopping.

Now that I was outed as a dragon, everybody assumed I’d be building up a massive harem of ladies. Supposedly, the Bronze King had hundreds and as he’d recognized me as the next king, well, there were expectations.

I stared into my laptop screen, continuing to type as the professor talked.

I had enough to worry about with the upcoming dragon conclave and what felt like soon to be dragon king status. Not that I even knew how it worked. Was I the king already, or did they have to crown me?

“She’s sooooo hot.” Frank was nearly panting and still focusing on The Fall Lady.

He wasn’t wrong, but she’d also flay him alive if he tried to touch her. She currently had subtle glamors going to hide some of her more distinctly inhuman features. But like the few fae women I’d met so far, every movement of hers was like a sinuous dance and pumped blood south rather quickly.

“You get serial killer vibes from Morgana, but not her?” I questioned.

“It’s okay; it would be worth it if she kills me after.” Frank said it a little too quickly. “Besides, don’t you think you have enough? I have heard about two swiss beauties. And if Sabrina took off those glasses, put her hair up, and wore a dress rather than those potato sack clothes, she’d be in the running for hottest woman in your… little group.”

“You can say it; it isn’t a bad word.” I rolled my eyes at his antics.

“Harem.” He whispered it with a certain sense of satisfaction. “You have a harem, my dude, and it’s fucking awesome. No matter what anyone else says. If they think it’s stupid, I’ll bet they are just insanely jealous.”

While it might have been odd to me originally, I was used to it now. I had a harem. And it felt perfectly natural. “It is pretty cool, isn’t it?”

The hardest part was keeping the harem under control and keep it personal rather than letting it just overflow with willing and nubile bodies.

The Scalewrights had offered to host Larisa and Chloe, two female dragons, after their mothers had left. The two of them were supposed to be around to teach me dragon politics, but so far they seemed far more interested in rubbing up against me and trying to get me naked.

Scarlett, my first mate, was doing a fantastic job at trying to screen all the women throwing themselves at me.

And I appreciated that. But I also enjoyed getting to be around Frank and having a bit of normalcy. He wasn’t part of the paranormal world, and if there was one thing they all respected, it was that we didn’t tell humans what we were.

“And that’s it for today’s lecture. Your homework is on the website.” Turnball finished up the class, and the place was filled with the rustling of pages and zippers as everyone hurried to get out of calculus.

Never in my life had I seen people in such a rush as they all were to get away from math.

“Come on.” Frank had his backpack already zipped up and was ready to go.

I got up with him, still stuffing mine as I followed. “You know, you don’t always have to be in such a rush.”

“Life is short. Why waste another second in class?” Frank asked it quietly, as if he’d offend everyone in the math building.

We were only a few steps out of class before the Fall Lady, Maeve, stepped up next to me.

Frank did a double take before extending his hand across my chest. “Hi, I’m Frank.”

“Maeve.” She gave Frank an amused smile, like one would give an exuberant child, before shaking his hand.

“Your hands are a little chilly. I bet if you came over to my place that I could help warm them up.” Frank said it about as smoothly as anybody could.

“Sure. You share a home with Zach?” Maeve asked for confirmation.

Frank scowled at me, like I was stepping on his turf, or like he wanted my help. It wasn’t clear, but the best thing I could do for my friend was for him to not get involved with a fae lady. That’s how humans ended up dead, or worse.

“Yeah, we are roommates. But you are welcome to have the place to yourself tonight, Frank.” I offered.

“Unfortunately, I’m otherwise occupied tonight.” Maeve quickly followed up. “But another night, perhaps? Maybe on neutral territory, like the bars?”

Frank grinned so widely, I thought his face would split.

I sped us up, quickly reaching a break in the path. Frank needed to go north for his next class, and I knew that Maeve would follow me to Chem, which we coincidentally seemed to share.

“We’ll get a date set up after the next class.” Frank replied quickly before taking the split with a happy hop to his step.

“Humans ar—”

I held up a hand to stop her. “Try not to phrase it like that. What do you want, Maeve? I don’t enjoy you teasing my roommate.”

“Ah. You misunderstand. He wants a single night of exquisite pleasure? I will send a nymph from my court in my glamor with the request that she still leave his mind at least somewhat functioning afterwards.”

I stopped in my tracks, staring her down. “He is under my protection. No nymphs. No mind melting pleasure.”

Maeve frowned. “I feel as if I’ve misstepped once again with you. Please allow me to apologize. I will clarify with your roommate that my attempts were to get time with you.” She was straightforward, almost painfully slow, as if she was suppressing her nature when she said that.

And I knew that would break Frank’s heart, but it was for the best. I picked back up my pace towards the class while she followed. “Fine. What did you want?”

“To apologize again.” She frowned. “It is very unusual for me to apologize to someone, and twice to you, in a single conversation.” She said it as if I should be impressed with her.

When I didn’t react, she continued. “Fae do not lie. I must remind you of this before I say that I am truly sorry for what my mother did around Nat’alet. It was necessary.”

“That didn’t sound like much of an apology.” I commented.

Maeve scowled for the briefest moment. “This is what your first mate said I had to do.”

That sent warning bells off in my head. If Scarlett was directing her, that meant Maeve was interested in me. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. The idea of taking a fae into the harem sounded complex.

“Look, if you want me to not hold a grudge against your mother, then explain why it was necessary.”

“No one ever says logic is the way to a man’s heart.” Maeve grumbled under her breath. She sighed. “I know the winter court has a very negative reputation, but what we do is vital for the world to keep turning, for seasons to change. That means we must keep a balance of strength between the two courts and go to war every season to bring on the next.”

That didn’t make sense to me. “Why go to war every season? Can’t you, I don’t know, peacefully give up power?”

“Winter blood must be shed every spring to allow summer to bloom. The summer warmth and sun that you love so much is bought with the death of my people.” Her face was stone cold before she sighed. “It is the way of things. If we put down arms and walked away, the world would remain a frigid, icy wasteland. Supposedly, we did that once upon a time.”

I suddenly thought of the world’s ice age and shivered. I still didn’t like the means, but I was glad that they kept the seasons turning. “Then Summer court blood is shed for winter to come?”

“Yes, or it would continue to grow warmer each day until all life on this planet withered.” She pointed out that neither extreme was viable. “So, we fight on. The strength of our forces waxes and wanes with the seasons, but ultimately we trade the seat of power every year. Right now I am absent from the war as Lady Spring leads the summer court forces to war. Without me, the balance, the fight, is in Aurora’s favor. She’s pushing spring forward for her mother to take court and lead the summer, and our forces will retreat and ready themselves to push for fall once her power begins to wane.”

“That’s… a very harsh life.” I couldn’t imagine being constantly at war.

“It is the way of the fae. My mother regaining a portion of her power relieves a strain on us all. Many forces chip away at both queens’ power and thus we must reclaim it. It is vital for the cycle to continue. But I apologize that we prioritized that over intervening and stopping Nat’alet. Summer was pushing for us to rebalance.” Maeve explained.

The way she explained it made sense, even though it still felt foreign to me. Their struggles were vital for the world’s season to keep turning. But it truly sounded like a harsh, brutal life. “What about court politics?” I asked, interested in understanding more of their culture.

“Who do you think is safest from death with the warring of the seasons? Those giving the orders.” She smirked. “Nobles use the battles to pray to each other and climb up to safety near the top. And sometimes they attempt to do so through nefarious means. I myself survive numerous assassination plots every year.”

The picture she painted was pretty brutal. Backstabbing, constant war, assassination attempts. I knew the fae were ruthless, but it was even more intense than I’d imagined. “It must be hard to make friends.”

Maeve smiled. “I have a close confidant, one that I trust entirely. And I get along with Aurora. We are rivals, but we also understand each other.”

“Don’t you want to kill each other?” I became puzzled.

“No.” Maeve shook her head. “If I killed Aurora one season, it would snow in the deserts.”

I nodded, understanding again. Balance was key.

She smiled up at me. “Does that make a better apology than just saying ‘I’m sorry’?”

“Much. I guess when it comes to saving a few human lives or not triggering a major shift in global weather patterns that could kill millions, there is some logic in what your mother did.” I accepted that maintaining a balance between the queens and keeping them both alive had a new level of importance, but I still wondered if there wasn’t something her mother could have done to help in that moment. “So, what are you doing here if there needs to be a balance?”

Maeve only grinned at me as her eyes raked over my body. “Appreciating the new dragon king. You have the ability to shift tides of war. I’m taking the time to get to know you and hopefully convince you that the winter court isn’t some insidious entity to be burned out.”

“I think you’re doing a fantastic job at that.” I laughed with her. “What else?”

She pushed open the door to the chemistry room and sat down next to me before continuing. This time, her words were quiet, like whispers of silk over my ear. “Maybe I’m hoping to enjoy some time with you, too. Not all dragon kings are as handsome as you are, and I have heard that dragon tongues can do wonders.” She purred the last word, and it vibrated straight down to my libido.

I was thrown off by just how quickly my body jumped to attention.

The beast bumped in my chest, demanding that we prove to her just how fantastic a dragon’s tongue and other body parts can be.

But I shoved him down and her attempt to rile me up.

“Oh look. It’s the succubus that wears sacks.” Maeve gave Sabrina a chilling smile as Sabrina slid into the seat on my other side. Given that Maeve only wore clothes that were practically painted onto her, I figured any other clothes could be considered sacks.

“I think you mean the succubus, who did everything she could to help me in the battle against Nat’alet, helping us freeze the trolls instead of killing those innocent people? The one who helped me before she knew I was some dragon king?” Maeve swallowed hard, and in my peripheral vision, I saw Sabrina go from slightly wilted to sitting up straight.

Feeling the scales had been rebalanced, I focused back on the class. I had no desire to settle squabbles outside of my harem.

The rest of the class filtered into the room. Once again, the number of paranormals suddenly interested in chemistry seemed to have grown.

“Sorry.” Maeve commented, once again apologizing. Her brow furrowed as she seemed to realize that was three times that day.

I smiled to myself, wondering if that was some new record for the otherwise icy woman.

I was curious what Lady Spring would be like; something told me she’d show up in my classes as soon as her part of the season shifted.

“Hey Zach.” Sabrina finally spoke up from beside me.

I looked over, giving her a warm smile. I liked Sabrina. She was probably the only woman that hung around me but wasn’t trying to get into my pants.

It was sort of odd, given she was a succubus.

Sabrina was also on her best behavior. She was a young succubus, and she was still figuring out her place in the world. At the moment, she was learning magic from one of the world’s most renowned magi. But after she had been outed as a demon, she joined me at college; the college providing a safe space among paranormals of the city.

As a succubus, she was inherently quite powerful, but so far, she’d kept everything under the radar. The Paranormal Council that helped oversee paranormals in the city had left her alone as a result.

And she did wear rather baggy clothing that hid her shape. I couldn’t help but wonder if she was purposely trying to be less desirable or why she did it.

“Hello Sabrina. Is that a new backpack?” I couldn’t help but notice it. The color stuck out. I wasn’t aware they made backpacks in puke green.

“No, uh… it got too close to a… project.” She leaned forward with the last word. I knew she meant magic. “Oh, class is starting.” She faced forward, giving the professor her full attention.

I leaned back in my seat and tried to pay attention despite Maeve’s attempts to get a rise out of me by rubbing her leg against mine.

Something told me now that she’d gotten the slightest opening, I’d find her next to me in the rest of my classes.

But there were only a few more classes before I’d be taking a break. Spring equinox was approaching, and I’d be off to the dragon conclave.

AN - WAHOO! We are back. I thought about trying for a short story of Embers Exciting Adventures, but I don't have time for it. Anyway, onto Dragon 4! The dragon conclave. Currently on chapter 13 of the first draft and it is coming together nicely. Already off my outline, but that tends to be the way of things.