Fledgling Demigod Ch. 07

"Oh?" Galen asked. "I thought dragons were a species of honor? Aren't you honor-bound to uphold your oath?" He looked back and forth between the two women.

"Yes," the queen said as she fixed her daughter with a glare so menacing even Galen took a step back. "You got us into this mess, petulant child, and I'm going to make sure you keep to your oath. Because of you we are oath-bound to this 'stupid human' you so like to refer to him as for an entire year."

"But-" the princess protested.

"But, nothing!" the queen cut her off. "Hold to your oaths. I can't make you change your mind but maybe living among humans long enough and you'll come to your senses. And who knows? Maybe Lord Galen will see fit to give you offspring with which to repopulate our species anew!"

"How do you know it will work?" Pru'skila asked. "Our whole race is riding on your assumptions that I will be able to have more than one dragonling with this, this, human." She spat the word out as if it were ashes in her mouth. "Maybe if you hadn't sent And'skila away we'd have had multiple dragonlings by now!"

"Yes, but at what cost?" the queen spat. "I'll not risk our entire species on that possibility!"

Galen sat back down as the argument between the two dragon women seemed to start heating up. A new table and breakfast had arrived by this point and he started eating. Drinks were set on the table for the three of them and as he ate, Galen filed away tidbits of information he'd gain as they argued.

"Oh, but you'll risk it on this!?" the princess spat back gesturing to Galen.

"It's a much more viable option at this present time!" the queen fumed. Before Pru'skila could counter an argument the queen said, "And I'll not hear another word of it! You know why I couldn't allow you and your hatch mate to attempt to repopulate our species!" She stood there, fuming. "I tire of this argument, Pru'skila. I'll not allow another word of it to continue."

The princess sat there fuming as well with her arms crossed and staring daggers at her mother. Galen cleared his throat after swallowing and both women looked at him. Then, seeming to realize where they were, the queen blushed crimson in embarrassment. Even the princess seemed to darken with shame. They both sat in silence, Pru'skila taking her goblet and sipping on it. Her face opened in what seemed to be pleasure for a fleeting moment before reverting to her open glare, but Galen had seen.

"It seems to me," he began. "that we need to start over with our original conversation. My first question," he stole a glance at the princess and raised an eyebrow. "is why do you need me to help repopulate your species. Wouldn't our children be half-human/half-dragon? And if you attempt to snort derision at me, princess, I'll take you over my knee." He looked at her pointedly and her eyes went wide in shock. "As I said earlier, I'm ignorant, not stupid."

There was a stifled giggle behind him and the purple haired woman shot Lucinda a glare. "There is a difference between female and male Dragons, Lord Galen," the queen explained. "Females can morph into any sentient humanoid species, while males can only morph into human. This allows the female of our species to mate with any race. The females also will always produce dragon offspring. While the male dragon can mate with any species as well, more often than not the offspring of such unions will be the race of the female."

"So, wait," Galen said. "Anytime you get... er... pregnant... wait, that's wrong. Anytime you produce an egg and it hatches, it's always a dragon?"

"Yes," the princess said and sighed dramatically. "We can mate in any form other than dragon form," she said, and surprisingly it wasn't dripping with loathing, although it was tinged with slight annoyance. "After mating, we confirm the egg has been fertilized and transform to dragon form and fly off to the mountain to wait until we can lay the egg."

Dru'skila nodded. "It usually takes about five to ten days," she explained. "Once the egg is lain, the mother can then go off and try to fertilize another egg or just go about her leisure."

"Okay," Galen said, wrapping his head around that. "So why me and no one else? Surely there are other men in the world willing to... you know. You're both insanely beautiful."

Pru'skila favored him with a wickedly menacing grin. "I'd crush your seed-deliverer," she said, then giggled like a school-girl.

Galen inwardly winced. Outwardly, he just raised an eyebrow at her and said, "Oh, you poor child. If you're going to deliver an insult like that to a man, you need to learn the proper verbiage." Looking back at Dru'skila he said, "What does she mean?"

"How comfortable are you discussing intimacy?" she asked.

"Oh, he's very comfortable, your highness," Lucinda said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Not much about sex frightens him away." She was blushing slightly when she said that last part. Then, under her breath so only Galen could hear, she said, "Except maybe not finishing."

Galen groaned inwardly and his goddess giggled maniacally. ["Not so sure I deserved that one,"] he told her.

["It was delightfully well delivered, though,"] she said.

"So," the queen hesitantly began, "when a female dragon mates, she becomes extremely aroused. Almost insanely aroused, you might say. So much so that immediately upon penetration, she orgasms. As strong as we are, well, it's like a miniature explosion in our nether regions."

"So," Galen said. "Let me get this straight. When you have sex you immediately orgasm and because of your strength you literally explode your partner's penis?"

"Crushed to a pulp," Pru'skila said accentuating the last word with a pop of her lips.

"Ouch," he said. "But not male dragons?"

"They are equal in strength," the queen said. "It would be the same as you making love to your wife," she said and looked behind him to smile at Lucinda.

Lucinda's eyes went wide but before she could reply, Galen affectionately patted her hand that was still on his shoulder. "I see," he said.

"Normally, we'd have a master healer present to heal the injured male," the red haired matron said. "But those are in far short supply these days. Not to mention the lack of interest by males, no matter how beautiful they think we are."

The normally sulking princess looked melancholy for a moment as she said, "The last willing to attempt was my sire."

"He died of blood poisoning a few days after," Dru'skila said. "He was a good man and no doubt would have made an excellent father."

"Yeah," the princess spat. "Too bad he died."

"I'm sorry," Galen said to the queen. "You must have loved him very much."

"I used to think the same as my daughter does, Lord Galen," she said. "Until I met Chasen. Oh, it took some time for me to warm up to him. I almost ate him three times." She giggled at the memory and Galen looked alarmed. "Obviously I didn't. He was patient in his courtship. At first I just mistook him for a fleeting admirer. But after a while he became annoying in his endeavor. Every night when I would fly over his village he'd be out on top of the bell tower waving like a lunatic."

"How did you meet him?" Galen asked.

"I was bored one day," she said. "Interminably bored. So, I morphed to a human and visited his village. I didn't want anyone to know what I was so I dispensed with my scales and wore a dress that was common enough to blend in."

"I'm sorry," Galen said, confused. "I don't mean to interrupt, but, what do you mean you 'dispensed' with your scales?"

"Oh," she said and stood up. "Like this." The scales on her body seemed to pull in on themselves to reveal smooth skin. For modesty's sake, Galen assumed, the scales still covered her breasts and her womanhood so that it appeared she was wearing a scaled bikini. A moment later the scales returned and she sat down with a warm smile.

"Oh, wow," Galen said and giggled slightly before covering his mouth in embarrassment.

The queen motioned toward her daughter. "If you think that's amazing, wait until you see the scales removed from the rest of her body," she said.

Galen looked at the princess and noticed her scowl was absent her face. Instead, she flushed purple in embarrassment. "Matron," the princess said, softly. Then noticing Galen staring, her scowl returned and she grimaced.

"I... well..." Galen stammered and not really knowing what to say said, "Please continue, your highness."

"Of course," the older dragon said. "As I said, I visited his village. It was quaint but the people were nice enough. Most of them inquired as to why I was alone and many propositioned me on the spot. I declined stating some health issue or another. Chasen was a man some ten years out of his youth and had never married. It wasn't that he wasn't good looking. He had plenty of prospective women that would love to share his life... and his bed." She giggled. "The problem was none of them caught his eye. Until I came along. I spotted him eyeing me from a distance as I entered the tavern. I had planned on staying a few days to relieve the monotony of loneliness on the mountain so I rented a room.

"After securing what little belongings I brought with me I went downstairs to the tavern to have a drink and see what was what. That was when he approached. I had rolled my eyes as he tentatively stepped forward. He asked to speak with me. That was all. No propositions of bed or marriage. He just wanted to talk. I was mildly intrigued by this human so I indulged him. It was only a few weeks later that I found out that no woman had ever caught his interest as I did. Oh, I miss him so." A single tear trickled down her cheek.

"So, when did he find out you were a dragon?" Galen asked.

She grinned. "The night he thought he could get a little too handsy," she said and laughed. "He had been courting me for a month or so. Why I stayed around I don't know, but there was something about him. Something that bade me stay. When human food wasn't enough to sustain me, I had to hunt. We were walking in the meadow and talking as friends do when he meant to grab my hand. I only later came to realize he wasn't trying anything but to just hold it. I was still naive of human courting rituals and I mistook his intention for something much more... intimate. So, in my anger I shed my dress and revealed my scales to him."

"He must have been shocked," Galen said.

"On the contrary," the queen said, smiling. "There was only a hint of fear in his eyes but he was immediately accepting."

"So, when did you eventually fall for him?" Galen asked.

She smiled at the memory. "When he came looking for me," she said. "I hadn't flown over his village for a few days and he became worried. He had been courting me for half a year by that point. I became bored of the usual hunting grounds in the area I flew to so I began searching for other prey. It was only after hearing his voice reverberating across the hills outside Dragonmount that I realized I missed the sound of his voice, and the sight of his lunatic waving as I flew by, and just being near him. All at once it was as if a switch had been flipped. I found him wandering around the base of my mountain. I still remember the way his face lit up when he saw me. From that moment on I was smitten."

"So," Galen said and cleared his throat. "I don't mean to be indelicate, but, you had sex and crushed his penis and he never recovered from it, right?"

She nodded sadly and looked at her daughter. "I see so much of him in you," she said then turned back to Galen. "There wasn't a competent enough healer in his village so I suggested we go to one of the more populated areas. He said it was too dangerous for me and that we'd risk it with the healer from his village. Fearing for the survival of my species, I foolishly agreed. I was the last of my kind, after all. The healer shit and pissed his pants when he found out what I was. Literally."

"He was probably scared shitless of you eating him if he didn't heal Chasen," Galen said.

"The insufferable man made me promise not to," she said fondly. "Else I would have out of spite."

"So, here's my next question," Galen said. "Why not just pleasure himself to completion and just press the tip against your... er... you know? It would be diminished slightly but there is still a high chance of success."

The princess sighed dramatically. "You really are ignorant, aren't you?" she said with disdain.

Galen raised an eyebrow at her. "There's still the option of being bent over my knee," he said sternly. "Watch your tone."

She grumbled but with some effort toned down her loathing. "Dragon anatomy is different in small ways from every species we morph into," she explained. "In this instance, the male's pee-nis, as you call it, has to be fully inserted into our bodies to deliver the seed where it needs to fertilize the egg. Just dumping it in from a flask won't work."

"Pru'skila, don't be so uncouth," the queen admonished. "But she's right. While humans have a protrusion at the back of their tunnel, we dragons have a sort of pocket, if you will. The seed has to be directly inserted into this pocket in order to fertilize the egg. Ergo having to be fully inserted into our bodies."

"Fascinating," Galen said. "And yet painfully morbid at the same time. I couldn't image I'd even be able to get it up knowing that might happen to me."

"All the more reason to just get this over with and go home," the princess said.

"Yes, well, your pride prevented us from ever achieving that possibility," the queen spat. "Now we have to stay her for an entire year."

Galen said, "If you'd only swallowed your pride and given up when you knew you were beaten, you'd be free do to as you please right now."

"Don't patronize me," the bratty princess sneered. "You tricked me. That's the only reason I can see that I lost. You're no stupid human, not a normal one at any rate."

"Well, now we're making progress," Galen said. "You finally admit I'm not stupid."

"Ah! You're hopeless," she cried in exasperation. "Una, Ula,-" she looked to where the mounts were sitting against the wall only to find them gone. "Where...?" Then her eyes went wide when she saw them behind Galen.

"What?" the queen said, standing up as she saw them, too.

"What's..." Galen said as he turned. His eyes went wide as he saw both mounts sitting to either side of him and slightly behind. Lucinda was standing directly behind his throne, trembling in fear but not about to leave him. Her hand was on her sword. The two creatures were just sitting there as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "Uh," Galen said, hesitating. "What's going on?" he asked as he looked briefly back at the slack-jawed queen and the irritated princess.

"It seems you've been deemed worthy of protection," the queen dragon said.

"Great," the princess said. "You've been chosen. Now I have to let you mount me."

Galen scoffed at her. "As if I'd want to any time soon," he said and turned his back on her. Never taking his eyes off of the animals, Galen turned his head slightly toward the queen and said, "They look exactly the same to me. How do you tell them apart?"

"Una has red eyes, and Ula has purple," the queen said. "Although now, they will most likely change to match yours."

"What? Why?" Galen asked.

"Once a Cebelius Drakken bonds with you," she explained. "You become its master and its eyes will change to the color of its master. However, I've not seen a bonded Drakken change its fealty so casually in... well... ever."

"Ula," the princess called. "Confn!"

The Drakken behind Galen's left shoulder snorted. "I guess she, or is it a he, doesn't like you anymore," he said. "I don't blame them."

"Una," the queen gently prodded. "Ui jaci xihuuliup?"

The Drakken behind Galen's right shoulder lowered it's front legs slightly and bowed it's head. "Uh, what are you saying?" Galen asked.

"It's the language of the dragons," the queen said. "I was asking if they found you worthy."

"I hope they bite your seed-deliverer off while you sleep," the princess pouted.

"What, did I take away your pony?" Galen asked. "What are you, twelve? Grow up already."

"For your information, I am almost half a century old!" she spat back.

"Too bad you don't act like it," he said. "You know, for a dragon, the most noble of species, you sure are acting childish. I thought all dragons composed themselves with poise and grace."

"We do," the queen said. "This one is barely out of her youth."

The princess growled and stood up. "I don't have to sit here and be insulted by a stupid human," she spat. "I'm leaving." She turned to go and Galen eyed the Queen of Dragonmount. She nodded her head ever so slightly and the corners of her lips turned up in the barest hint of a smile.

"STOP. RIGHT. THERE!" Galen roared and approached the princess.

"Or what?" she said, turning just in time to have Galen scoop her up and throw her over his shoulder. He smacked her ass hard and she squeaked indignantly. "Put me down!" she screamed. "Or I'll chomp on your bones and turn your flesh into dragon shit!"

"You come into my home throwing around insults and acting like a spoiled brat the entire time," he said as he smacked her ass hard again. The sound was like a thunderclap and she squealed in pain. "Yet when the insults are thrown back your way you want to throw a tantrum like a child and storm off because you're not getting your way! My own children would never act like that because I busted their asses the moment they took a disrespectful tone with me." He smacked her so hard his ears rang for a moment. He plopped her down in her chair and looked down at her.

"You dare!" she fumed and he raised his hand as if to slap her. She flinched and covered her face to protect herself.

"I dare!" he said. "You're my vassal now and you will respect my station if not my person. When I give you an order you will obey. Do I make myself clear?" To emphasize his point, Una and Ula growled at the purple haired brat. The princess' eyes went wide in shock and she nodded her head. "Good," he said and sat back down. "Keep in mind, I abide by the golden rule. Have you heard of it?" She shook her head. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It simply means to treat others as you would want to be treated. So, from now on, how you receive treatment will be a direct correlation to how you treat others."

"As you will, my lord," Lucinda said. "I'll make the decree at once."

Galen looked back at her, confused. Her expression didn't change but her eyes twinkled as she looked at the petulant princess and he got the meaning. The princess was in for a rough time if she didn't change her attitude. "Also, know this," he said and leaned forward in his seat and put a finger in her face for emphasis. "Anyone who goes missing and I suspect you decided to have them for dinner and your species really will be extinct before you can blink an eye. That's not a threat, but a promise. Understand?"

This time, all manner of discontent had vanished from the purple haired woman's face and she gulped with wide eyes. "Y-yes, my lord," she stammered, nodding.

"Well, well, well," the queen said, shaking her head at her daughter.

"With respect, that goes for the both of you, Queen Dru-... er... " Galen stammered.

"Worry not, my lord Galen," the queen said. "I haven't eaten a human, or any sentient species for that matter, since I was her age, almost a millennia ago." When his eyebrows climbed to his hairline in surprise, she said, "We're not in the habit of eating the sentients. They taste funny." She tried to contain a laugh but couldn't and immediately the tension in the room abated.

Galen grinned. "Um, would it be too forward of me to ask if I might call you by a different name?" he asked. "My mouth can't seem to form the words. I'm surprised the maid got them out okay."