Fledgling Demigod Ch. 11

Her smile of gratitude turned down into a scowl, and she narrowed her eyes. "Do I have a choice?" she asked with a haughty laugh.

"Yes," he replied, and she looked at him with a sudden blank expression.

She blinked a couple of times before answering. "Why?" she asked, and she seemed genuinely curious.

"If you're going to be my wife when I get back from Prax, I want to get to know you better," he replied. "I want to hear your story. If you're willing to tell it, that is."

"It's incredibly boring," she said with a disdainful scowl. "There's not much to tell."

"I'd still like to hear it," he replied.

"We both would," Lucinda chimed in.

Priscilla chewed on the inside of her cheek and finally answered when Ula snorted into the back of her head. "Fine," she said. "In your quarters, I presume?"

"If that's okay with you," Galen replied. "Thank you."

Not receiving a response, Galen turned back just in time for Lairn to start describing what she saw of the battle. "He was a whirlwind of movement!" she exclaimed animatedly. "Every time his hand lashed out, a soldier died. Every stone he thrust struck true, and another went down. But not one at a time, no. He was moving so fast that pebbles seemed to sprout from his body to land in throats, heads, and chests, sometimes going completely through and striking a man behind the one he just killed. His fists were like morning stars on the end of flails as they crushed bodies and hammered into skulls, sending heads flying. But that's not even the most amazing part!" she exclaimed as she raised her hands as if to quiet a protest.

"The most amazing yet horrifying part of the whole battle is that nothing could touch him." She paused for emphasis, and the crowd drew forward slightly as they held their collective breaths. She continued in almost a whisper as she said, "Swords and spears tried to pierce his flesh but missed." She raised her voice slightly. "Axes and knives were hurled at him but never struck." Loudly she said, "Arrows and crossbow bolts bounced off of him as if he were a boulder, and all the while, men died!"

"Why didn't he kill them all?" someone shouted from the back.

Lairn smiled warmly as she looked back at him, and Galen blushed slightly at the attention. "Because he is benevolent," she said, turning back to the crowd. "He paused in his slaughter to give the remaining army a chance to surrender. He stood tall and proud as he addressed them, asking, almost begging them to surrender. For you see, Lord Galen is a kindly man with a good heart. He doesn't like killing. Truly, as he sits here now, his heart breaks for those who died on the field of battle." She smiled back at him again before turning back around. "He does not wish death upon anyone," she said earnestly, then with coldness, she continued. "But he willingly will snuff out the lives of those who threaten anyone he cares about. You've all heard what happened to his first loves. He made a vow never to see that happen again. Not to him. Not to anyone."

The room was silent for a long moment. Then, a small woman in the front asked, "What happened next?"

Lairn smiled at her. "He offered them a chance to live. Some took it. Most didn't. That is until a dragon showed up and dropped Duke Latham on the ground at Lord Galen's feet." There was a collective gasp from the crowd. Galen looked confused as he looked at Lucinda, but she waved him away, as if to say she'd tell him later. "He picked the cowardly duke up by the scruff of his neck with one hand and turned to the army. 'This is what you follow!?' he yelled to the crowd. 'A coward who runs at the sight of battle to leave you all to die!? Look around you! Your comrades, your friends, are all dead around you, and your supposed leader flees like a dog with his tail between his legs!'" The crowd laughed. "That was when I ran toward the castle," she replied and moved back to take her former place behind Galen's throne.

Priscilla resumed her place beside Galen but not before tracing her hand tenderly from his shoulder to his elbow. He instinctively raised his hand so her fingers brushed against his as she sat and clasped her hands in her lap. He arched a questioning eyebrow at her, but she just shrugged.

The room had erupted in applause but quickly quieted, and all eyes turned to Galen as he stood slowly. He cleared his throat before speaking. "After that, I made my way to Duke Latham's tent, where I found Lady Hannah, the duke's daughter, locked in a chest," he said, and the crowd gasped again. "I released her, and shortly after, Lady Lucinda showed up, at which point exhaustion overtook me, and I passed out. I only woke up just this morning before you all saw me in the dining hall."

Galen took time to answer some questions, mostly from younger children or older, retired infantrymen. When it was over, he made his way back to his room to rest. Grace was waiting for him beside his bed when he arrived. Lucinda had a knowing smirk on her face, but Priscilla just rolled her eyes and sat down in the chair next to his bed. Galen raised an eyebrow at Grace but didn't protest as she helped him get in and get comfortable. "Rest, now, my lord," she said softly, almost motherly. "I'll be here when you wake."

Galen chuckled. "Yes, mother," he said in a playful and sarcastic tone. Lucinda giggled, and Grace blushed. "Gonna kiss me on my forehead and tell me a bedtime story?" he asked with a grin.

Grace blushed deeper but, surprising everyone in the room, she bent down and kissed him lightly on his head. "No bedtime story, my lord," she said and left without making a sound.

"Well," Lucinda said with a grin. "I knew she was interested, but I didn't know how far she'd be willing to take it so soon, though."

Priscilla smirked with her arms crossed, hiding her perfect breasts. "Does anyone not fall for your parlor tricks?" she asked with a huff.

"No tricks," Galen said and held up three fingers in the air. "Scout's honor."

She rolled her eyes and snorted with derision. "You are far from being a capable scout," she said.

Galen sighed and sunk into his bed. "Never mind," he said. "Just a saying from back home."

Priscilla's face softened a bit then she stood. "Where do you think you're going?" Lucinda asked her with a scowl.

"Right," Priscilla said and sat back down. "You want to know about my mysterious past."

"No," Galen said. "We want to know more about you. Your past is a part of you, so we'd like to hear that part of your story. But first, I want to see your wound."

"My wound?" Priscilla asked, confused.

"Yes," he said. "The wound you sustained in the battle. You tell me that you're fine, but unless I see it for myself, I'll worry."

"Fine," she said and stood. Turning her right side to face him, she raised her arm and let the scales disappear.

"The whole wound," Galen said again, noticing the scar disappeared inside scales that covered her breast. She growled in annoyance but complied. Galen noticed the tiny, jagged scar that started at the bottom of her ribcage and ended just before the nipple of her right breast. It was still slightly red but was healing nicely. "Thank you," he said, and she replaced the scales. "It appears to be healing well. Does it hurt?"

"It's fine," she said again, annoyed.

"You need to quit that shit," Galen said, slightly angry. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You're going to be my wife, so I need to know when you're hurt or bothered. As long as you're not insulting me, I want to know how you feel, both physically and emotionally."

She eyed him angrily. "If you must know, physically, I'm still in a slight amount of pain, but it's nothing that I can't handle. Emotionally, I'm a fucking wreck."

Galen sighed. "Want to talk about it?"

"No," she said. "I thought you wanted to hear my story?"

"I do," he replied.

"Well, it's either that or how emotionally handicapped I am," she replied with a huff.

"Your story, then," Galen said and sounded defeated.

"As I said, it's incredibly boring," she replied with a slump of her shoulders.

"All the same," Lucinda said. "We want to hear it."

"Well, I honestly don't remember much of my early life," Priscilla began. "Not since hatching anyway. I really can't say much about my life until I was able to transform."

"How long did that take?" Lucinda asked.

"According to my matron, ten years," she replied.

Galen's eyebrows shot up to his forehead. "So, wait. When our children are hatched, I won't get to see them for ten years!?"

"Don't be stupid," Priscilla said with a roll of her eyes. "Of course you can see them. They just won't be able to transform to human form for ten years."

"Will they recognize me, at least?" he asked. "Before being able to transform, I mean."

"That's a question you'll have to ask Matron," she replied. "I'm not sure. Anyway, after I was able to transform, Matron kept And'skila and me close to her side. That is, until she sent him away."

"Why did she send him away?" Lucinda asked.

Priscilla sighed and visibly slumped in her chair. "We are the last of our species. Being the last of our species and entering adulthood, we became, shall we say, very aware of our bodies. We began to have feelings for each other that surpassed mere hatch-mates. In short, we fell in love. Matron began to realize what was happening and had tried to warn us on multiple occasions of the gravity of our circumstances." She paused for a moment, and a blush colored her cheeks. "We were caught in the act of exploring our bodies by Matron, and in her anger, she sent him away."

"Where did he go?" Lucinda asked.

Priscilla got a faraway look in her eyes. "I don't know," she said absently. Then, returning to herself, she shrugged. "I knew the dangers. I just didn't care about them. I wanted him more than anything I've ever wanted before in my small little world."

"So he was like your brother," Galen said.

She nodded. "It was more than that, though. We were both hatched from the same egg. According to Matron, that's rarer than rare."

"The equivalent of human twins," Lucinda commented.

"Maternal twins," Galen added. When the two women looked at him confused, he explained. "Maternal twins are twins that develop from the same single egg in the womb, also called identical twins. Fraternal twins are twins that are two separate eggs in the womb that get fertilized by two separate sperm cells." They continued to look confused, so he waved a dismissal. "Never mind. Continue, please, Priscilla."

When she didn't say anything, Lucinda said, "Needless to say, you were very close even before you developed feelings for each other."

Priscilla nodded. "Matron told me that it was a genetic need to repopulate, though the obvious dangers prevented her from allowing us to do so."

Lucinda nodded. "There are any number of issues that might arise from two close relatives procreating. And it's just as likely that no issues would arise. Though that doesn't mean that it would be the same from one to the next."

"What do you mean?" Priscilla asked with a cock of her head.

"Well," Lucinda said. "Let's say, hypothetically, that you were free to copulate as you wished. The first egg that hatched might be a normal, healthy dragonling with no issues. However, the next egg that hatched might be insane and uncontrollable, while the one after that could be an invalid. There's no guarantee that just because the first offspring was completely fine that the subsequent ones would be as well."

In a rare act of emotion, Priscilla put her face in her hands and began to sob. Lucinda went to her and wrapped her arms around the dragon woman as she wept. Galen turned his head away from her to give her a measure of privacy. "Are you that ashamed of me that you can't even look at me in my moment of vulnerability?" Priscilla said, her voice thick with emotion. Galen turned back to look at her, and even Lucinda had a stern expression on her face when he looked at her.

"I'm sorry," he said and meant it. "I just figured you didn't want me to see you in a moment of perceived weakness."

"Weakness!?" she cried and leaped to her feet.

"Perceived weakness," Galen insisted. "I know you're not weak, but I thought that you might think you were. Therefore I wanted to give you some privacy."

Her tear-stained face softened slightly, and she sat back down. "I'm not weak," she said vulnerably. "But, thank you for the consideration. However," she said pointedly, her voice still thick with emotion. "If you are to be my husband when you return from Prax and recoil from me when I become emotional, I'll cut your seed-bearer off while you sleep. I'll not have a weak husband."

Galen smiled. "Duly noted."

Pricilla nodded, and Lucinda sat back down on the bed, her hand resting on Galen's chest. Priscilla eyed her hand with what appeared to be longing but quickly returned her gaze to the floor. "Tell us about him," Lucinda pleaded.

Priscilla sighed. "He was a wonderful hatch-mate," she said. "And very protective of me. We were never allowed outside the mountain without Matron, but that didn't mean we never snuck out while she wasn't looking." She smiled fondly. "Once, when we had snuck out into the nearby forest, a large snake fell from a tree and started to constrict around me. And'skila was so angry he not only killed the snake, he tied it into a knot and left it hanging from the branch it had fallen from."

"Were you hurt?" Galen asked.

Priscilla snorted, not in derision but in humor. "Not hardly. Though because of the position I was in, I couldn't move. I could have broken the snake's hold if I had transformed into a dragon, but I didn't panic enough not to know what to do. Besides, And'skila quickly came to my rescue and unwound the snake from me."

"He sounds like a good brother," Galen said.

"He was," Priscilla said.

"Is it rude to ask about his color?" Lucinda asked.

Priscilla's face hardened for an instant before returning to normal, but Galen caught it. "Normally, yes. However, I don't think it is in this instance. We are family, or we will be soon. He was the most beautiful shade of vibrant blue, and he could manipulate the wind with deadly precision."

"So, you haven't heard from him since he left?" Galen asked.

"Since he was sent away, you mean?" she corrected him sternly. "No."

"You are angry with her, aren't you?" Lucinda asked.

"I have been for some time," Priscilla answered honestly. "I doubt I'll ever forgive her for what she put us through, no matter her reasons for it."

"Such is the way of parents," Galen said. "We're not perfect, though we try our best. In the end, wrong though we may have been, we can only hope that our children will understand."

"I understand why she sent him away even though I'm still angry at her for it," Priscilla said. "I can even forgive her for that. For keeping me locked away under the mountain like a criminal, though..." She trailed off, and an angry expression flashed across her face for an instant. "Well, never say never, I suppose."

"How long ago did she send him away?" Galen asked.

"Ten years," she answered. "He hadn't even reached maturity yet."

"Fifty years after hatching, right?" Lucinda asked.

She nodded. "Ten years to transformation. Twenty to adolescence and another twenty to adulthood."

"So he was still a kid," Galen said.

Priscilla looked at him with a sideways glance and narrowed eyes. It seemed she was trying to determine if he was being insulting or not. "We're dragons, not goats," she said, finally.

"That's not what I meant," Galen said. "It's a term with double meaning on my world."

Priscilla nodded as Lucinda moved to embrace the purple-haired dragon girl. Priscilla leaned into the embrace and allowed herself to be held. Galen sighed, and his eyelids started to droop in the silence. Finally, Priscilla stood and looked down at him. "When do you want to leave, my lord?"

"The day after tomorrow," he replied sleepily.

"So soon?" Lucinda asked. "Surely you won't be fully recovered by then."

"You worry too much, Luce," Galen said and smiled as his eyes closed. "Love you," he mumbled with his eyes closed. "Both of you." Priscilla's eyes went wide, and she started to reply, but he was already asleep.

~ ~ ~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~ ~ ~

Galen woke to something warm and wet enveloping his cock. Cracking his eyes open, he saw Lucinda bobbing up and down on his shaft. He groaned and placed a hand on her head, and she hummed with pleasure. She looked up at him and winked at him without ever pausing in her momentum. The head of his cock tingled, and he tapped her head to let her know he was about to cum. She whined softly and increased her pace until his back arched, and he spilled his seed inside her mouth. She swallowed frantically and milked him with her hand. Galen heard whimpering from his side, and when he looked over, Grace was in the chair by his bed with her hand up her skirt and moving frantically between her legs. Galen looked back at Lucinda wide-eyed, and she licked her lips as she swallowed the last of his cum.

"She wouldn't leave," Lucinda said, shrugging.

"I'm sorry, my lord," Grace said, panting as her body began to convulse in ecstasy.

"I didn't have the heart to make her," Lucinda explained as she moved up Galen's body to cuddle into him and covered them both with the blankets.

"OHHHhhhh," Grace cried as she orgasmed. Galen and Lucinda watched, transfixed, as the petite, dark-haired housemaid writhed in pleasure. When she was done, her face flushed in a mix of afterglow, of pleasure, and embarrassment, she stood up. "My lord, I--"

"Sit," Galen said, and the maid sat back down.

"Grace, would you fetch Lord Galen's morning elixir?" Lucinda asked.

"Yes, my lady," Grace said, quickly standing and moving to obey.

"Sit down!" Galen ordered more forcefully, and Grace paused mid-stride to look back at him. Noticing the determined look on his face, she immediately plopped back in her chair.

"It's alright, Grace," Lucinda said. "Please fetch the elixir."

Grace looked like a mouse stuck between a cat and a viper. Her lower lip started trembling before finally squeaking out, "M-my apologies, my lady, but my l-lord bade me sit. So, I must obey."

Fire flashed in Lucinda's eyes, but Galen caught the barest hint of a smile tug at the corners of her lips. "Fine," she said and abruptly got out of bed. "I'll fetch it myself."

"If it's any more of that horrid drink from this morning, don't bother," Galen said.

"But you need it," the women both said simultaneously. "my lord," Grace finished alone and bowed her head to look at the floor.

Galen groaned. "I'm already feeling better, stronger, even."

"Right, and if you're planning on leaving tomorrow, you'll need all the strength we can give you," Lucinda argued.

Galen growled but didn't respond. Instead, he looked at Grace. "So, why did you refuse to leave?"

She looked up at him before looking back at the floor. "I promised I'd be here when you woke up, my lord," she said meekly. "I didn't want to break that promise."

"So you risk my anger and possible retribution to fulfill your promise?" he asked.

Without hesitation, she replied, "Yes, my lord." Then quickly added. "Please, my lord, I--"

"Silence," Galen said, cutting her off. "Look at me," he ordered and beckoned her to him with an outstretched hand. When she looked up at him and saw his smile, she took his hand and approached the side of the bed. "Thank you," he told her softly as he squeezed her hand. "I don't fault you for keeping your promise. Rather, that kind of integrity is a prime example of the people I want to serve me. You'll make a perfect addition to our family." Her eyes went wide in hopeful amazement. "Not yet, but soon, okay?" he asked. She nodded eagerly. "Now, since you've seen mine, it's only fair I get to see yours, right?" He said with a mischievous smile.