The Dragon’s Throne 1

It was Eli’s turn to shake his head. 

“And this is why I don’t want to be King.  I don’t see the point in reigning over the humans like this.  They have their own laws and their own leaders.”

“The last time we sat back and let the humans do their own thing, we ended up with a world war on our hands.  The world was almost destroyed.  We live here, too.  As much as I wish things would just go smoothly, we can’t risk letting them destroy our home.  Every time we think they’ve learned, they prove that they can’t be reasonable.”

“I’ve met plenty of reasonable humans.”

“As individuals, humans are smart, strong, and resilient.  But put them in a group and let one loudmouth lead the way, and they lose their ability to think rationally.  Son, if we let them rule themselves, their species will die out.”

“So, sacrificing one saves them all?  That doesn’t make sense.”

“That’s how it has to be.”

“I’ll have no part in it,” Eli said.

“I won’t ask you to.  You will take your place as King, but I’ll wait until the sacrifice is chosen and sent to us.  Once I’ve dealt with the situation, we’ll talk again about your role.  Someday, you’ll have to do what’s best, no matter how you feel about it.  But for now, this is my mess and I’ll clean it up.”

Before Eli could ask him what he meant by that, Silas turned away, heading for the hall and the grand staircase that would lead to the bedrooms.  If Lauren was still as mad as she had been when she’d walked off, Silas was in for a long night of placating his wife.

Silas stopped at the edge of the room, turning to look over his shoulder at Eli.

“I’m asking you, not ordering you; please stay away from the humans, and don’t go to Festival.  All they want is peace and prosperity.  They deserve that much.”

Silas was gone before the words had sunk in, leaving Eli with more questions than answers.  Silas was acting so strange, and Eli didn’t know what to do with himself.  He shook his head, leaving the house and stepping out into the well-maintained yard in the moonlight.

He threw his arms out to his sides, his body stretching and molding as he stood there.  His already tall frame stretched taller until he had morphed completely into an oil black dragon.  He shook his wings out, enjoying how the flesh pulled against the wind that blew across the plains. 

Launching himself straight up with powerful legs, he flew into the air.  The world stretched out before him, their territory so vast that he couldn’t see the edges of Aman from here or even higher.  Like his parents, he stayed near the Missouri, choosing a gorgeous area in the northern area of what was once Montana, settling in a home that he had found abandoned, just as the rest had been, during the war.

His home was just over thirty miles to the north, a short distance in flight, but much too far away from any human village for any of them to accidentally wander onto his property.  Aside from the servants that his father had been gifted over the years by Mayor Freeman, Eli had had no contact with humans before.  He had always wanted to go to Festival, and this year was no different.  

Except he was going to Festival; even if his father didn’t like it, he was going.  If he was going to be forced to rule someday, he was going to start by asserting himself.  He wasn’t some peasant within the kingdom; he was the Dragon Prince.  His rule extended over Aman and Aldeia.  He couldn’t let anyone stop him from doing what he wanted, even his own father.

He was going to have to be careful about it, carrying a satchel with clothes so that he could fly close and walk the rest of the way without showing up nude.  Not that his harem minded, but that was another story altogether.

When he saw his home in the distance, he gave a sigh of relief.  As much as he liked being with his mother, Silas Archer stressed Eli out.  They could never just enjoy each other, and Silas never missed an opportunity to harp on Eli’s responsibilities. 

He landed lightly on the front lawn, shifting to human form before he reached the front door.  Stepping into the doorway, he smiled when the first of his lovers greeted him by running her brown eyes up and down his naked body, clearly appreciating his endowments.  A WereDragon with an insatiable appetite in the bedroom, she was a wild lover who Eli enjoyed on a regular basis.  She arched an eyebrow at him but he shook his head no, earning an exaggerated pout from her that was almost laughable.

“Not tonight.  I have an early morning,” he said by way of explanation, preparing himself for the pleading that always followed. 

He was pretty sure that she had an addiction, though he didn’t usually mind.

“You don’t have to do anything,” she said seductively, but he was already shaking his head.

“It’s a hard pass, Marissa.  I have things I need to do.”

“You could do me,” she insisted.

Eli sighed inwardly and kept walking.  Once upon a time, he had mistaken Marissa’s attention as affection, pursuing a relationship with her that was pointless. Outside of the bedroom, she had no interest in Eli.  And he was pretty sure that she sneaked off to bed with other dragons on the nights where he chose another lover. 

He had no proof, but he had started enjoying her less and less as it became apparent that she couldn’t even be bothered with pillow talk.  As pretty as she was, and as free as she was with her body, Eli would have liked to have had one conversation with the woman that didn’t revolve around when he was going to take his clothes off.

He chuckled, letting the door fall closed behind himself and jogging up the staircase to his room.  He passed more than one scantily clad woman on his way, but as soon as he shook his head to their offer, they went back to what they were doing.  Unlike Marissa, they took care of his needs because he was the prince and because living in his home afforded them riches and privileges that could be found nowhere else. 

Each one knew that they would be sent away when Eli chose a wife, but since he hadn’t even met a woman he wanted to date, everyone in Aman was pretty certain that he would never take a wife and would always keep a house full of women who lived a comfortable life of leisure in return for their affection.

The Kingdom was so distraught over Eli’s ways that there was talk of Silas choosing a wife for Eli, but even Silas wasn’t that foolish.  Eli would settle down when he was good and ready to, and not a moment before.

Even Silas couldn’t force that kind of change on him.