Zodiac Academy 8: Sorrow and Starlight
Sorrow and Starlight: Chapter 42

Today would be a grand occasion. All of Solaria would hear of it and tremble at the thought of what such important and bountiful news meant for one and all. Especially me. Me above every other.

Just as they had in every moment since our mighty and fearsome overlord had taken his rightful place on the throne. Once more, the might of the Dragons would be celebrated beyond all else. And I, as the most pure-blooded female of my generation, would be the one to take a central role in all of this. I would be a paragon for all who should come after me, a perfect example of what a Dragon should be. Virile, sturdy, and with a fine coating of hair upon my breasticles and upper lip to prove the power that lived in my lineage. Just as my mother had always told me, ‘A sprouting hair upon bust or chin, proved there was a true Dragon within.’

I would more than willingly sacrifice my mind, soul, and body to the greatness of our king, and I couldn’t wait to offer him whatever pleasure he asked of me in my devotion to him. He could take me, use me, ruin me, and I would always be willing to bend to whatever his needs required.

I looked into the mirror and smoothed out the voluptuous folds of my virginal white dress, taking a moment to comb my moustache. My fingers twitched with need as I finally gave in to my favoured vice, sliding the small dressing table drawer open and revealing the premium Faeroids I had awaiting me inside.

I licked my lips and took a syringe from the little bag I kept ready for my twice-daily doses and tried to calm my breathing as I drew up my evening taste. I plunged the needle into my thigh with a low groan, my eyes rolling back in my head as I slowly depressed the plunger, languishing in the feeling of the drug as it sank into my system.

I rolled my broad shoulders back and smiled, exposing the lower row of my fearsome jaw. Yes, I was quite the beast inside and out, and the world would see it clearer than ever today as I walked among my brethren to fulfil my destiny.

Never had even a Dragon queen looked so like her Order form while in her Fae body. I was exquisite. And before the eyes of the entire Dragon Guild, I would give myself to King Acrux in every way he wished, letting him plunder every region of my being as I became so much more than I already was.

I tossed the spent needle in the trash and stepped from the chamber which I had used to get myself ready, gifted to me by my dear uncle Lionel for use when I was at court like this, then headed out into the grand corridor with a spring in my step.

“Well, if it isn’t the she-beast herself,” a snivelling voice drawled, and I narrowed my eyes to look upon the loathsome Cyclops, Vard. Enduring the company of any Order barring Dragons was always hard to bear, and this cretin of a creature was particularly unpleasant.

“Move aside, I have somewhere to be. Somewhere that does not require the attendance of a Cyclops,” I sneered the word, shoulder-checking him as I passed and knocking him into the wall.

He cursed as he almost fell to the floor, scrambling to right himself while I marched proudly on towards my destiny. The stars had laid it out for me, the bounty of the Dragon King himself spread before me as I readied myself to open for him and welcome him deep inside me. I was and always had been his creature, the closest thing to a Dragon queen this land knew. And I was more than willing to take up my position and vessel for his bounty, just as soon as he was ready to drive it into me with the force of his might.

This celebration was exclusive to our kind, the Dragon Guild gathering in tight rank to witness him coming inside of me all at once.

I was floating on a cloud of supremacy, and I wouldn’t linger for the words of a squalling Cyclops who was on the out and uninvited.

“You know, I have been working on a creature not unlike yourself. Half Turnian Hog, half lizard, though Fae at its core,” Vard hissed as he hurried to walk with me, his lank hair clinging to his cheeks.

“If I were to care for the words of a lowly thing such as you, then I might take the time to roast you in Dragon fire and see how you like the taste of your own face melting. But I have far more important business to attend to than whatever it is you wish to jabber at me about,” I clipped.

I turned from him and his repugnant features, heading down a long corridor as I took a roundabout route through the palace, avoiding the south wing which had somehow sealed itself from use. I had offered to blast a hole into the area for my king, but he had refused me, claiming it would not work. It was confounding, but I had to assume that it was just some old Vega trick at play. Their cunning schemes knew no bounds, but my king would no doubt destroy all lingering embers of those unworthy flames soon enough anyway.

“I saw something in the mind of the so-called ‘greatest Seer of our time’ about you,” Vard hissed, his stumpy legs somehow maintaining pace with my wide and imposing stride despite my attempts to shrug him off. “Something in his memories, the morning of your wedding. Or should I say, the morning when you inexplicably ended up hog-tied in a closet and the man set to marry you escaped the fate of horrors lurking between your scaley thighs.”

I whirled on him, a cloud of Dragon smoke spilling between my lips and sliding up his mismatched nostrils as I fisted a hand in his shirt and threw him against the wall. I snarled in his face, lifting him until his toes no longer touched the floor and he was eye to eye with me.

“Spit it out,” I growled, and he smirked at me as he shifted, his ruined eye merging with the other to reveal the damaged Cyclops eye in the centre of his face. Ugly little thing he was. All sinewy and no meat on his bones. A single bite in my shifted form would see him swallowed right down into my belly. Though I didn’t like to think of the indigestion I would endure if I gave in to that urge.

“I can show you,” he offered, the greasy feeling of his mind trying to permeate mine sliding over me.

I had a will of iron and mental shields more impenetrable than my closely guarded vagina – destined only for the use of a Dragon of purest blood and honour. None had tried to breech either thus far, but I was ready if they did. And always wary. For a vagina such as mine was a high prize to claim indeed. No doubt my snookums had dreamed of it day and night before his demise. Ah, snookums…if only you had possessed a modicum of loyalty in that decadent skull of yours, you and I could have had something truly magical. But the Vega whore beguiled you clean out of your senses, and it was not to be.

“It’ll only take a moment,” Vard purred, and by the love of the stars, I felt my will wavering. S~ᴇaʀᴄh the FɪndNovᴇl.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

That entire day was a black hole of nothing to me, a wide expanse I had thought over time and again in search of answers. It haunted me, the missing time, the need to know precisely what had happened to land me in that closet instead of my marital bed.

“Show me,” I hissed, my mental shields slipping just enough for him to slither in like the worm he was.

I saw my own face as I answered a knock at the door to the chamber I’d been gifted to use for a bridal suite. My eyes widened, then fell slack as I was struck with a blast of air magic to the chest, feet whirling over my head as my wedding dress ballooned around me.

Gabriel Nox strode into the room, his chest bare and black wings tucked tight to allow him through the doorway as he grinned like a fiend.

I threw fire at him, a roar escaping me as I emerged from the voluminous dress like a baby bursting from the womb. But he had already seen my strike before I’d even thrown it, his laughter ringing out as he smothered my flames with more earth magic. A wad of dirt smacked me in the face as I leapt for him again, vines snaking around my arms and immobilising them.

Humiliation tore through me as I was forced to watch my own failure at the hands of that plumped up, half plucked pigeon, and I bristled, trying to pull away from the memory.

But Vard kept hold of my mind, the hooked tentacles of his power burrowing deep as he feasted on my memories, stealing my magic while trapping me in the hell of watching this horror play out.

Gabriel hoisted me into the air with a single vine noosed around my ankle, kicking the door shut behind him as he moved closer to me and I spun in a slow circle, my dress falling around my face. Stuck in the memory that belonged to Gabriel, I could feel his emotions as I watched the show unfold, his dark amusement and smugness, his contempt for me despite my clear superiority over his half shifting kind.

His hands brushed my spine, and the zipper was released, the wedding dress falling like confetti and leaving me still spinning slowly, suspended by the vine, my bloomers on full display.

“When my snookums hears of this, he will castrate you! You dare to lay your hands upon his bride?” I roared.

Gabriel barked a laugh. “Darius is more likely to kiss me than kill me for saving him from these nuptials,” he taunted. “Believe me – I’ve seen all the ways this future plays out and there isn’t a single one of them that includes him being upset over me saving him from the hell of a union with you. But it’s okay; I plan on making him suffer for a while before giving the game up. He deserves it for the shit he put my sister through, after all.”

My mouth parted on what no doubt would have been a torrent of perfectly tuned abuse, but he spoke over me as if he didn’t even recognise my superiority as a pure-blooded Dragon.

“Break any protection spells you have in place to stop Fae from impersonating you,” he boomed, his voice thick with a Coercion so potent that in my dishonoured and dishevelled state, he managed to puncture my mental barriers and force his will into me.

I gasped as I watched myself do just that, allowing him the opportunity to disguise himself as me.

“No!” I wailed in the here and now, watching in horror as he shifted into me – taking my bridal gown from the floor and exchanging his jeans for it, taking his sweet time to apply my specially chosen puce-brown lipstick to his own lips and smacking them against his teeth before turning back to me with a grin.

“Don’t worry – I’ll let him enjoy his wedding before breaking the news to him,” he said, my own voice taking the place of his as he moved towards me again, his eyes alight with menace. “Now open wide and swallow down this memory potion like a good hag.”

His compulsion struck me again, and I roared as I was forced to watch him pour the potion between the lips which had been destined to kiss my snookums at the altar. This was the twist of fate that had stolen Darius from me and delivered him into the conniving arms of the Vega whore. I would kill her for his death. For corrupting him beyond all point of reason and forcing my king to deal with him as a traitor instead of a son.

My eyes burned as I watched the bridal me turn vacant eyes on the room, forgetting all that had transpired while Gabriel let me fall to the ground, hogtied me, and gave me a kick to roll me into that star-damned closet.

The memory fell away, but Vard’s mind stayed locked with my own as I found myself staring at the wall where he had been pinned, nothing in my fist any longer and no sign of him anywhere close by.

“The other Dragons all enjoyed this little memory when I shared it at the Guild dinner for entertainment last night.” His voice rattled through my skull as his slithering presence clung to me even while his physical form scuttled off to a safe distance. “Just in case you’re wondering why they’re all laughing so much today.”

He released me from his hold, and I whipped around, a bellow escaping me before I slammed my fist into the wall hard enough to break knuckles.

If I didn’t have a very important role to fulfil for my king, I would have hounded after him and roasted him alive. But as it was, the vermin’s luck held true, and I was forced to turn and march away towards the grand occasion awaiting me.

One of these days I’d catch that snivelling rat though, and I’d do him the honour of finding out just how few pieces he needed to be in before I could swallow him whole.

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