The Cursed Queen (Dragon’s Curse #1)

Andriel

"Okay, I think that will be all for now," I announced to a panting, hunched over Virgil after two hours of combat training since before the sun rose.

We'd made this our standard routine since letting him live with me, and he never once complained about it. Usually, I'd train on my own or ask Drayce to spar with me. But Virgil's dedication to getting stronger, and the need to monitor him, had shifted my focus to him. Despite being much smaller and relatively weaker, his tenacity had proven his greatest asset. He never wanted to stay down, even when he should. He was a young man with something to prove; to himself and the den.

Many shifters had ogled him and snickered every time he plummeted to the ground, but that didn't seem to slow him down. He paid none of them the attention they wanted. No, he had his eyes on the prize. My respect for him grew.

"Already?" Virgil asked between heavy pants. The young druid was drowning in sweat, his white hair stuck to his forehead.

"Yes, already. I admire your will to push yourself to the limit, but it's just as important to know when to stop as it is to train. You're no good to anyone if your body shuts down from exhaustion. Your movements would slow down, and your focus would be hazy. Knowing your limitations is important."

I waited to see if he would protest, but he was smart enough to know when to listen. If there was anything I could credit the Zeffari Kingdom, it was the discipline they drilled into their knights. Virgil seemed to grasp that it was best to listen to your superiors. Hell, that was a lesson several of the young dragonlings still lacked while training. Virgil could actually teach them a thing or two.

"Very well." Virgil dropped on his behind, leaning back and taking a long, much-needed breath.

"You did well today. Your training back in your old kingdom served you well," I said, sitting across from him.

"I suppose it was. I've been training to become a knight since I was nine. It was a long, grueling process."

"I imagine. For us dragons, we learn how to shift, fly, and breathe fire at a young age. The earliest being seven years of age."

"Was that how old you were when you first shifted?" Virgil asked.

I shook my head. "I was eight."

"What's it like? Shifting, I mean. Is it painful?"

Normally, a question like that would sound silly, but to an outsider like Virgil, it wasn't common knowledge. He spent his entire life not knowing shifters existed. Same for Sera.

"It's slightly painful when you learn to shift for the first time, but not nearly as much as it did for Sera when she partially shifted. When a dragonling is born, so is the dragon that lies dormant inside their soul. It grows with us into maturity. We shift at a young age because our dragons are just as small and have yet to outgrow our human form. But once our body adjusts to the shift, it becomes second nature. For Sera, her dragon is already fully grown and three times the size of her human body. Her frail human form couldn't handle the strength of her dragon, even in its weak state."

Virgil winced. "Will she be okay once she's fully released her dragon?"

That was a question I'd been pondering myself. Sera was working hard to break the chains holding down her dragon, but would she be too weak to shift afterward? The circumstances were so rare that I didn't have an answer. I didn't want to think about the possibility of my darling princess dying. All I could do was continue to help her and pray to the gods she'd be all right once her dragon was completely free.

"I'm sure she'll be fine. She's just as strong and stubborn as you," I finally said.

Virgil's expression softened at that; the brief glint of affection hidden in the depths of his gaze at the thought of Sera. Not for the first time, I wondered if his feelings for the princess were only that of childhood friends, or if he loved her more intimately. My dragon didn't seem too pleased to consider the latter, but I forced him back and reminded him that Virgil and Sera had known each other far longer than we had.

But I also bedded her already. The memory of feeling her tight entrance gripping my thick cock as I plunged in and out of her had me wanting to run back inside to find her and do it all over again. To feel the softness of her skin against mine. To hear the way she whimpered my name in pleasure once again. The thought of tasting her sweet juices had my mouth salivating.

"Still wasting your time with the druid brat?" My mind snapped out of its lustful haze to the sound of a snarling Baxus who walked over to where we were seated. His usual entourage trailing behind.

I spotted Ladon with him and frowned in his direction. I was disappointed that he became one of Baxus' lackeys rather than accepting fate's wishes to pair him with Sera. Understandably, his hatred of druids ran deep.

I stood up, then helped Virgil to his feet. "I don't see how that's any of your business."

Baxus scoffed. "You're soft on them, . You and the old man. They're enemies to our kind. How can you stand there and defend them when their very kingdom has nearly brought our extinction?"

I rolled my eyes. "You've asked this before, and the answer has yet to change. Virgil and Sera had nothing to do with it. They've both been working to prove themself an ally to our den. Even now, they set more of our people free when dragon riders ambushed the princess and Ryu."

"You should've let them die," Baxus growled. "Hybrids like them don't belong with us."

My dragon growled with fury. I allowed my eyes to partially shift, to assert my dominance, and my need to protect them both. Especially my mate. "Tread cautiously, Baxus. The next word you utter may be your last."

The bastard didn't accept my warning. His own dragon eyes were made visible as he stepped closer. Very well, if he wanted a fight, then he'd get one. I was about to issue a challenge when Virgil rushed to the front and held his hands out to either side of him, holding Baxus and me back.

"That's enough!" Virgil regarded me with a stern look. "It's not worth it. Fighting him won't change his mind, and you know it."

I froze in place, looking from Baxus to Virgil. I knew he was right, that fighting wouldn't get him to see reason. But something in my gut told me that Baxus needed to be dealt with. A sense of foreboding, like something was going to happen. Maybe I was paranoid after the attack Sera and Ryu experienced. Thankfully, we got to them in time.

The two of them had done well to hold them off until we arrived, but I feared what would've happened if we were too late. The worst part was knowing it likely wouldn't be the last time the dragon riders would come looking for us.

"This doesn't concern you, druid," Baxus spat indignantly. "Stay out of dragon business."

Virgil's eyes narrowed. "Considering you're arguing about me and Sera, it seems it is my business. And if you have a problem with me, you can either bring it up with me, or you can suck it up. Like I'm sure your rag-tag group of underlings sucks you off."

I failed to hold back a snort from that, something that Baxus noticed as his face reddened with a mix of embarrassment and anger.

"Why you little—" Baxus sneered and looked ready to attack.

I had just pulled Virgil back before he got hurt when a ring of blue flames engulfed our surroundings. Baxus jumped back in surprise, and Virgil gasped and walked backward, his back to my front. I gripped his arms to assure him he was safe. I knew these flames.

"That's enough!" Everyone looked to the right, spotting Ryu, Drayce, and Sera. Ryu was in front of the two, his eyes flashed with flames matching the blue embers engulfing his outstretched hands.

Being half fire mage, Ryu's control over the element surpassed anyone in the den. The ability to summon, manipulate, and control fire, even in human form, couldn't be outmatched.

Virgil slightly relaxed at the sight of backup. It was the only sign he gave that showed the subtle fear he felt but masked it. His proximity was the only way I knew.

Satisfied that Virgil and I were safe, Ryu's flames fizzled simultaneously.

"That the hell is going on here?" Drayce's loud voice carried.

Sera ran over to us, first to hug me, then to inspect Virgil. "Are you guys all right? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine. We're fine. You got to us in time," Virgil said.

Ryu and Drayce rushed to our side as well. Drayce's furious gaze went to Baxus and his group.

"How dare you try to start a fight with one of our honored guests when it's prohibited," Drayce growled. "Lord Igneel will hear of this incident, and I will see that your punishment will be met accordingly."

"Fuck you," Baxus hissed back. "You and the old man are the reason our den is doomed. We'll never survive a full-on attack from the druids because you lot have softened up with the enemy."

His supporters agreed with Baxus' words, except Ladon, who acted as more of an observer rather than an instigator. That didn't explain why he was hanging around Baxus.

"If you have a problem with how the den is running, perhaps you should express your concerns to our dragon lord rather than spout your nonsense to us," Ryu spoke calmly, his arms crossed and eyes sharp, as if daring Baxus to try something else.

Baxus visibly shook with tremendous anger and hatred in our direction, but was smart enough not to act further. Not unless he wanted to face Lord Igneel's wrath. Instead, he looked up in Sera and Virgil's direction.

"Watch your back," he growled before telling his group they were leaving. The threat didn't settle well with me, and I was about to deal with him for it, but Sera looked back at me and shook her head. Unable to say no to my mate, I backed off.

"Are you guys okay?" Drayce asked once Baxus and his group were gone.

"We're fine. Thank you, guys, for coming when you did," I said, then clapped Ryu on the shoulder. "And thank you for the fireworks."

"I should go after him and rip his fucking head off," Drayce growled, looking off in the direction Baxus ran off to.

I nodded. "My sentiments exactly."

"Absolutely not," Sera protested. "Don't we have enough enemies to deal with without making enemies out of each other?"

"But he's making you and Virgil a target, Princess. And it's our job to protect you both," Ryu retorted.

"It's not as if being targets for hatred is a new thing for us," Virgil said, leaning against Sera, who agreed with his statement.

"I'm used to being looked down upon, so nothing Baxus says can phase me."

Ryu reached out to brush a lock of our mate's wavy magenta hair behind her ear in a display of comfort. "Just because you can endure it doesn't mean you should, sweetheart. You've already been through enough."

His statement was unanimous among us. I wanted to press the issue further, but one look at Sera and Virgil's exhausted expressions told me now wasn't the time.

"We'll discuss this later. Right now, I think we're done for the day," I declared.

Drayce didn't seem to like that idea, but Ryu already had his arm looped around our mate's waist and pulled her closer to him.

"That sounds like a good idea. Why don't you head back with Virgil, and Drayce and I will escort our princess back to her cave," Ryu suggested.

"That sounds good. I'll stop by later to see you."

I watched silently as Drayce and Ryu led Sera back to her room. Before I suggested to Virgil that we should also turn in, he started walking in a different direction.

"Virgil?" I called to him.

"I'm not ready to return yet, but I need some air."

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked, walking fast to catch up to him, then followed along at his side.

"What's there to talk about? Everybody hates me, that much is obvious. As they should." He said that last line in such a soft tone that I almost didn't catch it.

I grabbed his arm to stop him from walking further. "Hey, you know you're not to blame."

"You think that makes me feel better?" Virgil asked, refusing to look me in the eye. "Ever since the day we met you as you, I'd been wracking my brain over everything I'd been taught to believe about dragons. Trying to relive every event where I interacted with dragons, and wondered if there were things I missed about you guys. Signs that I overlooked. Something that would've shown me you were shifters this whole time. But nothing. I was fooled into thinking there was nothing wrong with what the kingdom was doing to dragons. I wholeheartedly believed the dragon riders were the actual heroes of our nation, and that Queen Verania may have been a tyrant, but her heart was in the right place. But there's no heart in that witch's entire body, and the dragon riders are the actual monsters of Iferia. Not the dragons."

"And that's what sets you apart from the other druids. You know the truth and regret your part in it. You want to do what's right. Those dragon riders that attacked Sera and Ryu? Sera said she tried reasoning with them, to make them understand that brainwashing us shifters to do their bidding is wrong, but he didn't want to listen to her. Even when the truth was right there. That's the difference between you and the other knights, Virgil. That's what it means to be a true warrior. To have honor, and you have honor, Virgil. Don't let the Baxus of the world tell you otherwise."

Virgil said nothing else, but the slight curve of his lip told me he took what I said to heart. As he should. He had a lot of heart for someone so young, but he could go far. Whether he'd be accepted by the den completely, at least he'd know he had allies here. I looked behind me toward the den's entryway, thinking Virgil may need some alone time. My mood diminished further when I spotted Ladon leaning against the mouth of the corridor, arms crossed over his chest and watching us intently.

"I need to take care of something," I told Virgil. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Of course. I'll likely stay out here for a little longer, then head back to rest," he replied.

Accepting his response, I turned to leave Virgil behind and approach Ladon. I didn't care if he was fated to Sera. I didn't care that he had a problem with her or Virgil, but siding with Baxus, who was intent on starting trouble, didn't sit right with me.

"You have something you want to say, Ladon?" I asked in a threatening tone as soon as I was close enough to speak to him privately.

Ladon's eyes narrowed. "No, but you seem to want to say something."

"Oh, I have plenty I want to say. For starters, why are you tailing behind Baxus like a pet?"

Ladon smirked. "I cannot see why that's any of your business."

"It's my business because you and I are fated to the same woman. The very woman that your ringleader wants to harass."

"Let's get one thing straight here, ." Ladon stood to his full height, then jabbed a finger into my chest. "Fate may have paired me with her, but she's not mine. I already stated that I wanted nothing to do with her. Second, I'm aware of how much Baxus despises the druid knight and princess. Can't say I blame him, but this isn't my fight. What he does has nothing to do with me."

"Then why follow him?" I asked.

"Because he's right about one thing; they don't belong here. I can appreciate their desire to fight for us, but we don't need them. And if there's anybody who can get Lord Igneel to listen to reason, it's Baxus. Especially if he has a large enough following to warrant the dragon lord to hear him out."