Dragon Rescue-Closed for a_libertine

It was appalling that the queen just handed stuff away. Just because they were sick, deformed or missing family members. What of the laws of nature where the weak eventually were consumed by those better equipped to survive.

It didn't matter, he held his tongue and watched as the common people dawned over her. He would be interested in seeing if the nobles were quite so loving.

The dragon in him thought they were primed to devour her.

Sa'yk chatted as merrily as any sycophantic new comer, but he kept his eyes on the surroundings, ever distrustful of humans.

They sound their way back toward the castle as the noon hour approached, "Court advisors this afternoon, correct?"
 
"Yes, to go over the wedding invite list. Your duties as king and the marriage contract. Which will probably state something like if i die without an heir you forfeit the crown unless we have heirs in which case you would be regent to them or something similar."

'i will be happy once you are king and I can rule the way i wish without interference from those old goats. Do you have any questions? I know you think most of what we do is insane. But i'll gladly try to explain any concerns'

"If you are hungry we can have lunch before the meeting" she smirked at him knowing his admiration of human food was growing.
 
He gave her an inscrutable look, "I don't think you can do that. From what I read last night there are some old, powerful families that will like things a certain way. Unless your political, economic, and military might is on par or exceeds theirs, you have to tread carefully, else suffer the consequences."

Outwardly he shook his head, "No, I can wait, besides we can have a small lamb brought in, right?"
 
"yes you may have lamb for dinner if you wish." she smiled.

'yes, well the nobles are nobles by the grace of the king. There is a lot to do to get this kingdom right again. It will require specifically placed spies and such. My parents died when I was still young. The council more or less ruled in my stead until I came of age. But the problem is I am a woman. We'll find a way. Everything takes time. I'm just anxious to start. I am so grateful for this link'

"would you like a tour later?" she questioned as they arrived at the castle.
 
Sa'yk grinned, "A tour of what? Your chambers? Definitely."

He knew there had to be a lot of work to be done to get the kingdom where it was safe for her to rule. Especially if she had hair brained ideas like being compassionate to all those suffering a loss of some sort. That had to be a significant portion of the population.

Hell, his fee for the charade depended on a healthy tax base, not a disproportionate welfare base. The question was how to get there from here. Mitigating her inherent desire to help others and what had to be the older tradition of limiting charity paid out by the crown.

"I will explore on my own tonight after you have gone to bed," he answered. "Might be interesting what I discover on my own."

They continued into the castle and headed to a council chamber where in sat almost a dozen men. "Too many advisors, we will late this down by half after the wedding."

While all stood when Rosalyn and Sa'yk entered, one smiled warmly and said, "Cousin, I hear you found a candidate you would like us to consider, though, I doubt very much he counts as a man.:

Sa'yk cocked an eyebrow ridge at that and her cousin said, "Oh, there is no doubting your maleness, it is just the laws are written that it is a proper interpretation for a human male, not a half human."
 
"My dear cousin, you forget yourself in front of your future King. I would recommend gaining his favor instead of trying to make him feel unworthy and unwelcome.

Secondly, I am shocked that you would so willingly display your lack and mistaken of knowledge of the laws so openly., and of course Thirdly and most importantly I don't need the counsels approval for my choice of husband. Although of course it's greatly appreciated." She gave a slight curtsy and a smile.

"Counselor Wiggins, Please tell me what the law states about who a Prince or Princess must marry. You'll find it on page 135 if I am correct."

The counselor scoffed and opened the book. The look of shock on his face that the page was correct. "I can see you found it, please read it word for word as it is written"

The counselor cleared his throat and began speaking. "A Prince or Princess of the kingdom of Delsopherlies must choose their future King or Queen no later than their 20th year. The chosen must be of royal blood line, regardless of what land they hail from."

"Cousin, since you are not, nor ever shall be part of this counsel you are not needed here. Before you leave I believe you owe the counsel as well as my future husband an apology."

He gave her a look and she squared her shoulders and said "Now" The room went silent as she bore her eyes into his. "Please accept my apology for my mistake in the rules of the Kingdom, and My Liege, welcome to our Kingdom"
 
Sa'yk looked at the cousins and mused a moment. "Are you sure?
Maybe keep him and release three others from the council.


He walked around the chamber not quite a look in a cage, but some could interpret it much that way. He stopped by councillor Wiggins and asked, "May I?" And picked up the voluminous tome.

He hedged the book and said, "If integrity has no need for rules, what does this say?"

He put the book down and looked at Rosalyn, "Shall we?"
 
'we'll discuss what we can do with him later. I see your point about keeping your enemies closer. First we have to make it to the wedding. Perhaps now would be a good time to give the counsel the dowry. You can weed through them once you are King'

"In just a moment my King, we still have to take a look at the wedding list."

A scroll was presented to her and she opened it looking down the list.That is fine, but I want to ensure that the festival for the people is held as well, and a party for our staff and guards as well. My King is there any of your traditions or wishes that you would like as part of our celebration?"
 
Sa'yk thought a moment then replied, "Nine of the traditions from my culture would be appropriate here. Your nobility would be shocked at them, and they are best left out."

He looked at the list a moment and whistled, this had to be am extravagant expense. He handed the list back, thinking, "I assume all of this has been budgeted for years?"

He looked at the council, "Gentlemen you know your nobility better than I, what, in your opinions, would they want to see that reassures them?"
 
'when an heir is born, a designated portion of the taxes every year are placed into a fund for their wedding. If it was up to me half of the list would be gone.'

Rosalyn kept her mouth shut and took a step back as Sa'yk as he addressed the counsel.

Wiggens was thrilled at the opportunity to address Sa'yks question."Our Nobles would like to see that their King will address their needs first and will keep their best interests in mind in all things. Why fix what is not broken is their motto."

'if they only knew what was coming there way' Keeping her submissive demure she waited for him to reply to Wiggins.
 
Sa'yk looked at the councillor a moment then replied, "I do not know what needs to be fixed, or what needs to be left alone. Change for the sake of change will always result in opposition, and while I fear no challenge, I do not intend to spend any time more than necessary to make things better. "

He expanded to the rest of the council and continued, "That should not be interpreted to believe I will not fight for what I believe is the correct course of action, it merely means that if I well not make a change solidly for the sake of change. "

He glanced at each councillor in turn then said, "I believe my future bride and I would like to sit with each of you in the next couple days to find out what items you think are important for us to keep as they are, and which are important to change. "
 
"Her presence isn't required for such talks. We prefer to do things men to men, a greater comradely so to speak. She will just be bored with talk her weaker sex can't even begin to comprehend."
Wiggins said to Say'k.

The anger inside of her was bubbling yet she managed some how to stay quiet and her head down so they couldn't see the anger flaring in her eyes.
 
Sa'yk rumbled a laugh that filled the chamber, "In my culture off you had said that the women would be spitting fireballs at you. "

He leaned back and said, "be that as it may, she well attend. Agree knows your like and culture better than I, and it would be absolutely idiotic of me to exclude her. That would force me to make decisions based only on one person's opinion. "
 
'I was thinking of having him drawn and quartered, I wish I had fireballs' she said through his link.

Wiggins frowned and said "So be it" and gave a bow.

Taking Say'ks arm she left with him for a walk before dinner. "I had hoped not to have to deal with them till after the wedding, but you did very well with them." 'I think you're a natural born King after all.'


She led him to a balcony that over looked the Kingdom and pointed out the locations of various nobles. Although it appeared they were just enjoying the view she spoke to him through their link and advised of which ones she was concerned with.

'What would be helpful is if you could spy in a different form.'
 
"I will need to spend a lot of time with your councillors to bring them around and to find out what they have been doing behind your back."

He looked out over the kingdom and shrugged, "I suspect all manner of malfeasance has been going on that you don't know about."

"We need a network of spies, that are reliable, and I will start on that. One person cannot be everywhere that we need people right now. If you don't have your own network, then build one, slowly and carefully. "

He faced the castle and said, "We should renogiciate my fee. I believe I am going to earn way more than one percent if I can keep you on the throne for any length of time."
 
To say she was impressed wouldn't be overstating it at all. It seemed her dragon had the natural ability to know what it would take to help her rule her kingdom. He was smart and intelligent and it couldn't help but bring a natural smile to her face as she nodded to his comments about creating a network.

Then the reality of it all struck her like a brick. The truth of it all, his whole purpose behind everything he did, every fake smile or endorsement he gave to her. Money.

It was a rush of emotions that she didn't expect that flooded her. She got caught up in the play they were putting on and forgot the truth behind it all. Anger welled in her like a volcano and a tear slowly dropped before she could catch it. She walked away as fast as her feet could take her without a word to his statement of how they should renegotiate his fee.
 
Sa'yk watched as Rosalyn stormed off. He cocked an eyebrow and shrugged.

He went back into the council chambers to find Councilor Wiggins still in the room. "Why are you still here?"

"I was waiting for you, my Lord. We have many things to discuss, and I hoped you would come back."

Sa'yk sat down and poured a glass of wine and replied, "Okay, what is it?"

For the next two hours Wiggins, the self proclaimed Secretary of State went over the relationship between their kingdom and all of their surrounding neighbors.
 
Rosalyn was furious with herself. What was she thinking. Of course he's only in it for the money. He just happens to be a very good actor. Other wanting to devour her flesh with his hands he had no interest in her or whatever emotional battle she was dealing with.

Somewhere in her mind she had a hope that maybe, just maybe he would get a taste for it, that he would want to have a connection outside of the arrangement. That maybe after the two years they would have formed something of a marriage and had children that could continue their reign.

But no, she was seeing now that it wasn't an option. He wasn't human, and had no empathy or anything else for her or her people. To him the were just cattle.

Dinner rolled time arrived and Rosalyn didn't appear. Instead she left the castle and went for a ride.
 
As dinner time rolled around Sa'yk felt for Rosalyn and discovered she had left the castle entirely. He shook his head as he headed toward the general dining quarters and ate with the servants. He sat at the middle table and chatted with one groomsman, one guard, a couple maids and a cook.

By the end of dinner he was fast friends with them and strolled out of the hall toward the queens quarters. He felt that she had not returned but was not in any immediate danger.

He talked his way past her hand maiden and poured a glass of wine as he waited.
 
With much effort and reflection she made her way back to the castle. She stopped by the kitchen to pick up a piece of bread and wandered back to her quarters. When she entered her eyes went to him.

It wasn't unlike him to do what he shouldn't, but she was a little surprised to see him there.

"you can't be in here please leave." Knowing that she was probably wasting her breath so she added.
"If you feel the need for a discussion, or more demands and it simply cannot wait we can go down to the library. Or just go to your room and use the link. your choice."

Her tone was flat and void of emotion.
 
Sa'yk looked at her and replied, "If I had wished to use the link I would have hours ago when I discovered you ran away."

He took a sip of his wine and looked back at her. "What is the source of your emotional distress?"

He glanced at her and added, "Don't bother lying about it, because you already know I would be able to read your mind to get the information if I so choose."
 
"Firstly, I didn't run away. I left. If I had run away I wouldn't have come back. Secondly my emotional state isn't part of your package deal. Feel free to read my mind if you must but it's really not that interesting nor will it line your pockets with gold. Thirdly, I'm not having this conversation here."

Turning on heal she left the room and headed down to the library. If he wanted to continue this conversation he could track her easy enough. She found herself furious, and she knew the only reason she was upset was because she cared. She didn't want to even think about having feelings for him.
 
Sa'yk stayed a moment listening to Rosalyn's thoughts and found himself surprised at her depth and breadth of anger. Not to mention its root cause.

She cared?

For him?

A dragon?

The improbability of that being true staggered Sa'yk's mind. He sat in her chambers for a minute then worked his way toward the library.

As he drew closer to the chamber he could hear the gold and silver within the room singing in a language that only dragons could hear. It was not greed or avarice that made dragons hoard precious metals and gems, but rather the songs of rapturous delight said items sang to dragon kin.

He walked into the room and Rosalyn stood looking at the stained glass window that glowed in the light of the late afternoon sun, bathing her in red and blue.

He walked up to Rosalyn and tilted her head up by her chin, using his thumb and forefinger. Leaning forward Sa'yk brushed his lips against hers.

She tasted of sunshine and honey all in all, a delicious combination.

He looked into her eyes, the intelligence behind them glowing radiantly. "I am a dragon, be loved Rosalyn, it takes more than a day or two to change my nature. Be you, for you are the most marvelous human I have ever met."

He gave her a half cocked grin and quipped. "And not eaten."
 
Rosalyn wasn't even sure how to react to this kiss that had just pushed her further into confusion. She tried to understand his words that he spoke to her and willing her breath to come back as he had seemingly stole it.

"It's my own fault, I put expectations on a situation that would never be anything other then it is. I wanted a romance that wasn't there, I found you so incredible, charismatic, and convincing I bought into the tale myself."

Her eyes closed for a moment as she turned her head away to conceal the depth of disappointment she had in herself. He was one of the most interesting people/things, she had ever known. He was magnificent, majestic, and full of more knowledge then her entire library had.

With a tear falling down her cheek, she turned back to him and took a step closer. Her hands ran up his chest as she looked up to his eyes. Her fingers lightly went over his cheek "If i'm marvelous, then I hope you will someday seem me as more then a means to shiny baubles."
 
Deep in his throat Sa'yk rumbled, "Of that there is no doubt."

He placed one hand on her hip the other cupped her face and he caressed her face with his thumb. "After all, technically we both are virgins, so our wedding night may well be a comedy of errors."

He leaned in and kissed her again, his tongue flicking across her lips. His mouth filled with her taste and his humanoid body reacted predictably as his penis hardened, lengthened, and thickened as it press between their bodies.

His voice was low, hungry almost a primal noise, "Clearly you can feel something of my admiration. :
 
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