Tharris Kilne (Closed for HottieKatie)

Castle Domhurst had stood at the crest of Brekkenridge Hill for nearly fifty years since its completion now, and over it ruled the royal family of House Carillon which gained its name for the family's original craft before royalty: bell-making. Now, the family's castle home stood equipped with a carillon belltower, but since the current king's ascent to the throne, the bells had been forgotten except on Christmas each year.

House Carillon was made up of four royals: the emotionless King Baldwin, the decidedly less-than-faithful Queen Lesandra, their son-in-law former Duke of Domhurst Town below, now Prince Lars Comstock, and his wife, the often-overlooked Princess whose name the King had probably never learned for he'd never wanted a daughter. Their serving staff was made up of gossipy women, half of which slept with the King and new Prince on a regular basis or pleasured them at their command, perverted and lustful men whom the Queen had had several bastard children with, and the family was also served by those four bastard children, all boys (much to the King's dismay) except for a baby girl who was currently in the care of two of the only kind maids in the castle.

It was the year 995 A.D., and the harshest winter in years was coming to a close. The Prince and Princess had only been married since the previous autumn, but the Prince rarely touched her except to have his way with her, and even less often treated her like a human being. In fact, he often opted for the maids rather than her, simply because the maids were far more experienced in the bedroom.

It was a cold, rainy early-April day and all the snow had finally melted the previous day. The King was nowhere to be found, likely locked away writing while a maid pleasured him, and the Queen was off into the town, likely visiting the local whorehouse where some very handsome and skilled men awaited her. She often employed these men on the castle grounds, mostly as stablemen or groundskeepers, just to have them close at hand.

The Prince was skulking about, growling at every passing servant, "Where the hell is my wife? Where is that little bitch?!" He finally roared her name after searching for fifteen minutes.

The kind maid beside the Princess in her room brushing her hair jumped and the brush clattered to the floor, "Oh dear, milady... 'e sounds in a right foul mood..."

Angelique had always been a too innocent girl. She had never fit in her family. At first she was too young to understand, but when she learnt her family's habits, she had tried to escape. Of course the King wouldn't let her go, his only true descendent. After she tried twice, he had locked her in the castle, with a guard always by her side. She then understood that any further try would be futile. So she accepted her destiny. Every night she prayed for God to find her a nice Prince, just like those in the stories she liked to read: courageous, faithful, nice and charming.

But it seemed that God hadn't listened to her. Lars was nothing like it. He was rude, pervert and violent. Angelique lived in a constant scared state. Only when Amelia, her maid, was around she could feel some peace. Amelia was so sweet, she always made her feel better.

She was with her when they heard him roar the morning.

"Why would he want me now?" she wondered aloud.

It was strange as he had taken her the night before. Angelique still felt sore between her legs. It was not like him to be interested in her two days in a row. He only shared her bed sporadically. And every time he did, he spent the next days cursing at her, yelling what an 'unsatisfying cunt' she was. Was that why he wanted her now? To let her know again how much he despised her?

"I'm here, my Lord," she quickly swung to the corridor.

The sooner he found her, the less bruises he would plant on her.

She saw him at the end of the corridor, walking towards her in his usual heavy and fast steps. The whole castle trembled in his path.

"How can I serve you today, my Lord?" she asked him, frightened of what might come next.

The moment Lars eyes caught her form, his steps quickened, "What the hell is this rumor I hear about you disappearing during the day with the same guard, every bloody day?" He snarled. Likely another vicious rumor spread by the more vile servants of the castle who were jealous of Angelique's birthright.

Amelia always attempted to be her lady's saving grace, though it rarely turned out well. "Prince Lars, sir, milady goes for walks around the castle each day with myself and a bodyguard, nothing more-" It was then that Lars struck the smaller woman across the face so hard that she collapsed to the floor, clutching her cheek.

"Don't speak to me, commoner," Lars snapped, then his fiery brown gaze returned to Angelique, awaiting a better answer because he didn't believe Amelia's truth.

Angelique wasn't surprised at his striking her maid, but it scared her the same.

"My Lord, you know my father won't let me walk around unsupervised."

She tried to explain, even though she knew he might not hear a word she said.

"Phillip is alway there just to protect me."

It was a lie, he was there to prevent her running away. But if Lars ever found out about her trying to escape, he would punish her for good. His father's punishments would be nothing compared to what Lars would do to her.

Angelique thought about calling Phillip in, he was waiting outside as usual, but she thought Lars would start a fight. Or he might even order his death. Phillip was not the nicest man she had met, but he had never harmed her, so Angelique wanted to keep him as her guard. Thinking whom Lars might choose in his place, gave her a frightened shiver.

"Mylord, you know nobody would dare touch me without your permission. I am yours, and your only."

She tried to calm him down placing her delicate hand on his strong arm.

Lars snatched up her wrist before she could touch him, but before another venomous word could leave his lips, the entire castle rocked with a sound like thunder and Lars nearly lost his footing. "What the hell...?" He gazed around wildly, and several men came screaming down the hall. He grabbed one and pinned him to the wall, "What's going on, man?!"

"Dragon!" Was all the man could speak coherently, and Lars immediately paled.

"Angelique, take your maid and hide in your room," Lars snarled at his wife and bolted down the hall, likely to run away. He only kept up appearances of care by telling her to hide away.

Amelia picked herself up quickly, "Come, milady, quickly!" She took Angelique's arm and led her away to her room. Therein, she drew the curtains shut on the doors leading out to the balcony and curtained the windows as well. "Your ladyship will be safest hiding under the bed," Amelia spoke hurriedly, turning to her Princess fearfully. "What could that beast want with the castle...?"

Once again the castle rocked hard and the distant sound of a collapsing tower could be heard through a half-open window, which Amelia immediately slammed shut and drew the curtains over. In truth, nowhere was safe. Even if they hid in the cellars, the dragon could demolish the castle on top of them and they'd either be crushed or suffocate. If it was on a rampage and came near them, they were dead.

Angelique was completely in shock. A dragon? Years had passed since the last dragon attack, and never on her father's castle. In fact, since she could remember, nothing had dare to attack her father, he was the most powerful man around.

And yet there she was now, hiding in her room, waiting for everything to finish soon.

She thank God for Amelia. She was taking care of her, as Angelique was to scared to think about what to do. She was quick closing the doors and windows, hiding the two of them from whatever was outside.

At every roar of the beast, the castle rocked, and Angelique was frightened as ever. Wasn't her life never going to be better?

Finally she pulled herself together and followed her maid's advice. Crawling she hid herself under her bed, and started praying for God to help them.

Soon Amelia was with her, having shot everything down.

"Don't worry my lady," she started, " you husband will surely kill the beast. Nobody, nothing can defeat Prince Comstock."

One thing Angelique was sure of, Lars would fight whatever might come. Not for her or for the castle, but for his own sake. There was only one thing that Lars like more than fucking: killing whatever might stand in front of him.

Before long, the roars drew incredibly close, and suddenly a great scaly, clawed hand the size of a haywagon tore through the balcony doors and curtains before pulling back. A giant amber slitted eye came before the doorway, narrowing as it searched the room. Its owner snarled darkly, and the claws extended back in, ripping into the bed and pulling it aside to one wall, blocking the doorway and leaving Amelia and Angelique trapped and in plain sight. The dragon's voice boomed lie thunder, "Princess... surrender yourself now, and I will leave this godforsaken country be."

"She ain't goin' nowhere with a scaly monster!" Amelia tried to be brave and defend her mistress, but the dragon's roar made her cover her ears and crumble, terrified.

"No Amelia!" Angelique screamed as the dragon roared.

Scared as she was, angelique decided to do the brave thing for once in her life.

"I surrender," she declared decisively.

She guessed being subject to a creature like that dragon would be no different than her present life. And that way she could live knowing she had done something brave that would have saved thousands of her parents vassals. Rotten as they might be, they deserved a life. If she had to give up hers for it, what would it matter?

And, finally, she would leave the castle. Wasn't that what she had wanted so eagerly?

With tears in her eyes she hugged her friend, who was begging her not to go

"I'll be fine, Amelia," she calmed her down, although she knew it shall not be true.

Finally, she walked towards the open wall of her room, where her new life awaited her.

"No... milady, don't go..." Amelia begged helplessly, rising to hug her mistress tightly, but she leapt back involuntarily with fear as those great claws reached in to seize Angelique. She was left in his grip incapacitated but entirely unharmed. All around her laid destruction wrought by the dragon, but as he lumbered away, he avoided causing any more damage. As they went, he kept her cradled close and safe against his chest, which was much softer than his steel-like scales.

"From this moment," he growled, "you are a prisoner of Tharris Kilne, the kingdom of dragons and werebeasts, and our Lord of the same name."

As the dragon left with her, Angelique looked at what now was her past. A half destroyed castle, which she would probably never see again. And she wasn't sad at all. There was nothing she would miss. Nothing but Amelia. But she knew there was nothing she could do about it.

The rest, she would easily forget. She would now be living with just a different kind of beasts, a different kind of master or captor. The werebeasts would even be nicer. She kept hoping for that.

As the creature took care, she noticed how well it was treating her. He gripped her strongly but not hurting her in the least.

"What does this Tharris Kilne want with me?" she wanted to know.

She had read stories about dragons wanting to take girls, but they always announced it first and gave the princes the chance to duel them for the princess lives. Stories always went with the death of the dragon. But this was much more different. And she knew there was no way Lars would come and rescue her. He might already be looking for another wife.

"I truly do not know," the silver dragon answered honestly, and as they came clear of the town, he made a great leap into the air. His wings catching the air was like the sound of a massive flag in the wind. He gained altitude quickly, and once they were over five-hundred feet in the air, he let himself glide easily along, riding the wind and his own momentum.

He now had Angelique cradled in both his hands and she was free to sit up and look around. The dragon's gaze remained trained ahead, but he spoke once more to her, "I am called Neqev, and from this moment on, I will be your guardian."

Neqev... The silver dragon was a lot like Phillip, her guardian in the castle. He spoke little and did his duty following and protecting her.

Angelique wondered if her new home would be too far away. The views from up above were amazing. She could see her parent's castle, half in ruins now but still magnificent upon the hill. The lands, the towns, everything was beautiful from that height. But she had never flew before and it was making her a bit dizzy.

"Neqev, how long until we reach Tharris Kilne? I'm not feeling very well-"

She closed her eyes to try and feel better, not wanting to look at things passing by her at that high speed

"Tharris Kilne is leagues away. But if it pleases milady, I will walk while you are awake and fly while you sleep, so you may be safe from such discomfort." He let himself glide out of sight of the castle before coming down for an incredibly soft landing in a grassy field. He sat back on his haunches, looking down at the tiny human in his great hands. His gaze was that of a noble benevolence, almost like a kind king looking down at a lesser, but calling her equal all the same. He was an awesome creature, but not in the horrific, monstrous way she'd been led to believe all her life.

"Is milady alright?" He asked softly, showing her great respect that her station required. But then he sighed, "That must be such an awful question... Of course you're not. I've taken you from your home..." He sighed, setting her down in the grass.

Angelique couldn't believe such an ugly a giant creature would behave so nicely. Her husband had never called her "milady", and Neqev had said it already twice!

"I'm really fine, Neqev, " she said, as she sat on the grass. She needed to rest for a moment. "Do you mind if I sit for a minute?"

She ran her palm through his skin, rough and cold, but something told her the creature inside was completely different. Or so she hoped.

"In fact, I'm better than I have ever been."

She lay on the grass, and felt its wetness on her back. Angelique closed her eyes and listened to the sounds of nature. Silence. Only her breathing and Neqev. She had never been so peaceful. Ever.

In a moment, she was completely asleep. Nothing around her worried her, and she had the best sleep in years.

Neqev let her sleep in peace for hours, and the entire journey with him was one of peace. It took them two days to go with her comfort on Neqev's mind at all times. He was lovely company, an intelligent and thoughtful creature who was eloquent and considerate of all he came across. He knew a great deal from wisdom and experience, and was quickly proving himself to be her guardian rather than her captor.

They came upon the edge of the kingdom of Tharris Kilne in midmorning of the second day, and it was a vast range of Highlands and a range of mountains running alongside. The home of Neqev's lord lay in a mountain fortress in the north, another hour away. Neqev walked along with Angelique upon his back just ahead of his shoulders, and they came to a village where Angelique caught her first sight of free werecreatures. The only werebeasts she'd ever seen before were slaves forced to work plantations, the more beautifully-featured among them were lucky if they served as houseslaves. She had even had a few lovely and loyal weretigers at her command, but they'd been killed by her husband's cruelty. Her kingdom had never known the slavery of werewolves, they were just too dangerous, being more powerful than the others, and as they walked along the main road of the village, she caught her first glimpse of weredrakes and weredragons, things she had not known existed.

All of these people lived in harmony with many humans all equals, and they all greeted Neqev respectfully and addressed him as a lord.

Angelique was greatly surprised by her captor. He was intelligent and nice, two qualities she hadn't seen together in the same being.

It took them quite a lot to reach her new kingdom, but the trip was beautiful. Angelique had the chance to see places she had never dreamed of. Wonderful lakes, beautiful mountains, vast forests...

And the kingdom of Tharris Kilne was itself a splendid place. The kingdom was surrounded by mountains. The last part of the journey, Angelique travelled on Neqev's shoulders, so she could watch the lands she was going to leave in the near future.

She saw creatures she knew about, like weretigers she had owned when she was younger. But she had never seen werecreatures like that living freely. She would soon get used to them. Other creatures, she had never imagined about. All kinds of wereanimals were living together. In peace. She thought Tharris Kilne was a much more civilized kingdom that her parents' lands.

"Neqev, this place is beautiful," she told the dragon once they left the people behind. "How can this mixture of different creature live together in peace?"

She had never seen such a pleasant environment. Her previous kingdom was always at war, and little arguments were heard on a daily basis.

Neqev couldn't help his proud smile as her strode through the village. "We ask the very opposite of that for the rest of the world. Most humans here are abolitionists or simply unbiased, and most of the were creatures are native tribal peoples or more modern refugees. You may even see a few familiar faces. We live in harmony because not a single one of us sees another as anything less than a person. It is the human fear of mysterious things that began slavery. Many seek to destroy or control what they don't understand. We aren't like that here."

Angelique was surprised, but as she started thinking about Neqev's words, it all made sense.

She had always lived in a world were slavery was a basic feature, but she had always thought it was not necessary. She even had tried to free some of her pets and servants, but her parents hadn't let her.

"Neqev, this is a wonderful place to live. I'll start feeling bad about not having been captured before," she made a funny smile to her companion.

"Will I be meeting Tharris Kilne today? I'm so looking forward to meeting him and telling him what a nice kingdom he has. I guess he'll be happy to hear it..."

"I'm afraid Lord Tharris is not quite so... gentle as the people of his kingdom. He can be very kind and very wise, but gentility..." Neqev sighed, "He may be very difficult to get along with, milady, especially seeing how vehemently he detests your homeland and family. I will try to make the transition easier, but..."

Neqev continued on his way, feeling worse than ever for having taken the young woman from home and to a Lord who might not think twice about being cruel to her.

"But... You must be exaggerating, right? A Lord with a kingdom like this must have a gentle heart, right?" She doubted Neqev's words, though she couldn't believe he would lie to her in such a serious matter.

Maybe Tharris hated her parents, he would surely have so many reasons to do so. But she hadn't done anything to deserve his hatred. She could easily prove to him she was so different from her family, she was a nice lady, and she fit nicely in his wonderful kingdom.

"Don't worry, Neqev," she saw the unmistakeable feeling in the eyes of her new friend. "I'll easily explain how different I am from my family. At least that we have in common, deep loathing for that horrible people I was born to."

"He can be gentle, but not to outsiders. You will be treated as a prisoner for some time, my dear lady... Perhaps he will soften eventually, but I do not know. One never knows with Lord Tharris. Words mean nothing to him, so explaining will do you no good."

Angelique couldn't believe the wonderful world she had just discovered had turned so black suddenly. Only because her parents were hideous people?

Her face turned sad again, felt like she was again the prisoner in her parent's house. How could she be so unlucky?

"Well, then, take me to this Lord of yours. The sooner I turn up, the sooner I might make up for my people's crimes", she decided sadly.

If there was no other way, she'd surrender as soon as possible. She was scared, and sad for not being able to enjoy the beautiful kingdom. But she kept hope. Hope of maybe being able to soften Lord Tharris heart with time.

Neqev went on to the great mountains which were carved and shaped on the inside to be a vast fortress. They came to the largest mountain and at its foot was carved a majestic and vast entryway with great iron and oak doors and two stone dragons curled about the arch. Two live dragons of orange and red stood guard outside in massive suits of armour. They nodded in respect to Neqev and let him pass. The massive doors opened, plenty big enough for a dragon. Within, huge stone halls with soaring arched ceilings stretched before them. It was big enough for three dragons of Neqev's size to pass at the same time, but there were smaller halls at the sides made only for people. Neqev brought Angelique all the way to the end of this hall, passing great banners and tapestries and strange glowing fire bowls that somehow lit the whole place.

The great dragon finally set her down before a great door about his size. "Lord Tharris awaits." He pushed open the door and stepped inside with her. Therein laid a throne room and at the end, standing before a great table and studying a map was a great armoured weredrake. But wasn't Kilne supposed to be a weredragon...?

He was clad in half a set of steel armour, consisting of a chest plate, pauldrons, hip guards, and shin and knee plates, and beneath those was chainmail and thick black cloth. Around him swirled a black cloak, and his scales were a deep steel grey. Black hair ridged his spine along his neck and up to the top of his head, as well as a fine beard the dragons were known for in these parts. Two straight and solid horns extended back from his head behind a small crest, and his features were sharp and hard. He looked up at they entered, and Angelique was suddenly fixed with a steely grey-green gaze in dead silence.

"My lord," Neqev spoke up, "I bring Lady Angelique."

"I see that." Kilne spoke in a deep, noble voice, but it was obvious he was not pleased with who this girl was. "Well done, my friend. You may leave us."

"She is not like her parents, my lord, please give her a chance," Neqev vouched for her before turning to leave. He leaned down and whispered to her first, "I shall await your ladyship outside if you should need me..." and then he was gone.

The entrance to the cave was magnificent. To Angelique's small size, is seemed even bigger than it was, and she started wondering what size Tharris Kilne would be. The orange and red dragons were as stunning as Neqev, and the girl started to see the beauty of the strong animals. Even under their armor, she could see how magnificent these crewtures were.

Once inside, Angelique keep marveling at the place. Its wonderful tapestries, carved walls and halls. She was quite surprised by the smaller halls. If Lord Kilne would keep her a prisoner, what was going to stop her from running and hiding in one of these halls? If he was Neqev's size, there was no way he could get in there. Then she guessed she's have to get out sooner or later, or die of hunger and thirst inside.

When she finally saw Lord Tharris, she was astonished at the view. A drake? She wasn't expecting that. Of course, Neqev hadn't said he was a a dragon, but given he was his superior, she had taken it for granted. But the sight of the giant weredrake was surprising. Angelique didn't feel much scared of him, even though Neqev had told her he was mean and harsh.

But it all changed when he looked at her. His eyes were cold, almost freezing and then she knew she would have a hard time. She was petrified by his gaze and didn't dare to move an inch. She even stopped breathing for a while.

Neqev was so nice. He tried to speak up for her, but she could see in Tharris eyes that he didn't give a damn of what Neqev thought of her. As he left the room, Angelique started feeling more and more anxious, and tried to keep calm. if your should need me he had said. But she wondered whether Tharris would let him in if she called for her new friend.

As Neqev left, Angelique vowed in front of the lord. She was afraid to speak without being asked but needed to look away from him. Also, she thought letting him know that she respected him was the first thing she should do.

Kneeling on the cold floor she awaited for his words.

Tharris stepped forward, the clawtips of his reptilian feet just barely clicking on the stone floor. He paused only when he was a few feet in front of her, and he crossed his arms over his broad chest. "So... you are the Princess of Castle Domhurst..." He stroked his bearded chin, something dark in his gaze that Angelique had only ever seen in Lars' eyes when looking at other beautiful women.

Tharris stepped around her in a circle, looking her up and down, and he spoke again, "Do you have any idea why you're here, Princess? I don't think Neqev even knows why I sent him for you."