Reece had not been expecting to be hauled away from her cleaning and dragged to stand in line with every other kid. Her back still stung from the crop that had been used to urge her to walk faster and her heart was pounding in her chest. This wasn’t right, this didn’t make any sense. There was no reason to show off any of the undesirables to royalty, no reason for Reece to be here unless some way, somehow, they had decided that she was desirable. That was a sickening thought. She certainly didn’t feel desirable with her grime caked skin and tangled hair. She was dusty and sweaty from working in the abandoned courtyard, and the last place she wanted to be was in this herd.

  Some of the other kids were also confused, shifting from foot to foot or making subdued, fearful sounds that were quickly silenced with a sharp scolding or the crack of a whip. A few were crying. They didn’t have to wait long though, before the jet-black dragon swooped down from the tower. It flared its wings a few times to land gracefully, but the sails kicked up just enough sandy wind that they all had to duck their heads to keep grit out of their eyes. Reece felt ill as she listened to the quiet crunching of earth beneath the dragon’s feet as it made its way down the rows. She often did what little she could to protect some of the younger kids, but she was helpless in this lineup. Now, not even the youth were spared and it made Reece feel horrible. Horrible and selfish that she wished she wasn’t in this line, even if she knew there was no way some high and mighty royal dragon would want anything to do with her.

  The more she thought about it, the more loathing swirled in her gut. She hated all dragons, but none as much as the one responsible for her parents’ deaths. But she also blamed the royal draconic family. She blamed them for the deaths of her loved ones, for the abuse she and the other children had endured, and every death and injury that she had witnessed since she had been brought to this place. They were the ones who allowed humans to be enslaved and bred and abused. They encouraged it, even. This black dragon terrified Reece because she knew that the draconic royalty were stronger and bigger and had more devastating breaths than the other dragons, but she also loathed them with every fiber of her being and this one was no exception.

  So, when it paused in front of her, she had to curl her fingers into fists to keep her hands from shaking noticeably. Its claw was cool as it settled underneath Reece’s chin and dragged her gaze up from the dirt. As she was forced to make eye contact, Reece got her first proper look at the royal dragon. It was still pretty young. Reece’s head was just slightly higher than its shoulder, though its long neck put its head well above her. The scales were black, but glittered with the hues of a rainbow in the light. Twin ivory horns curled from the top of its skull just like every other dragon, and its eyes seemed to glow, just like every other dragon Reece had seen. They were a vibrant, electric blue. The hue matched the wings, which were folded at its sides, but were the same bright blue colour. The mane that ran from the crown of its head, all the way down its back to the tufted tip of its tail was white at the roots and bled to bright blue at the tips. At first, Reece forced herself to fix the dragon a revolted look. But when its lips pulled into a grin that seemed malicious and displayed the rows of sharp, shiny teeth, Reece felt the colour bleed from her face and she cringed away.

  When the dragon finally spoke, the two words were like knives straight through Reece’s heart. “This one.”

  She wasn’t even sure she had heard properly, but the dragon was still staring at her. Immediately, Darmellion – the draconic head of the place – stepped forward with an alarmed look. “Princess, are you certain? I do not wish to question your judgement, but this particular human is only here because you insisted on seeing them all. She has proven to be quite incompetent and is slated for reassignment in the mines. I would be remiss if we were to send you back with poor quality stock. Some wild humans just cannot be as effectively tamed.”

  Reece probably should have been offended by his words, but she was fairly certain she would rather take her chances in the mines than to find herself at the mercy of this dragon.

  Unfortunately, the statement only seemed to annoy the black dragon, because her tail thumped in the dirt and she growled, and Reece was close enough to see the bluish light glistening in the back of her nostrils. If she parted her jaws now, Reece would be in direct line of whatever breath this dragon possessed. But after a moment, the dragon shuddered and inhaled sharply before shaking her head. “I have made my choice,” she reaffirmed. “This is the human that I want.”

  No. NO! Reece wanted to snarl the refusal at the dragon, but her voice snagged in her throat and nothing left her lips except a terrified croak.

  The dragon lowered her claw away from Reece’s chin, but still held her gaze head on. Though she was speaking to Darmellion, Reece felt as though the dragon was addressing her directly as she continued speaking. “I trust that double the price we discussed will be sufficient to keep any flaws you believe this one has to yourself? I am interested in this creature because its bold little backbone will make it delightful to toy with, but I am not interested in a scandal if the situation were to be misinterpreted.”

  “I would never dream of betraying your confidence, princess,” Darmellion agreed.

  “Good,” the black dragon purred. Her tail twitched once more and her wings fluttered as she leaned down. “You may clear the courtyard. Raxtone has your fee for you. Tell him that I no longer require his escort and he is to return without me. I will follow shortly, but first I am going to spend a little…quality time with this one.”

  The menacing gleam to the dragon’s smile and her eager tone made Reece’s heart plummet into her feet while her fight or flight urged her to flee, but she just stood there, rooted to the earth like one of the many pillars in the courtyard. Around her, commotion started up again as the rest of the candidates were herded away and back to their various tasks. All the while, the black dragon maintained eye contact and Reece found that she couldn’t look away.

  Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the dragon broke eye contact and it was like a spell had been broken because Reece finally crumpled to her knees as fear overwhelmed her. There was no chance to indulge her fight or flight, however, as the dragon’s head snaked around and clamped its jaws around the protruding collar of the slip she wore. Reece’s feet left the ground as she was lifted up, and she froze up again. Her fear of heights had only exacerbated since her youth and she dreaded the notion that the dragon was about to take off. But the dragon’s wings remained folded at her sides and instead she walked across the courtyard with Reece swaying with the bounce in each step and each bob of the dragon’s head. It carried her out past the guarded gateway and the three guards who would have whipped her and jabbed her with the pointy tips of their spears for getting too close now remained stoic as the dragon walked by.

  Reece had never been beyond the temple before. Since she had been flown in when she was little, she had been trapped behind the walls. Now, as the dragon lowered her back down to the ground, Reece felt grass beneath her toes for the first time that she could remember. She would have relished the sensation if the black dragon were not still looming over her. The rules she had been taught ordered her to bow before the dragon and give her whatever she wanted, but Reece refused to bend and when the dragon made eye contact once more, Reece stared defiantly back.

  She knew it was a deadly game. If she pissed it off, the dragon was likely to eat her or crush her or blast her with dragonbreath. But it did none of those things and just chuckled. The dragon crouched down and lowered her neck. “Get on.”

  “W-what?” Reece’s voice cracked and squeaked as she spoke in a volume barely elevated above a whisper.

  The dragon rolled her eyes and jerked her head towards herself. “Get on,” she repeated.

  Reece wasn’t sure she was comprehending the dragon correctly. So far, this ‘royal’ dragon had acted quite unorthodox, but riding a dragon was so completely unheard of that Reece had to be hearing things. There was no way that any dragon, least of all one of royal blood, would lower themselves and allow a human to ride them like a common horse. Though there was nothing common about the monsters. And she certainly wasn’t going to invite this one’s wrath, nor did she have any interest in flying anywhere anyway.

  The dragon didn’t give her a choice in the matter though, as it plucked her up between its teeth again and deposited her on its back, right at the nape of its neck where it met the shoulders. “Grip onto my mane,” it advised. “And put your feet at the curve of my shoulders so you have something to brace against.”

  Reece was mortified. She had never, ever been this close to a dragon’s head and neck without being too near the jaws. Though the dragon’s scales were warm and smooth, the mane was incredibly silky and soft. At first, Reece wanted to jump down and run away, but the dragon was already spreading her large, light blue sails and preparing for take-off, and Reece acted purely on instinct as she planted her feet and fisted her fingers into the dragon’s mane just as it sprung up and into the air with a mighty flap of its wings and Reece screaming horridly as it climbed higher and higher into the sky.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  There was very little purchase on the slippery scales and Reece felt like she was going to slide off at any moment. She gripped at the dragon’s mane as tightly as she could and buried her face in it as she began to sob. She hated dragons and had lived most of her life knowing she would die in an untimely and likely horrible way, but falling off the back of a dragon was probably the worst way she could imagine.

  “You are pulling a little hard there…You are crying. Crying and shaking…Okay, come here.”

  Reece felt the dragon tugging at the collar of her slip again, but she clung all the more frantically in her fright.

  “You are making this more difficult,” the dragon complained.

  The dragon craned its neck awkwardly, its wings flapping furiously to maintain balance in the air, and it closed its teeth around Reece’s body. That alone made Reece freeze up, her quivering momentarily stilled with a new terror. But the dragon was gentle and none of the sharp fangs pierced Reece’s skin as she was pulled up and off the dragon’s back.

  “Please don’t drop me, please don’t drop me. Just eat me if you mean to kill me, but don’t drop me,” Reece pleaded. She hadn’t even realized that she’d said the words out loud until the dragon placed her in its cupped palms and chuckled.

  “Never,” it assured her. “And I am not going to eat you either.” Then the dragon pulled Reece close so that she was pressed to the large, flat scoots of its neck. They were warm and soft, and Reece could hear the dragon’s heartbeat through them. It was strong and steady. “Be calm,” the dragon murmured. Earlier, its tone had been that of malicious glee and the same cold, aloofness that Reece figured all dragons possessed. But now, it was warm and calm as it hugged her to its chest.

  Reece wanted to shove away from the embrace, but if she managed it, she would be flung into open air and just the thought made her stomach flip and her heart stall. So, she stayed nestled there, her fingers kneading for some sort of purchase on the sleek scales in case the dragon were to let go, but it held her tightly.

  “I will not drop you,” the dragon reaffirmed. “You are safe. Just breathe and lie still.”

  Reece barely heard the dragon, she was still consumed with panic, but eventually the rest of the flight was filled only with the subtle whistle of the wind and the steady beat of the dragon’s wings, both muffled by the thunderous thud of its heart.

  Finally, the dragon began to angle back down, and Reece clung to it again as it banked its wings and landed. It set her down on a smooth stone floor before it dropped down to all fours properly and settled in to stare at her. “Better now?” it checked.

  Reece wiped at her face and sniffled before peeking up at the dragon. It had reclined onto its belly with its tail twitching idly. She didn’t want to be here, didn’t know what to expect, but at least some of the raw terror was beginning to fade away. The dragon was still staring at her expectantly and Reece realized she had been asked a question. Better was a relative term, but her panic attack was fading, so she nodded her head.

  “Good,” the dragon hummed. “I did not realize you had a fear of flight. Most humans are desensitized to it.”

  Reece snorted. Now that her fear was subsiding, her hatred came bubbling back. “Yeah, you monsters tried, you failed.”

  She was expecting the dragon to get angry, she wouldn’t have been surprised if it bit her in half, and knew she was goading it in part because there was nothing for her here. She would not live in the servitude of some haughty dragon princess. But the dragon seemed to ignore the insult and simply lowered her head to meet Reece’s gaze at eye level. “Your phobia runs too deep,” the dragon acknowledged. “I will be more conscientious of it in the future. Can you stand?”

  Reece had no desire to remain planted on her butt in the dragon’s presence, so she staggered to her feet, if only to feel a bit less helpless. A hard feat when staring down a deadly lizard.

  The dragon also rose to its feet and arched its spine before giving itself a shake. “Come on then,” it urged as it nudged her with its snout and nearly knocked her to the ground once more. “Let’s get you into a bath.”

  Indignation rose in Reece at the suggestion and she couldn’t help the retort that spilled from her lips like her own personal venom. “What, too dirty for you? Worried I’ll mess up your royal floors?” She knew she shouldn’t goad the dragon this much, was never quite this outspoken back at the training temple, but her life was forfeit anyway. She wanted this dragon to know how much she hated it before it killed her anyway, now or when it grew bored.

  The dragon’s head swivelled around so that its snout was nearly brushing Reece’s nose. She nearly stumbled back before she caught herself and stared the monster down. “We need to wash your mark off,” the dragon countered in a matter-of-fact tone.

  Instantly, Reece wilted. “Oh…right.” The lack of reaction and the simple explanation took a lot of the wind out of Reece’s sails. Her mark. The number that they stained into her skin to identify her by while she was growing up. If she had been reassigned to the mines or labour camps, they wouldn’t have bothered removing it, but here…here a mark would only bring her more trouble. And there were other forms of identification and ownership that she would have to endure now.

  “Besides, you were working in the heat and dust all day. You look and smell it. Are you telling me you would not desire the chance to clean up?”

  Reece said nothing as the dragon herded her across the lavish quarters and into a side room with a large water basin. Water trickled down from a rocky waterfall at a leisurely pace and created a soft, misty froth across the surface. She hesitated as they approached. It looked deep and she was also reluctant strip from her slip. It wasn’t much, but it was the only piece of protection and covering that she possessed. “Would now be a good time to mention that I cannot swim either?”

  The dragon chuckled. “There are ledges, you will not need to.”

  “Any chance you’ll let me clean up alone?”

  “In the future, if you wish, yes,” the dragon agreed. “But the ink is magic. Only a dragon can wash your mark away.”

  Reece stumbled at the response. The dragon had just…agreed. She hadn’t expected that. “You mean you’d actually let-”

  “Get in the water,” the dragon interrupted with a huff. Instead of giving Reece the opportunity to comply, the dragon extended one wing to block their view of each other, but used a claw to tear the slip open. It fluttered to the floor and the dragon used the wing membrane to give Reece a nudge into the water. The first ledge was still pretty deep and Reece sank up to her hips. When she crouched down, it was up over her shoulders. The water was strangely warm, and the froth helped conceal her body. She was reeling a bit over the dragon’s actions. It was still pushy and crude, but it had bothered to preserve some of her modesty and Reece had never known a dragon to care about that in the past.

  Once she was in the water, the dragon slithered in after her and curled its tail loosely around her to outline a safe zone in the basin where the water would not get any deeper. Then it handed her a sponge. “Wash up,” it urged. “I will deal with your back and the mark.”

  It was a strange sensation, being this close to a dragon and yet oddly relaxed. The water was warm and already helping to loosen some of the grime on her skin. It felt nice. But it was also foreign to have the same dragon rubbing a coarse sponge over her back. Reece, like all the others, had been marked with a large number across her shoulder blades, and a smaller one down her left arm. The dragon was right that she would have to be the one to scrub it off, because Reece couldn’t make the numbers fade on her own. But she still could not get over the situation. If a human was taken to live in direct servitude like this, it would not be a far stretch to imagine they’d be expected to bathe the dragon. Reece could be made to spend hours working with a sponge and picks to clean beneath scales and between teeth and talons, but having one dote that attention on her was backwards and strange.

  Still, Reece was glad to be rid of the mark. She had always hated the way it branded her as no longer her own. That hadn’t changed, but at least she would no longer have the reminder emblazoned on her arm. She could feel it, as the ink began to melt away off her back, and she sagged with relief. It was like there was a mass knotted inside of her that was finally loosening.

  “Give me your arm,” the dragon urged.

  Reece tried not to shudder as the dragon’s claws curled around her forearm so that she could scrub at Reece’s other mark. It quickly yielded and the dark ink dripped away from her skin and vanished into the water below. As soon as it was gone, Reece stumbled in the water with a gasp.

  The dragon’s tail moved faster than a bolt of lightning and caught her. The dragon held her upright calmly and quietly, until Reece regained her footing. “Feel strange?” the dragon inquired.

  “Y-yeah.”

  “A little hollowed out?”

  Reece frowned as she nodded. That was exactly how she felt. It was odd that the dragon knew. “Yeah,” she agreed. “H-how did you…”

  “It is the ink,” the dragon explained. “It is meant to weaken you, help keep you docile. Which, given what I’ve seen of you…I cannot wait to see what you are like when you are whole. You will not feel empty for long. Now that the mark is gone, you’ll regain your strength with a little food and rest.” The dragon’s bright blue eyes gleamed with glee and it made Reece shiver. Just what exactly did the black and blue lizard want with her?

  But before she could ask any questions, the dragon turned and hauled herself out of the pool. She shook herself and water flew in all directions from her mane. Then she reared onto her back legs, her long body bending as she grasped a shelf against the wall and pulled down a towel. It was easily twice Reece’s size, but the dragon met Reece’s gaze again as she laid it on the edge of the basin. “Stay in as long as you like,” the dragon offered. Then she turned and trotted from the bathing chamber into the main room once more. There was a fire lit in the fireplace, and the dragon sprawled out beside it, likely to dry off, and lowered her head down to where she and Reece could still see each other, but also left Reece to her own devices for now.

  Reece shivered. So far, this dragon did not behave like any other she had encountered, nor how she expected a royal one to be. It was alarming and disorienting, and Reece wasn’t sure how to feel. She lifted her arm to stare at her flesh where the mark used to be. In its place was rosy, slightly irritated skin. Despite herself and her situation, Reece found herself smiling, just a little, as she flexed her fingers and twisted her arm. At least for now, she bore no marks of ownership and was glad for it. And the water was warm, there was that. She knew she should be more concerned about her situation, but for now, she slumped until the water was up to her chin and she was leaned against the side of the basin, and just soaked.