#chain pregnancy

[infinitegest]

an arranged marriage for a royal couple. both are fairly hesitant about it, they barely know each other, but duty demands that they join together and produce heirs.

five years later, they’ve done so, and then some— they have six children and another pair of twins on the way. their families are happy that they’re getting along so well, and are so dedicated to the good of the nation.

honestly, though? the young couple have completely forgotten anything about duty or obligation. haven’t really given it a thought since that a moment, a couple months after the royal wedding, where they noticed that one of them was gently swelling. exploring sexuality and kink can be a bit tricky when you’re young and locked into the proprieties of court life, but they realized something that day:

they both really, really like big bellies.

so no, there’s no sense of duty or royal obligation. they’re just operating off of raw animal instinct, the need to breed and multiply. they aren’t even particularly interested in being parents, which is fine since they have a battalion of wet nurses and tutors at the ready.

sure, in court they’ll put on the appearance of dignity and regality, doing they’re best to ignore just how much that dress is straining to contain all that growing life… but as soon as they’re alone, there’s no pretense. and after the birth, they’re both ready to start working on the next set of heirs as soon as possible.

[etirabys]

tonight I made and ate what I thought was an incredible quiche (animal + seitan chorizo, marinaded artichokes, onion) and wondered why it took me so long to try making this famously easy dish. well. the moment I asked I knew why. it's because I read Conrad's Fate at a formative age

preteen protagonist conrad has a divorced (widowed?) breadwinner mother makes her living writing inflammatory feminist books while not doing any housework, so preteen conrad does all the cooking. but all he makes is quiche and everyone is sick of it. the book might have described it as rubbery, too. I, a preteen in Korea who had no idea what quiche even was, got an ick for this food that lasted almost two decades subsequently

[kayte-overmoon]

Daisy Chain - Part 5 (Finale)

Previous Part

Alpha Geralt/Omega Jaskier

Rated E

Pregnancy AU

Full tags on AO3

“I’m fine, truly.”

Everyone in the room ignores Jaskier’s insistence.

“Honestly, you’re all making such a—”

“Hush.” Geralt’s command leaves no room for argument.

Jaskier, pale and bright eyed where he lies in their bed, snaps his mouth shut.

Geralt hasn’t stopped pacing since he deposited Jaskier on the bed while Yen got Triss and Vesemir. Eskel, Lambert, and Aiden heard the commotion and followed the sound of Geralt’s bellowing to see what all the fuss was about, so now, all the keep’s inhabitants are packed into a room barely big enough for the two of them. Geralt nearly trips over Lambert’s feet every time he paces, but neither of them care to do anything about it.

Triss holds Jaskier’s hand, her brow furrowed in concentration while Vesemir holds an instrument up to his ear and presses the other end to Jaskier’s belly. They’ve been checking Jaskier over for what feels like hours in Geralt’s mind but has really only been a few minutes.

Geralt’s getting impatient. “Well?”

Triss looks up at him then to Vesemir. She’s frowning, but she’s not making any sudden moves to save Jaskier’s life, so it can’t be too dire. Vesemir shakes his head, lowering the instrument.

“They’re both fine,” Triss says.

Geralt does trip over Lambert’s foot, then. He catches himself at the last moment and stumbles to Jaskier’s side. The bard finds his hand and tangles their fingers together. Geralt squeezes as hard as he dares.

“Fine?” Jaskier asks. Gone is his bluster from earlier. Geralt can hear the too-quick thrumming of his heart, smell his worry in the air.

“You’re well, Jaskier,” Vesemir assures him. “And so is your pup. It’s just that your heart is working a bit too hard. Have you been experiencing any dizziness, black spots in your vision when you stand?”

Jaskier flicks his eyes to Geralt’s for only a moment. “Yes.” When Geralt rises again, prepared to yell at him, he corrects, “Only the past day or so, though.”

“You could have told us, Jaskier.” Triss’ voice is soft. She looks a bit peaked in the pale green dress she’s wearing. She’d hastily tied her hair up into a bun upon entering the room, and half of it is falling loose. She’s worried about him. It warms Geralt’s heart just the slightest to know he’s not the only one going frayed at the edges over this. “We’re here to help you.”

Jaskier pouts and starts playing with Geralt’s fingers. A few days ago, he’d taken one of his own rings and jokingly shoved it on Geralt’s pinky, and he’d yet to remove it since. Geralt likes the feel of it. Jaskier likes messing with it while they’re holding hands. “I didn’t think it was anything worth noting,” Jaskier murmurs.

Everything about you is worth noting, Geralt wants to tell him, but all that comes out is a grumble.

Jaskier avoids his gaze then asks, “What do we do?”

“You aren’t doing anything.” Vesemir rises from the bed with a parting pat to Jaskier’s leg. “You need rest. As much as you can get. You’re not to leave this bed for more than a few minutes until the pup comes.”

Again, Geralt tries to speak, to say I’ll strap him down if I must, but he only manages a low growl.

Triss drops Jaskier’s hand and backs away from the bedside. Lambert takes a reproachful step in front of Aiden.

Yennefer, who’s been hovering nearby in case Triss needed her assistance, steps forward and places a hand on Geralt’s arm. “Put your teeth away, Geralt. No one’s going to touch your little bird.”

With no small amount of shame, Geralt realizes he’s been snarling. He ceases at once and leans closer to his omega to press his nose in his hair.

Blessedly, Vesemir starts talking before anyone can make note of Geralt’s behavior. “This is relatively normal at this stage of pregnancy. We should be thankful it’s only becoming an issue now instead of earlier. We’ll make sure you have lots of water and meat to keep your strength up. You can go for a short walk once a day, but never on your own. Don’t even attempt the stairs. You’re staying within running distance of this room.”

“How long?” Jaskier’s voice is tense. Geralt can smell his worry wafting off him in waves. He growls softly, hoping the rumble of his voice will calm the omega. “Should I expect the pup tomorrow? Another month from now?”

Geralt’s head is turned away still but he can hear Vesemir shrug. “It’s hard to say for certain, but I would wager sooner rather than later. You said you conceived around Belleteyn?”

Jaskier nods, bumping Geralt’s nose as he does.

“Then it could be any day now. We pray you carry to term, but I wouldn’t hedge my bets on it.”

The bard’s hands stray to his belly and Geralt covers them with one of his own on instinct. The others shuffle out, giving them privacy.

Once the door closes, Jaskier drops his head and groans. “I feel like an invalid.”

Geralt frowns and presses a kiss to Jaskier’s ear. “You’re not.”

“Ah, so you can talk,” the bard muses. “For a minute there I was worried you’d gone full alpha on me. It’s very sweet, and possibly one of the sexiest things I’ve ever witnessed, but you’re rather a bore to talk to when you’re like that.”

Geralt snorts. “Can’t have you bored, can we?”

“It’s quite possibly the worst thing that could happen to me at this moment.”

Rolling his eyes, Geralt sits up. “And how can I ensure you’re entertained, my liege?”

“I can think of a few ways…” Jaskier drifts a hand down Geralt’s chest, across his stomach, to hook into the waist of the witcher’s trousers—

Geralt catches his wrist before he gets any further. “Anything but that.”

Jaskier pouts like Geralt’s just told him he can’t have dessert before dinner. “Can’t I just have you in my mouth? Nothing more.”

Geralt feels himself start to harden at the soft plea, but he ignores it. “You already had me in your mouth this morning.” His chest warms at the memory. Soft lips, hot tongue, stuttered breaths stirring the hair beneath his navel… “Besides, if standing is an issue for your health, I can’t imagine gagging will do you much better.”

Jaskier blushes, drawing his legs up under the covers. “I’m getting better at it, though,” he protests. His scent has mellowed back out, sour worry replaced with the sun-warmed honey of arousal and embarrassment. “I hardly choked this morning. Only once or twice.”

“Which is one or two times too many for my liking.” Geralt eases the bard back against the pillows, tucking a few more in around him to keep him secure. “Can I get you anything? Other than—” He cuts Jaskier off when he sees the glint in those pretty eyes. “—my cock.”

With a huff, the omega flops into the pillows. “I suppose a book will do. But only if you read it to me.”

Geralt rolls his eyes at the bard’s impertinence but goes to find a book of fables Jaskier adores.

⚘⚘⚘

Even with books, and a minimum of two guests to keep him company at any given time, it takes Jaskier all of three days before he’s complaining.

“Can’t I just go to the library?” he whines from the bed. He’s given up on asking to be taken to the hot springs. Geralt doesn’t want to risk taking him that far. Besides, his omega’s heart always beats faster in the hot springs, from the heat and the proximity of Geralt’s naked body. He’s not willing to risk the added stress to his heart.

But this? This he can do.

Geralt uncorks a bottle and upends its contents into the tub he’s been gradually filling with water. The scent of chamomile, a bit too strong for his sensibilities, fills the air of their room. “No.”

“But Geralt—”

“Jask, we’ve talked about this.” He sets the bottle aside and lifts a hand, casting Igni. There’s a ripple over the water, then steam begins rising from its surface.

“No, you’ve talked about this. I’ve had no say in it.”

Geralt turns his back to the tub (it will need to cool down for a few minutes before he lets Jaskier in) and puts his hands on his hips. “Exactly. Because if it were up to you, you’d still be strutting about the keep.”

Jaskier frowns. He looks ridiculous, frankly. His hair is fluffed up on one side from his post-lunch nap. He’s managed to acquire every unused blanket and pillow in the entirety of Kaer Morhen—and a fair few of the in-use ones as well—and has constructed himself a truly impressive nest. Geralt has to climb over its walls every time he leaves or enters the bed. It’s enough to make him smile, even with Jaskier’s near-constant complaining.

“I do not strut.”

Geralt snorts.

When he deems the water cool enough, he coaxes Jaskier slowly from the bed, making sure he doesn’t rise too quickly. He strips him efficiently, ignoring the bard’s waggling eyebrows, and gets him in the tub with little fuss.

Jaskier sinks into the water with a sigh, leaning his head against one end. Luckily, it’s large enough for him to lay back and stretch out his legs. It was made for witchers, who are tall and broad and often covered in unspeakable things, so it’s the perfect size for a man of average height and build to lounge in.

“I know it’s not the springs,” Geralt says, taking a seat on stool beside the tub. “But it’s still nice, right?”

Jaskier grumbles his unhappy agreement.

His discontent melts away almost as soon as Geralt gets his hands in his hair, washing it and brushing it out with his fingers until Jaskier’s purring drowns everything else out. Geralt tries not to be too smug about it. He’s been patient with Jaskier’s moods the past few days. He’s never carried a child, so he has no clue what his bard is going through. He’s seen how he winces when the pup kicks him, noticed how frequently he has to relieve himself these days. Geralt knows Jaskier’s not upset with him—he’s just upset. This is one of the small things he knows Jaskier loves.

He rinses Jaskier’s hair then runs his hands down the omega’s neck, massaging his tight muscles.

Jaskier melts further, his chin nearly dipping beneath the lukewarm water. He looks as if nothing can shake him from his peace.

Nothing, that is, except for a loud thud from the room next door.

Jaskier jolts, and Geralt turns his head to listen: there’s another soft thunk, a hiss of a voice, then a shuffle, then Eskel’s voice muttering an apology. From Jaskier’s curious eyes peeking back at him, he knows he can’t hear the voices and is trusting Geralt to relay any pertinent information. A soft chuckle—light and feminine—from the room next door makes Geralt decide it’s none of his business until someone makes it his business.

He shakes his head softly. If Eskel has decided to whisk a certain curly-haired sorceress to a more private room, it’s no skin off Geralt’s teeth. It is, however, a bit strange they’ve decided to dally in the room right next to the nesting omega. Odd choice, but who is Geralt to judge?

“Just Eskel,” he tells Jaskier. “Sounds like he’s finally getting around to replacing the chipped grout in the room next-door.”

There’s an innuendo there waiting to be picked apart, but Jaskier doesn’t pay it any mind. He reclines in the tub and tips his head, letting Geralt know he’d like to continue this little massage, please and thank you.

Geralt snorts and does as he’s asked.

⚘⚘⚘

The mysterious sounds from next door continue for the better part of the week before Geralt gets answers.

He’s dubious about his first assumption. If the constant clunks and scrapes are the sounds of Eskel’s lovemaking, he may need professional intervention—in the medical sense, not the professional sense. Though he supposes Eskel’s partner has all the expertise he would need for such an ailment.

The medical expertise, of course.

He and Jaskier are having dinner—roast quail and potatoes in some fragrant broth for which Vesemir refuses to share the recipe—with Yennefer keeping them company in the chair by the fire. None of them have dared trying to enter the nest. Geralt grits his teeth when anyone is within shouting distance of his omega, but Jaskier himself has begun showing signs of aggression common in nesting omegas. Everyone steers clear from his nest, not even daring to look at it for more than a few seconds, and no one besides Jaskier has touched Geralt since Lambert patted his arm in passing after breakfast one day and Jaskier exploded into a bone-chilling snarl. Geralt had been floored. He’s never even truly heard Jaskier raise his voice at anyone besides the occasional alderman who thought he could get away with shorting Geralt on payment for a contract. This snarl—primal and raw and wholly un-Jaskier—made him freeze in place.

So, Yen keeps her distance.

Surprisingly, she and Jaskier get along great. Geralt worried that now Jaskier knew about his romantic past with Yennefer, things would be strained. Quite the opposite. It seems both having had Geralt at one point or another is all the common ground they needed to become thick as thieves. He’s come to accept that if the two of them are in a room together, Geralt will be the butt of every one of their jokes.

He's letting their conversation wash over him, ignoring the muted whispers from the room adjacent to theirs with his empty bowl in his lap and his belly full. He’s warm. Content.

“Ah!” Jaskier’s soft cry catches his attention. Once, it may have scared him to hear such a noise, but he’s grown accustomed to the way his omega’s hand jolts to his side when the pup decides it’s time to move.

Yen, however, is on her feet before Jaskier can assure her he’s fine. “What’s wrong?” She’s gone pale beneath the dark blue wool gown she’s wearing—the nicest thing she’s worn since coming to the keep. “Do you need me to fetch Triss?”

Jaskier chuckles and sinks back into his pillows. “No, no. She’s just fidgety. Kicked me in the ribs. She’s rather fond of potatoes, I think. Can’t stop wiggling every time I have them. Which is frequently, by the way. Why these witchers grow so many tubers is beyond me—”

Geralt rolls his eyes and takes Jaskier’s bowl when it’s done. As he rises and takes their dishes to the tray on the table by the door (Vesemir will come fetch it soon, or Yen will take it with her when she leaves), he’s aware of Yen’s trouble gaze. She sat back down when it became clear Jaskier wasn’t going into labor at that very moment, but there’s still a frown resting firmly between her brows.

“Would you like to come feel?”

Geralt’s spine goes straight. His back is turned so he can’t see the look on either of their faces. He’s afraid to look and break whatever moment of intimacy the two of them may be having.

This is big, he knows. Though her ascension had changed her much the same way the Trials had changed Geralt, Yennefer is all alpha. She masks it with the coyness of her eyes and light perfumes that soften her scent, but it’s clear to anyone with half a brain what she is. Jaskier is in his own nest that he shares only with Geralt. Even when Triss comes in to examine him, she’s taken to easing him into one of the lounge chairs they’ve brought from the library instead of joining him on the bed. To invite Yen near, to touch him, is a massive test of faith.

He still can’t see Yennefer’s face, but he hears the tremble in her voice when she asks, “Are you certain?”

There’s a puff of air from the nest—the sound most commonly paired with Jaskier’s award-winning eye rolls. “I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t. Come.”

Geralt tries to give them privacy, he really does, but the closer Yen’s footsteps get to his nest, the more tense his shoulders grow until they’re raised nearly to his ears. He bites down on a growl and spins, gripping the table behind him to keep from lashing out.

Yen’s smart enough to know not to enter the nest. She merely leans over and reaches out a hand, waiting for Jaskier to grab her wrist before touching him.

Jaskier’s face is passive, as neutral as it can be, but Geralt feels his apprehension as if it’s his own. Much of their arrangement hinges on how well Yennefer gets along with Jaskier and the pup. If he doesn’t trust her around his child, or if she isn’t willing to protect them both, then her training will fail before it ever truly begins. Geralt may have agreed to train her, but Jaskier is his first priority. If he’s uncomfortable or unhappy, or there’s even the slightest chance this could lead to him or the pup getting hurt, Geralt is pulling the plug. If they’re to travel the Path together, the four of them, as a unit, this needs to work.

Jaskier pulls her hand until it rests on the swell of his stomach over his shirt. He shifts her around, brow furrowed, until the pup gives another kick. He grins triumphantly as Yennefer jolts in surprise. Her eyes dart from her hand to Jaskier’s face, then back again half a dozen times in a few short moments.

“Do you—that doesn’t feel comfortable?” It’s the most unsure Yen has ever sounded.

Jaskier laughs, relaxing minutely and letting go of her wrist. “Sometimes I can ignore it. Every now and then she’ll get particularly rowdy and decide to pick a fight with my liver or what have you.”

Yennefer’s hand lingers for a moment before she finally steps away. “Sounds like she’ll make a fine witcher one day.”

The tension that had left Geralt when she stepped away from the nest returns in force. Jaskier’s eyes go wide then snap in Geralt’s direction for the first time since he walked away. The bard shrinks into the bed. His hand curls under the swell of his belly.

“No,” Geralt finds himself saying through gritted teeth. “Not that.”

Jaskier stares at him, his scent going sour in the air. He doesn’t speak.

Now a few paces away from the bed, Yennefer twists her hands together. “I’m… sorry. I didn’t mean to imply anything.”

Geralt glares at her. “You did, though.”

For the first time since he’s known her, Geralt watches Yennefer of Vengerberg drop her head. “I’ll leave you be.” Then she’s gone, the door left open in her haste.

Geralt is back in the nest in an instant. “She’s wrong.” Jaskier’s still looking at him oddly, so he continues. “I don’t want the pup to be a witcher. She needs a proper childhood. She doesn’t need to be able to wield a sword before she can climb a tree on her own, or hunt before she’s learned how to read. I don’t want her to grow up the way I did—”

He’s rambling, he knows. It’s something he’d never done before he met Jaskier. Just another one of the countless ways this man has changed him.

The man in question reaches out for him, halting him mid-tirade. “It’s fine, dear heart. Just Mumma brain going a bit wild.” He pulls on Geralt’s arm until he relaxes beside him, letting Jaskier curl up against him. “I don’t mind the idea of her witchering one day, once she’s grown.” When Geralt only blinks in surprise, he laughs. “What, did you think the idea was completely foreign to me? Of course I’ve thought about it. While she’s sure to have my share of musical genius and blinding wit, if you’re raising her, she’s bound to be tough. If it’s what she chooses, I have no qualms. Well, okay. I have several qualms, but they’re not too qualmy so as to be an obstacle.”

He's not lying. Geralt would know if he was. Still, it’s impossible to imagine. What parent would want their child going into a profession marred with blood and disgust of others? Geralt, for one, does not want this child to face what he’s had to face. He’s been beaten and bloodied, left at the brink of death for nothing but sheer luck to bring him back. He’s been scorned from entire cities, spat on, and cursed. And before the Path, he’d suffered grueling training and the horror of the Trials. The pain still haunts him sometimes, the screams of his dying brothers ringing in his ears long after he wakes.

A finger jabs between his eyebrows, poking without mercy. “Stop that,” Jaskier tells the frown on his witcher’s face. “You’ve said it yourself. You witchers are making your own rules now. You’re bending them for Yennefer, and you’ll bend them again if one day our child decides this is what she wants, too.” His finger moves down the striga scar bisecting Geralt’s eyebrow that’s long since healed. “I know you’ll protect her, just as you’ve protected me. There’s no one I’d trust more with her.”

Geralt sighs and drops his head to his omega’s shoulder. His scent is stronger here, thicker. It grows more honeyed each day. It’s all he can do to keep from curling up and keeping his nose pressed right here all day. “You’re a fool,” he tells the bard.

“I know.” Jaskier’s reply is lacking the mirth Geralt had expected. “But it’s true. I’ve never trusted anyone the way I trust you. I’d let you lead me blindfolded over a pit of vipers if you promised we’d make it to the other side.”

“You have my full permission to push me in if it ever comes to that.”

The bard snorts, but before he can reply further, someone raps on the open door.

Eskel steps in, one hand covering his eyes. “You decent?”

“No,” Jaskier says. “But we are clothed, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Eskel peeks between his fingers like he’s afraid Jaskier is lying, then drops his hand when he sees they are indeed clothed. Geralt rolls his eyes. “We have a surprise for you,” Eskel says.

“We?” Geralt asks.

As if summoned, Triss appears at Eskel’s side, draping a hand around his elbow. “We’ve got a present for you next door.”

Jaskier looks to him. Geralt shrugs and peels himself from the nest, reaching for Jaskier’s hands to help him up as well. It takes a moment to get him upright, mostly due to Geralt making sure he’s not rising too quickly.

Triss and Eskel lead them to the room next door—the one they’d initially put Jaskier in before he moved in with Geralt, the one Geralt had thought Triss and Eskel to be making very creative love—and as they do, the rest of the keep’s inhabitants appear in the hall. Yen still looks chagrined, but she’s smiling just the faintest where she stands against the wall between Vesemir and Lambert.

Triss stands before the closed door. “We’ve all been working on this for the past few weeks.” She turns to smile at each of the people gathered in the hall. “Vesemir had the idea, and everyone else has pitched in to make it happen.”

“Enough with the pomp and circumstance!” Lambert cries. “Just open the bloody door.”

With an eyeroll to rival even Jaskier’s, Triss opens the door and steps aside to let them enter.

Geralt eases Jaskier in front of him, letting him be first, and he’s glad he does. The second the bard steps inside, he gasps and falls back into Geralt’s chest. He catches him, prepared to sweep him up if he’s fainted, but he’s merely staring at the room with shining eyes.

When Geralt looks up, he can see why.

The whole room has been aired out and scrubbed clean. It no longer smells of dust and stale woodsmoke as these unused rooms often do. The wooden pallet bed has been removed and, in its place, sits a crib, carefully constructed with stars and moons carved into the slats. A wooden hoop hangs above it, more stars and moons carved from wood and painted silver dangling from it as it spins slowly—likely magic, of some sort. By the fire, there’s a new rug woven from various shades of blue. Beside that is a rocking chair Geralt has never seen, already draped with cushions and blankets, ready for use.

“Oh.” Jaskier’s voice comes out small but he’s holding himself upright again, now merely holding onto Geralt’s arm for support. He turns in a circle about the room, reaching out to touch the hoop above the bed. “I had a mobile like this when I was a child. Did you make it?”

“Eskel carved the stars,” Triss says. She and the others stand at the door, letting Geralt and his omega explore the nursery for themselves. “Yen painted it. I cast the enchantments. It will spin on its own, and it glows at night. Lambert and Aiden brought the fabric for the rug. Vesemir helped put the rocker together.”

Jaskier’s hands drops and grips the edge of the crib. He gazes down into it, eyes shining.

Geralt swallows a few times to clear the lump in his throat. Whatever he’d been expecting, it wasn’t this.

“It’s not much,” Eskel tells them. There’s a meekness to his voice, like he’s embarrassed to have been caught doing something sentimental. “But we’ve never had a baby in the keep, at least not as far as Ves can remember.”

Geralt looks to his father, who’s still leaning against the wall in the hallway, letting the younger witchers watch the events unfurling in the nursery. The old wolf shakes his head. “The youngest boy we ever had just turned three when we got him,” he says. To someone who doesn’t know him, the bitterness in his voice would be unnoticeable. Geralt and his brother’s clock it immediately. “Besides, your girl deserves more than a musty cot in a drafty hallway.”

The lump in Geralt’s throat returns, and he tries to hide it by draping himself around Jaskier, holding onto his belly and scenting him gently. “What do you think?”

Jaskier turns to press his cheek to the top of Geralt’s head. “Gods, it’s perfect. I’ve never—I wasn’t expecting anything like this.”

Geralt knows what he was expecting. Before Oxenfurt, Jaskier had waxed poetic about a basketweaver he’d once met in Rinde who made baby baskets that could be carried on your back. He’d talked about them so much that Geralt had looked for anything remotely similar every time they were near a market. Jaskier never expected a full room for his pup. He’d only ever thought of a single basket with which to carry her.

A shudder works its way up Geralt’s spine, but it’s not wholly unpleasant. Guilt over not thinking of this sooner loses out to gratitude for this family doing it for him.

This is what Jaskier deserves. He deserves a room for his child to sleep and play and grow and be loved. He deserves a home. Not a tent or a bedroll or a room at an inn. A home.

And Geralt hadn’t been the one to provide it for him.

Jaskier turns in his arms, running his hands up Geralt’s back until he’s clutching his shoulders, pressed as close as they can be with the pup in the way. “It’s perfect,” he whispers again, muffled in Geralt’s shirt.

Geralt lifts his eyes to his family once more, all watching him with wide eyes.

He smiles at them and pulls Jaskier closer.

⚘⚘⚘

Jaskier manages to convince Geralt to let him test out the rocker for a few minutes before he’s herded back to bed. He’s been upright too long. His heart isn’t putting up a fight yet, but Geralt isn’t willing to even give it the chance.

But try as he might, he can’t keep Jaskier out of the nursery over the next few days.

They end up moving in his favorite chaise lounge so he can keep his bedrest and be able to take in the space at the same time. Triss and Vesemir warn against moving, but Geralt, perhaps, is the only one who understands. His own nesting is getting bad—he’s been stockpiling food and water, even though he knows they won’t run out, and he finds himself growling every time anyone is nearby. He can’t imagine how bad Jaskier’s is.

He hides it well. Their nest in the bed is only partially dismantled so he can have some of his favorite blankets with him in the nursery. He’s been rearranging everything frantically, even going so far as to sew up the holes in the blankets. But he does find his moments of peace between redecorating and complaining of the heat flashes he’s been having. At times, the pup stills and Jaskier can find some respite, which is usually when he decides to pick his lute back up or put his head in Geralt’s lap so his alpha can play with his hair and read him stories.

Geralt loves those moments of quiet.

Which is probably why the interruptions put his teeth on edge.

Yennefer means no ill will—she merely raps lightly on the door while Jaskier is snoozing and Geralt is watching the rise and fall of his chest, one hand in his bard’s hair and the other on his stomach. But still, Geralt glowers at her, seething as she motions for him to join her in the hallway.

Later, he will apologize for his sneer and thank her for not setting foot inside. Frankly, he’s fed up with his own territorialism, but he’s so focused on keeping Jaskier and his pup safe, he’s fine with being a prick to the people he loves.

He leaves the door open a crack so he can come if Jaskier calls.

Yen shifts on her feet and crosses her arms.

“What is it?” Geralt keeps his voice low. Jaskier doesn’t sleep through the night very well these days, so his naptime is precious.

Graciously, Yennefer knows to keep her voice down as well. She frowns at him. “When were you going to tell me he has magic?”

Geralt sighs and leans against the wall. He was afraid this was coming. “He doesn’t.”

“I’m not stupid, Geralt,” she says, a corner of her mouth twitching upward. “You don’t have to hide it from me. I felt it when he let me feel the pup kick. He practically zapped me with it.”

“It’s not his magic, we don’t think.”

“We?”

He nods. “Vesemir knows. Eskel and Triss as well. At this point, Lambert and Aiden probably do as well.”

“Oh, so I’m the only one left out of the loop then?”

She’s upset. She’s hiding it behind sarcasm and prickly words, but Geralt knows her well enough to know what it means when her scent sours, like wine left out in the sun for too long.

He takes a step closer (he’s no longer so on edge, with a mostly shut door between his nesting omega and an unmated alpha) and puts a hand on her shoulder. “Yen,” he says softly. “We didn’t leave you out intentionally. None of us really know what it means yet. We’ve hardly had the time to talk about it. And to be honest…” He lowers his voice more, so that on the off chance Jaskier is awake, he won’t hear. “I’m not sure he knows about it himself.”

She blinks. “Are you serious? How can he not know?”

Geralt shrugs and drops his hand but keeps his voice quiet. “He’s never mentioned it before and I know he wouldn’t… he wouldn’t lie to me about this.”

“He never spoke of a change? Odd things happening around him? A conduit moment?”

“Never.”

Yennefer frowns even harder. “That doesn’t make any sense. He’s, what, twenty?”

“There about.”

“Something was bound to have happened by now. People with that much chaos bouncing around inside them don’t just sit inert for two whole decades, Geralt.” She stops, her violet eyes widening. “What if someone put a curse on him? Some sort of binding to keep his powers at bay?”

The thought makes Geralt’s chest tighten. He glances into the nursery just to make sure Jaskier is still snoozing happily, curled up around a pillow. “Wouldn’t you be able to tell that sort of thing?”

“Not always, especially if it was put in place by a powerful enough mage who knew what they were doing.” She purses her lips in thought. “Does he have any enemies? Anyone who might want to control him?”

“I don’t know.” The thought scares Geralt enough to have him reaching for his swords out of habit—but they’re in the bedroom. He’s safe. Jaskier is safe. Kaer Morhen is safe. He shakes his head at himself. “He left his family when he conceived. I don’t know all his motivations, exactly, but I do know his family had… influence.”

She nods, like it makes any sense. “Then they would have had access to a mage, most likely in court somewhere. And wealthy families have a myriad of reasons to hide their sons’ magic. Control, fear, prejudice. Money. If he’s their only son, in some places… well, you can understand why they wouldn’t want their sole heir running off to Ban Ard.”

“Vesemir mentioned the pup’s magic is stronger than Jask’s, that they’re both protected by it. He said that’s why they’re both so healthy when male omega pregnancies don’t… don’t…”

Yen taps her fingers to her chin. “I didn’t see that, but… well, I only noticed it when I touched him, and that was brief. It could have been her magic, for all I know.” She must see something on his face, then, for she sighs and pats him on the arm. “It’s all speculation, Geralt. All that matters is that they’re both safe, right?”

“Right.”

“Then the rest of it can be resolved later. It’s not life or death.” She clearly says it with more cheer than she feels, but Geralt appreciates the effort, nonetheless.

“I should talk to him about this.”

“Yeah,” she says, smiling for the first time. “I think you have to.”

⚘⚘⚘

Geralt waits until Jaskier is well-rested and recently fed to bring it up.

They’re in the nursery again. Jaskier reclines on his chaise, scribbling in one of his notebooks, and Geralt, on the floor, has drawn the bard’s feet into his lap and is rubbing out the aches Jaskier has been complaining about. They’re silent, save for the scratching of Jaskier’s pencil on paper and the occasional sigh when Geralt digs the hinge of his thumb into his arches.

“Jask?”

The bard hums in acknowledgement but doesn’t look up from his writing.

“Have you ever—that is, I mean…” Geralt’s stuttering catches his omega’s attention. He’s never been particularly composed around him, but Jaskier knows he only trips over his words when he’s anxious. Which he is. Very. He’s trying to keep his scent calm, neutral, but even as he thinks it, he can smell his own nerves rising in the air.

Jaskier setts his notebook aside. “What is it, love?”

Geralt frowns and runs his hands up to Jaskier’s ankle to distract them both. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you. It’s… something Vesemir brought to my attention, then Yen…”

“Geralt,” Jaskier says, his voice a smidge harder than it was a moment ago. “You’re making me nervous. What is it? You know you can ask me anything.”

“Do you have magic?”

Geralt keeps his gaze on Jaskier’s feet (pale and simple, peeking out the bottom of his trousers) and continues the slow, soothing motions of his hands. It’s not doing much for Jaskier anymore, he knows, but he fears what will happen when he no longer has something to occupy his hands.

He needs the answer. They all do. But he’s never asked anything like this of Jaskier. He’s always let the omega set the pace of their relationship. He let him tell Geralt of his pregnancy in his own time, even though he’d already known. He revealed bits and pieces of himself gradually, let Geralt puzzle it all together until he truly knows Jaskier. The only things he’s ever withheld from Geralt are his real name—which Geralt is honestly content never to know if that’s what Jaskier wishes—and his true feelings for the witcher. But even then, while he’d never said the words aloud until Geralt did, he’d shown it in countless ways before then. His songs, the way he defended Geralt to other humans, the way he remembered Geralt’s fondness for honey-glazed doughnuts—it all told Geralt what he needed to know before the words “I love you” even grazed his lips.

Jaskier’s hand comes into Geralt’s line of sight. The inside of his middle finger is stained black from charcoal. His thumbnail is broken from where he’d let it get too long and it had gotten caught on his lute strings. Geralt could pick out those hands from a lineup, he thinks. At this point, he knows them better than he knows his own.

Those charcoal-dusted, lute-calloused fingers hook under Geralt’s chin and tip it upright until he’s looking up into those cornflower-blue eyes that have followed him for the better part of the past year. There’s a line between Jaskier’s eyebrows, but he’s not upset like Geralt feared. He’s only confused.

“Do I have magic?” He repeats the question like he hadn’t heard Geralt properly the first time.

“Yes.”

“Dear heart.” Jaskier blinks, shakes his head. “Don’t you think I would have told you by now if I did? Don’t you have some sort of, I don’t know, sixth witcher sense for that kind of thing?”

Geralt snorts. He lifts a hand to touch the wolf-head medallion resting just beneath his collarbones. “Just this. It vibrates when there’s strong magic nearby.” He doesn’t add, however, that witchers can sense certain types of magic themselves. His sense for it isn’t as innate as Vesemir’s or Eskel’s, but he’s had moments where he’s looked at someone and known they’re a mage before they even open their mouths.

“But it’s never vibrated around me.” Jaskier’s hand drops from Geralt’s chin to the medallion, stroking a finger over it. “Why do you ask?”

Geralt notes he hasn’t yet said “no.”

“Vesemir noticed when you arrived, then Eskel,” Geralt says. “Then Triss and Yen once they’d touched you. They say magic… it’s all over you, Jask.”

He frowns harder, brow scrunching in confusion. “But I—I don’t have magic. I couldn’t. I would have known by now, right?”

His confusion eases the tension in Geralt’s spine. He’s telling the truth. This is news to him, just as much as it has been to all of them. “Possibly,” Geralt says. “There are ways you wouldn’t though.”

“Such as?”

“Yennefer mentioned someone may have limited your ability to access your chaos,” he says, skipping around the word “curse.” If it had worried Geralt to hear, he can only imagine what it would do to Jaskier’s nerves. “Or, it could be something benign. Latent Elder blood, for instance, or a blessing placed on you by a priestess—any number of things. Or…”

“Or?”

Geralt shifts to sit beside Jaskier on his lounge. Jaskier makes room for him easily, flipping his blankets back to settle over Geralt’s lap once he’s settled. “The pup’s sire. You knew him well?”

Jaskier nods. He looks away, his cheeks tinting. “Yes. His family has worked for our—for my father—for decades. He and I were raised together.”

“Is there any chance he had magic?”

Jaskier laughs, sharp and sudden. He catches himself quickly, pressing his fingers to his mouth. “I’m sorry.” He glances at Geralt sheepishly, then chuckles again. “No. Odard? No.”

“Are you certain?” Geralt asks. “Ves says the pup’s magic is… significant.”

The bard’s mirth melts back into confusion. He presses a hand to his belly like he’ll be able to glean the answers simply from touch. “I suppose… it’s not wholly impossible. But I don’t know… why wouldn’t he have told me?”

“It’s all speculation, Jask. It might not be his magic. Or, if it is, it could be so well hidden even he hadn’t a clue.” He catches Jaskier’s hand as he senses him tipping from confusion to worry. “Listen. Vesemir said the magic—whoever’s it is or wherever it came from—is protecting you both. It’s not a bad thing. Something that has kept you both whole and healthy could never be a bad thing, in my book.”

Jaskier’s face softens, and he cracks a smile, tipping forward to rest his forehead on Geralt’s shoulder. Geralt makes room for him, moves his legs out of the way so Jask can cuddle up against him, and presses his cheek to the bard’s hair. They scent each other impulsively.

“I still want to know where it came from,” Jaskier murmurs after a few moments. Geralt had assumed they were done. “If this is something that could… help us or… harm us. I would like to know.”

Geralt hums. He agrees. Magic is something people kill and die for. Even latent magic has power that drives men mad. If what Vesemir said about magic attracting monsters is true, Jaskier and his pup could be in danger.

Geralt wonders what it says about him, that he’d been drawn to Jaskier like a moth to a flame.

“Is anyone in your family elven?”

Jaskier lifts his head. “I doubt it. My father…” He shudders and shakes his head. “He’s not the sort to keep the company of elves, even in his own family.”

“And your mother?” He’s never mentioned her, Geralt realizes. The handful of times he’s spoke of his family, it’s only ever been to complain of his father’s cruelty. Surely someone as kind and caring as Jaskier had a female influence on him growing up. He couldn’t have spawned from his dickbag of a father’s loins.

Jaskier’s scent sours and he drops his head again. “She… no. She wasn’t elven. My father would have… he wouldn’t have married her if she was.”

He speaks of her in the past tense. Geralt knows better than to pry. Instead, he kisses Jaskier’s hair and says, “Alright. Then it likely isn’t Elder blood. That’s one less avenue to explore.” He leans back into the chaise, pulling Jaskier with him until they’re both reclining again. “We’ll figure it out, Jask.”

Jaskier nods silently.

Neither of them speaks again for a good long while.

⚘⚘⚘

Over the next few days, something grows inside Geralt.

Not in the literal sense—Jaskier is the one doing all the growing, after all. But each passing moment sets Geralt’s teeth on edge. He’s not content until he and Jaskier both are in their nest and everyone else in the keep is far, far away.

He forgets that these people would rather fall on their own swords than harm Jaskier or the pup. He forgets they’re here to help. He forgets they spent the last few weeks preparing a special place just for Jaskier and their daughter. The second he hears footfalls in the hallway, he’s on his feet, steel sword in hand and ready to defend his pack.

It comes to a head when Triss comes to check in on Jaskier. She’s the only one Geralt will tolerate in the room with Jaskier. Aiden, even though he’s an omega, is too much of a threat even unarmed. Witchers are trained killers. Geralt would rather hurl himself off the parapets than let any of them close to Jaskier.

Jaskier is fed up with Geralt’s constant growling and pacing, but even he bristles when Triss enters. Still, he smiles at her and goes when she beckons him to leave the nest. Geralt places himself at the door, far enough away to not crowd them but close enough to intervene if necessary. It’s all he can do not to growl the entire time someone else is in the room.

Once Jaskier’s to his feet, Triss slips an arm around his waist to steady him. Looking back, Geralt knows the wince his omega lets out has nothing to do with Triss’ touch and everything to do with the pup’s weight pushing down on his bladder, but he can’t think of that in the moment.

Geralt sees red.

He can’t recall what happens next, only that he’s rushing forward, there’s a flood of snarling in his ears (only some of it his own), then Eskel’s shoving him up against the wall with an arm across his throat.

Geralt snaps his teeth and shoves his brother, not seeing him as anything other than a threat, an intruder, an unmated alpha when Geralt’s omega is right there—

“Enough!”

Geralt and Eskel both snap their heads to the doorway as Vesemir shoulders his way through. Geralt has no clue when either of them arrived. Vesemir pulls them apart, then hauls them to the hallway while Jaskier and Triss watch them go with wide eyes.

The cord in Geralt’s chest that ties him to Jaskier pulls as the door shuts between them. He lunges, trying to get back in, but Vesemir steps between it and Geralt. “I said enough,” the old wolf growls. “Back off, Wolf.”

Even with Geralt’s instincts screaming at him, he eases off at his father’s command. “But I—”

“No.” His tone leaves no room for argument. “Triss has him. You know she’d sooner pluck out her own eyes than harm your boy. I won’t let anyone inside. Go. Take a walk.” He turns to Eskel, who’s stopped growling under his breath but still hovers nearby. “And you. You have no right to be here.”

“But Triss—”

“Can handle herself. Go. Back to your work. I expect the north corridor to be spotless by dinnertime.”

Eskel huffs and sets off down the hallway, sparing one last glance to the closed bedroom door.

Once he’s gone, Vesemir sighs and looks at Geralt again with no small amount of exasperation. “What did I say? Go. Get some air. Your omega will be just fine. We’ll send for you if you’re needed, but right now, you’re just getting in the way.”

The rational part of Geralt’s mind agrees. He’s being ridiculous. Jaskier is safer in that room than anywhere on the Continent. They’re miles away from any other living soul. The keep is protected by five (and a half) witchers, two sorceresses, three layers of rock, an iced-over mountain, and a hefty handful of enchantments. If Geralt can’t leave Jaskier in this room, in this keep, with someone he trusts with his own life, where can he leave him?

He takes a deep breath, willing away his alpha rage as the air floods his lungs, and nods.

As Geralt leaves, Vesemir plants his feet and folds his hands in front of himself—a sentry pose. He’s not going anywhere.

Geralt relaxes just the slightest as he makes his way down the hall, to the stairs, then down to the Great Hall. Yennefer is sparring with Lambert—and losing horribly, based on the tang of bitterness on the air and the scrape on her chin—while Aiden keeps watch. They watch Geralt as he passes them and slips out the door and into the cold winter air.

It’s gotten even colder in the past few weeks. The mountain is quiet. Everything—from the birds and deer to the thin streams carving scars into the forest—has begun hibernating until spring.

Geralt won’t be able to stay out here for long. He didn’t bring a coat, and even witchers are capable of getting frost bite.

But, he’ll admit, the fresh air is nice. It stings his lungs on the way down, cleansing his pheromone-addled brain. He hadn’t realized how entrenched in Jaskier’s scent he’s become. He can still smell him, of course. Even if he hadn’t rubbed himself all over Geralt’s chest earlier in the day, he’d still be present in every pore of Geralt’s skin.

He wonders how much deeper that will go once they’ve bonded—if they bond, Geralt corrects himself. He still half expects Jaskier to come to his senses once the pup has arrived and realize he’d merely clung unto the nearest alpha able to protect him and his pup.

Geralt should give him more credit than that, he knows. Jaskier has no reason to lie to him about his feelings. And he does care for Geralt. You’d have to be blind and deaf and have no sense of smell to think otherwise. But can he truly want a future with a witcher? A man more than four times his age who’s likely to outlive him. A man trained from his youth to fight and kill and be only one step above the monsters whose lives he claims. A man unable to give him a home, unable to give him more children. He’d be a fool to want that.

He takes another deep breath and lets it go, watching it cloud out from between his lips.

Geralt would be a fool to let him go.

As long as Jaskier is willing to love him, he’ll take it. He can’t imagine his life without him anymore. He’d once thought of the Path as lonely, the quiet only interrupted by bloodshed and the occasional political spat he’s found himself in the middle of. Now it’s anything but lonely. The politics and bloodshed remain, but everything else has changed. Instead of loneliness, there’s Jaskier’s voice, writing epics about Geralt’s battles. Instead of pain, there’s Jaskier’s cool hands stitching him back up. Instead of the metallic tang of blood and the cloying stench of death, there’s Jaskier’s honey-sweet scent flooding Geralt’s senses.

Geralt touches the medallion at his chest, still warm despite the weather.

You’re making your own rules these days.

Jaskier had said that a few days ago, repeating something Geralt had once said to him before Oxenfurt. It’s true—once the witchers were held by a creed that forced them to live by the whims of men and die at the hands of monsters. Now that there’s no way for them to make new witchers, the humans couldn’t care less what they do. And there will always be monsters, more than a handful of mutated men can take care of themselves.

Who says they can’t write new rules? Who says the witchers have to be mutated versions of the boys they used to be? Why can’t normal people—courageous people, but normal—take up arms against the monsters hunting them in the night? If anyone can fall victim to them, why can’t just anyone learn to fight them?

Yennefer could be just the first of many. Sure, she has her magic and years of fighting to back her up, but she could be the beginning of a great experiment.

Witchers have long been isolated creatures, and not solely due to the unkindness of men. There’s enough knowledge within the walls of Kaer Morhen and the remaining Cat and Griffon keeps to equip the whole Continent with the tools they need to take care of monsters. If they only opened their doors to the public, lent their own wisdom to those tired of being driven from riversides by drowners and forced out of their cemeteries by ghouls—what would happen?

The door to the Great Hall opens then shuts behind Geralt but he doesn’t turn. He knows the boot falls approaching him like they’re his own.

Eskel sighs as he takes his place at Geralt’s side. “Remember that winter before the Trials we tried climbing the south wall in a blizzard?”

Geralt snorts. “Don’t you have a corridor to be scrubbing?”

Eskel ignores him then jabs an elbow into his side, grinning. “I thought Ves would skin us alive.”

“Guess he figured the broken bones were punishment enough.”

Eskel chuckles, a cloud of white forming in front of him. They both look up at the sky. Clouds gather on the horizon, dark and foreboding. They’re in for another storm. Based on Eskel’s comment about the blizzard, it’s not likely to be a light one.

“Can you feel it?” Eskel whispers, his humor from the moment before gone.

Geralt nods. He can. The wind picks up, carrying with it the scent of ozone and snow. “We should try one more hunt before it starts.” The kitchen and cellar are stocked with more than enough flour, vegetables, and dried fruits to get them through the winter, but they’ll be short on fresh meat for a while. Anything they can get now, skin, and preserve will only serve them in the coming months.

Eskel nods, and soon they’ve both gone back for their coats and weapons. Jaskier decided to lay down for a nap after Triss’ exam, a hot water bottle settled low on his belly, so Geralt only feels a small pang of guilt leaving him for a few hours.

The cold is much more manageable with fur-lined leather encasing him from head to toe. Eskel’s presence is a comforting one beside him, their footsteps nearly silent as they march through the snow.

“I’m sorry about earlier,” Geralt says as they break into the tree line. He keeps his voice low and his ears open in hopes of catching any trace of animals. The deer will have bedded down for the winter, but rabbits and squirrels often stay out this far into the snow. If they’re lucky, they might even find a wild boar or turkey. “With Triss. I didn’t mean to harm her. It’s just when Jask winced, I thought—”

Eskel doesn’t let him finish. “I know.” He drops a hand on his brother’s shoulder as he steps over a fallen tree. It’s fresh, having given way under the weight of the snow they’ve already had. Doubtless this next storm will claim many more. “You didn’t hurt her. And I’m sorry as well. I shouldn’t have been there. It’s just the past few weeks, I feel like… like she’s a part of me. Like if I’m not in the same room with her, the sky will start crumbling.”

Geralt snorts softly. “I know the feeling.” He glances at his brother sidelong. His golden gaze is focused on the forest, searching for tracks, but there’s a softness to his face that makes no sense for a hunt. Geralt imagines his own face looks much the same. “So are you…”

“Yes,” Eskel says, not letting him finish. His cheeks darken just a shade or two beneath his scars. It’s good to know Geralt isn’t the only blushing witcher these days. “Before the end of winter, I’d guess.”

“I’m happy for you.”

Eskel turns, catches him looking, and grins. “And I for you, brother.”

A twig snaps nearby and they both fall silent.

Within two hours, the dark clouds have gathered overhead, rumbling steadily as the sky spits bouts of snow down on them. There’s a trio of squirrels hanging from Geralt’s belt and Eskel’s plucking the feathers off a turkey; it’s a bit scrawny, likely left behind when its family traveled down the mountain for the winter, but it’ll serve them well.

Geralt is about to suggest they go further south, try to flush out some rabbits before the snow worsens, when a sound echoes through the forest.

It’s not an animal sound—that would have thrilled him, given him a direction to look for food—or a monster sound—which would have had him reaching for his swords.

Those sounds are predictable, manageable.

This one makes his stomach turn in an instant.

It’s Yennefer. Yelling Geralt’s name.

It’s hard to run uphill through nearly two feet of snow but Geralt manages. They’d wandered quite a distance from the keep in search of game, so it takes him a few minutes to follow the sound of her voice.

She’s descending the hill in front of the gate, trying to follow in Geralt in Eskel’s footprints. She’s in only a cloak over her day clothes, which are soaked up to her hips. She’s shivering, but relaxes when Geralt comes into view, Eskel hot on his heels.

“Geralt! Come quick!” She rushes to him, stumbling over her own half-frozen feet. “It’s Jaskier.”

Geralt’s blood goes cold. No. No, no, no.

“What’s wrong?” he grits out, his voice scraping along his vocal cords like sandpaper. He shouldn’t have left him. He knew he shouldn’t have left him alone. Any number of things could have happened to him. Is he sick? Dying? Did something happen to the pup—

Yennefer reaches him and grips his arms, tipping her worried face up to him. “He needs you. He’s in labor.”

⚘⚘⚘ End of Part one of the Chains of Fate Series ⚘⚘⚘

Previous Part

[wayti-blog]

Stunning pic of a ‘Birthing Daphnia’ takes top photography prize

“Daphnia, popularly known as water fleas, are small crustaceans that live in freshwater such as ponds, lakes, and streams. They are an important species in aquaculture as they are a source of food for fish and other aquatic organisms. Daphnia is widely use in toxicity studies because they are sensitive to changes in chemical parameters in water. Daphnia species mature within a few days and are easy and inexpensive to culture in an aquarium.”

source

“A photograph by Poland's Marek Miś of a daphnia giving birth has won the international Wiki Science Competition [2020] in the microscopy images category(...).”

“Miś' winning photo shows the moment when the daphnia, better known as a water flea, is giving birth, captured at 100x magnification.”

continue article

[sneakystorms]

There's something I really appreciate about fictional women who are described as becoming ugly and looking miserable during pregnancy... Especially in historical narratives. It feels cathartic, like a symbolic acknowledgement of the potential danger and horror and trauma of pregnancy. On the physical level, as in pregnancy and birth being dangerous for one's health, on the social level, as a representation of stifling gender roles, on the psychological level, as a reminder of the passage of time... etc etc. I just like it as a counterbalance to the "woman glows with the radiant beauty of nearing motherhood" trope. Just thinking about Lila from the Neapolitan novels and the pregnant women of war and peace (except Natasha's sexistly written epilogue fate)...

[biology-geology-beaches-india]

The Science Research Manuscripts of S. Sunkavally, p 495.

[e-m-p-error]

“ one thing’s for sure… everything’s going to change the minute people find out about the baby. ” (Angel to Val <333 Time for the spooder to panic)

pregnancy prompts ( pt. 1 )

[ Valentino ]

Rubbing his stomach absently with his lower left hand, Valentino sighed softly. Angel Dust was right, wasn't he? They wouldn't have a normal life for a while after this. He didn't really mind, though, because this was going to be hot. There was no way Valentino wouldn't be sexier with his belly distended with a baby.

"You know I'll be sexy, though." He laughed softly, humming gently as he looked over at him. Part of him didn't want to bring up that he wasn't sure who the father was. He thought for sure that Angel was a contender, though, but they'd have to probably wait to see what came out. Or do a paternity test.

"I kind of can't wait, actually. To get bigger." Reaching out, he took the other's hands and rubbed them over his still-flat stomach, "I... Guess I have to stop drinking though, huh?" And the drugs, probably the smoking, too. He was going to die for this, huh?

[kayte-overmoon]

PART TWO of Daisy Chain is up!

I posted it last night but I’m only getting around to sharing it now. If you want to read it the second new parts come out, make sure to subscribe:)

[williamfthackerphotography]

[moonlitstoriess]

Unseen, Unheard, Unloved- Rhysand x fem!Reader (1/2)

Summary: She had given him everything—her heart, her trust, and now, the child growing within her. But as Rhysand’s attention drifts elsewhere, as excuses pile up, and as whispers of a mortal girl turn into something far more dangerous, she begins to wonder: Was she ever truly seen? Was she ever truly heard? Or had she been unloved all along?

See masterlist

Part 2 epilogue

Warnings: angst, pregnancy, cheating, mentions of intimate scenes at the start but nothing explicit or smutty, clearly rhysand and feyre's whole mating plot was changed in some ways to suit the story

A/N: I'm back at doing what I am best at, which is making people cry lol. Please do consider the warnings mentioned before proceeding with the story. Thank you for reading<33

For fifty years, Velaris had been hers to protect.

Fifty years of waiting. Fifty years of silence. Fifty years of ruling in his absence, of forcing herself to wake up every morning in an empty bed, of standing strong for a court that had been left bleeding in the wake of its High Lord’s capture. Of holding Mor, Azriel, and Cassian together, when they had lost the most important piece of their family.

Fifty years without him. Without Rhysand.

She had not always been a ruler, had never even imagined herself becoming one. She had once just been a child, born to a father who had been a decorated Illyrian general and a mother who had been little more than an offering—a female from a lesser noble family of the Night Court, forced into a marriage she had never wanted. She had inherited her father’s sharp instincts, his love for battle, his stubbornness. And she had inherited her mother’s mind, sharp as a blade, her ability to wield words like weapons.

Her childhood had been spent in the Illyrian war camps, a place where females were taught their place—to be weak, to be silent, to bow. But she had never bowed. Not when they sneered at her for trying to train, not when they mocked her for thinking she could ever be as strong as a male, not when her father had died on the battlefield and left her mother widowed, forced to return to her family’s estate.

And she had not been alone.

She had met Rhysand before he had become the feared High Lord of the Night Court. Before he had been anything other than a cocky, silver-tongued boy who had hated the camps just as much as she had. And with him had come Cassian—wild and brash and unbreakable, a bastard warrior who had nothing to his name but his own strength—and Azriel, silent and shadowed and broken in ways none of them had yet understood.

They had been inseparable. Training together. Fighting together. Growing up together.

And somehow, in the midst of all those years, she had fallen in love.

Rhysand had always been hers. Not in the way of mates, not in the way that fate had written in the stars, but in the way that mattered most. In the way of choice.

There had never been a confession, never been a grand moment of realization. It had been a slow, inevitable thing, woven between stolen glances and lingering touches, between the nights they had spent lying beside each other in the grass, staring up at the endless night sky. It had been in the moment they had first kissed, hesitant and unsure, before turning into something desperate and consuming. It had been in the way they had promised—young and foolish and certain—that even if they ever found their mates, it wouldn’t matter. That they would never leave each other.

And for nearly three hundred years, that promise had held true.

Until the moment Rhysand had been taken.

She had known it was coming. Had felt the sheer, unrelenting terror in his mind as Amarantha’s spell had wrapped around him like chains. Had heard his voice in her head—his final words before he had been utterly ripped away from her.

"I love you."

Then, silence.

And silence had been all she had known for the next fifty years.

She had ruled Velaris in his absence, had kept its people safe, had ensured that the city remained untouched while the rest of Prythian burned. She had fought for her court, for her friends, for the family they had built together. And yet—she had spent every night wondering if he was still alive. If he was suffering. If he still thought of her.

Now, after five decades of waiting, of hoping, of wondering if she would ever see him again—he was finally coming home.

She stood on the balcony of the townhouse, staring out at the city below.

The Sidra was quiet, its waters gleaming under the light of the stars. The city still hummed with life, filled with people who had no idea that their High Lord was finally returning after half a century of being held captive under a tyrant’s rule.

Mor stood beside her, arms crossed over her chest, her golden hair gleaming in the moonlight.

“He’ll be here soon,” Mor said softly, though her voice was strained, as if she barely believed it herself.

She swallowed, gripping the stone railing. “I still don’t know if this is real.”

Mor reached over, squeezing her hand. “It is.”

And then—she felt it.

The familiar pulse of power in the air, the sudden, breathless pull in her chest.

And before she could even take a step forward, the night itself seemed to shift, the world bending—

And then he was there.

Rhysand.

For a moment, she couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe.

He was real. He was here.

And then she was running.

He caught her in his arms the moment she crashed into him, burying his face in her neck, his body shaking violently. She was crying, sobbing into his chest as she clung to him, as if he might disappear all over again.

His hands trembled as he cupped her face, as he pressed their foreheads together, his breath ragged and uneven.

“I’m here,” he whispered, his voice breaking. “I’m here, I’m here, I’m here.”

She kissed him. Hard and desperate and aching, pouring every ounce of longing, of love, of grief into it.

He kissed her back just as fiercely, as if he was trying to memorize her all over again, as if he couldn’t believe she was real.

Mor was crying. Azriel and Cassian had appeared, standing frozen in the doorway, their own faces filled with raw, unfiltered relief.

But all she could focus on was him. The male she had spent fifty years waiting for.

Rhysand was finally home.

And yet, she had no idea that this was only the beginning of everything that would break her.

That night, neither of them could bear to be apart.

After fifty years of longing, of aching, of waiting for this moment—she couldn’t let go of him. And he didn’t let go of her either.

He had carried her inside, through the halls of the townhouse, past the murmured voices of their family who knew, who understood, and who let them go without a word. They had disappeared into their room, the door shutting softly behind them, and then—

Then she had kissed him again, with all the desperation that had been building in her for five decades, all the grief and rage and sorrow and love she had bottled up in his absence.

Rhysand kissed her back just as fiercely, his hands shaking as they skimmed over her body, as he memorized her again, piece by piece, as if he was afraid that if he didn’t, she would disappear.

She should have noticed it then.

The slight hesitation in his touch. The way his body tensed in certain moments, as if something inside him was resisting, as if he was fighting some invisible battle.

But she had ignored it. Had convinced herself it was just the weight of what he had endured, the lingering ghosts of his time Under the Mountain clinging to him like a curse.

She had whispered his name, had pulled him closer, had kissed away his pain. And for that night, and the nights that followed, she had let herself believe that love was enough to banish the shadows that haunted him.

The days blurred together in a haze of passion and tenderness, of stolen touches and whispered confessions.

She and Rhys could not keep their hands off each other. Every moment was filled with longing, with the desperate need to make up for lost time.

He had barely left their bed that first night, had spent hours worshiping her like she was the only thing that could tether him back to reality. His lips traced every inch of her skin, his hands roaming over her as if trying to prove to himself that she was real, that she was still his.

And she had taken him apart just as much, had kissed away the pain in his eyes, had murmured how much she loved him, how much she had missed him.

It didn’t stop after that first night.

They could hardly go an hour without touching—without pressing against each other in dark hallways, without his hands finding her waist as she stood by the window, without her lips brushing against his neck when he passed by. They were insatiable, consumed by each other, as if making up for every second of those fifty years apart.

But she noticed it.

Even in their most intimate moments, she felt it—that lingering hesitation in him.

It was subtle, almost imperceptible. A slight pause before he kissed her. The way his grip sometimes faltered. The distant, lost look in his violet eyes when he thought she wasn’t watching.

And through the bond, she could feel it—the echoes of something unspoken, something buried deep within him.

Regret. Shame. Guilt.

She had asked him about it once, had touched his face in the quiet of the night and whispered, What’s wrong?

He had only shaken his head, had kissed her slowly, deeply, as if trying to erase the question from existence.

And she had let him.

She had told herself that he just needed time. That whatever haunted him, whatever had broken him, he would tell her when he was ready.

She didn’t push. Didn’t demand answers.

Because the thought of losing him again, of disrupting the fragile peace they had rebuilt—it was too terrifying to face.

So she convinced herself that love was enough.

That if she just held him closer, if she just kissed him harder, if she just loved him more—then whatever was haunting him would fade away.

But then, everything changed.

It started with the exhaustion.

At first, she had brushed it off as nothing. After all, it wasn’t unusual for her to feel drained after everything that had happened.

She had been running on adrenaline since Rhys’s return, had barely given herself a moment to rest, too consumed by the need to be with him, to make up for lost time.

But then, the exhaustion turned into something else.

Dizziness.

Moments where the world tilted around her, where she had to steady herself against a wall, gripping the edge of a table as she tried to catch her breath.

And then—

The nausea.

A deep, rolling sickness that crept up on her at the most unexpected moments, that had her pressing a hand to her stomach as if she could will it away.

The realization should have come sooner.

But she had been so caught up in Rhys, in the way they couldn’t seem to stay apart, that she hadn’t let herself think about it. Hadn’t let herself believe it was possible.

It wasn’t until Mor had walked in on her one morning, pale and weak and barely able to stand, that she had been forced to acknowledge the truth.

“You need to see Madja,” Mor had insisted, her voice laced with worry.

She had tried to argue, had tried to wave it off as simple exhaustion, but Mor wouldn’t hear it.

So she had gone.

And when the healer had placed a gentle hand over her stomach, when she had closed her eyes and let her magic sweep over her body—

The words that followed shattered her entire world.

“You are with child.”

Silence.

She had just stared at Madja, her mind unable to process the words.

With child.

She was pregnant.

She barely remembered leaving the healer’s chambers. Barely remembered making it back home.

The moment she stepped into the townhouse, everything hit her at once.

A child.

She was going to have Rhys’s child.

A shaky breath left her lips as she pressed a trembling hand to her stomach, as if she could already feel the life growing inside her. A laugh—disbelieving, breathless—escaped her.

She was pregnant.

With Rhys’s baby.

And for that moment, nothing else mattered.

The doubts, the hesitations, the unspoken fears—she shoved them aside, blinded by the sheer joy that swelled in her chest.

She imagined Rhys’s reaction, the way his eyes would widen in shock before softening with love, imagined the way he would drop to his knees and press his hands to her stomach, imagined the way he would whisper in awe about their future, about the family they were about to have.

She thought about telling Mor, about seeing Cassian and Azriel’s faces when they found out. She thought about the child itself—what they would look like, what kind of power they would have, what kind of life they would give them.

She was foolishly blind.

So utterly oblivious.

So caught up in her happiness, in the overwhelming joy of this moment, that she didn’t stop to think.

Didn’t stop to question.

Didn’t realize—

That Rhys might not react the way she expected.

That this child, this beautiful, miraculous child, might not fill him with the same joy it filled her with.

That the shadows in his eyes, the ghosts that haunted him, the things he had kept buried since the moment he had returned—

They weren’t just going to disappear.

The moment she found him—standing by the window, looking out over the city she had known, the city they had fought for, the city they had built together—she could feel her heart racing in her chest.

“Rhys,” she called softly, her voice warm, her smile bright.

He turned, his gaze lighting up when he saw her, but something in his eyes—something flickered. Just a moment, barely noticeable. He covered it quickly, replaced it with the mask he had become so skilled at wearing.

“YN,” he said, his voice warm but not quite as soft as she remembered. “You’re home.”

She approached him slowly, the news she was about to share making her pulse quicken with excitement. She stopped a few feet away, pressing her hand to her stomach as if to still the fluttering sensation there.

“I have something to tell you,” she began, watching the way his eyes followed her every movement. He seemed alert, even eager, but there was something else—a tension, barely concealed behind the polite smile he wore.

“What is it?” he asked, his voice smooth, controlled.

“I’m pregnant,” she said, her heart leaping in her chest. She almost wanted to laugh at how simple it sounded, how easy it was to finally say it aloud. “We’re going to have a child, Rhys.”

The room fell quiet.

For a brief moment, she swore she saw something in his eyes—something like disbelief, or maybe even fear—but it was gone before she could truly register it.

Then, he smiled. It was a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

“That’s... wonderful,” he said, his words too rehearsed, too empty. “I’m so happy for you, YN.”

But it didn’t sound like he was happy.

It sounded hollow.

For you. Not for us but....for you.

She felt the bond between them—felt the way it seemed to shudder in response to his words. There was something off, something wrong. But she couldn’t place it, not in that moment, and not with the whirlwind of excitement that was consuming her.

She laughed lightly, shaking her head. “You’re not even going to ask how I’m feeling? Not going to pick me up and twirl me around like we used to do when we had good news?”

He chuckled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m just processing the exciting news,” he said again, though his words seemed forced, like he was trying to convince both of them.

Her smile faltered for just a moment, a flicker of doubt creeping into her chest.

He wasn’t happy. Not in the way she expected.

She could feel it—through the bond, through the way his aura flickered with shadows of guilt and hesitation. But she pushed it aside, thinking that perhaps he just needed time to process. Perhaps he was still adjusting to everything that had changed, everything that had happened in the last few days.

“I know this is a lot,” she said softly, stepping closer to him, her voice gentle, “but I know we can do this together. We’ve always been a team, Rhys.”

He nodded, but his gaze flickered away from hers, his eyes focusing on the farthest corner of the room.

“Of course,” he replied, but the words were quiet, almost too quiet, as if he wasn’t fully hearing them himself.

“Rhys,” she whispered, her voice trembling just slightly, “it’s a gift. A miracle. And I know... I know we’ve been through so much. But now we have a chance to build something beautiful together. You and me. A family.”

For a long moment, he said nothing.

Then, finally, he nodded, his smile returning. It was better now, more convincing. But to her, it felt like a mask—a fragile mask that threatened to crack at the smallest touch.

“I’m sure it will be beautiful,” he said, his voice steady, but still... empty.

She watched him for a long moment, her heart thundering in her chest. She wanted to ask him what was wrong, wanted to demand to know why he wasn’t truly happy, why he wasn’t sharing in her excitement. But something inside her—some small part of her—whispered that it wasn’t the time.

He had just returned from being gone for so long, from everything they had fought for. He would come around.

She would make sure of it.

So, instead of confronting him, instead of asking the questions that were starting to swirl in her mind, she simply stepped forward, closing the space between them.

“I know you’re still processing everything,” she said, her hand resting gently on his arm, “but we’ll be okay. We’ll figure this out. Together.”

And though a small voice in her mind screamed that she was being foolishly blind, that she was ignoring the cracks in his facade, she smiled up at him, brushing the doubt aside once more.

For the moment, she was content to pretend that everything was perfect.

The evening air in Dawn Court was crisp, filled with a gentle hum of conversation. YN stood at the balcony, gazing out over the land. Her pregnancy, now just over two months along, was starting to show. Her once slender figure had softened, the slight curve of her bump a reminder of the life she was carrying, but there was something else—an unease. Rhysand hadn’t been the same lately.

It was almost as if he was a ghost, always present but never truly there. For weeks, his absences had become longer, his late-night disappearances even more frequent. She would lie in their shared bed at night, waiting for him to return, only to find him standing at the edge of their balcony, staring into the distance as if lost in his thoughts. His gaze was distant, unseeing, and every time she tried to reach for him, to pull him back into the present, he would retreat even further.

And then, when he would return, it was as if nothing had happened. He would smile, hold her close, kiss her forehead—but the bond felt... strained. It wasn’t the same. She could feel him slipping away, piece by piece, yet she didn’t want to admit it. She had tried to tell herself it was just the weight of the recent events, that he needed space to adjust to his newfound freedom—but deep down, she knew that wasn’t the only thing eating at him.

Tonight, however, was different. The High Lords had gathered in Dawn Court for the first time since the defeat of Amarantha, and there was an air of relief in the room, mingling with the light buzz of excitement. Rhysand had promised that they would attend together, but as the evening wore on, he had yet to appear at her side.

“YN,” Mor’s voice brought her back from her thoughts, a knowing look in her eyes. “Don’t worry. Rhys will be here.”

YN smiled, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I know. He’s just... busy, I suppose.”

Mor didn’t buy it, but she said nothing more. Instead, she looped her arm through YN’s and led her back to the table. Most of the High Lords were mingling, some enjoying the informal dinner gathering, others discussing more pressing matters. Cassian and Azriel stood near the corner, deep in conversation with a few of the other soldiers. Kallias, the High Lord of Winter, stood off to the side, talking with Helion, but his gaze kept returning to YN. She felt a flicker of warmth in her chest when their eyes met.

Her bump was noticeable now, and the looks of congratulations and smiles from the lords were a welcome distraction from the silence between her and Rhys. Baron, of course, didn’t even acknowledge her presence, as usual, but the others were kind.

“You look radiant tonight, YN,” Kallias said, stepping toward her with a warm smile. He had always been one of the more reserved High Lords, his icy demeanor a product of his powers and his personality, but tonight, there was something in his eyes—gentleness, kindness. He reached out, carefully taking her hand in his, and she was surprised by how warm it felt, how soft his touch was. “How are you feeling?”

“Better,” she replied, smiling at him, feeling a slight flutter in her stomach at his concern. “It’s been a long couple of months. Thank you for asking.”

“You’re carrying something precious,” Kallias said quietly, glancing down at her bump before his eyes returned to hers. “I can only imagine the strength it takes to bear such a responsibility.”

YN didn’t know why, but his words hit her in a way that made her feel seen. So often, Rhysand’s attention had been diverted, and it felt as if she was carrying this burden alone. But Kallias... Kallias made her feel like she wasn’t invisible. Like she was more than just the woman carrying Rhysand’s child. She was YN, strong, capable, and worthy of attention, of affection.

She had never spoken much with Kallias beyond the formalities of the courts, but there was something about him tonight—something different. He was engaging with her, making her feel important, something that Rhys had failed to do in the last few weeks.

“Thank you,” she said, her voice soft, almost shy. She hadn’t realized how much she needed to hear those words. “That means more than you know.”

Kallias gave her a smile—gentle, understanding, and somehow... safe. “You deserve to be treated with kindness, YN. You’ve been through so much.”

She couldn’t help but smile back at him, the warmth of his words melting some of the icy isolation she’d been feeling.

“YN, there you are,” Rhysand’s voice broke into the moment, and she froze. He had arrived, but there was something about his tone that immediately made her stomach tighten. He was smiling, but it was tight, forced.

His gaze flickered briefly to Kallias before locking onto her, and the change in his demeanor was subtle, but YN noticed it all the same. The possessiveness in his eyes, the way his posture stiffened just a fraction, how his jaw tightened. But when he smiled again, it was almost too wide, too practiced.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” he said, wrapping his arm around her waist in a gesture that felt more for show than genuine affection. His touch was tight, as if he was trying to hold her in place, but there was no warmth in it.

Kallias, ever perceptive, caught the slight shift in the atmosphere. “It seems like you’ve found her,” he said with a polite smile, but there was something in his voice that held a hint of challenge.

YN tried not to let the tension in the air affect her, but it was hard to ignore. Rhysand didn’t seem happy, and Kallias—despite his icy demeanor—had made her feel something Rhys hadn’t in weeks: seen. Rhys, however, took a step closer, his voice turning more possessive. “YN, you look stunning tonight. But if you’re done here, I think we should head back.”

Her heart squeezed at his words. She had expected joy, happiness—maybe even a little pride in his eyes, but all she saw was discomfort, an undercurrent of guilt. She could feel the hesitation through their bond, like he was holding something back from her, something important.

“I’m not ready to leave yet,” YN said quietly, her tone firm but gentle. She looked back at Kallias, who nodded his understanding, and for a moment, she felt like she was stepping into unknown territory, like the simple act of asserting herself was both thrilling and terrifying.

Rhysand’s smile faltered just slightly, and his eyes narrowed. “I think it’s time, YN. We’ve been here long enough.”

YN didn’t answer him immediately. She knew what she felt, what she had felt for months now. Rhysand wasn’t the same, and no amount of pretending could make her blind to it any longer. But as she turned back to Kallias, she saw the genuine concern in his eyes, the way he watched her with a sense of admiration that was foreign in Rhysand’s presence. It made her feel seen, and it was like a balm to a wound she didn’t even realize had been open for so long.

Finally, she nodded, but not to Rhysand. She nodded to Kallias.

“Thank you,” she whispered to him, before turning back to Rhysand. “Let’s go.”

But even as they left, Rhysand’s arm tightened around her waist, his silence growing heavier. And YN could only wonder what was truly going on behind his eyes.

It was a quiet evening in the House of Wind, the air crisp and fresh as the last remnants of daylight slipped behind the mountains. YN was curled up on one of the many plush armchairs in the sitting room, her hands resting gently on her slightly visible bump, her mind swirling with thoughts she couldn’t quite untangle.

But there was a coldness in the air tonight. A quiet tension that had settled in the room, and it was growing.

YN had been lost in thought when the sound of footsteps broke the silence. Rhysand appeared in the doorway, his presence as commanding as always, but tonight there was something off. His face, usually open and warm when he looked at her, was guarded. There was no smile, no greeting. He simply stood there for a moment, his gaze sweeping over her before he stepped further into the room.

But then, as quickly as he entered, he froze.

It was like the world itself stopped. His eyes went unfocused, his shoulders tensed, and before she could ask what was wrong, he disappeared—winnowed—with such suddenness that it took YN a moment to even comprehend what had happened.

She sat there, stunned, her heart thumping erratically in her chest. What had just happened? What could have caused him to leave without a word? Without a single explanation?

She rose from the chair, her hand instinctively moving to her stomach.

“Rhysand?” she called softly into the silence, but there was no answer. Nothing. It was as if he had never been there at all.

Her mind raced as she tried to understand what was going on.

She could feel it now more than ever—his discomfort, his uncertainty—but it was more than that. There was something else. She just didn’t know what.

The minutes stretched into what felt like hours before Rhysand reappeared, winnowing back into the room. He was disheveled, his hair tousled, his jaw tight with frustration. His eyes, though, were what struck her the most—they were shadowed with something unfamiliar, something that made her stomach twist in apprehension.

“Rhys, what happened? Where did you go?” She couldn’t hide the concern in her voice. The distance in the bond was suffocating, and she needed to understand.

He barely looked at her. “I—had something to take care of. Don’t worry about it.”

His tone was short, dismissive, and it stung more than she expected. Before she could respond, Cassian’s voice broke in, cool and calm, though his eyes were filled with something darker, like he could sense the tension in the room.

“Rhys,” Cassian said, standing up from his spot near Y/N. “You alright?”

Rhysand’s gaze flicked to his brother briefly, then away. He didn’t answer right away, and the silence grew thick, almost suffocating. Finally, with a flick of his hand, Rhys spoke again, but his voice was still clipped, irritated. “I’m fine, Cassian. Just... some things to sort through. I’ll be back later.”

YN opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Rhys was already striding toward the door, his back to them. “Excuse me,” he muttered, his words a little too sharp.

Cassian watched him go, his gaze lingering for a moment before he turned to YN. There was a look in his eyes, one that was almost apologetic, but his words were kind. He moved closer, resting his hand gently on her bump.

“Don’t worry,” Cassian said softly, his voice low and reassuring. “Rhys is... he’s just got a lot on his mind. But you—” He looked down at her belly and then met her eyes. “You’re not alone. None of us are, alright?”

YN nodded, though the confusion and worry gnawed at her. “I just don’t understand. He’s been distant lately. I don’t know what’s happening.”

“You’ll figure it out, YN,” Cassian said, giving her a small smile. “He’s a stubborn one. But you know Rhys—when it’s important, he’ll come to you. Just give him time.”

But time had already passed. And the longer it stretched, the more YN wondered if the distance between them was something that could be repaired—or if it was already too late.

The next day, the atmosphere in the House of Wind was strangely subdued, everyone waiting for Rhysand’s announcement. Mor and Azriel had come by earlier, and there was a quiet sense of anticipation hanging in the air. Even Cassian seemed to be on edge, though he hid it well.

It wasn’t until dinner that evening, when the Inner Circle was gathered around the table, that Rhysand finally spoke.

“I have a special guest joining us for dinner tomorrow,” Rhysand said, his voice lighter than it had been in days, though there was a hint of something... genuine in his smile. “Feyre will be joining us.”

There was a moment of silence before the room erupted into murmurs of surprise. Feyre, the mortal-turned-Fae, the one who had helped free them all, the one who had played a key role in the downfall of Amarantha. YN felt a sudden lump form in her throat, but she swallowed it down.

The room filled with questions, comments, congratulations—though most of the attention was on Rhysand.

“So, Feyre’s finally coming to Velaris?” Azriel asked, his tone neutral, though there was a certain curiosity in his eyes.

Rhysand nodded, his smile widening. “Yes, she’s been through so much, and I thought it was time she saw the city. I can’t think of a better place for her.”

There was genuine warmth in his tone when he spoke of Feyre, and it hit YN harder than she expected. She hadn’t realized how much he had changed since their first meeting, how much he admired Feyre.

“You must be excited,” Mor said, her smile both kind and knowing. “I’m sure Feyre will love it here.”

YN forced a smile, but it felt hollow. She felt as though the room had shifted, as if Rhysand was now fully enveloped in the idea of Feyre’s arrival. She hadn’t even noticed how much he’d changed until that moment. How much he had changed.

She glanced down at her hands, the light from the candles flickering in her vision. Feyre—the girl who had saved them all. The girl who had freed Rhysand from Amarantha’s cruel reign.

The girl who had, it seemed, somehow taken her place. But at the time Y/N was too oblivious to notice that.

The night carried on, with Rhysand now more animated than ever, speaking freely of Feyre’s arrival and plans for their dinner. But YN couldn’t shake the feeling that something—someone—was about to come between them in ways she never expected. She had been blind, so foolishly blind to the changes in Rhysand. But maybe, just maybe, it was time to confront what had been lingering beneath the surface for far too long.

The evening had come, but Rhysand still wasn’t home. The rest of the Inner Circle was gathered around the fireplace in the House of Wind, the warmth of the flames not quite enough to chase away the coldness that seemed to settle in YN’s chest. She was perched on a plush sofa, her hands once again resting on her slightly rounded belly, her gaze fixed on the crackling fire. The rest of them—Azriel, Mor, Amren, and Cassian—were scattered around the room, engaged in light conversation, but YN couldn’t bring herself to join in.

She felt the space between her and Rhys more keenly than ever.

Azriel, ever perceptive, moved closer to her. He sat down beside her, his posture gentle as he placed a hand on her back, his touch comforting but not invasive.

"You've been quiet tonight," Azriel said softly, his voice like a balm to her frayed nerves.

YN sighed, her fingers absentmindedly tracing patterns on the fabric of her dress. "I don't know, Az. Something’s wrong. Rhys… he’s so distant. It’s like I’m not even here for him anymore."

Cassian, who had been perched by the fireplace, took a step forward, his usual jovial demeanor subdued. His eyes softened with concern as he noticed the way YN was slumped into the cushions, her shoulders tense.

“He’ll come around,” Cassian said, trying to sound reassuring, but his voice lacked the usual certainty. He knew Rhysand better than anyone, and even he couldn’t deny the shift that had been happening.

But YN just shook her head, her voice quiet, barely above a whisper.

“No,” she replied, her eyes downcast. “It’s more than that. I’ve seen him these last few days, Cass. He’s not just distracted. He’s hesitant. Like he’s somewhere else entirely, even when he’s standing right in front of me. His smiles don’t reach his eyes anymore. He looks at me, but he doesn’t see me.” Her voice trembled as she spoke the words she had been trying to ignore, trying to pretend weren’t happening. “I try to soothe him, I try to be there for him, but I can feel the distance growing.”

Mor, who had been listening quietly, crossed the room and sat next to YN, her arm wrapping around her in a rare show of tenderness.

“I know it's hard,” Mor said softly, her tone filled with understanding. “But Rhys is... he's always had a lot on his shoulders. You know that. He’s the High Lord. And even when he has us around, some things he keeps locked up.”

“But this?” YN asked, her eyes wide with hurt. “It’s more than just the weight of the throne, Mor. He’s gone, even when he’s here. I feel it in the bond. It’s like he’s slipping away.”

Azriel leaned forward, his voice gentle but firm. “He’s not slipping away, YN. Rhysand is just… processing something. There are things he needs to work through. It’s not about you.”

“Isn’t it?” she whispered, feeling a knot of doubt twist in her stomach. “I’ve seen him shut down before, Az. But this time? It’s different. I don’t know how to fix it. I’m not even sure if he wants me to fix it.”

Cassian’s face darkened, his protective instincts flaring as he moved closer to her. He crossed his arms over his chest, his voice stern as he looked at YN. “Listen to me, YN. You’re doing everything you can. And you’re not alone in this. I’m not going to let you go through this by yourself. None of us are.” He shifted his gaze to her stomach. “You’re carrying something precious, and I’ll be damned if I let anything—” he stopped himself and softened, “I’ll be damned if you don’t get the care you deserve.”

YN blinked at him, the unspoken concern for her growing more tangible with every word.

“When was the last time you ate properly?” Cassian asked, his tone turning gentle but insistent. “When did you last sleep through the night?”

YN faltered, looking down at her lap. “I... I’m fine, Cassian. It’s just... I’m not hungry, that’s all. Rhys—”

“No.” Cassian’s voice cut through her words. “You’re not fine. You’re carrying Rhysand’s child, and he’s not here right now. But I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere. You need to eat, you need to sleep. And we’re all here to make sure you’re taken care of.”

Azriel nodded in agreement, his hand still resting lightly on her back. “Cassian’s right, YN. We’re not going to stand by and watch you push yourself too hard. If Rhys doesn’t notice, we do. And we’ll make sure you’re okay. We’ll talk to him, too.”

YN swallowed hard, blinking back tears that had no business being there. “It’s just hard,” she admitted, her voice thick with emotion. “He’s not the male I knew anymore. And I’m scared, Az. Scared that maybe... maybe he never really was the male I thought he was.”

Before anyone could say more, the sound of wings flapping loudly outside interrupted the conversation. The group turned, and in the blink of an eye, Rhysand landed gracefully on the balcony, holding Feyre in his arms.

YN’s heart clenched at the sight of them, her thoughts a storm of confusion. She stood up from the sofa, but her feet felt heavy, reluctant. It was almost like she couldn’t move. She knew Feyre—had heard so much about her, the mortal-turned-Fae who had helped free them all. But seeing Rhys so effortlessly carry Feyre, with that smile that she’d only ever seen directed at her... it hit YN in a way she hadn’t been prepared for.

Mor stood by her side, watching as Rhysand approached the door with Feyre. Her hand on YN’s arm was gentle, a soft reassurance that YN was thankful for.

“Go on,” Mor said quietly. “You’re just as important here, YN. You don’t need to be scared of what’s happening. We are here for you.”

YN nodded, drawing in a deep breath as she moved forward, her steps uncertain but steady. As Rhysand and Feyre entered the room, she saw the way Rhys looked at Feyre—softly, protectively, and with an affection that, for the first time, made YN feel like she was no longer at the center of his world.

Feyre smiled at YN as Rhys gently set her down on her feet. There was a kindness in her eyes, a warmth that reminded YN of the girl who had sacrificed so much for them all. YN’s heart softened, and she stepped forward, reaching out.

“Thank you,” YN said, her voice thick with gratitude. “For everything. You—” She paused, her emotions overwhelming her for a moment, before she pulled Feyre into a tight embrace. “I know it’s because of you that we’re all here. That Rhys is here. I don’t know how to thank you for that.”

Feyre hugged her back just as tightly, her voice warm and kind. “I didn’t do it alone,” Feyre said, pulling back with a small smile. “But I’m happy to be here. With all of you.”

The group settled around the dinner table as the conversation turned to lighter topics. Feyre was kind and gracious, a perfect guest, while Rhysand sat with a rare relaxed air, laughing and joining in with the others. But YN, despite the smiles and easy conversation, couldn’t shake the feeling of being on the outside looking in.

She smiled when it was needed, nodded at the right times, but inside, she felt the gap between her and Rhys grow larger. The more they talked about Feyre—her kindness, her bravery, her role in their world—the more YN couldn’t help but feel that she was losing Rhysand to someone else.

It hurt in ways she hadn’t anticipated. But she kept her face calm, her composure intact, and though the knot in her chest tightened, she smiled through it all.

The night stretched on, filled with laughter and stories. But as they all ate, YN sat back, her thoughts swirling. Rhysand was no longer just the man who loved her; he was someone different, someone who had room in his heart for another. She could see it in the way he spoke of Feyre, the way his gaze lingered on her.

And YN? She was simply standing on the sidelines, trying to hold onto a love that seemed to be slipping through her fingers.

The night was long. But YN would fight for her place in Rhys’s heart—for their future. Even if it meant facing what she was most afraid of.

he House of Wind had become more than just a home for Y/N over the past few weeks; it had become a place of quiet, uneasy observation. At first, everything had felt like a blur—busy days and nights spent adjusting to the changes. Feyre’s arrival had been a shock, an unexpected whirlwind that shifted the delicate balance of their lives. Yet, it was not Feyre’s presence alone that unsettled Y/N. It was Rhysand’s shifting attention, his sudden and unnerving detachment from her.

Y/N had noticed it first in the small things—how he would spend hours in the study with Feyre, teaching her new things, showing her how to control her magic, his voice soft, patient. His lessons went on for hours, and there were times when Y/N would sit in the grand hall, reading, waiting for him to return to her, but he never did.

It was as if Feyre needed him now more than she ever had, and Rhysand was more than willing to give everything he had to her. She didn’t understand it—why did he need to give her so much of himself? Why did his lessons stretch on endlessly, late into the night, when there were so many other things to focus on, things that they could share as a couple, as soon-to-be parents?

Even when he wasn’t with Feyre, Y/N couldn’t reach him. When the day would finally end, and Rhysand would return to the House of Wind, he would often retreat to his office instead of coming to her side. He slept there for hours, the door to his office often left ajar, his figure slouched over piles of paperwork and forgotten responsibilities.

Y/N would lie in their bed, her growing belly pressing into the soft sheets, feeling the absence of her mate more profoundly with each passing day. She knew that Rhysand’s duties as High Lord were demanding, but surely, surely he could make time for her, especially now that she was carrying his child. But no. It was always Cassian, Azriel, Mor and Amren who hovered over her, their concern for her health and wellbeing growing each day. Cassian was the first to notice when she had trouble getting out of bed in the morning. Azriel was there, always in the background, quietly ensuring that she was okay. Amren and Mor took on the roles of mothers, watching over her, their comforting presence a constant reminder that she was not alone, even when Rhysand was distant.

She would often ask, “Have you spoken with him? Does he seem different to you?” and Azriel would only look at her with that familiar shadow of confusion in his eyes. “I don’t know,” he would say, his voice low, thoughtful. “Rhys has never been like this before. It’s like he’s refusing to talk about whatever’s bothering him.”

And Y/N? She tried to convince herself that it was just a phase. Maybe it was the pressure of ruling, the stress of keeping Velaris safe. Maybe Feyre’s arrival had triggered something deep inside Rhysand, something she couldn’t understand. It was foolish of her to think that she could make it through this journey unscathed. But deep down, she felt the sting of it. The weight of his neglect hung heavy on her chest.

She would tell herself that Feyre needed him. Feyre had gone through so much in her life—losing her family, fighting in the war, carrying burdens Y/N could never comprehend. Maybe it was only fair that Rhysand focus on her, that he be there for Feyre while she healed. Maybe she needed his support more than Y/N did.

The thoughts tasted like poison on her tongue, and she tried to swallow them down, but they kept coming back, lingering like a bitter aftertaste.

One evening, when Rhysand returned from another long day with Feyre, Y/N found herself staring at the door to his office, waiting for him to come to her. She could hear the sound of his footsteps in the hallway, and she tried to steady her breath, but when he didn’t knock on her door, when he didn’t even acknowledge her presence, her heart sank deeper.

Later that week, she overheard Rhysand telling Feyre that he would be taking her to the Illyrian camps. It was dangerous, he said, but necessary. They would stop at the Weaver’s house on the way, and Y/N couldn’t help the knot that twisted in her stomach. She tried to smile, to seem supportive, but when she asked, “Why? Why are you taking her there? That’s so dangerous,” Rhysand’s expression was distant, his gaze hard.

“I need her to retrieve something for me,” he explained curtly, but there was no warmth in his voice. He didn’t meet her eyes.

Y/N stood there, shocked, trying to process what he had said. She watched them leave, her heart heavy with the feeling that she was losing him, that whatever connection they had once shared was slipping through her fingers.

As Rhysand and Feyre made their way to the Illyrian camps, Y/N couldn’t shake the sense of betrayal that had begun to grow inside her. She would wait for them to return, but she wasn’t sure what she would find when they did. Would Rhysand still be the same, or would Feyre’s presence in his life change everything forever?

The house was quieter than it had been in weeks. The absence of Rhysand and Feyre had left a void, and the walls seemed to echo with silence. Y/n sat near the window, the early evening sunlight casting a golden glow across the room, her fingers gently tracing the curve of her swollen belly. She had been waiting—waiting for Rhysand’s return, for any sign of the distance between them to close. But all she had received was space. The quiet ache in her chest gnawed at her.

Amren, ever watchful, sat across from her, her expression unreadable. But Y/n noticed the tension in her gaze, the way she kept looking at her with something close to concern. It didn’t help that the others had been distant too—Azriel, Cassian, and Mor, all acting like they were hiding something, exchanging too many knowing glances and hushed conversations. It only deepened her sense of unease.

Today, however, was different. Gifts had arrived for her—thoughtful, generous tokens from several of the Highlords in honor of her soon-to-be motherhood. She’d been expecting them, but still, the small mountain of neatly wrapped parcels in front of her filled her with mixed emotions.

"Open them," Amren said softly, as if sensing her hesitation. "

Y/n nodded, the familiar rustle of paper comforting her in its simplicity. She picked up the first gift, a small, elegant box wrapped in a deep shade of red with a ribbon that shimmered like morning sunlight. She carefully untied the bow, lifting the lid to reveal a delicate silver bracelet, studded with tiny moonstones that glinted softly in the fading light. It was beautiful, simple, and elegant. She smiled softly, imagining it wrapped around her wrist as she cradled her baby.

"Oh, Helion," she murmured, the thought of the Highlord of Day bringing a warmth to her chest. She ran her fingers over the cool stones, letting out a sigh as she admired the craftsmanship.

"He's always been a thoughtful one," Amren remarked with a raised brow, as if she too had felt the affection Helion had for Y/n.

Y/n smiled faintly, placing the bracelet to the side. There were other gifts to open. She picked up the next parcel, this one wrapped in soft blue paper with intricate golden designs. It was from Thesan, the Highlord of Dawn, a court known for its refined beauty and grace. When she opened it, she was greeted by a set of hand-painted ceramic dishes, each piece vibrant with delicate patterns that seemed to glow with a warmth that reminded her of sunrises.

Thesan had always been attentive, and she smiled as she imagined the quiet, regal Highlord choosing each piece carefully. She couldn't help but appreciate the thoughtfulness, the way he considered her comfort and her child’s future.

But it was the third gift that captured her attention.

The parcel from Kallias, the Highlord of Winter, was wrapped in dark, rich purple paper. She carefully untied the ribbon, her heart beating a little faster, and opened the box inside. What she found inside was far beyond anything she could have expected.

A small, intricately carved wooden box. It was no larger than the palm of her hand, and as she ran her fingers over its smooth surface, she noticed delicate snowflakes and swirling designs etched into the wood. There was something magical about it, something that made her chest tighten. Inside, nestled among soft velvet, was a small crystal vial filled with a silvery liquid that shimmered like moonlight on snow. Alongside it was a small letter, written in Kallias’s elegant handwriting.

"To Y/n, with warmth and hope for the future. May this gift be a reminder of the strength within you, and the serenity you will find in the stillness of winter’s embrace. You are not alone, not ever."

Y/n’s breath hitched in her throat as she held the vial gently, the words from Kallias sending a ripple of warmth through her. His gift was not just thoughtful—it was deeply personal. It felt like an invitation, a message from someone who saw her, truly saw her, even when the others had become distant.

"He really thought of everything," Y/n whispered, her fingers tracing the small vial.

Amren watched her with a quiet expression, her eyes flicking between the gifts and Y/n’s reaction. “He did,” she agreed softly. “Kallias is a good male. He knows the value of compassion.”

Y/n nodded, her heart swelling with gratitude. The tension in the room was still palpable, but this small gesture from Kallias made her feel seen, reminded her that she wasn’t invisible in the midst of the growing chaos.

Before she could say anything further, a sharp knock echoed from the door.

“Rhysand and Feyre,” Amren muttered, already standing up. “I suppose the moment has arrived.”

Y/n’s stomach tightened, both with excitement and dread. She wasn’t sure what to expect.

As the door swung open and Rhysand stepped in, with Feyre at his side, something immediately shifted in the air. Rhysand’s usual confident demeanor was different—sharper, perhaps, but there was a sense of something unsaid between him and Feyre, an energy Y/n couldn’t quite place. Feyre’s smile was brighter than she’d seen in ages, but there was a newness in her eyes—a quiet certainty.

Y/n’s breath caught as she noticed their shared glances, the unspoken bond between them that hummed through the air like an invisible thread. She stood, feeling the weight of the moment settle into her bones.

“Well, look at you both,” Y/n said, forcing a smile, though it felt hollow. “Feyre, you look well. I hope the journey wasn’t too hard.”

Feyre smiled warmly, though there was a hint of something private behind her eyes. “We managed,” she said, the way she said it making Y/n’s heart clench. “And you, Y/n? How are you feeling?”

Y/n’s gaze flickered to Rhysand, his expression unreadable. “I’m getting there,” she said softly, and though it was true, it felt like an answer far too shallow for everything else she wanted to express.

As the evening wore on and everyone gathered around the table, Y/n couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong—something had shifted, and no one, not even Rhysand, seemed to want to speak the truth of it.

But she noticed the way Rhysand’s eyes lingered on Feyre, the way their quiet exchanges seemed to carry a weight that hadn’t been there before.

And she wondered, in the deepest part of her heart, if she had lost something she hadn’t fully realized was slipping through her fingers.

Y/n’s eyes fluttered open as an uncomfortable wave of pain stretched across her back, her large belly shifting uneasily beneath the blankets. The room, once warm and familiar, now felt suffocating, the walls closing in around her as she tried to shift positions. Her heart thudded a little too loudly, and the silence only amplified the emptiness in the space. Rhysand had not been by her side for hours, and at this point, it was becoming a familiar absence—one she couldn’t ignore.

A deep sigh escaped her lips as she sat up, the strain of carrying their child weighing heavily on her. She hadn’t wanted to wake him, but something inside of her yearned for the quiet solace of a midnight walk—anything to soothe the tightness in her chest. She slipped out of bed, careful not to wake Amren, who still slept soundly beside her. Y/n made her way to the door and stepped out into the cool, moonlit halls of the House of Wind.

As she walked down the corridor, her mind buzzed with a thousand questions. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something had changed between her and Rhysand, even before he left for the war. The secretive looks exchanged between him, Feyre, and the others had only deepened her suspicions. The change in his demeanor when he’d returned had been subtle, but it was there. She just didn’t know what to make of it. Yet.

The soft sound of footsteps ahead caught her attention. Cassian.

He froze when he spotted her, his eyes briefly flickering with a flash of surprise before he tried to hide it behind a strained smile. “Y/n… What are you doing here?” he asked, his voice a little too high-pitched, like he’d been caught off guard.

Y/n raised an eyebrow at him, her hand resting against her rounded belly. “Couldn’t sleep. Thought I’d make myself some tea,” she said, trying to act nonchalant. “Is something wrong?”

Cassian’s smile softened, his shoulders visibly relaxing. He eyed her for a moment before speaking in a quiet, almost tender voice, “Well, wouldn’t want a lady like you wandering these halls alone at this time of night.” His voice dropped lower as he added, “Let me join you.”

Y/n felt a sense of comfort in his words, the warmth of his easy-going nature wrapping around her like a blanket. She smiled at him, the bond they had forged over the years making this moment feel… safe, in spite of the turmoil in her heart.

They started walking together, Cassian keeping pace beside her. The halls seemed endless as they made their way to the kitchen, but the familiar company made the journey less isolating. Their conversation flowed easily, the lull of their voices filling the air between them.

“Have you had time to rest?” Cassian asked, glancing over at her belly. “You should take it easy, you know.”

Y/n chuckled softly, rubbing her belly. “I’m fine. The little one is kicking up a storm tonight. Can’t quite settle down.”

Cassian’s grin was easy, but there was a flicker of something else behind his eyes, something unspoken, as he leaned slightly toward her, trying to offer her comfort. “Don’t let anyone tell you that you shouldn’t take it easy. You’ve been through a lot.”

She tilted her head at him. “You’re always so kind, Cassian,” she said, almost teasing. “I appreciate it.”

“Anything for you,” he replied, with a wink that made her laugh. “But don’t get any ideas. I’m not looking for trouble.”

Y/n smirked. “Me? Trouble? Never.”

They continued talking, weaving through the halls, discussing small things—how the weather had been, how the training had been progressing with the armies—and the more they spoke, the lighter Y/n felt. It was like a brief escape from the gnawing uncertainty she carried.

But then, as they reached a corridor near Feyre’s room, Y/n noticed something strange.

A small light was spilling out from beneath the door.

She froze mid-step, and Cassian’s eyes narrowed. “That’s odd,” he muttered, glancing at her. “Feyre should be asleep by now.”

Y/n frowned. “Should we check on her? She might need something.”

Cassian hesitated but gave a tight nod. “I’ll be right back.” He took a few steps forward, his large form blocking the door as he cracked it open. But before he could slip inside, he froze.

Y/n, not one to stand idly by, took a small step forward, peering around him. “Cassian?” she whispered, her voice unsure.

But Cassian, his face hardening in a way she hadn’t seen before, quickly turned to her. “Y/n,” he said softly, his voice laced with concern, “please… Let’s go back. It’s—”

Before he could finish, Y/n pushed past him, her heart thundering in her chest. She entered the room, and in the dim light, her gaze locked on the sight before her.

Rhysand and Feyre. Together.

Rhysand had Feyre pressed against the wall, their lips locked in a passionate kiss, the intensity of their connection undeniable.

Y/n’s heart stopped in her chest, the air thick with the realization crashing over her. She blinked, disbelieving. This was not happening.

“Rhysand,” she whispered, her voice breaking as her legs threatened to give out from under her.

Rhysand’s eyes widened, and he immediately pulled away from Feyre, both of them frozen in shock. Feyre’s face flushed with guilt, but it wasn’t enough.

Y/n’s hands trembled, her thoughts spiraling as she processed the sight. All the doubt, all the pain, everything she’d tried to ignore—it was true.

Without another word, Y/n turned and fled, her breaths coming in ragged gasps. She didn’t even hear Cassian call after her, his voice full of anguish. All she could hear was the thundering of her own heartbeat and the sound of her feet pounding down the halls.

She was halfway down the corridor when she felt Cassian’s hand on her arm, pulling her back gently. “Y/n, please,” he said, voice low. “You don’t have to do this.”

But Y/n, in her shock, yanked her arm away. “Don’t touch me, Cassian!” she shouted. “How long? How long has this been going on? How long have you all been hiding this from me?”

Her voice wavered, breaking with every word. Her emotions were a storm. She didn’t care who saw it anymore. She’d been blind.

Cassian took a step back, his eyes filled with regret. “Y/n, please—”

Her hands trembled, but her words were sharp, cutting through the hall like a blade. "Why didn’t you tell me? Why?" She stepped forward, her gaze locked onto Rhysand, the male who had once been everything to her. "You made me believe in you. We built a life together! A family! And now… now I’m supposed to just accept this?" Her voice cracked as she swallowed the lump in her throat, the weight of it all almost suffocating her. "We have a child, Rhysand! You will be a father!"

Rhysand flinched as if her words had struck him harder than any physical blow. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He reached for her, but her eyes hardened, her heart already too far gone for him to reach.

"Are you not ashamed of yourself?" she shouted, her voice growing louder, desperate for answers. The anger poured out of her like a flood, drowning everything in its path. "Is that it? You just gave it all up? How could you do this to me? To us?" She gestured between herself and her stomach, the child growing inside of her. "I gave you everything. I gave you my trust. My heart. And this is how you repay me? This is the price I pay for being so blind?"

Feyre took a hesitant step forward, her face filled with guilt, but Rhysand’s protective instinct flared. His hand shot out, catching Feyre behind him, his posture stiff and defensive. His eyes flickered with regret, but they held the painful truth.

For a split second, Y/n thought she might lose herself completely, but then the bitter laugh escaped her. It was harsh, mocking—disbelieving.

Because that was when it hit her.

These two were mates. Mates.

"So mates, huh? Is that what this is all about?" she scoffed. "I guess I should’ve known. I should’ve seen it coming, shouldn’t I?" Her voice was dripping with sarcasm now, the anguish inside her turning to venom. "But of course, you would protect her, wouldn’t you?" She looked at Feyre with contempt, shaking her head. "You didn’t even have the decency to tell me the truth."

Rhysand’s jaw clenched, but he remained silent. The pain in his eyes was evident, but he didn’t speak. He couldn’t, not when he knew the words he needed to say would only make things worse. His heart ached for her, but he had no idea how to fix what he had broken.

Y/n’s body shook with anger, the injustice of it all weighing down on her chest. She turned on her heel, ready to storm away, but that’s when it happened.

The sharp pain slammed into her abdomen, and her knees buckled. She gasped, her breath catching in her throat as her vision blurred with pain.

Azriel--who appeared out of nowhere--was at her side in an instant, his arms steadying her, but her body betrayed her. She clutched her stomach, her body wracked with pain that seemed to come from nowhere.

"Y/n?" Azriel’s voice was filled with concern as he tried to steady her, but she could barely hear him through the intensity of the agony. Cassian was on the other side, his hands gently gripping her arms, trying to keep her upright.

"Madja!" Cassian barked at Rhysand, his voice filled with anger and venom, "Be responsible and get Madja now!"

But Y/n didn’t hear him. All she could focus on was the agony coursing through her, the pain so sharp and overwhelming that it consumed her. She didn’t care about Rhysand anymore. She didn’t care about Feyre. She didn’t care about anything except for one thing: their child.

Her breath came in shallow gasps as she cradled her stomach with one hand, feeling the life growing inside her, the precious little one she had been so determined to protect.

"Please," she whispered weakly, her voice breaking as she looked at Rhysand. "Please don’t take this from me."

Cassian and Azriel exchanged a frantic glance, both of them moving into protective mode as they kept her steady. Y/n’s eyes were locked onto Rhysand now, her fury mingled with a desperate need for him to understand. To feel the weight of what he had done.

But it was too late. The damage was done.

Rhysand stepped forward, his hand reaching out to her, but Y/n jerked away from him, the sudden movement only worsening the pain in her abdomen. She gasped again, clutching her stomach as a new wave of agony hit her.

“Y/n, please—” Rhysand’s voice was low, broken, but she couldn’t listen. Not anymore.

"No," she choked out, her voice hoarse. "No more excuses, Rhysand." Her hands trembled, her body trembling, and she couldn’t hold back the flood of emotions any longer. She was done.

The pain continued to tear through her, her thoughts scattering, spinning out of control as she cradled her stomach tighter. The tears she had been holding back finally spilled, but they weren’t just from the physical pain. They were for everything she had lost in that one moment. The trust. The love. The future they were supposed to build together.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she sobbed, her voice breaking. “Why didn’t you tell me the truth?” She glanced at Feyre, her eyes hard, but her voice trembled with more than just anger. “How could you—how could you do this to me?”

But before anyone could respond, another wave of pain shot through her, and she screamed, her body collapsing into Cassian and Azriel’s arms. Her mind was a blur, only one thing clear—she needed help. She needed them to save the child.

Azriel's voice was low and commanding, filled with urgency. "Cassian, hold her. I’ll get Madja." He turned and moved swiftly toward the door, his wings brushing against the wall as he flew out into the night.

“Please, Y/n,” Cassian murmured, his voice soft but filled with fear. “Please, hold on.”

Y/n’s vision was swimming. She barely registered the words, the frantic chaos around her, her body failing her. All she could feel was the tight grip of the pain as it dragged her deeper into the darkness.

Rhysand stood there, torn between the desperate need to run to her side and the instinct to protect Feyre. He was lost. He had lost her. And in that moment, Y/n’s shattered words echoed in his mind: We have a child, Rhysand... You will be a father... Are you not ashamed of yourself?

And for the first time in his life, Rhysand had no answers.

Y/n slowly regained consciousness, the dull ache in her head reminding her of the storm that had passed through her body. She blinked against the bright light, her vision blurred for a moment before it cleared. The soft, cool sheets beneath her, the gentle rise and fall of her chest, it all felt so distant and overwhelming.

Madja's voice cut through the haze. "You're awake," she said softly, her tone warm but firm. "Good thing no harm was done to the baby, but you're under a lot of stress. I can feel it in your body, the strain on you."

Y/n turned her head slowly, seeing Madja standing next to her, the healer’s face filled with concern. Azriel was by the window, his posture tense, while Cassian hovered near the foot of the bed, his face a mixture of guilt and concern. Amren, ever stoic, stood off to the side, her eyes watching with an unreadable expression.

"Your baby is fine, Y/n," Madja continued, placing a hand lightly on Y/n’s arm. "There’s no danger of premature birth. Just take care of yourself, try to rest, and the baby will be fine. But your stress levels... they’re far too high." She gave them all a pointed look. "All of you."

With that, Madja stepped back, her eyes lingering on Y/n for a moment longer before she turned and left the room. There was a silence that followed, one that stretched out far too long for Y/n's comfort. Cassian was the first to speak, though his voice was unsure, quiet, the weight of his earlier actions heavy in the air.

"Y/n, I—" he started, but Y/n lifted her hand weakly, signaling for him to stop.

"How long?" she whispered, her voice fragile but steady with the hurt of it all. "How long have you all known?"

Azriel stiffened, and Amren rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "Girl, don’t involve me in this mess," she said with a scoff. "I had no idea either. Though, it was kind of obvious." She glared at the two males as if daring them to argue.

Cassian ran a hand through his hair, looking down at the floor, his voice laced with regret. "We thought it would be best to wait until after the birth to tell you. We didn’t want to put you or the baby at risk."

Y/n's eyes flickered between them, too weary to say anything but the truth. "And that plan went to shit."

Azriel exhaled sharply, stepping closer to the bed. "Y/n, I am so sorry," he said, his voice raw with regret. "Rhysand told us all—told us that she was his mate after the journey. Feyre was mad at him, and... and then Rhys finally came clean to all of us. Told us everything." His eyes were filled with sincerity. "We should’ve told you sooner."

Y/n closed her eyes, shaking her head. "I trusted you all. All of you. And you kept this from me. You should’ve told me the moment you knew." Her voice cracked, but she didn't back down. She would not back down from this.

"I know," Cassian said quietly, his voice filled with shame. "We thought it was for the best. But you’re right. We should’ve told you. I should’ve told you." He ran a hand through his hair again, frustration flashing in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Y/n. I should've trusted you."

The room was thick with emotion, a painful silence hanging in the air when, suddenly, a piece of paper appeared in Y/n’s lap, its crisp edges catching the light. She blinked, a small smile pulling at her lips as she grabbed the letter. Her gaze softened as she read it, the others leaning in, confused.

"What’s this?" Cassian asked, his voice low. "Who’s it from?"

"Kallias," Y/n murmured, her fingers brushing over the letter’s surface with a sad smile. "The High Lord of Winter."

Everyone froze, their eyes widening as they processed the name. "Kallias?" Azriel repeated, his brows furrowed. "What’s he writing to you for?"

Y/n’s smile turned bittersweet as she looked up from the letter, her eyes filled with a mix of sorrow and something more resolute. "I wrote to him a week ago, asking if I could visit Winter. I needed a change of scenery. And he..." she trailed off, her smile growing faint. "He’s more than happy to have me."

The others stared at her, stunned into silence. The room felt as though it had shifted in an instant. "You... You’re going to Winter?" Amren asked, her voice tinged with disbelief. "Why now?"

Y/n’s smile faltered, but she didn’t hide it. "I already knew I’d leave sooner or later," she whispered, her hands trembling slightly as she folded the letter. "Just... not this soon. I guess my leave will be permanent."

The room erupted into chaos.

"Y/n, no," Cassian said, stepping toward her, his voice filled with desperation. "Please, you can’t—"

"Please," Azriel added softly, moving to her side. "Don’t go."

But Y/n held up her hand, silencing them all. There was a moment of stillness, a tension hanging in the air as they all waited. Slowly, Y/n swung her legs off the side of the bed, her movements slow but deliberate. She pulled her bag from underneath the bed, her gaze focused on the task at hand. "I need this," she said quietly, as though it was an understanding only she could see. "I’ve always needed this."

"Y/n, please," Cassian pleaded again, his voice rough with emotion. "You don’t have to do this."

Y/n’s gaze softened, but she was firm. "I do," she replied, her voice steady. "I do have to."

The room was quiet now, the weight of her words settling over them. It was clear there was no changing her mind.

"Now," Y/n said, turning to Amren, "will you please help me get changed?"

Amren’s expression softened slightly, but she gave a small nod. "Get out, all of you," she said, her tone more gentle than usual. "I’ll help her. And I’ve got advice for her."

The others left reluctantly, Cassian lingering at the door, his eyes heavy with unspoken emotions. Y/n caught his gaze and held it for a moment, before she turned back to Amren, the two of them sharing a quiet understanding.

Amren helped her get dressed, the quiet advice coming in fragments. "Take care of yourself, Y/n. Don’t let them hold you back. You deserve this peace. You deserve to find what you need. The rest will follow."

Y/n nodded, a weak but grateful smile on her lips. "Thank you, Amren."

When she was finally ready, Azriel appeared in the doorway, his expression unreadable. Y/n took a deep breath before moving toward him. Cassian, Mor, and even Amren stood back, their eyes heavy with unspoken thoughts.

Before she left, Y/n moved toward Cassian first. She wrapped her arms around him, holding him close for a moment, her face buried in his chest. "I’ll miss you," she whispered.

Cassian hugged her back, the weight of the moment pressing down on him. "Please take care of yourself," he said quietly, his voice thick with emotion.

Next, she turned to Mor, who embraced her with a tight, brief hug, her expression just as conflicted. "I hope you find what you need," Mor said softly.

Lastly, Y/n stepped toward Amren, who looked at her with a strange blend of pride and sorrow. "You’re stronger than you think," Amren said with a faint smile, before she too turned away, leaving Y/n to face her own path.

Y/n gave one last glance at the room before stepping outside. Azriel was waiting for her, his hand outstretched. Without a word, she took it, and in a flash of blue light, they vanished, leaving the shadows of the past behind.

And though Rhysand’s presence was absent, Y/n’s resolve was clear. She was moving on. She was taking the first step toward healing. Toward a future she would shape on her own terms.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[gremlingottoosilly]

How would könig act with a subby reader that really politely asks him to fuck her every time and even thanks him afterwards like he did her a favour?

Konig with a pretty girlfriend who enjoys having sex with him...he thinks he died and went to heaven - you're literally too good for him! He fucks your pussy so hard you can't walk the next day, and yet you still ask him to be a bit rougher and even push him so he would fuck you further...thanking him every time he cums inside, assuring him that you're on birth control - and you really are, fearing that pregnancy can disrupt the balance you had between the two of you. You loved feeling his dick hitting you raw from the inside, and you'd thank him for every drop of cum in your sobbing pussy. You're a bit of a pillow princess, never wanting to do anything but lay on your back or your tummy like a good girl and take his cock. You like it rough, you like it a bit more tame, and you absolutely adore feeling his cock grazing your walls each time he pushes deeper and deeper. You don't understand how he still spends time with you even as he pushes you down into the pillows and whispers the filthiest things into your ears, but you love him too much to resist...and he is always so caring after - bringing you a fresh blanket and some fruits, rummaging through your closet to find a new shirt and some snacks for his favorite pocket girl. You ask him to fuck you with a nicely printed card, and he thinks he once again died and went to heaven - you're too fucking precious and he doesn't deserve you, not even a little bit. He needs you carnally, every time you encourage him on the kinks he never thought he had - ropes, chains, spanking your ass and make you call him sir as he starts spreading the puckered hole of your anus...you spoil him with your body and he can't help but imagine your relationships being something more, something...deeper. You can't really blame him when you wake up in his bed after a really rough night of fucking, your wrist chained to the bedpost and your legs spread as he pushes a vibrator deep into your sore pussy - you just have to be a good sub and submit to him once again, okay? And Konig will take care of everything else.

[lalunanymph]

WHERE THE DATURAS BLOOM

syp. they sent her to tarus to die as a mockery to him, the fiend—offering a fragile, pitiful thing who can barely stand on her own two feet, as if her weakness would be his downfall. yet, they never knew the strength she found, nor the love that bloomed in her heart where the daturas dared to grow, once she opened her arms and heart to the fearsome dragon.

tags. sacrificial bride!reader, injuries, blood, heavy angst, fluff, healing, explicit smut, tail sucking, nipple play, mentions of lactation, oral sex, light restraints using a dragon tail, virginity loss, biting, marking, pet names (sweetness, kitten, little one), monsterfucking, two dicks!Sylus, breeding, mild cumflation, cockwarming, double peneration, mentions of anal, nesting, dragon senses, mentions of pregnancy, mentions of drugging, kidnapping, torture, mentions of miscarriage, near death experience, severe injuries, visual impairment, mind control, gore, language, tension, fluff, romance, soft!sylus, flashbacks, spoilers for beyond cloudfall myth, happy ending, 20k+ word count

Those who stare at the abyss will find the abyss staring back. 

The old adage rings in your head as the rocky walls close in on you, blood seeping from your open wounds and dripping onto the floor.

Thunder rips through the night sky and rain splashes on your face. The sounds of shouts and jeers fill the air as the men who threw you over the ledge abandoned you to a fate worse than death. Your screams for mercy are ignored, their backs turned on the sacrificial bride to the Fiend. The ceremonial garbs they clad you in were little more than skimpy adornments, and you gasp, hearing a terrifying rattle in the air.

A voice fills your mind, invasive and grating, and you feel cold drafts swirling around you, beckoning you to step forward into a cave with no end in sight.

You shiver, head ringing, as the voice urges you forward—low and seductive. It echoes with the smugness of a predator finally trapping its prey.

Step closer… let me take a look at you. 

As if you’re a marionette on strings, your feet pull you forward, right to a rocky alcove where the sound of chains rattle and the glint of ruby red eyes stare at you. The air becomes suffocating, as if there’s a darkness devouring all the remaining light.

Something primal in you stirs, and you feel the first flickers of light forming in your hand, right where your pulse is jumping erratically.

I like your face. 

The dark, hollow voice seems to come from nowhere and yet everywhere at the same time. You catch the glimmer of chains, the weak light illuminating the hilt of a broadsword stuck in a muscular, powerful chest.

Take it out… free me…

The unknown voice compels you, and in a fit of panic, you grab the hilt and yank with all of your might. Once the sword is free, it transforms into hot light, and you feel a jolt go through your heart, like lightning striking through a stormy, night sky. 

The sword disappears and a terrifying roar fills the chamber, rocking the walls and throwing you off your feet. You barely have time to stand when a sudden force sweeps you to the ground, and you’re left reeling. 

Staring up into a pair of crimson, insidious eyes, your heart sinks down into your stomach like a stone capsizing into the middle of a murky lake. Before you, the abyss stares back.

“You… you…”

The realization that you’ve been fooled renders you faint, and your breathing stutters, heart pounding almost painfully in your chest.

You’ve done the unthinkable: you have released the Fiend of the Abyss, and now… 

Now, you are his prey. 

Fear claws at your throat as the hulking figure takes a massive step towards you, dark red energy rolling like mist behind him, trickling from his right eye.

You’re shaking, vision going blurry. The Fiend opens his mouth, revealing rows of what looks like sharp teeth.

Terror engulfs you, sticky and thick, stiffening your joints and with a sharp inhale, you crumple to the ground, the world and your impending death fading out into black. 

—

The scent of fresh blood is in the air.

He sits silently on his throne of gold and lies, scaly ears flickering for the first signs of the sacrifice approaching. His leathery wings quiver in anticipation, the tip of his draconian tail twitching as he sniffs the air, the unmistakable tang of liquid rust filling his nose. The Fiend stretches and his nostrils flare, the sinews of his back and legs quivering. It’s been centuries since he’s last had a chance to extend his limbs. After all, chains and a sword lodged in your chest hardly provide mercy for much motion. 

The scent grows closer, and he can hear the rattling breaths this poor creature takes. He’s been watching her for hours now, waiting for her to wake. He could attack and devour her soul in that moment, but where would the fun be?

Besides, her soul is as stale as day-old bread. Nothing of a sort which would entice him. 

The dragon waits for one beat—two—and he languidly steps off his throne. His back to the weak, sniffling creature, his instincts suddenly flare and he swiftly darts to the right when a mass of flesh lunges right at him. He parries the weak grip on a blade, his tail whipping out to grab this human by the ankles, containing the ambush. 

“Please!” 

Her voice rings past the rocky walls, bouncing off the mountains of gold and precious jewels. 

His anger flares, but not at her. He takes in the shallow cuts on her cheeks, the welts on her arms. She’s clad in a thin leather garment, her knuckles pronounced and face gaunt. 

“Who are you?” His voice is a deep rumble, one that could destroy mountains in a single roar. Her eyes are wide, the whites of them shining in the dim half-light. When she comes to the understanding that he speaks, they roll back into her skull; her body going limp in his arms.

“Wh—!”

A grunt. She bleats like an animal scared to death. 

The dragon manages to catch her before she falls. 

.

.

.

That night, the girl marked for a fate worse than death dreams about the dragon for the first time, arrow tips exploding from her flesh and a sword piercing her chest searing through her subconsciousness with pure agony. 

Tap. Tap. Tap.

You wrinkle your nose, turning your face away from the persistent drop of water falling right on your cheek. Shifting, your eyes fly wide open when your body meets the open air and you scream, falling to the floor in a mess of limbs. Ridges of unidentifiable hard edges jab into your body, and you groan, forcing your eyes to adjust to the lack of light. 

There, right in the heart of the cave, a pair of blood red eyes appraise you.

Your scream dies in the back of your throat when a flurry of wings slice through the stagnant air of the cave, a bulky, huge being rushing towards you and knocking you off your feet. A mass of flesh and scales envelopes you in his warmth, glints of gold flying in the air and falling like clinking rain where your bodies meet on the dirt-packed floor.

His eyes, red as blood, glisten like rubies when he scans them over your face. He parts his mouth, and the sharp edge of his canine tooth sends a shiver down your spine. The great Fiend, feared by all in Philos, the one prophesied to bring the destruction of universes from the moment he was born… is staring at you in disdain. 

“I suppose those oafs did not anticipate their idiotic sacrifice would free the Fiend of Philos.”

You are barely spared a chance to be indignant, not when his tail sweeps you up by the waist, dragging you in mid-air where you scream and flail. 

He chuckles, a low, almost human-like sound. His wings reverberate, the leathery tips of them quivering from the slight breeze his tail whips up. 

“I see fear has gripped your tongue, little one. Do not mistaken me—I despise the taste of human flesh. But, your soul…” His tongue darts out to lick at your jaw, tasting sweat and dirt. “... is what I am more interested in.” 

You shake, struggling to find something—anything—to say.

“Release me,” you stammer, and he scoffs, eyes dancing with mirth. His spiralled horns are huge on his head. Despite the sharpness of his features and the redness of those eyes, there’s a glint of mirth behind those irises, one you would never expect to find. 

Many told you before sacrificing you into the pit: The Fiend is not merciful. 

He will rip you apart limb from limb.

Those who visit his lair will never return.

You are cursed—born a blight. You shall be wed to the Fiend on the month of the blood red eclipse and you will be thankful, child. 

Their sneers tautening over teeth that look like daggers, their jeers which grate your ears like nails on a metal platform. The bite of pain in your arm as a needle slides past skin, muscle, fat and flesh—depositing liquid fatigue straight into your bloodstream. As your world went black, you woke up to more darkness, finding yourself amidst bones and rubble, right at the lip of Tarus. 

There was nothing else you could do but plant one foot right in front of the other—walking straight to your imminent death.

The dragon growls, low and dangerous, as he cocks his head to one side. 

“Who are you? And why are you in my prison?”

He waits. You struggle to move your leaden tongue.

“My name is… Y/N. I am… was… sent here as a sacrifice… a bride…”

The Fiend pauses, his eyes raking over your face. When he sees you are completely serious, he tosses his head back, a vile laugh reverberating across the walls. 

“Is that so?” He continues to chortle. “My… what delusions you humans hold.” Without warning, he sends you flying across the room with a flick of his tail, your back hitting the hard rock. You choke on a wail of pain, your teeth cutting into your tongue. Blood fills your mouth and spit out a thick, red wad onto the rocky floor.  

He is barely sorry, rising to his full height, teeth bared and chest heaving with the exertion it takes to not snap your neck and end your pathetic life.

Every step he takes rocks the ground, the power and danger he holds dripping from his half-naked body, the defined muscles coiling in tension. Ready to snap.

You think—this is it. This is what your pathetic life has amounted to. Perhaps dying would be swift. Maybe you will see your parents again; feel the warmth of their embrace, one you’ve been without for far too long, living this half-life of pain and fear. It would be nice to feel love and belonging again; you’ve gone so long without it. 

If he was expecting his prey to scream and fight, he would be sorely wrong.

You close your eyes, and tilt your head up, exposing your bare neck for him to do as he pleases.

Waiting on a merciful death to befall you. 

The dragon stops right in his tracks.

Curiously, he assesses you. Though the scent of fear is in the air, the look on your face is nothing short of resignation. 

A far cry from any living being with a defense mechanism. 

The sight of you is almost pathetic, tugging at his heartstrings: your eyes twitching, breathing jagged. He gets close enough to scent your pheromones in the air, and he recoils in disgust. 

She stinks, he thinks, narrowing his blood-red eyes. Is this really the best sacrifice they could offer him? Surely they know that even locked away for an eternity, a dragon still has standards. 

The closer he gets to you, the more he sees how young and afraid you are. From your trembling hands to your rapidly rising and falling chest, there is not a bone in your body that wishes to survive.

How terribly dull, he thinks. And also how incredibly sad.

What beatings did you endure to drive you to this state? What words did they spit at you to break your soul? He takes in the color of your hair, your eyes. How different and perturbing you are to other humans. A sign of the damned. 

Poor, pathetic little creature… he shakes his head. The myths were wrong. He doesn’t have the stomach for human blood—never did—and if you weren’t meant as fodder for food, surely those bastards above thought you would be the perfect mate for him.

The damned and the broken.

A love story as old as time.

He snorts inwardly and gets onto one knee, gently running the edge of his talon down your cheek, using the sharp edge to tilt your face upward. 

“Look at me, little one,” he rumbles.

You immediately comply, eyes flying wide open. The dragon takes a moment to gaze at you, drinking you in. He sees the effects of malnourishment hanging from the exhaustion in your eyes—knows you haven’t eaten for days, surviving purely on adrenaline and fear.

His tail snakes closer, grazing the small of your back. It would be so easy to kill you—a bit more pressure of his tail piercing past your flesh, and the scaly, sharp tip could rip your heart from the inside out. 

He takes in your shallow breathing, how your wide eyes never leave him. Even confronted by death, you still face it head-on.

What a brave, little fool.

He opens his mouth, about to offer you something to eat or drink, when your hands move to your thigh strap, a flurry of motion he almost doesn’t catch until the blade is right at his throat. The Fiend grits his teeth, and with a swift flick of his tail, knocks the pathetic knife from your hand.

Swiftly, he grabs your wrists, rolling you to the ground and pinning them over your head, breathing hard in your face. 

“You really do know how to put on a good show, little one,” he growls. “Did you think that blade would stand a chance against me?” 

“I—”

He silences you with another low, warning growl. “You have committed the most foul move… hmm.” Pretending to ponder, he runs the sharp tip of his talon over your chin, watching your eyes widen with fear as a drop of blood trickles down your neck. “What can I do with an errant human? Let me see…”

“Please,” you’re shaking, tears in your eyes. 

The dragon fights back the urge to roll his eyes. A part of him wants to see how long it would take to break you down and get you begging for your life, but the other part of him simply finds your pleas to be a grating distraction in the silence of his lair.

He lets you go and you gasp shakily. 

“Thank you—”

“Spare me any pleasantries.” 

His powerful tail pushes you far from him, though he noticeably doesn’t throw you against walls anymore. 

“Keep your distance from me. Do not step in front of me and for the love of all things holy in Philos—” he glances at your torn up wedding garb, noting the scratches on your bare thighs and how matted the skimpy leather is. “Take a bath. You reek.” 

Parting words which leave you gaping in indignation. He spreads his wings and takes off to the highest alcove of the cave, where you have no doubt of his eyes following your every move. 

Quietly, you stand and retreat into the coldest part of the cave, hugging your knees to your chest.

This is all an unholy nightmare. Nothing about this—about him—is real… this shall all pass… you try to soothe yourself, taking in steadying breaths. 

This, too, shall pass.

Except, this nightmare is not one you can ever wake from. 

When you open your eyes to the bleak morning rays bouncing off the cave walls, your heart drops right to your stomach. Scrambling to sit up, you glance around, trying to find a sign of the dragon who had nearly taken your life yesterday. But, you only notice mountains of gold as far as the eye can see. A lair full of treasures rich from kingdoms far beyond your reach. You marvel at goblets with inscriptions in languages you have never seen before, run your fingers over delicate edges of gold coins, and pick one ruby up to the light, watching the morning rays bounce off the rich red facets.

From above, you hear a rustling, and the edge of his dragon’s tail dangles from an alcove. The strange beast who resides here appears to be fast asleep. Since you cannot leave this pit without alerting the rest of the villagers of your escape, the only thing you can do is fend for yourself. You arm your body with swords that boast jewel-encrusted hilts, take a ruby blade in your hand and tighten a thick silk cloak around your neck. 

You were going to escape from this hellhole one way or another. 

You would never give up your life this easily.

Plotting your next move meticulously, you slice through the silk rope and glance up at the opening of the mountain, calculating that it must be around a few feet high. While you didn’t have wings like a dragon, you had a mortal’s will to live.

Days passed with you stringing the cut ends of the cloak together, and when that wasn’t enough, you tore down the dragon’s gold curtains, attaching the shorn slivers to make a single, long rope. 

Through it all, the dragon keeps his eyes firmly on you, a reminder of how you used to watch a tiny kitten trying to clear a 10 foot wall back in the Sanctuary. The young cat never surrendered, never backed down, and you remember watching as it tumbled back to the ground again and again, always springing back to its feet for another round.

Bruises and scrapes litter your knees and palms with every failed attempt. But, you persist. 

Once you manage to scale the first few feet, the act of putting one foot in front of the other gets easier. You’re weak and hungry, but the hollow ache is no match for the fire in your soul needing to be set free. You will take the riches you acquired from this dragon’s lair and run away from this cursed land as far as your feet can take you—the Ivory City will be a memory left behind in your shadows.

But, what you never notice is how the dragon has moved from studying you to shadowing you. The lair is vast, full of gold, and yet, he is bored out of his wits. You barely sense his restlessness, and only when you manage to breach the top circle of the rocky cliff face, do you feel a brush of air whipping past your entire body, your hair flying right into your face. 

The surge of wind propels you up the last few feet of the rocky lip and you tumble onto the ground, coughing up dust. Brushing gravel and pebbles from your palms and knees, you shakily stand on your own feet. 

Before you, Tarus City stretches out like an ebony beast. Revelry and smoke rises to the sky, dim, greasy lights sparing the backdrop some semblance of humanity within this realm of evil and sin. 

Yet, through the film of darkness and despair, the city feels alive under the soles of your feet.

A soft flap of wings stir the air, and you turn to find the dragon staring at you, his gem ruby eyes twinkling in the darkness. 

“You made it,” his voice is a low rumble, and he shakes his head with a small laugh. “You humans and your paltry stubbornness.” Despite his harsh words, his eyes soften with something akin to respect. 

You’re cautious, but civil, glancing at the sprawling city before you. 

“Did you expect me to stay put here? Where I don’t belong?” 

There’s a tug deep inside of you, starting from your chest to your throat, like an invisible hand is inside your skin, roaming under your nerves, trying to extract something vital from your body. This strange force compels you to stumble closer to him, and your mind flashes in bursts of white light.

Devour him… End him…

The voice grows loud in your ears, and you feel the inexplicable urge to sink something into his chest. It flows hotly in you, a sword made of light that yearns to slay the dragon before you. Red mists flood your vision and your chest feels heavy, like someone is standing on your airways. You stumble to your knees, and the dragon moves closer, his pulsing right red eye nearly swallowing you whole—an eclipse of hatred tainting your soul. 

End him! Kill him!

The voices shriek like souls of the dead in your head, and you don’t think, grabbing the pummel of the knife strapped to your thigh and aiming it right for his eye.

His eye… the source of all your misery…

And you want it.

But, his reflexes are faster, silver hair almost black under the moonless night as he grabs your wrist and pushes you down to the rocky ground, the jagged edges cutting into your skin.

The dragon rumbles a low, eerie laugh that chills you to the core, yet your blood sings hotter for revenge.

“Ah. I see. So, your soul does want something. I knew you had an edge to you. I was waiting to see it… you have yet to become a disappointment.” 

You struggle against his grip, gnashing your teeth. He simply stares at you like you’re a feisty kitten, a smirk tugging the corners of his lips. As quickly as the murderous need appears, it dissipates, and you’re left reeling, blinking back the red hot urge to devour him.

“Let me go,” you stutter. 

He scoffs in disdain, but releases his grip on you. Scrutinizing you like how a predator would size up his prey, the dragon stalks closer, bearing down upon you with his indomitable presence. 

He corners you against the rocky cliff face, and this close, you can smell his breath—strong and heady like vengeful liquor fanning across your face.

“What is it that you want the most?” He rumbles and you stumble back, scraping the back of your foot against the rocks. He follows, the sight of his formidable broad shoulders striking a primal fear in your heart.

“What do you think I need?” 

You bare your teeth, yet he knows you dare not attack him. He sees it in the faltering resolve, the scent of your fear in the air. You are nothing but a weakling waiting to be crushed under his heel, your blood ready to coat his teeth. 

But, there is no use in ending your life now. Dragons are renowned for playing with their prey before they devour them, and a docile meal is not one delicious tasting enough to enjoy. He wants to see you struggle and squirm—only then will the conquest be far sweeter. 

“I want to make you a deal,” you speak, and your voice trembles; the effort it takes for you to remain calm is overwhelming. 

The dragon pauses in his approach, and a glint of curiosity takes over his countenance.

“Oh?” He sounds almost gleeful, those ruby eyes reflecting the erratic, dancing lights of Tarus City. “Well. About time. Speak. What is it you can offer me?” 

Your years of listening to hearsays and myths about the dreaded Fiend sealed off in the Abyss lends you knowledge to what it is a dragon truly desires: the sweetness of greed—the desire to devour a gluttonous soul. 

It is a risk to tell him what you want. But, since you are already a woman marked for dead, there is nothing else you have to lose.

“I want your help… to make me greedier.” 

The Fiend pauses, and you can see the look of curiosity flashing across his face. Closer now, you notice how elegant his features are, yet they carry a sharp coldness which betrays the disdain he feels for anyone beneath him—you included.

He rubs his chin with his flesh-shredding claws. The keenness in his gaze matches the sharp edges of his teeth which suddenly flash white in the darkness, weak moonlight reflecting off an unsettling grin.

“Greedier, hmm?” 

Circling around you, the Fiend flickers his gaze up and down your shaking figure. To him, you must look like the picture of patheticness, still in your old garbs and gaunt from the lack of nutrition. One single flick of his tail, and your life will end right where you stand.

Yet… he considers and weighs your proposal. “And what do I get in return?” 

Gulping, you hope dragons can’t scent a lie, and you struggle to make up one on the spot. “I can bring you more riches! I can help you get more revenge on the people who wronged you. I can amass you wealth and accolades like you’ve never seen before.”

The Fiend raises a brow. “Those are lofty promises, human. And what exactly would you want from me in return?” He is far more astute than you give him credit for. 

You don’t flinch when you mutter: “Revenge.” 

Now, you’ve got him intrigued. Cocking his head to one side, the handsome Fiend stares at you without saying a word. He’s seen your thoughts, felt your despair. The one thing you truly desire is the annihilation of those who brought death upon your village. The blood curdling screams of your people, the fires that ravaged the wild sky—you thirst for the deaths of those who unjustly stole your family and childhood from you. 

The look in his blood red eyes is indifferent, though the slight upturn of his lips indicate his interest.

“I see.” His wings stretch out, almost menacingly, though your quick eyes notice how they tremble… almost like he’s just learned to close them. 

But, the Fiend doesn’t give you time to wallow in your thoughts. He steps forward, tall and imposing. Taking your chin in his clawed hand, he tilts your face up, forcing you to look at him. In a flash, the red gleam of his eye dominates your vision. “There is more. Do not lie. I know you want my eye. You feel it, too, don’t you? This strange, magnetic pull.”

Without thinking it through, and you nod, your attention on his sudden proximity.

You wait for him to explain, but he never does. His touch leaves a trail of heat on your skin, and it intensifies when he presses his lips to your neck, sharp teeth leaving behind a searing bite.

“Ow—!” 

“This is a mark which bonds us, Y/N.” It’s the first time he’s ever said your name. You stare at him, breathing coming out jagged. The bite burns, almost as if it’s responding to the heat of his desires. “Before it fades, I will give you three attempts to take my eye. If you do not succeed… your soul is mine to devour.”

You put on a brave front, despite how fast your heart is hammering in your chest. A part of you thinks he can hear the thundering fear.

“Deal. And you, dragon, will help me with my revenge.”

He shrugs and takes to the sky, leaving you alone on this rocky crag where the wind is picking up. 

“Deal.” 

The dragon and you take to your revenge like straw to flame.

He enables you to soar high in the skies, plundering and stealing from corrupt nobles. He burns the Sanctuary down with you, relishing in the cries of these so-called ordained Oracles from a higher order who abuse their position and power to ruin the lives of those lower than them. 

The dragon and you make a formidable duo. The infamy of your reputation spreads across the lands, like the shadows his wings cast over Philos, marking the end of days. 

His bride and partner. Your very name brings disdain and fear across the faces of the men who had once damned you to this fate. Unbeknownst to you, the Sacred Judicator will not be overthrown. He is a man of pride and greed; a man such as that will never stand for a simple, cursed human girl to be his downfall. 

They plot and plan, finding pitfalls to ensnare you away from the dragon. 

While they scheme, the dragon and you live in the clouds, above Tarus City. With nowhere to go, your hometown long destroyed, and half of Philos demanding for your blood, there is nothing much you can do but to learn more about your companion. 

Drenched in the shadows of dusk, you sit next to the dragon, marking your next plunder on a starmap. He gazes over your shoulder, and his proximity reminds you of the mark seared into the skin of your throat. Sometimes you feel it pulsing, reminding you of the deal you made. His breath brushes your shoulder, and you blurt out the first thing in your mind. 

“Do you have a name?” 

The air between you two turns chilly.

“Why would it matter?” He asks coldly and you laugh.

“Well… I can’t keep calling you Dragon all the time, can I?” Mirth swims in your eyes, and the red vortex of his right eye flares, as if preparing to swallow you whole. But, you’re not afraid of the abyss. He can’t kill you because he still needs to devour your soul—and a dead human has no soul. “Besides, if we are in battle, the second I say Dragon, they would know who I am referring to.” 

The Fiend pauses, contemplates. After a moment, he rumbles what sounds like “Stay-rus” under his breath.

“Stay-rus?” You tilt your head to one side. “Are you asking me to stay clear? Or, is that really your name?” 

A flicker of a smile lights up the corners of his mouth at your impudence. 

“It is an ancient Philosan name.” 

“Ah.” You glance at him, and with no fear, touch his horns. He bristles, but does not reject your affection. “What if I call you something that sounds similar? Is Sylus alright with you?” 

The dragon shrugs. “Call me whatever you want. But, do not expect me to respond.” 

He stands and his wings rustle the air. 

“Where are you going, Sylus?” 

Despite his prickly warning at this new given name, he responds: “To rest.” 

But, you still want to speak to him, to get to know him.

“Please,” your voice takes on a softer quality. “Sit with me for a bit.” In this light of the flame, he looks younger. More human. You have never seen a dragon with this much emotion in his eyes.

Eventually, he sighs and sits back down next to you, casting his gaze far and wide to the city below. 

“Humans are strange creatures, are they not?” Sylus mumbles, taking a bite of the blood orange. You pick up a pomegranate and pluck a seed, chewing on it thoughtfully.

The Fiend rarely gets into an introspective mood, his thoughts and feelings hidden behind his indifferent stare. So, when he begins to ramble, you hear him. 

“Why do you say that?” 

A storm is brewing over Tarus City and the moon is hidden tonight. The secrecy and solemness of the entire surroundings mirror the distant look in his eyes. 

“Because through all the destruction and fear, they still have one thing in them unwilling to bend or break.”

Hope, you think. 

“Stubbornness,” he says, and tosses the peel to the ground where it lands with a dull thud. 

You chuckle and shake your head. “Not every human is terrible the same way not every dragon is evil. Duality exists and kindness can be seen in this world.” 

He looks at you like you’re a monster who has sprouted two heads. “They burnt your home to the ground. They took you away from your family and yet, you harbor no ill-intent for them.”

Your expression darkens, and in the sliver of moonlight, the dragon catches the same untamed fury reflected in his gaze. 

“Regardless of what they have done, innocents still roam Ivory City. To destroy all of them—”

“You are weak,” he spits out. Something in you snaps, and you stand, shaking from head to toe.

Instead of feeling intimidated, Sylus laughs, the sound coming out like a deep rumble, and shakes his head. “Sit back down. I am merely joking.”

Despite the flare of anger, you tame it, turning your indignant gaze to the embers of the fire smoldering before you.

“Why do you say such hurtful things to me? Am I not your partner through everything?” 

If you expected him to soften from your show of vulnerability, you are mistaken. The dragon narrows his eyes.  

“Do you think you can weaken me with your human love? Whatever bonding or mating attempts you humans partake in will not work on me, cursed one,” he rumbles, the tip of his tail flicking the top of my head. “If you truly want my love and attention, be stronger.”

His words rub you the wrong way, especially when you’ve proven time and time again of your heart’s discontent. The greed oozes out of you, demanding for more, something which you would’ve never dared tried as a young orphan under the Sanctuary’s care.

“Do not assume I am weak, Sylus,” you leap back to your feet again, glaring at him, and the effect strikes as much fear in his heart as a little kitten hissing at a python. You were no match for him, and the both of you knew that. However, he commends your bravery, even if it verges into the territory of stupidity. “I am plenty strong. You just have no idea how strong I can be.” 

He huffs a laugh and shakes his head. “If you think puffing out your chest and making threats will deter me, you are sorely mistaken, kitten—”

His words die in the back of his throat when you lunge right at him, dagger straight to his eye. He parries, and his tail grabs your waist, throwing you into a wall. You sneer, and the sight of your bared teeth reminds him of a young dragon who’s horns have just grown—reckless and itching for a fight. 

With every kill and steal, Sylus will always ask you the same question: What else do you desire? 

Now wrapped in the tenderness of an approaching new night and an empty moon, he senses a new, burning desire simmering between you two. A dance as old as time.

Primal instincts in him awaken when you stab your dagger into his tail, earning a hiss. His injury makes it hard for him to hold you up and he relents, dropping you to the ground where you roll away and parry, toppling over him. Red-black mists swirl around you, the light in your soul burning to devour the darkness in his red eyes. From the corner of your eye, you notice the stab wound you made in his tail healing over.

However, your instinct to kill, kill, kill doesn’t abate, and his need to drive his teeth into your soul threatens to overcome him.

End him… Kill him…

The words echo in your head, and you try hard to fight them off.

No… I can’t… I can’t… he is… he is my…

The shackles binding you to logic restraints the deathly need, and you drop the knife in your hand. Sylus laughs throatily, and without a second thought, he leans in to kiss you.

Soon, the desire to kill fades, and another pressing need emerges, this one intending to devour, but not in the way you expect.

A stirring heat fills your belly, drawing you ever closer to his light. You fall right into the vortex of his parted mouth, tasting the sweet breath of his tongue dancing with yours. Sylus shifts under you, growling when you accidentally nip on his bottom lip. 

“Careful, little one,” he groans, and the sound travels straight to your core.

“Mhm,” you moan, tasting his lips once more. He reminds you of liquor and elderberries, sweet and heady. 

Every nerve in your body is on fire, and you can’t help but to tilt your hips, pressing them closer to his, feeling the tight seam of his leather pants rub against your naked core. The friction leaves you gasping. Sylus lets out a low, guttural sound at the sudden spark of heat, his ruby red eyes darkening.

“Little one… you have no idea what that feels like…”

You gasp when his tail wraps around your waist gently, possessively.

You have never been with a man, much less a dragon before, and the idea of what could potentially come next leaves you reeling. 

“Wait…”

Sylus hears the note of hesitation in your tone and halts all his movement. The sharp, stinger-like tip of his tail is gentle when it caresses your cheek. 

“I will not hurt you, little one,” he promises. The air trembles with a murmur of vulnerability. You feel his claws slide up your waist, caressing the leathery garment you still wore from the time you dropped right into his lap as a frightened, wide-eyed little thing.

Sylus’s touches are feathered with curiosity, and those eyes hide a world of secrets behind them. Secrets you wish to uncover. You brush a lock of silver hair from his face, and to your pleasant surprise, he leans into your touch.

“Dragons cannot feel love,” he murmurs, almost as if reading your silent desires. Perhaps, he tastes your growing need in the air. “Not in the way humans do.” His kiss falls like a dew drop on your eyelashes. 

You struggle to keep your wits to yourself, not wanting to succumb to his charm. “How do they differ?”

He smiles, truly smiles for the first time, as if your question is something a child would ask. “Dragons have mating frenzies. A cycle of sorts. During that time, we are inundated by our constant need to mate and breed…”

You gently caress the side of his face, running your touch down the sharp ridges of where his scales meet his chest, above his heart.

“Can a human and a dragon ever mate?”

The question hangs in the air like an awkward note delivered wrongly in the middle of an orchestra chamber.

You swallow, about to backtrack, when he tightens his grip on you. Pain flashes in his eyes, as if he’s remembering a past you aren’t privy to.

“Yes,” he says softly, the word heavy with a thousand burdens. “They can. And, they have.” 

Taking in his almost human countenance, your eyes widen. “You… you’re talking about yourself, are you? About who you are?”

He growls in warning, and you clamp your mouth shut—not wanting to ruin this moment. Sylus is a puzzle you can’t quite figure out. But, even if you don’t have all the pieces, you cherish them whenever they drop onto your lap, doing everything you can to try and create a bigger picture of him.

“I dreamt of a boy once… a long time ago,” you gently run your thumb across his horn, not noticing how he shudders. “He was young and scrawny. With a stumpy dragon tail and cut off horns oozed blood…”

Sylus doesn’t speak, his expression like the dark side of the moon—hiding everything. 

You shrug, and lean in closer, pressing a soft kiss to his jaw. “I never understood that dream. Maybe it’s a premonition.”

“Or, perhaps, a memory.” 

You lift your eyes, but he’s already pulling you closer, claiming your lips as his own. You shiver at the heat of his mouth, the all-encompassing need he pours into the kiss. Your mind spins, the room becoming hotter, as the stirring heat between you and the dragon kindles into something deeper. 

Needier.

Sylus moves his mouth to the tender juncture where your neck and shoulder meet, worrying his teeth into your delicate flesh. He bites and gnaws like a predator to its prey, the stinging pain morphing into an undeniable need slicking hotly between your thighs.

He groans when you inadvertently shunt your hips, eyes widening at the bulge behind his pants. Sylus gazes right at your lips, bringing them close to his once again, kissing you breathlessly. His tongue slips past to demand entrance to your mouth, and you part your lips, letting him delve right in. Greed infuses his kisses, and he takes and takes, swirling his tongue and tasting you, his grip on your hips tightening.

“Sylus…”

His name on your lips almost makes him feverish with need. Sylus growls and rolls you onto your back, his tail coiling around your waist, snaking up your neck. He stands and tugs you up with ease, his serpentine tail wrapped tightly around you. Your back meets the soft surface of his chaise, and he gently parts your legs, running the tips of his claws over your fleshy inner thighs.

The mark on your neck burns, and this desire is even stronger than the one calling you to kill him. It’s like your souls are fused together—whatever he feels, you do, too. Whatever he wants, you want. 

And right now, there is no shadow of doubt that Sylus wants you. 

He licks his lips, and the fire in his crimson eyes burns through you. You gasp when he lifts the hem of your leather, wedding dress up over your thighs, exposing your need to the chilly air of his lair.

Sylus groans, deep and gravelly in his chest, at the sight of how wet you already are for him. 

“Impatient, aren’t we?” He rumbles, and gently trails the back of his index talon down your slit. He gathers the wetness and, keeping eye contact with you, runs his tongue down the sharp curve.

You gasp, cheeks heating up. “Sylus—”

“Kitten,” he growls, kneeling before your spread thighs. The sight of you, all spread out before him, is one that pumps more heat into his bloodstream than any loot ever could. 

He smells how excited you are, your arousal like warm honey and vanilla, beckoning him to taste you. 

You gasp when his rough tongue licks a strip from your inner thigh to your bare pelvis, leaving a trace of heat behind. 

“Oh!” your voice echoes in his chambers. “Oh… Sylus…”

He growls, loving the name you’ve given him on your tongue.

The sight of his claws on your skin should’ve scared you, but all you feel is a deep curious need for more. You tilt your hips up in an invitation, one which the dragon raises his brow to.

But, he gets onto his knees, like you’re a sacred piece of art he has to worship. More than the riches and the gold, Sylus thinks nothing in his lair shines as brightly as you. Your soft skin under his lips, the velvety grip of your folds on his tongue… he may not be familiar with this type of desire, but it is slowly unravelling itself like an old, familiar blanket. 

Sylus nuzzles his nose right into the heart of your cunt, and you gasp, sighing his name.

He lets you grip his hair, play with his horns. His tail wraps tightly around your waist, the tip grazing your cheek. To his surprise as he’s pleasuring you, you turn your face and envelope the sharp, tapered curve with your soft, warm mouth, sucking on it lightly.

Bolts of pleasure shoot through his body like lightning. Sylus growls and lifts his head, ruby eyes entranced at the sight of your flushed cheeks and swollen lips tasting the tip of his tail. You lift your lust-drowsy eyes to catch his gaze, and smile.

“You… taste good…” Licking your lips, you’re unaware of the alluring picture you paint. 

This human, this mite in the face of a mighty dragon may not be able to slay the foul beast, but she sure knew how to bring him to his knees.

Sylus groans, doubling down his effort to please you.

It’s instinct how he moves his tongue, sampling your flavor. Your breathing hitches, gasps growing heavier, and from the twitch of your hips to the sight of more nectar spilling from between your legs, Sylus can hazard a guess that you might be on the verge of a climax.

A low, gravelly growl spills from his slickened lips, and his claws shred the front of your dress, splitting the skimpy material into half with the ease of tearing through sugar paper. 

Your bare chest unfurls like vast plains of flesh, warm to the touch, soft as silk underneath his claws. He sees your milk glands (or, as humans might call them: breasts), luscious and heavy enough to sustain his young. The primal lust roars louder in his veins.

“I want to see them full with milk,” he licks his lips and plays with your pebbled nipples. “Feeding my progenies… you will make a splendid mother, indeed.”

His words don’t scare you—you’ve already given this bond a thought, during dark nights when sleep couldn’t find you. If the dragon wants to mate, you shall welcome his advances. This new desire, hot and insistent within you, sparks like the first flame of love. 

“Ahhh…” your dulcet moan grazes his ears like a supple kiss. “Sylus…” 

His tail restraints your arms from flailing, though he gives you enough grace to sink your hands in his hair. Sylus’s warm tongue continues to tease your sensitive spots, his nose grazing your clit. Lapping at the warm musk you produce like it’s honey from a fount, the dragon greedily drinks you up. 

Timidly, you reciprocate, pressing kisses to the end of his tail. As your pleasure spikes, the need to ground yourself comes in the form of suckling on the narrow tip, your moans lost in mouthfuls of his stinger. He growls, eyes flashing and lifts his head from between your thighs. 

“How does one mortal know exactly where to pleasure a dragon?” 

You detach your lips from the leathery skin of his pointed tip, breathily replying: “I read an ancient book once… Dragons are symbols of fertility and their tails…” you trail off, as if almost embarrassed to know this fact, “... are sensitive.”

Sylus shivers when your tongue runs across the stinger again, making his tail twitch and flick uncontrollably. He resists the urge to flip you onto your knees and breach your tight heat in this instance, exercising patience. The last thing he wants is to accidentally injure you. 

“So, this is what they feed the dragon brides up in that sanctimonious Sanctuary of yours?” He mocks, “Ways on how to pleasure a dragon? How… whorish.” 

Your indignation flares and you narrow your eyes. “No,” you splutter. “It was a piece of information I found by accident,” you struggle against the tight coil of his tail around you, “And, do not call me such terms!” 

Sylus chortles, amused by your vitriol. “I see. My innocent human bride is not as innocent as I thought.” 

He grins and using his thumb, circles the throbbing bud between your legs. “Don’t move. My claws are sharp,” he warns, and gently, blows cool air on the little bundle of nerves already blushing. “Mhm… your body is… supple…” Cool, slightly chapped lips press a reverent kiss to your clit. 

You gasp, and struggling to quip back, ask, “And how does a dragon know how to pleasure a human woman?” 

His answer throws you off. Sylus grins, revealing rows of perfect, straight white teeth as he replies succinctly: 

“Instinct.”

His tongue delves right back into your heat and you scream, thighs twitching. The tapered stinger gently caresses your cheek, and you take it as an invitation to suck on the tip. Wet noises and muffled moans resound around the cave walls. 

Sylus’s tail releases you, and he kneels up, fumbling with his pants. You eagerly help him tug them down, not sure what you would find hidden underneath the dark fabric. 

But, a very much human cock greets your sight, though larger than the wax appendage in the science labs back at the Sanctuary. You bite your lip, gently stroking it from base to tip.

Sylus hiss, tilting his head back. “Gods,” he whispers blasphemy while in the throes of his pleasure. “Do not stop…”

You hum, warm palms running up and down the slick flesh. His tail wraps around your midsection again, and the light catches on a split at the base of the large, serpentine mass. Curious, you tilt your head to one side.

“Sylus… what is that?” 

He sees what you have spotted and laughs hollowly. “Didn’t your naughty books tell you, my bride? That… is a hemipenis.” The tip of his tail slides between your legs, caressing your folds and you gasp, squirming. Before your eyes, twin sacs pop from underneath the scales, and you see two curling branches feeling the air.

“Are those…?”

You trail off and Sylus huffs a hoarse laugh. “Yes. Supposed to go in you. One or the other. I am not picky.” 

Gaping, you stop stroking his human cock and pay attention to his dragon one. Roughly the same size as his human appendages, his dragon ones are a fleshy pink, with bulbous sacs hanging at the base.

“So… you have three organs…”

You marvel at the biology of him, not paying attention to the pink dusting on the high points of his cheeks. 

“Yes… so to speak.”

Sylus’s voice drops an octave, and you feel his claws gently caressing your bare thighs.

“I have… never made love with a dragon before,” you admit, and he finds it strangely endearing.

Sylus lets out a low chuckle and shakes his head. “If you ever did, I would not think to even have you in this position.” Grinning, he leans closer, as if to let you in on a secret. “I would have scented another male on you and snapped your neck clean off for daring to intrude in my lair… or, did you not know dragons only mate for life?” 

His words leave your head spinning. You gasp, and he grabs your chin, holding it firmly in his clawed hand.

Your wide eyes, your flush cheeks. You look divine, and Sylus aches for a taste.

He leans in, lips pressing to yours. There’s less heat this time, passion simmering to a tender touch—hesitation replaced by a growing intimacy that is undeniable. His hands roam your body, feeling the lush and warm skin of your hips, thighs and stomach. 

“You taste like sin incarnate,” the dragon whispers against your lips.

Curiosity simmers in you, needing to be fulfilled and you speak past his lips meeting yours in hurried kisses.

“What—do you mean—mhm… mating for life?” You manage to gasp. Sylus growls, loving how breathy you sound. 

Sylus lets out a rumble that sounds almost like a purr, his nose gliding from your jaw to your pulse point, inhaling you. 

“The mating frenzy happens once every few years. During such a… ritual… the dragons will choose one to be their mate—to carry their offspring and be their one true partner. Your books do not teach this because to humans, such a notion of love is barbaric and unheard of…” 

Naturally, the next question rolls off your tongue. “And… you have chosen me? As your mate?” 

The word suddenly holds a heavy connotation, and you swallow. 

His tail strokes your chin, and you nuzzle your cheek against it. Infuriating as ever, Sylus never gives you a straight answer. “Perhaps.” 

The idea of someone as simple as you being the Fiend’s mate is laughable. And, yet…

You lick your lips, running your gaze over his muscular and broad build. The prominence of his spine and scaly shoulders, the black-tipped serpentine tail with streaks of red scales. 

“Tell me more about these… mating frenzies.”

A guttural low growl forms at the depths of his chest, making you shiver.

“Better yet—I can show you.” 

In a flash, he’s on top of you, and his tail slithers right to your spread thighs. You feel the heat of his split dragon cock gently grazing your hip, and you hold your breath. “What does this mean? For both of us?” 

Sylus’s head is traveling to your sternum, his tongue sticking out to taste your skin. He stops at the swell of your right breast and sighs.

“You ask too many questions.”

Whatever is left of your coherence is lost in the feel of his velvet tongue teasing your straining nipples. He licks at them, bringing the fleshy nubs into the heat of his mouth and rolling them between his teeth. You gasp, completely helpless under his larger build, your arms bound to your sides by the strength of his tail wrapped around your chest. 

“Ngh—Sylus!” You cry out and he chuckles, low and smoky, enjoying how your body is squirming from the stimulation. 

Sylus’s eyes close when he feels your hand stroking his thigh and tail, the innocent touch sending waves of pleasure through his body. He is completely enthralled by you—this tiny, insignificant human… and you don’t even know the extent of his desire. 

Despite his rugged exterior, he nuzzles your cheek, inhaling the sweet scent of your soul ablaze with a new desire.

It’s heady and sublime, like a whiff of manna from a holier source than what’s between his ribcage. His heart palpitates, a staccato rhythm just for you. 

Sylus bends his head lower, eyelashes almost tickling your cheek.

“Is there something you wish to ask me, little one?” 

You struggle to speak, overwhelmed by the sensations he’s eliciting in your body. “I… want you.”

The confession rolls off your tongue, making his blood sing. Sylus grins, and his body primes with the need to claim you; to stake his seed deep in your body. The sight of his two cocks, each pulsing with pleasure and anticipation, makes your mouth water.

It’s a good thing those barbarians threw you down into his lair in such delectable garments… or, a lack thereof. Your bare body beckons him in like a moth to a flame; he shamelessly drinks in the sight of your splayed thighs hungrily—the fragile swathes of leather barely concealing your form. 

Sylus coils his tail closer to his pelvis, and you don’t hesitate to sit on the large, scaly mass. Your heat is maddeningly close to his lengths. The dragon desires stirring to claim you rises like a storm, and his nostrils flare. Sylus grabs your hips, positioning you over his right cock, letting the other one graze your pelvis. He hisses when you willingly take him, the innocent love on your face almost too much for him to bear.

(How can you look at him like this—like he’s something holy and worth loving?) 

The great Fiend melts right into your embrace, his head pressed to your shoulder, your bare breasts grazing the scales forming his chestplate. 

Sylus growls, going light-headed at the feel of your velvet walls melting around him. He gazes deeply into your eyes, finding not a shred of fear or repulsion in them. Your body molds around him like a well-fitted glove, your edges melting with his, the perfect contrast to his build.

As you lean in closer, he catches a whiff of honeyed wildflowers, and he deeply regrets commenting on your odor before, knowing it was because of the warped perception he had of you. 

You press your lips to his jaw, the bond between you thrumming like a live heartbeat.

He leans in to taste your mouth, the tenderness of this moment transcending any pain and bitterness he’s ever endured in his tragic life. Maybe one day he will tell you about the scars, the prejudice, the family he’s lost. But tonight, he wants you to belong to him as much as he already belongs to you.

“Does it hurt?” He checks when you take the last few inches of his beastly cock, your expression betraying a wince of pain.

“No…” you murmur, and he senses the truth in your shiny eyes. “It is simply… I am not accustomed to it.” 

Sylus bites down on a groan when you shift your hips, the sensation of him moving deep inside you both foreign and enticing. 

“O my bride,” he murmurs, nosing your hair. “You have no idea how delectable you look right now—astride me like this. Completely in my grasp. Completely mine.”

You shiver at the note of possessiveness in his tone. They said dragons horde what they find valuable. In his arms, you don’t feel broken or despised—you shine like the most priceless jewel. Despite his countenance and the infamy behind his reputation, you’re at ease in his arms, rubbing your nose with his.

“The bride of the dragon… his temptress of the night… one could get used to such a name,” you tease. His clawed hands tighten on your hips, and he guides your movements. Nose to nose, chest to chest, the dragon and you breathe as one.

The sensation of him inside you is one you have never felt in your short life. It’s both aching and pleasurable—makes you feel like a harlot and an enchantress all at once. Sylus does not hesitate to breach the last vestige of your innocence, the mark on your neck burning from his claim. 

Your ripeness and purity stains his thighs in streaks of red, and he growls low. 

“You are… untouched?” 

You nod, not trusting your voice. Your eyes water and your throat bubbles with a sob, but not from pain. You want nothing more than to make this moment of agonizing ecstasy last forever.

Sylus drops his head back to your shoulder, lips seeking your neck blindly. The mark he leaves calls upon his name, and his lips seek it effortlessly, biting and licking—reopening the wound only to seal it back with his healing capabilities.

It’s delirium and distress all in one. Your body feels like a flame in the open air, dancing violently to the blows of his desires. You move above him, bracing your smaller hands on his shoulders, leveraging on his muscular build to chase your high.

Sylus scents your soul in the air—hot liquor topped with boiling salt—simmering with the irresistible pull of your desires. The look in your eyes is wanton and needy. He can almost taste your desperation in the back of your throat.

“My bride,” he growls, gripping your hips to make you move faster. “My beloved, beautiful, greedy bride.”

His low snarl makes your insides squeeze, the need for him burning brighter and hotter.

“Sylus—” you choke.

That’s it, my sweetness… give yourself to me.

A feral, almost inhuman timber laces his voice, compelling you to surrender to the dark desires stirring beneath your skin. 

You crave for Sylus—need him like you need air.

The wet sound of skin meeting skin, his husky snarls and whispered praises bring you closer to the edge. Sylus moves under you, a dark wave with piercing ruby eyes following your every move. He fixates on your face, unable to look away. 

Those clawed hands, born to shred through flesh, tenderly cradle the plush of your hips. His mouth, a delicate curve, finds refuge in the valleys of your breasts, nipping and sucking on them like a sugar addict sampling the finest sweets in all the land. His ardent affection sends shivers of pleasure down your spine, your glassy eyes drowning in his intense, crimson gaze. The fire flickers and catches on the sheen of his dragon hide, inky smooth under the softness of your touch. 

Flesh and scales. Dragon and wife. Both blend into one as the night wears on.

Sylus feels your walls trembling, sucking him deeper. He nuzzles the mark on your neck, grazing his teeth on your pulse point.

“Let go for me,” he speaks in that same raspy, deep voice. Compelling you to listen to him. “Let go and release your worries… I am here to catch you, beloved.”

Beloved… beloved…

You are the dragon’s beloved.

Your heart soars above the clouds, far from your body. The waves of ecstasy crash around you, dragging you under. Right in the heart of the mountain, your scream of his name echoes down the valleys and boughs, the pleasure searing through your veins.

In response, Sylus roars, a great bellowing sound. He protects your fragile, human hearing with a palm pressed right to your ear, your cheek and ear against his chest; his claim resounds like a boom of thunder, shaking the trees. 

You’re dizzy, blood rushing to your ears. Sylus holds you in his embrace, pressing your body to his broad chest, close enough it feels like you could fuse your skin with his.

Your breaths mingle, heady liquor dripping into each other’s mouths, and you drink deeply from his kiss.

Sylus lays you down on the chaise, curling up next to you. Like a dragon guarding his horde of treasure, he keeps you close, tail curled under your head. Occasionally, he would caress your belly, feeling the generous swell of his release lodged right in your womb. His beastly cock remains warm in you, the hard ridges drawing sparks of pleasure chasing up your spine with every movement. 

His large wing unfurls, draping over you. With his head on your chest, your arms around him, and his dragon cock softening inside you, Sylus holds you tightly. Possessively. The tip of his tail nuzzles your chin, his human cheek rubbing against your head. 

Wrapped snugly in his embrace on all fronts, you fall into the deepest sleep of your life.

The dragon and you grow closer day by day.

As your need for revenge abates, your greed is satisfied in a different way—through a more carnal and intimate fulfillment. For a creature who loves to hoard, Sylus is generous with his pleasure, sharing the riches of his love and knowledge.

He flies you around Tarus City in his arms, his wings cutting through the valleys and casting a terrifying yet breathtaking shadow over the mostly barren rockspace. But, the city is not without its charms.

Laying in a field of daturas, the sun shines warmly on your skin. 

With a lack of human clothes nearby, you had to get creative and stitch some leather hide together with scraps of chiffon he plundered from a clothing merchant in Ivory City. The result is a dress which shows off the strength and agility of your body, light enough for your quick movements, yet warm to withstand the cool Tarus City nights.  

You munch on a blood orange while Sylus plays with a pearl necklace, lopping it around the tip of his tail, unwinding it only to gently place it on your lap. You glance at him, finding a soft smile lifting the perfect curves of his lips. 

“Put it on,’ he rumbles, and you raise a brow. 

“Why?” 

Sylus chuckles, shaking his head, finding your stubbornness endearing. You find you quite like the sound of his laughter. The warm sun bounces off his hair, turning it almost a blinding white. The hue of his locks matches with the pearly beads, its sheen catching your eye. Without a second thought, you put the necklace on. 

Turning to him, you grin. “Is this to your liking?”

But, his eyes darken, the sudden look of lust flashing in his crimson eyes catching you off guard.

Before you can open your mouth to speak, he grabs you by the waist, pinning you down to the grassy carpet. The cloying scent of crushed daturas fill your nose, making your head spin. You cradle his face in your hands, admiring the jut of his sharp features. 

Sylus nuzzles into your touch, like a needy cat. He growls when you touch his horns. 

“You know what caressing them does to me.”

You pretend to look innocent. “Oh? I suppose I don’t. Care to remind me again?” 

Your dragon lover grins, baring his teeth. Sylus never smiles unless he catches the scent of treasure. Trapped underneath his bigger build, you glance at his right eye, and the mark on your neck starts to tingle again. Every time you think you have an upper hand on the situation, the bond you share with him brings a crushing sense of helplessness and desire—making you repeat the pattern of giving into him all over again. 

His lips press to yours and you inhale the sweet taste of blood oranges on his touch. He nibbles on your lower lip, and you shiver.

“O bride,” he whispers, dragging the tips of his talons up your side. “You smell… delectable.” 

His mouth seeks refuge in the crook of your neck, biting, nipping and sucking. The sharp sting of his teeth and tongue turn into ripples of pleasure coursing through your bloodstream, warming you from the core. 

You thread your fingers through his silver hair and he hums in approval. 

Sylus moves his mouth from your neck to your pulse point, going over the marks he left the night before. The frenzy of his claiming sears through your memories, and you shudder again, powerless against the desires that consume you.

He nips and licks along your jaw, across your collarbones. The bite of his teeth drives you closer to ecstasy, and you tilt your head back, whimpering.

“Sylus…”

He smiles against your skin. “I love the sounds you make… these sweet, little eager mewls,” he rasps in a dark, low tone, his body pressing down on you. You gasp as he leans in, lips a  breath from your ear. “It makes me want to devour you.” 

A cacophony of lust and longing swirls inside you. The mark on your neck grows hotter. You crane your neck closer to him, noses almost touching and like a plea for succor, you murmur, “Then, devour me.” 

The glint in his eye grows darker and he leans in closer. “You have no idea what you are asking for, little one.”

There’s an edge of warning in his tone, one you choose not to hear. 

“All I want is you… and I must have you, my dragon.”

A shiver runs up his spine, the sound of your possessive words both delighting and frustrating him. 

He cages you to the ground with his arms, looming over you like a dark shadow. The muscles in his body tenses, coiled tight like a spring about to break. 

You pry your wrists from his grasp and he gives your freedom back with no hesitation. Your hands roam the broad expanse of his back and chest, feeling the warmth of his human skin mingling with the cool hide of his dragon scales. You concentrate on the spikes erupting from his shoulders, running your hands down his pronounced spine, where you gently press a hand to the base of his tailbone.

“You’re beautiful,” you whisper, and the sunlight speckles his shadows over your face. You pluck a flower and gently tuck it under a ridge of scales closest to his heart. “Has anyone ever told you that, Sylus?” The red bloom contrasts vividly with his dark scales, and the look on his face reminds you of a setting sun—tender and warm.

His eyes soften, the beastly need shadowing them tempered by a touch of adoration. 

He takes your hand in his clawed grip and gingerly runs a talon over your knuckles, careful not to break skin.

“No one has ever said that to me before,” his voice is rough, laced with an unfathomable emotion. Sadness? Grief? Anger? 

You couldn't decipher it. But, the unconditional affection you feel for him does not waver. 

Sylus slots his larger build in between your thighs, bearing down on you. Even with his proximity, you don’t feel afraid, gazing into his jewel-tone eyes, admiring how they shine like rubies in the gentle sun.

“Sylus… have you ever been in love before?” 

He turns his head to press kisses onto your fingertips. Slowly, he shakes his head. 

“Dragons do not feel love the same way humans do.”

Curious, you card your fingers through his hair. “And how do they feel love?”

The ruby embedded in his chest pulses almost as if it’s alive. You gently run your fingers over the sharp edges of the jewel, surprised to find it warm There’s something about it that echoes him—rough and unyielding on the surface, yet concealing a depth of hidden truth beneath its intricate facets.

Sylus grasps your wandering hand in his, bringing it to his lips. His lips touch the thrumming pulse of your wrist with a dearest reverence.

“Imagine you’re at a feast and the host has arranged a full table filled with only your favorite food,” he explains, rubbing the tip of his nose into your palm. “There’s a centrepiece and you wish to have it, but the host tells you it’s for decoration only. Yet, you cannot remove your eyes from it. You scheme and pine, wondering how to grab it when the bastard’s back is turned. Then, frustrated and no longer able to wait, you end the host where he stands for daring to keep such a treasure from you.” His voice grows softer, fringed with despair. “You pick up the centrepiece and sink your teeth into it. It’s made out of plastic and the feast ends because of you. The table is toppled over and you haven’t even touched your meal yet. This is what it feels like to love as a dragon.”

Your eyes soften, sensing his anguish. “I see.” Instead of being disgusted by his greed, you feel for his plight—to be cursed to love and long for something or someone that will never satiate the true ache in your  soul. “But, I suppose that’s where the magic lies, right? In the meal and not true desires? What’s in front of you instead?” 

Gently, you caress his horns again, marveling at how strong and perfectly curved they are. 

Sylus bends his head closer, letting you touch them. “Only you humans think such a paltry keep is worth pursuing.”

You laugh and shake your head. “Love is not about what you can take but what you give back.” 

As you stroke the indentations at the base of his horns where he’s taken a knife to it one too many times in the past, Sylus flinches from your touch. You still, and he bristles, growling under his breath as he urges you to continue caressing him by nudging his horns against your palm.

You grin. “Hmm… you know what you remind me of?” Not waiting for him to reply, you continue, “A huge kitten. An angry, horn-fiended kitten.” 

Sylus scowls, baring his teeth slightly, but when you scratch the base of his horns, tickling his scalp, he fights back a moan.

“Mhm… feels good,” he rumbles, and you giggle, happy to have found his spot. You scratch at it for a few moments, enjoying the warm press of his body on yours. His wings quiver in the light breeze, and the day shines on, the field of daturas all forgotten for the softness in his eyes. 

When night comes, cool and blanketing the world in peaceful darkness, you hum, stoking the fire in the centre of his lair. Sylus hears the cadence of your breath, the rhythm, and he wanders over to you, nuzzling his face into the crook of his neck.

“What is that… sound?” 

“Oh. It is an old lullaby… one my mother used to sing to me.” 

His clawed hand grazes your belly, gently trailing up to cup your cheek. You lean into his touch, enjoying the warmth of his broad body cocooning around you. 

“Can you sing it to me again?” 

In the deep vastness of Tarus City, a lone, beautiful voice reverbs, her song lifting from the peaks of the dragon’s lair, up into the cloudless night. The dragon listens to her, besotted, his ruby eyes never lifting from her face.

She finishes the song, and he lifts his head from the comfort of your lap. “That was beautiful.” 

Surrounded by all the riches of the world, the dragon wants to reward you. 

“Since you so kindly gifted me something I do not have in any collection, you are free to take anything you want here.”

Your eyes land on a tapestry, depicting a dragon being surrounded by a horde of angry men and their weapons. “What is that?”

Sylus lifts a brow, chuckling to himself. “A depiction of all the 108 ways men have tried to kill a dragon.” 

You glance at him, trying to dig deeper past his words. “I take it they all failed?”

He stretches and languishes back on your lap, his chest rumbling with a deep chuckle. “Of course. A dragon is not an easy creature to kill.”

A part of you wants to know more about Sylus’s past, but something holds you back from asking him. You distract yourself instead by caressing the skin around his eye, feeling the need to take it—claim it as yours. “Anything I want?” 

As if reading your mind, Sylus grabs your wrist with a smirk. “Anything except for my eye.”

You pretend to pout. “You’re not fun…” But, you don’t want to overstep on the dragon’s generosity. Your eyes land on a ruby pendant, and you finger the string of pearls he had placed around your neck earlier today. “What’s that pendant?” 

He follows your gaze, and smirks. “Ah. You have good taste, little one. That is an old ruby worn by the first Empress of Philos. Thought to be lost after the Battle of the Brothers. I found it at the bottom of a volcano.” 

You shiver, glancing at the impenetrable ruby.

“And it did not melt? Wondrous…”

Sylus hears the awe in your voice and shifts from your lap, his tail reaching to grab the necklace, depositing it into your waiting hands. “Put it on,” his tone takes on a huskier note, and you feel a spark of heat running down your spine. Obedient and eager, you slip the necklace on, feeling the heavy weight of the pendant settling around your throat. 

The sight of the shining crimson jewel right at the centre of your chest mirrors the jewel embedded in between his pecs. “Look. We match.”

Sylus runs the tip of his claw over the cool metal of the ruby hanging around your neck and chuckles. “Indeed… though yours looks much more ravishing.”

His eyes slide down your cleavage, drinking in the sight of the pendant nestling snugly right between the valley of your breasts. A familiar hunger gnaws in his loins, and he shifts closer to you, breath warm on your neck.

His lips find the shape of your mark, retracing it with his lips. Sylus growls softly when he feels the ghost of your moan caressing his cheek. Your hands make their way back to thread his silver locks, holding him in place. 

There is no hesitation when he pushes you onto your back, the sight of his bulging cloaca catching your eye. His twin cocks emerge from the safe haven of his scales, and you gulp at the sight of them, waiting to sink into you—fill you up with his seed.

Sylus tries to remove your dress, but his claws are much too sharp, and he accidentally nicks you.

“Ow—” you curse and lean back, lifting the dress over your head, letting it fall in a heap of leather and chiffon on the stony floor. Sylus feels his breath catching in his throat.

Completely bare for him, your skin shines, catching the heat of the open fire. The reflection of your body through the mountains of gold melts under the press of his, your legs perched wide and open to receive his cock. Sylus grunts, moving onto his knees. The feel of him breaching past the tight ring of heat is delirious, and your hips cant, begging him for more.

“So greedy,” he breathes, tongue flicking out to tease your quivering bottom lip. “I have barely even started and you’re already whining. Your body is very sensitive today, precious.”

You whine, the weight of the necklaces pressing hotly into your skin when his body sinks into yours. Sylus marvels at how easily you take him, your breathing coming out in short huffs. He fingers the necklaces dangling from your throat and decides you need more. Precious jewels of ambrette, emeralds and sapphires fall upon your body, the dragon dressing you in his horde. 

He piles on more necklaces until you can barely see your breasts peeking past the fall of gems and chains. Sylus growls, his cock throbbing in you with every adornment, until he’s satisfied. He bends his head forward, licking and lapping at your tight nipples, puffy and stimulated from the cool metal rubbing against them. 

The sensation of his warm tongue contrasting the cool gems caressing your sensitive flesh is too much. You cry out, tipping your head back, giving yourself fully to him. Sylus does not take such submission lightly. He holds you tenderly in his arms, gliding his nose over the arch of your throat, inhaling the scent of your honey liquor soul.

She calls out to him, a sweet chime though the terrain of his own lost spirit, drawing him back to the warmth of your body and love.

“I cannot live without you,” he murmurs into the safety of your neck, as he settles right to the hilt. The faint sensation of his dragon cock hitting your cervix makes you wince, and Sylus is immediately attentive, raising his hips and keeping his thrusts shallow.

Your grip around his neck tightens, and you giggle when he tickles your shoulder with his relentless nips. “Sy-lus—” 

“Say my name like that, precious,” he grins, tongue snaking out to lap at your pulse point. “I love hearing my name on your lips.”

You groan. Sylus… Sylus… take me, Sylus…

He shivers as you chant his name, the sound of it on your lips driving him deeper into a frenzied state. Sylus picks up his pace, his grip on your hips tightening.

Ecstasy shoots through your veins, sparking from where you’re connected with him. The rocky ground is hard underneath your back, but your full attention is on his movement inside you. 

Licking his lips, Sylus grins when he hears you gasp at the feel of his spare cock caressing your rear entrance, the tip pushing past the tighter ring of muscle.

“Sylus—”

“Let me play with you, my precious,” he whispers. Your eyes widen; it’s like his cock has a life of its own. 

Sylus enjoys the way your hips twitch and undulate, your cheeks and chest flushing warmly from his ministrations. Your eyes close shut when the tip of him breaches past the tightness of your rear, cool fluid lubricating the arduous task of impaling you with his two cocks.

“Sylus, wh-what is that?” You moan, digging your nails into the thickness of his biceps. 

“That,” the dragon grins proudly, “Is my claim on you. You belong to me now, my precious. Forever and always.” 

The other half of your soul surges his hips forward, capturing you in a bliss of fullness you have never felt before in your life. Your cry rebounds across the cave walls, and he smothers your whimpers with his zealous kiss.

Sylus’s two cocks move inside you like a symphony of lust, drawing out your baser instincts, your moans for more, more, more. 

He gives everything he has to you, thrusting deeply, needing to reach into the heart of your love and lust.

You’re completely incoherent, whining and writhing. The necklaces around your throat clink and shake with every thrust of your dragon’s forceful cocks inside your tight heats.

Sylus growls at the sight of your body and hair fanning out before him. You look like a dream, an oasis he has once got  a glimpse of but never had the chance to drink from. 

He’s dreamed of you once, when he was locked in the loneliness of the abyss: your valiant sneer, the sword of light plunging through his chest. A part of him always knew you would be his undoing. Yet, he never imagined his destruction would be so damn intoxicating.

Your thighs tighten around his waist, holding him close. 

It takes every shred of his self-control not to lean in and draw blood from your neck. Sylus wants to mark you, needs to see his claim on your body.

It drives him to the point of snapping his teeth and growling, little more than an animal in heat. But, you don’t shrink or flinch away from him.

You take his dominance with a gleam of desire in your eyes, your sweet, supple body begging for more. 

And Sylus wants to give it all to you. 

He feels you tightening around his two cocks, the squeeze of your muscles heady enough to make his eyes roll back into his skull. The base of him is utterly ruined with a combination of his slick and your juices, streaks of white painting the inside of your thighs and dribbling onto the stony ground.

This dance between you two is unfettered and animalistic. Groans, growls, moans and hitched cries.

All of it blends into a cacophony of one. Sylus feels his blood heating, his mind reeling.

His thoughts are darkened with the need to breed and conquer—your womb his ultimate conquest. The dragon desire and instinct urges him to dominate, to plant his seed right in the heart of your fertile body. Sylus grabs your waist, changing the angle of his penetration. Your cries grow shriller, your breathing heavier.

He can sense the end of your tether, your body holding onto the last vestiges of your sanity. 

Sylus growls, “Come for me, precious one. Come.” 

A marionette to her master. Your body listens. Your heels dig into his waist, earning a hiss from him. He moans loudly when you squeeze tighter, nearly taking his breath away as you arch your back and—

“Sylus!” 

Magnificent. He can’t take his eyes off the pleasure playing out on your face. The scrunch of your brow. Your desperate cries grow hoarser. Your body coaxes him to the edge and takes him under. 

He spills inside of you with a low groan, talons scraping the rocky floor, his teeth digging into your shoulder. Possessive and intense, he keeps you pinned to the ground, letting his seed seep inside of you and take root—hoping his gift would someday grow wings.

You nuzzle his cheek, pressing your lips to his jaw and throat. 

Sylus pulls you to drape over his chest, his cocks softening inside the embrace of your body. The silence mellows like a greeting between two friends, the afterglow keeping you safe and warm in his hold. There’s no sound beyond the whistle of wind in trees and the firewood crackling.

“You said dragons mate for life,” you whisper through the inky darkness of the lair, the warmth of his embrace lowering your defences; something romantic about the night giving way to your deepest curiosities. “Does this mean I am your mate for life?” 

You’re so small and sweet in his arms. Sylus thinks he can hold you forever. 

He pretends to close his eyes, though a smirk plays in the corners of his lips.

“Is that what you envision?” 

“Is answering in riddles the only way you communicate?” He hears the frustration, the bite of sarcasm in your tone, and chuckles.

“Adorable even when you’re feisty.”

“An ass when you don’t give me a straight reply.”

Word for word. Parry for parry. Sylus chuckles, sensing he can get used to your presence for the rest of his life.

“Oh, hush,” he pulls you closer, pressing his face into your hair, “Do not ruin this moment.” 

Tarus City is full of surprises.

You would have thought such a place like this would bear no mark of civilization, but Sylus surprises you with a visit to the morning market. The stretch of streets sell everything from love potions to stuffed dung beetles, and you wish you had six pairs of eyes and ears to take in all the sights and sounds.

Sylus walks beside you, his broad build hidden under a cloak, and you’re in a similar fashioned one. 

He watches as you peruse an ornate box, before your eyes widen at something over his shoulder. “Sylus… is that a canvas made of dragon hide?” 

His eyes travel to where you’re pointing and he smirks. “Tarus City is unlike Ivory City in the sense that anything you want, you can get here.”

You walk alongside him, hastening your steps to keep up with his long strides. “Can I find a potion that will turn me invisible?” Sylus shakes his head at your nonsense question and flicks your nose with his hidden talon. 

“Your mind truly is a fascinating space, little one.” 

You laugh at his words, missing how his eyes soften when you turn to point at a tavern. “I’m starving. Do you want something to eat?”

The dragon can’t say ‘no’ to your human requirements, and he follows your lead. You sit together in a booth right at the back, hidden away from the  prying eyes of the other patrons. Sylus orders two ginger ciders, and pays with a pile of coins. The innkeeper’s eyes nearly burst out from his sockets, and before you can stop him, he sweeps the cash, promising the two of you a feast to remember. Barely even a few minutes later, the food arrives, tables laden with meat, fresh fruit and casseroles. 

Your stomach grumbles and your eyes take in the wondrous spread. Sylus chuckles when you dive right into a roast pigeon casserole, your cheeks all puffy and full. He pokes them and smirks. “Slow down, precious. The food is going nowhere.”

“Safe for you to say,” you murmur past quick chews, and swallow heartily. “I’ve noticed that you don’t eat much… you barely need any sustenance…” Another quick bite, and you tilt your head to the side. “Why is that?” 

His chin perched in his palm, Sylus gazes at you from across the booth, a gleam of amusement in his eyes. 

“Ah. So, you noticed.”

You frown and sip on the ginger cider. “I did. You look like you barely enjoy food.”

Sylus shrugs and picks up a wildberry, popping it between his teeth. He chews on it and swallows, contemplating how best to answer you. 

But, you continue: “I notice these days… you don’t see the beauty of music, can’t judge patterns, and flavors of food just don’t register for you, don’t they?” 

He clears his throat awkwardly. “Dragons don’t need any of these to survive.” 

“But, they’re part of the beauty of life,” you argue and he chuckles. 

“And you would know everything about beauty and life, right?” 

You huff, glaring at him. “I do know that life isn’t about treasures and kills… it’s about the wonders of memories created together,” you pause for a moment, feeling the words in your mouth. “It’s about love.” 

A dark emotion crosses his expression, but it’s gone before you can dive deeper. 

“Love? I told you before, it does not exist for dragons.”

You smile, catching him off guard. “Maybe that's why it’s so precious—because it doesn’t exist.”

Sylus looks away, like he can’t bear your eager expression any longer. “Starry-eyed optimism will get you nowhere in this world. You should know the fate that befalls a dragon’s lover.”

As if on cue, the stage lights dim and the roar of a dragon fills the dingy inn. An actor prances on stage in dragon wings. He sings for a long time, weaving a tale of a lonely dragon flying through the valleys. He doesn't change his cadence, and yet, you watch, enthralled. Sylus studies your reactions instead of the play, his ruby eyes sliding from the elaborate scales and fake blood to take in your entranced expression. 

He can’t resist coiling his tail around your waist, and you smile, leaning closer to his warmth. He shifts to sit beside you, letting you rest your head on his broad shoulder. The play drones on, but you’re invested in it. 

Then, the final act happens, and a woman with a red dress appears on stage, singing about her love for the fabled fiend. 

Sylus watches you closely, taking in your reactions. Your eyes widen when the dragon kisses his lover, and you gasp when he stabs her with his claws, sanguine liquid pooling on the stage. 

After the performance and dinner, you let him carry you down the streets in his arms, safe in his warmth and more than sleepy from the big meal. “Sylus… why did you bring me here?” 

Always perceptive. He can never hide the truth from his bride. 

“No reason.”

“But, I want to know why… and why the dragon had to kill his beloved even when she loved him so much.” Pouting, you try to appeal to his softer side, trying to sway him with your love. “Can you please tell me? Or else, I’ll have nightmares for the rest of the night.” 

He sighs and you gaze at him with wide, pleading eyes. There's something more he’s not telling you—your soul can guess as much. 

It’s clear he feels the same pull of curiosity and glances down at you. Slowly, he begins to fill in the gaps. 

He tells you a story of a young boy, born with dragons but with a human appearance. How the boy grew up thin and scraggly, an easy bone to pick amongst the rest of the horned fiends. Sylus’s eyes waver with a rippling loss when he mentions the eradication of the kin, how that boy became the last of his kind. 

“As the boy grew older, he began to develop horns. Afraid, he took a blade to them and his tail, but the scales would just grow back, soaked with blood…” Sylus continues and you’re mesmerized. “After centuries of anguish, he finally came to terms with his truth as a monster. Then, the love of his life appeared.” 

The world slows down, chatter and noises fading in the background. Only his soft ruby eyes anchor you to this moment.

“She removed the sword from his chest, and yet, she was the one destined to kill him. He knew she would be his archnemesis disguised as his bride, but somewhere along the line, he stopped wanting to consume her soul…” His voice grows softer, sour with a palpable loss. “Slowly, he became consumed with the idea of being human, and forgot the true monster underneath his skin. Maybe it was when he saw her preserving despite the odds, or when her desires echoed his own and reminded him of his foolish, youthful self… whatever it was, he began to see life in a new light. And yet, a dragon can never be a human.” 

He guides you down a narrow path. The night’s chill and his forlorn words make you shiver, and Sylus reaches out to tighten your cloak. 

“Dragons have a tendency to toy with human desire, however they often become ensnared by it, and ultimately are enslaved by such needs and become true monsters…” He stops, turning to look at you. “In the end, he killed his beloved. That is the dragon’s curse.”

All is silent for a few moments. Sylus gauges your emotions. 

But, for all the warning he gives you, he doesn’t expect you to reach out and encircle your arms around him.

“Take me home,” you whisper into his shoulder, hiding your face in the crook of his body. Seeking him out as your salvation and not your ruination. 

Sylus’s heart squeezes. “How can you not hate dragons?” 

You tighten your arms around him. 

“Because I’ve seen real monsters, and you, Sylus, aren’t one.”

Your words imbue in him a desire so strong to take you up to the clouds and make you forget the sadness his words stirred in your soul. 

Sylus swallows hard and carries you in his arms, lifting off into the skies. The wind whips in your face, yet you’re warm and safe in your dragon’s arms. 

So, he thinks as his wings slice through the clouds. 

This is why she stays by a dragon’s side.

Unbeknownst to either dragon or his bride, a hidden figure in a dark cloak watches their every movement. 

He notes their closeness, the fact that the sacrificial brat is still alive. Oh, he thinks, grinning to himself, the Sacred Judicator would love this. 

The news of the Fiend’s release may have shook the entire nation, but they now have a way to make sure he’s locked up in the Abyss for good. 

In the shadows, the man dreams of the accolades he would receive for trapping the dragon, how his name would reverb from the annals of history for centuries to come. The Sacred Judicator himself would bestow his sword onto him for his mighty achievement. 

And it will all be thanks to his wonderful bride. 

Sylus wakes up one morning to you in his arms. The birds are chirping, the wind is whistling and the faint shadows of dawn illuminate the cave walls. 

He embraces you, sensing nothing out of the ordinary until he presses his face closer to your chest.

Instantly, a sweet, warm scent floods his nose to coat the back of his throat. It smells like the innocence of the first snowfall, or the comfort one gets from sitting by the fire after a long day. 

Pure, sinless… milky.

He drags his nose from your neck to your belly, inhaling the sweet fragrance, tasting the faint tremors of a tinier heartbeat rippling underneath your skin and flesh. His own heart skips a beat. 

“Precious?” 

He feels you stir in his arms, your mesmerizing warmth drawing him deeper into the cocoon of your embrace. You grumble, rubbing your eyes, the action making his chest squeeze. 

You yawn and stretch your limbs, your body unfurling like the spine of a well-worn book. “G’morning,” you slur, still half-asleep, shooting him a dopey smile. 

Sylus doesn’t know the first thing about a human female’s anatomy, or the possibility of procreation between a dragon and a woman. But, what he does know is this is no ordinary occurrence. His instincts are telling him something is different about you.

The sheen of your hair is glossier, your cheeks are fuller, and your body… he tightens his grips on your hips, still naked from the night before. Your body feels even more luscious under his touch. He smooths his claws down your sides in awe, feeling the sinew and stretch of your muscles expanding under his scaly palms. You giggle and shrink away, mumbling sleepily. “What’re you doing, Sylus?”

He drives his nose further down your body, inhaling more of the sweet, milky, innocent scent. His heart can’t deny what his instincts already know: you’re with child.

His child. 

“Do you feel… different, precious one?” He rumbles, not missing the way you snuggle closer to his chest, your cheek squished against the ruby in his chest. 

You close your eyes, gliding your hands over his broad back and chest. “Tired… hungry… a bit achy. Why?” 

He huffs, mentally taking notes of your condition. “Do you feel… particularly achy?” Gently, he cups your belly, and you frown, your eyes fluttering open. The morning sun highlights the glow of your cheeks, taking his breath away.

You’re positively radiant.

“A little… my back hurts and my breasts feel a little sore…”

Sylus’s eyes spark with delight. “Is that so?” 

You give him a look. “Sylus? What is going on? What’s with all these questions?” 

He stretches his arm around you, holding you tightly to his chest. You feel him kissing the top of your head and wonder why he’s being extra clingy today.

“Do you know what you smell like now?” Without waiting for you to reply, he presses on. “You smell like a mix of warm cotton and milk—pure innocence… completely tempting…”

You crinkle your brow, wondering what is he on. 

Sylus continues. “Precious, you don’t understand do you?” He gently tilts your head up with two talons under your chin. “Dragons are creatures of desire and symbols of reproduction… and my senses don’t lie to me, sweet one…” His next words make your heart drop right into your stomach.

“You are with child. My child.” 

You swallow and glance up at him through your lashes, your lips slightly parted.

“But, how—” you stop, remembering the nights of unrestrained passion you both had indulged in for weeks. “... Oh.”

As if reading your mind and remembering the intensity which led you here, Sylus grins. “Yes. It seems our careless actions have resulted in something… wonderful.” 

He presses a clawed hand to your belly, kissing you on the forehead. “Speak, precious. What is on your mind?”

You feel your heart expanding with both awe and fear. Awe for the life you now hold deep in your body, and fear of such repercussions of this magnitude. To carry a dragon’s seed, to be with the Fiend’s child—

“I… cannot go back to Ivory City anymore,” you whisper. 

Sylus frowns, not expecting your concerns to lie with something so trivial in his eyes. 

“Is that what you wish? To return back to that wretched place?”

Your eyes clear, as if you’re seeing him for the first time. “No. I do not wish that.”

Sylus tightens his grip around you. “Then, stay.” Here with me, is what he wants to add, but the words are stuck in the back of his throat.

He watches as you caress your belly, like you can sense the life you’re nurturing deep inside you. 

Slowly, the cloudiness of your uncertainty fades, and the warm reassurance of your willingness to stay soothes Sylus’s soul. The dragon would not admit it, but he has no idea what he will do if you decide to leave him. 

“Of course,” you murmur, and bury yourself deeper into his warmth. Sylus stretches his wing over you, shielding you closer to the coziness of his body. 

“I’ll stay here with you—where I belong.”

It’s not long before Tarus City is overrun with the rumors of the Fiend meeting his Archnemesis once again. Gossipers flood the market, telling of the old sacred text coming to life, musing about how and when this spectacle will occur. 

They say the Fiend will be slain where he stands. Others ruminate on his gradual downfall. 

But, up in the clouds, you and Sylus aren’t tarnished by such rumors. 

Within these walls, you slowly start to build your home with him. A nest of soft blankets, a sheath he made for your sword. Sylus spends a few hours a day cleaning out his lair, though cleaning is hardly the word when he’s haphazardly tossing out old treasures to make room for you and your growing belly to rest. 

The two of you still hunt in the forest, though he’s mindful of your current lack of stamina. On days when neither of you feel like foraging, you don your disguises and head to the market, exploring stalls with various knick-knacks and collectives, bickering and haggling for goods like an old couple. 

At night, Sylus watches as you brush your hair, humming a soft lullaby to the little life growing inside of you. It’s during these peaceful moments when you teach him how to dance, guiding his hands to your waist, singing a soft dirge your mother taught you before her untimely passing. When he first attempts it, his movements are clunky and mistimed. However, you never give up on teaching him, and soon, the dragon and his human bride navigate the stony floor with a rhythmic ease, his steps sure and grip on you never faltering.

As these moments occur, it hits him when he realizes how much you’re changing him on a fundamental level. 

Dragons weren’t exactly known as patient creatures. 

They plunder, loot, steal and burn down anything that stands in the way of their greed.

But, with his child growing in you, day by day, Sylus is coming to understand the sweetness of anticipation. He’s never seen a youngling before, having been sealed in the Abyss when he was a child himself. A part of him wonders how your baby will look like—tiny horns? A petite tail? His silverish hued hair?

The more he ruminates, the more he feels protective over this treasure you’re nurturing in your body. 

Your dragon lover knows nothing about parenthood—his own mother having died in childbirth and his father slain by Legion soldiers after his homeland was invaded. Yet, despite this painful lack of experience, he’s unwavering in his devotion, showing up for you in any way he can. 

Sylus is careful whenever he presses his claws to your belly, and makes sure his sharp scales don’t cut you when you’re asleep beside him. Wherever you went, he was always a step behind, shadowing you and keeping a close eye. 

“You’re like a puppy now,” you tease him once, in the wide fields where daturas scatter, waving their red petals like the tops of a sentry’s hat. 

He smirks at your teasing, watching you weave a collection of wildflowers together into a round, circular shape. 

“I can’t help it—you’re whelping. It’s in my nature to watch over my bride and now, the mother of my youngling,” he places his clawed talons on your belly, eagerly trying to sense for any movement. 

Your smile widens, touched by his concern. Sylus feels you slip the flower crown on top of his head and he chuckles. 

“Come here.”

He pulls you into his arms, letting you press your cheek to his chest. The two of you lay like this for hours, feeling the breeze caress your skin and tug on your clothes and hair. Sylus picks up a datura bloom, and repaying the favor, tucks it into your hair, his smile soft and eyes tender.

Only you and this flower can touch me here, he whispers into the skin of your neck, setting your soul ablaze with pure love for him. 

“Sylus, have you given any thought to the baby’s name?” 

The dragon gently runs his talon over the slight swell of your belly, pursing his lips.

“I do… quite like the name Atlas for a boy… or, Serenity for a girl.”

“And if it’s both?” you tease. Sylus’s eyes widened.

“You suppose you’re carrying twins?” 

His eager expression warms your heart, and you gently stroke his cheek. “I suspect it since my stomach is a bit bigger than we anticipated and I’m only a few weeks along.”

Your dragon lover presses his ear to your belly, trying to hear the sound of two heartbeats over your own thrumming one. 

“I hear one—in sync,” he pauses and listens closer. Faintly, a third heartbeat lags after the second one, and Sylus gasps in surprise. “You are right, precious.” His words make your heart flutter. “I hear two.”

You gasp, eyes brightening with delight. “Sylus… could it be…?” 

Twins. You can hardly believe it. He laughs, pure and unaffected as he embraces you fast to his chest.

The sun shines down on two lovers free from the constraints of burdens or prejudices, lost in each other’s embrace, celebrating a new start after years of unimaginable strife.

Sylus had left you alone in the market with two simple instructions: wait for him to return and don’t cause any trouble. 

But, as always, trouble has a way of finding you even when you don’t go looking for it. 

The square is a lively patchwork of activity—stalls piled high with ceramic pottery, earthenwares, textiles you barely know the name of, and curious trinkets from far fetched lands. You’re drifting among the crowds, drawn in by the oddities and novelties of the vendor’s wares, lost in the rhythm of the market. 

That was when the shout came—shrill and unmistakable. “Thief!” 

The cry cuts through the din like a knife, snapping you out of your daze. Your gaze shoots upward, locking onto a figure in the crowd. A man, clutching something wrapped in cloth, stumbles backward through the marketplace. His face is smudge with dirt, and there’s no mistaking the terror in his expression as he pushes past the onlookers, desperate to escape. 

Before you can process what’s happening, the first group of soldiers burst onto the scene, their heavy armor clinking with every step as they flood into the square. Their gleaming swords catch the sunlight as they move swiftly, surrounding the area and cordoning it off. Your confusion doubles at the sight of the thief escaping through the metal gates right under the soldiers’ noses. But, they don’t react at all, barely concerned with him, their sharp eyes scanning the crowd, looking for something else—or, someone else, entirely.

It hits you then—they’re not here for some petty thief. This is an operation—a precise, organized one. 

Sylus. 

You pick up the pace, removing your sword from your scabbard, when someone pushes you to the ground. Falling hard, you cry out in pain and cradle your belly, looking up to find a Legion soldier leering at you. 

His face comes to mind, filling you with dread. 

Throw her down to the Abyss, he sneers in your memory, those cold blue eyes burning into your soul. And see how long the Fiend will take to swallow her whole. 

He grabs your arm, yelling, “Got her!” as the other soldiers swarm around you, blocking your exit. Arrows rain down from the sky, swords shing as they clang and strike a giant mass in the middle of the square. To your horror, a black dragon raises his head, his scales streaked with blood, arrows lodged into his wings. 

“Sylus!” You scream, but he can’t hear you through the commotion and his Fiend instincts. Those red eyes scan the crowd, finding you, and you fight back from the Legion’s hold. “Sylus! I’m here—!”

He roars, shaking the roof and the ground. You cringe back, crying out when you feel someone drag you into chains. “Sylus—help me!” 

The dragon takes one step towards you when a huge spear is thrust right into his chest. You scream, and the disruption sends many into a frenzy. Citizens disperse, mothers rushing to shield their children, store owners rushing off with as many of their wares they can carry in sacks. 

“Sylus!” Tears spill down your cheeks, and something hot and desperate pulses in your chest. 

Take him… End him…

The urge to devour the dragon rises in you, imbuing you with strength to fight out of the chains. Determination fuels your movements and you slash at your captors, struggling from their grasp. You manage about a step when a soldier tackles you to the ground. A loud cry, like that of a wounded animal, bellows from the centre of the square. Shackles and chains appear, the dragon’s injuries repressing him from his escape.

He isn’t healing. Your frantic eyes scan Sylus up and down. His injuries are not healing!

“Sy—” A sharp pain stabs into your arm, and you look down to find a needle sticking from your skin. Immediately, the world before you shimmers and shakes, your head feeling woozy. You gasp, trying to fight off the vertigo and rush to your lover’s side. 

A soldier aims for an arrow right to Sylus’s heart, and the feverish daze lifts for a moment—enough for you to kick the soldier right in his loins. The man grunts, his hold on you loosening, and you dart forward, putting yourself right in front of the dragon and the arrow.

Sylus roars behind you, and you taste his fear in the air. But, the second you turn to him, the sword of light forming right in your hand, you feel a burst of pain rupturing through your chest.

As if in slow motion, you look down at the arrow sticking out from your ribcage. 

ROARRRRR!!

The ground shakes with the force of the dragon’s agonized bellow. Soldiers scream, and ropes seem to materialize from thin air—holding the force of his anger down. 

You choke up a wad of blood, feeling the end of his tail coiling around your legs before he’s snatched away. The pain in your chest mirrors the one in his own, both your souls screaming and clamoring for each other.  

Sylus… You reach for him, fingertips grazing his outstretched talon—

But, you’re yanked away, and Sylus is taken in by the Legion, their yells to contain him loud throughout the entire square. 

Another thunderous bellow. 

An arrow flies through the air, directed at you, but the dragon intervenes. He pushes you to the ground with his snout, shielding you with his face—

The arrow sinks squarely into his right eye.

You scream, clutching your face, your chest. Blood oozes out, his mixing with yours. The dragon staggers back, standing on his hind legs, half-blind and hellbent on destroying everything around him. 

His roar could shatter your eardrums, and you sink to your knees, gasping in pain. 

Blood swims everywhere, a sea of it in front of you. 

You wipe your face, and crumple to your side, clutching the swell of your belly that’s bleeding down your thighs, your babies absorbed back into the earth below you. 

My children… my dragon…

The world fades into a ringing, dark pit of pain. And, unlike before, you hope you never wake up again. 

–

The Abyss is quiet and cold without the love of his life and her light.

Sylus steeps in the bitter depths of his own misery, trapped once more in the silence and darkness of a prison he desperately loathes. The blood from his right eye has long dried, but the lack of light makes it hard for him to discern the extent of his blindness. 

He buries his snout under his claws, huffing in pain. 

In his chest, his beloved rebels and screams, her soul equally in torment. He feels the agony ripping through her when they pull the arrow out from her ribcage, the empty ache of her womb now desolate of the children they created with love. Hot tears flow down the dragon’s leathery snout, and he brays in pain. 

My love… my light… my precious…

The chains the Sacred Judicator wrapped him in are fortified with magic, leaving him helpless to fight against them. His soul is beaten and broken, the light of his life taken from him with such casual cruelty. 

A dragon can never love a human and a human… will only encounter pain and strife when loving a dragon.

Why hadn’t he stopped you from falling in love with him? 

All of this could’ve been avoided if he hadn’t saved you—hadn’t given you a piece of his soul. 

Sylus trembles, the dragon instincts warring in him to break free while what’s left of his human tenderness shrivels up at the loss he feels radiating throughout his entire body.

My love… I am so very, desperately sorry. 

The days pass, and he sees you in his mind’s eye, restrained in chains as well. 

The humans who swore to uphold justice judge you by his mark on your shoulder. They beat you. Starve you. Sylus is helpless to aid you, forced to feel your pain and scorching agony.

A part of his soul drifts away, in limbo between life and death, hovering in a horizon where the sky kisses a field of flowers.

He finds you there, whole and healthy. 

“Sylus…” your sweet voice whispers, your head on his chest. “Is it truly you here?” 

He nods, unable to speak, holding you tightly against his body, as if you will disappear if he opens his eyes.

“Yes, my precious,” he murmurs into your hair, “It is I.”

The stillness of your belly tears through him like the agony of having his scales ripped from his body one by one. He falls to his knees, pressing his cheek against your stomach, sorrow seeping down his face.

“My precious, I am so sorry—I couldn’t—I wasn’t strong enough—”

You shush him, falling to your knees as well. You take his face in your hands, tear tracks glinting on your cheeks. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

He tries to argue. “I failed you—”

“You saved me… can’t you see?” You bring his clawed hand to your chest, and gently caress his injured eye. “Feel this—there is nothing compelling us to destroy each other anymore.” 

For a split second, he gazes at you in wonder.

The desire to kill and maim each other has been transcended by this act of pure sacrifice. 

But, then, he shakes his head, words clogged in the back of his throat. He wants to tell you that you’re wrong—that he is not your salvation, but the one who brought you ruin. It’s his fault—can’t you see? It’s because of him you’ve lost everything you hold dear and holy.

Yet, despite the guilt clawing at him, he can’t tame the hunger inside. The dragon is greedy, harboring a dark craving that grows fiercer with each moment. He wants you—more of you—and leans into your touch as if it can quell the storm inside of him. 

The scene is haunting, yet tender in its contrast. The dragon, monstrous and deformed, with his single, glaring eye, embodies the isolation and grotesque fate that befalls all monsters. Yet, his bride, in her ethereal grace, approaches him with a love that transcends appearance. In this cruel, faithless world where the honorable and different are unjustly punished, love is the one constant; it endures the most terrible of circumstances. 

Your touch is soft, not recoiling from the ruin of his eye, but offering solace. The kiss you give, placed on the source of the dragon’s anguish, becomes an act of healing, a reaffirmation of your shared bond that exists beyond the physical. The bride, once a symbol of purity, becomes the monster’s redeemer through a single, powerful act of love and acceptance.

What was once grotesque is made sacred by a touch that mirrors his own. 

The beast and his bride, reunited at last, after a lifetime of suffering.

Time blurs into a standstill. 

Days and nights pass, yet Sylus cannot count them for he is buried underneath the ground like an abandoned corpse, hidden from the sun and stars.

One day, as he tends to his wounds, he hears footsteps above ground. The scent of men stings his nose with their sweat. The dragon stands up, growling in warning, but the figure who approaches him is not afraid.

In his lofty robes, the Sacred Judicator grins at him, a mockery of the broadsword strapped to his chest. He says nothing, stepping aside for his minions to dump a bundle in front of him. 

The familiar sharp tang of blood and broken skin—once precious and warm—reaches his nostrils and Sylus bellows. 

Before he can lunge at them despite his limited range of motion, the Legion disappears, leaving him trapped once more beneath the rock—this time with the lifeless body of his bride. 

Pain rips through his chest like a spear staking through flesh, and it’s from this sheer agony that his dragon spirit breaks, the snout and scales disappearing, leaving behind the shell of a man sobbing in his magical chains. 

“No… no…” his voice is a strained whimper, echoing past the shallow walls. 

Sylus’s strong arms, meant for destruction and death, wrap tenderly around your broken body. He lifts one claw to brush your cheek gently, his single carmine eye flitting over the bruises and cuts on your face, your arms. There’s a huge gash over your belly, where the Legion doubled down—making sure to leave no trace of his children behind. 

Your legs appear broken, though your chest is rising and falling rapidly. 

“No… no…”

A mighty roar tears through his lungs, echoing across the lair—shaking the base of this mountain they had kept him trapped under. 

“NOOOO!!!!!”

All his life he’s been told he would cause nothing but pain and suffering, death and destruction. He had let them tie his wings down, banish him underneath the hard-packed earth where light could never breach. He had endured their endless taunts, their prods, their mutterings of him being nothing more than a beast—a mindless monster destined to bring Philos to its knees. 

And now, he finally has reason to destroy them all.

Sylus staggers to his feet, his beloved in his arms, as he takes one step forward, and the next. Fat tears pool and trickle down his gaunt cheeks, falling right onto your unresponsive face. The chains clank and barely afford any give, but in his desperation, he lets the metal tear through his skin and scales—needing to fight back with every fiber of his being. 

“I will avenge you,” he whispers in a low, strained tone, trying not to think how much torture and pain you had to endure at their hands. “They will ruin the day they dared to touch you, my beloved.” 

The sacrificial bride, once delivered to him like a grim punchline, is the sole reason he’s taking control of his beastly narrative. 

Sylus will make them pay through blood and fire—flesh and bone. For every laceration on your precious skin, he will destroy a thousand more people, burn cities down with a single flick of his claws. His great wings stretch and he releases another bellowing roar, breaking through the magic chains from the force of his own sheer will. 

He takes to the skies. Faster and higher, he gains altitude, careful to hold you fast to his chest, shielding your face from the whipping wind. 

Word spreads of his escape, men panicking and screaming. The Legion, having barely escaped the mountains, find themselves in the eye of his wrath. Sylus bellows, charging straight at them, his single ruby-red eye glittering with pure, seething rage.��

They fire arrows at him, but he manoeuvres past the rainfall of quivers and gleaming, silver tips. He howls at them, a wounded beast on the last leg of his survival. The ferocious tug in his soul becomes a full-on desire to see the empire of Philos crumble.

Sylus expands his control, breaching the minds of these simple-minded fools. He forces them to jump off the cliffs, or bash their heads into the rocks till the bones of their bloody skulls gleam under the scorching sun.

No one can touch him now. High in the sky, he cradles the broken body of his beloved to his chest, feeling the soft caress of her cheek against his tough hide and skin. 

I shall destroy them for you, my darling, he solemnly promises and shoots forward, intent on keeping his oath. 

Ivory City appears on the horizon, then the gleaming domes of the hypocritical half-built Sanctuary.

Everywhere the shadow of his wings falls, the people lose their minds. They shoot and strangle each other, spreading fear and dissent across the entire land. Walls collapse and monuments dedicated to the Emperor and his Sacred Judicator crumbles under the force of an inferno raging through the city. 

Their screams reach his ears like a cacophony of vindication. Sylus feels no sorrow for these greedy, selfish humans who have taken away the one true thing in his life he cherishes.

They broke her bones, mangled her limbs, snubbed out the sweet souls growing in her womb—all to destroy him.

And, they will pay. 

He hovers in the air, a terrifying shadow over the destruction of Philos.

Blood and tears trail from his wounded eye, mingling on his cheeks like the devastation spreading across this corrupted nation. 

Sylus watches them fall and burn to the ground, his expression unreadable.

When the cries and screams begin to wear him down, he turns and flies back to a field of daturas and the lair where your salves await. 

Home is in the distance, untouched by the horrors of all that he’s witnessed. He lands gently onto the rocky crevice, closing his injured wings around you. Sylus sets you down on a soft pelt of fur while he lights a fire, stoking the flames to warm you.

The rapid beating of your heart pulses in his ears, and he prepares the salves just as you taught him—one for your wounds and the other for you to drink. 

“My love,” he whispers in a soft voice fringed with pain. Tenderly, Sylus lifts your head, bringing the cup to your lips. He watches you imbibe the drink, coaxing you with gentle encouragement to drink it all. 

When he notices some color returning to your cheeks, Sylus begins to rub the healing salve over your injuries. For your broken bones, he fashions tourniquets out of cotton and woven tree fibers. 

“I’m so sorry, my love.” He kisses your hair, gritting his teeth as he sets your bones right, your screams of anguish breaking his heart. “I know, I know,” Sylus whispers, wrapping the makeshift gauze over your broken limbs and fragile legs till you look like a swaddled doll. 

He tends to you, day and night, until your strength returns and you open your eyes. 

The first time your gaze focuses on him, Sylus thought he would have cried. You wince, but still lift your hand to his face, caressing the swelling of his injured eye. 

He shrinks from your touch, murmuring I meant to fix a patch over it. Your answering smile is tender, and carefully, you caress his afflicted eye again.

“It doesn’t scare me,” you whisper hoarsely, licking your parched lips. “You’re still my Sylus.” 

Your simple words, meant to soothe, makes him hitch a sob. “My love—”

“Shh…” You use what remains of your strength to lean up and embrace him. Sylus lets himself drown in your arms, putty in your affections. He knows he doesn’t deserve your grace or forgiveness for not being stronger and protecting you better, but he’s a selfish creature that desires for your love no matter the cost. 

You feel the strength in his tight grip waning, and he collapses in your embrace. The adrenaline from days of tending to you begins to fade as his injuries and fatigue catches up to him. You notice again that his wounds aren’t fully healed, and struggle to sit up. 

“Sylus—”

He shakes his head. “I’m… fine. Just let me close my eyes.”

Panic infuses through you and you shake your head fiercely, tears welling in your eyes. “No! Don’t you dare close your eyes—don’t you dare!” 

You clamber off the pelt and cradle his head in your arms, placing it onto your lap. Sylus opens his one good eye, looking at you with love in his gaze. 

“I am fine—”

You swallow your tears and shake your head. “I will not let you perish, not if it’s the last thing I do.”

Sacred texts prophesied that the dragon’s Archnemesis would be the one to end his life. But, his sacrifice has rendered the light broadsword in your soul void, and your own selflessness resulted in the destruction of his right eye, where a part of his tormented soul calls out for you to destroy him. 

You will not hurt him any longer. You will save the dragon just as he had once saved you. 

Light spills forth from the remaining half of your soul that is still yours to own, pooling in his chest where you bind your fate and heart to him. 

Sylus grips your hand, as if begging you to reconsider.

“Is this what you want?” His hoarse voice is filled with trepidation. “Once we hold hands with each other, we are forever bonded through life and death,” he asks you again, knowing how monumental of a decision this is: 

“To share your life and soul with a Fiend is a tremendous punishment—will you not truly regret it?” 

You’re too far gone, desperate to keep him alive that you’d do anything to have him by your side.

“If following our hearts is a sin, then you and I must be the last of our kind in this world.”

With those words, you gift him your healing. As the wounds close, Sylus brings your wrist to his mouth and kisses the delicate skin with all the devotion his broken body can muster.

“In that case,” he murmurs hoarsely, eyes closing as his skin and muscles regenerate back together, “Stay close to me forever.”

The cave walls glow with a warm, golden light. The dragon stretches his wings around you, holding you fast to his chest. 

As the last of your healing flows into his blood and soul, Sylus presses a kiss to your forehead.

The rays of a setting sun touch the intertwined figures of a dragon and his beloved bride as they drift into a deep, healing slumber—the hardships they once bore are carried away by the tides of forgiveness, their pain forgotten in the embrace of a second chance. 

The silence of the datura meadow near the destroyed chapel fills you with an unadulterated sense of peace. 

A slight breeze picks up, brushing past the tiny dragon horns and tail which grew in place after you gave your heart and soul to Sylus. You welcome the change—once the dragon and you became one, your heart has never known such felicity and joy. 

You gaze at him as he plays with his children in the field, teaching his babies how to growl and roll over, never mind that your twins are just shy of a year old. Despite the lingering pain of losing your first pair of babies, fate was kind enough to bless you again with their souls in the form of their younger brother and sister. 

A pair of snowy white heads shine under the gentle sun, while their father brings them to his chest, his clawed hands gently enveloping them closer to the warmth of his skin.

Sylus’s ruby eyes find yours, and a gentle smile plays on the corners of his lips.

“Beloved, are you alright? Is the baby giving you any discomfort?” 

You wipe your eyes and place a hand on the tender swell of your belly, feeling the new life inside squirming at your touch. Sylus stands and cradles his precious boy and girl, sinking down in the grass beside you. His tail comes to wrap around your waist, and you press your face into his shoulder. 

“Just caught in a reflective mood, that’s all,” you reassure him as Serenity coos, reaching out to graze her chubby hand on the curve of your stomach—as if she can feel the life burgeoning in you. 

Sylus hums and places a tender kiss on your forehead. 

“Whatever mood you are in, I want to be there for it, my love.”

You smile, the devotion in his voice filling you with an unshakeable sense of protection and love. 

“I know, and I love you, my dragon… my Sylus.”

My dragon is here, your heart soars at the thought. 

His jewel-tone eyes glow obsidian in the soft morning light, the affection of his touch reminding you that he’s here—that he will never leave you alone, not if he can help it. 

“I love you, too, my bride… the mother of my children and keeper of my soul.” 

The both of you stand, him carrying Serenity and you cradling Atlas in your arms. 

The last dragon family walks into a valley that embraces them, together till the end, hand-in-hand as they step into their new beginning.

— aaaannndd that's their happy ending :') i wrote this as a way to cope with sylus's myth and how it obliterated my feels (kid you not, i was sobbing uncontrollably for an hour and felt so empty so of course i HAD to give them the happy ending they deserve)

+ sylus + his dragon fam inspired by @/napanewt art on twt.

since writing this destroyed a fragment of my soul, reblogs, feedback and nice words will be so appreciated ❤️

© all works belong to lalunanymph. do not copy, repost, claim my story as your own, or feed my works into AI.

[rissouu]

it was well known that choso was a family man before anything. when he found out about your pregnancy, he was nearly bouncing off the walls in joy. everything was so perfect at first.. watching his daughters first step with you, her first words, all of it.

but that was years ago now. somehow in the midst of the up and downs of having a newborn, your relationship started to fall down the drain. so much so that it got the point you both just called it off, neither of you having the energy to keep trying to save yourselves from the inevitable.

he was still there for his daughter of course, that’s one thing he wouldn’t dare to lack in. but it was so hard to be around his daughter without the thought of you in the back of his head, he fucking missed you.

and after drowning in his sorrows for so long, he finally built up the courage to talk to you and act like a real man.

that’s what got you here, with one leg wrapped around his waist in hopes to keep him trapped in you. “p..please baby, missed this ‘s much- missed you so much!”

choso chuckled lowly, silver chains dangling from his neck and hovering over your sweaty face. his hands locked around your plump thighs, helping to hold them in place.

“y’missed me mama, really? what about all those fuckin’ dates of yours hm?”

his blood boiled thinking about it, all those times he had to hear from your daughter that you were out, out with other men.

you tried ignoring his question at first, not having the energy in you to utter a word. but you nearly lost it when his big calloused hands pushed on your lower stomach, applying pressure to your abdomen.

“you don’t hear me talking to you? what did i tell you about that shit?” his head tilted, drops of his sweat falling from his chest to yours. you never felt more full.

puddles of your own spit piled in your throat making it hard to speak or even breathe. you couldn’t help it when you started choking, just as choso couldn’t help it when he started pushing down harder. “mm please, please cho i hear you! ‘m sorry, never gonna go on any dates ever again!”

he chuckled lowly at your fucked out state. drool and sweat covering almost every inch of your face, hair messy and tangled as if you’d just woken up.

“you let anybody touch my perfect pussy since i been gone mama? or my pretty tits?” he cupped your soaking cunt in his palm, his thrusts only getting rougher, quicker.

all you could give him was an aggressive shake of your head, which was the truth. choso was the only man you’d ever let have you like this.

“such a good girl, my good girl.” he left soft kisses to your forehead, serving as a thank you for taking him so well. “what d’ya say we give our baby a couple siblings? you’re such a good mama, and i heard she’s been pretty lonely all by herself..”

©rissouu 2025 (pls i literally pulled this shit outta my ass, but imagine cho as a baby daddy?? i need him..)

dom!choso collection

[starkeyisthelastname]

Dealer!Rafe Masterlist 🔫🤑

First Night Meeting Dealer!Rafe

You Show Up At His House Unexpectedly After Meeting Him

How I Imagine Dealer!Rafe

Every Freakin Day

You Are A Squirter

Dealer!Rafe Fucks You In His Ski Mask For The First Time

Dealer!Rafe Makes You Squirt For First Time

Taking A Picture MidFuck Because You Are Pretty

He Puts His Ski Mask On You

Dealer!Rafe Tells You Not To Worry About It

Dealer!Rafe Pays For Your Lash Extensions

Bank Runs

Dealer!Rafe Flys You Out The Country

Pregnant With Dealer!Rafe’s Baby

Dealer!Rafe Gets Out Of Jail

You Wear His Chain While Riding Him

Pregnancy Sex With Dealer!Rafe

His Chain Dangles In Your Face While He Fucks You

Proposal

Dealer!Rafe Doesn’t Like When You Break Eye Contact

Sex Tape With Dealer!Rafe

Engagement Photos

He Can’t Go A Day Without Spoiling You

Weekend Fun

First Time He Spoils You

Domestic Days

Backshots

Dealer!Rafe Makes It Up To You

Bag Full Of Cash. Pussy Full Of Dick

Makes You Take It And Then Makes Up For It

You Need Attention

Cute Bathroom Moment

Apology Sex With Dealer!Rafe

[kayte-overmoon]

Daisy Chain - Part 4

Previous Part / Next Part

Alpha Geralt/Omega Jaskier

Rated E

Pregnancy AU

Full tags on AO3

They don’t hear from Yennefer for nearly a fortnight, and Triss is the only one who seems concerned. 

“She said she only had a few things to wrap up then she would contact me so I could help her portal.” She keeps her voice low so only Geralt can hear. She’d pulled him to the side after dinner while Jaskier was entertaining their party with songs he deemed too bawdy to sing in public—which is certainly a feat, Geralt thinks, though he doesn’t disagree when the bard pulls out a whole series of ballads about seamen with horse cocks. “I haven’t heard from her, and she’s either ignored my fire messages or she hasn’t gotten them.” She bites her lip, leaning in closer. “I’m worried, Geralt. She only goes off the grid like this when something’s wrong.”

Geralt frowns. “There was something off about her when we met outside Oxenfurt. I assumed it was the bloedzuiger attack making her edgy. Has she been… getting involved in things she shouldn’t be, lately?” Aside from Geralt, Triss is probably one of the only people on the Continent who truly knows Yennefer of Vengerberg. And considering Triss is a great deal less hotheaded than him, she’s usually on better speaking terms with her fellow sorceress. If Yen’s involved with something she shouldn’t be, Triss would know.

Triss shakes her head, then pauses. “Well, perhaps. I don’t know how much she told you about…”

“She said she’d given up on trying to regain her fertility,” Geralt says.

Triss nods once, looking grim. “She has. And I believe her. But it’s Yen. She needs something to pour all her energy into. Her search to restore her womb was a long and misguided one, but at least it kept her busy. And believe you me, there is nothing worse than a bored Yennefer of Vengerberg.”

Geralt snorts but can’t help but agree. “So, you think she’s taken up something else? She told me she’d tried hunting, but it… didn’t suit her.”

“That doesn���t surprise me. Last time she came to visit, she gifted me a pair of enchanted knitting needles. She said she didn’t need them anymore. They didn’t do what she needed them to do.”

“Which is what?” Geralt snorts. “Disembowel a man from thirty paces?”

“Gods help us if I’m right, Geralt, but I genuinely think she’d tried knitting with them.”

“Fuck. We need to find her.”

Triss nods and looks like she’s about to say something more when Geralt’s medallion thrums against his chest. It’s faint, and brief, but it’s enough to set him on edge. At once, he and the other witchers are rising to their feet, weapons drawn as they face the doors to the Great Hall.

As they turn, an unseen force begins lifting the latch from the other side.

Geralt casts out for Jaskier (safe, huddled by the fire with his lute and approximately three dozen blankets as Vesemir, Lambert, Aiden, and Eskel bristle before him) and edges in front of Triss. She hadn’t felt the surge of magic like the witchers had, but she’d certainly noticed when they all fell silent and drew their swords. She has her hands out, ready to defend if necessary.

The latch on the door rises out of the way smoothly, then a lone figure pushes the doors open and saunters in, their slight frame dwarfed by the massive wooden doors—

“Yennefer!” Triss’ hands fall, then she’s rushing across the room to embrace the other sorceress, whose appearance has left all of them aghast. 

To Geralt’s utter shock and dismay, she looks like shit. She’s in casual leather traveling clothes under her heavy cloak, far less put-together than Geralt’s ever seen her. Her hair is in a braid that’s falling apart. There’s dirt and blood and gods know what else streaked across her face. Her cloak is torn and she’s struggling under the weight of a bag that’s nearly half her height strapped to her back.

But she’s grinning, widely and madly, as Triss rushes to hug her. She drops her bag to the floor and catches Triss about the waist, nearly lifting her off the floor as she returns her embrace.

Geralt spares a glance to the other witchers, who look just as perplexed as he is. 

“Who is that,” Lambert hisses just loud enough for them all to hear. “And what has she done with our Yenna?”

“Oi!” Yennefer cries, setting Triss back on her feet. “I heard that.”

“You were supposed to.” Lambert steps forward, sheathing his sword and crossing his arms, drawing himself up to look more imposing. “I’ve never seen you with a single hair out of place. Lose your magic, perhaps? Or just your marbles?”

Yen rolls her eyes and flicks her hand. The rug Lambert had been passing over slips at her beckoning, sending the witcher tumbling to the floor with an undignified “augh!”

“Magic, no,” she declares. “Though the state of my marbles has yet to be determined.”

“I’ve been worried sick about you!” Triss cries, the shock of seeing her friend giving way to anger. “And here you are, a week late with no notice, and you look—well, I’ll be honest, you’ve looked better, Yen.” 

“Apologies,” she says, first to Triss, then to the rest of them. “Truly. I decided at the last minute I didn’t want to portal all the way, so I set out on foot. Took longer than I thought it would.”

Geralt raises his eyebrows. “You… climbed the mountain? On foot? Alone?”

Yen grins wider and nods. “Got a bit lost on the way and fell down a cliff—don’t worry!” She interjects at Triss’ cry. “It was a short one. I’m fine. Nothing I couldn’t fix on my own.” She rolls back the sleeve of her coat to show the long, jagged line she must have knit together using her own magic. The skin is pink and wrinkled—it’s likely to leave a horrible scar. Yen doesn’t seem bothered by it in the least.

Triss frowns at her for a long moment, cradling Yen’s wrist as she inspects her work. “I think I can fix this,” she declares. She turns to the rest of them, who have merely been watching in dismay. Her eyes light on Eskel, softening when she sees him already stepping forward. “Take her bag, will you? Let’s get you cleaned up, Yen.”

Eskel hoists Yen’s discarded bag onto his back and follows the sorceresses into the corridor. 

“Ah,” Jaskier chirps at Geralt’s elbow, nearly startling him. He hadn’t noticed the bard rise and make his way to Geralt’s side, so rapt he was in Yen’s perplexing appearance. “Well, now I see why Triss was asked to be our healer instead of dear Yennefer.” He lifts his eyes coyly to Geralt’s, trying and failing to hide his laughter. “It appears she is, perhaps, short of a marble.”

⚘⚘⚘

Triss delivers a clean bill of health for Yen, both in body and mind. She managed to fix Yen’s shoddy healing magic, so now the scar will likely only be noticeable if one examines her arm closely.

It’s Yennefer herself who explains to Geralt what possessed her to take one of the most perilous journeys known to man. On foot. In the middle of winter. Alone.

“I am, gods help me, Geralt,” she mumbles into her fourth mug of ale later that night. “Soul-searching.”

Assuming she’s joking. Geralt frowns and sips his own ale carefully. “Who are you looking for?”

She snorts, unladylike and more than a little tipsy. “Myself.”

“The fuck does that mean?”

“It means, you daft old man—” She elbows him, spilling both their drinks in the process. “—that I’m turning over a new leaf. Trying to find what pleases me.”

“And what pleases you is hiking?”

“As it turns out, no.” Yen wrinkles her nose. “I don’t think I’m built for it.”

Geralt hums. “That’s the one thing you’ve said since you got here that makes any sense.”

He expects a rebuff for that, perhaps a wayward spell thrown his way, but Yennefer merely sighs. “I know. Not much is making sense to me these days.”

“Yen,” he begins softly. “You know no one expects you to change who you are.”

“I know, but I do.” She rises from the bench they’d been slouched on and begins pacing in front of him. Their companions, who had been chatting and singing snippets of songs back and forth in front of the fire, fall silent at her movement. She doesn’t seem to care. “I’ve done it twice now, changed who I am and what I want. Who’s to say I can’t do it again? I wasn’t suited to be a court mage, so I went rogue, started doing what I wanted. Then when that failed, I began searching for a way to undo the enchantments after my ascension. Now I’ve decided that particular dream makes no sense anymore. It wasn’t even that I wanted my womb back—I don’t know what I’d do with it if I managed to get it back. It was all about taking back control of my life. I’d never been able to make decisions for myself until now. I won’t tie myself to another lousy king or half-baked rebellion just because I’m bored and need something to keep me busy.”

Triss joins Geralt at his table, sliding into the spot Yen had vacated. “And what have you decided to do? You had a shop for a while. You could go back to that. You’ve made a name for yourself, and not just among the mages. I’m sure there are people all over the Continent who could—”

“Bugger that!” Yen throws up her hands then sets about rolling up her sleeves. She’s in another rugged set of trousers and a linen shirt, though they’re a touch nicer and a great deal cleaner than the ones she’d arrived in. At least these don’t have holes in them. “I was bored out my skull the whole time, waiting for something exciting to happen. I need action. I need adventure.”

“You could become a poet,” Jaskier adds, not at all subtle about the fact that he’s been eavesdropping from half the room away. “The pay is good, and I’m sure a woman such as yourself has stories to share.”

Geralt makes a face at that. “If you’ve heard her singing voice, you’d regret suggesting that, little lark.”

“Oi!” Yen snaps at him, but the corner of her mouth twitches. “But no, you’re right. I’d be a lousy bard.”

“Then what’s taken your fancy?” asks Triss.

Yen stops her pacing and sets her hands on her hips. She lifts her chin, violet eyes blazing in determination, and Geralt is reminded once again that this is not merely a woman having a crisis of faith, but one of the most powerful mages the Continent has ever seen. A force to be reckoned with, even soused and half-mad. If he were standing, he would take a step back.

“I’d like to be a witcher.”

Geralt blinks at her for a long time.

Triss sputters before finally getting out, “I beg your pardon?”

Yen meets Geralt’s eye and pushes on. “I’ve been thinking about it since the dragon hunt. I was misguided in my pursuits, but I enjoyed the process, nevertheless. And when we met on the road, with the blood—the blue—oh, what the hell is it?”

“Bloedzuiger,” all the witchers in the room reply at once.

“Right. Anyway, I nearly had it handled when you intervened—”

“You were about to poison an entire acre of woodlands and yourself along with it.”

“Perhaps.” She crosses her arms. “But it was nearly dead.”

Geralt can’t argue with that, so he huffs instead.

“And that’s not the first time I’ve fought beasts,” Yennefer goes on. “You and I fought together no fewer than a dozen times.”

“Only because you happened to be with me when trouble came.”

“And,” she presses on, ignoring Geralt’s remark. “I saved a young man from being eaten by a wyvern outside Kerack some months back.”

“Yennefer,” comes Vesemir’s reproach. Geralt relaxes when his father ambles up to their table, looking gruff and mildly concerned beneath his usual blank stare. “Our ability to make new witchers was lost decades ago. That knowledge died with our fathers. Surely you know this.”

Because it was the mages who brought about our end.

Yen uncrosses her arms and faces the old wolf with a straighter spine. “Of course I know that. I mean no offense, Vesemir. I don’t mean I want the mutagens. I’m aware the trials have been laid to rest.”

Aiden snorts from a table over, where he’s propping up a sleepy Lambert. “Thank the gods for that.”

Yen plunders on. “What I mean is I’d like to take up your profession. Join your ranks, if you’ll have me, train under you, learn all you know about monsters and the things that go bump in the night. Teach me how to fight.” A muscle flexes in her jaw. “How to protect people.”

“A witchering witch…” Jaskier muses from his nest of blankets. He taps his chin then scrambles for his notebook that’s been lost amongst his furs. “It sounds lovely, at least.”

“Mages have fought monsters before, out of necessity, but there’s a reason they always call us in to do the dirty work, Yen.” Geralt leans forward and braces his elbows on his knees. “And it is dirty work. It’s painful. Dangerous. You’re bound to lose more than a few nights’ sleep.”

Lambert, who is apparently not asleep, grunts, “And a limb or two, mos’ likely”

“I’ve weighed the risks,” says Yen. “I’ve traveled with you before, Geralt. I’ve fought alongside you. I’m strong and quick and capable, you know that. If you would only share with me your wisdom, imagine what could be done!” 

Geralt’s confusion about Yennefer’s motivations fades. There’s that wicked glint in her eye he remembers well. It’s the same one she’d worn while chanting over a jinn’s vessel and trying to take down a whole bloody dragon: she won’t stop until she gets what she wants. What she wants, this time, is apparently exactly what she’s saying. She wants to help people, to kill monsters, to bring things back into order. She wants control over her own life.

“I’ve never taught a woman before.” Vesemir says it as a statement of fact, not as an insult or a diminutive. He’s pondering the idea. He knows Yen is plenty capable. “It would be different from the training you lot did in your youth.”

Eskel speaks up for the first time, then. “I’ve trained women before.” He shares a look with Triss, who had left him at their table with a handful of cards and a raised brow that tells Geralt exactly how their game ended. “Or, one woman. Miss Merigold asked for some information on the gargoyles that kept infesting her garden.”

“Nasty little things,” she agrees quietly from beside Geralt.

“I taught her how to get rid of them,” says Eskel. “It wasn’t any different than when you taught us in the past, Ves.”

“Geralt’s taught me plenty over the years,” Yen says.

Geralt frowns at her. “I have?”

She merely rolls her eyes at him. “Do you really think I dealt with you for that long without picking something up?”

“It’s true!” Jaskier chirps. “You’re a very good educator when you want to be, dear heart.”

Geralt blushes at that, though no one without witcher senses can tell. He speaks before any of them can comment on it. “Forgive my bluntness, Yen, but how am I supposed to know you’re not going to get bored after a couple months? Decide you need some other occupation to fill your time? I heard how your foray into the arts ended.”

Yen sends a glare Triss’ way. “Yes, well it appears I haven’t found favor with the muses the way some have.” Even from across the room, Geralt can tell how flattered Jaskier is by that remark. “But I do have a knack for finding trouble. I wasn’t lying to you when we met weeks ago, Geralt. I was earnestly hunting for deer when that blue—blow—oh, give me a moment, I’ll get there. Bl—bloedzuiger. Ha! Yes, the bloedzuiger. It found me. I wasn’t looking for it.”

“That does make sense,” Vesemir muses. “Many monsters are drawn to chaos the same way others are drawn to large populations of people or animals. Everything preys on something.”

“So, they’re trying to eat my magic?”

The old witcher chuckles. “No. They merely see you as a potential source of energy. A guide, if you will.”

“Ah!” Jaskier heaves himself out of his chair and waddles over to Geralt, who makes room for him on his lap without question. The bard slips onto his favorite perch and wraps his arms around his witcher’s shoulders. “Like the little fish that hang on to bigger predators so they can eat the plants and whatnot that grow on them.”

Everyone blinks at his observation, save Triss, who snickers and shakes her head at him.

Geralt looks up from where he’s been watching Jaskier exchange a smile with Triss to find Vesemir looking at him. “Up to you, wolf,” his father tells him. 

“Me?”

Ves shrugs. “You know her the best out of all of us. She trusts you. I’ll bestow whatever wisdom I have, but her training will be yours to oversee.”

Geralt thinks it over for a long moment as Jaskier snuggles back into him. Some time ago, he would have said no straight away. But things have changed in recent years, he thinks to himself as Jaskier settles his head on Geralt’s shoulder and sighs, perfectly content where he is. And not just in his own life. Yennefer is a wholly different person than the one who left him on a mountain however long ago. Her motivations, her desires, her view of the world—they’ve all changed.

He looks at Yen. She’s already watching him, her brow furrowed and her hands clenching into fists at her hips. She’s nervous. She thinks he’ll say no.

He has every right to. She has a history of getting him into trouble. She never listens. She abandons him without notice.

Jaskier sighs again and presses a sleepy kiss to the underside of Geralt’s chin.

Geralt himself has changed since the mountain. He’d still been wallowing in his self-doubt and guilt over the situation with Yen, even though years had passed, when a rowdy little omega cornered him in Posada. He’d nearly forgotten about his heartbreak in the whirlwind of emotions Jaskier brought into his life.

If Geralt can change this much in a span of half a year, how much can Yennefer of Vengerberg change over a period of a few years if she set her mind to it?

“Fine,” Geralt says. He can tell by the way Yen’s spine relaxes and her scent—usually fruity and floral—spikes sweetly that she’d been preparing to be disappointed. “But I’ll only do it if you agree to trust me.”

She squints at him for a long moment before agreeing. “Alright. I trust you. You’re in charge.”

Eskel huffs softly. “Never thought I’d hear those words coming from you, Yen.”

She whips her head to glare at him, rankling once more. “Only in the manner of my training.”

“Not just that,” Geralt corrects. “If you’re going out on the Path with me, I need to know you will listen to me when I tell you something isn’t safe. I don’t need a liability, Yen, but I will take a partner.”

“Great,” Yen says. “Fine, I agree.”

“Well, now that’s all settled,” Jaskier butts in, lifting his head from Geralt’s shoulder. “I’d like to go to bed.” He turns wide, pleading eyes to Geralt, unsubtle in his seduction.

“I think we could all use some rest,” Vesemir declares. “It’s been an eventful day.”

Everyone makes vague sounds of agreement and begins making their way to the corridor.

“So,” Lambert pipes up from the back of the pack where Aiden is doing his best to drag him up to their room. “How much you wanna bet she wakes up with a hangover and absolutely no clue what she agreed to?”

⚘⚘⚘

“I’m just saying, dear heart,” Jaskier complains, his voice relatively even considering what Geralt’s up to. “If you were getting bored of traveling with me, you could’ve said so. You didn’t have to invite Yen to join the f-fun.”

“Yen’s getting nowhere near the fun,” Geralt growls, knowing when he does it makes Jaskier whine. Not that the omega needs much encouragement to whine, what with three of Geralt’s fingers inside him and his mouth gradually making a mess of his cock. He’s challenged himself to see how many times he can make his bard cum before he taps out—or passes out… whichever comes first. So far, he’s up to two, and Jaskier’s only trembling a little bit.

“There will hardly be time for thi­-this with her on the road with us.”

“There will be plenty of time for this,” Geralt insists, lifting his head to watch Jaskier’s eyes roll back when he crooks his fingers and strokes right up into his soft spot. He gushes around Geralt’s fingers. “Yen knows how to make herself scarce.”

Jaskier makes a vague sound of agreement through his moaning—though Geralt could be mishearing and that’s just another moan. He’s a bit distracted.

“And there will always be someone to watch the pup,” he adds, absently tipping his head to kiss the underside of Jaskier’s belly. “She’s surprisingly good with kids.”

“Sounds like you’re—you’re trying to sell me on her.”

“You brought it up.” Geralt travels back down and nudges the leaky head of his omega’s cock before slipping it into his mouth.

Jaskier’s hips jerk at the sudden sensation and his hands fly to Geralt’s hair, pulling him down until the tip of his cock is in his throat. “Ah! Fuck, Geralt.”

Geralt growls again in approval. He could genuinely spend all day here, listening to Jaskier moan, tasting his desperation, feeling his thighs shake beneath his hands. It would hardly be a chore to stay here. His cock, on the small side as omega cocks tend to be, barely hits Geralt’s throat even when his nose is pressed into the hair at the bottom of Jaskier’s tummy. His scent is stronger here, headier—not that Geralt needs help finding it. He’s not sure if it’s the bond between them, so strong even without a bite, or Jaskier’s hormones, but Geralt can quite literally sniff him out blindfolded and deaf.

It doesn’t make the effect here any less enthralling. Geralt finds his eyes fluttering shut as he takes Jaskier into his mouth again. The bard’s knees draw up as he does, fighting the intensity of his touch, but Geralt pins him back down and aims a nasty jab at his prostate as punishment.

Jaskier’s back snaps into a deep arch and he lets out a keen like a wounded animal. If anyone in the keep hears him, they’ll think something awful has befallen them.

Geralt can’t bring himself to care.

Let them come, he thinks. Let them see what I do to Jaskier, how I can please him better than anyone else ever could. Let them see he’s mine.

Geralt growls again. He can feel his baser instincts rising like a tide at the back of his mind, but he can’t tamp them down. Why would he? Here, in his nest, with his omega whining for his knot, he has nowhere he’d rather let his alpha side take over.

Jaskier yanks on his hair, panting, “Enough, enough. I need a moment.”

The alpha considers ignoring his request—he’s supposed to be taking care of his omega, giving him what he needs whether he thinks he needs it or not. But then he relents, lifting his head and gentling the crooking of his fingers. He’s glad he does, since the purr Jaskier huffs out is nearly soothing enough to make Geralt go cross-eyed.

“Gods,” Jaskier sighs, lapsing into a laugh at the tail end of his exhale. “You make me dizzy when you do that.” He lifts one hand from Geralt to run shaking fingers through his own hair, pushing the sweaty strands from his forehead.

Geralt eyes the head of Jaskier’s cock again—it twitches as he watches and lets out a little blob of translucent slick. He nearly ignores the omega’s plea and takes it back into his mouth again to taste it, but he turns his head and sinks his teeth into the meat of Jaskier’s thigh instead. The bard gasps but doesn’t stop him.

“Do you trust her?”

Geralt hums around the flesh in his mouth at the question.

Jaskier chuckles and tugs his witcher’s hair again, making him release his thigh. “Yennefer,” he clarifies smoothly. “Do you trust her? With me? With the pup?”

Geralt wraps his arms around Jaskier, pressing his cheek to his stomach. He can feel their heartbeats against his face like this—both Jaskier’s and the pup’s. They’re steady, even. Healthy.

“I do,” he says. “When we first met her on the road, I protected you from her because the last I’d seen her, she would do anything to have a child. Anything.” He doesn’t specify, but the tightening of Jaskier’s hand around the back of his neck is telling enough. “But that’s not this Yennefer. I’ve never seen her like this. She’s… searching for meaning, I think.” He turns his head to meet Jaskier’s eye again. “I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you about it before I agreed to train her.”

The bard is shaking his head before he can even finish. “No apology necessary. I knew you would say yes the second she asked.”

Geralt blinks. “You did?”

Jaskier nods, letting go of his own hair once again to stroke a finger down the bridge of Geralt’s nose, across his lips. His face is still flushed, his pulse still thrumming with arousal. But there’s something soft in his gaze Geralt was unused to in bed before Jaskier came along. Lusty stares and heated gazes, he had those. But not this—a wide-eyed look of adoration. It unlocks something inside him, nearly makes him want to weep.

“You are not a man who is meant to be alone, Geralt,” the omega says. “I know there’s history between you and Yennefer—don’t.” He stops Geralt when he goes to protest. “You don’t have to explain. I can see it. I know whatever affection you have for her doesn’t go beyond friendship. I could feel it if it did. It’s not the same way you feel about me.”

Geralt doesn’t have a response to that. It’s true, every word of it. He loved Yennefer, once. He loves her still. But even when Yennefer was the embodiment of all his desires, when her scent turned his head and set his pulse thrumming, it was never like it is with Jaskier. She didn’t steal his breath like Jask does. She was never the center of his world the way Jaskier is.

“You have history,” Jaskier repeats. “She knows you. You know her. Your brothers are too independent to work with you long-term. Vesemir has the keep to look after. You need someone by your side, Geralt. To fight on your team, to watch your back. And gods know I’m useless in a fight.” He pinches Geralt’s chin between his fingers, making sure he’s listening. “I need the father of my pup in one piece. And if that means we take on a stray who can watch your back and make sure you always come back to me, then I’ll do whatever I can to make this work.”

Geralt swallows. There’s a thought he’s been having, one too big and scary to spend much time on, one he’s afraid to even consider himself. It’s been nagging at him for months, since he left Jaskier in Oxenfurt and went back onto the Path. He’d been miserable. He’d been slow and distracted and itching for danger. He knows life on the Path isn’t suited for a child. He knows he will only be more distracted until one day, his love for his family costs him everything. He knows there are only two ways to keep them safe, to let them live normal lives.

One, he could leave them. Let them live out their days without him. Geralt would miss Jaskier, miss the pup like he’d miss a limb, but he would be fine. They would be fine. They would live and breathe and be far, far away from the kind of danger a witcher attracts.

Or.

Or.

What happens when a witcher decides he doesn’t want to be a witcher?

What if he decides he wants a home, a house, with a little garden and a stable and a lake nearby where they can swim and fish and take their child on walks? What if he decides to hang up his swords? To leave behind his creed, his brotherhood, for a man who will age and die while Geralt remains whole for decades more?

It's too much to fathom.

Geralt ducks his head again, taking Jaskier down his throat again with purpose.

Jaskier’s hands clench in surprise before finding Geralt’s hair again. Right where they belong.

Geralt doesn’t want to think about the future. He only wants this, right now. Jaskier’s hands in his hair, his ankles knocking against his back, his cock throbbing against his tongue every time he strokes his fingers against the spot inside him that makes him keen Geralt’s name like a one-word symphony.

Jaskier doesn’t press the conversation further.

Geralt gets two more orgasms out of him before the bard is fighting to keep his eyes open and pulling Geralt into his arms.

⚘⚘⚘

The snow returns in force the morning after Yennefer’s arrival.

Now solidly stuck for the winter, the occupants of Kaer Morhen settle into a new routine. They all rise whenever they please; though for Vesemir and Eskel that’s sometime around dawn, and for Jaskier—and Geralt, by extension—it’s closer to midmorning. Geralt ignores his brothers’ pointed looks when he and Jaskier make their appearance after everyone else has gotten up and dressed and eaten breakfast. He can’t be bothered too much, since Jaskier has taken to apologizing for keeping Geralt in bed with his mouth around the witcher’s cock.

So what if he has to lay awake for a few hours before Jaskier finally unsticks himself from his side?

After they’ve all eaten, Triss and Jaskier take to the library and the witchers—which now includes Yennefer, bizarrely—take up residence in the Great Hall, where they make use of the empty space beyond the tables to spar.

Geralt dives head-first into Yennefer’s training. She’s halfway competent with a sword, but she’ll need much more training to handle herself against any monsters. But she’s quick and hard to hit. She manages to land a few blows with a blunted blade to Aiden’s side before he can spin and put her to the floor.

There’s no use in teaching her signs. Her magic is plenty enough help in a fight. But she insists she learns how to fight without her magic, which her sparring partners readily agree to. Witchers are strong, and their signs are powerful in their own right (Eskel’s especially so) but if Yen decided to unleash all the chaos at her disposal, even Geralt would have issues keeping up with her.

“I’ve been separated from my magic before,” she explains one day, with a grim look on her face that keeps Geralt from prying. “I’d like to know how to defend myself if it ever happens again.”

Geralt doesn’t argue.

Yennefer is just as stubborn a student as he thought she would be. They learned quickly that she only responds well to criticism if it comes from Geralt, who knows her well enough to know she’s capable of more, and Vesemir, who she respects more than Geralt has ever known her to respect anyone—save, perhaps, Tissaia de Vries.

Her aim in life may have changed, but her temper is exactly as Geralt remembers it.

“Perhaps you should reconsider taking her under your wing,” Jaskier tells him several days into her training. He’s frowning hard enough for a line Geralt’s never seen to appear between his eyebrows and he’s practically in Geralt’s lap on one of the benches in the Great Hall. Yennefer had headbutted Geralt and split his lip. Jaskier had nearly fainted when he saw it. He frowns as he dabs the blood from Geralt’s face. “If this is her response to criticism.”

Geralt snorts and doesn’t mention the fact that Yennefer quite literally stabbed him once when he questioned her methods of gathering intelligence. “It’ll be fine,” he assures Jaskier. “I’ve known Yennefer longer than you’ve been alive. Trust me, if I think it’s too much, I’ll back out before she can cause any permanent damage.”

He can tell by the quirk of his lips that Jaskier knows he’s kidding about the permanent damage bit, but his scent is still sour.

Geralt tips his head forward to knock his forehead delicately against the bard’s. “Trust me, little lark,” he purrs. “It’ll take more than an angry sorceress to take me from you.”

Jaskier’s eyes flash and his scent turns smoky in an instant. He drops the cloth he’d been using to wipe off Geralt’s face on and crushes their lips together. Geralt grunts in surprise and at the sting from his split lip, but he wraps his arms around Jaskier’s waist, holding him as he returns his fervor.

“Perhaps I should have chosen another teacher,” a miffed voice declares somewhere nearby. “If my current one is so distracted.”

Geralt merely releases Jaskier with one hand to show Yennefer exactly where she can shove her remark, but Jaskier pulls away with a red-cheeked snort. “My mistake! Simply wanted to ensure the father of my child is unharmed by your lessons.”

Yen rolls her eyes and puts her hands on her hips. “I’ll go easy on your old man,” she tells Jaskier, then nods at Geralt. “You ready to go again?”

Geralt nods before pressing a kiss to Jaskier’s cheek and rising. “I’ll see you at dinner?”

Jaskier nods and lets him go.

Once they’re out of Jaskier’s earshot, she points to Geralt’s lip. “I am sorry about that.”

“It’s already closing. Witcher healing, and all that.”

“But still.” She picks up her practice sword and tosses Geralt his own. He takes it, tests its weight in his hand. It’s not as well-balanced as the swords he uses, but it’s close enough. Besides, it won’t make any difference sparring with Yen. “I’ll try to be more careful.”

Careful. Geralt nearly snorts at the idea until he catches the scent of her worry. Careful and worried are not two words he ever thought he would associate with Yennefer of Vengerberg.

“You’ll see worse if you stick to this, I’m afraid.” He raises his sword and plants his feet. “Remember what I said about keeping your core tight. Your lunges are messy and poorly aimed. If you pivot from the hips—”

There’s a soft thud back at the tables and Geralt bristles at once. Yen’s eyes go wide as she gazes over his shoulder, and she’s moving past him before he can even fully turn.

Jaskier has collapsed in a heap of furs half a step from the bench Geralt left him on.

And he’s not moving.

Previous Part / Next Part