#prince viridian

[samsdei]

Gijs Blom

[damiendo]

Gijs Blom

[silverwolfdesign]

🡒 🔥 𝐉𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐬 & 𝐆𝐢𝐣𝐬 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐦 • AU/OC • 𝘉𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 & 𝘚𝘪𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳

❝M𝘺 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘚𝘰 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘺𝘦.❞

[dream-this-nightmare-over]

Them.

[malleleothreesome]

Blindfolded Malleus

💚 summary: You edge Malleus while he's blindfolded ༶༶༶ 💚 warnings: gender neutral reader, you go to TOWN on those horns of his, brief mention of Malleus wanting to breed you, blowjob, penis in [gender neutral hole] sex, creampie ༶༶༶ 💚 word count: 6.6k words ༶༶༶ 💚 inspired by: @creepysun-cpsunnhild's ask thank you! ♡✧*:･ﾟ

Malleus sits patiently on his bed, hands clasped on his lap, buzzing with nervous excitement as he waits for you to join him. He is already stripped down to only his boxers, eager to begin the night's festivities.

"Are you nervous?" you ask him as you rummage around in your backpack before finally pulling out a silky black blindfold purchased from the secret backroom of Sam's shop.

Malleus blinks, mouth parting slightly in the way he does when surprised, "A little? This is rather... novel for me." His lips fall into a pout. "Being unable to see your face is strange. I won't get to enjoy your expression as you pleasure me..."

You zip up your backpack and saunter over to his bed where Malleus waits, boxers tented around the evidence that he is looking forward to this, despite his apprehensions. You flash him a mischievous smile as you crawl over to him on the bed, settling in a straddle across his thighs. "That will just force you to be more sensitive to my touch," you coo as you cup his soft, milky cheek in your hand, admiring the complete beauty of his face for a final moment before you blindfold him. As he returns your loving gaze, his slitted pupils start to widen from desire and you watch in awe as his verdant irises are completely swallowed by inky pools of hunger. “I promise you won't even miss my face in the heat of the moment,” you try to reassure him.

He scoffs before murmuring in a low, smoky voice, "You know me far better than that, child of man." And yet, despite his objections, he obediently tilts his chin down, lowering his lashes as he allows you to place the black silk over his face. Malleus inhales sharply as the light suddenly dims to complete darkness. He stills like a startled creature of the forest as his sight leaves him, his muscles tense and his eyelids twitch under the silk as he comes to terms with his new vulnerability. You stop straddling him, denying him the comforting warmth of your thighs against his as you crouch on your knees beside him. He growls as you refuse to indulge his lust, remaining perfectly still as he struggles to find his bearings. You want him to simmer with arousal before you ease his longing—a little frustration will make his eventual orgasm that much more satisfying.

His innate magical ability attempts to compensate for the obscuration of his eyes by granting him heightened senses that would guide him in a perilous situation. He finds himself hyper aware of the beating of your heart and the slow rhythmic cadence of your breathing. The tension between your still bodies grows palpable. Your heartbeats thrum synchronically with the silent yearning of two lovers desperate to press skin against skin. Malleus is so ethereally beautiful, your heart can’t help but leap every time you look at him. The black silk shrouding his vision only serves to emphasize the handsome cut of his jaw and his sharp, seductive lips, parted in breathless anticipation. The glossy fabric paints a dark tapestry against the snowy hues of his skin. A lock of his viridian hair slips along his forehead in a way that accentuates the graceful curve of his brow. Every fiber of his being drips with all the charms of an otherworldly prince, an untouchable enigma that transcends mortal understanding. Yet he sits there, completely bared to you, stripped of his power, a masterpiece defaced by a veil of cloth; a prize awaiting the taking.

Despite his lack of sight, he can feel your gaze on him like a physical caress, causing goosebumps to sprout across his alabaster skin and his ears and cheeks to bloom a flustered rose-red. He knows you are simply teasing him, but the sensation of being denied his favorite view of his beloved is utterly infuriating. Yet, something about being without your gaze stirs the desire within him. When your lovemaking has reached its peak in the past, the sight of your flushed cheeks and blissed out expression has made his blood run hot and has left him in the throes of the most pleasurable high. Not being able to gaze upon you will allow him to focus his whole being upon the ecstasy he feels every time he is brought to climax. This denial will amplify the sensations he will feel in the midst of passion and he finds himself anxiously anticipating how overwhelming those emotions might be. His cock grows harder and twitches excitedly at the thought and he bites his lip to contain the groans of arousal rising up in the back of his throat. Your proximity, despite him being unable to see your form, is positively maddening. Now that sight is taken away, the darkness is acting like an aphrodisiac. He wants nothing more than to lose himself to desire, touch, scent, and sound—to bring both of your hearts racing and be subsumed in an orgasmic trance. And so, the anticipation of the evening ahead courses through Malleus' body in electric tremors, setting his soul on fire. For someone with the lifespan of a fae, a moment is but a speck of sand on a shore, yet every minute you make him wait seems to drag into torturous eternity. He wants—no, he craves to take you and bask in the throes of passionate euphoria... Yet, he sits there, at the mercy of you and the unfolding events.

His growing sexual frustration sends a surge of wicked mischief through your blood as you crouch on the plush duvet alongside him. Malleus feels the bed shift and your body moving ever closer, then the caress of your hot breath tickling against his neck, near his sensitive ears, just a whisper away. He shudders deliciously as the phantom sensation of your moist, parted lips nears his bare shoulder, sending a chill through his entire body that culminates in a tingling tightness that pulses through his dick, which has reached full mast and throbs painfully in his boxers. Just as he is beginning to move his mouth to admonish you for such cruel teasing, his body suddenly jerks in surprise as he is overcome by the wet and gentle pressure of your mouth suckling ever so gently against his sensitive nape, right in that one spot, the one you know makes his knees turn to jelly. Malleus can't help the startled gasp that falls from his mouth as his body surrenders entirely, arching slightly at the pleasurable sensation, head lulling back just a little. He shivers as your palms ghost across his bare chest in a featherlight graze, sighing as his muscles are soothed by the balmy smoothness of your hands. You seem intent on teasing his neck—tugging, suckling, kissing, licking—and the teasing wet heat and gentle suction against his throat drives him to near delirium. The muscles of his neck tense as he gulps down heavy breaths, and you revel in the sound of him fighting desperately to contain his lust, your mouth quirking up into a smirk against his throat. His head leans back further to grant you more access to his soft flesh, and he resists the urge to stroke himself, biting his lower lip as your kisses start to descend along his pectorals, your tongue teasing at a hardened nipple before continuing to worship him down his abdominal muscles to the dip of his hips and eventually stopping just short of where he really wants it. Malleus is panting, almost as if in time with his throbbing member as it demands attention, yet your fingers remain above the waistband, tempting him.

"Keep going," he commands quietly, craving more than your hesitant brushes, his heart quickening at the sound of your own racing pulse. You have found a delicious torment in delaying him, and his inability to see your next move has caused his whole body to come alive. Malleus bites his lower lip harder, nearly breaking skin to maintain his self control as your fingertips barely push at the elastic band of his underwear, your nails only teasing the thin trail of hair below his navel. The tiniest contact is overwhelming on his skin, leaving a blazing trail in the wake of the featherlight touch, and a trembling warmth deep within him as his desire crescendos. Every part of him is suddenly alert, drinking up the ambiance, the muffled silence only adding an ethereal atmosphere of mystique to his hazy world of arousal and delight. "My love, please give me more," he begs. The strained edge in his voice stirs the rising excitement within you and your core aches at his ardent need. A little hitch in your breath catches his attention. Without the ability to watch your expressions, his sharp ears have begun to strain to hear every indication of arousal from you.

A bratty whine escapes Malleus' pouting lips as you completely withdraw your hands, body heat disappearing as you leave him exposed. The void of your warmth leaves him cold, an abyss to match his own darkness, yet he is lost for words as your mouth finds his erect cock through the fabric of his boxers, swallowing his bulge, the friction of your dampened tongue against him shooting straight to his balls. Your saliva bleeds through the cloth in a thick stain as you use your mouth to slowly torture him, knowing this is driving him insane. A jumble of pants and unintelligible phrases fall from the normally reserved Malleus' mouth and his hands fist themselves in the bedsheets, threatening to rip them in his pent-up ecstasy, knuckles stark white in strain as he groans. Your relentless hot and wet pressure on his erection is turning him into a salacious mess, but it's not nearly enough—he's desperate to feel your skin and a feral growl rattles around in his throat. His instinctive need to seize control of the situation becomes clouded in the heady fog of the erotic pleasure that your touches instill within him, a thrall he's unfamiliar with but too far gone to resist. When he thinks he can't stand the sweetly agonizing tease any longer, your lips pull away, leaving him wanting for your moist, breathy heat to return to him. Malleus whines piteously, squirming in place in silent desperation, fists tightly balled.

Your heart soars when you hear him making these vulnerable little noises of absolute submission to his craving for your body—as much as you know his primal urges are telling him to toss you onto his lap and take you, his dedication to your sadistic game prevents his true lusts from prevailing. He wants to ravage you, to gorge himself on your flesh as you scream his name into his pillows, to bite down on the crook of your neck when he's plunging deep within your hot, aching depth. Instead, he endures his cock's ceaseless torment.

As you contemplate your next course of action, your eyes settle on the enigmatic vestigial holdover from his ancestors—his horns. Growing directly from his skull and twisting in two thick curves adorned with glowing flecks of opulent teal, they frame his beautiful visage with an unmistakable air of eerie mystique. Intrigued by the sharp, slender peaks, you straddle Malleus' lap once again, his aching need nudging up against your clothed sex and making him groan from the limited pleasure he finally receives. He never eluded to any sensuality about the pointed projections adoring his head, but your curious lust can't help but wonder if they're erogenous. It certainly wouldn't surprise you if the fearsome protrusions were a weakness for your beautiful and powerful lover. If they could invoke in him a tantalizing rush of decadent sensation, they would surely aid you in his titillation. His previous words of caution ring in your mind—"You're welcome to touch them… though I can't guarantee what would happen to you if you did."—yet your perversion yearns to test out your theory.

You slowly lean your bodyweight towards his head until he feels you looming over him, your body's warmth fanning over his face and giving a comforting presence to his empty, disoriented world. The hint of a smirk curls at the corner of his lips as he begins to tilt his face, wrongfully expecting a kiss. Malleus had suspected your lusts would soon get the better of you and would ultimately yield him the rapture he seeks. You don't even notice the way his mouth opens slightly, wet, plush lips eagerly awaiting yours. The air between you two is electric with a smoldering, simmering need, threatening to spark into something raging. However, you swerve his inviting kiss, instead placing both your hands firmly against each horn, beginning a gentle massage on the cool bone. You can’t help but grin in prideful victory when a yelp falls from Malleus' lips and he bucks upwards, his hips suddenly snapping with wild impulse in a carnal attempt to sheathe his engorged cock within the beckoning warmth of your tight hole. Malleus' shocked gasp shifts into a guttural, feral sound. His blood is filled with electricity and lust, the lewd sounds emanating from deep within him like a forbidden spell of obscene delight.

The rumble of his inhuman grumble rolls through his entire chest, and the vibration of the low, loud noise goes straight to your throbbing sex. His reaction to you is deliciously intense, and you begin to twist and rub your thumb and index finger around the ridges of the horns, tracing the shapes and sending tiny shivers down Malleus' spine. You watch him, holding your breath in captivated awe as his upper lip lifts into a snarl and his bottom lip falls, allowing another dirty, draconic growl to spill out. The blackness of his vision leaves his mind no choice but to sink deeper into carnal euphoria, his mouth hanging agape and eyes rolling behind his blindfold, the pale skin of his cheeks becoming flushed as he drowns in the overwhelming sensations that consume him entirely. You run your fingernail up and down the sides of his horns simultaneously with a tantalizing tickle, and Malleus' head jerks in your grasp, neck muscles tense with shock from how amazingly sensitive this area of him is. With a naughty grin you plant a messy, wet kiss on one horn, then drag your teeth along the slick surface while your fingers begin a slow, erotic massage where the base of his horn meets the tender skin of his scalp. A downright depraved string of nonsensical, fragmented curses of ecstasy tumble from Malleus' throat. As his primal urge to breed overrides any common sense, the harsh sting of claws dig into the delicate skin of your forearms.

Your caress on his horns is like having the tips of every nerve of his being stimulated at once. His hips start thrusting almost automatically, as though his brain no longer commands him with any sort of reason. His desires take full control, acting on instinct to rut against anything and everything, and a hot ache ripples through his nether regions. The undergarment that traps him from absolute nirvana becomes uncomfortably tight, as his manhood pushes the limits of what the cotton material can bear. A damp and translucent stain of precum has bled through onto the fabric. His mind is swirling with a heady cocktail of lust, love, and urgency—the absence of sight heightening every aspect, every molecule of physical joy, creating a searing, constant arousal deep within him. At last, you have coaxed your regal Prince to reach a whole new state of passion.

You can feel yourself becoming more aroused with each erotic sound you draw from Malleus' throat, as your love for him is mixed with your innate masochism to torture and tease, causing a molten heat to blossom within you. Unable to deny him any longer, you let your lips fall to his mouth and Malleus eagerly reciprocates without hesitation, the heat between the two of you almost unbearable. Teeth clash as he hungrily devours your lips and his arms fly to pull you close so he may sink himself into your flesh and keep you for an eternity, one arm slipping to your lower back and pressing you towards him, his other hand weaving itself through your soft locks. This is what Malleus longed for: the warmth, the wetness, and the sinful slide of your tongue against his. His heart is set ablaze as you grip onto his face, cradling the beloved contours in an almost desperate plea to be as near him as possible, wanting to hold your lover to your body until he melts within you. His deep, sonorous moans of lecherous longing resonate throughout your whole body, echoing in the cavern of your very soul until it makes your heart weep with an overwhelming love and passion. You realize now, more than ever, how dear this fae Prince is to you, how absolutely crucial he has become for your every living moment. As Malleus hungrily chases every ounce of physical sensation he can achieve through the one person that matters the most to him, he feels the exact same love and desperation well in him and pour into his kiss, transmitting his emotions back to you. The blindfold begins to dampen from his overflowing tears as the magnitude of your passion for him stirs a surge of affection and desire that nearly rips his beating heart out of his chest. He clutches you ever closer as a small sob rises up, overcome by his love for the beguiling little mortal whose unconditional acceptance and magical charms have entranced him since day one. You drink up his ardent devotion like a life-sustaining elixir.

Eventually, you break the kiss with a moan and slide off his body, and he mourns your warmth against him, a lonely tear absorbing into the silk. Malleus cannot contain a whimper, as his blood pulses so fiercely, a carnal and primal drive floods his being. It is beyond lust, beyond physical desire—you have reignited the very core of who he is as an eternal, draconic prince and have reminded him of the fire that beats within his breast. His body aches and throbs in equal amounts sexual and emotional passion, his need to release so intense that his breaths come in short, quick pants. His muscles spasm uncontrollably from the sensations running rampant in every extremity, and he sobs with pent-up desire, clawing at the duvet as though it would relieve the ceaseless, tortuous pressure that plagues him. His heart yearns, yet his libido aches, the girth of his dick straining against his waistband like a caged animal desperate to break free from its bindings and let the true beast emerge.

A relieved sigh escapes him when, a moment later, your cool, soft hands dip below the elastic of his boxers and gently slide them down and off. His erect cock slaps against his stomach, weeping pearls of precum and glistening from the prolonged sexual torture of the evening, standing at full attention. Its girthy length twitches with impatience. One teasing fingertip just barely grazes its tip, gathering the beads of lust and dragging them along his length. A strained yelp forces its way out of Malleus' parched and trembling lips, and his whole body tenses, toes curling. The sheets are being pulled in the violent vice grip of his fists, the sheer force of his magical grip threatening to rip them in half. You begin to languidly trace along his shaft at a tantalizingly slow and soft pace, driving him out of his mind. It's barely enough contact to get any satisfaction, yet far more than enough to make him jolt at the blissful sparks that you ignite within him. You ghost your breath across the length, blowing air on his heated flesh as a paltry reward to Malleus' plight. He cries your name in a pitchy, agonized tone as your hands pull away and he tries not to sob with frustration at the lack of touch. Before he can complain, a new, torturous sensation wracks his frame: the phantasmagoric feeling of soft, pillowy lips dragging against the tip of his shaft, eliciting a filthy whine and a throaty gasp. He feels more wet heat around his sensitive glans as your tongue bathes the area with hot saliva, savoring the briny taste of his essence, then leaving him abruptly. You're far too much of a tease, giving him just a sample before pulling away. His balls feel painfully swollen as he reaches his limit and his member seizes with another sharp throb of arousal.

And then, with a wet squelch, the heat of your mouth descends onto the entirety of his rock-hard erection, taking him all in to the hilt. Your cheeks hallow to create suction as your tongue swirls around his engorged tip and your throat relaxes as his length is buried down your throat, holding your breath and stifling your gag reflex for a brief moment before bobbing your head up and down, fucking his hard dick with your mouth and salivating profusely over his thick length. The sweetly sinful sensation of his throbbing erection buried deep down your esophagus causes his mind to shut off, his brain short-circuiting from the intensity of pleasure. Your talented tongue swirls and twirls around the mushroom tip while your hands massage up and down along his shaft, working his flesh in synchronous harmony, threatening to break him down into a quivering mess under the expertise of your skilled mouth. It's absolutely obscene, how willingly your jaw hangs wide for him, how you guzzle up every inch of his thick cock as though he's the best meal of your life.

Now that you have him back where you want him, you take your time torturing him by switching your rhythm every time his groans begin to sound too desperate, denying him the relief his poor aching cock so desperately craves. You gently guide his shaft upright with a tug of your hand, angling his thick cock directly into your mouth and ensuring you completely envelop his tip in your throat. Every time you hollow your cheeks and move his throbbing erection in and out of your mouth at a vigorous pace, Malleus is unable to hold his voice back. He tosses his head back, letting your tongue lavish the underside of his cock. The velvety heat of your tongue sweeps from the base all the way to his glans, lapping across his slit before wrapping your lips around his thick girth again. Your tongue meticulously teases and suckles on his sweet spots, knowing that because of his loss of vision he is acutely aware of every change in pressure, every shift in the path of your tongue, and every powerful stroke of your hand. You have successfully reduced the unshakeable Prince of Thorns into a mess of low moans and ragged, staccato breaths. Your name comes out in pleading pants, like he's calling to you to take his seed and give him the relief he desires so desperately. Your sucking and swirling heat pulls Malleus' balls up closer, tight and ready, his member starting to spasm as his end rushes ever nearer.

"Dearest..." Malleus murmurs as softly as possible, shuddering as pleasure lances through him like lightning, barely audible above the squelches and wet smacks, his hips bucking frantically now, "I beg of you... Please, do not be cruel. I cannot—please." You know how sensitive he is to touch, his every nerve is so over stimulated, and his blindness is making everything hit a whole new level.

"That's enough—hnnnng. This is far too much for me to handle... You're truly evil for using my body like this—oh, do not stop—" A litany of indecencies flow forth in an increasingly erratic rhythm to accompany the melodious cadence of his dulcet moans. Every time you push his length down your throat, he thinks you've given up playing around and finally decided to let him spill his hot load, only for you to relent at the last second and reduce your fervency. He curses your name, promising retaliation later in the form of the most passionate fucking of your entire life. The cruel torture begins anew with a playful kiss on his tip or a lewd slurp at the base of his cock as your hands fondle and caress him. It is almost inhuman the level of control his child of man has to be able to push him close to the edge and retreat with surgical precision, again and again, leaving him in complete anguish.

The hard tip of his cock slams the back of your throat, threatening to suffocate your breath and sending a deluge of saliva trickling down his swollen balls and slickening your lips. He cannot suppress the rough and rapid snapping of his hips against you, plunging his penis to the very end, every lunge making you gag. When you swallow and clench your throat around his length, Malleus' breaths dissolve into frantic wheezes, his chest heaving, unable to even finish his sentence before his lungs are sucked empty in ecstasy. Your hands cup the heavy, weighted balls beneath, fingers and nails digging in slightly before gripping onto his ass as you swallow around his entire girth, pumping his dick in rhythm with his thrusts as if to milk him and show no mercy. Your muffled squeals of encouragement spur Malleus on, the sounds you're making giving him permission to use your mouth like his own personal fuck-toy, his own filthy fantasy. His eyes squeeze shut behind the blindfold as the red, pulsing void suddenly fills with the vivid memory of the look on your face the last time he pounded your face so mercilessly, that wonderful face all covered in his seed, cheeks dripping with his creamy splatter. He moans brokenly as his fantasies meld with reality in the blinding darkness. The sheer act of being able to fully appreciate and wallow in the sense of absolute decadent delight his beloved grants him, as well as your own enthusiasm for him—all these sensations surge forth in a mighty torrent. Malleus knows you're preparing to build him up to a devastating peak of passion.

With a firm yet gentle grip, you dig the tips of your fingers into the ample flesh of your lover's thighs, feeling their toned rippling as you keep him in place. Your fingernails sink a little, creating faint, red trails in your wake, marking Malleus' flawless skin as evidence of your claim over his body. Without warning, his hard length slips out of your wet lips with an obscene pop, and the fae Prince whimpers once more from the cold drafts of the dorm room settling over his sopping, saliva-coated member. 

Before he has any time to register the shock of the loss, the bedsheets shift again under your movements as you swiftly remove your underwear before returning to position on your knees outside of his open legs. He holds his breath, eagerly anticipating the impending penetration of his lover's deepest parts and the messy release of the tight knot of sexual desire within the pit of his stomach. A baritone, satisfied groan bursts from the depths of Malleus' lungs as your warmth encases his erection, sheathing his dick in an endless flow of slippery heat and the most luxurious pressure. It is one of his favorite pleasures to hold you close after having penetrated your deepest core and simply stay there to savor the ecstatic sensations. Nothing can replicate the pure feeling of euphoric fulfillment and unadulterated bliss when your lower half is connected as closely as it possibly can with his—both of your intimate zones smoldering in the ecstasy of total conjoining, bodies becoming one and unified, your souls entwined in a kiss. His toes curl and his muscles shudder, but before he can adjust, you start moving, using your hips to ride his lap.

Your thighs settle snugly around Malleus' hips, your weight rocking forward to penetrate your loins deeper on his member and envelop every inch of him until his hard cock reaches the deepest regions of your core. Malleus can barely comprehend what's going on, his mind drowning in an ocean of the purest pleasure, his hands searching desperately for yours as you place his palms on either side of your waist for a good grip. His lover's palms, made small by the bulk of his own, have only moments ago been manipulating his sensitive erection and granting him such euphoria. To touch the very appendages that have stimulated him, to hold you steady, to feel the love that flows through the both of you—the thrill of the experience sets Malleus' mind into overdrive, the preciousness of his time together with you compounding with his heightened physical sensations in a stunning synthesis. A symphony of sexy, wet noises of colliding bodies, creaking mattress, and throaty gasps and moans echo throughout his lonely, shadowy abyss, and Malleus feels as though his senses are being pleasurably overwhelmed. Malleus shoves his cock ever deeper within, nudging against the slick flesh with feverish abandon. He becomes desperate for an even tighter hold, urging your body to submit to him and drown in bliss. As his dick pumps into your sweet, greedy, and dripping hole with zealous thrusts, your combined rhythm becomes lost to the utter delirium of rapture as the fae's raw instincts to rut you senseless take over. The Prince of Darkness doesn't hold anything back— he thrusts up into your body with full and furious strokes, growls turning animalistic, cock pounding with merciless thrusts, and balls slapping against the juncture of your thighs.

You can barely handle the sheer thickness of Malleus' dick inside of you, its girth is massive. It stretches your walls and massages every part of you, the large ridge along his cock's underside scraping against your insides with every relentless slam. The slightest movement sends fireworks shooting through you and drives you insane, the heated passion causing a powerful buildup of pleasure already. Your gasps rise in volume, turning into shrieks as you give him your body entirely. One of his hands trails up from your waist, the rough and calloused fingertips ghost across your collarbone and up the curve of your neck. His head is tossed back from the carnal fucking but those elegant, sharp fingernails linger over your pulse, feeling the way blood beats under your skin and listening for the hitch of breath every time the angle of his cock rubs up against something magical inside of you.

Malleus is constantly shifting his position, driving his huge dick into the different angles with practiced efficiency as he listens intently for where to thrust harder, to where your breathing is quickest, and where he gets the loudest moans. The noise echoes back to him like the raunchiest opera. It leaves you shaking on him as he explores you with his cock, the sheer intensity of his frenzied ministrations threatening to make your eyes roll into the back of your head. Every single slam of his dick draws you to the edge of the pleasure-bound chasm, as waves of satisfaction ripple throughout every fiber of your being.

His large, sturdy hands have never left your form and cling possessively. When he lets go, it's to scrape his claws down the tops of your shoulders before seizing you tightly once more. With his thighs tense, his strong muscles drive up into you at a merciless speed, over and over. A throttled roar is building in the pit of Malleus' chest. At the top of your lungs, you scream out his name. There is no room for your thoughts, only the constant stream of the lust-drenched fog and the instinctive urge to reach your peak. Malleus' talons scratch down your back before grabbing onto the tops of your asscheeks and forcing your lower bodies impossibly closer together. Malleus bites your neck while simultaneously drilling his cock as deep as he can possibly go before pausing there, grinding into you and groaning. Your bodies move together in tandem, a wet dance that staves off your looming orgasms for a few more thrusts and moans.

Through the blinding white ecstasy, you can vaguely hear the haughty prince remarking how perfectly he fits and feels inside you. Between your moans and the slapping sound, his breathy laugh cuts through the room and brushes hot against the crook of your neck, teasing, "Your insides... tighten when I praise you..." Your walls immediately squeeze him on reflex at those words. This discovery of another weakness brings him closer, more ravenous, a little bit more wild with the need to take and claim. His face buries into your skin and his tongue flicks out against your neck, drinking up the salt of your sweat as he nips, bites, and sucks his mark there. Malleus wants to fill your greedy hole with his seed, mark his territory, make it absolutely clear that you are his forever by stuffing you full until his cum trickles from the very corners of you and soaks into the silken sheets of his bed. He pants and growls lewdly, plundering into you like a heathen and abandoning any sense of shame as he fully lets go of all composure. The guttural moans and bestial noises escaping his throat reverberate like music in your ears. They signal that the gorgeous prince is drawing dangerously near his edge. The primal urges you have summoned from him command his every thought and his body reacts instantaneously to all the stimulation you've given him thus far. Your mouth falls open, wanton moans now turning into shameless screaming. You match the intensity with which Malleus throws his entire body into the movements of fucking your hole. Malleus doesn't allow your body a single moment's rest as he thoroughly ruins you—each carnal rut and frenetic pound of his manhood into your core sets fire to your whole being, reducing your soul to ash in the passion's wake. His engorged, reddened tip abuses your g-spot to the point that your walls can't even tighten around him anymore due to being so utterly overwhelmed by his dick.

Malleus' heart jackhammers against his ribs and a sound that can only be described as a primal, draconic cry roars out. Thick, creamy spurts of his warm seed paint your inner walls white as his balls pulse and churn, filling you up so generously. The depth of your love and adoration has finally ripped the fae's last threads of restraint to shreds, unleashing his true self—wild, uncontrollable, feral—and the transcendent bliss leaves him howling your name in a voice more akin to a monster than a beautiful Prince. You throw your head back, feeling every muscle of your inner body clench in delicious contractions as you, too, reach the precipice, gushing all over him. All you can manage is to sink onto his thick, throbbing cock and just quake with the intense force of your orgasmic bliss, your legs spasming around him as you milk his twitching shaft.

Every wave of your orgasm sends him into his next. Your loud wails of pure pleasure are music to his ears. He growls and thrusts against you, eager to ensure you have been completely and utterly defiled with his load. The exhilaration and anticipation that was building all night finally peaks, and the intensity is just right to leave the both of you in an tangled afterglow of sweaty, quivering limbs. All he can see are swirling spots of magical color swimming in front of the blinding black of his blindfold. Every sense becomes a blurry haze. When he finds enough control over his quivering frame, Malleus holds you up and close to him, refusing to slip out from your body, letting you come to rest against his strong, tender embrace and gently stroking your hair as you nestle your forehead in the crook of his neck, nestled so comfortably between his head and shoulder. Malleus begins peppering your face and the exposed parts of your shoulder with butterfly kisses, his ragged breaths tickling your skin.

"My love..." the Prince purrs as you languidly snuggle into him, "You will never know what you've just done to me. I have felt so utterly and undeniably wanted, needed, desired." His strong arms embrace you, so gentle and loving and soft, it makes your heart beat a little bit faster and fills you up with an immense, powerful feeling. "You have made my existence feel absolutely perfect and wonderful, more so than I deserve." His voice grows thick and warm, full of tender affection as he adds, "Please, cherish me forever. I will pledge myself to you for as long as I live." 

He pulls the blindfold over his head, his eyelids fluttering open to meet your soft gaze and reveal his magnificent, emerald hues and smoldering, lust-drunk slitted pupils. You fall in love with him all over again, smiling brightly as you are greeted by your beloved Prince's elation at seeing your beautiful face once more. Malleus lifts his palm and tucks a lock of your hair behind the lobe of your ear, leaving his knuckles there for a few extra moments as he enjoys the flush and shimmer on your features, admiring the love of his life with all the admiration in the world.

Malleus' eyes spark with renewed mischief and he chuckles mischievously, the deep, smooth sound rolling with velvet menace. "No mortal has ever had this sort of control over me before. The experience was rather... illicit, and strangely beguiling. A little unexpected, however, when you nearly choked me with my own horns." A single sharp claw tips your chin upwards. "How lucky, indeed, am I to be fortunate enough to have you, the first person I ever held my heart out to, be so wicked to me. You were quite merciless tonight." His lascivious grin twists devilishly, and you find yourself enthralled with a certain mix of terror and rapture, unable to keep a devilish smirk of your own from twitching your own lips.

You had known that taking him away from the world for a brief moment of darkness would make his whole body light up like a star and let him truly lose himself to you, but you never would have predicted how viscerally it would affect him. Even so, it pleases you to have fulfilled your fae Prince's perverse needs. You kiss the tip of his nose and he smiles his sharp smile. "Now that you've revealed such a sinful aspect of yourself to me, you'll be the one beneath my power next time we indulge."

The playful menace in his smile doesn't quite mask the serious note in his voice. Malleus is absolutely determined to reciprocate the things he enjoyed receiving in equal measure. It was almost like his own hidden, dangerous desires had awoken when you dragged him down the path of depravity, and a new wave of perversion courses through him at the thought of transforming you into his own plaything. Your throat goes dry, knowing his strength and his kinky side may finally have been unshackled from its cage, and the fae might devour you without the restraint and kindness of his moralities to hold him back. His handsome features betray nothing of his sadistic plans—all you can see are his glorious, flashing eyes glimmering with mischief, and the dangerous upturn of his mouth. There's no telling how much Malleus Draconia has planned for you, and for a brief moment, you wonder if perhaps you'd created a bit of a monster with tonight's exploration.

Let me know if you all enjoyed this! Some Fun Erica Lore™ is that I have total aphantasia—I can't visualize (images or sounds) at all. So, I think because of that, I tend to be very descriptive with my words, since I can't visualize the scene in my head. Also, because I don't have visual memory, I do not remember memories or daydreams in a visual way, instead, I remember them by the feeling I felt in that moment (or the feeling I would feel if a situation was happening to me). Because I feel things so deeply, I like to convey the power of emotions in my writing. I hope I was able to elicit a strong emotional response from you. As always, thank you for reading. Every day, I continue to be awestruck by the outpouring of love and support I've received from you all. Thank you for welcoming my writing into this lovely community. Until next time, 💚 Erica Malleleothreesome

[m1ckeyb3rry]

── THE GLASS PRINCESS // FIFTEEN

Series Synopsis: You wake up in a strange room with no memories, broken glass at your bedside, and a prince named Zuko as your only chance at figuring out who you really are.

Chapter Synopsis: You return to the palace and attempt to tell your brother the truth of the world.

Series Masterlist

Pairing: Zuko x Reader

Chapter Word Count: 5.6k

Content Warnings: complicated relationships (strangers to friends to lovers to enemies to strangers to lovers to enemies to lovers), amnesia, alternate universe, lots of secrets and lying and mystery

A/N: man i’m really going to miss this arc of the story…vibes have been unmatched so far (ba sing se era >> ursa era imo even if the underlying mystery of the ursa era was rlly fun to write)

“Sokka!” you shouted, kicking the front door. You knew the Avatar’s house was under near-constant surveillance by the Dai Li, and the longer you waited outside, the more likely it was that you’d be caught. Yet for some reason, your last three attempts at knocking politely had proven fruitless, and even this more violent greeting went unanswered. Giving up and ramming your shoulder into the doorway, you flinched when it swung open eerily and without protest.

Why was the villa empty? It didn’t look like it had been abandoned in a methodical fashion; a set of clothes you assumed were Katara’s was tossed over a chair, and there were dishes in the sink. All of this spoke to a hasty exit, one that might not have been entirely willing and was certainly made without an advance warning.

From the corner, there was a chittering sound, and you all but leapt out of your skin before realizing it was a tiny, fluffy creature. Stooping down, you recognized it to be a winged lemur, staring at you with wide viridian eyes. You offered it your hand with a smile, but it only sniffed it delicately before skittering backwards, leaping around a corner and then poking its head back like it was hoping you’d follow.

“What is going on?” you muttered to yourself, deciding you might as well follow the shy animal. It made a cooing noise at you, nudging you with its small, wet nose as you reached the room it was waiting for you in. Once it had ascertained that you were safely with it, it leapt onto your shoulder, nipping your ear when you tried to leave.

You were about to chide it for the rude behavior when you heard the front door creak open. Biting your tongue, you pressed your back to the wall by the door, peering through the crack at the new visitors. Based on the winged lemur’s behavior and your own intuition, it wasn’t the Avatar or any of his friends, and your stomach dropped as you saw men wearing the familiar Dai Li uniform creeping into the villa.

“You really think the Avatar’s the one that kidnapped Princess Y/N?” one of them said.

“Who else could’ve killed Captain Chhay?” his partner said. “That man is a legend in the organization. Long Feng thinks that they kidnapped Princess Y/N so that they have some leverage to enter the palace.”

“Poor girl,” the first agent said with a chuckle. “She’s like a toy for the real political powers to play with.”

His partner scoffed. “Right? It’d be depressing if she actually cared, but she’s not exactly done anything to gain any kind of relevance in her kingdom.”

“Her and that brother of hers are making this far too easy.”

“Did you hear that the Lower Ring citizens rioted just from seeing her?”

“At this rate, a peasant uprising isn’t far off at all. The seeds for revolution have been sown, and as long as things continue in the way they have been, it won’t be long before the monarchy is done away with completely and Long Feng can finally, truly assume power.”

“Shh! What if they overhear you?”

“It’s fine. The Avatar and his friends are busy under Lake Laogai. This is only a cursory inspection. There’s no one around to hear us; when else can we discuss this type of thing?”

“I don’t know. You’re just stressing me out. How much longer do we have to stay here, anyways?”

“We have to check for Princess Y/N. Or, at least, pretend like we did.”

“Honestly, I’d say we’ve done our due diligence.”

The voices were growing closer, and you shoved your fist in your mouth to avoid making a sound, staring wide-eyed at the winged lemur, who did not even blink as it returned your panicked gaze with a steady one of its own.

“True. Who really cares if she lives or dies? It’s all the same to our plans.”

“If she dies, though, people might feel some sympathy for the royal family.”

“Nah, just think about it: as long as we can blame the Avatar and his friends for killing her, then we not only get rid of one of the royal family members, we also shake the public’s faith in the Avatar. It’s actually for the best if we don’t find her.”

“You’re right!”

They were right outside the room now. If they took another step and turned, they would see you. You shrank back even more, wishing you could melt into the shadows, meld with the wall, hide in some way that would ensure they never caught wind of you.

“Let’s just go, then.”

“Wait, what if she isn’t dead, though? If she escapes and comes back to the palace, it’ll make us look horrible.”

They took that step, but still they did not turn. You shivered, wanting to squeeze your eyes shut but knowing you could not be caught off guard in case they saw you.

“If she comes back, we can let Long Feng deal with it. She’s been a real pain in his neck, you know? If Captain Chhay were still around, he’d probably be sent after her by this point.”

One of the agents clicked his tongue. “Good old Chhay. I’d never have said it while he was still around, but he was like a polar bear dog. Who else would be that loyal to a person?”

“I don’t know. Rumor has it that Long Feng paid him twice the regular salary. I’d be loyal too, for that kind of money.”

They retreated from the room, and you let go of the breath you had been holding, patting the winged lemur on the head, though you were still careful to be silent.

“That so?”

“Maybe one of us will be promoted to take his place now that he’s gone.”

“Now you’re talking!”

The door to the villa slammed shut behind them, leaving you and the winged lemur alone. You buried your face in your hands, breathing in quick, short gasps, gritting your teeth as you tried to regain your composure.

It went deeper than you realized. This wasn’t just incompetency or confusion — the Dai Li were planning on utilizing the citizens of Ba Sing Se for their own means, using them to overthrow the current government and then instating Long Feng as, ostensibly, a dictator. It was only your own fortune — you were still unsure whether that fortune could be considered good or bad — that you had overheard their plot, but what now?

You were presumed to be dead. At first, this horrified you, but as you thought about it, there was a definite bonus. The Dai Li’s efforts would be focused on the Avatar and his friends, and if you were considered a vanished non-issue, then there would be no eyes scanning the city for you. It left you free to operate as you wanted, given that you employed a modicum of caution.

Digging through the wardrobe of the room you were in, which upon investigation revealed itself to most likely be Katara’s, you pulled out a scarf and wrapped it around your neck and head. Though it did nothing about your stained dress, it concealed your identity well enough that you felt more comfortable walking outside than you had before.

“What about you?” you said to the winged lemur, scratching it behind its enormous ears. “You saved my life, I’m pretty sure. Thank you for that. Where will you go now?”

The winged lemur purred at you, rubbing its cheek against your own and tightening its grip on your shoulder. You giggled and rubbed its forehead.

“Alright, then. You can help me. Come along, but be prepared; it might be dangerous. I don’t think there’s time to rendezvous with the Avatar. I’ll have to storm my own palace and demand to see my brother myself,” you said, squaring your shoulders, finding some irony in the fact that you had finally been given leave to live your life how you wanted and yet you were returning to the very place you had tried so desperately, for so many years, to run from.

After all, if Princess Y/N was considered dead, then that meant you could live in disguise and become someone else. You could leave Ba Sing Se entirely and travel the world, see the sights you had thus far only ever read about. The capital of ice in the North Pole, the city of Omashu, which was commonly referred to as Ba Sing Se’s little sister…it was a possibility. There was no one stopping you anymore.

No one, of course, except for your own conscience. You could not leave when you knew that the Dai Li and Long Feng had killed your father and were planning on overthrowing your brother. You could not leave when your people, the ones who you had been born with a duty to, were being manipulated and taxed and abused by the ones that were meant to have their best interests at heart. And, though it was less grand of a reason, you could not leave the city where Lee was. Not without telling him first.

Though you knew the villa was located in the Upper Ring, it took you a moment to regain your bearings and find the palace. After all, it was far more difficult returning without one of Quynh’s doors to serve as a convenient portal or the Dai Li escorting you with their Earthbending. The sun was already high in the sky by the time you made it to the palace gates, but by the time you arrived, you found another problem facing you.

The royal military, which guarded the palace, was in complete disarray. It was as if a tornado had torn through them. Men were strewn about, staggering to their feet, while others used their own Earthbending to fix their formations. Was the palace under attack? Were you too late? Had Long Feng’s rebellion already begun?

“Who goes there?” a guard shouted at you. You did not respond, picking up your speed from a mere walk to a sprint, holding the scarf over your head so that it did not blow off as you ran. You could not know if you trusted the army or if they were in league with the Dai Li, and unless you were forced to, you did not want to reveal who you were.

“Hey! Answer us!” another guard said. You kept running towards the bridge over the moat. You just needed to cross that bridge, and from there, nothing could stop you. They must’ve had that same thought, though, as the stones of the bridge began to recede, leaving a gaping maw where you should’ve crossed.

Then the boulders began to fly. They weren’t trying to hit you, but they were blocking your path, making your entrance far more difficult. You used one hand to cover the winged lemur’s eyes from the dust pluming in front of you, squinting your own so that you were not blinded by it.

If you did not do something, then the guards would go from obstructive efforts to far more deadly methods. Earthbending against this quantity of offensive parties was a suicidal idea, especially when you were on the palace’s doorstep and there was a high chance you’d get caught, but there was one final card you could play, the one you had been unwilling to part with most of all.

Casting the scarf aside, you pointed at the guard who had been lifting another boulder into the air to throw at you. He paused mid-action, and then he pointed back at you, like he could not believe his eyes.

“I am Princess Y/N of the Earth Kingdom, you fool, and what you are doing right now is treason! If you throw even a pebble more at me, I’ll have you hanged!” you said.

“Princess Y/N?” the guard said, the boulder thudding to the ground before him as he dropped into a bow. “We were under the impression that you were — that you were dead!”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Reform that bridge at once,” you said. “Did you think that a girl of Shan’s line could be killed that easily? Perhaps I must remind you: I am the princess. As long as my people need me, I cannot die.”

After that, you walked unchallenged towards the steps leading up to the palace. It confirmed one thing, at least: the army was not allied with the Dai Li. If it was, then you would’ve been seized by now and dragged to Long Feng, but all that the soldiers did was shy away when you stalked past, giving you looks that were equal parts questioning and awed, like they could not quite believe that the shy, delicate little princess was capable of such feats.

It was only a matter of time before the Dai Li caught wind of your presence, if they had not already. You had to make it to the throne room by then. At least for now, they were limited in what they could do while Kuei was watching, for he was still the supreme authority of the kingdom. Now that you had gone and announced who you were, they ought to have done everything they could’ve to stop you, but curiously, there was no one that came to block your path.

Even stranger, the route to the throne room was torn apart and devoid of guards. There had clearly been a fight, but who had broken into the palace and managed to overtake it so quickly?

The walls were crumbling, and entire pillars had been torn in half. There were scuff marks on the carpet, and the stone floors glittered with dampness — it had obviously been a massacre. For the first time, you felt like you actually fit in, your ragged appearance matching the ruined entrance hall perfectly.

“I don’t know if I can trust you,” Kuei’s voice drifted out from the throne room, the door to which was, for some reason, lying on the ground. “I’m sorry, but you have no proof. I’ll have to trust my advisors on this one. Long Feng, what do you say of their claims?”

“Do you think that I could’ve hid a hundred years of war from you?” Long Feng said, his voice cold and flat. “What’s more, I’ve received some disturbing news. It seems that the Dai Li found evidence that the Avatar and his friends were involved in the murder of Captain Chhay, as well as your sister’s abduction.”

“What?” Kuei said.

“What is he talking about?” Katara said.

“I’m an Air Nomad! Killing is against my morals!” Aang said.

“Look, we didn’t kidnap or murder anyone! You have to believe us,” Sokka said. “About that, and about the war. I don’t know why your advisor is lying about all of this, but you have to see through it!”

“Even from the Avatar, this kind of situation is just too fantastical. I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to arrest you, at least until Y/N is found and Captain Chhay’s murderer is apprehended,” Kuei said.

“You don’t have to look any further,” you said, pausing in the doorway to catch your breath, hunched over as you wheezed from how much you had pushed yourself. The winged lemur jumped from your shoulder and scampered over to Aang, who made a small noise of surprise at the arrival. “I’m here.”

“Y/N?” Kuei said.

“Your royal highness?” Long Feng said, his innocence clearly feigned, though his surprise likely wasn’t. You glared at him, regaining your composure and straightening before taking the same place as always: below the throne, staring up at those who would always be above you. Your brother, the king. Long Feng, the traitor. You were beneath them both, but this time, you did not allow either of them to intimidate you.

“Where have you been, sister?” Kuei said. “We thought the worst must’ve happened! The servants came in the morning, and all they found was Captain Chhay’s long-dead body. You were gone. Who took you? Did they hurt you?”

“Clearly the princess has been through a horrible ordeal, your majesty,” Long Feng said. “Look at her dress. She needs time to rest and recover from what was no doubt a most harrowing encounter.”

“I’m fine,” you said. “There was nothing harrowing about it. He didn’t even have time to fight back.”

“Of course, you must’ve managed to escape somehow, and thank Quynh for that,” Long Feng said. “But just the mere experience of being kidnapped would’ve been traumatic. Poor princess…I will assign thrice the Dai Li agents to look after you, so that you may rest in peace.”

“I didn’t have to escape, and I wasn’t kidnapped,” you said. “This kind of conduct can be expected of my brother, but I know at least you are smarter than this, Long Feng. In fact, I know a lot of things about you now.”

“No,” Long Feng said.

“Yes,” you said. “You understand, don’t you? I killed him. I killed Captain Chhay.”

Kuei shrieked. “What?”

“It’s true,” you said. “I did it.”

“No way,” Toph said from behind you. “I think I respect you a lot more now.”

“Toph!” Katara hissed.

“Dai Li, seize her at once!” Long Feng said, gesturing towards you impatiently.

“Y/N…how? How did you do that?” Kuei said. “How did you murder someone? No, not just someone — the Captain of the Dai Li himself!”

“Does it matter?” you said as earthen cuffs bound your wrists behind your back once again. “The more important question is why. That’s what you should really want to know.”

“Take her to her chambers and ensure she does not leave!” Long Feng said.

“Why did I do it? What cause could your dear sister have to kill a man? Ask!” you said.

“We will decide what to do with you after we have gotten rid of the Avatar and his friends,” Long Feng said.

“Kuei!” you said. Putting him in this position was the worst thing you had ever done to him, but it was necessary. He had to seek out the information, or else he’d cover his ears and hide away as he always did.

His eyes swam with emotions you doubted he had ever been exposed to before, a veritable maelstrom of thoughts and questions and feelings that he likely did not even know how to handle. Dai Li agents appeared at your shoulders, but you did not take your eyes off of your brother. Your brother, who loved you. Your brother, who was the only family you knew. Your brother, who was the Earth King, the supreme authority in all the kingdom. You looked only at him, and you waited.

“Stop! Release her!” he said. The Dai Li hesitated, but though their loyalty might have been to Long Feng, they still had to abide by Kuei’s commands above all else. The stone restraints crumbled away, and the agents bowed before stepping away from you. “Why did you do it, Y/N?”

“Because Captain Chhay killed our father,” you said. “And he did it on Long Feng’s command.”

“What?” Sokka said.

“This is so complicated,” Aang said. Sokka hummed in agreement.

“That — you cannot just accuse people of regicide without proof!” Long Feng said.

“You sent Captain Chhay after me. He tried to kill me multiple times in Ba Sing Se alone. That’s proof enough! He was your little pet, wasn’t he? It’s what your own agents called him, after all. The beast of the Dai Li, sent to do Long Feng’s bidding. Who else but he would’ve been the one to kill the 51st Earth King?” you said.

“You’re being ridiculous! What motivation would I have to assassinate your father?” Long Feng said.

“Stewardship over the Earth Kingdom isn’t a bad prize,” you said. “Though I’ll admit that luck did play a role. After all, if our mother hadn’t died as well, then she’d be Kuei’s regent.”

“What, did he kill her, too?” Sokka said. “This dude just keeps getting eviler and eviler.”

“No, he — actually, wait,” you said. There was no proof, but for some reason, you didn’t find it too far out of the realm of plausibility. “There’s a chance, though I don’t have any proof for that claim as of right now.”

“You’re going on and on about nothing,” Long Feng said. “I’m not the ruler of the Earth Kingdom. Your brother is.”

“Yet he only implements policies that you approve of,” you said. “Policies which, if I might add, are deliberately harming our people! You’re sabotaging his reign so that our family is overthrown for good. You mean to usurp Kuei, and don’t even try to deny it — I overheard your agents discussing it, and, more importantly, I’ve seen the effects of your suggestions firsthand.

“The only city safe from the war charging exorbitant prices to those refugees which try to enter…thank goodness for that unnamed noblewoman allowing passage through the second southeast gate, right? I won’t speculate about her identity, but I’ll give you a hint: she’s someone you’d recognize.”

“You little wench,” Long Feng said. “You wasted your own money on that? I should’ve known.”

“That’s not all. You refuse to acknowledge the disparity between Upper and Lower Ring citizens, and the Dai Li are closer to terrorists than officers of justice. The people of Ba Sing Se are frightened to speak out about anything, because the Dai Li is always watching. No wonder they hate Kuei and I. No wonder they riot in the streets! But that’s exactly what you planned,” you spat. “Because once they revolt, you will pretend to be on their side and then use the same structures you claim to be against to strengthen your power, your grip on this nation. Kuei and I might be uneducated about the reality of this world and its wars, but at least we care about our people! Can you even claim that much? What sort of an advisor are you?”

“Continuing to speak will only incriminate you further,” Long Feng said. “You have gone mad, princess. There’s no other explanation for why you killed the captain meant to protect you, or for why you are saying such things. They are the ravings of a lunatic! King Kuei, I recommend she be arrested and sent to a correctional facility equipped to handle her case at once.”

You had said all you needed to, and so you just pursed your lips and ducked your head. Your part was done; now, it was up to Kuei to do what was right. If he did not make the proper choice now, then it was hopeless. Then they could take you wherever they wanted, because you could not fight back against your own flesh and blood.

“Dai Li, arrest—” You could not help your shoulders from slumping at Kuei’s declaration. Despite everything, it had not been enough. He still did not have any faith in you. “—Long Feng!”

“What? Your royal majesty, what is the meaning of this?” Long Feng said as the Dai Li agents saluted at Kuei before clicking a pair of metal handcuffs around Long Feng’s wrists.

“Did you really think I’d believe you over Y/N? Did you really think that there’s anyone in the world who I value more than her? It would’ve been more suitable for you to pretend like you actually cared about her. I might’ve been more inclined to agree with you then, but no matter your station, if you dare to speak against my dear sister like that, then you must face the harshest of repercussions,” Kuei said, standing and drawing himself to his full height.

“Kuei?” you said softly. You had never thought that he would be the one who would do something like this. Never in your wildest dreams had you imagined that he would stand up for himself, for you, to this extent. Yet here he was, doing exactly that.

“You are making a mistake! If you do this, you will be remembered as a foolish, empty-minded despot who used his power to rid the kingdom of any who dared to criticize his family,” Long Feng said. “You will be remembered as a tyrant. I swear it to be so!”

“That’s fine,” Kuei said. “They can remember me as a tyrant if that is what they will — as long as I am remembered as a tyrant who loved his sister. Agents, please, take him away at once! I’ve had enough of listening to him. I think it’s time that I take counsel from more qualified parties.”

“You’ll regret this,” Long Feng said over his shoulder. “I can assure you of that!”

“And you’ll regret killing my father,” Kuei said. “I can assure you of that.”

“I didn’t think he had it in him,” Sokka mused, earning him a snort of approval from Toph.

“Are you finally willing to listen to us?” Aang said. Kuei massaged his temples.

“Yes, I am. What’s this talk of war? Who are we at war with?” he said.

“The Fire Nation,” Katara said. “They attacked a hundred years ago. They killed all of the Air Nomads and have been steadily invading the Earth Kingdom; Ba Sing Se is the only place that’s still completely safe from their influence.”

“Because of the walls?” Kuei said.

“Yes, exactly. They haven’t managed to break through yet, which is why so many refugees have been coming here — most of them have lost their homes, and Ba Sing Se is the last hope they have at making new lives,” Aang said.

“The Fire Nation is that strong?” you said.

“That strong, and that dedicated. You know, their prince chased us all of the way here!” Katara said.

“For what reason?” you said.

“Something about capturing the Avatar and restoring his honor, I think,” Sokka said. “I’m not really sure. But! We have a way to defeat them, as long as you lend us your support.”

“We’ll do whatever we can,” Kuei said. “Right, Y/N?”

“Of course,” you said. Without Long Feng there to guide him, Kuei was like a baby animal whose legs were still wobbly and eyes were still barely opened. It would take time before he could stand on his own; until then, he needed someone who he could rely on, someone who could reassure him that he was doing the right thing. And since you’d rather that person be you than anyone more unsavory, you took the role upon yourself with as much grace as you could muster.

“The day of the black sun is coming up,” Sokka said. “The sun will disappear behind the moon for a window of time, and all Firebenders will lose their power. We have to strike them while they can’t fight back. That’s what we need your armies for — while they take care of the Fire Nation forces, Aang and a small task force will infiltrate the palace directly and defeat Fire Lord Ozai for good.”

Kuei glanced at you. You nodded. If they were telling the truth and this day of the black sun was a real event, then it was probably the best chance you had at turning the tides of a war that you had thus far been losing.

“Say, Katara,” you said as you walked her and Toph to the guest rooms they’d be staying in after they had finished briefing you. “Earlier, you mentioned a Prince Zuko and a Princess Azula. What are they like?”

You were fascinated by the thought that there was another pair of siblings not too dissimilar to you and Kuei, albeit younger, of course. Another pair of siblings who bore the burden of a crown. Another pair of siblings who had the weight of a nation looming over them. Would they understand the sense of duty which prevailed in you? The patriotism, the love for your subjects? You would likely never get to meet them and ask, considering you and they were on opposite sides of a war, so you settled for this, for learning about them through Katara’s words.

“They’re the worst of the worst,” Katara said.

“It’s true. They’re pretty crazy,” Toph said. “Though their uncle isn’t that bad!”

“Maybe you shouldn’t say that, considering he did lay siege to her city for six hundred days,” Katara said. “And not too long ago. I mean, it happened in our lifetime.”

It was almost a credit to Long Feng’s dedication, you thought, that he had even managed to hide such a long siege from you and your brother. The fact that Ba Sing Se had been under attack for two of your years of living and yet you had not known a thing about it was actually impressive, if not unfortunate.

“Oh, yeah. Forgot about that,” Toph said. “He’s pretty nice otherwise, though.”

“Naturally,” you said, bemused.

“We don’t know much about Azula, except that she’s Zuko’s sister and the princess of the Fire Nation, but Zuko’s been on our tail pretty much since Sokka and I found Aang in that iceberg. Apparently, he was banished or something, and the only way he can regain his honor is if he captures the Avatar. That’s what we’ve put together from his random speeches and consistent efforts, anyways,” Katara said.

“Although, we haven’t seen him in a bit,” Toph said. “Maybe he’s settled down somewhere.”

“Or he’s in disguise,” you offered. “You could’ve seen him and not even realized who he truly was.”

Katara shook her head. “No, he’s pretty distinctive looking. He has the giant burn scar covering the left half of his face — it makes him hard to miss. If we had seen him, we would’ve known.”

Your mind blanked, your stomach churning as you tried to process what she had just said. Burn scar. Left half of his face. Where else had you seen that distinctive mark before? You didn’t want to recall, but you did.

“Does he really?” you said to Toph.

“I dunno,” Toph said. “I’m blind.”

“Ah, right,” you said.

“Like I said when we first met, though, I can tell when people are lying, and she’s not. I don’t see what the reason to lie about that would even be,” Toph said. “It’s kind of a really specific thing to make up.”

“I’m telling the truth,” Katara affirmed. “Why, what’s wrong? I guess it’s kind of weird for the prince of the Fire Nation to be have a burn wound, but it was probably a training accident or something.”

“Oh, no,” you said. “Oh, no, no, no!”

“What’s wrong?” Katara said.

You did not want to listen to them, but if they were telling the truth, and you knew in your heart of hearts that they were, then that meant only one thing: Prince Zuko hadn’t settled down. He hadn’t given up on his chase or his war. He had moved on to more strategic maneuvers, that was all. Stealth instead of strength. Infiltration instead of invasion.

“He’s here,” you said, stopping and gripping her shoulders. She blinked at you, her blue eyes wide with uncertainty. “Katara, listen to me. All of you need to leave Ba Sing Se at once. If he gets his hands on Aang, then there’s no chance of our plans succeeding.”

“Huh? What’re you talking about?” Toph said.

“Prince Zuko’s here,” you said. “In Ba Sing Se, under an alias. I’ve seen him. I’ve met him. If the Avatar is his end goal, then the Avatar must leave as soon as possible. It’s not safe here.”

“But isn’t the Earth Palace the safest place in the world? There’s no way he can get past all of those guards all by himself,” Toph said. “He’s not that good of a bender, I’m pretty sure.”

You groaned. “No, he can get in. Anytime he wants.”

“How?” Katara said.

“It’s not important,” you said, too ashamed to admit your mistake. “Look, I trusted you all, didn’t I? Now you must trust me.”

Katara seemed uncertain, but Toph nodded at you, her expression set.

“We’ll just leave early,” she said. “I’ll go see my mother, Katara and Sokka will meet up with their father, and Aang can go visit that guru. Hopefully, by the time we’re finished with those errands, things will be dealt with.”

“I am sure it will not be a problem,” you said. “But just in case, you probably should not return to the capital. Unless Kuei or I appear before you ourselves, it would befit you to assume that any summons are deceptive in nature.”

“Are you sure about this?” Katara said. “If it really is Zuko, then he must have some tricks up his sleeve. Will it be okay for us to leave you alone?”

“If Aang is killed or captured, then it will be many years before the next Avatar reaches the level of training necessary to face the Fire Lord,” you said. “It’s too great of a risk for you to stay when it’s all but confirmed that Prince Zuko is here. As for me, I have the might of the Earth Kingdom behind me. No matter what, I’ll be fine.”

“Odds are that he’ll leave Ba Sing Se once we do, too, so there won’t even be any danger to the palace,” Toph said. “Once we go our separate ways, he’ll have to split his forces up as well, so it’ll also then be easier for us to take him on.”

“There’s also that,” you said.

“You have a point,” Katara said. “Alright. Toph, go tell Aang to get Appa ready. I’ll get Sokka and catch him up.”

“Be safe,” you said.

“You too,” Katara said. Toph punched you in the arm.

“Stay sharp, princess. See you around,” she said. “You’re not as much of an idiot as you could be.”

“Thank you,” you said. “I look forward to seeing you all again — if not in Ba Sing Se, then in the Fire Nation, on the day of the black sun, when we finally bring about their downfall for good.”

taglist (comment/send an ask/dm to be added): @rinisfruity14 @c4ttheart @blacky-rose @shizko @marsbars09 @happyplaidpersonfestival @catborglar @camilleverreault @nerdybouquetofkittens-blog @lovialy @heart4hees @stefnarda @ioonatv @vvicaddiction @yukihatesreoyo @yodayyy

[elsewhereuniversity]

I have a knack for unwittingly dating Fae. My past seven relationships were all Fae of some kind, and it's not until after the relationships end that I find out the truth.

Two relationships ended because they were called away to battle. One was trapped in a silver box and buried somewhere. One tried to eat me and was slain by the next one posing as a knight, and then he had to leave on a quest of some kind. The next one failed to make it to our date because the door handles were made of iron, and thus broke an oath saying he'd be there. And the last one wanted me to join him on the throne of some lands far away but understood why I couldn't.

All of them were very kind, and each the most romantic relationship I've ever had in their own way. Except for Max, I hope you never find your head.

Do you have anything that might ease the bitter out of bitter-sweet memories?

~The Viridian Prince

Atlas dorms, A-509

A charm for you: a fountain pen with a nib of lapis lazuli, to record your memories of each lost love. It will only write what is honest and true, in shining silver ink. I offer it so you may remember the good times untinted by rose colored glasses that ring of falsehood later, and unclouded by present sorrow and hurt. Perhaps it will help; perhaps it will make it worse.

[ackerfics]

FAMILY LINE — a house of the dragon fanfiction | aegon ii targaryen x oc

act zero: the prince and the siren (wc: 1.3k) | masterlist

note: oh, and i forgot to mention, there is past daemon x oc in this oops | this is also posted on ao3

Ink on olden paper says two children were born from a great love that shook the realm.

A dragon rained fire, mountains were threatened, men were slayed — all were stepping stones to a hand being asked in marriage, to a union witnessed by the Fourteen Flames and the Seven themselves. The heavens rejoiced, sang their choruses high in the clouds bathed in ever-golden rays, as they blessed the kiss that bound their souls, bodies, and hearts into a single entity, as seen in every birth of their blood — the midnight hall shattered, igniting the spectacle of celestial bodies every pair of eyes marvelled at and years later, the most tumultuous of storms, carpeting the land with the most vibrant shade of viridian that lasted moons on end.

The Rogue Prince and The Siren of the Vale.

Daemon Targaryen and Aellara Arryn.

Every story started with a bold declaration.

For someone who loathed the jadedness of the Vale, Daemon found himself enthralled with the enigma of The Siren of the Vale who was rumoured to be the most bewitching woman to exist in this age, having only heard reminiscent tales from his good-sister, Aemma Targaryen, and songs spread from the mouths of bards. Men would trek the highest mountains to reach Eyrie in hopes of catching a single glimpse of the veiled beauty. It was the very reason why he blatantly rejected his grandmother’s impending proposal to a Bronze Bitch he wouldn’t dare touch in this lifetime, with that fucking sneer on her face as if he was the dirt and she was the god. If only he could shovel her face into the dirt and be done with it. Instead, he longed for the object of everyone’s desire, and that was the youngest child of the House that boasted a falcon for their sigil. Having The Siren by his side would surely sway the public’s favour to lean more toward his side. It would mean ensuring his place as his brother’s Heir; she is of Targaryen blood after all. To have the woman of everyone’s dreams as the Queen Consort would give him the power he never thought Daemon had, which had him singing prayers to the gods he believed in even though he wasn’t a pious man.

With no potential bride linking to him since The Good Queen Alyssane nearly betrothed him to Rhea Royce, Daemon had all the freedom a young man could ever want and need. Pleasure houses were frequented (he had more lovers than any of the noblemen combined — probably even had bastards running around), lands were flown over by the Blood Wyrm, and positions were given to him by his brother (all of which never actually reached a moon at most — fucking Hightower cunt). He had it all. But all it took was a little slip through one of the towers of Eyrie while on dragonback and he was back to the first tile.

There was no other reason for him to propose a marital union with one of the Arryn daughters than to solidify his claim on the throne.

That was all.

There was nothing captivating with the periwinkle blues owned by such a woman of ethereal enchantment. He didn’t trail his eyes from the effortless waves of her white gold hair (every piece of ornament she tangled with her tresses was pure art) down to the pleasing curves that couldn’t be concealed with her flowing dress. (It was almost like the Maiden was born in the realm; Daemon nearly groaned in front of Eyrie’s family seat). His mind wasn’t occupied with conjuring the most sinful images concerning the young woman — he didn’t picture out mapping a constellation of red peonies on her skin or tasting the drink of the gods she very much possessed. Of course, he didn’t gulp down an unnecessary collection of nervousness down his throat when she placed her godly gaze on his worshipping, undivided attention. Fuck, she was so beautiful that he was now covering his crotch with linked hands. Her father was talking yet their joined eye contact sent an impulse of static energy, just enough for The Rogue Prince to feel a jolt down his spine.

But he wasn’t the only man this ambitious to steal the Maiden from her heart and home.

“Prove that you’re devoted to taking my daughter’s hand under your protection, Your Highness. Prove that you are a worthy man of my greatest treasure.”

Bloodshed reigned; there was a battle between the suitors of Aellara Arryn. It was almost called a tourney if not for the condition that for a victor to emerge, the opponent must be decapitated and unable to make a sound except for noises of demise. And with too much blood on his hands, Daemon Targaryen walked away from the bodies as the winner, hastily taking a single stem of a sapphire rose from a jittering squire and (surprisingly) placing it behind Aellara’s right ear with the tenderness befitting a man ensnared by the most dangerous curse known to the realm (but not before making sure there wasn’t a single drop of blood on her skin; as much as he loved seeing blood on someone’s skin, it was almost a crime to see it on hers). Daemon crowned Aellara as the Queen of Love and Beauty without being told to, seven Hells, this trial for her hand in marriage wasn’t even a tourney needing a beautiful woman to be crowned. Yet he did it anyway. All to sway her to his side.

But was it really?

He found his breath hitching when Aellara smiled. It was seeing the glory of Old Valyria right in front of his eyes. His chest pounded against his will as she lifted a dainty hand, a handkerchief in between her hold, and dabbed it on one of the blood splatters on his cheek, erasing a sign of his ruthlessness with her divinity. The shade of blue owned by the rose contrasted deeply with her blonde hair, lighting up the shine innate in the periwinkle hues of her eyes. She was a fucking vision and he never desired anything more in his life until he met her.

With the Siren out of the chambers of her House’s seat, Daemon Targaryen wed Aellara Arryn at the beginning of the 105th year After the Conquest in the ways of the Seven and Old Valyria.

The premise of this romance was worthy of ballads yet it was the start of something so cruelly beautiful for one of them.

From wailing a loss of a person so dear that a large part of your soul broke away; going away because of a loved one’s exile; bearing the heir of the Prince of Dragonstone and relishing in the cocoon of appreciation in enveloped you; gaining two stolen dragon eggs for the twin babes; watching the love of your life flying to war while giving birth under the shattering night sky; suffering the betrayal of your husband’s unfaithfulness and disloyalty, breaking every bit of the vows made in front of fourteen pairs of eyes; to accepting yourself leaving this world in the same way it took your sister.

And it left behind three children with no titles, no protection, no family — it was the world against their little faces, so naive at the slimy fingers of faux niceties and always on the receiving end of reptilian smiles and hollow pity. The hourglass is letting the sand trickle in, waiting for the moment the scavengers pluck out the lingering, pulsing ache that will never be forgiven and forgotten. Because all the while The Rogue Prince created another bubble of domesticity across the seas, a son grew up too soon, a daughter stepped up to become the caretaker, and a young babe never had the chance of a complete family.

rory speaks !!

the reason why this sort-of prologue is so short despite carrying so many things is bc daemon and aellara are not the main focus of this story. i wanted to give a glimpse as to what is the nature of the main characters' parents' relationship; the main thing summarising everything is that daemon is a huge whore and is power-hungry for the title that given to him ... so, poor aellara. and having her die from childbirth is another thing to add to daemon's suffering bc this man has seen enough of it to last a lifetime (his mother, his sister-in-law, wife, and future wife; don't know how he keeps fathering children when this is what he experienced yikes). another reason why this is short is bc we're mostly seeing the events play out in the kids' (aesira, aether, aegon, and aemond; the furious ae's) eyes so, the information is limited when it reaches the twins' ears. bc let's face it, we always sugarcoat things when we tell a little bit of info to kids.

damn, and i had to post it here; let me prepare myself for the backlash woo

[bunnygirl678]

Because I need to work on my WIPs and not add another I'm putting this out into the stratosphere, please as always (and literally any concept you see me throw around even if i wrote a fic about it i want more stories) feel free to steal it, draw it, write it, or use it to distract yourself from the pain radiating from the massive cut in your foot that has decided to just bleed all night (oddly specific bunny is not okay) anywhosers

-royalty au

-red is like the sole prince of a small nation, Pallet, his mom is the queen, despite the nation being small , they are increadibly strong thanks to pokemon trainer prince who beats everyone

-rocket nation with king gio had been attacking and waging a full out war but Red's pushed them back, now rocket nation is trying to form alliances, so Red's mom has to the do same thing

-a neighboring nation, Oakland (ha) had always fought with Red's nation over resources or something, but rocket is attacking them so they form an alliance

-and to form an alliance King Samuel sends his grandson Green to be married off

-cause daisy's the oldest so she'll be queen, and honestly the king thinks green is shit at everything so getting rid of him is a weight off his shoulders

-and green is pissed cause he's a strong trainer and had been doing a lot to protect his nation but his grandfather doesn't care

-red and green immediately hate each other but like they're married so they have to be around each other

-and green like snuck his pokemon with him and keeps sneaking away to train and eventually red catches him training and is like hey wait you like pokemon battling

-all the while rocket is forming alliances and planning a sinister take over of pallet then Oakland

-red and green bond over training

-and like all of the nobels and military leaders treat green like he's just arm candy but now Red's like hey wait you actually know stuff and are almost as strong as me

-green starts coming to planning sessions and the elite 4 generals dont take him serious or whatever then red is like okay go battle him

-green kicks their asses and earns their respect

-they do planning and training and all the while red and green are falling for each other but neither will admit it, cause they think the other just sees this as duty or whatever

-finally the battle comes rocket vs. everyone else

-it's going well until green gets hurt, like maybe he and red are joking around on the battlefield some cause it's easy and they're kinda having fun and flirting a bit, but then someone sneaks and stabs green or whatever

-one of the elite 4 take green away to medics and red goes feral (think achilles) he beats giovanni for good

-all of the allies meet up to divvy up rocket's territories, and green is like hanging on by a thread or whatever and his grandfather is like who cares he only exists to further Oakland's control

-red is pissed threatening to wage ware against oakland

-daisy ends up finding out green is hurt and immediately comes to pallet to see him (cause she actually loves her brother) and that calms red down

-red's mom ends up somehow getting oak to step down as king and daisy becomes queen

-green gets better and red's like hey i know you don't love me and were just forced into this by your grandfather so here is this country called Viridian it's yours youre the king now

-and before green can be like wait im in love with you too, red fucks off to mt. silver (cause of course right)

-green is devastated, red is devastated

-the story is over... or is it???

-it isn't obviously, cause bunny has to have her happy ending cause real life sucks ass so fantasy has to be great in the end

-prince gold from johto makes friends with green, hears the story, and how technically green and red are 100% still married

-so he and his merry band of mischief makers (silver, lyra, kris) go on a journey to bring red down

-they make up some story about green being in trouble

-red obviously rushes down the mountain to save green, but like green's just hanging out in his castle bored as hell playing spoons with alakazam or something

-he see's red and rushes to him and they embrace and kiss

-and green's like i can't stand it i'm in love with you and red's like oh shit me too

-then they merge viridian and pallet and have a second more fun wedding where it's happy instead of an arranged thing

-and they live happily ever after

[savebatsfromscratch]

The Aura Guardian and the Prince - Palletshipping Week 7 (AU day!)

Summary:

Ash is an Aura Guardian, and though that's usually a prestigious position, he still finds himself kneeling at the psychic's throne.

Notes:

Prompt: AU/Free Day! Note: Aura guardian Ash my beloved!!! Thanks for these prompts OP, I’m glad to take over for the last day. *takes a bow* (Gary’s also a psychic (think: Sabrina) for the purposes of the plot.) Cws: Power imbalance I GUESS, also a little more suggestive than I mean too. *skull* Words: 2,082

Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54957733

Aura Guardian.

Despite the prestigious nature of his title, Ash knew that he was nowhere close to the most powerful person in the room. (If the fact that he was currently kneeling in the dirt like a simple dog hadn't given that away already.) He dipped his head lower, smelling the dull burn of dust as if floated up from the castle floor tiles and into his nose. As he kneeled below the throne of Prince Gary Oak, Ash felt his hands shake like the legs of a baby deerling.

“Oh, here you are,”

As Gary spoke, his voice was smooth and calm, as if this was a casual meeting, rather than what they both knew it was. Besides, Ash couldn't help but notice the prince; he was clearly just pretending to have not noticed the familiar man that knelt before him. He had felt those green eyes on the back of his neck from the second he had first bowed.

“Yes,” he responded, finding himself unable to read into Gary's intentions through even his powers. Clearly the Psychic was no less aware of Ash's powers than Ash himself was.

“You can look up you know,” Gary said, his smirk coming into view as Ash obeyed.

The prince was draped over a throne, his bodyguards discarded into side rooms for the meeting. They both knew they weren't necessary. Ash wasn't the type to attack for no reason, and Gary wasn't the type to let someone beat him.

”You know,“ Gary continued, kicking his legs over the armrest of his throne like this was some sort of meeting of friends, ”I've always wondered about you Aura Guardians, does it feel weird to speak?“

Ash paused, narrowing his eyes for a moment and letting the glow of Gary's aura appear in his eyes. It was clear and purple, much stronger than that of a regular person.

”What do you mean by that?“ he finally asked, suddenly aware of how very small he looked kneeling on the floor in the giant room that was the throne room of the Viridian castle. He made a move to get up, but he felt a force that he strongly suspected to be Gary's psychic powers weighing him down. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough for him to know his place.

Gary laughed again, and Ash had a sudden flash of what the prince would look like surrounded by royal friends, each cheering him on and laughing along with him. But that was not the case here. Here, the high pitched snort was only echoed by the empty arches of the hall.

”Nothing bad, let me assure you,“ Gary finally said, though the pressure on Ash's back increased as Gary looked down at the Aura Guardian, ”You're all so used to talking telepathically and all, I've heard of Guardians who go years without actually speaking,“

Ash felt the urge to point out that Gary could have chosen to speak telepathically if he had wanted to, but he thought better of it, instead saying, ”Well, I'm not that sort of Guardian then,“

”Do the words feel heavy on your tongue?“

”Excuse me?“

”Oh nothing,“

The pressure on Ash's shoulders lessened, and he took the chance to quickly clamber to his feet. (Even if the chance had been given by accident, he was taking it.) He looked nervously at Gary, but as the smirk on his face had not yet disappeared, Ash was pretty sure that he had not overstepped anything.

He decided to get right to the point.

“Did you call me here for a job, or can I go?” He asked. Outside of the room, he could all but see the aura of his partner Pokemon pacing back and forth. Electric and yellow, it was unlike anything that most Aura Guardians kept by their side, but the power of the tiny Pokemon had been known to get him jobs in the past, so he hadn't questioned it when the prince had called him to his feet.

...Which was why he was so taken aback when Gary shook his head.

“No I can't go, or no I don't have a job,” Ash said, completely aware that his words had come out as more of a statement than a question.

“Oh,” Gary paused, like he hadn't thought about what he was actually answering to, and then waved his hand and continued to grin, “No, to both,”

Ash once again attempted to search the man for intentions, but once again found his attempts blocked by the psychicforce of his opponent. ”What am I here for then?“ He asked, still blank. (Oh, why hadn't he brought Pikachu in with him?) Maybe it was as Korina had told him. Maybe he DID rely too much on his ability to feel the thoughts of others, as he was once again taken aback when Gary next spoke.

“Can't a guy catch up with an old friend?” Gary asked, somewhat exasperated, “Maybe I missed you!”

Ash felt his expression contort.

Gary was saying this.

Gary was saying this.

The man who had all but shunned him, and others like him, from the kingdom. The man who had been the one to proclaim the powers of Aura Guardians quote, ”last century,“ in their application when asked about it in the courts.

But yet...

Ash also knew that this was the man who had been forced to be strong for his people when they had lost pieces of their kingdom to the Rockets. This was the man who had refused to take the name ”king“ out of respect for his fallen grandfather. This was the man who had done his best to protect even the youngest of the Pokemon when the Rockets had entered the stables.

But when the positive stories from the people shifted to the good memories of Ash's childhood, growing up all but hand in hand with the young ruler, laying side by side in the courtyard, and picking partner Pokemon as friends...

Ash felt his frown grow larger.

“If you missed a friend, why was I kneeling in the dirt at your feet?”

Gary paused, and frowned at him, the air twisting with psychic powers so strong that Ash could actually see them as an extension of Gary's aura. Ash winced as the air squeezed at his shoulders, a clear warning that stepping out of line would get him right back where he had started.

“You don't have a right to question me, I'm your prince ,”

“You tried to banish me!” Ash protested, flinging his hand out to the side in exasperation.

Gary waved his hand as if that part of the past didn't matter a bit. ”And it didn't work! Besides-,“ he stepped a little closer (and was it Ash's imagination, or had the man grown since they had last been in close proximity), ”I promise I regret it,“ he breathed.

There was an awkward moment of silence, in which Ash found himself nearly chest to chest with the ruler, who smirked down at him like his confusion was the funniest joke in the world. In the corner of the rooms, planted as if they were just a beauty of nature and not a tool of aura, time flowers shimmered, as if begging Ash to remember the past that they could not. He was certain they knew something he did not, but he didn't pay them any mind.

“Listen man,” Ash said, taking a step back and sweeping his cloak around himself with a frown, “I like having friends as much as the next guy, but if you're not giving me a job to do, I don't see a reason I should stay here,” Ash turned and began to walk towards the door, the air suddenly absence of forces as if the prince was just as surprised as Ash felt.

“Don't leave!” Gary blurted out a touch of that young boy that Ash had once known, clearly audible in his nasally voice and visible in his wide green eyes (which only widened further as he processed that he had spoken aloud). He smacked a hand to his mouth.

In the desperation in his voice, Ash could tell that they had both momentarily forgotten how easily the man could crush him. The air instantly electrified with the psychic energy of Gary's aura again, and Ash cringed at the flash of power. And yet, he couldn't help but notice that he was still unharmed.

If this had been any other ruler and Ash had turned them down in this way, he was sure that he would have been back on his knees and begging long before he had turned to leave. And alright, maybe that was an insanely low bar to clear, but Gary had in fact cleared it.

He felt a spark of the only feeling he had had with Gary in his chest as the prince struggled to regain his composure and threatening aura. (Which had to have been difficult if you weren't really all that much older than your average stable boy.) It was, however, clearly difficult to hide the true nature of an aura from an Aura Guardian, and Ash caught snips of Gary's mind rush by him as the prince struggled to contain his thoughts in his barrier.

“Again I ask,” Ash started, though the air seemed to have frozen hard as ice around him, holding him in place, “Why did you make me kneel for you if this was a friendly meeting?”

Gary's face was a horrible mish mash of pinks and reds, and Ash couldn't help the tiny smirk that he found forming on his lips. Oh boy. This was even more complicated than he had thought it would be.

”Okay, maybe a little too friendly,“ Gary admitted. He raised his chin like his suddenly serious expression would hide the blush on his face, ”Besides, a royal can't drop formalities like that for no reason,“

”Never heard that before,“ Ash grumbled, mentally picturing the multitudes of royals who had told him something similar, right before he found himself all but kissing their boots for them. How was he to have known that Gary was going to be any different? How was he to have known that he wasn't going to be worse?

Gary ignored him and continued, ”If I had invited you here just to talk, you wouldn't have ever responded to my summons,“

Ash chose not to retort. There was never a choice in appearing in front of a royal or not, if they had been your childhood best friend or not, it didn't matter in the face of the law.

”So I had to do what was expected of me, since you did what was expected of you,“

”I tasted dust, yes,“ Ash said, his frown back. Why was Gary purposely making this worse?

The hall was silent, and the air clinging to Ash's body dissolved back into a breathable density.

”And I'm... sorry about that,“ Gary whispered, so quiet he was almost impossible to hear, ”I didn't know you-,”

He stopped, but Ash had already felt the truth behind his words. Ash reached out in his mind, and found that the barriers had disappeared, leaving the intentions of his former friend bare and open.

He hadn't lied.

This was nothing like the summons of previous kings and queens.

Then again, Gary wasn't technically a king, why had Ash expected him to act like one?

'Uh, because he was a few steps away from walking on top of you,' his thoughts told him, 'that's not exactly a thing friends do to each other,'

He looked Gary in his wide green eyes, entirely unable to read him, despite the suddenly open shot into his heart. For some reason, that only served to increase Ash's curiosity. Maybe it was idiotic, but he felt his heart speed up.

Despite everything, he still wanted to know this man.

Maybe Gary had a point with this.

“Besides,” Gary spluttered, clearly trying to save face, “Who wouldn’t want you on your knees at their feet?”

Or maybe not.

Ash smacked a hand into his face.

“Are you free tomorrow?”

Outside, the bodyguards couldn’t quite tell if it had been the Aura Guardian or the prince who had spoken, but if any of them had been able to feel the auras in the room, they would have heard the resounding ‘yes,’ from the minds of the two men, ‘for you,’

Notes:

I had a LOT of fun with this week, again, thank you OP for letting me join! Comments appreciated!

[ninjakitten1699]

Ninjakitten's OCs

List of my OCs that are mostly completed. I did have more (55 ocs put together) but they were cut out cause they did not get expanded upon.

Kunoichi

Samantha R. Snyder (Current Master of Wind)

Katherina T. Erebus-Lane (Current Master of Darkness)

Serpentine Rebellion

Artaxerxes (Basilisk Leader of the Rebellion)

Vasuki (Hypnobrai-Anacondrai Warrior)

Nidhogg (Fangpyre Archer)

Knucker (Constrictai Fighter)

Melusine(Venomari Medic/Fighter)

Attor (Venomari Rogue)

Vanessa (Half-Serpentine Mage)

Dragon Samurai

Lady Azure aka Liviana -Originally Clara/Clarissazura

Lady Crimson

Lady Silver

Lady Viridian

Lady Ivory

Lady Platinum aka Adalinda

Oni

Asami

Pale Oni Guardian (Unnamed)

Rin

Chima

Krennan (Karasu Tengu Monk)

Acheron (Slumbering Hatchling of Wojira)

Animals

Sparky (The Walker's junkyard dog)

Tyson (Dog infected with Fangpyre venom)

Dr. Kitty Saunders (Time Twins' cat)

Villains

Lochan (Anacondrai Warrior)

Orochi (Venomari Warrior during the first Serpentine War)

Phoenix (The Lost Third Hand)

Lord Obsidian (former Dragon Samurai)

Ankit (Necromancer/Warlock) -originally named Menahem

Zaria (Master of Crystal)

Next Gen

Arya (Master of Sand)

Alastair (Venomari-Constrictai hybrid)

Melinda (Master of Twilight)

Abigale (Master of Vapor)

Isamu (Oni-Serpentine hybrid)

Other

Belladonna (Anacondrai Archer)

Nilakanta (Pyro Viper Prince)

Kiyohime (Human maiden)

Ryoma (Longma)

Kronos

The Authoress (Unknown if this concept will be kept)

[samsdei]

Gijs Blom

[monosminecraftmania]

Color!au [hermitcraft fantasy au]

so i got two notes on the previous post so here i go talking about this

(yes this is going out like a month late but shh i had stuff ;a;)

here's a full roster of everyone and everything. Hopefully this will turn into motivation for me to write but yeah. until then here have this

again, if anyone is interested in seeing close ups/detailed drawings of anyone just send me an ask and i will gladly draw them. pls im desperate

if we get 3 notes i'll. share pictures of the kingdoms.

(long long post. read at your own risk >:3)

Going Alphabetically

Bdubs - Astronomer of Flax - Lives at the top of the castle - Comically small. No don't ask it's a sore subject - Made himself a glittering cloak of "stardust"

Beef - Resident of Varie - Lives on the outskirts of the kingdom - Travels only for paints or supplies - Good friend of Etho's

Bigb - Cerule resident - Has a cloud frog as a familiar - All it does is make his shoulder slightly moist - Runs a cookie shop

Cleo - Naga, Resident of Uaine - Graveyard guardian - Made herself arms of enchanted scraps the dead leave behind - Her human disguise is a gigantic ballroom dress.

Cub - Dungeon engineer of Mauve - Will never share the recipe for totems of undying - Creates labyrinths and puzzle rooms with a small chance of death - Sources most materials from Scar

Doc - Cursed Archeologist of Uaine - Pissed off a moss spirit so now his skin's green - Can't breathe good - Cut off his own arm and made a new magic one

Etho - Crown Prince of Varie - Half fox, but vertically - Has a heavy limp so people speculate he carries old battle wounds - Very bad at hiding the fox bits.

False - Royal Knight of Amara - Gilded Eagle Hybrid. Eagle wings and colors but the feathers appear to be shimmering like metal - Kingdom is usually very calm so she spends most of her time hanging out with Stress and fishing - Kicks ass when she has to.

Fwhip - Fisher in Ochre - Gem's business partner and the less violent one of the two - Deals more in accounting than actual fish - Fixes boats on the side

Gem - Fishwife in Ochre - Not actually married. Married to THE GRIND. - Runs a fishing boat and market by the widest bend of the river - Can and will use this trident.

Grian - Geologist in Claret - That's some funny lookin floating rocks - Owns a mansion that's shared with several other people of science - Named one of the rocks Brian. Pronounced like Grian.

Hypno - Beekeeper in Flax - Has a little bee farm that he sells honey and candles out of - Has a little magic and mostly uses it to make his flowers bloom - Honestly just happy to be here :3

Impulse - Service Demon in Flax - Resident fiekind (trickster demon). Does favors for gold or food - Invented the farming plow for a request once - Will absolutely abuse vague requests and play as many tricks as possible

Iskall - Magic Blacksmith of Uaine - Makes magic weapons of all kinds, mostly swords - Has golems to help him with his work, mostly just handling hot metal - Charisma + 20. He will flirt with anything that breathes.

Jevin - Slime Amalgam - Hides in the topmost tower of Azure's castle. - Stole pieces of gargoyles to camouflage and has been collecting feathers for wings - Just a silly little guy, living his best life.

Jimmy - Whistler - Guardian of the Wishing Cave - A great guy until you realize he's evangelizing for a cult - Hasn't touched grass in years

Joe - Magic researcher in Viridian - Puts random mushrooms in his mouth - Purely curious and gets a pass from most forest spirits - Looking into the forces of death to write a funny book

Joel - Strength Bryd (forest spirit) in Uaine - In the common tongue it's pronounced Ogre - Covered in tattoos that may or may not be his past victims - Fell in love with a fish. How did it end up like this.

Jono - Local Bard of Amara - Half Dog musician who's found a nice spot in Amara to settle down - Shirts are for losers - Can beatbox amazingly well with sharp teeth.

Keralis - Holy Water Spirit - Currently napping in the big ball chained to the temple roof - Granted Xb his wish to safely walk on land - Kind to a fault

Lizzie - Resident of Amara - Half fish hybrid - Washed up in the marshes of Uaine after a storm once and rescued by a handsome ogre. - Has an army of cod.

Martyn - Servant of Claret - A Watcher - Ren's shadow - Really needs a hug

Mumbo - Wizard of Claret - Subject of all of the bad luck - Collects scriptures and studies the magic of his kingdom - Also hosts a great magic show for kids

Pearl - Royal Architect/Librarian of Azure - Started as a stable girl who threw a tomato at the design for the royal library. And instead of being arrested, she was hired to redesign it. - In charge of the upside down library - Her dragon is named Bikkie.

Ren - Crown Prince of Claret - Half dog and proud of it. - Twins with Jono who moved away to the neighboring kingdom - Curious to a fault

Sausage - Mauve Resident - Construction worker for the many dungeons and attractions - Works well with wood in the morning - Way too enthusiastic

Scar - Travelling Merchant - Sells all the wares! Even wares that don't exist! - Yes the cane is magic - Makes an annual trip across the country to Mauve

Scott - Azure Merchant - Collects fashion articles from all over the country - Runs a ferry business on the side - Might know something.

Skizz - Resident of Cerule - Chosen by a phim and gifted a pair of angel wings and a halo - Encourages body positivity! Because love yourself you jerks - Trusts blindly and with open arms.

Stress - Goat/Beast hybrid in Amara - Retractable fluff for an instant winter coat! - The hooves are more like paws, but she's got incredible balance - Runs a tea shop with odd but tasty blends.

Tango - Fire spirit - Holy spirit of fire who's honestly just confused why he's so popular - Kidnapped by Scar and escaped to Gem all within a week - Hides in Gem's fireplace

TFC - Blacksmith of Varie - Specializes in actual tools, not weapons - Has a side business of stone sculptures. Buy one get two small ones free - Has a familiar, but no one knows what it is

Wels - MC - Surname revoked. Formal title "Wels, Knight of the Realm" - Banished from his home and travelling to a faraway land - His horse is named Worse, but pronounced like 'horse'

XB - Resident of Azure - Book collector and moved out of Amara to pursue his love of books - Got a blessing from a water spirit so he doesn't suffocate - Learned flight magic and swims through the air

Xisuma - Vagabond - Originally from Mauve. Travels the lands at every opportunity - No one has ever seen his face - Incredibly helpful travel guide

Zedaph - Royal Engineer/Alchemist of Mauve - May have invented cocaine. And gunpowder - Designs elaborate gauntlets for the bold to test their strength - Decided two extra arms were a good idea

[flutefemme]

"The Minstrel and the Prince"

*A Zelink Week 2023 Fanfiction* for @zelinkcommunity

Chapter 1: Yearning

“Your Highness! Are you even listening to me?” The sharp tones of the resident Master of Music cut through the prince’s daydream like the infernal screech of an ungreased wagon wheel. Link started back into reality with a sharp sniff, a nervous hand gripping his bow as he scratched the back of his neck and looked up at his teacher with a sheepish grin, shrugging his shoulders.

“By the light of Hylia’s divine power, boy, if you spent as much time practicing that instrument as you do off in the clouds, you might have actually improved your bowing technique over the last week!” His admonishment was punctuated with a melodramatic eyeroll and a withering sigh. “I said, let us begin again at the thirtieth measure and this time, flatten your wrist and widen the spaces between your fingers!”

Reluctantly, the prince obeyed. It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy the violin, but rather all the rules and litanies of technical requirements, posture, and formality of it all. It was stuffy, pretentious, and altogether exhausting, and it sucked the joy out of the music entirely. Kind of like the insufferable man standing next to him, scowling.

Two agonizing hours later, Link nearly ran out of the castle music hall and headed for the gardens. The gardens bordered the woods, which was the prince's sanctuary. Trees were quiet, and woodland creatures did not boast the judgemental streak of their human counterparts. Playing second fiddle to his elder sister, Aryll, heiress apparent and far superior to him in both rank and courtly manner, took a toll on him. She never treated him that way–they were always close friends–but nearly every other member of the court looked down their noses at his quietness and painfully shy nature as stupidity. He was far from a simpleton, and Aryll tried to remind him often that he exceeded her in nearly every academic area. 

"You are one of the wittiest men I know, brother," she would say with her charming smile, "Far less stuffy than all these other supposed 'gentlemen' of the court."

He smiled as his mind wandered back to their most recent conversation. He could get lost in his daydreams out in the forest. Nobody was there to chastise him back to reality with a frown. As he would do nearly every week after his violin lesson, he opened the case and plucked the instrument out of its nestling place. There was a folk tune he had learned some months ago to teach him compound time signatures, and it called to him like none other of his classical pieces ever did. He began to play, getting lost in the meter and lilting, informal melody. The Master of Music had introduced it to him with a derisive sneer on his lips, saying while the tune was "more bohemian than he preferred", that "it was the simplest way to teach my nearly hopeless student the necessary musical knowledge."

As he played, he danced. It was here he felt truly free, truly himself. Nobody to judge him, to tell him his bowing was off, that he was slightly flat—

Bright, wide, viridian eyes peering between two large tree trunks caught his own. He was jolted from his musical reverie as if he'd been electrocuted. He froze as the figure slowly moved out from the trees and toward him. His brain flooded with wisping, golden tresses framing a delicately featured face, a confident, curious, and playful gaze holding him captive as her head cocked to one side slightly as she observed him.

"Hello there," the green-eyed goddess broke the silence. Her long, flowing skirts jingled softly as the dangling, bejeweled belt swayed along with her hips. All Link could do was breathe. And even that was difficult. He blinked several times more than was necessary, prompting a flirtatious smirk from her, eyes twinkling. She stepped closer, placing her hands behind her back. Link's senses were hit with cinnamon and honey and he took a step backward.

"Oh, I didn't mean to startle you, truly. I promise I don't bite," she grinned wickedly as she added, "hard…" and laughed as his reaction changed from shock to pure panic. "Okay, okay, calm down, I'm just kidding. My name is Zelda. What's yours?"

Link just stared at her, swallowed, and blinked.

With a slightly curious look, she waited. When he still didn't speak, she smiled at him reassuringly.

"You're going to make me guess, then, aren't you! Hm." She tapped her chin as she began to  circle him, looking him up and down. 

"Felix."

Link shook his head, his eyes following her every move.

"Ferdinand!"

That earned her a smile and another shake.

"Shoot, well, how about Percival?"

Link fought back a chuckle, his anxiety dissipating as he shook his head once more. He tucked his violin under his arm and raised an eyebrow at her, following her more confidently with his gaze as she walked around him.

"Give me a hint. Throw me a bone…something!"

Link thought. And thought. With a quick inhale and a twinkle in his eyes, he met her eyes with his and thrust his first finger into a pointed gesture to capture her attention. He looked around for somewhere to write, and frowned when there was only grass at their feet. He looked back up into her eyes and his cheeks went red as he signed for her to hold out her hand. With a smile, she slowly extended her hand toward him, palm up. He traced a letter into her palm with nervous fingers enclosing around her hand to steady it.

“Oh!” She exclaimed softly, “The letter Z!”

He traced a number.

“Twenty-six?” She thought about that. “Oh, as in ‘Z’ is the twenty-sixth letter of the alphabet, I see!” She was rewarded with a toothy grin from him as he nodded.  He wrote the number again, and then held up two fingers, and then slowly traced ‘2’, and then ‘6’. 

“Ohhhh. You’re teaching me a code, aren’t you. Two, then six. Alright. I’m ready.” She flashed a brilliant smile as she readjusted her posture into something more confident. She looked at him expectantly and a rush of adrenaline hit him in the chest.

He pulled out his violin, and began to play a scale, slowly. He added an additional note to the end. Then signed the number ‘9’.

Zelda nearly squealed with excitement. “Oh, you’re using the scale as your code! Each tone represents a number. I understand, I understand!” 

He played the second and sixth tones of the scale like eighth notes, then smiled.

“Z!” She exclaimed, and he nodded in affirmation.

A single fifth tone, then another smile.

“E! Oh, yes, I know what you’re doing now!” She clapped her hands together as she cracked the simple musical code. He played the rest of her name with the eighth and quarter note rhythms, then paused, and laid a flat hand to his chest and tapped it twice. She clasped her hands together in anticipation as he picked up his violin and played the first letter.

“L…” She began to guess each letter, a look of determined concentration on her face while he slowly played each one.

“I…”

“N…”

“K…Link? Your name is Link?” She raised her eyebrows as she waited for confirmation. He nodded with a smile, and leaned over to set his violin and bow down into the case at his feet. 

“Well, Link, it’s very nice to meet you. I’m actually traveling with some friends to Castletown for Hylia’s Day, and we’re staying not far from here. I was taking a walk and heard one of my favorite folk songs and was just compelled to find the source. I’m…tickled that it led me to you!” She smiled almost shyly as she looked him up and down from head to toe. It sent another wave of electricity through his legs and up through his neck. Without thinking, he signed back.

So am I.

Zelda tilted her head at him curiously as he signed. A look of understanding crossed her face and her eyes once again met his, a softness in them that wasn’t there before.

“You can’t talk.”

 Link shook his head quickly in disagreement and took in a deep breath. He never had the courage to speak to anyone so quickly after meeting them, and his audible words just wouldn't come out.

I can, I just prefer to sign. He mouthed the words as he signed them. She seemed to follow.

“I see. Well, in any case, Link, I feel fortunate to have met you. I can see why this grove is a place you’ve chosen for your quiet place. I’d have chosen it too.” She smiled fondly as she looked around, taking in a deep breath. A flash of hesitance crossed her face, and she placed her hands on her hips as if she was building up the courage to say something. Link continued to watch her, his lips turned up slightly into a pleasant sort of smile.

“Well, actually…” She paused, glancing down at his instrument and then back up to his awaiting gaze, “I’ll be here for several days. My troupe has traveled in for the Hylia’s Day Festival and we’re performing throughout the week as a part of the festivities. Tomorrow night we actually have our first performance. Would you…be interested in attending? It would be lovely to see a familiar face among the crowd?” It was then she looked completely vulnerable, her cheeks a slight shade of pink, and her body swaying slightly as if she was a bit nervous for his answer. She quickly added, “We’re going to be performing in the square on the stage next to the Mercay Tavern, if you’re interested. Eight-thirty in the evening.”

Without hesitating, he signed and mouthed, I’ll see you there, Zelda.

She was beautiful when she smiled. She was beautiful regardless, but her smile made the world around him shine with the radiance of a goddess. 

“Excellent! I look forward to seeing you there. Until then, Link! Oh! And wear comfortable clothes. No need to wear any of that fancy stuff,” she waved her hand around in the general direction of his person.

He laughed and signed, All right. No fancy stuff. 

She smiled and disappeared into the woods as quickly as she came. That night, his dreams were filled with golden tresses, emerald green eyes, and smooth, tanned skin. There may have been soft lips, too, but that was between him and the trees.

Chapter 2

[dream-this-nightmare-over]

letter for the king deserved shadow&bone treatment and success. if only they didnt rush things so much, and gave the plot and characters the needed time to develop through couple of seasons.

because they had everything in place for this to be next big thing. the cast was great. the acting was on point. amir was carrying the show as hero. they gave us next darkling. viridian had potential to be new brooding morally gray babe. gijs was perfect in villian role (i mean he got even emmy noimination for it hello??) . the cinematography was epic. but they didnt give it time to bloom, they didnt give us time to connect and care for characters nor gave the characters time to develop themselves and relationships between each other. i know arguably the first season was meant to follow first book, but damn the potential here could have expanded so much.

the book laid foundations and yes series took lot of liberty and basically changed everything. But hear me out. If they didnt rush, it would be worth it. because they would have time to pick things from book and make details part of adaptation therefore making it all make more sense and still incorporate and preserve the sacred vibe of original story.

it's interesting to me how do they decide, which factors wage in decision which books they will follow the plot and on which they will scrap whole thing up and make completely new retelling.

i really hope netflix decides to pick this one up and take us back in this world. there is still another book.

[basalamander-corner]

❦ - The Shifting Tides: NEW WIP INTRO

We fight for a future we ourselves cannot see.

❝ Blood spills at the drop of a hat. Lives are taken every day. It’s up to you to decide whether or not you want to fight, or be devoured. ❞

Cursed by the blood of a goddess, Saran Turakina has known a life of being less-than-human. His people are holindal, once regular humans now given the ability to shapeshift into draconic forms. To improve relationships with the Kingdom of Askana, Saran’s grandfather has arranged a marriage with their prince. While on a seaward journey to meet his future husband, Saran’s boat is intercepted by pirates, and he’s taken prisoner for a ransom.

On a ship far from home, and with only his two closest friends for company, Saran is forced to come face to face with the pirate king: Viridian Kambiri, captain of the Howling Wolf and charming leader of the Wildlings.

As Saran traverses the maze of secrets and betrayals that fester beneath Askana, it doesn’t take him to realize there’s more to the oppression and hatred towards the holindal diaspora than the monarchy is letting onto. And the secrets they hide is one he must bring to the light. But if violence is the only way of stopping them, then does that not make Saran a murderer, like them?

And if so, how will he stop them without losing his soul in the process?

More info below the cut.

❧General Information

A series that has been on my mind for at least five years. The current version of this draft started in 2020 during COVID, although I’ve had this idea in mind since early 2018 at least. It’s currently taken some inspiration from We Hunt the Flame, The Tiger at Midnight, and Beasts of Prey, although it has evolved into its own story at this point.

I consider it somewhere between Young Adult and New Adult in terms of ratings: most content is aimed towards a 16+ audience. I consider the genre a low/mid-fantasy romance. There’s a bit of extensive worldbuilding, but canonically the series takes place in an alternate universe where the meteor that killed the dinosaurs ended up being imbued in magic. Said magic spread through the earth, and is what eventually caused the holindal mutation. In addition, this Earth has a ring system of a similar intensity to Neptune, caused by the colliding of Theia. If I have to describe the aesthetic, it is an Afro-Victorian world on the cusp of its own industrial revolution.

❧Featuring

The tropes of idiots to friends to lovers, found family, secret royalty.

Themes of coming of age, trauma recovery, rebellion and war, self-discovery, sins of the father, and the deconstruction of “if you kill them, you’ll be just like them”.

A transmasculine and vincian MC. A bisexual MC. A queerplatonic relationship between three major characters, one of the MCs included. An aro/ace major character.

A cast made up of entirely dark-skinned characters.

❧Trigger Warnings

Typical fantasy violence

Blood and gore

Childhood abuse

Physical and mental abuse/trauma

Panic and anxiety attacks

Queerphobia

Racism and xenophobia

Sexism

❧Tag list

Ask to be added or removed!

@sharliexth @thecrookedwriterspath @andromeda-grace @wildswrites @hottubraccoon @likegemstone @iriswords @starlightelegy @words-after-midnight @andromedaexists @writeintrees @thegrievingyoung @pure-solomon @aalinaaaaaa @tate-lin @gltownsend