Caught By the Dragon: Maiden to the Dragon #1 (Alpha Dragon Shifter Romance)

Chapter 1

“Weekend at last!”
That was my cry as I stretched my arms above my head. Around me were throngs of my coworkers. We left the fifty-floor office building in a giant herd of tired and eager humanity.
“Amen!” one of them called out.
“Anybody seeing the game?” another one asked.
“I’m just seeing my eyelids,” a hefty guy quipped.
That got a laugh from us office-dwellers, a laugh that extinguished much of the exhaustion from a lot of faces. I stepped out onto the wide, busy sidewalk and glanced around me. The front doors spilled out onto a major intersection, and all around me bustled a humanity eager to get home to family and dinner. I only had the dinner part, but pizza awaited me.
Still, being among such a large crowd of my fellow humans was a bitter reminder of how normal my boring life was.
“Hey, Mir!” I glanced to my left. My friend from the office, Heather, waved to me. Beside her was a cute guy I’d seen in our office, a recent transfer from some other large company. My heart sank. “Over here, Mir!” I slapped a smile on my face and walked over to them. Heather turned to the guy and jerked her head toward me. “This is the sexy woman I’ve been telling you about, Blake.”
Blake looked me over. There was something dark about his eyes that I didn’t like. He held out his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
I shook the hand. His fingers were clammy like his skin didn’t quite fit. “Likewise, and don’t let Heather tell you about my love life. It’s practically non-existent.”
Heather rolled her eyes. “Come on, do you both have to be so old-fashioned with the handshake? I’m trying to hook you up here.”
Blake laughed. “I don’t think this is going to work, Heth. She’s on to me.”
Heather blinked at him. “On to you?”
He shook his head. “It’s nothing. Anyway, nice to have met you.” He waved and walked off.
I turned to my friend. “This is the third time this month, and it’s only the seventh day.”
She sighed and shrugged. “I’m just trying to get you hooked up. You’re too nice not to deserve a good man and reproduce.”
I glanced at Blake’s retreating figure and pursed my lips. “Then stop trying to help me. The guys you keep showing me are getting creepier.”
Heather followed my gaze. “I don’t think he was that bad. A little strange, yeah, but who isn’t?” She turned back to see me ten feet away and gaining ground. “Hey! Wait up!” She hurried after me and came up to my side. “Wanna get a bite to eat before you hole yourself in your apartment for the weekend?”
I grinned. “Only if you’re buying.”
Heather rolled her eyes. “Fine, fine, but I expect to get a dance out of this.”
I cringed as we walked side-by-side down the sidewalk. “You know I hate that.”
“The only way you’ll dance is with someone you know, and I’ll probably be the only one you know,” she pointed out.
“Then how about we skip the dancing?”
“Nope. I need the exercise.” Heather stepped onto the street and raised her hand. “Taxi!” She glanced back at me. “Besides, it’s good practice for when you get married. The bride’s gotta dance at her wedding, you know.”
I sighed as a taxi drove up. “You’re impossible.”
We slipped into the taxi. Heather leaned forward. “To the Bar Room, and step on it. We need to get drunk.”
The driver smiled and nodded. “Yes, ma’am.” He pulled us off the curb and into traffic.
Heather fell back against the seat and looked at me. “Speaking of losing weight, I was thinking of going hiking one of these weekends with a few other girls. Wanna come with?”
I shook my head. “I’m not much for nature walks.”
She frowned. “It’s the society, isn’t it?”
I winced. “It’s not that. It’s just-well, I just don’t feel like I fit in. Like I’m an outsider or something, you know what I mean?”
Heather shook her head. “No, and I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer the next time I ask you to go with me on an adventure. You need to live a little, Miriam, before your whole life is gone.”
I glanced out the window and sighed. The world sped by us as a shadow play of colorful lights and figures. “I know. I…I just feel like I’m supposed to wait for something. Like my time will come.”
The taxi driver’s loud voice interrupted us. “Hey, ladies. I think someone’s following you.”
“Really?” Heather wondered as we both turned and looked through the rear window.
The taxi driver nodded. “Yeah, that red one.
Heather glanced at our driver. “You sure it’s not for you?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I ain’t picked up no one but you in the last half hour.”
Heather squealed and clapped her hands. “You think you can lose ‘em?”
The driver grinned. “No problem, but for the risk it’ll be extra.”
“I’ll take that risk!” my friend accepted.
I whipped my head to her. “Wait a-ah!” The driver turned a sharp corner onto a side street. I was sent into the waiting arms of my laughing friend.
“Isn’t this great?” she yelled.
“Yeah, wonderful,” I replied as I extracted myself from her arms. “It’s going to be great sitting in jail, too.”
“This is living!” Heather gleefully exclaimed.
The driver took another sharp corner into an alley and sped up. I clutched the oh-shit handle above my door. “This isn’t living! This is the preliminaries before death!”
“Just enjoy the ride already!” she insisted.
We took another ninety-degree corner that sent my stomach reeling. “I want out!”
“Just another block, misses!” the driver shouted as he weaved through traffic and onto another bumpy alley.
“Let me out now!” I yelled.
Heather pointed at the alley intersection ahead of us. “Stop there, and we’ll get out. Then book it like we’re still aboard.”
“What about my fare?” he reminded us.
She grabbed some cash from her pocket and tossed the bills into the seat beside him. “That should cover it.”
His eyes flickered to the cash, and he grinned. “Yes, ma’am!”
He slammed on the brake. I slid forward an inch before my seat belt dug into my skin. The car slid to a stop in the center of the intersection.
Heather tore off her seat belt, unbuckled mine, threw open the door, and pulled me out. “Thanks for the fun!”
The driver saluted us and sped off a second after Heather slammed the door shut. She tugged me into the side alley and behind a large dumpster. We crouched down as a car sped down the perpendicular alley. The red car zoomed past us and continued to follow our former taxi.
Heather jumped to her feet and wiped her arm across her brow. “Wow, that was close.”
I stood on my shakier legs and grasped the edge of the dumpster. My stomach was in a tumbling knot. I staggered past her and down the alley that we’d come from.
Heather reached out to me. “Hey, wait! Where are you going?”
I didn’t look back. “Home.”
“But what about finding a guy at the bar?” she reminded me.
“I need to find my stomach back here first,” I quipped. “Then maybe I’ll call you tomorrow about bar-hopping.”
Heather stamped her foot on the ground and slopped puddle water all over herself. “Fine! If you don’t want my help, then go and find your own guy!”
I waved to her without looking back. It wasn’t such a bad suggestion if Fate hadn’t had other plans.

Chapter 2

The bus commute took longer than I hoped, so I didn’t get to my apartment building until forty-five minutes after the harrowing taxi incident. Night beat me to the stoop of my apartment building, and with it came its friends, shadow and darkness. The bus stop was half a block away from where I lived, so I had to walk past rows of apartment buildings to get to mine. An alley separated my building from a neighboring one.
The streets were deserted as I made my way down the sidewalk. I reached the alley and paused. Had I heard something clattering around in there? I leaned forward and squinted into the darkness. Hulking shadows of trashcans and broken boxes stared back at me. Puddles reflected the darkness that was only broken by a few feeble attempts by the streetlights to illuminate the deep interior.
Nothing moved. Nothing clattered. I shrugged and kept going to the stoop. My keys rattled in my hand as I drew them from my purse.
I froze. A rattle had mimicked my own. I half-turned and looked at the mouth of the dark alley. Something flickered in the corner of my sight, but disappeared before I could catch a full, telling glimpse.
My pulse quickened. I fumbled with my key chain. The damn key wouldn’t come out. There! It separated from the others. I shoved it into the lock. A quick turn and I fell inside. I slammed the door behind me. The entrance rattled, and the noise echoed through the lonely lobby.
I grasped my chest and tried to catch my breath. “Easy there, Miriam. It was just your imagination. . .” I whispered to myself.
Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. I hurried up the stairs to my private abode.
My one-bedroom apartment was on the third floor with a lovely view of the fire escape and the neighboring brick building. I tossed my purse onto the small table beside the door and plopped into my favorite-and only-recliner. The sensation of being watched faded within the confines of my locked apartment.
My aching feet thanked me as I leaned back and closed my eyes. “Now this is the way to live…” I murmured. “Just me and my chair.”
I noticed a sweet smell in the apartment, which was unusual. None of my incense candles were lit. I tried to rise from my chair, but my arms wouldn’t pull me forward.
The feeling of being watched returned. Movement caught my eye. I glanced at the window to the fire escape. Three figures stood on the other side of the glass. I gasped, but the scream stuck in my throat.
One of the figures knelt in front of the window and fidgeted with the bottom of the sill. The window popped up an inch. The person drew it to the top and slipped inside. The other two followed.
The overhead light allowed me to see the intruders. Two were burly men in ragged overcoats, pants, and shirts. They were followed by a familiar face. Blake.
The ragged pair strode over to me. One grabbed my legs, and the other pulled a rope from his coat. Together, they began to bind my legs.
I couldn’t fight. I couldn’t even let out more than a garbled whisper. Blake moved to stand by my head. My terrified eyes looked up into his smiling face.
He leaned down and studied my face. “What a lucky break your friend introduced me to you today. You’re just in time to join a few other girls on an exciting journey.”
One of the burly men snorted. “Yeah. A regular cruise line.”
“With all expenses paid,” the other one joined in.
Blake straightened and chuckled. “Come, come, my dear fellows. It’s an honor for this young woman to join in this age-old ritual.” His eyes flickered back to me, and the smile slipped a little. “She may even be good enough to be his consort.”
“She ain’t pretty enough,” one of his cohorts commented.
Blake closed his eyes and shook his head. “Beauty isn’t everything, my friend, and I think this one might have something special about her. After all-” he leaned down close to me again and reached into his shirt collar. My eyes widened as he pulled away the fake flesh that clung tightly to his brown skin. The nostrils of his nose bulged out like that of a pig, and his teeth were yellow and sharp at the ends like fangs. He was a monster. “-she saw through my disguise.”
I wanted to run. I wanted to push him away. All I could manage was a shudder.
“Stop fooling around and help us,” one of the men insisted.
Blake tucked the mask back into his collar and grinned. “All right, but don’t damage the merchandise.”
“What about knocking her out? She’s going to struggle,” another pointed out.
Blake pulled a cloth from his pocket. A stench similar to rotten plants attacked my nostrils. “I’ll take care of that now. It’ll prove whether she’s one of them or not, too.”
He shoved the cloth over my mouth and nose. The horrible smell invaded my senses. My body still wouldn’t respond. Its only reaction was tears that pooled in my eyes and slid down my cheeks. My furious thoughts gave way to a loose grasp of consciousness. My head began to spin along with the room.
In a moment, I was knocked clean out.

Chapter 3

“Let me out! God damn fucks! Let me out!”
My dark world was slowly receding, and that was my introduction back into the real one. I forced my eyes open and was presented with a barren sight.
I was in the back of a metal truck. The floor and walls were plates of steel, but the ceiling was made of canvas. The rear of the truck was also canvas and tied so tightly that not a single bit of light could be seen behind us. I heard the tires crunch on gravel, and the up-and-down motion of the truck told me we were driving over short hills.
On either side were long wooden benches, and it was on one of these that I sat, but I wasn’t alone. Beside and opposite me were four other women, all roughly around my age. They all had their hands bound behind their backs, and their ankles were captured in chains. I shifted, and chains rattled on my own feet.
The one who pounded against the side of the truck was a woman with a scowling face. Tears had run her makeup down her face and given her an undead look. She slammed her shoulder into the wall and winced, but her furious expression didn’t abate.
“Let me out, you stupid fucks!” she screamed.
“Will you stop that?” one of the women to my left snapped. “You’ve been trying that for fifteen minutes, and whoever’s driving the truck hasn’t even slowed down. They don’t give a damn.”
Mascara-face sneered at her. “You idiots can just sit there, but I’m not going to give up. Maybe somebody else will hear me.’ She took a deep breath and opened her big mouth wide. “Heellppppp!”
The truck slowed down. Mascara-face sat up and grinned. “See? I get results.”
Everyone quieted as the truck stopped. A door opened, and heavy boots hit the gravel. They walked along the side of the truck to the rear, where the canvas was untied. The cloth was shoved aside and revealed Blake in all his piggy glory. Behind him stretched a vast forest of thick trees. The shroud of night hung over the forest. The gravel road wound through it and up and over the short hills. Distant lights spoke of a small town, but nothing like the city I knew.
He sneered at all of us. “What the hell’s going on here?”
Mascara-face gathered what few wits she had and glared at him. “I-I want you to release me.”
Blake snorted. The noise even sounded piggish. “Like hell we will. You just shut up, will you? We can’t hear ourselves think up there.”
“What do you want with us?” the woman beside me questioned him.
Blake chuckled. “You’ll see. We should be there in a little bit, and then you’d better keep your mouths shut. The lords don’t like loud women unless they’re bedding them.”
He dropped the canvas and tied it back. A terrible hush fell over us as he marched back to the front. The truck started forward down the gravel road.
A few sniffles broke the silence.
“Will you guys shut up already?” the irate woman snapped. She glanced in my direction. “What are you looking at?”
I frowned and looked to my right. A girl of maybe twenty sat beside me. Her shoulders shook, and soft sobs escaped her lips.
I leaned my shoulder against her. She looked up at me. “You okay?”
The girl shook her head. She wiped her face and swallowed. “W-where are they taking us? Why did they take us?”
I pursed my lips and shook my head. “I don’t know. What do you last remember?”
“We’ve all got the same story,” the irate one spoke up. She swept her eyes over our little group and sneered at them. “Everybody was grabbed out of their homes or off the streets by those creeps and drugged. We all woke up in this truck, nobody knows what’s going on, and that little brat’s been crying since she woke up.”
I glared at her. “You don’t have to be an asshole. We’re all going through this together, so we should stick together.”
“You’re dreaming,” she snapped back as she nodded her head in the direction we’d traveled. “Did you see all those trees? I’m not going to be dragging a brat with me. She’ll only slow me down.”
“It’s the only way we’re going to be able to get away from those pig boys,” I shot back.
She sneered at me. “It’s everybody for themselves. Besides, I didn’t see anybody helping me make noise.”
“That’s enough, you two. We’re not getting anywhere with this arguing,” the fifth woman spoke up.
“Yeah, I guess I am wasting my time here,” the irate woman retorted.
The second woman glared at her but turned to me. “Some of us introduced ourselves before you two woke up. Mind telling us your names?”
“Miriam,” I told her.
“My name’s Alexandra, but you can call me Alex,” she introduced herself. She nodded at my younger charge and the other quieter woman. “That’s Stephanie and Cindy.”
“What’s the point of telling each other about ourselves?” the other one spoke up.
Alex rolled her eyes and jerked her head towards our less-amiable companion. “That’s Olivia.”
“You’re just wasting your time getting to know each other. For all we know, they’re going to sell us to sex slavers, and we’re never going to see anybody again,” Olivia scolded her.
“It’ll help if some of us get out of here and tell police who we met,” Alex argued.
Someone pounded a fist against the back of the cab. “Shut up back there!” Blake called through the thin plate.
I shifted in my chains. They wouldn’t budge. There was a thin hole in one of my feet bracelets. “Anybody know how to pick a lock?”
“If one of us did, we’d be out of here,” Olivia pointed out.
We grew quiet again. There was only the sound of the wheels as they ground against the gravel. The truck swayed more heavily from side-to-side, and in a few minutes we slowed to a stop.
The engine shut off, and two doors were opened and slammed shut. Three sets of feet walked along the sides of the truck, and the rear flap was thrown aside. Blake revealed himself and his two compatriots. Their human faces, too, were gone, and their snout-nosed true identities were revealed.
Blake stepped aside and jerked his head toward the road. “Climb out of there.” We hesitated and glanced at each other. “Climb out, or we drag you out.”
Cindy stood, and we followed. One by one, we shuffled out in single file. Stephanie was ahead of me. She hesitated at the edge of the bed. It was two feet to the ground, and our shackles didn’t help with climbing.
One of the men grabbed her arm and yanked her down. “Come on! We don’t have all day!”
Stephanie cried out and fell onto her side onto the ground. A flash of red blinded my vision. I screamed and lunged at the closest asshole. My shoulder connected with his face and we both toppled to the gravel.
Alex gave a war whoop and threw herself at the other henchman. Cindy charged Blake. He side-stepped her attack and smacked her on the back of her head. Cindy’s eyes rolled back in her head, and she crumpled to the ground.
“Handle these wenches, or you’re fired!” he snapped at the other two pig-men.
My victim wrapped me in a tight bear hug and stood. Alex, likewise, was subdued. Blake stalked over to us and glared first at Alex and then at me.
His eyes narrowed at me. “You two are almost more trouble than you’re worth. One more stupid move like that and you’ll be thrown out into this world that you wouldn’t last five minutes in.” He turned to his henchmen and the other cowering girls and swept his arm toward his right. “Get them inside before they’re all sick and wasted.”
My eyes followed his arm. Before us, not more than twenty feet stood a long, stone-built stable. The thatched gable roof and foggy, primitive windows bespoke a rustic lifestyle.
Beyond the stable stretched a hundred acres of open ground surrounded by the forest. The ground was level except for the extreme right side, where it sloped off into the forest and a glen.
A large castle occupied five front acres of the ground. Its tall battlements cast their long shadows over the smaller stable and our crowd. Six towers at the four corners and center of the long battlements accented the rectangular design of the stone structure. Soft lights lit up the tall, narrow windows that looked out on green fields and pastures. Cows and sheep grazed in their own fences, and a large, fenced area was connected to the wall of the stables opposite where we stood.
The gravel road passed by the castle and dipped down a little on its journey back into the woods, but a part of it branched off to the front of the castle. The road traveled through an imposing stone arch with two massive doors. They were hewn from mighty trees, and on their surface were carved figures I couldn’t quite make out what.
I glanced over my shoulder. Behind us was a small village of stone huts with thatched roofs. The homes were nestled on both sides of the road, and from their stone chimneys poured forth smoke. Flickering lights behind the foggy window glass reflected long shadows of the occupants. A few of them were those who traveled in and out of the high castle.
“Get on with ya!” one of the henchmen snapped.
I was shoved forward and made to fall in line with the other girls. Each of the men snatched an oil lantern from the cab of the truck and lit our path. We were marched into the large door of the stables and to three empty stalls at the end closest to the gate. Alex, Stephanie, and I were shoved into one stall, and the other three were tossed into the other.
Blake stood between the stalls and sneered at us. “Take the manacles off all the girls except those two troublemakers, and then go check to see if they’re ready up there.”
One of his companions frowned. “But that’ll make ‘em look lame for the presentation.”
Blake grinned. “Some of our buyers like them bound.”
The three of them laughed at the crude joke as they unlocked the manacles, but the hands remained tied behind their backs. Alex and I were passed over, but I was glad when Stephanie’s ankles were freed. One of the pig-men disappeared through a door at the end of the stables.
Blake glanced from one stall to the other. “Now listen up. I won’t be repeating this. You lot are to be presented to some very influential-” he chuckled, “-we’ll call them men. Some of them will want to take you. You’d better hope they do, otherwise, you’re discarded to the servant’s quarters of this castle and left there to fend for yourself.” He paced the floor between the straw of the stalls. “If you’re good girls, you’ll be chosen and given a life of luxury in their homes.”
“But I want to go home!” Stephanie insisted.
He stopped his pacing and sneered at her. “Nobody gets back through the Portal. Nobody.” His sly grin slipped onto his lips. “At least not alive.”
“What the hell are you talking about? What portal?” Alex questioned him.
“That’s for you girls to find out, but after you’re presented to the Lords of the Air,” he replied.
“But we just want to go home!” one of the women yelled.
“Please take us home!” Stephanie pleaded.
“Let us go!” Alex demanded.
“Shut up!” Blake snapped. His pork snout flared in and out as he glared at each of us. “You’re staying here, so stop your whining and get used to it!”
The door opened a sliver, and the henchman slipped inside. He moved to stand beside Blake and glanced over his shoulder before he spoke in a whispered voice. “We’ve got a problem.”
Blake narrowed his eyes. “What kind of problem?”
A soft female voice spoke up. “There is no problem.”

Chapter 4

The door opened wider, and a hooded figure stepped inside. Her silk cloak shimmered in the dim light of the three lanterns. In her hand, she held a more elegant, silver-edged lamp. She threw off her hood and revealed herself as a woman of about seventy. Her long silver hair trailed down her back in a long braid, and her wrinkles perfectly suited her firm demeanor. She stood between the stalls and held her lamp up to look at us.
The woman frowned, and her eyes flickered to Blake. “You have been warned before not to treat the girls poorly.”
Blake smiled and shrugged. “This was out of our control. Some of the women tried to escape.”
She nodded at the manacles on my feet. “Remove those.”
He frowned and shook his head. “I refuse. If these girls escape, it’ll be my wallet that’s on the line, not yours. If you have a problem with it, then take it up with your master, but I’ll hear no more of it.”
The old woman pursed her lips but turned her attention to us. “You must all be very frightened and confused. I tell you there is no need. You have been chosen to be trained as Maidens to the dragon lords, the rulers of this realm. They will choose one of you to be their confidante.”
Olivia snorted. “You’re joking, right?”
The old woman’s steady gaze fell on her. She shrank beneath those old eyes, and the woman continued. “One of you will have the honor of being Maiden to the Grand Dragon Lord himself. If the dragon lord who chooses you finds you a worthy mate, you will be made his wife and never want for anything till the end of your days.”
“But I just want to go home,” Stephanie insisted.
Blake took a step toward her and curled his lips back. “I told you, you can’t go back, now-” The woman raised her hand. He snapped his mouth shut and sullenly retreated to the background.
The woman knelt in front of Stephanie. “Once you have crossed into these realms and been Marked, you can never go back. That is not a rule, but a law of nature. To go back to your world means death to you.”
Stephanie burst into tears. Alex wiggled up beside her and smiled. “It’ll be okay.”
The woman stood and looked over us. “You shall be chosen this night. May the gods grant you the future you wish.” She bowed to us and strode from the stables.
Blake stepped forward and swept his arm over us. “Get them up!”
We were yanked to our feet and positioned in two columns shoulder-to-shoulder with one of our fellow captives. I had Stephanie beside me. She hung her head and sniffled.
I nudged her shoulder with mine and smiled when she looked up at me. “It’ll be all right. We’ll think of-”
“March!” Blake barked.
They led us out the wide door at the end and into a small courtyard that separated the stables from a side door in the castle. The front gate stood to our far right, and people and carriages loitered within the walls in a larger courtyard. The people wore simple leather and cloth clothes like they were from the Middle Ages. Men in armor with lances in their hands guarded either side of the gate. Their helmets were tipped with leather-looking wings. On some of their chest plates was a side view of a green wing superimposed over a blue circle. Others had single bands of colors of gold, brown, black, and white.
One of the henchmen shoved me forward. “Stop gawking and get moving.”
We were marched through the tight door and into a narrow passage. The floor and walls were made of stone smoothed over the ages by foot traffic and shoulder brushing. Our shoulders bumped into each other as Blake led the way down the hall and past several open doorways. I caught a glimpse of more hallways and a large kitchen with a billowing wood stove. A dozen women in white aprons scurried to and fro, baking and stirring. Their chatter soothed my ears. It was a glimpse of the familiar in an unfamiliar place.
We reached the end of the hall. A winding staircase of stone led around a column to the higher levels of the castle. We marched up the long steps. My chains rattled against the hard stone. I stumbled and knocked my shoulder into the wall to my right.
The henchman behind me grabbed my bruised shoulder and shoved me back onto my feet. “Get on now! Get on!”
The long walk led us past one archway and to the third floor of the huge castle. We stepped off onto a wide passage. Burning torches hung from their cages along the walls and lit the dark spaces. Wide, thick wood doors stood on either side of the hall. A sound of laughing and stringed instruments echoed down the hall from a pair of open doors.
It was to them that Blake led us. He entered a feasting hall to loud cheers and applause. The sound came from dozens of men who sat on wood benches arranged in three long rows. Women adorned in white aprons served them with drinks and food. They wore rough cloaks and furs, and many sported beards.
The noise became deafening when we were marched in behind him. Many of them stood and raised their large mugs to us.
Others raised a toast to the five men at the front of the room to our left. They were seated behind a long table set up on a wooden podium above the stone floor. Their chairs had high backs upon which were draped five different colors of cloth. They ranged in age from twenty to sixty, and their silk clothes were the same color as the clothes on their chairs. The oldest sported white hair, and another one wore his hair long and over his shoulders. A thin man of forty with a dark complexion leered at us.
The man who sat in the center of the table was about thirty, with short, spiked dirty-blond hair and green eyes. He sat at attention with one hand over his lips. His eyes studied each of us with a firm, steady gaze that didn’t betray his emotions. Behind him was draped a cloth of blue and green. It was the only one with more than one color.
We were arranged single-file before the five men and faced them. Blake scurried over to the table and bowed low before the men. “My Lords, I present to you my most recent offering, and the likes of which have not been seen in a thousand years.”
“That’s for us to decide,” one of the men, the long-haired burly man with a brown beard, countered. His cloth color was a dull brown.
Blake smiled and nodded. “Indeed, My Lords, and decide you shall.” He stepped to the side and swept his arm over our little group. “All of them are strong, healthy females willing and able to please you in all the ways of the world.” A great laugh arose from the heathens behind us.
One of the men leaned over the table and studied us. “They look a little skinny this year. Is that world not feeding its women?”
Blake bowed to him. “I chose those who would most please you, My Lord.”
“Are they truly Maidens?” one of the men, a young lad of maybe twenty-one, wondered.
His wide eyes bespoke his youth as true as his wrinkle-free face and golden, curly locks. Behind him hung a golden cloth. His attention was almost solely on Stephanie, who, though the youngest of us, was one of the prettiest.
Blake chuckled. “I stake my reputation on knowing them by their smell, My Lord. They are each capable of becoming a-”
“Why are two of them still bound?” The speaker was the man in the center. He nodded at Alex and me. “Why have they not been freed of their chains?”
Blake turned to where the lord nodded and sneered at us. “The restraints were necessary, My Lord. They are an unruly pair, perhaps too high-spirited to make much use of besides as horse tamers.” The men behind us guffawed.
The brown-bearded one glanced at the center lord. “Well, Grand Dragon Lord, will you not begin this so we may have our fun with them?”
The man addressed as dragon lord dropped his hand and sat at attention. A thin man of fifty scurried from the sidelines of the podium to stand before the men. He wore a blue gown-like suit with green hems. His attire brushed the floor, and his long, bell-like sleeves constantly banged against his thin body.
He bowed his head to the leader of the five. “Allow me to assist you, My Lord, in choosing your Maiden.”
The dragon lord nodded. “As you wish, Renner.”
The old man turned to us and furrowed his brow. He walked the whole line, scrutinizing us with his eyes and wrinkled hands. The man lifted our arms and pulled on our hair.
“Ouch!” I yelped when he touched my bruised shoulder.
He frowned at me. “This one appears rather weak, My Lord.”
“Get me out of these chains, and I’ll show you weakness,” I snapped. The men behind me laughed uproariously.
Renner’s bushy eyebrows crashed down, and he shook his head. “A very bad choice. Much too high-spirited.” He moved on to Stephanie, who stood to my right. A smile slipped onto his dry lips. He spun around and stepped to the side so he could gesture to her before his lord. “I believe this one will be a suitable Maiden, My Lord. She is both beautiful and delicate.”
The dragon lord raised an eyebrow. “She also quivers like a leaf in a storm.”
“Ah, but the beauty of this one cannot be compared!” Renner grasped Stephanie’s chin and raised her head so she looked at the lord. Her body shook more violently. “And she will grow into self-confidence, My Lord,” he added.
My heart pounded. It wasn’t hard to judge the youngest of the lords. His soft eyes were captured by her beauty. He only needed his turn to choose her.
The lord pursed his lips but nodded his head. “Very well. Take her to-”
“Wait!” I spoke up. All eyes turned to me. I stumbled forward. My chains rattled harshly against the stone floor. “Can’t you see how scared she is? If you want someone, then I’ll go in her place!”
The adviser derisively snorted. “What a stupid idea. The Lord has already-”
“A moment, Renner,” the dragon lord spoke up. He stood and walked around the table to stand in front of me. I met his red eyes without blinking. “You would take her place? For what design?”
My eyes involuntarily flickered to the youngest of the lords. The dragon lord didn’t follow my gaze, but he smiled. “Very well then, I choose you as my Maiden.”
“B-but my lord!” the adviser blustered. He scurried forward and waved a hand at me. “She is not the prettiest, and certainly the least controlled!”
The dragon lord half-turned to him. “Then she will suit me.” His eyes flickered to Blake. “Unchain my Maiden.”
Blake nodded his head like a bobble-doll and stumbled forward. “Of course, My Lord.” He fumbled for the keys in his pocket as he knelt in front of me. In a moment, the chains were off.
The Lord turned to his adviser. “Have her taken to her new quarters.”
Renner’s shriveled shoulders slumped. He sighed and bowed his head. “As you wish, My Lord.” He clapped his hands. A pair of guards against the wall hurried forward. He nodded at me. “Take her away.”