Melanie walked along the halls of the king's floor. Lucian had slept through the night and late into the morning which didn't seem surprising after he expended so much energy in order to wipe out an entire army. She still shivered at the thought.

Bodies, burnt so completely that they had become ash and then remained entombed within their forms. She couldn't really feel pity for them since they had denied all forms of assistance and meeting in order to find common grounds of peaceful resolution. As she walked down the black stairs that led to the jade hallway below, she was surprised to see Kelly.

"Kelly." Melanie called out.

Her best friend paused and looked up at her, then smiled. It was in that smile that Melanie saw the post-submissive expression of orgasmic use. The kind she wore on her face after a full night of use.

"Are you alright?" Melanie asked. "Brandi said that Lucian's brother took you away for some punishment."

Kelly smirked and nodded.

"What happened?"

"Oh well. Maalceus, conducted some corrective action at first." She giggled. "He flogged me. Over and over and over again."

"Did he hurt you Kelly?" Melanie asked worriedly.

"Oh yeah, but it was the best flogging I have ever received. I mean, I wasn't able to lay on my back all night." She blushed. "But then, he fucked me."

"He raped you as punishment?" Melanie blurted out. "Oh hell no! Lucian will hear about-" Melanie was cut off as Kelly stepped forward and pulled her into a hug.

"Hun. It wasn't rape. I wanted it and he...I think he tried not to want it but he couldn't resist." Kelly pulled her dress collar away revealing the six bite marks in her skin.

"He...claimed you?" Melanie asked.

Kelly shrugged in response.

"I have not seen Maalceus since last night. I was so high on the endorphins I don't remember much after the first couple orgasms."

"But you are okay though?" Melanie asked again.

"Yes mother bird-" Kelly chuckled, "-I am fine. Just a little dazed. Where's Brandi?"

"Probably in the library. Let's find her."

*****

Maalceus paced the floor of his room, hands clasped behind his back. His thick brows were furrowed in anxious contemplation. Though he normally slept easily, like a child after an exhausting day at play. However, he had not slept that night at all. Every attempt at sleep ended in only dreams of that woman.

He licked his lips, tasting her remnants on his skin. The smell of her cherry odor. The taste of her blood. Sweet like honey. Maalceus spun on his heels, walked out the door of his room and down the quarter mile long hall. He paused when he reached the door at the end of the corridor. Raising his hand, he hesitated but then knocked.

After a near minute passed he thought about knocking again but decided against it. Maalceus turned on his heels, and just as he was about to walk away, the door opened. Lucian stood in the doorway looking groggy and half awake.

"M-my lord." He bowed at waist. "I am sorry to disturb you I-" Maalceus was cut off and surprised as his brother snagged him by the shoulder and pulled him into the room before slamming the door. Lucian knew his brother like he knew the map of Vervania. Even when Maalceus was trying to put on a strong front, he knew when something was going on.

"Talk." Lucian said in a deep morning raspy voice.

"My lord. I-"

"Drop the formalities brother. It's just us."

Lucian sighed, sliding into a chair and easing his tired mind into focus. He gestured for Maalceus to sit but his brother was too wound up. Lucian had only ever seen his brother like this once before.

"What happened?" Lucian asked, his mind slowly gaining focus.

"The Queen's friend. Kelly." Maalceus started to explain, pacing the floor, ten steps one way and then ten steps the other way.

"Yes? What of her?"

Maalceus glanced over his shoulder at his brother. A worried expression on his usually stoic face. Lucian furrowed his brows in concern. He knew that his brother was chosen to lead the judicial aspect of the kingdom because of his rigidity. Maalceus was strict. Never lying. Never cheating. Always holding himself to the absolute letter of the law.

Lucian had also seen what no one else had. Something hidden deep beneath the ironclad surface of his brother's resolved demeanor. A sadist lay hidden within him. One that when let out could punish the entire world.

"What did you do?" Lucian asked, a hint of his true meaning behind his tone.

Maalceus scowled at his brother. A reaction that he rarely ever gave, especially to his king.

"She is alive and well." Maalceus replied.

He continued his incessant pacing which only added to Lucian's lack of patience at the moment. Taking a long deep breath, he calmed his mind and set himself to the task at hand. His brother rarely pondered about such emotional issues. It wasn't in his rigid strict nature.

"Maalceus." Lucian said calmly. "What happened?" His voice a volume over a whisper.

"You must believe me Lucian. I only intended on punishing her. Truly, I only wanted to put her in her place." Maalceus explained, turning to pace another ten steps in the opposite direction.

"And did you?"

"Yes my lord." Maalceus replied with practiced formality. "However-"

Lucian arched a brow, waiting for his brother to continue.

"-Kelly...she obeyed. But...it was more than that."

"She liked your brand of punishment. Didn't she?" Lucian smirked.

"She did."

Lucian let out a loud laugh that filled the room startling Maalceus.

"Perhaps you have met your match my brother. A woman who you can claim and punishment at your will."

Maalceus' expression turned grim and Lucian's humor slid away. He watched his brother grab a chair and sit in front of him, eyes to the floor. It was in that silence that Lucian understood it. He understood the complexity of his brother's emotional turmoil.

"You did. Didn't you?" Lucian asked, his voice calm and steady.

Maalceus said nothing for a long moment. Only staring at the cold stone floor beneath his feet.

"It happened so...unexpectedly. one moment I was punishing her. Then..." he looked at his hands. Fingers that had wrapped around Kelly only hours prior.

"Then I was having sex with her. The moment took hold of me my lord. I didn't intend on it to happen. I swear."

Maalceus looked up into his brother's eyes, expecting to see judgment. He saw nothing though. Blankness. Like trying to read the emotions of stone.

"Did you force the transition upon Kelly? Does she know?" Lucian asked.

Maalceus clenched his fists and hung his head low. It was almost a crime to force a female into transition. For once the essence of a dragon has been injected into a host, it cannot be removed. Maalceus knew he had to carry the brunt of this responsibility. The weight of his decision. Kelly could carry none of it. She was restrained and she knew nothing about the rights of transition. The blame was all his and it weighed upon him like an anchor.

"I did." He said after a long while. "I infused my essence with her. I have not told her though."

Maalceus waited for his brother, his king, to make a move. To say something scornful and berate him. He saw a flash of movement and shut his eyes expecting to feel the pain of judgment. He opened his eyes when he felt not the pain of judgment but the warm embrace of his brother's hug.

"You have finally found the one." Lucian replied warmly.

"M-My lord. I broke the royal code." Maalceus replied. Stunned that he was not receiving punishment or scolding. "It is family code that must be-"

"Damn the royal code Maalceus." Lucian said, pulling away and looking deep into his brother's eyes. "It matters not whether you have married Kelly or not. What matters most is that you feel something for her. That you feel a bond with her."

Maalceus searched his feelings trying to find that bond. He thought about Kelly. Her curves and hips. Her skin marred by his hands and floggers. A heat rose inside of him. 'Lust or bond?' He wondered. Unsure of where one began and the other ended.

Lucian could see the confusion on his brother's face. A twisted smile came to his lips and then vanished a moment later.

"It is fine brother." Lucian replied casually.

"I will have that filthy slut sent to the pleasure district with the rest of the whores that roam the lower streets."

Maalceus felt a fury rise up inside of himself. The thought of other hands on her. Their cocks inside of her unleashing their seed and beating her until they completed.

"Don't worry Maalceus. I'll make sure that slut won't be an issue for you. I mean, she will fit in with the other filth. A disrespectful whore-"

"No! Shut up!" Maalceus exploded and launched a fist at his brother.

Lucian leaned lazily to the side easily avoiding his brother's physical outburst.

Maalceus recoiled from his emotional eruption. Stunned that he had openly attacked his brother. His king.

"A hundred thousand apologies my lord!" He fell to his knees, bowing his head to the ground.

Lucian laughed once more. An uncontrollable laugh from within his chest that echoed off the walls of his chamber. Maalceus looked up at his brother, feeling confused and angry. Angry at both himself for not having better control and at his brother for not taking this more serious.

"I do not mean to laugh my brother. But the look of outrage on your face is something I haven't seen in many years." Lucian wiped away a tear that welled up in his eye. "You question whether or not you have feelings for Kelly. Yet at the moment I called her a whore you became defensive. When I mention tossing her to the streets you lashed out protectively." Lucian allowed the facts to sink in.

Maalceus realized that what his brother said was true. Imagining anyone touching Kelly brought a fire inside of him. One that he would burn the entire kingdom down if it meant protecting Kelly. He looked up at his brother who gestured for him to rise.

"Do not be so hard on yourself in this matter. Trust in the bond that connects you to her."

Maalceus nodded and searched himself again. He felt a thin strand. A single thread that connected himself to Kelly.

"But what about the-"

"Let it go." Lucian replied, cutting his brother off. "Go talk to Kelly. Be honest to her and with yourself."

Maalceus nodded and looked at his brother who stared at him expectantly.

"Oh you meant right now?"

"Yeah." Lucian nodded.

"Right away my lord." Maalceus got up and headed out the door in search of his claimed woman.