The Dragon's Kingdom

What if

"Are you fucking kidding me?" My brother's voice rang out through the halls, "Rasten you can't-"

"I am the king," My father's raspy response cut off my eldest brother's anger, "My daughters will do as I wish and so will you."

My footsteps halted, and I held my breath. I had thought when we took the trip to my father's seaside palace that it was only to meet the princes of Dradan, but perhaps there was more to it. Fear clenched my stomach, the realization of what was happening shocked me more than it should have.

My father, king of lycans, was going to sell off my sister to gain a new alliance. I'm sure he would prefer it if I was the one leaving, and if given the chance maybe I would prefer it as well, but after everything that happened... I was worthless to my father. Of course my value all came down to drops of blood on sheets.

"Rasten." My brother growled, "You know nothing about them. You can't just send my sister across the sea to a place where she doesn't even speak the language."

"Careful, Killian." Rasten snarled, "You forget who you are speaking to."

"You forget that I am not a little boy anymore." Killian snapped back.

Having heard enough I turned around, continuing my journey to the library. The princes weren't supposed to arrive for a few more days. Though preparations were already in full swing. I passed at least a dozen servants on my way to the first floor, most of them polishing suits of armor that had never seen battle. Some dusting off the beautiful paintings of the mountains that lined the halls.

My father hadn't always been like this, at least that's what my brothers had said. I was only three when my mother passed, my sister had just turned one so she had no memories of our mother. Azrael and Killian remembered her more, but Killian was the one who suffered the most from her death. Az was dealing with the death of his parents already, so he seemed numb to the loss of her.

Killian though... He wasn't the same after. Paranoid all the time about our safety, and then when he got older he lost himself in booze and females. I shook my head, clearing the memories from my mind. It wasn't good to linger in the past, I did enough of that when I slept.

"Maeve?" Maina, the historian that took care of the library, called to me, "Back already?"

"Do I ever leave for long?" I asked the old female, "I was hoping you could show me some books about the Dradan people? I'm suddenly realizing that I should know more about their culture if I am to be meeting their princes."

"That is a wonderful idea," She praised, her wrinkly face lighting up, "We don't have much, but I'm sure I can help you find some."

"Thank you." I followed her towards the back wall, her fingers skimming over the covers.

"I actually met one of the Dradan males when I was younger," She grinned, "You will never see a finer male. Eyes like fire, skin as dark as coal, the male that I met had horns too."

"You met a Dradan?" I furrowed my brows, "That must have been a long time ago. I thought Rasten closed off the borders when my mother died."

"Oh yes," She nodded wisely, "This was about forty years ago. Before your father took the throne. The things I did for that male..."

"Let's not get into that." I muttered, used to her going into her adventures of the past at this point, "What was he like? Could he actually change into a dragon?"

"I never saw him shift. He was huge though. In every sense of the word." She winked, and I managed not to cringe, "He was very kind. I remember him telling me that for the Dradan people females were in charge. I believe that they are their queens, though that is not the word he used for them."