I step back to admire my work, and something in my chest swells. Pride. Possession. Triumph.
I stretch my wings wide and roar. The sound echoes through the forest, through the valley, probably all the way to whatever kingdom this fool came from. Let them hear. Let them know.
Adelaide is mine. This castle is mine. Anyone who crosses these borders dies.
I take to the air again, soaring over the treetops. The wind feels good against my heated scales, cooling the rage that's been burning in my chest. But it doesn't extinguish it. Nothing extinguishes it anymore.
I need to make the world safer for her. That's the problem. The world is full of princes and knights and heroes who think they can take her. Who think they have a right to her.
What if I killed them all?
The thought comes unbidden, but once it's there, I can't shake it. What if I just... eliminated the threat? Burned every kingdom to ash. Slaughtered every man who might come for her. Made it so there was no one left to take her from me.
No. That's insane. Even I know that's insane.
But is it? Is it really so crazy to want to protect what's mine? To remove any possible threat?
I could create a barrier. Something magical, impenetrable. Seal off the castle so thoroughly that no one could ever reach it. Keep Adelaide safe inside forever, just the two of us, no one else.
But then she'd truly be a prisoner. And some part of me, some small, dying part, knows that's wrong.
What if I just... made an example? Killed enough of them that they stopped coming? Strung up enough bodies that the message was clear?
I'm already doing that. And they keep coming.
My wings falter slightly as the castle comes back into view. The rage is still there, simmering under my scales, but now there's something else too. Confusion. Desperation.
I don't know how to keep her safe. I don't know how to make the world safe enough for her. And the not knowing is driving me insane.
I land in the courtyard, my claws scraping against the blood-stained stones. The prince's broken sword still lies where it fell. I should clean this up. Should dispose of the evidence.
But what's the point? There will just be another prince tomorrow. Or the day after. There's always another prince.
I'm so tired.
The rage drains out of me all at once, leaving me hollow. Empty. Lost.
None of my ideas will work. Killing them all isn't feasible. A barrier would make her a prisoner. Making examples clearly isn't deterring anyone.
I don't know what to do.
I need to shower. Need to wash the blood off. Need to go back to Adelaide, hold her, and remember why I'm doing any of this.
I'll figure it out in the morning. I always figure it out.
I have to.
Because she's mine. Because she’s it for me. It’s always been Adelaide. It was always going to be her. And I’ll burn down the world for her.
Even if it destroys me in the process.
CHAPTER 7
THE PRINCESS
He's inside me before I can even process what's happening.
A few brutal thrusts and all of him is buried deep, stretching me impossibly wide, those ridges dragging against every nerve ending. The sensation is overwhelming. Pain and pleasure blur together until I can't tell where one ends and the other begins.
