177: Renewal

177: Renewal

\[Primus\]

The castle is a wreck. When I finally trapped and caught my mate in the tower, we rutted like the beasts we are, ramming into every surface, howling in delight to find one another again. The taste of her, the feel of her, I had forgotten how sweet it is. How could I ever leave this? I want to wrap myself in her for eternity.

In the joy of finding one another again and knowing the depth of everything we have endured makes this mating even more sweet. Not only are we choosing each other for the first time in this dream world but reaffirming our original vows. We are together.

We choose each other. Again and again.

We finally remember who we are, a knowledge that is both a blessing and a curse.

Once we are finally spent, we lie together, looking at one another in wonder. It feels like it has been an eternity since we held one another.

"You came after me."

"You told me to. You told me to come find you, remember"

She is a marvel. The golden scales that pepper her muscular arms look iridescent in the morning light, containing a prism of possibilities. "You have grown even more beautiful than I remember."

"You left me, again." Her face twists into a mask of pain as tears fall freely and her eyes swirl with every shade of fire. "I had no choice but to grow and change. I needed to be strong enough to save you."

Pulling her into my chest tightly, I hold her shaking form and she collapses against me, nuzzling up to my neck.

The last of the dream fog is still slowly lifting from my mind and with it the mind tricks that had been played on me as the Technician bent me to the queen's will.  Slowly, I remember more than just who I am, I remember every sin I was forced to commit, every broken vow. I realize the depth of the harm I have caused her, my beautiful mate.

I do not deserve her. I did not deserve to be saved.

"You should have just let me rot," I sob as I hold her. "I deserved to die for everything I have done."

Pushing me away her eyes flash with anger. "You don't get to take the easy way out, Primus. Yes, our life is a bit of a disaster, but you don't get to run away from it anymore. You are coming back with me. You are going to help me fix it. It's not just us anymore, our babies need us too. They deserve to grow up with both parents."

"Carnelia, I..." I reach out and brush away her tears, smoothing her hair up and over one of her delicately pointed ears. "I was weak. I did things. I..."

"I know." Her gaze is unwavering. "I know and I forgive you."

"How could you? The things I did with Eleanora. She might be carrying my clutch..." My actions from the last few months tumble from my mouth like rushing water.

Her gaze never leaves mine. If anything it becomes harder and more resolute. "You were weak and vulnerable. She took advantage of that weakness."

"I should never have been weak!" I howl in pain. "It is my job to protect you, to protect our clutch, and I failed, Carnelia. I failed you, I failed our children, I failed the kingdom, I..."

"Don't you dare," her eyes smolder and her fangs elongate. "Don't you dare try to scare me away. You don't always have to be the strong one, I can be strong too."

"I know it's just you shouldn't need to be."

"I am a Queen, Primus. Not a child," she scolds me, her tone scalding. "And despite my better judgment, I chose you,  Primus Thelonius Majere, to be my mate, my husband, and my king. You didn't just claim me as your mate. I claimed you as mine and so help me...I keep my promises."

Her talons squeeze me tightly, clasping on so that I cannot escape her. "But you don't need me. You'd be better off if you let me go."

"NO!" she roars, her eyes sparking so brightly that it illuminates the room for a brief moment. "You are MINE! MINE! You belong to me and nobody else. If that monster is carrying your children, that means she stole your seed from me and they belong to me as well. When I find her, I will rip them from her body and leave her a squealing mess on the floor."

"Carnelia..."

"EVERY part of you is MINE," she has never been this primal or possessive. "Even the parts that you think are too broken to mend." She places her forehead to mine, our horns touching. "Now say it." She demands. "Who am I?"

"You are Carnelia Majere."

"YES," she growls, wrapping her legs around my hips, holding me to her.

"My mate, my wife, and my queen."

"YES!" she takes my forked member in hand and positions the larger one at her opening, massaging the base, forcing it to elongate inside of her as she pushes me onto my back.

Riding me she takes control, possessing me, reclaiming me as hers with a ferocity I've never seen, even in her fiercest moments. It is as if she is fighting a war to keep me, using her body to remind me of the truth and bring me home.

The weak, scared girl I found in the cart is long gone. There is almost nothing left of her. In her place is a dragon queen whose heart has been broken and mended too many times.

And for some strange reason, she wants me, despite everything.

If she can fight this hard to keep me, I can do the same.

If I'm not good enough for her, I will just need to grow stronger to match her glory.

I need to take ownership of who I was destined to become.

Not a minstrel or a lord hiding in his castle on the coast.

I am a King.

It is time I take what belongs to me.

Rising up to meet her, I give as much as she does, pushing into her with equal desire, equal need to possess and claim. Seeing the change in me she roars in pleasure. My own roars rise to meet hers, and we are united in our joy, connected through our shared passion and determination to see this nightmare through.

When we have finally gotten our fill of one another, our bodies aching and sore, she turns to me and asks, "Are you ready?"

"Ready?"

She stands, "To go home, Primus. We've all been waiting for you to wake up for a very long time."

I take her hand and she helps me stand by her side.

"But how do we leave?" This all seems so real. "How does this dream end?"

She points toward the doorway which begins to glow faintly.

"Looks like someone left the door open for us," she pulls me along.

Hand in hand, we pass through the gateway together.

When I blink awake for the first time in months, I find myself in a dark, quiet room. Carnelia is in my arms, and as she blinks up at me, I feel warmth spread from my heart outwards.

"Primus?" her voice shakes. "Are you...?

"Carnelia," I reach down to kiss her, my body screaming in agony, my muscles weak and bruised. "What happened to me?"

Lying there in the near dark, she tells me of the All Kingdom Faire, the rebel attack, and how she was sentenced to treason for the crime of loving me too much to let me die.

"The Technician sent me in here to find you," she explains. "It said you were in danger of losing your mind. It was either that, or die for crimes against the crown."

Fueled by anger, I find some of my energy returning. "You should have never been in that position to begin with."

"You're right!" she snaps back, startling me. "When the war was being waged and your mother died to save us, you should have come with me! You should have been by my side! Instead, Ona had to teach me and guide me on my new journey as a dragon. She had to teach me how to be a queen. I thought you were dead, Primus."

"I was," I realize. "In many many ways, there was nothing left. The Technician patched my body back together, but my mind was broken, made worse by torture."

"The Technician."

"No, actually," I remember, "Mostly it was her guards, especially the captain of the guard. It was only after the queen lost her clutch, my brother's clutch, that she became desperate enough to try other means. She needed my seed specifically, Carnelia. I'm afraid she still has some stored away to use whenever she wants. Especially if she still has The Technician by her side."

"Where are we," I look around. "This reminds me of Tritus' palace..."

A loud, sharp screams tears through the room.

"DAAAAAX" .

Sitting up straight, we both listen, "Was that Ona?"