Bride of Dragons (The Dragon's Virgin Tribute) Read Online Free PDF Page B

closed.
    Every inch of her skin tingled and hummed. Her spine still burned. She looked out, down the sheer drop beneath the castle, over the rocky cliffs below, and beyond. The grasslands stretching to the horizon - the fields where the people farmed.
    She lifted her head and stared at the sky. It seemed as though she could see colors she'd never known existed. She could see swirling patterns in the air, moving and shifting above, and she knew instinctively what they were. It was beautiful.
    Ylissa pulled herself up onto the stone railing. She crouched for a moment, then slowly stood to her full height. She had no trouble balancing despite the narrow edge. She knew instinctively what to do.
    Smiling gleefully, she stretched her arms wide and let the breeze cool her hot skin. The power thrummed through her. For the first time in her life she felt as though she could do something - be something.
    Without fear, she leaped.
    The wings sprouted easily from her body, catching the air. Her skin turned to scale, her body transforming in an instant. Small and lithe but with impossible strength, her dragon form - her true form - effortlessly navigated the currents and winds far above the rocky cliffs.

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    W hen she finally returned, it was dark. There was a crowd of people in her rooms, arguing and talking. The atmosphere was one of uncertain, anxious waiting.
    Ylissa lighted on the balcony, and roared as loud as she could, to get their attention. The room echoed with the sound, and half the people covered their ears. Everyone fell silent, and a sense of awe swept over them as she transformed, human-shaped feet hitting the stone floor.
    She stood up. The flight had purged her somehow, made her new. She could think clearly again, no longer in the grip of her animal urges. She was more like herself - but more than herself. She felt taller than she had been before. In fact, she was have sworn she actually was taller.
    She looked at everyone in turn. Her mother was there. The Queen's eyes were red, and she was holding a dainty handkerchief to her face. Ylissa almost laughed. Where was her faith?
    The Queen gaped with astonishment as she stared at her daughter. "I thought you had... fallen," she said. Leaving the rest unspoken: or leaped to your death.
    After comforting her mother, Ylissa made her declarations.
    "I will be chained no longer," she said, addressing everyone in the room. "I will not be hidden away. You will treat me as your future Queen."
    The room fell silent. Everyone was staring at her. Yesterday, she would have felt uncomfortable at the attention. Even more so since she was completely naked. Today, she drank it in.
    "You have appointed these mates to me," she said before her audience, "but I tell you now that I will choose only one."
    Lord Thress opened his mouth, an objection on his lips.
    "Silence!" Ylissa snapped. Her voice boomed, her eyes flashing with anger. Her naked flesh looked, for a moment, wreathed in flame. The room went very quiet, as though everyone was holding their breath.
    "I will mate with whom I see fit," Ylissa said, her voice steely. "For the good of dragonkind. But I will have only one husband. I choose the one who was kind to me when I was just a frightened girl. The one who showed concern for my pleasure, not just his own. When I become Queen, Lord Vaermax will stand by my side as Prince Consort."
    He was sitting at the back of the room. At the mention of his name, Vaermax stood up slowly. Ylissa was gratified to see a surprised look on his face, for the first time. The other two looked less than pleased - but she didn't care.
    "My daughters will reign for generations to come," Ylissa told them. She knew this with certainty. Placing a hand over her belly, she smiled radiantly. "Even now I carry three eggs within me. They are the first of many."
    There was an excited murmuring. Her mother was crying again, but now her tears were joyous. Slowly, the older woman lifted the hem of her gown and sank to