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Hello again dear curious furs who do not seem to detest reading my writing (I mean, I have to assume that it's not SO bad that someone would read my stories and then make review videos on YouTube highlighting all the flaws in my work), I come bearing the next part of the Tails of Adolphus, rewritten to correct all the REALLY bad flaws that were in the original Tails of Adolphus Special Chapter 1 and oooh boy, were they bad.

When I first wrote that chapter, it was supposed to just be a little one off, looking at some of the other stories of Balazaar (the spelling of which has changed between the original version and this one, probably as a mistake more than anything else). Zurack and Sheila were just characters designed as a one off, which is why they weren't so developed back then. Of course, that was something I wanted to change and as such, they have been fleshed out.

Does mean there are one or two other changes or additions to facilitate that change.

Selpher was in the original, but back then he was an anthro badger. The canon of the world has developed a bit since then so he has become an anthro stallion, but I decided to make him a black and white just to pay a bit of respect to his original form.

Sheila and Zurack both get a lot of development and will continue to get more in the next few chapters.

The threat of the King has certainly become more tangible and there is a bit of history at the beginning of the story to set up the history of the Draconic Council and its purpose.

There is no sex in this one as I didn't feel it was appropriate, but there are some mentions of masturbating anthro mares and stallion taurs showing off their goods. Not exactly titillating stuff, but I shall see what I can do about getting some more into the next story. Maybe a threesome? We shall see.

As per usual, remember that you can message me with your thoughts and remember; if you are an artist and you cringe at your old work, that's probably a good thing as that means you've developed your art and can see where you've messed up (holy Celestia, my early work was bad). Also, remember not to be 'loose' with your 'o's or else you will 'lose' at spelling (Oh Luna, was I loose with my 'o's back then.)

Grief is a powerful emotion, capable of leading one to the depths of an inescapable despair that will inevitably destroy even the strongest of spirits. -Avanti Halfhorse.

Back in the second age before the city of Balazaar even existed, war raged across the world of Aberdaria, one which came to be known as The Great Polar War. The followers of Faredae and the forces of Thorn were engaged in conflicts that stretched across the continents. It was a brutal war that lasted for many years until Thorn was finally destroyed and his forces defeated.

However Faredae's victory was not without a massive cost. As her powers were tied to Thorn's, his destruction greatly weakened the Goddess.

With her powers fading, Faredae realised that she would need to return to her immaterial form and leave her children to continue without her benevolent guidance or the powers of magic her presence bestowed upon them. She feared that when she departed, the world would once again tumble into the chaos of another global war.

To preserve the peace and uphold the treaty of Gernthwin, Faredae turned to her longest lived and most loyal of followers, her dragon children, to watch over the kingdoms of the world. The dragons of Faredae accepted the role gifted to them by their mother Goddess and began the formation of the Draconic Council.

However, when the Draconic Council was formed, there was a shortage of dragons to represent each and every kingdom. A compromise was found by grouping four or five kingdoms together as a region and assigning a dragon to represent that region. The dragon not only had the role of representing these kingdoms at the council, but they would also act as a mediator for disputes between the kingdoms of their region.

Satisfied that her draconic children would care for the populace of Aberdaria, Faredae ascended into what would be called 'The Great Sleep' and brought the Age of Magic to its end.

For many years the regional boundaries of the Council remained unchanged and no representative of the Council was ever assigned to represent only one kingdom. This was until Lord Zurack was assigned to represent the Kingdom of the Caspers. There was much outcry from the other kingdoms, but the Council stood by its decision. They insisted that Lord Zurack was merely a minor representative and his voting power reflected the one kingdom that he was responsible for.

Yet how many other kingdoms could claim the prestige of having a representative who worked solely for their interests?

However, short lived memories soon forgot their outrage and everyone came to accept it as the norm. The citizens of Balazaar came to see Lord Zurack and his tower as part of the cityscape; just another person to keep an eye out for in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the nobility.

Only no one in the city of Balazaar had seen their representative since the end of last summer. It had been a common sight to see him flying to and from his tower in the pleasure district, but he hadn't been seen in over nine months and many were beginning to wonder if Lord Zurack was still alive. Both his personal valet and the housekeeper of the tower insisted that their Lord was still alive and merely recovering from a rather nasty illness that had left him bedridden. Many were starting to question this story, but how would they verify the truth? Black curtains had been drawn across the windows of the Master bedroom and any avian that tried to fly close to the tower had found themselves intercepted by the city guards.

The only ones who knew were Lord Zurack's servants and none were willing to talk.

"Selpher, Lord Zurack was explicitly clear that he wasn't to be disturbed."

"I am aware of our Master's orders, but we cannot allow this charade to go on any longer. I fear that if we do not wake him from his stupor then the illness I lie about may yet manifest itself."

"But what about..."

"Until further notice she shall not be mentioned. Her name shall be forgotten by the staff until such time as I feel it is safe to mention her. No one can say they served a finer Lady, but no one is to talk about her except for the Lord. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Selpher."

"Good. Now spread the word to the other staff of the house and start preparing a bath in the guestroom; our Lord will need to wash."

"And if he refuses you?"

"It would be prudent to have some bandages and gauze on standby in either case."

He could see the light of the early morning sun start to shine past the edges of the thick, black curtains that were supposed to keep that accursed light out. It seemed that no matter what he did, each morning was marked by the sunlight somehow getting around the edges of the curtain at the end of his bed. It ruined his mood when all he wanted to do was wallow in his sorrows and surround himself with the stench of death.

He heard the door of his bedroom open and hooves walking across the tiled floor. He could tell from the pace and step that it was his valet, Selpher, who was probably here to empty his chamber pot or collect the uneaten meals. He paid little heed to the intruder until he was blinded by the morning light pouring into his bedroom and burning his eyes.

"Leave me be Selpher!" He yelled. "Close that damn curtain and leave me to my pain!"

"I am sorry my Lord, but I cannot do that. The Council has decreed that this mysterious illness of yours is to be investigated by a Council physician. I cannot delay it as refusing the Council is a severe crime."

"I do not care what the Council says or wants. I wish to be left here until I die."

"You do not wish to die my Lord, or else you would have gone down to your laboratory and made a poison to end your life. Our Lady also insisted that you keep living."

"I don't know if I can."

The sound of another curtain being pulled open came with the burning sensation of more sunlight spilling into his room. Dust filled the sunlight like it was snow in a blizzard.

"We will need to clean this room before you are able to use it again my Lord."

"You will leave it as it is," he growled.

"My Lord, this room reeks of death and..."

A proud and powerful dragon such as himself could only deal with so much humiliation and defiance. He pulled the blankets back and sat up, sending a storm of dust flying into the air.

"You and the Council may wish to order me about like a slave," he roared, "but my sanctuary will be left untouched!"

He saw Selpher, the anthro stallion with black and white painted fur and dressed in his well pressed valet uniform, standing by another set of curtains that he was about to open. He had a rather surprised look upon his face.

"One sanctum is all I ask," he said as his voice calmed. "Just leave us our bedroom."

Selpher slowly opened the curtain before he walked over to stand by his Lord's bedside.

"Only on the condition that you do not sleep in here until we can clean it, my Lord."

"Then I shall use the guestroom in the meantime," he sighed.

"Good. Serinn was preparing a bath for you when I came up to wake you."

"At least I still have you and Serinn," he sighed. "It would be too much to lose you as well."

A smokey black equine taur trotted back and forth in the castle courtyard. The King had insisted upon an early start, but it was already an hour after sunrise and his Highness was still getting ready for his hunt.

"Calm down Darius," the full horse leading the royal carriage said as they watched the equine taur pacing in back and forth. "You'll wear out your shoes at this rate."

"I have been preparing this slave hunt for the last month, and on the day of the hunt the King decides to sleep in," Darius grumbled as he turned to make his way back down the length of the carriage. "If we aren't quick the nomads will be ready for us and we'll have a fight on our paws."

"We'll get them," the lead horse replied, "we always do."

Darius gave an annoyed snort as he turned and paced back towards the front.

His hunting team had spent the last month preparing for the slave hunt; stalking and tracking potential quarry for the King to add to his harem.

It was rare to find unsullied beauty amongst the nomadic pony tribes, but he had been lucky to come across one where there were still a few unsullied fillies of marrying age. That's what his Highness preferred; maidens unspoiled by other stallions.

In his opinion, the King didn't deserve them. The fat King lacked a lot of what mares desired in a stallion and were it not for his wealth or power he would receive none of the attention he got.

Wealth and power; the gifts of his noble birth. The pretentious fool that was his son wasn't much better, but at least he had been denied the throne.

"Darius!" The lead horse called out. "Your King is here!"

Heturnedto look up at the King scolding his daughter.

"I don't care if he is your fiancee; he has no place in your chambers until the two of you are married."

"He was exhausted after our night out and it was easier to bring him here."

"We have over 15 guest rooms in the palace and you have him sleep in your bed?!"

The King never seemed happy unless he was balls deep in some young mare.

"He's my guest father, not yours!"

And the thing that really made him mad was his headstrong daughter and successor.

"I don't trust you to not end up in foal before you are wed!" The King shouted. "And don't you dare say that you two are not already sleeping together; I can smell him on your breath!"

"Oooh, juicy bit of gossip," Darius heard one of the other full horses pulling the King's carriage say quietly.

"Keep it to yourself," Darius said in an angry whisper. "You're not being paid to gossip."

"Well it's not like we have much else to do but gossip," the full horse replied. "His Highness is taking forever."

"How'd you get selected to pull the King's carriage," Darius muttered under his breath as the King sent his daughter back into the palace.

It didn't matter to him though if the full horses that pulled the carriage gossiped, what really angered him was just how long this whole delay was.

It was another five minutes before the King was finally ready to leave. The delay had already cost them over an hour and that put the whole hunt in jeopardy. The King might not have cared, but Darius could feel that his reputation was under threat. He'd missed out on capturing two high-quality slaves last year because his Highness had decided on visiting one of the local brothels rather than focusing on the hunt, the very hunt the King had insisted upon.

No. This year would be different. Even if he had to abandon the rest of the hunting party, he would capture that young mare.

His body ached. Months of laying in bed had taken a severe toll on his body.

"Oh, my Lord, it looks like you've missed at least three sheds."

The voice belonged to Serinn, his half horse/half dragon Lady's maid that he'd kept on staff despite...

"I'm going to have to descale your entire left thigh. Half of these roots are rotten, not to mention the wasted muscle."

He felt blessed to have Serinn and Selpher around to look after him. Not that he had wanted them to, but he felt he should be grateful anyway.

"And that limp. My Lord, you have let too much of yourself waste away."

"I just couldn't bring myself to get out of bed," was all that he could mutter under his breath.

"You cannot simply let yourself fade away like this; it is no way for someone to live."

He'd been standing in the bath for half an hour. As he looked down at the water, he could see the filth that had accumulated on his scales in the last six months. The water was now almost black with only the occasional loose scale floating in it. Once coloured a proud emerald, now his scales were just the sickly green of rotting leaves.

"You will need to spend half an hour soaking every morning and evening for the next week," Serinn sighed. "It will be a hassle to find the herbs and salts, but we have no other choice if we are to have you ready for the physician."

"Can we not just send them away when they turn up?"

He didn't want to deal with anyone from the Council, not at the moment.

"You expect to be able to dismiss a physician of the Draconic Council without repercussion?"

"That damn Council has been a pain in my side for far too long."

"All you need to do is show that you are alive and they will leave you in peace."

"I don't feel alive."

He watched another green scale drop from his body and into the water, loosened by the stiff brush Serinn was rubbing up and down his back between his wings.

"You may smell as if you are dead, but I can assure you, my Lord, that you are still alive. It may seem cold to say, but if the Apprentice hasn't claimed you then perhaps it's not your time to go."

"It would be like that," he sighed. "An ever present spectre that does not come when you finally wish to see him."

"After I have washed you and dressed your wounds, then I suggest you go out for a fly," Serinn said as if she hadn't heard a word of what he had just said. "The fresh air and sunshine will do you some good."

It certainly didn't sound like a suggestion. In fact it sounded like it would go somewhere between an order and a threat.

Why didn't he just dismiss her back in the fall?

The morning finally woke her, sun shining on her closed eyes and waking her from her slumber. She pulled her blanket over her head to try and shade herself from the bright light of the morning, but she wasn't going to get any more sleep as the blanket was pulled from her body.

"Time to get up Sheila," her mother scolded her. "You have a busy day ahead of you."

"All the more reason to get some more sleep," she grumbled as she turned her back to the open door of the tent and the morning sun shining through.

"Come on," her mother said sternly, "or I'll call your brothers in to help you get up."

She knew this wasn't an empty threat and it was best that she listen to her mother's request if she didn't want two young colts climbing all over her to get her up.

"I'm getting married today," she grumbled as she sat up and gave a yawn.

"And before you move into your new family tent with Matthew you still have chores to do. Now get up and go bathe."

Dawn in the summer always came too early for her tastes. In the wintertime she got to sleep in, but getting up wasn't any easier when the snows weighed down the roof of the tent.

After rolling up her bedroll, she went down to the bathing spot of the nearby stream and began to wash her body and mane. It was an old tradition of her tribe that when a mare was to be wed, she had to bathe in the morning so as to wash the scents of her family members from her body. Matthew would do the same that evening so that after the ceremony the two of them could begin making a family scent of their own. The reason she had to wash in the morning was so that the natural scent of her body could build back up and encourage Matthew to perform his marital duties.

Ohhh, that thought had been a bad one to think about.

She remembered seeing Matthew naked at the fertility dances in the spring; she'd also seen his impressive stallionhood when the two of them had gone off after the dances to talk.

He'd been so embarrassed when his cock eased out of his sheath, and though he had tried to hide it, she had convinced him to show it to her. He'd then let her touch it and it wasn't long before she'd made him cum.

They should have been married that evening, but it wasn't to be. Her father was sick at the time and she was needed to help with her brothers.

Fortunately, her father's illness had now passed and this evening they would be married.

She couldn't help herself. Whenever she was in season all she could think about was sex, and that inevitably made it worse. When she realised that her paw had drifted between her legs and was teasing at her swollen lips, her sexual nectar had already stained the inside of her thighs. She should have tried to restrain herself, saving the urge for tonight, but she got the feeling that it would have been too long for her to wait and she needed to finish herself off now.

A quick glance around told her that she was alone, so she started fingering herself with a nervous excitement. She thought of her beloved driving his cock into her with a randy enthusiasm, eager to fill her with his seed as opposed to spilling it onto her chest like he had in the spring. It wasn't long before she brought herself to an orgasm with a happy nicker.

Finally the King's carriage was underway. It was a pity that the delay now meant they were stuck moving slowly through the morning crowds. The King didn't seem to care, but his Highness didn't have a reputation to lose.

He had reorganised the schedule as best he could, but it would still be at least two hours until they'd be able to get out of the city and to the tribe.

The route through the pleasure district was risky as some pretty thing could catch the King's attention and they'd be delayed for quite a while, especially if the King decided to "share his wealth with the good citizens of Balazaar". But if the King kept it in his pants then this was the fastest route out of the city.

The sudden stop of the carriage caught Darius by surprise and filled him with a sense of dread. Had the King's attention already been drawn by some floozy?

"Why are we stopping?" Darius asked as he looked about to see what was going on.

"The King insisted we stop," the carriage driver stated. "He wants to look at something."

He looked around to try and see what may have caught the King's attention. They were in one of the quieter parts of the pleasure district. In fact the only thing here of any real importance was Lord Zurack's tower. When he trotted around the other side and saw that the King had stepped out of the carriage to look up at Lord Zurack's tower, he thought he'd better have a look and see what was distracting the King.

"My Lord, it's not my place to question your actions..."

"Just spit it out Selpher; it sounds like you want to."

"You got out of bed less than two hours ago after lying dormant for over six months, and now you wish to go out flying?!"

As he stood on the wide railing of the guest room balcony, he realised that Selpher had a point; one that he was just going to ignore.

"Need I remind you that you were the one who woke me and Serinn was the one who insisted that I go out for a fly."

"But you're still weak."

He knew he was. He could feel it in every malnourished muscle in his body and the open wounds in his flesh. He was covered in so many bandages he felt like he'd been in the Great Polar War.

But this was what they had insisted upon, and if he had to be somewhere, then he'd rather be watching the nomadic ponies tending to their crops.

"Zurack, I'm going to say it once again; I don't think you should go flying. Something tells me that you won't listen to me though."

He turned and looked at Selpher, and though the stallion was paid to be his valet, he felt that he'd be lost without his loyal friend.

"I'm sorry Selpher, but if I can't lay in my bed and wallow in my misery, then I'm going out to watch the nomadic farmers."

"You could take the carriage," Selpher suggested enthusiastically. "Hippos has been spoiling the carriage team all winter."

"I'm going out flying," he said as he spread his wings and faced towards the balcony's edge. "I can't stay here at the moment."

"And if you're not back by nightfall?"

He took a deep breath; that was a real possibility.

"You have my permission to start searching for my body at first light."

He could tell Selpher wanted to protest, but the stallion knew it wasn't possible to change his mind.

"Certainly my Lord, as you wish."

"Thank you Selpher."

"Dinner will be waiting for your return."

"I don't know if I'll have much of an appetite when I get back."

"I shall make sure that it's a small meal."

"It's nice to see our Council representative after his absence."

Darius did his best to ignore the King's chatter; he was too focused on Lord Zurack. The dragon didn't look like he was in the best of health, but he wasn't sure what was wrong with him from this distance.

"Where do you think he was over the winter?"

Darius watched as the dragon spread his wings, took a step off the balcony rail, and entered a steep dive. Unfortunately the high wall that surrounded Zurack's garden obscured the end of his fall. He was wondering where the wet thump of a failed take-off was when Lord Zurack passed right over them at a height that barely cleared the high stone wall.

While the King was in awe, he could tell that Zurack could barely keep himself aloft.

"His elegance and form almost make you wish you were a mare," the King said as he moved to the other side of the carriage to watch Lord Zurack's slow climb to clear the city walls. "One he was willing to take to his chambers for an evening."

That take-off wasn't elegant and it looked as if the dragon was having issues gaining height.

"Wouldn't you agree, Darius?"

The King's question brought him back to the present and more immediate priorities.

"I don't think it would be right for me to steal Lord Zurack from you, your Highness," he said in an attempt to dismiss the question as diplomatically as possible. "If his Highness was as handsome a mare as he was a stallion, then how would I compete with your Highness for Lord Zurack's attention?"

"You never know," the King said as Lord Zurack passed out of their sight. "He was quite the fiend in his younger days. It is said he seduced both my Grandmother and her sister into bed with him when he first arrived."

Darius shook his head as the King got back into the carriage. Only a Casper would keep such a tale in their family.

"Either way your Highness, you have to agree that this whole conversation is nothing but a fantasy and delaying us from the true purpose of our day."

"You are correct," the King said as Darius closed the carriage door. "I am eager to see what quarry you have found for my slave hunt."

Sheila hurried into one of the cooking tents, running quite late for her morning duties.

"I'm sorry I'm late," Sheila panted as she put her paws on her hips and caught her breath. "I was bathing and I got distracted."

The other mares just let out a hearty chuckle as they went about their jobs.

"Is that what you young ones call it," Sheila's mother laughed. "Before I married your father, we just used to call it 'rubbing the bean'."

The other mares let out a loud peal of laughter as Sheila felt her face start to burn like crazy.

"Come now matrons, we were all once young maiden mares on their wedding days," Sesephie, the boss of the lunch tent, interrupted as she rubbed her paws on her apron. "There's no point messing with the virgin bride."

"Oh, like you didn't have some personal time to yourself on your wedding day," another mare protested.

"I never said I didn't, I'm just saying we shouldn't give Sheila shit for something we all did."

Sheila felt a bit better knowing that she wasn't the only one so desperate on their wedding day that they needed to pleasure themselves, she just wished it hadn't been her mother to call her out for it.

Fortunately Sesephie took Sheila outside before her embarrassment got the best of her.

"I thought I'd been careful to wash every trace of my scent from my body," Sheila said to Sesephie quietly, "I was very thorough."

"It wasn't your scent dear, your walk gave it away," Sesephie said as she straightened Sheila's dress. "You look as if you're about to bend over in front of the next stallion you see so he can have his way with you."

"Is it that obvious?" Sheila asked nervously.

"And you already reek of mare in season."

"I've had seasons before, but they've never been this bad," Sheila pointed out.

"It's your impatience. You know what the two of you will get up to this evening for the first time in your lives and you're eager to indulge," Sesephie said as she handed Sheila a basket full of lunches for the stallions in the fields. "We've all been there dear."

"I know, but I just want him so bad."

"Have you ever tasted his seed?"

"Maybe on one or two occasions," Sheila said quietly so her mother didn't hear.

"So you've sucked his cock before?" Sesephie asked, talking as quietly as Sheila was.

"Eww no, gross," Sheila said with quiet disgust.

"You should try it, especially if you want him to use his lips and tongue on your marehood. You'll also end up with a stomach full of stallion seed and nothing helps more with easing those urges."

"Does it really work?"

"It's no substitute for a good fucking, but it's the next best thing when you can't risk a foal."

Even if it did only satisfy her for a few hours, it'd help her get through the rest of the day without the urge to run off and pleasure herself.

"Okay, what do I have to do?"

"Well the first thing you'll need is a handkerchief..."

Selpher had been right; going out flying in his condition was the worst possible thing that he could be doing right now. Even riding the thermals was getting difficult as every moment aloft made it feel like he was getting closer to his wings failing and leaving him to fall to his death.

It was fortunate that he had reached the fields of the nomadic ponies. With a poor example of a landing, he tumbled through a field of wheat and came to rest on the ground. He felt pain in every single muscle in his body; a mixture of overexertion and the dull pain of hitting the ground too hard. Both his body and soul ached now, and that brought him some comfort. It didn't feel right if his whole body wasn't hurting like his soul was.

Chelsea. He missed her so much.

His life felt so empty now that she was gone. They both knew that it would happen eventually, and he wanted so desperately to believe he had prepared himself for that moment.

But now he lay aching in some field of wheat with a malnourished body and desiccated soul; proof that he had failed and he couldn't go on without his Chelsea. Her death had destroyed him and despite all he had tried, the gulf between the living and the dead had grown no narrower. His life was misery because that was all he deserved to feel now.

He would have been happy to just lay there and bake in the hot morning sun, but some involuntary action made him tear at his tunic. He ripped the fabric from his body and this left only his bandages to cover his chest. A gentle breeze blew against his body and he felt more relieved. As he lay there with all of his limbs spread out, he felt as if he could just lay here and sleep; sleep until the sun set.

Sheila continued her trip out to where Matthew and several other stallions were tending to the crops. She had been watching a dragon gliding about, but they had landed somewhere and she hadn't seen them since.

It wasn't the first time she'd seen a dragon. Where her tribe farmed near Mount Belshaer was close to the chambers of the Draconic Council, and when the council was in session the sky would be full of dragons travelling to or from the council chambers. A few years ago she saw the dragon who lived in the Casper city during a trip to the city markets. Perhaps that was the dragon she had just been watching. It had been a while, but she remembered that he wasn't so skinny.

Oh well, it wasn't important when she had other things to think about. No one was around, and having drunk a full water bladder before leaving camp, she now needed to relieve herself.

She ducked off the cart path and put the lunches she was carrying about metre or so away. She then crouched down, lifted up her skirt, and began to relieve herself. Drinking so much water had left her feeling rather full, thus the relief of emptying her bladder was welcome.

As the last of her stream slowed to a trickle, Sheila took the handkerchief Sesephie had given her and dabbed it on her marehood, getting the last few drops of urine on the cloth.

She brought it up to her nose for a brief sniff to check she'd gotten some on the cloth, but she wasn't sure she could smell what would tell Matthew how much she desired him, or how desperate she was to have his foal. Sesephie had guaranteed that he (or any other stallion so inclined) could tell, so she'd have to take her word.

As she stood up, fixed up her skirt, and put the handkerchief in her pocket, she saw a smokey black equine taur galloping down the cart path. She wasn't sure why he was out here, but she crouched down to watch the taur galloping closer. Something told her that he wasn't here with good intentions.

He crawled through the wheat so he could look out across the landscape, eager to see the young mare he had spied from above. His body ached too much to stand, but he wanted to catch a glimpse of her again.

He could tell she was young and imagined that she had married in the spring. He wondered if she was already pregnant with her husband's foal. It was likely, but from what he could tell she didn't look to be pregnant. He had studied the nomadic tribes that would plant their crops on the plains of the Casper Kingdom, and he knew that those of age would marry and mate after their fertility festivals in the early spring, just after they had planted their crops.

It seemed strange to him that such a young mare would neither be pregnant nor carrying a yearling foal with her. He found her interesting and she seemed to remind him of his lost Chelsea.

He knew she was out here somewhere. She wasn't back at the main camp and it was uncommon for the young mares to travel too far from camp by themselves. He knew she was soon to be married to one of the stallions of the tribe, and if his guess was correct then she was going to visit him. He could smell the scent of her season and was getting closer to her.

He stopped for a moment. Her scent was very strong and very close; a scent of urine thick with the taste of her season. He could feel his thick cock easing from his sheath as a matter of reflex, but as tantalising as it would be to put her to foal himself, the thrill he would feel capturing such a prize for his King was more appealing than some maiden mare's virginity.

She'd never been so close to a fully-grown stallion taur before. While he was huge, the thing that drew her attention was the massive member that hung between his hind legs, slowly dropping and becoming quite stiff. She watched his massive cock twitching as precum dropped onto the ground. From where she was hiding she could smell his maleness, the thick odour filling her nose and mixing with her own desires. In her current state she could not ignore the smell of virile stallion, so without even thinking, her paw slipped under her skirt and she began to rub her fingers against her marehood. She began to finger herself, desperate for release from the stallion's scent. Her thoughts were pure and she couldn't help but think of Matthew fucking her. She couldn't help but think of what she would do with Matthew that evening while her digits kept rubbing her slit.

She let out a moan as she got lost in her fantasy, forgetting that the stallion she was smelling was probably looking for her. The moment she realised that she had let out a moan, she opened her eyes and not only saw that the equine taur had spotted her, but he was now walking through the wheat towards her. It would be difficult for her to simply outrun the taur, but she knew her only chance was to reach Matthew and the other stallions.

He saw the mare stand up and take off at a full run. He'd found her and now it was time for the hunt to begin.

The mare ran with fear in her belly, running as fast as her two legs would carry her. It was a pity for her that his four-legged gallop would easily outpace her. She'd likely run in a straight line through the wheat, hoping that speed alone would be enough to escape.

She knew that speed alone wouldn't save her, this stallion taur was easily outpacing her, but she knew a thing or two about dodging equine taurs from when she was young.

One year her tribe had joined up with an equine taur tribe and often the young ones would play together. Playing chase games with the young taurs was always a challenge as once they tagged you, they'd gallop out of reach. But if you could dodge the taurs before they tagged you, then they had difficulty turning to continue the chase.

She made a sharp turn to her left and heard the stallion taur behind her scramble to keep on her tail. She felt a sense of relief knowing that adult taurs were still as cumbersome turning at speed. This gave her something resembling an advantage.

After another quick turn and the sound of the taur swearing as she managed to avoid his grasp, she realised that she wouldn't be able to keep this up forever. The taur would tire eventually, but not until long after she had exhausted herself. Her only choice now was to get the attention of the stallions of the tribe and hope they'd be able to drive the taur off.

"Matthew! Help!"

He heard the young mare calling out for help, but from where he lay atop the hill he couldn't see her. He wanted to get up and see where she was, but he just couldn't bring himself to stand up. It was possible she'd hurt herself and needed help, but the sound of a running equine told him that help was probably on the way. Might even be said Matthew.

"Help!"

But it sounded like she was running out of breath. He also heard the sound of six hooves beating the ground, like she was trying to escape from someone. But who would she be trying to escape from? It could be something within the tribe; perhaps she was a thief, but that wouldn't explain why her pursuers weren't telling her to stop.

He could hear her suddenly change direction, but as they turned it sounded like the pursuers were running in time, as if...

No, it was a four-legged equine chasing the young mare, either a full equine or an equine taur..., and the only quadrupeds he saw were with the King's hunting party.

Every fibre of his body screamed as he got up and began to run. His pain was of no consequence to him when the young mare was in danger of ending up as a prize in the King's harem.

The tired muscles of his wings ached as he unfurled them, began to beat them, and lifted off from the small hill he had been laying upon. He could barely get himself up off the ground, but a headwind and his own determination helped him gain altitude.

This damn young mare was trying his patience. She was more nimble than he had expected and it seemed she knew a thing or two about running from taurs. This hardly mattered when he could tell she was tiring and he could still guide her to where he wanted. It was only a matter of time until she ran out of breath. He could see that his hunt was nearing its end, and with this young mare as his quarry he could feel safe that his reputation was restored.

He heard a low roar coming from above him, the sort of noise that only a dragon could make. A quick glance up proved his guess right; Lord Zurack was gliding above him. It seemed weird to him that Lord Zurack would announce his presence like that. Was the dragon attempting to scare him off? It seemed almost comical that the dragon would intervene when he was in such a sickly state. Lord Zurack had no authority over his hunt, so there was nothing that he could do other than watch from a distance.

As the dragon banked and turned back towards them, he had to guess the dragon was merely here to watch. That was what he thought, until Lord Zurack began to dive...

The dragon was a welcome sight, especially when he seemed to distract her pursuer. Though he seemed injured, the dragon still seemed impressive as he flew. She'd hoped that he was here to help her, but at first he just flew overhead as if he was just going to watch. That was until he turned back towards her. Perhaps he was going to chase the equine taur off, except it sort of looked like he was getting closer to her...

She managed to duck out of the way of the dragon's attempt to grab her. She had turned right at the last moment and pulled her head down, allowing her to dodge the open paw of the dragon.

"Get away from her!" The equine taur shouted, obviously directed at the dragon. "She's my quarry!"

The dragon flew away and off to her left. Part of her hoped the dragon was flying off to bother someone else, but she knew he was just preparing for another attempt. She watched him start his turn, but she had to dive out of the way of the equine taur's grip before she saw him start his next approach.

It was becoming more difficult to avoid being caught. She had barely been managing to avoid her four-legged pursuer, but with the dragon joining in, it seemed she was bound to be caught if she didn't find Matthew and the other stallions.

"Matthew!"

The shrill neigh was all she could manage as she did her best to draw air into her desperate lungs. It had been so long since she had to run this hard.

"Matthew! Help!"

He could tell the poor mare was terrified. He heard her calling out for help and with each passing minute she became more erratic. Having seen so many terrified equines in his time, he could tell she was afraid with just a glance.

He'd bailed out of his second attempt when the mare caught his gaze and her terrified look gave him flashbacks to when he had rescued Chelsea. It caught him off guard, but if he was going to rescue the mare then he would have to steady himself and push through his agony.

As he did his best to climb as high as he could with his exhausted wings, he saw the stallions she was calling to running towards her.

They couldn't help her.

If one of the King's hunters was here, then even if these stallions fought off the equine taur, the King would just take what he declared to be his.

Only he could rescue her from the King by making her his slave.

That damned hunter was getting too close for his comfort. The taur had almost got his fingers on her during his last two attempts, so if he got one more chance then he might just grab her.

If he was going to catch her, then he needed to take the hunter out of the hunt.

He had no intentions to kill the equine taur, but the stallion would definitely end up with a headache.

As he reached the apex of his turn, he began to line himself up for his strike. The young mare had dodged the taur's grasp at the last moment, so he was distracted working out his new line of attack; he'd be too focused on her to see the approaching attack. The taur had his back to him as well, so he wouldn't see the incoming attack until it was too late.

He came gliding in on wings burning with over-stressed muscles and a body that was on the point of collapse, lining up his attack and hoping for the best. He felt ashamed that his best was so poor, but he'd left his body waste away these last few months and had very little left; all of which ached with each tiny movement. This was going to be his last chance to rescue this mare from the hunter. One chance to save the mare from a horrendous fate, just as it had been all those years ago.

He took a deep breath and entered the last part of his dive, tail dropped and arms outstretched.

His young quarry had been calling out for her tribe the entire time, but it didn't worry him. Even if they were close, he still had his net handy and he could easily catch her, he just wanted to catch her unharmed and unblemished. He had been surprised by Lord Zurack interfering with his hunt, but he could tell the dragon was in no shape to offer him any challenge. This chase would be over soon. She had given him quite the run around, but this was over, with a sudden flash of green above him...?

He opened his eyes and found himself laying upon the ground. His head was screaming with pain and the sound of a mare in trouble. Wait...

He looked towards the terrified squealing and saw Lord Zurack laying curled up in a ball a good fifteen metres away. In the tangled mess of bodies he could see the torso of the mare and one of her arms smacking harmlessly against the dragon.

No.

Lord Zurack had caught her? But how? He had been so close.

"Zurack!" He slurred. "Get off her!"

No.

He would not be denied his honour or reputation when they were so close, not now.

He did his best to stagger to his four hooves, but he was still stunned and almost fell on his rump like a newborn foal.

"That mare is mine!"

He was so close to his victory, his restored reputation. Nothing should interfere with his hunt, not even the representative of the Draconic Council.

He went for his bow, but it had been snapped when he fell. It didn't matter, his dagger would be enough. He'd slit the dragon's neck and this would be finished; consequences be damned.

The dragon had fallen on her and was now crushing her with his bulk. Was he even still alive?

"Help!" She squealed as loud as she could, desperately trying to wriggle out from under the oversized lizard.

She couldn't budge the damn beast and this didn't make escaping his grip any easier.

"Matthew!"

"Stop screaming," came a deep, threatening growl. "Your shrieking is giving me a headache."

Oh no. Her captor was in pain. Woe for them.

Hopefully her loud neighing would make their ears bleed!

This might be her only chance to escape.

"Zurack! Get off her!"

Oh shit. That was probably the equine taur, and he didn't sound very happy. Now she was trapped. If she escaped the dragon's grasp, then he'd definitely catch her; not that escape was possible with the heavy dragon on top of her. Now she was nothing but a prize in the game between the two of them.

"That mare is mine!"

The arm that was around her waist began to tighten as the rest of the dragon began to move.

"Be quiet," the dragon muttered as he got ready to stand. "This is the best for you and those that you love."

Well fuck this dragon.

She let out the loudest neigh she could muster while her legs flailed in an attempt to kick the dragon.

"Sheila!"

Matthew? Was that Matthew calling her? She could hear him in the distance, but it meant he was close enough that he might be able to rescue her.

"Matthew! Help!"

"Put her down and I won't kill you!"

All of a sudden her attention snapped back to the taur, standing there brandishing a rather large and brutal looking dagger.

"She is mine!" The taur threatened with a fake lunge. "She's my gift for the King."

"Stand down," the dragon proclaimed. "My rights in this kingdom are clear; any that the King can claim, I can as well."

"I DON'T CARE!"

The taur lunged towards them, but even she could tell he was still stunned. The dragon easily stepped out of the way and used his tail to trip the taur, sending him sprawling to the ground once more.

"Sheila!"

Damn, he was running out of time. His body was almost at its limit and he still had to fly back to his tower. Holding onto the wriggling mare was also draining his strength. This was his only chance to escape with the mare; he had no choice but to turn and flee with his 'prize' tucked under his arm.

He couldn't remember the last time he had a decent meal, yet for some reason it felt like his entire body was made of stone. It took what little effort he had left to run, but he could manage just enough speed to take-off.

Unfurling his wings took longer than usual, and he found it hard to keep them spread.

The tribe of anthro equines was closing on him from his left, and the sound of the enraged hunter on his right was getting closer. He had no choice but to take flight. From there he could figure out what to do next, and hopefully make his way back to his tower.

"Don't struggle," Zurack warned the mare under his arm, "or you'll have a long way to fall."

He began to beat his exhausted wings, doing his best to push as much air down that he could. His speed began to pick up, he felt his wings start to take his weight, and then he was able to lift his feet off the ground. He was airborne, and with all that he had left, he began to climb into the sky.

"Zurack!"

She'd never seen the world from the air before. Seeing so far was something she could only imagine doing from a mountain top. Were she not so terrified of the dragon or falling to her death, she would probably be overcome with awe. She watched Matthew doing his best to chase after them, but it was clear that the dragon was too fast. It wasn't long before he was nothing but a distant speck on a hill. Then she couldn't even tell what crops belonged to her tribe and what belonged to the King. Everything was becoming a blur, but that might have been the tears in her eyes.

She looked towards where they were going, and the walled city seemed to get bigger.

She'd heard stories about the Casper city and the dark trades of its citizens. It was a hub of trade, but it traded almost exclusively in slaves and that was why her tribe did all it could to avoid going there. People of all sorts were traded within those walls, but it was the sale of sex slaves that made the city wealthy. Was... Was this her fate? To be sold for the pleasure and profit of others? She wanted to struggle, but the last time she did so, the dragon had started to dig his claws into her belly.

She would have to keep her wits about her if she was going to escape back to Matthew and her tribe, but she wasn't going to try until her hooves were once again upon the ground.

"Zurack!"

He didn't know why he was yelling after the dragon when he was beyond his sight, but the rage building up within him needed a way out.

He didn't know how long he had been galloping, but in truth he didn't care. It was his exhaustion that made him slow from a gallop to a canter, and then finally a trot.

As the worn-out dragon hadn't come down, it was clear that Zurack had the strength to make it back to his tower. From there he'd be able to authorise his new slave and put his prize for the King out of reach. He had failed again and couldn't bear the shame. All he could do now was return to the King and formalise his humiliation.

"Any signs of him yet Serinn?"

Selpher slowly walked out onto the balcony of the guest bedroom and stood beside his colleague.

"No, still no signs of him."

Selpher let out a heavy sigh.

"Was sending him out to fly a good idea?"

"If I did not suggest it then our Lord would be brooding about the tower in a state of melancholy. The fresh air will do him some good."

The two stood in silence, side by side, looking out to see if they could see their Lord returning.

"I have closed the curtains in our Lord's bedroom and locked the doors," Selpher said as he offered Serinn a large brass key. "He has agreed not to enter until we have cleaned it."

"Then we shall not have guests here until we have. This place stinks like a tomb."

"And the Lord will give his permission when he is ready."

"And so it shall smell of a tomb for many years to come."

"I will need you to hold onto the key as I don't feel confident to resist him. In my heart I just wish to make him happy, even if that destroys him."

Without saying a word, Serinn took the key from Selpher and attached it to her ring of keys.

"Is she..."

"Yes, she still lays there as if she is sleeping."

There was another pause, as nervous as it was tense.

"Would she be warm? You know how my Lady hated the cold."

"It was the last thing I did before I came down."

"Thank you Selpher. I don't know if I could do it myself, but I don't think I could stand knowing she might be cold."

There was a brief pause before Selpher spoke.

"We should return to our duties. We must make our Lord's home welcoming for his return."

"Let me just look for a few minutes more," Serinn sighed, "just in case."

"He might not be home today."

"As long as he is not here I can believe he's happy, just as my Lady would have wanted him to be."

He was exhausted. His body ached and his wings were barely holding him aloft. He wouldn't have cared were it not for the passenger he held to his chest. Were he to come crashing to the ground now, especially as they flew so high above on the rising thermals, then there would be no way to save either of their lives. It had been quite the risk to fly so high, but there was no way he'd be able to fly back to his tower with just his own strength.

At least his passenger had stopped struggling, likely realising that escape now meant death and it wasn't something she was willing to risk at this point.

She'd definitely never been this high before. She clung to her captor with every last bit of strength she could muster. She had been thinking about what her potential future might have been, until she noticed the chill in the air and those below seeming to vanish into the terrain. Now all she could think about was how this bastard dragon was the only thing that was stopping her falling to her death, and how feeble this dragon felt. As a working horse she knew that being able to feel someone's bones meant they lacked strength, and he was so bony she wasn't sure if he had any strength left in him.

Occasionally she'd slip or his wings would falter and it felt as if this would be her last moment, only for him to then tighten his grip, correct his wings and keep flying.

When she was a young filly she would watch the birds, the avians, and the dragons flying high up in the sky, wondering what it was like to see the world as they did, but now that she had seen it for herself she would just be grateful to feel solid ground beneath her hooves again.

He was now close enough to Balazaar that he could actually spot his tower amongst the other buildings of the pleasure district. He could also see his gardens and a lawn that he could crash-land upon; he was now so exhausted that he had no hope of landing properly. He flew around the tower in large circles a few times, hoping his staff would spot him before he landed inelegantly upon the lawn.

Unfortunately, just as he was getting close to the ground, his passenger started to get restless. With the size difference between them, this shouldn't have been a problem; he would have adjusted his weight, tightened his grip and corrected his wings. He would have been able to do this a year ago, but now he was too weak.

With a firm twist, the mare managed to break his grip and slip through his arms. It was lucky for her that they weren't too high above the ground. Unfortunately he had now committed himself to his landing and the sudden change in weight meant he had no chance to recover. There wasn't going to be anything elegant about this landing, he just had to crash with as little injury as possible. He tucked in his wings as he began to roll and put his arms out with the intent to stop himself slamming head first into the bush in front of him.

"Lord Zurack!"

He was still disorientated from his crash, but he recognised the voice.

"Lord Zurack!" Hippos, chief of his stables, called out as he ran towards him. "Are you okay?"

"Grab the mare!" He ordered. "Don't let her get away!"

He heard the mare squealing as she and Hippos struggled on the ground. He wanted to get up and help, but he was firmly lodged in the bush, partially stuck under the weight of the large fallen shrub.

"I have her pinned to the ground, my Lord," Hippos said as it sounded like the struggling had stopped, though the mare continued to squeal in distress.

"Just hold her there while I call Selpher," he groaned, realising that he was well and truly stuck.

"Selpher!"

He might not have been in prime condition, but he could still let out a roar the entire pleasure district could hear.

"My Lord?!"

From how he was stuck in the bush he could see Selpher looking over the side of the guest room balcony at him, a surprised look on his face.

His loyal valet ran inside, yelling orders as he did so.

"Serinn! Organise the staff to the garden!" He heard Selpher ordering. "The Lord needs our help immediately!"

Some days he wondered what he had done to earn the loyalty of Selpher and Serinn. For the moment though, he was stuck in the bush with new pain to enjoy.

She had managed to dislodge herself from the dragon's grip just before he touched down, but she had twisted her fetlock joint as she landed on the ground. Unable to put any weight on her right leg, it had not been hard for the massive anthro stallion to pin her face down to the ground and hold her in place. She had no idea what was going on until she felt her paws being tied behind her back by a smaller stallion.

"Is she secure?" The stallion on her back asked.

"As tight as I tie you," the smaller stallion said as he finished tying a knot in the rope that bound her wrists.

"Not the time to flirt Selpher."

"Just giving you a point of reference."

She tried to struggle against her bindings, but the rope was tied tight and there wasn't any room to even move her arms.

"My Lord! What have you done? Are you okay?" A new feminine voice called out in surprise.

"I'm fine, just help me get out of this damn bush."

She didn't care much for her captor's struggle as her main concern was trying to figure out if there was some way to get out of her bindings.

She wriggled her wrists, but despite her best efforts she found no slack in her bindings.

"I think we'll need to get the gardener to help cut you out."

"Are you...? Fine. Call the gardener, and then have Hippos and Selpher take the mare to the guest's bedroom for the time being. Make sure two staff are watching over her AT ALL TIMES. Is that clear Serinn?"

"Yes, my Lord."

It had taken almost half an hour for his gardener to cut off enough branches and free him from the rather large shrub. It saddened him that not only was the bush one of the oldest in his garden, but its flowers had been Chelsea's favourite in the spring. The gardener had promised to do all that he could to save it, but the prognosis was grim.

Now he lay on the cold stone floor of his library, feeling every part of his body aching with a physical pain he had never experienced before. There was nothing he could do to avoid this agony and so decided to wallow in it, along with his other pain.

"My Lord."

He didn't want to move. All he wanted to do was lay there.

"Lord Zurack, we need to know what you intend to do with our new guest."

New guest? What new guest? Bah, he didn't care. He gave an annoyed groan as he closed his eyes.

"Send them away," he muttered. "I don't care to have guests."

He heard footsteps walk around him and stand by his muzzle.

"We cannot do that Zurack. You brought her here and we don't know who she is or where she is from."

A member of his staff dared address him without a title? Not even Selpher dared to do that except in the most personal of circumstances, and this was no such time. He opened his eyes to see who dared claim the right to be his equal, only to see the only one who had that right.

Serinn stood there, looking at him with a disappointed glare.

"I should have dismissed you in the autumn," he groaned as he turned to look away. "Your Lady is dead after-all."

"And you would deny my Lady's final wish?"

"No, I could never do that."

"Thus you will not dismiss me as long as she resides here."

"You haven't come to torture me, so just tell me why you are disturbing me."

"The mare in the guest's bedroom. What are we going to do?"

"She is a slave."

Those words, as they spilled past his lips, felt bitter on his tongue.

"My Lady still rests upon your bed, the bed the two of you shared for seventy years, and you sully her memory by perpetuating the system which stole her from her family, and bring another victim to warm your bed?!"

"I HAD NO CHOICE!"

His roar was so potent that the very windows of the library rattled in their frames and his voice echoed throughout his tower for almost a minute. But though she took the full force of his shout, Serinn didn't flinch.

"She is a nomad," he sighed. "If I hadn't taken her then the King's hunting party certainly would have."

"And so you steal a slave of the King?"

"I am entitled to claim slaves from the nomad tribes, just as the King is."

"I have never heard of this law."

"Because this is the first time I will be claiming that right."

"You swore to my Lady that you would take no more slaves, to honour her memory."

"And I do not intend to break my oath to her."

"Yet a slave-to-be is being held in the guest's bedroom."

"And the body of my last slave still lays in my bed."

There was silence before she shouted at him again.

"How dare you say my Lady was a slave! She was a mare of free spirit and body. She was no one's slave!"

He didn't want to stand. His body hurt too much simply doing nothing, but it was time his Lady's loyal servant knew the truth.

"Lord Zurack, I insist that you take that lie back this instant."

"Silence yourself Serinn and help me stand," he groaned as he did his best to struggle to his paws and knees. "I shall show you proof of my claim if I can get to my desk."

Reluctantly she got under his left arm, got him to his feet, and then helped him limp over to his desk.

"There is one condition to this," he said as he opened one of the top drawers and pulled out a leather folio. "What you see and what I tell you must be kept to yourself, even taken to your grave untold."

"If you speak the truth."

"Then read what is within and tell me what you see."

He should have avoided capture. He could have easily outrun the anthro ponies, but he just couldn't gather the will to escape.

Now he didn't have the slightest of cares. His reputation was in ruins and he would not have the courage to appear before the King again. All because he was outsmarted by a frail dragon.

And now here he lay; bound, hobbled, and gagged in the wheat fields of the nomadic tribe. A young black anthro stallion, most likely the mare's husband, was angrily kicking him in his lower gut in a rather ineffective manner; the toe of the hoof wasn't a useful way to kick anyone.

"Matthew, calm yourself," one of the other stallions ordered. "This isn't doing anyone any good and we won't get anything from him if he's dead."

"He knows where Sheila is!" The stallion kicking him shouted. "He will tell me where she is!"

"He will tell you nothing while he is gagged."

"But he will talk when we ungag him."

The young stallion gave him another kick with the toe of his hoof.

"Matthew, return to camp. Your grief will be more than enough to convince the king that Sheila is gone. If he believes he has lost his prize, then he will leave us be."

"And what? You'll let this bastard go free?"

"We will bring him back to camp after the king has left. Now go; sell your grief to that traitor of the equine family."

He sat in his desk chair and watched Serinn going over the paperwork, checking everything with a shocked look on her muzzle.

"H-how can this be?" Serinn stammered. "M-my Lady was a slave to two people?"

"No, your Lady is the slave of a dead person," Zurack explained. "My papers are nothing but forgeries designed to hide that truth."

"But why didn't you free her?"

"Because that would have revealed my lie, stealing her away from her life here and condemning her to one of true slavery."

"Y-you mean..."

"Your Lady was a paper slave, just as our guest will have to be."

"Can't we just let her go? In a few days the hunt will be over."

"Thatwould mean I interfered with the King's hunt. Such an act is a crime andthuscause a diplomatic issue. It would also not stop the King simply returningat alater timeto collect his tribute. No, she is only safe as long as she is within my custody."

"A paper slave," Serinn said, the words feeling so disgusting as they came from her mouth.

Zurack began to pack the old documents back into the leather folio.

"I will need you to dispatch a messenger to one of the Slave Notaries and organise for them to visit tomorrow morning. I want the documents finalised immediately."

"What happened to my Lady's rightful owner?"

Zurack tied the binding on the folio, taking a moment to prepare himself.

"I killed him," Zurack admitted. "In a drunken fit of rage, I killed him."

"But why?"

"The past is going nowhere," Zurack sighed as he looked at the folio in front of him, "but the present demands our attention and we must deal with it first. Send for a Notary and then welcome our guest. You may hold yourself as your late Lady's maid until her last wishes are honoured, but your primary role for now will be tending to our guest."

"And what of your care?"

"Selpher will tend to that, as is his job."

"My Lord, I cannot fathom the injuries you have given yourself that will require my attention. I am more adept at treating your injuries and our guest may feel more at ease with an equine tending to her."

"She may feel more comfortable with you than Selpher. It is likely she has heard of the reputation of this city and Selpher may cause her to feel anxious about her future. We can not have our guest feeling that she may be raped at any moment."

"I understand."

"You have my authority to do what you can to keep her comfortable within the compound."

"And what about you, my Lord?"

"We will worry about my treatment and recovery later."

"No, my Lord, what about you? What is she to know of her master?"

"Nothing more than the basics. Though she is my slave, I have no needs or wants of her. She shall be a prisoner shown the hospitality of an honoured guest."

"But my Lord..."

"You have your orders Serinn!" He yelled at her at the top of his lungs. "Tend to our guest, as is your duty!"

Serinn stood there a moment, gathering her professional composure.

"As you wish, my Lord," she said with a bow. "I shall see to our guest's wishes."

"Good," he said as he returned the leather folio back to its drawer. "You have your orders; govern yourself accordingly."

"You have your orders, Serinn! Tend to our guest, as is your duty!"

That was the second time she'd heard that beast roar, and the way his voice echoed off the stone of the tower sent shivers up her spine, adding to her already ample fears.

She didn't know where she was, nor who the two anthro stallions that stood by the door were or what they intended to do. The city was known to her people as being a centre of the slave trade, specialising in slaves for sex or pleasure.

Would this be her future? A toy for the use of these two stallions?

No, not for them. She was a toy for the dragon who kidnapped her. Dragons were rumoured to surround themselves with all sorts of treasures, so why wouldn't she just be another trinket in his collection?

She tried her bindings again to see if there was some way to get her paws loose, but her thoughts were disrupted by the opening of the door.

"Hippos, do you have any jobs in the stables that cannot wait until tomorrow?"

"Only the evening meal."

"Good, then I shall need you to stand guard for me as Selpher returns to his duties. Selpher, our Lord needs tending to."

"Is he injured?"

"He will need his afternoon bath, but for the moment ensure he is not in undue pain."

"We both know that you are the miracle worker here Serinn, but I will do my best."

She heard the clopping of hooves leave the room before the door closed.

"Miss? I need to talk to you."

She ignored whoever was calling her. If she was going to end up as a slave then she would resist in whatever way she could.

"Where is she Hippos?"

"I believe she is hiding under the bed."

Evidently the palomino anthro stallion was a species traitor and she wouldn't be able to rely upon his help to escape.

"Miss, I intend to unbind your wrists and introduce myself. I don't wish to drag you out from under the bed."

This stranger was expecting kind words to seduce her out of her hiding spot? After all that she had been through today, kind words would not be enough to coax her out.

"Miss, I am at least 100 years your senior and if there's anything that I have learned in this time, it is patience."

100 years? Only dragons lived that long. With her curiosity piqued, she carefully moved an eye closer to the edge of her hiding spot to try and get a glimpse through the dust ruffle of the bed.

She was surprised at how tall this creature was. The palomino anthro stallion must have been a descendant of the old forest tribes and stood 2.1 or 2.2 metres tall. The mystery creature stood only a head shorter than him, but she'd easily tower over anyone from her tribe. She wore a long black dress that seemed to cover everything but her head and paws, and atop her head sat a frilled white cap. What she found the most fascinating was her turquoise blue fur and rather pointed muzzle.

"And what if she doesn't want to come out?" She overheard the stallion whisper to the strange blue furred female in the black dress.

"The Lord has made his orders perfectly clear, but if her mood does not improve then I might have to take a more direct approach."

"Do you think that the Lord will use her to replace..."

"No. It is far too soon for him. Six months will not be enough."

"So why did he take her?"

"You will have to ask him yourself. My orders are to tend to her as an honoured guest."

"Don't you mean 'prisoner'?"

"Lord Zurack has made his intentions clear to me andshe is a guest."

A guest? This made her angry. She had been kidnapped, bound and held against her will. Finally she found the courage to protest.

"A guest?! This is how your Lord treats his guests? Your Lord is a monster!"

The stallion was about to charge over to the bed in anger, but the blue furred female put her arm up to stop him.

"My Lord is the kindest dragon I know," the blue furred female said calmly. "You are lucky that he rescued you when he did."

"He's a damned body thief, stealing me away from my people!"

The stallion went to step forward again, but the blue furred female did not budge.

"Serinn, she slandersourLord of the tower!" The stallion insisted.

"But she is correct," Serinn pointed out. "Our Lord did, in fact, kidnap her."

"Serinn? What is wrong with you?! That doesn't sound like Zurack!"

"He didn't just kidnap her, he saved her from the King's hunt. If ever this young mare was to be a prisoner, it would be under the King."

"Oh."

"Rescue me?" She scoffed. "This tower is not my home and you are not my family!"

"You were earmarked to be a slave," Serinn pointed out. "You will be either a slave of the King's harem, or a slave to Lord Zurack. Were I in your position, I know which one I would choose."

"I want to go back to my family!"

"Unfortunately that isn't a choice. Here you will be cared for as an honoured guest. Under the King you will be nothing more than a fuck toy. Those are now your choices."

"But I am your Lord's slave! Who says he won't treat me the same as the King?"

"In time you will see that our Master is kind. He lost the love of his life six months ago and today was the first day he left the bed they shared together. There is no greater cause of impotence than loss and helplessness, and he will be like this for many years to come. So, my Lady, would you like me to remove your bindings and tend to your injuries, or are you comfortable merely hiding under the bed?"

He lay in his afternoon bath, submerged so only his nostrils were above the water. He let out a deep sigh, trapped in his own thoughts with nothing to distract him. Every scale on his body tingled as the soaps and salts in the water soaked into them, helping to loosen the old, dead skin he hadn't shed properly over the last six months.

The water also made the wound on his left thigh sting like mad, soaking into his exposed flesh and deep into where his scales had been rooted. He could smell the subtlest hint of blood in the water, probably leaking fromthatwound on his thighs.

He'd been in the tub for far too long and the water was starting to get cold. He should have gotten out of the cold water, but he didn't want to. He would just lay there and let the cold fill his bones, giving him pneumonia and then death.

Yes, death. To finally meet the Apprentice and then join his Chelsea within the great beyond. Finally happy once again.

"My Lord, it is time to get out of the bath."

Curse his dear and loyal servants.

Using the sides of the tub to help, he slowly pulled himself up so he was sitting in the tub. Selpher stood beside the bath, a large towel draped over his arms.

"Did you enjoy your bath?" Selpher asked him as he took the towel from his servant.

"The water was starting to get cold," he muttered under his breath.

"I do apologise for the inconvenience, but as we don't have water outlets here in the library we have to bring it up in buckets."

"It's okay Selpher," he sighed, "I'm aware of the lack of water pipes in my library, and the cold did not actually bother me."

"Perhaps tomorrow morning you can take your bath in the kitchen so we can keep the water heated."

'May Faredae damn you for your compassion,' he thought as he turned to look at Selpher.

"Is that an order of our head housekeeper?" He asked with a snide tone as he began to dry his face and head.

"If you are asking for my opinion, then I do not believe you should use the library as your new retreat; that would be as bad as if you never left your chambers. You also have the responsibility of tending to the needs of your new guest."

"Serinn has the responsibility of tending to our guest's needs."

"It is true that we, as your servants, have a duty to care for your guest, but you have an obligation to be a good host."

"I did not take her just so I can play host to a slave."

"My Lord, you and I both know that you have done such things before."

"You may be my most trusted confidant and best friend Selpher, but do not feel that this gives you the right to be so blunt with me."

"My Lord, you must appreciate how she feels at this time. If all you wish for her is to be your captive, then you may as well give her to the King as a gift. Then she may at least have company within the King's harem."

"She does not deserve such a life," he said as he pulled his head free from the towel and gave Selpher an angry stare. "No one does."

"So what time will you and your guest be dining this evening?"

"Not tonight," he said with a sigh. "If she wishes for a small meal, then I am certain that Serinn can accommodate her. I'll just have a small meal myself."

"And where will my Lord be sleeping this evening?"

"I'll just sleep in here," he sighed. "Now please help me stand up, my friend."

"You are fortunate that it's just a sprain," Serinn said to her as she wrapped her lower right leg in a bandage with two splints to keep her fetlock joint still. "You are not the most injured person I have tended to today."

She sat upon the bed while the strange half dragon tended to her leg, and though her arms were now free of the ropes, she couldn't help but rub the phantom sensations in her wrists.

"A victim of your kind Master most likely," she scoffed quietly, still wary of what she was being told of the dragon.

"He's nothing more than a victim of himself," Serinn pointed out. "The injuries he has are self inflicted from remaining immobile for six months."

"Your Master's injuries do not concern me in the slightest."

"His heart also still mourns for the loss of the one he loved the most."

"And yet he steals me from the ones that I love. Why should I care for his pain and loss?"

"Yes, the whole situation is nothing but unfortunate, yet these things are beyond the control of all concerned. One way or another, you would have ended up as a prisoner within the walls of this city."

"You speak as if you know so much, but how can I tell if what you say is the truth? What do I have that proves you tell the truth?"

"You have my word," the tall stallion said from where he stood by the door. "Lord Zurack is the most honest person I know, despite his profession."

"And what profession would that be; slave trader?"

"Your Master is a representative of the Draconic Council," Serinn answered.

"I do not care what he does, nor am I going to call him 'Master'."

"Young one, you underestimate him."

"Show me proof your 'Lord' is as honourable and noble as you claim to be."

"The proof you seek may not be what you wish to see."

"That will be for me to judge."

These ponies knew how to make their 'guests' feel 'welcome'. When the sun began to set and the King's hunt had long since departed, the tribes-people loaded his bound body into a cart and brought him back to camp. From there, they dragged him into one of their tents, past the angry gazes of the other ponies of the tribe, and then tied him up to interrogate him.

The first thing they did was bind his front and rear legs in leg irons, each pair bound together with a solid rod of iron. Then they had forced him to kneel with his front legs and tied the leg irons of his front legs to those of his back with ropes, forcing him to stay kneeling on his front legs whilst his back remained standing. Then, as if to add to his pain, his wrists were tied and pulled above his head by a rope that must have gone over one of the strong beams of the tent.

This would have been much worse if he cared about his current predicament.

In truth, it was his ruined reputation that was causing him the most pain. Nothing these nomads could do would cause him more pain than that.

"Matthew, the elders have said you are not to be here."

"I don't care! I have to see him!"

The guards outside the tent were arguing with the foolish stallion who had been kicking him before.

"The elders have made it clear that his fate will be determined later."

"I don't care about his fate! I need to know where Sheila is!"

"He has refused to say a word to anyone. What makes you think he'll talk to you?"

"I will make him talk."

"Go back to your tent Matthew. The elders will pass judgement soon."

He knew he should have some sympathy for the young stallion; he'd lost the love of his life after-all, but no sympathy came to him. It was very much a kill-or-be-killed world and that young fool did not have a chance of surviving it alone. Fortunately, he had his herd to keep an eye on him.

'Must be nice to have someone looking out for you,' he thought to himself.

"Let me see if I understand your plan. You want the Lord and his new guest to share an evening meal together, despite the fact that our Lord can barely move and our guest wants nothing to do with him?"

"Selpher, they NEED the company, even if they don't want to admit it."

"Serinn, your heart is in the right place, but you are missing the bigger picture. After his bath, Zurack simply lay down upon the rug in the library and has not moved since. From what you have told me, our guest has sprained her fetlock and will be on crutches for a week, which means she won't be able to manage the stairs, even IF she is willing to dine with the Lord."

"We still have our late Lady's sedan chair and we can have the meal in the library. It is imperative that we are more proactive lest the Lord make the library his new hideaway from the world. We will lose all the progress we have made today and in that process, potentially destroy two lives. We have an obligation for everyone concerned."

"Alright, I shall help you with this crazy plan of yours, but you will have to convince our guest. I will do my best to convince our Lord, but I feel I will only be able to push him only so much further."

"Do your best Selpher, our late Lady would insist that we try."

Even as he lay upon the rug in his library with all his limbs spread out, every part of him ached. Even his tail ached for some unknown reason. He could hardly move without the painful burn in his muscles flaring up as if they were coals stirred by bellows. There was no comfort from his pain, no matter what he did.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, my Lord, but will you be taking dinner in the library this evening?"

There was no way he was going to be climbing the stairs any time soon.

"Yes Selpher, I will be dining here tonight, but only when I am ready."

"And what will you be wearing this evening?"

Wearing? He currently lay naked on the rug and as far as he was concerned, this would be all he would wear.

"Forgive me if I do not appreciate your joke Selpher, but for whom would I be dressing up for when I intend to dine alone?"

"Your guest will be joining you this evening," Selpher replied. "It is accepted etiquette that you share meals."

Damn accepted etiquette. He was in far too much pain to think about such things.

"Please apologise to my guest and inform her that I will be unable to dine with her, but I am not well enough to share her company this evening."

"My Lord, it is best that you show her that your intentions are noble as soon as possible. The longer you delay, the harder it will be to convince her you do not intend to hurt her."

"Do not lecture me on how I keep my slaves," he growled as he turned his head to look at Selpher. "I know more on the subject than you can fathom. Civility and social niceties can wait until morning."

"And what shall I tell our guest? Our Lord will request her presence when he deems it fit, as if she were nothing more than a common concubine?"

"Selpher, you and Serinn have been trying my patience all day and now you have worn away my last nerve. This is the final warning for the both of you. LEAVE ME TO SUFFER ALONE!"

Selpher said nothing. There was a quiet click as the library door closed and he was once again alone. Yes, alone, as he should be, as he had been these last few months. As he had been before, all those years ago. Alone. Devoid of true companionship. Lying naked upon the floor of his library. A broken, pitiful creature.

Alone.

He began to cry, so lost and helpless without his Chelsea, the one who had given is life so much meaning these last seventy years. All he could do was cry.

She was getting tired of listening to this part dragoness prattling on, attempting to convince her that she should dine with that body-snatching bastard that she called 'Lord'. She didn't care to listen to the reasons or bargains, all that she was thinking about was how she would escape when her leg was better.

"LEAVE ME TO SUFFER ALONE!"

That voice. The voice of the resident dragon echoed throughout the tower and everyone else fell silent. Even she could not bring herself to break the uncomfortable calm.

The sudden knock upon the door gave her a start, sounding so loud amidst the quiet.

"You can come in," the part dragoness said with a heavy sigh.

The black and white anthro stallion entered the room, doing his best to hide how unsettled he was.

"Our Lord has insisted that he will not be dining with our guest this evening, despite my best efforts to convince him otherwise."

"Then I shall...," the part dragoness began, only for the anthro stallion to interrupt her again.

"He said alone, and has made his intentions clear."

"But..."

"Do not push the matter, he was quite clear."

"Faredae damn that stubborn fool."

"Breakfast may be a different matter, but for now it is best that we let him rest."

"I don't see us having much choice."

She jumped when she heard a pained wail echoing through the tower. It sounded like a ghost.

"By Thorn, what was that?" She demanded, frightened of what ghastly thing made that noise.

"That is just the Lord," Serinn replied with a sigh. "In truth, he has been this way for many months."

She could feel the pain in those harrowing cries, the pain of loss and despair. The same that Matthew and her family were likely making in her absence. The sort that she wanted to make at this moment.

She didn't want to feel any sympathy or compassion for her captor, but at this moment she couldn't help but feel sorry for the dragon. Had he been like this for six months? It sounded like the wound was still fresh.

"Is this normal?" Was all she could ask.

"Dragons mourn for a long time," Serinn explained, "thus to him the pain is still very fresh. What is six months when you are over two hundred years old?"

Two hundred?! She had just turned eighteen in the spring, but he was over two hundred? She couldn't even begin to imagine how long that was, or even what was going on 200 years ago. In truth, she could barely imagine two hundred of anything.

"He will be like this for hours," the stallion servant sighed.

"It is best we leave him be."

"I shall organise some rooms at the inn for the day staff as no one will be able to sleep here tonight."

"And our guest?"

"Our orders are clear, she will remain here so we can keep her under observation."

"That seems almost cruel."

"As our Lord was threatening our jobs Serinn, I feel it best that we do not try his patience."

Serinn let out an aggravated sigh as she tilted her head back.

"Then we have no choice. Send all the unnecessary staff to the inn," Serinn grumbled. "Keep a couple of extra staff here to help with watching our guest. The rest of us will just have to work in shifts and sleep in the stables."

"You know I don't like guests in my stables Serinn," the tall, species betraying stallion said firmly from where he stood beside the door.

"That's why you are going to the inn with the carriage team. They'll need their rest as well."

"Then I have to go make preparations."

"Let me go and pass out the orders and find someone to replace you at your post," Selpher said to Hippos. "Then I can replace Serinn and take the first watch so she can get some sleep. Give me twenty minutes and you can go prepare the team."

"And I was hoping we'd finally be able to get some time together."

"Focus you two," Serinn interrupted, "we still have our jobs to do."

He heard quiet shuffling behind him, as if someone was sneaking into the tent. Part of him wished he could lash out with his hind legs and kick whoever was sneaking in, but his bindings were far too restrictive and there was no way for him to move. What he wasn't expecting was to feel the sharp edge of a blade against his throat.

"Make a noise and I'll slit your throat so quickly that you'll bleed out before they even hear you."

The voice was very familiar; it was that young stallion whose wife had been stolen.

The idea of death didn't bother him, but playing with this fool seemed entertaining.

"I don't care what the tribe thinks since they've already condemned Sheila to her fate as a slave; I don't care about the laws of your kingdom; and I don't care who or what he is. That dragon must die so I can save my wife.

Now you are my only link to Sheila and you will either help me, or become a very dead end in this mission of mine. That's your choice."

The young fool intended to sneak into Balazaar, find Lord Zurack's tower and then kill an adult dragon? This moron would just get himself killed before he got close, but it would be possible with the right help; his help in particular.

"You may as well slit my throat as whatever I can tell you won't do you much good."

He felt the blade's edge push against his neck and slide just enough for a trickle of blood to start staining his fur.

"Do not try my patience; I am a stallion with a vendetta."

"Tell me this 'mighty hero'; where does Lord Zurack live?" He asked the young stallion. "How do you intend to get there? Have you ever fought a full-grown dragon before?"

"Don't worry about that, I'll work it out as I go. Lord Zurack you said? Well I don't care for his title, he'll die either way."

"Perhaps you don't appreciate just who it is you intend to kill, little farm colt. Lord Zurack is a representative of the Draconic Council. Only the King's mansion has more guards and that's simply because the King's mansion is larger.

And then what? Sneak in, slash his throat and escape with your 'beloved'? What if she's already been sold or traded? What then? And if she is there, how will you escape without alerting the guards? Do you think you can just escape from the entire city guard? No, you won't get her out of Balazaar, not without my help at least."

He could feel the blade trembling against his throat as his potential killer's will faltered.

"And what do you want?"

"As long as you kill Lord Zurack you can consider me rewarded."

"Then we'd best escape before the elders call for your execution."

"Yes, that would probably be for the best."