FSE

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Aurora yawned as she watched the party before her, there was party music playing and many dragons were dancing. She herself had been dancing for hours, and felt like she was about to collapse.

“Long nights?" A dragoness asked.

Aurora blushed.

“Just messing with you." The dragoness laughed.

Jack sidled up to her and kissed her lightly on the cheek. His infectious energy radiated from his core, and Aurora couldn't help but be happy. He held out his paw, and she took it.

Just north of the party, three moon guards were standing on a tower, they were smiling, and watching the celebration of happy dragons below them.

“Good for him, I heard he's had to help his mother support three sisters." One of the guards spoke.

The other one nodded, but the third couldn't help but stay focused on the party. Something ebbed in the back of his mind, and he focused on the female.

“What, is the ex-royal guard too good for us?" The first guard asked.

“No, but do you see the female there?"

“Yeah, quite a beauty, lucky drake." The second guard chuckled.

“I think I recognize her." The third guard replied.

“She's from the palace, and like you, she was fired when the princess ran away."

“No, I think she is the princess."

The others laughed. “The princess, heir to the kingdom, here? In a mating celebration?"

“The king would be furious if that was true." The second added.

“It's her." The third guard replied, and rushed off of the tower.

Aurora woke up, and smiled up at Jack. As if he could feel her gaze, he opened his eyes and looked down at her.

“Morning, dancer." He smirked.

“Too sore to get up, let's just stay here."

Jack lay back with a content sigh, and they laid there for a while. Their silence was interrupted by a knocking on the door, and the footsteps of somebody answering it.

“Who are you?"

“Royal guards, step aside miss."

“Frank?"

There was a pause. “Samantha?"

“Frank, what are you doing here? I thought your mate had an egg on the way."

“It's lain, and I'm supposed to work until it's close to hatching."

“Congratulations, now, why are you here?"

“We received a tip that the princess is here."

“Here? Are you crazy?"

Aurora gasped, they found her, how? Somebody must have recognized her somewhere, but where?

“Jack, there's something I need to tell you."

“What, what is it?"

“I'm the princess."

He stiffened “You… You're… You."

“I'm sorry."

The guards burst into the room, and grabbed Aurora. Jack shook his head, and blasted the guards with a wide sunbeam. The captain, Frank, looked at the mark on Aurora's neck, and over at Jack. Then he shook his head, and motioned for the guards to grab him to. He rose up to fight, and Aurora was about to yell before she felt something hit the back of her head.

“Idiot, you weren't supposed to hurt her." Aurora heard her father yell.

“She's not hurt, just knocked out." Somebody replied.

“Get out of my sight."

There were some footsteps, and Aurora opened her eyes. Her father was looking down at her with a worried expression.

“Hey, I've been looking for you."

“Ugh, where's Jack."

“You mean that male you mated with? He's in the prison."

Aurora stumbled to her feet. “You have to let him out. He's my mate now."

The king rubbed his forehead. “You just had to run off and get with some random peasant."

“I love him dad, not like you would get that."

He looked at her with sad eyes. “You have to think about your kingdom."

“What do you mean? I wanted to mate within the kingdom, and I wanted to see my kingdom, and be among them."

Her father shook his head, and sighed. “I'm sorry, but Jack will be executed at noon tomorrow."

Aurora gasped. “NO!"

“This is for the good of the kingdom, I'm trying to avoid a war."

“I will take no other mates, and you know you can't force me."

The king looked into her eyes. “You really want to make things difficult."

“I don't care, you can give him the whole kingdom, I just want to be with my mate."

“That's not how it works."

“And why not? It's not an ancient law, like the one that allows me to reject all other mates after my first one. You can change it."

“Just giving a kingdom away isn't an option, the people won't see him as a true ruler unless he's mated to you."

“Well, he won't, so get over it."

“Aurora, you have to think about your kingdom."

“I have thought about it; but I also want to think about my life."

“Jack doesn't have what it takes to be a king." The king shook his head. “What were you planning?"

“I was planning on staying away from you, and living a happy life in peace."

“But you have a responsibility."

“I never chose that, I never wanted that. This is my life, and I want to live it."

The king sighed, and rubbed his forehead. “You know that's not possible."

“I will not be mating with anybody else, if you execute Jack, it will end our family line. I will never change my mind, and there will be nothing you can do."

“Then I can only hope that you will change your mind."

Aurora's eyes widened, and she stormed out of the room. She ran down to the dungeons, and burst into the room that Jack must have been held in. She found him huddled into the corner, his wings were clamped shut, and his forearms were chained to the wall. She rushed up to him and nuzzled him, but he pulled away from her.

“Jack, I wanted to tell you."

He looked away from her.

“Jack, please, talk to me."

He still looked away from her.

“I know you might think that I mated with you to hide from my father, but I mated with you because I love you. I still love you, and I want to start a family with you. Please believe me, I need you to believe me."

Jack's eyes started to tear up, and he laid his head down and closed them. Aurora felt tears run down her face, and she nuzzled him again.

“I love you, never forget that. Nothing can stop that, ever."

She got up and walked out of the cell.

Jack felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest. His mate, was the runaway princess, and he was going to be executed for it. He had spent the night on the cold stone floor, and had only been given bread and water. Aurora had come by, but he couldn't bring himself to talk to her. Even if she did love him, which he couldn't help but doubt, then she should have told him, then he could have protected her. Jack could see the sun rising through the barred window, and eventually, a guard opened the door and entered the cell.

“Hi, todays the day." The guard sighed.

He helped Jack up.

“Personally, this is wrong to me. Your mated to the princess, which means you're the future king. I know it's not your fault, you fell in love with somebody."

After unlocking his chains, the guard led Jack out of the cell.

“Sad thing it is." The guard mumbled. “The princess refuses to mate with anybody else, meaning that we might lose the royal line."

Jack looked up. “She's refusing?"

“Yeah, she's been up all night trying to convince the king to change his mind, but he won't."

Jack sighed.

“You love her? Still?" The guard asked.

“Of course." Jack replied. “Nothing could change that."

Jack was brought into a room, and his family was waiting for them. Amy looked furious, and his little sisters were crying. His mother rushed up to him and nuzzled him.

“I'm so sorry." Jack told her.

“Nobody can blame you for that." Sam replied.

“I'm going to kill her." Amy replied.

Jack walked over to his little sisters, and they both hugged her.

“Are you going to be okay?" May asked

“I'm sorry May, I don't think so." Jack replied.

They both cried, and held onto him harder. After a few more minutes, the guard shook his head and led Jack out into the royal square. A crowd has formed, and a lot of them were booing. The guard chained Jacks head on the stocks, and walked away. A black hooded moon dragon walked onto the stage, and stood next to Jack. Jack heard Aurora's voice, and strained his neck up to see her yelling at her father. He couldn't hear what she was saying, but he realized that she was still trying to save him. After a few more minutes of them arguing, the crowd turned and an elder sun dragon walked up to the stage and opened a scroll.

“Jack Thorn, has been arrested for mating with the princess, and has been found guilty of his charges. The king has decided that his punishment will be immediate execution."

There was a wave of outrage and the crowd started yelling at the elder. He shook his head and walked back out of the square. The executioner looked up at the king, who hesitated for a minute. The king looked over at her daughter, who had her head in her paws and was shaking uncontrollably, then over to Jack, who lowered his head. The king sighed, and reached over and set his hand on his daughter. She shrugged him away, and he looked hurt. He looked back to Jack, who looked even worse for wear, and threw his forearms up in exasperation.

“I would like to confer with someone for a moment." He called out, making Jack look up.

The king, and the prince of the Emerald kingdom both walked up to Jack, and eyed him.

“So, you're the one that stole the princess' heart?" The prince spoke.

“I'm at a loss here." The king told the prince. “She refuses to mate with anybody else, and if he dies our entire bloodline goes with him. I have no other children, and I can't have any more."

The prince looked over to the king. “I have no further clue then you."

Jack looked up, and his heart fell when he noticed that the moon was about to come in contact with the sun, today was a solar eclipse, and this whole crowd was going to learn his secret, unlike the one person he had wanted to tell the most.

“But he is not a royal, he can't be a king." The king spoke.

“If he stays alive, he will become the king when you die." The prince replied.

“That was supposed to be you."

“Nothing we can do about it now, I may be understanding, but my father won't be, my brother won't be."

The king flinched. “But this was out of my control."

“That's why I'm understanding. You can either kill him and prevent my father's wrath, but also end your own bloodline, or keep him alive and face conflict."

Jack just sat there, wondering why he was even included in this conversation.

“Is there any other solution?" The king asked. “Maybe an heir promise for the next generation?"

“That would have to come from the parents, and I doubt the princess will be up for that." The prince told him. “Also, my father hates those."

The king looked over at Jack. “What have you done?"

“Don't blame him." The prince replied. “He didn't know who she was. This is why I'm glad you're reconsidering. You're punishing one of your people for the simple act of falling in love."

The king glanced to the angry crowd around him. “This is all too much; this decision could make or break the future of this kingdom."

“It's simple, have a small bit of peace before your daughter dies and the kingdom falls into a civil war over the next bloodline, or have a conflict with a kingdom that is equally powerful, and likely won't attack you. I will try to console my father, but I can't promise anything."

The king nodded, then sighed again before turning the crowd.

“In an attempt to conserve and protect the royal bloodline, I hereby pardon Jack Thorn of all his actions. He will be released immediately, and given the full apology of the royal court."

There was a chorus of cheers.

“I do not yet know what this means for the future of the kingdom, but I do know that my daughter will become queen, and her mate will be beside her."

The executioner released Jack from his bonds, and Aurora rushed up and landed next to him. Jack could see the relief and the joy in her eyes as she nuzzled his snout.

“I'm so glad your okay." She told him.

She led Jack out of the square, and up to her room. Jack looked around the large room, and felt slightly embarrassed and out of place there.

“I know what you're thinking." Aurora smiled “The princess' bedroom, you shouldn't be here, but you should, and you are."

“It's… nice." Jack replied. “Aurora, there is something I need to tell you."

“Yes?"

“I really don't know how to explain this, and I doubt you'll believe me."

“Just tell me."

Jack glanced up at the sun, the moon would be totally eclipsing it soon.

“I can control both the sun and the moon elements."

Aurora laughed. “Really? Not the time, tell me what you wanted to say."

“I'm serious."

Aurora squinted at them. “That's a myth."

“Apparently not."

“Prove it."

“It's an eclipse today." Jack replied.

“Now you're changing the subject."

“Wait for it."

A few minutes later, the sun was completely eclipsed, and Aurora gasped as Jack's scales turned a deep black. She took a step back, and Jack nodded.

“You probably think I'm a monster or something."

Aurora rushed up to him and nuzzled him as hard as she could.

“Never, I love you. Even with all your weird quirks."

The eclipse ended, and Jack's pale-yellow color returned.

“I was planning on telling you today, but you can't tell anybody. Nobody else knows, not even my mother."

Aurora nodded. “So the stories are true."

“What?"

“The king of all sun and moon, can control both, and is at his most powerful during any eclipse."

Jack looked surprised. “You sound like my grandmother."

“I was told those stories too. This means you're the descendant of the old royal line."

“And?"

“And? You're a royal! That means nobody else can't say anything."

“How can we prove it? Nobody can know what I can do."

“I'm content on knowing that." She sighed, then laid down on the bed. “I didn't get any sleep last night, want to join me?"

Jack looked around. “Are you sure this is okay?"

“Of course, you're my mate, why wouldn't it be?"

Jack nodded, then fell into the bed with a sigh. “I love you."

Aurora laid against him, and nuzzled him. “I'm sorry, I hope I can make it up to you and your family.

“I know how you can make it up to me, but Amy… Is a different story."

“I never wanted this to happen." Aurora replied.

Jack looked down at her as she buried her face in his neck. He wrapped his wings around her and held her close, making her purr.