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"Is this really necessary Lily?" The green dragoness danced in circles about him adjusting the outfit she had foisted upon him. It was the day of their departure, that morning the two of them had collaborated on a spell to reduce themselves and the children to a more manageable size. John and Lily were roughly horse size, though Lily remained slightly larger. Laurelie and Ban were about the size of a human child. The children were ecstatic with the change. They had already grasped the mechanics of using their decreased size to increase their capacity for mayhem.

"I am going to look ridiculous." John complained as Lily affixed the last of the ensemble over his tail. Shimmering green silk covered most of his body, affixed by silver loops to his horns. It wrapped his neck in a loose sleeve before splitting in two. One half ran down his back between his wings and the other was pulled tight across his chest and belly. Both sides were joined by large toggles several feet down his tail. As if that wasn't enough decoration, Lily had pierced each of his ears with two small platinum studs bearing an emerald on one side and a ruby on the other.

"One stud for each of our children," she had explained.

She kissed him with a smile. "You do not look ridiculous, you look stately. Besides, I am wearing the same thing. Do I look ridiculous?" John had been very approving of the way that Lily's gown had accentuated her shape. Her silks were bright red, and she wore two golden hoops in each ear instead of studs.

"Of course not love, but you're meant to wear this type of thing. I feel like a fop."

"Stop being so self-conscious John! You're nervous about meeting your family after so long, but I am a queen and you are my husband, and on our first trip to a foreign nation we need to look the part. Besides, you helped me with the enchantments on all of this; you know it's more than decoration."

John sagged in glum defeat. "I know," he muttered, "but I still feel silly."

"That's because you are silly," She kissed him again. "This is important John. You know your homeland better than I. They're going to expect two beasts and their get, not a royal convoy."

The red dragon breathed deeply and nodded, trying to wipe the displeasure from his face before bumping his nose against his wife's. "You're right. I'm just anxious."

Lily smiled kindly and reached up to stroke his cheek. The forms they had taken were similar to the hybrid form she'd adopted during their first meeting, with more flexible hands and the ability to adopt an upright posture for sitting and standing. "Don't worry too much. We've taken every precaution we can think of. "

John leaned into her touch, "You look lovely by the way."

"I know." They remained that way for just a moment before Lily pulled away. "Why don't you take the children outside while I finish? I'll be along in a minute."

"Ban, Laurelie, time to go!" John called.

"Dad! We're playing!" Laurelie hollered as she came tearing around the corner, her own white silk outfit rippling. Maribel trotted after a moment later with Ban pinned helplessly against her chest. She had him trapped with his forelimbs tucked against his belly and his feet held in her other hand. The young dragon grunted and wriggled as much as he could manage, to no avail.

"No fair! I'm smaller now! You have to play fair!"

"Indeed you are smaller. Just means you have to be smarter." Maribel advised sagely. "I have to admit Sir," she looked up at John, "they're easier to manage this small. Sure you can't just leave them this way?"

"We might have to if they don't behave themselves."

"No!" Ban wailed in horror, "We're done playing Dad! I promise."

Laurelie did a quick turn to come back and but her head against John's leg in apology. A pang of guilt went through him. "Don't worry; this is only while we visit. But we need to go, your mother is almost ready." Maribel let her prisoner go, and the two younger dragons trotted alongside their father as he led them outdoors. Fortunately the horror of John's faux threat wore off quickly and they were soon giggling about how funny wearing clothes was. They wore simple outfits, little more than billowing shirts that clasped over the neck and tail with the sides completely open for their limbs. Despite their protests to the contrary, Lily and John had insisted they were too young for any sort of piercings. Out in the plaza overlooking the beach Lily had been working on their transportation.

Years ago, when Johnathan had set up the summoning circle it had provided a beacon for Lily and allowed for her easy teleportation. With only two people to move it had consumed little energy. Without someone on the other end to give them such a beacon Lily had use a much more complex sorcery. Under her tutelage, John had discovered that much of magic was a bizarre blend of the known and the unknowable. Things arcane and scientific fact worked in a rough harmony for many spells.

An arch of battered and greening copper was erected at the far end of the plaza. Wider than a wagon and four yards tall, it was surrounded by a huge array of mirrors and lenses. Behind it was a chalk-board filled with the parameters of the spell. Altitudes, star charts, weather patterns, and nearby landmarks had been worked into the casting. Because miscalculations could send the group hundreds of miles off course, it had all been checked repeatedly for mistakes, and was all under constant watch by Lily's most trusted guards.

John wished that he had spent more time learning the names of some of the people that worked for Lily. He was glad that he recognized the current officer on duty. "Good evening Tobias." The young man gave John a customary stern nod. "Lililethan will be out momentarily if you could get everything in position."

"Of course." With a few shouted orders Tobias and the other dozen guards quickly arranged the gathered mirrors to capture the late afternoon sunlight and funnel it into the large lenses, which then focused that light into glaring beams that lanced into the copper archway. The brilliant light was enough to force John to look away or risk blinding himself. Instead he turned to the wooden board holding the map of their imminent journey.

Lily's kingdom was far from the place of his birth, and the map made that abundantly clear. They would travel eight-thousand, five-hundred and fifty-one miles. The Blazing Coast was so far from his home that it lay on opposite sides of the day in opposite seasons. As the late winter sun prepared to dip behind the horizon to the west here, the late summer sun would be only an hour from rising in his homeland.

The sound of many footsteps drew his attention from the maps; Lily and her entourage were approaching. Mirabel, a score of her soldiers, along with hired singers, dancers, cooks, and several local scholars that wanted the chance to study far-flung places. Some seventy people in total approached the archway, squinting or shielding their eyes.

"Ready my love?" Lily asked quietly as she stopped next to John.

"I'm as ready as I'm going to get."

She nodded and looked on towards the gate. John's sense of her magic had evolved enormously over the years. He could feel and see the small probing ripple as she reached out to the gate, testing how much heat the copper had soaked up. She made a few fine adjustments to the mirrors and lenses and then they waited. Minutes ticked by as she continuously checked the progress, until the copper was aglow with a dull cherry red and the air around it was rolling with heat. Without warning the small probe of her spell surged, wrapping around the archway and tearing at the space under it. With a sound the air itself was ripping apart the gate came to life.

In an instant all the gathered heat was sucked away to power the spell; a hissing layer of thick ice formed on every surface. Through the arch, John could no longer see the other side of the plaza; instead a picture of another place appeared and a rush of air rolled through, rich with the smell of moss, grass, and cattle.

"Hurry everyone, we've only minutes." Lily chivied people through the gate. Mirabel took the lead with her guard. "Tobias, get the rest of the supplies ready. We'll reopen the gate from the other side as soon as we are able."

The soldier bowed, "Of course My Lady."

Once the last of the humans were through the gate Lily flashed her husband an encouraging smile and moved ahead. John ushered the children behind her and brought up the rear. Sucking in one last fortifying breath, he stepped through the gate.

Late in the summer the air in the Lead Hills was already getting crisp at night. It was not so cool that a frost would form but cool enough to give a chill to anyone caught in the open. The cold air brought with it the mixed smells of agriculture: ripe fruit, manure, and cut barley all fought for space in John's nose. Rolling grassy hills spread for miles in a broad valley. Down in the center of that valley walls and towers climbed up towards the night sky, all alight with the glow of civilization.

Pastock, John's home city, had consumed several hills with its sprawl of buildings. Moonlight glittered off of the river that cut through the city like a shifting silver ribbon. At the apex of the tallest of the hills stood the citadel that was Pastock Palace, home to the House of Lords, the highest governing body. More of a fortress than anything else, it loomed over the city like a blackened stone behemoth, pocked and scarred by the sieges of years past. A massive hexagonal tower in the center of the palace rose some hundred feet above the next tallest building in the town. On the top level of that tower were the great guns of Pastock: six enormous cannons per side, each throwing a hundred pound shot up to a mile from the city walls.

"It certainly is different." Lily's quiet remark broke John's thoughts.

"It's an impressive piece of masonry. Does that wall go around the entire city?" Maribel chimed in. Like most of the battle-mages in Lily's honor guard, Maribel had altered her own body in a number of ways; increasing the acuity of her eyes in low-light was one of them.

"It goes around the whole city proper. Most of the estates and farms around here have their own walls, of either stone or wood." John nodded his head to the various settlements dotting the hillsides around them.

Maribel whistled, impressed. "Must have torn down a mountain to get all that stone"

"Much of the stone is a byproduct of the mines in the area. We've been digging lead and silver out of these hills for centuries. As the mines have gotten deeper we use the stone they cut away to build. Over generations, this is the result. Whenever the city got too big for the walls, they built new walls." John looked around to get his bearings. So much had changed since he'd last been here. The city was bigger and there were new farms in the area. Eventually he lined himself up and started them on a course uphill and north of the city. With a soft fading snap, their gateway closed behind them.

"Each district of the city is separated by older generations of walls." John talked as he walked. "There are five districts in total, and then the slums outside the walls. All of the richest citizens live in the center district. Everything there has been torn down and rebuilt into mansions and commercial zones. Each district out from that gets a bit poorer, until you get to the people who can't afford to build inside the city."

"And where did you live?" Maribel asked curiously.

"My family has a house in the second district. It's tiny, just a place to conduct official business. Our actual home was out in the hills here, just ahead. Lily was very accurate, most of this area belongs to my parents but the estate itself is on the other slope. We'll see it once we hit the top."

"Riders, coming from the city." One of the guards in the rear interrupted John's lecture. Looking back over his shoulder he saw that there was in fact a column of cavalry streaming from one of the gates. They were too far off to see John and Lily's group but they seemed to be heading straight towards the gateway that had just closed. A spell of that magnitude would have alerted every mage for miles.

"John, you're sure that your parents alerted the local authorities that we were coming?" Lily whispered.

"Absolutely."

"Shall we wait for them to get to us?" Maribel asked warily.

John considered the situation for a moment, "Lily, we're nearly to my home. If there is any misunderstanding, it may be easier if my parents can help explain."

"Probably our best course of action. Let's hurry." The dragons entered a slow trot, and the group of followers was soon huffing and puffing from the climb and the altitude, while Laurelie and Ban ran as fast as their small legs could carry them. As sensitive as always to the attitude of the adults around them, the two children were fussy and nervous. "Mom," Ban's voice was plaintive and sporadic as he panted, "are those bad people?"

John stopped for a moment to snatch his daughter up and deposit her on Lily's back.

"No love," Lily murmured tenderly after she had settled Banzhrakin between John's wings. "They're not bad people. They just might be confused people."

"Oh." Ban seemed comforted though it was clear he didn't comprehend the explanation.

"What's confused?" He asked, standing upright, clinging to John's green silken tunic.

"Confused is when you think something that isn't true."

"Oh. What do they confused?" He asked, not quite grasping the word.

"They don't know us. They might think that we're bad people."

"Hey! We're not bad people," Laurelie squealed indignantly.

"Hush love, hush. We'll tell them soon enough." They reached the top of the hill, and John was stunned to see a very tall stone wall that stretched along the crest in both directions for several hundred feet.

"More walls?" Mirabel asked incredulously.

"This is new." John replied. The home that he knew had been halfway down the other side of the hill, just a single house and barn with a short privacy wall and acres of blueberry fields surrounding it. "Come on," John followed the wall towards a small fortified gate not far from them. In the distance the sound of galloping horses grew.

"Hello?" John knocked heavily on the gate. "Is anyone awake?"

Silence was his only answer. "Oh bugger me." John grumbled.

"Language love." Lily gave a meaningful glance at her son, who was fortunately too occupied looking back down towards the approaching cavalry.

"Lily, take Ban for me please."

Once Lily had Ban dangling by the back of his neck from her jaws John reared up and grasped the top of the wall with his forelimbs. With a grunt he sprung his powerful hind legs and vaulted over the wall quite easily. Thankfully this wall was sturdier than the last one he attempted to climb. Grass burst into the air around him as he landed with a soft thump in the soft soil on the other side of the wall and found himself standing in front of a rather startled looking cow.

"Mooooo." The cow lowed scornfully as it trotted off to join a small herd of its sisters.

Faint doubts trickled into John's mind. His family hadn't owned cows before. Where they even at the right estate? Had it been so long that he had forgotten how to find his home? But no, the sky had looked right, all the hills had been the same, and the familiar smell of his mother's blueberry fields filled the air. It had to be home, or so John told himself. A heavy iron luck hung from the latch holding the gate closed. John growled in annoyance and grasped it in one hand, giving a soft tug that twisted the iron until it snapped and popped free. Thankful for the absurd strength of dragons, he tossed the wrecked lock aside and opened the gate.

"Everyone inside please."

Lily came through first, setting both children down before tossing a wry smile at her husband. "Not exactly our grand dignified entrance is it love?"

"Not exactly no."

"Oh bugger me." Ban happily contributed.

Once everyone was through John closed the gate again, and they stood for a moment in silence as the sound of cavalry grew, and then faded. "Well, thanks for that." John sighed in relief.

Lantern light leaped out from the depths of the estate, filtering through an orchard of trees and outlining the forms of restless cows, disrupting and sense of relief.

"Bugger." John said again.

"Bugger!" Ban agreed wholeheartedly.

"Who's out here? I know someone's hiding out here, you've spooked the cows!"

Though it had been years, John still recognized his sister's voice calling into the night. Relief trickled through him, followed by a renewed nervousness. "Andrea?" He called back, uncertainly.

The lantern stopped moving, and at first there was no answer back, "John?" She sounded equally uncertain.

"Of course it's John! Didn't you all get the message that I would be coming?"

"Yes we got the message you ass!" The lantern bobbed as Andrea camp stomping and crunching through the small pasture towards them. "Somehow, we just assumed you would use the front gate like a civilized-oh my word!" Whatever she was going to say died on her lips as her lantern finally illuminated John and Lily. Nerveless fingers slipped and a moment later the lantern clattered to the ground, sputtering slightly but not quite dying.

"Hello Andrea." John said gently.

"It is nice to meet you Andrea." Lily echoed after.

"Hello angry lady!" Laurelie yelled sincerely.

"Bugger!" Ban announced once more.

With the glare of the lantern no longer hiding her, Andrea was plainly visible staring open mouthed at them. The hem of her long night gown and her boots were caked with mud from the pasture. When John has left he had still considered Andrea his baby sister but she was the same age now as John had been when he'd left. Long strands of sleep-tangled brown hair framed her face, her skin pale and afraid in the moonlight.

"Andrea," John spoke in a soft prod, but his sister wouldn't answer. She kept looking between them in absolute shock. John felt like he was shriveling up inside as his fears played out before him. "Andrea, please say something." He took a small step forward, but she took a step back. Before he could stop her, she stumbled, flailed her arms, and tipped backwards. Too far away to save her, John could only watch with instant misery as she sailed through the air and landed on her rump in the grass and mud of the cow pasture.

Ban and Laurelie laughed in glee, greatly amused by the loud smacking splat that Andrea had made on impact. "Do it again Angry Lady!" Ban demanded gleefully.

Andrea stared at the young dragon as fear and confusion warred on her face, eventually giving over to some sort of bemused anger. "You brat!" She scowled up at John, "Do you have any idea how terrifying it is to stumble across bloody dragons in the dark?"

Vague memories of his first encounter with Lily surfaced; he declined to mention them. "I'm sorry Andy. We didn't mean to scare you."

"You could have warned me!"

"My dear," Lily interjected before the exchange could progress too far, "my name is Lililethan, Queen of the Blazing Coast. I apologize for the fright, but there was some confusion during our arrival. Could you please bring us to your parents?"

Calm rapidly descended over Andrea as years of courtly instinct kicked in. "Of course my lady!" She struggled to get to her feet and gave a yelp when Lily's tail curled around her shoulders and hoisted her upright. "Thank you my lady," she swallowed a lump of terror and gave as good a curtsy as could be expected in a muddy nightgown and boots before turning around to lead them onwards.

The children giggled again as Andrea turned, revealing a great green and brown stain of mud and grass on the back of her nightgown. "Mud butt!" Ban whispered, not very quietly.

"Ban, be nice! That is your aunt!" John hissed.

Andrea stiffened and missed a step, nearly falling again. "They're yours?" She asked over her shoulder, looking frantic.

"Mine and Lily's yes."

Andrea's eyes skipped between the four of them before she swallowed and adopted an expression of perfect fury only training could provide.

"That's right. I'm your aunt Andrea. Around here, I handle the kitchen and all the sweets. If I hear another peep out of either of you about my butt, you'll both be eating stale bread and water until you leave."

While Ban gasped with horror and snapped his mouth shut, John and Lily shared a brief glance of shared amusement before forcing neutral expressions.

"Can she do that mom?" Laurelie asked skeptically.

"Absolutely. This is her home."

Andrea gave an appraising look at Lily before nodding. "There you have it. Your own mother wouldn't lie to you, so you'd best behave." John held his tongue as his children suddenly grew more wary of their aunt.

As they walked, Andrea pointed out the expansions they'd made over the years. When John has been snared by Lily the first time the estate had been one generously sized home surrounded by fruit fields with a couple of horses for plowing. Now it was a fully working farm. Cattle slept in their pasture, a full stable stood nearby, and an orchard filled in most of the space between. Even the house had grown, with a second wing extending from the southern wall.

The front of the house was now filled with an elaborate garden and a cobbled carriage loop, currently illuminated by a number of lamps. "We set the lamps out earlier, seeing as how we expected you to come through the front gate," Andrea said pointedly. "Wait here; I'll go get mom and dad."

John tried to force his pessimism down, but braced himself none the less when the door opened again and his parents emerged, sending John's heart to his throat. Both of them had aged visibly since he'd left. His mother's golden brown hair had turned nearly all gray, and his father's head was mostly bald. The two of them were both looking worn and lined, but when the two of them looked at him they gave him a tentative smile.

"Hello Dad, hello Mom." John forced the words past the block in his chest.

"Hello John." The older man replied with similar difficulty.

Johnathan's mother on the other hand had few reservations. With tears building in her eyes, she came rushing down the stairs and threw her arms around his neck. "John!" Johnathan hesitated a moment, but only a moment, before wrapping one arm around his mother.

"I was starting to think we'd never see you again."

John's father made a slower pace down the steps, and stopped to bow to Lily. "Ma'am, my name is Albert Wright, and that is my wife, Victoria Wright. I uh-" he paused to clear his throat, "I'm glad to finally meet you. Your generosity has helped out family immensely."

Lily smiled and nodded her head. "It was the least I could do for my husband's family. I am glad to have helped."

Albert cleared his throat and nodded awkwardly, his hands fidgeting at his sides in discomfort. Just as he opened his mouth to say something the visitor's bell on the front gate rang out into the night. "Who in all hell is calling this early in the morning." Albert fumed.

"It's the Lancers." John informed him, gently parting from his mother's embrace.

"What?"

"A company of them came out of the city as we arrived."

Albert frowned, "Of course they did." He did not sound pleased. "Wait here John. Ma'am." He bowed again to Lily and strode boldly to the gate.

John frowned and looked after; he wanted to follow his father, but his mother's hand on his shoulder stopped him. "Your father can take care of it John, just wait."

"Who's there?" Albert called out over the gate.

"I am Captain Albright, of the Lancers. May we enter?"

"This early in the morning? No I think not sir."

There was a moment of stunned silence. "Sir, the Magisters assure me that a gateway has opened very near to your estate."

"And what of it?"

"Sir," the captain didn't sound at all happy to John, "did anyone enter your estate this morning?"

"If they did Captain, I'm sure it's no business of yours. If the gateway was for anyone I know, I'm sure that I've already informed the watch and the Magisters. If they didn't inform you, nothing I can do to help. I'm afraid you'll just have to ride back to the city and take it up with them. Good night." Before the captain could respond Albert simply turned and started walking back from the gate.

A number of mumbled insults drifted from beyond the estate's walls, some foul enough to make Johnathan bristle in offense, but his father seemed to not hear or not care. "Sorry about that my boy. The skullduggery hasn't stopped since you've left."

"What do you mean?"

"It's nothing John; nothing to mention. We've better topics for discussion right now. What say you introduce your mother and I to our grandchildren." He smiled down at Ban and Laurelie, who had been watching the exchange warily

Lily nudged them forward. "Say hello children. This is your John's father, your grandfather."

Both children looked skeptically between Albert and John.

"Nuh-uh!" Ban finally declared.

Albert broke into uproarious laughter, nearly doubling over. "I can hardly believe it myself!" He whooped. "Oh the day the magisters came to the house and tried to explain what had happened, I was sure the whole world had gone insane."

John found himself laughing as well.

"It wasn't until all your people arrived with a whole bushel of pearls that I realized the truth of it all, and I still wonder if we're all not delusional sometimes." Albert caught his breath and wiped his eyes. "Sure as he stands before you though, when your father was a little one I told him stories at his bedside and paddled his butt when he misbehaved."

Ban and Laurelie both gasped in horror.

"What?"

"You said butt!"

"Now the angry lady will only feed you stale bread!"

When the first of the sunlight started coming over the hills Lily anchored another portal, allowing workers to ferry through the rest of the supplies for their stay: bundles of heavy canvas for their tents and many dozens of crates of food and drink. With Albert's permission Lily's retinue began to set up their temporary home. By mid-morning there was a small circus's worth of brightly dyed tents erected on an empty plot near the house. Lily and John would occupy one large tent with their children, and their followers would occupy four even larger tents, with one empty tent set up as a place to gather and eat.

Andrea had rejoined them, having shed her soiled nightgown for a simple dress.

Contrary to her threats, she came bearing treats. The children, still not having come to terms with the strange concept of human family, were greatly swayed by the handful of taffies that Andrea offered them each. Ban proceeded to try and eat them all at once, and spent the next half hour chewing.

By noon, the group of them had gathered under the shade of the garden to share lunch and try to catch up on missed years. Horace, Albert's newly hired steward, had brought forth a whole cask of wine, and a large pitcher of tea sweetened with crushed blueberries for the children.

"So, once all the damage from your escape was paid off, we still had a pouch of pearls and three bolts of silk. Now, the merchants from Port Juoan hadn't ever seen pearls have that size. They were selling for more than the local sapphires. But the silk, that was the real prize. Nobody had seen silk of that quality; it was selling for an ounce of gold a yard at the end." Albert paused to let Laurelie climb up to sit on his lap. He rested one hand of the ruby striped scales of her neck while he talked.

"It was enough to triple our gross that year. With the extra we chartered a schooner and a captain to make contact with your merchants." He nodded to Lily. "They were generous enough to sell us our first load on credit. Since then, we've made profit every year."

"We own three ships now; used to be four. One sunk by pirates" Victoria said offhandedly. "Your brother is down in Juoan now negotiating the purchase of a replacement."

"Gregory is finally a part of the family business? I figured he would still be trying to sell his paintings. Will he be back before I leave?" John asked, fending off Ban's attempts to scramble up his shoulder.

Johnathan's mother frowned for just a moment before forcing a smile back to her face, "No I'm afraid not dear. He'll likely be gone your entire stay."

Her brief lapse told John what her words didn't. "He doesn't want to see me does he?" He asked quietly.

Victoria sighed, "I'm sorry dear, he left almost as soon as we told him you were coming. He has not quite accepted your . . . changes."

As much as it saddened John, he couldn't feel any offense. He was already overwhelmed by how welcoming the rest of his family had been. "I can't say I blame him;" John poured the rest of his bowl of wine down his throat. "I'm honestly surprised that you lot have reacted as well as you have."

Albert snorted. "It took a lot of years of preparing ourselves son, I'll admit that. For the first year, I wasn't ready to believe any of this." The older man sighed and looked wistfully as his grand-daughter curled up on his lap, her tail and wings twitching in idle day-dreams. "John, this has been hard for all of us to come to terms with. Greg will come around."

Somber quiet settled over the group, but before it could become too oppressive Andrea got to her feet and looked around. "So, who wants to help me get lunch ready?"

"Me!" Ban shouted nearly instantaneously.

"Me too!" Laurelie was suddenly squirming her way off of Albert's lap and dancing circles around Andrea.

"Well, I suppose you two have behaved all right. Let's see if we can find you something to eat besides bread scraps." The three of them vanished into the house with a clamor of childish shouting.

"Albert, if I may ask, what were the Lancers doing out here if you'd already informed the watch?" Lily inquired softly after Andrea and the children were out of earshot.

Albert sighed and drained his glass of wine. "The whole mess is just a conflict of trade. There was only one man who imported textiles around here before we started dealing with your people. Lord Hershel," Albert sneered the title, "brought in quality cottons and mohair overland from the east. Once we started importing silk his sales went down. Hershel happens to be the current military chancellor so whenever he gets the chance he'll send the Lancers or the army or whoever he can to harass us.

John's temper flared and before he knew it his lips had peeled back to bare his teeth. Albert put up a hasty hand, staying any objection John could make. "Don't concern yourself with it John. I've already been before the Lords' council, and he's been officially admonished for misappropriation. He's still chancellor of course, but things have gotten better."

He nodded to Lily, "To be honest My Lady, I'm sure the Lancers were intended for you. If I know anything about that dog I'd wager that he wanted his men to pour some honey on you and try and convince you to send some of that silk his way. He probably had that captain and his men up all night waiting for you to arrive."

"It did seem too quick go be a reactionary force."

Albert nodded, "Honestly Ma'am, I hate to say it, but you're liable to have a lot of snakes swimming ashore in your land now. South Meridia didn't hold much interest to us here before, but now that there's gold to be had people are changing their tune."

"South Meridia?"

"Falkura, love. That's what they call your continent here. South Meridia, because it's the southern half of the only continent in the world to have land on both sides of the meridian." John clarified.

"Ah."

"Anyhow," Albert continued on after trying to sip from his empty glass, "everyone considered it too far away, and too wild. All the sailors spoke of was kingdoms of savage men with skin like dark bronze, and countries ruled by monsters. No offense."

Victoria poured another glass of wine for Albert and emptied the rest of the carafe into the tall bowls that John and Lily drank from. "I have some eyes and ears in the palace My Lady-"

"Please, Victoria, Albert, I appreciate your respect for my position, but if I have to hear ma'am or my lady or any of that rubbish again from anyone here, I'm going to lose my mind."

Victoria smiled. "Of course, Lily. As I was saying, I have hired some help in Pastock Palace, and they tell me some nasty rumors are coming from the Lords' Council." John's mother took her seat again. "First, there was a session to decide how difficult it would be to seize territory for themselves on South Meridia, or Falkura. Once the logistics were worked out, it was decided that the endeavor would be too costly."

John could only imagine. Landing soldiers to take territory in some primitive land was one thing, and had been done. Assaulting a full-fledged nation on an entirely different continent was madness. They'd lose half the men at sea, and half again to desertion once they'd landed.

"Word now is that they plot to send men and gold to foment a rebellion with the locals so that they have a friendly faction over there."

"That might be more difficult than they imagine." Lily said with a harsh smile. "I am sure it is inconceivable in their minds to leave a nation in charge of a dragon, but my people seem quite content with it. After all, they make the decision that I remain as queen every time they re-elect me."

"Elect?" Albert and Victoria asked unanimously, confounded.

"Of course. We hold a vote at the end of every decade. Each adult casts a single vote, which are tallied at the local level. It takes about a year for the final count to come in, but for the last seven decades, I have gladly held my office."

Albert and Victoria glanced to John for some sort of confirmation. "It's the truth. I witnessed one of the elections just last year. Obviously there were a number of personalities that tried to run against Lily, but I believe she ended up winning some eighty percent of the votes counted."

While Albert and Victoria digested this information Andrea emerged from the kitchen with the children hot on her heels. By the smears of butter and blueberry jam each of them wore on their snouts, the two of them had already had a go at the food. Two maids followed after carrying lunch, but even as they began to lay it out one of Lily's guards sprinted up

"My Lady," he bowed quickly, "a man has rung at the gate, asking to see you."

"See me? Albert, shall I invite him in?"

"If you wish My-eh, Lily." He caught himself mid-sentence.

"Very well, please bring him in, Sari." The guard bowed again and sprinted away.

Maribel approached shortly with a very nervous looking gentleman in tow. The man was dressed in ornamental armor, with a short sword belted to his side and a tabard across his chest emblazoned with a very elaborate crest.

"This fellow wanted to speak to you specifically My Lady," Maribel halted the man several yards away from the group

"One of Hershel's men." Albert grunted, gesturing with a strip of bacon at the tabard's crest.

"Lord Hershel," The newcomer corrected, "I am Sir Leroy Falthwain, knight of the Falthwain house, and Lord Hershel Falthwain's seneschal. He tasked me with sending this invitation to her highness, the Queen Lily." He presented a precisely folded square of parchment with ribbons hanging from the wax seal in the center.

"Queen Lililethan," Lily corrected him in turn. "I do not know this Hershel, and will not have him giving me nicknames."

The man blanched, "Of course My Lady. He wouldn't presume! We were misinformed; we will not make the mistake again."

Before Maribel could take the letter from him the knight snatched it back. "This is to be passed into Royal hands only."

"Very well." Lily motioned him forward, took the letter from him, and then handed it Mirabel once he had stepped away again. "Please read that aloud for us Maribel."

The messenger stiffened, but could say nothing as Mirabel carelessly flicked away the pressed wax seal and ribbon and began to read aloud.

"To Your Highness, Lady Lily. Please allow me to introduce myself, I am Hershel, Lord of the Falthwain House, Chancellor of the Armies and Navies of Pastock, Commander of the Royal Lancers, Ruler of the Frostmire- this goes on for some time, shall I skip it?"

"Please."

"Allow me to extend an invitation, from one member of royal blood to another, to a banquet to be held in Pastock Palace in honor of your first visit to our country, to be held at sunset one week from today." Maribel scanned the remainder of the letter, mumbling to herself, and finally folded the letter. "Nothing else of import follows My Lady."

"I shall have to consider the invitation. I will send word by tonight whether my husband and I will be coming."

"Apologies My Lady, the invitation is for those of royal blood only."

The words hadn't quite died in the air before Lily surged to her feet. In an instant her bared teeth were inches from the knight's face. His hand fell on his sword, but he managed enough restraint not to draw it. John sucked in a breath and pulled Ban and Laurelie to his chest.

"You would do well to not so boldly insult my family. My husband is the Royal Consort, and father to my children. Would you so calmly say that my children are not royalty as well?"

"N-n-no My Lady! Of course not!"

"My husband and my adviser Maribel will both be accompanying me, or I shall remain here among those who do not casually cast scorn upon my loved ones. Make that clear to your Lord Hershel, and get out of my sight."

The man stepped back as if to bow, but Lily followed him pace for pace until he was forced to turn and flee.

Once the man was out of sight the dragoness chuckled quietly with a bounce of her shoulders and wings and sat back down with an enormously satisfied grin.

"Happy with yourself?" John asked, rolling his eyes and releasing the children, "I think you scared my family half as much as you scared him. Not to mention Ban and Laurelie."

"I wasn't scared!"

"Me neither!"

"Sorry loves, and my apologies to you three as well." She bowed her head slightly to Albert, Andrea, and Victoria. "Occasionally it is necessary to show that I am intelligent enough to understand a slight."

Albert gave a hearty guffaw and waved his bacon wand excitedly, "Hell, I'd pay to see that again. If only it was Hershel himself. What I wouldn't give to see that slimy scoundrel wet himself."

"Albert! Control yourself in front of the children."

"Hum yes, sorry. Do you intend to go? I can tell you now it will be little more than weasel moves to curry favor and wring information from you. I wouldn't be half surprised if they didn't try and poison one of you."

"Perhaps, but if it's as you say, these men and women intend to try and usurp power in my land. I'd like to use this opportunity to get to know my enemies."

They passed the day swapping tales and watching Ban and Laurelie play. In the evening Albert liberated a dozen bottles of liquor from the cellar. Lily's hired musicians and dancers put on an impromptu show, and Albert passed the spirits around for all to share.

When the show had worn down and the bonfires began to burn low, Albert took Ban and Laurelie inside and sat down with them in front of the hearth. Much as he had with John as a child, he told them fairy tales and stories of his youth. Before long both young dragons were curled up on the rug beside him, fast asleep.

"Of course they can sleep inside John!" His mother whispered loudly, in high spirit from the imbibed spirits. "We'll put them in your bed tonight. They're plenty small to both fit and it will be nice to have someone in the room again."

"Thanks Mom." John gave her a gentle hug good night and nodded to Albert as his father carefully lifted a sleeping Laurelie into his arms. His mother, uninhibited with Liquor, reached up and gave Lily a hug as well before quietly closing the door.

"It's been quite the day Love." John said tiredly, smiling at his wife as they made their way back to their tent.

"Yes it has been. I told you to trust me; everything turned out fine."

"We're not out of the woods yet. We still have that banquet. If anything is liable to backfire on us it's that." He spoke in good humor though.

The two of them stepped into their tent, and Lily looked around outside before tying the flaps closed and turning to her husband. She grinned and stepped alongside him, rubbing her nose against his.

"John?"

"Hmm?"

"The children are inside, safe and sound. There's no one around and we have the tent to ourselves." Her eyes were luminous emeralds in the dim interior.

"Oh?" He yawned, and then quickly snapped his mouth shut.

"Oh! I see." He shivered as she leaned in and rubbed the length of her body against his. With a rippling growl she nipped the edge of his ear, her tongue snaking out wetly to bathe the delicate skin.

"John," Her voice was husky with desire, "you have no idea how I've wanted this."

The need in her voice and the way she was practically trying to wiggle her way underneath of him had John's blood racing. He wasn't feeling tired anymore.

They spent the next few minutes touching, caressing kissing, winding each other up into a heated frenzy until Lily was pulling and yanking at his silks in desperation to expose him to her. The sudden outpouring of lust gave John pause. "Lily," he gasped out between kisses, "you're not going in estrus are you?"

She pushed against him insistently, rolling John onto his side, and then onto his back. "When is the last time we had sex John?"

He thought on it for a moment, but in the passion of the moment he couldn't recall. "Seven months back? I don't remember."

"Neither do I, and that is the problem." She reached down and unfasted the bottom of her gown, freeing herself from the damp silk and sending a wave of her scent across the tent. John could taste it on his tongue.

"I love our children dearly John, but I did not take such a beautiful mate so that I could be constantly teased by his presence, forever unable to indulge myself." She stepped over him and ground her hips down on his, and John moaned aloud as his erection swelled within him.

"I took a mate so that I could be satisfied. I took a mate, so that when the urge struck, I could hold him down and fuck him." She snarled the last few words and settled her paws atop his chest, her greater weight forcing him down into the cushions. John's shaft emerged at last, trapped in the silk gown he wore, sandwiched between their bodies.

"You're going to have a tough time with I'm still wearing this." John chuckled.

Lily growled playfully and stepped off him to bend over and release him from his cloth prison, but the moment he was free of her weight John sprung up He bowled her over with a victorious grin. She struggled, but John calmed her with a roll of his hips, grating his tip against her puffy, needy vent. Though her gown was off, his was not, and he could only wedge the first inch into her, spreading her slick arousal across the taut silk.

Lily's eyelids fluttered shut and a blissful moan escaped her. "I know what you want Lily, but let me do it my way. You know I can make it worth it."

She panted up in his face and nodded, kissing him once deeply before placing a hand on the top of his head and pushing him down her body.

He gave little kisses to the silk covered scales as he moved down before finally stopping at her smoldering entrance. The normally slim crease of her sex was inflamed and wet. John blew a gust of heated air over her and stretched his tongue out to lap up her spilled juices.

"Don't tease, not today. I need this, before something interrupts us." The urgency in her voice made John acquiesce, and he slowly wedged the tip of his tongue into her.

Their magic gave the two dragons the ability to permanently alter themselves and neither dragon could resist doing so for the sake of sexual pleasure. John's tongue was much thicker and longer, so as he sank the slick organ into her, its girth stretched her sex into a tight ring, penetrating her in earnest. "Yesssss!" She hissed out, her thighs clenching around his neck. John swirled the tip of his tongue around those first few sensitive inches before plunging deeper. Snakelike, he burrowed down until he came to the sensitive ridge of bumpy flesh buried in the flesh of her body.

He pressed up against it with a long hard lick and drew a shuttering howl from her. He pulled his tongue out for a moment, "Quiet love, or we will be interrupted."

Lily nodded, biting her lip and waving for him to continue. Once more John tasted her depths. The faint flavor of her excitement bathed his senses, as he bathed her insides. The second time he probed that sensitive spot she managed to choke off her moans so that it came out as a strangled whine. John couldn't get enough. Over and over again he licked and suckled at that spot until her arousal was running freely and she was writhing on the cushioned floor and her tail coiling up around his chest. Her juices clung to his tongue smeared over his snout and filled his nose so that his body was burning with lust. Constant drool of his own pre-cum caused a growing stain on the silk covering him, and he ravished her with growing ferocity.

A most wicked idea entered John's mind. He pried her tail away from him and withdrew his tongue long enough to suckle and slather the tip of her tail until it was dripping wet. Once he was satisfied it was messy enough he placed the tip of it at the tight pucker of her backside. Again he started feeding his tongue into her, now forcing her own tail into her rump at the same time. Lily went into a fit, thrashing on the floor on a cacophony of moans and gasps. Whether intentionally or due to her spasms Lily plunged her tail deeper than he intended, pulling it out of his grip so that the first full foot of it surged down into her body.

John could feel her tail pushing up against the bottom of her sex, making it even tighter against his tongue. Not to be outdone, he forced inch after thick inch into her, making sure that every bit of it scraped slowly past that ridge of nerves as he filled her as much as she could bear.

"Yes yes yes!" She whined, pushing a truly punishing amount of her tail forward. With the slick walls of her canal twitching around his tongue at their absolute limits, John let the muscular organ writhe around inside of her.

It was too much for the needy dragoness. She stopped making any noise at all. Her breath seized in her chest as her body went into the first violent spasms of a long sought after orgasm. John's face was awash in a flood as she clamped down on his tongue. Her legs kicked weakly in the air to either side of his head as though trying to fight off the waves of pleasure. John ground his snout down firmly against her lips as she shuddered and shivered and bucked her hips up against his face.

"Oh!" Lily breathed once her body allowed her again. Her chest heaved against the silks and her wings flopped weakly in an attempt to cool herself. With a noisy slurp John pulled his tongue from her grasping insides and licked his lips clean.

"Good?"

"Mmm." She agreed.

"Good, that means we can take this slower." John stepped back just long enough to free his swollen length from its confinement before easing back over her "I want to feel you, not this dress." He said, carefully unfastening the straps and buttons of her clothing.

Lily smiled languidly and reached up to return the favor. It had been so long since John had undressed anyone, he'd almost forgotten the thrill of slowly revealing a lover. As the silk wrapping fell away from her neck John bathed her scales in kisses and nibbles, starting from her jawline down to her chest, and up one forelimb to the wrist and back across to the other. Her feet kicked away the last of the green silk from his sides, leaving them both exposed to the growing chill of the night.

John lowered himself to rest his chest lightly against Lily's, feeling her heart pound against his and the warmth of her body blending with his. With his legs splayed out to either side of her tail John crouched and probed. His crown slid wetly along the scales of her tail where it was still stuffed into her bottom. For a moment he teased that stretched opening, making his dragoness squirm, before he moved higher. He left a trail of glistening wetness until he came to rest at the messy opening of her sex. Slowly, so very slowly, he eased himself forward and in. Lily's mouth fell open in a deep breath as her overly-sensitive flesh was forced to part for the folded and textured tip of his cock.

Like his tongue, John had made some slight changes to his manhood. It was a little longer, a little wider, and covered in smooth, textured waves. With the added girth of her tail lifting the floor of her passage she was squeezed so tight around him that each of those wavy ridges tugged and dragged on her lips as he sank in slowly. John grunted as her furiously hot flesh grasped and pulled on him, her muscles flexing around him in a lovely dance. He eased his inches into her until the pebbly skin of his tip touched that most sensitive spot. He stopped, changed the angle of his entry, and thrust lightly up against it.

"Ohhh John, easy. Easy please." She pleaded, wide eyed and gasping. Her hands clutched at his neck and her feet kicked involuntarily into the air.

"Sorry love." He comforted her, licking and rubbing at her throat. He didn't repeat the motion. Instead he gently squeezed past and onward. Even so, every time the texture of his shaft ran over that spot, she clenched up anew. It took a short eternity for him to come to rest inside of her, nearly fully buried. He stopped and rested his hips atop hers. Lily closed her eyes and shifted to make herself comfortable under his weight as her body adjusted to the penetration.

Her breathing slowed, and on the outside she looked calm, but John was being constantly teased by the flexing pulsing grip of her around his manhood and the twitching of her tail in her rump. "All right, go ahead." She finally gave her assent.

With a thankful groan John pulled out; the rear facing tines of flesh on his glans dragged along her walls. Lily latched her teeth firmly onto his shoulder to muffle her cries as her fingers curled into fists atop his neck, pulling him tightly against her.

John too was having a hard time containing himself. The extra girth of her tail was making a normally tight fit nearly unbearably so. He couldn't imagine what she felt, so overly stuffed and sensitive from her climax. But she didn't withdraw her tail, nor did she stop him. In fact, as he started a slow stroke back inwards, she hooked her ankles over his tail, her toes curling as she pulled him back in faster with her legs. As John settled into his motions, Lily picked up a shaky pace of her own, pulling her tail out as he lifted his hips, and shoving it back in as he re-entered.

John panted ad closed his eyes, trying to keep his breathing and body under control. He knew that once he went over the edge, the fun was done for the night. Despite this knowledge, it was getting near impossible not to focus on the veridian scaled beauty clinging to him, grinding against him. The way her tongue flicked against his shoulder stifled her cries of pleasure against his scales, the way her sex was squeezing his and her tail squirming against his shaft through the thin barrier of flesh. Each time he pulled out he was slamming down harder, bottoming out inside of her. The tightening in his gut gave signal that it wouldn't be long.

Soon his carefully controlled rhythm deteriorated until he was rutting her like a feral creature, plunging in and out of her as fast as his hips would move. Somehow, Lily beat him to another peak. With a muffled squeal of delight, her claws dug into the back of his neck and she hammered her hips up against his thrusts. Gasping in an attempt to delay his climax, John ground against her back wall and the tiny opening there. Like him had changed her body to play to her own fetishes. Thanks to those changes, the opening to her womb slowly gave way under his assault, allowing the tip of his organ entry.

Buried in her flesh as absolutely deep as he could get, John finally let the surge of his climax take over. The folded crown of his cock sprung out into a flared plug, sealing him into her womb as the first surge of months of pent up cum flooded into her. John rolled onto his side, clutching Lily close against him as he settled in to ride it out. Like an open tap, he continued to pump inside a vast store of his seed, reserves made possible by long abstinence and intentional alteration.

Prior to meeting Lily, John's concept of sex was markedly conservative, but during their first lusty months as a couple she had opened up a world of indulgences and kinks that he would have never considered. While a shorter and less messy climax would have been more convenient, Lily took great satisfaction in the opposite. She had taken great joy in driving him to ever greater duration and output, so that each time he came inside of her it was a truly fulfilling experience. John, despite his initial reservations, had so far found no reason to complain.

Even as Lily was coming down from her second orgasm, John was just getting started. "Mmm, thank you love." She cooed, kissing the top of his head. John could only gasp and tremble against her as he continued to leak a steady stream into her womb. She held him close and rubbed herself against him as she luxuriated in the steadily building pool of heat in her belly before she started thrusting her tail again.

John groaned in a tortured delight as her insides rippled and sucked. It was going to be a long night.