Menage A Magick Read online

  “Garron, I did not call you here for a lesson in history,” Queen Amoria snapped in a rare display of frustration, her delicate brow creasing in a frown. “I have asked you here to instruct my daughter, privately if you will, on what you know of the Wizard Twins.”

  Had Brianna not been watching the dragon closely, she would have missed the flare of pain in his bright, black eyes.

  “A history lesson.” He shrugged negligently as he held Brianna’s gaze. “Would you not agree, Princess? I can of course, provide pictures.”

  Brianna’s face flamed.

  “A lesson on idiots perhaps,” Brianna bit out. “I see no reason for this.”

  “Because you refuse to.” The Queen was becoming impatient now.

  Brianna tightened her lips, holding back her furious flood of defense.

  “I have decreed, Princess Brianna, that the Wizard Twins be allowed to this year’s Covenani Ball. There they may, if they so desire, seek official permission to present suit to you. You will, and this is no request, answer them with a request of your own, to be given a proper amount of time to make such an important decision. It is my decision, as Queen and sole ruler of Covenan, that the time of separation is past. Cauldaran Wizards will no longer be barred from our country, nor our gatherings. You alone, daughter…” she speared Brianna with a sharp, knowing look, “should know the ramifications of this decision.”

  With no further ado, she stood from her throne and stalked from the room. Brianna was left shocked, surprised, staring at her sister Serena in bewilderment. How was she to know such ramifications? All she knew was that her mother, who until this point had always been loving and protective, was literally throwing her to the monsters. Or did her mother truly believe this was not true?

  The elder daughter came to her feet from the elaborate chair that proclaimed her the next in the ruling line. Serena sighed tiredly.

  “I would suggest, Brianna,” she said softly, “that you consider this matter a bit more than you have at this point. Should you need to talk, you know where I can be found.”

  She too left the room, leaving Brianna in the company of the dragon. She glanced at him, then sighed herself in frustration. Such an expression of sarcasm. Her mother should reinstate the execution laws while she was at it. Had there ever been a living being who deserved “off with his head” it was this one.

  “Do you require manuals?” he asked drolly, producing a stack of books that suddenly appeared at her feet. “Pictures included, my dear. I do remember your joy of them.”

  Chapter Three

  Queen Amoria stood beneath the shelter of the Weeping Tree, more than aware of the dampness on her cheeks and the break in her control. She had left strict orders that no others were to be allowed within the gardens this evening, to assure the privacy she needed as she fought to contain her emotions.

  Her daughters were furious with her. Not just Brianna, but Serena and Marina as well. They did not understand her decision, and she did not blame them.

  She eased down on the marble bench, sheltered by the cascading branches of the tree. Staring at the crystalline drops of liquid further atop the branches, her heart clenched in agony. The Weeping Tree held tears for her, but would not shed them. Still, the Sorceress Matriarch had not heard her pleas.

  Legend said if the Weeping Tree shed its tears for you, then the Sorceress Matriarch would hear your needs and bring to you solace for your sorrow. But Amoria knew there would be no solace for her. Even the Wizard Sentinels and the Sorceress Matriarch would not return the dead.

  She lowered her head then, brushing at the betraying drops of liquid that came from her own eyes. She had just, in one proclamation, overturned centuries of peace within the Covenani. She, who had upheld the idea that Sorceresses and Wizard Twins should continue to be separate, had given the strongest of those Twins permission to Join with her daughter.

  Had she betrayed Brianna, as she had been accused? Surely not. Garron would not have lied to her about the habits of the Wizards Twins. Indeed, the sexual escapades were more than extreme, but her youngest had a sense of adventure that should serve her well.

  Still though, Brianna was terrified, clinging to the rumors of pain and death that the Wizard Twins could bring to their Consorts. She sighed deeply, shaking her head as yet more tears slipped down her cheeks. How she needed D’lyell’s advice now. His broad shoulders to cling to. But he was gone. Taken from her when her children were but babes during one of the bloody battles with the Seculars.

  And now, the Seculars were taking another loved one from her. Her precious daughter would leave her home now, travel the distance to the Cauldaran lands, and be separated from her.

  At one time, when Sentmar and the Sorceresses were stronger, this would have been no problem. But shadowtravel was impossible now. Stepping across the distance of a few acres was incredibly wearing. But shadowtraveling across the mountains was unattainable.

  “Self pity is weakening, my Queen.” A gasp came from her throat as Garron materialized in front of her.

  The huge dragon stared down at her from his lofty height, his black eyes holding an expression of censure and superior knowledge. There had not been a time that the dragon had not grated on her nerves.

  “You are treasonously disrespectful,” she bit out contemptuously as she came to her feet. “How dare you defy my orders and disturb me here.”

  He snorted. A completely male sound of irritation that had her fighting a compulsion to tighten her fingers into fists. She refused to display such childish tendencies in his presence.

  “I thought you would like an update on your daughter.” His voice held equal parts affection and exasperation as he spoke of Brianna. “She is most stubborn, my dear. I can see she is truly your daughter.”

  Amoria’s eyes narrowed. “I rather thought her stubbornness came from her father.” She was aware of the softening of her voice, the vein of sadness and regret that whispered through her tone. How she missed D’lyell, and could clearly see his stubbornness in Brianna’s violet eyes.

  “Hmphf.” The dragon snorted again. “Such female tenacity could have come from you only. Despite a clear interest in these Wizards who court her, she has a stranglehold on her fears and refuses to release them. Your plans may go awry do they not arrive soon.”

  Large leathery wings shifted on the great back as he settled down in front of her, relaxing beneath the cooling shelter of the Weeping Tree. His sharp, scale covered face was turned to her, his large, unblinking eyes regarding her curiously.

  Amoria sighed wearily. “They arrive soon,” she said bitterly. “A thousand years of peace destroyed. I cannot believe I was the one to set aside all that my ancestors have worked for.”

  A coughing laugh escaped the dragon. Mocking, sarcastic, the huge beast had little respect for the separation of Covenani and Cauldaran.

  “Oh yes, dear Queen,” he grumped. “A thousand years of boredom and Secular growth cannot be ignored. Let us regret this day until ever our highest gods reach down and pluck the offenders from our path.”

  Amoria rolled her eyes at the dragon’s droll tone.

  “You mock me, Dragon. Such disrespect to your Queen is forbidden.”

  He tilted his head, watching her with that strange mix of intelligence and amusement.

  “So punish me.” His great shoulders shrugged negligently. “A public flogging perhaps?” He shivered with a mocking moan. “Whip me, my Queen, whip me.”

  Amoria nearly laughed at the expression of false pleasure and anticipation that crossed his expression.

  “You are a menace,” she sighed instead. “You should be banned from Covenan, the same as the Wizards were.”

  “Ah, but who then would amuse you during your hours of sadness?” he asked her mockingly before turning suddenly serious. “But this is all well and good. I have spent two days with your more than stubborn daughter. I thought perhaps you would like my assessment of this situation now.” He watched her inquiringly.
>
  Amoria folded her hands in her lap and watched him with strained patience.

  “Proceed.” She nodded, ignoring his dragonny grunt of impatience.

  “She will accept this situation only when she must,” he told her with a rumbled growl that displayed his exasperation with the Princess. “Do not put extra protection around her, and keep that flighty, horror-telling nurse from her rooms at night. That woman delights in grisly tales of blood and murder.” He shuddered excessively. “She unsettles even me.”

  Elspeth was indeed becoming a problem, Amoria knew. She was determined to believe that Wizard Twins had been the ones to rape and murder her child, though Amoria had told her countless times that such a thing was impossible. No magick had touched that young woman, only evil had. An evil that sent a chill down Amoria’s back.

  “They frightened her, Garron,” she reminded him.

  “No, my Queen, they pleasured her.” He rose to his feet impatiently, his sudden anger confusing her. “She is their Consort, else they could not have done such a thing. I do not agree with, nor condone it, but perhaps it is the only way to settle these visions of blood and death that fill that female mind of hers. Now, you have my assessment. I am weary from dealing with such females and will seek my rest until the Veraga Twins arrive. You may come for me then.”

  “Come for you?” she bit out, frowning. “I come for no one, Garron…”

  “And perhaps this is your problem,” he grunted. “Just as Brianna, you have held your lofty power like a miser holds his gold. Be a woman, Amoria. Coming for a man is not such a terrible thing.”

  Fury flared bright and hot inside her, but before she could flay the scales from his disrespectful hide, he vanished.

  “Oh.” She stomped her foot in fury as she gazed at the suddenly empty area in front of her. “Damn you, Dragon. Damn your thick male hide.”

  She consoled herself fleetingly with visions of a stuffed Garron, his eyes wide with horror, gracing the entrance hall to her castle. She gritted her teeth as she fought the flood of anger coursing through her. Damned disrespectful dragon. He was lucky he was the last of his kind. Otherwise, she would be more than tempted to execute his sorry hide, as he more than deserved.

  Chapter Four

  Brianna watched the Wizards as they arrived in the courtyard, dismounting from the great feathered owls that flew them across the mountains. The Veraga Twins were easily picked out among the large group of more than arrogant Wizard sets. Their broad shoulders and stubborn turn of their heads were distinctive to them.

  Their long black hair was tied back at their nape, flowing below their shoulders. They were muscular, well built, handsome and daring, and they terrified her. They made her ache and want, and filled her dreams with such erotic acts that she would awake, her body burning, screaming out for relief. A relief she knew not how to attain.

  Even now, the flesh between her thighs pulsed and ached. The hard little button of her clit was swollen, so sensitive she feared the reprisals should she touch it. It would surely burst in an agony of pain as Elspeth had always predicted would happen should their magick touch her. And she feared it touched her often. Nightly, at least.

  Her hand clenched on the sill of the window as she continued to watch them, listening to their deep, raised voices as they called out orders and prepared to release the great owls until they needed them once again.

  The huge beasts nested in the Laughing Mountains to the North of Covenan, and made themselves available to the Wizards of Cauldaran exclusively. Only the female owls had ever carried the Wizards. Their strong, sturdy bodies bearing the burden of the warriors and ruling Wizards with strength and grace. It was said they were fierce and savage in battle as well. They were protective of their burdens, and were said to be more than willing to give their lives to save those who rode upon their backs.

  Garron had assured her that before the separation of the magick sects, the owls had not been needed to carry the Wizards into battle. Indeed, there had been few battles because the magick of Covenani and Cauldaran had kept the lands balanced and in harmony. Brianna scoffed at this, though. If this were true, why then had the Sorceresses separated from the bold, arrogant Wizards? This was a question no one could, or would answer.

  “So they have arrived.” Elspeth’s furtive, hate filled voice hissed from behind her. “May the Sorceress Matriarch bless you, my Princess. How could your mother have betrayed you in this fashion?”

  Brianna bit her lip nervously.

  “Garron assures her I will be treated well by them,” Brianna told her as they watched the commotion below. “I am not being forced…”

  “You are, Princess,” Elspeth protested fearfully. “Neither you nor your mother knows the trickery of these fiends. You must run from them. Hide. You cannot let them destroy you.”

  Brianna stilled the welling fear that rose inside her. Garron, though mocking and sarcastic, had never lied to her, nor led her astray. He had sworn on his dragon’s heart, that the Wizards would not, could not harm her.

  “Let us see what happens,” Brianna said quietly. “You had best return to your home, Elspeth. You know Mother said you are not to be here for now. I think this is too painful for you.”

  She glanced at Elspeth sympathetically as the older woman gazed with hatred and malice at the men below.

  “I must save you,” Elspeth whispered. Despite the tone of fear and worry in the nurse’s voice, Brianna felt a flare of unease.

  “I will be fine, Elspeth,” she promised her as the owls lifted off from the courtyard and filled the skies as they searched for a place of rest until the Wizards needed them once again. “I must go to the Receiving Hall now. Return to your home as Mother bid you. I will check on you soon.”

  Brianna turned from the window and moved quickly for the stairs that led to the great Receiving Hall. She had fought bitterly to miss the reception, but her mother had been adamant that she be there.

  Serena and Marina were there ahead of her. Her two older sisters were dressed, the same as Brianna, in their ceremonial gowns of white and sapphire blue. The delicate fabric skimmed their bodies, falling to their feet in graceful folds of the purest white. Soft, sapphire blue edging, and embroidered starbursts along the shoulders and hemline proclaimed their status. On their heads they wore their small crowns of gold and glittering dialmas stones, though Serena, as next in line to rule, wore a crown slightly larger than her sisters.

  As Brianna stepped in line beside her sister, she lowered her head beneath her mother’s gentle regard.

  “Queen Amoria, the Wizards of Cauldaran extend their thanks for your invitation and request entrance into your home, and your grace.” A Sentinel guard stepped forth with the traditional greeting.

  “You have my permission to enter. My home is yours, for as long as your stay should last,” Queen Amoria answered regally.

  Brianna felt her stomach drop. There were more than a dozen Wizard sets, as well as the Sentinel Guards, the warriors of Cauldaran. There were forty males altogether. Tall, handsome, powerful. The air was suddenly thick with an energy Brianna couldn’t define as they began to enter the Castle, their messenger introducing each on entrance.

  Sandalwood and spice, and an elixir of excitement wrapped about the proceedings. As though the added power of the male magick had suddenly transformed her home and made it a mysterious, exciting place to be. She wasn’t certain she liked the feeling.

  Finally, the Veraga Wizards, rulers and holders of the Cauldaran Scepter, stepped forth and were announced. Brianna barely contained her whimper as something flared deep within her woman’s core. A heat she couldn’t ignore that flushed her body and filled her blood with power. She could feel energy crackling around her, sensitizing her flesh.

  “Princess Brianna.” They stepped before her, staring down at her, one with eyes of the deepest blue and filled with lust and carnal needs. The other’s eyes of green, filled with compassion, warmth, and needs she didn’t want to define.
<
br />   “I welcome you to the Palace of the Covenani,” she whispered, mortified at the trembling of her voice as she lowered herself into a graceful curtsey before them.

  “You lower yourself before us no more.” Drago’s blue eyes flared as her surprised gaze rose to his. He had not made such a demand of her sisters before her.

  He gripped her arm as she rose, trembling before him. Before her stunned gaze, both Wizards went to their knees, bowing gracefully, humbly.

  “We are at your service, Sorceress,” Lasan said deeply as Brianna’s confused gaze swung to her mother.

  She felt as though she were suffocating on the power surrounding her. Her heart was thundering, the blood rushing through her veins in demand. But a demand for what, she was not certain. Confusion filled the women, but it tore through Brianna like the great winds of the Wintry Mountains.

  They were waiting. Kneeling at her feet, heads lowered as she trembled before them. Fear rushed through her as something seemed to build within her. A surge of power she had never known, feared she did not want. She shook her head, the faces of Wizards and Sorceresses watching her expectantly, moving dizzyingly around her.

  She heard a whimper, barely realizing it was her own as she felt her sisters move beside her. A static sound of energy sounded in her ears, thundered through her body. To her utter horror and humiliation she felt her cunt seep with a rush of fluids as the power thundering through her body began to center in her woman’s core. Her eyes widened, she trembled, her hands clenching as she fought…

  The pulse of pleasure that flooded her body had a small cry tearing past her lips as her clit exploded and her cunt rained with the soft juices of a release that thundered her body. She staggered, nearly losing her balance as she distantly heard her mother’s demand for answers.