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The excitement growing in my chest makes me feel giddy in a way that I have not felt since I won the Battle of the Three Emperors against the Austrian-Russo forces in 1805.
Back then, the prize was only more war and bloodlust. Now, it is the curiosity and wild adventure of having won a consort of my very own. After thousands of years of war, I have known enough bloodshed to have slaked my bloodlust.
A consort, though? A consort is one thing I have never known.
Finally, the land below begins to be familiar. My wings flap strong against the northern wind, and I bring us down. It is summertime, and so for a short while, the land below is not covered in snow and ice but rich, verdant greens and browns.
And there, like a great sturdy stone rising up from the landscape beside the glittering blue lake, is my home.
I spiral us down toward the castle tower, sending out the runes that open the forcefield shielding us from any unfriendly intruders, and enter through the window of my bedroom.
I feel the female jolt in my arms as I touch down on the floor, but her head doesn’t lift from my chest. When I look down at her, her eyes are still clenched shut tight.
In the corner, the fire crackles. In spite of my warming rune shield, the air up high can be cold when moving so fast, and I know a human’s temperature can be fickle. So even though it makes the room uncomfortably warm for me, I set the fire going before I left to seek my prize.
“We are here.”
Her arms around my neck do not unclench. Her face is beautiful, and I smile at her, so near, clinging to me so tightly. I do not mind continuing to have her lush body in my arms.
Suddenly, her eyes pop open, and she looks around.
“Jesus Christ! Am I not actually dreaming?”
Her head starts to shake, and she peels her arms from around my neck and wiggles as if to be set down. I sigh. All right. I put her down on her feet. She wobbles a little, but my tail immediately flicks out to surround her waist and steady her.
Her eyes go wider as one hand tentatively reaches down, her fingertips skimming across my leathery appendage. “Not a dream,” she whispers, as if to herself.
I try not to let my eyes roll back in my head from how good it feels to have the female’s fingers stroke my tail. “Are you steady, little one?”
Her eyes shoot up to me. “Uh.” She blinks as our gazes make contact. And then she looks around, her head swinging this way and that. “Holy crap, are we in a castle?”
My tail reluctantly unravels as she strides to the window, puts her hands on the sill, and looks out. She looks astounded at everything she sees. “I can’t believe this,” she whispers again, head slowly shaking. Then she whips back around to look at me. “Wait, okay, so if this isn’t a dream—and this is all really, really detailed in a way I’m not sure my subconscious could dream up. . . I mean I don’t even know this much about castles. . .”
She looks from the room, with its big four-poster canopy bed and sumptuous rugs, back out the huge, open window.
“Where are we? There’s no city, no lights, only forest as far as I can see. I mean, is this real? Or did I get knocked out and put into an experimental AI simulation?”
She sticks her hand out the window to feel the breeze.
I have a curious consort. Beautiful and curious and full of vivacious life. I am fully intrigued and delighted by her.
“I am called Remus. It is good to have you here, consort. What are you called?”
She turns back around to look at me. “But seriously. Is this for real, real?”
My eyes narrow. What does she mean? “What other real is there?”
She laughs and turns around. I think I could become addicted to the sound of her laugh. “I mean, is this just a computer program or—” She reaches out now to touch the stone walls. “It all feels real. Cool to the touch. So are we in another, I don’t know, realm? Are we still in my world even?”
Her eyes track back to me, and I feel a sizzle that goes straight through me when her gaze connects with mine. “Your realm, yes. Just removed from the humans. Safe from their eyes and tracking devices.”
Her eyebrows go up.
“So it’s a magic castle?” she squeaks. “I wanna see everything.”
I pause. This feels too good to be true. Immediately, I am suspicious. “Why? So you can find a way to escape? Because we are in a place far from other human dwellings. There is nowhere to run.”
The smile falls from her face, and she crosses her arms over her chest as she takes a step back from me. “Well, that’s ominous as fuck. I thought you said you wouldn’t hurt me.”
