Brandy watched her brother's mating ceremony, desire curling in the pit of her stomach. How she yearned for someone to love her as Kiri loved him. She didn't begrudge him his match. Never that. Yet she couldn't help the twinge of envy that speared her heart as they sealed their promises with a kiss. So like that of her own world. It seemed forever since Drace's father had brought her here to live. Still, she hadn't forgotten the customs on Earth. A marriage ceremony was always followed with a kiss.
She sighed forlornly as she looked on. How would she ever manage to get through the celebration that would follow? The heir had found his mate. There would be a great party to mark the event--and as usual--she would be alone.
Alone ... She diverted her thoughts to the two handsome dragons. Too bad they were unable to attend the ceremony. She would have liked to have gotten a better view of that particular eye candy. She'd never seen two more handsome men in her life. Both were tall, exceptionally so, with long dark hair. Her one and only glance at them before she'd been shoved back into the transport was brief, but she knew the one who wore blue, had eyes the color of sapphires and the one in red had the greenest eyes. That they'd both been staring at her made her toes curl, then she'd learned they wouldn't be attending the bonding and her spirits fell.
What she would give to have them show up here and sweep her away. To feel the way their rumbling voices made her skin prickle and the hair on her arms stand on end. Her clit throbbed at the mere thought of them and she wanted to scream her frustration that she would never see them again. Her brothers were very protective of her. Only her mate or mates would ever get close enough for her to touch.
She followed the crowd until one of her brothers found her and dragged her up to the royal coach. She nearly laughed at that. The royal coach was a hovercraft almost the size of a football field back home. It had to be large--at least big enough to carry the entire royal family and their guards. She boarded the large craft and strayed to the farthest end away from the happily mated Triads. It seemed that every new Triad blessed by the Lady Goddess was here.
Brandy looked out over the side at the swirling water beneath the craft and wished for someone, even one man to love her. Even though she knew her adopted family loved her, she still felt like an outsider. She was full human. She couldn't change into another set of clothes if she wanted, without her maids standing there ready to dress her.
Have you heard the saying 'be careful what you wish for', young Brandy'? Today is your twenty-fifth birthday. Have you, like everyone else, forgotten this day is special for you as well?
Brandy shrugged at the voice in her head. She'd heard the voice since she'd been a child. Either she was deranged, or it was her mind's way of coping. She rather liked to think it was the latter.
You know who I am. I think you have always known. For one glorious year I walked the earth as a flesh and blood woman. I loved a man. A human man ... who loved me. A child was born of that union. A female child. She was given a gift. An amulet to wear around her neck every day of her life--the amulet drew her power from her, her knowledge. Everything she'd ever known, her daughter and her daughter's daughter and down through the line--all they have ever known, is stored within the amulet. You are the next female in the line, granddaughter. It is you who will help fulfill the Triad legacy. With your help and the help of the others, the Banart plague will end and the Hienials will finally become what they were meant to be.
"Wishful thinking, Brandy." She blew the blonde bangs from her face and stared down into the crystal blue waters of the Lioni River. She watched the colorful stones as the ship passed beneath them and fingered her amulet, which had grown warm. It was a warm day so it was easy to ignore the heat of the amulet as she had so often in the past. Soon, the sun would set and the air would cool and they would all be more comfortable.
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