Chapter One

Laora dreamed of a large man, other than her husband. She also dreamt of dragons.

One, in particular, shifted from man-beast to full glorious dragon. Oddly enough, the dragon reminded her of the precious statue her husband, Kragus, had given to her on the day they became engaged to be married. In her dreams, she watched him change from a small statuette to a man-dragon and then into a huge dragon beast.

The dreams hadn't started right away. Occasionally, the thoughts entered her mind, but those first ones were foggy. Then she'd seen a face. Handsome with hard jaw lines and slightly weathered by wind and time, she'd assumed. As the dreams got more vivid, a man, slightly taller and bigger than her husband, appeared in her nightly imaginations. Where her warrior husband stood dark and tall, the dragon-man had glorious golden hair, spreading thick and long around his broad shoulders, giving him a wickedly enchanting appearance that appealed to her feminine senses.

Her senses overloaded during her visions. His teal-colored eyes seemed to vibrate with knowledge, and she wanted to melt into their mysterious depths--eyes that promised her freedom, salvation and oh so much more. Just as his body offered a salvation of freedom to her distraught emotional and physical senses.

Her last dream of him, a few days ago, filtered through her mind. In it, he'd promised to cherish her, to give her all the passion she'd always longed for, in any way she wanted. His man body was hulking, towering over her average height, yet part of her was not afraid of him.

However, her shaky loyalty to her husband, Kragus, made her afraid of where her mind wanted to escape to--into the arms of her dreamy man-beast. In the beginning, before the dragon lord invaded her dreams, she'd been happy with Kragus. At least, she thought she had.

Barely a month after they wed, his attitude toward her changed drastically. He took her more roughly in their bed, no longer caring if her own desires were fulfilled. He left the castle more often. And, each time he thrust into her without care, she'd felt a little more drained. That had been nearly a year ago. She did not know how much more she could endure.

She'd been a priestess of the Sherenzade religion, but a princess to this very kingdom as well. Her father sent her to be raised at the monastery when her mother died during Laora's eleventh year. Then she'd learned that, upon his deathbed, her inconsiderate father had given her hand in marriage to his favorite warlord, Kragus.

Still, in the beginning, he'd wooed her gently. He'd even been considerate and loving as he taught her earthly delights. Then the changes started. Kragus told her it was her fault. When she dared to back-talk him, he'd slapped her. Laora no longer had anyone to turn to. Kragus seeped insidiously into her people's hearts, making them think he could do no wrong. What was she then, but a figurehead he married for the power she brought him?

There was much she still didn't understand about Kragus, or herself, for that matter. Her mother had been a sorceress princess for Sherenzade, too, but retained powers on the day her father married her. Laora's mother told her the powers did not come to their line always, and that, sometimes, it skipped a generation. Some females of their birth-heritage had only small amounts of magic. Mostly they did not come into them until they mated, which was another reason she'd married Kragus, if she was truthful.

The other reasons being duty and the law said she must marry.

Kragus frightened her at first, but she had found him handsome and, when he went out of his way to woo her, she thought herself in love with him. Now she was uncertain where her loyalties, or her heart, lay anymore. Perhaps her naivety did her in. She was at a loss as to what to do now. She wanted to stand up to Kragus, to tell him he could not rule her kingdom or her body and mind like he had of late.

What was a princess to do when no one would listen? Even her childhood friends cared little about her any more. She had no one to confide in or to talk with. She thought long and hard but could not come up with any answer, except to try and please Kragus. Constantly, he tormented her, but there were times when he seemed to mellow.

It was on the days that he was ruthless, and then left her, that she often picked up the statuette, the first present he'd given her. He had listened to her in those early days. She'd told him how much she liked the legends and myths about dragons. Felt they were real. But she'd never seen a real one. So he'd gotten her the small glorious statue on one of his travels, he'd told her--travels she often wished she could go on with him.

Unless it was a required event, Kragus didn't allow her much freedom outside her own suites. She felt like a prisoner in her home, most of the time. Still, there were times she'd snuck out when Kragus was out of town. She'd learned how to accomplish this over the last few months.

She had discovered something about herself. And it had come from a dream, one in which her dragon appeared one night. He'd told her she still possessed a bit of power; some Kragus had not totally drained. She could make herself disappear for a few minutes at a time, a slight-of-body where no one could detect her moving around.

It was long enough to enable her to move around the castle at will. In the beginning, that's all she did. Then she found a disguise, like a city dweller wore, and had gone about in the town. She didn't stay away for long, so that she wouldn't be missed. If she didn't strain herself too much, she learned she could slight-shift out of anyone's view long enough to leave the castle. Then she could handle the power long enough to return home when she'd done her visit in the town.

Disappearing seemed to drain her though, leaving her exhausted, so she was careful not to do it often. Yet, it gave her something to look forward to. She'd been doing it only for the last couple of months and still didn't know to what lengths she could use it. She stayed in the comfortable confidence of what she'd recently learned until she could test her new ability and do more.

She came back to the dragon dreams, for it was because of those visions she'd learn of her power. She recalled it vividly, and what her man-beast looked like in his fully-shifted dragon form.

As a dragon, his scales were a teal-and-jade blend in color, with the shinier scales getting thicker towards his long tail, whereas they were fine-shelled toward his long neck. Though much larger in dragon physique, his muscular, elegant body, with its short tail and long neck, was magnificent to behold. Like his dragon-man form, he had five clawed hands, and his powerful limbs splayed five digits on each large foot that ended in long-toed claws. His huge wingspan, with its sparkling gold, jade and teal gossamer-like wings, was graceful and beautiful, running from the edge of his shoulders to the middle of his back. A membranous frill ran from the base of his neck, continuing smoothly, like silken tendrils flying in the wind, down his long spine, also ending near his buttocks.

His large, thick-lipped mouth displayed jaggedly-sharp teeth, almost looking like a lopsided smile. Gold-flamed tendrils, like his hair when a humanoid male, flew like wisps of wild wonder around the strong face and jaws. His short snout, with its round nostrils, twitched, as he looked her over with those luminous, almond-shaped eyes that sparkled with a myriad of greens and blues in their deep depths. The two horns, etched above its thick eyebrows, extended like coruscating bones of gold ivory, menacing yet alluring, much like the single row of small hard-boned spikes, which protected his long neck. He was ominous, and yet dangerously beautiful, to behold.

And in that particular dream, the dragon had embraced her with his huge wings and arms, promising to be there for her, should she ever wish it. She glanced now over to her side table near the big ornate bed she shared with Kragus. There her small dragon statue sat, glittering like a small ray of hope, its eyes luminous and curiously, it seemed, watching her every movement.

She sighed and almost went to it. She looked at the sundial standing ornately on the open balcony of her bedroom. Soon, Kragus would be home. She needed to prepare for him; otherwise, he might get angry with her again. He was due back any time from town where, she knew, he caroused with his warrior friends.

She hated war and wished Kragus was not planning to invade other countries. His need for dominance and power bordered on cruelty and tyranny. How he kept the people of the kingdom under his control she had yet to figure out but was determined to one day, if at also possible. Sighing again, she went over to her vanity to prepare for her husband's return.