Holy shit. Holy shit. I had just seen a dragon. A real-life, in-person dragon. It was HUGE and practically popped out of nowhere. And right as I just found my to-be bride as well.

Backtrack a bit. I have to get hitched, so I’d want my bride to be a nice, strong person, so this “Katelynn: metalworker and loving older sister”, at least according to the townspeople, seemed perfect. Except that she didn’t want to marry me. Totally cool, except that I kind of needed her to. But I think she’s super pissed at me, considering the absolute monster of a glare she has on her face right now. I turned around in the seat and glanced back at her. Yup, still glaring. I brought the carriage to a stop, and got down from the seat. I carefully opened the door. Okay, Ric. Fix this.

“Are you alr-” I didn’t even get to finish my sentence when she cut in with a scream.

“What in the sweet fuck do you think you’re doing!”

Sorry, what? I just saved her life though? I had half a mind to tell her so, but she wasn’t done yet:

“And why, WHY were you trying to hurt my little brother?!” At this, she grabbed the front of my shirt and shook me hard.

Little brother? Had I picked a madwoman for a bride? There were no kids in the market square, and I certainly wasn’t hurting anyone. The only ones getting hurt were my guards (sorry guys), and that…

Dragon. The dragon. Is she saying… “Are you saying that that dragon was your… your little brother?” I asked, incredulously. She's joking, right?

“Yes, numbnuts! You hurt him! He’s never had anything more than a forge burn before, and you just fucking stabbed him!” Her brain finally seemed to register what she was saying, and then her face suddenly lost all color. “You stabbed him,” she whispered.

“I’m sorry, I think you must have hit your head. That dragon was trying to kill us all!”

“No!” Her voice had gone back to shouting at me. “He was just trying to kill you! He was protecting me.”

“You really are crazy… how the hell could a dragon be your brother?” I was beyond confused at this point, and was genuinely convinced she was out of her mind.

“I don’t owe you any sort of explanation. This is kidnapping. You are a kidnapper! Now bring me back to the village, I need to get home!”

“What, to your dragon brother?”

“YES, dipshit!”

Oh my Gods. What even. But even so, I was curious… and I really needed her. So I started to try talking to her one more time.

“Alright. Katelynn, can I call you Katelynn-?”

“No,” she deadpanned.

Okaaaay then. “Anyway, Katelynn, I’m going to bring you back to the palace with me. NO, I am not kidnapping you. If I explain what’s going on and why I need you. Then you can explain to me why you think that monster was your brother.”

Her eyes sharpened even further when I said ‘monster’, but she stayed quiet, hopefully thinking about my offer. One last push…

“If you come with me, I can provide you with enough money to buy food and medicines and such for your actual brother. I’ve heard from the villagers that you always buy a shit-ton of food. I’m assuming for your brother, or whatever. How about that?”

At that, she perked up a bit more, and eventually silently nodded.

“Cool, now please chill out and get back into the carriage? Oh- and uh, I kind of need to uh, introduceyouasmyfiancetomyfamilywhenwegetthere,” I cringed as I said that last part.

Her eyes widened, but she quickly schooled her expression as they narrowed again. She only gave a smaller nod, and stepped back into the vehicle.

This was going to be interesting.

***

(Katelynn POV)

I know that just… agreeing to go with this prick of a prince was stupid and impulsive in some of the worst ways. But I had a plan. And it involved a lot of convincing.

I sighed out loud as we neared the castle, then inhaled it back again. This place was huge. It was going to be much larger than our cave, obviously, but I never expected it to be this big. It was a deep gray color, but still seemed to glow in a strange way, reflecting the midday sun. The shingles on top of the spires that jutted out into the sky were a deep maroon, almost purple. Waving flags of all colors cut through the clear blue sky and made the whole image even more picturesque.

‘Zairyn would have loved this’ a guilty voice whispered in the back of my mind.

And Zairyn. He had just been attacked. Stabbed. And he must think that I abandoned him or something, the one thing I promised I would never do… But I had to go with him. This might be my only chance to do something like this. I was definitely going to get the money to help feed Zair, I mean, of course. But to go to the palace, and actually be introduced as the youngest prince’s fiance? Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t want to marry the guy, but imagine the political possibilities. I could make it safe for Zair, outlaw Hunters as they were when the Otherkin King and Queen actually gave a fuck about Human lands. It would no doubt help all the Otherkin still living on Human territory, so what was there to lose?

‘Your head? How about what little family you have left? Does Zair even know how to patch himself up for a stab wound like that?’ the voice said again, unhelpfully.

Leaving my little brother alone after an injury like that was beyond a dick move, and I would gladly take his hate for leaving him, but I knew he would be able to figure out how to bandage his wound, and I needed to take this opportunity now, while I still had the chance. I was already going to take some time when I was older to travel to the main kingdom and plead for the outlaw of Hunters and discrimination against Otherkin, my plans were just moved up a few years. I wouldn’t- couldn’t- waste this opportunity. And a free ride too.

I just needed to figure out how to plead my case and dodge a royal marriage too in the time it took for Prince What’s-His-Name to drive us from the outskirts of the city to the palace.

I just hoped that Zair was doing alright…