Well… I couldn’t say this Prince was slow moving. He had managed to get me to meet the King and Queen the day after our long conversation, and it honestly wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. They must have been very desperate for Ric to marry, because as soon as he said that he would consider me as a fiancee, they both let out some of the loudest sighs I’d ever heard; and I live with a forty-foot Dragon who also happens to be a teenager. They even physically slumped down in their extravagantly decorated thrones. It almost seemed unreal, and I had to hold back from laughing.

“You really mean it?” Queen Pomona asked. “You’ll actually wed our son?”

“Er… yes?” I could have sounded a lot more confident, but now I was a bit worried. Why was it so hard to find someone willing to marry him? I didn’t tend to judge people on looks, and it’s not really like I cared about his appearance, but from what I could tell he was at least decent looking. He wasn’t rude or cruel, if not a little dumb, so what was the problem?

‘Impotency?’ I thought, smirking a little to myself as I kept my head bowed to the Regents in front of me. Jokes aside, it was a little concerning.

It became a lot more concerning when King Reon not only gave his blessing, but also urged us to get married that week. Holy shit. They were either really impatient or really really impatient.

“So soon?” I had asked timidly, trying not to let the shaking in my voice come through.

I wasn’t the only one. I felt Ric stiffen beside me. I did start to feel sorry for him after we talked a little more.

We had gotten a bit closer after our talk about our families, and he allowed me to call him Ric (because that was such a privilege, oh my Gods can you believe it?). His heart was in the right place though, when he officially let me drop the formalities with him.

And we had come up with a plan. I would agree to marry him. Say vows, wear a white dress, makeup, the whole shebang. I would even pretend to sleep with him the night of our “honeymoon”. He lit up in a bright red that would have put Zair’s scales to shame when I said that. I don’t even think he realized what getting married usually entailed.

Anyway, after a few more “consummation night” jokes and a lot of choking on spit from Ric, we moved on with the plan. We would be wed, I would travel back to the cave as soon as possible, and I would get Zair all patched up. Then, Ric would say that as a wedding gift, I wanted to move back into my childhood home with him, so that I’d be able to stay with my brother. If the Royals got suspicious about why he couldn’t come here, I’d just tell them that he was too sickly to be moved, and that our parents were watching over him while I was here. So none of my family could make it to the wedding, but it was fine, and yes, Ric would be able to finally meet them properly, etc, etc.

It was a pretty flawless plan. And it kept both Zairyn and I safe for the time being. Ric was surprisingly enthusiastic about helping me. I almost told him about my plan for trying to bring back Otherkin rights, but I held my tongue last minute, just in case it was all a ruse.

I only had to meet his older siblings, a brother, the crown prince, and a sister, the crown princess. Ric, being the youngest, would never be king, unless his brother was unable to hold that position, but he was high up enough to be influential. Though if I could curry favor with all three siblings, it would make my job much easier.

“When are we meeting your siblings again?”

“Lunch today. They usually eat with me as often as possible, though Kieran and Jillan have gotten more and more busy over the years,” Ric replied.

“So you’re close to them?”

“Very,” he said fondly. “They’re my best friends, and really supportive of whatever I want to do.”

They didn’t sound that bad. Though from what I’d heard in the village, Kieran was basically a muscle-headed himbo and Jillan was a stuck-up… well, princess.

Though these were rumors, and I should have known better than to believe the rude squabble of ignorant people. I was hoping that they would be as kind as Ric was, if not just as airheaded.

Lunch soon arrived and, to my surprise, instead of going to one of the large dining halls in the castle, we stayed in Ric’s room and waited for food to be delivered, and for the Crown Prince and Princess to arrive.

All of a sudden, the large door to the room burst open, and a deep booming laugh filled the walls.

“Ric! Little bro! I heard you’re finally getting hitched! Congrats!”

The loud baritone belonged to a tall and wide looking man with the same hair color as Ric; his skin was slightly darker and his eyes had laughing lines around their edges.

As he walked closer I could see the muscles hidden by the thin lounge shirt, and I tried not to stare at the blatantly open chest. He was good looking, I’ll give him that. Here’s hoping for all brawn no brains.

“Kieran! Hi! How’ve you been? You just got back from the Mistlands, right?” Ric asked as he ran towards his older brother.

He had been in the Mistlands? I thought the King and Queen refused to let in human royalty after the discrimination of Otherkin?

“Is this your bride, bro?” Both their gazes were suddenly on me, and I balked at the image Prince Kieran set. I was strong, very strong. I had to be with the work I do. I could take down any man I wanted to, with my fists or my words. But if it came to a fistfight, I might have a bit of trouble with this one. He was huge. Like, six-foot-something-stupid huge. I’d read before in books characters described something like ‘their arms were thick as tree trunks and they were built like a mountain, etc, etc…’ and such. I never actually thought those kinds of people existed, but I guess I stand corrected.

I didn’t want to get on this man’s bad side, just in case. But the first thing that came out of my dumbass mouth?

“Holy shit, what did your parents feed you?” to Prince Kieran. And then, like the genius I was, “And why don’t you have any tall genes?” to Ric.

Both of their mouths fell open; Ric’s in shock and embarrassment and Kieran’s in… a laugh?

“Oh GODS, she’s funny!” he boomed again. “Where did you find her? Mum and Dad’s been trying to find you a bride for ten years!”

Wow, trying to find a fiance since he was nine? The Royals were something else.

“She was living in a small village near the west side of the kingdom, a border town,” Ric started to sweat a little here, and he almost looked a little sick when he said, “And she is… the uhm, love of my life…?”

I don’t think he meant to make it sound like a question, but it sounded reluctant, even to the Crown Prince.

“Hmmm… this was someone you found, right? I can talk to Mum if she’s pushing too hard, you know.”

“NO! No, it’s fine. We’re fine,” Ric denied quickly. He changed the conversation so suddenly it was obvious what he was doing, but Kieran let him go. “Where’s Jillan? I thought she was heading here from the knight’s quarters where she was visiting Kalde?”

“Who’s Kalde?” I cut in. And what was the Crown Princess doing in the knight’s quarters?

Okay, I could take a guess what she was doing, but I didn’t need to really know that.

“Kalde is Jillan’s personal guard. Been best friends since they were five or something,” Kieran explained.

Ah, childhood sweethearts. I can imagine that that relationship wouldn’t be officially allowed since she’s a Princess and this Kalde is a knight, so a forbidden romance…

‘I’m being dragged into a bunch of fairytale tropes…’ I thought absently.

“Oh, that’s lovely! It’s always good to have friends nearby!” I smiled, trying not to sound as fake as I felt. “How about you, Prince Kieran, do you have a friend or… lover?”

Kieran chuckled nervously while rubbing his neck. “Ah, no. No lover so far. But I am good friends with many of the knights in this castle; very friendly people who are honest… if they trust you,” he replied. Despite the embarrassment, I could tell he wasn’t lying, so at least he was honest. If he was friends with knights, perhaps he would be more sympathetic to commoners?

Ric was stiff throughout our whole conversation, and only loosened up when a bang landed on the door.

“Brother! Open the damn door! I only have two arms!” A heavy but feminine voice called from beyond the great doors.

Before Ric or Kieran could move towards the door though, a new voice, softer, piped up and said, “I can get it for you Jil, just slow down a moment.”

Just then, the door opened one more time, and two people came in: one holding three trays full of food, and the other carrying only one, but holding open the door for whom I assumed was the Crown Princess Jillan.

“Jillan! Kalde! Took you long enough,” Ric shouted, rushing to his sister to grab a few of the trays.

“She was a little… tied up Ric, give ‘er a rest,” the guard, Kalde, smirked. When Jillan heard this, she blushed and looked away, muttering.

“Ewww, I don’t wanna know that,” Ric joked with an exaggerated disgusted face.

Jillan just blushed even harder and Kieran burst out laughing heartily again. Seeing them get along so well made me miss Zairyn even more, and I knew I had to hurry this up.

“You must be Princess Jillan! So nice to me-” Before I could finish, she cut me off.

“Just Jillan, beautiful, we’re about to be sisters-in-law. Same for Kieran,” she corrected me. I was quite surprised at being called beautiful by her, but I just continued on, though I knew the coloring in my cheeks would be more obvious on my slightly paler skin.

“Oh, alright then,” I turned to the guard and addressed Kalde. “Well then, very nice to meet you guard Kalde, '' I turned to Jillan, “Guard Kalde is your age, isn’t she-” I was once again cut off, but this time more fiercely.

“They! They, please,” Jillan practically shouted. Kalde looked stiff, and I wondered if it came from the Princess’ outburst. Then I understood.

“Ah, pardon me! You prefer they and them, your knightship?”

Kalde seemed to exhale a bit at my words, and nodded silently. Jillan visibly perked up, and a tense atmosphere I hadn’t noticed was there seemed to lift from the room.

Once we got introductions out of the way, we settled in and the Princes spread the food out on the floor. I’m not going to say that it was more food than I had ever seen before, as someone else in my circumstances might (Dragon brother, remember?), but it certainly was more decadent than I’d ever seen. Honeyed hams, fresh breads, pungent cheeses, fresh fruits, pickled vegetables, fruit wines, and other assorted chunks of meat were made lavish in this castle, and turned foods that even Zair and I would normally eat into a meal literally fit for kings.

We spent over three hours eating, talking, and lounging around. We talked about our lives, the upcoming marriage, and even Jillan and Kalde’s love life. I had suspected as much, but to hear them admit it so boldly was something I wasn’t expecting.

“I know that Mum and Father would never approve of it, but quite frankly we don’t give two shits.”

Both Kalde and Kieran yelled ‘Drink to that!’ and proceeded to clink their cups together.

Then, startling me since they hadn’t talked all that much to me up until then, Kalde stated, “You aren’t actually marrying Ric for love.” They said it in a way that left no room for argument.

Both Ric and I startled. I knew that Kalde was very upfront about things, but this was borderline tactless; something I wasn’t expecting from someone so close to Royalty.

We both made some ‘uhm’ noises for a few moments, until Kieran finally cut in, “Come on you two, we all know that you guys don’t actually like each other that way. It’s beyond obvious.”

He wasn’t wrong, but being called out on poor acting skills still sucked. And if they knew that I wasn’t marrying Ric out of love, what would they think?

Ric, surprisingly quick to my rescue, defended me. “Katelynn’s not doing it for money, if that’s what you're thinking! She’s doing it to help me and get back home to her brother!”

 At the mention of a brother, the whole room started to crackle with curiosity and excitement.

“You have a brother?” Everyone asked simultaneously.

When I nodded my head in confirmation, an onslaught of questions was released.

It was only after a few seconds that I noticed that Ric was answering half of his siblings’ questions, and the one fact I’d hoped he’d have enough sense of secrecy to avoid came into light.

“Oh! And her brother is my age! And a Dragon!”

All questions ceased as a look of shock, awe, and slight fear all mingled on their faces, in different quantities per person. Every pair of eyes turned slowly to look at me.

Well then. Dragon’s out of the bag I suppose.