เรื่องสั้นแนว Feel-Good Story Fantasy และนิยาย Dragon

To keep the peace between humans and shifters, those chosen by the Oracle are forced to mate with their bound partners. And me? I was forced to be the shared mate of twin black dragons. Every night, I brewed two glasses of moon-wine to help them sleep. The older brother, Kaelen, was cold. But when he took his glass, his scalding fingertips would brush my wrist in a silent promise, and he’d murmur a soft thanks. But the younger one, Cassian? A vicious temper. He’d smash the glass, hurl insults, and crush me with the weight of his dragon aura. I had been lying to myself. Walking on eggshells. Desperately keeping a fragile peace. Until a fellow apothecary told me the truth. She hesitated, then said: "He treats you like dirt. The other one is gentle. Why do they both get the same precious moon-wine? How is that fair to the one who actually cares?" I thought about it all day. She was right. Late that night, I left the apothecary in a sheer silk robe, carrying only one glass of moon-wine.

When enemy soldiers breached Drakefire Keep, the first people they seized were Liora Vale and me. My betrothed, Lucian Vale, Lord of Drakefire, chose to save Liora, his brother’s widow. Then he ordered the iron gates shut and left me outside, six months pregnant with his child. I was taken by the enemy and later thrown from a cliff. Everyone believed I was dead. Seven years later, I returned to Drakefire Keep with Kael Drakon, the Supreme Dragonlord. At the welcome feast, I saw Lucian again. His eyes lit up when he recognized me. “Elara, I knew you survived. My brother was dead, so I could not abandon Liora back then.” He looked at me as if nothing had changed. “Now that you are back, we should complete our dragon vow. You will become Lady of Drakefire and hatch the fire-dragon egg for me.” “With a fire dragon, I will surpass Kael Drakon and become the true Dragonlord of this continent.” I smiled. He did not know the fire dragon had hatched long ago. It hatched seven years ago, on the day I married Kael Drakon.

Four years ago, Marcus Blackthorn rejected me at our Dragon bond ceremony. He chose Clara Linwood instead. Her bloodline carried the purity of an ancient dragon clan, and with her at his side, he could secure his claim as Lord Blackthorn. He told me to wait one year, promising that once his position was secure, the title of Lady Blackthorn would eventually be mine. Everyone laughed at me for believing I had ever been anything more than a useful promise. I refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing me break, and I left without begging for a place in a future he had already denied me. I left his territory in silence and followed the Dragon Goddess’s sign to my second-chance mate, Caelan Frost. He was the Frost Dragon King, ruler of every dragon clan, and even a Black Dragon lord like Marcus had to bow before him. Four years later, I returned to Blackthorn Keep beside Caelan Frost, the Dragon King. Four years later, I returned to Blackthorn Keep beside Caelan Frost, the Dragon King. At the city gate, Marcus stopped me. He looked at my plain cloak, then threw a servant’s gray livery at my feet. “Stop pretending you have somewhere better to go,” he said. “My household happens to need a nursery maid. Take the work. It is the only future you have left.”

For generations, the women of House Silvermoon have carried a unique blessing. Our blood ensures high fertility. More importantly, it purifies the lineage of those we bind with. Because of this, the moment a daughter of our house comes of age, she becomes the most coveted prize in the realm. In my past life, my older sister, Clara, looked down on the brutal, cold-blooded dragon shifters. Her heart was set on the elegant Elven Prince. She fully believed she would rule the Nightwood at his side. She got her wish. And I was readily married off to the Dragon Prince, Kail, in her stead. No one expected that within a year, I would give birth to a pure-blood dragon—the first sole heir the Dragon Clan had seen in centuries. Overjoyed, Kail crowned me his only Queen the day he ascended the throne. Under his rule, the dragons conquered the continent. My position was secured, and I enjoyed endless wealth and absolute power. Meanwhile, Clara discovered the grim reality of the elven court. The prince was a notorious womanizer. Clara was merely an insignificant consort, drowning in tears while she watched the entire realm bow at my feet. Jealousy ate her alive. During a family gala, she lured me to the edge of a cliff and pushed me into the abyss. But when I opened my eyes again... the dragon bridal envoy was already at our gates. And Clara, without a single moment of hesitation, accepted the proposal. I knew instantly—she had been reborn, too. What she doesn't know, however, is that becoming the Dragon Prince’s bride is the easy part. Winning his heart? Surviving long enough to bear his child? That is next to impossible.

At my coming-of-age ceremony, I failed to shift. I was the heir to the Silver Serpent tribe, but all I could grow were a few ugly scales. My fiancé and my best friend stepped in front of me and roared at the crowd. "Shut up, all of you! Anyone who dares mock the heir is making an enemy of us!" While I was still downcast over my failure to shift, I overheard my best friend complaining to my fiancé that someone with inferior blood like mine had no right to hold on to the position of heir. She promised to help him take my place. Before long, rumors swept through the tribe that I had betrayed the Beast God and was nothing but a lowly lizard. My fiancé tied me to a stake in the ceremonial square and raised a torch to burn me alive. No one knew that the fire wouldn't take my life. Instead, it would burn away the final shackle that had sealed my superior bloodline.