DRAMON: 2 years ago

I want to whoosh out my relief and say, "I found you," but I know instantly that this isn't Venus' body. The hips lack curve, the hair lacks volume, the body lacks muscle and height.

This isn't my woman.

I drop my arms and I glare at her as if she offends me. She's my race, with short dark hair that has a sticky substance on it. Her clothes are also coated in sand and some liquid. She's attractive, but can't hold a candle to my wife.

"Where is she? Where is Venus?" I snarl.

The door rattles behind us as Centres comes in, and the light crystals turn on. I can see this woman's expression better. She's afraid of me.

"Son, let us talk about—"

He shuts up when I scowl his way. He knows better than to call me anything other than 'King.' I am not his son.

"Where are the other women?" I push.

"Only this one has been found."

"Where, and how long ago?"

Centres stops in front of us, and the girl hides behind him. She is definitely nothing like Venus. My wife cowers to no one.

"We found her on the outskirts of the dessert and barely got her out before men started a rampage over her."

I glare at the woman. She doesn't even speak up for herself. I can't help feeling disdain.

"Speak," I command her. "Where are the others?"

Her chin lifts a little. "After the white light took us, I landed in a pool. It was so hot my skin was melting. And the screams..." she whimpers.

"It is alright," Centres soothes. "Take your time, dear."

She better not, or I'll throttle words out of her. Compassion be damned. I want my woman back.

"There were screams everywhere. The women were getting murdered."

Angry yells come from outside as men hear the news. Many suspected this outcome, but none were ready for the confirmation.

"Clear the hall," I command an assistant and then bring my glare back to the female. "Keep talking. Venus doesn't lose that easily. What and who did you see?"

She shakes her head, and her hair is so stiff from the odd substance in it that it hardly moves.

"I crawled out of the pool I was in and ran. The creatures chased me. They didn't have facial features and shone with bright light. They had a head, two arms and legs, but I didn't hear them speak. We were in some sort of metal vessel." She looks around unwarily.

"I was on the bottom level and there were pools above. I got out and fought off one creature. I attacked him with his own weapon— some form of sharp stick, and then I ran because more were appearing. I took bones and threw them at the pool above me. When a wire came loose, I used it to climb to the second level and jump into a white portal. I didn't have time to save anyone else, and I landed here."

"That is very brave of you." Centres smiles at her. "You fought them all by yourself."

I go to the walls and pull off a sword on display.

"Show me where she appeared."

"Dramon, you must let the investigators—"

"It wasn't a request, Centres! Show me and be quiet. I'm the King now. You wanted this, now deal with it."

While the female looked after by a doctor, I tumble through the desert in search of the portal. I'm itching to jump into it and cut down whatever ugly bastards are behind this.

I fly high and low for hours, but there is only sand and my desperation.

– • –

For the next year, I obsess over this spot. No other women have appeared other than Lady Life, as Xelor has calls her. She doesn't seem to mind being the only woman around, as she enjoys requesting ridiculous items. She's a vain, power-seeking woman, but she has learned that she won't get anything from me the night she showed up in my bedroom.

She won't try to seduce me again any time soon.

I walk out of the outer pool of the palace, naked. After spending so much time in the desert, I come home filthy.

My attendants don't stare as much as they used to. They did at the beginning, when I appeared as I had it all— the title, the body, the woman. Now, they all know I'm miserable.

It will be dark soon, and I need to do my nightly scouting. I walk to my bedroom, toss my towel over a shoulder, pull on trousers, and shove my lonely and inked cock in with a grumble.

I'm one sad son of a bitch.

There's a knock on my door. There is no end to my workload.

"What?"

"It is I," Centres replies.

"What do you want?"

He comes in with that sad expression of his. "They're at it again."

I instantly know what he's talking about. The nobles are causing a stir over Lady Life. They all want her, and I've shown no interest in claiming her.

"Figure it out. I'm already married."

"It has been over a year and no child has been born. We don't know if we will ever find any more women. You need an heir, Dramon."

I squeeze the towel so tight that water trickles out, although it's barely wet.

"I'd rather give up this title than marry that woman."

"Listen to yourself. She is rejecting men left and right, and refuses to marry anyone but you. A war over her is coming, and all you have to do is marry her to stop the bloodthirst."

I've heard this speech before.

"I know you do not have to have children with her," Centres continues. "Just marry her to protect her. She will ask for a divorce when she comes to her senses."

"She is not my problem," I argue. "I already protect her under my roof and entertain her ridiculous shopping habits."

I throw a shirt on and leave without fastening the straps. I'm going to be late for my night scouting.

Another year passes, and the loneliness that started as a droplet in my chest has expanded to a canvas of hopelessness. I am darkness. I have become the same night that I scout in search of her.

I miss her, but no matter how many men I send out or how many nights I spend circling the desert, she doesn't appear.

The unrest over Lady Life hasn't settled. It only becomes worse. The woman everyone wants is interested in me, but I am in love with a ghost.

Because of the drama with Lady Life, the search for Venus has gotten interrupted. I've had to divert men to protect the palace, because swarms have tried to break into it in search of Lady Life.

I know the only way to stop the madness is by claiming her. Then, I can divide my men into search parties across the planet. Although it's the most logical option, it tastes like betrayal.

Swallowing the bitter taste, I go to Centres and give him the happiest news he's gotten in two years— I'll marry her, but I won't touch a single hair on her head.

The wedding is tomorrow, and I'm walking down the Main Hall while trying to listen to what my architect and scribe are saying.

A figure turns sharply and rams into me. I have to palm the sword at my hip to keep them from cutting themselves. The coalition makes the metal cut my palm.

"Be careful!" an asistant barks.

I raise my bloody hand to stop him. The figure at my feet has two silver, feminine arms that poke out of their cloak. This must be one of the boys the florists hired to collect flowers for the wedding. Boys have smaller fingers than us, making it easy for them to collect flowers in awkward spots without damaging them. He probably wears the cloak to protect his body from the sun.

"Let him go. Continue."

I walk around the boy and struggle to listen to my men because my mind is lost in Venus. I touch one of my arms, where the memory of her remains. I'd give my skin to touch her one last time.

Needing a break, I run to the stables where Treysa lives. Her caretaker is struggling to contain her.

"What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know, sir. I've been trying to take her into the wilderness for her walk but she only fights me."

I run to them and pet her snout. She has never been this wild. "Calm down, Treysa. It's only me."

My voice does little to relax her, and she only slows when she's exhausted from fighting us.

Puzzled by the encounter, I leave orders to get her checked over and return indoors. I go to my bedroom to collect papers and see blood when I find Lady Life in there. She's touching Venus' things. The ones I carefully keep behind a crystal box.

"Stop!"

She jolts.

If she were a man, she would be spurting blood right about now.

"I told you to never come in here," I growl and corner her.

Her eyes widen, and she clutches her neck, which is adorned with the biggest jewels on Xelor. I don't care for those things, so I've let her use the royal collection as long as she stays out of my way.

"But— but we're getting married. And, and this woman can't be in our lives—"

"Touch her things again," I lean closer. "And you lose a hand. You don't need two hands to give birth, now do you? It's not an essential part."

With a little cry, she jumps around me and runs off with her expensive aqua-blue silk dress fluttering behind her.

I put the crystal case back over Venus' things, and I stay there for so long that I'm nearly late for my night scouting.

Lady Life stealing Venus' story of how she escaped😳