EXTRACT FOR
The Dragon Princess
(Arian Wulf)

"Princess Sophie," Bettany called her attention to her. Bettany was somewhere in her thirties, but looked more like she was fifty. "It is your place to make life easier for your people, is it not?"



Sophie could only nod in agreement.



"Years ago, your grandfather entered a contract with the Kingdom of Moon and they are requesting that we honor that contract now."



Sophie frowned. "What has that got to do with us?" she asked.



"They asked for one of us," said Akasha.



"One of us?"



"They want a princess to be wed into the royal family to form an alliance," replied Akasha.



"Even if that were the case, they would not ask for me, Akasha," Sophie said, understanding dawning along with horror at what her sister meant to do. "Father would not allow this," she whispered.



"The alternative is for one of us to marry a beast, Sophie," Akasha answered swiftly. "You wouldn't want that to happen, would you?"



Akasha said 'one of us' but the fact that she was here at all meant that the prince had asked for her.



"Princess Sophie," Bettany started arranging her curly locks into a modest hairstyle that hid the lack of length. She had to have her hair hacked off a few weeks ago due to a prank one of her brothers had played on her. They wanted to see if she was still fire-proof with the limiters on her. "You would not want your sister to be given away to some strangers, would you? You know Princess Akasha is going to wed Prince Thomas one day."



Princess Thomas was of the Kingdom of Mages and was very kind to her when he came to visit a few years ago. He had tried to befriend her, but the friendship was short-lived once he set eyes on Akasha. Sophie didn't blame him. Akasha was exceptionally beautiful.



"Prince Damian is first to the throne," she whispered, bewildered that her sister would pass this opportunity by. Prince Thomas had five older siblings. He would never have the chance to rule and neither would Akasha if she married him.



"Sophie," Akasha started. "You know how long I've been waiting to marry Thomas."



She understood, suddenly, why Akasha was here at all. "You intend to show me in your stead," she whispered.



"Darling," Akasha said, as she always did when she wished for Sophie not to argue. She had used the same tone when she asked Sophie, all those years ago, to set fire to their oldest sister's dress. She had gotten a painful whipping for that and had learned the important lesson that sometimes, a small beating was worth it to avoid a bigger one. Akasha stroked her cheek, the same side that she had slapped just moments earlier. "I am promised to another. It would be an embarrassment to break it off, don't you think? And we cannot breach a contract with the Kingdom of Moon."



She trembled. A smaller beating was worth getting to avoid a bigger one. She spoke, "If they are expecting you, they will see me as an insult, Akasha. They will kill me for this," she whispered.



"Insult or not, an alliance will be formed following the wedding and that is the most important part. See to it that you are survive until then," Akasha said, the warmth gone from her face. "And if you don't like your future husband. You could always," she waved, "-fly away."