The Dragon King's Au Pair

Chapter 1: The Market

WARNING: This story contains explicit sexual content, sexual harassment, violence, attempted murder, lopsided power dynamics, and mentions of illness that may be upsetting to some readers. Reader discretion is advised.

"Look!" The shout cut clear through the din of the royal marketplace, a hush falling on the gathered crowds waiting for entry. "Look up there!"

A heavy morning breeze kicked up around me and loosened my hair from its braid as I turned my gaze skyward. Thousands of feet above us, a pair of large-winged dragons wove through a scattering of clouds.

The dragons were giant beasts, scaled and fearsome, and their wingspan momentarily blocked out the daylight. Both were a dark brown color but the sun on their scales made them glint a deep red, the color of blood. Even from this distance, I could see the sharp edges of their talons.

"They're beautiful," a woman beside me whispered, and the rest of the crowd uttered similar sounds of awe as the dragons glided gracefully through the air. I tucked an errant strand away from my face and then gently wiped away the light sheen of sweat from my forehead, anxiety pooling in my stomach.

Part of me wished I could share in their excitement, but I knew it was wise to fear the dragons. Their beauty was otherworldly but double-edged, as their cruelty knew no bounds.

I knew that firsthand.

After a moment, the dragons began to circle the marketplace. My eyebrows creased together as I studied them closely. The marketplace was for humans, primarily; the dragons kept to the inner walls of the castle.

What were they doing here?

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. The crowds of the royal market always set me on edge, and the presence of the dragons certainly didn't help. The sooner I could get in and get what I needed, the sooner I could return home.

I took my place in line and joined the thrall of waiting people.

"Dragons in the market," a male voice whispered. "I wonder who they are."

"They must be important," another mused.

"It would be best to keep to ourselves," a woman advised, and I agreed with her wholeheartedly.

Despite their secondary human-like forms, they weren't humans, and they liked to remind us of that fact regularly. They had no regard for human life and treated us with little decency or respect. Humans were second-class citizens in this kingdom, lesser beings with no redeemable qualities in the dragons' eyes.

Normally, I'd run from the sight of them. But I direly needed new books for the ramshackle school for humans that I taught at in the capital. My library was small and getting smaller as the few well-worn tomes we used began to fall apart.

Unfortunately for me, the market was the only place that sold them.

As the market gates opened up and the crowd began to surge in toward the stalls, I anxiously fiddled with the simple bracelet I always wore on my right wrist—a strip of rich black leather looped through a small flat gold stone in the shape of a dragon scale.

I wore it as a reminder: dragons are deadly.

***

The royal market was a labyrinth of crowded wooden stalls. The smells and sounds were a little overwhelming even on a normal day when there wasn't the added threat of dragons. People milled around, occasionally parting the way for horse-drawn carriages filled with goods.

To the east was the row of food vendors, displaying artfully arranged piles of fruits and vegetables that were hard to find elsewhere. Further down that row were restaurant stalls, and the smell of freshly fried breads wafted all the way down to where I stood. To the west were the clothiers, who had giant spools of vibrantly colored cloth from faraway lands laid out in front of their stalls.