Macster - The Last Dragon

Smiling, she watched Wolf as he scratched absently at his temple in his sleep, the mannerism a habit she found so endearing. It was because of him that her life had been turned upside down, from the moment she first met him in her grandmother's apartment until now. And although much had happened she wished had not, she would not change a single thing about it. Her mother's death still caused an empty, hollow throb in her heart, but the passage of time was dulling it, and she knew surviving the tragedy would make her stronger.

Resting a hand upon her swollen stomach, she caressed it softly. It was still hard to believe she and Wolf had created a new life, but now it seemed as if it had always been meant to be, and that Wolf had always been with her. The initial shock had faded long ago into pleasure and devotion, and in the eight months since her return to New York, she had spent almost every waking moment with him, reveling in this closeness and love they shared. Bereft of it so long, she practically glutted herself on it now, gulping it with a greediness that rivaled Wolf's propensity for meat. But it was a good feeling, finding what had been lost, filling the void, and it bonded them together more fully with every day.

Virginia touched her lips gently to his throat, then moved up his neck, planting kisses in a soft line upwards onto his cheek. Wolf opened his eyes halfway and grinned lazily up at her. "Why hello there...there seems to be a dreamy, creamy girl in my bed."

She smirked and ran her fingers playfully up his chest, playing with the hair. "And there seems to be a handsome, hairy wolfman in my bed...whatever shall I do with him?" She winked.

"I can think of a few things," Wolf said slyly. He kissed her long and tenderly.

Rubbing her hands down the soft silvery-gray fur along his backbone, Virginia rested her head on his chest. "So can I..."

For the next several minutes neither could speak, as they worked to apply their lips to every available inch of flesh. At last Virginia sighed and frowned. "I'm really not looking forward to going back to the Fourth Kingdom today," she commented. "I'm sure Wendell's going to pester us again about getting married."

"I know, love," Wolf murmured in her ear. "But you can't blame him...he has to deal with all those petty rulers and courtiers who think it's scandalous to have an unwed pregnant stepsister." He rolled his eyes. "He's being pushed to the wall...but he's only looking out for you, you know."

Virginia glowered, but said nothing for a long time. Finally she kissed his chest gently and exhaled slowly. "Yeah...I know. But...I want this to be my decision, not his, not theirs." She nerved herself, then continued, "And I will marry you someday, Wolf...I'm sure of it. But only when I'm ready."

Wolf smiled and tweaked her nose. "I know you will...and I respect you for it."

Virginia grabbed a pillow and slammed it into Wolf's face, laughing. "Why you arrogant..." Her words were lost in a muffled shriek as Wolf returned the blow with another pillow. In moments both of them were in a full-fledged pillow fight, the soft down pillows whamming indiscriminately into any exposed body part. One blow struck Virginia on her pert derriere, and she stiffened in mock outrage. Whirling, she bashed Wolf's crotch with her pillow, and he doubled over, face twisted in feigned agony. Giggling,Virginia lifted her pillow and brought it down on Wolf's head, but he abruptly snaked his hands under her arms and proceeded to tickle her ribs. Exploding into laughter, she collapsed on the bed, wriggling and gasping weakly. "No fair! You cheated..."

His eyes brimmed over with mischief. "Why of course...wolves are unscrupulous, you know..." Enfolding her in his arms, he gnashed his teeth and let out a soft growl. "Now let me punish you..."

She flushed slightly, then wrapped her arms around him. "Oh yes...punish me..."

Another long silence ensued, until Virginia broke the last fervent kiss and panted, "Oooo...what a terrible ordeal...can I stand another session of torture like that?"

Wolf grinned. "Only one way to find out..."

He was about to resume his attentive touches when a diffident knock came at the bedroom door. "Pardon me, Miss Lewis...I don't want to disturb you, but I simply must know something..."

Virginia snarled in a very unladylike manner. That was Mrs. Murray, again. Damn that magic bean! The obsequiousness it compelled had definitely lost its charm long ago, and it intruded at the most inopportune moments...

Rolling over, she covered her head with the pillow and willed the woman to go away, but to no avail. Without waiting for a reply, Murray's gorgeous wife opened the door and entered. Seemingly oblivious to Virginia and Wolf's unclothed state, wrapped in the sheets, she peered around hopefully, an expression Virginia detested greatly by now. "Ah there you are, Miss Lewis! I was wondering if you had any idea when your father would be returning...his last visit was so brief, Bob and I were barely able to truly show him our appreciation for everything he's done for us, and what a wonderful man he really is..."

Linda babbled on for some time about Tony's greatness, until Virginia began to feel nauseous and had to put a stop to it. Tucking the sheet around her chest, she sat up and said rather loudly, "No, Linda, I don't know when he'll be coming back. But my fiance and I will be going to visit him today. I can ask him then, and I'll be sure to tell him how much you want to see him again."

The tall blonde's face positively lit up with her joy, and she smiled broadly as she wrung her hands in glee. "Oh that's simply wonderful news! I'll be sure to tell Bob and the rest of the family." Her lips pursed as if in anticipation of the ass they longed to kiss, and Virginia could barely restrain her laughter.

Apparently overcome by this prospect, Linda nearly floated out of the room, calling back only once to note Justine would be waiting in the kitchen to fix them breakfast. As soon as the door closed, Virginia hurled the pillow at it and collapsed, exploding into laughter. "Ooo how I hate that woman...but seeing her like that makes it all worth it!"

Wolf shook his head, chuckling, and kissed her cheek. "Huff-puff, I love it when you're enjoying yourself..."

Virginia ran her hands once more down his chest and then playfully pushed him off. "If we keep this up we'll never be ready in time to meet Wendell. And however much I may not wish to live through another one of his lectures, he is my stepbrother and I promised him we'd be there."

As she crawled across the mattress and leaned down to pick up her nightgown, Wolf gave her a small shove, sending her tumbling out of the bed. "Doesn't mean we can't have a little playtime before we go!"

Laughing anew, she scrambled to her feet and yanked on the sheet, spilling Wolf rather ignominiously on his backside, his tail swishing in annoyance. Before he could pursue her, Virginia dragged the sheet away with her, dashing to the door and disappearing into the bathroom. As the door closed she heard Wolf exclaim, "Ah, the thrill of the hunt! You always know what I love, Virginia!"

She leaned against the door and smiled in satisfaction. Could life get any better than this?

Howling winds drove knife-like blades of ice in a whirling frenzy all about the turrets, battlements, and parapets of the Ice Palace's frigid walls, marring the smooth, almost glassy surface of the structure with scratches and cracks. Blinding snow swirled from the heavens, blanketing the earth, making it impossible to see farther than a few feet from the frozen moat. Across the vast wastes of the Eighth Kingdom, all features of the landscape were scoured clean by the endless snowstorm, pack ice and snowdrifts hundreds of feet high creating a repetitive vista of eternal winter, enshrouding every inch of ground as far as the eye could see, and far beyond that extent as well. It appeared as if the world had become ice, as if it were locked in another Ice Age.

And that was exactly the way the Ice Queen desired it to be.

She stood at the casement of an arched embrasure in the highest tower of her palace, a still, silent, slim figure blending into the maelstrom of snow and ice that assaulted the window before her. Pure white ermine wrapped her slender shoulders; pure white silk clothed her body; pure white hair cascaded down from her head in utterly straight locks, to knee level or below. Her finely muscled limbs and torso bore the pale, bluish-white blush of fine marble, delicately wrought, like the finest ice sculpture ever created for a banquet. Her lips were the dark violet-blue of frostbite, her face the ghastly white of the grave, although life suffused her high-boned cheeks. An aquiline nose, haughty brows, taut skin, tiny ears--all were etched by the same ice sculptor's tools. Her eyes were like chips of ice, such a pale blue as to freeze whatever she regarded, but yet they were a paradox, for they burned with the fiercest of fires within.

Yet ice, too, burns when it is freezingly cold, formed at the lowest realms of temperature...as was her heart.

Twisting her lips into the semblance of a smile, a motion that seemed somehow physically impossible, the Ice Queen turned from her rapt contemplation of the storm and crossed to the pale blue mirror hanging from the wall. It resembled a frozen lake tilted vertically, and icicles even encrusted its frame. Her reflection pleased her, as it always did. But while nothing lacked on the outside, she was well aware something was missing on the inside.

Satisfaction.

She sighed, a sound like crunching snow. For years she had languished here, alone, without power beyond her own borders, without the freedom to expand, to achieve her greatest desires. Oh, she had her amusements, the fishermen of the villages whom she toyed with, enchanted with her beauty, before slipping them silently into the grave with the gentleness of a blanket of snow, until they entered her realm and became part of her demesnes for good. But that was not enough, not nearly enough. She needed more.

And now at last, she had the means and the moment to give it to her.

It had taken years of patience and diligence, searching out all those who could possibly defeat her, and rendering them lifeless or otherwise impotent to intervene. She was still uncertain if she had found the last of her enemies, but if her surmises were correct, even if he lived he would be no threat to her. And she could spare no more time. The aborted takeover of the Nine Kingdoms by Wendell's stepmother, the Evil Queen, had shown her two things: the danger of waiting too long to seize power, lest another supplant her; and that the time was ripe to strike, when the rulers were complacent, relaxed in the false sense of security the Queen's death had granted them.

"Now," she whispered aloud, her voice soft as her breath fogged before her. "Now is the time. We shall see how well the Kingdoms fare against me. Poison is far too crude for me...I shall use the cold...the inevitable death...the shroud of the burial mound. By all rights all should belong to me in any case, all come to me when they die. I shall only hasten the process."

Taking one last glance out the window, she turned and strode gracefully toward the door of her chamber, wrapping her ermine cloak tighter about her frame--not to ward off the chill, but to enfold it closer to her. She chuckled, the sound brittle, like shattering ice.

"It is time for the Ice Queen to extend the hand of cordial relations. A long overdue state visit to the Fourth Kingdom is needed." She tapped one long finger on her chin thoughtfully. "I wonder how his Royal Highness King Wendell will receive me...will he be like all other men, ensnared by my beauty? Or will he resist, and be suspicious? No matter...in the end the result will be the same..."

The Ice Queen extended one tapering arm and twitched her hand. A long, narrow rod slid from a concealed pocket in her sleeve, fashioned from what appeared to be ice yet was in truth much much stronger. She lifted it slowly, then touched one fingertip to the skewer-sharp tip, where a many-rayed star perched. A soft hiss escaped, and a sheen of ice puffed out to freeze the air around it.

"Once he is presented with my gift, he will be...enchanted by my charms, and frozen speechless." She smirked at her own joke, then passed soundlessly from the chamber, descending to prepare her coach.