Alf was looking forward to his arranged marriage, a wedding of political convenience to a complete stranger, that would restore his former lands. However, in the days leading up to it, he finds himself trapped in the body and life of a dragon, more specifically, a lady. Now he constantly finds himself switching back and forth each day, no one seeming the wiser.



Day 1
I held my sword tight and mediate on my next action with fire coursing through my veins. My gaze was locked on a warrior clad in steel plate, his helmet down low.I jerked my hand forward and made my stab, my opponent blocked with his shield, bringing it down on my blade. He then thrusted his own sword in retaliation, whilst I took a block with my own shield.

We stepped away from each other, guards against the other, eyes clad in steel helmets. Our armor might have protected each other against the swing of our swords, but the impact of a blade would still hurt and the right stab in the right places would have left a wound. We inched closer to each other, moving in a circle ever inward, ever drawn to mutual danger.

My opponent made a quick lunge at me, the initiative his. I reacted in a flash, sidestepping the attack and then following up with a push through my shield. I sent my opponent back a few steps, metal clanging against metal. He reacted too slow, age catching up to him, failing to block my next strike underneath. My sword failed to go through his platemail, pinging off it with ease. This gave him enough time to retaliate, bringing his sword up high and hitting me in the shoulder with the pommel. The impact hurt and I brought my shield up high to prevent a second blow, whilst sending a kick to the other knight’s sternum to keep him down.

The other warrior stumbled back and the initiative was mine. I made a decisive move and charged my opponent, knocked him down to the ground with my shield. He fell into a heap.

The other warrior groaned. “Fine, fine, you win… Now help me get out of this thing...”

I let out a laugh. Victory… and the pride that came with it, were mine. “I don’t know Father. It’d make a good tomb for you when Jeron succeeds you.”

The aged Duke took off his helmet. His dark hair was greying, but he still had plenty of years in him left to rule. All he could do was look at me, rolling his eyes like he was wont to do. “Yes, yes, my boy, but that time is not now... ”

I grinned, offering him a hand. “Of course...”

My brother, Jeron, watching from the sidelines just shook his head. “You’re really going to milk the sentiments for as long as you could aren’t you, Alf?”

I failed to suppress my amusement; my brother knew me all too well. “Well, I think I’ve earned it!”

My brother rolled his eyes, trying to act all dismissive of me, as per usual. Probably because he missed being an only child if I had to guess, but it’s been years at this point. “Sure, sure, if that’ll help you sleep at night. I guess maybe I’ll miss you a little.” Heh, maybe not.

Our father, Duke Oresta, could only sigh, standing up and donning his mail with the help of two servants. “Boys, behave yourselves. We’ll have guests coming in the next few days, some of them from Alf’s homeland up north.”

“Yes, father…” we both groaned. My brother and I were young men of course, old enough to wed and old enough to be fully trained in the arts of war. I think our parents sometimes forget that, but I suppose he was still our father and reigning Duke for the next few years until Jeron gets old enough to ask him to step down, according to succession law. I won’t be seeing that, I am afraid. I have to go to my own duchy to go to!

See, Oresta wasn’t really my father and neither was Jeron my brother.. I was adopted, still of noble blood, but in exile due to a bloody coup when I was but a child. I was left the sole, rightful claimant to that throne, spared only by being in the wrong place, and sent to one of my family’s traditional allies. Until just recently, I was still in exile. I received a missive not too long ago that the Usurpers that cast out my family had been bested and the new regime was looking forward to cement its authority through royal marriage with me. I accepted of course and now I was taking care of my affairs as I was leaving to meet my partner to be.

We left the court yard, leaving our armor behind while we dressed in our finery. Dinner was about to be served and mother was doing her best to ensure my leave was on good terms and warm feelings.. Jeron’s feelings aside, my parents did accept me as their own and my parting was going to have an effect. Still, I must be strong.

“Ah, I see you’ve made roast boar, Jula!” spoke father.

Brother simply rolled his eyes. “You’re spoiling him, you know that?”

“And I’ll hardly see him after the week is over!” declared my mother the Duchess. “Besides, he’s your brother.”

“Adopted brother,” I added wryly. I took a loaf of bread and broke it, uttering small prayers as I did the deed. I wonder if Jeron would make a good king once I am gone. He was certainly going to be glad to be rid of me, that much I was certain of.

My brother sneered. “Fine, do what you want...” he just shook his head. “See if I care. Just don’t involve me!”

“Well, we’ll need to have this year’s family portrait a few months early,” suggest our father. “It is not as though Alf would be here to have it.”

“Do we have do? We take one every year and it takes forever!” my brother complained.

“Yes, but this time it’ll be done using one of those new fangled devices!” I raised my voice. “Remember what that merchant had? Instant portraits! No paint at all!”

“Oh, that’ll be lovely!” spoke our mother.

My brother rolled his eyes turning to the latest picture overlooking the kitchen’s fireplace. “Hurray..” he mocked. It depicted all four of us, as of last year. Aside from that latest portrait, there was a line of important other pictures arrayed around the room, all depicting different events, such as the day I became a squire and became a knight a few years later. Even the day I was taken in, as nothing more than a scrawny whelp of a boy.

Looking at the painting., one could tell I was a bit different from the others; I was the young man with the reddish hair and the far paler skin, whereas the rest of the family bore dark shades of brown and black and had slightly more tan complexions. My skin tone was a bit off, a minor sign of my heritage. Really, I looked like an outsider, yet all but one exception had me welcomed; I was fortunate to have a decent family. Still, I suppose it helps I don’t much give a damn about what my brother thought of anyways.



Day 2
I awoke groggily from my sleep, feeling the world slowly come into focus, despite an unwillingness to even open my eyes. I would have loved to stay in my bed, my cushions and blankets felt so soft and luxurious. I wondered for a moment if my new home in my homelands would have such a fine bed. The temptation to stay here for the rest of the morning was so strong; I couldn’t remember the last time I had such a soft sleep.

Yet, I knew I that I was going to have to open my eyes eventually and tumble out of my sheets. It was but the unfortunate curse of being royalty. Always so busy despite all the wealth in the lands.

Against my sincerest wishes, I opened my eyes, blurry and heavy with sleep allure… and saw something that bothered me. This was not my room. My quarters were different… My bed was this… silken rag, far softer and more plush than my sheets last night. I had these...curtains? Yes, it seemed like curtains over my bed, decorated with flowers and… birds for some reason. Since when did I get curtains? And what servant gave me such… ugh, clothes?

I raised a hand to tug away at them and get out and saw a… hand. It was… different. My skin was a light shade of some greenish color with large nails at the ends. I could only look at it with a strange feeling in my stomach...Wait. Scales??? What happened to me?

I leapt out of my bed and tried to stand… but I then found myself falling onto the ground! Ow! I hurt. My body felt like I had been turned into a peach, I was… soft, wounded too easily. I shouldn’t be reeling from pain like that! I examined myself more… finding myself covered in some sort of large night-gown, another silken garb that I was wondering why I was wearing… and why were there holes in the back… for my wings?. And… was that a tail? I grabbed onto those new appendages, feeling them for the first time, feeling their… delicate nature and wondering why I was so feeble. Had I turned into some sort of dragon? One of those wild beasts wild out in the mountains?

My room had changed. It was essentially in the same place, but all of the furniture was off. My bed was larger, enough to fit me; I think I might have been the size of a large horse if my proportions were right… My dresser and cabinets were larger as well, but… there were all sorts of flowery embellishments that bothered me. Why were there so many flowers in my belongings? Where was my armor? And… why did i have a bookshelf?

I rose from the ground, lifting myself up on all fours. It felt… strangely natural to do that. I tried to stand on my rear legs, but I found that I couldn’t maintain that posture for too long, forcing me into the stance of a beast. I grimaced… and rifled through my belongings. They bothered me. Most of them seemed to be…

“Lady Elzana?” I heard from behind my door. I ignored it. Probably just some passer by servant.

...Dresses. All of them my size.

I heard the door creak open and a servant came in. “Oh, Lady Elzana,” said the servant. “It’s time for breakfast! Your mother and father are waiting for you in the dining hall!”

I just looked at the servant, in a days. I was a Lady… a literal dragon lady!
That can’t be right! “But I’m not… ugh… you know I’m not...” My voice… annoyed me. It was too high, too… smooth, ugh. I spoke the right language but, this bothered me!

The servant looked at me, questioning in his tone. “Ready? I mean I don’t mean to offend… but uh?”

Why did this one not feel that something was very wrong? Why? This was all too strange. “...Nevermind.” I had to see my parents, see what they could do to help me. I tugged at my nightgown and found I had a little difficulty taking them off, the wings just kept getting in the wa and figuring out how to slip my… underwear through my tail was a pain.“A little privacy if you don’t mind!”

The servant yelped and went away. “Sorry Princess!”

“Don’t call me…ugh!” I shook my head violently. I took off my… girlish garments and rifled through my dresser. Nothing was even… bearable. I was fine with silken garments, but there was nary a tunic to be found that didn’t immediately set off some base revulsions. Everything was too… feminine, too soft, the wrong color, or something that I don’t think a man like me should have been even thinking of wearing. It was improper and unsuitable!

The mirror over my dresser, far larger than it had been last night wasn’t my friend. This new body was unfamiliar in ways I didn’t understand, yet it had an all too… feminine leaning to it, delicate, weak… things that did not befit a knight or a warrior but… a maiden… a woman. Ugh! My body felt too slender now that I noticed, my shape too narrow and my proportions too gentle. And I didn’t even want to think about what happened below the belt.

“Princess? Uh, I mean… Miss Elzana...” spoke the servant.

“Stop calling me that…” I moaned. This had to have all been some sort of maddening dream. This had to have been my imagination. I was not a dragon, nor a woman, much less a young maiden the size of a horse!

“Come on, young lady, you must get dressed!” shouted another servant, this one a man.

I rolled my eyes. Ugh, this would be so much easier if I didn’t have so much… effeminate clothing. And I seriously doubted I could go outside naked… in fact, I think having myself… exposed like that was just going to make things worse for me.

I took the least offensive... dress I could find. Something in a darker shade of blue… It was still too frilly, too girlish and soft for my tastes, but the alternative would be being so exposed where others could see me.

I found myself downstairs perhaps a few minutes later. The servants and cooks were making the morning stew, something that smelled of rabbits and cabbage. My family was sitting in their usual spots, unchanged from the night before. Father waved me over to my seat… which was more like a big cushion on the floor than anything resembling a chair.

“Come here child, come here!” spoke my father enthusiastically. They didn’t seem the least bit bothered by their adopted son becoming a dragoness.

I moved over to the place my used usually was, now a gigantic cushion I stood-sat on. “Father,” I addressed first. “You’re not the least bit concerned for me?”

My father’s expression turned red, his eyes lit up with surprise. “Oh, but my daughter, I’m sorry if there’s anything I am forgetting. It’s just… you’re going away and we do want to make the most of your time...”

I blinked. They didn’t think anything was wrong with me… I… took a quick turn to the familiy portraits… noticing that where I used to be was now a dragoness, clad in and dressed with fine silks. And going through the pictures, I could see that that dragoness shrinking away until she was nought but a small pup in the hands of young boy who would have one day be a knight standing in front of his parents…. As far as they were concerned, there was nothing wrong with me…. asI had always been a dragoness…

“Sister,” cried my brother, his tone being far… gentler than last time, like he was showing actual concern. “Did you… hurt yourself getting out of bed again?”

“No!”

He raised up a finger. “That means yes!” He raised up a hand and waved at a servant passing by. “Get my sister a balm!”

“I don’t need a balm!” I spouted.

“That’s what you always say!” said my brother, grabbing a glass bottle from a servant. Why was he so concerned with me!? I liked it better when he was antagonistic towards me! “You want our father to help you out, but you don’t want to admit to needing mine.”

Mother laughed in the background, amused. “I think I’m going to miss this…”

Father seemed to only agree to it.

I shook my head, backing away from my brother as he approached. “Leave me be!”

It took a minute longer of arguing with my imbible of a brother before the morning breakfast was served. Rabbit stew might have been more gamey for my tastes, but at least it was familiar… even if my bowl was actually the cooking pot once all the other portions were doled out. We said our prayers. And I hoped that if anyone was listening to me to help me undo this mess.

“It’s too bad you won’t be here for the annual knights tournament between all of the other noble families in our lands,” spoke mother. “You did always like watching it, even as a whelp…”

Father laughed. “Oh, and you certainly tried to get into it, even as much as the instructors denied you entry into becoming a Squire.”

My brother smiled. “I remember the time when in the most junior cavalry divisions, you tried to sneak yourself in as my horse. Boy that scheme didn’t work out!”

I hated being reminded further about my new status. I sat there, looking glum. Now I was starting to realize why I was so soft, so feeble. I... was never trained as knight, not anymore. As much as my mind said I was a warrior, my body was otherwise.Because well, what sane would allow a girl, let alone a dragon girl learn the sword? Then, what became of me? Surely I had more importance than some gilded whelpling in the castle.

“Sister,” cried my brother. “You don’t have to guilt me about it, like you do all the time. Besides, I was jealous of your tutor back when we were growing up!”

I had my own tutor? Tutor in what? Was it someone I already knew?

An explosion was heard.

A man stepped out from somewhere, the court… physician Bartand. If he could be called such. He did far too much more than simply doctor, and dabbled in everything from alchemy to sorcery, though I think the last one was something of a specialty of his. He was always a bit of a recluse, but a useful one. “Uh, sorry, sire, but I don’t think I’ll be experimenting with saltpeter again for a while….”

My father looked displeased. Brother sniggered. “Fine, fine. I suppose new weapons will have to wait another time. Better than the lead into gold research at least...”

The man raised a finger. “I tell you, it’s not going to happen without spending more money than it’s worth.” He laughed and turned to me. “Ah, Lady Elzana. Are you done? We have things to do to do?”

I just stared. This man was my tutor? “NO, but ugh…” I think at the rate I was going my family was starting to wonder what was wrong with me…. “Fine, fine…” I finished as much of the soup as I felt I need to do… and went to the researcher’s quarters at the other end of the castle.

The lab was… different from last time I saw it. There was… more stuff in general. Beakers, test tubes, jars full of strange substances, tools, more than I doubted he had before. The physician seemed far more sociable than before too. I don’t know why; he always seemed to be far more of a grouch before… and now he was more… eccentric than anything else, brighter in a sense. I don’t know what caused this, did being my tutor entitle him so?

He raised a hand and grabbed a book from the shelf with the other. “Now, as you know, I won’t be able to follow you, so I need you to be able to carry on without me… So, remember, your power is a tool and no matter what those crackpots in the eastern lands think, is a whole lot more than about making gold out of random metals!”

“Uh… sure!” I didn’t even know what alchemy or sorcery was, that was always a superstitious craft I never needed to even bother with. I was sure a… maiden of my station would be taught what all nobles should know, politics, wealth management… geography. This, whatever it was, it was new.

The teacher just looked at me funny. “Now, remember your fundamentals. Show me what you’ve learned, like we practiced.?”

I gave an awkward grin. I didn’t know what it was we practiced… or what I was supposed to do. Was I supposed to go shapeshift or throw a ball of fire somewhere else from my mouth?

My teacher slapped himself. “You should know this! What happened to you?!”

I slowly inched out of the lab… and really wished that today would end.




Day 3
I groaned... today more so than ever, I did not want to get out of bed. I was...scared. Scared of what I would be…

Slowly, I opened my eyes, looking under the sheets at myself. A sigh of relief - I was...myself, again. But... what caused me to change? And then change back? Assuming that it wasn’t just one surreal dream….

It was all awful, each conversation growing more awkward and making me feel more out of place. No one noticed the problems I had and I just felt like I didn’t belong there… I hope I never had to do that again... I probably needed to see the physician.

I got downstairs to the breakfast table, feeling unwell.

Everything seemed perfectly ordinary, my seat was once again a normal chair. The servants took care of my needs, calling me “sir”, “prince” and more appropriate titles. My brother Jeron opened up with a bit of smack talk, citing my tardiness for a lack of fitness. It was strangely comforting. I like my brother better being his usual, abrasive self. I couldn’t stand im doting over me like that. My adoptive parents did the idle chitchat, the morning routine, all of it as normal as ever whilst we took soup.

“Hm Alf, I wonder what your bethrothed will be like…” spoke my father, as he read through the papers.

I shrugged. “I hardly know who these… liberators are, only their banner, their servants, and they all speak about their current ruler, who is the father of who I will marry. However, I am not worried, I don’t think.”

My brother let out a laugh. “Heh, maybe it’ll turn out you’ll marry a man!”

I rolled my eyes. “Cork it!” I raised my hand.

“Make me!” he goaded.

“Boys!” mother called.

I shook my head. “No, this is something I gotta do.” I’ve only got a few days left here… and I think I would enjoy bashing in my brother’s head before I was away.

“Well, at least you have some sense!” spoke my brother.

We went to the courtyard, a moment later, donning our armor and wearing duller training blades. They might not have been proper weapons of war, but they could have broken bones if we really wanted to.

I raised my sword with both hands. Shields were not required for this, our armor was enough to protect ourselves.

Mother and father looked at us from a balcony. “Be careful with yourselves!”

“I will!” I replied. Well, maybe I could be a little reckless.

We sized each other up and then fought.

The first move was his, he was always the faster, but I had the muscle, the strength and the will to push him back. I blocked the blow and hit him with my fist, sending him back after the parry. He stumbled a few stepps back, but regained his footing fast and charged again.

When it came to evade another strike, for a moment, I blanked out, forgetting the movement, the posture… my training. I recalled something about… elements… I shook my head, feeling a little dazed and narrowly avoided the strike hitting my temples.

“Jeron!” yelled mother.

“Hey!” what’s wrong with you?” spoke my brother.

“Nothing you swine!” I snapped. I wanted to lunge at my brother, but I felt so uncertain of myself. I didn’t feel like I had it in me, my blade seemed to feel so heavy in my grip. How was I supposed to use it in this position again? I attacked and lunged swinging my sword.

My brother parried the blows, easily, much to my frustration. “Come on! Are you even trying?”

“Shut it!” I flailed, yet I could feel my attacks just… drop in power. I was uneasy; holding my sword, I was afraid of even using it right… what was going on? I had a sword for all of my life, my grip was… uh…

It fell out of my hands.

“Is this supposed to be some sort of joke?”Brother scolded.

I gritted my teeth. What was I doing? Why was it so hard to fight with a sword!? In a rage, I just took off my sword off from the ground and went for one last attack and...

BAM!




Day 4
I awoke again, feeling my head spinning. Morning dawn’s light came through my bed’s curtains and silky softness engulfed me. I stumbled from my bed, dazed with a throbbing pain in my temples. Eugh, I was a dragoness once again, dressed in a different night gown, as every bit as offensive as the last.

I hated seeing my room in such a state. I want to be done with this nonsense. I was man, a warrior, not a lady or less… yet I was forced into the trappings of one, the body of some beast, no matter how hard I tried.

I rose to my dressers and rifled through my clothing, looking for the most appealing attire I could. Should I go for summer dress? Or maybe something brighter? It was bright out today, so, what about orange? Would they go well against my scales? It was then I realized that my drawers were open and that I had somehow managed to grab my... underwear with the end of my tail whilst I was selecting my outward attire. How odd. It might have been, a reflex. Regardless, I had my clothing.

I undressed so that I might redress. It felt easier to slip into it this time. I didn’t see the reason as to why a dragoness would wear a dress at all, but I imagine it had to do with our… mores. I was raised among humans after all. I wondered what my ancestors dressed in, if they did so at all?

Then, the door barged open and just as I was about to cover my body, I leapt and hid behind my bed’s curtains. “Argh! How rude of you!” I snapped. “Can’t I have privacy?”

“Uh, uh sorry, Miss!” said the man’s voice. Oh, great it was the physician. Him again? “I was just… wanting to check up on you. You ended up hitting your head if I recall. Your brother got into a bit of … dispute.”

I growled, but I did see his point. My temples still hurt and now that I could feel it, there was something of a bump right where I think my brother hit my with the pommel of his sword yesterday. Did I end up in a sparring match with my brother? Or was that something else? “Oh, uh… yeah, I remember…”

“Oh, good then.” My tutor said. “May I come in?”

“Yes…” I said. I had need of him. And now, he couldn’t embarrass me by looking at my body. Eh, why I was I so self conscious about my form?

Bartand came to me and began checking on my head and then applying something that smelled like rotting fish to my wound. “It’ll recover by the time your husband arrives.”

Husband? Oh, right. I was still going off to my homelands, father said so the other day… but wait, did that mean that my suitor was going to be a dragon? And that I was going to be… Ugh. No. I couldn’t… “But what if I… don’t want to be married…?”

The doctor eyed me. “Oh, but my dear. What about your claims? This may be your only chance.”

I pouted. I didn’t want to be someone’s wife. The idea just offended me. I was supposed to be the man in the relationship, not the woman! “Well, I know that but…” I took a deep breath. You know, out of everyone in this castle, the physician was the only person who knew at all about magic… but if I told him my problem now, would he remember it tomorrow? Would he even take me seriously? On the other hand, what did I have to lose? “Okay, teacher… I have a problem…”

“Oh, what is it?” he eyed me. “Is there something I can do to help?”

I nodded, I probably looked like some defenseless damsel in his eyes, but that probably was how I felt. “... I’m actually a man… and every now and again I turn into a female dragoness… and no one seems to think it’s strange!” I relayed him my story.

The doctor could only nod, as if trying to decide something and taking notes as I spoke. I don’t know how much I told him. “Hm that is...odd. I’ll see what I can do with it…”

“Yes, yes!” I begged. “Please, spare me from this fate.”

He nodded. “Very well then my student.”

As soon as the doctor was gone, I went down stairs to face my family another time. Aside from the surreal nature of it, the entire thing felt like an ordinary day, about the only thing odd was that my brother kept eyeing me.

“Alright, spit it out!” I spoke to him.

“I told you it was a silly idea,” said my brother. “You don’t even know the basics of self-defense…”

“I do, too!” I snapped. “Like uh…. Uh… fire!” Dragons breathe fire, right? I was told they did!

Father and mother laughed. “Dear, we’ve seen you use fire before. You can barely muster enough to set firewood alight, let alone a man!”

“Maybe the bannerman,” said my brother.

I huffed, smoke jutting from my nostrils. Yet, I was starting to feel that my brother was right. I didn’t know self-defense, not any more. It was like the more I spent as a dragoness, the less I remembered about being a warrior… I barely even knew the names of those… moves I did before or even how to pull them off. I feared what would happen to me if this kept going on. Eugh. Just because I was a woman did not mean I had to be submissive did it? “And there you prove me wrong for having too much faith in you…”

“Well, what did you expect from men, dear,” said mother. “They are kind of single minded about the fighting after all…”

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean!?” cried my brother.

Father was looking rather amused, as if it was some sort of long running game. “Well, we clearly have to know our politics and geography...else we’d get nowhere when signing our treaties!” he said cheerfully declared. That I was familiar with… I think I was taught that too and wasn’t today going to be the day where I had to review that with my other teachers.

“Oh, well, if you know so much, where is my homeland?” I asked. “I hardly know much about it, it’s been so long.”

“Oh, it doesn’t come up often and I don’t know too much myself... It’s up north and dragons roam it. It is one of the few bastions of dragonkind, child, where dragons still could rule lands amongst their own kind and men. I think most people there are well… people, with alot of the rulers being dragons.” he muttered. “The poor are equal opportunity however…”

I bit on that, mystified. I felt strange….

It felt… familiar, like home in way. I wanted to go there. Dragons were… rare, unheard of beings yet, now there was land full of them? Since when? What happened? Is that why I was a dragon? Was I imagining things? And why hadn’t I known about these things until later on? I think I had only seen a dragon once in my whole childhood and that thing was some sort of aimless wanderer.

After breakfast, I was taken through my studies, reviewing my histories and politics and finally through my alchemy, medicine, and sorcerer. This time, it was easier to answer to do what I was asked to do. I even managed to light a candle with a flick of my fingers, but my teacher says I’ll need to do much more self training before I was ready for the major workings.






Day 5
Waking up as myself again felt off. My body felt… too strong, if that was anything. My muscles were uncomfortably big, my body too well honed and alien. Walking on two legs felt disorienting, being fraction of the size of my last body didn’t do me any favors… and what I used to pride was now… awkward. Even facial hair seemed uncomfortably itchy. I wanted to feel weak, to be softer, more graceful, not some brute. Yuk!

I went through my clothing, feeling far more sensitive about their fabrics, thinking about how too rigidly… plain they were. I hated this… escapade. My emotions were all too imbalanced, too out of my control. Was I going to wake up tomorrow and feel relieved that I was no longer a man? It was like I was starting to miss being a dragoness!

I picked the most tolerable thing I could wear and made it downstairs…. Although I’m not sure to which side I was trying to appease at this point.

The family breakfast was set up as it usually was, father sitting across me, mother to brother. At least this familiar scene was something I could stomach still.

My brother eyed me. “What’s been going on with you lately?”

I felt… scared, timid. I didn’t know. I was supposed to be a man, supposed to like it really. Now I just didn’t know anymore and longed for that silken body. I shook my head. No, I didn’t want my brother to know… or maybe I did ugh. “Just… leave me alone?”

“... Is it your marriage, Alf…?” he offered.

I winced, wondering if I was going to be betrothed to a young male drake or… no. I wanted to be a woman, no, I wanted a woman. My emotions were so muddled, confused. I wanted stability.

Mother and Father simply looked at me, amused expressions in their faces. How was it they didn’t notice the changes that happened day in and day out and only saw it as me acting oddly? My life was changing so drastically, yet the main difference was just me….

“I… I will simply see the physician. I feel sick” I excused myself and went to the keep’s cellar.

I went down, noting the sort of… disrepair the place had been. The place was empty save cobwebs and empty tools, not at all like the desks full of plans and experiments and wonders.
I found him, the man I had known as the physician sat in his desk, reading a book by a dim candle.

“What. Is. It?” he rasped, his voice sounding worn… from disuse and lack of drink.

Evidently, if I was not his student, things weren’t as… improved for our court’s master of the strange… and I was scared of him, of what he could do. Maybe turn me into gold or something. “Uh, do you have my cure for me, Professor?” I spoke.

The withered man blinked for a moment, looking astonished. But then the surprise faded and he simply turned to a vial full of purplish liquid, lazy and sounding like he wanted me gone. He still knew my problem, it seemed given that he did something for me. “Drink.”

I approached the desk and held the flask in hand. “Will will this stop me from changing?”

He growled, a bitter sensation in his throat. He made it c

I winced. No more time for questions it seemed. I took the flask.. And hoped for the best.


Day 6
… I woke up and was changed, yet again. Still a dragoness. The alchemist’s solution failed me… What did this mean for me? Was I constantly going to keep changing back and forth for the rest of my life?

I didn’t like the thought of that and I doubted I could talk to anyone without them seeing me as mad. Only I saw this madness and when would it stop?

I quietly got out of bed, yet again, though I wanted to stay inside. I felt so scared, so afraid of what was going to happen to me, for my time was running short.

“Princess Elzana!” cried a servant, knocking on the door. “Your groomers and here today!”

I gulped. “No, no!” I screamed. I didn’t want to be … humiliated so, not in front of those servants.

The door burst open and a trio of women came right in. Mother was outside the door, looking in. “Come young lady. It’s time we cleaned you properly for tomorrow!”

I backed away, tried to struggle free, but the women, they were too strong, too used to working. I can’t believe it, I should have been able to subdue them before, and now I was some weakling… They were dragging me out of my room, the brutes! “But mother!” I whined. Yes, whined. I didn’t know what else to do.

She laughed. “I know, dear, but at least your brother isn’t watching you…. Atleast he won’t be if you hurry up. Your father is distracting him!”

I pouted, how embarrassing, I didn’t want these servants to see me… yet that was infinitely better than having Jeron see me. I… decided to go with them.

The men and women took me to a private bath, a large place, and the only one with running water in the castle… at least it apparently did. I think the physician did that, I wasn’t sure. I put in this large tub, one that would have been large for a large human male, but only just barely contained me.

Mother looked at me, her expression gleeful. “I remember when you were so small, such a scaley little thing you were, constantly getting stuck in the mud. Course, that all stopped once you landed in that rosebush...”

I pouted at her, remembering that… As a boy, I ran through the woods and wanted to chase things. Often, I would get my tunic torn to shreds and get tears in my skin and then did the same the next day. I was a boy… right? Yet, as I reviewed the memory, I saw things differently, I liked to play and run outside, but then I slowly started to shut myself indoors as each injury was a painful experience. In fact, now I started to see those reckless actions as something only a fool would do, instead of hold them up as boyish bravery.

The servants poured a bucket of cold water over my scales and began using these large brushes to lather soap across my body.

I wept, the cold bothering me. “Mom…” I begged. “I don’t want to go… I don’t want to bathe.”

She grinned, a tear streaking her face. “Oh, I know. But remember how you wanted to fly home? I guess, now you finally got that wish.”

That one felt at least right. The only difference in that memory was what I was and my motives… and I felt that the young and brash boy who wanted to defeat his enemies was so distant, so… wrong to see myself there than the young timid thing that was afraid of her enemies following her and just wanted things the way they were.

I shook my head. “Mother…” I whined again.

The servants rinsed the soap off me again and started putting a second coat and rubbing the dirt free from my claws and tiny horns and then

“What… what about brother? Isn’t he going to say anything about me going?”

Mother simply smiled, rubbing a small towel cloth against my face. “Oh, don’t cry dear. I know you two have gotten close… especially compared to how it was before… I remember back when he never wanted you to be in the house…”

I thought back to when I was a young… hatchling. My brother was supposed to have been my rival, my competitor, but… everything off. He was rude to me at first, but father straightened him out. I was a.. Girl after all… and then he was nice to me. Such a sweet, loving brother, so kind and well mannered...

A giggle escaped my throat. “Mother.” I whined once more… but I felt something different, this time.

… I was a dragoness. A young princess, no less.... And a little bit of a sorceress… I mean, why did I ever want to be such a brutish male? That was so wrong, I felt. I’d be so ugly and rude and then I’d have to go raise my hands or be some masculine warrior.

Mother wiped away more of the dirt from my face, smiling. I had the feeling though that it she was also wiping away more, the last vestiges of that former life I no longer deemed fit for me.




Day 7
I took a few steps in my dress, admiring the silken contours. It was a human style of attire, not “properly” meant for me, but adapted as best as the fashionable seamstresses could. That was fine by me. I wagged my tail, letting the ring of gems studded bracelets along its length jangle. Oh, how I loved being myself, no longer conflicted.

This morning, I awoke with sweet relief to learn I hadn’t reverted back into some imbecile brute, so foolish and arrogant. Oh, how I was glad I wouldn’t have to go marching in the dirt… or don armor… or learn some fancy swishes of the blade. I’m glad I no longer remembered any of that stuff, all of it seemed so crude, barbaric… I am sorry my brother, sweet as he was would put up with such nonsense, but he was male… and human, no changing that, well for now at least.

I looked out the window from the keep, noticing that the caravan had arrived a while. I was rushed into my dressing room to have the wedding ceremony occur as soon as we could as soon as we confirmed they were in the settlement. There were a few dragons were outside, I wondered who my husband to be is, it will be my first time seeing him…

Jeron came inside. “Sister, it’s time.” He said, his expression solemn.

I suppressed a giggle “Jeron, don’t be so sentimental….”

He rolled his eyes at me, the cur. “You’re the sensitive one.”

I flicked my tail at his direction, not to strike him, merely a gesture of annoyance and laughter. I wondered for a moment if I could bestow upon him what I had now. He…, well, if that happened, she’d thank me for it latter… but alas, I could not.

We headed downstairs, mother and father were there, smiling. The sorcerer was there, bearing one of his usual grins of contentment.

That was when I saw my mate, my husband to be, a proud male who bore a cloak made of animal skins of many kinds and a bright belt. He was larger than me, and decidedly a valuable male. He didn’t have a tunic though, letting me see the lean and strong muscles on his belly.. And as for his lower body… well, I enjoyed the sight. He must have been a hunter, or athlete. His father could have been a warlord. I wonder where he was. He approached me. “Ah, who is this? Is this my mate to be? You look lovely.”

I blushed, blood rushing to my cheeks. Oh, he seems so nice, so sweet, while strong and a decent male seeming male. “Oh dear me…. I’m Princess Elzana.”


“A lovely name. I am Stigr.” purred the male. He moved close to me and then rubbed his neck against me. Oh, he was so gentle too! His skin was strong, supple, yet flexible. This had to have been a perfect male. “Shall we begin?”

I smiled, feeling so embarrassed. I still remembered a bit about being a man, enough to feel a little shy when confronted with this companion. “Yes…”

The wedding began. The priests came and bonded us and the festivities all happened in a rush, too hard for me to remember because there was so much if it. All were celebrating and dance and music filled the air. It was the best time at all, yet I think I had too much drink to recall it all. I know Mother and Father were trying to speak to my new husband for most of it, and brother was trying to impress him, but the details were all.

Later that night, still at my adoptive parents’ keep, my new husband and I were looking forward to our first night together before we headed to my new lands up north. He helped me undo my wedding dress, removing the fine white silk from my delicate flesh, cutting it with his teeth. A small part of me still wanted the positions reversed, I the male, but why did I ever want that?

He looked at me one more time, his expression seemed more amused than anything else. “Ah, I’m so glad that we’ve had you changed. It would have been awkward if I had to marry some sort of burly male type, especially a human.”

I blinked for a minute, feeling a little confused. “Uh… pardon my husband?”

His expression seemed to waver a little, seeming embarrassed. “Oh, sorry my dear, but I simply couldn’t have been the bride in our relationship… atleast, not after what happened last week... so you had to change, too!”

“Oh…” I responded, feeling a little confused. I had no idea what he was talking about, yet I had to wonder if that meant he was responsible for my well....

I was going to open my mouth and ask something, but the question died down the moment he removed the cloak on his back. “Not my idea,” he said, his tone almost annoyed. “I mean, things would have been fine if, well, none of us changed. But then I became male and a dragon; that would have been an awkward wedding if you remained the same… Still have no idea how or why it all happened, but our wisemen say it had to do with something something going on in some other land. They did something to make sure the wedding was still so valid…although I didn’t think it would have meant fixing you at the time...” He looked at me, flashing an embarrassed grin. “Sorry...”

I blinked for a moment, just wondering at what my husband was saying. I think the thing that bothered me most of all was the idea that my mate, this big, burly epitome of a male who clearly spent a great deal of time in the wilderness and hunting, was once some delicate flower of a female… not even factoring the human/dragon aspect as well.

I had a hard time believing that. Then again, I have a hard time believing I was ever some warrior.

I shook my head. No, this was too much. I had but one reply. I licked his lips. “You talk too much…”

He grinned. “So I do…”