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The journey back from the Dragon Realm was not a transition; it was a sensory whiplash. One moment, Kaelan was enveloped in the heavy, ozone , scented opulence of the obsidian palace; the next, he was standing in the drafty, linoleum, scented hallway of the university dorms.
Ignis stood beside him, looking like a celebrity who had just returned from a private island. He was dressed in a sleek, midnight, blue suit that shimmered with hidden depth, the bite mark on his neck now a faint, silver white scar that he refused to hide.
Kaelan, however, looked like a survivor of a natural disaster.
He was leaning heavily against the wall, his face a ghostly, exhausted pale. His black panther ears were visible, twitching with a nervous, irritated energy. On his right ear, clipped firmly to the velvet-soft fur, was a small, intricate dragon earring made of enchanted "living" gold. It pulsed with a faint warmth, a constant, physical tether to the King.
"I look... ridiculous," Kaelan rasped, his voice still a dry ghost of its former sarcastic self. He reached up to rip the earring off, but his hand was shaking too much to find the clasp. "I look like... a branded... house pet."
"You look like a consort who has survived a King's favor,and a huge dick!," Ignis murmured, his golden eyes raking over Kaelan with a proud, perverse satisfaction.
Kaelan tried to summon a funny curse about Ignis's questionable fashion sense, but his brain felt like it was made of wet cotton. "I hope...die and burn in hell, bastard!," he muttered, his head lolling against the cold wall.
The walk to the first lecture was a gauntlet of humiliation.
Kaelan could barely walk. Every step was a jerky, agonizing hitch. His swollen, ruined hole felt like a raw wound, and his thighs were leaden with exhaustion. He limped down the quad, his fluffy black tail tucked so tight it was vibrating.
The student body, a mix of humans and shifters, stopped and stared. The whispers were like a swarm of bees.
"Is that Kaelan? Where has he been for a week?"
"Look at his ear... is that a Draconic seal?"
"He can't even walk straight. What did the Guest Auditor do to him?"
Kaelan's internal monologue was a muffled, irritated scream: If one more person looks at me like I'm a three legged dog, I'm going to start biting ankles. I hope they all get mild food poisoning. And die from murder .
He finally made it to the lecture hall, collapsing into his seat in the back corner. Tamsin and Marcus were already there, and the moment they saw him, their faces went through a rapid cycle of shock, livid anger, and deep, quiet pity.
"Kaelan," Tamsin whispered, her fox ears drooping. "You look... you look like you've been through a war."
"I was... kidnapped... by a scaly lizard ," Kaelan croaked, leaning his head on the desk. "The war... was one sided. And the overtime pay... was just rough sex."
Marcus stared at the dragon earring. "Is that... soul bound gold? Kaelan, he marked your ear. He's telling everyone you're royal property."
"I'm a... straight-A student... with a very high... irritation level," Kaelan snapped weakly. "I don't care... what the gold says. I'm going to... melt it down... and buy... a lock... for my life."
The door opened, and the room went silent. Ignis entered, not as a teacher, but as the Dragon King in human skin. He didn't go to the podium. He walked directly to the back of the room, stopping right beside Kaelan's desk.
The silence was deafening. Kaelan didn't even lift his head.
"Mr. Kaelan," Ignis rumbled, his voice a deep, smug vibration. "I trust you found the… 'weekend retreat' educational?"
Kaelan slowly lifted his head, his emerald eyes bloodshot and jaded, yet still flickering with that fearless ego. "I learned... that your palace... has a very... poor... rating on... TripAdvisor," Kaelan rasped. "Zero stars. Too many... predatory lizards... and the bed... had a perverse... infestation."
A few students gasped. Tamsin and Marcus held their breath.
Ignis didn't get angry. He reached down and flicked the dragon earring on Kaelan's ear, making the gold hum. "The service, however, was personal and pleasurable, Wouldn't you agree?"
Kaelan glared at him, his short temper finally providing a tiny spark of energy. "The service... was a violation... of my... human... and panther... rights. If you touch... that earring again... I'll bite... your other... neck."
Ignis's smirk widened, his golden eyes glowing with excitement. He leaned down, his voice dropping to a whisper for Kaelan's ears only. "I used Selene's real name to banish her, Kaelan. She's gone. The West Wing is empty. There is only you."
Kaelan's internal monologue flared one last time: Oh great. I'm the sole recipient of his nose bleed obsession and leaking dick . I hope his dick shrink to a baby fist size. I hope his kingdom gets overtaken by very aggressive perverse lizard just like him.
"Go... sit down... you over dressed... lizard," Kaelan muttered, closing his eyes. "I have... a graph... to draw... and a body... to mourn."
Ignis let out a soft, triumphant laugh and finally walked to the front, leaving Kaelan in a state of exhausted, irritated peace.