Trinket (Reverse Harem)

Show Me Yours, I Will Show You Mine

The green dragon darted to his rock nest, and dug through the rocks, then shifted into human form and lowered something around his own neck, and moved towards his brother.

"I—" I didn't understand.

He had a gold thorn as well.

I approached slowly, and lifted the thorn off his chest. He stared at me with such intensity I couldn't bear to meet his gaze.

His thorn was exactly like the others. Exactly like the ones on my Trinket.

"I was ordered to go into the Temple," Korr told me as I stared at Ethat's Trinket. "Our elders had decided that we'd been removed from the world too long, so, because I was of an age I should have taken a mate but had not, and was willing to come into the world, I'd go to Temple. My clutchbrother and I have never been apart, so Ethat came with me, even though we knew it might seperate us forever by the obligations of our partners."

I licked my lips.

"When we emerged," Ethat took over speaking, softly, "we both had the same Trinket. No one knew what it meant, except it was impossible we were mates. We are clutchbrothers. I left with Korr to solve the riddle—and some others—and in our travels, we met Itek, who had been told to undergo the Churn for the same reasons. Obviously, we are linked to the same fate."

Itek explained now. "Two dragons and a griffon travelling together would make it look like the clans were officially allied, which we aren't. So Korr and I wear our Trinkets openly, and allow everyone to assume we are partners, while Ethat remains in dragon-form, concealing his own Trinket and playing Korr's tagalong brother."

"It would seem there is now a fourth," Korr said. "This wolf-shifter Asund who is also bound to us."

"But... this doesn't make sense," I said, my mind spinning.

"No. We were also sent by our clans to figure out why the world is rotting," Ethat said. "To try to track down the fate of the lost hippocamp princess, and verify if she is truly dead or not."

"You don't seriously believe I'm her," I said.

"We aren't certain," Ethat said. "The fact you don't care for meat is telling. Hippocamps enjoy fish, but not land-mammal meat. It makes them unwell. However, we've met hippocamps, and you do not seem to be a hippocamp, and your claims you cannot shift are disturbing, and you are not exactly the correct age. But we are unwilling to rule it out."

"But what could finding the princess do to help the world anyway? Just get a new heiress."

"In reality? Nothing, except perhaps lead to something else to explain what's happening," Ethat said.

"This was interesting and all, but I've got to go. Good luck figuring out your Trinket collection there. And Asund's an asshole. So there's that. He'll get along great with you guys."

Ethat grabbed my wrist before I could move. "This Asund may have rejected you, but we won't."

"What?" I asked blankly.

"It is the only thing that makes sense," Korr said. "We are all for you."

"What?" Now he was talking crazy. "Nobody has multiple consorts. Admit it, Korr, you're just a horny lizard and Itek gets off on it, and maybe Ethat should go fly up north to find Asund. Sorry, Ethat, in advance, he's an asshole."

"My brother is somewhat indiscriminate in his tastes," Ethat told me. "But I am only interested in females. There is no chance this Asund is the mate the gods chose for me."

Korr snorted. "No, griffons are the indiscriminate fuck-birds. Dragons are not. Don't think I haven't noticed your interest in her, brother, but we both know Itek cannot do to my cock what she does. Wasn't Itek just ranting at me about it last night?"