______________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Why am I hearing about infighting from the Orc battalions?" Colton demanded from the 7 foot grey monster sitting shirtless in front of him. "If they can't even keep from fighting each other during training, how are we supposed to use them at all if we go to war?" His tone was angry, but measured.

"Look, rabbit," the Orc, named Daguard, spat out like a curse as he stood up, facing the smaller, grey faced rabbit, "bad blood in the clans runs deep. I told you and the queen that this would happen, and-"

"And you said you could control them." Colton interrupted. "Three lieutenants have broken bones, and over a dozen of the rank and file are bleeding and broken in Angie's cavern right now."

"AND," Daguard said, holding back his anger, "none of them are dead or dying, which I'm calling a damn miracle after two months. Your healer bitch can handle some broken bones and cuts, I imagine. Fights will happen for a long while. There is too much resentment. I promise you, if we actually fight a real enemy, my people will be able to focus on the real threat."

"Try to make them focus now." Colton said. "Angie is busy enough with training her own recruits, we can't afford to waste her healing idiots who can't keep away from their allies' throats. And if you call her a bitch again, I'll tell her about it. Then you can have fun checking everything you eat and drink for poison until she forgives you."

Daguard growled, a low rumbling from his chest, as he remembered the last bout of sickness he blamed on the herbalist. "And what do you expect me to do to make them focus?"

"They are your people. I expect you to figure it out. Since you asked though, here's a suggestion. Any Orc who starts a fight will be removed from the fighting division, and put to work under Angie. If they have any magical talent, they are more valuable to us as healers anyway. If not, they can boil rags, fetch supplies, and cook for her and her apprentices."

"They would revolt! No Orc would leave the front lines to help tend to the weak." Daguard said, but the gears in his head were turning. "We can't remove them. But we could force them to work away from their brothers. Menial labor, just temporary."

"Let me know how it goes, and tell Angie she should expect help." Colton turned, deliberately facing his back to the Orc chieftain as a sign of respect, and entered the 'hallway' of the cave complex. He disliked Daguard, but the Orc was intelligent and seemed loyal. Despite this, he had somehow managed to loosely unite the majority of the disparate orc clans that were forming the bulk of the Dragon Queen Nadia's infantry and cavalry. If only they were less violent, but their culture was forged by their history, and that history is what made them willing to fight for Nadia. Speaking of whom, he should probably start making her dinner. Normally this was the cook's job, but tonight was a special occasion and he wanted to make it himself.

He turned through the twisting passages of the complex, called the Hidden Palace. Left, left, right, left, left again, a quick jump down a hole in the floor, and finally he arrived at the kitchen just off of the great hall. The cooks eyed him suspiciously when he told them that he would make and deliver the queen's meal tonight, but they didn't question him. As a general rule, no one trusted magic users, and they trusted Colton even less. He'd heard the whispers and rumors about him, mostly from Nadia herself as she laughingly told her that yet another arrival had felt the need to warn her that her top adviser was dangerous, that illusionists couldn't be trusted. Usually they used less polite or accurate terms than illusionist- psychic and mind-rapist were the two most common terms. She never told him who said these things, but it hardly mattered- so long as they trusted Nadia Colton could live with it.

The cooks did question him when he told them the ingredients he wanted. He was making no secret of his meal plan, a simple vegetable broth. "Nadia is a Dragon, sir," one of the cooks felt the need to explain to him. Colton bit back a sarcastic remark, his face remaining passive except a slight twitch of his nose. "Unlike you, she usually prefers meat with her meals."

"Usually being the important word there. She has asked for vegetarian dishes in the past, yes?" Colton tried to prevent sarcasm from entering his voice, but the cook clearly felt the insult anyway. Grumbling, he went to fetch the spices and vegetables Colton had requested. The grey rabbit turned to the next cook. "Where is the largest bowl you have?"

"No bowls big enough that the queen would notice if she ate them whole sir. There are some big pots we use to make food fer the troops, maybe one o' them would work. Not exactly fancy, but it'll hold the soup just fine."

"Can you spare one for the night?" Colton asked as he followed the cook, a small greenish goblin with ears nearly as big as Colton's. "If you need them to feed the troops stationed here, I'm sure I can find an alternative."

The goblin just laughed. "We have enough to make food for ten times the people here right now, easy. If you want you could borrow two of 'em, or more even." They arrived at a storeroom, one of the few places in the Hidden Palace that had locked door. The goblin produced a key from one of his pockets, and opened it up. "We keep the big un's here with the weapons cause we don't have much space in the larder for 'em, and don't use 'em much anyways." The goblin explained as he walked through the neatly ordered racks of swords, spears, and other metal weaponry. "Not sure if it's good that there's enough space in the armory, but we use what we can."

I'm not sure it's a good thing that a cook has a key to the armory, Colton thought, but clearly someone had trusted the goblin enough to give it to him. Besides, these were mostly excess weapons, most of the troops kept theirs with them unless they were in the infirmary.

"These will do the job." Colton said, looking at the pots. There was a range of sized, but the largest were bigger than most bathtubs. "I'll only take the one, it should be enough. Help me get it down, would you?" The goblin wheeled over a wire metal dolly from a hole near the floor, and the pair lifted the pot down, grunting a little at the weight. Colton looked inside, and saw the cast iron shine slightly. "I'll do my best to get it cleaned out again before I get it back to you," he said, thinking the orcs in the infirmary could spend some of their punishment making the pot gleam.

"That'd be good of ya, sir," The goblin said.

"By the way, you don't need to call me sir. Colton works just fine."

"Aye sir, but if I call you that I'd need to remember your name. 'S easier to just call folks 'sir' or 'ma'am', they rarely get mad like if you call a Jeff Fred or if you call a James Sarah." Colton chuckled, liking the goblin. Most people weren't this honest to their bosses, or as at ease.

"And should I just call you sir then? Or do you have a name I could remember."

"Ragwort sir."

They made it back to the kitchen, and everything but the water was already there. Colton tossed it into the pot, and started wheeling the pot out of the kitchen.

"You aren't cooking it here?"

"The queen will eat in her chambers tonight" Colton said. "It would get cold before I get it there if I cook it here. Plus this way I won't have to move all that water- she has her own pipe."

Ragwort nodded, satisfied with the answer. The other cooks were busy starting dinner for the rest of the inhabitants of the palace, and the goblin rushed to join them.

The complex didn't really have 'floors' like most artificial buildings. Some passageways were on top of others, but there were no stairs or high ledges, so it was easy for Colton to wheel the massive pot to his queen's bedroom, near the entrance to the cave system. As he got nearer, the caverns began to grow in size. There was a door blocking the entrance, but there was no lock on it. Nadia believed that a lock would send the message that she was unavailable to her people, but she did value some privacy, so this was a compromise she made with herself. The door itself was enormous, but in the bottom was a smaller entrance for most people to use. Colton entered without knocking. Usually he wouldn't, but he knew that the queen was meeting with an emissary from the northern kingdom of Gii about forming a trading partnership. Boring stuff really, but important. Better relations with the Gii would give their relatively new claim more stability and legitimacy, which they desperately needed.

The room was massive, but mostly empty. There was a large pile of linens and furs on a raised stone slab forming a nest, around a dozen lit sconces on the walls for light, a large fireplace in one wall for warmth, and a spigot for water in the far corner. Colton locked the wheels of the dolly under the water spigot, took out the dry ingredients, and turned the spigot on with the lower valve. The upper valve was ten feet off the ground, only Nadia could easily reach it. While the pot was filling up, he pulled some wood from the pile near the fireplace set up a low ring of wood. There was no flint and tinder- why would a dragon need help making fire- but the rabbit twisted his hand oddly, his arm began to glow, and soon there was a healthy blaze. He waited until the pot was full and pushed it, dolly and all, over the fire.

As the water started to warm up, Colton returned to the spigot and turned it back on. He washed all the vegetables off, then set them aside. He stripped off his clothing, a simple brown frock and pants, and removed the necklace that had been hidden under it. A silver chain with a small, brilliantly blue sapphire ensnared in a sphere of curling silver wire. He stepped into the cold stream, bathing himself quickly but thoroughly. He had a nearly snow white belly, a light grey face and arms, and two dark grey patches on his right shoulder and elbow that matched his legs below his small, smooth rabbit tail. He was thin, with no appreciable muscles, and his eyes were chocolate brown.

He finished bathing and walked over to the fireplace, glad for the warmth. The water wasn't near boiling yet, so he stood and dried off, puffing out his fur and smoothing it back down. By the time he had put fresh clothes from a hidden drawer in the bed-area, this time wearing the necklace outside of his white linin shirt, the water was entering a soft boil, so he threw the spices and vegetables in and, realizing he had forgotten a ladle to stir the soup, cast another simple spell to create a small whirlpool in the center of the circular pot. The room quickly began to smell like the broth, carrots and onions and garlic and peas. Colton breathed in deeply, and hoped that the strong scent matched the taste of the soup. Just a few minutes later the massive door to the chamber opened, the heavy hinges groaning a bit as they turned.

The Dragon Queen certainly looked the part. Walking on all four legs, her head was a good ten feet off the ground. Her face was hard and angular, flanked by dark grey frills, and her bright blue eyes stood out against her scales, which were coal black except for her neck and belly scales, which were a lighter grey like clouds just before a storm. Her large wings were folded neatly on her back, and her long tail ended with a sharp looking membrane extending near the tip. She walked like a tiger, sure of every step and with little unnecessary movement. Before she made it entirely into the room, she stopped and took a deep breath, smelling the air. She looked at Colton and smiled warmly. "Well this is a surprise. I almost didn't believe it when the cook told me you were making me dinner in here. Since when do you cook?"

The rabbit looked up, as always a bit awed by his queen. He always knows she will be bigger than he thinks, but she's still always bigger. He always knew he couldn't picture how beautiful she was, but she was always more beautiful than he could imagine. It would help if she would stop growing, when he'd met her decades ago she was half this size. He recovered quickly, thanks to years of practice. "I thought I would try something new for tonight."

"Oh. What's the occasion?" Nadia said as she closed the door behind her, using her back legs. She covered most of the distance to Colton in a few large strides.

"Ten years ago today, we first admitted that we loved each other," Colton said as he took a few steps towards his queen and reached out to rub her chin as she lowered her head for him. She stopped halfway, her smile fading and her eyes widening. Colton laughed. "Relax, I didn't expect you to remember. We haven't done anything special for the past nine years. I just figured it was as good an excuse as any to take a break for a few hours. I've missed you the past few days." This only made Nadia feel guiltier, but she lowered her head enough that Colton could caress her face.

"Hey, it's fine. You've got a kingdom to run now, and people depend on both of us. If this was going to bother me, I wouldn't have fallen in love with someone destined to rule, and I certainly wouldn't be helping her establish that rule." He said while rubbing just behind her jaw. He couldn't see as she smiled, but he heard her start to purr like a cat, and smiled with her. "So, do we have a trading partner?" he asked casually as he started rubbing down her neck. Nadia lay down on her belly.

"Somewhat. They wanted to build a road from one of their border cities to one of our major cities. They had a little trouble understanding that we don't really have any major cities. The closest thing we do have is here, but it's a bit far to build a road and defend it. We ended up settling on a temporary agreement while we build a trading post and help out with the road. Basically, our people can trade with them, but we take all the risk. They won't send traders into the 'wilderness', so our people will haul supplies back and forth, and if bandits or animals hit them and steal or ruin everything, it's our problem, even if it happens in their lands."

"So they won't protect our people? It'll just be open season for any thieves or bandits in their land." Colton said, nuzzling her collar bone. Her scales were hard, but warm and surprisingly sensitive in certain spots, all of which the rabbit knew about by now.

"They'll protect the people, attackers will be punished the same as if they attacked a Gii trader. They just won't take any financial risks of their own until the road and trading post are finished. Then we renegotiate. It's not as bad as it sounds, we'll just arm our traders a bit heavier, which we should do anyway since a lot of Gii people wouldn't like trading with a goblin or orc." Nadia stifled a small moan as Colton ducked under her neck to her other collarbone. "You know, I'm pretty sure we first said we loved each other in the winter. I remember a snowstorm forced us into a cave..."

"That was a different first, my love," Colton said, smiling at the memory. "A few months later. I wouldn't mind reenacting that tonight if you want, though I had something else in mind." He sniffed the air. "The soup should probably be taken out of the fire by the way. If you don't mind."

Nadia reached out and pulled the pot out of the fire, the flames licking her scaly claws but not hurting them. She breathed deeply above the broth, which quickly stopped boiling. "So what did you have in mind? Or should I try to guess?"

"You know me well enough," said Colton. He kissed her collarbone, then took a few steps back to her head and looked her in the eye. "What do you think it is?"

The dragon looked into the soup, seeing the distinct lack of meat. "I think there's an ingredient still missing from my dinner tonight. I've always wanted to try rabbit soup."

"I think brains are sexy" laughed the bunny. "I timed it poorly though, that soup is scalding."

"Well I suppose I could enjoy a two course meal," Nadia sat up and looked down at her love with a toothy grin.

"My dragon wants rabbit soup, she's getting rabbit soup." Colton said, smiling back. "I'm sure we can entertain ourselves while it cools down."

"I don't think you need to guess what we should do in the meantime, then." The dragon stood up and walked over to her nest, the rabbit following behind. Nadia lay down in the middle of the soft bedding, while Colton was clambering over the short wall of blankets and furs. Nadia rolled onto her side, showing her belly to her love and curling her long, flexible neck to watch as he approached. The rabbit walked over the soft ground to his partner's stomach, rubbing it from the outside for a few moments. Nadia hummed happily again, enjoying the attention and knowing that Colton loved her stomach. She craved different stimulation though, as she felt her slit start to slicken itself. It had been a while. She did wish, sometimes, that Colton was a dragon who could mount her properly, pound into her while biting her neck and fill her pussy with his seed until it started to drip out. A dragon who could fly with her on his own wings. Still, she wouldn't trade her bunny for anyone. After around a minute, Nadia coughed slightly and looked pointedly at Colton.

"Did you want something, my queen?" the rabbit looked her in the eye, smiling. He could only get away with calling her 'my queen' in two situations- formally introducing her to someone important and when they were in bed alone together. The dragon didn't realize how much she missed hearing him say those words the last few weeks. She whined softly. "I'm sorry, I couldn't quite make that out. How can I serve you, my queen?" She hated when he did this, almost as much as she loved it.

"Pleasure me, Colton. Please." She regretted the last word as soon as it slipped out.

"Please? So not an order then?" The rabbit refused to move, leaning against her belly and staring her down.

"Pleasure me now rabbit, or I will have to find some way to punish you. That is an order."

"As you command, my queen." The rabbit slowly began to walk down towards his dragon's dampening crotch. It was only a few steps, but it seemed like a snail would outpace him, both to the dragon lying in wait and the rabbit himself.

Nadia's size was in some ways convenient. Lying on her side like this, her slit was at just below head level for the rabbit, letting him lean in and rest his head around the opening. The rabbit wanted to dive right in, to inhale the scent of his lover's sex and begin lapping the fluids that were just visible as a wet shine between her dark lips. He waited though, running his hand lightly around the draconic passage, circling and almost but never quite touching the lips, until he heard Nadia growl out. "I said pleasure me, rabbit, not dance around the issue."

He smiled, and responded by planting his lips onto hers and pushing three fingers in immediately. He lapped at her walls, as deeply as he could reach without pushing his head into her, and pumped his fingers in and out of her soft passage. After only a few thrusts with his hand, he opened his whole hand and pressed into her, up to his wrist. Her walls gripped at his hand, seemingly trying to pull it deeper in, but he pulled it slowly back out until only the tips of his fingers were inside. He pushed back in quickly, going a full inch deeper into her than before, and slowly pulled back again.

Colton was beyond conscious hearing, focusing entirely on the task at hand until he felt the telltale quivering and jolting that meant he had done his job well. If he was listening, he would have heard his queen groan as she lay her head down, curled so she could watch her pussy be pounded by her bunny's arm as his tongue explored as deeply as it could. He would have heard her breathing as it got quicker and shallower, and he would have heard the unnecessary command "Don't stop" as he settled into a rhythm that usually served him well, or "God yes" as she moved her head away from him to rest it more comfortably. He would have heard her gasp as his short blunt muzzle pushed into Nadia's passageway, letting his tongue press deeper against her soft walls and taste more of the earthy fluids lubricating her, or again whenever he tilted his head and gently sucked on her clit for just a few seconds before moving away from it again. But he didn't notice any of that. His entire world was the intoxicating scent and taste and feel of his dragon's pussy, until a sharper gasp accompanied Nadia's pussy pulsing, rhythmically squeezing around his arm and muzzle as pleasure washed through her body and she fought to stifle a long, loud roar that welled up in her chest and throat, letting it out as a low groan instead.

Nadia was panting as her lover pulled himself out of her and turned, licking his lips. His muzzle and arm were both coated with her slick juices. She wanted to move her head and see him, but the effort seemed impossible at the moment. So she waited as Colton walked up to her head, kissing her belly and neck on the way into her field of view again. "You look happy," he said smiling.

"You look ridiculous," she responded, finding the energy to move slightly and lick her fluids from her lovers face, replacing some of it with saliva.

"And that's supposed to help?" The bunny laughed, then sighed. "I think I've ruined these pants." He said, looking at the large wet spot his precum had made in the last several minutes.

"I keep telling you, you shouldn't bother with those silly clothes. Your body is gorgeous, why hide it."

"I somehow doubt the rest of the people living here agree, love. You can get away with being a nudist, I don't think I could."

She laughed, and rolled onto her belly, careful not to crush the rabbit as he stripped his pants and shirt off. He also took off his necklace, and whispered a quick spell into it before setting it down gently. "Should we check on your dinner now? I'm yours until dawn, now."

"In a minute, if you don't mind. Come here." She swept her head over to the bunny, nuzzling him. He reached his arms around her snout, hugging her. The dragon felt a prodding in the hug as the bunny's erect cock pushed between his belly and her jaws. "I think part of you at least minds," she said pulling away. "Let's see if the soup will burn you." She stood up and stepped out of her bed, her rabbit hurriedly following behind her.

"So for soup, you move fast. Not for anything before that?"

"Even my patience has its limits, Nadia. And 'before soup' is what's got me all worked up."

The dragon grabbed her rabbit and carried him, slowly, to the pot. The scent of soup grew stronger, managing to make it through the scent of the dragon juices that still coated Colton's face. He reached down to feel the heat coming off, but Nadia lifted him up before he could feel the water. "I don't think I want dragon juice added to my soup." She said. "Use your other hand." Colton did, feeling the hot but not scalding liquid with his clean hand.

"It should be fine," he said. "But I don't see how you plan on having rabbit soup when the only rabbit available is coated in 'dragon juice'."

"Easy- we clean the rabbit off first." She started walking over to the corner with the spigot.

"You wouldn't! That water's freezing. Besides, I already took a shower in it, I'm clean! Just with a bit of you added."

Nadia just laughed and kept her path. She reached the spigot and opened a small, invisible hole near the upper tap. She took a deep breath, then blew flames into the hole, sustaining the fire for nearly 30 seconds. She opened the tap with the same hand holding Colton, and then pushed him into the stream. It was warm, not hot like the soup but much more comfortable than Colton had feared. Resigned, He quickly washed his arm and face again.

Once she was satisfied, Nadia took her captive rabbit back to the pot. She didn't dump him in, but held her open hand against the lip of the pot to let him enter the hot soup at his own pace. He slowly lowered himself into the liquid, feeling it surround him with warmth. "Two showers today and I'm still going to end up filthy by the morning." He closed his eyes and ducked under the surface, gulping down a mouthful while he was under.

"If you'd rather, you could just stay inside this time," Nadia joked when he surfaced.

"Why not? Gotta die sometime, right?" Colton cringed, realizing what he had said.

"Not today though," Nadia said sadly. It was a fact they both knew, Nadia's lifespan was much longer than Colton's. It was an uncomfortable subject, so they tried to avoid it.

"No, not today. Then who would keep this place running while you're stuck in meetings." Colton joked, putting that talk off for a while longer.

Nadia smiled back, not wanting to ruin the mood. Wordlessly, she dipped her tongue into the soup, tasting it. The rabbit, whose shaft had deflated in the cold water of his shower, was becoming visibly excited again. He sighed happily as the dragon took a gulp, pulling some of the soup into her mouth and swallowing much louder and deeper than necessary. "Delicious."

Colton wrapped his hand around his shaft, gently squeezing himself. He let go after a moment as Nadia dipped her head again, licking down her rabbit's front, starting at his head and moving straight down the middle with her thick tongue. When she got to his cock, she stopped for a moment before moving back up and licking her rabbit's face. Part of her wanted to make him beg for it, but she knew that he wouldn't beg unless she asked him to. He seemed to delight in being far more patient than she ever could be, and she was hungry. Her tongue made its way down her lovers body again, going past his cock despite his playful thrust once she got there, down to his legs. She used her tongue to position him, then pulled it back.

"See you in the morning love," The rabbit said as she opened her jaws wide and took his legs into her mouth. She could still taste the soup, but only as a slight enhancement to the familiar but still exciting flavor of her love rubbing his bunny butt against her tongue. She closed her jaws just enough to hold him there, being careful not to hurt him. She slathered her tongue over his body, her slick drool lubricating the rabbit for his short trip. Colton moaned as her tongue caressed him, and she made extra sure to get his cock and the furry orbs beneath it fully lubricated. "God I love this..." the rabbit breathed out, his head resting on his shoulder as all his muscles relaxed in the warm wet air and he submitted to his dragons jaws and tongue.

Deciding he was well slickened, Nadia used her tongue to pull her rabbit in deeper, until his feet were gripped by her tight throat and started to be pulled further into her. The rabbits head neck were still outside her mouth then, but not for long as he grabbed her fangs and pushed his body down into her mouth while Nadia raised her head and leaned it back, letting gravity help her swallow her meal. It was hot in her throat, even hotter than the soup, and Colton looked down at his legs disappearing into Nadia's gullet. He always loved watching her body claim his own. He moaned as he slipped deeper with every gulp, his waist going out of sight as his head slipped fully into her mouth, not even the tips of his long ears could feel the cool air past his love's maw. The dragon's throat pulsed, massaging Colton's feet, his legs, his cock as it pulled him deeper into her. Nadia closed her mouth, and Colton closed his eyes. They wouldn't be much use to him anyway. He started squirming as he felt his belly pass into her throat, bucking and humping into her throat as he sunk deeper. Not long after his head slipped into the warm wet chasm his cock pulsed, and his cum sprayed into the soft walls and over his belly, quickly becoming indistinguishable from the slick saliva all around.

Nadia took a breath as her rabbit slipped entirely into her throat, and let it out as a happy sigh as she felt the telltale twitching that meant Colton had reached his peak. Despite having climaxed herself not long before, her vent was dripping with her arousal. The rest of the soup forgotten, the dragon barely waited for her love to reach her belly before she curled over to lap at her needy slit. Her own tongue could reach depths that Colton couldn't dream of unless he tried to climb in. Usually pleasuring herself felt hollow, except when her love was already inside her. She didn't waste time with light licks, immediately thrusting her tongue deep into her folds and shuddering with the pleasure. She pulled her tongue out and pushed it over her slit, then dipped lightly into her folds to softly tongue her clit.

Colton felt Nadia's quick heartbeat from inside her stomach, and smiled to the darkness. He loved that his taste and his pleasure could get Nadia so worked up. He gently rubbed the soft walls surrounding him for a few moments, then squirmed around until he was curled up comfortably in the tight space. He lay still, listening to the sounds of the body surrounding him, the heartbeat and the short shallow breaths as Nadia approached her second peak. It didn't take long before he felt her stomach tighten and relax as she reached it. It never did take her long, they both knew several quick paths to the summit.

They both basked in their afterglow for a while, seconds turning into minutes. Finally, Nadia stood up and walked back over to her bed, swaying her stomach slightly as she walked. She lay down on her side and brought a hand to her belly, feeling the comfortable bulge that Colton made in her stomach. Colton pushed back from within, and Nadia gave a small squeeze before letting her clawed hand fall into a more comfortable position. She looked around for a moment before seeing Colton's discarded necklace. She pulled it towards her, then curled up around it protectively. Most dragons slept curled around a large horde of gold and jewels, but to Nadia that necklace, the point where Colton would be when they woke up the next morning, was far more valuable. She felt her belly move again as Colton started pleasuring himself, and she rubbed her belly again, then closed her eyes and smiled. She felt a gentle prodding in her mind, and she cleared her head to make it easier for Colton to link with her. Dragon scales are highly resistant to magic, but if the caster can somehow get inside the dragon....

They didn't speak when the link was established, neither of them felt the need to. They just enjoyed the closeness, the physical and mental intimacy as their thoughts and sensations mixed together. They were still two distinct minds, but the line blurred somewhat as they drifted off to sleep, to share their dreams until the morning.