Consorting with Dragons by Sera Trevor

[Octobercountry]

This novella (41,000 words) is part of the "Love's Landscapes" writing event. Here is the prompt on which the story was based:

It has been nearly 300 years since the last Lord of Drae chose a male consort… so what am I doing here at the capital, dressed in clothes finer than anything I have ever seen, and undergoing three months of (incredibly boring) testing by the Lord’s minions?

Well, to be honest, it is all my father’s fault. Or my father’s lack of ability to win at anything, ever. Not at life, not in love, and most certainly not at the gambling tables. While I can do nothing about his life, nor his love, he seems to think I can do an awful lot about his gambling debts. Mainly, he can sell (er… marry) me off to the highest bidder and happily go on sinking my mother’s land, title, and general good name into the ground he buried her in.

Trouble is, I’m not really worth all that much to anyone carrying a purse, let alone wanting a husband. But if I was unique, if I had done something very few could ever claim to have accomplished (or, realistically, tried to accomplish)… well then, maybe I’d be worth something. To someone. Somewhere. Or, at least my father hopes. Personally, three months free of my father sounds like a rather nice vacation. Three months of good food, free clothes, fine surroundings, and one flirty guard. Yes, that sounds just lovely.

It has been nearly 300 years since the last Lord of Drae chose a male consort… and neither fire nor fate is going to change that any time soon. Or so I thought…

This story was a complete delight---a charming and funny tale with an interesting take on dragon-lore. I loved it! As part of the M/M Romance group's "Love's Landscapes" series, you can download it for free to your e-reader. Here, this link should work (though I'm not sure if you have to actually be a member of the group to access the page):

http://www.mmromancegroup.com/consort...

I was so impressed by the novella that I immediately checked to see what else the author had written. But---how frustrating!---this appears to be her first published work. However, I'm hoping that we'll be hearing much more from her in the future. I think she has a great deal of promise, and I'd love to read more of her fantasy tales.

In the meantime, I'm pleased to know that she's working on a slightly expanded version of this story, which should be available in the not-too-distant future. And she's also put up a short follow-up story on her webpage; you can read that here:

http://www.seratrevor.com/consorting-...

Also, for fun, here's a collection of photographs she's gathered to give a visual impression of the characters, clothing, landscape, and architecture of this kingdom:

http://www.pinterest.com/seraphtrevs/...

Definitely recommended for fantasy lovers.