Dragonborn
Years ago, LGBTQIA+ publisher Less Than Three Press put out a collection call for polyamorous stories. Being an ambitious person and a bit of a problem in general, Em thought: what if we build a polycule of not three but SIX people, each having a unique connection with each of the other five?
Set against a backdrop of dragons, a bigoted empire, five kinds of magic (which function sort of like rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock), a burnt Charter that once tracked bonded relationships, and an ancient magical incident that turned the sand to glass for miles along a nearby shore, twins who share a shapeshifting body and are promised in marriage to a dragon must find a way to fight their fate.
Prince Ben and Princess Cecily are dragonborn. Since birth, the brother and sister have shared a body, shapeshifting from one form to the other each sunset. In exchange for this magic, they have been promised from birth to a mysterious dragon, who is set to collect on their twentieth birthday, which is now just weeks away.
With the help of two tutors, a bodyguard, and a foreign princess, they must find a way out of the betrothal, delving into their kingdom's history and learning to harness their magic – all the while challenging the kingdom's laws and restrictions on love.
This book has polyamory and dragons at its core. (Well, one dragon, at least.) Also magic, fencing, ancient books, the requisite castle, navigating unfamiliar emotions, historical mysteries, a beach made of glass, and arguing in your head with a sibling because you share a body and it’s the only place you can talk. It’s crisscrossed with themes of diversity and oppression, intersecting LGBTQ+ matters, race, class, gender, disability, and neurodiversity. It’s set in a kingdom once bursting with variety and magic and joy, now long-ago conquered by an oppressive empire and forced to stamp out nearly its entire history.
The plot centers around the adventures of a mage, an etiquette tutor, two royal siblings, a bodyguard, and a princess as they search for a way to break a claim placed on the siblings since birth. Ben and Cecily have always shared a body, shapeshifting from one to the other each sunset - but this magic came with an involuntary price: betrothal to the mysterious dragon who granted them this blessing or curse in the first place. With their twentieth birthday looming, they know they have very little time to find a spell or loophole to break the magical claim. Otherwise they will be taken forever from the only home they’ve ever known by an ancient unknown evil.
Romantic twists and turns arrive unexpectedly, as the six begin forming a web of polyamorous relationships despite all efforts to concentrate on the impending threat. In a kingdom where same-gender relationships and trans identities are outlawed, this is a danger of its own... but Ben and Cecily can’t help feeling freed by these new opportunities, and the chance to live a happy life, even if that chance could so soon be snatched away.
Meet the Cast
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Ben - the prince of Aethier, who would much rather read books than lead a nation, and has spent his whole life worrying about a dragon instead of doing either.
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Cecily - hidden princess of Aethier, considered by her parents to be nothing more than Ben’s curse, fighting fiercely for an identity in a world that has tried at every turn to take it from her.
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Rachel - Cecily’s bodyguard, strong and stolid, who has loved her for years and will happily love her from the shadows for many years more, if only they can stay alive that long.
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Crispin - an etiquette tutor, proper and empathetic and appalled by Aethier’s laws, carrying a complex past in his very bones, Jude’s partner of many years.
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Jude - a powerful mage and tutor of magic, polygender and not caring what the bigots in Aethier might have to say about it, secretly subverting the king and queen’s harmful plans at every turn while pretending jee’s still on their side.
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Lila - a neighboring princess betrothed to Ben, sweet and determined to see their kingdoms peacefully united, despite social anxiety and the worry that her asexuality will not be looked on as favorably in Aethier as it was at home.
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Rowan - Ben’s closest friend, aspiring to become a knight despite the dangers if anyone discovers he is trans, valiantly trying to hide his massive crush on the older and higher-status Alloran.
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Alloran - scholar and advisor to the king, very done with the restrictive policies of the regime, better parent to Ben and Cecily than their actual parents, living under the weight of an old and sorrowful secret.