Prompt: You have been happily married for several years when you start noticing some… strange habits from your partner: keeping the house’s wealth in a pile in the cellar, lighting the stove with neither font nor steel in sight, hungrily eyeing your neighbor’s sheep and claiming the hooves are crunchy, but it isn’t until you see a tail growing out of their rear that you feel like broaching the subject.
Your marriage was arranged, as many were in your high social standing, and your wedding was not a day you looked forward to. You were dressed in the finest of silks, wrapped in the most delicate of laces that money could buy, and yet, you were trembling.
You didn’t fear your spouse-to-be, per se, you were just… intimidated by their appearance. They were tall, lithe and regal, their robes matching yours, if not darker and more bejeweled. Still, they looked down upon you with the gentlest of gazes, even with their piercing eyes.
Your parents were all too happy to agree to the head of House Belladonna’s terms for your marriage. The Belladonnas were an extremely wealthy family who made their legacy mining and selling metal. The family had an odd affinity for metal, but it was explained to you that they were too powerful for anyone to say anything.
Your parents, low-ranking nobility, wanted nothing more than to elevate their status and attach themselves to that legacy; through you, their eldest of course. Oh sure, they made sure the heir of the Belladonnas you were engaged to was good to you… a handful of times.
…And Amaryllis Belladonna was. They were quiet, yes, but very gentle and kind to you. The seemed… almost overly aware of their stature absolutely towering above yours. At times, you could swear that they were afraid to touch you. They were even gracious enough to sneak behind your family’s back and book a separate room for you on your wedding night.
For the most part, you were surprisingly content with your new married life. Despite Am’s rather… odd… habits.
You both had your respective duties to attend to, so not much time was focused on your union as the years went by, something that relieved you, and broke your heart. When you were young, new to the idea of marriage, you’d imagine you’d be tied with someone whom you’d love forever, not be a mere stranger for the rest of your lives! You were in fact so crushed by this you’d hardly notice Am’s habits anymore.
Even then, they always popped up and made you quirk a brow…
“Am, what would you like for dinner?” You asked.
“Oh, have the servants prepare you whatever you desire, please,” Amaryllis replied. “I already ate.” He licked his chops, and you could’ve sworn he wiped away a bright red substance with his tongue. And it was too thick to be wine.
“Master Belladonna, we need to ignite the stove, but we’ve run out of steel and our last flint igniter has broke.”
“Very well,” Amaryllis stood up from their chair next to your following the servant who had asked for help. You heard offhand Am telling them to add flint and steel to their list for when the servants go shopping for supplies in the mansion. Morbidly curious, you followed close behind Am and the servant to the kitchens, wondering just how Am planned to ignite the stove without anything to start a fire.
A whoosh was heard, and the servant graciously thanked Am. You peered your head in, and the stove was alight with a fire. From absolutely nothing.
“Oh, the neighbors lost more sheep,” You said offhand looking out the window of your shared bedroom. Am ordered more pillows to separate the two of you whilst sleeping, as you and Am have grown close and comfortable enough to share a bed. Platonically, of course.
“Mm? Yes, hopefully these ones are of better quality. Hooves on the last flock were far too crunchy for my tastes.”
You could’ve just had a heart attack and died right then and there. “Too… what?”
“Occasionally I assist with the farmers next door in caring for their flock. The quality of the sheep’s hooves can tell you a lot about their health. I must’ve worded that poorly.” Am reached out and affectionately caressed your cheek. “I’m sorry for how I worded that, I’ve must sound mad! When I said crunchy, I meant calloused and rough. The flock must have been aging or in poor health when they were purchased.” Am explained with a laugh. You replied in turn with a nervous chuckle. Note from the Author: I know jack shit about sheep husbandry, and the hoof thing can be totally wrong. Just go with it as Am being a terrible liar k thanks
Amaryllis was away on business today, leaving you alone in the grand old estate. You wandered like a ghost in the large, empty halls, wishing to perhaps familiar yourself further in your new home. Sure, you’ve lived in the Belladonna house for years, but again, with your work schedule, you’d hardly spent any time at home.
Not only that, curiously enough, Am had instructed you to not wander downstairs in the cellar. His only explanation being that you had no reason to and it was filthy, Y/n, you’d get sick. With that, now you had all the more reason to go exploring in the cellar. If he really didn’t want you to down there, he wouldn’t have said anything, no less give you a terribly cliche reason why.
Ignoring the frantic servants trying to hinder your path, down to the cellar you went. You could use the excitement, after all. Would it kill you to brave a basement filled with rats, and cobwebs and…
…Gold. Mountains of it, even. Silver, bronze, and all sorts of precious metals haphazardly piled upon one another. Gods, you knew the Belladonnas were wealthy, but not this wealthy. The heaps you saw made your family’s fortune look like mere pennies! What was Am doing hiding all of this from you-?
“Damn, I’d knew you’d find it eventually.”
Am’s voice. Turning towards it them catching you red-handed in the one room in the mansion you were not supposed to be in was suddenly the least of your concerns when just past your gaze, what appeared to be a long, jade extra limb…?Was hanging from your spouse’s rear.
Your mind suddenly stopped. You were having an epiphany to end all. Am’s habits: Them eating at odd hours of the day–that was blood they lick off their lips! How they ignite the stove without flint, steel and a kindling, why they said the sheep’s hooves were “crunchy…”
Was… Was Amaryllis a dragon?
If they were, all of this gold and metal in the cellar must be their hoard!
“I said nothing initially because I did not want to scare you off. I wanted to anoint time for us to get to know one another better,” Amaryllis explained. “I did not mean to keep you at arms’ length for so long, and I would have told you sooner.”
“But, why hide this?” You asked confused. Sure, you were a human, but you’ve seen plenty of monsters in your lifetime. A dragon noble isn’t that crazy. You’ve met an orc librarian, were good friends with a trifling nurse practitioner, and your sister was married to a kelpie lawyer.
“Do you promise not to be too upset? It is not a very good reason to hide,” Am sighed.
You took a deep breath. “I promise.”
With that, Amaryllis shed his “human” disguise. A deep green dragon with minty tips upon their spikes and horns stop before you. Their horns curled upward and split in two, resembling a deer’s antlers. Their body was serpentine, keeping the regal air about their human form. “I was embarrassed,” Am finally said. “There aren’t many dragon or Dragonborn nobility, and I did not want to frighten away my future spouse. For how much I have lied to you and failed as a partner, I am sorry. I beg your forgiveness.”
You approached Am as he knelt before you, ashamed. You giggled lightly and kissed the graceful crest of their brow. “It’s alright,” you said, barely above a whisper. “I… actually totally understand.”
You paused. Now that you thought about it, you really did. And so you said so. “Why don’t we start over, Am? Maybe now that I know something pretty important about you, we can really get to know one another. We are married after all.”
Amaryllis rose from his knees, placing a kiss to the back of your hand (you pretended not to see nor blush when their forked tongue licked in between your knuckles) and meeting you for a kiss on your lips. “I would like that very much, my dear.”
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