'The Dragon Empress must be weary after her recent conquest...' the thief thought. He had (through mostly chance if he was inclined to be honest, which he was not) acquired a ring which rendered him invisible. The thief was also quite capable of moving quietly (as close to silence as any human can achieve if he was inclined to be honest, which he was). He had however, forgotten or never heard of Empress Calia's keen sense of thought. She was aware of his presence and rested with one eye slit open, searching. She had already dismissed the half dozen or so supplicants from the chamber before the would-be burglar entered the adjoining tunnel. She wanted to play with the intruder.

The thief saw Calia, laying curled upon her perfect bed of golden coins, soft to her scales. She was magnificent, he had to admit. Her length was difficult to gauge, but even without her incredible and slender neck she would humiliate all but the largest manses. She gleamed a golden glow, the natural colour of the scales being enhanced with the warm light reflecting off her other treasures. They were neatly organized in rows on scaffolding around the enormous chamber dimly lit with stained glass windows catching the dusk. Windows depicting her victories... one after the other. A city aflame in one. A different city's walls broken down in another. Another with countless subjects kneeling before her. Piles of tribute mounting ass even these stained glass windows are depicted being installed. Armies disbanding before her.

"Good thing I just need to steal from her, not fight her," he thought, his mind an open channel for the dragon already.

The thief slipped lightly toward the nearest treasures, searching for something valuable and portable, when Calia stirred. Her eyes flicked toward the shelves he was eyeing himself and he looked to her instead. He hadn't made a sound; he was certain. The dragon did not move further though, and he felt relief.

It was short lived anyway as he turned to see a beautiful woman wearing the sunset as a nightgown. She inspected the shelf he'd been eyeing and spun a sheathed dagger on the surface.

"Well thief.” She said, turning around, her piercing blue eyes peering between the veil of stray locks of chestnut hair eyes looking through him as her gaze passed around the room. “I smell you and feel your air... and hear your thoughts. Help yourself! I am a generous host, after all." Her voice exuded magnanimity but the thief knew she wouldn't let him escape willingly, despite her leaving the dagger on the shelf unattended. After his eyes lingered on the swell of her breasts and the curve of her hips, he looked from Calia's human form to her dragon form's long graceful neck slowly rotating and curling as she also scanned the room, looking far from his current location. She had his location down to about a 5 foot radius by this point, but she didn't want to destroy any of her treasures, and dragonfire was too quick an end anyway.

The thief had many contingencies, ignoring the beauty to toss a bead extracted from a choker he wore across the gold pile. From there his voice emanated, "No thank you, O Calia the Tremendous! "I did not come for presents. I only wished to have a look at you and see if you were truly as great as tales say. I did not believe them." She was not misdirected.

"Oh?” Her human eyes laughed as her face remained still. “Do you now?" said the dragon, directly into his head, unfooled but still somewhat flattered.

The thief responded, not noticing her presence in his mind consciously, but already affected:
"Dragon Empress Calia, who's physical might is bested only by Her mental, for whom all who have not felt Her power cower at Her name, and all who have rejoice! Truly songs and tales fall utterly short of the reality, O Calia! Chiefest and greatest of calamities! For her majesty, power, and beauty are beyond compare!" His praise was intended as deception, but began to feel more true as the words echoed in his mind. He did admire her...

She stepped closer, the distance between them closing by the length of a cart. "You have nice manners for a thief. And a liar." He was frozen in place. "You seem familiar with me, but I don't remember smelling you before..." her neck coiled and twisted, capturing his gaze. He looked right into her eyes, the golden spiral of her neck fully realized face- on. Pinpointed. Her human form slipped behind him and a slender hand gently, but with great strength, held his neck captive.

In his mind she continued, "you don't wish to be rude, do you? You want to tell me your name and where you come from." The words slithered around inside his skull as her long long neck circled in his vision, enrapturing him. Gold flecks sparkling as they drizzled off her scales with the sound of a distant waterfall.

"...I would love to tell you, Your Majesty," the thief said, his voice slowing, "but what assurance can I have of my safety?" Her words were so convincing, so pretty, but his highly tuned sense of self-preservation hung on. Her words were slowly dominating every other thought in his head as he was held captive. His eyes watched the circling motion, her hand on his neck began to feel like a caress instead of a threat.

"Oh you'll be safe as long as you want to be, thief. I can be very nice if you let me...” Calia's human voice whispered in his ear. Gooseflesh swept across his body. Her other human hand crept downward, unbuckling his belt. “You want me to be nice, don't you?” The neck coiled over and over, unending...

“Yesss, Empress Calia...” The thief's eyes began to glaze over and her hands slipped inside his clothes.

“Good pet. Now let's discuss how you can be useful to me,” her soft but commanding voice continues.

The thief smiled, his own hands joining hers to tease himself. “That sounds perfect, Empress Calia.” Her human form vanishes, but the thief doesn't even notice as he fully takes over, completely held in the dragon's gaze. “Please, I'd love to know how I can serve you!” His desperation palpable, but his thoughts distant.

“I know pet. I'm going to tell you while you feel so much pleasure... and then... once everything is done to my satisfaction, you will get your reward.”

***

“Another round for the house!” A cheer arose from the packed tavern. The customers were in good cheer from the free flowing booze and entertaining tall tales, and the barkeep was even happier to let the show go on and collect the “dragon gold.”

The thief continues, “Now let me now explain to you the glory of Dragon Empress Calia! For I have laid gaze upon her with mine own two eyes!” He pans around the gathering crowd, prying his eyelids open with his hands dramatically.

“Behold!” The thief unveils an elegant silver dagger with and ornate dragon carves into the handle, and the blade shimmering with an impossible refraction, the metal saturated with magic. A crystal ball was prominent on the handle. “Her immense wealth and magic!” The inside of the crystal began to swirl subtly, but the crowd was hanging on the words of the surprising generosity of the usually stingy regular.

“Dragon Empress Calia, who's physical might is bested only by Her mental, for whom all who have not felt Her power cower at Her name, and all who have rejoice! Truly songs and tales fall utterly short of the reality of Calia! Chiefest and greatest of calamities! For her majesty, power, and beauty are beyond compare.” The coils of the dragon's neck visible in the crystal as the image sharpened and the gold sparkles emanated in a spiral around the ball.

“Her majesty, power, and beauty are beyond compare,” the crowd echoed, still happy, but less chaotic. Focused. On her.

In her chamber, Dragon Empress Calia enjoyed her dozen retainers painstakingly polishing her every scale to gleam as she watched the crowd react to her new thrall's performance. His charisma would be useful is spreading her propaganda and creating ever more new thralls. In a few years or decades this city would fall to her as well. Not in the dragonfire that would destroy the wealth and people of the city, but in rapturous begging for her control. And she would have it all, with their adoration and service as they throw their former leaders at her feet.

And when it's over, she'll even have that little trinket back from the thief. He'll kneel and hand it over, hopeful for that orgasm finally, “...and maybe I'll indulge him... but maybe I'll just eat him. He did try to steal from me after all...” Calia idly mused. The servants polishing her scales redoubled their efforts. She did not notice.