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A Little Less Counselor, A Little More Concubine

Part 16

For FyacinTia

By Draconicon

The knives were part of the game, of course. They tinked gently against each other, General Masaru and Fyacin flicking their blades with flexible wrists and quick arms. There was never much in the way of force behind the blows - after all, who could bear to mar the appearance of another so fine? - but there was always the threat of it, the danger, the dance, pushing the other to move faster, to show more of what they had.

Fyacin turned with an elegant spin, catching the next slice over his shoulder, standing with his back and his rump against the enemy officer. He lazily tossed his mane, smiling at the red panda.

"You dance well," General Masaru said. "I imagine that you've trained to move well in all manner of situations."

"Of course. The Counselor of the Emperor must be ready for any situation."

"Mmm, I see that you've adjusted yourself for such situations. Truly, you must be a favorite at court."

The ting-ting of blades tapping each other signaled the end of the latest lock, and he spun away, but not before the general could get a pinch of his fine rump. Fyacin smiled, hiding the slight twitch of his tail as it tried to go up. He managed to keep it down, thankfully, and he spun to his side of the table once more.

"Will you truly make me fight this hard for but a moment, Counselor?" the red panda asked, circling from one side while Fyacin circled around the other.

"Am I not worth it?"

"But of course, but we've already stated our desires. All we need to do is decide on a price."

The lion shook his head. For all that he was enjoying the dance, he needed to remember that this was an enemy. He could enjoy the dance and peril of the moment on his own time, when the kingdom was not in peril.

Yet, it was hard to keep that in mind. It had been too many years since he had the time to truly enjoy someone that understood the importance of the dance, of foreplay, of teasing. Too many times he had been forced to take the reins and dictate the pace, to encourage someone and keep them from coming too close. The Emperor, despite his power, was often similar, requiring that taunt and tease to get him going.

This General, however, was all that he could have wanted and more. It was a dangerous moment for him.

With a flair of drama, he flung himself over the table. Dexterous paws lifted him over the carefully-plotted forces, flinging him towards the General. They collided - ting-ting, ting-ting - and Fyacin ended up face to face with the red panda, their knives over their heads, their hands together.

"You react quickly," Fyacin said, the two of them spinning as easily as a couple at a courtly gathering. "Truly, you have a quick mind."

"And quick feet, my fine lion."

"Hardly yours."

"Not yet."

Masaru darted in, stealing a kiss, and they split again. Fyacin shook his head in amusement, slowly lowering his knife to his side. The red panda did the same, the pair of them showing some signs of tiredness from the dance. He knew that he could keep going, but a rest would not harm him, and it would likely benefit him.

The red panda made the first sign for a break, flipping the knife around and catching it by the flat. He laid it down on the table, and Fyacin copied his gesture, the pair of them moving around it.

"I have brought tea, if you will take it with me," the General said.

"I would greatly appreciate it."

"I wish you would come with me. I believe that you would find the lands of the south quite to your liking. Everyone there appreciates beauty, certainly more than I imagine that they do here."

"Ah, but my place is here. The Emperor is my lord and master, and I care for him greatly."

"I have seen that. A pity; I would care for you more."

"Heh, I've had that promised to me many times. There is little that you can promise that he cannot match, or better."

Tea was brewed quickly, a porcelain pot hanging from a walking stick over a fire. In short order, it was heated through, and the soft, sweet scent of jasmine mixed with the smell of other herbs. Masaru lowered two cups to the edge of the pot, tapping it with one finger to tilt it. Strong-brewed, it was near to amber colored, and Fyacin wondered what other herbs had been placed with the jasmine needles.

He took his cup as it was offered, sniffing it slowly. The lion recognized some flavoring agents in it, heavy ones, too. If there was poison...

Unlikely, he admitted. The General had been most effusive of what he wanted, and while he might have taken an antidote for a poison, he doubted that he would have missed something like that in the air. The scents weren't so strong that they couldn't mask the more bitter stench of most medicines.

With as carefree a smile as he could summon, he swallowed a portion of his tea. There was no sudden grin, no waiting stare for a result, so he felt that he was probably safe.

Probably.

It was as flavorful as it smelled, and the soft scent of jasmine underlined the mouthful. It was strong, well-brewed, but still managing to be delicate among the stronger, earthier flavors beneath it. He let it linger on his tongue for a moment before swallowing.

"You have excellent taste," the lion said, allowing his cloak to open slightly. "Thank you for sharing."

"Anything to perhaps indulge my guest, and perhaps sway his opinion of me to something better."

"You flatter so much that I begin to doubt anything you say," Fyacin said with a laugh. "If all you can talk about is my beauty, how did you become an officer? You seem more like a concubine than I am."

"Or perhaps I am merely hunting for one myself."

"You would have a horrible one in me. My eyes are only for the best."

"Do I compare so horribly to your emperor?"

"Ah, you do better than most, and no mistake," Fyacin said, shaking his head. "But my lord and master...he is special."

Though less special now, considering that the love and affection and intimacy was shared out among him and the others more regularly. Without the chance to earn it the way that he used to - cheating and all - it felt like he received less attention, less of the loving, powerful intimacy that he liked, rather than the surprisingly intense sessions that he'd shared with the other counselor-concubines.

Nevertheless, he was sworn to the Emperor, and he would keep to that.

As he sipped the tea again, however, he felt something...different. Something that played off the heat and strange emptiness under his tail that had been there since that visit to the infirmary. He paused in his third sip as he felt his tail rising without his consent, and he had to clench his cheeks to keep it down.

"Is something the matter, oh golden one?" Masaru asked.

"I feel...strange. This tea. What is it?"

"Merely herbs along with jasmine."

"But what herbs, precisely? Pray tell me, lest you be accused of poisoning the counselor of the Emperor."

"Ah, do you feel faint? Here, fall into my arms, if you must."

The red panda held his arms wide, of course, but it was not the time for joking. As Fyacin held a sterner stare, the officer realized that he was being honest. He shook his head.

"Nothing more than simple herbs, that, I promise you," Masaru said. "I gathered them myself, and they would have no effect on a healthy man. On a woman, perhaps, they might exaggerate certain features, but nothing to a man."

On a woman...

He could feel the tingling between his cheeks, under his tail, but worse, he could feel something almost like an itch beneath his cloak. It was so slight that he would have missed it if it wasn't for the fact that he was paying as much attention as he was. He started to reach for them, but no. That would give away what he was thinking.

Perhaps the herbs would not have harmed a man, but something had happened to him when Alys and Kisari had dosed him with whatever it was they had used. Perhaps the herbs were having an effect mixing with them, or perhaps there was something that Masaru wasn't telling him. In either case, it was important that he get out of this now.

"Allow me to extend you an invitation, General," Fyacin said, pulling at the edge of his cloak, pulling it tighter over what he swore was burgeoning growth, but could not be if the red panda had not yet seen anything. "Come with me to the palace. It would be of great use for both of us to continue this negotiation."

"Ah, but I am due back to my people in such a short time."

"I would be more than willing to send a runner for you. And your safety would be guaranteed, my word on it."

"As the word of a concubine?"

"As the word of a counselor-concubine. It is as good as gold, I assure you."

"And you most certainly are as good as gold..." The general slowly shook his head. "I must have some surety, otherwise, I would already give myself into your hands."

The lion knew what the red panda was angling for, and he knew that he wouldn't have much choice but to give it if they were to accomplish this at any appreciable speed. Much as Masaru couldn't imagine what was going on, there was no way that the enemy General didn't know that he was in a bind here. Certainly, he felt like he would need a binder before too much longer.

He shifted his position, swearing that he could feel something swaying behind him. Not his tail, either, but a greater heft, a greater bounce than had been there before. He barely kept his cheeks free of a blush as he offered a kindly smile.

"Would the offer of my company be sufficient, oh crimson one?"

"Ah, that would be a wonderful boon, but I have it here. I must hear more."

"A chance to see more than my beautiful face?"

"Ah, to a man that would seek a reason to fight, such would be more than sufficient. For a man to risk his life and cause, however, I must have more. Please, be fair to me, golden one; I ask little enough, do I not, for someone so willing to live by their body and graces?"

He wasn't sure whether to be flattered or insulted, so he went with flattered. After all, such would cost him nothing.

"You give great gifts, and I have nothing to give in return."

"Ah, but you do, counselor."

"...Ah, I suppose I do," the lion said, nodding. Yes, he had boxed in quite nicely there, hadn't he? "Come with me to the palace, and you will have more than my company. You will have a night of me, in all the ways that we can imagine."

"My good lion, you offer me a prize so dear that I am almost compelled to reject it. Yet, accept it I must, for such is the way of manners, is it not?"

"Yes, of course."

I almost can't get mad at you for that one. Well-played, Masaru, well-played.

"Gather your things, General. I must away to the palace, and you will be welcomed as soon as you come to the gates," he said, giving the map one last look to commit it to memory before leaving.

As soon as he walked out of the tent, he surreptitiously looked into his cloak. Breasts. Definitely breasts, and not just buds of them, either. They were sufficiently large to be able to cup if he were to try, and it was impossible to ignore the new sensitivity that his nipples had. They were definitely growing, though the actual growth had slowed enough to keep them from showing through his cloak.

As he walked, he could feel his rump swaying, swinging slightly from side to side, and he gritted his teeth to keep from being completely distracted by that. His tail wanted to go up, wanted to signal and flag that he wanted something back there, and it wouldn't have been a lie. His hole...

Yes, his hole needed something. He shook his head as he walked to his mount, throwing himself over its back. He could feel the squish that came from sitting down and knew that he had more cushion behind him now, something that would make for quite a bit more of a handful when the Emperor touched him later that night.

And the Emperor would touch him, he was sure of that. The slight growth of his curves before, the fact that he had a heat under his tail, had been something he could ignore. However, now that it had advanced like this, he needed to talk to Alys and Kisari before it got any further. And before he did that, the Emperor was likely to want to conduct an examination. A very...thorough...examination.

He turned the beast towards the walls. It was time to hurry back to the palace. If this growth continued outside the palace, if it got to the point where he could no longer hide it, then many questions would be asked. There would be enough as it was, and he didn't need this news to get to the palace before he did. There would be enough gloating to contend with without adding to it.

I hope you have a cure, Alys. If you don't...

Choosing not to think of that for the moment, Fyacin guided his best forward. It was time to get out of the cold before he froze his new tits off.

The End

Summary: Fyacin continues his meeting with General Masaru, only for a small interruption to distract him at a crucial moment.

Tags: M/M, teasing, grinding, dancing, breast growth, ass growth, curiosity, fantasy, eastern, lion, red panda, curves, kiss,