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A few days ago, delirium made the mosaic overhead seem to come alive and move. It was boring now. But Rai could almost get the same effect if he let his eyes lose focus and rolled his head. Roll and sway and-

"Be still." A paw gripped his beak.

Well, so much for distracting himself from laying naked, surrounded by people. There was no ignoring his inevitable hard-on. Though the priestess had to be pretty used to the sight by now. "Rkay," he grumbled around the priestess' fingers. "Lehmr gh phlzz.."

The hand relented, and Rai flexed his jaw. His beak might be hard but it was still attached to his face. Ah well. He wasn't supposed to move, or talk, but it was so boring just staring at the ceiling... maybe if he was really slow he could tip his head enough to see the glyphs.

Magic was weird stuff. Six priests sat in a circle wearing these red robes, hoods pulled all the way forward. The fabric was really heavy stuff, almost like padding. They were just there to focus really hard. They made the magic exist, or something. The weird staffs they carried shaped it and made all these glyphs appear in a big circle in the air. The high priestess read the glyphs. She didn't have to focus like the other six, so she could walk around, read the intricate shapes, and tweak them here and there. Rai never felt any different when she did. But then, growing up was too slow to feel.

He could at least tell it was happening, though. In a scant few days he'd gotten rather uncomfortable growths on his back, visibly protruding from his back plumage. They were annoying. He'd woken up in the middle of the night with a horrific backache and lain on his belly until dawn. It was bad enough just laying here while the priests did their thing. Couldn't they do it while he lay face-down?

Would the priests have to sit upside-down for that to work? He clamped his jaw before he started giggling. Oh well. Hopefully wings would be easier to live with when they were properly articulated.

"And it's done."

The glyphs all faded into thin air, and the hooded ones all shuffled to their feet and retreated. Rai sat up with a groan. The high priestess offered him his robe, which only managed to remind the young grypon of his erection. She was a caracal, and her red wrap left her arms and legs bare. And lately Rai had started imagining her in the nude. He'd started thinking of a lot of people that way, actually... and it only made him flush harder. His boner wasn't going away any time soon, but at least he could cover up his lap with the bundle of cloth. "So... how long are these wings going to take to grow?"

"I'm not sure how large they'll get. At a guess based on how long the bones are now..." She tilted her head. "Two months, likely more."

The Rai grimaced. Months were so long though! But on the other hand... "Will I be able to fly then?"

"As I said, we have no way of knowing how big they'll be."

The feline's face was doubtful, though. Rai tossed his robe on and tied it up. How could he bear growing wings and not fly...? Life wasn't fair. Even for a prince.

A long shadow cut across the morning light from the entryway. The prince looked up, expected his typical escort and caretaker, Zhenten. But his eyes lit up. "Mother!"

"Hello my Fle- oof!" The queen was utterly unprepared for her son to barrel straight into her gut with an enthusiastic hug, but it left her smiling anyway. "Yes, yes. I'm sorry I haven't seen you much lately."

The young gryphon's tufted tail flitted about excitedly, beaming up at his mother's canid face from his vantage below her bust. Her dress left a wide split between her breasts, and he quite liked the view. "It's okay. Where are we going now?"

"I'm afraid all I have time for is walking you to your lessons."

"Aww." Rai made an exaggerated face, but he was still happy. He'd take her over Zhenten any day.

Queen Anu pried his arms from around her waist and moved off with his scaled hand in paw. Rai turned to wave goodbye at the priestess, but she was gone. He did, however, see the royal guard fall into procession behind and beside their royal charges.

The sun was quite hot already, and clothing this time of year was loose, airy, thin as possible, and typically white. This was Hightier, however; crown jewel of Shajara. The uppermost plateau of the city. Everyone who lived or worked here showed off their wealth one way or another. Jewels, rare expensive fabrics, or the sheer number of servants tailing them. All the buildings were beautiful as well, often surrounded with striking greenery or boasting precious stones in the accents of their pillars and archways. The temples and their grand statues stood at the northeasterly and northwesterly corners of Hightier, and the palace dominated the south of it. A lavish freshwater fountain and its nigh-magical plumbing streamed in the center plaza, flaunting the most precious resource of all and making it freely available to the city's elite.

Anu broke the pleasant quiet of their walk. "I've been meaning to find time to talk to you about something."

"What's that?" The prince's tall ears perked up, catlike.

"You've inherited my... needs." She gave him a wry smile. "You know I have my pets to sate myself with. I've let you borrow Iru lately..."

Rai flushed, but nodded along.

"But you'll be getting your own over time. I'll see to it you get your first today. Now..." Anu paused. For... quite a while. A frown crept over Rai's features until she finally continued. "It's entirely possible to simply have your way with your pets. But, take it from a master. It's a much better route if your playthings enjoy serving you. Which Iru tells me you haven't done."

"I haven't?" Rai blinked. Twice. And swallowed. "...Oh."

"Everyone has to learn sometime, sweetling. And it will get easier with experience and... well, size. When you get your own pet, you can practice... And when you think you're ready, I'll let you make it up to Iru. Because I make sure my pets are well cared for."

"Okay." Rai's ears flattened. Iru said she liked him. Had she been... faking it?

Was this the first time someone had lied to him about their feelings? Just thinking about it made him... confused. Tense. He wasn't even entirely conscious of the moment when they reentered the palace; he simply found himself in front of the airy study, tutor inside, Mother walking away.

On the plus side, he no longer had an erection. Mideus, the old monocled mongoose teaching him writing and numbers, had been short on patience with Rai so preoccupied. The prince, still getting used to his overactive libido, found it getting in the way of his lessons.

His fellow students were already here as well. There were only two; both children of Anu's closest advisors. Rai dropped onto his seat between them.

"What happened to you?" That was Talez, a vulture. His face and beak were vivid orange, wreathed in thorny-looking hackle that covered his head and neck, but his plumage was nearly all white. Just tints of tan.

"Never mind me."

"'Never mind'!? You can't just 'never mind' that face!" Talez hissed at him. "And you've been acting weird for days. You're letting Setiir get all the answers!"

"Master Talez," Mideus intruded, rapping on his elevated desk. "Leave the prince be. We're already late. Stencils, please."

The vulture cawed ruefully deep in his throat, but dropped the matter. Rai glanced over at Setiir, a tawny striped cat who always looked so... intense. The feline shot a sidelong glance and the prince averted his eyes hurriedly.

Mideus directed them through a series of exercises. Rai managed to lose himself in it. Flatten his glop of clay, stencil the exercise. Have it checked. Lump up the clay and do it all over. Talez wasn't kidding; the sand cat rarely put two words together outside necessity, but he was Mideus' model student today. The prince's mind drifted. What would flying be like? His eyes were drawn to Talez' wings.

Normal avians had wings for arms, but they were flightless. They had taloned fingers where the wings bent, so they functioned more or less like other people. The way Rai's wings were growing from his back was because he was a hybrid. Gryphons already had six limbs. Rai was going to have more limbs than Talez, and Talez would never fly. No wonder the high priestess was dubious about his prospects.

Talez glanced down at his wing in confusion, and the prince realized he was staring - and Mideus was staring over his shoulder at a blank mat of clay. "Master Rai, please. You can do better than this."

"S-sorry, sir."

The sentences they were practicing with were taken from classic poets. A lot of them were dull, but one struck a chord with Rai. A forlorn expression melancholy. He'd call it overly dramatic, but it gave him words for some of his feelings. He eventually realized what was really bugging him. He felt betrayed. By Iru. She'd tell Anu if she wasn't enjoying it, but not him?

But had Rai been worthy of her trust?

There was the crux of it. Rai would learn to be worthy. That was it. He could accept it, grow stronger, stop feeling so knotted up inside.

"Alright, who can tell me where the incorrect mark is on this tablet?"

Rai sucked in a breath and raised his hand.

* * * * *

"So you made a comeback." Talez grumbled as they filed out into the corridor. "I didn't ask you to go correcting my stuff all the time, I just wanted to knock Set down a peg. He was insufferable last night."

Rai chuckled. "You're insufferable every other night."

The avian took a swing at him. The prince ducked and went in for a stencil-jab to the ribs. "OW! Why you-" The two went down laughing and rolling in a black-and-white tangle of feathers and fur. Rai yelped, his uncomfortable new growths crushed into the floor. Talez froze uncertainly at the tone, sensing something was wrong. But the gryphon was suddenly aware of his compromised position... pinned to his back, legs tangled with... what, why was he reacting to his friend this way suddenly!? He flushed hard, short of breath, desperately hoping Talez wouldn't notice what his thigh was pressing...

Heavy footsteps. An adult's gait. Avian and gryphon scrambled to their taloned feet, half-yanking each other aright. Rai gave a relieved sigh.

Talez tried to straighten out his robe. "Er... hi dad."

Rai knew his friend's father, sortof. He'd been dragged around to a lot of officious events the vulture praetor attended, but never interacted directly. He was more used to seeing the enormous vulture in a far more ornate robe. This one was gold, but just barely trimmed in filigree. "Hello Praetor. Er, sir. Don't mind us, I'm sure you're busy... I'm just waiting for-"

"You're waiting for me. The queen's personal request."

"Oh, so you're taking me to get..." Rai trailed off, glancing at his friend uncertainly. There was so much he hadn't told him. The feast and the... everything he'd learned. His wings. His own harem.

"Talez, you may go home."

"What? Wherever you're taking Rai-"

"...Is none of your concern."

The prince avoided the younger avian's jealous eye. As Talez stalked off, Rai wished he could trade. Let Talez into the world of pleasure he'd been introduced to. Let Rai walk somewhere without an escort just once in his life.

"Come along, then. Keep up!"

The gryphon started, scrambling to catch up. The praetor was a fast walker! "So, how come Talez couldn't come with us?"

"He is not ready."

"Ready how?" Rai thought back to just before the feast where he received his initial...education. Zhen said he was ready after he'd gotten unsheathed at the temple that morning. Maybe if Talez had to lay naked in public every morning. Butt the praetor wasn't answering. "I'm sure if he came to one of mother's feasts, he'd get a-"

"Enough," the avian sighed. "He will bed a woman when his time comes, and it will be no business of yours. These things aren't typically discussed openly. The... courts and royal harems are the exception, not the rule. You developed early, as the queen's heir typically does. But we do not have an heir. For now, you are favored, but you may as well face the fact early: someday there will be a true heir. A child with the full blessing of the Anubian throne."

The prince's ears flattened. Yes, he'd always heard it said that anyone destined for the throne was born a hermaphrodite. The vulture didn't sound hateful, he just... delivered the cold, hard truth of life. Was Rai to be a prince his entire life, to be pampered, shelved and forgotten when the true heir was born? He kept his thoughts to himself for much of their walk. As they left the palace, he noted to the royal guards tailing them again.

The sun was still fairly high, but the angle cast the enormous swath of stairs they began descending. "...We're going to Midteir?"

"You expect to find slave markets in Hightier?"

Rai had no answer to that.

"Do not leave my sight. Understand?"

"Yes." The number of royal guards made slightly more sense now. He'd never been all the way down these steps; there had to be a thousand of them, and there were enormous gatehouses at the top and bottom alike. He'd never seen a slave market before... He imagined something like mother's dancers on stage with their poles. Performing, competing for attention.

Unfortunately, the truth of the matter dawned on him as quickly as he saw the market. The only poles he saw were cage bars. Cages of all sizes... holding anywhere from one to several dozen figures. These were not the immaculate dancers he'd been introduced to. Merchants barked about their strong, hardy stock. Just looking at their faces, these people weren't competing for anything... least of all to be owned. "And why would they want to."

"Don't worry." Talez' father had sharp ears, but he'd misheard... or misinterpreted Rai's muttering. "These are labor stock. We'll find the appealing options in there," he aimed a wing at an enormous violet pavilion.

The front was, however, blocked by the press of a crowd gathered around an auction stand.

"Come along," his avian escort came up behind, simultaneously directing the gryphon and making way in the crowd with outstretched wings. Like Rai had his own private, feathery tunnel to walk though the squalor without touching it. "They never sell the best at the public auctions."

Around the side of the pavilion, the vulture brought Rai to a halt and moved to speak with someone at an entrance no-one was using. A guard?

Rai cast about the space. This was away from the beaten path. Not a lot of people. There were a series of carriages pulled up beside the pavilion though, only they were backed with cages. A slaving caravan? And one of them had a sole occupant. She wasn't like the other slaves Rai had seen. She was naked, but it wasn't her striking figure that drew the young gryphon closer. She was a hyena. Rai had seen very few of her kind. But that wasn't it either. It was the way she watched, eyes sharp, active, assessing. The dead look in all the other slaves' eyes was absent here. She was measuring the prince from the moment he took the first little step toward her. Apparently she lost interest as he neared. Or she was looking out for someone else. Rai felt he'd been dismissed, even as he stopped before her cage and searched her face. She just sat there, one knee up, hands idle in her lap.

"You're not supposed to be here, pup." She flashed wicked incisors when she spoke. "Pretty sure whoever's in charge of you won't be happy you're staring."

"Actually I'm here to buy a slave."

The hyena gauged him again, a spark of mirth in her eye at first. She didn't believe him! But that spark faded as she searched him. Something much darker replaced it. Rai impulsively took a step back. It wasn't even hate she directed at him, but... disgust. A part of Rai agreed with her. The same part that had been unsettled since he saw the slave market for himself. This captive's gaze made him feel naked. And not in a good way, but like she knew him better than he knew himself. And what she saw was contemptible.

"I'm not like the others!" Rai's beak clicked shut. He'd spoken automatically, as surely as though he'd been accused on the spot. He hadn't expected his tone to come out as a defensive whine

"Oh really." The hyena drew herself up from her seat. Hands out of the way, Rai's gaze snapped to a rather unfeminine feature. She had a sheath. Also, she was easily taller than any adult Rai knew. And standing on a carriage. She had the curves of a woman, but a powerful build as well.

Who was he trying to fool? How was he supposed to be different? Vaguely he realized he was just desperate to defend himself from this woman's scrutiny. He didn't want to hurt anyone, he wouldn't want anyone to live the way the slaves here did! Rai would... He'd... He had to show he cared more than that! The best he could come up with...

"What's your name?"

The hyena threw her head back and laughed, a sharp giggling hysteria. Rai's ears pinned back, and he glanced over at the pavilion entrance. His vulture escort and a man in finery were speaking. Both immediately started toward him.

"No, really. I want to know your name."

"I'm sure you do, but you'll not play on my heartstrings that easily, naive little pup." She knelt down again, uncomfortably low, muzzle protruding between the bars of her enclosure, hissing. "I am a warrior. If I bow before you or any master, I am dead... worse than dead... but I will do so nameless. Freedom is the price of my name."

"I can give you a lot of freedom. Even the servants in Highteir have-"

"I'm not talking about permission, and I'm not talking about me," she sneered, waving at the empty caravan. "These were full of my people. You want to win me? Their freedom for me. All of me, name and oath. No less than I'd sacrifice for their lives on the hunt."

"Ha! That one's got spirit! Real fire, that one."

Rai turned. The finely dressed man, rather round at that, was a crocodile.

The praetor eyed the hyena, plumage prickling almost like hackles. "We're not looking for-"

"Actually," Rai cut him off. "I do want her."

The vulture glowered.

The crocodile bent down. "You have a very good eye, my prince! Give my specialists a week or two to break this one, and we'll deliver..." He trailed off as the hyena barked her hysterical tittering again.

The praetor stepped in. "This one is obviously unsuited. We're going inside now."

"Shouldn't that be my decision?"

"If you chose that, it clearly should not be!" The praetor's talons closed around Rai's arm, hauling him away from the caravan. The crocodile stammered and hustled after the rapid avian.

But she was still laughing as they left her prison carriage behind.

The gryphon imagined he could feel her eyes, even after he was led into the pavilion. Under the colorful fabric roof, it was cooler, quieter, tidier... And the 'wares' here were much more docile. Some of them even smiled and flaunted their bodies. Yes, they were beautiful... and Rai felt sick at himself even contemplating them. He hunched as surely as if she still loomed behind him, despising everything his eyes set upon.

The crocodile waded ahead. Rai sidestepped to avoid stepping a sharp talon into his broad tail. "Well, if it's spirit that catches your eye, young prince, I have a few you might be interested in..."

The praetor stopped him. "Master, he's a child exploring his needs, not a sadist looking to break in his own playthings. A mild temperament would likely be best for now. A little closer to his own age, perhaps."

"Well," the slavemaster swung his head this way and that. "My apologies. My clients are rarely so young. I'm used to people coming with a pretty clear picture of what they want! But... yes, I see your point, yes. Hm." His scaly hands rubbed together. "I don't generally stock anyone... his age, you understand. But, size? Let's see... hyrax are small, or perhaps some mice?"

Rai followed, but every cage he peered into... He could have his way with any one of them. He wished he could think of them that way. It would have been easier than what he was seeing. They didn't exactly wear anything that made it difficult to imagine, but that hyena's tittering laugh hung over him. He rarely lifted his eyes.

The vulture gripped his shoulder and drew him aside, bidding the slavemaster wait. "Excuse us a moment." Just out of earshot - or as close as one could get in the airy space with little but cages about - the praetor tipped Rai's beak upward and forced eye contact. Though he wasn't harsh about it. "This has gone on long enough."

"I'm not sure I..." he stopped himself. Not sure he wanted a ... slave? Mother wouldn't be happy. He wouldn't be happy with himself, either. Not to mention it would get rather difficult if the queen decided to stop sharing her playthings. "I... can we do this later? I'm not really feeling... anymore..."

"No. You are being selfish."

"Selfish!?" Rai flustered. "I-"

"Hush a moment." The vulture's words were pointed, but not harsh. "Your mother is very lenient with you, so you haven't much experience with discipline. I am trying to be patient with you, but you're making it very difficult. Your mother asked me to do this, and Talez is fond of you. I have many responsibilities, yet here I am, and you are being stubborn. I will not let you waste our time - mine, your mother's, the slavemaster's - all so you can feel sorry for yourself."

The gryphon drew himself up rigidly. "Then I don't want one."

"Out of the question. Your mother was quite clear on our goal. If you cannot get a hold of yourself, I will chose for you."

The crocodile coughed. "If I may..."

The vulture shot a curdling glare at the encroaching slavemaster. "What."

"Youths have their moods I understand... not something I'm used to dealing with, mind you! But we're not exactly flailing in the dark. The prince has some... experience, as I understand it. Perhaps that's a starting point we can work with?"

The avian's scowl lessened begrudgingly. "A fox."

The slavemaster's eyes gleamed. "Ohhh... he has very good taste. Very expensive taste. Hard to come by, since the last round of border disputes... But you're in luck. Come, come!"

Rai sighed and followed after that wide, scaly, flagellating tail.

"I came on her quite by chance, the croc went on. "Only had her a couple weeks. Normally I say six weeks to salable, but I think I can make an exception! This is the prince, after all, and this girl is quite docile to begin with... Now that I think about it, she's actually fairly young, too! We think. Haven't pressed her for an exact age but she's fully... Well, see for yourself."

He took them behind a wall of portable dividers. There wasn't much difference on this side, except all the slaves were in their own cage. And many looked a good bit more miserable. There were a lot of hyenas, in various states between defiant and despondent. Male and female alike.

"Here we are! Falia, girl, you might just be in luck. A chance at Hightier!"

"Hightier? A-Already?" A girl's delicate, quavering voice. Rai's eyes were still on the row of hyenas. A couple of them were staring back at him.

The praetor leaned over the prince's shoulder, hissing. "Don't even think about it."

"I told you want I wanted before we even got in here!" He found himself locking eyes with the avian. The praetor would have none of it, though, and moved away. Rai was left gazing at the girl. Yes, she was a fox like Iru, but her coat was brown instead of white. Her eyes were wide. Was that...shock? She'd just heard the prince's outburst, taken aback.

Her gaze shifted from Rai to the praetor. She curtsied in her rag of a dress. "...Pleased to make your-"

"Not me," the avian corrected her, splaying a wing behind. "Him."

The fox's eyes were back on Rai, losing their spark.

"Hightier, girl! Think of it," urged the slavemaster.

"W-Well if I'm not wanted, I don't..." she trailed off as the praetor's talon snaked into her cage, hooking her muzzle and tipping her head this way and that.

The avian clicked his beak. "Docile but hesitant. You call this salable? She still needs work. And the most common fur pattern imaginable... There must be a hundred like her in Midtier alone."

Rai picked up his head and approached the cage. She was pretty. Not the most curvaceous figure, her bust couldn't match Iru or the queen's but... she had an everyday kind of charm. He thought he could want her, but trying to think of her - or anyone - that way right now turned his stomach. The vixen eyed him sidelong. Not with the hyena's level of disgust, but she looked... disappointed? When the praetor let her go, she flexed her jaw. "If you don't want me, just say so."

"I-"

"She'll do," the praetor cut him off. But he was facing the crocodile. "Assuming your price reflects the shortcomings."

"Shortcomings, hmph!" The slavemaster leaned in. "You haven't seen the market for northerners since the summer treaties, have you?"

"I shouldn't have to remind you I drew the borders. I know full well the market still exists."

"Well, yes. But you know where most of the exotics end up, and what... happens to them. The new blood's dried up, but demand hasn't changed."

"I also know they don't pay a jack more than they have to because they aren't picky."

The crocodile and vulture moved off, voices lowering. The fox's eyes followed them as she hugged herself uncertainly.

What could the prince say? His outburst earlier hadn't exactly endeared him to this girl, never mind the praetor. For a protracted moment, he watched her, and she watched the slavemaster's back. The fox made a face like she had a bad taste in her mouth.

The prince tried to cheer her. "Don't mind him. He's just haggling."

Her gaze was back on Rai, suspicious. "I don't need a child to tell me that."

"Hey, you don't look_that_ much older than me."

She opened her mouth angrily, but stopped herself, instead shrinking subtly away. The slavemaster was back. "Lucky girl, Falia. It's done. Highteir awaits."

The vixen put on a painfully forced smile. "Thank you, Master."

The praetor drew the prince away. "She'll be delivered tonight in a more presentable state. She'll be your responsibility from that point. I should hope by then you'll be done with this attitude."

Rai was already coming down from it, but he wasn't going to say as much; his ears were pinned back. The silence as they walked was unbearable, though. "Did you...get a good price?"

"Oh yes. The slavemaster's too accustomed to gouging customers who think with their crotch."

They passed the divider wall, and Rai's ears flicked. There were noises around now, other buyers and merchants. He guessed the auction outside was done.

"Rai."

He looked at the vulture quizzically.

"You let her control you earlier. You defended yourself from her accusation."

The gryphon blinked. "When she called me a child?" The praetor's hearing really was that good.

"Yes. Do not react to your underlings. Let them react to you. Turn the question back to them, if you can; ignore them and change the subject if you cannot. It is the same for slaves and military. Whether you lead with loyalty or fear: decide with finality, speak with authority."

They stepped out of the pavilion, and Rai blinked back the brightness. The sun was lower, casting a golden sheen across everything. The auction stands were empty. The crowds had died down somewhat. Many cages were noticeably emptier than before. The prince glanced back to the slaver caravan. The hyena was still there, still watching him. The praetor wasn't looking back, so Rai waved to her.

Why was he drawn to her? It wasn't her body. She just seemed to alive, moreso than anyone else he knew.

* * * * *

"Northlands?"

Rai almost jumped out of his seat, glancing over his shoulder. Tawny cat, intense eyes. "Setiir! I... didn't know you were in here."

The feline met his gaze blankly, waving it off. He gestured at the book. "Mideus didn't assign that."

The gryphon hugged the book closer. "No... so what?"

Setiir rolled his shoulders and slunk off, and Rai settled the tome back down on the table. The palace library was free to the royal court, and their children who came here to study or pursue curiosity. He decided in this case he was better off reading in his chambers, though. Not that there was anything wrong with reading the history of the northern nations...In the end, he opted to take the book and his thoughts and go somewhere more private.

The text was by Shajaran scholars, but he was beginning to read between the lines in places. Their biases, their perspective from Rai's culture. It wasn't a complete picture, but he knew... many of these other nations to the north disliked slavery, or even outright banned it. Or tried to. Somehow, it put Rai at ease knowing he wasn't the only one unsettled by the situation. That hyenas weren't just barbarians with antiquated ideas that couldn't survive the hard necessities of a larger nation. He was lost in his thoughts as he wandered back to his chambers, tailed by a royal guardsman. He almost didn't notice the escort. Almost.

Rai's chambers were broad and airy, but framed fabric screens gave clusters of furnishing a more intimate feel. They surrounded his bed, bath, sitting area, and study, and left plenty of space between. He also had a balcony. That's where he found himself - leaning back against the ornately masoned railing, reading of people and politics of long ago, from far-flung places of the world, by the reddening light of the setting sun behind him.

A whisper of soft paws on stone. The young gryphon's ears swiveled, his eyes soon followed. The fox slave... his slave, moved hesitantly out onto the balcony. Rai bolted to his feet. "Sorry - I should have been expecting you..."

She still had that disappointed look in her eye. "If you'd rather, I can come back later."

"No, I just lost track of time. I actually wanted to..." He trailed off. He was doing it again. Reacting to her. The praetor said...

...But he didn't really like what the praetor said. He wasn't sure he liked the idea of owning a slave anymore. A mere playing, a... pet. But he caught his eyes wandering anyway. They'd dressed her in a scant top and long loincloth that left little to the imagination, even if they weren't transparent. She noticed; her arms crossed in front of her bust, her thighs closed. Rai tore his eyes away, feeling sick again.

"You wanted to... what?"

The prince sucked in a breath. Forget the praetor. "I wanted to apologize. You're right, I was being childish."

She blinked.

Rai looked back at her - her, not her body - and stepped closer, book hung clutched close with a finger marking a page. "I know it looked like I didn't want you. I'm sorry, I was focused on something else entirely, and being stubborn. And selfish." The praetor was right about some things.

Surprise was evident on her face, and her tail flicked. "You're apologizing to a slave?"

"You're not from Shajara, are you?" He clutched his book all the tighter. More than likely her history was recorded in it, albeit from a very different perspective. "I know not all nations have slaves or... consider it right. After today... I'm not sure I do either."

Her eyes softened, some of the tension bled from her shoulders. "Are you... going to get rid of me then?"

"Do you want me to?"

"Goodness, no! Have you seen your servants' bathhouse?" She gestured broadly, and didn't bother trying to cover herself anymore. "I'll be living like a princess here! Better than I ever lived as a free peasant up north." There was a twinge of mirth at the corners of her muzzle. "This is some kind of test, isn't it?"

Rai shook his head slowly. "Nothing like that. Your name is... Falia, right?"

She curtsied with a non-existent skirt. "Why yes, my prince."

"Stop that. Just... call me Rai."

"What if I don't want to stop?" Smiling, the fox slid closer.

The gryphon felt his cheeks heat; she was so close he could smell her fur, but he didn't touch her. "I... what? Why would you want-"

"...to be rescued from slavers?" Falia cut him off. "Given a life of luxury? I could've been sold to a whorehouse. Fed a steady diet of stale flatbread and patrons' seed. At best I hoped maybe I'd be a merchant's maid. Instead I was snatched up by a prince. An unexpectedly gentle soul. I never dared dream it... And, well, if he's a little younger than I expected... A little childish, but man enough to own up to that?" She shrugged and draped her arms across the gryphon's shoulders. "I can deal with that."

"You're really okay with this...?" Rai found himself sucked into a soft embrace. Well, that answered his question; she pulled his head into her soft bosom and the scent of sweet floral soaps. Servant's bathhouse, indeed. And his book was quashed squarely between them. "M-maybe I should put this down."

"Probably." She withdrew a step, but slipped her paw into Rai's. As the red sky crept to violet, the prince led her back inside. He swung by his study, dropped off his book, and started toward the sleeping area. But his steps slowed; he hesitated, seeking the fox's eyes. She smiled. "Oh, are you going to be shy now? We both know I'm here to be your new plaything."

She brushed past him and his uncertainties and invaded the screen-partitioned space about his bed. The vixen spread herself across the massive cushion he slept, rolling halfway on her back and lifting an inviting thigh. The narrow cloth between her legs lay just far enough over to cover her nethers, teasing the transfixed prince.

Rai's gaze snapped upwards as she bared her breasts with a sharp tug, letting the cloth wrap fall away. Her beckon drew him closer without thought - and he finally met her gaze. Somehow... her smile, her soft eyes, overcame him. He smiled back and closed the distance as hesitation melted, shrugging out of his robe along the way.

The vixen's eyes traced his body, lingered on his erection. He wasn't sure he could flush any harder, but... was this how she felt when he looked at her? Wanted? Desired? There was no place for shame, here. Rai dropped down, nestled between Falia's legs, and slid over her. In a heated moment, he went for her lips.

'How do you kiss with a beak?' was not a question he'd ever thought to ask, and who would even know? Talez? It started as an awkward nuzzle, but he rolled with his instincts. His mouth opened, his tongue pressed against her muzzle... and her lips parted. Tongue met tongue in a tangling embrace with wet noises; she accepted his intrusion and tilted her head, permitting them to interlock their mouths after a fashion.

Rai felt a soft paw embrace his cock, sending him into a shuddering groan. The vixen gently led him to her snatch, poising his tip between her folds and directly at her entrance. All he had to do was push... he couldn't help himself. With barely a thought, he was pressing in. Falia pushed too, met him halfway. The gryphon tore away from her muzzle for a ragged breath. Their eyes met a moment, mirroring each other's lust and pleasure. "Take me," she whispered. The vixen's paws pulled the prince's head to her naked tits, and he lost all sense of restraint. Thrusting needily into her flower, her hips rolling to the beat of his need. Even fully swollen, his knot was far too small to tie them together; their motions were accented by the shove and tug of that extra girth in and out of her tunnel.

With Iru, Rai had taken his pleasure. But Falia could match him; he went wild, but she went with him. Her folds grew wetter, hotter. Frenzied as his need and thrusts became, hers kept pace. Her arms groped at him, clutched patches of fur at his sides, and her moans overtoned his desperate, open-beaked panting. Rai held nothing back, screwing his eyes shut as he suddenly felt the rush, the surge, and spurted his essence deep into her. Falia's voice seized up into a squeal, her arms and thighs clutching the young prince close. Her tunnel shivered, clenched on Rai's tool, and excessive wetness sopped his sheath. He'd never felt that before. The moment passed, and she went starkly limp beneath him. Not all the labored breathing was Rai's. What? Iru... had never done that. It dawned on him, finally. He'd brought Falia to a climax of her own.

The gryphon nuzzled Falia's cleft. Iru had more bust, but really, he didn't care. He'd made a girl cum. That was what Mother had wanted to learn, right?

No... to Mother it was probably more about rewarding her pets. Rai and Falia... they'd cum together. There was no ownership between them in that moment. Just two souls enthralled in pleasing one another.

Or maybe Rai was just feeling sappy. He smiled, reaching up to fondle the breast he wasn't resting his cheek on.

The fox sighed contentedly. "Mmm... I could get used to this."

Rai was quiet, content to cuddle. It was growing dark, and he was reluctant to move at all. And maybe that was a good thing. He could easily fall asleep nestled against the vixen, and with the recent growths on his back, it was more comfortable than all the positions he'd been trying lately...

Falia began petting his ears. "Was I your first?"

"No. Well... for some things?" He tipped his head and caught her quizzical look. "I've done it with one of my mother's slaves. Ah... a lot lately. But this was the first time a girl came with me."

She giggled, and that only made him flush. "Well, I can't say I'm surprised. You were really fast..."

Too fast? This is what Mother meant, and why he wasn't making Iru happy? "So, what does that say about you?"

"It says you're lucky." Falia smirked. "And I'm lucky too. You're the exact right length for me... you were hitting my g-spot perfectly."

The gryphon wasn't even sure what that was. "Can you teach me what feels good to girls? Though..." He broke to yawn. "Maybe in the morning?"

"It would be my pleasure." Falia smiled, fondling Rai's ears. "My prince."