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Rai had a bounce in his step and a seemingly permanent grin. This would be his second New Moon feast. With any luck, he wouldn't pass out halfway through this time.

The young gryphon learned so much since last month's feast. He was now fully aware what he was walking into, and quite eager for it. Last time, Zhenten had walked him all the way up to his mother. Tonight, his lizard chaperon excused himself at the doorway. Rai spared him a glance, gestured inside. But Zhen bowed himself out. Was his station really too low for the queen's court?

Perhaps he had other responsibilities.The prince shrugged it off and saw himself into the great hall. The entertainment of the eve was dancing, of course. Luscious females snaked and flowed amid an arrangement of poles to the slow beat of a deep drum. They paused in provocative poses to a riff, and burst back into motion at the next drum. And Rai quickly picked out his favorite. Falia hadn't shown off for him in private; she'd been saving it for this. The gryphon prince smiled brightly at her rolling figure. She and the other barely-clothed playthings on stage swung from pole to pole. Sometimes they paired at the same pole, mirroring each other from ear to tail, never missing a beat as far as Rai could tell.

The stage was between Rai and his mother. But as he skirted the stage with eyes for only Falia, he could hardly resist. When she swept away from a caracal partner, the prince veered off and gripped the pole right below her hand. She faltered, eyes wide. The gryphon eyed one of the other dancers across, bent with her motion - he was a little behind, but Falia had stopped dead. He gave her a reassuring smile and reached to pull her back into the dance. His hand on her hip, the fox succumbed to the snaking dance once more with a nervous chuckle.

She stopped again an instant later, eyes drawn over Rai's shoulder just as a hand whipped him about. His eyes lifted to meet the queen's. "Mother...?"

The jackaless queen's jaw was set, though there was an amused twinge to the corner of her muzzle. She led Rai away from the dais and back toward her throne. "Dancing is a feminine art, my son."

The gryphon frowned, allowing himself to be led by the hand.

"And you are not the entertainment tonight, sweetling. Cute as you were, you're breaking their rhythm. Let them show off, and let's not give the entire court the wrong idea, shall we?" She turned to take her seat, eying him as she swept her tail out of the way and eased onto her throne. Still watching him, expecting some reaction.

"Fine." He didn't know why it was such a deal, but... "So these events are normally a bit more formal than last month?" Rai took his place at his mother's side.

Her eyes softened. "There is etiquette to do with everything about the royal court. Played correctly, it can be very relaxed... In the right context. Here we are expected to show off... indulge." Anu emphasized the point with a subtle shift of her hips. "But the slave comes to you, not the other way around. That is the way of things."

It all left a bad taste in Rai's mouth, but he didn't let it show. If there was tension in his posture, he had a good excuse; he couldn't sit all the way back in his seat. His prepubescent wings were incredibly annoying at this stage... just useless little extra limbs getting in the way. They were growing incredibly fast, and already articulated a bit, but he mostly left them as flat as possible against his back and wore loose clothing anymore. He was favoring broad, loose shawls to cover the lumps. For now they were awkward and unsightly, and if he could help it, nobody saw them.

Of course, he didn't get his way. But the only one he was truly comfortable seeing them was Falia.

"The night is young, Rai." Anu glanced side-eyed at him with a crooked smirk. "I have plans for us after the feast, so save your energy..."

Rai picked an apple from the table, biting a tiny triangle with his beak and savoring the fruit along with the view. Falia had recovered the rhythm just fine, and the dance was definitely a delicacy to watch. Whether his mother liked it or not, he was going to ask Falia to teach him some of those moves...

His ears picked up a slick noise, and he glanced at his mother, her scant loincloth aside, fingering beneath her erection. Godsrain, he knew this was expected tonight, but still... more than a few people were now watching her and not just the dance. "Um... what was that about saving myself for your plans?"

"Please, my fledgling sweet. We both know getting off once or twice at the feast isn't going to stop us later. Go on. Don't think I can't see you pitching a tent there. Indulge, it's the whole point of the evening."

"Right."

He parted his robes, not shedding them fully. Not his first time nude for this crowd, but the first time anyone watched him touch himself.

* * * * *

Dance was one of many frivolous arts Falia often wished to pursue, but never had the means. It was nigh impossible for those of common station back home. Sure, she could dance at weddings and feasts, but so did her grandmother. Now, the opportunity for real instruction had practically fallen in her lap. Had she been enslaved or sent to heaven? It was a surprisingly blurry line.

Performing on stage... left her breathless. The vixen relished the pauses in her choreography, meeting the eyes of onlookers. Desirous eyes. Yes, they enjoyed her for her body... Falia found she quite enjoyed displaying it. Flowing from posture to suggestive posture. In the partnered segments, she and Khali mirrored each other. Or she tried to. The spry caracal stretched alarmingly far on the rest of her dance numbers. She was so limber, Falia couldn't help but feel her meager work was holding the feline back. But Khali's smile was always so sincere, and she just had so much fun doing it, that Falia's worries melted away. She focused on that and enjoyed herself.

She kept an eye on her young prince, as well. Interrupting the dance might have been a breach of protocol, but hopefully the queen wasn't too hard on him. Over the course of a meal he'd recovered his smile. Falia stole a break in the dance to blow him a kiss while she knew he was looking.

Enjoyable or no, dancing the better part of an hour was quite the feat. The fox couldn't help but feel a little bit proud that she could keep up. She'd worked hard to impress her instructor to land this spot tonight, and her stamina was no small part of that. Some of the dancers had a rotation going so they got a break. Falia was starting to regret declining but, well, she was stubborn like that. She was only benched for the solo at the end.

The honor of the solo fell to Iru.

Falia and the others slipped away to the alcove off the main hall set aside for the entertainment. She sat down with a heavy groan, thighs quivering. A couple of the dance retinue chuckled at her noise, a fair few applauded lightly. The harems had an interesting mix of comradeship and friendly rivalries.

"Tough girl," Khali purred, swatting Falia's arm. "You did great out there!"

Falia let her head hang back over the back of her seat. "Can I sleep here? I don't want to get up again tonight."

"No, but we'll take care of you. Here, sit straight and drink up. We get the good stuff tonight, it'll help."

The white fox flowed into center stage bearing a pair of staves, each ending with a streamer the fabric as her long loincloth, just six times as long. She twirled the staves with the effortless ease of both practice and a talent for dexterity, riling a wake of fabric to either side as she advanced. Her dance proper began to a slow drumbeat, and the streamers flowing about her seemed to have a life and mind of their own to the strum of a lyre. Falia reclined contentedly. Real wine and a view of Iru's dance, what more could anyone want for? Servants were bringing them dinner, too, which was good. She anticipated needing to recover some of her strength tonight. Rai was liable to be horny as ever.

Then again... now she was looking, she saw the royal pair dallying with themselves. She flushed. It was so public, and the display made her feel rather warm. And it was her first time seeing Queen Anu's... glory.

There were 'presentable' slaves among those waiting on the crowd. Most of them weren't part of the royal harem. The few who were, Zhenten had delivered special instructions - present to so and so. Tease this dignitary. Submit to that one. The harem was a political tool as well, apparently. Not something Falia ever wanted to become entangled in. She'd sooner risk the grope-fest the lesser slaves had to deal with.

Anu signaled, and a pair of the harem girls responded. None of these duties fell to the dance retinue, so Falia sat back, sipped her wine, and watched Rai get sucked off by a particularly leggy rodent. What was that species? Falia watched Rai's private servicing as much as Iru's show, fighting back a measure of jealousy for both acts.

Rai's face as he came made her smile, regardless. Anu took a gazelle to her lap. She obviously had no qualms about public sex.

Iru's number culminated with a storm of spinning streamers about a series of evocative poses. Falia blushed at how thoroughly the other fox threw herself into it. Even her expression was powerful, as though she were baring her very soul. The drumming reached its crescendo as Iru took a bowed knee, and the lyre followed the drifting streamers downward into silence and stillness. As the guests gave a hearty applause, the white vixen rose, bowed first to the throne, then to the guests, and retreated waving to the lingering fanfare.

As Iru made her way out of the center of attention, a curious figure slid to the center stage, draped in ragged robes sewn with sharp teeth, wearing an antlered bone mask. Falia sat forward. Were those... real bone?

Khali's whiskers tickled her ear. "That's my mom, the high priestess. This is the ceremonial part."

* * * * *

"So this is what I missed last time?"

"Yes, sweetling. Try not to faint." Anu gave the gazelle a little slap on the rear to send her on her way, royal seed trickling down her thigh. The jackaless draped her loincloth back over her slightly softened penis and sat up a bit straighter. "Don't worry, though. It's a traditional telling; it's always the same."

Rai's ears tipped forward as the priestess began to chant. "What language is that?"

"Ancient Aja. The language in use before the Anubian throne was founded. It's fallen out of use since prevalent trade has brought northern common into favor."

The priestess' song drew unfamiliar syllables into keening, almost wailing cries. She would thrust out her hand one way, and made her tone deeper. Then she took a step, turned, playing an opposing part in a higher tone. Her robe fluttered as she made jagged movements to and fro in a sort of dance, and occasionally Rai glimpsed that she wore nothing underneath. One of the parts she played sounded accusatory, but the vast majority sounded like a lament.

"Can I learn Aja?"

The queen shot him a careful, sidelong glance, betraying nothing. "Why? This is the most it's ever used. Just read the translation."

"It just sounds..." Familiar? Why did he feel like that? Was he just having a really bad case of deja vu? "It's beautiful."

"Beautiful? In a way, perhaps." The queen shrugged. "Truthfully, the more I hear it over the years, the more it disturbs me."

The nigh-forgotten drummer enunciated the chant as it rose to a shrieking pitch. A few final syllables tore from the priestess, and she dropped into a bow, nearly prone. A moment of silence crawled by. Rai glanced through the attendees. A scant few looked on the scene with any sort of reverence. Most chatted in politely hushed tones, heedless.

The high priestess rose from the floor, bowed to the east, then to the throne, and quit the room at a measured pace. The volume of the guests rose steadily as she saw herself out.

Anu gestured at a servant. "Summon Falia and Iru to my chambers presently." The jackaless turned a lascivious grin onto her young son. "The festivities will continue long into the night, but.... Now is a fashionable time to leave. You and I, my sweetling, are going to spend some quality time together with our playthings."

By habit, the young prince arose and followed. He noted Anu's persistent stiffness. Maybe mother had heard it so many times it ceased to matter, but the Aja chant was still ringing in Rai's ears, and it seemed to have killed his erection better than the jerboa who sucked him off minutes before.

He was overthinking it. A good performance, that was all. Rai made a mental note to look up that translation sometime, though. Upon seeing the two foxes approaching Anu's chambers in their scanty dance attire, it got a lot easier to put the whole thing out of his mind. Falia looked nervous, but there was a spark of excitement too. He smiled at her eagerness and reached for her hand as they all followed the jackaless into her den.

Entering mother's chambers, the contrast between innocent memory and lecherous intentions was surreal. It was an enormous airy space, similar to Rai's room, but Anu's windows overlooked the terrace gardens on three sides, the greenery currently only visible in tiny pools of lamplight below. Highteir's silhouette stood firmly against the dusky, star-dotted sky. The vaulted ceiling was inlaid with small mosaics - nothing to match the temple's domed ceiling, but a good accent. To one side, Anu had a private library, a place of fond memories for Rai - many of his earliest. But Rai wasn't here to have mother read to him; he was here to join her in debauchery. Central to the room, Anu's bed was an enormous round affair mounded with pillows. But as the soft footfalls of two vixens entered, the jackaless waved them instead to a sprawling sitting area opposite the library.

The queen shed her clothes, every scrap dropped lazily in her path. Rai felt hot... Yes, he'd seen her erection before, but somehow that couldn't compare to this; here she stood fully nude with hand outstretched. "Come, Falia dear."

The younger of the two foxes stepped forward hesitantly. "Your highness..."

"None of that, now." The queen pulled the fox girl close, pressing her lips to the shocked vixen's own, their muzzles parting slightly. Rai stood back, wrestling with much the same emotion he watched play out in Falia's eyes - surprise, uncertainty, and the tension fading at the moment of acceptance.

The gryphon prince turned his attention to Iru, meeting her stoic eyes. If she was stirred by the scene, whether arousal or jealousy, it wasn't obvious. He wasn't sure what to make of those eyes anymore. But the young gryphon reminded himself how many times Iru had visited after last month's festival. He preferred to think she wasn't solely driven by duty. He'd been looking forward to perhaps repaying her faithfulness, but he found his mood waxing eloquent. "I've learned a lot since your last visit to my chambers... I owe you a fair bit more pleasure this time than I've given you in the past, methinks."

The white vixen smirked down at him. "Oh, you're an expert womanizer after just a few weeks with Falia, are you?"

"I wouldn't dream I could match your experience. I just hope to bring you a modicum of the enjoyment you've given me, my fair white lotus." He reached for her hand, lifting it and poking it tenderly with his beak, a simile of a courteous kiss.

Iru's smirk melted into a soft grin. "And a romantic, too? Godsrain, you're adorable."

Rai's gaze was drawn as the other fox... his fox's muzzle finally separated with a little gasp from the jackaless' lips. Anu's hands pushed south and crooked at Falia's knee, bringing her to kneel before her queen. The onlooking prince knew full well what was coming, and that Falia was not fond of administering the oral art. He wouldn't outright forbid his own mother - how could he? - but he also couldn't help wanting to do something.

Before he knew it, he too took a knee before the queen and her erection, stealing Falia's lips. His beak parted and entwined with her receptive muzzle, and she received his narrow tongue eagerly. Anu chuckled above them. "I'm glad you don't let that beak get in the way of some of life's great pleasures."

Falia was already short of breath from her last make-out session; she broke off panting. Rai brushed her cheek, knowing full well he'd just delayed the inevitable for his lover. He just wanted to show his support. His tongue darted out once more, this time to his mother's cock and a salty dollop growing there.

Fingers curled under Rai's beak. His eyes lifted, his tongue slurped back where it belonged. Anu lifted her son with an impassive eye. In any other family, touching one's own family in such a way was unthinkable... Had he crossed a line?

Anu swooped in like a viper, and Rai's beak was invaded by her tongue. He made an undignified squeak. Where he and his fox gently tussled, mother's tongue overpowered him. He gasped around her muzzle. Her broad canid muscle practically enveloped his narrow one, curling and sliding... thrusting... The young gryphon flushed hard; he wasn't sure he'd even been this energetic tonguing Falia's womanhood. When the queen finally withdrew, the prince was left panting harder than Falia, his knees on the verge of collapse.

The queen smiled over him as her fingers tousled his ears. "Mm... I just had to see for myself, sweetling. Now, I think your services are needed." Anu turned the young gryphon's head toward the long, low couch where Iru spread herself in picturesque fashion, her back arched artistically, thighs spread, fingers splaying her womanly folds.

Rai spared one last glance to Falia and received a subtle, reassuring nod. With that assurance, and a little nudge from his mother, he moved to Iru. The white fox smiled and beckoned, but he wasn't ready to leap into her arms yet. Instead, he settled between her legs, wrapped his arms about her hips, nuzzled open her folds with his beak.

"Ooh, that's different," she cooed, content to relax and let him play with her nethers for now. "Now we see just how much you've learned, mm?"

He answered by pinning her clit between the crux of his beak and a slathering assault by his tongue, forcing a yelp from the white fox. He stopped almost instantly, but he grinned, satisfied he'd at least caught her off-guard, and he could now properly explore her flower.

Falia put up her best effort at pleasing the queen's erection with her muzzle. As cute as Rai was to come try and rescue her, he was perhaps a bit too protective. Ever since she'd mentioned disliking the taste, he'd acted like it was completely off-limits. As earnest as he was, Falia had practiced the act extensively between her capture and sale. Like it or not, she had grown somewhat accustomed to it, and she liked to think she could be good at it. The one part of Anu's cock she simply couldn't pleasure with her muzzle was the knot slowly growing at the base. For that, she had fingers. It didn't seem as though she'd been able to coax out hardly any additional pre, though - Rai had already taken the lion's share. The vixen wondered if she wasn't pleasing enough... The queen surely had far more experienced slaves. Falia needed to do more. Her fingers crept up the jackaless' thigh, sliding in under and behind her sack. Yes, she still had a womanhood, and it was definitely wet. Falia's fingers slid deep, and she was gratified by the soft groan she received in turn. But a hand grasping her ear stopped her, and Anu pulled away. "You're eager to explore, little foxy. That's good. But not what I want from you... this time."

Falia saw lust in the queen's eye. It both elated and gratified her...and perhaps scared her a bit too. Anu's hands moved her toward Iru, bent her over the arm of the couch, her breast close enough she could feel the other vixen's heavy breathing jostle her fur. Falia felt the jackaless' tip at her folds and bit her lip. The queen was so much larger than her son...

Rai heard his fox moan and tipped his head up just in time to see his mother driving deep into the flower he'd come to know so well. Her shaft visibly stretched his favorite fox. Inches lower, though, Iru's eyes and the lusty flame in them reminded him where he was sticking his tongue, and he got back to thrusting his tongue deep in her tunnel. He was searching for her g-spot, but wasn't having the best of luck yet. Still, as long as Iru was enjoying it; would that he could remain here forever...

A quiver ran down Iru's tunnel about his tongue, and Rai wasn't sure it was his doing. He lifted his eyes again to find the two vixens making out, groping fervently at each other's breasts. Another shudder... yes, Iru was really into this, and the young prince decided it was time to step up his game. Withdrawing his tongue, he instead trawled it straight through her cleft, returning his full attention to her little pleasure button while he slipped a pair of fingers into her to continue the thrusting. He wasn't sure which fox was moaning, but it was music to his ears. Iru was the source, he guessed, given how her hips were rolling wildly against his tongue. She convulsed, thighs closing on the gryphon's head as her flower burst with feminine juices and the accompanying "Ahh!", the first time he'd heard Iru's cries of orgasm. They were as beautiful as her dance.

His beak still dripped with her juices as he lifted his head to regard her; Iru's outcry broke apart the two vixens' lips and now both eyed him. Iru looked at him with an afterglow fueled smile, grabbing gently at his shoulders, tugging at his robe. "Wonderful tonguework, cutie, now why don't you put that penis in me?"

While Rai would be content to service that sweet fox muff into eternity, he couldn't turn hat down. It just meant undressing. He hesitated, but only a moment, before fully shedding the garments, pulling the stubborn cloth over his gimpy not-wing limbs. If Iru took any special note of them, she didn't get the chance to say, because Anu shoved Falia further along the couch with a moaning growl as she hit a climax. The pussy she was pounding now poised over Iru's face, the white fox opted to attack Falia's exposed clitoris with tongue and lips, much to the younger vixen's highly vocal pleasure. Rai watched Falia's folds squeeze and flex on the queen's black shaft. Anu hadn't knotted, and there was no stopper to prevent slick white seed from dribbling out across Iru's muzzle. The jackaless yanked out with a gasp, still spraying thick ropes of seed.

As his mother settled down, Rai was able to slide into position between Iru's soft white thighs and slipped inside her warm and very wet tunnel.

Falia watched Rai's cock disappear into another woman's folds. Another woman's, perhaps even a friend's. Perhaps it was the afterglow, or the feel of that same woman's tongue plying through her cleft, but the jealousy... wasn't as bad as she thought. Of somewhat more concern, Anu was rubbing the tip of her cock up Falia's crack with impunity. "Did I please you, your highness?"

"I told you not to call me that."

"Do you prefer your majesty? My queen? Great One?"

"I don't suffer sycophants in bed, dearie. You may use my name, or milady if you must."

"Do I please you, milady Anu?"

A seed-slickened point pressed up under Falia's tail, and she froze. The queen's hand draped around her shoulder, the jackaless' teeth gently grazing her ear. "You haven't had it here, have you?"

"N-no, milady."

"Are you going to be a good girl and relax for me?"

"Hrng..." Falia shivered, and a frozen moment slipped away before she brought herself to reply. "Yes..."

Rai watched the tip of mother's cock slip into Falia's tailhole. His beak hung open; he'd never conceived of sex like this, and watching it was...

"Rai dear?" Iru recaptured his attention with a hand on his cheek and a sultry tone. "You like the look of that, don't you? I can feel you throbbing inside me."

With that reminder, the young prince resumed thrusting into her warm folds. But he was still watching the scene before them. Mother leaning over the fragile-looking fox and cooing for her to relax. Falia looked like... she was in pain. But she also nodded to the queen questioning if she was okay. It took quite some time for Anu to work her full length inside, but when she did... Rai lost himself at the sight, a shrill little moan accompanying his heavy spurts of seed into Iru's hot folds. He ground his hips into her, cumming hard for what felt like a full minute, meager little knot holding most of his ejaculate inside as he collapsed against Iru's breast. He fought the wave of limpness pervading his body to keep his head up to keep watching this new form of penetration.

Falia quivered, her jaw hanging open, admitting her cries of pleasure, much to the obvious delight of the jackaless easing in and out of her derriere. The queen reached down, scooping the overflow of her own seed from the fox's folds, spreading it on her shaft to ease her passage. Anu proceeded to grip Falia's hips and tug her into a deep thrust, growling over the little gasp she elicited. Then she truly began to rut.

Rai idly teased at Iru's breast with his beak, and she pet his ears. What he was watching kept him incredibly hard, but he didn't have the energy to move. Neither, it seemed, did Iru. So the two of them watched the queen rail Rai's favorite slave in the tailhole over and over. Falia's cries grew desperate; she was rapidly out of breath. Anu leaned low, fingers raking the panting vixen's belly and jostling breast, and clamped teeth on Falia's neck. The jackaless' eyes fluttered shut as she indulged, holding nothing back, throwing herself into her thrusts. The fox beneath her sank lower and lower as her knees lost their purchase, while her arms gave out entirely, dropping her headfirst into Iru's shoulder. Her body wracked with one last wave of tension, she shoved herself back on the queen's knot and hit her second climax. Anu followed with a lusty groan. "Good girl..."

* * * * *

"Your lessons will be cut short tomorrow," Zhenten informed Rai. "There will be a formal meal with the naga dignitaries."

"Okay." Rai paused to admire a flowering tree. Sure, he'd seen them before, but only a month ago he'd felt far more a child. The new dawn had just barely crept over the city wall, the air was fresh, he'd slept incredibly well in Falia's arms last night, and it was a good morning to ponder the little beauties he walked by on a day to day basis none the wiser.

Zhenten paused, waiting with a hint of smile and ever bearing patience. "In case you're purposefully stalling, I should remind you they finished the new altar..."

"I wasn't stalling," Rai laughed and shared a knowing smile with his reptilian caretaker. Not this time, but goodness knows he'd done plenty of it lately. The priestess had gotten rather cross with him a time or two. But the prince felt justified. "Maybe I won't be in agonizing back pain today."

The lizard waited for the young gryphon to catch up, falling in step. He was hardly a guide anymore, they made this little pilgrimage so often. "So... they're large enough to be a pain already?"

The gryphon blinked up at his chaperon. "Don't tell me you haven't seen them? I strip down at the temple every day, and I'm hardly decent most times you come for me in my chambers..."

"I know. I don't watch."

"Not even a little? I don't know how you managed to keep such manners in my mother's court, Zhen. No wonder they put you in charge of the harem. Are you not even tempted?"

The lizard kept walking, eyes straight ahead to the distance. "It's... not a question of temptation. It's simply not my place. Though it certainly helps I don't feel attraction for the vast majority of the harem."

"So who are you attracted to?" Rai glanced over, noting Zhen's eyes shifting away uncomfortably. "Sorry, too personal. I wasn't thinking. You don't need to answer that."

Much of the tension drained from the lizard. "I appreciate that, Rai. It's an understandable question, but not a topic I'm particularly comfortable with."

The prince shrugged at him. "Still. For what it's worth, I don't see the problem if you see me in feather and fur. You know everything else about me. Back to the point, though... yes, these extra limbs are really a pain right now."

But they were already at the mouth of the temple. The lizard turned away and Rai undid his sash, halfway out of his robe before he noticed Zhen was leaving. He moved toward the center of the room. The altar looked to be the same carved slab as before. Where was everyone?

The caracal priestess caught the prince's eye from a side door, beckoning. Of course they didn't throw the old altar out for his sake - it had plenty of other uses, and it would stay where it was. Rai was led to the new altar in the vestibule off to the side. He squinted at the oddly contoured shape; the closest thing he could think of was a shoemaker's anvil. How was he even supposed to...?

He began to piece it together. The two bowl shaped cut-outs that confused him the most appeared to be made for his wings. A tangled spiderweb of glyphwork spread to every corner, surface, and side... and slat-like shelves were sliced into the thick base where the script needed even more surface.

There were only two of the red robed priests. And their staffs were different. "Short-handed?" Rai wondered aloud.

"No," the high priestess beamed at the complicated slab and patted it lovingly. "This is a... unique creation to say the least. It's made for you, and you alone. In short, it's more specialized, therefore far more efficient than the general purpose altar out there."

The gryphon looked it over again. It wasn't even vaguely like a table, it wasn't a bed... it was an altar, and would only ever be an altar. He shrugged and ditched his robe. He wasn't about to complain about having fewer priests to stare at his stupid stubby little back-limbs. Down he lay, sighing in relief; it was nice to lay on his back and not crush the new additions. The cutouts would be able to accommodate some truly massive appendages, though. Would his wings really get that big? At least it was suitably future-proofed. And surprisingly comfortable. The contours perfectly cradled his spine and even supported his head and knees quite readily. He folded his hands across his chest.

His sheath wasn't even swollen yet, but now that he'd realized that was on display... How to distract himself? Boring as the mosaic ceiling in the main hall became week after week, he was now treated with a flat ceiling, the epitome of boredom.

"Isn't this weird?" the prince mused aloud, "That I wasn't born with these? Baby birds and wyverns have all their limbs when they're born."

"That would be our doing. Our spells weren't crafted to handle them, and we were suppressing any growth we couldn't predict. We were worried you might come out with abnormalities from having an... exotic father."

"From being feral, you mean."

"It's complicated." The caracal's face bent into his vision, her fingers slid between his fur and the altar here and there. Wherever the glyph was beneath him. "Kindly quiet yourself and be still. Let me know immediately if anything - anything whatsoever! - feels strange or painful. This is new glyphwork. It's so specific it was impossible to test beforehand"

The young prince nodded, still surprised at himself. Even with the feline's prodding he was still barely stirring in his sheath. After last night, and Falia again this morning...

"Begin."

The priests hummed. Concentration technique, Rai guessed. He was already sick of this ceili--

Lightning shot through him. Blinding. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. Vision resolved into streams of liquid fire shooting through void. A black sky wrought with blazing rivers in sinuous, forking lines; the glyphs on the altar. There was cold stone underfoot. An unnaturally flat plane of stone stretching into infinity, in endless twilight. Where in desiccation's name was he?

He couldn't quite feel... himself. This place wasn't a place at all, was it? He lifted a hand, and he saw it, but it didn't quite feel like he was really moving. His feathers bristled - or that's what it felt like... like someone was watching him. He spun, cast about the esoteric landscape. Who's there? No words came as Rai tried to speak.

A chattering, hissing sound came in reply. Something heard him. A dot of color appeared, yellow, shifting to green. Soft glowing light shaped itself into wings. Moth wings. Rai tipped his head at the mesmerizing light in the distance. A moth didn't seem threatening... but he didn't know if he could trust intuition here. This wasn't a moth, it was an... entity. Who are you? More hissing, chattering was some kind of reply. The light descended... wait, it was outside the runes overhead. Rai's sense of scale shattered; it was as big as a house. No, a mountain... its light blotted out the void, alighting on the starlike glyphs above; each leg, massive yet delicate, perched at the epicenter of a symbol in the sky. Its wings shifted again, green to blazing yellow, hot desert suns. Rai felt the wave of heat, but the glow did not touch the stone underfoot.

I don't understand you. Who are you? What are you?

The entity's hissing reverberated in the nothingness. He felt it through his very talons. The moth's frond-like antennae quivered. Its mandibles spread and closed again. The ruff about its neck seemed to waver in an unfelt wind. A single massive leg slid down from the shimmering glyphs, approaching, aiming right at Rai. It thrust forward, through--

"AAAHH!" Boring ceiling. Rai was panting for breath, back on the altar.

"What? What happened?" The priestess' face appeared over him, checking his forehead.

"I... don't know." He checked himself briefly. "Nothing hurts. I... think I was just hallucinating though."

"And you didn't say anything this whole time?"

Rai frowned. "Whole... time? How long...?"

The concern written across the caracal's face only deepened, but she spoke stoically. "A half-hour, about as long as normal."

"To me it felt like... moments, at most. I couldn't speak, or..." The gryphon lifted a hand and examined his talons. Same hand he'd raised in the vision. "Did I move at all? My arm, my hand?"

"No, I'm quite sure you didn't." The priestess' eyes traced the curves of the altar, face darkening. "I'll go over the changes again. Nothing should have caused any changes to your perception."

"It's like I was dreaming. It was so vivid, though."

"You feel okay? Can you stand? Slowly!"

He got up, and the priestess checked the glyphs beneath him, shaking her head. "I'll have to get another master glyphwright in from another city. I had to have missed something."

"I feel fine, though. Frankly, a few minutes of lucid dreaming is preferable to weeks of back pain."

Her mouth pressed into a firm line. "I'll let you know. You must tell me if you feel strange in any way after this. I hesitate to use it frequently if it's misbehaving. Desiccation, I'd be worried you're lacking an erection - but that's usually raging well before you lay down."

"I was especially well cared for last night." He tried a grin, but the glare he got in turn wilted his mirth. The prince looked himself over and shrugged. "I understand. But for now... I feel perfectly normal."

Her slit eyes searched him carefully, but in the end she sighed, satisfied. "Very well."

"Speaking of last night... That was the first time I'd seen your performance."

A tiny smirk twinged at the corner of her muzzle. "Before you compliment or complain, it's been the same every month since my great grandmother was your age. At least."

"Actually, I was interested in the history of it."

"Then go read it!" She snapped. "Or ask my daughter Khali; she's supposed to be learning it anyway. She's not going to be a harem girl forever."

Rai blinked at her curt reaction.

The caracal woman caught herself, pinched her brow, and sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm very busy and right now my concern is the altar and your safety."

"I'll ask for Khali, then, and leave you to it. Thank you."

She nodded stoically and pressed his robe into his hands. "Don't tarry, then. May the gods' rains follow you."

"Lands and life be blessed." Rai gave the formal reply of the blessing, offered her a slight bow, and tossed his robe about him. Sheer habit moved the prince forward toward the rest of his day, dressing absently as he went.

That strange vision lingered on his mind. What had he really seen...? Shouldn't it bother him more? Was he just numb?

He stepped out into the bright of morning. There was Zhen, and... the gryphon squinted into the brighter outdoors. "Setiir?"

Only the barest nod of greeting from the sand cat. Zhenten beckoned Rai along, wasting no time. "Why so surprised? He's been apprenticed to me for weeks."

"I don't know. It's just not routine." Rai reached behind himself, adjusting his shawl in the hopes of maximally hiding his awkward third set of limbs before they reached a major thoroughfare. To his feline friend, "I figured you were mostly going to stick to the accounting since you're good with numbers."

Set shrugged, not even lifting his eyes from the ledger in the crook of his arm.

The lizard chuckled. "Any position handling numbers comes with greater responsibilities than that. He may be talented with mathematics, but that's far from the hardest part of my job."

The sand cat made a check on the page. "Did Zhenten inform you of the formal meal tomorrow in place of your afternoon lessons?"

"Yes, Set. My turn to meet these nagas that have Talez all worked up. Oh, I have a special request for tonight..."

* * * * *

Falia relished the gently steaming water of the servants' bathhouse. She'd seen the boilers underneath, how much work it took to maintain... Maybe she felt a little bad for those slaves, and Rai's malcontented ramblings were recalled to mind. But she had a hard time feeling guilty while she luxuriated in the water herself. It was... dreamlike. Hard to absorb her new place in life. She could be happy.

No... she could be complacent. Rai was the only one who made her happy here.

The cultural differences didn't bother her much. Like privacy. It barely existed, here, in a physical-separation sense. The bath was communal and there were three other girls and one stallion in the water. She was getting used to it.

And nobody batted an eyelash when a rather young feline walked in. "Falia."

The gray vixen climbed out as quickly as she could make her sluggish limbs respond after such luxury. Gods, it was so hard to meet this cat's eyes. They did not avert from her naked form, though they showed so little reaction at all. Setiir's gaze weighed everything... and judged all neutrally. "My nightly summons, young master?" Falia smirked, crossing to a corner armoire to fetch a towel.

"Do you know where Khali is?"

She paused, cloth falling still around her shoulders, water pattering as it dribbled from her tail in a continuous stream. Was she not being summoned? Or maybe Set was fetching for the queen at the moment? "I... don't know. I last saw her in the kitchen, but that was back at lunch time." With a start, she worked the towel against her fur to dry off quickly.

"I see. Rai asked for both of you. Would you prefer to accompany me as I look for her, or shall I return for you here when she's found?"

"Oh, Khali?" One of the swimmers across the pool called out; a jerboa making herself comfortable on the stallion's chest. "She was already summoned by the queen for the night."

Set paused a mere moment, offering a shallow bow in return. "Thank you." His eyes slid, sidelong, back to Falia. "We will proceed to Rai's chambers now."

So formal. Was the cat just as disinterested in females as Zhenten? Falia shrugged it off, finished drying off, and brushed out her fur as best she could manage in short order. The armoire here stashed an assortment of scandalous clothes as well. The harems' outfits were more or less communal. Most of them were so insubstantial that size wasn't much of an issue. It was always white, though... were servants required to always wear white? She'd never asked. The top she chose today had a gold hoop acting as a sort of clasp for the sheer fabric over her breasts; loose gold chains hung below her bosom and wrapped around to the back. A loincloth trimmed in matching gold would do. She hadn't seen a full skirt available to a slave in Shajara yet, let alone pants.

Though she knew the way quite well herself, by now, Setiir led the way. The hall was slashed with reddening bands of light from the great, tall windows. They didn't use glass; a pleasant breeze kept the palace airy. She looked out at the stair-step city below as they walked, with only her breath and the soft padding of their paws in her ear. The temples in the highest tier and their great statues seemed such a medley of odd creatures. Nigh unrecognizable great beasts, lizards, even insects were enshrined in immaculate stone craftsmanship, visible even at such distance. "What is it Shajarans worship?"

Setiir glanced up at her, followed her eyes to the distant temples, and let silence hang between them. They stepped from light to shadow to light, window to window. As they left behind the last shaft of warmth, he finally drew a breath to answer. "Once, the great clan spirits, and the lesser spirits of the land. Chiefly, the spirit of fertility and prosperity that blessed the Anubian throne. But these days it is little more than tradition and ritual."

"Not many religious types anymore?" Khali would be a good person to ask, the fox thought to herself.

"You saw the New Moon festival. How many truly paid attention to the ceremony?"

Falia recalled the chattering amongst her fellow dancers during the song. Khali paid attention, but even she looked bored. "I see what you mean."

She glanced down. Did Set look...? "You seem to have thoughts on the matter."

The feline took a long time to answer; they were nearly to Rai's chambers. "I think it's safe to say the spirits are not pleased with Shajara any longer."

The two of them paused at the prince's doorway. Door or no, announcing one's presence, not entering without permission...or sufficient status... These customs still existed. And everyone was sufficiently stiff about formality that it worked without an actual door. The young gryphon sat with his elbows on his desk to either side of a book. He looked up, eying the pair. "Is Khali coming...?"

"She is already servicing your mother," the cat said flatly.

"That's fine. Try again tomorrow, if you think of it." He flipped the book shut. From his lack of disappointment, Falia doubted he had sex on his mind, oddly enough. She drew in a breath to ask, but the cat was faster.

"Rai. A word on plans?"

Well. The young gryphon obviously had a lid on his libido for the moment. Falia excused herself with a little bow, offering them privacy. Rai shot her a grateful nod before she receded to the prince's bed. Enclosed in its scant privacy screens, she lay herself down, poised to present herself to the direction Rai would be most likely to approach from. If she lifted the fabric from one of her breasts, and adjusted the cloth between her legs to tease just so...

But as she overheard the talk, she figured it would be a while.

"You need Zhenten."

That was Set... Hearing him through the chamber's echo, though... Falia was reasonably certain Set had been the balcony visitor from a while back.

"Doesn't he already work for me?"

"He works for my father, the treasurer. No matter what you do, whether you want this hyena slave or... any other freedoms... Anything defying our parents. It needs to stay off the books. Zhenten is the only one who can do that."

Were they even trying to lower their voices? At all? And foxes generally had good ears, like it or not. She didn't know anything about a hyena, but from the sounds of it... Rai was, in some ways, as much a prisoner as she was.

Rai took a moment to respond. "Okay. You wouldn't bring this up if you didn't know how. You... you apprenticed to him for this, didn't you?"

"Yes."

The eavesdropping vixen really hadn't given the sand cat enough credit.

"If you're thinking of digging up something to blackmail him with..."

"That's a possibility, but you won't have to. You can win him."

"How?"

There was a rustle of paper from the ledger Set carried around. A subtle crinkle as Rai snatched it.

Falia's frown deepened as the silence drew on.

And on.

Set broke the quiet. "I need to put this back on his desk soon."

"I... I don't know how to feel about this."

"That, I can't help you with."

"I know. Thank you, Set. I'll... talk to you later."

Rai's little talons made slow tic-clicks as he approached the bed. Falia put on a smile, but dropped it. It was too farce. She didn't know what was getting to her prince, but seeing his somber face, she simply met his eyes with concern.

The young gryphon held her gaze for another long moment. And finally cracked a little smile of his own, shedding his robe unceremoniously on the floor. Falia caught him in a comforting embrace and coddled him, leading his cheek to her naked breast and stroking his feathered ruff. She reached a hand down to cup his sheath; completely soft. "Should I be worried?"

"I have a lot on my mind."

"I see that."

He smiled and licked at her teat. "If I don't fuck you silly come morning, then you can worry."

"Of course, my prince."