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"Do I hear two thousand? Two thousand silver, my lords; a mere two thousand silver?" the auctioneer asked, looking more than a little discomfited. The raptor rubbed the underside of his muzzle with two curved claws, scanning the crowd for any sign of interest.

"Eighteen hundred?" the auctioneer asked, after a long and empty pause. "I say again, eighteen hundred silver for a human slave in prime condition!"

The aforementioned slave raised his shackled hands and crossed them, filling the silence with the clinking of chains. The lean, muscled youth looked upon the reptilian crowd with an unrestrained look of disgust, broken only by a self-satisfied smirk at the auctioneer.

In the back of the auction hall, Viscount Malen grunted and turned to the others at his table. "Why is that slave not selling? He looks fit and healthy to me!" the lizard said, his slitted eyes giving the human a greedy look. His claws scratched the polished wood of his bidding sign as he held it a little tighter, preparing to raise it.

"Don't", Lord Veritus said to his colleague. "Haven't you heard? He was some sort of prince, wherever he was from. I dare say he is unbreakable. He's been passed around the auction house like a shaved coin; I had a go of it myself. Four days with my best torturer and he didn't even scream once. It was beyond all reason."

"Really? Surely you jest!" Viscount Malen began, giving the crocodile sitting next to him an incredulous look. "No human- especially not one so young- could be that recalcitrant. All you have to do with slaves like that is be persistent and relentless, never give them a chance to rest until they break. It never fails."

"Well, tell that to Lord Zaim. He had the boy for over a year and didn't have anything to show for his trouble but a burned down wyvern stable!" Lord Veritus said, giving a laugh that made the croc's thick-scaled muzzle shake.

Viscount Malen laughed as well, putting down his bid sign. "Oh, is *that* how his riding wyverns escaped? He told me a very different story!"

"Well, you know how prideful he can be," Lord Veritus said.

"Indeed, indeed," Viscount Malen said, still chuckling. "Well, if the slave is more trouble than he's worth, let the auction house keep him. It's too bad that they don't let you execute slaves anymore; my grandfather always said a good beheading keeps the rabble in line better than bread and whips any day. But I suppose we're all going soft these days, what with women voting *and* being able to keep their own slaves..."

"I could do it," Lord Solus interrupted suddenly, setting down his glass of venomwine. Slowly, the other reptiles turned toward him, skeptical smirks on their muzzles. The naga had coal-black scales and smoke-gray scutes, giving him a dark profile only broken by the pale yellow of his eyes and the bright red of his tongue. Along with his famously secretive personality and quiet demeanor, it was little wonder the serpentine lord seemed to blend into the background during most social events.

"You could, could you?" Lord Veritus asked the naga.

"I could. In fact, I'm so confident in my abilities that I would be willing to make it into a wager..." the serpent said, his voice trailing off as he gave the other lords carefully measured looks of appraisal. Underneath the ivory table, he shifted his coils and rose up a few centimeters from his seat.

"Oh? Tell me, how much silver are you willing to part with?" Lord Veritus asked, giving Lord Solus a predatory smile.

"Five thousand. Gold." The naga replied. His unblinking gaze shifted from Lord Veritus to Viscount Malen and back again, subtly challenging them.

"And what sort of time frame are you proposing?" Viscount Malen asked evenly, the lizard's flickering tailtip betraying his excitement.

Lord Solus smiled at the younger reptile, pausing just long enough to let his anticipation build. "Well... I suppose to make things interesting, how does one day sound?"

"Deal." Lord Veritus said quickly, extending one burly arm towards Lord Solus.

"I accept!" Viscount Malen declared, his smaller green arm bumping up against the crocodile's in his haste.

The naga shook their hands in turn, giving them each short, polite nods.

"Tell me old boy, what do you plan on trying?" Malen asked Solus, looking back at the defiant slave on the viewing platform.

"Mmm... I'll put it like this. If you can't break something, bend it. Eventually you'll have something acceptable." Lord Solus hinted cryptically, a smug, self-satisfied smile on his muzzle.

He waited until his wine was gone and the bidding had descended into the triple digits before calmly raising his sign, the confident smile on his muzzle never quite disappearing. As four guards began to drag his new prize off the display platform, he continued to carefully appraise the boy. Despite his scars and the weary, defiant scowl on his face, the human couldn't have been past his twentieth summer and even while wrapped in chains and clothed in a slave's robe, he cut a noble, proud profile. High-born, certainly; maybe even royalty in his former homeland. It would not be an easy conquest but it would be a rewarding one. Mentally, he began going over what sort of preparations he was going to need for the coming evening.

'Yes, he will make a fine pet,' Lord Solus thought to himself, the smile on his muzzle broadening. 'But what am I going to do with all of that gold?'

**** ****

That Evening...

**** ****

"My lord, I strongly urge you to reconsider your request," the tyrannosaur began, nervously fingering the hilt of his broadsword. "He has already broken a guard's leg and bloodied your bathing attendant's snout; if you would just allow me to post two men inside your room I would feel a lot better about..."

"No, it won't be necessary. Did I not make myself clear?" Lord Solus announced to his guard captain, in tone that was a little testier than he had intended.

"But... yes, you did. A thousand pardons, your lordship." the captain said, looking downward with shame. "Shall I bring him in?"

The serpent nodded and smiled, patting the burly tyrannosaur on his armor-plated shoulder to show he accepted the apology. After a short pause, the mighty saurian strode out of the room and returned with the slave. He had to hold the shackled boy by his neck to keep him from squirming away, letting his armor and scales absorb the defiant slave's elbows and kicks.

"May I present to His Lordship his new possession: the human male Aryen." the guard captain announced, clearly annoyed with the smaller human's ineffectual struggles.

"Thank you, captain." Lord Solus said evenly, carefully examining his new prize. The boy was tall and lean, with a tangle of dark-brown hair and keen, carefully observant green eyes. He had the aquiline nose, high cheekbones and dark, olive-tan skin of royalty. A very fine specimen, indeed. For a human.

Aryen stopped his fighting and looked over his new master, a flicker of recognition in his eyes before they narrowed angrily. "And what is your name, snake?" he asked, spitting out the word 'snake' like it was a curse.

"His name is *Lord* Solus. And you will address him as such or I will make you!" the guard captain hissed, his sharp-toothed muzzle right next to the human's floppy, mammalian ear.

"Solus... another name for the list of tyrants who will one day die by my hand," Aryen said. Even bound and shackled, standing next to a guard half again as tall as him and easy twice his weight, the human's voice was as strong as steel.

The tyrannosaur guard began to reach for his sword, but Solus laughed and calmly raised one of his hands in a gesture of denial. "That is not necessary, captain. You can leave us now; ensure our privacy."

He did so, giving the erstwhile prince a wary, warning look before departing. As instructed, the captain locked and bolted the door behind him.

The naga sat silent, hands resting inside the pockets of his voluminous overcoat as he let Aryen stew in pensive anger. He wanted to give the human time to think, to take in the room and then make the next move himself. With such a strong personality, it was best to let them assume they had some control over their fate, no matter how minor or flimsy such an illusion might really be...

"This is no torture chamber," Aryen said, clearly surprised. He met Solus's eyes for the first time while he waited for a response, the creature's flickering, forked tongue occasionally drawing his interest away.

Solus smiled at him. "No. It is not."

The room had originally been a guest bedroom, though Solus had long since appropriated it for other uses. The thick, tough, segmented carpeting and the broad, oval-shaped bed in the middle of the room told him it had clearly been designed for a serpent's comfort. A working desk and a bathing area sat in the back, separated by a black-lacquered folding screen which depicted a fleet of stylized golden sailing ships. Two broad windows against the side of the room overlooked the mansion's well-manicured gardens, and under the windows was a dining table. Solus's muzzle betrayed a hint of a smile when he saw that the table had been prepared exactly as he ordered, everything in its place. It was nice to be obeyed.

"I don't suppose I can blame you for your prejudice. I know that many of my fellow lords are... tactless... when it comes to the welfare of other races. Their conception of power- of control- is jejune at best and self-destructive at worst. Like hatchlings stomping over an anthill." the naga spoke to the human, his tongue silently flicking out to taste the air between pauses. "But I am no torturer, no tyrant. Truthfully, I don't care much for holding slaves either."

Aryen held his shackles up. "I might find your words more persuasive if I wasn't bound by iron."

"Well, I might find slavery distasteful but I am no fool." Solus said, before suddenly letting his voice drop into a sharper, inquisitive tone. "I heard you were a prince in your land?"

"I *am* a prince!" Aryen growled, snapping his shackles to the side with a sharp, metallic crack. "I am Aryen Graves Maximillian the Sixth; Herald of Dawn, Defender of the Northern Ocean and Prince of Medarage! What sort of lineage does your cold blood claim, snake?"

"None. I am a merchant; I mostly sell coffee, tea, wine and spirits," Solus calmly replied. "But that is neither here nor there. I was simply wondering if your word still carried any weight."

"Of course it does! My honor is about the only thing I have left in this iniquitous, accursed, filth-ridden land you abominations call a country!" the human replied, spitting his words through gritted teeth.

"Then, prince," Solus began, giving the honorific careful emphasis, "would you swear not to attack me if I take off your restraints? I would like to talk with you in a civilized manner during our dinner."

"Wh... what? Dinner!? What trickery is this?" the young human asked, angry and surprised. "Are you trying to get me to relax myself before your torturer sets to work?"

"No," Solus said, softly. "I promise you two things, boy: I will not hurt you, and I will not force you to do anything you don't want to do."

"Lies and deceit." Aryen quickly replied.

"Absolute truth." Solus stated simply, his voice calm but strong. "In fact... if you do not wish to stay with me after tonight, then I shall burn the slave contract and let you go."

Aryen gave a bark of a laugh and smiled at Solus. "You expect me to believe that? I know you serpents are known for treachery, but is it always this transparent?"

"It is *not* treachery... and why not trust me? What do you have to lose?" Solus asked, carefully fixing his gaze upon Aryen's eyes.

There was something odd about the serpent's unblinking, intense eyes, something that made Aryen feel uneasy. The naga's sharp, dark, curved pupils looked like they were constantly, subtly shifting, like layer upon layer of detail and texture was hidden behind them and every second a new one revealed itself. Even when he deliberately tried to stare at the snake's snout, Aryen felt his gaze drawn upward like iron filings to a magnet. But on the other hand, the naga did make a very good point; what did he have to lose by giving him a chance? Perhaps he could play this game well enough to catch him off-guard later, make an escape attempt. The bushes in the garden below might be enough to cushion his fall if he jumped out one of the windows...

"Fine. I agree to your terms, snake. Now will you unlock these shackles?" Aryen said. Much of his ever-burning anger had dissipated, replaced by an odd sense of curiosity. He watched as the serpent-man slowly slithered forward, his scutes gripping the carpet and pulling himself along with a flowing series of movements. He stopped just in front of Aryen like an ocean wave breaking along a smooth beach, producing a silvered key from inside his coat-pocket and then using it to unlock the shackles. They came free with a dull click, falling to the carpeted floor with a subdued metal thump. Aryen blinked a little as the weight left his wrists, hardly believing what was happening. In the back of his mind, a flicker of hope flashed into existence.

"Now... are you hungry?" Solus asked, his unblinking gaze locked on the human's eyes.

"No," Aryen said. "I will trade words with you, but I will not pretend to be your dinner-guest, reptile."

"Come now; I'd think you'd be a little hungry after the auction. It would be nice to have a little something to eat, yes?" Solus repeated, in a low, leading voice.

"I said... no." Not quite as certain this time. The human frowned as he felt a ghostly hint of hunger inside his belly.

"Hmmm... are you sure?" the naga repeated, slithering forward while lifting a silver platter off his dining table, never once breaking eye contact.

"I am perfectly... sure..." Aryen replied, though his voice betrayed his inner conflict. Was he hungry? He hadn't put much thought into food, only the small but ever-present possibility of escape.

He watched the snake slowly lift the silver cover off the dining tray, revealing a row of appetizers garnished with green leaves of lettuce. Dates wrapped in bacon and stuffed with melted cheese, still warm from the oven. The mere sight of the delectable treat made Aryen's mouth water. Aryen suspected that the naga knew they were a delicacy in Medarage. He hadn't eaten anything but tasteless gruel for months, and recently the slavemaster at the auction house had cut his ration as punishment for stabbing a guard.

"You look quite hungry to me, boy. You are hungry." Solus said once more, his slitted, complex eyes slowly drawing Aryen's gaze away from the simmering food.

The former prince felt his mouth water and dull pangs of hunger fill his belly. "I... I am hungry." He repeated. It was true, of course; he was hungry. He hadn't eaten since early that morning; why wouldn't he be hungry? It was foolishness to deny his own needs just because the serpent was able to identify them. Best to accept the food; he might need his strength later...

"Well then, come sit with me and eat. We have much to discuss this evening and it would an onerous task on an empty stomach," said the naga, turning his lower body to the side and slithering towards the dining table.

The light of the setting sun shone through the nearby windows, bathing him and the table in a ruddy golden glow. Solus wound his tail around the base of the table and behind it, so that only his humanoid upper torso was actually resting on his chair. With a flick of his muscular tail, he pushed out the other chair, offering it to Aryen with an upturned palm.

Aryen mumbled his half-hearted thanks and sat down, body stiff with tension. He looked at the open platter of dates, as Solus began to uncover the other platters on the table. A green salad, olive bread, potato leek soup and a bottle of dark red wine made up the rest of the repast; it was a light evening meal for a lord, but an unthinkably opulent feast for a slave. The human bit his lower lip and tried to retain his composure, resisting the urge to throw himself upon the food like a beast.

"It looks good, doesn't it?" Solus asked, grinning. His white fangs and red tongue stood out prominently against his dark, dusky scales.

"What... what game are you playing, snake?" Aryen asked. "Are you trying to buy my loyalty? Or are you trying to poison me?"

The serpent gave a sigh, slowly sipping some soup from his spoon. "Shhh... please, prince. You agreed to spend the evening in my company; what do you gain by being so impetuous and belligerent?"

"I preserve my honor and my dignity by..."

"By being rude at dinner?"

"Well... I..." Aryen began, biting his upper lip. Solus's remark had stung him, made him feel a hot, unexpected flash of shame. It had been a very long time since he had worried about what any reptile thought of him.

"Listen, prince. I know that you have had a... very hard time of it in this land. I know that you have been treated discourteously at best at violently at worst. I know you may even think of me as... an abomination," the naga said, setting down his soup spoon delicately. "But I am a living, feeling, thinking creature just like yourself. All I want at the moment is to have a nice meal. Is that not reasonable?"

"I... I suppose it is," Aryen mumbled.

"But... I also want you to have a nice meal," the serpent said, giving Aryen a faint smile.

"Why?" the human prince asked, curiosity and hunger overtaking his hate and fear.

"Because you look like you need it."

"You... you want to... to..." Aryen began to say, stumbling over his words. "I... I don't understand. Why are you treating me like this? You bought me as a slave! What are you trying to do!?"

Solus smiled at him. "I have nothing to hide; I've already told you exactly what I want. I don't want a browbeaten slave. I want you to choose to stay with me, willingly."

Aryen felt a fraction of his old anger return to him; notwithstanding his kindness and civility, the snake's arrogance was incredible. "You... you know I'll never consent to such a thing."

"Then what do you have to fear by accepting a simple dinner invitation?"

Aryen frowned and fidgeted in his chair, trying to avert his gaze from Solus but finding himself not quite able to break eye contact. He knew how to withstand the worst torture scaly-kind had developed, how to resist their magic and even deal with the crushing despair that slavehood had brought upon him. Kindness was so foreign to him he didn't even know how to react.

"Here... let me help." Aryen watched silently as Solus picked up a bacon-wrapped date, impaling it on one of his curved, black claws, learning forward as he did so. His focus shifted from the date to the serpent's eyes and back again, unsure of what he was doing. The naga slowly leaned in closer, extending out his claw and the date that dangled upon it until the bacon-wrapped fruit hovered just in front of his mouth. A light breeze blew through the windows, and the tantalizing smell of cooked meat, strong cheese and sweet fruit drifted over Aryen's nose, making his mouth water as Solus slowly swung the date from side to side.

"Eat. Go on, eat it..." Solus said, his voice calm, steady and relaxing. "They are delicious, prince. Don't you want to taste it? Chew it? Savor it?"

"I can... feed myself, thank you," Aryen mumbled. His eyes felt heavy and his neck felt stiff; it was hard to look away.

"I know... but isn't it nice to be helped? To be taken care of?" Solus said, gently swaying the date back and forth in front of Aryen's eyes. "Come on... open up..."

Aryen felt an odd, almost instinctual compulsion to suck the date right off the snake's claw. He found himself slowly leaning forward, surprised to find his mouth open and his tongue a hair's breadth from the date. It was alarming to find that his body was acting of its own accord, but he could feel the warmth of the freshly-cooked bacon on his tongue, almost taste it...

...and before he could think of a good reason not to, he let it happen. Aryen carefully wrapped his lips around the whole date and pulled it off the naga's claw with his mouth, closing his eyes as the salty-sweet flavor of succulent meat filled his mouth. His eyes watered and he nearly felt a moan of satisfaction escape him as he began chewing; he couldn't remember the last time he had eaten such a rich, sumptuous food.

Solus smiled at Aryen, licking the wet sheen of bacon off his claw before picking up the bottle of wine and beginning to pour it into his glass. Aryen felt a moment of confusion after he finished swallowing; had he really just let the naga feed him a date? What in the heavens and hells was the matter with him!?

"What... what did you just do to me?" Aryen asked. He wasn't quite sure what had just happened but it left him with the uneasy feeling he had been manipulated.

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"I... you made me..." Aryen began, uncertainly.

"Made you do what?" the snake asked. Although he looked genuinely bemused, there was a small smile on his muzzle.

"...Eat?"

"Oh, don't be ridiculous," Solus said, chuckling a little. "Being hungry in the presence of a fine meal isn't anything out of the ordinary, I assure you. Wine?"

Aryen picked up his napkin and slowly dabbed his lips, before answering the naga's question with a slight nod. The meal in front of him beckoned.

"So... you are from Medarage? That is the human kingdom, yes?" the serpent merchant asked.

"Of course. Do you see any fur or feathers?" Aryen sarcastically retorted, raising his hands.

"My apologizes, prince. I do not like to make too many assumptions."

"See that you don't," Aryen snapped, perhaps a little sharper than he had intended. "Yes, Medarage is a beautiful country. I very much look forward to returning to it."

Solus smiled. "Indeed it is."

"Dohn't pahtronize mehm," Aryen mumbled, trying to talk with a mouth full of bread.

"I am not. I have been there many times... in fact, about a quarter of my annual revenue comes from Medarage. You know, the gardens in the capital are spectacular; I especially love the one with all of the fountains. What was it called?"

"The... the Sunstone Ponds?" Aryen replied incredulously. "You've been there!?"

"Yes! That one. Truly a wonder. Some of those fountains looked large enough to fish in," the naga ruminated, chuckling a little.

"They are! You can swim in them too, if you're careful not to get caught by the park wardens. Or, uh, if you're a member of the royal family..." Aryen slyly confessed, smiling with nostalgia as he recalled memories he thought lost.

"Heh, you naughty boy. But yes, I've been to many places, and your old home is one of them. A merchant cannot be idle. Well, not too often. It is important to enjoy life as well as provide for it, yes?" Solus said, giving his guest a friendly smile. "Let me tell you another story, and then you can tell me something about yourself..."

The rest of the dinner seemed to pass by in a blur. Solus continued to gently engage his guest in polite conversation, and Aryen found his hostility and reticence slowly crumble before the naga's tireless, sympathetic questioning and his mesmerizing gaze. At first he felt a dreadful sense of weakness as his carefully-prepared defenses yielded, it soon gave way to a feeling of relief. Aryen had almost forgotten what it was like to let his guard down and act like himself, let himself be vulnerable... and unburdened by the stress of constant, forced stoicism. He still had trouble looking into the naga's powerful, unblinking reptilian eyes, but the more they talked together the easier it became. He found himself sharing stories of his old homeland and his family, his forced servitude in the land of the scaled-folk and the aching emptiness inside him where his hopes and dreams once resided.

Before long, he was revealing his very deepest secrets. Aryen told Solus how he had resented his father for thinking of him as a successor rather than a son. He told of the time he had stolen a dagger from a merchant, a childish crime committed just to see if he could get away with it. The prince was almost certain the shopkeeper had seen him steal but been too afraid of his father to report it. Aryen told him of the crude and vile punishments he had suffered under his other masters, the unsuccessful attempts to break his will. He even admitted how he would silently cry himself to sleep after particularly bad days.

"Such uncivilized, unthinking savagery," Solus muttered in response once Aryen was done speaking, shaking his head. "Young man... I am truly sorry for what has been done to you." Aryen saw a glint of cold anger in the naga's eyes, anger on his behalf. For a brief second, he felt the urge to hug him, to break down and cry in his strong, dark-scaled arms.

Aryen looked downward, suppressing the urge to cry. He was half-surprised to find his meal mostly gone; he couldn't remember eating as much as he had, but the warmth and fullness in his belly was very real.

"Aryen? Would you like me to... help you, a little?" Solus asked, searching for the boy's eyes.

"What do you mean?" he asked, meeting Solus's gaze once more. Aryen felt a length of smooth, lukewarm tail rub against him underneath the table. He wasn't sure if the contact was accidental or intentional, but the naga's scales felt nice against the front of his bare foot.

"Shhhh... don't over-think it. Just say yessss." Solus hissed.

"But... what am I saying yes to..?" Aryen asked, mumbling a little. His eyes felt heavy, and the snake's huge tail had slipped itself around his feet, neatly holding them in place. That was okay though; they felt too heavy to move anyway.

"I'm going to help you fit in, that's all. I know this land is strange and hostile to you, but I can change all that. All you have to do is... trusssst me."

"But... I don't... trust you..." Aryen whispered under his breath. It took a lot out of him to protest, the words like lead weights as they traveled up his throat. The tail around his feet tightened just a little bit, beginning to squeeze them together.

"Yes you do; you trust me." Solus said, smiling. He leaned in a little bit closer, his powerful gaze filling up even more of Aryen's vision.

"Do I?" Aryen asked, quizzically.

"I have treated you well so far, yes? I've been honest and forthright, yes? Why wouldn't you trust me?"

"I... I guess I should trust you."

"You do. Now... say yes and let me help you out, you poor, scared boy..." the serpent soothed, putting his hand over Aryen's. The scaled, clawed hand was big, scaly and firm; its strength was comforting. "You want my help, don't you? You want to be safe and happy, don't you?"

Aryen frowned for a half second; he had no rejoinder. He couldn't find the words to refuse the naga's request. It felt oddly liberating to simply follow the serpent's guidance, to enjoy the pleasures he was so quick to offer. He felt a twinge of something in the back of his mind, an urgent warning telling him he was in danger. It screamed at him in defiant but dampened voice that the pleasant, dreamlike haze fogging his head was covering up something sinister. But it was easy to ignore, easy to smile and nod yes to the serpent, easy to feel his arms and legs slacken and relax, easy to slip deeper into the trance he barely knew he was in...

He felt the chair moving beneath him, the serpent's strong tail pushing him gently away from the table, before turning it to the side.

"Now... the first thing we have to do is change your clothing. You'll never fit in wearing a slave's robe... you have to dress like a prince."

"I am a prince," Aryen said, reflexively.

"I know you are. Why don't you go over to the bed and open the box on top of it? I think you'll find something more to your liking." Solus said, slowly sliding his own bulk out from the dining table, curling up in a pile of coils in the middle of the room.

A gift! Aryen felt himself grinning as he walked toward the bed. Though he hadn't noticed it before, there was indeed a small box on the bed. It looked about the right size for a watch or a pair of socks, not nearly big enough for a full outfit. He looked back over his shoulder at Solus, who gave him an encouraging nod.

Aryen slowly opened the small box, and found himself looking at a rather flimsy looking piece of light blue silk, supported by a small, black leather strap.

A loincloth.

He picked it up with two fingers, feeling the softness of the fine fabric. The color was the same hue of blue as a robin's egg.

"It's very... small..."

"I know. I think it will... accentuate... your most handsome features, prince." Solus replied, smiling as his tongue silently flickered in the air. He made a half-wave with his hand, gesturing towards the privacy curtain in the back of the room. "Go ahead. Put it on..."

Aryen felt revulsion in his belly at the naga's command, but it was not strong enough to break through the sweet and airy haze of his trance. His smile faded for a few seconds before reforming, as he walked to the back of the room to change behind the curtain.

He removed his robe, hesitating nakedly as he held the loincloth. Looking down, he saw the wounds that gladiatorial combat and torture had inflicted on his body, felt the broken ridges of scar tissue along his smooth, hard muscles. The old pain suddenly echoed hot and fresh in his memory, the slickness and warmth of his sweat sickeningly similar to the blood that had left him in the past. Feeling the old scars sharpened his perceptions and his thoughts. His hands trembled as he held the thin loincloth in his calloused fingers and a feeling of perverse sickness welled up in his belly. Why was he putting that... garment... on his body? Aryen suddenly felt like he was on the edge of an invisible precipice. He wondered if he had already fallen over it and simply not noticed.

Aryen looked down at the robe on the floor, the slave-robe. He had worn it or something like it for years. It was made of coarse, itchy, thick fabric, stitched together by unskilled hands. A mark of shame and servitude, an afterthought in a land where the rulers were cloaked in thick scales. His choice was between the slave's robe, the loincloth and nakedness. Solus's voice kept echoing in the back of his mind, powerful and compelling even as a shadow. It was like a whisper right next to his ear; he could almost feel the serpent's warm breath in his hair. It asked him what was so wrong with putting on a simple piece of clothing, why he hesitated so...

Slowly, Aryen began to tie the loincloth around his waist. It barely covered his genitals and left his backside bare, but the silk was so fine and smooth it was like wearing a warm bank of fog.

When he stepped out from behind the privacy curtain, he felt the naga's eyes upon his body, drinking in the youthful but scarred appearance of his tanned skin and lean, defined muscles. The serpent had removed his overcoat while he was changing, revealing the lighter, dark-gray scales of his frontside and his own toned, scale-covered musculature. A smile came to Aryen's face as he flexed his arms, proudly showing himself off. Solus was surprisingly reticent, relishing the moment. Only the silent flicker of his tongue and the twitch of his tailtip showed how pleased he really was.

"It looks quite handssssome on you," Solus eventually said, a hint of deliberate sibilance creeping into his voice.

"Thank you," Aryen replied, his smile broadening.

"Such firm, tan sssskin... you even bear your scars well."

"Thank you..."

"Yesssss. You are such a strong young human, so fit, so full of life... mmm, yessss..."

Aryen felt a blush heat his cheeks; the serpent's praise was intoxicating. "Thank you!" he said, hardly noticing that Solus was slowly slithering closer to him.

"Could you... turn around for me?" the reptile asked, as if it was a tremendous hardship.

The human quickly did so, smiling and looking back over his shoulder at his host.

"Mmmh... delicious..." Solus said with a pleased sigh, his lidless eyes wandering downward. Aryen got the uncomfortable but oddly pleasing feeling that the reptile was staring at his bare backside. He turned back around, but before he could confront the serpent on the point he found a black box tied with a bright red ribbon thrust into his hands. "Another gift for you, my prince..."

"I'm not *your* pr-... what?" Aryen said, hesitating. He had been angry about something but he couldn't remember what anymore. He held the small box with both his hands; it weighed quite a bit. It couldn't be another piece of clothing...

His ruminations went no further. The snake undid the bowtie with a deft flick of his claws, slowly opening the lid and letting the cut ribbon fall to the carpet.

Aryen blinked at the box's contents. "It's a... collar?" he said, frowning. He seemed to recall that collars were worn by animals and slaves; it was not the sort of gift he had expected.

"Yes. Isn't it nice?"

"It is nice," Aryen grudgingly admitted. The collar was made of two bands of gold with a layer of jewel-encrusted silver between them, forming the shape of a stylized, jade-eyed serpent. It had to be worth two, maybe three hundred gold in materials alone. It was heavier than it looked, and very cool to the touch. There was something else strange to it; holding it made his fingers tingle.

"It's a very pretty piece of jewelry, yes. I've had it for some time now, but hadn't found a good use for it," Solus said. His yellow eyes met Aryen's again, soft and friendly. "Do you like it?"

"Well... other than the fact that it is a collar...." Aryen replied, frowning uncertainly as he held the heavy piece of jewelry in his hand.

"Well... if you don't like your gift that's alright. You don't have to keep it. But... I don't suppose you could you try it on for me first? I've never seen it worn before... and I think it might look nice on you..." the naga asked, slithering ever-so slightly closer to the human. Aryen felt a sudden flash of anger build in him at the snake's request until he looked on Solus's face. The reptile's eyes didn't gleam with pride or glee; they looked at him in a way that was soft, friendly and warm. Was he really going to refuse such a simple request? Aryen felt his anger melt away, replaced with an uneasy feeling of guilt.

"I... yes," Aryen conceded, after a moment's consideration. It wouldn't hurt just to try it on, especially not if it meant making Solus happy. Making Solus happy? Aryen had to stop and think about that. Surely, he had meant 'keeping' Solus happy, insofar as it meant appeasing his temporary jailor to receive further fine food and considerations of comfort. He didn't actually care much for the naga's *feelings*, did he?

Slowly, he unclasped the collar and brought it up to his neck, fumbling a bit with the lock before fastening it securely around his neck with a sharp click. It was uncomfortably heavy, but when he turned to the mirror and saw the glittering gold and sparkling jewels he felt a warm feeling of pride grow in his chest. It did look good on him, just as Solus had said it would.

"You should keep it, if you like it." Solus said, his reflection right behind him in the mirror. Slowly, he reached for the collar and rubbed the front with two of his scaly, clawed fingers, testing to make sure it wasn't on too tight. Aryen caught the naga smiling as he turned back around, once again feeling the of the serpent's gaze settle upon him as if it were a physical force.

Aryen had planned on putting the collar on for Solus's sake and then taking it off as quickly as possible, but his arms felt heavy and the cool metal of the collar felt nice around his neck. Its weight was vaguely familiar, comfortable. And he was still a prince; he deserved such regal finery, did he not?

"It looks nice on you, Aryen." Solus stated. His eyes glowed with comforting warmth and his smile gleamed with gentle affection. "Very nice."

"It does look nice on me. Very nice." Aryen repeated, smiling a little himself. For a half-second he saw himself in the mirror and wondered what he was looking at. He saw a young human with a faraway look in his eyes, who wore nothing but a golden collar and a thin blue loincloth. The boy looked like a concubine, except males couldn't be...

"Mhmm. Do you feel the magic in it?" Solus asked, breaking his train of thought.

"Magic?" The notion struck Aryen like a bolt of lightning. He could feel something strange where the collar touched his skin, though the sensations were ghostly and ephemeral. Was the tingling in his spine and the stiffness in his neck really the embrace of gathering magic?

"What... what is... you tricked me..."

"Oh, no; I did not intend to deceive you, young man. I merely forgot that the collar you are wearing has... special properties. I believe it is supposed to transform its wearer into a serpent..." Solus mused, giving Aryen an apologetic smile. "Well, no harm done. The magic can only be activated a sssspecial way. If you want to take it off, I won't stop you."

Aryen's hands shot up to his neck, trembling as he began to work on the latch. Despite his fears to the contrary, it easily came undone. He moved to take it off his neck...

"But..." the naga began to say, raising a single clawed finger up. "Don't you think it would be nice to be a reptile, like me?"

"N-no... I can't. I need to get back home someday..." Aryen protested, looking pained. He wanted so badly to do what the naga said, but every fiber of his being protested the assault on his humanity.

"You are the very soul of altruism, young prince. It is very noble of you to refuse such a gift." Solus said, nodding. "You want it so very much, too. I can tell."

"I... I d-do?" Aryen stammered, not sure if he was asking Solus or himself the question.

"You do, yessss you do..." the serpent replied, suddenly slithering the bulk of his upper body around Aryen's back, holding his shoulders firmly with his clawed hands.

"I... I..."

Solus interrupted Aryen, not letting the forming thought complete itself. His muzzle was inches from Aryen's left ear; he could almost feel the serpent's flickering tongue. "You're lost in this place, young prince; I know. You're scared and alone... you're never going back home and you'll never fit in here, not as a human. But if you were a snake you could slither down any street during any time of the day in peace. You could shop and vote and do whatever else you wanted, free as can be. One of ussss..."

"B-but..." Aryen tried to protest.

"Why, you could even be my consort... my prince... my lover..." Solus whispered. The snake's clawed hand came to rest on his loincloth and cupped his genitals, slowly and firmly squeezing them together, fondling every inch of his maleness through the soft silk. Aryen softly moaned as he felt blood pour into his penis, able to see himself grow aroused through the thin fabric pressed tightly around his manhood.

"All you have to do is... sssssay the words... give me a sign... and I will make it ssssso."

This time, Solus's tongue didn't simply flicker though the empty air; it landed upon Aryen's right cheek, brushing it with warmth and wetness. Aryen looked upward as he rubbed his face, seeing the snake wind around him so that they were facing one more. He would have fallen off his feet if a clawed hand and a thick length of snake tail hadn't steadied him. The feel of cool scales felt like it was everywhere around his hot, bare skin. He tried to turn away from the serpent's gaze, but another hand gently held his chin head and he found himself falling deep into it, deeper than ever before. He saw such beauty, such captivating, wonderful power. Such strength, but not dangerous strength; no. The naga's yellow, reptilian eyes held a warm glow that made him feel safe and loved, like the long period of slavery he had suffered was but a terrible nightmare and he was about to wake up from it.

"Kissss me," The snake whispered to him. Aryen felt the naga's forked tongue tickle his nose, making him shiver.

"I... I'm not... you're a... a male..."

"Kiss me, prince," Solus repeated. "Just a harmless little kiss... nothing more than a meeting of lips. But it will make you feel better, I promisssse."

"Y-you are a... a serpent. It's... not right. I'm n-not of your kind..." Aryen whimpered, his last defenses slowly crumbling. He was only able to whisper words of protest because in his heart he no longer believed them.

"You could be very soon," the naga said with a smile. "Kiss me."

Aryen felt his mind freeze up, even as his head began tremulous movements towards the snake's muzzle. He was hopelessly enthralled and he knew it, but only on a vague and distant level, one he no longer cared about. He couldn't look away from the serpent's gaze; he couldn't even blink though his eyes burned. Their lips were so close now, almost touching. Even the sight of Solus's fangs served only to arouse him further...

...and then their lips met, slowly and awkwardly. All the tension and anxiety in Aryen's body heightenrf for an electric second and then slowly began to leave him. He found the snake's tough, leathery scales contrasted strangely with the slick, oddly pointed interior of his muzzle, but didn't feel far in before the serpent's powerful tongue entered his mouth and twisted around his tongue. How the twin-tined tongue tickled! It licked across the whole length of his own tongue and up against the roof of his mouth, so deep and so far into him... and then it flickered to the side, teasing his cheeks, and then it pinned his tongue down again, and he felt the snake's lips suck on him, stealing some of his saliva and replacing it with reptilian flavors, powerful and musky and strange.

Aryen reveled in the feelings, letting his body melt into the stronger male's embrace. The kiss was intoxicating; every second it continued, the rest of the world seemed to fade further into nothingness. Again and again, the naga's tongue delved into his mouth, kissing him so deeply and passionately that it stole the breath from his lungs, the thoughts from his mind and the strength from his limbs.

The naga broke their embrace slowly, twice kissing Aryen's lips quietly before he spoke again. "Now... do you want to wear your collar?"

"Oh yes, I do!" Aryen said eagerly.

"Mhmm... and why do you want to wear it?"

Aryen had more trouble with this part. He could vaguely remember something was dangerous about the jeweled neckpiece. "B-because... because..."

"...you want to be a serpent?" Solus finished for him, kissing his forehead gently. "Like me?"

"Y... yes." Aryen said, his earlier reservations seeming absurd. He smiled innocently when the collar was snapped back around his neck, shivering as the tingle of magic ran back down his spine.

"Good, wonderful! I'm so happy you're choosing to join ussss! Now... in reward... tell me what you want, my prince, and I will give it to you. Anything. Whatever... you... want..." the snake said, in a melodic voice, slowly swaying his flexible upper body from side to side above Aryen.

"I... I don't know... what I want..." Aryen whispered. His mind burned with strange, slippery thoughts.

"Mmm... that could be a problem. Unless.... do you want me to tell you what you want?" the serpent asked, giving Aryen's legs a powerful, squeezing hug with his coils.

"Y-yes... please..."

Solus gave his rump a solid smack, and then began to squeeze and knead his firm cheeks. He felt the smooth side of a claw run up the cleft of his ass, and then run back down it. "You... want me... to mate... with you."

"What?" The trance slipped a little, the foreign feeling of another's hand on his backside making him suddenly very aware of his near-nakedness. The snake's hands continued to grope and fondle his cheeks as he squirmed, held helplessly in place by the coils around his feet. "B-but... but we are both males..."

"Sssso?" Solus hissed, pulling Aryen deeper into his piled coils by his bottom, until the human's face was pressed against his muscular, ash-gray chest-scutes. "Don't you want to please your masssster?"

"I... I do... b-but..." But it was insane. But he wasn't gay. But he wasn't going to let himself be bent over and taken like a girl by a snake easily twice his size.

"Ssshhh... don't talk. If you must use your tongue, you may lick my scales," Solus gently commanded. Aryen frowned, but the offer was too tempting to pass up. He began to lick and suckle upon the naga's dark, hard chest-scales, smiling again when Solus stroked his hair and his naked, slightly sweaty back. "That's a good boy... now listen very carefully..."

"You've never been mated before, have you? You don't know how it feels? To have a stronger male hold you tightly and press his weight down upon you... to feel a throbbing cock deep inside your body, teasing you in places you've never been touched in before? To feel the rush of another's seed- so sticky and warm!- breeding you and marking you with their sssscent?" Solus hissed, his muzzle right next to Aryen's ear. Aryen felt a kiss on his neck and whimpered, the sinful whispers slowly worming their way into his mind. He felt his own manhood grow ever-harder, his loincloth now lewdly tented and rubbing against the snake's coils. "It's going to make you cry in pleasure... going to make you sssscream out my name... it's going to make you cum, over and over again..."

"T-that... doesn't... but..." Aryen mumbled, drooling down the naga's well-defined pectoral muscles. "I... I don't want that... I'm not... a male-lover."

"Then share that ssssecret with your exquisite tongue and that naughty cock poking my tail. And let me tell you another thing..." the naga said, speaking over Aryen's quiet protests. "The magic in your collar is sssspecial, prince. It is tied to releases of ssssexual energy. Every time you feel your sssseed flow, more of that magic is going to sssseep into your bones, fill you with a serpent's essence. You are going to feel ecstassssy like you cannot imagine..."

"No... I am no cold-blood. I- I am the prince of..."

"Don't you want to be *my* prince?" Solus asked, kissing the top of the human's head through his brown hair. "I could be your lord, there for every need you might have. You could ssssleep in my coils every night, warm and safe and full and happy. Don't you want that?"

He didn't want it. He had never wanted anything like that. He wanted to be home and free, far away from this terrible place where scaly-kind ruled, where he was property to be bought and sold. He wanted to hear his father thunder proclamations from the throne he had played around as a child, surrounded by legions of indomitable Medragian knights and fed by the food grown in the rich, rolling valleys of his homeland. But the protests were hoarse and tired, dampened by the endless pleasures and lurid promises that had captured his mind. The words that Solus had weaved were real and everything else seemed illusory by comparison.

"Now... let me ask you again. Do you want to be my mate?" Solus asked, hugging Aryen against his muscular chest and resting his muzzle on top of his head. Aryen felt the serpent's long tongue lap against the nape of his neck and the flexible strength of the reptile's throatscales against his forehead, he felt the snaky tail squeezing around his legs and he could even feel the mighty beat of the creature's heart. It was overwhelming to be held so close and so tight, his every sense dedicated to some part of the naga.

"O-oh, oh gods above, yes! Yes!" Aryen choked out, tears of happiness rolling down his cheeks. And it was true. Though he had never lain with another male- let alone a serpent- there was nothing in the world he wanted more.

Suddenly, the black tail around his feet slipped away. Aryen stumbled as he suddenly had to support himself again. His heavy eyes had trouble focusing on Solus's flowing slithers as he moved back towards the table where their leftovers cooled, watching with a drunken smile as the snake picked something up off the table.

"My last gifts. One for you... and one for me." Solus said when he returned, licking Aryen's neck and grazing it lightly with his fangs. The boy felt a weight press into his hands, and looked down to find a vial of clear liquid in them. Questioningly, his eyes went back to the naga's, just in time to see the snake drink a lambent, viscous, red potion.

"What are they?" Aryen asked, opening the bottle's stopper and sniffing the contents. Strawberries and... something sweet. Chocolate?

Solus licked a glowing red drop from the side of his muzzle before answering, his hands gently guiding Aryen toward the bed. "A potion of virility, to make sure my prince's every need is met tonight... and a bottle of the finest lubricant, to make his first mating nice and easy..."

"You're... you're wonderful, my lord!" Aryen gushed, overwhelmed by his master's generosity and foresight. He leaned against the side of the bed and stared at his gift, mesmerized by the way candlelight shone through the slick liquid.

"Go on. Prepare yoursssself." Solus said, encouragingly. "I want to take you at least once before you change, my hot little mammal."

Aryen slowly undid the stopper and dipped one finger into the cool gel, smiling uncertainly. He tipped the bottle to the side and collected a small pool of the slick, slippery lubricant in his palm, before bringing his hand to his backside. Pressing the gel against his bottom, he shivered slightly as it spread and dripped down into the cleft of his cheeks.

"Now... don't just spread it around on the outside. Take one of your fingers... get it nice and slick... and then push it inside your assss..." Solus hissed, lying on top of his coils just behind Aryen, thoroughly enjoying the show.

The prince gave a slight nod and began to do as he was told, dipping the middle finger of his left hand deep enough into the bottle of lubricant it hit the bottom, before pulling it out and resting it just outside his wet pucker. Slowly, Aryen began to push it inward, grunting from the uncomfortable, unfamiliar feeling of his ass resisting the intrusion. He shoved his finger in up to the second joint before he could go no further and had to withdraw it. The muscular ring of his anus clenched tightly closed, burning a bit after the forced entry. A pained frown fell upon Aryen's face; there was no way he was going to be able to satisfy his master if he couldn't even manage to fit his own finger inside without discomfort.

"I don't know if I can do this..."

"Aww... don't worry," Solus said, gently placing a hand on the boy's slightly slick right buttcheek, giving it light squeezes. "Your eagernesssss is admirable, but you need to relax in order to be a good mate. Why don't you go ahead and touch yoursssself, and let me take care of that tight virgin asssss?"

"Oooh... y-yes..." Aryen said, smiling as his bottom was groped. The feel of the snake's slick, smooth palmscales against his tender, warm flesh was heavenly.

"Lean over the bed... good," Solus said, stealing the bottle of lubricant from Aryen's while slowly pushing his willing body forward onto the bed. The boy rested his head upon his left arm and began to slowly stroke his proud, erect manhood with his right, the loincloth no longer preserving even a modicum of his modesty. The light blue was stained with dark spots where his preseed had seeped into it.

"Now... I want you to relax... you want to be mated, want to feel a hard, heavy cock slowly push into you, filling you up... completing you, fulfilling those naughty, secret needs... you want to be my little breeder boy..." Solus began to whisper, dipping his clawed fingers into the bottle of slick, sweet-scented gel with dulled clinks. "You know it's going to feel so *good*, ssssso *right*... why would you be tense?"

"I... wouldn't be tense, no..." Aryen mumbled back, shivering with pleasure as he stroked himself to the naga's whispers. He felt his maleness throb and splash more preseed against the inside of his loincloth and the softness of the bedspread under him.

"Of courssssse not," the naga breathed, carefully running one of his slickened claws around the inside of Aryen's entrance in a swirling motion, hardly pushing it in at all. Aryen breathed through his teeth as he felt the hard but smooth, tapered claw sink inward, the scales of the naga's finger tickling his sensitive rim as they slid past it. The reptile's finger was far bigger than his, but it went in so smooth and slowly that it didn't hurt in the slightest.

"Ssssee? That wasn't bad, was it?" Solus said, wiggling his finger around a little inside the human's rump. "Mmmm.... so slick... hot... and tight. It's going to be a pleasure- nay, an honor- to be the first to mate such a wonderful assssss..."

"Mhh... ah... ahhhh...." Aryen moaned, a strange and powerful tickle building up deep inside his anal passage as the naga's finger move around inside him, masturbating himself quickly and humping against the bed.

"Heh, you naughty little boy... do you want to cum already?" Solus asked, pressing his finger into Aryen's ass a little further, drawing a sharp moan from the prince as he began to gently press against his prostate.

"Oh... oh gods... y-yes..." the human moaned, his strokes becoming quick, wet slaps as pre gushed from his penis. An electric tingle began to build in the head of his throbbing cock, growing stronger every time the snake's finger pressed against that wonderful spot inside his ass. Whatever it was, it heightened the feeling of his self-pleasuring immensely.

"Sssstop touching yourself. I'll not have my prince resort to ssssuch pedestrian measures when his master can provide him with much richer delightsssss..." the naga said with a chuckle, suddenly withdrawing his finger and pulling both of Aryen's arms behind his back. Solus let his arms go and bent his flexible body downward, licking down the length of the human's spine, collecting the salty sweat accumulating there. "Hands on the bed. Ssssspread your legs." he commanded, hands pressing against the inside of the boy's thighs to encourage him.

Aryen complied, shuddering as he felt each of the snake's kisses on his tensed cheeks, smooth, slick lipscales and hard, sharp fangs pressing against his hot skin. He felt a lick against his lower thigh, and then felt the serpent's tongue shoot between his legs and lick his ballsack from behind. Aryen gave a low gasp and his hands clenched down on the bedsheets, his maleness throbbing from the brief but pleasant touch of the slick, forked tongue. The naga's obscenely long tongue then began to slowly run between the cleft of his ass, licking up the leftover lubricant and sweat that had collected there. It flickered out again and teased his tight hole, tickling the sensitive rim wonderfully. The snake's snout slid between his cheeks, nestled nicely against his rump. Another kiss, another flickering lick; the feel of warm breath blowing over his lubricated ass...

Suddenly, Aryen felt the naga's tongue forcefully press against his slick entrance, so quick and nimble that it slid into him without resistance. The long, slick muscle burrowed through his body with serpentine dexterity, its passage eased by the potent gel that had been generously applied to his insides. Before he could even cry out in surprise, it withdrew with a wet slurp, and Aryen heard a gulp as Solus swallowed some of the sweet-tasting lubricant he had stolen from inside him. Then the tongue shot back inside, coated with fresh and slimy saliva. Solus pulled it out again, and then pushed back inside even quicker than before.

Gasping sharply, Aryen buried his head into the bedspread and began moaning. Unlike his clumsy finger or the naga's clawed digit, the tongue felt right at home up his rump, the slimy appendage easily able to squeeze through his clenched hole and tight passage. The hot tickle that had been building up on the head of his penis grew stronger and stronger, anal stimulation alone arousing him just as the creature's lurid whispers had promised. Every time he felt his hole yield to the naga's muzzle, he had to fight the urge to continue his stroking... but his hands remained tightly clenched on the bedsheets. His lord had told him not to.

Aryen's breathing quickly became shallow and uneven, the feel of the invading tongue quickly bringing him to his first... his first of many things. His first climax brought on by anal pleasure, certainly; the first time he had been intimate with another male, his first release with a reptile. The collar around his neck began to thrum and throb in synch with his cock's throbs and spurts of preseed, and Aryen recalled the naga's earlier warning with a resurgent sense of alarm. But his legs were firmly pinned to the bed by the serpentine lord's bulk, and the tongue worming its way through his innermost places had already brought him too close to his sexual peak.

Sensing this, Solus held his tongue fast inside Aryen's body, firmly pressing it again and again against the boy's pleasure center before quickly sneaking a hand under his new mate's tented loincloth. Solus grabbed hold of the prince's proud, throbbing cock- so nice and slick with its own juices!- and began quickly stroking it. Aryen never had a chance to resist such pleasure; he gave a whimpering cry and came, his maleness spraying the naga's hand and the inside of his undergarments with his cum. It was easily the most powerful orgasm he had ever had; the force of his ejaculations was enough to make his flimsy loincloth wave like a flag, each fresh shot of seed making his mind numb with pleasure.

"Ahhh... oh, oh gods... that was..." Aryen began to say, collapsing onto the bed. He never finished his words. Instead of gently trailing off into a warm afterglow, the searing pleasure of orgasm began to build up even higher. A powerful wave of tension washed through his body, making every muscle in his body tighten at once. He felt his spent penis throb and loose yet more seed as it throbbed, he saw his vision blur and felt a cold tingle creep down his spine like a spider made of ice. A feeling of tightness built up in the ends of his fingertips as they tensed and convulsed, and Aryen watched in horrified, helpless fascination as his fingernails began to blacken and lengthen.

The naga smiled as he removed his tongue from the boy, patting his rump affectionately. "Mmm... yesssss. The changes feel good too, don't they? Don't fight them... embrace them. You want them... you want the gift of serpenthood..."

"Oh gods... why does it... feel so... good..." the prince whispered hoarsely, as he watched the claws grow on his fingertips. The stiffness in his fingers from the bony claws was echoed everywhere in his skin, which was quickly shedding his sparse body hair and thickening. His nipples shrank down into his chest, making him shudder and give a sharp cry of surprise.

"Don't worry, my prince. I'm sure you will be a beautiful naga..." the snake replied, stroking Aryen's shoulder thoughtfully.

One last wave of magical power radiated down into Aryen from the collar. He felt pressure build in his face as it grew, his nose and jaw jutting out slightly. A feeling of weakness in his feet morphed into a sticky, warm feeling between his toes, which grew a thin webbing between them. Lastly, he felt his spent maleness give one last throb, and then felt his achingly pleasured scrotum tighten and sink upward into his body, coming to rest half inside and half outside it.

Aryen panted, still reeling from the changes. But they weren't that bad, really. They could be hidden with clothing and makeup. He could still go home...

"Mmmm... not bad so far," said Solus, smiling. "But let's not wassssste any time..."

"No, no more! I... I won't let you do this..." Aryen mumbled, trying to fight the almost overwhelming compulsion to relax and obey, to let his body be pleasured and changed. "Please don't..."

"Shhh... you want it. I know you want it; don't be so bashful," said the naga, his strong hands turning Aryen around so that he was on his back. "Now, let's hear you ssssay it."

"No!" Aryen cried out. "No, no, n... n..."

His protests suddenly died in his throat as his stained loincloth was torn off his waist and replaced by a warm, wet tongue. The forked tongue ran up his still-stiff member, licking up several of the strings of seed that had stuck to it. Another lick cleaned the other side of his cock and made it throb, hardening so quickly it was as though the mind-shattering orgasm he had experienced less than a minute ago never happened. Aching pleasure ran through his maleness as Solus continued, licking the sticky mess from his crotch.

"Y-yes... yes, yes, yes..." Aryen panted, his penis soon fully erect and glistening with fresh preseed and saliva.

"Mmmm... transforming male. Virile, salty human mixed with just a hint of rich, reptilian musk. My favorite..." Solus said to Aryen, giving the head of his throbbing cock a wet kiss. "But I bet it would be even better fresh. Would you mind if I took another... little... taste?"

"Ohh... p-please do..." the prince responded, feeling Solus's hands entwine with his own. Their claws clicked together, and he felt warmth in his heart. The serpent slid his upper body forward, so that they were face-to-snout, grinding his smooth, scaly length against Aryen's hot, bare, thickened skin.

"I know you're scared... it's okay. Having your very body warp and change into something else... even something as ssssexy and sssstrong as a serpent... well, it's certainly a scary experience!" Solus said, drawing out his words into deliberate hisses and staring right into Aryen's eyes. "Just try to remember what I told you... you want this. You need this. You're going to be my mate... and then everything is going to be alright..."

Aryen smiled and felt tears roll down his cheeks as Solus spoke, his slitted eyes so affectionate and caring, his sibilant words so warm and loving.

"Just relax... trusssst me... let your lord take care of you, my pretty, proud prince," the naga lord continued, kissing Aryen lower and lower as he spoke. Aryen felt the serpent's muzzle against his shrunken bellybutton, then his waist, and then right on his testicles, now bare of hair...

Aryen felt the serpent lord's hands rest on his thighs, and then watched in rapt fascination as Solus slowly took every last inch of his erect cock into his muzzle. His maleness fit almost perfectly into the long snout, safely cradled in the softness between the snake's fangs. Powerful sucks enveloped his meat in the crushing, warm, wet confines of the muzzle, already draining preseed from him with staggering speed. The talented tongue under his cock began to slurp up and down his length, quickly drawing needy moans from him and making his hips buck upward. Solus sucked on his maleness with inhuman strength, never relenting for a second. Even while he pleasured the Aryen with his muzzle, his clawed, scaly hands reached upward to rub the human's sweaty, skinny stomach and play with his scrotum.

"Ungh... o-oh... oh gods..." Aryen panted, feeling fresh climax began to build inside his throbbing maleness. It came upon him with unreal speed, so quickly that the transformative magic rushing through him from his collar and the orgasm seemed to meld into one powerful, all-consuming feeling. His balls tightened powerfully, filling his shaft with fresh seed even as they sank further into his body...

The human cried and moaned as he came, blasting rope after thick rope of cum straight down the naga's eager throat. This time, he let himself go, let the magic flow through his body unhindered. He felt his claws lengthen and scratch against the thick scales of his mate's shoulders, the skin on his knuckles thickening even further and breaking out into his first true scales. The newly formed scales cascaded all over his body as he continued to cum, every fresh spurt of seed causing neighboring skin to thicken and change. Around his belly, they formed soft bands; on his back they were thick plates. A green tint creeped into them as they matured, broken periodically by a wide diamond of pure white. Aryen felt his face push forward even further and his tongue grow hot and numb as it lengthened, distorting his moans. Magic tingled down his legs, electric pinpricks that turned into twisting, irresistible tides of change. His toes clenched together suddenly and then became stuck, leaving his feet feeling like two floppy flippers when the metamorphosis passed. Still he could feel Solus gulping down his seed, suckling on his throbbing maleness long after it was achingly spent.

Aryen panted and laughed, sweat pouring down his slickened, scaly chest. He was about to lavish praise upon his mighty lord when an echo of transformative power shot through his collar and into his body, flowing into his softening maleness. He felt it twist and grow inside the other snake's muzzle, rippling waves of change making his body shake. Aryen could feel the pleasure from his manhood grow stronger and stronger as it seemed to fill up the snake lord's flexible muzzle, making him gasp. His pubic scales parted and formed an opened slit as his lower body shivered, naturally lubricating fluids quickly beginning to trickle down his thighs. Suddenly, a burst of powerful, erotic, transformative energy poured into his penis from his now-internal testicles, and Aryen felt...

...he felt *something* happening to his penis inside the naga's muzzle, something that took several long seconds, during which time his entire body tensed and he felt like he came thrice but couldn't spill a drop of seed. Afterward, his maleness felt horribly strange, but perversely good. Pleasure came into him from erogenous zones that hadn't been there seconds ago, places too far and spread out in Solus's muzzle to be part of his body...

...the naga lord smiled as he withdrew his muzzle, and Aryen got a good look at what had become of his maleness. It was not human. It did not look anything like what a human would possess. No, his penis had been transformed into a bizarre, serpentine organ; a huge, blood-red, slick, dual-shafted breeding tool; two long, tapered shafts without a discernable head. A pair of hemipenes, suited for a snake or lizard. They would never sire a human heir, if indeed they would ever feel the touch of any female. Though Aryen didn't know why, the thought of laying with a woman no longer seemed to appeal to him.

"By the gods... is... is that mine!?" the not-quite-human asked incredulously, holding his blunt proto-muzzle in shock.

"Beautiful. Sssso beautiful," Solus said, delicately running two fingers up and down the bottom of each shaft, smiling at Aryen. "Don't you like them?"

Aryen whimpered as the tapered heads of his snakehood throbbed and gushed slimy, musky preseed down their lengths. The crimson cocks were already hard, engorged with arousal and his lifeblood. They were eager and ready to be used even if their owner desperately wanted to pretend otherwise.

"Here... why don't you get a closer look..." the serpent lord said with a throaty chuckle, holding Aryen by his back and legs.

Aryen gasped in shock as Solus suddenly forced his body into a tight curl. Instead of hearing a sickening crunch from his bones, his spine easily flexed forward to support the extreme stretch. Relieved, he hardly noticed that his face was pressed against his own malenesses until he felt a drop of warm preseed drip onto his nose. His transformed genitals filled his vision, making him feel horror and arousal at the same time. Solus's voice was calming though, ever patient and reasonable. It told him it was okay to have a pair of hemipenes, that in fact it was a wonderful thing. A small smile flickered on Aryen's face, and he licked the droplet of preseed from his nose with his lengthened tongue. There was already a hint of a fork to the end, he was pleased to see. He wanted to be a snake, after all.

"Mmmm... like the taste? Go ahead. Have a little more, right from the ssssource..." Solus cooed, pressing him up against the throbbing, slick shafts a little harder.

Suck his own manhood? Put his mouth on a reptilian cock? It was a sickeningly perverse thought; it was bad enough he had let a snake's muzzle pleasure him, had let the naga's tongue... do what it had... to his rump. He couldn't...

"Just a little tassste. It won't hurt."

...but... a little taste wouldn't hurt, would it?

Aryen opened his mouth and gave his left shaft a long lick, shuddering as the strange organ tingled with pleasure and salty, musky pre filled his mouth. Solus kissed the top of his head, but continued to hold it in place.

Well, if one taste wasn't so bad... then what would be the harm of two?

Two licks turned to three, then four, then five... and then the prince stopped licking and began to suck on the head of his left hemipenis, drunk on the sensations and the taste of his own fluids. It felt so much better than his hand, though how much of that was due to the perverse technique and how much was due to the change his maleness had gone through, he didn't know. He didn't care.

"Use your tongue. Flicker it acrosssss the slit," Solus whispered into Aryen's ear, smiling as his eager student tried the trick out. "Yesss... good. Here, let me show you a few more thingsss..."

Aryen shivered, his eyes watering as the naga's muzzle slowly sank down on his right shaft. Having both halves of his snake-hood sucked upon was mind-blowing; the pleasure fed upon itself, every suck or lick on one pene echoing its twin. His master did such clever things with just his muzzle and tongue; things he eagerly tried to replicate on his other cock, things that made him moan an endless song of pleasure. It felt almost as good to rub his face against his lord's snout, feel his master right there with him, so giving and generous. Already he could feel a third orgasm building in his balls, possibly accompanied by a fourth. Aryen felt terribly guilty when he realized that his lord hadn't even had one climax yet. He would have to do something about that as soon as possible. But first he had to cum, so very badly...

Two orgasms hit Aryen at almost the same time, his collar and his testicles burning with pleasure as they arrived. His hemipenes throbbed and gushed spurt after sticky, hot spurt of seed into his muzzle and his lord's, each gush accompanied by the tingling heat of transformation. Reaching two intense climaxes at the same time made what had been a slow and gradual change suddenly surge into overdrive. Magical power flooded every inch of his body, making him feel like a living instrument of pleasure. Aryen didn't care that he was crying; he didn't care that he was drinking down his own hot seed, didn't care that his legs were stuck together and weren't coming apart. He surrendered to everything; the sexual pleasure, the transformation, the will of his master. Mind and body, body and soul.

Aryen's mind reeled, utterly overwhelmed. What sensation he could process came at him in a disjointed rush; the bitter taste of his cum slowly becoming a richer and more complex taste as a new organ grew on the roof of his mouth, the feeling of his legs merging with his extending spine and pouring over Solus's tail as the merged mass grew into a tail itself, the feel of both his shafts cumming together in synch, overwhelming every other sense he had for a blinding second. His face twisted and grew outward into a blunt muzzle. He felt his cock slip from it and slather his face in seed. Scales grew in where his skin had held out, thickened where they already were. Teeth dissolved into nothingness, and sharp fangs broke through his gums with bloodless but sharp, almost painful pressure. His tail grew out longer and longer, the magical energy so strong in the growing appendage it burned. So long, so many curves and coils, so many rows of perfectly set scales and scutes; so many altered muscles and reshaped bones, so much new bulk. Not suited to walking but slithering, not covered in thin skin but thick scales. So pretty, the perfect geometric patterns of green and white. It grew until it fell over the bed, twitching lightly as his nervous system caught up to the changes.

Slowly, Aryen came back to his senses. A sticky strand of his own cum was splattered across his face, partially covering the lense of his lidless eye. Smiling, he licked it up with his long, forked tongue, the salty-rich-sweet taste of a young, male naga filling his muzzle anew. He did taste wonderful; no wonder his lord loved it so much. He wondered how the older, stronger snake might taste. Two ebony hands wrapped around his chest, and the fully transformed serpent realized that Solus was behind him, holding him in a tight hug. Aryen smiled, his heart brimming with joy. It was so like his lord to be right there for him.

"Go ahead. Take your time, get a feel for things," said Solus, as he nuzzled the nape of the new naga's neck.

Haltingly, Aryen experimented with his changed body. He used his lower scutes to grip the quilted bedspread and he pulled the end of his tail back up onto the bed, only taking a few tries to get the motion right. He rubbed his flat, scaly chest and felt the thickness of his new scales, shiny and smooth; he let his tongue flicker into the air and taste it. So much musk, so much sex; it was delicious. But he could also taste the lingering flavors of their dinner and his now-gone human scent. He could even taste directions, a dizzying feeling. The prince put a hand on his tail and rubbed the new, shiny scales, hardly able to believe they were his. Aryen caught sight of himself in the mirror again, a naked, emerald serpent with glimmering scales and a nice golden collar. He looked into his slitted pupils and saw his own gaze, reptilian and unfamiliar but his nonetheless. Smiling to himself, the reptile watched his muzzle curl and his tongue slip between his fangs.

"Mmm... you are so beautiful, my little prince," Solus said, kissing the new serpent-boy right on the bridge of his snout from just above him.

"Not assss beautiful as you, my lord," Aryen hissed, turning his body and throwing his arms around the larger serpent's coils. He felt the twist echo in his tail for some distance, rippling down his winding length. It was strange to be so long, so big, though Solus was bigger still.

"Aww... you are too kind," the black naga replied, his smile beaming. "Now... does my prince want anything else from his lord tonight?"

Aryen was quiet for some time, enjoying the simple feeling of his coils rubbing against the soft sheets and the other naga. His claw-tips traced the edges of his scales as he tried to think of what was missing, what he needed. It did not take him long. "I... I want to be mated," he softly said to Solus.

"Oh you do, do you? I thought you weren't a male-lover!" the naga replied, grinning.

"I am! Oh, I am! Please!" Aryen begged. Why wouldn't he love other males? They were so strong and sexy...

"So now you're gay? You really want me to hold you down and sink a cock deep inside your vent?" Solus asked, wrapping a coil around Aryen's lower tail.

"Ohh... please, please..." the green naga pleaded, the mere thought keeping his everted hemipenes hard. "I'm yours... your prince... and I want you to mate me..."

Solus slid another length of his tail around Aryen's body and gently pushed the naga-boy down into the bed, both of them snout-to-snout. "Like the needy little serpent-boy you are?"

"...like the needy little serpent-boy I am." the emerald-scaled reptile replied, unabashed in his desire. "Oh, master! I want to ssssuck your cocks and drink your seed, I want to lick every scale on your body and let you take me any way you want! I want you to take me until my tail-hole burns and my belly bulges with your cum! Please!"

He looped his body around Aryen a third time, most of their snaky bodies now deliciously entwined. "You've jusssst about convinced me to claim that tight little vent of yours for my personal use... but a little more persuasion might be in order."

"I... I..." Aryen began, stumbling over his words as he tried to think of some way, any way to prove his love and devotion. "You could tie me up and play with me all night and day... you could change me into any shape you wanted, any form that would please you. I... I would even let you breed me like female. Carry your eggs... and... lay them. I'd do anything for you, my lord; anything you ask... please."

For a moment, Solus was actually surprised sheer by the passion of Aryen's begging. The lithe, young male snake was everything he had wanted in a mate and then some, already so eager... and this was only their first night. He would certainly have to look into turning the boy into a nice raptor or lizard in the future, at the very least. Ah, there really was nothing like making a male spread their legs, was there? And such sexy, clawed feet to tease and taste. Yes, it might be fun to play with the boy's form some more, but not until after he had learned to slither well and be a good little snake...

The serpent lord suddenly came to his senses. Aryen was still looking at him, his slitted eyes trembling, begging for a reply. Smiling, Solus realized that the boy had inadvertently put him into a light trance. Yes, he was turning out to be a very good naga already.

"Well then, Aryen..." Solus said, squeezing their coils together and giving him a kiss right on the lips. His hemipenes were almost out of their slit, the heads just barely rubbing against the boy's ventscales. Holding his own needs off all evening had been torturous, but it was worth it to hear his prize beg for it. "I want to mate you. You want to be mated. So... I think we... are going... to mate."

"Thank you! Oh, thank you my lord! Thank... t-thank... ohhh..." Aryen had begun to say, his words trailing off into simple, animalistic moans and hisses as his vent was slowly forced open. Solus used nothing but his tail, grasping the other naga so tight that his cocks had nowhere to go but inside his tail-passage as they everted. Having a finger and a tongue inside him did no justice to the new feeling building in his virgin vent; the other naga, the other male was pushing *so much* into him it hurt. By the very gods, it hurt. The soft scales of his vent were tight, his transformation having largely undone the careful and slow preparation his lord had lavished on his ass. Even as he tried to relax and let the naga nearly constricting him complete their union he whimpered and squirmed helplessly.

"It's okay... you can take them... " Solus reassured the young naga held fast in his embrace, kissing him again and again. "You're a strong boy... you can take them both..."

"I... I can... oh... d-don't stop... I... I know I can..." Aryen panted back. Deeper and deeper into his vent the hemipenes went, stretching and filling him to his very limit. His lower body was entirely wrapped up in a complicated mass of coils and he wouldn't dare stop hugging his lord, but his free tailtip slapped against the bed-sheets in a tense rhythm as he mindlessly tried to kiss Solus back. He overshot the distance and bumped his snout against the other snake's black muzzle.

"Careful... you're a bit longer than you're usssed to," Solus laughed, nuzzling the other gently and rubbing their tailtips together.

"S-ssssorry..." Aryen said back, giving a short laugh himself.

"It's okay, my ssssexy little ssserpent," his lord replied, smiling as he looked deep into Aryen's pretty, slitted eyes. "Do you feel it?"

"Feel?"

"We... are... together," Solus said, grinding himself against Aryen's stuffed vent. "Joined, as only two males can be..."

Aryen's eyes tensed as he reflexively tried to blink. "O-oh..." he stuttered in surprise. The pressure filling his sensitive insides was slowly becoming manageable, the pain fading away as he relaxed and his passage got used to his lord's malenesses. What was replacing it was incredible; the feeling of two hot, hard hemipenes deep inside his vent, gently twitching as they filled his passage with preseed. The tickle building inside his altered anal passage was beyond anything he had ever felt. Solus's twin cocks pressed right into that strange, wondrous spot inside his body from two different angles. Even though they were only barely touching it, the feeling made his own malenesses give powerful, sympathetic twinges of bliss. Two thin trickles of musky lubricant began to drip from the heads of his penes, flowing down his shafts and onto his scaly belly.

"Oh... my prince... you feel sssso good..." Solus said, his voice becoming strained as he had to resist the temptation to mate the boy as hard and fast as possible. "You took them both... I'm proud of you..." he continued.

"T-thank you... m-my lord... I... I... oh... I..." Aryen stuttered. Words seemed meaningless, frivolous. The pain of being stretched so wide was almost completely gone, and the pleasure that replaced it was mind-meltingly intense.

"Are you ready? You're sssso tight... I don't want to... hurt you..." Solus said back, breathless.

"Please... please... t-take me..." Aryen pleaded, hugging the larger black naga so tightly it felt like their scales were one solid, shared coat. "I'm ready, I'm ready..."

Solus couldn't help but smile, giving his eager young mate one last kiss right on his glossy green lips before slowly pulling his hemipenes back from the other's vent. He gazed at Aryen's beautiful muzzle, trembling as the boy tried to form words. Their eyes locked together in an exchange more intimate than their bodies could ever experience. Then, ever-so slowly, he began to push his malenesses back into the new snake-boy's hot, tight vent, savoring the rippling contractions as he claimed it, inch by incredible inch. Aryen's slitted eyes- once so hateful and defiant- shone with rapturous ecstasy. His muzzle- which had once said such nasty, hurtful things- quivered and uttered only soft, needy moans.

Solus let out a moan of his own as he hilted the other naga's passage, his penes practically gushing preseed into it as he ground himself against the other male's swollen, tender prostate. He thrust in a second time- just a little quicker- and caught Aryen off guard, making his moans sharpen into a pleasured cry. Solus twisted around Aryen's coils to pin him against the bed and mate him harder, their joining so deep in the new position that he felt his slit rest flush with the male's taut ventscales. Warm pre splattered against his bellyscales with each slow thrust, the younger male's hemipenes now trapped deliciously between both of their scaly stomachs. The emerald naga cried and hissed at the top of his lungs, his desire so brazen and unashamed. Solus almost choked with laughter when a cool breeze blew across his back and he realized that he had forgotten to close the windows before they began. Doubtless all his staff and half the neighborhood was listening to him mate the male in his coils. No matter. He didn't care; they could hear it. With a devilish grin, he realized he *wanted* them to hear it, let them know the pleasure he was giving to his mate. His slutty, sexy, submissive snake-boy...

"Aaahhh... oh... oh... oh! Oh, yessss! M-m... my... l-lord... oh, yes! Yes! H-harder!" Aryen cried, utterly consumed by the feelings raging through his snaky body like a river. His lord smiled at him, and thrust in to his vent. Kissed him, and slowly pulled out. Teased his tailtip, and thrust back inward, even faster. Licked his neck, and withdrew. The feeling of being mated by the powerful, mighty naga coiled around him made him feel like he was going to cum two waterfalls of seed.

Their first joining was over all too soon. Aryen's body couldn't hope to resist the intense, exotic pleasures of serpent-hood and male-love thrust upon him simultaneously, not for long. He felt his engorged anal pleasure center shudder as his lord's cocks pressed into it, while at the same time the sensitive tips of his hemipenes rubbed roughly between their smooth-scaled bellies, and before he could even give voice to his bliss, he came. The climaxes were so powerful he could literally hear every ejaculation from his throbbing cocks, the seed splattering against his lord's chest with lewd, wet, splashing sounds. Sticky, hot serpent-cum coated their coils as he came over and over again, making his anal passage tighten and squeeze down with inhuman strength on the slippery, hard, quivering naga-hood filling him so wonderfully. Aryen heard Solus give a surprised, hissing gasp, and then felt his lord hilt himself and reach a glorious peak of his own. Aryen felt like he was going to black out from pleasure as the thick, warm liquid essence quickly flooded his anal passage, each involuntary contraction from his orgasms serving only to make the seed flow deeper and deeper into him. It made him feel complete, even as his own offering continued to coat their scales so wastefully. Every fresh gush of his lord's cum into his body was a benediction, love in physical form.

The entwined nagas took a very long time to come down from the powerful orgasms they had shared, sluggishly slithering over and around each other as they searched for a comfortable position. Aryen had a strange, faraway look in his eyes, and he was slow to respond to his lord's flickering kisses. For a second Solus worried that the trance had broken.

"Are you alright, my prince?" he asked, kissing the boy's green snout gingerly.

"A-again... l-let's do it... again..." Aryen mumbled, smiling.

And they did. Several times.

**** ****

The Next Morning...

**** ****

When Aryen awoke, the first thing he noticed was that he was sleeping in a soft bed, an experience he had not had in quite some time.

The next thing he noticed was that, oddly enough, he couldn't seem to close his eyelids. It felt so strange... and yet his eyes didn't hurt. It was disturbing to see without the momentary blinks of darkness, and for a second he wondered if he was still asleep. But the morning light streaming in through the windows looked far too real to have been conjured by a mind adrift on dreams.

He tried to sit up on the bed and found that the motion was alien to him. More than alien; impossible. The soft bedspread rustled around him as his body writhed, accomplishing little. Aryen pushed himself up with his arms instead, feeling a lurch as his spine bent at an impossibly steep angle. He caught sight of a clawed, scaly green hand and realized it was his. In a rush of vertigo, memories of the previous night returned to him.

"Good morning," a low voice called from behind him. Aryen turned to find Solus's upper body right behind him, and then suddenly realized the lukewarm length wrapped around his body under the sheets was the snake's tail.

"I... y-you... what did... what happened..." Aryen mumbled, his voice sore and raspy. Memories of screaming in pleasure all night as he was mated suddenly resurfaced, making him want to curl up into a ball and die. At least now he could do the former fairly well.

"I think you remember," Solus replied, tracing Aryen's belly-scutes with a claw.

"Oh... godsssss above... you... you hypnotized me! You... turned me into a sssnake!" Aryen cried, staring at his curved black claws with incredulous horror. Not used to having a forked tongue, his words kept slipping into hisses, something that only served to further enrage him.

"I did. Only a little bit though... you do know you can only be put into a trance if you don't ressssist it?" Solus replied, his smile showing a hint of sympathy.

Aryen didn't speak. He didn't have any idea what to say. His body ached, still sore from the aftermath of its transformation and their many marvelous matings. His whole muzzle tasted like cum; the bedsheets and his scales were filthy with drying fluids. Such horrid, perverse things they had done... but why did it make his slit feel awfully snug to recall them? Why did it make his heart beat faster and make warmth fill his belly?

"Aryen... my prince..." Solus began, slipping his hands around the green naga from behind. "Listen... I never lied to you, not once. I promised I would help you fit in, I promised you my love and I promised you a better life... and I provided them. You cannot fault me for being persuasive, can you?"

"But..." Aryen whimpered. His claws briefly traced the collar around his neck, which now felt like simple, lifeless metal. Taking it off wouldn't accomplish anything. "...but..." he tried to begin again, feeling Solus's tail rub past his own. It felt so nice to be touched by another so intimately, to share such a trust. He felt the soft bed around him with his coils, a flit of his tongue allowing him to taste the crackle of cooking bacon and toasting bread not far away from their room. He knew it was all wrong, so terribly wrong... and yet it *felt* so right.

Recriminations rose in his throat and died, as did angry denials and hateful invective. He let Solus continue to tenderly rub his belly-scales, not trusting his feelings to the fragility of words.

"I ssssaid everything I could last night, Aryen. All you have to do is choose, accept or reject my offer. Do you want to go home... or do you want to stay with me?" he asked the confused naga-boy, twining the bottom of his tailtip with the other's.

Go home? Slither back to his father's court as a reptile, defiled by dark magic? Though it would be little problem for the mages of Medarage to reverse his transformation, the shame would be beyond words. A member of the royal family thought long dead, returning as a cold-blooded serpent? It would be the scandal of the century! What princess would offer her hand to him? What general would obey his orders?

But if he stayed... would anyone here notice an emerald python in the bustling market? Would anyone even recognize who he used to be? Glancing back into the mirror, Aryen realized he couldn't even do it himself. He was no longer bound by his royal blood nor the chains of slavery. For the first time in his entire life, he realized that he could choose his own future, his own path. It felt as though a great weight had left him.

"I... I think I want to ssstay with you..." Aryen whispered, uncertain but hopeful.

"Excellent. We have so much to discuss, so much to do..." Solus sighed, smiling. He looked like he had expected Aryen's affirmation before he had provided it, but strangely it didn't bother the new naga much. On the contrary, it was nice to have someone who knew his feelings so well. "Now... what do you say we take a bath, get dressed and then pay Viscount Malen and his friend a visit? I can't wait to see him try and explain to his wife how he lost five thousand gold..." Solus laughed, nuzzling Aryen.

"How did he lose five thousand gold?" Aryen asked, innocently.

"Oh, you already know most of the story..."