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Something solid nudged her back, getting Liolyn to stir. She lifted her wings, which had been coiled around her in her sleep, to see Sirtas' head hovering over her. "Lily?" he whispered, "What's wrong?"

Catch released, Liolyn sprung up and hugged him tight. "Sirtas!" she gasped, breath holding onto his name tight as her hands held his antlers. She practically draped herself over his head, wanting to melt inside him till she had the strength to face the world again.

Sirtas, who had just extended his neck over the bed, now climbed onto it. He coaxed Liolyn off his head and into his forepaws, cradling her against his warm and solid chest. He licked her nape, grooming down her feathers while she quivered and cried against thick plates of scale on his great ribs.

"I'm here, Lily," Sirtas cooed through her crying, "Whatever happened, whoever hurt you, you're safe now."

Liolyn believed him, but it still humiliated her to know Sirtas was her only shield against these things. His words soothed much as they reminded her of last night's wounds. She said, "L-last night was awful."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have spent the night in my lab. I should have--"

"No!" she hit his chest with her fist, which Sirtas felt as much as Liolyn might a fly landing on her. She glared up at him, eyes puffy with tears, "It's not your fault, it's theirs. Don't punish yourself for what they did."

Sirtas studied her for a moment, then nodded. "Very well. Then who should I punish?"

"Let's talk about it in your lab."

***

Rothishel, half-asleep, stirred when he heard Sirtas' heavy footfalls. He burrowed his snout into the bed and sniffed, savoring the smell of last night's romp. They had not stopped after their first time but spent several hours exploring each other. Memories of the prince's scales, his scent, the taste of his maw and slit and everything else... it made Rothishel's loins stir.

He lifted his head and said as he heard Sirtas' near his door, "Back so soon?"

Sirtas came in a second later, with Lily on his back. Despite wearing a flashy dress, she looked frazzled, feathers out of place, and eyes bleary from crying. As if both males worked in tandem, Sirtas deposited Lily into his waiting arms. He hugged her close as Sirtas wrapped himself around them both. Lily whispered, "Rothishel..." quivering as Rothishel held her.

"We're here, Lily," Rothishel whispered. With his tongue he smoothed down some of the feathers on Lily's crown.

Sirtas said, "Something happened last night while we were... occupied."

Voice hoarse no doubt from crying, Liolyn asked, "Occupied? I-Is that what I'm smelling?"

Sirtas gave Rothishel's brow an affectionate lick. "Had I known--"

"Had we known it would come at the cost of someone hurting you--"

Lily pressed her palms down on Rothishel's muzzle to cut him off mid-sentence. "Both of you stop! I already told Sirtas you aren't at fault here." She lifted her palms and touched them, drawing their faces together to get some approximation of hugging both dragons at once. "I'm happy for you both. You shouldn't feel like you can't have time alone together."

Rothishel wrapped a forearm around her just as Sirtas wrapped one of his great wings around all three. They shared a quiet moment of intimacy, only ending when Rothishel felt a tear land on his cheek. He moved his head out of Lily's hug, saying, "You're crying, what's wrong, Lily?"

"I'm happy, you great dolt," Lily said before giggling. She leaned back and wiped her eyes clean. "The two people I love most in the world also love each other. Why wouldn't that be something to celebrate?"

"Heh," Sirtas gently nuzzled her cheek with his snout, then said, "You truly are a marvel, Liolyn Alabaster."

"Mmm, what the prince said," Rothishel added before nuzzling her as well.

They shared another moment of unspoken affection, savoring the touch and scent of each other. Eventually, Lily said, "Thank you both. I'm ready to talk about last night."

And so, Lily explained how the dinner at House Stratus went. By the time she got to Gelvain's cornering of her, Sirtas grew so indignant he needed to climb off the bed and pace the small room, claws clacking on the marble floors as they extended their full length. Lily finished her story still in Rothishel's arms, ending with, "I'm afraid he knows even more now. I should have been more careful with my words."

"Nonsense," Sirtas said, now terse and still pacing, "You stood up for yourself. House Stratus should be reprimanded for shamefully making your private matters public."

"Can you reprimand them for that?" Rothishel asked.

"I can denounce what happened last night. That House Stratus harassed the ambassador to the Crown of Pinion for a private matter that had no bearing on the House itself," Sirtas said, finally coming to a stop. "I will certainly make sure the Crown knows they are owed damages."

Rothishel growled, "That hardly addresses the problem."

"No, but it should make Gelvain understand he cannot corner bipeds without expecting recompense. We might be more powerful than the other nations in the world, but that doesn't mean we should treat them as playthings," Sirtas said. He approached the bed and said more gently to Lily, "If you are willing and able, we can leave to address this today." Sirtas offered a forepaw, claws now retracted.

Lily grabbed one of the extended digits and said, "I would like to have this behind us soon as possible."

"Excellent."

Rothishel felt a yearning to help them both as Sirtas helped Lily off the bed. He knew better than to express this vain desire and asked instead, "When can I expect to see you both again?"

"Hopefully this evening," Sirtas said, "Though, I am not sure if Lily will be able to return."

"I will try. I would love to have a night together. The three of us."

Sirtas growled higher in his throat, a sound of assent and hunger. "Come Lily, we will go to the consulate and--"

***

Sirtas froze, deer-like ears raised as if he listened carefully for intruders. Liolyn frowned, glancing to Rothishel who also appeared confused.

Sirtas snapped out of it with an annoyed snarl. He faced Rothishel and said, "Gelvain is here with my sister, demanding entry. Go now to the field."

Rothishel sprung up, uttering a quick, "Careful you two," as he raced out the door.

Liolyn was surprised how quickly both males reacted. She ask, "Have the two of you discussed this before?"

"Yes," Sirtas said, confirming her suspicions before he drew in a deep breath. He lifted his head to the ceiling and exhaled and thick, green smoke washed through the room and out into the lab. The scent of two males and their passions disappeared, the bed became neatly made, and all the traces of Rothishel's occupancy were washed away in the spell. When the smoke faded, Sirtas said, "Come, before they start trying to force the door."

"Would they be able to get it open?" Liolyn asked as she jogged to keep up with Sirtas' quick stride.

"Not without a great deal of time and effort," Sirtas said. "But the longer we keep them waiting the more their suspicion grows." As he passed the hall into the observatory, Sirtas puffed another cloud of smoke from his nostrils, and the door at the end of the hall stopped glowing, the machinery of the observatory changing as it turned to some random date. Without knowledge of the correct date, the only way another person could get access to the dimension would be through trial and error or accident.

Rothishel also remained trapped inside until they changed it back.

They reached the antechamber to the lab. Sirtas opened the doors with a little huff, and the great marble slabs slowly swung open. Gelvain stood in their place, no longer adorned with gold jewelry or sheathed claws, and Syrwen who, like Sirtas, had antlered horns and deer-like ears, but stood a few feet taller at the shoulder, her yellow scales closer to gold than Sirtas' pale buttercup coloring.

"Gelvain," Sirtas said before either dragon spoke, "Liolyn was just telling me how you tried to humiliate her last night, and I was informing her of the recourse to take against your house--"

"You boys can discuss your political dramas another time," Syrwen growled. "I did not lead Gelvain here for you to have it out over that biped."

Sirtas stepped in front of Liolyn, blocking her view with his stout forelegs. He said, "Then what are you here for?"

"What happened to the Finn you brought here, Sirtas?" Syrwen asked.

Sirtas cocked his head. "Were you hard of hearing the day I made an example of him? I thought it was quite clear I brought him here to kill him."

Gelvain said, "And the Lady Cirrus thought it most odd that--"

"Do not speak for me in my house, Gelvain," Syrwen snarled. Her tail slapped the stone floor as she recovered her demeanor and said, "You said you took him here to kill him because you did not want to haul his remains to this lab. Show us these remains."

Sirtas dipped his head. "Very well, follow me." His muzzle swung to Liolyn in a quick whisper, "Stay close. I'm sorry for this."

Liolyn wondered if the apology was for Gelvain and Syrwen's benefit. She resisted the urge to tell him he needn't apologize and jogged to stay at his side. He led both dragons into his workshop, heading straight for his translucent vault. A breath of magic, and a seam appeared along the safe's edges before it opened along the seam.

"The Finn's skull," Sirtas said. A white void inside the safe was suddenly breached by one of those stone dragons that cleaned the lab. It flew out with the skull of a dragon the size of a Finn and placed it on the floor in the center of the room. The stone servant then winged back around and perched at the vault's top like a gargoyle.

Sirtas faced the other two dragons and said, "Go ahead, test your magic on it if you'd like."

And Liolyn realized Sirtas had taken the remains of another Finn, had kept it all this time. She gasped, then put a hand over her beak. That had been Sirtas' apology. Liolyn bit down a surge of indignity and calmly watched both Syrwen and Gelvain try to cast spells on the skull, but it remained stubbornly inert.

"Satisfied?" Sirtas asked.

"Not quite," Gelvain said before tilting his head up and scenting the air. While Liolyn and Sirtas remained by his vault, Syrwen in the room's center, they watched as Gelvain paced the perimeter of the workshop. "You've been busy, Sirtas. I can sense the traces of some powerful spellwork here." Gelvain stopped at the entrance of the workshop and faced the other three. "You will give me the truth, now, or I will continue digging into yours and Liolyn's affairs. If she, as I suspect, carries the soul of my brother in her, I deserve to know."

Syrwen actually spat on the floor. "Is that why you're so taken with her? Because she reminds you of your fallen prince?"

Sirtas once again stepped in front of Liolyn as if to shield her. "You will not speak of Lady Alabaster as if she is some lesser creature, sister. Not if you want to keep you magic bonded to this house."

Syrwen hissed, wings flaring out and crouching as if she readied to fight her brother. "You wouldn't dare."

"He can't so long as the other houses intervene on your behalf, Lady Cirrus," Gelvain growled. "Which we will certainly do if Prince Sirtas cannot give us the truth."

"It's fine, Sirtas," Liolyn spoke up finally. She stepped around his legs, between the two siblings and said, "I will gladly share what has happened if it can put an end to all this unwanted surveillance on a fellow prince."

Gelvain stepped to Syrwen's side, his presence calming her enough to sit back on her haunches. "Very well, speak," Gelvain said.

"A spell first," Syrwen said, "To make sure she speaks the truth."

She lifted her paw, but Sirtas exhaled throughout the room before she might cast something. Smoke crackling with lightning spread amongst them, but, aside from making her feathers stand on end, Liolyn felt no effects from the spell thanks to the ring she wore. Sirtas said, "There, now we will all speak the truth so long as we stay in this room."

"Hmmph," Syrwen complained, "We are not the ones hi-hiding--" she gritted her teeth, quivering as she could not force out the words, and quickly snapped, "We aren't on trial here."

"But you do have something to hide," Sirtas growled.

"All dragons keep secrets," Gelvain said, "but Lady Alabaster is the only one required to share hers right now."

Sirtas had tricked them into believing Liolyn would be compelled to tell the truth. With a deep breath, and the same lies she told Mavin in mind, Liolyn began, "Shortly after I introduced myself to the Princes of Kor, I encountered a Finn, or rather, was accosted by one. I was taken up by sudden, strange urge to know him. I was alarmed and assumed something magical was being done to me, so I asked another ambassador for help, who referred me to Lunara. We learned of the soul bond but had no idea who I was in a past life. I grew close to Prince Sirtas in hopes he might be able to rid me of the wretched bond, and, in the process, we both ended up falling very much in love. In a fit of jealousy, that Finn did press himself on me, and..." Liolyn took a deep breath. Her gut pinched painfully around this lie every time. She gestured to the skull in the room, "He was punished accordingly when I told Sirtas everything. At first, we brought him here to try and break our soul bond."

"And you failed?" Gelvain asked.

"You and I both know a soul bond hinges on the previous lives letting go of the bond," Sirtas said. "We attempted the ritual, but Rothishel refused to let go."

"To spite us all, no doubt," Gelvain growled, glare fixed on Liolyn who lifted her palms placatingly.

"I am not his thrall," Liolyn insisted. "I have no interests in revolutions or upsetting the balance of power. What I want, is for all this horribleness to be behind us."

"And when the Finn's soul reincarnates, what then?" Syrwen asked.

"We'll know which one it is," Sirtas said.

"And?" Syrwen pressed.

"We'd exchange it with another house," Liolyn spoke quickly, "and after a few months we would attempt to break the bond again. We think if we keep trying Rothishel will eventually relent."

Syrwen snorted. "I was not asking you, biped."

"Lady Alabaster speaks for me," Sirtas snarled before asking Gelvain, "Are you satisfied?"

"Do you truly love her?" Syrwen asked Sirtas.

"Yes," Sirtas said without a second thought. "I've loved her long before I knew what soul she carried, and I will love her long after Rothishel has faded away."

Not that Liolyn ever doubted any of that, but she still felt her heart skip beats at that vow.

Gelvain shook his head. "I'm not satisfied, but I have no reason to keep the both of you."

At a short puff, Sirtas dispelled the smoke in the room. "I'll see you both out." Sirtas nodded to Liolyn, "I won't be long, dear." Taking that as her queue to not follow, she watched Sirtas usher out the two other dragons, leaving Liolyn with the skull. A Finn's skull. She approached it and sat down before its face. Touching it, Liolyn tried to nudge the skull. It was real. The weight of it heavier feeling than her Rothishel's. It was the same proportions, though, the bone a little chalky to the touch and faded yellow.

Sirtas returned faster than she expected, saying, "You did a wonderful job there my dear--" He stopped in the doorway when he saw her there.

"Who were they?" Liolyn asked as she stroked the skull's brow.

"The remains of a Finn who died long ago," Sirtas said. "I scavenged them from their grave."

"For what purpose?" Liolyn asked. She felt cold and strange with the sockets of that skull staring through her.

"To understand how I might nullify magic," Sirtas said. He came into the room and sat down with her. "Your ring I only understood how to make with the help of this skull. A way to understand how to make something or someone unable to conduct magic."

"Where are the remains kept?"

Sirtas said, "There is a mausoleum underneath the palace grounds."

Liolyn nodded and stood. "Alright. Let's free Rothishel, then you and I are returning these remains."

Sirtas hesitated but acquiesced with a bow of his head. "It would be the right thing to do."

***

After releasing Rothishel and explaining what happened, Liolyn helped wrap the Finn's skull in canvas, tying it securely before Sirtas picked it up with his mouth. They moved down to the very bottom of the tower, and Liolyn entered the basement area where the Finn lived. They attracted stares, but no one dared to interrupt them as Sirtas led Liolyn through the basement to an old doorway cut into the bedrock.

It was another stone door that Sirtas activated with magic. It sank into the floor, revealing a long hallway into darkness. Another puff of magic from his nostrils and old lanterns flashed on, one after another leading down into the dark. It smelled musty, of dried bone that reminded Liolyn of the old burial mounds back in the Crown. They stepped inside and the door sealed behind them.

Two halls extended, one to their right and the other straight ahead. Sirtas set the head down, wrapping it up in a foreleg. Moving a little slowly on three legs, he hobbled forward and Liolyn followed, breaking the silence between them with, "How far do these tunnels go?"

"They are linked between the houses," Sirtas said. The path they walked now was too wide for Sirtas to extend his wings, and he kept his head dipped low so his antlers did not knock against the lanterns in the ceiling. "There is an entrance to every house through here, though, the doors are enchanted to only respond to the magic of the house."

"So Finn cannot get inside on their own," Liolyn said as she eyed the walls. In stacks of three, open graves were stuffed with bones. Any respect for the dead long forgotten.

"Neither can members of other houses use these tunnels to sneak around," Sirtas said.

Surrounded by all these bones made Liolyn all the more claustrophobic. She asked, "Are the Finn given any rites? After death, I mean."

"Depends on the house. Kinder families might look the other way, allow the Finn of the house to perform their own rites before they are taken here. Otherwise, they are given a pauper's burial, their bodies burned and the bones brought here," Sirtas said. "There is an oven in the Finn's quarters so they might burn the body themselves."

Liolyn's hands balled into fists. "How awful."

"We tend to simply wait for a Finn to ask us to open the door when someone dies. They carry the bones here, and we shut the door when they are finished." Sirtas voice this entire time remained cold and distant.

Liolyn noticed the walls suddenly filled with less bones. Each grave now had a single dragon's remains placed carefully within. She said, "The graves changed."

"Every century or so," Sirtas said, voice still ice, "the graves fill up. The Finn of the house will go in and remove the remains of those no longer remembered and pile them at the front."

"I see," Liolyn grunted. She understood similar needs in places with small amounts of land and dead that remained buried. Dragon bones could not burn, so burial was the only option. They stopped at a grave, and before them rested the remains of a Finn whose skull was missing. Carved in the rock with careful claws, a name:

Entyle

Twelve other names scratched into stone had been struck through. Twelve times this grave had its bones stacked with hundreds of other nameless Finn.

Gingerly, Sirtas set down the skull and slit the canvas open with a claw. Liolyn asked, "Why didn't you take one of the bones from back down the hall?"

"Even a Finn's bones will become bones with time, or so I learned when I first came down here." Sirtas placed the skull back in the grave, carefully so it met where the cervical vertebrae had been arranged. Whatever Finn had arranged these bones did it so that it looked like Entyle lay on his side. Sirtas bowed his head and whispered, "Forgive me, Entyle." He lifted his head, eyes still on the name, difficult to make out in the dim light. "Most royals never visit this place," Sirtas said. "I did not know the Finn kept names among themselves till coming here."

Liolyn stepped to the grave, extending a wing and plucking a single blue feather. She set it next to Entyle's skull, a common offering gryphons performed for spirits. "May Kenna bless the wind under your wings," she quietly prayed.

"Heh, it's almost silly to do this."

Liolyn said to the grave, "Because we know what has happened to Entyle's soul."

"It is back at the house, with all the other Finn buried here."

"Honoring their memory is just as important," Liolyn told him before finally turning her back on Entyle's remains. Sirtas joined her, and as they walked back at Liolyn's pace, she asked, "When did you take the skull?"

"Soon after Prince Rothishel was executed," Sirtas said, and Liolyn realized why this place affected him so. Sirtas said, "I was stupid and beside myself, and after they used magic to force me into my confession of love and loyalty, I wanted to know a way to protect myself. I couldn't very well experiment on a live Finn, horrible as that would have been, no one would have trusted me to do only that anyways. So, I came here."

Liolyn could picture it. A younger, smaller buttercup dragon in tears and desperate for some form of protection.

They reached the door back into House Cirrus, but before Sirtas lowered the stone, Liolyn asked, "What now?"

"I thought we could go back to the consulate. I imagine you would like a change in clothes--"

"And a hot bath," Liolyn complained.

"That as well, and while you are freshening up, I can write and file a complaint against Gelvain's behavior," Sirtas said while he placed his paw back on the door.

As it slid open, Liolyn giggled. "People will be scandalized when they see a prince accompanying me off the palace."

"Mmm, let them. It's been far too long since I left the palace anyways."

***

Had a bath ever looked so inviting? Liolyn shut the door to her apartment, finding her requested tub had already arrived. Sirtas, given the architecture of the building, remained in the front part of it, writing a strongly worded letter for the Crown.

She unfastened the ties in the back of her dress and let it slip off her shoulders, tossing it to the side before turning to her mirror. Her dark, curly hair had turned into a tangled mess that she immediately started combing through with her fingers. Her coat wasn't in better shape, but the bath first for that. She went to her desk and found her brush, quickly detangling her hair. She then took a few seconds to fuss with her cat-like ears in the mirror, smoothing out the blue, tufty fur.

Then the bath. The steaming waters were lilac and frothy from an herbal blend Lymon knew she liked added to her bath. Liolyn really needed to remember to thank that wolf. He quietly remembered all her preferences and had never failed to deliver them.

Liolyn stepped inside the wooden tub, sighing as she slipped down into it. Her wings hung slack over the back end of the tub. Those she would groom after her bath. For now she just needed the balm of warm water soaking through her fur and feathers, into her skin.

She hoped Sirtas had something to keep him busy.

It only took twenty minutes, really, for Liolyn to wash her hair and body. The next ten she spent letting the warm water dissolve all the tension in her body. It was with her head hanging backwards, wet black curls dripping water over the side, that she heard a knock at her door.

Had Lymon thought to bring her something to eat? Kenna bless that wolf, she hoped so because that had been her plan after the bath. "Who is it?" she called out.

Without any regard for her privacy, the door swung open. Mavin barged in with, "Lily thank goodness you're--"

"Can this wait?" Liolyn asked behind the screen of her wings, which she had thrown up soon as Mavin entered.

Liolyn heard the door shut, then, "There. You don't need to be so bashful. That water is so thick with herbs and lotions I can't see through it anyways."

With a displeased groan, Liolyn dropped her wings. Aside from some amount of cleavage, she was no more exposed to Mavin than in the gown still heaped on the floor. Still, when Liolyn's wings moved, the older vixen did gawk at her. She wore a single long-sleeved knit with the sickle and sword crest of her kingdom and an ankle-length black skirt. It was the sort of casual wear Liolyn only saw Mavin in when the vixen had no intention of leaving the consulate for the day.

Liolyn folded her arms over her chest to hide some of her cleavage, which got Mavin to snap out of it. "Right, sorry dear."

"It's fine," Liolyn said. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong is you scared me half to death!" Mavin snapped, finding her bluster again. "I saw you fly out and chased after you last night only for you to fly off to House Cirrus. People were saying you shouted at Gelvain, and what happens when the Crown hears--"

"Sirtas is taking care of that for me right now," Liolyn said. "He's going to vouch for me, and state House Stratus was out of line in their conduct and needlessly provoked me."

"Ah, benefits of your boyfriend being who he is, then," Mavin said before she went to Liolyn's desk and grabbed its chair. She dragged it to the foot of the tub and sat down. "Tell me what happened. What did that bronze bastard say to you?"

"He knew about my trip to Lunara's," Liolyn said with a sigh.

"Knew? Fuck, Lily, had I known--"

"It's not your fault. It was coincidence that other gryphon went to her."

"Yes, but the whole point was Lunara could keep your affairs private. Did she tell them what happened?" Mavin asked, hugging herself and leaning in. She was more upset than Liolyn might have expected, which did make Liolyn feel less annoyed. Regardless of whether she was aware of everything, Mavin had always been a constant source of support.

Liolyn said, "It was the case file she kept of me that told them. Gelvain knew about the soul bond."

"Gods Lily... I'm..."

"It is what it is," Liolyn said with a sigh. "Sirtas and I spoke to Gelvain this morning. We came clean, set the record straight, and hopefully they will leave us alone."

"You poor girl. Is there anything I can do to help? Remember we are allowed to have private lives, you are allowed--"

"I know, I know," Liolyn said. Mavin had a whole mantra about their right to privacy and private lives and insisted Liolyn not feel like she must always act as the Crown of Pinion's representative first.

"Listen, Mavin..." Liolyn spoke up but trailed off. She wanted Mavin to know the truth. Wanted to know someone would support her, but it remained so risky. She sucked in a breath, straightening up a little in the tub, which got the old vixen's eyes to flick back to Liolyn's more exposed breasts for just a moment. Liolyn ignored that and said, "Mavin, why do we spend so much time on Kor?"

"Excuse me?"

"Not us, I mean," Liolyn dismissed with a wave. "But our nations. The Crown is neighbors with Vulp and Kor both, but we barely trade with your people. All our resources funnel to here. Our embassies in each other's nations are tiny. Why do we care so little about each other when that relationship should be just as important to us as our relationship to Kor?"

Mavin's ear flicked. "What are you getting at, Lily?"

"Just go along with me?"

"Alright," Mavin said, "Kor has magic."

"No, we have magic, too." Liolyn corrected. She shifted in the tub, moving to the front of it, chest pressed against the wood as she closed the distance between herself and Mavin. "We don't have a dragon's natural inclination, but with time and teaching, any biped can use magic as well as most dragons."

"You and I both know when I say magic that we're not talking about most dragons. We're talking about dragons like your prince." Mavin said. She listed off in her hand: "House Nimbus has kept Vulp's farmland fertile. House Stratus has provided protective spells to our armies when we were invaded a decade ago, and during the Cushing Plague it was House Cumulous who developed a cure."

Liolyn steeled herself as she got to the heart of it: "Those are all important things, but why do we always depend on the princes to solve our problems?"

"Lily, these are disasters they're interceding on," Mavin almost snapped. "We don't give half the gems our nation digs up to Kor because they are curing our allergies. It is so our nations can have insurance for future disasters and stability in the present."

"Yes, but..."

Mavin's brow furrowed, and she touched Liolyn's cheek. "But what, dear? What do you know that has you so troubled?"

Liolyn clenched her beak, afraid to speak. She settled back on her haunches, knees tucked to her chest, and said to her murky reflection in the water, "The princes and their houses? I... I recently learned their power doesn't come from Netrikor's precious bloodline." That had been the great myth of it all. Prince Rothishel had told her: Netrikor did not get some gods given power that he passed down to his four sons and their houses through the last millennia. He had stolen it. The first Finn, Finsaren, had been Netrikor's own brother.

As if Mavin might have read her very thoughts, she sat back in her chair, muttering a quiet, vulpine curse. She asked Liolyn, "It's the Finn, isn't it? It's the only reason you'd be so torn up about all this."

Liolyn nodded. "We tried to break the soul bond, Mavin, and I got to meet my past self." She touched her temple. "Turns out I've got a fallen prince in here." Mavin cursed again. "And he told me the truth of things, which Sirtas confirmed."

Mavin, like a nervous kit, brought her lush red tail around and now combed her fingers through it. "Lily, I need you to be honest with me now. You're Finn, is he still alive?"

Liolyn hesitated, beak open, then she shut it.

It was all Mavin needed to see. She clutched her tail close to her chest. "Liolyn Alabaster!" Mavin hissed, voice now dropping to a whisper, "I understand why you kept the truth from me, given how nosy the princes have been with your business, but for the Tails of the Nine! You couldn't have come up with a better story? I fucking cried a whole week when you told me that Finn had raped you."

Ears pinned back, Liolyn muttered, "I'm sorry. I didn't know..."

"Of course you didn't," Mavin said. "I wasn't going to make you responsible for my grief, but you're like a daughter to me. The thought of you going through something like that... I just..." Mavin got to her feet, scowling, "Don't put me through that again! By all means, lie to me if it's what you need to do to keep us both safe, but at least let me know when you are in actual need and when you aren't."

Still hugging her knees to herself, Liolyn said, "I won't. I wouldn't have had I known--"

"Oh hush," Mavin knelt beside the tub and pulled Liolyn into a hug. She stroked Liolyn's hair and whispered, "I'm upset with you, but I know you'll do better, because you're you."

Liolyn hugged her back, wings folding over them both. "Thank you. I don't like keeping things from you, especially after all you've done." Their hug lasted, relief to be here and not some shouting match making Liolyn want to draw it out.

Eventually Mavin said, "Mmm, much as I enjoy this, you're soaking through my shirt."

"Sorry," Liolyn said with a little laugh, letting her friend go. Mavin simply rested against the tub now.

"No need to apologize. I'm sorry for getting us off track with my outburst. You brought all this up for a reason, I'm sure."

Liolyn had. She shrugged wings and shoulders. "I just... what if we could get on without the princes? Our nations send half our wealth to Kor when we could be investing in ourselves, in each other."

"Mmm, I see what you mean," Mavin said, looking down to the mirror set in Liolyn's door, watching both their reflections. "We give the princes tribute so they will solve our problems for us."

"Us and twelve other nations," Liolyn added. "I know each house has probably saved thousands of lives all over the continent by intervening on natural disasters and famines and wars with their magic, but surely we could do that work if we relied instead on the full strength of our people and on each other?"

Mavin's smirk showed both her fine fangs off. "It would be a nice thought, wouldn't it?" She turned her gaze from the mirror back to Liolyn, "And what incentive would we have to going back to those ways of living when the princes' magic is such a simpler solution?"

Liolyn leaned close and whispered, "What I am getting at, what Sirtas and I would like to do is change things in the palace, and if we succeeded it would mean the Finn's freedom and an end to the princes' power."

Mavin snickered. "I'm not thick, dear. I know what you mean."

Liolyn frowned. "And you don't think I'm crazy?"

Mavin tossed her head back in the high-pitched laugh of foxes. "Hahah! Of course I think you're crazy!" She turned and grabbed Liolyn's face, stroking the gryphon's cheek with her thumb. "You're my crazy, though. Whatever you're planning, keep it to yourself, dear. I can't help you, much as I might like. I don't have a prince to protect me and the more I know the more it puts you in danger."

Liolyn savored the touch, grateful for her friend. Liolyn had been terrified Mavin would say something like, "The lives of two hundred aren't worth the princes' aid!" Those thoughts had certainly been haunting her of late, but if Mavin believed, as Liolyn did, that the nations of the world would not crumble into dust without Kor's aid, then perhaps they could all find better ways to live. It did not need to be some dream. They did not have to accept that the best version of this world must come at the cost and constant torment of two hundred innocent souls.

Liolyn touched one of Mavin's hands. "Thank you. Really Mavin, you're..." Liolyn stopped, eyes locked with Mavin's matronly gaze. "I've really been taking you for granted."

Mavin blinked. "Hmm, yes, well, flattery will get you everywhere, dear."

"Hehe, will it now?"

Mavin took back her hand and leaned away. "Oh, don't tempt an old vixen now."

Aside from some touches of white and grey on her otherwise black muzzle, nothing about Mavin looked old to Liolyn. She said, as it occurred to her, "I... I would like to ask one favor, though. I hadn't thought of it till we started talking, but there is something I would like you to do. It is not without some risk, but I can pay you if necessary."

Mavin scoffed. "With what? Your measly stipend from the Crown? A favor from House Cirrus? I doubt either of those things will be worth much if things go wrong or right."

Liolyn's ears tilted back again, and she muttered, "Yes, I suppose you're right." She had not thought about that, but, as she glanced from the water back at Mavin, Liolyn noticed Mavin taking another ogle at her exposed breast.

Mavin, caught, cleared her throat. "Err, sorry, forgive me. They're just... well you're beautiful and those are right there and--"

"What if that is what I offer?" Liolyn asked. Yes, she could count that a fair trade. Give Mavin something she had clearly wanted for so long.

Mavin's tail curled back around to her chest, but she did not grab onto it this time. "Excuse me?"

Liolyn swallowed and answered by standing up. Water dripped from her fur and feathers; her downy white front entirely exposed. Her curves were accentuated by where her coat went from white to blue, but the navy black feathers coating her face and neck fortunately hid the flush she certainly felt as Mavin stared like some goddess just rose out of the water. Liolyn took a deep breath and said, "I know you've wanted--"

"Wanted or not that is no reason for you to go whoring yourself out!" Mavin snapped as she jumped to her feet. Her hackles had risen, making Liolyn cover herself with her wings reflexively. "Just tell me what the favor is you stupid girl! You don't need to sleep with me to make me take risks for you. I've been doing that for months because I care about you."

"Mavin... I didn't mean to offend you."

She sighed and, because of how tiny Liolyn's apartment was, fell back onto Liolyn's bed. She said to the ceiling, "It's fine. I want you, Lily, but I don't want to be with you simply because you feel like I am owed something."

Liolyn relaxed and drew her wings to her back. "I'm sorry..."

"Stop apologizing."

"Fine, right. The favor. In case things go wrong, I want to write some letters for you to deliver. If you keep them sealed in your apartment, I'm sure you shouldn't have any trouble sending them."

Mavin's chest lifted and fell in a dramatic sigh. She sat up and said, "You make it sound like I'll be holding onto your suicide note."

"People need to know the truth, Mavin. If nothing else works, I want there to be some chance that the truth gets out there."

"Fine and fair enough," Mavin said, studying Liolyn with her gaze. She could tell she was not being ogled this time, but that Mavin mulled something over. "However, if that is what you want from me, you are going to have to sleep with me."

Liolyn started. "What? I thought you said--"

Mavin got up and took Liolyn's hands in hers, squeezing them. "I will do anything for you, but if what you're asking is that I just patiently wait to see if you live or die in the coming months, then I do want you." She drew closer, whispering, "I treasure the sound of your voice, your laughter, Lily, but there are so, so many other sounds I've wanted to take and treasure."

All her bashfulness came back, and she could do little more than nod. "O-okay, I can do that."

"Good, two things then: first, our safe word is 'mezzanine.'"

Liolyn frowned. "We have a safe word?"

"Of course I thought of a safe word for us," Mavin growled. "Not all my fantasies are just me suffocating you with my spade."

"Mezzanine, though? Is it because of where we first had lunch together?"

"Exactly that," Mavin beamed before flashing two fingers in Liolyn's face. "Second thing! I am not going to get off just by sucking your tits and fingering myself. The thing that I like most, Lily, the thing that matters to me most is seeing my partners feel pleasure. Seeing you shudder and twitch through an orgasm, that's what will get me off." One of Mavin's hands sneaked around and groped Liolyn's rear, getting a gasp from her. Mavin, voice now a husky whisper, asked, "I need you to be into this, do you think you will be?"

"I... I think I will be."

"You're shaking, Lily. Nervous?" Mavin moved closer, pulling Liolyn against her. Those fingers feeling up her butt reached lower, curling around to tease at her nether lips. Liolyn hugged Mavin for support, feeling heat building in her loins much quicker than expected.

Liolyn admitted, "I-I've never been with another woman before--ah!" Mavin moved her hand around to Liolyn's front, rubbing her folds more fully while, with the other hand, the vixen stroked her nape.

"Mmm, I love young, untouched girls like you. So nervous and tense one moment, on your backs mewling and melting into pleasure the next."

"Kenna's cunt," Liolyn breathed, "Mavin..."

"Maybe you wanted me more than you thought, hmm?" Mavin asked with a sultry chuckle.

Perhaps Liolyn would have returned Mavin's advances had she not been so blindsided by her two whirlwind romances. Liolyn regarded her as an older, alluring beauty who was funny and loving and supportive. Matronly, motherly, but fortunately Liolyn did not need to worry about the complications of having her actual mother knuckle deep inside her.

"Let's step out of this tub," Mavin ordered, cooing, "That's a good girl," as Liolyn let herself be led, tracking water, to her bed. Mavin giggled like a girl much younger when they both fell onto the bed. She nuzzled into Liolyn's neck. "Mmm, this scent." Mavin sat up and said as she casually removed her clothes, "I used to not like that perfume you always wear. I thought 'Someone needs to teach this girl to not overuse her scents.'"

Mavin kicked her skirt off the bed, shirt already thrown away. She loomed over Liolyn, smirking, letting her body be taken in: her lush orange-red coat mixed with lines of black and a white front that looked softer than anything Liolyn had ever touched. Her breasts were heavier than Liolyn's, with the slight sag that comes with age, and her hips wider. Where Liolyn had more graceful proportions, Mavin was voluptuous. She tilted her head and asked, "My my, see something you like?"

"I..." Liolyn, self-conscious, changed the subject with, "You don't like my perfume?"

"Hehehe, so insecure," Mavin giggled as she straddled Liolyn's hips, letting her weight settle there before leaning in and whispering, "I said used to, dear, but now even a hint of that fragrance makes me think of you, your beauty..." Mavin kissed her cheek, kissed down her neck, nibbling at the base there, getting another gasp from Liolyn before she finished, "It makes me think about how much I want to worship you, make you mine."

"You have me," Liolyn whispered, the words getting her more flushed.

Mavin giggled and sat up, taking Liolyn's hands and leading them to that soft white fur. Her digits found warm love handles to hold, flesh so different from a dragon's scales, and below those handles hung the plump, dark mound of Mavin's spade. She gyrated her hips, grinding the swollen mound against Liolyn's cunt. Their vulvas squished together and got a gasp from both women. A hot, wet stickiness drooled across Liolyn's cunt. Mavin's arousal.

The vixen kept working her hips, grinding their crotches together. Liolyn's eyes kept darting between where their hips connected to Mavin's heaving bust. She noticed, offering a toothy smirk, "You can do more than gawk, you know."

Mavin tugged Liolyn's hand to her breast. Its warmth, downy fur and pillowy flesh yielding. "Touch." Mavin ordered. Liolyn's other hand went to her partner's unoccupied breast. She groped, running her fingers through the fur till she found Mavin's firmed up nipples. That got a buck from the vixen, who said, "That's a good girl." She grinned and gyrated her hips more quickly, "Unlike, hah, dragons, bipeds expect their p-partners to dance with them, dear."

Liolyn sat up, wings fanning out for balance. She hugged herself to Mavin, trying to rock her hips in time with the older woman's motions. All that grinding against her cunt was building the need inside her, but she admitted it did not quite compare to something like Sirtas' tongue plundering her insides. Still, she understood what Mavin meant about a dance partner. Seeing Mavin react made Liolyn all the hotter as well.

She scooped up one of Mavin's breast and opened her beak, closing it around the teat. Like a milking babe, she sucked hard on the vixen's bust, tongue working up and down Mavin's areola. The vixen grabbed Liolyn's head and hugged it to that tit. Liolyn tried her best to just forget about everything else, focus on this busty woman grinding their cunts together, the taste of Mavin's breast, the fur and flesh filling her other palm.

Mavin got a little shakier. "That's it..." she whined. "S-such a good girl. Don't, ah, be afraid of being rough."

Liolyn tried her best, sucking harder, flicking her tongue back and forth across Mavin's nipple. The other she pinched between finger and thumb. Mavin groaned, and at a simple twist quaked against Liolyn. She felt that spade throbbing against her lap, oozing fresh nectar across her messy crotch. The grip on Liolyn's head slackened, and she came up for air, panting, and tossed some loose black curls out of her face.

"What was that about sucking your tits?" Liolyn asked, still teasing Mavin's nipple in her hand.

Her partner nosed then licked Liolyn's beak. "Oh sweet, Lily," Mavin whispered, "That was just the foreplay."

"That so?"

Mavin shoved Liolyn on her back, getting an undignified squawk. "Don't get cocky, girl. I've not even started."

Trembling still, Mavin slipped off Liolyn's hips and spread her legs. She settled between Liolyn's thighs, crouched and furry tail lifted like a question mark in the air. Her whiskers twitched as she took in Liolyn's scent. "Mmm, even under my cum and your bath I can smell your need."

"You can?" Liolyn asked. "It's not that bad, is it?"

"It's strong, Lily, not bad. It says, my body is ripe and wanting," Mavin said to her before admiring the view of Liolyn's sex again. "No wonder you're so popular with dragons."

Liolyn's back bunched up with tension when Mavin touched her labia. Breath caught in her throat, she felt Mavin spread her. Her pussy was much more modest, hidden under thin blue feathers, her vulva could only be spotted as a thin line even when aroused. Now, pulled apart, she felt her pelvic floor reflexively clench, her pussy winking invitation. All that heat from before quickly returned just from letting herself be seen.

Mavin started with no more than her thumb tracing her nether lips. The vixen whispered, "Pretty, pink, fertile girls like you..." Mavin's hackles rose a little, growling, "You ought to be punished for teasing older women like me." Three digits forced their way inside Liolyn's vent. Her back arched, beak open in a groan. Her snatch squeezed its invaders, but even then Mavin said, "Look at this slutty pussy, so loose I bet I wouldn't have any trouble fisting you, would I?" Those digits curled up and rubbed roughly along Liolyn's g-spot. She wriggled on the bed a little, not fighting Mavin but still struggling through the sensations of having the vixen's fingers roughly rammed inside her. Her wings beat the bed as she moaned, the heat in her belly boiling.

The vixen's pointed snout nudged her vulva, nuzzling around her spread labia. Mavin sucked in more of her younger lover's needy scent, and on the exhale lapped up the arousal gathered in Liolyn's folds. Her tongue quickly worked against Liolyn's exposed clitoral hood, each lick rubbing her smooth tastebuds against that sensitive button. The bright pink muscle ground long and slow against Liolyn's clit, sawing up and down in the same rhythm of Mavin's fingers. The vixen's knuckles were getting soaked in needy gryphon arousal, but she barely noticed, her simmering gaze glued to her pet's violet eyes.

Liolyn couldn't look away from the older vixen, utterly under her spell. She clenched her beak, panting through her nares as a shudder worked through her body followed by a whimper. Mavin jammed her digits roughly inside her and paused.

"You're close, aren't you?"

"Mmm--mhmm..."

"Use your words, dear."

"Yes," Liolyn gasped as she rocked her hips against Mavin's fingers. She felt that tension inside her, that blossoming heat coiled up in her hips and core.

"Beg for it."

So focused on her need, Liolyn didn't understand at first: "H-huh?"

"Beg me to make you cum."

"Mavin... fuck..." Liolyn could barely breathe around the tension inside her. "Please Mavin, make me cum. I need it. I need you."

"Good girl," Mavin whispered and started fingering her again. Her wrist worked eloquent as a spinster's wheel, rotating, pumping, plugging her drooling pussy with those digits. No matter how hard Liolyn clenched, those knuckles mashed against her inflamed labia. Her contractions growing with the steady stimulation applied to her. She grabbed one of her breasts and squeezed it, desperate to add the pleasure she felt. Mavin dragged it out, however, blowing air across her spit-soaked clit to tease her. The rhythm of her fingers slowly picking up pace, ravaging her walls quicker. Then more tongue danced circles around Liolyn's clit. She felt it, her edge, that boiling precipice.

"Kenna's cunt... Mavin!"

Liolyn screamed the vixen's name as fox's delicate lips closed around her clitoral hood. A spasm rocked Liolyn's body, wings flaring out as Mavin sucked her clit hard, tongue spilling and grinding all over the button, practically tenderizing it. Liolyn's body flooded with contractions, clamping on the intruders in her sex. Her nectar squeezed out around Mavin's fingers while she wrapped her thighs around the vixen's head. Liolyn bucked her hips and groaned, tailfeathers juddering with each furious contraction that worked through her.

Mavin savored the feel of Liolyn's plush thighs closed around her muzzle. She'd fantasized about this. Her ears keenly listening to the girl's wails. She'd always hoped Liolyn would be noisy. Not that Mavin was content to let Liolyn leave her clutches with a singular orgasm. She let that spasming cunny push out her fingers, wedging her muzzle down. She burrowed in between the girl's labia, worming her tongue inside that pulsing vent. The spiced, bitter flavor of Liolyn's arousal made Mavin shiver. She tongued harder, forcing her oral organ as deep as she could. She might not be a dragon, but she had some tricks of her own.

Mavin reached around Liolyn's plump thighs so her fingers could still tease at her clit. She ran her smooth, padded thumb across her labia, making it slick with spit and her pet's cum before she stroked against Liolyn's clitoral hood. She did not tease that button directly, but played with the hood, grinding into it, stroking circles, teasing that sensitive bundle of nerves protected by a thin, slippery sheen of flesh.

Liolyn's first orgasm had died down, but soon as Mavin started applying pressure to her clitoral hood, she felt it building back up again. Her tongue also felt good, soothing after the violence of those fingers pounding her spot over and over. Her cunt fluttered and sucked on that tongue; her nether lips engaged in a lewd kiss. Mavin pinched her hood between finger and thumb, getting Liolyn to clench her thighs with a harsh buck of her hips. Mavin slowly stroked off her button, working up, then pressing down into her labia, putting as much stimulation into the nerves beneath her hood. Liolyn's peak came roaring back in a few breaths. She groaned, hips quaking as Mavin jerked her off faster. The vixen worked as much of her clit as she could, tongue undulating in hungry laps.

Mavin whined as her maw flooded with more of Liolyn's arousal. Those contractions felt good along her tongue and lips. Her spade dripped, needing its own attentions. She only needed to reach down with a single paw, kneading her dripping, plump lips before sinking four fingers inside. Mavin yelped through a contraction, tail twitching as she worked through a minor orgasm to Liolyn's major. The young woman's cunt gushing cum across Mavin's muzzle in a series of sharp clenches. The scent of that fluid a thing she savored, that heightened the vixen's pleasure.

Liolyn, hips and legs numb, went slack when her climax released her from its grip. Mavin wasted time moving up. Panting, sharply, she growled, "That's... hah, my good girl." She palmed one of Liolyn's breasts and nuzzled into the collar of feathers around Liolyn's neck. She nipped Liolyn there and she gasped. Mavin moved her knee between Liolyn's thigh, nudging it against her abused cunt, and the young woman's body humped against it, reacting in a needy daze.

Mavin kissed the side of her beak. Licked her cheek, then along one of her feline-like ears. Liolyn, weak all over, still tried her best to press herself into Mavin's every touch, knowing it's what the vixen wanted. What Liolyn needed.

Mavin slid her spade against Liolyn's thigh, and the gryphon moved it up, so that both women humped their sexes against each other. The languid motion of their bodies a simple way to edge each other further. Mavin snarled and nipped the tuft of Liolyn's ear. She wanted so badly to mark the girl. But she held back, settling for whispering in her ear, "I want a key to your room."

"W-what?"

"Any time you stay in this consulate you belong to me," Mavin growled. "When we're behind these walls, you're my pet, understand?"

"Mavin... I..."

"Mistress."

"Mistress..." Liolyn breathed the word, amazed at how hot it got her.

"That's my good girl," Mavin growled, body quaking a little as her own nethers flooded with heat. Something about Liolyn breathy voice as she called Mavin that satisfied urges she only dared to share now, "I wanted to do this to you from the moment I saw you. I knew I could make you my needy slut."

Liolyn wrapped arms and wings around her mistress and hugged her closer. She whined as another contraction fluttered through her. "I'll get you the key," she swore.

"Of course, you will, cause you need this, don't you?"

"Yes, mistress. I need this, I need you..."

Mavin sat up, about to switch positions when she heard the door open. Both women recoiled as Lyman called from around the vestibule, "Lady Alabaster? Prince Sirtas wished to ask how much longer you might need."

"Tell that flying serpent she'll be out later this evening--she has a meeting with me all day that she can't miss!" Mavin snapped.

"Oh, I see. I will let him know, Lady Corren."

Liolyn stared up at Mavin. Spell broken, she cocked her head and asked, "All day?"

Mavin smirked and reached down, caressing her cheek. "My dear Lily, I have a lot of fantasies I've wanted to explore with you. Your prince can wait, right now your mistress needs to make up for lost time."

Flustered, Liolyn muttered, "What have I gotten myself into?"

"Ah-ah, this was your idea, dear." Mavin leaned in and licked her on the beak. "No backing out now. Although, I suspect you don't mind me ravaging you for a while longer."

"As-ah..." Liolyn gasped as Mavin's paw brushed across her sex again. She took a breath and tried again, already melting into the vixen's touch, "As long as we can stop to eat at some point."

"Oh, believe me dear, I'm going to give you plenty to eat later. I just want to make you squirt first."

"Gods... Mavin..."

***

Liolyn toyed with the three, small braids woven into her black curls and tied with violet ribbon that had been in her desk. Mavin had put them there after brushing out Liolyn's hair, whispering in her ear, "In Vulp, we wear these when we want people to know we're taken. I know you have your dragons, dear, but for any biped I want them to see these and know your mine."

"Do you do this to every girl you bed?" Liolyn had asked, quietly imagining a whole bevy of bipeds walking around with these small braids.

"Only the really special ones," Mavin had answered. "You're the first in years, my lovely Lily."

Thinking of that sultry whisper in her ear made Liolyn quiver as she retold the story of her afternoon to Rothishel and Sirtas. She now reclined against Rothishel's shoulder, the smaller dragon curled around her in a cozy embrace, tail twined around one of Liolyn's legs, foreleg hooked over her lap, neck wrapped around her. His scales held a pleasant warmth against her bare fur. She'd stripped when they got back to the spare room in Sirtas' lab, but only so she could have as much of her feathers and fur against the scales of her lovers. She'd made no moves to seduce either Sirtas and Rothishel, but the smell of dragon musk lingered in the air as evidence of what they had gotten up to while Liolyn spent her afternoon with Mavin.

"Frankly, I'm relieved," Sirtas said with a pleased rumble. Crowded on the bed with them, he lay spooning Rothishel's flank while his neck draped across the smaller Finn's body, head resting next to Liolyn. "When Lyman told me you two were having it out, I almost barged back there until he explained further."

Liolyn giggled and reached down to run her fingers behind Rothishel's earfrills. Just around the holes of his ear the scales softened, tender in a way Liolyn had learned the dragon liked to have stroked and scritched. "It was... well, she is wonderful."

"Did you actually give her the keys to your room?" Rothishel asked, tilting his chin up to lean into Liolyn's touch.

"I told Lyman to make her a copy."

Both dragons erupted in throaty, hissing laughter at that.

"What? I couldn't exactly go back on what she asked." Liolyn scowled at them, ears standing tall.

"Of course not, dearest," Rothishel said.

"I just worry you won't be getting much sleep from now on," Sirtas teased.

"If I needed to sleep she would let me," Liolyn swore. "She can respect my needs."

"Mmm, so long as she can share your bed?" Rothishel asked.

Liolyn muttered, "Lately it's been getting hard to sleep without sharing one. So, I don't think I'll mind the company."

Sirtas gave her a quick nuzzle with his snout and said, "We trust you, Lily, but if I do notice bags under your eyes Mavin will force my paw."

"Will she now?"

Sirtas nodded and said, "Yes, I'll have to make you my full-time concubine, keep you here with me. For your health, of course."

Rothishel snorted. "Your sister would never let that fly long as long as you don't have a wife."

Sirtas grumbled and lifted his head, looking down at Liolyn. "Fine, then I'll just have to make her my wife."

Liolyn's beak opened but words did not follow. She felt Rothishel shift, both dragons watching her expectantly. She cleared her throat and asked, "Is that... was that a marriage proposal, prince?"

As if they had this all planned, Rothishel interjected, "Of course, we know the houses would never accept a biped. Unless Sirtas had a soul bond with them."

"That's true," Sirtas said, eyes still locked with Liolyn's. "We'd have to make a soul bond before any sort of announcement."

Heart pounding hard in her chest, she muttered, "The... the Crown will have to send an ambassador to replace me if we do that."

Both males erupted in more hissing laughter. Flustered, Liolyn jumped up and stomped to the edge of the bed, wheeling on them both before she demanded, "When did you two plan this?"

"Today," Sirtas said, eyes smiling. He exchanged an affectionate nuzzle with Rothishel before he added, "After our trip to the mausoleum, I wanted to make the same commitment as you two. In this life or the next, the Finn must be freed. And besides," Sirtas licked Rothishel's cheek before he said to Liolyn, "If you both would have me, then I want to be your soulmate."

Liolyn hadn't even dared to imagine a better outcome with her draconic lovers. She asked Rothishel, "And... you want this too, love?"

Rothishel nodded and said up to Sirtas, "I don't know if it's our connection, or just fate, Lily, but I already feel a strong bond with him. I'm not afraid of things going wrong in the future, so, yes, I want this."

"And I was serious about the marriage proposal, too," Sirtas said with a little smile.

"Tssch! You better have been!" Liolyn snapped. "And don't think that just because I'm a biped I expect a humble ceremony, either, Prince Cirrus!"

Flashing his long teeth in a grin, Sirtas said, "All my wealth wouldn't do you justice, Lily."

Throat stinging, she struggled to hold back tears. "Yes... well... it's a start."

Rothishel asked, "Are you really going to stand over there and just cry?"

"Gods, shush, you," Liolyn snapped before she charged into both dragons. She did cry then, joy overwhelming her, as she let herself dissolve into loving embrace of both her draconic lovers.