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The Seduction of Seleste

From the world of the mating season

The Royal Tits

Chapter 72

Everyone stared in shock, and Kitari hadn't seen it coming either: he slowly looked down. Ribbons of blood spilled out over Inden's spear. Inden looked him hard in the eye, and grabbing the fox's shoulder, he pulled him close along the shaft. Kitari gurgled and blood spilled over his lip. He looked into Inden's eyes as the light died in his face, then he suddenly sagged forward. He was dead.

Inden ripped his spear free and shoved Kitari's body away. The fox collapsed to the grass like a ragdoll, his once-arrogant eyes staring blankly at the sky. Paws shaking, Inden turned away.

Everyone stood in silence. Keme didn't think he could move or breathe. But he was glad. Kitari had gotten exactly what he deserved!

After a long pause, Avi's ears flattened and she went to Inden. He suddenly turned to her, and as if he was yielding, he leaned down and allowed her arms to enfold him. His shoulders shook, and Keme's ears pricked forward as he realized Inden was crying. Inden - crying! The silent male was always so grim, so tough, so _strong._Keme had never once guessed how sensitive he was beneath all of it. Watching as Avi shushed him and stroked his mane, Keme realized at last that Inden was crying for Wynn. All his anger, all his rage, had been for Wynn. LiAnh was right: Inden still loved Wynn.

Keme glanced around at the others. Zee nodded grimly at Kitari's staring body, but Mio watched Inden's shaking shoulders miserably. LiAnh looked as angry as Keme felt: he stood with his entire body tense, staring with blazing bright eyes at the fox's corpse. Seleste stood with one paw on her breasts, watching Inden weep with her ears flattened sympathetically. Keeno braced himself against the wall and watched Inden, his brown eyes shining with tears that startled Keme.

"Keme," Kilyan called, and Keme looked over to see his father standing at the gates. Kilyan looked so tired and miserable standing there with his spear. He gestured for Keme to come. "See if you can open these."

Keme nodded. He moved past the others to with Kilyan before the gates, and together, they gazed up at them. The gates were twinkling gold and overgrown so thickly with vines, a battering ram may never have broken them in. Trees had also wound their branches around the gold bars, and the foliage crowding on the other side obscured anything that lay beyond. For all they knew, Keme would open the gates, only to have a mountain of trees collapse on them. Anticipating such a thing, Keme cautioned everyone to stand back, then he grabbed the gold bars, and he pulled.

Unfortunately, Keme was right. All the trees and foliage that had attached to the gates tumbled out when Keme ripped them open. The gates actually came off their hinges and were smashed to the ground beneath the trees that came with them, pulled up roots-and-all by Keme's powerful heave. Keme managed to roll out of the way in time and only suffered a whack on the ass from a tree branch as it came down. The slam was earth shattering, and for several seconds, the group stood jarred as leaves, dust, and flower petals swirled through the air.

Coughing and waving their paws to clear the dust, the group moved cautiously across the fallen gates and the fallen trees attached to them. Kilyan and Inden helped Avi clamor over several tree trunks, and Keme lifted Seleste easily by the waist as he helped her climb. Mio was last to make it over the mountain of foliage and twisted gold bars. Swiping in frustration with his spear, he forced his way down through a mass of reaching tree roots, got caught, and was helped out of the mess by Zee.

As they dusted themselves off, the group found they were standing at the end of a street paved with white stones. The street was enormously wide and spread away for miles, disappearing between white houses and reaching trees. Keme's mouth fell open. It was a place of true beauty, with buildings the likes of which he'd never even dreamt of.

The buildings were made of a polished white stone, and the many little houses that spread away up the street were circular, with domed roofs capped in gold. The buildings towered against the blue sky, snaking with flowered vines and pressed with foliage. Green plant life crowded in on all sides, obscuring mysterious towers and open pavilions. Keme could hear the rushing of water, and birds were singing, looping across the cloudless sky.

In the very distance, on a green hill, a great palace towered over all. Its white stone twinkled in the sunlight, its many domed towers reached for the heavens. Even from this distance, Keme could see towering pillars, statues, balconies . . . this was the life of slow beauty and peace that his sister had chosen. This paradise.

But one thing remained. Miras Eii was so . . . silent. The usual sounds of pups crying, children laughing, merchants haggling, and adults chatting . . . it was acutely absent. It sent a chill through Keme's fur: all they could hear . . . was water and birdsong.

"This is _so_wrong," Keeno said.

Everyone looked over at Keeno. He was standing over a fox's slouching body. The fox sat slumped against the wall with his spear tucked in his arm and his head down. Flowers had grown over him, half-obscuring him from view. After a close inspection, Keeno straightened up to announce that the fox was alive. He was simply . . . sleeping.

Sleeping! Keme drew near to see for himself. The fox was indeed sleeping. He wore a white skirt trimmed in gold, and Keme thought it wasn't unlike the leather skirts worn by Inden, Mio, and Zee as royal protectors. His fur was ruddy red, and he had at least three tails, all of them tipped in white. His long black lashes fluttered gently as he slept. He was more than obviously a guard. What the hell. Why was he sleeping? Keme was half-ready to rip the flowers and vines off him when Mio spoke.

"One over here too," Mio said.

Keme looked over. Mio had found the other gate guard. This one was wearing an identical white skirt trimmed in gold, but he also had a dagger with a gold hilt on his hip. His spear lay near him on the polished white stones, also trimmed in gold and dangling with blue feathers. He slept gently against the wall, and he'd been there so long, vines had snaked over his chest, holding him in place.

Kilyan and Avi exchanged worried glances.

"The last time I spoke to Sylas," Keme said, "he said nothing about everyone falling asleep! I thought it was just the frost wolves who . . ."

"Things have obviously gotten worse," Kilyan said grimly. "We need to get to the palace. Fast."

Following Kilyan's lead, the group went carefully up the great white street, gazing around in amazement, silent as the dismal truth washed over them: the entire kingdom was sleeping. It became apparent the further in they traveled. Foxes slept in the very streets, having toppled to the ground as they were walking home. Peering in windows afforded them the sight of foxes sleeping at tables, their meals long rotten and swarming with flies. The rare fox actually slept in a bed, but many were slouched over in the midst of daily activities, covered in flowers and vines, dozing gently. Staring at them, Keme finally realized that the plant life had a mind of its own: it had purposely wound around the foxes to catch them as they fell, to prop them up, to hold them in place. The vines snaking over everything were as tender in their cradling as a mother with her pup.

The group stopped when they came to a small pillar holding a basin of water. The pillar and its basin stood in the center of the street and were as white as every other structure in the kingdom. The basin reminded Keme a great deal of the Mirror of Pavati. He went to it and peered inside. The water was a twinkling blue. He was suddenly very thirsty. There were basins all over the place just like this one, but this new one was the only basin they had seen standing in the middle of the street. He supposed it must've been for drinking like the others. Maybe it was magically self-replenishing. That seemed likely.

"I'm suddenly parched," Keeno said and shook his empty canteen.

Peering into the water, Keme swallowed hard. He was suddenly so thirsty. So why wasn't he drinking? Everything in his body was telling him to drink, but his head was screaming stop. He saw Seleste's reflection appear in the water opposite his, then her slender paw began to reach -

"Don't!"

They all looked up. A fox skidded down from a tree with a soft crash. She landed lightly on her feet, flowers and branches clinging to her mane. She was beautiful . . . and butt naked. She ran to them with bouncing breasts and pink nipples rolling. She was rusty red, but her mane and paws were white, and a white stripe cut up her belly and over her breasts. Her mane and tail streamed out behind her as she flew to them, and her face was the perfect picture of panic.

Zee stepped forward and lifted his spear. "Stop! Who are you!"

The little fox skidded to a halt. She appeared to be very young. She gazed at each of them in disgust and said indignantly, "I might ask you the same thing, mortals! You simply waltz in here like you own the place and ask me who I am?" Her pink nose crinkled up angrily.

"Well, who _are_you?" LiAnh said in amusement.

Keme glanced over at his brother and did a double take: LiAnh was staring at the little fox as if no one else was there.

The fox looked at LiAnh as if he should go jump off a cliff. "I just saved you mortal fools from drinking water that is poison to all except foxes - don't test me."

LiAnh lifted his brows and grinned, and Keme got the unhappy feeling that LiAnh wanted nothing more than to test her.

"We've come to help," Kilyan said patiently.

The fox looked at Inden's bloody spear and lifted her brows. "Have you? That's fox blood on that spear. Looks like you've come here to kill. Maybe I should have let you drink that water. Maybe I should kill you now." She held out one paw and it started to glow.

Keme groaned. He'd forgotten all the foxes had their weird little powers. . . . He hoped to god she wasn't about to summon another rabid super lion.

"Avi mother of fox queen," Avi said at once. "If fox want her queen well again, please - take us to her!"

The fox looked at Avi and her face softened. "You . . . you are of an elder tribe," she said and her careful eyes noted the bulge in Avi's skirt. Her paw stopped glowing and she let it drop.

Avi drew herself up proudly. "Yes. Fox stand before shemale queen. Take Avi to her daughter!"

The fox nodded and bowed, so gracious and humble now that LiAnh laughed at her. She shot LiAnh a dirty look and he laughed again. She stuck her paws on her hips. "What is your problem, mortal!"

"I don't know," LiAnh answered, "but I have a feeling you're going to tell me."

The fox made a face. "Ugh!" She looked at Avi. "Forgive me, your grace, but are all those of the younger so inconceivable?"

"The younger?" repeated Keeno curiously.

The fox eyed him, as if she was considering whether or not it would anger Avi if she simply ignored him. Finally, she answered grudgingly, "The younger. Those of the younger tribes. Shemales were of the ancient tribes - the elder tribes."

"Ah," said Keeno, as if it didn't matter either way. He lifted his canteen and rattled it. "Now on to the second question: is there non-poison water for non-foxes?"

The fox frowned. "No."

"So . . . who _are_you?" Mio insisted.

The fox frowned again, as if she loathed all the questions.

Mio shrugged. "Well, after everything that just happened with Kitari --"

The fox's white ears pricked forward. "Kitari!" she squeaked and leapt on the spot. She glanced around, terrified. "He's here? Where!" She took a step back, and Keme thought she might dart up her tree again.

"He's dead," Kilyan cautioned her.

The fox placed a relieved paw on her breasts and her ears went flat as she sighed. "But . . ." she looked from face to face. "How? Surely, you didn't simply . . ." She looked at Inden's spear as it dawned on her. ". . . run him through!"

"Surely, I did," Inden said shortly.

Keme almost laughed. It was the first time he'd ever heard Inden make what could have been a joke. But he looked over at the winged male to find he wasn't smiling, not even sarcastically. Inden was cold-faced and angry. He seemed eager to be moving on, and Keme had to remind himself that Wynn was up in the palace. It was so much easier not to think of her at all after what Kitari had told them . . .

"A powerful being like that?" The fox looked at Inden in disbelief, then her eyes went to Seleste, and she nodded darkly. "Ah. You had help." She sneered at Seleste, "How did you get here, frost wolf?"

Seleste stiffened. LiAnh put his arm around her at once. "Don't talk to my wife that way!"

The fox sputtered. "Wife!" she managed at last. Her eyes darted over Seleste, biting and bitter. "You're joking, surely --"

"Stop saying surely," Zee snapped irritably. "And tell us who you are. I've half a mind to run you through. We can make our own way to the palace --"

"Foolish mortal," sneered the fox and rolled her eyes. "Like little children, stumbling blind into mud. The palace is eight days' journey from here, twelve if you don't know the way. You've no idea how big Miras Eii _is._I can take you there." She drew herself up, which made no difference, she was so short. She bowed reverently to Avi as she announced, "My name is Nizhoni and I am royal nursemaid."

Keme looked at her breasts, so milky white under that stripe. And her pink nipples were so _big._A nursemaid. He looked away and tried not to imagine sucking those milkers. Glancing over at LiAnh, Mio, and Zee, he knew they were experiencing the same silent struggle.

"I serve your daughter the queen," Nizhoni went on, oblivious to their stares. Her bright eyes were fixed on Avi and no one else. She spoke with a sort of blushing joy, as if serving in the palace were the equivalent to ecstasy. "I served the royal family for many years, in fact. I served the honorable King Sylander before he took Queen Wynonna for mate."

"Sylander!" laughed Keme. "Seriously?"

Nizhoni looked at him indignantly. "Do not mock my king! Yes," she admitted stiffly, "Sylander is his true name, though he has always preferred Sylas. I served him as a child when he lived in the palace. I was his nursemaid then."

Keme's brows shot up. "What?"

"But how?" laughed LiAnh incredulously and waved a paw at her. Nizhoni looked far too young have to been in the palace thirty odd years ago. The little fox could have been fifteen or sixteen!

Nizhoni folded her arms impatiently. "Do you know nothing? Sylas chose to age at a mortal pace. Otherwise, he would still be a child now."

Keme and LiAnh exchanged glances: Nizhoni used to breastfeed Sylas. They looked at her big soft tits again, and Keme thought, Lucky bastard.

Keeno coughed. "Well. Take us to the palace, oh royal tits."

Nizhoni colored up and she scowled.

"Keeno," Kilyan said in exasperation.

Nizhoni turned away, her back stiff. "Follow me, if you please." Then she made off -- butt flexing, hips and tail swaying -- at such a quick pace, it was hard to follow.

But they did follow. They followed as she went back to her tree, running along on her toes like a deer. Her big breasts, heavy with milk, wobbled each time she took a stride. Keme couldn't stop staring, and when Seleste scowled at him, he finally dropped his eyes.

Once at the tree, the little fox rose up on tip-toe and called up into the branches, "Aayan! Your highness, it's alright. Come down - come to me! Your family has come for you!"

"Aayan? He's up there?" Kilyan said sharply. He exchanged glances with Avi and they peered up into the tree branches.

Keme peered up as well. He smiled when he saw a familiar white head peep down at them over the twisting reach of a green, moss-covered branch. His head burst through the flowers in a toss of petals and he peered at them with his flat, inscrutable eyes. Keme held down a shudder: the kid was so emotionless.

Nizhoni smiled sweetly and opened her arms. Her big breasts jiggled as she called, "It's alright. You can come down now!"

The child's expression didn't change, but seeing Nizhoni's open arms - or perhaps her softly bouncing breasts - he began to climb down. They watched as he scurried down the tree. When he made it to the bottom, he leapt from the trunk and into Nizhoni's arms. Keme was surprised when she laughed girlishly as she caught him. He'd never counted on hearing such a cute laugh from such a grumpy girl.

Kilyan stared at the child in wonder. "I - I never thought I'd get to see him," he told Nizhoni. "He wasn't supposed to be born for a hundred years!" He took a step forward. "Aayan?" he said gently. "I'm Kilyan. I'm your grandfather."

Aayan looked at Kilyan with his emotionless eyes, then buried his face in Nizhoni's neck.

"Aayan, don't be rude," Nizhoni scolded. "This is your family!"

The child clung tightly to her and did not raise his head. He squeezed his eyes shut, as if he could drown them out, make them all go away. Yup. Nothing about him had changed at all, Keme noted.

Keeno shook his head. "But how is it you and the kid didn't fall under the spell?"

"Aayan already under a spell," Avi said quietly.

Kilyan looked at her quickly. "What!"

Nizhoni nodded sadly and hefted the child on her round hip. "Yes, her majesty is correct. Aayan was born while the spell was already in effect. Her highness the queen was sleeping when she was forced into labor by a nightmare. I and the midwives, we did our best but . . . he ages like a mortal child, and he can not speak. He will not speak."

A nightmare. Kitari. Keme seethed. "So a fox child . . .?" he said slowly.

"Would still be an infant in swaddling, even after six years," Nizhoni confirmed and nodded. "We do not age as mortals do. We age very slowly, though we can choose differently should the need arise - as you have seen with his highness the king," she said to Kilyan and Avi. "But Aayan . . . it is not his choice to age this way. He simply . . . ahhh," her voice faded into a sigh, and they watched as Aayan suddenly lifted her breast in one small paw and carefully suckled.

Keme swallowed hard and tried to look away, but he could not. He could hear Nizhoni sighing, and when he looked at her, her eyes were hooded with pleasure. Aayan's small paw actually groped and massaged her as his careful lips pulled. He sucked and smacked, and Keme couldn't believe it when his lips paused and his pink tongue carefully rolled against her, lapping away the drips of milk that left wet trails in her fur.

Nizhoni avoided everyone's eye as it was happening, and glancing around, Keme could see the others were just as uncomfortable: Aayan had to be six years old, and he was still on the teat.

Finally, LiAnh said what everyone was thinking, "Isn't he too old to. . . .?"

Nizhoni's face smoothed into a solemn expression and she lifted her eyebrows, as if daring them to judge her prince. "I am the servant of my prince. What he wants of me is not to be questioned. I shall be his nursemaid so long as he commands it."

"Even when he's married with six pups?" LiAnh returned in amusement.

Nizhoni blushed a little. "Even then, master wolf," she said stiffly. "Even then."

Keme felt Seleste elbow him and reluctantly turned his eyes away from Aayan's pulling lips and tasting tongue. The sound of his sucking, however, was enough to start something below his waist. He heard Nizhoni gasp and sigh again and wanted to disappear on the spot.

Kilyan cleared his throat, and Keme was amused by the strain in his father's voice when he spoke again. "So we know Aayan is already under a spell. What about you? How did you avoid it? And how did you get so far from the palace?"

Straining to hold Aayan in one slender arm as he suckled, Nizhoni fumbled in her mane. Keme noticed for the first time that a part of it was pinned back, and it tumbled prettily around her face when she pulled a silver comb from it. A butterfly was on the comb, with bright green jewels for eyes. "His majesty the king gave me this and told me to run," she told Kilyan. "He gave me the prince, said that I should run for the gates and get out, find you. I was to meet you at the sea of ice, but by the time I got away, the gates were overgrown. My magic was too weak to . . . to really do anything. The comb keeps me from sleeping, but I have no powers . . ."

"So you were bluffing before," LiAnh said with a laugh.

Nizhoni frowned at him. "Yes."

"What happened to Sylas?" Seleste asked her. "Do you know?"

Nizhoni looked at Seleste, her eyes dancing with disgust. "The slave deigns to speak. Tch. How come _you_to be here? You should be out on the ice, perhaps dead like the others."

"They aren't dead," LiAnh snapped. "And don't talk to her that way!"

Nizhoni looked at him witheringly. "Or what?"

LiAnh shrugged. "I throw you over my knee? Do you know who you're talking to? The queen you serve is my sister." He pointed at himself as he was speaking, his bright eyes furious. "We are the family of her royal highness, so watch your mouth!"

Nizhoni's breasts heaved angrily, and a startled Aayan stopped suckling. He licked his lips of the milk and stared at LiAnh, curious by his anger. It was the first time he seemed to take an interest in any of them. Keme was startled when Aayan climbed down from Nizhoni's hip, and taking her small paw, he placed it in LiAnh's. LiAnh and Nizhoni stared at their clasped paws, then looked at each other and their faces softened. But the moment only lasted that - a moment. They both suddenly scowled and shook themselves free.

Keme wanted to laugh: it was so obvious LiAnh and Nizhoni wanted each other, even a child could see it.

"The sun is setting," Nizhoni observed and hugged herself, not looking at anyone.

"Yes," agreed Kilyan, "we should find shelter for the night. Is there anywhere you could take us?"

Nizhoni bowed to him reverently. "Follow me."

They went along behind the little fox, the dusk casting long shadows around them. The sunset was breathtaking in Miras Eii, and it seemed to go on forever. How long did they walk? An hour? Two? And still, it remained on the rim of the sky, sending its pink hues across the underbellies of the clouds.

Glancing around, Keme knew Nizhoni was looking for a specific house. The ones they passed were overgrown with vines and bushes. Keme knew he could have easily torn them aside, but for some reason, he felt terrible about the very idea. Now that he knew the plant life here was conscious, the last thing he wanted to do was hurt it. At one point, they stopped to rest, and a vine curled up between his thighs and caressed his belly. The vine stroked so near his penis, he knew it was a flirtatious gesture, and brushed it away as he felt his face getting hot.

They finally came to the house Nizhoni wanted. It was a large white home with a domed roof capped in gold like many of the others. The stonework was breathtaking, as was the entrance of the home. The front room had stairs that wound away on either side, like ripples in a pond. Beneath the stairs stood an open doorway, which led away into a dining hall. In the front room itself, a great stone basin stood in the midst of elegantly carved couches and chairs. White ceramic pots hung by gold chain from the ceiling, draping with flowers and herbs and their thick aroma. Shelves stood against the walls, laden with books and trinkets, and on small corner tables, more books and small pots containing plants. This was a sitting room, where the occupants of the house smoked, talked, drank, and probably played the great harp that stood on a dais in the corner.

As they filed inside with their mouths open, Nizhoni explained that she and Aayan had been living in the home since having fled the palace. She had moved all the sleeping occupants to the wine cellar, where they slept on the floor, oblivious to the intruders who ate from their store and slept in their beds.

"I thought I'd try to get out the gates again," Nizhoni said as she went to the great basin. Keme saw her strike a light, then she lit the firewood within and flames leapt from the basin, lighting the room and sending dancing shadows across the smooth cream-colored walls. "I mean, if you ask the trees nicely, sometimes they move."

LiAnh snorted, and Keme knew he was having a hard time imagining Nizhoni asking anyone to do anything nicely.

"Then suddenly," went on the nursemaid, "the gates came crashing down! I took Aayan and we ran and ran, then climbed a tree."

LiAnh took a seat on one of the couches. He watched her derisively. "You ran? Who did you think it was?"

"How would I know?" Nizhoni snapped. "With the magic gone, anyone can get in here! Anyone! Perhaps some wolves had gotten it in their heads to take the kingdom in its vulnerable state." She folded her arms and regarded LiAnh irritably. Behind her, Aayan peered around her hip as he studied LiAnh.

Keme saw the others taking seats on the couches and in the chairs, groaning as they set down spears and dropped off traveling packs. Mio rolled his neck and shoulders, and Zee peered suspiciously about the room. Keeno tossed back his head and drank the last drops from his canteen. Kilyan and Avi sat on a couch together, and Keme smiled to see his father massage his mother's weary shoulders.

Seleste sat on the couch beside LiAnh and Keme sat beside her. He thanked her quietly when she helped him remove his traveling pack. Her brows pressed together anxiously and her small paws started massaging up his back. Keme closed his eyes and smiled as the tired ache rolled off him.

"You never let me look at you," Seleste scolded quietly. "After the lion attacked, I didn't get to . . ."

"I'm fine," Keme assured her in a whisper. He felt his heart flutter when Seleste smiled warmly at him, then kissed him without hesitating on the lips.

Nizhoni watched all this with lifted brows, then looked at LiAnh, as if she was waiting for his reaction. LiAnh folded his arms and regarded her coldly, daring her to say a word. She smirked at him and looked away, but she froze when she saw Inden. She just stood staring, as if she was really seeing him for the first time.

"I. . ." Nizhoni tilted her head and studied Inden carefully. "I think I know you."

Inden grunted and didn't look up. Keme could tell he was loath to be stopping anywhere, even for the night, but he was tired as well. He flexed his weary wings and dropped his traveling pack near the wall. Looking closer, Keme noticed there were flowers hanging out his pack. He smiled: Inden had remembered his promise to Dezzira.

"I know you because . . ." Nizhoni shook her head. "Don't you want to know how I know you?"

Inden grunted indifferently again.

Mio grinned when Nizhoni looked perplexed. "He doesn't talk much," he said, jerking his head at Inden.

One paw on her bosom, Nizhoni studied Inden's muscular back and cocked an impressed eyebrow. "So I see. But I know him because her majesty always spoke of him so fondly."

Inden paused to hear this. His ears pricked forward, but he did not turn to face the room.

LiAnh snorted. "Really? That's nice. Don't listen to her, Inden."

"LiAnh," Kilyan scolded softly. He was wearily rubbing the back of his neck. He frowned at his son past the fire.

LiAnh scowled. "What? We all know what she did to Inden. Why should he care if she was gushing about him behind her husband's back --!"

"Let it go, son," Kilyan said firmly. "What happened between Wynn and Inden is none of our business." He glanced anxiously at Inden, but the winged prince only cleared his throat and grimly set about stuffing the flowers back in his traveling pack.

Inden had a wife and child at home. The fact that he still cared about Wynn even while he was married with a family . . . Keme knew how guilty he probably felt. It wasn't as if he didn't have a wife of his own at home. He thought about Iniwa all the time and hoped that she was happy in the care of his family. He'd picked flowers for her back in the northern forest - some of the little red ones. He pressed them in his bedroll to let them shrivel up and dry out. Later when they were dry, he put them in a pouch to give to her, and she would sprinkle the dried petals in the laundry to make it smell of the flowers. Females liked stuff like that.

"There are beds upstairs," Nizhoni told them to change the subject. There are many guestrooms, in fact. Aayan and I use the first one on the left. Feel free to use the pantry. The food is safe to eat in Miras Eii, just don't drink the water --" She looked at Keme and said wearily, "Please."

Keme smiled. "Duly noted."

Nizhoni bowed to Avi and said sweetly, "Sleep well, your majesty. Come, Aayan, it is time for bed," she said to the child and took his paw. Keme watched as she and the boy went slowly up the stairs together.

Keeno decided that he was going to hit the panty, and with a hungry Mio and Zee in his wake, he limped through the doorway to the dining hall and the kitchen that was no doubt beyond. Kilyan and Avi announced they were going to bed, and after bidding everyone goodnight, they went up the stairs as well. Grim and silent, Inden went with them, and Seleste kissed Keme's cheek before following.

It took Keme a moment to realize he was alone with LiAnh. He was torn between going to the kitchen to eat or simply going to bed. The looks Seleste had been giving him said he might have some alone time with her if he hurried to bed now . . . "What?" Keme said when he caught LiAnh staring.

LiAnh looked away. "Nothing."

Keme shook his head. "Uh uh. I know those looks well enough to know when it's something."

"It's nothing!" LiAnh insisted irritably and flattened his ears.

Keme laughed. "Fine. So what's up with you and the royal cow?"

LiAnh stared at him. "What! Nothing is - up . . ."

"But it's going to be soon."

"Shut up!"

Keme laughed. "Look, either tell me what's on your mind or we talk about Nizhoni. Those are your choices."

"Or I could go to bed."

"Except you're not going because you want to talk," Keme said wisely.

"I just wanted . . ." LiAnh hesitated and eyed Keme. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and rubbing his paws together. After a pause, he pressed the tips of his fingers in a steeple and spoke, "Keme, you told me you arrived at my village during the uprising."

"Yes."

"You saw the fires, heard the screaming children, and what was your first instinct?"

"Turn tail and hike it outta there?" Keme said with a shrug. "Is there a point to this interrogation?"

LiAnh shook his head. "Didn't it ever occur to you to help anyone down there? Many children died that day. . . . and many wives." LiAnh's face darkened, and Keme knew he was thinking of his wife.

"No," Keme admitted. "It didn't occur to me. It occurred to me to survive. That's what life in the jungle has taught me, LiAnh. Heroism will get you killed."

LiAnh cocked an eyebrow and eyed Keme quietly. "And you thought to be a chief once," he said at last. "The thought . . . _terrifies_me."

Keme laughed. "Well, you don't have to worry about it anymore. You're chief of the summer now."

LiAnh was silent, and he didn't speak for such a long time, Keme looked over at him. He was staring at the floor, his long lashes angled down. Keme saw his throat flex when he swallowed. LiAnh was a white version of Kilyan: the same handsome face, the same toned body and its powerful shoulders. He sat with his elbows on his knees, his thumbs cradling his chin as he frowned with thought.

"Keme," LiAnh said gently, patiently, "a good chief puts the needs of his wolves before everything else, including himself. You had the power to make a difference that day. Hell, you could have done better than I. And be_cause_ you have this power, you have a responsibility to use it in service to others --"

"The hell I do," Keme said at once and snorted. He looked at LiAnh in amazement as it dawned on him. "LiAnh, are you . . . grooming me to be chief!"

LiAnh glanced at Keme sheepishly, as if he'd hoped Keme wouldn't realize. "I . . ." He cast his eyes down again and whispered, "Maybe."

"LiAnh!"

"I was just thinking . . . it's a long way back and --"

Keme grabbed his shoulder, cutting him off. "Nuh uh," he said firmly. "You're coming back with us. End of discussion."

Keme got up and moved toward the stairs. As he was climbing up, he glanced back at LiAnh. His brother sat before the fire alone, his paws clasped under his chin as he watched the flames. His bright eyes glittered with sadness, and somehow or other, Keme got the unhappy feeling that it wasn't the end of the discussion at all.