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The Last Shemale Queen

_A sequel to The Seduction of Seleste _

Glorious Day

Chapter 37

Achai looked out the window. Sometimes he missed the trees in Miras Eii. The trees outside the fox kingdom were dead. Or sleeping. He couldn't decide which.

"Achai," Seleste called behind him. "Come here, honey. Let me fix your mane before they come --"

Achai frowned and didn't move. He was sixteen summers old, standing in the throne room of his father's hut in the summer village. Keme and Seleste sat on their thrones. They were awaiting the arrival of Chief Honiahaka and his daughter Princess Atian.

Achai and Princess Atian were getting married.

"Achai . . ." Seleste repeated sadly when Achai refused to turn from the window. In her lap, a pup giggled.

Nidwai sat in Seleste's lap, a small black female pup with gray eyes who had been born to Seleste and Keme three years before. Achai had hoped against hope that Nidwai would be a boy. Then he could run away - run away like Tala and leave his younger sibling with the weight of tradition!

Keme -- who had been wiggling his finger in Nidwai's fat fist - frowned and barked at Achai, "You have exactly two seconds to obey your mother. One!"

"Keme . . ." Seleste said miserably.

"No," Keme said at once. "You had twelve years to yell at him. Now it's my turn - I said get over here!"

Achai gritted his teeth and obeyed. He and Keme had been arguing all day. When the princess arrived, he was to be courteous and kind, polite, greet her father with deference - and never once complain. Or moan. Or swear. Keme and Seleste had been adamant that Achai hold back on the swearing.

Achai wanted to explode. Thinking of Zyanya out in the forest on patrol, a wave of sadness swept over him. Achai had wanted Zyanya to live in the grand hut with him, to be a royal protector, but his parents refused to allow such a thing. Achai was too bold, too unapologetic in his desires. He and Zyanya would have carried on in the typical manner of two horny teenagers, and Keme was not having that in his house. He also insisted that his attitude would have been the same had Zyanya been a female: summer wolves frowned severely upon premarital sex.

So instead of training to become a royal protector, when Zyanya turned fourteen he was moved to a small hut near the chief's hut, where Keme and Seleste could drop in on him frequently - and where Achai could drop in on him as well.

The first time they made love, they were fifteen. Achai had initiated it. He came to Zyanya in the night and crawled into his bed. They had only cuddled and kissed, occasionally touching each other under the sheets - things they had been doing for years. But Achai suddenly realized he wanted more. So he took more. Cautious Zyanya had been against it, but Achai always knew just how to get his way. Zyanya gave in and they made love: kisses and whispers in the dark, tender sucks and licks. And ever since . . . Achai had been able to think of little else.

Achai knew he wanted to marry Zyanya. He wanted to shock the village, defy the council, spit in all their faces. Everyone already knew about him anyway. His father's subjects were not fools. They saw him going in and out of Zyanya's hut in the night. They saw the way the boys looked at each other whenever Zyanya was invited to the chief's home for supper. They saw the loving brush of tails, blushes, burning looks of desire. They saw. And they knew.

What shocked Achai was that no one cared enough to do anything about it. No one called for his death or threatened Zyanya. When he pointed this out to his parents, Keme patiently explained that no one objected because Achai had never refused to take a female for wife. If he refused . . . things would change. Drastically.

Achai did not want to live that life. He didn't want to marry someone for the sake of an alliance and have his real love off on the side! The very thought burned him up inside.

Biting his lip, Achai leaned over his mother's throne and allowed her to smooth down his mane. He wore a brown feathered talisman on his upper arm, bright brown feathers were woven in his pale mane, and he still wore his father's necklace. Though after their arguments today, he was seriously thinking of ripping it off and hurling it out the window.

"It will be alright, honey," Seleste whispered to Achai as she reached up for him. She smiled. "So tall and handsome now, I can't believe it. Just like your father."

Achai averted his eyes guiltily. Seleste was crying. He had been mean to her simply because he was mad at Keme. He leaned down close and kissed her cheek. "Don't cry, Mom."

Seleste laughed sadly. "I can't help it. Sweetie, your father and I want you to be safe. This is for the best."

Achai stepped down from the dais and folded his arms. "Is it really?" he said sarcastically.

Keme frowned. "Don't you take that tone with your mother, boy."

Achai scowled and looked away. All those years he'd spent so proud that he was Keme's only son . . . now he hated it. Keme was so easy on his sisters - every female in the hut had Keme wrapped around her finger -- but he was hard on Achai. Achai could never step an inch out of line without Keme breathing down his neck . . .

"Your mother is right," Keme went on, watching Achai a little sadly. "Do you think our subjects would accept it if you married Zyanya? Do you truly think that?"

Achai flattened his ears and admitted grudgingly, "No."

"Then you are still my smart boy," Keme said with a nod. "You have no idea what it was like here before you were born, Achai. A prince who pulled the shit you're pulling with Zy would have been stoned in a heartbeat. The summer wolves have become tolerant enough to look the other way each time you step in that boy's hut."

Achai blushed a little, thinking of that dismal night when a furious Keme had caught him sneaking off to Zyanya. Keme had dragged him home and proceeded to lecture him to pieces about sex and his body and the dangers of disease. His father had been so horrified to realize his little boy had desires and was growing up.

God. If Keme had acted that way with him, he had to wonder what Keme was going to do when Moema started experimenting. She was already fourteen.

"What you are doing," Keme went on, "is paving the way for males like you in the future. If the summer wolves can accept a chief with a male lover, eventually they will accept a chief with a husband." Keme tilted his head and his green eyes softened. "Do you understand, my son? Zyanya can not marry you now. But perhaps one day, he can."

Seleste smiled at Keme and quietly took his paw. Keme hardly seemed to notice: his green eyes were fixed with worry on Achai.

"And then there's the alliance," Keme went on and pushed his mane back from his eyes. "If you were a tail chaser, straight, or fucked trees, you would have to marry this girl."

Achai held back a laugh and went to the window again. "But why? Tala already married Yato. There's their precious alliance right there."

"The alliance has not yet been honored," Keme answered, "because Tala and Yato will not rule here. You will. The agreement was that a child of the sun would rule here at the side of a child of the summer."

"So Tala is free to wander aimlessly and I have to marry some twat. I fucking get it."

Keme stiffened. "Achai --!"

"Achai, watch your language," Seleste said, placing a restraining paw on her husband's arm. "And stop sulking. You are acting like a child. And if you continue to do so, your father will spank you like a child."

Achai heaved a shuddering breath, his back to his parents as he looked out the window.

"Do you think of the feelings of Princess Atian at all?" Keme said quietly. "She does not want this marriage anymore than you, my son. Perhaps she has a lover of her own. Perhaps she wished to remain in the sun village, with her family and friends. But she has crossed the wastelands for you. You will be kind to her when she comes here. You will be the male I raised you to be."

"I raised him to be," Seleste corrected softly.

Keme laughed.

The room fell silent. And for a long time, only the sound of Nidwai's soft giggles could be heard as she played with Keme's fingers.

"Achai?" Seleste said anxiously after a while.

Achai's ears flattened again. "I want to marry Zyanya."

"Come here, Little Bear," Keme said wearily.

Achai came to his father's throne and knelt beside it. He was surprised with himself when he suddenly gave in and dropped his cheek on Keme's knee. His father curled his fingers in his mane, and Achai closed his eyes.

"Ouch! cried the Little Bear, falling on its bum . . ." Keme began to sing softly.

Achai laughed as his father's fingers continued to curl in his mane. Keme had sang the sang to him the first night they met. He awoke in the night and couldn't sleep, and Keme made the song up. After that, he was always Papa's Little Bear.

"Waaa! cried the Little Bear, sucking on its thumb," Achai sang back sadly.

Achai glanced up and saw his mother holding Nidwai close, smiling at them.

A moment later, and Iniwa burst through the curtain, happy tears streaming down her face. "They're here!"

"Great . . ." Achai muttered, getting to his feet. He froze when Iniwa spoke again.

"Tala and Yatokya - they're here!" Iniwa cried. Behind her came teenage Moema and eight-year-old Kima, who clung shyly to her mother's tail.

Keme and Seleste exchanged happy glances. They got up from their thrones, and Keme took little Nidwai onto his hip.

Everyone went outside and, sure enough, Tala and Yatokya were there with their armed guard. They stood in the village square, surrounded by excited summer wolves, as well as Keme's third wife Uruta and her daughters Bimisi and Dawae. The royal protectors pressed the crowds back and Achai smirked: there was always an _uproar_whenever beloved Tala returned to the village. The summer tribe worshipped her.

Tala and Yatokya had been traveling for three years now. On occasion, they returned to the summer village with stories of their adventures. Tala's old bedroom was always empty for them, and Keme always threw a great feast whenever they returned. This time, however, Achai knew the feast would be for him: Tala and Yatokya had returned to see his wedding.

"Outta my way, outta my way," Achai said playfully as he made his way to his sister. He was peeved when super strong Tala grabbed him in a hug that lifted him off his feet.

"Tala!" Achai cried, horrified. His jeweled circlet slipped down in his eyes. "You're embarrassin' me!"

Tala laughed and put her brother down. "Sorry, squirt," she said as Achai glowered and rubbed his sore side.

Achai was surprised to see his sister was dressed like a princess for once: she was clad in a long skirt and bandeau top, along with a hooded traveling shawl. Since she had begun traveling with Yatokya, she had insisted on wearing no skirt and dressing like a peasant, with her penis on display. To see her in princess attire for once was refreshing. The color of it was lovely as well: she was clad in an almost lime green color that brought out her eyes beautifully. Achai always appreciated color coordination . . .

Meanwhile, Yatokya was also dressed for the wedding: he wore a white ceremonial skirt, the likes of which he would have worn to a wedding in the sun village. He also wore feathered jewelry. Both of them did.

"Well, look at you," Yatokya teased. He gave Achai's mane a hard ruffle that was irritably smacked off. "Such a deep voice now. The last time we came home, I'd swear you were still squeaking."

"Fuck off," Achai said playfully, and Yatokya laughed.

"Ready to marry my little sister?" Yatokya said seriously. "I know you don't want to, Achai, but . . ."

Achai averted his eyes, not wanting to be lectured. He had to keep reminding himself that Atian was Yatokya's sister. He didn't want to displease Yatokya. If he wanted everyone to be happy, he was going to have to suck it up and smile.

Thankfully, before Yatokya could go on with his brotherly lecturing, Keme and Seleste came forward. Tala laughed and took little Nidwai from Keme, lifting her in the air until the three-year-old kicked and giggled.

Keme thumped Yatokya on the back in a one-armed hug. Seleste squeezed Tala's shoulder, kissed her cheek, and cupped Yatokya's face.

Everyone was laughing and happy. The village square was practically roaring with excitement. Achai glowered at all the decorations, the long tables that would be loaded with food tomorrow. The dais that was usually used by the council of elders had been trussed up for him to stand on beside Princess Atian. Instead of at the gazebo, the wedding was going to take place here, in the square. It was less muddy here after the recent rain, but the mud was still as bad.

"Stop sulking," said a voice. "You look like a girl."

Achai glanced over to find gray Moema beside him. Fourteen and beautiful, he thought she looked like a younger version of her mother Iniwa. She had the same incredibly long, straight mane and even had the big jugs. She stood wearing a dark green long-skirt and bandeau top. A choker of shells was around her throat, which Tala had given to her during one of her visits. The shells had supposedly come from the Island of Iszel, but Achai did not believe Tala and Yatokya had really dared to go back there.

"Shut up, Mo," Achai muttered, looking away.

Moema giggled.

Over the last four years, Achai and Moema had become close - much as Keme had predicted. When they were children, they played together. Now that they were teenagers, they bickered together. They stood side-by-side, watching as their happy family interacted around them, and Achai was not surprised when Moema quietly slipped her arm in his.

"It'll be alright, Achai. You'll see," Moema told him.

Achai shook his head. "Don't you get it, dummy? One day, you will have to marry too. We won't see each other anymore."

"Maybe I'll run away. Like Tala."

"Don't be stupid. Because I'm not Yato - I won't come find you."

Moema smiled. "Yes, you would."

A ripple of excitement tore through the crowd and Achai groaned: a group of warriors were approaching the village square, carrying a white curtained litter above their shoulders. Achai recognized Chief Honiahaka among the warriors.

"Looks like your blushing bride-to-be is here right on time," Moema muttered.

"Don't you have someone else to annoy?" Achai snapped. "Vicious bears, maybe. A horny mountain lion?"

"Be kind to her, Achai," Moema said seriously. "She's in the same boat as you."

Achai grunted indignantly when Moema shoved him in the back.

The litter-bearers had halted near the dais and were setting it down carefully. Achai's parents went to the sun chief to greet him, as did Tala and Yatokya. Achai hardly noticed them, however. His eyes were fixed on the litter, waiting for Princess Atian to step out.

A humble warrior reached his paw into the curtain. When he withdrew it, a young and beautiful princess was holding it. She glanced around curiously as she emerged, and she was so lovely, the surrounding crowds gasped in appreciation. The chatter rose higher.

Princess Atian straightened up, gracefully let go of the bowing warrior's paw, and hugged herself. She was wearing a weird garment that looked like a tablecloth at a first glance - only it was a shimmering vibrant white. Her loose gown practically glowed in the sunlight. Her fur was such a pale silver, it was almost white, and her mane was thick, curly, and fell to the small of her back. It reminded Achai of Yanaba's mane.

Achai made his way toward the princess, and as he went, the crowds rippled back to clear his way. The princess noticed him before he even reached her. She froze, and her eyes danced over him curiously. He could see long before he reached her that she had the same pale blue eyes as her father.

"Well, at least you're not ugly," Achai said when they were face to face.

Princess Atian made a face. "I keep a six inch dagger strapped to my thigh." She folded her arms. "Just so you know.'

Achai shrugged. "What the hell do I care? I have no intention of having sex with you."

Her eyes narrowed. "Nor I you."

"You can do me one better and sleep on the floor."

The princess stared at him, aghast. Spoilt girl. Princesses commanded so much respect in the sun village, she had probably never had a male talk to her this way in her entire life.

Princess Atian stepped close to him, arms folded. "Who do you think you're talking to? How dare you! They kept me from my mating season so I could marry a scrawny brat two years younger than me --!"

Achai couldn't help it. He pushed her.

"Ahhh!"

Princess Atian sat with a splat. Her beautiful white gown was now black with mud. A hush fell over the square, and everyone stared as the princess pulled her paws with soft sucks from the mud and slopped the gunk off. She was now a mud monster. Her pale eyes were burning furious holes through Achai, who stood over her, trying not to laugh.

Achai glanced at his parents: Seleste had a horrified paw to her mouth and Keme looked like he wanted to wring Achai's neck. Chief Honiahaka stood with his mouth open, and beside him, Yatokya had an identical expression.

Tala was the only one about to bust up laughing. Their eyes connected, and Achai suddenly grinned. His grin fell flat, however, when a wad of mud slapped him in the side of the head. He looked at the princess, who had gotten to her feet, smiling in triumph.

"You call that a hit?" Achai said. He slowly leaned down and gathered a huge black mud ball.

Atian's eyes popped. "Don't you dare hit me with that!"

Achai shook his head. "We've just begun!" He hurled the mud. The princess dodged it nimbly and stumbled into his arms. She almost slipped and fell on her face, but he caught her and steadied her. They peered into each other's eyes - then she clapped her muddy paw on his face.

"Argh!" Achai cried. His heart leapt with delight when the princess backed away, snorting with laughter. The angry warrior princess was gone. She was a giggling, snorting little girl, happy to play with a boy in the mud.

Achai suddenly grinned. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all. He hurled more mud. The princess took a hit and fell. He ran to help her - she pulled him down. They fell and slipped and slapped each other with mud, their laughter ringing to the sky, as around them, the summer wolves slowly began to laugh with them.

And it was a glorious day.