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Chapter 7

“Esmal… Esmal… you have a visitor…" Srei whispered. Esmal's whole body felt leaden. He did not have a headache or any nausea, but he still carried the heavy weight of a night of drunken sleep.

Esmal groaned and rolled away from Srei.

“Shkhanna's slit, boy, get out of that bed before I hurl the mattress and you out the window!" snapped a much gruffer voice.

The second voice was Zairsh. He had overslept.

Zairsh said, “You don't think I've not spent nights fucking and drinking since I started training you? I was still able to get my ass out of bed in the morning."

“Mmmf, take the morning off, Zairsh," Esmal grumbled even as he forced himself to sit up. He was still naked. He realized he left his clothes in Sisbul's suite. Not that it mattered much at the moment.

Both reptiles gasped when the sheets fell off Esmal's body.

Srei whispered, “Your shoulder…"

“You're a consort now?" Zairsh snapped.

Esmal's eyes went wide, more of the night coming back to him. His shoulder carried the pale scars of Sisbul's bite. The flesh had raised a little and carried violet circles around the circumference of each fang that punctured his skin. Esmal touched it, skin still very tender.

Zairsh said, “I thought the two of you weren't on speaking terms."

“They weren't," Srei said.

“And he still got the bite just like that?" Zairsh grumbled. He waited in the doorway, arms folded around his broad, bright orange chest. “My father courted Sisbul for years before he got the steward's fangs."

Esmal glanced at the two of them, still a little sleepy, a little defensive, “Are you two jealous?"

Srei said, “No," while Zairsh snapped, “Maybe I am."

Srei turned on the other lizard. “Really, Zairsh, is now the time to be jealous?"

The big lizard growled. “You two keep some secret from me and now Esmal ends up with that? How am I not supposed to be wary about what's going on?"

Esmal held up his hand. “Stop, both of you. Let me explain—it will give me time to get my bearings before we go down to the grounds to spar. That work for you, Zairsh?"

His instructor huffed. “Get on with it, then."

Esmal recalled for the two of them what happened. He spared details of the dinner conversation, but he told them about the vision Sisbul had and everything else. When Esmal finished, he sat at the foot of the bed beside Srei. Zairsh leaned on the wall next to his window, smoking his pipe.

Srei touched the mark, gently. She asked, “Does it hurt?"

“Not really?"

“Tender, though, isn't it?" Zairsh asked. “Got a soreness that don't hurt but feels good."

Esmal asked Zairsh, “You knew?"

The lizard exhaled smoke through his nostrils, then said, “Had my father describe it to me, back when I thought I wanted to be Sisbul's consort. That feeling never goes away, but you should get used to it."

“You tried to be a consort?"

Zairsh shrugged. “I told you I was jealous, didn't I? I taught Sisbul how to fight, used to spend hours every day with the steward like I did you. He eventually just told me outright he wasn't keen on taking one of Tezz's kids." Laced in Zairsh's voice was a bitterness that made Esmal's brow crease.

“That… it must have hurt to hear that."

“It was years ago," Zairsh said.

“Judging by the vision Sisbul had, I would guess that is why he did not wait to make you a consort," Srei said.

Esmal thought of the laughter he shared with Sisbul the night before. The kisses and touches and warmth. The way he smelled, scales wet from fresh, clear rain… Esmal did not want to believe a mere vision as the cause for all that happened between them.

“It is good that you have this now, Esmal," Srei told him. “Do you think it will be enough to convince Sisbul to listen to us?"

“About what?" Zairsh asked. He took a hit of his pipe, hard stare fixed on the two of them.

Esmal started, “It's nothing—"

“Esmal… I told Behesh last night."

“You what?"

“Relax, Behesh was sharp enough to know how to talk about it without setting off the spell," Srei told him. She nodded to Zairsh, “And I believe our friend is able to do the same."

Zairsh grunted. “You're too kind. This is about yesterday, ain't it?"

Srei wrapped her tail around Esmal's back in a supportive squeeze as she said, “It is. We are being monitored by a spell. Any mention of who cast it around us might put us both in danger. We can't give you a name, pronoun, description."

“I get it. The list of folks who can do that is pretty small. It wasn't my sire, he's not mean enough to get Esmal shook up like he was yesterday."

Esmal's mouth was a little dry. He asked Zairsh, “Can you keep this between us?"

Zairsh nodded. “But why the spell?"

“A coup is being planned," Srei said.

“We don't know the details yet, and we worry Sisbul won't believe us."

Zairsh snarled and slapped his tail hard against the wall. “You don't need Sisbul, you need a sharp blade."

“Zairsh do you really think you could kill—"

“Esmal," Srei hissed, stopping him from saying their enemy's name. She told Zairsh, “We don't know the plan yet, so killing people might not even stop it. Besides, if you come brandishing a sword it only takes a few words of magic to keep you from swinging it."

Zairsh snarled. “I am not one for lazing around."

“Then don't," Srei told him. “You know other warriors in the city, reptiles you helped get ready for war when we first fought Savish on the border, right? Get them together, and get them ready."

“Ready for what?"

Srei shook her head. “We don't know yet."

“Shkhanna's slit," Zairsh cursed. “I will see what I can do, but keeping a lid on things is going to be hard while also getting folks prepared to repel invaders."

Srei idly rubbed Esmal's back as she said, “It means the world to us that you're doing this."

Zairsh leveled his glare on Esmal. “I will do it for him, and for Srrket."

“Me?" Esmal asked.

“Yes, boy. I don't need to be the Steward to know Shkhanna's got her eye on you. Now get some clothes on, we need to hide that mark for the time being."

“We do?" Esmal asked.

“If word gets out, there will be a big to-do," Srei said. “There's not been a new consort in several decades."

“We don't need the attention right now. I already barely get any time with you," Zairsh growled.

Esmal sensed his instructor's affection buried in his anger. He grinned and said, “We can always spend the evening together, Zairsh—"

“You couldn't handle an evening with me, boy. Now hurry up, I will see you down in the gardens."

Zairsh stomped out of the room and Esmal sighed. “Another day, another set of complications."

Srei leaned against him. “Just wait till you're done with Zairsh."

“What does that mean?"

“Mmm, when you get back, I will tell you. There is something I would like us to do for Behesh."

“Is he alright?"

“Just get going, dear, we can talk later."

***

“You marked him?" Zysh got in Sisbul's face, hissing, “What were you thinking?"

Sisbul supposed they had not seen it during Esmal's rush out of the dimly lit suite. Sisbul just retold Tezz and Zysh both about the night before.

Tezz forced his muzzle between them and nudged Zysh away. “Easy dear," he soothed. “I agree with Zysh, though. Sisbul it took me five years to convince you of my devotion. And this human heir to an enemy empire convinces you in less than a season?"

Sisbul frowned at them both. “I thought it the right thing to do." It hurt to see them not overjoyed at the opportunity for Esmal to join their family. “It has been so long since I took another consort."

“Yes but if he falls in love with you how will we ever convince him to leave with his father?" Zysh snapped. “This was not part of our plan."

Sisbul glanced at Tezz, but the drake sat waiting expectantly for an answer as well. Sisbul held up his hands in a placating gesture, “Shkhanna said we are each other's futures—why not embrace that?"

“Sisbul," Zysh said his name as a pained whine. “How can he defend our home from here? How can he keep his people from marching westward. We are… so small. We do not have a chance in an extended invasion. They will raze all of Srrket with time. Even all of Shkhanna's might won't be able to stop a hundred thousand soldiers."

“Zysh…"

Tezz said, “He is right. Esmal must leave when the time comes." The drake leaned in and nuzzled into Sisbul's side. He looked up at the steward and added, “You are being asked to strike a keen, painful balance, love. And I am sorry that you must, but… think about this, think about what you risk. What if Imad saw the mark on his son's shoulder and then assumed Esmal's mind poisoned or untrustworthy?"

“You need to remove it," Zysh said flatly. “It hurts to ask you to do this, but…" Zysh trailed off. All three of them felt a rumbling ache in their chest.

Sisbul touched his sternum, where the sizzling anger had settled. It took concentration for it to not become Sisbul's anger as well. To keep distant Shkhanna as she raged at what Zysh asked for.

Tezz glanced at them both and asked, “What do we do?"

Zysh kept his hard stare on Sisbul. “I have said my peace on this. All I ask, Sisbul, is that you have a serious conversation with the prince about what it will take to stop Savish from invading. Protecting our home, not pursuing this prince, should be our aim."

Zysh turned and started slithering for the door. Tezz gave Sisbul a remorseful look. “He is right, you know. I hate that he is, but Sisbul, if we cannot use Esmal to protect our home, then what was all this for?"

***

Esmal nearly doubled over when a surge of aching rage burned through his ribs. He fell against a wall, gasping.

Srei was at his side, rubbing his back, asking what was wrong. Esmal grit his teeth not to snap at her. Anger made him both weak and wanting at the same time. Too much. He squeezed his eyes shut and focused on his breathing. The two were just heading out of the palace to the library, Srei going into details about her evening with Behesh when it hit.

Eventually enough passed that he heard Srei say, “Is it magic? I can go get Tezz or Sisbul—"

“It's…" Esmal grunted, “I don't know what it is but it's fading."

Srei cupped his cheeks to get Esmal to look at her. Stroking his face with her soft thumbs, she asked, “What happened?"

“I just got hit with all this… rage. It was like a horse kicked me in the chest."

Srei's brow furrowed for a moment. She let him go and said, “Well, on the bright side I do not think this is any attack on you."

“What do you mean?"

“While you've been practicing your letters I've been reading up on all sorts of things. Even before this mess. I wanted to know more about what changes I should expect after Sisbul put you in a trance. It is rare, but strong emotions can be shared across a steward's link."

Esmal managed to stand up straight. “You mean this is Sisbul's anger?" He glanced behind him up to the top of the palace.

“It could be… it could also be Shkhanna's, since what she feels Sisbul also feels."

“I suppose finding out could be its own risk."

Srei squeezed Esmal's now clothed shoulder. “It means the bond between you is stronger than what it was before."

Esmal sighed. “Then maybe it's a blessing, to know Sisbul and I are already this connected."

“I think it best we take it as one," Srei told him while rubbing his back. “So much is happening at once."

“And you have more?"

“Let me tell you about my night first," Srei said. She took his hand, “Come, we can walk and talk."

Srei filled Esmal in on her exchange with Behesh, and the moment they shared within the wyvern's little home. At this point, they had reached the library and sat on a bench in the shade of the building before Esmal pointed out, “You've said before that wyvern's mate for life. I never asked because I did not want to ask you to retread something painful, but what exactly does that entail?"

“Behesh never really explained, but I was able to read about it. There is a bonding period, a process of shared confinement and… well, to be frank, 'mating' until some sort of threshold is passed. Something to do with scent. Once bonded, the wyverns feel content when they are around each other, and it is rather like a slow withdrawal when their mate is not around. After a week or so of absence, they're said to go feral."

Esmal glanced at the library in the direction of Behesh's rooms. “Did Behesh go… you know."

“Tezz found him frothing at the mouth, covered in blood, and alternating between protecting and feeding on the body of his mate."

Srei said this with a broken quiet. The thought of Behesh like that made Esmal a little sick. He asked, “Tezz, uh, told you this?"

“Behesh did, last night. To emphasize how dangerous his connection to someone can become."

Esmal studied Srei carefully. She stared at her hands, which she wrung together in her lap. It began to dawn on Esmal what this conversation moved towards. He rested his hand on Srei's knee and encouraged, “Go on."

“Tezz was able to use magic to bring Behesh back from the brink, but Behesh did not think he should return to his kind. Wyverns kill each other when their mate dies—it is considered a mercy."

“Is that why Behesh refused to have his wings healed?"

“He knows an accident while flying is what killed his mate, but his memory beyond that has been lost from, well, everything that happened after the crash." Srei sighed. “He believes he is no longer worthy of flight."

“Srei, what is it you want to ask me?"

Srei sprung up off the bench and paced into the sunlight. She wheeled around and, arms akimbo, asked, “You and Behesh are close, yes?"

Esmal did not expect this turn. He cocked his head. “Yes?"

“Do you find him attractive?"

Esmal scoffed. “He doesn't seem interested in suitors—"

She slapped her tail on the ground. “Answer the question!"

“I, uh, hmm…" Esmal considered this. He did not exactly know what physical intimacy with a creature Behesh's size would entail.

“Well?"

“I like his voice?" Esmal said with a meek shrug. “It's soothing and deep. And he smells good. His face is handsome and I suppose I like what I see when I see him in the mornings."

“Do you think you could love him?"

“What are you going on about?" Esmal asked incredulously. “Do you want me to form some kind of connection with him?"

Srei marched forward and kneeled in front of Esmal. She took his hands and said, “I want you to form the bond with me."

“Both of us?"

“I think it will work."

“You think?"

Srei tugged on Esmal's wrist, pulling his face down close to hers. “It has to work."

“Srei, what would that mean?"

“It would mean no one person would need to be responsible for Behesh, but that he would still have the chance to thrive again. Please Esmal, I love him so much, and I know he feels the same. I am tired of seeing him hold back because he does not want me to carry so much weight."

“So we would split the responsibility?" Esmal asked, a little skeptical.

“As long as one of us saw him regularly he would be fine."

“What about when I have to go back to Savish?"

“Then we will both go with you or I will stay until you can return here."

Srei gave Esmal a defiant look. She had thought about this a lot, Esmal could tell. “Why now?" Esmal asked.

“After my exchange with Behesh last night… I can't wait any longer, Esmal. He needs this and so do I."

Esmal sighed. He grabbed Srei's shoulders. “I care about Behesh a lot. I like him a lot, I may even come to love him. I just… can we have some time? I am not saying no, but this is a lot to ask. I want to give it to you, but I need time to prepare. Between everything that's happened in the last two days, I need a moment to catch my breath."

Eyes tearing up, Srei whispered, “I'll accept that," and hugged Esmal tight.

***

“Fascinating," Behesh's snout rubbed Esmal's shoulder and inhaled. “You can still smell his fangs."

The prince gently pushed Behesh away. “The flesh is still tender, too."

“Ah, yes, apologies," the wyvern said, head drawing back as he reared up over Esmal. “I just find it intensely curious what the bite is like fresh. We've not had a new consort in some time."

“Careful," Esmal whispered, glancing around the basement of the library. No other reptiles studied, nearby, but Esmal pulled up his sleeve and added, “We are trying to go unnoticed."

Behesh scoffed. “A mangled wyvern and the only human in Srrket are not exactly inconspicuous."

Esmal checked the door. Srei had left to get food for them both, volunteering to go alone because, Esmal assumed, she wanted Behesh and Esmal more time to bond. Esmal pointed at a word on an unrolled scroll. “Just tell me what this says."

“Parallax."

“Parallax?"

“It describes the apparent movement of objects when viewed from different positions."

Esmal blinked. “I almost understood that."

“Hmmhmm, close your eyes, Esmal."

“What?"

“Just do it."

Esmal did, and the next thing he knew, Behesh's deep rumble whispered in his ear, “You are on a ship at sea. You liked to sail when you lived in Savish, yes?"

“Mhmm."

“Then picture it. At sea, in the distance the shore passes slowly by while you cut quickly past a fishing vessel. That difference is parallax."

Esmal opened his eyes. “I, uh, see." Behesh's warm breath down the back of his neck gave him goosebumps.

Behesh did not move away. He said, “For wyverns, we might think of it as how a tree passes beneath us compared to the hawk as we fly."

“Then that is where the concept comes from in Srrketch?"

“It is. Believe it or not, Esmal, but wyverns are quite intelligent creatures. We just lack, well," Behesh reached over Esmal and tapped the table with his webbed, clawed hand, “fine motor skills."

“Do wyverns have their own writing?"

“We have songs and elders. They hold most of our clans' teachings. I learned to read and write because, hmm, I was quite bored here in Srrket."

Esmal glanced up at the wyvern, noticing those sharp, large eyes watching him. He said, “It must have taken a great deal of time."

“Years, yes."

“How long have you been living in the valley?" Esmal asked before grimacing, “Sorry, I realize that might sound like I am asking—"

“It is fine. It is not exactly a secret when I moved in. I have been here a little over a decade. Though, I admit they will need to renovate this space if I plan to stay another decade."

“What do you mean?" Esmal asked.

Behesh cocked his head. “You mean you do not know?"

“Enlighten me, please."

“Drakes, nagas, and wyverns never stop growing, Esmal. We continue to age, and the growth slows significantly at a certain age, but there is a reason Sisbul and Tezz and Zysh are all bigger than their kin." Behesh finally sat back, no longer crowding Esmal to the table. He said, “Tell me, Esmal, how old do you think I am?"

Esmal scooted his chair to face the wyvern. He studied Behesh for a moment, then said, “I think you are many years older than me."

“Hmmph, really now? Do I look so decrepit?"

“I did not mean anything—"

Behesh let out a barking laugh. A deep, rumbling growl Esmal never heard before. Some reptiles stood in alarm until they saw Behesh at ease

“Oh I'm only teasing you, Esmal."

“I gathered."

“Hehhrmm, apologies, you are right Esmal. I passed five decades a few years ago."

“I see," Esmal said. Behesh might be twice Esmal's age, then. Or close to it. Though, given that the near immortal avatar of a goddess claimed him as a consort last night… did age mean anything in these contexts?

Behesh's nostrils flared. “Does this news upset you?"

Esmal shook his head. “It just seems everyone I am close to is far beyond me in years."

“And yet Srei is significantly younger."

“You would not think by how sharp she is."

“Yes, you never would," Behesh said with a touch of pride.

Esmal shrugged. “You are older than my father, you know."

“And yet I still have eight or nine decades to live, at least. Far more than your father, I hope," Behesh said.

Esmal shuddered. “I hope so, too."

“Would you mind if I asked you something personal, Esmal?"

“There is nothing I can think of that I would keep from you at this point."

Behesh made a rumbling growl in his chest. “Hmm, you might regret that. I need to ask you what you will do, if you do take the throne of your empire."

“What do you mean?"

“I mean your father is getting on in years, and you will stay young and healthy until he withers and dies. What then? What does Emperor Esmal do with his reign?"

Esmal's brow furrowed. He studied Behesh's taloned feet. Then we will both go with you or I will stay until you can return here, Srei had said only a few hours ago. As if Esmal returning to Srrket was a complete given. Esmal said slowly, “I have not thought much about it." He gave Behesh a wry smile. “Perhaps I will make everyone adopt Srrket's ways."

Behesh's deep-throated chuckle made Esmal's smile a little more genuine. He said, “It is an amusing thought. Though, I would advise against it. Srrket's ways work for Srrket's people. They are tied deeply to our land. If you tried to put them somewhere else they would always be different."

“Of course, you are right. Even Savish isn't able to completely force Savish on other peoples."

Behesh nodded deeply, snout almost touching the stone floor. “It is a grave evil to force others to adopt your ways."

“I do not disagree. When I first came here, I did not see it that way, but now…"

Behesh neck and head lifted, chest pushed out. A gesture Esmal saw him only make when discussing Srei. “We are all happy to see how you have changed."

Esmal admitted, “I should try and undo the evil my father and family have done, but I worry that will take much longer than it took to cause."

Behesh scooted forward and pushed his head into Esmal's chest. The wyvern nuzzled into him, and Esmal gasped a little, stroking a little awkwardly behind Behesh's horns. The scales there were tough to the point Esmal did not know if Behesh even felt it, but the wyvern practically purred, if a purr could be in baritone.

Eventually, Behesh released him. Face hovering a foot from Esmal's, he said, “I cannot imagine what it will take to do such a thing, but I do believe it is the right thing to do, and I am honored to be witness to your bravery."

“Save your praise for when it is done, Behesh."

“Oh, will I be seeing you afterwards?"

Esmal took a deep breath, not sure if he wanted what he said to be a prediction or a promise: “Once I have finished, I will leave Savish to return here. There are things I will miss about Savish, but… I am happy here, Behesh. Happy to be here with you and Srei and Zairsh and perhaps even Sisbul and others."

Behesh carefully rubbed cheeks with Esmal. The big, bony scales there a little rough, but Esmal wrapped his arm around Behesh's muzzle to hold him there. The wyvern whispered while they held their mismatched embrace, “I think we would all like that very much."

***

Towards the afternoon, the three of them received a visitor that left them scrambling to obfuscate what they did. Fortunately, Sisbul was not exactly hard to spot from a distance. As the snake approached their table, drawing attention as he usually did, Esmal rose from his seat, quickly saying, “Steward! It is, uh, good to see you again."

Sisbul bowed to the three of them and said when he rose, “It is good to see you so focused on your studies, Esmal. Would you have a moment for a different kind of lesson?"

Esmal glanced at Srei who silently gestured, Go on.

“Certainly, steward," Esmal said before he turned to Behesh and hugged the wyvern. Behesh grunted but returned the embrace for a moment. Esmal said only for him, “Take care of Srei, I will see you tomorrow."

“Mmm, I look forward to it."

Esmal let Behesh go and leaned over to kiss Srei goodbye. “See you at the palace," he said before following Sisbul outside.

When they walked in the sun, the naga spoke in Savish to give their conversation a measure of privacy. “The three of you make quite a set."

Esmal walked a little uneasy now at the attention of just about every reptile in the city. They noted their passage, but kept their distance. Still, all those eyes… It was possible, he realized, that Zysh had more conventional means of keeping tabs on Srei and him. If Zairsh was warning other warriors to be ready for anything, Esmal hoped his instructor cautious with what details he shared and with who. Everything felt so dangerous, and yet the one person who should be able to help stop all of this…

“Is something wrong, Esmal?"

“Oh, no it's fine. Um, yes, Srei and I care a great deal for Behesh." And Esmal added, the words feeling good to express, “We cherish him."

“You are each outsiders here in your own way, it does not surprise me you have forged a bond together," Sisbul told him. “Perhaps one day Behesh will let you be the one to heal his wings."

“He will not let you?"

“Neither I nor Zysh nor Tezz can convince him to let us, but if your mastery of magic comes far enough, you would be capable of it."

“I see," Esmal said. He considered that, and what Srei proposed to him this morning. It did fill him with a certain kind of… affection to think of doing all that for Behesh. But he reminded himself Behesh needed to want that first. Esmal said, “How long do you think it will take before I am able to do such a thing?"

“Magic will come quickly once you are able to channel Shkhanna, but since you are human, I cannot tell you how much time it might take for you to forge your connection to her."

“How would I know if I had that connection?"

“You can sense her, typically her emotions and will."

Esmal stopped. “This morning, she was furious, wasn't she?"

Sisbul's whole body jolted in surprise. “You felt that?"

Esmal said, “Uh, yes. What happened, exactly?"

“Let's find a private spot in the palace gardens and I will tell you. It had to do with you actually."

With all sorts of anxieties flying through him, Esmal followed Sisbul through the city to the palace. When they reached the gardens, they retreated to a secluded grove of citrus trees where a fountain quietly bubbled. Sisbul coiled himself, and Esmal took a seat on his scales at an invitation from the naga. When he did, Sisbul asked, “Your shoulder, how is it?"

Esmal pulled down his sleeve for the naga to see. “Tender, but otherwise fine."

Sisbul did not beat around the bush: “Both Tezz and Zysh believe I should remove that mark."

Reflexively, Esmal shielded his shoulder with his hand. “What do you think?"

“I do not want to, Esmal. Neither does Shkhanna, it seems. Her rage was directed at them for suggesting it."

The prince let his hand slip away from the mark. He asked, wary of what answer he might get, “Why did they think you should remove it?"

“They fear if you grow too attached to me, to Srrket, you won't do the right thing when the time comes."

“Ah, I see," Esmal looked away. He studied the fountain. It was a carving of two snakes twined around each other till it came to their heads. Water spilled from their mouths in opposite directions. Esmal said, “They fear I will stay."

Sisbul rested a hand on his shoulder.

Esmal reached up and laced his fingers with his steward's scaly ones. His steward. He would fight to remain Sisbul's consort. He admitted, “I have thought about it… Behesh and I spoke about this today actually, and I realized Srrket cannot be my priority."

“Then what is?"

“The damage my father has done to this continent is so widespread, Sisbul. I… I am only just beginning to wrap my head around it, now that I am somewhere not under his rule. When I return home, my goal will not be protecting Srrket, but ending our empire and trying my best to restore the people and lands we've overrun."

“Esmal…" Sisbul let go his shoulder and touched his chin. The prince looked up to see the snake giving him a strange look. “If that is your goal, then I think we have all underestimated you."

“Once it's done, I want to return here," Esmal said, leaning back against his steward. “I want to live out the rest of my days here with Srei and Behesh and Zairsh, with you as your consort."

Sisbul curled his body around so his face was level with Esmal's. “This gift I gave you," he trailed a finger from Esmal's mark to his chest, “I cannot think of any human worthier to receive it. When you leave, I will count the days until you return, my consort." They kissed. Deeply, Esmal finding great comfort in the touch of Sisbul's lips, the lingering taste of some tea on his tongue. Everything about the steward was something to find bliss in now. It was hard to believe, in that moment, that they could have ever been enemies.

When Sisbul broke the kiss, he whispered, “If that is your goal, then it would behoove us to teach you as much magic as we can, wouldn't it?"

Esmal, a little distracted by the need to do something else, nodded for the steward.

Sisbul sat up and when his coils started to stir, Esmal stood. “Come, let us return to the palace rooftop. I would like to continue our lessons there."

***

An entire week passed before Esmal made any progress with magic. It became a regular affair that Esmal met with Sisbul in the evenings to try and draw on his link to Shkhanna. His mornings he spent with Zairsh, the days with Behesh and Srei at the library, then the steward. It would have been easy to slip into a sense of blissful ease had it not been for Zysh's threats to Esmal.

Thanks to Sisbul, Esmal believed that once he mastered the ability to cast a spell, he might be able to create a counter to Zysh's. But the naga kept the scrolls he used for the incantation among his personal belongings, and without the exact wording Esmal would have great difficulty coming up with a counter.

Shkhanna channeled her will through language, and what Esmal learned working with Sisbul is that many complex spells came in the form of verse. Even the histories of Srrket were recorded like an epic. Which meant, in order to make a counter, Esmal—with Behesh and Srei's help—would need to internalize the original lines used to cast a spell and compose a response verse that neutralized it. It was all very complicated, yet Esmal's biggest struggle remained aligning the powers of Shkhanna with his will.

He stood, looking out over the sunset on the palace roof. Sisbul had just cast Dusk Song, and now waited behind him. His hands slid up and down Esmal's torso. “See how the sun is falling into the mountains, the bright pit of light? Try to picture the same thing within your chest, right here," Sisbul rubbed Esmal's sternum. “Breathe in," Esmal closed his eyes and did as told, “deep in, breathe in from your stomach, Esmal." Brow furrowing, Esmal corrected his breathing. “There we go, feel the air pool at the bottom of your lungs, that same air will pluck on the strings of that well inside you. It will help thread it to your vocal chords to the magic that comes swinging out when you speak. Now, speak."

Esmal, nervous beyond compare, followed Sisbul's every direction, and spoke, “Draw to my lips."

They both waited a moment.

Then Esmal sighed. “I do not know what I am doing wrong."

Sisbul rubbed his back. “It is okay. Why don't we take a break?"

“I really want to get this Sisbul."

“It will be fine, dear. Magic is a corked bottle, once you pry the seal off you will have trouble keeping it from flowing out of you."

Esmal turned on him and said, “But I need to learn this now."

Sisbul frowned. “It took Tezz a year and a half to cast his first spell. You cannot expect—"

The prince groaned and leaned against the guard wall at the edge of the roof. “I have heard this before, Sisbul."

The snake studied him for a moment. He rested a hand Esmal's marked shoulder and said, “You are too hard on yourself, dear. If we were six months away from your father's return, I would understand your worry. But you must practice patience."

Sisbul did not understand. Could not understand. Shkhanna's slit, not telling the steward was its own kind of agony! They had not more than kissed since that first night, in part because there came a point Esmal could not let go of his guilt for hiding the truth from Sisbul. At which point he always managed some excuse to leave Sisbul's side.

“You are troubled," Sisbul said.

“Hmmph," Esmal turned back around and looked out on Srrket to avoid Sisbul's gaze. He said, “In Savish, no one ever noticed when I was troubled, but it seems here every reptile I meet can sense it."

Sisbul wrapped around his legs, leaning against the wall and looking out over the valley as well. “In Srrket, we notice your silence. We know it is a sign of inner turmoil or pain, not quiet obedience."

“My father, he used to say I had the mind of a philosopher with how contemplative I acted."

“You still hold in much."

“Do you think that is the problem?"

Sisbul tugged on Esmal's leg with his tail. “Do not think I do not notice you leading us away from whatever it is that troubles you—but, no I am not sure if that is the issue. If that were the case, there would be days and nights I would not be able to use my magic, either. Tezz or Zysh as well."

“What do you mean?"

“We have lived for a long time, Esmal. We have seen and experienced things that left us weighted with grief, that have haunted our thoughts. You know, ever since we met on the field of battle, I have had trouble tending to the wounds of the ill. The sight of blood sometimes throws me back into that day. Frankly, I do not know how you stand here as you do."

Esmal pursed his lips. “It was not easy, at first. Fifteen was when I first killed another man—I had nightmares for weeks about it…" He gripped the edge of the wall and looked down the length of the steppe pyramid. He still could picture that man's grimace as Esmal's sword pushed through his ribs. It had not even been on the field of battle, but a helpless prisoner Imad ordered him to execute. He said, throat dry, “Eventually, this coldness grows inside you, and it becomes something you reach for when you go into battle, sure as you would reach for a sword, and when you have that you can pick it up and set it down. The lives stop mattering."

Sisbul shuddered. “I never wish to develop such a thing."

“Nor should you… Though, now I wonder if such things are why I cannot channel Shkhanna." Esmal's lips quivered a little. “Perhaps I am simply too broken."

“She is invested in you, Esmal. As am I." The snake turned and tried to catch Esmal's gaze. “We both believe in you."

“I just feel there is so much I must let go of to be what I must. My father spent so long carving me into his heir, I am not sure which things I hold onto are his or mine."

“Would you like help figuring that out?"

Esmal finally looked at him. “How?"

“I could put you in trance again," Sisbul suggested, face mere inches from Esmal's.

“What will you do, then?" Esmal asked warily. He worried Sisbul would find what Zysh had done. He did not know what would happen after that, but he knew he was not ready to confront it.

“I will guide you through the spell again, and we will both feel what instinct holds you back."

“Instinct?"

“You are right that something is keeping you from tapping that power, Esmal. But the power is there, and you are worthy of it."

Esmal felt a lump bob in his throat. It terrified him what they both might find, but he needed to know and needed to face that. He swallowed and said, “Do it, Sisbul."

The snake's gaze shifted ever so slightly, as if he now stared through Esmal instead of at him. Then those violet tongues of flame returned. Esmal felt all his muscles begin to go slack. Even the tension in his mind came unspooled, like a clenched fist relaxing in his skull. Sisbul whispered, “Stand with me," and Esmal did as directed. They resumed the same position as before, and Sisbul whispered, “Breathe in, Esmal." The prince's shoulder began to throb. His lungs felt a little raw, as if sensitive to all the air as it wound around inside him. And something else… a warmth that radiated beneath his lungs, within or behind his diaphragm. The heat reminded him of the unnatural warmth that Sisbul radiated at all times. And he knew this must be the power Sisbul spoke of. And the naga began to channel the spell. And Esmal echoed his words: “Draw to my lips."

And the wind answered.

And pain erupted through him.

The spell was a simple incantation meant to draw a breeze across one's face. As if one might ask the wind to wipe the sweat from one's brow.

It happened, Esmal, did feel the sweat on his brow soothed.

But the core of heat in his chest exploded through him, and both Sisbul and Esmal cried out. After the initial wave of pain, all that remained was a sizzling on Esmal's forearm, as if someone pressed a brand into his flesh.

Sisbul broke the trance immediately, and a dazed Esmal tried to gather his thoughts while wind continued to comb through his hair.

“Esmal," Sisbul shook him. “Esmal, are you alright?"

“My… ugh, my arm," Esmal grabbed the spot on his forearm. A few inches above his wrist.

“Let me see." Sisbul pulled his sleeve up before Esmal felt the snake go slack beside him. Still in the post-haze of trance, Esmal was not sure what it was he looked at.

“Shkhanna's slit," he whispered as he reached to touch it. The scales now growing on his arm were firm but smooth as any reptile's. They were a color just a shade darker than his skin—a palm-sized patch grown like eczema on his flesh.

Eventually, Sisbul whispered, “It's not you… it's your body."

“What?" Esmal rubbed at the scales roughly, as if he might get them off like a stain.

Sisbul grabbed Esmal's wrist, “Let me try." And without waiting on Esmal, Sisbul incanted, “Turn back the time on this body old to make its flesh again whole." It hurt. Unlike the last time Sisbul healed him, it burned as those scales bubbled and sloughed off his arm before new skin grew in its place.

Biting his lip to keep from making any noise, Esmal now cursed, “What that fuck are we supposed to do?"

“Esmal we might have a bigger problem," Sisbul said.

Esmal asked through grit teeth. “Bigger?"

“I told you before, when magic is uncorked it is harder to stop the flow of it than to cast it." Sisbul studied the prince's arm. “I fear the case may be true here as well."

“Then why did we uncork it?" Esmal snapped.

“You wanted to learn," Sisbul snapped back. Both stared each other down before Sisbul rubbed his temples. “I'm sorry, I understand you are upset."

Esmal frowned and reached for the naga's hood. He squeezed it, as he knew Sisbul liked now, and said, “I am sorry for snapping at you." He let go of Sisbul. “I am just very scared what happens now."

“There is only one thing to do," Sisbul said.

“What?"

“Cast the spell again."

“Again?"

“We need to know if you can channel magic at all, or if it was my trance that put you at risk. It could be one or the other or both together. I will reverse whatever happens. We know that I can."

“Okay," Esmal faced the valley again.

“Wait," Sisbul turned Esmal to a nearby planter. “Instead try this, another minor spell. Touch the aloe there and say, 'From these waters, thrive.'"

Esmal, trembling, did as he was told. “From these waters, thrive." His chest burned again, and Esmal nearly doubled over. Sisbul caught him, and while the aloe plant began to grow at a supernatural rate, Esmal's fingers changed. Not just scales, but from the tips of his hands rose fine, dark claws. Esmal held his wrist and whispered, “Shit, fuck, damn—"

Sisbul squeezed his changed fingers and incanted the healing spell again.

“Shkhanna's slit!" Esmal screamed as he felt his fingers melting to the very bone before the flesh grew back. Sisbul held him close, rubbing his back to try and soothe Esmal.

The steward whispered, “It's going to be okay, Esmal." Sisbul spoke in Savish now, “We should avoid Srrketch. Don't speak it lest you accidentally channel a spell. It seems so long as you do not use magic your body will remain intact."

Esmal felt tears of frustration threaten. He could not remember the last time something left him so humiliated. “Then what was the point of any of this?" he growled.

“We will find another way. But magic must not be the way."

“No!" Esmal shook his head, “You still need to teach me."

“Esmal, if you cast anything you might—"

“Teach me the spells. I won't cast anything, but what if there is an emergency, Sisbul? What if someone has their throat cut and I'm the only one who can heal them? You can always do this again, right?"

Sisbul studied Esmal's face for a long moment. “You swear you will only use magic for such a thing?"

Esmal nodded. “I swear, Sisbul."

The steward hugged his consort tight, coils wrapping around the human's legs. Neither could shake the grim ending of the vision Sisbul had: bloody wings sprouting from Esmal's back.

***

“Esmal, just drop it," Srei warned.

“Sisbul can reverse any changes that happen. We can still cast the counterspell and keep Zysh off our backs then I'll be done—"

“He told you he casts it every day!" Srei hissed. “And careful with his name." Srei glanced around their rooms. A few candles lit around their chambers provided light. All their time in the library had made both of them accustomed to interacting in this dimness. Srei sat at the edge of the bed while Esmal stared out the wide open window. She watched him run his fingers along the stem of an overgrown ivy running down the sides of its pot.

“I just… has the last week really all been a waste? I feel helpless, Srei."

“We are not helpless." Srei crossed the room and rested a hand on the small of his back. “We will figure this out."

She leaned against him, taking comfort in his scent. They remained quiet for some time, Esmal slowly setting his weight into her. When his arm wrapped around her shoulders, she asked, “What will you do after all this?"

Esmal chuckled. “After which part?"

“After you are done in Savish and you return here."

He looked down at her. “You mean—"

Srei nodded.

Esmal gave her a wry smile. “Would you find me more attractive that way?"

She giggled. “Hehe, how you could be more fetching is beyond me, Esmal." Srei cupped his cheek, and he leaned into her palm. “Would you want that?"

He took her hand. “It scares me, honestly. I do not know if I'm willing to just give up my humanity."

“You would still be Esmal."

“Just with a tail?" Esmal said with a quirked eyebrow.

Her tail brushed his ankle. “They are quite useful, you know."

Esmal shook his head. “I do not know, Srei. I am… that future just seems so far away."

“It is your body, I will love it no matter what."

Esmal turned back to the window. “Even if I grow wings?"

Srei rubbed his shoulder-blades. “You know I have no problem with wyverns."

“Think Behesh could teach me to fly?"

“You'd probably just pick up his mannerisms."

Esmal said in a lower register, “Hmmhmm, yes Srei. You are quite right."

“Esmal!" she laughed and shoved him.

Before Esmal could retaliate, though, the door opened.

Srei saw Esmal react to their visitor: face drawing first to fear then a steely mask, fists clenching, jaw setting, and she knew who came in before Zysh said, “Good evening, you two."

“What the fuck do you want, traitor?" Esmal spat.

Srei turned in time to see Zysh give a dismissive wave. “Relax, I wish to talk to you about what happened on top of the palace."

“Sisbul told you?"

Zysh laughed. “Why, of course he did! He tells me everything, prince."

Srei glared at the snake. “Just get to the point."

Zysh stopped, he had just gotten the entire length of his long body in the door. He smacked the door shut with his tail before he said, “Very well. I am not here to threaten either of you. Doubtless that both of you remain thoroughly threatened judging by the way you receive me. No, so long as you mind your manners, I will leave shortly."

“What do you want?" Esmal asked.

“Are you not the least bit curious why I put you both under surveillance and revealed my plans to you?"

Srei had discussed that at length with Behesh this afternoon. Mere speculation the wyvern had wished to entertain.

Srei answered, “You clearly did not trust us to help you, but you need us for your ritual."

“I need Esmal, dear. I cast the spell on you because I knew Esmal would not be able hide anything from you."

“Fine," Esmal said. “Tell us and be done with it."

“It is not ready yet, but I will eventually be ready to cast a spell that will bring your father here."

Srei felt Esmal flinch beside her.

“Imad wishes Sisbul to share his link to Shkhanna with him. It is what he demands in order for me to oversee our lands and retain some amount of independence."

“Are you mad?" Esmal asked the question in a rasp.

“Quite sane. To channel the portal, I will need you with me as your blood connection to your father will be what opens the door on his side of the continent."

“He will bring a whole army with him," Esmal snapped.

“I am aware. A garrison of one hundred soldiers will be left here and report directly to the empire."

“I will not do a damn thing you ask."

“Did you come here to simply toy with us?" Srei asked. “Stop wasting our time and get on with whatever it is you want."

“Fair enough. Since it is clear, Esmal, you will remain Sisbul's consort for the time being, I wished to warn you against telling him anything about our plans."

“Your plans," Esmal growled.

Zysh shrugged. “You might perhaps convince him to help you, but Sisbul cannot interfere. If you attempt to tell him what my plans are, I do have a countermeasure. Not something that would hurt Sisbul, mind you. Lying to him is ghastly enough."

“How charitable of you, to care for his wellbeing," Srei said. “I was beginning to think you cared for no one's."

“Why?" He chuckled, “For my treatment of you two? The son of my enemy and an outsider more loyal to a human than her people?"

Srei cringed. It hurt to have that thrown in her face, but it was no less true. Her love and devotion to Esmal outmatched all of Srrket.

“I'll sooner see you dead than Imad step into Srrket," Esmal said.

“A shame you still feel that way, but there is time enough to persuade you both. Quite convenient, you two staying here, you're practically trapped in my coils."

“Get out," Srei whispered. She shook with impotent rage that verged on tears, but under that fear's icy talons closed on her heart. Zysh was not wrong. They lived practically as neighbors.

Zysh bowed, tongue flicking the air. “A pleasant evening to you both."

They watched him, in tense silence, as he departed. Once the last of him had slithered away, Srei stomped to the door and slammed it shut. When she turned around, Esmal was at the chest at the foot of his bed, pulling out his belongings.

“Esmal?"

“We're leaving."

Srei cursed. “You're certain. We might draw more—"

“I don't feel safe sleeping here anymore."

She went to his side. “You want to go to the library."

Esmal stopped to look at her. “We said we would move there when we bonded with Behesh, right?"

“Esmal you shouldn't do this if—"

“I want to, Srei," Esmal said. He took a deep breath and added, “Everything has been chaos, and spending time with Behesh and you has been one of the few balms I've had."

She took his wrist. “Are you certain?"

Esmal hesitated a moment, then nodded. “I wish it did not need to happen under these circumstances, but, truly Srei? I think even without Zysh we would want to be living at the library by the end of the month anyways."

She hugged him tight and her heart soared. “Thank you Esmal. Thank you, thank you, thank you."

“Heh, hey, I'm not just doing this for you. I love him, too."

“Oh you do, do you?"

Esmal waved off her ribbing. “Just help me pack."

***

Truthfully, they did not travel with much. Once they got settled with Behesh they would figure out how to make themselves comfortable in the wyvern's home. Esmal and Srei both brought all of their belongings in a single bag Esmal carried over his shoulder. When they reached the library the half-moon had nearly reached its peak. It was only just starting to cool from the day's heat, and from the edge of the mountains clouds began to roll in.

The library rarely had guests at this hour, and tonight was no exception. They found Behesh busy tidying things in the dark. He faced them both as they approached.

“Ah, what brings the two of you here at this late hour. Is everything alright?"

Srei, holding a chamberstick they got at the door, resisted running to embrace Behesh and said, “We need to talk, Behesh."

The wyvern cocked his head.

“Could we go to your rooms?" Esmal added.

“Certainly. Follow me."

Later, Esmal dropped their belongings in the corner of Behesh's room. Esmal had not been in here before. Behesh's scent was so strong it made Esmal a little dizzy: overturned dirt and a baser musk, a distinctly masculine smell. While he tried to get his bearings in the dark room, Srei explained, “The palace is no longer safe. We want to stay here with you instead."

“Hmm," Behesh bobbed his head in a nod. “I can accommodate, certainly. But this library is not a fortress. I am not sure it will offer much in the way of protection."

“Any space from…" Esmal struggled not to say Zysh's name, “what sleeps at the palace is good."

“Fair enough," Behesh said, “Any luck with your magic, Esmal? More than distance that counterspell is what you need."

“Actually…"

“We can't do that," Esmal finished for Srei, bitterly.

“Pardon?"

They explained to Behesh the cost of using magic. Esmal went through what happened with Sisbul, which left Behesh in a contemplative silence. Eventually, the wyvern said, “Well, that is… most inconvenient."

Esmal sighed, sitting against the wall. “No one is happy about it."

“Quite an eventful evening," Behesh said. “I shall let the two of you rest—"

“Wait! Behesh," Srei spoke up. She nudged Esmal with her tail and Esmal got up to stand beside her. “We are not done."

“There is more?" Behesh asked.

“We have a proposal for you," Esmal said.

“Not a proposal," Srei corrected. “A fact. We want to be bonded to you."

Behesh scoffed. “Esmal does not—"

“I do," Esmal said. He took Srei's hand and added, “We both care very deeply for you, Behesh."

Behesh hesitated. They saw he was alarmed and frightened. They stepped closer and Srei whispered, “I know you were scared before about asking me to be responsible for your bond, but it does not just need to be me. Esmal and I are willing to share the burden of that bond, especially if it means we get to be with you."

“I… this is…" Behesh took a step back, babbling, “You know what you are proposing? This cannot be taken back. If you get sick of me, I will not be able to leave you. Don't you know you're putting yourself at risk?"

“Do you think we will get sick of you?" Srei asked.

“I do not… I do not want to find out—" Behesh shook his head, “What about Esmal? He won't be able to stay in Srrket."

“But I will return for you and Srei soon as I am able," Esmal answered.

Srei moved closer, reaching a hand for Behesh's snout, but the wyvern pulled away. “Behesh," she whispered, “You do deserve this. Please, let us do this for you."

Behesh took a deep breath. His exhale was so great it snuffed out the candle. Soon as it did, Srei felt the wyvern's snout touch her palm in the pitch black. The head kept pushing, until Behesh was nuzzling into Srei and Esmal both. Without a word, they hugged the wyvern in the dark. Behesh scented them both before he whined, “Shkhanna, you both smell so good."

“What do we smell like?" Esmal asked gently, running his hand up and down the wyvern's throat. In the dark like this, there was a strange intimacy in everything happening in touch, smell, and sound. Behesh's scales were heavy and thick, but still yielded to a little pressure, and the wyvern purred as they kneaded up and down his scales.

“Like home," Behesh whispered.

“Then what will we smell like after all this is done?" Srei asked with a giggle.

“Like I have come home," Behesh answered in a gentle rumble.

“May we bond with you, then, Behesh?"

“Yes…" Behesh breathed, “Please… it has been so long since I have been touched by another."

Srei had told Esmal what bonding entailed. There was an actual mating ritual to be done, which would, well, leave both Srei and Esmal with Behesh's lingering scent. And the nearness of those pheromones were the thing that calmed and pleased wyverns when they were bonded. So if Esmal or Srei were around, Behesh would be fine. Given how much time they both spent with Behesh between them, both had no doubt they could meet Behesh's needs.

“Here, in the dark?" Esmal asked.

Srei was of a like mind. “Behesh, is there somewhere else we might go?"

The wyvern grumbled and suggested, “The garden behind the library catches the moonlight quite well."

“And we are all okay with others potentially seeing us?" Srei asked.

Esmal tsked. “Why do I feel like you are looking at me?"

“I'm not!"

Behesh laughed. “You two are a blessing. I do not see any reason to wait."

Srei giggled. “You don't want to court us Behesh?"

“We will have all the time in the world to write poetry and sing songs later," Behesh growled, nudging them both with his head. “Now let's go."

Behesh hurried them outside into the garden behind the library. Esmal came out holding Srei's hand, but soon as Behesh got out the library he bowled Srei over. She landed on her back with a gasp before a long tongue dragged over her scales. The muscle was hot and left a trail of spit from her chest to her chin before Behesh growled again. Esmal watched, a little taken aback, as Behesh reared up, towering over Srei before he rumbled, “I have been waiting years to do this to you."

The wyvern came back down, snout snaking between Srei's legs. He nuzzled her there with a forceful gesture and wash of hot breath that left her gasping. She quickly got into things, though, humping into the wyvern's face before that tongue licked up and down her thighs. It must have been as long and thick as Srei's arm. The swirling appendage teased and rubbed all around her slit before finally dragging across her sex. Srei moaned, unabashedly. She had waited for Behesh to do this, too, and now that it happened her body was one hot coil of desire tensing up and slackening as that tongue dragged up and down her scales. Then it plunged inside her slit, stuffing her sex in an instant with tongue. She grabbed Behesh's snout, a little too incoherent to tell him to stop as he dined on her inner walls and rubbed all over her cock. Though, her endowment would not be staying in her slit very long at all.

A month ago, Esmal might have let Srei and Behesh have their moment, but after summoning his courage he crawled beneath the wyvern. He had never tried to investigate Behesh's anatomy, but was not surprised to find a large slit waiting for him. The wyvern's underside was a softer yellow color, and his slit blushed red around its mound as the wyvern let arousal overtake him. His sex radiated heat and its scent made Esmal dizzier than before. Behesh's musk was sharp, heady, and swirling with pheromones that had Esmal panting and flushed. He eventually reclaimed his senses, already hard in his pants as he brought his face to that large slit. His fingers traced around the puffy flesh, scales a little pebbly pattern slick with arousal. The slit was nearly the length of Esmal's wrist to the tip of his middle finger. It throbbed and pulsed, more fluid spilled from it, and then Esmal pushed his face into it.

From her slit to Behesh's maw, Srei's cock stayed in a vacuum of wet, sucking heat. She fucked up into his muzzle, gasping for breath while the wyvern's tongue stayed wrapped around her hard, blue length. Srei did not expect Behesh to barrel forward like so, but she also did not blame him. To hold back for so long and finally have this release—Srei wanted nothing more than to share it with him. Esmal being there only added to their moment, their passion. It became a celebration of loves multiplied. Srei, ecstatic, arched her back and moaned for the night sky.

The taste of Behesh's slit made Esmal whine. His chin quickly dripped with arousal while he continued seeking that sweet nectar. His nose dipped inside the sex and Esmal struggled for breath while his tongue explored the firming flesh inside. The wyvern's hips gyrated a little, rubbing Esmal's face up and down across that mound. Hot fluid soaked into the pores of Esmal's face, all his awareness melting into a worship. He did not understand it, but he knew he needed more and more. Something about Behesh's scent and taste felt impossible to resist, like Esmal careened already to some edge, some high he never knew his body could touch.

Srei peaked the first time in Behesh's muzzle. The wyvern growled around her cock, vibrations added to the pleasure of her dick stroked by tongue. Her internal-testes sprayed thick gouts of seed across the wyvern's large taste buds. The muscle spiraled round her length and milked Srei in a dexterous play that had her scratching at the ground. She usually just fucked stupid the muzzle of whoever served her at this point, but she enjoyed Behesh making her squirm. Her legs kicked, pleasure flushing her waist as her dick continued to leak and throb till finally the wyvern released her. His head glided towards hers, and suddenly that skillful tongue pushed against her lips. She opened her mouth and received it with an eager moan. Behesh tasted satisfyingly of her cum as that fat muscle filled her mouth with spit and seed before it drove down her throat a little. Her hips bucked up into nothing while she sucked and swallowed on Behesh's tongue, licking and nipping it with her teeth—encouraging the wyvern to keep up his rapturous assault a moment longer before Srei finally shoved his head back.

Nearly a foot of tongue dragged out her lips, leaving Srei's jaw and front dripping with drool. Panting, she said, “It's, hah, my turn now, love."

Behesh growled and sat backwards on his haunches. It revealed to her and Esmal both that engorged slit in the moonlight. And peeking a few inches from it, the spade tip of Behesh's cock. Srei and Esmal both crawled towards it, one messy from the wyvern's drool and the other from the wyvern's slit. Srei noticed, as she got closer to her human lover, that he was red faced and stiff. His body trembled a little, and when she reached Behesh's hips with him she noted his eyes had glazed over.

Esmal barely noted Srei beside him. All that mattered was that monolith to virility pouring from its slit a throb at a time. Esmal rubbed his cheek into the hot flesh. It smeared his cheeks in more fluid. A part of him wanted to bathe in the wyvern's scent. He did not quite understand why it affected him so, but he barely contained himself when his tongue dragged across the red organ. The salt and heat and iron on his tongue… Some sort of pheromone laced in the taste of Behesh made Esmal's toes curl. His hands touched the slit where it spread around shaft, squeezing and teasing the scales there as they expanded and contracted, muscles flexing to push out the massive cock Esmal worshipped.

Srei worked from the other end with perhaps more attention to detail. She focused first on Behesh's emerging length, pushing her tongue into the wyvern's slit. Her tail shivered a little as the flavors of the wyvern's slit overwhelmed her senses. She understood, but perhaps did not fully comprehend, just why Esmal had become so caught up in his task. Srei undulated her tongue inside those interior walls, wriggled them around Behesh's cock while the wyvern huffed and growled. Her hands meanwhile groped and worked up and down the emerging shaft. Veins pushed out against her fingers, spade tip leaked precum all across her hands.

The night heat dropped as a cold front moved in, but they remained hot. Sticky. Behesh groaned above them and Srei realized the full cock had emerged from its slit.

She sat back to admire her partner, expecting Esmal to do the same. But the prince remained where he was, kissing up and down Behesh's shaft. A foot and a half of cock had emerged into the night air. The large spear of flesh drooled from a urethra that winked open and closed every few seconds. The underside of the shaft was wrapped in a set of ridges, eight in all, spaced out till the base of that organ. At the base, a bulb of flesh ballooned outwards to form a knot. That knot might have been thick as both of Sisbul's cocks combined, which made Srei wonder if the snake had ever tried to breed a wyvern before just to get both his shafts in a single hole. Srei knew there was no way any other creature could handle such girth. Much less its length.

Behesh growled while Esmal worked his way to the top of the shaft. He had to stand on his knees to do so, but was rewarded with more bliss there. He wrapped his lips around the tip and precum flooded his mouth. So much in a spurt Esmal needed to swallow immediately. Behesh jerked his hips forward a moment later and that tip became lodged in his throat. His jaw stretched to its limit as he accommodated that endowment's first six inches. He moaned and worked the head of the massive breeder. His tongue rubbed against the urethra, tasting that cocktail of musk and pheromones from the source. Everything else in the world was quickly becoming irrelevant to Esmal.

Srei stood and reached up to touch her larger mate's head. She guided the wyvern's face to hers and kissed his snout. She whispered, “How are you doing, love?"

“Rrrr, I would be better if Esmal would be my personal sheath," Behesh growled.

“Do you think you'd fit, Esmal?" Srei asked her prince.

The human remained unresponsive, limply sucking Behesh's cock.

“Is he alright?"

Behesh grunted and shoved enough cock down Esmal's throat to make his neck bulge with it. He said, “Perhaps, humans can't handle my pheromones."

Srei laughed, watching Esmal work his hands up and down the shaft. Till he got to the base, his fingertips could touch each other, but then the girth became far too much. Behesh's knot might have been thick as Esmal's thigh.

“I would say he's handling them just fine."

“I want to fuck him, Srei," Behesh snarled. “Prepare him for me, he's not going anywhere."

Esmal did not notice Srei pull down the dusty white pants he wore. He did not notice the lizard's front push up against him. He only came into awareness when Srei's slick length pushed between his crack. The familiar, turgid shaft a welcoming intruder. Srei plunged inside Esmal, the prince so practiced at this point he accepted Srei's cock with little effort. Slick with its precum and wyvern drool, the nine-inch cock quickly hilted in him. Esmal moaned around the meat in his mouth. His face flushed, his asshole squeezing around Srei. The prince never felt more receptive to being bred before. He wanted Srei to do nothing more than to use him.

Srei wanted nothing more, either. Esmal's tight, enticing heat was always a pleasure to plunder. She grabbed him by the waist and started pumping her hips. The prince shuddered and shook. The only parts of him that seemed to move were the parts tending to Behesh's dick. Srei saw the ridges of the red shaft flex whenever pre squirted down Esmal's throat. The first one kept teasing in and out of Esmal's lips. She continued to stir her slut up. And like a good boy, Esmal just sank more and more into bliss.

More and more of that precum spilled inside Esmal. His mind had nearly been swallowed in the buzz of pleasure. His aching jaw did not matter. When Srei grabbed the back of Esmal's head and shoved him further down Behesh's cock, Esmal would have squealed if he were not being strangled by the wyvern's breeder. That spade tip left a clear outline at the base of his throat. Esmal swallowed around it, not even struggling while Srei continued to fuck him. Her cock stirred up his insides while pheromones kept him relaxed. She ploughed Esmal's prostate, making the man's uncut dick drip onto the dirt.

Behesh, meanwhile, huffed and growled. His cock flexed more and more. Srei noticed the muscles around his slit growing tense. The wyvern's talon's dug furrows into the dirt. His finned tail whipped back and forth before he warned, “Shkhanna's slit, pull him off before I drown him."

Srei yanked Esmal by the hair off Behesh's dick. Precum and drool spilled out of Esmal while he coughed and gasped for breath. Srei held him close to her, biting down on Esmal's shoulder. She felt her second orgasm quickly approaching, and furiously humped in shallow motions in her slut's milking tunnel.

Then Behesh came.

Srei knew it coming, but the wash of spunk that hit both Esmal and Srei nearly knocked them both over. Srei braced her tail on the ground behind her. The flood of musk and pheromones was so potent even Srei came immediately. As that massive wyvern cock bobbed and fired rapid, thick ropes of cum across them both, Srei unloaded inside of Esmal. She felt him cumming, too, the prince nearly going slack against her as they both received Behesh's load. Thick, hot spunk slid between them in messy trails.

Srei pulled out and leaned Esmal back, kissing her prince. She was rewarded with a mouthful of Behesh's cum that he had caught. The torrent made her shudder, her cock still aching with arousal. Srei nearly felt feral. She wanted to breed Esmal till the human was swollen with her need. Her tongue filled his mouth and he weakly received her, a single hand squeezing her arm to show he was still conscious.

Behesh's explosion came to an end, and while the entire garden reeked of wyvern musk and cum, they were still not done. The wyvern's large head nudged them apart before Behesh said, “Apologies, I was very pent up and lost myself there."

Srei laughed and shoved him. “This is what we have to do isn't it?"

“Mmm," Beshesh took a deep breath, “You both smell better already. But we are not finished. Is Esmal alright?"

“Fine… I'm fine…" Esmal spoke up, sounding still far away.

Srei shrugged for the wyvern.

“Behesh… I need you inside me," Esmal said.

“Do you think I will fit?"

“I think I want to try," Esmal told the wyvern.

Srei kissed Esmal's cheek, “That's a good boy. I want to see you squirm on Behesh's cock." While Esmal moaned, Srei told Behesh, “Sit back against that wall. While Esmal rides you I want to fuck you."

Behesh rested against the library wall. He offered Esmal his arm and guided the messy, dazed human onto his body. Esmal barely came to awareness till he found himself on his knees on the wyvern's yellow stomach. The large, spade tip of Behesh's dick pressed against Esmal's entrance. Spread and slick from Srei fucking him earlier, that urethra caved in his flesh easily. The wyvern's tip was about as thick as Zairsh's. He knew he could take it. Behesh's hands settled on his hips, and at a tug Esmal was suddenly pierced. Ridged cockflesh forced the prince wider than Zairsh or Srei ever got him. He gasped, his rim boiling. It felt good for Behesh to rub up and down his entrance. The wyvern groaned and humped upwards, forcing the first ridge inside Esmal. The prince fell against Behesh, moaning, legs numb and trembling already. He felt so much pressure against his prostate. That tight nut pressing down his shaft, leaving him strung up in pleasure.

This while Srei straddled Behesh's tail. She watched in awe as Esmal's rear swallowed the first portion of that cock. The red shaft throbbed and pulsed, connecting the two in a lewd, living display. Behesh's clawed digits dug into Esmal's skin as he held the prince tight. The wyvern's hips rolled back and forth, and those ridges ploughed inward and pulled outward Esmal's flesh. The human gasped and groaned as he was stirred up. Srei almost felt jealous. But when she looked down at the promising pucker before her she licked her lips. It flexed and squeezed as Behesh fucked Esmal. Srei nudged her tip against the dark yellow flesh, and it fluttered once before she pushed inside.

Behesh grunted, a little pain at the penetration. He was a virgin there, but with their size difference, the wyvern quickly adjusted. That blue length of cock stirred him up, stabbing in and out of his hole. The strange pleasure of being stimulated there made his cock ache more. Behesh could imagine spending every evening with the three of them like this. Just lazy, hedonistic pleasure. Esmal tight and slick around his cock. He could feel the boy's pulse, those soft walls clenched tight while Srei's dick pumped in and out of him.

Esmal more than felt Behesh's pulse. His body felt like it quickly approached its limits while Behesh humped more of that massive tool inside him. Esmal had managed to get most of the ridges inside him by now. When Behesh tugged Esmal up and down the length, those bulges of flesh tugged and teased all along his insides. And despite how strained Esmal was, his body still felt numb with pleasure. His legs twitched, but he did not struggle against the wyvern's great strength. He simply let himself be bred. He was Behesh's toy to use, nothing more. A good boy. Esmal floated in a rapture of pheromones and musk. His body still absorbing them as Behesh's cock flooded the prince with precum. Esmal felt it spurt inside him every now and again. Behesh's whole body occasionally went still, with more flesh hilted inside Esmal, while fluid spilled inside him. Even when Esmal's stomach bulged with the outline of the wyvern's spade tip, he never asked the wyvern to stop plumbing his depths. Eventually, all eight of those ridges pumped inside Esmal. It left him full and satisfied, and Behesh hilted the prince against his knot. Esmal's neck craned backwards to moan, but Behesh's lips met his. The wyvern's skillful tongue filled his mouth. And while cock throbbed and precum dumped inside him, Esmal's throat was fucked by this powerful creature.

Something shifted inside Esmal. Some deep instinct. Some surge of knowledge he did not know there. When it took over, he completely forgot himself.

Srei's tail shuddered against Behesh's. Plundering the wyvern's hot tunnel quickly sent her over the edge. She planted a hand next to the wyvern's spread slit to support herself, cursing as her cock flexed and spilled cum inside the Behesh. She looked up and saw Esmal lost in a lewd kiss. Most of the prince's body remained slack, but she saw him grind backwards against that impossibly large knot. The sight made Srei's cock jerk a little harder. She grit her teeth and began fucking the now sloppy wyvern's hole. Cum practically frothed as it spilled from the clenching pucker. Srei grunt as she tried to angle her thrust up where she thought Behesh's prostate might be.

A hand on Behesh's snout signaled to the wyvern to retract his long tongue. Esmal coughed a little as he held himself up. Gasping, panting, he muttered, “Your knot… I need it."

Behesh growled, “Believe me I want it inside you, too, but—"

“Just fuck me, Behesh, I'll take care of the rest," Esmal said.

“Where is this coming from?"

Esmal grabbed his snout and said, “Come on Behesh! Fuck me, please."

Snarling, Behesh obeyed. He yanked Esmal up and ripped the human off his dick—all the way to that spade tip. He slammed Esmal down, ridges popping inside the human and making Esmal cry out. The human smacked firmly against Behesh's obscene knot. Behesh had no delusions about Esmal's elasticity, but he fucked the prince like he tried to knot him. His strokes got more forceful, all while he felt his asshole getting hotter and wetter. Srei fucked up at him at just the right angle to make him clench against her. She came again, but just kept ploughing him with her exceptional stamina. She had found the wyvern's prostate, and when she started battering it Behesh stuttered in his strokes. His body burned with pleasure and need. Need to knot Esmal. To finish and cover them both. Both his mates felt so good, stimulating and driving the wyvern to his peak.

Then Esmal slapped his abdomen and yelled in Srrketch, “Yield so I may as well!"

Behesh had been so caught up in fucking Esmal he did not even notice the prince had cast a spell until he yanked him down. His knot slammed against Esmal's ass, a moment's resistance before it ploughed inside.

Behesh did not understand it. Tight, wet heat suddenly enveloped Behesh's bulb like it had not in over a decade. He roared. Surprise. Ecstasy. Instinct. His cock jerked and Esmal's whole body moved with it. The prince groaned. Behesh felt his internal testes clench and he spasmed. His hips thrust upwards blindly before his spade tip exploded inside the prince. A rush of cum made Esmal groan. The prince's stomach began to swell with cum.

And though it was hard to see in the moonlight, his stomach was awash in scales. As the flesh swelled taut, to degrees it shouldn't have been able to. Whatever spell Esmal channeled kept creeping across his body as he swelled with cum. Srei watched, first in awe as her prince began to look pregnant. The swell of his stomach impossibly lewd and arousing at the same time.

Then she saw the scales where skin should be and cursed.

Srei climbed up Behesh shouting, “Esmal!" Behesh, still mid-orgasm looked down surprised to see the little lizard pushing against the human's back. It made Behesh's rim tug on his knot, that flesh yawning in an impossibly large gape. Cum spilled and flooded around the exposed red bulb, the seal quickly coming undone. Behesh's knot popped free of Esmal, and while the wyvern kept cumming, a flood of it washed across both Esmal and Srei again. She pulled the prince off Behesh's spire, finding Esmal completely limp.

“Esmal!" Srei cried out.

Behesh finally came to his senses, his orgasm tapering off.

“Is he alright?"

Srei put a hand to his chest. “He's still breathing at least."

“Perhaps he was simply overwhelmed?"

Srei looked down at the mess of the garden. “It's amazing only he was."

Behesh growled. “There is a storm coming. Let's let it wash some of this away while we get him inside for now."

“Alright," Srei touched Esmal's scaled stomach. “Not exactly how I expected tonight to go."

“But we are finally together."

Srei smiled softly, warming finally to the realization the three of them were finally together.

***

“Did you ever wonder what drew you to Srrket, Esmal?" Srei asked.

“I did not know I was being drawn."

They walked along the beach, a fog stricken ocean hurling its arms against the sand. Somewhere out at sea was a storm. The fog and mist blew in but broke like waves on shore when it reached Esmal, and to his right miles and miles of sand. The heat from the afternoon sun in the west warmed one side of his body while goosebumps from the cold ocean breeze covered his other half.

“Do you remember when you invaded Srrket?"

“How could I forget?"

“You stood before the desert sands, an army only a few hundred strong to meet yours," Srei said. She walked on the ocean side of Esmal, on his left. To his right, the armies of Srrket conjured forth like a mirage.

“We were befouled by bad luck. Crossbow strings snapping, the sand dunes caving in suddenly, and Sisbul."

“Magic, all of it worked by Tezz and Zysh from a distance."

“Sisbul was the real terror, though."

“Mmm, he killed and killed." As the two of them spoke, the battle unfolded nearby. Srei asked, “But do you remember what you felt that day? First setting out?"

Esmal was quiet for a moment. The mirage had vanished. The waves seemed even louder in its absence. He admitted, “It felt… fateful. At the time, I thought it was a guarantee of victory. I thought, more than I ever had on the eve of battle, that things were in our favor."

Srei chuckled, and Esmal noticed it was not her usual laughter. “In some ways, things were in your favor."

Esmal studied her and she held his gaze, those stunning blue eyes shining. He said, “In a roundabout sense, I suppose. Though, so many lives wasted."

“In Savish, you would have considered them an honorable sacrifice for Verishna."

“We were all ready, even my father, to offer ourselves to His glory."

“Not your father."

Esmal stopped and asked her, “How would you know?"

Srei laughed and kept walking. In the distance, the fog cleared and revealed a seaside castle built along dark cliffs overlooking the ocean. Domes gilded gold topped its towers so ships might spot them shining in the sun even at great distances. Esmal jogged to catch up with Srei and asked, “You think I was drawn to Srrket?"

“I know, Esmal," Srei said, smiling over her shoulder. Her face held some mischief he hadn't quite grasped. She spun around and kept walking backwards to the palace. She listed out on her fingers, “You feel happy there like you never had in Savish, despite your differences you find yourself drawn to Srrket's culture and people, you were all too happy to cast off all you knew from Savish to embrace our ways, and you picked up and mastered in a few months a language with no relation to your own."

Esmal scoffed. “I learned the language so quickly because you are such a great teacher."

Srei stopped and suddenly stepped in front of Esmal. She purred a little and whispered, all sultry heat, “And what about me? Soon as you saw me you lusted for me like some teenager figuring out what his cock was for."

Esmal blushed. “I cannot help it that you are so stunning."

Srei dipped backwards, spinning and flicking Esmal's chin with her tail. She kept walking, “I must admit, it is impressive how each denial you give is also meant to praise your love's greatness."

Something was slipping by in Esmal's mind. Awareness that still had not come enough into focus for Esmal to name. He followed her, asking, “Then how would you explain it?"

She gestured to the castle. “Look at it! A great monument to your grandfather's wealth. He had those tower built and gilded you know, capped them to say," and Srei imitated an old man's voice, speaking in Savish, “All will know the wealth our kingdom has grown beneath its own feet." She dismissed it with a wave. “Psh, your father heard that and thought, 'But what might we grow with the wealth of other kingdoms?'"

Esmal reached for her arm to stop her, but some tremendous force kept him from touching her. He gasped, pulling his hand back from whatever numbing, burning shield protected Srei. He asked, “How would you know that?"

She gave him a sidelong smirk. “You are finally catching on."

“And you are not Srei," Esmal pointed out.

“And are you Prince Esmal, heir to the Savish Empire?"

The prince's brow furrowed. “I do not know what you are getting at."

“Then see for yourself."

And suddenly they were walking down a hall. Esmal knew by the cut of the stone and tapestries hanging on the walls that they were inside the Savish palace—knew a moment later they were entering his father's chambers. The guards at the door did not notice them. Past a lavish receiving room that connected the rest of the suite, they entered his father's room. They moved as if these things were coming towards Esmal, as if it did not matter if he walked or not, and he only walked, he realized, to keep some semblance of control.

Inside his father's rooms, on the four poster bed lying in bright red, satin sheets was a man Esmal only recognized in portraits: His grandfather, writhing, as a boy no more than thirteen drove a dagger up and down into his gut. The red of the king's blood was darker than the sheets. A halo shined around the boy's head.

Esmal knew what he saw but his voice still came in hoarse denial: “My father came to power at twelve because my grandfather died of apoplexy."

“Hmm, perhaps the knife is what caused the stroke?" Srei suggested wryly.

“The boy is my father."

“There it is," Srei said and waved her hand. Both father and son vanished into wisps of smoke. “Soon we shall see if patricide runs in the family."

“You cannot suggest—"

“Do you ever wonder why you were drawn to Srrket, Esmal?"

He glared at this person, this not-Srei. It was like, if he might see her at just the right angle he might see her real face, but each time he got close she reset as Srei in his mind. He said, “You want me to ask why?"

“This is why, see him there, on the bed?"

A hawk perched on the headboard. It glared at them. Esmal understood. “Verishna."

“As I have blessed Sisbul and all my avatars with my power, he blessed your father," Srei explained. It sunk into place finally.

“You are—" Esmal spoke the name but nothing came out his mouth. He could not even think her name, as if it been robbed from his mind.

“Unlike some deities, I am both cursed and blessed that time unfolds before me as a landscape, and I saw what your father would do with this world if left unchecked. He carries a power even you have not seen, Esmal."

But Esmal knew stories. His father throwing horses to the ground, bending blades with his bare hands. His incredible strength, his ability to command men with the snap of his voice. Esmal never doubted it, but assumed the most exaggerated of tales to be mythmaking. The sort of things said to make emperors blessed the way Imad claimed to be blessed.

Srei continued, and as she did a woman, pregnant and in labor appeared in the bed surrounded by midwives and nurses: “I intervened on that future with you. It is a rule, among my kin, that we cannot strike down what is on this world. An immutable law. I could not strike down Imad, and I did not know his future till Verishna chose him, then it all became apparent. What he would do. What I must do. Many visions unfolded. I chose this one."

There was a clamoring around the bed. The baby had been birthed but was not breathing, Esmal knew this story well.

“A little luck on my part," Srei explained. “Your mother, Imad's first chance at an heir, carried a stillborn baby. So I stole into the room," and Srei stepped to the bed, in a gap between all the frantic nurses. She reached down and touched the newborn on the forehead, “And I supplied it with life, with a spirit and soul not born from this land but born from mine."

“The child was me," Esmal said quietly.

They appeared back on that space between the beach and desert sands. Esmal finally, finally was able to finish the thought: I am dreaming.

Srei approached him and took his hand, “You are of both lands. You had to be, for I knew only one close to Imad could make him face his mortality."

Esmal stepped back. “I do not want to kill my father."

Srei flashed her teeth, “You won't, do not worry, dear."

Teeth gnawed through his gut. Esmal asked, “Why are you telling me all this?"

“Because, at some point, you will need to embrace this spirit inside you, no matter the cost. And you know now the cost, don't you?" Esmal did, and it scared him the way Srei's eyes bore into him. He expected, at any moment, to be put into a trance like Sisbul put him in. “It is up to you, Esmal. There are many visions of the future. They all matter, and none matter. Yet here we both are: interceding."

Esmal felt something stalking around them both. The fog was drawing close. He knew the vision soon would end. He said, “If you know then just tell me what to do. How do I stop Zysh?"

“Stop him?" Srei laughed. “I fear your concern for what you cannot control is blinding you to the opportunity Zyshthunse is gifting you."

The fog had wrapped around them both. Esmal shook his head and admitted, “It feels like I have no control over anything."

She took his hand. “And yet here you are: interceding."

Then the fog consumed them both.