“Liangfeng, what are your feelings towards me?”

Zag pulled her off his arm and held her by the shoulders at arm’s length. He stared down into her eyes, using them as a window into her mind and soul, looking for the truth.

“Are you worried that I am playing games?”

“I could barely read you as a child, I will not take chances after our earlier interactions.”

She crossed one arm around her chest to support the elbow of the other as she tapped her chin in thought.

“One could say, that you are my childhood crush and I have found no reason not to pursue it. I will admit that my political and ideological goals play a significant part in this decision, along with a curiosity I can just not let go.”

“What do you mean?” Zag smiled at her as he poked at her cheek with a finger. He found this thoughtful look brought out even more beauty from her already beautiful face.

“I want to change The Covenant completely and I am not even come close to the strength of some ancient old snakes of my race. I need someone powerful enough for them to consider what I say and yet still be someone that will not just suppress me for their own ends.”

Zag started to twirl her hair with his fingers as he brushed it against her face. She snickered from the ticklish feeling it gave her but did not pull away. She was glad to enjoy the intimate contact that she had lacked while surviving in the political nightmares of The Covenant’s nobility.

“What about your ‘curiosity’?”

“I cannot help but wonder what the results of our union would be…” She blushed as she trailed off and glanced at the makeshift bed next to the cavern wall. When her eyes lingered over it her face gained even more color.

Zag smiled at her before he lifted her off her feet and carried her the few remaining steps.

Liangfeng was immersed in such blissful foreplay as only an experienced and invested lover could dish out. After Zag had tasted seemingly every place on her body, he rolled her on top of him and directed her on how to start the main event.

After the initial pain started to settle she set a tight deliberate slow pace that she could see was driving Zag crazy. She wanted to keep it up but wasn’t sure how much self-control she could maintain.

Her speed had just started to increase when outside forces answered all questions about control. Two feminine hands started at Liangfeng’s waist and slid their way up her stomach to grab her pert breasts.

She gasped and everything tightened. It sent both her and Zag over the edge and he shot into her while she spasmed and looked over her shoulder gaping in confusion.

“That was worth the wait,” Anu muttered, her voice coquettish. She kissed Liangfeng on the nose before rubbing along her face to lick her ear.

Liangfeng let off a squeal.

Her first night didn’t go exactly as she imagined it. After it was all over, though, she decided the unexpected things in life really make the experiences all the richer.

**

After sleeping the meal off for a short time, Thea found herself too restless to continue lying in bed. After feeling some relief at the assurances that her siblings would be saved her mind seemed to be on a mission to fill up the void with worries she had not been thinking about for quite some time.

She sighed and slid out of her sleeping gear. After blinking a few times trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness, she remembered she was deep in a cavern and created a small flame which she held in her palm. She went out and wandered through the cavern trying not to listen to some still ongoing activities coming from the caverns belonging to the others.

She found herself at the main entrance to the dragon’s lair and was surprised to see the Chouyan was already there She watched the qilin sit and mutter to herself about ‘noises’ before she approached and sat down beside her. Thea looked out at the starscape finding all the familiar constellations.

“What troubles you?” she asked of Chouyan after she didn’t respond to her presence.

“My mistress followed him into his room,” Chouyan explained with a shudder.

“That cannot be unexpected since she has been throwing herself at him.”

“Anunnakisarratum followed them.”

“Did they fight? I heard nothing,” Thea looked at Chouyan with confusion.

“They did not fight, they…” Chouyan blushed heavily and could not complete her answer.

“How are you this innocent?” Thea was dumbfounded. “You are older than me, and qilins all go through military service.”

“My service is being her bodyguard, my situation caused there to be several gaps in my education and I have not spoken to my parents in any familial sense since I was a child.”

“Are you jealous, is that the cause of this level of embarrassment?”

“No, I do not think so, I felt…” her voice lowered. “Desires, so many desires.”

“I see.” Thea grinned at her. “Did you want to join them?”

Chouyan could not answer as her cheeks turned a brighter shade of pink.

“I should not tease you about it, my own feelings are troubled by this,” Thea said as she stretched her shoulders. “This conversation seems to have relieved me of so much stress.”

“When are you planning to return to Proelefsi?”

“I will ask Zag how much rest he needs, I want to return as soon as the dragons are up to the flight.” Thea turned to see Chouyan’s startled expression. “What?”

“You refer to Zaganursarrum as ‘Zag’?”

“I guess I did, it seems,” Thea said and turned her sight back to the night sky.

The rustle of flapping wings and the patter of bare feet on stone interrupted the conversation. Thea looked over at Chouyan, who glanced toward the sounds, making use of her superior senses in the darkness to identify the source.

“The Lady Sharmelammusarratum,” she informed Thea.

The person just named came into the sight of the two of them as she approached the entrance to the cavern. She carried a large stone basket filled to the brim with something they could not identify in the low light conditions.

Sharmelammusarratum, upon noticing them, walked over and sat down after greetings were exchanged. She handed each of them one of the basket’s contents before taking one for herself.

Thea looked over the large purple fruit before taking a small bite of it, it was like an explosion of sweetness the likes of which her tongue had never experienced and she had to lean forward to keep the juice from running down her chin.

“Is this what the drink from dinner was made from?” Chouyan asked after her own bite.

“Yea, I do not understand the need that foolish boy had to turn it into such a thing,” Shar haughtily said.

“You drank most of it,” Thea rebutted without thinking.

“That is not the point, it is better this way, is it not?”

“Most definitely,” Thea replied as Chouyan nodded agreement.

“Why are you two not sleeping?” Shar asked between munches. She set the basket down within easy reach for the three of them.

Thea glanced over at Chouyan who was trying to hide her blushing face behind a fruit as her embarrassment cropped up once again.

“I was restless, she was embarrassed by what was going on in the other rooms,” Thea explained. Chouyan gave a stifled groan from hearing it explained that way.

“Is this really a topic you should tease someone over while being a virgin yourself?” Shar admonished Thea in a tone that did not hide her amusement.

“Perhaps not, but seeing her like this put my mind at ease, I apologize Chouyan.”

“We will probably leave tomorrow as soon as the other children can wake up,” Shar told them while reaching for another fruit. “From what the serpent told me things are already dire.”

“You are going as well?” Chouyan asked, the shock bringing her out of her thoughts of what she had heard from Zag’s bedroom.

“None of you can handle Agios Ba if he is complicit in or compromised by the plans of these humans and even that serpent girl’s father can easily match my children in a fight, given the right circumstances, do you think what forces you will have can overwhelm what you are facing?”

“What about the gods?” Thea asked with concern.

“As childish as those two can be, they do not require my presence. They will also know when it is time for them to do their part in this.”

“Well, I will try to sleep before my impatience gets the better of me, I left someone else to fight my succession war and I do not want to leave it that way for any length of time.”

“Truly,” Shar nodded before biting into another of the fruits.