Author:  Phizzy Chan
Title:  Scars

Disclaimer: Slayers belongs to Hajime Kanzaka, and I make no profit from this story

The door closed with a sharp snap as the chimera walked without hesitating through the room, on the prowl for the princess.

He didn’t slow as he pulled his cape off, then his belt, then his tunic to throw them on the bed. Zelgadiss turned to a blank light white wall. A smirk twitched at his lips.

Any second. Any second now.

He heard Amelia voice, and felt his right hand go to his crotch. Lightly, Zelgadiss squeezed at the growing bulge. Just her voice was enough to get him worked up.

Mentally, he replayed what she’d said months earlier about not being able to be together. It was ‘too soon.’ Someone might ‘see them’, and did they really need to deal with ‘the rumors’? She loved him, she did, but it could ‘turn complicated’ very easily. He enjoyed his privacy, and Amelia didn’t want to be invaded and talked about ‘over tea either’. They ‘loved’ each other, and would just ‘wait to be with each other’. Then they could ‘announce’ it in front of everyone, and damn the entire Council.

Waiting. Oh, she *would* say that. She was very good at that. He knew all about what kind of things she did while ‘waiting’ for him. He’d told her to wait for him while he bathed, and she surely had done that.

He himself had had the opportunity to do what she had. But he’d resisted. Zelgadiss had thought that might be disrespectful and not-entirely-appropriate to do, even if they loved each other. He’d *resisted*, damn it, held himself back, felt such guilt for even contemplating it…and Amelia didn’t to feel the same. He could still see her single wide blue eye through the fence.

Zelgadiss took a few feet forward so he could rest his head on the wall. Any second now. He heard her voice again. She was singing something. There was the miraculous sound of running water as she filled the tub.

The chimera sighed slightly, stretching. He hoped his pants didn’t catch on fire. Any second now.

‘Sure, sometimes, I think about you. At night.’ Her cheeks a little pale, hands toying with her clothes. ‘In the bath. In bed. It’s not a bad thing, really. I heard every one did it.’

‘The bath.’

He heard the sound of fabric rustling.

His mind went back to his thoughts as he gently touched himself. That hadn’t been the problem. He’d no problem with her touching herself; the thought turned him on, even now. But what she’d been doing *while* touching herself….

The worst thing was that it probably hadn’t been the first time.

Zelgadiss gritted his teeth. Any second now. Surely she’d do it this time. Hadn’t he done enough to get her excited? Touching her all day, rubbing her back, wearing the tight white tunic she loved on him, the tight blue pants, the aftershave she’d bought him when they’d gone shopping that one time…

Still, even after all this time, he didn’t know what upset him exactly. He wasn’t angry really at the invasion of his privacy, the fact that Amelia had seen him nude without his permission. That wasn’t really it; in fact, he was rather aroused by the thought of Amelia wanting to see him naked.

It was more of…They had been traveling together for some time. Amelia liked taking baths and even going swimming in the nude. There were moments were Zelgadiss would have given his soul to be a fish. He could have looked; she never would have known it. But he didn’t, he resisted, and then he turned around at the wrong moments and saw Amelia through the rickety fence.

He felt almost *betrayed.* She didn’t seem to be all that guilty about it. They ‘loved’ each other, and if she wanted to see him naked, why couldn’t she? She was a ‘princess,’ his ‘girlfriend’, and she could have ordered him to take his pants off. By then, Zelgadiss knew she was grasping for straws. But she hadn’t asked him as to not ‘embarrass’ him. Was he ‘really that angry’?

Zelgadiss felt his shoulders slump and his hair scratch the wall. Amelia was now in the bath, nude and increasingly wet. Her body was white and flawless, smooth and soft. He closed his eyes and tried to recall the times she’d worn a bathing suit in front of him. Fabric muffled the sound of stone on stone. His hand moved faster. The other hand went to the wall, near his face.

Carefully, he pressed a finger against a small blemish in the white stone. It had taken him hours to get the spell right. Slowly, a small hole appeared, near eye level. The hole was just large enough for him to see her clearly. Amelia would never know either, since the spell made the hole invisible on the other side of the wall. If the short princess inspected the wall, she’d just see perfect stone.

He blinked. At first, his eyes focused on her hair, the darkest thing in the room. It was wet, and a mess, part of it hanged in her face. Candles were everywhere, sending dancing shadows across the walls. One hand was in-between her legs, while the other squeezed at a breast.

They were big, he knew that. But he didn’t know her nipples were so pink and delicious looking, or that she seemed to like playing with them with her thumb. She was tracing a small circle around the areolas, and her hand was moving faster in the water. He heard her crying ‘Mister Zel’ over and over again. As though she knew he was there, her hand stopped momentarily to use her index finger to slide into herself before moving up back to that interested pink nub.

His hand cupping his erection moved fast, trying to match her movements. Suddenly, he wondered if the spell would prevent her from hearing his voice. He hadn’t thought about that.

Then he managed to tear his eyes away from her bouncing breasts, and then away from her frantic hand and then her beautiful flushed face.

Zelgadiss had seen her mostly in dresses, rarely did he ever get to glimpse her in something truly revealing. So, he had no idea her body had so many scars.

Horribly, he seemed to know how and where she’d gotten most of them. That one on her leg was the one she’d gotten from the time she’d slipped on a tree while trying to help the lost group find their way. She’d slipped on wet bark, and down she’d fallen. At first, they hadn’t understood what they’d seen: One second, Amelia, the next, just an empty wet tree.

Zelgadiss had been the one to find her, the first to see the small white little figure clinging to the branch like a damp frightened kitten. Lina hadn’t been able to help, and neither could Amelia because of uh, *medical* reasons, and Zelgadiss was far from the perfect healer. He’d seen it before, but now it seemed to be particularly vivid instead of just a long white scar.

Thinking about that made him want to rush into the room and hold her. She’d looked so small up there, and he never forgot how it felt to have her long slim white leg resting in his lap as he healed her.

The ones on her knees looked old, and he saw Amelia as a little kid, climbing on everything. He bet she got most of those from trying to perfect justice speeches. He remembered seeing painting of her as a small child, and could imagine her as the terror of every squirrel and tree-residing animal in the kingdom.

The round fading one on her shoulder was from the time she’d reached forward to get a piece of Lina’s chicken, and the hungry sorceress had leaned forward and bit the princess.

It had been funny at first, until Amelia got ill from it, and spent a week in bed, cursing every red-head she saw in her fevered daze. Not that the princess had an extensive vocabulary in swears. She’d thrown a bed pan at a healer who’d had the unfortunate luck to not only look after a sick sorceress, but to also have ginger hair. The woman had escaped in tears as Amelia called her a ‘greedy jellyfish lover who lived her life like an animal’. Amelia didn’t eat chicken for a month, or try to steal from Lina’s dishes for a week.

That newer straight white one on her thigh was from the time she’d accidentally fallen on him during one of their adventures. He’d had one of his magically enhanced daggers out to provide light, and Amelia had leaned against a wall. The room had tipped sideways, right before the floor had disappeared. Amelia had cast a Ray Wing, then had crashed into him. He hadn’t healed that one, but watching her do it had been torture.

He wasn’t too sure, but he thought she’d gotten the one on her stomach from the fight with Gaav. He tried to recall the entire thing, but most of his memory was dominated with the image of her covered with blood. It made a startling contrast to what she was doing now, and for a second, Zelgadiss was just happy and grateful they were alive. He didn’t think he was angry with Amelia any more.

Amelia did this very interesting thing where she raised one leg to rest on the bathtub’s rim, and he could see everything. She was looked so pink and clean. He tried to imagine making love to her, and couldn’t. Amelia was somehow too pure and innocent to dirty with that image. It was odd. She was masturbating, thinking of him probably having sex with her, but she was too beautiful to have sex with.

Her hand moved faster and her tongue kept coming out to lick frantically at her lips. Water splashed out as Amelia’s hips moved almost violently. Her cry was short as she bit her lips to contain it. Even as she settled down into the water, her hand still played at herself. Zelgadiss felt more semen running down his thighs and he tried to imitate Amelia and not make any noise.

His hand felt sticky, even if it had been protected by his pants. Zelgadiss was sure there was a huge stain down the front of the blue fabric, and he wondered how he would cover it up.

Then he heard the splash of water, and couldn’t take his eyes away from Amelia. She was watching now, running a dark blue hand towel smeared with white soap over herself. He watched with particular interest as she moved the towel in-between her legs. Then she was looking at the bottles next to the tub, on a white shelf. He’d hardly noticed her surroundings besides the tub and the candles. She picked out a white bottle, pouring some into her palm to massage into her scalp.

Zelgadiss knew he should probably leave now before someone noticed him here, but he couldn’t turn away. She looked so very…real and solid. It was like he’d been comparing a painting to an actual person. He wanted to hug her, help clean her, kiss her, go to bed with her. He had said he’d loved her before, to her face even, but he hadn’t been entirely sure until now. There had been some doubt, even if he’d been the one to say it first. Now, he knew he loved her and wanted to be with her.

Fuck the Council now. They should be together. Who cared about gossip? They could deal with her father. He might even approve. They could elope if needed. Zelgadiss just needed *her*. He couldn’t turn his eyes away as he watched her do such mundane things that were amazing when she was the one doing them.

Somehow, when she was adding conditioner to her hair, he was as entranced as he ever was in his favorite classes as a boy. She was cleaning herself, using a spell to remove unwanted body hair, and he still couldn’t look away. Her clipping her nails was just as interested as any book he’d read. When she dunked her head under the water to wash her hair, Zelgadiss wondered if it would be too soon to consider what kind of engagement and wedding rings she might want to have.

He barely noticed his pants sticking to him. If someone had walked in, Phil or Lord of Nightmares itself, he wouldn’t have turned around. She was grabbing a white towel resting on a small shelf nearby, and Zelgadiss could see her scarred back. He should be there, helping her dry off, kissing the marks on her skin.

Zelgadiss didn’t bother to grab his things as he hurried out of the room.

~~~~~~~
With the fluffy towel around her, the princess shivered and looked around for a source of warmth while trying to not think about the chimera.

After the warm bath, the air felt especially chilly. Her toes curled as she walked on the cold stone and she held her breathe as she made her way to her room.

The warmth of the carpet nearly made her cry. A cheery fire burned in the fireplace, and it brought a small smile to her face. The room was cozy, and Amelia felt some of her earlier sadness disappearing. He’d forgive her, in time. They *did* love each other, and love and justice always conquered. After flashing a pose, the princess rummaged through her drawers for some clean under clothes.

The blue ones near the top reminded her too much of Zelgadiss, so she pushed them aside and dressed in plain white underwear. She’d nearly stopped shivering, and grabbed a bathrobe from her closet. Next, Amelia collapsed on an old comfortable chair in front of her dressing table. Her hair was still wet, so the dark-haired girl casually draped her towel over her head. No one was expecting her, so she decided it didn’t matter how foolish she looked.

After all, Zelgadiss wasn’t going to barge in here any moment, demanding they make love…

Amelia shivered again. Was it healthy to think so much about sex? She’d told Zelgadiss they couldn’t be together so soon, but that didn’t stop her from fantasizing at every turn. Ever since the first time she’d accidentally seen him naked, erotic images were never far from her mind. The cute little outfit he’d worn today had been torture. You could see nearly every little pebble under those pants and shirt.

She saw Zelgadiss cleaning himself with a rough sponge, and felt her hand trailing downward.

He was washing vigorously a hand slid into her underpants

Lightly, gently, Zelgadiss wrapped the unburdened hand around his penis got so wet just thinking about that

His face was distant, and his hand moved faster hand and eyes followed his movements

The sponge was scrubbing at the heavy sack below his growing erection did he know how oddly peaceful he looked at that moment

There was this thick-looking whitish liquid dribbling out of the tip what did that taste like, could she someday

Low groans escaped his throat did anyone else know what he was doing were they alone oh, she wished he was here and touching her

His hands made a scraping noise and there were a few sparks in the air that quickly died out as they fell into the water and she’d blamed all those small fires that had plagued them after saying goodbye to Filia on Lina

Strong intact of breath. right there, that’s the spot, ohh

That clear-white liquid was coming out more now, and his gasps were getting loud what did his mouth feel like, his hands

He didn’t say any words, just grunted, and there were globs of the sticky-looking liquid all over his hands and slowly wilting erection and slim thighs. His face wasn’t entirely relaxed or satisfied though want him now his tongue in on that yessss

Then he lowered himself further into the water to wash himself off. Amelia hadn’t been able to move from her hiding spot for some time; she’d barely been able to move. Just like now.

Slowly, the short princess removed her damp hands from her underwear, grimacing. She’d just done this, *and* bathed. Gradually, Amelia gathered enough energy to get off the chair and dragged herself over to the closet. The towel on her head and her robe were thrown to rest on the still-warm chair.

A light dress was chosen; Amelia could feel sweat breaking out over her forehead. The smoldering fire (how long had she sat in that chair?) was making the room stuffy. A nice long stretch and a casual water spell aimed at the fire made things much more comfortable. She walked back to the bed, digging under the heavy pink covers and light silk sheets.

Soon enough, Amelia found her way back to the chair, a book in her hand. She’d fallen asleep reading for the last few nights. It was somehow much easier to drift off with her head full of heroes and sorcerers and proud nobility and honorable peasants than thinking about her angry boyfriend. There wasn’t anything she could do about that though, it was too soon for them to announce to the world they were together (*he’d* been the one to remind her about thinking things through, to be more adult and prepare to take the Crown on day), and they would just have to wait.

Aware of the failing binding from so many reads, Amelia gingerly opened to where she’d left off. A piece of parchment being used as a marker was tucked away further in the book. Now, where was the part about the castle…?

The door hit the wall with a crack that made her jump. She didn’t have time to stand up, or say a word. Something white and thin landed on her head.

Amelia blinked. She’d just taken the towel off, and now here was another white object hitting her head.

Zelgadiss was there then, his mouth on his, tongue running along her lips. Amelia didn’t think about it, she just wrapped her arms around his shoulders and brought him closer. Her book fell to the floor with a swish of loose pages. The aftershave she’d bought him not long ago smelled so sweet on him. The sorceress moved her mouth away long enough to chant the enhanced VisFarrank spell. His shirt fell to the floor to join the book.

He didn’t wait for her to regroup. Lightly, so lightly, his teeth bit her lower lip and his tongue traced the shape of her teeth. The spell was working on both her mouth and hands, and she heard him moaning as her hands massaged his shoulders. Their tongues met almost shyly.

His mouth was too nice to break away, so Amelia let her hands blindly undress him. His pants fell to the ground with a clatter that made her jump. He hadn’t been wearing a belt, but there was something in his pockets. She wondered if any of the guards had heard. Not that it really mattered, Amelia didn’t think she’d have the strength to make up a story to explain why her personal body guard was half naked and kissing her.

‘Well, uh, it was hot. And…he was helping me dry off and…’

Zelgadiss moved suddenly away, making Amelia moan in disappointment. Her mouth had a sweet ache from all the kissing, and even his lips looked bruised and swollen. Slowly, the princess’ eyes moved downward. Then she realized what had hit her head. That gorgeous white, so tight, tunic that showed how nicely muscles his chest was… Light, beautiful blue skin was all she could see for a few seconds. Did he realize how wonderful he looked right now? Black briefs were all that covered him, and they didn’t quite do such a good job.

“Wait.”

Lips were curved in a smirk before he wrapped his arms around her slim waist. Hands went to undo her dress. The feel of stone on silk made Amelia shudder.

“Why?”

“We shouldn’t.”

“Of course we should. Don’t you love me?”

That was dirty. Amelia looked at him, shocked. “Of course I love you. How could you not think that?”

No slowly down a second, the chimera’s smooth long hands pushed down the top of her dress. Her bra was white and a little damp. Gently, he cupped one breasts, hearing her hiss and move closer to him. One slightly rough thumb circled towards her nipples. He could see the pinkness through the white fabric.

“Mister Zelgadiss…”

One of his hands tangled itself in her messy dark hair. The other slim hand tugged at her clothes. The rest of the dress slithered off her, hitting the floor and making Amelia shiver slightly. She cuddled up to him, trying to ignore him at all when he plucked at her bra strap.

“Oh, Mister Zelgadiss…?”

“What?” His words came out a growl that made Amelia smirk.

“Are you sure you should be doing this?” Her chest rubbed against his. From his expression, Amelia assumed he was well aware of her hardened nipples.

“After all, it’s not very appropriate. Not at all what a future-Queen should be doing.”

Their hips touched, and the princess gulped audibly. She’d imagined him inside more time than she could count, but actually feeling that part of him pressing against her was different. The hardness made her very aware of the fact that she was still wet from touching herself, and becoming more and more aroused. Lightly, her hips rubbed against his. The warm friction made her bit her lip, and her hands moved to his underwear.

“Should a princess be doing that?”

Carefully, the dark-haired girl lowered herself to her knees.

“Doing what?”

Amelia kissed his stomach, feeling his shudder. Unable to resist, her small moved to cup his behind. All the nice muscles there tensed, and Zelgadiss was making a strangled noise. Amelia kissed his bellybutton, ignoring Zelgadiss’ frantic whispered words. She squeezed.

So tight. Maybe he needed a massage?

Her hands slipped into the straining black underwear. Zelgadiss groaned, and Amelia felt a hand pressing against her head, bringing her closer to his erection. All the saliva in her mouth disappeared, and Amelia tried not to show how nervous she was. She *did* want to taste him, pleasure him, and have him return the favor. But, actually putting that part of him in her mouth…

Face burning, the princess tugged his underwear mid-thigh. His erection nearly popped out like some perverted jack-in-the-box. Abruptly, she see herself and her best friend walking into that dimly lit store with all those weird glass things that Lina had insisted were ‘just statues, damn you’ even though Amelia had never seen statues shaped like *that*. Lina had told her to go back to the inn, but curiosity made it so that only a Dragon Slave could have discouraged the princess.

Paintings of nude or nearly nude people covered the walls, and just thinking about it made her embarrassed. No one in the store made eye contact, including Amelia and Lina. Lina wouldn’t even answer any of her questions. The sorceress had bought some candle she needed for some spell, and kept telling Amelia to not ‘touch anything, damn it!’ and to not ‘talk to *anyone*’. The owner had kept giving them weird grins and Lina forever refused to talk to her about that day.

When she’d been in there, Amelia had a faint idea that it was some art store, and even now, she wasn’t sure. That day had mostly become a blur of different colored glass phalluses in varying sizes, and pink skin lining the background. But the sight in front of her now made her recall the smaller-blue phalluses. A fire smoldered beneath her face.

A clear-whitish liquid dripped from the tip, and Amelia gave a few light licks, trying not to make a face at the flavor. This too, didn’t exactly fit her fantasies. Zelgadiss kept pushing her closer to it, while Amelia wondered what exactly she should do in this situation.

“Amelia…”

“Mister Zelgadiss?” One of his pleasantly thin fingers traced her lips.

“Come on, Amelia, don’t tease me.” He slipped his index finger into her mouth, moaning when she sucked and bit at it gently. The nail scraped gently against her teeth, although it didn’t hurt like it might have a just a short while ago because of the spell. Her tongue licked the tip of his finger before sucking at it again. Zelgadiss unconsciously was tracing her chin with the rest of his digits.

“Yes, that’s what I want you to do.” The chimera groped at himself, making Amelia remember all too vividly that musty store.

“What? You want me to what?”

Zelgadiss’ eyes cracked open. He had a pair of the most intense eyes she’d ever seen, especially now.

The irises reminded her of the sea, especially of when she and Gourry had tried to make a boat to sail off that Fish-island place. It had been stormy, and they’d gotten about fifteen feet out before hitting the jutting rock they’d purposely tried to steer around. Swimming back, as wet as humanly possible and perhaps more than she’d ever been before in her life, Amelia had looked behind her to give the rock a dirty look. The sky had been a depressing grey and the water dark and stormy. She remembered thinking about Zelgadiss, then Gourry had paddled up next to her with the few broken branches left of the raft.

The whites of his eyes were slightly bloodshot, like when she’d found him at the bar. Her blood slowly became ice at the memory. Normally, he had had such dignity; Amelia always thought that no matter what situation, he would always possess a great amount of poise. Even dressed up as a bunny, even being forced to sing, even the time when Lina had pushed a mug of some unidentified liquid into his lap, even when she’d accidentally walked in on him in the bath…he always was in control.

The night had taught her otherwise.

When Zelgadiss had told her in a round about way how he felt…He’d nearly been falling off his chair, but his seemingly always-present dignity in no way intact.

She saw that night in her mind, still not pleased about that incident. Amelia saw him as he asked if she wanted to go back to his room with him, with that horrible drunken smile on his face.

“Amelia?” His voice nearly cracked, and the princess eased her grip on him. Her hand moved up and down lightly, and her eyes glazed slightly as she recalled that night, and the following morning. She hardly recognized his groans and what he was mumbling under his breathe.

Amelia had nearly bitten her tongue off as she stood there at the bar. She’d wanted a romantic, private moment with Zelgadiss when she’d come downstairs. Everything had been planned out, and a few helpful (cheat) notes still darkened her palm. The words that she would say, how exactly she’d kiss him, it was all up there in her head. Perfectly organized; Zelgadiss would have been proud of her.

They’d been sort of flirting since they’d separated from the group, the tension as thick as frozen molasses. Amelia *knew* that she would be the one to come forward and tell him how she felt. She’d tell him, he’d then admit how he felt in a heartfelt speech full of slightly flowery but precious words she’d never forget; they’d kiss warmly, perfectly, and then go back to Saillune together. Zelgadiss would court her, after getting her father’s permission, and they marry, and have two children, a boy and girl.

Her so-careful plans were tossed into the fire, then the ashes were thrown into her eyes as Zelgadiss smirked at her with whiskey on his breathe. He had leaned forward, eyes not exactly focused on just her face, and asked if she knew how many times he’d counted her looking at him.

‘Today, I mean. How many times today, princess?’

Some of the whiskey splattered on her clean tunic as he gestured at her chest with his glass. She didn’t notice it until morning, and in the present, felt the warmth in her hands of the coffee pot she’d clutched the next morning. He deserved that hang-over, and she’d be damned if she was going to help make that morning an easier. The looks she’d gotten as she stood on the table, dangling the hot pot over a whining chimera’s head hadn’t mattered.

‘Twenty three times. I don’t like being stared at, but I’ll make an exception for you.’ Here was the sincere speech she wanted. The notes remained stained on her hands, forgotten.

‘Cause you’re (his eyes had darted downward, and she wished she’d learned the Dragon Slave from Lina after all) you, my dark-haired beauty, and now we should go back to the room. My room.’ There were her flowery words and endearing statements. At least she never forgot them.

‘Now.’ His voice became more reasonable, ‘You can show me all those things your priestess teachers taught you.’ If only he meant magic.

The drunks had yelled encouragements. Zelgadiss had a serious look on his face, and had quickly swallowed the rest of the contents of his glass. He had looked so prepared, and normal, like he was about to set off on another adventure for his cure. Later, after she gave the unable-to-talk-above-a-decibel-zombie-Zelgadiss another dirty look, Amelia realized that his face was more relaxed than it had been in some time. Even during the flirting and teasing, there had still been some seriousness/wariness there. That had made her ease up, and she allowed him a few swallows of her tea at dinnertime, since she’d tossed out his own. When he coughed from the sweetness of it, Amelia had even slapped his back to help instead of cheering as he choked.

He’d nearly fallen off his chair, and Amelia had to help steer him upstairs, much to the delight of the patrons at the bar. What had they yelled? (as though she’d forgotten, as though she could every forget that night) Oh, yes ‘Turn those stones to diamonds, girl. No, no, coal!’ ‘Caramelize him.’ ‘Find out how hard that stone is. Here, take my rock hammer.’ ‘Hope you have a good drill, girl.’ ‘Refraction has never been more adept.’ ‘Wonder if he’s corrosion resistant.’ And, perhaps most disturbingly, ‘Zirconium carbide! Ye-ah!’ The next morning, when she stepped out of the room, there had been a basket of gravel full of little fabric baggies of grit.

After asking the waitresses a few question before leaving, Amelia learned there was a geology convention in town. That might explain why Zelgadiss had been drinking, and why he’d been drinking with those people at the bar.

Zelgadiss refused to go to his room, mumbling disjointed words, and tearing apart the mini-bar. Amelia had attempted to subdue him, and after they’d broken a jar of cashews (costing them thirty gold pieces and, Amelia darkly and uncharacteristically suspected, their first born) in the struggle, had given up.

That had been one of the oddest nights of her life: watching Zelgadiss drink his weight in vodka while ‘testing’ out the bed by jumping up and down on it and spilling liquor everywhere, spending twenty minutes convincing him that the bed couldn’t take both their weight, and that it didn’t matter as they wouldn’t be having sex there and no they would ‘*not* be making love on the floor either’, before drifting off to the sight of him eventually passing out face-first-butt-up in a pile of over-priced nuts.

His legs had rested on the bed, while his hair collected cashews and dust, and he couldn’t really walk in the morning; he stumbled instead. Amelia awoke to find her legs resting on his, toes touching, and spent a few moments wondering if maybe everything was really okay, that this was a fine way to start a relationship. She’d bounded up, ripping over the curtains. Even his cranky screech and muttered complaints and insults didn’t entirely kill the okay feeling.

The confused look on his face, and the way he asked impolitely what the hell she was doing in his room did.

Amelia had broken a bottle of roasted peanuts over his already-aching head (oops, there went *both* the kids now. ‘Sorry little Amy and Zachary Philip, but, Mommy and Daddy were having a little fight…’) and stomped out of the room and down the stairs. Not before slamming the door hard enough to break the door knob however. She waited in the dining area, wondering if ordering nothing but a glass of water would express how she felt about a certain chimera.

When the waitress came by, Amelia decided to do the opposite. Zelgadiss gradually made his way downward, blinking owlishly in the light. Breakfast was huge, silent affair involve several plates of the most expensive foods she could order (who knew they had caviar at this inn for breakfast?)

The smell had made Zelgadiss turn green, and Amelia made sure she shoved the most noxious, odorous food stuffs under his nose. He was too busy covering his ears from the sound of Amelia banging her utensils on the plates to hear her charging everything to his account. The bill was gradually brought over, not long after Amelia had agreed to buy a round of blueberry pancakes and a rasher of bacon for everyone. Then Zelgadiss had ordered a big pot of coffee, and Amelia was stealing it and holding it up towards the ceiling. The chimera managed to had pull it together long enough to throw gold at the waitress and follow an angry princess through the woods.

She’d purposely walked through the roughest paths, not at all sad when Zelgadiss would trip. Every time he said something about a rest, Amelia would speed up. After roughly ten hours of silence, the dark-haired princess decided she might as well forgive him. They still had over a week to go until Saillune. But she couldn’t quite say the words, and instead settled for handing over her mug of tea.

And now, here they were: she on her knees, him pretty much naked, both aroused.

“Amelia, please. Put it…in your mouth.” Then his voice really did crack.

“You want me to…”

Gingerly, Amelia could only stroke at his length. It was hot, kind of rough, bumpy, dripping that disgusting tasting liquid, nearly throbbing in her hand, and, although she wasn’t too sure, thought he was uncircumcised. She looked away for a second, licking her lips and trying to prepare herself. When she’d been younger, not long after she’d met Lina, Amelia had slept in the same dormitory with the other priestess in the Royal Palace. From the ages of eleven or so to fifteen, she’d shared bunk beds with other girls her age. Some of them had had boyfriends, and Amelia tried to remember those late nights overhearing other girls’ gossip. What those girls had done to their boyfriends…

She could feel her nose wrinkle as her mouth closed around the tip of him and her tongue lapped at the thick liquid. It was bad, salty, sour, and Amelia immediately wanted to spit it out and go brush her teeth. The only thing holding her back was Zelgadiss cupping the back of her head, playing with her hair and telling her how good that felt.

“That, gods, your mouth…Amelia, hm, why didn’t you tell me how good your mouth was before?”

“A-ah, tight. Wet. Gods, that’s…you feel incredible.”

“Lick. Under. Ugh.”

“You look so sexy on your knees like that. It looks like you belong in some back alley somewhere.”

“Very dirty for a princess. I never thought I’d ever see you like this. You seemed like such a *nice* girl.”

“Imagine if someone walked in on us. They’d be so shocked that the little princess is sucking off the dark sorcerer/swordsman. Probably want to watch, maybe join--”

The tip of it was hitting the back of her throat, and Amelia tried not to gag. The only thing good about it was that she couldn’t respond to Zelgadiss, and could ignore what crazy stuff he was saying (“We should have done this as soon as we met. No, sooner. Gods, your mouth is so wet.”) Why did he have to speak so much? All she wanted was for him to keep his mouth shut while she tried to suck on him. She tried to solely pay attention to what she wished she could say to him. ‘Shut up, Zelgadiss! Keep that pretty mouth closed; I don’t want to hear you tell me about how good that feels, or how long you’ve wanted to try this!’

She was reminded vividly of that time she’d been eating a sausage, and Lina had smacked the sausage with her elbow. It felt sort of the same, only now she couldn’t exactly bite down on it and chew it. Her hand went to stroke at what wasn’t in her mouth, and she tried to pull away.

When it scrapped against her teeth, for the twelfth time and making her gums ache, Amelia had had enough. One of her hands pushed away the slim blue one resting on top of her head, and the other went to her mouth. Her entire mouth felt swollen and painful, and when she muttered a healing spell, Zelgadiss went back to stroking her hair.

“I’m sorry Amelia. I thought the spell—“

“It’s alright. Really. I thought it would help too.” She massaged her sore jaw.

His penis was still erect, and dripping that unpleasant mess. Amelia stared at it, watching it, instead of wilting like she’d expected, only get more…perky. Zelgadiss seemed to be enjoying her wide-eyed look.

The jack-in-the-box image came back to her. Without saying anything, she tugged off her underwear and undid her bra using only one hand. The clothes were folded and tossed into her overstuffed chair.

“It doesn’t hurt when I touch you, though.” The small warm hand groped him again, making Zelgadiss smirk and his breathing deepen. Amelia felt him curling her still-damp hair around his fingers, reminding her distractingly that she needed a haircut soon. She leaned forward, kissing the tip of his erection. It hurt too much to take him in her mouth, but she *could* kiss him.

“Your tongue--”

Words were cut off as she licked at him. It didn’t taste *too* bad after a while, she just had to get used to it. Actually, it was becoming almost nice. The feel of stone against her lips was always a pleasant sensation for her, and his penis was even warmer than his lips. She could grow used to doing this even for him. As long as he would return the favor…

Unsure of whether or not she should let him see, Amelia moved her remaining hand downward. Fingers toyed with her nipples before moving to the part of her she could feel growing wetter. She hissed slightly as she stroked the little bundle of nerves before moving further down. It felt like she was soaked down there. Amelia spread the moisture onto her finger before moving to her clitoris. Her mouth and hand stayed on his erection.

By now, she was aware that Zelgadiss was aware of what she was doing. Instead of turning him off, like a small part of her was afraid, he only cupped the wrinkled looking sack beneath his length. His long fingers massaged himself, moaning lightly. There was more liquid spilling from the tip of him, and his other hand went to tighten around hers.

“H-har-d--”

“Mm, Mister Zelgadiss.” Her grip on him tightened to the point where she was almost afraid that she’d hurt him. If she was causing him pain, he didn’t seem to mind. The moaning was getting louder, and Amelia wondered if someone could hear them.

“Shh, Mister Zelgadiss. If someone hears--”

“I’ll just tell them to leave. Tell them we’re busy. What can they do to us?”

“Tell my father.” Her tongue lapped at him playfully.

The smirk slipped off his face. “Would they?”

“The first thing they’d do. And Daddy would be angry. And disappointed in us.” Her demeanor became more somber. Her hands stopped.

“I’ll just be quiet then,” Zelgadiss said hurriedly.

Amelia sent thanks to LoN.

“No one will know. Now, please, Amelia…”

She laughed. “You *are* single minded.”

“Is that so wrong? Why shouldn’t I enjoy being with you?”

“I love you.” Her eyes looked wet.

“I love you too.” A small reflexive smile spread on his face. “Do you want me to touch you now, too?”

Amelia kissed his erection again, enjoying the odd mauve-ish/purple shade of his head. She had a dress that nearly matched that color, and a little giggle escaped her lips.

“What?”

“Nothing.” The princess smiled. “I just decided on what dress to wear to the next ball.”

“Weirdo. Wait, ball…that won’t happen for a while though, right?”

“Maybe.” Amelia abruptly bowed her head and sucked at him. Zelgadiss groaned, and groped for her hair. As soon as the chimera’s moans became loud again, Amelia moved away.

She struggled to find the right sexy tone and look for this moment. All that time spent in the mirror, waiting for the tub to fill up while practicing didn’t really seem to help right now.

“Mister Zelgadiss? How about we move to the bed?” The words sounded more worried than a purr, and her pouting lips made talking awkward. To her surprise, Zelgadiss’ eyes glazed over and he surrendered his hand over to her. Amelia tried to hide her grin as she led him over to the large canopied bed.

“So,” Her hands tightened on his. “How should we do this?”

“I don’t know?” He raised a rocky brow, the gesture comfortingly familiar. Amelia felt some of her nervousness disappearing. Even nude and aroused, Zelgadiss was still Zelgadiss. They loved each other, and they’d find a way around any troubles they faced. The short girl resisted the urge to break into a pose.

Amelia stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek, then let go of him to jump on the bed. Zelgadiss’ dark eyes followed her every movement, and he seemed to particularly enjoy it when she stretched out on the pink comforter. The princess felt her toes curl into the thick fabric as the silver-haired chimera eyed her.

When he lowered himself to her knees at the edge of the bed, Amelia suddenly couldn’t take her eyes from him. Her legs closed and she attempted to pull them closer to her chest. A long slim blue hand stopped her, and gently spread her white legs that felt a million miles away. He licked his lips, while the dark-haired girl watched him.

“I think you should use another Visfarrank.” He slid his hands up her legs to rest on her thighs.

“Why?” She’d nearly forgotten about that spell, even if it was making her hands and mouth glow and feel warm.

“Because I’m afraid I’ll hurt you. My hair, and the stones.” He motioned to his face.

Amelia’s confused expression seemed to amuse him.

“When I…you know.” Zelgadiss ran a finger lightly against her opening. She took a sudden gasp of air. “When I return the favor.”

“Mmm, but why would your *hair* hurt me?”

Now Zelgadiss looked lost. “Because it’s sharp. It’s wire.”

“Yes,” Irritated crept into her voice. “But why would it hurt me? You hand doesn’t have any hair.”

“Yes,” Now Zelgadiss was growing frustrated. “But my head *does*.”

“*And*?”

“And what?”

A pillow smacked into his chest. “What does it matter about your *head*?! Your hand’s the thing touching me!”

“But, my mouth…”

“What about your mouth? I told you, it doesn’t hurt when you kiss me.”

“Yes, well, your legs and stomach…”

“*What*?”

They looked at each other, understanding only that they were on different wave lengths.

Zelgadiss took a deep breathe. “I’m going to put my mouth on you, to return the favor.”

Amelia paused. “Yes, but where? Why do I need the spell?” Something occurred to her. “*Where* do I need the spell?”

Gently, as he usually was at these moments, he touched her where her legs came together. The color that flooded Amelia’s face felt warmer and brighter than the Visfarrank.

“*There*?” She sounded incredulous. Yes, this was one of her fantasies, but it was different now. His mouth, his tongue…Her eyes looked slightly glazed when Zelgadiss licked his lips in nervousness.

“Yes.”

“You want to…lick me?”

“If you want me to.” A purr and smirk.

“Suck me?”

“Uh.”

“Maybe nibble a little. Lap at me? Put your tongue in me?”

“Uh.”

He looked ready to faint, and Amelia realized he was still erect.

“Come here.”

“Hm?”

“I want to touch you too.” She scooted closer to him, dropping her hand to grab at him.

Zelgadiss carefully leaned forward, moving Amelia’s legs aside so he had a clear view.

The blue-skinned chimera casually licked at the long scar along her thigh. Amelia shivered, realizing that if someone walked in, there would never be an explanation. As though seeking comfort, the princess squeezed almost roughly on his erection.

“You’re very wet,” Zelgadiss said, matter-of-fact before leaning forward to kiss a little at her pubic hair. Her surprised gasp made him smirk, and he licked right above the pink slit.

“Wait.” Almost nonchalantly, Amelia put her left leg on his shoulder. His wide eyes didn’t slow her a second as she reached out to pull his head closer to her center. Nor did her hand slow on his length. Literally wiry hair brushed against her calf, tickling her.

She fidgeted, unsure of what to do. Her eyes would go from an imaginary point on the wall to focus on his moving silver head. It almost felt like she should say something, but Zelgadiss’ mouth was busy (Amelia shivered as his long licks moved downward) and she didn’t know what to say. ‘How’s that taste?’ ‘You know, I have an important meeting tomorrow, so you probably shouldn’t spend the entire night here?’

Her hand kept a steady pace on him, playing with the foreskin, listening distantly to the ‘shink, shink’ sound of stone on stone. She would go to the tip of him, spread the moisture using her forefinger, then move her fist up and down again. There didn’t seem to be any end to the liquid, Zelgadiss’ moans weren’t slowing, and she jumped when he groaned his name louder, and sort of *nipped* at her. It didn’t really hurt, but it felt off and then she felt all the wetness on her hand.

Zelgadiss groaned, and moved his head to rest ever so lightly on her thigh. His eyes had an odd gleam to them, and they wouldn’t quite stay open completely. Especially unsure of what to do right now, Amelia just kept touching him. The chimera smiled at her renewed motions, pushed her legs a bit wider, and moved to kiss her opening. Amelia cried out, now knowing what she could use her remaining hand for. She’d never bitten her nails before, but now seemed a good idea to try.

“Mister Zelgadiss.” Her leg around his tightened, and he watched as she bit the ends of her fingers to suppress her moans. The hand on him kept tightening and loosening, and Zelgadiss wondered if she was teasing him. He thrust his hips, trying to get more friction going, and flinched when he hit the bed and caused the whole thing to shake. Amelia just giggled through her hand.

“Mister Zelgadiss?”

His tongue paused from circling her very wet entrance. “Yes, princess?”

“Could you, um..” She sat up, cheeks flushed. Her hand moved to cup her right breast, then the left one. It looked like she couldn’t decide which one to focus on, and would only trace a few clumsy circles with her palm before moving to the other one. The small nipples were erect, pink, and looked so tempting…Zelgadiss couldn’t resist standing not quite fully erect and leaning down to suck on the nipple she was playing with. The feeling of her hands against his chin made him smile, but not as much as the feel of her slightly rubbery nipples between his teeth.

Amelia didn’t seem to mind the way he touched her, if anything she was responding more to him than before. Her hand felt more secure, and Zelgadiss blessed Lord of Nightmares when she tightened her grip and moved it faster.

“I want, you, your tongue.” Playfully, Zelgadiss lapped at her nipple, waggling his tongue obscenely over the pink flesh and slightly pebbled flesh. He kissed the tip of her breast fondly before looking up into her hazy blue eyes. They looked darker than normal, like they did before a fight, exciting him for some reason.

Her tongue flicked out to wet her lips, drawing the chimera’s entire attention. She seemed to find his expression amusing, and used the hand that wasn’t on his penis to trace the pebbles on his face. Normally, Zelgadiss would have swatted her hands aside or said something, at least been uncomfortable, but she was looking at him so sweetly…He kissed her lightly, well aware of the damage his hair might do. The gentle pressure as she slid an arm around him was comforting, and Zelgadiss deepened the kiss.

Tongues met briefly when he opened his mouth. Before he could fully compute, Amelia was stroking his hair and her tongue was tracing his teeth. One by one, like she was painting them. Zelgadiss sighed deeply into her mouth, and tried to wrap his tongue around hers. Her fingernails dug into his stone skin, making his moan and lose his concentration. Amelia quickly dominated the kiss and spent what felt like an eternity exploring his mouth. She seemed to like his fangs, and kept going over them gingerly with the tip of her tongue.

Zelgadiss stroked one firm breast, enjoying how it filled his hand and how heavy it was. His thumb moved her nipple back and forth. It was hard to take his eyes off her large breasts, but he moved his gaze to her face. He felt Amelia grope his erection, and he pushed the princess gently down onto the bed. Her surprised giggle only encouraged him, and he quickly moved to rest in-between her legs. At the feel of the hot wet penis pressing at her entrance, Amelia seemed to shiver, and then remained still.

He used his hand to touch her, feeling the wetness before slipping a finger aside. It was hot, tight and the motion and sight of it made him grope at himself. The thought that it was her own moisture mixed along with his saliva turned him on even more. Zelgadiss shifted so he could see her better, and felt his knees grow a bit weak at the sight of his purplish-blue length against her pink skin. His hips thrust lightly so her pubic hair brushed against his erection.

Amelia moaned, her own his meeting his. “Mister Zelgadiss. Please.”

“Shh. Don’t want someone to walk in on us, do you, princess? Or do you?”

Her giggle made his finger slide in and out of her faster. She felt even wetter than before, and her eyes were a shade darker. “You want someone to see us?”

“No-o-o.”

“No one?”

“Of course not.” Amelia squirmed. “Do you?”

“Well….”

“Zelgadiss!”

“I like it when you say my name. Just my name, without the ‘Mister.’ That’s a bit impersonal.” He guided the head to press against her entrance. “Although, it can be kind of sexy the way you say it.”

“Zelgadiss…wait; you want someone to see us? To know we’re together?”

“Maybe. There is something a little erotic about fucking the princess in her own royal bed. In the Royal Palace, with the all those guards right outside…”

“Mm, so it turns you on to *make love* to a princess?”

“I suppose. It *is* sort of…naughty.”

“Bad boy.” Her grin brought a smile to his face and took whatever sting there could be in her words out. Then Amelia’s voice and expression turned earnest. “Mister Zelgadiss?”

“Yes, Majesty?”

“Stop that.” The pillow hit his chest again, although this time it lacked the anger. “Could you please put your mouth on me again? Your tongue, uh,” Amelia took a deep breathe. “In me.”

“Who’s the naughty one now?” Zelgadiss bit playfully at her knee, loving the way she laughed. Her hand traced at his chest, going from rock to rock with meaningless directions. The dark-haired princess sat up and appeared to be taking an odd pleasure from touching his hard nipples and the little, barely noticeable line of rough silver on his stomach. One hand touched his right nipple, while the other hand touched the line of wire. It was more obvious below his bellybutton, and Amelia appeared fascinated by it.

The chimera tore his eyes away, lowering himself to his knees with disappointed moan from Amelia. His fierce lick to her center made her cry out again, this time from pleasure. Zelgadiss gave her another lick, then moved his tongue lower.

She tasted…odd. It smelled of musk and soup and sweat and very distantly of fish, and she shuddered as his nose brushed against her clitoris when he tried to inhale better. His tongue dipped into her again, and Zelgadiss almost made a face at it. It reminded him of something, and as Zelgadiss began kissing her fully, he realized Amelia tasted of that orangish sauce the princess had insisted on pouring on their food at that one restaurant. He hadn’t much for it then, but now…

A grin twisted his lips and Amelia moaning was becoming more frantic. Her hand buried itself in his hair, yanking at him, trying to pull his up more. When Zelgadiss moved away, aware of the wetness on his mouth and chin, he saw her fingers making a frantic circle on her clit. It reminded him of her bath, and Zelgadiss felt a thin shred of shame for that. Even if they loved each other, and it let to this moment, he shouldn’t have spied. It was…unjust. Damn it, Amelia was rubbing off on him—

“Zelgadiss.” She squirmed almost violently. Her thighs kept tightening, loosening and when Zelgadiss slid a finger into her, Amelia froze except for her fingers.

“Ah, gah.”

“Amelia?”

Another lower cry and Amelia was gasping, flushed and pulling her hand away. She reached out for him blindly, and he moved to lie next to her on the bed. Her dark little head rested on his chest quickly. Zelgadiss held her close, fingers combing through her hair. His erection pressed against her thigh.

“Amelia?”

“Yes.” Her eyes were already growing dim with sleep. Zelgadiss kissed her mouth warmly. Slim blue hands pulled her own small pale ones to his penis.

The chimera moved closer to her, burrowing his head into her sweet damp hair. “Touch me. Please?”

She moaned and shifted even closer as Zelgadiss bit at her neck slightly. The skin was reddened, but not broken, and her hand squeezed his erection when the chimera sucked at her flesh. As her hand moved up and down on him, Zelgadiss slid a hand to touch her again. Amelia was still wet, and responded quickly to her motions.

Zelgadiss bent his head to suckle at her breast, while his other arm went around the princess. He cupped her behind, listening to her giggling before his mouth moved to the other breasts. She tasted sweet and grainy and smelled of clean sweat and soap. The chimera wondered for the hundredth time if they could actually make love, and if the Visfarrank would work.

“Amelia?”

“Ye-e-s-s-s?”

“Do you want to have sex?”

Her voice sounded teasing. “With *you*?”

“Hopefully.”

Amelia laughed outright. “Well, you have been awfully nice to me lately. But, I’m still a little angry over that incident at the inn…”

“What incident?”

Her hands tightened on him stronger than he’d thought possible. A blue flame blossomed in her eyes. “What. Incident.”

“I don’t really remember that. Please let go.”

“What?!”

“I remember some of it. Like when you broke that expensive jar of peanuts on my head for no reason. But I don’t remember much of when I was drunk.”

Her mouth fell open, her hands loosened, and Zelgadiss easily kissed her, hoping that they could drop the subject. He knew something had happened that one night, but not the details. Instead of being sweet and kind, as she usually was during their kisses, Amelia bit down on his tongue. When he opened his eyes in shock and pain, he saw that those beautiful blue eyes still had that angry glow. Quickly, the chimera pulled away.

“’Melia?”

“Don’t you dare! Zelgadiss! How could you have forgotten? You were such a jerk to me.”

“’M sowwy.”

“No, you’re not. How can you be? You don’t remember!”

“Stiw.” He cupped his mouth and muttered the incantation for a healing spell. “Don’t you think you’re going overboard?”

“No! That was such a bad night! How could you forget that?!” The pillow whacked into his head and stuck like a pincushion.

“That was the night we became a couple! How could you--”

“What?!”

“What?”

“That was the night we became a couple!?” In the back of his head, Zelgadiss wondered if any guards could hear them yelling. They were both naked, aroused, on her bed, and Phil would definitely hear about this if someone saw them.

“Yes! You asked me to go to your room to have sex!”

“I didn’t.” He turned away, shocked and hoping his dignity was still intact.

“You did too! You don’t even remember.”

“I think I’d remember *that*!” His finger aimed for her chin, and the pillow atop his head jiggled slightly. A reluctant smile tugged up Amelia’s lips.

“You did so.”

“No, of course I didn’t. You must have been the drunken one.”

“What?!”

“Yes, it makes sense now. I was having a bit of wine at the bar, having a nice conversation with those gentlemen in hopes of finding a clue for my cure, and you were busy getting loaded in your room.”

“…What?!”

“Makes perfect sense. It explains that huge bill too.”

“…you—“

“Yes, that’s what happened. And then you…” His chin rested on his thumb and forefinger. “You came downstairs and…”

“--To tell you how I felt--”

“While drunk, yes, I know. And then you must have dragged me upstairs and then took my bed. Explains why I was on the ground. There was something about vodka and jumping on the bed…and some cashews…”

“…You got really drunk, asked me to your room, tried to have sex with me, then got really, really drunk and passed out. Not before running up the tab though.”

“No, that couldn’t have happened.”

“It did! And we became a couple that night! Sort of anyway.”

The chimera plucked a few feathers out of his hair, distracted. “I thought we became a couple when we reached Saillune, and you asked me out for that play. And then kissed my afterwards and asked me dork-ily if I would be your ‘boyfriend’.”

“I never would have asked you out until you got drunk and told me how you felt.”

“Maybe.”

“Yes!” Amelia’s fist hit the bed hard enough to make it creak. Zelgadiss glanced down, seeing for the first time how deeply it was sinking to the ground.

“Amelia? Perhaps we should have this argument another time. While I enjoy how nicely you bounce when you’re angry, this bed probably can only take out weight for so long.”

“’Bounce’?”

“Your chest does, a little. But, the bed…”

She was staring at her chest. “Do they really bounce when I’m angry?”

“Like I said, a little. The bed however, will no longer be able to bounce even a tiny bit because of our combined weight.”

The short princess was busy cupping and shaking her breast. “I didn’t realize how much they moved around without a bra.”

“…Can we have sex now?”

Amelia’s face was red, but her eyes had a soft look to them that made Zelgadiss forget completely about their argument. Her soft hands, still protected by the Visfarrank, cupped his chin.

“You want to make love to me?”

“Of course.” His neck bent sharply as he attempted to kiss at her fingers.

“Mm, fine, it’ll give you a chance to make up for that night.”

“What, the one when you were drunk?”

“Zelgadiss!”

He laughed and pulled her on top of him. “Your Highness. If you would please use that wonderful spell elsewhere?”

Amelia nuzzled his cheek lightly. “I’m not sure how. I’ve never used it anywhere besides my hands and feet. And mouth. And once on my knees.”

“Why would you—No, never mind. I think it should work on,” His stomach turned slightly in embarrassment. “It should work…lower.”

The princess giggled, her hand tracing pebble to pebble. Occasionally, she’d brush aside the falling feathers. “Alright, let’s see.” She leaned back, giving Zelgadiss a great view of her, and making his eyes glaze over as she fingered herself and tried to use that modified Visfarrank spell. Light flickered and moved from her mouth and hands to where her legs met.

Her hiss made him think something had gone horrible wrong, until he saw the expression on her face. “That feels…warm, Zel…” Zelgadiss cupped her breasts, feeling a bit jealous. It was good that she was feeling pleasure rather than pain, it was sexy as hell, but there was still some odd jealousy he couldn’t quite explain. Rather than focus on it, the chimera began guiding himself into her.

It *was* warm, and her short curling hair almost touched his erection, making things difficult. His own hair was short as well, since he’d been transformed shortly after hitting puberty, and the short girl kept rubbing against him and brushing their pubic hair together. She seemed suddenly fascinated with it, and her hand stroked his testicles and the thin silver-ish fuzz.

Then Amelia’s hand touched him for a second before going to play with herself. She felt wetter, and Zelgadiss slid a finger into her. He moved the digit around, then slid another one in, preparing her for him. When she began squirming and muttering his name, the chimera slipped the head of his length into her.

They both groaned, nearly synchronized, and Amelia was the first one to move. She settled further onto his erection, and again they moaned. Inch by inch, he could feel himself sliding into that velvet warmth. In his mind, he saw her shoved a piece of velvet inside her. That was stupid, he’d had his tongue in her and knew it was just a weird thought, but then his mind kept playing the image over and over again and again in his head. He cupped at her breasts, while she moved up and down on him. Her tongue flicked out to lick her lips, and her eyes were distant.

What was she thinking then? All he could focus on was her eyes and how tight she was around him. Was she thinking about him? Drapery? What color to redecorate her room in? He couldn’t tell, and wondered if he ever would or could. They were connected physically, one beast with two backs and all that, but he felt separated from her emotionally right now.

What was she thinking?

Hips met as Zelgadiss brought himself up at the same second Amelia moved down. Slowly, awkwardly, they tried to match each other’s movements. Her pink nipples rolled between his blue fingers, and he tried to sit up to suck on them. As soon as he sat up, Amelia pushed him down again with a smile and a thrust. She leaned forward and licked the stones on his chin.

“Mmm, doesn’t hurt Mister Zelgadiss.”

“That’s good.” He murmured stupidly. Their hips met again, and Zelgadiss cried out again. He’d never used the phrase ‘gotten fucked’ in regards to anything beside being put in a bad situation, but now he could safely say, literally, that he was being screwed. The bed creaked alarmingly, and Zelgadiss wondered how much long it would support their weight. If it broke, the guards would definitely be alarmed and knock down the door. The floor…would that be comfortable? There was a higher risk of rug burn, but also less noise. Maybe they could put down some pillows and blankets? They could light a few candles; spread some of petals from that vase of flower, maybe he could hide in the bathroom while Amelia asked a servant to get a bottle of wine…

Her lips closed on one of his nipples, making him forget his trail of thought. There was a slight grin around her mouth and her eyes were focused on him, watching his reaction. Her body was moving at a slightly faster pace, and he struggled to keep it the same. If he moved too fast, he could hurt her, if he went too slow, he might frustrate Amelia, who obviously wanted it quicker. Her hand slid down his body, to touch where they were joined. There was no way he could know what expression he was making, but from Amelia’s low laugh, he figured it was unseemly.

She kept running the tips of her fingers against what little part of his erection that wasn’t inside her. When he looked down there long enough, he saw that he’d begun dripping again. Amelia didn’t seem upset by this; instead, she was dipping her fingers into the mess and moving it upwards. A deep sigh made its way to Zelgadiss sharp ears and he focused on the fingers stroking the top of her pink slit.

His whitish liquid was being rubbed into that little nub by her frantic little digits and dull memories of the term ‘lubricant’ occurred to him. Those slim hips of hers didn’t look to be slowing any time soon, and Zelgadiss felt an orgasm coming. Her breasts jiggled as she made a particularly nice bounce on top of him. The chimera’s eyes focused on her pink nipples and he wondered how long he could last.

From Amelia’s nonsense words (what did ‘worth *all* our kids’ mean?) and the way her mouth kept closing and opening, he figured she was almost there as well. Her interior muscles tightened, nearly bringing tears to Zelgadiss’ eyes from the sensation. His hands cupped and squeezed at her chest, and from what felt like a great distance, he heard their panting.

In an attempt to keep from ejaculating too soon, Zelgadiss’ mind shifted to the guards. How could they not hear this? Were they sleeping on the duty again? After all the lectures he’d given them, Zelgadiss had expected them to wait a little before slipping back into their habits.

“Z-z-Zel—“

“’Melia?” Some of her sweat dripped onto his chest, something he might have found disgusting had they not been in this position. Her face was red, her hair damp, and he wondered if she’d take another bath after they were through. They probably both needed one. Maybe there was room in the tub for both of them?

Her breathe was a shaking hiss. “I, I think I’m going to scream.”

“Don’t,” Zelgadiss heard himself coo. “Please, someone will hear…” His fingers teased at her nipples, just gently brushing against them. Amelia made another sigh.

“I, I know.” She shuddered and her head dropped to the point where her chin was almost resting on her chest. White teeth became visible as she bit her lower lip. They were even, and perfect, and why had he just now realized that?

“Then again.” There was a low laugh he recognized as his own. “It would be an effective way to announce that we’re together.”

“Well, t-then the next time there’s a ball; I’ll just s-start kissing you and gro-oping you in front of everyone. That’s how we’ll announce we have the Council’s blessing.”

Her sigh filled the room, and Zelgadiss knew he would orgasm soon. One hand went to touch her, in hopes of allowing her to finish with him. He tried to focus on the guards again, while the boarders of things in front of his eyes meshed and smeared. They’d hear them, finally, run in, and the put a spear through him. Or grab Amelia and pulled her off him. Or back away slowly, trying to forget what they say. They’d run off to find Phil. They’d stay and watch.

She was so damn *wet.* He could feel the moisture on both their thighs and on the damp flesh he was running his finger over. Abruptly, Amelia bent forward, covering his mouth with her own.

It was hard to tell whose tongue flicked out first, and Zelgadiss was only conscious of the electric taste and enveloping feel of her, and the low moaning she made in her throat. He almost felt suffocated when she bit his tongue and collapsed on top of him.

Her kisses left wet trails on his face. “I’m a frog that’ll make you prince.”

Zelgadiss groaned, trying not to pay attention to that while he brought his hips against hers. Things blurred, and when he felt himself ejaculating inside her with such intensity it nearly burned. He wondered if it was possible for someone to produce lava instead of semen. His eyes were wet, but he couldn’t even bring himself to wipe at them. Amelia was kissing his chest, hands twisting his nipples.

Amelia looked giddy, and kept playing with him. She’d rub his nipples with one hand, and then touch his penis, trying to keep it inside her with the other. To his disbelief, Zelgadiss could feel himself responding. Maybe they could do it again, in another position. Maybe try the tub?

She could lean over the tub, while he made love to her. Oh she could be on top of him while he sat in the tub. Maybe she could be on hands and knees--? Her breasts pressed against his face while Zelgadiss fumbled to touch her.

“On, on the floor. L-less noise.” Amelia fell off the bed, a pillow hastily clutched in her hand.

“Mister Zelgadiss?”

He rolled over to join her, head nearly landing in her lap. His arms grabbed her, dragged her over so she faced him better. Amelia yelped something about the rug, but then his head was back down. Eagerly, his tongue lapped at her entrance. She was already wet and he could taste how different she was this time. Was it himself that he tasted? Both their flavors joined, and although a part of himself was disgusted, he still drove his tongue into her.

Amelia pulled the pillow over her face to muffle her cries, although Zelgadiss could still hear them. There would be no way to hide this if someone walked in. At least on the bed, there were sheets to pull up. Here, his ass was pointed up while he kissed her in the most intimate way possible and she squirmed around beneath him.

His hand went to his center to grope himself roughly. She rolled over so her stomach was on the ground, and he could see how her skin had reddened on the apparently rough rug. He nearly went to position himself to enter her, until he saw Amelia sliding a finger into her entrance. Zelgadiss moved so his head rested underneath her interestingly positioned body.

The pink little nub felt quite pleasant against his lips, and he loved it the way Amelia gasped. She started rocking back on his face, while Zelgadiss tried to keep his hair away from her. When the fingers that weren’t tangled in the hair spread the flesh, still amazed at how bright it was and how it was formed, Amelia cried out loudly. It was much too loud, but then he was grazing her with his teeth and Amelia got even louder. The sensation of slick rubbery flesh was agreeable, and almost reminded him of her nipples.

His nose nuzzled at her. The smell of musk and salt and fish was very obvious now. All he could taste was the orange sauce, and he saw some of the liquid dripping out of her entrance and landing on his chest. He couldn’t really feel it, it was only a few tiny sticky drops, but there was something oddly erotic with being ‘marked’ by her in such a way.

His arms went underneath her spread legs, tickling her and enjoying how firm she felt. When Amelia pulled away, Zelgadiss could only lay there weakly and wonder if they were going to finish, or just wash and dress. His genitals were beginning to ache, and the princess appeared to take this into consideration.

She wore the biggest and most smug smirk he’d ever seen. Small fingers tugged at him. “I wonder how many times until you I can make you…”

“One.” It was agonizingly slow. Teasing. She moved her hand up leisurely, with the speed of an iceberg floating on frozen water. Her thumb went to trace the long vein that ran beneath his erection. Zelgadiss felt his leg twitch and heard himself whimper.

“Two.” Zelgadiss saw bright geometric shapes behind his closed eyes. There were more whimpers he was barely aware of. Words were choked out.

“Three.” She leaned forward, giving his chin in a long, slow lick. When she felt the hot, thick liquid splashing onto her hand, she kissed his chest lightly. “Love you too, Zelgabunny.”

Jokingly, she planted a big wet kiss on the unmoving, statue-like chimera. The sound didn’t even open his eyes. His skin was so grey; it looked like someone had dumped flour on him.

“Did not know you thought of me as a sex goddess though.”

Amelia kissed his nipple. She seemed as fascinated in them as he was in hers. “That was a little weird.”

“*You’re* a little weird.” It was the best insult he could come up with in the state. He didn’t think he’d ever be able to walk again. That was alright though. He could just live in this room with Amelia. No work, no worries except for when Amelia would come in and take him and if she’d break his spine.

Amelia tossed the pillow onto his chest, before settling on him.

“So, there’s a ball coming up pretty soon. To celebrate daddy’s birthday.” Weren’t people supposed to say sweet, romantic things to their lovers after sex? Not things that made their blood go cold and if they could run away in time before the fireball exploded?

“Damn. Do I have to go?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Well, I was hoping to announce our relationship that day. It might be more dramatic if you were there.”

His hand cupped the back of her head. “You want to do that?”

“I think we probably should.” Heat burned her face. “Uh, what we just did…”

“Hm?”

Amelia shyly touched her stomach, hoping he’d get the message. She couldn’t quite say the words.

“What? Are you hungry?”

She made a disgusted noise. “Do you know what we just did?”

“I think so.”

“Well, what’s the purpose of that act?”

“Which one? The last one? ‘Cause I think now you’re trying to paralyze me...”

“It might be more helpful if you couldn’t walk at times. But, you know, the act before the last one.” She stopped to think. “The one before the last *two* actually.”

Zelgadiss tried to go through his memory. Everything was a sweaty, fleshy blur. “The one where I, um, *that*?”

“Yeah. You do know where babies come from, right?”

“How would I not know…?” His face was going grey again.

“Yeah.”

“…Yeah.”

She wasn’t…it wasn’t possible. But, should he tell her that. He tried not to look suspicious as he plotted.

Not tell her: She thinks she might be pregnant. She might want things to be more permanent. No looking for cures (without her). They might get married. If she found out, she might be angry.

Tell her: She might be happy, or relieved. Or sad. She likes babies. Their relationship might not be so quick.

He would have to say ‘I’m sterile’ to her face--

“So, thinking of names yet?”

“Wow.” There was a nervous laugh he hardly recognized as hers. “You’re perfectly okay with this?”

“Yeah, why not?”

“Well, kids!” Her hands were like nervous birds fluttering around her body. “Kids, you know. They can be a handful. No more traveling for a while. They’ll keep us up. Diapers!”

“Are you--?”

“Diapers! Crying at three in the morning! Changing. Me being pregnant! Gods, my father’s going to be a *grandfather*! And my grandfather’s a great-grandfather!”

“A child, a human being inside me. What kind of mother am I going to be? What kind of father are *you* going to be?”

Zelgadiss decided not to take offense. After all, it might make Amelia’s breakdown even worse.

“Play dates. Nannies. Watching them play in the park.”

“You know,” Her hands cupped each other and sat in a sweaty ball on her lap. “You know, I’m just a little nervous.”

Zelgadiss nervously touched her stomach. Just say it, you miserable bastard. She’s about to have a heart attack. Just…say it.

“I think it’s going to be a little girl.”

Amelia burst into tears.

~~
The paper crinkled underneath the princess’ fanny, and the priestess listened to it with half an ear along with the girl’s mindless chatter, and wondered if the chimera was the father.

“It’s funny. I’ve been all over Saillune healing centers, but never back here.”

“Not, you know, *here*. On a table. Awaiting treatment.”

“Weird huh?”

Sylphiel just nodded, keeping quiet and knowing that small talk was the best in these situations. If Amelia wanted to tell her something, she would. You just had to relax, keep the women calm, and let them tell you what they wanted to. Dragging things out was never a good idea, even if it was one of your friends and she looked terrified and whose baby was it after all?

She had a pretty good idea, but it didn’t quite jive with Amelia’s body language and the fact that she was alone. The man who she knew, thought she knew, would never abandon the princess. He was, as far as she knew, still in the Palace. And since he was here in the kingdom, why was Amelia here alone?

Just the other day, she’d had coffee with him and discussed Martin’s newest book and the letters Lina had sent them. The sorceress wasn’t near as stingy with her words as she was with her wallet, and the latest novel had been a huge tome. Sylphiel liked to think he was just too busy going over Lina’s absurd exaggerations (surely the room hadn’t cost that much? And Gourry certainly wasn’t that stupid) and the amazingly intricate plot of ‘Dancing Dragons’ to mention his relationship with Amelia.

But, what kind of man just impregnates his lover, then never talks about it? Surely he knew he could discuss this sort of thing with her? Amelia talked about him all the time. And Phil and Amelia’s uncle sometimes stopped by, and often they would mention and talk openly about the rumors between Amelia and her ‘suitor.’ Even her own Grandpa, and his wife and son would mention the princess and her odd bodyguard who everyone seemed to think were lovers.

But, if it wasn’t him, who was it?

Amelia didn’t seem the type to have been attacked, but there were some bruises on her. When Sylphiel had asked, the short girl had just brushed the questions away by saying she’d ‘fallen off the bed.’ Amelia was clumsy, but not *that* clumsy.

Wouldn’t she have said something if she’d been attacked? Amelia always let her emotions show, and the priestess couldn’t see her just letting an evil man get away and possibly hurt other woman. And if she did punish him, why was there no news on it?

Everyday, Sylphiel got two newspapers and several magazines delivered to the small temple. The patients always appreciated having newer things to read instead of tattered periodicals two months old. She’d actually gotten compliments on the reading material. So, Sylphiel was completely up to date on Saillune’s news and gossip.

True, she didn’t read every article, but the princess being attacked wasn’t exactly something that was shuffled to the back of the newspaper alongside the ads for old carts and horses.

It seemed unlikely that she *could* have gotten attacked. She was almost always surrounded by guards, and Zelgadiss accompanied her everywhere—

--Unless Zelgadiss—

--But he wouldn’t--

--He’d *never*--

But wouldn’t he have at least accompanied his pregnant lover to the temple? To make sure she was okay? Even if they weren’t in a relationship, to just leave her to fend for herself—

He’d never--

They both glanced at the thick strip of white paper, still unmarked by any color.

“W-what do you think it’ll--”

“I don’t know yet, Amelia.” Calm, professional. Lending support to the nervous patient, tell them that yes, they can trust their healers to help them.

How could she help Amelia though? Besides handing her the usual pamphlets and reassuring words?

She heard Lina’s voice in her mind, narrating the part in the letter where she knocked that dark sorcerer into the volcano, therefore vanquishing the threat he presented to the unsuspecting town that lay in his clutches. Cepheid, how she wished she could do that. Just haunt Zelgadiss down and learn the truth. Gods, she wished Lina was here, she’d know what to do, she always did.

But, the bright haired sorceress was gods’ only knew where, and Amelia needed help now.

When the slip began turning blue, as though ink was being seeped into it, Amelia’s head was turned. She looked afraid to even stare at it too long. Sylphiel just looked at the counter it was rested on innocently, seeing the chipped wood and old varnished cabinets. The hinges needed some oil, and could have used a shine. One of these days, she would have to clean the place up more thoroughly, but she’d been so busy with her work here…

She hardly heard or felt herself speak.

Amelia didn’t seem to either.

“Not pregnant?”

“No,” Sylphiel shook her head slowly, not sure whether or not her expression should have been sad or relieved. Amelia was just sitting on the table, her own face blanker than the older priestess’.

“Well, there was that rumor that chimera’s are sterile…” She was amazed that the words could even leave her lips.

Like a doll, Amelia turned to look at her. Her eyes looked like bruises beneath her brow. “There is?”

“Yes, but I never knew whether or not it was true. But, it seems there might be some truth to it. But, well, I don’t know how long you and Zelgadiss--”

Amelia interrupted. Her face was an expression that Sylphiel had only seen on Zelgadiss when he realized that something he’d thought was a cure turned out to be an aphrodisiac that also caused diarrhea. “Does he know about that rumor?”

“He’s the one that told me about it.” As soon as she said those words, Sylphiel wondered if she should have said that. Was this what Jon felt like when he uttered those fateful words in ‘Clashing Swords’ and unleashed those undead demons? What Rezo might have felt when he opened his eyes for the first time?

There was something Lina-like in Amelia’s face, and Sylphiel *definitely* wondered if this was what Rezo had felt.

“What. Did. He. Say. Exactly?”

How could she not say anything? Sylphiel cared about Zelgadiss, but she couldn’t say no.

“He said that chimeras are most like sterile. Like, um, mules I think was the animal he compared it to. Two species combined, and uh.”

“So, he just thought it was a myth. Not a certainty?”

“He.” She took a deep sigh. “He seemed pretty certain. Said he’d never heard about a chimera having a child.”

“He said,” Sylphiel cleared her throat. “He said he was convinced chimeras were sterile.”

Then it was her time to look away. Something bright and flashing hurt her eyes, and…
There was a crinkle of paper, and then she could open her eyes again.

Where was Amelia?

~~
The chimera sat in a slightly grimy cafe, trying to sip half-cold coffee and trying not to smile and think of the princess.

Everything was great. Had he ever said that before?

No, he didn’t think so.

His ankle hurt from whacking it on a desk when he had run around the office, handing out donuts and flowers to everyone working there. It was worth it though. Just to spread good cheer around. Hopefully, they would be nearly as cheery as he felt.

Most of the people there had been grateful for the fluffy, perfectly cooked donuts, and a few had blushed over the innocent daisies he’s passed around. Even the old biddy, the sourest person in Saillune, a lemon surrounded by strawberries, had smiled at his gifts. He was in such a good moon, he’d even forgiver her when she’d still yelled at him for being late with his report on Zephilian soil.

Zelgadiss resisted the urge to begin whistling.

Sure, he was still a chimera, but, but, everything else was great. When he walked into a room, people nodded in his direction and generally responded with respect. It was like he’d always wanted when he’d been younger, and wanted to have strength and oh, hadn’t he gotten that?—No, no, focus on the good things!

For the first time in a long time, perhaps ever, he had a Home. A place to leave, and to come back to. A place that would never just disappear. A place to hang his cloak and sword. A place he felt safe in.

Home.

Work was good too. He’d never known he could find politics and history so interested. Yet, there he was every morning exactly a nine, eagerly opening the door to his office and heading straight for his desk. He was almost reluctant to leave at five.

It was stupid, something he would have laughed at even a few years ago. But he loved his job. He loved the bad coffee, the gossip that surrounded the Palace, taking walks in the small gardens near the tower he worked in, the lights that gave him headaches, the old musty books lining the walls, the stupid memos with their dumb corny jokes…

And.

Things with Amelia were going well.

He tried not to focus on things too much, but here he was, sitting in his favorite coffee shop and trying to hide the smile he got at just the mention of her name. Even with the hand cupping his mouth, Zelgadiss still thought his grin was noticeable.

Was this giddiness? Thinking about her, even just thinking that he shouldn’t think about her so much, and he would feel light and free. His knees literally went weak, and he couldn’t think right. That smile tugged and yanked at his lips. He almost giggled.

Where was she now? She’d said she’d had some meeting, and Zelgadiss had almost followed her into the room where such meetings were usual had. He’d left after they’d made plans to have dinner later.

He’d nearly skipped down the halls, swinging his bag of papers as he went, handing out donuts and flowers to everyone he saw.

Gods, he wished she was here. Just having her close by was intoxicating and wonderful. Was it possible to get drunk on another person’s presence?

He really, really wished she was here. Was it five already? When was she getting out? He wanted to see her, and hear her beautiful voice in his ears and touched that pale soft skin. Stroke her dark hair, feel her touch him, play with her ears in that way she loved, listen to her tell him about her day.

There were still a few more hours of the working day left, but they’d breeze by. They always did when he knew he’d be seeing Amelia at the end of them.

Huh, that was funny. The cup in front of him was still steaming, he could see if rising in the air, but his hands were cold. In fact, his entire body felt chilled, like he’d showered in icicles.

“Hello, Mister Zelgadiss?”

The sweet voice. His neck nearly broke when he turned to it. His sweet little angel had returned. And she looked just as happy to see him as he was to see her.
~~
In retrospect, the princess realized as she walked down Saillune’s streets in the shadows of Saillune’s golden domed high towers, it was funny how little destruction she’d wreaked over the kingdom and the chimera.

Not that she was necessarily unhappy about this. At least, the part about not hurting the kingdom. But it was odd. She’d destroyed a lot of things as a kid. Burned down tree, guaranteed at least ten years off her mother’s life had she lived longer, knocked down walls, tortured her uncles, crushed beds, broken her sister’s confidence and sometimes her sanity, caved in wells, nearly drove her father to tearing his hair out, gave her cousin a ulcer at least twice, and who knew how many toy swords had been broken against the tops of the kingdoms’ famous bright domed towers.

But, she’d only toppled one tower before.
And she still hadn’t ripped Zelgadiss’ head off.

With her history, and the power she had, it seemed like it should have been more.

And indeed, it very nearly happened that afternoon. She’d never learned how to do a Dragon Slave properly, but Amelia bet she could have done one that afternoon without breaking a sweat. Lina would have been impressed and given her a score of ‘ten’ and Gourry would have wept at the thought of there being *another* Lina out there to rain down hellfire.

She’d been blind when she’d left the temple. There had just been whiteness, tinged with red. How she’d walked so far towards the Palace so quickly, a hike that could take hours and hours without using magic, she’d never know. The only thing she knew was that her magically-protected shoes’ heels had been worn down and her hands hurt for some reason.

All she’d wanted was to hurt Zelgadiss. Just cause him pain. But now, now she was calm and cool. Logical. Some smooth irony to punish Zelgadiss when she got her revenge. Wasn’t it said that it was best served cold?

Well, she was cold as hell.

Amelia leaned against one of the white walls that made up the kingdom, trying to get her bearings right.

She wasn’t pregnant. And Zelgadiss had known that was so. But he’d let her believe that she was, and now he had to pay.

Why had he wanted her to think that? Was he just being a jerk? Zelgadiss could be petty, but this was…To punish her? For what? The mention of the upcoming ball? Did he dislike them that much? For telling him he’d been a sloppy drunk at one point? For wanting to announce their relationship?

Letting her believe she was pregnant wouldn’t exactly help with that.

--Unless he wanted to embarrass her and break up with him? Some weird self-destructive thing, to hurt her so he didn’t hurt her or some weird logic he’d used when they’d begun their rel—whatever it was.

She didn’t know, and her head hurt and she’d never understand Zelgadiss.

Amelia pushed herself off the wall almost violently. People around her began to whisper and give her weird looks.

What kind of guy, after making love to the woman he loved, convinces her she’s pregnant when he knows she is not?

Logically. Calm. Cool. Like Zelgadiss.

What effect would her thinking she was pregnant have?

Amelia found a stick, and dried to draw a few things into the dirt caked into the side of a nearby building. It was hard to write, but Zelgadiss often said having things written out made them easier to deal with.

Okay. First scenario: She’d want to get married quickly, to avoid gossip and disapproval from old-fashioned members of the Council.

They’d get married. Or they wouldn’t.

Amelia drew two different branches.

First branch: they’d get married. She hated to think this, but she’d been a princess too long. Zelgadiss had little desire to rule, and would remain in his advisory position. So, there was no grasp for power.

They’d be married, and there would be no children. What could be gained from that? Eventually, wouldn’t she realize that she wasn’t pregnant and there didn’t seem to be any changes in that department? They’d get checked out, and then she’d learn he was sterile.

There didn’t seem to be any logic there. She crossed it off.

Second branch: They wouldn’t.

She drew another two lines underneath that one. Would they stay together? Or break up?

Together: Continue with their relationship. No one could stop them. They would be together, and that would be it. Maybe eventually they’d get married, and then again she’d find out he was sterile.

Not Together: He wanted to break up, and was doing crazy stuff to ruin their relationship. Crazy was an easy answer to blanket everything. He was nuts, he was doing nuts stuff, and wanted to break up. Forget reason.

If he’d convinced her she was pregnant, why had he stuck around and been so sweet and supportive? Since they’d slept together, he’d been following her around like a puppy. Just a few hours ago, Amelia had to push him out the door and promise to take him to dinner late just to get him away.

Zelgadiss didn’t seem to want to break up, and Amelia was really out of ideas.

Shortly, some kids came by and asked if she wanted to play stickball. Amelia said no at first, then after some pestering, agreed if they could find more people. It was becoming late, and she’d doubted they’d be able to find enough players--

After a short game, Amelia decided two things loosely. First, she was a pretty good pitcher. Second, it didn’t matter what Zelgadiss’ reasons were. He’d lied, scared her, and was going to be punished for hurting her.

Amelia was so pleased at having even the vaguest plan that she almost went another game. Instead, she just offered to buy dinner for them all at the fancy restaurant she planned to take Zelgadiss. Already, things were beginning to fall in place.

Her grin, as she ran along with the apparently very hungry children, was sincere.

~~
The chimera gave the princess another dark glare as he dodged another ketchup smeared piece of steak.

Kids. He’d never thought much about them, never spent time in their company, and preferred if their germ infested bodies were kept well away from him.

Why did Amelia have to disagree with him?

Why did she have to bring a huge group of sweaty, filthy children to their romantic dinner?

He wanted a nice bottle of wine, a singe candle between them, the shadows accenting her cleavage, alone, whispering dirty things he was going to do to her when they got to his room while her foot ran down his leg and she would whisper things back.

Instead, he’d gotten a bottle of wine he couldn’t drink because it would set a bad example, kids blocking the sight of Amelia’s breasts, little feet incased in torn leathers kicking him, and the dirtiest thing was a kid wiping his nose and the back of his hand.

‘His’ being Zelgadiss’.

Just thinking about it made him wipe his hand again and again with the damp linen the waiters had brought him after hearing his cries.

Still, there was a candle between them.

“Want some more mashed potatoes?”

Those obnoxious children had adored the most bland, uninterested things on the menu. His grilled salmon with the twist of lemon, the slivers of swan in a sauce of saffron and peaches, the bowls of blandisorry, the boar crusted with cherries and nuts, the buttery mushroom and snail cream soup, his delicately carved artichoke hearts…thrown to the wayside. *They* wanted pizza and chicken noodle soup and eggs and *mashed potatoes*.

The older kids had ordered steak, ranging from well-done to bloody rare, and he at least could respect them more than the one who were chomping down on porridge and oatbread. Some of them, he saw, were even slipping utensils and cloth napkins under their clothes. And most of them were sneaking food into their pockets for later.

Amelia not only wasn’t scolding their manners, she was encouraging them. No, she was *helping* them. She herself was getting the bemused busboys and servers to wrap things up in doggy bags for the kids.

“No, I don’t want the damn potatoes.” He pushed the bowl away and went back to nibbling at the fish sticks he’d been ‘allowed’ to get. Amelia looked so preoccupied helping the kids, barely touching her own food, that he wondered if he could take a few nips of wine.

It would definitely make the night go faster.

And it would help the sight of a bunch of kids running around a dim-lit well furnished restaurant look not-so-weird.

Finally, finally, the kids were done and ushered out. But then Amelia wanted to walk them all home to make sure they remained safe. At this point, Zelgadiss could have pushed them all in front of a cart and gladly scooped Amelia up to run away from it all.

Zelgadiss was sick of sightseeing, and wished all the kids were orphans or something so they could just leave them at the nearest orphanage. When they brought the first few home, the parents had recognized Amelia, and of course they just *had* to invite her in for tea.

By the end of the night, Zelgadiss hoped to never see a teacup or biscuit ever again.

When Amelia waved goodbye to the last of the brats, Zelgadiss could hardly breathe. His chest felt too tight, and every word was reduced to a grunt. To make things worse, she didn’t even hold his hand or try and comfort him on their way back to the Palace.

The walk inside was even longer. She had to talk to every servant she saw, and spent twenty minutes talking about her day with her father and uncle. Zelgadiss could hardly say a word.

When they reached her door, her lovely door, Amelia took his hands in hers. She looked up at him, and the nearest candle tucked into the nearest alcove made her hair glow gold and purple.

Finally, some alone time with her. Just a few minutes to kiss and touch her would make this night work it. Who knew, maybe he’d spend the night again. They could even talk about their relationship and the…baby later.

“I just…I think it would be better if we waited. Just for a little while.”

“what?”

“Really.” She slipped further inside, further away from him.

“Just for a little while. Good night, Zelgadiss.”

He stared at the door forever. Eventually, a maid came by and gave him a suspicious look. That wasn’t enough to scare him off, but the group of staring guards and other maids and a confused, half-asleep Christopher that she brought over did.

The walk back to his room took an eternity. His limbs were reduced to wood and he could barely undress for bed. He didn’t even bother with pajamas. It took so much of his energy to just collapse into the bed in his underwear and pull the sheets around him.

There seemed to be dust in his eyes, and he blinked them for a millennium. It might have just been Zelgadiss’ imagination, but he thought he could hear a ‘chink’ noise every time he blinked. It reminded him of sharpening a sword, and his mind flinched away.

He had, he had…

It was safer to not think about what he’d planned this night. He shoved away the rose petals that were beginning to bother him amongst the blankets, and leaned forward to blow out the large array of magically protected candles resting by his bedside. The wine remained in the metal bucket resting on the ground, by the candles. He idly wondered if he should tuck it away somewhere, or just drink it now to help him fall asleep, then decided to keep it until morning. He might need it to take his mind off the cold baths he would probably have to start taking.

‘I think it would be better if we waited. Just for a little while.’

That little while might be a day, a week, a year, two years, three—

Forever, and ever and ever--

What had he done to deserve this?
~~~
The princess looked over the chimera struggling with his cummerbund, and wondered if this was going to work.

Not the cummerbund. That was an obvious failure.

But the plan she’d been concocting these past few weeks. That’s what she was worried about. It had been so long, so many weeks, so many long, long weeks.

Long, long, long weeks. Weeks spent alone, cold in her suddenly huge bed. Weeks where she’d had to touch herself and take cold baths just to get through the day.

Why had no one ever told her that not having sex after making love to the person you loved could be so hard?

She couldn’t remove the memory of his mouth and his fingers and that nice tongue of his and the other parts of him she so adored. They, no matter what she was doing, still hung in her mind. She might be able to fend them off for a short time, to give a speech, to pay attention partially through important meetings, but they would always come back and then Zelgadiss’ head was in her lap again and again.

She wished they weren’t alone. But he’d wanted help making sure his outfit was correct, and Amelia just wanted to help him. And, if that meant touching him a little, then so be it.

But it had been so difficult. He’d undressed right in front of her, and Amelia had nearly grabbed him and dragged him to the floor. She swore that he made sure to wear the tightest underwear he owned, and kept avoiding buttoning up his shirt, and would bend down over the slightest things. He kept dropping his belt. And Amelia didn’t think he was just being clumsy.

On the way out, she tore the stupid cummerbund from his grasp.

Her entrance was the same dramatic pose and thank–you her father had taught her. The crowd applauded, and she was whisked away to dance before Zelgadiss had left the room.

As Amelia finished another cup of honeyed wine, and had eye contact with another potential partner, she was pleased with how well the night was going.

It was a nice evening. Not loud and rowdy and making her mentally deducting costs every time someone spilled a drink on another rug or knocked down another pillar. But also not quiet and boring and making her mind wander down familiar paths that contained Zelgadiss not wearing any pants.

Her father was spending most of his time talking to the Council and his advisers, going over to dive-bomb the buffet table Lina-style. She’d hardly been able to say more than a few words or have more than one dance with him. Grandpapa hadn’t been feeling well lately, and hadn’t even been able to attend the party for a single second. There were bad implications with that, but Amelia tried not to focus on this.

Her uncle was fighting off various women while trying to talk to some of the advisors. Amazingly, he managed to do both without upsetting anyone. Amelia sincerely wished she had his diplomatic skills.

The men who came up to dance with her got the stink eye from her chimera. And anyone who asked for another one got a death threat that was, despite being non-verbal, very vivid. She didn’t understand it. Just another confusing thing about Zelgadiss.

He wouldn’t dance with her; he refused point blank to even attempt anything, and had spent most of the evening alone at the bar. His surly disposition had scared off any potential partners, despite how good he looked in the simple white suit. The blue shirt complimented his skin perfectly, and tie almost matched his eyes, bringing out the color in both.

But, this was pretty normal for him. At least lately. The last weeks had been rough on him. He hardly left his room except for work. And, if the rumors she’d heard were correct, he’d been drinking *a lot* lately.

Zelgadiss, as far as she could see, was trying to talk the bartender into letting him have another martini. The bartender looked ready to call the guards, and Amelia knew she had to attack fast. Was it better or worse that he was drunk?

She motioned quickly to the band, and they quickly slowed the song down and began moving off stage. There were some protests, from the more sober ones still able to dance or at least enjoy the music at this late hour until they saw Amelia moving around so quickly.

He barely had a chance to respond when she grabbed his arm and pulled him over to the empty stage. She hoped, she prayed this would turn out okay. A crazy grin pulled at her lips.

When they saw she was about to do an announcement, the sober and drunk alike began to clap. She could see her father’s slightly confused and proud face among the others.

Her smile was sickly-sweet.

“You might know Zelgadiss from his work in the Palace, and from all those adventures with Lina Inverse.”

This time, there were some boos mixed in with the cheers.

“And, you might also know him from his relationship with me.” Whispers, and oddly, some clapping.

“But, you may not know how close we’ve become over the last year.” Was there panic in his eyes? It made her chest feel warm. She couldn’t hear the audience any more.

“And that’s why, tonight” Amelia looked over at her lover. “That’s why we’re announcing that we’re engaged and expecting a child together.” There was a thump, her father’s face had disappeared, and it took her a second to realize he had fainted. That was unexpected. He seemed to support her and Zelgadiss’ relationship. But apparently it only extended to sitting them besides each other at fancy dinners and complimenting how hard he worked when he and his daughter were alone.

Slowly, Amelia turned to the unmoving man besides her. She thought, she’d thought…instead of turning grey and melting like someone had run a fireball over a statue, he only looked a little surprised. And…was that faint annoyance she saw on his face?

Her plan to lean over, kiss his cheek with a wet smack, and whisper in his ear ‘I’m not pregnant’ was blown to dust.

Zelgadiss was the one to lean over, and kiss her cheek. A horrible grin twisted his lips and revealed sharp teeth.

“I love you too, sweetheart,” he responded, loud enough for everyone to hear and applaud. ‘Sweetheart’? Why did it feel like her heart had stopped? Her cheeks hurt from smiling. That shit-eating grin was still on his face. He leaned in closer, and Amelia could feel his warm breathe on her face. A gleam of light caught on one of his incisor that had never resembled a fang more than at this moment.

“You know, you’re not pregnant, right?”