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Paradoxical Assassin by AidenRask359
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ParadoxPandox
ParadoxPandox's Gallery (73)

Royal Intimacy - Chapter Three

Commission Overview
royalintimacy3.doc
Keywords male 1108933, cat 198371, canine 173113, dog 156257, male/male 114277, m/m 46741, lion 39833, m 27340, reptile 26027, sfw 25523, fantasy 24417, magic 23406, fennec 17045, lioness 10823, kobold 10345, fennec fox 9188, romance 8251, scaly 3223, slavery 2797, malexmale 2320, wizard 2038, prince 1914, royalty 1878, big cat 1797, african wild dog 1416, magician 1176, scalies 861, servant 609, mxm 564, magic user 403, awd 354, wild dog 305, teen/teen 253, talia 210, fantasy setting 16, oppression 14, indentured servitude 9, nali 6, azri 5, prince taljominai 4, taljo 4, servant/prince 4, kabaltar 4, azrahkar 4, thia 4, royal intimacy 4, royal intimacy (thia) 4, prince liivai 4, liivai taljominai 4, kabalt 4, talia boriniina 3, liivai 3, nuhki boriniono 3, nuhki 2, jofun 1, hiomane 1, borin 1, father borin 1, high priest borin 1, jeimi 1, princess imoshah 1, princess nali 1, princess imoshah jofunala 1, princess nali jofunala 1, jeimahkar 1, imoshah 1
I have to admit, I was certainly expecting some looks from my fellow servants when I accompanied Liivai to the kitchen to get his food as I wore clothing that was anything but workers’ clothing, but I wasn’t expecting the pointed glares to pierce straight into my soul. Even Namuun, who didn’t by any means seem angry, looked as if he had to do a double take when looking at me.

I didn’t see Taramal on the way down here, but if I had, I would have stopped and told him of everything that had happened in such a short time. He, of all people, would deserve to know of my new job. He’s probably resting, though, like the doctor wants him to.

As Liivai digs into his curried rice and eggs, I can’t help but sigh and groan, knowing I’m still being stared and glared at. It’s not fun to feel daggers in the back of your head at all times for just doing a job that the king himself gave you. It’s subtle, though, and even if it weren’t, I doubt Liivai would have even noticed had I not just made it known that I’m far from comfortable right now.

“You okay, Azri? You sound tired…” he says, obviously concerned for me as he frowns a bit while still eating. What a voracious boy…

“I’m…” I sigh right after I say that first word, trying to collect myself. “I’m fine, Liivai. It’s nothing you need to worry about.”

Liivai stops eating and bites his lip after I say that. “…Is it because of how that cook looked at you? Even I know that wasn’t a good look… Did you and he get in a fight or something? Or does he just not like you? I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t like you, but…”

I’m honestly surprised he could pick up on that, but then again, the chef wasn’t exactly attempting to hide his disappointment. We Kabaltar need to stick together, and I think he and most of the others see this as a bit of a betrayal.

Come to think of it, I didn’t get any of those looks from the few of Taramal’s kind working in the palace. They had to work their way up here, so it’s likely they would just see this as me continuing to climb the social ladder that they probably won’t be able to. A hint of jealousy might be all I would get from them.

I nod as the prince goes back to eating. “Yeah, that’s why. Everyone’s been looking at me that way since I came down here with you. I think they think I’m being a kissass to your father or something… Not like they’d be wrong. Nuhki even called me a kissass earlier.”

Liivai shakes his head. “Being a kissass to my dad is the only thing you can do to stay on his good side… I’m sure you did what you had to.” He pauses for a moment. “And don’t let Nuhki get to you. Not that I don’t let him get to me, but Talia keeps telling me I shouldn’t let him, so…”

“I dunno,” I say as I shrug. “I guess I just expected most of them to be indifferent about it, or for some of them to even be happy, but I’ve seen only a few people that haven’t shot glares my way. I guess being a free man now means everyone’s going to see me as different.”

The prince drops his spoon onto his plate as I say that. “Wait, my father freed you? W-why are you even still here with me instead of out being… well, free?” I guess I forgot to tell him…

“It’s not that simple,” I explain. “I’m free on the condition that I be your caretaker and protect you everywhere you go until he feels you’re strong enough to protect yourself. So basically… I went from being a servant to having a contractual job, and most of the servants can tell just from my garb.”

“I see… I thought they just gave you some nice clothes. I guess that explains why you’re going to come with me to worship. Normally, they wouldn’t even let you in, but I guess Dad has made some kinda exception for you.”

“Yeah. I guess he’s really keen on having you watched over all the time.”

Liivai blows one of his cheeks up with air as he gets a look of frustration on his face. “I can take care of myself. He acts like my skill in combat is the only thing that’s going to protect me. It’s stupid… He’s stupid…”

I can’t imagine being in Liivai’s position and actually being able to call the king stupid with next to no repercussions.

He just sighs and goes back to eating for about a minute before he asks me, “Hey, Azri… Do you think I’m weak? Be honest with me.” He doesn’t look me in the eye as he says that. Hell, he doesn’t even look up, just staring at his food.

“I…” I start, trying to be careful about how I phrase this. “I can’t make a judgement on your physical strength. I haven’t seen it. Now… I know you probably have trouble standing up for yourself, and that’s something that can be worked on, but you know what’s way more important than that?”

He shakes his head in reply, and I continue, “You’re kind and have a good heart, and that’s going to get way more people to like and genuinely respect you than just being strong and demanding what you want.”

He smiles a bit at my compliment but just shrugs. “Respect is all well and good, I guess, but I just want to be treated like normal… Is that so hard to ask?”

“Well, you’re the prince. People are going to treat you differently just based on that, and there’s not much you can do about it, unfortunately. All you can do is choose how to present yourself and hope people get the message from that.”

“That doesn’t really help…” he says, defeated, as he stops talking and finishes his food, still looking downward.

I purse my lips before I silently grab his plate and bring it over to the kitchen. Leaving him alone for just a moment isn’t likely to get the king on my ass. I’m about to walk in and wash the plate to be helpful, but… am I even allowed in there anymore? Whatever. I’m sure it won’t be a problem.

However, as soon as I try to walk in through the door, the chef steps in front of me. “Hey, servants only, Sir Azrahkar.” I can hear the venom dripping from the Kabalt’s voice when he says the word “sir”.

I sigh and try to stay calm. “Look, Amaro, I—”

“Don’t try an’ explain anythin’, kissass,” he says as he growls a bit. “Some of us are gonna have to work double-time to pick up the slack left by your absence, and for what? So you can have a cushy job lookin’ after the fuckin’ prince?”

“You act like I had a choice!” I exclaim. “I was offered my freedom, and I took it, sure, but for all I know, the king could have had me executed if I had refused! And then you’d have to pick up the slack, anyway!”

“Grow a fuckin’ backbone,” he growls out. “Makin’ assumptions was always your strong suit. The king’d likely just send ya back down here, no worse for wear. But I guess you’d rather have freedom dangled in front of you as you run in place, tryin’a get it but never succeedin’.”

Saying nothing else, he grabs the plate from my paws and walks into the kitchen, swearing about me all the while.

Well, if I had any doubts that I had alienated myself… those are gone.

I turn around and am about to walk back to the dining area where I left Liivai, but I see that he followed me over. He’s still looking at the ground, and I actually hear him sniffle a bit. “This is all my fault… I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have asked for you to tend to me… Maybe then, my dad wouldn’t have done this, and you’d still have friends…”

Shit, I didn’t expect him to hear any of that, and I definitely didn’t expect him to react like this if he did. From how he’s acting, this seems like a normal reaction to this kind of thing. It’s not surprising… He’s probably been conditioned, purposefully or not, to feel like everything bad that happens to himself or those he’s close to is his fault.

I reach over and gently pat his head. “You did nothing wrong. At the end of the day, this will be better for me, even if it means people might not like me for a while. They’ll come around.”

That was a blatant lie, but he seems to believe it, as his face lightens up. “Really? They will?”

I nod, and that seems to further reassure him. He really is blissfully unaware of how the world works.

“That’s good… I was worried. But if you’ll be fine, then we’ve got nothing to worry about!” he says as his tail wags. It may not have been the best idea to lie to him. He’ll soon find out things aren’t that simple, but I already can’t stand to see him sad.

“Y-yeah,” I stutter, hoping I don’t have to keep this lie up for much longer right now. “Anyway, we, uh… We should get you down to worship. It’s gotta be getting close to noon.”

Liivai whines and lowers his ears. “I guess I gotta, huh…?” I nod, and he sighs, looking just as dejected as the last time I brought it up. “Fine… Let’s go.”

He walks out of the hall, but his tail isn’t swaying with the same pep I’ve usually seen it doing. He really doesn’t like the thought of going to worship, and this seems to be more than just not wanting to spend his time at a temple, but I’m not about to ask right now.

I follow him out of the dining room and the main hall of the castle, out to the path leading to the main gate of the castle walls. I’ve only ever been beyond these walls as a child, before my parents became indentured. I don’t even really remember it, because I was three when that happened. Fourteen years behind the castle walls…

Even though it’s a city where my people are oppressed daily, I can’t deny that I’m excited to see it.

By the time we near the castle gates, Liivai has regained some of the normal pep in his step. “You guys aren’t normally allowed in the city, right?” I nod, and he wags a bit. “It’s gonna be so much fun to show you the city, then! I know we gotta go to worship first, but—”

Before he can continue, when we’re about to pass the threshold of the gate, a guard physically stops me by grabbing my wrist, and rather roughly, I might add. His claws are threatening to dig into my skin.

“Hey, almashah,” says the Jofun, his feline features wrinkling a bit as he glowers at me, using an insult meaning “despised by God”, ”you know your kind ain’t allowed out here, so why don’t you just head on back in before I show you what happens to slaves who disobey. I don’t know why you’re actin’ so chummy with Prince Taljominai, but even he can’t get you past here.”

It seems the clothes aren’t even enough for some people… I guess that makes sense.

Liivai looks nervous, and he stutters for several seconds, unable to form a sentence. Luckily, he doesn’t need to form one, as Talia, who was standing next to her brother outside the gate, walks over.

The soldier salutes Talia but doesn’t let go of my wrist. In fact, he squeezes more tightly as she approaches, the sharp tips of his claws sliding under my scales and into my flesh. “Boriniina, ma’am! One of the almashahen is trying to waltz out of here with the prince. You want me to take him in, or—”

Talia frowns and interrupts the man. “What I want you to do is take a damn look at him. Does he look like you should take him in, let alone even stop him? He’s walking next to the prince, wearing clothes that we could kill him for taking if he actually stole them. Do you think any of them would be stupid enough to do that? You didn’t think to ask the prince if he had official business with him?”

“W-well, no, ma’am, but I—”

“But nothing,” Talia nearly barks as she interrupts him once more. “This Kabalt here has been assigned as Prince Taljominai’s personal escort and caretaker. If you have a problem with that, take it up with King Taljominai, but I doubt he’d be receptive to any complaints.”

The man finally lets go of my wrist, and I rub it a bit while trying to hide that it’s bleeding from his claws digging into my skin. I forget just how sharp Jofun claws are sometimes… It’s no surprise that they slipped right under my scales, but I don’t want Liivai to worry.

“Yes, ma’am…” He turns to look at me and, with a displeased expression and deadpan tone, says, “I’m sorry to have troubled you, sir. Move along.”

I look over at Liivai, and his ears are lowered, while he’s fidgeting around with his paws, even nibbling on the tips of his claws out of nervousness. Even though it wasn’t directly happening to him, that situation certainly got him on edge.

Talia walks the two of us over to where Nuhki is still standing, and when we get there, he rolls his eyes. “He’s never been professional, that one… Not surprised that happened.”

Talia snorts a bit. “You’re one to talk.”

“At least I wouldn’t question someone who’s obviously with the prince.”

With a nod, Talia looks over at the two of us. “You two okay?”

With some hesitation, Liivai nods and takes a shaky breath. “I-I’m okay, yeah… Just kinda scared me is all…”

I nod as some of my dark blue blood drips onto the sandy pavement beneath us. “I’ll be fine.”

“You’re bleeding,” says Talia as she looks down at my wrist. “I wouldn’t say that’s ‘fine’.”

God, I was hoping she wouldn’t draw attention to that…

Liivai whimpers as he looks over and sees the blood dripping from my wrist. Even though it’s not much, and the wound would easily heal, he gets just as worried as I was afraid he would. “Azri, you’re not okay! D-do one of you guys have bandages or anything? He needs to be patched up!”

Nuhki sighs in exasperation and pulls a roll of bandages from his pack. “Yes, I have bandages, Your Highness. It’ll be fine.”

Judging from Nuhki’s reaction, these kinds of small freakouts are common with Liivai.

He quickly wraps the bandages around my wrist, making sure they’re taut enough to staunch the bloodflow before just as quickly putting the bandages away.

“That was fast,” I comment.

Nuhki chuckles. “I’m trained in advanced first aid. You ever get hurt out here, you can come to me.”

Well, that’s good to know, but I’m hoping that won’t really happen too often. I really hope that this was just a onetime deal.

“We should get His Highness to the temple. He shouldn’t be late to worship,” says Talia, and the four of us walk off into the city.

I don’t think I’ve ever been around this many people before. There have to be hundreds of various Taljo and Jofun out here, and I even see a couple Kabaltar and several of Taramal’s race, though the free ones seem to be few and far between. In fact, with a cursory glance, I see no free men of the fennec-like race Taramal belongs to. That makes sense… They’re specifically a slave race, unlike us. They don’t even have a name, after all.

While I try to keep my eyes forward, I can’t stop myself from looking every which way. The sights, the sounds, and even the smells… They all keep drawing my attention. There are so many shops in the market we’re walking through, and each of them seems to sell unique goods or food. I never realized things were this lively outside the castle. I knew people had lives and bought goods… I just didn’t know it was like this.

Being free seems even more like a dream than it did earlier today. To think I’ll be able to enjoy this in a few years, and even to a certain extent now…

“You look like a fish out of water,” says Nuhki, and it takes me a second to realize he’s talking to me.

Talia lightly elbows her brother. “Oh, give him a break. I don’t think he’s ever been outside the castle.”

Nuhki shrugs. “Guess it just seems normal to us.”

I honestly can’t imagine actually growing up with all of this and not working my ass off every day. Being able to come here and actually buy things, even if it’s just something I need, like food…

I need to not get too distracted, though. I’m not here to sightsee…

I look next to me to see Liivai glancing at me with a smile. “Is it neat?” I nod, and his tail wags. “I figured! You’ll be able to come with me if I ever have to do any shopping… though I don’t know if I’ll ever need to… But still!”

I chuckle at his excitement on my behalf. He seems genuinely glad to be able to take me around to places like this.

Liivai seems too focused on me to hear this, as he doesn’t react to it, but I hear Talia say to Nuhki, “This really is going to be good for him. I had my doubts, but… Azrahkar seems at least fit for the task of bringing him out of his shell.”

Nuhki curtly nods but says nothing in response.

After a few more minutes of walking, we arrive at the temple courtyard, and as soon as we enter, we already get some looks thrown our way. A Kabalt like me even being in the courtyard must be odd, but it’s likely not unheard of. People have Kabalt slaves, and slaves have worked on temple additions. As far as I know, we’re just not allowed in the sanctuary except in extenuating circumstances.

I suppose this would be a circumstance of that nature, but my stomach drops as we near the large archway which leads into the main sanctuary. I’ve never been close to this place, and yet it feels forbidden for me to be here.

I have permission, though. I’m with the prince and his entourage. They can’t disobey an order from the Taljo king.

I’m shaking a bit as we’re about to enter. I really hope things go smoothly…

But that would be too much to ask.

Right now, I’m tailing behind Liivai, and even though there isn’t more than a foot of space between us, the two guards stationed at either side of the archway cross their spears to bar my entry. Better than grabbing my wrist so hard that I bleed…

In a gruff voice, the guard on the left says, “Slave quarters are that way. You’ll wait for your masters there.” She points to an entrance off to the side, where I see several slaves filing in, and some of them stare at me for a moment. I probably look like an idiot trying to do this.

At least the guard isn’t grabby like the last guy…

Nuhki turns around and rolls his eyes. This is likely to be a common occurrence… “He’s with us. Special orders from King Taljominai.”

Nuhki and Talia must be very well known in the guard corps, as this guard, similarly to the one back at the palace with Talia, seems to take his word as law. “Yes, sir, Boriniono. Sorry to have bothered you.”

The guards uncross their spears and allow me to walk past, though one of them glares at me as I pass through the archway, likely because I’m “desecrating” their place of worship with my presence. I couldn’t care less what the Taljo and Jofun think of this. I’m just doing my job.

I follow Talia and Liivai up a flight of stairs while Nuhki stays below and stands guard. At the top is a loft overlooking the main sanctuary and its many rows of sandstone pews, filled with many worshippers, and it has an unobstructed view of the large granite altar at the other end of the sanctuary. This is certainly the best seat in the house…

And that makes sense, because there are four throne-like chairs at the rear of the loft, likely for the kings and queens, though I don’t see any of them in attendance.

Liivai must see me staring at the thrones, as he chimes in, “Father and King and Queen Jofunala are supposed to sit there during worship, but… they always ‘have other things to do’. Especially Father. He’s here even less than King and Queen Jofunala.”

“Then why does he make you come here?” I ask as he sits down on the pew nearest the balcony.

Liivai shrugs. “Dunno. Maybe it looks good if at least someone in one of the royal families comes here every time? The princesses don’t come all the time, after all. It’s just me, so…”

He trails off, and it seems as if he’s about to say something else, but he turns his head a little to look past me, toward the stairs. I look as well, and standing at the top of the stairway are two young Jofun women dressed in light but very formal attire, which basically amounts to light cotton midriff shirts and knee-length shorts. I can tell they’re the Jofun princesses because of the jeweled circlets on their heads, likely their crowns.

Odd… That made me realize Liivai doesn’t really wear anything signifying he’s the prince. Maybe he prefers not to draw attention to it. I don’t blame him.

The two lion-like women start walking for only a second before one of them, the younger-looking one, makes eye contact with me and stops dead in her tracks, making the older one stop right behind her.

“What in God’s name is a Kabalt doing in the loft?! And in the sanctuary?!” the younger princess nearly shrieks out, drawing attention to the balcony from down below. Great… Now the whole temple knows.

Liivai whimpers and stutters out, “H-h-he’s m-my, uh… my caretaker… He’s s-supposed to be with me a-at all times.” After he says that, he reaches for my paw and grabs it, holding onto it. He didn’t even to that with the other confrontations. He really must not like her…

“Your caretaker?” says the younger princess with a snort. “Didn’t realize you were such a big baby, Liivai.”

“I-I’m not a baby, Nali!” exclaims Liivai, his ears lowering. “Don’t call me that…”

“Or what? You gonna cry again, like babies do?”

At this, the older princess sighs. “That’s enough. Don’t you have better things to do than antagonize Liivai-anahk?” Anahk? I had only heard that a few times in my life. It’s normally used as a sort of pet name for people one is very fond of.

Nali rolls her eyes. “But Imoshah, ‘Liivai-anahk’ is so easy to rile up! It’s not my fault he responds like this!” Her voice dripped with disdain as she uttered honorific her sister used.

Imoshah, however, is having none of that. “Either you behave, or we sit with the commoners today.”

With an emphatic groan, Nali practically stomps over to a seat two rows behind us and sits down, crossing her arms.

Imoshah sighs and kneads her forehead before looking over at Liivai. “You all right, anahk?”

Liivai gives her a halfhearted smile before responding. “I’ll be fine… They’re just words, after all.”

Imoshah sits down on the other side of Liivai and gives him a brief hug. “As long as you’re not letting her get to you.”

I’m surprised there’s actually someone else who cares for Liivai. Not because he’s not likeable, mind, but because I know most people aren’t likely to even give him a chance. There are far more people out there like Nali than people like me and Imoshah.

I just can’t believe how different the two of them are. They might be sisters, but one would think they were raised by two different families with how they act.

After Liivai and Imoshah release each other, Imoshah leans forward and looks at me. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Princess Imoshah Jofunala, but please, call me Imoshah.”

Ruining what should be a pleasant introduction, Nali interjects, “And I’m Princess Nali Jofunala, and no, you may not just call me Nali. You shouldn’t even be in here with us. Be grateful I’m even talking to you.”

I can hear a soft growl rise to Imoshah’s throat. “Indignation will get you nowhere, Nali. Be kind or be silent, or I will follow through on making you sit with the commoners. Put up with one Kabalt or deal with a crowd of smelly peasants. Your choice.”

Nali rolls her eyes again and doesn’t respond. It seems she chose silence.

“Good,” says Imoshah before she looks back over at me. “I won’t ask you to excuse my sister’s behavior, just that you put up with her presence, as she has to do with you.”

I chuckle a bit at her bluntness. “I don’t think I expected anyone to speak to a princess that way. Even another princess.”

Imoshah smirks. “You do what you have to when your sister acts up. Eventually, though, she won’t have me around all the time to cover for her, and she’ll be out of luck. Hopefully, she realizes her mistakes before then.”

She pauses for a moment before her eyes widen. “Oh, where are my manners? I told you my name, but I didn’t ask yours.”

“Don’t worry about it. Most people barely even acknowledge me, let alone ask for my name,” I say with a wry smile. “I’m Azrahkar, but Azri works, too.”

As I say that, I can hear Liivai’s tail thumping against the back of the pew, and he grins at me. “I knew you’d find other friends! You don’t need those stupid people who glared at you at the palace!”

While I’d hardly consider myself and Imoshah anywhere close to friends, as we just met, just the thought seems to make Liivai happy for me.

“Well, I wouldn’t quite say we’re friends yet, but he seems like a wonderful man,” says Imoshah as she looks over at us, and I swear her eyes fall on our intertwined paws, but I can’t be certain. Even if they did, she doesn’t comment on it, and she looks over at Liivai, who seems pleased with what she said.

“That’s better than what the people back at the palace said,” says Liivai. “They said he’s selfish for taking his freedom and that he should’ve refused…”

Imoshah scoffs at that. “It may be selfish, but that doesn’t mean it was wrong.” She looks over at me. “You made the right choice. A life of servitude isn’t good for anyone, and you’re better off contracted to the king than as his slave.”

I have to admit, hearing that from a princess relieves me a bit, though I almost expect Nali to pipe up and ruin it. She stays silent, however, likely heeding her sister’s words.

Before I can say anything, I hear some singing from the front of the sanctuary, next to the altar. I have to admit, it’s beautiful and sounds almost ethereal… A small choir is standing off to the side, singing about… something? I can’t understand what; the language they’re using sounds foreign to me. It sounds like it could be something we could speak, but it’s way too different to be intelligible.

Imoshah sees my confused expression and leans over, whispering, “This is the language of our forebears. All worship is conducted in it, though most of the commoners don’t understand it. I imagine from your bewildered expression that you are just as lost as they are.”

“I see…” I mutter out. That’s an odd thing to do… Worship in a language that the general populace cannot understand? It seems like utter nonsense. But if that’s their tradition, who am I to challenge it?

The priest, surrounded by a few of who seem to be helpers, walks from the back of the sanctuary up to the front, his arms crossed around his chest in prayer. Or at least, I think it’s prayer. I’ve seen others in a similar stance before.

The old Taljo man makes his way up to the altar, and as he turns around, his face strikes me as… familiar, somehow, and I can’t fathom why. I don’t know that many Taljo other than the ones who live in the palace, so the fact that his face is even slightly recognizable weirds me out.

With a warm smile, after the choir ceases singing, the priest addresses the crowd in a much more intelligible form than the language that was being sung, “Good afternoon, my children.”

Nearly in unison, the crowd responds, “Good afternoon, Father,” though some of them add the name “Borin” to the end of the sentence.

Borin… That’s why he seems familiar. Talia Boriniina, Nuhki Boriniono… They’re this priest’s children. That would explain why they’re very well known.

While still beaming, Borin raises his paws up toward the heavens, and I realize that the sun is shining directly down on him from an overhead window. “Let us begin.”

And from there, he launches back into that language that I would have no hope of understanding. Everyone here seems either to understand it or to be at least comfortable with not comprehending it, but if I were part of their religion… it would make me highly uncomfortable.

I end up spacing out for most of the forty minutes that the service takes place over, but as I look around, something catches my eye… Behind a pew in the very back corner, where most people cannot see if paying attention to worship, I see a small vulpine figure.

A boy of the fennec race… I know he’s not supposed to be in here. I just barely have permission to be here, and that’s only by order of the king.

But I’m not about to say anything and rat him out, especially since nobody else seems to have eyes on him. Imoshah is intently focused on worship, and Liivai seems bored but still attempting to pay attention, while Nali is lost in her own world. It isn’t as if Nali can see that spot from where she is, but I know she would make a huge stink about it, considering how upset she was that I was even up here.

I end up looking over at the boy for some time, mostly trying to watch out for anyone that might look over in that direction. Eventually, Liivai seems to notice I’m focused on a particular spot of the sanctuary, and his rounded ears perk up a bit as he looks over in that direction before his eyes widen. However, he says nothing, either, likely not wanting to see the boy get punished.

My attention gets immediately snapped back to the front of the sanctuary when I hear the “woosh” of a flame coming to life and see its glimmer out of the corner of my eye. My eyes snap right back over to the altar, where I see Borin holding one of his paws over a book, and between said book and his paw is a flame. It tickles the undersides of his paw but doesn’t burn it, and he’s chanting something in that language.

Is that magic? I had heard rumors of it existing, but I always assumed it was just a fairytale. I guess one just has to be in a position of power to know about it. I’m sure most of these people think it’s a miracle, but I’m no fool. I can barely make out some symbols in the book. I know this is likely just for show, but it certainly seems to impress most everyone.

Meanwhile, that slave boy and I seem far more aware of what’s actually going on, and his mouth is wide open in awe.

After that short “miracle”, Borin extinguishes the flame and closes the book, speaking several more sentences in the worship language before saying, “Go forth, followers, and do glory to God in your lives!”

I suppose that means worship is over. The choir starts singing, and Borin makes a procession back to the rear of the sanctuary. The slave boy doesn’t really seem to know what to do, but he quickly makes a decision and hides completely under the pew before anyone sees him. His small size seems to have come in handy…

Liivai looks back and forth between me and the slave with a concerned expression. Good-natured as ever, Liivai doesn’t want the boy to get caught.

I lean over and whisper, “I think he’ll be fine. He seems to know how to take care of himself.”

Liivai bites his lip but nods, probably realizing there’s nothing either of us can do.

“You okay, anahk?” asks Imoshah as she sees Liivai’s face. “Something bothering you?”

“O-oh! Uh…” starts Liivai with a nervous smile. “Just… just nervous about what people might think about Azri if they see him up here…”

Imoshah smiles gently. “Whatever they think is irrelevant. Because of the king’s orders, Azri has a duty to be up here with you.”

That was a nice save on Liivai’s part, honestly, but he’s likely used to lying about things so he doesn’t seem as “weak”.

I’m just glad Imoshah didn’t seem to notice anything. She seems nice and all, but I don’t know what her feelings would be about that slave, and I don’t want to find out right now. Better to just leave it be and act like nothing is out of the ordinary.

“Well,” starts Imoshah, “Nali and I must take our leave. Mother will want us back for our lessons, and I’m sure you need to get to your training, anahk.”

“Y-yeah,” stutters Liivai. “I’ll, uh… I’ll see you later, Imoshah.”

With a wave from Imoshah and a glare from Nali, the two princesses walk down the stairs, soon out of view.

When they’re out of earshot, Talia looks over at us with a raised eyebrow. “Okay, what was that about? Her Highness may not want to press the issue, but I know you better than she does.”

Liivai whimpers loudly and lowers his ears, hiding behind me as much as he can. “It’s nothing…”

Talia sighs and shakes her head. “You can’t keep hiding stuff from us.”

“Please just drop it,” I say calmly to Talia. “I’ll talk to him later in private. That’s part of my job, so let me handle it, okay?”

“I suppose you’re right.” Talia sighs. “And he already seems to trust you more than he trusts us. I’ll leave it be for now.”

I nod cordially. “Thank you for trusting me to take care of it.”

Talia nods back before she says, “Let’s get going. His Highness’ training awaits.”

Liivai and I stand up and follow Talia out of the temple, and as I assumed, we get glares from the people who see me in here, but despite that, I can’t stop thinking about that boy, who’s probably still under the pew. I hope he’ll be okay. I wish there were something I could do to help him, but I can’t risk it.

I try to push the worry out of my mind as we make our way back to the palace.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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First in pool
Last in pool
First in pool
Last in pool
Show 2 More Pools...
First in pool
Last in pool
First in pool
Last in pool
Heya, floofers. So... I know it's been longer than it should have been for me to post the next chapter of this, and for some of you, I know it might be disappointing. I don't normally post SFW stories here, mostly because they don't seem to be that popular, but I couldn't find a good way to work anything naughty into this chapter without dragging it out and making it twice as long as the previous two.

So this chapter won't have any kind of sexual stuff in it. I hope some of you still end up reading it despite that. If not, that's okay. I get it. Most of you are here for sex, and that's fine. All I ask is that you give it a read if you're interested in the story.

As with the last chapter, I'll urge you all to read the previous chapters, which you can find in the pools below.

I hope you all enjoy this despite the lack of horniness.

=================================

Rating: 13+ for slightly mature themes and some blood
Word Count: 6,055

=================================

If you want a story like this, don't hesitate to contact me, either by PM on here or on Telegram.

COMMISSIONS OPEN

All five slots are available at the time of writing this!

Commission Terms of Service
Commission Queue

Keywords
male 1,108,933, cat 198,371, canine 173,113, dog 156,257, male/male 114,277, m/m 46,741, lion 39,833, m 27,340, reptile 26,027, sfw 25,523, fantasy 24,417, magic 23,406, fennec 17,045, lioness 10,823, kobold 10,345, fennec fox 9,188, romance 8,251, scaly 3,223, slavery 2,797, malexmale 2,320, wizard 2,038, prince 1,914, royalty 1,878, big cat 1,797, african wild dog 1,416, magician 1,176, scalies 861, servant 609, mxm 564, magic user 403, awd 354, wild dog 305, teen/teen 253, talia 210, fantasy setting 16, oppression 14, indentured servitude 9, nali 6, azri 5, prince taljominai 4, taljo 4, servant/prince 4, kabaltar 4, azrahkar 4, thia 4, royal intimacy 4, royal intimacy (thia) 4, prince liivai 4, liivai taljominai 4, kabalt 4, talia boriniina 3, liivai 3, nuhki boriniono 3, nuhki 2, jofun 1, hiomane 1, borin 1, father borin 1, high priest borin 1, jeimi 1, princess imoshah 1, princess nali 1, princess imoshah jofunala 1, princess nali jofunala 1, jeimahkar 1, imoshah 1
Details
Type: Writing - Document
Published: 2 years, 9 months ago
Rating: Mature

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RileyTheOtter
2 years, 9 months ago
I don't think you should ever feel like you need to apologize for not including a particular topic in a chapter.
ParadoxPandox
2 years, 9 months ago
I know, it's just that there's a part of me that feels like it's compulsory to have sex in a story on here. Guess I just feel like people won't enjoy it, but I know deep down that people who are really invested will still find enjoyment in it.
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