“So, all you did was sleep? Nothing more? Just cuddled and fell asleep?” Syrion asks, only getting a small nod from me before they continue on. “Fascinating, and this was right after the two of you left the ball?” I nodded once again, my face flushing with the slightest bit of embarrassment. “You two stayed back fairly late, I believe Nalik had come back from his little sneak away time with the guard ended before you two actually went to bed.”

“Yes, when we had peaked into the ballroom again, the two of them were still dancing together. It was very cute.” Nalik manages to cut in, not even caring to look up from his sketch book as he studied the little puff ball of tiny peddles poking through the thin layer of snow that had fallen during the night and through the morning.

It surprised me that Faelix even allowed us to come out into the garden this afternoon with how the snow had stuck and the frigid air clouded every time we so much as breathed out through our noses or even spoke. Of course, he insisted on us wearing thick coats over long-sleeved shirts with fleece lined leggings under floor-length skirts as well as winter booties that had wonderfully soft fur like linings. Not even Syrion was able to escape all the precautions Faelix wanted us to take to avoid getting sick from the cold, though their coat wasn’t as thick as mine and Nalik’s nor did they have to wear the booties that we did, opting for something more sock like with a similar fur lining and some add material at the bottom of them to prevent the snow from soaking them.

“What exactly led to the two of you going to his rooms instead of him escorting you back to ours?” Syrion asks, finally quieting down long enough for me to actually speak.

“Nothing in particular really. I had spotted mine and Nalik’s old groupmate, Janik, and then we were speaking with her and her current master, Prince Alryla before we had left. Though I wasn’t really paying much attention to what the two of them were saying when Janik and I started talking to each other on our own.” I give an apologetic shrug at the sight of Syrion’s disappointed gaze.

They let out a sigh and a rather dramatic roll of their eyes, “Well that doesn’t help me much. Though he and Prince Alryla do seem a lot closer than he is with their older brother.”

I nod in agreement.

“Not that any of our princes seem to care much for the older of those two. Especially not our princess, when they tried to arrange a marriage between her and Prince Jurion, she was ready to kill them all right then and there. She was not pleased in the slightest and made it a point to make all their lives hell until they finally relented and cancelled it.” Syrion informed us.

“Well, good for her for knowing how to get her way?” I wasn’t too sure how else to actually respond to that, but it was certainly interesting to hear and learn something new about the royal family.

“Indeed, they are now trying to arrange for her to marry Prince Alryla instead. I’m not too sure how it’s going, though it’s clearly going far better than before.” They hum and nod along. “They would likely be a much better pairing, I cannot see Princess Lyrith and Prince Jurion being anything other than absolute chaos and destruction towards each other and any unlucky soul caught in the middle.”

“We definitely don’t need that. We’d probably get caught in the middle for being the beloved pets of her brother.” Nalik quipped.

I couldn’t help but silently agree with him and even Syrion nodded along in agreement. “We truly don’t. Anyways, how in the world did you two simply go to bed with no further activity? There has to have been something else you aren’t telling us.” Syrion continued on with the previous conversation far too quickly and earning a startled squeak from me and a snort of a laugh form Nalik.

I sigh softly as I lay on the large plush bed belonging to Faelix, who was apparently still stuck in his meeting with his family and their council, at least according to his personal attendant. Though she still saw fit to bringing me to his living quarters and even had me already bathed and in his bed in nothing more than my robe since he had been taking so long in the meeting. She claimed that he would just have me rejoin him to simply soak if he ends up having the energy to bathe tonight and wishes to have me there with him. I didn’t dare ask what the meeting was about, I doubt she’d even let me know if I had asked. Faelix may tell me if he feels the need to vent about his thoughts and feelings. He sometimes needs to get his frustrations out about their meetings and I certainly don’t mind letting him do so, especially seeing how his father and brothers and their council seem to always grate at his nerves.

When the door to the main room of his living chambers all but slammed open with the sound of something clattering against the walls and floor following seconds after, I shot up to a sitting position. Leaning forward to try and peer out the bedroom door just in time to see Faelix’s back as he storms off to the bathing room. The door slamming open then shut sounding and the walls shaking with the force of it.

I hesitated sliding off the bed, stepping through the doorway carefully and going straight to the main door to close it softly, taking note of the dent the doorknob left in the wall from how hard it was slammed open. Making my way to the bathing room and spotting the tablet that Faelix often carried to take notes during meetings, its screen completely shattered with bits of the glass missing. I knocked on the door with just the knuckle of my pointer finger and waited for only a few moments before the door was suddenly yanked open to reveal Faelix. Except he looked nothing like the kind and patient and gentle man I’ve grown used. His face was contorted with a terrifying sort of fury that I had never seen on him before, his muscles taught and tense with his entire being radiating white hot rage that made me immediately cower away in fear. Fear that I had not felt since I was under Mayvax’s authority and needed to be on my absolute best behavior. But in an instant, as if registering that it was just me standing there in front of him and not whoever this rage was pointed towards, his whole being softened.

“Ivorix? What are you doing here?” He asked in the gentlest tone he seemed able to muster in the moment, regret mixed with confusion flashing across his face.

I bit my lip, mulling over my words before speaking, “Your attendant told me you wanted me here after your meeting, but I don’t think she realized it was not going well. I can see myself out, you do not seem to want any visitors tonight.” I say, turning to leave and let him decompress in peace.”

“No,” He grabs my wrist to stop me, a little harsher than likely intended and his grip loosened only slightly when I flinched in response to it. “You can stay, just… go lay in bed. I would like to bathe alone right now. I’ll join you when I’m done.” He tells me, giving me an apologetic look before letting go of my wrist and gently nudging me back into the direction of his bedroom.

I did as I was told and slowly made my way back into the bedroom, not hearing the bathing room door close until after I had done so. This time much softer, as if not to startle me like before. Climbing into the large plush bed and sitting patiently on the edge of it, wondering what it was that had caused Faelix, one the most patient men I’ve ever met, to become so enraged to nearly rip a door off its hinges over a simple knock on the door. It had to be something bad for him to have become so enraged. I refused to believe that he’d just act this way for no good reason.

When he finally came into the bedroom, wearing nothing more than a soft towel wrapped around his waist, I sit up a little straighter and watch him as he all but looks utterly defeated. Keeping his head down seemingly to avoid meeting my concerned gaze and just kneeling down in front of me, two of his arms wrapping around my waist with the other two hands run up and down my calves in a gentle self-comforting motion and laying his head in my lap as he does so. I wasn’t sure how to react to this other than to start combing my fingers through his hair as comfortingly as I can. I didn’t know what to say either, not wanting to irritate him further, which means I didn’t know what to say to even comfort him in this clear time of need.

It was him who broke the silence after almost an hour of us sitting with him kneeled in front of me as I comb my fingers through his hair, “We are not the monsters that other worlds seem to think we are. We do not wage war if it’s not deemed necessary. Pets are not as much of a symbol of triumph as other worlds seem to view them. At least that is what I’ve always been told and believed.” He mumbles, burying his face further into my thighs as he pauses for only a moment. “And now, I can’t shake the thought that we are nothing more than the monsters that other worlds view us as because there would be no other reason for another to demand then beg that we free them from our tyranny and my father simply laugh in their face and tell them they have no right to make such demands or claims when they didn’t even have the strength to fend for themselves before we took over. As if us destroying their homes and depleting their population was something he had done with no thought other than they are physically and technologically weaker than we are.”

My heart dropped at the despair on his face when he finally looked up at me, his obsidian eyes brimming with tears ready to fall and his voice so quiet and hesitant that I didn’t dare make a single sound for fear of being unable to hear him, “Am I a monster to you? Have I mislead myself into thinking we are in the same headspace? Have I deluded myself into thinking that, even despite having made you my pet, you may care for me the same way I care for you? How am I to live with myself if I truly have become the monster my father seems to be striving to create, especially to you?”

I stared at him for a long time before actually daring to speak, my words as gentle and slow as I could make them to come off comforting, “I am unsure what your exact feelings are for me, but I do care for you, Faelix. And you are most certainly not a monster in my eyes. You never were.” He was always intimidating, but certainly not a monster. And the relief that flooded into his expression at my words made my heart break just a little more. It hurt realizing how hard it must have been on him to think I may view the same as whoever was demanding freedom from his family’s rule.

“I will show you exactly how much I care for you, so that you will have no doubts or uncertainties for my feelings. I promise you that.” The way his still tear brimmed eyes darkened ever so slightly as he stared up at me and the deepening of his voice sent a shiver through me while setting my whole body aflame.

I watched as he rose up from the floor, grabbing my waist with one pair of hands to pull me further up the bed and hover over me while one from the other pair of hand went straight for my hair to hold himself up on the other. Leaning down to start kissing and nipping and sucking along my neck and across my collar bone to the other side, drawing gasps and quiet moans from me. My hands grasp at fistfuls of his dark and still damp hair as two hand that were at my waist slid down to my thighs then back up to slip under my robe, exploring between my legs and pulling noises from me that encouraged him to keep going. And for the first time since we had started our acts of intimacy, he used more than just his fingers.

It hurt at first, but he was so gentle with me and showered me with so much affection as he kissed away any tears that fell from my eyes, that it hardly mattered. We were connected in a way that we never had been before, hearts pounding almost in unison.

“I’m sorry, my Ivorix. The pain will cease soon, I promise.” He said between the gentle kisses to my cheeks, nose, and forehead. And as he promised, it did gradually disappear, though mostly with the help of exploring hands and sweet kisses distracting me.

I cried out at the intensity and feeling of him when his hips stared to move, my cries mixing with his beautiful and quieter cries and moans. His lovely sounds and the pleasure his body was giving me nearly sent me over the edge, but it was when he found a certain spot within me and skillfully abused it until I was seeing stars and arching off the bed and damn near chanting his name that actually did it. His name being the only word I could so much as think of as I clung to him, my hands finding their way to his back with nails digging into his skin so hard I’d have feared that I’d hurt him if it weren’t for the moans I earned from him.

It didn’t seem to take too long for him to be pushed over the edge after me, pulling me along with him for a second time, and swallowing up my cries with a kiss to my lips. Leaving him to nearly collapse on top of me after riding us both through our releases, just barely moving to the side in time to not crush me under his weight.

I couldn’t help the surprise I felt when it registered in my mind that he had actually kissed me, not my cheek or my face or nose like he usually would. But me. It wasn’t unheard of, of course, for masters and pets to kiss during these encounters, but it was new for us. It was something we hadn’t shared until now. And as I stared at him, he stared back at me all the same, watching me. Waiting.

“You kissed me.” I said with a hint of question.

“I did.” Was all he responded with.

I was silent for a moment, touching my lips with the tips of my fingers, while my gaze drifting down to his lips. “Can you… Can you do it again?” I couldn’t help the slight hesitation I felt at asking such a thing, but it was this part that would be out of the norm. Sharing a kiss outside of the usual sexual acts wasn’t usually considered normal between masters and pets. But Faelix said that he cares for me, so would that even make us anything like those others?

My nerves calmed the moment I saw the small smile he gave me, a large hand gently cupping my cheek as he his eyes flash with something I couldn’t place, “Of course I can.” Then leans in, our lips connecting for a long and oh so sweet kiss that makes me melt into him. And we stay like that, kissing and holding each other close, for as long as we could before the two of us to fall sleep in each other’s arms.

I draw little shapes into the smooth expanse of the off-white chest I found myself laying on when I awoke, the owner of said chest still sleeping soundly with one arm lazily draped over the small of my back and another holding onto my hip. I listened to the steady beating of his heart along with feeling the hand on my hip squeeze every few minutes. It made me wonder what he was dreaming about. Maybe he would tell me if I asked him.