It was as we were riding in the car-like shuttle, I sat on the outside by the window. Bastet sat in the middle, and Leandra sat by the other door. Everything had been awkward between us since the morning. But it made me realize that I had grown quite fond of her over the past eight years. I respected her very much. To have been able to climb to the rank of Magistrate when so young was an impressive feat. Then to have taken my training on as a personal task… Well, now, I knew that it was not entirely altruistic.
I had always known that she was much older than me, and I could definitely see how being promised to a small, delicate, Alfar child would be...humbling. But, I didn't know just how much older she was than me, "Leandra?"
"Yes, my Lord," She answered while still looking out the window.
I felt like she left herself open to being teased, but considering her sensitivity, I left it unsaid and instead continued, "I have known you were much older than me. Hell, you've been around the house since I was a baby, and in the last eight years you've been training me. I understand this must be...humiliating for you...and I am sorry for that. If this is too much, and you don't want to...be mine, then tell me. I will go to my father and yours, and I will tell them that I don't want you."
Leandra turned to look at me as I spoke, and Bastet looked like she was watching a tennis match the way her head kept swiveling back and forth between me and her. Leandra's eyes opened wider in surprise and then narrowed in thought before she turned back to the window and asked in a quiet almost shaken voice, "Do...you...not want me?"
I felt surprised, and ashamed. What she had taken from my statement was not what I meant, and so I tried to explain, "That's not what I said. I said, I would tell them I don't want you. I never said I didn't want you!"
I exhaled heavily, feeling exasperated already with this world. I didn't expect there to be so much political bias or racial prejudice. With a shake of my head I continued, "I...just want to know what you want. If you don't want me… Don't want to be my...Pet," I almost sneered at the word. I hated the idea of owning Bastet, or Leandra, "...then, I accept that and will do everything in my power to reverse this."
By the end of what I had to say; Leandra was staring at me. She remained silent for what felt like at least a minute before she answered, "You say the strangest things my Lord."
Bastet nodded vigorously in agreement, "Yes, all the time, but I love all the weird things he says."
"Yes, well, you've been with him since birth," Leandra retorted sarcastically, "What says is normal to you while it is shocking to me!"
Bastet's long curly hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail exposing her shoulders, and as she tensed up with indignation her fur stood on end from her neck all the way down to the small of her back and down to her tail as she snapped back sharply, "You think I am naïve? Because I am thirty-six, or because I grew up in my Lord's house? You think I am blind to how all other Alfar treat their Animals? Of how they treat us? I've seen our men, women, and children beaten, our sister's and mother's raped in broad daylight while no one did a thing to stop it, and our brother's and father's run through by a Master's sword on a whim or in a fit of rage; right in the middle of the road. So, don't ever think that I am that naïve. I know how the world is, and I am thankful everyday of my life that I am Viridian's...Pet! Not just because I love him and the strange things he says, but because he treats me like...a person, he protects me like I am...more than just a...Pet, and he has never raised a hand to me in violence! If being thankful for that makes me immature and naïve, then I guess I am…"
"No no, you're right," Leandra admitted with a shake of her head as she apologized, "I am sorry Bastet, and, I am sorry my Lord…"
"Stop calling me your Lord," I corrected, figuring I might as well set the ground rules now if we were going to become...Master...and Pet, "We may have to live in this world and play by its rules in public, but in private, I want you to call me Viridian, or Virdy, or something else that is just...ours. No more of this Master and Pet shit…"
"Shit?" Leandra mouthed silently to Bastet in a silent question of what the word meant.
Bastet just shrugged and mouthed, "I know."
"Oh for fucks sake," I exclaimed in exasperation, "Will you two be serious! Can't you see I'm trying to have a moment here with you two?!"
Bastet and Leandra both started laughing, and even I, after realizing what I said, couldn't help laughing myself. With a good laugh to lighten the mood, Leandra cleared her throat and confessed, "My Lord...Vir...Viridian, it was an honor… No, let me rephrase that. It is my great honor to be so trusted and loved by your father and mother, and my father and mother, so much that I was promised...no...I mean...I was given to you...as your...Pet the day your mother found out that she had conceived you. I was given to you even before Bastet was, and I am proud of that fact. I know that one day you will be a great man. It's just, I want that great man to take me. To challenge me, and subdue me. I don't know if this makes any sense whatsoever to you, but, I want a man that is powerful enough that he can see me...in all my fury...and not shrink away in fear. Do...you...think you are that man, my Lord Viridian?"
I sat there for a long time and thought about what she said. I didn't want to say "Yes I am that man" and seem overly confident and egotistical, and yet, if what Mother had told me about my abilities, and what Leandra and Bastet said about my father were not exaggerations, then I would indeed be powerful enough to subdue her physically. But, was her need for a dominant male simply physical, or was it emotional as well?
Looking across the shuttle, locking gazes with her, my unblinking emerald green eyes meeting golden, and I promised, "I will be the man you need me to be, Leandra."
She smiled at my answer and grinned with an almost predatorial purr, "I guess we shall see how far you've come along on that promise in a month...now won't we!"
"Yes we will," I returned with a determined glare.
We rode on in silence for several minutes, and then I remembered what I had wanted to ask before we went off on the tangent about my worthiness of Leandra, "Leandra?"
"Yes, my Lord," She answered in an overly patient sigh.
"How old are you," I asked.
Bastet slapped my arm, making me shrug away from her in defense while Leandra looked at me dangerously and answered, "I'm ninth-eight years old my Lord."
It was in awkward silence that the chauffeur drove the shuttle through the rest of Valeheim and I found myself watching the Alfar and Animal citizens walking through the streets, and my long kept observations came back to me, and so I asked, "Why do you and Andra obey my father so...willingly? It seems to me that either of you two could easily kill him. There are more than enough Animals that you could kill all of the rest of us Alfar if you wanted to, and then you would be free."
Leandra was looking out her window when I voiced my question but then snapped around to glare at me with her mouth agape from shock, "You really don't have a filter do you? To use unfamiliar words and to say shocking things is one thing, but this, this is scandalous...traitorous even! Never may such a fate come upon my Lord, your father! Why would you ask such a thing?"
Nervous now, thinking that I may be in trouble, it took me a few seconds to summon my courage before I answered her, "It was only an observation about you and your father's strength. Really, I guess my broader question is; Why haven't the Animals rebelled against their masters to gain their freedom?"
Leandra and Bastet both stared at me like I was stupid before Leandra looked away with a sniff of indignation as if she wasn't going to dignify me with an answer. I caught her cutting her eyes at me several times while supposedly looking out her window, and it was almost a block later before she finally answered, "If we were to fight, and even if we were to slaughter your father, your mother, your sisters and you, if we killed all the hired Alfar that live here, we still would not be free. We would be wild, but we would not be free."
"Really, why not?" I asked as I remembered my past life's world history. Of all the wars fought to enslave and exterminate, and for freedom and the right to live.
"Many rebellions have broken out world wide over the years," Leandra answered, "Usually against particularly despotic Lords, but once the Lord was killed, the Kingdom retaliates by eradicating every animal that was in the District, from the old to the babe no matter whether they were a warrior or a civilian..."
"Wow," I silently mouthed as I shook my head in regret for the innocents that were killed.
She shook her head and continued, "Animals quickly learned that war and killing was not the way we were going to win our freedom. We will never be free until the governments recognize us as an actual Race, and recognize our right to live a life free of their regulations."
The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights came to my mind, and I knew that steep and heavy wars had been fought for and to maintain those freedoms. The existing government of that time had to be forced to recognize those rights, and I felt a deep sadness for the Animals. Leandra was right, small rebellions would never win them their freedom, but neither would politics. A war would have to be fought...eventually.
"Also," She added with a sideways grin and a deeper purr, "Don't ever sell you father short. I may look strong, and my father even more so, but it's your father that is the true beast of these lands. None of us come close to how truly powerful he is, which is why it means so much to us how he has exercised his Lordship so graciously toward us Animals."
That made me very proud. To know that my father was not only powerful, but wise, benevolent, and loved.
The shuttle drove for about thirty minutes once we were outside the city walls, and stopped outside a high wooden wall that surrounded the Mwanje Kottrheim. Shuffling out, we disembarked, and Leandra smiled at me while I took Bastet's hand. I had to admit to myself, I was a little nervous, but I felt better knowing Bastet and Leandra were with me.
Cutting my eyes to observe Bastet, I was once again amazed by her. When we were young she had always lounged around the house almost lazily. She was my companion from birth and we were nearly inseparable, and yet, sometimes, like when I went to hunt Huxian, she was almost indifferent or annoyed. However, today, when mother told us to come out here, she had quickly pulled a wide belt with two curved long knives from under my bed and buckled it on, and now she walked beside me armed and armored and ready to protect me. What a change! She sometimes almost seemed like a different person from eight years ago.
Standing in front of the village gates, I looked all around at the scenery around me. The Alfar loved trees above all other plant life, and so, when the Dvergr had stated their intention to populate the mountain ranges, and the Svartalfar stated their intentions to find and move to the dark valleys and caves, then the Alfar laid claim to all of the forests of the world. And so, they traveled from continent to continent and planted trees from ocean to ocean. Looking back down the road from whence we came, the shuttle was pulled off the road, where it would wait until we were ready to return to Valehiem, and for as far as I could see were tall, dark, majestic fir trees, and oak trees, and ever sort of tree the Alfar could coax into growing. The grasslands were green, and out to my left were fields for gardening vegetables, and somehow the land looked familiar and yet I couldn't quite grasp why.
I saw a darting blur of white among the trees, and then Leandra pulled a horn off of her waist tie and blew a clear triple warbling note. A second later a horn answered on the other side of the wall with a different warble and the gates began to open. Within a few minutes, for the first time in my life, I saw a real Kottrheim!
Inside the gates I saw cats! Black and mottled cats of all sizes and ages walking around on two legs...openly! Children ran, and laughed, and played. Young girls and mature women wore interesting leather aprons that managed to cover their breasts and private parts while still allowing for their tails to swish freely. Their aprons were decorated with intricate beadwork, artistic threading, and lace, and they hung from their mid-thighs to some falling as low as their ankles, and then the aprons were tied or cinched around the waist with belts. Some of the girls' and young women's aprons were narrow loincloths, while the older women and mothers' aprons wrapped fully around their hips and legs like sarongs. Because the aprons were leather, it was liberally considered tack and harness equipment.
While the women wore aprons, the men of the city wore belts with leather loincloths except for the Pridelord who wore a beautiful breastplate of raw emeralds and bleached white bird bones, and a long cape sewn heavily with a mysterious brown fur that draped across his shoulders. Leandra brought me to see him first as was the custom, and my first impression of the Pridelord was that he was a grizzled old panther.
"Chief Laborc," Leandra greeted deferentially with a nod of her head in respect as soon as we reached the center of his receiving room, and then she began introductions, "This is Viridian Vale son of Summerset Vale. Heir apparent to the Valelands."
When she stopped for a breath, Bastet ran forward and threw her arms around Chief Laborc and chortled, "Hey daddy, I've missed you so much!"
"Oh my darling girl," Laborc purred as he hugged her close, "I have missed you so much too. I see you have grown up well and strong. You are a spitting image of your mother. I knew you would be in good hands with the son of Summerset Vale."
"Yes father," Bastet purred, "He treats me very well. I am very happy to be his..."
With a cough I decided I would interrupt, "Um, yes, Pridelord Laborc it is a great honor to finally meet you. I didn't know you were Bastet's father, but now that I do; I want to thank you so very much for your generosity! I love Bastet very much, she has been the very best friend and companion to me, and I will always cherish her."
Laborc, Bastet, and Leandra just looked at me for a very uncomfortable few seconds before he tenderly kissed Bastet's cheek, which for some reason immediately made me jealous, and then he whispered, "Go stand with your Lord, my girl."
Bastet nodded, gave her father a kiss on the cheek, and then returned to my side.
Laborc walked over to his throne and sat in it, then pointed to a chair for me to sit in. Once I was seated, with Leandra behind me to the left and Bastet behind me to the right, Laborc smiled and greeted me, "It is a great honor, my Lord, to have you visiting me today, and I can't thank you enough for bringing my Bastet with you so that I could see my daughter after so many years."
"Thank you Chief Laborc," I answered with a nod, "It is a great honor to meet you as well. I've always known that Bastet was a gift to me, but I was never told from where she came, or who was so generous as to give her to me. But now I know, and now I can thank you in person."
Laborc smiled and nodded, "This is why you have been brought here to me today. So that you could do as you have done, and now, I can tell you what Bastet is and why you have truly been sent to me."
"Sir," I asked in bewilderment.
Laborc cut his eyes to look from me, to Leandra, and then to Bastet before looking away and calling out loudly, "Bring them!"
There was a shuffling in an adjacent room, and then two women dressed in aprons appeared carrying a massive silver platter between them with two large gauntlets resting atop. The women set the tray down on the floor between Laborc and me and then quickly left the room. Laborc watched me as I carefully scrutinized the gauntlets. They looked old, and to be made of some sort of iron overlaid with silver bindings with black fur padding. The armor would cover the forearms and hands, and the fingers and thumbs were clawed. Looking up I asked simply, "What is this?"
"Cautious, good," Laborc answered, then pointed to the gauntlets, "These are an ancient artifact. They're called the Claws of the King, and your father gave them to me as payment for my daughter Bastet."
I could nearly hear Bastet's jaw drop, and feel her tension...or was the tension mine?
"I have decided to give my daughter to another man," Laborc stated firmly, "My apologies to the young Lord. I know the two of you have become...quite attached...to each other. However, she has no future with you. She will never bear children by you, and I can no longer standby and allow her line to end by my hand. So, here are your gauntlets. Bastet, come away from him, your place is with me and the one I will give you too."
"Do not move Bastet," I growled through gritted teeth. I was so furious I was shaking, and I was squeezing the arms of my chair so hard my knuckles were white, "Chief Laborc, your Honor, surely there is an amicable arrangement that we can come to. Bastet...is mine, and I will not give her back. She means everything to me. I beg you to reconsider your actions today!"
The old panther looked at me for a few minutes and then looked at Bastet, who had started crying, and he answered, "It is done. The one I will give her to is here to claim his mate, and I will not tell him he can not have her."
"Then bring him in..," I growled, my fury growing by the second, "...and I will tell him myself! You struck a bargain with my father many years ago! I will not give Bastet back to you, or to any man or Animal!"
"Very well," Laborc growled, "Nahuel, come here!"
Nahuel was a large Jaguar that stood at least a foot taller than me. He was broad across his shoulders and thickly muscled, and he looked fierce and intimidating. However, as angry as I was, I saw none of it. In my belly, my magic roared to life and my senses began to sharpen. Strength and power filled my limbs and I felt strong. Standing up out of my chair I squared off against Laborc and Nahuel.
"Nahuel," I growled while clenching my fists in anger, "I am telling you like I just told Chief Laborc. You can not have Bastet. Go find your mate somewhere else. There is nothing for you here. I will never give Bastet to you, or anyone."
"My apologies," Nahuel answered with a nod, "I did not know you have already laid claim to her as a mate. I thought she was only a...Pet...an Animal...to an Alfar such as yourself. However, I do not accept this. I was promised a mate, and I will not leave without her."
"I suggest you find another to be your mate then," I growled vehemently, "Because I will die before I let you take her from me!"
"The challenge is made," Laborc yelled out for everyone to hear, "Do you accept the challenge Nahuel? Will you fight for my daughter, Bastet, Daughter of Anmar, Queen of Mwanje Kottrheim?"
"Yes, I do, Chieftain," Nahuel growled as he swayed back and forth and flexed his muscles, "I have no problem sending the little Alfar back home to mama and papa humbled and...Petless…"
"Then let us move to the arena!" Laborc announced and hopped to his feet.
"That is fine with me," I growled.
"Viridian," Bastet whispered in fear while Leandra put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head.
——(!)——
The arena was a large dug out whole in the far northwest corner of the village. It was roughly ten feet deep with stakes all the way around the parameter with a ramp leading down into it. The entire surround was packed with black furred cats while Leandra stood in front of me tightening my gauntlets.
"Don't be scared, my Lord," Leandra purred in a low voice for only me to hear, "Remember your training, and remember, you are your fathers son. When you feel your magic roar to life, embrace it, and you will defeat your opponent."
"Yes," I answered distractedly, but then something about the way Leandra was taking a little too long to tighten my gauntlets caught my attention and I looked up into her eyes, and I saw...worry...concern...and...affection?
"I will win," I promised, and she answered with a nod and a smile.
Turning away, she trotted out of the arena and joined Bastet who was standing with a beautiful black Panthress with similar curly hair and dressed in an elegant apron sewn with white bird bones and rubies and cetrines. To add to her attire she also wore a headdress of red, green, and pink Harpy feathers, though where she had acquired them I haven't a clue.
Looking across the arena I glared at Nahuel as he paced back and forth. He had no weapons. We were not allowed to have weapons. This was not a duel to the death. As an Alfar, if I were killed the whole village would be...exterminated. However, this is a battle until one of us abdicates our right to Bastet.
Weapons or not, Nahuel still had his claws, and those were dangerous enough!
"I'm going to rip you to shreds," Nahuel taunted as he stalked towards me.
As he lunged at me I felt the magic in my belly roar to life, and everything seemed to slow down. I stepped in and slapped Nahuel's leading forearm deflecting his first punch and followed up with two punches to his ribs as I sidestepped around him.
Time seemed to speed up again and Nahuel stumbled past me and grabbed his ribs as he visibly wondered what had just happened. When he turned and looked at me in my stance he grinned.
"So you know the Tiger's Claw," He rumbled menacingly, "Good! Then I don't need to go easy on you…"
Assuming a half crouch, he launched into a volley of kicks and jabs that had me in the defence and backing up, jumping back, and dodging to the sides. I deflected his clawed attacks with my gauntlets and parried his kicks with my feet. In martial skill we were equals. There was no combo of moves that he threw that I didn't know and counter, but he was bigger, and stronger, and he used that to keep pushing me back. A punch to my gut caught me off guard and I realized I was thinking too much as I flew across the arena to land in the dirt, coughing and drooling, and feeling like I was going to puke.
Seeing his prey on the ground struggling, Nahuel roared and pounced. In quick succession I felt bone cracking as fists collided with my ribs and shoulders, my nose was shattered, and my jaw popped ominously. It was just as I was about to pass out, that my magic, that until now seemed like a small coiled up ball of energy in my belly, blazed like a bonfire! Strength and power surged inside me, and I could feel all the damage from the pummeling I had received healed and minimized by the surge of magic. With a mighty roar I punched up with both hands sending Nahuel flying across the arena. As I stood up waves of green magic surrounded me and radiated off my back and shoulders like flames. I crouched almost like a lion would when leaping and when I threw back my shoulders I roared thunderously across the arena causing everyone to jump in fright.
"Is that what happened to you this morning," Leandra asked in a whisper to Bastet.
She answered with a simple nod, "I nearly urinated myself. He scared me so badly."
Nahuel had time to stand up and shake off the dirt and roar in challenge before I was on top of him. I was a lion. I was Leandra. Tall and strong, and super fast. There wasn't a combo of jabs or kicks that Nahuel threw that I couldn't deflect. I didn't bother to dodge. He couldn't hurt me...anymore. He lunged at me, this time his claws bared to swipe across my throat or chest, and I deftly stepped in, grabbed his arm, and used his own momentum to throw him over me. As soon as he landed I wrenched his arm and stood on his back and pulled until I heard his shoulder pop, then I launched assault after assault into his ribs beating him and beating him until he was no longer moving.
My prey was down, it was time for the kill.
In my head I opened my mouth to clamp my jaws around Nahuels neck, but in reality it was my hands that had his head, and as every muscle in my body tightened for the final twist that would end this fight for supremacy, three male cats tackled me. One had me around the chest while the other two each had an arm as they slammed me to the ground. I kicked and I roared, and I summoned more magic that had all three full grown men struggling to keep me down.
"Go to him," Laborc yelled to Bastet from across the arena, "Go to him quickly, before there is an accident that can not be mended!"
Bastet looked up and leapt in a single bound into the arena, and she ran, she ran like she had never run before, and when she arrived she pushed the man on top of me aside and hugged me tight all the while shouting, "Virdy! Virdy! Virdy! It's me! I'm here Virdy! I love you Virdy! I'm here! I will never leave you!"
I don't know how long she yelled and cried. I don't know how long those men struggled to keep me under control, but I do know that as my rage subsided, I did hear her calling to me, and I was so...so...happy.
Healers came in before I was released, and they carried Nahuel away to be healed. When I was finally myself again, I was allowed to stand up, though Bastet clung to me like a barnacle. I brushed the dirt off and Leandra walked up smiling and shaking her head, "My Lord, that was...the most amazing...and fear inspiring thing I have ever witnessed. If I had not already made a bargain to fight you for my own...virtue...I would bed you tonight. I truly do not want to fight that monster you became just now. However, what is done is done, and now I will have to hope that I survive it!"
I wasn't sure whether I was happy or not about what happened. I was in control, but, I was also not in control at all.
Chief Laborc and his mate Queen Anmar walked down into the arena as all the Animals of the village watched. They stood together, and looked regal as they passed judgment on me and Bastet, "My Lord Viridian Vale, you are every bit your father's son. You, like your father, have a heart that is more Animal than Alfar. However, no one could know this, not your father, and certainly not us. So, the day you were born, your father and I struck an accord. I would give him my daughter to be your companion as you grew up, and we would hope that you would see through her...that we...are people...not livestock. We hoped that you would grow to love Bastet...not as a pet...and we knew that society would never let her be your wife, but maybe...just maybe...you would see her as a...mate. There are no legal documents among our people that establish marriages. We are either mates or we are not, but I digress. Your father and I knew on the day of your awakening that we must find out whether your heart is Animal or of the Alfar, and so we devised a test, to see if you were willing to discard Bastet, or not."
"A test," I growled angrily, "I almost killed a man! And, this was all a test!"
"Yes, we had to know," Laborc answered with a nod, "With your power, and with the power you will accumulate, we had to know now what kind of a man you were going to be."
Part of me understood, but I was still furious, "Did Bastet know of this?"
"No," The Chieftain answered firmly, "She never knew. We knew if she did, the test would either be corrupted, or you may never be able to forgive her, so me and your father were the only ones that ever knew the details of our plan."
"So what does this mean," I asked sarcastically, "Did I pass?"
Laborc patiently smiled at me and nodded, "Yes you passed the test, and as your reward the gauntlets I previously said your father bought my daughter with. Those are yours as a wedding present from me and your father."
"A wedding present," I croaked.
"Yes, I hereby give you my daughter Princess Bastet, daughter of Queen Anmar, as a mate," Laborc yelled so that all who witnessed the fight could hear, "May your years together be long and fruitful!"
Cheers and woots and whistling broke out around the arena and throughout the village. Queen Anmar came forward and set a small tiara on Bastet's forehead and pierced her ear with a citrine earring, she clipped a citrine necklace around her neck, and slid a silver and citrine bracelet on her left wrist.
Chief Laborc came forward and pierced the same ear that I already had Silvain's earring in, and pierced it again with a matching silver and citrine earring. He looked at the silver and sapphire medallion Silvain had given me, and then snatched it from around my neck. I was about to protest when he motioned for me to hold out my left arm. When I did, a serving girl brought up a tray with a bracer on it. He took my arm and buckled the fleece-lined bracer to my arm, and then took Silvain's medallion off its chain and stuck it to the bracer. Blue magic flared to life and absorbed the sapphire stone until it was locked into place just above my wrist, then Laborc took a smaller citrine stone cut into the shape of a claw and placed it on the bracer to be absorbed and locked into place.
"This stone," Laborc intoned quietly for just us to hear, "...is attuned to Bastet's life-essence just like the other is attuned to Silvain's. This bracer will always let you know that the one you love is alive, and your attachment is still in place. Should your mate die, or she grows to hate you, then the stone will fall away. Understand?"
"Yes sir, I do," I answered somberly.
"Good," Laborc purred with a smile then stepped back and yelled, "The ceremony is complete! Let the feast begin!"
Cheers rang out once again and it was through the noise that Laborc yelled, "You will stay with us tonight and for the next six days!"
"Seven days," I yelled, "We don't want to be an imposition!"
"Ridiculous," Laborc chortled as he held his hands out gesturing to the festivities all around as he continued, "This is your wedding celebration! Enjoy it! Real life comes too quickly afterwards…"
He walked off then, and I took Bastet's hand and we walked with Leandra trailing behind us for the rest of the day. There was so much food to eat, and we enjoyed ourselves so much. When the night came lanterns were lit, and the minstrels came out to play music and everyone danced well into the evening. Everyone cheered as Bastet led me into our apartment, and the noise died away as she took her time taking my clothes, and hers, off. When we made love it was like it was before, my magic was asleep, and we could fully enjoy each other without fear of a loss of control.
"I never thought this was possible," She whispered into my chest later on in the evening.
"Neither did I," I answered as I synchronized my answer with a hug that pressed her breasts against my chest enjoyably, "Is it true though, that we can never have children? That you will never have children by me?"
"It is," She whispered softly against my chest, "We may be part Alfar, and we were made to be able to procreate with other animals, but they didn't want crossbreeding between the Animals and the Primes."
"I'm sorry," I apologized fiercely and hugged her again as my little dream of having a litter of little neko-children running around and playing went up in flames, "I'm sorry that we can't have children together."
Bastet shook her head against my chest though and mumbled, "I will gladly forsake having children to be with you…"
——(!)——
Later that night movement in the room roused me from sleep and I saw a flash of white and jumped out of bed only to be tackled by a big breasted Huxian who pressed herself into me until they were squeezing out the sides between us. She thrust her pelvis into my crotch and I could feel that her sex was rubbing against mine as she whispered, "I have a message for your mother."
She looked over at a note on a table in the room and I followed her gaze. When she looked back she licked my cheek and then continued, "I have missed your peeping on my bathing, young Virdy. I thought you were going to come back the next day, but you never did."
"I have been busy," I whispered in answer, "I've meant to come out and visit you many times."
"Hmm," She hummed in disappointment, "I can see that. Well, it looks like you finally bedded your little cat."
"I guess I did," I retorted as she shifted her thick curvy thighs and I felt her sex press against me more aggressively and I felt my dick grow and start thumping against her pussy.
She smiled at me, her eyes glancing down, and I knew what she was looking at, as she purred, "Well, it seems you have grown up...and...you have grown up…"
She pushed herself off and stood up then stepped back and ogled me as I stood in front of her before she continued, "As much as I would like to stay and...play," She purred as she looked pointedly to my swollen organ, "I was sent here on a mission. The letter is for you and your mother. Make sure she reads it as soon as you get back home."
When she finished she turned and walked so seductively that even I knew what she was doing as I watched her hips and her big fluffy tail sway back and forth. She stepped through the door, and in a leap she landed on all fours, in her fox form, and disappeared into the night…