“I’m sorry, but...the airship Rapture of Dedication has crashed. There weren’t any survivors.” The words swirled around in my head, still groggy this early in the morning. The morning’s light hadn’t even started to filter through the floor-to-ceiling stained glass windows. 

	“What do you mean?” I said, struggling through a yawn. And then it hit me. 

	My father. The King. Oh. OH. 

	“When...how?” The words struggled out of my mouth, my large, furred brown ears pinned against my hair. 

	“Just a little over a half an hour ago. We aren’t sure why, but we can confirm that he has passed. I’m sorry.” The words didn’t mean much. I wasn’t sorry at all. My father was the biggest bastard in the world. I was his eldest, at 19 years old, but he always seemed to prefer my younger half-brother, Maila. He had been groomed for the throne since the day he was born. Probably because he didn’t kill his mother in the process. 

	“The first thing you did when you were born was murder a beautiful woman.” He’d say to me, whenever we were alone and he’d had too much wine.

	“You’re the first born. Your father had not yet named another heir...Maila is still too young...which means…” The Priest of the Imperial Court, Womak, said. He shared the same view as my father -- probably because he was the one member of the Court he trusted. They thought that I would never make a good King. They thought I was too naive in these things, that I wouldn’t be able to learn. “You’re the new King-apparent. There are matters that need attended to.” He tossed me a dirty look, and a ruby colored dressing-robe. 

	I slipped out from beneath my blankets, my naked body cold from the touch of the frosty air. It was cold unnaturally early this year, we had already seen snow twice, which in an average year would be almost unthinkable. I slipped it on, ignoring his looks of disapproval of my nudity. 

	“Have you told Maila?” I asked, following him out of the room and down a flight of tightly spiraled stairs. One of the perks, if you could call it that, of living in one of the high-towers. My father might’ve loved Maila worlds more than me, but it was no reason to hate him. In fact, he was my world. Any time he wasn’t being taught some scholarly thing by scholarly men, we would be together. 

	“Not as of yet, Your Grace. My responsibility was to tell you first.” 

	“Good. Let him sleep...I’ll tell him after we go through everything…” I didn’t speak strongly. My voice shook and cracked. He didn’t say anything in response -- I’m sure he never thought he’d be taking orders from me -- but he wouldn’t dare refuse a direct order. 

	I followed him closely into the Court Proper. It had been years since I had been allowed in here, but in that time it hadn’t changed much. The room was semi-circular, with a podium along the flat wall. Rows of pews curved around it, with balconies supported by massive, marble columns supporting them. The massive golden dome sat high above us, a small amount of light seeping in through the glass ring around the bottom of the dome. The normally gaping windows that stood along the edges of the curved pews were draped in an emerald colored cloth, blotting out any kind of light. It was hot, and smelt musty (Looking back now, I’m not sure if I what I smelt was musty, or the smell of pompous assholes.)

	“I would like to thank everyone for your attendance on such short notice,” Womak began, “As of now, I’m sure all of you have heard rumors of why we have gathered so early today. It is with a heavy heart that I announce King Rasmus, the Twelfth of his Name, is dead.” Womak paused, and a heavy murmur settled among the Court. He was good at this, knowing when to pause and when to speak. “King Rasmus has left behind a beautiful Queen-Regnant, and two sons. Prince Maila, who is currently but 17 years old, and too young to inherit the throne, and now King-apparent, King Kai, The Third of His Name.” He paused again. This time the murmur was louder, it wasn’t hard to tell that not everyone was happy. Womak coughed. “The King-apparent is the true heir to the throne, and will be anointed on the first new moon of the cycle.” He finished.

	I was immediately rushed out, and too my chambers where I found that Maila was sitting on my bed, sound asleep. He must’ve been brought right after they left, of course they hadn’t told him. I’d’ve literally had them killed if they had -- that was within my power now. 

	I sat beside him, and stroked his hair. His eyes fluttered open and he yawned, annoyedly at me. 

	“They made me come here. Why’d they do that? I was having a good dream.” He said cornily. At his age, I could only imagine what a “good dream,” was. 

	“Dad’s dead.” I said softly, pulling him into a hug.

	“Wh...what? That’s a pretty sick joke, Kai.” He whimpered, in subtle disbelief. I continued to hug him, holding him as the grief washed over him. He loved, adored our father. He sobbed into my chest. I watched him closely, most of our kind -- Deki -- looked pretty similar. Brown fur, big ears, like a cross between a wolf and a human. He cried for a long time, until we were eventually split apart by a knock on the door. The Priest came back in, and took him away, muttering about the work that I had to do. 

	A secretary, Nuvaz, came soon after and got me, and took me to a decent sized office. “The human ambassador is on his way, and would be here within the hour. He had business for my father, although by now even he’d have heard. “Official business, of course, will not happen today. He probably wants to express his sorrow for your father.” He said at my skeptical look. 

	Nuvaz went over some base rules for meeting an ambassador. Don’t show weakness of any kind, do not let your hospitality be mistaken for weakness, and a million other things I do not care to remember. Soon enough, a young man was being lead before me by the Imperial Guards.

	He was about my height, 5’8” or so, and thin, but not scrawny looking. He had muscles -- humans, always displaying them -- he wore a leather jacket, underneath which was a sleeveless tee shirt. He couldn’t be older than twenty two.

	“Your Grace...I was terribly sorry to hear of your father's passing. The Human Kingdom sends its regards and offers prayers of peace for the dead, and prayers of hope for the living.” He prostrated himself upon the floor, and looked up at me. Red, curly locks fell across his face, and deep green eyes looked me squarely onward. 

	“You may rise...I thank you for your kind words.” I flashed a smile, my fangs glinting as I did. “How long have you been traveling?” 

	“About six months.” He said. I noticed the dirt smudged on his cheek, dried blood under his nose. 

	“You must be tired then.” I spoke softly, “Unfortunately you will have to wait at least another week before we can get to business. It is not within my powers yet to delegate with you...however, seeing that you have come such a far way, I can only offer you our most sincere hospitality. Shall I show you to the Royal Baths?” 

	“Your Grace!” Nuvaz spoke, astonished. “The Royal baths are not meant for the common, let alone a...a dirty human!” His words were spewed like poison. 

	“Perhaps my bath chambers would be more appropriate?” I snapped back. I didn’t mean it, of course, but the anger in my voice put him off of it. 

	“If it is your wish, My Grace, than I cannot stop you.” Nuvaz said, defeated.

	I smiled at the man.

	“You’re most generous. I would welcome that.” He said, a grin on his face. It must’ve been months since he last bathed...probably not at all since he left. 

	“Let me lead you there,” I said. The palace was sprawling, and without a guide, anyone could get lost. I lead him through several hallways, and a few secret spaces (most of the rooms were kept rounded, leaving a huge amount of disused space in their wake,) until we reached the bath chambers. Three pools fed into one another, two smaller pools to the left and right, and one much larger in the center.

	“I can’t leave you alone, of course. If the guards found a human, ALONE in the royal chambers they’d have your head!” I said. He disrobed quickly, and I looked him over quickly, my cheeks blushing a deep red. His stomach and chest was smooth, and around his groin was a small fiery red forest. He had abs, but when I looked down all I could see was his cock. It looked a good 7", despite being soft, swaying back and forth as he got into the water. 

	I blushed and looked away, my eyes meeting his. "So," I started talking, trying to ignore the beautiful cock that was clear through the clean water. "Why did you come here? I can't say I know much about the Human and Deki relationship as of late, but I know that our people don't exactly get along." 

	He looked at me skeptically. I had no idea what my father had been working on recently -- Maila would have, but me? 

	"Emperor Gregory Clane sent me to discuss the building of a trade route between the outermost villages of our kingdoms." The name Gregory sounded so foreign -- of course, Humans were foreign. Their bodies, the smoothness of their skin, the way that their cocks hung out with no sheathing -- of course I was looking again. 

	"Ah...we should discuss this at length tomorrow." I stammered, my own dick slipping from its sheath under my robes. "What is your name, I never got it." I asked, trying to pull my eyes away from him. 

	"Michael." I looked at him cockeyed. Something about the name rang a bell, but I couldn't remember if I tried. At this point I was preoccupied with trying to hide the tent in my robes -- thank the gods they were loose. 

	"Why did the Emperor choose you to come?" I asked, trying to distract myself from his beautiful body. 

	"Punishment. It's a long story, and I don't think it appropriate for a young King's ears." Michael said, blushing lightly. 

"I don't mind...I want to know why my guest is here." It sounded more like an order than I would've meant it too. Again, I glanced down at his dick. I noticed it seemed to be harder than it was before, though it might've been the light. 

"Well. If you must know...my father, Emperor Gregory himself, caught me in a compromising position with a servant. A male servant." He blushed a deep red, and continued, "My mouth was somewhere it probably shouldn't have been. It can be punished by death in the human kingdoms...but he gave me less of one by sending me on deliveries, basically." My heart lept. He had been with men before, and even though he was blushing all sorts of red, he didn't seemed ashamed of it.

"Not many people are like me, though. Men who like men are outcasts, if they get that lucky...but I’ve noticed that your eye has been wondering. Are you?" He asked. I nodded in response. “Why don’t you join me, then?” I took off my robes, my cock poking out a good two inches from its sheath. He grinned, "Shame that you Deki's hide your bodies...they're cute." 

	“I’ve never done anything with a man before...or a woman. I’ve just looked at men...I’ve always dreamed about them…” I was still stammering as my butt hit the bench. He didn’t wait for me to say anything else -- his hand went straight to my sheath.

	A lot happened at once. My paw went to his dick, I felt all 7”, now hard, throb as I tugged on it. My own cock slipped entirely out of its sheath in record time, and our mouths intermingled. My tongue forced its way into his mouth -- not that there was any resistance -- and danced across his smooth teeth. His tongue met mine, and danced up and down his. Siliva pushed from my mouth to his, and from his to mine, as he started to tug faster, more vigorously on my cock, my knot slowly starting to form behind his hand. 

	I shivered and blushed, squeezing his cock harder as he started to feel up my knot. His fingers toyed with the delicate flesh, sending shivers up and down my spine. He broke the kiss and stared me in the eyes. He slid a hand under my nuts, and towards my bum. 

	“I’ve never done anything like that…” I forced out of my mouth, trying my best not to moan. It was a losing battle, though. Michel was doing magical things with his fingers on my knot. 

	He grinned at me. “Well, let me show you how it’s done.” Michael slowly slid a finger into my tight, tight tailhole. I let out a whimper, I never had felt this good before. 

	“Michael…” I moaned, as his hand tightened on my knot, as he added another finger, both working slowly deeper into me. I whined as he tugged softly on my knot. I felt my body spasm, he must’ve felt my tailhole clench, or maybe it was the moan I let off when I came throughout the water, but he grinned as soon as I did. 

	“Good thing you won’t need to clean up.” He said, still working his fingers into me slowly. 

	“Are you gonna...well...you know?” I asked, sounding stupider than I meant.

	“Fuck you?” He said, his voice cracking with anticipation. “Not now. You’re way to tight for my dick. It’d probably hurt me, and definitely hurt you...never had a King ask me to fuck him before...maybe we can head back to your bedchambers? See what we could do to loosen you up.” His voice sent shivers down my spine. He continued to play with my tailhole, making me squirm and moan, two of his fingers lodged deep within me. Eventually he pulled them out, his cock still throbbing below the water. I rubbed it slowly while he soaked, my head strewn on his chest, listening to the throbbing of his heart. 

"Faster...please..." I heard him whimper out. His heart was pounding, his cock aching for relief. I obliged, picking up speed. He moaned quietly, his heart beating faster and faster. 

Then, without warning, he stood up and took his cock from my hands. He started to stroke it, about as fast as I did, but it loomed over me. He let out a gasp-moan, whimpering "Oh god, Your Grace..." And then his cum shot out of his cock in four or five separate spirts. It covered my face, one shot made me shut my eye and the others landed near my mouth and across my face. 

"Sorry...oh gods that felt good..." He said, grinning. He wasn't sorry (though, neither was I), I knew because he kept rubbing his dick, eager to get every last drop out. 

I opened my mouth to say something, but his cum fell into it. I savored the taste, toying with it in my mouth before swallowing. It tasted slightly sweet, not salty like mine. I dunked under the water to rinse off, as he climbed out of the pool. 

For the first time I got a good look at his butt and back. His ass was as beautiful as the rest of him, but his back had been badly scarred as if by whips.

	“What...what happened to your back?” I asked, eyeing them. 

	He turned and sighed. “I don’t let most people see that. It’s from my childhood…” 

	“If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have too.” I said, noticing his face tightening. 

	“Maybe another time, Your Grace.” 

	“Please, you can call me Kai.” I smiled, both of us finally dressed. Of course he left his underwear behind -- I was tempted to grab them for later, but I left them. We walked through the maze of corridors, and I pointed towards my room. “You head on down there...I need to check on my brother.” And with that, we split. I shouldn’t trust a stranger in my room. It was unbecoming of a King -- then again, having fingers wriggling about inside of me, having another man’s cum running down my face, was probably unbecoming, too. 

	I opened my brothers room, the sun filtering into his room, the scent of incense hung softly in the air, a clear homage to our father. 

	“Maila?” I said softly. I perked my ears, and heard a muffled crying. I noticed a sobbing ball in the middle of his large bed. I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around him. 

	“I don’t get it. Airships don’t crash…” He said between his sobs. 

	“It’s okay...has the Queen-Regent been in to see you?” I asked. He nodded, tears streaming down his face. “I need your help, Maila.” I said strongly. It wasn’t me asking. “I need you. The Court will want me to pick an advisor, guards. I’d like you to be my advisor. Dad taught you everything he knew. He didn’t teach me anything.” 

	“I...Kai, of course.” He said, sniffling. “They won’t ask you until the mourning period is over -- which will be your coronation. You need your rest, too, though…” He said, finally composing himself. 

	“I love you.” I said, pulling him into a massive hug, squeezing him for a few moments before we released each other. I pulled myself upward, giving him a small kiss on the forehead and walked out of his door. I did love him, truly. He was the only bit of living flesh I had left. My mother and father both dead...well. 

	I walked back to my chambers solemnly. I wasn’t sure what I’d find awaiting me. Micheal might be butt naked under my sheets, waiting for me. Or…

	I opened my door to the sounds of snoring. I smiled when I noticed Michael, snuggled on my bed, completely naked, but sound asleep. I crawled in next to him, and he didn’t budge. Soon enough my back was pressed to his stomach, his arms wrapped around me warmly, as I drifted off into sleep.