King Askia thought that he could not possibly become any busier, and yet as each day passed he learned that he had yet again been wrong. Shuffling out of bed before dawn’s first light, Barchan always on one side of him and Zuli sometimes on the other, then going through the morning exercises, the bath, the new regalia designed and woven over the past two months since the marriage to better unify the styles of both cultures… then the meetings, the consultations, the discussions. Agreements and contracts, decrees, papers, bonds; the struggles of beginning to learn a new language, the difficulties of trying to understand a culture similar to his own yet vitally different, the pitfalls of navigating a people who expected him to earn their trust rather than find it freely given.

Bent over his desk – he had a desk, now! – with his muzzle in one paw, the wild dog took a deep breath, held it, let his eyes shut, then sighed back out. The halls of the palace swam with the scent of gently burning incense, wafting in and out of windows kept open to the pleasant heat of the early afternoon and mixing well with the natural perfume of the savanna. He tapped his claws along the sleek wood, specially lacquered to prevent it drying out in this climate, then shuffled the papers to the side to look over the next contract underneath. Askia read over the first few sentences.

Then he went back and read them again. And again, and another time, and then yet another…

“Zuli. Beloved?”

More shuffling, the soft thump of heavy footfalls from across the room, and then the wild dog king lifted his head to look across the finely chiseled form of his other partner. The zebra stood at attention in the usual guard’s posture, head up and shoulders back, long spear clutched in one hand, broad sash hanging down across his bare chest to show off each and every one of the stripes decorating his body. The equine held his jaw, blinked, glanced down to his king and lover, then looked forward again.

“Yes, my lord?”

“Fetch Luka, please. Have him bring Barchan’s secretary. There’s terminology here with which I am unfamiliar.”

The zebra thumped his spear against the floor. “Yes, my lord.” Then he turned and started towards the door, and Askia watched him.

And he dropped his muzzle into his paw again when the zebra turned the corner to disappear down the hall. An odd nervousness thrummed within his chest, a faint, distant sense of wrongness; it was hard to place, precisely, but he had gotten the sense that Zuli had begun acting differently ever since the entourage returned from the neighboring hyena tribelands. It was there where Askia’s advisor Luka had skillfully arranged a marriage between the wild dog king and the young prince of the hyenas, established and executed in all of a day, against Askia’s desire yet with Zuli’s insistence.

Askia squirmed a bit as he recalled that day. He had felt no different before, during, or after the ceremony itself, seeing Prince Barchan for the first time there… but then when he had returned to his zebra afterward, oh, then something had changed. Perhaps that had something to do with riding his rump down into the equine’s lap so that he could have sworn that he felt Zuli’s impressive length pushing his lungs farther apart from one another deep inside his body, or the sensation of his balls big enough to each fill one of his cupped palms pumping deep and filling his belly from the other side, but – to be fair, this was not that unusual of an undertaking.

But then…

His dinner-plate ears perked and swiveled towards the various sounds of the palace workday around him. Askia steepled his fingers, rested his chin on top, dug around further in his thoughts. Zuli had never been particularly verbose, but ever since the group had returned from the journey, plus one with the King’s new husband, he had been… even less so. My lord this and my lord that, when even out in the tribelands it had been beloved and beautiful, always said with a smirk or a smile.

Perhaps the stress is just getting to him, too, the wild dog thought, and heaved another sigh. Gods know that’s the case for me. While Luka is here I shall speak with him about arranging a council…

~ ~ ~

Soft, warm paws brushed across the bare fur of his chest, sending sweet shivers vibrating through his body. Askia murmured with pleasure, turned to the side, and ran his nose through the thick fur pouring down around Barchan’s shoulders, the brown hyena’s mane glossy with the care the palace body servants granted him. He smelled of patchouli and eucalyptus, with that distinct, sharp spice layered underneath, with which Askia had become steadily more familiar as the weeks passed, and-

-his ears flicked again towards the opposite side of the royal chambers, with his eyes soon to follow. One arm draped around his husband, he still found himself lost in the swaying dance of stripes that crossed the room, jagged lightning bolts clearly highlighting the lines of thick muscle threading along the zebra’s bare shoulders, sides, and thighs, each one seeming to angle inwards towards the plump heft swinging, sagging, bouncing with each step he took. Askia swallowed, eyeing the thick, glistening folds of leathery skin that formed Zuli’s sheath, then the lines that dragged down to encompass his hefty balls as well – then blinked as the zebra began wrapping a new loincloth to obscure his treasures, followed by another sash of a darker color.

The king tilted his head. “You are not coming to bed, dearest?”

One of Zuli’s ears flicked his way, but the zebra did not turn. He remained silent a moment, then answered:

“No.”

Askia glanced to Barchan. The brown hyena frowned slightly.

“Is something wrong?”

“Night shift.” Zuli finally looked over at the royal couple, now binding a wrapping of cloth about each palm. “Captain of the guard. Remember? Double security, with everything going on.”

That was true. As much as Askia had grown accustomed to the zebra’s constant presence beside him, around him, inside of him, he could forget that Zuli still had responsibilities about the palace of his own. The wild dog worked to keep his ears upright.

“Of course,” he rumbled in response. “The bed will be warm for your return. I love you.”

Then Barchan beside him, the hyena’s paw drifting down Askia’s chest: “Worry not, Zuli,” he purred, in his lightly accented lilt, “I shall keep him safe.”

The zebra glanced towards him, looked to Askia again, then scoffed softly and left the room. Askia reached up to drape his paw over his husband’s; Barchan nuzzled into his neck.

Zuli would return that night, but only after the two kings had long since drifted off to sleep; Askia rose yet again before dawn’s first light to find the mattress weighed down on either side of him, and in that moment he wished nothing more than to be able to turn the sky just slightly back so that he could properly enjoy the comfortable warmth. Zuli shifted a little bit and nudged back against him in his sleep when the wild dog reached forward around him; he smelled of sweat and iron, and of course that distinct, earthy warmth that was just so inimitably him. But, still, Askia was king of this land, and as such he could not spend each day lazing around… as much as his predecessors seemed to think they could.

As usual, body servants came by to wash and dress him, and he couldn’t help but shiver sweetly with the sensation of thin, gossamer veils draped over his muzzle and bare shoulder, and with the glimmering tickle of finely woven metallic threads hanging along the curves of his body. Out in Barchan’s homeland, it was the males who stood around to serve their superiors, the males who stayed at home cooking and cleaning, the males who wore thin, airy, revealing clothing showing off nearly every inch of their sleek, supple bodies.

Remembering his time spent there, and the way that the others within Barchan’s society had seemed to feel entitled to brush Askia’s diaphanous loincloth aside and run their fingers along the edge of his sheath… he found himself relieved now that that element of their clothing had not been adapted into his own regalia, for the frequent complications it seemed to pose.

For now, though, he returned to his regular duties, first visiting his office to go over the incoming notices from around the kingdom, then out to the grand hall for another meeting with the ambassador from the Queen, Barchan’s mother, then this, and that, and the other…

So when he found himself trudging along the gardens within the inner courtyard of the palace, the savanna’s warm, dry breeze threading through his fur and clothing like so many fingers, the wild dog had to blink, shake his head, and look around himself, as though he had awoken from a dream. The hyena himself of course still donned the full traditional garb for his people, often eliciting stares, blushes, and otherwise from visitors to the palace who had not seen such a thing before.

But Askia didn’t mind. From this angle the sunlight split across the silken surface of the material, caressing the curves of the other male’s sheath and sack to partially obscure them as he walked; his stripes and spots, meanwhile, shifted like splotches of shadow cast down through a tree’s thin canopy. He hummed softly as he walked.

“Barchan.”

“Husband.”

And yet again Askia wondered at how well this marriage had progressed. He truly had been opposed to it at first, not wanting to marry someone he neither knew nor even liked all that well, but the weeks spent out there and then the months afterwards, here, with the hyena almost always by his side, joining his spaces, beginning to pick up the threads to run the kingdom alongside him – simply put, Askia was now shocked that he had been unable to see it from the start.

“I am… worried about Zuli.”

“Hmm?” Tall, triangular ears shifted in the breeze. Barchan moved to slip his arm through his husband’s. “Why is that?”

“He’s seemed…” Askia looked up to the sky, where thin wisps of clouds danced and swirled among smooth soft blue. “Distant, since we returned. He seems to avoid looking at me, we have barely held a conversation that wasn’t about official matters… he sleeps with me – with us – less and less…”

“The bed was a bit tight until we had the new size brought in. Still strange to me that it is tradition here to limit yourselves to only one partner. What if you kindle feelings for another?” The hyena turned his head again to watch Askia. “Perhaps that is the issue. I have felt distinct hostility in him towards myself; perhaps he is opposed to our marriage, and my presence here.”

But Askia quickly shook his head. “No, no. That can’t be it. I was the one who was against the marriage; Zuli and Luka both were all for it, Luka because he was the one who had everything arranged, Zuli because he was thinking of the lasting benefits and impact…” Gravel crunched beneath their footpaws as they walked. Askia missed the scent of nature here at home; the surrounding plantlife was so similar yet so different across the river in Barchan’s homeland, and he had never actively thought about how much these surroundings said home to him. “But then, Luka is still his usual self. I’d thought it might be the extra stress from the work of the unification, but – I might dare to say that Luka keeps even busier than Zuli.”

“Mm.” Barchan dipped his head. “You know, beloved, I can see why Mother was so enamored with your otter. He does indeed know exactly how to use that little mouth of his. But, then… your relationship with your advisor is different than that with your bodyguard, is it not?”

“He’s not my bodyguard, though.” Askia tightened his arm around Barchan’s. The two followed the curvature of the pathway around the still pool in the center, kept carefully maintained by the groundskeepers.

“Well, see? Zuli is not your bodyguard, but Luka is your advisor.”

“But that’s because he is.”

“So what’s the difference?”

He let the thought roll around in his head for a moment, then sighed again. “I just… don’t see why that difference matters, though. Zuli’s okay with what I have with Luka, and he even enjoys it, and participates. You’ve seen that.” He turned to look at his husband. Barchan lifted his own face veil so that the sunlight fell across the smooth, damp-earth brown of his muzzle. “So why shouldn’t he be okay with me and you, when he was the one to actively encourage the union?”

Now Barchan reached over to lift Askia’s veil as well. The two slowed to a stop and faced each other along the path. “Perhaps, he murmured, straightening up to put himself more level with the other king, “it would do you well to speak with him about it.” Then that paw came in along his muzzle, tilted his chin down, brought Askia forward… and the two met in a slow, soft kiss. “I will be here. You know that.”

~ ~ ~

It felt like so many years ago before Askia had inherited the throne, back when he was little more than a stumbling, uncertain prince of the savanna, whiling away his time with this pointless pursuit or that… and quietly lusting after the strong, stoic zebra who patrolled the halls, who stood by the door to his quarters at night, who came with him into the baths to stand guard. A zebra out of whom he could barely get a single word, much less a recognizing glance, but back then it had been a challenge, a fun game; now after all this time and all these years together, it felt like an obstacle.

Askia felt something like a stranger as he sprawled back on the bed that they shared, fully aware that the loose, airy skirts of his regalia hung open in front and draped over his legs to show the shape of his sheath, and his sack hanging down off the side of the mattress. Somehow he had managed to follow Zuli back to their bedroom, and now watched the way the zebra’s shoulders bunched as he changed his sash, how his tail flicked, how his mane bristled.

The wild dog tilted his head, ran a finger along his chest to tug the loose clothing slightly to the side, cleared his throat. “Zuli.”

Zuli’s ears perked and angled back towards him. “Where is Barchan?”

Askia blinked. “On an errand, or perhaps in a meeting. He is also King; he does what he does. But…” He shifted a little bit, momentarily thrown off. “It is your duty to service your King,” and he spread his legs a little bit further, “however I desire.”

The equine paused in his movements. Slowly, deliberately, he lowered his hands from where he kept his sash, then turned to look across Askia. The wild dog focused in along his gaze then, looking for the familiar spark, the twinkle and glimmer of affection and arousal. Zuli tilted his head, seemed to smirk – or did I just imagine that? – and then crossed the space between them in a few great strides.

“I suppose it is,” he rumbled, then smoothly dropped to his knees between the wild dog’s spread legs. “And what is it my King wishes?”

This is good, Askia thought, as he slid back onto his elbows, lifted the hem of his regalia, draped the loose fabric around the back of his sheath. He scooted down towards the edge of the bed, spread his legs further… hoisted first one and then the other up towards himself, brushy tail hanging down, puckered tailhole winking for Zuli’s invitation. I’ve got him. Everything’s fine. Everything…

Cool eyes regarded him for a second, and then the zebra pressed a hand to the king’s bared rump, lifted him up a little bit further, then leaned in – and Askia’s head rolled back on his shoulders with the first contact of lips to tailhole. Then followed the tongue, thick and firm yet still soft, focused, deliberate; then the swirling circles, the quick flicks, the way Zuli traced over each individual fold and wrinkle out towards his rim, then back in again.

Askia could almost forget about his concerns. His footpaws shivered and kicked in the air, his shaft pushed steadily out from his sheath to begin twitching across his belly, then squirting the little, liquidy jets of pre as he came closer and closer, soon coaxed on by the zebra’s other hand coming up to ease him along. Everything felt right here, everything felt proper: he released his legs and draped them over his partner’s shoulders, he tugged Zuli in closer, he pushed down against his mouth and lips and tongue.

Panting turned to moaning; Zuli dug deep, suckled at his king’s tailhole, pressed his tongue in and dug upwards, then drew it back out, all the while pumping smoothly, swiftly at Askia’s length. The wild dog wrenched his eyes shut, tossed his head this way and that, squeezed his legs around the other male’s head to ride along his muzzle, clenched, tightened, strained-

-then gasped, and groaned, and bucked once, twice, three times out across himself, Zuli’s fingers now clenching behind his knot with the supple skin of his sheath folded over his knuckles, milking out every last spurt of his surprisingly quick finish. Heart pounding, chest heaving, the wild dog let the world spin around him for a while longer as Zuli drew back from his rear, that broad tongue giving a few more broad, deep slurps; then the wild dog struggled upright, held his arms out for an embrace, began a low, sweet coo to call his lover to him – and saw that Zuli had already returned to the other side of the room and was draping his sash over his shoulder.

As Askia watched, Zuli reached up, wiped his mouth across the back of his wrist, then wiped that off on his side. He took a breath, held it, sighed, then looked over his shoulder to where Askia still sat with his arms out.

“Will that be everything, my lord?”

Askia waited. And waited, and then crossed his arms around himself instead, smearing the sticky ropes of his load into his fur. He looked away.

“Yes. That will be all.”

And still he waited as Zuli finished preparing, hefted his spear, then left the room and departed down the hallway. Askia looked after him, then stood with his arms still around himself, sighed, and went to wipe himself off as well. Frustration, confusion, annoyance, all thrummed within him, riding the remnant waves of the afterglow that had seemed to dim so quickly; the wild dog king left some of the stains in his regalia and tapped back out into the palace halls, tall ears up and searching, nose twitching through his own musk… and then finally found him.

Askia found him exiting the small library along one of the wings of the palace, a book clutched underneath his arm, his eyes bright, his tail swishing, his head bowed as he maintained a quick, quiet conversation with the palace scribe, his interest evident in his expression. The scribe saw him first, perked, and then bowed out of respect; Askia ignored them and strode up, then grasped the other male by the wrist, yanked him back in towards the library, dragged him in between a few of the shelves-

-and shoved Barchan up against the far wall and pressed himself against him, paws pushing down the hyena’s bared sides towards his waist, teasing, tugging at the already revealing swells and sags of his clothing. The other king giggled softly, then shuddered as Askia’s paw came around in front, pressed, cupped, squeezed, stroked; he tilted his head back, took in another breath, moaned it back out, and wrapped his own arm around Askia’s shoulder to grip him closer to him.

“A-ah…” he breathed, then swallowed. “Husband, sh-shouldn’t we… ah…”

But Askia had no interest in waiting. He straightened up, peered down at Barchan from slightly over him, then leaned in, pressed their mouths together, held there a moment, and then pulled back once more, this time with a smooth twirl to turn his backside towards him. Prepared as he was by thorough, diligent zebra tongue, the warm sticky wetness still clinging beneath his tail, the wild dog leaned forward against the shelf, reached one paw back to first lift the hanging hem of Barchan’s clothing, then worked himself backwards – and rocked, and grinded, and pushed, and relaxed… and gasped, tightened, shivered, relaxed again, and began riding in a slow, steady rhythm, fueled underneath with insistent urgency.

“Ah – hah-”

Barchan tensed, throbbed inside of him, bumped against the other wall, came forward to grasp Askia’s waist grinding against his own. He held still, partially bent over, while the wild dog found his rhythm and worked steadily back onto him, coaxing the hyena’s length further out of his sheath and deeper beneath his own tail, while his own half-arousal stirred behind the simple loincloth draped beneath the gossamer regalia stained with one peak already.

The hyena sighed, swallowed open-mouthed, and gave a little thrust. “Husband,” he murmured, looking this way and that, “shouldn’t we go back to our… a-ah, you’re…”

The other king was not listening. Askia gripped the shelf as he rode, teeth gritted, eyes wrenched shut; Zuli’s saliva kept him slick and ready, and he found it easy to work all the way back onto Barchan’s full length once the hyena had come to that point, then slid up towards his tip and pressed back again, and again, and again, letting that familiar, indulgent sensation pulse through him. Before long he had his head down and his mouth open as he panted, one paw still clutching the shelf while the other pumped his own length, still sticky with his finish from what seemed like minutes before.

Barchan still held himself back for his reluctance, though his arousal shone through nonetheless in his grip on Askia’s hips, and how he bent fully over the wild dog, and the way he set his teeth on his shoulder and bit there to keep his panting moans down, and how he reciprocated those backward grinds to thrust forward instead, a little bit faster, a little bit harder, a little bit shorter. Askia lifted a leg, turned his body, worked his paw across his himself, turned his head to cover his mouth with his other arm-

-then gasped through flared nostrils, bucked, bucked again, shivered, nearly lost his balance, and squeezed tight around his husband’s buried cock as Askia spurted a second finish out across the shelves in front of him. This time the pleasure bounced throughout his body and tingled in his fingertips; he swallowed again, shuddered, leaned back against Barchan, felt the hyena continue thrusting in his increasing rhythm, then pause, pound forward, hold there… and then unload his own finish into the wild dog, thick sticky heat pouring deep, magnifying that sweet, simmering pleasure even further.

It felt good. No, Askia thought, head turning to the side so he could smile at Barchan struggling to catch his breath; that felt great. Fantastic. Felt – better than anything I’ve had from Zuli in-

Then all of that pleasure zapped away, leaving him standing there with his leg raised, his paws braced on the shelf, his shaft slowly retreating into his sheath, and his arranged husband pulling slowly, slickly out of him, with his heart thumping in his chest so hard that he could feel it up in his throat. He swallowed again, lowered that leg to the ground, waited until he felt he could stand up without swaying, and then turned to face the hyena.

Barchan’s ears flicked in amusement. He wiped at his mouth. “Husband,” the hyena murmured, “what was that for? You’re never usually-”

Askia took his paws and folded them within his own, still struggling to slow his breathing and heart. “Barchan,” he interrupted him, “I think I shall go take a bath. I’ve been a bit… stressed, recently, and could use the relaxation.”

The hyena’s ears flicked. “Ooh. Would you like me to join you, then? Is that what this was about?”

“No, no…” He wondered if he should mention the issue again, noticed he had trailed off, and smiled instead. Askia leaned in for another kiss. “I don’t want to distract you from your work any further, beautiful.”

“My work? I’m…” Barchan paused. His ears swished back. “Oh. Oh. I am supposed to be in a meeting with – ah – excuse me, beloved…”

And then just like before, Askia wrapped his arms around himself, heart still thumping from the exertion, and watched his partner bustle away. He took a few slow, deep breaths to steady himself, tilted his head back to the ceiling, sighed… then strode out of the aisle and towards the door, dutifully ignoring the library attendants who peeked in after him.

The baths for the palace were of course fed by the same vast underground spring which served the oasis in the center of the city, further purified and heated via a series of manual pumps run by willing volunteers, then amended with various salts, herbs, and oils to the bather’s desire. King Askia motioned for the attendants to run his usual, but then had to shoo away wave after wave of further body servants seeking to strip him from his clothing, and push combs through his fur, and run their fingers down along his waist with more oils and soaps and everything else, the touches close yet distant, intimate yet unfeeling.

By the time he was allowed to slip into his bath, the fragrances exactly as he desired, the temperature just right, a strain greater than before weighed down his shoulders and mind. He swallowed against the heat, closed his eyes, and sank further in, letting the fingers of the water slip through his fur and dig at the dried crust and stickiness of his two attempts earlier in the day, along with the other gathered grit and grime.

What is happening…? he thought, now opening his eyes to look at the distant ceiling. Thin wisps of steam swirled about like so many dancers, like the skirts and sleeves of the hyenas’ gossamer veils. Zuli is… I love him. More than anything. But now there’s Barchan, too, and… it’s the newness of it that makes him so appealing, isn’t it? I have been with Zuli for years upon years. We know each other; we have adjusted and adapted; I can’t imagine life, or even just one day, without him. But, then, have I…

The wild dog rolled over to rest his chin over his arms at the side of the bath. His lip twitched; he tightened the muscles there to squeeze it down, then blinked. Then blinked, and again, and again.

Have I already lost him…? Because of Barchan? Askia drew in a breath, swallowed, wrenched his eyes shut, opened them again. But that’s not fair. This was his idea. He was encouraging this. He can’t – can’t just… is it…

The steam swayed, swirled, danced. His vision fogged; he reached up, wiped at his eyes, glanced down at his fingerpads, blinked further, and then finally turned to bury his muzzle in the crook of his arm. Askia took another deep breath of soft fragranced water, scented with herbs and oils.

I can’t stop loving him. Either of them. Not Barchan, and certainly not Zuli. That’s just now how it works. Don’t – gods, please, don’t…

His shoulders bucked upwards, then again, and again. Muzzle still buried there, he wedged his other paw in to cover his nose and mouth, suppressing the sobs as they came.

Don’t make me choose. Whatever you want me to do, just, please don’t make me choose.

~ ~ ~

Askia stared up at the ceiling, cozy warmth simmering on both sides of him for the first time in what felt like weeks. Barchan’s thick, coarse mane had been worked to an almost velvet softness through the regular bath treatments and work of the body servants, and then Zuli’s along his other side had been threaded with beads and other such decorations as the years passed, adding some little sparks of color to his pelt. The zebra smelled of his work, of sweat and iron and rich, earthy equine muscle, and Askia kept his head turned so that that scent filled his nose with each breath… but still turned his body the other way so he could drape an arm and a leg over his husband’s sleeping form instead.

“I do love you, my king, but not in the same way. I have no qualms admitting that; you know it to be truth, and I know you feel it just the same.”

He wet his lips, swallowed, closed his eyes. His bath today had stretched on for the better part of two hours, long enough that Luka had actually sought him out; where Askia had brushed away the body servants and attendants, when the otter had picked up the sponged and squeezed it over his shoulders, he had made no attempt to stop him.

“While I don’t share Zuli’s sentiment…” The mustelid had kept his voice low and soft, in tune with the ongoing sound of dripping water and rushing wind. Of course he had immediately been able to tell that something was wrong, and had kept his silence until Askia had been the one to open the conversation about it. “I do understand where he’s coming from. He feels… betrayed.”

“He… said that?” Askia had asked in response, voice finally steady. His eyes had still felt puffy, though whether that was from the tears or the oils in the water, he did not know. “He told you that?”

“Yes. He did.”

“He – has no right to feel that way, though.” A webbed paw had lifted his arm up; he held it out for Luka to trail the sponge underneath. “He actively encouraged and supported the marriage, and it’s unfair for him to-”

“Yes.” Then those webbed fingers came in alongside his own, Luka taking his paw, entwining it with his own, squeezing. “The political construct of the marriage. But not your relationship with Barchan itself-”

“So why doesn’t he just talk to me about it?”

“He is a guard. You are the King. Why don’t you just talk to him about it?”

Naturally Askia did not want Luka to be right, but, then, that was why he had appointed the otter in that position: because he seemed to be correct so often. The wild dog heaved another sigh, vaguely aware that neither of his partners were asleep, either; he nudged to the side to press himself up more fully against Barchan, waited for the brown hyena to toss and roll so that he would then drape his arm over the slightly slimmer wild dog, then took that warm, comfortable paw, entwined their fingers, stretched it forward towards Zuli on his other side… and then slowly dropped it as the zebra twitched, made a small noise, and then wriggled out of the way, to instead prevent that touch.

So instead Askia clutched Barchan’s paw in against his chest, wrapping himself snug within the hyena’s presence, while only staring at the striped back of his other lover.

~ ~ ~

Askia rubbed the heel of his paw against his eye again, trying to banish the impending weight of exhaustion that bore down from above. He shivered, stifled a yawn, tried to focus on the papers before him again, read over the same series of sentences that he already had. Perhaps I should appoint a council… he thought yet again, now lifting the sheet to the light to see it more clearly.

Across the room the door clicked, then swung gently open. Barchan strode smoothly in, nearly every line and angle of his body visible beneath the diaphanous gossamer of his regalia, eye-catching and invigorating, nothing short of harem garb – but he wore it confidently and wore it well, and Askia gladly shifted his attention as his husband approached the desk. A warm smile, an understanding tilt of the head, and then their fingers brushed as he reached down to take the document from the wild dog, cool eyes dancing across as he read. His heart skipped a few beats, then gradually slowed – but picked up all over again whenever he heard footsteps in the hall outside.

Maybe he ignored the invitation, Askia found himself thinking, as he pretended to understand Barchan’s explanation. After all, I didn’t give much in the way of reasoning. Just, ‘be here at this time for a meeting’. He wants to speak of his duty, well – as a guard, it’s his duty to obey me as his King. He must be here. He will. He-

And as if on cue, familiar footsteps approached, then paused. One of each of Barchan’s and Askia’s ears perked, and the two kings glanced towards the door, then perked again with the short series of knocks. “Enter,” Askia called, and felt his heart jump again at Zuli ducking to enter the room. The zebra stepped in, brushed himself off, rose to his full height, then visibly paused for just a fraction of a second as he saw the two of them. He blinked, paused as though in thought, then took up his position beside the door.

“My lords.”

And that was that. The kings regarded him a moment longer, then looked back down to the document. Askia imagined he could feel the pressure wafting in from Barchan beside him, the knowledge of the anticipation: “you brought us here for a ‘meeting’, and yet now you completely ignore him. What is happening?” Again and again he went over the document, reading the lines, glancing at the drawings, and again and again he failed to comprehend them.

Then, finally, on a whim: “Zuli.”

The zebra straightened up, thumped his spear to the floor, stared straight ahead. Just as any other guard called out by his King.

“Come here, please.”

He strode over. Barchan let his paw drop from where he pointed at a spot on the paper. Askia continued holding it up, using it as a cover while he tried to figure out what to say. Even so, though, there was no way he could lift the document between them to lighten the pressure of the zebra’s strong gaze on him, which seemed to only stifle the workings of his thoughts further, until finally he took a breath, held it, pressed the paper down to the desk, and then looked up at him, Barchan’s paw now on his shoulder.

King Askia wet his lips, swallowed, folded his paws together. “Zuli…”

“My lord.”

Again his thoughts muddled. Askia paused. “What is…” He looked up at the zebra, saw the measured balance of his gaze, glanced over his shoulder to Barchan, looked back down to the nonsense of the document. “What’s wrong?”

Zuli said nothing. He did not even move, but when Askia looked to him again, he could see the thoughts churning behind his eyes. So the wild dog pressed forward.

“You’ve been… distant to me, recently. As though my marriage has… interrupted what you and I had. What we have.” He spread his paw atop the document. “You know I deeply love you, and that I would claim you as my husband if I could. So just, please… talk to me. Tell me what’s wrong.”

Cool eyes appraised him for a moment, then flashed up to Barchan beside him, then glanced away again. Zuli shifted where he stood, took a breath, swallowed. “I… it’s…” He paused again to think, then straightened up. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

Something flared to life deep inside of King Askia. He curled his fingers over the paper, realized he was gouging it, then lifted his paw away and folded it in his lap. Yet again he took in a breath, held it, sighed it back out.

“...I see.” He sat back in the chair. “If you won’t tell me, then… I might as well assume that there is nothing wrong, and to keep doing what I’m doing, yes?”

One of Zuli’s ears flicked. The zebra clutched his spear tighter and looked away. “No different from what you’re doing now.”

“Which,” Askia reminded him, “you have yet to bring up with me, so I have no way of knowing that I’m doing anything wrong.”

“Mm. I suppose that’s why you need an advisor, then, since you’re incapable of picking up on such things yourself.”

Beside the wild dog, Barchan cleared his throat. Askia had already forgotten he was there. “If… this concerns Luka,” the brown hyena offered, voice soft, “why don’t we bring him in here too?”

Then to both of their surprise Zuli rolled his eyes and scoffed, the noise flaring his wide nostrils. “As if you can speak, my king,” he grumbled.

Askia felt his hackles tingle. “You may not speak to my husband in such a manner. I demand you apologize.”

Smooth eyes flicked between the two of them. After a moment Zuli bowed his head. “As you wish, my lord. After all, you are truly my king. He is not.”

“He is your king as much as I am, so decreed by the letter of the law. And, besides, you encouraged this marriage. You supported it. Don’t take out your anger on me for the foreseeable consequences of your own interests-”

Another thump of the spear to the floor, this time with Zuli throwing his other arm wide. “I didn’t expect you to fall in love with him!”

And then a creak and scrape as Askia stood bolt upright, his chair scuffing back across the floor and then ultimately toppling sideways. Barchan took a half-step back.

“I didn’t expect to fall in love with him either!”

Then silence, save for his own heavy breathing. His vision had begun to cloud over again; the wild dog blinked and blinked again, reached up to rub his paw against his eyes, then looked from his husband to his partner and back. Barchan covered his mouth with a paw, his own eyes obscured somewhat by the veil he still wore; Zuli stared openly at him, mouth agape, brow furrowed.

Askia swallowed. “Just as – as I didn’t expect to fall in love with you,” he went on, paw still at his muzzle. His lips twitched and tugged. “And I hurt you. And I didn’t mean to. And I just wish you would speak to me, because all of this is new to me, and I’m wandering around blind, trying to find my way without map or lantern.” He stifled a cough, had to pause to gather his voice, and rubbed his paw at his eyes again. Dammit. Gods dammit. Why doesn’t – why does it keep coming? Why can’t I stop it? “I don’t understand what happened, and gods know I’m trying my best to figure it out, but I need you at my side for that. You are my world, Zuli, but it’s just… that…”

Barchan padded over and rested his paws along Askia’s shoulders from behind. The wild dog sniffled and reached up to rest his over them.

“He’s a part of that world now, too.” Soft scent washed across him. “As I said, this is all new to me. Isn’t it – amazing, though, that the heart has… so much room for love? But if this isn’t what you want, if this doesn’t… work for you, then… I can’t say I’ll understand, but neither can I do anything to keep you here. Please don’t make me choose between you two, but, if a choice has to be made, then I can’t stop you.”

Barchan’s paws tightened on his shoulders, and then, the hyena leaned in from behind to nuzzle at his cheek. Askia returned the touch, gladly taking the opportunity to close his eyes so that the tears could freely flow, cutting thin little rivers through his fur. He could hear Zuli breathing, but still the zebra said nothing. He set his jaw, grinded his teeth, took in another breath, shifted where he stood, moved as though he was about to thump his spear again – then looked away.

“I don’t…” Then the zebra sighed. “Truthfully, I do not have any issue with you loving him. I simply… take issue with you not bringing it up with me first.” Then he waited until Askia met his gaze. “I expected this to be a purely political arrangement. After all, you didn’t even want the marriage-”

“Because I wanted you more than anything-”

“But now, as you said, you have him, too.”

Askia shifted his paw over Barchan’s to entwine their fingers. He turned his head to rub his cheek on his husband’s knuckles. “So, then… now what?”

And both of them turned to look at the hyena, who perked, looked around, and moved to flip his veil back to reveal his face. He pursed his lips in thought. “I could… leave for a while, if you want?

“No-” “No.”

King Askia looked across the desk. Zuli’s ears perked as well. The wild dog brushed past his husband, one paw running along his waist, then stepped around the desk to approach the zebra, who turned to face him fully.

“I recognize that I hurt you,” the wild dog went on, “and I apologize for that. I’m willing to do everything in my power to resolve that issue, so long as-”

Zuli held his hands out, palms up. Askia rested his atop the zebra’s, who wrapped his fingers around and gave a squeeze. “I will never make you choose.”

“Thank you.”

“And I am willing to try to make this work.” He leaned in a little bit to put his eyes more level with his king’s. “And for that, I suppose we do what we did before.”

Askia couldn’t help but lift onto his tiptoes, brush his muzzle across Zuli’s snout, and then lean in for a kiss. The sweet, sparkling warmth blossomed out across him as the zebra met him there, then magnified further when Barchan approached from behind and rested an arm around his waist. Askia held his partner there amid the kiss, then reached down with his other paw to find Barchan’s.

“Before? For what?” he breathed, now pulling back, though Zuli came forward for a second, a third, a fourth.

“For the…” Cool eyes flicked between the two kings. “Illicit relationship between a Prince and his bodyguard.”

From behind, Barchan giggled softly, and nuzzled in along the side of Askia’s neck. His breath raised sweet shivers down his back. “Illicit, you say? I do not think I have heard this story…”

The wild dog reached back, caressing his muzzle with a paw, and let his other drift down Zuli’s bared side towards the waist of his loincloth. This close to him, his familiar, intoxicating scent filled the air between them…

“We – managed to make it work,” he purred. Zuli met him in yet another kiss. “The desire was there in both of us, and the intent to follow through-”

“And I feel that now,” Zuli confirmed.

“As do I,” answered Barchan.

Askia smirked. “And I think I don’t need to give my word on it again.”

The zebra before him now dropped both hands to his waist, thick fingers playing among the loose, airy fabric of his hybrid regalia. Every time Zuli poked in across his fur another shiver zapped through his loins, and he couldn’t help but reach out, pull him forward, and then with a hot huff of breath, grind himself forward… and, to his relief and delight, the zebra’s ears flicked and he rumbled with interest.

Barchan nuzzled in again at Askia’s neck, now placing a string of short, quick kisses along his shoulder. “So, then, what now? You brought us here for a meeting, and I suppose it was for this rather than our kingdom…”

“Yes, my lords.” Zuli cleared his throat. “What now?”

Askia smirked. Still clutching the zebra’s waist, he straightened up a bit, wiggled away from Barchan’s gentle touch, and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Barchan. Husband.”

The hyena’s ears perked. “Mm?”

“Remove my other partner’s garments.”

Surprise flashed across both of them, with Zuli recovering first. Barchan glanced from wild dog to zebra and then back, folding his paws in front of him, waffling nervously; “Ah…?” and he looked to Zuli again, who straightened up, tightened his grip on his spear, and then nodded his assent.

There was interest there too, of course; in the few months spent together Askia had begun to pick up quite well on his husband’s little tells, from the angle of his ears to the set of his whiskers, and how his tail swished as he approached the other male, looked up at him, then slowly, carefully reached forward to slip the guard’s sash off from over his shoulder. Zuli turned his head this way and that to aid in the removal, Barchan reaching back to fold it across the desk; and then the hyena faced him again, licked his lips, swallowed… and braced his paws on the zebra’s hips for balance as he then lowered himself down, first to one knee and then both.

Even from where he stood Askia could see the way Barchan’s nose twitched, tingling with the heavy heat of equine musk. His mouth hung partially open as he began working at the fastenings; then he slid his thumbs underneath the fabric, wrapped his fingers around, tugged gently, pulled down… and had to draw back around the growing bulge of the zebra’s stiffening length, the plump, dense wrinkles of his sheath swelling out, the blunted head having already pushed free to sag down into the air in front of him. And he kept on coming, lengthening further, thick veins taking shape, wrinkles and lines pulling smooth into smooth, leathery velvet softness; Barchan tilted his head to the side, Zuli’s cock pushing out over his shoulder now, brushing past his short whiskers. Still his nose twitched and flicked, and now his chest stirred in deep, deliberate breaths, nostrils flaring. The guard’s loincloth dropped forgotten to the floor.

King Askia squirmed a little bit where he stood. “See why I picked him?” he chuckled, then reached down to adjust himself. “Barchan. Now me.”

The hyena remained where he was, captivated by shimmering black skin, pulsing veins, hanging balls that could each fill one of his cupped palms. Then with effort he stood up, eyes still held to Zuli’s twitching shaft like a lodestone, and finally glanced at the zebra, blushed, and stepped around him towards his husband. This part he was much more familiar and comfortable with, and it showed in the confidence of his actions: visibly still a bit dazed, he smiled at his husband, pressed his paws on his shoulders, came in for a kiss – where Askia could still feel the gathered slickness of Zuli’s saliva – and then began his work with stripping the regalia.

As he did so, behind him Zuli stepped over to the desk, rested his spear against it, and resumed on himself, one hand scooping underneath his hefty balls and the other massaging his sheath, coaxing his impressive length out further. Just the knowledge of being watched in this, as Barchan slid the thin fabrics off his shoulders, and bared his chest, and teased across his waist, added to the wild dog’s own arousal so that the hyena had to pull forward again to slip everything down around his plumped sheath and slowly growing shaft. Then he dropped down to his knees again, dragging Askia’s clothing as he went – and the wild dog shivered, tilted his head back, sighed with the sensation of warm breath puffing across the rim of his sheath and his sack underneath, Barchan nuzzling in to run his nose across sensitive flesh.

With his other paw he motioned over towards Zuli, who dutifully came forward. Askia wrapped his fingers around the blunted end of the equine’s shaft, teasing, squeezing at the ridge of his unflared head; the soft firmness of his shaft stirred in his grip, and he noticed that Barchan could not resist glancing over and staring. So Askia patted the hyena’s shoulder, nudged him back a bit, and dropped to his knees in front of him so that he could lean in for another kiss, while still stroking Zuli’s cock beside both of them.

Then the wild dog smoothly slid out of the kiss to transfer his attention to the zebra instead, lips still pursed as he came in along the blunted head. His nose filled with the rich, intoxicating earthiness of equine musk, and as soon as he nudged his tongue in along the underside Zuli gave a forceful throb, veins straining out, medial ring tightening. Again and again he flicked his tongue along that head, then swirled around the center, then brought one paw up to angle him down towards his lips – and found Barchan’s arm with the other, tugged him closer, spread his fingers… wrapped him around Askia’s own cock, fully hard, twitching in his sheath.

Barchan murmured softly, eyes fixed on Askia’s progress bobbing along Zuli’s length, shoulder pumping with the slow, steady rhythm he set along his husband’s. Askia couldn’t help but thrust up into Barchan’s paw as he worked, his own paw following along with his lips, pushing down, sliding back up, then down again.

Excitement bubbled inside of him, desire and relief melding with intense arousal; Askia straightened his back and turned his hips so that Barchan could reach him more easily, the hyena’s other paw now coming in to cup his balls as he continued to paw him off, muzzle turned, watching his husband enjoy his other partner. His mouth fell open; he licked his chops, swallowed, glanced back down to Askia’s hard cock squirting and jetting little spurts of pre across his paws, looked back to the larger equine length pulsing with the wild dog’s progress-

-and Askia drew back, felt the rim of Zuli’s flare pull free from his lips, and came forward to transfer the rich, slick taste into Barchan’s mouth again, that same arm looping around his shoulders to pull him in. Immediately the hyena moaned into his mouth, tongue swirling around his, stroking increasing in pace; Askia felt down his body as he kissed him, fingers flying, searching, pushing to undress him as well, tugging the flowing veils aside so that he, too, could dig between his legs, rub his sheath, pull him out. He shuddered again, briefly melting against Askia; the wild dog drew back from the kiss, lapped the sticky slickness from his lips, and winked, then looked up to where Zuli stood by watching.

“Beloved.”

“Mm.”

Askia turned to face him, settled his paws on the zebra’s waist, came in to grind his muzzle right into the slick, dense folds at the base of his sheath, then tried to push him downwards. “Lie down.”

“What?”

“Down. I’m your king. You have to do as I say.”

“Right here? My love, shouldn’t we return to your quarters and-”

“Now.”

So he did so, awkwardly at first, then settling into it. Zuli sprawled down, then rumbled softly as the wild dog pressed a paw to his chest and pushed him the rest of the way down. He clambered up over him, deliberately keeping his tail hiked for Barchan’s sake; paws to Zuli’s shoulders, he squeezed his knees in along the equine’s chest, lifted up, bent forward… looked back over his shoulder.

“Barchan, my love?”

Tall ears perked again. The hyena glanced up from his original point of focus right beneath Askia’s raised tail. “Mm?”

“Make sure that Zuli is… lined up for me.”

“Lined up?”

Askia wiggled his rump, slid an arm down underneath himself, and pushed at Zuli’s cock until it nestled alongside the base of his tail. “Mhmm. Lined up.”

Barchan blinked, tilted his head, and then realized what he meant. His blush deepened; he nodded, swallowed, then came forward alongside the two of them, Askia waiting with patience, Zuli watching with heated curiosity. The hyena reached slowly forward, then finally touched the zebra again; his ears perked upright, then folded back again, and with his other paw he lifted Askia’s tail further, nudged in against the soft, wrinkled skin, spread him just a little bit, then pressed the blunted head slickened with saliva right there underneath.

“That… should be good, beloved.”

“Thank you, beautiful. Now, make sure…” Askia arched his back, took in a breath, bit his lip, and now spread himself with both paws as he sat atop Zuli’s length. Slowly, carefully, he began to work himself back. “...that he doesn’t slip out… while I…”

And that sweet, intense pressure began to blossom inside of him, the zebra sinking slowly deeper inside of him, stretching his rim around him, pressing through the slick squeezing wetness as he went. Askia paused, let out a shuddering breath, pulled in another one, and came up a half-inch, only to then push back down again… and again, and again, each time a little faster, a little harder, a little further. Distantly he was aware of Barchan’s paws on him again, sliding along his waist, coming down in front to pump at his length again, slipping up his chest to hold him back… then pushing forward to finally touch Zuli on his own, fingers following the lines of the muscles along his belly.

I can’t believe… this is finally happening, the wild dog thought, mind fogged and hazy with the pressure of the pleasure. Every time Barchan brushed against him, be that with his arms, his paws, his muzzle, or even just his breath, another sweet, sharp shiver lanced down his back and he pushed even more firmly down into Zuli’s lap, yet again getting a feel for the zebra’s impressive size lodged up inside of him. Zuli himself lay back across the floor, eyes half-shut and mouth hanging open, gently nudging upwards into his king in the same rhythm. Both of them, together, with me, and… enjoying it…

Beside him Barchan shifted again, then angled his body to get a closer look. Askia was reminded of the night after their marriage out across the river, when he had climbed the plateau to find the brown hyena sprawled out across that flat rock, draped in nothing but tendrils of moonlight and waves of translucent cloth, inviting him closer… but right now he seemed to be in a world of his own, watching the goings-on with rapt attention, one paw keeping himself propped up while the other steadily pumped his own arousal. Then he noticed Askia watching him, looked up at him as well, blushed, and scooted forward for a kiss.

Again and again that kiss met and broke, met and broke with the rhythm of the wild dog’s riding, pushing down so that he felt Zuli lodge firmly inside of him, then tugging back up so that his belly shifted and his cock flexed in the open air. Strong, deliberate hands pushed across his thighs toward his rump, then slid in towards his stretched tailhole and spread there; he slid partially out of the kiss, licked his lips, moved to dive back in, had to stifle a low, breathy moan as he did so.

But then it was Zuli who spoke, in a low, tense growl, layered with his own pleasure: “Barchan.”

Yet again the hyena’s ears perked. As if remembering where he was and what he was doing, he blushed again. “Zuli?”

The zebra lifted up a bit, thrust up into Askia so that the wild dog gasped, lurched forward, and shuddered, and then lowered his hips back down to the ground so that his cock slurped slowly out of the stretched tailhole. Askia felt him spread him again, and the zebra nodded downwards.

Barchan followed the motion, looked up to him, looked back down again, then blinked and gasped. And Askia watched out of the corner of his eye as his husband shifted back, repositioned himself right there behind where he straddled Zuli’s lap, then braced his paws on the wild dog’s waist… and lowered himself down… and moved one of those paws to lift his tail up from where it already reflexively hiked over the buried equine length… and then hot, humid breath puffed out across the rim of his stretched tailhole. Zuli tugged down, then sank back in, and from there set his own pace while still keeping the wild dog spread-

-and then another paw rested across his waist, and Askia shivered, sighed… and clenched as soon as he felt Barchan’s tongue drag out across him, lapping over both his stretched rim and the equine shaft pumping deep inside of him. Zuli kept his pace steady for this, pulling down so that the lump of his ring slurped free and then sank right back in, all the while Barchan lifted his nose beneath Askia’s tail and dug in deeper. First it was just his tongue, then his lips as well; then he closed his mouth around what he could and sucked, and slurped, and swallowed, swirling around, lapping off the gathered slickness, even curling his tongue just barely within the tense muscle of his ring.

Again and again he felt his hungry breath washing out across him, curling beneath his tail, spreading along his rump. Askia straightened up, shuddered, and turned his body so that he could reach back with one paw to wedge his husband’s muzzle more firmly into place there, and so that he could ride back both along Zuli’s cock and against Barchan’s snout. Mouth hanging, panting openly, the wild dog shivered, gasped, swallowed again, and clenched tightly around the shaft and tongue, already able to feel his finish begin to approach – but then, to his surprise, it was Zuli who hit that point first.

Those strong fingers tightened along his rump. The zebra tossed his head back, broad teeth gritted; he sucked in a gasp through flared nostril, arched his back, kicked his legs along the ground, jerked, jerked again… and nestled underneath his tail Barchan murmured in sweet appreciation. If Askia could feel it through his tailhole, then Barchan could feel it too with his tongue and lips and nose right there – the way that Zuli bucked his hips, and how his cock pulsed and swelled out with the force of his finish, each thick spurt pumping through his length, stretching the wild dog’s rim, and then unloading deep inside of him, again and again, with the width of his flare stretching out from inside, scooping along his guts, pulling back and then pushing deep, the thick, sticky heat of his load swelling out from inside in rhythmic spurts.

Halfway through Zuli’s finish, Barchan pressed his paw to Askia’s rump to spread him further so that he could dig in even deeper, humid breath coming and going across fur slickened with drool and pre and musk, slurping, sucking, swallowing. Askia angled his hind end back and spread his legs so he could continue on himself, regularly squeezing around Zuli’s buried shaft, grinding back against him as he pawed himself off. Then the hyena next, palpable in the way his breath hitched, caught, then shuddered out in a few quick, urgent huffs, panting out and then sucking back in as short gasps – with Askia riding along this as well, grinding back on the hyena’s muzzle, squeezing tight… bucking once, twice, a third time as his own finish splattered out across Zuli’s pelt.

Sure enough, the hyena soon retreated from his position there underneath his husband’s tail, and when Askia reached back, spread himself further, and began the laborious process of pulling himself up off of Zuli’s flared cock, he looked back over his shoulder and saw the telltale trails of rich, sticky white streaked across the floor. As he came up Askia felt that wide flare tugging at his insides, making him gasp, shiver, squirm; he shifted his paws to his partner’s chest, pressed there, clenched, relaxed… and finally yanked himself off with a wet slurp, and another shudder from both.

“There,” the king murmured. He reached a paw out to where Barchan slouched sideways along the floor; the hyena, panting, wet his lips and then took the offered paw. “Now that’s all better. Of course, the three of us still have much to talk about, and to work out…”

Zuli’s hands drifted down Askia’s thighs. “But this is a start. Quite a good one, at that.”

“Mm.” Barchan struggled to his feet, then helped Askia do the same. The wild dog leaned against him for support; then the hyena offered that same paw to Zuli, who regarded it, tilted his head, then took it. “But, now, we should probably leave this room and go get cleaned up. I remember there is to be a meeting with the ambassador from-”

Then three pairs of ears flicked over to a short series of knocks at the door. A moment later it slid partially open, with Luka’s short muzzle poking in. He glanced down at a sheet of paper he held.

“Excuse me, my lords, but if your personal matter is wrapped up then I may-” He paused, looked over what waited for him, licked his lips, swallowed, sniffed the air. The otter blinked again, drew back a little bit, and started to close the door. “I’ll, ah… tell them it will be another moment…” But then he paused again and stuck his nose back in through the space. “My lord… ah, my lords, I’ll be in the usual spot when you’re… ready to clean up.”

Zuli brushed himself off as he stood up. “I wonder if I am invited to that cleaning too-”

And Askia nudged him. “Don’t be a fool, my love. One of my first orders as king was for me to be able to watch him pleasure you for my sake whenever I so desire.”

“Which,” Zuli rumbled on, “I notice is an act upon which you have not called for some time…”

“What? Are you missing it now?”

“Well, I am simply saying,” and he stepped over to where his already negligible clothing rested in a pile, “perhaps the curiosity has been kindled in me to feel my other king’s mouth work.”

Askia looked to Barchan, who seemed to not process Zuli’s words at first. Then, yet again, those ears perked upright; he looked to the wild dog, gaped, pointed to himself – Askia nodded – then blushed hotly.

“But,” the zebra went on, sash now looped over his shoulder again, “you two have work to do.”

“That we do. Our day has barely begun.” Askia, still mostly naked, draped his arm around his husband’s waist, also bared to the fur. “What shall you do, my love?”

“I seem to be the only one who needs that cleaning-up.” He lifted the fabric away from his chest. “So I shall go find your advisor and collect on the offer. I will return at my earliest convenience; my place, after all, is at your side.” Zuli nodded to the brown hyena as well. “At both of your sides.” He righted his loincloth, took up his spear, bowed his respect, then left the room.

Askia and Barchan looked at each other. Barchan smiled first, then giggled; Askia did the same, then felt himself pulled in by the shoulders so that the hyena’s short, stout muzzle could brush up along his own and settle in for a kiss.

“Let’s get you dressed, husband,” Barchan murmured. “It is my mother’s ambassador we are seeing. She is used to seeing me naked, but not you.”

“Will you help me? I still can’t… figure out all of the fastenings of my own…”

“Of course. You are very lucky, you know.”

“For having you?”

“No. Well, yes.” Barchan draped some of the veils along Askia’s shoulder so he could bind them in back. “But for having him. Zuli.”

The wild dog smiled. “...Yes. I know I am.”