Marcadon was doing better with being a Fountain, and he’d found a few more Harem Lords—especially some that didn’t fuck him as hard as Levidon. Seldon actually felt sorry for his oldest thinking about it, but the way the Guard Lord was with Marcadon outside of bed, there was something special there to be nurtured. Dare he hope his gruff son had fallen in love?
The final reports Seldon had gotten was nightclubs opening up here and there. A few a day over the past week it seemed, and they all had the Cubi theme. It was sex clubs, pure and simple, playing to a fantasy. Since it wasn’t a place for or with prostitutes, it was by invitation only. Seldon smiled when he saw that Sire Jaydon was head of one of those clubs. He’d been chosen by Caledon because of how well he’d run Sanitation in House Three.
“Are you ready?” Daniel asked behind them. “Well, I see Seldon isn’t, unless he wants to explore the new House butt ass naked.”
Seldon laughed and turned, putting an arm around Caledon. “We could all go naked.”
“We could, but this House is full of cubs because I had them sent here first, remember.”
“Oh, I remember,” Seldon said, making his way to the master bedroom. “You should remember that naked means something entirely different to Cubi families than human families. Naked is normal here.”
He heard Daniel and Caledon follow, Daniel asking questions about nakedness. Seldon got dressed, and they left the Royal Quarters.
Afdon stood outside, his hands clasped in front of him. “My Prince, would you prefer me camouflaged or visible as we explore.”
“Visible.”
Afdon dipped his head and followed.
Seldon’s trip from the hospital to the Royal Quarters had been slow because he wanted to see everything and take in every detail. He’d been far too tired to, though, but he loved the place. It was far more ornate than the House of Dahlidin had been, yet it was still bare and lacked a lot of finesse. But it had potential to be fit for a King.
As they left the Royal Halls, located at the forefront and top two floors of the entrance building, the sound of children made it to their ears.
Daniel pulled out a tablet and swept a finger across the screen. “Well, school is on this floor.”
Seldon looked out the window and saw cubs run around outside and play. A cub rounded a corner, walked into Seldon’s leg, and stumbled back and onto his ass. Seldon was about to pick the cub up when the cub scurried around to kneel.
“What are you doing? Come on, you’re going to be late,” a Succubus said, taking the boy’s arm.
“Mom, it’s the Prince,” the boy said.
Seldon looked at Daniel, and his eyes were golden. The Succubus gasped and knelt next to the boy.
“Thank you, please rise,” Daniel said.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t see you, My Prince,” the Dame said.
“I understand. Lots of new things to see. What’s your name, cub?” Daniel asked.
The boy looked up. “I’m Imdon, My Prince. This is my mom, Seldin.”
“Hello, Imdon, Dame Seldin, I’m Beaudon.” Daniel shook hands with the cub, and Seldon enjoyed how he focused on the boy. “How do you like our new House?” The boy shuffled his feet. “The truth, please,” Daniel continued in a friendly tone.
“Uhm…I liked the old House better because it had playgrounds.”
Daniel laughed. “Well, thank you for pointing that out to me, Imdon. We can’t have a House without a playground.”
The boy beamed.
Daniel took a step back, effectively stopping their meeting without seeming dismissive. “Dame Seldin, Imdon.”
“My Prince,” the Dame said, smiling as she dipped her head and hauled her son away, but the boy was far too interested in Daniel to want to go anywhere.
“Playgrounds, huh?” Caledon asked.
“Yeah, a fun task I need right now. War on a playground can be rough, I’m young enough to remember that, but I need to focus on some happiness, too.”
Seldon took Daniel’s hand. He hadn’t been able to be by Daniel’s side when he worked around the clock to get his people safe, and Caledon had revealed worry that Daniel worked himself too hard, but they were both so proud of him. So yeah, Seldon could see why Daniel needed a playground to focus on.
“When does school start?” Daniel asked.
“Do you mean at what age?” Caledon asked.
“No, I mean, what time of day.”
“Oh, that depends on the individual. At least that’s how it was in the old House. We needed people around the clock to take care of different tasks, so we’ve always let the individual chose the rhythm of the day that fit them best.”
“Past tense,” Daniel commented. “What worked in the Great House of Dahlidin should be continued here. We’ll tweak as we go.”
“Yes, My Prince,” Caledon said, smiling. And Seldon knew the Lord well enough to know that he, like Seldon, was happy that Daniel didn’t just rip up the Cubi people with root and all, shook the soil from their roots, and repotted them where and how he pleased.
They rounded another corner, and a teacher was assembling his class of cubs.
Daniel stopped and watched. “There are so many.”
“Aw, you sound almost in love with them,” Caledon said.
Daniel chuckled. “Yeah, but I’m not having any heirs anytime soon.”
“And if we have to procreate like you mused about?”
“I’m nineteen.”
“You do know that…” Caledon glanced at Seldon, mouthing dose fest. Seldon shrugged because yeah, the boy had to know.
“What?” Daniel asked, turning to face them.
“That Royal dose fest. That many doses, one or more of the Succubi are bound to fall pregnant.”
Daniel grew pale.
“In other words, if one of us fathered a child, it’ll grow up in the Kingdom of the mother.”
Daniel knitted his brows before looking at Caledon. “How old is your youngest?”
“Ninety-two. I was actually looking for a mother when I met you.”
“And Rosadin is seventy-seven,” Daniel said almost to himself, worrying his lip.
“She is,” Seldon confirmed.
“And the rule so far has been for born Cubi to procreate with born Cubi every hundred years or so, while Lords and Ladies procreate outside the House,” Daniel mumbled, thinking. He turned to look at all the cubs now walking two and two, hand in hand, behind the teacher.
“Roughly every hundred. Marca is one hundred sixty-eight, and Talidon is one hundred and thirty-four. I was just very popular with the ladies that century.” Seldon grinned when Daniel turned a gaping expression on him.
“There has to be some division in a law like that. I can’t make everybody breed every fifty years because it’ll diminish my Council.”
“Children aren’t a hindrance,” Caledon said.
“They are in a war when their parents are the ones battling it, and children are supposed to have their parent’s undivided attention for a while.”
“Then keep it a hundred for Lords and Ladies and reduce it to fifty for all blue and green-eyed. But your Grand Council and Guard Lords and Ladies are already exempted because of our duties. Unless you change that.”
Daniel nodded, staring out the window, and Seldon’s heart did a pitter-patter at watching his beautiful boy in deep thought. He looked so regal, and the air seemed charged. A boner rose which was ridiculous considering how much he’d fed since getting out of the hospital. The fact that Caledon also adjusted one made Seldon proud of the young Prince’s strength. He was not only coming into his own power, but he was acknowledging it and finding it within himself.
In both ends of the hallway, Cubi began assembling, murmuring quietly and looking curious. Daniel’s people felt his presence, and what they saw, maybe even the first time they laid eyes on him, was their Prince standing by a window—the sun bathing his beautiful face—contemplating how to enrich his Kingdom.
Chapter Three
One day after another, one box after another, one bag after another, one aisle after another, and one snapped order after another. Alex had left the Cubi for that. He’d left a world where he’d been asked to do things he wasn’t fond of. When not dosed. Now he was asked to do things he wasn’t fond of, and he was paid to shut up and do it anyway. The only difference was he’d been valuable in the Cubi world, and here he felt like someone hired so that the boss had someone to degrade and feel powerful over. Only one son of a bitch had been like that in the Cubi world. After the stables, that was. And Seldon and Daniel had taken care of it. They’d protected Alex.
Marcadon had cared, too. They’d had fun and laughed. They’d even watched a movie on the white level right after Seldon had been given the sentence. Right after, Seldon had asked Alex to feed his oldest son.
Alex found he actually missed Marcadon. He missed hanging out, but he had to admit he also missed that fat cock ramming his ass. The fact that a thought like that would have made him blush before he’d been taken made him snicker.
“Back to work, Alex, I’m not paying you to stand around and have fun.”
“Yes, sir,” Alex answered, anger bubbling up inside of him. Not paying him to have fun? What the hell was wrong with the man if a job had to be as miserable as possible?
Another ten minutes, and he’d be off for the day. Another ten minutes, and he’d be going to the library like he had every day for the past week after work to search for the Cubi. He still couldn’t explain why he did, yet he felt he needed some kind of closure.
One minute before he clocked out, a customer dropped a big jar of pickles.
“Alex, cleanup aisle three!”
Fuck.
Alex suffered another round of shakes. He had since he was cleaning up the pickles. His boss even had the nerve to ask if he was withdrawing from drugs or something. God, he hated that guy.
His hand shook as he logged onto the computer to search the blogs and forums he’d found relevant. He had a notebook to keep track of it all, and he knew just enough Cubi to not merely write in English. He could hide some of his research if his parents were ever to find the book.
His heart almost stopped when he read about a nightclub opening up in Baltimore. The club had a theme of Incubi and Succubi. But there wasn’t a lot more than that, just pictures of people working on the façade of a building, and some of them were definitely Cubi level hot as far as he could see.
Baltimore. That was a ways to go from Greenville. Not that he contemplated going there. Did he? Oh, shit, now that idea was stuck in his head, but he didn’t dare go and get disappointed. And what did he hope to accomplish there anyway?
The shakes and his asshole snapping from anticipation at the thought of something stuffed up there. He wanted to be fucked again. He wanted to be dosed again. He wanted to feel valuable and cared for. He wanted to go back to Daniel and Seldon and Marcadon, and…he wanted friends again. Friends who understood.
“Fine,” he told himself and looked for the address. That took another hour because the blogger hadn’t mentioned it, and Alex had to go through a librarian to get help to identify the building and search sales records. But she managed, and Alex left with a stomach full of butterflies. Now all he had to do was borrow his parent’s car for the weekend. Oh, yeah, and survive another two days at work before he could go.
Alex helped his mother set the table when he got home. He kind of liked the routine of the day because it helped his mind stay off how shitty his work was, but it also helped him not constantly think about the Cubi people out there.
Blogs had mentioned something about a rise in military activity around Kentucky, and Alex had finally learned that that was where he’d been living for the past five years. Of course, the blogs went on about FEMA and some plot to kill half the world’s population or something. An angry snort escaped Alex at the thought of that half of the population being the Cubi. They had as much right to exist as humans, and he hated the we’re so much fucking better and deserve to rule the world mentality he read between the lines on those blogs.
“What are you snorting at?” his dad asked.
“Sorry? Oh, nothing, just…I can’t make my hands stop shaking.”
“Have you called Doctor Harris yet?” his mother asked.
“No, I think it’s just stress. You know, from all the changes lately. It’ll calm down again,” Alex said, hoping they’d buy it.
“Well, give it the weekend,” his dad said. “Maybe a bit of distance will help.”
And there was the opening line he’d hoped for. “Can I borrow the car this weekend? Go for a drive and clear my head?”
“Where would you go?”
“Just out and about. See some nature, maybe.” A three-hundred-fifty-mile drive was bound to let him see some nature.
“That might be what you need, son. You’ve worked so hard. I’m proud of you.”
Alex smiled at his dad’s praise, yet he felt like a cheat because he fucking hated his job and wanted to run away, screaming. If his dad knew that, he’d call Alex a wuss not capable of taking care of himself. He’d tell Alex to man up and take care of business. Alex even wondered if his dad hated his own job so much since he could apparently shut off his brain and personal hopes and dreams from punching in until punching out. Or did he love his job at the factory? Was that why he couldn’t imagine not being happy about going to work?
Whatever it was, Alex didn’t have it, and he couldn’t understand it. All he knew was that he had another two days to go, and the car was his. Another two days, and maybe he’d find what he was looking for.
Chapter Four
Daniel felt nervous as he looked out the window of his study. The day of his coronation was closing in, and he felt ready. Well, as ready as a nineteen-year-old could, he guessed, but he was still nervous. Plus, details were being kept from him, and when he asked, Geodin would wink at him and smile shrewdly. He kinda loved that smile on her and her King Uncle, but it left him nervous.
He tried to focus on something else and sat by his desk, pulling a file closer. It was full of specs on playground equipment, and he smiled at remembering the cub who’d run into them. Not long ago, kids that age had just been noise at the mall. Now they were his Kingdom’s future, and he remembered Seldon and Caledon talking about them when talking about housing.
He remembered Seldon telling about the throne room and the Royal Hall in the old House. How the Grand Lords and Ladies were the teachers when telling the cubs about their history and showing them all their artifacts, armors, and the throne. It was the heart of their civilization, and everything in that room belonged to every Cubus in the Kingdom. The throne being placed in the middle meant that Daniel belonged to all of them as well, and he hoped he’d never forget that. He was supposed to be accessible to his people.
When Daniel had been put on the train, so had most of the content of the Royal Hall. It had been brought to the new House.
An idea struck him, so he collected the file with playground material and left the office. He found Seldon exiting the shower along with Elakdon. Damn, the amount of doses Seldon needed gave Daniel an idea of how full the old Incubus had to have felt when first having to keep up with Daniel. Not that Daniel could ever get full—he was a Royal after all—but he could appreciate the amount of time suddenly spent in bed.
“You have an idea, I can see it on your face,” Seldon said, smirking. “Hungry?”
“Nope, just empowered a red-eye. But I do have an idea.” Daniel took a piece of paper out of the folder and held it up for them to see.
Seldon took it and looked it over. “Oh, the playground you promised the cubs.”
“Yeah, thought maybe I should go get him and his class and take them to the throne room, asking them to help me chose the playground materials.”
“Why?” Elakdon asked. The tone and smile made Daniel think he was once again testing him or asking simply to make Daniel consider more alternatives. This had to
be the first of the two.
“To let them know that it’s safe to always come to me. To let them know I’ll listen.”
“I like your idea. It’s very…” Elakdon tapped his chin in theatrical thought. “Dahlidin.” Elakdon went to the bed and found his clothes. “May we accompany you?”
Seldon winked at Daniel, handed him the papers back, and found his own clothes.
“Sure.” Daniel was glad they asked since that meant he didn’t have to. “Where’s Caledon?”
“Taking care of business with Lady Ilkil-Nol Laudin,” Seldon said. “I have a meeting this afternoon with Grand Lady Aidin and a Canadian official about expanding this House.”
Daniel nodded, remembering the plans the Grand Council had approved a few days earlier. “Does anyone know where Aaron is?”
“You want him along?” Seldon asked, pulling on his socks.
“Only if he wants to.”
“I think he’s helping Geodin,” Elakdon said. “She came by my apartment this morning, needing someone to help put her books up in her new library. I may have suggested your Untouchable, knowing he’d be safe with her.”
Daniel smiled, nodding. He certainly trusted him with her. He actually felt a bit bad about running out on Aaron all the time, considering the place was new to him, and Daniel had kind of just kidnapped him and brought him along. But when they were alone, playing pool or something, they felt almost like the old friends they’d once been. They’d both changed a lot, and they had a lot of catching up to do, but they still had enough in common to hopefully build something new and strong upon.
As for teaching Aaron to be an Untouchable, they had miles to go, still, and Daniel had a difficult time with it. Untouchables were trained to also help around the house, but Daniel had a palace. If he told Aaron to go be taught by the labor they’d brought, Aaron would hate him forever. Sometimes, Daniel missed Alex and the others. In particular Alex.
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