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👑 Bodrik the Orc 👑

Full color digital art portrait commission for the lovely @momolady of their original character Bodrik the Orc from her Ruby Empire series 💖

[dragonfoxstar]

@momolady ‘s gnoll OC Edragon from her Ruby Empire series! 

Want a commission like this? I am still OPEN! 

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[yourcoolfriendwithallthecandy]

Rakshasa Lomi and Zara Part 5 

I know it’s been a while since I updated this story but at long last I have Part 5 where the people of Zara’s village- Willow, come to the Crown City for Lomi and Zara’s official wedding celebration in @momolady ‘s universe of the Ruby Empire. All of this happens before the war of the crown jewels, just as Mythri becomes pregnant with her daughter. I have @momolady ‘s permission to borrow her wonderful characters and play in her universe for which I am extermely grateful and thankful she has let me do. And yes Mythri and Zara play matchmaker so that was really fun to do to show all these new couples meeting for the first time and immediately falling for each other and show the range from reluctant and hesitant and wary to full on welcoming and eager and how with just a look, the reluctant and wary change thier tune, because the ‘Daughters of Willow’ are just that gorgeous. And if anyone fancies a particular couple, let me know and I’ll single them out and show you more specifically how their relationship will progress. tagging @thecriticalcanuck and @cakeful-nudes because they were interested in this story too and if anyone else wants to get tagged let me know. 

Rakshasa- Part 5

Three weeks later you stood just inside the gates as you waited for your friends to arrive, Wenet showed you that they were only about an hour away, still putting their perfumed oil on- the one that you gave them as they made sure their flower necklaces were perfect. All except six young women wore the perfume. The six that didn’t simply didn’t like the way it smelled and you hadn’t told them specifically who would be their escorts while they were there, in fact they were hoping you had human friends you could introduce them to, nothing against the Rakshasa, just, they still preferred humans. They even made flower necklaces for the horses and they had made very special flower necklaces and crowns just for the Royal Family.

Aila and her family were with you and were talking to the escorts for the parents, her sons, both legitimate and adopted all being very excited to finally meet these famed daughters of Willow while their sisters were looking forward to meeting the sons of Willow too, if they were even half as handsome as you were beautiful, they would surely be the most handsome human men in the whole of the Crown City. Their father had forbade his children from ever even visiting Willow because he didn’t want his own children to marry “poor and stupid” people and had never taken his children with him to Willow unless they would be already married and none of his children were, yet, in fact, none of them had even really courted anyone yet and they were approaching eligible age but the chance to finally see the young men and women from Willow for themselves first had them becoming patient and particular about their own choices even though all of Aila’s children had ‘suitors’ lined up already and had been eagerly waiting for Aila to give her permission for her children to court and to be courted. With everything Aila had been through with Arjun, she herself was exceptionally wary of all their suitors, not wanting any of her children to either imitate their father’s infidelity or to be victims of it either. But she knew that the people of Willow were good people and was hoping that at least her own sons might choose daughters of Willow to be their brides as well as the remaining sons of Willow to be her future sons in law because of how sweet nature-ed she knew them to be and knew that sons of Willow always treated their wives with love, respect and kindness and knew that once their real wealth was recognized, if they so chose her own daughters, both legitimate, adopted or otherwise, that no one could quite compare.

You stood by and talked with the group of escorts who were still unsure and wary of all of this. While the others who were eagerly looking forward to this and had been patiently waiting these three long weeks to finally meet your friends- talked with Lomi as Lomi tried to discretely give them advice about all things human women liked and wanted, in particular the face to face sex positions they preferred and little quirks and things he had learned from his experiences with you and with them when he was there. All of which his friends and those in the group with him eagerly paid attention to as they mentally took notes.

Meanwhile back in your group-

“Now, I should probably warn you guys, that in Willow, we wear flowers a lot, flower necklaces and flower crowns and we give them to each other as a sign of love and affection and so they will probably have a lot of them so be prepared to wear them.” You ‘warned’ the Rakshasa who had gathered in a circle around you to talk to you and learn about this envoy from Willow.

“Do we have too? I don’t want wear flowers.” Jamal complained, making a disgusted face as others in the circle did the same, scrunching up their noses and letting the bottom of their front fangs show in a disgusted snarl.

General Rashad looking particularly perturbed by the idea of wearing flowers and wishing he was back at the palace training the cadets rather than do this. He’d rather do all the push ups, sit ups and laps around the training arena with his cadets rather than be doing this. He just got promoted to be one of the teachers for the young recruits, ages 15-18 to train them to be guards and soldiers and he felt frustrated that he got pulled off of teaching to do this, to be a glorified babysitter. Someone needed to gag him or knock him unconscious or something to get him out of this already.

“Oh like it’ll make you less of a man if you do?” You challenged sarcastically and you could see that others were of the same mind he was and realized you would have to change your approach so you took a deep breath and tried to approach this differently because if you got hostile, you’d put them off and half your friends would be brokenhearted, so you had to try again.

“I suppose you don’t have to wear them if you don’t want to, and if they try to put them on you- you could always refuse them and tell them “no” or ‘that you don’t want them’. But you might risk hurting their feelings and if you hurt their feelings bad enough, they could always request new escorts then you’d be off the hook if you find being escorts to the envoy to be too distasteful to you and you see it as a chore and a punishment instead of the honor that it is. Because I don’t think anyone, especially their Majesties who have given us these orders- would see honor or would be pleased- in finding out that you or anyone else was purposefully being mean and trying to get out of their duty by harming and hurting in any way the very ones they were supposed to be protecting.” You explained calmly and resolutely as you narrowed your eyes at him and could see the others in your peripheral vision look down and away as they considered your words carefully and rethought readjusting their attitudes. “You should also consider that there may be a flower necklace made just for you by Zara Hope’s own hands because when I told her about you, she was really excited to meet you and wanted to learn all she could about you and made a point to ask Lomi about you too. And she requested that if it was at all possible if you could personally escort her while she was here which is why I requested you specifically. But I suppose she could get used to disappointment.” You tempted Jamal as the other’s perked their ears up at the news that you had told your friends about them. Or at least Jamal.

“Wait what? You told her about me?” Jamal asked, his eyes growing wider. “What did you say?” Jamal asked curiously.

“Oh just that you were tall, dark and devastatingly handsome, strong, smart and charming.” You grinned victoriously.

“Well I mean you’re not wrong...” Jamal ducked his head as his ears laid back a little and he kicked at some small stones that were on the ground as a bashful smile graced his features.

“Plus I’m pretty sure you’ll like being her escort because she’s really fun to hang around and Hope has always been much prettier than me.” You added.

“Nah, I doubt she’s prettier than you, you’re still the prettiest girl in the palace.” Jamal sustained.

“We’ll see.” You allowed before addressing all the others. “Oh I should also add that my friends are also very affectionate, it’s just our way back in Willow, so be prepared to get your cheeks at least, kissed -a lot. Also we are very fond of games and they will want to play a lot of them.” You continued to ‘warn’ them.

“Ok if they’re even half as pretty as you, I won’t complain about that.” Jamal decided and the rest of them nodded their agreement with that.

“So did you tell your friends about us too?” Kaden asked as he gestured to the rest of the guys in the circle.

“I did actually. I hope you don’t mind.” You answer with a mischievous grin.

“Nope, not at all, just...point me in whichever girl you told about me to.” Kaden shrugged as he tried to play it cool.  

“Well actually I told my friend Zada about you, now Zada is a triplet so don’t get her confused with her sisters, they should, hopefully, be wearing different colored outfits because when they all dress the same, even I can’t tell them apart. Because there’s Zada, Zari and Zulla...” You began as you listed them off on your fingers.  

“Why do they all have Z names?” Kaden asked as he tilted his head curiously.

“Ok so the lead matriarch in Willow is Ziki, we all call her Mama Ziki, she won’t be coming in this envoy because of her advanced age, so because she could never have children of her own, all the children in Willow are honorary children and grandchildren of her and her husband Zazu. Believe me, once she dies, that’s gonna stop. Because me and my friends are kind of sick of all the Z names.” You laugh. “Oh and the triplets and their cousins all have purple irises, it’s like looking into amethysts. So don’t freak out ok? There’s a mineral in Willow that is in everything that grows there and it isn’t harmful in fact it helps you lead a very happy, healthy, long life. When you eat any of the fruits and vegetables that grow there, you’ll get it into your body and for everyone, it calms you down, it takes away stress and anxiety but, for some reason, after just one generation, it turns our iris’ in our eyes different jewel colors. Again, it’s not harmful in any way, it’s just a quirk.” You explained.

“Will it stay with them? Will their children always get that or does it fade once the mineral leaves them? Like once they’re removed from their environment?” Yusif, one of the young doctor’s from the palace asked who had a very scientific mind and had been utterly and completely confused as to why he of all people be in this welcoming party. But you had assured him that he was needed and wanted there. He was a serious doctor who had never paid much attention to his social life, instead completely devoting himself to his studies, but Wenet showed you how he would be going back to Willow and be the first real doctor there and would discover new medicines and how the love of his wife, your friend Zamira who was already basically the village’s main medicine woman and healer, besides her mother and grandmother before her, would help him and together they would accomplish really great things together.  

“I don’t know, if you end up visiting or spending any time in Willow, perhaps you could study it. Willow does have a lot of natural remedies, my friend Zamira who’s the healer and medicine woman there, together with her mother and grandmother, who I’ve told you about, when she gets here, I imagine she would love to talk about it with you at length. When Lomi went with me, he said that most of the red flowers in the fields were actually opium poppies and we had never thought to use those for medicine before. So there’s lots left to discover and learn about.” You shrugged. “Now I’m not saying any of you have to go there or get married and have children with my friends or anything like that to test any of this out, your job is to be their escorts while they’re here and help them in the marketplace and at the seashore and help them around the palace and not get lost, they’ve never even seen much of any city before now, let alone a palace so this will both excite and terrify them because of how massive it is.” You added when the others narrowed their eyes warily when you had mentioned that Yusif go to Willow to see for himself even though you knew that within only a matter of hours, most of them would be at least thinking such things, if not hoping and wishing and willing to do whatever your friends would be asking of them, including going back to Willow and especially marrying them. But if you were to say it, that they would resist it. So you had to walk a very thin line and simply be “encouraging” to them.

Then there is a breeze from the south west and the most amazing- sweet floral and heavily perfumed air came wafting in through the gate and you smile excitedly when you realize that they are very close now. You watch as every single Rakshasa male breathed in deeply, most of them closing their eyes as their tails swished excitedly.

“Wow,” almost all of them breathed in awe before they left to gather just inside the gate, even the guards guarding the gates could smell it and grew excited but they didn’t understand why the breeze just smelled so good for some reason, this kind of thing had never happened before and it excited everyone.

You knew however, the smell of the flowers combined with the perfume you gave them which was a housekeeping secret, and one that was very well kept within the palace among the Rakshasa husbands that had human wives. But it was also a secret that wasn’t about to be too much of secret for long. You and Lomi shared a knowing grin as he pulled you to his side once more and kissed you, unable to resist you even with that perfume not even on you but it still was affecting even him. Thankfully he could give into his impulse in that moment with you.  

“They put it on strong.” Lomi muttered into the kiss, wanting much more from you than just a kiss as his hand traveled down to your butt and he got a good handful of it and squeezed it which made you giggle.

“They did.” You agreed kissing him back, unashamed at the public display of affection before you heard most of the Rakshasa males muttering and whispering to each other, asking each other if they were turned on too and you snorted a laugh and broke the kiss off to giggle into your hand before you buried your face into his side to hide your blush and giggling and laughter. Oh the plan was working already, if only Mythri could have heard that.

Several minutes later is when all of you could just barely hear faint singing, it was such a beautiful, angelic, melodious sound and soon all the Rakshasa were on their tip toes, trying to see down the road to find the source of the singing. Then, you saw them, within half a mile away as the group finally crested a hill and appeared on the road, all of them on horse back and singing out a song they have made just for this occasion as the wind blew a little harder at their backs, wafting the smell of the perfume and the flowers even harder into the Rakshasa’s noses and you watched as their tails swished and wagged excitedly behind them before you realized you should organize them otherwise everyone would get confused.

“Ok, guys I’m gonna rearrange you so you can meet them properly and not get confused or mixed up.” You quickly order them and moved the Rakshasa in a half circle within the inside of the gate so that each male would greet their intended before leading them to the palace before you then put the bottles of perfume that had tags with your friends names written on them and gave them to the Rakshasa greeting party that were in the half circle so that they could exchange “gifts” the perfume for the special flower necklace and that it was also their escort assignment.

“What is this?” Jamal asked as he looked at the bottle in his hand.

“Perfume, every woman loves perfume.” You answered as you continued to hand them out. “Don’t open them! Let the girls open them first.” You directed as some of them moved to open the bottles to sniff it before they ceased doing so.

“Anyone else feel like we’re being set up?” Kaden muttered under his breath to his brothers on either side of him and they hummed and nodded their agreement. Rashad still doing so the most as he was on the other side of Kareem who was on the other side of Kaden. He didn’t like this. This was silly and stupid. He was going to go out of his mind with annoyance and boredom for the next week and they hadn’t even come in through the gates yet. He should have fought harder and found a way out of this but the Queen herself ordered him and he couldn’t refuse her direct order.

“Ok, I think that’s everything.” You muttered to yourself as you handed Aila’s grown children their own bottles of perfume and cologne too to give to your friends, in particular the six young women and all but one of the young men and boys that weren’t wanting Rakshasa mates and the six young women who hadn’t put on the perfume you gave the group, these perfumes and colognes you had bought in the market specifically for humans and carried Zed’s perfume to give to Lily later after dinner before you stood in front of the half circle with Aila and her children along with Dev who had put his arm around Aila affectionately.

The other Rakshasa who were in charge of taking care of the adults and little kids on either side of the ends of the half circle which was now more like a horse shoe shape. You faced your friends who had gotten closer with Lomi by your side and was absentmindedly rubbing soothing circles into your back to ease your nerves and his. Now you carefully listened to the song and you could now just barely make out what they’re actually saying!

“And no matter how far- my friend, my dear one- may be from where I am- I will always remember, never forget- how much I will always love them. And so on this day, this most blessed day, my eyes will finally see them- my friend, my dear one- my long lost loved one. For I am finally with them!” Your friends sing out to you and you can’t help but get choked up, it was the most beautiful song yet and you do your best to sing it back to them, your voice almost choked with emotion but you try and you belt out the new melody and all the Rakshasa and Aila’s children who didn’t know you could sing stare in astonishment at you.

“And no matter how far- my friends, my dear ones- may be from where I am- I will always remember, never forget- how much I will always love them. And so on this day, this most blessed day, my eyes will finally see them- my friends, my dear ones- my long lost loved ones. For I am finally with them!” You sing back, this time in unison with them before they kick their horses to run and canter to you, all of them whooping in excitement. Most of them barely able to get their horses to stop inside the gate before they hop off and rush to hug you, all of you kissing each other and laughing and trying and failing not to cry before they all start draping flower necklaces on you, ones that they have made for you and for Lomi, matching ones along with many, many others. And as you say your hellos you point them in the direction of their escorts and introduce everyone to Aila and her now teenage and grown children, the six young women being so relieved and grateful that they could put their normal sized flower necklaces that matched their own on these devastatingly handsome young men as they happily felt an electric charge between them and even Aila’s daughters were absolutely taken with your guy friends and were beyond happy and excited that they got matching flower necklaces too as they all exchanged kisses upon meeting each other and you could feel the excitement in all of them that seemed to be in the air. All of the Rakshasa were now eager to meet such beautiful women, their previous complaints completely forgotten and would now be denied had even been uttered or thought at the sight of them. They had never seen more beautiful women in their lives!

“Hi, are you Jamal?” Zara Hope, the first one off her horse and the first one to greet you and kiss you and put her flower necklace on you before you pointed her in Jamal’s direction- asked him hopefully as she came near him.  

“Are you Zara Hope?” Jamal returned just as hopefully, because by the gods above, this Zara, must be an angel. She was much too pretty to be otherwise. Between her dark brown hair, big deep Kashmir sapphire blue eyes and the most gorgeous face he had ever seen in his life, not to mention her shapely figure, had him hoping and wishing that this could be his Zara.  

“Yes, just call me Hope, it’s easier to distinguish me that way, so um, this is for you.” Hope said as she came forward and stood on her tip toes to get the flower necklace that matched hers onto him as the girls on either side of her did the same to the Rakshasa on either side of him, all the Rakshasa males eagerly bowing and lowering their heads to make it easier for them to do so, all of their previous objections to the flowers quickly forgotten, their close proximity allowing the Rakshasa to really drink them in, both literally and figuratively before they all seemed to realize the significance of the flower necklace and notice that they were all wearing unique ones that matched their ‘girl’s’ and suddenly their chests puffed up with pride as their hearts threatened to beat out of their chests as surges of possessiveness began to almost overwhelm the Rakshasa males.

“Zara Joy told us to make these for you so we wouldn’t loose each other. I hope you don’t mind.” Hope explained with a wink when she put it around his neck before kissing both of his cheeks since he was already down and close and Jamal couldn’t help but laugh at the pun. Ok you were right, he liked her, this would be fun after all.

“So who do we give our necklaces to?” Zaida, Zara Grace’s little sister who had just turned 15 asked you along with the other young girls in their middle teens asked before you noticed that they had done what their big sisters have done, make flower necklaces for themselves and much larger ones for their special someones who they were hoping would be Rakshasa too as they were also hoping you would introduce them but they were still a bit young for this kind of thing. But Wenet seemed to work in overdrive and showed you all the young cadet’s who would be practicing in the training yard that could be on the tour before your satchel seemed to be weighed down again.

“Hang onto them for now, when we go to the palace and we take a tour, I’ll show you ok? But you can’t really expect them to do what these others will be doing. They’re in training still, so if you really like them, you’d have to wait at least a year or two before you could get them all to yourself. But they will be worth the wait.” You tell them as they all gather around and huddle close to you to hear you before they nodded in understanding before you open your satchel to find an assortment of smaller bottles of perfume, half the size of the ones their big sisters got but big enough to fit within the palms of their hands, their names already on labels around the necks of the bottles before you passed them out to the younger, middle teen girls before they put their own perfumes on and put the bottles safely within their satchels before they got back up on their horses, the littler kids getting on their ponies as the older and married Rakshasa helped their parents back up on their horses before they would all be led back to the palace as you gave Zed his perfume for Lily and told him that he’d have to wait a little while to meet her but that she’d be well worth the wait.

Meanwhile Zamira, the second girl to greet you was walking in Yusif’s direction as she delicately held her the flower necklace for Yusif in her hands, all the blooms were carefully chosen because they were all medicinal and you had told her that Yusif was a doctor, a healer and so she hoped that Yusif would be smart enough to realize the significance of the blooms she chose, having put a lot of thought into hers because while aesthetically, it wasn’t the prettiest, nor did it smell the best but it was meaningful beyond such things.

“Hello, are you Yusif?” Zamira asked the black Jaguar who looked particularly out of place, in his doctor’s robes instead of the other guard uniforms or soldier’s armor.  

“Yes, are you Zamira?” Yusif returned as his ears perked up and his eyes trained completely on her and for the first time in his life, his heart skipped a beat, then two- at the sight of Zamira, her big blue violet eyes and her russet hair made her really stand out to him, even among the crowd of beautiful women.

“I am, are you the doctor? Zara Joy told me that I would be escorted by a doctor while I was here.” Zamira put to him, just to make sure.

“Yes, well, I’m actually an assistant doctor, still learning.” Yusif admitted.

“Aren’t we all?” Zamira grinned as she closed the distance between them.

“And you are the medicine woman in Willow right?” Yusif asked in turn.

“Yes I am, well, again, my mother and her line always have been when my family moved from Egypt to Willow originally. Willow has a lot of herbs that grow in the valley and on the mountain sides that make amazing medicine, I’ve actually brought some for you to examine later if you wish. When Zara Joy and Lomi had come, Lomi said that the red flowers are called poppies? I believe that was his name for them. That if you cut the buds before they bloom, the white sap is made to make a medicine called, um, it starts with an ‘oh’ sound...” Zamira tried to recall.

“Opium!” Yusif provided excitedly.

“Yes! That’s the word. So since you are a healer and medicine person, I made our necklaces from the medicinal flowers that were available at the market in the town just outside of here this morning, I’m sorry they’re not as pretty as the others or the most pleasantly fragrant...” Zamira tried to explain as she realized she wished she should have put more pretty and fragrant blooms in her necklaces, feeling self conscious that such a gorgeous Rakshasa should have something equally gorgeous to wear.

“No! Don’t apologize! I think it’s very clever that you used...” Yusif reassured her as he listed off all the names of all the flowers she used. Even though the true names of them Zamira had never really known, having simply called them by what they looked like back home but she eagerly listened to him as he listed them off before he happily had her put it around his neck and wore it with pride as he picked it up and continued to talk about it. Most of the flowers he was actually particularly fond of because of their medicinal properties. Zamira completely fell in love with how bright his eyes and smile were and how excited he got over flowers, the same way she usually got about them too, sensing a very kindred spirit in him and reveled in how knowledgeable he was and was eager to learn all she could from him before she would have to go back home. You had done her a great service suggesting they meet each other while Yusef felt like a blubbering idiot going on and on about the flowers when he should be saying something about her, her beauty, her charm, her bright smile and intelligent eyes. How with every laugh and giggle and utterance from her beautiful lips made his heart skip beats and pound in his chest and feel like he was going to pass out because surely he was in the presence of a goddess or an angel or something completely divine.  

Meanwhile Zara Grace practically sauntered up Omar, having been quite happy that you had directed her in his direction- a Jaguar Rakshasa who had the same bright turquoise eyes she did. You had warned her he was one of the most flirtatious guys you knew besides Jamal and had been competing for your attention almost as hard as Lomi had upon first meeting him. Zara Grace, was, upon the basis appearances, your twin, with perhaps slightly darker skin. The same bright and intense aquamarine eyes, same long dark auburn curly hair, same curvaceous figure if not even more so. But while you tended to be soft spoken and meek, Zara Grace was brash, outspoken, opinionated, proud, confident and a bit domineering, often the leader of her friends and it was her mother who was the second lead matriarch in Willow and would be the lead matriarch once Mama Ziki passed and Zara Grace would be the lead matriarch when her mother got older and passed as well. She was destined for it and had always been ‘the princess’ in Willow and would continue to be once she returned and the society changed from patriarchal to matriarchal in this generation.

“You must be the best Zara there is,” Omar smirked when he looked Zara Grace up and down and held her gaze, it was like looking at another one of you but something about her just made her that much more appealing to him and he couldn’t explain why, perhaps it was because she oozed confidence, beautiful sexy confidence and her presence demanded his attention. But once he locked eyes with her, it was like every other girl fell from his view, which had never happened to him before.  

“I am, I’m Zara Grace, Grace for short, you must be Omar, obviously because you’re the most handsome Rakshasa here and Zara Joy promised me only the most handsome Rakshasa in all of the Crown City would be my personal escort.” Grace purred and Omar’s eyes lit up in excitement and his tail twitched like crazy.

“I am! See? Finally someone else sees that!” Omar exclaimed as Grace’s smile grew wider and more knowing.

“Then this is for you,” Grace returned as she got very close to him and put the most beautiful flower necklace besides the ones for the Royal Family, and one that matched hers around his neck before pulling him down to kiss both his cheeks then his lips, his hands quickly going to her waist to pull her flush with himself as he happily kissed her back. When she pulled away but still stayed in his embrace Omar subconsciously licked his chops because even the taste of his Zara’s taste on his lips was beyond delicious and he craved more. So much more.

“That’s quite the tongue you got there, what else can it do? Besides licking those handsome chops of yours?” Grace flirted and Omar thought he had died on gone to heaven. Because this Zara, now his Zara, his Grace, was beyond perfect.

“Wouldn’t you like to find out?” Omar purred into her ear and caused a shiver to travel down her spine before pressing a salacious kiss on the side of her neck below her ear that made her give the most delicious moaning keen in response as her hands gripped his arms tightly. Oh he was good. Better than she had anticipated.  

“Maybe.” Grace allowed and pretended to lean up to try to kiss him again before pulling out of his embrace and strutted away to her horse again, winking over her shoulder at him and gave him her best sultry, come hither, look.

“Oh, she’s a tease,” Omar realized as he quickly ran after her and put her under his arm and walked with her back to her horse.

“Care to help me mount one stud before I mount another?” Zara Grace asked as she gestured to her stallion while looking Omar up and down before pointedly staring at his crotch and made of show licking her own lips and Omar had to fight to stay conscious because all the blood rushed from his brain to his shaft and he was grateful his uniform was able to hide most of it. But he had no trouble reaching out take hold of her waist and lift her up onto her steed’s back before she looked over to see her friends now holding onto bottles.

“What is that?” Grace asked Zeena who had just got lifted and put back on her own horse.

“Oh it’s perfume! Remember Zara Joy promised us that special perfume? She gave it to the guys to give to us as exchange gifts for the flower necklaces.” Zeena explained as Omar seemed to remember he was supposed to have given that to her.

“Sorry, you’re so beautiful that anything other than you slipped my mind.” Omar offered charmingly as he handed it to her which made Grace smile brighter as she took it from him. Oh once she bathed and washed her current perfume off, she was going be wearing a lot of this and she was going to wrap Omar around her finger and lead him to be her pet.

Meanwhile Ziva walked towards the white tiger Rakshasa that she was told would be Tonraq. In the bright sunshine she could even perceive the white stripes within his otherwise white fur and his super light blue eyes matched her own. He was, if she was being honest, intimidating. He looked quite serious and stern, he wasn’t even smiling. She worried that the all white flowers she had chosen for his flower necklace wouldn’t even be visible on him, that they would just blend in with the rest of him. What if he didn’t want to wear them? What if he thought they were silly? She looked down and noticed how her own white riding outfit, one that she had made and worn just for today when she would meet an all white tiger Rakshasa. She was hoping to match Tonraq, she was hoping to take one look at him and instantly fall in love with him. But now those hopes all but vanished. She looked up again at him and how he wasn’t even looking at her, he was looking at Zeena who was walking up to the strawberry blonde tiger next to him. Zeena was prettier than Ziva in Ziva’s opinion. Tonraq was just so striking, she wasn’t pretty enough for him. She turned around and went back to you.

“Are you sure about this? He’s not even smiling, he won’t even look at me. I’m not pretty enough for him to even look at me.” Ziva worried as she tried to take off her flower necklace and give both to you.

“No, no, no, that’s not it at all.” You reassured her as you stopped her and made sure she kept wearing her flower necklace and kept his in her hands. “He just hasn’t looked up to see you, once he does, he will smile and he will see how beautiful you are and believe me, he will only have eyes for you after that. But he has to really see you first. That’s all. So don’t loose heart, be brave, go up to him, put that on him, kiss his cheeks as you do it and he’s as good as yours, if you want him.” You encouraged as you put your hands on her shoulders and put your forehead to hers. “Maybe you need your cheeks kissed first.” You instigated before you wrapped her in your arms and start peppering her face, neck and chest

with kisses as she squealed, tried to lean away from you and laughed quite hard at your antics.

Ziva’s laughter and your own finally got Tonraq’s attention and he couldn’t help but smile and laugh himself at the silliness he saw, thinking it was absolutely adorable to see so much affection between friends.

“There, he heard you and sees you now, go, go, go!” You encouraged as you helped her stand up to her full height and gestured to him again and Tonraq realized that the girl who was just in your embrace must be Ziva and his excitement grew. Ziva bit her lip and bravely walked up to him.

“Hi, are you Tonraq?” Ziva asked hopefully.

“Yes! You must be Ziva, this is for you. A gift from Zara who wanted me to give it to you for some reason. I think she said it was perfume.” Tonraq confirmed as he handed her the bottle of perfume.

“Oh thank you very much Tonraq, this is for you.” Ziva said as she held up the flower necklace before Tonraq ducked his head so she could put it on him and froze when she kissed him on the cheeks as she did so. His eyes growing wider as he inhaled sharply and he really got a good look at Ziva and noted her black wavy hair and bright ice blue eyes that matched his own but her otherwise white attire made her match him and how close she was he could really smell that amazing perfume she was already wearing that he felt like was throwing him into a frenzy. Oh he wanted to bury his nose, his face, everything into her. But he settled for kissing her cheeks back which got her to blush and giggle and smile bashfully before she turned away and went back to her horse, her perfume clutched to her chest as her heart threatened to beat out of her chest as Tonraq just couldn’t help but follow her before he noticed all the white flowers in his flower necklace then noticed how Ziva was wearing a necklace to match as it finally sunk in the true purpose of your giving the Rakshasa something to give to the girls and for the girls to give their flower necklaces. You and the Queen were matchmaking and ‘hiding’ it as escorting. That’s why all the married Rakshasa were the escorts for the parents, all the Rakshasa who were known for being excellent fathers were assigned the little ones and only the single Rakshasa seemed to assigned to the young women, now all that made much more sense, hell of a gamble but damn if it wasn’t a good one. Tonraq had to admit, you were good at it, at least in his individual case. He swore he could feel himself swoon at the sight and sound of Ziva laughing and smiling.

“Could I help you up onto your horse please?” Tonraq asked.

“Sure,” Ziva confirmed and couldn’t help but giggle again when he grabbed her waist and hoisted her up.

“Wow, you’re very strong.” Ziva praised as she got back up on her horse and Tonraq smiled bashfully as his ears laid back a little and his tail practically wagged happily.

“Thanks.” Tonraq answered her.

Meanwhile Zeena walked towards one of the several strawberry blonde tigers but that had been thankfully spread out among the half circle and not all grouped together so that it would be confusing. You had pointed her to the one on the closest end to her. He was the most beautiful creature Zeena had ever seen in her life. She could barely breathe. Riyad was big and bulky but his smile was just so friendly and warm and her heart wanted to leap out of her chest and run into his big strong but soft arms.

“Hello, are you Riyad?” Zeena asked curiously as she came closer to him with her flower necklace for him.

“Yes, you must be Zeena, welcome to the Crown City, I’ll be your escort while you’re here.” Riyad greeted cheerfully. “Is that for me?” Riyad asked hopefully as he gestured to her flower necklace in her hands, his tail swishing excitedly at the prospect.

“Yes it is,” Zeena confirmed and smiled excitedly when Riyad bent down so she could put it on him.

“This is for you,” Riyad informed Ziva as he handed her the bottle. “Zara said it was perfume.” Riyad added.

“Oh, well thank you for giving it to me,” Zeena smiled happily. “Did you smell it?” Zeena asked and Riyad shook his head no.

“Nope, it’s yours to open and you should smell it first.” Riyad insisted.

“Well did you want to smell it too or are you not into perfume?” Zeena asked as she hesitated in opening it.

“Actually the curiosity has been killing me.” Riyad admitted and that got Zeena to laugh and Riyad’s own heart jumped in his chest as he took a step towards her, closing the distance again before she opened it and put it between them so they could both smell it at the same time, both of them making a pleased hum when they did.

“That smells amazing,” Riyad admitted as he swallowed hard, his mouth instantly watering as his imagination supplied him with a fantasy of this supremely beautiful woman wearing that and how much he’d like to bury his nose into every inch of her to smell it. Hell, he’d like to bury more than just his nose if he was being honest. Your description of her beauty didn’t do her justice. No description could.

“It does smell amazing,” Zeena mirrored and nodded her agreement to that. Her dazzling bright blue eyes glittering as her black, ringlet-ed hair seemed to bounce with her movements and her dark mocha skin practically glowing against the bright blue of her outfit before she noticed her cousin Ziva right beside her, talking with a white tiger who had white stripes, almost albino, kiss his cheeks as she put the necklace over his head and Zeena realized she had been too shy to do that to Riyad. But seeing her cousin’s boldness, encouraged her.

“I forgot something, could you lean down please?” Zeena requested and Riyad immediately complied and smiled brightly when Zeena kissed his cheeks before stealing a quick kiss to his lips, well kind of to his teeth before she quickly pulled away and couldn’t help but giggle and turned to walk away but Riyad wanted to fall over, those kisses while sweet- ignited a fire within him that roared to full strength.  

“Wait!” Riyad called after her as he quickly looked around to see the first girl getting helped back up on her horse and that gave him an idea.

“Could I help you back up on your horse?” Riyad asked as he followed her like a lost puppy.

“Well of course, thank you.” Zeena readily agreed before he picked her up and carried her the rest of the way to her horse bridal style which just made her giggle even more as she blushed beet red and clutched the perfume, but now that she was so close, she could smell him and practically buried her face into his chest, partially to hide her blush and partially to get a chance to really smell him and it awakened her own fire within her because he smelled amazing all on his own, without the flowers, without any of that, just him. That was all she immediately craved and she pinched her knees together as an ache started at her center.

Riyad’s sensitive sense of smell immediately picked up on that and it was all his strength and self control not to bury his face into her in return, especially between her legs, he had never smelled anything like that before and it made his mouth water even more. Gods above he was falling madly in love with this woman who he just met and as crazy as that sounded. That’s all he wanted. Her.

Meanwhile Kaden simply stared, completely awestruck at the outrageously beautiful woman before him. Her dark chocolate skin, jet black but curly hair, in large curls, and the most intensely purple eyes he didn’t think could exist. Amethysts didn’t even come close to how beautiful her eyes were, hell, how beautiful she was all over. She was wearing a purple outfit that really made her eyes pop and so he just kind of stared, barely moving, barely breathing. This was Zada?

“Hello,” Zada greeted shyly. Seeing as how this was one of the few Snow Leopard Rakshasa there, the other two were on either side of him and you had told her that her Kaden was the middle one, and in her humble opinion, the most handsome of the three, devastatingly so.  

Kaden was finally snapped back into reality when his brother Kadir elbowed him out of his daze her voice was deep but smoother and softer than silk or satin.

“Sorry, hi, I’m Kaden, are you Zada?” Kaden asked. “If you are, this is for you.” Kaden quickly added as he held out the bottle of perfume to her.  

“Oh, thank you, um, this is for you then...Kaden.” Zada said as she put her special flower necklace carefully over his neck.

‘Kiss him!’ Zari mouthed to her sister and Zada gave her sister a shocked yet meaningful look.

“Um, could I kiss you? If you don’t want me to that’s fine, um, if that, would um, not be ok with you, I would, I would understand, I don’t have to. You don’t have to, um, say yes, um, to that, it’s just a...” Zada stumbled over herself before Kaden bent down and kissed both her cheeks before quickly kissing her on the lips, a sudden jolt of boldness driving him.

“Like that?” Kaden asked hopefully, hoping he didn’t overstep himself but the urge to kiss her was completely overwhelming him, almost as strong as the urge to just gather her up in his arms and run off into the sunset with her- was.

“Yes,” Zada giggled as she blushed deeply but her smile was the most beautiful thing Kaden had ever seen. “Could I kiss you back?” Zada asked as she bit her full bottom lip and Kaden nodded yes emphatically to that before he leaned down again so she wouldn’t have to stand on her tip toes to reach him. Zada quickly put her perfume in her satchel before she shakily reached up frame his large head in her hands and kissed his cheeks softly but sweetly before kissing him on the lips again, both of them closing their eyes as the kiss lingered on for a moment before Zada pulled away, her big bright and intense purple eyes fluttering open as the most love drunk smile plastered itself on both their faces.

“So um, thank you for the perfume, you didn’t have to get me anything.” Zada said as she got into her satchel and retrieved the perfume before stepping closer to him to open it. When she did she smelled it and her smile got brighter and more excited before she offered it to him to sniff and his mouth literally watered and went dry at the same time. He wanted her to bathe in that so he could lick it off of her, the thought sending his now love drunk brain into a frenzy. He needed to make this beautiful woman his as quickly as possible, he now just couldn’t imagine his life from that point on without her. He needed to be with her like his lungs needed air.  

“Oh the perfume was from Zara, she gave it to me to give to you.” Kaden confessed.

“OH!” Zada realized before a bright excited smile beamed onto her face and she couldn’t help but giggle again.

Meanwhile Zari had gone to the first Snow Leopard Rakshasa, the one that had been on the left if her eyes went from left to right. He was, in her opinion, the most handsome Rakshasa there and she felt so magnetically pulled to him and was the first of the triplets to go out to greet her intended. Kareem had been staring at her since she came into the gait and his heart nearly leaped out of his chest when you had pointed her in his direction. She was wearing a white and purple outfit but the closer she got, the more he realized just how much of a knock out she was. Her really long black hair was down in large curls and her delightfully rich dark chocolate skin practically glowed and when she got close enough that he could really see just how intensely and brightly purple her eyes were, he wanted to pinch himself. She shouldn’t have been real. She was prettier than any doll, any idol, anything, he had ever seen before. How the hell was he going to escort her around for a week and not fall head over heels in love with her? Because he was swooning just at the first sight of her. But at the same time, he would be damned if anyone other than him dared to touch her. She was holy, sacred. He would have to constantly have his sword drawn while they were in the market because he was having the hardest time not reaching out to touch her himself. He didn’t know how anyone else wouldn’t be able to either.

“Hi, are you Kareem?” Zari asked hopefully and Kareem almost passed out because even her voice was beautiful, it was deep but rich and warm and absolutely heavenly sweet to his ears. Oh he loved the way she said his name too as he wondered what she could sound like saying his name under different circumstances. He would love to find out.

“Yes, you must be Zari? Am I saying your name right?” Kareem said as he tore his eyes from her to read the label on the bottle.

“Yes, you said it perfectly,” Zari confirmed with a bright smile that was mirrored by Kareem. Oh god her smile was divine too. So bright and white and beautiful. “This is yours then, Zara gave it to me to give to you, it’s supposed to be perfume?” Kareem said as he held it out to her.

“Oh, thank you so much.” Zari graciously said as she took it and put it in her satchel. “Then this is for you.” Zari said as she came forward and stood up on her tip toes before he ducked his head and leaned forward so she wouldn’t have to do that, but his sudden movements bumped her and she started to loose her balance and stumble before he caught her in his arms and steadied her by pulling her to him, pinning the necklace between them and they stayed like that for what felt like several long minutes but was only in reality a few short ones. But she didn’t want to get out of his embrace any time soon. Nor did he ever want to let her go because now that he had her in his arms he couldn’t help but feel that she was always meant to be in them. He heard his friend on the other side of him clear his throat which snapped them out of their moment and Kareem slowly set her back down completely on her feet but still didn’t let go of her waist as he bent down for her to put the necklace on his neck and was rewarded with her kissing his cheeks when she did before he just couldn’t help but steal one from her lips, it was quick, electric and soft but it held more promise than anything.

Zari slowly opened her eyes and blinked a few times before her ears heard her sister next to her. ‘Kiss him!’ Zari encouraged before she stole another kiss herself from him before taking his hands that were on her waist still and led them back to her horse.

Meanwhile Zulla had been the last of the triplets to meet her escort. Kadir, if her eyes were going right to left, he was the first Snow Leopard Rakshasa. She watched as he elbowed his brother when her sister Zada had greeted her escort when he hadn’t greeted her back and she had snorted a laugh at the scene. But when he focused on her it seemed he was suddenly the victim of the same circumstance. Once he looked at her, he almost stopped breathing, but instead blinked rapidly a few times, his gaze never dropping hers as she came closer until she was standing almost toe to toe with him, staring up into his own eyes. She had offered him a shy smile at first and he had mirrored her.

“Hello,” Zulla greeted softly.

“Hello, are you Zulla?” Kadir asked, hoping he didn’t sound as desperate in her ears as he did his own. He wanted and needed this beautiful woman before him to be Zulla.

“I am, you must be Kadir, it’s an honor to meet you. I made this for you, it matches mine so that we don’t loose each other. But I understand if you don’t want to wear it...” Zulla began as she dropped her slightly magenta purple eyes from his to look at her flower necklace as she fingered the blooms anxiously.

“Oh, please, I would be honored to wear it, truly, I would.” Kadir reassured her as he bent down and stooped to get his face closer to her own gorgeous one, breathing in deeply the heavenly aroma of the flowers together with her perfume she was already wearing.

“Are you sure?” Zulla asked as she shyly looked back up at him.

“Positive, absolutely sure, yes, please.” Kadir affirmed before Zulla put the necklace over his neck and kissed one of his cheeks but he caught her mouth with his own and kissed her before she could kiss the other cheek. It was soft and sweet but full of promise and seemed to spark fires within them both. When he pulled away he was surprised yet so relieved when she just flung her arms around him and hugged him tight and buried her face into his exposed chest as he quickly and eagerly wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back just as tightly as she was hugging him before he kissed the crown of her head before he nuzzled his face next to hers in a decidedly intimate manner, screw propriety, he knew the moment he saw her that he wanted her and would be stopping at nothing to make her his.

“I promise to take care of you from here on out.” Kadir swore in a low murmur.

“Thank you,” Zulla sighed happily as she basked in his warmth, scent, embrace and closeness. Oh yeah, she was beyond smitten already.

Meanwhile Zamora walked up to the large white tiger Rakshasa who practically looked like Lomi’s twin in everything but eye color. His eyes were silver gray and she felt like his gaze could bore through her. She had noticed him before she even noticed you and Lomi. Standing tall and proud and looked too handsome to be real. They had locked gazes when she came into through the gates, before she could even get off her horse and it almost pained her to look away from him. She had gotten off her horse and greeted you and Lomi first and was so relieved when you had gestured for her to meet the same white tiger Rakshasa she had noticed earlier who had yet to take his eyes off of her and was now being completely drawn to by a force she couldn’t explain or fight.

Rashad stood, barely breathing as the woman with hair like brilliant golden sunshine came in through the gates, the only young woman like her. She was also in his eyes, the most magnificent woman there and the closer she got, the more he could appreciate about her. Her paler skin, like she was made out of ivory, also made her stand out from the others and then when she got close enough and he could discern the color of her eyes- his breath really crashed from his lungs. It was indigo violet, like tanzanite, the deepest indigo violet- the most brilliant eye color he had ever seen in his life, he didn’t think such a color could exist in eyes. Her outfit was the same color and it really brought it out. She looked like the most beautiful woman to him out of everyone- like she was a carved statue came to life and he just couldn’t wait anymore. He broke the line and walked towards her, not caring if he was assigned someone else to escort or not, he was going to be this woman’s escort and he would just have to trade the damn perfume with someone else. He wanted this young woman more than he had ever wanted anything and he was going to do everything in his power to make her his, not just to serve her as an escort but to serve her however she wanted him for the rest of his life, he was going to marry her somehow, some way, everything else be damned.

“Hi, I’m Zamora, are you General Rashad?” She finally asked when they stood mere inches away from each other.

“Yes, how did you know my name?” Rashad asked in awe as he was floored that he was holding her perfume after all! There was only one Zamora when he had asked everyone around him what names they were given.

“Zara Joy told me about you when she came back home. She said that you were the most honorable, noble, charming, honest and courageous General she knew and a true protector, that you command and teach your soldiers with the wisdom of a father, the comrodery of a brother, the patience of a saint and had a heart of gold.” Zamora repeated as her cheeks blushed rose but she bravely held his gaze though all of it. Rashad blinked and gulped and felt he owed you an apology. He had thought you were crazy and presumptuous for putting all of this together and arranging all of this. But now, he was so in your debt because if you had sung his praises like that, he should have repaid in kind and should have believed you and he never should have fought this, he never should have been against this. He should be thanking you for telling her, this beautiful and wonderful young woman, who had stolen his heart and soul with just a look and for you to point her in his direction and have him be her escort, even just a normal introduction- was and would be- a service and gift he could never repay before worry etched on her features and she looked from his eyes down to the flower necklace in her hands and Rashad quickly looked from the flowers back up to her face a few times, hoping to hold her gaze again as her worried expression turned into a pained frown and lack of eye contact made him frown as worry and unease gripped his own chest and made him feel like he was going to have a heart attack any minute.

“She also told me to make this for you out of my favorite flowers, just in case you changed your mind about it, about escorting me that is. Um, that, perhaps at first, you’d be against meeting me, that you’d be against all of this and would try to get out of escorting me the first chance you got and that there was a chance, a pretty big one, that you wouldn’t wear this even if I offered it to you and for me to try to not get my feelings hurt if you refused it and refused me and refused to be my escort while I’m here and that there would be others who she could introduce me to and others who would take me on and like me just as much, if not more so, than you would, who would be happy to wear it if you didn’t want to, so, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up. Just forget about it.” Zamora explained as she couldn’t hold his gaze anymore let alone be in his presence, it was getting too painful as she fidgeted with the flower necklace she had made for him in her hands, inwardly chastising herself for blubbering like an idiot before she clutched the flower necklace to her chest and quickly turned around and moved to walk away and Rashad felt like the biggest asshole in the world as his heart shattered at the thought of hurting this sublime woman’s feelings, just like you had warned him, while his jealous possessiveness surged and ate him alive at the thought of any other Rakshasa meeting her and liking her, loving her, more than he did and could or to wear those blessed blooms that matched her own, made him feel physically sick and wounded like someone had stabbed him in the heart and gut. He would wear nothing but flowers if it meant he could even just get her to smile, let alone make her happy.

“It was still nice to meet you though General.” Zamora said over her shoulder as she let her head and shoulders fall as tears welled and fell from her eyes. Damn her sensitive nature, why did she have to be so emotional?! Why did she have to tell him all that? What if you were wrong and she was getting all worked up over nothing? Why would you have matched her with him? You knew she was sensitive and easily hurt by stuff like this and yet you put her with the ‘roughest’ one out of all of them?! Who was the one most likely to refuse being an escort period? Couldn’t you have just given up Lomi and had him be her escort instead? At least Lomi was nice and sweet and she knew Lomi would take care of her without hesitation or complaint or reserve.  

“No! Wait!” Rashad immediately stopped her and quickly ran around to face her and reached out and put his bent finger under her chin to bring her head up to look at him again, as painful as it was to see her cry and be upset. How the fuck had you known all that?! And not just known it but said it in advance and told Zamora too?! Like you had been reading his mind. “Zara was right, I mean wrong, I mean… please, I’d be honored to wear them. I want to wear them and I want to be your escort, nothing could make me happier to do so, please.” Rashad pleaded desperately as he reached out to grab her elbows to bring her arms away from her chest before using his fingers that weren’t around the neck of the perfume bottle to pull her arms gently up and towards his head as he bowed and ducked and moved her arms gently to put it around his neck before he let go of her when she let the necklace go to hang around his neck before she brought her hands to herself again, still feeling anxious and self-conscious.

Rashad put the bottle of perfume into her hands before holding and framing her perfect, gorgeous and delicate face in his hands and wiped the tears from her eyes as he fought the urge to just envelop her into his arms and hug her and hold her and never let her go ever again. “I am so sorry, I...I upset you. I would never dream of doing anything even remotely upsetting to you ever again.” Rashad swore as he fought the urge to kiss her. To swear his life, his everything to her, this woman he just met but felt like this was who he had been waiting for all his life. He would never doubt you or your orders or anything ever again- if it meant that he could keep Zamora all to himself and keep her happy and safe.

“Are you sure? You don’t mind escorting me after all? Or wearing the flowers?” Zamora asked as her eyes searched his and Rashad felt like she was staring into his soul and felt like he should be on his knees begging for forgiveness.

“I’m sure, I’ll escort you wherever you want to go, to the ends of the earth and I love the flowers, they’re beautiful, just like you and they smell amazing and you have the best taste in flowers, I swear and I will happily wear them no matter what or wherever we go.” ‘As long as we go together,’ Rashad added in his head as he reassured her, keeping her gaze within his own as he kept his face as close to hers as he comfortably could.  

“Ok,” Zamora nodded, her surprise at his words and actions making her tears stop as she just stared in awed wonder at him and rather loved having her face held in his large callused hands as the rest of the world fell away and decided that if she was already this far, she could go perhaps a bit farther and pushed herself up and kissed him since his face was so close and he had looked briefly from her lips to her eyes and she could sense he at least thought about it and to her relief, he kissed back. In fact he held her face firmly in place so that she wouldn’t be going anywhere. His ears drank in her little keening moan and he couldn’t help but moan himself before he felt her grab his shirt that stuck out beyond his armor in her other hand that wasn’t holding the perfume bottle and he moved one hand from her face to wrap his arm around the small of her back to pull her flush against him, but not so hard that it would crush the bottle. Usually his propriety would keep him from doing this much but he felt safe doing so because she, in essence, started it and he was going to return every sign of affection she was willing to give.

When they pulled away Zamora finally offered him her first real, genuine smile that lit up her whole being and Rashad’s as well and it was immediately mirrored by him in turn. It was his new favorite sight to behold and one that he would never tire of seeing.

Meanwhile Zesheva walked towards a black panther Rakshasa who was very finely dressed, not wearing armor or even swords who looked a little out of place. But he was stunning, looking a bit like a peacock, the bright peacock teal of his clothes matched her own eyes and outfit perfectly and even matched the extravagant teal, turquoise and Caribbean blue and white flowers she had gotten for their necklaces. It was her favorite color after all and they smelled better than any perfume ever could.

“Hi, are you Yeshua?” Zesheva asked hopefully as she held his gaze, he had yet to take his eyes off of her since she came in through the gate. She was practically a walking jewel. Her light tan skin and dark brown hair that had lighter ribbons of caramel and honey streaked through the top layers and her outrageously bright peacock teal eyes were more beautiful than any gem ever could be.

“Yes! Are you Zesheva?” Yeshua asked as he hoped with all his might that this was her.

“Yes! You must be the brilliant palace jeweler that Zara Joy told me so much about, she said that your skills with precious metals and precious stones alike are unmatched.” Zesheva praised and Yeshua’s eyes went wide in surprise. Oh he owed you big.

“Well I don’t know about that.” Yeshua ducked his head as his ears fell back a bit bashfully as Zesheva smiled brighter and more knowingly, you had said he was meek and humble and she was happy to see it. Yeshua and his brother Yehoshua had been in Lomi’s group, eager to learn about the girls and women from Willow and they had both fancied you when they had met you and were eager to see girls even half as pretty as you. And in his opinion, she was, quite possibly much prettier than you to him. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life and he would happily just give her any jewelry she wanted for free, if it meant that he could get her to smile more at him. His father and everyone else be damned.

“I do.” Zesheva said simply and confidently before she closed the distance between them and stood on her tip toes to get the flower necklace around his neck before he ducked his head so she wouldn’t have to reach so high before she kissed his cheeks sweetly. “There, now you’re perfect.” Zesheva grinned as Yeshua nearly dropped the perfume at the feeling of her kissing him.

“Oh, uh, th-thanks, this is for you.” Yeshua gulped, not being smooth or charming at all in his own opinion as he gave it to her.

“Thanks, what is it?” Zesheva asked curiously as she took it and considered the bottle.

“Oh Zara said it was perfume.” Yeshua answered.

“Zara Joy?” Zesheva asked.

“Zara Joy? There’s more than one?” Yeshua asked.

“Yeah, there’s three, Zara Joy, Zara Grace and Zara Hope, when we’re all together we call them Joy, Grace and Hope to keep from getting confused. Was it her? That Zara?” Zesheva asked as she turned and pointed to you.

“Yes, that Zara, Zara Joy then.” Yeshua confirmed.

“Ah,” Zesheva grinned mischievously before she carefully opened it and held it between them to smell. “Do you like it?” Zesheva asked Yeshua who nodded emphatically, that was by far the most divine thing he ever smelled and he just wanted her to bathe in that so he could spend the rest of his life smelling her, he would happily do anything she could possibly ask of him without a second thought or hesitation.

“Yes, very much so.” Yeshua gulped.

“Good, me too.” Zesheva nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, Zenala walked up to the other finely dressed Rakshasa that wasn’t wearing armor or swords, but was still exquisitely dressed and who looked nervous and out of place. He was wearing this shimmering Caribbean blue outfit that matched her own eyes and their own flower necklaces perfectly. He was a Black Panther Rakshasa who was on the other side of the half circle from his brother Yeshua. But in the bright sunlight, his black fur almost had it’s own shimmering blue sheen to it. He was gorgeous. So gorgeous in fact that Zenala felt like just the sight of him made her breath hitch in her throat as her heart hammered in her chest. When they finally locked gazes they both stood there, blinking at each other, barely breathing as the moment stretched on for what felt like forever before they both started walking towards each other. Completely drawn to each other.

“Hello,” Zenala greeted shyly.

“Hello,” Yehoshua greeted back shyly in turn.

“Are you Yehoshua?” Zenala asked, praying that he would say yes.

“Yes! I’m Yehoshua, are you Zen-ay-la?” Yehoshua tried reading out her name from the label on the perfume bottle.

“Zen-ah-lah.” Zenala softly corrected. “But close! You did really good, I know it’s an unusual name.” Zenala praised as she put the flower necklace around his neck, Yehoshua happily ducking his head so she wouldn’t have to reach so far, his nose drinking in that heavenly scent of the perfume she was already wearing as well as really get a good look at her jewel like eyes before she kissed both of his cheeks before regaining her individual distance but Yehoshua couldn’t help but take a step forward to reestablish their closeness. He wouldn’t want to be parted from her from this day forth.

“Well then this is for you, it’s perfume, Zara gave it to me to give to you, I’m your escort while you’re here in the Crown City.” Yehoshua explained as he handed it to her and happily enjoyed the little pleasurable jolt he felt when their hands touched as she took it from him.

“Oh! That’s awesome, have you smelled it yet? Do you like it?” Zenala asked earnestly.

“No, it’s yours, I didn’t open it.” Yehoshua shook his head no. “But I would like to. Smell it, that is.” He added and smiled wider when her own smile did the same before she carefully opened the bottle to sniff it before offering it to him. Yehoshua fought to keep his eyes open as he drank in the heavenly aroma and Zenala grinned mischievously when she saw the affect that the perfume had on him.

“Do you like it?” Zenala repeated even though she knew damn well he did. But she wanted him to confirm it.

“Yeah, I really do.” Yehoshua professed, his voice much thicker with desire than should be appropriate but it only emboldened Zenala and made her weak in the knees and made her ache for him to keep talking to her like that.  

“Good, I’ll have to wear it for you then.” Zenala smiled victoriously before turning around and sauntered back to her horse, Yehoshua following after her like his life depended on it. Yehoshua would have given anything for her to practically bathe in it so he could just smell her wearing that for..forever. Oh he was already head over heels for her. How on earth was he supposed to survive this week and not fall in love with her when he felt like he already had? He was such a goner.

Meanwhile Zumar bravely walked up to one of only two black tigers there, the one you had pointed her to, he was the biggest Rakshasa there, one and a half times as big as Lomi and looked like a solid wall of muscle. Gorgeous and scarred as he was. Her baby, Zehra, who was now 10 months old, almost 11 months, squirming in her arms and abnormally fussy, it being well passed Zehra’s nap time and having barely slept this entire journey.  

Remi knew even just by looking at her that this woman was going to be his wife. And that the little girl in her arms was going to be his daughter, he didn’t know how he knew it but he did, through and through. He knew it the same way he knew that the sun rose in the East and set in the West. And his usually stony neutral expression softened considerably and the warmest smile to ever grace his face bloomed before Zehra completely wriggled out of her mother’s arms, forcing her mother to put her down and went running towards him.

“Dada!” Zehra squealed happily as she ran on her little wobbly legs towards him before Remi crouched down and opened his arms wide and motioned for her to come to him. Zumar froze and gasped in shock. Did her daughter know what she was saying? Zehra had never, called anyone, not even Zumar’s own father or brother ‘Dada’. Zumar couldn’t help but want to cry. This was too much to hope for. Had her daughter really chosen, this handsome yet intimidating figure to be...her father? Was it too much to hope for? Very few men would ever take on young that wasn’t their own, let alone from a different species.

“Hi,” Remi greeted the little one, his deep voice almost booming as this, by comparison, tiny baby, who had barely learned to walk, let alone run tried to get to him as fast as she could. Just as she was about to come into his embrace she tripped but Remi caught her before she could fall and quickly picked her up as her little legs kicked excitedly as she squealed and babbled in delight and she reached out to his face before he brought her closer to his face before she grabbed him by the whiskers, which was admittedly painful but he didn’t grimace or growl or anything, just kept smiling at her before she planted a kiss right on his nose! And Remi couldn’t help but hug her back, feeling himself wrapping around her little tiny fingers already. When she was done, he kissed her on her nose cheeks back which made her squeal and laugh more before he cradled her to his shoulder as she hugged him as tight as she could and buried her face into the folds of fur on his neck and fisted her little hands into his fur. She was so small in his hands, her little butt could completely fit within his palm as he used his hand to hold her securely to him. He was almost afraid he’d hurt such a precious little wonder as he immediately started purring loudly as his tail wiggled happily behind him, he couldn’t help it because this little baby was the cutest little girl Remi had ever seen in his life. Between her big purple violet eyes and curly black hair and chubby cheeks and her four tiny little teeth in her large excited smile. He instantly fell in love with her and now that he was holding her, he worried he would never want to put her down ever again.

“Hi, I’m Remi, are you Zumar?” Remi greeted Zumar warmly.

“Y-yes I am, that’s um, that’s Zehra,” Zumar introduced before she seemed to remember that she had a flower necklace for him but worried that Zehra would try to eat it again. “This, this is for you.” Zumar offered. “But I just. I don’t want her to try to eat it. Again.” Zumar hesitated before trying to put it on him.

“Here,” Remi offered and carefully took the flower necklace that was gigantic and put it on him like a sash across his shoulder and chest so that Zehra couldn’t even reach any of it from her spot on his other shoulder. “Welcome to the Crown City.” Remi offered. “And this is for you.” Remi added as he handed Zumar the bottle of perfume that he had put into his own bag at his hip when Zehra had started to run towards him.

“Thank you,” Zumar graciously thanked him before she simply put it into her own satchel as Zehra finally started to yawn, Remi’s naturally really warm and luxuriously soft fur, warmed even more by the sun’s rays and his purring being all she needed to finally doze off and she quickly fell asleep, still clutching to his fur.

Remi looked up and saw how two other Rakshasa, his very close friends, now had little human infants on their shoulders, both infants already either falling asleep or already asleep on them as they led their mothers back to their horses and managed to help them up onto their mounts while still keeping their now sleeping babies on their other shoulders, both of his friends falling just as madly, head over heels in love with their prospective daughters as he just did.

“Come, let’s show you to the palace so you can get to a room and rest.” Remi offered before Zumar nodded and turned and went back to her horse. “Let me help you up.” Remi offered and picked Zumar up with his free arm. “Oh my goodness,” Zumar giggled as she now practically sat on his shoulder before he carried her the rest of the way to her horse that he saw her get off of and she was able to slide down from his shoulder onto her horses’ back and saddle pad. Remi being unbelievably pleased he was able to show off his strength like that. He didn’t want his future wife afraid of him like most everyone else was. He wanted her to know that she could trust him and place her confidence in him, he wanted her to know and to feel safe with him. Because he could already tell, he would fight a thousand wars before anyone could ever hurt her or Zehra.

“Do you mind?” Remi asked as he held out his hands for her reins.

“Not at all,” Zumar shook her head no and handed them to him before Remi took the reins and started leading her to the palace behind the others.

Meanwhile just as Zumar let her little one down, Zuhrah also let her daughter Zahira down in the hopes that Zahira would show off her newfound walking ability to you and to Lomi who had both crouched down and had beckoned her to you both but Zahira bolted for the other black tiger Rakshasa that was closest to her on the other end, running underneath two horses to do so, who thankfully were very tame and used to kids running underneath them when the kids would play tag in the pastures so Zahira was in no danger of being kicked or trampled and Riyad, seeing her running underneath the horses as fear gripped his own chest as he ran towards her to save her. Riyad was one of the palace’s composers and he felt he could write a hundred songs just on the beauty of this little one and her mother. Zahira had squealed and shrieked in delight and had tried running to him but she tripped on a stone and was about to fall face first when he dove to catch her to make sure she didn’t fall and hurt herself as well as bring her out from underneath the horses and out of danger.

“Oof,” Riyad groaned as he landed chest first into the dirt but he managed to keep Zahira from crashing into the dirt so it was a mixed success as Zuhrah came running around the two horses to find this black tiger Rakshasa holding Zahira, laying in the dirt and trying to get up while also keeping her daughter safely in his grasp and pull her away from the horses.

“Oh my goodness, thank you so much for catching her, here, let me help you up.” Zuhrah offered as she helped him up to his feet again before trying to wipe off the dust and dirt off his shirt and clothes and Riyad felt dumb struck when he looked into the most amazing slightly magenta violet eyes he had ever seen. Like amythists from the polar regions and to add to it they were in the most delicately gorgeous and utterly symmetrical, perfectly proportioned and exquisitely beautiful face he had ever seen in his life. With her thick, straight black hair but otherwise creamy complexion, he felt he was not in the presence of a mortal, no, this had to be a siren, a goddess, an angel, something divine that he didn’t feel worthy to behold before he got a closer look at the darling wonder in his arms and noted she was a miniature of her mother but her eyes were just slightly more purple-ish in tone but no less stunning. Oh he felt himself completely fall for her. Maybe if she and her daughter were supposed to be escorted by someone else they would consider trading. Because was beyond smitten already. He would do whatever he could to follow both of them to the ends of the earth. Hell he would adopt this little bundle of joy if he could.

“You’re welcome, she was just so excited, I didn’t think she’d run underneath the horses, it’s a miracle she didn’t get kicked or trampled.” Riyad noted as he tore his gaze away from this beautiful creature to her equally beautiful daughter. “You gave us a fright young lady, what do you have to say for yourself?” Riyad teased Zahira as he cradled her in his arms and tickled her and laughed when the most beautiful delighted laugh left the baby as she just beamed the brightest smile at him that had him feeling like his heart was already wrapping around her fingers.

“Hi, I’m Riyad by the way, I’m supposed to be waiting for Zuhrah?” Riyad introduced himself as an afterthought.

“Oh that’s me! I’m Zuhrah, this is my daughter Zahira. Zara Joy said that you were the most talented composer to ever grace the palace’s concert hall! So it’s an honor and a privilege to have you be our escort!” Zuhrah beamed happily and so relieved this was her escort and ever so grateful he seemed to ooze ‘father figure’ and was ever so grateful Zahira liked him as much as she did. She was terrified Riyad wouldn’t like children even though you had assured her and reassured her that not only was he good with kids, he loved kids and would be an amazing and gentle and a very fun, loving and doting father.  

“Oh my goodness, that’s a bit ridiculous, I’m not the most talented composer. I’m barely mediocre.” Riyad laughed and shook his head before he got the bottle out of the bag on his hip. “This is for you though.” Riyad said as he handed it to her as he held Zahira in one arm and liked how snugly she fit against him.

“What is it?” Zuhrah asked curiously as she looked it over appreciatively.  

“Zara said it was perfume. She gave the escorts the perfume to give to you as a way of assigning us who we would be escorting so, let me just say I think we’ll be just fine. Won’t we little Lady Zahira?” Riyad answered as he continued to tickle Zahira who was laughing as hard as she could before she started babbling at him and trying to climb him before she settled to lay down on his shoulder and cuddled into the crux of his neck and shoulder and settled down to take a nap.

“I believe we will too.” Zuhrah agreed with a twinkle in her eye.

Meanwhile before Zumar could even let her daughter down, Zakira held onto her baby tightly, Zeeanna, who was quite fearful of everything and everyone and clutched to her mother anxiously as Zakira walked towards the black and silver leopard Rakshasa who you had told her about and had gestured for her to meet. Zakira could hear her heart pound in her ears as she grew afraid of this seemingly aloof but still very handsome Rakshasa before her who she had thought had been paying so much attention to his friends meeting their intendeds to even notice her. He stood at the very center of the half circle/horseshoe shape and Zakira had been so anxious about this, she had been the last one through the gate and off her horse and the last one to greet you and the last one to get directed to her Rakshasa. She replayed all of the wonderful things in her head that you had told her about Sulaimon but she was still so doubtful. She had loved her husband Zahir dearly, had loved him all her life and it pained her greatly when he did not return. She had dressed in black since then, refusing to dress in any other color, especially white because she did not want to accept his death and she had been inconsolable since he left, sick with worry to the point she almost lost her baby. Between being so heartbroken over her loss, she was so angry that he missed her pregnancy and her birth to their daughter, he would have made the most wonderful father. She almost didn’t feel ready for this. She was terrified all those hopes and wishes would disappear like smoke, just like Zahir’s promises to return to her had. But to have seen Lomi be so good with Zeeanna and for Zeeanna to take to Lomi as quickly and happily and readily as she did, Zakira knew her daughter needed and deserved a father. The best one. But could she really trust you that much? To trust that you would steer her in the right guy’s direction? What if you were wrong? What if all this was a mistake?

Then Sulaimon looked over and finally seemed to notice her, having been patiently waiting for her this whole time, having realized after all his friends meet their girls that the last one must be his and noted her black clothing as she came in through the gate and thinking to himself that she was the best that had been saved for last, saved for him. In his opinion, Zakira was very easily, the most beautiful out of all of the young women there and was, without any doubt, the most beautiful and gorgeous woman he had ever laid eyes on. And he could already tell, she had been worth the wait.

Zakira froze in place when their eyes finally met. Part of her wanting to burst into tears that at long last she was finally here and finally in front of Sulaimon, even more handsome than she ever could have imagined and the other part of her wanting to get back onto her horse and ride off back home, running her horse the whole way.

Sulaimon could see the fear gripping this young woman, he could see how tense she was even from the distance that still separated them. He could even see the doubt and the worry on her face. You had warned him that Zakira would be the hardest one to try to get to know. Because while she was beautiful as well as insanely talented when it came to singing and dancing and cooking so that all of it was an art form for her and that she was really the best at all three back in Willow, she had been the most wounded by her husband’s death, even her brother’s and her father’s death and had stopped doing both singing and dancing for the most part out of grief, that she would be the most hesitant to trust him and the most reluctant out of all of them to open up and accept him. But that she loved so strongly and fiercely and deeply that it would be worth it, that she was the greatest prize and treasure anyone could ever know. Sulaimon was the only one you had admitted you were trying to play matchmaker to because you knew that Sulaimon wouldn’t go along with any of this without knowing the whole truth and out of everyone, you knew he was also usually reserved but he was also discrete and wouldn’t let the cat out of the bag so to speak to the other escorts. You urged him that he could not be deterred or discouraged by her wariness or fearfulness, that he just needed to give her time, treat her with extra loving kindness, patience and gentleness and not give up but instead had to be gently persistent.

Sulaimon tried to smile warmly at her and that got her to mirror a small, yet shy smile back. So Sulaimon finally stepped forward but stopped when Zakira took a step backward, her small smile vanishing as quickly as it came. He could see her chest heaving as she breathed heavily through her nose as she looked him up and down and seemed to stare at his swords at his sides with disdain, fear and hatred.  

Sulaimon quickly realized the problem and took a step back again and immediately took off the belt that had his swords’ scabers were on and took his daggers from his other belt too and gave them to his friend to carry so that nothing about him would be threatening in any way. He almost felt like he was approaching a wild horse. He took the bottle of perfume out of the bag on his waist and held it in his hand out in front of him. Almost like he was offering a carrot to said wild horse.

“Zakira?” Sulaimon tried again as he slowly stepped forward again, this time Zakira didn’t back away again, but she did stay still as she seemed to take a moment to register that he was talking to her. “Are you Zakira?” Sulaimon repeated as he started to close the distance between them before she finally nodded yes in confirmation, as she realized in an afterthought that she did like his voice, and did like the way he said her name.

“Hello, welcome to the Crown City, I’m Sulaimon. This is for you. A gift from Zara, but she wanted me to give it to you. It’s supposed to be perfume.” Sulaimon explained and smiled a little more hopefully when her face softened as understanding seemed to wash over her.

“Oh, thank you.” Zakira finally said as she took it from him and Sulaimon had to strain his ears to hear her, her voice was so, so soft but surprisingly a bit deeper than he had thought it would be but still so sweet to his ears.

“Then, this is for you.” Zakira held out his flower necklace as Sulaimon noticed the blooms were deep dark purple orchids and other very dark flowers, but the pattern matched her own exactly, all the blooms so dark they were almost black. And they smelled heavenly. Sulaimon took the necklace from her outstretched hand as she angled herself away from him, keeping her little one away from him before he put the necklace around his own neck. Then he looked up and caught her little one’s gaze, who looked just as fearful as her mother. But upon seeing him, stared at him in confusion before she finally lifted her head off her mother’s shoulder to consider him skeptically. Her little brows furrowed in concentration, which Sulaimon thought was the cutest, most adorable thing he had ever seen before she finally seemed to make her mind up about him and her own little features softened and she leaned his way and reached out to him, making grabbing motions at him with her little chubby hands and offered him a pleased smile and a jovial laugh that made Sulaimon completely melt.

“No Zeeanna,” Zakira tried to pull her daughter back to her chest before Zeeanna fussed before she started to cry, trying to reach for Sulaimon again.

“Please? Can I try to hold her? I promise to never, ever, hurt her.” Sulaimon pleaded, his heart breaking in his chest at the sound of her crying as his own heart seemed to leap out of his chest and go to this adorable sweet little girl.

Zakira hesitated for a moment as she looked from her daughter to Sulaimon a couple of times before she took a deep breath and walked over to him. Zeeanna leaning as far as she could and reaching out to Sulaimon before he took her from her mother and cradled her to his chest and looked down at her and her big purple violet with splashes of deep turquoise eyes that looked like they were alexandrite and they were the same eyes that her mother had and smiled adoringly at her.

“Well hello there Zeeanna,” Sulaimon greeted as softly and as gently as he could as he immediately started purring. And Zeeanna, bless her beautiful heart, laughed and reached up- grabbed his face before planting a large, slobbering, open mouthed kiss right on his cheek that made him erupt into a laugh. Oh he already loved her, so very dearly. Then when she was done she sat down in his arms and pulled his fur out of her mouth before trying to spit it out all over him which just made him laugh more as Zakira finally laughed herself as she watched them closely.

“Here, you missed one.” Sulaimon said as he spotted a little black hair on her tiny pink tongue and reached in to try to get it.

“Don’t…!” Zakira tried to warn him as she reached out to stop his movement but it was too late. Zeeanna, with lighting fast speed, had grabbed hold of his hand, a hand on his thumb and a hand on his pinky and shoved his finger into her mouth and bit down as hard as she could on his forefinger.  

“Ow!” Sulaimon roared and growled before he could stop himself as his ears pinned back on his head as he clenched his jaw and his tail twitched rapidly as Zakira froze in place and her eyes went wide with terror as she inhaled sharply and Zeeanna erupted into the deepest, most evil, belly laughing giggle before she did it again!

“Ow!” Sulaimon bit out in a groaning whimper, managing to not growl or roar again because he really did not want to scare either her or especially her mother and gave Zeeanna a very softened hard and unimpressed look as he tried to get his hand back but her grip was as strong as iron and her teeth, though small and seemingly dull, were in fact much sharper than they looked and her jaw muscles were seemingly just as strong as his own. Zeeanna just continued to rock with laughter keeping her grip on him as tight as she could and his finger in her mouth and continued to gnaw on his knuckles like it was a chew toy.

“Ah, ah, ah, ok help please,” Sulaimon pleaded and huffed as he breathed very quickly in little puffs to get over the pain this little one just inflicted for the fun of it. You had warned him that Zeeanna was a biter and had bitten Lomi an a couple of occasions and he had underestimated, so much, of just how strong of a bite this little one had.

“No Anna! No biting!” Zakira chastised once she realized that Sulaimon wasn’t going to yell angrily or hurt or retaliate in any way against her or her daughter, and simply had a normal reaction, as she blew a breath of relief and helped pull Sulaimon’s hand from her daughter’s hold, once she did, she gently popped her daughter in the mouth. “No Anna, no biting, biting bad!” Zakira repeated firmly as she glared warning-ly at her daughter before Zeeanna started wailing and turned and buried her face into Sulaimon’s chest.

“It’s ok Anna, but no, no biting,” Sulaimon repeated softly and laid her on his chest and shoulder before patting her back then rubbing soothing circles into it to get her to stop crying before Anna burped, then spit up all over his back, then sighed in relief then relaxed and laid her head on his shoulder and fisted her hands in his fur and quickly tried to fall asleep.

“I am so sorry.” Zakira apologized when she heard it as Sulaimon’s ears laid back and his eyes closed as he made a face when he could feel her spit up start to drip down his back on his shirt before Zakira got a cloth from her satchel and tried wiping it off as Sulaimon’s other friends started snickering.  

“It’s ok, she’s a baby, that’s what babies do.” Sulaimon reassured Zakira as he stood still and let her clean him off. Perhaps the sooner he could get back to the palace, the sooner he could get cleaned up and not smelling like milky spit up. But that didn’t mean he loved this little wonder on his shoulder any less. She had spirit and spunk and he could respect that. He knew babies were messy and that was going to come with the reality of the opportunity of having her and her mother in his life.

“By the gods above,” Zakira breathed when she was done and noticed that her daughter had finally fallen asleep on his shoulder and was happily sleeping soundly despite the noise and everything going on around them. Zeeanna had always preferred her mother and often wouldn’t sleep without being held by her mother or at least had her mother’s touch. Zakira thought it was a fluke that Lomi could get her to take a nap without her and Zakira had enjoyed the respite when Lomi had come and visited. But now that Zeeanna seemed to have chosen this Rakshasa and felt comfortable enough to one, kiss him, two- have him hold her, three- to chew on him and laugh about it, brat that she was, and four- to fall asleep on him. Perhaps she should put a little more faith that someone and something greater than herself was maneuvering things. Maybe she should be a little more accepting of this great change.  

“What?” Sulaimon asked, worry creeping into his voice as his sensed trained on little Anna and Zakira. “What’s wrong?” Sulaimon asked again when Zakira didn’t immediately answer him.

“Nothing, nothing’s wrong, she’s...she’s asleep. She never falls asleep that quickly or easily. She has barely slept this whole trip, she’s needed it.” Zakira said as she reached up to and gently moved her daughter’s hair out of her daughter’s face before stroking her face gently as her other hand wiped her own tears away and she regained control over her emotions once more.

“Oh, well, good, happy to help.” Sulaimon grinned, happy that Anna at least liked him and felt it was a very big step in the right direction as Zakira started walking back to her horse.

“Here, let me help you back on your horse and lead you back to the palace.” Sulaimon offered.

“No, I don’t need help, I can do it.” Zakira insisted as she walked back to her horse even faster.

“I know you can.” Sulaimon affirmed before he knelt down next to the horse. “Use my knee as a step stool.” Sulaimon offered as he held his free hand out to her.

“….ok.” Zakira relented and took his hand and quickly stepped up onto his knee and mounted her horse and couldn’t fight the little grin that tried to spread on her face before Sulaimon stood again, careful not to disturb Anna on his shoulder as he took the horses’ halter and started to lead it with the other horses that had all the other girls riding them, their Rakshasa escorts escorting them.

Once everyone was back on their horses the group went to the palace where a crowd had gathered along the guarded route to see this envoy from Willow. Almost everyone who saw them couldn’t help but smile and waive as everyone from Willow did the same, smiling and waiving at everyone as the crowd cheered, mostly the guys who couldn’t help but whistle and clap at the sight of so many beautiful women on the most magnificent horses as the flower vendors realized what a sales opportunity this was and as soon as the envoy passed everyone went to the flower vendors to make their own flower necklaces to show their support while also hopefully catching any of the young women’s eyes when they would be hopefully coming through the city and in the market hopefully later.

[momolady]

Hi momo!! So I'm a part of your patreon, and I just read the first part to your Jasper and Aisling origin story. It's so good!! I've always wanted to know more about their beginning. I can't wait for more!

So i had a question, and I hope it makes sense! In The Ruby Empire: The Second Age, the Sanguis Rex thing was going on, and you mentioned that Japser and Aisling and their kid were separated and taken as prisoners of sorts. Did you ever write an update or mention those two after the big war where they are reunited? I was trying to remember, but I can't remember if it was ever mentioned! If not, would you ever consider writing a kind of epilouge for them? Like where their reunited after that whole thing. If not, that's totally okay! I know you have a ton on your plate as it is 💜💜💜

First of all, thank you so much! I’m really excited about the new Jasper stories coming out. Hoping they’ll drum up some excitement from my readers too.

As for the second part, oh boy, is it a long story.

For now, I consider most (of not all) the Sanguis Rex stuff retconned. That is because I got burnt out on it because of a commissioner who I allowed to control the story, and the narrative I had going for it despite my best wishes. This also led to the changes in how I handle my commissions. But for a while there, I had come to really dislike the Ruby Empire, which is why more plot building and narratively connected stories in it haven’t been happening as much, if at all. The stories I wrote during that era I have a hard time reading due to the issues I was suffering. I allowed this person too much control, and for it not only did I suffer but I feel my work during this era is some of my worst. Characters I loved I haven’t been able to go back to. Which itself is painful. I’ve been working on taking it back, and hope to fix the damage that was done in my head. I’m slowly getting back to loving the Ruby Empire again.

And as for the true answer to your question, just imagine Jasper, Aisling, and their daughter Charlotte are just fine and happy in Obresh.

[momolady]

I’ve never gotten to really write out the religions within the Ruby Empire. But since Maradon and Ari exist, it always struck me that the RE had deities like mythology. Real and powerful beings that can come down to humanity. Mythri, Chiyo, and Katrina are even deemed reincarnated goddesses. So I’ve always always thought the deities, in some way, can be born or can slumber until they find new life. I would love to be able to put this into words much better. But also maybe the various religions in the RE are based around what individual deities reign there.

[momolady]

There are other continents beyond the two on the east and west of the Cobra Strait that make up the Ruby Empire. They’ve not been made contact with. Although the Polar is aware of something further north than them.

There’s been mention of a couple of islands that aren’t part of the Empire in a few stories.

Most land was created by dragons, and their current hibernation will end with a creation of new lands.

Any questions about world building or story lore? Just ask!

[momolady]

Could you draw us a simple map of Ruby Empire? I'm very visual and would like to just see how all the areas come together. Nothing fancy, a napkin drawing would do it for me. Please and hopefully thank you!

You’re in luck! I have such a thing, but it’s kind of old and isn’t exact to my imagination. But yes, I have a Ruby Empire map I can share!

[momolady]

I just had a Ruby Empire Pokémon AU idea that may be slightly unhinged.