"You clean up nicely," I remarked as I stood before my consort-to-be with my arms crossed over my chest. He now wore garb more suited to the Kavashian cold and culture; robes of vermillion with long outer sleeves that hung low to his thighs and lined with animal fur that folded over the hem of the high neckline. A golden silk sash was wrapped around his waist and tucked in at the back, a pin with a tassel securing it. "Although your hair still stinks of sulphur. Do you always dye it that shade?"

Fairan, who was already stiff as a board, tensed up after my question. However slight of a change it might've been, it didn't escape my notice. A single arched eyebrow twitched up as I stared him dead in the eye.

"Yes, I do," he lied with a perfect smile and a racing heart. "I prefer this hair color. Doesn't it look striking?" I hummed, relaxed my brow, and matched his smile with one of my own.

"That it does. Such a deep shade of indigo must've taken a lot of materials to achieve. Should I prepare your budget to include these materials?"

"If you would, I'd be grateful, Your Majesty." The muscles on the left side of his face twitched— eye, brow, lip, everything. My smile widened, and voice sweetened with honey.

"I won't. I despise the smell of sulphur, and it's an assault on the senses. Next time, you will wash the dye out as well."

"Your Majesty—"

"You're a terrible liar." I leaned in close, grabbing hold of that thin, angular chin of his. "You want the dye out almost as much as I despise the smell of it. You want to be free of your restrictions as eldest prince? Accept the restrictions of being a consort... which includes no longer dying your hair."

His lips pursed and his gaze darted to the left. Tilting my head, I released his chin. One of my rounded fluffy ears flicked in that direction but picked up on nothing other than a guard patrol passing by the doors to my private chambers.

"Yes, Your Majesty. I'll do as you say," Fairan muttered, still refusing to look me in the eyes. I cupped a hand around one of the striped ears atop my head, and leaned to one side so I was in his line of sight again.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you. Imperial consorts can only be heard when they speak with pride, dignity, and diction."

"I said, I'll do as you say, Your Majesty," Fairan ground out through clenched teeth. I couldn't help myself and laughed, my mirth causing Fairan a small amount of surprise and confusion based on how his eyes bugged wide and he frowned.

"Removing any unpleasant scents will make more beastfolk inclined to speak to you anyway, Your Highness." I patted his shoulder and turned to leave, only for my hand to be grasped onto.

"Why are you leaving, Your Majesty?"

Turning back around, it was I who suddenly had a face far too close to my own. Fairan finally stared into my eyes now that he was taking the initiative. He squeezed my hand, and I could smell mint on his breath when he continued to speak. Frankly, it was a relief from the putrid sulphur his hair had been soaked in.

"Where will you sleep?" He asked, eliciting a smile from me, genuine and assuring.

"I already slept. And if I'm to take you in as consort, preparations will have to be made. You've had a long day and an even longer journey. You should be the one resting and eating your fill. There's nothing like eating after a personal success, afterall." I gave him a toothy grin and patted his shoulder with my free hand. "Why don't you use this night to celebrate? If nothing else, you achieved your goal of getting to be the first member of my harem, did you not?" He stared at me with eyes of a dead fish, and I tilted my head questioningly. After a few more seconds of staring at me like a fool, Fairan let go of my hand and lowered himself into a deep bow.

"I'll be sure to rest as Your Majesty commands."

"Excellent. I'll send for some servants to tend to you shortly." I turned away from Fairan for a second time and hurried to make my exit.

Such a tender heart I had, taking him in only because he begged and was a little cute. Maybe Natsuki was right, I thought to myself as I rubbed my face. I might have more of a weakness for a pretty man with long hair than I'd ever care to admit. No matter, I'd handle any trouble he'd bring as I'd handled all my problems previously. If wit and charm didn't work, sheer brute force and violence usually did the trick.

Now having furthered my resolve, I left my quarters for my study. As I passed the guards standing next to my room, I briefly paused to speak to them.

"Summon Osil to my office," I ordered. They gave confirmation in clear, resounding voices, and bowed. After nodding my head in approval, I continued the short trek to my workspace. As I grasped my hands behind my back, I noticed that the paint on the wooden decoration of my palace needed a fresh coat of vermillion paint.

Humming softly, I ran a hand along a column, rubbing my fingertips together to dislodge the chipped paint. I glanced over the vectored fence and my spine straightened on instinct. Out in the courtyard and approaching like a demon was one of my royal advisors.

Wei Fang was a fellow tiger tribesman from the east, and had been old friends with Natsuki. He was the tallest male I'd ever met to date, towering over me like a tree and often charging at me like a raging bull when he found fault with my actions. He often found fault with my actions. Just the sight of his swept back red-orange hair was enough to make me dart and hide. Making eye contact with his wide amber eyes was even worse— I felt like groaning as if I were some petty juvenile. Wei and his stupid freckled face. All the court ladies were fooled by his chiseled features! That thin veneer of a righteous beastfolk hid the killjoy monster underneath!

"Chesire! Don't you dare run away from me!" I stiffened, my heel freezing in its turn.

"Why, dear Wei, I would never. What can I do for you?" Plastering on a smile I continued on my way to my office, Wei hot on my heels.

"Don't play games. The human prince has escaped, and you've called off the search."

"Indeed I have. I don't want to waste resources and time when the escapee we speak of is in my bedchambers."

"He's what?!" Wei roared, his top blown clean off. I could swear that I picked up on a faint whistling coming from his ears.

"He ran into my arms and after telling me his heart wrenching story, we shared a tender kiss," I dramatically lied, hugging myself and swaying my hips as Wei and I walked together. "After that I whisked him to bed with me where we made—" Wei put a stop to my jests with a strike to my head with his fist.

"Enough joking, you stray. What in heavens name are you thinking?"

"He made an offer that I couldn't bear to refuse," I confessed whole heartedly with a shrug of a shoulder. "Certainly a better offer than his oaf of a father made. Now there's a joke for you."

A peace treaty that demanded no incursions but tried to weasel out of the only incentive they had to offer. That incentive being the dissolvement of the slave trade, where most of the enslaved people were beastfolk that had been kidnapped before the founding of the Empire. Truly, once a people had grown used to the luxuries slaves afforded them, they'd cling to it all with sweaty vice grips.

I heaved a sigh just thinking of that "treaty" full of loopholes and clauses that only benefited the Nyxian Kingdom. It had taken all of my willpower not to shove that scroll up King Samuel's ass in front of all his delegates.

"If nothing else, I can use him refusing to leave as an excuse to hold him hostage in return for all the enslaved beastfolk. If that too doesn't work," a bloodthirsty grin spread across my face as I stopped in front of my office, "we'll have to reach the conclusion that there's no helping the humans of the Nyxian Kingdom."

"And the prince? What will become of him?" Wei asked from behind me, his glare boring holes into the back of my head. I gave him a shrug of my shoulders and pushed the doors open.

"We will see. He says that he is more afraid of his father than he is of what could happen should he fail as a hostage. I see no reason to be needlessly cruel to someone who has been thrown away."

"As long as you aren't making decisions based on a pretty face. Like that one time with the brothel boy—"

"I was a naive juvenile then, and I didn't have the weight of an empire on my shoulders, now did I?" I blurted out, my cheeks burning like a hot pan.

"You might not have been Empress, but your infatuation with a pretty face didn't set a good precedent."

"Yoseph was more than a pretty face," I grumbled and resisted the urge to slam the door on Wei after I stepped inside my office.

"He certainly acted dumb while he was scamming all your allowance from you." I threw up my hands at Wei's retort and sat down at my desk.

"Prince Fairan isn't Yoseph. While he's obviously hiding something, I can manage it with some caution. Not to mention that I have no plans to fall in love."

"Famous last words, Your Majesty."

"Since when have you been an expert on matters of the heart?"

"I don't need to be an expert to know a death toll for reason like that one." Wei stood in front of my desk, hands held behind his back. He glared down at me with the fury of a mother I'd never known.

"You've been reading too much, my dear Wei. It's making you go cross-eyed and not know which way is up or down." I grinned at Wei, resting my chin on the back of one hand. He scoffed, and turned away when there was a knock on the door.

"Your Majesty, you called for me?" Osil greeted from the other side.

"Yes, come in." With my invitation given, my guard captain entered and came to stand beside Wei. They both shared a courteous nod to each other before their focus was on me.

"Should I tell him, or will you, Your Majesty?" Wei asked with a raised brow.

"I am more than capable of explaining myself, dear Wei," I grumbled, glaring a few daggers at him.

"Are you?" Osil asked with a raised brow that mirrored Wei's. It broke my heart to see my precious guard captain take my advisor's side. Simply shattered me to pieces. "Because I haven't heard anything since you called off the search for that human."

I took in a breath and shook my head.

"You'd best start giving the human the respect he's due, Osil. Because I've changed my mind. I'm going to marry him."

"Pardon?" Osil questioned after a long pause. His round red eyes would be squinting down at me if they were capable of blinking. Had I been a lesser ruler, I'd be sweating under Osil's and Wei's glares. Ignoring the perspiration between my shoulderblades, I held my hands up in surrender.

"Consider it a personal charity. If that outlook doesn't sway you, I don't see the point in wasting time and resources trying to kick out a person who one— gave your guards the slip, and two— clearly has no intention of leaving." Osil and Wei shared a glance, then spoke in unison.

"Are you sure it's not just because he has a pretty face?"

"It is not!" I objected, slamming a fist on my desk and feeling my face burning once again.

"Are you certain? Because I seem to recall a certain brothel—"

"I swear, Osil, if you bring up Yoseph, I'm tacking your brothel exploits and mistakes to your office door." I smirked at Osil after having effectively scared him into silence, my tail slowly swishing behind me. "It's decided then. I will take Prince Fairan as my first consort, and an eye will be kept on him at all times. I trust you two to take care of the preparations." My guard captain and advisor shared another look, then bowed to me.

"Yes, Your Majesty," they answered in unison.