A week has passed since Axiel had first stepped in Aeltherion. 

It was hard for him to admit - but the elfen kingdom was, in fact, too beautiful to be natural. The floating streets between the centuries -old trees, the morning chants that cured sick leaves, the children with flowery hair who danced on crystalline lakes ... 

Everything was harmony. 

And everything ... strangely organized. 

Axiel watched the lines of older giving orders to male generals with a head down. A hunter, young and elegant, chose husbands between aligned warriors, judging them by the way they put on their boots. A 200 -year gardener asked for permission to three women to prune a tree. 

Loriel floated beside him, her hands behind head and a lazy smile. 

- Beautiful, right? Your male chauvinism must be exploding now. 

- This is a theater - murmured Axiel. - An empire of flowers, and women.

Elena approached, wearing green and golden ceremonial robes. The silver hair stuck in rijas braids, the skin cleans, the fixed eyes on it. 

- I see that you are analyzing our people with the eyes of a judge. 

Axiel stared at her. 

- Just trying to understand the logic of all this. 

She crossed arms, serious but serene. 

- Here, women decide. Matriarchs in all villages. Counselors. Generals. It is not religion. It's ... Legacy. 

- And the men? 

- They know what to do: fight, dance, serve, teach. They are free, but not leaders. 

Loriel pretended to faint in the air with a laugh. 

- My utopia! 

Axiel did not comment. 

Elena, noting the discomfort, changed the subject with a slight smile: 

- Aether asked you to accept an invitation. Bath in the thermal pools at the end of the palace. A gift for helping me. 

--- 

Steam filled the emerald skies of the cliff. Thermal pools, within the castle boundaries, were reserved for nobles and honorable visitors. The stones around the lake were smooth and warm, with crystals that purified the water and dismissed magical impurities. 

Axiel was alone, submerged to the chest, the body relaxed for the first time in days. The symbiotic costume had retreated, becoming a thin layer almost invisible on the skin, allowing the water to involve it. 

- Finally a little silence. He commented, closing his eyes. 

Loriel appeared floating beside, invisible to the eyes of guards or servants. Sitting in the air, eating an invisible magic fig, she chattered. 

- Ohhh hell. - Axiel looked without patience to Loriel, knowing that his precious silence was over. 

- I didn't tell you. Elena, she is princess and a duchess. Title of "Duchess" here is the equivalent of the general, and she is the only duchess throughout Aeltherion. Aether, she named her for trusting only her. The sisters are very linked. Never dare to speak ill from one to another. 

- Why doesn't my hypnosis work with elves? 

- Elf minds are ... different. They live centuries, train the mind as weapons. And their blood? Ah ... - She licked her fingers with pleasure - It's pure, millennial, soaked in living magic. It is type ancestral wine mixed with sin. Its thirst is worse near them. But the costume feeds you, and controls your nerves. 

Axiel sank a little into the water. 

- It doesn't help. 

- There is also a political detail. Aether and Elena are pressured to choose husbands, only among the elves. Matriarchs press them that at least one of them has a heiress. To maintain hegemony. They send, but tradition says the heiress has to be an elf. The consorts can be anyone. But if an elf is born of the relationship with the consorts, even though it is mestizo, it will be of the nobility without anyone complaining. Interestingly, neither seems to follow an engagement. Both are single. 

- Very interesting. - sighed the vampire with a bagless face. 

- And you? I find it strange that you haven't tried anything with any of them yet. Is it getting mature, or is the symbiote very efficient? 

- I? I love my freedom. Zero problems with nobles. Maybe, I need a little wine and a few maidens. 

Loriel looked crooked at him, and before she could retort, a silhouette came between steam. 

AETHER. 

With the same naturalness with which she was walking through a real balcony, she entered the pool. Naked. 

Golden skin was gleaming under the hot steam. The golden long hair came down the back in the shape of living leaves. She walked firmly, as who knows. She doesn't have to ask for permission to exist. 

Axiel looked at her. Without disguise. 

She entered the water, approaching, until sits softly on his lap. The naked body leaning against his. Eyes firmly. 

"Are you comfortable among us, son of the night?" 

Axiel did not answer. His body hardened. Literally. 

Aether smiled, passing her wet fingers on his chest. 

- They say vampires have no emotions. Which are just predators. I like hunting hunters. 

Loriel, invisible, crossed his arms. 

- Look at the queen ... It's bold today. Are you going to bite first? Muttered the mocking fairy. 

The smell of Aether invaded the nostrils of Axiel. Flowers. Honey. Elf blood. 

The costume was asleep, regenerating the last combat. The headquarters awakened. The heat rose. The whole body seemed to tremble. 

Aether slid her fingers through his mouth. 

Axiel felt the canines grow. The desire to take, to possess, to suck, exploded like a bonfire in the bones. 

And then- 

Clack! 

The symbiotic costume automatically activated itself, partially covering it in a second fraction. Libido, thirst, will ... were cut like a sharp knife. 

He arranged, panting. In a sudden reflex, he dropped her his lap, causing her to slip into the water. 

Aether fell with a slight surprise sound, but quickly recomposed herself. 

She got up with dignity. The flushed face - or perhaps only warm steam. 

She wiped her eyes with elegance. 

- I was testing your thirst. - said Aether controlled. - We need to trust the beings we bring to the throne. This was ... an evaluation. 

Axiel could barely breathe. 

- Of course. 

Aether turned his back. 

- It is also tradition ... the queen test the virility of a newly arrived man. But ... you are the first to refuse me. 

She walked with soft steps, water dripping down her legs. 

Loriel came up, visible now, sitting on the edge of the pool. 

- Our. What a show. Queen crazy. I liked her. 

Axiel stared at her. 

- Thanks. 

"By not letting you suck the blood of an elf queen?" Nothing. 

... 

Empire Solarius. 

The sanctuary was dark. 

Candles burned around a gigantic statue of the sun god - a blindfolded man, open arms, and a flaming crown. 

Malak passed through the temple before the golden altar, taking a deep breath. His body still carried the marks of confrontation with Axiel. The garments were new. And the soul, restless. 

- That vampire was different. The sword ... trembled. She never did this even when I faced other Evil's offspring. And why the hell did that fairy teleport from there?- thought the paladin. 

Getting ready to get out of the sanctuary, Sekhmet sword trembled. 

He felt, and gladly, looked at the temple's altar, quickly staring at the statue. 

The mouth of the statue, eternally closed, cracked slightly in the corner, as if now ... smiling. 

The sword trembled stronger. 

That vision froze the soul of the paladin, not understanding why. 

---