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The Last Shemale Queen

_A sequel to The Seduction of Seleste _

Papa and Pup

Chapter 33

Achai opened his eyes when the room was filled with quiet breathing. Yatokya was gone and hadn't come back for the longest time. The one they called Pati had returned, but then the one named Say or Saw or something, he had gone. Achai could only assume he'd gone to Yatokya. Now was his chance to slip away. Now was his chance to see his father!

Achai remembered being flabbergasted when Keme stormed into the room. He was everything his mother had described: black fur, handsome, bright green eyes . . . and incredibly strong. Achai remembered his mouth falling open to see Keme tearing the door off, heaving it aside with a bang, storming into the room with his muscles all tense. Why Tala did not shrink from that ferocity had been a pure mystery to him.

And then there was yelling and everyone was still. And Achai smiled as he listened to the yelling, because he was hearing his father's voice for the first time. He had often lain awake at night, trying to imagine his father. He was in awe of him now.

Then Yatokya came and led Achai and Zyanya away. Achai wanted to protest, but he knew there was no point. And suddenly, he wanted to be away from all the yelling as fast as possible. He didn't want Keme to yell at him too.

Fingering his necklace, Achai slipped carefully from under Zyanya's arm. Zyanya's arm flopped to the sheets as it dragged over Achai's head, causing his pale mane to tumble in his eyes. Achai pushed his mane back and waited a beat to make sure Zyanya hadn't woken up: the last thing he wanted was for Zyanya to wake up and start lecturing him for slipping off. Certain the bigger boy was sleeping, Achai slipped from the room.

Out in the hall, Yatokya and the other male were no where to be seen. It was shadowy and quiet, and some feet away, the soft blue light of the nighttime waters rolled across the stone floor. The silhouettes of little fish and big fish drifted across the floor through the light, rippling and distorting as the water moved.

Achai approached the broken door across the hall. Tala had carelessly crammed it back in place, and he was frightened of moving it lest it fall on him. Very carefully, his skinny body strained to move the door aside a crack, then he wiggled his way into the room and almost tripped to one knee. He caught himself just in time and peered through the gloom for his parents.

Keme and Seleste were in the bed together. Achai halted and smiled at the sight. Keme lay on his back, breathing gently, as Seleste cuddled against him, smiling. His arm was around her, and because Tala had taken the top sheet, nothing but the thin second sheet was left. They looked very happy and content. Looking at them, Achai suddenly understood why his mother had been unhappy for so many years. He could see how much she loved Keme right there.

Achai carefully crawled onto the bed. He hesitated when Keme's lashes fluttered. For a moment, he thought his father was coming awake. But Keme relaxed again and drifted into dreams. Relieved, Achai straddled his father and sat carefully on his belly. He wanted to study his face. But Keme snorted, and this time, he came awake.

Achai froze. His father's green eyes were looking at him, startled. Achai peered sheepishly at Keme and felt the gold necklace lying cold against his chest. He went very still when his father reached for the necklace. Keme's green eyes went to the necklace, then to Achai's face.

"You must be my baby," Keme whispered into the silence.

Achai nodded dumbly. His heart was thudding in his ears. A tremor of happiness went through him when Keme cupped his face and stroked his cheek with his thumb. Tears started to his eyes and he didn't know why.

Keme frowned. "Why are you crying? Come here." He carefully pulled his arm from around Seleste, who turned the other way and continued to sleep. Keme held out his arms, and Achai fell on his father's chest as if his body had given out. He felt Keme's strong arms close around him and happily breathed in his father's strong scent. Keme smelled so good. It soothed him and he started to relax.

"Why are you crying?" Keme repeated softly.

"Why didn't you come for me? I waited forever . . . thinking you'd come for me . . ."

"Achai . . ."

"Didn't you want me?"

"I didn't know. I didn't know your mother was pregnant when she left. I would have come to see you."

Achai sniffled. "Why didn't you come see Mom?"

Keme swallowed hard and was silent.

"Didn't you want her either?"

"Achai, I never wanted anything more."

Achai fell silent, melting as Keme stroked his mane. He curled his fingers in his father's chest fur, marveling how hard and muscular Keme's body was. He wondered if he would be this big and strong one day. He wondered if Keme would teach him to fight.

Achai was startled when his father suddenly hugged him close and kissed his forehead. He almost laughed through his tears. He smiled instead.

"What do I call you? Tala called you Daddy."

"What do you want to call me?"

"Canna call you Papa?"

Keme laughed.

Achai sat up, looking down at Keme, his green eyes bright and eager. "Will you teach me to fight? I wanna spear. Canna have ah spear? Or a sword! I wanna sword like Yanaba's!"

Keme laughed heartily, delighted by his little son's ranting. "In the summer village, boys your age still train with slings and knives. You won't have a spear til you're fourteen."

Achai's eyes grew round. "Slings and knives! Awesome!"

Keme smiled at him fondly and smoothed his mane back from his eyes. "I'm just sorry you only have sisters to play with. Maybe I'll make you a brother or two."

Achai made a face. "Gross!"

Keme grinned.

"Sisters?" Achai said curiously, and his ears pricked forward. "How many sisters?"

"Including Tala? Seven. One might be on the way . . ."

Achai's eyes grew round. Seven sisters! Until that moment, he had only known about Tala and the two daughters Keme had with a second wife. Over meals and even at bedtime, he would ask, and Seleste would tell him everything he wished to know about his father. He'd had three sisters back then. Now he had seven!

"Two have moved out and were older than you anyhow," Keme went on. "You have a sister named Moema. She's close to your age." He smiled at Achai and smoothed down his mane. "I know she's very lonely and wants someone her age to play with. She doesn't get along with her younger sisters much. I'm starting to think females just don't get along at all . . ." he added with a sigh. "Bimisi and Dawae, they're seven and eight. Kima, she's four. Sucks on everything in sight . . ." He grinned. "The last time I saw her . . . she had something_terrible_ in her mouth, what was it . . .? Might have been a royal protector's thong . . . Which begs the question how the hell she got it . . ."

Achai listened happily to his father going on about his sisters, his heart warming as he realized how much he loved his children. He wondered if Keme would rant about him to others now. He felt kind of special, knowing he was his only son.

". . . will be nice to have a pair of nuts related to me in the _mad_house full of females I live in," Keme finished and ruffled Achai's mane hard.

Achai giggled, marveling at the strength of that paw. "Will you pick me up? Or throw me in the air!" His eyes grew round as a sudden thought occurred to him. "Will you pick the bed up!"

Keme laughed. Achai went very still when his father took him by the shoulders. He paused to let Achai get his bearings, then he threw. Achai screamed happily as he soared toward the ceiling. As Keme and Seleste grew small beneath him, his back came inches from hitting it. There was a slow pause as his legs started tilting down, then he soared back down to his father's waiting arms. Keme was grinning when he caught him easily and held him in the air.

"Awe . . . some!" panted Achai, red-faced and grinning behind the mane in his eyes.

Keme pulled his paws away and playfully let him drop. He caught him at the last second and lowered his giggling son to his chest. "Don't tell your mother," he whispered, smoothing Achai's mane.

Lying with his cheek on Keme's chest, Achai couldn't stop giggling. Nor could he catch his breath. He had soared so fast, it had been snatched from his lungs. "Hee, hee . . . I won't . . ."

Keme patted his head. "Good boy. Let's go to sleep. I'm sure it's been a long day for you. I know it has for me."

"What happened to you today?" Achai whispered.

"Mm, Achai . . . Papa is tired." Keme yawned.

"Please? I like bedtime stories," the boy sulked.

"Mm, you sound like Tala."

"What stories did you tell her?"

"Stories about your mother. Like the time she was kidnapped by evil monsters and imprisoned in a tower . . ."

"Bullshit."

"Nope. I had to rescue her. I punched the tower. It cracked in half. Your mother fell out and I caught her safely in my arms . . . then we went to the bushes and made you."

"You're lying!" laughed Achai.

"Nope."

"And why didn't you scold me for swearing!"

"You swore?"

Achai giggled, snuggling up closer to Keme. "What'd you do today? How'd you find us?"

Keme yawned again and started lazily smoothing his paws up and down Achai's skinny back. "I traveled through tunnels very much like these . . . and I wound up in this valley -- just north of the summer village actually. It was a hidden, magical place . . . and one of your sisters was there."

Achai's ears pricked forward. "Which one?"

"Naira. She will rule the crow tribe one day. She will be your ally."

"My ally?"

"You will rule the summer, my son."

Achai smiled. My son. He liked the sound of that. "I'll rule? What about Tala?"

"You're a male. You also have royal blood. Custom dictates that you surpass her as heir."

Achai's ears flattened and he was suddenly horrified. "But . . . what if I'm bad at it?"

Keme snorted. "Being chief is ridiculously easy, Achai. The council does half the work. The chieftess does the other half by giving birth. I just sit on the throne and listen to complaints. I relay these complaints to the council . . . they pretend to listen to my opinion . . . then they do what they want to do." He sighed.

"You're a figurehead," Achai said.

Keme's ears pricked forward, and he knew his father was surprised that he knew such a word. Achai's eyes hooded. He had grown up around Nizhoni, who had often accused King Sylander and Queen Wynonna of being figureheads.

"Yes," Keme said hoarsely. "You begin to understand already."

"So what happened after my sister? After . . . Nairab? Neera . . ."

Keme smiled. "Naira. We rescued her from the valley and took her back to her camp. All her things were there, fortunately . . . her escort's weapons, their gear . . . her litter . . ." he laughed. "She was terrified of walking. One of my companions . . . she found where Tala was. And we set off to find her."

"And Tala was here."

"No. Tala was on some island way the hell out in the middle of some sea. The Bleu Sea. We go all the way there . . . and these giant foxes tell us we can't go through the gate. Yanaba about had a fit. She loves Tala like a sister. Anytime someone stood in her way of getting to her, she seemed to get a bit . . ."

"Yeah," laughed Achai, "I saw her try to cut Miniel's head off!"

Keme sighed. "Yes, exactly. She's got . . . her mother's temper. Yatokya too sometimes."

"Then what?" Achai whispered, snuggling up to Keme. He was getting sleepy now. He curled his fingers tight in Keme's chest fur and closed his eyes. He loved it when Keme rubbed his back. It was so soothing . . . But he also knew he was trying to get him to sleep.

"Hmm . . ." Keme stifled a yawn. "Aayan spoke to the foxes. Afterward, he was given permission to use this sacred basin of water to scry for Tala. He saw her here. With the Lepuna."

"Aayan?"

"Your cousin . . . that tall white fox."

Achai shivered. "With the cold eyes."

"Yes. Don't worry. He's a good boy. He took care of your sister when she almost died."

"Oh."

A pause.

"I will tell you something Achai, and then we will both go to sleep."

"Alright, Papa," Achai answered curiously.

Keme swallowed hard and stared thoughtfully at the ceiling. "The council members . . . they run the show. It's true. But the chief has the power to hire new council members. The customary number is usually nine. The problem is waiting for one of the bastards to die so you can assign someone willing to reinforce your laws. My mother made it onto the council when one of them dropped off. Seleste's father admired her greatly and put her there with the hope that a freethinking shemale could have an influence on his subjects. And she did help make some changes for the better. Mostly regarding females."

"Things were bad for females?" Achai whispered sadly.

"Well, they didn't have many choices. They kinda . . . still don't. But if they have sex before their mating season and get with a pup, they are no longer banished to the edge of the village and treated like the scum between someone's toes . . ."

Achai blinked sadly. He didn't know what to say.

"You can make a difference for certain males, Achai. If you get the opportunity to appoint who you want on the council, take it."

Achai blinked. "Certain males? What males?"

"You will understand in time. Go to sleep, my son."

"But, Papa . . ."

"Hush."

Achai closed his eyes and hushed. Keme continued to stroke his back in soothing circles, and he smiled as he drifted away. He knew he would dream of Zyanya tonight. And perhaps cookies.