Natural Beauty

by Meraki P. Lyhne

  Puzzlement flashed before it was replaced by a slew of feelings Alex didn’t even want to try to put words to. The final one was giving the fuck up.

  “I’ll drive.” The EMT guy got in, and Alex and Jaydon joined Kaydon and the female EMT in the back.

  “What happened, Kaydon?” Alex asked, hoping he could keep Kaydon’s mind occupied.

  “Where’s my sword?”

  “A Lady took it from me.”

  “She will protect it, I’m sure,” Kaydon said.

  “She will,” Jaydon said.

  “Sire, it was him, I think. The one I barred from gaining access to the club again. The human playing one of us.”

  “G something fellow?” Jaydon asked.

  Alex shuffled through male names with G, yet he couldn’t remember it, either.”

  “Gary. No, Greg. Something along those lines,” Jaydon mumbled.

  “It’s on my phone,” Kaydon murmured. “On all doormen’s phones.”

  “He’s not the one you chopped a leg off, is he?”

  “No, I chopped the leg of the guy who threw a Molotov at Lady Oladin.”

  Alex noticed the EMT lady looking disturbed by the conversation. He also noticed Kaydon being chattier. “Did you give him something?”

  “Yes. I got a text with approved anesthetics for Cubi with red-eyes.”

  “Sire, how long will a burn like this take a Sir to heal?” Alex asked.

  “Depends on doses, but six months, and that’s if he can feed properly from now on.”

  Alex nodded and looked at Kaydon again. His mouth was burned so closing his lips around a cock and giving it some TLC would not be possible in the foreseeable future. Judging from the burns on his pants, Alex could see Kaydon’s right buttock was pretty badly burned at the hip, but the front of his pants was intact.

  “I’ll do what I can.”

  “Focus on the others for a while,” Kaydon said.

  “When did you last feed, Kaydon,” Jaydon asked.

  “An hour before the coronation.”

  “Shit. Okay, Alex, if you could give me a go for pure energy when we arrive, we can feed him.”

  Alex imagined going down on the Sire, and he wasn’t sure he could. “I’ll try.”

  “Fuck,” Jaydon growled and pulled out his phone. “I’ll have Jeff hurry up.”

  Alex drew a deep sigh. He’d finally felt like he was evolving, and then shit hit the fan, and he felt useless again.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Cheerful shouts and people laughing and some singing left the throne room, and Daniel took a deep shuddering breath.

  “Flying colors!” Elakdon waved Daniel down from the throne. Halfway there, Elakdon hugged Daniel closely. “We didn’t tell you about the sudden dosing of your people because it’s a high you needed to experience for yourself. I hope it made an impact.”

  “Did it ever!” Daniel said. “And I came!”

  “So did I when it happened.”

  “I managed to slip in my juices,” Nil-Sundin said.

  “Oh, yes, that was a pretty sight.” Nol-Plydon grinned. She slapped his shoulder, looking mock affronted. Daniel loved the informal tone, and truth be told, he soon hoped he could get out of all the jewels. He had more people he wanted to see—people he hadn’t met yet. But he didn’t like the thought of meeting all his siblings adorned the way he was at that moment.

  “Dad, Dad!”

  Roardon came closer, smiling. “Yes?”

  “All my siblings are here, right? Rosadin told me.”

  “They are, and they’re very anxious to meet you. Will you?” Roardon pointed. “They’re over here.”

  “Not like this. I don’t want them to just meet their King. I want them to meet me as their brother.”

  Roardon looked like he understood.

  “How about we get the King changed into another set of formal wear.” Elakdon raised his hand. The crowd was far from thinning out considering the long spiral staircases that had to be emptied, too, but half the throne room was empty, not counting the stairs. Daniel finally saw his Guard Lords and Ladies, and sexy came to mind.

  Seldon put a finger under Daniel’s chin and closed his mouth with a teeth-clattering sound.

  Well, that was almost embarrassing. “At least I wasn’t drooling,” Daniel said. But they looked like something out of a high-quality sexy costume catalog.

  “Beauty abounds on a day like this,” Elakdon said. “Why do you think some of your people chose to come naked?”

  “Oh, I noticed that.”

  “May we accompany you back to the changing room, My King?” Levidon asked.

  So that was why Elakdon had raised his hand. Daniel couldn’t see just how many Guard Lords and Ladies were around them, but all six Royals were clumped together, two and two, and led from the throne room to the room Daniel had been prepared in. The Guards stayed outside, and once Daniel looked around, he saw that Seldon and Caledon had joined them.

  “Oh, man, I feel beat.” Daniel sat, which was uncomfortable on jewels.

  “It’s pretty exhausting, right.” Elakdon pulled him up and helped with the jewels. Nil-Sundin assisted, and they had soon returned it all to the bust with the exception of the chain with his crest on. He smiled at it and put it on the table, turning his attention to the suit. Of course, it was gold and unnecessarily flamboyant.

  “Will you be wearing the same color?”

  “Of course we will,” Elakdon said. “Too much?”

  “I’m considering going naked.”

  Elakdon laughed loudly. “I wore my coronation clothes for exactly two hours, and then I was dosing my people and feeding like there was no tomorrow.”

  “Same here,” Nil-Sundin said, grinning.

  Daniel chuckled and went to the suit. “Okay, I think I can wear it for two hours.” He cleaned off his cum and changed into the suit. He touched up his makeup, too, wondering what the dinner would be like. Geodin had shown him the room. Well, it wasn’t as much a room as it was a cave entrance to the right of the main structure but not yet turned into housing. It was close to the playground, though and a bit smaller than the cave full of buses.

  Tall screens had been placed around the playground equipment, but it was obvious what was behind it since the tallest tower was still visible. The screens did hide most, though. The handyman, Scott, was one of the naked Cubi, and he stood with a flock of other Cubi close to the playground, talking, gesturing, and apparently going over the last plans for the reveal.

  Daniel’s clock told him they had another half-hour, so he indulged in a glass of champagne which naked Cubi and a few human waiters served. Roardon stood thirty feet away with an arm around Susan. They had their backs to them so they probably hadn’t seen that they’d joined them.

  The other Royals mingled, and Daniel decided that now was as good a time as any to see his siblings, but he was nervous.

  “Seldon, Caledon?”

  Only Seldon was there, standing ten feet away, talking to his kids and their mothers. Seldon had a hand on Marcadon’s mother’s pregnant belly, and he looked like he waited for the cub in there to give a kick. Daniel grinned, looking around for Caledon instead. He had his arm around his daughter and chatted with a group in official attire.

  Well, everybody was hanging out with family, so Daniel turned to find Aaron who looked more or less abandoned with his champagne flute.

  Daniel went to him. “Hey, wanna say hi to my mom?”

  “Sure!” Aaron followed. “This stuff is good.” He sipped the champagne.

  “Too many bubbles for me,” Daniel said, grinning. “Mom, Dad?”

  Roardon spun, a smile spreading on his face. “Beaudon. Please, let me introduce you.” Roardon put his arm around Daniel’s shoulder and pulled him closer to face eight empowered Cubi, a handful of Minglers, and about seven unempowered ranging from age five to twenties.

  “Hi,” Daniel said. Well, that sounded intelligent and well-prepared.

  “I hav
e nine children, five Cubi born and four Halflings, you being one of them. One is still unempowered and in the human world, and one Cubi born is setting up a club in Seattle. These are the rest of your siblings.”

  One by one, six of the Cubi stepped forward and introduced themselves to Daniel, shaking his hand. It was all very tense, and Daniel didn’t know if it was because they worried about meeting the King or because they didn’t like their new brother. One of his sisters didn’t seem to have a problem with him wearing a crown, which was the chain with the crest, because Dame Apdin forwent the handshake and hugged him tightly. Daniel immediately took a liking to her.

  “These are my cubs,” she said, ushering two unempowered closer. Beldin was the five-year-old, and she was shy as hell and had golden curly hair that stood around her head like a halo. She had a light sprinkle of freckles, and the biggest and bluest eyes Daniel had ever seen on a kid. He was in love. Freydon was a young man with eyes as blue as the girl. He wondered if their mother had had eyes as blue as they had, but now she was a Dame, and Daniel didn’t want to ask.

  “How old are you?” Daniel asked, shaking his nephew’s hand.

  “Nineteen.”

  Daniel glanced at Roardon who smiled and put a finger to his lips. Okay, no telling he was early empowered. “So’s Aaron, my Untouchable.”

  “Hey,” Aaron said, shaking the boy’s hand.

  “Cool!” Freydon exclaimed. “You’re human?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Have you had sex?”

  Aaron chuckled. “Lots, yeah.”

  Match made in heaven. Daniel let the two talk, but he did feel a bit left out since he was their age, yet he felt like he was the grownup butting in or something. Instead, he knelt by the girl. “Beldin? Will you help me with something in ten minutes time?”

  “Yes, My King.” She blushed and hid her face against her mother’s leg.

  “You can call me Uncle, you know.”

  “Uncle?” She looked up at her mother, shuffling her feet and almost tripping over them.

  “The King is your uncle. My little brother.”

  “Uncle Beau?”

  “Uncle Beau,” Daniel said, nodding. It sounded so cute when she said it. “Will you help?”

  “Okay.”

  Daniel stood, and the girl took his hand. “We’ll just reveal that.” He pointed to the playground before he looked around for the class that had helped him plan it. He finally located the teacher, Sire Todon, and went to him.

  The Sire bowed deeply. “My King.”

  “Sire. Where are all your cubs?”

  Todon chuckled. “Hiding and making plans, if I know them at all.”

  The laughter of kids made it to them, and Daniel turned to find his entire class of little royal helpers there, grinning. They all bowed deeply.

  “Thank you, cubs,” Daniel said. They stood, and Daniel clapped his hands, rubbing them together. “Now! Are we ready?”

  The cubs jumped and cheered in excitement.

  Daniel led them to the tribune built for a speech and stepped up, motioning only for the cub, Imdon to follow him up there. He felt nervous in an entirely different way than when he’d been led to the throne. It was like having to do a presentation at school. Two Guards stood in front of the tribune, and both clapped their hands twice before they raised one over their head. Others followed suit, and Daniel saw how that gesture made everybody quiet down and turn their attention toward Daniel. Neat trick, and something akin to what Daniel remembered a kindergarten teacher having done when he was a noisy whelp who, like his classmates, had too much energy to sit still and listen for long stretches at a time.

  “Thank you all for gathering around our little project here,” Daniel said. “With all that has happened the past few months, it’s important to remember to live, to have fun, to laugh. I’ve had the pleasure of working with some very professional people on this. The initiator being Cub Imdon.” Daniel turned to look at the cub’s face, and he looked like he’d been caught doing something. Daniel laughed, and he wasn’t the only one thinking the cub adorable. “In fact, Imdon and his entire class have helped me figure out what we needed, while Sire Todon managed the chaos. Since we’ve had so many other things to do since we came here, the workers helping have used their personal time to see the project through to today. Thank you.”

  Scott and his gang beamed.

  “And since my little helpers are tripping in excitement, I think we’ll skip to the finale and reveal our secret.”

  Scott and his gang of seven came over and helped gather the screens, and people clapped. Some were formal about it, others enthusiastic. Daniel guessed the latter were parents whose cubs had looked forward to it.

  Daniel helped remove one of the screens before he went to take his niece’s hand. “Want to help me test it?” She nodded. “Come on, gang, let’s test it!”

  Shrill cries of joy cut in Daniel’s ears, and he took his niece to the border of the sand and let her run off with the others. There were hundreds of cubs.

  “Would we be super lame if we joined them?” Aaron asked.

  Daniel laughed, turning to find his nephew Freydon there, too. “Are we too old, Freydon?”

  “I don’t know about you, My King, but I’m not.”

  “I’m your uncle.”

  “Not in that suit, My King.”

  “Just a second.” Daniel turned and ran to Seldon. “Would you hold my jacket?”

  “Your jacket?”

  “I’m gonna go do stupid kid’s stuff.”

  Seldon chuckled, nodding, so Daniel shrugged out of his suit jacket and handed it to Seldon along with the heavy gold chain. Daniel gave Seldon a quick kiss and ran off to join Aaron, Freydon, and all the kids.

  For an hour, they horsed around, and his niece even roped him into pushing her on a swing. Daniel finally decided to climb the tower and look out over his Kingdom, but he ran to get his phone in Seldon’s pocket so that he could take a video from up high. All those people. Behind the rim of people, most likely parents and those wanting to see the King play around with cubs, there were areas with tables, bars, ice cream stands, food stands, and a few tents with Cubi markings identifying them as feeding tents.

  Soon, everybody would be invited in for a gala dinner followed by live music, dancing, and whatever else was mandatory when celebrating royally.

  Someone ran from the main building, and he looked like he was in a hurry to say something. Daniel’s smile fell, and he stopped the recording. The man made it to Caledon who listened for only a few seconds before he pointed toward Seldon and set off running toward the playground. The man ran to Seldon, while Caledon waved Daniel to the ground.

  “My King, a club was attacked,” Caledon said as soon as Daniel had made it down.

  “Shit! Aaron, stay close to Guard Lord Levidon and look after Beldin!”

  “Sure thing, I mean, Yes, Nol.”

  Daniel and Caledon ran for Seldon who looked all business as he helped Daniel into his suit jacket and put the chain around his neck even before he was done buttoning the thing.

  “The Royals are meeting us up here.” Seldon walked off with the messenger. Daniel and Caledon followed, and Daniel feared that the military had attacked on his coronation day. But how would they know? Did anyone outside the Cubi people know? But it was a club. Would the military really attack a club open to the human population?

  The Royals looked focused and prepared when they arrived.

  “Tell us again, Master,” Seldon said.

  “Yes, Lokil-Nol,” the blue-eyed messenger said. “There was an attack with Molotov cocktails against a club in Baltimore. So far, we know there were six humans behind the attack, and Sire Jaydon believes it to be retaliation because a doorman banned a human for being too handsy with a hired feeder.

  “Four Cubi were hurt and have been brought to a human hospital. The one hurt the worst is a red-eye from the Kingdom of Nol-Elakdon.”

  “Fuck,” Elakdon groused. “T
he red-eyes name?”

  “Kaydon Nahleo-Nil”

  “My Viking?” Elakdon exclaimed, looking hurt.

  The blue-eye thought for a moment. “There was mention of a broadsword.”

  “Oh, no.” Elakdon grabbed his head. “Beaudon, please, let me handle this, let me leave your party early. You must try to enjoy this night, for you and your people to bond, and I’ll take care of this for you.”

  It wasn’t an offer to take a job upon himself to spare Daniel so he could enjoy his party—it was clearly for Elakdon to soothe his own need to be there for an Incubus he cared about.

  “Yes, of course.” Daniel turned to face the messenger. “Master, have my hospital prepared for their arrival. And get me a pilot and a doctor.”

  “Yes, My King.” The Incubus left.

  “Ela, bring them here, okay, I want them away from humans as long as there are officials who think they can boss us around like servants, and I won’t take the chance that the injured Cubi won’t be attacked at the hospital, too.”

  “Good plan. I’ll leave immediately. May I bring lesser levels to feed myself and my Guards?”

  “Of course. The doctor is a blue-eye.” Daniel pointed to where the doctor stalked toward them in his finest clothes and a tattered bag in his hand.

  Elakdon waved the doctor to follow him, and the two left with eight Guards. How was Daniel supposed to enjoy a party with the knowledge that his people had once again been targeted? But it wasn’t the military—it was one human whose pride had been bruised. Didn’t mean he didn’t worry, and all the problems they’d faced the past month was probably what caused him to worry far more than the situation would have called for. He was allowed to worry about people getting hurt, though, yet he didn’t think the situation would ever have made it to him had it not been because the Kingdom was in danger as it was.

  “Boy?”

  Daniel smiled at Seldon’s whispered affection, and he turned his head and got a gentle kiss on the lips. Seldon stood directly behind him, and Daniel leaned back against his strength.

  Seldon embraced him and leaned his head on top of Daniel’s. “What were you doing up in the tower?”

  “Taking a film of everything I could see.”