Page 23 of The Royal's Bumblebee
…not yet.
I turn to press my crotch and bulging pouch against the copper floor and fold my arms on the rim of the sunken bath. My chin rests on my crossed wrists and I smile innocently as she dries herself with a big fluffy towel. I sway the rest of my tail in the water and wait until she’s looking at me again to tell her about the festival.
“Gcorket is the season of Heat. It is the warm fertile part of our year. The days are hotter, but the nights are cool, and there is an abundance of food. You see, the lesser creatures on Thelia all breed in Tokesh or Hokesh, whereas Ucfeni…well we mate all year round but there is a certain…mating drive that can make usfriskierin Gcorket.”
“Do you think that your ancestors may have treated Gcorket as your mating season?”
“That is the main theory, yes.” Billie sat on the floor with her legs crossed and fully covered in the thick fuzzy towel. She pressed a second smaller one to her short brown hair. “It is also traditional for this time of year to hold this festival, to allow Ucfeni males to display their prowess. Romance is in the air. It’s a celebration of love and life.”
“So…it’s going to be loud then.” She nodded slowly and gulped. “I have ear defenders I can bring with me. So I can reduce the sound.” She chewed her bottom lip and I became lost in the daydream of doing that for her… “So is this a religious festival?”
“No it’s cultural. It is now, anyway. Its roots are linked more strongly to our biological mating habits, rather than our reverence for our ancestors.” Feeling a little calmer now and the slit of my pouch comfortably closed, I got to work washing my scales. I wanted to look my best for Bi-for my family as I represented them in the wrestling ring.
“Is there a uniform?” I pause my hands on my chest and for a moment I could have sworn she was staring at my slit. “Do you dress a certain way for the festival?”
“…do…you wish to dress like one of us?” I grinned at her and my mind wreaked havoc on my self-control. “Yes, as you should, as you will be the honoured guest of a Royal.” I urged her to agree with eager nodding, and hurried my hands to finish washing. Once I was sure my dull brown and cream scales were as glossy as they were going to get, I slithered my bulk out of the bathtub. Billie seamlessly offered me a towel and even helped me to get dry quickly. “I will collect a range of fabrics and adornments for you to choose from. So you and I match.”I will adorn you like a Queen.
“My ear defenders are green.” Billie watched as I quickly wound around the outside of the staircase to retrieve a plain brown skirt.
“Then I will select green fabric and matching adornments.” I told her with a grin and my hood wide as I scooped her up in my haste to get her back to her bedroom. Heroldbedroom. I lowered her to sit on the bed and apologised for my handling her without warning when I noticed her eyes were shut. “I am excited for you to meet my family. For them to meet you. For you to see more of my culture.” I’m rambling. “But…I want you to enjoy it. I know you can’t avoid some of your triggers, but if there is anything I can do to help, I want to. If I bring everything here, then you can choose what you want to wear. That will help, right?”
“…nothing itchy.” Her cute little lips mumble and I salivate at the thought of claiming that mouth with mine.
“The softest of fabrics. The smoothest and lightest jewellery.”Only the best for you.Billie picked at the fluffy towel over her lap and stared at her hands as she shrugged.
“Okay.” None of the other trinkets or gems I brought her phased her either, but I intended to raid the Royal stores this time to impress her.
“Great.” I forced myself to keep my voice down. “I’ll be as quick as I can. Feel free to relax and eat breakfast as you normally would. I won’t be long.” I flicked my tongue out to scent her and her pheromones seemed to be settled. Billie nodded at me and was smiling. That had to be a good sign, right? “I…will also wear green. So we can match each other.” I normally don’t bother trying to make myself more vibrant, but for Billie, I’d wear feathers. To hell with what my brothers and father would say.
“Good. If we match then if we were parted it will be easier to get back to you if—”
“We won’t be parted.” I promised her and placed my hands on the mattress beside her knees. I leaned into her personal space, realised what I was doing, and leaned back from her. My excitement is getting the better of me. “I won’t leave you alone. Not without your consent.” She nodded and stared at me.
“I thought you were going?”
“I am.” My throat scales darkened and I threw my weight back on my tail to sway towards the exit. “I won’t be long!”
???
I wound at pace across the bridge joining my nest to the main palace. I mentally tracked the journey I took, and took note of all the things that would have to be changed or removed to make it easier for Billie to make this journey herself. All the bustling servants for a start. They would have to shuck off somewhere else. The floors needed to be one texture. Someone would need to come back and use their tail to sweep all the flower petals to one side. I shut every window I came across and shut curtains like a man possessed. I hissed when a servant didn’t get out of my way quick enough and they tangled into a ball to roll submissively out of my way.
“Brother! You have emerged from the darkness of your nest?” Uczaz, my favourite brother, winds right up to me with his arms open. I indulge him in a quick hug, and he notices that my hood is wide and my eyes show I’m on a hunt. “Is something wrong brother?”
“No, it’s wonderful, or it will be. Billie is going to join us for Gcorket.”
“Your human charge? Thatisgood news. You know how father has been having to reassure the human colonists of her wellbeing, since she’s neverseen.”Uczaz is smaller than me and has brilliant brown and caramel chequering on the back of either hood. The pattern met at the back of his neck, and all down his spine to his tail tip. He’s a looker, though he didn’t care for the fawning of others about as much as I did. We were old souls who preferred to hunt and do our duty.
“That is ridiculous, since they communicate with her via her workstation daily.” I hiss to one side and welcomed Uczaz’s company. He fell into formation seamlessly, and even helped me to shut windows and curtains, without asking why.
“Ah, so it’s true! Our baby brotherhasdecided to grace us with his presence after all.” I narrowed my eyes on Szelor and unlike myself and Uczaz, he always wears full adornments. He never expands his hood, probably because it’s pathetically small, and his dark brown scales are a stark contrast to his bone-white bottom lip, jaw, neck, and underbelly. He does have an even darker pattern to his hood, but it’s barely visible. From each shoulder he wore a golden sash which tied at his back in an ornate lunar disc, and two long trains fluttered down to loop over each hip, cross over each other, and join the golden belt around his hips. His wrap-around skirt was golden, longer than a warrior would wear, and of course, he was holding a book. He never goes anywhere without one. I’ve read plenty of books for Billie, but I don’t see why he needs to have one in his hand at all times. Sometimes he glares and hisses at you like he’s thinking about clobbering you upside the hood with the tome he’s holding.
He’s not stupid enough to try and do that to me. “Fatherwillbe pleased his baby is going to coo at the crowd.” Normally I would roll my eyes and slink on by. Both my brothers expected me to do just that.
Instead, I widened my hood so the spikes at either side stood erect. I raised up on my tail and gave him a low, slow hiss. I didn’t bare my fangs at him, which is probably the only reason Szelor didn’t piss his pouch and shuck off out of my sight. Though, his scales paled like he was thinking about it. More so when I swayed and leaned forward to crowd the smaller Royal against the wall.
“I will give only this warning Szelor. You will keep that tongue inside your mouthdear brother,because if you wield it unkindly towards my charge, I will take it from your head.”
“Oh?” He chuckled, trying to put on a bravado of being unphased by my display. I could taste even Uczaz’s wariness on the air, so he wasn’t fooling anyone. “So we are being graced with both your presence, and your human? My my. What an honour?”
