Marius stepped into his chambers and immediately became aware of another presence disturbing the quietude of his private space.

He ignored it and headed for his wardrobe. Inside, he began to strip off his kingly attire.

When he was bare-chested, hands wrapped around his torso from behind.

He turned around once he was completely nude and looked down at the intruder. He'd have to execute a few guards for this inexcusable failure to guard his chambers, even if only a handful of his people in the Palace were capable of detecting the intruder.

"Why are you here?" he demanded, unsmiling as he looked down at the sea witch.

"I have come to remind you-"

Marius seized the sea witch's face, effectively silencing him. The sea witch let out a muffled surprised sound.

"Are you suggesting that I forget things, witch?" he asked in a deceptively-low voice.

The sea witch's tongue darted out to lick his palm. His hands released Marius' torso and gripped his wrist instead.

"No such thing, my liege," he purred as he gently tugged on his king's hand.

Marius released him.

The sea witch brought Marius' hand to his lips and kissed his black-stoned gold monarch ring in a show of respect and prostration, hoping to appease his king's anger. The witch's long, silver hair brushed Marius' arm as he did.

"You got him," he said proudly. "Not that I ever doubted you would." Abruptly, his delicate, arched brows furrowed ever so slightly. "Forgive my inquisitiveness, your Majesty, but do you plan to take him tonight?"

King Marius considered divulging his innermost thoughts to the sly sea witch.

He looked away and said, "Astria already knows I have him. I must move quickly." There was no harm in telling the witch; he was one of two who knew of Marius' true plans. The sea witch had assisted him in finding the Astrian prince after all. For a decade the witch had helped Marius hunt for any trace of the Spirit of the Sea and its elusive host with his clairvoyant abilities.

"Ah," the witch said. He started to draw away from the King.

Marius grabbed him by the throat, keeping him in place. "What is it? Speak now."

"Forgive me, it seems that I was not clear before. The error is entirely mine, my liege." He lowered his eyes beneath silvery lashes.

King Marius' hand tightened around the sea witch's throat.

"I-I'm afraid that taking him, or rather his power, tonight won't be possible. Unless, you being the charismatic seducer that you undoubtedly are, have made the young Astrian prince fall in love with you in one day."

"Speak clearly."

"Fucking the prince won't be sufficient. There is a condition for the power to be transferred from its current host to another. The original host must be well and truly in love with the new host, otherwise a link for the power to transfer won't be established."

Marius released the sea witch who stumbled backwards. The back of the sea witch's knees struck the wardrobe's cushioned bench and he fell backwards onto it with an oomph.

"Explain to me why I do not already know this," he growled, struggling to keep his anger in check.

"I-I am sorry, your Majesty. I deserve the utmost punishment for my failure." Apologetic, the witch sat up and bowed his head, silken silver hair falling around his elfin face like a waterfall.

"Indeed." The sea witch shivered as the memory of his 'reward' for finding the Astrian prince resurfaced in his mind, heating his insides. He could already feel himself stirring.

The sea witch dared to peek just in time to see his king pull out his half-hard cock.

His mouth watered. He licked his lips in anticipation. "Yes, please punish me."

****

Kai stepped out of the portal into a room so spectacular, so cavernous, so majestic, it had to be none other than King Marius' private chambers. The baths were nothing compared to this room.

It robbed him of breath and left him staring with a gaping mouth and a stupefied expression. His entire house could fit into this room. Everywhere he looked his eyes were assaulted by delicate yet complex ornamentation. The walls were crowded by extravagant decoration. His eyes hungered to take everything in, darting around from the engraved gold pillars, to the high ceiling inlaid with pure gold, to the white marble tiles so clear they reflected his awed face, to the furniture embedded with pearls, and finally to the monstrous black bed at the end of the room.

The poster, king-sized bed gave him pause. Actually, it made his heart stutter and his stomach somersault.

He didn't know what to assume. He had such little information to go by that forming an educated guess was currently impossible, or at least very difficult.

Because surely King Marius the Conqueror didn't want Kai...

The mere thought made him feel faint. In fact, he couldn't even bear to think about it without experiencing the first signs of a heart attack.

No, no, no, no, a panicked voice in his head repeated, mantra-like.

Like an anxious cat in a new home, he hastily looked around, turning in circles. Kai quickly realized that the enormous room was empty save for himself. There were no guards, no slaves, no mocking crowds, and –most importantly—King Marius was nowhere in sight.

He was finally alone.

Fueled by his overwhelming curiosity, he ventured deeper into the room (and away from the bed. He was determined to put as much distance between him and the bed).

He passed by rows of bookshelves stacked with ancient tomes and books of all shapes, sizes and colors. All the spines had reading lines marring them.

So, the fearsome conqueror was well-read. Somehow that made him even more formidable.

Next, he came upon a black desk with a throne-like chair. Strange obelisk objects weighed down parchments across the desk's surface. A seal lay on top of a pile of yellowed parchment.

Unthinkingly, he picked it up and examined it in both hands. It was the King's Seal. At the bottom was what he assumed was Nostraza's royal emblem.

He put it down and picked up one of the obelisk objects. Rune-like blue symbols appeared all over it and he gasped in shock. Wary, he put it down and the symbols immediately disappeared.

Frowning, he picked up again and watched them reappear.

"It is reacting to you."

Kai dropped the obelisk and whirled around. A millisecond later, he heard the mysterious object break against the tiled floor.

Heart in his throat, he unconsciously took a few steps backwards in order to distance himself from King Marius as much as possible. The edge of the desk kept him from going far.

King Marius' gaze trailed Kai's entire length from the top of his head all the way to his toes.

Kai became aware of his revealing 'outfit'. He looked like a belly dancer, especially with his sheer harem pants. He fought back the blush that threatened to turn his face turnip-red.

The King's eyes stopped at Kai's feet and his brows furrowed ever so slightly.

Kai looked down at his feet and saw blood.