“Cleo holds court in a few hours. Why don’t we walk the city, Master?” Sylvia lay on top of me in her bed.

“Are you saying you want to go outside instead of play around in bed?” I bounced my eyebrows at her suggestively.

My air elemental gave a big sigh. “Yes, Master, you wore me out. You should also see Verdant before you talk to Cleo. The city is beautiful.”

I rolled her off me and got dressed for the day. Sylvia threw on the same white piece and strode out of the room that reeked of sex.

Following her out, I couldn’t help but notice her mothers were all lounging around in nearly nothing.

“Oh darling, you two are quite loud.” One waved her fingers at us.

“Jealous old coot.” Sylvia blew her a raspberry.

“Young lady!” Her mother shot to her feet.

But Sylvia was already grabbing me and rushing out the door with a mischievous smile on her face. “Sorry, my mothers haven’t quite agreed with some of my habits.”

“I think that’s standard mother daughter relationship.” I said taking in the lively morning in Verdant.

We were just a few blocks from the lake shore and made our way slowly to the beach. Monster girls were bustling about with their daily work. Meanwhile, men often managed carts or storefronts.

Acting like lures as monster girls gathered around to gossip and chat when them as much as purchase things.

“How would you put the ratio of men to monster girls?” I could see some of that here, but I wanted to know Sylvia’s view on it.

“One to four or one to five. There really aren’t enough men to go around, which is why you have establishments like that one.” Sylvia pointed out a tall corner shop. There was a highly suggestive dragon on the front.

“What type of monster girl is that?” I didn’t point, but there was what looked like a lamia, but covered in soft downy white fur and had cat ears poking out of her head.

“Bunyip. Don’t stare or she’ll think you are interested.”

He kind of was, just not right now. “So is that a brothel?”

“Yes. If you ever wanted, you could make a fantastic living in one of those,” Sylvia bumped his hip.

I ignored her joke. My eyes were busy tracking all the men with a mark on their neck. “Do I need a tattoo on my neck?”

“Do I look like a tattoo artist? Also, the companies use them as a mark of quality, no one would just tattoo that on you,” Sylvia said.

Right, it wasn’t like she was a secret tattoo artist. He’d just have to deal with sticking out a little.

We walked together to the lake and started to follow along it towards the cliff where Cleopatra held court.

I watched as Mermaids and Turtle girls floated in the lake hauling boats into docks.

We approached a pack of long-legged women with pink feathered wings for arms that cooed and brushed me with their feathers as we passed.

“Was that really necessary?” I asked Sylvia.

“You are very tasty, Master. They could smell you.”

“Anything you can do about that? Use your air sorcery to blow away my delicious BO?”

Sylvia had a pensive expression for a moment before with a flick of her wrist I was in the middle of a storm for a second before it dispersed. “I’ll have to do that every so often, but it might help.”

Life didn’t seem so bad here. If it weren’t for the caste system, I’d even consider moving in. It was simply a bustling city. I wondered if I was going to have an issue seeing the monster girls as enemies after seeing this.

A big, broad-shouldered hippo girl hauled a rickshaw past us and I saw another one bunyip inside the cart turn to look at me. Her eyes stayed fixed on me till she was well past and forced to avert her eyes.

“Not sure if your little wind spell worked.” I grumped.

“No, you probably just reek of our sex from last night. I love it.”

The bunyip’s cart stopped ahead of them and the monster girl slithered out and looked at us. I got a better look this time at the furred lamia; she had the softest looking fur I’d ever seen. It covered her body save for the underside of her tail; her toned stomach, egregiously large chest, and face.

The rest of her was covered with that silky white looking fur that just made me want to press my face into it and savor its softness.

“One hundred gold for your man.” She snapped out a fan and waved it, slightly hiding her face. Shame because she was kind of cute.

“I’m sorry. He’s not for sale.” Sylvia politely bowed and tried to step around.

But the Bunyip wasn’t having it and quickly pivoted in her way. “One twenty.” Her eyes shifted to me. “Do you want to touch my fur?” She ran a clawed hand along her flank.

I did really want to touch her fur, but something was telling me that was a horrible idea. “I’m sorry we have chores for the day to get to.”

She frowned and turned back to Sylvia, expecting an answer.

“I won’t repeat myself. Please have a good day.” Sylvia stepped around her again, this time unimpeded, and pulled me along.

“Sorry about that. You really do smell very good, but I think she owns one of the brothels in town. Also stop staring, you just encourage them.”

“Ah.” was all I could muster. It had been a very strange occurrence to have someone try to buy me. Even though Sylvia didn’t own me, it was the other way around. Listening to the conversation had upset me. I wasn’t something to be bought and sold.

I was an intelligent man, dammit. Capable of making my own decisions.

We pulled away from the lake towards the palace carved into the cliff. It was a very different area of the city. Buildings grew taller and decorations started to include precious metals on the exterior of the houses.

“They just use gold for their lamps?” I prodded Sylvia.

“Yes, this is the upper quarters if you haven’t picked up and also keep your voice low.” Her eyes wandered to a group of armed monster girls, gators and tawny colored cat girls. Lions, I assumed.

“Guards?” I asked.

“Yes, and you speak boldly for a man. You can talk all you want once we are done at the palace, but please don’t get the guard’s attention.” Sylvia seemed scared of what they would do.

Picking a fight with the guard was probably a terrible idea, but I was tempted if for no other reason than to show Sylvia she didn’t need to be afraid. From what I’d seen so far, she was powerful among monster girls, yet she and her mothers seemed to live in a lower-class home.

“Sylvia, why aren’t you living in this quarter of the city? You and your mothers seem more than capable.”

“Monster girls are very much about lineage, how far you are from pure succubus blood.” She explained.

“But there can’t be any pure succubus blood. How would you have kept that up without males?”

“Monster girls breed true. There’s never a human birth in a monster girl and human pairing. Did you notice how me and my mothers all look similarly? We all look like most air elementals, the human traits don’t take.”

I wasn’t exactly a science wiz, but I remembered some monk growing peas and genes. That’s not how making babies worked. “So then, if what you are saying is true, then there might actually be pure succubi still alive?”

That would be a complete horror for the kingdom. In the brief readings I’d done, a true succubus was a force of nature.

“Seven. We are in Greed’s territory, actually.” Sylvia explained as we approached the palace. It was such a casual statement of fact, but it changed so much.

“I thought this was Cleo’s area?” I didn’t want to believe there was a succubus this close to the fort.

“Cleo is ruled by Greed. This is just a small nation in Greeds larger territory.”

I looked at her, bewildered. “How big is that?”

“Right, you probably don’t exactly study the geography outside Rinndal. Past this nation lies five more, all of them fall under Greed’s domain. There are six other pure blood succubi from the Incubus King’s lineage that rule similarly sized territories.”

Blinking, I realized how small our little kingdom was in the grand scheme of things. “They are all like this? Like Verdant.”

Sylvia nodded sympathetically. “Master, if they wanted to squash Rinndal, they could in a heartbeat.”

I was going to feel sick. Did the nobles even realize how hopelessly outmatched they were?

“Why don’t they, you know, crush Rinndal?”

“I don’t know, actually.” Sylvia shrugged. “Way above my pay grade.”

We continued into the palace. Guards stood on ceremony with spears and shields as we and many others walked up the long line of stairs. The whole place spoke of decadence as there were water fountains to the side, something I doubted was cheap in the desert.

Catgirls danced in sheer strips while beads on their garb clanged together, making an almost musical tinkling.

“Don’t stare or one of them will come jump you. We are almost there, Master.”

The stairs opened up into the palace proper, guards blocked off all but one direction that lead even deeper into the palace.

I was started to feel a little uneasy with the number of monster girls that were between me and the exit.

Monster girls of all kinds were gathering in the large audience chamber room. I particularly noticed a blue slime girl in front of us with her transparent blue butt. I could see right through to her lower lips.

She turned and caught me looking, giving me a smile and a finger wave that promised she’d take care of me.

“Master.” Sylvia hissed.

“I’m not doing anything.” I sighed, but I was garnering attention.

Up in the center of the room was a small pyramid crowned with a platform richly decorated in gold and silks. Two figures sat up there, one a large purple and silver lamia. She had a cobra hood that came out along her spine and only made her seem larger, her snake portion was a deep purple, while her human half was a lighter, almost lavender color, decorated with a silver bikini that matched the markings on her hood.

But next to her lounging on a plush golden throne was a bronze skinned goddess of beauty barely clothed in sheer white cloth and dripping thin gold chains from her hair and shoulders. She was sexual perfection with sinful curves that just begged to be felt.

She reclined in that throne pushing the swells of her chest out and the cloth that draped between her legs had caught and pulled taunt outlining her sex for all to see.

“That is Cleo?” I asked, stunned.

I’d let her feed off me. Of course, there was still the issue of free will that I wanted to square away first. But damn. I was interested.

“Yes.” Sylvia said there was a trepidation in her tone.

I realized why as Cleo honed in on us talking.

“And who do we have here, bringing their man with them?” Cleo’s voice was slow and husky as she looked mostly bored with everything here. Yet she still sent off undeniable sexual appeal.

But I guess now was the best time to step up. “I’m Colonel Sam Ridden, here to seek an audience with the Queen of the Desert.”

Cleopatra’s eye went wide as a smile stretched her plump pink lips. She rose slowly from her throne and spoke quietly, yet it reverberated throughout the room. “Everyone else out. Guards, bring him up here.”

Well, it was time to face the music and apparently a monster girl that could curse me into a slave.