Amethyst shuddered as she rolled in her bed, a dull pain radiating through her as she came to rest against her pillow. 

She let out a long groan as she wrapped herself in the warm blanket, the pinging of a notification in the back of her mind causing her to grumble in annoyance.

Just delete it, she thought knowing that the notification was likely caused by her presence last night. Of course, she would never admit it but… she was concerned Hecatolite would attempt to run away from Saffron and by the time she was sure the two of them were going to make up it was too late to leave without interrupting them… yea that’s what she was going with.

She covered her head as she remembered the night before. She had expected the two of them to have sex but… did I do it wrong with Applejack? She thought, recalling her own experience compared to her sisters. Comparing the feelings, the sensations in her mind as she felt a twinge from her abdomen.

She shook her head trying to banish the thoughts, maybe I do deserve those perverted traits. She lamented as she finally sat up. The motion sent a jolt up her spin as her hips began to throb.

“gods you two,” she sighed looking at the destroyed room around her, the two women had been… enthusiastic, to say the least. Neither of them seemed to care, as they casually tossed each other around the room, just how strong they were. Simply using any surface they could get on until it gave out under them… “did you have to break my chair?” She recalled the end of the chair she had since birth, her body recalling the futile attempt to restrain Hecatolite to it that had marked its demise.

Her whole body shuddered as she remembered Saffron’s firm grasp on her legs as she teased Hecatolite before the restraints gave way… the sound of the notification drew her back.

“Fine Babylon, what is it?” she asked.

“Trait degenerate has evolved into depraved. Trait gained, voyeur. Skill gained, increased physical resistance.”

“Figures.” She groaned rolling her stiff shoulders, the skin on her back tingling at the sensation. “She… she didn’t break skin, did she?” She craned her neck looking behind herself only to stop when she saw the set of dark black eyes looking back at her.

“Good morning, lady Amethyst.” Saffron’s voice caused her whole body to tense as the woman rubbed her back. “And no, I was careful to not draw blood. though there are some marks that should fade shortly.” She said with a yawn as she sat up beside her, not bothering to cover herself as the blanket fell away.

Amethyst stammered as her eyes wandered down Saffron’s exposed body, swallowing hard as the woman stretched.

Saffron smiled as she tapped her on the nose, “keep staring and I may get the wrong idea.” She said with a giggle.

“i… I wasn’t…” Amethyst’s words caught in her throat as Saffron pointed to the terminal.

“May I?” 

Amethyst nodded only for Saffron to reach over her shoulder to tap on the terminal, the motion pressing her chest onto Amethyst back. 

“Saffron!” She exclaimed as her cheeks burned hot from the contact, the woman’s body draped over hers as she addressed the terminal.

“Babylon…” Both stopped at the sound of another terminal appearing.

“Good morning, lady Saffron, I am your personal Babylon terminal, how may I assist you? Please note you have not given your terminal a designation, would you like to designate it now?” A small hand sized terminal floated beside Amethysts as they sat stunned.

“umm… h… how?” Amethyst finally asked.

“Hecatolite and Saffron have recognized each other as “mates”. Saffron has gained the title “first wife of the devour” and as such, has been given access to the Babylon system.”

“First wife?” Amethyst muttered before she was violently pulled back into a deep hug. “Saf…” She felt Saffron shivering behind her as she held her tightly.

“I… I’m not…” saffron shivered as she clutched onto Amethyst. “It’s… it’s too much…” 

Amethyst took a deep breath as she looked back at the terminal… “do… do you not want to…”

“Don’t say such things!” Saffron yelled spinning Amethyst to face her. “Of course, I want it! But I’m a lowly succubus! Hecatolite… She's a goddess. I couldn’t possibly take up the position of her first wife! Maybe fourth, or third if I was lucky, but first!”

“Wait!” Amethyst yelled as Saffron shook her, the naked woman before her not doing her any favors as she tried to make sense of the situation. “First of all, you’re her only wife so of course you will be the first one. Second, how many wives do you think she will have?”

Saffron stopped shaking Amethyst, seeming to compose herself as she spoke. “You’re right, it's just temporary. Once my mistress finds a more suitable lover, they will take the position of primary wife.” 

Amethyst couldn’t help but sigh, “you’d really be ok with someone else taking her away?”

“Don’t be foolish,” Saffron scoffed, “Hecatolite is a goddess, of course she would have multiple lovers. Jealousy over such things would be nothing but a hindrance to my mistress, I am just happy…” Amethyst could see Saffron’s expression slowly change, her eyes going wide as her mouth went slack. “I… I got married… to a goddess…”

“Babylon, send a message to my sister, get out here and deal with your new wife.” She rubbed the bridge of her nose in annoyance as Saffron shook, muttering in demonic to herself.

No one spoke as the family sat around the table, Taaffeite rubbing her eyes as they all shared awkward glances as Amethyst sheepishly asked Alexa for a little bit of healing magic.

Alexa, though annoyed, had agreed to heal Amethyst as she was also an “unwilling participant” in last night's… episode. 

“Just so we are all on the same page here,” Taaffeite sighed as she rubbed her nose, “Hecatolite and Saffron…”

“Consummated their marriage last night.” Alexa shook her head, “quite loudly I might add. You do realize that…”

“Let’s not go into details.” Alastair coughed as he averted his gaze from the group with a nervous laugh. 

“Are… are those teeth marks?” Amethyst asked, looking at the strange mark on the side of her father’s neck, only recognizing them due to the similar marks on Saffron’s shoulders.

“Moving on.” Taaffeite quickly interjected as both her parents turned a deep shade of red. 

“I should have stayed in the capital, maybe I could have avoided the…”

“I doubt that would have done you much good,” Taaffeite waved her hand causing a terminal to appear, “just so you're aware,” she started, looking pointedly at Saffron who stood looking at the floor behind Amethyst. “The queen has issued a one thousand gold fine to the X47 guild for “disturbing the peace”. Given you two apparently caused the entire nation to go into heat, I say you got off easy.” She sighed tapping on the terminal. “She is willing to accept payment under a probationary period, 75 gold a month for 13 months as long as you two keep yourselves from causing another uproar…”

She paused as Saffron bowed, “I am sorry for the inconvenience, I will pay the fine immediately…”

“No, you will make payments from the X47 guild coffers.” Taaffeite tapped the terminal on the table, “the queen has generously offered you a more than reasonable payment plan.”

“Would… would it not be better to pay it in full?” Saffron asked, raising her head causing Taaffeite to sigh.

“It’s not about the money,” Alexa shook her head, “our family has always had very close ties with the ruling family, as such, by making you the newest official member of our family, as well as leader of a guild we openly back pay a fine and we all get to save face. The queen gets to show that we are not above the law, as well as show her own leniency to people who are supportive of our nation by allowing you to pay in installments. If you simply pay it off, it would seem like our family was able to simply write off… shaking the entire nation.”

“But the fine is not to your family, it is to the…”

“The guild that is run by Hecatolite’s wife.” Alastair interjected, scratching his beard, “even I know how it would look if you just tossed a thousand gold out like nothing.”

“Are we just ignoring the wife part?” Amethyst asked, causing everyone to turn to her, “not that there's a problem with it just… it’s kind of… I don’t know, sudden? Aren’t these things supposed to, you know, take time?”

“She's right.” Taaffeite nodded looking at her husband.

“Yes,” Alastair nodded looking at Saffron who seemed to physically shrink at his gaze. He took a deep breath as he narrowed his eyes… “I can’t say I approve… you didn’t even come and talk to me, yet you took one of my precious daughters hands,” he stood and walked over to her, the entire room going still as he came to stand over her. “I hope you do intend to make this right.”

“i… I apologize sir…”

“Alastair, you’re fighting her.” Taaffeite sighed.

“Well of course! We didn’t even have a ceremony!” He stomped a massive foot, “I didn’t get to walk my little girl down the aisle or anything! Or see her in her dress!... or suit… do they both wear dresses?” All the previous tension seemed to drain from the room as the massive man pouted, even Saffron managed a weak chuckle causing him to turn on her again, “mark my words, when they get back from the trip, you’re going to do it again, properly this time! I’m talking about a town wide parade!”

“Hopefully they pay the fine before they do anything again.” Alexa scoffed causing Alastair to turn beat red.

“The ceremony! Not… the…” He stammered looking back at his wife as if asking for her help.

Taaffeite shrugged, “honestly, it was only a matter of time, given how things seem to happen around Hecatolite. Though I am curious on how… on second thought I am not.”

“I am.” Alexa sprang up, summoning a terminal of her own, “how does this skill work? Normal blood line skills are only passed onto children, it is very rare for a skill to be passed to one’s spouse. Will everyone’s spouse get the ability or just Hecatolite? What about children? Is there some kind of hierarchy here or…”

The terminal flashed to life in her hands, “Each member of the main branch of the family will have access to the Babylon terminal, the side branches will pass on a lesser version of the skill that will act as a communication terminal for one generation. Currently Taaffeite is considered the head of the family, as such all her children have access to the skill in full. Note, a successor has not been named.”

“Then why did Saffron get the skill?”

““error” Saffron has been granted access to Babylon due to her own soul’s composition as a demon lord. Note, Saffron’s Babylon skill has been upgraded from the latent skill “voice of the world” that is granted to demon lords and godlings in preparation for ascension. If Hecatolite was to take a second wife, they will be granted the lesser version of Babylon unless she is named the successor of the Lapidary family…”

“Or she finds someone with the voice of the world skill.” Alexa glared at the terminal.

“It… it is possible…” the terminal flashed, not sharing that there was only a very small handful of people in the world with the skill required. though given that it was Hecatolite… it was not impossible she would somehow manage it.

“And where exactly is our blushing bride?” Taaffeite asked Amethyst who shrugged.

“I tried to wake her, but she keeps muttering about… things.” Amethyst refused to meet her mothers’ eyes as she recalled Hecatolite latching onto her in the void, deciding to spare her family from the sultry promises her half asleep sister made while attempting to nibble on whatever she could get her mouth on. “Apparently she burned through a lot of her aether last night…”

“Will she be better by the time we depart?” Taaffeite asked, more to the terminal than anyone at the table. 

“Yes, Hecatolite should regain her full power by the time you reach the capital if you leave at the scheduled time. Note, she is not being suppressed, she is simply resting. It is likely that she will awaken by the time you all depart tomorrow.”

“Good, now then,” Taaffeite again looked to Saffron, “brushing all that aside for the time being. Saffron, I have a favor to ask of you.”

Saffron instantly perked up, “Yes Lady…”

“You’re no longer a hand maid Saffron, no need for such formalities.” She shook her head as Saffron blushed. 

“But I am just…”

“You’re a member of our family now,” Alastair laughed, patting her on the shoulder, as he leaned down and whispered in her ear. “First rule in the Lapidary house is always to listen to Taaffeite.” He chuckled looking over his shoulder to his wife who sat giving him a puzzled look. “Second rule is never tell Taaffeite the rules.” He smiled as he stood back up giving his wife a thumbs up as he did.

“Ok, la… Taaffeite. What is it you wish to ask of me?”