WIEDERGEBURT Act IV: Chapter 14

“Are we really free to leave?” The leader of the caravan asked. He was a human with the same dark skin as everyone else from the Endless Desert. The cornrows in his hair trailed down his back. He wore a white linen shirt, a skirt, a pair of loose-fitting pants, and boots with wide bottoms to keep him from falling into the sand.

He looked past me, and I turned around. Lin was talking to the lamia woman named Aliya. Standing alongside the two were the other four lamia--three men and one woman. All of them were stark naked.

I didn’t know what Lin was saying, but she was making wide gestures and pointing at me as if to emphasize certain points. Aliya kept glancing at me every so often. The frown she’d been wearing grew bigger each time she looked my way. Her four companions looked like they had tasted something foul.

“Yes, you can go.” I turned back to the caravan leader. “We will handle this.”

“Thank you! Thank you, kind sir!”

The ten men who made up the caravan bowed to me, but I just waved them off, watching as they went back to their wagons, loaded up their water, and set off.

Since the caravan was now leaving, I wandered up to the lamia. The four who were with Aliya tensed as if preparing to attack. Their leader, however, held out her arm in a warding gesture, telling them without words to stand down. None of the four looked pleased by her orders, but they also weren’t willing to disobey them. Each one reluctantly relaxed their guard.

“Princess Lin has told me everything.” The frown on her face became even more prominent as she crossed her arms. “She told me about how you saved her and cared for her. I appreciate you taking in my princess… though I do not approve of you taking Lin as your wife.”

So this woman didn’t like that Lin and I were married, did she? I opened my mouth, preparing to tell her just where she could take those feelings of discontent, but Lin beat me to the punch.

“Darling did not take this princess as her bride. This princess took Darling as her husband.” Lin crossed her arms and stared at Aliya with the sort of impetuousness I’d come to expect from her. “Do not be mistaken about the nature of our relationship. This princess claimed Darling first.”

Aliya shifted, the sounds of her tail grinding against sand audible over the whispers from the other four lamia. I listened in:

“So… our princess has married a human?”

“How disgusting. Everyone knows humans are merely meant for pleasure.”

“The queen isn’t going to like this.”

“Neither will the elders.”

Their conversation made me feel more than a little defensive. I set my shoulders and grabbed Lin’s hand who, to her credit, did not look startled as she gripped my hand back. Seeing this, all five lamia stared at us. My eyes, however, were set on Aliya.

“I don’t really care if you have a problem with me, but Lin is mine.” I raised my hand--the one with the Ring of Marji on it--so Aliya and the others could see. The way their faces paled when they noticed the mark made me smile. “She and I have already given ourselves to each other, and I have the Ring of Marji. Whether you approve of our relationship or not, it doesn’t matter, so you might as well accept it.”

The four lamia behind Aliya bristled at my words, but the one in charge of this group stared at me with eyes that seemed to challenge what I’d said. I stared back. This woman might be a bigshot among her people, but her Spiritual Aura was not that big. I could tell from the purple flames color and size that she had only reached the Second State of Spiritualism. And even if she was stronger, it wouldn’t have made a difference to me.

Aliya finally relented. “The Ring of Marji is not something that can be unwillingly given. I can see that you and Lin share a powerful bond, so I will not question her decision. That said, I would like you two to come with us. Queen Medusa has worried for many years over the disappearance of her daughter. I’m sure she’ll be overjoyed to see you alive again.”

“Hmph. It would be nice to see Momma again,” Lin admitted. She looked at me as though asking if we could follow them, but something they just said caught my attention.

“Your mother… is Queen Medusa?” I asked.

“Did this princess not tell you?” Lin tilted her head to one side, then the other, before finally placing a hand on her chest. “This princess is the daughter of Queen Medusa, the reigning monarch over the lamia of the Endless Desert. This princess did tell you she was a princess, didn’t she?”

“Yes, you did. However…” I placed a hand against my head and released a weary sigh. “I figured you just called yourself a princess because you were arrogant.”

“Th-that is a mean thing to say, Darling! This princess would never call herself a princess unless she really was one!”

“You are right. I know that. But still, I never would have expected you were Queen Medusa’s daughter.”

While I was surprised, now that I was thinking about, I did notice a lot of similarities between Queen Medusa and Lin. Both of them had a similar manner of speaking. They spoke with a refinement befitting a ruler, an arrogance that came from having power over others. I think the problem I was having lay in how that translated with regards to how they lived. Queen Medusa was a queen, acted like a queen, and had the power to back it up. Lin, especially when I first met her, acted like a girl who seemed incredibly arrogant but basically acted like a puppy. It just didn’t click with me that these two could be related.

“Well, whatever.” Lin huffed and pouted at me. “Let’s just wait for Big Sister and the others to arrive. Then we can head to the lamia capital.”

“Who is ‘Big Sister?’” asked Aliya.

“Big Sister is Darling’s Primary Wife,” Lin said as if it was old news.

“WHAT?! HIS PRIMARY WIFE?!” Stating those words seemed to make Aliya angry. She drew herself up on her tail and loomed over me, her eyes glowing a vicious gold, lips peeled back to reveal sharp teeth. “YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT YOU MARRIED OTHER WOMEN BESIDES PRINCESS LIN?! AND SHE ISN’T EVEN YOUR PRIMARY WIFE?! HOW DARE YOU, INSOLENT HUMAN!”

“Oh, pipe down.” I released a small spark of lightning from my hand and swatted the woman’s nose. It wouldn’t cause her any damage, but she still reeled back from the shock. “Lin is the one who decided to marry me even though she knew I was in love with someone else.”

Aliya didn’t look convinced. In fact, there was a murderous aura emitting from her body.

I almost--almost--sighed in exasperation at how ridiculous this woman was acting. The only reason I didn’t was because I understood how she must have felt in her position. Here was her princess, the daughter of her queen, who had gone missing for several years, and now that they had finally reunited, not only had she discovered that Lin was married to a human, but said human had multiple wives. Were our positions reversed, I’d probably be upset as well.

In short, I couldn’t really blame her, even if I thought her actions were annoying.

“Besides,” Lin added, “this princess really loves Big Sister and the others. Her life is much more complete with them in it.”

Those words caused Aliya to settle down, though the frown still marring her face showed she wasn’t satisfied with this explanation. The other four watched her warily. It was almost like they expected her to lash out.

Aliya finally sighed and rubbed her face. “That’s… fine, I guess. There is nothing we can do about this right now anyway.” She sent me a casual glare from between her fingers. “So, how many women have you married?”

“Including Lin? Four.”

“FOUR?! YOU DAMN HUMAN--GYA! MY NOSE! STOP HITTING ME WITH LIGHTNING, DAMN YOU!”

***

The wagon arrived about five minutes after I finished swatting Aliya’s nose with a lightning infused backhand, which caused her nose to become quite red and numb. It would be awhile before she regained feeling in it.

Lin and I explained the situation to Kari, Fay, and Siv. The three girls took the knowledge calmly and made the unanimous decision to follow Aliya and the others back to the lamia’s capital. Out of the three, Kari was obviously the most excited.

“The last time I went to the lamia capital, it was to rescue Eryk. He’d been kidnapped at the time, which meant I had to focus on saving him and not exploring the village. Now that we are going as guests, I wonder if I’ll get the chance to wander around a little? I would love to see if a lamia city is different from a human city.”

“This princess will give you a grand tour when she gets the chance.”

“I would love that! That sounds like so much fun! What do you plan to show me first? Do you think I could see how lamia live? I remember your houses were all partially buried underground. Oh! I also want to see that nesting ground you spoke of! Lin! Lin! When we get there, I want to go…”

“And there she goes again.” Fay sighed as she and I sat on the driver’s seat and watched the conversation between Kari and Lin. “I swear that woman only has exploration on the brain.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” I stretched my arms, listening as my back popped. “And it’s not like exploring is the only thing Kari likes to do.”

“I guess you’re right,” Fay admitted.

After deciding to let Aliya and her group lead us back to the lamia capital, our own group had split up. Fay was now driving the wagon since she was one of the only two people who could. Siv and I were sitting with her. Down below, Lin and Kari were walking next to Aliya on the wagon’s left. The four lamia who did not like us because we were humans had moved into a basic guard formation. They were slithering along the four corners of the wagon.

Raul was currently resting in the baby carrier, but Lin was now the one carrying him. Like always, he seemed fearless of his surroundings, staring at Aliya like she was an interesting puzzle. I approved of how he never cried about meeting new people. In fact, he only ever cried when he was hungry or needed a diaper change.

My son was such a strong child. I was sure he’d grow up to surpass his old man.

“Who is this child?” asked Aliya.

“Raul is this princess’ son.”

“You.. you have a son?! Since when?! Wait! How did you manage to bear a child without the ritual?! And why is he not a lamia?”

“Why would he be a lamia? This princess is not the one who gave birth to him.”

“But you just said--”

“Raul’s birth mother is Fay. However, we have talked about this a lot and decided it didn’t matter who gave birth to him. We are all going to be his mother. Just like we will all be the mother of any child sired by Darling and one of us.”

This must have been a conversation I’d not been privy to. I knew the girls would sometimes do their own thing without me. They’d go into Nevaria, explore the Demon Beast Mountain Range, take baths together, and stay up late in one of our guest rooms every so often. All of them said it was so they could bond as women who shared the same man. I wondered how many other conversations they’d had that I was not aware of.

Aliya seemed suitably confused, but at least she was willing to accept Lin’s words without questioning her further. I was a little surprised since she’d gotten really angry at first. Maybe her previous actions had been the shock talking. Even though she seemed willing to accept her princess’ words, when Lin went back to enthusiastically conversing with Kari, she sent me a fierce glare like I’d committed a personal crime against her ancestors.

I didn’t think her hatred of me was very fair.

The journey to the lamia capital, which was said to be located in the very heart of the Endless Desert, took multiple days. During the day, our group moved across the dunes. At night, my family and I slept in our wagon while the lamia camped around it.

I noticed that none of the lamia would get near the Giga Monster. They seemed wary of it--and rightfully so. Giga Monsters were B-rank demon beasts. It would take a group of about ten Spiritualists who had reached the Second State of Spiritualism to defeat one. Lamia would probably only need about five since they were stronger. Even so, no one would willingly fight a demon beast like this unless they had to.

Or if they were stupidly strong like my group was.

“How did you manage to tame this demon beast?” asked Aliya during one of our many days traveling. She was the only one who was willing to get close to the giant reptile.

“It’s that collar.” Kari pointed toward the collar around the demon beast’s neck. “You can’t see them right now because the sun is keeping them from glowing, but there are runes inscribed into that collar. They make the demon beast more docile and easier to control.”

“That’s very impressive,” Aliya admitted however reluctantly. “I did not realize runes could be used that way.”

“There are many ways runes can be used.” Kari suddenly leaned forward, getting right into the poor woman’s personal space. Aliya leaned back, breasts jiggling as she tried to recreate her personal bubble, but Kari didn’t care as she kept talking. “I don’t know how much you know about them, but runes are a form of spiritual language written by the dweorgs. Oh! The dweorgs are a race from the second realm called Niðavellir! Anyway, because the language contains spiritual properties, when you inscribe them into an object while infusing them with Spiritual Power, you can create a variety of effects! Like this ring! This ring is called a Storage Ring. I made it myself and…”

I snorted as Aliya was put through the paces of Kari’s long-winded and very one-sided conversation. Despite looking very put out by how Kari seemed to have no sense of personal space--she did, but not when she got excited--learning about the application of runes and seeing how Kari’s storage ring worked made her forget about her previous reluctance. She ended up asking Kari all kinds of questions that my wife was all too happy to answer.

“This princess is glad to see Big Sister has managed to break through Aliya’s hard exterior,” Lin said to me as we walked together. I was carrying Raul on my shoulders, enjoying this aspect of being a dad. “This princess knew that if anyone could do it, it would be her.”

I nodded. “Kari’s enthusiasm tends to sweep people up with her. You can’t help but get excited when she begins talking like that.”

Just then, Siv came swooping down from the sky, landing next to me. The lamia reacted predictably frightened. While they already knew about Siv, learning that she was a dragon had put them on edge. It seemed stories of dragons existed even in the Endless Desert.

“They're afraid.” Siv looked like she didn’t know whether to cry or pout; she ended up doing a combination of both as she turned to me. “Am I really that scary?”

“It is not that you are scary,” Lin reassured the girl. “It’s just that you’re a dragon. There are many legends passed down among the lamia about dragons. They say dragons are our progenitors. That we were born from a wingless dragon that had fallen from the heavens. Every legend we have states that dragons are so powerful none can stand before their might, that just a single swish of their tail or an exhale of their breath can destroy entire cities. With stories like that, it is only natural they would fear you.”

Siv didn’t seem to know how to deal with that. She was a very shy person by nature, quiet and unassuming, the total opposite of what most people imagined when the pictured a dragon, and while she didn’t really like meeting new people, that didn’t mean she enjoyed being feared either.

I rubbed her head in a consoling manner.

It eventually grew to be late, and our group had to settle down for the night. The sun was going down, which meant it would become much colder soon. Nights in the Endless Desert were freezing. It was entirely possible to get hypothermia if you weren’t careful.

We cooked outside. It was easier to cook outdoors than it was in our wagon. Big though it may have been, much of our space was already being used.

It was Lin and my turn to cook, so we summoned several large slabs of Dire Wolf meat. The lamia, having never seen Dire Wolf meat before, looked on curiously as the two of us rubbed a variety of herbs and spices onto the meat. We were making several different types.

The first type of meat was a spicy blend of paprika, pepper, and chili powder. It was the meat with the most kick. Even the scent it gave off as I cooked it made my nose twitch. The three male lamia--who I later learned were called Abbas, Galel, and Hazim--enjoyed this one the most. I guess that extra kick in the mouth was enjoyable to men of all races.

Lin made her own unique rub. I watched her mixing garlic, onion powder, dried basil, and oregano together, then rubbing it over her slab of marbled meat, which she sliced into pieces and seared in a pan instead of cooking over an open fire. This made the meat juicier because she basted it instead of letting the fat drizzle off. She, Aliya, and Siv were the ones who enjoyed its flavor the most.

“W-what a unique blend of spices,” Aliya muttered in shock.

Hm hm hm.” Lin quietly laughed before thrusting out her chest. “It’s good, isn’t it? This princess has been experimenting with spices and herbs for several months to find the perfect combination.”

“You cook a lot?” asked Aliya.

“Only when we travel into the Demon Beast Mountain Range. We always take turns cooking breakfast and dinner.”

“Where do you get these herbs?”

“They are grown in Nevaria--that is this princess’ new home.”

I also made Kari’s favorite, which was meat seasoned with oregano, thyme, pepper, coriander, onion powder, and garlic powder. The flavor didn’t have the same kick as my spicy dish, but it was a lot more complex. The other lamia woman, a younger girl who went by the name Layla, seemed to love it.

For Fay, I prepared a special rub made with tarragon, mustard, chive, chervil, and fresh shallot. It would have been impossible to prepare this on a normal expedition. Some of the ingredients like mustard would spoil if left out for too long. Once again, I had to thank Kari for making the storage rings. They were truly one of the most ingenious inventions I’d ever seen.

Once everyone had finished eating, Kari, Fay, and Siv cleaned up the cookware while I made us some caffa.

Caffa was something that could be found across the entire continent. Neveria, the Endless Desert, the Northern Planes… there wasn’t a single place that didn’t grow caffa. Of course, caffa could not be grown in a place that had no water, and thus it was a precious commodity in the Endless Desert, something reserved mostly for the rich. Zane had some back when he led a caravan, but it had been a paltry amount.

I was pretty sure the lamia never had caffa before, but once they took a sip, their bodies relaxed as they released content sighs.

Our group was sitting around a campfire. Fay was holding our sleeping son against her chest, Kari and Siv sat beside me, and Lin was chatting with Aliya. The other lamia had been by themselves for the first few nights, but now they sat amongst us. Our conversations were still sparse, still awkward, but I think the fact that they were at least willing to be cordial was a good sign.

I guess what some people said was true. Good food really did bring people together.

“I wonder if your cooking is the reason Princess Lin married you,” Hazim said. He was sitting the closest to my group, on the other side of Kari. “Even I will admit your cooking is delicious. That said, I cannot imagine what else she sees in you.”

“This princess married Darling because he is amazing.” Lin stopped her conversation with Aliya to interject.

Hazim gave a helpless shrug.

“Our relationship is one that was built from living together for several months and slowly learning more about the other person,” I explained. “Well, it was for me. Lin actually gave me the Ring of Marji barely fifteen minutes after meeting me.”

“This princess was admittedly delirious when she did that,” Lin said. “But she doesn’t regret her decision.”

“Neither do I,” I said.

Lin and I shared a smile, which caused Siv to pout and pull at my cheeks. Jealousy was not really a thing in our group. That said, I realized that I would sometimes give one person more attention than the others, and it was only natural for the rest of my wives to feel a little envious.

I’d have to be mindful of this in the future.

After everyone had their caffa, we got ready for bed, which included using a chew stick to clean our teeth. It was often called a tooth cleaning twig or datun. Made from the roots of certain plants that had a high content of tannins, it was used by the people of Nevaria to prevent our teeth from becoming gross and diseased. The bristly end was used to brush the teeth, while the pointed end was used to pick traces of food between the teeth.

Once we were ready for bed, my group traveled toward the wagon while the lamia slept by the fire. Because they were a cold-blooded species, they needed the fire to keep warm at night.

Before I could enter the wagon with the others, Aliya called out to me.

“I’d like a word with you, if I may.”

Lin frowned and looked like she was gonna say something, but I rubbed her head as if telling her not to worry.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure she won’t attack me.”

“This princess certainly hopes she won’t, but that isn’t her concern.”

“Oh?” I raised an eyebrow.

“She doesn’t want Aliya falling in love with you.” Lin stared at me, her eyes half-lidded and her lips pursed. I didn’t think she was trying to be seductive, but it was exactly for this reason that I found her current expression so enticing. “This princess is the only lamia you can ever marry. She won’t give you to another one.”

I laughed. Before Lin could complain that I was laughing at her, I leaned down and placed a kiss on her lips, pulling back before she could kiss back.

“Don’t worry. Even if she did fall in love with me, it wouldn’t matter. I already have you.”

“T-that’s…” Lin’s cheeks lit up like a fireworks display. She turned her head. I couldn’t see it, but I heard her tail thumping against the desert sands. “This princess… is very pleased to hear that. Um, now, er, if you’ll excuse her. She has to get ready for bed.”

Kari gave me an amused smile as she followed Lin into the wagon.

“You really are a lady killer. It’s no wonder the four of us have fallen in love with you.”

She didn’t give me a chance to say anything as she went inside. Fay and Siv were already in the wagon and putting their nightgowns on, but I was sure they heard the conversation. I heard giggles from the other side, followed by Lin’s indignant squawk. Kari was probably teasing her.

I turned toward Aliya and gestured for her to proceed me. She gave me a measured stare, then bade me to follow her as she turned around and slithered away from the camp. I was surprised since I figured she’d want to be near the fire. Whatever she wanted to say to me must have been something she didn’t want the other lamia hearing.

We stood on a dune, side by side, and I looked up at the night sky. No matter where a person lived or what they were doing, the twin moons would always shine brightly overhead. The stars and moons were the one constant in this world.

Aliya was silent for a time. When I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye, I found her studying me like I was a puzzle. Finally sighing, I turned toward her, loose grains of golden sand shifting beneath my boots.

“You wanted to tell me something?” I prodded.

“You are a very odd human.”

“I’m not sure I know what you mean by that. Are you trying to compliment me or insult me?”

“Sorry. I guess that came out wrong, but still, I have never met a human like you.”

Aliya looked away from me. While I felt no attraction toward her, I could admit that she was objectively very pretty. Her long, straight nose meshed well with her proud bearing. Her naked figure was the kind any man would lust after. Large chest. Thin waist. Wide hips. Her pussy was covered by beautiful pink scales and looked soft. Yes, she was a woman of incredible beauty indeed.

“We lamia have an ancient legend dating back thousands of years ago. It talks about how humans and lamia used to live in harmony at one point. Some of our clan actually believe the lamia were created when a dragon mated with a human, though no one has been able to prove this.” Aliya paused. Perhaps she was collecting her thoughts. “I don’t know when the division between us began, but for the past several hundred years, humans and lamia have been at each other’s throats. We’ve waged war, enslaved each other, killed each other, raped and pillaged the others land and people. There is so much bad blood between our kind that I cannot see how our two peoples can possibly come to terms.”

I could see how and why she would think this way, but I came from a place where lamia were unheard of. Also, lamia only fought with humans in the Endless Desert. There were plenty of lamia/human relationships in the Northern Plains.

“And then you came along.” Aliya was unaware of my thoughts as she gazed at me with complex emotions expressed on her face. “You somehow made Princess Lin fall head over tail for you, and now you’ve managed to at least earn my group’s respect. I have not once seen an expression of revulsion on your face. You seem to truly not care that we are lamia, and I can tell the affection you feel for Lin is real.”

I shrugged. “I’m not sure what you’re getting at.”

“I suppose I am not getting at anything,” Aliya confessed. “I just needed to get that off my chest.” She grew silent again, but I could tell she wasn’t finished talking, and sure enough, she began speaking once more. “Princess Lin has always been an oddity among our people. She finds humans fascinating. Always has. It was that fascination that led to her being attacked.”

“I’ve always wondered about that,” I said. “Lin said she never got a good glimpse of her attackers. Was she attacked by humans from the settlement she’d seen?”

“If only that were the case.” Aliya sighed. “There were humans among those who attacked her, but it was not just humans. There were also several lamia present.”

“Sounds a bit contradictory given what you just told me.”

“Yes, I am aware of that. I think that’s why we were taken by surprise as well. We never imagined there’d be lamia willing to team up with humans. Even now, we do not know who those people were or why they were working together. Queen Medusa thinks they are a rogue faction, but we have not discovered much about them.” Aliya paused here, then nodded toward me. “Anyway, thank you for listening to me, and for keeping Lin safe. I can tell she is truly happy being with you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Aliya bowed and slowly left me on the dune. As I watched her leave, I thought about what she’d said. Humans and lamia had worked together to kill Lin. Given that she had just finished telling me about the hatred between our two species, I couldn’t imagine there’d be humans or lamia willing to work together, but I guess some people would be willing to put their hatred aside if they thought it would let them get what they wanted.

Everyone had a price, after all.

***

It took exactly three more days to reach the lamia capital. I had never really gotten a good look at it before. The last time I saw this place, I’d been kidnapped and forced to flee. This time, I was finally able to see what the city actually looked like.

The first thing I noticed was the massive structure in the very center of this city. It towered over everything else, a multi-tiered temple made from giant stone blocks, with numerous steps and several spires jutting out from the main construct. In the very center of this building, a single, gargantuan spire stood. It differentiated itself by featuring a cone with a rounded top and edges. I could not tell what it was made from, but that just meant it had probably been made by the dweorgs out of a material that couldn’t be found in Miðgarðr.

Arrayed around the building was the city itself. Buildings made from sun-baked mud bricks sat burrowed into the ground. Most of them were round, but a few were shaped like squares or rectangles, and none of them had windows. They didn’t even have doors. Flaps of fabric covered the entrances, which lamia simply pushed aside as they walked in or out of them.

There weren’t any guards at the city entrance, so our group was able to easily walked into the city, though we became the center of attention as soon as we arrived. Lamia stopped moving. First, they gawked at the giant lizard pulling the wagon. Then they looked at each of us in turn. I could tell from the faces they made that none of them knew what to think about this situation.

“They are surprised,” Kari said.

“Can you blame them?” I asked.

“I guess not. I mean, this is basically how the humans we’ve met during our time here reacted to seeing Lin.”

There were a few humans located around the city, but they were dressed in threadbare clothes and had chains around their arms, legs, and necks. Slaves. There weren’t that many of them, but it might have been because most human slaves were used as sex toys for lamia--similar to how lamia were used by humans. It was just another reason these two races hated each other so much.

A number of unique smells filled my nose as we walked further into the city. It smelled like something was baking. I looked to my left and spotted what appeared to be a kiln. A group of lamia were creating clay pottery. The scent must have been from the fire baking the wet clay. However, it was also mixed with the scent of food, which I realized came from a lamia man who was cooking some type of unseasoned meat on a rotisserie.

As we walked by various groups, I caught the tail end of numerous conversations.

“What in all nine realms is that thing?”

“Is it some kind of reptile? It looks like a monster!”

“A demon beast?”

“Nevermind the beast. Look at those humans! What are they doing unchained?!”

“Hey, isn’t that Aliya and her group? I wonder what they are doing with a bunch of humans?”

“Why does that one girl have wings and a tail?”

I stopped tuning into the conversations after a while. They were all discussing the same thing anyway. It didn’t take a genius to know what they thought about us either.

“Stop!” A group of lamia wielding khopesh suddenly appeared before our group. In the middle was a lamia male with a muscular torso and yellowish brown scales. A scar ran across his right eye. He glared at us, then looked at the one leading us. “Aliya, what is the meaning of this? Why have you brought unchained humans to our city? You know all slaves are supposed to be kept in chains so they cannot cause problems.”

“What makes you think these humans are slaves?” asked Aliya.

“Are you saying they are not?” The man narrowed his eyes.

“What I am saying is that it doesn’t matter. You--” She pointed at one of the lamia guards who’d come out with this man, a woman with small breasts and six pack abs “--Please go inform Queen Medusa that her daughter has returned.”

“What?!”

“Queen Medusa’s daughter?!”

“She’s back?!”

Aliya’s words caused everyone to erupt with surprise. Several eyes looked over at Lin, the only lamia present they didn’t recognize on sight. It was obvious who Aliya was talking about. Not only did no one recognize her, Lin also stood next to me and Aliya as we walked at the head of this procession.

The lamia who Aliya pointed to left in a hurry. However, the man who’d stopped our group from proceeding forward still refused to let us pass.

“Is that really the queen’s daughter? How can we be sure she isn’t a fake?”

Aliya narrowed her eyes. “Are you saying I’d mistake someone else for Princess Lin?”

“I’m saying it’s been so many years since she disappeared that Princess Lin is probably dead,” the man said, a mocking grin splitting his face in half. “Do you know what I think? I think you are so desperate to get our princess back and reclaim your lost honor that you’re even willing to sully your name by finding a random lamia girl and proclaiming she is our princess returned. You’re a disgrace to our people.”

A disturbing silence settled upon the lamia city as the tension rose between Aliya and this man. The lamia around us looked nervously from the man to Aliya. Some of them backed off as if expecting this to come to blows. I wanted to ask who the heck this idiot was, but even I knew better than to simply speak out of turn.

One of us, however, did not.

“You dare to claim that this princess is an imposter,” Lin hissed as Spiritual Power began flowing from her body, seeping into the ground and staining it black. “You’ve got some nerve, Jahin. Have you forgotten what happened the last time you insulted this princess, or does the scar on your face no longer ache?”

The man who I guessed was named Jahin paled as he touched a hand to his scar. His eyes grew wide as his mouth dropped. He was finally looking at Lin, really looking at her, and I don’t think he liked what he saw.

“No… it can’t be…”

“What is going on here!”

Just then, a regal voice echoed across the street. Our group turned as the ocean of lamia parted to admit a group of people who were coming from the direction of the temple. They were lamia dressed in armor--an oddity since lamia preferred not wearing clothes--and they were being led by a woman I remembered quite vividly from my past.

She had the same dark hair and dark skin as everyone else. Her black hair was long and reached down to her butt. She did not wear any clothes, but she had donned a single piece of jewelry, a golden headpiece that rested on her head. It was a circlet with a snake in the center.

Stunning golden eyes were set into an elegant face that I now realized look very similar to Lin’s, so similar I could have mistaken them for sisters. Her naked body was like a work of art. She was all sinuous curves and powerful muscles. Her large breasts swayed as she slithered up to our two groups, dark nipples visible through the hair that fell over her shoulders. Like the rest of her people, she was completely hairless, with only a pair of pink scales surrounding her unguarded pussy.

This was undoubtedly Queen Medusa.