“So this is the young faroh,” said the queen of Ether’ell. “We have been just dying to meet you.”

The queen stood in a column of light emanating from an oculus in the domed rotunda. Her two faun bodyguards flanked her as Hemkaraho looked down on her from his throne at one end of the audience chamber. The scholarly Hemkaraho had rarely heeded the affections of the opposite sex before, but there was something about Queen Alissamir that caused a feeling deep within him to stir. Perhaps it was the resonant richness of her voice? Was it a purely physical attraction? Her looks certainly were stunning. Her regal gold gown and purple sash magnificently displayed her unusually large and firm breasts and her full hips. She wore a golden crown in the shape of laurel leaves. It was ornamented with a large purple jewel of amethyst. Her auburn hair trailed in long waves down her back and was fashioned into many small braids with gems and bells woven into them. As a result, her hair glittered and tinkled provocatively when she moved her head.

“You honor us with your presence,” Hemkaraho said politely. He was wearing his formal robes of office, alizarin crimson trimmed with gold. “What is it that brings the queen of Ether’ell to Anentropol?” Hemkaraho knew what she wanted. The same thing everyone wanted. Immortality.

“For one thing,” Queen Alissamir replied, “We wondered if the young faroh was as beautiful as rumors would have it.”

“And what have you discovered?” Hemkaraho asked with a wry half-smile.

“The rumors fell far short,” Queen Alissamir laughed an easy laugh.

Was she using her magic on him? Ether’ell was renowned as the center of magic and Ether’ellian mages were known to be the most powerful mages in the world. His jati, Jaufa, had warned him about their mind-influencing abilities. Hemkaraho had been taught some basic wards against magic, but he was fairly certain they would prove ineffective against the Queen of Ether’ell.

“We’ve come to extend you an invitation,” Queen Alissamir continued. “We would like you to join us for an evening aboard The Conjurer.”

That certainly piqued Hemkaraho’s interest. The Conjurer was the name of the queen’s pleasure barge. It had appeared unexpectedly in the skies over the city causing quite a panic among the people, who believed balls of fire would soon be raining from the sky. The skyship had settled onto the top of the ziggurat located in the center of the principal marketplace. Throngs gathered to observe the spectacle as the faroh’s soldiers surrounded the skyship and hailed the occupants. The queen had requested an audience and Hemkaraho had granted it over the objections of Jaufa.

“I would be delighted to attend,” Hemkaraho answered enthusiastically. “In the meantime, is there anything I can do for you?”

“Our entourage and our crew would like to visit the marketplace and the baths if possible.”

“Of course, I will alert the guards. If you prefer I can arrange for you to have a private bath and apartment in the royal complex.” The royal complex was a vast sprawling city within the city where the multitudinous ancestors of the royal family lived, a consequence of immortality. There were some quarters in the royal complex that could be prepared for visitors.

“That won’t be necessary,” Queen Alissamir replied. “The Conjurer has sufficient apartments for us and as for a bath, we prefer the public baths. We would greatly appreciate it if a guide could be arranged to show us around the market.”

“I would be happy to show you the market myself,” Hemkaraho said, as a thought began to occur to him.

+++++

“How do you like our market?” Hemkaraho asked.

The market was considered one of the wonders of the civilized world. Hemkaraho had suggested they travel incognito so that they could experience it without the commotion of a royal procession. Alissamir had insisted a bodyguard would not be necessary. She was perfectly capable of defending herself against attack. Was her magic really that powerful? Jaufa insisted on accompanying them, acting as a chaperone, along with Masurta, the royal executioner, acting as a bodyguard. Alissamir and Hemkaraho were disguised as a merchant couple recently engaged. 

They began at the ziggurat which was surrounded by stalls selling mostly high-end goods. Alissamir tried on some jewelry. “It looks lovely on you,” Hemkaraho said and he had the reluctant Jaufa purchase it for the queen.

Minor nobles jostled them as they worked their way through the crowded market while Masurta maintained a lookout for cutpurses and vagabonds. People typically wore loose garments suitable for the desert climate. The most popular fabrics were bright colors and contrasting vertical stripes.

Alissamir took Hermkaraho’s arm as the couple moved farther away from the ziggurat and encountered a section where services were offered; physicians, moneylenders, blacksmiths, and even some prostitutes. A shapely prostitute and what appeared to be her twin attempted to lure them into a tent filled with pillows. Alissamir raised an eyebrow questioningly, but Hemkaraho declined the solicitation.

The next section had a wide variety of goods for sale including medicines and potions, textiles, fruits and vegetables, fresh and preserved meats, grains and bread, fermented foods, cheeses, salts and herbs, and exotic animals. They encountered a stand selling living plants and Alissamir seemed fascinated by the variety and colors of the flowers called tulips. She had never seen such plants before and thought they would prove to be very popular back in Ether’ell.

A vendor of exotic creatures had an eight-legged spider monkey pose on Hemkaraho while Alissamir fed it a brown fruit. Hemkaraho cringed at the touch of it. He had been bitten by such a creature when he was a child, and it had taken a week of bitter potions and bloodletting before the swollen wound had healed. Alissamir just laughed and offered it the fruit. The creature took the brown fruit and climbed up its webby netting to a corner of the stall where it had built its silken nest. It peeled the fruit to reveal a large white maggot which it devoured greedily as it watched them with its black oval eyes.

They continued on and Alissamir rested her head against his shoulder as they walked. Was she flirting with him? That could work in his favor. They came across a troop of booka traveling on a gol, a giant beetle. Booka were a breed of goblins that were able to survive in the most hostile desert regions. Their large flat feet were ideally adapted for moving across deep sand. They traveled in extended family units and occasionally came to the market. Their most precious commodity was a type of mineral they harvested in a secret location that made an excellent fertilizer. They also commonly traded gems and exotic creatures. Several booka were clambering over the back of the gol holding onto the netting that held their goods in place while another was standing on the ground giving them orders. The gols were considered part of the family and booka never offered the enormous beetles for sale.

Hemkaraho felt a tug on his sleeve and looked down to see an ancient booka woman. Her yellow skin was covered in deep wrinkles, she wore a ragged dusty tunic, and she had several necklaces of beads and bones around her neck. She appeared to be blind, her eyes white and clouded with age. “Granny Booka sees your future,” she croaked as her ears twitched upward. “Granny Booka tell if handsome couple have beautiful children.” She cackled a laugh that transitioned into a cough.

Hemkaraho began to move away but Alissamir remained. “Come, it will be fun. We can find out if the future holds something for us.” They were led into a small dimly lit tent that was set up next to the gol.

“Granny need exact time and date of you’ birth,” the old booka said.

Hemkaraho told her and she began feeling wooden sticks that had glyphs cut into them, they served as her astrology charts and told her the exact phases and helions of the moons. She gripped his hand in her withered claw and began chanting as if in a daze. Suddenly she began speaking in a rambling fashion.

“You were born with Rumon and in a thousand years, Rumon will claim you again. You fall in love… it does not last… I see you going on a journey far from home, you never return… I see you fleeing a great city, the greatest city, as it crumbles to rubble,  I see you pulling a creature from the sea who becomes your companion, I see you meeting a raven who becomes your wife and then she becomes your death. Beware Lady Raven for she will be your end! Beware Lady Raven!”

With that, the old woman dropped her head and remained silent for some time.

“Well that was disappointing,” Alissamir said. “I thought they were supposed to feed your ego to brighten your day.”

“Would the beautiful lady like Granny Booka to tell her fortune?” the old booka asked.

“Sure, might as well,” Alissamir answered doubtfully.

The old booka grasped the queen’s hand and was silent for a moment, then she threw back her head, flattened her ears, and her blind eyes opened wide as she began chanting.

“When the Blood of Entropos,

Comes to Anentropol,

The deathless shall die,

And the empire fall,

The dead shall arise,

then death comes to all.”

She repeated the prophecy over and over. Hemkaraho tossed a couple of coins to the booka, grabbed Alissamir by the arm, and pulled her out of the tent. “Come. Let us get out of this place.”

As they fled the old fortune-teller, they could hear her screaming out “Death comes to all!”

“What was that about?” Alissamir asked.

“A well-known prophecy,” Hemkaraho replied. “It purports to foretell the downfall of Anentropol and our empire. I don’t know why she started chanting that.”

“What does it mean by the Blood of Entropos?”

“Do you know the legend of Entropos and Anentros?”

“I know they were supposed to be gods, they were enemies.”

“Entropos was the god of chaos, Anentros was the god of order. Our way of life is based on the worship of Anentros. Anentropol is named for Anentros.”

“I knew that much. As faroh, you are also the leader of the religion, the high priest. But what is meant by the Blood of Entropos.”

“No one is quite sure. There are some who believe it to be some sort of plague or pestilence, others believe it to be a monster, and then there are those who believe it to be a person, a descendent of Entropos.” Hemkaraho failed to mention the Bones of Anentros to her. It had been the discovery of the Bones of Anentros that had unlocked the secret of immortality that his people had been seeking for centuries.

+++++

The public baths were crowded. The bathhouse was located to the side of the market near the ziggurat and most citizens visited it daily. The large central pool was covered with a glass dome and it was full of people of all ages and stations. The pool was heated from below by fires. There were several other rooms in the bathhouse; steam rooms, dry heated rooms, chilled baths, and private baths where oils and herbs could be added to the water. Hemkaraho stood behind Alissamir as she slipped out of her robes. He couldn’t help but admire the shapely curves of her body as she descended the broad steps into the bath. Suddenly a hush fell over the bathhouse. Everyone was staring at Alissamir. Then a murmur began to echo throughout the hall: “Blood of Entropos. Blood of Entropos” Hemkaraho did not understand what was happening until he went to stand beside Alissamir. He looked down to see what everyone was gawking at. The queen had a rather large and well-shaped penis.

Alissamir turned to Hemkaraho and said, “Haven’t they ever seen a penis before?”

Hemkaraho hurriedly picked up Alissamir’s robe, wrapped it around her, and said, “We had better leave.”

He ushered Alissamir into a small alcove with a private bath. “You didn’t tell me you were a hermaphrodite!”

“You didn’t ask. You didn’t tell me your people were prejudiced.”

“You must understand that Entropos is always depicted as a hermaphrodite.”

“I did not know that. However, I don’t worship Entropos. I worship Amma… and Glafess.”

“It doesn’t really matter to them. There is a movement in the city, there are… religious zealots, they spread hatred against hermaphrodites as part of their religious message.”

“I thought the faroh was the religious leader.”

“I am officially the high priest. There are also many unofficial sects and they have influence in the city. Some of them are so extreme they have been banned in the city, but there are those who continue their extreme worship in secret. There is something else. Those who believe the Blood of Entropos to be a person believe that person will appear as a hermaphrodite.”

“So they believe I may cause the downfall of Anentropol?”

“That is what they believe.”

“You must have hermaphrodites in the city. What of them?”

“It is often considered shameful by the family. They are hidden or the family may seek another course… surgery.”

Alissamir was shocked. “They… they cut them?”

“I am afraid it is true. Masurta will keep us safe, but I suggest we bathe quickly and then leave.”

+++++

It probably would have caused less commotion if the skyship had rained balls of fire on the city. The city was in an uproar. The worst of the cults had come out in public to protest. Jaufa was vehemently opposed to Hemkaraho joining the queen of Ether’ell aboard the skyship, but Hemkaraho would not be dissuaded. Jaufa had no idea of the plans he had been forming. Hemkaraho conceded to have his royal decoy make an appearance for him while he made a clandestine visit to The Conjurer.

Once Hemkaraho was on board the ship, it was untethered and lifted into the sky. Hemkaraho and Alissamir stood on the open deck watching the huge red orb of the sun sinking into the desert. The buildings looked like clusters of crystals that had grown together, the people like insects crawling among them. As evening came on thousands of lamps and torches began lighting to illuminate the city. Hemkaraho could see the multitude of brightly colored awnings of the markets, the obelisks spiking into the sky, the enormous dome that was the site of the congress of the ancestors, the glass dome of the public baths, pools, fountains, gardens, parks, and arenas. Alissamir put her arm around him as they admired the breathtaking view.

“I’m sorry if I caused you any trouble,” she said.

“The agitators will disperse in time and things will return to normal. It is I who should be apologizing to you. I am the ruler of a people who need to be taught tolerance.”

“It is a difficult thing to do. It seems all people need someone to blame their problems on.” She hesitated a moment before continuing. “There was something I saw that I found quite disturbing. I assume it was a woman. Where their breasts should have been, there were scars. There was also a man with similar scars.”

“The Children of Anentros,” Hemkaraho replied at once. “It is the most extreme of the cults. They… cut themselves to show their devotion to Anentros. Anentros the Androgenous. They try to remove all evidence of gender… surgically. They consider themselves to be his avatars.”

“That is horrifying!” Alissamir gasped.

“The cult is officially banned. However, there are many who consider it the most devout form of worship of Anentros.”

There was a lengthy pause. Then Hemkaraho said, “Tell me about Ether’ell. Are the people there more tolerant of differences?”

Alissamir laughed, “Yes and no. The people of Ether’ell embrace diversity it is true, but they tend to look down on those they consider to be conformists.”

“And the people accept you as a hermaphrodite?”

“In Ether’ell being born a hermaphrodite is considered a great honor. It is fairly common, more so among the noble families.”

“I am wondering,” Hemkaraho asked hesitantly, “are you… are you fully… you know…”

Alissamir put her arm around Hemkaraho’s shoulders. “If you stick around long enough, Faroh,” she growled, “perhaps you will find out. Come. It is time to eat.”

She led him to a table that had been prepared at the prow of the ship where they could see the landscape unfold below them. The wind was mild and they seemed to be traveling with it so the air felt perfectly calm. As soon as they were seated three glasses were served to them. The first appeared to be clear cold water served in a crystal glass, the second was a dark red wine, and the third was a small jigger of green liquid.

“I assume these are water and wine,” Hemkaraho asked, “but what is the third?”

“That is what you might call a potion,” Allissamir answered. “You may wish to decline, but if you imbibe, your senses will be enhanced. We commonly serve it before the meal to enhance the flavors, smells, lighting, and music. It also lifts your mood.”

“Is there a drawback to the potion?” he asked.

“Of course,” Alissamir answered. “Tomorrow your senses will be dulled somewhat. It can also be… habit-forming.”

Hemkaraho decided to try it and mimicked Allissamir as she tossed back the jigger and swallowed it. It did not seem to have any taste or smell itself, but as soon as he had quaffed the contents he noticed a pleasant smell of flowers. Everything seemed to be glowing with the light of a summer evening. He could even smell the scent of Allisamir’s body next to him which he found to be slightly arousing. He sampled the water and found it to taste as refreshing and cold as a mountain spring. The wine tasted complex, rich and fruity, tangy and full-flavored.

The meal was the most amazing Hemkaraho had ever experienced. He never forgot the marvel of colors, scents, tastes, and textures. Each morsel was meticulously crafted to astound and delight the eyes and the tongue. The flavors were rich and complex and for a short time, Hemkaraho could almost forget that he was faroh. The servings were small but numerous and varied and he had trouble identifying many of the food’s sources. The meal concluded with some sweet cakes fashioned into the shape of flowers.

“I should warn you,” Alissamir said. “Those shaped like orchids have a potion in them.”

“What does it do?” Hemkaraho asked. He had been about to bite into one.

“It is a bit like wine but different. It may make you feel good as long as you don’t eat too many. It is said to enhance the libido as well.”

“And does it? Enhance the libido?”

“It does for me,” she answered as she popped one of the small cakes into her mouth. “If you wish you may try one and see if it does for you as well.”

“And then what shall we do… with our enhanced libidos?” Hemkaraho asked softly as he took a bite.

She just smiled and looked at him with a dreamy look in her eyes.

+++++

“May I kiss you?” Alissamir asked.

Hemkaraho nodded his consent and Alissamir pressed her full lips against his as she wrapped her arms around him pulling their bodies together. They had retired to Alissamir’s sleeping quarters after dinner. The potions seemed to be having their desired effect, or perhaps it was the kiss that was causing him to be so aroused. Hemkaraho opened his mouth wider as he ground against hers. She responded by slipping her tongue into his mouth. He had never been kissed like that before and it made his heart pound faster. He ran his fingers up the base of her neck into her hair and pulled her gently against him as their mouths moved together.

“Is that how you kiss in Ether’ell?” Hemkaraho asked.

“One of the ways,” Alissamir answered as she looked into Hemkaraho’s eyes. “Shall we make love?”

“I would like that,” he replied.

Alissamir bent her head and kissed him on the neck gently sucking on his flesh as she lightly touched her tongue against him. At the same time, she parted his robes and ran her fingers gently over the muscles of his chest and abdomen. “Your skin is so smooth,” She said.

He bent his head forward and pushed his face into her hair smelling the fragrance of flowers; lilies and lilacs. She kissed him again lower on the neck and then continued kissing her way down until she reached his glabrous chest. She circled his nipple with her moist tongue, as she reached beneath his kilt and took his manhood into her hand, squeezing the base of it, causing him to grow larger. The gentle tracing of her tongue over his skin, and the coolness of her breath on the saliva left behind, caused a shiver to run up his spine. He could feel the texture of her tongue on his flesh. He let out a soft moan.

Alissamir unfastened the clasp on Hemkaraho’s kilt and let it fall to the ground leaving him naked from the waist down. The queen knelt in front of him obsequiously with her toes pointing backward, her shins against the ground, and gently stroked him as he lorded over her. She looked up into his eyes as she slowly began tracing the head of his royal rod with the tip of her tongue. His shaft resembled the rest of him; long, thin, and brown. She parted her lips and began drawing him slowly into her mouth as she cupped his sack with her hand. “Alissamir…” he called her name softly. She began rocking her head forward and backward taking him a little deeper each time until she had fully engulfed him. His length must have been reaching into her throat as his groin ground against her face, but the queen did not seem to be bothered by it. In fact, she reached around to his muscular buttocks to pull him hard against her as she extended her tongue to wet his dangling sack.

She withdrew from his entire length, turned her face away from him, and rested her head against a pillow on the floor. Her curvaceous hips and buttocks thrust upward revealing her glistening slit. Hemkaraho’s shaft was still moist from the queen’s throat as he moved forward and entered her queenly opening. Instinctively he reached forward to rub her groin and encountered her cock. It felt enormous! It was longer than his and had much greater girth. Perhaps it was magically enhanced.

Alissamir turned to look back at Hemkaraho as he stroked her cock. “Isn’t it amazing?” she asked.

“It certainly is impressive,” he answered.

Hemkaraho had never been with a man, but he knew what he liked himself. He began stroking and squeezing Alissamir’s cock in time with his thrusts. She seemed to grow more excited as he did. Creamy juice began to steam from her lips down onto his sack while a sticky bead of fluid oozed from the tip of her cock. He gently rubbed the precum around the opening from which it had emerged and over the head causing the queen to moan louder.

Hemkaraho continued thrusting and as he did, he squeezed from the base of the queen’s shaft all the way to the tip and was rewarded with a large dollop of precum. He scooped it onto the tip of his long thin finger and reached up to spread it onto her erect nipples, first one and then the other. He began massaging her breasts and gently twisting her nipples and her moans grew louder. Suddenly her vagina began clenching around his rod and she began rocking back and forth as her body was swept with an orgasmic wave. He reached down to stroke her cock and found that, in spite of the orgasm, she had not spurted yet. He wondered at this.

Hemkaraho was curious if Alissamir had the spot that women have. He felt the top of her cleft and began rubbing it and felt it hardening under his ministrations as she moaned louder. “That feels wonderful,” she cooed. He stroked it and squeezed it between his fingers as he continued to thrust into her. He felt her body clench as the second wave of pleasure passed through her and a great flood poured from her loins.

Hemkaraho could not hold back as a feeling of pleasure seemed to form in the small of his back and sweep up his spine into his brain. His thrusts grew more powerful as he gripped Alissamir by the hips and slammed his groin against her. He threw his head back and cried out as he released his seed deep into her womb with a few final thrusts. “Oh, oh, great Glafess,” she cried out invoking the goddess of love and lust. A series of spasms swept through her body and her cunt clenched his cock and he know that she was having a third orgasm.

Gradually Hemkaraho withdrew, his shaft was glistening with the moisture of their combined fluids. Alissamir remained still with her bottom thrust upward, her face and breasts pressed against the floor. She was holding his seed tightly inside of her. Was she hoping to conceive a child from him?

Hemkaraho reclined on Alissamir’s bed, a large circular structure with a mattress that seemed to change form to match his body. It was covered in pastel-colored satin and silk sheets. The room was illuminated by a crystalline structure that emitted a multitude of diffracted rainbows.

The light was blocked as Alissamir’s shadow appeared over Hemkaraho. She straddled him with her rod above his face, her own face over his groin as in the symbol for the twins. Now she asserts her dominance. Alissamir’s long hard rod pointed downward still unsatisfied. As Hemkaraho watched a droplet of precum oozed from the orifice and descended slowly towards him suspended by a long tether. He opened his mouth just in time to accept the salty, sticky substance. Alissamir lowered herself slowly towards him and he opened his mouth to accept her. The meaty head filled his mouth and his jaw ached as he tried to open it as far as possible. He wrapped his lips around it and began sucking as he ran his tongue over the head probing the salty opening with the tip of his tongue. Alissamir pushed farther, a gentle pressure but persistent. She had managed him so effortlessly. He wanted to please her so he tried to relax. He took deep breaths through his nose. He had only managed about a third of her member before he gagged and had to expel it. “You’re doing wonderfully,” she said reassuringly. “There are not many who can manage all of it, especially men. I’m sure you will do better in time.”

Allisamir had begun rubbing Hemkaraho’s rod and put her mouth on it until Hemkaraho once again began to stiffen. At the same time, she pushed her own shaft into his mouth, slowly but unrelenting. He tried to control his breathing, long slow breaths through his nose, relaxing his throat. It was no use. He gagged again. This time however Alissamir laughed and did not withdraw as his throat convulsed around her meat. His eyes bulged as tears streamed from them. Finally, she withdrew again. He had only been able to swallow about half of her length. She casually took his now stiff rod and drew it completely into her mouth, swallowing it effortlessly into her throat. She began sliding her head up and down on his rod each time swallowing it completely. She simultaneously began pounding his mouth with her own shaft her intensity increasing. Hemkaraho reached up to slide his fingers into her slit, slick with their previous lovemaking, the fluids had begun seeping from her slit and down her sack. Hemkaraho began pumping her opening with his fingers and rubbing her swollen button with his thumb. Finally, her body went rigid and her buttocks tensed as she withdrew slightly to spurt her load into his mouth. Her seed filled his mouth to overflowing as spurt after spurt of it emerged. How much could she possibly have stored up? He noticed her body was shaking and her slit was streaming with fluid as well. Hemkaraho realized she was having simultaneous orgasms. She used her hand to squeeze the last drops of thick white seed into his mouth as her body shivered.

Alissamir nimbly twisted around to face Hemkaraho and began kissing him on the mouth before he had a chance to swallow all of her massive load. She savored its flavor as they shared a kiss. She used a finger to scoop up some of the more energetic eruptions that had spattered across his face and chest and brought them to his mouth.

For a time she lay next to Hemkaraho and stroked his body with a long fingernail. She gradually worked her way down to his groin. He was hard again and his sack was tight with the tiny muscles forming a row of ridges along its surface. Then she probed further. Her finger slipped beneath his sack, ran along his perineum, and arrived at its destination, his puckered anus. Hemkaraho twitched nervously as she contacted this sensitive orifice. Then he began to wonder. She wouldn’t! Would she? She was too massive! Alissamir began by spreading his legs apart and bending his knees as she pushed them up towards his chest getting him into position. She took some oil from a stand beside the bed, dipped her fingers into the dish, and began applying it to the rim of his opening. She slowly stroked around the rim with her finger, then she began massaging it gently, loosening it up. “You are so tight,” she said. “You need to loosen up for your queen.” 

She slowly worked one of her fingers inside him and curled it to push against his gland. That did feel amazing. She returned to massaging the opening, softening it up until she was able to insert a second finger. Hemkaraho tried to relax as she made small circular motions with her two fingers trying to stretch his opening wider.

Alissamir added more oil, inserted two fingers from each hand, and began stretching him open as she began pushing her massive meat against his virgin hole. Hemkaraho’s heart began pounding and his breathing quickened. Glafess save me! He tried to relax. She withdrew for a moment, added more oil, and began pushing again. He was panting heavily. He felt a sudden sharp pain and then she was inside him. He moaned loudly as he looked into her face and saw her broad confident regal smile as she pushed irresistibly forward. She paused and withdrew slightly before adding even more oil and pushing forward again. It seemed to go on and on, deeper and deeper, withdrawing briefly only to push onward like a battle where both sides are evenly matched and yet one has a stronger will. Eventually, she triumphed as he felt her groin pressing against his balls. She was all the way in. And then she began pumping him. Slowly at first but gradually, she moved faster. Glafess! Glafess! Glafess! She reached down and began pumping his rod with her hand in rhythm with her own thrusts. His moans grew louder as her thrusts grew more aggressive. He stared into her face, tears streaming from his eyes as she pounded him with abandon, harder, faster, ruling over him until finally, she blasted inside of him. And then Hemkaraho was spurting as well. Her strokes and the pressure on his gland had caused him to release his seed in great quantities. Alissamir was laughing with joy as she emptied into him. She remained inside him for a long time until slowly, very slowly, she began to soften, deflate, and finally withdrew.

“You were amazing!” She exclaimed as she kissed him on the mouth.

Alissamir clapped her hands and a pair of servants appeared and cleaned the couple with warm wet cloths before departing again. They fell asleep in each other's arms exhausted.

+++++

Hemkaraho looked into Alissamir’s face. There were some things that could not be covered up with makeup and magical glamour. She was older than him, at least twice his age of twenty seasons, maybe more.

“It isn’t really immortality,” Hemkaraho said. He could tell she was trying not to react, but he was close enough to see her irises enlarge with excitement. “It does however make you younger. The effect is temporary and it needs to be used on a regular basis. The older you get the more frequently you must use it. As far as immortality, you can still die of course, through trauma, starvation, dehydration, or murder. You are much less likely to die of disease but it is still possible. If you are truly wise, you won’t tell anyone else about it, but how long you can keep it secret will be difficult to say. Eventually, they are going to figure it out.”

The queen’s breathing had temporarily paused. When it began again she said, “So you are considering sharing this… this miracle with me?”

“I am considering it, yes,” Hemkaraho answered. “But I have my price.”

“Of course,” she said. “Anything you desire. Your wish is granted. Anything within my power.”

“I wish to abdicate,” Hemkaraho said. “I no longer wish to be faroh. I wish to return with you to Ether’ell and learn magic from the greatest in the world.”

She looked shocked. “It will mean war.”

“Perhaps, perhaps not. I have ancestors who could easily step in to fill my role if only they had the ambition for it.”

“You would give up being faroh?”

Hemkaraho looked at her for a long time before he began to rant. “I hate being faroh. It is a terrible responsibility. The audiences commence at dawn and continue until sunset. There is no time for studying. Since I have come of age I have had to give up all of my studies and do nothing but govern. Most of my recent ancestors have made it their primary goal to produce offspring as quickly as possible, so they could abdicate, retire, and enjoy their immortality. The main problem with immortality is what to do with all of the ancestors? They overburden the city with their numbers. Originally it was a gift made available to all, even the lowest peasants. Now only the royal family may have access to the Bones.”

“The Bones?”

“The Bones of Anentros. They proved to be the secret to immortality. They were first discovered over a millennia ago in the desert. The location is secret. They are said to be mined from the actual bones of the titan god Anentros. It took some time for the alchemists and necromancers of Anentropol to unlock their secrets. The alchemical and necromantic processes transform the raw Bones into the Bones of Anentros. They are then activated with some common herbs.”

“So how do we obtain them?”

“Now that will prove difficult. Even the faroh my not give away the Bones to someone who is not of the royal family.”

“I ask you again, how do we obtain them?”

“There is really only one way I can think of,” Hemkaraho answered. “We steal them.”