“Izzy! We have company!” Lilly shouted into a room on one side of the modest hall we were standing in.

“Is it the Sovereign?” A masculine voice sounded back from the room.

The doorway was just wide enough I could see a cozy sitting room, but not the owner of the voice.

“Yep! And her partner too. They’re such a cute couple!”

I heard the sound of a heavy book closing from the same room. “Could you make us some tea, dear?”

I looked down at the welcome mat under my feet. Black claw tips poked out from my boots, which had finally given up their fight to stay together. I must have looked quite the sight. As my confusion ebbed, I started to feel more and more self-conscious about my ill state of dress and cleanliness.

If Lilly had wanted to disarm us with her actions, she’d done a distressingly good job of it. Beside me, Seyari seemed more ill at ease, glancing around the house with suspicion.

“Of course, love!” Lilly replied. “I’m going to set out the tea cakes I made yesterday too, so you’d better join us!”

Lilly bounced off to the other side and into what I could see was a large kitchen. From the opposite room, a chair creaked and footsteps announced the approach of a well-dressed middle aged human man of Ordian complexion. His glasses matched Lilly’s pair, but his Ordian-styled clothing was nicer by a margin.

“You must be the Sovereign of Wrath.” He looked at us and seemed startled for a moment when he caught Seyari’s eyes. “And you must be the Sovereign’s partner. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Isidore Travend.”

He offered a hand out to shake and I took it, careful of my claws.

Isidore took in my state of dress. “Dearheart, did you offer the Sovereign and her partner a bath yet?” He turned to me. “I don’t mean to insult, but you look like you both want and need one.”

“Hmm?” Lilly poked her head back out of the kitchen, and her eyes went wide in surprise before her expression turned to one of embarrassment. “Sorry! You both must be exhausted! Bath’s down the hall to the left. I can fix your clothes right up if you don’t have a change, too! Tea and snacks will be ready when you finish, but take all the time you need, okay?”

I could scarcely believe this was happening. Had anyone asked me what meeting the Sovereign of Lust would be like, a trip to my nan’s would have been the last option I picked. Seyari, for her part, managed to hold onto a neutral expression, though her eye twitched dangerously.

Before the situation could devolve, I intervened. “We’d love a bath! By the way, I’m Zarenna and this is Seyari.”

I wanted to say girlfriend, or partner, but I wasn’t sure what to call us. I knew I was being daft, but I’d ask Seyari as soon as we were in private.

Isidore nodded. “Welcome to our home. My wife is a bit…odd for one of her kind, but she usually means well.”

“Hey!” Lilly protested with a smile.

“Thank you for having us.” I looked down at my sand-and-dust-covered self. “A bath would be lovely.”

Taking Seyari’s hand, she let me walk us past our two hosts and down the hall to the bathroom. I ducked inside, careful of my horns, and Seyari followed me.

***

Inside was an inset, pink-tiled tub large enough for two people. There was a hand pump and what looked like a magical heating element. The room was clean, but a shelf to the side showed a large amount of well-used pink and red candles along with a wide selection of soaps and oils. A large fogged window let in plenty of light.

Somehow, this love nest of a bathroom relaxed me more than if it’d been a chaste affair. So far, Lilly had shattered my preconception so thoroughly, I expected pieces to come falling out of my ears. Provided her act wasn’t a façade, anyway.

The problem did remain that there was only one bathtub and no place to change out of view. Before I could ask, Seyari spoke up.

“I don’t like this.” Her eyes’ glow faded as she shut off her aura sight. “We need to talk. This room isn’t warded with anything dangerous.”

“Isn’t that a good sign?” I moved to look at the soaps.

“Not when we’re dealing with a demon like her!” Seyari hissed.

I stopped and turned. “What do you know about Lilly?”

“Did you read her aura?”

“No, why?”

Seyari glared at me. “Are you trying to let yourself be caught off guard?”

“I haven’t had to worry about the stuff before, Seyari! I don’t always know what to do.” I snapped back.

Seyari’s expression twisted through a range of emotions before settling on a tired look. “I forget that sometimes, okay? Lillith’s aura is the strongest I’ve ever seen, Zarenna. I’m worried we’re in over our heads.”

“Is she stronger than your father?”

“I think so. I was too young to really remember, but she’s stronger than Etanza was, and her aura is far calmer.”

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“Sovereign Demons should be strong, right?”

“She’s an order of magnitude above you, Zarenna. And I have no idea what her game is with all this quaint bullshit!”

“What if it isn’t bullshit?” I asked quietly.

“Zarenna, she’s a demon, she—” Seyari cut herself off and went quiet, looking pensive.

I laughed. “You’re not going to offend me like that, Seyari. You probably know more than I do about demons anyway. It’s a huge risk to trust her, but from what you say we probably wouldn’t stand a chance anyway, would we?”

“Do you want me to just trust her then?” Seyari asked with exhausted honesty. “There’s a spell over the whole town out there. Something’s up.”

“If she’s strong like you say she is, I say we give her a chance, but stay wary.” I tried my best to sound reassuring. “What’s the spell anyway? I noticed the people here didn’t stare at me, and the town’s existence is weird as hell, but Lilly and Isidore seem genuinely nice.”

“I don’t know what the spell is. It’s tainted with demonic mana, but that’s all I can tell.”

I frowned at that. “Would any magic a demon does be tainted?”

“Yeah.”

“How can you tell?” I looked at my own aura. Lilly and Mereneth both had red in theirs but a different shade than what tinged my fire. I doubted recognizing a demonic aura was a simple as ‘red is demonic’.

Seyari put a hand to her chin. “I can’t really explain it. Demonic auras have a different…texture is probably the best word.”

I shook my head. “I don’t get that at all. I remember when we first met, Lorelei said she didn’t focus on aura reading, but you told me later she knew from my fire. What gives?”

Seyari thought a moment. “Lorelei’s a perfectionist. She’s been trained, but not completely. I doubt she’d have seen it if she wasn’t looking for it.”

“How long does training take?”

“Two to five years.” Seyari shrugged. “Depends on talent and practice.”

Well, there went my plan of learning quickly.

“Can you teach me?” I asked.

Seyari shook her head. “No. I found out how to do it on my own when I was young. All I can say is to look for texture.”

“I’ll try.” I turned back to the wonderfully scented shelf. “The magic over this town really could be anything, huh? I say we ask Lilly what the spell is.”

“Are you crazy?”

“Maybe. But she wanted to meet with me as Sovereign, whatever that means. If she’s at all genuine, she’ll probably just tell me.”

“What if it’s something horrible? What will you do?”

I stared at the bottle of lavender bath soap I’d picked out. “I’d let her know what I think.”

“You are crazy.”

“Yeah, well even if I’m weaker than Lilly, we’re both Sovereigns. I can’t fight her, but I’m not going to run away. I’ll treat her like an equal. And if she’s doing something abhorrent, I’ll get stronger than her and come back to put an end to it.”

Seyari shook her head. “I don’t like this.”

“Neither do I,” I agreed. “But while I can, I am going to take a wonderful bath.”

Seyari looked between me and the empty bath. “There’s only one tub.”

“Yeah, I know.” I smiled.

Inside, I was nervous. I didn’t intend to go further than bathing together, but it was still a big step.

Seyari smiled deviously. “Good. Because I’m caked in sand and sweat and I don’t want to take turns.”

I reached slowly to start undressing. Seyari ungracefully pulled her blouse and what was underneath it off as I looked straight at her. I blushed and hurried to do the same. We eyed each other for a moment, Seyari’s cheeks dusting rose pink. I heard her mumble “huge” under her breath.

I didn’t think they were that big, but my chest certainly wasn’t small and given my overall proportions… I blushed harder and felt an oddly deep sort of satisfaction. Though I have to admit, Seyari wasn’t lacking either. Her skin even seemed to glow faintly.

Wordlessly, she moved to fill the tub and I selected a plain bar soap and shampoo to go with the lavender bath soap. We finished undressing with little fanfare, but had to rinse sand and sweat off before we could refill the tub all the way to really soak.

Hair came first and I was surprised to find neither my hair nor Seyari’s seemed prone to tangling. I managed to get enough sand off to make a small pile at the bottom of the tub. From there, we moved lower.

This was the first time we’d seen each other naked and I could see a pair of horrible scars on Seyari’s back. I scrubbed carefully around them, but she directed my hands over the area, wincing slightly.

“You should give four-armed massages,” Seyari hummed.

I’d dulled my claws with my glamour. After practicing, I was able to slightly alter my lower arms as well, but the drain on my magic was notable for even small changes. Once I finished, I rinsed her off and we switched positions. Seyari’s hands didn’t stay far, but I felt her trace the musculature and shoulder blades of my second set of arms.

The urge to get clean had overpowered any other urges, but the redness in both our faces was certainly not from the lukewarm water.

Once we were no longer coated in grime, I emptied the tub and refilled it with the soap and hot water from an enchanted heating element. Within a minute were sat inside covered mostly by mountains of foam. I resisted the urge to raise the temperature beyond what the tub’s magic already had done.

“Don’t you think you added too much bath soap?” Seyari batted a wad of lavender-scented suds at my face.

Most of what she threw slid off, but a chunk of bubbles stuck to one of my horns.

I dunked under the water to clear my face. “I haven’t had a bath like this in weeks. If I want suds, I am making suds.”

Due to my size, the tub was quite full. I wanted to stay for hours, but I didn’t want to make Lilly and Isidore wait. After only a few more blissful minutes, we got out.

“I’m surprised the water stayed so warm.” Seyari said as she blew her hair dry with wind.

“I have no idea why that happened,” I responded in a playful tone.

I dried my legs and feet. Then I heated my body up, boiling the rest of the moisture away.

Seyari looked at me and laughed. “I should have known. Is that sort of heat bad for your skin?”

“I have no idea. I hope not!” I reached up to feel my face. Soft and smooth and hairless.

“I think you look great,” Seyari stepped over and gave me a peck on the cheek.

I gave a fanged smile back. “You too. Do you have anything to wear?”

“I’ll figure something out.”

We both moved to our packs we’d set in a corner. After a moment’s thought, I grabbed some usable lower undergarments and carefully got my dress out. The garment had a couple wrinkles, but I smoothed them out with warm hands in the moist air.

I slipped into the dress, four hands making light work of ensuring everything was in the right place. The dark purple garment still fit me like a glove. I wasn’t used to the idea of a bottom that wasn’t some kind of trousers, but the feeling of loose fabric against my legs overrode any nervousness I felt. The light blue thorned roses stood out against my skin tone. I knew they matched my eyes as well.

My top arms fit through the sleeves, but my bottom arms were bare. If I ever had the chance, I’d get matching ribbons to tie around them. The bottom of my dress was loose enough that my tail felt no discomfort. Though, I’d have to be careful about how I moved it lest I show something I’d rather keep private.

I wished I had a pair of shoes to go with the dress. Not for comfort, but to complete the look. I was already a head taller than all but the tallest humans I’d seen, but I wanted to try heels. I’d probably regret them rather quickly. Still, heels were a statement I wanted to make.

“So, how do I look?” I asked.

“Gorgeous. Dangerous.” Seyari took my clawed hand in her smaller one. “And you’ve quite the manicure.”

She traced a centimeters-long black blade carefully.

“What should I call us?” I asked her.

“Girlfriends. Partners. Either one works for me.” She replied with a rare wide smile.

“What’s gotten you in such a good mood? Besides the bath. Aren’t you still worried?”

She met my gaze. “Yeah, I’m real fucking scared to be honest. I haven’t felt that way in a long, long time and I don’t like it. I’m focusing on you so I don’t focus on what’s outside.”

“You sound like that’s working.”

“It really, really is.”