27
 	Richard lay across his bed, dangling the sapphire necklace from one finger of his upraised hand.  It spun and twinkled, reflecting the light from the kerosene lamp on his bedside table in its facets and silver chain.  He had saved up enough over the last two months to get it set in a curl of silver wire.  Michael sat in the large window seat on the other side of the room, knees drawn up to his chin, and sulked.  It was nearly sunset and this easternmost room of the house was already thick with shadows.  This and the lamp turned the window into a mirror that let Richard see more than his friend wanted him to.
	“It’s just that I feel responsible for what happened to her.  That’s all,” he said.
	“You don’t have to lie to me.  You still want her.  It’s okay,” Michael said.
	“You aren't listening to a word I say.  It isn’t like that at all.  I wouldn’t trade what we have for anything.  I just want to make things right.  This is going to be my city someday and I want to see it go back to the way it was, before Grandfather messed it all up,” Richard said.
	“She’s gone.  You’re never going to see her again, and she probably wouldn’t want anything to do with you if you ever did.  Just admit the way you really feel, and it will be okay,” Michael said.
	Richard sprang up off the bed and went over the window to drape his arms around Michael’s neck.  Micahel didn't look up, but leaned back a little to snuggle against Richard's body.  Phsyical affection was new to both of them, and they couldn't touch each other enough.
	“You already know how I feel, and nothing’s going to change it,” he said.
	“Then what is this?  What makes her so special?” Michael said.
	“It’s because of what I did to her.  I used her, the same way Marcus has always used people.  I paid for her like she was some sort of toy, instead of a person.  And it was only because-”
	“You wanted to be certain before you said yes to me.  Is that it?” Michael said.
	“Of course not.  I was certain before I ever saw her,” Richard said.
	“Then why?”
	“It's because of Dad.  He...”
	“I see.”
	Michael slipped down from his seat, and jabbed a finger in Richard's chest.  The little cat's head barely reached Richard's chin but he had always been the bolder one, which kept Richard a little in awe of him.
	“You're going to be twenty soon.  When are you going to stop letting your father decide your life for you?” Michael said.
	“When he stops threatening to disown me if I don't give him a grandson,” Richard said.
	“Is that what this is about?  Oh, Richard, why didn't you just say so?” Michael said.
	“I didn't want you to threaten him in public again.  You're going to get yourself in real trouble if you keep that up,” Richard said.
	Michael pulled his head down, and kissed the top of his muzzle.
	“Don’t torture yourself.  You're the only one who's making a weighty moral issue of what happened.  For that girl, it was just another day.  If she thought about you at all, it was only to wish you knew what you were doing,” Michael said.
	But he grinned when he said it, and laughed when Richard cuffed him lightly on top of his head.
	“At least I’m not totally spent after only two times,” Richard said.
	Richard was only just able to get the curtains closed before he was caught in a tackle that landed both of them on top of the bed.  It was solidly built and large enough to hold them both with room to spare.  But the force of the impact still slammed the headboard into the wall hard enough to leave a mark.  They both froze for a moment, listening, but Marcus wasn’t home and wouldn’t be for several more hours.
	Michael relaxed first and he knocked Richard’s arms out from under him to pin him to the bed.  They tussled a little more, growing bolder again as Michael slipped an arm down the front of his shirt, and the nipped him on the back of the neck.  Richard responded by rolling over and pinning Michael against the wall, which got a mew of protest and claws in his back when he tried to pull away.  The necklace fell to the floor, and in the time it took Michael to blow out the lamp, Richard had forgotten about it.
	Some things were easier in the dark.  During the day, Richard had to play the part of his father's son and heir to the city.  It wasn't always a bad role.  As Richard Keppler, he got to do pretty much what he liked, as long as he was careful only to do things his father would approve of.  He could chase whores, because Marcus did the same thing.  It wasn't something Michael understood.  Nobody care what the son of a foreign merchant did, or who he fell in love with.  But as long as he could bury himself in his boy's arms at the end of the day, nothing else really mattered.
	The room was cold and without his clothes Richard shivered a little as he lay on the bed.  He pressed back against Michael, while the boy trailed sharp little claws down the length of his thigh.
	“Do you love me?” Michael said.
	“More than anyone in the world,” Richard said.
	“I think you really mean it.  As long as I know that, everything else is okay,”  Michael said.
	Richard remembered Jess when Michael's mouth closed around him.  The girl had done the same, before he had pushed her down on the bed.  She'd had more practice and knew how to use her tongue, but she'd also been less enthusiastic.  Michael, for all his clumsiness, showed him the kind of care and affection he'd hoped he could buy.  Feeling like it could somehow make up for his earlier mistakes, he curled forward until his muzzle slid in between Michael's hips.
	After they had finished and wound themselves around each other, the little cat’s hands kept wandering over his body.  Richard rolled over so they were facing each other and Michael licked the hollow of his throat.  Too comfortable to stop him, Richard just cocked an ear towards the door to listen for Marcus and let the boy explore.
	“Doesn’t it worry you that I might become like my father?” he said.
	“You won’t.  Marcus never loved anybody in his life,” Michael said.
	Richard stiffened, protests lining up in his mouth, all the same old empty words of a lifetime of defending his father whether he was right or not.  He swallowed them before they could escape and nuzzled the top of Micahel’s head.
	“I was, when I paid for that girl.  I just need to know you won’t let me go any further,” he said.
	“Are we still talking about that?  I've forgiven you, and she's forgotten you.  Let it go,” Michael said.
	“It isn't as easy as that,” Richard said.
	Michael growled a little and the tip of his tail twitched rapidly, slapping into the side of the bed, but he didn’t get up and he subsided under Richard’s petting.  After a while, he shut his eyes and rolled over onto his back, like he wanted to go to sleep.  The white fur on his chest and stomach shimmered oddly in the moonlight that crept in between the curtains.  It made him look ghostly and insubstantial and Richard put a hand on Michael’s chest, to feel his heartbeat and let it comfort him.  He knew how much his obssession could cost him, and just now the thought of losing Michael frightened him more than his father's rage ever had.
	“Okay, I give in.  What is it you want from me?” said Micahel “What do you want to do?”
	“I want to go and find her,” he said.
	“Big surprise.  Assuming she won’t just tear your throat out when she sees you, how do you expect to find her?  She has to be hundreds of miles away by now,” Michael said.
	“No, she won’t be.  She can’t stay away, not with the Scylla sunk by my father’s order, and her friend-”
	He managed to stop himself in time and crammed fingers in his mouth, wanting to do the same with his careless words.  There were some things that were too terrible to be spoken aloud yet, no matter how much they needed to be said.
	“There’s no way you’re going to find her.  I don’t know why I’m going to help you do this.  You can’t take responsibility for someone you don’t even know,” Michael said.
	“Because I’d want someone to do the same for me,” Richard said.
	But there was no reason why it couldn’t wait until morning.  He curled up close to Michael, telling himself it was only for a few minutes and then he would take his friend back home.  His eyes drifted shut, and he only dimly noticed when Michael extinguished the lamp and drew the covers over them.

	There was a peculiar joy to be found in having complete control over someone else.  Even his power as President didn't give him the same kind of calmness he felt when he was holding the other end of someone's leash.  It wasn't, as the ignorant believed, just that he could make them do anything he wanted.  There was a limit to physical pleasure and he didn't have the same kind of stamina he'd had as a pup.  It was simply the joy of being in conrol and knowing that there would be no surprises and nothing he would be expected to fix that kept him coming back.  When his citizens protested in the streets, and even his own son had turned against him, he still knew he would not lose his power here.
	The girl knelt at his feet with her eyes averted, which was proper.  She was naked except for the collar around her neck, which she'd been wearing when he had found her.  Her arms were shackled behind her back and the cuffs had been chained to the manacles that had been put around her ankles, to keep her on her knees.  Her muzzle had been tied so she couldn't bite him again, though that deprived him of one of his pleasures.  He liked to hear people talk, even if it was just to spit curses at him.  Blood matted her fur, turning it a deeper shade of red in spots, and grime made the mane on the back of her neck stand up on its own.  This did nothing to take away from her beauty, though, and if she had been any other girl, he would have taken her by now.
	“Jessamine's brighter than you think. She's gotten herself free, and she isn't going to come back,” Jacob said.
	“Oh, no.  For a girl like her, loyalty trumps common sense.  If I thought it were otherwise I would have just cut her throat and been done with it,” Marcus said.
	“And your son?” Jacob said.
	“He isn't my son, he's Natasha's.  I just hoped...  He knew what would happen when he made his choice,” Marcus said.
	He caught the look of surprise that flashed across Jacob's face and felt a stab of irritation.  It was, he knew, very much in fashion to care about your family now, but he had thought that Jacob, of all people, would understand that some things were more important than family.
	“What is it about this mouse that makes her so important?  There are plenty of other girls in the city and you can take your pick.  Why not just let her have her little girlfriend here and find someone more tractable?” Jacob said.
	“And let people think that they can steal from me?  Oh no, that's where the rot sets in.  Once people think they can get away with that, it will keep getting bigger and bigger, until I've lost everything.  This city is mine,” Marcus said.
	There was a muffled coughing from the girl, which he came to recognize as laughter as it continued.  She looked up at him now, her eyes bloodshot from the drugs he used to keep her sedated, and she laughed at him.  He punched her across the muzzle, but she didn't stop.