Zhenten again. Rai sighed faintly at the tall lizard, shooting glances both ways down the hall.

“What’s wrong, my prince?” 

“Nothing.” Prince Rai sullenly lifted his hand to be led. Mother never takes me places anymore.”

“The queen is a busy woman. But you’ll get to spend some time with her tonight.”

“In a crowd.” The prince picked at his robe. Servants always dressed him in one of the fancy robes when he was going to make a public appearance.

Zhen chuckled. “You’ve only been allowed at officious events. Those are boring, but… Tonight will be very different. Tonight is one of the queen’s special feasts. We weren’t sure you were ready… however much your mother wanted to bring you.”

A little tug got Rai moving along down the hall behind Zhen. His talons click-t-click’d rapidly keeping up with the lizard’s broad stride. Sunset rays and a parched breeze crossed their path.  Though the open-air windows, Rai glimpsed the towering statues of the temples looming over Midteir. Lingering heat caused even their creeping shadows to waver. “So I’m ‘ready now? What changed?”

“You remember your visit to the priestess this morning?”

The crazy lady with the nasty medicines and magics who always made him undress.  “Yeah.”

“You remember what happened?”

Rai flushed a bit. He hadn’t thought too much of the erection he’d gotten, standing naked while the priestesses poked and prodded his fur and feathers with their spells. “What’s that got to do with it?”

Zhen spared Rai a glance and a grin.  “Tonight, my prince, you have much to learn.”

“I know what my cock is for!”  Rai glared up at his guide. But that spark in Zhen’s eye…  The prince swallowed and dipped his head back down, ears pinning back.

Zhen’s clawed finger rapped abruptly across Rai’s beak.  “You’ll have the seat of honor at your mother’s side. I think you’ll see her in a whole new light after tonight…”

The prince rubbed his face and sniffed. Zhen always did that… another reason Rai didn’t like him much.

At least he knew where they were going now; he knew his way around the palace well enough by now. The great hall. Same place they always held the stuffy, boring public events. His ears pricked up. Was that music? And he scented fresh cooked meats.

This was not the great hall Rai knew. The throne was here, and his mother upon it, but long tables had been brought in.  Everyone sat and feasted facing the entryway. No, not the entryway… the raised dais at the center of the room. Tall iron poles were slotted into the floor, where dancers…

Rai felt his cheeks heat. Those dancers wore so little!  A long loincloth and a wrap for their chests… and he could see straight through the fabric.  It wasn’t just the dancers, but many of the onlookers weren’t wearing much either. The servants waiting on everyone wore the same translucent fabric as the dancers.

“You are beginning to see the difference, I think.” Zhen chuckled, egging wide-eyed Rai onward past the entertainment.

The prince’s eyes snapped to his mother. Queen Anu, the pure black jackaless, somehow wore less than the dancers; a half dozen gold bands adorned her arms, a few more her left thigh. Her breasts hung free, and she had a loincloth… but it was brushed neatly aside. What Rai wasn’t expecting was the nine-inch knotted erection she was nursing with tender strokes. The table before her was hardly befitting cover, even piled with food as it was.

Her fingers twitched, and Rai met his mother’s hooded eyes.  “Hello, my little fledgling.”

Rai’s gaze slid downward again; he couldn’t help himself.

The queen chuckled. “Yes, Rai. Did your tutors cover hermaphrodites?”

“Y-Yes… but I had no idea… you were…” Why couldn’t he tear his eyes away?

“Long ago the goddess of fertility blessed the Anubian throne. All destined to it are born hermaphrodites.”

Her hand hooked under Rai’s beak and forced their eyes to meet.  Gods, he could smell the pre on her fingers, and it sent an odd shiver down his spine. “C-Can I touch it?”

“Rai, my sweet,” the queen cooed, “That just wouldn’t be proper, would it? But don’t worry. I suspect we’ll be spending much more time together again. I was quite happy to hear about your little excitement this morning.” 

No words forming, the prince clicked his beak. 

Anu’s firm hands spun him about and lingered on his shoulders. “What about my pets? Do you like looking at them?”

“Yes,” the prince breathed. Zhen wasn’t kidding… he really did have a lot to learn. Anu’s arms crept around him. Rai had always felt safe in mother’s arms, but… there was so much more to this embrace.

“I hoped you’d like them. Are you hungry, sweetling?”

“N-no.” Rai honestly didn’t remember when he’d eaten, but his appetite was secondary at the moment. He was suddenly immersed in a wild, unfamiliar, intoxicating world; he saw even his own mother in a new light, and his body reacted in ways he was still coming to terms with. His mind struggled to catch up. A gasp escaped him as the queen’s fingers brushed his erection. How long had he been…!?

“Good. Then I will teach you explore a… whole new kind of hunger. ” Anu’s fingers slid into the prince’s robe, slowly and deftly undoing them. Rai flushed hard, suddenly oh so aware of how many eyes in the room were on him. They were so casual about it… but oh, the looks in some of their eyes…

The queen’s fingers explored his exposed body. The prince was fully black, just like the queen. Unlike the queen, he was a gryphon, and his fur transitioned to feathers in his chest ruff and shoulders. His ears were… perhaps catlike, but taller and narrower, though not quite jackal ears… too much fluff. Anu fondled them and petted Rai’s feathery crest down along his neck. 

Next thing he knew, she was lifting him into her lap. He could feel mother’s stiffness against his lower back, disturbing the fan of feathers at the base of his lion-esque tail. But she merely went back to exploring with her fingers. Rai’s shins and forearms were scaled, birdlike, and Anu petted the transition from scale to fur.

“W-What are you doing?”

“You have so many textures, my fledgling,” she purred in his ear. “Scale and fur and feather. ”

She cradled his sheath and the tapered ebon maleness protruding from it.  More slid free at her touch, revealing a series of stiff ridges and a knot.  It didn’t even fill the queen’s hand, but… well, Rai was still young.  Her touch kindled feelings the prince would never have imagined… Had he ever felt so stiff, or had so much out of his sheath?  Rai’s head tipped back into the queen’s bosom. His tongue drolled out, and his hips rolled by sheer instinct.

“There it is,” Anu smirked at her son’s confused mewl. “I thought you might inherit the royal… urges. Hard to think, isn’t it?”

Rai gave a weak nod and a little affirmative moan. It didn’t help that the queen was stroking his stiff little length.

“Makes it very hard to run a kingdom, always feeling this… need,” she murmured into the prince’s ear. “That’s why I have my pets. To help me find relief. Do you see one you like?”

Pets? Rai followed mother’s eyes. Right, the dancers. Yes…  yes, there was one who stood out, a white fox. Her movements so graceful, sensual… she… well, actually all the dancers had that. He wasn’t sure why he honed in on the fox.

The vixen apparently noticed she was being watched, because she offered Rai a smile, a little wink, and a curtsy.  It only made Rai’s cheeks hotter. Did it matter why he liked a particular one? “T-the white f-fox…”

“Good eye, my fledgling..”

The queen beckoned, and the dancer peeled away from the performance to approach the throne. Rai lost himself in the sway of her hips; even walking, she was sensual and beautiful. Was she the youngest of the dancers?

Anu whispered soothing tones in his ear. “Rai, you’re so tense.” 

“I-I like them all…”

The queen chuckled. “You’re still trying to think? Let go.” She gave his pecker a tender squeeze. “I like them all too. But it’s okay to express your lusts… or even have a favorite. Iru, here, is certainly one of mine.”

“My queen.”  The dancer paused at the foot of the throne to bow, thoroughly flushed. “I beg pardon for overhearing, but I am honored you think so.”

“As well you should.”  Anu bade the fox with a tiny gesture. Iru’s fingers deftly undid a few simple clasps that held her outfit together; the fabric fell in a pool about her feet. Rai drank in the vixen’s naked curves, and his member throbbed. “Come give my fledgling a taste, Iru-pet.”

The vixen’s eyes dipped to sultry slits. “I would be honored to be your first, my prince.” She leaned into the throne, planting a knee to one side and drawing near. Near enough to brush against Rai’s member. Those soft, delicate folds left him panting for more. And she gave it to him: her fingers slid between her thighs to spread her flower. She rubbed over his length again, leaving behind a damp sheen.

Anu chuckled.  “You’re teasing him, pet. Go easy on my sweetling.”

Iru blushed. Her fingers wrapped instead along Rai’s royal cock and held it steady, despite it’s insistent throbbing, and spread herself on it. The prince panted for breath.

“That’s more like it.” Anu reached out for the dancer’s ear, dragging her head in for a lusty kiss over the prince’s head. He could feel the throb of his mother’s erection against his back, that… pulse. Her quickened heartbeat. Rai, through his overwhelmed senses, began to piece together… Desire, and what it caused in him, was normal. Or at the very least, expected. The feast was thrown to sate hungers of all types. Here it was acceptable to give in…  His body wanted, needed to move. So he shifted. He had no leverage, so he grabbed at Iru’s hips.

“Oh!”  The vixen gasped, breaking off the queen’s tongue-twined kiss. The prince’s sudden vigorous thrust caught her off-guard.

“Very good,” Anu panted, nuzzling at Rai’s ear. 

He thrust again. Iru moved to meet him, surprising the prince this time; he shuddered and groaned. His eyes screwed shut, all he could process was the feel of the vixen’s womanhood enveloping him, and his mother’s urging.  “Keep going.”

Rai’s back arched, his hips bucked. His whole body tense, he could hardly control himself… quickly devolving from a rhythm Iru could meet him in to a wild rutting. Rai’s heart hammered, bursting with newfound pleasures. He felt it, couldn’t stop it if he wanted to…  He spent himself in the dancer’s womanhood and immediately fell back against his mother’s bosom.

His ears rang. Had he just shouted aloud…? For the entire great hall to hear his climax?  Rai felt so… hot…

“Did he…?”

“Y-yes,” Iru flushed hard.

“Well. It was his first.” Anu craddled Rai’s cheek. “And it was adorable. What did you think, Rai?”

He was still panting for breath. He swallowed, tried to collect himself. He had one word to force out. “More.”

Anu and Iru shared a look.

Rai still felt hot from head to talon.  He bucked again for emphasis, forcing a little coo out of the fox.

“Well, he’s my son.” Anu grinned almost apologetically.

“I don’t mind.”  Iru lifted herself up, popping off Rai’s knot. He groaned in protest, but the dancer took his hands and lifted him from the queen’s lap.  She slid smoothly to the floor beside the table, thighs spread wide for the prince. He wasted no time claiming her tunnel to the hilt. His young knot slid freely in and out with the barest tug.

Anu leaned back in her throne, fingering the tip of her own need. “We’re going to have to work on his technique.”

“I’m happy to pleasure him.  Technique or no.” The vixen stroked down Rai’s back, smoothing his feathers and fur and leading his head to her well rounded breasts. Her body rolled smoothly to meet his unskilled, untamed movement. Panting for breath, Rai fucked the dancer with an animalistic fervor, abandoning all semblance of rhythm.

Anu signaled another of her pets approach. A slight girl, a gazelle. The queen beckoned the girl close and gripped the slender horns and pushed downward. Manhandling her pet between her legs, the second dancer got the hint and took the queen’s cock in her lengthy muzzle. Anu, still directing her by the horns, tipped her head to the  side so she could watch her son drilling Iru.

The fox was accustomed to a significantly larger tool, but his knot popping in and out of her tunnel was new. She tried to match her hips with his thrusts, but he was so unsteady she couldn’t predict them. Nor was she ready for the pinch to her sensitive tit. “AH!” A mild beak pinch, a tongue slathering… She shuddered under the unexpected attention of the prince’s two-pronged assault.

Rai’s body seized up; his arms clutched around the dancer and he ground his hips into her, driving his member as deep as he could. It came slower this second time. On some level he wanted to hold back, savor this… make it last forever. It was a losing battle. His cock spasmed, emptying into the warm folds of Iru’s body again. He didn’t shout this time. He just offered a feeble groan as strength melted from his body, going completely limp.

Anu chuckled over the scene. “You’re going to have to learn to please your women too. Tonight you get a pass, just for being my adorable fledgling. Come here.”

The prince obediently found his feet and rose sluggishly, blinking profusely. His eyes had been closed for much of his romp on the floor; the room seemed brighter than it should be. But he shrugged it off and took a step toward the queen’s beckoning.

His knees gave way. Hands snatched his shoulders. Iru’s hands. Rai blinked again. He’d nearly stumbled right into the gazelle… those horns would’ve hurt!

“My prince…? You’re shaking!”

The queen went rigid. “Rai? Do you… feel well?”

“I feel…” He blinked again. His head started to swim. “Really hot…” Why was the floor tilting… oh, gods. Rai screwed his eyes shut against the brightness and vertigo. He registered commotion, noises his mind refused to resolve as speech, and hands on his face and neck. Something wasn’t right, and his heart. Fear. He focused on a comforting tone he knew. Mother’s voice, barking commands. Something about the temple. Thinking hurt.

Movement. Silence and cool air. Rai forced his eyes open. Stars. They were moving him, somewhere outside. He knew that building, though it looked strange and distorted. He passed it every morning on the way to see the priestess. Medicines and magics. Yes, maybe she could help… The archway, the temple’s ceiling. The mosaic almost seemed to be crawling.

Anu and the priestess’ face came and went.

“What triggered it?” Mother’s voice again.

Trying to keep her voice in focus was like gripping sand.

“Yes, tonight was his … should have expected it. …inherited it from me, after all. Do what you have to. Rai. Rai? You’re going to be fine, my fledgling. Just rest.”

With that comforting promise, he stopped trying. Something like sleep enveloped him, though he thought he heard another heartbeat thrumming.

* * * * *

Rai woke slowly, not to unbearable heat, but to a pleasant warmth across his cheek and chest. A familiar bed, and light from the east window. He opened his eyes to a familiar ceiling; his own chambers. His fur and feathers soaked in the dawn sun. It was a relief just to be able to think straight.

“Sweetling?”

He tipped his head. Anu was waiting for him…? Even as the queen, she made time for him. That warmth sank much deeper than the sun, and his chest swelled. “I feel fine now, mother. Do you… know what happened last night?”

“It’s past time I told you why you have to visit the priestess so frequently.”

Rai nodded. He knew it was… abnormal. “The priests say it’s because I’m a hybrid.”

“Yes. Hybrids are rare, and many don’t live long… but it’s more than that.” Anu looked tired. Had she been here all night? On a cold stone bench?  “As far as we know, the first gryphon hybrid. Gryphons don’t even share our shape. I didn’t even quite believe your father when he told me I was going to have you. Their ways are rather… mysterious.”

“But it worked.”

“Yes, my fledgling. You are a blessing, a fusion of two worlds. We have spells on you… making sure you’re growing… correctly. It’s been done for some hybrids that usually die young, and it helps. But it’s never been done with a… a feral hybrid before. Add to that,” the queen gestured to herself. Her lap, actually. The lump in her loincloth. She was still wearing the same thing as last night. She really had been here this whole time…  Did she not even think to have a servant bring her a more comfortable robe?

“It’s okay.” Rai reached for the queen’s hand. “I understand.”

She smiled and squeezed his scaly fingers. “Don’t worry. I’m going to make sure you have a long, healthy life. Something really shook up our spells last night, though. Call it a growth spurt. Do you… feel anything different?”

Rai looked down over himself, tossing off his bedsheet. “Um… no?”

“Here.”  Anu’s hand slipped behind him, along his spine, just below his shoulders.  Off to the side.  She pushed, and there was something… hard. Almost bony. “You know what else gryphons have?”

The prince’s eyes widened with glee.  “Wings!”