The light had changed in the cabin. I must have slept.

  Without Umu slithering in my thoughts, I could evaluate Her delirious words. Laughter broke out of me. I had known about my state for less than a day, but already I contempted acting like the worst of matron abominations in the old tales.

  If Sulme was correct, my strength might return with enough patience. But the splendour of Umu wouldn't return with only waiting. The jealous gods had robbed me of that exalted guise. They deemed themselves suited to order the world, with the right they had granted to themselves with their own power.

  My Father would surpass them. He waxed glorious in his authority. All the wall-crushing cannon were his. All of those red hot crucibles, from which spewed forth the steel for bdes, ploughs and armour. Alchemists stumbled blind without his insight for their tinctures and elixirs. Every hearth, which kept a family warm through the winter, was his blessing. Luiheki was an ally to humanity, instead of a distant and haughty lord.

  Time would come, when men build cannon to challenge Lightning and furnaces as hot as the Sun.

  Until then, humanity had to settle with fighting earthly tyrants. My physical prowess needed to be ready to face them. I stood up and stretched my frame to expel the worst of the weariness.

  I y prone on the floor and began a light exercise to a test myself. But merely pushing myself up on my hands and toes left my limbs shaky. Careful not to colpse, I lowered myself until my breast brushed the floor.

  My thews might have been weary, but I couldn't be so pitifully weak. Again, I forced myself to repeat the movement all the way through.

  Again, and again. My breath wheezed. Pressure mounted at the sides of my skull. I continued, even though the strain shredded through the muscles of my chest.

  The door opened. Mostly from surprise, I colpsed on the floor.

  "What are you doing?" Sulme asked, aghast. His hands helped me sit. My vision was a dim circle.

  "I was cleaning the floor," I huffed. "What did it seem like? I need to maintain my strength."

  "In your condition, you would do that best by resting."

  Before my anger could fre into spiteful words, I realised that by my 'condition' he hadn't meant the pregnancy.

  "Perhaps you are right," I said. "But I cannot handle being cooped up any longer."

  To his credit, Sulme didn't remind me that sulking in the cabin had been my own idea. He helped me dress, and we headed out.

  The Sun burned low, but it would be hours before it finally sank into the distant ocean.

  I did my best not to show to the crew, how light-headed I was. Their reverent small bows, however, did bolster my mood.

  This time getting up to the stern castle was almost easy. A sail-cloth shelter had been set up there, with a view over the ke and privacy from crew and the surrounding ships.

  Elti y on a low divan under the shade. Sulme kissed his mothers knuckles and sat on the floor.

  "Hello, Teissa," she said. "I hope you are feeling better?"

  "I am. Thank you." I sat on the other side of the low table and reached for the beer jug.

  Elti snatched the jug away. "Heady drink suits not a woman in your state."

  I scowled. "What do you mean?"

  The kewoman gnced at my abdomen and stared into my eyes. There was no mockery in her gaze, but stern concern.

  With a sigh, I rexed on my divan. If Elti thought the beer was bad for the child, then it was.

  "Go get water boiled with apples for your dy," Elti said to my page. "And something greasy to eat."

  The boy bowed and left.

  "Now that we have privacy," Elti said. "I can ask freely: what are your pns?"

  "I am not sure," I said. "My tangible schemes only reached the battle here. After all, there is a lot I do not know about the situation nearer the capital."

  "Do you have any idea on how to proceed?"

  I shrugged. "The capital is too heavily fortified for us to take right away. We will have to prepare through the summer and strike before ice returns."

  Elti gnced at Sulme. The Nilkoan sat hunched and his eyes closed as if asleep.

  The woman said: "The dey will give the Vonir Prince time to prepare a counter-attack."

  "There is no helping that," I said. "Why does this interest you? Is you folk preparing to ally with us?"

  "No." Elti smiled. "I'm merely curious. However, your war does pertain to the future of my grandchild."

  I smirked. "Oh, you would like to have Ekran rulers as your descendants."

  Elti's face retained its polite half-smile. "Certainly. It would be an amusing topic of conversation."

  "Well, you might not get the chance to boast about your regal progeny," I said. "Because I am not sure, what my final designs for this war are. Men overseas speak of commonwealth in pce of a crowned head. If I kept myself out of the ensuing politics, which will follow a victory, I could live more or less in peace."

  "And potentially undo all your accomplishments." Elti took a sip of the beer she had denied me. "You can't take the hub from a wheel and hope it rolls along. Or perhaps you can. I'm not an expert on your nd vehicles."

  My page brought me a good chunk of the roast from earlier, which was good, as I was ravenous. My appetite showed I wasn't about to waste away.

  While I concentrated on eating, Sulme snapped out of his half-sleep and spoke with his mother. She had very mundane if odd concerns, like whether his clothes fit comfortably, or if Sulme had been able to wash himself every day.

  Elti stood up. "It's te, and breathing your air grows uncomfortable. I must return back under." She hugged her son for goodbye, and in a casual show of inelegance, jumped over the rail into the ke.

  Drowsy though he was, Sulme took his responsibilities as the captain a bit too seriously. It took almost two hours, before we retreated back to the cabin.

  I closed the door and pressed into the Nilkoan. In spite of my diminishing, I remained taller than him by a few inches. Sulme didn't resist, as I grabbed his wrists, even though he was considerably stronger than me.

  "Imagine..." I leaned an inch forward and locked my eyes in his. "That you were unable to escape my csp. How would you like that?"

  The tanned skin of his cheeks gained a ruddy hue. His breath was sharp and shallow. That faint smile parted, as my lips approached it.

  I moved my hand to his crotch; the one part of a man's body, which had hard time lying, even by omission.

  "What if I were with you in the guise of Umu..." I paused. That hardened member had twitched. I should have been disgusted, yet I only experienced warmth inside. I kissed him and pushed him to sit on the bed. Our lips detached, only after I was firmly mounted on his p.

  "Sorry," Sulme said. "It always takes me a moment to come up with an answer, which won't upset you."

  "What are you going to say?" I rubbed my bottom against his thighs.

  "That I love you, all of it. That giant serpent, I love her too."

  "But Sulme, I would fill this tiny room and more. My coils would crush you, and my visage drive you senseless with terror."

  "Not so. I saw you well enough through the spygss. You are magnificent." Sulme took my hands into his.

  I stared into his watery eyes. The Nilkoan was insane. Mad for me. I wrenched my hands out of his grasp and hugged him.

  Long moments slipped past, before I got over the formless burst of emotion. I leaned back and pursed my smile. "You are an odd fellow."

  Sulme shrugged. "It runs in the family. Though a poet at heart, Dad never described Mum as 'tall and lissome', or even 'fair'. When we had the chance to speak, Dad and I, to him Mum was always 'abundant', 'imposing' and 'coruscating'. 'Beautiful' too, but that's given."

  I let out a giggle and pressed him down on the bed.

  "I may not be able to alter my form at whim to satisfy your perverted curiosity." I bit my lip, where a fang near breached the skin. "But I want to do my best to satisfy you otherwise."

  We moved until both us were firmly on the bed. I kneeled on top of his legs. The man y still, like prey paralysed by terror.

  Like a gift parcel, his trousers revealed his rod already firm. I lowered my head and lifted my rear.

  "Do you like my butt more with or without the tail?" I asked.

  "Teissa... Ple--"

  "Does this still hurt?" I brushed a finger over the ugly stitches on his hip.

  Sulme made a valiant effort not to wince. "Yeah, it does."

  "I will be careful then." I took the tip of the member between my lips and teased the sensitive flesh with my tongue.

  Like a gluttonous snake devouring a mouse, I drew my jaws open to take the member whole. The tip pushed into the back of my throat, but I had grown accustomed to it and didn't retch.

  The debauched sensation of my throat stretching sent shivers through my flesh. I squeezed the base of his member, while bobbing my head. Though practice had made me rather efficient, I couldn't stop all of the obscene gasps and gurgles.

  The rod twitched and pulsed, and I prepared for Sulme's climax. The forces of our souls touched, and a heated wave travelled from his soul to the crucible of mine. It was like the first gulp of water into a parched throat.

  Warm slime filled my mouth. I can't say if the onboard diet was different, but the taste of Sulme's ooze had grown on me. After I swallowed and sucked him clean, I removed my lips from his girth with a pop.

  The man drew a deep breath and sighed. "Thanks, Teissa."

  I untied my gown and pulled it off me. Without any hurry, the undergown was simirly removed. As if I didn't have anything better to do, I arranged my hair on both of my shoulders.

  "Do you enjoy, what you see?" I asked.

  Sulme remained silent, likely evaluating if this was another of my knotted trick questions. Eventually he said: "I have working eyes, so yes."

  Not very original, but it passed the test.

  With slow swinging movements, I crawled to y beside the man.

  Sulme didn't need instructions to bring a hand to my groin. His fingers were naturally deft, and had been drilled reasonably well in the limited time avaible. Soon I squirmed to the rhythm of my moans.

  Warm lips thered my cheek with kisses. The gentle beast pawed my chest, which yielded to the hungry grip, as the flesh of a woman was wont.

  I couldn't y still. I turned and snaked my arms around his neck. The man shifted to embrace me, but kept his other hand fondling my receptive nethers.

  The strength hidden in that heaving frame wasn't unleashed without care. A lesser man than Sulme might have felt the need to subdue me, to show that he wasn't the subordinate partner. But to my Nilkoan, I was at my best the way I wanted to be. Even when I had a monstrous form, which struck dread into hearts of men, that fool found love.

  Uncaring of the thin pnks between us and the rest of the ship, I let my voice show a wantonness to gratify my man. A familiar fire, calm but intense, lit inside my abdomen. The pressure in my nerves unleashed, but in my thigh they pulled tight. My leg cramped. Instinctively, I straightened the limb to escape the worst of the pain.

  A clenched cry escaped my mouth. With eyes closed shut tight, I waited the pain in my thigh to subside.

  Warm hands brushed my back.

  "Is everything alright?" Sulme asked.

  "Yesh... Just a cramp in my leg."

  Sulme helped me sit and rubbed my hurt thigh with his rge hand. He reached for a jug of water and gave it to me. I cleaned my mouth and gave Sulme a kiss of appreciation.

  We y back and twined around each other. The discomfort of the clenched nerve faded.

  Sulme brushed the side of my head. "What did I do to deserve you?"

  I chortled. "A lot."

  Sulme brought a hand under my navel. The skin under his touch experienced a shuddering fit. The man tightened his hold of me, which only stoked my overheated emotions. I closed my eyes, but a few tears escaped between the lids.

  "Sorry," Sulme said. His hand started to move away from my abdomen, but I csped his wrist.

  "I am fine," I said, with an attempt to smile. "My mind is merely stirred."

  Sulme pressed his hand into my skin. Only a small distance away was the fruit of his deeds on my flesh. Intense sentimentality threatened to flood over me again.

  "What will you do, if I push out an egg?," I asked, with a forced grin on my face. "After all, I was in Umu's form."

  "I guess I'll take my turns keeping it warm."

  My body jerked, but my grin turned genuine.