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Menagerie of the Shah

Orompoto's introduction had turned out to be fruitful. We exchanged merely a few letters with the Shah and by three month's time I had received an invitation to meet him at his pleasure palace on the Eastern bank of the Dead Sea. I still had no idea what that hyena had hoped to gain from this, perhaps I still don't know, but for now we had a lead and perhaps a possible ally.

Our departure from Tunis was brief and in the dead of night, which was for the best. Izil was right, giving away the magistrate's kit to Orompoto sparked a major upset in our attempts to pacify the city with an open paw. Instead we had to resort to the closed fist as the magistrate gave a series of fiery speeches calling for one hundred fennec tails to avenge the disgrace of his son and Tunis.

When we finally arrested the magistrate a damned riot broke out and it was almost like we were at war with the city once again, with the rioters organizing and occupying parts of the city. Thankfully, the fennecs were able to capture most of the food storehouses and it was not long before the rioter's stomachs began to growl and they groveled before us with their tails between their legs. The ones who didn't were arrested and taken to the gallows.

Suffice to say, I had grown weary of Tunis and Izil had made it clear that he was getting a little weary of having me around. Small things such as wearing the wrong scent would set him off and we'd begin arguing over the campaign, getting in each other's faces and screaming. Traveling to the Levant would be for the best before we did something stupid like start a duel.

I left with Taj, Laurent, Luce, Folu, and, much to Laurent's dismay, Ekrem. A small unit of soldiers were assigned to us, some two-hundred large and mostly fennecs, but there were a few cheetahs and foxes, including the seven soldiers who had distinguished themselves so well in the siege. Dressed in our white robes and headgear, we looked indistinguishable from a traveling clan of nomads, at least until someone got too close and noticed a red fox commanding them.

I won't bore you with the details of most of the voyage. It was a dull affair and once we left the colony of Tunisia, there was not much to see. The ruins of the old human city of Tripoli were fascinating to see off on the horizon, empty shells of broken glass that were mostly swallowed up by the sand dunes. One of the fennecs warned me not to get too close as there was some curse the humans put on the ruins that made the ground explode if you stepped in the wrong place. It sounded like pure hogwash but I didn't really have an inclination to visit.

Beyond that it was the endless sea on our left and the ocean of sand on our right for what seemed like ages. Most of the foxen colonies we encountered were, as the rumors said, evacuated and stripped of supplies, making them almost as desolate as the human ruins; only a few foxes remained, the old and the destitute. I had mixed feelings on the subject: it would have been nice to be able to claim some fresh supplies and engage in some recreation on the way; on the other hand, not having patrols harass us was a welcome relief. Plus, seeing the Republic close up shop in Africa because of how afraid they were of me was a bit of a boost to the ego, it must have taken a lot of logistics to ship that many foxes to safety.

_If there's one thing Philippe knows, it's how to coordinate a navy,_I thought, looking out at the sea. We had been seeing less and less Republican ships the further we went East. There was no fear of an Eastern front opening up and they were obviously consolidating power in the West.

There was some concerns when we began approaching lion territories. The lion tribes were regarded as even more aggressive and brutal than the fennecs, on top of that, a lot of them did not hold foxes in high regard. The small trading posts we had built brought wealth and goods that trickled down the Naiel, however we started making slightly unscrupulous deals with some of the clans, effectively manipulating local clans to war with others over dominance of the Suez and then using our resources to tame the exhausted winners and rule the Suez through them.

But this was fairly standard operations in the area. The wolves did the same thing and so did the leopards, but we just happened to be significantly better at it. No, what really caused anti-fox sentiment to spread was several merchants, feeling a little inadequate at our diminutive vulpine stature, to acquire lion cubs and raise them to be their personal bodyguards when they grew older. In some cases, this meant buying step-cubs from a new pride leader, a bit of a mercy as the lions tended to kill such cubs; but in other cases, the merchants kidnapped them from clans.

Thankfully, we did not encounter any trouble from the lions. We got several blank stares and a few angry growls, cursing us with such colorful language as, "Red-dog cub fuckers!" that we just brushed aside, made easier by not understanding a word of the lion tongue. Folu translated every word flung against me, anxiously shifting in the saddle behind me every time he had to.

Indeed, the clan holding the Suez, the Bridge Clan, was more than delighted to greet us, accept a very generous toll, and see us across the old human bridge across the river. The black stone road on the bridge was littered with pot-holes that endangered our horse's ankles, it looked like it hadn't been repaired since the humans built it.

"You must come back in a month, honored fox!" a veteran warrior of the Bridge Clan proudly said as he led us along the bridge. He wore nothing aside from a loincloth and a pair of wooden sandals. An iron club was clutched in one paw and the other was leading my horse's reins. Occasionally he would look at the horse with hunger in his eyes. "The Chief's first cub is getting married! A sweet young girl from the Turtle Clan, far down the Naiel!"

They had few horses and they didn't seem to ride them, instead using them as pack animals. The one lion I saw riding one looked awkward and garnered a few stares from his tribe.

"Sounds like fun," I nodded wistfully, looking over the lions some more. Lining the rails of the bridge were sacks of heavy stones, javelins, and clay jars full of some kind of oil. "Where is the local Republic representative?"

"Oh, they're gone! Turned tail and ran a few months ago, leaving the Old Bridge Clan without their patrons," the lion's tail twitched playfully, "so we swept on in and took over. We were a bachelor pride and killed the Old Bridge Clan's Chief, negotiated marriage with his surviving mates and now we're the Bridge Clan."

"So, if you're not paying homage to the foxes...the Alphate, perhaps?"

"Ha! The Bridge Clan are not slaves to any canine! We're free lions!" the lion shrugged casually. "We've got all of them lined up to make a deal with us. We're waiting it out, trying to see who offers the best deal. We'll-"

Folu paused his translation and I felt his claws dig into my robe. He muttered something under his breath in Hyena, as if struggling to figure out how to translate the words the lion was speaking.

"-lift our tails for you, just as you canines want, but only for the highest bidder."

"Clever plan."

"Our Chief is a very clever lion!"

Safe passage was granted to us and the tiring slog of a journey continued on.

As we entered the Levant, I grew a little nervous getting so close to Alphate territory, I must confess. Although the territories loyal to the Alphate were mere tributaries, mostly autonomous and free of heavy Alphate patrols, I was a bit recognizable now with my golden false eye. Word had spread of my escape and conquests in Africa, which apparently had the effect of Alpha Aokus demanding my capture with promises of a reward, no doubt so that I could be executed in some decadently cruel and public manner such as being torn apart by feral wolves.

Luck was still on our side though. Occasionally we would pass an armed wolf that would give our party a good stare, but they clearly knew better than to mess with such a large group of nomads.

Nonetheless, it was a relief when the briny scent of the Dead Sea reached our nostrils, a good day before we reached it. Even more relief came when we gazed upon its depths and rounded its Southern bank, where a small garrison of Leopards stood outside a small, wooden outpost. Chain coifs ran from their helmets and down across their spotted snouts, it's steel having rusted due to exposure to the sea. They kept their sabres in their scabbards as we approached.

One of them approached and I rode forward to greet him. He placed a gloved paw on the reins of my horse, tore away the coif away and exposing a middle-aged face with dull scars dotting his yellow fur. His mouth moved, exposing those thick, feline fangs of his and he growled something that I could not understand.

"General, may I?" Folu whispered.

"Go ahead."

Folu carefully hopped off of my horse and met the soldier. I watched as Folus and the soldier inched their snouts closer until they almost touched before Folu gently bumped his forehead against the soldier's. I could hear the feline purr slightly as they talked.

Eventually, Folus turned to me, "They've received word of our visit, General, and wish to convey the Shah's warmest greetings. Praise Felidae!"

"Praise Felidae!" I repeated in Foxen and the Leopards seemed to grasp what I said, nodding with approval.

"They are to escort us to the Shah's vacation palace at once!"

The palace was only a few days away and during the last leg of the trip, Folu began introducing me to feline etiquette and how it differed from canine. Although I had experience with felines before, especially cheetahs, I had to admit that I had not really given their social interactions much thought. Most of the time I was ordering them around, expecting them to follow fox social cues.

Taking in each other's scent as a greeting was still considered polite, but licking a feline while greeting was considered something far more intimate than for canines, fox or otherwise. Hugging and lightly headbutting each other was considered a sign of friendliness as well.

Most bizarre however was how the felines stared at each other. I caught the leopard guards glaring at me from a distance and slowly blinking. I tried to brush it off as some strange foreign custom but the more they did it, the more it rustled my fur. At one point, I just about got up to accept their challenge and show them who was in charge, but Folu stopped me, breathlessly explaining that staring and slowly blinking was a sign of trust, respect, and in some cases, affection.

My hackles were still bristled and irritation still lurked in the back of my brain, but I knew better than to start a fight or to try and push the much-stronger hyena out of the way, so I let it drop. The rest of the journey, they continued to stare and I tried my best to get used to it.

Glistening like an ostentatious gem by the short of the Dead Sea, was the Shah's vacation palace. It was made from the purest, white marble, with a rectangular layout and a flat roof. Most of it was outdoors, with round columns holding up roofs to keep the paths lining the gardens safe from the sun. Dull, sandstone walls lined the perimeter, running up to the beach, with heavily armored guards conducting regular patrols along.

Squealing pipes and breezy flutes rang out their orchestra across the wind as we passed through the gates. Laughter, along with yowls and howls of joy sang out and in case we weren't entirely certain that a party was taking place, a naked leopardess leaped out of the bushes of a small hedge-maze, giggling and looking behind her as she ran. Soon, a male leopard, who was equally naked and sporting an erect, conical cock, chased after her, spooking my horse a bit as he nearly slammed face-first into him, before running off again.

Folu's claws tightened as he witnessed the sight. I turned around to see him staring widely.

"Hey," I nudged him, "seems like quite a party! If you want to have some fun, I'm sure the Shah's guests would love having a hyena around to spice things up."

"No..." Folu buried his muzzle into my robes.

"Look, I know you're my hostage, but I want you to have a good time! The leopards would probably love having a rough, strong hyena like yourself around and they'd let you lead when dancing, if you know what I mean!"

"I don't want to lead..." Folu muttered.

"Marco!" Luce strode her horse up beside mine. "Please stop trying to whore out the Prince, he's the only one here with knowledge of leopard culture! We don't need him getting dragged into an opium-tainted orgy."

My mouth went dry when I heard the word, 'opium.' I had a ration of it that I was dipping into while traveling but it never seemed like enough.

Licking my lips, I responded, "I'm just trying to help the Prince have some fun while he's stuck with us! You know how the hyena matriarchs are, once he's married he'll never get a chance like this again!"

"Focus on the task at hand, we're to meet with the Shah immediately," Luce grumbled and cast an angry glare at me that was definitely not anything like the friendly feline stare, "the Shah is young, newly crowned, and sports a hedonistic mind, but the leopard court is dignified, possessing a strict social culture that stretches back many generations."

A leopard wearing nothing but a pink loincloth came running out of the main building, covering his snout with his paws before leaning into a round fountain and retching.

"Culture, hm?" Taj muttered to my other side, spitting down at the ground from her horse. "Why would anyone give up the saddle for this?"

"With all due respect, Taj," Luce groaned and pointed towards a group of leopard nobles galloping on their horses across the palace grounds, "keep your opinions to yourself. If you can't stand the environment, then go do some laps around the building with your horse."

"Gladly," Taj leaned across the gap between us and rubbed her nose against my cheek, "until later, love."

Taj flicked her reins and galloped off towards the nobles while the rest of us made our way to the main building.

We dismounted at the main entrance, allowed servants to take our horses away, and the heavy, wooden door was pushed open for us by two guards.

Humid air brushed past our fur. Inside the building was a veritable paradise, a narrow canal darted through the stone floors, irrigating the numerous boxes of soil that contained a jungle of ferns, palm trees, and even a few fruit trees such as oranges and figs. A clear, glass ceiling hung above us, allowing ample sunlight in and there were around ten nude leopards bathing in the afternoon sun.

Considering how much naked fur was being exposed, it was quite easy to spot the Shah. He was standing in the company of two very aroused leopards hanging onto his blue, silk robes and his yellow cloak, which sported a pattern of pale-blue disks flanked with golden rings. The Shah was young, face unblemished by war or violence, with a cocky smile across his lips and he was slim but obviously muscular underneath his heavy clothes. His delicate, pale, yellow eyes glanced over at me.

"General Marco!" he exclaimed in perfect Foxen, brushing aside his hanger-ons and marching towards me. Unfitting his regal garb, his feet were bare and his claws clicked against the stone noisily as he approached me.

"Shah Levanti, I presume!" I met him and we embraced, with him slightly bending down to my height so that we could hug eye-to-eye. I pressed my nose into his cheek and took in his scent, nearly freezing in place as I did. He smelled strongly of violets, very similar to a fox that was in heat and my heart began to race.

Struggling to keep my head on straight, I moved to gently headbutt him but I felt something wet run across my cheek. I spun my head over, feeling the Shah's rough tongue catch the tip of my nose and pulled back in shock.

Levanti stared down at me, slowly blinking as our eyes met, "My apologies, General," the Shah continued to hold me against his chest firmly, "I thought this was how canines greeted each other?"

"Sometimes, yes! I was told that felines d-"

"We do, with those we are very good friends with," the Shah kept on staring at me as he darted back towards my neck and gave it a lick. Despite the barbs on his tongue it felt rather soothing, brushing up against my fur. His hot breath whispered into my ear, "...or something more."

Before I could return the greeting, the Shah released me and spun around with a lash of his tail. He clapped his paws together and summoned an army of servants, "Please show the General's entourage to their rooms! They will expect the finest hospitality from us and we shall not disappoint!"

Turning back to me, the Shah nodded, "I so enjoyed your letters, General! I've prepared rooms especially for your staff, I picked out the furnishings myself!"

"Senatora Luce!" he walked up and nuzzled her cheek. I could not help but notice he was not giving her the canine greeting. "Your room is based on a Neapolitan villa! I trust you'll find it just as you would back home!"

"Your Majesty-"

"Please, this is not court, we are all equals here! Call me Levanti!" the leopard grinned like a canine. "I know it's a strange name for a leopard but my mother felt it expressed certain...optimism about our family's future interests."

"Levanti, you are too kind!" Luce smiled and nodded. "But I shall be the judge of what you consider my home to be like!"

"If I'm wrong, I insist that you invite me to Napoli so that I might see it for myself!"

Levanti, to my surprise, suddenly approached Laurent and greeted him in the same manner as Luce, which caused the fox to flinch a bit, "Laurent! You must be Laurent! Marco has told me a lot about you and your daring rescue of him!"

Laurent went still in the Shah's arms and his hackles raised, "What did he say?"

"Sneaking onto the island and slipping him back out under cover of night!" Levanti slapped him on the shoulder and practically shouted to the rest of the room. "Remember that name, Laurent! He will be a wonderful spymaster one day, I can tell!"

"That's-"

"I struggled to get your room right, I must confess, Carpathia is quite distant!" Levanti lowered his ears. "But I hope you will enjoy regardless!"

Breaking away from Laurent and leaving the fox reeling with confusion, Levanti returned to me just as I was watching Ekrem, still wearing the ridiculous red robes that he stole in Tunis, pick an overripe fig and stuff it in his maw, pulp and seed dripping out the sides of his lips.

"You'll enjoy his room the best, Marco," Levanti said with a bit of a bite to his speech.

"Why?"

As if on cue, two guards marched up to Ekrem's side and the wolf did not resist as they pulled him into a hallway.

"A prison cell, of course! We're awfully close to Alphate land here and he might try to escape!" Levanti slapped me on the shoulder and I couldn't help but grin. "I designed it after a prison cell my distant ancestor built for a captured Alpha, one of the barbaric Alphas before the slightly less barbaric Kutlars took over, who tried to steal some of our land. We decided to give him every luxury he could possibly want so that we could shame him with our hospitality. Your wolf will be quite comfortable, but he won't leave until you allow him."

"I must admit, I am quite impressed with your hospitality!" I smiled. "What can I expect from my room? I am also from Carpathia, you know."

Levanti took my paw in his and waved towards a hallway leading into another garden, "All in good time, walk with me, Marco."

He lead me down the path, the marble-walled hallways lined with priceless sculptures and paintings from around the world. Most of the art depicted chimera from around the world dressed in different outfits and holding the tools of their trade. There was a painting of a tiger holding a mooring rope, a sculpture of a massive bear dressed in the clothes of the Alphate harem, a painting of a dog with long floppy ears wearing the robes of some strange cult that worships Muni or whatever their strange deity is, and another painting of a shirtless hyena with a quiver of thin javelins strapped to her back; among others.

"Do you like my menagerie?" Levanti stopped and waved his free paw at the artwork. "They're back home in the capital, I miss them dearly. It's a little hobby of mine, collecting chimera of different walks of life and giving them residence in their own special chambers at the palace."

"Much like our bedrooms here?"

"Ha ha ha! Yes! Don't worry, I always give my collection a choice before adding them!" Levanti narrowed his eyes. "A fox military commander would make quite an addition..."

My heart skipped a beat and Levanti's tail flicked playfully behind his robes.

"A tempting offer, but I am needed in Vulpezzia," I politely answered.

"A shame!" Levanti pulled me down the hallway gently, away from the depictions of his collection. "I suppose it's time for lunch, no?"

The Shah didn't give me time to answer as he took me into the next garden, where a round, solid bronze table was sitting by a tall, square fountain that trailed a waterfall from its heights perpetually. Two chairs were there and Levanti pulled one aside for me, motioning for me to sit, which I did, gently tucking my tail through a gap between the backrest and the seat.

"It must be dreadfully hot in those clothes, feel free to take as much as you like off," Levanti motioned towards the hallway from where we came, at a distant but very much nude leopard, "we are not modest here!"

I only took off the headscarf and placed it on my lap. The fennec robes that I was wearing were a bit cumbersome to take off and I didn't really feel like exposing myself to the Shah.

"So, Marco, Ambassador Orompoto tells me that you've come here for business, hm?"

A naked dog, scrawny and with long, pale fur, came over and quietly placed two glasses and a bottle on the table before walking away quietly.

"Let me get that for you," before I could reach for the bottle, the Shah grabbed it and began filling my glass. My nose twitched as the dark-red liquid poured out, it smelled of pomegranate and alcohol.

Levanti was watching me the whole time he poured.

"Quite sensitive noses you canines have!" Levanti placed the glass in front of me and began filling his own. "Tell me, what did you make of my scent?"

_Like a vixen in heat,_I thought and I had to force my tail not to wag. I had managed to block out the scent but it was back now. Thankfully, my robes were quite bulky and helped cover up the growth between my thighs as the overpowering, violet-like smell invaded my nostrils once more.

Did he pick that scent on purpose?

Perfumes made with vixen musk were very common back home to help attract mates and assist with bedroom duties, but I had a hard time believing such a thing would reach these parts.

"Violets," I muttered and took a sip of the wine, swishing it around in my mouth. I looked around for a place to spit it out.

"It's pomegranate wine, you can swallow it!" Levanti laughed. I felt a little foolish and swallowed the sweet alcohol. It was deceptively strong and burned my throat going down, almost like a spirit. "It's not like that awful grape wine you taste back home!"

I coughed, "Regarding the business I came here for..."

"Ah, you foxes! Business, business, business!" Levanti rolled his eyes and took a sip of his glass. "But it is our custom to be hospitable to any guest's needs! As Shah Reza I once said, 'Hospitality is giving your guests the world!'"

"If we're going to discuss business, I'm going to call Lu-"

"No!" Levanti slammed his fist into the table. His eyes were still staring at me and blinking slowly, not showing any sign of rage. "This is between me and you, no council, no advisers! We're going to talk and then you can confer with them to see if our terms are acceptable, but for now, it's just you and me."

"Very well," I took another sip to calm my nerves, "Orompoto of the hyenas said you had some expansionist plans?"

"Expansionist? I hate that word!" Levanti motioned towards the fountain, which was just a few feet away. "You see that water there? It's right there but I cannot get it!"

"I don't..." I got up and walked over to the fountain, dipping my paw into the cool water and splashing it, "...do you want a cup of water, is that it?"

"Felidae..." Levanti groaned and rubbed at his temples, "...you can go to the water because you're a fox and you have extorted lion tribes to allow you access to the coast."

_Not anymore,_I thought and kept my mouth shut. I had a feeling about where this was going and it would do us a lot of good to have him think that a fox client tribe still controlled the Suez.

"Him!" Levanti pointed to a wolf with sandy fur and a golden collar around his neck that was playing a harp. "He can go to the water because his Alphate has gone and demanded tribute from coastal cities."

"But us leopards?" Levanti lamely reached for the fountain from his seat again. "We cannot reach the water," he placed his paws on the table and shook it, "we're right here! We're so close, but we cannot reach it!"

"You have the Red Sea, do you not?"

"Oh yes, but it's not enough! We deserve our dues in the region and..." Levanti pointed to a small canal in the floor that was running out from the fountain, "...I think it's only fair that if we can't have the fountain, we can have that."

"You want to control the Suez Canal."

"Yes, bluntly speaking! It is only fair that we have some say in Mediterranean affairs!" Levanti sighed and looked off towards the fountain wistfully. "But the lions holding it are protected by the foxes. We've dabbled in paying off tribes for their loyalty but we just can't compete with Republican or Alphate influence in the area. We wish to invade and annex it but cannot do it right now without risking war with the Republic and even though they're busy handling your army, we can't risk getting dragged into this conflict."

"So you want us to take care of the little lion problem," I nodded, "we're already at war with the Republic."

"And once they're gone, we'll benevolently occupy the Suez in order to maintain order and trade," Levanti laughed, "the foxes won't be able to do anything! Just the cost of doing business in the Suez!"

"Lets say I do that, what's in it for me?"

"I'll call in some favors with the Red Sea merchants and they can safely get your army to Europe," Levanti shrugged his shoulders, "you'll have to make the plans with them and we'll claim you hijacked the fleet if you're caught, but the Republic shouldn't cause them any trouble."

Excitement was growing in my chest. This could work. This could really work. I was banking a lot on trusting Levanti, but we seemed to have mutual self-interest at stake here and one could always trust that.

"I'll have to talk with my council after we're done here, but I think we can make a deal work."

"I have one more demand, Marco," Levanti downed his glass and placed it on the table. He stood up suddenly.

"What's that?" I pushed myself up.

"I would like to show you to your room. I picked it out just for you."

"Alright," I swallowed the last gulps of pomegranate wine and put it down. The glass teetered on the edge of the table before slipping onto the ground with a crash. I winced. "Sorry about that!"

"Nevermind! Let the servants take care of it! Come!"

Levanti grabbed me by the paw and led me down another hallway, this one curved slightly and led deeper into the complex.

"It's the finest of all the rooms I chose for your party," he mumbled, staggering a little bit as the wine took effect. It was doing the same for me as well, despite having had only one glass.

A fairly unassuming door greeted us at the end of the hallway with two guards in lamellar armor waiting. Levanti bowed towards them and pushed the door open, beckoning me in.

I entered into a positively decadent bedroom. The bed was large enough for an ursine to roll from one side to the other fully and was covered in black and gold sheets that had intricate geometric designs on them. Lacquered wooden chests and dressers lined the walls with golden candlesticks atop them, tiny flames dancing atop their wax pedestals. A tall bookshelf leaned against the distant wall, next to two leather reading chairs, and it contained rare books from ancient collections of poetry, war manuals, dissertations on philosophy, and even the complete collections of a particularly bawdy leopard writer who traveled the world so that he might write erotic tales about all chimera and humans in the world.

I walked over to a wide window overlooking the beach. Outside, nobles were drinking and singing in the nude while on the sand, a few even beginning or partway into the act of love. A game of polo seemed to be taking place on the far end of the shore and I had to blink when I saw that Taj was taking part in it atop her horse.

"This is a magnificent room, Levanti!" I gasped, letting my tail wag.

"Naturally, it is my room, after all."

I turned around and Levanti threw his clothes to the ground.

I know you.

Whoever you are, I know you. Vito? Luce? One of my kits? It doesn't matter, you're all the same.

You found this book and you saw the title, you saw the author, and perhaps you read the first few pages.

And then you flipped all the way here.

You heard the rumors and you wanted to see if there was any truth to them.

I'm sorry to disappoint you.

The Shah indeed wanted a more intimate favor out of me in exchange for our little deal but it was not quite the affair that my critics loved to make it out to be.

As with many individuals granted immense power at a young age with little restrictions, the Shah had a little secret: he loved being dominated.

He practically fell to his knees and begged me, kissing my feet, crying for me to take him like a vixen in heat.

He was wearing that perfume for a reason, you see. He wanted to prepare me to act like the red-blooded tod that I was and mount him.

If the rumors were true, why would he pick out that scent? Why would he need to seduce me into dominating him?

So you see, the rumors are not true! There is no logical basis for them! They never made any damned sense!

For anyone reading this...

Vito, I told you the truth and you'd better live up to your promise.

Luce, you never believed me. This is the truth I always told you and you still won't believe me.

Kits, if any of you found this, close it and put it back. There's good lessons here but you're too young!

Taj. Ah, Taj, Taj, Taj...I love you. I will always love you.

Now then, shall we continue?

"Take me! Take me!" the Shah moaned as I threw him against onto the bed.

My tongue lolled out of my mouth as I tore my robes away and stared down at the naked leopard lustily. My nose twitched and the smell of concentrated violets grew. The Shah wanted me to take him and if his scent didn't give it away, his member popping out of his sheath sure as hell did.

"Such a filthy fox!" the Shah giggled and writhed in bed, pretending to be a modest feline who wouldn't dream of submitting to the whims of a canine. "I'll never let you take me!"

"I'm not just any fox!" I pounced atop the leopard and gave him a quick bite on the throat."I'm Marco the Conqueror! And I'm here to take you prisoner!"

"Noooooooo," Levanti struggled playfully, trying to escape from beneath me. The leopard was too weak to break free of my powerful pin, "anything but that! I'll do anything, anything!"

A string of drool fell off of my tongue, splattering on the spotted shoulders of the Shah. Growling, I began pawing at my crotch, feeling my cock swell inside its furred prison.

"You have nothing to give," I grabbed the leopard by the throat and pulled him towards my face until he was inches away from my snout. He flinched as I gnashed my fangs. "I have conquered your land and I have conquered you. I own you. You are mine."

Laughing, I poked at his cock with the tip of a claw. It had girth and those infamous feline spines were just barely visible on them, but my cock was far longer.

"Who am I?" I demanded.

"Nooooooo!" the leopard whined.

I tightened my grip around his neck and I heard his breath go hoarse, "WHO AM I!?"

"M-m-master!"

I shoved him back into the bed and he gasped for air.

"Turn over," I ordered.

Levanti just stared back, covering up his bare chest with his paws bashfully.

"TURN OVER!" I lunged forward with a snarl, snapping my jaws and sending flecks of spittle across the feline's face.

He got the message and quickly spun around, crawling onto his belly. I snatched the mid-section of his tail tightly and my ears folded back as the cat yowled in pain.

"STOP!" he cried out.

I pulled his tail up, exposing the circle of pink around his anus. The leopard tried to cover it up with his legs, but I forced my way in, blocking his attempt with my legs. My cock was now rock-hard and ready to pierce his defenses like an arrow.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed as I thrust my cock in dry. It was a hard fight, doing it without any oil, but I had to do what the Shah wanted. I had no choice.

"You like canine cock, slave?" I licked the Shaw on the ear before nipping the tip of it with my front teeth.

"YES! YES!" the Shah gasped as I continued my erotic onslaught.

Spying his scruff, I pulled away from his ear. Both tods and vixens, if you sink you fangs into just the right area there, they go limp and become enthralled with pleasure. I wanted to see if felines did the same.

"Ahhh..." the Shah's muscles relaxed as I bit him on the back of the neck and quickened my thrusts.

My knot was swelling up. I wanted to give the Shah the finest gift he could get from a canine, a good knotting. It is known around the globe that Canis bestowed upon his children the most finely crafted phallus imaginable. Ursus' children are so large to compensate for their tiny cocks while Felidae's children's penises can be classified as torture devices with their tiny barbs that scrape against your rectum and...

...Make them bleed...

But canines? We were gifted with the finest of them all, none so perfectly proportioned as foxes, but all canines are gifted! I was going to knot this haughty, arrogant little feline and make him beg.

My knot had already grown quite a bit, I had just about missed my window of entry. Under normal circumstances, I would have written this off as a mating without a knotting, but I wanted to give the leopard what he deserved.

I wrapped my arms up under the leopard's shoulders and pushed all my weight up against his rear. My knot slapped up against his anus, too large to merely slip in. I gritted my teeth and began forcing it in.

"STOP! IT HURTS!" the leopard cried, sinking his claws into the bedposts.

I didn't give a shit. My skin burned as the friction of his anus bristled against my cock, but I wasn't going to give up. I felt it, it was going in ever-so slowly, but it was going in.

After what seemed like minutes of fighting, even having to hold the Shah down to stop him from pushing me off, I felt his hole stretch over the widest point of my knot. From that point on, it was a cinch to get the rest of it in.

By this point my cock was quivering and oozing with pre-cum, I knew it wouldn't be much longer so I decided to make due with quality over quantity and pounded the feline like a battering ram. He cried out, screaming about how good it felt, how he wanted to be my vixen, my bitch, my slave...

I just about screamed when I came into him and before the last rope spurted out, I fell atop him, exhausted.

"Are you alright?"

The Shah's words aroused me from my sleep.

I was in bed with him, his muscular arms wrapped around my smaller frame and my snout pressed into his chest. One of his paws was running across my crotch, stroking at the fur surrounding my balls.

"Yes!" I exclaimed.

Feeling a bit overwhelmed by his embrace, I tried to squirm out but the Shah wouldn't have it, pinning me into his chest with a hearty laugh.

"I've never had anyone quite that good before," the Shah purred.

An acrid odor filled the room, one that was far too familiar at this point. I twisted in Levanti's grip and managed to poke my muzzle free enough to see two servants, both of them tigresses with striking orange and black fur. They blew out some pieces of tinder and began walking over, carrying two thin pipes.

One of the tigresses approached me, she was quite striking and wearing a nose ring from which a gold chain hung down across her breast before curving back up to a loop attached to the side of her triangular ear. She passed me the pipe and I didn't even ask what it was before I pressed it between my lips and took it in.

I felt weak, almost helpless as the opium entered my lungs. I almost felt like sobbing, a feeling I was none too familiar with.

"Mmmm," the Shah purred and blew smoke directly into my face. "You know, there's still time for you to change your mind."

I coughed, "About?"

"Joining my menagerie."

"No," I took another hit from the pipe, "thank you, really, but..."

"I'd take care of you," the Shah began rubbing at my shoulders, his claws gently kneading into my pelt, "I'd never let any harm come to you."

"No..." I coughed. The opium was wracking my lungs tonight, I was not in good shape, "...I have to fulfill my destiny."

Sighing, the Shah broke away from his embrace and laid on his back, "I know when I'm beat..."

I was feeling quite weak and placed my pipe on the end-table, feeling like I was going to drift off to sleep.

"Don't worry, I'm not bitter," Levanti chuckled, "you'll still get your ships, so long as you bring me back those lions' pelts."

My eyes fluttered and the room went dark.

"Perhaps...you could bring one back alive as a little gift..."