Serving Her Ladyship

Story by Diodon on SoFurry

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I hope you'll enjoy my latest writing; a short story about a handsome and gentle Arabian stallion summoned by a mysterious and powerful lamia in a far off land.

Before anyone gets worried; I know it involves a snake-lady, but I'm just going to spoil right now that nobody gets eaten here. Criticism is welcome and encouraged; the more specific the better. Inconsistencies, grammar, punctuation, etc. all things I'd love to improve on.

If you feel so inclined, check out this posting on FurAffinity for some links to my inspirations for this work!http://www.furaffinity.net/view/19676741/


Speak only when addressed.

Address her as "her Ladyship."

Bow... or was it kneel?

Don't stare at the floor... but where should I look!?!?

The Arabian stallion rehearsed in his mind as he tugged nervously on the corner of the vest the attendants had dressed him in. He turned to a rabbit attendant who had just arrived beside the doorway to ask a question. Before he could make an utterance the attendant gently placed his fidgeting hand back at his side. She looked upon him and smiled.

"Her Ladyship will see you now."

The stallion's heart skipped a beat. The two reptilian guards standing on opposite sides of the elegant double-door moved silently in unison to open the door to the private quarters. He gingerly stepped through the doorway, and then hesitated. He looked back for some sign of reassurance only to see the doors close behind him. Taking a breath, he regained his composure and began to walk forward. The room was extravagant and glowed with the light of many lamps and candles. Ornate dressings and undoubtedly priceless decorations adorned the chamber. The scent of spice and incense filled the air. He followed the carpeted pathway which lead to a large area surrounded by layers of wave-like semi-translucent curtains. Illumination could be seen through the curtains, though he couldn't make out much else. He caught himself again anxiously fidgeting with his vest; the light colorful fabric shifted against his lithe body unlike anything he had ever felt before.

Just as the stallion reached the curtains, they were drawn aside slowly by a hidden tether. He stepped forward before the curtain could be fully drawn and clumsily tripped upon the fabric. He reflexively braced himself to strike the hard floor when his fall was broken by a pile of soft cushions. The stallion got to his knees before looking up. There she was! The thick scaled body of a lamia coiled atop a large mattress, cushions of varying sizes and coloration strewn about. She wore scant clothing, but what she did wear was highly ornate and delicate. His eyes followed up her smooth muscular belly past her generous breasts to her smooth hooded head until suddenly he realized he was staring into her glistening eyes.

"Mind your step." The lamia stated in a warm tone.

"Uh, Your L-ladyship!" he stammered, before averting his awkward stare.

The lamia smirked. "A slight bow will be sufficient."

"Please rise. I should like to have a look at you."

The stallion slowly got to his feet. He looked away from the lamia awkwardly and resumed fidgeting with his vest.

The lamia snapped her fingers softly, and gestured towards the stallion. Two rabbit attendants moved swiftly to him; the first carefully removed his vest and upper garments followed by the second who gently guided his hands to his sides and then softly stroked up from his chin, lifting his head to face the lamia. The lamia looked intently upon his glistening black coat. She smiled before looking to one of the attendants and nodding her head slightly. The stallion felt the attendant reaching around him from behind to begin undoing his pants. He gasped in shock as the garments were brought down, the cool air suddenly caressing his exposed genitals. He reflexively moved to cover himself but was blocked by the second attendant who smiled and calmly guided his hands back to his sides.

There the stallion stood, fully naked before the sinuous reptile's gaze. He swallowed dryly as she slithered towards him, flexing and bending to admire him closely from every angle. He watched in awe as her thick muscled body undulated to carry her about seemingly effortlessly. Her scaled body seemed to flow like a stream amongst the colorful cushions, and with a grace that belied her underlying might.

Moments later the lamia returned to her position at the head of the mattress.

"Come to me." The lamia beckoned.

The trembling stallion looked about nervously before slowly climbing onto the mattress and past the varied and numerous pillows adorning it. Upon reaching her coils he paused, unsure of how to proceed.

"I am built rather sturdily, and will take no offense at being trod upon this evening," the lamia reassured the stallion.

The stallion timidly reached out to touch the lamia's coils before him. Her flesh was quite firm, smooth... and warm! He got down on his hands and knees and gingerly began to climb across the lamia's coils towards her upright torso. It felt so awkward to be climbing over her body, especially as her muscles undulated and tensed to brace against his shifting weight. Suddenly she leaned forward and grabbed him, flipping him over and pulling him alongside her torso which she lowered until her chest was roughly at the height of his head.

The stallion gave out a startled cry as he was drawn in to her side. He tilted his head to look up only for his face to mash against one of the lamia's firm warm breasts. She lowered her hooded head and looked upon the stallion with a smirk on her face.

"Very good," the lamia said. "Now then..."

She reached behind her back and worked at something the stallion could not see. A moment later thin fabric fell over his head and face. It felt warm and smelled of incense, spices - and something new and unfamiliar. The lamia removed her top that had fallen upon the stallion, suddenly revealing to him her generous scaled breasts. The stallion gazed upon them in silence. His heart pounded as his biological impulses struggled to interpret the situation. Should he flee? Should he be excited? Should he be disgusted? Should he... The stallion suddenly felt an unexpected twinge in his exposed genitals.

"Suckle," the lamia plainly instructed.

She turned slightly, causing one breast to press into the stallions face. At the same time she took his hands and brought them under her breast, gently guiding him to lift the warm flesh and dragging the soft nipple to the corner of his mouth. The stallion timidly opened his mouth, his ragged moist breath upon her soft scaled breast. The nipple, compressed against his face, suddenly popped into his mouth where it brushed against his tongue. She had an unfamiliar, though not unpleasant taste which was combined with the flavors of the smoky incense and spice that wafted through the air.

The lamia drew her hands away and the stallion took over; cupping her breast and pressing his muzzle into the warm yielding flesh, lapping his tongue and nibbling at her sensitive teat. She smiled gently, watching him as he plied his ministrations. If not for the stallions deep black coat, one would have seen that he was blushing deeply. He felt immensely embarrassed to be suckling like a foal from the breast of this creature; especially in the presence of the lamia's attendants and guards, yet at the same time he found the act oddly calming.

The stallion continued to suckle her now erect nipple and mouthed the firm flesh surrounding it. He had focused on a single breast, using both hands to cup and fondle the luscious orb. In proportion to her body the Lamia's bust size was just enough to be considered generous though her sheer size compared to him meant that a single lobe was more than enough to be the focus of his ministrations. This continued for some time, until at last the lamia gently guided his head away.

"That will be enough," said the lamia softly.

One of the rabbit attendants hurried over and using a cloth gently dabbed the lamia's moistened breast dry.

As the stallion regained his senses he moved to wipe his mouth with his forearm. He was stopped by an attendant who dabbed his mouth dry for him.

The lamia began to shift. She leaned back amidst a pile of soft pillows prompting her attendants to rush forward to brace and align pillows behind her to cushion her lowering weight. Before fully reclining she glanced at an attendant and made a subtle hand gesture. The naked stallion, who sat next to her hips, looking quizzically around.

A rabbit attendant approached him carrying a small tray which held an ornate crystal flask partially filled with a translucent fluid.

"Her Ladyship wishes for you to explore her womanhood," the attendant spoke in a soft pleasant voice.

"Her... but how should I..." the stallion's stammering was interrupted by the attendant.

"You are to use your hands. You may remove her Ladyship's covering with the clasp by her side. You may use this lubricant as you wish."

The stallion suddenly grew nervous again. This lamia wanted him to touch her... his heart raced as he considered the task before him. The lamia wriggled gently on her back snuggling into the pillows; her swaying hips causing the beads attached to her loincloth to jostle. Her serpentine undulations caused something to stir again in the stallion. She seemed so alien to him yet something about her movements seemed so sensual. He felt the warmth radiating from her pelvis even as his hands neared the small jeweled clasp guarding her modesty. His hands shook as he unfastened it. He swallowed nervously as he began to slide the garment to the side when suddenly the weight of its jewels and beads carried it swiftly to the opposite side of her hips.

The stallion gazed at the lamia's exposed feminine slit. It was actually far plainer than he was expecting; flush with her body and only discernable from the subtle variation in her scale pattern. His curiosity suddenly dominated his fears and he reached out to stroke her scaled underbelly leading towards the edge of her genital vent. Her heat flowed into his fingertips and he gently pressed and prodded at the firm yet yielding flesh. Ever so slowly he worked his fingertips toward her slit's edge, his prodding now causing her labia to shift against one another revealing trace glimpses of her pink interior. Pillows surrounding the lamia shifted slightly as she gently arched her back; exhaling quietly in a low subdued hiss.

The stallion licked his lips anxiously as he braced his thumbs on each side of the lamia's scaled opening. Hands trembling he pulled gently, separating her labia and causing her soft pink genital tract to be exposed to the cool spiced air. Awestruck, he gazed into the widening gap in her loins. It was nothing like he'd expected; the lamia seemed to have no inner labia, urethral opening, or even a discernible clitoris for that matter. His heart began to race and his own member began to stir as he adjusted one hand to insert two fingers into her vaginal canal. The inner flesh was incredibly hot and pliant to his touch, though somewhat dry and sticky.

The lamia let a muffled grunt escape as the stallion continued to indelicately prod her dry unwelcoming genitals. Noticing this, the rabbit attendant carrying the flask let out a thinly veiled cough. Suddenly, the lamia's head sprung up - eyes fixed on the attendant as she let out a sharp abrupt hiss. The startled attendant let out a stifled yelp as she snapped to attention; the crystal flask audibly rattling on the platter. The stallion, still knuckle deep in the lamia's privates, snapped suddenly out of his lust fueled stupor. He knew he'd committed a foul, and yet the lamia had made clear that outside interference was not to be tolerated. If he used the lubricant now, he worried he'd be compounding the well-meaning attendant's folly. The lamia returned to her recumbent pose, eying the attendant until she fully reclined. The stallion carefully slid his fingers from the silken passage. He refocused his efforts on her smooth scaled labia; rubbing and massaging the pliant flesh starting at the base and moving up. Though he hadn't seen a clitoris he spent some time pressing and kneading the warm flesh where he would expect one might be concealed.

The stallion tried to keep his ministrations varied as he kneaded and worked the lamia's scaled slit. He was beginning to worry his efforts were for naught when a subtle twitch of her slit was accompanied by a pronounced undulation of the lamia's serpentine frame. The lamia's eyes widened in surprise and she swiftly clasped a hand over her mouth to stifle a pleasured moan. The stallion watched her struggling to regain her courtly demeanor before he realized he was staring and snapped his eyes back to his task at hand.

Her sex had begun to exude silky nectar; a drop of which rolled like a teardrop across her scaled underbelly, and trailing off her hips. Her slit itself now glistened with her awakening arousal. The stallion's own member pulsed as it grew more engorged from his own growing excitement. His breath stuttered as he placed his fingers at the opening and pushed. Her partly moistened labia put up token resistance before engulfing his insistent fingertips, wetly swallowing them up to the knuckles. The entranced stallion stirred his fingers through her molten inner walls accompanied by a soft squelching sound. His hand slipped deeper as he churned and teased her rippled vaginal lining. The stallion's fully-erect member throbbed, leaking pre-ejaculate from its tip in hopeful anticipation. Across from him a rabbit attendant was becoming visibly distracted; she struggled to disguise her increasingly labored breathing as she pressed her knees together firmly.

The stallion slowly rotated his hand, the lamia's feminine flesh audibly churning and conforming to its contents. He placed his thumb over where he imagined her clitoris might be while inside he curled his fingers; sliding them over the roof of her ridged inner canal. Inside the lamia's muscles sporadically quivered and tensed in anticipation. The stallion began wetly kneading with his curled fingers as he applied increasing pressure with his thumb.

"EnOugH!!!" the lamia's broken voice called out suddenly.

The stallion's head snapped up in surprise; his hand still buried in the lamia's quivering genitals.

"That will be quite enough." The lamia collected her repose, catching her breath as her hand laid on her lightly heaving chest.

Two rabbit attendants carrying towels came forward swiftly. The attendant in front of the stallion knelt down and gently grasped his wrist.

"Relax your hand please," the attendant spoke with a slight waver in her voice.

The stallion complied and, guided by the attendant, slowly withdrew his hand from within the lamia's body; her moist folds wetly resealing against one another. The first attendant gently dried his hand of the lamia's amorous secretions while the second patted the lamia's slit dry.

The stallion sat in place, confused by the abruptness of the lamia's demand to halt his activities. His engorged member throbbed; eagerly awaiting its turn to be buried in those silken depths. Hadn't he done well? Perhaps it was simply time for round two, or at least he hoped.

The lamia began to rise and shift, causing the attendants to jump aside. She twisted and turned her coils amidst the pillows and cushions knocking several aside.

Continuing to move the lamia spoke, focusing her gaze on the lustrous black stallion as she did.

"I'll admit; I hadn't anticipated having my arousal so readily awakened out of season."

The lamia drew a fingertip along her slit, capturing a glistening drop of her own feminine dew.

"Though, I'm more curious as to your abilities in satisfying more exotic... tastes?"

Upon finishing her words she licked her moistened finger, grinning slyly.

"I've read tales detailing an abundant variety of amorous exploits. In particular, I've become quite curious about a peculiar form of coitus."

The stallion looked upon the Lamia questioningly. Just then, the lamia began to move about, slithering and shifting around the stallion. She rose from behind the stallion, the heat of her body preceding her gentle contact. The lamia leaned over the stallion, the warm mounds of her scaled breasts spreading over his head. She lowered her head over the stallion and whispered her instructions.

"You are to couple with my lower tract..."

The lamia paused, exhaling lustfully.

"...and when you have finished, you shall leave every drop I am due deep within my inner passage."

The stallion licked his lips dryly, his heart racing in his chest. Had this creature just asked him to... in her... He suddenly grew fearful of what might happen were he unable to go through with the perverse act demanded of him. His fears were partly allayed upon noting that his throbbing and dribbling member had remained painfully erect. The stallion was deeply conflicted; he was disgusted with himself for being aroused by the thought of forcing his precious stallion-hood into the seething bowels of this serpentine beast, and yet... He dashed the thought from his mind and began to mentally prepare himself for the task at hand.

The stallion timidly turned to face the lamia towering behind him. The lamia looked quizzically at the stallion, raising herself and backing up slightly to give him room to look upon her. The stallion's gaze traced from her full breasts down her smooth belly to her still moist feminine vent. He looked still lower at the smooth scales of her underside before the realization hit him; he had no idea where the hole was he'd been asked to enter!

One of the rabbit attendants stifled a giggle.

"Now, now!" The lamia grinned as she admonished the attendant.

"Ignorance is nothing to be ashamed of if one is willing to learn!"

The lamia again approached the stallion, gently turning him to face her lower body.

"Now then, you'll find the opening at the base of my tail."

How much of her was tail? The stallion worriedly mused; he was far too anxious to ask for further clarification. He focused on the portion of her body that lay immediately in front of him; cautiously he crawled out to it, inquisitively reaching out to caress its smooth scaled surface. Just as his hand made contact the lamia twisted until the smooth scales of her underbelly were on top. The stallion began to examine the lamia's underside; gently prodding her warm sinuous flesh. Suddenly her muscles tensed beneath his hands as her body advanced forward, presenting a fresh section of her underbelly to explore. As he progressed he felt the warmth of her upper body creep up behind him, her increasingly lustful breaths heating the back of his head and neck.

Nearly surrounded by the lamia's hot muscular body, the stallion at last came upon a patch of scales converging upon her tightly sealed lower opening. The stallion froze, not sure what to do next.

"Ahh, such a good student," the lamia hissed with amused satisfaction.

The stallion jumped at the sudden feeling of cool moist hands upon his shaft. One of the rabbit attendants had come up beside him and was applying a lubricant to his member from the crystal flask he had seen earlier. A second attendant poured a small portion of lubricant over the lamia's tightly sealed exit, spreading it generously over the surrounding scales and dimpled opening.

"That's quite enough," the lamia exclaimed sternly.

"Our guest appears quite ready to bestow his offering and I'll be extremely cross if it is expended outside of its intended place."

The stallion trembled, his painfully rigid shaft glistening with lubricant and dribbling with pre-ejaculate. The lamia had been apt in gauging the imminence of his release. Though he wasn't sure how best to proceed, his lust soon compelled his action. He swiftly straddled her muscled frame, hands shaking as he aligned his shaft with the puckered opening. He pushed forward carefully, straining to keep his member aligned. The lamia's muscular ring began to depress inward, contracting and straining involuntarily in resistance to the forced intrusion. The lamia hissed as the pressure increased at her sensitive lower vent. Though consumed with arousal, the stallion willed himself to ease up for a moment. Catching his breath, he began carefully pulling back when suddenly the lamia's upper body pressed against his back, her hands grasping at his body.

"Push!!!" the lamia hissed demandingly into his ear.

The stallion shivered; it was incredibly disorienting having sex with someone who was in front of and behind you at the same time!!! He resumed his forward pressure; his glans pressing deeper into the lubricant slickened orifice; the pink inner flesh having remained slightly spread from his previous attempt. The stallion was beginning to strain himself when suddenly the head popped through the reluctant muscular canal.

"Hchhhhh!!!" The lamia hissed loudly coupled with a shocked grunt in response to the abrupt penetration, her entire body tensing. Her anus rapidly engulfed the stallion's slippery shaft before its involuntary constriction slowed his entry. The lamia curled her upper body over the stallion pressing against him tightly. Her ragged breaths rolled over him with moist heat as she recovered from the sudden violation of her body's most delicate and guarded passage.

The stallion, startled by the hissing lamia writhing both beneath and behind him, tried frantically to hold himself steady. Though he was fearful that he had hurt or angered her, her presence behind him blocked any potential attempt at retreat. Committed to his predicament he removed the hand that had guiding his shaft, bracing both hands on opposing sides of the serpentine flesh before him. He stared in rapt disbelief at his stallion-hood, now buried until just before his preputial ring within the lamia's posterior vent.

The stallion's turgid member throbbed in tandem with the sporadic contractions of the lamia's anus; the delicate tissues still recovering from the stinging sensation caused by the stallion's forceful intrusion. Deep within he could feel the heat of her furnace-like bowels conducting their warmth into the flesh of his enveloped shaft. Her rectum churned softly around his most precious organ; the intimate union of their entwined flesh contrast against the aberrance of an act between two unorthodox partners.

The stallion's body tensed and his member twitched; renewing the flow of pre-ejaculate into the lamia's inner tract. The lamia gently lifted her upper body from the stallion, the burning sensation beneath her tail having partly abated. Gently, she trailed a clawed fingertip along the stallion's back.

She leaned to his ear and whispered.

"Submit to your instincts. Surrender to me your body's living seed."

With the lamia's words a tingling sensation washed over the stallion; everything about this felt incredibly surreal. Submitting to the lamia's demands he carefully drew back; his slick shaft emerging from the tight confines of the lamia's bowels, her clasping inner muscles slowing his retreat. Before fully withdrawing the stallion thrust forward, plunging his member into the lamia's heated depths. The stallion set his pace and began the rhythmic thrusts which would carry him to his final release.

The lamia's rectal walls lacked the rippled texture of her vaginal tract, though for the already overstimulated stallion it hardly mattered. He began panting as he thrust, stirring the creature's soupy innards, and drawing forth her exotic musk into the mélange of scents now thick in the air. Riding ever closer to the edge of his climax the stallion began increasing the speed and depth of his thrusts.

Sensing his nearing release, the lamia began undulating her lower body and tail to meet with the stallion's thrusts. Better acclimated to the unusual sensations within her lower passage, she used her anus to milk the stallion's member; alternately tensing and relaxing the ring of muscle, fighting to overcome the stallion's will to withhold his emission. Her body swayed and shifted as she moved to better observe their unusual rutting.

Deep within the lamia his member twitched, releasing a heavy spurt of pre-ejaculatory fluid. Ears pinned back, the stallion's body suddenly tensed and froze. He fought with all his might to deny the unmistakable beginnings of his ejaculation.

"Inside!!!" The lamia shouted.

The lamia thrust with her tail with urgency, forcing her clasping anus to fully devour the stallion's pulsing member. Shaken off balance, the stallion clutched desperately at the lamia's lower body, grasping her tightly in a parody of a lover's embrace.

The stallion, for his part, was now largely passive in his role having succumbed to the instinct driven throes of his own climax. His entire body convulsed with each surge of his ejaculation, the thick turbulent flow of semen coursing through his member before splashing forth within the lamia's lower tract. Tail flagging, the stallion snorted and whimpered, his body relinquishing everything it had to the lamia's molten depths. The rich milky gel pooled in her rectum before flowing deeper within. Trembling in his aftershocks, the stallion laid against the lamia's now still body. Buried in her heat, his member twitched weakly, churning his own seed within the lamia's guts. He willed himself to move, yet his body remained motionless against the lamia's powerful frame.

The lamia spoke softly. "Shhh, rest now. Allow your body to finish its release; the final drops are just as precious as the first."

The lamia's words wrought tingling waves across the exhausted stallion's body. She had taken him. Though he had penetrated and sodomized this creature, it was she who stood dominant above his limp frame, his living essence captured within her lower tract. Still catching his breath he rested his head against the lamia's warm muscular frame. His softening penis remained snugly within the lamia as the last of his congealing ejaculate drippled from his tip, joining that which the lamia had already claimed.

Mind clouded in the haze of his afterglow, the stallion looked up at the lamia.

"Did... did you cum?"

In an instant the reptilian guards stiffened in posture, a stern faced rabbit attendant spoke out.

"You speak out of turn..." the attendant was cut off with but a gesture from the lamia.

"That's quite all right." The lamia said to the attendant.

"Considering our guest and I remain coupled in our sexual congress, I believe we may grant him some voice in the style of say... a courtesan." The lamia finished her remark with a slight chuckle.

"Of course, your Ladyship." The rabbit attendant replied.

The lamia turned towards the recovering stallion and smiled. "As to your inquiry of my sexual release, stallion; No, no of course I did not. The function of that passage is for the relief of other needs."

The stallion's ears drooped at hearing this. Noting his deflated mood, the lamia laughed loudly.

"You think of pleasure too narrowly, stallion! Those who relish exotic spices would be folly to complain of being left flushed, red, and tender! You've done as I instructed, and your service is deemed more than adequate!"

The stallion's ears perked up and he smiled. With his afterglow diminishing, the awkwardness of his exposure began to weight more heavily. He slowly righted himself before a tug at his groin directed his attention to his still buried member. He eased back slowly, wetly dragging his now flaccid member from the lamia's reluctantly clasping anus. He emerged from her vent with a slight pop, her anus rebounding slightly, and partially resealing itself as the stallion's tip withdrew. A surplus of lubricant with traces of the stallion's seminal fluids oozed from her well used orifice, dribbling over her scales before an attendant hurried over to dab her reddened opening clean. A second attendant knelt beside the stallion, gently drying his receding stallion-hood. With one last twitch the lamia's anus fully sealed itself. Now cleaned, the lamia rolled her lower body back to its proper orientation.

"Mammals," the lamia sighed, "always in such a hurry."

The lamia gestured to a rabbit attendant who came to her side carrying a small pouch. Other attendants helped the stallion to his feet and dressed him.

The lamia faced the stallion; "Thank you for your service."

"Oh, uh, you're welcome... your Ladyship!" The stallion stammered.

The attendant carrying the pouch took his hand and began to guide him away.

Suddenly, the stallion stopped. "Wait, I, uh. Your Ladyship, your story... was it like your story?"

"Beg your pardon?" the lamia replied.

The stallion fidgeted with his vest. "You said you read a story about this, about doing... you know..."

The lamia replied with a knowing smile. "It's always like the story my dear."

Despite his lingering confusion, the stallion was tugged away at the insistence of his escort. Passing through the curtains, he returned the way he arrived. After exiting the room, the attendant turned to him.

"Here is your payment. You may count it if you wish."

The stallion accepted the pouch, noting its heft with surprise.

"Oh! Uh, no that won't be necessary! Thank you!!! Oh and thank..."

The attendant cut him short. "Farewell." At that, she returned to the lamia's chamber, the guards shutting the doors behind her.

The stallion stood at the door for a moment unsure of what to do. After an awkward glance at the reptilian guards, he decided to return down the hall to the room he had been prepared in and where he could only presume his street clothes remained.

Before he could take but a few steps he was startled by the sudden return of the rabbit attendant.

"Her Ladyship has bestowed you with a gift."

The attendant pushed something unseen into his hand, forcibly clasping the stallions grip around the hard object.

Before the stallion could reply the attendant continued, speaking hurriedly.

"This gift is for you alone! Do NOT sell it!!! Should you wish to stay it will permit you entry into approved areas. Mealtimes are posted in the common area. Be quiet in the library and mind your decorum!"

"What about my clothe..." The stallion failed to interject.

"Seriously? Don't worry; they've been disposed of properly." The attendant replied, rolling her eyes before continuing.

"Clean uniforms are available at the baths... and for the sake of the gods take a BATH!!! It won't get all the musk off, but it might make you less distracting to the guards!!!"

As suddenly as she had returned, the attendant again vanished into the lamia's chamber.

Overwhelmed with questions, the stallion took a moment to inspect the object in his hand; it was a ring. It bore a single blueish jewel in its center which the stallion immediately recognized as being like the jewels he'd seen plentifully set upon the lamia's adornments.

The stallion stood in the hallway pondering the ring and the day's events that led up to it when he was startled by a metallic clanging behind him. Looking back he saw one of the reptilian guards bending over to retrieve the ornate weapon he had dropped. It didn't take the stallion long to notice that the accident had been a clumsy subterfuge to permit the guard to hurriedly 'adjust himself', exhaling audibly as he resumed his post.

Perhaps I'll go find those baths now. The stallion thought to himself as he set out towards the central corridor.