2.8

"Erin! You are back!" — graceful Kalisio met the blue haired giant in the royal garden dancing around him and grabbing his hands.

"Why are you so happy? Did you miss me?" 

Erin had been trying to stay away from his ex lover lately so as not to arouse Kamily's dislike.

"Darling, you are so cold with me! And all because of that woman! She won't give you what I can give you - a sea of bliss. Stop pretending you don't need me anymore".

"Shut up, please, — Erin said softly. — Relationships between men are forbidden as ordered by the Commander".

"You are his favorite, he indulges you in everything because of your superpower. It's complete bullshit that Xantarians don't please each other. They just need to enforce the discipline to follow the code. In fact, they do whatever they want. They sleep with each other, but ban us the real feelings ..."

"You say seditious things ..."

"You don't want Kamily to know about us? So I won't tell her and no one will tell. Who wants to harm you, my hero? You are quick to punish!"

"Kalisio, you are so noisy! And you hang around my neck! Stop it!"

He sat down irritably on a garden bench with a clingy admirer stroking his shoulders.

"Can't I even give you a massage? Is it also prohibited?"

"I'll come to you tonight when my wife is asleep…" — Erin muttered to him in a barely audible voice.

He noticed Lariel approaching them along the garden path.

"How quickly did you get everything set up, bro! Palien enthusiastically praised you. Can you tell me about the Xantarian fleet?"

Lariel sat down next to the couple.

"Exceeds all expectations... - started Erin. — A fleet of six ships, insane sizes. I haven't been to every one, mostly the flagship cruiser. The weapon is something we never dreamed of. Not surprisingly, all the enemies were removed from orbit. I'm going to use their technology here to defend from the ground, and a force field to protect against beam weapons will come in handy".

"Are there many syrinxes there?"

"Mostly wingless half-breeds called sirkoys and young aristocracy. The character of the guys is restrained, they are reluctant to make contact. Palian builds them all according to the string, the discipline is the strictest. The officers are more open minded and friendly. They invited me to serve with them. Someone asked about you..."

"About me? — Lariel was surprised with hostility. - In what sense?"

"They know something about you..."

There was a disgruntled growl.

"Lar, why does that make you unhappy?" — Kalisio asked sympathetically.

"Because I prefer girls indeed, not those guys, I don't want any harassment from them, — Lariel replied irritably. — Were some women on ship?"

"There are few, they serve only the authorities", — Erin explained.

"And what do they look like?"

"Very pleasant, well-groomed, small in stature, but somehow inanimate..."

"And what, did you communicate with them?"

"No, I'm telling you, they are only for the officers, I saw them, they passed by."

"Well, yes, I see," — Lariel guessed that his brother did not want to tell all the details.

"Kamily does not want to be Queen Bee and tomorrow is the coronation".

"I already talked to her, she agrees," — Erin said confidently.

"Agree? Weird... What did you say to her? — Lariel was excited.

"I can persuade, — Erin said casually. - I see that everyone has got houses while I was absent here".

"Stay in the palace if you want, — Lariel suggested sadly and left them.

"What about him?"— Kalisio was puzzled.

"Palien ordered Lariel to go to Xantari."

"Oh no! It belongs to our colony by right! You must not let this happen. Although, if I were offered to become the Prince of the Illuria, I would immediately agree, but I'm not a hermaphrodite unfortunately".

"Would you like to be one?" — Erin wondered.

"He-he, I could give you a baby and you would not ignore me and would be jealous of me for everyone…" 

"I'm not ignoring you! It's just Kamily doesn't like the idea of free love. She doesn't understand it, but she'll get used to it in time. You have to wait especially since someone wants to become her new husband".

"Your cousin Rohen, I suppose? He changed so much after Kamily rejected him. He closed himself off for retreat did not communicate with anyone. He appears abruptly and instantly disappears, you won't have time to blink an eye". 

"Yeah, he's a little out of his mind, — Erin agreed. — Gained some new powers, but avoids the demonstration for some reason. I don't know what's the reason?"

"Looks like he can teleport. It's too rare, isn't it?"

"I have never seen such a phenomenon", — was a frustrated remark.