Disclaimer: All non-original characters are property of SEGA or their respective creators.

4. Lovers in the Night

"Th-thank you," said Knuxahuatl as the she-wolf poured the last of the hot water out her pail.

The slave smiled meekly at the echidna wallowing in the round wooden tub. Knuxahuatl smiled back.

"Elora?"

The she-wolf's head shot up.

"M-mistress," she said, swiftly lowering her eyes.

Knuxahuatl looked over his shoulder. Queen Rouge was standing in the doorway of her own private chamber, goblet in hand, a half-smile on her face.

"That will be all, I think," said the bat.

Elora scurried for the door, ducking under her mistress's outstretched wings.

"My queen," said Knuxahuatl, nodding to Rouge as she languidly approached the tub.

"Will you insist on thanking every slave for performing the most basic tasks?" she asked, perching on the lip of the tub beside him.

"Shouldn't I, my queen?"

"Some of my warriors do," said Rouge, "But if they get used to that sort of gratitude for simply doing what's expected of them, how will they know when they've done something exceptional?"

"A…fair question, my queen," said the echidna uncertainly.

"Now you're sounding like a slave," said the bat, idly stroking one of the echidna's plaited quills with the back of her hand.

"How should I sound?"

"Like you're not one wrong word away from having Honey haul you out of the room," sighed Rouge, sipping from her goblet, "I punish Lupe for needlessly ruining one of my best dresses and suddenly everyone acts like I'm Mephiles."

The echidna frowned. Mephiles?

"Sorry, my queen, I don't—"

"There you go again," said the queen, drumming her fingers on his scalp.

Knuxahuatl held his tongue, unsure if there was anything he could say that wouldn't fail slave test. Maybe it was just his voice. In spite of certain recent developments, he still didn't feel completely comfortable in queen's throne room, never mind her private chamber beyond it.

The tub's waters rippled, coaxing him out of his reverie. He turned to see Rouge climbing into the tub beside him.

"Here's one suggestion: what say we dispense with that 'my queen' nonsense when we're alone like this?"

"But m-my—"

A finger over his lips silenced him as the bat folded her wings and sidled closer.

"Just Rouge," she said softly, slowly removing her finger.

"R-Rouge it is," he said haltingly.

"Better," she said, gently caressing the plait nearest his face.

The tub's waters rippled as she sidled so close, their hips met beneath the surface. Knuxahuatl tensed in body and mind as a warm palm pressed against his cheek, forcing him to meet her eye-to-eye.

"I hope you're not this tongue-tied with all royalty."

Stung, the echidna opened his mouth to protest. Rouge's lips pounced. The ensuing kiss continued as she shimmied up onto his lap.

"Otherwise, it'll be deeply inconvenient once you're King of Arkadia."

The steamy waters churned as Knuxahuatl squirmed out from under Queen Rouge. Clambering out of the tub in a frenzy, he made as if to flee the chamber. The moment his wet feet met the smooth flagstones, he wiped out, landing hard on his front.

"Are you quite done?" asked Rouge as the echidna lifted his face off the floor.

Too winded to stand, he awkwardly shifted onto his bare backside. Leaning precariously on his hands, he looked up. The queen was peering down over the side of the tub, her chin resting on folded arms.

"King…of Arkadia?!" he spluttered.

"Who else should I put in charge?" said Rouge flatly, "Would you prefer one of Iximche's cronies?"

"But Pachacamac's daughter—"

"Is, what, ten years old? And that's assuming she's still alive."

Wincing at the bat's words, Knuxahuatl looked away. Tikal being dead was a scenario he still couldn't bear to ponder at any length, let alone accept. The child had always been so vocal about her dream making her father's hard-won peace last forever when she was queen. Surely no one could regard her as a threat…could they?

He shivered as the question coincided with a whistling breeze that leaked through the chamber's wooden walls. Just then, a cascade of water splashed on the flagstones near his feet. His head snapped up. Rouge was standing over him. There was a second cascade as she unfurled her wings.

"My queen?" he said timidly.

Rouge got down on her haunches.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, "That was…inelegantly put."

Knuxahuatl lowered his eyes, uneasy about being pitied for hypothetical grief. Even though he felt like he was giving himself false hope whenever he thought of Tikal as being alive, the fact was, he hadn't been home since Pachacamac was overthrown. For all he really knew, he might be moping over nothing.

All the more reason to look forward to his dawn ride with Shadow and Blaze, regardless of how Iximche might receive them.

"No," he said, looking back up at the squatting bat, "I'm sorry."

"You are?" asked Rouge, tilting her head, "What ever for?"

"You're right…about Iximche," said the echidna, "Anyone would be better than him. Even me."

The queen flashed a tight smile. "There's my Arkadian warrior."

Standing up, she leant forward to offer him her hand. Reaching up to accept it, Knuxahuatl's other hand slipped on the flagstones. Rouge snatched his outstretched hand and heaved him upright. Pulling him close, she clapped her palms on his wet rump.

"Now, tell me…you don't believe those rumors, do you?" she asked.

"Rumors, my qu…Rouge?"

"You know the ones. About how I only keep you here so I can get my dainty little hands on all those emeralds."

Knuxahuatl felt a lump rise in his throat. He hadn't needed to hear them. He'd suspected that was her motive the morning after the night she first took him into her bed. It'd been the same day that word of Iximche's coup reached Dalriada. It was only since he'd started spending almost every night in the queen's bed that he'd started to doubt himself.

"Should I believe them?" he asked meekly.

Feeling Rouge's right hand part company with his backside, the echidna tensed, expecting a slap.

"I wonder," she said thoughtfully, bringing her hand to rest on his shoulder, "How can I demonstrate you mean more to me than some pretty green rocks ever will?"

Knuxahuatl quietly held her gaze, hoping there was more to come.

"Hmm…what if I were to tell you what I actually want you to say when you meet Iximche?"

Knuxahuatl opened his mouth to speak. Rouge pre-empted him, drawing him into a kiss. Wrapping her right arm around his shoulders, she spread her wings and enfolded them both.

жЖж

Blaze mewled as her knife slipped, nicking a forefinger. Sucking the cut fingertip, she looked over her shoulder. Honey lay fast asleep in the bed she was leaning against, tangled in that horribly scratchy blanket.

The princess snorted softly. Of course she hadn't woken her. She'd seen the flaxen-furred feline sleep through much louder back in Agnia.

Keeping her fingertip in her mouth, the cat turned back to the small block of wood she'd been carving. Mercifully, the slippage hadn't left any unwanted grooves on the flame-shaped engraving. That meant it would still be effective, Iblis willing.

The amulet was for Shadow. Anyone who received such a propitious Truth from the pyromancer at Tophet was sure to be favored by Iblis. She may not be an acolyte anymore — in all likelihood, she never would be again — but she still felt dutybound to assist anyone He chose to marshal his fire.

Once the taste of blood in her mouth had faded, she went to finish off the detail she'd been working on.

"Another one of those? Seriously?"

A flaxen-furred hand reached down and casually plucked the knife out of the stunned Blaze's hand.

"Come back to bed, princess."

The lavender-furred cat glared woundedly at her fellow feline.

"Just because you don't believe—"

"Oh, and you think Shadow does?" Honey cut in, "You heard the queen earlier. Today was just her way of indulging you. Frankly, I was impressed how well you took it in there."

"I'm…used to it," muttered Blaze.

Glancing at the almost-finished Iblisian amulet, she curled her lip and set it aside. Honey shuffled back over to her side of the bed as Blaze lay back down, albeit facing away from her.

Queen Rouge's bodyguard smirked. "Would you act your age for once?"

"Why should I?" whined Blaze, "You treat me like a child most of the time anyway."

"Sorry, princess. Just an old habit. You really were a child when I knew you in Mergissa."

"You left Mergissa eight years ago!"

"I know, princess, I know," cooed Honey.

Reaching out to scratch the nineteen-year-old behind her ear, she extracted an involuntary purr from the lavender-furred feline.

"See now, there's a happy Hellcat."

"Don't call me that!" hissed Blaze, wriggling as far away from her mentor-turned-lover's paw as the bed would allow.

It was one thing for the queen's other warriors to call her that behind her back. Honey, however, knew very well the circumstances of that siege at Zama.

What sort of cat would give a thirteen-year-old complete command of an army, then set her loose on the rebels who'd just killed her big brother?

Her uncle King Magnus's justicar Resheph, apparently. Iblis damn him.

жЖж

A tremulous whimper leaked through Amaranth's clenched teeth as she clung to Shadow. It hadn't felt like this in a long time. Maybe not since that first night in Erinia. The night their lives changed.

Above her, the black hedgehog's ragged breathing gradually eased.

"I love you," he sighed, inclining his head to touch noses with his wife.

He went to move, but the legs wrapped round his waist held him in place.

"Not yet," breathed Amaranth.

Lifting her head, she embroiled him in a kiss. Shadow gave a bass chuckle amid the liplock. Amaranth felt the reverberation in her chest, pressed flat as it was against his. She drew her head back, eyelids narrowed.

"What's funny?" she whispered.

"The last time you were like this…the camp near Pharlain."

"Your point?" she said, failing to see any cause for mirth.

Shadow cocked a brow moist with sweat.

"I'm not going into battle, Amie."

Amaranth pouted.

Shadow couldn't help but smirk. His wife's expression transported him back to those occasional gatherings of young highborn Erinians at King Melodeon's court in Tesiphon. He'd seen that look a lot, albeit from a distance. Nothing like now.

Amy sighed deeply. "I hate this feeling."

"What feeling?"

"Like we can't tell what the queen's thinking anymore."

"Could we ever?"

"She's never done something like this before. Dispatching an embassy with half a day's notice. What's the rush?"

Shadow's brow furrowed. "What happened to 'it had to happen sometime'?"

"I had some time to think," said Amaranth. It'd been a long walk around Dalriada, seeing all those wolf pups back to their respective homes, "You're not the only one around here who broods."

Shadow snorted softly. "Did I ever claim otherwise?"

"Not…exactly."

Sensing a moment had passed, Amaranth reluctantly relaxed her hold on his waist.

"I just wish—ah!"

She inhaled sharply as Shadow rolled his hips, more insistently than before.

"What about...the children?"

"I told Silver…to slip out…with Susi," Shadow whispered hoarsely.

Amaranth's legs were back around his waist in a heartbeat. Enmeshing her fingers in his head-quills, she ensnared him in another protracted kiss.

She'd thought to berate him for abetting bad behavior, but their whole life together hinged upon a timely act of bad behavior. Had he not sought her out that night in Tesiphon, she might now be married to Prince Sonic of Erinia, patiently awaiting her turn as queen while he caroused his way around Cambria.

Thank the Comhartha he had.