Chapter 48: Belle of the Ball.
After the incredibly warm welcome of the joining ceremony Ink's head was in quite a spin, so she was very grateful when her sisters came and plucked her from the little impromptu part that the Clan had thrown in her and her hatchlings honour.
"Have you given any thought to where you'd like your hive to be sister?" Citrus hissed softly as the four of them sat looking out over the great plains with its huge conical-shaped hive sat squarely in the centre.
"Not a clue sister but I do know what I want my hive to specialise in," Ink said turning her large crested head to look at her three new sisters as they all sat together in a line on the large grassy hillock at the outer edge of the city limits, Clan Mason did seem to have such a wonderful way of preserving both a technological and ecological balance.
"Oh?" Aine said turning her large head while taking a drink from her personalised mug that her king had made for her, it had a picture of a queen's crested head in printed on top of a large red heart on the side of the large ceramic stein like mug with the words 'Number one beauty queen' written in large red letters in the human English language.
Ink nodded her large head as she turned back to look over the plains and watching the huge herds of grazing animals as they moved in slow lazy movements, "Combat, my hive is going to specialize in combat, never again will anyone hurt my hatchlings, never again will anyone imprison us and torture us for merely existing, we will fight for our right to exist and what's more, we will fight for this wonderful place and its incredible people who took us in and have shown us such compassion and honour, so I say this to you, my sisters, never again, never again will my hive be slaves, or test subjects, or somebody else's playthings, this wonderful Clan stood for us, they stuck their necks out and fought to free us when we were nobodies to them, but you all still stood and fought for us and now we will do the very same, my sons and daughters will stand up proudly and we will now fight for you" Ink said proudly.
Her three sisters all nodded then Aine reached out and put her large hand on her shoulder, "For us sister, not for you for us, you are one of us now as are all of your hatchlings" she said and Ink smiled brightly.
"Thank you sister," she said and Aine shook her head.
"Don't thank me, sister, thanks to the Grand Patriarch and Matriarch, they are the ones who created this incredible place and who guard it with the fury of the Eternal Huntress herself, they are like her Angels" Aine said.
Zara nodded and gestured with her own mug which was black with a picture of a red heart on it and the words 'Queen of my Heart' written on it.
"Well sister, incidentally that's why I called my hive the Battle Angels, I wanted my children to be a beacon of light to not only the Clan but to others that encounter us, I wanted to show that our kind are not parasites and that we can nurture and save life as easy as we can take it," she said.
This set Ink thinking and she scratched her large chin, "War Angels, your hatchlings are are beacons of hope and love who save lives, those who see them see the power our kind have to save and heal but I want everyone who sees my children see our power to both protect the innocent and destroy any who would threaten them, so I shall call my hive the War Angels" Ink said proudly.
The three other queens all nodded and then all three of them fixed their gazes on her, "Well first you have to find yourself a nice king to call your own sister, seen any of our beautiful boys that you like?" Citrus asked.
Ink baulked but then Zara stepped in and saved her tail, "Calm down sister she's only been here a couple of days, there are just so many beautiful boys in all sorts of flavours here now, give the girl a chance" she said.
The others all chuckled and nodded, "Kinda funny how all three of us fell in love with humans though ain't it?" Citrus said and they all nodded.
"Don't care how many flavours the beautiful boys come in, my Cortez the only boy I will ever look at let alone lift my tail for, he won my heart and it belongs to him life, he is the king that sits on my heart throne and I am his queen and he will always be safe and loved in my arms and in our nest" Zara said proudly.
"I could tell that by the way you carried him off earlier," Ink said playfully and her sisters all chuckled and nodded.
"In this place love is all that matters and when you find someone to love you fucking well show them how much their heart means to you at every opurtunity, I am forever finding breakfast and fresh flowers on the table next to my nest, like every morning not to mention little notes hidden all over the hive in places only I am going to find them telling my how I am the most beautiful female or how sexy my tail looks or how my crest is radiant and shiny today, in short that beautiful male of mine is my truest king, I adore him in every way possible so yes sister i am proud to lift him up and throw him over my shoulder and march my happy tail through the entire hive with him, I want everyone one of my children to see how happy and in true love their king and queen are so that they can go out and seek this for themselves, so my sons can see how the queen they choose for themselves can see how a true queen or indeed king should treat their king, how she should never ever be ashamed to love him or to show everyone how much she loves him and I want my daughters to see the same thing, I want them to see how a true queen acts and how the true king they are seeking for themselves should treat them" Zara said proudly.
Ink smiled and nodded, "It must be wonderful to have a true king, I hope I can find one for myself," she said and now all three of her sisters moved and they very gently placed a hand on her.
"You'll be fine Ink trust us there are so many beautiful boys to choose from here and not just humans either so take a look around and see who catches your eye but don't rush it, as the Grand Patriarch is so fond of saying the Eternal Huntress watches over all and here we are all her children and now we have the Great Tree and it's children here as well so double the chances and luck, so just take your time get to know the people here I'm positive in this time there will be one, just one who makes your head turn and tail swish, who stands out to you like he's stood in a sub-beam with little angels singing all around him, just try not to let your instincts get the better of you and snatch him up and carry him off, at least introduce yourself first," Citrus said playfully making them all laugh and nod their heads.
"I'll try but no promises," Ink said making her sisters laugh even harder as they sat back down around her, it was so odd how already so completely at home she felt in this place, it was like this place was not just a community, it was one giant family.
So Ink decided to take what her sisters had said to heart, she needed to get herself out there and stop hiding herself away at her sister's hive, she needed to meet these people that her hive was going to be fighting for, plus she really needed to figure out exactly where she was going to put her hive up when she did find her king because she had already decided to herself than in Clan Mason tradition she was going to set her hive up after she found herself a king.
Then when Aine piped up again, "Hey are any of you going to that dance thing the Seekers are putting on for the Scalathor boys?" she asked and the other queens all looked at her in confusion.
"What dance thing?" Citrus asked curiously.
"Well from what I heard from one of the Seekers the deep divers who are the Seekers that the Grand Patriarch assigned to work with both the rescued Scalathor boys and the freed Nightmare Assassins they want to do a kind of event to celebrate them and apparently they all really loved the event that the Serpentinus Ghost Slitherers put on when they got here so they are putting on a Clan wide dance event they are inviting everyone, its gonna be huge all the best Clan musicians are gonna be there, apparently they have even convinced that male Raptorian Seeker who used to be a singer and a dancer to put on a performance, hey Ink you should come along, the whole Clan is gonna be there for something like this" Aine said.
"Oh hell yes I am definitely going any chance to shake my tail for my king I am definitely taking it," Zara said happily.
"Well, I don't know..." Ink began but Zara cut her off.
"Oh don't be such a wall hugger Ink, think about how many beautiful single boys are going to be at this thing, you'll be like a queen in a candy hive, completely spoilt for choice," she said.
Ink looked at her then at all of her sisters and she could feel the expectancy in their gazes and she sighed and nodded, "Alright, I'll do it" she said and the others hugged her.
"Good choice sister and don't worry about being overwhelmed, this is something being done by the Seekers, from what I'm hearing its something they are doing to help those poor boys to break out of their shells and enjoy themselves in a carefree environment, so there will be Seekers everywhere watching over everyone, they would never let anything bad happen to you or anyone else if there's one thing those lot are incredibly good at its seeing someone in distress and getting to them," Zara said and the others nodded.
Word spread fast around the clan about the musical event and Ink could feel not just Zara's hive but the whole Clan buzzing about it, for three whole days everywhere she went she heard people talking about it, plus she had to listen to all of Zara's daughters trying to figure out what they were going to wear and if the bow they had stuck on to their heads matched the one they had tied to the tips of their tails, these girls were really going all out for this and their excitement was kinda infectious.
All of Ink's beloved hatchlings had also decided that they were going to the event if, for nothing else but to meet new people and to see the whole Clan together, there were even whispers starting to spread around the hive that the Grand Patriarch himself was going to perform which set all of them buzzing and Ink was starting to realize that news travelled as fast as the speed of thought inside a Xeno hive and it wasn't because of the mental link, it was because Xeno's were incredibly social creatures and loved to talk to everyone they met.
Suddenly one of Zara's daughters appeared in her doorway, she was a rather large Praetorian called Neir, "Are you going to the dance tonight queen Ink?" she asked and Ink nodded her head and Neir looked her up and down before smiling, "Not like that you aren't, time to get to work, girls in here let's do this!" she yelled and before Ink could ask what in the name of hell was going on a whole group of Xeno girls burst into her room and instantly she recognised some of her own daughters among them.
"Worry not good queen Ink we are going to make you irresistible to your potential king, when he sees you in the crowd his heart is going to burst in his chest and he will know without a doubt that he's looking at an Angel wearing a Xeno's skin," Neir said proudly.
The Xeno's surrounded and guided her into a queen-sized chair before swarming all over pulling out cans of hide polish and all sorts of things she had never seen before, "Did my sister Zara put you up to this?' Ink asked just about able to move with the girls swarming over her sticking things glowing stripe stickers to her head crest making it look like she was covered in bright gold lightning all over her head.
Neir smiled and nodded, "She said you need your tail plugged into the mains to give you the charge you need to get your tail out there and shake it and that it's our job to make that happen, so tonight good queen Ink we are gonna make you shine, trust me when the king the Eternal Huntress has picked out for you sees you he's gonna know in no uncertain terms that his heart belongs to the Xenos and we are going to take it and set up a hive in it, tonight no pumped up Yautja girl or sweet innocent-looking human girl or not even any feathery Raptorian girls is going to steal this queen's king, once we are done he's going to be lucky if he realities there are any females there beside you, tonight we are the kingmakers!" Neir said passionately with her fist clenched her pride in her race making Ink's heart soar.
So for an hour solid Ink let the girls swarm over her working their magic while also teaching her beloved daughters how the Xeno girls and indeed boys of Clan Mason decorated themselves to keep up with the other races, once they were don Neir wheeled in a queen-sized mirror so that Ink could see herself and what she saw looking back at her in the mirror made her mouth fall open followed swiftly by her inner mouth as well.
The girls had done an incredible job, she barely recognised herself, all over her head they stuck these odd glowing green stickers that kinda looked like lightning bolts that really stood out against her now utterly polished and shining hide, they had also hemmed the edge of her head crest all the way around in a kind of gold trim.
They had decorated every one of her dorsal spines with a series of bows and twists that made them stand out and she also noticed she had two of them on each arm and leg, one at the wrist and another at the bicep.
On her tail there was a whole host of them including right at the tip where her entire tail spike had been wrapped in a very pretty white silk ribbon, they had even painted all of her claws in a bright hot pink colour which really made then shine.
"You look fabulous queen Ink, if your king is there he will not be able to take his eyes off you!" Neir said beaming at her.
"Y-You really think so? I mean I've never done anything like this before, hell every single day here feels like I do completely new things that I never in my life imagined myself doing" Ink said.
Neir placed a large hand on Ink's arm and looked right into her face, "That's the beauty of Clan Mason good queen, this place and these people have shown us what we can really be and not only that but they'll do everything in their power to get us there, these people are just so wonderful" she said smiling.
"Umm forgive me for asking young one but who is your mate, I was told that the Xeno's in this Clan have evolved to moult into a Praetorian when they meet their soul mate, so I assume you have met yours, so what species are they?" Ink asked and Neir smiled proudly and nodded.
"That's correct queen Ink, my life mate is the most beautiful male that walks this planet though I may have a biased opinion but I don't care, to me he is my everything, he's a Scalathor, infact he's going to be there tonight, this event the Seekers are putting on tonight is for those like him who were brought here after being saved from the Raptorian conflict, infact he's here in the hive if you'd like to meet him," she said proudly.
Ink cocked her head curiously, "Raptorian conflict?" she asked curiously and Neir nodded and explained what had happened where the Raptorian people were attacked by the Scalathor under the orders of the Dark Seed.
When she was finished Ink knew she looked as horrified she felt, "T-T-They really treat their males this way!?" she exclaimed a little louder than she intended and to any non-Xeno speakers it would have sounded like a loud screech.
Neir nodded sadly, "Yes, when those beautiful boys first came to us they were scared of their own shadows, they were completely terrified of everything and everyone, those poor boys have suffered such incredible indignities and now it's my job and the job of the entire Clan to both teach and show them what life and love truly are, I make sure my husband knows exactly how much I love him every single day," Neir said proudly.
"I'd like to meet him if I may," Ink said and Neir smiled brightly and nodded before scuttling off into the hive somewhere before returning with a very confused looking but incredibly beautiful scaly male who had bright red and orange scales covering him from head to toe looking very much like a walking talking dinosaur albeit a very beautiful one.
"Queen Ink I'd like you to meet my beautiful life-mate Genar the light of my life," Neir said proudly as she hugged the pretty and obviously shy Scalathor boy from behind protectively and lovingly.
"N-Nice to meet you good queen Ink," Genar said offering her a hand to shake and Ink took it and shook it.
"It's very nice to meet you too Genar, how are you liking here in Clan Mason, as a newcomer myself I'd quite like to hear your perspective" Ink said and Genar smiled brightly.
"Oh it's so wonderful here, these people are so welcoming and kind, I never imagined in my wildest dreams that life could be like this but I'm so happy that Clan Mason not only found me but brought me here, I found this wonderful beautiful woman stood next to me who showed me what love really is, she treats me like I'm made of gold and I try my hardest every single day to prove to her that I love her with my whole heart, now I know what life really is I never want to leave or be anywhere else, here I am loved, here I am protected, here I am cared for, here I am home," Genar said proudly as he turned and wrapped his arms around Neir who picked him up and hugged him tightly to her chest.
"And here he will always be safe, no one will ever lay another unwanted hand on MY male while I draw breath if they even try they will answer first to me and if they still breathe to the Clan, that is a joy reserved for me and only me, I earned it when I won his heart and I hold it both my hands and I will never let go even for a single second," Neir said fiercely.
Ink nodded approvingly, the more time she spent around these wonderful people the more she was growing to truly respect them and their way of life, they were such a wonderful contrast, on one hand, so free and gentle with those around them showing kind loving care to all they meet, but then there was the other side of Clan Mason the side that would bring the entire Clan down on the heads of anyone who threatened just a single person like a giant fucking hammer, they were the physical definition of one for all and all for one, a truly perfect hive.
After Neir finished hugging and kissing Genar to death she let the thorghraly loved Scalathor boy stagger off back into the hive, then she turned back to Ink with a warm dreamy smile painted all over her face, "That boy is very lucky to have you" Ink said smiling at the display of pure interspecies love and care.
Neir shook her head, "No my good queen i am the lucky one, when we went to fight on behalf of the Raptorian people we never expected to be rescuing Scalathor boys in that conflict, back then I was just a regular Xeno, I was just a regular Battle Angel whose job and calling was to go into battle and keep our beloved Clan brothers and sisters breathing and fighting, then this compeletly radiant but scared sencless little Scalathor boy fell into my lap and my good queen if you had seen the conditions they forced them to live in it would break your heart like it broke mine, those wonderful and beautiful boys were treated worse than animals, but when I saw him I just knew, he was in the middle of a group of freed males and he was trying his hardest to shield a little boy a child from harm using his own body as a shield, it took me twenty minutes to convince him to let him go and that we weren't going to hurt either of them, when I saw the scars and wounds on his truly body it made my proud green blood boil with rage, this man was just such a wonderful, kind and caring male and he had been treated like shit, I made it my personal mission to show him what life was supposed to be, I fell compeletly and truly in love with him as i saw this bright beautiful flower of a man beggining to bloom and blossom as he began to realise what life was supposed to be, we transported them back to the home world and i made sure i was in charge of his treatment and care, I made sure that he was safe and happy as he could be, then he just goes and does something that truly melted my heart into a puddle like metal dipped in a vat of our blood, he brought me flowers, to this day I have no idea how that beautiful male pulled it off, as they were under such close observation by the whole hive at the time, but some how he got those exquisate scaly hands on a bunch of mountain roses and told me that a beautiful female like me deserved to have beautiful thing but these were all he could manage, male Scalathor are exempt from the mate hunt due to what they've been through but if they weren't I'd have hunted that boy the edge of the fucking universe, he let me claim him and I have dedicated my every single day proving to him that I am worthy of those flowers he went to all that trouble of getting his little hands on" Neir said with pure emotion flowing through her voice.
Ink was stunned by this confession and it warmed her heart like fire but it also lit a real fire under her tail, if this wonderful and kind girl could find her love and king in a warzone and fight to nurse him back to health and to prove to him that not all females were like the girls that had hurt him every single day of his life then she could do her very best to find herself a king here and make him just as happy and proud to stand at her side, she was going to do this, she was going to show these people just what she and her hive could bring to the table of this Clan and she would do the very same for her king, he would be the happiest and most loved hive king who ever lived, she would see to it.
So Ink made her way to the event and as she walked across the city following the crowd she began to grow in confidence, because not only did she see other Xenos from the other hives who were all dressed up very similar to her having their hides decorated with the most incredible display of bright sparkly things and bows making them truly shine.
That's when the compliments started and they warmed her heart like a fire, the first one was exactly directed to her face but she heard it and it put a real spring in her step and a swish in her tail, it came from a Yautja hunter who was walking to the event with his male friends who were mixed human and Yautja.
"Wow is that the new queen we have? Wow, look at that tail! Can you imagine having her turn up at your mate hunt? I'd feel like my every freedom days had all come at once!" the young-looking Yautja male said his voice obviously full of awe.
His friends chuckled, "Come on Shrem tuck your mandibles in before you trip over them, trust me they don't let queens take part in the mate hunt due to their obvious advantages over the other hunters but yeah I can imagine it, hell knowing you you;d just stop and run right at her" one of the humans with him said making the male Yautja called Shrem to laugh out loud.
"Damn pauking straight I would! I mean just look at her, that is the pinnacle of Xeno feminity right there a whole lot of gorgeous, strong, proud woman wrapped up in a hide I'd do absolutely anything to run my hands over, hell I'd spend every single day trying to come up with new ways to make her screech in joy, I'd make sure that no matter what she knew that I loved her and that she chose well when her heart picked me to be her king" Shrem said in a very proud voice.
Ink glanced back and all of the males looked rather startled and embarrassed that she'd heard them but rather than chew them out she gave them a smile and a flick of her incredibly long tail making their mouths fall open as she turned and walked off feeling their eyes on her rear end and long legs as she did, oh she was really starting to love this place and its people more and more with every second that passed.
The event was being held in the Grand Park which was a large open-air area where the people of the Clan came to relax and de-stress surrounded by both nature and the sounds of joyful playing hatchlings who were loving their lives safe and guarded by all around them not just their parents.
A huge stage had been set up at the head of the pack near the trees, the whole clan was there and Ink had never seen so many people in one place before it was truly incredible, there were people of all ages and races there all gathered to celebrate this event and there right at the front in a heavily protected group were the male Scalathor many of them now accompanied by a female of another race who was obviously their life mate, one or two were even accompanied by another male of another race who by the intimacy of the pair was obviously that mate which despite having never seen before Ink found rather endearing because to her it really did show the dedication of Clan Mason to protecting love in whatever form it came in.
But the vast majority of the male Scalathor were unaccompanied and were obviously rather nervous by the large gathering, but they seemed to be taking strength and confidence from not only the loved ones of the males who had been lucky enough to find their life love who were mingled in amongst them which included Neir who due to her size stuck out like a sore tail but also from the group of both Saviours and Seekers who were stood guarding them not because they actually believed that they were under any form of threat from any member of the Clan but to show them beyond any shadow of any doubt that they were safe and guarded here among them.
Her three other sister hive queens were sticking out from the crowd like sore tails and each of them had a human male riding high on their backs and Ink instantly recognised these as their hive kings as she recognised Cortez sat proudly on Zara's huge shoulder lovingly stroking his queen's head crest planting kisses on the non decorated parts and making his queen smile brightly.
Suddenly out of the crowd Ink heard a voice address her and as she turned to see who was talking to her she actually felt her outer mouth and inner mouth both fall open again, stood behind her was the most radiant creature she had ever seen in her life.
"Excuse me good queen you must be Ink am I correct?" the male Serpentinus who was dressed in Seeker armour said his tongue flickering in and out of his mouth as he spoke in an insanely cute way.
"Y-Yes! T-That's me!" Ink stammered way louder than she intended to feeling a wash of embarrassment burn through her as the words exploded out of her but rather than scoff he just smiled at her warmly which made her heart pound hard before skipping a beat in her chest, he appeared to be one of the cobra genus having a rounded sloping head and the most brilliant golden eyes that gleamed with pure life and intelligence.
"Please follow me, good queen, the Grand Patriarch and Matriarch have reserved a place for you and your hive right at the front," he said.
Ink nodded her large head and as she did she could see his bright golden eyes looking her up and down and his tongue seemed to have sped up, "What's your name Seeker?" she asked.
"Yamat Bluetail, I'm a Ghost Slither of the proud Serpentinus people who once we received training from the Grand Patriarch I decided to join the Clan and stay here," he said proudly as he led her through the crowd right through the smiling happy crowd, right to the front.
"Umm, are you sure it's ok for me to be at the front like this? I mean won't the people behind me have problems seeing what's going on stage?" she asked Yemat as she slithered along next to her and she tried as hard as she could to stop herself from staring at his beautiful long tail as it flexed and swished but try as she might every time she pulled her head that swishing tail just pulled her head right back down like it was just begging her to lean down and run her hands along the armour till she found a chink that she could exploit to get to the glass-smooth scales beneath it.
"Oh that's no problem good queen Ink, the Grand Patriarch has already thought of that not that it matters I mean who in their right mind is going to try arguing with a Xeno queen? If anything they should feel privileged of the view they'd be getting that's a view only a lucky hive king gets, I mean if it was me I'd be more mesmerised by that than any pack of females doing their best heart dance" Yemat said smiling warmly at her and she heard the playful note in his voice, she felt both of her mouths falling open again, was this radiant alien male flirting with her?
Yemat led her to the front and behind her, a spaced opened so she'd have space to dance her heart out if she so wished, she found her beloved hatchling all there and just like herself they had all been dolled up in a variety of decorations, they looked incredible.
As soon as they saw her all of them ran up and hugged her warmly, "I have been assigned to look after you good queen Ink I will be here to assist you in any way you require so please if you need anything please don't hesitate to ask" Yemat said smiling up at her and Ink felt her tail swish as she began to imagine the list of requests that she could possibly ask of this beautiful male began to swim through her mind.
"T-Thank you Seeker Yemat I'll be sure to do that" she replied as she watched him slither off a few feet away from where he began talking with a couple of the other Seekers but she did notice him glance back at her and give her a warm smile when he noticed her still watching him.
Suddenly she felt her leg being nudged and she turned to see one of her daughter's smiling up at her, "I see you have found out the joy of the Serpentinus boys mother" she hissed softly and Ink felt herself flush and stiffen she quickly flicked her head around to see if he'd overheard but he seemed to be busy helping the other Seekers as they got everything ready.
"I-I-I don't know what you mean young one" Ink stammered and she heard her daughter laugh making Ink turn around to face her again.
"Sure you don't mother, there's no need to be embarrassed here, these people embrace it, I mean look around mother, look how these people are, we can have that too, all we have to do is embrace it, look mom every single one of us want to see you happy, you deserve it, you have fought long and hard for your hive and to keep us safe and happy and now it's our turn to help you to be happy and it's painfully obvious to us that you need a king to be happy, someone who will love you and care for you in ways we cannot, so please mom don't pass this up, its obvious to all of us how much you like him you are glowing with the truth of it or did you forget we are Xenos, we can feel what you feel?" her daughter said shocking her deeply but also warming her heart.
She glanced back at Yemat again and discovered he had slithered his way up a lighting pole and was adjusting the lights having his long powerful tail wrapped tightly around the pole and a shiver ran right through her body as her mind began conjuring up images of what it would be like to have that tail wound around her body while she pinned him down to mattress of her nest pressing her body as tight as she could to his, the delicious feel of those smooth scales gliding over her hide, the exquisite feel of those powerful muscles bunching and flexing as she pinned him down and got him to submit to a good ravishing.
Her daughter's voice snapped her out of her happy daydream, "See what I mean mother? If I wasn't such a good daughter I might have peeked in on a bit more of that happy daydream though I thought I'd better cut it short before you start broadcasting to the entire hive what exactly you want to do to that pretty Serpentinus boy" she said while giggling as she saw Ink flush with pure embarrassment kinda wishing the ground would swallow her decorations and all for forgetting the most basic rule of being a Xeno, remember to shut off the hive link when you want to daydream.
"B-B-But I've just met him, I only learned his name moments ago, I know nothing about him!" Ink exclaimed trying to defend herself but her daughter simply wagged her finger doing a startlingly accurate impression of a human and in her best Clan voice began to speak.
"You think love cares about any of those things? Do you think that love requires you to even know his name or even a single thing about him? All your heart cares about is that he is the most beautiful creature you have ever seen in your life, I felt that plain as day when I saw you looking at him, I have never seen you look so happy or so like you about to trip over your inner mouth while staring at a male's tail in my life either" she said making Ink baulk which also caused her to glance back at Yemat who was now hanging upside down by his tail while fixing a bulb which when it was turned on while he was still hanging there lit him up and made him look like a scaly upside down angel, her heart melted into a puddle again when he turned to look at her and gave her both an upside-down smile and wave which she meekly returned.
"See? How more obvious can he be? I swear to this Eternal Huntress the good people here speak of constantly that if you don't lift up your tail and go for it I am going to bite your tail till you get some fire in it!" she said making Ink laugh out loud as she turned around to see her daughter whipping her tail around and she smiled at her admiring her daughter's fire, she really was going to make a damn fine warrior.
"Alright daughter I'll do it but if this fails it's on you and I'm going to make you do these human push up things till your arms are numb and you are sick," she said as her daughter grinned.
"Deal mom, now get that male and make him our new king before someone else snaps him up and I'm forced to bite your tail, but do me a favour, shut your hive link off, that's for you and him, not us," she said making Ink laugh again and turn back to Yemat with a smile on her face and fire under her tail, her daughter was right, she got one life and she was going to live if damn it, this beautiful scaly male was going to be her king if she had to build him a throne right there, but how to make her approach?
As she was pondering this question all the lights came on and she looked up just in time to see Jack Mason walking out on the stage.