To her lavish bedroom, where she explains some things

Even to a prince raised in a Castle, Kihara's chambers in the Imperial Palace were something of a shock. Peeking out from behind her back as she led him through the lavish rooms, Marcus glanced in awed silence over luxury he'd never imagined. Elegant wooden furnishings draped in silk, carpets covered in gorgeous colored patterns that made him dizzy just looking at. There were racks with weapons too, gleaming halberds and spears with their blades polished to a mirror sheen, and suits of scaled armor. The young prince wanted to stay longer and look at everything more, but Kihara just strode through without even pausing, as if even all this finery didn't concern her in the slightest.

Then she ducked through another silk curtain, holding it aside to let him follow, and he found himself standing in what must be her bedroom. A huge bed sat against the far wall, draped in purple silk blankets with a frilled canopy of the same shade. Marcus found himself staring at it and blushing faintly. Had she brought him here because of that? Instead of picking him up, stripping him bare and tossing his wriggling body on the bed like he was kind of hoping she would, Kihara just stepped over to a chair and table on the side of the room and sat herself down with a sigh.

“Little one, come sit right here.” She patted her lap firmly, giving him a look. Marcus darted forward and squirmed round to plant his butt right on top of her muscled thighs, wriggling a little until he was comfortable against her. After the scare he’d gotten when the Empress threatened to take him away, being nice and close to her felt really good, and he leant back into her chest. One of her muscled arms slipped around his chest, while the other hand firmly held him in place by the waist. Marcus smiled to himself, enjoying the feeling of being so helpless in her grip. He almost wished she'd hold him tighter, make him really feel how strong she was compared to him. "Are you alright?" She asked, her fingers gently stroking him through his thin silk shirt. "That all must have rather frightening for you."

"Um, yes...it was, a little." Marcus glanced down, biting his lip. He didn't want to seem silly, but it had been scary when the Empress looked at him like a piece of meat, then threatened to steal him away and take him to whatever a harem was. He didn't want to think bad things about Kihara's relatives, but he was really glad she'd protected him from her aunt.

"I'm sorry, that was carelessly done of me." She sighed. "I should have realized the Empress would want you as soon as she saw you. And she's not the only one either. When the Astabadh asked you to leave me behind, I knew if I did you'd have gotten yourself misplaced to her quarters before I returned. I think I'll have to keep you firmly in my hands until everyone here knows you belong to me." He blushed hot at those words. Belonged to her...that felt kind of nice to hear. His dick twitched between his legs and he nuzzled back into her, trying to press as much of his body against hers as he could. "Don't worry your cute little head about it." She chuckled roughly in his ear. "I promise, no-one's going to take you away from me. My aunt may be quite **** to have you for herself, but she'll back off now I've made my position clear enough to her. She favors me, and she won't want to upset me like that. The rest of the court will fall behind her soon enough and I know how to keep you safe until then." Marcus smiled to himself, feeling his lingering worries about what had just happened ebb away as her strong voice washed over him. This place might be strange and kind of scary, but at least she was here to keep him safe and show him what to do. Still, as much as he wanted to just sit here and cuddle with her or maybe even other naughtier things, there were some questions he had left.

"Um...Kihara." He wriggled round and craned his neck to stare up at her gorgeous face. "Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead." She smiled back.

"Are you really a princess?" He asked. It had been such a shock to hear so suddenly, but by now he felt like it just made sense. She was so beautiful and brave and strong, of course she was of a royal bloodline! No matter that he was too, and weak and cowardly all the same.

"Not quite little one." She laughed again. "Merely the daughter of one. My Mother was one of the Empress' younger sisters. I have no true place in the line of succession, for which I am very grateful. I would not make a good Empress at all."

"Why didn't you tell me?" He wriggled a little in her lap, trying not to make that question sound disappointed.

"I am not particularly proud of my lineage, and it wasn't important for you to know." Kihara replied firmly. "My concern was getting you to safety and I was already loose enough with my tongue as it was." The young prince glanced down at that rather curt explanation, his plump lips curling into a little pout. He trusted her, of course he did, but she'd still shocked him a lot by keeping this from him. She seemed to sense his discomfort, because her stroking got rather gentler, and when she spoke again her voice was soft and soothing in his ear. "I know this is difficult for you, since you come from an uncivilized land, but things are quite different here between males and women. I've tried to accommodate your feelings, but I still expect a boy like you to trust the women in his life to know what's best for him and that includes keeping things from him that might worry or upset him." She paused for a moment, patting his belly gently. "I want to keep you safe, little one. You're so cute and earnest and I adore that about you, but you're also fragile and highly-strung. And yes, a bit naughty at times, which I mean to see fixed. That's why you need me to look after you now. Do you understand that?" Her dark eyes flickered to his face, the look she gave him so certain and sure he found he couldn't disagree with anything she said.

"Um...yes, I understand." He nodded, already convincing himself she was right, like she always was. Hadn't he found just last night that she knew what he needed better than he ever had? Maybe she really was right that telling him that she was a royal before would have only made things difficult. He certainly wouldn't have known how to react, but it would have been nice to have a little time to prepare himself before being led in front of the Empress like that. Those few little doubts withered and died in a moment however, when her hand slipped up and took him by the chin, gently holding his head as she leant down to tenderly cover his lips with her own. The kiss was fierce and possessive, her mouth guiding his open to let her tongue inside so that it could entwine his own. Wrapped in her strong arms, with her licking tenderly at the inside of his mouth, he knew he was hers. His cheeks were red-hot, his heart fluttering like a bird in his chest. This felt so good, he just wanted her to keep going forever. When she broke the kiss at last, he was flushed and panting, his poor dick aching between his legs.

"Who do you belong to, little one?" She murmured, her palm tracing up to cup his cheek.

"You." Marcus replied without missing a beat, his head too fuzzy and hot to even consider what that might mean. It was all up to her anyway. She'd decide what to do with him.

"Good boy." Kihara smiled. Those two lovely words sent an aching pulse of pleasure through his shivering body, and he couldn't quite swallow the hungry little moan. As it escaped his lips, her smile widened like a tiger looking at a helpless fawn, a gleam in her eyes that made him shiver with anticipation. "Now, let's get you out of those clothes already. I think I want to keep you naked so long as we're alone together, at least until I can find something rather more enticing for you to wear."