Throneworld

The distant orb glittered on the main viewscreen. Even knowing that he should be tolerant of different alien traditions, Dustin found himself thinking it was excessively gaudy. He’d visited planets that sparkled with the light of vast spires, satellite stations or huge megacities before. He’d not visited one that glittered because of all the gold before.

“It is rather excessive, don’t you think husband?” Meli said, the scientist glancing up from her terminal. “According to long range scans, the bulk of the buildings are just gold plated - but even so, that is rather a lot of gold. Certainly more than one would expect to find on even two or three planets of that size.”

Emely tapped her console, the screen suddenly zooming in to show a massive palace complex at the heart of a city of delicate fountains and lush green avenues. “The Tho’unn capital extracted wealth from four different species worth of colonization projects. Even before they made contact with the wider galaxy, their rulers were used to coating things in gold… afterward, they actively traded for the metal, and at significantly higher levels than most industrial uses would require - it’s noted as an anomaly in their files. I guess we know where it all went now.”

Anomaly or not, the world was slowly approaching. Dustin wished they could arrive faster - a three day flight in from the jump point was ridiculous, when Sola’s engines could make the trip in under ten hours without even going flat out. It was, unfortunately, the speed which the ungainly battle-barges that flanked them on either side had insisted they adopt.

Turning his head slightly to look at the window that monitored their escort, Dustin once again found himself wondering why the Tho’unn had ships that size equipped to primarily use boarding actions as a form of attack. Regardless of the reason, on arrival in the system they’d been met by the giant craft - each almost as big as Sola - and told to match speed. The missives from the other three races had been received, but even so the royal house wanted to make a point before meeting this ambassador from another world.

Two days of slow crawl still remained ahead of them as Dustin sat lounging in his chair in the ready-room. He was half-listening to Sammie and Rye banter about the latest sports fixture that had drawn the pair’s attention; recently, he’d have expected Yaerwen to be involved in such a discussion as well, but she was currently otherwise occupied.

The Hoxx’s current occupation made him groan, his toes curling as the door slid open to reveal Emely. The redhead’s eyes flickered downward momentarily, her tongue sliding across her lips before she shook herself and walked over. “I have the details ready for what to expect when we land, Sir? But if you’re busy I can wait - or help if you’d like?” she asked sweetly, one hand reaching down to stroke Yaerwen’s head.

Amber hair lifted from his lap, the athletic woman wiping her mouth with the back of her hand as Dustin helped her up. Once she was upright, the Hoxx turned to the redhead and answered for him. “No need, Emmz. We finished… well, Dusty finished, right as you arrived. Sorry you don’t get to play too, maybe at bedtime? Dustin did moan something about returning the favour earlier after I jumped him…”

Doing his trousers back up and shaking his head as the two women planned out an evening’s debauchery, Dustin got his breathing back under control. “You said you had the details, kitten?” he asked after a moment, cutting across the pair before their planning grew into another full-fledged orgy.

Sighing and settling into a seat next to him as Yaerwen turned to leave, Emely pulled up her tablet and tapped it to transfer her work to the console embedded in the table. A few further taps and the hologram spun up, revealing the palace complex and it’s surrounds - or a rough approximation of it.

“Our first stop on landing is going to be meeting royalty. Their monarch wants to meet us personally, which is really good - our work with the other species clearly made an impression. We won’t be landing in the palace complex, unlike when you met my aunt - instead, we’ll land on the far side of the city and have to travel via a processional.” Emely began, her fingers spinning the hologram to show a dotted line leading a snake-like path towards the palace.

Dustin tried to see sense in the route as the Feliax woman continued. “It’s largely to show off, don’t worry about it too much Sir. Once we get to the palace, then we have to be careful. I recommend Meli and I accompany you for this one - you’re entitled to up to four consorts with you, but bringing more than two is considered tacky, and as your first Meli has to go.”

At his nod, the fox girl carried on, going through everything to expect in terms of appropriate bowing and scraping past minor dignitaries, up until they met the emperor. “And then I don’t know what will happen” the redhead concluded, hands spread in a shrug and a worried look on her face. “There’s no clear precedent for how the imperial family treats guests. We could be politely refused, we could be acknowledged, we could be thrown out - gently, but firmly. Or…” she paused, biting her lip.

“Or what, Emely?” Dustin asked, noting that pause. It clearly worried the redhead, which meant it was automatically worrying to him.

Emely hesitated, glancing along the table to where Aricia had entered while they’d been talking, then winced as she looked back at him. “Or… they could stick to ambassadorial traditions and ask you to take a consort.”

It took Dustin a moment to process her words before he gave the fox girl a sharp look. “You don’t appear enthused by that idea, kitten. Usually, you’re the biggest cheerleader for more women joining our bed - what’s so different about this one?”

The Feliax woman twisted her hands pensively, before glancing at him and answering. “It’s… I want you to be happy, Sir. And you’re happy when we’re happy and… well, we’ve had a lot of new arrivals which is great, but this wouldn’t be someone you could choose. Even when you met me, it was a negotiation that could have ended in you picking a different woman from my homeworld, or you could have afforded to turn the deal down. Hell, my aunt might have agreed to work with you without having any of our species join you, she’s far more radical than she lets on.”

Emely’s eyes sparkled for a moment before she shook her head. “But here? We need allies, and the choice could be that you take someone on to get that alliance - or you don’t. Regardless of the politics of it, and of how much you do or don’t like the person they pick, it’d cause you to be upset, and so it worries me.”

Dustin reached out and pulled the startled redhead into an embrace, ruffling her hair with one hand. “Emely, did I tell you I love you today? If not, consider yourself told. You’re right, it’d cause me upset… but look, we had Aricia and Defia aboard for ages before they joined us. There was a point where it looked like Sammie might not join either, and Yaerwen was… complicated. If there is a need for someone to join the crew to get a deal done, I trust in your ability to negotiate so that they don’t also have to join our bed unless we all want them to.”

His words seemed to relax the submissive woman in his arms, the tension fading from her shoulders and her tails lifting slightly from where they had been drooping behind her. “Thank you, Sir… I’ll do my best,” she murmured, before lifting her head to look at him rather firmly. “I do think you should get all of us to discuss this first though. Just in case… we can’t avoid it?”

Ten women sat around the table with Dustin at the head of it the next day. They had one more brief sleep window before they arrived at the throneworld, just to ensure those dealing with the locals would be as alert as possible. Before that however, they needed this meeting - after a bit of back and forth Dustin had agreed to Emely’s suggestion.

“…and so, I want to know your opinions on this. Not just for the situation with the Tho’unn, but for anything similar in the future. I mean, it is traditional in a lot of cultures across the galaxy for ambassadorial pairings to be physical in nature.” He concluded his explanation, before glancing up and down the rows of faces. “I keep saying that I want us all to be happy, and I mean it. So wherever possible I’m going to try and ensure we don’t need to have this issue arise - but we need a clear plan when it does.”

Naera spoke first, the plant girl managing “I think that…” before pausing, looking around as her cheeks turned a dark olive when she realised she’d made the opening remarks. “…I think that the galaxy is bigger than us? I mean, if you have to have someone on the ship, that’s fine, and we all agreed when we discussed Yaerwen and the others that if people who were aboard wanted in to our relationship they’d have to work towards it. But… we can’t stop Dustin from fulfilling his mission, not when there’s so much at stake.”

Pausing, she glanced up and down the line before reaching a conclusion. “If you have to be with them, Dusty, it doesn’t mean we have to. Even if you need to take them as partners, anything beyond that can be negotiated. After all, not all species are compatible! If we’re establishing a rule, we can look at how species handle energy-based life, or silicates or something? They don’t fuck their ambassadorial consorts, because it could be dangerous! So there’s got to be a precedent, right?”