Athelfd’s gre pierced Sapphire’s soul.“Where did he go?” The princess demanded.“Into the womb of Fertility. They should be reborn before midnight,” Sapphire responded trembling.Athelfd pulled Sapphire up by her tunic, looking her in the eye angrily. “How will this ritual affect him… er her?” “The ritual I did aligns a person’s external self with their internal self. No one regrets rebirth,” Sapphire expined.The princess let go of Sapphire with a sigh of relief. The wolf-kin colpsed back on the bed. “Wulfwynn will still be the same person then?” Athelfd asked. “More or less, I would say that being reborn makes people more themselves. How they interact with others might change, but who they are at their core will not change,” Athelfd nodded along to Sapphire’s expnation, “You were watching us the whole time!” Sapphire accused, as she narrowed her eyes at the princess.

  “I’m always watching-” The princess started.“Your familiars leaving Wulfwynn’s room was just for show then?” Sapphire cut her off.“It takes stones to cut off a princess,” Athelfd said, as she narrowed her eyes. “I’m terribly sorry Your Majesty,” Sapphire apologized profusely while looking at the ground.

  Athelfd chuckled in response. “We aren’t in public. I’m not going to control you,” The princess lifted Sapphire’s chin up. “You really do have beautiful eyes. It’s a shame that you have to hide yourself,” She said with a genuine smile, “My older sister has taken a liking to you. You have my full support to pursue her. Anything I would do for myself I would do for her. My familiar was watching you, not my sister. She is angry with me. I don’t want to risk angering her more,” Athelfd’s eyes looked sad, as she finished.“I’m sure you will work it out with her. Wait with me. Express your support for her transformation after she is reborn,” Sapphire suggested.

  “There is much I want to discuss with you,” Athelfd said. Sapphire nodded encouraging the princess to continue.“Firstly it’s important to keep my sister's transformation a secret. Grandfather is already pushing my father to make me the heir of his Jarldom. The nobility look down on the Fertility God as the God of commoners. Even in our country. A lot of the original Jarls come from noble houses in the old kingdoms,” Athefd said.“Wouldn’t such an acquisition make the crown stronger?” Sapphire inquired.“I’m not just against inheriting my father’s nd for love of my sister. It’s to the contrary she might want me to become the Jarl as well. She has always seen politics as a burden, but the consolidation of power under the crown will make the other Jarls nervous, and they might be led into rebellion before I can secure my rule. The whole royal family is not behind my grandfather's choice in making me the crown princess. Let me not continue to bore you with politics,” Athelfd expined.“I find it all very intriguing,” Sapphire responded.

  The princess gave her a weak smile “It can be exhausting to think about. I have other reasons to talk to you. The release of the demons that were captured today would weaken people’s trust in the crown, but I might consider it. If you put your studies on hold for a bit, and did something for me,” The princess stated.“What would you have me do? I’m already greatly in your debt,” Sapphire asked. “The Jarldom to the northwest by the mountains has a problem with well equipped monsters raiding the trade route that connects us to the old kingdoms. Whenever the Jarl sends out their army to deal with these raiders they can’t even find footprints. I suspect an earth demon is covering up their tracks. I want you to take up to three people with you to help resolve the issue. There is a quest at the adventurers guild that you can accept,” Athelfd expined.“As you wish, Your Majesty,” Sapphire responded with a dramatic bow. Athelfd rolled her eyes, “You are mocking me,” she said while she lightly punched Sapphire’s shoulder.“You are abusing your thane!” Sapphire rubbed her shoulder feigning indignance.The wolf-kin couldn’t stay serious for long; she soon broke into a smile when Athelfd smiled while rolling her eyes at the silly wolf-kin.

  “Can I feel your fur? It just looks so soft!” Athelfd decred. Sapphire nodded in assent. The princesses' hands petted Sapphire’s ears, wrists and hands.“One of my huskarls will bring equipment over for you tomorrow morning. Do you have any requests?” Athelfd asked. “Nova and I will both need a saex or a sword. She will also need a full kit of armor, and one of those battle axes that huskarls use,” Sapphire requested. “Won’t you need any armor?” Athelffd inquired. “A helmet would dull my hearing. And any armor will get in the way of my beast transformation,” Sapphire stated.“I almost forgot you are a first generation wolf-kin. Most of the beast-kin in the kingdom can’t transform. Can you show me your transformation please?” Athelfd asked.

  “I’m really exhausted right now from the ritual. If I force a transformation I don’t know when I will be able to transform back,” Sapphire responded. “Maybe if you work with my bro-” Sapphire’s gre stopped the princess mid word, “Ahem sister, she could maybe figure out how to make armor that changes with you. That being said, my huskarl will bring you a full armor kit,” Athelfd gave Sapphire a stern look.Sapphire wilted under the princesses’ gaze. She still felt rexed from the princesses' soft hands petting her fur. Sapphire drifted off to sleep.

  A presence brushed against Sapphire’s body. The wolf-kin drowsily opened her eyes. A pretty girl with short dirty blonde hair was asleep snuggled into her body on top of one of her arms. Sapphire instinctively pulled her into an embrace. “Aww how adorable,” Athelfd cooed.Wulfwynn drowsily opened her eyes. Her pretty hazel eyes looked up into Sapphire’s eyes mesmerized. She stared for a moment. “Eeek,” Wulfwynn blushed furiously, rolling away from Sapphire onto the floor. The wolf-kin closed her eyes then handed Wulfwynn’s cloak to her.The artificer giggled cutely “it’s not like I haven’t seen you naked already. I was just surprised to wakeupinyourarms,” she said at the end quickly.

  “Wait, you already got her naked!” Athelfd excimed as she hid her red face in her blue dress that had gold embroidery on the edges with a bck sash around her waist.“Um I was just curiousabouttheritualresults,” Wulfwynn rambled.“Weren’t you watching us the whole time?” Sapphire asked, raising an eyebrow.“My familiar only reyed the relevant information to me. I’m not some pervert! I don’t use my familiars to admire people’s bodies! I’m too busy for that!” Athelfd said fervently while she waved her hands dramatically.“You make it sound like it’s your guilty pleasure,” Sapphire intuited.“Why don’t you help Wulfwynn get dressed. I will just wait outside the curtain,” Athelfd said, as she regained her regal poise.Both Sapphire, and Wulfwynn nodded. The princess pulled up her mask, she hid under her dark green cloak. Athelfd slipped past the curtain giving the two other girls privacy.

  “You just had to work her up. You know she won’t forgive nor forget your insults easily,” Wulfwynn said quietly with a sigh.“I have dealt with worse,” Sapphire let out a sigh. Sapphire handed Wulfwynn her pants. Her breath hitched as she drank in the sight of the human’s perky breasts and rge erect nipples tightly surrounded by dark areo. The wolf-kin froze unconscious of the drool slipping out of her open mouth. Wulfwynn’s small breasts bounced as she pulled her pants up. Sapphire was enthralled by their bouncing. Her rod quickly stiffened.“I know my breasts are great, but can I have my shirt please?” Wulfwynn asked while waving one of her hands in front of Sapphire’s face.The wolf-kin blinked, getting a hold of herself. She slurped up her drool, swallowing it. She must think I’m a hopeless pervert! Sapphire thought dismayed.

  Wulfwynn suddenly straddled Sapphire’s p. She grabbed her by the hair at the nape of the neck, and pulled the wolf-kin into a deep kiss. Sapphire let out a surprised moan into Wulfwynn’s mouth. She rested her hands on the cute artificer’s hips, grinding her into her own hardness. Wulfwynn let out a cute moan into Sapphire's mouth, egging on the wolf-kin. Sapphire nibbled on Wulfwynn's lips lustfully. "Not here," She whispered, as she grabbed her shirt, and pulled away.

  “I thought you weren’t ready for anything like this yet,” Sapphire stated.“Before the ritual I wasn’t, but now I feel like a new person. I feel like I can finally live like the gods have intended!” Wulfwynn decred.She pulled her shirt over her head, hiding her delectable breasts from Sapphire’s gaze, “let’s just live moment by moment.”Wulfwynn looked like she could start crying at any moment.“I had almost forgotten how it felt to be comfortable with my body,” Wulfwynn said as the tears leaked out of her eyes.“I went through the same thing,” Sapphire said, as she wiped away Wulfwynn’s tears with her hands.

  Athelfd came back into the room. She immediately pulled her older sister into a tight embrace, “I love you, I will always look out for you.”Wulfwynn rested her head on her little sister’s shoulder.

  “See her safely back to the academy,” The princess ordered.Athelfd quickly slipped out of the room, briskly walking away. Sapphire gently grabbed Wulfwynn’s still calloused hand. She led her comrade out of the temple. They looked up at the stars together. “The night sky reminds me of you,” Wulfwynn said. “I find the stars confusing to look at. It’s like trying to read a nguage for the first time,” Sapphire responded.

  “You have only been reading for a couple of years. How come you can read imperial?” Wulfwynn asked. “I learn incredibly quickly. I must have got that from my father. Also I found some books written in both northern and imperial. I was able to figure out the imperial nguage from extensive study of those books. An anonymous imperial philosopher posited that the Moon God is a dark alf and not a high alf as is commonly believed,” Sapphire responded.“That makes sense. I find it interesting that a lot of imperial schors believed in not putting their names on their works, something about letting their work stand on its own merit. Some even went as far as to obfuscate their writing style, and all using the same letter press typesets, so that people couldn’t figure them out,”

  “Maybe you could build your own letterpress, and use runes to automate it,” Sapphire suggested, as they approached the academy.“I wouldn’t know where to start, especially since letter presses never made it this far north. Northern schors are all proud of their work; It’s cowardice to hide behind anonymity,” Wulfwynn proudly decred.

  _ _ _

  Nova pov,

  Sapphire was taking forever to return. Night had already fallen. “I’m going to get Sapphire,” Beornia woke Nova, as she got up.“It’s dark already. She probably lost track of time,” Nova replied.The succubus stretched then got off her slime self. She put on her robes, and hid under a cloak.“You stay here,” Beornia ordered. Nova looked at the ground and pouted. Her padin lifted up her chin, and gave her a chaste kiss. “Don’t worry I will be back with Sapphire in no time,” Beornia reassured.Nova gave her girlfriend a quick hug. The other woman lit a mp using writing magic. Nova watched her leave while she sat back down on her slime self.Soon fast heavy footfalls reverberated from the hallway. Beornia opened the door breathing heavily. “The workshop is empty, and dark!” Beornia decred, as she caught her breath.