in a glossy blue-black waterfall. If Astar was their sun and Rhyian the dark star, Zeph was the beauty of the four girls, with her mother’s exotic Dasnarian bone structure and her father’s Tala coloring—and his flirtatious nature. She licked her perfect lips again as Astar and Stella escorted Rhyian off somewhere. Astar wore powder blue with gold trim, and even Lena had to admit he cut a fine and truly princely figure.
“Look at that ass,” Zeph mused, nearly salivating. “Makes your mouth water. Do you think he’s still a virgin?”
Gendra had a hand clapped over her eyes. “Noooo… Don’t say things like that.”
“Don’t be silly,” Zeph scoffed. “Astar isn’t our cousin. We can lust.”
Gendra dropped her hand, her eyes fixed on the trio as they disappeared from view. Lena wasn’t sure if Gendra’s longing gaze lingered on Astar or Rhyian. Or Stella, for that matter. Unlike the rest of them, Gendra hadn’t dabbled in romance much, keeping to herself, spending much of her time in one animal form or another. Always practicing her skills. Of course, Lena wasn’t much better. Since Rhyian, she’d buried herself in her work—and she was happier for it.
“Astar is just honorable enough to be a virgin,” Lena said. “He probably has some idea of saving himself for whichever princess they marry him off to.”
“Yes,” Gendra agreed vehemently, “which is why you should not mess with his head, Zeph.”
“His head isn’t the part I want to mess with,” Zeph purred.
“Zephyr!” Lena and Gendra exclaimed in one voice.
“What?” She pouted, managing to look utterly gorgeous doing it. “His being so noble and honorable makes me want to seduce him just that much more.” She narrowed her sapphire eyes in the direction he’d gone. “He’s a big boy now, and I think I’m just the girl to drag him to the dark side.”
Lena closed her eyes in dread. “We have to keep them apart,” she said to Gendra.
“Absolutely. For the sake of the Thirteen Kingdoms,” Gendra agreed.
Zeph glared at them. “Why, you traitors? I thought you loved me and wanted me to be happy.”
“We do,” Lena said.
“But we also love Astar and want him to be happy,” Gendra added.
“I could make him happy,” Zeph said, truly sulking now. “That’s entirely the point of seducing him.”
“Astar is to be high king,” Lena explained patiently, “which means a marriage of state for him someday.”
“I don’t want to marry him,” Zeph replied in a petulant tone. Then she grinned wickedly. “Just deflower, despoil, and thoroughly debauch him.”
“Are there any ‘de’s’ left after that?” Gendra wondered.
“I’m just saying,” Zeph continued, fully warmed to her subject, “if our darling Willy has to be saddled with some ice-hearted, baby-making mossback princess someday, I can at least tutor him in all the delightful perversions he’ll be missing. That’s just being a good friend,” she added loftily, not fooling anyone.
“Odds are his future queen will be Dasnarian,” Lena pointed out, “which means she could be better tutored in the sensual arts than you are.”
Zeph gave her an arch look. “My mother is a Dasnarian princess, don’t forget, and—”
Lena and Gendra groaned. “How could we forget?” Lena asked.
“You remind us daily,” Gendra agreed.
“—and,” Zeph plowed on, “she taught me as she was taught.” She smiled smugly. “Plus, I’ve been practicing. Did I tell you about the two—”
Gendra held up her hands in surrender, stepping away from them. “I’m crying uncle on this conversation.”
Lena had to agree. Combining her mother’s sensual Dasnarian education with her father’s Tala flirtatiousness had been like putting oil on a fire in producing Zeph. She’d already cut a swath through Annfwn, and Lena was only thankful that Zeph hadn’t seduced Rhyian. So far as she knew, anyway. If Zeph had, she wouldn’t want to hurt Lena by saying so and, of course, Rhyian didn’t speak to her at all.
“Naughty Zeph. What did you say to scare our sweet Gendra?” an arch voice inquired.
All three young women spun and squealed, launching themselves into Jak’s arms. Laughing, he managed to embrace them all at once, kissing their cheeks and foreheads. Zeph managed to plant an enthusiastic kiss on Jak’s mouth, but he shook a finger at her. “I’m wise to your ways, shapeshifter. You won’t be witching me.”
Zeph gave him a saucy smile, swishing her scarlet gown, which glittered with crystal beads. “But you dressed to match me.”
Jak threw back his head and laughed, then struck a pose. “You like?”
“I didn’t know this was supposed to be a costume party,” Lena remarked, eyeing the