"But none of you had such complaints before. I thought you were happy with everything..."
"Well, don't compare, a vamp's thirst cannot be quenched this way. I can now feel the difference and it's amazing! I miss kissing Zarian princesses."
"You should have told me about your problems earlier, and not attacked a guest who was tired of the harassment of Xantarian aristocrats. She was exhausted by the attention and wanted a break from them, but I was not going to demand affection from her. And you don't assume I pleasure myself with someone every night. I'm not at all who you think I am."
Zarmina, hiding between the bush and Lariel, discovered that they were surrounded by the rest of the syrinxes.
One of them began to voice his complaints:
"Then solve our problems, Lar! Give us back our fairies Selestra and Farenia. They belong to us by right, we warmed them up in our society and taught them magic with the hope that they will bestow their love on us, but for some reason they are not next to us. Where did the gorgeous Farenia go? Why on earth does she live on Xantari? If she was exchanged for Luanlia, then why is the new girl ignoring us? Only Avilena, out of old friendship, comes to see us, and then very rarely. You move around the worlds with such ease and drag princesses back and forth, which means you can share the joys of your life with us. If you don't change the situation, we'll ask Rohen."
Lariel stood in a gloomy state, looking around at those around him.
"The problem is that not all princesses are polyamorous and they are energetically depleted. I jump between planets to help them, like a healer, and not for love pleasures, as you think. Please do not forget that I tamed an entire folk, whose women gave birth to many girls - your future wives, they will withstand your radiation. It remains to wait a little so that you have a happy life. It is extremely unpleasant for me to hear complaints from my friends. Good night!"
Lariel grabbed Zarmina and jumped with her to his room, to the palace of Ornalion.
"Oh, you got it from your cousins!" The princess complained and lay down on the bed. "They've said so much about you, it's even somehow inconvenient."
"They weren't like this before," Lariel said sadly, wearily sinking into a chair. - "Actually they recently became vamps, and they're going crazy. Ordinary women are not enough for them. It's my fault that I brought you to this party."
"I was so scared of this Imarinis," she undressed under the covers, preparing for bed.
"Although he only needed a kiss, for me it's nothing. Actually, from my youth I was accustomed to violence. Syrinxes do this to me often. I had barely turned seventeen when they handed me the first man - the son of the Ruler, who did not stand on ceremony with me. The chosen ones, angry after battles in competitions, often attacked me in a love frenzy. Of course, after that I drove them away and avoided communication under various pretexts. And then the child was born and goodbye forever, out of sight."
The princess yawning quickly fell asleep, not noticing that Lariel lay down on the bed next to her in deep thought.
At dawn, Zarmina found the King sleeping next to him in his clothes and remembered that nothing had happened between them. She fell in love with him, looking at his bright appearance, and, filled with tender feelings for him, started to slowly stroke his shoulders and back in the same way as she caressed her beloved Gedeon in the morning.
Lariel woke up and, squinting, turned to Zarmina, smiling slightly.
"I'm sorry I fell asleep here, got lost in thought and quietly passed out. You're in a good mood, but I was worried about yesterday's incident."
He stood up and sat on the bed, rubbing his eyes.
"Are you getting ready to leave?" Zarmina raised her eyebrows.
"Yes, I won't bother you, sleep some more, gain strength."
"I've already slept, but you don't understand hints," she threw an offended glance at Lariel.
"Aren't you tired of men?" He looked intently into her eyes, moving closer to her. "You told me that you are surrounded only by rapists, and yesterday you survived an attack. Forgive my friends for that reaction, they have a hard time controlling themselves."
"You are different from everyone else: sensitive, kind and very attractive."
"Oh, you don't know anything about me! I was just like them. My first girl hated me. Then I became a vampire and didn't really understand what was happening to me, why my eyes suddenly began to sparkle and my soul was breaking out, as a result, I hastily entered into a relationship with this girl and really regretted it. For a long time she could not forgive me for violence against her. In our society, where there were no women at all, no one knew how to behave correctly when meeting the female gender for the first time. My father was alive then and did not give any advice on how to deal with passions."
"How come there were no women?" Zarmina's eyes widened. "I saw them yesterday."
"People hid them from us for centuries, knowing about our destructive power on the human body, they came up with terrible legends and intimidated women so that they would not run away from the settlements, locking them up. The truce happened a couple of years ago, and the girls themselves came to Azaren for beautiful love. On Xantari, it was possible for a long time to hide the fact that syrinxes are dangerous to human health, and at the expense of mortal girls who were captured, millions of half-breeds were born, exiled to the heat of war."
"This part of their existence is carried away separately from the princesses. I was raised as an endlessly life-giving mother who could not love either her children or their fathers. They called me icy and took away the babies every year. My heart was immediately cold, and there was nothing surprising about that. The aristocrats themselves were insensitive to us, and now everyone suddenly remembered love after the arrival of Rohen."
Zarmina touched the chest of Lariel, who was lying next to her.
"You are very pleasant to me, as is your son."