As Gallus watched, Queen Giselle settled herself into a plush lounge chair in the Royal Box above the coliseum. He couldn’t see anything of the coliseum floor because of the thick velvet drapes that stretched across what he knew was a large balcony. There wasn’t much in the room save for a few other lounge chairs, a bowl of fruit and nuts and a couple lampstands.

Smolder didn’t seem impressed. Gallus knew better.

“Please, my friends, take a seat.”

Both of them did as instructed. It took effort for Gallus not to wrap his tail around a chair leg from nerves.

Giselle steepled her claws together as she considered Gallus and Smolder. It was just the three of them. The griffon queen still didn’t have a single guard, at least not one they could see. The big one had stayed outside the door.

If the rumors were true, that was because she simply didn’t need guards.

Time slowly ticked by with Smolder and Gallus sitting before the queen. Every second he spent under that gaze, Gallus’s feathers itched a little bit more. He shifted in his seat, his wings twitching despite himself.

Smolder just sat there with a smug little smile. That irked him nearly as much.

“If I may ask, Your Majesty…” Gallus said slowly, trying not to totally lose it under that piercing stare. “I’m… well, I’m kinda curious what this is all about.”

Giselle leaned forward and smiled at him as if she were awaiting that very question and he had won a prize for waiting this long to ask it. “Did you know, Gallus, that in this very coliseum, I became a matriarch of the House of the Golden Branch?”

Gallus’s beak dropped open in shock. The most powerful griffon in the world… she’d been a Featherheart?

“I can see from your expression that this surprises you,” Giselle continued, her smile turning into a grin. “It’s not exactly common knowledge.”

“If… I may ask…” Gallus began, unable to stop himself from asking the inevitable—if not exactly tactful—question.

“Green,” Giselle said, without the question ever actually being voiced. Her eyes danced. “In the ninth round.”

“The ninth? Why?” Gallus’s eyes bulged while he fought to keep his wings from flaring in shock. “You could have become a Gold, become—”

“I know what—and who—I would have become,” Giselle interrupted smoothly as she leaned forward again, her claws interlaced. “I have yet to live a day where I regret my decision. After all, look at my station now.”

Gallus sucked in a breath, trying to control his wings—and other parts of his body. He didn’t dare to show such things in front of the Queen of the Griffons. But he had to funnel that energy somewhere. It went into his voice.

“Why did you ask me here?” he demanded.

“You already know the answer to that question,” Giselle said with a wave of her claw and a shrug of her elegant shoulders. “The moment I told you I was a Green Featherheart, instead of a Red.”

“You can’t be serious,” Gallus said flatly, snapping his wings against his back. “I’m not that kind of griffon.”

“I didn’t think I was either at the time,” Giselle replied, looking around at the Royal Box. “But being in this place during this time has a way of… opening your eyes. It gives you a wider perspective on who you are. And we all know nearly every male griffon has that little secret. I know. I was one.”

“I’m not!” Gallus spat, trembling with the effort to hide the warmth boiling in his core. “Never been interested. Not even once!”

She raised an eyebrow at him, the mirth in her eyes driving him more than a little crazy. He could even feel Smolder staring at him.

“I see.” Giselle laughed softly to herself. “In that case, you should know that my sponsorship of you in the Featherheart Championship is valid no matter if you choose the Green, end up Red or rise to Gold.”

“Really?” Gallus couldn’t keep the note of desperation out of his voice. “I’d… I’d really have a…”

Giselle nodded. Then, she slid out of her chair and to her paws. She took a few steps forward, then knelt on one knee, raising Gallus’s chin. Before he could properly react, he was looking her square in the eye.

“You would have what anygriff in your situation would crave, but by becoming a Green, you could have so much more, Gallus. It’s an experience beyond compare. And there is much at stake. I am not going to stoop to offer you wealth, power and more. I do not think you will respond to such things. But you will help your people. But only if you ignore fools like former Grand Admiral Gass. The Patriarchs are a dying breed, and if our race is to survive, they must be allowed to die. Having you here and now… it could change many things for many griffons.”

“And… and if I decline the whole thing?” he whispered, barely able to say the words. “What if I don’t want to compete?”

“You came all the way here,” she pointed out, mischief in her eyes once more. “That being said, if you walk away, I’m still offering membership in my House. Though I confess, having part of the future Elements of Harmony as a member of the House of the Golden Branch would be a massive boon for us. I’m a Queen. I can’t afford to be entirely altruistic.”

Smolder let out a snort. Giselle gave her a glance and smirked, then turned back to Gallus.

“Either way… I think we both know you won’t be doing that.”

He swallowed hard as she patted his cheek, though he caught her eyes flickering downward and her beak curling into an even wider smile. Then, she stood up and smiled at the two of them as the quintessential diplomat.

“For the time being, the Royal Box is yours. You will not be disturbed. Take some time, think, converse with your friend, anything that will help you relax. Consider what I’m offering by becoming a Green Featherheart. Consider why you flew here by the traditional route instead of simply taking a train. I suspect it wasn’t real until now. I shall await you in the Hall of Champions when you’ve finished your deliberations.”

With that, she gave each of them a little bow and headed for the door.

Gallus couldn’t believe this was happening, but he still managed to mumble a thank you. She paused, turned to nod at him, then vanished through the door. It closed with a soft click.

“Okay, what was that about?” Smolder immediately demanded. “Were you trying to talk in some sort of weird griffon code?”

Gallus couldn’t answer. He was too busy unzipping his pants. He faced away from her, but he knew that wouldn’t do any good at all. She knew that sound all too well.

“Hey, what’s the…” she trailed off as she walked around to see him almost frantically jerking off.

Gallus’s cheeks were scarlet as he looked up at his gorgeous dragon friend. And even with her watching here and now, he couldn’t bring himself to stop.

She watched him for a moment before saying in a quiet voice, “I’ve… never seen you so big.”

“Beneath the coliseum is… the Idol of Aventa…” he whispered as he frantically tried to reach his climax. “It… does things to griffons and….”

Before he could react, Smolder dropped to her knees and carefully pulled his claws away. She leaned down, then used that talented dragon tongue to caress his head, eliciting a soft sigh from him. Then she straightened and smiled as both of her hands wrapped around his cock.

“Do you remember a year and a half ago when I—”

“You wouldn’t!” Gallus hissed—though even he could hear the pleading in his own voice. “You can’t!”

“You tell me what’s going on, you get to cum,” Smolder singsonged.

“No, I…”

She slowly ran her own claws over the soft surface of his dick. He shuddered, his eyes rolling into the back of his head.

“Griffons have an underpopulation problem!” Gallus cried as Smolder’s thumb began to work right under his head. “Too many males are born and too few females!”

“So?” Smolder asked, her lower hand gently stroking up and down. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“The Feather… Featherheart Championship is about… evening that. Everyone starts as an Orange. The male who takes Gold becomes the new Alpha griffon. The best house, their choice of mates, a magical blessing to make them like… the perfect griffon.”

“What, you’re not that already?” she cooed as her hands sped up.

“More… more so…” Gallus mumbled, unable to rise to the bait.

He hated how Smolder had discovered she could ‘interrogate’ him with a handjob. Well, ‘hated’ might be too strong of a word. After all, it was how Smolder joined their little student ‘poly-party,’ so not a total loss.

“Okay, that’s the males, but you said the females were the real problem…” She leaned down and breathed gently on the sensitive skin of his cock, making him shudder.

“Dammit, Smolder!” Gallus cried, clutching the armrests and trying not to bed. “That… that Idol. The Idol of Aventa! It… can change any male into a female!”

“And what about these Red Featherhearts?”

“The… we had two idols!” Gallus cried as his wings burst from his back. It was hard to teach a history lesson during a handjob! “The Idol of Boreas was lost… can’t remember what that did, but we still have the… Idol of Aventa. The Reds… well, it’s said they get introduced to do the Idol and…”

He shrugged, hoping it would be enough.

“You didn’t answer my question…” Smolder cooed as she began to loosen her grip. “Do you want this or not?”

“No! I mean… I mean yes!” Gallus knew Smolder would actually leave him right on the edge if he didn’t cave. “Red Featherhearts are the ones that lose four bouts! They… they…”

Smolder did… something with her claws, tweaking him in just the right way to make it impossible for him to cum while making his whole body shake. Ocellus had taught her the trick. One of these days he needed to find a way to get back at her.

“The Idol is used to reverse their gender so they can bear children! It usually makes them very eager to do just that!” Gallus nearly shouted. “Now, come on, let me… let me….”

“Not yet,” Smolder giggled. “What’s a Green?”

“I… I…” Gallus felt bits of his brain short-circuiting. “Reds are those who lose in honorable bouts, Greens willingly change on their own! During the… the… Championship, it's said anyone who wants to become a Green is given words of power by the Idol of Aventa… then they only have to say them and they’ll transform right then and there!”

As quick as a snake, Smolder wrapped her draconic lips around his trembling cock and then released the cock-ring-like hold she’d put on him. Instantly, Gallus let out a keening cry as he erupted into her mouth. Her tongue greeted his seed eagerly, tasting him and swallowing him for what felt like hours. In fact, so much time passed that time itself stopped having any meaning. He babbled incoherently as it felt like his whole brain came with him.

The next thing he knew, he was lying on the floor, a wing wrapped around a snoozing Smolder. They were both stark naked, though he had no memory of removing any clothes. Or moving out of the seat. He wondered just what had happened when the chamber door opened.

Gallus immediately yelped despite himself, yanking himself out from underneath Smolder and sending her rolling across the floor while he tried to cover up. He barely succeeded, because he’d already been admiring Smolder’s curves. That and the inherent fertility magic of the coliseum had already made him hard.

Once again, he found himself under the gaze of the incredibly well-built griffon he’d seen when he’d first arrived in Griffonstone. However, this time, he took in the large seal on the golden sash he wore over his chest. Specifically, the emblem of the branching tree hammered into the copper.

“Mister Gallus?” the griffon said, looking at them both without batting an eye at their current state. “Miss Smolder?”

“Uh… y-yes?” Gallus squeaked, then forced himself to repeat the words in a louder voice. “Yes?”

“I am Sky Captain Griswald, head of Her Majesty’s Guard.” He bowed to them both. “If you would get dressed, I would be happy to take you to your accommodations for this evening.”

“Is… is it here on the grounds?” Gallus asked, hoping beyond hope that he’d be able to get some sleep.

“Yes, Mister Gallus,” Griswald replied, still as strong and stern. “You’ll be staying in the Coliseum Aerie, usually reserved for the royal family. Queen Giselle wanted you to have the very best. I’ll be waiting outside for you to become properly attired.”

Then he marched out of the room, the perfect figure of a griffon soldier.

“Wow, and here I thought you were good looking,” Smolder laughed. “That one’s just outright hot.”

“That one probably was on the front lines last time the griffons and dragons fought,” Gallus pointed out as he scrambled for his boxers. “So you’re probably not his type. More importantly, why are we naked? I remember you giving me a handjob that turned into a blowjob!”

Smolder grinned wickedly. “Well, a lady has to get some cuddle satisfaction somehow, especially when her lover passed out.”

“I only passed out because you interrogated me!” he snapped as he fell over trying to put on his pants. “So you basically stripped us both, then curled up next to me using my wing as a blanket?”

Smolder threw on her top and buttoned it up quickly. “Yeah, that’s about it.”

“You’re impossible,” Gallus snapped as he pulled on his shirt and stomped toward the door.

“Oh, by the way…” Smolder said from behind him. “You weren’t hoping to have a place somewhere off-site so the effects of the coliseum and your precious Idol of Aventa wouldn’t throw you off tomorrow, where you?”

Gallus tried not to grind his beak. “Maybe.”

“Oh well, looks like you’ll be banging me most of the night,” Smolder cackled. “How miserable for you.”

Gallus slapped his face with his claw and went to meet Griswald. Maybe he could find better arrangements so he could actually compete with a clear head tomorrow. Or at the very least, some actual sleep.

Yeah, not likely.

Poor Gallus. Has to deal with the attention of so many horny females of so many species. I mean, poor guy~!

~<3