C&C part 36 in prereads - teaser available · 3:56pm May 22nd, 2023
There’s good news and bad news. The good news is you’re going to be getting another 12k word entry soon. The bad news is I elected to break it up again, to get it out before I go on vacation. So there will be one final trailing part to this now not-so-mini story arc, whose contents will be obvious once you read the end of the new chapter.
As promised, that new chapter will be very M-rated, meaning that the T-rated version of it will probably end up being somewhat over half its length. I will be releasing them together so both clop and non-clop readers can have what they want. As for what to expect, get ready for one or two surprises that I didn’t originally plan on, but the story told me that they were needed.
Lest anybody’s worried about this being a total sex-fest (or hoping for it), it’s not. That comes next chapter. 
There’s still plenty of adult content in this one, but around it, you’ll get to see the reaction of all to learning in-depth about human firearms and watch as the Tribune finally oversteps and exhausts the patience of Queen Lepidoptes. That will be accompanied by learning more about the relationship the two shared previously.
For those who would like a sneak preview, have a small teaser:
For Gilda, the memory replay passed as if she was a spectator in her own body, not just seeing but experiencing the events unfold for the second time through all her senses.
But as the Queen warned, she was frustratingly unable to affect them even when she knew she was about to make a mistake. Or answer the thoughts and emotions she sensed being thrown her way by the Tribune and others, as her mind was almost—but not quite—completely given over to the replay.
With the small sliver of outside awareness she retained, she dimly realized that was why the Tribune, Giraldi and Optio Virgo had not answered any mental commentary on their own replays, as they simply could not, being mentally muted while their memories unfolded.
But even though all three—and the Queen herself—were in Gilda’s head with her, her impressions of them remained dim and distant as she found herself back outside Arnau, reading for departure to Catlais just as Giraldi’s playback had begun. But in contrast to his starting by chatting with Raleigh, her replay began slightly before that with her meeting the arriving Paladins, who were none too pleased to be there.
She responded to their insults by giving as good as she got, receiving a strong sense of approval from Giraldi and a more grudging one from the Tribune to see her deal with their insubordination and ugly attitudes towards her relationship with Marco. After all that had happened in the past day, she’d almost forgotten how she repaid their slander in kind, implying their ranking Paladin—who she did not then know was a Raven Decurion named Ebon Umbreon—spent the bulk of his diplomatic sentry duties servicing Saddle Arabian spears.
I will grant that you have a sharp wit, and that you guard your human mate’s honor like a griffon would, Behertz, Cipio said to her with his thoughts at one point, but unable to reply, she hoped she would remember the remark enough to thank him later. Or insult him when he saw Tara approach through Gilda’s eyes and read her interest in the human female, wondering mentally just why such soft creatures would be of any interest to a griffon.
That earned an indignant response from Giraldi and sharp rebuke from Queen Lepidoptes, who headed off an argument by telling him to simply watch and listen if he wished to know. Unless I miss my guess, you will learn soon enough, the Queen told him, to which she felt the Tribune make a mental face and Optio Virgo trying hard to mask her hope.
The Tribune also wasn’t entirely pleased with the casualness and informality he sensed from the human soldiers, wondering why they couldn’t seem to get proper military address right as they kept calling Gilda “ma’am.”
You should have come down hard on them early and often, Behertz, he told her, to which Giraldi pointed out that would be counterproductive, given the Marines were there to assist her in having time with Marco behind the back of the human Ambassador and his aide.
She needed their cooperation, for which it would be unwise to antagonize them, he reminded the Tribune, who was unimpressed.
Be that as it may, they need to show proper respect to your rank and station. And regardless of the race of your mate, I do NOT approve of you using your duties and diplomatic command chain as a cover for some crow-damned tryst, Behertz!
But once again, Giraldi answered with far more patience and respect than Gilda would have granted him. One of the first lessons I learned from you as a young Decanus on the Ibexian border was that respect is not simply gained through rank, Tribune. It is gained through word and deed, he recalled in what Gilda knew was likely an attempt at placation by appealing to the Tribune’s pride.
As you can clearly see, their military culture is somewhat more informal than our own, and having been among them for many weeks, the Centurion was fully aware of that. She needed them willing to help her and thus, treating them like fresh-from-the-Gauntlet fledgelings would be ill-advised, he reminded his fellow tiercel again before his mental tone turned very dry.
And with all due respect, sir, if you find this affair questionable, then I suggest you take it up with now-Legate Narada in Arnau. It may interest you to know that she set all this up as a reward for services the Centurion rendered to the Kingdom, including the veritable dragon hoard of information she gained on humanity along with myself and Decurion Gletscher...
I’ll aim for a Friday evening launch at this point, or earlier if prereads come in quickly enough. It pretty much needs to be that since my current schedule has me taking a weekend road trip in advance of flying out to Vegas.
As for what I’m going to do after this, I’m not sure. I still think I owe readers the final and very adult piece of this story arc, but I really do need to step away from C&C for a bit. Midnight Rising and Eros also demand my attention. I guess we’ll see how I feel coming out of vacation and what I feel like working on next.
And yes, I promised some interested readers more work on my anthro novel. But I need to set aside a couple months for that, and it feels right now that my priority should be on finishing off more of my existing stories. Specifically, my long-running Unleash the Magic series in time for Halloween, which will require a strong push.
I hope for more of Unleash the Magic myself. I hope you'll be able to manage that before summer but at this pint nobody knows how long it will take.
The next one will be fun. The males learn to be on the females end, more so than the Eagleas did from being a Tiercel.
Especially the Aid to Cipio will experience the trill of battle and of a beloved mate!
Will someone notice Gletscher psy abilities?
Wonder how Cipio will react to the Tactics employed by Gilda and her rescue action towards the trapped Griffon survivers.
Her fast thinking should impress Cipio, that girl can think on her talons if needed.
Also Cipio and the aid will learn how bloody efficient the Zapp Apple boosted fertility Cider still is.
Especially how it boosted her combat and healing efficiency.
The cider rage not counting...
Hm... Maybe Giraldi and Cipio learn a new trick or two for pleasuring their mates. It's one thing to observe them enjoying themself, than to experience certain acts
👍
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I appreciate the interest, believe me. I will do my best to deliver.
Anthro novel?
Consider me interested
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Perhaps. But the better question is, how will he take it?
I’ll just say it’s not a question of if, but when. And where exactly they’re coming from.
He already saw most of it through Giraldi’s eyes and was at most grudgingly impressed—when he wasn’t picking out the errors in her actions, that was. But then again, Giraldi didn’t see everything...
She can indeed, and will need to do so again before too long. But Cipio is trying a bit too hard not to be impressed right now. Even when he clearly is.
Only if he gets that far, considering he might hit an early roadblock to proceeding further...
Well, I don’t think it’s spoiling much to say that Giraldi would be probably be a lot more open to those lessons to start than Cipio! Our fine Tribune is probably going to have a bit more issue with it.
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Cool! It would be the sequel to this: https://www.amazon.com/Dominion-Academy-Book-1-Orientation-ebook/dp/B00LDIV8QI/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8
I published that nearly ten years ago. It honestly needs a new editing pass, but I wasn’t planning to do it until the second book was more or less ready. If you like it, I’m also in need of prereaders on the sequel if you’re interested.
Damn now friday can't come fast enough, even If it's my vacation!
And there is going a lot of commentary on gildas memories i assume...
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Me too, as this coming weekend begins my vacation! Vegas, here I come...
You could say that.
And poor Queen Lepidoptes is going to be caught in the crossfire.
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I will definitely check it out
As for prereading...English is not my first language so I was always struggling with grammar. I am not able to do a consistent job on this front, sorry.
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That’s not an issue. I need folks willing to read and judge it for content as much or more than grammar, which I can do myself with the help of outside tools. It would also help if I could have non-English readers preread so I know if there are things that are confusing to non-Americans. Therefore, the offer remains open if you want to take it.
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I'll think about it :-)
thanks for offer in any case