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"Fenrys is my royal concubine," Khan replied, his smile widened. "Just like your mother was to the Pharaoh. She is excellent company."
Hasina's pink mouth lifted in a snarl, but she quickly smoothed it away. "I'm happy for you, brother. Everyone is pleased to see you actually acting like a prince for once. Enjoy yourself. The wine from the coastal vineyards is excellent."
Hasina turned and walked away from them. She sat on a silk couch on the other side of the room, and a beautiful man and a woman appeared to drape around her. The man lit an ornate pile and passed it to Hasina while the woman whispered and kissed her ear.
"So Hasina is always like that," Fen said and blushed when she realized she had said it aloud. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. She's insufferable," Khan replied.
They sat down on the edge of the room, away from the others, so they could speak together without being overheard. Khan sprawled out on the long couch and sat her down beside him. It was intimate in a way that had heat curling in Fen's stomach again. He really was a beautiful man, and with the way eyes followed him, she wasn't the only one that thought so.
"Was there ever a time when you got along with your sister?" Fen asked.
"Unfortunately not. We were raised completely separately. She in Ankhara and I in Atrahasis. By the time I returned, we were both adults and so very different. She loves all of this…" Khan gestured at the people drinking, dancing, and kissing. "Revelry. I find it tedious. It's a way for all the snakes to bite at each other with pretty smiles. I don't think anyone here is really enjoying it."
Fen pointed to two people fucking in the shadows. "I think they are."
Khan looked over and coughed, choking on the wine he had been drinking. "Gods, get a room, you deviants."
Fen laughed at the color flashing along his cheekbones. "They were probably as bored as we are."
"Speaking of which, didn't you promise to tell me a story?" Khan replied, making himself more comfortable amongst the cushions. He stretched one arm behind his head, the V of his shirt opening a little further to reveal a scattering of dark hair over his chest.
Fen quickly looked away and grabbed her wine. It was sweet and dark, tasting of fruits she couldn't name. She was momentarily saved by two nobles coming to compliment Khan on finally choosing a royal concubine.
They studied Fen like she was a prized horse and talked about the strange paleness of her skin and hair like she was deaf. She bit the inside of her cheek the whole time, fighting the urge to throw wine in their faces when they asked him how good she was in bed.
Khan was polite, his social mask fitting into place as he dodged most of their invasive questions. It was eerie to watch because he seemed like a total stranger compared to the person she knew. Fen suddenly realized what Kemes had meant when she had told her that she was now in Khan's inner circle, whether she liked it or not.
"Fen, I beg you, tell me a story or put me out of my misery," Khan said when they were alone once more.
Fen adjusted herself, leaning slightly against his warm side as the wine made her bolder.
"Once, and for reasons I won't recount here, the Aesir gods of Asgard killed a giant called Þjazi. His daughter, the goddess of winter, was named Skaði. She heard about the killing and was so angry she traveled to Asgard, home of the gods, to demand compensation. To appease her wrath, the gods asked her what she wanted," Fen began, her fingers tracing over the soft fabric of his shirt. Khan didn't seem to mind or notice. "She demanded a husband from amongst the beautiful Aesir. They agreed, but only if she chose one judged by their feet."
Khan barked out a laugh, making people turn and look at him in surprise. "No, no, not a foot kink."
"Indeed," Fen replied with a grin. "Skaði was very taken with a pair of excellent feet and declared that Baldr, the handsome son of Odin, would make a fine husband. Unfortunately, the beautiful feet didn't belong to Baldr at all, but Njörðr, god of the sea."
"Skaði accepted the god as a husband but demanded the second half of her compensation."
Khan's finger stroked idly down Fen's arm. "Let me guess, she wanted a pretty wife too?"
"She had Njörðr's pretty feet to comfort her. She had no need of a wife. No, she wanted something far harder to achieve. She demanded that the gods make her laugh at her wedding feast, a task she thought impossible to accomplish." Fen leaned further into him with a smile. "Enter Loki, the trickster god of magic, mischief, and utter bullshit."
"Loki as in your supposed father?" Khan asked.
"One and the same. Though after this event, I'd be impressed if the God of mischief could make any more children," Fen said mischievously. "Loki knew that Skaði would love the humiliation of the Aesir most of all, so he brought a nanny goat into the feast hall…and tied his testicles to its beard."
Khan slapped a hand over his face, fighting down his laughter. "He didn't? Really? Gods, Kashmet would love this story."
"It's true. Loki tied his balls to a goat, and the more the goat pulled, the more Loki yelped. And Skaði began to smile, and then to laugh until tears rolled down her cheeks, and she almost slid off her chair."
Khan couldn't hold in his own laughter. It was loud and infectious, but most glorious of all, it was disruptive. Voices hushed around them, the musicians quieting their sounds, and all eyes finding them. Khan's laugh was pure magic in the air, and Fen suddenly wanted to kiss that sweet sound straight out of his mouth.
"I don't know whether to be sad for Loki or not," he said, finally getting his breath back. "Is he an idiot or a genius?"
"The eternal question," Fen replied, laughing with him. "As a final gift to Skaði, Odin took her father's eyes and made them stars in the sky. "
