Irinel began to smile and coquettishly smoothing his hair, unhooking from Gedeon.
"Rin, what should we do with you? You're also seducing my chosen one, what kind of friend are you after that," Zarmina grumbled, clasped her hands and went into another room.
Tarmio laughed quietly and whispered under the musician's gaze:
"Finally, she was at least a little jealous of me."
Irinel turned away from him with a puzzled face and addressed the prisoner:
"I'll tell Avilena about your desire to talk to her as soon as I see her. Sorry for the fountain of my emotions, I shouldn't have pinned my problems on you and hoped for reciprocity. If anything, ask for help, you have not yet settled into our society."
Gedeon noticed that Tarmio carefully crept up to the musician from behind, hugged him, gently pressing him, languidly closing the eyes. A joyful smile played on Irinel's lips, and he turned to his new admirer with timid kisses.
The astonished prince, with a distorted face, abruptly rose from the sofa and jumped out of the living room. He saw Zarmina crying at the bedroom window.
"This always happens," she wiped her bitter tears with her palms. "The chosen one and the friend start dating, and I remain on the sidelines. I've already seen so much over the centuries of my life. That's why I don't take a lover, another man will take him away anyway. Are they already doing this?"
"Yes, unfortunately," Gedeon confirmed sadly, hugging her shoulders. "Don't be so upset! I see no reason for tears. They cannot restrain their passions, what can you do?"
"Why did you refuse Irinel's services?"
"Weird question!" Gedeon grinned. "Why do I need such a relationship? When he hugged me, I didn't feel anything. He's a man, that's how I perceive him. It's Tarmio who sees him as a girl, but I don't. To me, he's still a guy who loves a big hug. I'm not so desperately addicted to carnal pleasures that I don't know what to do with him."
Zarmina smiled and pressed herself close to Gedeon.
"You are noticeably different from them, and not only with your gift. I feel that your essence is completely different. It's as if you are separate from the syrinxes, even though you look like them. That's why you attract me. No one has ever impressed me so much in every sense. Who are you, Deo?"
Zarmina looked with adoration into his sad eyes.
"So it's someone else, since they're doing this to me," Gedeon concluded. "Otherwise you can't explain the behavior of Rohen, who threw me onto another planet. They all had such a reaction to me, threats of violence were constantly pouring in from the aristocrats when I met with my beloved. They know something about my Being, but they will never admit why they have claims against me. Tarmio also behaves suspiciously: he always tries to appease me, does not make scenes of jealousy and does not pester me."
"I was always worried that he would seduce you, because more than once I noticed his lustful glances in your direction."
Gedeon froze in thought.
"He serves Rohen faithfully, that's obvious, that's why you were brought together with him."
"Why is the Ruller's son so devoted to him?" Zarmina thought.
"Rohen promised the Xantarian nobility a new progressive society without military dictatorship and restrictions, that is, liberal in every sense. The Zarian kingdoms are for him a field for experimentation, but here something different will arise."
"What will happen to us, princesses?" Zarmina was worried. "On your planet, I heard there are no obligations for women."
"It may seem so, because you don't need to look for a chosen one every year and give birth to a son. But still, they will never escape the attention of vamps, who are so dependent on feminine energy. My poor Luanlia was always under their onslaught, as were the other princesses, who were almost used to it."
"Can't you forget her?"
"She is my first woman and we were separated at the high of the relationship, of course, I miss her, and she means a lot to me, but for everyone else she is just yummy. The vamps don't even hide why they need it. They all confess their love to her, bestow magic on her, admire her, but these are not real feelings. It's not easy for her to live there, they use her."
"You have an unusual view of the existence of syrinxes. I never thought that we were a delicacy for them."
"I didn't think of that myself. Luanlia shared her impressions of her first months of life among us, when the vamps told her in ecstasy about her purpose."
"What's happening with her now?" Zarmina asked sympathetically.
"Lives in Rohen's palace under his protection and is bearing a child from Adivaris."
"I heard this name somewhere," she perked up. "Is this one of the ancients? He never tried to win the attention of princesses, he was always traveling. I've never met him in person. There are people who do not intersect with us, preferring other ways to satisfy their passions."
"He is one of the Lords of Zaria and he hates me, he has threatened me with violence more than once, but, interestingly, he allows others to touch Luanlia."
"Do you have more than one Ruler? Is there some more?"
"Yes, my adoptive father Lariel, whom you should never meet, and his wife Kamily."
"Is the woman the Master of Fire?" Zarmina was amazed. "Unheard of! How else is your father dangerous?"
"He is a seducer of princesses and incredibly handsome. Everyone falls in love with him."
"But that doesn't scare me at all," Zarmina giggled. "On the contrary, it's very interesting to look at such a man."