In the turquoise decorated room of Sand City Castle, the beautiful golden-haired Queen was sleeping peacefully, fully dressed in a red velvet robe, in the early afternoon. The burly Ape King sat on the cushions near her bed, listened to her breathing and felt at home. His eyes stuck onto her full lips and long eyelashes. Ramse was relaxing and thinking about how to get Sienna to like his White Ape. It felt somehow wrong that she was still not his after all this time.
The beautiful figure on the bed suddenly sat up and opened her eyes wildly."When is Sarcos coming back?"Sienna asked with restless urgency.
"Tonight?"Ramse replied with a bit shocked expression."What is going on with her?" he thought as he watched her sprint to the bathroom, grabbing some female supplies hastily.
"We need to go to the Library now!"Sienna ordered him as she emerged from the bathroom.
"As you say."Ramse looked at her in awe and nodded...He was very curious but waited patiently until another one of Sienna's moods would reveal itself. It was like a sweet expectation of action for him. Just watching her was great!
Ramse followed Sienna to the Library, helping her through the set of huge stairs without a word. He could feel her frantic energy and was pleasantly puzzled. As they approached the huge carved door, Ramse tried to open it for Sienna, but she hastily touched the metal handle by herself so fast that his hand landed on hers. He froze for a moment, searching for her eyes, but she just smiled and let him open the heavy door, slipping her hand discreetly. She did not want to get her fingers crushed by the force needed to open that heavy door!
Ramse gulped as she entered and followed behind, closing the door carefully. It felt so different to be here with her under the centuries of ancient books, and he felt as if he was there to steal something precious from Sarcos, when Sienna turned to him and touched his shoulder gently.
"I need your help with something..." she said with feverish, shiny eyes.
"Sure," Ramse noted and followed her to Sarcos's reading table when Sienna stopped abruptly...
She saw that the book, Legends of the Crystal Emperor, was still on the table as Sarcos left it...Sienna's eyes glittered as she approached it and ran her hand over the pages...
"So?" Ramse looked at her knowingly. "You already found the one you were after..." he smiled.
"Please..."Sienna looked at him..."I need your help. Do not tell Sarcos, ok...?"She asked secretively.
"Why?"Ramse asked curiously.
"I do not trust his Crystal Pincer..." she shook her head.
"Aha, good to know."Ramse noted..."Another Adenou?" he asked, lifting his eyebrows as if interrogating a child.
"This one is even more powerful, and I do not think he likes me!"Sienna nodded."He likes her!"She pointed her finger at the picture of the Butterfly Princess in the book.
"Yakk."Ramse shook his head...
"Hmmm!!!"Sienna looked at him firmly. She did not feel comfortable with Ramse slandering the Princess for her looks. She was a woman after all, and judging her by looks was too shallow to be encouraged.
"Aww, I mean, she is well different."Ramse somehow understood Sienna's tiger stare and tried to fix his mistake shabbily."I never saw anyone like that. Thanks goodness."He smiled sheepishly.
"Aha."Sienna nodded her head, a little entertained by his reaction."Please, check if you have this book in your library too and help me research it..."She looked at him seriously...
"Why should I help you?" Ramse asked her provocatively...
"Because we all need Sarcos sober..."She sighed worriedly.
"Hm, and what else?"Ramse asked.
"Because you are my friend now?"Sienna guessed.
"Hm, and what do I get for it?"He smiled a little cheekily.
"A kiss on the cheek? "Sienna finally realised what this bribery play was all about and blushed.
"I will take my payment now," Ramse said resolutely.
"Sure."Sienna pecked his cheek lightly.
"Good." Ramse lightened up...
"So, let's read it quickly..."Sienna started to read the text and study the pictures closely for any differences.
"I will cover our tracks."Ramse went to pick some more books and put them on the table to read.
"Ok, "Sienna glanced at him and touched the pages of other books lightly as he was quickly listing, just to keep her scent on them.
When Sienna finished reading the cruel book of legends, she confirmed that the books were identical to the last little detail.
"It is the same," she nodded and closed the big book."Please do not forget to check if you have this book in your library too, when you come home."She reminded him.
"Sure," Ramse nodded." So do you want to read some more?"
"Hm, "Sienna went around to look at the shelves, when her eyes fell onto the Animal Encyclopedia. She bit her lips and took the book out.
"You are into animals?"Ramse asked cheekily.
"I do like animals, but this I wanted to...just to check something."Sienna bit her lips as her cheeks reddened. She remembered she wanted to check this too, and while she was already there...this was a great chance to gather life-saving information without her mates knowing!
Sienna felt as her blood rushed to her ears; she felt very ashamed, somehow, because Ramse was looking at her right now with suspicion. She really missed the private internet browsing...
"You look so worried. What else is going on?"Ramse touched her hand, in which she was holding the book.
"Hmm, "Sienna shook her head and went to sit down. She decided to read it quickly and not to answer anything!
Ramse watched curiously, pretending to read something else, occasionally glancing over her shoulder. He saw her as she found a chapter about snakes and started to read quickly, as if searching for something.
Then she found the snake mating section, and she reddened up even more.
"What is going on, Sienna? You can tell me anything."Ramse asked gently.
Sienna lifted her head as if thinking whether to tell him or not, biting her lips and then glanced at Ramse sideways.
"Yes?" He asked her, eager to help...
"My mates want to mate with me in their other forms. I'm so scared, "she breathed it out almost involuntarily.
"They probably want to make you pregnant faster."He nodded, not surprised at all.
"I do not want to get pregnant yet." She said a little angrily.
"Why?"Ramse asked curiously.
"I'm scared!"Sienna said resolutely.
"Hm, I can see why..." he grinned after a few seconds of thinking."You had quite a busy summer here."He noted.
"Exactly!"Sienna nodded eagerly..."And now, Sarcos said, I'm hunted! I'm scared to get pregnant. What if someone will hurt my baby?" She furrowed her brows worriedly.
"Nobody will hurt it."Ramse shook his head, trying to ease her worry."If it is a girl, they will let you keep it or send it back to its father to raise if it is a son. Babies are precious..."Ramse noted.
"Would they not stop to hunt women with children? You know, their bodies change, they are not so slim any more..." Sienna asked curiously...
"No," Ramse shook his head. "Why would I stop being interested in a female who has proven herself to be fertile?" He grinned a bit wildly."The fertile proven Queen's are even more desirable..." he noted, and Sienna gulped.
"You will be a new hot item...with the bun in the oven. "He chuckled..."And chasing the pregnant ones is even more fun..."
"Why?" Sienna looked at him, surprised by his statement.
"Because they are so slow and tired, and hard to run away..." he chuckled..." they need a lot of care and are easier to convince them to cooperate. They do not want to endanger the baby and rather accept new mates easily...." he chuckled.
"Why do you talk like this...?" she asked him, horrified.
"Because you asked me..." he shook his shoulders.
"How do you know all this?"Sienna asked suspiciously.
"I know..." he chuckled.
"Aha...from your female selling business?" she asked uncomfortably.
"We are doing them a favour..."He noted.
"How so?"Sienna asked, shocked by his nonchalance about such a horrible matter.
"The tribes always fight, they hate each other, most tribes will not mate their direct enemy females, and if the females are not desirable to sell, they will just kill them...If I send my men to buy them, they get a better chance of survival..." he noted.
"It is the same as with that hustler..." he reminded her."He wanted to save the females but had nowhere to keep them..."Ramse noted..
"That makes sense..."Sienna noted, "...so you must have a big turnaround..." she gulped",...still you should treat them better...the ones in chains you sent to Adenou were in a poor state..." she bit her lips.
"Yes, if I treat them just enough, they will be more keen to accept a new mates who protects them and be more content in their new life," he nodded." I do not want them to fall for me because my heart is taken...by you..." he grinned wildly.
"What about the kids?" Sienna asked, thinking.
"We raise them in Ape tribes to sell later, but most females who get new mates will just buy them back. The ones who want them..."Ramse noted.
"Why would a mother not want her child back?"Sienna asked in disbelief.
"Some hated their mates and wanted to start a new life."He shook his shoulder.
"Aha, "Sienna nodded. She felt so sad about this. It was not perfect, but at least they had a chance to live and be reunited. It kind of made sense...in a horribly cruel way, but it was better than the men killing females and kids. The best will be if the men stop warring, but with their inflated egos, it might be entirely impossible to grasp the concept of suffering."She thought.
"How do your warriors know where the tribes fight?" Sienna asked.
"I have scouts, spies and wild apes almost everywhere..."Ramse shook his shoulders." I like to be informed..." he noted." Same as Sarcos, I have to live up to my reputation. "He grinned.
"Your reputation..."Sienna smiled sadly. "You are more organised than I thought. Like vultures waiting till people fall."
"They always fall..."Ramse nodded..."The men have fighting in their blood..."
"And cruelly..." Sienna sighed as she looked at him..."Tell me, how Sarcos got his horrible reputation?" she asked. She wanted to find out about this for a long time, and now was the chance. She decided to use the time Ramse spoke freely." I just heard it is terrible and scary, but I never know why...?"She asked.