It had been two days since Ezra and Mila arrived at the palace, and the festival was approaching quicker than Ezra would have liked. He was dreading the ceremony where he would be forced to show off Mira for the world to see.

It used to be custom for Jayku royals to announce sexual partners they intended to have a child with, but it wasn't exactly an earth marriage. It was a permanent bond, a vow to care and love for the other person until their death just like earth weddings. But it wasn't a permanent sexual relationship. Sex was seen as a friendly encounter you shared with anyone you had deep feelings for. Ezra's parents alone had had dozens of partners, and many times the three or even four of them would pleasure each other at once.

Ever since the illness, however, these ceremony's were almost unheard of. There hadn't been a royal one in over a decade. And Ezra knew from attending the smaller, lower ranking Jayku men's ceremonies that introducing Mira would expose her in ways she would not want to be exposed. Physically and emotionally. And Ezra knew he had to prepare her for it. But it didn't make telling her any easier.

Her eyes fluttered open to meet his gaze, light from the sun falling through the golden stained windows and over her perfectly smooth skin. He loved how unmarked it was, how soft her cheek felt under his touch. She had no designs along her neck like him, no birth marks littering her neck or back. She had a freckle here and there, but they were just small dots, hardly noticeable. It's like she was clean and glowing, without needing the water to make her brighten like Jayku. But it was a different kind of glow, too. Where Jayku's markings were bright and almost neon, her skin flowed with a soft, subtle warmness, almost like glitter. He wanted to kiss every inch of it.

"Good morning beautiful," Ezra smiled at her, brushing her hair out of her face as her eyes drooped open and closed.

"Good morning," she smiled back, her arm shifting over his shoulders to pull him closer. She kissed him gently, holding herself back from attacking him again with her tongue. The last two days it seemed all they had done was sleep, eat, and have sex. She couldn't get enough of him, and he gave her as much of him as she asked for.

She began to roll over onto her back when she hissed, her hands falling down to her pelvis. The stretching and nonstop sex was starting to catch up with her.

"Are you okay?" Ezra asked, concerned by the expression full of pain she wore.

"Yeah," she laughed, feeling as if every muscle in her body was overused. "I just think we need to take a day off."

"Of course," he reached out across the bed, rubbing her bare back gently. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she said over her shoulder, pulling his hand over to her lips. "Isn't that festival thingy tomorrow anyways? Isn't there some royal duty you have or something?" She laughed, getting to her feet and sweeping down to grab the see through pajama dress she had gone to bed wearing, but at some point

Ezra had pulled off her.

"Actually," he started, the sheets bundled at his waist Outlined the shape of his muscular thighs, and what lies between them. It distracted Mira for a moment, and she wished she wasn't too sore. "We have something we both need to prepare for."

"What's that?" She said, finding a tie and beginning to pull her hair out of her face.

"The festival, its kind of like what earthlings would call a harvest festival. But it also celebrates fertility, a harvesting of fruit and seed."

"Of course it is," she laughed, rummaging through the dresser for an outfit that people wouldn't be able to see her breasts through.

"Part of the fertility side of the festival includes a ceremony for council couples."

"Like your parents?"

"And us."

She paused, her hands buried in a stone and wooden dresser full of cotton and silk like material. "But I'm not part of the council."

"But I am, and through association, you supposed to participate."

Mira pivoted on her heel, facing Ezra who now sat on the edge of the bed looking up at her.

"What exactly does participating entail?"

Ezra hesitates, but only for a short moment. "We remove each other's clothing and paint each others bodies."

Mira's eyes grew wide. "Excuse me?"

"In front of everyone..."

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "What if I refuse to take part in this ceremony?"

"It will be frowned upon... and possibly our child's claim to a seat on the council could be revoked."

"Is that a bad thing?"

He shrugged. "It's only one time. It will last for ten minutes, then it's over. I've even discussed with my parents having sheets around us to protect your privacy. I told you that we aren't ashamed on the planet of sex or hiding our bodies. On hot days, people even roam with little to no clothes on. Only what is necessary to protect ourselves."

"That's great, but I'm from earth where public nudity is actually a crime... I can't do that Ezra."

"Mira," Ezra climbed to his feet and pulled her hands into his in one swift movement. "I know how private you are about things, and I hate to ask you to do this. If it were up to me, I'd say screw the tradition. But the council might consider it a breaking of your contract."

Mira gazed up him, taking in his alien beauty and overwhelming height. The sheet had fell from his waist, and now he stood before her, completely naked and vulnerable. But that's how his kind always were. They did not hide themselves. They did not turn away from the most intense of bonds between two people. They marveled it, worshipped it almost. It was tragic that an illness had wiped out what their whole society valued most: love.

"Okay," she agreed, nodding. "But please tell me they agreed to the sheets."

Ezra exhaled. "Yes... sort of. It's a type of sheet made from a plant that is see through on one side, and blurry on the other. They'll see us, but we won't see them. Like a fishbowl."

Mira smiled. "How do you know what a fishbowl looks like?"

"I know almost everything about your planet. Probably more than your kind know themselves."

She rolled her eyes and swatted his arm gently, turning to return to her task to find an outfit for the day.

"I think you should know one more thing."

"What else could I possibly need to know?" She said, annoyed and frustrated with her situation.

His hands slipped around her waist as he held her from behind, kissing her hair. "I adore you."

****

The festival was similar to what Mira was used to. There was live music, though the instruments were all foreign to her. There was dancing, though many men wore nothing but a small sling around their penises, and there were very few women, but every one Mira saw was practically naked, their bodies painted dark red and purple, and a strong tied to their waists that had short, dried grass draped down like a skirt. They were all infertile, she remembered, but they didn't let that stop them from having a good time.

Mira and Ezra sat with the council at a table elevated on a stage, and though there had been introductions, Mira couldn't remember a single one of their names. She was too distracted by the small ceremonies taking place near fire places. A man and women would step up onto a pedal stool, and begin to remove each other's clothing. Then they would dip their hands into an elevated bowl of paint, and lather each other until every inch of their skin was colored. Many of them would make out afterwords, and some would even begin to please each other.

It wasn't until Mira saw Beth, the blonde girl she had met during selection, dropping to her knees to suck her man's dick, that Mira realized that all of the woman taking part in the ceremony were human.

She glanced around, feeling ill. Then she was Shay, the other girl that had been reluctant to sign up, stepping up on a pedal stool and begin undressing her man. She watched the girl move, pulling off his sling, and then dipping her hands into the dark red orange paint. She lathered him in it, and he her.

Mira watched as he rubbed his fingers over the length of her thorny vine tattoo, all the way up to the nape of her neck where her hair line began.

"Do you want to say hi, afterwards?" Ezra asked, and Mira almost passed out right there.

The flames from the fire pits began to blur into the orange, red, and yellow painted bodies. The colors began to swirl, the music began to slow, and Mira grabbed hold of the arms of her chair to steady herself.

"Are you okay?" He asked, and slowly, things began to come back into focus.

"This is like one giant orgy," she blurted. It's disgusting, is what she had enough sense to keep in her mind.

"We can go early," he said. "We can do it now so we can leave if you wish."

Mira looked at the small elevated platform at the center of the festival. It was only a few few higher than the others, but the sheets sling over the posts that had been added specially for her were draped in the translucent leafed-sheets. She wondered if they were treated to be clear, or if that's just how they grew.

Mira's stomach growled with hunger. She was too nervous to eat the strange alien fruit and meals being served on yellow and brown trays. Once, in high school, she had to present a creative writing assignment to the whole school. Only about four words in she vomited all over the floor in front of everyone. Mira thought of that moment, imagining herself puking all over Ezra as he peeled off her clothes.

She wore a bikini made of leaves. It was more than what most of the other human girls wore. But maybe she was just more prude than all of them.

Ezra got to his feet and kneeled in front of Mira. "Just focus on me. Only look at me, Mira."

She did look at him, and as soon as she did, she realized the music had changed. It had changed for them... The last royal heir was about to go on stage. It demanded special attention, and Mira wished more than anything it didn't.

The beat of low drums reminded her of some tribal witch song. The bile rose in her stomach as her eyes slipped towards Where she last saw Beth, who had stopped licking to watch Mira.

"No," Ezra said, shielding Mira's eyes so that she could only see him. "It's just me and you."

The nausea began to subside. Mira's hear best began to slow to normal pace. And her fingers barely shook as she took Ezra's hand and got to her feet.

He walked backwards, never breaking her gaze as he led her over to the small stage and up the stairs.

"Me and you," he smiled at her as she stepped behind the curtain. She could no longer see anyone but Ezra, and it wasn't because of the sheets blurring the crowd into a series of colored blobs. It was because they no longer mattered to her. He was right, it was just the two of them.

She reached for his pants, and he began undoing her small top, pulling on the string at her back.

Her top fell off as soon as his bottoms hit the ground. Her breasts were exposed and her nipples erect, as he kneeled at her waist, and slowly pulled her bottoms down to her ankles.

Mira got lost in the small kisses he trailed down her leg, and back up to her lips. As their tongues began to glide against one another, Ezra's fingertips traced over her shoulder gently, leaving a trail of tingly skin in their wake. He ran his fingers down her arm, over the inside of her wrist, and into her palm. He cupped her hand in his, and lifted it up and into the paint.

Their hands dipped into the dark blue-indigo paint. Mira knew what came next, but she was so lost in his mouth that she could only manage to start with his neck, rubbing her fingers down the length of his bare chest, over his hard stomach, and then around his waist so she could hold on.

Everything around her began to fade away, and all she could see was him, all she could feel was his hands gliding over her ass cheeks, up her back, along her sides, and over her breasts. She was almost completely painted, and he was barely painted at all. Ezra stopped kissing her, and inches away slightly.

He glanced at the paint, and Mira dipped her hands in again, letting the color that matched his marking drop off her fingertips and over his body like rain. Then she worked her hands down his leg, slowly lowering to the ground, and then back up his other leg. She felt the heat rising deep inside her, the urge to be with him. But she forced herself to focus on the task.

She dipped her hands in the paint again, circling around him. She massaged the thick liquid into his back, slid her hands over his perfect ass, and up his sides and over the back of his shoulders. The only place left unpainted was his penis, and as she circled around to face him again, she reached down and let her fingers squeeze the length of him just hard enough to make him grow under her palm.

He smiled at her, and pulled her against him, their painted bodies slippery against one another. His lips pressed against hers, as he ran his wet fingers through her hair, though they didn't have to paint each other's face and hair. As one hand got tangled in her brown-golden and now indigo locks of hair, his other hands slipped between her legs and painted her pussy. She exhaled the desire burning inside her as he slipped a finger a little deeper than necessary between the lips of her pussy, and she bit her lip, smiling at him.

"I love you," he whispered to her.

Mira gently and slowly jerked his cock again, and whispered, "I love you too."

And suddenly, the music returned to normal, and the crowd began to cheer for them. Mira suddenly snapped back to reality, where she had just caressed his dick in front of his parents, in front of everyone. The nausea returned, and they stepped down the stairs, completely naked, and walked through the crowd, through the gardens, and towards the palace.