• • The Royal Bastards of Galagan
• October 11, 2026

The Royal Bastards of Galagan (Chapter 18)

The Royal Bedside

“Scientifically speaking, you’re not as smart as you wish you were and you’ll never be smarter than you want to be.”

Lord Iwata Takeda

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Lemon Limelight

Too many people don’t understand that when someone else says something is easier, that doesn’t mean its easy.

Following Howl into the city to avoid Cal was easy. Avoiding the eyes of the people who recognized me as a Galagan like the ones who destroyed a nearby town, was easier.

Following Howl into an establishment that had curtains for doors, was not easy. Walking through it, with beautiful men and women and others across the spectrum, all looking to get paid, all looking at me with well-trained “fuck me” eyes… was easier.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to get my rocks off. It wasn’t even that the ecstasy that I would get if I just went over to Cameloanian licking his lips and sucked on his tongue wasn’t appealing. It was… 

Nevermind. Let’s just say I wanted to cum on someone’s face and look as perverted as every other guy.

At that point, I wanted to know why Howl was bringing me here. From what I could tell, the Pyrie were fucking other aliens. I mean, back on Galagan we had dogs, and we could breed them to be these huge monstrous beasts that could hunt men.

And they could also be small lap pets fit for a Khatun’s purse. They were the same species sure, and their parts technically fit, but were they fucking?

Hell no.

Not the best comparison, but I did not see a Pyrie getting much out of coming here, so how would he know about it to bring me here? You know what? Better question, why bring me here? 

What was I gonna get outta of a brothel?

As it turned out, I was gonna get a good cry.

Howl led me deeper, and soon the ladies and gentlemen of the night were more than just androgynous thems who did not give me “fuck me” eyes, but were intense nonetheless.

Pyrie took me up to a curtain and passed through. I hesitated before following, the feel of everyone else staring at my back really pushed me forward. There were a lot of them without a patron to entertain, leaving many with this intense desire to hate me with their eyes.

When I walked, I realized something else about these beings. They must have had some kind of telepathy, because seeing one up close made me realize I was looking at the others in a fog. There was a blur I didn’t even notice. Lumen would later tell me that what I experienced was comparable to needing glasses.

Without that fog, the alien being wasn’t terribly intimidating. It was mildly taller than Cal, but its height was offset by its thin body. If Cal gave this being all of her muscle, they would still barely look thicker than the average sentient creature.

They were also blue-furred, but short-furred, and still had straight hair coming down around their head.

The face really threw me. There was a beauty there, with how angular and sharp it was, and the brush of the fur made their face appear to have smooth blue skin. But then there was the wet nose and a jaw that was halfway between a canine’s snout and my lips.

“Is this him?” they asked, with a distinctly feminine voice.

“Yes, this is Lemon, he is in need of your services,” Howl told her as he gave her coin.

Was he… was he really getting me a whore? What kind of lesson was this supposed to serve? 

“Howl, what is this?” I asked him, with more than a little growl in my voice.

“Keira is going to take care of you, fulfill a need that seems to be getting in the way of your training,” he told me, and boy, did the idea of needing a prostitute to fix me make me feel like I was covered in shit.

“No.”

Howl rolled his eyes at me. “You’re putting your tack before the horse,” then he tapped his chin with his finger, “or was it the plow?”

“I’m not doing this.”

Howl tilted his head at me and floated up to look me in the eye. I waited for a joke, a snarky comment, or something, but I got nothing.

“Do you want to fail?” he told me. 

“I’m sorry, what—”

“I’ll fail you if you don’t do this. I’ll stop teaching you, and kick you out of the palace.”

My voice was caught in my mouth, to say the least. The idea that he thought I needed to get laid so badly that he would kick me out made me feel like I had walked into a wall and would keep doing so no matter which way I went.

“You can’t be serious.”

He nodded his head and assured me, “Deadly, I won’t waste my time with someone who can’t learn. I’ll spend years teaching someone who learns at a snails pace before I waste time teaching someone who can’t, and right now, you can’t.”

“What is this really about? Is this about what Calcutta did in that town? Are you punishing me for that?”

“It has nothing to do with what Koki and your sister are doing, and everything to do with the mental block in your mind. It’s the thing keeping you from extending your cakra outside of your body.”

I wanted to throw my arms in the air, or anywhere, but it felt so useless. My arms twitched as if trying to free myself from bonds that weren’t there. I should have just flew out of there, blasted right through the ceiling.

“Then I guess this is where your lessons end,” I told him, trying to be resolute.

But he knew at this point, somehow he just did. “And be the bastard who failed? You’re going to tell your sisters that you couldn’t do it? Couldn’t hack it? You think you won’t be the pathetic middle brother then, riding on their coattails?”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what? Treating you like a man of Galagan?”

Then I screamed. “I don’t want to sleep with her!”

That’s when the alien behind him finally groaned. 

“Oh, you little fool,” Howl said as he lowered himself to the ground, and held the bridge of his nose between his two fingers.

“Keira… is a Trigolodite, they’re shapeshifters and low-level telepaths. She is paid to give you want you need, not what your adolescent base mind thinks you want.” 

My fists tightened as I gave him the suspecting side-eye.

“As to why…” he said shaking his head as he pulled open the curtain, “maybe… maybe… you will learn to live without what you crave, but only if you have a taste of it. Then you may remember it is not something you should debase yourself to get.”

Then he left me there with… with this strange woman. 

This was the kind of moment every else’s parents told their kid to run from. A stranger you don’t know, whose likely far older than you, is pressuring you to do something you don’t want to do. I should have ran, and if anyone else finds themselves in a situation like I was in, I implore you to run.

And if you don’t, I understand that too. To stay still as it happens… can be easier.

When she tapped the bed to sit next to her, it wasn’t easy, it was easier to slowly waddle, and sit on the bed. I could have punched her, could have killed her with a single strike, but then that would be it. 

I would get no training, I would be left behind, or worst of all, I would be the reason my sisters couldn’t get stronger. I would be holding them back. That was a terrible weight to put on myself, and no one should ever make themselves dangerously uncomfortable because it might inconvenience someone else, even if that someone else is someone you love.

But that didn’t make letting her touch my head harder. Her hand ran along my cheek and through my hair. Her touch felt icky, but at the same time, it made my skin develop this tingling feeling.

Without much warning, I felt her cakra flow into her hand, and my heart nearly exploded at the thought of her cakra flowing into me. 

It didn’t, it touched me and then receded back. I could actually see it, as it flowed from the edges of her fingertips, back down her arm. Her hand shifted, looking less like skin and bone, and growing actual meat. Her arms developed a more Galagan-like definition, and then the rest of her body followed suit. 

Keira kept her fur, but as her face changed shape, her hair grew black and wavy, her eyes changed shape into almonds, and she shed a few feet in height.

The face that looked at me was one I had wished to see for a long time, ever since we were run off our home planet. 

Then Keira, with the face of my maker, lowered my head down. I didn’t even think she was forcing me to her crotch, not after that. I tilted my head and knew what it was that Howl intended, what I needed.

She rested my head in her lap, and moved her hand to my back, to massage me to relax. She ran her other hand through my hair, not caressing or petting my head, but just… letting me know someone was there.

She rubbed her hand around my head around my back in these slow motions, so I always knew she was there. The tingling feeling spread through out my body as I scooped up into a fetal position as familiar hands held me, and let me rest with my head in her lap.

It was easier to let her touch me as I needed rather than how I thought I wanted, but more than that… I was just lucky.

*****

I was still taking my testosterone by pill that morning, I had only just started a few weeks back. It was the period where people in the castle had been less afraid of me, but that would change once enough of them saw how transitioning had dulled nothing of my power.

If anything, my ability to focus improved, and I was hitting a lot harder.

But the cloud over my mind, this… force dragging me to the bed to keep me there… that didn’t fade like it was supposed to. Even as you’re working on one problem, every other problem in life that made you feel worthless didn’t disappear. Being an outcast before coming out didn’t suddenly make me less of an outcast. It just let everyone know why Cal and Poppy were so especially protective.

Knock. Knock.

Calcutta was there get me. There was always her or Poppy walking with me at some point. Poppy held my hand, while Cal… well, there were very few people who didn’t stand to the side and bow their heads when the Fist of the Khan walked down the hall.

“Lemon, can I come in?” she asked as if the door was stopping her.

I was struggling with my binder at this point. I couldn’t be too forceful or else I’d break it, but if I didn’t use enough force I couldn’t get the fucking thing on. 

Mornings were the worst when the day had yet to distract me, and my ability to concentrate sucked for lack of a better word.

“Please,” I said.

The handle turned barely a moment later, and she shut it just as quickly.

“What’s wrong?”

I held up the binder. “Can you… help me?”

“Uh, yeah, of course.”

I’m not gonna walk through how she helped me, she didn’t have a problem controlling her strength so it took less than a minute.

When she was done, her hand fell on my shoulder giving me a tight grip. It’s a rude thing to think, but I always had this itching feeling in the back of my head that I wanted to be like her. She had all the mannerisms, the body language, and the build I had wanted, but sometimes I forgot she had to the distant things too.

Her hand on my shoulder had me thinking our father was in the room, but then she would do something that no man I’ve met would do.

“Thank you,” she told me.

My eyes fluttered as I turned to stare at her. “You’re… thanking me? What for?” 

Cal’s shoulders were slumped like mine, but she avoided my eyes when I sought out hers. “You… for… I know… I know you haven’t let anyone in here, not without permission but you let me, you… let me help you… 

“Thank you for trusting me.” 

I’ve never met a man who would say something like that. At least no man of Galagan. Maybe I gotta meet more.

“You’re my big sister,” I told her as I turned away, looking in the mirror and seeing something so close to… right. 

“I… I…” There was a bit of a tremble in my voice, and Cal was there as soon as it came out. 

The best thing about having a sister who was so much taller than you was when she hugged you. It wasn’t soft, she wasn’t a soft person, but she was safe, for me at least. There’s no better hug than one that’s safe.

“I can’t remember a time when you weren’t taking care of me,” I told her. 

“Well, you probably won’t want that soon enough,” she laughed, and I pulled back to look up at her in a bit of confusion. She had that awkward smile on her face. “It’s… it’s a little weird now that we’re older, I guess.” 

She scratched my head as she waited to agree but to be honest, I couldn’t have cared less.

It was weird because other people weren’t this comfortable, but other people had friends. Other people had other people to hold their hands, to give them hugs, to help them with… whatever, but for us bastards, there’s only us bastards.

“We’ll always be weird like this,” I told her as I walked for my shirt and vest, “who else do we have?” 

“Your mother for one,” she said as I finished getting dressed, “you should see her before we go.” 

I paused for a moment. “I’m allowed to?” 

“Father said you should,” Cal said, and I turned back around to look her in the face. Not that she ever has with something like this but… sometimes you gotta check to make sure no one is fucking with you.

“No one else can stop you,” she assured me with that smirk of hers, “so do it before we go to Talnar or whatever planet the old man is sending us to.” I arched my brow at her. “I wasn’t really listening.” 

That was enough to get a chuckle out of me. 

I was thinking about how people moved out of Cal’s way as I was seeing again in person as we walked through the halls… not gonna lie, it felt good. Men and woman of the Khan, of all the Diadects, parted way for the Fist and the… the…

Why did I never get a cool nickname? That’s fair. I wanted a nickname…

The world was deadset on trying to build me up it seemed. I had a heart to heart with Cal, the people of the halls averted their gaze but somehow in a way I liked, and I was going to see my mom. I think I was only royal bastard with a good relationship with my mother. 

Hell, I might have been the only royal with a strong mother-child relationship.

Of course, because the world hated me she was sick, had been for years after being irradiated during an attack by the Lupian United Packs, but… she was healing. She was getting there.

Slowly.

I hadn’t been allowed to see her, my father all but banning me without words. If I had to bet, as we walked into the Takeda’s wing of the palace, she demanded that from him. Or maybe she annoyed him enough, who knew.

What I knew for sure, is that when I walked in, my mother — despite the tubes in her nose — always had a sweet smile for me.

And then greeted me. 

“Tam…” she started, and tried to catch herself, “Lemon, I’m glad to see you…” but by then it kind of hit me like a brick. I knew she was trying I just… I get that everyone takes being deadnamed differently, from person to person, but it always sucked the energy out of me, without fail, accident or not. 

I walked in as Mom has this apologetic look on her face, and I wasn’t angry, but I wanted to ignore it. “I’m sorry, Lemon, I shouldn’t have…”

I shook my head rather then say anything about it. At this point, I was just so tired, again, and the pain was all too familiar to care in that moment in time. I remember always being so tired back then.

I pulled up my chair and kind of laid my head in her lap without asking, facing away from her. Her hand was in my hair and scratching my head in seconds. All she could do without anyone to help her sit up in bed. 

Cal knew how to take a hint, but not always the right one. “I should go, get Poppy prepped and ready.”

“Of course, thank you, Calcutta.” 

Cal once told me that she hated the way her name rolled off most Takeda tongues. Their accent dropped syllables and based on the things they said, it rarely felt like an accident. My mom, on the other hand, made sure to say every syllable with her heavy accent. There are no stress or vowel reductions in Kono, so she said it much faster, and with reverence. 

Maybe that’s why Cal didn’t have any qualms about bowing her head and calling her, “Lady Takeda.”

After my sister closed the door behind her, Mom asked me to, “Look at me, please.”

I didn’t immediately but hurried to do so. Why let her think I was hesitating?

“You are deep in thought, may I know about what?”

What wasn’t I thinking about? I was thinking about everything and nothing at the same time. There were the logistics of the mission, the morals of it, the reactions to it, and how much more we were going to be hated and feared for it, the Galagan Empire and me. This was all going to go somewhere, and it couldn’t go anywhere nice. Be hated for anything and everything tended to have that kind of effect.

What was there out there for me, outside of blowing up planets, moons, and everything in between that were full of Galagan’s enemies? How could I even broach that with her? 

I wasn’t even sure she really liked me for I who was at that moment, and not who she thought I was the day before.

He asked her, “What does the Konoha say about people like me?”  

“Konoha…” the Great Knower, “Konoha says we are made in a way that best allows us to survive as we are meant to be.” 

Have you ever been slapped in the face without actually being slapped in the face? 

Faith, in my experience, always did one of two things. Judged you for being different, or justified those who made you suffer for being different. 

I truly did not know why I asked,but it had me stuttering. “You… that…” 

Mom was adamant though. “It fits you perfectly.” 

“You’re joking…” 

“Lemon,” she said, as her fingers gripped my head of hair. It didn’t hurt at all, not that she could in her state, but it was as if she didn’t hold on, I would be gone. “If you had been born in a sex that matched your gender, you would have been killed.” 

This story again. I knew it was true, but it was so hard to believe since it hadn’t happened since I could remember. 

I told her, “I know,” but she didn’t believe me, which should be no surprise.

“Do you? Once the heir has been born, they can be no bastards of the same sex, it threatens their line. Do you think you were my first child with the Khan? You were the first I was able to keep.” Her fingers slide along my head to my cheek, to know I was there, and that I was hers. “I only have a son because you were born the way you are and because of the path Konoha set for you. This may sound selfish but I… I wouldn’t change anything about you.”

It was easy for her to say when she didn’t have to suffer the consequences. It was hard to grapple with the idea that being trans saved my life, but not being a royal bastard would have kept me safer. 

It’s so infuriating and unfair that I had to suffer for what I am rather than who. The whole way with which Galagan operated was archaic beyond belief. It hated me, but I was powerful, so they couldn’t kill me. They couldn’t kill me, so they turned me and my sisters into monsters.

But because we were monsters, because something was different about us, there must be something wrong with us.

How could I not think of rebellion while living like that?