Sugar Plum: Haret Chronicles Qilin: A

Fantasy Romance (Sugar Bites Book 7)

Laurel Chase
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 SUGAR
PLUM
Haret Chronicles Qilin: SUGAR BITES SEVEN

Laurel Chase
Copyright © 2022 Laurel Chase
All rights reserved.
https://laurelchaseauthor.com/
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the
express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. If you
have obtained this book via piracy or suspect it has been duplicated illegally, please advise the
author and purchase your own copy.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the
products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual
persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Cover design by Christian Bentulan
Table of Contents
Copyright Page

DEDICATION

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

AUTHOR’S LOVE NOTE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 DEDICATION

This series is for all the girls who like sex and sugar.
So, that’s everyone, right?
Carry on.
 CHAPTER ONE

ARLYLE
C “So how do we do this? Do I get a stable or what?” I asked, sipping my third honey cloud
coffee and looking around at my guys as we all chowed down on the brunch feast that had been
delivered by some excited young dragons.
Just because I’d decided to listen to the Qilin in New Draconum about needing to cocoon for the
rest of my pregnancy, didn’t mean anyone had exactly explained to me what that would look like.
Well, except to clarify that I didn’t have to watch my caffeine intake like humans did, thank the
Goddess.
“I surveyed several Qilin this morning while you were still dozing. Besides your mother,” Jack
replied, holding back a grin and failing. “No stables were mentioned.”
Dair didn’t even try to suppress his chuckle. “And I’ve done my research as well, Cariño. We’ll
adapt the living room area for your Qilin form and allow plenty of space for each of us to watch over
you. The bedroom and that gorgeous big bed will be ready when your human form emerges - you
won’t be in the cocoon all the time, after all.”
I nodded, hoping that was true. I’d do whatever it took to grow healthy babies, but I was willing
to bet that no woman liked hearing she was going on bedrest for the next six weeks or so, especially if
it meant cutting down on sugar of all kinds.
“And all the dragons have agreed to the secrecy, just like the Qilin proposed,” Jai reassured me. I
took a deep breath, willing my nerves to stay calm. Knowing that there was yet another fucking
prophecy out there that could put my new family in danger was something I could barely wrap my
mind around.
For now, we’d all agreed that our twins would stay a secret, kept in our New Draconum version
of a locked tower until we could get a better idea of how many Haretians might still believe and fear
a Qilin dynasty.
“I took Jessalyn home this morning, too. She’ll keep our secrets, plus be a good source of intel in
Patriam,” Dair added.
Damn, my men had been busy while I’d been asleep. Then again, I’d have to get used to that. It
sounded like I wouldn’t be aware of very much when I was cocooning, like a deep, long sleep.
Jai shook his head, as I felt him skimming my thoughts. “Your mother did say that you could be
aware of more than the average Qilin because of your dreamwalking abilities. But regardless, we
will all be here to watch over you.”
The others chimed in with their agreement, and I gave them a slightly nervous smile.
“This is going to be okay, right? I’m going to be a good mother?” The words tumbled out
unexpectedly, and tears filled my eyes as my guys pressed around me. I squeezed my eyes shut,
soaking in their love and reassurances, and melting into their comforting touches.
Barely even realizing what my body was doing, I slid gently into a shift, and they made space for
my larger body without stopping their flood of comfort. Damn, I’d found good ones.
The shift felt the same as my other shifts, and yet it didn’t. I was aware of my six mates
surrounding me, and I could feel my muscles and bones stretched into their horsey shapes, but I was
also quickly noticing a new pocket in my mind. It was as if I’d discovered a new room in a house I
was exploring, and I’d just barely cracked the door.
My gut told me that our twins were waiting beyond that door. That was where I needed to go
when I was cocooning and spend time helping them grow. It was an odd idea, but a strong enough gut
feeling that I trusted it.
Something stopped my mind from slipping in there just yet, though. I felt too weak, and maybe a
little too scared.
I needed fortification, and suddenly inspiration took over.
I needed my men and their magic, sure, but intuition was guiding me to understand I needed the
cleansing stones we’d been collecting, which represented their own powers and mine together
through all my sruth. I needed to have clean, separate stores of magic before my body could weave it
all together to form the tiny minds and bodies inside me.
I jerked back through my shift, my eyes flying open and taking in six worried faces.
“What is it, aima?” Jai growled, uncertainty creasing his brow. He’d committed to letting me lead
this process, but I could tell it was hard for him not to surge in and take charge. I loved him all the
more for his trust in me, though.
“Not here. And not quite yet,” I said, pushing up to my feet and wriggling away from them,
knowing I was being too vague. I went to the bedroom, where the seven stones were laid in a row
across the nightstand. I’d been falling asleep with them pressed to my skin, though of course they slid
off my body during the nights.
“Tell me again what each of these mean for my sruth,” I requested as my men filed into the
bedroom after me. “Make it like a ritual - like we’re calling in the magic to help us.”
Hey, I was flying blind like always, but it sounded good. Magic always loved a ritual, right? I
squeezed the clarity crystal in my palm, and it pulsed with a sense of rightness.
I tugged a light blanket around my shoulders and stretched out on the bed, on top of the covers.
The six guys stood for a few seconds, as though trying to figure out what I wanted.
Killian was the first to take action. He snagged the green heartstone from the nightstand and knelt
on the bed next to me.
“I know you’re worried about bein’ a mom, Savage, but ya have no reason. We’ll all be here with
you the whole time, and love will help us figure it out. Together,” he added in a gruff voice, flipping
the vibrant green stone between his fingers with a puff of air magic. “This heartstone is for your heart
- your love sruth - it’ll strengthen our love and give us all the love we need for whatever kids we’re
given.”
He placed the green heartstone on my skin, above my heart chakra, and emotion and fresh green
magic surged in my chest as words spilled from my lips.
“I love you, Kills. I love you all so much, and I love Haret and Earth, too.” I swirled my
fingertips over the still-small swell of my belly. I continued to feel awe that there were two little
beings inside me, as well, but love growing for them, too.
And it seemed fitting because of all my mates, Killian had resisted his love for me the hardest at
first, because he struggled with loving himself. Our eyes met and he nodded, acknowledging what this
meant. We were forever, and that meant we’d manage, through everything.
Ah hell. I reached up to wipe tears from the corners of my eyes - this was going to be one
beautiful, rough night.
My broad-shouldered fae settled into the pillows near my head, his fingers combing through my
hair as he made room for someone else.
 Jai stepped forward, sliding the milky glass singing stone onto the middle of my forehead.
“Singing stones are for your third eye - they help you see and intuit. You’ve helped me see
everything so much more clearly, aima, and because of you, I’m learning to trust my intuition even
more than my magic,” Jai admitted, and I smiled up at him as his fingers traced the stone, then down
across my cheek.
My men gave me so much - it was somehow both humbling and pride-inducing to hear how much
they got back from me. Not that I’d ever felt like just a body to them, but they were all so strong and
logical and experienced that sometimes I forgot how valuable my own flowing feminine energy was
to the mix.
As the deep indigo magic of Jai’s ice powers seeped into my forehead, I gasped. My eyes rolled
backward as a vision swirled into my mind.
“I see them! I see our twins. Oh, they’re beautiful,” I whispered, watching as two orbs of light and
magic floated before me. They didn’t have bodies or form yet, but I knew them as well as I knew
myself. I was seeing the unshaped magic of the two babies, and I suddenly understood that was a big
part of what the cocoon was for - not only for rest, but to let my Qilin power create the two most
perfect little beings it could.
I opened the connection my magic had formed between all of us, allowing my guys to see it in
their minds, too.
A sweet, summery scent filled my nose, and I opened my eyes to see my lion had leaned in. He
dropped a kiss on my cheek, and his eyes were misty as he nodded.
“I see them, too, Shortcake.”
As Sol palmed the deep orange sunrise moonstone, I glimpsed an aura of his warm orange magic
radiating from the stone. He gently laid the stone a few inches below my belly button, on my sacral
chakra.
Sol pressed his hand over the stone and stared deep into my eyes, a flicker of his feline spirit
claiming me. “The sunrise moonstone is for feeling - sensuality and pleasure. All your senses,” he
reminded, and I felt Jai and Killian each take one of my hands and stroke my fingers.
A warm, liquid glow spread deep through my abdomen, waking up all of the yumminess I always
felt with my men. My body undulated gently in the stream of power the three stones was forming.
“Oh yes, I feel,” I said, my voice dropping lower into a sultry moan. This power was growing
deeper and more feminine. I imagined a well of magic resting between my hipbones and pelvis, the
power inside swirling like creation itself. It was sensual, and so much more than sexy.
“Tell us what you feel. This liquid stone is to help open your creativity and your voice,” Toro
said, bending to rest the sparkling blue liquid stone at the hollow of my throat. Like he’d given a true
command, Siren Song poured from my lips, and the room shimmered with all the things I was loving,
seeing, and feeling.
One by one, my other men gathered around me on the bed, kneeling in a semi-circle like the stars
surrounding the moon on my back. I had never felt more like a Goddess being worshiped.
And I’d also never felt more worthy of that title.
“This time, I won’t tell you to wait. This unbreakable stone is for action, and we all know you’re
ready for this. You have so much strength, so much determination to do your best through everything,”
Dair whispered, reaching over me to place the creamy yellow unbreakable stone onto my solar
plexus, just beneath the meeting of my ribs.
As the magic in the stone spread through my skin and deep into my solar plexus, I felt the energy
within me begin to swirl faster like a whirlpool. The magic was ready - it was time to put these
feelings and thoughts into divine action.
I nodded, careful not to dislodge any of the stones. “It’s so strong, you guys. There’s so much
magic waiting for me to use it.” For a second, I wavered.
What if I messed up? What if, in the midst of all this creative power, I created something I didn’t
mean to?
“No, honey,” my dragon soothed, reading the shift in my mood even though I was pretty sure I
hadn’t spoken. But maybe my mental connection to them was still open, because the rest of my mates
rushed to add their murmurs to Jack’s assurance.
He continued, “Always remember you’re so much more than your actions, honey. Goddesses are
powerful because they exist, not only because of what they do. The ember stone is for being, not
doing. It will keep you grounded and be like a motor, helping you generate the energy you need.”
I nodded, stronger with his words. “Yes. I am. Because of Iaga and the magic of Haret and Earth,
everything I am is possible. So because I exist, these babies do, too.” I smiled as he brushed his long
fingers against my pelvis, pressing the red ember stone between my legs so it rested at the base of my
body, pulsing hot and demanding against my root chakra.
I heard a whispered spell from Dair, and the clarity crystal appeared in my hand. Smiling at the
rush of power - from a stream to a raging rapid - I lifted the crystal above me and carefully settled it
on the pillow, against the crown of my head.
A deep breath whooshed through me as the seven stones connected. Light and magic seemed to
condense and wrap itself into a column inside my body, power pouring from my toes and my crown.
“I understand,” I said, uncertain if I was talking to Iaga, to myself, or to the men around me. I was
the channel, the vessel - the portal through which creation entered. I would hold the magic of these
twins, and of Haret and Earth.
And I wouldn’t do it alone.
I had my men - my mates.
But even more important to our collective futures, I had my other Goddesses. They were out there.
I just needed to help each woman find and activate her Goddess power, and together, we would raise
the two worlds back up.
“It’s all clear. I understand now,” I repeated, my eyes sliding closed, heavy with the desire to rest.
I felt my muscles and bones begin the shifting process, and as I drifted away, I sensed one of my
mates scoop me up and carry me to the nest of pillows they’d readied in the living room earlier. My
Qilin form shifted into being as my conscious mind floated on the channel of power which the stones
and my mates’ magic had combined to form within me.
Just before the twilight darkness of the cocoon settled over me, I felt the whisper of approval
from Iaga.
You are blessed by the stars surrounding you, little Qilin. And though you think of yourself as
the moon, truly you are Haret itself. The tiny beings in your womb will be sun and moon, and
together, your family will unite Haret for decades to come.
You are Haret’s truth, little Qilin. Now, sleep.
 CHAPTER TWO

ACK
J “So, this is weird, yeah?” I asked Sol, ruffling my hair and staring down at the sleeping Qilin
that was my mate. Of course, I was used to seeing her gorgeous four-legged form, but it was usually
soaring through the sky just in front of my dragon, not curled up in the living room on a bed of
ginormous pillows.
“Certainly different than the lionesses,” Sol agreed, sitting on the floor in front of the couch and
leaning his head back on the cushions. “I’m just happy we seem to have figured out everything. For
now, at least. I have no fucking clue what to do with a baby.”
I laughed, but the truth was, none of us did.
Obviously, it hadn’t been covered in the training we’d gotten from the Council, and we’d all left
home early enough that we’d been each other’s family about as long as I could remember. A bit of
sadness tugged at my heart when I thought of my own dad, still locked away in his dragon form.
He was one of just a handful of dragons and Qilin who hadn’t found their magic again, and I really
regretted that he wouldn’t be able to truly meet Carlyle or our babies. Even though Haret was
returning to normal, there would be scars to heal for a long time yet.
“When is your mother going to show up, then? Kills is already taking bets,” I asked Sol, joking to
lighten my mood. Sol shook his head and rolled his eyes.
“She’ll hate leaving the pridelands, but I’m sure she’s already making plans. I’m not looking
forward to all that,” Sol admitted. I smirked at him, knowing we wouldn’t get out of visits from Reina
Jazira, Tilda, and probably not even Toro’s dad Eber. Probably even Jai’s Grand-mère would pop in
to tell us what to do.
The dragons had agreed to host a small handful of family, but we were definitely keeping the baby
situation under wraps. As much as we’d figured out with the riddles and stones and shit, the threat of
that old dynasty prophecy was making me one skittish lizard.
“Quit worrying, dragon. It will all be fine,” Sol grumbled, running his fingers through his long-ass
hair. It had grown past his shoulders now, so he looked like a lion even when he wasn’t shifted. Our
girl liked it, though, and every one of us assholes would do anything to make her smile.
“I dunno, this is all just fucking weird,” I repeated, stretching out on a wide chair. The six of us
had agreed to take shifts to watch over Carlyle while she cocooned, but I really didn’t know what that
would mean.
“It’s just how her body works. Go to sleep or something. Our girl will wake up soon enough,
wanting some coffee and sugar,” Sol predicted. That made me grin.
Jai was already in the kitchen making some fancy French cookie, the slick fucker. Maybe I’d learn
to bake something, too. A guy had to do more than shake his hips to pull his weight with a woman like
Carlyle.
“Wonder if the babies will be shifters?” I’d asked the question before, but there was no way to
know.
“I hope so. I’d love to have a cub,” Sol admitted. “But no matter what the babies are, we’ll all
love them the same.”
 I nodded. Of course, we would. There were no questions about that. I just couldn’t help but
wonder if there would be a bit of jealousy between those of us that the babies didn’t get magic or
power from.
It was in a man’s nature to love his child, but would that instinct kick in as strongly if the child
looked more like another man?
“Dragon, I don’t have to be a fucking vampire to hear your worries. You gotta relax, man.” Sol sat
up and leveled me with a glare. “No negative vibes in the cocoon,” he reminded me.
I sighed. “I know, goddamn it. I just feel like a big kid myself. What the hell am I going to do with
a kid of our own?”
Sol shrugged, as if it would be easy. “Love the hell out of them. The rest takes care of itself.”
I grinned. When he put it that way, it did sound easy. After all, that’s how the seven of us had
operated since we decided to have a go at loving the same woman, and her loving all of us. We just
loved the hell out of each other, and it worked.
My eyes were finally getting droopy, and I knew it was fucking late. “Let’s get some sleep, lion.
We’ll wake if she needs anything, I know it.”
Sol yawned and nodded. Guarding our Qilin in her cocoon was a lot easier with six of us. Even
though we’d planned shifts to always have a pair right next to her, none of us were going far.
Confident that our mate was protected through everything, the two of us snuggled down against her
four-legged body, me curled against her spine and Sol nuzzling against her long neck.
Some might say it was a little weird, but it was our souls that loved, not our bodies, and our girl
would need magic from our touch no matter what form she was in.

CARLYLE
Cocoon was fucking weird.
I felt more rested, so maybe I’d actually slept a few hours, but I had no way of telling how much
time had passed. I was vaguely aware of Jack’s red magic and Sol’s orange nearby, but I really
couldn’t sense either of them. I couldn’t see or hear what was going on outside my body either, like I
usually could when I was in my Qilin form.
I’d seen a show once on sensory deprivation tanks, where you float in water in pitch black. And
yeah, that was about where I was right now. It didn’t completely suck, but I was worried I’d be
feeling restless and bored before long. Uneasily, I wondered how my cocoon state compared to the
pods the Qilin had lived in while in captivity in Tibor’s KeepSafe.
Ew. I did not like that line of thinking.
I forced my mind to focus instead on the two little beings I was supposed to be growing.
If I concentrated really fucking hard, I could still feel the two swirls of magic inside me, which I
knew instinctively were my twins, growing and taking shape. But I couldn’t sense what magic they
had, or anything else about them, really. Then again, maybe I was supposed to be the one deciding
that. Fuck, I hoped not.
Human women didn’t have to like, design a baby. That was too much freaking pressure.
I tried to stop worrying and relax, hoping my Qilin would take the lead and let me know when it
was safe to surface from the cocoon - I didn’t want to do anything that might jeopardize the babies’
health.
My chakras were buzzing with power still, and I felt the ember stone boosting my power in a
calming way that made me feel more certain I could handle this. Just like my Jack, it was a source of
comfort, like it had always been there and always would be.
A feeling of love and contentment swelled inside my heart, feeling larger than it ever had.
Suddenly, I realized it actually was bigger - I was feeling not just my own love, but two more sources
of the emotion. The two tiny, developing beings in my womb were responding to my love, and I
gulped as they got even realer than before.
It was as if their actual conscious minds and little hearts were forming in real-time, and I so
wished I could share it all with my men. Working hard to commit the sensations to memory, I
promised myself I’d share my mind with them all every time I woke up from the cocoon.
As though that thought had opened a door, I began to feel the shift recede, and my eyes gradually
opened on the living room of the large house in New Draconum, and my body shrunk back down to its
two-legged form.
I giggled as I opened my eyes and realized there were two shifted animals curled around me -
Jack’s dragon had taken up nearly the entire floor space, and Sol’s lion was nuzzled right up under my
chin, his mane tickling the fuck out of my neck. Sol growled a little and stretched, and I dodged a giant
paw, poking him in his soft belly.
His huge maw opened in a yawn and his deep brown eyes blinked open, scanning the room
sleepily. The light was just barely hinting at early morning, and the house was quiet with sleeping
men.
Sol sat and shifted at the same time, smiling down at me as I turned to scratch my fingernails along
my dragon’s scaly chest.
“Careful, Shortcake,” Sol warned as Jack twitched in his sleep, and I ducked a curling claw. But I
knew Jack could never hurt me. I called his name softly and enjoyed as he woke with the same
confusion as Sol had.
“Did you guys not mean to shift?” I asked, once I had my gorgeous men beside me again.
Jack shook his head. “No, I don’t even remember doing it.”
“Me either. Maybe your Qilin magic called our forms to her,” Sol suggested. It sounded
reasonable to me.
“Reminds me of when Chris and I were little, still learning to shift,” Jack said, stretching and
popping his back.
“Ooh, tell me,” I asked, snuggling up to his warm chest.
“Well, Chris is older, so he had better control. But I would wake up all the time in my dragon
form. Broke half a dozen beds and punched through a few walls,” Jack said, laughing at himself. “But
there was this one time, my dad and Chris and I had gone to visit Earth. We were supposed to stick to
the country, stay in some abandoned village, and keep a low profile. Of course, Chris and I had no
intention of sticking with that plan.”
Sol laughed, catching my eye and winking. “I remember this story,” he said, his tone promising it
was a favorite.
“Well, Chris and I snuck away while Dad was sleeping, and we quickly realized this village
wasn’t actually abandoned. It was a fucking Renaissance Fair! Dad hadn’t been to Earth in ages, and
he had no idea humans had moved into such big cities. I guess he thought he was bringing us to the
fucking Middle Ages.”
My mouth popped open as I imagined how humans would react to seeing an actual dragon around
all the knights and ladies in fancy costumes. They probably got one hell of a show.
Sol’s laughter confirmed my suspicions, and Jack made it through the rest of the story. “Needless
to say, there was at least one stable burned and a certain fair maiden rescued by Chris. Such a fucking
flirt.” He shook his head, and I raised an eyebrow.
“But you were totally innocent in all that?”
His cheeks reddened, and Sol smacked him on the shoulder. “Ah, no, you’re right, honey. I
definitely was a bad little dragon. Chris convinced me to shift, then came running through the tiny
village. I was laughing up fireballs and spreading my baby dragon winds, while he was screaming
about a dragon attack and got to play hero for some girl who froze in her tracks. Dad was so fucking
mad, we didn’t visit Earth again until I joined the mission to find you.”
His eyes grew darker as his laughter died down and he tucked away the memory. I leaned into his
shoulder, giving him an awkward side hug. I knew his dad was one of the few dragons who hadn’t
been rehabilitated from the loss of their magic, and it had been freaking hard for him and Chris to
handle.
“I miss him, honey,” Jack whispered suddenly, burying his face in the hollow of my throat. My
heart ached for him - his dad was still here but lost in his own mind. He didn’t recognize Jack or
Chris, and he remembered nothing of his previous life. It sounded horrible, and I hurt because of
Jack’s hurt.
His arms circled me tighter, and his lips began to kiss my neck like he was searching for
something or getting lost in my body. I shifted my weight to settle fully on his lap, wrapping my legs
around his trim waist and encouraging him to wander. I’d be his safe place, his stable rock in
whatever storm he was weathering.
Neither of us had bothered with clothes after shifting back - because what was the point, really? -
and it was oh, so easy to lift my hips and let his hardening cock slide deep inside me. He moaned my
name and held me even tighter, his eyes closed tight like he wanted to only feel, and only feel his
body, not his heart.
I bent my legs to get some leverage, and slowly, I began to raise and lower my body, fucking my
dragon with all the focused attention and sweetness he’d once given me, our very first night together.
He’d been desperate then, too, but for such different reasons.
All it showed me was that we could handle anything life threw at us, whether it was the evil of the
Ringmaster or the unexpected broken pieces of life that nobody could control.
Our speed increased and heat crackled between us as Jack came inside me with a groan, taking
my mouth as passionately as he ever had. His breath still coming quickly, he whispered something that
sounded like gratitude mixed with love. I simply rested my forehead on his, letting our stillness speak
my own answer as my body cooled from our pleasure.
“Forever, Jack,” I finally whispered as we drew apart enough to connect our gazes.
He repeated the word, barely making a sound, and I felt a second set of strong arms embrace me
from behind. Sol was at my back, and suddenly I wanted my lion just as much.
“More?” Sol asked quietly, and I sighed my consent as Jack pushed me gently back until I was
leaning against Sol’s smooth chest. Together they lifted my hips enough for Sol to slide deep in my
pussy, taking Jack’s place.
My dragon reclined a bit against the couch, his gaze heavy-lidded and willing to watch. I grinned
at him, but my eyes rolled back a bit as Sol wrapped his hands around my body, nipping gently at my
neck as he smoothed his hands up and down all of my newest curves.
“You are so gorgeous like this, so lush and ripe. I just want to touch you forever,” he said, his
voice gravelly and thrilling against my throat. I giggled a bit at his words, but his hands pulled the
sound deeper as he started to fuck me with all the slow, patient sensuality I’d come to love from my
lion.
 Just like I’d been reminded of the night Jack and I mated, my mind slid to the night Sol had
arranged for us on the beach, where he’d truly made love to me all night long. I may not have the
energy for that right now, but I was a happy, happy Qilin with this sort of treatment.
Sol’s finger landed on my clit, and I closed my eyes, sinking into the sensation as he expertly
pulled another orgasm through my body.
“Fucking beautiful,” Jack murmured, and I slitted my eyes open to find him still watching me.
“We’re going to guard our Qilin and please our Goddess - as much as you need from us, and then
some,” Sol promised, working his cock deeper and harder to keep pulling the pleasure higher.
I cried out around him, slumping back against his chest as Jack sat up to drop feathery kisses on
my chest and lips.
“Best wake up ever,” I murmured, as the two of them pinned me sweetly between them, their
hands turning to gentle massage.
Before we had a chance to start a new round of wake-up calls, though, a door banged in the house.
Killian appeared, his red hair adorably rumpled and his trademark pissed-off look all over his
handsome face.
“What are you fuckers doing up so early? An’ what the fuck happened to the couch?” he griped,
raising an eyebrow at the mess Jack’s dragon shift had made, before heading to the kitchen. I didn’t
sass back, though, because he’d headed straight for the coffee maker and was already pulling my
favorite, enormous mug from the cupboard.
“Mine,” I warned, tugging a robe around my body as I padded to him.
“Fucking right, I am,” he teased, grabbing me around the waist and bending me backward to give
me a hell of a wakeup kiss.
At least, it would have been if I hadn’t already been quite thoroughly woken.
“Ya taste like lion and burnt lizard,” he said, his green eyes sparking.
“Here’s your chance to change that,” I offered, and he pinched my ass, making me squeal. The
coffee maker had sputtered out just enough coffee for him to fill the mug, though, and as he added
several heaps of sugar and offered it to me, I knew.
This was all going to be just fine.
 CHAPTER THREE

ARLYLE
C As the others woke and joined us, I watched my men gather with a sense of deep
satisfaction. They were doing simple things, caring for me and for each other, and it all felt so fucking
normal my heart could barely believe it.
“What’s on your mind, Shortcake?” Sol asked, settling beside me and running his palm up my
thigh.
I shrugged and smiled at him, rubbing my palm over my belly. “Just happy. It’s hard to believe we
really don’t have any more quests or riddles or henchmen to worry about. Just growing babies and
loving each other.” I looked down at my stomach, frowning at how much larger I seemed this morning
than when I’d gone to sleep.
“Everything feels healthy, though?” Jai asked, his sharp eyes catching the concern on my face.
“Yeah, yeah it does. Just so weird how it feels like I expanded two pants sizes overnight. Not that
I really wear pants,” I added, trailing off when I noticed the quiet in the kitchen.
“Ah, Shortcake? You were in cocoon nearly a week,” Sol said gently, his hand squeezing my leg.
A wave of dizziness and confusion swept over me. “What? No. I fell asleep last night after we did
that thing with the stones.”
“Tha’ was six nights ago, Savage,” Killian said, studying me from across the room as he leaned
against the counter.
I cursed under my breath, not sure how to take this news. I didn’t like feeling as though big chunks
of my life were missing - not at all. “Is that normal?” I asked, chewing on my lower lip.
Jai nodded. “It’s necessary, actually. The longer you stay shifted, the healthier and more powerful
the babies should be. The Qilin we interviewed said the level of your awareness in cocoon will vary,
and that longer stretches of cocoon usually mean you’ve been drained of energy or magic before, and
also with multiple babies.”
He shrugged, and I couldn’t help but nod. Both of those were true, and I certainly wanted strong,
healthy twins. “So, what have you guys been doing all this time, then?”
“Making nice with the dragons and Qilin, for one,” Toro said, settling on the couch.
“Making plans for fortifying our castle,” Jai added, and Dair hummed in agreement.
“We will make our castle a safe place to raise our children,” my mage vowed, as though he’d
been telling himself that on repeat.
“It will be nice to go home after all this,” I agreed.
“Donna forget trying to keep the mothers-in-law from visiting,” Killian smirked, and Sol rolled
his eyes.
“I’ve sent my mother three separate replies already. She’s still insisting on coming here instead of
waiting for us to return to the castle,” Sol said.
“And you know my dad won’t listen, either,” Toro said, laughing. “Where Jazira goes, he’s gonna
swim the hell after her.”
I raised my eyebrows at my fish, and he shook his head with a grin. Sol pressed a pillow to his
face and groaned, making me laugh.
“Parents are so fucking awkward,” my lion grumbled, glaring at Toro.
 My mer just laughed and threw up his hands. “I have no control over that dumbass, and you know
it.”
I snickered, adding, “A fish and a jungle cat? Eber doesn’t have a prayer of coming out of this
unharmed.”
“No, he really doesn’t, but that won’t stop him from going for that pussy,” Jack agreed, ducking
the pillow Sol launched at him as I giggled.
Dair side-stepped the scuffle neatly, setting up a tray near me that was piled high with pastries
and fresh fruit. I groaned as Jack slipped a honey cloud coffee into my hand, and Jai winked at me,
pointing to his special homemade violet-honey macarons on the plate.
My men were simply the fucking best.
I wasted no time stuffing myself silly with sweets and coffee - and yeah, a few healthy things for
the babies. Whatever. My men doted on me, and life was about perfect as I strolled into the massive
shower with a sneaky vampire close behind.
“I don’t want to keep you up for much longer, aima, but there was one other thing I found out from
the Qilin that helps induce cocoon.”
“Oh yeah?” I murmured, giving him a hopeful side-eye as I tested the water temperature and
stepped under the stream. By the Goddess, the water felt amazing.
Jai didn’t answer, and I wiped the water from my eyes to check on him. So worth it - he’d
stripped in record time and was waiting before me, his glossy sheet of dark hair pushed over one
shoulder and his viper tattoo glistening with mist from my shower. My knees started to bend on
impulse as my eyes slid down to his waiting cock, jutting toward me like an invitation. I’d gladly add
that to my list of favorite things to put in my mouth.
“Yes, but not today, aima,” Jai whispered, catching my elbows and drawing us both under the
warm water. He pressed his mouth to mine, grinding his hips against me as I ran my palms across his
shoulder blades. His hand hooked under my knee, drawing my leg up and around his waist. Without
giving me time to beg, his fangs nipped at my lips and he thrust himself deep in my pussy.
I breathed a yes, his body molding to mine in a new way, around my growing belly. His lips and
fangs never stopped their commanding assault as he ran both hands across my stomach and breasts,
caressing my curves like a starving man. My eyes slid closed as he fucked me harder against the cool
tile, and water droplets streamed down my neck and between my breasts.
“You are a miracle,” he mumbled against my lips, his hands tight against my stomach, and for a
heady moment I wasn’t sure if he was speaking to me or our twins. My senses took over my mind,
though, as he hiked my leg higher and hit even deeper inside me.
Pleasure rolled through my body without any further warning, and I clung to his shoulders as he
worked us higher and higher. Coming inside me with a low, possessive growl, he latched onto my
neck for one last draw of blood.
“Fuck, Jai,” I panted, my knees weak for a whole new reason. He only grinned like the devil as he
pulled back, letting the droplets of water rinse my blood from his fangs. He looked feral and
delicious and all kinds of mine in the moment, and I leaned forward to lick the last bit of myself from
his bottom lip.
He groaned, muttering something about starting all over again, as he helped me to a tiled bench
along the wall of the shower. I watched in a hazy post-orgasm bliss as my vampire added more jets of
water to reach me and began to wash my hair and body.
“I feel like a princess,” I joked, as he knelt to wash my legs and feet.
 “A Goddess,” he corrected, his dark eyes flashing heat at me. Strands of damp black hair lined his
gorgeous face, and his sinewy body was like a sculpture, created just for me.
“You’ll be such a doting daddy,” I blurted out, and a proud smile slipped onto his face. “I know
you didn’t love having the Underbelly kids with us, but it will be different when it’s our own.” The
words were tumbling out, and for a moment I knew I was reassuring myself as much as Jai.
“Ah, my beautiful aima. Of course, we will love them. More than life itself,” he agreed, his voice
soft and understanding. “We will make mistakes - it’s the only way that growth happens. But there
will be so many hands to help them grow.”
Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes as he finished rinsing the soap from my body and turned
off the water. I allowed him to wrap me in fluffy towels and carry me back into the living room,
where Killian was alone on the couch.
“My turn to watch over ya,” he said, his grin making me feel like I was ready to get dirty all over
again.
“Our turn,” Jai corrected, but he deposited me into the nest of pillows on the floor and stepped
back so Killian could lay next to me. I sighed and stretched out, a sudden sleepiness washing over
me. I yawned and giggled as Kills used his air magic to dry my hair in record time, and I snuggled up
to his huge, warm body.
“Handy,” I murmured.
“I was thinkin’ more like lips and tongue,” he said, trailing his mouth along my shoulder as he
nudged the towel down.
I tried to force down another yawn, not wanting my fae to feel like I was too tired. But damn, the
need to cocoon was hitting me faster than I’d expected.
“Just relax, Savage. I know you’ll be off to dreamland soon. I was just hopin’ to be the last thing
on your mind, so you dream of me,” he said, smirking down at me.
Well, I wasn’t about to say no to that kind of offer. I let him peel me out of the towels, my fingers
running over his muscles as I tried to tug at his shirt.
“Nope. This one’s all for you,” he ordered, pinning my wrists together above my head as he
sucked a nipple into his mouth.
I moaned as he trailed lightly between my breasts, his other hand smoothing down my curves and
cupping my pussy. A thick finger sank inside me, and he cursed.
“So fucking wet for me,” he said, and I felt like a flower unfurling with his praise. “So goddamn
sweet,” Kills added, sucking my wetness from his finger before plunging back in my pussy. He
released my wrists and slid down my body, clearly on a mission.
I started to squirm away from Killian’s kisses though, as he traveled slowly across my thigh, his
gaze locked on the sweet spot between my legs.
“Ah, what if I shift in the middle of it?” I asked, my eyelids feeling heavy despite how revved-up
the rest of me was getting.
“I’ll take tha’ chance,” he growled, reaching his destination and parking that perfect tongue right
on top of my clit. Ah, fuck. No more arguments. I leaned back into the pillows and let my fae really
get to work.
Kills pressed his face tight against my center, his tongue lashing deep into me as his hands
kneaded my thighs, then pulling back to lock me in his challenge stare as he began to rock two fingers
in and out of my aching core.
“More,” I begged, the word barely leaving my lips before he slicked his tongue from my opening
to my clit, swirling it around that bundle of nerves while I writhed in his grip.
 “I can still taste the boss on you, Savage, and it’s fuckin’ sexy as hell,” he growled, twisting his
fingers deeper, and his words pushed me right over the edge. I came so freaking hard, my pussy
clamping down on his fingers as he sucked my clit between his lips.
And the fucker just laughed, drawing my pleasure higher and higher.
“Now ya can sleep, Savage,” he whispered, dragging his lips up my body and pressing a sloppy
kiss to my mouth. Like he’d cast a spell on me, my eyes dropped closed, and the last thing I was
aware of was a warm blanket being laid across my body as my muscles and bones began to slide into
a gentle shift.
I felt looser and lighter this time, like I was free to explore my mind and spread my thoughts
deeper into my consciousness. It was a little like when I’d spent time building my internal walls to
keep my thoughts from being breached, and I’d locked certain memories away from sight. Except this
time, I was unlocking things - the two swirls of light I’d seen in my previous cocoon had grown, and I
wanted to see them closer.
I was drawn to them like a moth to a flame, and my curiosity surged as I was able to examine them
like memories, slowly beginning to see differences between them.
Although I could see all seven colors of our magic spinning around inside each little orb, one of
them was definitely more full of red, orange, and yellow. The other held the cooler tones of green,
blue, and indigo. Concentrating harder, I discovered my violet seemed to be in equal amounts in both.
I smirked inwardly. It was nice to know I was well-represented here.
My little sun and moon, I whispered to them, thinking of Iaga’s words. The spheres of colorful
energy flashed like they were giving me a reply, and I thrilled with the idea that maybe I could talk
with them inside the cocoon.
Just like I’d once spread my magic high into the skies and deep into the oceans to find Jai when
he’d been captured, and to find my people in the KeepSafe, I understood what I could do. I focused
my magic not far and wide, but near and tight inside my heart.
Drawing my power into that place deep inside that I called soul, I asked it to help me find the
consciousness of my twins.
My little sun and moon, I repeated, hunting for their energies. I’m your mother. Your dam. I’m
here, waiting for you. Holding space for you. Waiting with you. This is a place of infinite
possibilities. What will we make together? What do you want?
The questions slipped out before I realized I’d been craving my twins’ input on their magic and
abilities. I didn’t want to be the only one responsible for creating them. I was a Goddess, but I was no
dictator. And even though my men would have helped, I understood the power that could be found in
offering these choices to our children.
No answers came, though. Maybe it was too early still.
I love you both, through everything. I know I’ll see you when you’re ready to be seen. I’ll wait,
I promised them. The magic retreated a bit, and the swirls of color faded into the darker recesses in
my mind. I felt sleepy, even in my supposed state of rest inside the cocoon, and I imagined lying down
in a fluffy bed to nap and let my body do the work it instinctively knew how to do. Hell, I really
hoped I wouldn’t have to consciously form their little bodies - half a high school education was
definitely not enough for that.
As I navigated the weirdness of dreaming within a dream, it began to feel more like
dreamwalking, though I understood it couldn’t be. Unless somehow I’d tapped into my twins’ dreams.
My mind began to spin - it was too much to try and puzzle out, really. I relaxed and simply let myself
observe.
 I was back at our castle, and somehow I knew my men’s favorite woodland games were afoot.
Shrieks of childish laughter rang through the trees, and I followed the sounds eagerly. A flash of color
here, and the crack of a branch there, guided me deeper into the forest.
Echoes of giggles and cries of delight bounced around the trees, and I was smiling so hard my
cheeks hurt as I anticipated what I might see. And finally, rounding the thick trunk of an ancient tree, I
spied two little forms play-fighting and jumping around a grassy, sunlit clearing.
One had floppy, softly curled hair like honey and strawberries, milky white skin and a sturdy
belly laugh. Orange, red, and yellow magic flashed and played around this one, as they played their
games.
The other was surrounded by swirls of green, blue, and indigo magic, like shadows wrapping the
small form in elegant lace. Sleek dark hair swung across the little face, and a mesmerizing childish
voice wound its way around the clearing in song.
They took no notice of me, and in fact, I wasn’t certain I was seeing anything that would come
true. But the love I’d been holding close, ready to give to my twins, was flowing directly to their little
bodies. I felt the power of creation settle deep in my bones, and I understood.
The magic I’d absorbed from the clarity crystal bolstered my violet magic, and I knew - these
were my twins.
With a surge of love, I imagined them in the future as a boy and a girl - a warm and playful burst
of sunshine and laughter, and a cool, stealthy mix of control and blade-sharp intellect.
With a pulse of my third eye sruth, I saw that they were creating themselves much more than I was
creating them, mixing up their magic just like I’d learned to do. Like an Oracle receiving a prophecy, I
understood that our little sun and moon would add to our family and heal Haret in ways we hadn’t
even dreamed of yet.
 CHAPTER FOUR

ARLYLE
C “How long has it been this time? I have so much to tell you guys,” I blurted out, bolting
upright in my pillow nest. My legs were still tingling from my shift.
The sun was slanting into the living room with the golden hue of late afternoon, and Jai was
nearby with a book in his hand. Killian had been standing near the window, lifting weights, but they
thudded to the floor as he hurried back to me.
“Just over two weeks,” Jai said, watching me carefully for my reaction. I cursed, my eyes
widening. My mind was boggled by the way it felt like a single night’s sleep to me.
“Ya did good, Savage,” Killian encouraged, gathering me into a hug, but also taking the
opportunity for a cheeky ass grab. I wriggled against him, and he chuckled like that had been his goal
all along.
“I hope you’re hungry,” Dair called, and my eyes drifted to the kitchen area where my mage was
standing over several steaming dishes. “I may not have the vampire’s skill, but my mother would have
never let me leave the house without learning to make her eggplant parmigiana.”
My stomach rumbled on cue, and I caught a glimpse of Toro as he rounded the corner. “He was
hoping the smell would wake up our Sleeping Beauty. But I think it was because I convinced the mage
to pop down to Patriam and get gelato,” he called in a sing-song voice, giving me a saucy grin.
“Yes, please,” I moaned, shrugging into the oversized t-shirt Jack had just handed me. I tipped my
lips up to his for a kiss, and the others huffed. “There will be plenty of time for everyone, just as soon
as I’m fed,” I teased.
We crowded around the broad table, and I began to stumble over my words trying to tell them all
I’d seen in my cocoon - how I’d watched the little orbs of light acquire magic and colors, and how I’d
watched the vision of the boy and girl over and over like a movie in my mind.
“Oh hell,” I exclaimed around a mouthful of garlic bread. “What the fuck are we going to name
them?”
I was met with laughter and an onslaught of names - each one more horrible than the last.
“If you want to name a kid Dixie Normas, you can fucking grow one,” I griped, tossing the last
bite of my bread at Killian, who caught it and chomped it down with a spark in his eyes. “Maybe I’ll
just let them decide,” I added, rubbing at my belly, which was at least twice as big as the last time I’d
seen it, even before all the food I’d stuffed myself with.
None of my men seemed to take this seriously, and if I’d been talking about human babies, I’d be
laughing, too. But for all I knew, these kids could be born knowing how to talk and tie their shoes.
“I’m sure whatever they’re called, it will be in love,” Sol said, wrapping an arm around my
shoulder.
“Cheesy,” I said, smiling up at him.
“You like it,” he answered as usual, kissing the tip of my nose.
I leaned into him, stifling a yawn as I felt my Qilin getting a little twitchy. Damn, already? I felt
like I’d barely been awake this time, and I’d really been hoping for a little time with my men.
“Dinner was amazing, and of course, the gelato, too,” I said, smiling over at Dair. “Guess you get
to go straight from cooking to Qilin duty?” He tossed me a sexy smirk that went straight to my core -
damn, I was hoping I could get my four-legged friend to hold off just a bit longer.
I got up to stretch my muscles, and Toro reached over to smack my ass, making a kissy face at me
when I raised an eyebrow. “Are you ready for your turn, too?”
“Always fucking ready for you,” he purred, swooping me into his arms and hooking me with a
hell of a kiss. I knew he meant ready for whatever I needed, but my pussy was currently playing
paper-rock-scissors with my Qilin, bargaining for a few more minutes before bedtime.
Jai and Sol began clearing away the dinner mess, both giving me soft smiles and gentle touches as
they moved around the kitchen. I heard Kills challenge Jack to some sort of card game, and I sighed,
already missing their company.
Cocoon didn’t exactly feel lonely, since time passed without me really noticing, but I’d be glad
when it was over and I had full access to my men.
“Trust your body and your Qilin to know what it needs, Cariño. We will all wait for you,” Dair
said gently, taking my hand and leading me back to the nest of pillows. There was a Qilin-sized
hollow in the center, and my two-legged shape felt a little dwarfed as I stripped off the shirt I’d
barely worn and settled into the cushions. Struggling against another yawn, I turned onto my side,
propping my swollen belly on a pillow. I was going to have some hellacious stretch marks, but
whatever.
Dair began to massage my feet as my Toro settled at my head, using his water magic to clean my
hair and get me the freshness of a shower. I knew they’d been keeping me clean somehow, and I
marveled at his control as I felt the water but never really got wet.
I could feel my Qilin pushing to come forward, but I closed my eyes and sort of begged her to
wait a little longer. I was grateful for her strength, of course - growing the twins really sucked down
my energy and my magic. My body aches went away when I was in Qilin form, too. But rest wasn’t
the only thing that restored my magic.
And to my relief, I felt her back down, and I imagined her tossing her mane at me as if to say, have
fun.
I grinned, and Toro snickered.
“What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?” he murmured, pulling the last of his water magic
back but continuing to massage my scalp.
“Just disciplining my Qilin a little bit so I can have a few more minutes with you,” I replied,
catching Dair’s gaze and giving my mage a wink.
“Discipline, hmmm?” he repeated, a twist of a smile playing on his full lips.
“I’m sure we could come up with a few ways to help you with that,” Toro suggested, his fingers
brushing up my arms and skimming the sides of my breasts. He swept my clean hair aside and leaned
down to press a gentle kiss to my forehead.
I tried to twist my neck to reach his lips, but he grinned and dodged.
“Scatter,” Dair commanded the others, who had begun to gather at the edge of the pillow nest,
probably wondering if I was actually going to shift or not.
To my surprise, Sol, Killian, Jai, and Jack obeyed him, heading in different directions to do
whatever hot men did when they weren’t giving me orgasms.
Dair hadn’t chased Toro away, though, and I gave my mage a good dose of side-eye as my fish
continued to play with his favorite pair of pillows.
He only smirked as he began to mutter spells under his breath.
“Close your eyes, Cariño,” he ordered, and I obeyed because this was always the game with my
mage.
 I followed directions, and I got rewarded.
And if my Qilin could be a good girl and let me play a bit longer, I was sure as hell going to be
good, too.
I felt the crackle of Dair’s magic as he procured things I couldn’t see, and I shivered in
anticipation when his smooth hands stroked up my legs, passing lovingly across my swollen belly,
between my full breasts and finally came to rest at the base of my throat.
“Mm, girl, you are so lush,” Toro complimented, his hands going all the places Dair’s had just
been.
I peeked an eye open, catching Dair nodding, and he chuckled.
“You know, Cariño, perhaps your Qilin is taking her cues from you. You may need a little lesson
in discipline, if you expect to teach her,” he said, his navy eyes darkening with promises I really
hoped he was going to keep.
“And I guess you’re just the mage to teach it?” I whispered, the words catching in my throat as his
long fingers wrapped my neck and squeezed just a bit more than lightly.
“I certainly am,” he said, his smile growing downright predatory. “And once we’ve had our
lesson, you’ll be ready to allow your Qilin to do her part again.”
I breathed a promise of agreement around his slowly tightening fingers, and Toro slipped a satin
blindfold over my eyes. A small gasp left my lips - I was all kinds of interested in how these two
might work together, since Dair didn’t like to be watched, and Toro was often the one watching.
The two of them began to adjust my body so I was further on my side, my face resting on Toro’s
muscular thigh as he finger-combed my hair into a loose braid.
Dair tugged my arms free, weaving and wrapping a silky rope around them, starting just below my
shoulder. The tension pulled my arms gently together behind me as he bound my wrists above my
lower back. I wished I could see it, because I knew how much he delighted in those special, sexy
knots.
“Not too tight - just in case you try to fight me,” he murmured as he cinched the knot, and my body
tingled in anticipation. I hadn’t quite decided what I would do, if I was being honest. I just wanted to
fucking play, and Dair’s games were exactly the right thing for my frustrated mood. Or any mood, for
that matter.
“On your knees, Cariño,” he ordered, the low sultry tones of his voice growing harsh and
commanding. And yeah, they pulled a nice little zing of pleasure straight from my core.
He wrapped a hand around my throat again, pulling my weight gently up while Toro supported my
shoulders, until I’d fumbled my way to a kneeling position. I couldn’t see Toro through the blindfold,
but now that I was on my knees, he was no longer touching me.
I knew he was still close. Was he touching himself? My pussy clenched in approval of that
thought, and my nipples hardened. I heard a murmur of appreciation from my fish, and my face tilted
up toward the noise. So maybe he kneeling, too? Or standing in front of me?
“Quit thinking,” Dair warned, giving my bound arms a sharp tug before he pushed against my back
and bent me forward at the waist. One of them had stacked a few dense pillows for my belly to rest
on, and although the position was a little awkward, I was comfortable.
Well, until Dair jerked my arms again, bringing my bare ass against his hard cock. His fully
clothed hard cock, damn him. I groaned, the sound sliding into a moan as his left hand left my wrists
and tightened on my throat again. His right hand slid down my spine and cupped my ass cheek, and
again, I wondered what Toro was doing.
 “In a moment, Toro is going to remove your blindfold, and you’re going to look up into his eyes.
But every time you take your eyes away from his, this will happen,” Dair warned, and I cried out as
the palm of his hand cracked across my bare ass, leaving a sting I hadn’t been expecting. My pussy
clenched as he smoothed his fingers across the warm skin, and I sighed into the idea of the game.
Toro slid the blindfold away from my face, but instead of meeting his eyes, I found myself
blinking at his naked cock positioned directly in my line of sight, mere inches from me.
Ah, fuck me. This was going to be hard.
“Again,” Toro said, and my head snapped up as I realized he’d already ratted me out. He only
grinned at me as Dair’s hand landed another blow, right over the same sensitive skin.
A low moan formed in my throat, but I bit it back. The position was a little hard to maintain, but I
tilted my head back and locked my eyes on Toro in challenge. The game was on.
But oh hell, was my mer in a playful mood.
He did a sexy little shimmy he’d probably learned from Jack, and I felt the whisper of his Siren
Song against my ears as his fat, heavy cock bounced right in front of my face. Goddamn it, I couldn’t
help it. I looked.
“Again,” Toro shouted with glee, and Dair followed up right away. My mer actually fucking
laughed as I groaned, his fingers wrapping around his thick shaft and stroking himself lazily. He
leaned a few inches closer, prodding at my open mouth with his silky tip. I opened wider and took
him obediently, forcing myself to meet his eyes as he thrust slowly toward the back of my mouth.
I had this. I could totally keep eye contact while he fucked my throat. I had this - until Dair
cheated.
At least two fingers hooked deep inside my pussy, and my eyes rolled back in pleasure.
“Again,” Toro called, his voice huskier, and I moaned around his cock as Dair spanked me again,
caressing away the sting and going straight for my wet pussy again.
I so did not have this.
I struggled to keep my eyes on Toro’s sparkling blue ones, but the angle was the least of my
problems. Pretty soon, I just gave the fuck up and was sucking my fish for all I was worth, my eyes
closed as the bliss of what Dair was doing with his palm and fingers won over.
Toro’s commands of, “Again,” grew softer and more desperate as he fucked my throat, and I
hummed along with his Siren Song. Dair continued to alternate between delivering pleasure and
stinging pain, teasing me without mercy. I was a soaking mess by the time Toro shouted his release as
his cock pulsed deep in my throat.
I gave him one final, vicious suck as he pulled his cock from my lips, and he cursed like a sailor.
Groaning, he slumped onto the floor with his back against the couch.
“Damn. You may have lost the game, baby, but you still suck cock like a winner.” Toro chuckled at
his own joke, but I didn’t have a spare second to worry about payback.
Dair must have taken advantage of our shared distraction to free his cock from his pants, and with
a final crack to my sore ass, he drove deep into my pussy from behind. I cried out hoarsely as he
wrapped both hands around my wrists and used them to hold me and fuck me as hard and fast as he’d
been spanking me.
Toro leaned in to brace my shoulders and kissed me equally fiercely, and it wasn’t long before my
tired mind began to short circuit with pleasure. I unraveled in their arms, panting and grinning.
“I do hate to lose, but damn, boys. What a consolation prize,” I managed, as Toro’s mouth left
mine.
 “Such a very good girl,” Dair murmured, sliding his cock out of my pussy and whispering another
spell. As the silk disappeared from my wrists, my actual wrists dissolved too, and just as Dair leaned
over and embraced me completely from behind, my Qilin slowly began to emerge.
My men slid to each side, giving my Qilin the space to fully shift, and I caught a final
conspiratorial grin exchanged between them before my heavy eyes closed and I slipped into the rest
of my cocoon.
Except this time, I wasn’t exactly alone in my mind.
Mama? a girlish whisper echoed, and I realized my mer had topped up the magic of my throat
sruth, for communication, and my mage had offered the strength and determination of action to my
solar plexus.
I’m here, I called in my mind, whirling toward the same laughter I’d heard before, in the vision of
the little boy and girl in the clearing.
Mama, come play!
Another random document with
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climate, upon an equal soil, freely pasture his herds and flocks where
he pleases, and love his neighbor better than himself.

OUR FARMERS.

The test of profitable farming is the state of the account at the end
of the year. Under free trade the evidence multiplies that the English
farmer comes to the end of the year with no surplus, often in debt,
bare and discontented. Their laborers rarely know the luxury of
meat, not over sixteen ounces per week,[87] and never expect to own a
rood of the soil.
But under the protective policy the American farmer holds and
cultivates his own land, has a surplus at the end of the year for
permanent investments or improvements, and educates and brings
up his sons and daughters with the advantages and comforts of good
society. There are more American houses with carpets than in any
other country of the world. I believe it will not be disputed that the
down-trodden tillers of the soil in Great Britain are not well fed; that
they are coarsely underclad, and that for lack of common-school
culture they would hardly be regarded as fit associates here for
Americans who drive their teams afield, or for the young men who
start in life as laborers upon farms. The claim that free trade is the
true policy of the American farmer would seem to be, therefore, a
very courageous falsehood.
It is an unfortunate tendency of the age that nearly one-half of the
population of the globe is concentrated in cities, often badly
governed, and sharply exposed to extravagance, pauperism,
immorality, and all the crimes and vices which overtake mankind
reared in hot-beds. I would neither undervalue the men of brilliant
parts, nor blot out the material splendor of cities, but regret to see
the rural districts depopulated for their unhealthy aggrandizement.
Free trade builds up a few of these custom-house cities, where gain
from foreign trade is the chief object sought, where mechanics,
greater in numbers than any other class, often hang their heads,
though Crœsus rolls in Pactolian wealth, and Shylock wins his pound
of flesh; but protection assembles artisans and skilled workmen in
tidy villages and towns, details many squadrons of industry to other
and distant localities, puts idle and playful waterfalls at work, opens,
builds up, and illumines, as with an electric light, the whole interior
of the country; and the farmer of Texas or of New England, of Iowa
or of Wisconsin, is benefited by such reinforcements of consumers,
whether they are by his side or across the river, at Atlanta or South
Bend, at Paterson or at Providence. The farmers own and occupy
more than nineteen-twentieths of our whole territory, and their
interest is in harmony with the even-handed growth and prosperity
of the whole country.
There is not a State whose interests would not be jeopardized by
free trade, and I should like to dwell upon the salient facts as to
Missouri, Kansas, Indiana, Alabama, Illinois, and many other States,
but I shall only refer to one. The State of Texas, surpassing empires
in its vast domains, doubling its population within a decade, and
expending over twenty million dollars within a year in the
construction of additional railroads, with a promised expenditure
within the next fifteen months of over twenty-seven millions more,
has sent to market as raw material the past year 12,262,052 pounds
of hides, 20,671,639 pounds of wool, and 1,260,247 bales of cotton.
Her mineral resources, though known to be immense, are as yet
untouched. Her bullocks, in countless herds on their way to market,
annually crowd and crop the prairies from Denver to Chicago. But
now possessed of a liberal system of railroads, how long will the
dashing spirit of the Lone Star State—where precious memories still
survive of Austin, of Houston, of Rusk, and of Schleicher—be content
to send off unmanufactured her immense bulk of precious raw
materials, which should be doubled in value at home, and by the
same process largely multiply her population? With half as many in
number now as had the original thirteen, and soon to pass our
largest States, wanting indefinite quantities of future manufactures
at home, Texas should also prepare to supply the opening trade with
Mexico, in all of its magnitude and variety, and far more worthy of
ambition than in the golden days of Montezuma.
No State can run and maintain railroads unless the way-stations,
active and growing settlements and towns, are numerous enough to
offer a large, constant, and increasing support. The through business
of long lines of railroads is of great importance to the termini, and
gives the roads some prestige, but the prosperity and dividends
mainly accrue from the local business of thrifty towns on the line of
the roads. It is these, especially manufacturing towns, which make
freight both ways, to and from, that free trade must ever fail to do,
and while through freights, owing to inevitable competition, pay little
or no profit, the local freights sustain the roads, and are and must be
the basis of their chief future value. Without this efficient local
support, cheap and rapid long transportation would be wholly
impracticable.
The Southern States, in the production of cotton, have possibly
already reached the maximum quantity that can be cultivated with
greatest profit, unless the demand of the world expands. A short crop
now often brings producers a larger sum than a full crop. The
amount of the surplus sent abroad determines the price of the whole
crop. Production appears likely soon to outrun the demand. Texas
alone has latent power to overstock the world. Is it not time,
therefore, to curtail the crop, or to stop any large increase of it, while
sure to obtain as much or more for it, and to turn unfruitful capital
and labor into other and more profitable channels of industry? The
untrodden fields, where capital and labor wait to be organized for the
development of Southern manufactures and mining, offer unrivaled
temptations to leaders among men in search of legitimate wealth.
The same facts are almost equally applicable to general
agriculture, but more particularly to the great grain-growing regions
of the West. A great harvest frequently tends to render the labor of
the whole year almost profitless, whenever foreign countries are
blessed with comparatively an equal abundance. The export of corn
last year in October was 8,535,067 bushels, valued at $4,604,840,
but the export of only 4,974,661 bushels this year brings $3,605,813.
An equal difference appears in the increased value of exports of flour.
A much larger share of crops must be consumed nearer home, if any
sure and regular market is to be permanently secured. The foreign
demand, fitful and uncertain as it is, rarely exceeds one-twentieth of
even the present home requirements, and the losses from long
transportation, incident to products of great bulk, can never be
successfully avoided except by an adequate home demand.
Farmers do not look for a market for grain among farmers, but
solely among non-producing consumers, and these it is greatly to
their interest to multiply rather than to diminish by forcing them to
join in producing or doubling crops for which there may be an
insufficient demand. Every ship-load of wheat sent abroad tends to
bring down foreign prices; and such far-off markets should be sought
only when the surplus at home is excessive or when foreign prices
are extraordinarily remunerative.
The wheat regions of the West, superb as they undoubtedly are, it
is to be feared, have too little staying character to be prodigally
squandered, and their natural fertility noticeably vanishes in the rear
unless retained by costly fertilizers almost as rapidly as new fields
open in front. Some of the Middle States as well as the New England,
though seeking fertilizers far and near, already look to the West for
much of their corn and bread; and there is written all over Eastern
fields, as Western visitors may read, the old epitaph, “As we are now
so you may be.” It will take time for this threatened decadence, but
not long in the life of nations. The wheat crop runs away from the
Atlantic coast to the Pacific, and sinks in other localities as it looms
up in Minnesota, Nebraska, and Dakota. Six years of cropping in
California, it is said, reduces the yield per acre nearly one-half.
There was in 1880 devoted to wheat culture over thirty-five million
acres, or nearly double the acreage of 1875. In twenty-five years a
hundred million people will more than overtake any present or
prospective surplus, and we may yet need all of our present
magnificent wheat fields to give bread to our own people. Certainly
we need not be in haste to slaughter and utterly exhaust the native
fertility of our fields on the cheap terms now presented.
England, with all her faults, is great, but unfortunately has not
room to support her greatness, and must have cheap food and be
able to offer better wages or part with great numbers of her people. I
most sincerely hope her statesmen—and she is never without those
of eminence—will prove equal to their great trust and to any crisis;
but we cannot surrender the welfare of our Republic to any foreign
empire. Free trade may or may not be England’s necessity. Certainly
it is not our necessity; and it has not reached, and never will reach,
the altitude of a science. An impost on corn there, it is clear, would
now produce an exodus of her laboring population that would soon
leave the banner of Victoria waving over a second-rate power.
Among the nations of the world the high position of the United
States was never more universally and cordially admitted. Our rights
are everywhere promptly conceded, and we ask nothing more. It is
an age of industry, and we can only succeed by doing our best. Our
citizens under a protective tariff are exceptionally prosperous and
happy, and not strangers to noble deeds nor to private virtues. A
popular government based on universal suffrage will be best and
most certainly perpetuated by the elevation of laboring men through
the more liberal rewards of diversified employments, which give
scope to all grades of genius and intelligence and tend to secure to
posterity the blessings of universal education and the better hope of
personal independence.
 Speech of Hon. J. D. Cameron, of Penna.

On the Reduction of Revenue as Affecting the Tariff. Delivered in the

United States Senate January 16, 1882.
Mr. Cameron, of Pennsylvania. I move to take up the resolution
submitted by me in relation to internal-revenue taxes.
The motion was agreed to; and the Senate proceeded to consider
the following resolution submitted by Mr. Cameron, of
Pennsylvania, December 6, 1881:
Resolved, That in the opinion of the Senate it is expedient to
reduce the revenue of the Government by abolishing all existing
internal revenue taxes except those imposed upon high wines and
distilled spirits.
Mr. Cameron, of Pennsylvania. Mr. President, the surplus revenue
of this Government applicable to the payment of the public debt for
the year ending June 30, 1881, was $100,069,404.98.
The inference from these figures must be that if such surplus
receipts are applied to the reduction of the debt it will be paid within
ten or twelve years. The question then is: Should the people continue
to be taxed as heavily as they now are to pay it off within so short a
period? Is it wise or prudent?
No one will deny the wisdom of the legislators who inaugurated
the system of reducing the debt, or the patriotism of the people who
have endured a heavy load of taxation to pay the interest and reduce
the principal of such indebtedness. Both have been causes of wonder
to the world, and have shown the strength, honesty, and prudence
attainable under a republican form of government in matters where
it was thought to be weak. It is acknowledged that the course thus
pursued by Congress, and supported by the people, has had several
good results. The exercise of the power of the Government and the
cheerful submission to the enacting nature of the laws by the people
has had an undoubted tendency to elevate and strengthen the moral
tone of the nation, giving the people more confidence in each other,
and compelling the approval of the world. It has reduced the
principal sum of our national indebtedness until it is entirely within
the ready control of the financial ability of the people either to pay off
or to pay the interest thereon. It has established the credit of the
country, and brought it up from a position where the 6 per cent. gold
bonds of the United States before the war would not command par to
a present premium of 17 per cent, on a 4 per cent. bond, and to the
ready exchange of called 6 per cent. bonds into new ones bearing 3½
per cent. interest. It has demonstrated the ability of the country not
only to carry on a most expensive internal war, but to pay off its cost
in a time unknown to any other people; and further, that the ability
of the country to furnish men and material of war and to meet
increased financial demands is cumulative. The burden carried by
this country from 1861 to the present day has been much greater
than it would be if laid upon this nation and people from 1881 to
1900.
The burden, therefore, of the present debt would fall but lightly on
the country if the payment thereof should be for a time delayed, or
the rate at which it has been paid be decreased. It thus becomes a
question of prudence with the Government whether they will
continue the burden upon the people, or relieve them of part of it.
The burdens of general taxation borne by the people are very
onerous. They have not only the General Government to sustain, on
which devolves the expenses of legislation, of the Federal judiciary,
of the representatives of our country in all the principal governments
and cities of the world, of the management of such of our internal
affairs and conveniences as belong to Congress, the keeping up of our
Army and Navy, the erection of public buildings, the improvement of
the rivers and harbors, and many other items that require large
annual expenditures. With the increase of population and the filling
up of our unoccupied lands almost all these annual outlays and
expenses will tend to increase in place of decreasing, and all such
expenditures must be in some way met by the people of the country.
They have also to sustain their State governments with the expenses
and outlays incident to them, their legislatures, judiciaries,
penitentiaries, places of reform, hospitals, and all means of aiding
the afflicted, to sustain the common schools, to pay the cost of such
improvements of rivers, of canals, of railways, or of roads as the
States may undertake. They have also the heavy cost to meet of city
governments, of county, town and borough governments; they must
pay the inferior Legislatures, erect buildings, provide water, police,
jails, poor-houses, and build roads and take care of them.
On the liberality of the people the country depends for the building
of charitable institutions, universities, colleges, private schools of
high grade, and every variety of relief to the poor and the afflicted. In
addition to these burdens almost all the States, most of the large
cities, and many of the counties and towns in the States still labor
under the burdens of indebtedness incurred during the war to
sustain the General Government, which indebtedness, incurred on
the then value of paper currency, has now to be paid in gold. They
have not had the means at command to pay off much of such
indebtedness like the General Government, nor to refund it at a
lower rate of interest. The superior credit of the General Government
has been made partially at the expense of the local governments. I
have stated these facts that Senators might keep in mind that the
question should not be considered as merely one of our ability to
reduce our indebtedness by paying off annually one hundred
millions of dollars and by continuing our present laws for raising
revenues, as if it were but a small matter for the people to do, but it
should be considered in connection with the total burden of taxation
imposed by the revenue laws of the General Government, as well as
by those of the State and the subordinate governments within their
bounds.
There is, therefore, a strong argument to be found in these facts of
the other burdens of taxation borne by the people in favor of
reducing the amount of revenue applicable to the payment of the
public debt when it can be done without injury to the credit of the
Government and without risking in the least the ability of the
Government either to pay such indebtedness as it matures or to
interfere with the ability of the Government to fully provide for the
wants of the country as they may be developed. A complete
statement of the percentage of taxation borne by each male citizen of
the United States over twenty-one years of age in the various ways
stated would astound the Senate and the country. There is probably
no country in the world where the taxation direct and indirect is so
heavy, and only a people situated and circumstanced as the
American people are could prosper under such a burden. If no other
reason could be advanced in favor of a reduction of the amount of
moneys derived from our internal-revenue laws than this one of
reducing the burdens of the people, it would be amply sufficient, in
my judgment, to warrant the proposed reduction. Yet I will say
frankly that I have another object in wishing to have the internal
revenue reduced, and I hope before long that every vestige of that
system will cease to exist. That object is to prevent any material
change being made in the tariff upon imports as it now exists, for
upon its existence depends the prosperity, the happiness, the
improvement, the education of the laboring people of the country,
although I do not object to a careful revision of it by a competent
commission.
I want to say a word here about the arrears of pension act. This act
never should be repealed, and in my judgment it never will or can be.
It has lately been held up to contempt by that class of people who
twenty years ago were engaged in exhorting these same pensioners to
go to the front, and who now object to rewarding them; but their
opinion is not shared by the people at large; in fact, no more
essentially just law was ever placed upon the statute book. Its effect
is simply and solely to prevent the Government from pleading the
statute of limitation against its former defenders. It did not increase
the rate of pensions in any way whatever, but merely said that a man
entitled to a pension for physical injury received in Government
service should not be debarred from receiving it because he was late
in making his application. To the payment of these pensions every
sentiment of honesty and gratitude should hold us firmly committed.
My friend the Senator from Kentucky [Mr. Beck] is very honest, is
generally very astute, and has great capacity as a leader. My personal
friendship makes me desire his success, and as an individual I want
him to be the recipient of all the honors his party can bestow upon
him, but I am very sure that he is now opposing a measure that is
intended to promote the welfare of and is in accord with the wishes
of the people of the country. He is leading his party astray, he is
holding it back, he is tying it to the carcass of free trade.
 Politically I am glad that he is; on his own account I regret it. He is
opposing the principle of protection, and, in my judgment, no man
can do that and retain the support of the people. No party can to-day
proclaim the doctrine of “a tariff for revenue only” and survive.
Opposition to an earnest prosecution of the war for the suppression
of the rebellion failed to destroy the Democratic party because of the
recruits it received from the South, but opposition to the doctrine of
protection to American productions, hostility to the elevation of
American labor, no party in this enlightened day can advocate and
live. I am astonished that the Democratic party does not learn by
experience. The “tariff-for-a-revenue-only” plank in the Cincinnati
platform lost it Indiana, lost it New York, and in 1884 it will lose it
one-half of the Southern States.
The President pro tempore. The morning hour has expired. Is it
the pleasure of the Senate that unanimous consent be given to the
Senator from Pennsylvania to proceed with his remarks?
Mr. Beck. I move that unanimous consent be granted.
The President pro tempore. The Chair hears no objection, and
the morning hour will be continued until the Senator from
Pennsylvania closes his remarks.
Mr. Cameron, of Pennsylvania. The great question of protection to
American labor will be the question which will obliterate old
dissensions and unite the States in one common brotherhood. The
Democratic party has made its last great fight. It will struggle hard,
and in its death throes will, with the aid of a few unsuccessful and
disappointed Republicans, possibly have temporary local successes,
but death has marked it for its victim, die it will, and on its tomb will
be inscribed, “Died because of opposition to the education, the
elevation, the advancement of the people.”
The historic policy of this country has been to raise its revenues
mainly from duties on imports and from the sale of the public lands.
There are many reasons in favor of this policy. It is more just and
equal in its burdens on the States and on the people; it is less
inquisitorial, less expensive, less liable to corruption; it is free from
many vexed questions which our experience of twenty years in
collecting internal revenue has developed. The internal revenue
brings the General Government in contact with the people in almost
every thing they eat, wear, or use. The collection of revenue by duties
on imports is so indirect as to remove much of the harshness felt
when the citizen comes in direct contact with the iron grip of the law
compelling him to affix a stamp to what he makes or uses. No one
will question the fact that the collection of internal duties
unfavorably affected the general morals of the nation.
The internal revenue laws were adopted by the Government as a
war measure, as an extraordinary and unusual means of raising
money for an emergency, and it is proper and in accordance with
public opinion that with the end of the emergency such policy should
cease. I cannot but think that every Senator will agree with me that
the end of the emergency has been reached. The emergency
embraced not only the time of the expenditures, but their
continuation until the debt incurred during the emergency was so
reduced as to be readily managed, if not exclusively by the ordinary
revenues of the Government, yet with a greatly reduced system of
internal revenues and for a limited time. But in determining wherein
such reduction shall be made, two great interests of the country are
to be considered:
First, the system of duties on foreign goods, wares, &c.
Second, our national banking system.
It has been proposed to meet this question of reduction by
lowering the rates of duty, and thus to continue in this country
indefinitely the use of direct and indirect taxation, supposing that
such reduction would require the prolonged continuation of internal
taxation.
The first effect of this would be to increase the revenues, as lower
duties would lead for awhile to increased importations; but
ultimately these increased importations would destroy our
manufactures and impoverish the people to the point of inability to
buy largely abroad, and when that point would be reached, we should
have no other source of revenue than internal taxes upon an
impoverished people. At first we should have more revenue than we
need, but in the end much less.
This statement of the effect of lower duties may at first seem
anomalous and questionable, but that such would be the result is
proven by the effect on the revenues of the country of the reduction
in duties in the tariff of 1846 below that of 1842. This will be evident
from the Treasury statistics of the years 1844, 1845, 1846, 1847, &c.,
which will show for the latter years a large increase of revenues. A
reduction of duties which would affect the ability of our
manufacturers to compete with foreign makers would cause a large
importation of goods, with two objects: first, to find a market, the
effect of which would be to keep the mills of England and other
countries fully employed; and, second, a repetition of the custom of
English manufacturers to put goods on our markets at low and losing
prices for the purpose of crippling and breaking down our operators.
And the increase of out national revenues would continue until our
fires were stopped, our mills and mines closed, our laborers starved,
and our capital and skill, the work of many years, lost. This time
would be marked, by a renewal of our vassalage to England. Then the
tables would be turned, our revenues would fall off with our inability
to purchase, our taxation would continue and become very onerous,
and in place of a strong, reliant, and self-supporting people,
exercising a healthful influence over the nations of the world, we
would be owned and be the servants of Europe, tilling the ground for
the benefit of its people; our laborers would be brought down to a
level with the pauper labor of Europe.
Our form of government will not permit the employment of
ignorant pauper labor. It is a government of the people, and to have
it continue to grow and prosper the people must be paid such wages
as will enable them to be educated sufficiently to realize and
appreciate the benefits of its free institutions; and knowing these
benefits, they will maintain them. If, on the other hand, it is
desirable that the revenues from duties should be decreased, and
thereby retain both kinds of taxation, the direct and the indirect, the
best possible way to do this would be to largely increase the duties on
imported goods, which would for a time decrease the imports,
thereby decreasing the amount of duties received. This tendency
would last until, through this policy, the wealth and purchasing
power of the country would so largely increase that the revenues
would again increase, both by reason of decreased cost in foreign
countries and because of the purchase by us of articles of special
beauty, skill, and luxury. It may be said (and however paradoxical it
may appear, the assertion is proven by the history of the tariff) that
while the immediate tendency with free-trade duties is to increase
imports and revenues, the ultimate result of such low duties is to
decrease the imports and revenues, due to the decreasing ability of
the country to purchase. The immediate tendency of protective tariffs
is to decrease imports and revenues, but the final result is to increase
the imports and duties, arising from the greater ability of the country
to purchase. But my intention is not to discuss at this time the
question of a tariff, but to show the effect of a change in the duties on
imports upon the revenues of the country.
I clearly recognize that while the public mind is decidedly in favor
of encouraging home manufacturers by levying what are called
protective duties, yet the people are opposed to placing those duties
so high that they become prohibitory and making thereby an
exclusive market for our manufacturers at home. It seems very clear
to my mind, in view of these statements as to the result of decreasing
or increasing the duties on our imports, that no reduction of revenue
is practicable by changes in our tariff.
The second great interest of the people, which will very shortly be
directly affected by the large and increasing surplus revenues of the
country, is the system of national banks, and this through the
decrease of the public indebtedness by the application of the annual
surplus to its payment. The large annual reduction of the public debt
will very shortly begin to affect the confidence of the public in the
continuation of the system. It will increase public anxieties and
excite their fears as to a substitution of any other system for this that
has proven so acceptable and so valuable to the country. If the
national banking system is to be worked out of existence, it will
inevitably cause serious financial trouble.
Financial difficulties among a people like those of this country,
however ill-based or slight, are always attended by disastrous
consequences, because in times of prosperity the energies and
hopefulness of the people are stretched to the utmost limits, and the
shock of financial trouble has the effect of an almost total paralysis
on the business of the country. It is certainly the part of
statesmanship to avoid such a calamity whenever it is possible.
I unhesitatingly declare and believe that the value of our system of
national banks is so great in the benefits the country derives
therefrom and the dangers and losses its continuance will avoid that
it were better to continue in existence an indebtedness equal to the
wants of the banks which the country may from time to time require
until some equally conservative plan may be offered that will enable
us to dispense with the system.
It is also important in this connection for Senators to bear in mind
that the increasing business of the country will annually require
increased banking facilities, and consequently increased bonds as the
basis on which they can be organized; and it should not be
overlooked that a possible determination by Congress to pay off by
retiring or by funding the greenbacks will create a great hiatus in the
circulating medium of the country, which can only be replaced by
additional national-bank notes based upon an equivalent amount of
public indebtedness.
In view of the statements I have made, I cannot but conclude that
the wisest and most prudent course for Congress is to leave the
question of changes in the tariff laws to be adjusted as they may from
time to time require, and to make whatever reduction of the income
of the Government that may be found desirable by reducing the
changes in the internal-revenue laws.
The national revenue laws as they now are may be greatly and
profitably changed. They are very burdensome to a heavily-taxed
people, and such burdens should be relieved wherever it is possible.
This can now be done with safety by providing that so much of the
public debt may be paid off from time to time as may not be required
to sustain the system of national banks.
I move that the resolution be referred to the Committee on
Finance.
The motion was agreed to.
 Extracts from Speech of Hon. Thomas H.
Benton,

On Proposed Amendments of the Constitution in relation to the

election of President and Vice-President, Delivered in the U. S.
Senate Chamber, A. D. 1824.
He said:—The evil of a want of uniformity in the choice of
Presidential electors, is not limited to its disfiguring effect upon the
face of our government, but goes to endanger the rights of the
people, by permitting sudden alterations on the eve of an election,
and to annihilate the rights of the small States, by enabling the large
ones to combine, and to throw all their votes into the scale of a
particular candidate. These obvious evils make it certain that any
uniform rule would be preferable to the present state of things. But,
in fixing on one, it is the duty of statesmen to select that which is
calculated to give to every portion of the Union its due share in the
choice of a chief magistrate, and to every individual citizen a fair
opportunity of voting according to his will. This would be effected by
adopting the District System. It would divide every State into
districts equal to the whole number of votes to be given, and the
people of each district would be governed by its own majority, and
not by a majority existing in some remote part of the State. This
would be agreeable to the rights of individuals: for in entering into
society, and submitting to be bound by the decision of the majority,
each individual retained the right of voting for himself wherever it
was practicable, and of being governed by a majority of the vicinage,
and not by majorities brought from remote sections to overwhelm
him with their accumulated numbers. It would be agreeable to the
interests of all parts of the States; for each State may have different
interests in different parts; one part may be agricultural, another
manufacturing, another commercial; and it would be unjust that the
strongest should govern, or that two should combine and sacrifice
the third. The district system would be agreeable to the intention of
our present constitution, which, in giving to each elector a separate
vote, instead of giving to each State a consolidated vote, composed of
all its electoral suffrages, clearly intended that each mass of persons
entitled to one elector, should have the right of giving one vote,
according to their own sense of their own interest.
The general ticket system now existing in ten States, was the
offspring of policy, and not of any disposition to give fair play to the
will of the people. It was adopted by the leading men of those States,
to enable them to consolidate the vote of the State. It would be easy
to prove this by referring to facts of historical notoriety. It
contributes to give power and consequence to the leaders who
manage the elections, but it is a departure from the intention of the
constitution; violates the rights of the minorities, and is attended
with many other evils.
The intention of the constitution is violated because it was the
intention of that instrument to give to each mass of persons, entitled
to one elector, the power of giving an electoral vote to any candidate
they preferred. The rights of minorities are violated, because a
majority of one will carry the vote of the whole State. The principle is
the same, whether the elector is chosen by general ticket, or by
legislative ballot; a majority of one, in either case, carries the vote of
the whole State. In New York, thirty-six electors are chosen; nineteen
is a majority, and the candidate receiving this majority is fairly
entitled to receive nineteen votes; but he counts in reality thirty-six:
because the minority of seventeen are added to the majority. These
seventeen votes belong to seventeen masses of people, of 40,000
souls each, in all 680,000 people, whose votes are seized upon, taken
away, and presented to whom the majority pleases. Extend the
calculation to the seventeen States now choosing electors by general
ticket or legislative ballot, and it will show that three millions of
souls, a population equal to that which carried us through the
Revolution, may have their votes taken from them in the same way.
To lose their votes is the fate of all minorities, and it is theirs only to
submit; but this is not a case of votes lost, but of votes taken away,
added to those of the majority, and given to a person to whom the
minority was opposed.
 He said, this objection (to the direct vote of the people) had a
weight in the year 1787, to which it is not entitled in the year 1824.
Our government was then young, schools and colleges were scarce,
political science was then confined to few, and the means of diffusing
intelligence were both inadequate and uncertain. The experiment of
a popular government was just beginning; the people had been just
released from subjection to an hereditary king, and were not yet
practiced in the art of choosing a temporary chief for themselves. But
thirty-six years have reversed this picture; thirty-six years, which
have produced so many wonderful changes in America, have
accomplished the work of many centuries upon the intelligence of its
inhabitants. Within that period, schools, colleges, and universities
have multiplied to an amazing extent. The means of diffusing
intelligence have been wonderfully augmented by the establishment
of six hundred newspapers, and upwards of five thousand post-
offices. The whole course of an American’s life, civil, social, and
religious, has become one continued scene of intellectual and of
moral improvement. Once in every week, more than eleven thousand
men, eminent for learning and for piety, perform the double duty of
amending the hearts, and enlightening the understandings, of more
than eleven thousand congregations of people. Under the benign
influence of a free government, both our public institutions and
private pursuits, our juries, elections, courts of justice, the liberal
professions, and the mechanical arts, have each become a school of
political science and of mental improvement. The federal legislature,
in the annual message of the President, in reports of heads of
departments, and committees of Congress, and speeches of
members, pours forth a flood of intelligence which carries its waves
to the remotest confines of the republic. In the different States,
twenty-four State executives and State legislatures, are annually
repeating the same process within a more limited sphere. The habit
of universal travelling, and the practice of universal interchange of
thought, are continually circulating the intelligence of the country,
and augmenting its mass. The face of our country itself, its vast
extent, its grand and varied features, contribute to expand the
human intellect and magnify its power. Less than half a century of
the enjoyment of liberty has given practical evidence of the great
moral truth, that under a free government, the power of the intellect
is the only power which rules the affairs of men; and virtue and
intelligence the only durable passports to honor and preferment. The
conviction of this great truth has created an universal taste for
learning and for reading, and has convinced every parent that the
endowments of the mind and the virtues of the heart, are the only
imperishable, the only inestimable riches which he can leave to his
posterity.
This objection (the danger of tumults and violence at the elections)
is taken from the history of the ancient republics; and the tumultuary
elections of Rome and Greece. But the justness of the example is
denied. There is nothing in the laws of physiology which admits a
parallel between the sanguinary Roman, the volatile Greek, and the
phlegmatic American. There is nothing in the state of the respective
countries, or in the manner of voting, which makes one an example
for the other. The Romans voted in a mass, at a single voting place,
even when the qualified voters amounted to millions of persons.
They came to the polls armed, and divided into classes, and voted,
not by heads, but by centuries.
In the Grecian republics all the voters were brought together in a
great city, and decided the contest in one great struggle.
In such assemblages, both the inducement to violence, and the
means of committing it, were prepared by the government itself. In
the United States all this is different. The voters are assembled in
small bodies, at innumerable voting places, distributed over a vast
extent of country. They come to the polls without arms, without
odious instructions, without any temptation to violence, and with
every inducement to harmony.
If heated during the day of election, they cool off upon returning to
their homes, and resuming their ordinary occupations.
But let us admit the truth of the objection. Let us admit that the
American people would be as tumultuary at this presidential election
as were the citizens of the ancient republics at the election of their
chief magistrates. What then? Are we thence to infer the inferiority
of the officers thus elected, and the consequent degradation of the
countries over which they presided? I answer no. So far from it, that
I assert the superiority of these officers over all others ever obtained
for the same countries, either by hereditary succession, or the most
select mode of election. I affirm those periods of history to be the
most glorious in arms, the most renowned in arts, the most
celebrated in letters, the most useful in practice, and the most happy
in the condition of the people, in which the whole body of the citizens
voted direct for the chief officer of their country. Take the history of
that commonwealth which yet shines as the leading star in the
firmament of nations. Of the twenty-five centuries that the Roman
state has existed, to what period do we look for the generals and
statesmen, the poets and orators, the philosophers and historians,
the sculptors, painters and architects, whose immortal works have
fixed upon their country the admiring eyes of all succeeding ages? Is
it to the reign of the seven first kings?—to the reigns of the emperors,
proclaimed by the prætorian bands?—to the reigns of the Sovereign
Pontiffs, chosen by a select body of electors in a conclave of most
holy cardinals? No.—We look to none of these, but to that short
interval of four centuries and a half which lies between the expulsion
of the Tarquins, and the re-establishment of monarchy in the person
of Octavius Cæsar. It is to this short period, during which the
consuls, tribunes, and prætors, were annually elected by a direct vote
of the people, to which we look ourselves, and to which we direct the
infant minds of our children, for all the works and monuments of
Roman greatness; for roads, bridges, and aqueducts, constructed; for
victories gained, nations vanquished, commerce extended, treasure
imported, libraries founded, learning encouraged, the arts
flourishing, the city embellished, and the kings of the earth humbly
suing to be admitted into the friendship, and taken under the
protection of the Roman people. It was of this magnificent period
that Cicero spoke, when he proclaimed the people of Rome to be the
masters of kings, and the conquerors and commanders of all the
nations of the earth. And, what is wonderful, during this whole
period, in a succession of four hundred and fifty annual elections, the
people never once prepared a citizen to the consulship who did not
carry the prosperity and glory of the Republic to a point beyond that
at which he had found it.
It is the same with the Grecian Republics. Thirty centuries have
elapsed since they were founded; yet it is to an ephemeral period of
one hundred and fifty years only the period of popular elections
which intervened between the dispersing of a cloud of petty tyrants,
and the coming of a great one in the person of Philip, King of
Macedon, that we are to look for that galaxy of names which shed so
much lustre upon their country, and in which we are to find the first
cause of that intense sympathy which now burns in our bosoms at
the name of Greece.
These short and brilliant periods exhibit the great triumph of
popular elections; often tumultuary, often stained with blood, but
always ending gloriously for the country.
Then the right of suffrage was enjoyed; the sovereignty of the
people was no fiction. Then a sublime spectacle was seen, when the
Roman citizen advanced to the polls and proclaimed: “I vote for Cato
to be consul;” the Athenian, “I vote for Aristides to be Archon;” the
Hebran, “I vote for Pelopidas to be Bœotrach;” the Lacedemonian, “I
vote for Leonidas to be first of the Ephori,” and why not an
American citizen the same? Why may he not go up to the poll and
proclaim, “I vote for Thomas Jefferson to be President of the United
States?” Why is he compelled to put his vote in the hands of another,
and to incur all the hazards of an irresponsible agency, when he
himself could immediately give his own vote for his own chosen
candidate, without the slightest assistance from agents or managers?
But I have other objections to these intermediate electors. They are
the peculiar and favorite institution of aristocratic republics, and
elective monarchies. I refer the Senate to the late republics of Venice
and Genoa; of France, and her litter; to the Kingdom of Poland; the
empire of Germany, and the Pontificate of Rome. On the contrary, a
direct vote by the people is the peculiar and favorite institution of
democratic republics; as we have just seen in the governments of
Rome, Athens, Thebes, and Sparta; to which may be added the
principal cities of the Amphyctionic and Achaian leagues, and the
renowned republic of Carthage when the rival of Rome.
I have now answered the objections which were brought forward
in the year ’78. I ask for no judgment upon their validity of that day,
but I affirm them to be without force or reason in the year 1824.
Time and EXPERIENCE have so decided. Yes, time and experience,
the only infallible tests of good or bad institutions, have now shown
that the continuance of the electoral system will be both useless and
dangerous to the liberties of the people, and that the only effectual
mode of preserving our government from the corruptions which have
undermined the liberties of so many nations, is, to confide the
election of our chief magistrates to those who are farthest removed