"You're familiar with our customs, human?" the new Voina leader asked.
"Not particularly, Your Grace," I said.
"At the coronation of a new Voina Queen, the first visitor to the city to the city that morning--the first who is not of the Voina people, obviously--is expected to become the monarch's first concubine."
"I've heard of such customs among certain cultures, Your Grace," I said, "though of course, being a woman, and you being the Queen of the Voina, I'm surely exempt from such rules?"
"By no means are you exempt, Vera Starbuck," Queen Ouremna said.
"But Your Grace..." I began, seeking a way out of this quandry.
"We Voina are shape-shifters, as you know," the Queen said.
"Ah well," I admitted, "that changes things, Your Grace."
"So it does, Vera Starbuck. I think we'll get on very well, yes...?"