Nanoka must have decided that Tanatsu was taking too long, as she disappeared for a few seconds and came back with her granddaughter.
“Why are you acting like a five-year-old?” Nanoka says.
“Thank you,” Tanatsu says. “I was just putting Aya to bed. She’s tired and still incredibly sick. I was just next door.”
“Yes, but we’ve been here for longer than we planned, so we need to get going. Move Aya to the castle so that Alzi can check in on her occasionally until she’s ready to heal the rest of her. I expect a better response after the next healing session. I know you’re used to let-downs, but I know you know how to say thank you.”
“I said thank you, and I mean it,” Tanatsu says. “Things just feel weird. For most of my life, I’ve been keeping Aya alive so I could figure out how to heal her. I’ll move us to the castle.”
“I’m happy to help,” I say. “It shouldn’t be long before I’m able to fix the rest of the issues. I just need to complete a strange ritual, then test it out on the dryad, and go forward from there. It’ll be fine.”
“Thanks,” Tanatsu says again. It’s a bit hard to take her seriously while she’s naked. I wonder if she was hoping I would get her pregnant, too. I could use her to help me heal Aya. I’m sure she’ll be happy to help.
“Well,” I say. “I’m happy you have some progress now. It felt nice to do that. Um, you should get dressed as well, so I don’t have to worry about my kids seeing you. I think Kou is getting tired of keeping the two Goddesses under control. I also need to get dressed, but I’ve got Kou holding the kids. Well, I do have robes I can put on. So, just you, Tanatsu. Come to the castle dressed.”
“I will,” Tanatsu says. “I’m not ashamed of my body, but I know how to be decent.”
I slip into some random robe I’ve kept around. I really do need to work with Shyla to figure out a good backup robe for me to carry around. It’s kind of a problem with how often I need a change of clothing. But my body also changes shape so much.
Kou is really cute, swaying in the corner. She’s using her tails to hide the room from the Goddesses, and there’s a stone between her feet that must be what’s keeping the sound isolated. I walk over and do my best Nakuma impression, hugging her tails. She doesn’t startle like I was hoping she would. Instead, her tails just slither out of my grip, and then she turns around, the rock getting put back in her ring.
“Don’t pout, my Queen,” Kou says. “You’ll teach your kids how to beg, and then they’ll become spoiled. Here, hold them again. Tanatsu is gone with Aya, so we should be done with everything here. Queen Yumanea does have a request for you, probably about the crown. We should be able to complete that quickly, as she doesn’t have much of a choice in that matter. Elora is the only candidate, somehow.”
“Somehow,” I say.
“Yes, somehow. There’s no need to think about it too hard, my Queen. Yes, she probably planned that one out, but it works out for you,” Kou says. “Nanoka, are you doing well?”
“Yes, I can get us there,” Nanoka says. “I’m hardly pregnant. I’m not that weak.”
“Just asking. I just needed to know if I needed to ask for a carriage to come by,” Kou says. “I’m happy we don’t. Should we take the dryad with us? Is she your slave? She looks a bit weak. If you want to keep her alive, it would be good to keep her nearby.”
“Tanatsu should be keeping her close enough,” I say. “I never actually took her as a slave. We’ll just free her after fixing her. We’ll probably need to figure out something more to give to her. I’m sorry this is taking so long.”
“A new forest to live in would be nice,” she says.
“I’ll work on it,” I say. “Sorry for the trouble.”
“That is something I can handle easily enough, My Queen,” Kou says. “I’ll find a good place for a new forest. That is everything, then. Group up, and we’ll get to Shyla so you don’t have to meet a Queen in a robe.”
“I think so,” I say. Kou really does just move on to the next thing. I hope Kou has a relaxed mode. It’s nice right now, but this constant moving onto the next thing will be a problem. Or maybe it’ll help me keep up with my kids.
Nanoka brings us back to my room. Shyla is already waiting for me in bed with a small smile and our kid in her arms.
“Hello, your Royal Highness,” Shyla says. “Kou warned me about the robe. Shall we get you ready? A Queen should show everyone who she is.”
“I suppose,” I say. “It just seems like a lot of extra trouble.”
“Don’t give me that, you Royal Highness,” Shyla says. “You don’t want to be dressed poorly for this. You’re going to be taking over everything, and you should dress to fill that role. Come on. Lady Nanoka, take the kids for a bit, please. Just a simple dress, and another inch on those heels, and you’ll feel better.”
“No, I’m fine with getting dressed,” I say. “It’s just the showing everyone and high standard thing. I think I may just be tired.”
“I’m sure you are, your Royal Highness,” Shyla says. “We can have this meeting, dinner, and then let you sleep. How about that? Kou?”
“Yes, Ioelena has everything prepared for tomorrow, My Empress,” Kou says. “You should be fine to just relax. We could meet with Hearth’s Priestess in the city and relax with her. It may energize you. You are getting farther along in the pregnancy, though. I wouldn’t be surprised if the war took more energy than Fertility planned. I doubt she thought you would be so close to the fights and doing so much healing. And blasphemy isn’t easy either. I’ll make sure Elora is with us during the meeting to make sure nothing goes wrong. Between her and me, you shouldn’t have to worry too much about any deals.”
Am I really tired? Probably. I was always tired at the brothel. The Mistress can get her punishment later. I’m tired. “She’s in a dungeon, right?” I ask.
“Ashryn? No, Fertility’s temple is holding her for now. It’s something similar, but not the exact same wording. I want to be careful about that,” Kou says. “Is there something you wish for her? I can handle that if you need me to. But a long-term judgment will have to be given by the Queen. Which will soon be you, or Elora, depending on the title you go for.”
“I like Empress,” I say. It should give me a way out of doing the work for the different realms.
“Then, Empress. Elo will be the Queen, along with Shimmer and Elora. I’ll make sure Queen Yumanea understands this during the meeting. Shyla, do you have the measurements?”
“I’m not doing anything that fancy,” Shyla says. “I can feel how tired you are, Alzi. Don’t worry, Aurora is keeping the dinner small. Well, not really, but casual. Aurora is mixing the kids in with the adults. Multiple tables and all of that. Your true lovers will be seated at one table with Irlo and Radelia. And Elora will be there as well due to the news. Is that fine?”
“Yes,” I say. “I am married to them all now.”
“Not many understand that pain,” Shyla says. “But if the stories are true, it is a real problem, no matter how much it seems like a blessing. Not that you probably ever thought a bunch of wives would be a blessing. But there are some out there who do. Now, being a Dragon Queen, I’m thinking gold if you want just a single color. Or we can go with something more like magma with a mix of red and black. Or we can go a bit funny and pick a green dress.”
“Funny?”
“Playing the healer after whatever you just did,” Shyla says.
“Oh, yes. But I’m not meeting a Goddess who knows what I did, so nobody would get the joke,” I say. I’ll try not to pray when I enter Hearth’s temple. I did promise to meet with the Priestess, and it would be good to see how she’s doing. I did put a number into the old woman. “Hearth wouldn’t be bad to visit just for the Priestess. I doubt she cares much. We can just go with gold.”
“As you wish,” Shyla says.
…
The Queen does not look good. I kind of feel bad that I went with gold. My natural, or Goddess-given, light is shining everywhere off the long, flowing dress, making it really hard not to look at me. The Queen’s biggest feature is her streaked makeup and puffy eyes. She’s probably been taking some time to think about her wives. I hope it wasn’t Kou that asked for this to take place in the throne room. It would’ve been better to do this in a study or something.
Just Nesh and the Royal Healer are beside her. Lotus must be in a dungeon like Annoris still is.
“Welcome,” Yumanea says. “Thank you for making time to see me.”
“It is nice to have a simple afternoon,” I say. “It’s been crazy for a while, so a simpler day is nice.”
“That’s good,” Yumanea says. “I shouldn’t take much time for this. I’m sorry to have you come all the way out, but the tradition says it has to happen here. Will you marry me?”
“You’ll marry me,” I say. “I may not be wearing the crown right now, but I hope you can understand.”
“Yes,” Yumanea says. “Is it ok to have the ceremony in a week? We have most of the nobles here already. We can have them spread the news and the food themselves.”
“We’ll have to watch them,” I say. “I don’t trust them to distribute the food correctly.”
“I’ll work on that,” Elora says. “But who will be the Queen. Me or you?”
“You,” I say. “I like the thought of being an Empress instead. It sounds cooler and describes my role better. I’m not really ready to handle the day-to-day affairs of the Queendoms. Nor do I want to do that. I’ll just check in to make sure things are going well.”
“Very well,” Yumanea says. “I am sorry about my appearance. I’ve hurt a lot of people, and it just finally hit me. Sorry. But thank you for sticking with us. I know I hurt you and don’t deserve you helping us.”
“I’ll live,” I say. She did lose all her wives. She must’ve loved a few of them, at least. “Elora is doing a lot better now. Things are working out, and Syro is a big help. And I’m finally meeting the kids I thought I would just have to live without. Things are getting better for me.”
“That’s good,” Yumanea says. “I’ll see what I can do to help. Is Elora taking charge of that?”
“Yes,” I say. “I got to meet the first one this morning. I’m even going to have dinner with my daughter.”
“Good,” Yumanea says. “Well, don’t let this idiot keep you from your family.”
“You will be family soon,” I say. “You’ll probably give me more family as well.”
“Thank you for the blessings. I don’t know if I deserve them. I’ll work hard for our future family.”
“Thank you,” I say. That was easy. I wonder how many ceremonies and rituals I have skipped in the path to becoming the Queen of these Queendoms. It’s kind of funny. They spent all their time trying to keep me down, so now, they don’t have anything left for when I jump over them.
I give her a little nod and walk out. “Do I have time to visit a Priestess?” I ask.
“Probably not, My Queen,” Kou says. “Maybe if we teleport. But I think you’ll want more time to relax with a future mother of your children. After dinner will be a great time for you both to see each other.”
