Chapter 218 – Lunch as a Family Again

*** Alzi ***

"Please, one more day. Just one more day," I cry out. "I just got to meet them."

"Sorry, dear," the Princess says, carrying me out to the carriages. "This war is about the kid in your womb. We can't just skip it. They will be here when we get back."

"I've had ten years of lost kids. I just got to hold them."

"Sorry, my Lady. You'll have your next visit in a few months," Aurora says, fixing my dress before I get put into the carriage on the Princess's lap. Aurora is joining us with Sedriresa. "You'll have some time off, and you can see all your kids then."

"Fluvis will join us, and then you'll have years to spend with them," the Princess continues. "We will all miss them until Fluvis can marry into our house. Then, you'll get to be a part of raising them."

"I want my kids."

"This war will help you have your kids, dear," the Princess whispers. "Why don't you go to sleep while I hold you? We'll wake you up back at our house, pick up Isda, and then go to the capital. We'll even have a present for you when we get to the capital, ok?"

"Is my present getting raped again? The Mistress loved that little trick," I say, the carriage giving us a short jerk as we leave my kids behind.

"No, you will like this. It has nothing to do with this family or sex. Just something you like," the Princess says.

"How would you know what I like?" I ask.

"There are a few things I know you like, and this is one of them. If I'm wrong, then I have failed at grasping even a part of my dear wife," the Princess says, petting my hair. "Please trust me on this one. If this isn't a good gift, then I'll let you go because I will never be able to make you happy."

"When is this gift coming?" I ask. "I can't have you just waiting until I look excited about something to claim it is my gift."

"The first or second night in the castle. I will tell you before we enter if it will be the first or second," she promises.

"Good luck," I mumble. I doubt she can figure out a single thing I like. The best she might manage is some special wood if Aurora shared my woodworking with her.

...

The Princess tries to let me sleep through the stop at the manor but wakes me while trying to shuffle out from under me. Maybe I can get my own carriage next time.

But I'm probably with the Princess for 'safety.' Maybe I can switch with Geta or Shimmer? I don't want the Princess to think I like her too much.

"I'm coming out," I say before Sedriresa can close the door on me.

"Yes, Lady Alzi," Sedriresa says, holding out a hand. Look at who is being nice now that her Lady is carrying my child, scary bitch.

I accept her help and step out to the front door of the mansion. I'm already used to the slight chill of these manors with all their stupid enchantments. Winter was always a pain in the village, but now I hardly even feel it.

As long as I don't get kidnapped again.

The little pregnant Isda is standing on the steps, letting the Princess walk up to her. Everyone else starts to pour out and group up around me. Shimmer filters out to the edge of the group.

"Since everyone got out, do we want to have lunch here?" Isda asks as the Princess wraps the woman in a hug. "I am glad you and Alzi are safe again."

"We can have lunch here if it will be ready quickly," the Princess says. "We're happy they left you alone."

"We thought you would all like a real lunch," a maid says behind Isda. "The meal should already be ready in the dining room."

The Princess gives Isda a soft kiss before ending their hug and heading for the front door. I wonder if I'm still able to open the door.

Isda hangs back on the stairs with a soft smile, waiting for me to walk up the stairs to the door.

"It is good to see you safe, Alzi. I'm sorry we failed to keep you from getting pregnant. I already have a mage working on fixing our tunnels, so it won't happen again," Isda says, her small frame pulling me into a hug. The little ones in her womb go crazy from having their father nearby. "We all missed you, and now we're dragging you into a war."

"I'm happy you were safe. I don't know if the kids would've survived the journey," I say. "We were both naked as they dragged us through the snow."

"Your kids are sturdy, but I agree, it would have been rough on me and the kids. I still wish I could have supported you both through it somehow. Instead, I woke up realizing how useless I am to protect the ones I love," Isda says. "But we got you back home. We just have to work on making a future that keeps all of us safe and happy."

"You all have a lot of work to do to make me happy," I say. "I just got torn from my kids again. Now, can we eat?"

"Yes, sorry, honey," Isda says, letting me go. "Can we share a carriage? I can get Geta or Vanya to join us."

"Sure," I say. I had thought Isda would be the one showing up everywhere instead of Shimmer and Geta. I wonder what kept the golden girl away from me? Are the stairs that hard for her? She does look like she will soon be wider than she is tall.

Not a thing has changed about the halls as we walk back to the dining room. All the statues and paintings still litter the halls, and the maids are still running around doing whatever they need to do.

The nice thing about traveling is that it doesn't require heels, apparently. So there will be no clacking of heels as we all parade down the halls—just a bunch of pretty women in plain dresses.

In the dining room, the food is already set out for us. The Princess wastes no time sitting at the head of the table. Isda sits to her left, and the right stays open for me.

"Back again as a family," the Princess says. "We already have plans to greatly expand, both with kids and wives. To get there, though, we have a hard path ahead of us. A war that will have us struggling. The north will have an advantage with winter in full swing, but I believe this house can lead our people to victory and end the feud they started when my Mother began her reign. We have a few days of fun before the march will start. Mother warned me that the war machine is already turning. Isda has our army raised and already marching. This is the field we have to prove ourselves on. I'm sure the Queen will have more, but I want you all to know that I trust you all to get this done. Even with a few pregnancies in the house, we can succeed, and I can still join the battlefield for a while. We have nothing to fear with Alzi there to heal us, but please try to keep her from working."

Wine glasses are raised, with a few filled with water in the mix. They wait for me to join them.

Can I trust them?

I don't have a choice, really. I'll be going with someone to this war, and they should at least have good motivation to keep me safe this time around. So, I raise my glass with them and let the lunch begin.

The usual lunch is in front of us, a simple salad and sandwich.

If I hadn't gotten out, would they have just given it to us in the carriage, or did we have different meals ready?

"Alzi, your new tattoo shows you have three classes. Would you mind sharing them?" Isda asks.

"Did Princess Elora not already tell you?" I ask. "She told everyone else."

"I did not hear about that," Isda says, shooting a brief glare at the head of the table. "Sorry. You can keep them secret if you want, of course. May I at least know if you got a healing class as one of the three? I know you wanted one."

"I have two. One is more of a breeding class, though," I say. "It's all about making and helping mothers."

"Well, helping mothers is important for you. But I am sorry to hear they aren't what you wanted. The Goddesses have been cruel to you. You should get to do a lot more healing this go around, so they should be better suited to your desires," Isda says. "The war should offer plenty of chances to level and get your next set of classes. A lot of women will need healing, which should help you even more. I hope you'll find a sliver of good in the terrible, though we already had a number of different plans to help you without all this extra blood and death."

"Like what? Why didn't you think of telling me about them?" I ask.

"I think we mentioned having you travel with a group and being a traveling healer. Then, we were already working with you to set up a healing business after your apprenticeship with Lady Oriphusa. Once that was underway, we were going to offer you some different ideas," Shimmer says. "One being a healing show. They were going to be offered to you, not demands. We didn't want to overwhelm you with options before you even got to learn the basics and see what was out there for yourself."

"We had no intention of deciding your path in healing or even forcing you to continue down that path," the Princess continues. "We wanted you to see the business and decide from there if you wanted to continue. If you did, we would start offering different ways to spread your name."

"Sure, sure," I mumble. They did offer me the business already and Shimmer did bring those options up. Maybe I'm a little too used to everything being decided for me.

"Have you seen the castle before, Alzi?" Ioelena asks. "I guess the wedding would have taken you through a small part of the castle grounds."

"Just that. I was always in the red light district," I say. "Being whored out."

"Well, it is even more grand than our manor. The ballroom the party will be held in will be massive and filled with lots of people. The Queen may even put on another show."

"Great. More women looking to get pregnant."

"No, war is breaking out. The women won't be looking to get pregnant," the Princess promises. "They will want to have a bit of fun before the dread of war, but a pregnancy would be a burden on them."

I bet, Princess. If I go the entire party without getting a woman pregnant, I'll give up on divorcing you, bitch. "That will be nice," I say instead. No need to have the Princess meddling with stuff.

The rest of lunch was much quieter. The need to make it to the capital soon pushed them to just let me eat.

Is eating while talking the next thing Aurora will have to teach me?