Chapter 247 – Queens’ Reactions

*** Queen Yumanea Elagwyn ***

"I want the full report, Irdru," I say. This dark elf had better not miss anything again.

"Yes, Your Royal Highness," the dark elf says, bowing out of the mirror. "With Lady Oriphusa leaving Princess Elora's army and joining Princess Rosaniya, the far Eastern flank is holding better than you had hoped. She should be able to hold for as long as you need. Princess Lyrei had her first true contact yesterday. Just a small positioning battle, but they held up well. Azula De Vil moved over to fight against Princess Elora. Princess Elora tried to make a strong offensive yesterday, but Azula De Vil was able to hold her back. Both sides saw heavy losses, and little ground changed hands. The Princess is calling it a failure. The only reason they are still holding their ground is the work Lord Alzi is putting into healing. Only Rosemary has healed more than Lord Alzi."

I guess this proves the Goddess of Fertility is looking over the Life aspect. Still, I thought I told everyone to only commit to attacks when Azula De Vil has been confirmed to be present elsewhere. Lyrei hardly saw her, and then Elora would have lost us the war over it, had it not been for Alzi.

Of course, we wouldn't have this problem if Elora didn't have Alzi in the first place.

"Do we know who stands opposite to Elora?"

"Yes, everyone was out fighting yesterday on both sides," Irdru says. "Princess Eirina is her opponent."

"The eldest," I groan. "How did Elora do against her?"

"Elora fought Azula De Vil, not Princess Eirina. It was Lady Geta who took her on," Irdru says. "From the report, they were at a standstill until both sides brought in reinforcements. Due to the failed attack that Princess Elora led on the flank, Princess Eirina was able to bring more nobles to the center, letting them push Lady Geta back at a cost for both sides."

"How bad was Elora's attack?"

"Almost immediately, all of the women Princess Elora brought with her were poisoned. Lord Alzi had to ride out and heal the group in the field to keep them from all dying on the spot."

Elora, I know you're better than this. Is your pregnancy making you stupid?

"Send out a reminder to wait for someone to spot Azula De Vil before committing to an attack," I say.

"Dear," my wife, Olione, says. "This is Elora's first time in charge of an army. Every other child of yours got to work under you for a year before they got their own army. Elora took a risk, and it failed. In the last war, Lyrei did similar things, with far more experience than Elora. But Elora had someone to help keep her mistake from losing us too much ground. Lyrei once lost us two years of progress with a single mistake. Yet, Elora may have gained us some ground with this attack. Break it down better for us, Irdru."

"Yes. Princess Elora lost ten nobles and about a thousand women. Princess Eirina lost twelve nobles and a similar number of women."

"See, dear? Elora's mistake worked out this time," Olione says. "And she won't be repeating it. Putting Alzi so close to the enemy isn't a good thing when she is the major goal of this war. But, once is fine, and Elora learns quickly in matters dealing with steel and mana."

"Anything else, Irdru?" I say. "Remind everyone that this war won't give us much time to recover from losses. It won't last long and is all or nothing."

"Yes, a temple to the Goddess of Sex has been opened up in the capital. A priestess already resides inside it, and even claims that an angel of Sex is the one who created it."

"As long as the orgies stay inside the damn temple, then whatever, for now. We don't have time to shut it down. If that is all?"

"Yes, Your Royal Highness."

"Good."

The mirror clears out and shows my tired face. I don't know how the dragons survive when you have to start negotiating with your unborn child just to use mana. Fluvis is an impressive woman for sailing with four of these little ones in her womb.

"Dear?"

"Yes?"

"Bring up Elora. It sounds like she had a rough day, and I think we both know who the angel that brought a new temple to our city is. To think that girl is collecting divine beings in her harem... If only you'd had her a few years earlier, you could've shaved a few years off the last war with this level of dedication."

Just how hard did I push that girl for her to do all of this?

The mirror turns foggy, and I wait for the response.

"Dear, your pregnancy."

I just tilt the stupid mirror a little higher instead of worrying about hiding my belly. It feels like half my old commanders are pregnant, and it seems likely that most in Elora's camp will be getting impregnated by Alzi. Maybe I should've risked Justice's wrath and freed her at the party.

"Mother," breaks through the mirror.

"Yes," I say. "The report shows you had a large attack yesterday."

"I did."

"Did you forget to confirm Azula De Vil's position?"

"Yes."

Elora doesn't look too bad in the mirror. I would almost say she looks better than I do. Is she sleeping with Alzi?

"You shouldn't be spending too much time with Alzi; it puts her in danger."

"I'm not. I just got healed a lot by her and spent a few minutes thanking her before this call. I'm not stupid."

"We know, little one," Olione says. "Are you ok? Your Mother is a little too into her business role right now to remember to be a mother."

"I'm ok," Elora says. "Thank you, Mother Olione."

"That's good," Olione says. "Is Isda an angel? We believe she just made a temple for the Goddess of Sex in the capital. Did you know about that?"

"She is, and I did not know about that. But she is likely the one who made it."

"Ok, we just wanted to check in on you, and we all need to be careful about the poison girl running around. You aren't the first to have your plans fall apart because of her, but we would like that to be the last time. It saves us all a lot of women and time."

"I'll do better."

"You're doing fine; like I said, we all made that mistake once or twice in the last war, little one. We all have a lot to do, so goodbye."

Olione gives me a big smile and tilts her head, waiting for me to go next.

"Goodbye, Mothers," Elora says.

"Goodbye, Elora. Be safe."

"Sure."

My face reappears in the mirror, and Olione's smile gets wiped off her face.

"You need to do better. She is likely to become your future wife."

"She could have done so much with her life."

"The war took that away from her. We took that away from her. Everyone can act surprised that she was mad that the war was over, but that was twenty-four years of her life wasted on training for an event that didn't need her. And then, the world decided they didn't want her after that. This disaster with Alzi happened precisely because you threw her away instead of embracing your child and finding a good way for her to use the skills you drilled into her. Those silly events against Esiyae did nothing for anyone, and now we are paying for that mistake. I know you aren't stupid enough to think you can absolve yourself of your sins in this."

"The others..."

"The others didn't develop a sense of duty like she did. We've had plenty of children, enough that we would make some serious mistakes with some, and Elora is one of them. Suppose it is too late for this relationship to be mended. In that case, we should slit our throats now, as we'll never create a place where Alzi can come to love any of us because of all our mistakes with Elora and Alzi. Work on it, and show Elora how to mend a broken relationship."

"Your Royal Highness, they march!" a messenger says.

"I'm coming," I say. I really shouldn't be thinking that the messenger just saved me. Are we really doomed?

*** Queen Elenaril Edeozia ***

If I could have just had Rosemary or Alzi in my Queendom. One good, solid healer, and we would've won that last fucking war or not even need this one.

Rosemary saved those bitches in the last war, and Alzi is doing that this time. Azula De Vil should have ended this yesterday. The setup was perfect, and now Elora won't make the same mistake after her husband had to come riding out to the field.

If only we could have killed Alzi when she was in the open. Then nobody would get those fucking dragonkin.

"Your Royal Highness, is everything alright?"

"My stupid daughter is going to inflate to death, and our best chance at winning the war has failed. No, I am not alright. Why do the Goddesses love their Queendom more than us? I pray and do the rituals."

"I do not know," the maid says, deepening her bow, as if I would punish her over that.

"You came in for something."

"Yes, Your Royal Highness," the maid says. "Princess Eirina is asking for guidance."

"Too scared to talk to me directly?" I say. "Fine. But she isn't getting out of seeing me. If that is all?"

"Yes, Your Royal Highness," the maid says, bowing out. Yumanea still fears Azula De Vil. I have that, at least. I pop out the mirror and wait for my daughter to show up.

"Hello, Mother," Eirina says, fidgeting away in her seat.

"I do not blame you for yesterday. No one knew just how good Alzi is at healing," I say. "All the reports said she was unrefined in her mana usage. Blame her being a champion for how that changed in such a short time. Our best bet now will be to play the sisters off each other. Hold for a bit and hide Azula De Vil for a few days, then start your retreat. We just need a group to break off and flank them when Elora gets greedy. Understand that you will lose more women now than Elora will, so move cautiously in your retreat. I can hold Yumanea back long enough to give us a chance. We just need to get Alzi close to her due date, and then we'll trade her kid for your sister's life and a single child."

"Yes, Mother."

"Good. Keep up the good work. You almost won this entire thing yesterday, and I am sure they will give you another chance."

"Thank you for the praise," Eirina says. Always such a humble daughter, with a much better head on her shoulders than Esiyae ever had. Maybe I should've just sent her to get us that dragon child.

"That is all, dear. Be smart."

"For the Queendom."

"For the Queendom."