Chapter 252 – Planning the Future

The whole marching thing never really panned out. The next few days, Shyla told me we would be marching, but we never went anywhere. I just continued my game with Cornelius and then came running back whenever a scouting party got poisoned or something.

I would also sneak in some healing for the commoners after the nobles got healed. With my mana regeneration thing, nobody could really complain about me wasting a bit of my growing mana supply.

My classes focused on mana over the next few levels as they grew to level fifteen. The only one that gave me a Skill is the royal breeding class. Another passive that helps any royal I get pregnant carry the child to term.

It'd better not apply to Esiyae. After all that work, her surviving because I got an extra few levels in the war she caused would be stupid. Or maybe Fertility really wants those kids to be born.

Onto a nicer topic, Inanos would visit me for a bit in the men's camp. She wouldn't say much, generally just rubbing my belly or massaging my shoulders as we played. But it was a start for my wives to show they actually cared about me.

"My Lady," Shyla says. "Princess Elora has asked us to meet with her for a bit in the men's camp."

"No promises of a march today?" I ask. I can now control the size of my breasts. I haven't told Shyla yet, but I think she knows anyway.

However, I'm still a tad smaller than what the Princess has, so I'm not ready to hold my size yet.

"No," Shyla says, holding out my coat. "But that could mean we'll actually do it."

Do they think there's a spy around here?

"Fine, she does owe me time talking to my mother," I say.

Shyla leads me through the camp and to the familiar wooden walls. The gate opens this time without us needing to call out, but we go to one of the smaller tents this time. Inside, there is just a table, two chairs, and a bed, with the Princess taking one of the chairs.

"Hello, dear," the Princess says. "I'm sorry for the wait, but a lot has been going on. We have some time to talk to your Mother now."

"Show me," I say.

A small mirror, hardly bigger than my hand, sits in the middle of the table. It turns foggy as I sit down, and just a few seconds later, I see my Mother through it.

"Mommy?" I ask.

"Hello, my little rainbow," Mommy says. "I've missed you. Are you doing alright?"

"I'm a bit more pregnant now. I have three kids on the way instead of just one."

"What happened? Did you get captured or something?"

"No, I spent a bit of time with a Goddess and decided to carry a few of her kids. Are you doing ok?"

"Yes, baby. I feel the twins wanting out of their Mother already. They aren't due yet, but they want to greet the world."

"Is Kelly there to help you?"

"No, she had to join the Queen. She said she would try to be back for the birth, but I don't know if that will happen."

"Mai will need help as well. She's so small, and you're having twins. But I've been forced away while my lovers have difficult pregnancies."

"Don't worry, honey. Kelly gave us a few items to help, and the village midwife is coming up to help us as well. We will be fine. Just worry about yourself."

"This is still a small pregnancy for me, and I'm even stronger now. You are the one we should worry about."

"You are at war, baby. We will be fine."

"The marriage," the Princess says. "Tell her about that. I'll see if the Kitsune can spare a healer for your Mother and Mai, ok? I am likely to marry Yuki and Nakuma; they should care about their daughter-in-law."

"Ok," I say. Should I mention the son? "Mother, have they talked about a wedding?"

"Yes, Lady Isda is planning something out for us."

"Good. I don't really believe them, but if they told you, then it should be fine."

"It will be, baby. I just need you to be safe in the war, ok? Don't come back to Mommy hurt, ok dear?"

"I won't. I love you, Mommy."

"I love you, too."

"Sorry, Alzi," the Princess says. "But I can't give you more time. This is only meant to be used for the war effort right now."

The mirror fogs up again before showing my face. Mommy is gone again.

"Thank you," I say. "I guess it was better than nothing."

"You'll have her once you give birth, ok? By then, the war should be almost over, and you won't have to leave her again. Just a few months, and that should be very close to when you would have married her anyway. Likely a month or two earlier."

"I guess."

"I'll let you relax. I love you, Alzi, and I hope this is proof that I want you to be happy," the Princess says. She stands up and gives me a soft kiss before leaving. Shyla directs me back to the main tent to finish my game with Cornelius.

*** Elora ***

How am I going to get in contact with the Kitsune? Why did I make that promise? I could've just tried to figure it out and made it a surprise if I found a way.

I'll have to beg Mother to do it, and she should agree, as the chance is small, but Armirynth may be carrying a royal dragon. That should be enough to ask the Kitsune for a small favor. Yuki may end up having royal dragon children, and they can take one or two of them for themselves. That's a fair trade, I would think.

"Good," Geta says. "You made it back. Sextia finally showed up."

"I thought she died," I say. "She took so long."

"Yes, they were well prepared for spies, it seems."

"They know our house a little too well, don't you think?" Shimmer says. "First the raid, then the trap, and now they even know we have a dark mage."

"Yes," I say. "Is Sextia alright?"

"Just tired. Want to wait to debrief her, or do it now?" Geta asks.

"Now, and maids, stay out of the tent from now on," I say. "They only get us up in the morning; otherwise, they are outside."

"Even your maids?" Shimmer asks.

"Yes, we can't take any risks."

The maids slowly filter out as Sextia comes into the tent. Her eyes are bloodshot as she stumbles around.

"Are you poisoned?"

"I'll go to the medical tent after this," Sextia says, dropping into a chair. "I couldn't get much. I tried, I promise I tried. But the poison was everywhere. Their healers have been working night and day, in shifts, but they're not able to regenerate back to full mana anymore. They lost ten nobles to Inanos's attack and three others in the healing tent. The commoners are scared, and that is what is making them pull back, but the nobles think that they can win if they get a large fight in the open."

"Anything else?" I ask.

"No, the commander's tent was too well guarded. I'm sorry for still being so weak. I killed a few girls on the way out, but I'm still just shy of completing my class."

"We'll find a way to fix that," I say. "Go to Kali and get checked for poison. You did well, and we can use some of this information."

"Yes, Your Highness," Sextia says. She does a clumsy bow and shuffles out of the tent. I want to ask a maid to help her, but I don't know which maid would be safe to send with her.

"They'll do hit and run for a while," Geta says. "Drag us into an open field and swarm us with ice."

"Most likely," I say. "Shimmer, can you fix the ice problem?"

"Shimmer?"

"What? I don't know," Shimmer says. "I don't know. It is the middle of winter in the North, with ice and snow all around us. Fire doesn't just make all of that go away. We have more fire mages, but they have a lot of ice mages to go around. If Azula is here to stay, which she seems to be, then they'll likely have time to get set up. The best course may be to just hold our ground and force them to come back here to fight. In a few months, Alzi will give birth, and they'll lose their reason to fight. Then we take a city in the peace negotiations and call it a won war, right?"

"And make Alzi give birth in the middle of a field?"

"We can send her back," Shimmer says. "Make a shrine to the Goddess of Space and perform a ritual to have Alzi teleported to the city."

"No, we have to push forward," I say. "We push Sextia to get her next class and use her to cripple a few ice mages. My fire mana is growing, and I'm sure I can help with keeping the ice off us as I won't be useful on the frontline anymore. I can't risk the baby anyway, so I'll focus on my fire mana. We move slowly. We can let them set up, and we'll set up a bit away from them. This may be the best spot to stay at for the start of the war, but there has to be more than one good spot farther into their country. If Azula De Vil doesn't go to fight the Queen or my sister soon, they'll be able to give us some assistance. We just have to be careful and move slowly. Alzi may be giving us a time limit to act, but in the worst case, we can do as Shimmer suggested: offer a ritual to the Goddess of space. Alzi has some storage tattoos from the Goddess now, so they clearly have a good relationship. We just have to offer our thanks to the Goddess for giving such a valuable gift to our wife."

"This is a risk, Elora," Geta says.

"Isn't that war? I took one risk, and it worked out. It was ugly and stupid, and I don't wish to ever do that again. But it worked out. We killed more nobles than we lost. This time, we check off all the boxes, and the risk won't be any higher than just sitting here."

"We should go for it," Shimmer says. "Give me some more chances to fight. I think I'm close to another level, and that may give me the right Skill."

"There we go," I say. "Play it safe, but we can't play passively. Azula De Vil can do more than just defend."