Chapter 253 – Outside Plans

*** Queen Yumanea Elagwyn ***

Elora has done a lot better over the last few days. She poked the bear enough to get Azula De Vil to show herself so the rest of us could fight normally.

"Your Royal Highness," my maid calls. "Princess Elora is trying to communicate with you."

"Very well," I say. We already have a method for revealing Azula De Vil's presence, so what does she want now?

I toss out my mirror and see my daughter biting her lip at me.

"What do you want?"

"Can you ask the Kitsune if they can send a healer to help Alzi's Mother give birth? Mai as well," Elora asks. "I know it is a lot, but I am going to marry Yuki and Nakuma. Royal..."

"You want to start giving them kids?" I ask.

"Yes," Elora says. "Yes, I know Alzi will want to have children with them, and I'm open to letting them help. Alzi will help join our realms and still raise all the kids, so she won't care which group they join after they've been raised."

"Are they going to get all the Kitsune children?"

"No, but this is my harem. Not yours."

"You are asking me for help, Elora."

"Yes, but I can see that you're pregnant. Did Alzi get to you again?"

Fucking bitch. I'm too tired and old for this shit.

"Fine, I'll ask, and you won't say shit about the pregnancy. This war will end before I'm due, and shortly after, the fight for the crown will come to an end as well."

"Yes, Mother."

"Have you run into the mercenary today?"

"No, we're taking things slow now. I'm planning to push forward somewhat. Eirina is retreating slowly, and I plan to goad her into a bad fight or at least keep Azula De Vil near so you and Sis can keep the pressure up."

"If you were doing your job, we wouldn't have had that accident. I could have pushed back the lesser Queen instead of waiting for a signal."

"You need more sleep, Mother," Elora says. "You're farther along than I am, and I'm starting to need extra sleep. It isn't like you to forget something like this."

"Goodbye, Elora," I say, cutting off the connection. A sigh escapes my lips as I dread my next call. The mirror goes out again and fogs up.

"Look who it is," The snow says. "Aren't you a little old to be pregnant?"

"I'm nothing like your ancestor," I say. The Kitsune are never any fun to play with. The old sack of bones just refuses to let her daughters take over. "I'm plenty young enough to carry kids."

"It would be fun to see if I could still do it. Congratulations. Now, what do you want? My daughters have given me a number of interesting tidbits about your Queendom."

"Alzi," I say. "Her Mother and friend are pregnant, but my healers are a little caught up in a war, and Alzi wants a healer to help them give birth. My daughter, Elora, thought you might be willing to help out. Yuki is promised to marry Alzi and the other women soon. It would be sad to have them die before then or lose the children."

"Hmm," the Kitsune Queen says. A smile that's prepared to drain this conversation of all reason forms on that devilish face. "Yuki was meant to bring a man back to my realm, not marry into a different royal family."

"Yes, well, that is something you'll need to work out with Yuki," I say. I never did get around to asking Mother why she got to stay in our Queendom, looking to take a man from us.

"Alzi would be willing to fix that mistake anyway. There's no need to make an agreement behind her back for that. Yuki's children, though..."

"Elora is prepared to let some of them grow up in your realm."

"Very well. Let me make some inquiries. I will not be able to force my healers to go, but I am sure one will be willing to head down there to help out. Good luck in your war. Two wars in one reign are difficult."

"Thank you," I say once again, wiping the mirror clear. I need to go kill something.

*** Tanatsu ***

"Stop squirming, bitch, and let me get your blood," I whisper. The elf really is just clinging to her worthless life. "My love needs this more than you."

She came in fresh this morning. The guild has had far fewer assassin contracts lately, hurting my supply. Monsters just don't work as well; their mana is always a bit dirty. I think it has to do with their mana storage method. The breasts are just a better place to generate mana than the lungs.

For the elves, you just tap into their heart and have them pump it right out into a bucket. Force their mana out and into the bloodstream, and you can build a bucket of mana and blood.

Then I just pump it around my love to stimulate the growth of her own mana.

I tried to pump the blood directly into her before, but I found that sometimes it would get rejected and cause too much harm. I'm still working on how to separate the mana from the blood in a way that lets it stimulate growth, but for now, it needs to be fresh and connected to the blood.

Each woman is usually good for four sessions before they stop clinging to life. Beasts only makes it to two sessions, but the other materials they provide are important for many of my potions, so it isn't too bad. Honestly, it is just good practice to use the entire body. Yet, Elves just don't have the same value in their body parts. However, that is another problem I'm looking to fix.

I'm sure someone like Alzi could turn some of these body parts into a useful potion, but the healers will never put in that work.

"Just a few more drops," I hum.

"Tanatsu, what are you doing?" my stupid Mother rings out.

"You don't get a fucking say about that, Mother. I left, and you stay out of it. That was our deal."

"Well, point me somewhere else, then. I don't need to see this," she says.

"I didn't invite you to talk to me, so why would I care for what you wish?"

"Alzi. You want Alzi's help, don't you? Then you get to help me keep her Mother and Friend alive during their labor. If you wish, I could always tell her what you are doing, and then I am sure she will want nothing to do with you."

"Her mother carries a royal dragon in her womb."

"You have to be there when it is born, then. The Dragons will sniff it out the second it is born, but the Phoenixes must not hear about it. They are already near Alzi, I'm sure. But they can not be given the chance to grab that kid. Alzi will divorce Elora, and then the Phoenixes will pull Alzi to their side; we need Alzi running into our arms."

"You think I can get her mother and friends out of this Queendom?"

"No, that is not my goal. Alzi will be shared amongst us and the Queendom. She's too tangled up with everyone to be ours alone. But I want better terms than whatever Yuki negotiated. She's still too young and inexperienced to do that correctly. If you could..."

"Not until my love is stable."

"She has no mana. You've kept her in that ice block for longer than she lived. Let her go."

"I'm not like you, Mother."

"Like me? You aren't willing to let your lover live their life and go when their time comes? Do you think anything good will come of you forcing her to live past her time? How many more have died for her to sleep in that box? I loved my wives just as you love her. And I let you go and do this. I could pull you out and force you to watch her take her last breath, but instead, I let you go out to do this against my better judgment. Do not hurt Alzi. Take anything from her that isn't yours to take, and I will come and sacrifice you and your lover myself. Do you understand?"

"Mother."

"Answer the question, or I will sacrifice you preemptively."

"I understand, mother," I say. My latest resource is done giving me her blood and mana, so I shut off the spigot and start filtering it so my love won't reject it.

"Good, plan for two women to come down, and you are to be there for the births. Hide the scales from the healers, but not the Mother. We need them to like us."

"I understand." Fucking bitch. How she has grown so much, I'll never understand. I don't think anyone understands that. Grandmother just says I need to accept it and be nice to Mother. But how can I be nice to someone who wishes my lover to die?

*** Yuki ***

"Fuck, Nakuma, slower," I mumble. "Please."

I really thought common sense would win out, but her lust boils over once a week and ends with a dildo getting shoved into my cunt. We've had to start camping out in the middle of the fucking forest to keep ourselves secret. Most of the nobles are gone, so the odds that one is running around for a mission are low enough for us to make some noise out here.

"Oooh, that is the spot," I moan out. "Fuck why are you getting better at this?!"

"Keep it down, Yuki," Victoria says, reading some scroll off to the side.

Nakuma climaxes with a short howl behind me, falling onto my back. I need to get her back under control again.

"You could help me, you know," I say, taking yet another dildo away from Nakuma. I don't know how she is getting all of these toys.

"I could. But I'll leave the lover birds to fuck," Victoria says, her eyes refusing to leave the stupid scroll. "Are you sure we have to go into the damn town?"

"Just Nakuma and I have to go in, but it is best to go together. A city this big isn't going to notice some poor girls huddling in. The Ashmark family may have started getting stupid, but they have to know about me and Nakuma. So, we have to be prepared for whatever defenses they've managed to put together, and this potion will be key to keeping them all within the grounds. Without it, many could escape our grasp."

"Fucking bullshit. We go in and just kill them silently."

"If we trip an alarm? If they have systems in place that alert based on deaths?"

"Fuck, are you that bad at this?"

"No, but most assassinations are just one target, not an entire house. I will not have any of them escape. They've caused Alzi and Mai too much pain, and I need a damn good wedding gift. What's better than some of her torturers?"

"Fuck, you take this shit too seriously."

"That's what happens when you actually love someone instead of just wanting to lounge around in a castle."

"I've worked fucking hard to get to that level. I fucking deserve some time lounging around."

"Sure, sure," I say.