Chapter 323 – A Game of Tag

It is a bit scary carrying my daughter while flying, but her giggles make it worth the extra stress. Though I do feel bad that my breasts surround her head, I hope she doesn't tell the Queen about it. She isn't very good at pointing, it seems, or she really doesn't want to stop flying. Soon, she should be able to fly by herself.

"Dear, we need to get there if I'm going to see the flowers," I say, after going in yet another circle.

"There!" Irlo finally points towards the ground.

It's a smaller manor, compared to the rest of the manors on the massive castle grounds. The castle must have some space thing going on, letting it be so big in the middle of the city.

'Space, does this have some space rune thing?' I might as well ask.

'Yes, they have gifted me a lot over the years to keep it up.'

The Queen better not try using me to get her more space inside these castle walls. I guess I can just say no, or I could fake it and just fuck the Goddess and put my little kids in her womb and then tell the Queen that there's nothing I can do. My Goddess wife is for snuggling, getting pregnant, random questions, and sex. Elora will know not to ask stupid things like that, or to get too close to me.

I aim towards the garden, but I need to land at the side so I won't disrupt the pretty flowers my cute kid wants to show me. I wonder if Irlo showed them all to Mommy? Mommy loved the weeds I loved to show her. And Mommy did seem to know about the flowers, so probably.

A few hard flaps of my wings let me straighten out so I can land on my feet. I remember Irlo prefers to be on the ground, so I set her down quickly, and Irlo doesn't hesitate to run off towards the nearby garden. "Daddy! Daddy, this way!" she shouts as she runs off. I take a deep breath and run off after her.

"Now, what is the first flower you want to show me?" I ask, catching up to Irlo at the edge of the garden. Irlo bobs her head around, humming about what plants she needs to show me.

"There!" Irlo says, jumping over to her right. Her pointing improves and directs me to a small yellow flower. "It's one of the few bright flowers right now!"

"Yes, it is pretty. I love how it stands out," I say, bending over to get a good look at the flower. "Just like you."

"NO! I'm a mighty Champion! Not a small flower."

"I mean, you're pretty and stand out from everyone. Of course, my daughter will be mighty," I say, messing with her hair. I always hated it when Mommy did that, but it feels nice to do, and Irlo is so cute when she pouts about it. I'll have to be careful not to overdo it.

"I have more to show you," Irlo says, ducking under my hand and running off. I have to run off after her and catch up again. "This one was the first one I found," she tells me as she stops at a small purple flower.

"It is a pretty purple," I say. "I think it would have me stopping to drag my Mommy over to it as well. I didn't have many flowers that looked this pretty in my home village."

So many flowers around in a random small manor on the castle grounds. Carefully cultivated and protected, compared to the hardy plants that could grow in random spots in my village. A few families had a garden that was more than just fruits and vegetables, and I always had to be careful when I went looking at them. They were really hard to grow and so easy to destroy.

Will Irlo have a problem destroying things?

"Daddy! Stop staring off. I have more flowers to show you," Irlo shouts, already at a new flowerbed.

"Sorry," I say. "Just thinking back to when I was a little kid like you."

"I'm not little! I'm a mighty Champion," Irlo says, her new favorite line. I'm happy she isn't upset about not being a dragon, but I just wish Destruction didn't scare us so badly when she chose Irlo.

"You are little," I chuckle, walking to her side. "You can be little and mighty. Sometimes I think it is better to be a kid. Being an adult hasn't been that enjoyable."

"You don't like me?" Irlo asks.

Oh shit, I didn't mean it like that. "No, no, no. I love you, my daughter. I love this, and spending time with you. I'm sorry, I'm happy now," I say, stupid tears coming to ruin everything. "I've had a hard life. Adult life. My Mommy was amazing and worked really hard to give me an amazing childhood. I went and ruined my adult life, and that is all. I'm so happy to be with you and see these flowers you love."

"Then why are you crying?" Irlo asks.

My baby looks so hurt. How did I mess this up? I can't even spend time with my kids right. "I'm- I don't know. A lot of things are confusing for me right now, Irlo. I promise I love you, and I'm happy spending time with you. I'm sorry I can't show that right now. Things are hard for me, and- and I hope I can give you a better life than I gave myself." I kneel and hug my baby, hoping to hide my stupid tears. "I love you. I'm confused about a lot of things right now, and that's messing with me, but my love for you is something I know for certain. You're an amazing kid."

"I love you, too, Daddy," Irlo says.

"Thank you," I say, letting her go. She has more flowers to show me.

"Can we play tag? That always makes me feel better," Irlo says.

"I would love to," I say. Ok, so maybe no more flowers.

"Good, cause you're 'it'!" Irlo says before running off.

"Little stinker! How am I 'it' already?" I shout, jogging off after her. I can't catch her too quickly.

"'Cause I tagged you in the hug!" Irlo screams back, running through a flowerbed.

"I pulled you into that hug! You should be 'it,' then!" I avoid the flower bed. Irlo is destructive enough; no need to add a massive pregnant dragonkin to the mix.

Sorry, whoever has to fix it.

"No! I hugged you, so you're 'it'!"

"Then I'll just catch you! You'll need to speed up, I'm getting close to you!"

*** Sarania ***

I wish my Mistress had warned me she would be flying off. I thought I would only be a few steps away from her, but instead, I had to run around while she picked random directions to fly in. I'm sure it was Princess Irlo choosing the direction, but it made it hard on the poor maids. Irlo's maid did think they would end up at the manor where my Mistress's mother was staying, but I wasn't willing to make any guesses. My Mistress has a bad habit of running off.

"I told you," the maid says.

"I didn't think you were lying. I just needed to be sure."

"If it didn't include so much running, I would've been with you, but keeping up with a flying dragonkin isn't an easy task."

"I know," I say. "But it seems our ladies are fine with running around."

Irlo and my Mistress are running around in the garden, with Irlo being unsurprisingly destructive to the poor flowers. I wonder how close we'll get before they notice their poor maids.

My Mistress spots us first, maybe feeling the slight draw of lust I pull from her. She comes running, with Irlo close behind her. But then she runs right past us.

"Your Highness," the maid says.

"Oh! Good," Irlo says, putting her little hand on her maid's thigh. "You're it!" And then she darts off.

"Well," Irlo's maid says. "Seems like we are part of this little game now."

"Are we? Only you were tagged," I say. I would bring up that I'm pregnant, but so is my Mistress, and she seems just fine running around in those stilts she calls heels.

"Well, you are tagged now," Irlo's maid says, trying to run off. My tail darts out and grabs her waist, keeping her still for me.

"No, I believe you are still 'it,'" I say, before running off myself.

It must have been at least a thousand years since I last tried playing a children's game. I'm going to have a lot of kids, so I'd better get used to them, and my Mistress seems to enjoy it.

"How do I always get stuck being 'it'?" the maid mutters, running after my Mistress. My Mistress is probably not the best choice to chase when she is wearing heels. The Skills she has are kind of scary, letting her run like a trained warrior in the best boots while looking ready for a meeting with the Queen.

*** Alzi ***

It took a while for Irlo to get tired enough to stop. I immediately grabbed her and went to lie down in the grass with her. Looking up at the clouds with my kid resting on my belly while I have more on the way. Just perfect.

It was good that Sarania and Irlo's maid came along. They made the game a lot more interesting, though Sarania was trying way too hard never to be 'it,' even using her mana to catch up to me sometimes. I'll have to find some time to correct her ways.

"Daddy," Irlo says. "Will you marry my Mother?"

"I think so," I say. "That seemed like the plan the last time we talked, but there is going to be another fight that may delay things a bit."

"Ok."

I guess this marriage won't be too terrible if I get to spend time with Irlo. My old wives may have been failures at keeping me happy and safe, but they did seem to try, at least. Maybe with an example of how to love being set by Mommy and Mai, and then Nanoka giving them an example of how to keep me safe, they'll learn how to be good wives to me.

I know Inanos will give me some cute kids, and then what kind of kids will come from a centaur and a dragonkin? It would be fun to play with the kids. Vanya was nice, if a little shy. A hard worker I should get to know. Syro did protect my mind, and I'll need to see if she can help me when I have to visit more of the Goddesses in their realms.

I'll listen, Hearth, but they have to make me happy, or I'll find a way to force Love to end some of my marriages.

"Your Highness," Shyla says. "What did you do to that dress? No, I should have gotten you changed before you ran off. But how did you play in those heels? Your feet must be killing you!"

"No, I'm fine," I say. "I was just playing tag with Irlo, her maid, and Sarania."

"Just playing tag in heels. Your Highness, that doesn't sound any better. I hope you had fun. Dinner is almost ready, and I believe Irlo is allowed to join us tonight."

"I guess we have to get up, then," I say. "Can't let my mighty Champion miss out on her meals."

"Can you carry me?" Irlo asks.

"Yes, but I don't think Shyla will let me fly you back."

"You may, Your Highness," Shyla says. "But we do have a carriage, if you would prefer that."

"Fly!" Irlo says.