Chapter 422 – Preparing to Receive the Crown

*** Alzi, Main Body ***

Well, I got a baby dragonkin. Not from the eggs, but close enough. It has such cute little brown scales. And my maid is out cold, holding my newest baby in her arms.

"I'll watch over her, my Queen," Kou says. "Get some sleep. I'm happy your little test worked out. It saves you from having to stay up to keep prematurely born kids alive. Nanoka and your Mother will be up soon. Is there anyone else you wish to have here?"

"No," I say. "Those two are enough when I have a new baby in the bed. Thank you for staying up."

"It is my job, my Queen," Kou says. "All your maids have to get used to doing this. Many more women will be giving birth over the coming months. Shyla herself has several labors coming up."

"I know," I say. "Even my own is coming up sooner than I thought, it seems."

"Yes, that will be a time for your core wives to help you, my Queen," Kou says. "When you start getting close, you're going to be stuck in a single place with your wives, and you aren't going to argue your way out of that."

"Bring me my kids, and I'm happy to sit still for a few weeks."

"I'll plan it all out, my Queen," Kou says.

"Hi, Baby," Mommy says. "I thought I heard Shyla. I'm sorry for not coming up to help you."

"It's fine," I say. "I think she was happy to have just me around. I just wish Aurora were here. I had to have my second body tell her that she now has a granddaughter. I'm going to send Shyla back tomorrow with her.""That's a good idea," Mommy says. "Is she going to be a concubine?"

"Yes, I'll tell her," I say. "I can't have her Mother be a concubine while she's still just a maid, and she's done more than enough to earn the position. I did tell her to make me a suit I liked, but I can reward her for simply letting me skip suits entirely. Now come over here, meet the baby, and get ready for bed."

"You're demanding that I be responsible? This is quite the change," Mommy says, stepping over. Nanoka comes in just after her, already in her nightgown.

"This isn't something you need to act on right away," Nanoka says. "But Victoria is overly worried about your Aunt escaping. I think the ritual should show who this temple supports, but she's not completely wrong about her getting away once already."

"I trust them," I say. "I just need to ask about using her in a ritual and being done with her. She should've hidden herself in some distant corner of the world and never let me see her again. I'll just give Victoria some time with my third body tomorrow night. That'll get her to calm down. Zarzi is out cold right now. Her wives snuck into bed with her, and she didn't stir even a bit. Thanks for letting me know."

"Of course, dear," Nanoka says. "The baby is a cutie."

"Yes," I say. "I can't wait to see what my kids look like with a fluffy tail. A cat tail is great, but what about one with your level of fluff? I can't wait."

"How many are you expecting?" Nanoka asks.

"That depends," I say. "I have three pregnant kitsunes, and you never know how they will all turn out when it comes to their tails. I'm a bit surprised Mai's child is split like that. You're the best bet for the tails. Nakuma probably has ten to worry about. But how many will have the tails? And then Yuki..."

"How many did you put in me?" Nanoka says. "Making this old woman ask such an embarrassing question..."

"Oh," I tease. "Just a few."

"You're going to kill me," Nanoka says. "Well, this heavily pregnant woman wants some sleep."

"You're hardly pregnant! Look at me."

"Quiet, Baby," Mommy says. "Sleeping baby and new mother here."

"Sorry," I say. "Five. You really wanted to die, it seems."

"I'm sorry, Yuki must have disturbed the air in here," Nanoka says. "How many kids?"

"Five," I say. Nanoka just stares at me for a few seconds, her hand moving for the first time to feel her flat belly. Her eyes blink slowly.

"You're torturing us poor older women," Nanoka says. "How am I supposed to handle five of your kids at once? I never even had twins when I was in my prime, and now as a fossil, I'm going to have five!"

"Baby," Mother says.

"Sorry," Nanoka says. "Dragons are bold. That much, you're proving."

"Your body was asking for them all," I say. "You should've healed faster."

"You're blaming me for this? Of course," Nanoka says. "My daughter is not going to be happy to learn that she's going to have five sisters soon."

"We did plan on giving Yuki some more sisters as well," I say.

"Yes, you are going to have to put some kids in her, in her garden, to make up for this little mishap," Nanoka says. "You have to be kind to the older generation. But that's enough crazy talk for today, let's get some sleep."

Nanoka fans out her tails, and Kou puts out the lights, though the trench of lava is still letting out quite a glow. And there's my glowing body as well. This really isn't a great place to fall asleep in. I wonder if I'll ever get to control my glow. I hope so.

Whatever, I cuddle up with Mommy and Shyla and put myself to sleep with Nanoka's tails covering me.

*** Yuki ***

Does Nakuma know she's pregnant?

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"I need to practice my balloon animals," Nakuma answers.

The room is filled with them. Most aren't animals, though I guess you could count some of them as snakes. But I don't think there's an animal that looks like a boulder. Maybe Zarzi and Alzi during their extreme pregnancies, or Esiyae, but that isn't an animal. It's just some people getting abused. Probably me, then. Are my two sets close enough together that I'm going to give birth just once, or will it be twice?

"Those aren't animals, and why?" I ask.

"Think about all the birthday parties we're going to have! I have to get ready."

"Three?"

"Three?" Nakuma asks. "What do you mean by three?"

"I'm going to have two groups of kids, and you'll have just one. Each group would all share the same birthday."

"Me? No, just you. And you're going to have more kids than just these two groups. We're all married. You'll have plenty, and I have to care for them, just like how I'll help you through the pregnancies."

"You're pregnant, Nakuma," I say. "That's how Alzi saved your life. She got you pregnant, along with my grandmother." This woman... She's going to kill me. At least she's gentle with me now that I'm pregnant, even if that comes at the cost of all personal space.

"Don't worry about that."

"Yes, but you have to worry about you being pregnant," I say. "Why argue? Just put the balloons away before they start destroying things. And we should be getting to bed."

"You should've told me you were tired!" Nakuma says.

At least she's a good cuddler. It could be worse. I could be married to just Nakuma in a cave somewhere.

I'm sorry, Alzi.

*** Alzi, Main body ***

Somehow, Nanoka had replaced Shyla by the time I woke up. It makes sense that Shyla would be up early. She would want to feed her kid, but how did I not wake up for it?

It was probably some magic by Kou or Nanoka. But I guess I can use the extra sleep. My second body is sleeping one or two hours at a time right now to help feed all my kids. Two bodies out of three getting a good night's rest is pretty good, though I don't think my second body will ever get a good night's sleep. Not for a few centuries, at least.

"Good morning, Your Royal Highness," Shyla says. "I've been told the crowning ceremony is planned for this morning, so we need to get you into a dress quickly. I'm not as good at makeup as my mother, but I'll make it work. Would you like your Mother to do your hair? She offered to do it, so I don't want to take that away from you unless you really wish for her to rest."

"I would love for Mommy to do it," I say. "I can get into the dress myself. You should get to Aurora. My two concubines, together."

"I haven't..."

"Deal with it," I say. "I'm in a forgiving mood, and you've done well. Just go be with your Mother."

"No, I'm your maid, Your Royal Highness," Shyla says. "My Mother has gone back to work, and I'm here to help you on too important a day to run away now. I'll get you dressed today, and if you insist on me seeing my Mother, I'll go tomorrow. You have your crowning, and then your first court appearance. Each requires a different dress."

"Court?"

"Where you listen to your people's issues and make plans, Your Royal Highness," Shyla says. "To put it simply. Elo should explain it better. Also, are you marrying Elo?"

"I should," I say. "It would make things easier, I think. She's going to be carrying my broods."

"I thought so. Then you will need a third dress, Your Royal Highness," Shyla says. "I'm staying. Now, up you go. Luckily, with your colors, we can go with a gold dress without it looking strange. Is your third body going to be there?"

"No, it will stay behind with Zarzi to watch the kids."

"Just one dress for the events, then. Very well. Time to get started, Your Royal Highness," Shyla says.

Mommy kisses me and takes my newborn from Shyla, and Nanoka pushes me up. My wives are depriving me of my warmth and comfort!

Shyla has me stripped in a second, quickly replacing it all with a dress. The skirt reaches down to the middle of my calf! How chaste is this dress? My tits are mostly covered, as are my shoulders and almost all of my tattoos. Just the one from Power is still showing, probably due to the true dragon having that mark. Well Space, Dragon, and Writing are also technically uncovered, but nobody can really see them with where they were placed.

"Heels, Your Royal Highness," Shyla says, holding out a pair of golden heels, just a few inches high. "Is the dress ok?"

"Yes," I say. "I'm just surprised that it covers so much. I don't think I've ever had a dress cover this much of me."

"Not since you got your affinity," Mommy says.

"Do you wish for a different dress, Your Royal Highness?" Shyla asks.

"No," I say. "I'm happy with it. I just need to get used to it."

"Good, Your Royal Highness," Shyla says. "It is a bit nerve-racking, being the maid for a Queen. But now, makeup and hair!"

...

Aurora never put much makeup on me, so Shyla was able to put it on the same way. Mommy just went with a ponytail. I really do have to rethink the length of my hair. I've had Mommy do my hair a few times now, so I can chop some of it off.

"Ready for the crown, Your Royal Highness?" Shyla asks.

"I guess," I say.

"That's the best we can hope for. You'll be a good Queen, Your Royal Highness," Shyla says. "You're beautiful and ready for it. Shall we head out and see what they set up on such short notice? Normally, these events take months to plan out. I've heard Queen Yumanea is also rushing to have the ceremony ready quickly."

"Probably just a bath of gold or something."

"They'll have prepared more than that," Kou says. "Your wives are ready to head out. Elo is tired, but she's up and ready to do her duty. Crowning her first Queen despite not being the current Queen... Quite funny."

Kou leads me out to my waiting wives. Elo's leaning against Geta near the front, giving me a weak smile. I think healing her should happen tonight, and the marriage can be held tomorrow with the brood ritual thing. This woman is not healthy.

But then I need Yuki here with all the supplies. Maybe she can get it done in a day?

I'll see what happens.

"Ready?" I ask. "I'm not sure what's going to happen."

"It isn't much," Elo says. "I just hand you the crown on a cliff, and then you fly around to the castle. The normal ceremony is for when you win against your sisters and cousins in competing for the throne. We don't put as much effort into the actual crowning."

"Well, then that leaves some time in the middle for me to do something," I say. "Good. Then, do you have the crown?"

"Yes, your maid, Shyla, brought it with her," Elo says.

"Then, let's go to the mountain," I say. "Shimmer or Nanoka may have to help you up."

"No, I can do it," Elo says. "I can do it. Don't count me out yet. I've made it this far, and I can make it up a stupid mountain. I don't think I'll have many chances to fly after today. It's the only thing I'll miss."

"I'll find a way to get you some time in the air," I say. "Then, off we go."