Side Story: Yumanea

*** Yumanea ***

Collecting all the meat and supplies is going better than I thought it would, a small victory we can really use after all the deaths. Getting the meat distributed across the Queendom is easy with all the women who need to travel, but getting it preserved in time for the trips is the hard part. There are just not enough women with the Skills required.

The adventurers are also looking to leave the capital, which could be a problem in the future. Having a good concentration of them in the capital makes the rowdy bunch easier to control. But once we've finished all the cleanup, there really won't be much left for them to do here for a while. We'll have to start offering more gold for the adventurers stationed in the capital once things begin to settle down, to drag them back here. We'll also have to build out the infrastructure so they can travel more easily, but unfortunately, bandits will probably start to pop up now that the war is over and Nature isn't handling the random wanderers for us.

"You're brooding," Nesh says. My private office no longer appears to be so private. I suppose it will be Alzi's or Elora's office soon.

"No, I'm just thinking about what is going on," I say. "It may be partly my fault that those thoughts are dark, but I can't do anything about that now."

"Oh, this is a time for celebration," Nesh says. "It isn't the daughter we thought it would be, and this isn't the way it is meant to happen. And it certainly isn't the circumstances we would want for handing the Queendom over, but we are handing it over. Elora is going to have the throne, and we have the outward support of a Higher realm through Alzi. And our old husband has found a new family, one that brings a little twinkle to his eye. This is the best we can hope for after these past few months."

"Is it right to just hand Elora the throne?" I ask.

"Yes, it would be the stupidest thing ever to do anything else," Nesh says. "Elora worked the hardest for the throne and started to free someone the crown should've saved decades ago. She didn't do it well, but she at least did something. That's a lot more than we can say. We tried to sabotage her, and she still managed to make a good bid for the throne. What has you so worried?"

"Alzi," I say. "Alzi. It isn't fair, I know. She's kind and isn't going to harm the Queendom. But I worry about myself. Elora hates me, and I can't blame her. I wasn't the Mother I should've been. Alzi should hate me as well. I was in the same city as her and didn't care that a special dragon was being abused. Am I going to have a moment of peace after the marriage? Why do I even care? I shouldn't have a moment of peace."

"It'll be hard on you," Nesh says. "If Alzi cares to get revenge. But with her kids running around, she may just put you in the group of people to ignore, like you said. We all deserve a dose of revenge. If it happens, it happens. We've had a good life, and it's time to pay for our mistakes. But I wouldn't be surprised if Alzi sees all our lost wives and feels that we've had a good amount of pain already. Her revenge may not be as bad as you're worried about. But, on to the things we're doing right. Are the nobles coming around?"

"Yes, I have them coming back or staying," I say. "The kids are a bit more painful. Elora gave me the list, and the families aren't always that excited to admit that they took a kid from Alzi."

"They'll learn to be happy about it, or they'll run into a little accident and we'll have to give Alzi the kid," Nesh says. "We've done worse for less."

"Yes, we have," I say. I really am a horrible person. How long until Irlo finds out?