Chapter 467 – The Older Generation

Well, that is quite the sea of red. Elora and Shimmer have a bit of gold on them, but they've joined the rest of the wives in mostly using black to back up the red. All of them have a bit of gold jewelry as well, but most of their accessories are silver.

The babies are coming as well, it seems, with an army of maids holding them. Irlo is really cute standing with them all.

"Is the entire hall just going to be my family?" I ask.

"No, there will be plenty of room, My Empress," Kou says. "At least, I think so. You may need to ask your divine wife if she's helping."

"I'll let that be a surprise," I say. I hope she didn't help. It'll be a lot better if it's just my family there. That would explain why it could happen so fast; nobody else needed to travel because they didn't have room for them to show up anyway. But didn't someone say that this was going to be bigger than the Dragon one?

"Then, off we go, Ladies," Kou says. "I know my Mother is excited for you to finish up with the other realms."

"For kids," I say.

"She likes to say it's so you can rest in your home, but that is the more accurate assessment, My Empress," Kou says.

Yuki is next to Victoria, probably to keep her language from reaching the few other nobles that will be getting packed into whatever room is big enough for us all. It should be the throne room, right? That is a big room. There's going to be more nobles than I want. They haven't told me much about this day, so there can't be much I have to do. Maybe Elora is taking on all the difficult responsibilities for me. I just want the crown and then to disappear and have Elora do the work.

Behind my family is a long train of carriages. I guess Nanoka refused to participate in the ceremony, since I don't see her tails in the crowd. Lucky. They could just make it a quick thing in Love's temple. Yumanea hands me the crown, then I deal with Love again and call it a day.

I get a carriage to myself, if you ignore my maids/concubines. Kou, Shyla, and Aurora are inside, looking over my dress like it may tear itself apart. I'm quick to strip, but I'm not reckless with my clothing. "It's not going to just fall off me," I say. "That would require a lot of work by the Goddesses."

"We know, Your Royal Highness," Shyla says. "I'm just trying to make sure I didn't miss anything. With the dragons, you were so far away from everything until you were already the Queen, and that dress was so simple due to the timing and everything. This ceremony is going to be longer, and you'll be in front of so many, and it's so much bigger. I'm a little worried. It's my best creation. Sorry, I'll try to relax. I don't need to stress you out over this. You're right. The dress is fine, and it will continue to be fine. How do you feel?"

"Annoyed at Nanoka," I say. "Why can't this just be a short thing in Love's temple? It would be a lot nicer for me."

"She's going to be there, My Empress," Kou says. "I've already told her Mother that she's trying to skip an important ceremony."

"I don't know if I should find that funny or weird. I guess I'm about to marry some old women again," I say.

"Yes, you'll have Yumanea and two more generations, My Empress," Kou says. "But it should be the only large group you have left to marry. Phoenixes don't do this, and the Dragons are mostly dead or have already married. Kitsunes won't either, if you manage to get Yuki on the throne somehow. Nakuma may still be trying for that, so you may need to talk to her if you really want to get Yuki crowned."

"If it happens, it happens," I say. "Is Nanoka's mother the reason we aren't teleporting to the castle?"

"Yes, Nanoka's mother needs a bit of time to convince Nanoka that she has to show up, My Empress," Kou says. "She still thinks she's just an old retired Queen sometimes. I'll have her in your bed tonight to help correct that thought. When her belly starts showing again, she'll understand. Or maybe it'll take the first kicks. It's hard to know with Grandma."

"It would be funny to listen in on that conversation," I say.

"Don't worry, I'll get a recording for you, My Empress," Kou says.

"Perfect."

*** Nanoka ***

"Mother, what are you doing here? There is no way my daughter let you out of the realm when she's already left," I say.

"You think that little girl can tell me what to do?" Mother says. "You didn't even try to tell me what I could do when you were the Queen. And don't forget how many times I've ignored watching the grounds to just play with your kids."

I was just having fun spying on my wives changing, and Mother had to pop in. "Wait, Kiyomi put you in here! Or was it the Goddess of Space directly? Did you work with Nakuma? There's no way you snuck that past me. Who was it? Tanatsu? Did you get that girl to care about someone besides her lover?"

"Kiyomi understands what is needed," Mother says. "Now, can you tell me why you don't have a lick of red on your clothing? Your wives are all in red. You should have red, black, and gold, based on the other dresses. Yet, you just have white if you ignore our tails. You have some explaining to do, little one."

"I'm not little!"

"You're acting like a love-sick fool," Mother says. "Only the little ones act like that. So you must be a little one. Explain yourself instead of trying to deny that you're a little one. You have a whole bundle of tails to grow before you get to call yourself old. Don't go thinking you can be old, love-sick, and pregnant."

"I am old and pregnant," I say. "These kids are going to be hiding in all my tails! You do not get to treat me like some schoolgirl who managed to sneak in some time with a man."

"Then stop acting like a schoolgirl," Mother says. "You're up here, avoiding spending time with your wife, just as she is about to be crowned Queen of this Queendom and made an Empress. You can't be so flustered about being in love again that you can't support your wife. You know about all the kids, too. Are you going to raise your kids this way? Just hiding in this room all day while others get to play with them? Only seeing them in person when everyone is asleep? That's no way to raise a kid. You aren't even making tea. You have no reason to be wearing white right now. I know you have a few dresses that would work. No, don't even start with me, Missy! You will not be in a robe for this event. Now, let's start looking through them."

"Mother! You do not get to look through my clothing!" I yell. How is she looking through my ring? "Don't just throw it onto the bed. Those are expensive."

"You don't wear them, so who cares?" Mother says. "Ah, here we go. Do you want more red or gold? I like these stripes. You're a Champion now, so you should get back into fighting shape. Your grandma is forcing me back into sparring again. That old tail just won't let me be anymore. It's crazy. So what about it? Pick one of these three, or I'll bring Mother down here and have her give you a stern talking-to. Kiyomi needs your help, and your Goddess wants you to help your wife. So, no stalling, unless you wish to see Grandma?"

"Not today," I sigh. "We'll be moving soon. I'll visit her then." Mother has to know these are the dresses I would wear when I wanted to throw Elo onto the bed for a bit. They're so dated! Not to mention the amount of skin I'll be showing. The kids can still look at me without destroying their innocence, but I'm old!

"Don't give me those 'I'm old' eyes," Mother says. "If you're old, then what am I? Stop calling me ancient and pick a dress before I have to spank you and force you into one of the dresses. I haven't had to do that since you had just one tail on that silly ass of yours."

"Stripes is fine," I whisper.

"Good. Ten minutes," Mother says. "I expect to get a report that you're in the castle, in the caravan, or with the kids in ten minutes, or Kiyomi and Mother are going to be here to drag you out."

"I'll be there," I sigh.

"Good, and Kou got a recording of this, and Alzi already knows about it, so there's no need to threaten the little girl over it. Alzi is excited to see the show, and remember, you caused this to happen."

"Sure, sure," I say. I hope I can still fit into the dress. "I may need Shyla's help. Hopefully, she can figure out how to modernize the dress a bit."

*** Alzi ***

Shyla isn't very good at hiding her worry, right up until she disappears. I wonder if Nanoka picked up on that and teleported her away. Maybe Kou asked? "Where did Shyla go?" I ask.

"Nanoka has grown a bit, it seems, My Empress," Kou says. "They will be meeting us at our destination. Great-Grandmother was successful in convincing her. We can see how it happened later if you wish."

"It could be funny to tease her with," I say. I should meet up with Nanoka's mother. I'm sure she has some great stories about all the kitsunes I have around me. Kiyomi is too serious to tell me about the funny stories. "How many old Queens are alive for the Kitsunes?"

"I've not been told the exact number, My Empress," Kou says. "But it is rumored to be four. Yuki may have a better answer, but you'll have to drag the real answer out of Nanoka. However, I doubt she wants you asking to meet with them all, as I'm sure they have some great stories to share about her."

"I was thinking about you as well," I say. "That cage just protects you from getting pregnant."

"I have no funny stories, My Empress," Kou says. "I was a very good daughter and earnest in my training."

"All the more reason to hear about the stories," I tease.

"It seems we've made it to the castle, Your Royal Highness," Aurora says with a big smile of relief.

"Your mother is still alive, right?" I say. Her smile fades quickly at that sentence.

"Yes, Your Royal Highness," Aurora says.

"It's only fair," I say. "You can vent your frustration about it by telling me about Shyla's funny stories."

"It sounds like we're all screwed, Kou," Aurora says. "We'd best get this day over with and hope you can arrange a tight schedule for the rest of our lives."

"I wish Aurora. I wish," Kou says. "It's time to step out. I'm not going to be the reason we fall behind schedule, and today is tightly packed with things to do. Please step out carefully, My Empress. I don't want the dress to be destroyed in the few minutes Shyla isn't around. She'll never trust us with one of her creations again if that happens."

I don't know what she means by that, since I'm always very careful about getting out of the carriage. They must be having us go in the back way to hide my arrival or something. Is the winner of the crown normally hidden from the nobles until the ceremony? Elora said that the lead-up to the decision is most of the ceremony, so I would think they would already know who won.

"Did the..." Wait, those kids are too old. How did I not feel them? 'Space, were you working with Dragon on this?'

'Yes, meet your kids. It's the rest of the ones that have been born, of course. Some friends worked hard to get them here. Go meet them.'

"Oh! Babies, come here!" I shout, forgetting to care about my dress. Shyla can fix it up if needed. The older kids hesitate a bit, but the younger ones come running. Maids with babies flank around us as I get tackled by the first group of kids. Their giggles are so nice to hear.

I have to learn and remember their names. That's going to take a bit.