by Randi Darren
Returning to his breakfast, King Falaein, now Duke Falaein, ate saying nothing more.
Epilogue
Yaris toyed with one of the figurines sitting on the giant map.
“And this is Duchess Mila?” Yaris asked, looking up at her husband.
Nodding his head, Vince pointed to Wooden Heart.
“This is their grove. We have a garrison there and we’re putting a road in between the two locations. Every Dryad that joins my grove comes first from hers,” Vince said.
Yaris nodded her head, carefully tucking a strand of hair behind her pointed ear.
“We have four dukes and our territory is rather large already. I can see why you were insistent on making sure Verix could not be a threat again. It’s a wise move, husband,” Yaris said, setting the piece back down onto Wooden Heart.
Vince frowned and looked around.
They were in the royal study, and the only other occupant at this moment was Felicity. She, however, stood as far from Yaris as possible at the very entrance of the room.
He couldn’t argue with her title for him though. He’d gone ahead and married her to placate Verix and bring them into the fold, while ensuring that they would be law abiding citizens.
The ceremony itself had been held in the temple of Verix, and had been an occasion of joy for the inhabitants of Verix.
Their war would now end, their city would grow, and being part of the kingdom of Yosemite was viewed as a good thing.
Utilizing the corps of magicians from both armies, Yaris molded them into one engineering team, and got the walls put back up before the evening of the first day.
That night had been strange for Vince. He’d taken to bed a woman he barely knew with the intent of putting a child in her. With her permission and desire.
She insisted that he occupy her bed every night the entire way back to Yosemite.
If she wasn’t pregnant by this point, Vince wondered if she ever would be.
“Husband? Where are your thoughts?” Yaris asked, her shining blue eyes boring into him.
“Ah, sorry. Wondering where this all goes next. I hadn’t really planned for what came after Verix,” Vince said truthfully.
“Ah. Yes, I imagine the emperor to the west and the Tri-lliance in the south will eventually turn their sights on us. I believe your warrior concubine and general concubine are already hard at work though to shore up the defenses of the kingdom,” said the queen of Yosemite.
She keeps insisting on calling them that.
She says it with no malice, but there isn’t any other reason to say it other than to create a distinction between herself and them.
“Yeah, they’re… yeah. The soldiers of Verix are being blended together with everyone else, and the recruits are being cycled everywhere else. Though paving that road on the return trip was a solid idea on your part,” Vince said, tapping the map between Verix and Yosemite.
A smooth stone road had been put down between the two locations. After having established the how of it, squads of engineers and soldiers set to work building roads to Denver, Vegas, and Wooden Heart as well.
Denver.
Yaris sighed and pointed to Denver, as if reading his own thoughts.
“I fear the Duke of Denver may eventually turn on us,” she said.
Vince nodded and then shook his head.
“Yeah, it’s possible, but not a problem. The Dryads themselves will probably be able to be turned to Priests of Yosemite. It’ll take a bit, but I think we can make it work. We’ll need to establish a garrison up there and populate it with a good number of them,” Vince explained.
“Where do you plan on getting all these Dryads, anyways?”
“I… make them. With the Dryads in my grove,” Vince said neutrally.
Yaris’ eyebrows rose upwards.
“I don’t think I understood when you told me you shared your bed with many. I … now understand. I also understand how you’ll be using that to your advantage for their loyalty. I approve completely. You’re quite the pleasant surprise, so far,” Yaris said, giving him a beautiful smile.
“Your highness, you have a meeting in a short while,” Felicity called out to Yaris. It could only be Yaris who she was addressing since she didn’t call Vince that.
“Ah. Yes. Thank you. I’ve made a few arrangements to meet with your inner circle. I assumed they’d be the best place to start to learn from. I’ll see you tonight, husband,” Yaris said. “Have no fear. I’ll do my best to be a good queen to you. I’ll carry my own weight. I promise.”
Closing in quickly, she pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek and then left the room with Felicity in tow.
As soon as the door closed, Vince slumped into a chair.
A minute passed before the door opened and Elysia stepped in.
“Ah, there you are, my liege,” said the High Elf. She stepped over to him quickly with a wide smile. Leaning over his chair she kissed him with a bit of hunger. Her hands came up to rest on his shoulders and dig into his clothes.
Then she pulled away and sat down in his lap.
“For what it’s worth, she actually is of the royal line. I had Blue and Green dig through her belongings. She brought with her quite a few family heirlooms that disappeared. She also… she also has a certain magical presence over other Elves,” Elysia said.
“Oh?” Vince asked, laying his arms around her hips loosely. She was definitely showing her pregnancy now. “I suppose that’s good to know.”
“It’s something we can leverage. More Elves will join us simply because she is your queen.”
Vince could only nod his head. He hadn’t had much time to talk to anyone, and he was growing worried Fes would kill someone soon.
“And before you start fretting, Fes and Petra spoke with everyone. We’re all aware, understand, and agree,” Elysia said, pressing her forehead to his.
The angle afforded him an amusing view down her dress.
“Get her pregnant, have an heir; we’ll handle everything as it comes.”
“And then what? A child with her would take precedence over all of their siblings, or so she’d have you believe,” Vince said, his voice turning bitter.
“Maybe it should,” Elysia replied evenly. “It’s not a terrible problem, you realize. You’ll have many, many children. Having a council amongst them, one representative for each of your wives, and that one sitting at the top, wouldn’t be a terrible form of government. It might actually work out rather well.
“Don’t worry over it, we’ll figure something out, my liege.”
“Mm. How’re your sisters?”
“They’re quite well. Thera seems quite pleased with how large she is. Eva feels sick more often than not. Meliae is doing what she can,” Elysia said.
Laying her head on his shoulder, she closed her eyes and snuggled in closer to him.
“Blue and Green are also doing well. They’re looking pregnant and apparently have chosen to let them be whatever they will. All of the other Dryads are pregnant with twins or triplets. The vast majority of them seem to have worked tirelessly to ensure at least one is a Dryad, too,” Elysia said.
“Mm. Any word from anywhere? Anything concerning?”
“Not really, my liege. The Gryphons are being trained and the recent generation seems much more suited to being mounts. I think we’ll have riders within the next three years.
“There’s been no formal dispatches from the empire or the Tri-lliance, though both have sent emissaries here. They’re both spies, and have spies in their entourage, but nothing we didn’t expect.”
Frowning, Vince felt like he was missing something. As if there were something that he should be doing, watching, or discussing.
“For all intents and purposes, everything is exactly the way we want it to be. At least for now,” Elysia said with a smile. “Oh! Actually there is one thing. Mila sent over another ten Dryads. You’ll need to have a night of seeding for every Dryad, new and old.”
I gues
s… everything really is just on hold right now. Until something changes.
Status quo.
Normal.
I mean, this can’t last. Eventually one of the warring parties will give up ground and be forced to surrender.
Then the victor will probably turn their sights on Yosemite.
Now is the time to prepare. To build up. To ready ourselves for the time that they look to us.
Because that’ll be the same time we look to them.
Vince smiled wolfishly to himself at his thoughts.
Well. As normal as it can be.
For me at least.
“If you can slip away, I’ll be in the other room with six tied up Dryads. I captured and subdued them while you were busy,” Elysia said, slipping out of his lap and leaving without another word.
Thanks for reading.
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