Jadis was wrong. Nothing could have spoiled her mood. Not even the arrival of Prince Hraustrekr.
“When do I get to hold her?”
Syd smiled as she hugged Kerr against her chest. The whine in the therion’s tone showed just how eager she was to cuddle with Hope, but she was also showing an immense amount of restraint. Eir had burst into a fit of tears when she saw Jadis and Alex waiting for them with the baby in their arms an hour ago. Jadis had felt her hearts drop out of her chests when she had seen the elven oracle break down until she had heard the squeal of joy come from Eir as she charged over to them. As soon as Alex had placed the infant in Eir’s arms, Eir had turned into a weeping mess of over stimulated emotions. She had refused to relinquish her hold on Hope, though, so Jadis had picked them both up and carried them inside Aelius’ home.
Aila and Kerr had taken the news slightly better, in so much as neither had collapsed into tears, though the redhead was wiping her eyes a lot and Kerr was trying and failing to put on an aloof act. She still couldn’t stop from asking every five minutes if she could hold the baby, despite her best efforts.
“Give her a little more time,” Syd told Kerr as she happily snuggled the back of her head while avoiding the archer’s horns. “She’s working through a lot of emotions right now.”
“…do you think she’s going to be like that with all of our children?”
“Absolutely.”
Jay had settled onto a cushion in their private room, her broad arms embracing Alex, who in turn was holding Eir, who was herself clinging onto Hope. The gray skinned baby was staring up at the emotionally overwrought elf with wide eyes, her rainbow-colored irises rippling like a pond in the rain. Her expression was one of mesmerized confusion, which Jadis could understand. The little Succubus had never seen anything quite like the beautiful elf crying her eyes out in pure joy. The experience had to be confusing.
“You said she’s grown a full pound in only a few days?” Aila asked, her blue eyes barely wavering from the infant in Eir’s arms. “That is an astonishing amount of growth.”
“It’s got to be because of her demonic heritage,” Dys said as she held her redheaded lover close with one arm wrapped around her waist. “Demons do seem to grow fast.”
“I agree. However, I could also see your own Nephilim influence playing a part,” Aila said as she leaned her head into Dys’ side. “You are quite large. I’m sure Nephilim babies put on a lot more weight compared to human children over the same period of time. They would have to, just to account for the size difference.”
“Hm. I guess that means my boobs are going to have to get even bigger so I can feed them all once I start having my own progeny, huh?”
Aila glared up at Dys with a smirk on her lips.
“Somehow, I think you will have no trouble sourcing wet nurses.”
Looking around the room full of women, all of whom were pregnant except for two, Jadis had to agree. Feeding all the babies wasn’t going to be a problem, even if they all lost their minds and decided to un-pause their pregnancies at the same time. If they did, she could only hope that they would all be as easy to care for as Hope.
“I’m glad you’re safe,” Dys repeated for what was probably the eighth or ninth time before giving Aila another kiss. “I missed you so much.”
“I missed you, too,” Aila spoke into the kiss while stroking the side of Dys’ face. “And I think you were in far greater danger than I was. Tegwyn and Maeve did an incredible job protecting us, as did Tacitus and Noct.”
“I heard,” Dys nodded as she leaned her cheek on top of the mage’s head. “Sev gave me some of the details, though I want to hear more. Also, I think we should let Maeve keep that dagger. She definitely needs a way to protect herself from what Sev told me, and that malediction dagger was good in her hands.”
“I agree,” Aila said as she watched Eir try to say something to Alex around her tears-induced hiccups. “She has proven her trustworthiness, both on the airship and in Eldingholt.”
“What happened in the capital?”
A portion of Jadis’ mind switched gears from family mode to business mode at the sound of Aila’s words. They had all been entirely focused on their reunion, to the point that she and the others had basically ignored the fact that Prince Hraustrekr had arrived in the city at the same time on his own airship, the Glory. She had been happy to do so since the annoying asshole had practically done the same to her, rushing off with his guardsmen to speak with Magistrate Lodovico and General Voss. She couldn’t dismiss his existence forever, though, and Aila’s comment had engaged her interest.
“Both Prince Kestil and Prince Hraustrekr had many questions for us upon our arrival,” Aila spoke quietly, her apparent attention being to not spoil the mood for everyone else in the room. “We gave the cultist to the second prince, by the way. I have some hope that he may be able to ascertain her identity.”
“That whole Liane of Hamarrholt persona had to be an act, right?” Dys asked with a frown.
“It was, though perhaps in a different way than you may expect,” Aila’s tone matched her serious expression. “Once we arrived in the capital and Noct loosened the bindings she had put on her, we found that the cultist’s outer layer of skin had peeled off to reveal an entirely different woman underneath. I think it is likely that Liane was a real person at one point, though to be blunt, I doubt that she is still alive.”
Jadis’ mind went to the corpse of the man she had thought was the Playwright and all the things that the others had discovered while she had been chasing after Alex.
“I hope she’s in a better place now.”
“May Valtar welcome her in His Halls.”
After a few heartbeats of silence, Aila continued with her story.
“Without Severina, Eir took the lead on navigating the more political aspects of our day in the capital. Again, the princes and their subordinates had many questions for us. We barely had any time to do anything else. It was to the point that Eir was finding it impossible to get a few moments to herself so she could speak with Bertha.”
The mention of the matronly priestess had Jadis’ interest immediately. Eir had gone back to the capital with the express intent of pausing her pregnancy with Bertha’s help, but that wasn’t the only service the woman could provide. She wanted to know if Eir would be having a boy, a girl, or a hermaphrodite like her. Jadis wasn’t in the mood to wait for that kind of important news. Still, she didn’t want to interrupt Aila, so she held her tongue.
“Maeve enabled Eir to slip away for a few hours. It was an excellent use of her skills, and she did nothing to mislead the princes or embarrass Eir or us.”
“Hold on. Are you telling me you let Maeve pretend to be Eir while talking to Hraustrekr?” Dys asked incredulously.
“Yes,” Aila nodded. “I did. She truly did an excellent job, as well. We may want to use her for other situations where one of us needs to be in more than one place at a time.”
“I don’t think that’s a problem I have,” Dys said dryly.
“True. But I can think of a few situations where I would have appreciated having a body double who can be trusted.”
“Mm. I can think of a few situations where I would want two or three of you, too.”
Aila gave Dys a small pinch for the lewd remark but followed it by snuggling closer into her side. They continued to talk about the various events of the past few days they both had gone through, only pausing when Eir finally released her hold on Hope and allowed Alex to bring the baby to Kerr. Aila slid over to join the therion in cooing over the baby, so all serious discussion was put on hold.
All except one.
“So,” Jay grinned as she kissed her elven priestess and wiped away the few lingering tears. “I’ve got to know. What are we having? Boy? Girl? Both?”
Eir had mostly composed herself, but as soon as Jay had asked her question, the elf threw her arms around her neck and squeezed her so tightly that Jadis was worried Eir might hurt herself. It wasn’t as though she had the strength to cut off Jay’s breathing no matter how hard she squeezed, after all.
“Oh, Jadis!” Eir breathed into her ear, her voice cracking with emotion. “It’s not what you expect!”
“What does that mean?” Jay asked, her concern starting to show as Eir’s answer made her worry. “Is everything alright?”
“Yes! Oh, yes, everything is well my love!” Eir exclaimed as she pulled back slightly to give Jay a passionate kiss. “Better than I could have ever hoped! Triplets! We will be having triplets!”
Jadis’ brains felt like they had lurched out of her skulls as the unexpected declaration penetrated her awareness. Triplets. Triplets? Had she really heard that right? Triplets, as in three babies? At once?
“Are—are you sure?” Jay asked dumbly as she tried to process the information.
“Yes! Bertha gained a level when she confirmed my pregnancy status, and she was even able to confirm the race of our babies thanks to her newest spell. One boy, one girl, and one of your nature! All three are half-elf, half-Nephilim, which only makes sense, but there can be no doubt now!”
“Holy shit…”
“Yeah, can you believe it?” Kerr said as she held Hope up and let the baby tug on her left horn. “She’s an elf and she’s going to have a bigger litter than mine. Some girls have all the luck.”
As the others in the room who were also receiving the news rushed to congratulate Eir, Dys leaned down to put her lips next to Aila’s ear.
“I am now a little less certain about being able to fulfill our future milk needs.”
Aila considered for a moment before shrugging.
“Maybe you’ll get a skill or spell for that purpose with your progenitor class. If not, you’ll just need to duplicate more of your bodies.”
“I am not livestock, Blue.”
“But you are the biggest one out of us all, and thus can produce the greatest volume. And if I can figure out some way to make the fluids that leave your body stay at enhanced quantities rather than reducing after a few seconds as per your Mirror Magnification spell, then you will be able to satisfy all our milk needs all on your own.”
While Dys and Aila discussed the feasibility of the ridiculous idea, everyone else continued to either congratulate Eir or fawn over Hope. It was a joyous yet relaxing atmosphere and Jadis allowed herself to float away on the happy mood for several too short minutes before she forced one part of herself to address the issue that she had been skirting since the Leviathan had arrived in Glanum for a second time with the Glory next to it.
“Okay,” Dys said after Aila passed Hope back to Alex. “Tell me. Why is the chief jerkwad here?”
“I presume you mean Prince Hraustrekr.”
“That’s the wad in chief, yeah.”
“Ostensibly, to award you and Severina your medals.”
“Huh?”
Dys’ blank expression mirrored Aila’s. She waited for further explanation, which was given only after Aila let out a little huff of exasperation.
“You both exceed CLR one hundred, remember?”
“Oh,” Dys leaned back as she mentally put the pieces together. “What, he has to give us those silver badges?”
“Apparently,” Kerr answered while Aila nodded in agreement. “It’s some ceremony that’s supposed to be done by a member of the imperial family, or by some other inutile bureaucrat who has been formally given the power to do so. Sort of a big deal, you know.”
Jadis had guessed there would be a ceremony of sorts, but she hadn’t expected it would involve the imperial family directly. She figured Vraekae would be the one to give her the badge. She certainly wouldn’t have ever believed that the first prince would fly all the way to Glanum to present her with the formal acknowledgement of her milestone. And she still didn’t, for that matter.
“Okay, so why is he really here?” Dys asked with narrowed eyes.
“It’s not as though we’re in his confidence,” Aila sighed. “We can only speculate.”
“He expressed a great deal of doubt concerning the death of Demon Prince Vinea,” Eir chimed in. “And I believe Maeve said that she overheard a few whispers between the first prince and his trusted councilor, General Jorvald.”
“Yeah, she said she only caught a few words, but she thinks they were talking about military movements in Volto.”
That would make sense, Jadis thought to herself. She and the others had been talking about moving against Kastoria for the past several days. Prince Hraustrekr was the head of the imperial army, so it stood to reason that he would be looking into a potential push into the Demon infested lands. Such a large campaign would have to be approved by him. Whether he would give the territory he captured back to the rightful owners after all the Demons had been rooted out of the area was another matter entirely. Regardless, a push into Volto led by Prince Hraustrekr himself did make logical sense.
Unfortunately, all Aila and the others had were speculations as to Hraustrekr’s purpose for being in Glanum. That state of uneasy ignorance continued for the next several hours, though everyone chose to focus on Hope and their reunion rather than let the worry over the prince’s intentions tie them up in knots. It was just before dinner that a runner carrying a message from the prince found Jadis.
“He’s asked me to join him at the magistrate’s office,” Jay said with a frown as she read the note. “Right away.”
“One moment and I’ll have my armor belted on,” Severina said as she stood from her seat next to Sorcha. “Proper attire is best when meeting with a prince.”
“Should I bring my bow?” Kerr asked as she gave the bunny doll she had been idly playing with back to Alex. “You know, just in case we have to shoot our way out of the building or something?”
“We are not shooting our way out of any buildings,” Aila said as she reached for her shoes. “Please don’t even joke about that. Jadis already gave me two heart attacks with regards to the princes, I don’t need you giving me a third.”
“No, don’t get your bow,” Jay held up a hand. “And you might not need your armor, Sev. He asked for me to come alone.”
“That I like less than Kerr bringing her bow,” Aila said sharply as she looked at Jay. “We should all go, regardless.”
“Are you really suggesting we disobey a direct order from royalty?” Syd asked with a smirk.
“When it puts you in potential danger, yes,” the redhead replied instantly.
“I don’t think Hraustrekr is going to try anything stupid,” Dys frowned as she thought the situation over. “He’s going to know we’re collectively the strongest people in Glanum, especially with Noll around to back us up. The guards he had with him wouldn’t be able to take us down if he ordered them to seize us or something dumb like that.”
“Do not underestimate the power of the imperial guards tasked with protecting the emperor and his sons,” Severina cautioned. “They do not lack for levels, and the equipment they wear enhances them beyond anything even I have on my person.”
“Fair enough,” Jay acknowledged the point. “Either way, I don’t think he would come all the way here in person just to try and arrest me or some ridiculous idea like that. He already tried that, and it didn’t work out too well for him, politically speaking.”
“That said, I don’t trust him,” Dys said emphatically. “Aila is right. Can everyone get equipped and be on standby outside of the city hall? Just in case I need backup, or we need to get out of Glanum real fast.”
As everyone got to their feet and began throwing on armor or grabbing weapons, Eir approached Jay with a worried look on her beautiful face.
“Are we perhaps not overreacting? I understand that you and Prince Hraustrekr do not have the best of relationships, but is it not possible that he simply wishes to talk to you? You were directly involved in slaying the Demon Prince. Perhaps he simply wishes to interview you for details?”
“I hope that’s all it is,” Jay nodded with a small smile on her lips. “But with everything that has happened since we came to this damn city, I am done with depending on hope and good intentions. This place is still a battlefield so far as I’m concerned, and I’m going to treat all of our movements outside of this building as combat maneuvers, at least until we are all out of Glanum and back home where we’re safe.”
Since there was no more to be said on the matter, they all finished getting ready and headed out to the city hall. On the way, Jadis made sure that Tegwyn and his team were notified of what was going on, with orders to secure Sabina’s father and brothers and get them to the Leviathan if anything went wrong. While she didn’t think things were going to take a turn for the worse, she truly was trying her best to account for any and all possibilities. Jadis didn’t want anyone else she cared for to get hurt because of her lack of preparation again.
After they arrived at the city hall, Jay proceeded into the building and up to where the magistrate’s office was while her other two selves and her lovers waited in a covered outdoor area to the side of the structure. Hope was with them, which could have been considered a safety concern, except that Jadis was fairly certain that the highest concentration of power in the city could be found under that patio roof, so the newborn was about as safe as she could possibly be without being locked away in a tower a thousand miles from all other life. It was her Jay self that was taking the greatest risk by walking into the prepared position of a man that Jadis knew hated her and had the power to do something with that anger. She hoped she was being overly paranoid because of that lingering feeling of another shoe having not yet dropped, but she refused to ignore the warning in her gut.
Exiting the stairwell to enter the hall on the upper floor where Magistrate Lodovico’s office was located, Jadis saw both the magistrate and General Voss in the waiting area. The doors to Lodovico’s office were closed, and the two men were alone except for a pair of imperial guards standing on either side of the room. As she approached, she saw that the shorter man, Lodovico, had a worried expression on his face while Voss’ expression was grim. When he caught sight of her, the general nodded once before walking towards the stairs.
“Everything alright?” she asked, slowing her steps as they neared each other.
Voss gave her a strained look, his eyes showing clear distress. Before the general could say anything, a voice called out and interrupted any potential response.
“Lady Ahlstrom,” Prince Hraustrekr said, holding one side of the office’s double door open. “Please, join me.”
General Voss hesitated, then gave her a small nod before continuing on his way.
As Jay passed by Magistrate Lodovico, she noted that the man couldn’t quite meet her eyes.
“Hello, Prince Hraustrekr,” Jay greeted the golden-skinned elf as she entered the office.
“Greetings, Jadis,” the prince said as he closed the door behind them. “I hope you are well.”
“As well as I can be,” Jay answered, mildly surprised by the attempt at small talk. “What can I do for you?”
They were alone in the magistrate’s office. A spacious room with large windows that overlooked the northern and western sides of the city, it provided an excellent view of much of the city. Before answering, Prince Hraustrekr paced over to the windows and gazed out over what remained of Vinea’s corpse. Much of the Demon Prince had been dismantled, but the huge bones of the massive creature were still visible as soldiers continued to work on removing the body. As he took a few seconds to look out the window, Jay used the time to examine the prince.
He wasn’t wearing his armor. Not the full set, anyway. Just a breastplate over richly embroidered formal clothing of the sort that Jadis had seen nobles wear at other times in Eldingholt. The prince had his sword belted to his side, but that was all so far as weaponry went. Deciding to make use of her newest power, Jay silently cast Eyes of the Succubi on herself so she could examine the prince from a magical perspective.
Prince Hraustrekr lit up like an overpriced keyboard the moment her spell was turned on. Jay could see the sharp sparkle of runic lines running all over his armor, his clothes, his sword, and most especially the pendant around his neck and the rings on his fingers. The elf had more enchantments on him than both the Behemoth and Leviathan combined. More than that, Jadis got a look at the prince’s personal magic.
He was strong. Very strong. Rather than glowing like the sun the way Severina did or showing a roiling mass of neon-blue energy like Alex, Hraustrekr’s inner aura was like a diamond. His magic formed a solid block of pure, clear gemstone that didn’t so much as emit its own light, as it reflected all other light sources from it. His aura actually looked like it would be hard to the touch, unlike all the other personal magics Jadis had seen thus far, though she could still see the magnetic way the aether surrounding them was absorbed cleanly into his being at a greater rate than her own self.
“I believe congratulations are in order.”
The prince spoke with his back to her, so she couldn’t see his expression, though his tone and body language were both neutral. She assumed he was talking about the defeat of Vinea, though that was just a guess. Jay raised an eyebrow, waiting for Hraustrekr to continue. She didn’t have to wait long.
“For your first born,” Hraustrekr said as he turned around to face her. Taking a few steps closer, he extended a hand, inviting her to shake his hand. “Congratulations. You are a parent now. A happy occasion, even if the details of the actual birth are not what any of us would have wanted for our children.”
“Thank you,” Jay answered while cautiously taking the man’s hand and squeezing it firmly. “I appreciate that.”
“Hope is healthy, yes?” he continued after releasing her hand. “Her parentage is… unusual. I hope that no underlying issues have been detected. If you would like, I can send word to the nursemaid who looks over my children. She has many advanced spells that help ensure no otherwise imperceptible health issues imperil the child.”
“She’s very healthy,” Jay said, surprised twice over by the prince’s attitude and his offer. “No issues at all, and we’ve had her thoroughly checked.”
After a moment of hesitation, Jadis continued.
“I didn’t know you had children.”
“Two,” Hraustrekr said, a faint smile flitting across his lips. “A boy and a girl. I well know what it is to be a father. It gives one perspective.”
“Yeah, it does,” Jay admitted. “I would do anything to protect her.”
“Yes, I imagine you would.”
The smile that had played across the elf’s face fell away as his tone and his posture became more rigid. Taking a step back from her, he motioned with one hand towards the window that faced the north.
“There are other congratulations to be made. Your successful defense of Glanum. Slaying Demon Prince Vinea. Foiling whatever plots that the cultists had for these lands. Your ascension to CLR one hundred. A most eventful and productive trip. You have the thanks of the empire, and there will be a formal award ceremony to mark your great accomplishments.”
“But that isn’t why you called me here,” Jay said, sensing the direction of the conversation.
“No, it is not,” Hraustrekr admitted. “I called you here in regard to the planned campaign against Kastoria.”
“What about it?” Jay frowned.
She had figured that Hraustrekr would try to take control of the planning. Was he going to kick her out so that she wouldn’t get any more credit or some similarly stupid political maneuver? If he was, she might have to go to the emperor himself to complain.
“There will be no campaign to take Kastoria at this time,” the first prince stated calmly. “And I am ordering Fortune’s Favored not to advance on the city.”
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