The Mother of Monsters

The caravan arrived at the entrance to the Northern Tribes’ home only an hour later, the lead Carriage coming to a stop and the footsoldiers climbing out and forming up on either side of a large set of gates. Beyond them, a length of bridge stretched out over a vast canyon that had been filled with the numerous artificial spires that made up the city where the tribe lived. Standing just ahead of the gate was the enormous, gray-haired First Elder Milliard as well as a small cadre of other northern Azar.

Teyva glanced out the window as the carriage came to a stop and with a quick wave of her hand opened her inventory. She equipped her [Ribbon of the Victor]. It was a cosmetic item in the form of a long silver ribbon made of some unknown metal. She used it to tie up her hair, Thrake had been insistent that she wear it when they arrived at this first stop. Azrael, who had been holding Stella for the past few minutes, looked out the window as well. “I’ll be honest, I don’t like Milliard very much,” She said, “He is coarse and short-spoken around strangers.”

Teyva raised an eyebrow at her, “Really, I wonder what that’s like?” She quipped, drawing a chuckle from Elat who subsequently shrank beneath Azrael’s glare. Teyva reached down and picked up her satchel, it had grown heavier since she’d last held it. She opened it and found even more copper and silver coins inside. She gave the contents a lopsided grin, “Queenie, my bag is getting heavy, dear.”

This one hopes that it may soon have a nest, to alleviate mother’s burden.

Teyva cleared her throat, “Why don’t some of you stay with Marble?” She asked, “I’ll bring the older ones with me, yeah?”

As you wish.

Queenie scampered out of the bag, followed by a rush of silver and copper coins, the tiny little creatures scampered up the wall behind Teyva before spreading out across the ceiling in a neat spread, Queenie at the center. Teyva checked the weight of her bag and shrugged, slipping it over her shoulder. Conrad shook his head and glanced out the window in time to see Batel and Abba step up and open it, both of them parting and standing on either side. Conrad stepped out first with Paraklytus slipping out as well. They joined Abba and Batel in flanking the two Princesses as they departed. Teyva coming out first with Azrael and Elat taking up the rear. Nephral rested atop the carriage and let out a lazy yawn, rolling onto his side and basking in the sunlight. She glowered at him, lazy cat.

As soon as they stepped on the ground, the representatives of the Northern Tribe dropped to a practiced knee.

“Welcome to our homeland, Crown Princess Teyva Akura, and Princess Azrael Unabi,” Milliard said in his gravelly voice. He looked up as Teyva approached with Azrael at her side.

“Thank you First Elder Milliard,” Teyva said, holding out a hand.

Milliard looked up and rose to his feet, taking her hand and shaking it once. He eyed her when he felt the chill of her touch, but said nothing of it.

“It’s good to see you Milliard,” Azrael added, inclining her head, “I don’t see your wife here.”

“She is with child and resting,” Milliard said shortly, nodding in the direction of two of the representatives that had joined them. They quickly moved to begin opening the gates to the city beyond.

“Congratulations,” Azrael said, “How many does this make?”

“Seven,” Milliard said, smiling a little, “A large family that I can be proud of.”

“Seven?” Azrael said, a little louder, “I hope I am one day blessed with such good fortune.”

Teyva glanced sidelong at Azrael who had a bit of a smirk on her face. She opened up the private chat, unable to resist ribbing her friend a little.

With the way you two go at it, I’m surprised you aren’t already.

Azrael’s expression tensed and to Teyva’s surprise, she didn’t respond. Instead she continued her forced banter with Milliard who turned and gestured to the bridge behind him. “We should continue inside. Since you are here, please see the market,” He said, “Afterward I will take you to the Patron to pay respects.”

Teyva barely processed what he was saying, instead her eyes were focused on the back of Azrael’s head. When they started walking she picked up her pace for a few heartbeats to get a good look at Azrael’s face. Her sister was completely flushed. Teyva blinked and glanced over her shoulder at an oblivious Elat who was talking with Conrad as they walked. She turned her attention back to Azrael and found her friend looking up at her with a serious face. “Do not say a word, I will talk to Elat about it when the time is right,” She said, her tone firm.

“Wow,” Teyva said, smiling, “I’m happy for you.”

Azrael’s smile widened a little sheepishly and she looked back to where they were going, “...thanks.”

“How far along?” Teyva asked.

“About a month, I’ve had Barin keeping an eye on me,” She said, “It was bound to happen eventually, neither of us use contraceptives,” She continued, scratching at her nose and stepping in closer to Teyva.

“During the match, then?” Teyva pressed, worried.

“Barin cast protective magic on them before each match, there was no danger,” Azrael said.

“Them?”

Azrael held up two fingers and winked.

“It’s so early, how do you know?” Teyva asked, shocked.

“Magic is a wondrous thing,” Azrael laughed, crossing her arms behind her back. Teyva fell silent and stayed by her sister’s side. She quietly resolved herself not to lean on Azrael too much during this trip, regardless of the situation. Azrael probably wouldn’t appreciate the deferential treatment but Barin wasn’t here to ensure the safety of the two babies growing inside of her body. Teyva paused and glanced at Azrael again, a thoughtful expression on her face. The expression turned mischievous and she nudged her.

“You know, you’re going to be a balloon by the time we get back to Osan,” Teyva laughed.

“You just had to bring that up, didn’t you?” Azrael groaned, “In a few months I’ll be useless.”

Teyva threw an arm around her sister’s shoulder and grinned, “It’s all for them, you’ll get through it, and besides, I have Connie too.”

“Great,” Azrael mumbled.

Crossing the bridge took several minutes, with as narrow as it was it became necessary to leave most of their troops back at the entrance to the village. Batel and Abba accompanied the group instead. When they arrived at the first spire, Teyva had to stop and take it all in. From a distance, the spire seemed small but now that she was there it was huge, the entire upper part of the spire had been filled in with dirt and soil allowing for plant life to grow atop what was essentially a narrow mesa. Dozens of homes were scattered around its surface, all of them centered around a large marketplace at the dead center of the circular plane. There were perhaps a hundred stalls and tents in all, craftsmen, merchants, and peddlers of all races scattered about trying to sell their wares.

Teyva turned to Abba and Batel to ask how they wanted to handle their duties only to see both of them staring at the market with glittering eyes. She frowned, so that was why they had pressed their way into coming. Teyva reached into her inventory and took out a bit of the spending money that the King had given her, walking over and putting it in Batel’s hand.

“Time to put those lessons from Niko to the test, go have fun,” She said, nodding to the market. Batel beamed and bowed twice before turning to Abba and without warning, grabbed her wrist and dragged her along with him. She watched them go and tilted her head, “Since when was that going on?”

“You are dense as hell,” Azrael grumbled, patting her on the back. She walked by and was quickly joined by Conrad and Elat. Paraklytus shook his head and continued ahead as well.

Teyva gaped at them, “You all knew?” She blurted before stamping her foot, “There’s no way! I didn’t see a damn thing between them!”

“It’s not all about you, Teyva!” Azrael laughed.

Teyva blinked, then narrowed her eyes at the retreating group, “You didn’t know either, you’re just fucking with me,” As one, all four of them flinched, she crossed her arms, “Knew it.”

At the entrance to the market, Milliard took a moment to bid them a pleasant time before reminding them to come to the central column when they were ready to pay their respects to the Patron. With that, Teyva hurried to catch up with the others who had already scattered about, checking out different shops and stalls. It was mind-boggling, there were goods produced by every race on the continent, fine elven metalwork, dwarven tools and hardware, orcish bows and fletching, human art and pottery, there were fish, various game meats, vegetables, fruits, books in almost a dozen languages, it was overwhelming.

By the time Teyva had caught up with one of her party she had found Elat talking jovially with a Dwarf who was sitting on a stool next to what looked like compass sets. She drew closer and stopped next to Elat, peering down at the handiwork before glancing over at the dwarf. She’d never seen one up close though she knew a few lived in Osan. He was stocky as she imagined, with a thick, well-combed beard and a bald head, he had a pair of reading glasses on and was holding what looked like watchmakers tools. She’d never actually seen tools that delicate looking before. The dwarf glanced up at her and raised an eyebrow, she was glad she’d used [Alter Self] before leaving the carriage.

“Can I help you, ma’am?” He asked, his voice surprisingly bright and light despite his rough appearance.

“Do you make anything besides compasses? Perhaps something that tells time?” Teyva asked.

The dwarf smiled beneath his beard, “Looking for a pocket watch are ya?” He chortled, “I happen to have a few in the back I just finished, would you like a look?”

Teyva’s eyes widened, she knew that Barin had experimented with various ways to use magic for convenience in Osan but she hadn’t really seen what the scope of this world’s technology was yet. She also hadn’t seen anyone in Osan with a pocket watch. Was it something unique to the dwarves? “Of course, please!”

The dwarf nodded and got to his feet, stepping into the back.

“How’d you know he had something like that?” Elat asked.

“The tools he was holding,” Teyva said.

“Huh! I didn’t notice,” Elat said thoughtfully.

“Elat?” A voice chimed in from behind.

They both jumped, turning around and seeing a button-nosed orcish woman standing just a few feet away. She wore traveler’s clothes and had a backpack hanging from her right shoulder. It took Teyva a moment to recognize her, the beauty having grown a bit tougher looking in the past few months. Elat on the other hand recognized his sister right away.

“Sari?”