N/A: This is my first story. I'm not an English native speaker, so don't be afraid to correct me on spelling/grammar. I'm kinda doing this for my future exam as well and I'd be very grateful for your support.
Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ, Akira Toriyama does.
Planet Vegeta. Cold season*,Andromeda Galaxy
Curtains were shut in front of the large, wall sized windows, that were frozen from the violent blizzard outside the king's palace. It was unusual for the cold season to come that early. Snow was practically everywhere, and not on the figurative sense; if one had the bad luck to go outside, they would be taken off by the storm like pieces of paper.
With a pronounced scowl on his elegant features and his hands clenched on the back, the king was walking across the throne room. Beside the guards, no one else was in the lower level of the palace, but the king and the echo of his steps on the floor. From time to time, he would stop and look upwards to the ceiling, as expecting something to happen. That was right.
Suddenly, the giant doors to the throne room opened as one of the king's footmen stormed in, looking ravaged and full of wet, holding an older man, with a white robe, a black kit and looking, if possible, even worse.
"- Here he is, king Vegeta, I barely found him on this blizzard", the tall, raven haired footman breathed out.
The king walked to the spot where the men were standing and took a look at the elder.
"- Good. You can leave now, Kanpas*. Go to sleep, if I need something, I will let you know".
Kanpas bowed in respect and left through a side door. The old man was standing now properly in front of the king, his trauma from the road barely forgotten.
"- Did my footman told you about the reason you are now here? I do not have time to explain it again.", the king asked the elder with a slightly tense, but authoritative voice.
The elder looked up to the king, his face still betraying surprise.
"- Yes, Sire, I was informed about the situation, and I think it is no time to be wasted", the curer* said in a mild tone, bowing as well in front of the king.
After a tense moment, the king took a small breath and nodded.
"- You know were her room is.", the king said as the old man went to the stairs.
White, worn out candles were the only source of light on the wide bedroom. A closet and a mirror were against the left wall and the right wall was half covered by a window with nearly covering curtains. Near the window, there was a desk and a chair. On the desk were several books, notes, and pencils, all in a neat order. The candles were reflecting trembling shadows to the big walls, covered by a couple of paintings. Those paintings were in fact small versions of the full-height portraits from the throne's room. On the first one, there was a younger king, right after the coronation, in his battle armor, with the Royal sign on the left side of it. On the second one, there was a beautiful woman, with long, black hair, dark hazel eyes and pale skin. The bangs framed her face in a perfect way. Her upper lip was slightly bigger that the lower lip that gave her an innocent look, though her gaze showed confidence and wisdom. She was dressed in a white veil dress, wearing a silver head piece on her forehead with small emeralds inlaided on it and a silver necklace with -though the smaller sized portrait didn't showed it clearly- a small Royal sign, the same as on the king's armor.
On the center of the room was a large bed, with a high baldaquin whose light curtains were wide open. But the bed wasn't empty.
"- Karlena*, "little oak"! I am here!", the curer said as he slowly entered the big room and approached the bed.
Covered by sheets and sweat pouring on her forehead and neck, the woman turned her head to the side and gave the curer a weak smile, more like a grimace.
"- Galdret*, I thought you wouldn't make it...".
Galdret turned to the maid that was standing near the queen with a wet garment in hand, trying to wipe the sweat from her head.
"- I'll need a basin with warm water, she's in labor, stop doing nonsense!", he angrily said to the maid that immediately threw the towel and went for the requested item. He gently asked the woman, "How long have you been like this, little oak?"
"- Twelve hours, I think, the baby was practically training inside", Karlena chuckled, "He's gonna be a strong one, indeed."
"- Here it is, as you required!", the maid said, handing the bowl to the curer.
Galdret put his sleeves up and he uncovered the sheets aside.
"- Here we go, child, take a deep breath, and push!"
The scowl on the king's face hardened as he glanced through the window. He had been into countless battles, most of them with the brilliant race known as the Tuffles. Finally, he won the war, the Tuffles were destroyed and he was crowned as King. A King chosen from the love and admiration of all Saiyans. The Tuffle technology combined with Saiyan power was the ultimate key to the development of new ways of training and new devices that only came in benefit for the warriors, as in the scouters and, even better, rejuvenation tanks. The planet became one of the most powerful in the Universe, and he, Vegeta, was the king. His mate, Karlena, came from a far away region. Her father fought in the Saiyan-Tuffle war, and her mother was a household woman and occasionally planted little oaks. Galdret was a family friend and he had known Karlena since she was a baby. He called her "little oak", because she liked to decorate her hair with the blue flowers Karlena used to sell them on the third-class market and, one day, when the king went in a supervision mission, he saw the girl and he deeply fell in love with her hazel eyes and her white skin. He vowed to protect her no matter what, and little it took until she became the Queen of all Saiyans, despite her third-class origin.
But now, he was feeling anxious. He didn't want anything to happen to his mate or his offspring, the heir. He always was in control with things that happened on the planet, until now. The fact that he couldn't do anything towards his own family was horrible. All he could do was wait.
"- Excuse me, Sire", a voice behind him said.
The king saw the reflection of the tall, muscular man, with only a handful of black hair on the top of his head.
"- What is it, Nappa? I thought I gave an order for the soldiers to go to sleep. Tomorrow will be plenty of things to do."
The soldier named Nappa scratched the back of his head and gave the king a wary look.
" - Yes, Sire, and that is the reason why I am here, In case you needed something."
Vegeta turned his head a little to the side and let go to a heavy sigh.
" - There is nothing to do in here, just...to wait.", the king said blankly.
Nappa lowered his head in defeat and turned back to leave, when, suddenly, Galdret appeared in the throne room, his face and the collar of his robe soaked in sweat.
"- Sire! Sire!" was all he could yell before both the king and Nappa ran upstairs to the Royal bedroom.
In the dimly lightened room, the maid was cleaning off the blood and changing the sheets on the bed, and the bowl, now full of reddened water, was near the bed.
With strands of black hair on her wet face, and an expression of accentuated fatigue, the queen was laying unconscious on the pillows.
"- Karlena!", the king approached the bed and patted her left cheek before looking at the old man. "Is she...?"
"- Just very tired. She has been in labor for 12 hours, it's not something you usually deal with.", Galdret said, before walking towards a little crib and grabbing something from it. "There, there, you'll have plenty of time to cry from now on, little prince".
The king froze at the sight of the little being on the curer's hands that was bawling his eyes out. "Little prince...It was a boy!" He clumsily stretched his arms to the little newborn and Galdret handed it to the king. The baby suddenly stopped wailing and looked up to his father with wide eyes.
"My son...my heir.." Vegeta was filled with a strange emotion now that the waiting has come to an end. He looked down to the baby with a scrutinizing glare. Everything seemed to be in place. His hair color was exactly like Karlena's, but the eyes were black.
Galdret turned to the door and, accompanied by the maid to show him his room, left the king with the newborn in his arms. At the queen's demand, he was going to sleep at the palace at that night.
Nappa, who stood all that time next to the door, slowly approached his king and put his red glass scouter on his left ear. As he pushed the button, a number appeared in Saiyan characters
"- Power level, 5 000.", he said in pure amazement, "Outstanding!"
"- I don't see anything out of place, after all, he's the future king", Vegeta said, pride filling his chest. He then turned to the taller man with a serious glare.
"Nappa, from now on, your duty as a Royal soldier is to be loyal to the prince, take care of him and be his comrade in battle, no matter the circumstances.", the king said in a solemn voice.
Nappa raised his right hand, placed it on the left side of his chest and made a bow in front of the king.
"I, Nappa, as a Saiyan Elite and the most trusted soldier of Your Royal Highness, I give my word to protect, be loyal to prince Vegeta and help him fulfill every duty he will have in the future, with the cost of my own life."
A dim light entered through the half-covered windows as the storm stopped. Dawn had come and it promised a new day for the Kingdom, and a first one for the little prince.
*cold season = a period of time that starts on middle November and ends around middle March;
Kanpas = a pun on "pasternak"(rus.), that means "parsnip"
curer = equivalent of "doctor"
Karlena = a mix between Karlene and Layla. Karlene(german) means feminity and strenght, whereas Layla(arabic) means beautiful and dark haired lady.
Galdret = a mix between Galen(greek) and "mudrets"(russian). Galen means "healer" and "tranquil", whereas "mudrets" means "salvia"
"little oak" = a diminuitive to "oak", it's not related to the tree, but to a blue flower named "stejarel"(romanian.), a diminuitive to "stejar" that means "oak"
