A/N: In light of particular loveliness going on in my other stories, I fell the need to extend a "Thank you" of sorts to the readers of this fandom.
There's a reason I love these smaller fandoms. They're not judgmental. They're newer, and the fans are more willing to open their minds to possibilities that may not be normal because quite frankly, "fannon" for newer series have yet to be established. Simply put, I can come here, and write the pairings I want. I don't have to worry about who may or may not accept it…there aren't enough stories in these small heartfelt series to be "picky" or "judgmental" towards something...because we don't have much to choose from, we're simply all too happy to see someone else share in the same things we love.
Even if we don't always see eye-to-eye, we can at least be thankful for every new perspective.
Truth be told, I hate the idea of "Fannon, and "OTP's" anyway. They're concepts that when taken too far, delude the mind of seeing other possibilities. That's just sad really, because fandom is about taking joy in a series, whatever joy that may be.
Anyway, each fandom has a life, and, unfortunately for me, some of the older ones are dying out for me. The fans of those series have become lacking in that acceptance. They have an established fanon that stunts the acceptance found in the newer, less streamlined shows...that's why I'm thankful to be a fan of "Still The World Is Beautiful", because the series itself is a story about acceptance, love, and togetherness.
Anyway, thanks guys, for sticking with this fiction thus far if you have… due to the time away from the series that I took, this chapter is a bit longer than the last.
Chapter 12
There was a great deal to be said for commoners who lacked the finer things in life.
They may not have had the best of dresses, nor the finest meals, but they did have their freedom, and rather amusing lives. They were kept busy by their chores, but they were also kept warm with their meaningless prattle and good natured teasing that most young women indulged in. There were meals to be made, and beds to be warmed, and even the lonely spinsters who didn't keep a man around normally spent their time enjoying the merriment of others.
The elderly, Nike noticed, seemed to like to do that. If she could have the same kind of wherewithal that the older folks had, she might have found some merit to living life as a lavished queen. As it stood however, she was simply bored out of her skill.
One lovely day in the garden was enough to amuse most royal women, as they were raised not to run haphazardly into the town square at a moment's notice. The same could not be said for Nike and Mira, who did what they wanted, when they wanted. The former woman was more liberal than the latter, no doubt, but if their upbringing had afforded them both one thing, it was the joys found in simple, yet rewarding work.
Drawing water from the well, pushing the floodgates opened and closed with the tides, coring the freshly picked apples rinsed by the rains for seeds, or even just minding the children old enough to be off the hip…there was always something to be done. Royalty and bloodline had no part in deciding the doling out of the chores, in fact noble birth merely meant more to do, not less.
The Sun Kingdom was not the same way, and while she was often kept busy with greetings and pen pushing, she missed the hard labor that had once kept her busy.
"These walls are stifling." Nike sighed, pacing up and down a long hallway that would lead to one of the more personal gardens. It was well fortified, and had been officially dubbed for only the women of the house at Mira's behest.
Livius abruptly ordered it when one day the women tried to pray to the skies in the way they would at home, only to be seen by a few castle guards. Now, such a thing wouldn't happen, and Maria came in from a particularly refreshing day of singing with a robe on to cover her otherwise nude form. The sight that greeted her was her sister, pacing around in a clearly dour mood.
"What I wouldn't give for a cow to milk or sheep to sheer." Nike muttered to herself as she looked at the photos the covered the walls.
"If you're restless Nike, you should sing." Mira said, coming to her sister's side.
"I wish I could." Nike said, her hands falling to her belly. "It's hard enough to summon rain, but even praying to the skies can be difficult on a woman carrying a child."
"It is also said that rain calms that spirit." Mira told her gently. "The skies are there to hear our words. You should at least go speak to it, even if nothing else."
"I would not expect the skies to put up with my ranting today." Nike replied, taking a seat on a bench that sat in the hallway. "You were communing quite deeply, I could hear the rolling thunder. Is everything alright?"
"An oversight on my behalf." Mira told Nike. "Little more, but it seems as if I have much to learn about a woman's duties."
"So says the most well tutored sister of the house." Nike laughed then, thinking her sister to truly be foolish. "What happened, did you fold the bed sheets the wrong way? We have maids for that here."
"It isn't funny, I truly am a failure at my duties." Mira sighed, coming to sit down in the bench as well. "Neil isn't as expectant as I thought a husband would be, given the stories that I had overheard growing up. I'm starting to wonder if he takes fault with the gifts I have to offer him."
That caused Nike to grin, and she hid it behind her hand to keep from bursting out in laughter. "Just where exactly did you happen to you hear such stories from, Mira?"
"Well it wasn't our father's prattling, I assure you." Mira rolled her eyes.
"Who then?" Nike pressed.
"If you must know, it was the boys in the village, and of course the stories I used to hear from our mother." Then another thought came to her mind. "Tell me, is Livius the same way?"
"The same way with what, exactly?" Nike asked slowly, noticing her sister was well and truly baffled by something.
"Unresponsive to a man's whims…what they say they require." Mira explained. "Will Livius often wait for days at a time before seeking you as a woman? Does he only gaze at you in his moments of leisure, instead of the heated passions that most men speak of?"
"No." Nike said after some thought. "No, he was never as demanding a man of our people."
"You are quite beautiful." Mira said then, her tone make it clear she merely thought it fact. "I wonder if this is just the way of these lands."
"I think it is more a condition of this house." Nike replied after giving it a bit more thought. "At first Livi was terrified of even thinking to sully me." Nike explained, thinking back to their first few couplings. "I had to be slow and gentle with him, a bit insistent too, as I recall."
"That's my quandary." Mira murmured then, a blush tinging her cheeks. "Livius is a king, you'd think he'd take what was his...Nil too."
"Oh, he does." Nike laughed. "At first, a lot of his hesitancy had to do with our age differences as well. He was still a mere boy when I married him, you see. We waited longer than may have been wise before we consummated our union."
"Oh, I see." Mira nodded, closing her eyes as she sighed. "Yes, I suppose that would cause him to be a little worried." She wished the same trial could be said of her husband. "Neil is a grown man in every way I can muster the thought of, a fine specimen at that." Both women shared a blush at that, and both grew quiet.
"If I may lend an observation?" Nike spoke to break the silence that fell over them. "Neil is not a daft man by any means. He is your husband, yes, but I wonder if given your status, he waits for your invitation."
That sparked a bitter laugh. "And why on earth would he do that?" Mira asked, thinking it silly that a man of any background would wait for approval from his wife.
"Neil is used to being told what to do. He's docile by nature. I've sometimes found that while the men of this household are bullheaded, they're also skittish." Nike said slowly. "Not all men are like our father, and Neil surely doesn't think such lewd thoughts."
"You are right." Mira nodded. "I'm sure he does not. He's never said a word to me to even indicate that."
"Then, perhaps, if you need his attentions so badly, you should warn the maids not to be bothered and summon Neil to your room." Nike said with a shrug. "Show him your desire, and give him an offer not even a saint would refuse."
"Nike, I couldn't possibly..." Mira blushed more deeply at that. "It's the middle of the afternoon."
"That's never stopped me." Nike said as she stood with a small cat-ate-the-canary smile. "And it surely hasn't stopped Livi."
…
The office was both a sanctuary, and a strange sort of prison that would seem to trap the men of the household on any give day. Bardwin complained often of the torture chamber that the lavished office really was. His contempt was noted, and then ignored. Thankfully, he was out of the castle today, but, as that implied, he was likely being a little too friendly with the women of the city.
Livius tried to ignore the sinking feeling that at dinner, he would meet another new, lovely young lady, who just so happened to be unspoken for. there seemed a new woman each week, sometimes, each new day. Instead of feeling bitter about his uncle's ways, he merely busied himself with the forthcoming tasks at hand.
"Are you absolutely sure all of the arrangements have been made?" Livius yawned rubbing sleep from his eyes. He hadn't slept well the night before, and he couldn't say that he felt up to a long day spent over his paperwork. "Nothing at all could possibly be amiss?"
"I double and triple checked." Neil reported from his place at the king's side. "The tickets have been purchased, the horses are being given one final inspection, and the small inn that Nike favors will take us in until the boat arrives."
"Are the bags packed?" Livius asked then.
"The maids are seeing to it." Neil nodded. "I don't expect any trouble. They're very befitting of their jobs."
"Yes." Livius sighed. "That they are." It was a small comfort to him, until a small niggling thought came to mind. "Forgive me, I've got an unsettling feeling in my gut."
"Yes well, we've had no few setbacks today." Neil agreed with a sigh. "The town seems to be displeased with the unusual forecast."
"Well, I would be too. If my crops suffered such a dry spell and I couldn't get a firm hold on imports, I'd fear for my family." His wife's pregnancy had caused no few problems to occur since she could not summon the rains. "Nike has made this land go soft. I recall a time when they didn't have to count on her skill to keep the crops well hydrated."
"With this drought, many of the farmers just can't get to any water." Neil told the king with a shake of his head. "I should ask Mira to go to the farms. I'm sure she won't hesitate to offer assistance."
"I will count on her to save the crop then. It'll be a peace of mind to travel if I know the people are well fed." Livius said with a nod. "I wish the same could be said for my uncle's idea of leadership. However, I fear that isn't the case. Bardwin will have to be left in charge." It made him angry to think of that. "Bastard had better not go about sampling the unwedded royals at the court."
"He could come with us, if you would so desire." Neil said, only to be given a glare made of pure ire alone.
"I would not subject the poor women of the house to Bardwin's instinctual nature." Livius growled. "Knowing him, he'd set his sights on the well-endowed Nia, and that poor girl would probably accept him without thinking him lewd until it was too late." It made the king shiver unpleasantly to even consider it. "As much as I hate when he turns the castle into a brothel, I would hate even more that he might think to get friendly with someone he could truly upset."
"He means well." Neil said, though he struggled to find truth in that. "I think, perhaps, he would be kinder to a woman he knows he could upset. The women he often entertains aren't so blind to his intentions."
"Often times, he does his job well, and I've no doubt in his abilities in helping to run the kingdom." Livius relented. "Just not when the opposite sex happens to be around. Whenever he takes sight of a woman, he no longer thinks with his mind."
A knock came at the door, and Livius rolled his eyes. "This had better be good!" He roared, knowing the household had been a three ring circus all afternoon with the maids tittering about in glee.
"I assure you it isn't bad." Nike let herself in, closing the door behind her. "I've merely come because I need to walk a bit. However, I do need to tell Neil that Mira is in need of his assistance. He should go to her."
Neil looked to Livius who merely nodded, and away Neil went, excusing himself politely before bypassing Nike and exiting through the long and spacious hallway. It was only a moment later when she leaned upon the door, locking it tightly with its clasp.
"Are you alright?" Livius asked.
"Those maids!" She said with a roll of her eyes. "Livi, I tell you, I'm never going to hear the end of it."
"You'll hear the end of it. I'll demand it." He told her now quite worried. "What have they done now?"
"Women fawn over other pregnant women, Livi." Nike said as she came to settle herself onto his desk, moving his work aside. "You can't demand they stop fussing over me, or you'll get irate when you realize I've sipped a breakfast or a lunch." She told him honestly. "Though truth be told, there is something to be said about the way my mother tends to dress. It is much easier on the body."
"The baby is giving you trouble?" He asked, putting his hand into her belly, though he knew he wouldn't be able to feel anything.
"Well, the babe is of your seed and my womb." Nike deadpanned. "You tell me."
"Point well taken." Livius said quietly, as he let his fingers slip in between the folds of her robe and run up her smooth leg, coming to rest at her thigh. "Are you so unwell that you saw fit to chase Neil away?" The king then asked, pondering if there was a true reason for concern.
"Mira wanted him." Nike said with a shrug. "If anything, I know all too well the pains of waiting for a man who doesn't take what he rightfully should." She then eyed the paperwork on the desk around her with no small amount of contempt. "I also know of a particular king who had better not make this a habit, or his queen might set the desk aflame."
"Have we truly been blinded by our work?" Livius asked with a lecherous grin. "At the moment, I don't know if I should think the threat to be luck, or misfortune."
"You'll figure it out. I'm sure." Nike said then as she slid off the desk and into her husband's lap. "Your treaty agreements can wait a few hours, I wish to peruse the gardens with my husband."
Is that so?" He asked, kissing the back of her hand as he gestured for her to stand, though he was loathe to admit to himself he would have been just as happy to have her remain on top of him. "Well, I suppose it wouldn't bode well if I was to disappoint." He offered her his arm, which she took willingly, and away they went down the long hallway that lead to the largest garden of the castle near the front entrance.
…
While Nike found suitable entertainment for the day, Mira was finally able to take solace in her own husband. It was as if a weight had lifted from her shoulders when he kissed her, and it went without saying that as he expressed his desire, she knew she was not wrong for agreeing to marry him.
She had wondered about the man she chose to marry, feared he saw her ill-fitting of the role she would take in his life. Part of her feared he might have married her out of obligation, but, as he rested with her, his passions lingered in his voice, a mellow honesty that she could listen to all day long.
He was a kind enough person. As strict with himself as he was of others. Mira found that to be one of his more inspiring traits, although it also seemed to be one that brought him great difficulty romantically. He had other duties to occupy his mind most of the time, and bedding his wife simply wasn't one of them. The good of the people had to be his foremost concern, just as it was for Livius.
However, the idea of demanding his attention was one that worried Mira, making her feel just a small bit of guilt. "I'm sorry to pull you from your work." She told him, listening to the pattering's of his heart.
"I don't understand why." He answered, pulling the sheets up around them further. "It is your right to do so."
"I don't believe that's the case." Mira murmured. Even as she took warmth in his embrace, she had always known that he wasn't the most passionate man on the planet. "I knew from the start that you would have to remain faithful in your duties to this kingdom." Still, the arm that held her body to his was strong, and his beating heart was unwavering. Steady, constant, and entirely predictable.
"Mira, a man of this kingdom has a particular level of pride in their own clout." He told her, the unflinching honesty in his words let her know the truth. There would be no surprises with him, as he was a forthright type of person in every regard, including the way his fingers rested upon her hip, leaving no question that he did indeed see her as his wife. "Our wives are to be heeded, and I would be remiss not to answer your call."
"I should not have." Mira told him. "I am grateful that I did, but, perhaps I shall be more mindful in the future."
"Mira, you call me." He told her, his eyes raking over her form in a possessive way. "You'll call no other, so you will call me." A way that spoke truths of her beauty, and his desire to quell her needs. "You're mine to attend to, and no other shall have that privilege." She was his wife...his…and no one else's.
There was only a small spark in his kiss, a tiny flame in the ways he burned her, his passions were simply soft by nature. Almost always gentle. She wondered if he would ever feel a truly deep need to ravish her, to take her in ways that most men would only think of, and dare never to speak of, not even to good friends whilst drowning in the drink.
Even if he was not a man driven by impulses, Mira could tell that he would always be there for her. That alone was enough. She would never grow cold in his arms. "Neil, we will be going to my homeland soon." Mira said softly, the niggling insecurities coming to the forefront of her mind. "My grandmother will be there."
"She will indeed." From his resting place, he looked her in the eyes, using his free hand to find his glasses and put them back on so that he could see clearly. "That bothers you." He said without much more than clear observation, already knowing it to be the case. "Why?"
She bit her lip, wondering that, and coming up short. "What will they think when they see us?" Her hand on his chest, the rise and fall of his breath, it made her realize she expected him to be the way that he was. "What will they assume of us?" It was nearly a comfort to know that he would never lead her astray, even if that also meant that his was a man of logic, and not of emotion. "Grandmother didn't take kindly to Livius, and I can only assume that she won't easily receive you either."
"But, receive me she shall." Neil told his wife. "She hasn't a choice, you and I are family now."
"Perhaps she does not, but she should want to welcome you without restraint." Mira protested softly. "She should be happy, but somehow, I know she will not be."
"She is a woman less traveled due to her responsibilities." Neil said simply. "She has her place, and you have yours. That is not something that requires any further understanding."
"I think she mourns deeply." It was a theory that had come to Mira after Nike had to leave the first time, turning her back on her family willingly, to return to her people. She had left them a wayward princess and had come back a queen with a young husband. The entire family had been baffled at the sight of Livius, knowing he was merely a boy at the time, but, it was indeed time that made that issue irrelevant. "Grandmother is the type of person to expect that her family stays close, she likes to oversee her lands, and her family. To gaze upon the fruits of her struggles." Such a view was not as easy to overcome. "She wishes that sight to extend to her grandchildren, but, that hasn't happened."
"Mira." His voice was soft, a gentle smoothness that lilted in-between his words. "I doubt there is a soul alive who doesn't feel that way. It would be worse if she didn't want you to return."
"I want her to see, and to understand." Mira told him. "I am not unhappy wedded to you."
"Then, are you pleased to be so?" He asked, finding it strange that he hadn't inquired her feelings on the matter. Part of him feared her answer, and another part dreaded the outcome of her words. "I am not the most attentive man on this planet."
"Yet you can admit that." Mira told him with a smile laugh. "Not many can."
"I am merely a man." He told him, almost confused. "I find it strange how much posturing goes on, quite frankly, it's a tiring thing to do day in and day out." With a lick of his lips, he thought about that, and the woman at his side. "It is much easier, lazier in a way perhaps, to simply admit to a fault."
"I am contented…though also lonely." Mira told him. "I do wish that you would sometimes retire earlier, or take your meals with Nike and I more often. It seems as if you and Livius both get lost in that office."
"We're creatures of habit." Neil said, but held her just a little more firmly, his other arm reaching around, so that she was fully within his embrace. "If you call me, I will come. If you ask something of me, I will try in all of my power to do as you request." It was all he could say to her, the only things he could offer, and he wondered if that would be enough. "I will provide all that I can in the ways I am able, but, you are right. That is why Mira, you must tell me if I do become negligent in my duties."
…
Once the travel plans had been made, it was just a short time before they had set off by carriage to the small port town that was forever growing and changing. New shops seemed to spring up all the time, and Nike normally enjoyed strolling along the waterfront, looking at the many stalls that dotted the docks. It wasn't that she was a vain person, even though she knew Livius would allow her to have whatever she wanted.
It was that she enjoyed watching the crafters work their masteries in such skillful ways. She was far from a seamstress, and knew nothing of candle dipping or jewel polishing. Even her bloodline that was attached to nature so fundamentally were not trained to hunt in the fields or to skin fish brought in by the tides.
Still, with her body carrying a willful child that insisted to have its way, she soon learned walking wouldn't do her very much good. She retired to the inn early that afternoon, reclining in bed at a moment's notice. "The seas will be restless when we board the ship." Nike told her husband as she put a hand over her the lump her belly was becoming. "I have no doubt that the child will scorn the waves."
"I hope it won't be so bad." Livius said, placing his hands over his wife's own. "This is a vacation too, and I wish it to be enjoyable for you."
"We are so at one with nature, that it should be rather expected." Nike sighed, already feeling the pull of the ocean on her spirit. "Rain summoning is the easiest thing to do, and cloud scattering is a family event that takes a great deal of power…but, it is also true that with proper training, one could command the sea, or even the dunes…I've heard stories of my people ordering dust storms to part and settle as if there were merely a gentle breeze."
"Women are interesting." Livius said then, pondering that as the idle thought amused him, a grin forming due to the silly observation. "They are able to carry youth in their gut, and provide for that youth after it is born….furthermore, they don't seem bothered by the fact that life grows inside them."
"It is because nature intends it so." Nike said then.
"Nature also intents for animals to feast on each other, tearing their prey limb from limb." He pointed out, wondering how she truly felt about having his child. "Doesn't this frighten you? I've heard horror stories of childbirth." Then with a frown he sigh. "It also frightens me a great deal, to know I shall be powerless."
"I do fear the pain that is to come." Nike said slowly. "The responsibility of knowing that our child will be small, and unable to do for themselves…and that we will have to provide that care and strength." When she licked her lips, she finally sighed. "I fear I may not be a good mother…that I will falter in my duties."
"Now that is an unfounded fear." He told her with a smile. "Nike, I couldn't think of anyone more suited to motherhood."
"That flattery will get you nowhere." Nike chided. "Besides, I can think of a great many women better suited for the task." Nike gazed out of the window, where Mira and Neil were enjoying some fresh skewered seafood cooking over open coals. "It was Mira who was raised to be the mother of many offspring."
"You should have more faith in yourself." Livius said with a grin. "You are one of the most persistent women I know, and, if you put your mind to it, you will be a mother that will surpass even your own expectation."
"You have strong faith." Nike told him, not fully taking faith his words.
"I chose a strong wife." He said with a shake of his head. "Nike, not once have you failed in the face of adversity...I doubt you could ever fail in the eyes of a child either."
Nike nodded and smiled uneasily, even as they took in the beautiful sight of the water, and the sun gleaming off of it. Swallowing hard, she took breath, and turned to face Livius, pulling on the thin cord that kept the drapes open. As she blocked out the world around her, she leaned into the warm hand that cupped her cheek.
Soon, they would be headed to her birthplace, and while that alone was meaningful to her, Nike had to admit, there was something even more heartwarming to know that her own child would be brought into the world in the selfsame birthing room that she and her sisters had, surrounded by the family and humbled mindsets that could never be found in the sun kingdom.
