A/N:
This story will be a series of one-shots made as a companion (but not necessary) piece to the main story I will hopefully start posting before the end of the next month, either that or my most popular story.
Slightly wilted crops drooped in the sweltering dry heat that bathed the Kamelands. In the midst of the drought, some farmers and ranchers have appealed to the local druids and bush mages to give the protection of their livelihoods against the worse of it while waiting for the weather to improve. Wolf packs that use to pick off livestock have migrated closer to the Tuskwater Lake, attempting to stay cool without wandering into near the woods of Southern Naarlmarches.
Nyrissa oversaw all of this as she poured her magic into the field around her. The more she poured her magic into the soil around her, she felt what should have been a slow trickle into something more akin to an emptying sink. The nymph who once had power leagues above the strongest of the fey, felt like a newly awakened dryad. Her arms threaten to fall to her sides, despite being straight out in front of her. Her eyes constantly drift to shut. She had to make a conscious effort to focus on the task in front of her. Soon, drooping crops stood a little straighter, greener and healthier. Though not strong enough to entirely fight off the heat of Erastus, the small amounts of foodstuffs now had a fighting chance.
Cheers arose from the people of the tiny hamlet on the shore of the Strike River. With her work done, though certainly nowhere near the best that she could do, Nyrissa exhales as she lowers her arms slowly, refusing to let her audience to see her exhaustion. Finally, the headman of the hamlet approached her, attempting to bow before her in gratitude. Nyrissa waves off his gratitude with a smile, assuring him that her help was no consequence and that their crops should remain hardy until the next rainfall.
The nymph watched as the people of the hamlet cheer again, as she prepares to portal her way back to the capital of Saddard. She caught snippets of conversations as a few of the farmers could not wait to tell their friends that the Queen herself aided them with the drought. Then, stepping through the portal, part of Nyrissa was overjoyed that the common folk thought so highly of her, despite small gnawing voice in the back of her mind that she was still unworthy of such praise.
It may have only been two years since the defeat of the Lantern King, but the Sorrowlands have finally begaun to blossom after a long winter of strife. Nyrissa is proud of what it is becoming, and she rather like her own touches upon the capital and castle herself, as she steps out of the portal back home.
In the courtyard of the castle, the Queen Consort of the Sorrowlands sat down in the shade of the grand tree in the center of it all. As she rests in the shade away from the summer heat, she looked up and smiled at the assortment of fruit above her. With the controlled snippets of First World magic, Nyrissa looks up at her creation and smiles. An everchanging fruit tree that bear another fruit with the rise of every sun. A scent of sweetness descends upon her as she gaze at the fruit above. Covered in reddish flesh with protruding spikes, the name of it slips her mind as her hand plays with dirt around the roots of the trunk.
"Water my Lady?" A deep voice questioned.
Nyrissa glanced above her to see a young half-orc. Though certainly not dressed in any formal means, his clothes were clean and pressed, his hair neatly trimmed and smoothed to the side while his tusks barely peeked out of his bottom lip. The other held a platter with a cup woven from leaves with one arm folded behind his back.
The nymph smiled at his choice of cup for her. He knew her preferences quite well, despite his recent employment. She took the cup and gratefully replied, "Thank you." Drinking from the cup felt rather rejuvininating, waving away the weariness that crept upon Nyrissa earlier. Her fingers played with the rim of it as her mind wandered to other things, but she would rather keep those thoughts at bay for a little longer.
As the servant turned to leave, Nyrissa found the perfect thing to keep her attention. "Do you have any other duties to attend to?"
The half-orc paused midstep away from her. "Not urgently my Lady." He stated waringly. His eye wandered, Nyrissa had a feeling that perhaps the young thought he made a mistake.
"Excellent." She stated warmly. "I hope you don't mind keeping me company for a few minutes until lunch." The nymph tried to sound as reassuring as possible to keep the boy from worrying.
It took him a second, before he slowly took a seat beside her on the ground, with a rather respectful distance between them. He seemed somewhat unsure of how to proceed, and Nyrissa fought against the urge to laugh at his confused discomfort. Instead, she asked "I don't recall seeing you around the palace, what is your name?"
"Bur-neg, my lady." He replied. "I was hired only a few days ago, after I was cleared to work by the Steward." She wondered why he needed to be cleared by the steward, then Nyrissa remembered the flu that bedridden a portion of the staff about a month back.
"So what brought you to the Sorrowlands-"The nymph paused and gave him a small and warm smile. "If you don't mind telling me of course." She felt a bit churning in her stomach but refused to allow it to show on her face.
At this, Bur-neg seems a little nervous, he fidgets a bit on the ground, but stills when he notices the movement. "When my village over in the outskirts of Brevoy heard that his Highness made the decree for equal opportunity hiring, I found the first caravan coming here as soon as possible." The was a small glimmer of awe in his eyes as he spoke. "Some of the stories coming from the Stolen- I mean the Sorrowlands, seem pretty fantastical, especially after the years of monster and barbarian invasions." Bur-neg paused before he looked downward sheepishly, "I also did not want to be a guard like my father."
Nyrissa smiled at him as she took his hand, much to his surprise. "Judging by how quickly you came into the courtyard with my favoured cup, I think you will have employment at the castle for quite some time, Bur-neg. Please keep up the good work." Leaving the young man stunned, Nyrissa took her leave, hoping the court physician may have some herbs settle her stomach before lunch. She would rather not have Pelliaos start to fret about her health.
There were very few things that could make a fey ill.
With a bit of pondering and a lot of pontificating, the doctor finally gave her some herbs to put in tea and said she would visit her later this evening after visiting a colleague. So Nyrissa walked through the halls of the castle, past the dining hall to the royal quarters. She opened the door to a wellspring of scents as baskets of flowers and plants hung here and there, the shutter that led to the balcony overseeing Tuskwater Lake opened wide for the sunlight and the slight breeze of air.
It was a bit of a fight with her husband to have so much green in the room, he preferred the stone and carpets, but even he was quite happy when her arrangement was done. Every time they entered their suite, it was refreshing.
Her Spring, Pelliaos Sorrow, had his back to her as he worked the stove. Nyrissa slips beside him and kisses his cheek in greeting, before gazing at the pot of rice in front of him. "I see that you are about done?"
"Very soon," He replied. "Just a little finishing touch-"He pauses as he grabs a couple of pinches of chopped cilantro before sprinkling it into rice that he then fluffs, "Done."
Sitting down with a bowl of rice, Nyrissa was thankful for such a light meal. Though her stomach started to settle after the business this morning, she did not want to try her luck with heavier food. They both ate quietly, but it was a comfortable silence between them. Nyrissa thought of it as taking a moment to appreciate their time together. Like a pair of flowers basking in the sunlight. She thought of taking the herbs the physician gave her, but she would rather have them later before dinner.
"Are you okay Nyrissa?"
His question startled her, unuse to the break in silence. The nymph looked up to see his concern in his eyes. "I am fine, my Spring-" Nyrissa paused, she did not want to lie. "Just a little tired more than usual. Helping the crops of that hamlet took a bit more out of me than I thought."
Pelliaos stared at her a bit longer, but he nodded slowly. "You should rest then, maybe skip working on your project later with Octavia?" He asked.
Nyrissa grimaced at the idea. With Octavia's return from Numeria she had all the items they needed to finish their project. While she wanted to disagree, her Spring was right, perhaps it would be better to take the afternoon off. "Perhaps you are right," She conceded. "If you see her, could you apologize for me? We have both been working rather hard on it for the past month."
Her Spring nodded affirmatively. When she finished her meal, he took her bowl and cleaned the dishes before giving her a chaste kiss goodbye to take care of his own afternoon duties. Nyrissa recalled that he was finishing up some final details Kassil Aldori as they plan to back Rostland independence. Soon, it would be hard to get any goods from Brevoy. Perhaps she should catch up on some of the books written in the last thousand years?
A small series of knocks brought her attention away from the rather disappointing adventure of man and his lethargic chimera only see the setting sun through the window. The corners of the room have already been left in darkness by the fading light, but she chose her seat well, she would be the last to taste the sunlight.
"Milady Nyrissa?"
Nyrissa stood up, feeling far better than before lunch. "One moment, doctor." She opened the door to see the physician, the little halfling was drenched in sweat and seemed quite close to collapsing himself. "You appear as though the world itself has hounded you, doctor."
She waved away her concern, only to brace herself on her knees, gasping for air. "My apologies my Lady," she heaved out between breaths. "I had a guess about your ailment- "another breath. "But I needed to talk with Miss Tiressia to be sure."
When the grey-haired halfling finally got her breathing back to normal, Nyrissa finally got a good look at her face. It was wide mouth grin, the weathered laugh lines upon her cheeks already prepared for such a look as it spread nearly ear to ear.
"You're pregnant!" She decreed loudly and quite a bit of excitement. The rest of her words droned out, Nyrissa only heard a few snippets like how she'll leave it up to her to tell the king and that she will be talking with Tiressia and a few of the local midwifes who would know more about feys giving birth. When the doctor finally left, stating that she should probably dig up a few journals on fey and mortal births. Nyrissa was alone in the castle hall, so she was the only one to hear her own response to the declaration.
"Oh."
The following week had become rather difficult for Pelliaos Sorrow, he collapses into bed, face down into the pillows. He sunk into the softness of the bed, a wave of tension leaving his body from his legs to his shoulders. The tiefling basked in the moment of quiet before he tried to figure out how to deal with his most glaring issue.
Not governing his kingdom, that was a bit quieter than usual, especially after the recent rainfall, which put an end to the drought. Fey pranks and trouble had quieted down, Galt learned it's lesson for trying to test the borders, and civil war in Brevoy was soon to begin in a month's time.
No, it was how Nyrissa had changed recently. He had rarely seen her for the past week since he expressed his concern for her health. He thought he took her advice about taking it easy, but the next day Nyrissa, Octavia and a team of artificers, alchemists, and mages were squirrelled away in the Mage's Tower. If it wasn't for the fact that he knew that she still slept in their bed, despite never seeing her enter or leave the room, the tiefling would be much more worried.
Pelliaos breathed in, his face still down in the pillow. He could still smell the lingering scent of his wife, mildew in a sunny morning. He missed holding her close as they fell asleep, and the comforting weight of another body in the bed. Pelliaos had hoped that she would eventually open up to him about her project with Octavia, but even Regongar had no idea what they were doing.
Loud knocks thumped against the door. "Get out of there your 'kinglyness! The women have something to show you in the throne room."
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. Regongar's fist pounded on the door more excitedly only for the door to break off its hinges. The half-orc stood in the hallway unashamedly. "Whoops," He said when Pelliaos met his eyes. "You won't care about that later." He waved off the minor case of property destruction and barged into the room. "Move y'er ass! Its about the special project. I only got a glimpse of it before Tavi and your wife tossed me out to get you."
Dragged from royal quarters, Pelliaos was mildly annoyed by the rough treatment, for he was king yadda yadda ya. Still, he was more curious about what Nyrissa has been working fervently on for the past week. Octavia and a mixture of half a dozen magic users chat amicably around the target of their attention in the throne room. With all the bodies blocking the view, he did not notice Octavia until she steps through Dimension Door 1 right in front of him.
"There you are!" The half-elf cried out. Pelliaos interrupted her before she could say anything else, "Is Nyrissa with you?"
Octavia excitement faltered, "She was feeling a bit under the weather. She told me that she was heading to bed. You must have just missed her." Despite the bags underneath her eyes, the magister's lit up with a sultry smile. "Besides, you'll want to thank her privately after you see what we have done." She takes hold of the king's hand and drags him through the crowd of scholars, practically shoving them aside. In the middle of them all, was a golem.
It was tiny, minimal compared to the adamantine ones made by the dwarfs that towered over him at ten feet tall. The metal was otherworldly, perhaps even skymetal? The golem barely came up to his waist, like a halfing. Its features seemed more emotional than the others that he has seen before. Eyebrows, rounded cheeks, even hair made out of strings of copper.
With her practically bouncing between her feet, Octavia said, "After all our experiments, Nyrissa and I wanted you to meet a special someone that you haven't seen in a long time- "The woman paused as she posed dramatically, signaling Regongar who tossed small bolts lightning into the air. "Linzi!"
The eyes of the golem flickered open, blue lights coming alive in the eye sockets. The mouth opens and shuts, before words spill out, "P-p-Pel-liaos?" The voice was distorted, and the words were fragmented. Yet the voice was familiar enough that he could feel his heart falter in his chest. Words failed him as he looked down to his revived, but mechanized friend. The arms of the automaton jerk and twitch as they slowly rise then spread open wide. "I-I-I really m-m-miss having a hug." Linzi said.
Pelliaos would not say no to that.
The rest of the night became a time of tears, laughs and hugs. Pellioas would have probably stayed the whole night catching up, he still needed to talk with his wife. He left the impromptu party, the king needed to check on his wife. He didn't really understand too much about the arcane study put into it, but Octavia made it sound like exhausting work that took an over a year to complete.
Retiring to the bedchamber, oh how he hates the fancy talk has rubbed off on him, Pelliaos opened the door to find his wife napping on the bed. Or at least Pelliaos thought she was resting until she immediately sat up at the sound of the door closing behind him. "Were you sleeping, love?" The tiefling asked.
"No…no, just resting my eyes." Nyrissa lied. She rubbed her eyes and gestured toward the candles.
With a snap of his fingers, Pelliaos lit one of the candles next to the bed. Nyrissa seemed to glow in the soft light, but her exhaustion was apparent on her face. The nymph's hair drooped slightly to the right and her he could see the bags underneath her eyes, though the gentle smile Nyrissa gave him marginally reassured the king that she was okay.
"Were you able to meet with Linzi?"
"Yes-" Pelliaos sat down on the bed beside Nyrissa, "I didn't think it would be possible to talk with her again, let alone to see her walking around." The tiefling reaches forward and gently grasps the nymph's hand. "Thank you." The effect of his gratitude was visible, she radiated contentment at the absolution of her regret, though the weary state of her body made Pelliaos continue. "I don't understand why you pushed yourself so hard though. Why was there such a rush?"
Nyrissa faltered, her eyes looked away from Pelliaos to a darkened corner of the room. "The season of now passing might not be much in your eyes now, but the next season brings with it more…changes."
"Is it something to do with what you were talking with the physician last week?" Nyrissa flinched, but Pelliaos continues, "She said it would be fine, as long as has you take it slower after the second month." His concern was evident in both his tone and face, as much as the king could portray. "Is there something wrong?"
"Oh," She said airily. Then Nyrissa shook herself out of her stupor, small butterflies flew from her hair from the movement. Determination then shined in her eyes, like a cloudy sky becoming clear. "There is something I need to tell you."
"We have both noticed my failing strength lately, and my ails with the dawning sun." Nyrissa trailed her thumbnail across Pelliaos's knuckles.
The tiefling nods, the last week did find himself waking up alone with Nyrissa in the washroom.
"In the height of this summer heat, life can still begin." Nyrissa paused, her eyes lost focus only to grip his hands tighter as she forced herself back to this moment, before slowly moving their intertwined hands over her stomach. "Even in the most unlikely places."
"Are you sure?" Pelliaos found himself stunned.
The question was out before he could stop himself. Nyrissa gave him a rather scathing look. "Yes, I'm sure. Very sure." She paused. "I know that we…we talked about this before. But we never really expected-"
"To happen so soon." Pelliaos finished. It was expected, what better way to solidify a rule than an heir? It was something necessary, but now that it was here, did he want it? A heavy silence hung between them. "Do you think it was that time when we flew over Silverfish Lake?" The tiefling changed the subject, as he refused to allow his thoughts and feelings to ruminate.
"When we danced in the moonlight, our song of love to the world around us." she paused, a slight smile tugging at her lips. The silence forgotten in a moment of reminiscing. "Perhaps it was when hid away from the world high above the land, hidden by the earth itself."
The camping trip in the mountains, that was lovely weekend away, Pelliaos thought. It was a fleeting joy, only to be replaced by a sense of foreboding that was in the present. The king nodded. "So…we are going to be parents?"
"It appears so." Nyrissa stated.
Pelliaos hummed, "I have no idea how to be a parent."
The words were said offhandedly, but Pelliaos Sorrow accepted the truth of the statement. An orphan finds scrapes of kindness and friendship to survive on the streets but needs to lie and cheat to survive. He made himself move past that time but refused to forget when he chose his name. He was afraid of what he could do to any child. He had seen others like him become monsters or angels and everything in between. Nyrissa softened at his words, as if sensing the unspoken worries of the king. She could already see the signs of angst that she often shows herself.
"I remember," Nyrissa said softly. "After you restored my soul, I spoke of the future we could create together. The kingdom that I dreamed of…" She drifted off, gently pulling the king with her off the bed and towards the open balcony that oversaw Tuskwater Lake and the surrounding of Shrike Hills. "I see it in the land before us as it changes with each passing day as echoes of the First World blend into the wild."
Nyrissa turns to look at the docks of the capital. "Over thousands of years I have watched kingdoms of the Material world rise and fall," Pelliaos could hear her voice became tinged with regret. "Many of them only needed a push before they crumbled to dust."
"This land that we-that you have seeded," She corrected herself. A light had returned, and her darker tone banished. "It is different from what I have dreamed, and with you it is all that I had hoped for when we faced the Eldest in the years that past. We can see what we can create together as it lies before us."
"This person," She paused, the word sunken into his consciousness. "Will be a tree grown from the seed between us. We went from enemies to lovers then strangers." Nyrissa looked to Pelliaos with amusement. "Our courtship was a fairy tale, yet our relationship has grown strong roots and blossomed. If we raise our child with even half the effort, we put into ourselves…"
The nymph queen pulls the king close to her, gently guiding his hands to her stomach. The two of them lowered their heads to look. "Then this child will live a life full of love and happiness," Nyrissa leans her head forward, meeting Pelliaos own. He sucked in a breath, relishing the closeness while she continued to speak. "For what else do we have to give if that is what we found in each other?"
Pelliaos Sorrow wants to believe what his wife is saying, but his mind races through all the ways raising a child could go wrong. He lifts his head and gazes into Nyrissa's eyes, the open trust and belief that they parenthood would be a challenge that they could not only overcome, but triumph. He sees the spark of hope that started everything between them, and Pelliaos chooses to have in not what he thinks, but what Nyrissa believes.
The king gently kisses his Queen. It was a tender, yet he tried to show his appreciation for her faith in him as he hugs her close. It was not a long embrace, but Pelliaos felt lighter than before. He pulls away from Nyrissa to see the gentle smile of reassurance that would become a staple in the months to come, only for a yawn to break across her face.
"I think it is time for both of us to go to bed, don't you agree?" Pelliaos questioned as he pulled his wife and soon to be mother of his child to bed.
A/N:
Compared to my previous Kingmaker stories, I tried to avoid my habit of switching between current and past tense. I also wanted to try and keep Nyrissa flowery speech in both her dialogue and thoughts.
That being said, when we got to the more emotional heavy dialogue in the climax, I wanted to have something natural and reassuring without being too campy. If you think that I succeeded, or if you have any ideas on how that dialogue could be improved, please let me know.
1 A portal spell commonly used in Golarion with a limited range.