I followed him through his nook and into the whole city. My mouth gaped; they were all living underground. A whole ecosystem beneath the desert. It put the emerald city to shame for its size. No wonder they needed more land, they had already expanded as far as they could go.

"The fields we have are on the outskirts, but I have to take you to our queen."

"No, I came to grow food. That's it."

"But."

"That was the deal. If I have too, I can come back. Right now, you're in a crisis, am I wrong?"

"You are not wrong; people are starving to death every day."

Narnia held up his crystal. "I am trusting you to take us there." He handed the crystal to Lokas.

He nodded, the wind did not change, but the shaping did. Fields of dead crops or half-grown ones. Narnia helped levitate the dead out making a pile, and I spend the seeds around. Trees were given the most space while others were more nits. I held a handout over the field.

"QUAN-QUAN!" The field of seeds turned to sprouts and saplings, and then to full plants and trees bearing fruit and vegetables. Demons came flocking to the fields looking over the new vegetation.

There was not enough light down here to keep it all alive, but I felt that it would all be gone in the next few days. If the size of the city determined population, then this city had almost a million, if not more, demons inhabiting it.

"Lokas, you have to explain to them to keep all the seeds and then make more field lands if that is at all possible."

"Please, meet our queen. I am sure she would like to express her gratitude to you." Lokas pleaded.

"It is not…"

Narnia leaned to whisper in my ear. "You should go, if you make a relation with them, war may never happen again."

"I will go."

Narnia whispered. "Change your outfit to something worry of seeing a queen, and hair." I waved a hand, summoning my best dress and changing. Pulling my hair back into a neat bun, I nodded.

Lokas had visible relief on his face, while I did not want to, I followed him to the city circle where a grand palace lay. He landed at the gates where two identical guards stood. A loose robe like garb and a spear staff in the right hand.

The guards looked at him then us. "Why are you here?"

"I need to meet the queen urgently. I have brought good news."

"She is having a tea party, no one is to bother her."

I pushed forward. "I am terribly late for this tea party; I miss placed my invitation, but my servant informed me it was soon, so I came. This is my escort." I held on to Narnia's arm, he had changed as well.

They clacked their staffs on the stone, the gates opening. "You may enter."

I looked at Narnia, I had enough juice to go home, but I was feeling spent for mana. A guard on the inside asked us to follow him. I had never seen so many servants roaming halls and doing various tasks. If this was royalty, then let me in.

Narnia handed me my suppressants. "Reserve your mana, you used a good sum already."

I took them and put them on. "Thank you, this is why I needed you."

The guard guided us to a garden, the stone pathways was smooth, not a weed between the cracks. Hedges lined the sides and moved to an open area. He walked off into the grass, and around a to a large gazebo where four women were sitting around a table.

I looked down at the line of ladies. One stood. "Lady Violetta, I did not know you were invited." She covered her mouth sitting. Flower petals covering her eyes. Flowers popped up. "Please excuse my outburst, I was excited."

"Princess Shura, it is long time no see."

"Excuse me, but I do not recall inviting a Lady Violetta to this tea party." A woman with long black hair spoke. She was at the head of the table, while the others were along the sides.

"I was not, but we do have much to discuss."

She looked at Narnia. "He must go away from the garden."

"I will be around later, do enjoy." Narnia bowed, leaving with the guard.

There was no chair for me to sit in, I stood straight waiting for a direction. The queen stood from her spot, walking around the table. She walked up to me; her height was at least a foot above my head.

"May I touch your crown?"

"Um, sure, but it might be difficult."

She waved her hand over the top of my head. "I thought I recognized it. Bring Princess Violetta a chair."

"Your Majesty, I am not a real princess."

"You doubt my judgment? What you possess is a crown, and it choose you to the point it will not allow even you to remove it. Am I wrong?"

"You are not."

"Come, sit." She pulled the chair out for me. "Allow me." She pushed my chair in. Glances were exchanged around the table. "Share your story child, I am eager to hear how you became to be in possession of the Crown of Deities. Start from the beginning. No one here will share the information; you are among followers."

They all introduced themselves. Tiana had long pink hair braided back, Isabella a short haired blue cotton candy cloud. I knew Princess Shura, and now the Queen of this city, Glicenda.

"It is a long one, I hope you do not mind."

I told them my silly mistake, and my crash landing. The exams, and how I gained the crown. I gave every detail of my journey, there were gasps and awes. I told her everything down to arriving here in the underground city.

"My, you have been busy. I am sure none of that was easy. You mentioned you grew crops here, was that today?" I nodded. "So, you helped us, even though we started the war?"

"I did, every demon deserves the right to a full belly and to not worry about where the next meal will come from."

"I see, then you know the land here has lost its fertility. We can no longer survive here."

"But you can. I grew the food, but you can revamp the soil by turning it over with compost." I went into the various ways you could gain this thing. "It is a dirty job, but it would help in the future."

"We have done some of these things, but the demons here tend to eat everything regardless of if it tastes bad. They are hungry."

"All you need to do is save enough seeds to plant, I can do the rest until there is enough to go around and the soil gets revamped."

She poured herself another cup of tea. "My biggest problem is the amount of demons we have here."

"You might want to add population control methods."

She clicked her tongue. "We are a free nation; we do not impose on the people in such a manner."

"Sometimes you need to. How many children are couples having?"

"Anywhere between one and five typically. Though with the food crisis has slowed this."

"Then implement it as mandatory until the time is right. Your city is massive, if crowding is an issue, then in the next twenty to thirty years would dwindle it all down some."

"I would like to start an integration of my people to the central part of the Netherworld."

"I do not know if they would allow that with the blood shed that has splatted the border."

She nodded. "I understand, but with you as our in-between, it could be possible. We could send workers to cultivate lands, open trade in the future. We do have things that only grow in the darkness here. Our land was just spent on production. If I am honest, the start of wars helped with population control."

"You won't implement a rule, but you would willing send people off to die?"

"The people voted for it, reliving there wicked phases."

"If fighting is the only way they think can give them relief?" She nodded; I rubbed my chin. It was worth a shot. "We could put all of this in motion, but I have another idea for the ones who like to fight. You could hold tournaments. Set them up how you wish, but then it is in a controlled environment. No more war, and then we could live in peace."

"You know, I never thought of that. Enough politics, I wish to know something else. The man you were with." The other ladies giggled. "What was his name?"

"Naberius Narnia."

"He is quite the looker, is he single?" My lips tightened.

Princess shura's eyes widened. She wrote something out, showing it to the queen then around the table. "I see, taken."

Her flower made it to me. 'Viola and Narnia are courting.' My cheeks felt hot.

I did not want to think of him courting someone else, so I let it stand. It was wrong, he was supposed to be finding someone else.

"Do tell, how long?" The queen coached.

"Um, little over a month."

"Have you kissed?" Isabella asked.

"Yes."

Tiana covered her mouth. "Oh, how scandalous." She giggled. "If only he were not taken, I am still waiting to find a courting partner, he would have been a good candidate for looks alone."

"Well, he is mine." I was ruining his chance here with four potential courting partners. Why was I acting like this?

"My queen, it has been two hours. It is time to get back to your duties."

"Of course, I hope you ladies have a safe trip home and I hope to see you all again next month. Princess Violetta, you are always welcome here. Do visit often. We will be in touch." I had only been here for an hour; they must do all this often.

Princess shura popped a couple flowers up. "Princess Violetta, might I invite you to tea with me?"

"I would be delighted if you did."

She covered her face, another flower popping up. "I will invite you soon."

"Vi."

I looked up. "Nari."

The queen smiled. "Nicknames, then it must be true."

Narnia pulled the chair out for me as I stood. He held a handout, a smile on his lips. "It is time to go home. I look tired."

I took his hand, and he bowed down to kiss the back of my hand. My face heated up, why was he doing this? He had all the women here swooning behind me. He pulled me in close, one arm around me. Bright light blinded me, and I closed my eyes.

"Are we outside?"

He cupped my face. "No, in the tent, you did fantastic. You doubted yourself but look at all you have accomplished today. Stopped a war, grew crops, and had a diplomatic debate with good outcomes. Created a relation with the queen, and further one with Princess Shura."

"Yeah, but I'm tired now." My mind clicked. "Were you eavesdropping on me?"

His finger rubbed against the back of my hearing suppressant, showing me a small transmitter. "It was so I knew if you needed me, but you did not at all. If you passed out, I wanted to get in and out. You tend to drop wherever you are spent. I could see it in your face after you grew the crops."

That was true, I passed out at dinner before and in front of him. "I do."

"My question, why go along with them that we were courting. You know I am readily on the market looking for someone. Though it seems some still believe we are a courting couple. That kiss at the Deviculum is all they needed to engrave that thought in."

If my face gets any hotter, I might catch fire. I moved his hand from my face, turning around. "I don't know, Princess Shura mentioned it. They looked happy about it, I just. I just went with it. I am sorry, I know. I know, I ruined things."

"I am not mad, I thought that you think of me as worse than eating eyeballs."

"I do not, I um… can we go home?"

He chuckled. "Okay." He scooped me up, my arms searching for something to hold, making there way to his neck.

"What are you doing?" I looked around franticly.

"How could I make my Princess walk another step? She has worked so hard today."

"I can walk, I'll be fine."

He grinned. "Not when you look like you're about to pass out. You need a decent meal and a good amount of rest."

"Nari…"

"Don't fight me, Vi. You gave me one task, allow me to take care of you as you requested of me."

I bit my lip, looking down. "Then go to your home. I don't want anyone to see me like this."

"As you wish."

I don't know what he was thinking, but doing something like this is… Embarrassing. Just the thought of him carrying me around when I had passed out before was embarrassing. He had no problem carrying me through the hallway to the dining room, setting me down at the table.

"Narnia, no more carrying me." I changed my outfit to a simple dress.

His eyes furrowed. "Why?"

"Because… it's embarrassing for me."

"Why?"

"Because…"

He leaned in pouting, the upwards curves in his hair falling like puppy ears. "Because why?"

"Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?"

"That puppy dog face." His eyes softened. "That right there, stop that."

"It seems I am not doing a good enough job taking care of you. If you find it embarrassing."

"Why have you suddenly changed?"

"I haven't. You might see it as a nag to remind you to do basic demon functions, but I do it because I care."

I pressed my lips, thinking back. He had turned into Kalego and Opera combined. Texting and verbally reminding me. I'm grown, but everyone around me seems homed in on me when I'm not all there. It was worse when Eli was missing, but I thought I was normal by now.

'Eat a good meal,' when I had not had anything all day. Going as far as to make sure it was food I would eat. 'Get some rest,' when I had expended myself out. 'Let me know if you need to stop,' and made sure I was comfortable enough to sleep.

"I see, I guess I am not used to self care. So, for others to do so, seems embarrassing."

"See how silly it sounds when you get to the root cause?" Servants came out placing food on the table. "Eat, I am sure cookies and tea are not that filling."

I woofed down the food, all things I had no trouble looking at or even eating. I made myself a little food baby, rubbing it as I leaned back.

"Satisfied?"

"Oh yes." I tapped my stomach. "If I ate like this every day, I would become fat. I think I earned it today, though." I smirked.

"Are you heading home, or are you resting here?"

"Probably here, I feel like I could sleep. I might take a stroll though the garden before then."

"Might I join you?"

"Of course." I stood, pushing my chair out, and grabbed his hand tugging. "Come on, Nari."

He stood, letting me drag him along. "A full belly and your attitude changes."

I rolled my eyes. I put my hands behind my back as I turned. "Maybe."

"The garden is not going anywhere, no need to hurry."

"I like the garden here, it is beautiful."

"Not as beautiful as you." My face grew hot, does he really think I am beautiful?

Ignoring the comment, I walked down the hallway and into the garden. I would stop and smell the flowers, graze the leaves and petals with my fingers. Narnia close behind, a smile as he watched me. I liked this moment, just the two of us.

All those women swooning over him, eyes ogling with hearts in them. It made me jealous on the inside, because one day he would find someone else. The thought of all the things we did together ending made me sad. A rough start to our relationship, but now I never wanted to see him go.

I do not think I could handle watching him spend time with another woman, looking at her like she was his whole world. He would call her beautiful, or the light of the world. Kiss her at night, hold her until she fell asleep. Take care of her the way he was for me.

The flower I was caressing was picked, and I looked up to Narnia. "Why the long face all of a sudden." He pushed my hair back and placed the flower behind my ear.

He would say that to, I looked down. "Do you have anyone in mind?"

"For?"

"Um. The courting thing."

"I do, it was none of those Demoness's, if that is what is bothering you."

"Who?"

"Well, she does not see it yet, but I am hoping she comes around."

My eyes watered, and I turned away. So, he has been talking to someone. That's why he was not too mad. "Promise me something, that after you two figure it out, you wont leave me in the dust. At least stay my friend." A hot tear escaped, if he turned that down, I was going home.

My hand was caressed in a firm hold. "Look at me." He sighed. "So stubborn." He pulled me back, turning and holding me close. I froze, staring at him wide eyed; hands gripping his sleeves. "For someone who can see all the details in the background, you lack seeing what is right in front of you."

His thumbed wiped the tear streak. "I would never leave you in the dust, you would have to do it first. I restrain myself every time I am around you; not wanting this beautiful person to run away from me, again. I am tired of the arm's length you maintain, because this is what I want. Tell me right now, do you feel anything for me?"

My heart was racing, how do I explain how I feel? Now that it's so obvious, I feel like a dunce. I've never been in a situation like this before, always keeping myself away from relations. They always felt too complicated.

I liked him, didn't want him to leave or drop me because I was so unsure of even my own feelings. My hands relaxed, moved down and around his waist I hugged him tightly. Burying my face in his chest, I nodded, his hand caressing the back of my head.

"I this your way of saying yes?" I nodded. "Are you going to say anything?" I shook my head. "Are you not comfortable with the idea?"

I let out a hard breath through my nose, lost for the words I could speak. How do I tell him I like him. He did it so easily, like he had it planned, while I was struggling to say how I really felt. Does that mean we were officially courting or the talk of it was there?

He laughed in his throat. "Would you like to sit and watch the stars?"

"That sounds nice."

"There is a swing bench behind you."

I let go, Narnia showing me the swing. He sat arms over the back, holding it still for me as I sat with him. How would this change things, I still was not sure the standing. I gazed at the constellations, taking in the change and shift from the last time.

I smiled at one at its peek in the sky. "How ironic."

"What?"

"That constellation, it's called the lovers. This is the peek for its time in the sky."

"Vi, may I officially court you?"

An easy answer. "Yes."

"Are you by chance drinking Con-Devi tea?"

"What is that?"

"That is a tea you should start drinking everyday. It specifically prevents unwanted children from being conceived, it does nothing if you already are. I'm not saying that's what I'm going straight to, but it is best to plan if things were to escalate.

I personally don't want a child of my own in this current time, and if you do become pregnant you will have to be off work or in an office while you're in border control. They do not allow women to work the field because of the danger it can put the unborn child in."

I already had the thought in my head before all this, now I must wait. "That was not on my mind, but a good idea. Where do I get said tea?"

"It is supplied at work; I can get you some. I take it myself, but it is only half effective for males as it is for females."

I scooted closer, laying on him. He laid his head on mine; this was mine now. It was strange to change how I had preached, but it made me happy and relived I had him. To think I had him all to myself, mine, this was mine. I must pace myself; I didn't want him to leave me for how I knew I might act.