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After the Shadows


Anacybele
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Three years have passed since a continent-wide war struck the land of Altarais. Several nations banded together to take on one that was bent on punishing the others for historical flaws. That one nation had nearly succeeded too, when they found a way to use a divine relic, the Miracle Stone, to corrupt its power and cover Altarais in dark clouds.

And if not for the military commanders of the other nations finding a way to reverse the effects, this would've lasted a very long time. Now the stone rests in a newly rebuilt temple in the mountains of Talgria, to forever be protected there in honor of those who had made efforts to do so in the first place.

This part of Talgria was still under development in general, however, and it was not easy for the earl of this area, Lady Azura, who was still new to her duty, to efficiently oversee it. She started out having to make difficult decisions for her land, and she still had to make some every now and then. More housing? Or more markets? More taverns? Or more farmland? Finding the right balance of them all to satisfy her people seemed impossible.

And now she was lying in her bedchambers and holding a newborn infant to her breast too.

"I hope the others are doing alright outside," Azura wondered. "And Leyon, I wish you'd hurry up. I can't keep calling the baby "baby girl." We need a name."

Azura had just given birth not long before, and her husband, General Leyon of Talgria's Royal Knights, was washing up after traveling to the castle in a storm. Even now, thunder still roared outside every now and then, and rain still fell. And now Azura was feeding the tiny girl. She was aware that people of her position usually used wet nurses to feed and care for their children, but she hadn't been raised like that. She was granted a noble title out of her background alone. Azura was the child of the original leader of the town she now resided in. Only back then, it was just that, a town. Not a whole earldom. She cursed her position at times and missed her simpler life. But she knew her efforts were still appreciated and she had people to help her. And she didn't want to let down the late king that had given her the title in the first place.

King Wencelis of Talgria had been a good ruler, and he had literally sacrificed himself to give his allies more time to find ways to defeat Melora, the nation that had threatened the continent. At first, he had been pessimistic about the situation, but somehow, something Azura or maybe someone else had said must've gotten to him, and made him sing a different tune. He decided to do whatever he could to try ensuring that his country would be safe instead of continue to lament the possibility of defeat. And thankfully, his efforts had not been in vain. If it hadn't been for him, they might've been defeated right there. Wencelis had forced one of Melora's strongest warriors to retreat instead of invade Castle Talgria.

Azura brushed a little of her long, dark red hair behind her as her baby continued suckling.

"Seriously, aren't you full yet?" she wondered to the infant. "You started when I was helped up here for crying out loud."

Azura was in the castle infirmary when she gave birth, and then allowed to move to her bedchambers so she was a little more comfortable. Since the birth exhausted her, a friend and the midwife helped her go up the stairs. This also freed up Azura's infirmary room should someone outside be injured and need it. Where there are mountains, there are cliffs and rocks, and lightning strikes caused a tree and rock slide to block the castle's main gate. Elhorhi soldiers were still making efforts to remove the debris. And when Leyon arrived, he had been forced to enter through the back gate which was somewhat more of a hassle than the front due to it being further from the stable and a longer route to either Azura's bedchambers or the infirmary.

A moment later, the baby girl finally stopped suckling. Azura sighed in relief and closed the dress she was wearing. She didn't normally wear dresses much at all, but it was easier to breast feed in them than it was in a full tunic and underclothes. Also, it would've been awkward if Leyon had walked in while she was still nursing. Now the baby girl just looked at her with big red eyes. That had to have come from her mother. Azura's eyes weren't as bright red, but they were closer to the baby's color than Leyon's brown eyes were. The baby's little hints of hair looked to be a perfect mix of both, however. Not as red as Azura's, but not as burnt orange as Leyon's either. More of a reddish orange. Apparently, characteristics from both parents could mix like that sometimes. No one was really sure why.

Moments later, the door finally opened to reveal Leyon himself, in his tall and slim, but muscular form. He was now wearing a clean tunic that just barely showed hints of his toughened torso and arms. It was a good thing he kept some changes of clothes at the Elhorhi castle. He couldn't always be there due to his duties as a general in Castle Talgria.

"Azura! Sorry if I took a long time," he greeted. "Turns out I was dirtier than I imagined."

"I thought so. The weather's been just terrible," Azura replied and turned to their baby. "Why did you have to come on a day like this...?"

"Admittedly a good question," Leyon agreed as he came over and sat down on the bed. "But here we are, and she still needs a name."

"Yes, she does. I liked several of the names we were looking at though..."

"Me too. Hmm..."

Leyon thought for a moment, as did Azura. But nothing quite came to mind yet.

"It's just a bummer that Bryan and Faline couldn't be here," Azura lamented. "They really wanted to come when they heard we were expecting, but they wound up with their hands too full in Astryn Palace."

"Yeah, I'm not surprised. They have one-year-old twins running around on top of a lot of reconstruction and rebuilding efforts," Leyon recalled. "They promised to come someday though."

"Indeed. Ike said he and Elincia wouldn't mind bringing their son to meet the twins or our child either. He ended up being a surprisingly affectionate dad, now that I think about it," Azura recalled. "You'd think a blunt and straight to the point guy like him wouldn't be interested in things like reading bedtime stories or play chasing a kid on the living room floor, but he does those things! Elincia must've gotten him into the habit and he found it was fun. Heh heh."

"Yeah, she must have. I can't picture Ike deciding to do that stuff on his own. The image of it is pretty amusing!" Leyon commented. "Kael would be about two now, wouldn't he?"

"Yep. By the way, could you get someone to check on the guys outside once we're done with the naming business? I'm still tired as heck."

"Oh, of course, my love."

"Thanks. Still don't know which name to pick though... I guess we could just go with the first girl's name we decided we really liked."

"You mean Nancy, right?"

"Yep again...Nancy. ...And now that I think about it, she looks like a Nancy too."

"Oh yeah, she kind of does! I do still like that idea."

"Then that's that," Azura decided and turned to the baby again with a smile. She stroked the infant's tiny left hand before speaking again.

"Nancy, that's your name."

Edited by Anacybele
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Outside the castle, a large gray striped feline was using his razor sharp claws and fangs to break through some of the rubble. Two wyvern riders were beside him helping, along with a green headed man. The female wyvern rider nudged her brother. "You're slacking."

"I'm worried about Eloin. This is a big place. What if she can't find us?"

"She'll find us." His sister assured him. "I know she will."

A soldier approached the trio. "Keep up the good work, mercenaries! We didn't finish in time for General Leyon to get here, but I just got word he went through the back."

"Oh, a general?" The green headed axe fighter dropped the tree branch he was carrying on the edge of the path. "He can lend a hand."

"He's needed more by Lady Azura. And their new daughter." The soldier smiled. "I caught a glimpse. Cute little thing."

The cat laguz smiled. "Congratulations to them, then!" The other three nodded in agreement. A brown pegasus landed nearby and let his rider off: a woman with long black hair and yellow eyes. "Sorry, I got a little lost." The pegasus knight said.

The male wyvern rider ran up and nuzzled her. She chuckled and nuzzled him back. "Geez, you're acting like I've been gone for a month or something."

"He was worried about you." The female wyvern rider said, chuckling. "You can probably get the smaller pieces of debris. Oh, and we just heard Lady Azura just welcomed a little girl into the world! The father is a general."

"Awww!" The pegasus knight grinned and started helping.

Edited by Dragoncat
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Farengar put his hand to his face. Kenth had embarrassed himself yet again in front of the ambassador of Cilae. The angry envoy spoke again. "For the last time, Kenth, I want to speak with Farengar. You might be the head of matters of state, but Farengar is specifically our envoy! If you don't allow me to talk to him, I will rain a heavenly thunderbolt on your shiny scarlet arse!" That was the first time he ever heard an envoy directly threaten Kenth before, and it was actually pretty funny. "Sir, if you wish to talk to me, just step into my office. And as for heavenly thunderbolts, we will be getting them soon enough, as the tempest ravaging Talgria will be in Orenias soon enough. Come."

The flustered envoy rushed to be out of Kenth's company and into Farengar's office. He made a quick bow, something Farengar retorted against. "Do you think me a king? We are equals, although I lament that my career will far outstrip yours, your son's, his son's, and his son's son, and I will still look similar to the way I do now. Now, what is it that you wanted an audience with me for?" The envoy wasted no time in getting out a painting of a golden sword with a massive hilt.

The envoy began to speak. "You are aware of what that sword is, are you not?" Farengar nodded quietly. "Why is this important? I already know that the Radiant Hero is in Talgria, and that he plans to remain for at least the foreseeable future. Are you paranoid something will happen?" The envoy collected himself, and presented a letter, seemingly written in the ancient language. He wasn't able to make many of the words out, and those that he did couldn't produce anything coherent. "How many herons in Secaini can read the ancient language? Perhaps Queen Veritas can read it." The Cilaean envoy moved his hand in a horizontal chopping fashion. "If Secaini is still loyal to Melora-" Farengar banged his fist on the desk. "If you want to accuse Secaini of anything, why don't you go to their embassy and do it? These are not closed doors, and King Cragen would be wroth if he heard you say that to his face." Farengar looked over to the mirror on the wall, and saw his eyes glowing and his hands becoming claws. He calmed down and looked back at the envoy. "We will discuss this later. For now, I need to prepare to go to Astryn, where I am to negotiate the terms of trade between Talgria and Astryn, if either one is still standing after that tempest."

As the envoy left, Kenth casually strode into Farengar's office. "What?" As soon as Kenth entered, he left, seeing that Farengar was in no mood to banter. Gods above, is he annoying. If hewasn't a good negotiator, I would have his job, but as it stands, maybe it's for the best right now. He's overseeing the reparations in Melora. If those go poorly, I shudder to think what could happen if Melora seeks revenge for losing the Shadow War.

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