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There was obviously something going on with Alexis but Azura didn’t know what. It started with the hoarding. While Azura knew dragons were prone to hoarding, she didn’t know Alexis would be one to do it since she was part human. It wasn’t your typical manakete hoarding of gold, gemstones, and silver weaponry; no it was books. Alexis was always a voracious reader with her collection of books and scrolls being the largest in Valla, Hoshido, and Nohr combined; however, it wasn’t problem until she started to pull them off of their shelves and piling them in their bedroom. Azura had questioned her why she was doing this, but all she got was a shrug and snarl when she tried to clean it up. Now there was giant pile of books in their room which Alexis continually added to much to Azura’s annoyance and confusion.
The hoarding while odd, did not prepare her for the hunting. In the dead of the night, Alexis would come home dragging a bloody elk carcass in her draconic jaws, depositing it at her feet and curling up asleep next her horde of books. The castle carpets would be stained with blood which would make Jakob faint and Azura had to prevent Alexis from trying to bury her catch in a giant hole in the garden. It wasn’t always giant bloody elk either, sometimes it was rabbits left on her pillow or half eaten sheep cacrasses left in the bathtub. Honestly it was driving her insane. Alexis would always come home reeking of blood and covered in viscera which she would have fight her into a bath or else she would kick them out of bed. There had to be a reason behind it but she didn’t know what.
“Alexis, please tell me what is wrong. You are driving me and servants insane. Honestly, tell why you need to have a giant pile of books in the middle of our bedroom that all you do is guard and sit on? Also why are you so driven to hunt all the time? You aren’t eating half of things you kill and drag home, and are neglecting your duties as queen. I have to take on your work while you're traipsing out in woods, depleting it of all it’s game. Why are doing this?” She demanded of her wife as she sat upon her pile of books, looking at her with half-lidded exhausted eyes.
“For the love of Naga, Alexis! At least pretend to pay attention to me when I’m talking to you. You look absolutely exhausted. Let me guess, you up late hunting and barely got any sleep. I am concerned for your health. Please, just tell me what is wrong.” Azura begged her wife as she held her face in her hands.
“I don’t know what is wrong, Azura. Honestly I don’t. There is something inside me that compels me to do this that I cannot shake. I feel that something is coming and I must prepare for it. I don’t know what it is, but I must be prepared regardless. I’m sorry I’m causing you so much grief.” Alexis said her body collapsing in exhaustion, which Azura held close to her.
She lifted her wife from her horde and deposited her on the bed, curling into her side and pulling the heavy blankets over them. Alexis had always been cold but as she laid close to her, she was frigid. Alexis shivered as Azura tried warm her the best as she could. She knew if she stayed cold like this, she would die. So through that long night, Azura encircled her and clung to her, trying her hardest to keep her warm. Sometime around dawn, she fell into a fitful slumber where she only dreamed of ice and silver scales coated with blood.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
The bed was empty when she awoke. Her heart pounded in her chest when she realized her wife was gone. The air hung heavy with the scent of blood and a more organic smell that she couldn’t lay her finger on. Azura quickly rose from the bed to find it was wet and stained with what looked like a bloody mucus. She froze upon realizing it belonged to her wife. There was a trail of the discharge that lead through the room and out the open door. Scratches in the hardwood floor accompanied the trail revealed to her that Alexis was in her dragon form when she left the castle. Quickly, Azura put on her thickest gown and a clock made from the fur of a Kyūbi no kitsune which was a wedding gift from Kaden, the fur was suppose to so insulating that one could be standing in a blizzard on Nohr’s coldest most barren tundra and not so much as shiver. She put on the thickest wool stockings she could find and riding boots as she followed the trail that Alexis unknowingly left for her. She ran through the castle halls until she came through the front doors where Felicia stood as if she was waiting for her. Felicia turned to face her and quickly ran up to her, her eyes wide in fear.
“Lady Azura, do you know where Lady Alexis is? I was going to fetch your breakfast but I saw the trail and noticed that the walls are covered in claw marks and the doors were wide open. Are going on to find her?” Felicia asked, nervously fidgeting with her hands not daring to meet Azura’s eyes.
“I don’t know where she is either but I’m going out to search for her. Something is very wrong and I think she is in danger. Can you please fetch my horse.” She told Felicia, her eyes transfixed on the swirling white snow that lay outside the castle doors.
Felicia nodded and summoned several stable hands to fetch her horse and outfit it for the ride. Within several minutes, she was in the saddle and out into the winter woods following the bloody trail that lead to her wife. The frigid late February air stung Azura’s nose and face as she weaved through barren trees and through thick fallen snow. She wished she had brought a scarf but she was in too much of a hurry to bother grabbing one when she left the castle grounds. Regardless, she pressed on until the trail came to an abrupt end. She called her horse to a stop, and slide down from the saddle. Her boots sunk into the snow as she looked around the clearing for a sign of her wife.
“Alexis, are you there! Alexis, please tell me you’re okay! Alexis!” She screamed, her voice echoing through the clearing, making her feel more alone.
She called to her wife until her voice was rough and hoarse, collapsing into the snow as she sobbed into her hands. For all she knew she was dead. Even if Alexis were human, she could not survive in conditions like this. But since she was a manakete, the cold had undoubtedly killed her by now. She clutched the hand that had the wedding ring Alexis had gave her to her chest as she cried for the loss of her soulmate.
She was broken out her reverie when she heard a soft low grunt coming from far across the clearing. With shaky unstable legs, Azura scrambled to see where the noise came from. Her tears froze to her cheeks as she came across what looked like a low shelter of ice and snow. The grunting grew louder and more strained as she came around to the entrance to find a silver dragon laying on it’s side in a nest made of finely ground silt. The dragon’s breathing was labored and shallow as if it was in immense pain.
“Alexis, you’re alive! What’s wrong, are you ill?” Azura said to her wife as she let out a pained groan. Azura stroked her scaly cheek in attempt to comfort as she groaned and grunted with pain.
Azura...you found me… Alexis said softly, looking up to her with slitted magenta eyes which were covered with a sickly third eyelid much like a ill cat.
She rested her massive head on Azura’s lap, who gingerly ran her fingers over her silver muzzle. Alexis gnashed her teeth as she let out another sharp cry of pain. Azura stroked the space between her horns as she let out the sharpest cry yet and with that Azura felt her muscles sharply contract and what looked like egg land in the silt. Azura moved to grab the egg and place it next to Alexis so she could look at it. Like a mare with a newborn foal, Alexis gingerly muzzled the egg and gave it a soft lick, nudging it towards Azura.
Please keep it warm for me. I’m not going to be able to take care of it once I change back. Alexis said slowly before closing her eyes and shifting into her human form.
She then lay there naked and vulnerable, her sweaty brown hair fanned out over her as she fell into an exhausted slumber. Azura wrapped her cloak around her shivering form as she lifted her up bridal style in her arms. Alexis held onto the egg even though she gave it to Azura, honestly she didn’t mind since her arms were already full. Azura just stood there for a moment as the snow softly fell on them as she held her wife and their unborn child. She took a breath of the cold air which froze her insides and made her lungs burn. The world for a instant stood still as Azura tried to catch her breath as her world suddenly and forever changed.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
The egg laid between her and Alexis, wrapped in blankets as they both kept it warm. It had been three weeks since Alexis had laid the egg and for all she knew it had shown no signs of hatching. After the whole incident, Alexis had slept on and off for days, barely eating anything. Azura had been able to get her eat some porridge but nothing else really. All she could really do was lay beside her with the egg between them as she filled out paperwork and read.
Azura worried about her wife as well as her kingdom. Word had spread through the court that the queen was ill and the queen consort was too busy tending to her wife to take her place. Silas was helping lead the court in her absence but she knew that she would have to return soon or else there would be a riot. She hated leaving her wife in such a state as well as leave the egg without her warmth. She knew nothing about eggs and dragons but there was a part of her that knew the egg needed both of their warmth in order to survive.
She kissed Alexis’s forehead as she went to take a bath. When she returned, she found she had vomited onto the floor and had completely curled herself around the egg. She sighed and nudged her wife to move and she took her place by the egg. Azura wiped her mouth with her sleeve and moved her hair out of her face. Blurry half lidded eyes stared at her as they rested their foreheads together.
“You were gone and I got sick. I’m sorry I’m such a mess, Azura.” Alexis said as she looked to her wife and moved closer to her.
“It’s fine, love. I just hope this hatches soon and you get better. The court is getting antsy in your absence. Silas can only do so much on his own.” She said, peering down at the egg before looking back at Alexis.
It was becoming increasingly disturbing on how little Alexis was eating and how much that she managed to keep down, she was practically wasting away right beside her. She couldn’t help but wonder if it was normal for manaketes to go through this while nesting. She wished she could ask a healer or consult a book on the matter but there was no information on manaketes much less on their reproduction. Perhaps she could request a summons for a manakete healer from one of the tribes in Nohr’s upper highlands but they were extremely self isolating and never interacted with royalty. She let out a sigh as she noticed Alexis had fallen asleep again, curled over the egg, nestled into her side.
She noticed how thin and frail her wife had gotten as she sleep beside her; no longer cold but instead feverishly hot. Her breathing was level and fine, but her heartbeat was slowed to the point you’d think she was dead if you didn’t listen long enough. While Alexis had always been pale, she was so pasty that Azura could throw cream on her and there would be no visible difference. There was no possible way she could know if her wife was dying or this just a natural state after laying. Such a thought drove her insane, there was nothing she could do to help her.
When they said they wanted children, this was not what Azura had in mind. Despite the fact they were both female, Azura had been born male and was completely capable of having children with her lover. Very few people knew the truth of her gender orientation and she prefered to keep it that way, the court assumed that Alexis would have a sperm donor and produce an heir that way. They briefly thought about that option but Alexis was adamant on producing children that were both her’s and Azura’s. They even tried to attempt to have kids after seven months into their marriage after the court started to get pushy on the idea of heirs. Perhaps this was the fruit of their labor. She didn’t once stop and think that Alexis might not have the same biology as a normal human being since she was half-dragon, she assumed she’d get pregnant and nine months later they would have a child. Now she had a sickly wife and an egg that she didn’t would hatch or not.
A small movement broke her out of her reverie, it was ever so subtle but there was definitely something coming from the egg. She lifted the egg from it’s nest of blankets and held it to her ear. There was a small tapping noise coming from the inside of the egg, she couldn’t help but be in awe. Her child was trying to communicate with her! She heard of infants moving around and responding to their mother’s voice inside the womb but she didn’t know it was possible with manakete eggs. Softly, she cleared her throat and gently rubbed the iridescent almost nacre-like shell of the egg.
“Hello there, little one. It’s your mother, Azura.” She said softly to the egg, trying not wake Alexis from her slumber.
In response to her voice, the egg tapped back. Azura couldn’t help but feel her heart twist in her chest as she was filled with a warmth and belonging she had never felt before. She had had a hard time seeing the egg as being her child but now she felt as drawn to it as Alexis had that night in the snow. This was her child; her blood. She vowed never let her family fall apart like it had in her past so many times. As she sat there, staring at the egg, her mind drawing blank on what next to say to her unborn child; the obvious answer appeared in her mind.
Softly, she hummed the first few notes of the ancient song passed down by her family through the generations as she moved into the first words.
“You are the ocean's gray waves,
Destined to seek life beyond the shore
Just out of reach
Yet the waters ever change,
Flowing like time
The path is yours to climb.”
She stopped as the egg remained completely still. She stroked the shell as there was an ever so subtle tap near her hand. Her heart stopped and she found herself brought to tears. Laying on her side, she brought the egg as close to her chest and just remained there as her eyes grew heavy. She will ask Silas to bring back a manakete healer in the morning and return to her duties as queen in place of her ailing wife. With her she will carry the egg with her as a promise she made to Alexis that night at the beginning of this mess. She will face the ridicule, disgust, and confusion that came along with carrying an egg into court and explaining it came from the reigning queen. It was the least she could do it for Alexis who had given her such a blessed gift.
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“She’s fine. It’s normal for female manaketes to fall into a fit of hibernation and fatigue after laying. Her body is trying to recuperate after the strain of producing a child and the egg that goes along with it. While I’m concerned that she’s not eating, I suggest you get the fresh blood of a freshly killed stag and have her drink it. It will restore appetite as well as help her body regain what it loss through producing that egg.” The manakete healer told Azura as she examined Alexis who laid unconscious on the bed.
It had been two weeks since she had sent Silas to look for a manakete healer to exam Alexis who remained in a semi-comatose state since laying. It had been difficult to get them to come but after Silas explained the queen was the daughter of Anankos and was expecting to hatch her first child, they reluctantly came out of respect for the God of Knowledge and Chaos. They had quickly looked over, sniffed, and prodded her wife before saying she was fine and looking at her like she was a moron.
“What about the egg? Is it going to be okay? When will it hatch?” Azura asked, trying not snap at the rude manakete who looked at her with a haughty bored expression as if she was a dull child instead of a reigning monarch.
The manakete picked up the egg and knocked on the shell, sniffing and licking it before giving it back to Azura.
“It’s fine and perfectly healthy. The shell is becoming thin and your wife’s breasts are filling up with milk. It should hatch pretty soon.” The manakete said with a wave of the hand as they headed out the door.
“Wait! Is there anything I can do to make her more comfortable? I hate seeing her like this and I just wish there was something I could to alleviate at least some of the burden.” The manakete stopped and turned to face her, their eyes softer than they were before.
“Just remain by her side and keep that egg warm together. When two manaketes produce an egg, they both incubate the egg together between them. The male will tend to the female as she recovers and they never leave each other side.” Their eyes flickered with a nostalgic melancholy before turning back and walking out the door.
Azura was left standing there. She couldn’t help but feel guilty for leaving Alexis alone to attend to the court. She should’ve remained at her side as they tended to their unborn child as she was suppose to. She looked to the egg in her arms and the pale face of her sleeping wife as she tried to figure where she was to go from there. Remembering the manakete’s advice, she rang the service bell and within a second Jakob was there.
“Jakob, summon some of the royal hunters and ask them to fetch me a stag. I need it’s blood as fresh and warm as possible.” She ordered him, he gave her quizzical look before bowing.
“Yes, Lady Azura. I will try to have it up to you as fast as possible.” He said, before bowing again and heading out the door.
Azura sat in bed beside Alexis as she went over paperwork and treaties. Hours passed until Jakob returned with a bowl filled with stag’s blood and tray with venison stew with fresh warm rye bread for the both of them. The smell was heavenly as he set the tray on the nightstand and left to attend to other matters. Azura lifted the bowl of blood from the table and nudged her wife awake, who looked at her with blurry confused eyes.
“Alexis, I have this bowl of stag’s blood that healer said would return your appetite. I need you to drink it, please.” She said her before pressing the bowl to her lips to get her to drink it.
She allowed Azura pour down her throat, swallow it and falling back onto the pillows. She rested for a minute before rising up into a sitting position and greedily sniffing at the venison stew that sat on the night stand.
“Azura, can you please bring me some of that food. I’m find myself extremely hungry all of a sudden.” Alexis said as Azura handed her a bowl of stew which she devoured with a ravenous gusto.
Azura felt at peace knowing Alexis had her appetite back and was back to eating at the rate of six men. She ate her food as Alexis rang the service bell for more, talking about their future, their soon to be child, and everything inbetween.
“What do you think we should name it?” Alexis asked her which caught her off guard.
“I’m not really sure. I’ve never been good at names. I think it should be something Hoshidan in honor of your heritage and Queen Mikoto.” Azura answered, her mind trying to recall a list of names.
“I like the names, Ame and Yuki. They work for either gender and are Hoshidan in nature.”
Azura rolled the two names around in her head, trying to consider them but they felt too plain in nature. She looked out the window as it lightly drizzled outside as the first signs of spring started to appear.
“Shigure.” She said softly as she looked to the egg that was nestled between them.
“It’s perfect, Azura. Though it’s a male name I assume it can also work for a girl too. Your name will be Shigure.” Alexis laughed lifting the egg into air and giving it a toothy grin.
Azura smiled before resting her head on her lover’s shoulder as they looked at the egg in prideful awe.
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Ripped from deep sleep, Azura awoke to find Alexis violently shaking her awake. Her wild magenta eyes bore into her’s as she stroked her scaly cheeks. Clearly something was wrong and it was with the egg. Pushing herself into a sitting position, she dug through the blanket nest to lift the egg that Alexis was clearly distraught over.
“What’s wrong, love? Why did you have to wake me so early in the morning?” Azura said exhausted, feeling for any abnormalities on the egg before feeling it shake as there was a scratching sound from the inside.
“Azura, I think it’s time!” Alexis exclaimed, taking the egg from Azura’s lap and placing it back it’s blanket nest, watching it with such intensity that she swore she didn’t even blink.
“What? Do we help it or let it happen naturally?” Azura asked, her voice high from panic.
“Hmmmm...I don’t know…” Alexis looked to her with lost eyes before turning her gaze to the egg that was filled with scratching noises but had no cracks in the shell.
“They are suppose to be able to do it on their own but I think they are too weak to do it. They are part human after all. I think we should help it.” Azura said to her distraught wife who was panicking and fussing over the egg that refused to hatch.
“But how, Azura? I don’t know what to do! Most of the things I’ve done so far have relied on instinct but they aren’t telling me shit when it comes to this!” Alexis’s hair puffed out and the scaly ridges on her face raised from their beds like that of a scared cat.
Azura was just as nervous as her wife but she didn’t let it show because she knew Alexis needed a grounding presence or she would fly into complete panic mode which would not bode well for anyone. In her fear, she noticed Alexis’s Dragon Fang ability activate as her horns started to grow from her skull and her bladed tail started to thump against the bed in frustration. Despite the thousands of butterflies that swarmed in her stomach, Azura pulled Alexis’s face towards her so she was looking to her eyes to pull her attention away from the egg.
“Alexis, my love, calm down and take a deep breath. I assume that there is solution to the problem deep within you. Just relax and try to think of it.” Azura smoothed her wild tangled hair as the horns and tail receded back into her flesh.
With a shaky breath, Alexis withdrew into herself to search for an ancient memory she didn’t know if she had. Seconds turned into minutes until Alexis returned to her in a flash with a confident look in her eye. She lifted the egg and with her razor sharp teeth, she pierced the thick shell of the egg and with her talons, she started to create an opening for the child to escape through. With a few cracks and violent shakes, the egg completely broke apart to reveal a small screaming infant in it’s place.
Gently, Alexis picked up her newborn child and started to lick it clean from the fluid and yoke of the egg. They squirmed and whined before curling into her chest and latching onto her breast. Absent mindedly, Azura started to stroke the downy brown hair on the child’s head as it continued to nurse. When it finished, Alexis gingerly picked up the child and placed it into Azura’s arms as she rested her head on shoulder.
“It’s a boy. Crown Prince Shigure of Valla.” She said softly, as Azura remained transfixed on the small infant in her arms.
He had Alexis’s earthen hair and thoughtful magenta eyes that held so much wisdom and kindness for one so young. Though he had her coloring, he looked so much like Azura. He had her face and her nose, his high cheekbones was reminiscent of Azura as well as his thick eyelashes. She held him to her chest and shouldn’t help but feel tears of joy run down her cheeks. This was her son! Such a thought of having children with the one she loved had always been an unattainable thing to her. She was so blessed to have such a wonderful life after going through such horror and strife in the beginning. With ever fiber in her being she was going to protect this child and let them have a stable childhood filled with only love, joy, and happiness. They will not suffer the abuse and rejection of a family that they didn’t belong in nor the horrors of war and the threat of death hanging over their heads like pulsing black sun. She will keep them safe it was the death of her.
Alexis let out a soft purr and nuzzled her son before laying beside Azura as the child rested on her chest. Shigure looked at them with large curious eyes before reaching out to his mothers and letting back a purr in return. His silver scales shimmered in the moonlight as he rested and fell asleep clutching Azura’s nightgown. Such beautiful and perfection was a foreign concept to her. Wrapped her arms around Shigure as Alexis fell asleep in her side, so close she could hear her heartbeat. Much like a lullaby, she let it bring her to sleep as she slipped from the world that seemed so much better than it had before.