novelbin Chapter 431: I want to go on a picnic
Chapter 431: I want to go on a picnic
Fenric chuckled from his spot by the window, where he was currently letting Raiden and Phina stack wooden blocks on his knees. One of my specifically requested inventions, by the way. "We all need to eat. I feel like I haven’t tasted real food in seasons."
I reached out, letting Damar settle the tray across my lap. The scent of the seasoned broth instantly made my stomach growl so loudly that Lyra, who was playing with a piece of string near Noah’s feet, looked up and pointed a chubby finger at me.
"Mama tummy roar!" she announced loudly.
"Yes, Lyra, Mama is starving," I laughed, taking a deep gulp of the warm broth. The energy rushed back into my veins like a flood, soothing the dull ache in my muscles.
As I chewed on a piece of roasted meat, my mind naturally drifted back to the math. Fifty days. I’m not sure whose kid I’m carrying, but if it’s just Damars, then it’s fifty days. But if it’s another, like Fenric or Noah, it’s going to be more than that.
Phew. Regardless, I would still get pregnant, so the countdown had officially begun.
My body had thrown all biological rules out the window, and now there was a very real chance that by mid-winter, a new cry would echo through these halls.
Damar sat next to me, tracing the blue lines of the coral on my wrist. I’d say he’s already reconciled with Thalor’s addition. I’m pretty sure it started after I gave birth to the twins.
There was no way he could be dissatisfied with him when he was already officially a part of the family, and my offspring shared his blood.
It was either that or Thalor stood up to him in some back alley and made him accept him after they threw a few punches, haha.
As Noah caught my eye and flashed a warm, blinding smile, my worries vanished.
"Damar," I whispered between bites, leaning my head against his arm. "If the winter gets too cold... You promise you won’t sleep this time?"
Damar’s green eyes darkened with a heavy, intense devotion. His tongue flicked out, tasting the air near my cheek before he pressed a firm kiss to my temple.
"I won’t sleep, Ari," he promised, his voice a low, vibrating vow. "With what we built in this room? I wouldn’t dare miss a single day of it."
I smirked, finishing off the broth.
That’s just all I needed to hear.
...
A week had passed since the Sovereign Wing had been released from its seven-day lockdown, and to be completely honest, I was bored out of my mind.
The heat was entirely gone, my body had reset to its normal temperature, and the daily administration tasks were running so smoothly under Noah and Thalor’s watchful eyes that my assistance wasn’t needed anywhere.
I had already sent Garam and Robin out to visit the squirrel beastmen settlement three days ago. I remember being incredibly worried before they left, standing at the gates and insisting that I should at least send a small squad of wolf guards to tail them from afar.
"Absolutely not, Land-mother," Robin had chuckled, shaking his woolly head. "Squirrels are far too sharp. If they scent a single wolf anywhere near the border, they’ll bury themselves so deep we’ll never find the entrance."
Garam, that old man had just cracked his knuckles, his long rabbit ears twitching with confidence. "Besides, we are the chiefs of the herbivores. We won’t be beaten by our fellow grass-eaters. Stay inside where it’s warm, savior. We will handle the talking."
So, I had let them go. They were scheduled to be back by this evening, hopefully with good news about expanding Oakhaven.
But right now? It was mid-afternoon, and I was sitting on my cushioned throne, leaning my chin on my palm, and lazily swinging my legs back and forth. Down on the polished stone floor, my husbands were scattered around, completely at the mercy of our kids.
Noah was currently acting as a couch for Phina and Raiden, who were trying to see how many wooden blocks they could balance on his broad shoulders before he moved.
Fenric was on his hands and knees, letting Lyra pretend he was a wild mount while she shouted nonsense commands, and Damar was sitting nearby, his silver tail slowly twitching as Marina and Kaito tried to catch the tip of it with their tiny hands.
I watched them for a long moment, a sudden wave of restlessness hitting me. Sitting inside these walls was getting suffocating.
"I want to go on a picnic," I suddenly announced loudly, my voice echoing through the vaulted hall.
The entire room went quiet. Fenric stopped mid-crawl, Lyra letting out a disappointed grunt. Noah looked up from his block-tower predicament, his dark eyes blinking in surprise, while Damar’s tail stopped dead in its tracks, causing the twins to face-plant into the rug.
"A picnic?" Thalor asked, walking into the chamber from the adjoining corridor with a fresh slate in his hands. "Arinya, the autumn wind is quite crisp today. Are you sure you want to be outside?"
"The meadow behind the Sovereign Wing is completely enclosed, Thalor," I said, already standing up and smoothing down my top. "The stone walls block the wind, and the sun is perfectly bright out there. I am not spending another minute staring at these pillars. Move it, boys. Pack the baskets."
When the Queen decrees, the kingdom moves.
There is nothing quite like a sunny autumn afternoon to make you realize your life has officially been overrun by pint-sized dictators.
With the heat behind us and the autumn bite growing sharper by the day, I had decreed that today was a family day. No currency logistics. No checking the forge. No, looking at the outer walls to see how the Caracals were doing with the new batch of metal veins we found. Just a blanket, a massive basket of food, and my family out in the enclosed meadow behind the palace.
"Raiden, if you drop that entire wheel of goat cheese in the dirt, I am making you haul the water tomorrow," I called out, leaning back against a massive, plush pile of sheep-fur blankets.
Raiden, who was currently at the ripe old age of nine months but looked like a sturdy four-year-old from my old world, froze. He looked down at the cheese in his chubby hands, then up at me with his big, soulful ruby eyes.
Phina, always his partner in crime, immediately waddled over and grabbed the other side of the cheese, helping him balance it onto the large woven mat.
Those two were practically attached at the hip. If Raiden tripped, Phina was there to hold his hand. If Phina wanted a piece of roasted fruit from the top of the basket, Raiden was already climbing the wicker to get it for her.
"They’re doing fine, Little Tiger," Noah murmured, sitting down beside me and handing me a cup of sweet berry juice.