Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Edelgard didn’t rise until a bit later the next morning. Though, when she woke, Hubert was gone.  She frowned. She knew he’d leave, but she wished she’d have woken up to still being in his arms. She knew that court took precedent over basically everything else, but even so… It sucked. It really sucked. He would do what he needed to do and that was take care of the Empire. She trusted Juliane and Augusta to take care of the court, but realistically, she knew that at least Hubert needed to be on the throne to show that the current generation of leaders was strong for the Empire. She’d been on the throne that the advisors and her purge of the nobility had shown the court that she was not someone to mess around with. But even so… She was someone that could easily be taken advantage of if she didn’t have someone like Hubert by her side. She sighed and rose, changing out of her night clothes into something more appropriate for the day. With that done, she knew she needed to go see how Bettina and Jusef were doing. She went to the children’s room and knocked on the door, but got no answer. She frowned. Had they gone exploring in the royal wing? She had told them they could do that without punishment. They seemed extremely eager to get out and explore and play with each other. She didn’t want to just barge into their room, but it was about the time they should be getting their first meal of the day.  She knocked again, considerably louder this time. No response for several minutes until she saw the door open and Bettina looked up at her, bleary eyed. “What do you want…?” The little girl yawned widely, obviously having been woken up by Edelgard’s intrusion. “…Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you up. Do you want to go back to sleep?” She was trying to look out for the kids, of course… She was their mother now and wanted what was best for them. But, sometimes…sleeping late was for the best. Not everyone had to wake up at sunrise everyday. The kids would need to get used to it in due time though… They needed to take care of their lessons and attend them. But she still wanted the teachers vetted for. They would most likely need to be gentle, just like what had happened with Annika learning combat. The kids were used to harshness being directed at them but in a bad way. She didn’t want them to be upset when learning… Thankfully, the castle had plenty of teachers on staff and a wide array to choose from… She couldn’t use her old teachers because they were very direct and she knew Bettina and Jusef likely wouldn’t handle that very well.  Bettina nodded. “Okay then. Go back to sleep. I’ll check on you again around lunch, okay?” Bettina nodded again. Edelgard smiled and closed the door behind her.  Well, things weren’t going as she had expected by any means. She would probably need to give them a solid week to fully settle into the castle before she could start waking them up later. She wasn’t sure what their sleep schedules were like, but she would just let them sleep. Their lives had been hard on the streets, no doubt, so she really wanted to just let them settle a bit first. Hubert would be busy with court as would Juliane, leaving Edelgard alone until the kids were ready to wake up and eat. She always rose with the sun which was decently early due to Enbarr’s tropical climate and sunset was decently late as well. The seasons didn’t really change too drastically in Adrestia…  She wasn’t really certain what to do with herself honestly. She’d need to keep an eye on the time, but for now… Well, she could probably go down to Helen and Ueli’s. She went back to her room and got something on that she wouldn’t mind dirtying and threw her falconry bag over her shoulder. She dropped by the kitchens and grabbed some food that would be easy to eat on the way, heading down to the quaint little house that sat tucked away in the castle’s vast yards. It was past feeding time for the birds. She could tell by the position of the sun. She had maybe three or four more hours until she would need to head back up and wasn’t entirely certain what to do with herself. But she knocked on the falconer’s door and an answer came a few minutes later. “Well, Edelgard, good morning! What can I do for you today?” The older man greeted her with a warm smile and she returned it. “Where are the kids?” “Asleep. I’m guessing the travel was pretty rough on them.” She knew it wiped her out, but she could handle it better than the kids. “I’ll let them sleep until around noon.” They might very well wake up before them, but she had impressed on them how important it was to not wander around the castle without someone accompanying them. She still felt guilty for reminding them of starving, but it wasn’t like anybody was perfect. She had goofed, but people just did that. Goofs happened and she’d tried her best to apologise. “Ah, gotcha. Yeah, you didn’t take too well to the long, hard travel of our falconry season abroad the year we went. You remember?” He chuckled but she shook her head. “Ah, right… Your memory issues.” She nodded. “Yeah… Anyway, need help with anything right now?” she asked. “I have a few hours until I said I’d wake the kids… I’m not sure what to do with myself until then. I’ll let Mother Augusta and the other women vet the teachers for the children.” She didn’t need to stress herself out unnecessarily. Augusta would be able to figure out who was good for the kids and who wasn’t… A lot of the teachers still available were the ones there when she’d been growing up… Someone really needed to check into getting a new crop of teachers. They were pretty much old people that had been around the block a time or two, often set in their ways… She knew there were some kind ones in there, so it wasn’t like they were all old, hard-line types. Still… Getting a new crop of teachers in would probably be a good idea… She’d need to set Augusta to the task. “Not really right this second…” Ueli stroked his stubbly beard. “I already finished feedin’ the birds this mornin’. We still have some time until we can start really gettin’ the birds in shape for the hunting season.” “What do you do with most of your time when you don’t have a pesky apprentice running around?” she joked lightly. She had taken up a lot of his time when she’d learned falconry.  “In the off season? Really just take things easy and make a lot of furniture just in case somethin’ goes wrong and we need somethin’ immediately. I always carry spares on me. You can bring the kids down here once they’re more settled and I can teach ‘em about manning birds with Romy. She’s just so damn used to being handled I don’t feel like I gotta worry about her hurting them.” Edelgard nodded. “She’s goin’ blind, yeah, but she knows she’s safe with us.” “She has been here way too long.” Yeah, Romy had been here for much of Edelgard’s life. She had been there since before the Insurrection of the Seven and her father’s power stripped. Now Edelgard was on the throne. She felt bad for the poor bird, but she was so so nonchalant and stout that Edelgard trusted her to not hurt the children. Obviously, if they got bit for doing something wrong, that was on them. She just didn’t want those talons to go into their hands and cause infection, then the children die… Gloves were really just for the bird’s comfort, not protection from the talons.  “She has been, but she’d die if we turned her out now. She really ain’t safe flyin’ anymore because of her cataracts, so I keep her tethered all the time.” He frowned. “It ain’t somethin’ I wanna do, but something I hear of from parrot owners is the idea of clipping the wings. Basically keeps the bird from flyin’. I’ve done that with Romy because I really don’t want her flyin’ at all. She can’t really get off the ground now.” Edelgard frowned. The sounded cruel in its own way. Robbing a bird of its ability to fly. She had never heard of it done on raptors… She had heard of it from some of the nobles that owned parrots, though. Granted, they were often stuffed into little tiny cages… She’d seen some brought with nobles form their homes and paraded around. It was nasty business. They treated the poor things like they were just decorations. “I see. It sounds cruel to rob a bird of its ability to fly but…” “With only one good eye, she can get spooked real easy if you come up the wrong way. Ain’t like an owl that uses its hearing over its eyes. Diurnal raptors like Romy rely on their eyesight over anything else; it’s why hoods work. So when she can’t see somethin’ on her left side and then it suddenly comes to her right, she spooks. She’s gotten real beat up in her mews even while tethered so I’ve just snipped the wing feathers. Trust me, I hate doin’ it but in this case, it keeps her from being able to get much if any air.” Edelgard nodded. “I suppose that makes sense… It’s still sad though.” “I wouldn’t normally do this to any bird because birds are meant to fly. Why get a bird if you don’t want it to fly? Real nasty to take away such an ability. But in this case, it really is for her safety.” Edelgard nodded. “I can understand the reasoning this time. But is it a regular thing for parrot owners to clip their birds?” He nodded. “From what I’ve seen, real common for the ones brought to Enbarr to be sold on the market. All their primaries and secondaries just gone. Cut real close to the wing. It looks like butchering the feathers. I didn’t go so extreme on Romy. Got the idea, but not the way it’s practiced.” He shook his head. “Nasty what people do to birds.” Edelgard nodded. “Yeah.” She frowned. “Do you think you could show me where they sell these birds?”  “I could, but it’ll hurt your heart as an animal lover. I didn’t take Romy’s clip that deep. I trimmed the feathers, yeah, but not to the point they’re almost at the wing itself.” He sighed. “You sure you wanna go?” Edelgard nodded. “I didn’t know they sold parrots taken from the wild.” Granted, it sounded like propagating something like a parrot in captivity would be really difficult. It was probably just easier to take the birds from the wild, then sell them to the highest bidder. So sad that people treated animals like symbols of status… “You need some guards with you? Why don’t I see Hubert with you?” He looked around. “…He’s Emperor now and on the throne in my stead. I’d stress too easily and risk the lives inside of me from sheer stress.” She put a hand over her lower abdomen. It was still early days for her pregnancy yet and she hadn’t had any side effects yet but she knew they were coming eventually.  “Well, you wanna arrange for some guards to come with us? I ain’t trained in combat and not sure how you’ve kept up your training.” She frowned. “Not at all really. Mirjam, my midwife, banned me from doing intense combat practice. I can do light drills, but that’s about it.” She hadn’t seen much reason to keep up her skills after Garreg Mach. It wasn’t like there were wars or anything on the horizon. Fódlan was peaceful right now and had been since the Brigid/Dagda War. Thankfully, she’d managed to release Brigid as a vassal state and return Petra home… That had not been a popular move but she didn’t care. She didn’t need Brigid as a vassal state. It felt beyond wrong to force Brigid to bow to Adrestia… “All right then; go and get some sorted for us. I’ll meet ya out at the stables.” Edelgard nodded and headed back up to the castle. It took a bit of hassle to get them to agree to come down with her, but they eventually did. She and Ueli hopped up into the carriage and she watched at the city went by. She hadn’t really had a chance to explore the city vully because Hubert was so on her case all the time. The best time to explore would’ve been post-Crest experiment, but she had just…never really done that. She’d been so withdrawn and the birds had been the only thing that brought her any modicum of joy in that era… She couldn’t really remember it too much now, but she just didn’t know the city very well. Eventually, they arrived at a small market that was filled to the brim with animals. It was dingy, dank, muddy, and smelled of animal. She could see animals crammed into small cages and livestock and horses were tied harshly to posts with halters and leads that didn’t allow them any use of their heads. Her heart broke and she looked at Ueli. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you, Edelgard.” “You did…but I didn’t expect this.” They got out, Ueli helping her down, and they made their way to a corner. There were huge birds crammed into tiny cages, four to six birds per cage. She frowned when she saw their wings clearly mangled. Romy’s clipping was rough, but not as rough as these. She knew what a fully flighted bird looked like but these birds lacked any and all wing feathers. “Welcome!” An old lady with a limp, using a cane approached. “Can I interest you in some birds?” Edelgard looked at the birds, eyes wide with terror and pupils highly constricted. They huddled into the corners of the cages together tightly. Even if she didn’t know parrot body language, these birds were terrified. Anybody with half a brain could see it. “Why have you mangled their wings like that?” The old woman shrugged. “Don’t want my business flying off.” The woman saw the birds as the means to an end, a way to get money. They weren’t actual animals to her. They weren’t living beings that could live, breathe, and reproduce. They were just items to be sold.  “Were these caught in the wild?” “Yes ma’am, they were. Ain’t nobody know how to breed ‘em.” “How many do you have?” The woman blinked. “A good couple dozen… Why do you ask?” Edelgard sighed. Of course. She could see different types of birds all around. Their feathers were dull and she could see black barring on them even from here. A lack of proper nutrition and stress had no doubt seen to the birds molting and their feathers reflecting their stress. “Don’t capture anymore of these birds and mangle their wings unless you want to be put away,” she said seriously. “I’ll have Imperial inspectors come down to this market and ensure you don’t capture anymore birds. And they will go to all the other markets in the city to make sure you can’t sell them anywhere else!” She couldn’t stand to see birds that were supposed to be flying free kept in such conditions. The woman’s eyes widened. “Just who are you?” “Edelgard von Hresvelg, Empress of Adrestia. These markets are for selling livestock, not birds. Soon there will be an Imperial decree that taking parrots from the wild is illegal!” She would see to that. She could see these poor birds in such bad condition. It was one thing when a falconer took one or two birds from the wild for hunting. That didn’t have much if any impact on wild populations… Here, they were taken by the dozens and left in terrible conditions, their wings mangled so they couldn’t fly. She couldn’t understand the cruelty. Yes, this woman had to make money, but at the cost of the lives of other creatures in such a cruel way? No, she could not and would not stand for that.  “Your birds will be confiscated and brought to the castle. And don’t try to run away with them. You will be summarily prosecuted in due time. Guards, arrest her.” The woman stared in stunned silence as the guards approached and put her hands behind her back. No, Edelgard would not tolerate such poor treatment of animals. Honestly, she wanted to make things better down in these markets. She would have to issue an Imperial decree that stated that animals had to be treated in a certain way.  She walked over to a horse that had its head tied down and loosened the rope. “Hey, you can’t—” “I’m Empress. I can do this.” She turned and spoke loud enough for all in the market to hear. “Allow your animals the use of their heads. I’ll be sending Imperial inspectors down to make sure your animals are treated adequately within the week. All animals must be provided food, shade, and without such harsh tying of the heads. If any are found to be violating these rules, you will be fined. If your treatment continues, then you’ll be arrested and prosecuted. Do you understand?” The market went quiet and the people quivered in terror. She was normally known as an Empress of the people, considering how much she did on their behalf. But sometimes, she had to extend her Imperial hand in order to make sure things ran smoothly. There was give in any situation. She went back to the carriage and got in with Ueli. The doors closed and they were off again. “So what are you plannin’ on doin’ with all them birds?” he asked. “Ain’t like you got room for all of them.” Edelgard sighed. “That…is a very good question. I have no idea…” She put her hand over her mouth. “Do you think we’d have room to build a large enclosure…? I’d like to get them to the point their wing feathers are molted back in so they could hopefully be released back into the wild.” She had no plans to keep these birds. They weren’t hers to do with as she pleased. She couldn’t imagine keeping them simply as a symbol of status and she was pretty sure they’d all hate humans after how roughly they’d been handled. “That’d take some time but it could prolly be done. I’d just feel bad they couldn’t fly or anythin’ like that.” Ueli sighed. “Yeah, I took away Romy’s flight capabilities, but there’s a difference between taking away a bird’s ability to fly because it poses a legitimate threat to their health and safety and…what this cruelty is. Just capturin’ birds and stuffin’ ‘em in cages… Pure cruelty.” Edelgard nodded. “Agreed.” She sighed. “Anyway, I need to tell someone about all of this nonsense and get the birds picked up.” She got back in the carriage with Ueli’s help and they returned to the castle. She told one of her guards to find whoever could help and handed it off to him to take care of. She probably shouldn’t have done all of this, but…to see birds taken from their homes and to have their wings mangled like that for no reason… It boiled her blood. She just could not help it. That had taken a while so she bade Ueli farewell and trotted back into the castle, going to check on Bettina and Jusef. She knocked on their door and Bettina answered, more bright eyed and aware this time. “Feeling better?” she asked. Bettina nodded. “Yeah… Sorry for earlier, Your Majesty… I shoulda just woken up…” Edelgard shook her head and kissed the little girl’s head. “No, no, you did nothing wrong. The trip was hard on all of us.” Hubert wouldn’t show it, but she was pretty sure it’d been hard on him too. It wasn’t like he was used to traveling long distances to do things without her. It still felt beyond strange to not have him by her side pretty much at all times, but there wasn’t much she could do about it. One of them needed to be on the throne to show a united front and not show weakness in her regime. If too much weakness showed through, then things would definitely go awry… There could very well be another Insurrection or even a full-on coup if people thought she was too weak to rule. “Are you all cleaned up and ready for lunch?” She needed to eat again herself… She should be having smaller meals through the day, but it was hard when she was running around so much. She was sure she’d get into the routine soon enough… Bettina nodded. “We’re pretty hungry…” “Go get Jusef, then we can go get something to eat.” She smiled at Bettina who withdrew into the room then came out with Jusef a moment later. She offered a hand to the little girl and little boy who each took one.  She started off toward the kitchens. This was honestly their first real look at the castle. “Now remember, don’t go wandering off. You’ll be able to tell what’s the royal wing and what isn’t very easily.” She pointed out some very ornate doors that locked from one side. It was the only entry point into the royal wing just in case of seige or other attempts on the royal family. The lock would prevent anybody from getting inside and it would take a serious battering ram to get through the massive, thick doors that held the royal family inside. “Don’t go beyond these doors, okay? There are several floors you can explore too. The Imperial family can be…very, very big at times.” “How big?” Bettina asked innocently, obviously not aware of the full implications of the consort system. “Well… Some Emperors or Empresses have had fifty or more children. I think the biggest was over three hundred.” Yes, she’d learned all of that before Garreg Mach, but because she hadn’t refreshed in a long time, she couldn’t remember the exact details. She honestly wasn’t the biggest fan of the consort system and had hoped to do away with it but…there was no way she could make the advisors happy with only having twins. Even her and ten other siblings had been small by their standards.They would no doubt want her to have twenty or more, but there was no way that was happening. If she got along with her potential consorts and they could have three apiece on top of her two… She’d count it as good. Bettina’s eyes widened. “How many siblings did you have?” Edelgard swallowed a bit. Bettina and Jusef didn’t need to know about the Agarthans or any of that. “I had ten other siblings, but they died to illness. None of us like to talk about it much.” She was trying to gently close the matter and dissuade the little girl from asking too many questions about it. They were unhappy memories for everybody that remembered it. She really did not like to revisit those memories, what few she had. The most she could remember was the screaming from down the hall and the cold of the dungeon floor. “Please don’t talk about it with me or the other Imperial women.” Granted…she would soon have her own ‘Imperial women’ so that wouldn’t fit anymore. The term strictly referred to the current Emperor or Empress’ consorts. She’d have to stop referring to her mothers as such… And she’d have to get Bettina and Jusef to refer to her potential consorts as ‘mother.’ That would be a nightmare, but it wasn’t a worry for right now. She could not worry about the consorts until they arrived. Bettina frowned but nodded. “Okay.”  Edelgard could sense something on her mind. “What’s wrong, honey?” “I…don’t really know what I should call you.” “Well… That’s up to you. Legally, I am your guardian and you’re now of House Hresvelg despite the lack of blood relation. But you don’t have to call me mother or anything of the like if you don’t want to. If you want to just use my title of Your Majesty…that’s completely up to you. But if you want to call me ‘Mother,’ then you can. Or you can just use my name, Edelgard. I won’t tell you what to call me. It’s what you feel is most important.” Yeah, there was no way she’d force Bettina and Jusef into call her any variant of ‘mother’ and Hubert any variant of ‘father.’ That…would just be cruel.  Bettina nodded. “Okay…” She continued to frown. “I won’t have my head chopped off because I called you by your name?” “Did I hurt Ueli yesterday for greeting me by name?” Bettina shook her head. “No, I guess not…”  Edelgard patted her head. “Again, whatever you want to call me. Just…not El. Not yet. That’s for people who are really close to me. You’ll hear Mother Juliane and the others call me that, but that’s because I’ve known them most of my life and care about and respect them.” That nickname was just one reserved for people she really, really knew and cared about. Honestly, she wouldn’t have had a problem with Ueli using the nickname at this point, but she just hadn’t told him about it.  “Okay…” Bettina fell quiet and they continued walking toward the kitchens. Once there, Edelgard told the cooks to make something for them and they all ate. The kids were still absolutely ravenous which only made sense. Considering they hadn’t had much food since they’d been on the streets. They would need to learn table manners at some point, but right now wasn’t the time. They were so thin. They could focus on other areas of manners before shifting to table manners. The wedding would be in a few months and they would need at least some table manners. But, right now, when it was just them, she didn’t want to correct them. That felt cruel.  She just let them eat until they couldn’t eat anything else and they stretched. “So is there anything you two wanted to do today?” she asked. “I already went out to the market this morning…” “I wanna ride Anni!” Bettina said with a smile. “She seemed nice!” Edelgard smiled. “We can definitely do that. We’ll need to get you some riding clothes though.” Which would mean a trek back up to the royal wing. It would be a little while until the kids had their teachers, but time was pressing in on them. The wedding planners were handling everything regarding the wedding since they knew what went into an Imperial wedding. She wouldn’t be part of the process, not until it came time for the dress. She would be showing by time they got married which…did make her uncomfortable. She still couldn’t believe she had two little lives inside of her. What they’d be, she wasn’t really sure…  They could be male or female, both one sex, or one of each. She just…didn’t know. And she wouldn’t know until they were born. Bettina sighed. “Do we really have to walk all the way back there?” “If you want to ride Anni, yes. A dress isn’t appropriate for astride riding.” “Uh-stride?” “There’s side saddle and astride. Sidesaddle for ‘proper’ ladies—” Edelgard rolled her eyes hard. “—which is for dresses and astride which just means sitting on the horse with your legs on either side. You’re in a dress right now, Bettina. You need some padding around your legs to be comfortable in the saddle.” Bettina sighed. “Okay…” She pouted but got up. Edelgard took one of each child’s hand and led them back up to the royal wing. She helped Bettina pick out some clothing that would be more appropriate for riding and the little girl changed in the bathroom.  After all of that was done, then they headed back down to the barn. Edelgard spoke to the barn manager and riding lessons teacher. “Now remember, horses are sensitive. You don’t need to tug on their reins hard. If you tug on their reins too hard, then you can hurt their mouths. Do you understand?” Edelgard asked the two kids. They nodded and she smiled. “Good.” She could vaguely remember that she’d tugged on Anni’s mouth pretty hard when she’d started out. Granted, she had been younger than Bettina and Jusef were. She didn’t understand that horses didn’t need to be yanked on. Thankfully, that’d been swiftly corrected by her lessons teacher and she hadn’t done it since. Soft hands were the way to go for horses… “Would you like to help me get her tack?” “What’s tack?” Bettina asked. “Her equipment. I’ll carry the saddle. Bettina, you can carry the reins. Jusef, you can carry the saddle blanket. Sound good?” “Okay!” Bettina smiled, obviously excited. They went to the tack room and she found Anni’s designated tack in the spot it always laid in. Yes, Anni was usually tacked for her as she was Empress and had been heir apparent following the Crest experiments, but she sometimes tacked the horse herself. She knew exactly where Anni’s tack was due to that. Granted, she hadn’t ridden the horse in some years, but she knew that the stablehands kept her spry by riding her gently.  They went out to the stall where Anni had been brought in and she got the old girl all tacked up. The lessons master stood by and she handed him the reins. “Be gentle with them. They’ve come from a lot of trauma. Understood?” She took a harder tone with the man than she ever would with the kids. They did not need to be treated roughly. Edelgard could withstand some direct, blunt advice, but these kids would not flourish under those circumstances. She could just tell. They reminded her a lot of Annika when they’d been younger.  “Y-Yes, Your Majesty,” the man said. She looked at the kids. “I’ll leave you with him, but I’ll be watching. Okay?” She wouldn’t just drop the kids off with teachers quite yet. She didn’t feel comfortable with it and they clearly needed her support. “Okay,” Jusef said.  The pair of kids followed the lessons master into the arena and Edelgard sat on the viewing platform. The lesson seemed to go pretty smoothly which was good. The lessons master wasn’t a terrible man, but he could definitely be rough on kids. She could definitely remember him being rough on her after she’d accidentally hurt Anni’s mouth from her tugging. She hadn’t been allowed into lessons again until the little haflinger’s mouth had healed. Despite the rough treatment, the little pony was good natured and didn’t hate her… Horses were such amazing, kind animals. She didn’t understand what humans had done to deserve them. She sighed as she watched though. She wouldn’t be able to ride horses after a certain part of her pregnancy… She probably wouldn’t be able to have a normal falconry season unfortunately. There were those weird hawks that Ueli had had brought to him, but it wasn’t like she’d be able to hunt with them most likely. The idea of falling off a horse and harming the children within her… She didn’t like that thought. They hadn’t gone through names yet, no, but even so… She did not like the idea of risking their lives. Especially since she’d been a normal horse since coming back form Garreg Mach. Falling from Anni wouldn’t be as catastrophic as falling from a normal horse that was sixteen hands or higher. It was then that she noticed something strange and got up. She walked out to the edge of the barn where she saw what looked like a small falcon swooping down at the grass. There were some trees around the grazing area, so the horses could take shelter in the shade to get away from the heat of the Adrestian sun. The little bird definitely had the pointed wings of a falcon, but it was absolutely minuscule. It seemed to just entirely hover before diving down into the longer pasture grasses. A small falcon? What could be so tiny? She’d have to go to Ueli after this lesson. Or maybe after dinner because it was starting to get a bit late in the day. She’d leave the kids with one of her mothers and go talk to Ueli. She’d leave them with Augusta because she was pretty sure Katina would frighten them at this point. Katinka wasn’t a bad woman… She was just rough around the edges. Or maybe she could ask Katinka. Katinka had some interesting ideas when it came to falconry. Maybe she’d recognise the small falcon. She couldn’t make out many features on the little bird right now, but maybe Katinka or Ueli could identify it. But she went back inside and put it out of her mind as she sat and watched the kids get their first riding lesson. The lessons master at least kept it so they wouldn’t hurt Anni by showing them how to have soft hands with her. The kids huddled together, obviously feeling rather exposed without Edelgard there. She felt bad for leaving them alone, but she wasn’t needed in the arena. Not one bit. She’d only inhibit their learning. She saw Bettina look back at her and she smiled at the little girl, urging her to follow what the lessons master said. Each of them got a basic lesson for about 45 minutes, then the lessons master waved Edelgard over. She got down from the viewing area and walked over. She offered a hand to each child. “How was it?” she asked. “Did you have fun?” “Yeah!” Jusef looked a lot happier than Bettina did. “Never been on a horse before…” She frowned. “What happens if you fall?” “Then you fall and get back up. Horses can lead to injuries sometimes. There’s a reason there’s the saying to ‘get back up in the saddle.’ Even if you fall and get hurt, you need to get back in the saddle and continue. Horses usually don’t mean to hurt you though. Anni’s kicked me a few times, so I get it.” She chuckled, but Bettina didn’t look convinced. She felt bad, but Anni was a pretty even-tempered horse. However, horses could and did spook which could cause injury. “Now, how about you learn to curry comb them?” “Curr-y what?” Bettina asked.  “Sir, can you take Anni to her stall while I get her brushes?” “Of course, Your Majesty.” The man bowed and led the horse by the reins. Edelgard led the kids back to the tack room to the wall of grooming boxes. She found the one for Anni and handed it to Bettina. “After you ride a horse, you need to curry comb them to get rid of the saddle marks. It helps them feel and look nicer.” Jusef frowned. “But you have stablehands. Shouldn’t they be the ones doing this?” “Yes, that is their job, but I learned to take care of my horse myself when I was your age. It’s important to learn the responsibility of caring for horses too. Yes, you’ll usually have stablehands and other servants to take care of them, but it’s still a good gesture if you learn to take care of them yourself.” “Okay…” Jusef sighed. She led them back to Anni’s stall where her tack rested outside. She led the kids into the stall and showed them how to curry and brush Anni down. She was not going to let them slack on learning this particular responsibility. If they ever went to Garreg Mach, then they would be expected to take care of their own horses. It was one thing she was glad she’d learned at a young age. Anselma could definitely be on the stricter side about things, but she wasn’t upset over it. Especially since Tobias had been so good with her… Her heart twisted, missing her oldest brother. She didn’t always get along with most of her siblings, but the two of them rarely ever fought despite the fifteen year age difference. She missed him horribly. It should have been him on the throne, not her. If things hadn’t turned out the way they had, she’d probably be in Fhirdiad right now with Dimitri. She missed him so much…but they both had their own kingdoms to look after. Once they finished with Anni, she took both of their hands. “I’m going to take you to Mother Augusta because I have something I want to discuss with Mother Katinka. Mother Augusta is a kind woman, so you don’t have anything to worry about, okay?” Augusta could be absolutely cut throat with her politics, but when it came to the kids, she would never be mean to them. She felt comfortable leaving the two kids with Augusta for a little while during her talk with Katinka and Ueli. She’d get dinner afterward. Augusta could handle the kids and them eating. Bettina moved closer to Edelgard, obviously unsettled, but it wasn’t like there was much she could do about it. Edelgard led them back up to the castle to Augusta’s room where she knocked on the door. The purple-haired woman blinked and smiled. “Well good evening, El. What can I do for you tonight?” “Mother Augusta, this is Bettina and Jusef. They’re the children I adopted and it’s why we left the vacation home.” Augusta had her own carriage while going. “Could you watch them while I talk with Ueli and Mother Katinka for a bit?” “Yes, of course.” Augusta smiled warmly. Bettina tucked into Edelgard and she patted the little girl’s head before gently pushing her toward Augusta. She let out a small noise and looked at Edelgard. Jusef took Bettina’s hand. “C’mon, Bet! We can do it!” Despite his bravada, Edelgard felt pretty certain he was afraid too. Augusta was a stranger to both of them. Well. In a lot of regards, Edelgard was as well. But she was clearly a safe person from how gentle and kind she was. Augusta…wasn’t much different, but considering how traumatised they had to be from their time on the streets, it had to be terrifying to be around so many new people and having to deal with so much. Bettina sighed and followed Jusef into the room. Augusta gave Edelgard a smile and closed the door. Edelgard didn’t feel bad leaving them. Augusta was a kind woman that cared about children deeply. Edelgard had adored her as a child and loved spending time with her. She knew she could rely on any of her mothers in order to care for the children. Well. Except Helga, but she didn’t invite Helga back to the castle after she’d been on the throne. Nobody had liked her in the first place, not even Juliane… Putting those thoughts to the side, she went to Katinka’s room and knocked on the door. It took a moment for it to be answered. “Eh, whatcha want, El?” The blonde woman tilted her head. Sweat beaded her forehead. No doubt she’d been out working on something or other. Katinka wasn’t the type of woman to just sit around, twiddling her thumbs and doing needlework. She wanted to be up and around and doing things. If anything, Edelgard was surprised she’d found Katinka in her room. It was still strange to her that Katinka of all people had become a consort and had two children with her father… She didn’t know the machinations behind any of these relationships. “I had a question to ask you about falconry and a bird I saw… Have you ever heard of anybody using a tiny falcon for hunting?” “Where’s this bird?”  “Follow me.” Edelgard made the trek down to where she’d seen the little bird, though she couldn’t find it anymore. “It was maybe about this big and it literally hovered in place above the grass in the pasture. I’ve seen falcons wait on and eagles soar, but I’ve never seen a bird hover in place like that before.” Baffling to her really. How could such a little bird hover in place? Or any bird for that matter? She was astonished by its athleticism. She really couldn’t believe that a bird could do that. It was crazy to see. Katinka folded her arms. “Hm, it was probably a kestrel. They’re tiny falcons and usually hunt mice, voles, grasshoppers, and other small prey. Never heard of using one for hunting, though. Why would you want to hunt with such a small bird? It’s not like you could do much with it. I’m not sure if you could really go beyond hunting much more than mice with them. Maybe with the right training, you could do songbirds, but that’s about it. Not like it’d bring in much meat-wise.” “Well… Have you heard I’m pregnant?” Katinka nodded. “As if those old hens aren’t gossipy as hell.” She barked out a laugh and smiled. “Of course I know. Congrats. Though never thought I’d see you of all people pregnant. Didn’t take you very long… And how do you know? You’ve only been married to Hubert a bit over a month.” “Magic. We used the same spell that allows same-sex couples to conceive. Nothing saying that opposite-sex couples can’t use them.” “I wouldn’t know; I’m not Helga.” Katinka shook her head. “But that does make sense. It’ll be a bit until the birds are fully up to par for the falconry season again… Having an accident while out in the field would be really bad and there’s not much anybody could do if a bird hit you wrong or a horse spooked.” Edelgard nodded. “That’s my main worry… Falling off a horse and risking something happening. But seeing that little bird hunting… I thought I could maybe capture it and train it for a season.” “Again, never heard of anyone doing it, but if anyone could train it up, it’s probably me. Ueli’s too used to big birds. I’ve not flown anything as small as a kestrel, but I could probably figure it out. The main issue would be trapping it. I’m not sure how we’d do that.” “I wonder if there are any trapping books in the main library.” “Could be. But we might need a scholar to translate them.” Edelgard sighed at that. Yeah, there were a lot of old books that might fit the bill, but they would be written in older forms of Adrestian that she wouldn’t be familiar with. She knew the basics on how to train up a bird, but something so small would be a challenge. She just didn’t know how to deal with any of this. They did have scholars on hand, but getting the books translated would be incredibly difficult. She just really had no idea what to… They needed to figure out how to trap the bird. Something that would work on a red tail or falcon probably wouldn’t work on something so small…  “Well, we do have time until the falconry season starts… So hopefully we can find something.” “I ain’t got nothing better to do half the time, so I’ll see what I can find. But not tonight. I’ll start tomorrow. That sound good?” Edelgard nodded. “That sounds fine, Mother Katinka. It’s late in the day and I need to eat as well. So start tomorrow. We can hopefully get it figured out. Thank you for your time.” Katinka smiled and ruffled Edelgard’s hair. “No worries, kiddo. Come to me if you need anything.”  She nodded and smiled. “I will.” She hugged the woman then left, heading down to the kitchen where she found Augusta eating with the children.  “How did things go?” Augusta asked.  “Mother Katinka is looking into things for me.” Plus, the bird would probably be less liable to hurt the kids. Romy was well and used to being handled even starting to go blind, so she trusted her with the kids. She would have to ask Ueli about those weird birds he’d gotten in from his friend. What kind of raptor pack hunted? It didn’t make any sense to her. Or maybe one of the peregrines would be used to handling and would be okay for the kids to hold. She wouldn’t let them start fully participating in falconry until they were about twelve or thirteen, but they could at least learn to be well mannered around the birds. Augusta smiled. “That’s good to hear, El. Though what about talking to Ueli?” “I can speak to him tomorrow. It’s getting late and it’d take time to get back out there. That…and I’m hungry.” She was eating for three now, so she needed to be careful about skipping meals. She didn’t want to starve her unborn children of nutrients. So she sat down and told the cooks to make one of her smaller meals for her. Bettina and Jusef were already mostly done eating, but they sat on the other side of the table away from Augusta. Apparently, it was going to take them time to warm up to anybody that wasn’t her… Frustrating, but understandable at the same time. “All right. Do you need me to stay?” Edelgard shook her head. “I have things under control now.”  “Very well. Have a good night, El.” Augusta smiled and excused herself. Edelgard sat between Bettina and Jusef and kissed each of their heads. “How was being with Mother Augusta?” The two kids were quiet and Bettina remained cuddled up against her. She doubted Augusta had done something super wrong. She might have upset them somehow, but she didn’t think the woman would have done anything to purposely harm the children. She was incredibly good with children and she trusted her to look after them. If she needed a babysitter, then she would turn to the woman. The kids were just very attached to Edelgard, so it was hard. “How’s dinner?” “It’s so rich…” Bettina said. “Yummy but past anything my family had…” Edelgard nodded. “It’s because we have good access to spices here as the Imperial family. Most commoners can’t afford spices.” That was one hard thing she’d had to deal with at Garreg Mach in general, let alone when they’d had field missions. No spices. She was used to food with a ton of spicing on them. With the amount of students at Garreg Mach and the amount of cost it would incur on the Church, spices were left to the wayside to cut down on costs. She’d been really happy to come back to Enbarr and have spices as a regular part of her meals again… She was so so glad to be able to be allowed to eat spices again.  “Oh… Why can’t they afford them?” “Because a lot have to be imported from other countries as well as them being really hard to make and they take a lot of work. It makes them super expensive and most people can’t afford them.” She hated that most people had no idea what properly spiced food tasted like, but there wasn’t much she could do about it. Spices were just incredibly expensive. Getting rid of Brigid as a vassal state had also driven the price of several spices up immensely since Brigid was now fully independent and didn’t have to give homage to Adrestia. The nobles had been incredibly angry at her policy of releasing Brigid, but it was her policy and she wanted Petra to not have to worry about being captured and held as a prisoner again like that, at least by Adrestia… “I guess that makes sense…” Bettina said before yawning widely. “I’m sleepy…” “Let’s get you back to your bedroom then. If you wanna go to bed, you can, but if you wanna play for a while, you can do that too.” Edelgard smiled and finished up eating, then led the kids back to the royal wing through the large double doors. They still looked pretty amazed. Edelgard had seen the doors a million times since she’d lived here so, to her, they weren’t that impressive. But considering the kids had only ever seen a peasant home, she supposed it made sense they’d be amazed for quite a while. In due time, though, they’d get used to those doors and see them as just another part of life. She led them to their room and kissed both of their heads. “There you go. Good night, kids.” She ruffled their hair and then left, heading back to her and Hubert’s room. Thankfully, he was there when she got back. He had already changed into nightclothes and was just reading on the bed. She walked over and snuggled against him, glad to have him back. He smiled faintly at her and wrapped an arm around her. “Well good evening, my— Edelgard.”  “Hello,” she said. He put his book to the side and ran a hand over her head and she leaned into it. “I missed you.” “I missed you too. How was dealing with the kids?” “A little exhausting, but they clearly only want me right now. I handed them over to Mother Augusta for a while and it seemed like they hated it.” Augusta had most likely not done anything wrong. The kids were just traumatised by their time on the streets and no doubt saw Edelgard as a figure of comfort because she was so warm, kind, and loving. She hoped they would come around to liking Augusta soon enough… She wouldn’t be able to spend 24/7 with them all the time. Once the twins were born and then she recovered from childbirth, she’d have to go back on the throne. It’d be Augusta taking care of them most likely. Katinka would no doubt want to help though. The Gillingr woman was quite rough and tumble but she had a good heart. Aside from Helga, Edelgard had been quite fond of all of her mothers. Hubert frowned. “Hm. That is difficult… They’ll need to have caretakers when you go back on the throne. Ideally, that would be either the former Emperor’s consorts or your own.” “I still don’t want to think about the latter.” That was going to be a mess to deal with, no doubt. She didn’t love Hubert by any means, but she knew he loved her. It would no doubt be really difficult on him to see her being friendly with other women like that. If she did fall in love with one or more of that…that would be even harder. That was a conversation they needed to have in due time, but not right now, not when both of them were so tired. “I assume court was the same old, same old?” He let out a heavy sigh and shook his head. “I hate these noxious vipers. Even with your purge a few years ago, they remain as egotistical and self-absorbed as ever.” “Unfortunately. But I assume you’re using your newfound power well?” She gave a sly smile, a gesture that Hubert returned. “Oh yes… Give me a week and they’ll be your loyal lap dogs that eat straight out of your hand. Well. Perhaps that is a bit of an exaggeration but…” He laughed his Hubert laugh. Normally, that would terrify her, but in this context, she wasn’t against it. He would exercise his power in a way that made it clear that the throne wouldn’t allow the nobles to push them around. Juliane had had a hard time holding the line after power had been snatched away from the throne, but now that Edelgard was there and she had Hubert to act in her stead… Oh, the nobles would be terrified. She had full confidence in Hubert that he’d whip them into shape by time she got back on the throne. “I don’t doubt you’ll make them wish that they pushed me into marrying you.” She laughed softly, a hand over her lips. Oh yes, he would terrify them and she was all for it. If anything, she had a feeling Juliane would step back from the throne a bit and allow Hubert to do what he wished. He was the rightful Emperor now. It had been sealed by the Church’s priest that the Hresvelg line kept in the castle. No, there was no more Southern Church, but it didn’t mean that generations of Imperial rulers hadn’t kept a priest around for important rites like coming of age and marriage. She was just glad that he hadn’t pushed for her to have an intensely religious ceremony… That would come when the public wedding happened. “Oh yes, they are already regretting that decision. The look on their faces when I walked into court today… Priceless. I wish I had been able to capture it in a painting.” He laughed his Hubert laugh again, then pulled her closer and kissed her. “Mind if I get changed then we can cuddle?” “Go ahead.”  She slipped off the bed and changed into nightclothes, then went back and snuggled against Hubert again. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into his lap. “Coming back to your lovely face makes that pit of noxious vipers almost worth it to deal with.” Edelgard felt her cheeks heat up a bit. She’d never had anybody refer to her face as ‘lovely’ before. She had asked Hubert to just express what he felt toward her, but it didn’t make it any less flustering. She really didn’t think she was that attractive especially since she’d looked like a child until just a few years ago. “I… I’m not really sure what to say to that.” He chuckled softly and pulled her close, kissing her softly. “You don’t have to say anything.” “Geeze, you’re being uncharacteristically affectionate… Let me guess; you have something else on your mind?” she asked. She was pretty sure she knew what he wanted from her, but she wouldn’t be against giving it to him soon. “If you’d be willing to indulge me soon…”  “I definitely wouldn’t mind.” She touched her nose to his and smiled. She had nothing against having sex with him. She was interested and wanted to explore it with him. She just felt bad because she didn’t feel the same for him as he did for her. She had respect and care which was all she really wanted in the end. She was still nervous about the potential consorts but…that wasn’t a worry for now. It would still take time for the letters to reach them, then for the women to get here if they agreed. “Do you think you still you want to mess with the denial and edging?” Edelgard’s cheeks heated a bit more but she nodded. “I wouldn’t mind it.” Hubert’s eyes shone. “Oh, you have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.” “Go easy on me, Hubert; don’t make it so I won’t enjoy myself.” She trusted him, but she knew he could get a little bit carried away with things sometimes. She needed to rein him in a little bit.  He let out a breath. “Yes, of course, my— Edelgard. Sorry. I was getting ahead of myself. From what I’ve read, it can be a dogged thing to do to your partner.” “The possibilities excited you.” “Yes. I don’t relish the idea of hurting you or controlling you, but it can be a very effective way to do that. For now, though, I’ll keep myself in check. Forgive me.” She kissed his forehead and squeezed his hand. “It’s okay, Hubert. You’re allowed to get excited about things, but I’m also allowed to voice if something makes me uncomfortable. Right?” He nodded. “Yes, of course.” He sighed. “Anyway, we ought to sleep. Tomorrow will be another long day for me and you still have to watch after the kids.” She sighed. “Yeah… True.” She kissed him softly then leaned over to blow out the candle. “Good night.”