Redux: Lineage

"Do we need a brief run through of the etiquette and expectations of addressing royalty?" Grael asked me as we walked up the frozen incline to the palace walls. "Especially royalty that's married?"

"No, Dad, we don't," I said in a bemused tone, rolling my eyes as we made our way further forward.

The castle was a large and imposing construction. Tall, blocky towers raised high above the frozen ground and battlements topped with never-ending snowfall as men dressed in fur-lined armour, all bearing the Winter's Maw insignia of a horse's head above a snowflake symbol, positioned on peaks and walls, all holding different weapons and armaments. The shoulder cape I wore flapped around in the wind, the hood not providing as much protection from the wind due to its direction, instead acting as a dish to hold all the cold air around my face.

"Don't speak until spoken to, always address them as either 'Your Highness' or 'Your Excellence', keep your head below theirs at all time, and don't half-ass your bow," Grael listed off. "In fact, just get onto one knee and lower your head entirely."

"I know, Grael," I said, coming up to large, ice-coloured doors with two guards positioned outside them.

"Halt!" they both said, holding their spears out over the door. "State your business."

"My name is Richter, Crown Prince of Equestria, and this is Familiar Grael," I said, introducing myself. "We have an urgent matter to discuss with Their Royal Majesties and the Court Mage regarding the Narrowscale Dragon that is said to live in the mountains outside of the city."

"Prince Richter?" one of them asked, unsure of whether or not to believe my claim. "Forgive me, sir, but where is your escort?"

"I arrived mostly without one," I continued. "I've been entrusted with completing a task by my family as part of an ancient Alicorn Rite. They are forbidden from providing any support by the Rite's rulings, and thus I have no accompaniment other than Grael and my Retainers."

The two guards looked at each other for a long moment, casting their eyes down at Grael before asking the Direwolf a question.

"Familiar Grael, is this true?" one asked him.

"It is indeed," Grael nodded, his deep and bass voice nearly vibrating through my feet as he spoke in a low tone. "Richter is nearly alone in his task, but is allowed to seek help from those around him, so long as it is not from his family."

"That's definitely His Majesty," the second guard said to the first, banging on the doors with the butt of his spear. "I apologise for the inconvenience, sir. We were uncertain to your identity, as we'd received no word of a royal guest arriving."

"Don't worry about it," I said with a smile, nodding at them as I walked into the frosted courtyard. "Will you be able to send word to Their Majesties about my arrival?"

"Of course, sir," the guard nodded. "If you would please wait in the foyer, we will arrange for a servant to guide you to the throne room."

"Thank you," I nodded, hurrying forward with Grael, desperate to get out of the biting cold as I resented the fact that I had chosen to not wear gloves today.

We were allowed into the castle's foyer, the enormous entrance glittering with a blue-and-white colour scheme and with statues, chandeliers, and paintings adorning the walls. Despite the warmth of the room, it gave off a cold appearance, generating the same feeling of harshness that the outside did with its raging snowstorms.

"I would've thought they'd try to make this place look less cold," I said, allowing the air to warm my fingers.

"Unless they're proud of their weather," Grael shrugged, padding forward with his claws clicking off the polished floors. "They seem to have accepted the ice and snow as part of their identity, so why would they not decorate their buildings in a manner that reflected the intricate beauty of a snowy landscape?"

"Fair point," I shrugged, leaning against one of the pillars in the room and staring at the enormous staircase that lead up to the rest of the building, splitting off into three small staircases to doors that were certainly labelled, but weren't readable from this distance. "It's got a lot less frill than back home."

"Because our castle has been home to the same two rulers who have their own styles, and after thousands of years, they'd have really perfected the castle's design," Grael explained.

"And by that you mean 'Celestia perfected the castle's design'?" I asked with a smirk. "If it was up to Luna, the whole castle would be as barren as a barracks for how practical decorations are."

"True," Grael said with a smirk. "But those two are the perfect set because of their differing personalities."

"How so?"

"Because Celestia is what brings Luna into the world of parties and politics, often convincing Luna to enjoy the finer things, such as clothing, jewelry, and treasures to help bring her out of her somewhat miserable shell," he began. "While Luna is what keeps Celestia grounded, often getting her to focus herself and not get caught up in the aforementioned world, as well as providing another set of eyes from another viewpoint that she herself may not possess."

"Neither of them are perfect on their own-" I began.

"But they are when they come together," Grael finished. "It's the best kind of relationship siblings, and work mates, can have."

"Though let's not act like the two of them don't squabble and scuffle from time to time," I smirked, remembering several arguments I'd have the privilege to witness. "Who'd have thought that this world's last bastion of defence from all kinds of otherworldly threats would be... human enough to nearly come to blows over a hairbrush."

"It is quite incredible getting to see the real versions of them as opposed to their public appearances," Grael said, chuckling quietly.

Our little conversation was interrupted when an elderly man dressed in fine clothing walked over to us, bowing as low as his back would allow him, before introducing himself.

"Greetings, Your Majesty, Familiar Grael," he said. "I am Adrian Wothrum, Her Majesty's personal scribe. I've been instructed to guide you to the throne room to discuss the matter at hand with her."

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Wothrum," I said, holding out a hand to shake.

"Oh, please," he said with an honest smile, shaking my hand with a firm grip. "You can just call me Adrian. Now, would you care to follow me?"

"Of course," I said, letting go of his hand and walking with him, Grael padding behind us both as a rear guard.

"Is His Majesty not present today?" I asked him.

"I'm afraid not," Adrian said with a shake of his head. "King Errick has been called away to a barracks in the far east of his kingdom to deal with his youngest, Rolnir, and the trouble he's gotten himself into."

"Anything serious?" I asked. "If it's able to be disclosed?"

"I'm afraid I can't say exactly what the trouble is, but I am allowed to say that it is a very serious matter, and I'm sure His Majesty regrets not being here to help a fellow warrior like himself," Adrian continued. "Are you able to disclose to me what your current quest is?"

"Of course I am," I nodded. "I'm here to take care of the Narrowscale Dragon that lives in the mountains outside the city as part of my people's ancient customs, but I do need the assistance of several factors to do complete this task."

"If you don't mind me saying, Your Majesty," Adrian said in a slow tone. "Are you allowed to ask for assistance if the trial is to be completed by yourself?"

"I am indeed," I said with a chuckle. "I know it may seem cowardly to ask for help, but the trial views it instead as a leader learning to recruit and command those not already sworn to him, something that requires a gifted tongue and a great mind to achieve."

"Ah, I see," he said, gesturing for us to head through a long corridor, the enormous doors to the throne room being visible as we rounded the corner. "Is this something all Alicorn boys must go through?"

"Not just the boys, the girls, too," I corrected. "Celestia, Luna, and my mother all had to complete a similar trial as this."

"Are you aware of what your mother did for hers?" he asked me, looking over his shoulder.

"I'm afraid not," I said with a single shake of my head. "Before my time and I've never asked."

"Did your father offer any advice?" Adrian asked. "I am aware that General Armour's battle prowess and the achievements he has gained are the stuff of legends."

"Not really... I'm not really sure if he was allowed to make a decision on this matter," I said, scratching the back of my head. "Alicorn decisions and all."

"Hmm," Adrian said, coming to a stop outside the door and stepping aside. "Her Majesty is waiting for you inside. If you require a guide back to the foyer, then please ask one of the guards positioned inside the throne room and they'll escort you quickly."

"Thank you, Adrian," I said with a smile, shaking his hand again and bidding him farewell.

As the old man walked off, the guards at the door pushed the enormous objects open, the ancient hinges grinding loudly as the immense weight was shifted.

"Seems rather impractical for a door to be that heavy," I said as we walked past it. "You need at least ten men to open it."

"And that's exactly the point," Grael said. "These doors are designed to be heavy, as well as having bolts and latches on the inside designed to lock it tight in the event of a siege of the castle. If it comes down to the last line of defence, they're still going to need a heavy force to breach the throne room."

"Smart strategy," I nodded. "Why don't we have one?"

"Mostly because the three that sit in the thrones in our castle can incinerate mountain ranges with a fingertip," Grael added. "You don't really need an enormous locked door when you can wave your hand and wipe away an army."

"Fair point," I said, looking forward and seeing the Queen of Winter's Maw sitting on her throne, speaking with a woman with white hair garbed in a long shirt and cotton trousers, clutching a book and a large hunk of strange metal in her hand.

"Look, Elisyra, how long have we known each other for?" the woman asked the queen.

"Forty years," the queen said, rubbing her temples in a tired manner.

"And you still don't trust my word on this?" the woman continued. "Not just my word, but also evidence presented by Twilight as well?"

"Look, Celana, I value your knowledge and advice over all, even my husband's..." the queen said. "But you honestly cannot expect me to finance a dig in the middle of a mountain range for an ancient city of a long-extinct race simply because you and a colleague uncovered a rusty ball made of a metal you've never seen before."

"Elisyra, please, the two of us have definitive proof that the device in question isn't just a random piece of metal because-"

"-because of the fact you managed to open up a slot designed to hold a crystal, you've told me this a thousand times," Elisyra interrupted. "I'd be more willing to indulge your theory of a 'Hyper-advanced precursor civilization' if this magical ball of yours did anything. But it doesn't. You've tried every type of crystal and gemstone under the sun, and nothing has worked. So please, as my friend and my subject, I am asking you to drop this until you can provide more conclusive evidence. Please."

The Court Mage was silent for a long moment, clutching tightly at the rusted metal sphere and book she held, her body seemingly shaking with frustration before sighing loudly, nodding her head and turning away. She stormed past us, muttering things under her breath as she disappeared through a doorway in the side of the throne room. I turned back to look at the queen, a dull look of frustration on her own face that she seemed to mentally wipe away, looking at me with a smile.

"How can I help you, Richter?" she asked.

The queen was a beautiful woman, even for her age. Her long, blonde hair still held the vigor of youth, and the minor amount of wrinkles on her pale skin detracted nothing from her beautiful features, her bright green eyes looking at me kindly as she rested linked fingers on her knee, her long, white dress falling nearly down to the floor as she crossed a leg over her knee. Grael and I bowed, with me dropping down onto one knee and lowering my head while he lowered his muzzle to the floor and bent his front legs, seeming rather uncomfortable in doing so.

"Oh, please," she said with a wave of her hand. "Let's do away with the pleasantries and formalities, shall we? I have spent enough time around you and your family to consider you a friend of myself and mine, so let us speak as such. What can I help you with?"

I got up to my feet, straightening out the creases in my trousers as I began to relay my request to her, explaining in detail why I was here before her and what I needed from her and her kingdom, the beautiful queen listening intently to each and every word, before making a decision.

"As much as I'd like to lend Celana and her services to you, I'm afraid she's currently tied up in a matter I assigned to her several weeks ago," Elisyra said in a reluctant manner. "I believe that she won't be finished with it for several weeks, even from the little she's told me about her work so far."

This wasn't what I wanted to hear, forcing myself to bite my tongue and keep my face neutral enough to disguise my disappointment, I instead did what any good adventurer would do in a matter such as this: I offered my assistance.

"I'm not currently aware of what level of completion Celana is with her current task, as I often hand her a seed and she comes back with a farm of many different crops, so to speak," Elisyra said, leaning back in her chair and exhaling. "So I cannot say whether or not your assistance would be beneficial. But you're more than free to ask her yourself if there's anything you can do to help her complete her task sooner. She should be back at work on her assigned project now, especially after I denied her request yet again for funding for her expedition into Kynra Valley... but that's not important, is there anything else you require from me as of this moment?"

"Nothing, Your Majesty," I said with a shake of my head. "Thank you for your time and assistance."

"My pleasure," she said. "And if there is ever a need for something, you're always welcome to ask."

We bid one another farewell as I headed off into the Court Mage's lab, seeing that it looked just as insane and dangerous as Twilight's did, only with less attempting-to-be-regenerated body parts. Yes. She was that kind of madwoman, and we all loved her for it. I looked around the laboratory, seeing stacks of papers, energy crystals, regular gems, food, water, and several changes of clothes. I wondered if any of the super-geniuses ever kept their labs in a clean manner, but there was the fact that there was no genius without a hint of madness.

"Mage Celana?" I called out to her, having no idea where she was in the mess.

"Yes?" she called out to me from somewhere. "What?"

"I, uh, need to talk to you about something," I said, wandering through her madland, looking over desks and piles of books to see where she was.

"What is it?" she asked. "I'm busy right now."

"Going to kill a dragon, need your help with it, and am willing to let you keep the body once it's dead," I said, giving her the cliffnotes of my little venture here.

She then poked her head out from behind a desk on the other side of the room, an eager expression on her face as she stood up. I turned around to look at her, getting a proper look at the powerful mage and being quite happy with the sight before me. She'd abandoned the long shirt she'd been wearing out in the throne room, now sporting nothing more than a top that covered no more than a bra did, allowing a very detailed look at her soft, pale stomach, hourglass figure, and very ample pair of breasts. Her torso and face were without blemishes, being as smooth and beautiful as freshly fallen snow, her pale skin complimenting her snow white hair, though contrasting greatly with her magma-red eyes seemingly blazing with a thousand thoughts and secrets all at once.

"Dragon, you say?" she asked. "Wouldn't happen to be the big girl that's burned down the mountain settlements a few times, would it?"

"The very same," I nodded, watching her hop over the desk, her breasts bouncing in a pleasant manner as she landed on the floor. "It's yours if you're willing to help counter-act its breath attacks."

"You sound like a man who knows more about the big lizards than most," she said, rushing over through a little maze of paper she seemed to have memories to a pot over a lit fire that had just started to boil, giving off a pleasant aroma that soon filled the entire room. It was as she bent over the cooking pot that I managed to get a good look at her rear end, and being very satisfied at what I saw. I crossed my arms, leaning back against a desk with a grin as she leaned further over, testing several other pots full of something mysterious, allowing me to get a good, long look at that big ass of hers, the sheer size of it tickling my fancy and my loins from the sight alone.

"I gather you’re impressed?" Grael asked.

"Are you not?" I asked in response, looking at him as he sat down on his haunches, admiring the view himself.

"I'd be a liar if I said no," he shrugged, agreeing with me, if a little reluctantly. "And mother didn't raise me to be a liar."

"I've gotta hurry up and finish this," Celana said in an irritated fashion. "There's no cloud cover and I wanna get a good look at the moon in its full phase. Something that huge is a sight to behold."

"I can imagine," I grinned, still giving that perfect, apple-bottom ass as much of an eye-groping as possible before she turned around.

"Are you finished gawking yet?" she asked in an amused tone, pouring some of the water from the large pot into the smaller ones, as well as breaking up and mixing whatever was producing the pleasant aroma.

"Not quite," I chuckled, getting my last few good looks at it and imagining how good the bounce on it would be if I walked over and cracked her across it before averting my eyes. "I'm done. How could you tell I was looking?"

"Viewer crystals," she said, pointing to several yellow gems mounted in the corners of the room. "I can tap into them, and then they let me look through them. You're quite shameless, you know?"

"I've come to appreciate the finer things in life," I chuckled, shrugging casually. "And this was one of them. I'm quite surprised you're taking this so calmly. Most women would be cuffing me around the ears by now."

"Do you think I wear this getup to be modest?" she asked, turning around and leaning against her desk with a playful smirk, stroking a lock of white hair out of her eyes. "I'm a very vain woman, and I thoroughly enjoy turning heads and hearts when I walk in the room."

"Like a fine piece of art," I nodded, not even trying to hide the fact I was gawking at those huge breasts of hers. "And you are quite the treasure, aren't you?"

"I'm glad you think so," she giggled, resting her hands on the desk behind her and jutting her chest out slightly, teasing me for all I was worth. "But like any fine piece of art in a museum worth a damn: you will be harshly punished should you attempt to touch the display."

"Ah," I said, returning my gaze to her beautiful face and nodding. "I'll keep my hands off then."

"Thank you," she said, eyeing her pots before turning back to me. "Now, my handsome little sex-pest, what was this about dragons?"

I gave her a brief, yet slightly more detailed version of my quest, trying to make the dragon and the battle as enticing as possible, before finishing off making her the offer.

"You're Twilight's nephew, correct?" she asked me once I'd finished.

"I am indeed," I nodded. "You two seemed to know each other."

"We do," Celana nodded. "I used to lecture at a university she attended some... ten or fifteen years ago. I'd lectured there for about thirty or forty years overall, but once I was offered the position of Court Mage to Queen Elisyra, I packed up my professor's bag and headed here immediately."

"Forty years?" I asked, looking her up and down. "Forgive me if I sound rude, but I'd never expect a woman of any age like that to be as... bouncy as you."

"It's a miracle what magic can do for you nowadays," Celana chuckled, running her hands down her smooth arms. "A diet of enhanced food and a few baths in enchanted water can really take the years off and keep them at bay. I'm actually nearly three hundred years old."

"So then you're definitely strong enough to help us with our Narrowscale," I nodded. "Does the offer entice you at all?"

"Of course it does," she nodded. "I've wanted a chance to study these creatures for years, but even I've never been powerful enough to take one down."

"That worries me slightly," I said, beginning to think she may not be all that.

"I mean in a magical manner," she said, rolling her eyes. "I'm sure that a sword, a spear, and a rock are sufficient enough tools to help bring one of these beasts down, but I've never bothered wasting my time with such boring instruments. Sadly, I'm no match for a Narrowscale Dragon in a head-to-head magical duel, but that's not a common enough occurrence for me to seek out any other methods of training."

"So will you help us if we use our 'boring instruments' to take the thing down?" I asked. "With you providing support from the side?"

"I'd honestly love to, but I'm afraid I simply can't," she said, turning back to her pots and boilings. "The little mixture I'm working on here needs to be checked, mixed, separated, and filtered regularly or else it'd ruin itself. I can't run off into the mountains for Mothers-know-how-long when this project of mine is both so finicky and so slow to finish."

"And that brings me to my next question," I said. "Is there anything I can do to help you finish it faster?"

"There is, but it's a very dangerous little job," she nodded, going back to stirring the mixtures as soon as they began to produce as different, but equally pleasant, smell. "It's nothing more than a... grocery job, but it has a few particular hitches to it."

"Such as?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Well, to get the mixture to brew faster, I need to speed up these little plants' maturation to begin giving off a scent," she said. "Now, these little ones here have been in this vat for well over two weeks, and have only just started producing a scent. If I was to make a new batch, which I'll need to complete this little experiment, it'd take me well over a month to get them to mature enough to mix and perfect."

"And what makes it easier?" I asked.

"Wyvern's blood," she answered. "Specifically, Tri-Tongue Wyvern's blood."

"The most dangerous Wyvern of them all..." I sighed, looking down at the floor. "Of course. Lemme guess: you need their blood for its nutrient count, right?"

"So you are an educated little sex-pest," she smirked. "Yes, I need their blood to help boost the maturation speed of the buds to get them to begin emitting scents faster. Can you get me a few vials? Pretty please?"

"I don't see why not," I shrugged. "They're difficult creatures, but they're not nearly as dangerous as other lizards in their family tree. How many vials are you gonna need?"

"About two standard Elivra Vials, please," she said.

There was a moment of silence between the two of us, the sound of the bubbling mixture behind her keeping complete quiet at bay, followed by a disgruntled sigh.

"The short and stocky glass vials," she said, pointing at a selection of glass bottles and vials on her wall. "Those ones. Just fill them up and bring them back here."

"Right," I nodded, walking over to the rack and picking up four of the glass vials before tucking them into a pouch on the front of my belt. "You got any idea where the Wyverns are right now?"

"In the mountains," she said, giving a nice vague hint. "They're probably doing lizard things."

"Oh..." I said, just realising something.

"Mating season?" Grael asked with an unhappy look on his face.

"Mating season," I confirmed, rubbing my temples slowly as I realised how much more dangerous this was going to make the journey.

Wyverns were extremely territorial creatures, almost as much as their bigger, greedier draconic cousins, and this was increased tenfold by their mating season, where males would kill their own brothers if they so much as came within a mile of their mate, and they actively attacked travelers in the mountain passes if they saw them as a method of scaring them off.

"With that in mind..." I said. "It might be an easier time for us to just wait for this to finish, as I'm not in the mood to be fed to the summer's first hatch."

"Come on, you already said you'd do it," Celana said, crossing her arms angrily. "Do I need to sweeten the deal for you?"

"I really don't think there's anything you can offer to make me willing to go up there," I said. "At all."

"What if I told you that I could convince Elisyra to lend you a few of her personal guards' Elementa Armour?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow. "That stuff is not only great armour, but it’s also resistant to a lot of elemental magic, including dragon breath. If you all had that on, I could focus on more offensive moves that would really bring the pain to our scaly friend."

"I... if..." I said, running the decision through my mind before coming to a conclusion, sighing loudly and nodding my head. "Alright... we'll get your stupid fucking Wyvern blood."

I was about to head out of the door with Grael when a warm, soft finger trailed over my cheek as Celana touched me, pressing her body up against my back and whispering into my ear.

"Speaking of 'fucking'..." she began, trailing her hands over my hips and locking them over my waist. "If you could be so kind as to bring back a fertilised egg, I'd be more than willing to give my heroic knight a much more personal reward."

On the last two words of that sentence, she snaked her hand over my crotch and gently squeezed it, letting out a surprised giggle of satisfaction as she felt the size of the beast contained within my trousers.

"What happened to not being allowed to touch the displays?" I asked her, looking at the smaller woman over my shoulder.

"Employees only," she shrugged. "And if you work hard for me, I'll work just as hard for you."

"Alright, that sounds fair," I chuckled. "Four blood vials and a fertilised egg?"

"That's the shopping list," she nodded, giving me a soft kiss on the cheek with her plump lips. "Don't let me down, big boy."