Out of the Ashes Ch. 01

Chapter 1: Coming to age

(6,2k words, worldbuilding, plot, action, size shaming, mini-gts, character introductions, futanari)

"Attention! The royal family!" the voice of the herald sounded unnaturally rough and husky today. Like many of the guests she already celebrated the upcoming festivities in advance. And it certainly was a day to celebrate for the whole kingdom, the 18th birthday of the heir.

Most of the present nobility were eager to exchange some words with the queens in hope of improving their status or simply enjoy the most expansive and luxurious banquet in the kingdom.

The noble crowd almost silenced as the 20ft tall gate slowly opened and servants rolled out the red carpet for the royal family to walk on.

Alexia drew her ceremonial sword and the royal guard lined up on both sides of the carpet, presenting their muskets and swords in a guard of honour. Their newly promoted commander was unexpectedly young for such a prestigious rank. Just like her comrades she was dressed in a finely worked set of black armour.

Aged just 24 Alexia commanded some of the finest and strongest hermaphrodite warriors in the whole kingdom, most way older and battle-hardened than herself. Her impressive height of 8'6" demanded respect and authority from almost all nobles and servants alike, with her towering more than a full foot over the average hermaphrodite.

A soft breeze was blowing through the gardens as the gate finally fully opened and her black curls danced in the wind. She took in the sight of the heads of state walk out of the castle and enter the royal gardens, which would be the final destination of the ceremony before the banquet could begin.

The young commander cleared her throat and cleared the way from some particularly eager and impatient dukes and barons.

For her it was less of another day in paradise, or an eventful first day at the royal court like for most of the crowd. For her it was just the birthday of a close childhood friend, one that certainly could need some encouragement. For everyone present she was the "heir" but to Alexia she was just Margaret.

The two queens lead the way with both the princesses following them. As they enter the gardens, the commander ordered the musketeer's salute - "Ready! Set! Fire!" and all the muskets fired off into the air, accompanied by the soft claps of the noble crowd.

The two imposing leaders gracefully walked through the foggy haze, looming over the carpet, waving at the cheering nobility. Despite both of them radiating sheer royal dominance by their size alone the two queens could not be more different.

Queen Euridike was known as one, if not the most beautiful hermaphrodite in the realm. Her voluptuous body and angelic face, her blonde hair and especially her azure blue eyes, were topic of many ballads and her huge height of 9ft made her the idol of many young subjects.

Her extravagant and classy dress showed off her enormous female and male features, contrasting her even taller wife. The queen held hands with Anastasia, the de facto ruler of the realm.

While Euridike was considered the "Queen" of the kingdom, Anastasia was the "Highking"

Anastasia didn't share the sense of fashion as her wife, instead, she looked more prepared to charge into battle instead of attending the birthday banquet of their daughter.

The "highking" wore a padded uniform with a long cape hanging down from her back. Two sets of pistols and a sword were hanging from her belt around her waist, with one hand resting on the grip of her longsword and the other embracing the warmth of her wife's hand.

She had sculpted her 10-foot body to perfection, and her muscles were clearly visible, even under many layers of protection.

Her piercing green eyes and long black - and at her age greying - hair almost drew away attention from the obvious battle scar on her left cheek, a remnant of her more "active" days, as she would put it. Her face was battle-hardened and her gaze was always surveying, constantly alert and on the watch.

But there was more to her than one might see at first glance.

Every few seconds she would look over to Euridike, their hands never parting during their slow walk past the crowd and always a smile on her face when she faced her wife.

Since the two got married so many years ago their love never faded away in marital habit, even in their mid forties. As could be inferred by their lustful screams every night, their passion for each other remained just as strong.

The martial ruler leaned over and whispered something into her wife's ear, followed by a blush and playful slap from Euridike. It was almost a strange sight seeing someone so militaristic smile so girlishly and generally being so caring to someone ... a stark contrast to her intimidating looks.

Anastasia was not nearly as curvaceous as the queen, her focus was obviously more on physical strength instead of attractiveness, but her bulge was simply monstrous, reaching down almost all the way to her knee... even flaccid.

It's almost an unspoken rule, but hermaphrodites regarded size, in terms of height and bodily proportions, as the most desirable feature to impose respect and dominance on others, not unfitting features for a ruler.

The crowned duo grinned and greeted familiar faces and newcomers that came from all over the kingdom to see them in person ... and eventually walked past Alexia as well.

The queen smiled at the familiar commander, while the highking slowly nodded, but with a soft smirk on her face. The young commander managed to earn Anastasia's respect, but that came at a cost.

After the retirement of the previous commander, Anastasia welcomed the challenge to pick a worthy successor for the highest rank at the palace. She challenged all present members of the guard to single combat and one by one were getting beaten by the enormous and powerful leader.

Alexia was one of the last to fight the highking and probably had a minor advantage because of it, but unlike most of her comrades she actually gave it her all and didn't hold herself back for fear of getting punished.

After some mocking and taunting by Anastasia she even let loose and punched her ruler in the face while the two locked swords.

Surprising the whole court, Anastasia didn't punish her, but simply laughed at her subordinate. That didn't mean she wouldn't defeat Alexia just seconds afterwards and even broke the young soldier's arm in the process.

Alexia was left easily defeated and in pain, but she earned the respect of the highking, and soon after her recovery the title as commander of the royal guard was hers. With it came a lot of privileges and a lot of trouble.

With the two rulers demanding all the attention most forgot about the reason for today's festivities: the older princess and heir Margaret.

The slender- and for hermaphrodite standards - very small princess tried her best to smile and wave at her future subjects, but everyone that knew her noticed how forced her smile was.

A few nobles started mumbling as she walked by, without an ounce of respect for their heir. The blonde princess rarely failed to live up to expectations, but her biggest flaw was sadly overshadowing all her accomplishments: her diminutive size.

Even her 2 years younger sister next to her towered above her. She was blessed with great beauty however, almost resembling a young - granted, much smaller - version of the queen in many ways, while her sister had inherited the looks more from the highking.

Margaret was only 6ft tall and had not hit her growth spurt and at that age she probably never would. She suffered greatly under the pressure of excelling in everything she did. Even with her almost frightening determination she couldn't overcome her physical limitations to demand respect over people - and more importantly, to her high king.

Margaret was treated increasingly poorly by Anastasia the older she got. With all the admiration and love the highking showed towards her wife and the younger princess the same simply couldn't be said about Margaret.

Anastasia deemed her older daughter "unworthy" to rule, and she showed it often. It even seemed like she wanted to get Margaret out of the line of succession for said reason. Rumours were circulating that the now 18-year-old heir should be married off to some minor noble, a human.

Probably to ease tension with the human "nobles" and more importantly to slowly establish her sister as the one and only heir to the throne. Margaret was often mistaken for being "just a human" a great insult to anyone of her race, but being married off to a human was considered the greatest offense that could be made.

The blonde princess trotted along and tried to appear graceful and happy, but soon noticed that pretty much none of the crowd paid attention to her and the ones that did shook their heads in disgust, sometimes even pointing at her.

She clenched a fist and continued to play her part as the hopeful and eager heir, but internally despised it with all her being.

There was, however, one thing - and one thing only - that she was looking forward to. Her face visibly lightened up as she spotted her old friend looking over the ceremony. Her blue eyes fired up and she genuinely smiled at Alexia, probably the only friendly face peeking out from the crowd.

The young commander was ordered to treat the blonde princess professionally and equal to everyone else, despite their long friendship, but she couldn't resist to smile and wink at her. Alexia would have loved to say something to her younger friend but her position forbade her to show too much empathy and that enraged her greatly.

Both simply resumed to do their duty, unwilling but obedient. Even at a day that should mark a new beginning for Margaret she felt like she was once more put in chains, unable to break free and atleast enjoy one day like she wanted to.

The two queens soon reached the end of the carpet and walked up the few stairs of the oldest pavilion in the ocean of colourful flowers and trees.

Anastasia grinned warmly and offered a hand at Sybilla, the younger princess, completely ignoring her firstborn heir. The blonde princess looked after her younger black-haired sister and was unsure how to feel, she was envious ... but on the other hand happy that atleast one of them was able to please their strict mother.

Euridike noticed the sadness in her ignored daughter's eyes and offered her hand as well. That little act of compassion almost brought Margaret to tears and she felt overjoyed to join them.

The royal family was an odd sight, the two queens each standing next to the daughter that inherited their looks, but still Margaret stuck out, or to be correct she really didn't.

The height difference was almost comically obvious. The blonde princess just barely reached the "highqueens" chest while standing next to her, and would she stood next to the "highking" she would look even tinier.

Anastasia concluded her little speech, but not with a single word she mentioned Margaret, not even looked at her once. It was obvious that all her attention was resting on the other younger princess and her wife, but not the blonde princess that needed it most.

"So I shall invite you all, my friends, to enjoy our feast and enjoy this very special day" Anastasia concluded her speech and even for a second dared looking at her older daughter.

Margaret's eyes were firing up in hope she would see some actual affection in her mother's gaze.

Anastasia's green eyes were piercing her, not showing love, but resembled more a predator looking over its prey. It was greatly unsettling for the blonde princess. Before she could say something the highking turned away and pulled the highqueen and the younger princess with her, leaving Margaret back ... alone.

Even by Anastasia's standards this was just rude and the disrespected heir wasn't even worth to be addressed with one word, before leaving her back like this. She lowered her gaze and walked in the opposite direction and it seemed like no one in the whole crowd picked up on her, all except her sole real friend.

Alexia ordered her subordinates to set up positions, they all knew the procedure and didn't spend much time taking orders from their new commander.

Most of the older members didn't accept Alexia's promotion and openly questioned her authority on multiple occasions, especially the second in command Cassandra. The almost twice as old warrior was taller and even stronger than the newly promoted commander and her pride didn't allow her to accept such a "newcomer" without any experience under her belt.

The two often argued and slowly started to hate each other over the past few months. The young commander assertively ordered them to guard over the two queens, while she would take care over Margaret.

That was not planned, since the commander was usually watching over the queen and king, but seeing her friend suffering she decided to talk to her. The other guards were obviously not content with this decision but noone openly answered back, their disdain was showing though.

Alexia perked an eyebrow as her rival mockingly bowed down and grinned "As you wish, commander" before turning away, taking some guards with her. This was nothing she ever did before and the devilish smile greatly unsettled Alexia, but she didn't have time to think about what Cassandra could have in mind this time.

Margaret was at the meantime walking to the balcony, looking for some place where she wouldn't be seen. Where nobody could judge her for her looks and she could atleast enjoy the view.

She leaned over the marble railing and looked down to the clear sea, its waves smashing into the cliff under her. Margaret heard the seagulls in the distance and looked over the nearby harbour town just at the foot of the royal palace, admiring the view and felt a bit nostalgic while gazing off into the distance.

She was soon joined by Alexia and two more guards next to her. The blackhaired commander nodded at her two comrades and they left them, surely staying nearby but granting the two known friends some privacy and escorted the last few visitors to the halls outside the gardens, where the actual banquet was taking place.

"It's been a while. How many hours have we spent here, fighting and playing around? Good times" Alexia said in a very welcome tone for Margaret and just in case someone was watching she kneeled down just like her position required her to do.

"Yes, Alexia. Good times" the blonde princess responded and smiled at hearing her friends voice. "Still you couldn't make a warrior out of me, I am afraid" she almost chuckled at that and turned around to face her now way bigger former teacher.

Alexia joined the royal guard at a very tender age, a direct wish from her family.

Just like Margaret, she was a very late bloomer, and since her sisters were already "developing" nicely they decided that letting Alexia join the royal guard as a squire, and therefore losing all claims on her rightful titles, was the best and most prestigious way to get her out of the line of succession.

A rather similar fate to Margaret probably.

Alexia would often laugh at the irony of that decision. Forcing her to reject her inheritance, just for her to reach the top of the royal guard and earning one of the most prestigious titles in the kingdom... fortune could be a moody mistress at times.

Just months after arriving at the palace and only being a squire, the two queens chose her to be a fencing mentor and a friend for Margaret. This was at a time were both heads of states were actually very protective and caring about their older daughter.

Soon, the at that time very young princess and teenage Alexia developed a strong friendship, that not even their now massive size difference could damage in the slightest. Quite the opposite was the case in fact. Alexia, victim to the same mocking and open hostility in her youth, greatly empathized and understood her suffering royal friend.

Alexia was fortunate enough to hit a very generous growth spurt just when everyone thought she would never "blossom" and things greatly improved from there. A turn of fate that Margaret was waiting for years and at this point she gave up hope to ever share the same fortune as the now imposing commander in front of her.

"Don't be too harsh to yourself, you have a great technique, but not everyone is born for fighting" a kneeled down Alexia looked up at her friend and as the two gazes met both started grinning.

"Please, stand up, it's not like I get treated as a princess anyway, so why now?" Margaret smiled and Alexia got up to her full height, now greatly towering over her younger and way smaller friend.

"I... noticed how the highking looked at you today. Is everything alright? She ... looked strangely hostile, even for her standards" Alexia said.

"Well, that's how she celebrates her daughters, well, the "unsuited heir's" birthday I guess" the blonde princess hissed, her anger and disappointment obvious with every word.

Alexia knew there had to be guards around and probably only waiting for her to slip up and ignore the highking's order to treat Margaret "just" as a princess, but still she reached out to Margaret and softly tapped her shoulder.

"Please, be strong. This is not your fault, you tried everything you possibly can, don't ever forget that" Alexia tried to comfort her friend but couldn't forget her new position fully, and didn't go for a hug, regardless how much she wanted to do so.

Margaret's smile was weak and not very enthusiastic but she greatly appreciated her friend's attempt.

"Thanks, Lexi. But we both know 'trying' doesn't matter here" she paused and sighed "But, please, let me forget about "queenfather" (*Margaret calls her mother's not by her title, but queenmother- and father) for a second."

"What do you have in mind?" Alexia asked with a perked eyebrow.

"I don't know, cheer me up, you usually find a way, even ... or maybe especially at these occasions" Margaret grinned and leaned at the railing, awaiting her friend's response.

"Mmmh. Let me think about that" Alexia suspiciously thoughtfully put a rogue strain of her black hair out of her face and snapped with her fingers. "I got one! Do you remember when we jumped of this cliff? And how we had to walk all the way back to the main gate?" her grin widened as she talked about that nostalgic memory.

"Yeah! That look on that guard's face was priceless. The rant of my mother's afterwards much less so" Margaret chuckled. It wasn't enough to make her laugh out, but atleast a genuine smile escaped her lips.

"Well, that's only half of the story. Remember what I took with me that day?" Alexia asked with an even wider grin.

"A pearl if I remember correctly. Yeah... we found one at the shore. Quite a big one at that" Margaret responded and her grin widened as she relived this almost forgotten moment in time.

"Close your eyes for a second"

"Lexi?"

"Just for a moment"

"Okay. I don't know what you are planning, but if you say so" Margaret was confused at what her friend was going to do and closed her eyes.

Alexia took out an envelope from her lower pocket. "You can open them now" she said and held the envelope in front of her friend as Margaret opened her eyes.

"What... is that?" the princess chuckled and felt her present's weight, but couldn't pinpoint what was inside the paper.

"Your present Maggie, happy 18th birthday" Alexia once again rested her hand on her shoulder, since she couldn't risk being seen hugging her long-time friend.

Margaret blushed for a second and with a grin started hastily opening the envelope and was very touched as she saw her surprising present.

The pearl that Alexia mentioned was worked into a golden ring with the pearl being the obvious "crown jewel" in the already expansively worked frame.