Tales of Alavern 03 (Non-Canon)

He stopped speaking, trying and failing to articulate his thoughts for several more moments before finally giving up with a deep sigh. Naomi remembered well that night, how hurt she was feeling and how he'd offered her what little comfort he could without giving up the bed in the royal chambers. How she'd grown curious at his reactions to her, and then at the sights of his body. She hadn't really been thinking about it at the time but, perhaps Cyrus was right. Perhaps what truly drove them together that night was a need for mutual comfort. Comfort that they had found in plenty in each other's embrace.

"So you will not have sex with me, not because you find me unattractive or too old but simply because you don't need your hurt feelings tended to? Am I understanding this correctly?" Megara asked, huffing a bit in irritation.

"No, you're not." Cyrus answered, glaring Megara down. "I will not have sex with you because I don't want to have sex right now. I'm just...not wired to have sex whenever or with whoever. I only find myself sexually attracted to people I have a connection with. Good friends, lovers...that sort of thing. Besides, I'm not...I'm not really sure that I'm ready to be a parent just yet. You've had years to decide you want children and it's been denied you, but I haven't gotten to the point in my life where I've decided on whether or not to start a family."

"So it's a never then? You won't help me have a child through the method of sex that you explained to me, no matter how I ask?" Megara asked, looking at Cyrus a bit sadly. He sighed and gave her a small smile, reaching out and grabbing her shoulder.

"It's a not right now, Megara. Okay? Just...give me some time. Let me sort out my head and my life for a bit, figure out how to deal with moving on from being taken from everyone and everything I've ever known and loved. After that, if you still want to make a baby together later on down the road then we'll discuss this again. I do consider you my friend, Megara, and I'll do what I can to help you out but I need you to respect my choices as well."

Naomi watched as Megara listened to Cyrus's words. The head physic's face went through a gambit of emotions, from hope to irritation to understanding and finally to resignation. Naomi's own emotions swirled within her with all she had overheard, especially the revelation that sex between a man and a woman somehow could create a child.

Had she and Cyrus already begun the process to create a child together? Was she ready to become a mother herself, having only barely just begun a relationship with the woman she had silently loved for years? Would her daughter be just like her, as she was just like her mother, or would the unusual method of child creation lead to something else? So many questions like these ran through her mind and she felt she could no longer deal with simply remaining silent where she was. Naomi stepped towards Cyrus and Megara, gaining both of their attention immediately.

"Naomi, how long have you been standing there?" Megara asked, a bit surprised to see the former queen.

"I heard you two arguing and worried for a moment, thinking I was going to need to stop anything from getting violent or ugly. Then as I stepped inside I heard Cyrus denying you something. Imagine my surprise when what he was saying no to was you offering your body to him, Megara." Naomi said, offering a sly grin to the older woman that renewed the blush Naomi had seen on her face earlier. "Now, explain to me what exactly sex has to do with making children..."

Chapter 3

Cyrus fidgeted nervously under the gazes of the two women he was currently sitting with. He and Megara had explained everything to Naomi about the act of sex for the purpose of reproduction and it had taken just as long to explain it to her as it initially had to Megara. In addition, they'd explained to her Cyrus's theory about why the Mother's Pool wasn't working for any of the Verni and her reaction was one of sorrow and horror.

"The most horrible looming issue hanging over the heads of my people, and the answer was such a simple thing? Why would the Great Mother leave us like this? Why give us the pool if it could not sustain us?" Naomi asked.

"Simplest explanation would be that she didn't know." Cyrus offered. Both women gazed at him, appalled at his blasphemy but said nothing to him. "Look, I'm just saying that everything I've been told about the Great Mother says she's not a malicious person. So if she didn't do this to hurt you all, then isn't the only other rational explanation that she didn't mean for any of this to happen?"

"I suppose you raise a good point, my king." Megara replied, leaning back in her chair and letting out a deep sigh. "The question now is what do we do about it? Most of our people will have difficulty believing this new information. So many of them are convinced that we have been doing something to offend the Great Mother and that is why she denies us children."

"I am not sure." Naomi replied, then turned to Cyrus, "But I am more convinced now than ever that you were brought here for a reason by the Great Mother, Cyrus. What precisely that reason is, I cannot say for certain but you have managed to find the source of a problem to one of our greatest dilemmas in only a handful of days since arriving." she said, giving him a soft smile that quickly turned mischievous, "Perhaps that crown is a better fit on your head then you are willing to admit? Maybe we should have you keep it after all."

"No." Cyrus said flatly, rolling his eyes. "Look, I'm happy that I can help but I do not want to rule over people. I don't do well with looking down on others, even when it's necessary. Besides, it's not exactly a good thing that I'm ruling in secret over a people I know exceptionally little about. Especially considering my very existence is seen as a potential threat to everyone who lives here."

"Then perhaps you should be using the services of an advisor." Megara suggested, giving a sly look to both him and Naomi. "I believe the former queen is currently without work. You could enlist her aid so that you may learn from her about this island, her people, and the best ways to serve both."

"Oddly enough, I actually had a very similar thought. Though it was about you becoming my advisor after I regain my crown." Naomi said to him. "I suppose it would be good to begin working together before then though, so we can get acquainted with how the other works."

"I suppose so..." Cyrus replied, nodding. "Who knows if I'll ever be able to get back home. After all, there's no mention of the Alavern Isles in any history book. If we haven't found you guys by now with satellites and everything else, we probably aren't going to in my lifetime." Cyrus looked out the nearby window at the blue sky and sighed. He kept trying to put on a brave face, but the thought of never getting to go home or talk to his parents again crushed his spirit just a little more every day.

"Oh, enough of that. The last thing we need is you falling into depression again, Cyrus." Megara said, bringing the room's attention back to her. "Besides, there's something I've been wondering. You've had sex with Naomi in the manner that you said produces children. Do you expect to see her giving birth to your child in nine months' time?"

The room felt like it froze, everyone going completely silent at Megara's question. Cyrus had been worried about it for a moment at the time, but trying to stop two people in the throes of passion had been an insurmountable task for him. He locked eyes with Naomi and saw the confusion and apprehension in her face as he recalled the events of that first night he had spent with her.

"It's...possible, but I kind of doubt it." Cyrus said to them, pointing out his bruises and cuts from his fight with Naomi. "We're both still in the process of healing from the fight. Our bodies would be putting all our resources into that, instead of anything else like...well, procreation." He blushed as she finished speaking and Megara nodded thoughtfully, seeming to agree with his assessment.

"Wait, how can we be sure though?" Naomi asked, shifting a bit nervously.

"Well, for now we'll just have to wait. There are usually symptoms during the earliest stages of pregnancy that would be a pretty clear indicator." He told her, still blushing and unable to help but worry a little bit.

"Tell me about everything." Naomi said sternly, looking him dead in the eye.

"Oh boy...where do I begin?" Cyrus asked himself, his nerves making his stomach tie itself into knots. He did not want to talk about this...

Chapter 4

Brianna rushed through the streets of the city, her breath heavy from having run all the way from the coastline on the other side of the palace. One of her guards had informed her that a massive incident had taken place in a bar fairly close to the castle. Many of the palace guards went there for drinks after their shifts had ended and Brianna couldn't push away the cold feeling that was forming in her stomach.

There was obviously the occasional scuffle at the local bars, drunk women sometimes did crazy things after all, but she'd never heard of a full blown riot forming before today. It had been easy enough to spread the order for every guard that wasn't already there to converge on the bar, but she worried whether or not it would be enough. She had no idea what had started this, but she couldn't help but fear the worst.

As she arrived at the bar in question, seeing nearly 20 of her soldiers surrounding the place with their shields in front of them holding back a crowd that seemed to be fighting amongst itself. She approached the scene slowly, taking the time to catch her breath from her long sprint here and hoping that this issue wouldn't be difficult to resolve.

"Report." she said to one of the soldiers holding back the crowd.

"Ma'am. Some of us heard shouting going on. We went inside thinking it was a simple bar brawl, but then there was chanting of storming the palace and of some betrayal by the queen..." the soldier replied, clearly a bit distressed.

"I see." Brianna said, that cold feeling in her stomach only growing, "Keep the perimeter. I'll go inside and try to pacify things. Hopefully we won't have to resort to force, but I've called for all forces to back us up in case things go poorly."

"Understood." the soldier said, moving aside just for a moment so that Brianna could enter the perimeter. Brianna quickly moved inside and let the soldier return to her previous position, making sure nobody involved in this riot could leave until she figured out what precisely was going on.

As she entered, she saw a scene of frightened, nervous women all reacting to something terrible in different ways. Some were secluding themselves in corners, weeping while sisters or mothers held them. Others had given into rage, fighting amongst themselves and smashing anything nearby with whatever they could get their hands on. She recognized several of her palace guards in that second group, sustaining the large fight that had broken out in the middle of the bar. She scowled, then brought her fingers to her lips and blew the loudest, shrillest whistle she could, snapping everyone's attention to her immediately.

"Explain." Brianna commanded in the sternest, coldest tone she could muster. Everyone around her was silent for a moment, standing dead still and looking at her as though a dragon was staring them down. One of the palace guards, a blue-haired woman named Lara, approached her covered in bruises and bleeding from the lip slightly.

"Captain," Lara said respectfully, saluting Brianna even though it was clearly uncomfortable to do so. "The secret is out. Gabrielle let wine loosen her tongue and let loose the secret of Alavern's new king. Questions arose and some of us tried to deny it, while others began verifying it. The news...did not go over well."

The cold feeling in Brianna's stomach turned to coldest ice, chilling her entire being as she stood there and tried to look as stern and professional as ever. The tension in the room only seemed to increase when she didn't respond right away and the looks she was getting from all the patrons of the bar were slowly turning from shock to silent outrage. One of the bar patrons, a civilian this time, stepped forward towards Brianna with anger in her eyes.

"Tell us true, Captain. We all saw the man as you, yourself, brought him through the city and to the palace. Does he truly wear the crown now?" she asked. Brianna thought about everything she could or should do. Each option she could see would lead to dire consequences, with no real correct answer. Telling the truth would mean the riot possibly getting worse, with the news quickly spreading to the rest of the island and its citizens since they couldn't arrest the entire bar to keep it a secret, but lying would be worse. Either another argument would start up, with her lie being revealed by her own soldiers, or the tension would die down and her lie would be revealed later. They couldn't keep Cyrus's title a secret for much longer.

"It is true. The man we brought to the palace won the crown through the rite of combat." Brianna stated, firmly locking eyes and speaking loudly so that the entire bar could hear her. She could tell that the others were about to cut her off, so she beat them to it by continuing, "His name is Cyrus of Las Vegas, and the queen made the initial challenge. He goaded her into putting her crown on the line, though did not realize he was doing so at the time. He won, barehanded, against our queen in fair combat then commanded that her wounds be looked after before simply going to sleep."

Everyone listened in rapt attention to Brianna's short tale, murmuring amongst themselves. Most were comments showing concern about what a man with the crown would do, though others had paid more attention to the story and several who were familiar with combat and the queen's aptitude were impressed about his barehanded victory over her. The general tone was still one of fear and tension though, and Brianna wasn't quite sure what to do to calm everyone's fears. After all, without meeting the king they could not come to share her respect for his character.

"We must strike a coup!" shouted one of the others. "We must strike down this king, as our foremothers did in their time before ours! It is the only way we can ensure our freedom, for ourselves and for our daughters!" The woman's words were met with a thunderous roar of agreement and Brianna gripped her sword, worried that she may have to fight her own people to ensure peace. Thankfully, she would not have to.

"And what daughters would that be?" shouted a voice familiar to all, as the former queen Naomi strode in dressed in light armor and wearing her royal blade on her hip. The entire bar fell into stunned silence as she came into view, her commanding presence completely changing the atmosphere from tension to stillness. "We have been the last generation born of the pool. Not a single child has been produced since we ourselves were children, and we know now why. All thanks to the man you wish slain."

The room became void with a deafening silence and every gaze stayed trained on the queen. Brianna knew that they were waiting for more, but Naomi was letting all the previous tension die down a bit more first before she continued. Still, to say that Cyrus had managed to solve what was easily the greatest crisis that plagued their island was a dangerous gamble to play. Not many were likely to believe her. Even Brianna didn't think her words were more than just a statement to quell further violence.

"Lies!" one of the women spoke up. "What could a man possibly understand about our ways in merely a handful of days? How could such a disgusting creature possibly come up with something like that?"

"I understand your position, but if you cannot believe his or my words then believe in the words of the Head Physic!" Naomi replied heartily. "Megara has been looking into his suggestions and everything she's turned up so far has only corroborated his claims!"

"Then what do we need the man for anymore? We can be rid of him and return back to our peace." A different woman spoke up calmly. "He has served his purpose and is now only a liability."

"That is brutality itself far worse than the men our foremothers ever endured! If the man has found a way that my wife and I may finally have a child of our own, then we owe him a debt!" yet another woman shouted out, opening the flood gates for the fighting to begin anew. A few women were now defending against killing Cyrus, but most still simply wanted him gone no matter the cost.

The violence was getting out of hand and Brianna & Naomi quickly called for reinforcements as they jumped into the fray to stop the wave of violence. The soldiers were ordered to strike with hard, nonlethal blows at anyone who refused to immediately drop to their knees in surrender. The battle raged on, and Brianna feared for what the future now held for her people.

Chapter 5

Cyrus stood alone in the building containing the Mother's Pool, battling off a growing sense of unease. Naomi had asked him to stay here for some odd reason, but he couldn't help but feel like he was intruding in a place that he had no business being in. He looked around at the empty building, with so much care put into every single little detail of the place and felt a wave of sadness crash over him.

He had hoped for years that he would get to be a father someday, with a loving family that he could finally feel close to again but now... Well, an island full of women who would be far more comfortable if you were dead didn't exactly inspire much in the way of romance or hope for a future with family. At least he had friends in Megara, Brianna and Naomi.

The thought of the former queen stirred a small whirlwind of feelings in him. Regret, guilt, joy, warmth and more than a touch of lust. He had taken her crown in a fight, taking advantage of her unfamiliarity with fighting a boxer and while she was pissed at him she had still treated him with a warrior's respect. That respect had turned to kindness and that kindness somehow turned into an amazing night of passion with the best sex he had ever had.

He shook his head, trying to clear those thoughts out of his head. He felt it nothing but disrespectful to let himself get aroused in this place, where hopeful women came to try and start families. He took a seat over at the bench and tried to clear his head as a small chill ran down his spine. The tone in which Naomi told him to come here and not leave until she or Brianna came to get him unnerved him like nothing else. Something bad was going down, but he didn't know much more than that and it set him on edge.

His efforts to try and keep calm seemed to all be in vain, especially when the feeling of being watched suddenly came over him. He looked around the building but didn't see any signs that he wasn't the only one in there. Torch lights flickered on the wall, illuminating this place with a dim but comfortable light as he stood back up and began pacing in an effort to try and work some of his nervous energy out of his body. The door creaked open and he turned towards it, hoping for good news.

"Die monster!" a woman's voice cried out as she charged in with a sword drawn. He didn't recognize whoever this woman was, but it was a bad idea to try and place her face as she rushed him down. His instincts took over and he adopted his peek-a-boo stance immediately, ducking out of the way of the thrusted blade.