To the Palace

Author's Note: I appreciate the encouragement from all of you and I will continue to write. I want it to be noted, though: I do a lot more in my life than write these. I work, I'm in school, and I have a child to raise. I also have other hobbies. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE writing these, but I don't always have the time or the patience to write a really long installment QUICKLY. In fact, I usually type these up in about 4-6 hours in between doing other things. Enjoy the stories for what they are. I'm not getting paid. I'm not a professional. This is not my job nor do I want it to be. This is fun for me and I enjoy making the people who are following the story happy as well. That said, enjoy this latest installment of To the Palace. :)

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Esarosa arrived at the Archives a few moments after her encounter with Guitain. She could feel wetness in the fur between her legs from the arousal she had experienced and tried to ignore it. She hoped it would go away soon; Her thoughts were unfocused and wild, thinking of Guitain's cock pounding into her one moment and finding the proof of her identity the next. She would also think of all the pleasures she had experienced in the bed of the Prince and all the more she could discover with him. 'My mind is out of control! I need to focus!' she thought, frustratedly.

After reigning in these wild thoughts, she moved confidently to the desk of the First Scribe and asked to see a layout of the palace and where she could find Wolven family records. The Scribe handed her the palace layout to view briefly. "This is for reference while you are within the Archives. They do NOT leave here without specific written permission from a member of the Royal family. More importantly, why do you need to see those records?" said the Scribe, a very scholarly-looking Draconian woman.

"I would like to know how many of my loved ones are spending eternity with the Wolf Mother, ma'am. I would imagine most of them, but it would bring my heart peace and allow me to continue to perform my duties without distracting thoughts, ma'am," Esarosa replied, meekly.

The Scribe showed her over to the section she required. "Take all the time you need and feel free to come back later should you not have enough time to find what you need."

"May I ask why you are helping me even this much, ma'am?"

"All you need to know, wolfess, is that I lost family in that war as well. I can understand needing closure and peace." With those final words, the Scribe returned to her desk at the front, leaving Esarosa to find what she needed. She sat and let her thoughts wander to the loss of her husband and how she was left to raise her precious wyrmlings on her own. All because of that wretched war. She had two sons and a daughter, all nearly full grown, soon to leave her to start their own lives.

Esarosa watched her leave, thinking about how deeply the war has impacted everyone on both sides. As she began looking through the scrolls to find the Wolven census scrolls, she thought about what would happen to her should her plan fail or what could possibly happen should she succeed. Obviously, if she failed, she would likely be executed on the spot, but if she succeeded, what would she do from there? She wasn't entirely sure. The right thing to do would be to take over and start reforming the empire for the benefit of all. However, that sounds noble in theory, but there's no way she could make everyone happy. She would not realize until later that there was another option that she had not considered.

With these thoughts drifting in her mind, she sifted through the scrolls and soon came upon her own name, Esarosa LaLune. Underneath was written "Location unknown. Presumed dead," and a brief abbreviated description of her physical traits and a symbol of a golden feiry paw, representing her status as both Wolven royalty and a mage. The Dragons did not seem to take much care with records of dead Wolven civilians, but they were tracking the living and the royal family. King and Queen LaLune were on the same scroll. Esarosa did not want to look below their names, but her eyes were drawn there almost immediately. What she read was bittersweet: "King Bastien LaLune: Deceased. Buried respectfully at the Wolven burial mound.

Queen Diane LaLune: Location unknown. Presumed dead." This meant that her mother could be alive. Somewhere out there, her mom had to be alive. She had to be.

Esarosa quickly cleaned up the other scrolls and, without thinking it through, tucked the scroll neatly into her clothes, thanked the First Scribe, and hurried back to the Prince's room to tend to her duties. She picked up his lunch from the kitchen and made her way to his room, where she found him waiting for her.

"There you are, Vorel! I was starting to get worried that you had run off," the Prince exclaimed as she entered. "What took you so long? I'm famished."

"I apologize, sire. Once I finished my duties, I went to the Archives for a map of the palace and I got distracted while I was there."

"Distracted by?"

"I noticed the Wolven census while I was there and I was curious about the fate of my parents after the war, sire."

"How would you be able to find such a thing when you cannot remember your own name?"

"I realized how futile it was, but I was permitted to take one of the scrolls from the census with me, thanks to your note, s-"

"If you say 'sire' again while we talk in private, I may have to bop your snout," he grinned. "You may look over the scroll in your free time. You only have 3 tasks, so you'll have the time. When we are in private, though, I don't want you to be afraid of me or being so formal. Only worry about that sort of thing in public, allright?"

This statement confused Esarosa, considering that Prince Seian seemed to be unable to decide on how we wanted to treat her and interact with her. It seemed that he recognized that she was a servant and his property, but he also did not seem to want to treat her that way. 'Is he trying to find a balance between the two, perhaps? He is very kind and generous, but he does not seem to have a handle on how he feels or how to express those feelings,' she thought to herself. "Yes, of course. Thank you. You are very kind."

"I am glad you understand. Now, I must eat before I have to leave again. I shall return just before sunset for my dinner. I want it on the table and you in my bed, waiting."