Out of the Ashes

Chapter 12: Reunion

(5k words, futa x futa, romance, character focus, plot chapter, action focus, dialogue focus, character development, part 1 of this scene)

"What's taking them so long? You would have thought her daughter wouldn't have to wait like any other visitor?" Margaret sighed, while looking up the walls. Walls that didn't appear as intimidating as in her memory. Still, they would have proven impregnable for the militia.

All soldiers on guard duty looked down on her, each taking their turns to make sure it was in fact the princess by looking through the mounted telescopes.

"Maybe... they didn't expect such an important visitor," Alexia groaned with a smirk.

"How are you holding on?"

"I'm doing fine," she lied.

Margaret shook her head and took a look herself. The formerly dried stain of red on her lover's shirt looked damp again.

"You need a doctor, Lexi."

"When this is over, ok?"

The princess gritted her teeth and let her gaze roam over the lands, including the troop of now obnoxiously servile scouts.

"I am sorry it's taking so long, your highness. They ordered us to wait, please accept my heartfelt apology," their nervous leader said as soon as the princess' eyes found her.

Margaret rolled her eyes, this overly subservient behaviour was getting on her nerves and hearing the same apology for the fifth time didn't help either.

"I told you to stop apologizing, didn't I?" she growled.

"I am sorry your highness," their leader muttered.

Her head hung low, leading into a deep bow in which she remained for as long as Margaret's gaze was resting upon her. A posture that seemingly deafened her to Margaret's remarks and only agitated the already tense heir even more.

"Stop that crap already!?" Margaret exploded and made the already terrified scout and her troop tremble in fear.

The blonde made sure that her partner could stand on her own and walked straight in front of the soldier who kept on inspecting the ground.

"Look up!" Margaret ordered assertively.

The soldier slowly lifted her head and her own stature of 8ft looked puny to the now truly royal blonde before her.

"What's your name, soldier?"

"M-Marie, my princess."

Margaret's blue eyes pierced Marie who looked pale and close to passing out any moment now.

"You don't need to fear me, Marie. I am not my mother. Just stop ... stop this whole 'princess' shtick. I am Margaret... nothing more. Understood?" the princess said and rested one hand on the perplexed scout's shoulder.

"Understood, your hi- ..." she gasped for a moment when she saw Margaret's glance. "I mean Margaret."

"Thank you," the blonde said and addressed the other soldiers.

"Same goes for you. No more 'princess' and 'highness' for today, ok?"

Alexia couldn't help herself but smile when they all nodded in tandem and caught Marie looking up at Margaret in nothing but awe. This wasn't the pitiful princess they heard about exclusively on the basis of hearsay. No, this was a princess living up to her rank and to her family's glamorous reputation - in more ways than just her looks.

"That should silence them for now," Margaret mused when she returned to Alexia.

"Surely," she smirked and let Margaret lay her arm around her shoulder.

"It... just doesn't feel right for them to call me princess all the time. You know."

"You are their princess though. What would you prefer instead then?" Alexia said and leaned in to whisper into Margaret's ear. "Waitress? Beauty? My love? There are many more things they could call you."

The blonde's smirk also grew wider with every new word of praise.

"Nah, for now you are the only one allowed to call me that," she snickered and gently pulled her partner closer.

She leaned into Alexia and instead of her partner's lips she was met with loud horns echoing from within the walls of marbled stone.

Orders were issued to the guards of the gatehouse and the drawbridge was getting lowered beyond the newly dug moat.

"So it begins," Margaret said.

Her eyes were transfixed onto the entourage of soldiers appearing behind the descending wooden bridge and their numbers appeared to double with every new rotation of the winch.

Both their hands tightened anxiously around each other by the time the bridge was fully lowered - with nothing but armoured soldiers, cannons and banners coming into sight from within the gatehouse.

"How many did you say she could muster?" Margaret muttered.

"Apparently... I... was wrong," Alexia admitted.

Hundreds of hermaphrodites marched over the moat and guided by horns and trumpets lined into formation until their towering leader made her big entrance.

The highking's imposing height stood out from a never-ending swarm of soldiers pouring out the packed palace. While her famous black armour demanded the most attention, the blonde figure next to her was almost equally royal in stature.

The highqueen stood a head short of her wife, but her figure and dress still drew many envious looks. She might be famous for many things, but being a warrior or going onto campaigns wasn't one.

The princess and her partner silently stood petrified when more and more of her people deployed onto the field.

"Lexi?"

"Yes?"

"Promise me one thing," Margaret said and looked down into her lover's grey eyes.

Alexia already looked terrified before, but seeing the blonde's determined gaze made her face reach an even more unnatural state of paleness.

"Maggie..."

"Just one thing, ok? I need you to trust me. Please," the princess gasped and noticeably pulled Alexia closer.

"I... promise," the injured soldier reluctantly replied. "What... are you going to do?"

The heir took a deep breath and averted her gaze back to her mothers and their bodyguards walking towards the front of the formation.

"What's necessary. Just don't interfere. I ... thought this through," she said with a wavering voice.

Alexia frowned. She hated how Margaret suddenly started to speak in absolutes - without offering any insight on what she might do next. The sudden speech in the town only showed how much she felt the burden of her dynasty on her shoulder ... and how desperately she wants to rectify her families past mistakes. And Alexia was nothing more than an observer, unable to guide or protect her in her endeavours.

"Please... be careful. Don't do anything reckless. I beg you," Alexia whimpered.

"No war ever was won without taking risks, Lexi. But I can assure you..." she said after taking a deep breath and with a subtle smile on her face. "I am certain it will work."

Well over a thousand soldiers were deployed on the field before the walls seemingly endless supply of warriors dried up. Officers were yelling orders and making room for the royal family where the third member now emerged from the ocean of heavily armoured fighters.

Sybilla, the king's protege, stood to "kingmothers" right. Their armours matched in colour and their size difference seemed to have shrunken noticeably. This would be the princess' first campaign and she looked ready to make a lasting impression.

Around a hundred feet separated the two from the royal family and her army. Still, it felt like miles would stand between them. Like worlds that were meant to collide but would never meet.

A convoy of guards accompanied the two queens and the princess as they traversed the field towards Margaret and Alexia. Every step of the way the small figures in the distance appeared to grow taller and with their armed forces in the background made for an increasingly imposing sight.

About half way done and just close enough to actually recognize each other's faces they heard a high-pitched shout and the blonde queen started to run towards the two.

"Margaret!"

Queen Euridike, the skilled and composed diplomat, a beauty sung over in many ballads let go of all her expected stoicism in front of her people and rushed to see her child.

"Don't let your mother wait," Alexia smiled and broke away from Margaret.

"Will you be alright?"

"I will manage," the former commander smiled and used Beth's sword for support with both her hands balancing on the golden pommel.

Alexia's face brightened when she saw Margaret's mother. She knew the royal family for years, but couldn't think of any occasion when she saw the queen this overjoyed.

Her attention returned to Margaret and although she just saw her girlfriend's profile, she could feel that the princess was also getting overwhelmed by "queenmother's" reaction.

"Margaret!" Euridike shouted and embraced her child with nothing but the love of a caring mother.

"I ... am here... queenmother," the princess sobbed on the verge of ditching all formalities.

"You are back! Praise the goddesses you are back! We thought you might be dead," the queen frantically gasped in between equally hectic hugs and kisses.

Margaret couldn't hold back her tears any longer and melted in her mother's loving embrace. She might have experienced true love over the last few weeks and months with Alexia, but only now she realised that she also craved the pure love of her mother - the one person whose love was always out of question throughout her whole life.

"Mama..." Margaret cried into the highqueen's neck and shoulder and tightened her hug as well.

Her fingers dug deeper into the equally soft and curvaceous blonde as both their crying out of joy intensified.

Unnoticed by the two blonde's Alexia silently observed them with an equally empathic but also knowing smile. This might be a heartfelt moment reserved for mother and daughter, between a queen and a princess whose emotions reduced their status to nothing but empty titles. But she also couldn't help herself but notice the now blatant similarities between the two.

Euridike, envied and admired by most of her people, stood at the same height, maybe even slightly smaller than her now massive daughter. While Margaret always took after the queen, there was no denying that she was now the genuine successor to the informal title as the most stunning woman in the lands.

There was a running joke in the royal guard about what they would do if the queen would ever call them over into her chamber when the king was not around. While this always made for a cheeky laugh, nobody would have ever passed on such an opportunity, nor would any of them deny that they felt a bit aroused when they heard the queen's moans late at night.

Now, after just a few months, Margaret grew into a woman who even surpassed the living legend that was her mother. Their bosoms smothered into one another and the young princess more than just held her own. With the tight outfit further highlighting her now well-endowed figure she even looked bigger than the queen in all the right ways.

Her perk booty stretched Gretchen's pants to the breaking point and stood firmer than the queen's behind in her also tight-fitting white dress. Euridike's loveliness would never be doubted, nor would anyone dare considering to point out that even she was slowly getting affected by the ravages of time gnawing at her. But seeing her still growing daughter by her side grounded such previously sacrilegious thoughts into reality. The queen was getting past her prime and her daughter just started to fully blossom.

Margaret's lower half as well radiated nothing but untamed fertility. Her hips were almost as wide as her mother's and their bulges both dominated the space between their mouth-watering thick thighs. Even there Margaret appeared to have exceeded her already hung mother and Alexia for a moment wondered how much she must have grown down there over the last few days.

She blushed when she eventually noticed herself paying more attention to comparing her girlfriend to the queen than their reunion - but she couldn't stop smiling. This stunning, perfect woman chose her and soon might be the one the guards and servants would secretly drool over. If they would somehow made it past these troubling days.

"I missed you so much! My child!" the queen kept on muttering and her hands stroke gently over Margaret's salty cheeks.

"I missed you too, Mama," the princess cried. A sob which quickly turned into a soft smile.

"How were you treated? Did they hurt you?"

"No, mama. They were really good to me. And Lexi always protected me as well. I wouldn't be here without her," Margaret said after slowly regaining her composure.

The queen looked over to the wounded soldier, her vibrantly blue eyes darkened for a moment when she spotted the growing spot of blood on her former bodyguard.

"Did you get shot?" she asked wide-eyed.

"It's just a scratch, my queen," Alexia said as convincing as she could.

"Thank you. You earned my eternal gratitude. I will always be in your debt," the queen whimpered.

"It's been a privilege, my queen. You raised an extraordinary daughter."

Euridike smiled warmly and at closer inspection a few wrinkles exposed her age before returning her attention to her child.

The queen, now somewhat calm after letting her strong emotions get the best of her, observed her now very well-proportioned child with a widening smirk on her face.

"Look at you. My little girl became a woman," she said in awe.

Her arms softly caressed Margaret's shoulders, almost like she was measuring her up.

"I... grew a bit," Margaret blushed and let her mother fully inspect her curvaceous body.

"A bit? You are bigger than me! You are beautiful, Margaret. I am so happy for you!" the queen cheered and pulled in for another hug.

"Thank you. It's feels rather good to be big, but I think I am still growing," the princess admitted with ever reddening cheeks.

"If that's true we will need to tailor and a lot of new clothes for you," the queen chuckled and shook her head while being on the verge of tearing up again. "We got so much catching up to do. You have to tell me everything."

Margaret chuckled at seeing her mother this inquisitive and eagerly holding both her hands, almost like she feared to let go again.

"I have so much to tell you, Mama. But for now, I got some things to take care of," Margaret said and eyed kingmother in the distance.

The untamed enthusiasm in her gaze slowly evaporated when she remembered what made her return in the first place.

"Margaret..." Euridike said in a suspiciously cautious tone. "Things aren't like you think they are."

Her expression shifted and she immediately let go of her mother's hands who barely dared to meet her daughter's questioning gaze.

"So ... you knew about it?" Margaret muttered in disbelief. "Did 'she' tell you about the kidnapping?"

The queen's head hung lower and she nodded.

"Were you part of it?! Answer me!" the princess' booming voice demanded.

"This was no kidnapping. We just wanted to protect you," she said.

"How would kidnapping me protect me?!" Margaret exploded.

"Please... we can explain everything to you later."

Margaret stumbled a few steps back and shot a glance over to Alexia who looked as shocked as she was.

"Margaret, listen to me. This is no time to fight over things you can't understand right now. I swear, we will explain to you everything you want to know. Please... just don't hate us," the queen begged.

Her hands reached out for her daughter hoped to find some compassion. Sure, it was a dwindling hope at best, but all she found was open hostility and not the type of repulse she could gloss over and take as an outburst of anger, but one that visibly hurt Euridike.

"I... how could you? It came to no surprise that 'she' would think of something like that..." Margaret hissed and nodded towards the highking waiting with her waiting entourage. "But you? Why... you?"

The anger in her voice died down, making the pain and shattered trust all the more apparent.

"Please... my child. I would never hurt you. I beg you, let us make you understand," the highqueen whimpered one last time and this time wasn't even granted a reply.

Margaret took deep breaths in an attempt to soothe her raging fury. Yet, she couldn't banish these grim thoughts urging her to yell at her mother. Despite this ongoing battle within her, she couldn't see how she would ever end up shouting at 'Mama' like that. Margaret slowly swallowed her anger and accepted that she could never bring herself to quarrel with 'queenmother'. Not her, regardless of how much she deserved to be shouted at - but she would never forget this betrayal.

"Is this all?" Margaret eventually said coldly without acknowledging her mother's presence.

Her gaze was directed at someone else. Someone that couldn't rely on her holding back her anger.

Euridike's stepped aside as her pleading got ignored. The 9ft queen looked more like she was mourning over the loss of a daughter not cheering over her return. While Margaret's reaction was more than justified, Alexia couldn't stop to pity her queen. She was a caring person, one that treated every servant and guard with respect at all times, a woman with a big and loving heart nobody wanted to see suffer - but that only made her treachery run that much deeper.

The princess' fist clenched hard while she squinted at her mother, 'kingmother'. Anastasia stood proud in her legendary black armour, the red cape flowing in the wind and her green eyes withstanding Margaret who yearned for confrontation.

The king mustered a weak smile and looked to her right and rested a hand on Sybilla's shoulder. The younger princess looked up to her mother and almost like she awaited her approval waited for the soft pat on her back.

The black-haired princess then slowly started to approach Margaret alone, who only reluctantly took her eyes from the person she wanted to hate right now. She had to calm down. All this personal anger and confusion should not get to her head. Too many people relied on her doing the right thing today to get selfish. Maybe her mother's advice was a genuine and wise one. Maybe they could explain it to her. Maybe.

Doubts kept on nagging on Margaret's consciousness but seeing her younger sister at least took some of this burden from her. It was clear that she was not the only princess dealing with her growth spurt though.

Sybilla's new height got more obvious with every new step and once she stood directly in front of Margaret, she measured up to what felt like slightly over 8ft - half a head shorter than the blonde. This wasn't all that changed though. The younger princess was always blessed with a strong physique, one that would allow her to follow in the footsteps of the highking as a warrior one day, but it still looked she spent a lot of time and effort into taking part on her first campaign - one that would be the start of her own legacy.

The helmet in her arm was designed after her mother's. But unlike the horned counterpart of the highking, hers was resembling the head of a lion - Sybilla's favourite animal. Her polished armour shone in the same menacing black, accompanied with the same red cape as Anastasia. And like her, Sybilla's solid muscles were for all to see even under layers of iron and fabric.

"You... have changed a lot, big sis," she said.

Her green eyes were as enigmatic as Anastasia's, just one of the many behaviour patterns the princess adopted from her mentor. The two sister's relationship was often strained due to them competing for the king's love and attention, but in the end, both knew they would always have each other's back.

"Same goes for you, little sis. I barely recognized you," Margaret said equally mysterious.

She only managed to fake her stoic expression for a few seconds and soon started to smile. Sybilla as well dropped the act and both rushed into a hug.

"Good to see you, Margaret. Welcome home," she said and for the first time in ages had to stand on her toes to speak to her sister from eye to eye.