"This is going to be great! Eee!" Penny packed up the rest of her items for her travel bag. The servants had already picked out a wardrobe to take along for the trip.
"Penny, dear, are you sure you want to continue with this?" Ilka was getting her own bag ready. "I mean...the little one..."
Penny stopped packing and put a hand on her tummy. "Babe, she's like this big!" She held up her thumb and forefinger about half a centimetre apart. "Dr. Pussi said it'll be fine! I can ride up to five months into the pregnancy if I really need to."
"I am just concerned, as this is the first," Ilka went on, hesitant to look at Penny. "It is most fortunate it is a girl. If we had a son together...I would still love him, but he could not take the crown."
"Yeah, we lucked out as far as royal claims go," Penny said, laughing. She dropped what she was doing and went over to Ilka. "We're still good, yeah?"
Ilka smiled and nodded. "I am fine. I have come to peace with what needs to be done."
Penny gave Ilka a big kiss and went back to packing. Willa the page summoned the two of them, and they were taken down to the shuttle launch pad. Groovi was waiting for them there. The shuttle had a spare module in the back for carrying extra sensitive cargo.
"Excellency, please be cautious of Obsidian!" Groovi was trying to be overheard from the shuttle heat-up. "He needs to have his grains twice a day, and he gets only one of the sweet-root, and--"
Penny patted her head. "Relax, short-stuff! Your queen knows what she's doing!" She turned to Ilka. "Come on! Those other riders don't stand a chance!" Penny and Ilka climbed aboard the shuttle. Groovi was nearly blown over when it lifted off. The gyroscopic stabilizers of the spare shuttle pod ensured that Obsidian the myxlo would have a smooth ride.
Groovi watched the vessel fly off. "They never listen," she pouted. She wandered off back to the palace to go see Oola and Khazal.
When she got to their quarters, Oola was swinging her broadsword around furiously. Khazal was laughing with glee, holding onto a chair for stability. She had just turned a year old, and was now walking on her own.
Groovi dashed in and put herself between the baby and Oola. "What are you
doing
? Khazal could be hurt!"
Oola stopped her swordplay and scoffed. "Do not be so timid! I am showing Khazal what a warrior woman can do!"
"Put that sword away now!" Groovi stomped her foot and got a pucker on her face.
"Ha ha! Make me." Oola held up the sword in defiance.
Groovi marched right to Oola and stood her ground. Groovi was just a hair over five feet, and was no match for the muscular battle maiden Oola. She pointed at the sword rack on the wall. "Put it away."
Oola held the sword above her head. Groovi jumped up, trying to grab at it, but it was no use. Khazal laughed and clapped.
Groovi eventually gave up and hung her head. "You are without mercy."
"Correct! Mercy is for the weak." Oola finally went over and put her sword up, then went to Khazal and scooped her up. Khazal screeched with joy. "Who is my mightiest warrior? It is you, lovey! Yes you are!
Yes you are!
" She gave Khazal a smooch on the head. "Do not be like Tiny Mama, mewling for people to respect her."
Groovi gave a huff of anger, while Oola took Khazal into the kitchen for dinner.
That night, after Khazal was asleep, Groovi and Oola were in the bedroom. Oola had just changed into her nightgown while Groovi sat with her back to Oola on the bed. "I do not like you speaking down to me like that," Groovi said.
Oola roared with laughter. "That is how everyone must speak to you, Tiny Mama. Khazal will be taller than you in two years."
"And why are you not protecting her excellency on her trip?" Groovi was seething through gritted teeth.
"She has the slatterns from Grandfort coming to protect her," Oola answered. "Besides, I am going on another mission. Her excellency has enrolled Crele and me into the gladiator school in Opthagol. We will spend five days improving our skills as fighters. We depart tomorrow."
Groovi spun around now. "So I am expected to care for Khazal by myself here while you off and fulfill your warrior fantasies?"
"You have the nursemaids to help," Oola said dismissively. She held out her arms. "Let us make the beast to celebrate my upcoming training!"
"No, no, no!" Groovi scrambled to get under the covers. "Oola, you are a clod and...a
heshpret
!"
Oola gasped. "You do not meant to call me a vagina filled with semen, do you?"
"Yes I do!" Groovi hiked the blanket up over her head. "You make fun of me and belittle me all the time! Make the beast with your own hand!" She curled up into a fetal position and faced away from Oola.
Oola took a long time standing there, not knowing what to say. "I must rest." She went to the door and turned off the light, then left. Groovi could hear the sound of Oola slumping on the couch. Groovi felt her eyes get wet as her mouth tightened up. It took her a long time to get to sleep.
The next morning, Oola had her duffel ready to go, as well as her sword in its carrying case. She kissed Khazal goodbye, then waited for Groovi to say something. Groovi just turned her back and frosted her out. Oola slinked away to the shuttle launch pad.
After Groovi finished her chores tending to the palace myxlos, taking Khazal with her, she handed Khazal off to Willa for babysitting. She invited Fiona out for a nice dinner in the capital. Groovi decided she wanted to be defiant, and would wear a nice billowy short skirt and a tight top. She took the heels that she bought on Earth to wear as well.
Fiona met Groovi out by street level. Fiona had dressed in black leather pants and a v-neck t-shirt, with her own heels. "Damn, girl!" Fiona looked Groovi up and down. Fiona's new body gave her plenty of height, which only added to Groovi's feelings of inadequacy she had been having lately.
"Let us go then," Groovi mumbled, as they went to the restaurant.
"Hey, everything okay? You seem really down, kid," Fiona said.
The sun was already set, and the winds were picking up. It was what was called a
demagah
, or sudden gust, because it would just come out of nowhere with the great drop in pressure and temperature.
"I am sorry, Fiona. I had just the worst experience with Oo-
wahhhh
!" The wind gusts caught Groovi off guard, because it caused her short skirt to blow up and expose her cute behind.
Fiona saw the whole spectacle. "Oh, damn, girl! You do have a fine ass on you!"
"Eep!" Groovi clutched the back of her skirt and did her best to try to hold it down. The people walking by would get a good chuckle from watching Groovi trying to keep her heart-shaped bottom from being exposed.
Fiona reached down and gave Groovi's ass cheek a slap. "Don't hide that thing! That is a gift from the goddesses! Ow!"
"Oh, Fiona!" Groovi tried to swat at Fiona, only she had forgotten to hold onto her skirt, making it expose her butt again.
"Are you just going commando or do you have a thong on?" asked Fiona, still eyeing the lovely crevice.
"A thong!" Groovi growled and threw her hands out. "Fine! Everyone look!" She marched forward and let the wind show off her ass to whoever. Fiona walked in behind, hooting and whistling.
The two of them made it to the restaurant and were seated. Groovi was still fuming at Fiona's catcalls. "Fiona, is this how the women of Earth treat their friends?"
"Groovi, I'm just teasing you is all!" Fiona chuckled as she sipped her berry wine. "You got cute little butt on you. How can you be so grumpy all the time?"
"Everyone treats me like a little child!" Groovi folded her arms and screwed her face up. "What is worse is that there are no more small women now! Penny got huge, you got even bigger, Oola and Crele are huge. The only one smaller than me is Khazal, and soon she will grow up and probably be a warrior, and...and..." She covered her eyes.
"Oh, come on, girl!" Fiona reached over the table and patted Groovi's shoulders. "Look, what happened to me was some wild stuff. I mean, I got changed just on a freak accident."
Groovi popped her face up as her eyes went wide. "That is it! I will pray to our goddess Melbrik! She can change me!"
"Whoa, Groovi, wait," Fiona replied. "I don't know if that could work. Besides, Melbrik would never grant a request if you do it for selfish reasons."
Groovi was a strong devotee to Melbrik, and knew this to be true. "Oh my! Oh, I hope I did not offend my goddess! Ohhh..."
"All right," Fiona said, trying to get Groovi to settle down. "Look, maybe we can go to the Order of Goddess Divinity sanctuary tomorrow and just ask if we can pray to Melbrik's statue. They love me over there."
"Oh, thank you, Fiona," Groovi gushed. "I forgive you for feeling my bottom."
Over at the Opthagol gladiator school, Crele and Oola had stored their gear in their assigned quarters, then made way to the main training arena. When the two of them got through the main doors, they stood in awe.
There were some of the fiercest women the two of them had ever seen. Many were lifting weights, others were sparring in the rings, and a few were practicing with wooden swords. Not a man in sight, either.