LIGHTNOVELONLINE 215 Princess, Queen
Titanyana's head was spinning, too many instances of bad news for her people and important discoveries about her 'allies' were happening in too short a time period, or at least they were for her. She felt herself to be unable to keep up with them, even when they weren't speaking. Fortunately, Bishop Kayes seemed more than willing to wait for her to fully comprehend the details he was relaying to her before moving on to a different subject, though she wasn't exactly sure if she could say those details were committed to memory.
Titanyana was dizzy, emotional, and on the precipice of losing her composure.
"I am afraid it gets far worse than just some seaweed." Worse? Worse? It could get worse than what he was describing? "In all my life, I do not believe I have ever seen Split Decay be so serious or widespread across a population. I will spare you the more disturbing details, but in my short time there I witnessed the deaths of at least four individuals and the bodies of at least one hundred."
Titanyana wanted to choke. 104 people minimum in a few hours? In the thin strip of the city he had been through? How was that in any way sustainable? How were they to last for two years like that?
"If it is of any comfort, I managed to get twenty five to your new planet safely and without incident. One of them was the child of a widow I witnessed . . . join her beloved, while the rest were those left working in the royal palace and their families."
Another gut punch, another weight added on her shoulders. Titanyana wanted nothing more than to collapse into a limp heap of limbs on the floor right now, but Diana would not allow it. All she could was stand there with a blank expression on her face, eyes not focused on anything in particular.
"As you may have heard, one of them expressed the desire to serve you here in the Sanctum." Bishop Kayes' eyes shifted off to the side, watching at someone approach. "Recent events, the voyage notwithstanding, have been particularly rough on her body and mind. I would politely ask for you to have her take it easy for a period of time until she has recovered to a sufficient degree."
Titanyana nodded. She had no reason to make those in her service work, not when the Sanctum's staff were handling everything.
"Thank you. I appreciate it."
"Mm." She didn't see why he was thanking her for this, not when she had made it her life's goal to secure the safety of her people, but it would be rude to not answer him.
At this point, Titanyana was well and truly defeated. Nothing about her life seemed to be under control anymore, and those few elements that had seemed scary yet distant had revealed themselves to be far closer and terrifying that she had been led to believe. Nobody could really blame her for giving up like this, what could she possibly change right now?
Her 'enemy', if it could even be considered as such, was a star. Titanyana's fight was against a force of nature, an extremely powerful entity responsible for providing life to the planets that orbited it. Not even the Arboreal Maiden could hold her own against one, weak though it may be. It might be possible to 'kill' the star, but that didn't really solve their problem. That would only bring the disaster onto her people immediately instead of two years down the line.
For a moment, she considered the prospect. Killing her star. Killing Nekh. Accelerating the death of their star so that her people wouldn't have to suffer for as long, a sort of grand suicide in the interests of preserving their dignity. Fortunately, those thoughts were banished from her mind in short order.
A hand stroked the hair on the back of her head, Diana had assumed Len's previous position on the crate.
"We will help you rebuild, I promise." Titanyana could hear Diana's whispers, quiet so as to avoid disturbing her. "With the tools at our disposal, your people won't need to worry about a great many things."
Titanyana didn't answer her, she didn't have the motivation to. That didn't mean she wasn't listening, that she wasn't interested in what Diana had to say, she just couldn't bring herself to engage.
"One man will be able to grow enough food for over 100 people." Titanyana was skeptical, but Verdant Globes were renowned for their ability to produce food. "Pregnant women won't die during childbirth, and we have techniques and machines that can keep even the weakest of babies alive." Once again, Titanyana didn't immediately believe her. "It might take some time, but we can sustain a rapidly growing population. If we can only secure one million now, then we can easily grow that number up to ten million in fifty years or so. All we need is time."
Titanyana's ears flicked, that was a preposterous proposition. At least, Titanyana 'thought' it was a preposterous proposition. Despite her knowledge that such a rapid rate of growth should be impossible, she believed Diana when she claimed it to be possible. If anything, Titanyana had an itch in her stomach that suggested Diana was purposely understating their capabilities.
"Best of all, no one will be able to interfere, not while Donovan is around." Hairs raised on the back of Titanyana's neck. Diana had moved a little bit closer to one of her ears for that one, true, but the primary reason was the mention of Donovan. "I've overheard his conversations with Arc about the security of our planet. He says that he might only need as few as 2000 people in order to secure our space, even against the Holifanians. Can you believe that?"
She couldn't, at least she couldn't when thinking about it rationally. Her gut was telling her Diana wasn't lying. Her heart seemed convinced Donovan could do it with less.
"That's less than the number can fit on one of the Trawlers. In fact, I imagine that one of his first orders of business will be to secure a group of men he views as fit for the job so that he can train them. He will only have a few months to train them to fly the Trawlers, after all."
That's right, Donovan was able to fly those things. How one person was supposedly capable of controlling a ship larger than any other by themselves was a question that baffled her, but she couldn't afford to dwell on it.
"Ah, here she comes." Bishop Kayes tilted his head in the direction the newcomer was approaching from. "Is there anything of hers left aboard the ship Cayzi?"
"This is all I have brought, thank you."
A voice, new yet familiar, reached Titanyana's ears. Suddenly, she had the energy to move again. Gently so as to not hurt Diana, she pushed away the arms embracing her so that she may stand. Stumbling ever so slightly in her eagerness, Titanyana laid her eyes upon her kinswoman.
"Petunia?"
The maid, worn down from weeks of depression and an extended voyage, weakly curtsied to her princess. She was not wearing any sort of traditional servant garb, nor was she giving Titanyana the proper greeting by the standards of the Nekh, but that was irrelevant. Their relationship was special.
"My Lady." Petunia's eyes were beginning to water.
To Petunia, Titanyana was more than just a princess. She was an idol, a symbol of hope for their dying world, the niece of her beloved, and the baby she had cared for in the Queen's stead. If she could be given the luxury, she would claim Titanyana to be the child fate had denied her.
"Petunia!" Titanyana ran to Petunia, barely managing to stop herself by the time her head had been buried in Petunia's chest.
To Titanyana, Petunia was more than just a maid. She was a role model, an ideal image of the woman she wanted to be. Petunia was her second mother, her older sister, and the person she could always rely on to help work out her problems. Petunia had been elevated to a strange position in the palace at Titanyana's behest, a servant not required to act like one.
"My! How you've grown!" Petunia wrapped her arms around Titanyana, who was still much shorter than her. She then began to squeeze her tight, tears beginning to run down her face. "I, we, we thought we had lost you!"
"What?!"
"The ship we sent you away on, it never returned!" Petunia's tears may have been due to happiness or relief, but she still sobbed as if she was distraught. "We were certain that you hadn't made it! We mourned you! Your father, the king, he, he, he. . ."
Petunia's sobs interrupted what she was going to say, the lengthy pause inducing an ethereal terror into the back of Titanyana's mind.
"What happened?" Petunia did not answer immediately, she was still making an attempt to collect herself. "Petunia, what happened to my dad?"
The sobbing continued, intensifying after Petunia and Titanyana's eyes locked for an instant. In response to her raging emotions, Petunia hugged Titanyana even harder.
"Petunia?!" Panic had fully set in for Titanyana now. Subconsciously she knew what had happened to her father, there was no other reason for Petunia's response to the question. She was only asking out of obligation, without confirmation she could not let herself break down as Petunia had. "Petunia!? What happened?!?! Where is my father!? What happened to him?! Petunia!!!"
Fortunately or unfortunately, Titanyana's cries, the voice of a Strapper, provided a moment of clarity for Petunia. A moment for her to say what Titanyana already knew.
"He died!" The words hit Titanyana's ears like a hammer. "He just couldn't take it anymore. He was already struggling along after your mother died, but once he got the news that you were gone too he just . . . his body gave up."
Titanyana nearly fainted. Her father? Dead? How? Why? Her tears began to join Petunia's in their journey towards the ground.
"You're a queen now, Titanyana, Queen of the Nekh."
Titanyana was listening, but she didn't understand. This wasn't because she didn't know how succession worked, but because Petunia's words weren't really registering in her mind.
"You have to be strong. Please don't give up! Please!"
Why did Petunia ask that of her? What else was there for her but to give up? She couldn't be a queen. She was barely cutting it as a princess!
"What about my uncle? I-I'm not ready for this! How could I be? I-I still have to complete my five years in the academy! He needs to act as my regent, doesn't he?!"
Petunia's crying drastically increased in intensity at the mention of Titanyana's uncle, another thing she didn't understand. Why was everything falling apart? Why? It didn't make sense!
"I'm sorry!" Petunia finally broke, releasing the Princess, the Queen, from her embrace and crumbling to her knees. She was already weak, and this emotional stress was not helping her out in that regard. "I'm sorry!"
"H-he's gone too?" Petunia didn't answer her directly, but she didn't need to. Petunia's affection towards Titanyana's uncle was not exactly a secret to her. Many of their talks about romance and the like had ended with some form of allusion towards him, so Titanyana had long since assumed that Petunia, a woman who had never been bedded, recognized him as her mate.
She didn't know her Uncle's opinions of Petunia, but he was sworn to celibacy. All Strappers not in line to inherit the throne generally took it upon themselves to avoid propagation. To do so would be to ask for succession issues and struggles for power, additional problems they could not afford to deal with. Petunia had likely also resigned herself to that life.
"I'm sorry!" Whatever the specific reason for her breakdown, Petunia was not available for further comment, she was too incoherent for conversation.
Titanyana turned back around and began to walk away. Her head, spinning, felt incredibly heavy as she moved. Each step gave her a headache, the little vibrations that traveled through her body imperceptibly rattling her brain, making her dizzy. She recognized that she needed to sit down, but she didn't feel like sitting down on the floor. There were a few boxes nearby, so maybe she could-
"-eh-"
Suddenly things weren't exactly upright. They looked a little bit sideways, off axis, like she was falling down, when she hit something. Or rather, when she hit someone. Now the environment was changing it's orientation more rapidly, like she was falling, but faster.
Of course, she wasn't falling. Arguably, she was doing the opposite, she was being picked up.
- - - - -
Diana had primed Donovan to handle any issues that may arise with Titanyana, and he was more than willing to be receptive towards them. They had come here completely aware of the chance that the die-off had already started in earnest. He was fully prepared for the possibility that the Nekh were already gone. After all, given how these people lacked most of the scientific practices on Earth it wouldn't be surprising for them to get their predictions wrong and drastically overestimate the time they had left.
He hadn't expected the knock out punch to be caused by something so personal to Titanyana, but he supposed that if anything was going to accomplish that it would have to be the death of someone close. Now he was holding the dazed Titanyana in a princess carry. It wasn't the first time they had been in this position, and given her current rate of being placed in a debilitated state, it wouldn't be the last. He felt obligated to help her out at this point.
He did wonder if it was still proper to call this a 'Princess' carry though. She had yet to be coronated, but she would probably still count as a queen, wouldn't she? would that make this a 'Queen' carry then? Maybe he should add a possessive ' 's ' to that? Queen's Carry? Was that right? A question to ask Arc for sure.
"I think we can put her down on the seat now, Donovan." Diana spoke to him from inside the carriage, offering a hand to help them up. ". . . actually, maybe it would be for the best if you kept holding onto her like that. I think she needs someone to cling to right now, someone to make her feel safe."
Donovan raised an eyebrow, but didn't raise a fuss. This sort of problem fell squarely in Diana's court, she would have the best idea of how to deal with a heartbroken little . . . queen. He also saw the logic there. Holding her like this seemed to be the type of thing that would make Diana feel better if she was down. He had some questions about it, mainly by way of Titanyana being way smaller than Diana and the fact that he wasn't in a romantic relationship with her, but he wasn't going to ask about them now.
He trusted that Diana had made the correct decision here, his only worry were the eyes exuding various different emotions he felt boring into his back as he stepped into the carriage. None of them were outright malicious, he just really didn't like the feeling he was getting from them. That said, he was particularly concerned about the one that felt . . . predatory?
