Chapter 279

The Allfather was briefly stunned to silence when the Roble Holy Queen, his Queen, his first, lay the infant at his feet. A mop of dark hair on his head, the newborn giggled a bit, its little meaty arms and legs flailed aimlessly, kicking the blue and white swaddling cloth away from his body. The little thing smiled up at him, and its arms stretched out as if aching to be picked up. 'Yes, of course... the custom... if I don't accept him...' The grim and brutal legacy of acceptance, at Ainz' best guess, was a holdover from before what passed for the modern era, when a fatherless child was almost certainly as good as dead. 'Still, leaving them to die? Were things so desperate?' He asked himself that question, not for the first time, and grimly acknowledged that yes, they must have been. Now, six centuries later, his son was laid at his feet to accept or reject, and the mother's eyes darted around pleadingly with a pounding heart between himself and Albedo.

Ainz felt every bit of the pressure on him then, more so than before any fight, sweat sprang to his human flesh and once again he missed his undead body. But doing his best to maintain his dignity, he pushed back the sleeves of his robe, knelt, and scooped up the child in his hands. "My son, Aurelion Bessarez Ooal Gown, the child and Prince of two Kingdoms."

Even though Ainz could not hear the command mantra, but as he raised his son aloft, with tiny kicking legs and a little drool dribbling out the sides of his pinkish baby lips, he could still feel it. And moreover, he saw the effects as the nobles of each Kingdom knelt, and heard the effects as the armored knights struck the stone with their armored knees. Every head bowed and every knee bent, and then before Ainz could even consider calling a halt to it, or telling Demiurge to cease, it was over. 'Demiurge... I should be cross with you for that but, but I just can't be.' Ainz thought, and watched as the assembly slowly rose to their feet, including the baffled visiting Queens. 'Queen Baraja looks cute when befuddled, it's hard to believe she's regarded as so fearsome looking.' He thought in an almost fatherly way, and then he touched his son's face, caressing it with the back of two fingers. The boy turned in that direction, revealing an intact rooting reflex. 'This is more terrifying than the time that raid happened against our guild and I thought we might lose Nazarick…'

"His place is secure." Ainz said, making sure to lock eyes with the Holy Queen, "I swear it on my name. Aurelion is my son, and he will be the eldest brother to all my future children, beginning with this one." Ainz promised, and laying Aurelion back in Calca's waiting arms, he placed a free hand on the belly of the Allmother of Nazarick where his second born grew and waited to enter the world stage.

Calca closed her eyes, brought the infant up to her face, and nuzzled against him, stopping only long enough to mouth a 'thank you' in return.

With the tension gone and confusion fading as each man and woman found their own private excuse for their impulsive act of deference to the young Prince, Ainz the Allfather chose to shift to another subject as fast as he could. "I was expecting the Draconic Queen to arrive before you, did you rush to beat her?" He cracked a little smile at the trio, and they traded glances at one another before the Frost Queen chose to speak up.

"Allfather, I traveled all the way here with my Royal sister, your wife and son. We didn't hurry at all so as to better enjoy the trip. When we arrived in Re-Estize at the country estate of Queen Renner, we had to wait almost a day for her arrival. When we left, we took our time in coming here to ensure the Wolf King and Queen, and your esteemed self, had time to relax and prepare... I'm not clear on the true distance between this place and the Draconic Kingdom capital, but even if she left late, she should have arrived some time ago, even accounting for the Theocracy's pettiness in mandating a circuitous route."

"I planned this route myself, Allfather." Queen Renner said with a little frown forming on her face and an unthought glance in the direction of the far off border that hid her annoyance with her Draconic Kingdom counterpart. "It was my intent that she arrive before us, and to make these calculations I recreated the protocols of the Draconic Kingdom's royal routine down to the finest knowable detail." Renner's white gloved fingers curled into small fists. "Even if they had a delay of some sort, My Lord, everything they use is modular, intended for quick repair and movement, right down to their carriage wheels, it is unthinkable that the Draconic Queen would arrive late."

Renner's body tensed as she felt the outrage of a plan of hers going awry, and even worse for being in the presence of those whom her place on the throne depended upon. 'This is an outrage! An outrage!' She contained the urge to breathe deeply, scream and howl, she suppressed the revealing of her twisted face behind the mask of beautiful innocence, and covered it all by placing her hand on her cheek and tilting her head in that adorable innocent way that made large brutes instantly protective over her.

"I hope nothing bad has happened to cause their delay." Renner finally said as if it were an impossibility. 'Something had to have happened.' She said in her own private mind, but it caught the eye of the sparkling golden eyes of the Allmother. An unspoken understanding existed between the two, each obsessed with their own lover in such a way that all things had to be perfect, wordless discussion could pass in an instant in a single look.

'You made no mistakes? You are sure?' Albedo said with a look.

Renner dropped her hand away from her face. 'Never. This is too important… all five Queens should have been present, I calculated every route…' Renner swore without a word, and to her relief, the succubus didn't seem to doubt her.

'Then something unforeseeable must have happened.' Albedo concluded, and when Renner turned her face to her companions instead, it was as good as acceptance of the demoness' conclusion.

Before Renner could speak, Neia's wings popped open with a snap. "I can fly faster than a carriage, why don't I fly south and have a look?" Even not being a genius on par with Renner or Albedo, the dragonid Queen of Frost could feel tension as if before a battle as surely as she could feel the air brushing her cheek.

Still, the impropriety of a Queen conducting a personal search made some of the more established nobles give her doubletakes as if she were mad. But the Wolf Queen was peasant born and quick to agree. "Excellent idea, we can send out riders behind you in case support is needed." Enri said and glanced at her husband, he quickly raised a hand beside his head and curled his fingers toward his palm several times to call for a servant.

An armored man clanked over at a light jog, halberd tight in his grip as he approached the assembled royals. "Send out two companies of wolf riders to the border." Nfirea said, and the guard quickly bowed his head.

"At once, sire." He said, and made his retreat.

Neia however, didn't wait. "Then it's settled." She said and with one brief moment of raw tension, she jumped toward the sky, her wings caught the air as faces reflexively turned to follow her motion, and seconds later she was soaring out of view.