The days of rest

Sharchan and S finished their hunt at breaking twilight and returned to the Snake Castle. They went straight to the snowy room and took the frozen half-dead servant Akita out...he was frozen in his human form, so it was quite easy to carry him. They dragged him to his room in servant quarters, when Sharmut stopped them in the corridors. He glanced at the frozen servant and shook his head."You should rather kill him. It will be more merciful..." he said coldly.

"Why?"Sharchan asked.

"I bet his human soul is gone...He will be walking dead at most if he wakes up..." his father noted.

"He is a loyal servant...I have to save him..."Sharchan said firmly.

"Do as you think, you are the king."Sharmut shook his shoulders and went.

Sharchan and S put Akita into his room to melt.

"So, do you think he will be ok?"S asked a bit uncomfortably.

"Sure, we just leave him to get to himself...!"Sharchan nodded.

"I like the father's idea better."S looked at Sharchan." He will hate me even more now..."

"Are you scared little brother?"Sharchan chuckled.

"I always hated him...he is a double-faced snake," S noted.

"Yes, he is a snake. Loyal to me only."Sharchan nodded."So where is your loyalty brother?"

"In the stars!"S chuckled."I will be loyal to our queen only. I had lots of fun with her..." he added nonchalantly.

"You will never change..."Sharchan shook his head.

"Same as you. I want to see how you will convince our queen...."S hissed.

"Just watch me!" Sharchan smiled confidently.

"I always am, brother."S smiled sinisterly.

That morning Sienna woke up very early. She went for a bath straight away. And then back to bed. She was just tired and wanted to sleep some more. Her belly ached and she felt like bleeding to death. "The best thing is to stay in bed and rest." she thought. She woke up just before lunch and ran to bathe again. It was indeed a nightmarish part of a woman's life...

When she returned from the bath, Sharchan sat at the table with her lunch. He made her warm lentil soup and got her fresh bread buns as well. The purple vial of the medicine for women's pains was shining brightly next to it and Sienna's eyes were fixed to it immediately.

"Good morning my love. "Sienna smiled tiredly and shuffled next to him still wrapped in a big towel.

Sharchan's eyes lit up as he pulled her to sit on his knee, but Sienna wiggled. "My belly hurts so much. "She looked at him pitifully.

Sharchan sighed. "Here, have the medicine then, but first eat something. You slept too long! "

"Well, I'm exhausted. " she sighed. "Let me rest these first three days, so I can get better, hm? You know how hard it is for me, no? "

"Sure. " he nodded. "Let me know if you need anything," he added.

"Sweets, I need some sweet apples and honey cones. " she smiled at him cutely.

"Ok, I will send Sharchet to market for some... "he agreed steadily. He felt so good holding her...

"Thank you, my love, "Sienna kissed his cheek. Then she stood up and went to put a new nightgown on quickly...her pale curvy body shining on display for a few seconds. She had only knickers on and Sharchan drank the view.

Sharchan stared at her body, "I want to look some more!" he grunted.

"But I'm so hungry." She smiled gently.

"You never do what I want..." he moaned a bit.

"Just let me eat my love, you can hold me after...." Sienna sat down next to him, sliding her hand over his shoulder. She decided to ignore his hungry gaze and rather eat."Thank you for the food, it is delicious, "she relished the soup.

"Glad you like it, you will be eating it for the next two days. "he growled.

"Great."Sienna smiled. She could see he was kind of grumpy and it made her feel a bit anxious. Sharchan was able to create weird heavy moods in the air in split seconds for no reason at all...

Sharchan missed her so much and wanted her attention more, but saw she was exhausted, which made him unsatisfied. He watched her eat with a heavy heart. He felt refused and upset.

"Just go to bed and rest, if you are so tired!"He gave her the vial with medicine, kissed her forehead, and left...shutting the door loudly behind him.

"My ripped drama queen...at least he looks good!"Sienna thought and stared at the walls for a while. She could not decide if Sharchan was moodier than normal or not. She had no idea what he was thinking again...and started to feel a bit stupid for staying with him...she had no energy for his grumpy games! Suddenly the door opened and S slipped inside.

Sienna stared at the handsome warrior's soft hands. That was the main feature of the difference between them. S was wearing gloves when fighting with a sword...he needed soft hands for drawing.

"S...good morning...hmmm..lunchtime.... "she smiled tiredly.

"How are you feeling, my love? You look so tired. "he said worriedly." Don't splatter on the table and go to bed..." he nudged her gently.

Sienna just stood up with the sight and went to lie down as he said. She felt dizzy anyway... S sat next to her on the bed and touched her hand softly."I came to ask you if you need something else from the market apart from apples and honey cones," he smiled.

"Not really, but buy something nice for me. "She smiled gently.

"Ok, " he nodded. "I need to hurry up. "he smiled. "Sharchan is waiting for me. " he stood up to go.

"Thank you. " Sienna nodded and tucked herself under the soft velvety blanket. "Have a good way!" She called after him, watching his burly figure dressed in bright colours. S liked to look kingish. His visit made Sienna feel a little bit sweet. "He still cares about me, " she thought and closed her eyes tiredly.

S went to the market and Sharchan was pacing up and down in his tower with golden heaps. He felt misplaced, angry and unwanted. He decided to leave his old room to his sneaky brother because the look at his broken golden cage made him furious. The golden disks lay in his treasure heaps as sore spots to him, so he decided to make a new room for Sienna in his golden tower...

Later that day S came back to Sienna's room and brought her honey cones, buns, and apples." I got you more, they are in the kitchen, I was thinking you might be a bit hungry... I also have something for you." he smirked. He gave her a neat packet, it was an empty journal in it with blank pages. "I got you a drawing book, so you can draw in it and write poetry..." he smiled as she opened it.

"Thank you ."Sienna felt happy," What a great gift. I love it. "

"Yes, I knew it. A gift like for an artist, "S nodded," I understand your creative soul too well." he watched her satisfied."I missed your laughter." he smiled.

Sienna felt so happy and kissed his cheek."Thank you." She gobbled up the sweet cones as she drew in her new book. She made some mermaid cushion designs, she wanted to make a gift for Nefari. She was her best female friend after all...

S sat in the armchair next to her bed and watched her draw. The air felt so light and peaceful to him. He enjoyed it for a while and then he just went out quietly. He was thinking...

At dawn, Sienna was just getting ready for bed when Sharchan came back and lay next to her. He cuddled her on his shoulder."I miss holding you.." he moaned a bit."I want to sleep next to you tonight"

"Sure..."Sienna inhaled his intoxicating scent and touched his hard chest. "I love you so much."She whispered to him. She just decided to ignore his earlier moods and forgive him.

Sharchan nodded satisfied. He held her on his heart and it felt good. The picture of her in his golden cage in front of his eyes again..it just looked too good to forget about it...

The next day early morning Sharchan could not sleep any longer, so after watching sleeping Sienna for a while, he went to hunt with his brother. They gobbled up a couple of wild deer and went back to make a big brunch for Sienna. They dropped it in her room, but she was still sleeping.

"Shall we wake her up to eat?" S asked worriedly as he put the food tray on her table...

"No, it is still too early for her. "Sharchan shook his head. Sharchan saw she was very tired so, he rather let her sleep. Later on, he came to check on Sienna a few times, but every time she was sleeping or drawing in bed tiredly. It started to annoy him a bit, but he tried to hold it in. He knew, there was nothing she could do about it.

So instead he finally got back to his kingdom matters which were held mostly on Sharmut's and S's shoulders till now...

"Wow..so rare to see you work... "Sharmut stopped in Sharchan's office.

"Sienna is resting, I have nothing else to do... "Sharchan muttered...

"Well, it is kind of good, no? Your queen is here, just on her days, when she finishes them, it will be a perfect time to mate her and start a family, don't you think? The kingdom surely needs an heir and with your oblivious ignorance towards dangers, the earlier you do it is better, no? "Sharmut opened the children's theme Sharchan dreaded secretly because he felt kind of helpless in this area. It was all up to Sienna's wishes! Not because he cared much about what she wanted, but because of Sarcos. He could not go over the scorpion. Even if Sarcos treated him fair in front of her, it did not mean he liked him...

"You should make her pregnant after she finishes her days. You are her first mate no?"Sharmut provoked him some more...

"Sienna doesn't want to mate with me in the snake form, so it is taking longer as you know... "Sharchan sighed.

"Are you telling me that you are not able to control your queen? Is she controlling you then?" Sharmut smiled."You made a mistake son!" he chuckled...

"Not bigger than you, father...at least she comes back to me willingly!"Sharchan hissed..."And you have to go visit mother, because she will not live with you here... "Sharchan's wild eyes blinked.

"Well, I have two big sons and two daughters. I'm set, you and your brother are my heirs and your mother will be here if you do not protect her anyway. "Sharmut hissed upset...

"You are the king and it is your responsibility to get an heir for our kingdom, you have a good chance now, so hurry up. " Sharmut nudged him.

"Yes, any more fatherly tips?"Sharchan cringed his face uncomfortably. He wanted to have this awkward conversation behind him.

"You know the rules...she must want to get pregnant or accept your animal form fully..."Sharmut smiled...

Sharchan bit his lips..."But I heard it is not impossible to get her pregnant in human form..." he noted hopefully.

"Yes, if she really wants to get pregnant...convince her then..."Sharmut chuckled.

"Why it is like this? It is ridiculous! Why should a female decide... ?"Sharchan raged.

"It is the curse of our land.." Sharmut chuckled..."The punishment of our people...you pay for the ruthlessness of our ancestors ....why do you think I wowed to kill tribes who eat or sacrifice females...for our survival... There can be no mercy with them... their traditions have to be forgotten and their lives ended..." the white snake hissed wildly...Even the memory of these savage tribes made him mad...

"I know...but you sent way too many females to Chimera Land... "Sharchan noted.

"I did what had to be done. Now is your turn as a king!"Sharmut smiled and left slightly enraged Sharchan to work...

Sharchan sighed...and went back to his papers...The idea of pregnant Sienna was in his head again..."Pregnant Sienna will look even better in my golden cage," his snake nodded, "She will get a big belly, be tired and pliable..." he started to salivate in Sharchan's head..."And you could hear two heartbeats..."