After the meeting with King Theras, Tinsel Pomfrey took the three visiting dignitaries back to Tourmaline Bog and returned with a very much healthy and lively Daran. He had obviously been treated well by the bogwargs and was excited to tell them all about bogwargian lifestyle.
Mira stayed at Dolmian Castle for the remainder of that day to handle the final details and then returned to Diamond Palace. The Princess' Court, as it was now being called, had to continue without further delays.
Most people still knew her as Princess Consort. More and more people, however, were beginning to know her true position as Queen---namely the entire population of dolmian miners.
At first, she thought it would have been fairly easy to find a new Dolmian Advisor to replace the Duchess Hilda Cartier. Unfortunately, Dolmian miners were by nature, quite shy and reserved.
Nobody wanted the job.
Since it was so difficult to find a replacement, she made an executive decision to appoint Oliver Gordon as the new Advisor of Dolmia, complete with his very own black robe and Princess' Emissary Travel Pass.
There were a few things that occurred at Dolmia which would place her name prominently into Ashryan history books. One of those things was the Princess' Emissary Travel Pass which was essentially a PVC Hello Kitty head on a large keychain ring.
It was unique enough in its identifying characteristic so that it would be recognized as the Princess' Emissary Travel Pass. After all, everyone knew what the emblem on her cadeucius looked like.
Because time was of the essence, and emissary travel passes were usually made of heavy gold which took months to design and create, she handed to Oliver Gordon and King Theras each, their very own temporary Princess' Emissary Travel Pass.
She also had another PVC Emissary Travel Pass sent to Jana, with a directive to return to Diamond to take up her new position as Advisor for the Amber Savanna.
Subsequent Court Session passed by with no further deadly incidents.
In fact, after the first two deaths during Mira's time presiding over King's Court, there were no other challengers to test Mira's Glockomancy skills.
She wore that Hello Kitty Glock caduceus everywhere she went, and on full display. The seamstresses even created special covers for the holster so it would match with her various gowns.
Mira could care less, but she did not have any say-so over the clothes that she was required to wear. In fact, the freedom to come and go wherever she pleased, wear whatever she wanted, eat and sleep whenever she wished---those were no longer viable options.
She began to understand why Zander did not want to take over the throne even though he was technically king of a kingdom. The sheer amount of paperwork was so heavy that he would never have the chance to do anything other than that.
He had spent his whole life trying to attain higher and higher levels of wizardry. To give up all that and just be a king was a major sacrifice.
There was another reason why no one wanted to challenge Mira's position as head of Court. Nobody wanted to try the patience of the various high wizards who surrounded her---and there were quite a few.
Daran, Tinsel, Alfric, Griswold, Raphael, and even the Crown Prince Erick Rashak himself were always present at each of her Princess Court sessions.
Erick's constant presence by her side had solidified her legitimacy as Princess Consort and the de facto ruler of Diamond Kingdom.
It wasn't long before rumors began to fly around that Mira was actually Erick's wife and not Zander's. This was due in large part by the way Erick treated her.
Although he never physically came onto her, flowers began arriving every morning to her room by the time she awakened. At Court, hot tea and pastries would be ready for Mira during her Tea Breaks which she took religiously to establish a sense of normalcy.
In the evenings, Erick would insist on being present at dinner time. This was normally the time that Mira blocked out to spend with Felix. Since Erick always insisted on joining her, he also got the chance to interact with the little bogwargian prince.
There was no other way to describe it...Erick was really good with kids.
He would play with Felix in the ways that a young child could relate to and eventually became Felix's best friend. Of course that wasn't saying much since Felix really did not have any friends.
By the end of the second month, Mira had gotten so impatient, she could barely sit still. She wanted to go find Zander, but the workload that fell on a reigning monarch was such that she could barely keep her head above water.
She now understood why King Leo kept shuffling various documents around the silver table. There was a critical working pile, a read-only pile, a trash pile, and a miscellaneous pile that held crap which did not need immediate attention but could not be pushed over to the trash pile.
Some days her critical working pile was stacked so high she could not even see the person standing in front of her desk.
The single motivation she had to continue the grueling hours she kept was her desire to get things under control so that she could go find Zander. It kept her toiling long into the night, when everyone else was asleep.
The days sped by quickly. Within the last two months, Mira had managed to iron out the various issues that were immediate and most pressing.
With the dolmia no longer being taxed at crushing rates, prices for transportation quickly dropped back to being very affordable for everyone. Food and supplies began flowing into and out of cities again.
The bandit issue was still ongoing, but with Alfric's deployment of troops at important junctions across Ashrya, the bandits did not have as much leeway to cause havoc.
It was as Erick had said. Alfric Hobart was her right hand and Tinsel Pomfrey was her left hand. Between the two of them, they coordinated all events. Her only job was to rubber stamp the orders to get things moving.
No one protested any longer about the tea breaks. They found out that a Princess Tea Break was not such a bad thing after all.
Anyone who needed a toilet break got one. Those who needed to smoke a pipe or cigar had the opportunity to do so outside, without anyone protesting about the smell or the smoke. Of course, if one simply wanted a cup of tea, that was available too.
To make things a bit more comfortable for the Advisors, Mira had also asked palace staff to set up a tea table outside the Great Hall for anyone who wanted a cup of hot green tea.
It turned out to be a big hit, especially with the women. A few of them began bringing sweet cakes to share. Soon it became a nice little friendly get-together outside the Great Hall, in between the dull dry boring Court Sessions.
What had been simply a ploy to calm things down at the most heated moments had become famously known as 'the Princess's Tea Party'.
There was also that niggling matter of the Dolmian payment which she still owed. She had Tinsel disburse the initial fifty percent from the wealth that had accumulated from Orville Torrence's holdings and businesses.
The remainder that was still due, Mira solved it in a different manner. She used her own wealth and property to cover the shortfall.
"You did what?" Carol had gasped, covering her mouth with laughter as Mira recounted the events leading up to that day.
Mira had not been able to return to Zander's palace in Jade due to all the administrative work she had to do, so after a few weeks, she moved Carol into Diamond palace instead.
"Remember those two huge luggage pieces I returned to Earth for? Well, I took all the Hello Kitty toys and trinkets and paraphernalia that my parents had gifted me all my life and I sold it at a Royal Auction."
"All those useless things your parents kept buying for you as gag gifts?" Carol laughed. "Were you able to sell anything?
"Oh yeah!" Mira grinned. "People really liked it and the bidding went much better than I hoped! I made enough off the sales to return to the Dolmians the remainder of their missing year of back pay."
Carol patted her hand. "I know how much those things meant to you. They are gifts from your parents after all."
Mira shook her head. "Those things aren't what matter Carol. Their greatest gift to me is my life. I want to use it to make a difference in the world."
"Well, you certainly have made a difference in mine." Carol's eyes grew moist with tears. "After two months of treatment from Daran, using your husband's prescribed methods, I can walk without crutches now. I'm still not completely healed yet, but that's only a matter of time. My body has begun to grow correctly now."
Mira hugged her friend. There was no doubt about the efficacy of Zander's magik treatment.
"There is also something else." Carol bit her lips.
"What?" Mira eyed her suspiciously.
"I'm--well...I'm pregnant."
"What!" Mira yelled. "Get outta here!!! Really?" She laughed and began jumping up and down. "Oh my gosh!!!"
But then she stopped. "Wait, who's the father?"
"Who do you think?"
"Daran…" Mira's mouth opened. "But isn't he…"
"Betrothed? Yes."
"Does he know you're pregnant with his child?"
"Yes. He never thought to put in place any protection when we...you know...because he thought I was sterile."
"What does he think about it all? Is he happy? Or…"
"Oh he's super excited!" Carol laughed. "He hugged me and cried like a baby."
"Is he going to call off the betrothal?"
Carol shook her head.
"Come again?"
"He can't Mira. That betrothal was a decree from the Emperor of Jade. As soon as his fiancee turns eighteen, they will be married."
"Wh--when is that?"
"This summer." Tears sprang suddenly into Carol's eyes. "Ashryan summer, I mean. Of course, on Earth, it's already June."
"But he can't just abandon you and his child!" Mira cried.
"He's not abandoning us honey. It's just...the only option he has to give me is to be his side-wife." Carol laughed. The laughter did not reach her eyes.
"Oh that Ancillary thing, huh."
"Yeah. That's what they call it. Ancillary Wife." Carol stuck out her tongue. "What a bunch of crock."
"I agree. I'd just as soon stuff it to them with several Ancillary Husbands myself."
"I don't think there is such a thing Mira."
"All the more's the pity." She sighed.
"So you're going to be his ancillary wife?"
"Oh f*ck no!" Carol held up her middle finger. "I am not gonna ride the side car. I want the whole machine!"
Mira laughed. "So Daran's option is not an option. What are his plans?"
Carol scratched her neck. "Well, I didn't give him an option. He either marries me properly and gives my child a legitimate father, or I raise this baby myself and I'll be both the mother and the father!"
"Hmmm. Good plan. Is he agreeing to your decision?"
"Well--no. We sorta….had words."
Words.
For Carol and Daran, that could only mean one thing. There had to have been a serious screaming match between the two of them. Carol of the Sun had turned into a Carol of the Nuclear Fusion!
Mira's mouth opened--then closed. "So what now?"
"So nothing. I'm going to stay here in Diamond with you, have my half-human, half-dwarf child, and things will be great!" Carol said, eyes shining.
But Mira knew.
Behind the excitement of having the baby, there was the heartache of not having the man.
That night, she called Daran into the Library for a fireside chat.