[IC] The Making of a New Queen

[tsubasa]

Anastasia smiled happily when Samsul kissed her again and praised her. She nodded, "It helps when I have a lovely husband to help me."

She rested her head on his shoulder, "I can't imagine what it would feel like to be stuck in the middle of a war... Fyodor was kept safe while I was there and the war never even came close to the capital...." She sighed, "I saw a bit of the aftermath in some of the cities we went to on our tour... but we didn't go anywhere that had been truly hit by the war because that would be dangerous for me...."

She wrapped her arms around his arm as they sat in the sun, the breeze causing the flowers to dance, "We should send people out tomorrow... Send Lost Elves to the outer most towns... because you and your horses are faster and stronger," She sat up, "I wish we had a map with us... We could start drawing all of this out.."

[pyroman]

It made sense for the Lost elves to be more spread out and help out the outer most towns, since they did have bigger, strong, and faster horses that could reach their destination in a faster time than the regular horses. Although Samsul did plan to send out Elves to assist, he would have liked for most or all of them to go and help voluntarily. "We could have some somewhere in the castle. We might not have an information center since we aren't as militaristic as other countries, but I'm sure that there is a room where there are maps and things that we could use to aid us while we start rebuilding. I'll see what I can do about sending the Lost Elves out. I'd like for them to offer to go, rather than being forced to."

[tsubasa]

Anastasia nodded when he mentioned that they probably had a map somewhere in the castle, "I'm sure we would."

She looked up at him a little surprised when he said that he didn't want to force any of the Lost Elves to help. Her eyes widened a little, "Of course not.... We aren't going to force anyone... We'll just offer it up to everyone as an option and those who do, we'll send them out," She felt horrible that Samsul thought that she was going to order any of them to leave their homes to help people they didn't even know. She placed her hand on his neck, "I would never do that..." She sighed, "You know that... right?"

[pyroman]

Samsul nodded at Anastasia and smiled at her. "Of course I know that. I just want to make it known that nobody is going to be told to go out there and help." He gave her a small kiss and smiled once more. "You're much to kind to put anyone through something that they wouldn't want to do. It's a great quality for a leader, that you need to truly care for the people that you're leading. A king can't be a king unless people are behind him and willing to follow him. The same goes for a Queen.

[tsubasa]

Anastasia was glad to know that Samsul was aware that she wouldn't do that to anyone. After a kiss, he even assured her that she was too kind, which was good for her as Queen. She smiled at him happily and nodded, "You care for them as well," She said giving him a kiss, "It might have taken a bit to work a soft spot in your heart for the commonfolk," She teased, "But you are a great leader... Of your people and one day soon, our country."

She grinned and kissed his nose before resting her head against his shoulder, "Why can this moment not last forever?"

[pyroman]

Samsul sighed a little at the mention of the term commonfolk with a small smile. He knew that she was only teasing him, but he did remember when she spoke up about not wanting for the lower class to be called that since it did sound degrading. He only used that term once around her, but he only had one chance to say it. He was curious as to how soon his coronation would be, as he first assumed that he would be declared the king on the same day that he was married. He would have been fine to have two ceremonies in the same day, but he understood that it wasn't right for both of them to happen at once.

Samsul smiled at Anastasia as she kissed his nose and rested her head against his shoulder. He wanted for the moment to last forever as well, but they both had work to attend to, and it would have to be finished soon. "Because you are the queen, and you have papers to sign, as well as making sure that the reconstruction goes well. I would love to be here forever, but sadly things need to be done."

[tsubasa]

"Ah, but" Anastasia said with a smile, "I finished signing all my papers this morning," She sighed, "However, I also have to go and start putting our reconstruction plans in order."

She stood and brushed off her skirts before she turned back to him. She gave him a smile and a kiss, "Do you mind pitching the idea to the Lost Elves and getting names of those who wish to help... I think it would be best that you throw the idea out there. That way... They don't feel as though it is an order or that because the Queen is requesting it, they have to go along with it."

She grinned, "I'm sure that they would be more than okay with saying no to you," She gave him a parting kiss before she started to walk out of the garden backwards, "I'll grab the first guard I see to watch over me or grab Amul. I'll be fine, promise."

She turned around on her heel and walked back to the castle to start working on the plans.

[pyroman]

"I'll be sure to inform the Lost Elves about the plans for reconstruction. I'm sure that they would like a chance to escape the castle for a little while, even if it is for manual labor." He could have sworn that she was teasing him when she had told him that they would have an easier time saying no to Samsul instead of Anastasia. He smiled at the parting kiss and all of his previous thoughts left his mind as she walked backwards. He was so happy to have her in his life, and was also happy to hear that she would have a guard with her while she returned to her office. Samsul left the gardens as well, but had a different course as he went to go inform his people about the possibility of leaving the castle for a little to help with the reconstruction.

[tsubasa]

Anastasia stepped out of the gardens and found a knight standing not to far away. She smiled at him, "Would you mind watching over me while I work?" She asked. The knight looked at her and followed. Wonderful, she thought as she looked at him, "Do we have a map room any where in the castle?"

The man nodded again, "That we do. Follow me," He said and guided her to a room that was filled to the brim with maps. A man with large glasses sat in there. He jumped to his feet and bowed, "Your majesty... I cannot say I was expecting you."

Anastasia looked from him to the knight, "Can you grab Gerald for me and ask him and the knights to meet in the grand hall. I have a proposition for them," She then turned back to the man. She smiled at him, "Hello...."

"Rennick, your majesty."

"Hello Rennick. I was wondering if you had a map of the country," she said softly as she looked around the room. Surely he would have the country drawn on one of these maps. He nodded and waddled from his table to a cupboard. Opening it, he pulled out a map and rolled it out on his desk, "Here you are, your highness."

Anastasia inspected it, "Does it have all the cities on it?"

He nodded, "Most."

"Wonderful, do you mind bringing it with me to the grand hall?" She asked tentatively. The man grinned and nodded once more and the two headed to the grand hall.

[pyroman]

As he reached the hall that belonged to the Lost Elves, Samsul decided to check the armory first. Many of the lost Elves spent their time there when not working, so it would be easier to talk to them all instead of hunting them down and telling them all individually. Opened in the door, Samsul looked inside of the armory to see many lost Elves with their weapons in their hands, or sitting down at a table and talking to others. Once he fully entered the room, they all turned their full attention to him and stopped speaking. He was their ruler, and was treated as such. "At ease, everyone." He ordered and saw a few of them visibly relax at his words. "With the war now over, there is no longer a threat on Greenspring. With that in mind, the war still hit us, and many cities and towns have been hurt and destroyed." He informed them all, making sure to keep their attention focused on him as he spoke. "Anastasia and I have been working on a reconstruction plan, but we can't do that without people willing to help. Anastasia made sure that I ask all of you, and see who volunteers, rather than giving out orders. She also wanted me to tell you since she thought that it would be easier for you to say no in front of me, rather than in front of her." he said with a small smile, seeing that a couple Elves smiled as well, and a few even chuckled at the remark. "Now, who want's to build this country to the top!?" Nearly all of them raised their hands and called out in approval at the request. It was their home, and they felt that it was their duty to look after it.

[tsubasa]

Anastasia felt weird, standing in front of all the knights who were currently not on the wall or watching the gate. She hadn't realized how many they were. She held her hands together to stop any trembling. Rennick hung up the map for her before scurrying off and hiding away. She looked over the knights and smiled, "With the war, many of you no longer have... well... a job. I'm sure watching an empty landscape is dull in comparison to the battlefield and I'm sure that many of you don't mind that. But I want to give you the opportunity to help our country and I want each of you to know that this is not an order but a request. A request that you are more than welcome to say no to."

She looked at the map, she had written on it as she waited for the knights to arrive. She had circled certain cities that she knew needed help as well as drew lines from the capital to figure out how close each city was. She looked at Knights again, "With the threat of the war gone, we are left in a weakened state. Cities are crumbling, people are starving. I wish to help our country but I can't do that alone. Samsul and I wish to ask each of you if you wish to travel to cities with supplies and the manpower to rebuild. While you're there, we will ask for inventory for food and medicine so that we can send out what we have to those in need. Samsul is currently with the Lost Elves. Those who volunteer among them will be sent to the outer most regions of the country. Those who volunteer among you, will be kept closer to the capital," She felt as though she were rambling as she spoke. She smiled at them, "So... Who wants to help?"

Many of the men rose their hands, good, she thought. They would still have people to watch over the castle while other helped them build. She nodded and walked over to the small table, "If you would come to the front and sign your name to this document," She said as she held up a piece of paper, "We will put you into groups depending on how many people we have to send out. From there, we will try and get you out of here as soon as possible so that we may start rebuilding."

[pyroman]

Samsul had ordered for the Lost Elves to file out and prepare for the journey. He wasn't sure how long it would all take, so he asked for them to prepare and plan a couple months ahead. As most of them had left the armory, Kala slowly walked over to Samsul and looked at him calmly, trying to keep her nervousness from showing. "Samsul." She started, gaining his full attention. "Could we talk for a moment? It won't be long, but I do feel like I have to say something." Curiously, Samsul nodded at Kala and moved aside from the door and sat down at one of the now vacant tables. Kala sat across from him and tried her best to keep her eyes locked onto his own. Recently, she had seemed so different than she usually did, and Samsul wanted to know why. She didn't see as loud, or boast nearly as often, and how, she even seemed hesitant, which was something that he had never seen Kala become.

"Kala. I have a few questions of my own, if you wouldn't mind. They can wait until you're done, however, so please say what you need to say." He told her calmly and waited for a response of any sort. She nodded at him and sat a moment quietly, most likely searching her thoughts for something. With a small sigh, Kala began. "I do feel sorry for what I did that one night. I shouldn't have kissed you, but I needed to know how it felt." She explained to him. "Sure we were just rivals and friends, but I wanted to be more with you. You were so caught up with work the only time I could see you was when sparring with you... I'm just happy that you found someone that you want to spend you life with." She said with a small smile as she rose from the table. "I guess it's my turn for something like that to happen. When we do spar again, I will beat you." She announced with a more confident smile as she left the room.

---

Months later, the work with reconstruction had gone very well, with Samsul being one of the only Last Elves that had stayed behind at the castle. He had to stay at the castle now, because he was now the crowned king of Greenspring. He remembered his coronation well, as many of the people from Anastasia's coronation, including Sara and Elisif, who were both happy to see him with Anastasia. He had duties at the castle to attend to, as well as slowly pushing forward the idea of having a child in the near future. He hoped that his advances of the idea were working well, and hoped that some time in the near future, an heir would be making his or her way into the world.

The office that Anastasia worked it was now shared by the two of them, and neither of them had a problem seeing each other right next to the other just about every day. Samsul had just finished singing another paper about the reporst on the rebuilding. His signature was needed to show that he read through it and approved of the things being built and rebuilt.

[tsubasa]

Anastasia had been sick all morning, which made her kind of relieved to have a King working at her side. Someone that allowed her to stay in bed all morning and be sick. She climbed out of bed as the sun cascading into their room. She sighed, it would be around noon and about time she got out of bed. Hearing the shuffling, Millie ran into the room, "What are you doing, Anastasia?"

"Getting out of bed?" She said as she sat on the edge and looked at the woman. Millie shook her head, "No, no, you've been throwing up all morning."

"I'm feeling better... I don't want to spend all day in bed. I was just going to spend lunch with Samsul," She explained as Millie shook her head and laid her back down in bed. Millie smiled at her, "I will go and get Samsul and order the two of you lunch but you, your highness, will stay in bed. I believe your husband would agree with me."

Anastasia sighed and curled up in the bed on her side as Millie left the room. She walked down to their office and knocked on the door before opening it. She smiled at Samsul, "Your wife wishes for you to join her for lunch... Well, she wishes to join you but I think it is best that she stays bed," she held her hands behind her back, "Go to your room. I'll go ask Eric to make you something to eat."

[pyroman]

Samsul sighed lightly as he recalled Anastasia being sick this morning. She didn't look well at all, and although he volunteered to do all the work by himself today, he wished that he wasn't the only one that could sign the papers. The Lost Elf snapped his head up from a paper and looked at the door after hearing someone knocking on the other side. "Enter, please," He said calmly as waited for whoever was on the other side to enter. He smiled as he recognized Millie, and relaxed a little in his posture as he did so. He nodded as she stated that she believed that it would be best for her to stay in bed. He nodded once more after she requested for him to go back to his room, and he did just that. "Thank you for telling me, Millie." He said on his way out.

Samsul walked quickly back to his room to see how his wife was doing. Once he reached the door, he opened it slowly and peered inside to see how she was doing, After opening it fully, Samsul stepped inside and smiled at Anastasia. "How've you been this morning? Feeling any better?" He asked her in a quieter tone as he made his way to the edge of the bed.

[tsubasa]

Millie smiled at Samsul as he thanked her. She curtsied, "No problem, your majesty, it is my job after all. Eric will be there soon."

She then turned in the opposite direction that the King left and walked down to the kitchens in search of Eric.
~
Anastasia lay on the bed with her eyes closed when she heard the door open. She saw Samsul enter and smiled at him as he walked over to her. She moved over slightly in the bed to allow him to sit down, "I've been better but I've been worse," She replied in the same hushed tone. She took a deep breath, "Lots of sleeping.. Lots of being sick... Thankfully Millie has come in practically every time she's heard me move, so my bowl is always clean and I don't have to smell anything."

She looked up at him from her spot on the bed and sighed, "I wanted to join you for lunch... I started to feel a bit better but Millie wouldn't let me," She took his hand and ran her thumb over the tops of his fingers, "A nurse is going to come and check on me later," She kept tracing her thumb over his fingers before she started to play with his wedding band, "I love you."

[pyroman]

Samsul smiled at seeing Anastasia play with the wedding band on his finger, and turned his head to look at his wife. "I love you as well, Anastasia." He said kindly as he looked bock down at their hands. He wanted to kiss her, but she was still sick, and he didn't want to risk the possibility of having him becoming sick as well. He was happy to hear that Millie was doing her job well by keeping her there in her bed, as well as going to the kitchen to ask Eric to cook for them. Millie was always good help, and as time passed on, he didn't really mind having her speak about him and Anastasia having children. He had even been convincing Anastasia to try. He wasn't sure when the nurse would be arriving, but he hoped that he wouldn't be forced out of the room like when Millie and Arabella were in the room as well.

[tsubasa]

Anastasia smiled when he told her he loved her as well. She knew this, she knew it well. They had been married a few months and together a few months more. Millie had still been talking about them starting a family and Samsul had jumped onto the wagon with her. Anastasia was still on the fence, there was so much to do and she wanted for the two of them to raise their children. She didn't want work to be continuously pulling them away. They had gone about 'trying' here and there, although that had been less for the want or thought of children and more so for want of each other or lust. Not to mention, there were other things that scared her about having children. She had heard of the pain of childbirth and the aches of pregnancy. She also knew of the visions and those scared her the most. She had been given up due to one of those visions. Her mother had seen her father and herself killed in one of those visions. She that she would see a similar fate. She looked up at Samsul and squeezed his hand, "Did your mother... ever tell you what she saw when she had you?"

[pyroman]

Samsul nodded silently as he remembered how it happened. He had only been about six or seven years old at the time, and he was just starting to allow his duties to consume his life. "Yes, she did tell me what she saw... She told me that she had seen an older version of me, most likely younger than I am now. She saw battling against many people, all being led by one person. She couldn't see who it was, but it was a powerful leader of some sort that targeted me specifically. I fought all of them. It was a small army at the most, and at the end of the vision, I attacked whoever was leading the attack.." He explained to her. "She says that she allowed me to train so hard and endlessly because of that vision. She didn't want to risk the chance of having me face opponents like that unless I was fully prepared."

[tsubasa]

Anastasia took a deep shaky breath and looked at Samsul, "So it scared her... Enough to let you work too hard too often."

She looked away from him and out the window at the other side of the room. If his mom had gotten that scared, to allow him to work harder than she ever want him to. To the point of where she met her and asked if she was pulling him out of his shell, making him work less. If she had gotten scared... How was Anastasia going to handle it when the moment came. She looked back at Samsul, tears in her eyes, "I'm scared..."

[pyroman]

Samsul covered Anastasia's hand with his free hand and looked at her calmly. He wasn't sure what exactly to tell her, as he had never faced a problem like this before. "Not all Visions are like that. Some of them are good, and promise a good future. Perhaps you will get a vision like that for our child..." He looked at her calmly and squeezed her hand lightly, trying his best to comfort her. "We can wait as long as you need to. I'm okay with waiting until then, Anastasia. You don't have to be scared..." He moved closer to her and smiled at his wife.

A moment later, a knocking came to the door. Not long after, the door as opened by Alex, along with another chef who was carrying the trays of food. The young chef smiled at the two of them and motioned at the food. "Here you go.." he said quietly as he moved over to the chef with the food would place the trays on the bed.