Family Trip (Lost Druid)

The waves of water crashed and folded onto each other on Kamo's shores. The sounds of the waves crashing and colliding made Cur-Kel feel at home. He stood in the water, his purple fish-scale legs, feeling the cool embrace of the water. He gripped his coral necklace (a magical object that granted him the ability to walk on land). "I keep forgetting how beautiful this place is," he said. "It's peaceful too," said Queen Kera as she walked up to him and placed her head on his shoulder as her dragonic eyes looking out onto the waves. Cur-kel wrapped his arm around her and held her. "It is nice not having a dozen people asking 20 different questions and hearing nobles gossip," said Cur-kel. "Agh, those fools are so much more trouble than they're worth," said Queen Kera. "Couldn't agree more," said Cur-kel. They continued to stare out for a good long while, trying to enjoy all the peace they could.

Reconstruction of the outer villages was slow and had been bogged down by elites fighting over scraps and trying to preserve what little they had left. Decades of plans, compromises, and deals made Kamo City rebuild under Queen Zera's rule, and a couple of the major cities. Then Queen Zera died. Nobles then began fracturing since they didn't believe in Kera's leadership skills. She kept relying on her husband, mother, and stepfather rather than coming up with her own solutions. For some, this seemed like a strength, yet as time went on, it began to be seen as a weakness. That was 5 years ago, and the debates still raged on until Queen Kera had had enough and went to the beach for some peace and quiet. They even took their adult kids and grandkids, and got to see them play in the water or sand, with a couple of them even trying to sunbathe.

After a day of relaxation, it was back to the annoying court in Kamo City. During the trip back, the royal family rode through a couple of villages. The villagers came out and waved, rejoiced, and threw flowers. They also offered various objects and food to the horses, family, and guards. They gave joyfully, proud that their hard work would be admired by the royal family. "Oh, how sad it is that they don't know how much hate we take each day," said Cur-kel. "Yes, but their love is why we have to fight for them," said Queen Kera as she looked out the window with her dragonic eyes.

When dusk fell, the carriage stopped at a tiny inn. The royal family, with their servants and guards, took more than half the rooms. This forced guests to share rooms with strangers and became a logistical nightmare for the host, as he and his family were not prepared for this. Luckily, Kera's children helped with the rearrangements while Queen Kera babysat her grandkids. She also ordered the servants to help move the guests. Many of the guests tried to talk to the royal family, but the guards prevented them from coming closer than 20ft. They tried asking all kinds of questions, from gifts to land to titles. Others asked about the castle, the family, and even politics. Then one little kid came up and asked, "Do you like your dragonic eyes, and how did you get them?"

The question made Queen Kera freeze for a moment. She placed a finger next to her eyes. "My eyes come from a druid trait called Animalia. Which has two forms: minor and major. I have minor animal features, as they're only noticeable in my eyes. I got them from my father, who was once a High Druid," answered Queen Kera. "Did that High Druid happen to be named Katose?" asked another kid. Queen Kera froze once more. "Yes," she said with a sorrowful tone. "What's so special about dragon eyes besides their shape and color?" asked another kid. "Well, even though the rest of my body is old, my eyes are still young. I can still see everything very clearly and more detailed than most people, and reading is no problem. That's about the only thing I like about them," said Queen Kera as she once again pointed at her eyes. "Why don't you like them?" asked a kid. Queen Kera signed. "They make looking at reflections...harder. Especially, since some of the skin surrounding my eyes has become more scaly over time. It's just been something I've had to deal with for decades. When I was a young princess, I used to hate my eyes, but my stepfather taught me to embrace them and said that every curse has its blessings and every blessing has its curse. My husband will say the same thing any time I start to stare too long in a mirror or window," answered Queen Kera. She grinned at all the times she stared at mirrors, looking at her dragonic eyes. "You're both a sunflower and a dragon. Strong and beautiful. Sterdy and delicate," whispered the voice of Kamos. "A sunflower and a dragon," whispered back Queen Kera.

"Grandma? Grandma?" the voice of her grandkids snapped Queen Kera back to the present. "I'm sorry, what is it?" she asked. "Grandma, the rooms are ready, and you spaced out again. Grandpa sent the villagers away to give you space. We were told to snap you back to reality," said her grandchildren, their smiles gleaming with happiness and relief. "Oh, why, thank you. I didn't realize I spaced out for so long," said Queen Kera. "Dad said that you spacing out is becoming more and more common and that we shouldn't worry, but we also can't have the people see so we have to come up with funny reasons as to why you space out," said her grandchildren. "Oh, really? And what did you use as an excuse for me this time?" asked Queen Kera. "We said that you were using your nature powers to talk to the ground since you kept ignoring its question and kept answering the people's questions," answered her children. "Well then, thank you for covering me. I hope the people weren't too disappointed in me," said their grandmother. "They weren't. They thought you became too stressed or remembered something terrible from your childhood. The lie we gave them only gave them more reason to leave. The guards also shooed the crowd away," said the grandchildren. "Ah, well, it's getting late, so we must go to bed, wake up early, and head back to the castle," said Queen Kera. "Alright. Good night." said the grandchidlren as they walked up the stairs and waved good night. Queen Kera sat still. "Cur-kel. How long did I space out this time?" asked Queen Kera. "Long enough for the grandkids to start worrying. Then when you didn't naturally snap out of it they then started talking into your ear until you came back. Took them a while for it to work. Which makes it longer than most of the other times." said Cur-kel. He stood up, followed by her queen. He walked her up the stairs and they went into thier room.

The next moring everything was packed, and the royals went back to the captiol city and the castle. Where another day's worth of petty politcis awaited them.