Serenity

The Queen

In a kingdom far, far away, much further than you can ever imagine, for it existed in a separate dimension, lived a king and a queen, ruling over the region of Sarparina. This royal pair have been married for many, many years, yet not a single offspring have been blessed unto them. They were both getting rather old, and every single day they prayed for a beautiful daughter or a monster slaying son, someone reliable who can take the throne when they could no longer do so themselves.

It never came, though.

The doctor even said the queen might not have be able to become pregnant, for her king was sterile. So they gave up hope, maybe it was not their blessing to have a child. What else can be done, right?

Wrong. The queen could hardly accept it. For some reason, having an inheritor was much more important to her than anything else in the world.  She was determined, so one fateful night, she tiptoed out of the palace, and into the village. Being a queen, she had never stepped into the ominous dark without company, so she was very anxious.

The queen arrived at the center of the village, marked by a big well made by the ancestors of the villagers. There was only one particular person that the queen knew to trust, and despite this being a huge request, she was willing to take the risk. The queen made her way to a rigid wooden house not so far away from the well, and knocked on the door.

It took quite a few minutes of knocking, when finally the door was opened, and there stood the queen's one and only friend, Makaya.

"Your highness? What brings you here so late at night?"

"There is something I would like to request of you, Makaya, and I know it is a very big request but I hope you can fulfil it."

Makaya allowed the queen to enter her home. She was about to go to the kitchen to prepare a drink when the queen said there was no need for that.

"Sit down, we must talk."

"Um.. Okay," but just as she was about to sit beside the queen, a loud cry was heard from inside the bedroom. "Oh, excuse me, your highness."

Makaya rushed to the room, in an attempt to hush the baby. Makaya had her hands full, ever since her husband died a few months before. She had to work hard to feed all nine of her children.

The baby didn't stop crying, though, even when Makaya tried to feed the baby milk, it did not work. The queen entered the room, and saw the baby. The beautiful baby, and the baby saw her, and immediately stopped crying.

Makaya was stunned.

"Your highness.."

"Is it a boy or a girl?"

"A.. Girl. Her name is Maia."

"Makaya, I... Can I hold her?" The mother of nine obliged and handed the baby to the queen, who carefully cradled her in her arms. "She is so beautiful.."

"Yes. She's a very special little girl."

The queen thought for a while, before asking, "Makaya, are you okay with taking care of all nine of your children? With your current situation?"

"I admit it is rather difficult, but I must do my best to raise them. No matter what."

"I can help you. I will give you a job with higher pay and I shall have a bigger house built for you. But I want something in return."

"Oh that sounds wonderful, your highness! I will do anything to pay back your kindness."

"I want to take Maia."