The siren queen

After a few more days of travel, you arrive in the capital city of Mermouthia. You draw a lot of attention as you head into town. Not very surprising, with you and Clarissa wearing your impressive armor, Maya and Kali with their wings, and Sadie and Lynn with their unusual skin color. Elys goes unnoticed, having decided to wear a hooded cloak for just that reason.

You draw the most attention, between your red-gold armor and the rumors that seem so swirl ahead of you. You catch snatches of conversations as your group head towards the palace.

“Is that the one? I heard about him!”

“...heard he collects monster girls...”

“...some kind of mage-emperor...”

“...here to see the Queen?”

You ignore the conversation and observe the populace. You see a rather diverse group, similar to what you saw in Queen Sella’s kingdom. Idly, you wonder if women are more open to diversity in their lands. Of course, both kingdoms are led by monster girls themselves, so that probably has more to do with it.

Reaching the palace, you approach the guard at the door. He looks you up and down, then nods. “Here to speak with Queen Kallista, I assume? Go ahead, Magus, she is expecting you.”

You thank the guard and head in. As you walk the long hallway to the throne room, you can feel Elys shivering beside you. You take her hand and Maya takes the other, and she squeezes gratefully as you reach the door. You hear her take a deep breath and see her look down as you walk in.

As you walk into the throne room, your eyes are immediately drawn to the woman seated on the central throne. An older woman with long silver hair watches your approach. Though clearly in her late 50s or even early 60s, her beauty still shines through. She watches your approach with a smile. You notice a second, smaller throne beside hers, with a silver candle burning in front of it.

Queen Kallista greets you. “Welcome to Mermouthia, Magus Josh. King Trevor sent word of your journey, and my scouts reported your arrival. I understand that you are here to discuss an alliance of some kind?”

Before you can answer, there’s a choked sob beside you. Elys pulls off her hood, and gasps come from the assembled courtiers. You’ve never seen her like this, tears running from her silver eyes as she steps forward slowly.

“M-mommy!”

Queen Kallista gasps, leaping to her feet. “Elly?! How...”

The queen steps down from her throne as Elys slowly walks forward. “M-mommy...I’m...I’m ssso s-sssorry....I misssed you ssso much...”

Before she can continue, Kallista has rushed over and is hugging Elys. “Shhh...you don’t need to, little Elly...mommy has you now...”

Maya steps close to you and holds your hand, both of you a little teary eyed at the reunion. The queen looks up, tears running down her face as she looks at you. “We...we must talk. Come with me.”

With that, she leads a sobbing Elys through a door beside the throne, and guards usher you and your party in after them. You’re led to a room with many couches, and Kallista sits, holding Elys who clings to her desperately. Composing herself as she strokes her daughters hair, she looks to you.