Chapter 36 Meeting the Contestants

Silas had just arrived at the castle. He wanted to be there before the Queen woke up, so that he was there to tend to the Queen when she wanted to relieve herself and to take a bath. But when he entered the front doors he could hear that the Queen was already awake eating breakfast. A moment later he saw his mom clamoring down the grand stair case in a hurry muttering to herself, "I need hot water and towels." "What's all the commotion first thing in the morning? The Queen is up mighty early," Silas hollered above all of his moms bustling. Eleanor's head shot up, just now noticing her son.

"Oh good heavens Silas you startled me. The Queen will be bathing upstairs today. The King has just informed me that you are not needed right now. I was told to send you away if I run into you," she huffed as she filled a bucket with water and grabbed a stack of towels. Silas's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Is the Queen alright? Is she sick? Should I take her to see Asa?" He began to panic thinking something bad had happened to his Queen. "No, no everything is alright, she is more than ok, she is actually better than ok. Just for today she will be bathing upstairs with the master. But you better hurry or he will have my head if he notices you here, go on now shoo."

She was a little too eager in shoving Silas toward the front door. Something was up, his mom was hiding something, she couldn't stop grinning like she had a big secret that she wasn't going to share with him. But he had no choice, if the King didn't want him here right now he couldn't stay. His hopes of seeing the Queen were quickly dashed. He was really looking forward to taking her for a swim today. His mom had just pushed him past the threshold and was closing the door when he caught a whiff of something strange. He glanced toward the window where she was located sniffing the air.

Something was different, the Queen's scent had changed! He sniffed again, his insides were beginning to tingle. His members stiffened to full length when he caught her scent. Something about her new scent was driving his senses wild. What was happening to his body, he thought. He had never felt this way before. His hands started shaking, he tried to subdue his members, but to no avail. He ran as fast as he could toward the lake, not even bothering to take off his clothes he dove straight into the freezing cold waters to stop the sensations that were coursing through his body. Something had definitely happened to the Queen and it was affecting him immensely.

I nodded to Helios, "I'm ready to meet the Contestants." He kissed me one more time before carrying me out of his chambers. The moment I came out the guards eyes turned toward me. Each one stared in disbelief at the star on the Queen's forehead, her mate mark was glowing! The Queen has conceived a child! As we passed the guards each one tossed their arm over their chest and bowed just like Eleanor did when she saw me earlier. I buried my face into Helios's chest embarrassed at his everyone was staring at my forehead. The glowing star was like a neon sign pointing at me saying 'Hey look at me I'm pregnant.' It was so embarrassing.

As we descended the grand staircase, I asked, "why are they bowing lime that? Even Eleanor bowed lime that too?" "They are bowing to show honor to you for conceiving an heir. It's tradition to bow to the Queen when she is with child. It's a sign of respect and congratulations for modern times," Helios cooed. I nodded showing my understanding. After descending Helios trekked across the great hall, I spotted Ihloi setting up tables and setting plates on each one. "Is there going to be food later," I asked. My stomach rumbling hungry again already. Helios laughed when he saw my face reddening.

"There is nothing to be ashamed about. Eleanor made snacks incase you or the little one gets hungry." Ihloi looked up at the mention of little one. He jumped back nearly dropping the stack of plates in his hands. "My Queen! This is a sudden surprise." He said setting the stack of plates down on the table. He came over and placed his hand on my forehead. "I'm shocked, how come you didn't tell me, I thought I was your most trusted advisor?" He chastised when asking Helios. "I wanted to keep it a surprise, she conceived late last night, I wanted to wait until today to let everyone know." "I was sleeping when it happened I don't remember when my head started glowing. All I remember is waking up with a dull ache in my head," I said explaining to Ihloi.

"So this was why you were in such a hurry to get back to the castle last night" Ihloi grinned wickedly at Helios. Then like everyone else he tossed his arm across his chest and bowed, "congratulations my Queen, I am honored to witness this day, an heir has been conceived. My stomach growled again in protest. Laughing aloud Helios handed me a fried egg sandwich that Eleanor had packed for me to eat on the go. "Here you go eat up. There's plenty more where that came from. I can't have you guys going hungry on me. Taking a bite of my sandwich I glanced around at all the tables. Seeing the curious look on my face Ihloi explained, "there is going to be a banquet tonight. We host one on the first night of everyone gathering for the Star Nebula tournament."

"And now it looks like we will also be celebrating your conception. I'll have to change plans for the dinner. We will serve roasted meat in your honor along with many sweets for dessert. Females love sweets. "Can there be an egg dish? I have a craving for eggs." I piped up. Ihloi chuckled, "of course my lady, we can't forget about what the little one wants now can we?" He said patting my tummy. My face flushed embarrassed again. "I'll go alert the kitchens now before they get too far with the preparations since we have to do a full one eighty with the menu. I'll be right back to join you guys in meeting the contestants shortly" He waved to me before he dashed off at the speed of light making a bee line for the kitchen.

Helios turned and carried me outside the castle. We waited for Ihloi on the front steps. Just as I was finishing my egg sandwich Silas came meandering toward us. When he saw me he took the steps two at a time in a hurry to see be with his Queen. When he was a few steps away he stopped abruptly, looking up he saw the glowing light on her forehead. His chest muscles constricted, as many emotions flitted across his face. How was she able to conceive so fast? It took females here millions of years to be able to conceive. She's only been here six months and she's already with child?!

Was this why her scent had changed and why his mom shooed him away earlier? He sniffed the air and sure enough her scent was different. The closer he got the stronger her scent overpowered him. His members began to stiffen again as he tried to fight his urges. How was the King able to be so close to her without losing control? Her scent was driving him mad, wanting to take her from him and mate with her right here and now. He took the last two steps and placed his hand over his chest and bowed low, "congratulations my Queen, long live the heir of Kosea," he struggled to get the words out sounding a little flustered.

I struggled out of Helios's grip. Landing on my feet I approached Silas smiling, "Helios told me I conceived last night while I was sleeping. I'm still trying to get used to it. It still hasn't fully hit me yet. I'm just as shock as you look," I said giggling at his expression. "How are you feeling? You aren't sore or feeling ill are you?" He recalled that she has been feeling ill in the mornings for the past month. "I'm feeling today. Though I have been feeling a lot hungrier today. I guess the little one must be growing fast because it doesn't want to stop eating. If I keep going like this I'm going to get fat," I pouted pinching my waist.

Helios interrupted, "You are not fat. You are very beautiful. Since you've been eating more you have gained curves on your body that drive me wild. You should eat more," he said pulling me onto his knee. Wrapping his arms around me he placed his hands across my waist completely covering it. My waist looked small in his hands. "You see you are not fat," he said seductively, as he caressed my waist and my tummy and kissing the back of my neck. My breathing hitched in my throat as I looked toward Silas embarrassed to see him staring at Helios being so intimate toward me like this. A moment later Ihloi joined us outside. Helios kissed me one more time before scooping me up and off we went toward the battle grounds.

We ascended up and over the hill and that's when I saw hundreds if not thousands of tiny little white tents scattered everywhere in neat little white rows, and if I looked closer there were males everywhere! I have never seen so many males in one place. I coward feeling a little intimidated by the number of males that were here. Were they really all here to see me? I shuttered to think that this many males would actually fight to the death for a female and one that was as weak as me. I grabbed a hold of Helios's cape and pulled it over me trying to hide. A few of the males spotted us and began to gather around us. I could feel them staring right at me.

Helios patted back reassuring me. I peaked out from his cape and one of the males was just mere inches from my face. I flinched tossing the cape back over me. Males all around me were laughing all in good fun. "Dont be shy little lady, we mean you no harm. All of us are gathered here in order to win your heart and a spot in being able to protect you from anyone who wishes you harm. She was definitely very timid and frightened of our human forms. If we had showed up in our true forms she surely would have died of fright," he thought. "Does that mean you won't eat me for dinner?" I asked timidly.

"No we promise we won't eat you," he said as more laughter rang out. I poked my head out from under the cape, without hesitation Helios flung the rest of the cape off of me and the entire crowd gasped when they saw me. The King set her down on her feet so the ones who were gathered could see her better. She clung to his robes with one of her hands, shaking from all of their gazes. She was absolutely stunning. How was the King able to find a female that was so beautiful. She was small like a little doll, fragile and pale like the moon. Her mate marks were exquisite. They were full of colors and designs of flowers, butterflies, vines and leaves around her waist, shooting stars across her back and the sun and moon covered her supple breasts.

Their eyes darted up to her face, her eyes were captivating, even though they were filled with fear, they were still beautiful, they were green like emeralds and filled with a thousand suns as the gold in her eyes glinted off their swords. Her cheeks were colored a rosy pink, flushed with embarrassment, her nose was tiny and cute as a button. Her golden brown curls flowed like a river over her slim shoulders and down her back. But what caught their attention the most was her forehead. She had a row of stars on her forehead and one of them was glowing illuminating her face in a soft glow. This young Queen was with child!!!

Every knee hit the ground as the sound of hundreds of males beat their chest tossing their arm across and in unison they shouted, "congratulations our young and beautiful Queen, we hope that you will choose us to protect you and your heir to the ends of the Earth. I was astonished at how majestic it was. There was no rehearsal and yet they were like one mind body and soul in this moment. I had never seen anything like it. The male that had startled me earlier came over and I knelt down beside me. He took my hand in his and kissed the top of it. "My name is Be'ron, I am the King of Astranova located a couple of light years away from Kosea."

"It it's nice to meet you, my name is Chelsey, I I'm the Queen of Kosea" I stuttered my hand trembling in his grasp. I was so not used to this level of gorgeous males approaching me. I averted his gaze staring up at Helios nervously. He smiled down at me letting me know I was doing great. My confidence went up a notch. Her hand was so tiny wrapped in his. He could tell just from one touch how delicate she was. It made his heart melt wanting to protect her all the more. Be'ron was adorned with a white robe similar to Helios but the inside was lined with red. He had gold tassels on his broad shoulders and across his chest. His hair was a bright reddish orange color that reminded me of fire.

Two more very important looking males stepped forward each one more handsome than the last. They both got down on their knee and just like Be'ron, took my hand in theirs and kissed the top of my hand. "My name is Arlae I am the King of Ruria. The one to my right said. "And I am Rul'hal King of Uelara." The one on my left said. Arlae was wearing a white robe lined with yellow inside, he had blondish yellow hair and a tall build but not as broad as Be'ron, while Rul'hal wore a white robe lined with green, his hair was a blackish green color and he was shorter and was the first person I saw here that had facial hair growing on his face. Helios's robe looked similar to there's white but lined with royal blue. So I'm going to guess the Kings wear these robes to signify their rule of a planet. Helios stepped up behind me, placing his hands on my shoulders,

"We are the Kings that make up the five star alliance. Each of our magic is governed by the power of Air, Water, Earth, Fire, and Ice," he said pointing to each of the Kings. "Our alliance works together in harmony to provide much needed resources to everyone in the universe and beyond. Kosea is most important because we provide water from the frozen mountains and ice caves you see beyond the city," he said pointing toward the north side. "We also provide the alliance's currency from mining the shooting stars you see constantly flying across our skies." I looked up, seeing the many shooting stars flying high above me. "Shooting stars appear more frequently here in the North than anywhere else in the galaxy."

Helios kept talking about the alliance and what each one was responsible for, but his voice drowned out in the background as I kept eyeing the rows of tents and the commotion going on around us. There were males everywhere, fireworks were being set off as they whizzed just above the tents. Stars were flying above as well as spells being cast left and right. The males that I could see running about looked like they were training as they fought each other in small one on one battles with others standing around cheering. It looked like so much fun. That's when I noticed something off about the tents. As I looked closer I saw that each tent had a little chimney with smoke coming out the top. I found it a little bit strange seeing as a one person sized tent would have the ability to have enough room for a fire let alone a chimney. I was super curious to find out what was inside.

All the Kings around me stopped talking as they noticed my attention was elsewhere. They followed my line of sight and noticed that I was staring at the tents with such intensity. Be'ron smiled as he thought to himself, she's a human she probably hasn't had much contact with magic yet. Bending down to her eye level, feeling a little mischievous he asked her, "Do you want to see what is inside of a magic tent?" Her eyes lit up with excitement she seemed excited to explore the wonders of their universe that the humans have so dearly missed out on due to their greed and power hungry nature. But this little one was different. Her aura didn't show him power hungry. Her aura was pure and very very curious.

He took her hand in his and led her to his tent. The other Kings, Ihloi and Silas followed close behind wanting to see her reaction. I took Be'rons hand and followed him to the tents, the closer I got the more curious I became. "Welcome to my humble abode," Be'ron said waving his hand in front of his tent. I let go of his hand and ran up to the flap hanging down. Lifting it up I walked into his tent. I was not prepared for what was inside. My jaw dropped witnessing the magic within. There was an entire mini castle inside the tent!!! I counted at least four rooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a comfy looking sitting area. I quickly ran back outside running around the tent. When I came back around Be'ron snapped his fingers just before I ran back inside.

The scene in front of me changed. I was no longer in a mini castle, I was now standing in sand in front of the ocean!!! This tent was sooo cool! I ran toward the water wanting to take a swim, but then it hit me, I can't get wet or my mate marks would disappear! I planted my feet in the sand to try to stop myself from diving into the water, but I miscalculated how the sand would react under my feet never having seen sand in person before, and I ended up face planting in the sand. I heard sniggering coming from behind me. Spitting the sand out of my mouth, I turned and glowered at everyone that was laughing behind me.

Everyone averted their gaze pretending that they didn't just see me fall face first into the sand. Gee thanks guys I thought sarcastically. Helios came over and picked me up setting me back on my feet. He tried to hide his smile as he proceeded to dust the sand off of my body. "Are you ok? Your not hurt are you?" Helios ask. Just my pride, I thought. "I'm ok, I just forgot for a moment that I can't get wet otherwise my mate marks will disappear. I wanted to play in the water," I pouted. Helios chuckled when he saw my face. She was so adorable when she was pouting. I followed Helios outside the tent, sad that I couldn't play in the water. Then I had an idea pop into my head, if this was a magic tent I wonder if all of them did the same thing?

I wanted to visit the other tents and see if each one looked different or led to a different world just like Be'ron's tent. So while all the Kings were preoccupied I slowly backed away hoping they wouldn't notice me as I turned and headed to another tent. Hey I know why don't I greet the males while I take a look inside the tents. Maybe they won't mind if I take a quick peek inside. I came up to the tent next to Be'ron's and poked my head in glancing around really quickly. That's when I noticed a male sitting in a comfy armchair by the stove, "oh I'm so sorry, I just wanted to see the magic tents. It's nice to meet you, sorry for bothering you." I closed the tent flap and moved onto the next tent.

Each tent I visited was different from the last. It was amazing how they were able to change the scenery inside each tent. I saw scenes of forests, lakes, castles, and tiny one bedroom cozy cot/bunk rooms with a fire stove. Maybe each tent was designed on their preference? Some were fancier than others, so maybe depending on how rich or important you were the better the tent was? I was curious to find out how it worked. I ran from tent to tent greeting males as I went. I giggled at the startled expressions on their faces. They probably weren't expecting me to show up at their tents unannounced, after all it was a spur of the moment decision on my part.

Helios looked around, he just now realized his Queen wasn't by his side anymore, he cut the conversation short, "I need to find my mate, she took off by herself. I'll be right back," Helios told the Kings. "She probably went to explore, you shouldn't worry too much. Let her have some fun. The Star Nebula Tournament doesn't happen everyday you know," Be'ron chuckled seeing the High King's worried expression. "You don't know her like I do, she gets into trouble quite often. One accident can send her to the infirmary. Helios sniffed the air searching for her scent, he walked briskly up and down the row of tents, it took him all of two minutes to figure out that her scent was on every tent on the battleground.

Well this threw him for a loop, I wonder what she's up too he thought. He searched a few more rows of tents before he finally spotted her, the other Kings had finally caught up to him. He saw his Queen looking inside each tent, she would pop her head in say Hello, welcome to Kosea, or it's nice to meet you and then move onto the next tent. He sighed in relief, at least she wasn't hurt. He shook his head amazed by how bold she was becoming. She was getting more and more adventurous everyday she was in Kosea. She's didn't seem afraid as she went poking around just like normal children would. She looked like she was having so much fun that he thought she had almost forgotten she was with child.

Helios grinned seeing his Queen trying to establish herself as the Queen. He was so proud of her. Ihloi came up behind him, "Should we stop her your Highness? Ihloi asked the King. "No it'll be ok this will teach the males that they should always be on their toes around her. It's good training for them." Helios chuckled. The other Kings stared in wonder at the little Queen. They have never seen a female take initiative to visit all the males before. This was a first for them. This Queen was a playful little one. You never knew when you were going to get a visit from her seeing her head popping in and out of the tents wanting to see the magic within. She was more curious than a newborn.

I was finally on the last few rows of tents, getting ready to finish my mission in greeting all the males here. Males were coming out of their tents laughing as they saw what I was up too. They were astonished that the Queen would come and visit them of all people. No female has ever visited their tents personally. It gave them a shock when they saw a tiny little figure pop into their tents and they saw that it was the High Queen! But what surprised them the most was when they saw her forehead glowing inside their tents. She was with child and she still came out to visit them! Their hearts were touched at her heart felt gesture.she was the best Queen they ever had!

I lifted the flap on the last tent excited to see inside. I was expecting another cool scene but instead I was greeted with a dark mass, a pitch black monster was hovering above the ground with a skull face, claws, and fangs baring at me. I trembled almost peeing myself. I slowly back out of the tent and turned and ran screaming at the top of my lungs, "Awww it's a monster run away." All the males in the vicinity bellowed with laughter. I spotted Helios and ran to him as fast as I could. I ducked and hid under his robes. Now the males knew why the King said to remain in human form. She was so adorable when she was scared.

Helios looked down at me patting me on my back, "You shouldn't be running into stranger's tents. Maybe this will teach you a lesson." Helios said with a smirk looking down at me. Still clinging to him, I stuck my tongue out at him. All the males chortled at how funny and cute the Queen was. She was absolutely entertaining to be around. She was like a curious newborn and so easily entertained. I looked over and saw the monster approaching me, "help me Helios the monster is coming closer! He's going to eat me! My knees went weak almost buckling from under me.