PLEASE NOTE: I do not own Pokémon, and I have to say that I'm kind of proud of it, because the idea of capturing animal-like creatures to make them fight each other is pretty sick, actually. Whatever, every species of Pokémon referred to in the following text is the property of their rightful owner, however, the actual story belongs to me. No copyright infringement is intended.


WARNING: This story contains scenes of sexual intercourse between one female and one male Pokémon. If this offends you, then I ask you politely to leave right now; I will not be held responsible for any possible occurrences of mental damage you might experience from reading this.


Thank you.




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Heiress of the Sun





The light coming in through the large window made the marvelous white dress glisten slightly, building up a soft, golden hue around it. Salyah was so entranced by the way the sun was playing with the silk fabrics that she didn't even pay attention to what the tall Nidoqueen was talking about. She was standing next to a blackboard with a rough sketch of the country's outlines on it, holding a pointer in one of her paws, which she used to make it easier for Salyah to understand where certain villages and cities were positioned, seemingly not even noticing that all her efforts of trying to teach her lone pupil were in vain. The small Nidorina simply couldn't take her eyes off the Nidoqueen's dress. It was brand new, there was no doubt about it, and it must have been made especially for her, the way it fitted so perfectly and moved in complete synchronization with the large female, covering her body all up to the neck but also taking nothing of her natural elegancy away. Its seam was decorated with simple, yet graceful ornamentations in the shapes of all kinds of different flowers, which had a blue bead in each one of their petals.
Salyah had always been jealous of her caretakers, even those who weren't dressed quite as well as Tetzi, who was not only her teacher but also her best friend, in spite of their age difference. Clothes were not only a sign of wealth, but were also specifically made for Nidokings and Nidoqueens only, so Salyah simply couldn't wait to finally grow up. Being the only child of this country's king, she would have the royal tailor make a dress for her that would be of unspeakable brilliance. It would be more beautiful even than Tetzi's new outfit, which certainly meant a lot, since Salyah had never seen anything nearly as wonderful as her friend's dress before.

"Salyah!" the Nidorina suddenly heard a voice. She blinked and shook her head, trying her best to take her mind off the thoughts of having a dress all of her own. Salyah mentally reminded herself of the situation she was in again; she was sitting on a cushioned stool in her room, and there was a lesson going on in front of her. Tetzi was tapping the blackboard with her pointer in an impatient way.

"Were you even listening to me, Salyah?" she asked. The Nidorina looked to the side and blushed slightly. She felt embarrassed since, after all, it was not a part of the expected behavior of a future queen to get distracted by clothes. Tetzi sighed and lowered the pointer a little.

"Can you at least tell me why we've been at war with the Langghari for so many years now?" Salyah quickly turned her head back towards the blackboard. Langghar was the term for the lands surrounding Jorai, the country all the Nidorans and their evolutions lived in, and the Langghari were those Pokémon inhabiting these lands. Salyah smiled and nodded, as she knew the answer to this question very well.

"They started to fight us because they're all savage brutes, jealous of our country's wealth and our people's advanced intelligence," she replied happily, earning a warm smile from her teacher.

"That's absolutely correct," Tetzi said in a satisfied tone, obviously glad to hear that Salyah had learned something from her after all. "However, there is another reason you've missed. Do you remember it?" The Nidoqueen tapped against the blackboard again with her pointer, right at a small circle in the middle of the country of Jorai, next to which the word "Sanctuary" was written. Sanctuary was the name of the largest city of Jorai, and it was not only the capital, but also the residence of the royals and the place where the most important artifact of the country was kept. Salyah nodded again.

"They also want to steal the Fragment of the Sun," she spoke. "It is the source of our wealth. It makes the crops grow and the sky bright, the rivers flow and our people strong. They want to take it, so we must protect it." Salyah was sure she could see a sparkle of joy within her teacher's eyes.

"Yes, great!" Tetzi exclaimed excitedly and then moved her pointer further to the right. "Now listen up closely, this might become very important one day when you rule the country. It was about fifty years ago that the Langghari tried to invade from the east, but Arvin, one of our most competent generals, managed to drive them back into their own filthy country with a brilliant strategy, even though his forces were clearly outnumbered. It also helped, of course, that we've always had the advantage of better weapons and armor, but that doesn't mean it..." She stopped talking as there was a knock on the door. Tetzi blinked and Salyah turned around.

"Come in!" the Nidoqueen shouted and the heavy wooden portal opened immediately. A Nidoking who was taller than Tetzi stepped inside, leaving the door open behind him. He was wearing the standard armor of the palace guards, which was both very protective and stunningly beautiful to look at. All of its parts, the breast plate, the greaves, the bracers, the gauntlets and the helmet, which was mounted with two horns in addition to the Nidoking's own, were made from polished silver and had the symbol of the sun engraved on them, which was a circle with triangles pointing towards eight directions around and two more, smaller circles in it. As usual, the guard held on to his weapon, which was a halberd bigger than himself that also had the symbol of the sun engraved on its two blades. The guard quickly went down to his knees and lowered his head as he saw Salyah, saying:

"My adoration, princess." He was taking rather deep breaths, as if he had been running just a moment ago. Tetzi shook her head and placed her paws on her waist, trying to look as stern as she could.

"I'm hoping for you that it's important," she spoke in a somewhat menacing tone. "You're interrupting a history lesson about one of the greatest battles ever fought in this war." The guard nodded quickly, but still paid attention to keeping his head lowered in a respectful manner.

"It is about the king," he said. "His condition has gotten worse. He demanded to see the princess as soon as possible."

"My father?" Salyah asked in a surprised tone. She frowned. "What do you mean, his condition has gotten worse? He just has a harmless cold, hasn't he?" It didn't seem like the guard was going to give her any kind of answer, as he simply kept his gaze lowered and remained motionless. Salyah turned around again so she could look at Tetzi, whose facial expression was all but encouraging. She seemed to be shocked and scared at the same time. The small Nidorina felt herself becoming nervous.

"Tetzi?" she asked, her voice shivering a little. "It's all going to be alright, isn't it?" The Nidoqueen turned her head to the side and cleared her throat.

"We should go," she said tonelessly.








Keeping up with the guard wasn't exactly easy for Salyah. She wasn't used to walking in such a hasty pace, and since her legs were considerably shorter than those of a Nidoking or -queen, she practically had to run all the way. The royal palace was a gigantic building, but her room luckily wasn't too far from her father's. The two largest towers were where they lived, and they were connected with a single, about a hundred meters long, hallway. She still found it to be rather annoying that they first had to run down a long staircase and then had to ascend about the same number of steps in the other tower. When they had finally reached the large wooden door, which was decorated with both the symbol of the sun and paintings of the king's crown in various places, Salyah was spending a lot of effort on trying to catch her breath. As the guard knocked on the door, the Nidorina turned her head to look up at Tetzi, who'd had even more trouble keeping up with the Nidoking, as it wasn't exactly easy to move quickly in such a pompous dress. However, her friend didn't show any signs of exhaustion; she was simply staring forwards and seemed to be very tense.

The golden handle lowered itself as the door was opened from the other side. At first it only went far enough so whoever had opened it could see the arrivals through the door crack. It then quickly opened further, revealing another guard who basically looked just like the one that had led Salyah and Tetzi here. He quickly went down to his knees, saying:

"My adoration, princess." After that he stood up again, turned around and lowered his gaze. "It is your daughter and one of her caretakers, your majesty." The guard then stepped to the side, clearing the doorway.
Salyah gasped when she saw what had formerly been covered up by the Nidoking's mighty figure. She hadn't been in her father's room all too often, so its precious and unique furnishings would normally have caught her attention, but the current situation didn't allow any such distractions. Except for the guard that had opened the door and her father there was only one other Pokémon in the room, who was a Nidoqueen dressed in a simple white coat, which had obviously not been made to look good, but to be practical instead. Salyah had seen such coats before, when she had caught a light illness some time ago and one of the royal medics had come to examine her. The Nidoqueen was standing at her father's bed and had turned her head towards the visitors when they had entered the room. She looked slightly desperate, but apparently tried to remain calm.

"Father!" Salyah exclaimed worriedly and hurried to the side of the king's bed. She was, however, too small to even see him. Tetzi seemingly noticed this, as she quickly lifted the princess up on the bed right next to the large Nidoking who was lying on his back. Salyah blinked and took a deep breath. Never before had she seen her father like this; he had always made the impression of an old, dignified Nidoking, but only now she realized just how old he really was. His once hard and deeply purple skin was, in comparison to other members of his species, rather pale and of an ill, weak tone and its many wrinkles made it appear soft and vulnerable. Other than his face, legs and arms, however, his entire body was covered up by the red cloak with golden symbols of the sun embroidered on it, which only the king was allowed to wear. His head was resting on a large, very soft pillow in a slightly diagonal position, so that the golden crown, which also had the symbol of the sun as well as many red and green gemstones on it, wouldn't fall down. He was now slowly opening his eyes and Salyah could see that this cost him quiet a bit of effort.

"Salyah," he greeted her in a weak tone, raising his right front paw a little to place it on her cheek. "I am glad you have come." The Nidorina quickly sat down and held on to his paw with hers. It was more than just unsettling to see her father in such a state.

"Father, what's wrong with you?" she asked nervously. "I was told you just had a cold and would get better in a short time..." The king chuckled, which sounded more like heavy coughing than like anything else. He then took a deep breath, his entire body shaking a little.

"You weren't supposed to know..." he began, and for a moment Salyah thought he would cough again, but he simply swallowed and went on: "I wish I wouldn't have to tell you this, my daughter, but I am dying..."

"Dying?" Salyah repeated in an unbelieving tone. She shook her head and then looked up at the medic, who shrugged in a helpless manner. Tetzi stared at the Nidoqueen in the white cloak with an angry expression. Salyah quickly looked back at her father again.

"You can't die, you're the king! What are we supposed to do without you?"

"I agree, the king cannot die." The medic stepped backwards and shook her head as Tetzi spoke these words. "It was your task to make sure he'd get better!" she told the cloaked Nidoqueen with an accusing stare. "I hope you do know what happens to those who don't want to fulfill their assigned duties!" Tetzi made a gesture with her paw, moving it along her throat to amplify her threat. An unmistakable expression of panic was seen on the medic's face.

"This is not my fault," she claimed, sounding a bit desperate. "There's nothing I can do against time! This is not an illness anyone could treat, our king has simply arrived at the end of his life."

"That's true," the Nidoking's weak voice was heard and Tetzi's hateful expression became softer. "Don't blame her. I have lived for long enough." He breathed deeply and closed his eyes. "Salyah, you will be the new queen. Go to the chamber of the sun. Lanran will tell you all you need to know." His speech became progressively slower and was now interrupted by his painful coughing again. He then whispered: "We must defend the Fragment, Salyah, no matter what happens... We must defend the Fragment..." The king stopped talking, but Salyah could still see his chest rise and decline again during his heavy breaths. She knew he was too weak to say anything else. The Nidorina lowered her gaze.

"I will do as you told me, father," she spoke. For a moment she kept looking the Nidoking, feeling strangely aware of the fact that she was watching him losing his life. She wasn't sure what would become of her and of the entire country now. How was she supposed to ever become a ruler as skilled as him? Then again, if it was true that this Lanran her father had mentioned had such a profound knowledge, maybe she could learn it from him.
A moment passed, and then she felt Tetzi's large paw on her shoulder.

"We should go," she said tonelessly.







Never before had Salyah been in the chamber of the sun. She knew where it was located, though, which was in the very center of the entire palace, a room that was guarded like no other. Nobody was ever allowed to enter without a good reason, and such reasons were scarce. On the way there she tried to picture in her mind how this hidden place would look like, and how it would be to finally see the Fragment of the Sun that was kept there. Tetzi had told her about its powers many times, but the Nidoqueen had never seen it, either, of course. However, her curiosity would shortly be satisfied; accompanied by the same guard as before they had already put all the stairs behind them and left the king's tower. Now, however, they were walking at a considerably slower pace, sometimes passing other guards or servants who wore nothing but a black cape, and all of them performed deep bows as soon as they saw the future queen and didn't look up again until she was out of sight. Every once in a while Salyah looked up at Tetzi, but the Nidoqueen was looking straight ahead and didn't seem to let her feelings influence her expression in any way.
They walked down many corridors, which basically all looked the same; every now and then they passed small tables with colorful potted plants on them and large windows through which the sun shone inside, and which granted very nice views on the dense city that lay beneath the hill on which the palace was built. Many Nidokings and Nidoqueens were strolling through the narrow streets, some of them pulling carts behind them, filled with fruits, vegetables or all manner of different crafted objects, which they were probably planning to sell on the market in the center of town. Some children could also be seen, playing in the streets, but Salyah didn't have time to notice any of this. She was way too busy thinking about all the things that were to come now, and with every passing second she seemed to become more unsure about her own abilities to deal with all this. Therefore it was a relief for her when they finally reached the gigantic door that was as tall as at least four Nidokings, and made entirely out of gray rock. One single Pokémon would never be able to move such a colossus, and Salyah wondered how it was supposed to be opened, as there seemingly wasn't even any kind of handle or knob on it. It just looked like two stone walls with a barely even noticeable crack between them. There were two guards positioned at this enormous gateway, one on the right side and one on the left side. Just like everyone else they cordially greeted Salyah and then stood up again. The right guard then turned around and just now Salyah noticed a tiny hole in the wall, through which he shouted:

"It's the princess! Open up!" It took a moment for it to happen, but then a loud rattle was heard and the two stone walls slowly slid apart. At least a minute passed until the crack between the slabs had become wide enough for Salyah to see something behind them from her position. There was a large wheel, which seemed to be made out of the same kind of rock as the stone slabs. A metal chain was wrapped around it and went off somewhere to the right; it had to be connected to the mechanism that moved the door. The wheel had several handles, and six strong Nidokings were necessary to turn it even at such a low speed. They were all dressed in the common guards' armor as well and their halberds were currently leaning against a wall. They kept working until the gateway had opened far enough for all the visitors to step through, then they stopped and kneeled down to greet their princess. Salyah had been watching with her mouth agape, but now she quickly regained her posture and followed her guard into this new corridor, Tetzi coming right after her. As soon as they had stepped through, the six Nidokings started turning the wheel in the other direction again, and for a moment Salyah feared that all light would maybe disappear as soon as the door was closed, but then she noticed a soft, warm glow coming from the direction they were walking in. The corridor was curved slightly, so there was no possibility for the Nidorina to see exactly where the light came from, but it definitely became stronger the further they went. After a moment, however, the hallway ended in a rather small, perfectly circular room, which was guarded by another four Nidokings with halberds and in shining armors, and in the middle of this naked room that didn't have even the slightest kind of decoration there stood a stone pillar that was maybe half as tall as a fully grown Nidoqueen. It had the symbol of the sun on it, and, what immediately caught Salyah's attention, there was a round, gray stone on top of it which carried the symbol as well. It was of a faint golden color, and while its innermost circle seemed to be brightly shining, the outer tips of its triangles appeared to be more gray than golden. Salyah blinked. This was the Fragment of the Sun?

"My princess, it is an honor for me to receive you here." Another Nidoking was there. At first Salyah hadn't seen him, since he had been obscured by the guards and she had paid more attention to the Fragment of the Sun. This one didn't wear armor and he didn't carry a weapon, either. He was dressed in a simple brown robe, which covered his entire body except for his front paws and his head. Just like the guards, he was kneeling to greet the princess, too. 

"Are you Lanran?" she asked. The Nidoking stood up and then bowed deeply. 

"I am," he replied. "A long time ago your father assigned me to watch over the Fragment of the Sun. I know many of its secrets, which you will find to be useful during your regency. This is why I can help you." Salyah simply nodded in response, as she was unsure about what she should say. She exchanged a gaze with Tetzi, but the Nidoqueen seemed to be just as clueless. She also noticed that the guard that had led them here had now disappeared; most likely he was making his way back towards the door.

"You must have many questions," Lanran continued with a soft smile on his face. "However, I am afraid you cannot ask me anything right now, as the Fragment of the Sun should be discussed in private." He turned his head to the left and then to the right, silently telling Salyah that the guards weren't supposed to witness such a discussion. "For now, there is only one thing I can do for you, but it will be the first step to you becoming our queen." He stepped to the side and pointed at the Fragment with his left paw. "Please, my princess, touch it." Salyah blinked. Neither was she sure what that should accomplish, nor did she know how she was supposed to reach it. However, the answer to that second question came quickly, as she felt Tetzi picking her up and holding her just on the same height as the Fragment of the Sun. Salyah looked up at her face for a moment and received a reassuring nod. With a slightly shivering paw the future queen reached for the round stone that lay on top of the pillar. It was surprisingly warm, and for a moment Salyah simply held her paw to it without doing anything else.

"That is enough," she heard Lanran say. "You should put her down again." Tetzi lowered Salyah back onto the ground. The princess was confused. She still wasn't sure what to think about all this, but before she had a chance to further contemplate these happenings as a strange feeling suddenly overcame her. It was as if the warmth she had experienced on her paw was now taking over her entire body. She squealed in surprise as just a moment later she wasn't able to see anymore. There was nothing but a blindingly bright light right in front of her eyes, but something inside her told her that everything would be fine. Salyah somehow knew that whatever was happening at the moment couldn't be a bad thing, so she just let it happen without resistance. The next thing she felt was a tingling sensation in all her extremities. She closed her eyes and just now noticed that she seemingly had become deaf as well; her ears were filled with a hissing sound that drowned out everything else, so she had absolutely no idea what was currently happening. All she knew was that suddenly her body felt different than before, her front and hind paws seemed to be somewhat chunky and her forehead... there appeared to be something on her forehead. Very slowly she opened her eyes again. After having blinked two times, the bright light had disappeared completely. Salyah swallowed, and suddenly that feeling that everything would turn out well had left her. She was confused and surprised and scared, all at the same time.

"What happened?" she asked and immediately gasped. Her voice seemed to have changed; it was slightly deeper than before. Salyah blinked once more, now wondering why she was standing on four legs. Following nothing more than an instinct she rose to her hind legs and stretched her neck a little. Just a tiny moment later she realized what she had done, noticing at the same time that she was almost as tall as Tetzi. Salyah quickly looked down at her own body, seeing her blue skin, her bright chest, her large front paws and, after turning her head a little, her tail that had a few blue spikes on it. The princess then raised her front paws to her forehead and came in touch with the hard, rather long horn she had grown. She turned her head back towards Tetzi, who seemed to be just as confused as her. However, before Salyah was able to overcome her surprise about having changed into a Nidoqueen, she heard a voice echo through the corridor.

"The king is dead! The king is dead!" The shouting was accompanied by hasty steps, and within a matter of seconds another guard came into view. He saw Salyah and immediately came to a halt, standing completely still.

"The king is dead. Long live the king." The other four guards had all turned their attention towards their newly arrived companion. Salyah felt a large paw coming to rest on her shoulder. She quickly turned around to look at Lanran who was standing behind her.

"The king is dead," he repeated. "Long live the queen."








When Salyah got back to her room, she almost didn't recognize it. It was the same place as before, of course, but all of her furniture had changed. The most notable thing about this was her new bed, which was at least twice as big as her old one and had large golden spheres on top of the bed posts. Reluctantly Salyah sat down on it, noticing that it was also a lot softer than the one she had been used to. Her gaze wandered around the room, and she quickly understood that basically everything was still the same, just that all her furniture had been replaced with bigger and more extravagantly decorated versions. The blackboard that Tetzi had used to teach her had disappeared, however, and a new bookcase had seemingly appeared out of nowhere; now she had three, and they were all filled with books about the history of Jorai. Next to these bookshelves there stood an easy chair with a silky red cover and a side table. It all looked very comfortable, and Salyah mentally promised herself that she would sit down there and read as soon as she'd have the time.
She looked further to the right, her gaze now coming across the bigger version of her old mirror. Its border appeared to be made out of pure gold, and, just as on all the other pieces of furniture, many symbols of the sun were engraved into it. Salyah slowly stood up from her bed and blinked. She still hadn't really grown used to the fact that the reflection now showed a Nidoqueen. Salyah slowly raised one of her strong front paws and saw the Nidoqueen doing the same. She then turned around a little so that she could look at her side. Then, a thought came to Salyah's mind. Now that she had reached this last level of her evolution, she would be able to wear clothes, and being the queen, they would surely be only the finest dresses in the whole country. A happy smile appeared on her face as she tried to picture herself in the same clothes Tetzi was wearing, knowing that hers would be even more elegant and more majestic. Her dress certainly wouldn't be white, either. The royal colors were red and golden and Salyah felt that especially the latter would look great on her. 
The new queen tore herself away from her reflection with some effort and concentrated on the dresser next to the mirror. It was made from a solid, dark wood and its knobs were, once more, golden. Salyah slowly opened its six drawers one by one; they were all empty, except for one of them, which contained a few sheets of paper, a large white feather to write with and an ink bottle. Of course, any kind of jewelry she would wear would first have to be fashioned in order to fit her size. Not really knowing what else to do Salyah closed the drawers again and then sat down on the bed once more with her gaze resting on the door. It was amazing how the servants had apparently managed to redecorate her room so quickly, and it was even more amazing that they had somehow gotten her new bed through the door. Salyah had no idea how they had accomplished this task, as it seemed way too big to her to fit through the entrance. Her thoughts drifted off to all kinds of minor matters, as she was really only hoping for Tetzi to return. Her caretaker had said that there were a few things she'd have to organize and that it wouldn't take much time. And indeed, not too much later there was a knock on the door. Salyah quickly got up from her bed.

"You may enter," she said loudly enough for the Pokémon on the other side to hear. The door opened and Tetzi stepped inside, closely followed by a Nidoking wearing a black cape and a red scarf around his neck to separate him from the rest of the servants. They both kept their heads low, obviously avoiding eye contact with Salyah.

"My queen, I am sorry for having taken so long," Tetzi said. Salyah blinked. She wasn't used to her friend behaving in such a reverential way. The Nidoking behind her now did a very deep bow and for a moment Salyah feared he might fall over.

"It is an honor for me to have been chosen for such a noble task, your highness," he said. The queen looked from him back towards Tetzi.

"Chosen?" she repeated. "What has he been chosen for?"

"He is the best tailor I could find, your majesty," the Nidoqueen replied, still not looking up. "It is my opinion that you should not settle for anything less than perfection when it comes to your dresses. I hope you will forgive me for having made such a decision without asking you first." Salyah nodded a little absentmindedly.

"Yes, of course..." she mumbled and then stepped closer towards the Nidoking with a happy smile on her face. "So you're the tailor," she stated. "How long will it take you to make this dress?" The tailor looked up again and then reached back into a pocket in his cape.

"I shall begin working on it as soon as I have taken your measurements, my queen," he answered, pulling out a measuring tape. "By tomorrow it should be finished." Satisfied with this answer, Salyah nodded.

"Let's start right away, then," she said.








After her measurements had been taken and she had made sure the tailor knew that she wanted the dress to be as golden as possible, he left the room again, not without bowing once more, of course. As soon as the door had closed behind him, Salyah turned around to look at Tetzi. The caretaker had appeared to be more reserved all this time.

"What's the matter with you?" Salyah asked, now slightly annoyed. "Are you having problems with your neck or why can't you seem to raise your head?" Tetzi finally looked up at her, and there was a hint of uncertainty in her eyes.

"I was not sure as to whether or not it is appropriate for me to directly look at you, my queen," she replied. Salyah shook her head.

"That's ridiculous," she claimed. "We've known each other since the day I was born and my mother died, so I can't see why there should be any reason for you to suddenly act like I'm an entirely different Pokémon now just because I happen to have become the ruler of this country." She let herself fall onto her new easy chair, which was soft enough for her to sink into the cushion a little, making her worry that she might have trouble later on when she'd want to get up again. However, as Tetzi was still the center of her attention this didn't concern her too much at the moment. The Nidoqueen in the white dress began to nervously fiddle around with her front paws.

"Does that mean you don't want me to treat you any differently than I did before, your majesty?" she asked shyly, quickly looking to the side again only by turning her eyes. Salyah responded with a vigorous nod. It immediately seemed like a huge weight had been taken off Tetzi's shoulders. She gave a relieved sigh and a soft smile spread on her face.

"I'm so glad to hear that," she spoke, which made Salyah smile as well. Tetzi then turned around and looked out of the window. "This will make things a lot easier for both of us, you know, since we'll have to organize your appointments for all manner of different events." Salyah had just gotten comfortable in her easy chair, but now she suddenly didn't feel so relaxed anymore.

"What kind of events are you talking about?" she wanted to know, frowning slightly. Tetzi shrugged, still looking out of the window.

"There will be a lot of things to do for you," she replied. "First of all, we'll have to attend your father's burial tomorrow and your crowning ceremony is scheduled right after that." She stopped for a moment and turned her head to look at the door, her expression appearing to be a little tense. "That tailor should better have your dress ready by then, you can't receive the crown while not wearing anything. I'll send him a messenger so he'll know that this is really urgent." Salyah simply nodded in agreement. Picturing herself at the ceremony completely naked like a common, poor Nidoqueen certainly didn't make her feel any more confident. Then again, she was the queen now, so it was very probable that nobody would dare to say anything, even if she didn't have a dress by the next day.
"Furthermore you'll probably have to have a lot of meetings with your generals," Tetzi continued. After having seen the clueless look on Salyah's face she added: "We're at war, after all. You'll have to give your commands." Salyah couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Commands?" she repeated in a confused tone. "Do you even know what you're saying? I don't know anything about wars, how am I supposed to give commands?" Her caretaker made a dismissive gesture with her paw.

"That'll be easier than it sounds now," she claimed. "The Langghari are no serious enemies, they're greatly inferior to our troops. You'll just have to tell your generals to keep defending our country and they'll do the rest." Salyah secretly had her doubts that it would really be so easy, but she decided not to think about it too much. As a queen, she had to appear self-confident, after all, or else she might worry her country.

"I'm sure you're right," she said, but she wasn't certain as to whether or not Tetzi really believed her. However, the caretaker simply shrugged it off and apparently wanted to say something else, when there was a knock on the door. Salyah immediately wanted to stand up from her easy chair, but Tetzi shook her head and she remained sitting.

"Not too many Pokémon should see you before you've gotten your dress," the older Nidoqueen claimed. "Let me answer the door." Salyah simply shrugged in response and watched Tetzi opening the large wooden gate. She couldn't see who was standing on the other side, but her caretaker said:

"Oh, it's you again." Salyah then heard a male voice that she recognized as Lanran's.

"Is the queen busy at the moment? I should tell her about the Fragment of the Sun as soon as possible, there are some very important things she doesn't know yet." Tetzi turned her head to look at Salyah with a questioning expression. The queen rose from her easy chair and nodded. Tetzi looked back at their guest.

"You may enter," she said and then stepped aside. The Nidoking in the brown robe came through the door. Just before he did a bow to greet his queen, Salyah was able to notice an uneasy expression on his face. She got the unsettling feeling that bad news lay ahead.

"It is an honor for me to be allowed to speak to you again, your highness," he began without raising his head; however, he did seem to look at Tetzi from the corner of his eyes. "As you certainly recall, what I am about to tell you about the Fragment of the Sun is meant to be heard by your ears only." Tetzi apparently wasn't exactly pleased to hear these words; she crossed her arms in front of her chest and frowned, but didn't say anything. Salyah exchanged a glance with her caretaker and then shook her head.

"I do think that such a decision should be left up to me," she spoke in a slightly arrogant tone, now looking at the Nidoking again. "And I would prefer if you refrained from accusing my closest friend of being untrustworthy in the future." Lanran lowered his torso even further. Salyah was sure that he'd have to experience quite some backache if he remained in this submissive position for too long.

"I apologize, my queen," he said, his tone of voice just as calm as before. "It was not my intention to insult anyone." He fell silent after these words. Salyah waited for him to continue speaking, then sighed softly. It seemed like now that she was queen, everyone had certain reservations when it came to talking to her.

"Very well, then," she spoke in a slightly exhausted tone. "Just tell me what's so important about the Fragment." Before Lanran could say anything, she quickly added: "And would you please not keep staring at the ground? Talking to someone without seeing their face makes me nervous." The Nidoking quickly straightened himself and faced her, trying his best to keep his expression as blank as he could.

"As you wish, your highness." He took a deep breath and then began: "I am sure you have been told about the Fragment's well-meaning nature. Without its power our country could never have become as prosperous as it is today. Now, the Langghari started the war against us about two hundred years ago, with the intention to make the Fragment theirs. Naturally we always protected it from these savage thieves. However, I am saddened to say that all those efforts might, in the end, prove to be in vain." Once more he simply stopped talking. Salyah wasn't sure what he was heading for, but it seemed like he deliberately tried to annoy her. She looked at Tetzi for a moment, who appeared to be just as confused as she was.

"Would you please just explain what exactly you mean by that?" the queen asked impatiently. Lanran cleared his throat.

"My apologies, your majesty, I do have a little trouble talking about it. You see..." He bit his lip and looked to the side. "Ever since that war began the Fragment started to slowly... lose its power. The writings I have studied claim that once it shone so brightly it was barely possible to look at it. However, these days it barely even serves to illuminate the chamber it is kept in." Lanran shook his head and sighed. "I do not know what will happen to our country if it ceases to work. It is the very source of all our wealth and this region's fertility." Salyah quickly raised her front paws in a protective manner.

"Wait, wait!" she interrupted. Lanran immediately stopped talking. The queen cleared her throat and then spoke in a very calm tone:

"You're telling me that the Fragment of the Sun will eventually lose its power." Lanran simply nodded; his expression had now become insecure. Salyah breathed deeply. This was definitely a problem she would rather not have to deal with. Very slowly she placed her paws on Lanran's shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes. "When will this happen? What can we do to prevent it?" It was clear to her that the Nidoking was feeling more than just uncomfortable. He quickly lowered his gaze, then seemed to notice that the queen was standing right in front of him and instead turned his head a little to the side.

"I fear I do not know the answers to these questions, my queen," he mumbled lowly. "However, if I had to estimate, I would say that it should still last for a few years, as long as the process does not accelerate." Salyah kept looking at him for a moment. She then turned around and shook her head.

"A few years..." she repeated lowly. Her thinking was interrupted when she heard a growl coming from Tetzi's direction.

"Why do you have to bother the queen with this?" she asked, sounding a bit enraged. "You're the expert for the Fragment of the Sun, aren't you? Then it's up to you to think of a solution to this problem!" Salyah turned to look at Lanran again, who cautiously took a step back.

"I promise I shall do whatever is possible, my queen," he said hastily, "but I cannot guarantee success. The situation is grim, and I regarded it as my duty to inform you so you would be able to rule this country accordingly." Salyah frowned. 

"What do you mean, rule this country accordingly?" she wanted to know in an annoyed tone. "Without the fragment there won't be anything left I could rule over, so you should better find a way to keep it from losing all its power. There must be some reason my father assigned you to watch over the Fragment! Just do what's your duty!" Lanran quickly nodded and then lowered his gaze again.

"I understand, my queen. I shall carry out your orders." Salyah kept staring at him for a moment before she said:

"Good. Then you may leave now." The Nidoking performed a deep bow and, without looking up, walked backwards in the direction of the door. Tetzi quickly opened it and watched closely as he stepped through, his eyes still locked on the ground. At the very moment she could be sure not to hit him in the forehead, she slammed the door shut and shook her head.

"I can't believe this," she mumbled lowly and then turned to look at Salyah. "He's trying to make you take the responsibility for his failure." Salyah cleared her throat. Her mouth suddenly felt very dry.

"Well, I guess now that I'm queen a lot of things will be my fault." She turned her back towards the door and sighed. Tetzi quickly walked up to her and placed her paw on her shoulder.

"Don't worry so much now," she spoke in a reassuring tone. "You'll see, once your dress is finished being queen will be a lot better." Salyah smiled a little. Her friend was right. Certainly, there were a few things that bothered her, but they would all pale in comparison to the pure shining brilliance she would embody the next day.









As it turned out, her clothing was even more wonderful than she could ever have imagined. The dress looked like it was a stream of pure gold, somehow frozen in time. It consisted of many layers, which progressively became thicker the closer they were to her body. The outermost layers, on the opposite, were so flimsy they were hardly even visible, which served to make it look like she was emitting a golden aura. Whenever Salyah moved, the light would immediately be reflected by all the little sparkles around her at a slightly different angle, so it seemed as if she was surrounded by an entire swarm of tiny, tiny golden insects glistening in the sun. The lower layers of the dress were studded with a large amount of little red jewels, which further added to the illusion that this piece of art created light, instead of just reflecting it, and when Salyah stood completely still so that all the layers remained in their predetermined position, the jewels actually formed many small symbols of the sun, which looked like they were glowing through the golden veil in front of them. The dress covered her entire body as well as her arms and it even had a medium-length train to conceal her tail. However, the tailor hadn't stopped there, and Salyah had to wonder how many helpers he must have had to finish all of this in just one night; together with the dress, about a dozen golden rings had been delivered, most of them holding large gems that were shaped to look like the symbol of the sun. The four golden bracers, which the queen was supposed to wear around her wrists, had the symbol engraved on them as well, just like the round jewels that made up the centers of the many necklaces that were now lying on Salyah's dresser. She sighed happily as she looked at herself in the mirror, turning to the left and then to the right with the desire to view her body from all possible angles. At first she had tried to wear all the rings, bracers and necklaces at the same time, but they were far too heavy and Salyah knew that her arms would get tired after a while if she wouldn't take off at least some of these jewels. With a heavy heart the queen had settled for only two rings on each paw, one bracer for each arm and two necklaces with orange gems. However, now that she was dressed up like this the queen simply didn't want to take her eyes off her reflection again.

"Isn't it just wonderful?" she asked for about the twentieth time now. Tetzi was standing behind her with a soft smile on her face. The caretaker had had to help her put on the dress, as there were eight separate strings on the back, which weren't visible through all the layers of fabric, but which had to be tied together into four ribbons so that the whole gown wouldn't just fall off of her body.

"It is," Tetzi replied with a chuckle. "It's more than wonderful. But we still have to go now, after all we have to attend the burying ritual..." A soft whine came from Salyah.

"Ohh, I'm so not in the mood for a funeral..." She began walking back and forth in front of her mirror, trying to find out how she could look the most elegant. "Can't we just do that tomorrow?" Tetzi cleared her throat, seemingly feeling a little uncomfortable.

"It'd be a lot of trouble to cancel it now, everyone's already there waiting for it to begin, you know. Besides, I'm not sure how long we should leave your father's body out in the open..." She quickly fell silent as this had come out just as inappropriately as she hadn't wanted it to be. However, Salyah didn't really seem to mind.

"Well, maybe you're right..." she sighed and then shook her head, finally turning away from the mirror. "When I think about it again, I probably shouldn't stay locked up in this room for too long anyway. This country needs to see my brilliance!" The queen smiled broadly and Tetzi nodded in an encouraging manner. "Who cares if the Fragment loses its power!" Salyah continued confidently, "I'll shine brightly enough so that nobody will ever notice!" And with these words she began strutting towards the door, closely followed by Tetzi who had to pay close attention not to step on the queen's train.








The whole procedure just dragged on and on and on and on. What little sadness Salyah had been able to feel about her father's death had been wiped away by pure boredom long ago. Then again, she found it somewhat impressive how such a simple ceremony could be drawn out like this. It had begun in the morning with a speech about the king's greatest deeds and decisions, which had been recited by some Nidoking Salyah had never seen before. However, this description was fitting for almost every attendant of this ceremony. It was by the way they were dressed, which was in shining armors and red banners, that she guessed they were generals. Some of them had brought their mates, but these females were apparently only there to represent. Their gowns were, of course, not nearly as breathtaking as the queen's, but most of them were still more beautiful than Tetzi's. Salyah could see the crowd very well, as she stood directly next to the large grave, which had been dug out on top of a small hill. However, most of the time she simply looked to the ground, trying to appear as mournful as she could. The ceremony took place in the palace garden, where all the former kings and queens were buried as well. Salyah simply couldn't take listening to the speaker's ongoing jabbering, and so her thoughts ventured off on their own. She had been in this garden many times, and yet each time she had come here it had seemed to have something new to offer, a kind of beautiful flower she had never seen before or a secret place hidden in the bushes somewhere, that appeared to be cut off from the rest of the world and entirely peaceful within itself. Salyah had often read the inscriptions on the many tombstones in the garden, but for some strange reason she never would have thought that her father had to share the same fate as all those before him. Now that he was gone she probably wouldn't have so much time to simply stroll around anymore.
When the first Nidoking was finished talking, which had, as it seemed to the queen, taken longer than eternity, he finally stepped aside only to be instantly replaced by another one of his kind. He basically did nothing else than repeating the speech from just moments ago and it didn't take long for Salyah's ears to start hurting. The platform from which the orations were held stood right next to her, so every word seemingly drilled itself directly into her skull. As if that hadn't been bad enough, there was another Nidoking who held a speech after the second one, and, as he was finished, the queen could clearly see that the fourth orator was preparing to step up on the podium. Salyah quickly stared at him with an angry expression and lightly shook her head, which was enough for him to understand that he should rather stay where he was. It was far beyond noon and she just couldn't take it anymore. Before anyone else could decide to speak, she took the platform for herself and cleared her throat. Tetzi had told her before that the new king or queen always held their speech after all the others were done, so as soon as she got finished, it would finally be over. The caretaker, who had been standing next to her all this time, quickly handed her a thin stack of papers. Neither did Salyah know who had written this speech, nor did she care; she simply wanted to get it over with. It certainly was a long text to read out all by herself, which was the reason she spoke in a fast, monotonous voice. Maybe the attendants expected her to show more grief about her father's death, but there was no reason Salyah should have cared about that. She was the queen, so nobody would say anything.
As she read, she wondered why she was doing this. The speech was, once more, not very different from all those that had been held before. There were passages about the king's reformations, about his commitment to the country and about his role as a great leader during the war; the only thing that hadn't been mentioned before was a part telling about his fatherly love towards his daughter, and how he had always been there for her when she had needed him. Salyah frowned a little as she came to this passage, as she had never seen her father more often than maybe once every two months. Instead she'd had Tetzi and a few other caretakers who had been with her during her childhood. Nevertheless, she read the speech as it had been written, simply because everything else she could have done would have just resulted in the ceremony becoming even more drawn-out than it already was. When she was finally finished her mouth felt very dry and, as her father's coffin was lowered into the grave, she had to spend quite some effort on preventing herself from smiling. It was just too much of a relief to know that this was over now and that she would soon be able to focus on more interesting things again.
As soon as the coffin was lying in the grave she saw Lanran coming towards the hill. He was holding a red velvet cushion, which he used to carry the crown. The first thing that came to Salyah's mind when she saw it was that it would dovetail greatly with her dress; it was golden and had many red and a few green jewels on it, which together formed the symbol of the sun. Smaller versions of this symbol were engraved into the tops of each of its jags. Eventually the Nidoking, who was walking very slowly, reached her and then took a deep breath, obviously preparing himself for another speech. Salyah gritted her teeth and whispered:

"Make it quick." Lanran blinked in a surprised way, but then nodded slightly and began speaking to the audience about how the new queen would certainly carry on her father's way of ruling, how she would protect the Fragment of the Sun with her very life if that would be necessary, and how she would surely lead her country to even greater prosperity. He didn't talk for a time as long as the others before him, but it was still hard for Salyah to keep herself from taking the crown and just walking away. Never before had she felt so bored in her entire life.
Lanran's speech ended with him asking Salyah to put on the crown and from now on take care of Jorai as if it were her child. Naturally she accepted and, as soon as the golden symbol of leadership touched her head, all the attendants began to clap and cheer and loudly pledge their loyalty to the new queen. Salyah quickly exchanged a glance with Tetzi, who apparently was just as tired as her. For a moment she remained standing on the platform, waiting for the noise to stop, which didn't seem to happen anytime soon. It was at this moment that her last bit of patience disappeared. She shook her head, turned around and told Lanran that she'd be in her room and didn't want to be bothered for the rest of the day, to which he responded with nothing but a confused expression, then quickly left the podium and the hill alike, walking towards the palace right through the crowd of Nidokings and Nidoqueens, who stepped aside immediately in order to let her pass. Some of them seemed to be surprised, others apparently couldn't get over their joy of having a new queen, but as long as nobody tried to stop her, Salyah really didn't care.




As soon as she was back in her room she placed the crown on her dresser and then let herself fall down on the large bed, now staring at the ceiling. Tetzi, who had been following her all the way, closed the door and remained standing next to the bed. Salyah sighed deeply.

"That was awful," she mumbled, raising her head a little so she could look at her friend. With a gesture of her left paw she pointed at the easy chair. "You should sit down for a while," she added. Tetzi nodded and let herself sink into the comforts of the soft piece of furniture. Just like Salyah a second before, she sighed.

"I agree, it was awful." She shook her head. "I just can't understand how anyone could ever think it's a good idea to stand around for hours and listen to the same meaningless phrases over and over again." Salyah gave a low hum of agreement.

"Mhm." She closed her eyes and then stretched her hind legs a little. For a moment she was worried that her dress might become wrinkly from the way she was lying on the bed, but then again, it wouldn't be such a big deal. Someone would straighten it out again. "Do your hind paws hurt as much as mine?" she asked. Tetzi nodded.

"I'm just glad you hurried to get it over with at the end," she said with a hint of a giggle in her voice. "And don't worry, some of them might have been a bit surprised, but we can just say that your father's death has taken its toll on you and you really needed to have some time for yourself." The queen smiled a little.

"Yes, that sounds good." She sat up and stretched her neck, then turned her head to look at Tetzi. "Are there more such appointments I'll have to deal with in the near future?" she wanted to know in an exhausted tone. Tetzi shrugged.

"I'm not sure," she replied, "but that's definitely a possibility." When she saw the unhappy expression on the queen's face she quickly added: "Be this as it may, you should first try to relax a little for now. Nobody will bother you with anything before tomorrow, so you can do whatever you want." Salyah nodded.

"Yes..." she spoke lowly, and a smile started to spread on her face. "Yes, you're right. I really need to relax." The Nidoqueen turned her head further to the left, where the end of a sturdy red cord was hanging out of a small round hole in the wall. Salyah didn't know exactly how it worked, but whenever she pulled that cord, a servant would arrive at her door within the next five minutes. She had always figured that it was connected to a bell in their room, but her interest had never been enough to actually ask anyone. "I think I'm going to have Cebal brought to me," she finished her thought. "That'll definitely make me feel better."

"Cebal?" Tetzi repeated in a surprised tone. She blushed slightly and cleared her throat. "I believe that might become slightly awkward." Salyah quickly looked back at her with a worried expression.

"What do you mean?" she asked with a light shiver in her voice. "Did anything happen to him?" Tetzi shook her head.

"No, no, of course not." The caretaker spoke in a calming tone, but at the same time she played around with her front paws in a slightly nervous manner. "Cebal is fine, don't worry. I was just talking about... Well..." She cleared her throat once more and then shook her head. "He hasn't undergone the same changes as you, so he's still a Nidorino. That might prove to be a bit problematic..." A loud sigh from Salyah interrupted her. The queen let her torso fall back onto the bed.

"Right, I hadn't thought of that." She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. "That's not fair," she murmured. "First I have to endure all this nonsense and now I can't even have some fun." Tetzi watched her friend very closely.

"Well, you know, there are a few Nidokings as well who have been trained for that purpose," she spoke slowly and in a careful tone. "You could just..."

"But I want Cebal!" Salyah cut her off. "He's always been my favorite and you know that. He just knows what to do, he has so much more experience than anyone else because we've done it so often..." She suddenly stopped and raised her torso again so that she was sitting straight up. "I'll have him touch the Fragment as well," she said, now regaining her confidence. "It turned me into a Nidoqueen, it'll make him evolve, too." Tetzi looked at her without saying anything for a moment; then she frowned.

"Are you sure it'd be good to use the Fragment like this? Remember, Lanran said..." Salyah made a dismissive gesture with her paw.

"I don't care about what Lanran said," she spoke in a clearly annoyed tone. "Besides, even he apparently seemed to think it was a good enough method for me, right? So there shouldn't be a problem having Cebal do it, too." Her caretaker shrugged.

"Well, I guess now that you're the queen, whatever you say goes." She then shook her head. "And when I think about it again, the Fragment probably won't lose all of its power just because of something like this." Tetzi rose from the easy chair and smiled at the queen. "I guess I'll leave you alone, then. Will you call a servant to get him evolved?" Salyah nodded.

"Yes, don't worry about it. You should just go and maybe have some rest, I bet you need that after this boring ceremony." Tetzi began moving towards the door, but she appeared somewhat reluctant. Salyah wasn't quite sure what was on her mind, but then her caretaker turned around once more with a slight blush on her face and a bashful smile.

"You know, Salyah, I was wondering..." she said nervously, "I guess... Well, I guess I could use some company, too, so... Maybe, just if you're alright with it, of course... I mean, they're yours, after all, so..." The queen giggled a little and shook her head.

"Look, we've gone over this so many times already," she reminded her friend. "You can have each of them, except for Cebal, and they know that. Just go and pick one, and have some fun." Although the blush didn't disappear from Tetzi's face, the Nidoqueen still looked very relieved.

"Thank you," she said with a warm smile and then quickly turned to leave the room. When the door had closed behind her, Salyah slowly stood up from the bed and walked over to the cord that led into the wall. She gave it a tug, then moved towards her dresser and opened the drawer that contained the writing materials. Salyah thought about what exactly to write for a moment, then moistened the feather's tip with some ink and decided to go with:

"The Nidorino named Cebal is hereby ordered to touch the Fragment of the Sun so that he may evolve into a Nidoking. Directly afterwards he shall present himself in the queen's chamber." Salyah had just enough time to sign the letter before there was a knock on the door. She folded the sheet of paper two times and then went to open the entrance to her room and receive her servant. It was a Nidoqueen this time, but she wore the distinctive black cape, just like all the other servants did. Right before she wanted to bow to her queen, Salyah shook her head and quickly handed her the letter.

"I want you to hurry and get this to Cebal without any delay," she ordered. The female servant nodded quietly and, obviously very eager to follow her queen's command, immediately dashed off towards the left. Salyah closed the door again and, with a satisfied smile on her face, began to admire herself in the mirror again. She thought about how Cebal would react to all this and had to chuckle. It certainly had to be a great honor to be the only one allowed to please the queen in such an intimate way. After having looked at herself for a few moments she came to the conclusion that she probably should take off all of her jewelry beforehand. Each shining ring went with a sigh, but Salyah knew, of course, that what was to come would be so much better than wearing these decorations. For a second she wondered if maybe she should put her crown back on, just to impress him, but then again there wasn't really any reason to.
Salyah grew impatient rather quickly. She had known, of course, that it would take some time for Cebal to get to the Fragment of the Sun, evolve, and then come all the way up to her room, but she still wished it'd go faster. Looking out of the window didn't make her feel better, either, as the position of the sun just reminded her of how much time she had wasted with that ceremony before. It was simply tiring how long everything seemed to take. Salyah sighed softly and kept looking around her room. Since she had just lain on the bed, its blanket looked a little untidy. She quickly straightened it out and, after that, began to simply stare at the door. She kept standing completely still, until finally the sound of shy knocking reached her ears. Her first reaction would have been to jump at the door and open it immediately, but then she thought it'd be better if she acted at least a little more reserved; after all she was the queen now. From the corner of her eyes she looked into the mirror one more time, then cleared her throat and spoke:

"Come in, please." The door was opened very slowly and a Nidoking entered the room, his gaze lowered. As he sank down on his knee Salyah examined him thoroughly with her eyes. In spite of him being a Nidoking now, Cebal's most recognizable features hadn't changed much. In comparison to others of his species he didn't seem quite as rugged, quite as dangerous or as intimidating. His spikes weren't as large, his claws weren't as long, and, even though he was still looking at the ground, Salyah knew his eyes weren't as piercing. There wasn't anything about this Nidoking that would have made him a good fighter; however, it was exactly this fact that made him such a good servant. Even though he was basically a member of this class, he didn't wear a cape. There was not one piece of clothing on his entire body.

"My queen, it is the greatest of honors to be received by you." His voice reminded Salyah very much of the Nidorino she had always known. It sounded a little shy, humble and submissive, yet very warm at the same time. The queen simply looked at him for a moment with a broad smile, then she said:

"Please stand up and close the door behind you." Cebal quickly did as he was told, and when he turned around again to face Salyah, she had already stepped up right in front of him. He blushed a little and apparently wasn't sure as to whether smile at her or look at the ground. Salyah slowly reached out with her front paws and took his. Since she was smiling at him, he decided to do the same.

"Cebal..." she spoke in a lower tone, moving a little closer towards him, "it's so good to see you like this..." What made Salyah feel especially good was that their eyes were at the same height. Even back when she had been a Nidorina and he had been a Nidorino, they'd always had the same size. It was a comforting thing to know that they fitted together so well. Cebal grasped her paws a little more tightly.

"My queen..." he began in a tone as low as Salyah's had been, "I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for having allowed me to touch the Fragment..." He apparently wanted to speak further, but Salyah interrupted him with a shake of her head and a soft giggle.

"You know I don't like it when you call me by my title," she scolded lightly. "We've always been close enough to each other for that to be unnecessary, and this hasn't changed just because I rule over this country now." Very slowly, her paws wandered along his forearms. "Besides, you don't have to thank me," she continued in a lower tone and with a seductive glance. "It's not like I wouldn't benefit from your new form..." She had gotten close enough to him now so that she could feel his body even through the many layers of her dress. There was almost no distance between their faces and Salyah paid close attention to keep their eye contact unbroken. It was his eyes that she remembered the most about Cebal, and they didn't seem to have changed at all. They were bright, soft and slightly insecure at times, telling the queen how much he wanted to do his best for her, how much he wanted to serve. Now that she was so close to him he had placed his paws on her sides, holding her gently, allowing her to pull back whenever she wanted to.

"I almost feared you might decide to meet with someone else from now on," he whispered, raising a smile on Salyah's face.

"That would have been such a waste," she responded in the same tone. "I'm the queen now. I couldn't afford to make any wrong decisions..." She could feel her own heart beating faster and closed her eyes. Salyah loved this feeling. At the same time she was greatly enjoying the moment and also anticipating what would follow so very soon...

"You won't regret this one," was what she heard shortly before Cebal's lips met up with hers. Within a second she was tossed into a vortex of warm feelings and pleasant memories, recalling each and every time she had been with her favorite male. It had been shortly after she had evolved into a Nidorina that Tetzi, who had been a Nidorina back then as well, had explained to her all there was to know about those new desires she would soon experience, a craving for physical affection that was more intimate than just a simple cuddle. Many Nidorinos had been especially trained to fulfill this single purpose of pleasing her queen as soon as she would come of age. Cebal had been her first, and after having tried a few others she had returned to him, for they all had paled in comparison to this particular male. Cebal just knew best how to treat her, it was as simple as that. Right now his paws were making their way from her sides towards her back, and suddenly Salyah found the dress she had been dreaming of for so long to be a very annoying thing. She quickly opened her eyes and, before the kiss could grow any deeper, pulled her head back a little and broke it. Cebal immediately looked at her with a very worried expression, apparently thinking he had done something wrong, but Salyah calmed him with a reassuring smile and a light shake of her head. She gave him an affectionate lick across his cheek, ending right at his naturally large ear.

"Could you please help me out of my dress?" she murmured lowly, watching as the Nidoking's concerned expression turned into a relieved smile. He gave a simple nod as a response. "There are four ribbons on my back, hidden somewhere beneath the fabric," she explained. "Just open them up." Cebal apparently intended to let go of her, so she could turn around to make it easier for him to find the ribbons, but she kept holding herself close to him and giggled softly. "Let's stay like this," she added. "It feels so nice..." She pushed her body a little closer to Cebal's and he began searching for the ribbons on her back with his paws, gently caressing her as he did so. Salyah closed her eyes and placed her cheek on his shoulder, giving a soft, happy sigh. The Nidoking moved his paws very carefully; he apparently knew that this would work much better if he took his time. When he had found the first ribbon, he began planting small kisses all over her neck as he slowly untied it, making the Nidoqueen purr in satisfaction. When the ribbon was opened the dress seemed to give way a little, which told her that it wouldn't be long now until she could finally take it off. Cebal's paws wandered from the first pair of strings towards the second, and when he had opened this one as well Salyah took a deep breath, now feeling a little freer. It didn't take long now for the third ribbon to be untied, and Cebal gave her a long, sensual lick along her neck and cheek, all the way up to her ear. Salyah was getting excited now. Her eyes opened and she stared at Cebal, now with a lusty expression that told him that she wanted him. He gave her a kiss on her forehead, directly beneath her horn, when he opened the last ribbon, making the dress wide enough for the queen to get rid of it. It was now that she stepped backwards a little, breaking the Nidoking's embrace. He watched with a slight blush on his face as Salyah first pulled her arms out of the sleeves and then let the entire dress simply fall down, revealing her body to her visitor. It seemed like he wasn't sure whether she wanted him to look at her or not, so he turned his eyes away slightly, but before he did, Salyah was sure she had seen the same longing expression in them that hers must have shown before as well. The queen was sure that he liked her body; her healthy blue skin, the small horns on her tail and head, her well proportioned chest, waist and legs, simply all of it. Not intending to waste any more time, Salyah quickly stepped closer to him again, wrapping her front paws around his body and locking lips with him once more, which seemed to catch him by surprise just a little. He immediately reacted, though, tightly hugging her and continuing the kiss right where they had left off, his paws on her back and his tongue carefully entering her mouth.

It was so much better now that there wasn't a barrier of fabric between them anymore. Not only could Salyah feel his paws caressing her back, moving from between her shoulders all the way down to the base of her tail, she also greatly enjoyed the sensation of being so very close to the Nidoking, his chest and belly touching hers, rubbing back and forth slightly in slow, rhythmic movements, a warm dance of affection. In addition to all these intense feelings and the passionate heat that was gradually building up between them, Salyah felt herself being set on fire mostly by the way Cebal's tongue was massaging hers, the kiss growing more intense, making her practically melt away in pleasure. One of the Nidoking's paws moved to the back of her head, making sure her lips would remain pressed tightly onto his as he slowly retracted his tongue a little, making her stretch hers further into his mouth just so he could begin to gently suckle on it while continually stimulating its tip with his. It was now that Salyah started to notice a familiar slight dampness between her hind legs; she laid back her ears and let out a deep, satisfied purr right from her throat, her lips vibrating a little against Cebal's. 

As it didn't appear like the Nidoking would stop kissing her anytime soon, she decided to make sure that everything would progress the way she wanted to on her own. The queen opened her eyes, then broke the kiss very slowly, first pulling back her tongue and then her entire head, looking at Cebal with an unambiguous expression. He kept up eye contact with her and nodded, now loosening his embrace around her. For a short moment the queen kept her body pressed tightly against his, noticing with an excited smile that his sheath had begun to swell a little, feeling rather hard against Salyah's loins. The Nidoqueen then stepped backwards and took his right front paw with hers, slowly guiding Cebal over to the side of her large bed. She exchanged one more glance with him, seeing that he appeared to be at least as aroused as she was. Salyah quickly gave him another kiss on his cheek, then sat down on the bed and, as she let her torso sink into the soft, warm folds, moved backwards a little further to make room for her male. The Nidoqueen laid back her head and closed her eyes, spreading her hind legs widely, a broad smile standing on her face. She didn't need to tell Cebal what to do; he already knew it. He had always known what she needed. The mattress was lowered a bit further as the Nidoking apparently kneeled down on the bed in front of her.

What she felt next was the tip of one of his claws, touching her ever so slightly right between her two yellow breast plates. It made her shiver in anticipation as he slowly let it trail downwards across her belly, getting closer and closer to her bright crotch area, taking way too long for Salyah's taste. She needed him to touch her down there so much right now, and as painful as it was to wait for this to happen, it still managed to excited her even more than she already was. Right before he was just about to finally reach that one special place between her hind legs he suddenly changed directions, now moving upwards again, but this time letting his entire paw brush along her body. The queen couldn't help but give a low whine, spreading her hind legs even wider, feeling her entrance becoming both wet and hot from all this anticipation.
Then, just as Cebal's first paw had reached her chest again, all of a sudden she could feel his other paw just lightly coming in touch with her vagina. This completely unexpected and very much needed caress immediately elicited a soft, yet very lusty moan from her, which made Salyah blush a little, as even she found this kind of reaction to be a little too early. However, she knew she would barely be in control of what her body did within a few moments, so she just decided to let go and not think about anything.

Cebal was now beginning to rub one of his claws back and forth along her entrance, making her sigh in pleasure. Only he knew how to use such a sharp object that actually only existed to inflict pain in such a sensual way. There was no telling how much damage he would be able to do if he did anything wrong or wasn't careful enough for even one second, but Salyah knew that nothing like this could happen, at least not with Cebal. The Nidoking kept rubbing her for a while, making her breathing quicken more and more. He gradually inflicted a little more pressure on her vagina until the tip of his claw slipped inside. Salyah gasped and pushed her hips upwards a little as she felt herself being caressed and tickled at the same time by the pointy object. It was a strange feeling, and yet she wanted more of it. However, Cebal apparently wasn't confident enough to enter more of his claw, as a sudden movement from Salyah would most certainly result in her getting injured. Instead he pulled his paw back completely and immediately replaced it with his tongue, starting to give his queen strong, sensual licks along her vagina, proceeding all the way up towards her clitoris, which had become somewhat firm due to all this stimulation. Each time Salyah felt his tongue travel across her most private area she groaned in pleasure, and each time she thought it couldn't get any better than this, just to have this assumption disproved within the next moment. Cebal kept flicking his tongue across her clitoris a few times, making her cry out loudly in pleasure, then, all of a sudden, pulled his head back from this very sensitive nub of flesh. It appeared to Salyah like she had been tossed into an empty void, first having been introduced to a few seconds of absolute bliss and now feeling basically nothing anymore. However, her male's caresses returned just as suddenly as they had left her, reaching a new level of intensity in the process.

Before Salyah even knew what was happening his tongue was moving deeply inside her, touching her in places his claw hadn't reached by far. In addition to this, his lips were rubbing along her outer walls, leading her sexual juices right into the Nidoking's mouth. Salyah responded with a series of groans that sounded both pleased and needy at the same time as Cebal was licking her from the inside, the tip of his tongue moving in a determined way, caressing all of her most sensitive spots one after another. As soon as the queen's moaning ceased to become louder, however, he apparently understood that it was time to go one step further. He retracted his tongue, then moved his mouth away from her vagina to envelop her clitoris with his lips, beginning to lightly suckle on it, which drove Salyah crazy. This area of her body was so sensitive that, once more, if he did anything wrong all this pleasure she felt would turn into unbearable pain, but Cebal managed to completely exhaust the limit without crossing this threshold. The Nidoqueen screamed, which, hadn't they known not to intervene, would have certainly alarmed her guards, and pushed her head further into the mattress, her short tail hitting the bed over and over again, leaving round holes in the bed sheet where it was pierced by her horns.
With her voice urging him to go on Cebal quickly inserted two of his claws into her entrance, once more being careful not to hurt her but, at the same time, eager to sensually caress and tickle her most sensitive areas. Salyah couldn't believe how good it felt, his lips pressing down on her clitoris ever so slightly and his claws rubbing her from inside. Then, when he suddenly added his tongue, too, letting it brush across her sensible nub of flesh a few times, she simply couldn't take it anymore. For a moment, her mind was just gone, and nothing except for her body existed anymore. A searing flame surged through her crotch and, within less than a second, engulfed her completely, making her tense up and release all of this pent-up bliss in a single roar, her hind legs shaking and her front paws gripping the blanket, her loins getting flooded with her fluids. During the short eternity that Salyah felt like she could never have a bad thought ever again she didn't even notice how Cebal opened his mouth again and then began licking up her juices, completely cleaning her of all the trails of her climax that was now slowly dying down again. The Nidoqueen opened her eyes and found herself breathing heavily, her body still feeling much warmer than usual, now slowly regaining a solid grip on her surroundings. Her male's tongue running across her entrance over and over again made her giggle softly and she raised her head a little to look at him over her sinking and rising chest. As soon as he noticed her gaze resting on him he stopped licking her and returned her look with a warm smile.

The Nidoqueen slowly sat up, supporting the weight of her torso with her front paws and kept her eyes on Cebal who was kneeling in front of her, slowly lowering them from his face across his chest and belly towards his loins. She gasped slightly as she saw his throbbing erection, standing proudly above his testicles. Never before had the queen seen a penis as large as this one, simply because this was, of course, the first time she would mate with a Nidoking. It obviously embarrassed Cebal a little to see the queen stare at his sexual organs like this, but this didn't matter all too much to Salyah. She felt quite the opposite, even; his slight insecurity was somewhat cute and she just couldn't wait to share this new experience with him. The queen breathed deeply to stop herself from panting too much.

"Do you want me?" she asked in a low tone, her eyes now moving from his rod towards his face again, which was rather red. He swallowed and then nodded quickly, apparently too shy to talk in such a situation. Salyah grinned and beckoned him to come a little closer with a gesture of her paw, keeping her hind legs spread and her torso raised. She watched as he lowered himself onto his front paws and then began moving towards her until his forehead almost came in touch with the queen's. His erection was hanging just a few centimeters above her entrance and she could feel herself getting excited again. She closed her eyes and smiled, enjoying for a moment the feeling of being in such a position together with her favorite male, then raised her paw and put it on the back of his head, gently pulling him into another kiss.

As their tongues met each other once more Salyah lowered her torso back onto the bed very slowly, making Cebal go along with this motion as he didn't want to break the kiss. She shivered in anticipation as she felt his erection rubbing along her vagina and tried to pull him even closer to him. He lowered his body further until his belly came in touch with hers, but he still didn't get to penetrate her. Salyah's head was lying on the bed again as she kept rubbing her tongue against his for a while, then broke the kiss and opened her eyes again. Her gaze met up with Cebal's and he finally understood that she didn't want to wait any longer. He gave her a soft kiss on her neck, then moved his waist a little in order to properly line himself up with Salyah's entrance and then began to slowly push forwards. The queen sighed happily as her still wet walls were gradually being spread apart, now receiving a Nidoking's erection for the first time.

At this point in time Salyah could already tell that it was going to be better than it had ever felt before. Now that her body was fully grown it appeared to her that she could finally completely appreciate the greatness that was sexual intercourse with a male her size. It seemingly took forever for Cebal to insert his thick, long penis into her, as he was moving very carefully, slowly making his advance into his queen's depths. Never before had Salyah felt anything more fulfilling, and, even though it didn't make her moan yet, a wonderful warmth welled up in her body, making her experience an incredible amount of satisfaction and therefore happiness.
As soon as he was all the way inside her, Cebal lowered his head and began to give her sensual licks along her neck while slowly pulling his hips back a little again, starting to mate with her at a rather slow pace at first. Salyah had always liked it best when it began slow and tender and then became a little wilder at the end. Only then she could enjoy it to the fullest, especially when her favorite Nidoking graced her with little caresses along the way. The queen purred softly each time Cebal pushed himself back into her. Her eyes were closed once more and she raised her front paws to wrap them around her servant, making sure that his body stayed close to hers. He gave off a certain amount of lust-induced heat, which only aroused her even more. Not only was his erection caressing the inside of her vagina and his tongue running along her neck, his entire body was rubbing against hers so very sensually that she just didn't want him to raise himself even the slightest bit.

Cebal kept up his slow rhythm for a while, then he moved his mouth from Salyah's neck towards her lips. They started another kiss, much more tender this time, as all their sexual desires were taken care off in lower regions. The Nidoking had shifted his waist a little, now quickening his pace, but only pulling a very small part of his erection out each time, so that Salyah could feel her vagina being stimulated a lot more often, but just as sensually as before, since Cebal still took care not to thrust too hard. As his tongue engaged in a passionate dance with Salyah's once again it seemed to her like he wanted to raise his torso a little but was held down by her tight embrace. She felt like she had to ensure he stayed close to her, so in addition to her front paws she now also wrapped her hind legs around him. Had her mouth not been busy kissing the Nidoking, she would have moaned loudly as he was now continually grinding his hips against hers without any possibility to move himself away from her even in the slightest bit. The Nidoqueen kept her lips locked with his, even though she grew a little tenser with every thrust he performed into her. It was a great feeling to be penetrated so deeply, to be stretched out again and again by Cebal's hard erection, but she knew this wouldn't be enough. Instead of satisfying her, every time he pushed his penis into her vagina just made her want more, making her feel like she would never be able to achieve the peak of her pleasure. As much as she enjoyed having her tongue massaged by his she had to break the kiss and growl slightly, letting her male know that she wanted him to go harder.

Without hesitating for even a second he immediately complied with her wish. He now pulled his waist back a little further, then waited for a small moment, which seemed to Salyah, because of the sudden emptiness she felt, like a painful eternity, then pounded back into her again. All of a sudden having the Nidoking's entire length stretching her out once more made her release a short cry of sexual bliss. He immediately wanted to retract his erection again, but the queen quickly used her hind legs to press down on his rump, making him keep it inside of her for a little while longer. She purred happily, the sensation of having suddenly been filled now slowly dying down again, but still remaining present somehow by the slight pulsing of his rod against her inner walls. After a moment she loosened the grip around his waist a little, signaling that she was ready for him to continue. Very slowly he pulled about three quarters of his erection out, which made Salyah give a slightly disappointed sigh, but then quickly thrusted back into her, making her cry out even louder than before. This time she didn't hold him with her legs as she wanted him to pick up the pace a little more. He seemed to have gotten the message as he quickly went on with his hard thrusts, each time he pulled out again going just a little faster, so that Salyah felt himself enter her in shorter and shorter intervals. She was moaning steadily now, getting louder with each of his thrusts, and while her hind legs assisted him in pounding back into her by pulling him closer to her waist, the claws on her front paws began to slowly dig into the thick skin on his back, not deeply enough to draw any blood, though. Salyah could feel her vagina becoming gradually wetter, which only made it easier for Cebal to go even faster and harder. Her eyes were clenched shut and her mouth stood agape so she could constantly cry out in pure bliss. She knew exactly she was nearing her climax again and instinctively she tightened her embrace around the Nidoking even more.

Cebal apparently knew what was going to happen and, in an effort to make it even better for her, he gave her another long lick along her neck and cheek that ended at her ear. He then opened his mouth a little to take part of it inside, a feat he wasn't performing on her for the first time. Salyah just loved to have him nibble on her ears a bit, which he promptly began to do. The Nidoking was able to keep his head completely still in spite of the movements of the rest of his body, and so he managed not to bite down too hard on her ear, but very lightly chew on it and give it sensual licks while pounding faster and faster into the queen's vagina. This additional stimulation was all that Salyah needed. She screamed in pleasure, her hind legs keeping Cebal's erection lodged deeply within her, her vagina contracting around it and coating it with her juices, making the Nidoking groan blissfully. The queen wanted to keep him inside of her for as long as she could, as his erection was still throbbing and her vaginal walls had become more sensitive than ever before, making each twitch of his penis keep her in a world of pure pleasure for a little longer. 

The combined heat generated by their bodies made Salyah feel wonderfully sleepy as she slowly left this state of pure bliss again. She kept her eyes closed for a moment, then opened them about halfway and looked up at Cebal. The Nidoking was breathing as deeply as her, even though he hadn't reached the peak of his sexual pleasure. Of course, a servant wasn't allowed to climax while mating with the queen. Salyah smiled softly and gave him a small kiss on his nose, which made him smile as well. He knew she was satisfied, and that was the reason he had come to her room, after all. Salyah slowly spread her hind legs again, making it possible for him to pull his still fully erect penis out of her.

"My queen, I..." he began, but Salyah immediately cut him off with a shake of her head and a grin.

"What did I tell you about calling me by my title?" she asked, chuckling slightly. Cebal blushed a little again.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I was just meaning to ask you if I was able to adequately fulfill your desires." Salyah gave him a soft lick across his cheek and a warm, satisfied glance.

"You did more than just that," she whispered, now gently caressing his sides with her paws. "You surpassed all expectations. I've never felt anything like this before." She took her paws off his sides and watched as he raised his torso, now kneeling in front of her again. His hard rod was still prominent between his hind legs. Seeing him like this, Salyah got an idea. He was just about to stand up from the bed when she quickly said:

"Wait!" Cebal stopped moving immediately and looked at her. She sat up and noticeably kept her eyes on his erection. "You seem to be pretty excited," she stated. "Wouldn't you like me to help you with that?" The Nidoking's face became redder than ever before and he quickly looked to the side.

"I, I'm not s-sure," he stuttered. "W-wouldn't that be inappropriate?" Salyah giggled a little.

"Well, you did an exceptionally good job today," she replied. "Isn't it common to get a reward when you've done something so well?" When he didn't say anything she added: "Besides, it wouldn't be the first time, remember...?" Cebal swallowed.

"Yes, but now you're the queen..." Salyah grinned. She could tell from his tone of voice that he actually really wanted it. All of his reservations were basically unnecessary.

"That's true," she agreed, "but I doubt it could ever be wrong for a servant to obey his queen, and I certainly want to reward you." There wasn't anything Cebal could say against this and she knew it. Salyah normally didn't care about anyone other than herself and maybe Tetzi all too much, but now that the Nidoking had made her experience such an enormous amount of pleasure she just thought it would be wrong to just leave him like this when he obviously needed some relief as well. Very slowly she moved closer towards him, all the time looking at his face. He still didn't seem to be absolutely sure about this, but it was also obvious that he wouldn't resist to whatever she did.

She reached out with one of her front paws and let it come in touch with his glistening shaft. It responded to her simple caress with a slight twitch. Salyah smiled as she thought about how good she would make her servant feel as she carefully grasped his erection and squeezed it ever so slightly, instantly making Cebal groan. She looked up at him once more, noticing that he had closed his eyes and a broad smile had appeared on his face. The queen knew exactly that he was already very close to his orgasm, so she decided to get right to the best part. She kept holding his erection at its base, then opened her mouth and took its tip inside. She immediately began to caress the underside of his penis with her tongue while moving her head a little further down. A deep moan from the Nidoking told her just how much he liked what she was doing, and she began to suck on his penis in addition to the caresses her tongue administered to its underside.

It had been quite clear to her that, since Cebal had had to keep himself from hitting his climax when they had been mating, now that he finally had a chance to just let go he would reach his orgasm very soon, but it happened even earlier than she had expected. The Nidoking just kept moaning in pleasure and suddenly Salyah felt his sticky substance filling her mouth. His erection now twitched more often than before and each time it shot another spurt of semen, which she swallowed as quickly as she could. She didn't like its taste, but now that she had begun repaying her servant she just wanted to do it right. His climax lasted a few seconds during which he continuously shouted the queen's name; then, when it was finished, he gave a long, satisfied sigh. After having swallowed the last bit of his seed Salyah released his now shrinking penis from her mouth and then smiled up at him. He kept his eyes closed for a moment, then looked down at her and blushed a little again.

"I cannot thank you enough, your majes... Salyah." The Nidoqueen shook her head and then stood up from the bed, closely followed by Cebal.

"Don't thank me," she replied and pulled him into a tight hug once more. "You really deserved it." The Nidoking returned the embrace and smiled broadly. Salyah gave him a kiss on his cheek. "I'll be looking forward to the next time," she whispered in his ear, making Cebal chuckle a little.

"I could say the same thing," he spoke softly. "And remember, I'm only alive for you." He gave her a kiss on her forehead in return while gently squeezing her shoulders with his front paws. "Whenever you need me, I'll be there as soon as you send for me." The queen giggled softly.

"I know," she said, pressing her body a bit more tightly against his. "I know that." She placed her cheek on his shoulder and closed her eyes again.
It was so good to be held.











A few weeks passed, during which Salyah slowly grew used to being the queen of Jorai. It was quite easy, actually, since most of the work was done by the generals or by the administrators that took care that the laws were executed in the parts of the country they had been assigned for. When one of them died she had to appoint a new one, which wasn't hard, either; she just picked their next living relative. When one of her generals complained that there weren't enough weapons to equip all of their soldiers she just had to raise the taxes and everything was taken care of. When she was told that her subjects were going hungry because of the taxes she just had to lower the food prices and, once more, everything was taken care of. Eventually she would also lower the taxes again, as soon as the military didn't demand such high funding anymore, and then things would straighten themselves out anyway. It wasn't very hard work, but it could be rather boring and time consuming so she still felt a little stressed sometimes, which meant that she had to have Cebal meet her at least thrice a week.

"The Langghari have been suffering heavy losses on the east frontier," the Nidoking in the silver armor and a horned helmet with the symbol of the sun engraved on it spoke while holding a pointer at the right side of the map of Jorai that was hanging on the wall. "However, these are not the only good news." He was looking directly at Salyah now. "I am very proud to report that the attacks both here, in the southwest, and here, in the north," he pointed at the places as he was talking about them, "have stopped completely. I suspect we have decimated their armies enough by now to make it impossible for them to hold four fronts at the same time." He laughed roughly and most of the other attendants, who were also dressed in extravagant armors, joined in. "It won't be long now and there won't be any Langghari left to steal our beloved Fragment of the Sun." 

Salyah nodded. She was quiet glad to hear this. Maybe it meant they'd need fewer soldiers now and then she wouldn't have to spend so much of her country's money on military issues. Each week a conference was held on which the progress in the war was being discussed. Normally there wasn't anything interesting being said, other than that everything was well and they could defend their borders without any problems. Salyah looked up from her paws, which were usually much interesting than whatever her generals told her, but now she wanted to hear what all this was about.

"Does that mean the war might be over soon?" she asked, making all the Nidokings in the room turn their heads towards her. Salyah was sitting on the top end of the long table. The map of Jorai was hanging on the far wall, so she could see it quite well. Her chair was the only one that looked different from the others; it had soft, red cushions and was decorated with a frame made out of solid gold. Tetzi was sitting at her side, taking notes on a sheet of paper, in case anything interesting was being said. There were twelve Nidokings in the room; they were the highest commanders of their army.

"That is a possibility," the general at the map agreed. "However, we do not know enough about the Langgharian armies to be completely sure about this." The queen nodded again.

"I understand," she said. "Well, I guess as long as there doesn't seem to be any kind of threat we can cut the military's funding a little. Please write that down, Tetzi." Her friend did as she was told. The generals, however, were clearly against the idea, Salyah could read that much from the expressions on their faces. They still didn't openly object to her decision, though. The Nidoking at the map took a deep breath.

"In that case, maybe we should just let the soldiers from the now peaceful borders leave the army instead of redirecting them to where they could still be of use, since we may not have enough money to..." He was interrupted when there was a knock on the door. The Nidoking frowned. The general that was sitting the closest to the door rose from his chair and opened it.

Salyah sighed inwardly when she saw that it was Lanran.

"I must talk to the queen," he said to the general while looking at Salyah from the corner of his eyes. "It is very urgent." The armored Nidoking remained standing where he was and looked over his shoulder at the queen, apparently waiting for her to decide whether she wanted to receive Lanran or not. Salyah slowly stood up from her chair and, followed by Tetzi, left the conference room, closing the door behind them.

"What is it?" Salyah's tone of voice made it obvious that she knew there weren't any good news to be expected. As she took a closer look at Lanran she could see that her concerns were more than justified. He obviously tried his best not to look at her face, and he was fiddling around nervously with his front paws. The Nidoking turned around, apparently making sure that nobody who could hear them was in the corridor. Salyah exchanged a glance with Tetzi.

"It's about the Fragment, isn't it?" Lanran nodded and then cleared his throat.

"I have very dire news, your majesty, and they indeed concern the Fragment of the Sun." He swallowed and then continued: "When I came to check on it just now, I found that its glow has weakened once again." Salyah blinked.

"So you haven't been able to find a solution," she stated. Lanran winced and looked to the side.

"I fear I have not, my queen. I cannot even say what causes the Fragment to lose its power, and neither do I know how to restore it." Salyah could hear Tetzi gritting her teeth.

"You're completely useless!" the Nidoqueen in the white dress shouted, making Lanran cringe in fear. "Taking care of the Fragment was your task, and you failed!" The Nidoking quickly went down to his knees and lowered his gaze.

"You are right, of course," he agreed in a shivering tone, "and I do fear an apology could never be enough. If there is a punishment waiting for me, I shall accept..."

"That's enough," Salyah interrupted. "There's no point in punishing you, we have to find a solution now or it'll be the end of this country." She kept looking at the Nidoking for a moment, then turned around and walked down the hallway, heading for her tower. Tetzi followed behind her, as usual.








"I have an idea." The two Nidoqueens were sitting in Salyah's chamber, the queen on her bed and her caretaker in the easy chair. Tetzi looked up from one of the books about the Fragment of the Sun she had been reading.

"Lanran is the one who knows the most about the Fragment, and he can't come up with a solution to our problem," Salyah continued. Tetzi nodded in agreement. "Therefore," the queen went on, "it would be foolish of us to assume that we could think of anything useful. However, we don't have any idea of what the Langghari know about the Fragment." Her caretaker blinked.

"The Langghari?" she repeated in a surprised tone. "Why should they know anything about the Fragment of the Sun? Our country has had it basically forever." Salyah shook her head.

"Think about it," she said while rising from her bed. "They've been after it for hundreds of years, so they have to know at least that all of our country's wealth derives from it. I don't think it's too far off to assume they might know even more." Tetzi frowned and closed her book.

"I'm not too sure about that," she spoke slowly. "And even if they had such knowledge, I doubt they'd ever share it with us."

"Of course they won't," Salyah replied. "That's why we'll have to trick them."





It was quite a tiring voyage. In spite of all her generals strongly advising her against it, Salyah had insisted on personally inspecting the western front. Only once in her entire life she had ever left Sanctuary before, which had been an educational journey through the country that her father had wanted her to undertake. Tetzi and she were traveling in a golden wagon with four wooden tires and two settees with red cushions on them on the inside, which was being pulled by two very strong Nidokings. It wasn't going even nearly fast enough for Salyah's taste, but there was nothing she could do about it. She had been told they would reach the western front in about nine days.

The two Nidoqueens weren't the only ones being transported, though. Next to Salyah there sat another red cushion with a round object on it, which was covered up by a brown rag. The queen was looking out of the small windows at all the normal citizens, who immediately bowed when the wagon ran past them. They were all trusting her to lead this country responsibly, to protect the Fragment of the Sun and to make sure everything was well. After a while the queen simply couldn't take it anymore, so she pulled the curtains shut and instead faced Tetzi, who was sitting on the other settee.

"Do you believe that things will get better if everything goes as planned?" The caretaker lowered her gaze.

"They can't really get any worse, can they?" Salyah nodded and turned her head to look at the closed curtains.









"We have arrived at the battlefield, your highness." The Nidoking opened the wagon's door. Tetzi was the first one to step outside. Salyah rose from her settee as well; she picked up the cushion with the round, covered object and then followed her caretaker.

The first thing she noticed was how beautifully the sunlight was reflected off her golden dress, her crown and all her jewelry. Right after this she saw the many Nidokings in their armors, which weren't quite as shiny as those of the palace guards. The soldiers had formed an alleyway, so all Salyah had to do was walk forwards and meet with the leader of the opposing army. She could feel the soft, warm grass beneath her hind paws, which made it hard for her to imagine that this was supposed to be a battlefield. A small hill lay right before her; she couldn't see what was on the other side yet. Another tall Nidoking in an armor that looked better than that of the other soldiers and with a helmet that had a few red feathers attached to it came up to Salyah and greeted her with a bow.

"It is an honor for me to bring you these good news, your majesty," he spoke with his gaze lowered. "The Langghari do not stand a chance against us. We will have them eradicated sooner of later, no matter how many reinforcements they may or may not receive." Salyah shrugged.

"I don't really care about that," she replied truthfully. "All I want you to do for now is guide me to their leader."

"As you wish, my queen." The Nidoking rose to his hind paws again and then led Salyah through the alley of soldiers. The queen breathed deeply. A strange feeling had befallen her. The sky was blue, the grass was green and the sun was shining brightly, but something wasn't right. When she looked at Tetzi she could tell from the way she was frowning that her caretaker had noticed it, too.

The answer came to her when she had reached the top of the hill. Just a short distance away the grass changed its color from green to something between brown and red; the color of dried blood. The sight was so horrifying that Salyah stopped dead in her tracks. Suddenly she understood what it meant when armies clashed. There were bodies lying around everywhere, all of them completely motionless, some missing limbs, others just showing large, crusted wounds. Only two or three of the fallen soldiers were Nidokings, all the others were Langghari, Pokémon of all kinds, Sandslashs, Raichus, Blastoises, Ninetales' and so many more. It made the queen sick to look at all those corpses, so she quickly lowered her gaze. Very slowly she began following the Nidoking again. After a moment the grass beneath her hind paws lost its healthy green color and became brownish red. Salyah tried her best not to think about the fact that she was walking on someone's blood. She decided to focus entirely on the red cushion she was carrying, telling herself that she'd drop it if her thoughts were distracted by something else for even a second.

Tetzi and Salyah reached the end of the alley and the Nidoking stepped aside. All of the soldiers had drawn their weapons; small axes with two blades that could be wielded with one paw. Salyah raised her eyes and saw what had to be a Langgharian general. It was a Golduck who was sitting on the back of a very large Arcanine. The Golduck was wearing armor as well, but it looked old and had many dents; it wasn't shiny at all and very dirty. He didn't have a helmet. There was an old sword hidden in a sheath that was attached to his armor's side.
As the Golduck looked at Salyah, his expression was full of suppressed hatred.

"What do you want?" he asked, his words being accompanied by a growl from the Arcanine. Salyah swallowed and then cleared her throat.

"I've come to make you a peace offering," she said, trying her best to keep her voice steady. "This war must end." The Golduck frowned. His gaze was fixed on the cushion the queen was carrying. Salyah thought it might be a good idea to show him instead of just telling him, so she quickly pulled the brown rag away, revealing the round gray stone, which had the symbol of the sun engraved on it. Only its innermost ring was still of a golden color.

"This is the Fragment of the Sun," Salyah spoke loudly. "It's useless to keep fighting like this. I want us to share it." She stretched her arms out, bringing the cushion closer to the Golduck. "Take it." A gasp came from the soldiers of Jorai as they apparently couldn't understand why their queen seemed to be giving up the one thing they had always fought for. However, Salyah couldn't pay any attention to this. Her eyes were fixated onto the Fragment, as it suddenly appeared to have become brighter. The queen watched in bafflement as not only the outer ring began to glow golden as well, but all of the triangles around it took on this color, too. Before Salyah even had any chance to understand what was going on there was a bright flash that made her turn her eyes away. At first she thought that lightning had struck somewhere, but this seemed impossible to her, not only because there was not a cloud visible in the sky, but also because the flash didn't disappear. It simply stayed where it was, and after a moment Salyah understood; the Fragment of the Sun had regained all of its power. Just as it was said in the old writings it was shining so brightly that one could hardly look at it.

"Do you think I'm an idiot?" the Golduck suddenly made himself heard. Salyah found herself reminded of the situation she was currently in. The blue Pokémon riding the Arcanine was protecting his eyes from the light with one arm. "A few decades ago one of your kings tried exactly the same trick," he went on. "He gave us the Fragment of the Sun and declared that the war was over. It had been an imitation, of course, but it made our soldiers lay down their weapons for long enough to become the victims of a surprise attack." Salyah quickly shook her head.

"No!" she shouted. "You don't understand! This isn't an imitation, it's..."

"You can keep that thing! We don't want any of your lies!" He looked over his shoulder and shouted: "Soldiers, this is our chance! We will slay the queen and all of Jorai shall fall!"

Salyah didn't really understand what happened next. All she knew was that suddenly everyone was shouting, the Nidoking from before shoved Tetzi and her back down the alleyway and a fight broke loose as a horde of Langghari appeared from somewhere behind their leader. As soon as he had gotten the two Nidoqueens back into their wagon the Nidoking with the feathers on his helmet joined the battle as well, and the two large males who pulled the wagon dashed off, trying to get her queen to safety. However, Salyah didn't have eyes for any of these happenings. She was staring at the Fragment of the Sun, which was, once more, just a simple gray stone, with the familiar symbol engraved into it and a faint golden coloring in the innermost ring. She looked up at Tetzi who seemed to be just as confused as she was.

"What happened?" The caretaker shrugged.

"I have no idea." Her expression changed from confused to saddened. "Your plan didn't work, did it?" Salyah blinked, then sighed.

"No," she said. "No, it didn't work."










It was just a few days after they had gotten back to the palace. Since she had arrived, Salyah had stayed in her room with the only visitor allowed being Tetzi; she didn't even want to receive Cebal. Most of the time she was standing at the window, looking down at the busy city of Sanctuary. She knew she had failed. There was nothing anyone could do anymore. Whenever Tetzi came to look after her they either remained completely silent or her caretaker said that maybe, if they were lucky, the Fragment wouldn't lose its power after all, but Salyah knew she wasn't convinced by her own words.

There was a knock on the door.

"Your majesty, I have good news!" Salyah looked up from her paws, which she had been staring at for a while now. She stood up from the bed, walking past Tetzi who was sitting in the easy chair in a very tense position, and opened the door. It was one of her generals. There was a broad smile on his face.

"The Langgharian army has fallen at the western front!" he reported excitedly. "We haven't been attacked for days! This can only mean that all the Langghari that were in a proper condition to fight our soldiers must be dead!" Salyah nodded.

"I see," she spoke and closed the door again, not minding the confused general. She leaned back against the wooden gate and closed her eyes, letting out a deep sigh. Salyah knew what was going on. She knew why the Fragment had suddenly flashed so brightly when she had offered it to the Langghari, and she knew what would happen now, or rather, what had already happened. She looked at Tetzi.

"It's not your fault," the caretaker said. Salyah lowered her gaze.

"It is."

A moment passed.

There was another knock on the door.

"Your majesty, I have terrible news!" Salyah turned around and opened the door again. Lanran was standing on the other side, now looking more desperate than ever before.

"The Fragment of the Sun has lost all of its remaining power, your highness." Salyah nodded.

"I know," she spoke and closed the door again.








The palace was the first thing to go. It just began to crack and all of its walls collapsed at the same time, leaving behind only a gigantic pile of rubble and a cloud of dust. The buildings of Sanctuary followed soon, sharing the fate of their palace. From the capital the destruction continued, every building in Jorai simply turned into a ruin, no matter whether there was still someone inside or not. Then, just a short time later, all the crops died at once and the ground turned unfertile. The rivers dried up and everything died, the forests, the meadows, the gardens, simply everything. There was no rain, but there was no sun, either; the sky was constantly filled with gray clouds. For a few days the last remaining living creatures of the once wealthy country could still be seen wandering their destroyed streets, searching the rubble for lost family members or something to eat, but they would soon disappear, too.



Within less than a month the kingdom of Jorai was no more.









(20295 words)