The Temple of Writing is another small building, with a surprising number of desks. I thought there would be more books and bookshelves storing their old writings. There is no clear altar or pews like the bigger temples. I wonder what it takes to have one of those. Maybe it takes a certain level of power or something. Or a level of egotism.

A few of the desks had a woman writing at them, four of them, which does make sense for the Goddess of Writing. I just wonder where they store the writing. Maybe they just throw away what they write?

The other odd thing is, I have no idea what to do. The women are too engrossed in their writing, and a small tune to block out the world even plays in the background. I don't have a clear place to sit. I could pick a random desk and just close my eyes. That normally gets me to the right place quickly.

"Just go," Yuki says, rubbing my back to try and comfort me. She seemed to be getting a bit antsy staying in the carriage, so I asked her to join me, and I could use a friendly face. Even if I'm not sure how good of a friend she really is. She did sit up at the request, though Nakuma wasn't as happy. Geta didn't want us to crowd the small temple, so she chose to stay behind, holding back Nakuma. It was a bit of a fight to get Nakuma to let Yuk's last tail go. "Sit somewhere. That always works for you, and you're a champion. They can't get mad at you for trying to see their Goddess. They get a little too into their copying sometimes. You'll be fine."

Copying. That makes a lot more sense than throwing away their work. Not everyone is useless, Alzi. I guess they are making copies for others, which is why they don't have a bunch of books around. Or is there a library nearby that they store everything in?

Why do I care? I can't even read what they write. I'm too stupid to handle that.

"I guess," I say. There are a number of open desks nearby. I doubt taking one will hurt anyone, so I sit in the nearest and end up in a library, or what I think a library would look like.

"Sorry," yet another Goddess says. "My priestesses get caught up in their work a lot. Nobles normally only come at certain times in the day because they would get ignored otherwise. It causes issues when others come by. Sorry for that."

"They did seem into their work," I say. "The priestess of Hearth told me to see you."

"Yes," she says. She's sitting in a windowsill between two Bookshelves, a scroll over her lap. A warm place to read over what she just wrote, I guess. "Yes. I am not much for fighting, but I can solve a different issue you have, and I heard about my Mother's desire. So, how about a trade? I will help you and Mother fill that desire, and I will help you learn to read and write. You have to be able to read to write, though I hope our future kid turns out to be the Goddess of Reading and can help you more than I can with reading. You will be a lot better at writing than reading. How does that sound? I will do what I can to help you against the Goddesses. Some more divine power is always a nice thing to have. How about it? I know you wish to get home so we can make this quick."

Aurora is going to be mad that I'm getting this shortcut.

"I doubt Aurora will be mad at you for learning. She will be happy that her Princess is getting help and can read her letters. You will only have the reading level of your child, Irlo, most likely. You will still have plenty to learn if you want to read quickly and completely understand all the words. Then there are the ancient writings, poems, and you will have the strange ability to write things you can not completely read."

"Fine," I say. I hope I can get at least one Goddess that will be useful in a fight.

"Very well. As the other Goddesses have promised, the child will be ours to raise. I will try to work on my Priestesses, ignoring you. I make no promises; they do it with Queens as well. They often have someone go ahead of them and warn my priestess, so it appears that they are ready for the Queen coming for a visit."

"Where will your tattoo go?" I ask.

"Where do you want it? The arm or hand would make the most sense. A wrist, maybe?"

"Wrist works," I say.

The scroll goes flying to a shelf behind me, wrapping up into a tight bundle before settling in. The Goddess stretches before walking over and taking my right hand, her thumb rubbing my wrist. A tattoo of a quill and ink pot appears. Small and kind of pretty, I guess.

The Goddess just grabbed me and did her portion. Can I do that to her? I wonder if I could take her robe with me. It would be interesting to see if something happens with her robe in my home.

Writing can hear my thoughts and hasn't said no, so I give it a shot, even pulling her robe into my left tattoo. Then I drag her by her hair to the window, pressing those massive tits against the wall, forcing her knees onto the bench thing under the window.

My clothing goes to the right, and I dive right in. Speeding the process along. I want to check on Irlo before dinner, and maybe see those flowers she wanted to show me before.

I let my old mind handle this one. The mind that could endure the worst the brothel threw at me. Writing isn't a terrible or anything, but I am tired of fucking right now. I work quickly, rutting the Goddess like an animal, a great forest just beyond the clear glass.

Quickly, I feel the familiar feeling of my coming burst. I give a last thrust and push the Goddess against her glass, letting my seed seep in deep. I'll count on Fertility fulfilling her divine will, and with that thought, find myself back at the desk.

The four priestesses are staring at me, motionless, with their blinking eyes. The last bit of pressure breaks me.

Or just made me show how broken I am. The tears come, and they don't stop. Just a silly whore crying in a temple.

"You're alright," Yuki says, wrapping my head in a hug. Her fluffy tails are doing their best to comfort me. "You're alright. I've got you. Take your time."

"I hate it all."

"You don't hate it all. You love your Mother, your children, and Mai. You have plenty that you love and love you. I'm sorry I failed you. I'm sorry, Alzi. But you have a family that loves you."

Do they?

*** Zarzi ***

"Please. Please," I cry. My world has been in pain for the last week. I don't know what changed. I do. My belly has grown to where I can't move without mana. The skin is so thin that my blood just seeps out.

It has saved the other priestess from having to gather blood from animals. No, instead, they just wipe away my blood to make the needed symbols. Each wipe starts with a sledgehammer, then a knife peels away my skin. They take short strokes, but there are so many. And sometimes I bleed over their cleared spots, making them start all over again.

"Shh, dear," Cisu says, letting me rest my tired head on her soft thighs. A towel to wipe my sweat away and a glass of water to keep me from fainting. "Soon. They have just a few more symbols to make. You're doing so well, dear. Breath with me."

"I can't. I just can't," I sob. Why did I do this to myself?

"Breathe in," Cisu says anyway.

I try. I really do, I promise. I promise, dear. I'm trying my best to let our children make it into the world. I need you.

"Dear, this is important. Breathe in, and release slowly. Just one more symbol. Now. In… out."

Cisu asks me to move mountains. To fly through the sun. Yet, I try it, pushing the pain away. For just a moment, I feel a strange release, then it comes back as the Silver stands and joins the circle around me. Cisu gives me a gentle kiss and slowly lowers my head to a pillow, backing up to the circle as well.

They start to chant for what I don't know. The Goddess hasn't asked me to send her orders out for a while.

The blood on my belly burns hot. Hot enough, I feel it against my skin. If I didn't have the Goddess's promise, I would have to worry about my babies, but she promised it won't hurt them, and I have no choice but to trust her. I'll make it up to Alzi if my trust is misplaced. I don't know how, but I will. I promise, dear.

The moat around the edge of the room flares up, and my world goes black.

*** Phrogni Ironfang, Mother of Zarzi ***

"That damn Goddess!" my sister curses, a new favorite pastime for her. "I could field double the women if she didn't give that absurd command. How could she turn her back on the Queen of her people? For a traitor, too. She can't really care for that bastard's kids in at stupid red bitch."

"Are you sure of this path? As you just said. The Goddess is against this plan, it seems. At least she doesn't support it," I say. I've never had this much doubt about anything. Even letting my little sister have the crown for a bit was an easier decision. "That silly red believes we would have the chance to carry a brood as she does." I shouldn't be surprised that talking to a High Priestess and going against her word would fill me with doubt.

The immense size of Nature's force is making it hard just to stop the plan—over a million troops. Most would hardly threaten a barely trained woman, but numbers create a quality for themselves. Not to mention the true beasts of that army. Things that should exist in any realm.

That should be enough to pull out, right? A beast with three…

"Fuck that shit! No. I'll have that brood and control everything. I'll force the damn phoenixes to give us their seed. We'll have, at last, all the needed ingredients for a true dragon. We can fill the world with true dragons and dominate the lower realms as the dragons should. That stupid bitch will learn she should've rolled over and submitted. Then she would've at least gotten to hold her children for a bit before I got them ready for training. Can you fucking speed this all up! I'm tired of waiting for my destiny."

"We have to be careful. Right now, the Goddess doesn't outright stop us. We try to break her command, and we will find what our patron Goddess can do. Nature is struggling to get her troops into position. Soon. But we have to do this correctly. Our enemy has Goddesses supporting her. This won't be easy."

"Then get in the damn bed! I'm tired," Queen Phollo Ironfang says, trying to use her authority over me. I don't know how much longer I can let her have that. I can't shake the feeling that this will be a hard war to win. Nature is part of the original Goddesses, but there are plenty for Alzi to pick up herself. Justice has shown herself to be even less stable than my dear sister.

But I can ram her into a pillow while I mull this over. Things have a habit of making more sense when I put everything in its rightful place.