Amaranth looked up at the marble archway, taking a deep breath. She was a little nervous - after all, she'd been away from home for five years, a long time for a child to not visit her mother. She felt a slight fluttering in her chest as she looked at the portal, for while it was beautiful, it was also a little imposing - especially for a woman as small as her. She adjusted her leather corset, and stepped through.

Immediately, she stood on a spiral staircase in a massive void. She had only taken the full trek a few times, but she knew how long it was, and wasn’t too keen on taking it now. She took another deep breath. “Amaranth Rose.” Upon mention of her name, Amaranth felt herself becoming weightless, as if falling. She had completely forgotten how exhilarating that particular sensation was, and let out a small yelp. But soon, she was back on terra firma, looking at the bridge leading to her mother’s palace.

On her way, a number of clergy hailed her, welcoming the princess home after her long absence. Amaranth felt a bit torn about being called a princess again. On the one hand, she grew up as one - living in a court, pampered, with tutors and fancy clothes. On the other hand, she had always been rebellious and somewhat savage compared to princesses of Revaliir, but the same could be said for any number of her sisters. She eventually decided she liked it, and as she entered the mansion, she happily accepted the service of a few clerics who came to see to her needs.

She let them take her canteen and tinderbox, and her leather corset for repair. She let the clergy take her other clothes as well, for washing, accepting a skirt to replace it all. It had been a long while since she felt free enough to leave her torso bare - on Revaliir, that was unacceptable in most societies. Here, in the Sundering Gardens, where femininity was celebrated, that was not a problem, and so she decided to make herself properly at home. Hardly proper behaviour in a princess, but she honestly didn’t care.

After changing, she headed immediately for the throne room. It wasn’t far, and she still remembered the halls of the mansion like it was yesterday. And sure enough, as she found the door and opened it, there was the orchard she had played so much in as a child. The memory brought a smile to her face. And in the middle of the greenery, there was Angela, and her little sister Iva. She waved and called out. “Mother, I am home!” She grinned at Iva’s somewhat confused expression, and heaved over. “Hey, Iva! I am your sister, Amaranth. You’ve grown big!” she said, ruffling Iva’s hair, before addressing her mother again. “It’s good to be home again,” she said, reaching out for a hug.

Her children were all around Revaliir at this point. Most did odd jobs and some became epic heroes. It was hard to keep track of all of them but she found herself happily humming as she watched Rohan while playing with Iva. She was peacefully braiding the child’s ever growing long red hair. They were all happy, for now and that was what she loved the most about it all.

“Mama?”

“Hm?” Angela leaned over so Iva’s brown eyes could look into her green ones.

“Can I grow up and have a ton of babies too?”

Angela chuckled a bit. “You can’t grow up right at this instance but someday yes you can do that.” She pat the girl’s head and laughed more. Iva had a ton of maternal instinct within that little mind of hers. When it came to Rohan she was all over him and ever making rules for everyone. She loved her little brother deeply. 

“Well why not?” Iva looked bummed out.

“Because Drae and I want you to stay little forever.” She teased her youngest daughter and Iva gave a smile. If Drae wanted it then Iva tended to be alright with it. He was after all the only  father she ever had. Peeking up she seen a face she hadn’t seen in a long while. “Amaranth! Welcome home!” Iva tilted her head and blinked a bit. “Iva you don’t remember Amaranth do you?” Iva shook her head as the braid was now partially ruined thanks to the head rub.

Angela hugged the woman close and chuckled. “Many things have changed my daughter. The biggest thing is your new brother,” she got up from her chair taking her daughter over to the crib. “Meet Rohan.” She pulled the littlest Rosenite out of the crib and showed Amaranth. “Isn’t he adorable?”

Amaranth followed her mother to the crib, and as she saw the little boy, her savage heart positively melted. Her face showed only adoration as she reached out to the boy, stroking his head. “Awh, he is adorable!” She exclaimed, in a fashion altogether unlike her. She gingerly made a move to hold the boy herself, cradling him close, as if he was her own son. “My first baby brother,” she said after a while, booping the boy’s nose with her own. Rohan made some cooing noises, as well as a couple of giggles, apparently taking to his sister rather well. After a few moments, however, he began to cry, the reason for which left Amaranth completely stumped.

“What? What’s wrong? Did I do something? Is he hungry, is that it?” Amaranth looked at her mother, completely lost. She had never really had her mother’s maternal instinct, preferring beasts to people and witchcraft to more mainstream nature magic.

Angela chuckled and tilted her head. “I sometimes forget that you lot don’t have any younger brothers, well didn’t.” She was a terrible mother for forgetting that fact but she let it shrug off as she watched Amaranth with Rohan. The girl was quite volatile on her own but with a watchful eye she was a good woman. Once Rohan began to fuss Angela swooped in and took him. “He’s hungry I would imagine.” Angela mused a bit as she moved herself into a chair and fed the boy.

Iva ran over and stared at Rohan for a moment or two before looking up at Amaranth. “He’s fine so you can stay. I thought she did something to him momma.”

“That would make you a liar if you had said that.” Angela sighed a bit at her youngest daughter and closed her eyes. “Drae is probably off in his study but you should meet him. He’s been a good influence on all of the girls and now we have Rohan.” Iva’s face lit up as the name Drae got said. He took such good care of their little imp.

“Later,” Amaranth replied when Angela recommended she meet with her stepfather. “I barely know him, remember. I want to catch up with you first,” she said, taking a seat next to her mother, patting her baby brother on the head. She looked at Iva with a smirk. “And you, sister, have something of a mouth on you,” she said with playful sternness, before chuckling a bit. “That’s good. Don’t let other people’s opinions keep you from voicing yours,” she said. “Otherwise, mother’s life would get too dull,” she added, grinning.

She then looked back at her mother, pondering for a moment. “You always look so content doing that,” she said, gesturing at Rohan. She hadn’t had any children yet, but she found herself wondering - as she always did in her mother’s company - if it was all that bad. Her mother was the goddess of fertility, sure, but motherhood seemed to agree so well with her. There was something about her that made Amaranth feel a rush every time she looked at her, an urge to have children of her own. It always passed once she left her mother’s company, but it was still uncanny. Once again, she was feeling it - a slightly unwelcome desire to know what being a mother was like.

She tried to think of something intelligible to say, but failed. In the end, she decided that she might as well speak her mind. Angela was her mother, after all. “I don’t think i told you this before,” she said, “but watching you being a mother always made me want to become one,” she continued, her brow furrowed. “It usually passes when I leave, but… When I look at you, I want to be you,” she said, chuckling weakly. “Admiration, I suppose,” she said, unable to take her eyes off Rohan. She thought some more. “Do you think…” She hesitated for a moment. “Do you think I could try..?” she said, gesturing at her baby brother.

Iva nodded to her big sister and Angela chuckled a bit. “Don’t let how wild Iva doesn’t look fool you. She is a lot like you in that department dear daughter.”

When Rohan was brought into it Angela thought about it. “I would be comfortable even without my titles I think. I’ve always been told being a mother came natural to me. When your sister Lyre was alive we would always have people stopping us and telling us just how natural it looked.” 

Thinking on what the girl said she merely chuckled. “Baby fever is real for most women of your age. We feel the need to have what others do.” She nodded to Amaranth and gave her the necessary things she needed to fulfill her wish. “If that is what you want. That is what you can do.” A wet nurse was a wet nurse after all and it wasn’t uncommon for Rohan to have one when she wasn’t around. “It can be a bit uncomfortable and watch out for his teeth, they have been coming in recently.”

She paused and laughed. “I guess I didn’t realize how old he was getting… he is growing up quite fast. Maybe it is because time feels so slow to me but in reality it passes in the blink of an eye. I feel sad now.” She stared at her child as she handed him off. “It was only yesterday to me that I had Iva and now I have Rohan… and someday another one will follow I’m sure.”

Amaranth accepted Rohan, feeling a few butterflies in her stomach at the prospect of trying out this very intimate thing for the first time in her life. She held rohan up to her breast, and the boy began drinking. She winced a little, as she was more sore than she had anticipated, but the pain was soon replaced by an overwhelming sense of trust and serenity. She looked at her mother with a smile. "A bit sore. But… I don’t know. I can’t quite describe it.” She looked at her baby brother with a smile. “It feels like he trusts me. And it feels good,” she said, finally. It took her a moment or two to gather her wits again - and one of Rohan’s emerging teeth. “Owch. Hm, he is a little toothy,” she said, chuckling a little.

Eventually, Amaranth looked at her mother with a more businesslike expression on her face. “Don’t suppose that’s a spell that can be taught?” She asked, sounding interested. “I’ve focused on offensive and lifeweaving magic for so long, I feel like I’ve neglected healing and such.” She looked down at Rohan again, and couldn’t help but smile some more. “And I think every child deserves to be fed at a loving woman’s breast,” she said, looking slyly back at her mother. “If there’s an elixir or something that does the same thing, that could also be very useful.”

She took another brief pause. “I suppose we rosenites are a little more… How to put this… Fecund, than other ethnicities,” she said, in response to Angela’s teasing about biological clocks and whatnot. “I suppose I wouldn’t be too distraught if I got pregnant anymore. ‘Twas a big concern the last few years,” she said, remembering her time travelling the world, meeting new people. She had certainly taken an intimate interest in a few, but had always ensured nothing tangible would come of it. “But mother… If that happens, I don’t want the kid to grow up with only a mother. I know I never met my father, but the Sundering Gardens offer a family.” She looked at her mother playfully. “And should I get in the same situation, I’ll expect you to be a good grandma and keep us close,” she teased.

Drae had a way of walking in at what at one point might have been considered an awkward moment. Typically one might call it odd, walking in on a strange, topless young woman breastfeeding his infant son, but somehow it didn't seem to phase him much. Angela was there, which meant the individual was one of trust, perhaps a wet nurse, though he didn't believe that in an instant. What he did know is that none of the current wet nurses has coppery red hair and figures similar to his beloved. He came in at the tail end of the conversation, something about Angela being a grandmother, and he almost blanched. 

"Oh, Gods don't let the grandbabies be on the way already! I just got used to being a father!" the half-elf said pleasantly as he joined the women in the courtyard, scooping Iva up playfully and tossing the second youngest Rose over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He looked at the face of the woman holding Rohan, and it was very obvious that she was indeed one of Angela's children.

"Good Gods, there's another one!" he exclaimed in good nature, hoping to bring a smile to the young woman's face. "Hang on, I am sure that Sapphire and I have gone over your picture in the family line, you must be… must be… " 

Drae thought for a moment, trying hard to remember all the names and faces that he and the young teenager had looked at. 

"Sorry, love, I am drawing a blank," he admitted apologetically. "I clearly haven't had the pleasure of meeting you yet," he said with a pleasant smile. 

Angela thought on it a bit and chuckled. “I told you to watch out for his teeth.” She pat the top of her daughter’s head. Watching the Goddess shook her head. “It isn’t a spell that one can learn on their own. No… only a God can do such a thing.” She tried to sooth Amaranth for right now. “I could probably work on an elixir for you… It would take a while but I think you would put it to good use.”

Her eyes narrowed a bit. “Rosenites are what we are Dear. We breed to survive even though we were told we couldn’t. We are still a small race compared to the others. We just have to be strong.” She tapped her chin a bit. “I think I could do that..”

Angela grinned with Drae came in. Iva was squealing as he threw her over his shoulder. She laid real still and looked like she was about to ask a thousand questions. “Tea party #50 tonight in my room. You are to be dressed like royalty from Egjora… NO IFS, ANDS, OR BUTS!” She poked at Drae’s back.

Angela laughed hard at the second youngest. “Technically there is already one but you have yet to meet her.” Looking at Drae then Amaranth she took a sigh and chuckled. “This is Amaranth. You haven’t met plenty of my daughters yet. There is still Daphne of the Wood. Basselina of the North. Calanthe, though she is currently depressed. You will meet them all in good time. Amaranth is younger than Ash but older than Sapphire!”

She cozied up to her lover and kissed him. "Welcome to the party."

Amaranth nodded as Angela said it might be worked into an elixir. “Probably for the best,” she said. “More reliable than certain types of magic,” she continued.

She didn’t expect Angela to oppose raising grandkids in the Sundering Gardens - the place was certainly large enough. She wasn’t disappointed, then, when Angela didn’t seem to oppose the idea - should it ever become relevant.

Suddenly, a handsome-looking elf appeared. Amaranth couldn’t help but smile at the man’s merry nature - despite showing some scars she assumed was from combat, he seemed like he was in the prime of his youth. She also quickly realised that this was Drae, her mother’s new husband and by consequence her own stepfather. She found herself somewhat surprised - he’d expected Angela’s new lover to be a bit more wizened and calm, like herself. On the other hand, his energetic nature seemed to compliment Angela rather well, and he certainly had a way with children, which Amaranth knew would be a big plus.

She chuckled a bit as Drae tried to connect her to a name. She didn’t look much different from Angela’s other daughters, especially not in the old pictures. Portraits made now might have had a different outcome - Amaranth’s somewhat barbarian clothing and affinity for darkness might have marked her out - but she was just like her sisters in the old ones. Finally, when Angela introduced her, she offered Drae her greetings.

“Good to meet you, Drae. I’d stand up and give you a hug or something, but…” She looked down at Rohan, who was still suckling at her breast, before looking back at Drae. “Perhaps a gesture better suited for when I’m not feeding him,” she said. Just then, Rohan made a cooing noise and stopped drinking, relaxing instead in her arms. She let her baby brother rest there, apparently not too concerned about her breasts showing. “I’m assuming you see things like these on a daily basis here in the Sundering Gardens,” she said, “but I could get dressed again if you prefer,” she continued, with something of a playful smile. She then turned to Angela, with a sly smirk. “And you, mother. Quite the cougar, arn’t you?” she said, chuckling. “I bet he’s younger than Thyme by more than a decade,” she said, referring to her older brother. She then looked at Drae. “Honestly. You’re my stepfather - how old are you, really?” she asked, laughing.