Sitting on the plush red throne of the Senate chamber, with all the eyes of both houses of parliament and numerous dignitaries upon her, Svetna Fujikawa did her best to maintain a smile through the ongoing ation ceremony. The had been pced on her head some time ago, but pomp and ceremo there were still a few more speeches to go. The words were all very moving and optimistic, running through a on theme of looking towards spad the es the new royal house brought. Really, it was quite a nice ceremony. Except for otle issue.

  She had been busy with the ceremony for about two hours already, there were forty five minutes left, and... she kind of had to pee.

  Thankfully she didn’t have to stand up again until the end of the current round of speeches, so all she had to focus on was maintaining a smile so that no one knew she was distracted. It would be unpleasant, but doable. Pulling on her experien retail, she pstered on her er service mode, knowing there was little ce of her face betraying her increasing disfort.

  Trying to distract herself by actually listening to the tent of the speeches failed to help distract her. She’d already heard pretty well everything during rehearsals, even if there’d been some minor st minute ges.

  Plus, a lot of the speakers were rather b.

  They were adian politis after all. Not a group of people known for beiing.

  Shifting to a slightly different sitting position, she instead decided to let her mind drift off entirely. There weren’t any cues that were easy to miss and, well, she still had a lot on her mind from the ret chaos of her life.

  The first thing, that still made her all giddy from time to time, was thoughts about how nice being able to be a woman was. Alien teology really was wonderful when it came to transitions.

  Still, the five months that had passed sihen was starting to make it feel so natural she barely remembered the vague haze she’d teetered on the edge of before.

  Instead her mind mostly went to more ret matters. Like the fact she was married. To four different wonderful women, half of whom were aliens... plus them all being in a retionship but teically not being married to two others due to issues of succession surrounding immortals. Which didn’t really strike her as fair to O’tmyil or Thisbe. Even if androids and vampires apparently made certain legal matters plicated.

  There was also a sedary matter that was sort of less ret thana’s transition, but also something she’d only found out ter: Vivian, the first of her wives that she’d met, regnant. From just before Svetna’s transition. Nearly six months in now, though the tall and handsome woman showed rather less than one might expect. Being nearly two metres tall had advantages.

  Which meant Svetna was going to be a mother soon. That was exg. Even if she had no idea how to raise a kid, and also suspected a small army of royal nannies were going to get involved.

  Plus, all the travel ahead of her. She was going to have to go to the UK to sign some paperwork over the transfer of a certain properties between herself and the old royal family. After that the politis had decided to have her go on a grand diplomatic tour. Brushing elbows with proper royalty and whanot.

  Then, of course, there was the space stuff. With Plynx, Bokarza, and O’tmyil all being aliens, Svetna was going to have to head into space at some point. That was exg. So far all she’d done was a quick orbit or two in Plynx’s personal spaceship back when they’d been dating. Seeing the rest of the gaxy was--

  Oh!

  People were g more than they’d been doing. Right. That was the Governeneral giving her final speech, formally handing over all vestiges of her office to the ‘House of Fujikawa’ (a term that Svetna still thought sounded a bit overly snobby... especially sidering her parent’s pce was a one floor 1960s bungalow in Hammer City).

  All the same, she stood, smiled, waved, sighe one dot marking accepting the lease for Rideau Hall, and then she made a beeli the door to the washroom as soon as table.

  One of the perks of being the new Queen of ada was that she had access to a private washroom, though even that only did so much to ter hoard dresses were in the washroom. Either you had to fold up the skirt and be left awkwardly drowning in it, or you had to pull almost the whole thing off to pull it down... or maybe there was some trick to it that mothers normally taught their daughters that she’d missed with the whole being trans thing.

  Whatever the case, she was done perhaps a mier, hands washed and now being swarmed by various wardrobe and makeup people who were all doing their best to erase any sign she was a being of flesh and blood that sometimes wrinkled her dress.

  Popping out from being tucked ina’s bra, a clearly alien disc floated through the air for a few moments before fshing into the solid yet holographi of O’tmyil.

  “Reports on media show that everyone who could have a positive view of you has had a positive opinion on the ceremony so far,” the blue-skinned alien android reyed, having apparently been tapped into unicatioworks. “The queens sort and Thisbe are waiting for you at the cars towards your new residence.”

  “Right. New residence... I still ’t believe they’re making me move to Ottawa,” Svetna mumbled as someone adjusted the tiara serving as her new primary .

  It was very pretty, made by a Dené artist with diamonds from the North-West Territories. Of course it was also worth several times more than her parent’s home, let alone anything Svetna had ever owned. Or, well, ever owned until retly. How was she supposed to feel fortable with something like that on her head?

  “It seems a niough city to me,” O’tmyil replied as they began making their way through the secured hallway towards the garage where others were waiting.

  “If you like bureaucracy,” Sveltana mumbled as they walked, before remembering she was in the very heart of the nation’s bureaucrats. Parliament itself.

  As such, she decided to keep her mouth shut for the rest of the walk. A walk that felt rather long, sidering it was all in one building. Parliament had just been built to a slightly obnoxious scale, thanks to Victorian era egos. Or was it Edwardian by that point?

  Passing through hallways that were an odd mix of ornate and utilitarian, they at long st reached the entrao the garage, where they found the others waiting.

  “You’re behind schedule,” Augusta Fujikawa-Hozenberg-Lemonov-Be said, sounding mildly annoyed.

  Her Franco-Austrian at always sou least a little annoyed, however.

  “There’s a whole army of moving parts, you have to expect deys,” the tall and ever dashing Vivian Fujikawa-Wong muttered, rolling her eyes.

  “Well, it was more that I don’t have infinite bdder capacity,” Svetna admitted, a slightly awkward little chuckle.

  It didn’t seem to quite be enough fusta’s liking, but, thankfully, everyone else was rather more easily pleased.

  “The looks very nice,” Bokarza said, leaning down to take a better look. She was also clearly happy to see Svetna again, based on the way her clubbed tail was swinging (causing everyone near her to quickly step to safety). “Very delicate, but pretty.”

  “It suits you-love very well,” Plynx added with a smile that showed just a little of her feline-like fangs while purring lightly.

  “The ck of any crucifixes or other religious symbols is very appreciated,” Thisbe added.

  Before they could manage any further versation, however, various aids ushered them onto the vertibles set to drive them to Rideau Hall. As expected, O’tmyil returo her dis and was tucked bato Svetna’s dress for security reasons while Vivian joined Svetna in the front car. It seemed everyone saw her as Svetna’s ‘primary wife’ due to both being the only other adian in the new royal family and her being pregnant. A baby on the way did woo improve the public’s feelings towards both Svetna and her dashingly handsome wife. Even with the polycule, aliens, and trans factors. People just loved babies.

  Meanwhile Plynx, Augusta, and Bokarza rode in a sed vertible. Svetna did not envy the driver or other aid who were stuck sharing a car with those three. All had been born princesses, Plynx and Bokarza’s people having been in a low level war until retly while Augusta was... Augusta. Raised in a family with a number of cims but no actual throne, she'd been taught to put on airs before she could walk to make up for it. So the only way to prevent an argumeweerio would be if none of them spoke.

  And then Thisbe would ride behind in one of the security SUVs with tinted windows, both to protect her from the sun and view. While Svetna thought it was unfair to Thisbe she couldn’t really deny that there was a reason vampires had a bad rap and it was fair to try to keep the petitie woman tucked away on ation day.

  Pulling out of the garage, they had a few moments to adjust to the light before reag the crowds lining the street. Under normal ditions it would be maybe a ten minute drive, but they were instead going to be going only a little faster than walking speed so that Svetna could smile and wave at the crowds along Wellington and then Sussex.

  “My arm is going to get tired,” she whispered through a smile as they finally passed the Hotel Laurier.

  “You’re using your wrist too much,” Vivian replied through an equally well maintained smile.

  Svetna nodded slightly, double cheg her teique against Vivian’s.

  That mao save her, letting her hahe rest of the almost thirty minute crawl to her new official residence. All the same, when they finally reached the garage and were once more tucked away from news cameras she let out a sigh of relief. It had still felt like a bit of a work out to keep her arms up that much.

  At least the rest of the day was going to be a party. Well, there was o photo op session, then the cert would start, held on the grounds of what was set to be beled her new ‘pace’ soon enough. It really did baffle her just how mud the governeneral had had... but it made food amount of space to host a party.

  “I still have to ask what you ate. Your breath smells horrid,” Augusta said as the sed car tucked into the garage a short distance from Svetna.

  “It was merely the tuna-fish,” Plynx replied.

  “Oh, hey, good work you three, managing to keep from fighting on camera,” Svetna said with a grin.

  “It’s your day. We didn’t want to ruin that, chérie,” Augusta replied.

  “Indeed, indeed,” Plynx added with a happy nod.

  For her part, Bokarza shrugged. “I know I scare humans, since you’re so little as a species, and a panicked crowd is very bad. So I tried not to move.”

  The group exged a little more light versation while they waited for Thisbe’s ride to pull in. Once everyone was assembled it was time to pull out O’tmyil and then go meet up with the various artists who would be perf that evening. As they made their way through the rge home both Svetna and Bokarza found themselves helping Vivian out, the long day apparently starting to tire her out when bined with the pregnancy. And, well, those two were the only ones who were tall enough to really offer her much support.

  It only took a few mio reach the main hall where the various artists were waiting, however. Eveer, there were chairs and couches avaible, Vivian finding a seat. After some reassurance from Vivian that she was fine, Svetantly drifted over towards the rge crowd of artists, managers, and other hangers on. Once agaiered on her er service smile.

  The performers were quite the eclectic mix. Most were adian, and a few were firmly not Svetna’s style (three different try music groups), but there were also two alien bands present. One was mostly made up of the lynx-like Ossid’rians like Plynx, while the other had a couple of Kobaroians like Bokarza (who were perhaps best described as a mix between fantasy ord those sabre-toothed deer from a, though there was the matter of the horns and the clubbed tails to make that not quite accurate), but there were also a couple of blue Lanthoneans (the species O’tmyil’s default appearance was based upon) and oher artist who’s species Svetna couldn’t identify off the top of her head.

  The human artists mostly seemed more excited to talk to fellow musis from elsewhere in the gaxy than they were to meet the new queen, but Svetna could uand that. Learning what music was like in the rest of the gaxy had to be even more exg for musis. The alien musis, however, were rather more excited to meet Svetna at the moment. Perhaps because her teically being empress of a good k of the gaxy was more impressive than being queen of ada... that part of her newfound royal status still felt so abstract, however.

  All the same, she took photos or holographic captures with each group (it likely not being hard to guess which type of artists did which) and it was all going quite nicely if a bit stiffly. Until she reached the oist she was genuinely somewhat excited to meet, due to their status as a adian queer i.

  “Ro Valenti! It’s very cool to get to meet you,” she said, smiling and the currently mase singer a handshake.

  “The excitement is all mine, getting to py at a ation, and for the first trans monarch of ada? Very cool... also, though... have we met before?” they asked, looking Svetna over. “Because you’re oddly familiar.”

  “I don’t think so,” Svetna muttered, even if she had retly learhat her former roommate’s girlfriend had apparently sort of known Ro for years. “If we did I probably would have looked rather different anyhow. Only got zapped retly, after all.”

  That caused Ro’s eyes to light up, followed by excited waving of a pointer finger. “Right! Right! That one... I think it was a Mongolian p TO? You and a friend were in the washroom and I ged... and then I maybe flirted with you.”

  Blinking, the memory hit Svetna in a moment. She’d definitely remembered someone ging sex before her eyes with just a spsh of water, but she’d told herself afterwards she’d had to have imagi. That was just too ao be real. Very specifically aoo... but, no. She had learer that apparently cursed springs that caused sex ges were real, they were just in Türkiye instead of a like the anime said.

  “Right, you did...” Svetna replied, finding herself giving Ro Valenti a quice over.

  Ohat the highly attractive and gender-bending pop star was matg.

  “Alright, yeah, no. That’s enough of that,” a bruh a sharp bob said, slidiweewo of them.

  “Hey! Rachel!” Ro protested.

  “Indeed,” Augusta added, slipping in to add extra space between the Svetna and Ro. “It is time for the photos and theists must prepare for their performances, mon amour.”

  “R-right,” Svetna mumbled, posing for a couple of pictures with Valenti and the rest of the Fire Hearts before being pulled away by both Augusta and Plynx.

  As she was led away from the room, she noticed Ro and their one amazon-like bandmate talking to Vivian. What about she had no time to find out, however. Her two wives seemed to decide that moving Svetna away from that hall was of vital importance.

  “Wait, is this because Valenti is eo four people?” Svetna asked as the pair of... well, they were no longer merely princesses, but that was still how Svetna’s brain sorted them... as her two wives stopped pulling her along at st as they arrived at... well, another plush room that probably had some kind of faname.

  “Yes,” Augusta expined. “It is precisely because of that.”

  “We love Svetna-dearest very much, but everyone agreed it would be a dangerous idea to let you and Valenti-singer spend too much time together. You both have... what was it called again?” Plynx asked, turning to Augusta.

  “Harem anime protagonist energy,” Thisbe said, causing everyoo jump as they hadn’t realised she’d followed them. “The romantic chaos that could potentially ensue was deemed ing. Eve Lee agreed to that. You cause enough trouble on your own.”

  “I’m not that bad,” Svetna protested.

  “Do we o remind you-dearest of what happened with Bokarza-wife?” Plynx asked. “It is unclear if your heart or what you do to the hearts of others is more powerful, but the effect is undoubtedly most signifit.”

  She couldly argue, but Svetna still felt like everyone was overreag a little.

  AnnouAnd the sequel begins. There's going to be a couple of cameos from other stories (at least one of which I haven't actually writte due to questioime ma... oops), but I'll do my very best to not MCU-ify things.

  Anyhoo, as this chapter goes up I have just put chapter 3 up for patreon patrons and they'll be staying two chapters ahead until the story ends. You sign up for just 1USD/month.