A wonderful lineart by the delightful and daddy drake  Synxirazu-niam and colored/shaded by me.

The original: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/19831513/

You think I need more lore characters and art of Dew et al? :P

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Much like how the sun rises and falls, so, too, does the energy of a great monarch. Such a poignant phrase, the great Queen Dew thought to herself. It would be ideal to have a plaque with such a phrase placed at her castle quarters, so as to remind her servants a thing or two about her priorities.

The sun had already passed over the apex in the sky, and the midday heat began to ebb ever so slightly as afternoon faded steadily further into the past. Dew could not wait for the moment her little Satchel to tell her dinner was done. With dinner, her days' work for her would be mostly over, save the task that never ceased - the task of carrying a constantly growing brood of dragons, tightly stuffed within her azure belly.

Dew waddled royally down the stone walls, watching her guards tense up near her as she passed. She was not a small dragon as she once was, in more than one way, and her heavy progeny only made her that much more of an authoritative being. She grinned at the thought of calling one out and watching their armored frames rattle in shock, but before entertainment could satisfy her, a soft cough came from her left.

"Your Majesty, I believe you have somewhere to be. Remember the Hunters' Guild?"

No, she hadn't remembered. Why would she need to? She had them to reminder her of everything! Why couldn't they just cram everyone in the same meeting at once and save them all some trouble?

"Oh, yes, of course. Did you think I had forgotten?" He annoyance twinged through her teeth, and the smaller brown dragon shook his head.

"N-no, Your Majesty, but they were adamant to meet on time so they could gather a hunt this evening."

There was no stopping the meeting. The Hunters' Guild was a welcome ally for the dragons, and their fur and meat trade was nearly as good as any of the other kingdoms around. It was an alliance she was willing to swallow, even though she knew many of their descendants felled dragon and drake as though they were wheat in the field. It angered her so and made her egg and whelp-filled belly all the more eager to grow.

Dew kept herself quiet and waddled slowly toward the meeting hall and presented herself as regal as she could, keeping a hand daintily on her belly while the other caressed the air as she spoke. Agreements were made, and cheers were had by the warriors in the room. In the midst of it all, Dew felt accomplished. She had made it through another meeting without screaming at her visitors. Satchel made her teach herself to calm down, and counting to five at least helped keep her voice down.

Back out in the hallway, she stretched back, feeling a small crack here and there. The heft of her belly required these stretches often, but she did not mind. Her insides relaxed and ready to move on again, the queen started to step toward her room to sit and relax.

"Your Majesty! The Artist Jaello here to discuss your new statute." The queen looked to the little drake's side to find a smaller mouse holding a pad and quill, bowing in greeting. It was at that point she looked over to the rest of the hallway leading to her room. Apparently, she had the bright idea of cramming everyone's meetings together already!

It may have only been an hour at best, but to Dew, it was a continually lengthening eternity. She felt her feet throb lightly for relief, and her legs wobbled increasingly as she moved from one discussion to the next. She felt the slightest of shift in her belly, not seen by most of the people there. She swore she felt heavier by the minute. Her knees would blow out any minute, she guessed. Then there'd be hell to pay. And yet, she persevered, talking only when absolutely necessary. She was glad to have scribes, because she was not certain whether she was visiting the village of Otera or the other way around. She could have agreed to abdicate her throne if she wasn't careful. She just wanted relief!

The last person thanked her for her time, and she heard a familiar voice remind her dinner was soon. But dinner was surprisingly not first on her list. With an inaudible squee, the grand monarch waddled heavily toward her throne. Had it not been stone, the floor surely would have shook, her belly wobbling to and fro while her tail dragged across the plush carpet. Aimed for the widened throne, the gravid dragoness flomped onto the cushion and let out a long sigh. Her legs spread wide, allowing her belly to rest between them and out for all within the room to see. In the back of her mind, she noted that a larger gown would be needed soon enough - or at least she'd need to consider feeding her newborns more liberally going forward.

In the corner of her eye, she spotted her little servant Satchel, a concern in his face.

"A-are you okay, Dew?"
"Satchel...yes, yes I'm fine now. But, I do believe we need to have our dinner here tonight. The babies are getting pretty big, and I definitely don't feel like moving anymore. It has been a long day."
"Sure thing. Coming right up."

Satchel looked to the hallway again and shook his head to another nearby. He didn't have the heart to tell her she wasn't quite done for the night. For sure the other appointments could wait a day, right?