“Expatriate, dear.”
“That was it. We’re expatriates, Lady Elin. We were exiled ourselves, hundreds of years ago. So we won’t hesitate to associate with another exile.”
“Especially if you’re helping to make our new home,” the first one added. “If there’s ever any service we can do you, milady, we’ll be happy to help.”
Elin seemed to be struck speechless by this.
“I suspect there’s a lot you could help her with,” I told them. “Elin was raised by humans, and she hasn’t had an easy time of things. But we were talking about your pool. Elin, you can banish water as well as summon it, right? I was thinking of giving the nice naiads a little waterfall, and maybe a stream running down to the other end of the floor.”
“A waterfall? That would be wonderful, lord wizard!”
Elin smiled shyly. “I like this idea.”
So that’s what we did. I built a natural-looking rocky shelf against the wall of the vast room, and we put in a water conjuration enchantment at the top to feed a nice little waterfall that fell twenty feet into a rocky basin. Mindful of the classics I put in a cozy little cave behind the waterfall, just big enough for three or four people to fit into if they were friendly. The basin emptied into a little brook that fed a deep pool. At Elin’s suggestion we also built a cave at the bottom of the pool, with an entrance that curved up into a chamber where air would be trapped when the pool filled.
I wouldn’t have expected water magic to include the ability to maintain air pockets like that, but apparently water spirits liked to do that kind of thing when the terrain allowed it. Elin’s enchantment would keep the air in the chamber fresh, and the naiads could easily get guests in and out if they wanted to. So it gave them a final, secret refuge against enemies and a private abode where they could keep things that wouldn’t survive long-term immersion in water.
Once that was arranged I cut a deep, meandering channel across the floor of the habitat all the way to the other end of the building, where it ended in a deep but fairly small pool with a tall, narrow drain near the top on one side. We enchanted that to banish water that entered it, which should serve to regulate the water level and keep it from overflowing. Then we added another drain at the bottom and a matching conjuration enchantment in the naiad pool, to increase circulation and keep the stream flowing.
Of course, with the channel for the stream being eight feet deep I also had to put up some little footbridges crossing it at various points, but those were small enough that the effort was pretty trivial. I spent a few minutes giving them decorative railings and posts at each end, enchanted to glow dimly at night. Then we took the elevator back to the attic level to enchant the rest of the floodlights.
By the time we finished the lights and sprinklers Elin and I were both stumbling with exhaustion, despite trading my amulet back and forth periodically. It was good at fixing physical problems, but mental fatigue and the strain of channeling heavy mana flows for hours were another story. Still, we managed to keep it together long enough to demonstrate the controls that would turn the lights and sprinklers on and off.
Demetrios was impressed, but Zoe and Pelagia were awestruck.
“We can command the day to come and go however we wish?” Pelagia verified. “There are no rules or sacrifices, no price to be paid? And the rain as well? We can simply call it down whenever our dryads feel thirst?”
“Yeah, it’s really that easy. We’ve set up each grove with its own separate enchantments, so you won’t affect each other either. Well, aside from the light that shines through the connecting halls, obviously. We’re going to come back and set up the same enchantments on the agricultural areas later, and put in quarters for however many farmers you end up needing to help with the work.”
That was as far as I got in my explanation before we were both mobbed by tearful nature spirits. Even Zoe’s eyes were a bit damp, and Pelagia was actually crying.
“Thank you thank you thank you! Oh, Daniel, Elin, I never imagined a wonder such as this!”
Demetrios smirked. “Hey, ease up there, girls. I don’t think either of them have the energy left to survive being thanked by all of you at once.”
“Lech. Not everyone is as obsessed as you.” Pelagia rolled her eyes, but she also stopped pressing her breasts against my chest.
Zoe said something in what I’d gathered was Italian, and Pelagia nodded. “Yes. Come, both of you, sit and rest while we settle our dryads. You can brave the journey back to your beds once you’ve recovered a bit.
That sounded like a reasonable idea, and besides I was too tired to argue. A few minutes later I found myself lounging in the shade of an enormous oak tree, my head pillowed against a nymph’s breasts while a hamadryad and one of the naiads cuddled against my sides feeding me little bits of fresh fruit from a bowl one of the dryads had brought. I wondered where that had come from until I noticed that one of the dryads was apparently an apple tree. Oh, and that one had pears. Huh. For some reason it had never occurred to me that there might be dryads of fruit trees, but they seemed to have quite a variety.
I was half expecting them to make a move on me, even though Elin was lying next to me with her own little cluster of attendants. But instead I drifted off to sleep watching the dryads of the Red Thorn grove carefully picking out their spots, and sprouting into trees one by one.
Some time later I woke to find that Cerise was kissing me.
“You are the most awesome guy ever, you know that?” She purred.
I smiled, and let my hand drift down to her firm backside. “You sound happy. I take it things went well with Corinna?”
“Ooh, yeah. She’s got a nasty bitch act, but once you break through her defenses she’s just a needy little slut.”
“She’s taller than you,” I pointed out.
“Really? Hard to tell when she’s on her knees,” Cerise shot back. “So, I get to keep her, right? I mean, she completely wore me out, but it was so worth it.”
“I don’t know. If I say yes, are you ever going to make it out of bed again?”
I teased her a little more, but she was convinced that Corinna wouldn’t cause any trouble as long as we handled her right.
“She’s kind of a crazy bitch, but we’ve got a lot in common,” Cerise said. “I can handle her. Good call on not doing her yourself, by the way. If you had she’d spend all her time trying to get the upper hand with you, and you don’t have time for that shit. This way she’s got her sights set on me instead, and we can have fun proving who’s boss without distracting you.”
“I don’t know, that image is pretty damn distracting,” I admitted. “But seriously, I’m glad to hear it. I really didn’t want to have to kick her out, but we can’t afford to have any troublemakers around here. Speaking of which, I guess I need to get back to work. That army could be here in three or four days, and we need to be ready. Do you know if we’ve gotten an intel update today?”
She nodded, and helped me sit up. “No scouting today. It’s snowing outside, not a real storm but enough to ground the griffons. Oh, I guess I should mention the prince might still be here.”
I raised an eyebrow at that. “Might?”
She shrugged. “He did one of his surprise visits to talk to you at lunchtime, but when he heard you were passed out in here he decided he could make do with just talking to your ‘advisors’. He’s been trying to work out a way to harass the monster army with raids or something, and he wanted to know what kind of transport we’ve got. We all know you’ve been trying to build up your position with him, so Captain Rain showed him the transports and explained what kind of force we could send out.”
“He was getting ready to leave when Elin stumbled in, and we weren’t sure if you’d want to talk to him yourself or not. So Avilla invited him upstairs for tea and cake while I came out to see if you were awake. We didn’t tell him that, so if you don’t want to see him just hang around out here a little longer.”
“Well, that’s
something I hadn’t thought of. Maybe I should build a secret tunnel or something, so I can come and go without anyone knowing?”
“What, so you can come visit your adoring dryad harem whenever you want? I guess we’re not enough for you now,” she teased.
“Please. If I get any more women chasing me I’m going to die of exhaustion. Or more likely we’ll all get eaten by monsters because I was too busy to upgrade our defenses. Speaking of which, how’s your mana amulet working out?”
“Awesome. I think I’m officially the most badass witch in Europe with this thing, but if you’ve got any other presents I won’t turn them down.”
“Actually I do have another idea. I’ve got a pretty neat armor effect working on my new coat, and I was thinking about ways to give you the same protection. The way you fight you can’t afford to have anything bulky interfering with your movements, but I was thinking maybe you and Avilla could figure out a way to make you a leather catsuit for me to enchant.”
“Catsuit? That’s an interesting word. Tell me more.”
The gates to the dryad habitat turned out to be guarded by a nymph and a pair of dryads, who banished their armor when they saw me coming so they could give me an enthusiastic naked three-way hug amid profuse thanks for their new home. Cerise smirked, but I wasn’t complaining. Hell, what kind of moron would be put out over a bunch of pretty girls being affectionate?
Then we were outside, where as promised a light snow was falling. But Cerise had taken her bike out, turning the long walk back to the tower into a short ride. As we took the elevator up I made a mental note to put in some covered walkways when I had the chance, but most of my attention was on our conversation. Cerise actually had some interesting ideas for building useful items out of cheap little enchantments, like boots with various movement enhancements or a weapon that would stick itself to the end of her tail.
There were six men from Prince Caspar’s personal guard standing around my front room smirking at each other. The grins vanished when I stepped through the door, and a couple of them glanced at each other nervously.
“Don’t mind us, milord,” one of them said. “We’re just waiting on his highness to be ready to go. Ah, how’s the weather out?”
I frowned. “Still coming down, but not too bad. Did he want to see me?”
They all shook their heads, some of them a little hurriedly.
“No, milord, his highness had a long talk with your captain and pretty much got all his questions answered. I’m sure your man can fill you in, but there’s nothing to it for now. Might be a planning meeting in a day or two, once the weather clears and the Griffon Knights can start scouting again.”
Cerise sniffed the air, and frowned in confusion. She took a hesitant step towards the door to the sitting room, which was closed for some reason, and one of the knights unobtrusively stepped into her path.
She stopped, her frown deepening, and tried to walk around him. Two more men moved to stand next to the first, blocking the door.
“You don’t want to go doing that, miss,” one of them said reluctantly. “Just, ah, give it a few, eh?”
Now I was frowning. “Gentlemen, what exactly are you trying to hide?”
They just stood there uncomfortably, watching us both but unwilling to meet my eyes. Then a sound broke the silence. A cry that was all too familiar.
“Avilla!” Cerise and I both shouted.
She shoved the men out of her way with a burst of superhuman strength, sending them flying back to bounce off the walls. I threw up a wall of force to keep them at bay, and strode to the door.
I threw it open, and froze.
The prince was sprawled in one of the fancy new chairs, with a glassy look to his eyes and a spilled teacup on the floor beside the chair. Avilla was straddling his lap, naked from the waist up and bouncing in a way that made it all too clear what was going on under her skirt. His hands were on her hips, guiding her motion, and her lips were stretched in a triumphant smile. From the sounds she was making she was moments away from an epic climax.
“Avilla? What the fuck?” Cerise gasped.
“What the hell is going on here?” I shouted as I stomped into the room.
Prince Caspar started, as if waking from a deep sleep.
“Sorcery!” He shouted. He pushed Avilla away roughly and stumbled out of the chair, one hand fumbling at his codpiece while the other went for an ornate amulet at his neck. An intense flash of complex magic erupted from it, and blew away every active magical effect in the area.
His bodyguards rushed in behind me, drawing their swords. I dodged out of their path, my hand going to Grinder, and found Cerise at my side with her daggers already out.
“Treacherous dog!” The prince roared. “Sending your pet slut to enchant me? I thought better of you.”
“Enchant you? Avilla, what the fuck did you do?”
“It was just a little encouragement,” she said, sounding dazed. “I know you want me, my love. I just had to help you see it.”
I felt my jaw drop. I couldn’t believe it.
Prince Caspar wasn’t much happier. “So I’m to believe the wench is mad? A likely story.”
I was vaguely aware of shouts and the rattle of steel in the distance, but most of me was still frozen in shock. Not again. Everything I’d worked for, everything I’d build, all crashing down again. Because I’d trusted the wrong woman, again.
The shock turned to anger.
“Cerise,” I hissed. “Get this stupid bitch out of my sight.”
She went pale, and shadows crawled across her skin. But she didn’t argue. She nodded, once, and stepped towards Avilla.
“Like hell,” Prince Caspar argued. “Enchanting royalty is an assault on the Crown. Take her-”
I thumbed Grinder to life. The tortured shriek cut of his words, and everyone took a step back in consternation.
“Get the fuck off my island, Prince Caspar,” I shouted over the din.
He slapped his amulet again, but I’d already seen how it worked. My curse barrier protected me from the dispel effect, and Grinder’s blade of howling plasma didn’t even flicker. Then there was a pounding of boots on stone, and the wolfen pack poured into my entryway with force blades and flamers in their hands.
Apparently the prince didn’t like those odds. He nodded once, and turned to the door. His men formed up in a protective circle around him.
Gronir threw an uncertain glance my way. I turned off Grinder. “Step aside, men.”
They did, and the prince made his exit. Grinder’s scream had put the whole keep on alert, and every man in the building was on the balconies or drawn up in the atrium to watch them go. They took the stairs, and by the time they reached the ground floor Marcus and Oskar had made their way to my side.
“Close the gates behind them,” I ordered. “Call back anyone who’s in town, and once they’re here no one goes in or out until I say otherwise. In particular, no one who serves the prince gets inside.”
“What happened?” He asked worriedly.
“Avilla is under house arrest until we figure out what the hell is going on. She doesn’t leave the tower, and she sure as fuck doesn’t get access to her kitchen. I want at least four men enforcing that at all times. If Cerise objects tell her to come talk to me. I’ll be in my workshop.”
I ignored the rest of their questions. I stalked down the hall to my workshop, slammed the door, and stood there quivering with repressed rage for a long moment.
I punched the door.
It hurt. Good.
I punched it again. Again and again, until my hands bled. I threw the table worktable over, and stomped on the bent pieces of those damned mortar screws. My first gun was still leaning against the wall, and it made a dandy club. I screamed, and roared, and hit things again and again.
When my rage was spent I fell to my knees, and sobbed.
“Why?”
I loved her. I would have moved the world for her. Why would she do this to me?
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She was the one who’d pushed Tina at me. I would have been more than satisfied with her and Cerise. I didn’t even care that Cerise was the one she was in love with, and not me. I loved Cerise too, and I knew the kinky witch had come to return the feeling in her own strange way. Why would she ruin everything?
Was she jealous over Tina? Or whatever she thought I might have done with the nymphs? But why the prince? That wasn’t just a minor indiscretion. She had to know she’d get caught, and how could that possibly end in anything but bloodshed?
I couldn’t hand her over to the prince. Cerise wouldn’t let that happen, and I had to protect her. If I didn’t, I had no doubt I’d have an angry goddess to deal with.
I couldn’t fight all of Kozalin. The monsters were bad enough, but Prince Caspar would have the Conclave and the city priests behind him. At best we’d be besieged until they starved, but I doubted we’d be that lucky. I had no doubt that they could breach my walls somehow if they wanted to badly enough.
I couldn’t just take Cerise and leave. She wouldn’t leave Avilla, and I had almost three hundred people depending on me here. Moving my human followers would be difficult enough, but the dryads? Even if it was possible, how could I take away their new home not an hour after presenting it to them?
I couldn’t let her stay. Not if I couldn’t trust her. Her magic was too subtle, too insidious. No one who’d eaten or drunk anything she’d made since setting up her kitchen could be trusted now, and that included me. I’d had a bit of a temper before coming to this world, but I’d never felt anything like the rage I’d just experienced. What other subtle forms of influence had she been working?
What was I going to do?
As the afternoon sun faded towards darkness, I found that I had no answers.
Chapter 19
I spent a good part of the night strengthening the defenses of my stronghold. Enchanting a remotely-controlled minefield into the stone dock that had become my causeway to the city. Dropping heat stones onto the ice around the island, to melt it into a moat. Building an enchantment factory to make grenades, and setting it running. Wrapping the main gates in a spell ward, to foil some of the tricks a wizard could use to get them open without having to blow them down.
Black Coven (Daniel Black Book 2) Page 28
