I smiled and replied, “Because I’m a happy person. I recently had a son born and have learned that I have another child on the way. I want them to grow up in a nice kingdom, not one that has homeless and needy people in the streets. I want you to take this small bag of platinum and distribute it to the people in front of this building as you inform them that you are going to be building a shelter. I would suggest that you ask if any of them had building skills that might even help with your labor costs. Will you do that for me?” I handed the man my ‘alms’ bag.
“Yes, Master Wizard! I will do that and may your stars be blessed! I’ll be sure that everyone knows of your generosity. Thank you.”
We walked back out front and the Governor made his announcement to much cheering and many tears of gratitude. He then had the people line up and passed out money while asking about work experience. He had the people that he could use a labor stand off to the side and the rest of the crowds disperse. When it was done he came to me and said, “I don’t think that we will have to hire many more men, when we are done where should I return the rest of the money?”
I said, “A sad fact of life is there will always be needy. Keep the money in a fund for that purpose. It’s now time for me to go, best of luck to you sir.”
He nodded and I was at the gate of Wizards Keep. I walked through the courtyard and to the doors. I started through the foyer in time to hear “You might be bigger but I’m David’s little pixie!” And I grinned. Della was arguing about something with one of the younger twins and I’d caught the tail end of the fight.
I looked up and said, “She’s right, you know.”
Della looks down from the stairs and saw me, ran down the stairs and jumped into my arms! “I’m glad your back. They were telling me that my magic wasn’t as strong because I’m little. I didn’t let it bother me because we know I’m your pixie!
I grinned and put her down. “Yes, you are My Lady. The sun is starting to set and I have to see my son before he’s put to bed. I’ll see you in the morning?”
“Of course you will, silly! We live in the same building for now!” she chided smiling.
I told her good night and made my way to my room smiling at the twin as I walked by. I got to my door and knocked gently. I was welcomed by a soft ‘come in’ and opened the door. Alice and Isabel were sitting on the bed as if they hadn’t moved all day. I said, “If you weren’t going to leave the spot then why did I have to find things to do all afternoon?”
“We have been quite busy and we had a lot of fun with our project!” Isa said and looked at Alice and both girls grinned. “You might be interested in knowing that the room by ours that you stayed in while you were sick is empty. Oh, and while I’m thinking of it, Constance is in her room and hoping that you would like to get to know her better. If not Alice or I will go and talk to her for you.”
“Constance, the leader of the group that attacked and hated me so much that she practically spat every time she said Master Wizard, wants to be my consort?” I asked skeptically.
Alice grinned and said, “David, you underestimate how much women here care about being cared for and respected! That is what makes us ‘commoners’ love you so much!”
Isa said, “David, if you honestly don’t want her there’s Nineve and Lynley that we have talked to also. Perhaps one of them?”
I smiled and said, “I think that I’d like to get to know Constance and the others too, but as I said before I don’t promise a consummated relationship. I don’t think that I’m going to be practically raped the way I was when we took Alba on as a consort either!”
Alice and Isabel laughed. Isa said, “Good night my husband and good luck to you. Tell me what my father said in the morning. He wouldn’t have sent for you if it was something he could do himself!”
I said goodnight and walked out of the room. I walked down to the second floor and to Constance and Sarah’s room. I knocked on the door and waited. There was some quiet talking from the other side of the door and then it was opened. Constance was there in her nightgown. I said that I had heard that she might like to keep me company tonight. She blushed slightly and nodded. I told her that I had an empty room on the third floor if she’d like to accompany me. She nodded and stepped out the door, closing it behind her. I put an arm around her waist and guided her upstairs and to the empty room. I opened the door and followed her in. Constance walked to the bed and sat down and smiled.
I sat beside her and said, “We haven’t had much time to talk one on one since your first day here. How has everything been going?”
Constance looked at me and her eyes were glistening, “David, I’m shy and scared and I don’t know what to do! I don’t know if I’m supposed to sit here and talk or lie down and take my clothes off. Please don’t be upset if I do something wrong.”
I put an arm around her shoulders and said, “There is nothing that you are ‘supposed’ to do! If you want to just talk, we’ll talk until we’re tired and then we’ll sleep! Part of having and being a consort is caring deeply for one another. You can ask me anything and I’ll answer honestly or we can sit here quietly and listen to the candles burn. You tell me what you want to do.”
She looked at me for a moment and then blushed, “I think I’d like to talk for awhile and get to know you, but would it be ok if you kissed me first?”
I smiled and said, “I’d be honored.” I put my arms around her and pulled her to me. I held her for a moment, looking her in the eyes and then pressed my lips against her, kissing her passionately before releasing her.
“My stars!” She gasped, “I never knew that…” and she kissed me again.
We separated and she looked at me and blushed a deep red. I smiled and said, “Now do you want to talk?”
She nodded, catching her breath and we sat on the edge of the bed talking for an hour when she said, “I believe that I’m going to bed now.”
I said, “Would you prefer that I sleep on the couch or would you like me to go to another room?”
She smiled and said, “Those aren’t my only two choices are they? I’d like for you to sleep in the bed with me and hold me if you would.”
“That sounds wonderful to me. I don’t have a nightgown but will sleep in my clothes if you’d feel more comfortable.” I suggested.
She smiled, blushed and said, “Sleeping in your clothes doesn’t seem very comfortable. I don’t think that you’ll need to do that.”
I went around the room extinguishing the candles and dimming the lamps. I then went to the side of the bed and began undressing. Constance looked away until I slipped under the covers and slid to the middle of the bed. She looked at me shyly and then slid to me putting her head on my shoulder. I rolled to my side and kissed her and said, “We didn’t meet under the best of conditions or on the best terms, but I’m very glad that we did meet.”
She smiled rolled up onto my chest and kissed me again. Gasping she whispered, “I really didn’t think that it would be like this and Isa said that we could just talk if I wanted. But David, I want you very badly. Will you take me and be gentle?”
I whispered in her ear, “If that is want you want, it would be my honor to make love to you.”
16.
Women can be Confusing?
I woke later than usual and laid on my back thinking about the events of the night before. Things didn’t go exactly to plan but how often did they? I moved and started to get up and Constance, who I thought had been sleeping, threw an arm across my chest and a leg over mine.
“Do we have to get up? Can’t we just stay here like this?” she asked.
I kissed her forehead and said, “I wish we could but there are things that I have to do today. I agree that it would be much nicer to just lie in bed but things won’t get done that way. Besides, I’m sure that Isabel and Alice are wondering how our talk went last night.”
“Yes, I suppose you’re right. Last night was…indescribable. Thank you!” Said Constance.
“It was a memorable night. Thank you.” I kissed her and then said, “I suppose I’d better get dressed. My chore from the king isn’t going to take care if itself. I’ll walk you to your room when you’re ready, since you brought no clothes and the kings’ messenger may still be here.”
She smiled and said, “I know I’m not one of your most powerful wizard girls but I’m sure I could slap the hand of a messenger! But I will accept your offer to walk me to my room.”
I crawled reluctantly from bed and dressed. Constance and I then walked out and down to her room. No one was up or at least in the hall. I kissed her goodbye and walked back upstairs to my room.
Isa and Alice were sitting on the bed with James between them. I walked to the door and said, “Have you even moved since I saw you last night?”
They laughed and Isabel asked, “Did you and Constance get along? I noticed that you didn’t sneak in here last night so I figured that you were at least civil with each other.”
I sat on the bed by Isa and said, “We talked for quite some time. You were right; she really is a wonderful young lady. Our talking then became a bit difficult to understand.” I put my face in the middle of Isabel’s chest and mumbled incoherently to make the point.
Alice and Isa giggled so hard they woke James. Alice said “I guess things went much better than you’d hoped! Ninety-eight or ninety-seven to go?” The giggling started again.
“I guess we’ll know in about three months! Now, my beautiful ladies, if you’re done teasing me, I think I’ll go look for Elaine.” I said jokingly.
Isa giggled again, “I don’t think you’re going to get to ninety-six there, but I did see her going with some of the younger ones to the target range this morning.”
“Thank you for informing me, my lovely lady, and I have to wait for the next child to arrive. I have to respect my wife’s wishes!” I said with mock formality.
Isabel said, “Ok, you lost me there. Are you going to explain that one?”
I grinned, “Of course dear lady! Della was told she had to wait…”
Alice actually fell on the floor and poor James was bounced, giggling into the air by his mothers laughter.
I bowed and walked to the balcony, cast shield and fly and took off for the target range. I landed behind Elaine who was helping some of the newer ones with ways to remember spells. I waited until she was done and called her to me.
“I have a job for you, if you feel up to it. I need a location for recall since it’s about five hundred miles from here to the north east. If you could find it, that would be great but if not I’ll just fly myself. I’m hoping to take the new girls out on this mission as bystanders. You’ll be looking for a Castle with a village beside it and a huge cave close by. I know that isn’t much to go on and will understand if you don’t find it. You don’t mind looking do you?” I asked.
Elaine said, “Finally, something to look for other than wizards! Something that doesn’t move should be a lot easier to find than they were. Of course I’ll look for you! May I come with you when you go?”
“Certainly, you may! I’d like to have some of the more skilled girls with me, just in case.” I said.
She smiled, “Thank you! We don’t get out as much now that you closed Orc Pass! Sometimes I miss having something to do. I like teaching the new girls a lot. You can see that your efforts actually accomplish something!”
“I do know what you mean there and I have to agree one hundred percent. It’s great to watch them ‘grow up’ from barely knowing what end of a wand to hold, to blowing holes in mountains.”
She smiled and said,” Yes, I guess you would understand. You started all this after all.”
“That I did. I’ll be in the keep for awhile if you need me. Thank you for your help in advance.” I said.
She nodded and went back to her instruction.
I flew back to my balcony and saw Constance inside. I opened the door quietly and heard her saying, ‘I didn’t know a person could feel that way. Is it normal?’ Alice said, ‘from every consort of David’s I’ve talked to, and I’m sure his wife will agree, it’s normal with him. Perhaps not with other men.’
I closed the door to the balcony loudly and heard Isa say, “The noisy man of the house is home. You’re lucky the baby was awake or we’d have had to punish you.”
I put on my most fake pout, “Well, if you don’t want me here…”
All three girls, in unison said that they wanted me to stay. I asked if Constance had come in to report that I’d mistreated her. Alice and Isa grinned while Constance blushed.
Alice said, barely maintaining a straight face, “She did say that you didn’t try hard enough and that she thinks that you could have done better! Shame on you David! A girl gives herself to you and you don’t even try?”
While Constance stared at Alice in horror, I tried to look apologetic, “I’m really sorry Constance. If you’ll give me another chance, I’ll try to do better.”
Isabel and Alice fell over on the bed laughing and poor Constance realized that they had just been playing with me. I said, “Now, if you ladies are done abusing me and attempting to make me feel insecure in my abilities, I have work to do. Alice, do you believe that in your delicate condition that you could help me finish the roof of the dorm?”
Alice snorted, “Delicate condition indeed! I think that I’m quite capable of keeping up with you!”
I grinned and said, “Forgive me for questioning your abilities! I have all the plumbing done and just need a hand with the roof. We should be able to start moving furniture in by this afternoon!”
There was excitement at that news and Alice said that she’d be happy to help finish. Constance said that she’d let everyone know that we would be moving, and then looked a little sad. She said that it was going to be sad to not be under the same roof as me now. Isabel let her know that any of the consorts that wanted to could stay in the keep and cheered her significantly. I asked Constance if she would see to alerting the places that had all of our furniture that had been built and have them start the wagons this way. When they arrived we could assist with the unloading. I thought it would be great practice for all the novices. I told Isabel that since I had Alice, she could get the other instructors for me and have them assist. When the wagons got here I didn’t want a novice getting out of control with a king sized bed frame and possibly squishing someone! Everyone nodded and I felt bad for coming in and killing the mood. Work has to be done sometimes, I justified to myself. I saw Isa put a hand on Constance’s shoulder and whisper that they’d talk later. I said that I was going to bring up some rock, Isa and Alice came and kissed me. Then, with a hesitant look at Isa, from whom she got a smile and a nod, Constance kissed me too.
I went out the balcony door and popped to the canyon wall where we had been harvesting our rock for construction. I looked around to be sure I was unobserved and pictured the size and shape of the rock I needed. I then lifted that exact section from the wall and floated it to the materials area. I thought about transporting it, but it is much easier to hide using my abilities when I’m a distance from the keep. Alice saw me show up with the slab and took it the moment I set it down. She lifted it to her position on the roof and fused it into place. I floated up to see what else was needed and saw Alice looking at me, shaking her head.
She said, “You try so hard to hide your new abilities to keep from frightening the novices and then forget to cast a spell before you fly. You’re going to have to be honest with everyone sooner or later.”
I smiled, “I know how everyone reacted to me right after I closed Orc Pass. I don’t want to go back to that again!”
Alice laughed, “Well, you have to admit that you were acting a bit strangely right after you developed your new abilities!”
I smiled and nodded, “Sorry, but it felt really odd! It still does sometimes but I don’t feel as overwhelmed as I did before.”
Alice said, “I might not be the one to give advice on magic but, I thin
k that you shouldn’t be so afraid to use it. The more people, especially the other girls, see it, the faster they’ll get used to it.”
I agreed and said that I’d try to be more open about things. She smiled, blew me a kiss and went back to work. In the courtyard I saw messengers taking to the air to report to the cities, towns and villages that we were moving in. It would take some time before all the things that I’d had built arrived but some should be here by noon. I told Alice to yell when the roof on the east was ready to support a load and I’d place the water tower. She just nodded like she usually did when I would talk while she was working.
I floated down to where Lynley and Nineve were standing and watching the construction. I asked if they were excited about the move. They said that they were both having mixed emotions about it. I asked if they would like to walk with me and we could talk about it. They said they would love to, because I was involved.
I put an arm around each of the girl and led across the courtyard and out the gate. We turned east toward the tree line and I said, “So what does moving have to do with me?”
Lyn spoke first and said, “If all the students are moving to the new dorm, that will put us a long way from you. Some of us have been giving some thought to becoming consorts and being in another building might make that difficult.”
“I see,” I said, “You and Nineve have been considering it?”
The both blushed a bit and Nineve answered, “We’ve even been to talk to Isabel about it and she came to us again later. She said that she was fine with it and it was up to you now.”
I smiled, “And what do you think that I should decide? Would you two want to be my consorts?”
They looked at the ground, blushed and nodded their heads.
I said, “If you’re my consorts you will have to look at me sooner or later. I remember when you both hated me and wanted me dead! You sure weren’t shy then!”
They both blushed more deeply and then looked at me. Lyn said, “Please don’t be mean and hate us for that David, we tried to explain it and we’ve come to love you since then!”
The Wizards of Eredwynn 02 - Another Typical Day, Too Page 11
