I’m not sure she heard anything past my agreement, but she nodded anyway. I went into the tinker shop and left the giddy girls giggling outside. I explained to the tinker what I needed and drew out pretty good pictures of the pump parts, water valves and windmill-to-pump attachment. I had assumed that someday my father would grant me a castle, so I’d paid attention to his explanations. I stated that there was no major rush, and if he needed cash for materials, he could come by the castle and I’d supply what he needed. He was happy for the work and let me know he’d begin shortly. I thanked him and exited the shop.
Outside, I discovered that the girls were under attack by some very aggressive, flirtatious young men. I quietly asked Kemma if she’d learned to stun. She nodded and I asked her to wait. If the young men laid a finger on the girls she was protecting, she had my permission to stun them. She smiled and we started walking back out of the village. One of the men, who was more aggressive than the other, called after us. When we kept walking, he came up behind Salma and attempted to turn her around by pulling her shoulder. I smiled at the speed and accuracy of Kemma’s stun spell. I knew it would wear off soon, but also knew that boy wouldn’t bother my girls again. Kemma was beside herself. She had never had the chance to stun someone before, and now was looking for potential trouble makers at every doorway. Laughingly, I told her that the nice thing about magic is that once it’s used, people usually don’t want to have it used on them!
We made it back to the castle gate without any further incidents until the guard saw Ivy with us. I was informed that Halflings weren’t allowed in the castle. I pronounced the rule had just changed and that she would be given the freedom to roam anywhere her heart desired within the castle walls. I actually thought I would get an argument from the man, but he remembered his station. He bowed and stated that he would pass the word around about the young lady’s privileges.
I was starting to wonder if Halflings had earned a bad reputation, or if it was just plain prejudice. Standing up for her twice in one day had Ivy looking at me with adoration. I felt sorry for the girl that no one had cared enough about her in the past to have been there for her. I suggested that since all my girls were so nicely dressed, we needed to take Ivy to the tailor’s. My suggestion was met with enthusiasm and turned into an unladylike footrace across the courtyard to the shop. Ivy was already on the counter when I walked in. As she was being measured, I turned to the wall. She giggled and commented to the other girls that she wouldn’t have guessed that I’d be shy. They ordered a couple dresses and a uniform type outfit in sea blue to match theirs. Kemma let the tailor examine hers so she would know what we were wanting.
The girls went out and the tailor asked if she should bill me for the order or if I wanted to pay when I picked it up. I still had plenty of coin with me, so I dug out five platinum coins and laid them on the counter. I was informed that I’d overpaid by a lot. I grinned and said that with my girls, having that much on credit here would be a good idea. She laughed and made a note of my deposit. She let me know that most would be done by closing time and the rest before noon tomorrow. I thanked her and joined the girls in the courtyard.
I suggested to Kemma that we check out the archery range on the south side of the castle. We strode over and I saw that there was plenty of room for spell targets, telekinesis, and some short distance flying. I ran over to the smith’s and he let me have an old busted metal shield, which I carried down range and set up between the archery targets on a pole. I hiked back and asked Kemma to show me a couple shots, if she didn’t mind. All the girls were thrilled to watch magic and stood out of the way as Kemma cast energy bolt and hit the shield. It was a fair attempt, considering she was a novice. I approached her, pulled her close and whispered, “There’s no one watching and it’s just you and the magic. Feel it in your chest and your heart. Let it build and then release it in one burst.” I stepped back and left her to it.
She took a calming breath and I could watch the magic build. She raised her wand and fired an energy bolt, white hot, directly towards the shield. She hit it dead center, causing the metal to glow with a white heat for a few seconds. She grinned, ran to me and hugged me. “I’ve never been able to hit that hard before! Thank you for showing me how it’s done. Why didn’t your Aunt Alba explain it like that?”
“Well, Aunt Alba might be a bit uncomfortable nibbling your neck like I did, and she’s been doing magic so long she does it without thinking. The spells will cast like that without thinking about it like you did this time. It just takes practice and there’s no shortcut.”
I proposed we go back to the room, and on the way I asked for lunch to be sent up. The kitchen staff was eager to please the new lord of the castle and advised it would be up shortly.
In our room, I sat on a nice couch and Star curled up beside me. Ivy promptly jumped up in my lap and put her legs over Star’s. Ivy asked, “You don’t mind me sitting here, do you Star? I don’t know what I’m supposed to do or allowed to do. I’ll move if you want, but I wanted to get to know James better. You’ll tell me if I get out of line and do something I’m not supposed to, won’t you?”
Star laughed. “I don’t mind you sitting there. As his consort, you’ll be closer than that sooner or later, I think. I never thought of that before now. Do you think you’ll umm… be able to do the umm… you know, fulfill all your duties as a consort?”
Ivy replied, “I’ve never been with a Halfling male, let alone a human. All I could do is try when he wanted me, as long as he would stop if it hurt. If I can’t, I’ll return to Kethos Village without a fuss.”
I shook my head. “If you think I would hurt you, I don’t even want to try, and there’s more to being a consort than sharing my bed. I would hope that, if things didn’t work in the sheets, you’d still stay on with my wife.”
Star assured, “He is a complete gentleman and wouldn’t hurt you, and if you were uncomfortable, he would stop. I’ll leave that up to you two, but I don’t want you to leave us, either way.”
Ivy was teary-eyed. “Thank you both; you’re the best people I could hope to meet. And this castle is so much nicer than the hovel I was in down in the village.”
Our lunch was served and the girls all commented on being served. We ate quietly and when we’d finished, a couple maids came and removed our plates. A package was also brought up from the tailor, and among the items in it was Ivy’s uniform-like outfit. She grinned eagerly when she saw it and informed us that she had never gotten new clothes from a tailor before. She asked if she could put it on. Star said that would be fine and that all the girls should put theirs on, since she doubted they would be going out again anyway. Ulia protested strongly, but I told her that I was going out and needed to do a couple things. She could get comfortable wearing the clothes before I saw her in them. She reluctantly agreed and I stood to leave. Ivy informed me that she got to kiss me at least once before I left, so I took a knee. She put her arms around my neck and kissed me gently. She then turned grinning back to the girls. She was blushing profusely and announced that she’d just had her first kiss. I left the girls hugging each other and sharing first-kiss stories.
I went downstairs and located Jorin, asking him to show me the vault where I’d be keeping my money. I just wanted to know the location in case I ever needed anything from it. He led me down a passage toward the back of the keep, where there was a large stone room with two doors. Mine was the one on the right, and I checked the contents. Lia had done well with her transport, as I knew she would. The money was in large sacks and there was a lot. Jorin said that he’d never seen so much money in one place and would place a guard in the hall, just in case.
Chapter Sixteen
As we were returning to the audience chamber, I heard the herald make an announcement: “The Princess Alba of Wizard’s Castle”. I ran quickly in front of Jorin and entered the chamber through the back entrance, climbed the dais and stood beside a throne. When Aunt Alba entered in, I was waiting. With the m
ost pompous tone I could muster, I ordered, “You may approach and kiss the royal hand.”
Aunt Alba responded, “I may approach and spank the royal butt! I’m not really here to see you, but this seemed the easiest way to find my student and your wife. Would you mind escorting me to them?”
I nodded to Jorin and he smiled and stepped back to his usual spot. I led Alba up the stairs and into our room. Her face lit up on seeing it and she sighed, “It looks just like the room in Valeview! I have so many wonderful memories with that room as the setting!”
I chuckled and called the girls to let them know we had company. Star ran across the room and grabbed Alba and told her how happy she was to see her. Seeing what the girls were wearing, Alba rolled her eyes at me. I laughed and explained that the uniform-type clothes were Lia’s idea, not mine. She laughed, admitting that sometimes she wondered if Lia wasn’t really hers and there was some kind of strange mix up.
Ulia and Ivy entered the room, and Ulia’s shyness about her clothes vanished when she saw Princess Alba dressed in her uniform. Alba saw Ivy and asked me, “Is this another consort? Are you trying to collect more consorts than your father has, and begging your pardon miss, how old are you?”
I laughed. “Aunt Alba, I’d like to introduce you to Ivy Greenburr. She is another consort, but you’ll need to talk to your new niece about collecting consorts. Ivy is a Halfling, she’s fifteen; and before you ask, the answer is no, you can’t have her to play dress up.”
“I was thinking that, you know. It is wonderful to meet you, Ivy, but actually, this is a working visit. I would like to work with Kemma for a little while this afternoon, James. Is there a place we could go?”
“I checked and she can work at the archery target range. I set up one target already, but will get a few more if you think we need them.”
“I don’t think so. I just want to work with her on her energy bolt a little. She wasn’t quite up with the other girls in the novice class, and I’m going to teach her invisibility today, too.”
Star nudged me so I asked, “Would it be too much of a distraction if we came down and watched? The girls love seeing magic, because they haven’t been exposed to it much.”
“Anything you want, my dear,” Alba addressed Star. “You not only have James wrapped around your little finger, but me, also.”
Alba nodded to Kemma and we all filed downstairs, exiting the keep though a small door on the south side to avoid disturbing Jorin in the audience chamber. When Alba saw the range, she pronounced it serviceable. There were a couple of men shooting targets at the far end who bowed as we approached. I indicated they could continue with what they were doing and we’d try not to get in the way, and they went back to their bows.
Alba lined up with the shield on the pole that I’d set up earlier and called Kemma over. “Now this is the spell you seem to be having the most difficulty powering. We’ll start with this, and then we’ll learn another one this evening.”
Kemma nodded and stepped to the line. We watched her take a deep breath and relax. I smiled with a sense of pride as I saw the magic swell in her. She released a blisteringly hot energy bolt that hit the center of the shield. The metal turned white hot with tiny rivulets of slag running down from the impact point. Alba stared for a moment, then turned to me.
“It would seem that someone else may have been giving my Adept pointers. Well done, and congratulations, Adept Kemma.” She asked me, “Would you like to take over as her trainer? You seem to be quite good at it.”
“I don’t think I could take over training even if I wanted to. I don’t know very many of the spell words, and only coached her on how to relax and let the power build. She was so worried about doing what was expected that she couldn’t enjoy the magic for itself.”
“I’ll keep visiting, then; besides, it gives me an excuse to come see the girls. I’ll bring Kemma’s Adept patches the next time I come, and you can have the local tailor sew them for her. Is she going to continue wearing her uniform, or is she changing to blue, too?”
“She’s going to stay in brown when we’re out and about. She gets more respect and people tend to keep their distance if you have a Wizard’s Castle wizard with you. She already had to play bodyguard once. Some boys were flirting and trying to take my girls from me. When one grabbed a girl, Kemma stunned him for me.”
“Well done, Kemma,” laughed Alba. “Now, I suggest we step to the side and learn a new spell word. When we get this done, I’ll go away and you all can relax for the evening.”
They walked off chatting about her new spell and I turned to the girls. Glancing at Ulia, I said, “I don’t know why you were so worried about me seeing you in those clothes; you look stunning. Just to be nice to all you girls, I’ll allow you to walk ahead of me. The only problem I foresee would be my stumbling from not watching where I’m going!”
Star added, “They are very cute clothes and they do accent a lady’s curves nicely. I just don’t think that girls without magic should wear them out without an escort. We got plenty of unwanted attention when we were in dresses. I don’t want to think about what could happen if we were dressed like this without you or Kemma to protect us.”
I nodded. “I agree that something could happen, and that might cause someone to hang. I understand how it is a problem, though, because it’s all I can do to keep my hands off all of you right now!” I got three ‘come-hither’ looks and one deep blush for my efforts. I was a bit surprised by Ivy’s look, because I’d thought she had talked herself out of attempting to lie with me.
I looked around for Alba and Kemma, saw Alba standing alone and was glad for Kemma. Invisibility can be a very useful spell, if you need to learn something or get away from something. I located her as my trousers were yanked down to my ankles! I cast reveal and grabbed her as she tried to make a quick getaway. I pulled her to me and bent her backward while kissing her. She gasped as I released her and Alba called to me, “Release my student and cover yourself, young man! It’s too early in the afternoon to start playing games like that!”
I laughed as I restored my clothing. “I know you were the one who put her up to that. I believe I’ll have to write my father and request that you be tortured tomorrow in the early afternoon. Then you can tell me what can and can’t be done this early!”
Alba blushed a brilliant red. “You don’t mention torture to your father, and I’ll agree that you can play whatever games you want, whenever you want. Do we have a deal?”
“Of course we do, my dearest aunt,” I laughed. I believe that if you’re finished, we’ll be going back to the room. You’re welcome to join us for the evening and dinner.”
She said that she should be getting back, but she’d pop in from time to time and introduce new spells to Kemma, who should work on them as she would if she were still in training. We all said goodbye and Aunt Alba was gone.
I ported us all back to our room and fell on my back across the bed. Kemma instantly jumped on me and straddled me. “What are you thinking, kissing me like that in front of Princess Alba? You know she’s going to think we’re bedmates now. What if I’ve decided I’m not going to sleep with you?”
I smiled and said softly, “But you have decided to sleep with me. The anatomy of mine that you are straddling is very sensitive to heat, and the heat that your anatomy is putting out says you want me. In fact, I’d say that if we were alone, you would already be making love to me.”
She sat still, gazing at me as the blush built in her face and the heat increased. She laid across me, kissed me and whined, “Don’t make me feel like this; I’m trying to be mad at you.” She rolled off me and got to her feet, looking shyly at the audience her attempt at anger had drawn.
Star came to the bed and sat by me. “You should go to her room tonight. We can all tell she wants you to, but she’s too shy and tries to act tough for her wizard role.”
I agreed that I figured I would, but first I was taking a nap. I announced to the room my intentions a
nd expressed that they could go on about their business because they wouldn’t bother me. Kicking off my shoes, I crawled under the covers. The high-energy Ivy zipped across the room, bounced across the bed and curled up next to me, then caught Star’s eye. My wife smiled and winked at her, so she pulled my arm around her. I pulled her close and drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Seventeen
Star woke me gently at dusk with the announcement that our dinner had been brought up. Ivy was sleeping with my shoulder as her pillow and her right leg over mine. Her hand was in a very friendly place, and when I moved it to get up, she grinned and replaced it. I whispered that it was time for dinner. She whispered back that she’d decided during our nap that she would make being with me work. I agreed to try, but if she couldn’t, she’d still be my consort with all the privileges that came with the title. That satisfied her, and she untangled herself from me and we got up.
I grabbed an unclaimed plate from the table and sat on the couch to eat. The girls were all sitting around the room; there was some conversation, but not much. They seemed content but bored. I tried to remember what I used to do for fun and couldn’t think of a thing. My life had consisted of magic and the court, both of which most of the girls couldn’t do or weren’t interested in. I thought that I might take them flying in the next day or two, depending on the speed of the tinker. I couldn’t do much on my project without the parts from him.
As it had been a very long day, everyone started drifting to bed. Star decided that Ivy could share our bed since it was the largest and she was the smallest. Ivy, needless to say, was thrilled with the arrangement. I sat on the couch as everyone drifted to their rooms and wondered if I was cut out to be a castle lord. It was only the first day, and I was missing jungle trails and dusty, pixie-filled forests.
I undressed and started to crawl into bed and encountered Star shaking her head at me. “You need to go to Kemma tonight. You saw how she was this evening, and every one of us could tell that she wanted to be with you badly.”
James, The Crown Prince Page 11
