“Aunt Alba said that you better take care of Lisa. She is one of her better students and she wouldn’t have let her go if she hadn’t seen the pleading look in her eyes. She also sent word that she’d feed you to a revenant if you hurt her.” Star seemed to enjoy having to deliver these warnings.
“Doesn’t she know that I’m the one who gets hurt in relationships? Did you notice that after all the time and effort I put into making sure that I had non-magical consorts, all my girls are wizards? Before I have a pity party, you should send Lisa in here. I’ll welcome her to the family, and not in the way the look on your face is implying. I told Lynna that I can’t have any girls in bed when Alba shows up. She might spank me.”
Star left snickering and sent Lisa in, who walked through the door with her eyes on the floor, and had a bright red flush in her cheeks. She stopped when she was in front of me and just stood there.
I asked, “What’s wrong? Are you afraid of me?”
“I’m just not sure what I’m supposed to do. Is this when we’re supposed to make love?”
I smiled and opened my arms, she walked to me and I held her. “There is nothing that we are ever ‘supposed’ to do except learn about each other and love each other. I’ll never say that you have to make love to me and I never want you to feel like being with me is your ‘duty’.”
“I don’t have to make love to you? But what if I decide that I do want to make love to you?” she asked shyly.
“If you want me, then we’ll be together when the time is right. But right now you’re waiting for my mean old aunt. Don’t tell her I said that! But right this second I’d like to kiss you, if you don’t mind.”
She shook her head timidly and raised her face to look at me. I leaned down and let my lips brush hers. She tilted her head away from me and looked into my eyes and then pressed her lips more aggressively to mine. We pulled apart and her hands were shaking. She said, “Thank you for choosing me, James. It really means a lot to me to have the chance to be close to you. I thought of the little boy prince I met when he was ten and I was eight. A part of me that didn’t even know what love meant fell for you back then. Now that it’s real, part of me is excited, frightened and hopeful. Now I need to go back out with the other girls or I won’t want to. Visit me again soon, please?” She whirled and ran out of the room. Long brown hair, cute button nose and I’d almost forgotten how nicely those uniforms fit. My father did really well when he picked those clothes years ago. I can tell that her backside is magnetic, just like Aunt Della suggested.
Alba finally showed up and ported all the girls down to the archery range. Since this was their first real training session together, I decided to go watch. I’d stay out of the way and try not to be seen so I could get a sense of their abilities.
I ported to the corner of the keep near the archery range, went invisible and walked out behind the group sitting on the ground together. It looked like Alba had decided to train them all together and use it as a refresher course for Kemma and Lisa. Telekinesis went as smoothly as usual because novices knew they could do that one already. Shield and heal went without a hitch. Then Alba leaned forward and was talking in a low voice. All the novice girls started laughing, cast a spell and ran their hands over their arms, grinning. Looking closely, I learned the secret of the ‘bald down there’ comments I’d grown up hearing. No wonder Lynna had been so surprised our first morning together.
They moved to the firing line and I noticed that someone had set up more targets on the range. Since they were all iron, I didn’t think that the archers had done it. I watched as they learned magic arrow and fireball. I split my time between watching spells and watching the casters. I admitted to myself that I liked watching the casters more than these low level spells.
Then they moved on up to energy bolt. I really started paying attention then, because that was the spell that was most often used to rank and promote students. I used my ability to see magic so I could learn what they needed to do to improve. I had no desire to be an instructor but I could give some pointers, if needed. Star and Ivy would fire, and as soon as they felt the tingle of magic building in their chest, would fire again. They spent an awful lot of time looking to see if Alba was watching and they were very nervous. Lynna had a similar problem. She was a reinstated wizard and had known the spells nine years ago and felt that she had something to prove. She was trying too hard, and the effect was the opposite of what she was looking for. I watched Kemma with pride. I’d already talked to her and it had boosted her ability enough to get her promoted. She was only getting better all the time. Lisa was good for an Apprentice. I wouldn’t say that she was great, but she did have potential. She just needed to learn that she could hold off her releasing of the spell until the magic grew within her more. It would constantly grow faster as she used it, like a muscle.
I stepped back and dropped my invisibility. As I started toward Alba, she saw me coming, smiled and with a slight curtsy, directed me to the girls. She knew that I was going to attempt to help and acted like she’d expected me. I started with my wife. “Star, would you come here for a moment?”
She smiled and walked back to me. “Do you have any pointers for me like you gave to Kemma? It seemed to help her and I can’t seem to even get the metal target to turn red, let alone the white that we’re supposed to be going for.”
“I know you love me very much and would do anything to protect me. Remember the kobolds that we ran into in Sabia? What if I’d fallen out of the wagon and you and your wand were the only things that could save me? Hold the magic inside and release it from the bottom up. Go to the line and save me from the kobolds.”
She went back to the line with fear in her eyes. I watched as that fear turned to determination. She allowed the spell to charge and fired. The target went white hot with scorch marks. She looked back at me with a smile, nodded, and went back to work.
With Ivy and Lynna it went about the same. I suggested to Ivy that the targets could be hungry wolves that were looking for her baby. That was what she needed to hear to motivate her. I asked Lynna to protect me from orcs, since she was quite familiar with them. She quit trying to prove anything to Alba and concentrated on saving the victim, me.
As I walked toward Lisa, I tried to think of what would be the best way for her to gain power. I watched her for a while and saw that her visualization was okay and her focus was okay, but she didn’t seem to have the capacity for magic that she should. I walked to her and she stopped and turned. I put my arms around her and asked, “What do you picture yourself as when you’re filling with magic?”
She grinned, slightly embarrassed. “We have a large pitcher at home and I’ve always thought of filling that pitcher with magic.”
I smiled and wrapped her with levitation. I lifted us off the ground and went to the top of the keep. “I don’t want you to be a pitcher; I want you to be the water tower. It’s possible and I know that you can do it if you’ll believe in yourself. You said you were eight when you believed that you were in love with the prince and now you’re in his arms. Believe in this and it can be true, too.”
“I think I know what you want me to do. I’ll try being the water tower and see how it works.” I took us back down and Lisa stepped to the line. I stood by Alba and we watched to see if there was any improvement. We saw the magic swell in her and then appear to bubble and boil like it was fighting for room. She closed her eyes for a moment and then fired at the shield target. The energy bolt passed through the target and struck the castle wall. Then she pointed her wand, and without a word, fired three more bolts in rapid secession through the shield.
I regarded Alba and she was already peering at me. She said, “I’ll bring her expert badges tomorrow, but I get to tell her. You just got your own live-in instructor. Just don’t think that you’re going to get rid of me. I’ll still come at least a couple times a week, because I love your girls, too.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way, my favorite aunt.
The girls would abuse me if I did anything keep you from coming. They adore you.”
She moved over to Lisa, talked to her for a few minutes and then we all heard Lisa squeal. I knew what she’d been told and I watched all the girls gather around to congratulate her.
Chapter Twenty-One
After dinner I decided it was time to sleep. It had been a long day and I didn’t feel like doing anything but just lying in bed. Ivy tried to change my mind when she came to bed with her ‘wiggling just to get comfortable’. I think that she had another reason, but I held her and she was comfortable enough. I put my hand across her rapidly growing belly and wondered if I’d make a good father, just like every father who had those doubts when they were expecting. I finally managed to let it all go and drifted off to sleep.
I woke the next morning, having dreamt of revenants and of my baby. Those two dreams together made me sure that I never wanted the two to meet. I slipped out of bed, dressed and then went to Lisa’s room. I watched her sleep for a few minutes. She was quite the lovely young lady and looked completely innocent while she slept. I was sad that I had to wake her and maybe turn her into a killer. I was going out on revenant patrol as my father had requested and didn’t want to go alone. I’d made that mistake once and it had almost been my last.
I sat on the edge of her bed, put my hand gently on her shoulder and spoke her name softly. She woke and held my hand to her shoulder. She moved away from me, making room on the bed.
“Thank you for the invitation, but I have to decline. I want to join you, and after watching you sleep you don’t know how much I want to. But I’d like for you to spend the day with me, if you would. The King has requested that I patrol for revenants and I’m inviting you to go with me. You don’t have to, of course, but I’d like for you to.”
“Do you think that I’d turn down the chance to spend the day with the man I love? If you read me like you said you can, then you know how I feel about you. Of course I’ll go, as soon as I dress.”
“Thank you, Lisa. I’ll wait outside for you.”
“You don’t have to do that. I love you and know that I’m going to give myself to you. You seeing me get dressed won’t change a thing and with you, I don’t feel shy.”
I nodded and she climbed off the bed. When she shed her gown and grinned at me I almost changed my mind about leaving early. She slid into her uniform, clasped her cape and came to stand in front of me. I put my arms around her, letting my hands slide down to her firm posterior. I pulled her against me and kissed her.
“You look wonderful in and out of that uniform. I’ll make time to be with you soon. As I’m sure you can tell, I think you’re a beautiful young lady.
She kissed me back and remarked, “Idefinitely can feel that there is something between us. Let’s go do our duty for King and country, and perhaps we can relax together.”
I instructed the suite guard to let my wife know that I was going on patrol to the north and that Lisa was with me. I knew that she wouldn’t worry nearly as much, knowing that an Expert wizard was with me. Technically, Lisa now had the same rank as Alba, Chloe, my mother and all the legends, but she would never consider herself their equals. They did have close to two decades of practice that she didn’t, and magic grows as you use it. Perhaps that is why my father could shield two castles and I couldn’t even do one. Or perhaps he was using a different type of shield. I had to ask him about it so I could regain some confidence.
Lisa and I took off from the courtyard, waving back as people wished us well. We climbed to five hundred feet and cranked up the speed to two hundred miles per hour. Lisa flew up right beside me and took my hand and we flew, hand in hand, toward the border. We flew over the village of Vock and continued on another twenty miles. Lisa pointed at the ground toward the east and I spotted a solitary revenant tunnel making its way toward the village.
We slowed quickly and turned to intercept it. Lisa put her head next to mine and called, “Flamestrike, right?” I nodded and told her we wanted it down fast because they drained magic very quickly. She nodded with a focused look. We landed in front of the tunnel fifty yards away, and I knew that our magic would signal lunch for the creature. When the tunnel was twenty yards away, the monster burst to the surface. Lisa and I both cast flamestrike before it even hit the ground. There was screaming and then ash.
Lisa grabbed and pulled me to her, and kissed me like she wasn’t going to stop! Finally she came up for air. “I’m sorry, James, but that was so exciting I just couldn’t help myself. If we kill one or two more of those, I won’t worry about getting grass stains on my cape!”
I laughed. “Calm yourself, my love. Work before pleasure and all those responsible sayings.”
She sighed, then grinned and nodded. We went back to the air, flying west and paralleling the border. A half hour or a hundred miles later, we saw another two tunnels. I knew the city of Bando was close and figured that was what was attracting them. Lisa pointed to herself and then the one closest. I nodded and went toward the farther one. We ran the same scenario, waiting for them to jump. Lisa’s got to her first and it wasn’t aware that we’d decided our plan was perfect. It attacked before it had even completely cleared the earth. The magic drain attack staggered Lisa, but she managed to get flamestrike cast and cooked the magic-sucking monster. Mine played by the rules and I ashed him before he could get completely out of his hole. I knew how badly it messed a wizard up to get hit by a revenant. I ran over to check on Lisa, who had decided the ground was a good place to sit. She was dazed and in tears from the attack. There was something about the attack that caused fear and depression. I held her and assured her that she’d done wonderfully. I knew that it had to be hard on a caster to get a spell off after having been hit like that. I asked if she was able to fly and she nodded. We took off and flew south and shortly we landed near the city of Bando.
We walked through the gates and I grinned and nodded to the people who bowed. I asked a man walking down the street if he could direct me to a pub. He was so startled that the Prince had just walked up to him that he could barely remember his own name. Finally, he regained his composure and pointed the way. We walked into the inn that boasted a pub downstairs, found a quiet table and I ordered a glass of wine and an ale from a cute girl about my age. She smiled, nodded and hurried off. She brought the drinks and I gave her two silver coins, telling her to keep the change. She smiled, curtsied and went back about her duties.
“Well, Lisa, “I said softly, “it’s time to call it a day. There’s no way that I’m taking you back out there now. You can claim that you took out a revenant by yourself, and there aren’t many who can make that claim.”
“You faced four and killed two and still made it home. I got hit by one and required help to stand. Am I really that weak?”
“No, that isn’t what it means at all. It means that I was born to magic and have been using it for eleven years. Remember that the more you use magic, the more you are able to use it. You’ve been in training for a year now? Maybe even less than that and you can’t expect to be like me yet. I picked you to come with me because I knew how strong you are. You were the only caster in my household who would have been able to withstand an attack, and you did.”
“Thank you, James, for saying that. I felt so weak, helpless and sad. Now I know that I’ll get better with time. I just wish we could put a stop to these things before they start hurting people in the towns,” stated Lisa.
“I agree. Aunt Della didn’t think they would stop coming until we could find the source. I don’t even know how to begin to look. We’ll work on that later.”
We finished our drinks and stood up. I caught the waitress’s eye and dropped another couple silver coins on the table. She smiled and blushed, and then we left the building.
“Star warned me that you were an incurable flirt and she wasn’t kidding.” Lisa commented.
“I can’t help it,” I avowed. “I like to see pretty girls blush, but flirting is all
I do unless my wife finds a pretty consort for me, like you.” Then Lisa blushed, giving me what I wanted and I ported us to the courtyard. We took the side door and went back to my bedroom.
As we were opening the bedroom door, the suite guard informed me that everyone had gone with Princess Alba to Rosenwood Castle. She wanted them to meet the Lord there and to show them around her old home. I thanked the man and he bowed his head.
Once inside I said, “Lisa, when I was hit, all I wanted to do was to lie down for a while. Maybe that would be a good idea for you, too.”
“My head is still spinning a bit and I think I’ll do that, unless you need company.”
“I think that I’ll be able to manage alone for a while. Get some rest and if you still feel bad when you wake, I’ll call for Aunt Chloe to make sure you’re all right.”
She walked off to her bedroom and I went to my bed. I kicked off my shoes and lay down, staring at the canopy. There has to be a way to find out where these monsters are coming from. Since the first one came to the castle and called me by name, I’ve been wondering what could have created them. Della said that a necromancer or lich could do it, but I’ve never even heard of either of those before. Why would something like that be targeting me and my province? There have been no attacks on any others that I’ve heard of and that’s something that I would have heard.
“James, could you come in here, please?” Lisa called from her room.
I jumped up and almost ran to her. I was worried about her and I wasn’t an expert on what the revenant’s attack could do to a caster. I walked in and saw that she was lying in bed, covered with just the sheet. There were tears on her cheeks and she looked miserable. “Are you okay? Do you want me to get someone or something for you?” I asked her.
“I just feel down and sad for no reason. I shouldn’t feel like this with all the good things that have been happening to me. Would it be out of line for me to ask you to hold me? If that doesn’t make me feel better, then we might send for Chloe.”
James, The Crown Prince Page 17
