My dagger was always on my hip, so I wouldn’t leave that. I went back to my room and sat on my bed. I relaxed and looked for a ring to Eredwynn, as I did every day. My vision shot straight into the air above the house and froze, as always. Then I was startled by a sudden dip toward the house. I was looking at an area near Carol’s flowerbeds on the east side of the house. There was nothing there to be seen, but it made my need to be ready stronger.
The rest of the household woke and prepared breakfast. I asked Carol, “Have you been planning on doing anything in your flowerbeds?”
She shook her head. “No, they are doing fine and should be blooming soon. I’m looking forward to that. Barbara, Mary and I are going to the office today. You three might work on cultivating the vegetables a bit. There isn’t that much to do there, but it’s better to catch it before the weeds move in.”
I smiled. “All right, farmer lady. I’ll pull up a chair out near the garden and make sure that Martha and Mandy do what they’re supposed to do.”
Martha laughed. “There are two of us and only one of you. We’ll sit, you work!”
Carol shook her head and laughed. “I suggest all three of you work, and you can fight about it while it’s getting done! If you don’t, I may have to send you to your rooms and punish you.”
Amanda winked at me. “She isn’t very good at motivation, is she? I said that I don’t swing that way often, back when we met. Maybe for Carol’s punishment, I might have to change my mind!”
Carol rolled her eyes, took Mary and Barbara by the hand, and headed out the door. “I need to get you two out of here before you’re completely corrupted by these people.”
I laughed. “Goodbye, ladies; I love you. Have a good day and call if you need us for anything.”
We watched them walk down the path that led out to the main road. As soon as they were off our property, the gates of the city burst open. Men on horseback, led by a man dressed in red with a blue cape, charged toward my ladies. They quickly circled them and began to close in.
I thought in quick panic, “Wrap up Mary and port home. I don’t care what they see. Just get out of there!”
There was momentary confusion when the girls disappeared, but the men regrouped and started toward the house. Since they proceeded slowly, they must have heard the stories of our shield.
Unexpectedly, there was another thought in my head, “Alec! Are you here?”
I replied, “Davie? Is that really you? Where are you?”
”I’m beside a house. You feel close, look around.”
I stuck my head around the eastern wall of our house and saw Davie’s head sticking through a bright, white gate portal. I turned to the girls and yelled, “Grab the packs by the door! Time to go!”
The ladies reacted instantly, ran to the house and with the packs in tow, ran to me. I ushered them around the corner of the house where Davie was waiting. He directed them through the gate, then he followed, with me right behind him. I got through just in time for the screams. Mary and Martha were curled into balls on the ground, staring at the sky and screaming.
A loud, coarse chuckle explained the panicking. “Alec, sometimes your wandering causes you more trouble than it’s worth. This time it caused me trouble, too!” The snakelike lisp gave away the speaker.
I grinned. “King Niruth, you said that I was welcome any time. You didn’t say what route I had to take to get here. This time I took the long way around! As much as I’d love to win another argument with you, I have young ladies that need calming.”
He gave a deep, rumbling laugh. “I’ll help any way I can.”
I knelt down and coaxed Mary and Martha to their feet. “Look at me, only me. You knew that we were from a different place, and now we’re home. This dragon is King Niruth and is a very good friend of the family. I’m sure that he played a hand in getting us home. You don’t have to be afraid. The other dragon, well, I don’t know her, but if Niruth trusts her, than so do I. Just say ‘hi’ and remember, he is the King in this country.”
Niruth laid his head on his forearms, which made him appear smaller and less threatening. The girls, standing practically on top of me, turned to face him, then curtsied as one. Mary took a deep breath. “Nice to meet you, sir. I’m sorry about our screaming, but we didn’t expect to see you when we got here.”
Niruth avoided smiling; his smiles were anything but comforting. He spoke softly, “It is nice to meet you young ladies. This beautiful dragon beside me is my mate, Tessith. I’m sorry that the first representative of our world that you met was the wandering, lost all the time Alec. I’m sure that Davie will help you learn that staying home, except for educational reasons or to visit me, is preferable.”
Martha stepped forward, irritated by the dragon’s playful jabs at me. “Alec is a wonderful man. If he hadn’t been wandering, he wouldn’t have found us, and we wouldn’t be alive today! His wandering also saved Barbara and Amanda!”
Niruth laughed. “You have spirit, young lady! Perhaps you’d like to stay with me and keep an old dragon company? Or have you sworn to Alec?”
Martha stepped back beside me and took my hand. “I haven’t sworn anything to anyone, but I’d prefer to stay with Alec, if it’s all the same to you.”
Niruth chuckled and turned to me. “It took the mage, Tessith and myself everything we had to locate you and make that gate. I know you’ll do what you feel you need to do, but I would advise against using Fairy Rings in the future. If the truth be told, I had my doubts about ever getting you back. We’ve been searching different timelines and following leads for months now. We’d open a gate, Davie would call and we’d move on.”
I nodded humbly. “Thank you, sir. I have given up the Fairy Ring travel, for good. You three saved us from a full-on assault by people who think you should have their blessing before you help someone. That didn’t sit well with me, and I made some waves.”
Niruth rolled his enormous eyes. “No surprise there.”
I laughed. “Now let me introduce Mary and Martha. They are twins from earth’s fourteenth century. Amanda and Barbara, my Consorts from earth’s twenty-first century and my wife Carol, from here and now.”
Niruth nodded to each girl as she was introduced, then turned back to me. “Two Consorts, a wife and two pretty young ladies to take care of. I think you might have found what you’ve been looking for all this time. Maybe now the wanderer can settle down.”
I smiled happily. “I hate to do this, but I agree with you, dragon. I believe that I have found everything I needed.”
He looked at our group again and sighed. “When your pretty wife tells you her secret, it will just reinforce your desire to be a homebody.”
I looked at Carol, who was beginning to blush. She smiled shyly and told me, “I think that you weren’t as faithful with your spells as you thought. Now that you’ve said you’re going to be staying home more, I feel better about this. We can change your name from Alec the Wanderer to Alec the Daddy!”
While I was stunned, the girls reacted with the squealing girl thing. Niruth nudged me with his nose and winked. “You better bring that young one out to meet the old dragon when it’s old enough.”
I nodded. “You know I will. I couldn’t think of a better friend to have.”
Davie cleared his throat. “Niruth, Tessith, our family is once again in your debt. Thank you for all your help, but I believe that the country of Eredwynn would like to know that their lost son and daughters have been recovered.”
Niruth nodded his massive head. “Try to keep him out of trouble, Mage. I know that’s a tall order, even for you. But do the best you can. Farewell, ladies, and know that you are welcome in my country any time.”
The ladies in my party curtsied and we were in the courtyard of Wizard’s Castle. Davie led the way into that castle, while Mary and Martha followed in awed silence. We were led to the herald, who had tears in his eyes when he saw us. Davie whispered for a moment and we waited to be announced.
> The courtroom cleared and the herald announced, “We have a large group to see you, Your Majesties. We have his Highness Davie the Mage. We also have Prince Alec, Princess Caroline and their Consorts. They’ve also brought two Wards to meet you.” He turned and waved us inside.
Father was off the dais and almost tackled me in his zeal to welcome me home. Queen Isabel did almost the same with Carol, then turned and hugged Barbara and Amanda.
I turned to Mary and Martha, who were hiding behind us. “Father, these beautiful, young ladies are our Wards. We rescued them from a city that had been destroyed by the plague of your ‘middle ages’.
Father nodded to the girls. “It is nice to meet you. If there is anything that you want or need, be sure to tell someone. Wards of my son will be considered as family and you shouldn’t want for anything.” The girls curtsied, then nervously slid over to hide behind me again.
Father laughed. “Didn’t you tell them you were royalty? It seems that you boys like to spring that on people.”
I shook my head. “We did tell them, Father. I’m just not sure it dawned on them. They’ve always known us as physicians and farmers. What I’d like to know is how Davie found us, in all the times and places we could have ended up.”
Father nodded and explained, “As Amanda knows, I’ve always been a middle ages student myself. I’d read everything that I could get my hands on about it. Then one day after you’d gone to what we thought was Vegas, my memories changed. I could remember reading something, but it would feel like two memories of the same thing. I know that sounds strange, but I’ll give you a couple examples. I remembered reading about the city of Liege being totally lost to the plague. But I also remembered that it was mostly spared. I could remember reading about the horrors that Nuremberg faced, and how it was wiped off the map. Strangely, I could also remember that Nuremberg and the surrounding area was hardly touched. I knew that something had to be changing that timeline, so I had Davie concentrate on that area in that time. I gather, since you said you’d saved your Wards from the plague, that I was right.”
I nodded. “Amazing. We worked in Liege when we first arrived in that time and learned what was going on. Then a priest got on our tail and we retreated to Nuremberg. That is where we were living when Davie caught up with us. He had perfect timing, too. We’d just been tracked down by another member of the church that I’d been told would torture confessions out of us. He was charging toward our house, dressed in red with his blue cape flying.”
Father laughed. “You did stir up a hornet’s nest if you got a Cardinal involved. I’m glad you’re home and you should wait here. A runner has been sent for your mother. I think she has something that she wants to talk to you about. She’s been waiting months and never gave up hope that you’d return safely.
As if summoned, my mother burst into the courtroom. People jumped out of her path as she made a beeline to me. I stooped so she could hug me, then she stepped back. “Son, I think that I’ve been tolerant to a fault. But enough is enough. No more realm jumping, wandering in jungles or swamps for days on end or just forgetting to check in with your mother. I won’t hear any argument.”
I nodded. “Yes, Mother.”
“I don’t want to hear your excuses… what?”
“I agree, Mother. I’ve found what I was looking for and I don’t feel the urge to travel. I’d like you to meet our Wards, Mary and Martha. We found them and they need a stable home. Besides, with Carol expecting, I’ll need a nursery soon, too.”
I was forgotten. Mother hugged the girls and welcomed them to the family, then went to Carol. It was the first time in ages that I’d seen tears in my tough mother’s eyes. They talked in whispers for a while and then my mother turned to my father. “Since their gift has been waiting for months, I think they should be shown. Would you and Isa like to go, too?”
Father smiled and nodded. “I think we would, now that I know he’ll appreciate it more.” He signaled the herald that he’d be out of the courtroom and we all stood in the center of the room. Father nodded to Davie and we were standing on a fresh road that had recently been made by wagons to a construction site.
Construction had ended and my mother’s touch was obvious in all the stonework. A ten foot tall wall boxed off a courtyard with empty shops built, but unused, lining the inside of the wall. A stone walk led through the courtyard, ending at the steps of a gorgeous, three-story keep.
My parents turned to me and my mother announced, “Welcome to your new home, son. It should have enough room for all the grandchildren you’ll give me. There is room for expansion and if a village or town springs up, you’ll have shops already built to help support it. I wish Raven was here, but she’s been staying home a lot lately. She put in as many hours as I did on this project, so thank her when you see her.
Carol hugged her. “Thank you, Mother. I can’t think of a better present to come back to. Now we really have come home.”
We went inside and the layout on the bottom floor was like Valeview. It had offices but no courtroom. I was told that I was the Lord of the province, but most things were handled on a local level. The keep was located exactly in the center of Eredwynn, so I could wander anywhere in the country and be the same distance from home.
We had some staff, a few maids, kitchen help, and the like, but not many had been hired, because of the situation. We were shown the vault and found bags containing one half million in gold and one and a half million in platinum, the same gift that had been given to my brothers on their wedding days. Carol was beside herself with the home, the staff, and the money and repeated ‘thank you’ over and over.
On the second floor there were ten empty rooms, for whatever we found to do with them. But the third floor was where Mother and some of the other ladies of the family had put in their time.
The master apartment looked exactly like the one in Wizard’s Castle. It opened into a huge living area, with the bedroom doors off to the right side. Mother took Carol’s arm and led her to the left side and opened the door.
Mother smiled and stated, “I didn’t know when you’d need this, but I hoped you’d talk that son of mine into having children someday.” She showed her that she’d put in a nursery, complete with several cribs and beds that would work for children until they needed their own rooms. Our Consorts and Wards were taken back out to the stairs, and then led past the stairwell to rooms that were built on the front wall of the keep. Each room was outfitted with the double king sized beds that we all loved so much. The rooms had windows that overlooked the courtyard.
Mary and Martha were ecstatic. They’d never had their own rooms before and couldn’t wait to get moved in. We left them with Barbara and Amanda to move their pitiful belongings in and get settled.
We went back to the apartment. I just shook my head. “Mother, Father, everyone… I don’t know what to say! Thank you just doesn’t seem to do it justice.”
My mother smiled, while blinking rapidly to hold back tears. “Son, that’s all we wanted to hear. We’re all so glad that you’re home, safe and sound, and have found what you needed to find. We love you and now we’ll prove it, by leaving you to get settled in. I’ll be back to help the girls all get the things I know you wouldn’t have even thought to get for them. Perhaps I’ll bring Aunt Alba, if she’s not still scared of you.”
There were hugs all around again and then the flash of the Mage porting everyone away.
Chapter Twenty
Over the next year we settled into our new home. Carol built a huge one hundred sixty acre farm near the keep, complete with housing for farmhands. Amanda and Barbra, even though they said that they hadn’t had an extensive education in their world, knew more than most of us. The science that they considered basic was often new to our world, so they started a school. Education was offered to anyone that was interested, males and females alike.
Mary and Martha were educated there and by Isabel. Aunt Isa was thrilled to have girls their age to train in manners
and etiquette. Father taught the girls mechanics and plumbing, much to the dismay of Isa, Chloe and Alba. Fathers reasoning was, women in our culture had been held to certain roles for long enough.
I spent a lot of time laying on the roof of the keep at night. I’d stare at the stars and wonder if there was something out there. After having seen what I had in the other realm, I didn’t doubt that ours and that one could be the only possibilities. Maybe someday I’d figure out a way to wander to the stars and find out, but I wouldn’t mention thoughts like that to Carol!
Carol gave birth to a bouncing baby boy. We named him Michael after the mayor of the town that had treated us so kindly. I could tell by the number of people that were in and out of the castle on the day he was born, he’d be quite spoiled. I did my fair share of spoiling too, I’ll admit.
In their roles as Sorceresses, Carol, Amanda and Barbra practiced their new skills in the open country around the keep. It wasn’t uncommon to see a controlled tornado, or a giant wall of fire out the windows of the keep. As people started requesting to build farms close to our keep, that practice had to stop. They got permission to train in the swamps north of Eredwynn, from Seth’s Grandfather. Their powers were too extreme for the range at Wizard’s Castle.
Life, even with limited travel, was good. Everyone was happy and healthy and I had plenty of time to dedicate to the people of Eredwynn. We felt that nothing could go wrong, until one morning at sunrise we were awakened abruptly. A panicked, unfocused telepathic cry jolted us from our dreams…
Alec the Wanderer: Generations of Eredwynn #4 Page 22
