“I can absolutely do that.” Allistor took Amanda’s hand, the two of them following Harmon out of the lobby’s back doors, across the courtyard, and into his building. They stepped into a nearby elevator, which took them up to the tenth floor, where they could hear the celebration long before the doors opened.
Harmon led them from the lift into a large open space where a hundred or so orcanin were partying alongside all of the aliens of various races that Allistor had seen working in the store below. Allistor and Amanda followed Harmon to a long table at the far end of the room, where he motioned for them to sit. Large crystal mugs were placed in front of them, then quickly filled with a clear liquid. Harmon thumped the table a few times, then roared so loudly that the spirits in Allistor’s mug trembled.
Instantly, the room went silent. All eyes turned toward Harmon, who stood and raised his drink. “A good fight! And a good death!” he shouted. His words were echoed back at him a hundredfold, and Allistor thought he felt the building itself shake slightly.
After draining and refilling his mug, Harmon motioned for Allistor to rise. Once again the room grew silent, and Allistor felt a bead of sweat run down his spine as all eyes focused on him. Doing his best to look composed and princely, he raised his own mug.
With the most commanding voice he could muster, he shouted, “To the warriors! Both the fallen, and the victorious! May the hearts of your enemies give you strength!” He lowered the drink to his lips and tilted his head back. The answering roar made him choke slightly, sputtering the clear liquid on his face and down his front. Which only made the warriors roar again in appreciation. Allistor took another gulp, the spirits burning through him much like the pain he’d felt when casting magic earlier.
He felt a little better when he noticed Amanda’s eyes bugged out and her forehead sweating after taking a significant gulp of her own drink. Harmon shouted something the human’s didn’t understand, but it was clear they should drink again, so they did. The trend continued until both of them had emptied their mugs, and neither of them could stand. Amanda barely managed to cast Restore on each of them, clearing their minds enough to bid Harmon a good evening and wobble their way through the enthusiastic throng to the elevator. Before the lift reached the ground floor, she hit them both with another Restore, then a third. “I don’t know what that stuff was, but I think we should keep it away from Bjurstrom and Goodrich.” She mumbled as they exited the building and walked unsteadily back across the courtyard.
“Agreed. No more murdershicken shen…shenanigansh!” Allistor’s voice was still a little thick, his speech slurred as Nigel obligingly opened the lobby doors for them.
As they boarded their own elevator for the ride to their penthouse suite, Allistor grinned mischievously. A moment later, just as the doors were closing, Amanda screamed in response to a stealth tickle attack. She quickly turned to fight off the lout who’d launched such a dastardly attack, causing both of them to lose their balance and tumble to the floor. Where they remained, laughing and pointing accusatory fingers at each other, until the car came to a halt.
When the doors opened, neither tried to regain their feet. They simply crawled into their sitting room before collapsing onto a soft carpet, both of them rolling onto their backs.
“That was fun!” Allistor observed, staring up at the ceiling, which was slowly spinning.
“Yeah, it was.” Amanda answered, her voice sounding sleepy. “Let’s not do it again.”
A minute later, Nigel dimmed the lights as the prince and princess of Invictus began to snore. A curious Fuzzy, who had retired to his corner after failing to mooch treats from the teenage sisters, sniffed at his humans. The sharp smell of orcanin spirits assaulted his sensitive nose, and he snorted several times to clear it. Plopping down on the floor between them, he rested his enormous snout on Allistor’s chest and closed his eyes.
Down in the lobby, Chuck and Frank’s names appeared on the wall below the names of the other lost citizens.
Chapter 6
Morning found Allistor, Amanda, and Fuzzy still snoring on the floor as the sun broached the horizon, blasting cruel sunlight through the floor-to-ceiling windows of their sitting room. Amanda simply grunted, rolling onto her side to face away from the light. Allistor, with the weight of his massive bear cub’s head on his chest, didn’t have that option.
He covered his eyes with one arm, successfully blocking the sun. With a sigh of relief, he attempted to drift back into dreamland. But the uncharacteristically loud sound of teenage laughter and voices pounded through his ears to his defenseless brain.
“Why are they on the floor?” Addy pondered aloud.
“I think they’re drunk!” Sydney’s declaration was much louder, and Allistor could hear the smirk on her face. “You know, like uncle Rick used to be. We should wake them up!”
“No… you should not.” Amanda’s strained voice replied. “You should tiptoe away and not make any more noise. At all.” Allistor removed his arm from across his eyes and opened one of them to gaze in the general direction of Amanda’s voice. The evil sunlight pierced straight through the exposed eyeball into his soul, where it went to work with an ice pick.
“Gah! Bright light!” he complained, closing both eyes tightly. “Nigel, please close the blinds.”
“Of course, Allistor. The blinds are closing. Also, you should know that I’ve requested breakfast for you and the others, which will arrive in approximately five minutes. It might be prudent for yourself and Lady Amanda to arise from the floor and make yourselves presentable before then.”
“Nigel, don’t make me cut you.” Amanda’s voice was now muffled as she’d used both arms to try and cover her face and ears.
Allistor snorted, taking a moment to cast Restore on himself. When the magic healing made him feel slightly more like himself, he did the same for Amanda. He heard her sigh in relief as the magic took hold. He also noted that the pain of casting was greatly diminished, though still present. Pushing Fuzzy’s oversized head off his chest, he said “Yep. Time to get up. Stuff to do today.” before rolling to one side and using a sofa arm to pull himself up.
“I might not be able to actually cut Nigel, since he’s an invisible voice from space or some shit, but you know I will cut you.”
The girls giggled as Allistor opened his eyes, which began to blink rapidly of their own accord and tear up as he tried to focus. At least the blinds had muted the ungodly brightness from outside.
Fuzzy, who was now wide awake after his chin hit the floor, gave Allistor a dirty look. He rolled onto his back, swatting Allistor’s leg and demanding belly rubs. The girls quickly dropped to sit on the floor on either side of the bear to oblige. Fuzzy rumbled his pleasure deep in his chest.
“Easy for you to say, buddy. You didn’t drink that orcanin death-juice last night.” Allistor rubbed his face with both hands, still trying to focus. He noted the time on his interface clock. “More than ten hours since we left that party, and I still feel drunk.”
Fuzzy just snorted, completely ignoring Allistor.
“Amanda, sweetheart. Love of my life. My future empress. Time to get up. Can’t have the folks downstairs gossiping about finding you passed out on the floor.”
Amanda grunted as she rolled over, mumbling something distinctly unladylike that made both girls gasp, then giggle. Fuzzy actually opened one eye and looked at her with a hint of respect. Taking a seat on the sofa next to Allistor, she ran her fingers through her hair and used one sleeve to wipe away the dried drool that was crusted to her left cheek. Then she leaned her head back and closed her eyes again. “There better be coffee with breakfast.”
Allistor agreed wholeheartedly, though he didn’t bother to speak the words. Instead he just watched his bear soak up the belly scratchings the girls were providing. A minute or two later, the elevator ding made both adults wince. The doors opened and Meg appeared, pushing a cart. Instantly recognizing the condition of the royal couple, she grinned.
; “Up and at ‘em!” She called loudly. “It’s a beautiful day! The sun is shining, the birds are singing…”
“Meg, I love you. I truly do. But if you speak again, I have to kill you.” Amanda opened one eye and rotated it toward Meg without moving her head. The older woman just snorted, giving the cart full of platters, silverware, and cups an extra rattle as she wheeled it over.
“Here, drink some coffee. It’ll help. And I have eggs, and sausage, and toast.” She quickly dished up plates for all four of the humans as she spoke. Then she reached underneath and pulled out a large bowl of cooked meat and fish, which she set on the floor for Fuzzy. “Come on, eat up. The food will do you good.”
Allistor and Amanda both leaned forward and addressed the plates on the coffee table in front of them. They lifted forks and mechanically shoveled a few bites of food into their mouths as Meg watched, shaking her head.
“Tsk tsk!” Meg called out. “You can’t even see what you’re eating.” She moved toward the blinds, and Amanda dropped her fork.
“Meg, don’t you dare – aaaack!” she covered her face with both hands, mimicking every movie vampire that had ever been surprised with sunlight.
Meg chortled, patting Amanda on the head as she moved back toward the elevator. “I’ll leave you to it. Girls, I could use your help down in the kitchen. Sam’s group and a couple others are going out to clear buildings this morning, and could use the extended food buffs.”
The girls hopped to their feet, leaving behind a disappointed Fuzzy as they followed Meg into the elevator. Addy called out, much more loudly than necessary, “Have a great day!” as the doors closed.
Amanda slowly uncovered her eyes, blinking rapidly against the sunlight as she muttered, “I’m gonna put that girl over my knee, later.”
Allistor was content to eat in silence, pushing the delicious food into his maw and barely chewing it before swallowing. The less motion his head was involved in, the better. After a few minutes, the food in his belly and the caffeine flowing through his system from the coffee actually did make him feel better. And his eyes had adjusted to the sunlight.
Speaking quietly, he extended a hand toward Amanda, his pinky finger sticking out. “Pact? We never let each other drink that stuff again?”
Amanda extended her own hand, latching onto his finger with hers. “Pinky swear.” Despite her pounding head, Allistor saw a faint smile on her lips. “But maybe we should serve that at our wedding reception? Might be fun to see L’olwyn and the other elves get all funky.”
The mention of the wedding reminded him he still needed to speak to her about the scheduling.
“Hey, about that. How do you feel about delaying the wedding a bit? Say, three months-ish?”
Amanda set down her coffee cup and turned toward him. Her face was completely devoid of expression. Allistor couldn’t tell if it was from the hangover, or because he’d just stepped in a steaming pile of relationship poo.
“For what reason?” Her voice was just as neutral as her face.
Allistor took a deep breath. He was knee-deep in it now, and he might as well go all in. “I was talking with Selby and L’olwyn yesterday before all the excitement. The Or’Dralon elves reached out, and were wondering why they didn’t get an invite. That got us into a conversation about what factions should be invited, how many people would be involved, and the formalities of a state function. There are a lot of things we need to learn, etiquette-wise, to be sure we don’t offend anyone and, you know, start a war.”
He watched her face turn thoughtful as he spoke. It didn’t take long for her to give a brief nod, which then caused her to grimace slightly. “That makes sense. And more time to prepare is probably a good thing. I’ll let the ladies know, so everyone’s not so frantic, trying to get ready.”
Allistor let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. Scooching closer to her on the sofa, he took both her hands in his. “I’m glad you’re not upset. This whole nobility business is crazy. There’s so much involved in every little thing. And so much we don’t even know yet.” He paused, his mouth beginning to dry out as he psyched himself up for the next bit.
“I also learned something from Harmon that I need to share with you. But I don’t want you to get mad at me.” He gave her his best puppy dog eyes, squeezing her hands gently.
“Uh oh. This must be serious. Okay, hit me.” She looked suspicious.
“Well, Harmon says that some of the other factions are likely going to try to ally themselves with me, with Invictus, through… arranged marriages.” Allistor froze, watching as the meaning of his words sunk in, and Amanda’s eyes widened, then narrowed.
“Then maybe we shouldn’t wait three months to get married. Once you’re spoken for, it won’t be an issue.” Her voice was sharp, her words clipped.
Allistor sucked air through his teeth, not wanting to contradict her, but having no choice.
“That’s exactly what I said.” He gave her a weak smile, then began to jabber, the words just fumbling out of his mouth. “But Harmon says that marrying you will only hold them off for maybe a year. That nobility within the Collective often have multiple wives, and that it’s almost unheard of for a prince or an emperor to have only one. Arranged marriages are accepted political maneuvers, and rejection of offered brides can have dangerous consequences.” He watched her face as the words piled out, wanting to stop himself but unable to. When he was done, he had to resist the urge to retreat and let her mull things over.
“So… you’re telling me you want to build yourself a harem?” Her eyes flashed dangerously.
“No! Not at all. What I want is to marry you, only you, and live happily ever after. And I’m hoping between you and I, with the help of our advisors, we can find a way to avoid more wives without causing issues. But the problem is looming out there, and I didn’t want to keep it from you.” He exhaled, having said all of that in one breath, then took in a lungful of air. “I love you, Amanda.”
He sat there, holding her hands and waiting for her reaction. He could see her thinking, and wished he had something like her Internal Analysis spell so he could tell what was going on in there. He caught movement out of the corner of his eye, and saw Fuzzy sitting nearby, his head tilted in a curious manner, as if he too were awaiting the response. Not for the first time, Allistor wondered just how intelligent Fuzzy had become.
Amanda withdrew her hands, and leaned back against the sofa. “This has been bothering you, hasn’t it?”
Allistor nodded. “Worrying about how to get out of it, and how to tell you about it.”
She nodded, still looking thoughtful. “It’s not like you created the problem. As you said, we’re just learning a lot of what’s involved in the political arena we’ve been sucked into.” She paused and caught his gaze with her own. “Don’t get me wrong. I really want to be mad at you about this!” Her eyes flashed for a moment before her face softened. “But I can’t find a good reason to blame you. And it’s sort of sweet of you to have worried so much.”
“So… you’re not mad at me?”
“Oh, I am so mad at you! I just don’t have a good, rational reason. But I love you, and I’ll figure out how to get over it.” She flashed a wicked smile at him. “I can’t say the same for Meg and the other ladies when I tell them. My guess is they won’t be so understanding.”
Allistor groaned. “Oh, come ON!” He was opening his mouth to try and negotiate secrecy when Fuzzy chuffed, his own form of laughter, from the other side of the coffee table. Turning toward his bear, he grumped. “This is funny to you, fuzzball?”
Fuzzy nodded his head, his tongue lolling out one side of his massive jaws. Despite himself, Allistor smiled at the bear cub, and Amanda outright laughed. The tension of the past several moments gone, Allistor looked back to Amanda. “Thank you, for understanding.” He took her hands again and pulled her toward him for a hug. She squeezed him tightly, then gave him a slow, soft kiss.
As she pulled away, she said “T
hat was just a reminder, in case you’re tempted by pretty young elf girls or… gnomes, or something.”
“I dunno, Harmon tells me that orcanin females are pretty sexy…”
She slapped him lightly, a hint of smile in her eyes. “I might let you have one, just to see if she rips you in half!”
*****
By the time Allistor made it downstairs, most of the people within the tower had finished breakfast and moved on with their day. His citizens had disbursed to begin their crafting, or teaching, whatever their daily routines involved. A few of Remy’s people were hanging around, talking amongst themselves or asking questions of citizens.
“Nigel, have the visitors been checking out the other properties?”
“Indeed, Sire. Eight hundred and sixty two of the most recent visitors have made use of the teleport system. Seventy three of them have visited the planet Orion so far.”
“Heh. Way to anticipate my next question, Nigel. I take it we were able to provide proper shelter for everyone last night?”
“We were, Sire. Many of the visitors have commented that they had not slept so well in quite some time. They were also quite pleased with this morning’s meal.”
“Thank you Nigel. Please remind them all at about 11:30 that they must return here by noon to meet with me.”
“Of course, sire.”
“Anything else I should know about?”
“The battle droids assigned to mister Remington’s Stronghold reported some light scouting activity during the night. Goblin scouts observing from a distance. No significant forces detected.”
“So the horde wasn’t wiped out yesterday. Which means we’ll have to track down their nest and finish them off.”
“General Prime made a similar assumption, and has assigned a few scouts of his own to follow the goblin scouts. No significant results have been reported as yet.”
Shadow Sun Progression: Shadow Sun Book Four Page 9
