We told the guard that we would be taking the prisoner to see the king and that I hoped he wouldn’t be returning with us. I didn’t want Valeview to be a long term penitentiary. We went up to the balcony and opened the doors. The knight made some comment about throwing him off the balcony not being justice. At that moment, from the look on her face, Alice might have thought it would. I asked Alice to grab him, gently, so we could fly down to our recall point. She did and we lifted off together. Alice and I grinned sadistically at his panic. Having nothing under your feet does take a bit of getting used to but we made it to the recall spot without ‘accidentally’ dropping the man. Alice and I joined hands and each put a hand on the shoulder of the man and I recalled us to Rosenwood.
We arrived away from the gate by a quarter of a mile and walked up. The guards didn’t question our presence. We continued on to the keep and on up to the doors of the throne room. We were only waiting for a matter of moments before we were escorted in with the herald announcing, ‘The Master Wizard and company!’ The king rose and moved to the end of the dais to meet us. When we were close the prisoner and I bowed while Alice curtsied.
“Sir Erik, what have you gotten yourself into this time?” Was the king’s first question.
“Your Majesty what I stand accused of I feel was within my rights as a knight of the crown.” Erik answered.
The king then looked at me and asked exactly what the charges were. I explained how he had raped a twelve year old girl, stolen her virtue and torn her clothes. I added that to add insult to injury he had thrown her two silver coins to pay for the clothes.
The king asked, “Sir Erik, since when did rape become a right?”
With his head down he answered, “She was just a commoner my king.”
“Rape is rape regardless of commoner or noble.” the king rumbled. “And Master Wizard, how did this become your affair?”
I nodded to Alice. That was the question I was waiting for. She unclasped her covering cape and took it off, revealing the wizards uniform underneath. There were gasps and murmurs throughout the courtroom. “Because she is one of my best, you’re Majesty.” I said.
The king gave Alice a slight bow and said, “And how would you like this man to be punished for his crime against you? I am certain that you are capable of exacting whatever revenge you felt necessary!”
“Revenge is not what I desire you’re Majesty, all I want is justice.” Alice said in a barely audible voice.
“Well said, Lady Wizard! And justice you shall have.” The King made a slight hand gesture and guards materialized beside Erik and took him away. “Is there anything else that I can do for you while you are here Master Wizard?” The king asked.
“Yes, my King.” I answered, “It is about my scribe Pariset. He has been doing most of the work of a Lord at Valeview while I have been training and building the training facilities. The work is about finished on the keep and we’ll be moving out of Valeview proper to the school keep. If your Majesty agrees I think that it is only fair that Pariset is rewarded for his hard work and granted the Lordship of Valeview. To be honest, I have my hands full with seven students. Your daughters are now teachers of magic by their own right.”
“My daughters instruct magic?” asked the king and he swelled with pride. Grinning from ear to ear he said, “Pariset, huh? Certainly! Anything you want. When can you have him here?”
“If you will allow me to leave Alice here and allow her to keep this space,” I gestured in a circle behind me, “clear. I can have him here from Valeview in five minutes.”
“To Valeview and back in less than five minutes? My stars man! I have to see this! Yes, to all of that.” Said the king, slightly stunned.
“Then by your leave…” I bowed to the king and looked at Alice. She nodded her understanding and I recalled directly to the steps of the keep in Valeview.
I knew the guard hated that and had to laugh when they yelled about the cruelty of wizards on guards nerves. I rushed through the door and told Pariset I needed to show him something. He got up and came around his desk. I handed him a cloth and suggested he get some of the ink off his fingers. A few seconds later he set the cloth on the table. I looked at him and said ‘don’t hate me’ then recalled directly into the throne room. The stunned look almost had me giggling like one of the girls. He turned and faced the king and bowed low.
The king said, “Pariset, the Master Wizard has been telling me things about you.”
Pariset looked at me and colorless lips mouthed ‘I’m sorry.’
The king continued, “He has made a suggestion to me, and as you know, I tend to listen to his suggestions. So, Scribe Pariset please kneel” the king brought out a sword and I knew that Pariset thought he was to be decapitated by the king himself for his misguided actions with the spells. He jumped when the sword touched him on one shoulder and then the other. “I dub thee Lord Pariset. Lord of Valeview answerable only to the Master Wizard who resides in your province and me. Rise Lord Pariset!”
I helped to support his wobbly legs as he stood. He was ghost white and in shock. This was the exact opposite of what he thought he had been brought before the king for! I smiled and whispered, ‘now who isn’t good in crowds’! That brought a smile to his face and he said ‘thank you, Your Majesty!’
The king looked back at me. “Are there any other matters today good Wizard?”
“No your Majesty, that is all that I have today other than to report that the apprentices and I killed sixty Orcs and at least eleven Captains.” I replied.
“Stars above! Keep up the good works and give my love to my daughters!” the king gave Alice a slight bow. She nodded and smiled.
“Then we shall be on our way, by your leave.” The king nodded and took a step back.
I held out a hand to Alice and the stunned Pariset and once again recalled to the steps of Valeview keep. I waved to the guard with a grin. Pariset released my hand and pinched himself. He looked at me and said, ‘that really did happen didn’t it?’ I told him that it did Lord Pariset but he couldn’t have my room until the school was done. He laughed and said that there was no hurry; it would take him a month at least to adjust to being a Lord! I told him, ‘I know what you mean’.
Chapter Thirty-One
I walked upstairs with Alice and we went in to my room. Everyone was up and sitting around. They had wondered where we were and we had to give a full report on the trip to Rosenwood. I let the princesses know that their father sent his love, which got a round of eye-rolling started. They didn’t care for the attitude change their father had. They were underfoot when they were princesses, beloved when they were wizards, and were sent his love as instructors! They thought that the conditional love he gave wasn’t at all real.
I told the instructors that I had a project that would be really good for them to have a novice do. If they were able to teach shield, energy bolt, and telekinesis, the project would be simple. Between the main road in front of Valeview and the gap in the rock that led to the valley, there were a lot of trees. We were going to need a road there for people that couldn’t fly to get in and out easily. They grinned knowing that this project was going to be destructive! I told them they should blow out those trees, pull up the stumps, and shape a road down the gap. They all grinned, gathered Kiena, who was having to wait until noon for her uniform but had been give a wand, and headed out.
I asked Alice if she was needed by the crews yet and she said that she was still a bit ahead of them. I asked her to go with me to look at a project I had in mind. She nodded and I suggested that the rest of the girls lend a hand at getting the keep built.
Everyone left followed me to the window and popped shield, and fly. Alice and I dropped straight down the wall to the ground and the others glided over to the construction site. I asked Alice if there was any weakness she could detect in the rock canyon wall that Valeview was sitting on and if she would be able to carve a vault out here, just above the school keep. I stood back and let h
er focus. I don’t know exactly how she scanned like she did but I didn’t want to distract her. After a few minutes she turned to me and said that it was perfect. No cracks or faults as far as she could see. I wasn’t exactly sure how far that was but was willing to take her word for it. I asked about the vault because she would have to do the work. I didn’t want the twins blasting rock right under the castle. I was told that she thought she knew what I wanted and would see. She was always quite humble for such a powerful talent! She pulled her wand and sited along it. She moved her head as if she were mentally drawing a square and began to focus. Standing five feet from her I could feel the tingle of power in the air as lines began to form in the rock as if cut with a laser. Then I saw nothing except for her standing frozen with her wand pointed at the rock face. She stood there for quite some time then put down her wand with an audible ‘whew!’ She looked at me and said, ‘I’ll deserve a short break when I’m done with this one!’ I grinned and told her that she was her own boss when it came to things like this. She took a few deep breaths and walked to the center of the ten by ten square that she had drawn. She put her hands against it and took a posture like she was pushing the mountain. She stood there for a good five minutes without moving, just breathing deeply. The air in the area had turned electric with the power she was calling on. Suddenly she started walking backward slowly. The entire ten foot by ten foot block following her as if attached to her hands. She continued backward pulling an enormous plug out of the solid rock eighteen feet long! She then walked the length of the plug cutting it at six foot intervals with her wand as if cutting butter. She stacked the cut blocks to the side and walked over to me. I bowed to her and told her she had just earned her four lightning bolts. She grinned and wanted me to look inside. After all that she wanted to make sure that she’d done what I was hoping for. I walked inside the perfectly smooth ten by ten by eighteen foot room that had been solid rock minutes before. I told her it was beautiful and I wouldn’t have believed it possible! She informed me that to disbelieve wasn’t the right attitude for a Master Wizard! We both laughed and she went up to her room to lay down, with my blessing!
I went to the site where the new road was being built to see how that was progressing. It was fun to watch someone unfamiliar with magic work. After blasting a tree with an energy bolt she was required to lift the tree and stack it neatly in a pile. She was to pull the stump and place it in another pile on the other side of the ‘road’. When I got there the poor girl was still trying to remember what word did what. I reminded the instructors that it had been a game for them using telekinesis to toss pebbles and pillows. I didn’t want them to forget what it was like being unsure and having people watch them. They laughed and went to talk to her. I’m not sure what they said but she relaxed and improved greatly. I told them of Alice’s feat and they were impressed. I said it was time for her to get her Expert ranking and they wholeheartedly agreed.
Chapter Thirty-Two
The long anticipated and dreaded move was upon us. The Wizard’s Keep was finally finished. Every room was furnished with new furniture and king sized beds. Chloe, Alba and Alice were given rooms on the third floor as instructors. Isa and I knew that Chloe and Alba would rarely be in their rooms, but it gave them their own space. They also had their own closets, and I’ve learned that they are very important! Isabel and I had an enormous double king bed in a bedroom that was separate from the rest of our living space. As you came into our room there was, what modern people would call, a living room. We had couches and chairs, a long table for our get-togethers, and a beautiful balcony door.
My windmill pump was connected to a well, that Alice had no trouble digging. It filled a water tower that was on the roof. I was sure that we were the only keep in the kingdom that had running water. I hoped to have hot running water if I could just think of a way to do it. I didn’t like the idea of burning wood and I wouldn’t introduce coal, if it even existed, to this beautiful place. Perhaps some sort of geothermal thing could be worked out. It was just another thing on my ‘to do’ list.
There were some people that I planned to hire to do jobs around the keep. I had hopes of getting a lady to work on the first floor in a dean-like position. I was sure that there would be times that the girls would need the advice of someone mature and not male. The idea of hot water nagged at me constantly. I was, after all, a spoiled city boy from a modern age!
I went up to our room and found Isa finishing the packing. I told her that I was going to go work on a project. I hoped it didn’t last long but, since I wasn’t sure how to do it, it might take until evening. She asked if Alice was going to be helping on this project and I said that she was the logical choice. Her skill came in very handy with a lot of the projects that I came up with. I found Alice in her room and asked if she was busy. She had moved everything she owned in a very short time and was just looking out her window. When I asked if she would be willing to help with another project, she jumped at the chance.
We left the keep and went behind it and to the east. I asked her if she could ‘feel’ if there was a place that was hot underground. I explained that if we could find a subterranean fault that we might be able to tap the heat. That, in turn, would heat water for the keep. At least that was my theory. When I was working on a project like this, it always made me wish I’d paid more attention is school! She said that she might be able to feel something like that and we walked slowly down the river towards the woods. I don’t know what she was looking for or even how and so I didn’t complain that we moved at a snails pace. After a couple hours she stopped.
“I think I’ve found what we need.” she said. “It is a hundred feet down but I’m sure I can get to it.”
She looked back toward the keep and the pipes that I’d had the smith make for this project came sailing over the wall and landed close by.
She asked, “So you want me to dig a hole wide enough for two pipes that are connected at the bottom like a horseshoe?”
I nodded, “And then lengths of pipe will have to be connected and run to the keep. From there connected to the water tower and a valve that I have ready.”
She acknowledged that she understood and braced her feet more comfortably. I knew that posture and settled in for a boring wait for me and long job for her. The first few feet that she compressed rock, sand and dirt to make a hole was cool to watch. After that it was just watching someone staring at a hole. Secretly it made me glad that we hadn’t found boys that could do magic. At least I had nice scenery while watching her work. After an hour she finally said that she had reached the spot that she had felt. She then started lowering pipe into the hole, melding them together as she went. Modern drillers would have been jealous of the way she could connect pipe at the molecular level!
She reached the bottom with the two pipes, bent them at the top of the hole and we began walking toward the keep. She would stop at the end of every pipe, fly in another, connect it and off we would go. This project was more time consuming than I’d thought but it might, just might be worth it. We got to the back of the keep where we had a pipe with a valve coming from the water tower. She connected one pipe to it and the other to the valve I had waiting.
Now was the moment of truth. I stood aside and asked Alice to do the honors. After all, it might have been my idea, but the labor was all hers. She opened the unattached valve first so the water could fill the pipe without compressing air and opened the water tower pipe… and we waited. Finally, we heard the sound of approaching water coming from the valve. Water came pouring out, and it was hot! I hugged Alice and laughed! We’d done it. Not only did we now have a keep with running water, but running hot and cold water! We were, unknown to everyone in the keep or kingdom, the classiest place there was!
I congratulated Alice on a job well done and told her that she deserved a rest. I said that I would go up to tell Isa what we’d done what we had been working on. I suggested that, if she was up to it, we could connect the hot water in the morning
. She agreed and I wished her a good night. I flew around the corner of the keep and up to our balcony. I opened the door and walked side, excited to tell about our latest technological advancement.
Isabel came from the bedroom. “So, when you and Alice finished you came in through the back door, I see.”
“Yeah, we just got …” I started.
Isabel interrupted me. “I thought we had an understanding! I didn’t mind if you had consorts, as many as you wanted. But as tradition states, the wife has to grant permission before the relationship is consummated!”
Confused I ask, “What are you talking about?”
“With as much time as you’ve spent with her lately did you think I wouldn’t figure it out? It wasn’t that difficult, David.” She accused.
I know it isn’t the best way to handle this situation but I was suddenly angry. We had innocently been working on a project for the betterment of everyone and now I’m accused of being unfaithful? So, my immature response was, “I’m out of here. We might talk when I calm down.” And with that I cast fly and was off the balcony. I popped my shield and headed south toward the mountains and out of the kingdom of Eredwynn.
I was angry and I don’t do angry well. On top of that I was consumed with the righteous indignation of the falsely accused. My wife that knowingly and willingly had permitted her sisters into our bed, and knew that I was in no way sexually neglected would think that I would be unfaithful? Faster and faster I flew as the thoughts whirred in my head. She didn’t even ask me about it, but went right to the accusations. Perhaps I had spent a lot of time with Alice but we were always visible and never did anything that could be construed as flirtatious. I might understand if it were one of the other girls, perhaps. I do flirt with them all from time to time but we all know that it’s just a game. I pushed myself faster, as if speed could drive the anger away. Even with Chloe I’d flirted, but Isabel herself had told her I was joking. Faster and I was no longer going down the mountains but level across a snow covered expanse of a much higher elevation than I had started at. It was silent except for my racing mind. I couldn’t even hear the sound of the wind and I looked behind me. I was five hundred feet above the ground and behind me I could see the sonic boom hitting the trees. At some point in my race from anger I’d crossed over the eight hundred mile per hour mark.
Vol. 1 - Another Typical Day (The Wizards of Eredwynn) Page 21