She nodded and bowed her head, resting it on his shoulder, “You never pushed, thank you.” Not having a reply, Alburet gave her hip a gentle squeeze as they finished the dance in silence. As it came to a close, Fluffball gave him a slightly strained smile, “I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon?”
“I have no idea what tomorrow looks like right now, but if things are clear then yes, we can go hunt as a group again.”
Fluff’s lips quirked up slightly into a small smile, “I would like that. Goodnight.” She vanished, having logged out right there.
Alburet wondered if she would be okay. She seemed so fragile at times, like a glass doll. His eyes drifted over to the inn door where Karen was leading Marian inside with a smirk on her lips. He noticed Deidre doing the same with her date, as well. He spotted Erin and Wilbur walking off down one of the streets laughing as they went. The party seemed to be winding down.
“Ye did well, lad,” Grimgar said from behind him.
Turning, Alburet shook his head, “I did the best I could. Deidre was the one who gave me the information I needed to make it look so well done.”
“Aye, tha’ may be, but many before have been told thin’s and do nothin’ with the info. Ye acted on it, which gave each of them a night to remember. Even Emily seemed happy when Lilith took her off to her bed an hour ago. Stacia has just one dance left then ye can retreat with her,” Grimgar told him while watching Stacia take the hand of the last man in line, “Will nay be long now. Sleep well.”
Alburet watched Grimgar for a moment before he walked to the edge of the dance floor, watching as Stacia danced. As the music came to an end she curtsied to her partner. Excusing herself, she came to Alburet, her hand extended, “One last dance for the night, me husband?”
“As you wish, my lady wife,” Alburet grinned as they stepped onto the empty dance floor. The three musicians played a soft tune that seemed filled with love as the duo danced across the empty floor, lost in each other’s eyes.
When the song ended Alburet thanked the band, then led his new wife into the inn and up to their room. The rest of the night was spent making slow, gentle love to each other, neither one wanting the night to end as it seemed magical to them both. Eventually sleep claimed them as they cuddled, with Stacia wrapped in Alburet’s arms as if he was protecting her from the world.
Chapter Fifteen
Alburet woke as the door to the room opened. Stacia came in carrying a full tray of food. He felt a smile bloom on his face as he watched her shut the door and put the tray on the table. “Morning, Kitten. Looks like we have some things to do today.”
“Breakfast first, then a bath, and afterwards we are going to our new home,” she stressed the word ‘our’ slightly as her own smile grew. Eyes sparkling with happiness, she batted her lashes, “It sounds like a dream.”
Alburet got out of bed, crossing the room and taking her into his arms. He gave her a loving kiss before sitting down and pulling her into his lap. “It does sound like a dream. Let’s hope we don’t wake up. But first breakfast, I believe you said. I know what I want to eat first,” his voice turned husky as he sat her on the free half of the table and leaned her back.
A couple of hours later, fresh out of the bath, the couple packed their things and headed downstairs. Grimgar, Stewart and Almira looked up from the corner table with smirks. “I did nay know tha’ breakfast and bathin’ was a few hours affair,” Grimgar tried to deadpan but his voice held the traces of suppressed laughter.
“It very well could take some time, depending on the quality of the meal to be eaten,” Almira added, her voice definitely holding suppressed laughter.
“I figured it was the soap in the bath, myself,” Stewart added with a chuckle. “Goodness knows what could happen if the soap kept slipping out of hand.”
Shrugging with a smile firmly in place, Alburet replied, “Who knows the ways of the world? I will apologize for the time it took us to meet you here, but I won’t apologize for the reason we are delayed.”
Stacia shook her head, “It was me fault, I kept distractin’ him.”
“Just like ya Ma’, then,” Alistern said from beside them as he came from the hall next to the stairs. “Now tha’ the newlyweds have torn themselves out of bed, let us be off to show them their new abode.”
Everyone exited the building, Lilith joining them, which left the bar to Erin, who seemed radiant. As Alburet walked by Erin winked at him, giggling and giving him a thumbs-up. Stacia waved at her sister as they left. “It looks like ya chose well for me sister, asthore.”
“I’m a little surprised, actually,” Alburet mused. “I would have thought Wilbur to be a bit more reserved.”
“All of my daughters have traces of my abilities,” Lilith mentioned as they walked down the street. “Not strong enough to force a man to do something they don’t wish to, but enough to nudge them over an edge if close.”
Squeezing Stacia’s arm where it went through his arm Alburet chuckled, “So that was how you got me the first time.”
Stacia pouted slightly, “You refused me the first time, as I recall. Made me promise to behave. It took me givin’ ya sorrowful eyes until ya succumbed to me desires.”
“Enough talk about how my goddaughter seduced you please,” Stewart called from ahead of them. “Not the type of image I want in my head, thank you.”
Various chuckles greeted Stewart’s words. Shortly after that, they reached the house. They paused outside of the building so the couple could take in the structure. An archway from the street gave access to a small enclosed area that split in either direction, each ending at a door. Directly in front of the arch was an alcove, which was currently empty.
“The door on the left be ya house,” Alistern intoned. “The doorway on the right leads a few small rooms and one large one, but it does nay contain a kitchen or bathin’ room. We thought ya might want to use it as ya guild base.”
“Wait, both sides of this place are for us?” Alburet replied, a little taken aback. “This place is huge compared to most of the houses I’ve seen.”
“Aye, lad,” Grimgar replied, “but we have had it for some time and it has nay been used as it should. We purchased the land a few months before we stopped adventurin’, intendin’ something like that ourselves. Before… well.” He waved the thought aside and continued, “We’ve rented it out from time to time to meet the taxes imposed by the crown, but tha’ was it. Now we hand it over to ye. Take care of it.”
Stacia looked at her family, both blood related and not, “We will treasure it. Thank ya all.” She hugged each of them before turning to Alburet.
Alburet hugged the women and shook hands with the men. “Thank you, indeed. Why don’t you show us around?”
Starting with the guild side, the door opened into a decent sized room. A single desk sat in front of the door in the middle of the far wall. A few chairs set back along the walls were the only other furnishings in the room. It looked like a reception and waiting area. Through the door behind the desk was a hall with three doors on the left and one on the right. Each of the left-hand doors led to small rooms containing only a single desk and chair. The door on the right led to a large room with a long table that could seat twenty people, along with matching chairs. All the rooms lacked any other decoration, and the furniture appeared to be of good quality.
“As you can see, we had thought to use this for our adventuring base. We never got around to getting the place fully kitted out. You can finish it to your own desires.” Almira said as they exited the one side of the building and went to the house side. “Now, this place is a bit more polished, thanks to all the gifts you received last night.”
The house side had a small front room, a small kitchenette, a smaller guest room, a large master bedroom and finally a bathing room with a single shower head and a tub big enough for four people. Each room had rugs down along with appropriate furniture, mostly done in red and black.
“There you have it,” Lilith said as they
finished the tour, holding the keys out to them.
Alburet was even more impressed after having seen everything and bowed deeply to the group. “Thank you very much. With all of the effort it really feels like a home, and not just a house.”
Stacia was wiping a tear out of her eye, “Thank ya all so much.” She hugged each of them again before the five said their goodbyes, leaving the couple alone in their new home.
“This place is much more than I’d thought it would be,” Alburet commented as he pulled Stacia in for a hug.
“Aye, master,” Stacia purred at him as she snuggled into the embrace.
“You know what I think we should do…” Alburet began, as Guildstone message icon lit up. Snorting, he tapped the flashing icon to find out who sent what.
From Fluffball:
I was thinking of going out for a few hours to hunt, is anyone else up for it?
From Karen:
Sure thing, let me sell some stuff and I’ll meet you at the portal guild.
“Can we join our friends huntin’, master?” Stacia asked.
“Sure, Kitten,” he said, letting her go to send a message of his own. “We should see about getting you some better gear, though.”
Stacia giggled, “Nay, master, no need to. When you get the spell tha’ makes me stronger, me gear will upgrade. As an infernal all of our gear is unbreakable as long as we hunt with our master.”
“Well, that’s news, but sounds good to me. We never did get the coin from last night, did we?”
Holding a coin purse, Stacia smiled, “Ma’ gave it to me when I retrieved breakfast this mornin’.”
“Now I know I’m married, my wife has all the money,” Alburet joked as they left the house, locking the doors behind them. “We should invite them over to the house tonight so they can see the guild area. We can convert one of the small rooms into a place for them to shift back to the other world. I wonder if they would get bonus experience like we have for sleeping at the inn?”
He paused as he locked the door as a pop-up appeared before him. The notification was asking if he wanted to register the house as his and if he wanted to set his Homestone to it. He accepted both options before turning to Stacia. She appeared to be looking at a similar message. She smiled as she pressed an invisible button.
“We now have our own way back to our home,” Stacia said as she took his arm. “Also, as long as ya sleep in a secured room with a bed, then the blessin’ is granted.”
They made it to the portal guild where Fluffball was waiting just inside. “Afternoon,” Fluffball greeted her friends. “I’m glad you could come. Shall we go after the gnolls again?”
“If Karen’s along, then it should be fine,” Alburet replied.
“And here I am,” Karen said as she poked Alburet in the kidney.
“Gah,” was Alburet’s startled reply as he rubbed at the spot. “I see Karen is all jazzed up.”
“Of course. Stacia, your sister is amazing. Her hands are magic,” Karen enthused. She turned to Fluff, “I talked her into doing a double set of massages tonight, if you would like to join me, Fluff.”
Eyes going wide, Fluff licked her lips, “Umm… a massage…?” One hand came up to groom an ear.
Karen slid effortlessly forward to just within Fluff’s reach, “Just a massage, nothing to be worried about and I’ll be there with you.”
“Oh... umm… okay. We are hunting gnolls first, though,” Fluff stumbled over her words.
“You both need to stop by our new digs,” Alburet cut in to break some of the tension Fluff was feeling. “Part of it is set up for a guild to use as a base.”
“That’s awesome,” Karen said, “but first, as Fluff said, we got gnolls to hunt, right? Let’s go.”
As the group went inside Alburet noticed his message icon flashing. Checking it he found a message from Marysue asking if he was going hunting today. He asked the others to wait a moment while he replied to her. His message icon lit up again a moment later, prompting him to make another reply before putting his Mindstone away.
“Marysue and Gerald will be joining us,” he told the women as they moved into the waiting area.
“Marysue was full of questions during the reception,” Fluff told him. “Gerald was shocked about the whole thing, as well.”
“Guess that means you can fill all of us in on the hows and whys of the wedding,” Karen added with a gleam in her eye.
“I’ll tell the tale of love once we start spilling blood,” Alburet replied, “as I don’t want to have to tell it twice.”
A moment later Marysue and Gerald came through the door, and greetings were exchanged before they headed for the stairs. Alburet gave Kim a smile and wave as they went by the desk. She greeted them all with a smile, wishing them good hunting. As they found the right room for the gnoll portal, Gerald paused with his brow creased.
“Gnolls? You sure this is a good idea?” Gerald asked glancing from Alburet to Marysue, as if to convey his worry about Marysue’s safety.
“We did them a couple of days ago. We have a pattern that works out fairly well. It should be even easier with you along to tank one of the two we don’t lock down,” Alburet reassured him. “It’s not like we’re trying the dungeon today.”
“Can we?” Karen asked, spinning towards the two men, her voice eager.
“Not today,” Alburet said firmly. “We can set it up for a day or two from now, that way we can all be ready for it.”
Sighing, Karen went to step on the portal rune, “Sissy.” She vanished, leaving the others standing there.
“Did she just call you out?” Gerald smirked.
“Yeah and she can kick my ass in a straight up fight, so not I’m not upset about it. If we went with abilities I can probably take her, but meh. She’s just pissy that I slapped down the dungeon today. Once we start hunting she’ll forget about it.” Alburet motioned Stacia and Fluff towards the portal, “Ladies.”
Once all the women went through Gerald cocked his head slightly to the side, “When I first met you, I thought you might try for Mary. I’m glad you didn’t. Also glad to have been able to group with you. All in all, you’ve proven yourself a good person to know.”
Chuckling, Alburet replied before he stepped through the portal, “Just wait, knowing me is going to be even better soon.”
Gerald followed him through the portal, “Oh yeah, by the way, thanks. You and Fluffball really did me a solid favor by getting me on the list. I got my email this morning that I’m in for the testing.” Gerald heard Marysue’s squeal of pleasure as she hugged him. “Wanted to surprise you after we had that talk with your dad the other day, Mary.”
“That is so wonderful,” Marysue said as she let go of Gerald, her smile blindingly brilliant. “It’s going to be so cool to be able to stay in here with you for a full month.”
“We should invite them,” Karen said simply, her eyes focused on Alburet in a half challenge.
“Fluff? What do you think?” Alburet said, not taking his eyes from Karen’s challenging stare.
“I think they are both really good people,” Fluff said softly. “I’m fine with it if you are.”
“They came to our weddin’, invite them,” Stacia added.
“That makes it unanimous then,” Alburet said calmly. “Did you want to run this guild, Karen?”
Karen blinked, her eyes flickering away from Alburet, “Not really.”
“Then kindly stop eye fucking me, please. If you have an issue, bring it to me so we can talk. I don’t do this stare down thing, I dealt with it enough in my last job.” His voice was calm but flat, completely devoid of emotion. He turned to Gerald and Marysue, his voice going back to normal. “Did you both want to join Alpha Company?”
Gerald glanced at the four of them wearing the emblem then looked at Marysue, who nodded. “We would be glad to. I’m not challenging you here, but if you want I’ll help out with the guild. I run a number of businesses, so I’m used to the bit of dealing with
unhappy people.”
“We can hash that all out later,” Alburet said as he tapped through his interface for the guild. “Here you are, two letters from the guild leader. Take them to City Hall to turn them in. When you do they’ll issue you a Guildstone and add you to the roster.” He handed the scrolls to Gerald, “Now that that’s all out of the way, let’s get going.”
“Let me and Mary grab the quests really quick,” Gerald flicked his head towards the gate.
“Good point, we can turn in ours as well,” Alburet agreed.
As they turned to go Karen tapped Alburet on the shoulder, “A moment please, alone, if that’s okay.”
“We’ll catch up,” Alburet said to the others before turning to Karen, “Yes?”
Forming the Company (Alpha World Book 2) Page 21