Fostering Faust

by Randi Darren

  “You really do feel stiff, Two. Remind me to work this out with you later.”

  “I’m stiff because you did work me out, you ass,” Carla said with a chuckle.

  “Ah, that’s a fair point. It was pretty amazing though.”

  “Thank you, I do try. Well, now at least.”

  Valeria drifted out of his view to the side. Heading into the cell.

  “What… what are you doing?” Michael Senior said.

  “She’s checking on you, that’s all, Michael. You really shouldn’t be concerned. Three is an excellent servant to me,” Alex said loudly.

  There was a loud slap, followed by a whine that sounded a lot like the younger Michael.

  Immediately afterward came a grunt, and then what sounded like gurgling noises.

  Carla’s back tightened up for a second, then relaxed as she apparently realized what was happening.

  Alex smiled grimly, making sure to rub Carla’s neck and keep her staring straight ahead. Slowly he let his hands move down her shoulders and spine, since he figured she knew now what was going on.

  “Sounds like Three is having to work hard to make sure they don’t have anything on them, doesn’t it?” Alex said.

  “Yes… Master, it does.”

  A minute passed with nothing but silence. Slowly, he identified what sounded like very soft sobbing.

  It paused briefly when he heard a gentle shushing noise.

  After a moment came the almost too-soft-to-hear sound of gurgling. And maybe what sounded like feet scraping on the ground.

  But Alex was sure he’d heard it wrong.

  And once more, silence.

  Then Valeria appeared beside him. Her cheeks were flushed, but she smiled at him.

  “All done, Master. They don’t have anything on them; I’ve checked them completely. I’ll be sure to have a guard come check on them shortly to make sure they’re alright,” she said.

  “Wonderful. Good job, Three,” Alex said. He reached out with his left arm, wrapped it around her shoulders, and brought her in for a tight hug.

  “You’re a wonder, Three. I’m going to reward you heavily.”

  Valeria nodded her head, then rested it on Alex’s shoulder.

  Slipping his arm around Carla’s front, he pulled her in to himself as well, hugging her from behind.

  Keep my Numbers close, indeed.

  ***

  “—found them dead in their cell, my lord,” Alex said, bowing his head to the king.

  “Hm. That’s most unfortunate. Most unfortunate indeed. And you’d swear this on your oath? That you had nothing to do with this?” the king asked.

  Alex lifted his head up, meeting the eyes of the king directly.

  Reaching up, Alex touched his hand to the pin at his collar.

  “I swear I ordered no harm to come to them. In fact, I ordered for them to be checked for safety out of concern for them,” he swore. Which was all accurate and true. “It really is a tragic thing for them to have taken their lives. I personally would have preferred to see them suffer for their crimes.

  “I’ve punished the servant who failed in their duty quite painfully.”

  The king eyed him for another second, then nodded his head definitively.

  “Glad to hear it. For now, we excuse you to tend to your duchess. I imagine she has some words for you as well,” the king said, dismissing Alex.

  Bowing deeply, Alex turned and fled the audience chamber. All around him, the members of the peerage watched.

  Stared at him.

  Everyone suspected he’d had the Ridges killed, yet Amy Ridge was alive and operating as a baroness for him now.

  He’d also just sworn to his innocence on his oath pin.

  It was hard to believe he had something to do with it at that point. Yet they still suspected it.

  Everyone knew there were ways around the oaths, but most of the time, they tended to backfire.

  Alex walked determinedly through the doors and down a hallway.

  Moments after he’d cleared the more public areas, Duchess Tanulf stopped him.

  “There you are, Count,” she said, sweeping up to him in a lovely blue dress.

  “Ah, yes. I was actually on my way to see you,” Alex said. He meant it, too. She’d sent him a note to seek her out after the audience, and the king had gone so far as to remind him of it.

  Doing anything else would have been extremely suspicious.

  “I’d like to congratulate you on your victory, first,” Regina said, bowing her head to him.

  “Thank you, Duchess. I appreciate you in publicly upholding my claim after the fact.”

  “Of course, of course,” she said, her eyes inspecting him from head to toe. “Early reports indicate that Ridge is already turning its economy around, even producing grain at a favorable level.”

  It wasn’t a question. It also meant she had a source of information in his new acquisition.

  “It is indeed. I was quite surprised by the early signs of the county stabilizing.

  “Apparently having a horde of mercenaries with a significant amount of money in a county can have quite an impact on the local economy, even one just coming out of a war.”

  Regina smiled politely, then reached out and laid a hand on his upper arm.

  “I’ll be visiting you in a month or so. We have much to discuss. Do expect me, and plan accordingly. I also took the liberty of meeting your wife.

  “She’s a lovely thing, and… interesting.”

  Alex smiled in return, not moving away from her nor encouraging her in any way.

  “I’ll expect you and look forward to your visit, then. I’ll be sure Anna prepares accordingly.”

  Regina lightly rubbed her fingers up and down his arm before taking a firm hold and giving it a squeeze.

  “Good. Expect to receive me,” she said, then released him and left.

  Alex made no response, keeping his emotions bottled up inside.

  I suppose I should have expected her to make her desire clear already. It’s not as if I wouldn’t make the same move.

  And I’ve only increased my value to her, I imagine. I’m a piece on a chessboard that’s been moved up in importance.

  One that just got itself in a position to support her—or crush her, if I switched allegiances.

  Grand.

  Epilogue

  Anna was snoring heavily from the bed. Her naked form was splayed out on the sheets, not having bothered to get dressed after their third go of it for the evening.

  She seemed determined to catch a child as quickly as possible. In her mind, that meant having sex as often as humanly able, whenever it seemed Alex had recovered.

  Alex had no desire to dissuade her of that belief anytime soon.

  Leaning up against a wall, he read over the letter Mary had sent Anna while he’d been in Ridge.

  This seemed to be the first letter she’d written to Anna.

  It’d been rather direct, truth be told. Forthright, even.

  A confession, really.

  She’d written it in such a way as if to ask for forgiveness for her sins of allowing herself to be bedded by him. Even though she knew he was married to a woman she had no issues with. Then moving on to the fact that she chose to bed him later on, and thought Alex was a good and noble man. To please forgive him and cherish him.

  “Little does she know, Anna took all this as a positive sign and now wants to incorporate her into our marriage,” Alex said to himself, folding the letter.

  “Mary isn’t a bad choice, to be honest,” Leah said, popping into being. She was sitting on his desk, watching him. “It’d certainly help to prevent that little duchess from turning you into a merry-go-round horse.

  “Do you think she’ll buy you a saddle for how often she’ll end up riding you?”

  Alex looked up at the goddess and then smirked at her.

  “Maybe. Though I think if she did that, Anna really would feed her Mother’s Bane every chance she got.”r />
  “She would, I know it. In fact, she already spoke to several apothecaries as to the right amount to give someone to prevent pregnancy.

  “Even going so far as to find out how much it would take to make a woman permanently barren,” Leah said. Then she grinned at him. “Your wife is quite the little hellcat.”

  Alex returned the grin at that revelation.

  “That she is. So, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

  “My appreciation. The way you forced those convicts into turning over their souls was spectacular. Really gave me a jump.

  “Then all those deals you made with your dungeon girls today? Amazing. I’ve never had so much power so suddenly.”

  Glancing to the pillar, Alex couldn’t help but agree. It was almost completely full.

  After tomorrow, acting on some of the deals he’d made with the dungeon girls, it’d probably be full.

  “Going to give me another pillar to fill so I don’t waste anything?”

  “No, don’t worry about that. The moment it fills, I’ll have another one transferred in. Along with one month pre-filled as a courtesy. Wouldn’t want you penalized for fulfilling your goals, as my husband would say.”

  “Mm. Thanks. Other than that, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?”

  “Boredom.”

  “Ah… I see.”

  “Well, that’s not entirely true. I wanted to give you a bit of a warning.”

  Alex felt his heart stutter. Standing up straight, he paid her his full attention.

  “I’m all ears, my goddess.”

  Leah gave him a tight smile.

  “You’re going to need to watch the southern wilds. Expect trouble from that direction. It won’t be immediate, and if you’re wary enough, you’ll see it coming.

  “If not… well… I’ll be looking for a new broker on this world, and I’ll be sending you to another one,” she said.

  “I understand. Anything else you can tell me about it?”

  “No. I can’t see the future, but from what I can see now, it’s going to become an issue eventually.

  “Otherwise, just keep up the good work. You’re doing fantastically.”

  “Thank you. Any… chance I could talk you into letting Anna make true deals on my behalf? Maybe at a reduced-power trade? A deal she makes for me only provides me with ninety-percent instead of a hundred, and the ten-percent goes straight to you rather than at the end of the month?”

  Leah’s eyebrows went up at that. Then she tilted her head to the side, looking up at nothing.

  Then her head snapped back to him.

  “Done. I accept. You remind me of my husband sometimes, with the way you offer counter-deals that are hard to refuse.”

  “Sounds like someone I’d like,” Alex said.

  Leah wrinkled her nose and then shook her head.

  “Probably not. He can be a bit of a goody-goody at times. I have to travel here when he’s not looking or paying attention. I think he’d try to take this away if he knew what I was doing.”

  “Take… this away? Take the world away?”

  Leah’s mouth opened for a second, then closed.

  “Ah, forget I said that. Anyways. Your wife is waking up; you should go give it to her again. She’s not pregnant yet.”

  Leah picked up a book that was beside hers on the desk. Hefting it a few times, she cocked her arm back and flung it as hard as she could, it looked like.

  With a crack, the book smashed into the ground.

  Anna sat bolt upright in bed, one arm drawing across her chest as she peered around blearily.

  “Husband?” she asked, her voice groggy.

  “I’m here, wife. Leah was visiting a moment ago. She agreed to our request for you. You can make deals on my behalf.”

  Anna smiled sleepily.

  “Yaaaay. That’ll make it easier to keep you safe if you’re not home.

  “Mm, now that I’m awake… come over here.

  “No sense in wasting the chance. We need to try as often as possible,” Anna said, letting her arm slide down from her chest, revealing herself to him. She then held her arms out to him, her fingers wiggling. “I’m your savior, remember? Come give lots of attention to your savior wife.”

  “Lots and lots,” Alex said, moving over to her.

  Thank you, dear reader!

  I’m hopeful you enjoyed reading Fostering Faust. Please consider leaving a review, commentary, or messages. Feedback is imperative to an author’s growth. That and positive reviews never hurt.

  Feel free to drop me a line at: RandiDarren@gmail.com

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  Blaise Corvin- A close and dear friend of mine. He’s been there for me since I was nothing but a rookie with a single book to my name. He told me from the start that it was clear I had talent and had to keep writing. His background in European martial arts creates accurate and detail driven action segments as well as his world building.

  https://www.amazon.com/Blaise-Corvin/e/B01LYK8VG5

  John Van Stry- John was an author I read, and re-read, and re-read again, before I was an author. In a world of books written for everything except harems, I found that not only did I truly enjoy his writing, but his concepts as well.

  In discovering he was an indie author, I realized that there was nothing separating me from being just like him. I attribute him as an influence in my own work.

  He now has two pen names, and both are great.

  https://www.amazon.com/John-Van-Stry/e/B004U7JY8I

  Jan Stryvant-

  https://www.amazon.com/Jan-Stryvant/e/B06ZY7L62L

  Daniel Schinhofen- Daniel was another one of those early adopters of my work who encouraged and pushed me along. He’s almost as introverted as I am, so we get along famously. He recently released a new book, and by all accounts including mine, is a well written author with interesting storylines.

  https://www.amazon.com/Daniel-Schinhofen/e/B01LXQWPZA