by Kevin Culp
The first prince and princess he named were the two people who had been standing beside him in the throne room. The last was a young girl probably not more than fifteen years old who sat at the end of the table. She was also quite pretty with extremely long brown hair and delicate angular features. She wore a purple dress that showed off the fact that she definitely had a womanly figure in spite of her age. It had kind of struck me as odd that the queen didn't have four names as all the nobles I had met here did, which made me think she may be from a different kingdom.
I responded, “It is very nice to meet you all. It seems everyone here has somehow heard of me, but I am Archaeus Alexander Velnir and this is Christina.”
Christina curtsied.
The king looked at her. “Christina, you really are a pretty young lady,” he said.
Christina blushed probably more than I had ever seen her blush before.
The king continued, “Might I ask your full name and what noble house you are from.”
Christina paused. “Umm... your majesty... I...”
I picked up for her. “Christina is not nobility your majesty, but she is the person closest to me in this world.”
The king actually seemed surprised. “Oh, forgive me for assuming. I had believed her to be your wife or betrothed at least. I take it she is a mistress or concubine?”
It seemed an odd question to just ask, but I responded, “Sir, I'm not married or betrothed, and Christina and I do not have that kind of relationship. We are simply close friends.”
The king was actually excited about that, “That is excellent news. I had questioned how to tie you into the royal family, but now as long as you show success I can have you marry my second daughter Liandra, but you have to earn it.”
Liandra cut in surprised, “Father!”
“What? He said it himself this woman and he have no relations, and neither of you are betrothed,” the king said.
Suddenly, Christina turned around and ran.
I wasn't sure what to say or do, but Liandra spoke again. “Clearly this commoner didn't feel the same way about your relationship Archaeus.”
That was actually a disturbing thought, but I looked to the king. “Your majesty will you excuse me for a moment?”
He nodded.
I ran through the crowd after Christina. I saw her ahead of me running out of the ballroom and followed. I called after her, but she didn't stop. We went through the halls until we got to the entrance where she ran out the door. She was heading for the gate but tripped on one of her heels. She didn't even try to get up at that point.
I stood over her and reached to touch her. “Christina?”
“Leave me alone Archaeus,” she was crying.
“Please, just talk to me.” I reached down and helped her up anyway. She kept her face down and pointed away from me.
“Why should we talk? Apparently, you've just said everything you think of me, and now you get to marry a princess.”
Was the princess right? Did Christina actually have feelings for me? I was so stuck on the fact that she had been kind to me regardless, and the fact that Archaeus had a noble romantic impression of love that I didn't think would even let me get close to someone that I didn't save as a damsel in distress, that I had never even thought about it.
“Christina, I'm sorry. I do think of you as a friend, but you are also beautiful and kind and deserve someone much better than me. Also, why would I want to marry that princess? I know nothing about her. That was just thrown out there at me.”
Christina looked up at me, “That princess is a lot prettier than me, and she can give you a much better position here not just for yourself but to help more people overall. You would be an idiot to ever pick someone like me over someone like her.”
“Trust me she isn't prettier than you, Christina, and I will aim to help people regardless of my position. If you think I would be an idiot to pick someone like you over her, then I am a huge idiot because I would pick you over a thousand of her.”
She had tears trickling down her face. “Then why haven't you?”
I guess the princess had been right, and Christina really did like me that way. I wasn't sure what to even say at this point. As I looked down into her eyes, she looked lost and scared like her world was falling apart. I pulled her into me and her breathing went from frantic to heavy. I put my hand on the back of her neck as I leaned my face closer to hers.
Then we kissed.
It was shocking and desperate. We were standing there in the middle of the courtyard of the royal palace where we had run out from the ball taking place. Christina's face was still covered in tears, but her lips were so soft that I could barely get enough. I pulled away and looked her in the eyes.
She was breathless.
I was amazed. “Wow, I wish I had done that a long time ago.”
She found her voice. “Well, you said it yourself. You’re an idiot Archaeus.”
I smiled and kissed her again. This time it was much more simple just a light kiss on the lips. We took each other's hands.
“Should we go back inside you think?” I asked her.
She nodded. “Unfortunately, we probably should. I'm sorry if I embarrassed you.”
“The one who should be apologizing is me. I never really thought about how you felt, and you could never embarrass me.”
I took her hand and led her back through the castle and to the ball. We went up to the king's table. The king and queen were the only ones seated there now.
“Forgive me for our rudeness earlier your majesty. I will say though that regardless of my future success, I will have to decline the offer of marriage to your daughter.”
“Well, that's a shame, but no harm done. Please, just enjoy the rest of the ball.” He said.
Christina and I went back to dancing. I was more self-conscious this time than I was when we had danced before. Everything now had more implications on what was and wasn't acceptable and the meaning it could carry. We danced for what felt like a long time until someone tapped me on the shoulder.
“I guess we both dodged a bullet there, huh?”
I turned around to see the second princess. “Well, I'm sure that marrying you wouldn't have been all bad,” I said jokingly. I'm sure that probably wasn't an appropriate thing to say to a princess, but she didn't seem to mind.
“Maybe not, but my father tries to marry me off every chance he gets, really. It always somehow falls through though which is fine by me.”
“I'm surprised it's not your older sister that he tries to marry off. I noticed she still has the family last name, is that because she has never married or is that just a thing here where royalty keeps their last name, and I don't know what I'm talking about?”
“She was married once, but the family betrayed the kingdom. Her husband actually turned against his family but ended up being killed by his own brother. She took back the Varnelion name after that and hasn't been forced to remarry.”
“Well, that's definitely a sad story. It doesn't surprise me though to hear that a king is mostly trying to marry off his children for political advantage.”
She nodded.
About that time, a waiter came by and offered drinks to Christina and I. I took the drinks and handed one to Christina. It was a red wine that had a sweet but dry taste to it. I drank it all relatively quickly and so did Christina. I guess Archaeus could have alcohol if it was just wine at a formal event. It had made me just drink water at the tavern.
“Are you enjoying the ball at least?” The princess asked.
“We are. Most of the people have been supportive of us and all the food...” I looked at Christina and cut myself off. She was sweating, panting, and starting to lean over. I held her up.
“Umm... Archaeus... I don't feel very good,” she said.
I laid her down slowly. She was fine moments before and this hit her very quickly. I could see the blood draining from her face. There was no way this was simple food poisoning or anythi
ng of the like.
The princess called for help. “Quickly, someone get a cleric or druid over here someone's been poisoned!”
I used my healing hands ability, which had the added effect of neutralizing poison. At the very least, she seemed to stop getting worse. If I had prepared my spells for the day, I probably could have cast basic restoration and healed any damage done, but I didn't have the time. I picked her up into my arms.
The king arrived along with Prince Leovald.
“Leovald, did you prepare the spell basic restoration today?” I asked him.
“I'm sorry Archaeus I can only cast first tier spells, so I can't use that one. I told you I'm weak as a cleric.”
“I've stopped the poison already, so she shouldn't be in any danger. I can prepare the spell myself because I hadn't prepared any for the day, but it will take time. I guess this is where our night ends.”
The king nodded looking concerned, and I took Christina to our room.
I wasn't certain what type of poison it was, but I could tell my healing hands had been successful in neutralizing it. I sat Christina on the bed and knelt down to pray. To me, it only took a few minutes to prepare my spells, but to Christina, it was an hour that I'm sure was very uncomfortable. Once I finished the preparation, I cast basic restoration on Christina until I was certain all the color had returned to her face. She tried to get up, but I insisted that she rest for a bit, and I would be back.
I walked out of the room and down the hall. When I got close to the throne room, I could hear shouting.
“How could we let our guest go through something like this? It's outrageous, someone being poisoned in a royal ball!” I heard a voice that sounded like the king.
The butler in front of the door saw me and actually opened the door for me, so I walked in.
There were about ten men in the room, including the king and the two princes. The rest of the men looked like battle-hardened soldiers, though all of them well past their prime. Generals I would assume. They were all standing at the front of the room by the king as he spoke.
I strode to the front of the room, and the king spoke, “Archaeus I am so sorry for this slip of security. Please rest assured that I am doing everything in my power to get to the bottom of this.”
“I want to trust you your majesty, and to that end, I have one request.”
“What is it Archaeus? If it is within my power and reasonable, I will grant it.” The king said.
“I would like to put a spell of truth around us and then question each person present. I would assume that this place is currently filled with people you trust.”
The king didn't hesitate. “Of course, that's perfectly reasonable. I trust all of these men with my life.”
I cast the spell sphere of truth then looked at the king, “Did you have anything to do with or prior knowledge of Christina being poisoned, and do you have any intention of causing myself, Christina, or the town of Freid any harm?”
“I had nothing to do with this incident, nor do I have any ill intentions against you or anyone you protect Sir Velnir.” The king said.
I was glad to see that the king had been so quick and thorough in his response. Hopefully, that meant I really could trust him. I proceeded down the line of men asking each the same question. When I got to the seventh man, he seemed nervous. He was a Burly man in full plate armor with a gray high and tight haircut and a jagged scar on his left cheek.
I asked him, “Did you have anything to do with or prior knowledge of Christina being poisoned, and do you have any intention of causing myself, Christina, or the town of Freid any harm?”
He attempted to run.
I drew my sword in an instant and slammed the side of the blade into the chest of his full plate armor. Of course, I was at a penalty for using a lethal weapon to deal non-lethal damage, but he still fell, and it looked as though I hadn't killed him. The king was shocked.
I looked to the king, “I leave his questioning to you your majesty as a show of trust for your honesty. If you need a display of my power to stop things like this, then consider it done. Just let me know the time and place and I'll be there.”
None of the other men had looked nervous about the questioning, so I decided to trust Archaeus' instincts and left the last few unquestioned. By the time I got back to the room, Christina was sitting up in bed. She had let her hair down, washed off her face, and changed into her nightgown.
I climbed in bed with her and took her in my arms. “Do you feel better?”
She nodded.
“I'm so sorry, Christina. I promise that in the future I will do a better job of protecting you.”
“It isn't your fault Archaeus so please don't blame yourself. You did all you could to save me.”
I leaned in and kissed her.
There we were in bed kissing with our arms wrapped around each other. Suddenly, I was aware of how things had changed between us, and that all this might have different implications. Then, she put her hands on my chest and pushed back just a little bit.
She seemed extremely nervous. “Umm... Archaeus... I'm sorry, I really care about you and want to be with you, but I don't think I'm ready for umm... this kind of thing yet.”
“Oh yeah no, I'm sorry, Christina. Trust me, I don't want to put any pressure on you to do something that you aren't ready for.”
“Will you just hold me until I fall asleep?”
I nodded and gave her another kiss.
She turned over, and I pulled her closer to me. I was now aware of not just how beautiful and delicate, but how warm her body was as I held her, and within a short amount of time we fell asleep.
Chapter 14
When I woke the next morning, a maid came in and told me that the king was preparing an event for me at the local coliseum. Apparently, it would take place in the afternoon four days from now, and I was encouraged to spend the time sightseeing in the city.
The next few days were pretty amazing; it was almost like a honeymoon. We still didn't have sex or anything like that, but we walked around the city, went to shops, and had dinner all as a couple. We even went to one of the casinos that Leovald had told us about, though I didn't personally do any gambling. Christina still didn't feel right letting me spend too much money on her, so she effectively played games that would have equated to the penny slots and made small wagers a few times at a roulette table.
The town actually did have stores that were selling magical equipment, though most of them only had items that would be classified as a minor or medium magic item at best. What I did find kind of interesting, is that if I looked at a magic item without knowing what it was in my notes, I knew it was unidentified when I picked it up, but if I asked someone or looked at a label, I could see the name of the item come up on my notepad every time I looked at it. When we were at one of the high-end magic stores I had come across, I had an idea.
I approached the old-looking wizard sitting behind a counter. “Excuse me, sir. Can I ask how much you charge to identify a magic item?”
“Well, that depends sonny, if I can just look at the item and identify it with a basic magic detection spell then only five gold. If I need to resort to casting an identify magic spell, then it will cost thirty gold.”
Christina spoke up. “Thirty gold just to identify something that you already have? Isn't that expensive Archaeus?”
I shrugged. “Not really honestly. A magic scroll of identify would cost twenty-five and that still doesn't even let you use it. Even if you can cast the spell from the scroll, that just lets you see the auras of magic on the item much more clearly not actually have an understanding of what they do.”
“You seem to know your stuff sonny.” The old wizard said.
“Not really, I just traveled with a sorceress that identified and crafted magic items for a long time. This is what I wanted you to look at though.” I reached into my bag and pulled out the unidentified rod and handed it to him.
He took the rod from me. “T
his is incredible. Even without casting a spell, I can tell that great magic is held inside this item.” The old man proceeded to cast a spell that I was guessing was magic detection, which I guess Archaeus recognized from watching Lyra cast it so much.
His face lit up. “This is incredible! I have no idea what it does yet, but I have never seen such a powerful aura of magic.” He said as he looked at me. Then, his jaw dropped, “Oh my god. Your equipment, so much of it carries an overwhelming magical aura!”
I looked back at him and casually said, “Out of curiosity what has a stronger aura this sword or that rod?” I held up the sword so he could see it. It was probably what I knew to be the strongest magic item on me. If he thought these items were powerful though, imagine if he saw Archaeus' real gear. This must have been a relatively low magic world though by his reactions.
“That is a very impressive sword, but I would say this rod is more powerful still. Give me a moment.” The man went to cast a different spell. I didn't recognize this one, but maybe that was because Lyra had never learned the spell identify magic, so Archaeus hadn't seen it. “This item is exceptionally powerful. It is designed to absorb magic directed at you and can then be used to fuel a spell caster's magic with the power it absorbs.”
That did sound like an interesting item, but I actually didn't have much use for it personally, and I could use it as a way to raise some more funds with how I was spending my money. “How much would you buy such an item for?”
“I doubt I would have the money on hand to buy such an item, but if I would be so bold as to ask, if you left it with me for a day or so, I can consult with some other magic craftsmen, and they may be willing to work with me on purchasing it both for usefulness and for research purposes.”
I considered his offer, “That would be acceptable. I will be back tomorrow to either retrieve the item or my payment.” I went to hand him the thirty gold for identifying the item, but he refused. I got to see the name of the item pop up in my notepad though. It was called a rod of magic absorption.