Davie the Mage (Generations of Eredwynn Book 2) (6 page)

              My father raised his hand for quiet and the noise died quickly. He said, “I hate to spring this on you like this but it is time for you to go to your new home. James and Lia will escort you and help you get settled in. They will bring your belongings to you. I think that you’ll be able to manage. This home might not be as large as some but as long as you have each other, you’ll be fine. Home is where your heart is, and Son, I can tell home will be wherever Amber resides. I love you both and wish you the best of luck.”

              James and Lia came up behind us and we were blindfolded. I grinned because I knew where we were going and this was going to be quite the surprise to Amber. My family was doing a great job at keeping the secret of our new home. I felt the subtle shift in space as we
ported
and my blindfold was removed. They had
ported
us into the middle of an expectant crowd that must have been given orders to be very quiet. We were also in the middle of the courtyard in front of Perlsea Castle. James then nodded at Lia who, grinning widely, removed Amber’s blindfold and yelled, “Welcome home!”

              The crowd began cheering and welcoming us to Perlsea Castle. Amber hugged Lia and asked if this whole castle was really our home. Lia nodded, smiling happily and Amber staggered against me. I held her until she regained her composure and we followed James inside.

              James gave our names and business to the herald. He stepped in to the audience chamber and back out quickly. He announced us quickly and we filed in. The Regent Cenric met us and he was everything that I’d been told. He was a very unlikable guy who looked like he hated the world and everything in it. I walked up to him and introduced myself.

              Cenric said, “It’s nice of you to show up. Here are the vault keys and all business has been suspended for a week while you settle in. All the guests who were here at Lord Tassin’s behest have been moved out. The master bedroom is empty and you can do as you will with the four occupants of the connecting rooms. I wish you the best of luck, Your Highness. Now, by your leave…” The man bowed and walked out of the keep.

              James and I just stared at each other! So much for the idea of getting a helpful regent to get me started here. I said, “Well, that was fun! I suggest we head up to the master bedroom and see if this layout is the same as Kethos and Valeview.” We went out the back of the audience chamber and up to the top floor. The layout of this keep did indeed seem to be the same. All of the older castles like this one must have had the same architect. We opened the double doors to the master bedroom and I scooped Amber into my arms. I carried her, laughing and giggling, across the room and tossed her on the bed. James and Lia followed, grinning like maniacs.

              I looked at James. “In that crazy regent’s rambling, did I hear mention of people living in the attached rooms here? If I did hear that, I’d like for you and Lia to stick around while we find out who they are and what they are planning to do.”

              Lia said, “I’ll check for you, little brother. You’ve had a busy day and I’m sure that all you really want to do is find out if that bed frame is solid.”

              As Amber blushed, Lia went through the closet closest to the right side of the bed. She called back that we’d be happy to know that Lord Tassin had installed the water system like Father had shown him a decade and a half ago. We heard her knock and then muffled talking. I waited and waited for her to bring whoever was in there out, but Lia loves to talk.

              James and I walked to the western windows and looked out. You could see the ocean. James told me that he now had some really good shipwrights in Kethos Town and if our treasury could handle it, he could have docks built for us. He also said that a dozen ships outfitted for fishing could turn the economy of the whole province around. We’d have to check the depth of the water and the types of fish on the western coast, but he seemed very positive.  It was fun for me to see James in his role as the leader of a province. He’d only been my big brother who checked out the bottoms of every Novice that was brought to the school when we were growing up. Time and responsibility will do that to you, I guess.

              Lia came back out, leading a very cute girl that I guessed to be fifteen. The girl started making rounds to all the attached rooms and was followed from each by another extraordinarily cute girl near the same age. While that was going on, Lia started talking. “All four of these girls were purchased by Lord Tassin before he died. He never even got a chance to lay a hand on them and they’re very happy about that. I said that I’d return them all home but since they were sold, they don’t like their families too much. They were staying here, hoping that they could be the private servants of the new Lord and Lady or maybe consorts, if they liked the Lord more than they did Lord Tassin. If Father had known that the bastard was buying consorts, a heart attack wouldn’t have had a chance to take him. What becomes of them is completely up to you, Amber. My soft-hearted brother would let them stay and do nothing before he put them out in the weather.”

              I looked at Amber and chuckled, “I thought that you’d decided that consorts were a good idea and found four for us already.”

              She smiled. “Not yet, but after talking to Star, Isabel and your mother I’m starting to change my mind. Now that we have this whole castle and the province to run, I’ll need help. What do you think about having these young ladies stay in the rooms they are in as private servants and if we fall in love with them, perhaps they’ll want to be consorts. Does that sound fair to everyone?”

              The four girls grinned and nodded, Lia and James nodded while sneaking me winks. They knew that the women that Amber had mentioned loved their consorts almost as much as their husbands. My mother herself was a consort and knew that with the right family, life could be grand.

              I nodded. “Why don’t we find out the girls’ names so we don’t have to keep calling them ‘the girls’?”

              They stepped up, one at a time, each telling us that they were fifteen, because that was the age that Lord Tassin preferred to buy. Their names were Amice, Royse, Amee, and Eda. They all looked similar, with blonde hair and round faces. They were quite petite and I knew that the man who bought them had a type in mind that he liked. I wondered how long it had been going on and what Father would do when he was told.

              James said, “Lia and I have been charged with moving your belonging here. I know that Lia has a cartload of clothes ordered for Amber because that’s the way she is. All of your stuff from your room in the dorm will be coming here, also. If you and your new servants don’t mind, Lia could take two and I could take two and make the work go faster.”

              I looked at Amber and she just shrugged. I looked at the girls and they smiled and nodded, willing to be as helpful as possible to stay with us. “Just be aware that it’s doubtful that any of these girls have traveled by magic before. You might want to warn them before you pop them half way across the country!”

              Lia opened her arms and dragged all four girls across the room to her, mentally. It both frightened and amused them all and they were giggling. Lia said, “We’ll take good care of them and tell them all kinds of good things about you, so they’ll come to Amber begging to be consorts.”

              I laughed, “Good luck with that and don’t work too hard. If I have my way about it, my bride and I won’t be needing clothes for the next few days, anyway.”

Blushing, Amber got up and gave Lia and James hugs. She thanked them for everything and told them that we’d still be dressed when they arrived with our things. James and Lia divided our new girls and quietly explained what to expect and then ported out.

              Amber said, “How long will it take for me to get used to people disappearing in front of me like that?”

              I laughed and hugged her. “I don’t know, because it’s been happening in front of me my whole life. Now, did you bring anything with you to wear, other than your wedding dress?”

              She reached into her purse and pulled out her sea green (blue) outfit. I smiled. “Very sexy! Why don’t you put that on and we can fly down by the seashore and look around for a while. James and Lia won’t be back for at least an hour. I’ll try to keep my hand from wearing a hole in the seat of your pants.” She swatted at me playfully and went to change.

              She came back out a couple minutes later with a puzzled look on her face. “Did you say we were going to fly to the seashore?”

              I laughed, “Yes, my dear, I did. Follow me and I’ll show you what I mean.”

              We walked out of our room and to the balcony on the south side of the keep. I opened the door and we walked out. I put
shields
around both of us and
levitation
on her. As she got light, she became quite giddy. She was giggling nervously and watching me for reassurance. I took her hand and flew off the balcony with her beside me. For the first few minutes she was a bit frightened but I stopped and hovered for a bit. I told her that she was completely safe with me and that I’d take care of her. I kissed her and she seemed to relax. I flew us out over the ocean for a mile, looking at the waves and the creatures you can see only from the air. She was calmly pointing out things in a short time. I flew up to five thousand feet so she could get a miniature picture of the castle and our province. We talked and looked at the scenery for quite some time. It was a good honeymoon outing and we enjoyed each other’s company. I turned us back toward the castle and started dropping altitude. We landed back on the balcony and Amber began hugging and kissing me, with tears streaming down her face.

              “Are you okay, Amber? Did I scare you?”

              “I just can’t believe that all this can really be true. I’ve met someone who loves me for who I am and he turns out to be a prince who takes me to live in a castle. He allows me to pick the servants that we have and treats me like I’m special. I’ve never even been one of the popular girls at school and now the Queen of a country takes me aside to help plan my wedding. A King presides over the wedding and for my honeymoon my husband takes me flying without an airplane. I’m just so overwhelmed and scared of losing you that I can barely function!”

              “It’s all real and I’m never going anywhere. I know that things have been moving incredibly fast and we haven’t had much time to adjust, but we will.  We just have to take one thing at a time and get used to it. Please don’t cry because it makes my heart ache to see tears in your eyes.” I held her close and kissed her. She sighed and I could feel her relaxing.

              “I’m all right Davie. It was just so beautiful flying over the ocean like that and then everything hit me at once. I’ll be fine now. I love you.”

              James showed up on the top of the stairs, followed by floating boxes, Amice and Royse. The girls had their hands full, too, and we fell in line behind them. James had gathered my things from my room and I had him and the girls put them in the closet closest to Amice’s room.

              As we were sorting my items in my closet Lia, Amee, and Eda returned with a surprising amount of clothing for Amber. Amber rushed over to help them and the giggling started that was almost always around girls and clothing. I could tell that Amice and Royse would be much happier on the other side of the room so I sent them to help with Amber’s things.

              James and I finished and he said, “We should go out to the coast and let the girls get to know each other. We can see what would be needed to make fishing on the west coast possible.”

              We went out of the keep through the balcony doors and flew to the coast. We landed and I followed James as he walked the beach. He checked the consistency of the sand and scanned below for rock. “Davie, I think that a good solid dock could be attached here with a bit of psi magic to pull up the rock to anchor it. Let’s fly out and see if there are any schooling fish close by to be had.”

              We went airborne again and flew five hundred feet above the water. A half mile out, we crossed over a reef and the water depth changed drastically. It got really deep and we could sense fish everywhere. There were huge schools and James was grinning from ear to ear. We continued our survey of the water and things looked very promising. We’d been gone for two hours without even noticing the time passing. When we saw the sun dropping rapidly to the sea, we knew it was time to head back. We kicked up the speed and were back over land in minutes.

              As we landed, James said that we should check the vault and see if we had anything in the budget for construction. We made our way down and I opened it up. There were several bags of coins with a note from Father. He had given Amber and me a million and a half in platinum and a half million in gold, just as he had James, when he’d taken over Kethos. James and I were both happy. James said that he could get a work crew to build a dock in a week or so and then he’d have shipwrights start working on fishing vessels.

              We checked the second vault and found it in disarray. The regent hadn’t been very good at taking care of finances. I asked James to try to find a good scribe who could help me sort this mess out and he said he had one in mind. If that one didn’t work out, then he was sure that Lord Pariset would know of someone. James said that he’d get back with me soon and ported home. I walked upstairs to see if the unpacking was complete. Lia met me at the door and asked if I was having the girls tested. I was confused, so she explained that they’d been talking about magic and showed some interest in being tested. I said that having extra magic around might come in handy, so she said she’d bring my mother over tomorrow. Lia hugged me goodbye and ported out.