Davie the Mage (Generations of Eredwynn Book 2) (11 page)

              I went back into the castle to see how the book work was going. The moment I stuck my head in the vault, I knew it wasn’t going well.

              “I told you that it looked like a mess.” I said sadly.

              Ewayn shook her head. “The man has receipts and invoices mixed together in here that should be filed. He has different amounts of money set on papers that you would think equaled amounts to be paid. It seems like he just grabbed coins and used them as paperweights to make someone think he was doing something.”

              I chuckled, “I met the man and that might not be too far off from what he was doing. He acted as though the job meant nothing to him and he left as soon as my wife and I showed up. He lives in town and is seen wandering around sometimes.”

              “Well, Lambin and I are making some headway. There may be enough money in here to actually pay everything outstanding but we have to get it organized first. Is there anything in the other vault that we’ll need to go through?”

              “All that is in there is the money that my father gave my wife and me as a wedding gift and, I believe, money to assist in the care of the rescued consorts that we’ve taken in. I have no idea how much is in there but if you ever get to the bottom of this mess, your assistance with my personal finances would be appreciated.”

              She laughed softly. “As long as there aren’t confusing piles everywhere, I’d be delighted to take a count and keep records for you. The good news is, when Lambin and I get this sorted, we won’t have to do it again!”

              I saw Lambin crack a smile for the first time and he nodded his head. I told them it was getting close to lunch time and they should take a break. I took my own advice and went to the kitchen. It didn’t look like the safest place to eat so I took a plate and went up to my room.

Chapter Eight

            
 
A
ll the girls were in my room, all twenty-four of the consorts and my wife. Everyone must have decided that they would eat before going back to assisting the laborers with meals. Everyone except for Amber who was lying on the bed with our four blonde consorts gathered around her. They all looked concerned and Amber looked quite pale.

              “Are you okay, my love? You don’t look like you’re feeling too well!”

              “We were all working away and I backed into someone and got scratched. It’s just a small scratch and it isn’t even deep, but it started burning. It’s just been getting worse and now I’m having a little trouble breathing. You don’t have some sort of magic bug around here that does that, do you?” She joked.

              “We don’t have any bugs that I know of but I do know the best healer. I’ll either get Chloe or send for her.”

              “You don’t think that is a little extreme? Getting a magical healer for a scratch?”

              I laughed and kissed her forehead. “Not when it’s my wife, I don’t.”

              I walked out of the room and outside. I saw James coming in, “James, Amber was scratched on the arm by something and is causing her arm to burn. She also looks very pale and I’m just a little worried.

              He nodded and
ported
to Wizard’s Castle before I could even ask.

              As I was going back upstairs, I saw Chloe, Lia, my little sister Baissel and my mother port in by the door. The noise inside stopped the instant Lady Chloe walked into the room. Her renown did have its uses! I caught up just as she made it to Amber’s bedside.

              Aunt Chloe gave a compassionate smile, “Hello, Amber. I heard that you weren’t feeling well and came to see if I could help you feel better. There was something about a scratch?”

              Amber held up her right arm and there was a noticeable scratch, deep enough to break the skin on the back of her arm. What hadn’t been there just minutes before when I’d seen it were the angry red lines that were starting to radiate from it. Aunt Chloe put her hand on Amber’s shoulder and I could see her incredible power flow from her. She looked concerned and I could see her magic working, again examining the scratch. She excused herself and took my mother aside for a moment. I watched with fear tickling my belly as the sisters had a mind-to-mind conversation. I don’t read people as well as my brother James, but I can pick up on the subtleties of emotion. I saw the flickers of panic, fear and calming anger on my mother’s face. Anger being calming might be hard for some to understand, but they don’t know my mother.

              Amber’s breathing was becoming more and more labored and Chloe knelt to ease any pain as best as she could, and my brain went into denial. My mother came to me and put an arm around me, leading me away from the others in the room.

              “Davie,” she whispered, “it’s some kind of poison and Chloe’s never seen it before. It is shutting down her systems and we can’t stop it. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”

              She was telling me that my wife of a whole week, who I’d had to go to an entirely different plane of existence to find, was going to die. I nodded and pulled free. I went to my side of the bed and took Amber’s hand, as her breathing was slowing. She looked at me and gave a sad smile, and closed her eyes. The labored breathing stopped and I watched the light fade from her mind.

              I stood and walked to the window beside my bed. A couple of the girls who had caught on to what was going on started to go to me, but James yelled, “GET BACK!”

              The section of the wall that housed the window exploded outward and vaporized. I shielded and took to the air through the gaping hole that had been a third of my bedroom wall. The wall was facing west and that was probably a good thing, because I took my scrambled emotions over the ocean. I flew a thousand feet above the sea, trying to breathe or think. I stopped and stood in the air, just floating and not thinking.  Slowly, petite arms came around me from behind and a magical calming effect I didn’t know existed washed over me. There was a gentle voice in my ear, “Are you going to be okay now, big brother?”

              I turned and hugged my tiny half-elf sister, Baissel. “I should have known that you’d be the one to catch up with me.”

              She chuckled, “I wasn’t the only one! Your mother and James are back there, but they didn’t know if it would be safe to get too close. The energy you used on that wall was off the charts and even frightened the old folks. I knew that I’d be safe and could help if you’d let me. And it seems I was right, too!”

              “I love you, lil’ sis and I’m going to need help through this one. What is that magic that I feel? It’s new to me.”

              “I guess it’s just an elf thing and it was the first reaction that I had when I saw what was happening. I’ll float up here with you all day, if you need me to, but I could hold your hand and help keep you mellow.”

              “My mother will just want to hug me and make it all better and James won’t know what to say and there will be awkward silence. I could keep going west until the pain went away or old age got me, but that’s not a good option, either. I guess we should go back but if you’ll stay with me for a while, I’d be grateful.”

              “Of course I’ll stay with you! That’s what families are for. I’ll warn you before we make landfall. Someone blew a huge hole in the side of your castle!”

              I grinned and shook my head. “The worst day of my life and you can still make me laugh. Will you talk to Aunt Gwen or do you want me to ask about you staying with me for a while? I’ll give you the guest suite and fight off all the boys for you.”

              We joined up with Mother and James about the time Father came streaking in at supersonic speed. He slowed and made sure things had calmed before he approached.

              Father informed me gently, “Your Aunt Alice is fixing the wall and we’ll have a new window in shortly.” He gave a subtle signal to Baissel and the juice on her calming magic stepped up a notch. “We took Amber to Wizard’s Castle. I thought it would be better to give you a little time to get hold of yourself, before dealing with other things.”

              I nodded. “I’ve asked my lil’ sis to stay at Perlsea for a bit, her magical calming techniques will help out a lot. I don’t want to lose it again and knock down any more walls. I’m sure I have a castle full of consorts packing bags and looking for fast horses!”

              “Actually, Son, you have a room full of very concerned young ladies who are waiting for your return. How many of those girls are your consorts, anyway?”

              My composure slipped and Baissel hugged me. “Eight as of last night. Amber took on four more and I won’t turn them away because of this. I know that there are twenty-four living with me but just the eight upstairs have been told that we… I’m … keeping them.”

              My mother asked softly, “What do you want to do now?”

              I sighed, “Breathe. Beyond that, we need to check the dock construction and the ale supply in the kitchen. I need to check on the new patch in the wall and see how it’s coming along, and go to my room. I’ll make sure that the girls are dealing better than I am, and go from there.”

              James chuckled, “All that isn’t going to happen. I’ll check the dock; Father can check the patch and we’ll leave you and Baissel to check the ale and the girls. Baissel’s skill might come in handy with them, too.”

              We flew slowly back to the castle and I hadn’t realized how far out I’d come. I was told that the work crew had developed a very healthy respect for the wizards when I’d left. First there was the explosion that knocked a hole that a catapult couldn’t have made and the speed that I’d exited was close to the speed of sound. They could just barely make out that I was a person.               Father jokingly commented, “Right now you could get all the work crews motivated by just walking through the construction area!

              As we flew and everyone talked about nothing to distract me, while I practiced inhaling and exhaling. I knew there were things that I had to do and knew I had to function, but just wanted to curl up in a ball and disappear. As we approached shore, James veered off and went to the construction site. Father went up to help Alice on the wall and Baissel led me down into the courtyard. She was making eye contact with everyone who looked at us and shaking her head.

              I’d never been afraid of myself before but nothing like this had ever happened. A stupid question would turn me into a murderer before the asker could blink.

              She led the way to the kitchen, “Excuse me, would someone mind getting me a very large mug of ale?” I was quickly served and downed half of it, I then had them refill it. I knew that I couldn’t drown my sorrows but it couldn’t hurt to make them a bit soggy. I asked that a maid come check my mug regularly and went upstairs.

              The walls were lined with girls who were so stunned by the day’s events they didn’t even know where to go. They had actually seen the Lady of the house, who had taken them in and been so playful this morning, die suddenly. Then the Lord of the house had made a door in his third story bedroom wall. Legendary wizards, and even the king and queen, had been through the room all afternoon and it was too much for them.

              I walked in and there was instant silence. I crossed the room, stepped up on the footlocker and sat at the foot of my bed. “This young lady is Baissel. She’s my sixteen year old sister, and before you ask, her mother is an elf. She is also in possession of a unique magic that calms moods. She is the reason I’m able to talk to you right now. I know that you’ve all been through a traumatic experience and I didn’t help with my exit. First, the sixteen girls who are on the second floor are still welcome to stay, if they want. If you decide that there has been too much trauma in this place for you, I’ll arrange transportation and housing for you. This last part is going to make poor Baissel work, but it needs to be said.” I sighed and braced myself, “The eight girls who have given their consort vows to my wife are now released from those vows. With those vows, I swore that I would take care of each of you in every way. You can stay in the rooms that you’re in until you choose to leave or renew vows to me. Some of you I’ve become very close to,” that comment caused three bright red faces and soft giggles, “and I hope that you’ll stay, but will understand if you can’t. Now I’m going to sit here and see if there is a bottom to this mug.”

              Three girls broke away from the group that had huddled up after my speech. They looked at Baissel as if getting permission to approach. My sis nodded and waved them over. They crawled up on the bed and came up behind me.

              Zayna took a deep breath and exhaled shakily. “Davie, Royse, Amee and I want you to know that we want to stay with you. I don’t know if ‘consort’ would be the proper title but I hope you know what we mean.”

              Baissel turned to the girls and said, “I believe that the title you’re looking for in Eredwynn is ‘courtesan’. That would be a girl who is taken in by a single Lord in the manner that a consort is taken by a married couple.” She then turned to me. “I’m sorry, and I felt that twinge when I said that, but they did ask. I did try to skim the ‘marital status’ part as quickly as I could.”