Chapter 131
The lightning mage gave one last respectful nod to his host before moving towards the doors. His exit was followed by the two kids and the head of the Front, though it was the latter who let the other party pass at the doorway. Now in the open floor with nothing but faint candlelight above to guide him, Jeff made his way back up the staircase on the opposite side of the room. Compared to his time navigating the fairy ship, getting up the stairs in nothing save faint candlelight to his designated abode seemed trivial.
Little attention was paid to his surroundings when he reached the top and took a right to the first door on the left. He pushed on the door handle and went back inside to lie on the plush-looking sheets of crème white. Before he could let sleep follow him, this was the best time to do the nightly check-up once the butler came by.
It took a few minutes longer than he had anticipated before the butler visited with a knock. A quick order of chilled water with lemon slices was requested and eventually delivered.
"Thanks," Jeff idly stated as the cart bearing the old water was pulled out by the attendant. "But the night is rather short for getting enough rest to meet a day of travel and feasting. No more interruptions tonight."
There was no objection from the butler. From the understanding small smile and light in his green eyes, there was an unspoken agreement between the two men not to mention the obvious limits of his obedience. When the door was finally closed, Jeff took one long look around the room. Closing the curtains on the windows took only a few seconds. Inspecting the various corners of the rooms for…. Whatever his paranoia was looking for took only minutes longer.
Now assured of seclusion, he stood in front of the chest resting in front of the bed. Getting it operational took a simple working of the lock, lid, and opening of the hidden side. A second of nothing went by before he faintly heard the swooshing of water from the inner wheel supposedly powering….the something. Jeff's lips parted to speak into the metal mesh.
His lungs filled with air just as his ears finally registered another sound besides moving water. It was a long whoosh of air, going into an almost painful pitch before settling back down to a slight hum before climbing again. For a second, he pondered what failing in the noise-deadening enchantment could produce such sound before he realized its source. The sound was coming from the speaking portion of the chest.
Sweat beaded on his forehead beneath stray black hair.
"Hello. Ocean Strider. Come in." Jeff slowly stated into the metal fibers woven into the chest's left wall.
No miracle of speech from the machine this time.
"Can you hear me?" He pleaded as the sweat started reaching his eyebrows.
Seconds devoid of sound, much less spoken words, passed before Jeff finally accepted that something was indeed wrong.
'They broke it. How did they manage-'
Jeff closed his eyes.
The servants here had to be in a league of ability outside even those he enjoyed back home. Dropping a chest of magical resources would be almost inconceivable. Almost, however, wasn't impossible. Yet there was another reason he doubted the notion of damage that played at the edges of his mind.
It took a second before it came to him. Eli made this. No matter what was said about the man, none could doubt his craftsmanship. Making something that would be rendered beyond use from a simple drop seemed below the level of the quad mage's skill.
So….The air barrier.
The thought hit him like the yellow bolts of his spell work. Would that interfere? Radios worked on things running along copper wire…. Again, the explanation from the quad mage turned to gibberish. That was probably it. Hopefully.
Trusting untested conjecture born of helplessness, Jeff shut the chest's lid and crawled up to his bed. Plush feathers and fine silk played across his skin to soothe the strained nerves beneath. As delicious as the dinner was, spending so long under the gaze of a centuries-old woman required a self-control even sitting still couldn't fully alleviate.
Especially the bit with Reginald. It wasn't every day he met someone whose entire life's work he struggled to not fulfill. Cool pillow agreed with his scalp as he lay still for a few minutes, waiting for the time to prepare for the night's sleep with the provided toothbrushes and toilet as harried nerves grew yet more tender. When a knock came at the door, he nearly jumped in place.
'She figured it out.' Jeff squealed in his head as he quickly looked towards the window.
A long creak of wood from the unseen door drew his gaze. Flickering light came down the hallway. Confusion at the slow pace of the approach mixed with the shot of adrenaline pumping through his veins as he got upright. The smooth face of Palta came through the darkness, lit up by a candle in a copper dish her right hand held aloft. Her sharp chin didn't block the light from her face, though her thin nose left a thin black streak up her forehead.
"Did you enjoy my mother's hospitality?" The princess mused with a stiff smile.
Male intuition didn't pick up any offering of the fare usually accompanying such a late-night rendezvous. There was a faint menace in the way she held herself upright and the coldness in those green eyes remained unthawed by the candle. The fact that it wasn't Nestel or a squad of guards meant he hadn't given himself away at dinner.
"She has mastered the art of doing more than what is first presented. It's….Great." Jeff replied with a stiff smile of his own. It wasn't the most elegant compliment, but such a visit shouldn't expect poetry.
"Good." Palta mused with a single, careful step forward. "And do you have any intentions of trying to make it yours?"
A single raise of his eyebrow was all Jeff said in response, which Palta used to draw herself up to her full height.
"I do hope you haven't fostered any delusional ideas about getting into my family. No matter how far or often you get up the pirate whore's legs, the gangly branch dangling on our side is not a path to the trunk. Even if we have to bear the shame of its presence." She said with a voice of steel and face as unflinching as stone.
Some quick mental calculation placed Jeff's fist as only just fitting into her mouth. Unlike his first meeting with Nestel, he managed to keep a tighter leash on the energy trying to seize his tongue.
"Not using a spirit connection makes it seem like your feelings are well-known." Jeff idly mused as Palta stood waiting. "Is the king aware of such….Discontent with his taking of Verness as a second wife?"
Red splotched across her face while pink lips thinned into a sour pucker.
"My mother is enough woman for any man. Convenience and politics chose to have him take another."
Jeff sat there, pondering the outward hostility of the child even as her mother seemed fine with the arrangement. Whatever the family politics, involvement would only expose him to needless danger.
"I was unaware of Pache's royal status when I met her. If I had known pursuing her would get me threats from famed members of the kingdom…."
He questioned himself for a second.
"I would have still pursued her. But I would have held off on getting the ship done so quickly. Since you're so concerned about intruders coming into your family, know I've already signed away any rights my children may have had to the throne."
'Which won't exist in a few years anyway.' Jeff thought to himself with amusement before continuing his audible speech.
"If that isn't enough, then soothe your worries with the knowledge that I find your presence so repulsive that I would forgo such endeavors just to avoid its foul taint."
A small smile spread above her sharp chin.
"As long as there is understanding between us."
With that, she turned around and walked back towards the door in almost complete darkness outside the candlelight. The princess resembled an apparition with the way black void hung around her, yet the creak of the closing door confirmed her physical status.
Jeff was left upright to stare at the now-empty darkness for a second before he gradually let himself fall back down into the sheets. Getting back up to get ready for sleep took willpower he wasn't sure was there. It was only the memories of men throughout his life with black teeth and wooden molars that finally got him up and into the washroom. Nightly chores were completed, and sleep came almost instantly.
*Knock*
*Knock*
Sunlight filtered through Jeff's eyelids. He lay there as the previous day's events washed over him. Blinking away residual grogginess, he got up and stretched in bed.
"Yeah. Come in." He announced with the first vestiges of mental acuity that came to him.
Closed eyes accompanied another stretch, during which his nose picked up the faint whiff of something meaty. Footsteps pierced through the morning lethargy. Their approach was fast enough that he only saw the bedside table piled with ham and pancakes as it was being placed over his lap. The person bringing the food was a smiling Pache, who now sported a green dress with blue vertical lines and a tasteful V down the neck. No black hair of her longer bowl cut dipped into the presented valley as it hung around her shoulder.
"Nestel will be taking another airship elsewhere after we leave." She put in sweetly as she poured some fresh water into a cup on the tray. "It goes without saying she would not want us here without her presence. Or maybe it does need saying for a newcomer."
He nodded as he took up a free fork on the right of the plate. As he cut off and brought up a piece of the seared ham, Pache moved her head down towards the fork with an expectant parting of thick lips. A lewd joke sprang to Jeff's tongue, and he had not the will to deny it.
"The tray is too short to allow you the room to get beneath it, love. Perhaps if I pulled it closer, you'd have the space." The lightning mage offered with a serious face.
His wits reward was a solid smack of her open palm against his ribs.
"Ha!" Jeff chortled as the fork was seized from his fingers.
Pache gave him a firmly stuck out chin and severe gaze even as that portion of his breakfast was lost to her mouth. Experience said his joke had done its job, with the woman being angry in that way that tried to hide the joy beneath.
"What a scoundrel I've found," Pache said sarcastically with a raised chin. "Perhaps Nestel didn't get the proper measure of you."
Jeff only shrugged as she put forward a piece of ham to his lips.
"Or perhaps Palta has better eyes than both of us." She mused with a placing of the ham inside Jeff's mouth.
The way those green eyes suddenly pierced through him took out any flavor of the juice pouring off the meat. Her anger now had an uncertain air, with a bit lip and wobbly chin informing him that she knew how ridiculous she was being, yet in the way of all people, she was still compelled to be so. If he wasn't storing up any and all goodwill for the grand day of the ultimate mage's reveal, some offense on his part might have been allowed. A quick swallow of the ham was his response before any words.
"She came to make sure I had no aims for the throne. You would think her mother's satisfaction would be enough to placate her." He offered with a slight shrug.
Her chin stopped shaking as a small smile spread. Something Jeff briefly saw up close before she kissed him for several seconds. The motion of lips was less heated than those in passion but more powerful than a casual peck. No matter what it was or wasn't, it agreed with him.
When she pulled back, the fork with another portion of ham was brought up. This time, salty goodness was given its due and washed down with an accompanying water sporting a lemon slice. For a few minutes, the worries of nations and supply lines melted away as the couple enjoyed the morning meal together.
Time, however, didn't stop, and too soon a knock came at the door. Pache left him to answer. Jeff didn't find the meal as appealing without Pache to feed it to him, so he waited until her return. It was only a few seconds for her to come back around the hallway corner.
"Nestel will be leaving soon, so we'd best make our escape."
Jeff pushed the bed table forward, making sure to not catch its legs on the fine creme blankets before getting up and fetching a fresh pair of black pants and a grey shirt from the bag of clothes in his radio box. When he was just at the entrance to the washroom, Pache gave him another kiss before moving towards the main door.
"Love you." She replied sweetly before opening the wooden slab.
"Love you too."
A sharp blade of guilt accompanied as Pache left him with a close of the door. He did love her. And she him. But she loved Harold, not Jeff.
As he pushed open the washroom door and placed his clothes next to a towel on the rightward sink, he let his thoughts wander down the same path each time this came up. Yes, she loved Harold, but Harold was basically him with brown eyes. He hadn't changed anything in his personality or interests.
And how many years of calling him a false name would she forgive?
It was a question that made him grimace each time it came up, which his removal of clothes would have shielded from outside observers. He stepped under the shower head and pressed the wooden slab to make the oak spigot on the ceiling shoot warm water. Despite the great feeling on his skin, his heart felt like it was being dipped in acid. The only soothing balm was the prospect of saving her clan when Eli finally brought his hammer down. That, and perhaps that alone, would be his chance at forgiveness.
Such thoughts were eventually scrubbed away with the morning grunge by soap and a long soak under steaming water. Whatever was going on in his head, Jeff knew there wasn't a soul for hundreds of miles he could confide such thoughts to. The sobering thought punctuated his press on the wood slab to stop the shower. Getting across the washroom to the towel without slipping took enough mental concentration to distract his worried mind, as was his drying and dressing.
Bits of water still clung to his neck and hair as he came back into the hallway. A look to the right revealed the butler holding an open cloth sack.
"Your effects have been brought to the ship. The blade you wisely turned in on arrival has also been placed back in its holster. Typically, they would have undergone a washing, but time has demanded otherwise. Her grace wishes you to know this, and your hastened departure is not the usual course for her guests. If you should visit again, this slight will be well compensated."
It was the closest thing to an apology he could receive. And if Jeff's stomach wasn't doing flips, he might've been tempted to ponder the myriad of implications such a message entailed. For now, he only nodded as he stuffed his used clothes into the cloth sack and took it from the man who promptly backed out of his way.
Walking right, Jeff went towards the stairs by the open walkway. Each step rang out in the almost empty space, but by either material or some unknown aspect of design, no echo accompanied. It was another odd aspect of the place's scant number of servants that he had no escort to open the front door for him, nor act as a guide towards the airship's landing spot. Though, if he should pocket some item of Nestel's or be otherwise untoward to her abode, Jeff felt the sense of loneliness would make its falseness immediately known.
For now and all he could see, it was just him, the servants going about their business in the early morning sun, and the blue bricks of the road ahead. He trekked down the middle of the road with a few fleeting last looks at the red roofs and crème stone walls. As he approached the thin gate, the indistinct figures by the airship mount became distinct men putting in boxes and bags up the wooden ramp. His exit through the gate was swift, and soon his shoes were treading off blue brick and onto the wooden steps. A quick look upward saw more strips of cloud pull along the unseen machinations of air magic enchantments.
Getting up the steps took only a few seconds as the servants made way for him. Jeff paid little attention to them, their cargo of magic crystals, or the surrounding interior of the airship around him as he moved towards his room. Walking at a slow pace was agonizing as he went down the hallway and took a right over the white fur carpet. The conscious effort he was making to not sprint past the wide windows and dining table only made his nerves strain further.
When he got down the hallway with the beds and arrived at his door, it took all control not to slam it open. Across the wood room, at the foot of the bed resting near the window, lay the cursed chest, while the sack of clothes was laid on the red blanket. The fact that anyone could come in at any time left him waiting on the bed for the moment of takeoff.
'Why am I so worried?' Jeff thought to himself as he plopped onto the bed.
Parsing the feelings left him with two sources. Damaging the chest might cause some mayhem he couldn't expect, or for that matter explain, and he might just be leaving the airship above him to swirl around Nestel's residence for days if they didn't decide to follow. How many weeks of supplies did they have? Worst case, he might have to take another trip north and contact the ship watching Eli to go inform the one left behind. And if the chest was going to do something explosive, it would have done so by now.
His heartbeat slowed as reason overtook him. Even in the worst case, he wasn't responsible for the situation anyway. Jeff leaned leftward towards the bed's pillow and tried to relax. Untold minutes of nothing passed until the ship gave a slight shudder. A look through the window revealed the fields of grape vines pulling away. Any attempt to take in the sight was put away as his ears picked up the door opening.
Through it came Pache still sporting the green dress with blue lines, though the V in her neck was a bit more prominent now. She wasted no time in almost running across the room and sitting on his lap. Whatever Jeff's previous worries, his male mind banished them as eager woman soaked all his senses, from texture to smell.
"What a fantastic show!" Pache exclaimed with a bubbly giggle as she took his lips. This one lasted for a few seconds before she pulled back with a pop. "Even Hansel was surprised. A male shadow for that woman, he is. And even he couldn't recall her ever giving someone a compliment out of hand like that."
Jeff tried to remember the specific incident. Something about being a 'good one'. The details faded as Pache's bust pressed against his chest. In her green eyes was a hunger food could not sate. Unlike last night with Palta, there was no mistaking the offering in them. Despite that, some hesitance remained.
As if reminding him of the more important objective, a shudder went through the ship as it passed through the air barrier, and the landscape in his peripheral vision sped by.
"This is Nestel's ship. Messing with her bed may not be appreciated." Pache idly mused, seemingly more to herself.
Some idea of the desk or wall was screaming on the tip of his tongue. Still, the next minute was too important. By some miracle, his inner strength forced out the next words.
"I'd best not spoil the good first impression. She seems like she might make a good grandmother for our kids."
Rather than rebuke his presumption, she got a thoughtful look.
"She does adore those children. Most parental types don't tend to be too picky when baby cheeks present themselves for kissing and pinching." Pache agreed with some yearning still fighting in those jade pools.
"And having the staff hear you scream your lungs out the entire trip wouldn't make a good impression on them either."
No slap came this time. Instead, she gripped his shoulders while thick lips puckered. Pache's green eyes radiated mirth even as she tried to look stern. The competitive air about her was broken when she leaned forward with a light kiss. The pull away accompanied her entire body this time as she got off Jeff's lap. Pache made a pointed turn around to look directly ahead.
"We'll just have to see who and what gives out when we get back home." She purred with heat in every word as she made towards the door.
While Pache's backside was appealing, the instant she closed the door behind her, Jeff shot out of the bed and moved to the right to squat at the chest on the floor. He moved it so that he would still have a clear view of the door while sticking his head inside. Upon opening it, Jeff immediately listened for that whooshing sound.
Nothing.
Thinking back to his first time opening it, he couldn't remember if the noise had been present the entire time or only started when he powered the radio. A second of mental wrangling passed before he gave up and opened the 'secret' compartment. When the subtle sound of flowing water didn't come with the accompanying whoosh, Jeff leaned closer to the metal mesh.
"Ocean Strider, come in."
Agonizing silence came through before the crackle finally assaulted his ears.
"Ocean Strider reporting in." The wonderfully rough Kelton voice announced.
"Thank the Spirits!" Jeff exhaled with his breath. "I was worried another trip north would be needed to get the airship there to come back with the message."
"Oh, no. We saw you board the log with the…. The name escapes me, but it's those tubes with water enchantments that let you see far away."
'They have spying tubes?' Jeff asked himself without audibly conveying the question. That, however, didn't stop another one from being spoken.
"Did you guys have any trouble with the radio last night?"
"No. But we didn't use it. Too dangerous to try and contact you in there. We figured you had a good dozen reasons why you couldn't do the check-in. Was yours damaged?"
"No. And I did try to do the check-in. This dammned radio didn't work. It just made this….Loud whooshing sound. Is anyone on board familiar with how these radios work? Finished."
"None more than you."
"Well…. I figured it might be the big air dome protecting the place from bugs. But I guess Eli is the only one who knows for sure."
"The chief knows the secrets of metal and lightning. Though…. Whatever the cause of this whooshing, I would be careful about using it outside. We aren't the only eyes looking down."
"Oh?" Jeff almost whispered as his brown eyebrows furrowed at lifeless metal.
"There's another airship following yours. A sleek, black thing of metal that seems to float like your log. Only, it's flying a bit higher. Still a good drop from us, however."
His legs were almost ready to move him to the window for a skyward inspection before how awful an idea such an act would be worked through the initial curiosity.
"I-" Jeff licked his lips as he steadied his breathing. "Are they in a cloud cover?"
"Yes. A good one, at that. They still let out an occasional corner of the ship, but there's no way you'd ever spot them from the ground. Looking at them from above makes it a bit easier to see. Still, we may not have spotted them if we didn't catch their ascent earlier."
"Ascent?" Jeff asked with furrowed eyebrows.
"Came out of the ground. A giant wound opened in the dirt a bit away from the queen's hold and let them out in the middle of the night. Kind of similar to our hangar from what I saw. The thing rose from the-"
Silence filled Jeff's ears. Just as he was about to convey a very irritated demand, the disembodied voice cut back in.
"It's speeding up. Moving pretty fast and…. Yeah, it's moving closer to your position."
Sweat started beading at his forehead as the fundamentals of combat spell work started filling his mind.
"Wait…." The rough Kelton voice mused with a casual tone that didn't match the surge of adrenaline it sent up the lightning mage's spine. "No, it's moving ahead. The angles from this height make everything hard to judge. The ship is flying ahead of you at a good clip now."
Knees don't agree with wood, so Jeff pulled the chest onto the bed and sat looking inside it with lips bitten white. Seconds of waiting for the announcement of some great attack ticked by until painful silence finally broke to the radio's crackle.
"It's left you behind. Seeing as how it was taking your path, it's probably headed to…. That city you're staying in."
"And can you see what it will do when it arrives? Or find it again?" Jeff asked with as little pleading as he could manage.
"Uh, no. The city is well beyond our view, and I don't think we should leave you right now. But the last….Probably. Enough of the ship sticks out on the top that we could find it given enough time if we lost complete sight of it."
Jeff nodded to the voice.
"I'm going to stay on the radio. Even a few seconds of warning can make all the difference, or so my instructors told me. Finished." He said, finally using the proper phrasing.
"The ice teaches much the same. We'll keep watch. Finished."
Jeff made himself comfortable as he leaned on the edge of the chest. Various spell patterns for defense went through his head as minutes went by with the endless greenery below. Minutes turned to hours, yet visions of the airship plummeting through the air from an unseen attack kept him semi-alert. Even the midday meal was taken in his room on the excuse of some stomach troubles leaving him unable to move from the bed. Just the few seconds it took to eat and get back to sticking his head inside the chest made his heart quicken, which only slowed when no dire warning came with the restarting of its radio. Having nothing left to do, he placed his head down on the chest's corner and waited.
A sudden shake of the ship forced open the eyes he didn't mean to close. Looking to the right out of the window presented a wall of stone bathed in late-day sun. Now awake and apparently back in Rashton, his arms stretched outward. A quick inspection of the room said he was alone.
"If there's nothing to be said, I'll be going." He said with an expectant hand on the lid.
"We've spotted the ship. Idling above in a slow turning circle around the city. Nothing's come out of it."
*Knock*
*Knock*
The sudden smack on the door almost made him jump in place.
"Bye" Jeff whispered before shutting the chest and its hidden compartment. Placing it back at the foot of the bed took just enough time for Pache to poke her head out of the door as he made for the bag of clothes near the bed.
"The servants are ready to take up the goods. I'd thought you'd be out as soon as we landed." She finished with a pointed look at his disheveled appearance.
"Sorry. Stomach's kept me a little out of sorts." Jeff answered as he adjusted various corners of his garment.
Pache pushed the door fully open to come inside. She still wore the same green with blue lines as earlier. Though the huff from her crooked nose showed some waning patience as she proceeded to make her man proper for the world. Jeff knew this was just the usual fussing of women doing things of their own accord while acting put off at having to pull various bits of shirt and pants. A satisfied smile soon bloomed across thick pink lips and when she nodded at a few swipes of his hair, he reacquainted himself with her taste. This play continued until Pache ended the sampling with a pullback.
"Well, it appears you're good enough to move now." She mused as Jeff's hands wrapped around her thighs.
"Yeah. Good enough to do that special moving I was promised." He said with a lewd grin.
"We were promised." Pache corrected with a quick kiss of her own. "In my teen years, proceedings would have already started. But these rooms are a little too well-made for my good sense to ignore, I'm afraid. Come."
Her pull on his arms led them both out of the room. Getting off the ship took more time, yet agreeable curves at hand with the occasional giggle from his woman made it seem like he had instantly been moved to the exit of the airship. Pache used his hand to steady herself as they trekked down the ramp towards the stone wall ahead.
The walk around the wall to the pulley platform was likewise ignored in favor of trying to sneak glimpses down the V of her dress. Not that the four soldiers and two sailors moving to flank them would say anything if he succeeded. Once they were up to the lip of the wall where they were to be lowered below, Jeff was forced to wait and decided to look around. Endless sea lay before him and the left, while the walls of Rashton shot upward on the right. Above hung a tapestry of red and oranges painted over white cloud.
"Sometimes, I forget how beautiful this place is." Pache idly mused as men started working the crane. "When it's not trying to stress me into a grave."
Jeff could only appreciate the beauty of the woman admiring the landscape. He leaned forward to plant a kiss along her lower jaw. The queen didn't refuse or rebuke him, so he continued closer to her lips. Just as the prize was at hand, she raised a finger to point behind him. He followed her hand to see that the elevator was ready for their descent. Reluctant steps took him onto the wooden square, and it was only at the shut of its railing that a jolt ran through his knees. Even with the distance to ground being lower than it had been for hours, some churn still welled in his stomach when a breeze blew over the platform and moved it an entire inch.
Despite such tribulation, he still arrived on the wider wooden rectangle sticking out of the sea below. They moved off with the guards securing the boat tied to the dock on the left. After a minute, Jeff moved into the dinghy bobbing up and down on the waves before helping Pache into the middle section with him. The surrounding men took up oars and brought the boat to the left around the massive wall of grey stone.
Time passed in his lover's arms as the smell of salt started reasserting itself. Soon, the corner of the fort facing the open ocean was passed and the proper dock of the city was ahead of them. Jeff had a hard time judging the distance. Even so, he felt the few minutes it took to get up to the wooden pier were longer than they should have been. No matter how long the trip, they eventually came up to the side of the oak structure.
From the slight dip below the pier, Jeff could still see the waiting carriage bearing a driver and his pair of black horses on proper land. The sailors stayed in the boat while Jeff got out and helped Pache onto the wooden land. It was the four soldiers who came out last, and they immediately moved ahead of the pair while the sailors took the boat back across the water. Jeff would have liked to help Pache into the carriage, with perhaps a hand rub on certain curves in recompense for his service, but the soldiers obliged first with a pull on its door.
The couple was soon led inside and took a seat on the wooden bench to the left. Two of the guards took up seats on the outside while the last two sat on the opposite bench. In a past life, Jeff might have been awkward with feeling up his lover in front of others, either from the secrecy of the relationship or simple manners. While a full public mounting would be out of what was considered polite here, Pache had assured him propriety in these holds allowed some public affection. For now, a hand ran up her back as the men drew the curtains on the windows to cover their goings on.
A few minutes went by until the carriage shook with the placing of the luggage on its back. Another minute and the wooden box jolted forward. After having been away, the way the stench of sewage wafted through the carriage almost hit him as hard as his first time in the city. Luckily, Pache was close at hand, and her aroma was more appealing. They rested against each other with the sounds and smells of a city barely registering.
Too soon, the carriage was brought to a halt. The soldiers opened the door while the couple untangled from each other. Pache went through first, followed by Jeff. The inner courtyard with its stone walls and cobble brick opened before him as he stepped out of the carriage. Pache's yank on his arm towards the double doors ahead drew him out of any sightseeing he may have indulged in.
Their approach was uninterrupted by any servants or guards save the two rushing up behind them to open the doors. Inside was the reception desk on the left and a wider area on the further right, but the staircase just past the desk was his lover's destination. Both made their way up at a speed between walk and jog. The path had a few servants and messenger boys who quickly made way for the couple moving up wooden stairs.
Blood pumped through his face and ears as the offering drew near. After far too long, his foot finally reached the top of the staircase. There were three directions to go with the bedroom on the right, which Pache immediately pulled him towards at a sprint her shoes tried to slow down. Need, however, would not be denied by footwear as they crossed the threshold into the promised land. Inside was the bed beneath a slanted skylight with a wardrobe on the immediate right. That was all he got to look at before the queen spun in place and took him with a kiss.
The time of pleasant exercise and company lasted all day and the morning after.
As he lay beneath grey blankets with a plate of eggs and sausage on top, morning sun barely trickled in from the window above. The source of some residual soreness in his muscles came through the door bearing her breakfast of similar composition, though she had two mugs of light beer in her left hand. She moved across the room to him with a wonderful unevenness in her step that the fluffy white robe only emphasized. Jeff took a mug as her attire presented the tops of her breasts with a lean towards him. A naughty smile sprouted below her crooked nose, and she swayed in place for a second before moving around to the left side of the bed.
"You know," Jeff mused as he brought the mug to his lips. "You could fill the treasury by working the taverns."
"Pff!" The queen scoffed. Laying her meal at the foot of the bed, she fixed herself beside Jeff before bringing the food to her lap. "And I assume you would patron the establishment?"
"Twice daily," Jeff affirmed as he put the mug between his legs and took up a fork. "Though your bottom may be too sore from all the pinching."
"The way things are going, slinging ale in a seedy tavern will be my vacation." Pache mused with a bit too much sincerity as she plied fork to sausage.
Jeff raised a brown eyebrow at her. She acknowledged his unsaid question but worked the meat between her teeth for a second before swallowing.
"Most people think famines start when the food runs out. For those like me, and now you, the time of panic is before. Once the larder goes empty, it'll be too late to do anything. It's this moment, when the ships of grain aren't being pilfered and soldiers aren't seizing every loaf of bread brought in, that demands the most of me. So many possibilities. So many roads to go down. And every time I look at their end, they all arrive at the same place."
The serious tone caught him off guard. There was nothing for him to do, or more accurately, there was nothing he could do save more of the same labors performed these past weeks.
"Once they've found a route through the poison clouds, will the supplies coming through on the ships be enough?"
Short black hair bounced around her head as she brought a mug up to waiting lips.
"Enough for the whole southern section of the Kingdom? No. But we don't need to entirely replace our Coalition trade. Even a few regular hauls will be enough to keep the panic down."
"And when can I start on the next ship?" He asked with a placing of the final bit of breakfast in his mouth.
Pache turned to him, eyebrow raised and lips puckered.
"Did you oversell the difficulty of making the ship enchantments to Nestel?" She asked with what seemed like genuine concern.
"If anything, I understated the issues. Making all the adjustments under the southern sun while trying to work around all those sailors is an agony mere words can't convey." Jeff answered with a stretch against the bed's headboard.
"And you're ready to do it all again?"
Jeff shrugged as he took in the curious gaze of his lover.
"If it would gift me yet one more smile from your beautiful face, I would start immediately." He put in with a coy smile.
Despite the kissing, sex, and mutually nude waking, it was those simple words that made beet red go up her face. Her lower jaw quivered for a moment before she moved closer to press her body against him. The press of her chest against his chest would typically be the focus, but making a woman blush brought a pleasure separate from the purely physical, yet it no less for it. A contented sigh flowed over his bare pecs as the bowl of black hair hid warm cheeks against his skin. Pache kept in this position for a minute or so before swatting his gut and leaning up with a light scowl.
"Mother always warned us about men coming along with fast tongues."
She emphasized the next words by sticking out her chin and sporting a mean face.
"Now, Pache and Janice, don't give men the chance to talk with you for more than a minute. Any more than that and they'll talk themselves on top of you with no idea how they got your legs over your head. Some of them can spit enough poetry in less than a minute to give you months of vomiting and sore feet. So guard your heart, girls."
Pache got a slight smile as she looked Jeff up and down with some red still on her face.
"I never thought 'You're beautiful' would be enough."
The lightning mage wrapped an arm around her side to pull her closer.
"It's the sincerity that does it." Jeff put in with a sly smile.
Her answer was a push of thick pink lips against his. The sweet moment lasted for a second before she pulled away. For his part, he felt his body ready for more.
"Well, my sincere answer to the question asked a groping or two ago is midday, actually. It doesn't involve the immediate working on a physical ship, however. Farave is coming by for lunch with some news. In addition to any reports on scouting out that poisoned coast."
Those jade eyes made a trip southward between his legs. A ghost of regret hung about her features. Some part of her clearly felt guilty that she wasn't responding to the blatant desire not currently matching her own. The classic dilemma women faced sooner or later. Jeff judged that he could open her legs with some pressure, but such fruit would no doubt be damaged by the squeeze.
"Between the bathing and such, we'll barely have enough time to greet him if those vultures take their usual bite out of your hide." The lightning mage announced with a placing of his breakfast at the end of the bed.
Pache's shoulders slacked a bit before she took her dishes and got off the bed with a bright smile.
Jeff got up and took some clothes from the wardrobe on the opposite wall. Pache moved behind him to gather their plates and mugs to set them outside. When he pulled out a pair of black pants and a white shirt, he heard the door open.
"Harold!" The unseen woman called from around the corner. "The hot bath is here."
He managed to cover himself with the unworn clothes just as three maids brought in a large tub of steaming water. They moved in a whirl of black dresses and white aprons, placing the sloshing bowl in front of the bed, taking the dishes from Pache, and laying down towels on the sides of the foot post of the bed's frame. The helpful intruders left as quickly as they came, save the light bows that preceded the smack of the door closing.
Jeff had only just gotten his clothes placed on the sides of the wardrobe when he heard the slosh of the water. Turning around revealed Pache's white robe on the side of the wooden bowl. The woman in question was lounging as her bare back pushed against some white streams of steam.
"Come, Harold. That visit to Nestel's abode reminded me how boring bathing alone is." She commanded with a coy tone as she stared up through the skylight, her tantalizing bits hidden from his angle.
A dire situation Jeff moved to correct.
About ten or so minutes later, Pache was waving him goodbye as she moved out of the door in a rather plain red dress. A gesture he returned from the wardrobe with a cough to emphasize his coming words.
"I'll be out in a few minutes."
She nodded and shut the door behind her.
When the steps beyond finally faded, Jeff retrieved the chest and laid it in front of his corner of the bed. Well-worn steps were followed and the radio soon crackled to life with no whooshing.
"Hello, Ocean Strider. Any news on the partner in the sky? Finished." He asked metal mesh with some hope.
"Stayed for a bit after you arrived before turning back around. Took ten minutes or so to spot the bits of black metal sticking out of a cloud. Between travel and finding them…. I want to say there were about two hours where they were out of our sight. Since you didn't check in last night, would I be wrong to assume this is your first use of the radio since coming back? Finished."
"Yes. Um…. Yes, this is my first time using it since getting back. Finished." Jeff replied with furrowed eyebrows.
"Then we've both heard the whooshing across these metal things when the other was away. It came around sunset for a few minutes before the ship took off again. Finished."
Jeff bit his lower lip.
"Could it be the ships then? Not the air dome."
A crackle was the first answer.
"Only the chief can say. I'll keep the men ready if they come back to try anything. Aside from that…. Having you stay down there with no answers isn't comfortable for either of us, but…."
"But there's nothing else to do." Jeff offered with a tired smile. "Well, if my manners at the dinner were so poor that Nestel sent an assassin after me, she would have done it before I left. Let's just get on with it then. Finished."
"Good luck, lightning mage. Finished."
Jeff gave the metal mesh a nod and closed the lid. With the chest's true purpose now finished, he got up and placed it at the foot of the bed. As loath as he was to have a lazy day during such a critical time, memories of toiling under murderous southern sun on a ship with little cover, and the knowledge such agony was coming again, bid him to enjoy the void of work currently before him. Which he did, with a mug of a fruity drink delivered by the maids and a casual stroll throughout the building, which accomplished nothing of any worthiness. As the sun reached its peak, he went up the main staircase and arrived back at the three-way split at its top.
Around the corners and hallways were men in attire ranging from a step above the peasantry to fine clothes whose skilled stitch work shone through. The noble breeds bearing silken cloth and jewels, however, were not to be found. No matter their clothing, all seemed to be moving either in or out of the room to the left, whose door was being guarded by Pache's two brother guards. Quinton gave him a slight nod that pressed his black beard against his steel breast plate and the bulbous nose. Content to wait, Jeff stood off to the side.
As the heat started wafting up to the top floor with a special cruelty, a spray of mist wafted up from the wall. The small cloud's magical property made it disappear in less than a second. Evidently, someone responsible for making the place livable decided it was time to sacrifice some ambient mana. How shooting water that almost immediately dissipated to nothing brought down heat was something unknown, or at least unknown to him. Whatever the cause, it was a miracle of magic here in the south and made the minutes wait to get in bearable. Jeff's patience was soon rewarded as Shane lifted his head of lengthy brown hair and motioned him inside.
What awaited him was a long table in the middle of a room going to the left. Oak floor and stone walls seemed rather bare in a way that only made Nestel's subtle elegance more noticeable. Two windows along the opposite wall let in some light, which his beloved was currently using to go over some papers at the head of the table. It took only a second for the bowl of black hair to turn up to him.
"Harold! Finally, a pleasant conversation." She cooed with a hand wave to the left chair.
"And how will this be any different? It's going to all be about ships and storage and blah, blah, blah. Are you so eager to send me back out under this murderous sun?" He put in with a wounded look as he came to the offered seat.
"With how most of these reports are going, I may just decide to join you. Some time among the waves with a stiff ocean breeze in my hair and you being stiff in my other parts sounds like a better use of time than all this prattling." She mused with a knowing smile as he came up to his chair.
Jeff could only swat her red dress's shoulder with a stiff puckering of lips. While sweet words were her weakness, there was something about a woman being so vulgar that slipped past his defenses. It was a dangerous part of any relationship, where certain faults in both partners' armor started to show and simple lies would be seen through. He made a mental note to be more circumspect in any discussions of his past or future doings.
There was nothing he could say with cheeks still splotched red. The embarrassment faded a bit when he moved a hand to her thigh to return the sentiment. A gesture she responded to with a grasping of the wayward hand into her own. Eventually, servants came by with bowls of rice, fish fillets, and light beers.
"Long time it's been, wind mage." A voice on the verge of song announced to the right as the cups were placed down.
Jeff turned to see a fairy about a foot shorter than himself. He sported a smile bearing sharp teeth to greet him. The fairy had a face similar to a humans save the wideness of the face, teal eyes that took up a bit too much of the forehead, vertical slits for a nose, and patches of teal and pink scales with plenty of room between to show smooth grey skin. These features were pretty standard for his kind, but the leather jacket, white shirt, and brown leather pants were not so typical. His triangular leather hat with two points resting near his sharp ears was beyond typical and into the territory of the strange, considering the robes and light clothing fairies typically favored.
If Farave hadn't come with a free meal in mind, the maid scurrying out of the room to retrieve some portions for him didn't pick up on the lack of intention.
"Good work all around, dear mage." The fairy continued as he took up his seat opposite Jeff. It was made for human proportions, but he managed to get in with a single pull on its armrest. "That ship had been prepared for several more weeks at sea. And paid for as much."
Pache got a smug smile as she nodded with a look to Jeff.
"Nestel was quite impressed."
That simple statement drew grey lips into a pucker as those teal eyes looked him up and down.
"Are you going to start on another ship soon?"
"I believe those specifics were part of this discussion. Will I be working on a F-….Kaseen ship?" Jeff replied with a look to the door as it swung open with another round of bowls and mugs held by a maid. The food was placed in front of the fairy with a small bow before she retreated out of the room, pressing on a previously unseen flat board by the door, which enveloped the entrance in a water bubble with her exit.
"Yes." Pache as she took a forkful of fish. "We will, of course, need to get down to actual payments before any goods are transported."
"Five point six," Farave announced with a bemused smile. "That's what our merchants have come up with for the wind mage."
Jeff nodded as he swallowed some beer.
"I'm good with that. But five point six percent of nothing is the same as a hundred percent. Any luck on getting past the poison clouds?"
A light blue tongue played across sharp teeth for a moment before the Fairy shook his head.
"Getting the ship through has proved difficult. Ours, besides their great beauty and craftsmanship, are made to dance along shores and inner waterways. Despite that, we have yet to find purchase among the muddy slides and mushroom towers."
Farave poked at the remaining fish with a fork, his teal eyes clearly thinking over something. An air of hesitance hung about his face and idle prodding. When he finally opened his mouth to speak, both dining companions looked on with rapt attention.
"Shipping through the poison clouds is a slim prospect. Fortunately, there are other ventures elsewhere. As Harold knows all too well, we have certain connections in the north. Through these, a whisper has reached my ear. Someone is looking to offload food at a consistent and considerable rate."
A snort escaped Pache's crooked nose.
"Food. From the frozen wastes?"
Getting a notion of where this was all going, Jeff shrugged as both turned to him.
"It's not all frozen. There was a chill where my brother and I stayed, but the right crops would still take given the space. Besides all the fishing and the plant scion now holding up there, of course."
It was the last bit that seemed to dull some of the doubt in Pache's face. She then turned with a swirl of her black bowl-cut to the fairy. Ambient sunlight reflecting through the windows only made his inner reluctance more apparent. Whatever the problem was, the queen's patience for it waned as a frown grew over her face.
"What is it, Farave?" She demanded with a strum of her fingers on the table.
The way his eyes immediately darted to Jeff made the man's spine straighten.
"How…. Intimate is Harold to your affairs?" The fairy spoke in a low tone despite the privacy of the room.
A snort was her first answer.
"If the way he's lusting after my breasts didn't already make it clear, very."
'Spirits woman!' Jeff groaned internally while rolling his brown eyes. Pache gave him an amused smile before looking back. Farave was male, yet he didn't so much as flinch at the lewd exposition.
"There are intimacies that bind closer than beds."
Any pretense of fun or indulgence in the human couple melted away at the ominous tone the high-pitched voice still brought clear through. Pache pulled at the side of her red dress and coughed before turning towards Jeff.
"A minute in a spirit connection would simplify things." She offered without making the command official.
The lightning mage nodded with a tired sigh.
Her green eyes turned back to their fairy compatriot. It took only a few seconds for Pache to scrunch her lips and eyebrows. Her slight nod was slow, reluctant to agree with whatever Farave was saying. When the blood suddenly drained from her face and thick pink lips thinned near white between her teeth, the big problem must have dropped. Favare could only lean back and let loose a deep breath as she processed.... It. A minute of unspoken conversation went on before Pache finally nodded with some color coming back into her face.
"A significant prospect, despite the thorns." She finally said with a turn to her food.
"And if such things are not…. Up for consideration, then that makes our purpose here all the more important." Farave put in, a small smile accompanying his attempt to soften the blow already delivered.
'They're stealing from Eli.'
The thought burst into Jeff's thoughts of its own accord. He was the only new source of food in the north. Stealing his produce, or gods forbid, his very crafts was a daunting prospect given his known element and status as a scion. Which put Jeff's hide right in the arrow's path.
'I'm going to have to pull her butt out of the furnace.' Jeff ruefully groaned to himself.
Then doubts began to surface. Stealing enough goods for one ship would be a challenge if only done once. Doing so at regular intervals would be impossible. Eli would certainly notice the sheer lack of food coming from the farms. And it had to be theft. Why else be so secretive? Perhaps they'll steal some crafts and grow food elsewhere?
Resigning himself to a very unpleasant future conversation with the quad mage, he focused his attention back on the present.
"The newer midships have several tons of extra storage. From what I've heard, anyway." The fairy offered in a high pitch as his fork poked further into his serving of fish.
"They're warships. Slowing them down to move grain defeats the purpose of bringing them along as escorts." Pache countered with a smile that did nothing to hide the angst beneath it.
Farave bobbed his head back and forth for a bit.
"Depends on how much, I guess."
Jeff looked between them. This wasn't a conversation. Words were coming out of mouths, but the spark of mental presence was absent. Whatever had been said in the spirit connection, it sucked the life of everything that came after. Something the fairy picked up on.
"It appears the proposal needs time to settle for consideration." He announced with a backward push of the chair and plop onto the ground. His wide face looked to Jeff as it rested a foot or two above the table. "We have another of our ships on the way. Once we have two looking for a safe passage, we can start fitting a human vessel for the task."
A quick nod from Pache gave the fairy ambassador his leave, which he took with a quick exit through the only door. When wood slammed against wood, Jeff turned to the queen currently staring at her remaining portion of fish.
"Is it anything needing me?" He asked with idle interest.
"No!"
Her head jerked to him so violently that it made him recoil, an animal response bypassing slow reason. The sheer force behind the word and the piercing gaze accompanying screamed danger. Either to soothe his concern or hide the true peril, Pache took a deep breath before forcing her body still. Green eyes regarded him with hesitance as some inner conflict raged.
Jeff responded by placing his hand on hers.
"Whatever it is, my love, I'll be here for you."
He finished with a kiss on her thick pink lips. An act he finished with a pop and a rise from the table.
"And the ships, of course. Though being around for them involves more men than I typically like." He put in with a small smile
"PFF!" Pache scoffed as she waved him off with a grin. The weight of Farave's proposition was still in the corners of her eyes and smile, but her shoulders came down an inch or so. "Even if you wanted otherwise, don't think you'll escape me so easily, boy."
Jeff gave her one last nod before turning towards the door. A faint hope of Pache suddenly beckoning him to return gradually dimmed until he was at the exit. Hand on the door's handle, he looked to see Pache staring at him with a small smile and a bit lip. Whatever Farave had offered, it appeared not even kisses and compliments would pry it out of her. With a final nod, he walked out and past the two brothers guarding the door. Hard days lay ahead, no matter what the fairy ambassador offered or which portions of the deal Pache took. Some decent beer and another walk around the fort called, and Jeff decided to spend the rest of the day answering it.
As he did for the next two.
In between drinks and playing with Pache, he talked with various military personnel and sailors over beers and tables at various taverns or barracks tables. His status was only semi-official, but he was the queen's sweet treat and a mage if that wasn't enough. Having such a figure talk with them on friendly terms was so disarming that most spilled their verbal contents without the usual restraints. Not that he was asking for the most guarded secrets. Trading simple stories out on the seas and preparations of their ships for a legendary family story was a proposition none would refuse.
At the end of the second day, when orange light filtered through the bedroom window, Jeff took out the chest to set it on the bed. The practiced motions brought the inner radio to life. As he brought his head close to the metal mesh, a sigh of relief almost escaped his lips at the silence.
"Ocean Strider. Jeff, reporting in. Finished." He said to the chest.
"Ocean strider, responding. Anything to report? Finished."
"Yes, actually. I've gotten enough information to get a feel for how the South is settling in. There's some push and pull, but there are no more major battles left. The Kingdom and pirates are at an impasse. Unfortunately, that leaves the trade route to the Coalition cut off."
"Did you have to take any risks in getting this information?" The chest asked, its Kelton voice's concern was slightly undone by the usual roughness.
"It would be weird if I weren't asking about the pirates. Considering I'm working on a project out on the sea and currently attached to the Fjords leader and....You know, wondering if I'm going to wake up to a slit throat from a raid like everyone else." Jeff put in with strained patience.
....
"Finished."
"Understood. We've not seen our travel companion since your arrival. Finished."
Unacknowledged tension left his shoulders.
"Good. That's all I have to report. If you don't have anything to share, I will call it a night, Ocean Strider. Finished."
"Nothing on our end, mage. Good night. Finished."
"Night. Finished."
A careful pull on the chest lid brought the conversation to an official close. Jeff picked up the mass of wood and placed it at the foot of the bed. With the last bit of the day's work finished, he placed his head onto the pillow and stared at the wooden ceiling until black night overtook the orange coming through the skylight. Eventually, his beloved came in sporting a green dress and a lit candle in a copper dish. A tired air hung about her that a forced smile couldn't hide from the candlelight or Jeff.
No words were exchanged between them as she changed into a night gown by the wardrobe. Pache showed no concern or energy for hiding the steps taken in the changing. A process that Jeff took the time to appreciate. She came around to the left of the bed and pulled the blankets back before placing the copper dish on a bedside table. Queen, leader of her people, and a water mage in her own right, yet Jeff could only compare her to a tired mother or seamstress finally getting into bed.
Once Pache was under the blankets, she leaned over to the candle and blew it out. In the starlight barely getting in through the ceiling window, Jeff could only make out indistinct shapes. Touch, however, was unimpeded, and the sense had no problems informing him of the warm flesh currently pressing into his left side.
"I love you, Harold." Pache's voice informed him from the void. It was earnest, needy. Not anything like the casual or absent-minded declarations they spouted off in between meals or beddings.
He reached his right hand into the darkness towards the source. Managing to get her left eye in hand, it took another go for him to grasp her cheek.
"And I you." He offered with his left hand reaching below her stomach to pull her closer.
"But I am a queen and leader of the Fjord clan. I.... I have obligations. Obligations that supersede what I would want for us." She groaned, apparently having reached a decision on Farave's offer.
Jeff knew explaining the hierarchy of love to those not on its peak was painful. Fortunately, whatever the lightning mage's delusions about this lie of a life, being the center of a queen's world based on a few months' passing dalliance wasn't one of them. So, he did the most loving thing he could think to do: permit her to love him less.
"I wouldn't have been ensnared by you if you didn't have the integrity to follow through on such things."
The audible sigh of relief brought a smile to Jeff's face. Warm flesh moved from under his palm as bed sheets ruffled. Sweetness filled his mouth before leaving with a pop. Its sudden absence was then followed by thin arms grasping his sides and womanly flesh pressing against any space it could reach.
"Harold." Pache moaned with a trembling voice.
Knowing he had done his job, Jeff soaked in her emotions as the royal queen laid her head on his left shoulder. It wasn't the heat of mating, but something about her eager, cloying need of him still sent a smile across his face. With nothing left to discuss, he settled in place with his lover and let true void take him.