I didn’t even have to check, I’d been checking up on her condition often.

  “Everything looks good so far, it’s still early days though. Alright, we’re far enough, I need to concentrate.”

  I squeezed her hand and stopped walking. We could continue to dream build our home and plan for the future later, or another time. There wasn’t really a rush, I’d just been using a lot of time at the council meetings to figure out how to do things for it.

  She leaned up and kissed my cheek, and I felt a little overwhelmed by the love and joy in her eyes and so clear on her face.

  We were about where the enemy had camped last time, and this time there’d be about four times the numbers. The best I could do was guess on the area they’d take up this time, and I planned on overestimating. I just hoped they didn’t set up their war camp somewhere else. They shouldn’t because it was really the only large open field anywhere close to the city. They wouldn’t be able to secure the perimeter well if they set up in the forest.

  I sank my magic into the ground and grass, and looked at the DNA. I knew where to change it, and the magic itself would propagate that change out to all the cells if I committed to it with my magic. I set up the changes that would make me aware and bond me magically to the field of grass, then I sent my magic into it.

  The change spread out through the connected root system, and I became aware of it, or perhaps a better description was that it was aware of me. The grass covering the whole field and even a short way into the surrounding trees were all part of the system. The amount of magic it had access to was staggering.

  All I’d really done so far was set up the trigger, or fuse. I’d be able to activate the traps from a distance with it bonded to me.

  Then I connected to a single blade of grass, and made the changes to attract metal, make the whirlwind, and build up the explosive fire. I could have changed every blade of grass at once, but that wasn’t my intent, I wanted a mine field, not a huge field of thousands of tiny explosions that would be lucky to give the soldiers hot feet. The magic changed that blade of grass, and no others.

  If I’d set it off then, that single blade of grass would take all the magic of the others, and the devastation would be horrifying but limited to about a quarter of the field. It would pull metal toward it from a large distance, and start a whirlwind. The magic for the fire and the ten second later timed implosion would be gathered in a spell matrix of sorts over the first ten seconds while people were dragged into the kill zones. It had to happen that way, because once the fire exploded the grass would be incinerated and unable to draw more magic.

  I started to walk around then, in a grid, and added more blades of grass to cover the whole field. Each one I added would split the magic that much more, but even with one blade for every thousands or so blades of grass, the effect would be devastating and more wide spread.

  In theory. In reality would have to wait. There was no way to prove they’d all pull equally from the common pool of magic when I triggered the trap. In all, I’d set up twenty-four of the grass mines within the field in a six by four grid, the field was a third longer than it was wide.

  “I’m done.”

  Regina said, “You don’t look happy anymore.”

  I sighed, “No. I don’t like this, but I’ll do it to defend you, everyone in the city, and even myself from two thousand evil men come to raze a city to the ground and kill us to the last.”

  I just wondered if I’d still have a soul when the dust settled. I knew that wasn’t fair, I’d be saving our lives, and I reminded myself I wouldn’t look askance or judge Karana if it was her truly behind doing this. It wasn’t wrong to defend life.

  But I was a physician and had dedicated myself to saving lives. Shouldn’t I be held to a higher standard? Or was that just arrogance and false morality?

  I’d considered the idea of going back to just handing out weapons. The king might hear of it, but then the king should be dead in another two weeks, so that wasn’t so big of a problem anymore. I could gamble he wouldn’t figure anything out too useful when he found out about it, in his time remaining, but it was a gamble. Plus, there was a chance he’d successfully defend anyway.

  Even if he didn’t, I didn’t want Sera knowing my true capabilities either, if I could help it. It was apparent by Dale’s interest in me the queen already had her eye on me for some reason. I didn’t want to make things worse there either, or give her more reasons to request my assistance. No one really understood flesh sculptors weren’t limited to just healing or changing humans, and I wanted to keep it that way, save for my family and Karana who was necessary for the cover up.

  I wasn’t all that worried about the elves anyway, they knew the truth already, considering their armor, and that they weren’t sharing with the humans. They might be shocked to learn how good I was at it, but I wouldn’t be telling them anything they didn’t already know.

  I twisted her around, and bent my head down. I sniffed her neck, and nipped it playfully.

  She giggled, and tried to pull away when I licked her neck, and then I pulled her backward so she landed on me when I fell to the ground.

  She laughed, “What are you doing?”

  I smiled, and kissed her lingeringly, “Enjoying a moment with you, and giving anyone watching me a valid reason for our romantic afternoon walk outside the city.”

  She raised an eyebrow.

  I shrugged, “They watch everything I do, they might put things together when this field blows up, unless we settle any suspicions now.”

  She sighed, and looked disappointed, “So this is all just to cover things up?”

  I grinned, “I’d take any reason to kiss you, and roll in the grass.”

  She rolled her eyes at my cheesy line, but I could see the smile fighting to get out at the corners of her mouth. She shrieked as I rolled on top, and then claimed a deep lingering kiss that truly ignited my passion for my sweet and very sexy Regina.

  “What do you say we take this back to our bedroom?” I asked in a strained voice. In truth I was seriously considering the tree line, but I wanted her on a bed.

  She looked more than a little breathless herself, and she ground up against my very hardened flesh. Her come fuck me look made me twitch, that look always drove me crazy on her sweet innocent face.

  What can I say? Kissing and playing with Regina will always have that effect on me, no matter the reason. It was good to know she felt the same way. What made it even hotter, was I knew our other mate was watching over us in that moment. Needless to say, we headed back to the city, and our bed.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  The next morning, three days before we expected the king’s second punitive expedition, Dale returned to the council chambers. Like the day before, it took a few minutes to clear the room.

  Oceana said in my mind, “Master, he is using magic to influence. Some device on him. The magic is not capable of bypassing your crude magical protections.”

  Well, it was good to know my magic was crude, but still effective except against her.

  Thanks, influence how?

  She replied, “Trust. Makes people like him. Subtle, anything stronger would be obvious once he left the room and peoples’ thoughts went back to normal.”

  Block it from affecting everyone else, can you do that without revealing yourself?

  Her mind voice rolled like a wave crashing against shore, I think I might have offended her again.

  “Yes.”

  Do it please. Is that his only magic?

  She replied, “No. The other enchanted device prevents listeners outside the room from overhearing us. I didn’t consider it even a minor threat, was I wrong master?”

  Well, that didn’t sound bad. I didn’t think the council wanted word of the discussions getting to the king either.

  No, thank you Oceana.

  The rumbling wave of her answer sounded like a pleased purr, “My pleasure master.”

  I shivered and ignored the slight stirring in my groin. I didn’t know it was possible, but I’d found someone even more insatiable than Regina. Truthfully, Saria wasn’t that far behind either, she just hid it better in public.

  The room finished clearing, and Jaren cleared his throat.

  “Welcome back, Consort Dale.”

  Dale replied, “Thank you, councilor Jaren. I’ve come to inform you the queen has agreed with the requested boon. The elven females at Malburn will be returned to you assuming they are still alive when she takes control of Malburn. Nothing else has been changed from my offer yesterday, have you had time to consider it?”

  Jaren said, “I will admit, I’m inclined to accept the generous offer, and send the queen taxes yearly. There are a few problems however, though I believe I’ve come up with solutions. There’s also the small matter of specifying the tax amount.”

  Dale waved a hand, “It is minor. Just ten percent of the tax you collect from your people. You said you have problems?”

  Jaren nodded, “The appointment of councilor is not a lifetime position. I’m a warrior, and once Eastguard becomes a true free city, my plans were to step down and take the position as head of the guard, once our city government was figured out.”

  Dale looked surprised, “I see, so what is your solution for this… difficulty?”

  He replied, “The oath of fealty will last so long as I serve on the council of the city. We’ll also pass a law that new councilors need to swear fealty to Sera when they come into office.”

  Dale grunted, “I see, and will these new councilors all travel to the queen to give fealty, or do you imagine she’ll send a consort to accept fealty every time things change?”

  Jaren replied, “I imagine that will be up to her. Also, it will only be three of us giving fealty. Krenum and most of the elves will be leaving us immediately after the battle.”

  Dale asked, “How often do you imagine the city’s leadership will change? It sounds like such a system would lack stability. As for Krenum, that was already understood.”

  Right, of course he knew all our plans. It made me wonder who the spies were, and I decided it didn’t matter. I’d be leaving the city too, soon enough. Although, it could take a while. Once I finished designing the manor with my mates, which wouldn’t take much longer, it would take months for it to be built. I’d imagine we’d be here for that time, and hopefully the assassins would no longer be lurking after the king’s death.

  Still, I was looking forward to it, and hoped it would be done before Regina’s and my first baby was born. Elven pregnancies were longer, it would be almost a year and a half before my child with Saria was born, since she wouldn’t be fertile for a couple of more months.

  Saria said, “Not that often, we never planned to hold control over the city in the long run. Like Jaren, I am a warrior focused on our war for freedom and protecting the city against the king. I too will step down in just a few months, and I’ll live nearby the city with my mate. I imagine our replacements will rule for years, perhaps even their lifetime.”

  Jaren nodded in agreement.

  Dale said, “I think I understand. Once you swear fealty, this city will be officially a part of the Gritor Kingdom. Before you step down, your replacements will need to swear fealty before the queen or one of her consorts. As long as that is understood, it is acceptable.”

  Jaren nodded, “That is acceptable, we can keep on another twenty days while they go swear fealty if required.”

  Dale said, “Excellent.”

  He reached into a pocket and pulled out a piece of parchment, then approached the dais.

  “This is the standard fealty for a Gritor noble. You may modify it to include for as long as you may serve instead of for life. Understand, the queen can deny you stepping down, if you don’t wait for your replacement to swear fealty and take your place, you would be a criminal guilty of treason.”

  Tam growled, “No need for threats, we understand.”

  Dale smiled uncertainly, “No threat, Councilor Tam. None of you are nobles, and I just wanted to make sure there were no misunderstandings. This is a unique situation after all.”

  Tam nodded, somewhat mollified but still irascible.

  Jaren asked, “You want us to swear fealty now?”

  Dale nodded.

  “Yes, I need to be going. I have hope that you’ll be victorious, and believe you will, but my queen would be displeased if I risked myself by being here when the king’s army arrives. You understand? I’ll also be leaving you an enchanted device, should the queen or any of her mages need to contact you they’ll be able to communicate with whomever is holding it.”

  Jaren didn’t look pleased, but like me he could hardly blame Dale for getting the hell out of the city. The queen did want us to succeed, for the elven trade and access to me, but the consort didn’t owe us his help, and he was just one fire talent, even if a powerful one.

  Saria, Tam, and Jaren studied the document for several minutes, and then knelt on the dais before the queen’s consort with bowed heads. It was at that moment that it all became real to me, and I didn’t like seeing Saria take a knee to anyone. One by one they all said the same thing.

  “I swear fealty to Queen Sera, queen of Gritor, for as long as I serve as councilor in the city of Eastguard I will defend the queen and Gritor, and I do so swear my life, honor, and obeisance to her service.”

  It was shorter than I expected, but pretty much covered everything. We may have been able to run the city as a free city, but ultimately, we were now Sera’s to command. I’d feel a lot better about it once Saria could step down and the oath expired. Still, the hope was she’d be a better ruler than the king. She was said to be ruthless, but she wasn’t stupid or needlessly cruel, and wanted my cooperation instead of my enmity, as well as easy access to rare magical plants and herbs.

  I just hoped my hope wasn’t foolish.

  Dale pulled a ring out of his pocket, and then raised an eyebrow at the three of them in question. The ring had an opaque blood red stone in it, and the band appeared to be gold.

  Saria said, “Jaren?”

  Tam grunted and nodded in agreement.

  Jaren held out his hand, and Dale slid the ring on his finger. The band shrunk and went snug around his finger. Jaren frowned, and pulled on the ring, it didn’t come off.

  Dale said calmly, “You can remove the ring simply by wishing for it to come off. It does take a lot of concentration though, so that a random thought wouldn’t cause you to lose it. I would suggest you never take it off, not even in your sleep or to take a bath, except to hand it to your successor. If the queen wants to contact you, she would be very displeased if her spell failed. Communicating with someone who isn’t a mage is extremely difficult magic.”

  I held back a smirk, Karana could do it easily enough, with more than one person at a time.

  Jaren nodded, “I understand.”

  Dale smiled, “It’s been a pleasure to meet you all, and I wish you the best of luck in the coming battle.”

  Jaren said, “Farewell, and safe journey.”

  Dale nodded to them all, and then to me, before he turned and left the room.

  The deal was a good thing wasn’t it? Everyone had something to gain, and not much to lose if we all played nice. There was even a lot to lose for her if she betrayed our unofficial deal. Still, I felt disconcerted, and the council didn’t look all that excited about things either. Regardless, it felt like the lesser of two evils, our only other option would have been fighting her as we did the king. Given that, and the queen’s generous offer, peace was worth a chance.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “Isn’t that a little big?” I said tentatively.

  It was later that evening, and we were reviewing the large manor house we planned to build. I was working out the plants and vines and such to defend our home and to keep it clean and healthy. The ladies were the ones that had designed the size of the manor, the rooms, entrances, windows and all that. The only input I’d given was to have a separate room for bathing and to hold the chamber pots.

  I supposed that was one thing I didn’t want to let go of from my old world. Having my bed, bath, and chamber pot all in the same room just seemed… wrong.

  By now, Saria knew every tree and inch of wilderness around the city for miles, and she’d chosen a spot about three quarters of a mile away from the city, toward the border of the forest Laya. I was fine with all of it, really, but the size of the manor they were proposing was huge, with an extremely large master suite of rooms, as well as six other suites including a small nursery wing. I say wing, because the word suite didn’t do it justice.

  The kitchen and dining room rivaled the size in this keep. Heck, the manor could be called a small keep.

  Regina frowned at me, “I know you don’t like to talk about it, but even if Karana chooses not to join us you will gather other mates. You’re a man of power, and I’m just thinking ahead. We’ll also have servants, and we need room for them and their families. We’ll also need the guest suite for when Saria’s family comes to visit. Then there’s the public wing where your patients will wait for you. Trust me, we need it this big.”

  “Servants?”

  Regina shrugged, “At the moment I’ll only need two or three to help me maintain the house, and the gardens, as well as help me with errands into the city. But as you get more mates, and more children, that number will go up. Ideally to start with, we’ll want to find a young couple we can get along with, but I’ll handle that.”

  “I’m very happy with just you two you know, and with everything going on it’s hard enough to keep you both happy.”

  Regina snickered, “You mean spoil us.”

  Saria didn’t help me.

  “Regina’s right. It’s not about us being enough, it’s about you being an attractive, powerful, and wonderful man. You’re bound to draw other women to you, and some of them you will fall for in return, and among them we will approve some. Tell me you don’t want Karana.”

  I sighed, “I can’t do that, you know I want to get to know her better. I’m not ready to mate with her yet though.”