Divine Agreements, page 6
“Maybe we should go,” Marjorie whispered to Rosa.
“That does seem best,” Rosa whispered back.
The two older women slipped out of the room, but none of the staff went to leave; their hearts yearned for their own time, though they were thrilled to hear the family would be whole again.
Fiona spoke up after a minute, “Lilly, let him up. Chastity wants to thank him, too. After that, we’ll be heading to the bedroom. Sean has firm rules about where and when some acts take place.”
Lilly broke the kiss, panting as she stared into Sean’s eyes. “Thank you, husband! Thank you a million times over! We both yearn for that day to come.”
“We do,” Chastity said, quick to take Lilly’s place when she got up. Straddling him, Chastity slowly lowered her mouth to his. “Thank you, our precious husband.”
Felora’s eyes were blazing as she watched the scene. “Mmhmm… I’ll be upstairs…”
Lilly caught her by the wrist. “We’ll be upstairs.”
That started the exodus as the wives went up to the bedroom. The staff sighed wistfully, but went off toward their own diversions. By the time the kiss ended, it was just Sean, Chastity, and Andrea in the front room.
“Chas, our wives are waiting for us,” Andrea giggled. “None of us blame you for your reactions, but we all want to show our thanks that you’ll be with us again.”
Chastity got off Sean’s lap, smoothing her skirt. “Yes, of course… I’m glad Mom left before I did that.”
Sean was breathing a little raggedly and was flushed bright red as he looked up at the two women waiting for him with their hands extended. He had no words, but the love in his heart spoke volumes to his family. Taking their hands, he rose, then escorted them upstairs to where the rest of his wives were waiting.
Chapter Eight
Sean and Hallie greeted their guests upon arrival. “Welcome to my home,” Sean smiled. “Please, come in. The parlor is ready for us to use.”
“Thank you for seeing both of us,” Commander Queensblood said. “I had wanted to bring up a few things that you would be best to assist with.”
“Friends are always welcome,” Hallie said. “We just need to be told so we can be proper hosts.”
“Very informal, but that does seem to be the case for your entire family,” High Lady Minerva Queensblood laughed lightly.
“True. Sean has helped us see that informality isn’t bad between friends. The formality keeps people at a distance, making it harder to grow as friends.”
“Oh…” A sad sigh escaped Minerva’s lips. “My husband would have adored all of you. He had many of the same views, but never got to express them with how society was.”
“Sounds like he was a great man,” Sean said, opening the parlor door for them to enter.
“The best,” Commander Queensblood said. “I do my best to emulate him as much as possible. Mother has reminded me of my lapses over the years. Society has a way of changing people.”
“It can do that. If everyone says the sky is red firmly enough, even you might start believing it,” Sean nodded. “It was something studied where I’m from; how people can be swayed by things that are stated repeatedly as if fact, regardless of if they are or not. Then, it gets difficult to start parsing facts down from all the clamor of how different groups see right or wrong.”
“Goodness, that sounds exhausting,” Minerva said as she took the offered seat.
“It was. Most people just want to get along, so they try to ignore the loudest fringes. But without shutting off all outside voices, it’s impossible to not have to deal with it. Sadly, you couldn’t function without allowing some of it in. It was a mess.”
“Xenta will pour for us, then step out,” Hallie said. “We thought it’d be easier for you to be free to speak if there was none but us here.”
“Thank you,” Commander Queensblood said.
Xenta’s fox tail was still as she brought the cart forward, setting out small snacks and then preparing tea for everyone. With a formal bow, she gracefully left the room on soundless feet.
“What an exceptional maid,” Minerva smiled. “She was one of the women sitting with you all during the garden outing, if I recall.”
“Yes. All of the staff are wives-to-be,” Hallie replied. “They know they will be waiting for quite a while yet, but are fine, because they know their special days will come.”
“I can see how Truestrike got that rumor about women being unsafe around you off the ground now,” Commander Queensblood said. Sipping from his cup, he smiled. “Your maid is skilled in the art of tea.”
“They all are,” Hallie beamed. “The snacks were made by our cooks, sisters who excel in desserts and breads.”
Minerva was nibbling a blueberry scone. “Yes, very good. Better than my own staff. Hmm… If possible, later, I would like to ask them to pass the recipe to my cook.”
“I’m sure we can come to an Agreement later.”
“It’s so light, fluffy, and buttery,” Commander Queensblood said after taking a bite of a slice of bread. “Goodness, it must have taken quite some skill to produce this so expertly.”
“Mona will be delighted to hear that,” Sean grinned. “I agree, though: she is an expert. The new oven probably helps in that regard.”
“New oven?”
“Forged Bonds will be producing them in the near future.”
“Ahh, speaking of them, I had a request for large prisoner transports. I figured you would know if it was possible.”
“Paddy wagons,” Sean said, then paused. “I never considered the term before… huh.”
“What?” Commander Queensblood looked puzzled.
“‘Paddy’ was a slang name for Patrick. I guess they’d properly be ‘guard wagons’…?” Sean shook his head. “Sorry, I get lost in my own head sometimes. I can make a motorized vehicle for transporting people. Did you want them to be separate, or just a big box for them to be put in?”
“I was thinking something like your bus, but with secure compartments.”
“Easy to do. You’ll need people to be trained to drive them; a bus is harder to use than a car.”
“I will make sure that happens, if you can arrange it.”
“I’ll make a rough and pass it along to Amedee. They’ll be the ones to make them.”
“Excellent. This way, when another riot happens, it’ll be easier to transport people.”
“That reminds me,” Sean asked, “what happened to all the controlled rioters?”
“Most of them were released. A couple had to serve a few days because of injuries. I’m not a monster, despite what some say about me. If you are forcibly compelled, it isn’t your fault.” His eyes darted to his mother and away.
Minerva sighed. “History that I’ll never be free of. It is okay, Illandril. I no longer blame myself as I did.”
“That ties back to the Greater Vampire your husband fought?” Hallie asked.
“Yes. Dark days for our family,” Minerva said softly. “Let’s move past that. No reason to dredge up old pains.”
“As you wish, Mother,” Commander Queensblood said. “I also wanted to ask you, Sean, when would you be able to find the time to search the city for other hidden stashes, like the one where the Vampire shot you?”
Sean sat back. Setting his cup down, he opened up his Earth Manipulation sense to the entirety of the city. He focused it under the ground so as not to disturb any city workers fixing roads or similar. He smiled when he found a group installing more sewer lamps, but he pushed past them. A minute later, he came back to himself, feeling tired. “Six other locations behind sealed walls.”
Queensblood stared at Sean in shock for a moment. “Oh… that was faster than I thought. Umm, where are they?”
Sean started to reply. He could walk to each of them— he knew exactly where they were— but didn’t know how to explain it easily.
“We have a map of the city,” Hallie told Sean, touching his knee lightly. “If you can get him close enough, whoever has to open the walls should be able to find them.”
“Yes, that will work,” Queensblood nodded. “Excellent idea, Lady… Hallie.” He had to catch himself and act informally; it was harder than he thought it would be.
“Ven, can you ask one of the maids to bring it to us, please?”
“Right away,” Ven said from above.
Minerva looked up at the Messenger Fairies. “You have a sizable clan in your care, Sean. I’m gratified to see that my clan is welcome to sit with them.”
“Friends are always welcome,” Ven replied to her.
“Now that my son has asked what he wished to,” Minerva smiled, looking back at Sean, “you asked me to come visit. I’m assuming it had to deal with secrets and your armor?”
“It will touch on that,” Sean admitted. “Let’s wait a minute for the map. The topic I want to address is going to take a good while to explain.”
“Intriguing, but I will wait.”
Cali was the one who brought in the map, her wolf tail wagging slightly as she handed it off to Sean before leaving.
“Have they both been okay?” Commander Queensblood asked. “I know that some of my men react poorly to killing.”
“Our wife has helped them through their trauma,” Hallie said, “just as she has helped all of us with various issues.”
“Hmm? Has she, now?”
“I can inquire about one of her sisters being able to assist your men in such a capacity, if you’d like,” Hallie smiled.
“We can come back to it later,” Queensblood coughed when he saw his mother’s raised eyebrow. “Sean is marking that map, and then he was going to answer Mother’s question.”
Sean kept his face blank, but he was absurdly tickled by how much of a momma’s boy Queensblood was. He was able to quickly mark the map, handing it over to Queensblood before he picked his tea back up.
“I want to make an Agreement with you that will allow me to come back to this world if I leave it,” Sean said, sipping his tea as he watched Minerva’s face.
“Hmm… that is not a small thing. Agreements of that nature will get the Queens’ attention. Considering who you are, though, that makes perfect sense as to why you would want that. It might even be seen as a favorable move,” Minerva said. “How did you plan to step off this world? That is hard enough as it is.”
“That’s a long story.”
“Very well. For armor and weapons that can come and go as yours do, plus the full story behind the how and why you are asking for the Agreement to come back to this world. If you can do that, I will give you an Agreement to be able to bypass the Queens’ laws to enter this world.”
“I would need an Agreement backed by your life for my story,” Sean said simply. “Parts of it are… not safe. Once the Queens know, the Agreement I have on it balanced by your life will be cleared.”
“It would be hard to enforce against a High Lady,” Queensblood said.
“He’s survived dragon’s breath,” Minerva said. “He could easily enforce it against me. He might even be able to enforce it against the Advisor.”
Queensblood stiffened. He hadn’t heard the full story of the duel, just bits and pieces. His mother had come back with even more respect for Sean afterward. She’d commented that Sean had reattached her leg that Truestrike had severed, but never mentioned him surviving a dragon.
“A sensation I wouldn’t wish anyone to endure,” Sean grunted.
“Very well, Sean,” Minerva said. “I agree with all the terms we’ve discussed.”
“I agree, as well, Minerva.”
Minerva grunted at the weight of the Agreement— it was one of the heaviest she’d ever taken on. Sean just sat there, drinking his tea as if it was nothing.
“Ven, if you can ask Ida and Ryann to have the items ready when I’m done, please?”
“They’ve been working on them since breakfast,” Ven replied. “If you asked for them right now, they’d make it happen, Sean.”
“True,” Sean chuckled, then exhaled. “I died less than a year ago on a world called Earth.”
~*~*~
Both Queensbloods were stunned by the tale. As they tried to process it, Sean’s other guest arrived and was escorted into the parlor.
“Ahh, company,” Siobhan smiled. “High Lady, Commander, it is a pleasure to see you both.”
“Pagetender,” Minerva said, surprised that Siobhan was there. “Always a pleasure.”
“Siobhan has an Agreement with me,” Sean said. “Siobhan, have a seat. Now, Minerva, Illandril, if you’d like, I can take us all in spirit to my plane of Home and the Bog. Siobhan wants to visit the library there.”
“More than anything, especially before the Queens arrive,” Siobhan agreed. “I’ll be trying to help you with your research this time.”
“Perfect,” Sean grinned. “So, do you two want to come with us?”
“Yes,” Minerva said.
Commander Queensblood hesitated, then nodded. “Mother trusts you, so I will, as well.”
“Great,” Sean said. “Just get comfortable. Ven, let the others know. I’ll extend the energy inside the manor in a minute.”
Chapter Nine
Sean was surprised that not all of his wives came with him. When he opened the manor doors to greet everyone, only seven people stood there. Three were his guests, along with Hallie, Fiona, and Helga, then Rumia, who smiled brightly.
“Welcome to Home,” Sean chuckled. “I probably should name it something with more gravitas, but I’m not going to.”
Siobhan went right in, saying hello to Marjorie before she went upstairs to the library. She greeted Lilly and Chastity, who were heading downstairs. She smiled when the pair hurried to go down to meet their husband. To know that Sean was an Outsider was as easy as seeing the love and affection all of his wives had for him and he for them.
“It looks just like your manor,” Minerva said.
“It is what he makes it,” Hallie said. “Before this, it looked like our home in Hearthglen.”
“Would you like to come in and meet the family?” Fiona asked. “Chas, Lilly, we have guests. High Lady Minerva Queensblood and her son, Commander of the Accord City Guard, Illandril Queensblood, these are our wives. They died in a trial by combat in Hearthglen: Chastity and Lilly.”
“A pleasure,” Chastity said, curtsying to them.
“An honor to have you both visit,” Lilly added, doing the same as Chastity.
“It is our honor and pleasure to be invited,” Minerva smiled, giving them a curtsy back. “This is the first time I’ve ventured off the world, even if it is just in spirit.”
“It feels as real as anything to me,” Queensblood said. “Sean, you mentioned the Bog? I am interested in seeing that.”
“Why don’t you take them to see it, then come back for tea?” Fiona suggested. “We can make sure our friends come up to have tea with us.”
“Oh, that would be nice,” Sean nodded.
“I am interested in this Bog, as well,” Minerva said.
Stepping out of the manor, Sean and Helga led the way toward the back gate. Rumia trailed the nobles with a small smile on her lips. She gave her mother a wave and smile, but didn’t say anything; she was just looking forward to seeing the Queensblood’s expressions.
“I was going to ask if you were willing to have another spar, Sean,” Queensblood said as he walked the path past the gate.
“I’m going to be incredibly busy until the Queens arrive,” Sean replied, “but maybe we can have one here before we leave. If our friends come to tea, you might get someone else to spar with, too.”
“Intriguing. I…” Queensblood started to reply, but trailed off when a sense of oppression settled over him.
“That is disturbing,” Minerva said with a small shiver.
“The transition from Home to the Bog feels that way for those who don’t see Sean as their deity,” Rumia said. “If you think about the feeling, it’s not hostile. It’s just all-powerful and watching.”
“Yes… umm… that is well said…” Minerva murmured. “That is exactly how it feels. It is like I’m before the Queens with their full focus on me, though not with anger in their eyes.”
