Status Update and Preview (Patreon)

Hey there!  Since I have posted in a couple weeks I wanted to give a status update.  I'm currently working solely on "Normal Guy" and have ch. 8 and 9 drafted out and ch. 10 is about 20% done.  Once i have ch.10 completely drafted out I'll do another pass on ch. 8 to make sure it's good and then send it out.  For now, here's a preview of the first half of ch. 8:

Surprises and Advancement

“What...but I...how...?” Marie asked, looking down at Tillie.

It had been a few weeks since they returned from the Gascon estate, and Marie had been feeling nauseous the past couple days when working out in the morning, and so had seen if Tillie had any remedies she could give her.

Instead Tillie had some...surprising news.  “I've seen this hundreds of times, and you're showing the same signs as everyone else.”

Marie shook her head, “But, I lost the ability to a few years ago...”

Tillie shrugged, “I've heard cases before where woman lose the ability to have children due to trauma, stress, or any number of things, only for it to come back later if their situation improves.  That kinda fits the bill with you, doesn't it?”

Marie closed her eyes in thought, It does.  Of course, the reason is also what led to this... Ever since she had become lovers with Mac, no fianceswith Mac, Marie had felt more relaxed, and could definitely tell she was feeling less stressed all the time, now that she had somewhat filled the hole in her heart left by her late husband.  Of course, since Mac was up for it, she had been having sex with him with wild abandon whenever it was her turn with him, so if she hadregained the ability to have children, this result wasn't very surprising.

Tillie sighed, “Are you not excited?”

Marie shook her head, “No, it's not that, it just doesn't feel real.”

Tillie chuckled, “Well, you better go tell the father.”

Marie nodded, before heading out of Tillie's office and walking to Mac's.  I mean, he will be excited, right?

Quickly getting to Mac's office, she knocked before entering.

Mac smiled upon seeing her enter, “Got something else for me?”

Marie's heart fluttered.  Of course he will.

Mac noticing she was hesitating, walked over.  “What's wrong?”

Marie shook her head.  “Um...nothing's wrong...”

Mac seemed like he had a realization, and started to unbutton his shirt.  “I'm up for it, but let's make it quick since I still-”

Marie grabbed his hand to stop him.  “Mac...I'm pregnant.”

Mac stopped undressing, blinking a few times.  “...I thought...”

Marie shook her head, “I did too, but I confirmed it with Tillie, I've been having all the symptoms.”

After a pause, Mac grabbed Marie and held her close.  “This is amazing!”

Marie started to tear up.  “I'm sorry...”

Mac held her shoulders, “What's wrong?  Why are sorry?  Did you not want too?”

Marie smiled, wiping her tears, “No, of course I did. I just told you I couldn't, and here...”

Mac gave her a kiss.  “You don't need to apologize for something so amazing.”

Marie nodded.  “I was so confused, I had been feeling sick, and went I went to Tillie, she immediately thought I might be, but I didn't believe her...”

After holding each other for a few minutes, they went to tell the others.

After a celebratory dinner for Marie, Mac and Melissandra were talking at the table while the others went to the bath.

“This is...amazing...” Melissandra said, still surprised by the announcement.  “I'm so happy for Marie.”

Mac nodded, “Me too.  I mean, it's partly my doing, so...”

Melissandra giggled.  “Well, she was already part of the one-night schedule, so I guess that won't change anything.  What about the others?”

Mac shrugged, “I'm doing what I can...”

Melissandra giggled again, “I'm sure...”

That night he was scheduled to be with Charlotte.  Since they had returned from Kay and his' wedding, his nights with Charlotte had been...interesting.

Sometimes he would fall asleep in her workshop while she was tinkering with the steam engine (or one of her other projects she would get distracted with).  A couple times, he had shown up, only for her to already be asleep, so he would just crawl in across from her (usually giving her a momentary fright when she woke up in the morning).

Tonight, however, she seemed to be making an effort.  Or, at least, what was considered an effort for Charlotte.  Laying across the bed from him, she was blushing heavily while they looked at each other.

“What's wrong?” Mac asked.  While he enjoyed making love to his wives and fiance's, Charlotte's timidness towards romance was actually a bit refreshing.

Charlotte shook her head.  Scooching herself over, she slowly wrapped her arms around him, face blushing even more.

Mac reciprocated and wrapped his arms around her, and she buried her face in his chest to hide her embarrassment.

“Do you like this?” Charlotte asked, looking up at him with face still blushed.

Mac nodded.  Deciding to take the lead a bit, he leaned his face down and gave her a quick peck.

Luckily, they had kissed a few times now, and Charlotte wasn't as taken aback.  She even leaned back in, sticking her tongue in a bit sloppily to make out with him.

Pulling her head back and breathing heavily after just a few moments, she squeezed him tighter.  “Let's trying sleeping like this.”

Mac, trying to remain 'calm' for Charlotte's sake, nodded.  Pulling her up for one final kiss, he then closed his eyes.

Charlotte, however, watched Mac as he closed his eyes.  Staring at him as he slept, she had trouble keeping her emotions calm.

Why is he so nice to me?  His other wives do it all the time, but with me he's fine with just kissing and hugging a bit.  I wonder...  she stopped her thought, shaking her head.  No, he must find me attractive too.  He even said so.

Resolving herself, she decided, Alright, we'll do it...soon.  Next time, maybe.  I should try one of those... 'outfits' Kay gave me...

The next morning, Mac was working when Emma came up, stack of papers in hand.

Knowing it could only be one thing, Mac asked, “Finished this draft?”

Emma nodded, dumping the stack on his desk.  “I think I've got a pretty good plan this time.”

Mac picked it up, skimming through the papers as Emma watched.  He had read a couple dozen versions, and the plan they had formed was now much more refined.  Farming techniques, price controls, transporting food around the kingdom (if needed), and the required resources to facilitate all of it.

“I think we're ready,” he smiled, setting the papers down.

Emma wiped her brow, “Phew, glad that's over with...”

Mac chuckled, “We'll probably need to modify it once we see how people and the economy react, though...”

“Oh I know, I just meant we can travel now, right!?” she asked, looking at him expectantly.

Oh, that's true.  I knew we'd be going eventually, but with everything that's been going on... “Yup, once we're done with the next wedding, we should have some time to go somewhere.”

Emma jumped on him, getting a short make-out from him before he gently pulled her shoulders away.

“I love you Emma, but I still have a lot to do.”

Emma giggled, “It's okay, I'll have you for a whole trip soon...”

Later, he was supposed to be spending the afternoon with Daisy.  He was surprised, however, to find her lugging a chest out of her shack by the forge.

“Um...are you leaving?” he asked, a bit worried.

Daisy set the chest down, chuckling, “Haha, you gonna miss me?” she asked, leaning up and giving him a kiss.

“Well...yes...”

Daisy chuckled again.  “No, I'm not leavin', I...well, I wanted to be a more 'proper' Queen, so I'm moving into the palace with everyone else.”

“Ohhh, okay.  That's wonderful!” he responded, giving her a hug.

Daisy smiled, “Yeah.  Lord Harald talked to me 'bout setting a good example for all the dwarves of the kingdom...” she said, a bit of hesitancy in her voice.

Since that was very unlike Daisy, Mac immediately noticed.  “Do you not want too?  I don't mind if you just keep living here.”

Daisy shook her head.  “No, it's not that.  I wanted to be closer with you and the rest anyway,” she said, giving him a squeeze.  “It's more, the...uh...'good example' part I'm worried about.  I'm just a blacksmith, not a noble.”

Mac smirked, having had this conversation before.  “That's not an issue.  Come on, let's go talk to Marie after we move these chests.”

That night was to be spent with Kay.  However, on the way to Kay's room, he was called out to.

“Sire!”

Only one person calls me 'sire' that aggressively... he thought, turning around.  Walking briskly towards him was Fawna, the newest member of the royal maid staff.  She had taken it upon herself to be Mac's personal maid, cleaning up after him and fetching anything he needed.

“Fawna,” Mac replied, giving her a nod.

“Sire, do you need anything?” she asked expectantly.

Errr... “Um...not really.  I was just about to go to Kay's for the night.  Could you maybe...make sure my room is clean?”

Fawna looked a bit sad, “I already cleaned your room.  Since you're rarely sleeping in it, it doesn't get that messy...”

Well, that's true.  He knew Fawna would be sad if he couldn't think of some way to make her feel useful.  “My office!  Could you organize my office?  I've been bad about keeping it clean, since I'm in and out so much, so can you make sure everything's sorted properly?”

Fawna nodded vigorously in excitement.  “Of course!  I'll get right on it.”

“Make sure you get enough sleep, too!” he shouted at her retreating frame.  She turned around, quickly bowing again, and then continued briskly walking away.

“Nyahaha, what was that?” he heard from behind him.

Kay, wearing a sexy pink negligee, came out of her room a bit behind him, leaning over sneakily.

“Nothing, Fawna just wanted a task to do,” Mac explained, walking over and planting a kiss on her lips.

Kay kissed him back, before wrapping her arms around him and pulling him in.  “Are we going to have another maid-wife soon?  I know how you feel about them,” she giggled, poking his side.

Mac rolled his eyes, “It seems that way...”

Kay seemed a bit surprised at his response, “Really?  I mean, I figured that might happen, but I thought you would put up more resistance.”

Mac shrugged, “It's kind of my fault she got like that, so I feel like I have to take responsibility.”

Kay giggled.  “I'm sure her being cute doesn't hurt...”

Mac stroked her ears a bit and gave her another kiss.  “Youwould know about being cute...”

Kay blushed, pulling him on the bed, before having a realization.  “Oh wait...I got distracted by you and Fawna, so I forgot to say.  I'm pretty sure we did it!”
Mac, having been through this a few times now, instantly knew what she was referring too.  Clasping her tightly, he responded, “I'm so glad!”

Kay was laughing, “Nyahaha, me too.  Although, I was hoping we'd get to continue doing it longer...”

Mac was confused, “What do you mean?  We can keep spending the night together even if you're pregnant, assuming you want too.  I figured Mel would have told you...”

Kay blushed a bit, “I know.  I mean, I'll be put on the lower-priority schedule since I'm pregnant now...”

Mac winced a bit, once again feeling the pain of not having enough time for everyone.  “Well, we just need to make the most of the time we have together,” he said, pulling down her negligee.

Kay giggled, pulling him down onto the bed.

The next day, Marie was meeting outside with Felicia.  I haven't had much time to deal with this lately, what with...everything with Mac, but hopefully today...

Felicia was already outside, talking with Emma.  Emma had been diligently practicing her dirt-moving magic, and had been able to scoop out larger and larger chunks recently.

Greeting them, Marie then snapped a couple branches from a tree, as well as grabbing a fist-sized stone off the ground.

Emma, wiping sweat from her forehead, seemed confused.  “What are you doing?  I thought you were gonna test Fe's magic?”

Marie smiled knowingly.  “We are.  Here, you can help me actually.”  Holding out the two branches, she had Emma hold the other sides, before placing the rock in the middle, supported by the branches.

Felicia seemed as confused as Emma.  “What...what am I supposed to do?”

“I believe your magic might be to add weight to items.  It's just a guess though, so we're going to see.  Try imagining the rock getting really heavy.  Emma and I will be able to tell if it works.”

Felicia seemed confused still, but Emma nodded in support.  Looking at the rock, she closed her  eyes, looking as if she was thinking intently.

Nothing happened.

“Hmm, maybe it's something else...” Marie mused.

“Are you sure I have magic?” Felicia asked.

“For certain, the Drain Stone wouldn't have reacted the way it did if you did not.  I thought for sure it was getting heavier...”

Emma shrugged, while Felicia rubbed her stomach, which was showing through a bit.

After a few moments, Marie instructed, “Try...try imagining the rock dropping to the ground.”

Felicia raised an eyebrow, but then looked at the rock.

The rock smashed through the branches, falling to the ground and even digging into the ground a bit with a 'thunk'.

Marie and Emma looked at each other, holding the remains of the smashed branches.

Running over, Emma gave Felicia a hug.  “Nice job!”

Marie smiled, rubbing her chin.  Excellent.

Having Felicia try a few more times, and replicating them successfully, Marie had her stop so as to not exhaust herself.

“You can practice with me from now on!” Emma said.

“Yes, but please be careful, don't stress yourself out too much while you're pregnant,” Marie explained.

Felicia playfully poked Marie in the stomach, “Same to you.”

Emma was a bit upset, giving a 'hmpf' behind them.

While this was going on, Mac was spending the afternoon with Melissandra.  Since she was getting far along with her pregnancy, they didn't go out much anymore, mostly spending their 'date' time in one of their rooms, either cuddling or talking over tea.

Today was talking over tea, as Mac had some papers he wanted Melissandra to read.

“What do you think?” Mac asked.

Melissandra finished reading, then sat the papers down.  “I think it's a good idea,” she said with a nod.

“You're okay with it, right?” Mac asked, wanting to make sure.

Melissandra smiled, “Why wouldn't I be?”

“Well, they're going to be on your land...”

“Ourland,” Melissandra corrected him.

Mac slid the papers back over to himself.  They were a plan he had written up to resettle the town and surrounding countryside of Toulouse.  Right now, they were mostly abandoned.  They hadbeen filled with bandits, but they had been cleared out by the bandit subjugation.  He hoped to incentivize some of the war refugees to return to their former land, along with any other homeless people who wanted a new start for themselves.

The plan was thus: Anyone who had been lucky enough to survive the Provent invasion would be able move back to their land or dwellings (or what remained of them).  For any unclaimed land, every family that wanted a plot of land could have one at no charge, but in exchange they would need to give a third of their harvest to the kingdom as payment.  Of course, Mac wasn't going to be selling it for money, but instead using their cut to plug gaps in the food supply using Emma's agricultural program.  If any food somehow wasleft over, they would sell it abroad, and put the money in a separate fund.

Or at least, that's what the plan was.

The actual town of Toulouse would need to be re-established.  Mac didn't have any good ideas here, besides throwing some money at service providers in the capital.  It was all well and good to have farmers, but they needed a town for merchants to stop at.  And merchants needed inns to stay at.  And all of them needed clothing, doctors... It's actually a lot to establish a functioning town from scratch...

And because of all this, Mac needed to make sure the local lord would be okay with it.  Which was technically...Melissandra.

Mac responded, “I know.  I just...I wanted to make sure we're in agreement.”

“Of course.  I'm actually...” she paused, a couple tears in her eyes, “I was just thinking, my parents would have loved you.”

Mac came over to embrace her.  “I'm sure my mother would have loved you, too.”

After dinner that day, he headed over to Eleanor's room for the night.

Entering the room, he saw Eleanor laying on her side, napping.

That's surprising.  She's usually all gung-ho during our nights...

As he got onto the bed and crawled over, Eleanor woke up.  “Mac...”

“What's wrong?  Sleepy?” he said, moving the bangs out of her eyes.

“Sorry...I just... I don't think I can today...”

Mac was surprised.  Even while pregnant, Eleanor had been relentless in their lovemaking sessions.  “Are you okay?”

Eleanor nodded, “Yes, I'm just really tired.”

Mac curled up next to her, holding her hands.  “That's okay.  Just take it easy.”

Eleanor sleepily nodded.  “I love you Mac.”

Mac gave her a peck on the lips, before curling up next to her, wrapping his arm over her hip.  “I love you too.”

Wedding Day – Felicia

Another week passed, and the day of Mac and Felicia's wedding had come.  And Fiona and La Hire's.

Marie had seemed confused at first at the concept of a double wedding, but they had worked out the logistics during the wedding practice, and they were confident it should go off without a hitch.

Mac was woken up by a furious knocking at the door.  “Come in Fawna.”

The door burst open, Fawna coming in.  “Sire!  We must get you ready!”

Mac got out of bed as Fawna rushed around.  First scrubbing his face before stripping off his tracksuit and helping him get his royal regalia on.

After she tied the prism beast cape on, she put her hands on her hips and did a nod of approval.

“Thanks Fawna,”  I feel bad sometimes, but she is very helpful.

Fawna bowed, “Of course sire.”

Mac thought for a moment, then gave her a quick scratch behind her ears.

Fawna gave out a 'yip' before covering her mouth and blushing.

Mac chuckled, “Just a reward for doing such a good job.”

Fawna nodded vigorously, still blushing, before opening the door for him.

Walking down to the main hall, Marie was waiting there. Grabbing his arm in hers, she gave a huge smile.

As Fawna took her leave, Mac asked, “Who's gonna walk me down the aisle at our wedding?”

Marie giggled.  “You know, you do have mother-in-laws now.  And you'll be getting more.  You could always get Lady Sophia to do it.”

“Wow, talk about shoving it in her face...” Mac responded.  “Although, I think she's gotten over not seducing me.”

At that moment, the music started and the doors opened, and Mac and Marie slowly made their way down the aisle.  Due to this being the king's fifth wedding in as many months, many nobles opted not to attend, although a sizable crowd had still come, if only to get in front of the King or to socialize with the other nobles.

Once they reached the end, they walked up the stairs, where Mac took his place and Marie readied herself in the back.

Due to the nature of this particular wedding, every other person was being walked down the aisle by someone not on the stage.  The two participants on each side would be acting as each other's groomsman and bridesmaid, to help simplify the proceedings, but also because they would have been chosen anyway.

Next was La Hire, who was being walked down by his other fiance, Kelly.  At the end, Kelly gave him a peck on the cheek, before walking over and sitting next to Fiona and Felicia's siblings which filled out her side's pew.

Mac looked over to the other side, at the rest of his wives and fiance's sitting there (including Rhea, sitting in Eleanor's hair).

Next down the aisle was Fiona, being walked down the aisle by her brother Finn.  Fiona was wearing a traditional wedding dress that emphasized her cuteness.  He noticed La Hire tense up a bit as Fiona walked up.  She gave him a small smile before heading over to her spot.

Finally, the door opened once more and Felicia came in, wearing a...fairly scandalous (by noble standards) dress with a deep cut in the middle, and her baby bump protruding out slightly.  She hadn't known who to have walk her down, but Emma had been really excited about doing it, so Felicia accepted.  And now, Emma and Felicia walked arm in arm down the aisle.  Mac thought they looked to be giggling as they made their way down.

Once Felicia was up, Mac gave her a smile, which was reciprocated a bit...sensually.  Yeah, that's the Felicia I fell in love with.

The ceremony went as normal, just with the addition of a bit of position-switching taking place.  First Fiona and La Hire said their vows, before Mac and Felicia did the same.  Mac slid the black-stoned ring onto her finger, and Felicia claimed the middle finger next to Emma's on his right hand.

“I now present, King Mac and Queen Felicia!” Marie shouted, after setting the ceremonial crown on Felicia's head.

A smattering of applause came from the crowd.  A few of the younger of Felicia's siblings were pointing and shouting at Felicia, seeming a bit confused.

After that, they headed down the aisle towards the door.  Once through it, Felicia pulled him down for a passionate kiss.  “What a naughty king, marrying a prostitute you already knocked up...” she said, before giggling and putting her cheek in his chest.

Mac chuckled, “What can I say, it was love at first sight...”

Felicia blushed a bit, before starting to make out with him again.

As this was going on, the door opened again, with Fiona and La Hire coming in.  La Hire blushed seeing them, while Fiona giggled.

Fiona leaned over and gave La Hire a quick kiss.  “That's all I can get out of him right now,” she sighed.

Felicia giggled, “You're gonna need to do a lot more than that if you want to have kids...”

Walking to the reception together, they took their seats as the food was brought out.  Fawna was hovering behind them, filling their wine if it got half-empty and taking any clean plates away immediately.

Mac, as always, listened to what his family was talking about (although it was a bit hard to hear on the ends of the tables, their family had gotten so large).

Kay and Melissandra were talking to Rhea, who was tearing off bits of bread to chomp on (sitting in small form on the table).

“We've been spreading the rumor around for a while now.  Do you think we should continue?” Kay asked.

Melissandra nodded.  “Yes, if it persists it's more believable.  Then we just need to find the right time to announce it.”

Marie was talking with Eleanor about their zipper-clothing business.

“We already sold out of the first run of tracksuits,” Eleanor explained.

Marie nodded, “We may need to hire more seamstresses.”

Daisy and Charlotte was whispering about something, as usual.  Charlotte even had a diagram on a napkin she was drawing.

Emma was busy stuffing her face with chicken.

Felicia whispered something to Fiona, who in turn leaned over and whispered something to La Hire, which caused him to almost drop his wine goblet.  Whatever it was though, he nodded, a look of determination on his face.

After finishing their dinner, it was time for mingling with the guests.  Fiona and La Hire were also walking around, which earned some giggling from Kelly as they awkwardly conversed with the guests.

Mac noticed there seemed to be a lot more guards on the outside of the hall than normal.  Hopefully unneeded, he thought, trying to push it out of his mind. He also noticed Gabriella, wearing a dress, was chatting up some of the guards.  I guess she came, at least.

As they were walking, a booming voice called out to them.  “Sire, could I speak with you?”

Mac turned to the side where a tall, large man was sitting.  Generally people in this world were not overweight, the worst often being someone like Lord Gascon who was a bit rotund, but this man looked near immobile.  He had two women sitting next to him, but looking down and not touching their plates.

Mac, of course, tried not to judge.  “Sorry, I don't believe we've met.”

The man chuckled, which caused his body to jiggle.  “Of course, this is the first wedding I managed to attend.  I am Lord Safur.”

“Good to meet you, Lord Safur.”

“Likewise, sire.  I was talking with my good friend Lord Arpitan, and he mentioned you had given him a tax exemption in order to buy more food for his peasants.  My domain is having the same issue, so I was hoping I would be able to obtain an exemption as well.”

Mac suppressed himself from saying the obvious joke, and closed his eyes.  I don't want to do this when we're gearing up the agricultural program.  But if I say no after I accepted Lord Arpitan's proposal, he might get upset.  Hmm...

“Is that not acceptable, sire?” he asked, before looking at one of the two women next to him.  They grabbed their plate, then stuffed one of the rolls into his mouth.

Really?  Come on...  “I...have an edict I'll be announcing soon, which affects what you're asking.  I'll need to delay any decisions around food and taxes until then,” Mac explained.

Lord Safur nodded, “I understand, sire.  I'll submit my request and will await an answer until then.  I assume I will know the edict when I hear it?”

“Oh yes, it's...quite long,” Mac said, giving a slight smirk.

Lord Safur took the smirk as friendly, and smiled back, before motioning to be fed another roll.

Saying their goodbyes, Mac and Felicia kept walking.

“You're so kingly,” Felicia said in her seductive voice.

“I should hope so,” Mac said back, chuckling.

“Is that how it normally went with the other girls, too?” she asked.

“More or less...” Mac replied.  “Depends on who you're talking too.  Some are...less stressful than others.  Speaking of which...”

As he trailed off, Lord Cartegna came up, clapping him on the shoulder.  “Son, good to see you!  Another joyful wedding.”

Mac smiled.  Lord Cartegna and he had always gotten along well ever since their trip to Cartegna estate to first visit Eleanor, but since the bandit subjugation Lord Cartegna had seemed more and more like a father figure to him.

“Good to see you as well, father.”

Lord Cartegna turned to Felicia, “And you look lovely as well my dear.”

“Thank you,” Felicia replied, giving a smile.

Turning back to Mac, he lowered his voice a bit.  “I actually...I had something I wanted to mention to you in person.”

Mac was a bit confused.  “Something you couldn't write about?”

Lord Cartegna shook his head, “No, I didn't want to risk the info leaking out,” he said, glancing at Felicia.

Mac shook his head, “I trust Fe as much as I trust Eleanor.”

Lord Cartegna gave a wry smile, “Understood.  My scouts have run into several scouts from the Navar kingdom.”

Mac flashbacked to his lessons with Marie regarding the geography of Ositania.

“Ositania roughly looks like an isosceles triangle, with the rounded point in the northwest, and the base in the southeast,” Marie explained, pointing to a map.  “The northern border is bounded by the ocean.  The southeast border is the great river, and the border with Provent.  Our southern border is the Deshuvan mountains, with several countries on the other side.

One of those countries, the southernmost that also shared a border with Provent, was Navar.

Zapping back to the present, Mac frowned.  “Was there any confrontation?”

Lord Cartenga shook his head, “No.  When my scouts kindly pointed out they were on Ositanian territory, they apologized and headed back.  Of course, unless their scouts are the worst on the continent, there's no way they were lost.  They had to go through the mountain passes to get here...”

That's not good.  I don't want a conflict with Navar right now.

“May I give my opinion, my lord?” Lord Cartegna asked.

“Of course.”

“The Navarran's are opportunists.  I'm sure you learned this in your history lessons, but they, among other's, attacked Provent during the last war while they were besieging Pearie..  Not because they had some secret alliance with us, but they, correctly, sensed weakness in Provent's rear and attacked.  I believe they heard about our bandit subjugation 'campaign' and are testing our defenses, seeing if we are weakened, and testing where they might be able to get through them.”

Mac as a bit in awe.  This is the mind of an experienced military leader.  Even if he's not 100% correct, he put together the pieces well.  “Let's step up the patrols near their border, then.  Get with Lord Harald, and see if he can send a contingent of dwarves to help scout the mountains as well.”

Lord Cartegna smiled and bowed, “As commanded, my lord.”

After that, they had a bit of a small talk, before Lord Cartegna left to go spend time with Eleanor.

Continuing on, they didn't get far before Mac stopped dead in his tracks as someone approached them.

It was a beautiful woman, tall, with long hair, fairly large breasts, and a long tail behind her, and antlers similar to Fawn's on her head.  Her body was wrapped in a white robe that looked like it was one long sash wrapped around her body in an intricate pattern.

She was also blue, while her hair was green.

“King Mac, it is good to meet you,” she said, giving a bow.

“You as well...” Mac responded, trying not to appeared fazed.

“I am Saphoa, daughter of Queen Haliya of Arkanta...”

Arkanta?  I don't remember where that is at all.

“...My mother wishes to discuss relations between our countries.  She'd like to cordially invite you to visit at your earliest convenience.”

Well, no sense not entertaining a potential ally, although I don't think leaving the country right now is a good idea.  “Of course.  I am busy in the near future, but if you send the details to my Magistrate, we should be able to arrange something.”

Saphoa smiled and bowed again.  “Thank you, King Mac.” After a pause, she added, “It is good to see you holding beast-humans in such high regard,” with a smile at Felicia.

Felicia smiled back.

That seems a little loaded.  Is that why she wants to talk?  Or do they just not like countries that discriminate against beast-humans?  Well, either way, this could be to our advantage.

As she left, Mac could see her bright blue tail, with scales that looked like shimmering sapphires.

Felicia elbowed him in the side.  “You enchanted by her tail?” she asked, a bit snarky.

Mac wrapped his arm around her, briefly squeezing her tail as he did.  “Maybe I just like tails?”

Felicia blushed a bit, “I think it's time to go...”

Mac and Felicia then made a big show of leaving.  Is this really necessary when she's already, and very obviously, pregnant!?  Of course, he went along with it anyway, as Felicia pulled him down the hall.

“We're going to your room for the night,” Felicia stated.

“I'm fine with that, but why don't you wanna go to yours?” he asked.

“I'm letting Fiona borrow it, since she normally sleeps in the maid quarters, and La Hire in the barracks, so they don't have anywhere to have their first sex.”

Bar chuckled a bit.  “I remember when I was like that...”

Felicia blushed a bit, “Thankfully you saw reason.  Or maybe I was just too sexy.”

“Maybe the latter...”

Once in the room, Felicia got down to business immediately, slipping herself out of her dress while Mac slowly undid his regalia.

“Come on...” Felicia teased, standing there in her black lingerie.

“Hold on, hold on,” he said, pulling his undershirt over his head.

Felicia held him close, making out with him, and grabbing his member, stroking it gently.  With her other hand, she pulled him down onto the bed.  Straddling on top of him, she lowered herself onto his member, before starting to push herself up and down.

“I'm impressed you can still do that,” Mac said, squeezing her breasts as they bounced in front of him.

“Enjoy it while you can, soon I'll be as big as Lord Safur...”

“Don't be mean...” Mac said, although with a laugh.  Mac grabbed her waist as he was about to finish, holding her tight as he released.

He sat up, pulling her in for more gentle kissing.

“How long do you wanna go?” he asked.

Felicia thought for a moment.  “Hmmm...as much as I'd like to go all night, I don't think I'll last that long.”

Mac chuckled, “That's fine.  We'll just make up for it when we're trying for the next one.”

Felicia blushed, playfully pushing him down and making out with him again.

Preparing the Agricultural Plan

The next day, Mac, Marie, and Emma were sitting in the council chamber for a meeting.

Now that Felicia's wedding was done, there wouldn't be another royal wedding for a while.  Charlotte and Daisy's would be hosted by their respective houses with no date set yet, Marie wasn't in a rush to have hers, and Rhea's was still in the 'spreading rumors' phase due to her...circumstances.

With that being the case, Mac was freed up for a while to work on other things.  Right now, his main priority was the implementation of Emma's Agricultural Plan.

Marie set down her copy, “Alright, let's-”

Mac cut her off.  “One moment, I wanted to ask something.”

Marie raised an eyebrow at him.

“Who was that person from Arkanta at the wedding?  I don't remember Arkanta from our lessons at all,” Mac explained.

Marie sighed.  “Yes, I probably should have, but to be honest...I forgot about them.”

Now Mac raised hiseyebrow.

“The Kingdom of Arkanta is a...supposed country off our northern coast.  It's made up of different aquatic beast-human races that live underwater, and led by the sea serpent-human royal family that Saphoa is a part of.”

“'Supposed?'” Mac asked.

Marie nodded.  “We don't know how large it actually is, it could be small village or it could be larger than Ositania.  And it's not like we can go underwater to check.”

Oh, yeah that's a bit hard to verify.

Marie continued, “A lot of them stay underwater most of the time, but some occasionally travel up to coastal towns to trade.  They learned of your upcoming wedding to Felicia, and sent a request for an invite.  I...I thought it might be a joke, or fake, but I sent one anyway to the coastal town and...well, you can see the result.”

Mac was in a bit in awe, imagining a vast underwater city.  “Saphoa said she was the daughter of the Queen, and that she wanted to talk to me.  Actually, I think she said their Queen wanted me to visit.”

Marie nodded, “That makes sense to a degree, although I don't know why they picked now to decide to start negotiations with us.  Or how we'd visit them underwater...”

“Saphoa specifically commented about holding beast-humans in high regard.  I mean, I am married to two of them, so maybe that means something to them?”  Mac suggested.

Marie thought for a moment.  “I...I know you don't want to hear it, but it's possible she will try to marry Saphoa off to you to link our countries together.  That would also explain why she sent herspecifically to the wedding.”

Mac just shook his head.  I need a clone for these diplomatic marriages.  “I won't deny that, but let's not jump to conclusions.  I mean, we don't even know if they're really a 'country', right?  I'm not saying we shouldn't try to form good relations with them, but a diplomatic marriage to form an alliance with a village isn't exactly needed.”

Marie nodded, before looking down at the table, deep in thought.

After a few moments, Emma let out an “Ummmooooo...”

Mac and Marie snapped back to the task at hand.

“Sorry, I just wanted to-” Mac started.

“No, it's okay,” Emma cut him off, shaking his head.  “I'm just...excited to talk about this!” she exclaimed grabbing her papers.

Generally these types of high-level Kingdom discussions involved Mac and Marie, and some combination of Eleanor, Melissandra, or Kay.  Of course, since Emma was ostensibly going to be in charge of everything involving today's topic, and had written most of the plan herself (although with help from Marie and Mac), she was an integral part of today's discussion.

“Alright, so what questions do you have?  I know you both have read over it already.”

Marie asked, “Where is the money coming from for buying and distributing?  It says here just the 'treasury'.”

Emma blushed a bit, “Um, I was just going to ask Mac when we need some.”

Mac nodded, “I'm hoping we can just...eat the cost until the resettlement program starts giving us crops to use for filling in shortfalls elsewhere.”

Marie nodded, “What if there's a shortfall in the resettlement crop harvest?”

Emma didn't have a response.  After a few moments, she replied, “I guess, we would just do the best we can...” looking a bit embarrassed.

Marie nodded again.  “That's fine, I just want to know where I might need to step in.”

Mac added, “If we get to a situation where the Kingdom is doing everything it can and we still have shortfalls, we'd need to look for food supplies through other avenues, and it would fall out of her purview anyway.”

Marie set her pen down as if in deep thought again.  “Have you considered having other positions similar to Emma's made?  Obviously the food situation is one of our bigger issues, but I could see this being useful in other areas as well.”

Mac gave a sly grin.  “Yes, that's the plan, actually.  I was going to use Emma as a pilot to see how it goes, and then assign others accordingly.”

Marie chuckled, “You work your wives to the bone...”

Mac shrugged, “A lot of it is stuff they're already doing, it'll just be more formalized and a better allocation of resources besides just 'Mac, I need more money for this'.”

Marie gave a sly smile, “I'd be out of a job eventually!  Is that why you wanted to marry me, so you had an excuse to keep me around?”

“I mean, I dowant to keep you around, but the Magistrate would have the important job of being in charge of all the other appointments.”

Marie chuckled, “Haha, isn't that your job?”

“My job is to keep everyone happy,” Mac explained.

Marie chuckled some more.

“Ummmoooo,” Emma said.

“Sorry, sorry...” Mac said.  “I had a question, or maybe a concern...who are we going to send to enforce some of these policies?  The royal guard?”

Emma nodded, “That's who I assumed.”

Marie started writing, “Why don't we hire people specially to help enforce the policy?”

Mac scratched his chin, “What if we did that but kept them under the guard's purview?  I'm sure La Hire wouldn't mind the extra recruits.”

Marie nodded, writing on her paper.

Emma smiled, “Anything else?”

Marie nodded, “Yes...about these inspections.  Are you going to be doing all of them, Emma?”

Emma nodded.  “Yes, at least for now.  I'd like to hire some people so I don't have to go on all of them eventually, but starting out, I think it's best I do them.  Then I would be able to train others to do it as well.”

Marie smiled at her, “That makes sense.  Actually, we just received an invite to Lord Arpitan's wedding, so you could combine attending that with your first inspection trip.”

“Do you think I should attend, what with...” Mac trailed off.

Marie grimaced a bit, but nodded.  “Yes, with a large force for protection, of course.  I think showing yourself out and about sends a message to any who would sense weakness in our country.”

Mac nodded, remembering his conversation with Lord Cartegna the day before.  He then looked at Emma, worried she was going to be upset because they got off topic again, but she also seemed deep in thought.  “What's wrong?”

Emma snapped out of it, “Oh... I was wondering what I should wear to the wedding.  I'm assuming you'll be taking me, right?”

Mac smiled, “Of course.  Actually, we should see if anyone else wants to come.”

The three of them finished discussing some of the minutiae of the plan before adjourning for the day.

At dinner, Mac brought it up, “We got invited to Lord Arpitan's wedding, and I planned on attending with Emma since we'll be doing some inspecting as part of her job on the way.  Does anyone else want to come with us?”

Melissandra, Eleanor, and Felicia all held their baby bumps and shook their heads.

Charlotte replied, “Um...I feel like we're making a lot of progress with the steam engine, and I want to keep at it.”

Mac nodded, “I completely understand.”

Daisy blushed a bit, “I was uh...gonna do some etiquette lessons with Marie, so I think I should do that before attending any more weddin's...” she explained.

Emma hugged Daisy.  “She's a great teacher!”

“For that reason I planned on staying as well,” Marie said.

Kay seemed thoughtful, “I'd like to go, it could be a good way to extend my contact network.”

I wonder if Kay would explain her spy network, or whatever it is, to me?  Not that I don't trust her, but I'm just curious how it works...

“Oh, pick me!  Pick me!” Rhea said.  She had been sitting in Eleanor's hair, but was now flying in front of Mac, raising her hand.

“You can just...come if you want Rhea...” Mac said, smirking.

Rhea flew over and hugged his cheek, giving him a kiss.

“We can't reveal you yet, although I'll feel safer having you along, anyway.”

Felicia giggled, “That's a good point, they'll need to make sure you don't pick up any new woman.”

Melissandra nodded, “I should have a talk with Fawna about watching you...”

Conflicted Thoughts

Gabriella sat in in her room, propped up against the side of the window, looking out, and holding her sword.  Her window faced the mountains behind the palace, with a thick forest covering its side until it stopped near the top of the slope.

Of course, that just leads to the sea.  No escape there... she sighed.

Gabriella had been less and less motivated to enact an escape plan over time.  She wasn't allowed to leave the palace, but she was allowed onto the grounds, and the royal guard had let her train with them (she was an especially popular sparring partner given she could beat most of them).

They hadlet her out during the King's wedding to the cat-human Queen, and allowed her to stay with the guards, who had also been keeping an eye on her.

She had also been worried when an assassination attempt had been made on the King, but they hadn't seemed to accuse her at all.  La Hire had even taken her with him to arrest the actual perpetrator.

And, of course, the King hadn't made a single move on her.  He hadn't even come to talk to her in weeks.  The only ones who did were either Marie, the Magistrate turned fiance, and Melissandra, his first Queen. I still think she's the one  really running things behind the scenes.  She seems more like royalty than anyone else here.

She grabbed her whetstone and started running it along the edge.  It didn't actually need sharpened, but it helped her to move her hands while she was alone.

She was broken from her concentration by a knock at the door.  Gabriella set her stuff down, walking over and opening the door a crack.  They hadn't done anything to make her distrust them, but she felt like she shouldn't show any cracks in her personality.

Outside was Marie.  “May I come in?”

Gabriella opened the door, walking back to the window with her sword.

Marie seemed unperturbed.  As usual, she jumped right into the purpose of her visit, “The King has been invited to a nobles wedding.  Would you like to attend as well?”

Gabriella gave a 'hmpf'.  “Doesn't he have other woman to attend with him?”

Marie shook her head, “I didn't mean going with the King, just as a representative of Provent.  Part of you being here is to show our counties are at peace.  At least, currently,” she added, a bit coldly.

Gabriella suppressed a grimace.  She had learned that Marie's former husband had died during their countries' war.  She was honestly surprised she hadn't tried to harm her, as if the situations were reversed, she didn't know if she could hold herself back.  Regardless of what Uncle says...

“I don't wish too.  I'd rather not have anybody associating us as being together,” she responded.

Marie shook her head.  “Are you sure?  You don't seem too enthused staying in the castle all the time.”

Despite her attempt to suppress it, Gabriella trembled a bit.

“You could travel with the guards again, if just want to be separate from Mac.  It's not like he's going to make a move on you anyway,” she added, a bit of a smirk on her face as she looked to the side.

Gabriella trembled again.  Marie was basically implying she was too unattractive for the King to bother, but since Gabriella didn't want him too, she couldn't say anything, so instead she quietly seethed with rage.

After a few moments, she calmed herself.  No, I can't let them get under my skin.

Marie sighed internally.  She seems to still think Mac is going to try and make a move on her, despite the fact he's run so ragged by his wives and fiances he's constantly exhausted.  It's a shame too, she's very beautiful.  She looked over at Gabriella, who was seething a bit before seeming to attempt to calm herself.  Well, looks aren't everything.  Especially to Mac.

As Marie stood there, Gabriella grabbed her whetstone again, rubbing it down her sword once more.  After some contemplation, Marie asked, “May I ask why you are so against an engagement to Mac?  It would most likely secure peace for your country, at least in the short-term.  Probably the long-term, unless Provent were to provoke us.”

Gabriella kept rubbing, taking a few moments, before answering, “Would you want a marriage sprung on you like that?”

Marie shrugged, “My first one was.”

Gabriella stopped, looking up at her.  “And?  How did you feel about it?”

“I always knew I would have one arranged for me.  My father secured a marriage with the captain of the royal guard at the time.”

“Yes, but how did you feel about it?  You weren't upset? Mad?  Angry?”

Marie shook her head.  “No. I was a bit worried, but my husband was...charming.  If maybe a bit too dedicated to his work.  I wish we'd been able to spend more time together...”

Gabriella visibly winced, stopping her sharpening.  Am I just digging myself a hole?  No, I have to press on...

“Well, that's nice yours worked out, but I don't want...no, I won't be used as a pawn.  My place is on the battlefield, giving orders, and swinging my sword.  Not used as some foreign King's plaything.”

Marie chuckled.

Gabriella was taken aback.  What is she on about?

“Do you really think Mac-...the King would do that?” Marie asked, shaking her head.

“Yes...all our reports said he's a lecher and a womanizer.  Didn't he force himself upon you as well?”

Instead of chuckling, Marie gave a 'pfft', and started bursting out laughing.  Wiping tears from her eyes, “What would you say if I told you Iwas the one who came onto him?”

Gabriella's eyes went wide, confused.  “Wh-what?”

Marie nodded.  “Well, to be fair, he is just as excited now, but it doesn't change that I initiated the relationship.  Actually, I think most of them were like that, now that I think about it...”

What even is this royal family...? Deciding to give in, Gabriella shook her hand, “Alright, fine, fine, I'll go...”

Marie seemed a bit surprised, but then smiled and nodded.  “Excellent.  I'd recommend you pay attention to Mac and his wives, and then see if he's really the type of person you think he is.”  She then left, closing the door after herself.

Gabriella just sat there a moment, before setting down her sword and whetstone.  I guess we'll see.

Night with Daisy

The night before they left, Mac was spending the night with Daisy.  When he went into her room, she was sitting at her crafting table (which had been moved up into the palace from her hut).  When she realized Mac had come in, she quickly covered whatever she was working on.  Looking over her shoulder at him, she gave a grin, “Hold on, you're not supposed to see it yet!”

Mac, assuming it must be something for him, turned around, “Sorry, sorry...”

After a few moments of shuffling and drawer opening, Mac felt the strong arms of Daisy wrapping around his midsection.

“You gonna miss me?” Daisy asked, a bit of a chuckle in her voice.

“Of course I will,” Mac said, turning around and giving her a kiss.  He went to grab her sarashi and pull it off, but Daisy stopped him.  “Wha-.”

Daisy shook her head, “We can in a minute, I just had a couple things to say first.”

Mac nodded and sat down with Daisy on her bed.

“Err...Lord Harald wants to have our wedding in Stromvurk.  Is that okay with you?” Daisy asked.

Mac nodded, “Yeah, what about you?  Do you not want to?” he asked, seeing she seemed a bit uncomfortable.

Daisy smiled weakly, “No I do, normally dwarf weddings are held underground.  I'm just...worried, because he wants to make a big deal out of it.”

Mac chuckled a bit, “It is a big deal though!” he exclaimed giving her another kiss.

Daisy nodded.  “Yes but...I think he's making it too big of a deal.”

Mac thought he knew what she was getting at.  “You're worried it's gonna turn out like my wedding with Kay?”

Daisy nodded again.  “Yes.  Just with less cat-humans and more dwarfs.”

Mac thought for a bit.  “Well, just talk to Lord Harald about it.  And if he isn't listening, tell him I'll be unhappy if he's not listening to you.”

Daisy smiled, giving him a tight hug.  “You're too nice to me...”

Mac, feeling the moment, gave her another tender kiss.  “Daisy, you know I'm always here for you, right?”

Daisy blushed, looking up at him.  “What are you trying to butter me up for, I'm already gonna have sex with ya.”

Mac chuckled, “No, no, I mean...I love you, Daisy.  I just...want you to know that.”

Daisy looked at him, a bit shocked, then teared up a bit, hugging him even tighter.  “Oh, I love you too, you big hunk.”

Hunk!?

However, Mac didn't have time to think about the compliment as Daisy pushed him onto the bed, pulling off both their clothes.  Roughly making out with him, she pressed him down and stuck his member inside her.

Mac chuckled, “Are you trying to get pregnant before I leave?”

Daisy stopped, thinking for a moment.  “It'd be nice to tell my parents when we meet them at the wedding.”

Mac wasn't sure how he felt about that, but as Daisy started pumping herself up and down, he didn't really have time to think about it regardless.

After a few moments of violent thrusting, Mac released inside her, holding her tightly as they kissed some more.

“Hold me...” Daisy said, panting as she laid on top of him.

Mac pulled her up close, their bodies intertwined as they caught their breath.

After a few moments, Daisy said, “I'll do my best.”

Mac chuckled, “What do you mean?”

Daisy looked at him, “I'll do my best as a Queen.  Really I just wanna marry ya, the Queen part is...”

Mac shook his head, rolling her bangs back and kissing her.  “You'll be fine.”

Daisy smiled, laying her face on his chest and closing her eyes.

Heading Out

The next day, Mac was in the front yard while the carriage and wagons were being loaded, listening to La Hire explain the trip.  Due to the assassination attempt at Kay's wedding, they were bringing a larger contingent guards than normal along.

“We've already scouted out the locations we're stopping at.  I'd also prefer if we didn't spend too much time in the cities, although I understand it's part of the trip,” La Hire said, looking over a stack of papers one by one.

Mac nodded.  Yeah, I'll try not to do anything stupid...

Behind him, La Hire's wife and fiance were helping to load the maid carriage, with Kay talking to them.  While Kay was pregnant, she wasn't far along yet (not showing at all through her dress) and Tillie had given her the okay to travel.

“How are things going with your wife?” Mac asked.

La Hire blushed a bit, but nodded. “Fine...I believe.”

Mac nodded in understanding.

Fawna, who was also coming as Mac's assigned maid, came over and bowed.  “Everything has been loaded, sire.”

Mac smiled at her and nodded, “Thanks Fawna.”

Fawna blushed a bit and scurried to the maid carriage.

As Mac got in to the royal carriage, he saw Emma was already inside sitting at the table, going over her papers.

Rhea was also inside, seeming to have just transformed into big form, pulling a dress on.  When she saw Mac, she ran over and hugged him, squishing her breasts onto his chest.  “I can kiss you properly like this,” she said, before leaning up and doing just that.

Mac hugged her as well, glad she was so upbeat.  He then felt someone hugging him from behind.

“Hey, I want some too!” Kay said behind him.

Mac rolled his eyes and gave her a kiss too.

As the carriage started it's journey, Mac took his normal seat next to the window, watching the familiar (at least for now) scenery roll by.

Emma was still reviewing her papers, while Kay and Rhea were giggling about something on the bed.

When they hit a lull in their conversation, Mac decided to ask.  “Kay...how exactly does your info-gathering operation work?”

Kay crossed her arms, looking over at him.

“Do you...not wanna tell me?”

Kay shook her head, “No, it's not that.  I trust you and everyone here, I'm just not sure where to start.”

“Oh.  Well, you're going on this trip to develop more contacts, right?  What's all involved with that?” Mac asked curiously.

Kay tapped her cheek.  “Well, it depends.  Sometimes we bribe them.  Usually with gold, but sometimes with random trinkets or other valuables they wouldn't be able to normally get.  Oftentimes we trade info for info.  If they can bring something useful to their master, they're willing to tell us something about them in exchange.”

Mac nodded slowly, Makes sense.

“Sometimes people will just offer up info, expecting a future favor.  Or on some occasions just because they want to be helpful.”

“Really?  That almost seems too good to be true.”

Kay shrugged, “We've discussed this before, but you're very popular amongst the maids of the realm.  For reasons I'm sure you're aware of.”

Mac blushed a bit.

Kay giggled.  “And then we also have our Gascon network.  My sisters and cousins in different houses provide us info all the time, and us them.”

Mac was taken aback.  “You give them info about us!?”

Kay nodded.  “Of course.  Not anything that would harm the country, of course, but we need to provide them with info in order to get any back.  It can't just flow one way.”

I guess that makes sense.  “Are the houses aware of this?  Why do they even let your family in, then?”

“Well, some don't, which is when we need to contact other people.  Some are aware of it, to different degrees, but since they are doing, or at least attempting, to do the same thing, it's tolerated, again to different degrees.”

Mac scrunched his face, trying to wrap his head around it.

Kay giggled, getting off the bed and giving him a peck on the lips.  “Don't worry, I'm here to take care of it.”

Eventually, as dusk neared, they stopped at an inn.  While their entourage wasn't as large as the trip to Kay's wedding, they still had rented out the entire inn for safety reasons.

Rhea gave him one more kiss, then shrunk into small form and went into Mac's pocket.  They (well really the three women) had decided Rhea would get to spend the first night with him.

Once at the inn, they gathered together at a table to eat, while Fawna attended them.

As she was eating, Emma said, a bit introspectively, “I feel weird, having gotten used to this,” she said.

Mac chuckled, “Why are you thinking about that now?”

Emma blushed a bit, “Being like this reminds me of the first trip together.”

Kay giggled, “I wished I had been able to go on that.”

“Sorry...I-” Mac started.

Kay cut him off by stuffing a roll his his mouth.  “Don't be sorry.  You needed to get with Mel before I stood a chance anyway,” she added, poking him in the side.

Rhea, who was sitting in Mac's pocket, munching on a carrot, asked, “What did you do that on that trip?  I've heard bits, but not the whole thing.”

Mac gave a brief summary, with a couple additions from Emma, about the first trip he had made.

After finishing, Rhea nodded, “Wow, that sounds like a fun adventure.”

Emma blushed a bit, “Yes, we had so much...fun.”

Mac chuckled, “We've done way more serious stuff than we did on the trip...”

“Yes, but...it was all fresh and new then.”

Mac shook his head, pretending to be disappointed.  “What?  Are you tired of me now?”

“You know that's not what I mean!” Emma said, playfully punching him repeatedly.

After dinner, they went up to their rooms.  After giving Emma and Kay a good-night kiss, he (with Rhea still in pocket) closed the door on his own room.

Rhea immediately went into large form, wrapping herself around him.  “Hehehe, I've been waiting all day for this!” she exclaimed, making out with him to the point he almost fell over.

“Rhea...hold...on...” he said, trying to stop her.

“What's wrong?” Rhea asked, disappointed.

“I just wanted to wash first,” he said, pointing to the steaming tub.  “Fawna probably lugged that up for us, so I'd feel bad not using it.”

Rhea nodded in agreement, floating over with a light splash while Mac undressed.

“Do you like Fawna?  She likes you a lot...I think,” Rhea explained, as she leaned up again Mac after he slid into the tub.

Mac sighed, “She's nice enough.  I just feel like I should have handled that situation better...”

Rhea seemed confused, “What do you mean?  I don't see how getting another cute wife after helping them out is a bad thing,” Rhea said, teasing him a bit.

Mac chuckled, “Now you sound like Elly.”  After thinking for a bit, he nodded, “I guess I'll see how she feels at some point.”

Rhea nodded, before turning to straddle him in the tub.  “You know how I feel, though.”

Mac leaned over and kissed her, sliding his member into her while grabbing her purple breasts.

Rhea giggled a bit.  “Why are we always doing this in tubs?”

Mac shrugged, “I feel like that's partly on you.”

After finishing in the tub, they dried off and went to the bed to continue.

Mac laid down while Rhea floated on top of him, slowly grinding against him until Mac eventually finished inside her.

After he had, Rhea fell down next to him, kissing him gently.  “I hope we have babies soon.”

Mac smiled.  “Me too.  I still wanna know if our babies will be purple though.”

Rhea shrugged, “Do you want them to be?”

Mac shrugged back, “If they're as cute as you, then why not?”

Rhea blushed a bit, before jumping back on top of him.  “Guess we need to make sure we have them then!”

In the morning, Mac felt incredibly exhausted.  He had actually been having lesssex lately, since some of his partners were getting along in their pregnancies, which either limited or precluded their lovemaking sessions.

Of course, Rhea was not one of them (at least as of yet) and so they had gone for a while last night.  As enjoyable as it was, his body now didn't want to move.

He heard Rhea next to him, giving him a gentle shaking.

“Sorry, sorry, I'll get up,” Mac said, reaching over and kissing Rhea.

However, as his eyes adjusted, he realized the person he had just kissed was not, in fact, Rhea, but instead Fawna, who had been standing next to his bed trying to wake him.

Quickly realizing the mistake, he let go.

Fawna was blushing intensely, and trembling slightly.

“I'm so sorry Fawna, I thought you were...one of my wives,” he said, remembering in time to stop himself from revealing the existence of his spirit companion.

Fawna slowly nodded, “It's okay sire, I assumed that was the case.  It's my fault for waking you so...”

Mac shook his head, as he looked out of the window.  “No, I'm guessing it's time to leave, so you needed to.”

After a moment of awkward silence, she quickly helped Mac get dressed.  She had seen him naked multiple times now, and besides some blushing the first couple times, got used to it as part of her job.  Mac had also resisted the first few times, but eventually he decided to just let her dress him if she was doing it as part of her job.

After finishing, Fawna took her leave and headed down.

After she left, Mac heard a soft laughing from under the pillow.  “Hehehe, I saw something good...”

Mac looked over at Rhea, who climbed out from under the pillow (in small form) and flew over.  “You seem a lot more serious about her now than you did last night.”

Mac thought about being angry, but then just sighed.  “Do you think she really likes me?  Or is she just infatuated with the King?”

Rhea nodded, “Oh, her Mac-love points are off the charts.  Maybe even more than mine.”

Mac rolled his eyes, “Well, I know how high that is.”

Rhea giggled, “I love you, Mac.”

Mac was a bit taken aback at the sudden bluntness, but then smiled, “I love you too, Rhea.”

Rhea blushed and gave him a kiss, before jumping into his pocket.

That day went much the same as the first, although the three girls kept looking and giggling at him occasionally.

Mac shook his head.  She must have told them about Fawna.  He still had conflicted feelings about Fawna.  It wasn't that he didn't find her attractive, or that she didn't appreciate her help around the palace, or even that he didn't value how she felt.  He was more concerned Fawna was doing everything out of a sense of obligation as opposed to genuine feelings.  Of course, several of his other relationships weredue to obligation, but that didn't mean Fawna's had to be as well.

I'll just need to talk to her about it.

That night, instead of stopping at Loren, they instead headed towards Emma's family farm.  As they rolled in, Mac could see their current crop of plants growing nicely.  I wonder if I need to send the guards to help harvest again?  I doubt my wives would let me do it...

Emma burst out of the carriage once they stopped, running up and hugging her parents.

Ernest pulled in Mac for a hug, “Good to see you, son.”

Emilia also gave him a tight squeeze.  “An honor to have the King visit us again,” she giggled.

The younger twins came up, giving Emma a hug, before coming over to Mac.  “Let's play Rocks big bro.”

Mac chuckled before following them inside.

Emilia went over to Kay, “Good to see you again, mmm...daughter?  Niece?  I'm not sure how to refer to you.”

“Nyahaha, whatever you want is fine,” Kay said, rubbing her cheek on Emilia's.

“Oh, and who's this cutie?” Emilia asked.  She was looking at Fawna, who was about to follow Mac inside.

Fawna did a curtsy.  “I'm Fawna.  I'm King Mac's personal maid.”

Emilia giggled, “Oh, so you'll be the next wife, then.”

Fawna blushed as the other girls giggled.

Ernest was a bit bewildered, just smiling awkwardly and nodding along.

After a few games of Rocks, everyone gathered in the kitchen to eat some of Emilia's home cooking (with some help from his wives and the maids).  Dinner was a large pot of vegetable stew, with several baked loaves of bread.

Ernest turned to them, “So, who is this wedding you're going too?  Someone important?”

Mac did a  half nod.  “Sort of.  It's more to show me out and about after...you know...”

Emilia and Ernest gave a serious nod.  The news had spread like wildfire about the assassination attempt, although since Mac had been seen as fine almost right away, there hadn't been as much of an uproar as they thought might occur.

Emma jumped in to cut the somber mood, “We're also testing out our new Agricultural Plan!”

Since her parents seemed confused, Emma launched into an explanation of everything their Agricultural Plan entailed.

After she was done, her parents had forced smiles on.

“Um, that's great Emma.  I'm sure you'll do a fantastic job!” Emilia replied.

Emma hugged her, “Thanks mom!”

After they finished eating, they sat around the table, chatting (except Emilia, who had gone out to cook for the guards, with Fiona and Kelly's help).

“Are you going to be come back tomorrow night?” Ernest asked.

Emma shook her head, “No, we're only spending the morning in Loren, then we need to continue traveling to stay on time.”

Ernest smiled, rubbing Emma's hair.  “That's my princess, being all important now.”

Emma gave a 'hmpf'.  “What are you saying, I'm a Queen now!”

This earned a laugh from the rest of them.

After that, Mac played a few more rounds of Rocks with Emma's brothers, while the rest of them settled in for the night.

After Mac was soundly beaten for the dozenth time that day, Emilia chased the brothers off to bed, and Mac headed up to the top bedroom.  He didn't see Emma downstairs, so assumed she was already upstairs.

Heading into the room, Emma seemed to be already asleep in the bed (the same one Emma had paid a nighttime visit to him the first time they had been to the farmhouse).  That's surprising, usually Emma is...rearing to go on our nights.

Carefully getting into his tracksuit and into bed, he sidled up next to Emma.

Emma then turned around to look at him, seeming a bit worried.

“What's wrong?” Mac asked, noticing something was off.

“I'm just...nervous.  I don't want to mess up.”

Mac shook his head, “Everything will be fine.  You'll do great.”

Emma seemed a bit placated, giving him a kiss and snuggling into his chest.