Chapter 12

Mark had popped back to visit the Guild Lords at the end of the second week.

He dropped off the thirty odd single gem items he had for each and explained why they had fixed them first. Renita and Palene had both agreed that they liked his and Jean’s reasoning and they believed they had found new candidates for many them.

He had also redesigned them, and they now had two crystals on each and the gem for the discipline. He had also made the recipients small satchels that were about 32cm long by 24cm high. They curved around at the bottom corners and had an 8cm strip that joined the back to the front. A long carrying strap was attached to them.

Each one was coloured to match a primary discipline. Lore was blue, Physics was purple, Energy was red, Earth was orange, Psychic was yellow, Nature was green, and Shields were black. They each had the symbol for the discipline embossed on the cover flap. He planned to add the extra symbols when he made the ones with sub-disciplines.

He had also played with the spell for accessing dimensional storage space and reduced it to a more manageable area. He decided if you needed to carry around more than a cubic meter of junk, you should get a cart or a traveller. He added the lock spell on the flap and the return spell and attached the satchel to an item.

He placed a ring or a medallion into a small box and added a spell book that had a communication spell. The book had a small stylus (like a pen for us) that could be used to write in the book and for assisting with delicate spells.

If the stylus was tapped on the cover of the spell book, and a name was said, the recipient would hear a tingling sound, so they knew they were getting a call. The stylus could be put in a pocket or down the spine of the book.

The girls liked that he presented them in this manner and could see a thousand uses for the spaces in the satchels, making him glad he had reduced the space and locked the spell so they couldn’t expand it and only he could. He had included a couple of dozen spare satchels with basic spell books for each discipline for the mages who still had their items.

Palene told Mark, when he visited, that a few people had been very surprised when she announced she was the new Lord but they soon got used to it. They may not have liked some of her changes, but she felt that as Mark made new items available for her to hand out, attitudes would change.

She really liked the spare satchels and books and believed her current people were going to love them. The fact they identified them as mages wouldn’t hurt either. Mark did say that if they didn’t wish them to be visible, a glamour or ‘hide-me’ spell could be put on them. She agreed this wasn’t a bad idea either if they were busy with other work and didn’t wish to be accosted all of the time.

She told Mark that Lady Marlene had visited her. She was very upset and wanted to know who put the spells on her house. Palene had told her that to her knowledge it wasn’t one of her people. Marlene didn’t mention Grace’s disappearance, but she did want to know where Gralin went.

Marlene wasn’t happy to learn that Gralin had joined with Renita and that she had abdicated so she could live with her and their daughter, Grace. Palene told Mark that Marlene now believed Renita had rescued her daughter and put the spells on her house.

She didn’t disabuse her of this idea, as she was sure Mark would prefer this was the story that went around. Mark was more than happy with this outcome. Renita had told Palene that she wished it had been her. Palene had heard that Queen Robina wasn’t any happier than Marlene with this news.

Palene didn’t have children and neither the Queen nor Marlene would harm her family, as her mother had a lot of powerful connections and ran a lot of the silk farming in their country. It was also well known that her family had very high opinions on what a magician should and should not do, so it was no use trying to corrupt her.

Mark was very happy when he left her. He was just as pleased when he met up with Renita and Gralin. They were very happy finally being able to be together with their daughter. Gralin had become one of Renita’s teachers, and she was very content.

They were delighted to accept the new items and like Palene had identified people they felt were worthy of them. They also liked the idea of the novices having to earn the right to upgrade when Jean and Mark had more items available for them.

They were also planning to be very tight-lipped about where the new items came from. Mark said to tell anyone who asked that they had fixed them after purchasing the Quaz crystal from the traveller the same as Palene was going to. They also loved the new spell books, styluses and satchels.

Both Guild Lords had also graciously accepted the bags of crystals that Mark provided for them. Mark suggested that they used some of them to upgrade the protection spells on their schools first. They agreed this was prudent. He happily taught them some of his favourite spells, and by the time he got home to Jean, he had left some very happy Lords behind.

For Mark and Jean, the next four weeks passed by very quickly. They spent the mornings with the flickers doing chores and teaching them new skills. They spent the afternoons working on the items and kept the evenings for their own enjoyment.

Mark did make one or two small trips into Morton to keep up with the gossip and collect a few handy items they wanted. Mark’s main reason for visiting was to scrounge through their book stores. He even visited similar stores in Riverview, Lakeside and Portland in the north and Villas and Milton in the south.

Jean found Mark’s insatiable appetite for knowledge refreshing, and she was more than happy to share his new finds with him since she too loved learning. However, they didn’t always share the same love of different types of music.

Mark had learnt that a company had devised a machine to play a form of a vinyl disc that music could be recorded on. You had to wind up a spring to make it spin but he, of course, used a little magic, so it didn’t run out of energy.

Mark found through experimenting that if he could think of a song he knew and the music for it, he could transfer it to a disc using a spell. He had to wipe a lot of them, while he perfected his magical skills to achieve this outcome but he still had a lot of fun trying.

Jean soon learnt he liked some very weird music as far as she was concerned. The music on this planet was dominantly more of what Mark thought of as classical music or folk singing. He had developed a taste for soft-rock and even liked some of what he called hard-rock from his home world’s archives and that his own people had added to over time.

A man from a planet called Earth had supplied the archives to their controller, Tory. He was considered the father of the Toran people. The controller had used parts of her’s and his genetic material, mixed with Keltrian DNA, to create the Paragon race.

When Mark thought of some Blues music, some Jazz and even some Country music, he happily recorded these songs too. The couple were both amused that Kia and the other Primes liked Blues and Country music. Mark even dredged up some of what he called Reggae and wasn’t surprised Kia liked this music too.

He did manage some classics that he knew pleased Jean. While she gardened, she loved to play them and the originals from her world that he purchased for her. Apparently, she developed a following amongst her fellow gardeners.

For fun, Mark made several basic musical instruments such as drum sets, flutes, tambourines, a simple form of a banjo and a xylophone for the flickers. He was surprised how fast different flickers took up playing them, and they were soon making their own music.

The Primes decided the banjo was their instrument and it was amusing to watch them happily sitting around coming up with different sounds and creating their own music. They even worked out how to add to the sounds, using their tails as a third hand to create some very complex compilations.

Mark had made a bigger banjo for himself and had taught the flickers, cords and finger placements, and different beats. They then added their own variations. The other flickers would pick up on the songs Mark played and then developed and added their bits. The whole lot of them had some very amusing evenings.

As the storms abated, things started to warm up, and the snow melted. Several of the pregnant flickers gave birth to add to their growing tribes. Since they had survived the worst of the weather in comfort and with plenty of food, they were healthy and had little trouble. Twins and even triplets are common for flickers.

Kia had managed to knock up all three of his new wives, and it would be another month before he added to his own tribe. He was pleased that the other Primes now had healthy children. They had both lost most of their children before they had come to live with them. So far, there wasn’t any talk of them moving back out.

Mark suspected that Kia and Bobo had no intention of kicking them out either. While essentially they were three tribes, they had worked out their pecking order. The three Primes didn’t touch each other’s selected wives, but all three had agreed that any of the other females that wished to be serviced could approach the male of their choice.

This had been well received by the females and even approved of by the wives. Having their Prime servicing the servants was normal, as far as their society went. Allowing the servants to choose, however, was a little different. Nevertheless, the fact that they had the choice created a lot of harmony in the tribes.

They were not forced to submit, but they also had to take no for an answer if the Prime didn’t wish to service them at the time. Kia, in particular, had to learn to say ‘no’. They were running him ragged, to begin with, and he didn’t wish to upset the other Primes.

The servants and even the wives were allowed to change form for fun sex, but not to breed. Only the Prime, who owned the female, had that right. He could, however, allow another Prime the privilege. Kia wanted diversity in his tribes. He had learnt a lot more than Jean had realised while in captivity.

Kia made sure he offered the first two of his servants who came into season to each of the other Primes. He even explained to the females why he wished to do this when they were reluctant. They agreed. The two Primes found that when they had females in season, they felt obliged to do the same.

Kia knew the females had discussed his explanations with each other and even Jean. They made sure their Primes complied. The Primes had also worked out Kia had his reasons, and so far he hadn’t steered them wrong, so they played the game.

The fact that Kia didn’t otherwise intervene in how they ran their households, as long as they didn’t beat their people, wasn’t lost on them. The fact they had never had it so good, wasn’t either. They had no intention of shaking the tree, and since they both had happy pregnant wives, they were very contented flickers.

Then Jean went into labour. For Kia, Bobo and Mark, Jean’s announcement that the babies were coming set them into a flurry of activity. Sammy was born first, and then Davy followed almost on her heels. If Jean was surprised by how fast and smooth her delivery was, Mark wasn’t.

He was very calm and supportive and talked her through it as if he had delivered many babies even though these were his first. Jean had to smile at Mark’s delight when he finally got to hold his children. She had no doubt that he would prove to be a loving father. They were both amused that Kia and Bobo had sat with them through the whole delivery.

It was obvious that they considered them part of their family too.

Mark visited the Guild Lords the following week and delivered more items.

He had asked Palene if she minded if they visited with Renita so they could also have a chat in private. Palene had learnt how to blink the distance, and she was delighted to see Mark. She happily agreed to go with him to the meeting.

Mark and Jean had both discussed the spells they wanted on the new items they had made and the ones they had refurbished. The new entities that claimed them were more than happy with their efforts. The couple knew some of the recipients might not be quite so happy with them being stricter than in the past, but that was tough, as far as they were concerned.

Palene and Renita didn’t even bat an eyelid when they examined the new items that he had brought for them. They graciously accepted the items, and Mark could see he had their full support. The recipients were going to have to earn them.

He had delivered two gem medallions, the rings and new three gem Shield medallions. The rings weren’t as strong as the medallions, but they were a stepping stone for those not quite ready for the latter.

Renita and Palene were however shocked when Mark asked them to open a special box he had brought just for them. They both paled when he explained that they were full sets that he had promised them. “Mark, no, we will be as powerful as you and Jean. That’s just not right,” Renita exclaimed.

“Well, no,” he said cryptically.

Palene’s eyes went wide, “What have you done?”

“Nothing,” he said, but his non-repentant naughty little boy smirk belled a different story. They could all tell that he was quite delighted with himself.

“You did it, didn’t you?” Galina said in shock.

“Well, I didn’t mean to,” he tried. Then he had to chuckle when Galina burst out laughing, and Renita and Palene just gaped at him.