Part 7 - For the Love of the Queen

Feeling the familiar warmth and weight of Suzi lying on top of him, Joey didn't move when he first awoke.

But when he opened his eyes and found himself back in the royal bed chambers, he decided he needed to after all.

"Suz," he said gently, rubbing her naked back. "Wake up Suz. The dream is back."

"Hmmm?" she said sleepily, then smiled and stretched as she pulled herself up to give him a kiss on the lips.

"Morning to you too," Joey said tenderly. "Is the Queen the Queen, or herself right now?"

"Huh?" Suzi asked as she opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. "Hey, I know this place."

"I hope so," Joey said warmly, relieved to see she wasn't in her dream persona. "You're the decorator, after all."

"Joey, this is amazing," Suzi exclaimed after sitting up and taking it all in. "It looks and feels completely real."

"Yeah, I know. Even the sex feels real," Joey said suggestively.

"Didn't you get enough of that earlier?" Suzi asked with a crooked grin.

"I never get enough of it when it's with you," Joey said while giving her the raised eyebrow.

"Tempting..." Suzi said before stroking Joey's hard on, sending him into another world from the incredible pleasure the Queen's touch produced.

Just then, the chamber's door was opened a crack, followed by a familiar voice calling "My Queen?"

"Yes, um ... Liz," Suzi replied.

"My Queen, two dragons are circling the castle, and the enemy's army outside has fled. His Excellency, Sir Eric of Atlantia is preparing to slay the dragons. Master Timicus thought you would like to observe?"

"Yes, I think we will," Suzi said, releasing Joey's cock from her grasp. "Thank you Liz."

"Thank you, my Queen."

"Who was that?" Joey asked slightly dazed. "Her voice sounded familiar."

"I don't know, actually," Suzi said as she got up and put on her robe. "I don't think I've ever seen her face."

"Shit, Suz. Aren't you going to put something more on than that?"

"Nope," Suzi said while grinning so hard her teeth showed. "It's good to be the Queen."

Joey chuckled, then grinned for another reason as he said, "Well, since I'm going to be king, can you hand me my robe? It's hanging on that chair behind you."

Joey witnessed both the chair and the robe materializing out of thin air as Suzi turned towards it. He didn't bother covering up his smile when she turned and handed it to him, knowing she would simply take it as him getting a kick out of seeing her breasts barely covered like they were.

Suzi led them to the balcony doors and opened them. They both gasped at the incredible view they found waiting for them outside.

From their high vantage point, they could see three villages in the distance separated by lush green forests. The castle itself was humongous, as was the garden like grounds surrounding the castle walls.

"What the hell?" Joey exclaimed as a strange shadow moved across the castle and onto the grounds beneath them. "Holly shit, Suz. It's a fucking dragon."

"Well, that's what Liz said," Suzi stated as she shaded her eyes from the bright sun and peered out looking for Eric. "I don't see him. Maybe he's on the other side of the castle."

"Who?"

"Eric," Suzi said, frowning at him. "Didn't you hear what Liz said?"

"Uh..." Joey stammered as he started turning red. "I guess not. You were ... And I was..."

Suzi grinned and said, "I forgot what the Queen's touch does to a man. Come on, my king-to-be. Lets go find out what Sir Eric is up to."

After inquiring one of the guards posted outside the bedchambers, Suzi lead them out to what she called a belvedere. To Joey it was simply a small lookout tower along the outer wall.

Several people were already there watching as Eric and his squire shuffled around the two beasts looking for their moment to strike. Suzi and Joey watched with astonishment as Eric dodged two fireballs then hoped over one of the beasts' swinging tail without losing his position.

"Who's that with him?" Suzi asked after the boy tumbled out of the way of a slashing claw.

"My brother, my Queen," they heard Liz's voice say from the other side of the tower.

Even before Joey looked over at her, he had recognized the voice, but Suzi hadn't until she saw the woman's worried face and gasped, "Candice."

"Your brother?" Joey asked as Suzi recovered from her surprise.

"Yes, m'Lord," Candice/Liz replied, her eyes never leaving the scene below. "I heard my brother had been selected as his Excellency's squire, but none mentioned his training with dragons."

Suzi turned to watch the boy closely, then in a huff said, "I wish someone had a pair of binoculars!"

Timicus poofed in and said, "Did I hear my Queen make a wish?"

"Yes," Suzi said turning to her sorcerer, but then hesitated a moment to smirk at his untamed long hair and facial hair.

"The Queen would like a pair of binoculars," Joey said for her.

"Bi knock..." Timicus said with some confusion.

"It's a device with curved pieces of glass that make distant things appear closer to the person using them."

"Ah, you speak of a crystal ball," Timicus said before poofing one into his hand.

"Err, no, but I guess that'll work too," Joey said.

"Show me the boy," Suzi commanded.

Timicus placed his hands on the sides of the ball and stroked it with his fingers. The crystal clouded, then a blurred image formed in the center and started to sharpen.

"I know that face," Suzi said once James's image had come into focus. "Isn't that the kid that ran off on Tim when he was down at Southeast state?"

"My Queen?" Timicus said, baffled by her words.

"Not you," Suzi said before looking up at Joey and seeing his guilty expression.

"What's wrong?" Suzi asked tenderly.

"I don't know him," Joey confessed. "I mean, I know some gay kid went with Tim and Eric to Southeast and ran off, but I never met him."

"I assure you, my Queen, James would never leave his master without him wishing it," Timicus insisted.

"Well it has to be him," Suzi sighed. "I guess this means Eric's running the show now."

"Running the show?" Timicus queried.

Suzi gave Timicus a smile and said softly so the others would not hear, "Never mind, my lover. Never mind."

"Yes, my Queen," Timicus said with tenderness.

The gasps from the others brought their attention back to the fight below and they realized they had missed the slaying of the first dragon as Eric and James started to reposition themselves around the second.

When James tripped and moments later Eric got knocked off his feet, everyone gasped again and held their breath as the dragon opened its mouth to finish Eric off.

But James had scrambled to his feet and while the dragon's tail was still high up in the air, he rammed his pike straight into the beast's bum hole clear to the hilt before leaping backwards to get out of the path of the beast's already shuffling feet and swinging tail.

"Holy shit! That has to hurt!" Joey exclaimed as the dragon screeched in pain.

"Not as much as that did," Suzi said when Eric sliced the beast's neck in half and the head part fell to the ground.

"Request to leave the safety of the castle, my Queen?" Candice asked rather shakily.

"Request granted," Suzi said. "In fact I think we'll go with you."

"Suz, wait a sec," Joey said as everyone began shuffling out.

"Wait outside, boys," Suzi ordered her personal guard.

Once they were alone, Joey said, "What are you planning to do?"

"I don't know," Suzi said honestly. "Why?"

"Well, seeing how the dream ended when I brought you out of your dream ... um, self..."

"You mean if Eric is running the dream and we wake him up, we'll be in that black place again?" Suzi concluded.

"Yeah, I think so. But maybe it's Candice or someone else who's dreaming it, and Eric is just playing along for the fun of it."

"Joey, if Timmy is doing this, why isn't he in here with us? Timicus isn't Timmy. He's not even a dream-self version of Tim. I would know if it was."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Joey admitted. "The moment I first saw you on that throne, I knew it was you and not a dream character. I don't know, Suz. But I'm actually kind of enjoying this. Aren't you? It's not every day you get to live within one of your own dreams."

"So I guess that means if Eric is the one running the dream now, we don't try to bring him out of it," Suzi assumed.

"That's my vote," Joey said, then grinned and added, "After all, I'm about to be crowned king."

Suzi mirrored his grin, then grasped his hand and tugged him towards the exit saying, "Let's go, my King. Our new champion awaits."

After Suzi navigated the way through the tunnels and halls down to the main floor, Joey whispered to her, "How do you know where you're going?"

"It's my castle," she whispered back mysteriously.

Joey simply shook his head and accepted she must have dreamt the place up many times before.

As they approached the large group who where escorting the dragon slayers inside, the crowd all fell to their knees and bowed their heads in respect to their Queen.

"Rise, my people," Suzi said with a grin. "And bring forth the two heroes who have proven their courage and love worthy of receiving the Queen's kiss."

"Shit, Suz," Joey chucked under his breath.

"Get used to it, buddy boy," Suzi whispered to him.

As Eric and James approached the Queen's party, both Suzi and Joey knew from Eric's expression that he was in fact in a dream persona.

"My Queen," the two slayers said in respect as they kneeled and bowed their heads again.

"Sir Eric Roberts of Atlantia, you and..."

"Squire James Nathalion Ritter of Saint Greggor," Timicus whispered.

"You and your squire," Suzi shortened, "have proven yourself in combat against these terrible beasts which threaten your Queen and her people. Sir Eric, you have also proven many times in the past your expert swordsmanship and your dedication to spreading the Queen's love and will to her people. Therefore, I hereby name you as my next Champion, effective immediately following my marriage to our new King, Sir Joseph Theodore Connor of ... of..."

"Oakley, my Queen," Timicus reminded her.

"Of Oakley," Suzi finished, resisting the grin trying to form on her lips.

"I am honored, my Queen," Eric said with eyes full of life.

"And as for you, Squire," Suzi said, her own eyes sparkling. "Approach the Queen and prepare to receive her kiss."

James nervously got up on his feet and stepped forward, but tripped on his own feet and fell straight into her.

As the boy began tearing up and apologizing, Joey grinned and said loudly, "Your beauty is truly intoxicating, my Queen."

After the crowd chuckled, Suzi put the boy at ease by kissing his lips and gently running her tongue across them to part them. Once the boy obliged, she French kissed him for nearly a minute before gently breaking their lips apart and smiled at the dazed boy's face.

"Let it be known throughout the kingdom that tomorrow night we shall crown our new king and re-knight our new Champion."

"And the orgy, my Queen," Timicus reminded her. "Don't forget the orgy."

"Oh, and following that, the standard twenty-four hour kingdom wide orgy will commence," Suzi rattled off quickly.

"Hurray!" the crowd cheered.

Joey just shook his head grinning as Suzi turned red, but he didn't say a word.

"Lady Elizabeth," Suzi called out.

"Yes my Queen?"

"Please tend to the Squire's needs while his master takes his purification bath and then joins his Queen for his duties."

"Yes, my Queen."

"My Queen," Timicus interrupted in a low whisper. "It is Sir Eric's and my wish for the Queen to share her love with the Squire before they leave on their seven year quest. This is of course only if the Queen desires to do so herself."

Suzi frowned, then looked over at the boy and caught him bashfully lowering his eyes in respect, but not before she caught his gaze of wonder. When the boy glanced back up a moment later, she watched his cheeks turn red, then she smiled warmly at him when he unconsciously adjusted his crotch.

"Very well. Send him to me in the morning."

"Yes, my Queen. Thank you, my Queen."

"Timicus, is there any other business I need to ... announce?"

"No, my Queen. I believe you have covered it all."

"Very good. Then everyone is excused to return to their own business."

"That's weird," Joey suddenly said as everyone stood up and started chatting and wandering away.

"What is?" Suzi asked.

"I just realized ... When this was your dream, everyone talked really strange. Now they don't talk as funny."

"I don't understand."

"Saying thee, thou, shit like that."

Suzi shrugged her shoulders and said, "It must be because Eric is the one dreaming it, and not me."

"Yeah, but why is everything else the same as yours? Timicus, the castle, the, heh, orgies."

Suzi started turning red again, but then shook it off and said, "I guess he must have liked the idea and kept the setting. I don't know. We'll have to ask Timmy when we see him."

"Hmm," Joey grunted in agreement.

"Oh, I just remembered," Suzi exclaimed. "Come on. I want you to meet our son."

"Our son?" Joey echoed.

As Suzi led the way towards the Prince's chambers, they came upon Candice and James slowly walking to Candice's quarters, James chattering away about his dragon slaying training.

"How many times did you die?"

"I don't know. I lost count. I got swallowed whole lot, chomped up into pieces, stepped on, burned ... I got melted by this one acid spitting dragon three times in a row. Oh, and one time this red dragon sliced me in half with its claws. That was kind of cool. I never saw the back of my legs before."

"Didn't it hurt?"

"Yeah," he said with a shrug. "But you get used to it after the first twenty or thirty times. "Master and I even joked about how much we must have liked dieing as much as we did it. But we really didn't. The worse parts were when I had to kill the master myself to end his pain."

"Oh, James," Candice said, hugging him. "Are sure you want to be his squire? I could ask the Queen..."

"I'd rather die for real than not be his squire," James exclaimed with a touch of panic, pushing himself out of her hug. "He's ... He's..."

"Okay, my little brother," Candice said calmly. "I just don't want another member of my family to be eaten by a dragon."

"I won't, I promise."

As Candice and James continued on, Suzi waited until they were out of earshot before saying to Joey, "Why is she here?"

Joey looked at her in surprise and said, "Isn't it obvious?"

"Not to me, it isn't," Suzi said, frowning. "She messed with his mind and his family's. Why would he even consider..."

Joey sighed, then said, "Tim told me last fall that Eric felt pretty confused about how he felt about her. Tim thinks he still loves her, just won't admit it to himself."

"Why didn't Timmy tell me about this?"

"Because he didn't want you worrying about Eric going back to her. Tim said he'd tell you himself if you ever asked anything close to it, or if Eric ever mentioned Candice to either of you on the phone. We weren't really trying to keep it from you, sweetie. We just didn't want you to worry about him any more than you already do. We both know you don't really like her."

"It's not that I don't like her," Suzi insisted. "I just don't trust her not to meddle with his mind. Was Timmy sure..."

"Yes, Suz. He was sure she didn't put those feelings in his head. At least not telepathically anyway."

Suzi sighed, but then got angry and demanded, "Joey, are there any other secrets you and Timmy are keeping from me?"

Joey's surprise was quickly replaced by his sorrow and guilt as he said, "No mistress, I swear. We both said we'd never hold anything from you again. We would never lie to you or try to mislead you. We just didn't think it was worth mentioning it to you unless there was a good reason."

"Well next time, let me be the judge of what I should and should not know," she said irrationally.

"Yes, my Queen," Joey said, kissing her hand.

Suzi let out a frustrated but forgiving sigh, then said, "Come on, love slave. We'll meet our son later. I want to try some things we can't really do in real life."

"Uhhh..." Joey gasped out when Suzi grasped his cock from under his robe and led him back to the royal bed chambers with it.

After experimenting with inserting various limbs into each other's ... cavities, Joey and Suzi were just about to drift off to sleep when the chamber's doors creaked open and Candice's voice whispered, "My Queen?"

"Yes, Liz," Suzi said, rolling her eyes.

"I ... I'm sorry, my Queen. I shouldn't have bothered you."

As the door creaked closed again, Joey nudged Suzi, so Suzi said, "Wait, Liz. Please come in."

Candice opened the door to enter, but then hesitated seeing her soon to be king was still naked while the Queen put on her robe.

"My apologies, my Queen. I did not wish to disturb you."

"That's all right, Cand ... Liz," Joey said, yet deciding he wasn't going to follow Suzi's example of putting a robe on. "You didn't interrupt anything."

"I am ... relieved, m'Lord," Candice said while her eyes lingered on his naked form.

"So what's on your mind?" Suzi said.

"My Queen, I have a small favor to ask of you. You have always said never to be afraid to ask you for such, but I have never needed to until this very day."

"What favor do you ask from your Queen?" Suzi asked patiently.

"Please, my Queen. I fear for my brother's life. I know thou has great trust for your next champion, but I am besides myself in worry for my brother's safety."

"If you are asking that I command Sir Eric to choose another squire..."

"No, my Queen. My brother would never forgive me for such a thing. I humbly request that I may be given the duty of the Champion's Slut so I may journey with them and look out for my brother as much as I can."

"Your request is not reasonable or possible," Suzi said frowning. "You are one of the Queen's handmaidens, and a Lady of noble blood. The Champion's Slut is a position intended for a commoner, and I have decreed that its position will not be filled during my reign as Queen."

"But my Queen," she sobbed.

"Oh, for Pete's sake. Get grip on yourself," Suzi groaned. "If you want to go with him, I'll just decree the Champion must have a handmaiden to spread the Queen's wisdom and fashion sense. But no funny business."

"My Queen?"

"No fornicating with my Champion."

"Oh, I would never," Candice exclaimed, apparently revolted by the very thought.

"Fine," Suzi said with a touch of annoyance. "Now go and tend to your brother."

"Yes, my Queen," she said, kissing Suzi's hand. "Thank you my Queen."

"Oh, but have him prepped and ready to go first thing in the morning," Suzi added as the door closed.

Joey stepped behind Suzi and kissed the top of her head before saying, "You old softy."

"It isn't always easy being the Queen," Suzi sighed.

"Mind if I join you, my brother?" Timicus's voice drifted to Eric's ears over the sound of bubbling water.

Eric opened his eyes, then inhaled the steamy air surrounding him to say, "Does your body need purifying as well, my brother?"

"You can never be too pure for the Queen," Timicus said, stepping into the hot bubbling water on the opposite side of the small four man pool.

"Especially the two of us," Eric remarked after spotting Timicus's enlarged member before it submerged.

"Indeed."

"Will you be joining my re-knighthood orgy with the Queen tonight?" Eric asked.

"That will be up to the Queen," Timicus said as he sat and relaxed.

"Surely she would not deny her lover's desires."

"She would not if I made my desires known to her."

"And why would you not?"

"Because any love exchanged between the two of us in her presence, or even with her knowledge, becomes an act of her will, and not ours."

"The Queen would not approve of your words."

"Never the less they are the truth."

"Brother, it disturbs me you would plot behind the Queen's back."

"Eric! I would never do such a thing."

"Then why speak as if you are?"

"My brother, I simply wish to experience our love freely one last time before your heart is completely filled by her love. The Queen will not disapprove of this once I tell her, but it must be after the fact, not before."

Eric stirred in his seat uncomfortably before saying, "My brother, I do not wish to hurt thou, but I do not care to reopen our past love. Despite your faith in the strength of the Queen's love, I do not wish to risk the confusion that it may bring."

"If that is your final word on the matter..."

"It is."

"Then I shall honor it. I beg my brother's pardon."

And with that, Timicus snapped his fingers and <poof> was gone.

"Shit," Eric exclaimed as the hole in the water left by his body filled in with a loud whoosh. "Timicus, don't leave it this way."

When the sorcerer didn't respond, he sighed and simply let the purifying powers of the bath wash that concern away with the rest.

An hour later, Eric was awakened from his bubble-induced nap by the arrival of six of the Queen's handmaidens there to powder and dress him. So he stepped out of the pool and stood still with his arms and legs spread apart while the women toweled him off and applied the white powder to his entire body.

Once the Royal Robe of Champions was wrapped around his otherwise naked body, Eric shivered both from the cooling of his body and from expectation of feeling his Queens love passing through him once again.

Eric tingled all over in excitement and increasing sexual arousal as he approached the Queen's chambers. And once he passed through the chamber's doors and saw the Queen's smiling face, the fact that Sir Joseph was there whilst Timicus was not barely registered as he approached her to exchange a kiss.

"My, someone is excited," Suzi joked before grasping his massive cock with her right hand.

As Eric gasped and dazedly sank to his knees, Suzi chuckled and said, "Opps. Sorry. I forgot."

"That is quite all right, my Queen," Eric said, forcing his mind back in order and standing back up.

"Shit, Suz," Joey chuckled himself. "Does the King get any special powers like that?"

"I don't know. I guess we'll have to wait and see," Suzi said smirking. "So Eric, how does it feel to be a dragon slayer?"

"It is very exciting, my Queen."

"Eric, it's just us here. You don't have to be so formal."

"Yes, my Queen. But it simply is natural for me to address you that way. Does it bother you?"

"No, I suppose not," Suzi sighed, then grinned to say, "Actually I'm beginning to like it so much I might have my boys back home call me that."

Eric echoed Joey's chuckle despite not understanding the humor of her statement.

Suzi pumped him for the details of his dragon slaying training, and for a while both Suzi and Joey forgot Eric was not himself from listening to his natural enthusiasm in his voice as he talked. And for a few minutes, even Eric forgot as well, but by the time he had reached the end of his tale, Eric was very much back to thinking as Sir Eric Roberts, the Queen's soon to be Champion.

"My Queen, before we begin," Eric said when Suzi moved to embrace him in a kiss.

"Hmm?" Suzi said, deciding just to tease his ear lobe with her tongue and lips.

"Timicus ... My Queen, please. This is important."

Suzi sighed, then sat back and asked, "What about Timicus?"

"My brother is feeling rather confused."

<poof>

"I am not confused," Timicus said crossly. "I simply feel we were never given the opportunity to freely decide to end our relationship."

"Huh?" Suzi said, blinking. "Did I miss something?"

"My brother is..." Eric began.

"Hold it," Joey interrupted, "Pretend I'm new to this world and don't know jack shit about our pasts. You're not brothers."

"No, they're not," Suzi said, seeing Joey was upset by this notion. "In this world, Tim's parents died when he was very young and Eric's dad took him in and raised him."

"And I came in where?"

"Can't I explain all this later?" Suzi said through her clenched teeth."

"No. I don't care if he wakes up," Joey said crossly. "If anyone should be his brother, it should be me."

"Boys, could you excuse us a moment," Suzi said to the bewildered pair.

Once Timicus poofed them away, Suzi took Joey's hand and said, "Joey, this is only a dream. And remember, it's my dream, not Tim's. You know the twin bond thing between Tim and Eric kind of makes them brothers in a sense. Don't be jealous. In this world, you, me and Timmy are together. The three of us even had a son together."

"Yeah, and about that. Suz, sometimes I worry about you."

"Look, I know it disturbs you that Tim and Eric had something together that the three of us had. But you don't feel jealous over Eric and I, do you?"

"No, but that's different."

Suzi sighed and decided to take a different approach.

"Timmy was taken from Eric when Eric loved him very much. I think Eric is just acting out some of his feelings over never having the chance to ... See their relationship through to the end. You have to remember you're Timmy's oldest and closest friend. Nobody will ever take your place in his heart. You two have history even I can't compete with."

"Shit, I suppose you're right, but ... Suz, I like Eric a lot. I think he's a great guy and we've had fun together. But he got close to Tim. I can't help but sometimes feel he got closer to Tim than I ever have. And this twin thing just makes it even more ... frustrating."

Suzi crawled on top of him and said softly, "You once chose Tim over me when you went to Venezuela. You left me, possibly never to return to try to save him."

"Suz," Joeys whimpered.

"Hush, I'm not done. You used to quote something from one of those Star Trek movies. The needs of someone..."

"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one."

"Didn't it go the other way too?" Suzi asked with confusion.

"Yeah, but ... What's your point, Suz?"

"My point is you chose Tim over me because he needed you to. His needs outweighed mine. That's why I never really got all that upset over it. It wasn't a matter of who you loved more, but who needed you more."

"So how does that apply to Eric and Tim?"

"Eric was there for Timmy when we weren't," Suzi said as gently as she could. "Now Timmy doesn't need Eric because he has us again, but at times Eric sort of needs Timmy. You don't turn your back on someone when they need you like that."

"So you're saying anything Tim does that looks to me like he cares more about Eric than me or us, you're saying its because Eric needs him to, not because Tim feels that way?"

"Close enough," Suzi said.

"Damn, Suz," Joey said after blinking. "You're getting pretty good at this psycho-annalistic bullshit."

Suzi smiled before nibbling his nose and saying, "We all have our little niches in life."

"I'm not saying you're right about it all, but..."

"But you feel better about it."

"Yeah. Better than I did I guess."

"Good. Can I call them back now?"

Joey yawned, checked his watch and then said, "You're the Queen, my Queen. But later, can we take a nap? It's nearly five in the morning."

Suzi yawned herself, then huffed, "What's purpose of yawning in a dream?"

Joey yawned again and sleepily said, "To make it more real, probably. Would you care if I slept for a while?"

"But what if you miss the coronation?"

"I won't miss that. I promise."

"But I don't want to be here without you," Suzi admitted. "If you really want to take a nap, let's just do it together. The dream will take care of itself."

"As you wish, my Queen," Joey said lovingly as Suzi crawled on top of him.

"Joey?"

"Hmmm?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, your Majesty."

Eric awoke with the comforting sensation of two warm and naked bodies pressed up on either side of him.

As he recalled the sex and love he had experienced the previous night, he felt content and sedated, the Queen's love having truly filled his heart completely this time.

He momentarily felt remorse when his brother's words predicting this fate came to him, but it did not matter now. What was done was done, and at least he and his brother had had one last chance to share in each other's love before the Queen had called them to her.

Eric glanced at the sleeping form of his adopted brother beside him before turning his gaze to take in Her majestic beauty and glow. Her touch had been pure bliss; Her sex was beyond any pleasure ever known to man. And Her compassionate will was so powerful and overwhelming, he knew he would carry out Her orders and desires for the rest of his life.