The New World
Copyright© 2024 by Dark Apostle
Chapter 47: Trip to Court
Fan Fiction Sex Story: Chapter 47: Trip to Court - The story follows James Smith, a man who dies and finds himself in a surreal afterlife courtroom, where his life is judged as "zero sum"—neither good nor evil, just utterly average. Dissatisfied with being consigned to eternal mediocrity, he manipulates the cosmic bureaucracy into granting him a second chance in a new world, where he is reincarnated as a child with his memories intact and perks... - edited by my lovely Steven.
Caution: This Fan Fiction Sex Story contains strong sexual content, including Ma/Fa Ma/ft Mult Coercion NonConsensual Reluctant Slavery Lesbian BiSexual Heterosexual Fan Fiction Farming High Fantasy Rags To Riches Restart Alternate History DoOver Extra Sensory Perception Body Swap Furry Magic Incest Mother Sister Politics Royalty Violence
“I am shocked. This was never mentioned. Why should I go?” James asked.
“It is a summons from the king; you have no choice,” the knight said.
“Who are you?”
“I am Sir Kay, a knight of King Destinea. You are his subject and must obey. This is my badge of rank and signifies my patent.”
The badge was a circle about six inches in diameter. The symbol on the badge was a rampant lion standing over a sword. Since Mallow accepted the man, James knew the badge was correct.
James turned to Mallow. “You were going to knight me for rescuing Iona. When will that occur?”
“When you return,” Mallow replied. “There is no time for a public ceremony. The summons overrides everything.”
“You need to come back to me,” Iona cried.
James turned to Kay, “I need to pack. I will not come to the court wearing a single outfit. Come with me to my tavern.”
“You have one hour. We need to leave so we can meet the riverboat.” Kay said.
“Then we need to go. Follow me.” James rushed over to Iona and gathered her in his arms. “I will return as soon as I can.”
“Please,” she begged.
James led Sir Kay to The Fenrir. As he walked in, he called for Christine. When she came out of her office, James immediately spoke, “The king has summoned me to the capital. I must leave in just a few minutes to stick with this knight’s schedule. Please prepare me a travel pack of food.”
Turning to Kay, he asked, “Are you hungry?”
“No, I ate with Lord Mallow while waiting for you.”
James ran up the steps and quickly packed clothes, weapons, and his magical items. He took a quick look around to see if he was missing anything. Satisfied, he rejoined Kay.
“How long of a trip is it?” James asked.
“Depends on many things. The capital will be there when we arrive.”
“If you are going to treat me like a child, then I will make my way to the capital by myself. I have no desire to travel with someone who will not answer simple questions.”
“The trip is three weeks. One week by horse to the main river, ten days by ship to the capital, and then two days to the war camp,” admitted Kay. “I am used to conveying nobles who cannot be bothered to talk to me and spend the entire trip complaining about the lack of luxuries. In the future, I will treat you as an equal and answer your questions.
“That is all I am asking. I have never been to the capital, and any information you can provide will be appreciated.”
“As we travel, ask your questions. I will answer them to the best of my abilities. But I expect you to also answer mine.”
James nodded, “Agreed.”
Christine brought a bag with food for the trip. “I was not sure what you needed, so I grabbed an assortment. Your purse with some coins is there in case you need them.”
“Thank you. Please have someone tell Mathin that I have been summoned.”
“I will. Take care, James.” She then ran her hand over his face.
The men were met at the city gate by Kenneth, who gave them saddled horses. “I have a pack mule loaded with supplies. Do you want to take it?”
James looked at Sir Kay with a raised eyebrow. Kay shook his head.
“No, we need to move fast. As a royal knight, we can demand food from anywhere we stop. That will be sufficient.”
“Safe travels,” Kenneth said.
Kay took the lead, and they moved down the trail on a canter. Every hour, they stopped to rest the horses and stretch. The day grew monotonous as the pace ate the miles. They shared some of Christine’s supplies as they rode and ignored any travelers they passed.
At dusk, Kay started looking for a farmhouse close to the road. Spotting one, he led James to the house. “Hello, the house,” Kay called.
A man holding a staff opened the farmhouse’s door and stood in the doorway. “What do you need?” he asked.
Kay dismounted and displayed his badge. The farmer briefly bowed his head. “How may I help, Sir Knight?”
“We need food and a place to rest. The pile of hay in the barn is sufficient, as we are on a mission where haste is critical.”
The man put the staff behind the door and called out for his sons. Two boys came out and took the reins from Kay and James. One looked about ten, and the other was younger. James dismounted and stretched his back. ‘Hours of horseback riding are a skill I never developed. I will be sore tomorrow.’
“I am Julius, and I will share what we have, but we did not prepare extra food.”
“We have extra we can add to the pot,” James said as they followed Julius into the house.
A woman held a young girl in her arms. James noted the girl’s arm was twisted, and the hand was missing several fingers. “What happened to the child?”
“She was attacked by a wild animal about a year ago. This is the result.”
James looked around and saw the house needed repairs, and there were few purchased items. Compared to Garrick’s house, this was a hovel.
“I am a mage. Let me see if any of my healing spells can help.”
The woman’s hand went to her mouth to cover her astonishment, and she burst into tears. “Oh, thank you. We could never afford anyone to look at poor Annie.” She immediately handed Annie to James, who laid her on the bench.
“Do not move. I need to examine you.” He called up Observe and traced the position of the child’s arm and noted the blood flow. Reviewing the list of healing spells, he realized he could not stay long enough to cast a Red spell. But would an Orange spell be enough? He could dump a lot of his reserves into the girl to have the spell work, but he would be at risk if they were attacked in the next few days.
After a few minutes, he decided. He cast a sleep spell on Anna and then cast the Orange spell. He watched the gouges in her arm heal, replaced by smooth, unblemished skin. In awe, he saw her missing fingers regrow. After an hour, he looked up. No one in the room had moved; they stood quietly, concentrating on him.
Finally, he stood and placed his hand over the child’s chest. He streamed power to her sternum and built a pathway to her arm. Then he cut the power flow and looked at her parents. “She will sleep all night. Her arm will be weak and needs to be exercised to regain her strength.”
The parents hugged each other, tears falling down their faces. The boy had smiles, but the impact was not clear to them.
After many minutes, the mother rushed over to hug him as tightly as she could.
James accepted their thanks and tried to brush the effusive outpouring. “Do you have anything to eat?
The simple request galvanized the family. James and Kay were seated at the table and given heaping plates of food. “Did any of you eat?” James asked.
Julius knelt by James’s chair. “No, but the service you have done is worth missing a meal. We despaired over Anna’s injuries, and now, she can have a normal life. This is the answer to our prayers.”
In the barn that night, Kay asked James, “Why did you do that? They are peasants. I saw the strain you were under.”
“I was a child on a farm once. That could have been me.”
In the morning, Anna ran up to James and hugged him. The delight on her face was evident. “Look, I am healed!!!” she exclaimed.
“You still need to be careful until your strength has returned,” James cautioned.
The men set off right after breakfast. As they rode, Kay commented, “You are not what I expected. Battlemages are normally a sullen lot, almost paranoid. They are always preparing for the next battle or reviewing the last one. I have never seen one joke or even have a sense of humor. You fixed that girl without being asked or expecting payment. The mother would have spread her legs for you, and you even deflected their thanks.”
“I am a novice battlemage, so my experience is limited. And my path to this point is far from ordinary.”
Three days later, they arrived at the river port. Kay sold the horses and saddles to a local livery before they went to a tavern for a meal. “The boat should be here tomorrow. Tonight will be another meal and a room.” Kay informed him.
“Do we pay for passage, or will they allow us to board for free since you are a knight?”
“If we pay, they will feed us. Otherwise, they will grudgingly accommodate us. It’s better to pay,” Kay replied. “Only fall back to the rank when you have no other options.”
That night, James was amused that Kay had the option of sharing a bed with other people or sleeping in the barn. This tavern did not have private rooms, and there was no inn in the town. He was used to sleeping in a field; Kay was not. In fact, until the boat came, that was all Kay could talk about. James tuned him out. Instead, he concentrated on replenishing his reservoirs with magic. ‘Next time, I will wear Bartholomew’s storage devices. I did not think the Orange healing spell would deplete me.’
The boat was nothing like James expected. He had not seen a river craft on this world. He was expecting a powered ship or a barge drifting down the river. Instead, it was a sailboat. He was puzzled that there was enough wind to power the ship, so he asked Kay.
“The ship is named the Sojourner. Its captain pays for a spell to generate the wind. If he does not pay, the ship is useless. The capital has a guild that sells useful magic to those who can afford it. The captain controls the speed and direction of the wind, which makes the boat viable.”
“I would like to look at that spell.”
“The captain might let you look, but I was told that the mage made it impossible to understand.”
The ship was about one hundred feet long and twenty feet wide. The bow was tapered into a wedge, and the stern was a rectangle with no streamlining. It looked like a barge with a pointed bow. The men walked up the gangplank and were met by the ship’s purser. “One silver each.”
Kay paid the man and walked into an empty spot on the deck. Kay sat on a crate and closed his eyes. “I am going to find the captain,” James said.
He asked a crewman where he could find the captain. Following the directions, he found the captain by the stern.
“Captain, do you have a minute?”
“What do you want? I am very busy.” The man replied and turned away.
James held up three silvers and waited for the man’s attention.
“Are you still here ... Why, I do have a few minutes.”
“I am the mage, James. I wanted to look at the spell you use to provide wind for the ship.”
“I am Peter. It is a very valuable spell and I cannot show it to anyone.”
James added three more silvers. “I just need a couple minutes.” He jingled the coins in front of Peter.
“No, I cannot.”
Two more silvers joined the ones in James’s hand.
“Follow me,” Peter said and led James into a shack at the stern. Once they were in the room, Peter held out his hand for the silver. James smiled and dropped the coins into his hand, one at a time.
“We have never met,” Peter insisted as he handed a parchment to James.
James quickly captured the spell into his Spell Of Memory and handed it back to Peter. “I can’t understand this. I guess I wasted my coins.”
“Your loss.”
James smiled to himself and rejoined Kay. “Did he let you look at the spell?”
“Yes, but I told him that I could not make heads or tails of it,” James said.
“But you can?”
“I do not know yet. I need to study it. But I have a week on the ship—plenty of time.”
Once the ship pushed off from the shore, Peter called up the spell, and the ship took off upstream. The power of the spell was stronger than the current in the river. The sail in the bow was fully billowed from the wind, and the ship moved at a brisk pace, with a strong wake at the stern.
The joy of sailing paled quickly, so James retreated to a shaded spot and started to examine the spell he purchased from Peter. After reading through the spell a couple times, he realized that this was a variant of the Force spell. It did not gather the local wind; instead, it converted the Force from energy to wind and then directed it as the captain desired.
But the mage who wrote the spell was too clever by half. The spell was written with components, but the commands for the components were scattered throughout the spell. The activating glyph started the top-level spell, which then invoked the components. Since Kael had taught him the components first, he quickly recognized their structure. A novice would have been lost. There were even lines of gibberish thrown in to confuse any attempt at understanding the spell.
He could duplicate this easily—or take over the current spell. ‘The money was well spent.’
A week later, Kay and James disembarked the Sojourner. There was a garrison in town that provided the men with mounts and supplies. The men left the port town and headed for the capital. James was impressed by the road. ‘This is like an old Roman road, closely fit stones, drainage ditches, cleared areas. A lot of effort has been lavished on this road.’
They followed the same pattern as before: ride for an hour, rest the mounts, and then ride for another hour. This pace ate up the distance. On the third day, they reached the top of a hill and saw the capital.
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