Chapter 11: Concubines, Lots of Them

“A month ago, I never saw myself as actually having a girl in my arms”” Jason said as the hover craft took off for the short trip across the city. “Now I have hordes of very pretty girls all vying for my attention. Even Chloe and Roxy have no problem trying to sneak into my bed, after I told them I have no plans to make them my concubines.” The emperor laughed.

“Just keep in mind, nobody will bat an eyelid if you take a willing female as concubine, or three or more concubines.” The emperor explained. “Getting legally married is a totally different thing, at least in your case it will be. Your official wife will have to be approved by the Imperial Council so don’t make any promises to any female concerning the position of your official wife, the future empress.”

“Would that not mean you have the same issue with mom?” Jason asked.

“In theory, yes, but I know the council members, and they know me.” The emperor said. “I might have some token resistance but I will win. Until they know you, and you know them, stick to collecting concubines. You can always elevate your favorite concubine to the status of Countess.”

“I’m still concerned about some things” Jason said. “You obviously saw what happened in that back room, between me and Lady Sylvia.”

“Did she force you or just seduce you?” the emperor asked.

“I guess I was more than willing to be seduced” Jason said with a shrug. “I just don’t know what the formal relationship between us will be. She told me she is going to do it again.”

“Relax, you are her legal guardian.” The emperor said as he grinned at Jason. “Even if she ends up pregnant, nothing else need to be done or said. You don’t even need to make her a formal concubine as long as you look after her and her kids.”

“So, she will be less than a concubine” Jason insisted on knowing.

“Yeah, she will be your lover. Don’t worry about it” the emperor said. “I’m taking Ranul Scorpius back with me to Secundus for judgment. I am entrusting you with his wand since the wand seems to tolerate you. Normally two wands close to each other will cause the sparks to fly. I will wait till you get to Secundus before I put him on trial.”

The Mount Grace residence was a huge mansion but still slightly smaller than one of the wings of the ducal palace, which in turn was smaller than the duke’s castle. A platoon of imperial marines was formed up in front of the viscount’s formal residence as the hover craft landed. Jason only need one look at the formed-up marines and dignitaries to realize he should hang back a bit.

Viscount and Lady Mount Grace was making a huge performance out of having the emperor visiting their home. Jason saw both Lilly and Lotus standing in long evening dresses behind their parents. Jason briefly considered sneaking out the other side of the hover craft and joining with Lotus and Lilly up on the steps but ended up just staying in the hovercraft as his dad took the formal salute and imperial fanfare played by two Grendel Marine trumpeters and two drummers.

Jason was glad he stayed behind and not sneak out of the hovercraft because they had another formal welcome planned for him as well. The imperial marines honor guard and the few band members of the Grendel marines had moved off when the viscount and viscountess again moved to the bottom step while facing the hover craft. Jason took his cue and got out. He was still wearing both his title ribbons so even if he and Mount Grace were of equal rank on Grendel, he was still an earl so Lady Mount Grace ended up treating him as their superior. Jason knew exactly what was behind her sense of pomp and splendor and just played along.

Once Jason was led inside the large reception area, he was greeted by a formal reception line. His father was already done with that part as Jason walked up to the start of the line. The six barons, their wives, all much younger than the barons, and a number of young girls formed part of the reception line. The butler formally announced him and used both his titles.

“Jason Cosgrove! Earl of House Taurus! Viscount Moorefield of Grendel!” The butler called out loud.

“My apologies for mangling up the titles, my lord” Viscount Raymond muttered to Jason as they moved past the butler. “The wife insisted on letting everybody here know exactly what your formal titles are.” Jason didn’t respond to that as he was formally introduced, for the second time, to the first of the barons on the Grendel Council, and his wife. The six barons and their wives were all in line. Beyond them were a whole bunch of young ladies waiting in line. As Jason glanced down the line at them, he noticed they were all in a state of excitement, giggling and whispering to each other but about half of them were just standing there staring at him, slightly apart from the bunch that were whispering to each other.

By the time Jason was through the entire reception line his head was spinning in his attempt to remember the names of the young ladies. He knew he didn’t really needed to try and memorize the names of the girls, but he had figured a way out to do that early during his officers’ training program and knew it really impressed people, and made them weary about what exactly they said to him, in case he remembered stuff they had forgotten.

Jason obviously took careful note of the eight girls he has never met before. The youngest was a cute, relatively tall, skinny, coltish preteen girl with a great smile and a naughty twinkle in her eyes. The oldest was at least five years older than he was. None of them were overweight or with obvious physical defects but three of them could be classified as typical wallflowers, not particularly pretty or attractive and very shy. Jason was surprised to find that the preteen girl, Megan, was one of the prettier girls, not counting Lilly Osbourne, in the group.

Last in the reception line were Lilly and Lotus. Jason was not surprised when Lilly really turned up the charm as she blatantly flirted with him. He was a bit surprised when Lotus seemed a bit moody. Even with so many young girls all vying for his attention he ended up having Lilly as his formal escort when dinner was announced a few minutes later.

Instead of the traditional long dining table, the dining room held a number of large circular tables. Jason was thus not surprised to find himself sharing a table with all ten the young ladies. He could look at and admire all the girls at his table but unfortunately it was a bit awkward to chat with the girls across from him. He thus didn’t try to have private conversations with any of them and directed any comments he wanted to make to them as a group. This meant he was mostly answering questions the more forward of the girls asked him.

The questions were mostly about his relationship with his dad, the emperor, his life growing up in the castle of the duke, and his experiences with the marines. He was surprised when they showed a lot of interest in the time he was on the Electra, until he discovered that none of them have ever been off-planet.

Lotus informed everybody that her older sister, Lavender, and two of her friends, were the first to ever go hunt for a husband on another planet. Jason told them about him helping the servant girls in zero gravity which caused some giggles but he mostly played down his role and didn’t mention that Lavender didn’t seem to have recognized him.

During dinner Jason tried hard to talk to each of the girls directly even if it was in a very public setting. He basically kept his questions fairly neutral, asking them about their ambitions and backgrounds. He quickly found out that the girls were all told not to reveal their family relations with the six barons, which explained why they were all standing separate in the receiving line and why they were introduced with only their first names. Apparently, it was the barons who insisted on hiding the relationships, as if they were worried that Jason would be swayed by one baron’s name more than by another baron’s name.

After dinner they all went to the ball room next door to the dining room where a small orchestra was busy setting up. It was obviously not a grand ball but a much more intimate dance. As they entered the ball room, with Lilly Osborne clinging to his one arm and Lotus following at the back of the group, Jason got pulled away from Lilly by Lady Simone. She dragged Jason to a side door and led him into a small private lounge.

“Lord Jason, I will not beat around the bush” she said as they stood in the open doorway of the rather intimate lounge with its soft indirect lighting. The only seating in the room was a single love seat. “We both know that you are supposed to select a concubine to represent Grendel in your household. I just thought I should tell you that there is no real limit to how many concubines somebody of your current stature could have. I am also very much aware that the Imperial Council has the final say in who you may select as your wife, the mother of your future imperial heir. It is therefore important to select somebody with the right background to present to the council as your potential wife. I just wish Lavender was here. I am sure she would suit you perfectly. Anyway, the barons are all hoping that you would pick more than one of this group of young ladies to be your concubine. I was hoping to convince you that Lilly would make a perfectly suitable wife for you. Other than Lilly you should feel free to select any of the other girls as concubines to represent Grendel in your household. I had this lounge prepared specifically so you can invite any of the girls in here for a private talk, and to just get to know the girl without any distractions around. Be sure that nobody but you will be allowed to enter this lounge.” She gave Jason a flirty look as she led him back out and closed the door again. Jason formally bowed to Lady Simone before he turned to where the ten girls were trying to act casual while keeping their eyes on him.

At that moment the music started playing softly. Jason noticed the barons all led their wives onto the dance floor. He did a quick search and found the emperor surrounded by a small group of adult single ladies. Jason turned back to the ten girls waiting for him to make a move and walked straight up to Lotus, the only one who was not eyeing him expectantly. She looked surprised when he bowed in front of her.

“May I have the first dance?” he asked as he took her hand. Lotus shot a glance at her mother before she shyly followed Jason onto the dance floor. The dance was a waltz, and the music was soft enough so it was easy to talk to your partner. Jason was sure it was done on purpose. “Are you going to give me an explanation about why you are so moody?” he asked Lotus. She glanced back to where her mother and father were also joining the dancers before answering.

“I have been warned to back off” she said. “You know very well that mom and Lavender used to ignore you as being not socially suitable for any of us. Well, now you are the hottest and most desirable male in the cluster as far as mom is concerned. With Lavender not here she has decided to push Lilly onto you, and she told me to stay away so Lilly stands a better chance.”

“And then I went and picked you for the first dance” Jason teased her. She perked up slightly as she smiled back at him. “Tell me, between us, which of those other eight girls would you pick if you have to pick a friend for yourself and which one would you never want to be friends with?” Lotus gave him a confused look before she glanced at where the others were standing watching them.

“If it comes to picking a real friend, I would exclude Lilly.” she said. “I guess we just know each other too well as sisters to be friends. Any of the others are fine for casual friends.”

“How old is Megan?” Jason asked. “She is tall but I get the idea she is rather young”

“She is the youngest granddaughter of one of the barons” Lotus said. “She actually lives with her grandparents. Her mom got pregnant when she was young and when she finally got married her new husband didn’t want Megan around. She is fun to talk to, I like her.”

“So, you really would not pick any of them for a close friend for yourself?” Jason insisted.

“I guess it is a bit of an age thing” she said. “I’m three years older than Megan so unless we are forced together, we would not really be in a position to make friends. I guess the same goes for Andrea. She is three years older than I am. I guess if I’m forced to pick a friend, I would pick those two.”

“It doesn’t sound as if you actually have any friends at the moment.” Jason commented.

“With the way mom is rejecting anybody who is below her?” she responded. “She would not even allow me to have a girl visit me if she is not of a suitable family. The most fun I ever had was dancing with you during the balls last week. It’s lonely being the youngest daughter of such a snob, even if she is my mother”

At that moment the music stopped and Jason escorted Lotus back to the group. The interlude was not long so Jason picked one of the girls at random. This girl, Glynis, turned out to be the oldest of the group. Jason instantly got the idea that she did not like being at the dance. It didn’t take much prompting to discover that she actually had a boyfriend which she was very careful to hide from her grandpa but her parents knew about the boyfriend. The boyfriend was actually lower than her in status but she liked him.

The next dance he grabbed the tall skinny preteen, Megan. She took a few minutes of teasing before she got over her sudden shyness and started teasing Jason back. He found out that she was lonely and hated it. She was living with her grandpa who couldn’t really care what she did. Her parents were quite happy with her not being at their home since they were just about never home anyway. She liked Lotus, have met Chloe already and liked her as well. Jason liked the young girl very much even if she was so young. He thus phrased his final question in such a way that she got tricked. He asked if she would have any objections joining Lotus and Chloe, as well as Roxy in going with him to Secundus. She agreed immediately. He had to remind her that he was still deciding and has not made up his mind yet. She was highly disappointed but understood.

The only other girl that Jason liked instantly was the seventeen-year-old Andrea. She also claimed that she would not mind leaving her home and parents and go with him if he was to ask her. She started flirting with him as soon as they got onto the dance floor and openly hinted at wanting to join him in the private lounge.

The rest were either not that keen on leaving their family for a long period of time or had boyfriends, or girlfriends that they would not like to leave behind. Two of them, Theresa and Donya openly asked Jason if he could arrange for them to dance with the emperor, and if the emperor was interested in some young girls as possible concubines. Jason didn’t want to promise anything but he offered to see what he could do.