Chapter 3: Neighbours

~~ October - Week 43 ~~

Zan had not been home a full week yet, but things had been hectic.

The week before, Essco, Dye and Zan had decided to go home to Ogilhinn, after they got the Captain to marry them. Lee and Sean had packed them up into one of the transport boxes, which they had used with the villagers. Then they helped Zan take them home.

Dye and Essco loved Zan’s home. Sean and Lee didn’t stick around, but promised Zan they would come back for a more formal visit in the future. Lee had given Zan his apprentice’s box as well in case he found his apprentice.

Zan’s first argument was with the Court about his marriage. He then had to argue with them about changing the banking system. Then to upset them even more, when he had introduced Lee’s charter and explained this was how the Lord Wizard, he and the other wizards wanted things done.

There was a lot of grief about him being married to a Pix and a human. But Zan pointed out that as he was a wizard and now the ruler of Queland, he could marry whom he damn well pleased. If it was good enough for the Gold Wizard to have a husband and a wife, it was good enough for him too.

He also pointed out the old taboo of Genteli marrying Pix was stupid. As the only race that the Genteli have been known to breed children with were the Pix. He told the parliament, the church and the court that as far as he was concerned, the taboo was not a law.

In fact, their laws stated that as long as the parties are not forced or the other partner didn’t object to the new partner, anyone could marry whom they pleased. Zan informed them the taboo was against their laws and the human’s laws that were very similar to theirs, so he had married under the laws of both worlds.

He would happily sanction the marriages of any of the races and any combination of genders. Some of the members of the minor religions were outraged, but they couldn’t dispute that what he said was true. Now he was their wizard they would also have little chance of getting the laws changed either.

Zan was amused when his next youngest brother Nat, his Genteli boyfriend and their Pix girlfriend asked if he would sanction their marriage. The girlfriend had already had two children to the pair and had been their de facto wife for many years.

Zan happily officiated at the wedding. His mother also sanctioned the marriage. Nat’s now-wife had already managed to have a daughter by him. This was before the second man had joined the couple, so the line of succession was safe between the boys.

His mother had told Zan it would be hypocritical for her to say no, considering everyone knew her paramours were both Pixs. She also told him she was ready to retire to the country and was going to abdicate. He could herald in the new ways, and it was better if he had control.

His mother had a lot of trouble after having her third son Xavier and had abstained from sex for many years. He father had moved out of the Palace to the Country Manor many years before and was happily set up with his little harem of two Prol boys and two Pix females.

He didn’t really like politics and preferred the quiet life of the country. Gentelis don’t tend to get divorced. Both of Zan’s parents were more than happy with the current status quo. His father told Zan he was looking forward to spending time with his wife again, and his mother gave every indication she was ready to move back in with his father.

As for the banking system, he got Dye set up, and Kyle came and helped. He had even introduced Kyle, Tony and Debora at Court. The triad had them won over in no time. The main opposition to his triad died a quick death in public once endorsed by another wizard.

Kyle had explained to the merchants how the new banking and contracts system would ease up their workload and make it safer to walk in the streets. He also pointed out that the Antalian’s were planning to use the system as they spoke, and he believed the Davinian’s would also adopt the system, so trade with them both would be smoother.

It didn’t take the local merchants long to get in on the act. The gifts of the pads and minders did hurt either. The local populace also seemed to like getting free gifts, just for opening a new bank account.

The new charter was a different problem. For the most part, it didn’t cause any issues until they got to the paragraph about ‘No more slaves’. It read they could keep their current slaves, but they could not buy new ones or sell the ones they had unless it was to free them. The slave also had a right to buy their own freedom, or it could be purchased for them at the going rate.

No one could refuse a ‘Purchase of Liberty’ being offered for a slave. Zan told the Court and the Parliament that once he was crowned, the charter would be enacted. He left them to stew over it. He had never been a great lover of slavery and had no qualms adopting the whole charter.

It didn’t take Essco long to get Zan to commission the building of a lovely new Biological Wing at the University. Zan had introduced him to the head of Biology at the University. They soon found Essco had taken over running the place and was demanding a new wing for his lab.

Zan deposited a heap of money into an account for Essco and told him to go for it. It kept him out of the political arena and busy, so Zan was delighted to do this for his husband. He had no issues with the higher education system getting a revamp either. He had seen how much effort the humans put into education, and he agreed with them.

Zan and Dye loved to come home to hear Essco ranting about the archaic systems and all the work he had taken on getting the University up to scratch. They both knew he was as happy as a pig in a pond with his little empire.

Apparently, the guy had a bent for teaching. Zan soon heard many students and scholars were clamouring to be in his classes. Many of his lectures were standing room only. He had even stirred up other scientific fields, and there were a lot of excited scholars in the university.

Zan had also been busy organising the building of the ships that Sean had ordered. If there was one thing his people were good at it, it was building cargo ships. Kyle had turned up with new designs from Ian, and the shipyards were humming.

They were busy retooling the factories to build the ships to the new specs. Zan hoped his replicator turned up soon. Even so, he found they still needed to hire and train new staff, and this was a good thing for all concerned as he had plenty of people wanting jobs.

The one other commodity he had in abundance was copper. Sean and Gavin hadn’t found a lot of good deposits on Jahnville. They would need a lot more than they were currently buying for their venture with Allan.

So, they had set up a company similar to the one with Allan to cover the boat building and copper mining. Like Allan, Zan was perfectly happy for the money to go to his town as well. He had a lot of projects and social reforms he planned to enact after his Coronation.

The day of the Coronation had arrived, and Zan knew it was going to be a long one. Essco and Dye had become resigned to the fact that they had to contribute too. There was after all downsides to marrying a Prince who was to become a King.

They were in an open carriage in the procession, which was going the House of Gods when pandemonium ensured. Essco was looking at Zan when he saw him suddenly grabbed the medallion on his chest.

A group of people opposed to the abolishment of slavery had opened fired on the carriage. Bullets were flying all over the place. Zan saw the coachman hit and one of the ponies. He was worried about William and Dye being shot.

At the sound of the first shot, Essco dived on Zan and pulled him down to protect him. He then pulled Dye down with him and layover both of them. People were screaming and running everywhere. The ponies were screaming in fright. People were smashing into the carriage, and it was rocking precariously.

Zan’s mounted soldiers had wanted to open fire at the offenders; however, they were mixed in with the crowd making it hard to determine who was who. Four men managed to get to the carriage, and they were trying to pull it over to get to Zan.

Zan was trying to teleport Dye and William out, but the rocking of the carriage made it hard to concentrate, and Essco’s body being jostled onto him didn’t help. The screaming of wounded people and animals was also distracting.

Suddenly, a thunderous voice boomed over the crowd, “What the hell do you people think you’re playing at?”

Everyone stopped as if rooted to the spot they stood in. Lee floated down over the carriage. She was dressed in her Platinum outfit, her new jewellery and had her bling turned on. She shone brightly and looked like a warrior woman.

The four men that had been trying to turn over the carriage found they couldn’t move. They could only stare at the vision of Lee, hovering above the carriage like an avenging angel.

Lee looked at them coldly. “Do you know the penalty of harming not only a wizard but a King and his consorts?” she asked them. The men could do nothing. The rest of the crowd had dropped to their knees and just stared at her. The Lord Wizard was among them, and she was pissed-off.

Lee looked over the crowd, “Be warned. I will not tolerate this type of behaviour. I will end slavery. No man should own another. Be thankful I didn’t ask you, people, to give up your slaves immediately.”

She then touched each of the four men in turn with her wand. The crowd gasped as each man disappeared before their eyes. Unbeknown to the crowd, the men found themselves in the middle of Bruit and Lon’s abandoned village. Lee thought it was an excellent place to keep them out of trouble for a while. She really didn’t care what happened to them.

Lee floated over to the coachman and touched him. He stopped groaning and then sat up in surprise at being healed. She also touched the pony. Fortunately, it was only a flesh wound, and she had little trouble with it.

The people started getting up, and Lee joined Zan, William and Dye in the carriage. They patiently waited for the procession to begin again. The soldiers soon had the path cleared, and the King’s carriage moved on to the exuberant cheers of the crowd.

Lee grinned at the trio, “Cool Coronation parade, Zan.”

They laughed and then heard Essco groan. Lee lent forward and observed the blood that was seeping through his coat where the bullet had entered his arm. “Damn Essco, I didn’t know you had it in you, mate,” Lee said.

They helped him off with the coat and Lee placed her hand over the wound. A few moments later, she handed Essco his souvenir. “I’d frame that if I was you,” she told him. “You do know the medallion wouldn’t have let the bullet hurt Zan, right?”

Essco looked at the bullet and shook his head. No, he didn’t know the medallion would protect Zan only that it warned of danger. He looked at Zan, “I didn’t think. All I knew was that I didn’t want loose either you or Dye.”

Zan leaned forward and kissed him, as Dye hugged him. Essco decided that his life sure had gotten interesting since leaving Earth. He had been a self-centred, disillusioned bastard. Now he was sitting in a carriage on his way to his husband’s Coronation.

He was married to two people he loved enough to risk his life for and had his first child on the way. He wondered who he was becoming and decided he liked the new version of himself very much.

Lee grinned at him, there was hope for him, yet she decided. She turned to Zan, “Sorry to crash your Coronation, Zan, I just dropped in to give you these.” She put the bands on Zan’s wrists. “They will help you recharge when you use magic.”

Zan felt an immediate effect and thanked Lee.

She nodded and said, “I’ll catch up with you guys later. I’ve got to take Zak home to face the music for getting Darla pregnant while he was screwing her and Allan. He and Allan pulled your trick, and she is expecting twins to them.”

Dye rubbed her belly, and they all laughed at the correlation. They let Lee go on her way as they made theirs to the House of Gods. Zan smiled at Essco and then blew him a kiss.

Essco grinned as Dye hugged him again.

Lee asked Zak for a picture of where they should land and took them there.

Their arrival caused a bit of a stir. They found the linger surrounded by some very excitable guards pointing guns into the open windows. A loud voice demanded to know why they were there and why they had kidnapped the Prince.

Zak wasn’t impressed as he recognised the voice. “Major de Jan what the hell is the meaning of this?”

“Don’t worry, Sire, we will soon have them under arrest for kidnapping you,” Major Cronin de Jan replied pompously.

Zak threw the door of the linger open and hit the closest soldier, forcing him back from the door as he got out. He got into the Major’s face, “No one, bloody kidnapped me. I was sent to Arden by my brother, you fool. I have bought Lord Wizard Lee and her husband to visit, and this is how you greet them? I’m not impressed, Major.”

The city Zak lived in was called Tuath. They still had a strong military presence. The military was causing a lot of the issues that were stopping the Davinian’s of Tuath, making peace with the Antalian’s.

They had not had open warfare with the Antalian’s since the bombings 200 years before. But the Davinian’s were still paranoid that they had weapons of mass destruction. If Allan thought his people were bad, he didn’t realise the Davinian’s were worse.

Zak’s brother Aeron had been trying to reduce their fears, but the military families were not convinced. Zak only hoped his upcoming marriage would help. It was strictly against Genteli laws for a family to fight against their family in open warfare involving non-family members.