Chapter 18: City Living

I pulled Opal up and looked at the tower.

I had been surprised to learn that I owned the top of the second tower. The museum was in the fourth tower. The council chambers were in the third. The bottom floors of the second, all of the first tower and the front three wings that joined the towers together, had been rented out as offices, shops and apartments.

The towers of what was called the Citadel were originally arranged in a hexagon shape. The Citadel was located on the western side of the bay and faced east. The north and the north-western towers, and their northern connecting wings had been pulled down. Only the wing that would have led to tower five still existed and was part of the museum.

A huge central dome that touched on the top of the inner walls of the curved 30m high wings peaked with the towers at 60m. The clear dome covered a large park that was criss-crossed with paths and little streams. The missing wings and towers had been replaced with Pillars, to support the dome.

The pillars made the garden airy and a nice place to spend the day, for the people who lived and worked in the citadel. Iren, the Museum Curator, later told me that the towers had been damaged before our ancestors moved here and they had been removed rather than rebuilt.

Apparently, I had six stables and two carriage bays to the rear, and we were directed there. I found an ornate monster of a carriage in one of the bays. We had brought Greta’s horse Nelly, with us. Red was indisposed, thanks to Opal, so we had picked a grey mare for Sable that he called, Puff.

A woman informed me that I could hire someone from town to look after the lankys for us. When I asked the best way to Tower Two, she indicated it was easier to just walk through the garden. I thanked her, and we went for a walk. It was still mid-morning, and we had made good time getting into the city.

“I wonder why the androids aren’t looking after the garden,” I said to Greta as we wandered through it.

“Well once we are settled in you can go ask them,” she told me.

That made sense, so we headed into the tower. I found the elevator marked ‘Horn Residence’ and pressed the button. We stood there for a bit, but nothing seemed to happen. I knew from Ochre City these elevators were quick.

Another person saw us standing at the elevator and said, “Excuse me, but that is a private elevator.”

“Yes, I know. But for some reason it doesn’t seem to be working,” I said.

“If you’re guests of the Deputy-Mayor he should have given you a passcode to type in,” the person said not sure who we were.

“Since when has the Deputy-Mayor lived in the Horn’s residence?” I asked perturbed.

The person shrugged. “I don’t know for sure, over two years at least. I’ve never seen anyone from the Horn family in this tower, and I’ve lived here for three years.”

“Well I am Bull Bron Horn, and this is my spouse, Greta, our nanny Tina, my son Sable and daughter Bonny. Who am I addressing?” I asked more politely.

“I’m the Councillor for Parks, Senior Clerk, Vaughn Rivers,” he replied. “I’m lucky enough to have gotten one of the few apartments in this tower. The top four floors belong to the Horns. Um, sorry, you.”

“So which floor is the Deputy-Mayor living on?” I asked.

“Sorry, as far as I know the residence is the top four floors. I’ve never been invited to any of the parties,” Vaughn replied.

“Do you know where I may find a suitable place for my family to rest why I sort out what’s going on?”

“I’m in apartment 5C, they are welcome to stay with me until you return,” he said.

I looked him over and decided he was trustworthy enough.

I consulted Greta, and she smiled at me. She put her arm through Vaughn’s, and he led her, the calves and Tina to an elevator. I took note of the one he used and headed to Tower Three.

I had to halt at a receptionist’s desk in the lower foyer. She asked how she could help me. “Please tell the Deputy-Mayor that Mayor Bull Bron Horn needs to see him on urgent business.”

“May I enquire as to the nature of that business, sir?” She asked disinterestedly as if she hadn’t bothered to take in my name.

“Yes, you may. I wish to know why he is living in my residence in Tower Two and if he had my grandfather’s permission. If so, why haven’t I found a copy of the agreement in my files or any rent monies in my bank?”

She had paled to the point that I thought she was going to pass out. She gulped several times and said, “I think you need to tell him all that.”

She got up, walked over to an elevator and inserted a key. As soon as the doors opened, she scuttled back to her desk. I stepped in, and since there was only one button, I assumed that the elevator only went up one floor and back down to this one.

When the doors opened at the top, I stepped out into a large open foyer that surrounded the elevators and central stairs. In front of me were two long, double-sided desks set back from the elevator. A woman was sitting between the desks with her feet up on one of the desks and facing me. She was reading a book.

I counted ten doors feeding off of the foyer, five either side. The sixth area was a glassed off lunch room. The twelfth area held what I assumed was a restroom and a seating area suitable for about twenty to thirty people to wait to be seen.

Each door had a title on it and a name underneath. I frowned. None of the doors said Mayor or Deputy-Mayor for that matter. I sighed and walked over to the woman who ignored me until I wrapped my knuckles on the desk.

“Yeah, what?” she said not bothering to look up.

“Who are you?” I asked with irritation.

She looked up and frowned at me. I think my unhappy look and tone of voice had penetrated her indifference. A look of uncertainty came over her face. I had dressed reasonably well. My riding leathers were new and of good quality.

She dropped her legs and sat up straighter. “I’m this levels receptionist, Mabel,” she said warily.

“I am the Mayor. Where is the Deputy-Mayor?” I asked in a cool voice. I was starting to become very annoyed.

She frowned, “We don’t have a Mayor. It’s an honorary position held by some old bloke who calls himself a bull and supposedly owns this city,” she replied.

“How about I bring you up to date since apparently, you work for me. The old bloke who once owned this city died when I shoved a horn into his groin and opened him up. I have been a little preoccupied sorting out the family and Bull business since then.”

“I’m here to sort out this city. So, as Mayor Bull Bron Horn, I want to see the bloody Deputy, and I want to see him now!” I wasn’t proud that my voice had risen to a bellow, but I was getting seriously frustrated with these people.

I looked around to see five shocked people staring at me from several doorways. I heard one say, “Oh, shit!”

“Yes,” I answered. “You lot are in a whole pile of manure, and it is going to take a lot of shovelling to get your arses of it. Now, where is the fat little bastard who is living in my home?”

They all paled at this statement. The receptionist said under her breath, “He’s not just in your residence.”

“What? His office is not good enough for him, either?” I asked her frostily.

Her eyes went wide, and she slapped her hand over her mouth. She quickly got up and went to the elevator. She put a key into a slot, and the doors opened. “Just push the button again,” she said nervously.

I sighed and got back in. The elevator stopped, and I got out. I was in another receptionist’s area, but it was empty. I could hear grunting noises coming from down a short hall and followed them.

The woman was lying udders down, over the edge of the huge desk. Her skirt up over her shapely arse. Higgins had his shirt hitched up above his paunch and his trousers down around his ankle. He’s fat arse was wobbling all over the places as he thrust his hips forward into the arse of the woman.

He grunted loudly each time as if it was a great effort on his behalf. She was just lying there with her legs spread wide and her head resting on her elbows on the desk. She was staring out the window as Higgins grunted and fucked her.

I got the impression it was just part of the job to her. She had just shut down her mind. She let him fuck her until he was finished and then she went back to work. I was so appalled I grabbed Higgins by the scruff of his shirt and hauled him backwards.

As he back peddled, I smashed my fist into his face. I wanted to hit him again and barely stopped myself. I flung him backwards and he crashed onto the floor. He grabbed his face and started sobbing and moaning.

I went to the desk and gently helped the young woman off it. “Please go and clean up and I’ll talk to you soon,” I said softly to her.

She looked around dazed and then looked down at Higgins lying on the floor with a bloody face and his pants around his ankles. She pulled her skirt down and headed for a side door. I assumed it was the bathroom.

I then went and sat in a chair and pulled it forward so I could lean on my knees and look at the piece of shit on the floor. “In case you haven’t worked it out, you are fired. Using coercion on an employee to exploit sexual favours is a big no-no.”

“Even the dumb-arse herder in me knows you can’t do that. It is called rape. The Bull in me seriously wishes to fry your arse with a branding iron and hang you by your puny cock and tiny balls from the nearest tree.”

I then turned my magical items visible. “Wow, even my magical items would like to see me do it. They obviously think that what you were doing was atrocious if they agree with violence. Don’t go to the bank. You will go directly to my residence.”

“Remove what personal possessions you can carry and you will then get on the first ship to somewhere but here. Do you understand my directions?” I was so angry my voiced sound like ice cracking.

He feebly nodded a yes. “Are you married?” I asked.

“Nyes,” he said with his busted nose screwing up his speech.

“How many wives and how many did you purchase?” I then asked him.

His eyes were huge with fear. “Ahl fnor,” he blubbered at me out.

“You have four spouses, and yet you fuck you employee using force. You are one sick, poor excuse for a human. Get up and get out of my sight before I throw you out of a window,” I barked at him in disgust.

He went to scramble to his feet and put his hand out onto the arm of the chair I was sitting in, to help get his fat arse off the floor. When he did, I saw the ring and placed my hand over it. A spell came to mind, and I said it.

The ring slid off his hand into mine. He started screaming and grabbed his head. He let it go when he realised he needed to pull up his pants. He sobbed as he hauled up his pants with one hand and then he stumbled to the elevator.

He banged on the doorplate as he sobbed incoherently. Trying to hold up his pants with one hand and the other alternated between his head and his banging. The doors finally opened and he stumbled inside.

“What did you do to him?” the woman asked. She had been standing outside the bathroom door watching me as I had talked to Higgins.

I held up the ring. “It seems the ring no long wished to be owned by him. It came to me,” I offered and looked at the ring perplexed.

“He’ll go mad without it. He told me once that if a mage loses their magical items, they go mad,” she informed me as she stared at the ring in fascination. It only had a small topaz and a magical crystal on it. It was not very powerful even for a Physic Novice.

“Shit! I forgot about that. I should have put a spell on him to reduce the stress of separation,” I told her with worry.

“Nah, he deserves everything he gets from here. He was an arsehole. How long do you think he’d been raping me?” she asked me.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know that. Probably started not long after the first time, you said no,” I suggested.

“Yeah, I think it’s been that long too. The memories are fuzzy. It wasn’t so bad I guess. I don’t remember him hitting me, and his cock was so tiny I feel my own finger more,” she said with a self-mocking grin.

“What about pregnancy?” I asked concerned.

“Nah, I take the herbs to make sure I don’t come into season. My mother used to be a Hind. A family secret, she told me,” she confessed to me.

“I’ve worked for the Hinds, and you are correct. They do take herbs for that purpose. I think it’s time that family made a commercial venture out of it. I did suggest it to Cavil,” I told her.

“How about you go home for the rest of the day. In the morning, I wish to hold a meeting with the councillors, about half third hour should do. Do you think you can arrange that before you leave?”

“Yes, I’ll do that, Sir. Have I lost my job?” she asked tentatively.

“Not at the moment. I think we will need to do a reshuffle and we will see who stays and who goes after that. I won’t make any promises until I know just how bad things are,” I informed her. “Oh, shit! I forgot to find out how to get into my residence,” I groaned.

She giggled and went to her desk. She opened a drawer and rustled around in it. She then handed me the set of keys that she had retrieved.

“Thank you and I’m sorry you were treated as you were. By the way, what’s your name?” I asked her.

“Oliva, Mayor Horn,” I was politely told.

“See you tomorrow, Oliva,” I replied as I pressed the plate for the lift and avoided the blood smear that was on it.

“There is a key on the ring that will let you up to this floor. Just insert it when you first get into the lift,” she told me as the doors were closing.

I walked out of the tower and went to mine. I inserted the key when I identified the correct one, and rode the lift to my residence. I found myself in a plush foyer. “Hello, anyone home?” I called out as I walked into the next room expecting Higgins.

I then ducked instinctively and tackled the person who had just swung something at my head. She screamed as we went down. I got hold of her wrists and slammed them into the floor above her head, so she let go if the skillet.

She wiggled and struggled under me for a bit. I then looked down at her face as I lay spread across her. “Hi honey, I’m home,” I said with a grin.

She settled and looked at me confused for a moment. She then started laughing. I smiled back and then decided I had better move. To my surprise, she was having an effect on me that only three other women had managed.

My spouses said for a dominantly male persona, I didn’t react like most males or even shifters in male form. At the party when I got a bit tipsy, the women tried to get me horny. My spouses told me that I only started to get an erection when one of them kissed or touched me.

I kissed the other women when they kissed me, but I didn’t otherwise react to the attention I was getting, as most males would have done. Even Cavil said I was weird. Apparently, my kiss had given him a hard-on, but I hadn’t even twitched.

I was twitching now, and I found it disconcerting. I let go of the woman and rocked back onto my hands and knees. I looked down at her as I pushed back and got to feet. Damn, she really was a honey.

She was nicely shaped with womanly hips, and even though they were flattened, it wasn’t hard to tell she had more than a handful up top. The skirt riding up her hips showed off long lovely legs. The looking wasn’t helping me. My body was reacting with my mind for a change.

I did notice that she had long, curly, honey reddish/blonde hair, and the pale complexion and facial features more like the Genteli. But I knew as soon as my skin had touched hers that she was a shifter.

She made me think of some of Dale’s people. Many of them had the lighter hair and skin and tended to be pale cream or shades of red when in bull form. Come to think of it, she had similar looks to Dale. I had to ask her, “Are you a Roan?”

I put out my hand and pulled her to her feet. The luscious udders settled into place, and I had to lift my eyes. I was surprised that I was distracted by them. I looked into her eyes and noticed the dark purple eyes.

“Yes, the current Bull is my sire. I was such a pain in the arse that Sony told me if I didn’t behave, she would get dad to sell me. So here I am,” she said mater-of-factually.

“Can I ask what you did to upset Sony?”

“I wouldn’t fuck her,” she said as if to shock.

“Well, you don’t have that problem anymore. She had been using a spell on Dale, and I cancelled it,” I told her. When Dale found a new love, she challenged, and he won.” I frowned. “Dale has only been the Bull for ten years?”

She grinned, “True, but my mother had been screwing him for many years. Sony told me my grandfather was impotent. Dave had some sickness when Dale was about fifteen, and his seed went bad.”

“I’m not even sure if Dale knows he is my sire and that of half of his so-called sisters. Sony liked to have him screw his father’s other wives with her. I think that’s why he got pregnant because I’m not sure he liked it.”

“I think he does know,” I told her. “He told Sony to stop screwing his calves. Sony tried to make out he was the one that that was impotent. I think his problem is that he would prefer to be female. His new spouse, Gary Bay, prefers male, so they are very happy.”

“That makes a lot of sense. The two kids he has had meant he could stay female and I don’t think I ever saw him happier than when he was. Don’t be surprised if the next time you see him he is pregnant to this Gary,” she warned me.

I grinned, “If he gets home from the party we just had at the Horn Homestead in male form, I would be most surprised. He was coming into season when they left.”

“So what are you doing here and where is the esteemed Fred Higgins?” she asked me.

“Ah, yes. Ex-Deputy-Mayor Higgins left what is apparently my office, screaming. He was screwing his clerk without her consent, and I took him to task over it. He was wearing a tainted ring, and he wasn’t pleased when it came to me,” I informed her as I pulled the ring from my pocket and showed it to her.

“Hum, he tried some spell on me, but it didn’t seem to work. I’ve been here since the mid-spring festival, and since he couldn’t force me to have sex with him because I whipped his arse, he has left me alone.”

“He was screwing the others, but I don’t think he found it very satisfying. He could force them to submit to his attentions, but he couldn’t force them to like it. So they’d just lie there on him. Apparently, if he hit them too hard it would snap his control over them.”

“Well, since I have the ring, they shouldn’t be under his control anymore. Where are they by the way?” I asked as I looked around.

“Waiting upstairs. Bugger, they are probably wondering what happened to me,” she said and turned to run up a flight of stairs. “I’ll tell them it’s safe to come down,” she called over her shoulder.

I wandered around the level I was on and found another elevator in the middle of this floor that would take me up to the floors above and the roof and back to this floor. I didn’t think much of Fred’s taste in decor. I’m sure Greta would have fun fixing it.

Damn! I hurried back to the other elevator and went down. I got out at level five. I found apartment C and knocked. Vaughn answered and let me in. I happily hugged Greta and explained we couldn’t hang around as the ladies upstairs would be wondering where I went.

I asked Vaughn if he would like to come with us, as I was sure he’d enjoy the story I had to tell. Plus it would probably affect his job so he might as well be informed. He happily agreed, and we went back to the Residence.

As we stepped out of the elevator, I heard someone calling out, ‘Mayor Horn’. I answered, “Honey, I’m home.”

Greta lifted her eyebrows at me and then turned to look at the woman who walked towards us and chuckled. “You do have impeccable taste, Bron,” she said.

I blushed, and she laughed. Damn woman, how the hell she did she know that I’d reacted to this new woman. I didn’t even know her name.

“Greta, how lovely to see you again. Don’t tell me you fell for the Horn charm?” she said and happily hugged Greta.

“Honey, I see you have met my spouse. This is our daughter Bonny, and this young man is Sable, he is Bron’s son. Tina is our nanny, and Vaughn kindly kept us company whilst Bron tried to find out why we couldn’t use our residence.”

“Bron’s other two spouses, Bea and Cora, both had twins’ a week ago and they told me to take him away as he wasn’t letting them near the babies. He is a real sap for calves.”

Honey quirked an eyebrow at me and grinned. Tina giggled and Vaughn chuckled. Having had my Greta’s company for the last hour or so, I’m sure he knew the full family history by now.

“You mean her name really is, Honey?” I asked in surprise.

“I thought Fred told you my name, and that you were here to use us,” she said looking at me oddly.

Greta laughed and said, “Don’t tell me one of your jokes actually bit you back? Oh my, wait until I tell the girls this one. They are going to laugh until they pee.”

I had the good grace to look abashed. Well, I at least knew her name. I then had to know, “How do you two know each other?”

“We met when Dad and Beth took me to a festival about four years ago. I didn’t take a fancy to any of the Bulls at the time, although Dale was at least cute. But I couldn’t stand Sony, so dad took me home again,” Greta explained.

“So who are the other ladies currently residing here?” I asked Honey.

“Yes, I suppose you had better meet them. They are a bit befuddled since you took the ring from Fred. I tried to explain to them what happened to them but they don’t seem to remember parts of their time here.”

We walked into the next room to find three pretty, young women sitting at a very long table. They were all around my age I guessed. Honey said, as she pointed at the three women, “Pam has been here the longest, over two years. She was a Tanner.”

“Then he bought Peta from the Hoofs a year and a half ago and Harry a year ago from the Hearts and then me at the last festival. I think he was planning on selling Pam and me this year and trying again.”

I looked at Greta, “I think there is enough room that they can stay until we can sort out what they want to do.”

Greta kissed my cheek and hugged me, “You’re a real soft touch aren’t you, my love?”

I happily hugged her back and replied, “Well, it seems I got rid of their spouse, so it looks like I’ve inherited them.”

“So what? We are now your spouses,” Honey said as she looked me over and gave me that uncomfortable feel again. She didn’t seem to upset by this idea.

I shook my head, “No, that’s not how it works anymore. We have reinstated the laws that some of our ancestors choose to ignore.”

Greta continued, “And we fixed a few of them up that needed a bit of work. I’ll give them to you all to read later. For you, Honey, it means you are free to marry anyone you want to. You aren’t a slave anymore, and since you’re over twenty-one, you can do as you wish.”

“Can I go home?” Harry asked with a faint hope in her voice and look.

“How old are you, Harry?” I asked.

“I’m seventeen, Peta is eighteen and Pam is nineteen,” she informed me.

“I’ll send a message to your Bulls. I have a feeling they will welcome you home if you wish to go. However, you are all old enough to get a job here in Horn City and support yourselves.”

“If you wish, you can come home with us. I’m sure we can find jobs for you all. I’ll contact your Bulls and inform then that I’ve taken you on as trainees. Greta will know what we can train you for once she has had a talk to you all,” I informed them.

“What’s special about being trainees?” Pam asked with more interest.

“You get paid, and if you’re under twenty-one, you can get married with your Bulls permission, and after that, you can make a choice. But I’d still ask Bron because he knows if people are good or bad. He has really looked after us since he became the Bull. So has Greta,” Tina told them.

“We don’t know the new spouses as well, but they have been really nice to all of us. Horn homestead is an enjoyable place to live these days. Some of my sisters and aunts had a hard time leaving after the party he threw.”

I was surprised to hear the last bit. I knew some of the older shifters considered me an upstart and quite a few had only dealt directly with me if they had to. To hear that they hadn’t wanted to leave had me wondering why. It couldn’t have been because I was in charge, as Tina implied, surely not!

Harry wanted to know about the party, so Greta and Tina happily sat with them to fill them in. I went for a look around the apartment. It was huge. The floor we had entered consisted of a huge kitchen, an informal and a formal dining room. Both rooms had two long tables that could seat 12 people with ease and serving boards down each side.

There was a huge entertainment room on the eastern side. Fifty odd people could easily move around in it. It had plush seating in several clusters and even a dance floor. It had access at several points to the wide surrounding balcony.

A restroom designed for six people to use at one time was accessible from the formal dining room, the entertainment room and the wide adjoining foyer. A library, a smaller sitting room and a separate large office were accessible from the foyer.

The floor above had a large central sitting area with groups of comfortable chairs and small tables. Twelve bedrooms led off it. Each pair of rooms shared a large bathroom that had the special features of the old city.

They had the strange showers, a bathing tub four people could use at one time, two flushers, two sinks and a box that washed and dried clothes and a cupboard that held sheets and towels.

Each spacious bedroom had a very large bed, a side room for clothes and dressing in, a small sitting area for four and an area that I suppose you could call a mini-kitchen.

The little kitchen areas had a cold box, a heating box, a little sink and wall mounted cupboards with basic dishes and utensils in them and a flap that I believed was the recycle chute. I’d seen one of these in each bathroom and bigger ones in the kitchens.

The floor above also had bedrooms. It had a smaller central seating area around the elevator and the stairs. The foyer had five halls branching off. Each hallway ended with a door that led to the surrounding balcony of the tower.

Two sets of rooms tapped off either side of the hallways. The inner room was smaller than the outer room and held a single bed. The outer room held two single beds. The beds were longer and wider than our single beds at home. Two of our people could easy sleep in them.

Where the sixth hallway would have been was an open area. It was set up with a kitchen, four tables that could sit eight people and several clusters of seating off to the side. A small bathroom with two flushers, two sinks a clothes washing box was in the corner beside the kitchen.

I worked out that two sets of rooms on either side of the dividing walls of the bedrooms all shared a central bathroom. Each room had a dressing area. I guessed that these rooms were for kids and servants.

The floor above had what I would call three master bedrooms. Each room had two big beds and its own bathing room with an even bigger tub in it. The fourth area had a large family room with an area set aside with musical instruments in it.

I had noticed the replicator units in several places on each floor, mostly in the foyer areas around the central stairs and elevators. This unit had what Silver had told me was a screen for viewing your selections, and the reclaim area underneath about 60cm high and 50cm wide.

I knew at present that it wasn’t working. The units I was seeing were part of a bigger system Silver had called the replication machine. In Ochre City, I knew the screens let you select an item and then it appeared in the reclaim box.

It could make a lot of things that my people just didn’t have any more and hadn’t had for many centuries. I would have to think about how it affected our economy if it was fixed. I was glad the recyclers and sewerage systems were fixed.

I had noted the difference when we came into town. The streets were cleaner, and the bad smells had definitely reduced. It still wasn’t as clean as I would have expected. I did need to go to see what was going on with the androids and sweepers.

I headed back downstairs and found that someone had thought about lunch.

Greta kissed me when she saw me.

I happily kissed her back and hugged her to me. She told me everything was under control. The girls and Vaughn wanted to hear about what happened to Fred. I happily claimed a position at the table. I was served soup, and a big pile of sandwiches was placed on the table.

Once the others joined me, I told them what happened. Vaughn wasn’t surprised to hear that Fred was banging his clerk. He started filling us in on a lot of what he knew was happening in Tower Three. Greta had to put her hand on my arm to calm me. I was not a happy Bull.