Chapter 28

“Hadi, where is your bedroom?” Boyd asked the surprised woman.

“You are rank, and it is driving me crazy,” he added and then grinned.

Hadi looked at him abashed. “I’m sorry. I thought I was getting too old to have another season.”

More softly, Boyd asked, “Do you want a child Hadi?”

She nodded vigorously, “I’ve never had the pleasure of a child.”

Boyd suspected that was the reason she had come into season even though she hadn’t deliberately brought it on. They had spent a lot of time together in the last week, and he suspected his presence had triggered it.

Catia had already warned him that being a wizard, male and virile, he might affect the Therians that had never had a child more strongly than those who had. She also told him that he was a danger to the rest of them, too, as many hadn’t given birth for more than fifty years and would be happy to have a second child.

He wondered how many kids he would sire in the coming years. That also made him think of something else as he took Hadi’s hand, and they started walking to her house.

“Hadi, how long can a wizard live?”

“Oh, well, that depends. A novice can live twice as long as a normal person and a mage about three times. For a High Mage, it can be four or five times as long. Our records say that in the past, someone like you could live about ten times as long, or even longer.”

Boyd stopped in his tracks, pulling Hadi up so that she stopped and turned to look at his pale face.

“What’s wrong, Boyd?”

“I could live for over a thousand years?” he gasped out.

“Easily, as long as you look after yourself. You will probably not age significantly for at least eight hundred years. With the treatment that we gave you, it could be even longer. It’s actually rare that a wizard dies of old age.”

Boyd blinked and swallowed hard. He even felt a bit light-headed at receiving the news that he could live for such a long time. It took him a moment to regain his equilibrium.

“So, how long have you been a High Mage, Hadi?”

Hadi smiled and started walking again as she said, “I’ve been a High Mage for about thirty years now. I got Catia’s items when she upgraded to a High Wizard. I was seventy at the time.”

“So, realistically, you could easily live for another four or five hundred years,” Boyd calculated.

“Oh! Yes, I forgot about that. I guess I’m not too old to have a child. Magical people don’t tend to lose their fertility until they die. How silly of me to forget that. I guess one doesn’t think about things of that nature when there is no opportunity to do anything about it.”

Boyd chuckled, “Well, Hadi, I guess opportunity came knocking.”

Hadi giggled as she led him into the house.

When Antonia arrived, she was shown to the library.

She loved visiting Hadi’s library as her family had an amazing selection of ancient scrolls and books to read. She happily accepted the tea that was offered. Blinking was a lot harder for her to do compared to the ease some of the other High Mages seemed to have.

“Hadi, what have you done to the lights?” she asked.

“Why dear, what’s wrong with them?” Hadi asked.

“They are amazingly bright. Even you seem to be glowing,” Antonia commented.

Hadi blushed bright red and then tried to compose herself. Boyd’s soft chuckle wasn’t helping. The last two hours of her life were superimposed on her brain, and she blushed just thinking about what Boyd had done to her.

She’d had several long-term lovers over the years, but none had taken her to the heights that Boyd had. She had a feeling that sex with Boyd would get addictive. She was going to have to pace herself over the next five hundred years. That thought made her giggle like a little girl.

“Hadi! You did it, didn’t you? You bad, bad girl,” Antonia admonished. “Was it good?” she couldn’t help asking. “I mean, the literature says you hadn’t been plundered until you got a wizard to do you.”

Hadi burst out laughing and had tears in her eyes for laughing so hard. She finally got control of herself.