Chapter 28

We had been chatting for some time. Wolfgang and Carl had told us about their Clans and Factions, when there was a knock on the apartment door. Sheena went to see who it was, and returned a minute later with four older men dressed as Wizards.

"The Grand Master has supplied a coach to return us to our camp," the oldest told both Clan Leaders.

"These are the Senior Wizards of our Clans," Carl told us, and introduced his two Senior Wizards. Wolfgang also introduced his Clan's Senior Wizards.

"You have an exceedingly strong ward around your rooms. We were quite surprised by it upon arriving here," the oldest one said. Pat and I both looked at him in surprise. We had redone our wards from our strongest personal wards to just a single general purpose ward earlier.

"It's just a general purpose ward, and not one of our strongest," Pat told him in passing.

"It is certainly much stronger than any of ours," the older man said. "But we certainly expected that it would be from what we have heard about you and your family from the Grand Master's Advisers. The Daughters of our Clans have done very well to find Husbands with such power. Will the children inherit that power?"

"That has been the way it has gone over the last few generations. We and our Sisters have much stronger Talents than our Parents, who have stronger Talents than our Grandparents," I told them. They were all smiling now.

"Perhaps some of your children will return to enrich our Clans' Talent," he said, but that was way more than I wanted to think about at the time.

"Perhaps!" Pat and I both said, noncommittally.

"Will you be able to walk to the coach, Wolfgang?" his Senior Wizard then asked in concern. I was about to volunteer to transport all of them to the coach when Wolfgang stood and tried a few steps.

"Yes, Ugene! I will be able to walk to the coach thanks to the healing talent of this young lady," he said, as he took Clare's hand and kissed her on the forehead.

"If we are very fortunate, one of this lady's children will favor us by joining our Clan some day. Her healing talents are amazing," Wolfgang told his Senior Wizard, who could only stare in amazement at his Clan Chief.

Gretchen went into her Father's arms then, as they said a tearful goodbye.

"We will return to see you when the children are old enough to make the trip," she promised her Father. Petra and Carl were also saying goodbye.

We all went to dinner shortly after Gretchen's and Petra's Fathers had departed. There was still much celebrating in Frankfurt that night, but we paid no attention to it.

Gretchen was feeling more like her old self, and she slept next to me that night with Clare pressed up against her on the other side. Shannon was pressed up against my back. We all slept very well that night.

Everyone in the family was up early the next morning. We moved our things to the conference room before going to breakfast in the banquet hall. Pat and I had nearly finished our breakfast when we were approached by a young woman with a message.

"Masters, the Grand Master asked that you attend him in his private parlor," she told the two of us.

"Is something wrong?" Gretchen asked the young woman in fear.

"I don't think so, Gretchen," the girl answered. "The Grand Master only asked that his Grandsons see him before they left." Gretchen looked relieved at this news.

"Get everyone back to the conference room when you are finished eating," I told Shannon. "Hopefully this won't take long. I don't know what Grandfather has in mind." Pat and I then transferred to Grandfather Michael's private parlor. He was sitting in there by himself. He looked very tired.

"Thank you for coming so promptly," he told us with a bit of a smile.

"What can we do for you, Grandfather?" Pat asked with concern in his voice on seeing our Grandfather's condition.

"When you were here previously, we briefly talked about the shortage of books and the lack of mechanical printing here. You mentioned that one of your 'Uncles' had set up a printing business in the Otherworld without the use of electricity or a lot of steel.

"I meant to talk to you further about it, but when you returned from your trip with the news about the Duke of Burgundy, things were so busy that I forgot about it. Of course, things have been a bit busy since you returned also.

"So, before you get away again, I wanted to find out more about this 'Uncle' and his printing press," Grandfather Michael told us.

"It's built around the design of the original Gutenberg press in our Reality with a few improvements to make it easier to use," Pat told him.

"It's built of wood though, right?" Grandfather asked.

"Yes, it's mostly wood. The gnomes in the Otherworld built it to his specifications," I told him.

"Would it be possible to get diagrams of it, and information on how it works?" Grandfather asked.

"How about if we get Uncle Frank to visit here. He could give your people first hand instructions on how the press is built and operates," Pat volunteered.

"Do you think he might do that?" Grandfather asked, excitedly.

"We can ask him," I replied, not wanting to commit Uncle Frank, but added, "He is very committed to the spread of printing in all of its forms, so we MAY be able to convince him to make the trip. If not, we'll take pictures of everything, and have him write a description of how everything works. If need be we could probably get some of the retired printers that are living in our Realm to come here to help out," I told him.

"You will need to have someone make the metal molds to cast the lead type for your alphabet. Perhaps someone in the jewelry trade or a related trade. It shouldn't be a problem. Those in the Otherworld did it easily," Pat assured him.

"Thank you. I'll look forward to seeing you and your Uncle when you are able to return," Grandfather told us.

"Oh, we'll be back for our Cousins' wedding," Pat assured him.

"They've already been married," Grandfather said in a voice that sounded very final. Pat and I just stared at him in shock. It must have showed, because he added, "The Chief Druid married them in private the evening after the battle," he finished.

"AH - OH!!" Pat and I both said.

"Our Aunts are expecting to return for a big PUBLIC WEDDING CEREMONY!" we told him.

"Really!?" he asked.

"Yes, they are very excited about the prospect of seeing their Daughters get married in style," I told him.

"Well, we certainly wouldn't want to disappoint them, would we? I'll have it arranged, and then you can all return to attend it. It won't be a problem. There is a large Grove near Frankfurt that the Druids maintain for holding their services. When would be a good time?" Grandfather asked.

"Maybe two weeks from now. That would give our Cousins time to get ready, pick out clothes, and do all of the things that women like to do for a wedding," Pat told him.

"Fine. We'll have everything arranged. I'm sure that Laura will know what needs to be done," Grandfather assured us, and shook our hands before we returned to the conference room.

"Did Michael want to see you about anything serious?" Grandfather Mark asked, as soon as we reappeared in the conference room.

"No. Grandfather wanted to talk about printing presses, and whether Uncle Frank could be persuaded to come here to give his people instructions on presses and how to start the printing business here," I told him. There was no need to mention what else we had learned.

"Yes, I believe Frank will be interested in that. He is very interested in the spread of printing technology," Grandfather Mark assured us with a smile. Pat and I went to join our women then. They were over in one corner of the room.

"You were correct," we told them very quietly, after they had all gathered around us. "They ARE already married, but Grandfather will arrange a big public wedding in a couple of weeks for our Aunts to attend." Our women were all smiling at this news.

"If everyone's ready, let's move outside and return home," Grandfather Mark said a short time later to cheers. We all donned our backpacks and helped Gretchen and Petra with their things. Pat and I transferred everyone out to a field behind the Palace. Our Sisters joined us in the outer circle then, and all eight of us began to cast the transfer spell and draw the glyph for it. The Eternal Flame appeared above us just before we finished.

"Add the Magic to the glyph. I'll take care of the time," It instructed us, and we all touched our left hands, which held the Magic that we had accumulated, to the glyph that we held with the fingers of our right hands. Magic flowed, and we all instantly vanished from the Other Reality.

We instantly reappeared in the Grove in our Realm and Reality.

"Welcome home!" the Eternal Flame said. "For your information, it is 9:00 in the morning on Friday the 28th of July 2051 here. Thank you for your assistance in correcting things in the Other Reality," It told us before vanishing.

"We have lots to do," our four female Cousins told the rest of us, and promptly vanished. Petra and Gretchen were looking around at the Grove in wonder. Our other future wives took charge of them, and began showing them around. The rest of the family drifted off to take care of their various concerns leaving the eight of us in the Grove.

"Let's go home," Pat and I said after a bit.

"Yes!" Gretchen and Petra agreed. "We want to see these houses that we have heard about." We all joined hands and vanished from the Grove to appear in the large parlor at my house.

Gretchen and Petra just stared around them at the parlor and its furnishings in wonder. The other women weren't content to just let them stare though, and they soon led them out to the kitchen, to demonstrate the appliances, and to show them the pantry. They went to the laundry area and showed them the washer/dryer while explaining what it did. Finally they took them to see our bedroom. Pat and his women went to his house after that, and my, dare I say it, 'other wives' took Gretchen into the bathroom. I heard the toilet flush and the water in the sink run as well as the water in the bathtub, as I changed clothes. The water in the shower started after that, and didn't shut off. I found all three women naked in our large shower with the water cascading off of them. Gretchen had the most amazed look on her face, as the other two soaped her up.

"Michael, this is a fantastic house! Is it really yours, and do the others in your family also have houses like it?" Gretchen managed to ask in an excited voice when she finally noticed me standing there in the bathroom watching them. It was obvious that she really loved the hot water, and what the other girls were doing to her with their hands, mouths, and the soap.

"Yes. Everyone in the family has a similar house," I assured her.

"But you all must be fantastically wealthy to have so many fine houses," she insisted.

"We do very well, but these houses and their furnishings aren't much different from the houses of most of the people in the country that we reside in," I told her.