Bookworld Online: Marsh Man

Bokuboy

Jinelle led me across the campus to her dorm building, which wasn't that far away from Vanessa's.

If my guess was right, each year had their own building. First years started on one, second years moved to the next building that was bigger and could hold more people, namely the extra maids and servants, and the third building was the biggest of them all and had full staffs if the students wanted them. Jinelle opened the door of the third building and a very relaxed woman sat at the desk just inside the door.

“Another delivery?” The woman asked and came over to us. “Hmm. Class potions?”

Jinelle nodded. “The bottom one is mine.”

“Let me see.” The dorm manager said and I put them down and switched them to put Jinelle's crate on top. “Ah, I see. Plant killer.” She gave us an appraising look. “I'm surprised Mage Marks moved on so quickly.”

“We did too well last week.” Jinelle said with a pleased smile as she boasted.

The dorm manager chuckled and lightly touched my shoulder as she looked at Jinelle. “Do you need an escort?” She asked and I felt a very light tingle on my shoulder. I eased my magic there to counter the tingle and her arm stiffened up when her magic stopped affecting me and was rebuffed.

“No, my aunt told him to help me.” Jinelle said, making it clear that she didn't invite me over.

“Ah, I see.” The dorm manager said and slowly let my shoulder go. “You may proceed.”

“Thank you.” Jinelle said and she led me down the hallway and we stopped at the very first door. She opened it and there were three distinct squeals of happiness.

“MY LADY!” Three young woman yelled and the dorm manager behind us laughed as she sat down behind her desk.

Jinelle was mobbed and checked over to see if she was all right. The first maid touched the part of her hair that I had severed. She clicked her tongue a couple of times and a brush appeared in her hand and she quickly used it to fluff up her hair. The second maid went behind her and massaged her shoulders.

“Show my guest where to put my potions.” Jinelle said to the third maid.

“Yes, my lady.” She said and gave a curtsy, then assumed the escort role as she carefully put her arm through my elbow and let me through the living room and into what could only be called a work room.

Everything was in there from two years of work at the academy. Crates of potions, lots of enchanting tools and engravings, plants galore, stacks of books and papers all over, and a bunch of other things like sewing, knitting, and tea services of different kinds and quality.

“Right here on the stack.” The maid said and led me over there and pointed. I put the crates down and took the top one to put on the stack, then picked mine back up. She grabbed my arm and looked angry.

“This one's mine.” I said. “I carried both here, rather than making two trips.”

“Oh.” The maid said and let my arm go. “All right. I thought you might be stealing my lady's things.”

“If I was going to take anything, I'd take the piles of enchanting gear and drawings.” I said and nodded to them. “My potions are stronger than any she can make.”

“That's not true!” The maid gasped.

“These are almost the same potions.” I said and nodded at mine and then at the crate I put on the stack. “Both brewed today.”

The maid gave me a glare as she plucked one of my potions out and stared at it for a moment, then she picked up one of Jinelle's. She caught her breath as she saw the much lighter green color and then held both up to compare them. She carefully opened both and took a smell of each, shivered, and corked them again. She put Jinelle's back and looked at mine, at my crate, and at my face.

“It kills plants.” I said.

“I know. I... my lady...”

“If you're going to ask to keep it, I already gave Lady Marks one to take care of the bush she hates.”

“You... you did? Why?” The maid asked as she put the vial of potion back.

“I didn't want her to be disappointed by having to use up a bunch of her own potions, that should only be used on smaller plants, to do the same job that mine can do.”

The maid's face softened and she reached out to rub my arm. “Thank you, my lord. My lady will be very happy when it's gone.”

“Only if she can accept that one of my potions can do it and not get angry over it.”

The maid gave me a smirk. “You seem to know my lady's quirks.”

“Only some.” I said. “I'm betrothed as well.”

The maid had a look of both sadness and happiness on her face. It was a strange look. “I'll show you out.” She said and tucked her arm through mine again and led me back out.

Jinelle was half undressed as her maids prepared the bath for her. She let out an 'eep' sound when she saw me and then she tried to cover her small breasts with arms that were still partially inside the half removed dress.

“Cover my breasts!” Jinelle ordered and a hand from one maid covered one and a hand from the other maid covered the other. She shook slightly as her face went beet red. “You are to forget that you ever saw anything!” She spat at me.

I put my crate of potions down and took the maid's arm out of mine, then walked over to Jinelle. Her face stayed red and she looked very angry.

“I will say three things before I leave. One, you know I am betrothed and I'll tell you that I've seen a few women naked besides the ones I've slept with. Two, you should have just ignored my presence and accepted that you gave me a rare sight that I probably won't see again.”

Jinelle's anger disappeared and she looked both flattered and embarrassed. “What... what's the third?”

“You should have told the maid with me to cover my eyes with her hand if you didn't want me to see anything, because your breasts are not the only thing that needed to be covered.”

“Wh-wh-what?!?” Jinelle stared at me with a look of shock on her face, then she slowly dropped her head to look down. She gasped when she saw that the panties she had thought she still wore were down around her ankles and then her eyes went to her womanhood and the little tuff of black hair above it. “You... you...”

I reached out and touched her chin to lift her face. “Like I said, a rare sight.” I said and let her see in my eyes what she wanted to see.

Jinelle shivered slightly and then nodded a little. “I... I won't... have you killed for this.”

I gave her a smile, the one I had shown Hope when I realized I wouldn't be drafted into the mages guild, and Jinelle shivered again. I let her chin go and walked over to my crate and picked it up. The third maid took me over to the door of the room and opened it. I stepped out and she mouthed the words 'thank you' before she shut the door.

I walked down the hallway and nodded to the dorm manager as I left the building to go to my dorm mansion. The very first delivery would be arriving soon and I had to set up the large ingredient bins and to meet Mage Marks. We both had a lot of work to do tonight if the schedule she gave me was accurate.

I dropped off my crate of potions in my work room and went back downstairs to receive the first delivery of the temporary containers and parts to create the appropriate storage bins... very large storage bins... and I quickly assembled them using number ten potion. I suppose I should be calling it number ten A, for altered, then shrugged. It still worked, even if it wasn't as efficient as the real potion.

Mage Marks showed up with the first ingredient delivery half an hour later and she told the men there to wait because she wanted to look at what I did to set everything up. I led her inside the dorm mansion and up to the room beside the potion room. She didn't gasp or even show surprise that I already had them built much quicker than I had told her I could. She checked them, cast a couple of spells, and nodded.

“They're waterproofed and fortified as well. There won't be any cross contamination.” I reminded her.

Greta gave me a smile and a nod, then we went downstairs and she allowed the ingredient delivery. There were actually two sets of containers, one for the raw ingredients and one for the processed and prepared for storage ingredients. The first was temporary and the second would be quickly filled as we worked. We were both that efficient.

The only reaction she showed was happy eyes when she saw the very expensive looking and quite large workbench that I had built for her. It even had all of the tools and things she would need. She pat her belt, where I assume she had stashed her own well used tools, and that's where they stayed. She gave me another smile and a nod, then we both got to work.

The other deliveries were made over the next couple of hours and Mage Marks and I worked until suppertime. We took a break then, just long enough to enjoy a nice meal, and we went back to work. We worked for several more hours, with occasional breaks for beverages and to rest her sore muscles. I gave her a health potion and told her to take a sip when she needed to.

“We're still taking breaks.” Greta said and took a sip. “It's not good to work for too long without pausing to check your previous work.”

“That's how you've always done it?” I asked and she nodded.

“I was taught at an early age to make sure everything is as uniform and alike as possible. You don't want to dip your tools into a bin to get a much needed ingredient, only to find it partially mangled or not the right amount for what you need.” Greta said. “I've seen it happen at the guild and it had them alter and in some cases ruin their potions.”

I gave her a small smile and she laughed softly.

“Yes, I know. We shouldn't use them as a measuring stick.” Greta said. “Shall we get back to it?”

I nodded and we went back upstairs to our prep room to continue working and making the ingredients ready for storage and to ensure their potential lasted as long as possible.

We worked for quite some time and it wasn't until Greta reached for the temporary container and the utensil for dispensing the last ingredient, that we realized we were done.

“That's it.” Greta said and let the utensil go, then she turned around on her stool and leaned her back against the large work bench. “I can't believe we did it all.”

I turned around as well and looked to see that a third of the bins were full of the ingredients. “It's going to last a while, that's true.”

“You do realize this is just the first shipment, don't you? I've done the math and you're going to need a lot of ingredients to make ten thousand potions.” Greta asked with a grin.

“It's about 280 large stew pots. If I use all twelve of my setups each time, that's just over 23 brewing sessions.” I said and she looked surprised for a second, then she laughed.

“Of course you worked it all out, too.” Greta said and reached out to take my hand. “I'd be here to help you brew them, but...”

“...you know you'll just be in the way.” I finished her sentence and she nodded as she gripped my hand. “It's getting late.”

“Yes, I need to go.” Greta stood up without letting my hand go. “I don't remember the last time I enjoyed just prepping ingredients like this.”

“You don't get out much, do you?” I asked and she laughed again.

“David! That is absolutely hilarious coming from you! Ha ha!” Greta said as she kept laughing. “Oh... oh... my face is starting to hurt from laughing and smiling so much!”

“Take a sip of healing potion.” I reminded her and she laughed harder. “I better escort you home.”

“P-p-please.” Greta barely managed to say between laughs.

I led her down the stairs and we left the dorm mansion. She had worn more reasonable footwear this time, since she had been working and not visiting officially, so our pace was more moderate and not as slow. The walk was soon over and we entered the building that the teachers lived in.

Greta opened her door and turned to look at me. “David, I have a personal question to ask you.”

“I can't break my word to Helena.” I said.

Greta looked both happy and sad. “I was going to ask you how many women do you know that regret you're already betrothed.” She said and took a step towards me as she looked into my eyes. “Please add another woman to that list.”

“I thought you were already married.” I said and she shook her head.

“I refused all requests.” Greta said and her hands reached up to touch my uniform lapels to straighten them, even though they didn't need straightening. “None of them were suitable for my interests, let alone good enough for my family.”

I gave her a skeptical look. “I'm an ex-slave, an ex-convict, and an ex-conscript.”

“Yes, I know.” Greta said and ran her hands down the lapels and my chest. “I agree with your fiance, however. It's not what you've done before, it's what you will do next that matters.”

I had to think about that for several moments. “Am I really that desirable?” I asked, which was something that I had been meaning to ask someone for quite some time. I hadn't found anyone that was impartial to ask and the thought had left my mind for a while.

“Unbelievably so.” Greta said. “You're hard working, passionate for that work, and you are tougher and stronger than anyone I've ever met.” Her hands went up to my face and stroked the sides of my head. “You've got a very sharp mind, even empty of some things like it is.”

“I've told a few people that I'm not stupid and that I just don't know some things.”

“Me, included.” Greta said as we both remembered our first advanced potions class together and her reaction to me telling her all of her references were going right over my head. “I can only imagine what it's like to share magic with you.”

I remembered Helena's whispered words the night after I got her pregnant. “Orgasmic.”

Greta caught her breath and her hands held onto my head for several moments. I saw several emotions pass over her face, only it was too quick to make any of them out. She gave me a sad smile, one that seemed to be filled with loss. She took a deep breath and very slowly let me go as she stepped back.

“Goodnight, David.” Greta said as her professional demeanor returned.

I held a hand out to her in the proper way and she gave me hers to be kissed. I bent over it and pressed my lips to her fingers and sent my magic through her hand. She gasped and I could feel her whole hand tremble at the sensations. I stopped the flow and ended the kiss at the same time. The look of shock on her face matched that of Vanessa's dorm manager, so I knew that I had gotten my point across.

I didn't have to have sex with them to share magic.

I let her hand go and walked down the hallway and left the building. I felt eyes on my back, so I turned my head slightly and waved at Mage Ridge's upstairs apartment window. I heard a little clatter and the curtain over the window fluttered slightly, which told me she had been watching me. It didn't bother me, especially if she was keeping an eye on me for Donna and Alex.

I walked away from the building and went back to my dorm mansion. I needed to get some sleep. I had enchanting and runes all day tomorrow and I wanted a clear mind for it. I just hoped that they could hurry up and show me something that I could get my mind working around. If I've learned anything so far, it was that sitting in class while waiting for something to happen was getting boring.