Bookworld Online: Marsh Man

I wasn't surprised that Gella avoided me when back at the Sanctuary and Jill was the one that joined me in bed. She didn't do anything but cuddle, so I didn't object.

Eludora actually showed up early the next day with the invitation clutched in her hand. She also had the Director of the Academy with her while they waited at the front gate for me to come and get them.

“Good morning, Eludora, Pavinca.” I said and took each of their hands and kissed the backs of them, and gave them a touch of magic. “I know why Eludora is here.” I said and looked at her to see her deep blush. “May I inquire as to why Pavinca is here?”

“I had to convince her to come and then escorted her to make sure she did.” Pavinca said, proud of herself.

I sighed and closed my eyes. “You shouldn't have.”

Eludora looked sad. “D-David, don't... don't you want me here?”

I looked at her as I took both of her hands and smiled warmly at her, which made her blush again. “I did want you to come... if you did it on your own. Having someone bring you after convincing you, means you didn't overcome your fear of leaving the library. You are no closer to bettering yourself than you were six months ago when I was taken away.”

Eludora sighed. “I... I understand.” She let my hands go. “Pavinca, we should go.”

Pavinca looked shocked and dismayed. “David, you can't do this. She really did want to come...”

“I know she did. If she had asked you for help, that would be a good thing. I told you that she needed to make the decision herself to come here. Instead, you made her agree and then brought her here. Despite what you may think, that did not help her. It would be the same as if I took her here myself, or if Gella retrieved her for me. None of which would be her choice. Her. Choice.”

Pavinca looked a little angry. “Fine! I'll take her back to the academy. I'm sorry that your expectations didn't reflect reality!”

I gave her a blank look for several moments and she didn't look less angry. “Now that you're here, no matter the reason, why don't you tour the place? I'm sure that you've been wanting to for a while.”

“I've seen it when it was still the Mages Guild.” Pavinca said, her arms crossed and unhappy.

I looked up at Eludora's face. “Since the director doesn't want to, would you like a tour?”

“Will you give it?” Eludora asked, hope in her voice.

“If you wish.” I said and she nodded. “Pavinca, you can return to the academy. I'll see Eludora gets back safely when she's done here.”

Pavinca looked angry again. “Are you dismissing me?”

I turned to look at her. “You came here uninvited, forced a scared and nervous individual to accompany you to give you a reason to be here, and you think me asking you to leave is dismissing you?”

Pavinca's face flushed red from embarrassment. “I... well, I...”

“You didn't think, I know. Most of you don't.” I said. “I can't really blame you for feeling self-important. You are the director of the academy and you have had to exercise your powers a lot since I came back. I shouldn't have expected you to keep your nose out of my personal business, even if I specifically told you to.”

“Excuse me? When did you tell me that?” Pavinca challenged.

“I told you during the last exam that you had no authority over adults having a relationship, staff or not. I'm not sure how you could forget that. Everyone around us heard the same thing.”

Pavinca opened her mouth to respond, then she closed it.

“Yes, you ignored my words, even my warning that Eludora had to choose on her own to come here. You thought you were just helping things along, no matter what the other people felt or the consequences of your actions, be they good or bad.” I said and she looked guilty. “I said you can return to the academy, not that you must or had to. You seem to be searching for a reason to be angry with me. Can I ask why? Or is it just because of the problems I've solved since coming here?”

“You've caused the problems!” Pavinca said, trying to convince herself.

“No, I've revealed them, just by my presence. If I wasn't around, how quickly would the academy had devolved back into the pool of corruption that the guild had perverted it into? How many more individuals set upon overthrowing the country would be here still?”

Pavinca didn't say anything and I didn't expect her to.

“You're welcome.” I said and held an arm out for Eludora to take. “If you will excuse me, I have a tour to give and a beautiful woman to thoroughly impress with everything my people have done here.”

“Wait.” Pavinca said and took a breath and let it out. “Can I come along?”

“Perhaps next time. Contact us first to let us adjust the meals and seating arrangements appropriately. Also, certain times are not the best for visitors, especially with all the work that's going on here.” I said and she nodded. “Jensen is the manager here, in case you didn't know who you were imposing upon.”

“David, you... you are being cruel to a friend.” Eludora said.

“I know.” I said and nodded to Pavinca. “Sometimes it takes a bit of cruelty for friends to see that some of their actions are not helpful to keep the friendship intact.”

“She did a lot to help you.” Eludora said.

“She did. She also believes that she can do anything she wants where I am concerned. I normally wouldn't object to that, since it's usually harmless flirting or covering up the messes I make. Stepping on your toes and telling you that it's good for you, isn't helpful. Guiding you and assisting you is commendable, if she did it for your benefit. She wants her best librarian back and thinks giving you to me will accomplish that faster than letting you recover on your own.”

Eludora blushed and looked down at Pavinca, who was also blushing. “She means well.”

“We all do.” I said. “We all make mistakes, too. Even I do.”

“I... I know. If I hadn't rushed that first dose...” Eludora whispered. “Things could have been different.”

“All we can do is try to move on when things like that happen.” I said. “I've been repressing my feelings about losing Helena and my son for weeks now. I expect to blow up within a month or so when I can't fight it anymore. I plan to be well away from here when it happens.”

Pavinca caught her breath and looked embarrassed for some reason.

Eludora turned to hug me and bent over slightly to embrace me tightly. “I will do what I can to help.”

“All of my friends are.” I said and she smiled. “Gella has been laughing constantly, Farra has been a cuddling machine, and Hanna has been asserting self-control and self-decision well past that of a personal slave.”

“She has?” Eludora asked as we walked towards the Sanctuary. “Can you tell me what she's done?”

“I don't think that's a conversation to have in public.” I said with a knowing smile and Eludora blushed and laughed.

The guards on the door opened it for us and we entered.

_______________

Montage mode engaged. Skipping miscellaneous details. Speeding up time. Done.

_______________

“This place is amazing.” Eludora said as I sat her down in the dining room at a specially made chair and table, so she wasn't all hunched over trying to sit in a normal sized chair.

“I feel like a kid sitting on this thing.” Hanna said from a similar chair across the table.

“I think we all do.” Farra said. “At least Kemma doesn't have to use the step stool to reach the table.”

Eludora blushed as she looked around. “David, why... why did you...”

“I wanted them to know what it's like when your height restriction is applied to them instead.” I said and climbed up onto my chair beside her. “I must admit that Hanna is right. I do feel younger while sitting on such a large chair. It's quite odd.”

Hanna giggled and Gella nodded. She still looked uncomfortable and wouldn't meet my eyes.

Eludora noticed this and gave me a searching look.

“I'll explain later.” I whispered to her.

Lunch was served, as was a nice wine and Eludora had a much bigger plate and glass than everyone else. She enjoyed the larger portions and, to her, normal sized utensils and dishware.

“You went to so much trouble for me.” Eludora said when the meal was done. “Thank you, David.”

“The day isn't over.” I said. “We will relax for a short while and then it will be time for your gift.”

Eludora looked surprised. “But... what... what for? Why did you get me a gift?”

“I've had it prepared for quite some time. I had planned for it to be a gift when I finished my exams and you wouldn't see me for the summer.”

Eludora sighed. “You really are leaving?”

I took her hand. “I have work to do after I fix myself. I'm bringing some of my people with me, since they agreed to help.”

“You're going back there, aren't you?” Eludora asked.

“It's my land, so yes.” I said. “I just wonder how it has fared and if the protective enchantments will still be working by the time I reach there.”

“We will find out when it is time to do so.” Farra said. “Until then, we have a lot of work to do.”

I nodded. My experiments with the creme were progressing slowly. Not having Greta to assist with her expertise, really had slowed me down to a crawl, especially with all the distractions I now had.

We sat there for half an hour and talked about the things going on at the Sanctuary and what we planned to do for expansions.

“Linette is right. This place is becoming something worth being involved in.” Eludora said.

“That was the point.” I said and we all climbed off of our chairs. Eludora just had to stand up.

“We were our own little community on the ship that just seemed to get bigger and bigger as we moved.” Farra said. “It was amazing seeing so many people work together to create the best ship and crew on the open waters.”

“Then we gained a shipload of slaves when we decided to come here.” Hanna said. “It was an experience trying to keep them safe, fight monsters, and feed everyone.”

“Why? Aren't there lots of fish in the oceans?” Eludora asked.

Nearly everyone shivered and made gagging noises.

“After we were stuck out for weeks while working on the ship, all we had was fish to eat. If I never see another fish for as long as I live, I'll die happy.” Farra said.

“I spoiled them with real food before that.” I clarified.

Eludora smiled and nodded in understanding.

“Let's go to the parlour for this.” Farra suggested and we all went there. “Gella, can you go and get the package?”

Gella nodded and quickly left.

“Please explain what happened with her, David.” Eludora said.

I told her what had happened yesterday and what I said, and about Gella's stunned silence.

Eludora sighed. “Your cruel treatment does not work for some things, David. She doubts her abilities now.”

I shook my head. “No, she doubts her conviction. Why was she not protecting me from physical threats if that was her job?”

“She is having a crisis of conscience.” Eludora said. “You need to remind her that you are confident in her skills to protect you.”

“Doesn't my manhood count as part of my body? Why is she so willing to let others use me as much as they want?” I asked. “As I told her, I've been fending for myself and failing. I don't know why they seem to ignore their own social rules when certain restrictions are lifted from them.”

“Like husbands and contracts.” Eludora said. “Have they all tried something with you?”

“In some form or another.” I said. “Even married women attempt things, no matter their age. I am getting annoyed at the whole thing and no one seems to care about how I feel about these things.”

Gella came into the room with a hand cart when I said that. Her face flushed red as she put the cart in front of Eludora. “We all hope you like this gift.”

Eludora reached out and took her hand. “Thank you, Gella.” She said and glanced at me and back at her. “For everything.”

Gella looked guilty about that.

“No, don't think that way.” Eludora said. “You gave me something that I've desired for a very long time. I never imagined it would happen. Now that it has, I feel nothing but grateful to you.”

“I think... that is the point my lord is trying to make.” Gella said, sadly. “I didn't even think about asking him if he would want to do it. I just brought him to you and left him there, abandoning him, and putting him into a situation that he didn't ask for or knew how to deal with.”

“He could have said no, or left, or done something else.” Eludora said.

“Could he? Did anyone tell him he could do those things? Or did he assume that he had to go through with it, because I put him there and he didn't have a choice?” Gella asked her.

It was Eludora's turn to look sad. “I didn't think of that. I assumed...”

“You all do that.” I said and everyone looked at me. “Everyone assumes things about me and no one ever seems to ask me my opinion anymore. They just do things and ignore my reactions, my comments, and my needs.”

That made them all look guilty, because they had all done exactly that at some point.

“You can open the gift now.” I said and Eludora looked like she didn't want to. “You don't feel like it, do you?”

Eludora shook her head.

“Then don't.” I said and stood. “We assumed that you wanted a gift from all of us, so we worked hard to make it for you. It took time, effort, and consideration to complete it. When you do decide to open it, you should know that we wanted you to have it and we know how much you are going to love and appreciate it.”

They all watched as I walked over to the door of the parlour and didn't say anything.

I stopped and turned back to look at them. “Eludora, tell them what I said about friends helping each other. Perhaps you all might understand the difference between selfishness and selflessness.”

“D-David.” Eludora said. “Aren't you being selfish right now?”

“I am, and I don't blame any of you for it.” I said and met everyone's eyes, even Gella's. “I don't.”

“My lord, I... I just...” Gella stammered.

“I have some work to do for a few hours. If you could have Jill show Eludora to the bath around then, I will meet her there and take care of things.”

“Yes, my lord.” Gella said.

I nodded and left the room. I had some work to catch up on.