Jebidiah's Change Bk. 01 Ch. 09

"He's not just a take-charge kind of man, cousin. He is in charge, we don't play at it, there is no game here. Big difference. You need to be on board with that." Tenner added.

"I need us to step back a minute, start from the bigger picture. It looks to me like decisions have been made, important decisions about me, that I was not involved in. Greta, I know the first time we met you mentioned 'shopping around' for a group and considering us, so I am assuming somewhere along the lines it was decided you were in fact joining? Was tonight supposed to be a trial run or consummation? Who decided this?"

"I don't understand, I discussed this with your wives, Jeb. I didn't think this was going to be a problem." Greta responded.

Jebidiah looked at where Crystal and Tenner were standing. "What if I don't like her?"

Crystal stared back at him while Dana and Tenner had trouble making eye contact. "But you do."

"I don't have a say in it?" Jebidiah asked with a hint of anger.

"You could have put an end to this at any point, husband. You can right now and send her on her way. Look Jeb, are in charge, none of us will contest that. The problem is there is simply too much for you to do by yourself. We are your wives, we know you, know what you like, where your heart is. We need to recruit a larger group, we've been told that by many now and even the Divines have been hinting at it with the whole Eight business. If we find a compatible woman, we're going to bring them in for consideration. You have to like them, yes, but we equally have to like them to make sure we can all work together. So yes, I made a decision without your input. We will find someone we all like, introduce them into the mix to make sure you like them as well, then you can decide what you want to do. Still your decision but we get to filter." She stood there before him, defiant, with fists on her hips, challenging him with her stare.

The silence stretched for nearly a minute that felt like ten then Jebidiah sighed. "You make this incredibly difficult when you are right. Being cute as a button isn't fair either. Fine, I can't fault your logic. I guess my biggest problem is that if you had broached your plan with me to begin with I would have told you it was a good one."

In her relief Crystal blew out the breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Fair. I'm sorry I didn't discuss it with you, love." Then she smiled with a devilish grin, "When you say I was right, which part was I right about?"

"Well, all of it really. Like I said, I can't find fault with your logic. It makes sense and is better than what I would have come up with. Though the thought feels odd having my wives pick out new girls for me to try out."Jjebidiah laughed. "That was never on my list of concerns growing up."

"So, being right includes Greta herself?" Crystal asked. Greta, who had wisely decided to stay silent through the exchange, perked up, pushing her breasts out.

Jebidiah looked over at Greta's who had also plastered her best big eyed, pleading smile on her face. "You make it very difficult to not like you. I'm fine with moving forward, but I have to warn you Greta, as you just saw, someone is rather intent on killing us and we've already lost two of our number to them. I'm still not sure how my bonding power works either. We've been attempting with Joy and haven't had success, but," he gave Joy a warm smile, "I'm not giving up trying till I figure it out. She's not bonded yet but everyone needs to treat her as a full sister-wife."

With a squeal Joy rushed across the space between them and threw herself into his arms for a full body hug. He didn't have much choice but to hug her back or she would have fallen off. "Love you munchkin." He kissed her head.

Greta went from smiles to confusion in a quick flip of expressions. "Sister-wife? I thought she was Talentless like yourself."

"What part of 'we do things differently' was hard to understand, cousin?" Tenner rolled her eyes.

"Sister-wives." He hugged Joy more fully to himself. "Everyone I bond with will be equals next to me, just as my love for them is equal. Keep that in mind Greta, joining us will push your expectations and you need to adjust what 'normal' means. That goes for the rest of you as well. Crystal, Dana, Tenner. I love you all equally. Just remember that. If I disagree with something or get upset it will never lessen the amount of love I have for you or how I view and respect you. Even you big guy."

Stern smiled again and nodded. "You all are the only family I will ever have. I will always love you all."

There were lots of verbal and nonverbal responses from that exchange but two stood out to Jebidiah. First was Greta who stayed quiet and just stared like she had been poleaxed and lost her orientation. The second was when Mila said, "How do you do it?" She asked the question quietly to herself so Jebidiah figured it was rhetorical but he answered anyway.

"Love is like a magic only the people involved can see, Mila. It's everywhere around us and never runs out. You just have to be involved and committed to it." Caught off guard at his response, she got up and retreated to her sleeping mat to put distance between herself and the others.

Jebidiah put Joy down and the girls all huddled together in conversation and giggles. Jebidiah moved off to follow Mila to make sure she wasn't offended by what he had said. As he approached the closed fabric hung around her sleeping pad he caught the sounds of quiet weeping. "Mila?" he asked softly.

"Go away, I'm tired." came the meek reply, almost too quiet to hear.

Giving into his instincts once again Jebidiah moved aside her screen to find Mila crying into her pillow. She looked up at him with such sorrow and pain in her face it nearly brought tears to his eyes. He knelt beside her, reached down, and pulled her into a gentle hug. Her sobbing increased and she made to push against him but couldn't find the strength and finally gave in. Jebidiah wasn't sure if it was giving in or giving up but he felt she needed emotional support. He sat back into a better position and moved Mila into his lap, gently rocking her. Neither said a word and Mila eventually drifted off to sleep.

Jebidiah woke up slowly to find Mila still laying against him, surrounded by his arms, her big brown eyes staring up at him. "Why?" was all she said.

Her question could be referring to several things that immediately came to mind so he picked the safest answer he could think of. "Why not?" He noticed that now that he was awake she still did not pull away from his embrace.

"Killing you was the goal. The dream said I must, or doomed we all are. Killing me you could have, should have. Here you are, holding me like a big crying baby. Not knowing what to do, Valor. You know not, but I lost everything before. Dream gave me hope and purpose. Now my way, my purpose, my own self, lost again. But here I am. You offer me your group, a place. Here we sit all night like lovers. What's it mean? Why?" Her pleading eyes searched within his.

"I don't have your answers, Mila. I wish I did. If you are willing, though, we can search for the answers together. As long as it takes, you have a spot with us. You are welcome to join us as much as you are willing. We weren't kidding last night, we already owe you much."

She nodded to herself as if coming to a decision. "Eat I must. Your rod mistakes me for your women, trying to impale me. Up I must." She pushed against him and he let her go. Mila wasn't far off in her observation, his morning erection was trying for its best tent pole impression.

"Mila, before we join the others, there's something else we need to discuss."

Her face turned crimson again, enough that even her ears were red. "Not ready for that." She quickly left the seclusion of her sleeping area. Sighing, Jebidiah got up and followed her.

Everyone else was rousing and when the tent flap moved aside Jebidiah noticed it was later in the morning than they normally departed. Crystal came up to him and gave him a hug before they both headed outside for food. "You were absent last night. We felt the concern in the bond, how is she? There's a bit more than concern now though, isn't there? Is that affection?"

"There's a lot going on with that one. I sense a long and sad story. You wouldn't believe the sadness in her face last night. Something told me she just needed someone to be there for her. I hope you all did not mind."

"Nonsense. It's one of your endearing qualities. Well, normally it is. You've been missing some of your empathy lately and it was refreshing to see it come back. None of us have known how to handle or approach her so we have held back. Should we be reaching out as well?" Crystal asked.

"I think so, for several reasons. It may help to open her up and give us more information about what we are up against. I also think she could really use some friends and maybe a family." Jebidiah replied. Crystal nodded.

Once their meal was done, Jebidiah, Dana, Greta, and Stern headed to the tent where the prisoner was being held to find a large, loud crowd had already gathered, nearly forty strong, wearing three different sets of colors. Jebidiah spotted the Duchess' presence. As they grew nearer the crowd grew louder and angrier. Coming to join the Duchess, Jebidiah bowed in greeting, "Well met Your Grace. This morning may prove to be as exciting as our evening?"

"Divines may it not be so. Thank you Master Valor for protecting our Greta. You have our thanks. The tale we were told said that you and Miss Tonstar showed great courage and resolve. I shall relay our thanks to the Crown as well, Dana."

Jebidiah and Dana both bowed in acceptance of the compliment. "We thank you, Your Grace. We were coming to see what information we could gain but I see many, many people were quicker or is something else going on?"

"I think this activity resolves any questions you may have been wanting to ask. Before the sun had a chance to rise a group of Faltha guards arrived with a warrant, claiming we had a fugitive that House Faltha desperately needed. Something about our prisoner holding time-sensitive information, lives at stake, blah blah blah, demanded his immediate release. None of them has an answer for how word of his capture reached the city. What it tells me is Faltha sent the assassin and wants him back before we can find any proof of a connection. Honestly I doubt it is worth the hassle of holding on to him. The arguments are delaying us getting home and the payout is questionable."

The Duchess snorted. "Discussing it with you just makes me see the full folly of holding him." She turned to a guard standing beside her. "Go tell them to release the prisoner to the Falthans. Send them our best wishes for the speedy resolution of their problem. The usual platitudes." The guard saluted and went off to where the arguing was the loudest.

"Now, onto other matters." The Duchess moved her gaze to Greta. "I hope our Greta has not over extended her welcome, we do miss her but it is good to see her singing again. It does a mother's heart well to see her daughter allowed to be herself."

"Your grace, your daughter is a lovely woman. She will always be more than welcome to spend time with her cousin and the rest of us." Jebidiah replied with a smile.

"More than welcome? That is heartening to hear. My dearest Greta, take your mother's advice. Make sure the waters are warm and deep enough before you dive in." She gave Jebidiah a glance. "But one does wonder if the waters might be too hot or too deep."

Greta grabbed hold of Jebidiah's hand. "To borrow a phrase, mama, it looks like the water might be magical."

The Duchess snorted again. "Now you sound like the girlish foolishness your cousin keeps spouting." She looked back over to where the group of guards had begun breaking up and several others led the prisoner to a set of waiting horses. "Very well, I am off. We need to get this circus back on the road. I want to be home by the 10th." She raised her voice. "Come everyone, let's be about it."

The next three days of travel proved to be less exciting and Jebidiah's group fell back into the normal travel routine of training, study, and discussion. The new normalcy came with some other changes. Mila stayed nearer to Jebidiah instead of off by herself. She was still quiet and reserved but would, on occasion, join in some of the magical discussions that arose during training. Mila also slowly disclosed more of the details surrounding her clan and culture, exclusively centered on how they relate to magic, but it was an opening Jebidiah planned to use to learn more about her. Greta also joined their daily routine, making clear her decision.

During this time they traveled through lands controlled by House Londolond and Balron, neither of which had a council seat or had aligned in voting with Faltha or Crag. The Stockmar contingent felt Jebidiah's group was safer than in Silvertoe jurisdiction but the guard still increased their presence at night with several guards inside the tent. The extra guard presence stopped any further nighttime activities but it didn't stop Greta from curling up naked with the rest in the main sleeping area each evening, at times getting somewhat handsy with Jebidiah.

The third evening after the assassination attempt found them sitting around their sleeping area locked in a magical debate that had started earlier in the day. Jebidiah was squared off against Tenner, Shirley, Farrah, Crystal, and Mila about whether illusion magic physically manifested the illusion in each observer's reality. The reasoning was to explain why an illusion broke for one person but did not break the illusion in another viewer's reality. Joy and Greta had laid their heads in Jebidiah's lap allowing him to stroke the hair of both. He calmly told them the illusions were direct manipulation of the sensory organs of the observers and did not affect any reality which the rest disputed not quite as calmly. Jebidiah would have let the debate end hours before but Mila was highly agitated and vocal, the most interaction he had seen with the group since she joined them. It helped she had other's on her side, supporting her arguments, even if it was all in opposition to Jebidiah. Michael listened in amusement but did not join in.

"I don't understand your bonheadedness," Mila was saying, "Illusion be my realm, Axteus be my patron, you argue what you cannah do yourself. Insulting it is!"

"Given time I can figure out the spells, Mila. You are very adept with invisibility, how does it work?"

"Cast it, poof, invisible."

"Can you see yourself?"

"Illusion it be, not affect my reality, I know where I am."

"So the illusion can't affect you in your reality, but it changes everyone else's reality. Everywhere, across the entire planet and across time."

"That's a far stretch, I don't know go that far I would."

"Invisibility lasts as long as you take no action to end it or desire its end, correct?"

"Aye."

"So if you turn invisible and someone has a baby, would that baby's reality be affected by your illusion?"

This question stumped Mila. "Not being sure, Shirley? What say?"

Shirley smiled. "We do know this. An illusion cast will affect anyone born after the casting."

Jebidiah picked his line of thought back up. "So not only does the illusion spell affect everyone's reality everywhere, it will also reach through time and affect new people's reality. That is some power. Wouldn't it be simpler and more likely that the illusion just bends light around the person so that any observer sees what is behind them? The spell only changes the perception of the viewer instead of the reality of the viewer? Place a stick in a jar of water and it only looks like the stick bends."

"Nay, then why only work on one viewer and not the other?"

"Fine, we keep talking in circles. How about I prove it through a demonstration? Turn yourself invisible if you would please. Joy, I'll need your help with this one." Jebidiah had everyone's attention now, even some of the guards had come to watch. Mila went off behind her sleeping screen and they all could hear her cast the spell. They all also saw the screen move to the side as she came back out but only Jebidiah could see where she eventually stood.

"Joy, if you would please, that large blue pillow beside where Dana is sitting. Go past that until you reach the chair behind and sit in it. Once you are, just hold a hand out in front of you, palm up." Joy complied, nearly walking directly into Mila who had to step to the side to avoid the collision.

"Ok Mila. You are nearly in front of Joy so just adjust a little and stand in front of her, directly between her and me. There you go, I want you in a position so that if you were visible I could not see Joy's hand." Mila had moved to comply and said "Should be good." which spooked Joy a little.

"Greta, can you still see Joy?" Greta nodded, head still in Jebidiah's lap. "Ten, Dana, Shirley, farrah, would you mind coming over beside me confirming you can still see Joy?" They all complied and confirmed with some amusement.

"Ok, Joy, if you would please, pick a number of fingers and hold them up on your hand so we can see. Mila, you do the same, just put up a hand and pick a number of fingers." Once done, Jebidiah said "Ok fellow participants, I see Joy holding up two fingers, do you agree?" They all agreed. "Ok, so now, how many fingers is Mila holding up?"

"Jeb, she's invisible." Greta snickered.

"Just so, but she's still holding up four fingers."

Everyone could hear the shock in Mila's voice "How?"

"Well, you are holding up your left hand and tucking in your thumb. Most people can do it." Jebidiah answered. He could detail her body movements by the gray glow around her body while still seeing Joy through the haze.

"So see me now, nothing that proves."

"You are still very invisible, I can still see Joy. If you were visible I wouldn't be able to. If your spell was alternating my reality so I couldn't see you, I wouldn't be able to see both of you. Joy, change the number of fingers. Mila, do something different. Doesn't need to be holding hands up." They both changed what they were doing, Joy put out both hands with different finger totals and Mila's gray shape changed but in a way that made it hard for Jebidiah to determine what she was up to. He was going to go with rubbing or patting her stomach but the way her elbow pointed out to the side in vees did not make sense. And then, looking more closely, he knew.

"Girls, do you agree Joy is now holding up seven fingers, four on one hand and three on the other?" They all agreed.

"So Mila, if I can still see Joy's hands then that means you are invisible. Do you agree?"

"I'm supposing." She responded. "Doing what am I?" Jebidiah could hear the smirk in her voice.

"Making my evening more enjoyable. Nice tits by the way."

There was a shocked gasp, followed by giggles from the girls and Crystal asked for confirmation. "You were flashing him?"

Mila adjusted herself and dropped her invisibility, but not in time for her cheeks to remove all the scarlet they held. "Not understanding this."

A new voice broke into the conversation. "So that's how you did it." Everyone was so focused on the demonstration that nobody heard or saw Corporal Yantzee come up to join the demonstration. "When the Children attacked, you found the secret portal in the Academy walls because you saw through the illusion. I think the Captain is still fretting over how you managed that."

Jebidiah nodded some. "Probably. In the excitement I didn't notice the illusion effects. I did not know I was supposed to see something else."

"Well, it makes more sense at least. We can discuss it with the Captain on our return. Now though, Master Valor, the Duchess would like a word."