Love in a Portable Hole Ch. 02

There were too many to reach, as it is in virtually every crowd she welcomed. She had learned to use her gaze to engage people even if they were not close enough to touch her hand, and as she moved down the line she felt conquest after conquest as people responded to her natural charisma. The guards struggled to hold back the surging crowd, but she didn't hesitate to step close and grasp hands. Now that I've charmed them, I should have an easier time getting accepted into the school. She saw the perfect transition when a little boy wiggled to the front, probably only 5 or 6 years old, in decent clothes that hung loosely on his slight frame with dark hair and large brown eyes.

She reached down and picked him up, holding him aloft as if to keep him safe from being trampled, although this was a relatively well-ordered crowd and the guards had noted him and been protecting him from being trampled. The boy instinctively wrapped his arms around her neck and she nuzzled against him and gave him a kiss on his cheek, and the crowd went wild with enthusiasm. She gestured for quiet by raising her hand, and as she had hoped they calmed down so that her call for the boy's parents could be heard. A slim man with equally dark hair had been working his way to the front already, and the crowd parted to let him through. She handed him back with a laugh and a look of shared adventure to him that the crowd could vicariousy participate in, and then waved and moved towards the waiting group of dignitaries.

Lucy carefully kept her eyes on an older man with a long grey beard and blue flowing robes who appeared to be some kind of leader at this place. He stepped forward with a warm twinkle in his eyes and took her hand in his and bowed, touching his forhead to the back of her hand.

"Welcome, your Highness, to the Citadel of Gifts. I am Magister Kurtys, and we are deeply honored by your choice to come and study here. May you discover all that you seek during your stay." His voice was firm and warm, not at all the old wheezy man voice she was expecting.

He introduced her to several others, and her training allowed her to greet them warmly and appear focused on them, but the entire time her mind was dominated by the knowledge that Bruce was only a few feet away. His dark outfit was such a contrast to the crowd that she could always see him in her peripheral vision, a desire and a danger moving closer and closer. When she finally saw him face to face, her breath caught despite all her efforts. He was beautiful to her. His dark hair, blue eyes and strong features were burned into her brain but she drank it all in again. She reached out automatically to allow him to take her hand, and he smoothly responded, bending down and kissing the back of her hand. A shiver ran through Lucy's body at his touch.

As he stood back up her dropped her hand, and she felt disappointment. No words? No covert touch? Was that some kind of guarded reserve in his eyes? Why wasn't he warmer? A swirl of emotions threatened to overwhelm Lucy, and she desperately wanted to talk with just Bruce. Magister Kurtys kept moving her down the line of dignitaries, and she lost her chance with Bruce. No words had been spoken, but now she knew – there was something wrong. She didn't know what, and it wounded her more than she thought possible.

The rest of the meeting was a haze, and Lucy was sure she would not remember the names of those she was introduced to. As soon as it was socially acceptable, she begged tiredness from her journey and asked to retire. They were solicitious – of course the Princess was tired from her journey, who wouldn't be – and they escorted her to a room. Apparently it was to be only temporary, as she was to live with other female trainees, but for her first night she was still royalty and not a student. The Cathedral of Gifts was vast, far larger than her father's palace, and they wandered down long hallways and twisting corridors to her rooms. They were hovering and solicitious and oh so concerned about her, and it took several hours and a few visits before she got rid of well-wishers and guests. Then she had to get rid of the servants, a more challenging task but one she was familiar with. And once she was alone, she found herself lying on the thick comforter of her 4-poster bed, crying bitter tears of broken hopes.

The next day they transferred her belongings into the female dorm area. She tried to seem interested in her surroundings but it all seemed dull and grey to her. The dorm was a large wing with a common area in the front and several rooms branching from three hallways in the back. Each room held three beds, with minimalist decorations. A desk and dresser completed the rather hopelessly plain rooms. Lucy had not stayed in such a simple room in...well, she couldn't think of ever having to do so, except during her escape in the portable hole. And I never minded those surroundings– damn him, why didn't he reach out to me yesterday! Why did he seem so withdrawn?! The same thoughts that had kept her mostly sleepless once again crashed through her consciousness, distracting from the now.

She was guided into a room where two young women were waiting. They introduced themselves as Rana and Vellai, and they seemed pleasant enough, if overwhelmed at the idea of sharing a room with such august royalty. Rana was a tall lithe blond with blue eyes and a slim, almost athletic figure and a gentle voice. Vellai was nearly her opposite, a dark haired, voluptuous woman with dark eyes and an intense demeanor. They shared the basics of her new living situation, and chatted briefly about the Cathedral and its inhabitants and the training they were undertaking. Rana had experienced visions of the future several times as a child, and had come here to try and become a Diviner. Vellai had grown up amongst her nomadic people with a special affinity for animals, and had been sent to try and become a Beastmaster. Training typically lasted nearly 8 hours a day. They had been excused for the morning session to welcome her and be her escort to her trainings in the afternoon.

Lucy chatted with them on automatic, doubt and pain filling her heart. Did she still want to be here, if she couldn't be with Bruce? But she had to talk to him! She had to find out what was wrong! Was she reading too much into a look, a touch? She tried to refocus onto their words. Vellai was speaking about training that all students took, no matter their area of magical emphasis.

"Let's see. Um, everyone has to be trained in basic magical theory. That's kind of boring because you can spend a lot of time talking about areas of magic you don't care about, but it does help you understand what everyone else is doing. We also have to take classes in magical history and prophecy. I mean, after all, the Cathedral of Gifts was constructed around the Four Elemental Towers after the last Demonwar, so it does seem important even if those towers are sealed off until we have elemental wizards again." Vellai spoke with enthusiasm and passion, gesturing frequently.

Rana chimed in, "Don't forget Magical Defense. Didn't you say that it is the best class, except maybe our emphasis training?" Rana had a sly look on her face as she said it, and Vellai blushed a bit.

"Why is that?" Lucy asked, trying to regain the thread of the conversation and wondering what she had missed.

Rana had a teasing look as she replied, "Oh, Vellai has a crush on the teacher. You know him, its Null Mage Reed. She just drools over him. " Vellai flushed even darker and a hot look came into her eyes.

"I'm not the only one. I seem to remember you mooning over him last year before you started dating Kir. You even tried to get a Sylpan spell to work on him!" Vellai shot back.

Now Rana blushed and her eyes flickered towards Lucy, clearly embarassed.

"What is a Sylpan spell?" Lucy asked, curious even as she felt a flush of anger at Vellai and Rana both. How dare they like Bruce!

Vellai had an embarassed look as well, but was taking enough pleasure in Rana's embarssment that she continued. "Ah, its not something we are supposed to know about but it gets passed down from girl to girl in this wing, ah, well, it is a spell you can cast, where you hold a piece of wood while toucing a man. It, ah, transforms the wood into an exact replica of the man's, ah, um, erect penis." Another flush crossed Vellai's face, clearly getting uncomfortable.

Lucy decided not to let Vellai escape, and pinned her down more. "Oh really? And what does one do with such a thing?" She used her royal command tone although phrasing it as a question, and Vellai squirmed.

"Well, ah, ahem, a girl gets curious about what a man is like, and oh god, I can't believe I brough this up, um, well there are practice rooms in our wing that you can use to try new magic, they only allow one person in at a time, and um, well you know. To see how he would feel. Oh, it didn't work on him, of course, he's the Null Mage." Vellai was blushing and physically squirming, and Rana was wincing at the conversation.

Lucy stared at her, letting a silence linger and leaving them both dangling. She decided to let it drop for now, knowing that it would be unwise to push it further since she was going to have to live with these two young women for so long as she was training here. I will have to figure out that spell, however. I bet he would let me cast the spell. I suddenly find that I am very curious what Bruce's member would look like, what it would feel like – stop it! Lucy made a gesture that showed she was dropping the topic, and the other two sighed their relief visibly.

They spent the rest of the day walking her around and helping her get oriented in this massive place. She felt a low-level simmering resentment of Vellai and had to work to be pleasant. So she had a schoolgirl crush on Bruce. She imagined that a fair number of the girls did – after all, he was tall, dark and handsome. They had dinner in a common hall with many other students, and apparently they were divided into work sections who each had a responsibility for some part of the Cathedral on a rotating basis. Great, so now I'm going to have to do chores? This deal keeps getting worse and worse. Lucy could avoid it at any time by simply asking to go back home to her parents. But that would be admitting both defeat in her relationship with Bruce – which she wasn't ready to give up on – and that she had been foolish and impetuous, again, in making decisions. Neither seemed appealing.

She joined classes the next day, and met more new students. Everyone wanted to talk to her. Some were fascinated by her royalty, which she was used to. But some wanted to talk about her collar that had controlled her, or the portable hole, or the cloak, or her healing gift. It was a new sensation for people to be interested in her powers or magic rather than her position. The steady stream of questioners was tiring, but she new this was the time for maximum effort as she established first impressions throughout this social circle. She was used to handling these types of social situations, although having so many accents to try and lipread made it difficult.

The one person she didn't see was Bruce Reed. She met her teachers and was introduced to others, but he was conspicuously absent. She asked Rana about him after her first Magical Defense class was taught by an older black-skinned wizard whose exotic accent made it challenging for her to track what he was even saying.

Rana replied, trying to recover some of Lucy's good graces. "Oh, well he doesn't teach every time, just the advanced areas and when we are doing actual spells in class. It is fun but also creepy, because he has us cast the spell right at him, even when it is a possible killing spell. Even when you do it right, it never works. I mean, weird, right? It's kind of unnerving to know there is someone that magic doesn't work on at all."

Lucy felt disappointed at his absence, and resolved to talk to him. But over the next few days, she never even saw him. She subtly asked around and no one knew exactly where he was, although he was reportedly in the Cathedral of Gifts. She settled in with her roommates, who still seemed a bit in awe of her. She forgave Rana her crush on Bruce after the three had a late night giggling session talking about Kir, her boyfriend, and Rana showed them her Sylpan copy of him that she had made. It was surprisingly smooth and lifelike, and even a little warm. Vellai teased Rana about how much work she was putting in inside the sealed practice rooms and they all fell to giggling. It was nice to make friends.

After the chore sections but before dinner, they had several hours to themselves. Most used it to study or spent time with friends. Lucy used it to go wizard hunting – one in particular. She roamed the halls and leaned where the teachers lived, the twisting hallways and many levels near them. She sometimes felt a tingling, like someone was watching her, but she could never catch anyone. Two weeks into her classes she learned how to cast a kind of camoflage spell similar to the cloak that had aided her escape, and decided to use it in her hunt.

Lucy set herself in an overwatch position near the teacher's wing and cast the spell, creating twists in the light that made her look almost exactly like her background. So long as she didn't move, she should be essentially invisible to anyone walking by. Settling down, she watched. Teachers came and went over two hours, and her boredom and frustration grew. It was nearly the dinner hour and she was about to give up when suddenly there he was. Wearing a black cloak and soft leather boots, he moved with grace and was suspiciously quiet. Why he's been sneaking around! He looked around and then seemed to sigh in disappointment, then turn towards the teacher's wing.

Lucy stepped forward and reached out to grab his arm and his attention, but suddenly he turned and she was in a painful grip and a knife was flashing towards her throat. She gasped and the knife froze, inches from causing her death. An almost-painful pressure surrounded her whole body and made her groan. As suddenly as it started, it stopped. Looking down, she realized that she had moved with the camoflauge spell on her, and to him it must have looked like a part of the wall was coming alive. I almost died because I forgot about that spell! Oh God! That pressure must have been him nulling out the magic.

Bruce lowered the knife and sheathed it on his belt, his hands trembling slightly. He also released the twisting grip he had on her left arm that had immobilized her. He stared at her face for a moment, as if looking for reassurance that he had not hurt her – or perhaps that she did not hate him for his instinctive reaction.

"Your Highness, I deeply apologize for my actions and any pain that I caused you. I hope you can forgive me." Bruce said in a formal tone of voice.

"What? Of course I forgive you, I'm the one that surprised you. God, I was so stupid! But that isn't what I wanted to talk to you about. Why..."

"Your Highness could never be stupid. Please excuse me, I am late for an appointment." He was even more formal now.

"You are just leaving? How dare you!" Lucy exploded, all her bottled feelings boiling out. Her right hand lashed out, slapping him hard across the left cheek. Her palm stung painfully from the blow. Bruce did not flinch or attempt to avoid the blow in any way.

"I understand. I wish you a pleasant evening. Excuse me." His tone was frost itself.

"No you are not excused! I have been here nearly three weeks, and not once have you talked to me! How could you do this to me!"

He stood mute before her, accepting the verbal barrage.

"Damn you Bruce! Answer me! You invite me here, then abandon me! Was I just some passing thing, a girl to be used and then thrown aside! You bastard, you jerk, you..." tears of rejection, held in so long, burst forth and she started sobbing.

Bruce looked pained at her words far more than her blow, and enfolded her in a hug, moving almost against his will. She clung to him tightly, crying on his muscled chest. Her mind felt overwhelmed, roiled by all the feelings crashing inside her. Her tears dropped down her cheeks onto his shirt, leaving wet stains. She leaned into him, trying to drink in the feeling of his body, to gain her equilibrium by remembering their time together in the portable hole.

After a minute she realized that Bruce was holding her awkwardly, more so than when he had first hugged her. Then she became more aware of her surroundings and realized that he was rock hard, and his erection was pressed against her stomach. She looked up at him, and he seemed to move without thought, kissing her. It felt so good! Suddenly he broke it off and tried to back away from her, but she refused to let go.

"Not until you explain!" She said to his unspoken words.

He guided her down the hallway towards a classroom. She had tried to hide in it earlier and knew that it was magically locked. He didn't even break stride, and the door opened at a single touch from him. Now in private, she held him with both arms tightly, pressing her body against his. He rested his head on the top of hers. It feels so good to be held. It has been so long. The thought made her feel again her frustration and pain, and she started crying again. Clinging to Bruce, she was keenly aware that he was both the source of it and comfort to it.

After several minutes, Lucy recovered enough to be able to speak again. His erection still pressed against her, mute testimony of his desire for her. And yet she knew she looked terrible. Her mother had always warned her that redheads simply do not have the coloring to cry in public. Lucy leaned away from Bruce's enfolding arms, and he seemed to let go with reluctance. She looked him directly in the eye and uttered one word, filled with all her hurt and doubt.

"Why?"

A look of pain, followed by resolve, crossed his face, and his words were low and intense.

"I saw you in Brasner, you know. I should have left to come back right away, but I snuck into one of parties thrown for you, the one hosted by Lord Jauret. You were dazzling, a shining ruby, so beautiful it hurt my heart. And you moved through those social circles with ease. Everyone bowed to you, everything rotated around you. You were the center of attention, and you acted is it was not only right but inevitable, unworthy of comment, that everything revolved around you."

"I asked for you at that party. Lord Jauret said you were not there." Lucy said with surprise.

"He didn't know. He wouldn't have let me in, I am too much his social inferior in those circles. But you were his superior, and he knew it. They all knew it. And that's when it hit me – that I was the only one who didn't know the truth. That you are too good for me. That you are the first princess of the most powerful royal family in the world. You are the most sought after match in the world, desired by every man with a hint of royal blood. That is your world. And I don't belong in it. You are too high above me – even a null mage cannot scale those heights."

Tears not of pain but of understanding were now running down Lucy's cheeks, and the agony she saw on his face released her heart. He does love me!

"Silly mage. It is not for you to decide whether or not you are worthy of me. I am the princess, and that means that I get to choose whom I give myself to. Powerful and handsome men have pursued me since I was 13, and none have found the key to my heart – except you. Only you. I choose you, you damn stupid proud silly man, and it is my right to choose. It is not for you to choose for me."