Night Games Pt. 01

Faraji nodded his understanding.

"I see your point, Helena. I shall have my people remove it."

Helen smiled.

"I'm glad we were able to come to an agreement on this." She told him, putting out her cigarette. "Now, we'd better get along to the reception before they miss us. Come, let me introduce you to Generalissimo Ramirez and some of my other people."

Faraji smiled and took her offered arm. They departed her office. As he walked with her, he wondered what the legends had all been about.

After all, he'd found her a perfectly reasonable woman.

* * *

Two hours later, the reception ended. This finally gave Helen time to go to the Nursery and find out who the twins' surprise visitor was. She placed her cigarettes and lighter in the little bowl indicated by the two signs on the Nursery door. The first said in English "Absolutely No Smoking, Helen. In fact, why don't you just leave them in that little bowl over there? Nobody will touch them." The other sign read, in Italian, "Everybody Else, No Smoking and Leave La Contessa's Cigarettes Alone."

She entered the Nursery. The artist who'd designed it made the walls and the ceiling look like the occupants might be outdoors on a sunny day. The clouds on the ceiling were shaped vaguely like duckies and bunnies, along with a few items of the parents' interest and the faces of the two men after which they'd been named. The floor was carpeted emerald green because it was the royal color of San Finzione and the boys would need to get used to seeing a lot of it. On that carpet lay a menagerie of cuddly fluff friends and many toys for developing young minds, one of whom would someday rule the country.

Troy Equals sat in front of a large television, watching Mander Force with his sons. Vincenzo and Byroni each sat on one of his knees, which he would periodically bounce for them. Helen thought of creeping up on him and surprising him with a hug from behind like he'd do to her but decided that doing so while he was holding the twins was a bad idea. Troy must have told the nannies to take a break. He was allowed to do that.

"Hey, Boys." She said softly as she crossed the room to them. The three turned their heads. The boys acknowledged their mommy before turning back to watch the pretty colors on the screen. Troy gently set them down on the couch and left them to find out if Mander Force would stop B.U.G.G.E.R.S. from taking over the world's cookie mines. He stood to welcome her into his arms.

"Hey, Girl." He replied as she fell into his embrace. He held Helen for at least a minute before she finally looked up.

"I wasn't expecting you for a couple days." She told him.

"Julie's showing is going on until then and Susan is helping her. I had no appointments and can do my job from anywhere with Wi-Fi, so I decided to come early and get in some time with you three before the kids get overrun by their Also and Other Mommies."

Troy Equals lived with his wife Julie Equals in Federal Way, Washington; along with Susan Bailey, the permanent third member of their polyamorous marriage. Troy and Julie had been Helen's dearest friends their entire lives and she had been both of their first girlfriend. She didn't see them for years after she married Count Vincenzo Ramon de San Finzione the First and became his Contessa, and then his widow, and then ruler of his country. When Helen did finally reconnect with them, she found that Troy & Julie's love had room enough for her and she and Susan had come to love each other as well. Although La Contessa was known to the Press for her little dalliances with the Hollywood Pretty Boy or Girl of the Minute, it was to these three people that her heart belonged.

At a young age, Troy and Julie discovered the secret of mind control that Helen had used on Faraji to get him to change the treaty. Her father had been a violent and abusive drunk, and the two of them taught Helen the secret to save her from him but she learned it too late to stop him from murdering her mother in a drunken rage. After that, Helen had gone to stay with Troy and his great-grandfather, Byroni Medina, who was known to everyone as Propappou, the Greek word for great-grandfather.

Helen loved Propappou like the father she never had. She always felt safe in his home. And in his great-grandson's arms, she always felt safer. Like nothing could get to her and she could relax and drop all facades and be herself. After a day of having to be La Contessa for the cameras that wasn't yet finished, it was exactly the break she needed.

"Well, er..." Helen told him, eyeing the door. "I've got a State Dinner to attend in a couple hours; I'm sure you won't want to go to that. But I'm free until then..."

She knew of Troy's fear of the media. He'd spent most of his life trying to harness this power of theirs for good and encouraging Julie and Helen to do the same. He lived in fear of the day the world discovered their ability, thinking that they'd all be abducted and taken to a lab and dissected for their secret. Because of this, he feared the spotlight and came and went to the castle via a secret entrance. There was no point in asking him to be her date to the event because she already knew his answer.

The nannies returned from their break. Helen broke from Troy's embrace but kept hold of his hand. The nannies and the castle staff knew who Troy was to La Contessa and had been commanded by her not to tell anyone about him. Given the direction their conversation had been heading, they said goodbye to the twins and left the Nursery, strolling toward La Contessa's bedchamber.

Troy took note of Helen's grip on his hand as they walked.

"You're tense." He told her.

"I had to do the Thing today." She replied, referring to their ability. "To someone I respect and was hoping to not have to do it to. Sure, it was to stop him from making a rookie mistake that would have doomed his people to corporate serfdom, but I was hoping I could make him see that without it, you know? That reminds me, you'll have some free time staying in the Palace Wing and out of the view of cameras. You might want to read up on the African diamond industry for an important conversation later in the week. It'll be in Swahili; I'll interpret."

"I caught the ceremony. You and Maria and the boys looked very regal on TV." That got her lips to turn upwards. "It sounds like you did it for good reasons. And you only used it when you had to. You're trying, Helen. I see that. If you're feeling bad about it, don't do it to him anymore."

She leaned over and pressed her head against one of the few people in the world who could call her Helen as they walked.

"Ok, I won't." She told him. And that settled it.

They encountered La Contessa's maid, Jeanne, who informed Helen that she was aware that Troy was here. Although the Equals and Susan had their own designated guest room in the Palace Wing, she had already prepared La Contessa's bedchamber for two. Helen thanked her and they continued their journey until they arrived in her bedroom.

"I'll see what I can do to help them out." Troy said as he unbuttoned his shirt. He watched Helen shimmy out of her dress and sit on the bed that had comfortably accommodated the two of them, Julie, Susan, occasionally Jeanne, and another friend or two in the past.

"You'll be doing a great service to Uongo, Troy." Helen replied, removing her bra, and sliding her underwear off. She hadn't been anticipating Troy's arrival, so she'd been wearing it. "Now come do a great service to San Finzione."

Troy removed his pants. He had been anticipating seeing Helen that day, so hadn't bothered with underwear. Helen scooted up the bed and reclined against the pile of pillows that Jeanne had already positioned for her. Troy crawled onto the bed and kissed her stomach. Helen sighed and looked down, watching his lips work their way up her body.

Helen's husband, the late Count, had died making love to her. This left her with some issues with intimacy with men, which she worked to overcome to satisfy Vincenzo's wish that she not be lonely after he was gone. She had her public flings to satisfy the media, but she never gave herself over completely to them. Eight years after Vincenzo's death, she'd found that the only man with whom she could be totally free was still her first boyfriend.

"This is going to be a busy week for me." She told him, trying to stop working and enjoy it for a moment. "I'm dealing with a time-sensitive issue. The official signing is at the end of the week, but some news is going to break the next day and the treaty has to already be in place before it hits."

"When Julie, Susan, and I come here," Troy explained as his explorations reached her lips. "Unless you've got Julie working some art project, we're on vacation like everyone else who comes to San Finzione. We all understand that La Contessa doesn't get 'time off.' We'll work with you, Helen."

Helen smiled and ran her fingers through his hair. Troy explored her body and she closed her eyes and reveled in the sensations. Hers had been the first that his hands had ever roamed over, and all these years later, he still found new favorite places to discover. Helen looked forward to Julie and Susan's hands joining his when they arrived. Until then, she had Troy all to herself.

"You always know exactly what I need, Troilus." She whispered In Greek. It had always been the language of their love.

"Needs like being placed in a deep trance and getting your pussy licked for half an hour?"

She opened her eyes, looked into his, and nodded. Troy crawled between her legs, never breaking eye contact. He traced a little spiral on her breast and she sighed as the tension drained from her body.

"Go deeper and relax, Helen." He commanded her. She had the knowledge and the power to resist him, but like always, never used them.

As the thoughts in her head melted away to be replaced with mindless bliss, her last was that despite the little hiccup earlier, this was going to be a good week.