TSS 3: Knight's Son Ch. 13

"How did he plan on claiming us?" Elly asked, shaken by that revelation.

"I remember him saying that the spell could be transferred the morning after First Knight," I said. "That was before I really knew what was going on and after my pendant protected me from the love spell. He offered it to me as a way to let me go if I so chose."

"Which you didn't take," Shayna said. At least she was no longer glaring at me.

"Of course not!" I agreed. "You were both pregnant with my child, and you know how I feel about being there for them."

"It doesn't hurt that we're also very attractive women who were in love with you," Shayna continued in a cold tone.

"You forgot to mention incredibly intelligent, brave, resourceful, and it helped to know that you both chose me during the party." I met her blue eyes without flinching at her accusation.

"Flatterer," she accused, but I could see no heat in her eyes. "So, he killed our husband, took his pendant for protection, and planned on claiming us... That bastard! And he was so nice when he told us how brave you were to go on that mission to the brothel."

"I don't think it would have worked out as he planned since we had the spell broken by Bobby's mom," Elly piped in. "Of course, I don't know how we would have kept that secret from him, then. I'm glad things didn't work out that way."

I recalled them telling me that having the spell broken was tantamount to treason for them. So that was another reason I was grateful things hadn't gone that way.

The maid took over explanations then, telling us about the surveillance—which we suspected—but also about how we weren't careful enough. Finally, she admitted that she'd played dumb around Willmont so he'd underestimate her. Meanwhile, she'd done online courses, was quite proficient with computers, and had many other skills.

"So...we're safe?" Elly asked the question that was on all of our minds. "No more hiding?"

"You're safe within your own home," the maid said. "However, you should still be cautious outside. And if any Knights discover that Bobby has another being sharing his body, they will strive to kill him immediately."

"Are there any other secrets we should know about?" Shayna asked, looking between the maid and me.

I sighed again, not knowing how this was going to go over. "Maid, will you please reveal your ears to my wives?"

During the entire conversation, the maid's snow-white hair covered her ears. While her red eyes could be explained away as an affectation or contacts, this would show that she wasn't human. Considering how she viewed the supernatural world, I didn't expect Shayna's response.

The maid tucked her pale hair behind both pointed ears and looked down at the table.

Shayna's blue eyes regarded the maid for long moments before she turned and looked at me. Her poker face was on point, and I couldn't read her until I noted how her hands were shaking.

Is she that upset with me? I wondered, thinking of all the progress I'd just lost in our relationship.

Ehh! Charlotte made a buzzer sound echo in my skull. Guess again!

Glancing at Elly gave me no clue as she regarded the drow elf with complete curiosity.

Shayna spoke just as I opened my mouth to ask her about her thoughts.

"Dammit! God damn, mother-fucking shit!" She said a few more choice words and phrases that I'll refrain from writing here. But, I doubt I'll ever forget the stream of profanity that escaped my petit wife. "Those werewolf cock-sucking sons of gully dwarves lied to me my whole life!"

I was unsure if I should reach out to comfort her or start looking for a bunker to hide in. It didn't look like her anger was directed at me, but I couldn't be sure.

Wait for it... Charlotte advised me. Other than when the succubus let her lust get the better of her, she hadn't steered me wrong, so I listened.

Shayna's eyes snapped up to meet mine, and I was shocked at the steely determination I saw there. Anger still showed in how her jaw clenched and her fingers tapped the table, but her eyes held a different fire.

"We're going to bed. Now!" Shayna surprised me once again, as that was the last thing I'd expected her to say. She turned to the elf before continuing, "Ma'am, you can sleep in the spare bedroom. Bobby won't be sleeping in there tonight. We can discuss how we'll handle you living here more in the morning."

That sounded very much like I was in hot water. If the maid was in my room, that meant I'd be sleeping on the couch.

"Yes, Mistress," the elf said as I got to my feet to grab some blankets.

I didn't make it a step before Shayna's vice grip on my wrist pulled me along in her wake. I decided it wasn't in my best interests to fight her or ask what was happening.

Shayna closed the master bedroom door behind me, and I realized we'd left Elly alone with the maid.

Don't worry about her, Charlotte informed me. She's ensuring the elf is cared for, and then she'll join us.

Any idea how she's handling having the maid here? I asked my resident mind reader.

Of course! Charlotte's reply came fast and cheery, getting my hopes up. But I'm not going to tell you. You didn't want me reading their minds, remember? It's not something I can control, so I won't stop. But I'm also not going to give you the benefit of it.

Gee, thanks, I thought, pouring every bit of sarcasm I could into it. Hadn't she just been advising me on how to behave by reading their minds?

You're welcome, came her too-happy response before she became mock-serious. I wouldn't want to tempt you away from your high and mighty morals just because I'm the ultimate temptress.

"You're talking to her, aren't you?"

With a start, I realized that Shayna was in front of me, light eyes locked on mine. I don't think I've written much about it, but with her dark skin, those blue eyes are spectacular. Anyway, I'm getting off point.

I nodded as I said, "Yeah. She told me she won't read anyone's minds to benefit me."

"I forgot she could do that," Shayna said grimly. "I suppose that means she already knows what I want from her?"

"From Charlotte?" I asked, but the succubus talked over the top of me. Considering it all came from my mouth and throat, that was an odd experience.

"Yes, I do, and I'm entirely on board with it," Charlotte's voice issued from me.

"That's still creepy!" Shayna complained with a shudder.

I felt a weird sinking sensation all at once, like something snatched me from behind my belly button and yanked. My vision shrank briefly before returning, but I still felt off.

"Is this any better?"

My mouth moved as it always did when Charlotte spoke through me, but this time it felt like it was happening to someone else. I tried to move my body, but nothing happened.

Shayna took a few steps away from me, her eyes wide before catching herself. But, then, that hard iron look re-entered her gaze as she shook her head.

"No, that's actually worse," Shayna said with a hard edge to her tone. "It's bad enough that I know you're in there. I don't want to see my husband in that form."

Charlotte brought my right hand up and examined my nails. Only it wasn't my hand or nails that I saw. It was Charlotte's human hand! With sudden understanding, I realized that the succubus had taken over and actually changed my body into hers.

Let me out! I demanded in a panic, trying and failing to seize control.

In a moment, Charlotte mentally giggled. It's been so long since I felt my own body.

"Oh, kinky," Elly said as she entered the bedroom. "Am I already asleep, Charlotte? I don't remember crawling into bed."

"Wait, what?" Shayna asked, confused. That didn't last long before it was replaced with anger. "Now you listen here, demon. Any deal we might have made is off the table if you pulled me into your mindscape before I was ready."

Charlotte gave a dramatic sigh and shook her head before responding. "We're all very much awake. This is the real world, not my mens mundi. I did this to prove a point and get you to understand something before you make your deal. Your husband is big on being completely honest with you both, and I want to show that I will do the same."

"And what's that?" Shayna's jaw had to hurt from how hard she clenched it.

"Your husband has the most impressive willpower I've ever seen," Charlotte said as she walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. "Seriously! He's doing everything in his power to regain control right now, and I actually have to put in effort to stop him."

"You're point?" Elly said, and I could see she was also starting to get angry.

"Just this," Charlotte took a moment to cross her legs and interlace her fingers over her right knee. "Everyone assumes that this is Bobby's body and that I simply reside in here with him. You tend to think that he lets me out to speak from time to time.

"Well, that's not the case," Charlotte continued as she met the two sets of eyes boring down on her. "This body is equal parts each of us. Even so, if I wanted to, I could take over this body, put him into a slumber he'd never wake from, and go live as I pleased."

"Then why don't you," Shayna demanded.

I felt inner turmoil from the succubus as she took a deep breath. "Because I don't want that. I know you don't believe me, Shayna, and I don't blame you. After Bobby put that kid in a hospital, his father asked me to look after him. At first, I did it because I owed his father an outstanding debt. He literally saved my life and my soul. But then I got to know Bobby. I saw what a great man he could be. He is intelligent, funny, smart-mouthed, compassionate, and very pig-headed."

"You fell in love with him," Elly broke in, a curious glint in her brown eyes.

"I did," Charlotte nodded. "When Megan broke up with him, it also broke my heart. After that, I did everything I could to be the perfect woman for him. I tried to seduce him again and again but kept failing. Because he had the pendant, I couldn't read his mind to know his desires. Also, I didn't have the grand—and by grand, I mean incredibly creepy and invasive—resources of the Paladonic Knights.

"It took him seeing his old flame die on the national news for me to get him into my bed." I felt tears form in Charlotte's eyes and run down her cheeks as she opened up to these women, who were technically her rivals. "I hadn't won his heart but was only a distraction from his pain. I'd hoped to use this form to slowly win him over, but the very next night, he met you both. I won't say the words for him, but I will tell you that he feels deeper for you both than he did for Megan. He's fought hard to win your trust, and I know my presence has made that all the harder."

"You said you had a point to this?" Shayna asked, now tapping her foot impatiently on the floor. "Or was this all a show to tell us that you're madly in love with our husband? That you got to sleep with him before us? Or that you can take him away if we upset you?"

Charlotte didn't take offense at Shayna's rudeness but wiped at her tears before driving on.

"I suppose I got a little side-tracked, but I wanted you to know why I made my own decisions. At any moment, I could take over and do what I wanted. I could have my freedom. But it would cost me more than words can express. That's why Bobby is in control. I don't want to interfere with his life more than I have to, but I want to be a part of it. I already know what you plan on talking to me about in my mens mundi, Shayna. I just laid all my cards on the table and told you my only demand."

Elly surprised us all by moving to hug Charlotte while the corners of Shayna's lips twitched in agitation.

When Elly pulled away, Shayna spoke. "I don't like you in my mind, demon, but I can respect where you're coming from. Elly told me you can't read minds in your mindscape, so let's continue this conversation there."

Charlotte nodded, and without warning, I was thrust back into the driver's seat of my own body. I wanted to rage and scream at Charlotte, never to do that again; however, the raw emotions I still felt from her kept my mouth shut.

And so it was that I finally was able to crawl into bed with both of my wives once again.

* * * *

1072 A.D.

Ardin woke as the sun sat high that afternoon, his head ringing, pain lancing through his skull. Groaning, he placed his hand against the tree trunk, then fell back in alarm.

The tree was home to thousands of bugs and three different types of birds. One of the branches high up was sickly from bugs eating too deep into the limb, and the tree had already worked to cut off that branch.

He looked at his hand through bleary eyes, glad to see he no longer glowed. He still looked healthy, but he was starving.

He didn't know how he understood so much about the tree, but he knew that one of the nests held eggs. With a tentative hand, he reached out again and laid one finger against the rough bark. Knowledge flooded into his mind on contact. He knew every bird roosted in its branches, every insect and bug that called it home, and even that one of the roots was pushing up against a rock buried deep underground.

"The ambrosia," he muttered, understanding where this gift came from. He reached into the pocket in which he'd stored the fruit and marveled at it. Yet, somehow, his new ability only partially worked on it. He couldn't fathom how it worked but knew it had enough left for his wife and unborn children.

When he tried harder to understand its powers, his headache grew worse. All he got for his troubles were images of color and chaos.

His rumbling stomach recalled him to his other dilemma, and he looked up the tree to where the eggs were. He couldn't see the nest from this position, but touching the tree again told him how to climb to reach it.

Only once he reached the nest and picked up an egg, he learned they were inedible; the chicks would be hatching soon.

Reaching the ground, his stomach twisted into a knot. He needed to eat soon. He thought about setting a trap for the parent birds but didn't know if they were edible and wouldn't know until he got his hands on one. His new gift was handy but not perfect.

Falling to his knees, hands on the ground, Ardin was overwhelmed with imagery and knowledge. In almost no time, though, his mind sorted and cataloged what he needed to know and what was important. He couldn't see the entire world, but he knew a location a little to his left where rabbits were hunkered down in their burrow.

With almost comical ease, he snared, cleaned, and cooked one. The sun was still high in the air, and Ardin returned to the road and jogged west.

He took full advantage of his new gift when he reached the next village. He was aware of a small bag of coins buried by touching the hard-packed road.

This little town was poor compared with Athens, the city with the pagan temple, but Ardin located a hovel where the owners were willing to give him a bed and food for a bit of acquired coin.

They informed him that he would have to wash up before eating with them and pointed him to a bucket filled with cold water. He was more than happy to wash off the grime and stink of the last week. When he was done, his skin red from scrubbing, he found his clothes were missing. They hadn't been much—torn leggings, really—but he was naked without them. He'd kept the ambrosia, pendant, and coins with him as he washed, unwilling to let any of it out of his sight.

The man of the house approached him with some clean clothes. Once again, Ardin was amazed at his ability to communicate. The man spoke his foreign language, and Ardin managed to talk it back as though he'd done it his whole life. For no extra cost, they were giving him these clothes. Their son had died of fever almost a month ago and wouldn't need them anymore.

Ardin played with his ability while he waited for the food to cook. He could learn anything about something he touched, but only its current state.

By playing with the coins, he couldn't tell when they were buried, but he also noted that his knowledge only extended to the object itself and its immediate surroundings. He couldn't, for instance, touch one coin and know the status of the coins it touched. But he could see that it touched three other coins.

Dinner turned out to be an interesting affair. He knew the meat in the hearty stew they fed him came from their last livestock. After their son's death, the family fell on hard times, and they struggled to grow enough food to feed themselves, much less make it through the coming winter.

He didn't know much about farming, but the vegetables told him the ground wasn't healthy enough to grow what was planted. Ardin asked about what they used for fertilizer and told them that his village often used fish remains to strengthen the crops.

Their daughter looked disgusted at the thought, but when he handed her his empty bowl, their fingers brushed. He knew she wasn't a virgin in that instant and would happily spread her legs for him if he offered some coins. She was attractive enough and only a year younger than him. She would have been old by his village's standards, but the idea repulsed him. Not because he was married—though that was reason enough. She'd picked up a disease and would likely die within the next month if not treated.

He was mildly surprised that this Christian family was willing to whore their daughter out. He knew from that single touch that the parents were aware of her activities and condoned it for the extra coin.

Ardin knew by shaking the man's hand before going to bed that they held no ill will towards him and meant him no harm. However, that didn't stop him from securing the door before sleeping or leaving before the sun was up the next morning.

He left the bag of coins behind. That family needed it more than he did, and he could always use his new gift to find more or get paid by using it to help others.

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From the Author

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So... It's been a while. Work and life have slowed my ability to write, but as you can see, I'm not finished! Speaking of which, more drama unfolds for Bobby as he deals with the aftermath of Adam's meddling.

Please leave me a comment below with your thoughts. I welcome legitimate—meaning comments on this story—feedback.