The rest of the day was a busy one for Sigrid, Roland and all the Thorin’s. It took an entire day for most of the renovations both inside and outside to be done. By the time the sun set, everyone was stretching or groaning.
Sigrid figured everyone needed to relax before dinner and she could think of only one activity. "May I suggest a trip to the new hot springs...."
"No, no, no." Lady Iryne interjected loudly, refusing Sigrid’s suggestion with so much passion in her voice. "We want....." She shook her head. "Your father and I want to use that home theater, we want to start the news series, courtesan something."
"The courtesan’s dilemma." Elowin shared the title and then put a hand over his mouth. He blamed himself for speaking up too soon. "Mother..."
Nobody saw Jennie’s next move coming. She drew a sword out of Sir Samuel’s sheath and pointed it at Elowin.
"Series or death, you decide." She threatened. "Choose wisely because I am not afraid to use this thing. Swords have no eyes."
Roland counted up to ten and he magically withdrew the sword from his mother-in-law’s hands. In his books, she was officially crazy. To his amazement, the Thorin’s laughed and he felt like he had missed something.
Elowin saw the confusion on the face of the prince and decided to quell his curiosity. "My mother wakes me up like this every morning demanding that I hand over the next episode of the rise of Lady Blanche. Don’t worry, she cannot kill her own son and I always win in our face offs."
Roland sighed in relief, it was a game, a disturbing one. That look on his mother-in-law’s face however did not look like the face of someone playing.
"Just give your mother the damn crystal, she has worked too hard today and is deserving of a reward." Lord Paxton Thorin came to his wife’s aid.
"I would also like to watch it." Duchess Mila chimed in.
Not long after her words, the duke wrapped an arm around his wife’s shoulders and gave Elowin a look that said ’surrender the crystal’
When Elowin realized that he was one against many, he surrendered finally.
"One episode."
"Don’t even think about it, nothing less than three." Lady Iryne declared. She turned and walked off with her husband.
Everyone dispersed to take their baths and prepare for dinner. Roland and Sigrid were the same, they finally got the opportunity to soak in their fairy dew water. It was mixed with warm water, some rose oil and fresh rose flower petals.
There was no shyness to Sigrid’s actions when she disrobed in front of Roland and stepped into the bath. When her body was submerged half way, Roland pulled her to his chest and held her. He wanted them to enjoy the magical effects of the fairy dew body to body.
It started with an electric sensation racing up their legs, sending tiny sparks of warmth through their bodies. They felt weightless and comfortable, the air around them turned into song, a lullaby of gentle hums of fairies and nature. The water felt alive, every ache in their body vanished, replaced with renewed strength.
The feeling was otherworldly, it felt as though they had stepped into another world. Roland equated it in his mind to a happy buzz when one had ingested the right amount of alcohol.
He slipped his hands through Sigrid’s feeling a bond, a connection so deep that was forming between them and he was in awe.
"Do you want to dip your head inside?" Roland asked.
Sigrid nodded and held her breath. At the same time, they both submerged completely and the world seemed to dissolve for a moment.
When they emerged, they were no longer the same. Sigrid’s hair shimmered and it had grown thicker and longer. Her green eyes glowed faintly, like a the moonlight was reflected from inside them. Her skin was as smooth as polished silk.
Roland’s scars that he had collected over the years from different battles had faded. The fine lines of stress on his forehead were gone and he looked two years younger.
His nose that had slight crookedness, a gift from a fight in a boxing ring six years ago had been straightened. Like Sigrid, his hair too had grown by volumes. Long black strands that went all the way to his shoulders now. The calluses on his hands and feet were gone, it was though he had never held a sword before.
But it wasn’t just their physical appearance that had changed, their magic had grown. Their connection to the earth was stronger, so much so that they could both hear the whispers of the magic tress on the grasslands. They could sense every living creature around them, human and animal. Roland was already thinking about how this great gift would aid him in war. He could see things at the back of his head as if he had grown an extra pair of eyes.
As the effects started to die down, he pulled her back into his arms and hugged her tightly. The hug was not satisfactory so he quickly put his mouth over hers and kissed her long and hard.
When the kiss started getting more intense, he pulled away and placed his head against hers. "Thank you." he whispered. "You have no idea what a great gift you have given me."
Indeed, she had no idea what gift she had given to him but she knew what gift she wanted from him. She rubbed her chest against his, caressing his arms up and down.
Roland got the signal and he responded in the way she wanted, making love to her in the fairy dew water. When he finally let go of her, her knees were weak. she could hardly stand and he had to carry her out of the bath.
He was smug as usual and if he had plans to boast to at least one of his close friends about his adventure in fairy dew water. How many men could say that they had made love to a beautiful woman in fairy dew water? Roland was certain that the answer was one and he was it.
Unfortunately, he would be wrong, King Raff had done the same thing. The amount of fairy dew water in his case was less but Elarin was just as beautiful as Sigrid so they were almost toe to toe in comparison.
Sigrid was hardly paying attention when the notification came in but it made her sit up while Roland was helping her dry off.
[Congratulations host for stealing another plot, and gaining the love of the dwellers of Stormwind. Your rewards are as follows. A covenant cloak that will protect you from Emmah’s magic.
A staff of oath binding; anyone that takes an oath of loyalty on the staff will die and lose their souls if they betray you.
A mark of allegiance that appears on foreheads of those loyal to you. It can only be seen by you.
One thousand pact familiars that you can distribute to other mages to strengthen their loyalty to you.
The ability to see the lucky halo and keep track of its strength.
Another secret of Roland Maximus: He wants another dog from you because one furry dog is not enough.]