Niles

  Niles had a good time with Princess Vedika on their shopping trip. She was far more down-to-earth than many of the lesser nobles he’d run into and had a good sense of humor. She was also flirtier than he’d expected. He really didn’t know how to handle that. Was she really attracted to him, or was it just his magic? She was certainly taking advantage of her time with him to soak up that magic, making sure they were in contact every second and even encouraging him to push more magic into her. Of course, she’d nearly passed out when he started that, but she’d insisted Niles keep it up, and eventually they found a rate that she could take as long as she was seated, or at least supported by him. Niles was pretty sure that much magic was, at least, a little uncomfortable for her, but she was really intent on increasing her magic potential. Niles wondered if rumors would start with the princess hanging all over him at the tailor shop.

  Did it really matter if she was attracted to his magic instead of his looks? As probably the only human in the world, it was possible that no one would find him attractive. The real question was, did the princess really enjoy his company, or was this all just an act to get at his magic? Was it at all possible that she would really want some sort of long-term relationship with him, or would she just use him for as long as it was a benefit to her? And what about Birgit? Did he owe her any kind of loyalty? He would honor their contract, of course, but the current one would end in only about a week. Maybe he should ask the princess if she wanted to pick it up after that. No, it didn’t feel right to leave Birgit hanging like that. He’d get her through to graduation, unless something changed. And who knew? With her hanging out with the prince, maybe things would change. She certainly seemed star-struck by him. Hopefully, Advick wasn’t the type to take advantage of that. He didn’t seem to be, but Niles would keep his eyes open.

  “There you are,” Birgit said, almost accusingly, as they joined them at the upscale restaurant. “What took you so long? We were starting to worry.”

  “I’m afraid it is all my fault,” Vedika confessed. “I just could not decide on a dress. Wait until you see the outfit I picked out for Niles, though. I think he is going to look simply magnificent in it.”

  It had taken the princess some time to decide, but it had really been her experimentation with Niles’ magic that had taken the most time. Was she trying to hide that from Birgit, or had she just been so out of it after Niles’ first magic push nearly made her pass out that she’d lost track of time?

  After taking their seats, they ordered and made polite conversation until their food arrived. Niles enjoyed the dinner. The twins had an easy banter that Niles quickly fell into. Birgit was still a little uptight around them, but even she was loosening up some. And the food was excellent, though the portion sizes were smaller than Niles would have liked. He would have ordered more, but since the prince was buying and the princess had already paid for expensive new clothes for him, he didn’t want to push it. He was actually doing well financially, with all the crystal hunting he’d been doing, and would have to decide what he wanted to do with all his money. Right now, what he didn’t carry on him was just sitting in a bag in Birgit’s suite. He would have to look into how banks worked here, though he would bet that, as a familiar, he couldn’t open an account.

  By the time they left the restaurant, it was quite late, and they only had the moon to light their way on the walk back to the academy. Fortunately, it was almost full, and the road was smooth and free of tripping hazards. Walking between Brigit and Vedika, with each holding a hand, Niles noticed quite a difference. Birgit held his hand at arm’s length, with a good foot or two separating them. Actually, she was almost standing closer to the prince on her other side than to Niles, though they were not touching. Vedika, however, had her arm looped around Nile, and her fingers intertwined with his as she leaned against him. Given that Vedika was almost Niles’ height and didn’t have webbed fingers, it was easier for her to do that than Birgit, but there was clearly more at play here. Niles wondered again if she was really attracted to him, or was this a dominance move, holding him so that he couldn’t get away from her, or marking him as hers, or something? Or was she just acting under the influence of the wine she’d consumed?

  The wine had been flowing pretty freely during the meal, and everyone but Niles had partaken. He didn’t think any of the others were full-on drunk, but he took it upon himself to be on alert since he didn’t think any of them were fully at their peak. That’s why he was the least surprised when three figures stepped out from behind some trees at the side of the road and advanced quickly to block their path. Niles stepped ahead and pulled the ladies behind him. He let go of Birgit’s hand, but Vedika clutched his other hand tightly, keeping it trapped. Fortunately, it was his off-hand.

  “Toss your money pouches to us, and if they have enough coins in them, you can go on your way,” the lead figure, a troll, snarled. “Try any funny magic stuff, and my lads will shoot you full of arrows.”

  Niles saw that the two other assailants, both gnolls, had bows drawn and arrows notched.

  “Do you have any idea who we are?” Prince Advick demanded indignantly.

  “Spoiled noble brats with more coin than is good for you,” the troll growled. “Now hand it over, quick.”

  Both bowmen shifted their aim over to the prince, so Niles decided he better draw it to himself, since he was more likely to survive. “Would you believe we just spent all our money and are flat broke at the moment?”

  Niles wished he’d come up with a snappier line, but his ploy worked, and the bowmen shifted their aim to him. As he spoke, he felt Birgit reach up and touch the back of his neck, and both she and Vedika began drawing on his magic in a way that told him they were casting. They tried to be subtle, but maybe the bandits could tell they were casting, or maybe it was the prince going for a wand that triggered them, but whatever it was, the leader shouted a warning, and both gnolls fired.

  As the arrows rushed at him, Niles reached for his time magic, and it responded. The arrows and everything else slowed around him, but not by much. He still only had a second to react. If the girls hadn’t been behind him, he could have dodged. If both his hands were free, he could have caught them both. But as neither of those things was true, he had to choose one.

  Niles picked the arrow that looked like it was going to go just past his shoulder, knowing Vedika would be right there. Plucking it out of the air, he felt the second arrow tear into his stomach in slow motion.

  Time resumed its normal flow, and the Prince’s wand went off, shooting out a blast of force that picked all three bandits up and hurled them back a dozen feet. Looking over his shoulder, Niles saw a wide-eyed princess looking at the arrow’s point, which was only inches from her face.

  “Niles… Those arrows… Are you hurt?” Birgit gasped.

  “Yes… yes, I am,” Niles grunted through the pain. “Can you break off the point of the one that went through my stomach and pull it out, or something, so I can start healing?” It was not the worst wound he’d taken since his arrival in this world, but he was working on a pain scale of one to fifty now, not the old one to ten scale of Earth.

  “You… you saved me,” Vedika gasped, finally finding her voice.

  Niles thought about saying that it would have been easier if he’d had both hands free, but decided to try to go for cool points. “It’s what I do, princess.” It was hard to sound cool with an arrow in his gut, but given that, Niles was happy with his delivery.

  Badly battered by the prince’s spell, the would-be bandits put up no more fight and the prince had them disarmed and their hands tied behind their backs with their own belts, by the time Birgit had removed the arrow from Niles stomach and his healing had properly started.

  “Do you need me to cast a healing spell?” Vedika asked, hovering over him.

  Niles shrugged. “Nah, now that the arrow’s out, I should heal pretty quickly. Just don’t draw on my life magic for a while. I’m going to need it.”

  “Of course,” the princess agreed. “But how did you catch that arrow?”

  Niles smiled. “Time magic. Sometimes, I can speed myself up for a bit. It doesn’t always work, but I’m getting better at it. It usually helps if a life-threatening situation is involved. I’m not sure why that is, maybe adrenaline or something.”

  Niles was back on his feet by the time the prince had his prisoners back on theirs, and they escorted them to the academy, where campus security took custody of them. Vedika was very clingy to Niles after the incident and insisted on walking him all the way to Birgit’s suite. He half-expected her to offer to stay the night, but she just gave him a lingering goodnight hug instead before going off with her brother.

  Susi was there when they entered the suite, so they had to fill her in on all the developments of the day. They talked for some time, and maybe it was Niles’ imagination, but it almost seemed like Birgit was stalling bedtime. Was she afraid the incident from this morning would repeat itself?

  “I could sleep out here on the cot if you want,” Niles offered as they finally broke up to get ready for sleep.

  Birgit hesitated for a long moment, clearly torn. Niles wished he knew what she was thinking.

  He was just about to go set up the cot when she spoke. “No, you can share my bed. If you want to, with you and the princess growing so close.”

  There was a little something in her words. Was she jealous?

  “Don’t worry, I’ll honor our contract,” Niles reassured her. “I think she just had a bit too much wine and was grateful for me stopping that arrow. I was more worried you might be afraid of what happened this morning repeating.”

  “I am not worried.” Birgit said, looking away. “I will be more cautious when I wake you tomorrow. I am sure it will not happen again. We cannot tell the prince or princess that we are sharing a bed, though. You have not already told the princess, have you?”

  “No, of course not,” Niles assured her. “I don’t kiss and tell.” Belatedly, he realized that was a terrible choice of words, as Birgit’s eyes went wide. “That’s just a phrase from my world. I didn’t mean… It just means I can keep a secret.” Realizing he was just making it more awkward, Niles changed the subject. “How did your shopping go with the prince? He certainly paid you quite a bit of attention today. Do you think he might be sizing you up to be a consort?”

  “What? No….” Birgit stammered, as her face flushed dark green. “I am sure he was just being nice since we will be on the same team.”

  From the strong reaction, Niles was pretty sure she thought, or at least hoped, there was a spark there. Well, good for her. The prince seemed like a good guy, and he was a prince. Niles was happy for her, mostly, but in a way, he was kind of jealous. He realized he’d become quite close to Birgit over the past couple of months and had a hard time imagining life without her. Maybe he was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. If Birgit really started getting involved with the prince, or anyone else, he would need to really start looking for a new mage.

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  They took turns in the bathroom getting ready before rejoining in Birgit’s bed. Rather than pressing right up against him and half draping herself over him as she had the past couple of times they’d shared a bed, Birgit just laid next to him and wrapped her arm around his. It was a far less intimate position that both made Niles more comfortable and disappointed at the same time. He wasn’t in love with Birgit or anything, was he? No, it couldn’t be that, but he would miss her when she found her match and he had to move on. For a moment, his thoughts drifted back to Cynthia. He did not want to go through that again. He should make sure to distance himself from Birgit before the break came, so it wouldn’t hurt so badly. At least the contracts were keeping things out in the open between them. So it wasn’t like it had been with Cynthia, where he’d expected they were in it for the long term, and she obviously hadn’t.

  Maybe he should push Birgit a little harder to find a way home. Or maybe he should talk to Sinja about it. If the elves really had records of other humans coming here, maybe there would be enough information to send him home, though he would have to be careful about how he talked to her, so that he didn’t give away the fact that he was stuck here. If the elves really were as sneaky as everyone said, then they could certainly use that information against him.

  It was too bad. He was really starting to like it here, but a big part of it was working with Birgit. Would his next contract go as well? Either way, he had to start mentally preparing himself for Birgit to move on. Maybe things wouldn’t work out with the prince, but if not him, there was Frip or Bonzo, and now that she was going to be introduced into the royal circle, she might have any number of good marriage prospects.

  “Niles?” Birgit asked quietly, pulling him from his thoughts.

  “Hmm?” Niles responded.

  “Vedika wasn’t the only one you saved from an arrow today,” Birgit whispered. “The other arrow would have likely pierced my heart if you had not shielded me. So, thank you once again for protecting me.”

  “It’s what I do,” Niles whispered back.

  The next morning, Niles woke up to something poking him in the shoulder. Opening his eyes, Niles discovered Birgit standing on the other side of the room, poking him with her staff.

  “Well, I guess that’s one way to be safe,” Niles grumbled, and saw Birgit smile mischievously, “So, just how did you try to wake me up yesterday?”

  Birgit’s face suddenly flushed dark green. “I… I just put my hand on your chest. But you were quite soundly asleep, so I leaned over you so that I could press harder. I should not have gotten so close. Did your Cynthia wake you up that way?”

  “She’s not mine now,” Niles grumbled. “Probably never was. But there was a time when she would wake me with kisses. But that was long ago and in a whole other world.”

  “I am sorry I brought up your ex,” Birgit said quietly. “I know it is not something you like to think about.”

  Seeing the sad expression on Birgit’s face, Niles tried to give a reassuring smile. “No problem. I hardly think of her at all nowadays. Coming here has really helped me get her out of my head. And now I’m sharing a bed with someone much nicer.”

  Over the next couple of days, they spent a good deal of time with Princess Vedika and Prince Advick, both in and out of class. They still got up early to have breakfast with Uma, Hilaria, and Bonzo, though, with Princess Vedika joining them as well. And that seemed to keep Pam and Farah away. Niles wasn’t sure exactly what had happened, but the satyr and her familiar even switched to different classes, so he hardly saw them around at all anymore. Niles wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Had that been Pam’s choice, or had one of the royals had something to do with it? It was probably for the best. Farah’s attraction to him had not been healthy, and if she had kept throwing herself at him… well, there was only so much he could take.

  Princess Vedika wasn’t as openly enthusiastic about getting Niles’ magic as the efreet had been, but she was very persistent. Spending as much time as she possibly could in contact with him. She even had some short-sleeve shirts made for him to make it easier. Niles wasn’t sure how Birgit felt about all the sharing, though. Vedika was always friendly toward Brigit, and they usually seemed to get along really well, but every once in a while, Birgit seemed a little annoyed with the princess, at least when her brother was not around. The prince didn’t spend as much time with them as his sister did, but he was around quite a bit, and when he was, he captured most of Birgit’s attention.

  Sinja and Jabari began spending more time with them as well. But Sinja backed off her flirting almost completely. Maybe that was because Birgit and Vedika almost always had Niles sandwiched in. Jabari also acted friendly and was always meticulously polite, but for some reason, Niles did not trust him. He couldn’t quite place why, though. Maybe it was because he was too smooth, or maybe he was just biased because of all the warnings he’d had about elves being sneaky and underhanded.

  As the days passed, all the other teams officially formed in their Field Study class, and it looked like their top competition was going to be from the team formed by Prince Snazlepop. He had dropped in rank to fourteenth, but had the third, fourth, fifth, and seventh ranked students in the class on his team. Advick and Vedika didn’t think he really had any chance of becoming the next king, but he was certainly acting like he thought he was Advick’s rival.

  Niles began pushing Birgit a little on finding him a way home, and she tried to spend some time in the library to research, but it became difficult. With Princess Vedika around so much of the time now, they had to be careful not to let her know what Birgit was working on, for fear she’d figure out Niles’ secret. Birgit finally got a chance when Prince Advick arranged for some sparring with Niles. The princess wanted to watch, and Birgit took the opportunity to hit the library.

  Sparring with the prince was interesting. He was quite good, more skilled than Niles was with weapons, but not as good as Mona. His form was probably as good as the gorgon’s, but he had obviously been in few, if any, real fights. It didn’t seem that he had even done much sparring against people who weren’t taking it easy on him. And while Niles was not as skilled with weapons, he was a little faster and stronger than the prince and was more far unconventional, which the prince had trouble dealing with. In the end, that made them a pretty good match. At first, the prince seemed quite happy to have Niles really trying and actually scoring some hits on him. But after a half-dozen hits, he became less enthusiastic. The match wasn’t completely one-sided, though, and the prince scored about as often as Niles did. In the end, Niles felt the prince appreciated the experience.

  Also, during the week, they did some combined magic practice with their entire team, but that led to their first clash of personalities.

  Birgit and Vedika were both using Niles as a power source for their spells when Sinja approached them. “Do you mind if I try casting spells with Niles’ magic as well? You never know when being able to do so might be needed during our field study.”

  The three women had been getting along fairly well up to this point, but both Birgit and the princess turned suspicious looks at the elf.

  “Niles can only hold the two of us,” Birgit pointed out.

  “Perhaps he could take his shirt off,” Sinja suggested innocently. “I could wear a backless dress and then just lean against him while he holds the two of you.” Seeing the shocked looks of the other two women, Sinja laughed. “I am only jesting, but what if one of you were to become wounded in battle? My being able to step in to take the place of one of you in such a dire situation might make the difference between life and death for our entire team.”

  Grudgingly, the two women agreed to let Sinja try casting with Niles’ magic. Niles wasn’t sure about how to handle this development. He knew from watching them all cast without him that Sinja was more powerful than either of them, though not as powerful as Jabari or Advick, but until this point, he’d always limited the power he let her pull from him. In the end, he decided to limit it to as much as Vedika could pull. Sinja didn’t seem to notice.

  “Oh my, that is quite something to experience,” Sinja said after casting a few spells while Niles held the back of her neck. “You two are going to make me jealous, clinging to him so much.”

  The second bump in the road to team unity came when the rest of the team summoned their guardian familiars during one of their combined magic practices. Niles had seen everyone else’s familiars during the tournament, but this was the first time he’d been near them. The prince’s familiar was a powerful but basic greater earth elemental spirit. This was the most common type of guardian familiar Niles had seen, though each had a unique appearance. The prince’s looked like a cross between a bulldog and an armadillo and was the size of a rhino. His sister’s familiar was a greater space elemental. It took the form of a panther, though it was dark blue instead of black, and could teleport. Sinja had a greater void elemental, but unlike the previous void elemental Niles had faced in the tournament, this one was a watermelon-sized spider. It wasn’t as physically strong as the one Niles fought, but it could shoot webs of void magic that could not only bind but also cancel out magic.

  None of those elementals were the problem, though. They all came sniffing around Niles as soon as they sensed him, but no worse than Birgit’s flying mount did. The real problem was Jabari’s seraph familiar. She was a beautiful, almost human-looking woman with hawk-like features, and two sets of gold and silver feathered wings. She wore a long shirt of gold and silver chain mail with a silver helmet decorated with gold wings on the sides. Being a light element aligned entity, she positively glowed and carried a silver sword that shined so brightly it was hard to look at.

  When she appeared, her gaze almost instantly fell on Niles, and after sheathing her sword, she flew over to him, or rather, she floated over. She didn’t actually flap her wings. At most, she used them to guide her progress as she floated around Niles, surveying him. Finally, she landed in front of him, taking off her helmet and shaking out long, platinum-blonde hair.

  “Greeting, I am Azrielle, of the Tenth Glorious Host,” she said in a crisp, formal tone. “You positively radiate light essence. Whom do you serve?”

  “He is my familiar,” Birgit said, pulling Niles back and stepping between them. “I am Lady Birgit of Hazzerbog.”

  “My lady,” the seraph said, bowing formally. “Never have I seen any being so filled with such glorious radiance. May I lie with him?”

  “What?” Birgit gasped.

  “His form is comely enough, and I believe I will be able to absorb some of his magnificent radiance if we lie together,” Azrielle explained matter-of-factly.

  “Jabari, control your familiar!” Princess Vedika commanded.

  “Azrielle, come here please,” Jabari said calmly, and his familiar floated over to him, leaving Niles reluctantly. “That is Niles, the guardian familiar of Lady Brigit. She and Princess Vedika are quite fond of him. But do not fear. You should not need to lie with him to receive his light magic. Everyone else can do so merely by touching him.”

  “Truly?” the seraph asked, her gaze shooting back to Niles.

  “Even now, he has a life elemental wrapped around his neck, absorbing his life magic,” Jabari pointed out.

  “But you may not touch him without permission,” Birgit added quickly.

  Niles wasn’t sure whose permission Birgit meant, but the seraph must have assumed it was his, because she immediately flew over to him, nearly knocking Birgit over in her haste.

  Dropping to one knee, the seraph held out a hand. “Lord Niles, may I please touch you?”

  Niles wasn’t sure what to do, but finally took her hand in his. The seraph immediately began pulling on his magic. She only pulled on his light magic, but she pulled harder than anyone but Farah had before.

  Light magic flooded into her, and she moaned with pleasure. “Oh, Niles, this is so wonderful.”

  “Jabari, control you familiar!” Vedika commanded again.

  “Is this going to be a problem, Jabari?” Advick asked sternly.

  “He gave his permission,” Jabari said, acting as if this was all perfectly normal. “I imagine that if Niles feeds her light magic regularly, Azrielle will be even more helpful during our field study.”

  “Yes, yes,” Azrielle agreed quickly. “I will gladly increase my time on your plane so that I may spend more time with Niles.”

  “There you see,” Jabari said. “This is not a problem, but an opportunity. Now, let Niles recover and come here, Azrielle. Show them this will not be a problem.”

  “Yes, Lord Jabari,” Azrielle replied, standing and only hesitating for a moment before letting go of Niles’ hand and floating back to Jabari. “This will not be a problem at all. You will see. I will be extremely helpful for more of Niles’ touch.”

  After that rocky start, the familiars all demonstrated their abilities, during which Niles got to spar with Azrielle. She was very good, and fighting against a flying opponent was quite an experience. However, the entire time she treated Niles like he was fragile, apologizing for even the slightest hit. She also went overboard complimenting everything he did, and whenever possible, each compliment was accompanied by a hug, clasping Niles’ hand, or doing something that would let her steal a bit more light magic. It was such a clumsy attempt at subtlety that it was almost funny. Birgit and Vedika did not seem to find it humorous, though.