Birgit

  Birgit slid the heavy book back onto the shelf. That was it, the last tome in the academy library that might have had any information that could help her get Niles home. She had found spells that could open portals to other worlds. That had not been too hard to find. She had found information on hundreds of different other-planar entities. Some had seemed close to hu man, but in the end, each had turned out to be something else. Oh, there were scores of other, more recent texts she could read, so she could continue to research, but it would just be a waste of time. The library staff would have remembered anything that recent. Some of them had been here for close to fifty years, and none of them had heard of a hu man or anyone with the unique abilities Niles possessed.

  Her failure did not surprise her. She had expected it. There were professors whose entire field of study was other-planar entities, and they had compiled all the information on all known entities in a half-dozen volumes. Birgit had gone through those in her first few days of research and found nothing. Summoned beings were always of interest, and careful records were kept of them, so having one as unique as Niles only taking up a footnote in some obscure text had always been unlikely. But Birgit had checked anyway. She had really known for weeks now that she would find nothing, and had largely been stalling. Now, though, she would be flat-out lying if she continued to pretend to be researching. To make matters worse, her contract with Niles was expiring, and she would have to renegotiate with him this evening. How would he react when she told him she had failed? Should she even tell him?

  Leaving the library, Birgit made her way to the practice field Prince Advick had reserved for a sparring session with anyone on their team who cared to join. Niles had, of course, wanted to be there, which had drawn Vedika. The princess had been nearly inseparable from him since their crystal hunt. Birgit was sure that if the princess knew Niles spent the nights in her room, she would have asked to join them.

  As she approached the field, she saw the prince and his sister standing on its edge with the two solar elves, watching something going on out in the field. With the sun almost set, Birgit could not make out what was going on until she had almost reached them. Even then, she was not quite sure what she was seeing.

  “What are you watching?” Birgit asked.

  Vedika let out a long sigh. “Niles and Azrielle were practicing defending a target, and Azrielle made a bet with Niles that he could not keep her from getting from one end of the field to the other. He accepted and tackled her right out of the air.”

  Looking close, Birgit saw Niles had the seraph pinned to the ground. “So, what are they doing now?”

  Jabari laughed. “Azrielle set a time limit of sunset for her to reach the other end of the field. So, Niles is holding her until the sun sets.”

  “It has been over a quarter of an hour now,” Vedika grumbled. “I do not think she is even trying to escape.”

  “The sun has set now, right?” Niles yelled from the middle of the field.

  “No,” Azrielle countered. “I can still see the last rays of sunlight.”

  “She is right,” Jabari yelled back. “There is still some daylight left. You better hold on tight, Niles. I am certain Azrielle is only waiting until the last moment to escape, to make her victory all the sweeter.”

  “Yes, that is my plan,” Azrielle agreed. “If you loosen your grip even slightly, I will escape.”

  Vedika rolled her eyes. “Oh, this is just ridiculous.”

  Jabari laughed, then turned to Birgit. “I must thank you. Your familiar is bringing out the best in my familiar. She is not normally the most clever of individuals, but she concocted this plan all on her own. And she is much more eager to spend time in our plane now, with no additional inducement beyond the opportunity to be near Niles.”

  “What did they bet?” Birgit asked.

  “A favor,” Vedika answered. “I can just imagine what sort of favor she will ask for if she wins.”

  “Aside from this diversion, our session went very well,” Prince Advick said, stepping up beside Birgit. “I wish you could have been here. I hope your research went well. Did you find what you were looking for?”

  Birgit sighed. “I am afraid not. I fear the information does not exist, at least at the academy library.”

  “That is a shame,” the prince said, “and surprising. The academy library is the finest in all of Deca.”

  “What was it you were looking for?” Sinja asked, joining them. “Perhaps I could help you. As fine as the campus library is, it pales in comparison to the royal library in Solaria. There, we have tomes dating back millennia.”

  “Oh, I would not want to trouble you over this,” Birgit insisted.

  “Nonsense, we are friends. I would be happy to help,” Sinja offered.

  Fortunately, Vedika interrupted their conversation. “This has gone on long enough. The sun is fully set now. I am going to call an end to this farce.”

  “As you will, princess,” Jabari said with a slight bow.

  “The sun has set,” Vedika yelled. “I declare Niles the winner.”

  “I will bet you two favors that you cannot hold me here until morning,” Azrielle challenged.

  “Nope,” Niles answered, getting up and heading toward everyone else. “That was enough for me. It was fun training with you, but it is getting late.”

  “So, what favor do you want?” Azrielle asked, flying quickly to catch up with him before landing at his side and taking his arm. “It can be anything you desire. I am yours to command.”

  “I’ll have to think about it,” Niles answered.

  Birgit was not sure if Niles was enjoying the attention from the other familiar or not, but she definitely did not like it. She was about to say something when Jabari spoke up. “I think it is time to let Niles go for tonight. Remember what we talked about.”

  “Yes, Lord Jabari,” the seraph said dejectedly. “Good night, Niles. It was so wonderful training with you. I cannot wait until our crystal hunt this weekend. I have agreed to stay for the full duration of the hunt, just like you. So, we will have all weekend together.”

  “We may need to get another guardian familiar, just to protect Niles from her,” Vedika whispered to Birgit.

  “I can’t believe you bet a favor with that… that… familiar,” Birgit hissed once the group had said their goodbyes and started back to her suite. “I can just imagine what she would have made you do if she had won.”

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Well, I stipulated that the loser’s mage would have to approve the favor,” Niles said. “And I knew you wouldn’t let her ask for anything too outrageous.”

  “Oh… well, that is not so bad, then. Still, how did you let her trick you like that?”

  Niles shrugged. “She’d been good the rest of the practice, and she’s usually so straightforward. I guess I just didn’t think it through. It wasn’t until I tackled her and, instead of trying to escape, she latched on and started draining my magic, that I realized her plan. So, how did your research go? Are you getting any closer?”

  Brigit had really hoped they would finish their contract negotiations before this came up, but maybe this was for the best. “I am afraid not. I have exhausted every reasonable line of research I could at the academy library, and there was no mention of you people, much less the planar signature of your world. There are many other libraries in Deca, though. I could begin sending out inquiries…”

  “But none of those libraries are as big as the academies, are they?” Niles asked.

  Birgit sighed. “No, I am afraid not.”

  “But the elves have bigger ones, right? Sinja found the record she gave us in just the two weeks we had for break.”

  “If that was even real.”

  “You think she faked it?”

  “I do not know for sure, but it is possible. Was there anything in that document she could not have made up? She listed all your unique abilities, but none of those were secret.”

  “Well, John is a very common name in my world.” Niles pointed out.

  “It is also very common here.” Birgit countered. “That could just be an effect of the translation that I worked into the summoning spell that brought you here. But even if it was real, that does not mean that the elves have enough information to send you home. If the elves had that kind of information, why are they not summoning your people all the time? The war that won Deca its independence was a terrible, bloody thing, and we have had to fight against the elves three more times after that to maintain our independence. If the elves could have summoned humans. Why did they not? Just a dozen of your people, powering mages, would likely have turned the tide of battle, but there is no mention of elves ever using a single hu man. Be very careful of the elves. I am sure they would love to get their hands on you. But I fear they might try to force you to give them information you do not have about your plane’s magic signature, or even experiment on you to find it.”

  “So, what you are saying is that there’s really no chance you are going to find a way for me to get home,” Niles said quietly.

  “I am sorry,” Birgit said, bringing her other hand around to hold Niles' arm. “There are those other libraries in Deca, and there is a chance someone stumbled upon something and just did not realize what they had found. And there are some experiments we could try, safe ones, that might tell us something.”

  Niles sighed. “That’s okay. I’ve had a feeling for a while that this was how it would go. I appreciate the work you put in.”

  Niles was taking the news much better than Birgit had feared he would. But did he believe her, or was he planning to turn to Sinja despite her warnings? They had reached her dorm, and they walked up to her suite in silence. Susi was there, but she went to take a long bath so they would have privacy for their negotiations.

  “What would you like in our next contract?” Birgit asked to start the negotiations.

  “What do you want?” Niles countered, but at least he was smiling.

  Birgit really wanted to extend the contract to the end of the semester, but Niles had always been reluctant to agree to long contracts, so she decided to aim for a closer target. “Could we just extend our current contract terms until after the field study?”

  “And then what?”

  “We would negotiate again?”

  “So, you want to keep things open, in case we need to adjust things?”

  “Yes,” Brigit agreed. “That has worked well for us so far. Why not continue with that?”

  “So, how are things going with you and the prince?” Niles asked, surprising Birgit with the sudden change of topic.

  “What do you mean?”

  “He’s spending quite a bit of time around you, and he escorted you to that state dinner. Do you think he’s considering you for one of his consorts?”

  Niles’ face had lost all expression. What was he hiding? Was he just curious, or could he be jealous?

  “Can we talk about this later? I do not see how this pertains to our negotiations.”

  “Well, if I’m stuck here, I have to start thinking long term. The prince seemed okay with you sleeping next to me on the hunt last weekend, but he let his sister do the same, trusting me to be a gentleman. But I doubt he’s going to want me hanging around you all the time if you’re his consort? And even if he is… Well, I know it’s hypocritical of me since I slept next to both you and Vedika last weekend, but I’m not okay with sharing a bed with both you and the prince.”

  “I am sure the prince would not want that. But even if I were to become his consort, I would be one of nine, ten counting his future wife, so I would have my own room and would probably not even share a bed with him once a week. And you would not have to keep sharing a bed with me forever. By the time the prince is ready to take me as a consort, assuming he does. I am sure my magic would have built up enough so that I would only have to draw on your magic during the day.”

  Birgit regretted her words even before Niles frowned and looked away. “So, you just want to sleep with me until you’re powerful enough that you don’t need me anymore. Fine.”

  “No… Niles… No. I did not mean it like that.”

  Niles let out a long breath, still not looking at her. “It’s okay. I just needed to know where I stood. Go ahead and extend the current contract until after the field study, and we can renegotiate after that. Why don’t you put the paperwork together? I need some fresh air. I’m going to take a walk.”

  Birgit was too stunned by what had just happened to say anything, and Niles was gone before she came to her senses. Had he wanted her to suggest a marriage contract? Did she want that? Would he come back? Should she run after him? She had been so hopeful after this weekend, when the prince had not complained about her sleeping next to Niles. She had dared to hope that she could both become a royal consort and keep Niles as her familiar. But now it looked like she was losing Niles.

  Her vision blurred, and she felt tears running down her cheeks, but she wasn’t sure why she was crying. Was the thought of losing Niles so painful? Was she angry at his hypocrisy? No, that was not fair. She and Vedika had practically forced him to sleep between them, and he had done nothing inappropriate.

  “Birgit?” Susi’s voice came from behind her. “Are you alright? Where is Niles?” Birgit turned, tears streaming down her face, and her sister rushed forward to hug her. “Oh, Birgit, what happened?”

  Birgit could not even speak for a long moment as she sobbed into her sister’s shoulder, but finally she composed herself enough to tell her sister what had happened.

  “... and I do not know what to do now,” Birgit concluded.

  “Well, what do you want to do?” Susi asked, ushering her over to the couch.

  Birgit all but collapsed onto the couch. “That is the problem. I do not know. Being a royal consort would be a huge honor for both me and our family, but the prince has not officially asked me, and of course he could not pick me to be a royal consort until he officially becomes heir to the king, which would certainly not come until after he has graduated. But I do not think Niles will let me continue to string him along now that he knows he will most likely have to stay here for the rest of his life. But I could not have a marriage contract with him and still be a royal consort. It is just so unfair. The prince will have ten women, and I cannot have even two men.”

  “Oh, poor sister, you have two of the most powerful men in the kingdom interested in you, and you are upset because you cannot have them both. Why not just offer Niles a long-term contract that does not involve marriage? That way, he could continue on as your familiar, and you could be the prince’s consort. Or do you enjoy sharing a bed with him more than you say you do?”

  Birgit’s thoughts were brought up short. She had not considered that. Many familiars had long-term contracts. She had just been so distracted by her mother insisting the only way to keep him was to marry him, but he had stayed with her this long and hadn’t made any advances. He probably did not even look at her that way. And she had just told him he was trapped here. He was probably only looking for some kind of security, to know she was not just going to cast him out once she became a royal consort. She could not bear the thought of losing Niles. Having him at her side had come to feel so natural that she could not imagine her life without him there now. True, she had started having some romantic thoughts about him, but that was probably all her mother’s fault. No, a simple long-term contract with Niles would be perfect. That way, she could become a royal consort and have children who would be princes and princesses, and still have Niles by her side to not only protect her but them as well. They could start feeding on his magic as soon as they were old enough, and by the time they entered the academy, they would be the most powerful mages in their class.

  Birgit pictured it all in her mind, and the vision was wonderful. “Susi, you are a genius. Thank you.” Hugging her sister, she hopped up and ran toward her room. “I have to start working on a contract.”