As predicted, I sleep through the party that night. I must have been really out of it because I didn’t stir when Kierra slid into bed next to me.

My eyes open early the next morning and I feel better than I have for days. One of the downsides to my research is an irregular sleep schedule. There were several times when I’d be reading a book and then the next thing I knew, I was lifting my head off the table, wondering when I fell asleep.

As usual, my wife is awake before me. She looks at me with hooded eyes as she draws me closer, spooning against my back. She nuzzles my neck, breathing in deeply. “You smell like a field in bloom,” she says with a chuckle.

I drew a bath before tumbling into bed. Mindful of her comments yesterday, I may have overindulged with the expensive soaps. “Too much?”

“Very ladylike of you.” I jump, biting down on a moan as her tongue trails a spot just under my ear. She knows all my weak points by now. “Sweet.”

I turn in her embrace. “Doesn’t suit me, I know.”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

Yeah, but I bet you prefer me smelling of troll musk. Aw, my poor elf. I wince, realizing I’ve practically abandoned her these last few days. Sea of suitors, huh?

I roll on top of her, straddling her waist. “I don’t think I’ve thanked you for handling all of my annoying social engagements.”

Her smile is blinding with a hint of a mocking edge. “Little me fending off the wolves and vultures. Youth makes young men brave indeed. Or an uncommon number of them are under a hex that gives their limbs their own minds.”

I frown. Did they—yeah. Course they did. Privileged and used to women falling over themselves for a taste of wealth, I bet a few tried to take liberties. What holds my anger at bay is knowing she definitely didn’t let them get away with it.

“Sounds like a good time.” I lean over her, showing off my meagre bust. The way her eyes rake over me, you’d think I’d presented her with a chest stuffed with gold and precious jewels. It’s no wonder I’m so helpless around her. What woman could resist someone makes them feel like the most beautiful woman in the room with just a look? “How will I compete?”

Her arms go around my neck and pull me closer. “I suppose you’ll have put in extra effort,” she whispers against my lips.

Our kiss lacks its usual passion. It’s slow and soft. Almost as if we’re getting reacquainted. My hands wander as our breaths mingle, tracing her supple skin. It amazes me that despite her rough life, it remains as soft as a babe’s. Another benefit of the physical affinity? How the women of nobility will burn with envy knowing she doesn’t have to worry about the ravages of time anytime soon.

My attention is drawn out of my idle thoughts as she lets out a quiet moan. Questing fingers have found their way to her chest and are enjoying themselves groping the impressive mounds. Amazing she can move the way she does with such large assets.

I break our lip lock, trailing butterfly kisses down her nape and across her chest before taking one of the hard nubs into my mouth. She groans as I tease her with little nips, arcing towards me. My free hand goes to her waist, pulling her closer as she grinds her slick core against my thigh.

“That’s it,” she whispers, hands going into my hair as I switch to the neglected breast. “My adorable Lou. Don’t tease me. I can’t stand it.” To illustrate her point, the hands in my hair tighten until the grip is just short of painful. I look up at her with a pout. Aw, I wanted to take my time.

She chuckles. “Mm. Am I ruining your fun? But I miss you and am not in a mood to be patient. Your fault for leaving me alone while you played with your books.” The intensity she stares me down with sends shudders down my spine. “Take responsibility.”

Her hands are pushing me down her body before she even finishes speaking. I follow obligingly, trailing my tongue over her navel and across her thigh. She stops pushing as I settle between her legs, putting the shapely limbs over my shoulders. A hiss forces its way through her clenched teeth at the first swipe of my tongue over her sex, her fingers scraping my scalp. I snicker, pausing to enjoy the moment. Kierra growls.

“Pushy,” I mumble as I grab her by the waist and dig into the offered feast, making sure to put in ‘extra effort’.

-

I always thought the differences between the rich and the poor were big things. Rich people live in big houses. Rich people live on a big piece of land. The richest person in the land has the biggest house, the palace, and owns the biggest land, the country.

Riding with Maxine Guiness to one of their family’s shops, I realize that the difference between us isn’t just the big things, but also the things that nearly slip under my nose.

The cushions stuffed with cotton rather than straw. The glass window hidden by the wooden shutters. Most extravagant of all are the flowers growing out of the walls, filling the carriage with a soft perfume.

I don’t even comprehend that one. It has to be the work of a high-level dual earth and water caster or maybe a physical caster. For either, the price would be astronomical, since the plant would have to be maintained with magic. All for an effect that could be achieved with a few oils, minus the jaw-dropping visual.

The crazy thing? This isn’t their best. Maxine called for it, so it must be her personal carriage. She’s the eighth daughter. Her position in the family isn’t high enough to warrant the best they can muster. If this is her carriage, I don’t even want to imagine what her father’s looks like.

Such a pointless use of resources for a simple display of status. Or worse, to them, it wouldn’t even qualify as a waste but more like the pocket change a mother occasionally uses to buy her child sweets.

That thought is seriously scary.

“Ah, we’ve arrived. Mind your step coming out.”

She gives her warning as the carriage rolls to a smooth stop. The door is opened by a knight, his partner standing on the other side of the door while four others clear the immediate area, holding back curious on-lookers.

A Guiness daughter is the equivalent of a princess. Her family takes her security very seriously. I’m not strong enough to judge the knights in gleaming gold armor but Kierra seems to approve of them.

The knight who opened the door helps Maxine down. I dodge that proposal smoothly, jumping down easily.

The building in front of us is large for a shop. It takes up enough area for two buildings, rising a rare three stories high. It’s made entirely out of gleaming white stone, its front covered in large arched windows. A golden shield with a white bird in mid-flight announces its relation to the Guiness family. A pair of knights dressed in white armor with gold capes stand in front of the doors.

“This is our main shop in the city,” Maxine says while guiding us inside. Its spacious, with a high ceiling and long counter in the back, but it looks like an average shop, several shelves stocked with common living necessities and a few specialty products.

Seeing the golden knights, the clerk bows his head. Maxine ignores him as she moves around the counter, opening a door behind it. It opens into a long hall with a staircase to the side. I follow her up, curiosity piqued as the sound of chattering becomes louder. There’s a door at the top of the steps.

When we walk through, a gasp slips past my lips. Unlike the bottom floor, this one is full of activity. In the biggest space I’ve ever seen, there are dozens of people moving around and chatting with each other.

The biggest group is in the center, gathered around a large table. As we make our way over, I can see that the table is covered by a map of the kingdom. A very realistic one that includes land formations and miniature cities. Whoa, it even has little animals that represent the life in the area.

I jump as two of the animals on the map suddenly glow and start to attack each other. After a few seconds, one of them shrinks and the two move back. Saints wisdom, these people created a magic map that, I think, reflects actual events as they happen.

…how much effort did this thing take? It makes my map look like a child’s drawing. I’m kind of embarrassed to pull it out, especially when the people gathered around the table all focus on me.

Maxine waves at the group. “This is the Terrain Hall, where we supervise our supply routes. The king also hires us to map areas and provide assessments on land for possible development. This is Hank, the head of the Hall.”

An older man with a few gray strands in his thick head of hair and smiling brown eyes holds out his hand to me. “So, you’re the daring lady who went to the elven continent. And you brought back a pretty good souvenir, ahaha.”

“We met in the Enchanted Forest actually.” Don’t want everyone to know that I’ve set foot on elven soil. I plan on using that as my excuse to dodge their requests.

“Enchanting indeed. You won’t get a lot of rest in the capital, young lady.” He laughs again. This guy laughs too much. It’s not even pleasant, more like a braying than anything else. And he just called Kierra ‘young lady’. That’s...beyond wrong. “Now, I hear you have a map to show me.”

“…yeah.” I shrug off the pack on my shoulder and hand over a neat stack of papers. Hank sets aside the guide on top and unfolds the map. Someone else mutters under their breath and a small swirling wind lifts the map for them all to see.

“Hmm. It’s rough but very detailed. This could definitely work.” Hank flips through the guide, nodding his head. “And this is good information. Young miss, you found something good here.”

“Does that mean you’re going to try and make a magic map like this?”

He laughs. “I wish it were that easy. Making one of these requires linking it to the location, which is a time-consuming process. The best we can do is clean it up and get it to our people for distribution.” Getting a nod from the others at the table, he folds the map back and hands everything back to me. I’m a little surprised. Since it’s worth something, I thought I’d have to pry it out of their hands if we couldn’t come to an agreement.

“We can continue talking over here.” Maxine leads us past the table and up one of two staircases that lead to a large landing. There are three doors along the back wall. She opens the middle one and guides us into a sitting area with an open doorway off it.

She waves for us to sit on the couches while she disappears into the other room. A few minutes later, she comes back out carrying a tea tray. She fixes two cups and sets them in front of us. “Dragon plum tea. It’s a special plant that only grows on the Dragon Isles and an exclusive product of the Guiness company.”

“I see.” I raise the cup, inhaling a fragrant scent that relaxes my shoulders. Being served high quality refreshments by a Guiness daughter. People really can move up in the world.

I put it down after a small sip, leaning forward. From the way Kierra is quietly enjoying her tea, she really intends to leave the business talk to me. I have no doubt she could handle it if she wanted to. Is this a part of the standards I’m supposed to meet? “Shall we get right to it?”