Ravish Me, Oh Great Wizard King!!!

Her body felt lethargic.

The buzzing vibration was faint, but she could feel it clearly, almost as if her body was tuned to the magik emanating from him. She rubbed her face into her husband's chest, delighting in the scent of his body and loving the way he carefully carried her.

And then slowly, he lowered her into the warm water.

Water???

Wait--wait. How did he get this much water into the library?

She opened her eyes. The darkness was almost absolute at first...until her eyes got used to the stars.

Stars???

She looked up. It was a moonless night, which allowed the stars to come out to play in high resolution, and with an intensity of lumination that took her breath away.

The star lights were twinkling and sparkling, like so much diamond dust, each more beautiful than the last. She was expecting to see the familiar constellations she'd grown up to know and love, but these stars were not viewed from Earth.

There was no big dipper, no Orion, and certainly no Milky Way. She was not on any planet of the Solar System, that was for certain. In fact, she was not even sure if this realm occupied any part of that other universe she came from.

They were outside, and partially submerged in something that resembled a hot tub, except this hot tub was the size of a regular swimming pool. Its sides were dark polished lava rocks, covered with tiny growing plants. In fact, the entire hot spring was ringed with various trees and grasses, enclosing the basin with their private veils of fronds.

Orchids grew in wild abundance amongst the bamboo grasses, their scented dewy petals adorning the hot tub much like the orchids had adorned the library where they had just made love. It was as if the flowers in the library were all taken from this hot spring.

There was also the sound of a trickling waterfall somewhere. This water was spring-fed, which meant it was always warm, always fresh, and always abundant. Steam rose in whispy billowing clouds from the surface, dissipating into the cold scented air.

On one side of the hot spring basin was the drop into the darkened valley floor, dotted with lights from the city below. On the other side, beyond the rocky outcrops, she could see the faint outlines of a doorway.

"Where are we?"

"We are at my palace in Diamond City...or I should say--OUR palace."

"You just now ported us here?"

"Yes."

"From the library?" Vara choked on her own spit. "We were just there and now we're--hundreds of miles away from where we were." She shook her head. "That just blows my mind!" She paused. "Wait a minute. I don't have a shred of clothing in this place. What am I going to do???"

Zander laughed.

"You are the Queen of the Northern Realm. You can do as you wish."

"But you just said we're in Diamond City. Wouldn't that make me...hahaha--" Mira laughed. "The Queen of Diamond?"

"You are far more than that, my love." He reached out to touch her face, her hair, her lips. "The Northern Realm consists of more than just the city of Diamond. It stretches south as far as Sapphire and as far east as Opal."

His fingers began caressing the back of her neck, giving her goosebumps. "North of Diamond, there is a very large city, but that one is mostly settled by Dolmian miners."

He pressed his lips onto her cheeks, her eyes, her forehead. "They dig themselves into the ground so deeply that it looks like a tiny settlement on the surface. You can barely tell that there is a vibrant city in the middle of the icy wastes, but the city is real, and they are also subjects of the Kingdom of the Northern Realm."

"Dolmian miners?" Mira breathed, as his lips began roaming to reclaim her lips.

"Yes." He gathered her into his arms and pressed his lips hard onto the side of her neck. "They are part mole, part men, and they mine for valuable dolmians."

"I don't--I don't know what a dolmian is." Mira pushed against his chest, but his body was warm and slick from the water, and she had no traction.

Zander scratched his chin onto the delicate skin of her neck. "How do I explain what a dolmian is...hmmm. Maybe it's better if I show it to you later..."

Immersed within the buoyant water of the hot spring, their bodies felt light and weightless, adding a new sense of intimacy to their love making. They caressed and kissed once more.

It was another hour before they wrapped themselves in soft fat towels and headed indoors. That was when, for the first time, Mira got a sense of how magnificent Diamond Palace was.

Diamond Palace was well-appointed, and far larger than Tamien Palace in Jade City, partly because Jade was a crowded, densely populated area with less available land to build on, and partly because the castle and palace of the Northern Realm sat upon a far more ancient structure. It had a footprint that was so large, there were still ruined areas that had yet to be rebuilt.

Zander's quarters occupied the northernmost tip of the castle keep. Part of the chambers went deep into the mountainside. The rooms that were exposed to the external side of Diamond mountain overlooked the valley below, where its inhabitants lived.

One of the bedroom areas was an external room. It had a large balcony made of carved white marble, jutting out at a dizzying height. Although it was still night, Mira could see out into the valley, where millions of lights dotted the ground below, with their inhabitants, ensconced into their dwellings for the night.

Within the large bedroom was a huge bed against the southern wall, with drapes hung around the bed for extra warmth.

While Mira checked out the room, Zander quickly lit a fire in the fireplace. Within minutes, it was crackling cheerfully, lighting up the room in a warm glow.

Fresh from the hot tub, their skins quickly chilled, so they crawled under the thick down comforter and nestled together, holding onto each other until the fire began dying down into embers.

Exhausted from the cumulative experiences of recent days, they passed the rest of the night, entwined in each other's arms.

Morning came with the raucous sounds of screeching magpies, the only birds left that had not migrated to warmer lands. They had built nests into the cliff sides and, due to the abundance of food sources coming from the local inhabitants, the magpies had permanently taken up residence outside Zander's palace grounds.

With a grunt of irritation, Zander pulled Mira into his chest and threw a pillow over his head. It was barely dawn, and he wanted more cuddle time with his new wife, but after fifteen minutes of the constant ear-splitting squawking, they both gave up and got out of bed.

Overnight, a dress had been created for her by the palace seamstresses. By mid morning, she had been dressed as befitting a queen. The pale blue sheath dress was made of thick warm fabric that was similar to fleece, and the white fox-fur cloak added luxurious warmth that was far better in quality than anything she had ever seen, even on Earth.

"Come, wife. Let's go have breakfast with the parents." Zander held out his hand. He was dressed in his customary white robes, but with the crown on his forehead, he looked the part of a king.

"They know we're here?"

"Yes. I sent word." He saw her hesitant face. "Do not be concerned. Remember your position in this Kingdom." He touched the crown on her brow. "You are Queen Mira Lee Tamein of the Northern Realm."