Ravish Me, Oh Great Wizard King!!!

As soon as Mira stepped off the train with Felix clung to her neck, Daran and Carol were already at the underground station in Diamond waiting for them.

"Girl! What happened to you???" Carol called out, waving her hands in the air. Her blond bob cut bounced in the air with the joviality of a normal Earth day, sticking out like a sore thumb, but one that Mira missed so much.

"Carol! When did you get here?" She ran to the blonde with Nonna following closely behind.

"We ported here yesterday as soon as we got word that you would be back in Diamond. We've been waiting for awhile. And, oh my...you have a new baby!" Carol glanced at Felix with a strange expression.

The child hid his face into Mira's neck.

"It doesn't look like yours and Zander's biological child." Carol laughed a bit nervously.

Mira laughed, grateful that Carol had called him a new baby and not a new pet. She rubbed Felix's downy body with gentle reassuring hands. "We barely got married a few days ago, Carol. I can't speed up biological processes, and even if Zander could, I would most definitely not allow him to do that."

She kissed the boy's head. "This is Felix Lee, my new adopted son. I'll tell you all about him when I get the chance." Mira sighed with relief. "I'm finally back in Ashrya again."

"You're safe, and that's all that matters," Daran put his hand and fist together in greetings.

"I'm so glad to see the both of you," Mira's eyes misted. It was only two short days, but she really did miss them so much. There were brief introductions made between Nonna and Carol. None were needed between Nonna and Daran since they were old acquaintances.

Mira noticed with relief, that the two women were quite comfortable with each other as they began chatting about everything under the sun. Once all the pleasantries were done with, Daran led the way out of the station.

The ragtag group followed him to another wooden platform, which took them up to the surface. Once they had ascended from the dwarven subterranean railway system, a new rush of smells, sights and sounds greeted them.

Being underground for so long, Mira had grown accustomed to the glow of the dolmian stones, the smell of train oil, and the moist depths of the subterranean rocks. It was neither too cold nor too hot in the underground caverns and passages, and inclement weather did not affect train schedules, nor the movement of goods and supplies throughout the empire.

She began to appreciate the reasons why the dwarves sank the majority of their cities underground.

Diamond was the main city of the Northern Realm. As such, its frigid air was sharp and decisive, and it was constantly buffeted by the winds that came out of the north. Even its summers were cool, a highly prized state of being when the weather turned miserable and sticky hot.

Zander had told her that at such times, Diamond would be filled with people from all over Ashrya. Merchants would bring their goods and wares to all the various fairs, concerts, and live markets, and travelers would join in the festivities for weeks on end to get away from the heat.

Winters, however, were silently decadent.

Ice and snow made surface roads mostly impassable. This meant only those who had access to wizards and their portals could get into Diamond. The rest of the inhabitants took the dwarven underground Diamond Train if they could afford the cost of the tickets, or they waited till spring's thaw.

Although the chill instantly hit Mira's body, the bright morning sun felt good as it washed over her body. It also temporarily blinded her.

Felix, with his ultra-sensitive wolf eyes, winced and hid his face into her shoulder. She had placed him inside her jacket before they ascended, so the only part of him that was showing was a small tuft of coarse black hair growing on top of his head.

His canine nose was wet and cold as it touched her bare skin, but Mira knew cold noses were normal for dogs, which meant it was normal for Felix. His fingers found her long braided hair and he held onto it with both hands, fondling the strands with warm fingers that were very much human.

The group continued to move through the stale cold smell of Diamond inner city.

This was a part of Diamond Mira had only seen from atop the mountain palace. From above, at night, all she could see were the rooftops and the warm glow from the lights from people's windows. Up close and personal, Diamond architecture gave her a new level of appreciation for the way they were built to withstand the snow and frigid temperatures.

All the houses were fairly small and sturdily built from the locally quarried granite taken from Diamond Mountain. The granite was pale grey, which gave most of the houses in Diamond a bright exterior.

The light colored stonework was offset by the dark grey color of the steep gabled slate roofs which, at the moment, had a dusting of white snow over them, like the confectionery sugar on gingerbread homes.

Since it was a frigid morning, there were few people out and about other than the local snow shovelers who had been charged with keeping the main thoroughfares clear of the snow that had fallen the night before.

The group moved quickly until they reached a small mansion deep in the heart of Diamond.

"Welcome to my home." Daran reached out with a fingertip and zapped the door knob. It sprang open at his touch.

"Magik lock?" Mira raised an eyebrow.

"All wizards' homes have magik locks. It is one of the first things we learn...how to protect our abodes."

"I thought you live in Peridot, Daran. I didn't know your house is in Diamond."

"I own a home in Diamond, a home in Jade, and a home in Peridot." Daran said without bragging. "I travel so much with my troops, it was easier to have a place to return to, in some of the largest cities."

Mira nodded. "That's like Zander having a home in Jade AND a home in Diamond."

Daran shook his head. "Not even close. The Crown Prince has staffed palaces in most of the major cities. I just have a few modest houses."

To that, she and Carol both rolled their eyes at each other and laughed.

Traveling with Daran was far easier than going the slow method by herself. They quickly ported from his house, directly into the library of Diamond Palace.

Tinsel Pomfrey, Zander's High Advisor, was already waiting for her inside the library.

"Greetings, Queen Mira." He bowed deeply.

Tinsel Pomfrey was a tall elegant Ashryan. His blue hair was tied into a knot at the top of his head, and he had a blue moustache under his thin straight nose, giving him a rakish appearance. He was dressed in the customary black robes edged with silver that the Advisors to the Royal Heads wore.

"This way, Your Royal Highness," he extended a hand forward.

"Where are we going, Tinsel?" She asked as she hurriedly followed him.

"I don't quite understand."

"Ever since the King and Queen had been abducted and the Prince had gone to rescue them, the King's Court had been temporarily paused, but it cannot not remain on pause indefinitely. The heads of the Bureaus of Administration are clamoring for court sessions to be held so they can get on with the process of governance."

"How can they hold Court if the King is not here?"

Tinsel Pomfrey cleared his throat. "The Bureau Heads are insisting that the High Wizard Griswold Toblerone hold the Court sessions."

"Who is he?"

"He is the Chief Advisor to King Leo Tamein as well as the Head Wizard of the Northern Realm."

Mira pressed her lips into a thin line. "If he is that competent, why are you rushing me to the King's Court? I'm just a princess-by-marriage. What powers do I have?"

"Your Royal Highness. With no one left present in the kingdom, you are next-in-line for the throne. At this moment, you are the legal acting-head-of-state, for the Northern Realm---the Princess Consort Mira Lee of Tamein." Tinsel Pomfrey coughed. "You have to be there."

Mira almost stumbled. In what kind of strange world does an accidental fall into a muddy bog turn a person into a princess consort of a fantasy realm? This was not only ludicrous, it was very real.

"Alright, I'll bite. Why are you rushing me over there now?"

"If I may speak freely." Tinsel Pomfrey paused.

Mira nodded.

"Your Majesty, the High Wizard Griswold Toblerone is, at this very moment, holding court. He does not have the authority to do so, which is why he is rushing you into the King's Court---so that he can start Court proceedings."

Mira bit the inside of her lip. This could potentially be a very bad thing.

She did not have a clue what was going to happen within the court, but if decisions that were made during the King and Queen's absence would detrimentally affect the kingdom or the Royal Family, the person holding the bag for all of this would not be the High Wizard Griswold Toblerone, but Mira herself.

Since she had been given the authority to hold Court, that also meant she had the authority to make the final decisions, but if this High Wizard Griswold Toblerone took it upon himself to direct all the decisions, she would merely be the straw man who got inserted into office so that he could dictate policy.

All the blame would fall upon her shoulders once the chips fell to the ground.

Suddenly, Mira did not feel so good.

She paused mid-stride.

"Your Majesty?" Tinsel Pomfrey shot her a worried look.

"Do I absolutely have to show up?"

"You absolutely have to show up, Your Royal Highness." Tinsel's face was void of emotion.

"Why?"

Tinsel Pomfrey shot her a worried look. "You have to protect your husband's empire while he is absent from the realm."