Free Alec the Wanderer: Generations of Eredwynn #4 by Daniel B. Harris Page A

“Good morning, Alec. The Regent is in the courtroom, but I believe Lord Seth is in his room. You can use the side entrance if you’d prefer.”
    I thanked him and we took the door bypassing the courtroom. I thought that having a castle wouldn’t be so bad if I could get a regent to do all the boring stuff and I could do whatever project I felt like. Of course, Seth hadn’t picked a nice relaxing project. Taking on the care of all the female homeless in Eredwynn didn’t sound like relaxing to me.
    I knocked on the door of the master suite and a tiny creature answered and hugged my legs. “Alec! We didn’t expect to see you again so soon, but I’m glad we get to. What brings you to Starford and who is this vision beside you?”
    Carol dropped to her knees. “My stars! You’re a Halfling, aren’t you? I would have sworn that you were one of the children I’d been told lived here. Forgive me; I’m Carol Stephenson, Alec’s wife of just over week.”
    Tabitha laughed. “I get that all the time and sometimes it’s nice to be mistaken for one of the kids. So, Alec got married; come on in and tell that to Seth! You might have to tell him twice, once to start the shock and again when he recovers.”
    We went inside and made ourselves comfortable on a couch. Tabitha went back to one of the side rooms to let Seth know we’d arrived. Suddenly a black-haired meteor came flying from that room and almost strangled me with her enthusiasm!
    “Alec, we’ve missed you! I don’t think that Seth will admit it because he’s a man, but he missed you too. Thank you so much for the training and not actually killing us, even though we often thought that was your goal. Oh, hello Miss, I’m Raven, one of Seth and Tabitha’s Consorts.”
    I laughed. “I’ve missed you all too, Raven. I’ll introduce you to this young lady as soon as my brother decides to quit playing with the Consorts and gets out here.”
    Raven giggled. “Unfortunately that isn’t what we were doing. Tina is taking over some bookwork and he was helping her with her numbers. Usually Anne would do that, but she’s been getting sick in the morning quite a lot lately.”
    Seth finally joined us and I got up to meet him. “How’ve you been, brother of mine? You’re looking fitter than I left you, and that’s a good thing!”
    Seth smiled. “Celina, Warin, Raven and I get up and go for a run every morning. We then come back and work out in the courtyard. The captain offered to have men spar with us.”
    I shook my head. “With the swords your grandfather gave you? I hope you declined.”
    He nodded. “I did. I didn’t want to have to replace all the guards’ weapons when we cut them up.”
    Carol spoke up. “How could you cut up their weapons if you’re just using swords, too?”
    Seth looked surprised to see her. “Our weapons are enchanted, you pretty, young lady. Where did you come from?”
    I gave a faux growl. “Back off, Naiad, she’s all mine. Let me introduce Carol Stephenson, my wife.”
    Seth looked confused and then a bit more confused. Finally, he muttered, “I must have water in my ears; did you say, ‘wife’?”
    Tabitha and Carol both started giggling and I nodded. “I met Carol when her father asked me to escort her to Tesil. She pointed out that I needed a woman in my life and I couldn’t argue. We were married just over a week ago. Now she is on a mission to save all the women in this realm, and Father’s, from misuse and injustice. She thought that you or some of the women that you’ve worked with might have some insight. She is also brand new to magic.”
    I watched Seth and Raven both scan her. Seth looked at me. “Brother, she can’t do magic. I scanned for caster and psi; both are dormant.”
    Carol laughed. “I bet I’ll get that from every psi user I meet. I seem to have a rare ability. One that made your mother cackle. I’m not a spirit user, like most of the others in Eredwynn, but an air magic user. It can be