“You came to my tower for entertainment? You were not tasked with delivering a message? No one sent you to me?” I asked in disbelief. I ran my hand through my beard and the metal ornaments hanging from my robe’s sleeve chimed lightly. I glanced at the servant and guard behind the prince, but their stony faces gave no hints of mirth. I looked to my left and right, but none of my council seemed any less bewildered than I felt.

The child scoffed before answering. He had a thin body with a weak-looking hand that he raised to press against his chest as he spoke. “My uncle, the king, sent me on an important quest to attend to the morale of the further baronies, but that is all. I choose where I grace the citizens of Sena, as is my right and their privilege. And I choose to grant you this privilege in the hopes you could entertain me.”

“I see. I see.” I muttered, more to myself than to the brat. With a smile, I answered him, “Perhaps I can show you something you have never seen before then, Prince.”

I turned to look at Alderman Kine, my former assistant, and smiled. The man had aged gracefully, though his hair was still balding some. I noted the quickly hidden look of fear in his eyes, but ignored it to ask him a question. Today was the day we were intending to raise the tower, and all the preparations the village needed should be complete. Hopefully, my council would catch on to my act.

“Alderman Kine, are the villagers safe and secure?”

With only the briefest pause after my question, Kine answered with a small bow, “They are ready, Master Fargus.”

“Good,” I nodded and turned the opposite direction to face Loralie, looking down at where her illusionary eyes would be. I winked at her with the eye the prince couldn’t see from where he stood. “Witch Loralie, are there any demons or fiends that will plague us today?”

The illusion of Loralie didn’t respond right away, and a blush crept across her face. It was then, that I noted I was staring at her bosom, but I didn’t give away any hint of that particular thought. The illusionary crone closed her eyes and then hummed. The aged voice of an older woman whispered from its lips. “Not today, Master Wizard.”

It was a useless question.

Of course, there weren’t any that would attack today. I hadn’t heard of such a thing occurring beyond children’s tales. Though, I was happy she caught on quickly enough and I graced her with a small smile of gratitude as I turned back around to the last member of my council. Shaelra, the nun was only a little surprised when all the eyes in the room turned in her direction.

“Shaelra, can we say a prayer before we begin?” I asked with a genuine smile.

While she was a little taken aback, she quickly let her role take over. “Certainly, my lord,” she answered with a bow. Then she clasped her hands and turned her face to the ceiling.

With closed eyes, she began, “Elora, goddess of love and light, we seek your guiding grace to watch over us this day. We ask that you support Lord Fargus’s efforts as he has done so much for the children here. He has given families to those who had none, reunited those who were thought lost, and is a beacon of hope in trying times."

I closed my own eyes as I pretended to pray as well. Instead, I was reaching out with my mind to the elementals around the tower. My owls were ordered to fly in a circle. My fire elementals on pillars were ordered to spout gouts of flame into the sky. The mist elementals were ordered to fly low around the bridge. My enormous fifth-tier octopus was ordered to squirm and writhe in a menacing manner.

When she finished, I turned back to smile at the Prince. I called forth an illusionary staff that looked as if it were solely made of sunlight to my hand, “Now that we are prepared, please follow me.”

Without waiting for his response, I walked around the table and towards the door out of my tower. My seneschal was quick to open it for me, and I stepped forth onto the bridge to see five more royal guards as they warily looked about. The changes in my elementals' behavior had no doubt put them on guard.

I saw their hands clenched tightly on sword hilts and spear handles, though none had drawn a blade yet.

“Good Morning, please lead the way!” I called to them and gestured towards the gate. Behind me, I heard the Prince whispering to either his servant or his guard, but I paid it no mind. Instead, I continued forward to the gates, as my own guards were quick to open it for us. My robe chimed with each step, and my nature elementals, the aldruane, chose that moment to begin playing the instruments they practiced with. Pipes were held to pollen lips and harps were strummed by leafy fingers. The sounds that rose from their instruments played a lively and soulful tune that was in time with each of my measured steps.

Beyond the gates, I saw even more royal guards. The Prince’s forces were likely a hundred soldiers with a handful of mages and priests.

I graced them with a grand smile and walked forward with my head held high. “If all of you would follow me this way,” I said loud and clearly as I walked further away from my tower and the village beside it. The stone path to Woodhoot was a well trodden one by this point.

Many of the men and women muttered, but follow me they did, until we were more than half a mile down the road from my tower. I stopped when I found a stray stick, something the size of a staff, and stood above it before I turned about.

“Prince! If you would, please tell your guards to gather close and be at ease,” I called to him, though he was only a dozen or so steps behind me. The words, though, were clear enough for all to hear.

I began using [Earth Manipulation] to raise the ground around us. At the same time, I struck down on the ground with the illusionary staff I held, not that it was required. The ground for nearly forty paces in a circle around me, enough to support the Prince and all his guards, began to rise and stopped once it had reached three times the height of a man.

Once it had stopped, I turned and looked at the Prince with a tilt of my head, yet all the child did was scoff.

“You think I have never seen Geomancy before, wizard? Is this all you can show me?” His voice broke once again as he spoke, and he didn't bother to hide his disdain.

I laughed, “Prince, this wasn’t the entertainment. This is only to allow you the proper view of the demonstration.” Then, I cast the spell to begin raising the village, tower, and my reflection pond, as well as several miles of swampland around it. The ground rumbled. The walls of stone rose to encircle it so that mud and earth didn’t slide off. Then the land began to rise. First the height of a man. Then two men.

Then it kept growing, the raised land becoming a cliffside.

While the others were around me watched in awe, I reached down and grasped the stick I stood over. Raising the plateau would take maybe half an hour to complete, and was more than enough time to enchant the stick. A small enchantment, one that would only last a year or two, but a solid one nonetheless. When tapped on the ground with the word ‘light’ spoken it would light up like the illusionary staff I held. If done again with the word ‘dark’ spoken, the light would fade.

A simple enough enchantment on a random stick, but one that would serve my purposes. As much as I disliked the Prince’s arrogance, he was still royalty.

I certainly wouldn’t have anyone say that I was visited by royalty and didn’t offer them a suitable welcoming gift. That this particular gift was similar and still lesser than the gifts I'd offered other children was a minor slight for the child's lack of grace.

The plateau wasn’t one entire level as it rose. Most of it was. But once the largest area stopped rising, more continued. My tower and reflection lake raised another twenty or thirty feet above the village and bog. Then my tower and those connected to it continued for another twenty feet beyond that.

When it was finally done, the Prince turned to me with wide eyes.

Before he could speak, I spoke to him, offering the staff with a demonstration of use, “A gift for you, young prince, to help illuminate your path.”

The Prince seemed still stunned by witnessing the raising of the plateau and grasped the staff almost without thought. After gaping a bit, he asked, “How will we return to the tower?”

I stroked my beard, as if pretending to think the matter over. Then I answered, “I am unsure how you would, Prince, but I will be flying there.” When the Prince’s expression gave over to confusion, I demonstrated by flying away. Of course, I didn’t fly straight there, rather a more circuitous route that ensured no one was beneath me. I didn’t think I would be flying so soon today and hadn’t worn pants. Showing my hindparts to others, whether intentional or not, would undoubtedly be taken as a slight.

Behind me, I could hear the Prince shout. His voice echoing from the raised viewing platform I had made, “How will I get down from here?!”

Upon hearing those words, I smiled to myself and kept flying. I had much left to do if I were to leave tomorrow, and a battle between mushroom men had been added to my tasks.