I took out a set of normal clothes that was acceptable for breakfast and the very pretty maid helped me take off the fancy and expensive meeting suit. As I shed each piece of clothing, her face became redder and redder as her blush deepened. When I was just down to my underwear, she had a difficult time breathing.

I put my hands on her shoulders to get her attention and she trembled slightly as she looked into my eyes. “Is it undressing a man you don't know that's making you nervous?” I asked and she nodded several times. “What's your name?”

“Tabitha. Tabitha Stone.” The very pretty maid said.

“Hi, Tabitha. My name's David.” I let her shoulders go and took her hand. “It's very nice to make your acquaintance.” I said and brushed my lips over her knuckles. “I'm a student at the mage academy and I have a fiance. You don't have to worry about me trying to take advantage of you in this situation.”

Tabitha took a deep breath and let it out as her blush faded a little. “I... well...” She glanced down at my underwear and then back at my face.

“I thought only personal maids do that ritual.” I said and her face went red again.

“I'm Lord Smith's personal maid and I'm forbidden from offering.” She said, her voice full of sadness.

I knew exactly how much Sara enjoyed it, sometimes quite enthusiastically, and even Jill had shown me her propensity for it, despite being Helena's personal maid.

“Perhaps I need a bit of freshening up. Is there a specific soap you like to use?” I asked.

“Yes!” Tabitha exclaimed. “I'll be right back!”

She practically ran from the room to get whatever she wanted, so I walked over to the guest bathroom to put water in the tub and to wait for her. She came in two minutes later with a very large and soft sponge and a sweet smelling soap. I slipped off my underwear and stepped into the tub for her and she knelt beside the tub with a longing on her face that I hadn't seen before.

She dampened the sponge and applied the soap to it, then she carefully rubbed my private area all over. She moaned as she gently handled my bits with her soapy hands. It felt quite different from when Sara would do it, so I grew hard quickly. She rinsed me off by squeezing the sponge over me and then she took complete control as she gripped my backside and went down on me.

The sounds she made were both odd and oddly compelling as she enjoyed it even more than Sara did, which I didn't think was possible. It was then that I realized she was like a starving person that had finally gotten their first taste of real food and she was wallowing in it. I pat her head to let her know I was close, which was the proper etiquette, and she moaned loudly and gripped my backside tightly as she kept going.

I finished for her and her moan almost became a purr as she easily took it all. The look of pure joy on her face was even more pronounced than Sara's was after she had done it to me that first time. Tabitha quickly washed me off and then dried me before helping me change into the outfit I had.

“My lord, thank you.” Tabitha said, her voice filled with gratitude and her face showing happiness.

“We're a little late.” I said as she tucked my bag into the closet for me before we left the guest room.

“It should be fine. Breakfast is less formal.” Tabitha said and almost skipped down the hallway beside me. “It's right this way, my lord.” She said and led me over to the right room.

“There you are.” Alex said and pointed to the chair on his left. “I was a bit worried you might have gotten lost or something.”

“I just needed a bit of freshening up before changing.” I said and sat down on the indicated chair. “You know how restrictive those fancy suits are.”

“Sometimes women have it easier than us, don't they?” Alex laughed. “It doesn't make up for everything else that they have to put up with; but, at least they don't feel like they are being choked by their suit collars for twelve hours out of the day! Ha ha!”

Donna rolled her eyes and her cousin Mage Ridge laughed softly. She sat on her side and her husband sat beside her, the lowest in the social order, and he didn't look too happy about it.

“The cooks have outdone themselves today.” Alex said and leaned close to me, almost conspiratorially. “Before you think I'm trying to make up for the garbage the school has been making you eat, I really enjoy food. Once I knew you were coming, I had them go all out.”

“Thank you.” I said and he pat my shoulder with his stump.

“I'm also glad you came to see us.” Alex said and leaned back as another maid served us drinks of juice and half glasses of wine. “You have no idea what it's been like being stuck here at the estate and only having people taking care of you.”

“It hasn't been that bad.” Donna said without much enthusiasm.

“They won't let me do anything.” Alex said. “I can't even go out for a walk past the grounds.”

“We don't want anything bad to happen to you, my lord.” Tabitha said as she brought me a plate of food. It smelled delicious.

“If you would let the guards come along...” Another maid said as she served Alex and Donna.

“I want to enjoy being out.” Alex said, almost pouting. “Having guards along ruins being out in the first place.”

Donna chuckled. “It's a good thing we called for the extra help or this place would still be covered in dust after all this time.”

“I didn't want to take all of my father's staff.” Alex said with a sigh.

“Nonsense. They have plenty of people left at the main family mansion.” Donna said and looked at me. “Alex is a bit uncomfortable with having too many people working under him that he didn't vet for himself.”

“Or had you check.” Alex said.

Donna laughed. “I've done it since then, so you can stop acting so paranoid. We all want you comfortable and that's that.”

Alex sighed. “I know, it's just... I don't want to be too comfortable.”

“Here we go again.” Mage Ridge said and she laughed. “The rebellious rich teenager returns!”

Donna joined in and the two of them laughed for several moments.

“I'm not that bad!” Alex protested and they laughed harder.

“He's one of the rare ones that wants to earn his merits on his own and not because of his family.” Donna said. “It was one of the main reasons I fell in love with him, actually.”

“Hey! You told me it was because of my looks!” Alex exclaimed and that set her off to laughing again. He winked at me and I understood that he was making her laugh as much as he could.

The conversation became normal after that, discussing things about the kingdom and the state of affairs between us and the Eastern Empire, with speculation about what the terms were going to be that they would settle on. The biggest thing they mentioned was that the peace talks could take up to a year or longer.

When the meal was over, Alex insisted on going outside without guards. Donna humored him and gave him what he wanted, except she had the guards far off to make a perimeter and not crowd around.

“This is more like it.” Alex said as he sat in the miniature hand cart that a butler pulled for him. “Thank you, Donna.”

“I love you, too.” Donna said and kissed him, then we walked through the grounds. We took a stroll and for some reason, I felt like the odd one, because I didn't have someone on my arm.

“I'll be right back.” I said to their surprise, and I ran back to the mansion and went inside. Using my vigilance technique, I easily found Tabitha and asked her to walk with me. She refused at first and I told her why I needed her, so she quickly changed her mind and her clothes to accompany me.

Needless to say, Alex, Donna, Mage Ridge and her husband were shocked when I came out with a maid on my arm. Only Mage Ridge's husband mumbled about how inappropriate it was to bring a servant along. That just made me smile and he scowled at my reaction.

We walked across the property and down to the street, then we went around the neighbourhood to look at the neighbours and their large houses. Some were even mansions, which meant this was another borderline area between rich people and very rich people. Alex was seeing it all for the first time, because he hadn't been outside since coming here to recover, so he and I shared that experience.

I saw several peculiar pieces of art and knew they were from the Bassinger Family. That reminded me that she had finally relented in her pursuit of my potion and accepted that some secrets had to be kept within a family. Lady Bassinger and Helena were becoming quite close, probably because the Henrietta Longshore Estate was being visited by a lot of people looking for more potions and expensive tables and they saw the extensive work the Bassingers had done.

“Yes, the Bassingers are getting a bunch of orders now.” Donna said when I mentioned the statue we could see in someone's front yard. “I'm sure you know something about that.” She said to me, quite pointedly.

“Helena and I had them make the fountain in our front yard.” I said. “It's quite the sight to see a stone carving of Helena standing in defiance of a twelve foot tall stone dragon.”

Alex laughed. “I have got to go over to see that!”

“School's letting out for the king's birthday in about three weeks.” I said. “Why don't you and Donna come over for a visit? I can show you around the property as well.”

“That's a great idea!” Donna said. “What do you think, Alex? Will we be up for it?”

“I don't care if I am because I'm going anyway.” Alex said, adamantly. “David, thank you for the invitation. We'll be there.”

I nodded and we walked on for a bit, then we turned around at an arbitrary point and went back to the estate. Tabitha had held onto my arm the entire time and hadn't spoken much. I had asked her if she liked some of the things we saw and she would only say yes or nod, without expanding on her opinion at all. I knew she was a bit uncomfortable being surrounded by lords and ladies, even though I wasn't one yet.

We arrived back at the estate and we had an hour before lunch would be ready, so I said I needed a bath after such a long walk.

“That's a great idea.” Donna said and looked at Alex. “No protesting! David's bathing, too.”

Alex let out a long and exaggerated sigh and Donna and Mage Ridge laughed. “You're lucky this place is so big and has a bunch of rooms.”

“Imagine having to take turns!” Mage Ridge said and lightly slapped Donna's arm. “Remember when we were kids?”

“We'd make the boys wait while we played in the tub!” Donna said, her face full of amusement.

“Cold water was what they deserved for teasing us.” Mage Ridge said, haughtily.

“How right you are.” Donna said and leaned down to kiss Alex. “Who do you want help from, my love?”

Alex glanced at Tabitha and his face went sad. “I'm sorry, I... I can't...”

“It's all right, my lord. I'm not insulted that you don't want my help.” Tabitha said automatically, as if she had said it hundreds of times.

“I'm sorry he can't bring himself to let anyone but me handle him.” Donna said and touched Tabitha's shoulder briefly. “Perhaps sometime in the future when...”

“Donna.” Alex snapped and she closed her mouth before she said anything else.

“If she isn't needed, can I get her to help me?” I asked.

Alex nodded. “She's a great maid and I'm saddened that her skills have been sorely wasted on me.”

“We'll be in the guest room.” I said and led Tabitha away. She kept hold of my arm as we went through the mansion to the guest room and we stopped next to the bed. She reluctantly let my arm go and then she slowly undressed me. She took her time, knowing we had a lot of time before lunch.

When I was completely naked, she took my hand and led me into the bathroom. She set the water to fill and I stepped into the tub. By the time I turned around and had sat down, she was naked and had lathered herself up. I used Sense Magic and saw that she was glowing slightly.

“Can you teach me that spell?” I asked and she nodded, then she climbed into the bath with me and used herself as a sponge. I had to admit that I had never had anyone do that before. It was surprising that it actually worked and she did wash and scrub me all over, using just her body. As she did so, she explained the magic her mother had taught her. She wouldn't normally share her family secret so quickly; but, I had given her the opportunity to showcase her abilities twice and she felt that she owed it to me for making her so happy.

Thankfully, it wasn't cast in the traditional way with a chant and gestures. It was almost the same as my magic that was just directed and you let the magic do what you wanted. Of course, I couldn't very well only let myself be scrubbed clean, so I washed her as well as I attempted to cast the same spell.

By the time the nearly hour long bath was over and I stood up to let her perform the end of bath ritual, I had a firm grasp of what the magic did and could apply it to one part like my hand or to all of my body like she could. She made even more enthusiastic pleasure sounds as she worked on me to get me to finish and caressed my backside as she enjoyed using her skills to full effect.

We climbed out of the tub and she dried me off, then she was surprised when I dried her off, too. She hadn't expected that and seemed a bit shaken that I would bother and not just let her handle it herself. I took her hand, in the same manner as she took mine to go into the bathroom, and brought her out to the guest room.

I helped her dress first and then she helped me. She put my bag back into the closet and we left the room to go have lunch. She left me at the door and started to walk away to eat with the other servants, then she came back and kissed my cheek.

“Thank you, my lord.” Tabitha said with a blush, then walked away.

That was odd. She didn't blush at all during the bath. I thought, slightly confused about her behaviour. I shrugged my shoulders and ignored it before I went into the dining room to eat lunch.