By law, the king couldn't take the short walk between the two administration buildings, not even on academy grounds. It was too exposed and he had to remain as covered and protected as possible.

“Your highness, why don't you have any of The First King's Men with you?” I asked and noticed that the carriage was going particularly slowly.

The king gave me a sly smile and Melanie huffed, so I looked to her for an answer.

“Royal concubine, may I ask you the reason?”

Melanie gasped and her face went red.

The king laughed. “Gillis told me how perceptive you were.”

“You wouldn't allow just any woman to be your assistant or to handle your schedule, your highness.” I said and he laughed a bit more. “No children yet?”

“Alas, I have very little time to devote to such pursuits, despite the times I can sneak away like this.” The king said. “Ah, I miss privacy. I am required to have at least two guards with me at all times.”

“Surely not in the bed chamber.” I said and he chuckled.

“Thankfully, I can restrict them to waiting by the door.” The king said.

“Silencing spells?” I asked, curiously. I needed to figure one out for myself one of these days.

The king nodded. “I can't let anyone hear the passion I can convey to whom I am with.”

Melanie's face burned a deeper red as she blushed harder.

I reached a hand out to her in the proper way and she took it automatically, showing that she was actually quite high in the noble social structure to have the action so ingrained. I lightly brushed my lips over her knuckles and made them tingle a little. Her eyes widened at that and I smiled at her.

“I apologize for bringing up such a sensitive subject, my lady.” I said and bowed my head to her.

“No, that... that's all right.” Melanie said and I could see her fighting to get the blush to fade. “I just need more experience keeping my emotions off of my face.”

I glanced at the king and he chuckled.

“It's a new contract. Barely six months old after confirmation.” The king said.

“Ah, I see.” I said and let Melanie's hand go. “I'll try to not mention how very pretty she is and embarrass her further.”

Melanie's face flushed red again and the king laughed.

“David, I think you can wait until later to help her practice.”

“Yes, your highness.” I said.

The carriage came to a stop and we stepped out. I helped Melanie out and then Vanessa, and the three of us followed the king into the student administration building and right up the stairs to the cafeteria. What followed was something I would never forget for the rest of my life.

The king was amazing.

It was lunchtime and he brought out all the cooks and helpers from the kitchens for the students and also ordered the teachers to attend. It didn't take long for them to be gathered and he verbally tore them apart over my treatment.

He reminded the kitchen staff, quite needlessly, about the academy's reputation for the best food on the continent. That made them preen a little, which was exactly what the king wanted, because in the next moment, he pointed to me and told them that no student was to ever have a Bronze card issued and that they shouldn't have honored it, since no student in the history of the academy, had ever eaten anything below the silver table.

In fact, the bronze cards weren't supposed to exist. The Bronze tables were for dirty dishes only and not to be served from. Their only purpose was to make sure that the kitchens weren't cluttered up with them while the staff were trying to cook. He reminded them that they all knew this, since it was the very first thing that they were ever taught when they were hired.

He singled out the cooks and helpers that transferred the food to the servant's area and gave them twice as much of a tongue lashing for trying to serve my maid with what I couldn't eat, making her eat something that even I discarded, which was saying something.

I stayed quiet and didn't remind him about my trick to get better food, since that wouldn't help him get his point across. He would probably just tell me that I had to resort to trickery to eat and that was another thing that the cooks should be shameful for.

The entire room was completely quiet while the cooks and kitchen helpers suffered through the barrage of insults and derogatory comments from the king. More students came in and the king moved on to tell them all how upset and insulted he was. It wasn't on my behalf, either. Oh, no. It was personal, because he had never been so embarrassed that a friend of the royal family had been treated so horrendously by what was supposed to be the kingdom's most prestigious mage academy.

Those words got a reaction from everyone, especially the teachers. With an encouraging wave from the king, I stepped forward and drew the ceremonial short sword and added a bit of magic to it. The blade glowed and everyone gasped, even Melanie.

“As you can see, it's the real blade and not a fake.” The king said and nodded to me.

I put the blade away and stepped back beside Melanie. Her eyes were wide and her mouth made that little 'o' of surprise. As the king continued to berate the teachers and staff, I slowly reached over and closed Melanie's mouth with my finger under her chin. She blushed a little and gave me a brief smile.

“So, from now on, you will all treat Lord Drake with the proper respect.” The king said and more gasps came from the people gathered. “I also expect the rumors and insults about him to stop.”

Complete silence met his words and he smiled. “Yes, I know all about that. I know about everything that goes on inside my academy.”

Everyone ducked their heads a little and the king huffed.

“I believe I've made my point.” The king said and swept from the room.

Vanessa whispered that she was staying to eat, so I quickly kissed her cheek and said goodbye. Melanie and I followed the king from the room so that the carpet wouldn't roll up on us or trip us. We went down the stairs and saw that the king had stopped at the first desk. He was about to speak when I touched his arm to get his attention.

“Your highness, please come to see where I live before you complain to the dorm director.” I whispered to him.

“Yes, you're right. I won't know what to say without seeing it first.” The king said and we left the building and climbed into the carriage. I told the driver where to go and also that it was fairly far across the campus. He trotted the horses at a good speed and we made it there in only a couple of minutes. When the king stepped out, he grabbed his own belly and laughed a full-throated laugh. “D-David, you... you can't be serious! You did this?”

I nodded. “Your highness, it was practically falling apart.” I said and pointed to the living arrangement agreement that was attached to the wall and protected by my fortifying waterproof potion.

The king took several minutes to read it and then he laughed. “Exclusive, eh? You lucky devil.”

“I think they wanted to ensure that I was as isolated as possible.” I said and waved to the two guards. They opened the front doors and bowed to the king. “My maid Hope will have a copy of all the work we did to the place and you can have Melanie read it over while I give you both the grand tour.”

The king nodded and we entered the building. Surprisingly, the magic carpet didn't proceed us. He could choose to make it do that or not, which meant he only did it when he wanted to show off.

Hope came down the stairs and saw us, then she gave the king a curtsy. “Your highness.”

“Is she your only maid?” The king asked.

“I'm only allowed to have one stay over, per the academy rules, and she's the more important maid that takes care of the household and staff.” I said. “I also have two other personal maids for other things that can only visit during the day.”

The king gave me a surprised look for a moment, then he chuckled. “I'd like to meet them.”

“Hope?” I asked.

“They are waiting to have lunch with us.” Hope said and waved at the dining room as she stepped by us. “Your highness, it's right this way.”

The king, Melanie, and I followed Hope to the room and as soon as the door opened, Sara and Tabitha hopped up to their feet.

“My lord!” They said together and then they blushed when they saw the king. “Your highness!” They said as one and gave him the same deep curtsy that Hope had.

“It's all right. You can relax.” The king said and waved away their formal behavior. “David's a friend of the family now and I'm here in that capacity and not as the ruler of the entire Gulf Kingdom.”

The two maids exchanged confused looks and looked at me.

“I doubt that statement ever works, your highness.” I said and the king laughed.

“It was worth a try.” The king said.

“Hope, ask the cook to give my lunch to the king and I'll have the meal from supper last night.”

Hope gave me a huge smile and dashed into the kitchen.

“David, you don't have to do that.” The king said. “We need to continue on and...”

“I won't have a friend miss lunch.” I said.

The king gave me a smile. “Are you being magnanimous, now that you can eat your meals normally and won't have to scrape up the scraps in the cafeteria?”

“No, I've always made sure when I was responsible for the food that it was shared and served properly.” I said and he nodded. “This is Sara and that's Tabitha, my personal maids. You have to be careful when you say the word bath, because...”

Both women let out a pleased sound and their faces lit up.

The king laughed. “I see. Professional pride is a true virtue.”

Both women were quite pleased to be complimented by the king.

Hope came back into the room. “If you will be seated, lunch will be served.”

“Thank you, Hope.” The king said and went to sit on the side of the larger table.

“Please take the seat of honor, your highness.” I said and waved to the chair at the head of the table. “Melanie, the seat on the right.”

“David, this is your dorm and...”

“You own the academy.” I responded. “If anyone ever has you over for a meal, I certainly hope that they let you sit where you should sit.”

Melanie looked very happy and nodded her head several times.

The king chuckled. “Very well. Thank you.”

I sat on his left and the maids sat at the second and smaller table. The kitchen helper came out with a single plate of food and an expensive glass of wine. She served the king first, surprisingly without dropping it or spilling the wine, despite her shaking hands.

The king took her hand and smiled at her. “Be at ease.” He said and a bit of magic flowed out of him as he mumbled.

The kitchen helper visibly relaxed. “Y-yes, your highness.” She said and left to get the food cart. She came back and served Melanie first, to her surprise, and then served me, Hope, Sara, and Tabitha, in that order.

The king looked at the huge slab of whitish meat on my plate. “What in the world is that?”

I sliced off a nice piece, speared it with a fork, and held it out to him. “Magical snake.”

Melanie gasped and covered her mouth and the king looked shocked.

“You can do magic, so you can eat it.” I said and he gave me a skeptical look. “Trust me. You're going to want more when you taste it, if Victoria is any indication.”

“Victoria?” The king asked and took the fork.

“Mage Julia King of the botany workshop.” I said and the king raised his eyebrows. “She uses her middle name for all correspondence to stop the confusion with Mage Victoria Ridge of the history and geography courses.”

“Ah, I see.” The king said and stared at the snake.

“You don't have to eat it.” I said and started to eat it myself. “I just offered a new taste for your palate.”

Melanie looked at the fork and offending meat warily. “Your highness, you don't have to...”

The king chuckled. “Well, I've eaten trail game before. How much different can it be?”

I kept the smirk off of my face as he took a small bite. Melanie gasped and covered her mouth as her face turned a little green. The king on the other hand, made a moaning sound and quickly grabbed a napkin to catch the saliva trying to escape his mouth.

“Y-y-your highness?” Melanie asked, tentatively.

“That's soooo good.” The king said and put the rest of the piece into his mouth. He had to hold the napkin over his mouth as he chewed, because just like Victoria, he couldn't help the large amount of drool that he produced.

“Edward?” Melanie asked, her voice steady.

“David, if you would?” The king asked and motioned to Melanie.

I nodded and used another fork to slice a piece off of the other side of the snake meat that I hadn't touched and held it out to her.

“No, I couldn't possibly...”

“Melanie.” The king said and she knew that tone. She took the offered fork and stared at the piece of snake meat, then she looked at the king. He nodded and she sighed as she took the smallest bite, just like Victoria had the very first time. She also had the same reaction.

“By the Son's LIGHT!” Melanie gasped and shoved the whole piece into her mouth. “MMMMM!”

The king laughed and slapped me on the shoulder. “David, thank you. I've never seen her react like that before. Whatever you did to this meat, it's phenomenal.”

I nodded and kept eating. The king did as well and Melanie made that one piece of meat last for several minutes before she swallowed. She shook herself and realized what she did, around a group of strangers, and her face went to a deep red as she blushed.

The king laughed and assured her that no one was going to say anything about her reaction, which made her relax, and we all ate our lunch in silence after that.