When lunch ended, I gave the king and Melanie the tour of the place and Hope gave Melanie a copy of the repairs and the costs, she also gave her a copy of the bill that was submitted to the academy. Melanie's face scrunched up as she read through it and she kept asking if this was real and how long it took for it to be repaired, because she didn't believe the repair times that had been listed.

“My lord has the best work crews in the capital.” Hope said as we stepped into the large guest bedroom at the top of the stairs. “We also had a lot of extra space, so we made as much use of it as possible.”

“We've both seen that.” The king said, clearly impressed. “Bassinger?” He asked and indicated the very nice painting above the fireplace mantle.

“They do all of the aesthetic work for my lord.” Hope said with a nod. “If you get the chance, you should swing by the Henrietta Longshore Estate to see the fountain they made for us.”

“I've already had the pleasure.” The king said. “It was magnificent.”

“It really is.” Hope said and showed off the attached bathroom to the guest room.

“You really spared no expense.” Melanie said as she looked around.

“My lord has to stay here for three years. We needed everything to last.” Hope said and walked over to the guest room's door where I had stayed. “My lord, that's all the rooms and completes the tour.”

“Thank you, Hope.” I said and waved for her to leave. “Your highness, I need to apologize. I have an appointment with an elder for the Montgomery Family all afternoon and must leave immediately.”

The king let out a sigh. “I knew I wouldn't be able to drag this visit on for very long.”

“I would be happy if you stayed for supper.” I said and he raised his eyebrows. “If you can wait around for a few hours, I'll also bring you back an enchanted sword as a new Lord's gift to his king.”

“Your highness, I don't think we can just remain here for so long while doing nothing.” Melanie said.

“Melanie, you are very forward in your thinking to proposition the king in such a way.” I said and her face flushed red at my statement. “Your highness, I believe that could count as a direct request from your concubine to perform your contractual duty.”

The king gave me a surprised look and then glanced at Melanie, whose face was bright red. “David, I do believe you are correct.”

“Please, feel free to use the guest room and the other amenities as you see fit. I'll also leave Hope at your disposal if you need her to retrieve anything for you, like extra towels, a light meal, or a bottle of wine. Or two.”

The king gave me a smile and a nod. “Make it so.”

I bowed and shut the guest room door. “Hope, one of the best wines we have. Chilled on ice, please.”

“I'll bring it right up.” Hope said and we walked down the stairs. “It's been on ice for half an hour, in preparation for staying in the parlour.”

“Excellent. Thank you.”

Hope laughed softly. “I think Melanie's the one that needs to thank you, my lord.”

“Perhaps in a few hours.” I responded and Hope laughed again. “I'll be back for supper. Inform the cook that the king and his concubine are staying, please.”

“Yes, my lord.” Hope said and we parted ways at the bottom of the stairs.

I left the dorm mansion and jogged all the way back to the main gate of the academy and saw a very nice carriage with the Montgomery Family crest on the side of it.

“I thought you were going to miss our departure.” The old man said.

“I was entertaining the king, as you should know, Grand Mage Montgomery.” I said and climbed into the carriage. “Mage Montgomery. Mage Montgomery.” I said to Black and Heather as I nodded to each of them.

Black laughed. “Just Black is fine when we're not in class and no one else can claim that you're disrespecting me.”

“Black!” Heather gasped and her husband laughed some more as the carriage drove away.

“I'm joking, of course.” Black said. “Grandfather, what did the head blacksmith say?”

“He almost bowled me over to get to his forge after I showed him David's work.” The old man scoffed and both Black and Heather laughed.

“I knew he would.” Black said with a grin. “Anything new for him to create makes him very happy.”

“Are you still doing the simple enchantment on a few of the swords?” I asked and Black nodded.

“One of mine and one of the old man's.” Black said. “We're going to highlight them at the next army meeting for their elite soldiers.”

That reminded me of Anna Carter, the XO and temporary CO of the basic training base. I knew she had some magic skill, so I would do my sword with the upgraded basic enchantment and then would enchant the old man's third sword with the full crest to give to the king. I told them my plans and the three of them gave me a surprised look, then the old man put a hand on my shoulder.

“I thought you would be keeping one and instead you are giving them away.” The old man said.

“If I hadn't received the ceremonial sword, I would have.” I said and the old man nodded.

“I have a question for you.” Heather said and I looked at her. She had done up her make-up and looked a bit more appealing. “Can we substitute any of the four runes in your new design?”

I had to think about that for a minute and retraced the enchantment in my head. “It could work.”

“I hear doubt in your voice, young man.” The old man said.

“If you used all damage runes, there's no buildup or any protection if the sword shatters from applying so much extra damage to whatever is struck.” I said. “Even if I restructured the enchantment, you would still have the same problem.”

“No penetrating power.” Black said and I nodded.

“Just hitting something won't work if you can't cut it... unless it's a blunt force weapon like a battle hammer or a mace. The mace would be better on a chain, because it's too short of a weapon if it's just the ball and handle to get much swinging power behind it.”

We all started to discuss the different rune combinations and what ones would definitely need to be included and what ones could be doubled up safely without compromising the weapon's integrity. The carriage arrived at the Montgomery Family estate and it was a very nice mansion. It also had six blacksmith workshops spread around the mansion and they were all going at full speed.

“We have the army and navy equipment replacement contracts.” The old man said proudly.

“How long did it take for you to claim them?” I asked as we stepped out of the carriage.

“Almost 30 years.” The old man said and smiled. “Thanks to you, we're going to keep them for at least that long, too.”

I was led into the first workshop and the heat inside was almost as bad as the marsh in the middle of summer, even though it was fall and the weather was starting to get colder.

“I've almost got them ready, master!” The blacksmith said loudly over the hammering of the other people in the building.

“Good, good.” The old man said and led us over to the workbench we would be using for carving. “These are my first attempts at the new full family crest.” He said and handed me three daggers. One was mangled, one was bent, and the last was only slightly off-center.

“Did the infusion do this?” I asked.

“That and a flaw in the forging process when they are charged. Apparently, if the blade isn't a single piece, the enchantment can go off slightly and only apply certain aspects of the magic to certain parts.”

I examined the mangled one and tried to charge it with some magic. The metal made a wrenching sound and twisted even more. “It's applying the damage to the blade and not enhancing it.”

“Exactly.” The old man said. “The others aren't as bad.”

“This might be because of your normal enchanting process.” I said and the old man nodded.

“I agree. We need to empower the enchantment so that it applies to the blade, not empower the blade to accept the enchantment.” The old man said. “I want you to watch me carving this sword with the modified basic enchantment, so you'll know how to handle the tools properly on red hot metal.”

I nodded and the blacksmith brought over the first blade. It was a longsword and it had a nice four inch flat section by the hilt for enchanting. The old man got to work and used a pencil to trace the enchantment out before he used the proper carving tools and a small hammer. He worked quickly and efficiently, and his hands never went near the metal, even with the smaller version of the tools he was using.

“My grandson says I have you to thank for these tools.” The old man said as he finished carving the enchantment and waved to the blacksmith. He took the blade back and went to temper it.

“I was having the tools made anyway.” I said. “It was my fiance's idea to have the blacksmith make more to sell.”

The old man laughed. “Well, thank you anyway.”

I nodded and we waited for the blacksmith to come back. He brought over the blade and it was significantly cooler.

“Go ahead, young man.” The old man said. “Show me your technique.”

“It's simple, really.” I said and took out a vial and used one of the spreading tools to fill all of the grooves in the carving without making a mess. “Go ahead and infuse it.”

“What? That's it?” The old man, Black, and Heather asked at the same time.

“What about adding your blood?” Heather asked. “How is the enchantment going to hold your magic?”

“Try it.” I said to the old man.

He hesitated for a moment before he held a hand over the carving and started to mumble a chant. The carving glowed and then it quickly spread to the rest of the blade. Black and Heather took in sharp breaths as the enchantment settled and the glow faded.

“No, there's no way it was that simple.” Black said and reached for it.

“Whoa!” The blacksmith said and stopped him. “It's still really hot, even though it looks like it's cooled of enough.” He picked it up with the clamp and took it back over to where he worked and dipped it in oil. It didn't light on fire when he withdrew it and he nodded. He wiped it off and set it on the cooling rack, and a mage came over and ran his hand over it.

Another worker came over and assembled the hilt for it and attached it to the blade, then the blacksmith brought the completed longsword over to them. The old man nodded to the blacksmith and he handed the blade to Black.

“Show me.” The old man said.

Black smiled and charged the blade up with his magic. The whole thing glowed brightly and Black walked over to two wooden training dummies that had been set up. In a split second, he slashed through one and gave a backhand swing to the other one. Both dummies seemed to blow apart and the workers in the workshop applauded.

The old man came over and inspected the dummies. There was a partial slash in the wood and then the damage part of the enchantment was applied. The old man smiled at his grandson and Black handed him the sword. The blade suddenly glowed and then the remaining parts of the closest dummy were sliced into three pieces, with the backhand swings slicing the other dummy.

“Yes, this is perfect.” The old man said and came over to me. “I commend you for perfecting the proper enchantment procedure.”

“I can't believe it's not bound by blood.” Heather whispered as her hand absently touched the hilt of the blade.

“It only requires someone to have proficiency with charging magic weapons.” The old man said. “That's why I said it was perfect.”

“I have the next one ready, master.” The blacksmith said.

“David, you can do this one.” The old man said.

I nodded and used the old man's technique of not touching the hot metal as I carved out a significantly different enchantment than what the old man had just used. I also used up a third more space and hadn't bothered to trace it out. The three mages and the blacksmith watched me with intensity as I quickly finished and motioned for the blacksmith to take it.

“What was that?” The old man asked.

“It's the weapon I'll be presenting to the king.” I said and he gave me a searching look. “I integrated a protection enchantment, a set weight enchantment, and doubled the damage and magic reservoirs.”

The old man stared at me like he hadn't seen me before.

“I set it to 10 percent of the sword's weight, so it should be as light as a stick.” I commented and the blacksmith brought it over to me. I used my enchantment potion and infused it myself. It took quite a bit more magic, considering it actually had three different enchantments mixed together. When it was done, the blacksmith took it, cooled it, had the hilt attached, and brought it back.

“You said this was for the king?” The blacksmith asked and I nodded. He left with it and was gone for nearly ten minutes. When he came back, he had a large scabbard for it with the royal crest on it.

“Thank you.” I said as I accepted it. “I'll be sure to tell him where I got it from.”

“That's not necessary. The king knows our maker's mark.” The blacksmith said, quite proud.

I nodded and tied the belt around my waist.

“Let's do the others.” Black said and we went back to work. He did one with the normal enchantment and one with the full enchantment, I did another with the normal enchantment, and the old man asked me to show him the modified one I did for the king.

“I can't give you the full one.” I said and did one with just the added weight enchantment. “Remember, if you sell these, not only do I get a cut, the Pondus Family gets a cut as well. It's their weight enchantment.”

The old man chuckled. “Don't worry. This is a family sword now. We'll all get one eventually.”

“My lords, my lady.” A maid said as she poked her head into the workshop. “Supper will be served in half an hour.”

“That's my cue to leave.” I said. “I need to get back to the king.”

“You left him at the academy?!?” Heather asked, shocked.

“He wouldn't be interested in something like this.” I said and held the second sword in my hand. “Can I have a ride back?”

“Of course.” The old man said and we went back outside. The carriage was brought around for me and I climbed inside. “I'll be by to negotiate for some of that enchantment potion. It's really needed for the complicated enchantments, now that we know what a lesser infusion will do to your excellent designs.”

I took out the half empty vial and handed it to him. “It won't last long.”

The old man hugged it to his chest and I thought I saw a tear come to his eye. “Let... let me know... if you're having a boy or a girl. I'll have an appropriate pairing arranged when it's time.”

“Not a betrothal?” I asked and he shook his head.

“They need to at least like each other before we get to that stage.” The old man said.

“I'll let Helena know.” I said. “Good day to you.”

The three mages nodded their heads and the carriage took off at its best speed to take me back to the academy.