I did up the rest of the diluted rehabilitation potions and sent them to Greta. I went to the dining room to have a quick lunch and to spend time with the kitchen helper and the cook, who were quite surprised by my invitation to come out and eat with the maids and myself. I also informed them that they could stay here or go to the Henrietta Longshore Mansion as soon as I left for my trip to the marsh.

“We'd like to stay; but, if you aren't here to take care of, we would lose our passion for the work.” Sara said and everyone nodded, even Hope.

“We'd rather be back among the many than be without you for the entire break, my lord.” The cook said and the kitchen helper nodded.

“Your pay won't change.” I said. “It's only a few days for the trip and then next week and weekend for the break. That's not enough to warrant you losing pay, even if I'm not using your services for the entire time.”

The maids and the cook exchanged confused looks, then Tabitha spoke.

“We do all we do for you, my lord. I thought we made that clear.” Tabitha said.

“It's not worth doing if it's not for you.” The kitchen helper said and then blushed when I looked at her. “M-my l-lord, I... I shouldn't say such things...”

I took her hand and she blushed harder. “Thank you for your dedication.”

“Y-you're welcome, my lord.” She said and ducked her head slightly.

“Thank you all.” I said and looked at Hope. “Prepare to close up the dorm mansion while we're all away. I'll prepare some appropriate wards and repelling enchantments, as well as the fire suppression enchantments for inside and outside.”

Hope gasped. “You don't think...”

“Just in case.” I said with a smile and then I held up my wine. “Thank you all for attending this meal with me.”

They all picked up their wine glasses and took a sip at my toast, as did I.

“Sara, my adventuring clothes. Hope, my pack with the extra meats and edibles. Tabitha, I need a bath.”

“Yes, my lord!” The three of them said as one and went about their tasks, as did I.

Time seemed to fly by and everything was done. I was also dressed appropriately and packed, ready to go. The staff stood in a line, almost like a greeting line in reverse. As I walked towards the front door to leave, I said goodbye to each of them and gave them a kiss on the cheek. The cook, the kitchen helper, Tabitha, Sara, and then Hope. She was beside the front door and blushed when my lips touched her skin, as did everyone else.

“My lord.” Hope said, her voice a little shaky.

“Are you sure that you don't want to come?” I asked and she shook her head. “If I stop at the village and see anyone, do you have a message for them?”

“No, I send letters all the time.” Hope said and then she leaned forward and kissed my cheek back. “If you see Linda, give her that for me. If you see mother, give her this.” She hugged me tightly for a moment and let her go.

“I don't think they'll let me.” I said and Hope gave me a sad smile. “I'll try.”

“Thank you.” Hope said and opened the door.

“Have a safe trip!” The kitchen helper nearly yelled and waved her arm at me.

“We'll see you back at the mansion after your trip.” Sara said and Tabitha nodded.

I left there with my pack on my back and walked at a fast pace to the botany workshop.

Victoria was there and she was packing the last of the items she wanted to bring. “Are you sure I can do this?” She asked and looked uncomfortable.

“I'm hoping beyond hope that some of the area has recovered enough for the rare ingredients to grow.” I said. “If we can harvest them and bring some back for re-plantation and cultivation, I won't have to travel halfway across the kingdom to get them again.”

Victoria nodded and closed her pack. “All right, let's get to work on splicing the grasses together.”

For the next two hours, we worked and tried eight different splicing techniques, including cross pollinating the seeds between grasses. Magic assisting spells were also employed to ensure some success; but, time alone would tell if any of the attempts were successful.

“Well, that's it.” Victoria said and wiped at her sweaty brow before she closed the room with the splice samples. “Now we hope that the virulent grass doesn't overwhelm the magic grass. If they can somehow work together, the result should be exactly what we are looking for.”

I nodded and waited while she cleaned herself up a bit and changed for travel. She came back wearing her own adventure outfit and her pack on her back. She didn't bring the tent or cookware this time, since we could stay in my house for the few days we would be there.

“Let's go.” Victoria said and we left the botany workshop, locked it with a key and several spells, and walked over to the waterway access on the academy grounds.

It was a medium sized dock and had several nice boats on it... and mine was off to the side and tied to a wooden peg on the riverbank. The sail canvas on the top wasn't deployed, so it just looked like a big rectangle with posts sticking up at the corners and in the middle.

“Hey, what' going on here?” Victoria asked the man standing several feet in front of a small white shack as she pointed to my boat that we couldn't step onto.

“Some butler delivered that thing here last week for some reason.” The man scoffed. “It doesn't deserve to be looked after, let alone be attached to the dock with the proper boats.”

Victoria stepped close to the man and got right into his face. “I'm sure that the butler told you what the boat was for, didn't he?” She asked and the man wasn't intimidated at all.

“He said some student was going to need it.” The man said. “So what? It's still not a proper boat.”

“Did he tell you a name?” Victoria asked, unwilling to let it go.

“Probably. I don't remember.” The man shrugged.

“How did you get this job being so stupid?” Victoria asked.

“Excuse me.” The man said and squinted his eyes. “Did you just call me stupid?”

“Yes, because you are an idiot!” Victoria said. “You know I'm a teacher here and I'm asking you some very easy questions, and yet you are completely ignorant! How is that possible?”

“I don't have to stand here listening to this.” The man said and turned away.

“If you take one more step to avoid this confrontation, you better keep walking, because you can kiss this job goodbye!” Victoria exclaimed.

The man turned back to her. “Go ahead and try to have me fired. I haven't done anything wrong.”

“Neither I nor my assistant can board the damn boat safely, you idiot!” Victoria spat and waved at the boat that was free floating in the water at the end of the tether rope about ten feet away from the riverbank. “How is that NOT wrong?”

“I am not required to tie every piece of trash that's brought to me to the dock. If you want to risk your life riding in that thing, you can figure out how to get on it on your own. I'm not going to help you kill yourself by drowning in something that's barely above the waterline.” The man said and turned away and walked back over to his little shack to lean against it.

“David, I'll be right back.” Victoria said as she took off her pack and handed it to me. “Leave the boat where it is, to.”

I nodded to her and watched as she left at a fast jog. “You're in trouble now.” I said to him.

“I don't think so.” The man said and crossed his arms. “I've had this job for over ten years and there's no way that any of the teachers can get me fired, no matter what lies they tell.”

“Well, you sure have some surprises coming in your future.” I said and stood there and waited. Luckily, school was still in session and she shouldn't have to look far. I also knew that whoever she went to get, it would be a little while for them to come back, since they wouldn't be in as big of a rush to get here.

Twenty minutes later, a very happy Victoria came back with a handsome woman beside her. It was someone I hadn't met before and she wore mage robes with the academy logo on the chest, except it was made of gold and not the normal thread of the emblem.

“David, I'd like to introduce you to the newly appointed Director of the Academy, Mage Pavinca Chasma.” Victoria said, smugly.

“Lord Drake, I am very sorry for the actions and in-actions of a former staff member of this academy.” Mage Chasma said and bowed to me.

The man caught his breath and stared at the woman, shock on his face.

“It's very nice to finally meet the person chosen by King Rivers to run his academy.” I said and held a hand out to her. She took it as a lady should and I bent over to lightly kiss the knuckles. I didn't make her fingers tingle, though. Now was not the time for that, since she had serious business to handle.

Mage Chasma smiled at me, as if she knew I had held back, and turned to the still shocked man.

“My lady, I'm sorry. I didn't know that...”

“Your job, as it always has been, is to handle every single boat and water craft that appears here for the students and teachers to use. They are to be housed properly when needed and are to be easily accessible, since the safety of the people using these craft is supposed to be your utmost priority.” Mage Chasma said in a berating tone. “You have never had the authority to refuse service to anyone, let alone someone with a full Lord title.”

“My lady, I didn't know...”

“It doesn't matter what you did or did not know about the people you are supposed to serve. All should be treated well, since your treatment of them reflects on this academy as a whole.” Mage Chasma said. “Thankfully, you no longer have to worry about such things.”

“No! This is my life! I've been here for...”

“Ten years. I checked the records, which was why I wasn't here right away to deal with you. There have been several incidents of a similar fashion from you when concerning a few of the freshmen students that you thought weren't good enough to grace what you mistakenly believed is your dock.”

The man didn't respond, since he knew that it was pointless.

“This is the academy's dock, fully owned by the king, as is everything else within these grounds.” Mage Chasma said and motioned to me. “Lord Drake is someone that the king has publicly declared as a friend of the royal family.”

The man's face paled at her words.

“How do you think the king would react if he heard of his friend's treatment?”

The man ducked his head and shook it, unable or unwilling to say anything.

“You are dismissed. Take your things and leave by tonight.” Mage Chasma said. “I will repeat the king's warning as well. If you take anything that is considered academy property, hence the king's property, the royal guards will be visiting you soon after.”

The man nodded and went into the shack. It only took a few minutes for him to come out with a small bag.

“The guard will be checking it on your way out.” Mage Chasma said.

The man nodded again and walked away.

Mage Chasma turned back to me and smiled. “I'm sorry that you had to witness that unpleasantness, Lord Drake.”

“With the way you handled it, it wasn't unpleasant to watch at all.” I said and held a hand out to her again. Her smile grew a little as she took it and I kissed the back of it instead of the knuckles and sent a pulse of magic through it to make it tingle.

Mage Chasma giggled like a little girl and then coughed into her hand to cover it up. “I'm glad to have been of some help, my lord.”

“I told you he could do that, Pavinca.” Victoria said with a grin. “Thank you for this. Really.”

“I've been going over all of the paperwork ever since I was appointed and this was near the bottom of the stack. It's going to take me weeks to root out all the misbehaving people that have let their positions get to their heads.”

“I don't envy you.” Victoria said and looked at me. “David, can you get the boat?”

“Of course.” I said and walked over to the peg. I untied the rope and pulled the boat to the shore, activated the weight enchantment to raise it almost out of the water, then pulled it out to rest it on the land.

“He didn't even struggle with it.” Victoria and Mage Chasma whispered at the same time.

The two of them watched me as I took off my pack and as I properly deployed the large canvas sail to the four poles and it covered the whole boat.

“That's an ingenious design for low hanging hazards or things dropped from above.” Mage Chasma commented.

“It's to catch dive-bombing snakes and death spiders, mostly.” I said and they stared at me. “The tangling vines aren't fast enough to catch the boat unless I slow down.”

“Slow down?” Mage Chasma asked.

“This is the prototype that David built for the army's bog skiffs.” Victoria said, proudly.

Mage Chasma gasped. “Lord Drake made them?”

Victoria nodded. “It's a true wonder and I can't wait to ride in it!”

Mage Chasma looked like she wanted to as well. “Lord Drake, can I make a request?”

“If you have a small clipper ship and two spare mages to run it, I can enchant it for you.” I said, understanding what she wanted right away.

“I'll have it ready for after the king's birthday.” Mage Chasma said with a huge smile.

I held a hand out to Victoria. “Your exciting ride awaits.”

Victoria blushed at the double meaning, gave the other woman a knowing look, and took my hand. I helped her into the boat, stowed her pack to protect it from the water, and stepped out.

“What are you do... oohhh!” Victoria said and gripped the bench seat she was on as I easily pushed the boat off of the riverbank and into the water.

I hopped on easily and didn't bother with the poles as I activated the movement enchantment. I saw Mage Chasma's eyes bulge as the boat turned around by itself, so I waved at her as I sat beside Victoria. She waved back, clearly stunned. I poured on the speed and Victoria let out a whoop of surprise that quickly turned to delight. She gripped my arm tightly and enjoyed it as I sped down the waterway to get to the main exit into the harbour.

Drake's Marsh, here we come! I thought with a smile.