Things settled down over the course of the next week, as we all adjusted to our new surroundings. Victoria settled into one of the empty bedrooms across from mine, while Flames arranged and organized what seemed like cartloads of stuff to me, in one of the empty storerooms that various slaves kept delivering to. In the end, it was transformed from ‘empty storeroom’ into a rather impressive looking ‘conservatory and laboratory’.

Dozens of shelves were lined with various plants and animal cages, in the remodeled room, with several tightly packed tables crammed densely in the center. Various pots, pans, bowls, and beakers lined the shelves of one wall, and cases of vials and bottles sat stacked neatly on another. All in all, the remolded storeroom screamed ‘mad scientist lair’ to me, just as the one we’d visited in the alchemy building had.

Flames was ecstatically in heaven, and spent every waking moment not with us, either in the study or her new lab.

Red and Jewel quickly settled into our new lifestyle. Old clothes were shipped out of their rooms and the new clothes I purchased (with her father’s money), quickly took their place. If either of them had the slightest disliking of their new wardrobes, neither showed it. Red seemed completely indifferent over the new style of dress, while Jewel seemed to find the whole situation hilariously funny, prancing around everywhere.

Victoria’s reaction to the ‘team uniforms’ was the one I was most concerned with, but she seemed to enjoy them more than anybody else. Usually dressing in nothing more than a very short, fluffy mini-skirt, and wearing a pullover halter top that snugged tight around the top of her breasts and barely covered the full roundness of them, Victoria bounced around everywhere with an endless smile.

Rather than being upset over the choice of clothing, Victoria embraced and reveled in the simplicity of it. Top on, skirt on — Dressed! Compared to the time and hassle of having to wear all the ‘fashionable clothes’ that the rest of the ladies wore, she was ecstatic as well.

When I saw her getting ready to go out with eyeshadow and makeup on, and stopped her, she squealed with delight. I figure the girls have all been enhanced and altered enough; none of them need anything like makeup to highlight themselves at all.

“What you see is what you get, and who we are,” quickly became our team motto. I was surprised by how quickly the girls adopted it, once I’d suggested it, but was happy when they did. Using such a motto only reinforced the concept of the ‘single layer uniform’ quite nicely, making me sound a little more legitimate and a little less sleazy.

When not getting dressed to leave, all the girls ran around completely naked and flaunted themselves shamelessly before me. Part of me wondered if all rich women acted so provocatively in private, while another part thought it might be in retaliation to my bulging member always pointing at them when I relaxed. If it wasn’t for them telling me, “skinship is a traditional sign of trust amongst close friends in this school”, I would’ve happily worn underwear around the room!

Whatever the reason behind what always seemed to be an open invitation to molest them, Jewel did her best to make certain I never had an opportunity to do anything with the others. Even though she never actually told the others to leave me alone, and she never tried to stop me from being with the others whenever I sought them out, Jewel still made an obvious point to limit any opportunities.

I’d wake up, and go sit at the table to eat Flame’s cooking. (She’s an amazingly talented cook!) Jewel would quickly take a spot atop my lap, wiggling my shaft deep into her buttocks, and then she’d share the food from one large plate with me. I could rub and feel her any way I wanted — even rock her up and down with my hands if I felt like it — but I certainly wasn’t able to do anything to the other girls, except look.

Lunch and supper were usually the same, with the only way Red or Flames got a spot in my lap was if I deliberately hunted them down before eating, and pulled them to the table with me. Victoria, for all her shameless provocation, was a virgin, a friend, and off-limits in my mind, so I never tried to pull her down in my lap at all. (Though I will admit, I did enjoy rubbing and feeling her a few times, it was never more than just a gentle surface caress in passing, or when we all soaked together in the tub.)

Whenever I tried to sit and relax, or stretch out on the couch, Jewel wrapped her legs around my hips and straddled me like a stallion. Some days, she was so bad, I think my member spent more time inside her than outside. I’m honestly going to have to sit down and have a nice talk about the whole possessiveness sometime. Even if I find it oddly invigorating, and the endless attention inflates my manly ego, it isn’t fair to Red and Flames at all.

They deserve a chance for some personal time as well. We’re all tied together for life now. It’s only reasonable they share in the warmth and affection of our family. Right?

Waking up early on what I’m going to think of as a “Monday” morning — the people here didn’t name individual days — I enjoyed my normal morning experience with Red and Jewel. Once Jewel finished her ‘breakfast’, I pulled both the girls close and simply snuggled them for a bit.

“Ready for your first classes?” I asked the two girls, a little nervously. Learning here was going to be a completely new experience for me.

“It’s not a big deal for me,” Jewel shrugged. “Today is Applied Magical Application Two. It’s just a continuation of a previous class I was taking, so no worries here.”

“Mine is Foreign Heraldry,” Red sighed. “A complete waste of time, but a class Jewel’s father thinks I need to take, so I can serve Jewel better. I’ll probably get bored and sleep through most of it.”

“I’ve got Introduction To Reading,” I told the girls, with a sigh. They’d both tutored me in reading and writing, but the school still required me to take it this semester to improve my vocabulary.

“You’ll love it,” Red and Jewel both said at the same time, causing them to burst out into giggles together.

Making it to my classroom after breakfast, I felt like an idiot giant. All the other students in the class were probably between eight and ten years old, and I LOOMED over them. To be surrounded by children half my age, and taking the same classes as them, my ego just crumbled.

I sat in the back of the room. I didn’t talk to anyone. I avoided eye contact as much as possible. Class was hell, and the tiny little woman teaching it did nothing to weaken my trepidation.

Lady Dustbinder was our teacher, and she looked to be eighty years old. Grey haired. Wrinkled. Feeble speech and wobbly knees. She showed all the signs of somebody ready to kick the bucket at any moment. Thin as a twig, and not even five feet tall, it seemed to me as if a sneeze could blow her over and break her in half.

I would’ve bolted out the door the moment class ended that evening, but I didn’t. I was too afraid somebody would jump up and get in my way, and I’d step on them!

Getting back to the room, I was astounded to find Flames sitting in the floor beside what had unofficially became, “my chair”. Victoria had unofficially taken the couch opposite me, and Red flittered to and from various seats, never really claiming one as her own. Jewel, of course, had claimed my lap as her seat, which left Flames to either sit at my feet, or to find somewhere else to go.

“Is everything okay?” Tugging off my shirt, I laid it on an end table, and then plopped down in my seat to relax.

“I’m fine,” Flames assured me, tugging to remove my boots, and then pulling slightly on my pants. Seeing her intention, I unbuckled my belt and helped slide my pants off.

“Happy now?” Laughing, I couldn’t help but smile thinking about Jewel pouting when she came in from class and found her spot taken.

“I am,” Flames nodded drowsily. Climbing up in my lap, she wrapped her arms tight around my neck, and snuggled her perfect warm body against mine. Sliding her hips down tight against mine, she rocked up and down slowly — then preceded to snore softly, her head resting on my shoulder, her body still rocking slow and rhythmically against mine.

“What the hell?” Blinking twice, I tilted her head back to double check. Sure enough, Flames was sleeping like a little angel, while ever-so-gently rocking up and down. Utterly confused — Flames hadn’t slept since our promise, and I hadn’t told her she needed to — I simply held her in my arms as she rocked, not wanting to wake her. One of the others will be back soon, and I’m tired too. I’ll have them fetch a healer for her when they come in.

“Welcome back to the land of the living,” Victoria giggled from her couch, as I blinked stupidly and tried to get my bearings.

“What the ‘ell?” Slurring my speech, I couldn’t seem to focus my eyes. Did somebody drug me? Was I dunk? Noooo…. That’s not it. I’m a self-healer now. Those things work won’t on me. Errr…. Won’t work, that is.

“Just sleep for now,” Jewel’s voice whispered softly from somewhere nearby.

To tired to argue, I took her up on her advice.

“And he’s back,” Victoria laughed, as I awoke feeling much better the second time.

“I’m starving,” I yawned, as my stomach thundered in empty anger. Honestly, I hadn’t felt this hungry since trudging home with the girls after saving them. It was days then, when I missed out on eating, and I felt the same ravished way now.

“You’ll need to eat a lot,” Jewel assured me, coming from the dining area with a huge tray of finger foods. Sitting them down on the coffee table, she settled herself upon the armrest of the chair and plopped a small chunk of steaming meat into my mouth. Flames was still sleeping and rocking gently up and down in my lap, so she couldn’t sit there.

“You’re recovering from ‘bond shock’,” Jewel told me gently, popping a piece of cheese into my mouth.

“Bond shock?” I almost had to struggle to get the words out, Jewel was stuffing food into my mouth so quickly.

Nodding, Jewel tried to explain, while endlessly shoving bites of various food into my mouth. “You and Flames are blood bonded,” she reminded me, gently. “There’s a connection between you that even the kingdom won’t attempt to separate.”

“I knome,” I tried to mutter through a mouthful of food. “It’z why wheeze… waivers.”

“Yes,” Jewel nodded, somehow understanding my food-filled rambling. “That’s why we got the waivers for all the things we did. Bad things can happen when something comes between a bond, like right now.”

“Comes between a bond?” Swallowing down a mouthful of food, I struggled to speak before Jewel shoved more into my mouth. “Nothings come between me and Flames,” I argued, a little defensively.

“It did,” Jewel sighed, shaking her head sadly. “I should’ve thought about it and warned you both, but I didn’t. I’m sorry,” she apologized.

“Warned us? About what?” Whatever it was, Jewel obviously felt guilty about it. Tears were starting to water up in the corner of her eyes.

“The alchemy building,” Jewel sighed, regretfully. “It’s a heavily warded place like the summoning building, and it’s magicked to keep all things from coming in, or going out. It’ll even block the bond between two spirits,” Jewel explained.

“And Flames had an alchemy class today,” I reasoned.

“She did,” Jewel confirmed, “and it had to have been hell on her. Red doesn’t like to go in those places without me, for even a minute.”

Thinking back on the time when Red went with me to sell ingredients to ES, that seemed obvious now. Then, I’d thought she simply didn’t like alchemists or laboratories, much like some people in my memories didn’t like doctors and hospitals. Now, however, her actions made much more sense to me.

“But I didn’t feel anything?” I felt awkward and out of place today with the youngsters, but nothing else out of the usual.

“You wouldn’t,” Jewel confirmed, plopping another piece of meat into my mouth. “You’re the bond master; it’s not the job of your soul to stay where your servant can find it. It’s hers.” Jewel pointed to Flames with a chunk of cheese, then popped it in my mouth.

“Flames is drawing on your strength to recover,” Jewel snorted. “Silly girl is too stubborn for her own good. She never should’ve stayed away from you so long. In fact, I’m amazed that she actually endured for a whole class.” Jewel’s voice sounded as if it was grudgingly full of admiration.

“So will she be okay?” Concerned, I gently stroked Flames hair, as she blissfully slept on, still rocking gently against me.

“She’ll be fine,” Jewel assured me. “As long as you don’t starve to death, she’ll draw on your soul to heal. And that’s not very likely to happen with us here,” Jewel snorted.

“In fact,” she whispered grudgingly, “it’ll probably strengthen your bonds, in the end, to be honest. I personally just don’t have the heart to force Red to do such a thing. Our bond will just have to grow naturally over time.”

Force Red? Great! Now I felt like a bad guy, almost as if I’d forced Flames to endure some hellish torment while learning, just so I could somehow reap unknown benefits from forging a stronger bond between us.

Closing my eyes, I opened my mouth and focused solely on eating and resting after that. I’ll ask how everybody else’s first day went later.