The sun was already shining when I awoke the next morning, and De’Nara was already up and going through her sword stances, just as she used to do. I was happy to see it was the sword I’d given her that she was holding and using; though I had no idea where she’d had it stashed earlier.

“Good morning,” I told her sleepily. Le’Nara’s bad habits had rubbed off on me somewhat, and I wasn’t a morning person anymore.

“Good morning,” De’Nara told me lightly. “How are you, and how’s him?”

“I’m fine,” I told her while stretching, “but Him – and I assume you’re talking about my manhood – He’s empty and dead tired.”

She laughed freely and patted her stomach lightly. “Of course, he’s empty. It’s because he filled me up! I was just wondering if he was sore and might need some healing. Lee had told me that you weren’t taking advantage of the girls like your father. I was worried that we may have been too much for him, for his first time. If you need healing, just say so. I may not be as good at is as Lee, but I’m certain I can fix bruised hips or overworked men-parts. “

I couldn’t help but laugh, then get up, and hug her. “I’m fine, and he’s fine too. He just needs to rest for a bit before he tries again.”

“You’ll have plenty of times to try,” De’Nara told me. “After all, we’ll be leaving on the same ship to travel to the mainland. If the weather holds good, that’ll give us a month together. If it gets bad, we may have sex or eight weeks.”

“Six to eight weeks,” I corrected her.

“If you say so,” she laughed and then turned and kissed me passionately before finally skipping away and pulling out her clothes from behind some bushes. “Here,” she tossed them at me while they were still bundled up. “These are for you. Lee told me that you saved the last clothes I’d worn on the island. I thought you might like to have the first and last that I wore back from this trip as well.”

“I’ll make them my treasure as well,” I told her honestly, as I started to separate them and then fold them up neatly. Dress, bra, panties, girdle, hose, heels, garter… it was a complete set of clothes this time and much more than just the plain dress she left behind the last time she rushed away from the island carrying nothing more than her sword.

By the time I was finished, De’Nara was standing beside me while wearing nothing except an ivory white bracelet. Her sword was nowhere to be seen, and I glanced around to see where she might have put it. Watching me, De’Nara laughed lightly and tapped the bracelet. When she pulled her hand away, the blade was in it and ready for use.

“I told you’d I’d find a way to always carry it,” she told me. “Last night was the first time it’s left me since the day I got it. You should’ve seen the looks the sailors were giving me on the ship when I carried it everywhere in my hands. I even ate meals holding it in my left hand and my fork in my right. I wasn’t going to release it until I found some way to keep it with me, and it took mother and one of the scholars and a wizard to come up with the bracelet so I could store it.

“Snowflake is never far from me, you can rest assured of that.” De’Nara tapped the sword against the bracelet and it faded away into it.

Now that’s a magic I’d like to learn how to do someday!

Laughing lightly, De’Nara skipped over and held something out for me. “I have something I’d like you to have Mik’hail.”

Looking down, it looked to be a shiny silver badge of some sort. Curious, I took it and held it up to the sunlight. It reminded me of one of those badges you see the Texas Rangers wear in the TV shows of Earth, except it had an eagle on one side and De’Nara’s face on the other. “What is it?” I asked curiously.

“It’s the badge of the queen heir’s champion,” she told me solemnly.

“Queen heir? Champion?”

De’Nara laughed lightly and then shook her head from side to side. “Don’t tell me you didn’t know!”

“Know what?” I was definitely out of the loop on something important it seemed!

De’Nara got into a fit of laughter so hard, she had to sit down and cry. I sat down with her and simply waited for her to compose herself – a trick that I’d picked up from Mother. When in doubt of what someone is saying, say nothing and be patient. They’ll let you know what you need to know soon.

And, sure enough, after a few moments, De’Nara straightened herself up. “I know we don’t talk about status here. I just had no clue that you didn’t know! Allow me to introduce myself formally for you.”

De’Nara stood up, pretended to curtsy (which was actually something impressive to watch since she was still quite naked), and introduced herself. “De’Nara Andorian at your service; First Daughter of Andor, and Heir to the Throne of the Shining Star.”

First Daughter? Heir?

De’Nara was a princess!

And not just any princess! She was the heir to the throne and would become queen someday!

I’d just spent all evening yesterday having sex with the next queen of Andor, and my child might be taking root in her womb even now!

Fuck me!!

Seeing the shocked look on my face, De’Nara laughed lightly and then leaned up and hugged me tight to her chest. “You really didn’t know!” She sounded both shocked and happy.

“All my life, people have tried to get close to me for my name, my title, or my future authority. And yet, you’ve been my friend without knowing any of that! You truly are worthy of being my champion. Please accept it,” she asked me.

“It’ll be an honor,” I told her honestly. “But I just need to know; what’s expected from the Heir’s Champion?”

De’Nara laughed lightly and then kissed me soundly. “Honestly,” she told me, “not a whole lot. It’ll give you a lot of authority in Andor – you can arrest people, or judge them if necessary – and the people will consider whatever you do or say to be by the order of the Heir. You’ll carry my authority with you whenever you’re in Andor land.

“For you, it means you should get to stay at any inn or house that you wish to stay in – no questions asked. If you like the mayor’s bed, kick the bastard out of it. Should he refuse, it’s treason against the crown and you have full authority to take his head if you need to. Rooms, meals, and even a night of passion with one of the women of the land are all easily within your authority.

“You won’t have to take orders from anyone else. You can ignore the guards, the mayors, the Dukes if you wish. The only one who has the authority to command the Heir’s Champion is the Heir and the Queen. And, since I’m not going to ask you to do anything; and since I don’t think Mother would either; it’s not really a position that’ll hold much burden on you.”

Giggling lightly, she kissed me on the nose and asked, “So, what do you say? Be my champion?”

I wrapped my arms around her and held her close for a few moments while thinking it over. I really couldn’t see any downside in accepting it. If she needed me, I’d already come running to help her. She didn’t need to give me a badge to ask for my help; she already had it. All it could do is perhaps help me somehow in the future.

Finally, I leaned down and kissed her passionately as I grabbed her by both her butt cheeks and pulled her up tight against me. “Then, My Lady, I suppose you have yourself a Champion. If you need me, send word to me and I’ll be there as soon as possible. Gondor is a distance apart from Andor, but should you need me I’ll be there as quickly as I can.

“All I ask,” I told her, “is that we don’t announce the position to the world. I’m traveling to the school in Gondor as plain ‘Michael’, and I’m not even using my family name. I want to see the world without titles, and without wealth and responsibility for a while. I’ve always been ‘The Lady’s Child’ here. I want to just be ‘that idiot’ somewhere else for a while.”

De’Nara laughed lightly and then kissed me back passionately. “Then you shall be my secret champion. I’ll have to notify mother and the knights, of course, but we won’t make any public announcement. Enjoy being ‘that idiot’, and if I ever do need you I’ll know where to find you.

“And,” she told me while staring seriously into my eyes, “if you ever need me, simply send me word as well. I’ll be there for you, just as quickly as you, for me. You are my Bladebrother, my Champion, and my Friend. I’d take death before I risked losing any of those.”

Nodding, I stared back just as seriously into her eyes. “And you’re my Bladebrother, my Lady, and my Friend. I’d make death before I risked losing any of those.”

“You’d make death?” De’Nara laughed lightly. “My, aren’t you full of yourself!”

Nodding, I pulled in the energy around me and released a wave of fire, earth, and energy high into the sky. The flowers evaporated in an instant as the earth erupted and lava shot towards the heavens. The ground shook and with a thunderous roar, a volcano rose up and grew from the ground around us.

“I would make lots of death, before I risked you,” I told her as magma poured around us and the forest burned.

De’Nara’s eyes were huge as she stared up at me and whispered, “You’re a wizard…”