CHAPTER 88 If Your Wife Accidentally Kills My Wife, I’m Not Going to Be Happy

Keith

St. Veralyn's Day dawned bright and damp. Morning mist faded as the sun climbed higher in the sky, and everyone in the Dark Enchanted Forest was busy celebrating the holiday with family.

Streets were decorated with tassels, magical lights floated everywhere in greens and pinks in honor of the Green Dragon whose favorite color was rose pink.

Keith normally enjoyed being home at this time. He'd tramped around the Dark Enchanted Forest enough these last few weeks, and his inner sanctum called. He had so many ideas for new constructs, and they would take time to map out. He also had some furniture to reinforce, and he wanted to optimize his wings for two-person flight.

He'd been tinkering since he'd gotten back.

But today, all of that was set aside. Today, he had a beautiful princess to escort.

"They can really go at it when death isn't a concern." Henrietta sat with Keith while they overlooked the castle's royal duels from the second-floor balcony. The courtyard in the castle village had been set up with two rings used for all manner of activities. There had been dancing, plays, magic, skill demos, and now, open dueling for everyone's entertainment. Anyone who wanted satisfaction could compete on tournament days like this to gain attention or seek justice or both.

The sanctioned dueling was relatively new, he was reminded, and had become all the rage across the continent a scant few years ago. He had a newfound appreciation for it, as his meeting with Henrietta had sprung from a misunderstood duel request.

Not that people needed to duel out their frustrations. He'd set up a comprehensive system for complaints management as part of the monstrous resources department.

He noticed some of his people looking up at the royal box and adjusted his gaze to stern. Usually, Rufus presided over the festival and the duels, though there had been that one disastrous time Chloe had done it. There'd been so much glitter that she was now banned from organizing any future public events. He'd taken over the duty today so he could show his people his princess. Er, their princess. Their future queen? He felt a blush creeping up his neck.

"It's so handy having a necromancer on staff." Henrietta interrupted his thoughts, looking to where Chloe was reattaching an arm.

"Actually, Chloe isn't usually here. They have to make do with Revive potions. And today she's letting the new healer squad handle the majority of the work."

[Resurrection] brought anyone dead back up at peak condition, but [Revival] just got them back up on their feet. It … wasn't ideal.

They both watched with bemusement as Countess Julia suplexed a challenger. Chloe's fiancée was having a marvelous time.

Henrietta bit her lip. "Do you think I … ?"

Keith let go of her hand. "I bet you she'd love the challenge."

Henrietta made an excited squeak and jumped up. She aimed and leapt over the side of the balcony, landing in the ring next to Julia.

Both women laughed and got into place for the duel.

Henrietta didn't even use Jacqueline, keeping her sheathed, and instead gathering [Sword Aura] around her index and middle finger. Julia seemed a little insulted at first before Chloe leaned over the fence and yelled, "Void-damage sword!" at the paladin. She did a double take and then accepted the arrangement without complaint.

Henrietta used her fingers like a blade, activating her skills as if she wielded a sword. Julia dodged some and took a few hits with a magical shield.

Keith reinforced the shields around the ring. No one wanted to have to [Resurrect] a civilian from the audience; there would be so much paperwork.

"If your wife accidentally kills my wife, I'm not going to be happy," Chloe said, sneaking up on him while he was watching the fight.

"We're not married yet," Keith deadpanned, not letting her get to him this time. "And technically, you're not married yet either."

"You're no fun." Chloe took Henrietta's seat beside him. "Is everything ready?"

"Yes."

"You're not worried?"

"I'm not going to answer that."

"Fair enough." Chloe flinched as Ria sliced Julia's arm, but the paladin used the opportunity to punch the princess in the gut. Ria doubled over, but she was laughing and commending her opponent on a fine hit.

The match devolved into Julia practicing her strikes while Ria dodged and coached her movements. The cheering eventually died down as the audience grew bored, and Keith was forced to call the duel a draw. Both women were sweating, bruised, and bloodied, but each bore a wide grin. They walked out of the ring side-by-side.

Afterward, Keith took his princess around and bought them matching bracelets. Hers was a blue closely matching the color of his eyes, and his was a fawn brown that matched her eyes and hair. He gently played with the rope braid around his wrist, thinking about all the enchantments he could fit into it.

The market in the castle courtyard was triple its normal size with the festivities, and people were visiting from all over the kingdom to celebrate. It wasn't as active as previous years, though; he had sent word to all of his nobles and generals recommending that they spend time with their clans this year—he didn't want to host people. Not while there were still all these blasted assassins about.

He had thought that routing their main group would have given them pause, but the attacks had resumed a few days later.

"Tell your master I'm tired of the annoyance. I'm going to begin executing you lot and sending you back as controlled ghoul assassins. We'll see if a constant stream of brainwashed killers with in-depth knowledge of his castle changes his tune," Keith told the young woman who was being dragged off by Vikli and Brithli, two fill-in guards who covered for Chikli and Sithli during the holiday. He ordered, "Give her to Rex."

His giant wolf construct would carry her by her chains all the way to the Drendil border. Rufus didn't want them in the dungeon, so he was deporting them for now. That was going to change right quick.

With perfect timing, Henrietta came back from the ladies' room.

"I'm ready, let's go!" She grabbed his arm, and they finished perusing the last of the shops.

Keith whisked her away to a late dinner, catching Minstrel Bronwynn's last show. As planned, it was ridiculously late by the time they got back to the castle. Instead of seeing her to her rooms, Keith took her to the outlook at the highest point of his inner sanctum. They could see out over everything from up here.

The spring night was chilly, but the sky was clear and full of stars. The moon was high above, and Keith mentally ticked down the seconds while they stargazed.

"Henrietta." He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.

"Yes?" She covered the spot with her hand.

"Happy birthday."

She tackled him for a real kiss.