Birgit

  “Where is Niles,” Birgit asked, fighting down a sudden surge of panic.

  Susi stretched and yawned. “He is taking a bath.”

  Birgit took a deep breath. Of course, he almost always took a bath in the morning. She was just on edge from the dreams that had kept her tossing and turning all night. She could not remember them all clearly, but they had all shared a theme of Niles leaving her to be someone else’s familiar. Seeing all those other women sharing Niles’ magic last night at the ball must have affected her more than she realized.

  “Niles was telling me about the ball this morning,” Susi said, as Birgit tried to calm her thoughts. “Did he really dance with an elf and the princess?”

  “Two elves,” Birgit corrected, “and the princess, and a half-dozen high nobles. It seems handing out free magic will do that.”

  Susi’s eyes widened. “He was letting them all sample his magic?”

  Birgit sighed. “He was. I guess he saw nothing wrong with it, since his supply continually replenishes itself.”

  Susi hummed thoughtfully. “Hmm, I should ask him to share some with me then. We would have all night to do it. I wonder if he would share my sleeping mat again if I promise to keep my lower half in check. Maybe I could eventually build my potential up enough to really do something with my magic.”

  Was she serious? Was her own sister trying to steal Niles away? No, she was probably only teasing. She had never shown much interest in magic, but maybe that was because she had never had the potential for it. She and Niles slept in the same room almost every night. Could she build up enough potential just by sleeping next to him? Birgit herself had been trying to absorb magic in her sleep when they were on hunts, but it was hard to tell if that was really working or not, since half the time they ended up rolling apart. Would it be fair of her to deny her sister the opportunity? Birgit’s mind flashed back to Hilaria’s suggestion about starting a romance between Niles and Susi. Was that the way to keep Niles tied to her? No, there had to be a better way. What would her parents think if they found out Birgit was encouraging, or even allowing, Susi and Niles to share a sleeping mat? She would just have to find other enticements to keep Niles interested in being her familiar. The first thing this morning, she would have to negotiate a new contract with him.

  “I appreciate your desire to grow your potential,” Birgit replied calmly. “But it would certainly not be proper to share your sleeping mat with him. And besides, you have always claimed your lower half has a mind of its own when you sleep.”

  Susi signed dramatically. “True, there is that. Maybe I could get a second cot and just have my top half sleep next to him.”

  Before Birgit could respond, the door to the bathroom opened, and Niles stepped out. “Good morning, lovely ladies.”

  “You are certainly in a good mood this morning,” Susi said, slithering up to give him a hug.

  Niles shrugged. “I guess I am. The ball was more fun than I expected. It’s too bad we ended up leaving early.”

  Birgit forced herself to smile. “I am glad you enjoyed yourself, but we have some business to take care of this morning. Your first month as my familiar has ended, so as per our contract, we need to renegotiate the terms.”

  “Breakfast first,” Niles replied. “I’m starving. I went through a bunch of magic last night, and that always makes me hungry.”

  Birgit thought about insisting they do it now, but that would be a poor way to start negotiations. Niles was usually quite happy to follow suggestions, but he did not respond well to demands. Instead, she retreated to the bathroom to get herself ready as quickly as she could. When she emerged, she found Hilaria waiting with Susi and Niles. The gnoll was sitting next to the hu on the couch, holding his hand, while Susi sat on her coils at the other end of the couch, holding his other hand.

  “What are you doing?” Birgit demanded.

  “We were just testing to see if two people can pull his magic at once?” Hilaria answered, smiling innocently.

  “Seems like it works,” Niles added, “though Susi was barely pulling any. I had to push to get any to her at all.”

  Birgit forced a smile. “Well, that is interesting, but I thought you were starving.”

  “I am. We were just waiting on you,” Niles said, letting go of Hilaria and Susi to get up.

  Birgit quickly moved to claim his hand as he stepped to the door. The familiar stream of magic that immediately flowed into her helped calm her nerves.

  “Niles, are you alright?” They had just reached the dining area in the great hall, which was restored to its usual configuration after the ball. A red-skinned woman with coal-black hair practically ran up to him and grabbed his arm. “I was so worried when I saw you fight that fomori last night with your bare hands. You were so brave and so strong. I am so happy to see you up and about after taking such a nasty wound.”

  Birgit recognized the woman as an efreet. It must be the one he danced with last night.

  “Pardon my familiar,” a satyr said, approaching at a more reasonable pace. “She has a rather fiery disposition, and her people have rather different views on personal space. You must be Lady Birgit. I am Lady Pamella of Pypes, but you can call me Pam, and this is my familiar, Farah. I know we have seen each other around school, but I do not think we have ever really talked. Would you mind if we joined you for breakfast?”

  Birgit wanted to say no, especially since the efreet was still holding onto Niles’ arm, but that would be incredibly rude. “No, I would be honored if you joined us.”

  Pam proved to be a delightful companion, with a cheery disposition and clever wit. Uma joined them shortly after they sat down, and it would have been a delightful meal if not for Farah. The efreet could not keep her hands off Niles, and Birgit was certain she was feeding off his magic. She was certainly making plenty of skin-to-skin contact. While not quite as scandalous as the dress she had worn last night, the shiny metallic dress she wore today still bared her arms and far more of her ample cleavage than was decent. Worse, Niles did not seem to mind the attention Farah was giving him, as she laughed and carried on like he was the wittiest, most interesting man alive. Could he not see that she was just trying to lure him in so she could feast on his magic?

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  “We were planning to take a trip into town this morning just to look around. Would you care to join us?” Pam offered as they were preparing to leave the Great Hall.

  Birgit was not entirely sure if she was inviting them all, or just Niles, but she answered. “I am afraid Niles and I have some business to attend to this morning, and the tournament to prepare for after that.”

  “Oh, that is too bad,” Farah pouted. “This was so much fun. We must start doing more things together. I hope you and Pam will be in the same classes next semester so that we can see more of you. I am so looking forward to getting to know you better, Niles.”

  Pam practically had to pry the efreet off Niles to get her to let go.

  “Well, someone certainly has taken a liking to you, Niles,” Uma said once Pam and her familiar were out of earshot.

  Niles sighed dramatically. “Alas, I think she only wants me for my magic.”

  “Yes, but what would she be willing to do to get it?” Hilaria asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

  “Hilaria,” Uma scolded. “You know Niles is not the sort to take advantage like that. He has always been a perfect gentleman with Birgit.”

  Birgit had to agree. Niles had never tried to take any liberties with her, but she had to wonder if that was because he was a gentleman, or because he found her unattractive. Aside from her coloring, Farah looked very much like Birgit imagined the women of Niles’ race would look, and she had the generous curves that Birgit thought men of every race seemed to prefer. She could not help but wonder, if she looked more like Farah, would Niles be more forward with her?

  When they returned to her suite, Birgit was pleased to find Susi was not there. No doubt she was taking care of some errand, or just having a long breakfast with the servants and companions of the other students. That left Birgit free to negotiate with Niles uninterrupted. Having Niles take a seat on the couch, she wanted to sit next to him so she could pull on his magic while they negotiated, but decided it would be more professional to sit across from him.

  Taking her seat, she composed herself before starting the negotiations. “Niles, I am grateful for everything you have done for me this past month. I am very pleased with your performance, and I value you as my familiar.” Birgit was trying to start the negotiations on a positive note, but for some reason, the cheerful smile Niles had worn all morning faded away. Maybe that meant he was just ready to get serious about this. “I would like to extend our contract to at least the end of the school year.”

  Niles leaned back on the couch. “Do we really need a contract? I mean, this is going pretty well, except for finding me a way to get home.” Niles held up a hand to forestall her objection. “I know you have been trying, and I appreciate that, but why don’t we just keep things the way they are? You keep trying to find me a way home. I keep going on hunts with you, and we split the profits fifty-fifty.”

  “And you will continue to let me pull from your magic?” Birgit pressed, since he had not mentioned it.

  Niles shrugged. “Sure.”

  “And you will help me in tournaments?”

  “This next one, of course, we’ve already been planning on that, and probably other ones too. It’s not like it takes any great effort on my part. You do all the work.”

  “I should also mention that if I do well in this next tournament, my rank will go up, so I may be challenged to rank duels. They work very much the same as tournaments, though of course there is a single opponent. Will you help me with those, too?”

  Niles shrugged again. “I don’t see why not.”

  This was going much better than Birgit had hoped. She had been afraid he would ask for more gold or some other form of compensation.

  “Good, then I will go prepare a spell contract to extend our agreement to the end of the year and add in those facets.” Birgit smiled and rose, only for Niles’ next words to bring her crashing back down.

  “Hold on. I don’t mind keeping our arrangement going as long as it’s working for us, but I don’t want to get tied down to some magically enforced long-term contract.”

  “I will be just as bound as you are,” Birgit pointed out. “The contract will protect us both.”

  Niles leaned forward on the couch. “Yeah, but all you have to do is a little research and maybe find me a way home. I’m tied to you as a magic battery almost all day, every day. You get a daily, tangible benefit, and all I get is a maybe.”

  His voice rose in pitch and volume as he spoke. He was not yelling, but his passion was definitely rising, and Birgit got the sense there was more than a little resentment behind his words. She was not used to him talking like this, and a hint of the fear she had felt toward him when he initially arrived returned. He was usually fairly reserved, but she had only known him for a month. What would he do if he ever became truly angry? She knew how dangerous he was.

  Birgit took a deep breath and spoke calmly. “Alright, I am sorry that you feel that way. I assure you I am doing all that I can to find you a way home, and I warned you it would be a difficult and likely long process. What else can I do to convince you to sign a contract, just for one more semester?”

  Niles sighed and leaned back. “I don’t know.”

  “There must be something you desire,” Birgit urged gently. “You are very important to me. What can I do to make you want to be my familiar?”

  “That’s just it,” Niles replied, throwing his hands up in frustration and leaning forward again. “I don’t want to be your familiar, or anyone else’s familiar. I don’t want to be a familiar at all. You drag me around like I’m on a leash. I can’t even buy anything on my own, and now everyone wants to drain my magic like I’m some kind of juice box. I hate everyone treating me like I’m not really a person. ”

  Niles’ passion surprised Brigit. At least he was upset about being a familiar and not just unhappy with her being his mage. But how was she going to deal with this?

  Taking another deep breath, she straightened in her chair and spoke as gently as she could. “I am sorry. I did not know that you felt this way, but you have to understand, here on this plane, anyone from another plane is considered either a familiar or a monster. If you do not have a contract, you will be classified as a monster, and that would be much worse for you. I cannot change that, but if there is anything I can do to make this less unpleasant for you, I would be happy to do it.”

  Niles crossed his arms and sat back. “Fine, make a contract for another month, but I want sixty percent of the loot from the hunts, something more comfortable to sleep on than that cot, and a day off a week. We can negotiate at the end of the month again once I see how much progress you are making on finding a way home for me.”

  “A day off?” Brigit asked.

  Niles nodded. “Yeah, a day a week where I can do whatever I want. Not during a hunt or tournament, of course. But other than that, I get to pick the day.”

  “But what would you do?”

  Niles shrugged. “I don’t know. I just want the option.”

  Birgit considered his wants. Even at forty percent, she would still make much more on hunts than she had before, so while it did not feel right to have her familiar make more than her, she could live with that. She did not know he found the cot uncomfortable, but it did not surprise her. It was a cheaply made thing. She could afford a nice bed for Niles now, but where would she put it? She could not exactly set up a bed in her living room for him, or people would talk. Even more troubling was the day off. What would he do? Where would he go, and with whom?

  “You would have to tell me where you are going on your days off,” Birgit said finally. “Familiars do not normally run loose, but if I know where you are, we can claim I have sent you to complete some task for me.”

  “Fair,” Niles conceded grudgingly.

  Birgit was not happy with the turn this negotiation had taken, but she had not seen Niles this upset since he was first summoned. She had the feeling that pushing him right now would be bad, and he could have made much more unreasonable demands. Birgit’s biggest concern, though, was that he was only willing to agree to another month and implied it would hinge on her making some progress in finding a way home for him. She really had been trying, and she would continue to, but she was quickly running out of things she could do with the academy's resources and did not know what she would do when that happened.