The Chronicles of Harold the Healer Ch. 06

"Oh, how could I have forgotten that?" he mused as a group of kids led by his daughter came running towards them. "Silly me."

"Humph," she replied lovingly, patting his cheek. "Old age must be catching up to you already."

"This is my Papa, Healer Harold," Marcie proudly announced to the pack of eight others. She noticed Leila's holding his arm and his expression, and added, "Mama caught him trying to sneak away."

"Nonsense! My arm was getting tired and she agreed to hold it for me," he replied, getting giggles from the kids and a push from her as she released her grip.

"Show them your medals, sweetheart, before the bell rings and they have to go in."

"Yes, dear," he replied meekly, getting more giggles and an eye-roll, and he handed his staff to Leila and reached into his pockets. "These are the medals that I was given yesterday," he continued, pulling them out and holding them by their ribbons so that they were at their eye level. Their eyes widened and they all looked raptly at the shiny objects that turned slowly back and forth, making exclamations on how pretty they were. "Hey, didn't we Clean some of you a couple of days ago?" he added, recognizing some of them as having been among the group of a dozen children, filthy with mud, who had been brought to Leila's house just after they had finished repairing Tom Jaggers' epididymis tubes.

"Yes, we were," replied one of the boys, who was nearly as tall as Marcie. "That was the most fun we've had! And getting my Dad was even more fun!"

"Try that again and you'll get dunked in the river," admonished Leila, hands on her hips, getting more giggles as a bell attached to the school started to clang. "See you at lunch time, Marcie," she said, giving her daughter a hug as Harold put the medals back in his pockets.

"Thank you, Papa," she said, giving him a hug too.

"Thank you for showing us the medals, Healer Harold," said one of the girls thoughtfully. "There must be some stories behind them."

"There are," he replied as the group looked very ready to bolt for the school. "Someday when you're older, I might tell a few." The group then took off to join a disorderly line at one of the entrances.

"Someday you'll have to take us to Carcosa and show us around," said Leila, handing him his staff as they began to walk back the way they had come.

"My hope is that I'll hardly recognize the place," he replied with a sad smile. "Things were well under way when I left. I'd set up a Mage School of sorts, including some veterinarians, healed who knows how many people, trampled on a few toes, and generally worn out my welcome."

"I'm sure there's way more than that," Leila replied, embracing him as they walked. "I want to hear it all, the good, the bad, and the ugly."

"Well, I'll try to gloss over the ugly. Some of it was pretty bad, especially at first." She could see by the expression on his face that he wasn't kidding. As they approached Kim Blandford's house, he added, "On a lighter note, now that we're married, should we continue in our wicked ways, or embrace the monogamous lifestyle?" The question caught her by surprise, as she hadn't given it much thought.

"I don't know," she replied. "Many people see marriage as the official confirmation that the partners now have exclusive ownership of the other's genitals. They fear that external dalliances will lead to their partner's losing their love and being stolen away by someone else and become angry and jealous at the thought. But I can feel your love for me and Marcie and have felt it all the years that we have known each other. Women seem to find it hard to resist your charms, and I'm sure that many will lead you to their beds for a quick lay, but none will steal you away."

"Nobody will steal my heart from you. Ever," he replied, staring into her bright blue eyes. "If you have another cock working its magic in you or you find another pussy to munch and its owner to munch on yours, I'll be fine with it. Your love for me is as much a part of me as my heart." The kiss that followed was both passionate and tender. "Besides," he added as they continued their stroll back home, "the Goddess herself blessed our marriage. If we screw it up, she'll be pissed and we will know about it."

"Always the practical man," Leila replied, pulling him in for another kiss.

"Get a room, you two!" came a female voice from across the street. They looked up and saw the small, slight forms of Kim Blandford and Lakash Moto standing in front of her house. "We can feel you all the way over here!" The two Healers laughed and, after reflexively looking both ways for non-existent traffic, crossed the street to meet them.

"Kim, you look wonderful!" Leila exclaimed, embracing her. "You're practically glowing!"

"What have been up to, Lakash?" Harold asked with an impish grin, hands on his hips and shaking his head. "Practicing the massage techniques? I think you're a bit taller than when I cleaned out your garden yesterday," he added, casting an appraising eye on Kim.

"Her back was a total disaster," Lakash replied, shaking his shiny, almost bald head in mock despair, getting a smile from Kim in return. "It took quite some time to get her fixed up."

"I've been repressing my emotions about Greg's death," Kim replied softly. "It wasn't doing me any good physically or emotionally. I think that I'm finally ready to move on with my life."

"You told her about the impotence cure, I see," Lakash said to Harold. "Now you've started up a whole new cottage industry."

"So many people stand to benefit from it. I've heard about it, but never seen it in action until your neighbours tried it out."

"That's true," Kim replied, looking at Lakash. "I know a few others who could use it."

"Where are you going?" asked Leila as they all crossed the street again.

"I'm getting my things from the hotel. I may be staying here for a few days longer than expected. Maybe a few years longer than expected."

"So, you're finally retiring? Will Hendrix take over? I think he'd be able to handle it."

"As a matter of fact, yes he is. And as luck would have it, I have two new recruits all ready to go. All you need to do is write up your final report, put it in the mail and you're off the hook."

"Congratulations, Lakash," said Leila warmly. "This is long overdue."

"Until lately, I haven't had any reason to retire. All I've had to go home to is an empty house since Lilith passed away, and the kids are long gone and seldom visit."

"Magwitch will suddenly have three Healers in it," said Harold thoughtfully. "Would you be interested in teaching a class at the new Veterinary School? Nothing veterinary-related, obviously, but you could teach those kids all sorts of things, even as a guest lecturer if a full class is too much."

"Smart man, already thinking ahead," Kim said with a smile. "You really should have married him a long time ago, Leila."

"Everyone keeps saying that," she replied, looking up at her new husband with a loving smile and then looking at the carved mahogany ring on her finger. "But we're married now, and that's what counts."

"It's not like I was going anywhere," added the subject of her affection, putting an arm around her waist as they walked. "Speaking of going places, I'll have to buy some paper and related stuff with which to write my report. Does the General Store have some, or is there a stationery store here?"

"The book store is at the south end of Main Street, near the bank and Sam's veterinary clinic," said Leila. "Don't you remember?"

"Huh. I have seldom gone so far south," Harold mused as they arrived at Main Street, two blocks south of their house. "So, I have to go to Pella's to retrieve my clothes, go to the bank to get some cash with which to lubricate the local economy, and then the book store to get some writing materials. That sounds like my morning."

"I have to get some food if we want to eat," said Leila.

"We'll see you later, then," said Kim. "Happy trails."

"I'll consider your offer, Harold," said Lakash as he and Kim looked to see if the way was clear to cross the street. "I've got lots of time, I believe."

"All that you need. Thank you." Lakash and Kim scurried across Main Street.

"I'll see you back home in a while," said Leila. "I have to go home to get the shopping bags." They parted ways, with Harold going south to visit Pella's.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The wild magic of love was celebrated yesterday when Leila and Harold (much to his surprise) got married and a large number of the townsfolk had come for the party. But even before the event, love had cast its spell on two unsuspecting "victims" who hadn't even met each other before the day.

Mark Magnussen, scion of Dana Magnussen, Head of Engineering at the Magic School, and Harold Moser, Healer at Large, woke with a start at about 7:00. He felt the familiar disorientation of a person unused to travel waking up in an unfamiliar bed in a town that he momentarily couldn't remember. It had been three grueling days on the road driving the team from rest stop to rest stop, having the horses changed and going on to the next one, falling into bed at the end of the day and getting up again for the next. A sleepy murmur from the other side of the bed suddenly reminded him that he was at the end of his journey in Magwitch (what kind of a name is that?) and sharing his bed with Stella Webber, the apprentice blacksmith of the town and the new love of his life.

He had had a few casual partners before, and his and her immediate needs had always been met, but they had never really connected and had drifted on. But with Stella, it was different. He had shown her the First Form of the martial arts they were taught in school in the clearing under the trees by the river, and she had almost picked it up after the first try. They had somehow wound up in each other's arms, the first kiss had been electric, and making love had felt so natural and wonderful. In the frantic, all-out fucking that had followed shortly after behind some convenient bushes just off the road, it had felt like they had come as close to being one as physically possible. They hadn't told anyone, but somehow everyone knew anyway. She was lying on her side with her well-muscled back to him and he couldn't think of anything else to do but cuddle up to her and put his arm around her waist.

Stella was half awake at this point and felt his warm, comforting embrace around her. She snuggled up against him and murmured,

"I never thought that I'd fall in love so fast and so hard."

"I never thought that I'd fall in love at all. But here we are. And of all the places in the world, here in this bed with you is where I want to be." With grunts and shuffles, she rolled over so that they were nose-to-nose, their bodies were pressed together and their arms were around each other.

"I'm finishing my third year in Mage School now and have seven more to go. Most of that time will have to be spent in the Capital with summers here with you."

"Seven more years? What do you have to learn that will take so long?" she said between smooches that were getting longer and hotter.

"We have to learn everything the non-Mage Healers learn about how our bodies work and what to do when they don't. Plus, we also have to learn about how to use Magic. And for me, I have to learn all the veterinarian stuff and "breadth requirement" courses that are unrelated to what I'm studying. I have no idea how I'll get it all into my head!"

"It's no bed of roses for me, either," Stella replied as the hands that weren't on the arms they were lying on explored each other's bodies. She could feel his hot, hard cock trapped between them, and something would have to be done about the fire in her pussy really, really soon. "I've apparently only scratched the surface of metallurgical science, and there's all sorts of stuff that I don't know how to make yet. It'll be a few years before I can write my exams."

"On a more practical note," said Mark after another kiss left them nearly breathless, "how long does the contraceptive tea work? Any more of this and I'm going to come all over you."

"Only about twelve hours, and I drank it at about 4:00 yesterday afternoon, dammit! I need that cock so badly, but odds are good that you'll knock me up if we do it now."

"I can beat this thing off into the chamber pot and finger you to an orgasm."

"You will do no such thing, mister!" With grunts and squeaking of bedsprings, she shoved him onto his back and straddled him so that her pussy was in his face. "You know what to do? OH!" He had immediately stuck his tongue inside her pussy as far as it would go while rubbing her hard clitoris with one of his hands. She gobbled that wonderful thick cock and began sliding up and down on it, licking and groaning on it as her orgasm came on like a landslide. Less than a minute later, Mark's tongue was expelled from her vagina as it squeezed and he was rewarded with a hefty squirt, and Stella felt his cock come alive with hard, frantic pulses until it finally delivered a big splash of cum. Both groaned raggedly as they made sure that no drops went to waste, and she finally rolled off him and the bed, standing shakily beside it. "Dear Goddess, that nearly ruined me, and we haven't even had breakfast yet!"

"That will have to keep us under control for the day," the Mage-in-training replied, sitting up, seeing the room spin around, and falling back with a thump. "There are standards of decorum to maintain, after all." She giggled, then squealed when he hit her with a full-body Clean spell. "We'll start by maintaining the fiction that we didn't just eat each other into near oblivion and the world will know that we did, but pretend that we didn't." He managed to stand up on the other side of the bed and hit himself with the spell. "Yow! There's got to be a gentler way to do this!" Stella opened the curtains a crack, revealing her C-sized breasts with small pink areolas and still hard nipples, her full brown bush, and her muscular but still curvaceous body to his unashamed ogling. The light illuminated her shoulder-length brown hair, full lips on a medium-sized mouth under a slightly turned-up nose and a dusting of freckles. She saw his look of unabashed lust change into moonstruck love as he looked into her brown eyes.

"Any more looks like that, Mister Mage," she said warmly as she turned her back, looked over her shoulder, and shook her firm ass at him, "and so help me, I will make a large flask of contraceptive tea, drag you back here, and fuck you until neither of us can get out of bed."

"Don't threaten me with a good time, Ms. Blacksmith," he responded equally warmly. "If we want to get anything done, we have to stop trying to heat the other one up and get some breakfast." Of course, this statement didn't stop him from flaunting his assets to her ogling eyes. His medium-length hair was sandy brown and he had a closely-shaved goatee of the same colour that surrounded a slightly large mouth with sensual lips and only slightly obscured his strong chin. His medium-sized nose was set between his eyes that had the same odd blue with hints of green colour as his father, Harold. He made sure to flex various muscle groups on his six-foot-one frame and to wave his firm ass at her as he bent to pick up various bits of clothing, while doing his best to continue ogling her as she assembled her clothes and put them on the bed. "I'll Clean everything in one shot." He hit the bedding and clothes with the spell, and despite some loving interference from each other, they managed to get dressed.

"Are we ready to emerge into civilization?" she inquired. She was wearing the yellow, short-sleeved blouse and white dress with widely-spaced red pinstripes with small red flowers between them, white socks and low-heeled white loafers that she had been wearing yesterday, since she had intended to return home this morning with Mark in tow. He had put on the clothes that he had been traveling in, a pale blue pullover short-sleeved shirt, white socks, and leather boots that went halfway up his shins but were mostly hidden by his pale brown denim pants. The rain gear he had been wearing for the trip yesterday had been hung up in the closet yesterday, and he and Stella worked together to hang up the really nice suit and shirt that he had been given by his mother Dana to wear at Harold's medal presentation ceremony and then wedding to Leila yesterday.

"I think so," Mark finally replied, placing his suitcase by the bed, which they quickly made up. "I think that I can control my need to hold and squeeze and kiss you," he said, doing all three, "until the next time we can be alone together."

"It will be difficult, at first, but all we have to do is remember that we have all the time in the world," she replied a bit breathlessly, nose to nose with him. "We will have to be apart more than together for the next few years while we finish our educations, but after that nothing need keep us apart."

"Let's get breakfast. Eating you up is great fun, but does not provide the required nutrition."

"Gobbling your cum was just as fun, but blacksmith girl needs fuel for these muscles," Stella replied, flexing her biceps. They finally broke apart, left the room, locked it behind them, and made their way first to the privy out back, then to the restaurant. Emma Green was behind the welcome desk again and her pleasant greeting to them as they passed by was cordially returned. After they had arrived at the entrance to the restaurant, she sighed internally. It was very clear that Stella had wasted no time grabbing the handsome hunk on her arm and that he was now Off Limits. She had downed a big cup of contraceptive tea and gone out on the prowl, hooking up with Charles, her co-worker, last night during the wedding. At her place, he had surprised her with how respectfully and well he had played her body until she could take it no more and had ridden him until she had squeezed his throbbing, squirting cock in an exhausting orgasm.

"Where did you learn how to do that?" she had murmured as they laid together, basking in the afterglow. She had been glad that she'd put a towel under them before they had started. "That massage made me feel so relaxed. And hot."

"We men have our own little information networks," he had evaded, giving her a loving embrace. One of her roaming hands had found its way to his testicles, which she squeezed gently while giving him a hard stare. "Uhh, urk," he had squirmed helplessly, "Healer Harold gave me and some of my friends a couple of lessons a few months ago when we asked him for some tips on how to please a woman. Or a man, in Gary's case. We were tired of striking out all the time."

"He must be quite the teacher. Too bad he's Off Limits, or I'd see what I could do with him."

"He is definitely quite the character," Charles had replied as she'd relaxed his grip on his family jewels and he had relaxed into her embrace, giving her a kiss, then shuffling away a bit. "He showed us how, if you stroke a woman's breasts like this, then gently kiss and lick the nipples like this, and squeeze and knead like this..."

"Nyurrghh!" she had moaned as another orgasm had ripped through her. "Oh, you bastard!" He was suddenly hard again and before she could recover, she had been on her back with his cock sunk all the way into her needy pussy, thrusting hard and shorting out her brain. Emma had to snap herself out of that memory before anybody noticed her far-away expression and slightly flushed cheeks. Charles was going to get the fucking of his life the next time the chance arose.

"There's Mom," said Mark as he spotted Dana waving at him. She was sitting alone at a table for four by the window facing the street and they joined her.

"I was wondering if you'd show up," she said with a big smile, standing up to hug first her son Mark, then Stella. "It's already a quarter to eight." She gestured at a large clock on a shelf over the kitchen doors. She was dressed in the navy-blue blazer with the Magic School logo on the breast pocket, modest navy-blue skirt, white blouse and socks, and sensible brown loafers in which she had arrived yesterday.