The Fire and The Storm - The Nexus of Kellaran #2
Chapter 201

PART 28

"Surprise!" thousands of happy voices yelled as the group arrived on the patio at Hilia.

"Well its not really a surprise of course, but thanks!" Mark laughed.

"Hey, nice ring Mark!" Holanam teased.

The scene was amazing. There was a huge banner along the roof of the cottage that read; 'Congratulations Prince Mark!' A huge feast was laid out on twelve big tables that took up most of the patio. It seemed that all the citizens of Hilia and everyone else Mark knew were picnicking on the shallow volcanic slopes around the cottage and its grounds. All of the males of The Volunteers and about half of The Forty-four were scattered about the lawns, and the female Volunteers and the rest of their children were arriving rapidly.

"Lunch is served!" Sheramiv announced with a grin as she indicated the feast with a wave. "Though I'm surprised that you still get hungry, my Prince!"

"I do though!" Mark laughed as he took a huge platter and began wandering among the tables as he loaded up with the dishes that caught his fancy at the moment. "We've decided that we'll keep as many of our mortal attributes as is practical, and having decided it, it's so, without having to think about it anymore. And in this case I'm sure glad we did, for when it comes to food, hunger truly is the finest sauce!"

He stopped for a moment and turned to survey his domain and everyone there. "Thanks for coming everyone!" he called.

"Where were you?" Fire asked as Balen appeared beside her.

"I was off alone with Mark." Balen replied with a deep blush. "I mean we weren't... You know... Not this time anyway. But Mark still makes time for us whenever we want to be with him, and we all wanted to be with him as we watched the Revealing of the tournament today. Us girls of The Volunteers anyway. The guys don't seem to care about sharing him as much, they just like to be with him, so there was only one of Mark here with all of them and some of the kids while he was off in Xervia with you. But the rest of us had him to ourselves, so to speak."

She paused as she gazed at Mark with profound and pure adoration. "It's so beautiful. You know, when he's alone with me, he's a little bit different than he is at any other time, because he's with me and he's reacting to me, and he makes an effort to be exactly the Mark that I want him to be. I know there's only one of him, but I still feel like my Mark loves me most of all.

"He was cuddling with me as we watched him do that beautiful bowing thing with Talia and Alilia on his hands, and I knew millions of girls all over the world wished they could be one of them at that moment, and I had to laugh because I have it even better than Talia and Alilia. They're still used to him being only one person, so they share him all the time. It would never occur to them to ask him to be two of him, one for each of them, like he is for me."

"Well for one thing," Fire laughed as she chose from a gigantic fruit display, "Mother and Alilia love each other almost as much as they love him. To them, they're an inseparable trio, so they don't miss having him to themselves.

"And for another thing, you and the other Volunteers are pretty crazy about him, and I mean that literally. You were nuts to let Alilia Compel you about it for no reason. I don't know how much of what you feel for him is due to the Compulsion and your vows, and how much you'd have felt for him anyway, but that much devotion for anyone isn't natural."

"I was absolutely in love with him.

before my vows and the Compulsion." Balen smiled. "And I sure understand how it would seem weird to you, the way we feel about him. But you have no idea what it's like to be someone who has no greatness that suddenly gets exposed to true greatness. When I first met him he couldn't even use magic yet, he had no possessions or property, he ruled no one, he didn't even have a home until later that night. But even then his greatness shone around him like a lighthouse, and I was swept away in it.

"Don't get me wrong, I know I'm a formidable person in many ways and I have no problem with my self-esteem or anything, but Mark... Well you'll just never understand, because you have your own greatness. You're not quite up to his level yet, but still, you have no idea what it's like to meet someone who is so unbelievably more amazing than you are that you become... Well, devoted, as we of The Devoted are to Mark."

She paused and considered Fire,

and cocked her head as she smiled. "You'll have to face the other side of the problem, as he has. You already have beauty and greatness and fame. You may not realize it, but I can guarantee that right now there's thousands of boys, and more than a few men and women and girls, who are completely devoted to you. They Know that there's almost no chance that they'll ever even get to meet you, but they can't help how they feel about you. And any regular people who've never heard of you who are suddenly and intimately exposed to your greatness, as I was when I first met Mark, will have no defenses prepared against the overwhelming emotions that you'll produce in them.

"I was absolutely defenseless to Mark's charisma. Five minutes before I met him I hated him, and when I first saw him I tried to make him look stupid at his own wedding. And then he turned to me and his

eyes met mine and he took my hand, and he made me feel so wonderful that I was lost in him. And wouldn't have it any other way. My life is paradise now, and I have you and Six and Val to thank for it, in many ways. You gave Mark the Multiple Manifestations spell, and that gave me my very own Mark. And Quewanak's meddling, of course.”

"You're weird." Fire declared with a laugh. "Wonderful and adorable, but weird."

Balen laughed. "Hey, you're all of those too, my fine little warlock!

"You want to hear something truly weird? I feel sorry for you, I really do. I pity you and Val and my own daughter and all the rest of Mark's female blood relatives, because you're the only female humanoids in the whole world who will never be able to fall in love with him as I have, and who will never, ever be able to be his lover, as I am."

"You're right, that's truly weird!" Fire laughed. "But as long as it makes you so happy, I approve wholeheartedly."

"Thank you." Balen murmured with another little blush. "I'm somewhat surprised at how important it is to me, now that I've heard you say that. Some of us worried, you know. Your mother and Alilia are legitimately married to Mark, and we hoped that you wouldn't think we would do anything to harm their relationship or their love. We'd never do anything that could hurt Mark in any way."

"Stop, please stop!" Fire laughed as she held her open palm and her now-full plate between Balen's face and herself. "I'm overdosing on sentimentality here!"

She lowered her plate and smirked. "You'd better eat fast, because when I'm done eating I'm going to cast a challenge circle and call you into it, and spank you good! Just to harden you up a little!"

"Oh, you think?" Balen laughed. "Well I'll tell you what: If you'll remove The Skills of Visinniria, and I mean all the skills you've gained from others using her Transference spell, not just the ones you got from her I'll gladly do the same and take you on in purely physical combat!"

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