Chapter 012: Teachings of Thresh

A dimly lit, ostentatious, spacious castle hallway surrounded Carter as he walked behind four beautiful, to the highest degree, dressed women. Their cleavage jutted out to their limit, held together by flimsy material they called a dress. Carter looked down at his rather pedestrian summer dress, showing off his flat chest. He grabbed his small pecks and let out a small groan as he was tempted to wiggle them up and down.

"What am I doing?" said Carter, dropping his hands to his sides. He was bored.

Noises coming from the furthest room at the end of this hallway sounded like where the party was happening. The girls were all excited, and Carter felt out of place.

"Congratulations, Princess Caroline, on your courtship," said a couple of women walking the opposite way down the hallway.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed loudly.

"Courtship? With who?" thought Carter. The word "Husband" rang through his head for a moment. Man, was he dumb.

"Oh, no," said Carter. He realized he was the one in a courtship with Caroline.

"Catch up, husband," said Caroline without turning her head.

"Whatever you do, Princess Caroline, don't call Camille your husband again," said Rita as they neared the party room.

"Oh, yes, thank you," said Caroline, happy that she had these two to remind her.

"And remember your promise. We won't tell Camille's secret if you put us first on the list of consorts," said Ursa with a smile. Rita clapped her hands together in an excited fashion.

"I'm already on that list," said Fable.

Princess Caroline grimaced for a moment and then shook her head. "Of course," said Caroline. She couldn't think of three better consorts but wasn't ready to share yet.

She looked back to see Carter wandering from hallway statue to hallway statue, wasting time.

"Ursa, go grab Camille and make sure she gets to the party," said Princess Caroline.

"What happens if she doesn't want to come?" said Ursa.

"Grab her by the nuts and drag her there," said Princess Caroline. Ursa smiled and shook her head up and down. Fable and Rita smiled as they entered the ballroom behind Princess Caroline.

A loud cheer sounded through the ballroom as Princess Caroline, the main attraction, approached the front table next to her father. She sat down with three empty chairs beside her for Rita, Fable, and Ursa.

"Camille, it's time to go," said Ursa as she approached Carter. Her big breasts were undulating up and down, putting undue stress on the little spaghetti straps on her tight dress.

"Do I have to?" said Carter as he started backpedaling the other way.

Ursa grabbed him around his neck and pulled him towards her. Their bodies touched, and Carver's chest squished Ursa's breasts even larger than they already were.

"Please don't ruin this for Caroline," said Ursa, whispering close to his ear. "Don't force me to make you." She leaned back and showed Carter her two fingers squishing an invisible grape.

"Fine," said Carter as he meandered towards the only lighted room in the hallway.

Ursa walked behind him slowly, waiting for him with her two fingers if he tried to escape.

"I didn't need anyone to wash me when I was comatose," whispered Carter to himself. Chastising himself for letting people learn his secret so they can hold it against him.

He walked into Ballroom #2 with little fanfare and sat at a table by himself. Ursa, whose job was now done, ran up and sat by Princess Caroline. Princess Caroline looked over at Carter and then ignored him. Her blue hair was filled with flowers and braids, making her look like one of those movie princesses. Her smile was captivating, and her cleavage also stood out. He could do worse.

"What am I thinking? I'm only twelve years old. What am I doing here?" thought Carter.

Iris sat beside him and placed a cup of wine before him. "The king will toast to the two of you, and then you will drink this wine. Not before!" said Iris as she got back up. She was wearing one of the serving wench outfits that pushed your cleavage to the maximum. His sister tried to get away with wearing one for Halloween, but their mom didn't have it. Carter was surprised that Iris's breasts weren't covered with soft cat hair.

Iris pointed at the wine and said, "That costs one hundred gold a bottle, so don't waste it!"

Carter took a whiff of the wine, and it smelled rather good.

"Camille, my dear, how are you enjoying the party," said Queen Lorien. She sat down next to Carter and placed her hand on his.

"Fine, ma'am," said Carter, obviously lying.

"Since Bethan, your teacher, had to leave the Castle, I have found two professors that can help you with your learning," said the Queen.

"Help? She left me a cursed book and a primer. Is that called help?" thought Carter.

"Do you have a library?" said Carter.

"Of course, dear, it's on the other side of the Castle on the fourth floor," said the Queen.

"I can probably just learn alone if you don't mind," said Carter.

"Perposterous. I won't hear of it. I'll send them to your room tomorrow," said the Queen as she stood up. She tapped Carter on the hand and walked off.

"I think I need this drink," said Carter, holding the cup of wine.

"A drink of exquisite Fairy Wine for my daughter, Caroline, engaged to the fair Camille!" said the King as he stood up. He looked already drunk as he swayed back and forth.

Carter stood up and lifted his glass. "Hooray!" screamed the crowd as they stood and took a drink of their wine.

"The best for my best daughter. Mage and killer of Lionhides. Imported Fairy Wine. Rare, very strong, and expensive. Enjoy!" said the King.

Carter had grabbed his drink and slurped it down in one sip. It went right to his head, and he felt instantly drunk. A small spell dropped into his stomach.

"This wine contains a magic spell?" thought Carter.

His headache tripled in damage, and he placed his head on the table. He brought up his healing spell and directed it to his head. The headache didn't disappear, but the hangover did. He lifted his head again, and it felt better. That wine was good.

The music started, and Carter let out a groan. "Is this where we do the first dance?" thought Carter. He had been to many celebrity weddings before and knew of these things.

Caroline stood and took Ursa, Rita, and Fable to the dance floor with her. They all started dancing closely as they all looked drunk. Another hundred dancers on the floor soon obstructed Carter's view of them.

Iris brought Carter out a glass of dirty water and a small meal. She sat down again and looked at Carter with glassy eyes.

"You had a drink too?" said Carter.

"Of course. We drink to celebrate Caroline's courtship to someone or another," said Iris as she slurred her answer.

"Me. I'm the one she is in a courtship with," said Carter.

Iris looked surprised and said, "Not to be hurtful, but why?"

Carter looked at her momentarily and thought, "Why indeed?" in his head.

"Well, you can go after you eat. Whether you're her... hmm... courtship partner or not, you're not needed anymore," said Iris as she stood up and wandered off. She had hurt in her eyes.

"Why was I needed here anyways?" said Carter to no one. He looked on the dance floor and saw Fable and Rita dancing and kissing like they were lost lovers. What surprised Carter even more than that was Princess Caroline, his wife-to-be, was flirting and dancing with one of her sword masters. Carter had watched them practice fighting together the other day. Princess Caroline leaned in and passionately kissed her sword master on her lips. The sword master had flaxen, short-cut hair, and a muscular body and reciprocated the passion.

Carter looked over towards Ursa, who was still sitting at the main table, and she was pretty far gone. She looked up smiling, waved at Carter, and then passed out.

He finished eating, stood up, and left for his bedroom. "Waste of time," whispered Carter to himself.

Carter fell asleep after getting back from the party.

{Dream World}

"You look upset, little one. Was it your wife cheating on you?" said Venus. Carter had his head in her lap again. She was playing with his hair. It felt nice and calming.

"Not really. But, what was that all about?" asked Carter.

"Thresh women act a lot differently than Earth women. She has you in the palm of her hand now and thinks she can do anything she wants. You're her plaything," said Venus.

Carter stood up and sat next to Venus. He stared off into the distance even though she was naked next to him.

"I don't like it," said Carter.

Venus grabbed his arm and gave him a little hug. "I know, little one, but this will change. Sleep and grow strong."

"Yeah," said Carter, his head falling back onto Venus's naked lap. It felt warm.

He woke up in the morning with a headache and a limp Fable lying on his chest.

"Does she not have any scruples?" thought Carter.

He sat up and shook the sleepiness off. He had cured his hangover, so that wasn't a problem. He looked back at Fable and saw that the sheet had gotten pushed down, exposing her large breasts to his eyes. He leaned over and pulled up the sheet lest he get blamed for something.

"What's going on?" said Fable as she saw Carter's red face.

"Why are you naked?" said Carter as he turned around.

Fable flipped over and repositioned herself in the middle of the bed. "You don't expect me to sleep in clothes, do you?" she mumbled and went silent. Carter was about to say something else when he heard snoring again. He looked back, and she had fallen back to sleep.

He got up and got dressed in his rag-a-muffin clothes. The bed creaked as he sat back down. The lock unlocked again, and the door slowly opened. Two women walked in and stopped when they saw Carter and Fable in bed.

"Oh, pardon us, ma'am. We didn't know you were busy," said a blond-haired woman wearing a pink, skinny-strapped sundress. She wasn't very tall and had an ample-sized bosom that barely fit in her dress. What caught Carter's eye the most was she wore a pair of glasses. He hadn't seen anyone with glasses before in this world. The other woman, hiding behind the bespectacled female, was shorter and had curly, long, dirty blonde hair. She wore a light blue sundress, and her chest stuck out even further than the other woman's.

"No need to worry. I was heading out to the library," said Carter. He talked with the Queen last night and told her he wanted to learn more about this world. She agreed.

"Oh, good. That's what we are here for. I am Professor Minerva, and this woman hiding behind me is my colleague, Professor Xironia. We were sent from the Institute to be your tutors. Xironia moved from behind Minerva and waved her hand slowly at Carter.

"Don't mind Xironia; this is her first tutor session, and she is a classic example of an introvert," said Minerva.

"She'll fit right in with Camille then," mumbled Fable as she sat in bed. The sheet slipped down, exposing her large breasts to Carter's eyes again.

"Oh my, we can come back later," said Minerva with a blushing face.

"It's too loud out here, and my head hurts," said Fable, and she threw the rest of the sheet off of herself, exposing Carter to even more of her nudity.

She changed into her wraithlike form and disappeared into Carter's chest.

"A Darksprite? You have a Darksprite?" said Minerva as she ran over to Carter and felt on his chest. Xironia behind her started shaking her head up and down.

"You know what Fable is?" asked Carter with a small smile.

"Of course, she was once a human, and then she dipped herself in the lake of evil, becoming a Darksprite," said Minerva.

"She thrives off the evil of others," studdered Xironia.

Fable's head popped out of Carter's chest, and Minerva removed her hand and backed up. Fable, reappearing next to Carter, said, "Now, now. Please don't give all my secrets away. It wasn't as if I did it myself. I don't thrive off of evil. I get pleasure from evil. But you know what? I've had enough evil to last the rest of my life. I want some good for a while. So leave me alone."

Fable turned around and looked at Carter. "You're my master, and I will follow your lead. You're a good person." She gave Carter a little kiss on his cheek and then disappeared. It would have been a tender moment if it wasn't for her stinking of alcohol.

"Well, okay, I've learned something new today," said Minerva as she clapped her hands, "Let's go start learning."

The professors walked ahead of Carter, talking to themselves. Carter followed their lead because they knew where the Library was. The halls were bare of people, probably because of all the drinking at the party last night. Carter couldn't understand why adults drank to feel that way. He hated the hangover feeling.

"Princess Camille wasn't found in her room last night," whispered Minerva.

"I heard they found her in Captain Rook's room this morning," whispered Xironia.

"Scandalous!" yelled Minerva. She looked back at Carter and smiled.

"We're just catching up on the local news," said Xironia, smiling.

"They don't know who I am, do they?" thought Carter.

"What year is it?" asked Carter, changing the subject.

"It's the year 6214, after the great war," said Xironia with a blank look. Minerva, with her introverted self, started laughing. Xironia joined in.

"Great. More people to think I'm stupid," through Carter.

He spent many weeks with the Professors. The intelligence of Camille took them aback. She had the propensity to absorb information quickly and learn. They thought Camille was simple at first, not knowing the basics, but this turned out to be false, and they enjoyed teaching her. They started to become her friends.

The Queen conscripted Rita and Ursa to help Carter with his fighting skills. Even though Camille is better with a sword, she hasn't been showing her face lately.

Carter sat down after a rigorous sword training session with Rita and Ursa. His body was covered in padded armor as he took hit after hit, making him feel inferior. His head throbbed with the familiar headache he had been accustomed to since he came to Thresh. The dull pain never disappeared, but he was getting used to it. Rubbing his temples momentarily gave him the willpower to overcome it, and he returned to his studies and practices.

Rita and Ursa would try to teach him how to fight bare-handed and with a sword. He was strong but not very coordinated. He didn't seem to get any better. Rita and Ursa would make fun of him, but he knew it was intended to be playful and not hurtful. To be fair, Carter was only twelve.

Cern was better at teaching, but her duties of guarding the Princess took precedence, and he didn't get many lessons from her. Cape would occasionally help Cern, but she would strike Carter with the practice sword and then say, "Dodge it." The rigid discipline helped him improve a little, but he wouldn't give her the satisfaction of knowing that.

The life of a warrior was not in the cards. He would have to rely on his magic. The only problem was that nobody at the castle knew magic except Princess Caroline and Regent Blackmore. Caroline was busy with her studies, and he wasn't about to ask Regent Blackmore for help. She probably would turn him into a frog.

Carter woke up the following day with his head hurting worse than yesterday. The Professors walked in and saw his pain.

"Stay in bed. We can postpone your studies until tomorrow," said Xironia. Minerva stood behind Xironia and said, "Tomorrow."

Carter let out a little laugh. "She's known me for weeks now, and she still hides behind you to talk to me," said Carter.

"She is what she is," said Xironia with a smile. Minerva placed her face in Xironia's back and laughed. They walked out the door and locked his door.

"Several weeks living here, and they still lock me in," said Carter.

"Fable is always with Rita. Princess Caroline treats me like one of her dolls on her bed. My head feels like a bat is hitting it. Not where I thought I would be at thirteen," said Carter as he sat up and placed his feet over the side of the bed. He grabbed his head. "I would kill for an aspirin right now," said Carter as he rubbed his head.

"Happy Birthday, Carter"