Tiger Mom

After the Mage Academy's graduation, Will and Elizabeth walked out of the arena holding hands back to the Whitby house on the Mage Academy campus.

As they walked Will could see the newly certified Wizards or Witches, and their families whispering as the vont Whitby's and Ballard's walked back to Elizabeth's house.

Every Mage and Knight graduate knew Elizabeth and Will were getting married after graduation. And, everyone in the kingdom knew Will had a surprise planned for his wedding. No doubt a new invention, most guessed.

It would not be wrong to say that Will was the icon of the generation. His moves, dress, and life were all hot topics of conversations.

His manor in Gadreel was heralded in a new architectural design. Will's Home Debut party changed people's Home Debut expectations. His philosophies were already being written and discussed.

For Will, people's speculation about his wedding was getting out of hand. In Guidon alone, he was stopped a hundred times to inquire about his wedding's surprise.

"Congratulations sister and Baron vont Ballard," Francis the II said.

"Thank you brother," Elizabeth curtsied.

"Thank you," Will bowed.

"During Will's graduation, I had the staff pack your luggage and load it onto the airship," the duchess said.

"I'm excited to see how much Gadreel has grown in my absence," Elizabeth smiled.

"I'm excited to get away from the crowd. If one more person asks me about the surprise I'll teleport to Gadreel just to get some peace of mind!" Will laughed. But, then he realized no one else was laughing along.

"You can use space magic?" Duke Francis asked stunned into silence.

James and Helen had stopped being surprised by Will a long time ago. They just expected Will to randomly do something exceptional.

"Yes, I thought you already knew?" Will said confused.

"Show me I want to see it, experience it," Duke Francis said.

Will opened a spatial door inside the vont Whitby's house on the Mage Academy campus.

Giddy as a child at Christmas, the Duke walked through the spatial door. When he opened the door, he was back at the ducal estate in the Northern Territories.

The household staff was shocked to see the Duke return home unannounced.

"Please don't mind me, I'm just here to experiment," said the Duke returning to Guidon.

"Will this is marvelous. How did you get this? Can you visit anywhere or are their limitations," the Duke asked several questions at once.

"My lord, please allow me to keep some secrets. I shall tell you, Elder Thaddeus is the reason I have these powers," Will said.

"We all have secrets," the Duke said.

"If we're done here, then let's ship off," Charlotte vont Whitby said glaring at her husband a second time for gawking like a little child.

Shortly thereafter, the family's loaded into two carriages and traveled outside Guidon to the airport. The airport was a raised wooden dry dock.

As the carriages pulled to a stop, a crowd had already gathered to watch the Will and Elizabeth ship off to Gadreel.

In fairness, every time an airship arrived or departed crowds of people would arrive just to see an airship in person.

But, this time people waved streamers and shout blessings upon future nuptials.

Will and Elizabeth boarded last, waving to the crowds.

Will expected the airship to be empty, but it was crowded. Elizabeth's sisters and brother brought their spouses and their spouses' families. The same was true for Kathryn. Her husband and her husband's family were all aboard.

In addition to the family, friends were on board as well. Elizabeth's girlfriends from the Mage Academy and Will's classmates from both academies were on board, along with their fiancées, and family.

In the past couple of months, the airship had built up a track record for being a safe, bandit-free, less expensive form of travel.

To Will's amazement, the captain reported the ship was filed to capacity with unpaid guests.

'Unpaid!' Will wanted to scream.

"Who said these guests could ride for free?" Will asked frustratedly.

"Your mother" responded the captain nervously.

"My mother? Why did you listen to my mother! Please excuse my tone, just answer me," Will said trying to cool his nerves.

"William vont Ballard!" Helen exclaimed.

"Mother, why did you inform the captain these guests could ride for free?" Will asked trying not to grind his teeth.

"These guests, are guests of your parents. We bought all the tickets except yours and Elizabeth, which were already reserved," Helen informed Will.

"I wondered where you two disappeared off too? Will you're mothers right, we took out a loan to pay for the airship and your wedding as it's our duty.

Vanessa wrote our loan herself. She gave us a low APR, due to our barony's recent success. Thanks to your lotion, the price of soybeans has increased," James said smiling.

"What? You took out a loan from my bank, to pay everyone's boarding fee for the airship I own. So when the captain said the guests were unpaid, it's because you already paid for them?" Will asked trying to wrap his head around it all.

"That's correct. Now apologize to your mother. You should make a pretty silver off your parents," James said proudly.

Will felt a headache approaching.

"Mother, I'm sorry," Will said defeated.

"Thank you, dear," Helen said.

Will left to visit his suite and take a nap. But, before he could Sasha knocked on his suite door.

"Yes, Sasha. Come in," Will said resting on his bed.

Miss Elizabeth request your permission to enter your chambers," Sasha said curtsying.

"That's fine. When Elizabeth joins my house, so shall you. Do you have any qualms about joining my household?" Will said yawning, he hadn't slept in two days.

"No my lord, my mistress and I fortunate to join your household," Sasha said.

"Sasha if you need anything, feel free to ask Ms. Park or Micheal. I've already tasked them to help you s settle in with the rest of the staff," Will yawned and readjusted his pillows.

"Thank you, my lord, I'll let my mistress know," was the last word Will heard Sasha saw before he fell asleep.

When Will awoke, the ship was preparing to land in Gadreel. He looked to his left and saw Elizabeth giggling.

"You are quite handsome when you sleep?" Elizabeth laughed.

"Surely you had better things to do than watch me sleep?" Will asked.

"With your parents playing host, I mingled a here and there. But trust me, watching you snore was my favorite part," Elizabeth playfully laughed some more.

"After two days of no rest, I was tired," Will said.

"It was also a good way to dodge the guests," Elizabeth joked.

"Yes, that too!" Will laughed.

Will reached and pulled Elizabeth close to him. With their foreheads touching, Will searched Elizabeth's eyes before kissing her blushing face.

"I'll love you forever," Will said cuddling Elizabeth.

"I shall do the same," Elizabeth said lifting her head for another kiss.

The two lay wrapped in each other's arms until the airship stopped descending and floated on Friendship River.

The first to knock was Sasha, followed by Charlotte vont Whitby.

"I know how you two must feel. Honestly, Elizabeth your father I were the same before our wedding days, nevertheless, it's important to wait until are you're married," Charlotte chided then.

To stop Charlotte from elaborating Will and Elizabeth quickly debarked with the rest of the guests. James and Helen had seen fit to invite the family to stay at Will's estate. Friends and classmates could stay for free at Will's casino.

Michael was waiting by the fort with Will's carriage. Will and Elizabeth were escorted into the carriage and set off his manor. Across the Golem Bridge, as it was being called, Bubba and a detachment of his veteran guards surround Will's carriage and escorted the carriage through the city streets.

To their surprise, the streets were lined with citizens throwing flowers into the street, to officially welcome the new Lady of Gadreel. Elizabeth was stunned to see such a sight. She had only seen this once when her Uncle Remus married her Aunt Ashley Maria when she was a small child.

"William, you didn't have to do this?" Elizabeth said overjoyed.

"I didn't orchestrate this, but I think I know who did?" Will said pointing to a platform where Kurosawa, Mei, Vanessa, and Miles stood. They all waved, before throwing flowers in the streets themselves.

"I'll be sure to thank them later," Elizabeth said waving her hands to cheering crowds.

After the carriage rolled into the Noble District, the crowds with flowers ended. It would be unbecoming for a noble to participate in such a festivity.

Instead of throwing flowers, nobles competed to see who could give the best and most expensive present.

As the carriage pulled up to the manor, Will saw the guest lined up outside to greet him and Elizabeth. Will wondered if they plan to do that every time he and Elizabeth return home.

"My lord, let me be the first to welcome you home. We were worried about you, we feared the worst. Thankfully, Grandmaster Thaddeus sent word you were safe," Micheal said. But, Will couldn't tell if Micheal was welcoming him back home or reprimanding him.

After returning home, James and Helen gave the guests the week's agenda of activities. To Will's horror, the entire week was filled with garden parties, dinner parties, and parties at the horse track, and casino. Not only were there, gender-specific parties, there were also parties exclusive to family or friends. However, the largest event was a jousting tournament and the feast held in the victor's honor.

There were no gaps of time for Will to work, to review his companies' ledgers, or read his city's administrative reports.

To Will's chagrin, his pleas of mercy fell on deaf ears. Anytime Will voiced opposition, Helen would tell him stories about carrying him for nine months in her womb or tell him stories about the struggle of raising him as a child, or crying and saying Will didn't appreciate her hard work.

Charlotte has warned Elizabeth early not to get involved or she might jeopardize her relationship with Will's mother.

Helen and Charlotte made a fierce team. The mothers wielded their authority to make sure the wedding went according to plan. Helen the sweet mother, had turned into an authoritarian that none of her children had seen before.

Will's wedding, was the first time in almost 10 years that all vont Ballard children were present in one location.

During a sibling-only party, Kathryn said their mother hadn't acted in such a manner during the week leading up to her wedding. Marcus prayed this was the last time as well.

The entire sibling party, Rebecca locked arms with Will and petted his silver hair. Will felt like a captured prisoner sitting next to Rebecca.

During the party, Rebecca jokingly asked what her and Will's children would look like.

Will frequently would move away from Rebecca only for her to find Will, and try to hold his hand or give him a back rub.

For one week Will was terrorized by Rebecca who had no shame or indecency. After the second time, Will woke up and saw her lying next to him. He ordered Micheal to put a guard outside his door when he slept.

Worse, anytime Will escorted Elizabeth into a party, Rebecca requested he escorts both of them.

When it was explained that Will was escorting his betrothed, Rebecca fought harder to be escorted alongside Elizabeth. Rebecca even threatened to leave if her demand wasn't met.

Will begged his mother to let Rebecca leave, but Helen thought he was joking. After deliberating Helen and Charlotte agreed to Rebecca's demand. They didn't want to upset the Church of Aether, so they agreed.

Day after day, Will felt like a prisoner in his own home. Will couldn't wait for these guests and his mother and Rebecca, in particular, to leave.