104. Your What?

Shannon spoke up. "I apologize that is my fault. I am Shannon the Baron's fiancée could I trouble you for a room that is joined with his."

Color immediately rushed to Melissa's face. She went into a deep bow. "My lady I apologize for my rude behavior. If I had known that you were coming I would have made special arrangements for you as well as prepared a special dinner. Please forgive me."

Shannon looked at Novum and he mouthed her name to her. 'Melissa.' "Melissa it is not your fault and you have nothing to apologize for. I dropped by without warning or consideration. Actually Novum did not know I was coming as well." She needed to quickly think of a cover for the engagement and why he did not mention it. She quickly thought of a show that she had watched a long time ago.

"Actually, he was not aware that he was still engaged. I had an uncle that tried to manipulate things and had me shipped off to marry someone else after drugging and kidnapping me. The poor old bastard that thought I belonged to him did not live long after the drugs wore off. The problem became that I was not sure where I was, all I knew was that I was far away. There were no mages of a level strong enough to bring me back. It took me a full year to track him down."

Novum picked up right where she left off. "I was told that she died in a fire and they showed me a charred corpse. I actually moved here to get away from the entire situation. The broken heart is a big reason that I have not pursued any of the young ladies here."

Color rose in Melissa cheeks, again. "So, that is why." She spoke more to herself than the people around her.

"Yes, that is why." It was then that she realized she had spoken out loud. "Did you think there was another reason?"

"There was a lot of debate about the reason among the young ladies in and around the manor, to include some ladies from the capitol about why you had not tried to bed one or more of them."

Shannon was a little surprised at the information but she could not help but ask. "What was the top theory?"

"That the baron was more interested in men. It was greatly enforced when Theren showed up out of nowhere. The one that argued against it the most was Jane so we assumed that you two were developing a thing but she insisted that it was not the case and changed the subject any time that it was brought up."

"There were way to many pretty men here for that to be the case. If that was my persuasion then I could not hide it for long especially from you. You know more about me than anyone but Shannon and Theren."

"I squashed any and all rumors that I heard but there is only so much one person could do."

Novum saw something else in her eyes as well. "How much did you and Jane earn betting on my personal life?"

Melissa looked down at the ground in embarrassment. "I am not sure the total number but it was not a small amount simply based on the number of bets that we collected."

"Ten percent of that goes to the orphanage. This is the only time that I want to hear about any gambling that was not done in the gambling hall."

"We got permission for this type of thing from them before we did it and ten percent of all bets have already been sent to the orphanage."

"Oh, well then enjoy your coin."

"Thank you Baron. Is there anything special that you would like for the next few days?"

Shannon spoke up. "Nothing special. Actually, could we do a steak and potato with a salad tonight? I have really been wanting one lately."

"Of course lady. I will let Jane and the rest of them know."

"Melissa, also after dinner tonight have the council and the heads of all the departments come by so that introductions can be made. If Topaz is available great if not that will be okay. Also, I will be showing Lady Shannon around this evening and tomorrow so that she is familiar with the area but the day after I will be taking her to the capitol to make introductions and see if there is anything that she needs."

"Of course Baron. I will make the proper arrangements." Melissa gave him a bow of her head and disappeared towards the kitchen.

Once they were alone Shannon turned towards Novum. "You were never the type of simple entanglements so, what happened with Jane?"

"I knew that you were going to ask that. So, you remember that I rescued a bunch of people from slavers last year."

"You told me about it."

"Well that was also a cage of fairies. I broke the cage and let them all go free. They moved up here and like just to the north of Granny's house. They help watch over the bee hives. That is where Jane works part of the time." He paused here to make sure that he worded it in a way that Jane would not be embarrassed if a rumor got out.

When Jane and I were moving the bees the leader of the fairies read to much into the situation and thought that I would like Jane as a gift. She hit her with fairly magic and it lowered her inhibitions and heightened her sex drive. She showed a lot of interest in me and approached me without putting her shirt back on after changing out of her bee suit."

"I could see that there was something wrong with her and did not think it was right to take advantage of the situation. I got her out of the area of influence of the magic the fairy used and she was very embarrassed. I was honest with her and told there the truth. That she was a very beautiful woman and that had she not been under the influence of the fairies I would be honored. In truth her chest and yours could be interchanged and the only difference might be a slight shade of skin tone. They looked amazing."

Shannon pulled him into a tight hug. "You have always been such a great guy. So, why not since then?"

"I was really busy for a while and then the incident with her brother in law showing up after selling her into slavery. She has been processing everything since then I think. It was not that neither of us were not willing it was just simply that we have hardly seen each other. As hard as it has been to be alone, now that you are here it all seems worth it."

"How about we skip the tour and you shop me the master bedroom first?"

Novum looked at her and the look in her eye that he had not seen in a long time and almost gave in. "Shannon, that is the thing that I want to do the most right now so it is the thing I am not going to do. You need to think about it. We are booth, young, healthy, and have great constitutions. Once we start it is going to take a long time. Not like it used to be where ten minutes and we were done."

The look in her eye did not fade this time. "You may be right about that. But if that is really going to be the way that things are we are going to have to go somewhere outside of the manor and look around. Because the only thing that I can think right now is that there is a huge bed close by with our name on it."

"The lake. We should head to the lake so that you can get a good look at it. Think it will be a great place for a wedding." The pair walked out and he gave a whistle an Noctis showed up right away. The people running the stable always left his stall unlocked during the day so that he could run off to Novum any time that he was called.

Novum mounted up and and then pulled Shannon up behind him with one arm. "Head for the lake buddy." Noctis headed straight for the lake without anyone holding the reigns. As they rode a lot of the people stopped what they were doing and gave the couple a deep bow. Novum always returned the greeting with a smile. It was apparent that the people here loved, almost worshiped him for the good that he had done. She looked at his back and smiled at him in pride.

The sun was hitting the lake sure right and the water was so calm that it reflected the world above it. It was prettier than any painting that Shannon had ever seen. "This is beautiful. One of the most perfect views that I have even seen."

Novum had Noctis stop at the outcropping where he and Rurik killed the turtle and led her by the hand. "I was thinking this would be a good spot to get married. How about the first of next month. That is still two weeks. I am sure that between you, Melissa, and the rest of the ladies on staff you could have a nice service planned by then."

"I can get a dress in the capitol the day after tomorrow and the rest of the stuff I can get from the manor. So, yeah two weeks sounds just about right." She put her arms around his neck and pulled him down into a deep kiss.