Intergalactic Travels With My Wives

Beth was so scared she was shaking. Wrapping my arm tighter around her I asked what was wrong.

"Hey, why are you shaking Beth? Do you and that arrogant High Elf have a history?"

Beth just shook her head but Amy spoke up.

"Yes they do."

"Amy no."

"Beth yes. If Adam is going to training with him he needs to watch his back and he deserves to know why."

Holding my free hand Amy continued.

"That guard, Christopher, has been after Beth for a while now but Beth has no interest in him. He is a sadistic bastard who is suspected of killing at least three other maids but he is good enough to never leave behind evidence. He sets his sights on one of the girls with the same duties as us but doesn't make a move until we have carried them out and our partner has departed. The day after they leave, the girl disappears only to be found a few days later covered in cuts and burn marks with obvious signs of being sexually assaulted."

She looked me in the eye.

"Now as soon as you are gone he can make his move on Beth. During training he might try to make your departure swift and permanent if you know what I mean."

I knew there were bad apples everywhere but this was ridiculous. Pulling my hand away from Amy I raised it to Beth's face and made her look at me. When she finally did I smiled and kissed her gently on the forehead.

"You wanted to keep me out of this because you didn't want to trouble me, right?"

At first she went to shake her head but I held it firmly and just kept looking into her eyes until she nodded.

"I'll take care of this."

I gave her a gentle kiss on the lips and then got up. Looking at Amy I asked a question.

"Am I expected to wear a uniform for training or will regular clothes be fine?"

"As you do not have a uniform regular clothes will be fine."

"Ok. Come on you two. Let's get cleaned up. I would let you rest more but I'll need a guide to the training fields and I think you will want to see the show."

One minute before my twenty minutes was up I sauntered onto the training field followed by Beth and Amy.

"You're late!"

Looking at the man who just hollered I responded.

"No sir. I was informed 19 minutes ago to be here in 20. I still have 30 seconds."

The training field went quiet as nobody expected me to talk back to the drill instructor and just as I expected to happen Christopher flipped out.

"HOW DARE A COMMONER LIKE YOU TALK BACK TO YOUR BETTERS! Commander allow me to teach this impertinent fool a lesson."

As soon as Christopher started talking I focused on him and when he turned to the Commander I let an evil smile spread across my face. The Commander was obviously a smart man because after seeing this incredibly brief interaction he already guessed there was more to it. Looking at me he raised an eyebrow.

"If he's volunteering to get his ass handed to him I don't mind sparring with him."

"YOU BASTARD! How dare you! I'm the best swordsman in this batch. How dare you look down on me."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say."

Grabbing a training sword from the rack I looked at the Commander.

"Everyone make room!"

With that one order everyone backed off until it was just Christopher, myself and the Commander in the middle.

"Standard sparring rules and magic is allowed any objections."

"Yes Commander, I don't want to be suspected of bullying the weak so maybe magic should not be allowed."

The Commander looked my way.

"I have no problem allowing him to use magic, he's going to lose either way."

I could hear Christopher grinding his teeth in anger at being insulted once again. The Commander just nodded.

"Standard rules and magic is allowed. I will count off ten paces. On the count of ten the match begins."

The Commander walked away and Christopher whispered a few words at me.

"I'll make you suffer for insulting me you cur."

I just smiled and laughed before replying.

"Doesn't matter, I've already got one up on you. After all, Beth came willingly to my bed you on the other hand can only get a woman there by dragging her there."

Hearing my words his eyes blazed and he was about to disregard the rules and attack me but the Commander's words cut him off.

"Turn away and step on my count."

I gave Christopher a condescending smirk and turned my back on him.

"1"

"2"

"3"

"4..5..6..7..8..9.."

"10"

As soon as the Commander said 10 I spun and prepared to defend myself but instead of rushing at me Christopher lifted his off hand and shouted.

"Wind Arrow!"

Lifting the flat side of my sword to him I called out.

"Reflect"

A shimmering shield appeared in front of me and when the wind arrow struck it was absorbed and then expelled at twice the speed back at Christopher. Not expecting this, Christopher fell unceremoniously to the side to avoid it. Scrambling to his feet he turned to face me only to see two dozen arrows of various elements floating around me all aimed directly at him.

"I already told you Christopher. With or without magic this fight was already my win."

With a wave of my hand the arrows all fizzled out of existence.

"That's impossible! How could a bastard Earthling like you have magic?!"

I laughed.

"Didn't you literally just answer your own question? What is one of the unique traits of Earthlings?"

He looked blankly at me for a moment before realization dawned on him.

"That's right asshole! I have Elf blood."

With that I charged at him. He tried to cast another spell but I had shaken his mind to much for him to focus. With one swing I slammed the flat of my blade into his head rendering him unconscious. Looking closer I saw blood coming from his ear as well. Perfect, popped his eardrum.

Looking to the Commander to call the match I noticed that everyone was frozen stiff. Looking around I didn't see anything out of the ordinary so I called out.

"Hey, Mr. Commander. Should I continue beating on him or are you going to call the match?"

At that the Commander quickly came back to his senses.

"Match over! Adam wins! Somebody take Christopher to the healers!"

There was a flurry of activity as Christopher was picked up and rushed out but what was funny was that everyone kept clear of me, going as far as to circle around to avoid getting to close.

"Damn everybody. Sure I'm an Earthling but I don't bite...hard."

"That's not it Adam."

The Commander approached me.

"Your control of magic is what has frightened them."

Not understanding what he meant I asked about it.

"What do you mean by that? I was told that this level of control is standard."

"If that level of control is standard than even I would just barely have passed. Who told you that that is standard?"

"My mentor and overseer."

"His name?"

I shook my head.

"He never told me."

After a beat I asked.

"So..um...what is standard?"

"Sorry. Even though you rescued the queen, telling an unknown person the standard level of our military ground forces is not allowed."

"I understand. Can you tell me why I was invited to participate in training?"

He gave me a wry smile.

"General Kane asked me to put you through the wringer and show you that you are unworthy. Unworthy of what he wouldn't say only that you would understand."

I returned the smile and chuckled.

"His daughter and I have a complicated relationship."

His eyes widened.

"Well that explains a lot. He is way overprotective of his daughter."

"Yeah. I almost lost my head when he found out. I'm lucky I ducked or my chest would have a hole in it."

"Seriously?"

I nodded.

He looked surprised but then he got serious.

"Ok. Now I need to know, what the hell was going on between you and Christopher? I've never seen him behave like that."

I got serious as well.

"Do you really want to know?"

He nodded.

"He is one of my men so yes. I need to know what's going on with him."

Seeing he was serious I called out.

"Beth. Amy. Come over here please."

They had stayed near the entrance to the training fields when we came in but approached when I called. Wrapping an arm around their waists I spoke to them.

"Tell the Commander everything you suspect about Christopher."

Seeing the fear in their eyes I just smiled and nodded.

"He is Christopher's commanding officer. Christopher's action reflect on him so he will take care of everything. Besides nobody will try to silence you with me here and if that's not good enough I promise to take you with me when I leave."

Their eyes went wide.

"You promise?"

"Are you sure?"

"If you want to come with me I will not try to stop you."

Reassured by my promise they told the Commander everything. At first the Commander took it as a joke but when he later looked into it he found out that after each one of the guests left Christopher asked for leave and only returned after the women's bodies were found. This encouraged him to look deeper and more tangible evidence was found, armed with evidence he received permission from his superior to 'extract' the truth from Christopher. The whole thing took less than a day to come to a close.

While all of that was happening I was getting a tour of the capital city led by Amy and Beth, I had invited Anna but her duties would keep her busy for another two days. I suspected that her father was trying to keep us apart as much as possible. Deciding to treat today as a date I bought small gifts for both of them as well as one for Anna. We had lunch at a small cafe and just enjoyed the day together.

Back at the palace I was about to get ready for a bath before dinner when there was a knock on the door. Beth answered it only to step back and invite the person in. It was the queen.

I quickly knelt and placed my right hand over my heart in the traditional greeting. Amy and Beth gave low curtseys.

"Please Adam, rise. You saved my life and I am not here in a royal capacity."

"As you wish, Your Majesty."

Rising to my feet I offered my hand to assist her to the couch.

"Amy, please prepare tea for Her Majesty."

Amy nodded and got to work Beth help me settle the queen onto the couch.

"Forgive me if I am speaking above my station Your Majesty, but shouldn't you be resting?"

She laughed.

"I am fully healed and still several months away from my due date. I am perfectly capable of moving around for another month or so."

Sitting on the couch facing the queen Beth stood behind me and slightly to my left. Amy brought over tea and served the two of us a cup before standing by Beth on my right. The queens attendant took a sip from her cup before stepping off to the side. I also took a sip from my cup and smiled at the queen.

"I apologize Your Majesty, I have no talent for small talk. I believe you are to busy to come and visit me just for a cup of tea. What can I do for you?"

I saw the queen's attendant grip her fist and glare at me briefly before correcting herself. The queen just laughed.

"You are right Captain Hunt I did come here for more than the tea."

She took a sip and continued.

"You caused quite the commotion at the training grounds this morning. So much that my husband has heard of you and moved up your meeting with him. It will be tomorrow."

I nodded deeply

"I am at His Majesty's command."

"Another matter I have to discuss with you is about royal guardsmen Christopher."

Behind me Beth and Amy inhaled sharply. The queen glanced at them and smiled.

"It is fine young ones, he was privately executed a half hour ago. All of your accusations were proved true, not only did we find evidence but we secured a full confession as well as the names of his accomplices. The matter has been settled."

The queen smiled sadly.

"Unfortunately for you young ones, Christopher came from a High ranking noble family. I suspect they will not let this matter go. Which is why after Adam leaves I will assign you both to work as handmaids for one of my daughters. This will make a member of the royal family your guarantor, Christopher's family will have to think twice before making a move on you."

All the strength left Beth and she collapsed rushing to her side I held her.

"What's wrong Beth? You should be happy. You no longer need to fear Christopher and with the royal family backing you nobody will mess with you."

She started crying softly.

"B..but..now I don't have a reason to make you take me with you."

"She's right. There is no reason for you to feel obligated to save us now."

Amy held herself together but Beth started crying harder, so I held her tighter. Using one hand I softly held her chin with my thumb and the side of my index finger and made her look at me.

"Do you remember the exact words I told you?"

She looked at me with tears in her eyes and shook her head.

"My exact words were, 'If you want to come with me I will not try to stop you', I will stand by those words but now you have options. Life in space is not easy and you have to constantly watch your back, it is not a life I recommend unless you have no choice. The choice is yours but I want you to really think about it."

Looking at Amy I continued.

"I may only have a small ship but I will take you both with me if that is what you wish."

The queen clapped her hands.

"Oh that reminds me. My husband is unsure what to give you as a reward. Perhaps a larger ship would do?"