The Project

Chapter 14

The Project Chapter 14

When everyone was seated, Kelly sat on the queen's left, while Lord Giselbert sat at her right. Alex sat next to him. Mullein Shade sat at Kelly's left, across from Alex which was pure torture for a healthy young teen like himself. As much as he tried, her barely covered breasts caused him major distraction. Lord Morrone sat to the left of the sorceress, with Garmik next to him, while Arna sat at Alex's left. He also had another concern, and that was the sort of food they would be eating. Alex was a picky eater, and although his mom was a decent cook, he really preferred restaurant type food over everything else. Looking over the plates and bowls filled with hot food, he saw nothing familiar,

"Christ!" He thought, "How am I ever going to get through the evening, that damn witch is teasing me with her t**s, I've got to make a good show of eating god knows what or we might not leave this planet alive." Looking over at Kelly chatting away with the queen and Lord Giselbert, he thought.

"Isn't she having a time, man this really sucks."

Servants then began to serve the food and "crunch" time arrived. Then a funny thing happened, only small portions of each food were placed on his plate, the same thing happened with Kelly as well. Alex also noticed that most of the fare consisted of vegetables and fruits, however what looked like a turkey was being carved by a servant. Well he liked turkey; maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

Pippa riku was its name, and it did taste an awful lot like turkey. There was Kedra that tasted like trout. Hicioli was actually broccoli, but not the tasteless stuff his mother served entirely too much. Thick slices of Yama, which was like whole wheat sourdough bread. Kidyne salad, a very tasty bean soup, and finally ronol which was like a yellow asparagus. Wine was served as well, something he had never cared for, not that he's ever had a lot of it.

Without realizing it, Alex had really chowed down on the "groceries," but it didn't seem like it since most of the time he was talking to someone. Every time one serving would disappear, a servant would dish out another portion onto his plate.

The dinner conversation ranged far and wide, questions about earth and where the Aos sí had settled. That was Kelly's area of expertise; Alex stuck to general topics, but asked a lot of questions about the Ladhas living on Doradus. Garmik was also doing a lot of talking as well, especially when the subject of transportation between Doradus and Deneva came up.

"When did you realize the Ladhas was living on Doradus?" Asked Alex.

"A very long time ago," said Lord Morrone, "but it wasn't until out telescopes were improved to such a point that we could actually see their watch fires. Through trial and error, we developed a crude signaling system that involved a very powerful light being flashed through a telescope. We have an extremely powerful one atop Mount Kowar up in the Witchfires, that we send messages with, but since the Golians make periodic visits they transport our ambassadors or Lord Giselbert back and forth."

Well our offer still stands," replied Alex, "I'd like to see Doradus. Who's the king or queen up there?"

"They have a king and a queen," replied the Lord. "Chodo Valsung is their king, and his wife is named Elliha."

"What's Doradus like?" Asked Alex.

"Certainly a lot more industrialized than here on Deneva," replied Morrone, they got all the dwarves, and according to the reports, a lot of iron ore, kroma, vulnite, and Konia. So as you might guess, they do a lot more metal work up there, as a result, a lot more trade with the Golians."

Garmik had been listening to all this, then asked,

"Why is it Deneva isn't involved in more of this sort of industry?"

Because we simply prefer a more agrarian society," replied Lord Morrone.

"Don't get me wrong, we have deposits of iron ore and kroma as well, and most of our metal work is done here on Deneva."

"Have you ever considered possibly having one or possibly two transport craft to travel between here and Doradus?" Asked Garmik,

"Well as you know, we gave up space travel a very long time ago; still…There are times when I wish we didn't have to wait on the Golians." Sighed Lord Morrone,

"Why, what did you have in mind?"

"MY people on Xindus are capable of building you basic transport craft, nothing elaborate mind you, just simple transport for passengers and freight. If you had two, and Doradusians had two, your worlds would be joined. For anything more substantial you would still have the Golians to assist."

"Who would pilot these craft?" Asked Morrone,

"There are qualified specialists on Xindus," replied Garmik, but perhaps you could retain the services of the Golians to fly these craft, until such time as your own people could be trained."

"What you purpose Garmik sounds very intriguing," replied the Lord, "However I would need to discuss this with my queen, along with representatives from Golia, and Doradus."

"I will be happy to answer any and all questions concerning the type of craft we could build for you."

After everyone had gone through the main meal, various desserts were served.

One of them was grimin fruit pie, both Alex and Kelly both felt that two slices just wasn't enough it was a desert to "die" for.

As if that wasn't enough, after dinner drinks were served. When a servant poured a light brown liquid into the goblet in front of him he looked around to see if there was disapproval towards him drinking what he had been told was a brandy made from the famous RipDyne plums. When he saw none, he reached over and helped himself to a generous swig of the sweet and very tasty beverage. Fergus the leprechaun had been standing slightly behind his chair talking to Lord Morrone when he looked up to see Alex drinking the brandy like it was fruit juice.

"Aaa young man!" Alex turned to see the little man staring up at him and grinning.

"Have you ever partaken RipDyne brandy before?"

"Uh no, but this stuff is really good, is it fruit juice?" By now Lord Morrone was in on the conversation as well, and both he and Fergus burst out laughing. Fergus then said to the Lord,

"Five weins says he doesn't make it out of the room under his own power."

"You're on Fergus," replied Morrone.

"Oh s**t! What did I just do?" Thought Alex. Already he felt his head starting to float like a balloon. Lord Morrone then leaned over and said,

"Perhaps your metal friend there can assist you back to your quarters because you certainly won't be able to on your own."

Alex had only gotten drunk twice in his life, once at a party he and Palmer had attended and another when he and Wyatt, and one of Wyatt's friends tried to see how fast they could drink a fifth of tequila. He knew now that those experiences were nothing compared to this. Although he wasn't feeling sick yet, he knew it was only a matter of time. He could hear people talking to him but he couldn't make out what they were saying, then everything just started to fade to black.

From time to time Alex thought he heard people talking around him but maybe it was just a dream. Finally he opened his eyes and looked around, well it looked like he was in bed, but not his bed…Oh wait, it was his bed, he'd forgotten that he and the others were staying in the guesthouse. He then started to take "readings" of his situation and try and remember why he was here.

"Oh yeah they went to that fancy dinner with the queen, and he drank some pretty bitchin wine or whatever it was,

"Well from the light coming in the windows it must be morning, man! How long was I asleep?" He then tried to sit up but for some reason, couldn't, then checking himself, discovered he was wearing only a tee-shirt and his underwear.

"Did I undress myself, or did someone else?" He wondered. Turning his head, he saw that he was the only one in the bed. Laying there a moment, Alex thought to himself.

"Well that must have been some pretty potent s**t I drank last night, Damn! But why can't I get out of this bed?" By this time his vision had cleared, and turning his head the other way he realized someone was sitting in a chair next to his bed.

Then a voice said,

"Welcome back to the land of the living, feeling better?"

"Wait! He thought, "I've heard that voice, who is it?" As he turned a little further, he now realized it was Fergus the Leprechaun, dressed in his trim little red outfit.

"Fergus, what are you doing here?" He squeaked. The leprechaun chuckled,

"Well after last evening, I thought I'd stop by to see how you were, and offer you something to take care of ails ye, and after you drank that brandy as fast as you did, I figure you have plenty."

"Well Fergus," my mouth is as dry as a desert, my head feels stuffed up, but for some reason I can't seem to get out of bed." Fergus laughed.

"The reason you can't get out of bed is because I put a retaining spell on you. It's harmless, and for your own protection. For some reason, getting drunk on RipDyne brandy causes folk to walk in their sleep, but I think it's time we got that off ye."

Alex saw the leprechaun do something with his hands and then suddenly he felt unrestrained. Then Fergus handed him a small cup,

"Drink this; you'll feel a whole lot better in a little while." Alex took the cup and sniffed the contents. It had a familiar smell, but he couldn't place it at the moment. Drinking it down, he noticed it had a sour fruit taste, but at least he didn't gag.

"Man, that was some nasty ass stuff I drank last night," he husked.

"RipDyne brandy is some of the finest liquor in the land my friend," said Fergus.

"The Golians make it using a secret process. The trick is to sip it, however we lepreehun along with dwarves, or so I'm told can drink it much as you did last night with no ill effects, next time just take tiny sips and you'll be fine."

Alex noticed his head starting to clear, he didn't have a headache which generally defined a hangover, but he still felt pretty crappy.

"Where is everyone Fergus?" He slowly asked.

"Well your metal friends are up at the palace speaking to the queen and Lord

Giselbert. Your lady friend is off somewhere with Mullein Shade, so I guess it's just the two of us me friend." Alex studied the little man who was now sitting on the nightstand.

"Shouldn't you be wearing green?" Asked Alex. Fergus looked himself over, and shrugged,

"This is what I wear most times, green ya say, now why would that be?"

"Well back on earth Leprechaun's supposedly wear green because they're all from Ireland, that's their national color." Fergus chuckled,

"Ya don't say, green eh, so what? Dark green, light green, a mix?"

"A medium green I guess," replied Alex, but I see you're wearing trousers, all the pictures of Leprechaun's I've seen they're wearing knee pants with long white stockings."

Fergus shook his head,

"Nobody's worn clothing like that in many a bliain," said the little man.

"Well it doesn't really matter I guess," sighed Alex, "If there were ever leprechaun's in Ireland, they're all gone now."

"I heard the young lass talking about them," sighed Fergus, "Can you tell me any more about the "wee folk" on your world?"

"Do you people have rainbows here?"

"Yes," replied Fergus.

"Well supposedly one of the legends stated that leprechaun's were always stashing pots of gold at the end of rainbows, and that if you were lucky enough to catch one, they would offer you three wishes. But it seems to me I read something about that a long time ago. Something about the way you had to phrase your wishes. If you didn't make the wish just right, they could turn it around on you."

Fergus laughed,

"Listen boyo, if I had a pot of gold I certainly wouldn't be wasting my time hiding it for some hapless fool to stumble on. But as for wishes, actually I can do that, but here again, it would be no different than if I were very wealthy, and you came up to me asking for weins."

"Not that I would ask, and strictly out of curiosity," inquired Alex, "But what sort of wishes could you grant? Obviously if someone wished for world peace you couldn't grant that, or wishing for all the gold in the world. But what if someone asked to be young again, or wanted to be the opposite s*x, you know, stuff like that?" Fergus gave him a curious look, and then asked.

"Is there magic on your world Alex?" He shook his head,

"No sir, certainly not like here. Oh there are people called magicians, who try and claim the tricks they do are really magic, but when you realize what they're actually doing, it turns out to be fake." Fergus nodded,

"I thought as much, perhaps that's why the Aos sí all died out. But true magic taps into certain planetary forces. It's very structured, and very complicated to learn, and once you do learn it, you have to keep practicing it all the time, say one word, or forget a hand gesture, and your spell won't work. Take Mullein Shade for example, and by the way, I caught you staring at her charms, but she was simply teasing you, you're the first person in a long time that she's been able to do that with."

As I was saying, Mullein is head of the witch's league simply because she is a genius. She has the rare ability to remember a wide variety of spells without having to go to a spell book, no one else has that ability. As for meself, I only know six, maybe seven spells by heart. As for wishes, well they would have to be simple ones you understand. Don't ask me to make it rain, or the wind to blow; we have storm wardens for that sort of thing." Fergus looked like he was getting bored, so he added,

"Say, why don't you get dressed, and I'll show you around Gwyn Wood, and introduce you to some of my friends." Alex liked the idea, especially since he was now feeling a whole lot better.