"I'm sorry for interrupting," The King said, surprised in his tone, "but, Grandparents?"

"Yes, your majesty, my grandparents," Will said and then shrugged. "I think it is time for me to tell you about my mother and when I went to live with my grandparents."

"Wait," Sir Balefor said as the blood drained from his face, "you are a mixture of three races and trained by the Gob'Ran?"

The disbelief in his voice made Will chuckle. "Yes, Sir Balefor, I am half-human, one-quarter Elf, and one-quarter Orc, and trained by the Gob'Ran on top of the training that my father gave me."

The captain muttered quietly to himself. "I'm glad you're on our side."

Will smiled at this and then turned back to the King. "Sir, my mother was Yilnar Valdesh; my father met her on a mission."

"I believe it was the diplomatic mission that you sent him to establish contact with the collective on," Yilan said, her voice filled with that strange melodic tune of the elves.

"Yes," Will said and continued, "he met her, and they rapidly fell in love. This is what my father told me; when I was born, he pulled back from others and focused on his family. Apparently, when I was five years old, they tried for a second child, and both my sibling and my mother died in the attempted labor. I don't remember much of her other than her laugh and the lullaby she used to sing to me."

"When our daughter passed," Got'Ro said, his voice trembling in anger, "we wanted to be a larger part of Will's life, but as per the wishes of her last will and testament, we stayed away, letting Will and his father decide when would be best for our families to reunite."

Yilan placed a hand on her husband's shoulder, and the Orc seemed to take a deep breath. "It is as my husband says, other than letters a couple of times a season and on special occasions, we had no contact with Will until he was about fourteen; we received a letter from Brock that he was sending his son to us, and that Will would stay with us until he returned."

He took over to tell of his time with his grandparents. The first few weeks were an adjustment phase, with his grandparents catching up on what had happened in Will's life. This all changed when a letter was delivered via magic to Will; it was the letter from his father, telling Will that he had died in service to the King and that the ring that was Brock's was Will's to do with as he pleased.

On that night, Yilan and Got'Ro had received reports that Will had forced his way through the gate into an enchanted forest currently ruled by a pack of black drakes. Thinking the worst, Yilan and Got'Ro had assembled a group to go with them and bring Will back. Instead, they found a sobbing Will amidst a group of five dead drakes; the others had fled.

Yilan and Got'Ro knew that Will needed something to focus on and had hoped to divert his wrath from the King, as Brock had told them some details of Will's ability and of his own friendship with the King. So towards that effort, they had set Will to train with their best warriors.

By the time Will had turned nineteen, he was widely respected throughout the Gob'Ran Collective as the foremost warrior ever to walk our lands, but his anger and rage had not cooled; it was then that he turned his eyes to the Kingdom.

The rest of the tale was told by Will as he laid out his journey, how he had traveled the four months from the Gob'Ran Collective to the Kingdom, set up shop as a day laborer, and then began forming his plan.

All told, it took two hours to tell the tale, with Yilan, Will, and Got'Ro telling different parts.

"Well, that is quite the tale." The King said, his hand stroking his beard as he processed everything that had been said.

"Surely you don't believe this?!" A voice said from one of the servant's doors. Will turned to see Alkard.

"Alkard, you were not bidden to enter this meeting!" The King exclaimed, rising to his feet.

"It's quite all right, your highness," Yilan said, and Will's eyebrows shot to his forehead. He knew that tone from his grandmother; she was furious. "Tell me, you magical imposter, what about that tale is so unbelievable? And why did you see fit to sneak into a room of your betters."

The King's eyes fell on Alkard, demanding answers to the questions. So Alkard spoke. "As the court wizard, it is my duty to be available to the King to answer any questions that pertain to magic and to aid in his defense should peaceable communication break down. As to what is so unbelievable, you expect me to believe that a boy of fourteen years singlehandedly took down five black drakes with no magic; they are almost impervious to physical attacks."

"I must admit I was curious about that as well." Sir Balefor said, but his eyes indicated he was as upset with Alkard as the King.

Yilan's eyes widened as she rounded on Will. "You really did it, didn't you?"

"I told you I would, didn't I?" Will spat back with a venom that caused his grandmother to flinch. Will felt bad about that. "I'm sorry, Ye-wa, but I said I would do it."

The use of the elvish pet name for Grandmother softened her hurt look. "That explains why I could not sense you either," Yilan said, thinking to herself.

"What did Will do?" Ilicia asked, curious as to what would shock Will's grandmother so.

"That is…" Got'Ro said, stepping forward, "A delicate matter. If you wish to hear the full accord of the events in detail, we will require you to all agree to a piece of blood magic called a pact."

Will saw the eyes of everyone in the room widen. Blood magic was something that only Orcs could use, and it was vicious. The pact spell was known as well; if you violated the agreement tied to the pact, your own blood would become poisonous and kill you instantly.

"To make up for my rude subordinate, I will agree to this." The King said, but Will could see the thirst for knowledge in his eyes and knew it had far more to do with wanting to know at any cost.

"Your Majesty, you can't!" Alkard said, and Will could see that Sir Balefor wanted to agree.

"I will do as I please. But I will not make anyone do the same. Will you permit them to leave if they disagree with this?" The King said, asking Yilan, who nodded.

Ultimately, The King, The Princess, and Alkard were the only ones who remained. Got'Ro stepped forward and spoke. "As a courtesy to you, as the King of this land, I will allow you to tell your family members of what is spoken here, but if you tell them, they will become bound by the pact as well."

The King nodded, and, Got'Ro raised his hand to his mouth, biting his flesh and bringing forward his blood; he took an untouched goblet of water and let three drops of his blood fall into the water and then spoke an incantation; the water turned black then a deep ocher red.

"By drinking this, you agree never to share the information that you learn pertaining to myself, Yilan, or Will, to any other outside this room. Save for you, your majesty; you may tell your family members, so long as they agree to be bound by the pact as well." Got'Ro spoke the words, and the letters for them seemed to form in the goblet he spoke.

Got'Ran offered the goblet to Alkard, "State your name and then drink."

“Alkard Yintrell Jagsmon.” Alkard said and then took a drink from the glass. His name appeared etched on the side of the goblet.

The Princess took it next. "Ilicia Ter Koltshelg." She drank, and her name appeared.

Finally, the King took it, "Argont Ter Koltshelg the Fourth," he said and then quaffed the rest of the goblet.

"The pact is sealed. Invictorum Exeos," Got'Ro said, and in his hand, the goblet transformed from a metal cup into a clear crystal ball, upon which the oath and the names of those who had drunk were inscribed.

Got'Ro handed the crystal to the King. "Let this serve as a reminder of your pact."

"Very well, I can say this then," Yilan said, waving her hand, and a shimmer of magic transfused the air around her, "I am the last of my kind. The last of the Gilsheribrum, you call us Arcane Elves."

The magic seemed to peel back an illusion on her skin; where once had stood a typical elf by anyone's standard, there now stood a being that had the shape of an elf but whose eyes, nails, and teeth seemed to be made from some kind of crystal, and who skin was almost black, with glowing blue lines of runes running down her face and across most of her exposed flesh.

"Will is one-quarter Gilsheribrum," Yilan said, waving a hand at Will, "he has access to magical powers that seem to outstretch even my own."

The change that came over Will was less dramatic than it had been for Yilan. The fingernails on his hands appeared to be made from the crystal, and running up from his wrists, several lines of runes faded into his skin before they reached his elbow. Lines of runes emanate from his eyes, fading into his skin mere inches from them. His eyes which had previously been a pleasant hazel now looked to glow with a cold blue light around the golden iris.

Alkard fell to his knees. The Princess found it, embarrassingly enough, to be a good look for Will, and the King began laughing.

"Well, that answers a lot!" The King chortled, wiping his eyes. "So what did young Will do?"

"I sealed my magic," Will said, stating the fact. "My magic will still feed active enchantments upon me, and anyone with less magical power than I will find it exceedingly difficult to cast magic on me. But other than that, it will remain sealed; I can not cast magic."

"Is that why I could not affect you?" Alkard muttered to himself. "I thought for sure that it had to be some enchantment on your ring with how you fiddled with it when I first met you."

"I was ensuring that it was not broken," Will said, holding up his hand with the ring on it, "when you cast your spell on me, it affected the ground as well as me, tripping me into the ground. Had this ring broken, the illusion that my grandmother is temporarily suppressing would have been shattered. The ring has other uses, but that is its primary purpose.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Yes, he has sealed his magic, but what he is not saying is that this is very dangerous for anyone who is as innately magical as Will. If I were to do it to myself, I would most likely die; it is a testament to Will's power that he is still alive if nothing else." Yilan said, waving her hand and reinstating the illusions over herself and Will.

"Can you unseal it?" Ilicia asked, genuinely curious.

"I could forcibly unseal it, but by doing so, I would most likely be bedridden for a year or more," Will said.

"Ah, but you used the conditional seal that I taught you, did you not?" Got'Ro said, giving Will a look that promised a beating if he had not.

"I did; upon the condition of my seal, it will be broken, and I will once more have access to my magic," Will said.

"And what is the condition?" The King asked, caught up in his thirst for knowledge.

"The condition of the seal is two-fold, firstly, if one I love is in danger, and secondly, if I engage in combat with the traitorous wizard that left my father to die," Will said with a tone that told everyone in the room that he fully intended for combat to take place between himself and Viltar.

"You managed the multi-conditional binding of a seal?!" Got'Ro said, sounding angry and impressed at the same time.

"Yes, I did, grandfather, I worried that if I should marry, for some reason, before I could face the wizard that betrayed my father, the wizard might send minions after my family, so I did what I could to ensure that this was not a problem." Will looked sheepish, but Got'Ro nodded and clapped him on the back, reassuring Will that he had chosen right.

"Very well," Got'Ro said and then turned to the King. "Are there any other questions you wish to have answered regarding this before we move on to why we are here?"

"I am content with the knowledge that I have," Alkard said, his eyes still darting from Yilan to Will and back.

"As am I." Responded the King.

"I have one question," Ilicia said. "I have heard legends of the Arcane Elves; I know that your people were hunted for various reasons. But all the legends agreed that, unlike many other races, your people were incapable of intermixing with other races. How is it that your daughter could come about, let alone Will?"

"I like her," Yilan said to Got'Ro in Elvish, smiling at the Princess and continuing in common. "You would be right, Princess, if the circumstances that allowed for my daughter's conception were anything akin to normal. It was a particularly rare set of magics and powers that aligned to make it happen. While Got'Ro and I have tried since then, and it is incredibly pleasurable, there has not even been a hint of the growth of life in my body. Will that be a sufficient answer to the question?"

"It is, but it also raises the question of if Will is bound by the same limitations and if his mother experienced a similar alignment of power to conceive her children." The Princess said.

"Careful, boy, she might be looking to get a child off you," Got'Ro said to Will in Orcish, a harsh and guttural language.

"We could only hope," Yilan said in Orcish as well before switching back to common again after a short laugh at how red Will's face had grown. "I apologize; we were poking fun at Will. And no, Princess, Will is not limited by this, and neither was his mother. I suspect that her ability to become pregnant was roughly halved from a normal Orc. Still, I suspect Will is not impacted in any way as his heritage is half-human and only a quarter of the others. As it is commonly known, humans are by far the most…Um, shall we say compatible with almost every species?"

Yilan gave a suggestive wiggle of her eyebrows that made Ilicia blush, the King laughed at this, and Alkard looked as if he was going to die from the disrespect of someone speaking to the Princess like that.

"Forgive my wife; she is most outspoken, especially regarding humans, who are known to be quite prudish compared to the elves and Orcs. If that is all, may we invite our respective retinues in again?" Got'Ro said, looking around the room and receiving nods from all around, moving to open the doors that the Drethi stood behind.

Sir Balefor also moved to allow the other guards and servants back in.

"Very well, back to business," Yilan said once the room was filled once more. "As established in the charter of alliance, The Gob'Ran Collective would hereby request and call upon and request the help of the Kingdom in a diplomatic venture. Our territory, as you know, is to the north, or yours, and further north of us is a land you call the magic wilds. A Small land, not even half the size of the Gob'Ran Collective, has petitioned us for an alliance. They control a swath of the Magic Wilds from the Gob'Ran Boarders up the coast to the Sheildspire mountains."

The meeting droned on and on until finally, the King called for a conclusion of talks until the following day. Will spoke quickly with his grandmother and grandfather before walking Princess Ilicia back to their quarters.

"So you are quite the special person, aren't you, Will?" Ilicia said playfully.

"I guess you could say that Ilicia," Will said, nervous under the scrutiny.

"Your grandfather said that humans are prudish; is that accurate?" She asked.

"Yes, Elves and Orcs both tend to be far more abrupt and upfront with the things on their minds," Will said after a moment of thought.

"Can you give me an example?"

Will thought for a moment. "Well, the best one that I can think of is that after graduating from my training with the Gob'Ran Ogdeshi, my instructor told me quite blatantly that should I wish to, she would willingly serve as a source for my sexual release. I am paraphrasing, as she was far more, shall we say, suggestive with her words."

"No!" Ilicia said, covering her mouth in slight embarrassment.

"Yes," Will said, laughing at the Princess's reactions, "She was quite clear that she would submit completely to my will."

They both laughed and then continued their walk in silence. As they approached the doors to their respective rooms, Ilica stopped and turned to Will. "I assume that you learned to be as blunt as any Orc or Elf, so I have to ask, what would you say to me if I were not human? What would you say to me if I were simply an Orc girl, or an Elf girl, from the Gob'Ran?"

"Ilicia, that is not appropriate; I really don't think that.." Will began but was cut off.

"Oh, nonsense, I am the Princess, and you are the Princess's Man; there are to be no secrets between us. Tell me, speak to me how you would any other in the Gob'Ran." Ilicia said with a self-satisfied smirk.

Will thought for a moment. "Well, I will assume that you would be an Elf in this exercise, as Orc women, despite their particular charms, are just not on par with your beauty. If you were an Elf that I knew well, I might say that it is my deepest wish to be shown to your chambers and be allowed to undress you. If you were someone who I was not interested in a long-term relationship, I would be far crasser both in words and actions."

"Really?" Ilicia squeaked out, blushing brightly at what he had already said. Being the Princess, not a single man had ever spoken to her like this before. Ilicia found it exhilarating. Ilicia took a breath and then cleared her throat quietly. "Show me."

Will stopped in his tracks where he had been about to open the Princess's door and ensure that the room was as empty as it had been left. "I'm sorry, what, Ilicia?"

Ilica steeled herself, embarrassment and excitement warring inside her. "I said show me. Treat me as you would a woman who you wanted little more than a pleasant encounter with."

"Princess, I can not, you are the Princess, and I am your protector; it would be beyond inappropriate," Will said; despite the offers that he had received from countless Orcish and Elvish women, he was finding this more intimidating than any other interaction with any other woman.

Ilicia surprised him then, pushing up against him. Will backed away from Ilicia but came up against a wall. "So big man," Ilicia said in a tone that could only be described as husky, "I haven't seen you before; you looking for a good time?"

Will knew what was coming, and Ilicia could not have known, but Will knew that his libido was incredibly influenced by his Orcish heritage. His mind was flooded with intoxicating want, the Princess was beautiful by any standards, and here she was, pressing herself against him for a game.

It was the Princess's turn to be surprised as Will's massive hand closed gently around her throat, and the rest of his body moved to reverse the pinning; now Ilicia was pinned to the wall with a hand at her throat; it did not squeeze, it was pleasant in an intoxicatingly sexual way.

Will spoke then, leaning down so that his lips brushed her ear as he spoke. In his mind, his responsibility battled against the overpowered orcish sexual drive. "I'm always looking for a good time. The only question is whether you can provide that good time."

What happened next shocked them both. Princess Ilicia moaned and whispered out instinctively, "It's all I want."

The Princess's eyes widened as the words left her mouth, as did Will's. Will's mind asserted control over his libido, and he released the gentle choke the Princess had been leaning into. Will moved quickly, unlocking the door to the Princess's room and stepping inside; he quickly but thoroughly ensured the room was secure.

Will stepped back out. And stood more than an arms-length from the Princess. "Your rooms are secure, Princess Ilicia. I apologize for my actions; my biology is tumultuous at best in matters of sexual origin. I will ensure that you are safely in your rooms and then take my leave to my rooms."

"Thank you Will." The Princess squeaked out, embarrassment like nothing other she had ever felt coursing through her body. She covered her face and disappeared inside. The door closed, and Will heard the door lock.

As Will opened his own door, closing it to flop onto his bed. He could not help but hear the words of his grandparents from an earlier roll through his mind. 'Careful boy, she might be looking to get a child off you.' Got'Ro said, 'We could only hope.' Yilan said

The next morning, Will awoke early and stepped outside to find his grandfather sitting on the ground smoking half-leaf.

"Still an early riser, then?" Will asked his grandfather.

"Of course. I know you can't stray too far from the Princess, but I figured we could spar and still be in the range of hearing if she calls for help. I will even set one of the Drethi to listen if you wish." Got'Ro said and waved his hand. A Drethi disengaged their initiate power of invisibility and stepped up to the door, giving the formal salute of the Bog'Ran.

"Very well," Will said, taking a stance across from his grandfather. "At your mark, old man."

"You brat," Got'Ro said with a smile and then launched himself at Will.

Almost an hour later, Ilicia awoke to cheers outside her door. She quickly dressed with the help of a handmaid that had entered, allowing the sound inside. "What is going on?" Ilicia asked.

"Master Will and the Orc are sparring; I have never seen anything like it, your majesty. And it doesn't hurt that Master Will is shirtless and a mighty fine specimen to look at." The maid said.

"He is, isn't he?" Ilicia said, and the maid smiled at the comment.

As Ilicia walked out, she noticed the scaled Drethi nod to her and then shimmer and disappeared. Then she took in the fight. Despite herself, she felt her blood rush to her cheeks at the sight of Will shirtless and drenched in sweat and trading blows at an insane speed with the Orc, who was not as fast but clearly more than a match for Will's strength.

"Ah, there you are, Princess," Yilan said, moving to stand next to Ilicia. "I feel as if I should tell you something."

"Oh yes, Madame Valdesh, what is that?" Ilicia said, falling naturally into the diplomatic role she had used hundreds of times.

"First of all, call me Yilan, I may be centuries old, but I do not enjoy being addressed as such," Yilan said, then turned and faced the young girl. "That was quite the show you put on last night outside your quarters."

Ilicia looked up to the elven woman with eyes as wide as saucers. "I…You…How?"

Yilan smiled at her and placed an arm around her shoulders. "My dear, I am old, beyond old to humans, and I know a young woman with eyes for a young man when I see one. I was going to talk to Will after he made sure you were safely in your room. But then I saw your little show and how desperately you wanted what was suggested."

"I…" Ilicia had no idea how to deal with what was going through her mind. She stopped and turned to face Yilan and then bowed. "I apologize, Yilan; I was out of line; I should not have pressured your grandson like that. I …”

Yilan cut her off. "Girl, it is none of my business what you do or who you do it with. By all means, if it is your desire, have Will take you every night and revel in it. Gods know the boy could use it. I only want to tell you that the Orcs and the Arcane Elves share a common trait. Intense and unrelenting sexual drives. You got a taste of that when you threw yourself at him like that. So I offer you this: if you want him, take him. But know what you are dealing with, and don't toy with my grandson."

"I…I understand." A highly embarrassed Ilicia stammered out.

"This next thing I tell you as a grandmother and nothing else," Yilan said, placing a finger under Ilicia's chin so she could not look away from Yilan's eyes. "My grandson is the only hope of the Arcane Elves, and I love him more than I could ever explain to you, as he is my only family outside of Got'Ro. If you intentionally harm him, I will level this Kingdom, even if I have to do it alone."

Ilicia felt the blood drain from her face. She knew that one of the reasons that the Arcane Elves had been hunted was that they were an army unto themselves. Power beyond recognition. Ilicia nodded. "It is not my intention to harm him. I rather enjoy his company."

"Good!" Yilan said, smiling kindly at the Princess. "Now it looks like the boys are done. Let's gather them and convince your father why you and Will should be our representatives. That way, the two of you will have some alone time, and you can play that fantasy out some more if you wish."

Ilicia turned bright red, and Yilan laughed as she pulled the young Princess toward the castle.