Allie walked over to where Lord Walter and the Lady Paige knelt washing the dishes after she got done with her dinner. "You know, there is something really disturbing to watch my Lord and Lady washing dishes like common scullery hands."

Lord Walter smiled as he took the tray she brought over with her, "Given how many dishes I washed in Lord Weir's keep when I was a lad, I can't believe I still voluntarily choose to do it myself. But I can't expect anyone else to do something I myself am not willing to do on occasion."

Paige kissed his cheek, "I think that is just one of the many things that makes you so adorable. Even though you are the Lord and have people under you to do the gritty work, to stand the worst watches you still help out, you take those watches, and you still stand in the forefront of danger to protect those under you."

Allie smiled, "I wanted to let you know my Lord that I am now convinced that this blight is over. My goddess has confirmed that the magic that powered it is completely gone. And life is returning. While it will be a long time before the trees come back, the grass will recover with the next rain. The trees and bushes with deeper roots that still live will push up new shoots. Thirty years from now the casual observer won't be able to tell anything bad happened here. The water sources will clear within the next week."

Lord Walter smiled, "That is indeed great news. So is my Lady safe now?"

Allie looked at him seriously, "How about safer? I will continue to monitor you my Lady. And as I said the other night I want you to keep drinking the supplement I have been making for you for the foreseeable future."

Paige nodded, "If you believe I need to do so then I will follow your advice."

"I will take over for you my Lord," Allie told him.

Lord Walter smiled, "It is fine Allie, go enjoy your time with Sir Cabe."

Allie shook her head, "Someone has some questions, they came up during dinner after our Lady came over here to join you. And I assure you, only you can answer them my Lord."

Lord Walter saw her pointing and he looked back to the far side of the camp and saw Ralph standing by where they'd dropped the pieces of rock that Walter had busted the gold free from. He was looking off towards the mining camp. Lord Walter nodded, "I'll be back my Lady." He kissed Paige before he got up and brushed off his knees as he began walking away.

Paige looked over and frowned as Allie knelt next to her, "What's going on with Ralphy?"

Allie picked up the last bowl and started washing it. "After you came over the subject of you and our Lord having children came up," Allie told her.

Paige drew in a deep breathe, "Damn you Toby."

Allie laughed, "I wonder how you figured that out? But I wouldn't worry about it, I'm sure his questions are going to be more about his place in our Lord's life."

Lord Walter stepped up next to Ralph and he bent down and picked up a piece of the rock that the gold had formed in. He chucked it hard and they both watched it fly easily half the distance to the mining camp. "Are you okay lad?" Walter finally asked him after he chucked another piece.

Ralph nodded slowly, "I think so."

"You know you can talk to me about anything, right?" Lord Walter asked as he chucked another piece.

Ralph looked up at him, "Promise?"

Lord Walter relaxed his posture, dropping his Lordly presence, as he turned to face him with a smile, "Ralph, I may be the Lord of Scorpion Keep, I might have taken you as my squire and will be training you to be a Paladin if that is still your wish, but first and foremost I am your Dad now. And I take that most seriously, so if you have questions I am here for you."

Ralph kicked at one of the rock pieces, "A-Are you planning to have any children with Mom?"

Walter's eyebrow rose, "Planning, no, we haven't discussed it. But I am sure one day we'll have another child, provided Athena wills it. Why?"

Ralph looked at him a little puzzled, "Another?"

Walter smiled, "Ralph, you are our child, if we had a child next year that would be another child."

"So if you had another child, what does that mean for me?" Ralph looked up at him.

Walter looked at him, "Well, it means you would have a sibling." Walter paused as he continued to look at the young man, "Ralph, are you worried that if your Mom and I have another child that it would somehow change your place in our lives?"

Walter saw a tear in his eyes as Ralph slowly nodded.

Walter reached down and lifted Ralph up. Sitting Ralph on his left forearm at his waist, "Ralph, all that would mean is you would have to share our time with your sibling. Especially your Mother's, because at first babies need their Mother the most. But we both will love you the same then as we do now. Without exception, you are my son and will still be heir to Scorpion Keep. No other child will ever change those facts."

Sir Cabe stepped over with the rest of the trays and the utensils. As he handed them to Allie, "My Lady, would you like me to take over the rinsing and drying? Perhaps you would like to go join our Lord and your son?"

"I think I would rather go kick Toby's ass," Paige told him as she stood up.

Sir Cabe looked at Allie and Allie shook her head, "I didn't tell her that he brought it up, she guessed it first try."

Sir Cabe smiled as he kissed the top of Allie's head.

As Paige moved across the campsite she glared at Toby who quickly cringed. She stepped up to Walter as he held and hugged Ralph, "How are my two favorite men?"

Walter felt her arm go around his side and back. He smiled as he looked into her beautiful eyes. "We're good I believe, Ralph was just a little concerned about where he would stand if we had anymore children. I explained that we will love him the same then as we love him today," Walter kissed her.

Paige returned his kiss. As she looked at Ralph smiling at her she smiled at him, "Do you believe I love you?"

Ralph nodded.

She continued to smile, "Do you believe I love your Dad?"

Ralph nodded.

She reached up and caressed Ralph's face, "Do you think my love for your Dad has made me love you less?"

Ralph shook his head.

Paige winked at Ralph, "And just like with your Dad, if we have another child, my love for you won't ever decrease either."

Ralph leaned out and put his arms around Paige's neck as she pulled him over into her arms and hugged him tightly.

Walter reached out and wrapped his arms around them both.

Lord Walter walked up to Sir Cabe as he stood with Allie from finishing the dishes. "Sir Cabe, I am satisfied from Allie's words that this blight is over. What was tainted from what we have been able to witness is dead and there is nothing more we can do to correct the situation. We'll have to trust it to the forces of nature. I want to get underway as early as possible tomorrow morning. If you don't mind, as you stand first watch this evening I want to you to go through what is left in our supplies and redistribute it among the pack horses so maybe we can pick up the pace a little. I don't want them to suffer and I don't doubt Allie's ability but I want to get my Lady out of here."

Sir Cabe nodded, "I understand my Lord, I will begin shortly. I think we might be able to get an extra league an hour from them. Are you still standing the mid watch tonight?"

Lord Walter nodded, "I'll be sleeping closest to the eastern side of the tent, I will see you at midnight."

Sir Cabe nodded before he turned and they watched Lord Walter walk over to Paige as she stood talking to Happy. He bent over and pushed his shoulder against her stomach as his left arm wrapped around her hips and pulled her tight into his shoulder as he stood up. Paige squealed as she jokingly protested his actions while he carried her into their tent.

Walter and Paige lay in each other's arms following their last orgasm. Walter caressed Paige's shoulder as her head rested upon his chest, "While I think we set Ralph straight, we never did actually talk about kids before we got married."

Paige smiled, "No, we seemed to only have focused on enjoying our time together and getting married. I would like to have a child maybe two with you. That is if you would like kids that are your blood."

Walter smiled, "Because of the attitudes of the people around me back then I don't distinguish between blood or not. As I told Ralph, he is my son, he will be heir to Scorpion Keep one day and no other child will change that. But if you want another child or even more than one than so do I, I will trust in you and the wise Lady in this matter."

Paige smiled as she hugged Walter. Slowly they both drifted off to sleep.

"My Lord," Allie whispered from the side of the tent.

Lord Walter started to groan but remembered at the last minute Paige was suppose to get at least seven hours of sleep. "Yes Allie," he whispered back.

"I'm sorry my Lord, but it is midnight," Allie told him.

"Thank you," Lord Walter told her as he opened his eyes. Paige was lying on her back with her head resting on his left arm. He smiled as he gently lifted his shoulder as he pulled her pillow down under his arm and gently moved his arm out from under her neck. Her head came to rest on the pillow and he slid out from under the blanket and began dressing. He stepped out of the tent and stretched as he yawned.

"Got a full pot of coffee made up my Lord," Sir Cabe told him quietly.

Lord Walter nodded, "Thank you old friend. I'm going to need it tonight."

Allie grinned a bit naughtily at his words, "We got the packs redistributed, so the pack horses should be good to go in the morning if that is still your wish."

Lord Walter nodded, "It is. I'm just so thankful we ended this as quickly as we did. Originally I'd planned we'd be here for another month while we tried to find the source. Righting whatever was wrong and dealing with all the horrors they wrote to me about."

Allie looked at him puzzled, "You didn't really bring enough food stuff to last that long my Lord."

Lord Walter nodded as he poured a cup of coffee and sat down, "We weren't told how bad this was on the local plants and animals. I'd figured we'd be hunting and fishing most of our food. But thanks to you we've had nothing to complain about with our supplies."

Allie nodded, "Of course, you being able to create that ambrosia kind of changes that too. Do you think the next time you create it that I might be able to analyze it to understand it better?"

Lord Walter look up at her, "I don't see a problem with it. You might speak with Sylvester as well. As I recall he had asked the same thing some time ago while we were out on a mission."

Sir Cabe looked at him, "Did you want us to stay up with you a while son?"

Lord Walter shook his head after taking a sip of his coffee, "Go and get some rest, thank you both for everything."

It was perhaps a half hour later that Lord Walter heard the unmistakable sounds of Sir Cabe and Allie making love. His cheeks blushed as he looked around trying to figure out what he could do to mitigate the sounds of their passion. He saw something move in his peripheral vision and he turned his head and saw Paige wrapped in a blanket walk barefoot out of their tent.

"My Love, you are supposed to be asleep," Walter told her in surprise.

Paige shook her head as she stepped up and sat down on his thigh and leaned in against his chest as she brought her legs up over his other thigh. Walter wrapped his arms about her and pulled her tighter to him. Paige smiled and nuzzled her face into his neck.

The blanket parted a little around her shins and he saw her bare legs and he swallowed hard as he looked at her neck where the blanket parted slightly. His hand came up gently and lifted the blanket slightly and he quickly closed it as his face turned a bright red as he realized she hadn't bothered to dress at all.

Walter struggled trying to get his mind off the fact that Paige was sitting on his lap basically naked and failing. His face got redder as he began to get hard. "Umm, my Love, perhaps you should return to the tent," Walter told her softly.

Paige frowned as her eyes opened a little and her left hand came out from under the blanket and she put her finger against his lips as she snuggled in tighter against him. Walter swallowed hard as he saw the blanket had parted exposing her left breast. He swallowed hard as he reached up to pull the blanket closed but his hand instead cupped her breast. He gently squeezed her flesh and then brought his thumb up and over Paige's breast to caress her nipple. Paige smiled as she enjoyed his caresses.

Suddenly he remembered just where they were and his cheeks flamed even more as he pulled the blanket back up. Covering her back up as he held her tighter to him as he silently gave in and just held her. He had to shift her from time to time by lifting her up so his legs could recover before he sat her back down on his lap. Paige slept through it all, even when it was time for Walter to wake Toby and Happy. Walter stood lifting her up in his arms as he carried her first back into their tent and gently lay her back down before going back out and waking Toby and Happy.

Walter stepped back into their tent after Toby and Happy took over. He smiled at his bride as she slumbered and shook his head. He quickly removed his leathers and climbed back under the blankets and pulled Paige over to him. Paige's eyes opened and saw they were back in their tent and she smiled as she put her leg over his while she laid her head on his chest and her arm across his stomach. They both drifted off to sleep.

Paige woke up to the sounds of everyone out by the campfire. As she went to stretch her hand came across Walter's lower torso and she felt his erect manhood. Paige smiled and the smile curled up into wickedness as she recalled how she walked out naked, wrapped in one of their blankets to sit on his lap.

Paige looked up at Walter's face as he slept. Wanting to make up for the teasing she reached down and touched herself, gently caressing and stroking her own soft folds. She closed her eyes as she recalled the first time Walter touched her as intimately as they flew on the back of Selase. Her breathing increased as those memories sweep over her. She could almost feel once again as she gripped his manhood the first time, releasing him and then squeezing again. She gasped as her passion soared as she remembered getting his pants opened and taking his naked flesh into her hands. Her eyes opened as she saw she had pulled the blanket down and had his manhood in her hand as she squeezed him. She threw her leg over his waist as she straddled him. She rose up as she reached between them and took hold of his manhood as guided him within herself. She groaned deeply as she slid further down until he was fully within her.

Allie sat before the campfire and had just passed Ralph his breakfast when she looked towards the tent of her Lord and Lady and she blushed just a bit. Sir Cabe happened to be looking at her and saw the color in her cheeks and looked where she was and he smiled with a slight laugh.

Sir Cabe reached over and drew her head over as he whispered, "Let me guess, our departure has been delayed?"

Allie nodded.

It was nearly ten AM as Lord Walter and his company rode out of their campsite. He chose to ride due south for a league before altering their direction a bit to the east so they would meet up with the road. He wasn't taking any chances with Paige's health. He wasn't going to take her anywhere close to Wheeler's Ridge. He set a slightly quicker pace, he'd plan to use the pace to get Paige out of the area as fast as possible but with their love making that morning they would be lucky enough to make their last campsite before dinner.

Florence sat in the large classroom watching the kids as they finished the latest tasks before the day was over. She couldn't help wondering if Lady Bethany had met up with Paige yet. She smiled as she had visions of Paige's broken and partially dismembered body lying on the ground. She could see Lord Walter's legendary anger exploding like cannon fire as he literally destroyed Lady Bethany in retribution. She planned to pull out all the stops to comfort Lord Walter through his grief.

The town crier began ringing the town bell denoting it was three PM. It caused the kids to all scream in excitement as they hurried to gather their things and head home. All the noise in turn broke Florence's day dream.

As she closed up the school house she looked up at the Keep and decided to journey up to see if there had been any word from the Lord yet. She knew it was most likely too early but she just couldn't make it through the weekend if she didn't go check.

"Mistress Francine, how wonderful to see you," Raynold greeted Florence as she walked into the Keep.

Florence's teeth ground together, "Its Florence."

Raynold smiled with a slight bow, "My apologies. Is there something I can help you with?"

Florence smiled sweetly, "I had just missed our Lord so much during the festival and was curious if there had been some word about their return. I still need to evaluate his squire for placement. It was Ralph, wasn't it?"

Raynold continued to smile, "Our Lord's absence is always a trying time for all of us. He did plan that they would be gone for two months, I doubt we will see them before school is out for the summer. His squire's name is indeed Ralph. Sadly I haven't received any communications from them as yet.

Florence nodded in disappointment, "Thank you Raynold. I hope you have a good weekend."

Raynold smiled after Florence as she walked out of the Keep. 'Strange, I thought she already understood that the Lord was with Paige now. Perhaps I best have someone check on Florence,' Raynold thought to himself.

Lord Walter led the company up the slight hill to their previous campsite and they quickly set about getting everything set up. Allie took a moment to walk over and examine the few blades of grass that had sprung up the night before they left and she smiled at the blades as they were thriving on the blight free land. Indeed, even more blades were coming up around them. Lord Walter saw her staring at the ground as he placed the tent he shared with Paige down. He stepped over to her, "Is everything okay Allie?"

Allie smiled as she pointed, "Those blades of grass are doing so well. Can we ensure none of us damages them my Lord?"

Lord Walter smiled, "For all you've done for me, gladly."

"Friends," Lord Walter spoke in his commanding voice, "This section of the camp is off limits to give Allie's grass the best chance to live."

After Walter got their tent put up, as well as the tent for Happy and Kaylee, Paige walked over to him. She kissed him deeply before asking, "Would you please make some more of that ambrosia for dinner?"

Walter smiled, "If you really want it, I will make it for you."


With the power behind the blight destroyed and everything returning to normal that brings this leg of the adventure to a close. What lays in store for our company before they return to Scorpion Keep? Hope you are all doing well, it got cold here again. Sad to go from windows and door open one day to heat back on the next. To the Adventure! -Tim