“No, we already know about that one. There are more islands to the west of the peninsula. There are also islands to the south of the land bridge.”

  Mercy says “You mean our honeymoon island?”

  “Yes, there were a lot more islands further south that I didn’t explore.”

  Mercy says "Exploration is a good reason to build up the industry. Alright, I will take charge of it, you just need to find me the people.”

  “King Vex’s capital is a port city, I will see who I can find there. That reminds me, when are you scheduled to leave?”

  Mercy says “I am supposed to trade places with Lin when we arrive at the capital.”

  “Alright, Lin can join us, but I want you to delay leaving for a day or two. That will give me a chance to free people from the island and look for a ship builder. Then you will be able to take them with you, at least those that choose to join us.”

  Mercy says “I certainly won’t turn down more time with you, even if it does mean more work for me.”

  “It won’t be that much more work, will it?”

  Mercy says “Maybe, maybe not. Either way, don’t I deserve a little pampering to make up for the extra work?”

  “I think that can be arranged.”

  I stop eating long enough to give her a deep kiss and notice Mavel smirking at me. However, I am not about to let that bother me, I am well aware that Mercy is manipulating me. She is doing it in good fun and I don’t mind letting her have the small win.

  Besides, she has a point, I am asking her to do more work, so her asking for a reward is fair. Not that I won’t enjoy giving her the reward she is asking for, I definitely will. She would have gotten the attention either way, she just enjoys the game she is playing.

  It probably comes from dealing with politics so much, she isn’t used to asking for things directly. Each of my wives has different personalities and different needs, something I am not good at. This time spent with them individually has helped me learn to be better about it.

  In fact, I’d be willing to bet that this was Lin’s plan all along and it is working. Of course, I don’t plan to let on that I figured it out, she will enjoy it more that way. Besides, she will know it worked from how my actions have changed, so nothing needs to be said.

  We finish eating and get the caravan moving for the day, but I don’t get to enjoy it. I was planning to spend the ride with Mercy, but she again invited all the females to ride with her. I quickly escape the carriage and the giggling and ride up top to chat with Leylisha and Lizzy.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Luckily, the women only hang out until the caravan stops for lunch, after lunch they return to their own carriages. Instead of getting back into the carriage, I make Mercy stay behind with me as the caravan gets moving. She looks confused, but is willing to trust me and waits to see what I am up to.

  I return to normal form and shrink down till I am just the right size for a single rider. Mercy quickly figures out what I intend and climbs into the saddle with a smile. She wraps her arms around my neck and hugs it tightly as I take to the air.

  I fly just high enough for us to have a good view and then start just flying around. I am not looking for anything, I am just enjoying flying around and spending time with Mercy. I zig-zag back and forth along the path that the caravan is following so I don’t lose track of them.

  It also means that I will be close enough to respond if anything attacks the caravan. We are still in King Cecil’s lands, the caravan will cross the border sometime tomorrow. This area is civilized so I don’t expect any problems from beasts, but there are other threats.

  The most likely threat would be from bandits, so I keep my eyes open as I fly back and forth. Although, with as many guards as the caravan has it would take a large and brave bandit group to attack it. Since I don’t know anything about this area, I can’t discount that possibility.

  I don’t see any bandit activity as I am flying around, but I do see plenty of the kingdom’s soldiers. The area is well patrolled and from everything I can see the kingdom is very safe. My opinion of King Cecil goes up by a couple of notches just from what I can see.

  We pass many small towns and villages, all of which look well cared for and peaceful. I dip lower for a closer look at a few of them and the people look healthy and happy. The rest of the time I spend chatting with Mercy, who has not let go of my neck the entire time.

  When the sun starts to set, I fly ahead of the caravan and find a nice scenic hilltop to land on. While we wait for the caravan to catch up, Mercy and I have a nice picnic style dinner. Of course, I cheat outrageously by using the pouch to provide said dinner, but Mercy doesn’t seem to mind.

  As far as romantic endeavors go, I don’t think I did very good, but at least I made an effort. Mercy seems to be thoroughly enjoying it, even if it was thrown together last minute. By the time the caravan catches up, we have already finished eating and moved into the cabin.

  The caravan stops and sets up camp right next to where I placed the cabin, as planned. I judged where the caravan would need to stop and chose a good place for it to do so. Mercy and I don’t come out to greet them, we are too busy having our fun in the cabin.

  Our fun lasts a lot longer than usual, I seem to have lit a fire in Mercy that drives her on. If I didn’t know any better I would say that she is trying to exhaust me all on her own. She doesn’t stand a chance, but it is certainly enjoyable to let her try to.

  If I had a stamina restoring spell I would cast it on her just to see if she would keep going. As it is, she keeps going until she is completely exhausted and passes out in my arms. I would be a little worried if I didn’t know that my aura was healing her the entire time.

  She might suffer a little in the morning from exhausting her stamina, but that is all. It certainly won’t be the first time that has happened, she will know what she is in for. After catching my breath, I hold Mercy in my arms and open a soulscape for the usual group.

  I lead everyone in doing some training and then we all play together for a while. Afterwards, I skip visiting the goddesses and go straight into the hallway to do some exploring. As tempting as it is to enter the battlefield, I force myself to turn away from the black door.