This is a work of gay-themed romantic fantasy. Some chapters contain explicit descriptions of sex although this one, will not. If reading such material offends you or is illegal for any reason please leave by the way you came. Otherwise enjoy.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
As always thanks for the kind words and encouragement from all of you out there. If you have questions, comments, suggestions or complaints drop me a note at HonableRonable@gmail.com or RonVenable@hotmail.com and I will reply. (If you take the time it's the least I can do). Likewise, if you wish to be notified when new "Doververse" or other content becomes available use one of the e-Mails to notify me and I'll see you are among the privileged firsts to know!
CHAPTER ELEVEN: Fallout
CHARACTERS Ben Dover, age 49 -- our Hero Ethan Gray, age 45 -- Ben's live-in Boyfriend Scooter Browne -- Ben's Housekeeper Montresor and Iphigenia -- Pookah Spies Harrison "Harry" Stanford, age 41 -- merman, Colin's father Susan "Sue" Stanford, age 42 -- Colin's human mother Jay Dover, age 15, -Ben's Son
"You did WHAT? How COULD you?" Ethan was completely enraged and Ben had no idea why. "My God! You pick up some random piece of `were' trash off the street and you FUCK him with no thought about me! You're DISGUSTING!"
"At th' risk o' pissin' ya off even further," Ben said, "how many guys didja have sex with while you were away?"
"Three or four--I think... Honestly I don't know!" the blond man replied hotly. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"THINK about it, Son!" Ben was trying to keep calm but his lover's irrational outburst had made the big man just as angry as Ethan. "YOU have sex with a number o' random guys--which ya don't tell me about by the way--an' ya wanna bust m' balls f'r havin' some fun with just ONE? It don't make sense Ethan!"
"That's different!" the blond man shot back.
"Explain!"
"It just IS, that's all!" Ethan said. "You don't understand!"
"Damn right I don't!" Ben told him. "I feel like I've taken th' fast train t' Crazy Town right now!"
Scooter came in quickly and quietly then moved up to where Ethan was sitting. The Brownie Housekeeper opened a small vial and poured something glittery over Ethan's head. The blond man yawned once then fell over in a dead sleep. "Sorry Sir," Scooter told Ben. "I felt I had to do that before something was said that led to irreparable damage!"
"What th' fuck's goin' on?" Ben asked.
"I don't fully understand Sir," the Brownie replied, "but I know for certain Mr. Gray has been bespelled!"
"Bespelled?"
"Yes Sir," the Brownie replied. "I can smell the `Fairy Magic' on him! Montresor and Iphigenia might know more than I..."
"But, o' course, they ain't here..." Ben was beginning to get a sick feeling that he was in for trouble.
"Since the Pookahs are bound to you--you need merely `summon' them and they will appear..." the Brownie told him.
"Montresor and Iphigenia--GET YOUR POOKAH ASSES IN HERE--NOW!!!" Ben bellowed. "An' if ya don't come f'rget about comin' back EVER!"
Two puffs of wind blew into the room (Pookahs being Air Spirits), resolving into a pair of Mastiffs, fawn and brindle. Both "animals" were minus their customary "cute" accessories. "I telleded you Ben was goin' ta be angwy!" Monty told his partner accusingly. "Now you is goin' ta wuin dis foah boaf of us Figgie!"
"I didn't DO anything, you idiot!" the female snapped. "This was her Majesty's doing and she neither informed nor included me in the process!"
"What did she do?" Ben demanded.
"She had one of her Tribe lay a spell of Contrariness on your mate!" Figgie replied. "And, before you ask, I don't know who laid the spell or why it was done! I'm truly sorry Benjamin--I wish I could be more helpful..."
Ben sensed the Pookah was telling the truth--about this at least. He also got the feeling she felt bad about what had happened. "So--how do we get him fixed?"
"Find the Fairy who made the spell and force him or her to reverse it!" Monty said, dropping the "dumb Bubbah" act. "That's the easiest way..."
"Either that or your brother's partner John-Thomas might know a way to break the spell..." Figgie offered helpfully. "His specialty is Mind Magic after all. I doubt it will be easy though..."
Ben glanced at his watch. "Scooter--c'n ya call John-Thomas n' get im over here?" Ben asked. "I'm late t' pick up Jay an' I don't want th' kid stayin' over at th' Stanfords any longer `n necessary!"
"Certainly Sir," the Brownie replied. "I'd hate for Jay to see Ethan like this but I don't want him with--those people--either!"
"WHERE IS MY SON?" Ben was so angry spittle was flying as he confronted Harry and Sue Stanford, parents of Jay's new "BFF" Colin. In addition to being a spoiled "rich kid" Colin was also the fabled "Golden Prince" the Mer had anticipated for God-knows-how-long.
"As we just told you," Harry was cool as a cucumber, "he went to Cabo San Lucas with Colin."
"He won't be hurt," Sue put in just as calmly. "I'm sure they're having a marvelous time!"
"We respect the Adamantine Herald too much to allow any harm to come to one of his progeny." Harry added.
"You fucking KIDNAPPED my Son!" Ben screamed. "I'm callin' th' Police!"
"If you do that, we'll simply tell them you gave us verbal permission to take him and we have no idea' why you are so angry!" Sue said with poisonous sweetness. "Who do you think the local gendarmes are going to believe--a pair of highly respected' long-time residents or an angry bucolic clod like you? Who knows? YOU might even end up in jail for threatening us!"
Ben smiled. "Bitch!" he growled. "Ya just overplayed y'r hand! Th' LAST thing th' Merfolk want is t' have th' `Adamantine Herald' sittin' in a jail cell!"
"This is true..." Harry agreed. "But the fact remains Ben--we have your Son and he'll be remaining in our care until you agree to meet with the King! Now, if you need to beat the Hell out of me go ahead! I won't fight back and I'll take as much punishment as you care to dish out..."
"You're fuckin' CRAZY!" Ben swore. "And YOU lady..." he turned his wrath on Sue next. "Didja know y'r Son's usin' mental powers t' manipulate ya?"
"Don't you think I KNOW that?" the woman shot back. "My husband is fucking my perfect baby boy and Colin is not only ALLOWING it, he WANTS it! God only knows what else those two have gotten up to and there's not a damn thing I could do about it!"
"Ya c'd leave..." Ben felt the slightest bit of pity for the woman.
"No, I can't..." Sue told him. "Harry keeps 95% of his money in secret offshore accounts that would take years to even find and then, I wouldn't be able to access them! If I divorce Harry I'll be broke and over forty with no skills but how to be a `Professional' Wife! There are a lot of younger women out there ready and willing to fill those jobs! So, you see Mr. Dover, in my way I'm just as stuck as you are..."
"Y'r soul is worth more n'," Ben glanced around at the grand and expensive room, "all this... Me, I'd sell pencils on a street corner n' live in my car b'fore I sold m'self so cheaply!"
"I'm not you!" she shot back.
The Texan sighed, knowing this woman was well and truly lost to him. "I want t' talk t' m' Son!" he growled.
"I don't know if I can do that..." Harry told him.
"Well, ya better hope y' can!" Ben shot back. "That is--unless ya want a pack o' God-touched Heroes an' a few dozen Fey that owe me favors descendin' on y'r compound in Cabo..." Honestly, he didn't have that many friends among the Exotics and wasn't sure how useful an Elf, a Fairy and a few Shifters would be but Harry or Sue didn't know how well he was connected. "Ya better get m' Son on th' phone PRONTO!"
"I'll see what I can do..." Harry left the room and spoke quietly on his cell phone. A few minutes later he came back to where the big man was angrily pacing. "They've gone to find him," he told Ben. "Jay and Colin are swimming with some of the other youngsters..."
Ben angrily paced until Harry handed him the phone. "Hey Dad!" Jay said brightly.
"Are ya OK Son?" was the first thing the Texan asked.
"Um--yeah..." Jay replied. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Because when ya git home y'r gonna be on In-Room Restriction FOR A MONTH!" Ben snapped. "Do ya have any idea how worried I was when I found ya without y'r phone?"
"Aw man!" Jay whined. "This is SO not fair!"
"Any time ya don't like th' rules I c'n ship ya back t' y'r Mom boy!" Ben growled. "If you aren't satisfied with my rules y'r welcome t' go back t' Texas! At least this time you'll go by plane!"
"Aw MAN!"
"Six weeks in-room restriction!" Ben snapped.
"I don't get it..." Jay was now both confused and a little scared to hear how angry his Dad was. "What did I do?"
"Ya got on a plane without m' permission an' ya took off t' another COUNTRY!" Ben shouted into the phone. "Son--how didja THINK I was gonna react?"
"Um--I didn't' think..." the boy said as the enormity of what he'd done finally penetrated. "Sorry Dad. Colin said--"
"We'll be talkin' about THAT too!" Ben snapped.
"Aw--OK Dad..." Jay said resignedly.
"I want ya t' listen very carefully t' what m about t' say!" Ben told his Son. "From now on I want ya t' limit what ya drink! Ya r' t' drink ONLY unopened Bottles o' Water r Soda! If ya drink Milk r OJ ya fetch a glass an' pour it y'rself! We clear?"
"Yes Sir," the boy replied quietly.
"Is that really necessary?" Harry asked mildly. "We have no interest in harming your Son Ben!"
"Ya fuckin' KIDNAPPED him!" Ben bellowed. "Why sh'd I trust one GOD-DAMNED thing ya say?"
"I'm so screwed..." Jay sighed.
"No alcohol `r drugs either!" Ben said. "I found out y' did any o' that an' y'r on restriction f'r th' rest o' the Summer! We clear Son?"
"Yes Sir..."
"I'll be down t' get ya as soon as possible Son," Ben told him. "Stick close t' wherever they have ya stashed! Got it?"
"Yes Sir," the boy replied. "Dad--I'm really sorry..."
"Rest assured I'll be talkin' t' y'r new BFF when I get down there!" Ben told him. "Ya may be in line f'r more punishment!"
"I understand Sir," Jay said dispiritedly. "I love you Dad..."
" I love you too Son," the big man said. "I'll be down as soon as I can! I've got a fire t' put out here first..." They said their goodbyes then Ben ended the call. "Have a jet on standby ready f'r me first thing tomorrow!"
"Now that's just ridiculous!" Harry exclaimed.
"Honey--don't!" Sue said. "Just give this asshole what he wants! The sooner he's out of all our lives the better!"
Ben came back to find a confused-looking Ethan sitting next to John-Thomas Bilodeau, his brother Cliff's long-time boyfriend. When Ethan saw the Texan come through the door, he threw himself at Ben and wrapped him in a strong hug. "Oh my God Lover--I'm so sorry!" he exclaimed. "I don't know what came over me!"
"Brownie tells me it was some sort o' contrariness' spell..." Ben said distractedly. "Figgie says it was cast by Queen Titania r one o' her associates but she doesn't know why..."
Ethan looked stricken. "Oh my God Ben, please tell me this didn't break us up!" He hugged the big man tightly. "I swear to God--I didn't mean any of that nonsense I was spouting! PLEASE forgive me!"
"There's nothin' t' f'rgive," the Texan told him. "I know none o' what happened was you--but I've got other things on m' mind now..."
"What's wrong?" Ethan wanted to know.
"And where is young Jay?" Brownie asked. "The Mer are holding him hostage, aren't they?"
"They fuckin' kidnapped m' boy!" he said. "Harry shipped him n' that little bastard Colin off t' Cabo an' they're holdin' him there til I present m'self t' th' Mer King!"
"Son of a BITCH!" Ethan growled. "Let me make a few calls and I'll get a strike team ready!"
"We should probably rally some of the God-touched as well..." John-Thomas said. "We can use the Henge to transport us there..."
"Guys--NO!" Ben said. "We may hafta do that later if they won't r'lease Jay. But f'r now I'm just gonna go down an' TALK to em! Th' King has a hardon t' meet th' Adamantine Herald' so he's by God gonna meet `im! Then, if I feel he needs an' ass kickin' he'll GET it!"
"We'll back your play 100%!" Ethan promised.
"I'll let th' Mer lead this dance..." the big man said, "but I'm bringin' m' Walther PPK an' enough bullets t' start a small War. I'm not guaranteein' things won't get ugly...
"At least there's one good bit of news..." John-Thomas offered. "Thanks to Ethan's joining with Freya the spell Titania cast on Ethan was as easy to brush off as cobwebs! Domination spells don't stick to him worth a damn! He'd have sloughed if off in a few hours!
"What happens if she tries it again?" the Texan wondered.
"Probably a repeat of what happened this time," the slim, brown-haired Druid replied. "Ethan will free himself from the spell in a few hours or Scooter can knock him cold long enough to call me!"
"Can you make a counterspell?" Ben asked.
"I--think so..." John-Thomas replied. "Maybe I should take Ethan back to Seacliff with me while I work on something! He'll be safe there..."
Cabo San Lucas in mid-July was hot and muggy with temps nearing a hundred degrees and humidity up over fifty percent. Thanks to a little Runic Magic courtesy of Nils Gustafsen Ben was both comfortable and fully-armored. The darkly-handsome merman sent to pick up the Texan at the airport looked askance at the heavy pistol he wore openly in a holster and the raft of bullets ready to be loaded into the gun. "Weapons won't be necessary Sir," he said. "His Majesty only wants to speak to you!"
"Y'r King fuckin' KIDNAPPED my Son!" Ben growled back.
The merman ignored this. "Your car is this way Sir," he said deferentially even as he cut his eyes toward the gun. (Ben could tell he was uncomfortable and a little scared--although of the weapon or the man wielding it Ben couldn't tell.) "If you'll follow me Sir..." They made their way to a pearl-white Escalade with a tan interior: the car was already running so it was blessedly cool and dry inside. Another good-looking bull of a merman (this one blond) was behind the wheel. He too glanced at Ben's sidearm but said nothing.
Once the big Texan was settled into the back seat the blond left the airport and set a course for the Sea of Cortez side of the Baja peninsula and began driving north. It wasn't long until there was nothing but desert on one side and the ocean on the other. As they traveled there were fewer and fewer houses to be seen. "Sir--I'm sorry about what they did to your Son," the blond said. "Some of us think the King over-stepped..."
"Shut up Corey!" snapped the dark merman.
"Fuck you Antonio!" Corey shot back. "We still have the right to our own speech and thoughts!"
"What's goin' on?" Ben wanted to know. It was clear there was a deep divide in the Mer community.
"Don't say a word pendejo!" the darker merman snapped.
"Fuck you Antonio!" the blond merman replied. "If this dude is the Adamantine Herald, he needs to know what he's walkin' into at Casa Miramar! It's only fair..."
{{"Tell me!"}} Ben put a little of his God-touched power behind the words and it was enough to shut Antonio up as he felt the power wash over him.
"His Majesty and the Prince Royal are having a dispute!" Corey told Ben, "it has divided the group! As you might guess, me an' Antonio are on different sides..."
"Because you and the Prince Royal are WRONG!" Antonio commented.
"What's the dispute?" Ben asked.
"The King wants the Golden Prince to make him immortal!" the blond merman said. "Like he can even do that!"
"Look what he did to Prince Logan!" Antonio replied hotly. "Aside from the hair he looks like, maybe, thirty! Why shouldn't King Carleton want immortality?"
"Son--there's a whole HOST o' reasons I can think of right off th' top o' m' head!" Ben told the dark merman. "Not the least o' which is--can you imagine what ud happen if nobody could move up in th' social structure? It's not good f'r y'r tribe-- r ANY tribe f'r that matter!"
"That's why the Prince Royal asked for the Adamantine Herald to weigh in!" Corey said. "Even that stubborn old fart King Carleton couldn't argue with that!"
"You shouldn't call the King names!" Antonio groused.
"I'm just speaking the truth!" Corey shot back.
"BOTH of you--stop fightin'!" Ben snapped. "Antonio--keep y'r eyes on th' road! Ya almost plowed into a truck!"
"We're there anyway ..." the dark merman said as the Escalade rolled between two tall white pillars with a wrought iron gate and a sign that read CASA MIRAMAR.
END CHAPTER ELEVEN