08/01/06:

                Since we didn't really have anything to do today - we slept late. We met for breakfast and Olivia decided that she was going to spend the day in her room, trying to identify all the magic items we've picked up lately. Olias and Ellen both said that they had no interest in checking out the Lammas festival but Rodrick and I were curious and said we were going to go have a look around. Leo said he didn't want to go out and gave Rodrick a look that Rodrick answered with a nod. So, content that I had someone to keep an eye on me, Leo said he was going to go get some more sleep.

                So Rodrick and I left the hotel and went on our way. Boy were we disappointed! It turns out that Lammas is some sort of half-assed, "Be kind to Muggles Day."

                The mages were prancing around in their ridiculous clothes giving 'things' to the 'Poor little Muggles'. They were so rude and condescending to Rodrick, I don't how he controlled himself! They were slightly less rude to me, but not much. After a short while we decided that we'd had enough. "I'm going back to Daisy," Rodrick said. I agreed and we walked back to the hotel. I stopped on the way to get myself a bottle of tequila to take with me back to Leo.

                Rodrick and I ran into Olias in the hallway. "I am so sorry," I said.

                "For what?"

                "For not believing you when you told me how terrible it is here. I mean, I believed you, but I didn't believe you - if you know what I mean."

                "Yeah, I think I do. It sucks here."

                Back in our room, Leo asked, "So - how was the festival?"

                "It was horrible! What a God-awful place this is - I can't wait to get out of here."

                Later that evening - about 8:30, Rodrick got Olivia, Alfred, Leo and I together to go meet his 'friends' at a lesbian bar called The Sisterhood. Olivia was very interested, of course. When we got there, it was full of loud music, flashing lights, dancing, drinking, drugs and the place was packed! Rodrick spoke to someone at the bar and signaled us to follow him. We went thru the back room and into the basement where we were met by several nervous looking people.

                "Relax - they can be trusted," Rodrick told them.

                A couple of the people were mages of average ability who weren't wearing any of the pretentious clothing we'd seen everywhere else. One of them asked, "Okay. What have you got for us?" Olivia showed them one of the cheap wands she'd purchased.

                "Thank you very much," the other mage said. "That will be most useful to us."

                "What do you want with it?" Olivia inquired.

                "We're trying to develop something that will help the Muggles withstand the effects of these things," he explained.

                "So why not buy one yourself?"

                "We're known Muggle sympathizers so no one will sell one to us."

                "Oh, okay," Olivia said and handed them the wand.

                The mage took it, turned and 'zapped' one of the others with it.

                She used the 'ecstasy' end and the guy's eyes rolled up in his head, his knees gave out and he collapsed in the corner writhing with pleasure. He was moaning and twitching and….. well, let's just say that it was really very embarrassing to watch.

                Olivia asked the mages, "So what are you offering me for it?"

                One of them handed some boxes of ammo over to Rodrick, "We can't afford much."

                Olivia protested, "I was promised trade!"

                I wanted to say, "Just give it to them, they're trying to do the right thing here." But, since I couldn't even buy a wand, I kept my mouth shut.

                They came up with an anti-tank missile. Leo liked that, of course, but Olivia was indifferent.

                "What else?" Olivia asked.

                A woman took a ribbon out of her hair, "Here, take this. It's magic; it'll fix and style your hair. You don't even have to wash your hair - this will keep it clean."

                Olivia thought for a moment, "Okay, deal."

                The first mage said, "Wait a minute. Do you fully understand the possible penalty involved here?"

                "For what?" Olivia asked.

                "For giving a wand to an unlicensed mage."

                "I have no freaking idea," Olivia said.

                "They could execute you with one."

                "Which end?" We all looked at the guy in the corner who was still moaning and was now drooling.

                "The bad end. But if you're lucky - they just banish you."

                "I don't care. I don't even live here."

                He shrugged, "Alright then. Do you have any questions?"

                "Yeah!" Olivia said, "how late is the place upstairs open?"

                "All night."

                "Good, let's go!"

                Leo watched her race up the stairs and turned to ask me if I wanted to stay and 'cruise'.

                "No," I told him, "I want to get another bottle of tequila and get out of here."

                "Good idea."

                Alfred said he'd stay to make sure Olivia made it back to the hotel okay. So, with a last glance at the guy in the corner (who was now sleeping it off) Rodrick, Leo and I went back to the hotel.

08/02/06:

                Olivia desperately needed some Go-Juice at breakfast this morning. I declined. I decided to let the hangover be a reminder of how much I hate this place. As Olivia and I were getting ready to go meet with the Council, Leo asked if there was any reason to stay after the meeting.

                "Hell no!" I said and Olivia agreed.

                Leo said, "Maybe we should pack and get Scooby ready to go while you're at the meeting."

                "Good ideas!" I said.

                Rodrick asked, "So where are we going from here?"

                We hadn't really discussed it before, so that question took the rest of breakfast. Olivia suggested Durango by way of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Rod said he couldn't be of any help there - he's spent all his time on the coast and doesn't know anything more than rumors about those areas. Alfred reminded us that the religious freaks we'd met outside of Yosemite had told us that the NDR had control of Montana.

                Then she had another idea: the scroll we were given after our little trip to Moria/Used To Be Cheyenne Mountain. The one that promised that it would return us to Moria whenever we wanted to go. We agreed that it was worth a try, so while the rest got us ready to leave, Olivia and I went off to the Council meeting.

                We sat and sat and sat as they worked their way through a lengthy agenda. There was an extended (and silly) discussion regarding the reactivation of two hydroelectric plants upriver.

                Some were in favor of that while others were in favor of blowing the dams and 'freeing' the river, while others were more reasonable and just wanted to open the floodgates and leave them open until they drained the 'unnatural' reservoirs.

                It got truly silly when first a Cleric stood and announced that he was there to Speak For The Trees. I whispered to Olivia, "He is the Lorax," and we both giggled hysterically while the Amazons glared at us.

                Then another Cleric stood to speak for the fish. We really lost it then! But she managed to convince the Council to consider building magical Gates that would teleport salmon upstream to their spawning grounds.

                "But what about the trip downstream?" another Cleric demanded. "That is very traumatic to the young fish's psyche!"

                At that point a bunch of birds began to arrive - hawks, falcons, eagles and owls of all various types. They were very orderly and took turns landing before the secretary who would tally the votes that they'd brought in from delegates unable (or unwilling) to attend the meeting in person.

                When all the votes had been tallied she read them off. One said, "The representative from the Drow Enclave calls the question to a vote." It was seconded and the vote took place. The plants would be activated, but the vote for the teleportation of the salmon was postponed until an environmental impact statement could be researched.

                Then the Speaker said, "Now for the trade agreement with the New Kingdom of the Outlands." The secretary started attaching the new question to the birds that took off to deliver them.

                For almost two hours we were asked questions regarding the Kingdom.

                "Describe the economic development of the Kingdom."

                "What is the official policy regarding slavery?"

                "What about forced prostitution?"

                "How was your King chosen?"

                "Tell us about the sword."

                Boy! Did they eat up the part about Malcolm and the Great Marriage with the Land!

                Finally the birds started to return. Once again the representative from the Drow Enclave called the question to a vote and it was quickly seconded.

                The question passed, despite the Amazons all voting 'Nay'.

                Olivia stood, thanked them and asked, "Do you wish to send an ambassador to the Kingdom?"

                Someone shouted, "Yes! The Honorable Representative from the Drow Enclave would be perfect." It was seconded by a chorus of voices and approved even though an Amazon stood and said through their interpreter, "I oppose on general principal. There should be no ambassador."

                She was roundly ignored.

                The secretary asked us, "Will you delay your departure for the Ambassador?"

                "Not too long."

                She nodded and wrote a message, attached it to the Drow's bird and sent it on its way. "Would you like a cup of chicory while you wait?"

                "Oh my God, no!" I said, "I'd rather chew off my own arm."

                "No, thank you," Olivia said.

                About an hour later an angry Drow woman with bright purple hair barged through the door waving a piece of paper, "What is this?"

                The secretary calmly said, "Your Ambassadorial credentials."

                "Ambassador? To where?"

                Olivia approached her, "The New Kingdom of the Outlands."

                "Huh?"

                "Durango, southwestern Colorado," I added.

                "We have a nice Drow community there," Olivia told her

                "And none of these people," I said.

                Olivia tried another approach, "And we have a high proportion of Alpha Males."

                "And none of these people," I said.

                "And we have a good relationship with Vegas, you'll have to make a visit or two," Olivia said.

                "And none of these people."

                She thought for a few moments then held her hand out to us, "I'm Valerie, nice to meet you."

                Olivia shook her hand, "I'm Olivia, this is Jazz. How long before you're ready to go?"

                "Three hours, tops."

                That surprised me! "So get going," I told her.

                Olivia told her where to meet us, "You can't miss us, we've got a juggernaut painted like the Scooby-Mobile."

                That stopped Valerie, she glared at the secretary, "You're sending me with Mormon hippies"

                Olivia and I just laughed, told Valerie we'd see her in a few hours, and left.

                Back at the hotel we told everyone that we had been successful, but we wouldn't be leaving right away after all. Since we had time to kill - we asked the concierge if he could recommend someplace to buy a wedding gift, "Nice enough for a King."

                He named a couple places and we went to the Market. At the last place the concierge had mentioned, we saw an armor maker setting out for display a beautiful set of armor. It was platinum and gold and gorgeous!

                "How much?"

                "10,000 utils."

                Wow!

                He asked, "Is it a gift?"

                "Yes, for our King," I told him.

                "Does he have a Queen?"

                Olivia and I looked at each other. "Sort of?"

                "Wait a minute," and he disappeared inside.

                He came back a few moments later with a matching gold and platinum headdress and belt designed for a woman; "You can have all three pieces for 12,500 utils."

                We paid him and he crated it all up for us and Daisy volunteered to carry it to Scooby for us. We packed it away and looked at the bag full of phony utils. What should we do with them? Shop, of course!

                We hit a place selling Magic rings and Olivia paid 25,000 for a ring of teleportation. The merchant told her it would allow her to teleport up to three times a day, and each time she could take up to three other people with her to a place she's visited, seen or could clearly visualize.

                In the same place, Rodrick was looking at a ring that claimed that it would improve his dexterity, so we bought that one for 10,000. And we got a ring of truth for Caesar for a mere 5,000.

                A couple of doors down, Olivia bought a wand that will cast a spell to hold people for 6,000. They also had another bag that will hold an amazing amount of stuff. This one looks like an ordinary framed backpack and only cost 3,000.

                By that time we only had 1,500 utils left. I suggested we give them to Rodrick's friends. Olivia gave Jessica 500 utils and then she spotted a guy selling the Magic paper drink umbrellas and bought two: one that makes tequila and the other makes Long Island Iced Teas.

                And then all the utils, real and counterfeit were gone.

                Olivia asked Jessica if she was interested in seeing Vegas.

                She was hesitant. "I don't know. I've heard about those Cats. Would I be needed as anything other than a whore?"

                Olivia asked her what else she could do.

                "Lots of things. Massage therapy, secretary, personal assistant, but no one will hire me because I can't do magic."

                I said, "Malcolm might need another secretary by now. Would that interest you?"

                "Anything would be better than walking around here with my boobs hanging out."

                "So come with us," I said.

                Olivia warned her that the utils she'd just given her aren't good in the Kingdom. "That's okay," she said and ran over to the guy selling the umbrellas. She came back with one that makes Bacardi 150.

                "Now I'm ready," she announced.

                Back at the Hotel we found Valerie waiting for us. Introductions were made, but she interrupted to say that if she's going to be an ambassador, she preferred to be called Valeria.

                Okay. Whatever.

                We helped her store her bags and she plopped down and asked, "So where the Hell are we going?"

                We explained to her as Daisy and Rodrick finished stowing all the gear. Daisy got all mushy and made Rodrick promise to come see her again if he was ever in Portland again.

                After she was gone, Rodrick turned to me, gave me a big grin and said, "And she's accustomed to Ogres."

                Oh my God!

                We all climbed into Scooby and Olivia got the scroll out, "Everyone ready?"

                No one had any idea why she, Alfred and I were so tense. I was afraid it might put us right back inside what had been Moria.

                Olivia broke the seal on the scroll and everything went black. Then we heard a horrible cackling laugh. The dark gave way to a golden light and the laughing got louder.

                Suddenly the light was gone (so was the laugh) and we were parked outside the main gates of Cheyenne Mountain.

                "What the Hell?" Walter asked.

                "Holy shit!" Leo said.

                "Cool," Ellen said.

                "Excellent," said Rodrick.

                "Are you people crazy?" Valeria demanded.

                Olivia and I laughed and high-fived each other.

                Looking up we saw that there's a new engraving over the blast doors, "Knock and the door shall be opened," right over Hadass' lion symbol. Then we saw the Minotaur we'd met the last time we were here. He was charging towards us with his axe drawn and ready.

                Olivia opened the door and said, "Hello. Remember us? We were here last month?"

                He signed, "What the Hell do you want?"

                Rodrick signed back to him; "We're just passing through."

                "So leave. Now."

                Okay - okay!

                Alfred started us up and headed us towards home.

                Olivia said, "So, Jessica, Walter, Valeria - welcome to Colorado. Ellen - welcome back."

                We passed through a totally empty Canon City past the Royal Gorge; where we saw that the bridge spanning the gorge is gone and the gorge is still almost filled with snow.

                Salida was deserted - except for the new Kingdom Garrison there. We stopped to say hello and the commander took a look at Scooby and said, "Oh my God, are you…..?

                "Yep."

                "But we heard you were in the Pacific Northwest - how did you get here? Wait! That doesn't matter, welcome home. As you can see we've expanded some, we have a new outpost in Gunnison, too. But I suspect you want to keep going and get home - so drive carefully!" and he waved us on. The trip from there to Gunnison was quiet but we saw lots of destroyed vehicles on the side of the road.

                "From an armored unit," the SEAL's informed us.

                There were also some gravesites. Large gravesites. Some of the were 'fresh'.

                When we rolled into Gunnison we found a good-sized community and the commander of the garrison waiting for us. Salida must have called ahead.

                He greeted us and told us where we could find a place to stay, "They've got good clean individual cabins for you all. No electricity yet, we're working on that, but each one has a fireplace to help keep you warm and good clean privies. We're working on the running water, too."

                We thanked him and called it a day.

08/03/06:

                We only took time for a quick breakfast before hitting the road today. I was so excited to be so close to home!

                We'd been driving awhile when Olivia asked, "Hey Walter, what's your next assignment?"

                "Return to Omaha and report to President Ventura."

                "And Leo?" she asked, "What are you going to do now?"

                There was a pause before Olivia caught on. "You're not going, too, are you?"

                Leo said, "My assignment is to accompany him. Where he goes, I go."

                "But…."

                Leo said, "Olivia, it's only Nebraska. I managed to find my way back from the Philippines. I think that I can handle Nebraska. I'll be fine."

                Olivia looked at me and I shrugged. I'd realized a while ago that this probably wasn't going to be allowed to continue, why was she in denial?

                "Well, how long until you get discharged?" she asked.

                He actually laughed at that, "I honestly can't think of anything that could get me discharged."

                "If you were gay. That would do it," Rodrick volunteered.

                Leo took offense, "I am not gay! I'm just neat, and attractive. And I dress well, that's all."

                Rodrick and Olivia snickered at that.

                Leo pointed at me, "I've got a witness!" And with that he shut up and sulked for a while.

                So touchy.

                We were cruising along when we came across the still-smoking remains of a trading caravan. It wasn't anyone we recognized, though. It looked as if someone had created a wall of ice across the road. The semi had slammed into it at full speed and jack-knifed. There was a row of bodies lined up on the shoulder of the road, and it was clear that the injured had been executed.

                We did a real quick look around the area and Rodrick spotted some motorcycle tracks headed off towards Montrose. Alfred pointed out that technically, we were not in Kingdom territory. We looked at the row of corpses and someone said, "Let's get going before they get too far ahead of us." So we took off.

                At the barricades outside of Montrose, Olivia flashed her pass to get us in. She asked the guards, "Have you seen a large group on motorcycles come this way?"

                "Yeah, they went by here, heading north. A couple hours ago."

                We went directly to the Police to report the attack. The Chief was not happy to see us. He even had to mention that damn helicopter! "Gee, if we still had a helicopter, we could go after them, couldn't we?"

                When we asked if that was it, he got short with us. "I'll send a man to look into it. Is there anything else?"

                After he showed us out and closed the door behind us, Rodrick asked, "So is it pest extermination time?"

                "Oh yeah," I said. "Since he's not going to do it, I can track them with the wind-walking spell."

                "Wait!" Olivia said. She got one of the new crystal balls and cast a scrying spell on it. After a few moments of concentration, she found the group that had attacked the traders. They'd stopped for the day in the ruins of Grand Junction. They had some of the Emissary Motorcycles and some NDR gear, but they didn't look like NDR. More like ordinary survivalists. Their camp was set up with definite family groupings - multiple wives, children and all. But there wasn't a single person who looked like a prisoner and counting heads and comparing it to the number of bikes - there was no way that anyone could be carrying extra loot.

                Olivia switched the sight back to the scene of the accident, so we could take a closer look, since we hadn't done it while we were there. There was now a group of men going through the wreckage. They were hauling people out of the back of the semi. Some were still alive, some dead; all were still shackled together.

                Rodrick said, "Look at the position of the wreckage. They were headed east. The motorcycle tracks came from the west and returned that way."

                "Oh, man" I said, "we had it all wrong."

                "What?" Olivia asked.

                Rodrick and I said at the same time, "Yes, the Mormons attacked that group, but they had followed them from the west. The followed them and attacked them to rescue their own people that had been captured. The rest were left to die. The ones lined up and executed? They were the slavers."

                We watched as the scavengers re-shackled the survivors (about 12 of them) together and moved them into their vehicles.

                Olivia said, "Shit! We can't let them be taken captive, again."

                So we left Walter, Valeria and Jessica behind to tell the Chief of Police that we'd been wrong, and to leave the people in Grand Junction alone (not that he had any intention of doing anything) while we headed back to the crash site. As we got closer, Leo switched on the IFF screen and it showed that the vehicles we'd seen belonged to the Montrose P.D.!

                "What the Hell?" Olivia said. She got on the radio back to town and asked the dispatcher about it. He confirmed that those were Montrose people.

                "Since when do you take slaves?"

                "The Montrose Free Zone does not condone slavery. The people in question are being arrested for suspicion of various crimes."

                Then the Chief jumped on the radio and barked, "Clear this frequency - it's for official use only!"

                I took the mike from Olivia, "And in our official capacity, we'll be happy to provide your people with an escort back to your borders."

                "That isn't necessary."

                "No really, I'm sure that King Malcolm would insist that we assist his ally."

                He had no response to that, so we 'escorted' them back to Montrose.

                As they were unloading their 'prisoners', Olivia said, "Wait! I want to speak to them."

                "Members of the public are not allowed to address prisoners."

                "But what did they do?" she demanded.

                The Chief refused to give a straight answer and Olivia kept demanding one. Things were getting more and more heated, so I Sent a message to Malcolm, "It's Jazz - we're in Montrose. You need to get here, ASAP!"

                His response was "What? How did you get to Montrose?"

                "Long story. Look, the Chief of Police is being an asshole and Olivia's about to shoot him. Is there something going on here that we should know about?" I asked.

                "Long story. Let me guess - he's rounded up some so-called criminals?"

                "I guess. But he won't allow us to talk to them and he's not answering any questions."

                "They'll be sentenced on debt charges. Pay their fines and release them. Don't start anything and get back here as quickly as you can."

                In the 'court room', the Chief was able to produce what appeared to be legitimate evidence that three of the twelve were indeed wanted criminals, but the other nine were being called 'vagrants' and were charged $3,000.00 (or an equivalent) each to pay for their 'rescue'. If they couldn't pay they would have to work off their debt to the city or be sold to a citizen to pay it.

                "Fine! We'll take them all," I said.

                "Paying with what?" the Chief sneered.

                "Vegas chips," I replied. Without being asked, Alfred went to get them. But even after he had his money, the Chief was reluctant to turn the people over to us. He finally relented after debating whether or not to try to shake us down some more. We took everyone and headed out before he changed his mind.

                We walked them to Scooby and once Rodrick started it up, one finally asked, "Now what?"

                "Now we get you out of here," I told them. "We'll take you to Durango, and once there, you're free to go where you want." Then I told the group that I had contacted Malcolm and that he was already aware of the problems in Montrose.

                We made a short stop in Ridgeway to check with the Baron. He assured us that all was well and when we were ready to leave, one of the men asked if it was true that they were free to go.

                "It is."

                "And if we wanted to get out here?"

                "If that's your choice, fine. These are good people."

                So five of them thanked us for our help and stayed in Ridgeway. It was quiet the rest of the way home. Thankfully, the road was clear and well patrolled. When we reached the House there was quite a crowd waiting to greet us. After all the hostile receptions we'd gotten, it was so nice to see people who were happy to see us.

                One of the men from Montrose took it all in and asked, "Who are you guys?" He had to wait for an answer, though. Malcolm and Morag were at the front of the group and when Ellen spotted Malcolm she got nervous. Real nervous.

                Rodrick parked Scooby and Olivia hopped out and walked over to Malcolm. "Are you ready for your surprise?"

                "Did you bring me a Space Needle t-shirt?"

                "No we did not, now close your eyes," she told him.

                "I really hate surprises," he growled.

                Olivia glared at him, "So you said, now close your eyes."

                Malcolm realized that there was no way he was going to distract Olivia and closed his eyes.

                Inside Scooby, Ellen told me, "I can't do this. He's never going to recognize me." And with that she Changed into her wolf form.

                "Coward!" I said, "Now Change back and come on. He's not going to wait all day."

                She Changed and I pulled her forward just as Olivia said, "Malcolm, may we present Ms. Ellen Petronovsky?"

                His eyes flew open - but Ellen was right - he didn't recognize her.

                She smiled and said, "Hey there Malkie."

                Malkie?

                There was still no recognition in his eyes, but he said, "Ellie?"

                She thrust out a hip, put a hand on it and assumed her 'working' voice, "Hey Officer Stewart, have you come to pat me down?"

                That did it.

                "Oh my God!" he yelled, "Ellen!"

                They hugged and Ellen cried.

                Malcolm turned to Olivia and I, "Where did you? How did you?"

                He turned back to Ellen, "Where have you been?"

                "I was in Seattle, visiting my mother. Things got crazy and I was stuck there."

                Malcolm hugged her again, "Oh my God! Welcome back."

                He put an arm around Ellen's waist and began to lead her off through the crowd. Olivia called after them, "And this is your ambassador from New Ectopia - Valeria."

                He sort of waved and called back, "Credentials accepted. Madame Vizier - handle it." And they worked their way to the House.

                Olivia and I were pretty damned pleased with ourselves.

                Morag watched them go and said to us, "You have brought back a Queen."

                "Yep. That was our plan," I said.

                "You should have told him before you left."

                Olivia said, "He would have forbidden it and you know it."

                "And we didn't know we were going to until Vegas," I added.

                "Besides," Olivia said, "it is easier to ask forgiveness than permission."

                Morag loved that. He clapped us on our shoulders, laughed and said, "Let's drink!"

                As we walked towards the House, we saw a new Drow woman; she was staring at Olivia.

                Olivia approached her. "What?!?" she demanded.

                She smiled and said, "I'm here to challenge you for your position."

                Olivia said, "I'm not sure it works that way. But if you want me to, I'll be happy to kick your ass."

                "You'd try," the woman said.

                "When's convenient for you?" Olivia asked.

                "After dinner?"

                "Fine with me," Olivia told her.

                As the woman stomped off, Morag said, "She has been handling some administrative details for the King. She wants your job."

                Olivia snorted, "Well she can ask Malcolm for it."

                "No. She wants to fight you for it. She also wants to be Head of the Mage Guild."

                We entered the Great Hall and Izzy's people were handing out drinks. We talked to people for a while and Malcolm returned with Ellen on his arm. She looked perfect (and perfectly happy) but Malcolm had that disheveled, glassy eyed look that absolutely screamed "Quickie!" Olivia and I exchanged raised eyebrows and small grins.

                Malcolm greeted the crowd by announcing, "Ladies and Gentlemen, His Majesty is officially off the bachelor's block." They worked their way through well-wishers and finally reached us. We re-introduced Valeria and introduced Walter and Rodrick. Malcolm welcomed them and apologized for being so short earlier. Then he said, "Olivia, I'm afraid I must ask for your resignation as Vizier."

                "Before the fight?" Leo asked.

                Malcolm shook his head; "I don't want any fight. I will not have this Kingdom fought over like one of your Alpha Males. Marta has been proven her abilities and against my wishes (for I would like you to stay here) I am appointing you and Mistress Jacinta my permanent ambassadors to Las Vegas." He sighed and smiled at us, "You'd just be bored here."

                Olivia said, "I guess you're right, and besides, ambassador is better than Vizier."

                Malcolm looked at me, "Mistress Jacinta? Do you accept as well?"

                I hesitated; the decision wasn't entirely mine to make, after all. "May I have some time to think about it?"

                "Well of course you may, but I expected that both of you would want to return to Vegas."

                Connor joined the group at that point and was giving Valeria the eye. Olivia introduced them and after some small talk Connor left, but not before he gave Valeria his room number.

                "What makes you think I'm interested in men?" she sniffed.

                "Oh you are," was all he said.

                Then Marta barged in and began demanding that Olivia take Wormy with her when she leaves.

                "Oh no," I said, "He goes with the job."

                "That's right, he does," Malcolm agreed.

                Marta seemed to be at a loss over that so Olivia took advantage of her silence to introduce Jessica to Malcolm. "She used to be a personal assistant and we promised that we'd find something for her to do."

                Marta said, "I will be doing all of the hiring now. She's not needed."

                Malcolm shook Jessica's hand and said, "See my appointment secretary and set up a time for an interview. I will see if we can find a place for you."

                In the meantime, while that little drama was playing out, Olivia, Rodrick and I saw Ellen slip away and walk towards Malcolm's throne. She reached for the sword and Olivia and I gasped. Malcolm turned to see what we were looking at and saw her pull the sword from its sheath.

                "No! Stop!" he yelled and ran to her.

                But it was too late. The sword was out and Ellen was engulfed in bright blue flames.

                A voice (which I distinctly recognized as belonging to the sword) proclaimed, "She Is The One."

                The flames died down as Malcolm charged up to her and demanded, "Why did you do that?"

                She re-sheathed the sword, handed it to him and said, "Because you never would."

                He whirled on Olivia and I, "You told her?"

                I said, "We had to. We had to be completely honest with her."

                "So does this mean you two are married now?" Olivia asked.

                Ellen actually blushed, "I don't know - I always dreamed of a June wedding."

                Malcolm softened, took her hand and said, "Then June it will be."

                I blurted out; "I want to perform the ceremony!"

                "You might have to wrestle Morag for the right," Olivia warned me.

                "Oh. Never mind."

                Malcolm said, "We'll wait a period of time and then make a formal announcement, but when the time comes - you will, of course, perform the ceremony."

                That reminded Olivia, "Wait! We have presents!"

                "More than this?" Malcolm asked.

                Alfred and Leo went to bring in the crate and Walter asked, "If you two ladies would be kind enough to transport Leo and myself to Nebraska? Maybe with that ring of teleportation you were boasting of? We must be debriefed."

                Olivia said, "Sure we can do that. We're going to miss you."

                I agreed, "We need to make Jesse see the sense in assigning you to Vegas. And Leo, too. As...as…"

                "As military liaison to the Overlord of the Venetian," Rodrick finished for me.

                "Perfect!"

                Malcolm and Ellen were impressed and touched by their gifts and Malcolm requested that the armor be displayed next to the throne and sword.

                Marta worked her way back into the area and was being belligerent to Olivia. Rodrick warned her to be careful but she kept at it so Olivia very casually, flashed her claws out and Marta actually fainted! A couple of Izzy's people carried her away and Malcolm told Olivia, "Seriously, now, I'll give you three days to get your belongings out of the tower. She may be obnoxious - but she knows her stuff." He left then but declared that after dinner tonite there would be a full celebration to welcome us home and to welcome Ellen.

                Olivia was fuming about getting thrown out of her tower and Alfred said he'd go see about finding a room for them. I led Rodrick and Leo to Izzy's office and introduced them all.

                She looked both of them over and said, "So I need to find rooms for them, too?"

                "Just Rodrick, dear, Leo will be staying in my room."

                She gave Leo the eye again and consulted her books to give Rodrick his room assignment, "And then we'll get you a haircut," she added.

                Rodrick very politely said, "No thank you, ma'am. Just the room."

                "Are you sure?"

                "Yes, ma'am. The hair is a personal statement."

                She let it go and he and Leo went to get our stuff in from Scooby. I was telling Izzy all about Ellen (okay not all about Ellen) when Olivia came in ranting and raving about Marta, "When did she show up?"

                Izzy got her a cup of tea, "About a month and a half ago."

                "She's using my stuff, isn't she? She unlocked my personal chamber, didn't she?"

                I told her to sit down, "You're being paranoid, have some tea and calm down."

                "That's easy for you to say - no one's in your room."

                Izzy said, "Sit down and have a cookie, dear. As I understand it, you're going to be leaving soon anyway.

                So Olivia sat down and joined in on the gossip. Izzy told us that Malcolm's main fighting forces are in the Alamosa area to provide security for the upcoming harvest, "They're having a hard time with people stealing food."

                Olivia asked about Montrose. Izzy said, "Things there changed radically about two months ago."

                "After the Overlord left?"

                "Yes. Then the Mayor stopped keeping things in line. He and the Chief of Police visited the House a while back and they were nice enough, but Malcolm wasn't very happy with their behavior and attitudes. They've renounced their policy on slavery, you know. People are so desperate that they're selling themselves into slavery for a period of time. Actually, people are doing it in droves."

                Olivia said, "But the people we brought in had been captured and were about to be forced into slavery to pay for their 'rescue'."

                "That doesn't surprise me," Izzy sighed.

                Rod and Leo were back by then and Alfred came into the kitchen to tell Olivia that he'd help her move stuff from the tower. Rodrick, Leo and I all offered to help, too.

                Izzy said, "You all go on, I'll have a room for you and Alfred when you get back and I have a storage room you can use."

                At the tower Marta was waiting for Olivia and volunteered, "I'm here to help sort whatever's behind that door."

                "And we're here to take everything behind that door," Olivia told her.

                "But that's not right. I'm claiming it - this is my tower."

                Olivia got in her face and said, "We fought for it - it's ours."

                "It belongs to the Kingdom," Marta insisted.

                I tried to separate them, "What's in that room is what was left after we tithed to the Kingdom. Malcolm knows and agrees."

                "Well I don't," Marta sneered and pushed me out of the way.

                Olivia flashed her claws and slashed Marta across the shoulders and chest. Marta had seen it coming and tried to dodge - but was too slow. Rodrick moved back to give them room but Leo moved forward - to stop it maybe? Anyway, Alfred and I pulled him back while Connor kept the Mage students out of the way.

                Olivia asked, "Do you yield?"

                Marta screamed and aimed a kick at Olivia's head but missed. Olivia slashed out again and connected with the inside of Marta's leg. She must have gotten an artery, judging by the amount of blood. Marta grabbed her leg to apply pressure to the bleeding and yielded.

                Rodrick leaned against the wall and said, "I told you not to mess with her."

                "If you ask Jazz, she might heal that for you," Olivia said.

                "Damn! Where did you get those things?" Marta asked Olivia, and then she said to me, "Help me. Please?"

                So I went to her and healed the wound just enough to stop the bleeding. Connor picked her up, "I'll take her down to the infirmary."

                When she was gone, Olivia checked the door to her private room, "Someone's tried to open this." She undid the Magic she'd used to Lock it and was relieved to see that inside, everything was intact. We moved all the stuff down to Izzy's storage room, but Olivia was worried about security, so she decided to test her teleportation ring by using it to take the most valuable items to Alfred's suite at the Excalibur. She gathered all she could carry and 'popped' out. She 'popped' back a few minutes later, laughing. Apparently she had given poor Bunny and Jennifer quite the start when she suddenly appeared in her room. With all that taken care of we got out of Izzy's way so she could get things taken care of for the after dinner revel.

                It was great - naturally, at least until Marta showed up and was complaining to all who could hear, that she wasn't able to wear the dress that she wanted to because of the scars that Olivia had given her.

                Malcolm reproached Olivia, "I do need her, please leave her functional."

                "Hey! I didn't break her, did I?" Olivia asked.

                "She did ask for it," I told him.

                "She was warned to back off," Rodrick added.

                Olivia said, "She tried to take all our treasure."

                "If there is anything that the Kingdom might need………." Malcolm said.