After Victoria left, I had another shared bath. I wasn't surprised when no one complained or that we were in the same positions, with Hanna on my lap and Farra on Gella's. With all of us there at the same time, the scrubbing went very fast, since more hands made faster work. Jill performed the ritual diligently, which the others watched with both appreciation and a little jealousy.

At least, Hanna stated as much. She regretted not accepting Ann's offer to teach her everything that a personal maid did, even if she knew that she didn't have the discipline to only do certain parts and not take things further.

That made Jill laugh as she licked up a bit of the mess from my enthusiastic expulsion. “Hanna, just because personal maids are allowed to do this after a bath, that doesn't mean we're allowed to do it all the time or when we are requested to not do it.”

Hanna pouted and the others laughed at her reaction and hugged her.

“It's all right, little one.” Gella said and kissed her cheek.

“Hey! I'm only two years younger than you!”

That made them laugh again.

“It's the experiences we refer to.” Farra said. “We are also very glad that you haven't had them.”

Gella nodded, as did Jill and myself.

“You don't need to rush, Hanna. Time alone will help you.” Jill said and wiped me off. “Now sit down on our lord and enjoy your soak before bed.”

Hanna smiled and nodded, then sat right on my lap and cuddled in. I was still hard, so she rested her thigh right on me and wiggled her butt a little. A moment later, she sighed and kissed my neck, then closed her eyes.

We were all quiet for several minutes to let her drift off to sleep, which she did. I cast Sleep on her, just in case, to keep her that way as the others and I talked.

“What are the plans for the two weeks I'm taking exams?” I asked.

“We're working more on the general use potions and healing potions.” Farra said. “The old man is adamant that we have enough stock to supply a good portion of the kingdom before we announce that we have them for sale.”

I nodded. “By then, the regular sellers for the old Mages Guild are going to be running out.”

“Most have already, I think.” Jill said and we all looked at her sitting on a chair beside the tub. “During the attempted takeover, they stopped supplying the people that they thought would oppose them.”

I thought about that. “Is there any way to get that information so we know who to sell to and who to blacklist?”

“I don't know. We aren't really on good standing with anyone in the kingdom, let alone the main military force.” Gella said. “Don't you know some people in the military?”

“I could try and contact Gary.” I said as I thought about it. “I don't think I can call Alex or Donna, though. Like the current queen, once you're out for whatever reason, you're out.”

“You're dishonorably discharged, too.” Jill said. “It won't be easy.”

“Maybe a call to the castle?” Gella suggested. “What's the old king's concubine's name again?”

“Melanie. She's still the court's main scribe and paper pusher. If there is an official document being used anywhere, she's had her hand on it.” I said.

“You should send her a missive or go visit her. If anyone would know who the mages guild blacklisted, it would be her.” Jill responded.

“If I have to visit her, it won't be this week or next.” I said. “If it's just a letter, she might not get it, unless it's personally delivered.”

“You think they are screening her mail?” Gella asked.

“I think they are screening everyone's mail.” I said and Jill nodded. “It's very difficult to seek out sedition and collusion without a lot of evidence.”

“Not for us.” Gella said with a wicked grin, making Jill and Farra giggle.

I had to smile at that. “Not everyone can get royal approval to interrogate any mage they meet.”

“Specifically for what we are looking for. That they admit other crimes is immaterial to our purposes.” Gella said. “That's a bit too bad, though. Some of them needed killing and we couldn't do it legally.”

I chuckled and Jill and Farra nodded.

“It's a distinction that they were very grateful for.” Gella said. “Some even offered us bribes for leaving them alive and not telling anyone what they said.”

“Is that why we had that huge influx of gold crowns to the account?” Jill asked and we nodded. “Well, that's wonderful! The more we fleece the idiots, the less influence they will have.”

“Our thoughts exactly.” Gella said. “The furniture the crews are making are selling well, too.”

“How is that going?” I asked.

“We're getting a new bed tomorrow.” Farra said with a demure smile. “The wardrobes won't be ready until next week.”

“We don't have that much room.” Jill warned.

“That's okay. One of the work crews is opening up the next room for us.” Farra said and then slapped a hand over her mouth. “Dammit, I didn't mean to say that!”

Gella laughed and hugged her. “You're too comfortable to lie convincingly, aren't you?”

Farra sighed and leaned back against her to cuddle in. “Yes.”

Jill smiled and pat her arm. “It's all right. We would have found out as soon as they started working anyway.”

“It was supposed to be a surprise when our lord returned for the weekend between exams.” Farra said.

“I'll still be surprised.” I said and she smiled at me. “I won't know what it looks like until I see it.”

“I guess that will have to do.” Jill said and ran her hand through my hair. “You're never going to get this cut, are you?”

“No.” I said.

Jill, Gella, and Farra smiled happily as the three of them did the same thing and combed my long white hair with their fingers. They hadn't seen long hair on a man in a long time and apparently didn't want to lose the opportunity.

After another half an hour, we all dried off and dressed slightly before we went to bed. Hanna was still asleep, thanks to the Sleep spell, and we tucked her into bed as we climbed in ourselves. It was the perfect time for me to study, so Gella grabbed my notes for the different courses and we read them for quite some time before calling it a night and going to sleep.

The morning came and breakfast was a quick affair, then Gella, Hanna, Farra, and Jill came with me in the carriage to the academy. The guard grinned as he caught the gold coin I tossed to him on the way by and Gella laughed. I don't think she is ever going to not find that funny.

The first exam being held in the main auditorium was Basic Spellwork Composition. It was to be held all morning and then the practicals were held in the afternoon. I knew nothing about the useless math needed for spell creation, since it didn't apply to my magic at all. I had even discovered several spells and used them unknowingly, just because I had willed my magic to do what I wanted.

The first time had been when I reversed the Hag's blessing on the Addams farmland. I had used magic to detect the magic around me and then ended the blessing, which were two spells called Detect and Dispel. I had used them a lot after that, not really knowing they were actually spells and not just an ability I had.

Gella and I sat with all of the students taking the course, which included the normal class and the class of all girls, making the auditorium fairly packed. The funny thing was, Gella was handed an exam sheet as well and no one checked if she was an actual student or not.

We exchanged mischievous looks and smiled at each other, then went to work and filled in all the answers with as much nonsense as we could. We even made things up and made it sound convincing in the essay answers, just because we could and thought it was funny.

When lunch arrived, we went to the cafeteria and ate with Robin, the head cook. The wine was great and she asked us how we did on the exam. That made Gella and I laugh for several minutes before we calmed down enough to tell her what we did. She looked incredulous for a moment, then laughed, too.

We went to a different building for the practical portion of the exam and each of us were called up in alphabetical order to perform certain spells in the exam list. The first few students performed fairly well, considering they were being taught the wrong way to do it and were limiting themselves.

“Drake, David.” A woman's voice called and Gella pat my shoulder.

I walked over to the range where we were to target our spells. “I should warn you...”

“Yes, yes. You're powerful. Blah, blah, blah. Every noble idiot tells me the same thing.” The woman said and waved at the large target twenty feet away. “The first spell is Fireball. Try your best to reach it and also hit as close to the center as possible.”

“But, it's only twenty feet away.” I said and she laughed.

“Of course it is. Any farther than that, without more age and training, it will exhaust most mages.”

I thought about that. “How about you?”

The woman smiled and held out her hand. “By the Light of the Son, blessed be the Father, burn up my target with righteousness! Fireball!”

A six inch fireball formed at her palm and shot across the twenty feet to hit the target in the direct center and blew apart. I used Detect Enchantment and copied the enchantment that dispersed both heat and damage over the target. It also had a measuring component that showed the magic used and where it hit. It showed 'Center Target' and '10%'.

“That's a handy enchantment.” I commented and the woman nodded.

“It works well, doesn't it? I haven't had to replace it since I made it ten years ago.”

I looked back at her and over her face and hands. “Do you mind if I ask how old you are?”

The woman smiled at me with amusement on her face. “I'm good friends with Lady Marks.”

“Are you married?” I asked and she laughed softly.

“I've been tempted not to be married only once before.” The woman said cryptically and waved at the target. “Please use Fireball at the target.”

I shook my head and held a hand out to Gella, who handed me a blank wildwood coin. “I need to add some reinforcement before I can.”

The woman sighed. “You're holding up the testing of the rest of your classmates.”

“I'll only be a few minutes.” I said and walked over to the target as I used a carving tool to etch out similar runes and added them to a protective enchantment to block all damage that passes the target. I infused it and stuck it to the wall, then covered it with a thin film of wood. I didn't want anyone stealing my ideas. I activated it, making everyone in the place gasp when a blue wall of magic covered the wall.

“What... what...” The woman muttered.

“Trust me. It needs it.” I said and stood beside her and turned around. I didn't chant or anything as I raised my hand. I said the name of the spell, even though I didn't have to. “Micro Fireball.”

A one foot wide fireball appeared in front of my palm and shot across the distance instantly, then blew a hole through the center of the target before it blew apart and took the target with it. Luckily, I had added the measuring enchantments to the wall protections. The words 'Center Target' and '0.1%' appeared floating above where the target used to be. Everyone's mouths dropped open and stared at the smouldering remains of the target.

“You might need a few minutes to make another target as a replacement.” I said and the woman didn't react. She was still staring at the words floating in the air.

Gella had already looked around and found other targets, so she went over to the storage area and brought one back to me. I checked it and nodded, then added my enchantment potion and infused it. The woman next to me shivered and turned to look at me, her eyes still wide and staring.

“This should last a bit longer.” I said and went back across the room and stood it in the same spot, then went back to stand beside Gella. “Go ahead and mark me.”

The woman shivered again and then remembered she was holding a clipboard. She wrote my results down and read them, looked back at the target, then shook her head.

“Drake, Gella.” The woman said as she read the next name on her list.

That surprised me, so I looked at Gella and she saw my expression.

“Oh, damn.” Gella whispered and blushed.

“You'll be explaining this later.” I whispered and she nodded before she stepped up to the right spot.

“Fireball.” Gella said without chanting or building up power like a normal mage. A six inch fireball formed at her palm and shot across the distance to hit the center of the target. The words 'Center Target' and '5%' appeared above it, which made everyone suck in a sharp breath.

The woman marked down the surprising results and spoke the next name after Gella returned to my side. We stood there and watched as the rest of the students performed the basic fireball spell, then she went through the names again and we had to cast Water Creation to fill a large container as much as possible. She did it this way to give the other students time to recover from using 20% to 30% of their magic between spells.

“Drake, David.” The woman said as she dumped out the quarter inch of water from the last student.

“Is there a mark or a measurement that's bigger than this container?” I asked and she stared at me. “No? All right.” I held my hand above the container and smiled. “Bath Time.”

A gush of water appeared and filled the large container in a few seconds, then bubbles and suds appeared and the room filled with the smells of lavender and massage oils. A few of the high class girls let out moans and then blushed, apparently they really liked their baths. The best part was the woman marking the test. Her moan had been the loudest and her face burned bright red.

“F-f-full marks.” The woman stammered and marked the sheet on the clipboard. She looked down at the large container and sighed. The expression on her face was full of regret as she hung the clipboard back on her hip and then tipped the container over to empty it into the storm drain.

“Aww.” Several of the girls said in disappointment and then blushed again.

The woman straightened the large container and called Gella over. “I suppose you can do the same thing.”

“No. I can't figure out the bubbles or how he adds the oil.” Gella said and held her hand out above the container. “Water Spout.”

A gush of water that was a third the size of mine appeared and it took several minutes to fill the container.

“Full marks.” The woman said and dumped out the water. “Can you teach me that spell?”

Gella shook her head. “I learned a different way to do it than normal mages.”

The woman sighed and waved her back to my side before calling the next name. This routine continued on for the rest of the afternoon and the spells ranged from offensive to defensive, some were practical for cleaning, and some were for temporary protection of items.

All in all, Gella and I crushed it and passed with the top marks in the exam. Unofficially, of course. The woman couldn't give us our real marks until all of the exams were done and graded.