Esmyria's announcement came with big changes to the household. Trixie and her family were left with their responsibilities, but with the queens came their hand maids and the extra help and tutelage they provided. The mild tempered women, each having many children of their own, were only too happy to help gently teach and guide the youth when Jacoby wasn't available. The butler could only be in so many places at once after all, and there was much to be done, especially with distinguished guests on the estate. This led to an explosion in growth as Trixie and her family sought to impress the guests they had come to adore.
Emerick was the only person in the house who wasn't thrilled about his mothers' presence on the estate. When he questioned them in private about the reason they insisted on staying in his house, Esmyria had told him quite bluntly that, while they couldn't afford to be away from the capitol and their duties any longer, they had no intention of suffering through the rot and stench emanating from the castle at present, and this was the best solution. In addition, they genuinely enjoyed spending time with the half-blooded youngsters Emerick had taken in. They brought a great deal of excitement and wonder to their otherwise monotonous routine.
"I can't believe they've been here for two weeks already!" Emerick groaned, throwing a jab at Jacoby. The butler parried his blow and threw a punch of his own.
"I imagine they'll remain here at least another month, perhaps two," Jacoby grunted as Emerick caught his wrist and threw him to the ground. The butler narrowly avoided his heel as Emerick brought it down towards his head. "No need to take your frustration out on me though!"
"Why shouldn't I?" Emerick growled. "You are only too happy to have them stay! Besides, you're the least breakable of my sparring partners!"
"Irrelevant. I may not be killed as easily as some by your strength, but my face is plenty breakable and I'd rather avoid the inconvenience of you doing so…" Jacoby staggered as Emerick clipped one of his ears. "Now you're just playing dirty."
Emerick only smiled in response. The butler had a special clip to keep his ears back during their sparring sessions, so catching them was hard. His ears were his most sensitive areas, so Jacoby was extra careful about them to boot, which mad the feat doubly satisfying.
"Is Trixie still staring?" Emerick questioned. It was her first sparring session, and she was training with Milo and Orval, learning the basics.
Until that point, Emerick had her running circuits and obstacle courses to build her strength, stamina, and agility. He would continue to do that, while throwing combat training into the mix. Now that she was becoming more and more well-known through the community, she would become a target, and he intended to make sure she could defend herself when the time came.
"At me, yes," Jacoby frowned. "And it's starting to get on Orval's nerves."
"Why would she be staring at you?" Emerick pouted. "You haven't been putting any moves on her, have you?"
"As if you have to ask," Jacoby rolled his eyes and gestured to himself. "Apparently my current appearance perturbs her. It seems she didn't realize that I was also a half-blood."
"Really?" Emerick looked him over with a frown. "I would have thought it was obvious… I mean, even in your full uniform the lizard tail is pretty hard to miss."
"Dragon, Prince Emerick, you know full well that I am half-dragon!" Jacoby growled. "Or should I start calling you the lizard prince?"
"Nah, I'd be more of a newt prince. Get it right!" Emerick smiled and shrugged it off.
Admittedly, in his sparring attire Jacoby looked even more intimidating than usual. The blue-silver scaling on the back of his arms, neck, and sides was visible, as were the white tufts of hair on his elbows. He wasn't wearing his sunglasses, so his heterochromia was apparent. On top of that, his claw like nails and foot talons were visible in the absence of his specially made boots and gloves. Most didn't react well to his those features so, understandably, his appearance had always made Jacoby self-conscious.
"If she's staring at you, she's not staring at me," Emerick frowned. "If she's not staring at me, then she's not wanting me. I guess I will just have to fix that."
"What do you- hey!" Jacoby found himself on the receiving end of a furious onslaught.
Keen on showing off in hopes of getting Trixie's attention, Emerick upped his intensity, throwing Jacoby on the defensive. The butler put up a valiant effort, but as ever, Emerick eventually overpowered him. As Jacoby finally tapped out, caught in a headlock, Emerick released him and turned to see if he'd achieved his goal. To his frustration, Trixie was preoccupied with pushups, Orval chewing her out thoroughly.
"Something the matter?" Jacoby gasped, stretching with some difficulty. Emerick had given him quite the walloping, for which he almost felt bad. Apparently the show he'd put on had been pointless.
"Nothing," Emerick frowned. The look Jacoby gave him showed he knew Emerick was lying but it didn't matter. The butler wouldn't press the matter. "You should go get some ointment from Titus. It'll help the soreness and the bruising."
"He's already given me a considerable supply," Jacoby replied. "I didn't realize what he meant at the time, but he hinted you would become something of a handful. I think 'sourpuss' was the word. Could this have anything to do with Esmyria's monopolization of Trixie's time of late? I haven't seen her with you much outside of your training."
"Shut up!" Emerick snapped, storming off. Leave it to Jacoby to call him out.
He was grateful to the growth he was witnessing in Trixie and the others, touched that they revered his mothers so dearly, that they felt comfortable with his family even if they weren't quite ready to accept him yet. The problem was, as Jacoby had mentioned, Trixie spent most of her time outside of training at Esmyria's side. He'd managed to steal a few kisses here and there, and exchange the occasional bout of flirting, but any attempts to go past that were interrupted.
"I'll just clean up then," Jacoby replied. "It's about time to prepare the tea any how."
Emerick watched him go with some frustration. A glance at Trixie confirmed that she was still preoccupied with Orval, so he decided to wander his way down to the shed turned workshop inhabited by Rathus and Titus. At the very least, he could try distracting himself for a while. He wasn't nearly so lucky.
When he arrived, Rathus was working outside, fiddling with a strange looking contraption that vaguely resembled a miniature windmill. He watched the orc work a few moments before he announced himself. Rathus seemed to have relaxed since their last conversation, and had quite a peaceful look. It suited him well.
"Good afternoon boss," He called over his shoulder. "Sorry I'm in the middle of something, so I can't stop, but I'm here to listen if you like."
"Straight to the point," Emerick chuckled. "Is that the only reason people come to see you guys? Talk you ear off and complain?"
"Mostly." Rathus glanced at him with a shrug and resumed his tinkering. "I don't mind it though. They need to talk, and I'm happy to listen. Besides, means I get plenty of company."
"Fair point," Emerick chuckled.
"Want to talk about it?" Rathus questioned. "Don't go saying you're fine. Can tell by the smell of you and the tension about you you're upset."
"Aren't you observant?" Emerick sighed. "It's nothing really. Just dealing with overbearing mother stuff."
"You're blue-balling it pretty bad, aren't you," Rathus stated.
"Well you're not holding back," Emerick frowned. "Though I could point out you're not getting anything either."
"Doesn't matter. I haven't in a long time, and I'm used to that. You aren't." Rathus smiled in spite of himself. Emerick supposed he couldn't blame him. In Rathus's shoes, he would've been amused as well.
"Have you guys spent any time with her recently?" Emerick tried diverting the subject slightly. The only one he wanted to talk about his sex life with was Trixie. It wasn't anyone else's business.
"She was here complaining yesterday," Rathus shrugged. "Guess she's excited about working with the queens, but they take up a lot of her time. Apparently, they work her so hard she's been sleeping in the trees near the training grounds just to make sure she gets to training on time in the mornings."
"Sounds about right," Emerick frowned. "She's not working too hard is she?"
"She's put on a little weight, and a lot of muscle," Rathus replied. "Definitely tired, but healthy. Nice to see her like that."
"I bet," Emerick replied. "Anyway, enough about that stuff. I have to ask… what is that thing?"
"This?" Rathus smiled as he inspected the machine he worked on. "Nothing much yet. Jan's been complaining about problems with drying clothes. He always has issues with space, wind, and the amount of time it takes. I saw some dryers like this in an old brochure and thought I'd try my hand at making one. Not working so well though."
"Well, good luck," Emerick smiled.
"You too," Rathus called. "Don't worry, knowing Trixie, it won't last much longer. Pretty sure she's even hornier than you."
"Hope you're right!" Emerick called. Feeling a bit better, he pushed open the door to the workshop. His good mood instantly vanished.