Reka hovers over me protectively, shielding my body with her own. Sometimes it's nice being the little spoon. When I begin to stir, she holds me tighter, not quite willing to release me just yet.

  There are no alarm clocks here, only the first gentle streams of early-morning sunlight to mark the passage of time. "Is there a bell system or something that tolls the hour?" I ask, my voice deeper and raspier than usual. Being fucked to sleep by your girlfriend can have that effect.

  She runs a hand over my bare chest gently, almost worshippfully. "Aye, Prime, or the first hour, will strike soon," she says, nuzzling into my neck. "We still have about half an hour. Relax into me, my love."

  I do just that. Her naked body presses against my back, but I'm too drained to think about sex right now. After that intense first round, she woke me twice in the night to go again. Instead, I turn over, and we embrace. Our bed is so large, clinging to Reka feels like a life preserver in the ocean.

  "My little lord," she whispers fondly into my hair.

  Alas, time marches on, and we rise with the bell that announces morning is well and truly here. We have no carpets or the medieval appropriate "rushes", that is, woven grass mats, only the cold stone floor. Reka hands me a pair of slippers and sticks a finger in my mouth.

  "Wha-"

  "Purgeia!" A cool, minty fresh feeling suffuses my mouth, and Reka withdraws her finger. "No need for toothbrushes when you have magic," she says, sounding all too pleased with herself.

  "Well, aren't you happy?" I say, a little nonplussed at the cavalier way she uses magic on me. I'm not a guinea pig!

  "So very happy, Brad!" she gushes, completely oblivious to my annoyance. "All these petty inconveniences I've learned to live with can be done away with now that I've returned to my native dimension." Something dark and triumphant passes over her face, just for an instant. "Ah, and the gain from your seed is more than I anticipated."

  "My seed?" I ask in confusion.

  "I told you," she says slowly, as if explaining to a child, "your love strengthens me. Did you think my words poetic? Nay, your seed, your very essence, kindles the furnace within. Without you, it might take decades to return to my former power. With you? It will be the work of a few years only."

  Something like that crossed my mind last night. She's the flames, I'm the fuel. I pity the fool who picks a fight with Reka once she's an archmage, or whatever she was before.

  While I'm pondering, Reka leaves me for a moment and returns with two robes, both in the same purple-and-silver color scheme. "Come along, dear. Breakfast will be served shortly."

  Our bedroom is really more like an apartment, with an attached bath and a private room off to the side called a "solar" that has another, larger window. She leads me to the solar, and we sit down at a cute little table, perfectly positioned for the view, or to take in a fresh breeze should we wish to open the window.

  "We're eating in here?"

  Reka nods. "Last night was a welcome feast, so that the castle staff will know you by sight. We'll be taking most of our meals here, just the two of us." She snaps her fingers, and soft music playing on my laptop is piped through a metal fixture on the wall. Surprisingly good acoustics. "We can watch tv in here, play games, anything you wish. Consider the solar our private retreat."

  Stolen story; please report.

  "You've thought of everything, haven't you?" I say appreciatively, relaxing into the plush dining chair that has no business being as comfortable as it is.

  She just smiles and turns her head to the door. Not two seconds later, there's a knock. "Come in, Galiban."

  The butler with the mustache and horns enters, pushing a tray on wheels. How did he get it up the stairs? We're at the top of a tower. "I must say, my lady, that all who serve you are overjoyed now that you are back from your travels."

  "I'm overjoyed myself, Galiban. Being banished as I was, well, let us say I endured much. Even so, I've obtained a fine husband in the bargain."

  "So you have," Galiban says, nodding to me as he sets down a pitcher.

  I sniff the air. "Reka, is that beer? We're having beer for breakfast?"

  She adjusts her glasses nervously. "Ehehe, the water here is not exactly safe to drink, my love. I could purify it, but at the cost of much magic."

  That's the Middle Ages for you.

  Galiban fills two tankards, and Reka chills them with a word. I take an experimental sip.

  It couldn't be...

  "Is this Tecate?" I almost shout. How could she possibly...

  "As close to the recipe as I could divine, darling."

  Reka knows all about Tecate. I had a Mexican friend in the Navy who got me hooked on the stuff. It's the only beer I drink. I tear up slightly, thoroughly touched by the consideration she's shown me. I love her so much.

  "Now, now, dearest, none of that. Cloning a Mexican lager is entirely within my power, and the least I could do for you. Why, plans for brewing equipment are one of the first things I sent over. Coffee, tea, and soda are still works in progress. We've got the raw materials, though!" she assures me.

  After serving the food, Galiban departs to leave us alone. Our meal is familiar enough: eggs, bacon, and cornbread muffins, served with a dish of the richest, yellowest butter I've ever tasted. Contrary to what you might expect, the food tastes amazing. There's an earthiness to the bacon that you just can't get in the mass-produced stuff found in a grocery store. Not only that, I suspect it's more nutritionally dense. I feel myself getting full with less actual food consumed.

  "I think I can definitely get used to eating cornbread all the time," I say, punctuating my sentence with a crunch of bacon. I always save bacon for last.

  "There's still wheat flour in there," Reka informs me, "but it has to be imported at great cost, and the corn helps us stretch it. By the same token, our lands are better suited for swineherds. Beef will be an occasional treat for some time."

  I file that information away for future reference. Looking outside, I'd liken the climate to the African Sahel, or parts of West Texas I've been to back on Earth.

  "You said the kingdoms to the south are richer and more fertile, right?"

  "That's so. The continent we're on is in the southern hemisphere. We're closer to the equator." Reka pauses, looking thoughtful. "Even if it were not for the great war that rent these lands, they were never rich and only thinly peopled. However!" She holds up a finger. "With my magic and our knowledge from Earth, we can make these lands rich! Don't you like those sorts of stories?"

  I laugh at how well she knows me. "Next thing you'll be telling me I have a system and cheat skill, right?"

  Reka sighs in resignation and takes a sip of her beer. "Not for lack of trying, Brad. I'm afraid magic here just doesn't work like that. We can be adventurers, though. I'm told the guilds to the south even have a letter ranking system similar to what you're familiar with."

  My mouth hangs open at the revelation. "What, really? That's actually real?"

  She shrugs. "The war scattered all kinds of monsters across the land, and fighters who can reckon with them are rare. I'm afraid I can't tell you more. Actually, part of the reason I want to be an adventurer is that it will give us a reason to journey south and take a look around. For all I know, the kingdoms I'm familiar with have fallen and been replaced by new ones."

  "We can learn about it together!" I say enthusiastically.

  Reka smiles indulgently, but it doesn't quite reach her eyes. "Not for a good while yet, my love. We must discuss your training. There's absolutely no way I'm letting you leave this castle until I'm sure there is nothing that can threaten us."

  From the tone of her voice, I can tell Reka is very serious about this. "What kind of training did you have in mind?"