In the morning they resumed travel, and they talked. "Who are you, really?" she asked. "Apart from being a minstrel and a martial artist and a man who does not look his age."
"I am King Havoc."
Opaline fainted.
She woke in his arms. Ordinarily she would have loved that, but not this time. "King Havoc!" she repeated, appalled. "How could I presume?"
"Needless," he murmured, setting her on her feet.
"I teased you. I made you sleep naked with me. Oh, Sire, I will die of shame!"
"Needless," he repeated. "I deceived you about my identity."
"But there were hints. My parents—no wonder they agreed to let me go with you! That tree—the legend says you are the Glamor of Trees. And the Village Elder called you Sire. He recognized you! And the brigands—you are the world's finest martial artist. And the way you sing! I should have known."
"Few know that Hayseed is Havoc, and they are circumspect, as was the Elder. I travel as Hayseed when I want to be unknown. Your ignorance is no fault in you."
"But Sire—"
"Call me Hayseed," he said firmly. "Do not give away my secret."
She paused, reassessing. "Of course. Yet what I did—"
He put his hands on her shoulders and made her look him in the face. "Opaline, you are a good girl. I deceived you because I wanted to get to know you without having your behavior distorted by awareness of my nature. I learned that you have the qualities I hoped for. I am satisfied that you are suitable for the mission."
"To nursemaid another man!" she exclaimed bitterly. "After I got a silly crush on you."
"Would it help to know that I encouraged that, in the hope that you would then be willing to do me a favor you might otherwise reject?"
"You are using me!" she cried, her embarrassment turning to flash fury. "Playing on my misguided girlish emotion."
He dropped his gaze. "Apology for that."
And she felt foolishly sorry for him. "You are the king. You must do what kings do. It must be really important." Then she remembered. "Saving the world—you weren't joking!"
"Affirmation."
"But all you had to do was order me to do it. I am your subject."
"Negation. This is something you must volunteer to do."
"Then of course I will volunteer."
Havoc drew her in to him and kissed her on the mouth. "Negation. You must want to do it. It is too important for anything but complete unselfish dedication."
Opaline's head was floating from the kiss, but she fought to maintain some common sense. "How can I ever want to be with another man—we both know I will have to give him sex—after knowing you? You have spoiled me for any such commitment."
"Deal," he said. "Give him a fair try, perhaps for a month. If you then do not wish to continue, come to me, and I will make you my temporary public mistress for the same length of time. All will know it, and I will be with you every night, and plumb you so often you will grow tired of it. And if you conceive, I will recognize the child. Then you will have no trouble getting a good husband, your fourth already accounted for. The king's baby."
She considered briefly. "This is the deal of a lifetime, for any common girl. But you already have a wife and a mistress, one said to be the most beautiful woman of Charm, the other the most beautiful of Earth. How could they ever agree to such a thing?"
He smiled. "Perhaps we should ask them."
She laughed, but with an edge. "Question?"
"When you are in Triumph, by day I will be busy elsewhere. One of them would guide you then, or put you into the hands of a trusted associate. Triumph is a complicated city; you would not want to be there alone. So it is fitting that you be introduced to them now."
"You tease me cruelly," she said. "That is not nice."
Havoc stepped away from her, lifted his right hand and snapped his fingers. "Gale," he said.
A woman appeared beside him, so beautiful that there was no one she could be but his wife. "Havoc," she said, and kissed him.
"Meet Opaline," he said.
The queen turned to focus on Opaline. "A greeting, Opaline."
"A—a—acknowledged, Queen Gale," Opaline stammered.
"I have proffered her a deal," Havoc said. "She will try a special mission for one month, and if it does not satisfy her, I will make her my openly recognized second royal mistress for a month. She will need your guidance at Triumph."
The queen's eyes narrowed slightly. "Necessary?"
"Not necessary," Opaline said quickly. "I will do it without the deal."
The queen nodded. "She loves you already, Havoc. You had better honor it."
"Concurrence," he agreed. Then he raised his hand again, and snapped his fingers. "Monochrome."
Another woman appeared. She was literally colorless, with white skin, luxurious white hair, and white clothing, yet strikingly beautiful. Only her eyes were pink, in the manner of an albino. "You must have been on the trail too long, Havoc," she said. "To want us both simultaneously" She kissed him.
"Meet Opaline," he said.
"The poor girl," Monochrome said, going immediately to Opaline and taking her hands. Her touch was marvelously supportive and comforting; this was a woman among women. "You have wickedly fascinated her. Naughty man."
"He has offered her a month as his second public mistress," Gale said. "In exchange for a vital mission."
"Please," Opaline said. "I will do it without."
"Negation," Monochrome murmured. "It is fair. We know you will do your best."
"But you're his mistress!"
"So I well know what a man he is. You will not be disappointed."
Her two hands continued to infuse courage and well-being in Opaline. "You—you don't object?"
"Sex is a unit of currency on Charm, as it is on Earth," Monochrome said. "The more sexually desirable people use it to pay others for necessary services, as I have done for decades. There is no more desirable man than Havoc, and no more important service than what he asks of you. The deal is fair. Take it."
Opaline could not doubt this magnetic woman. "I do."
"Appreciation." Monochrome let go, stepped back, and faced Havoc. "Another time, lover." She vanished.
"Next time perhaps you will have the wit to persuade a girl without having to call on us for help,"
Queen Gale said, frowning prettily, and also vanished.
"They treat you like an errant child!" Opaline exclaimed with mixed wonder and annoyance.
"It seems they put me in my place," Havoc said ruefully.
"How—how did they knew the deal is fair? You gave them no detail."
"They read my mind."
"They are telepathic?"
"Affirmation. It saves time."
"And you," she said, appalled anew. "You are too. You've been reading my mind all along!"
"Apology."
"All my girlish fantasies and doubts. My most shameful secrets, especially when I lay against you last night. Oh, I want to die!"
"Needless. Here is my mind, rehearsed from when I lay against you."
They were standing apart, but then she felt his mind, not just his thoughts but his feelings and urges. His mouth was avidly kissing her soft bare breasts, licking the nipples. Then his turgid member was sliding into her tight damp cleft, lodging fully, and spewing out a huge quantity of pleasure-saturated fluid. It seemed to fill her to overflowing, riding a divine current of rapture. "Oh!" she breathed, transported by that encompassing feeling.
Slowly it faded, leaving her warm throughout, especially in her groin. She had just had unutterably sweet sex with a man without touching him. Yet this was not her passion, but his. He had had the same thoughts about her as she had about him, only his were more specific and urgent.
"There is no shame," he said.
"No shame," she agreed. "Appreciation." The odd thing was that it was true: now that she had felt his masked passion, she was no longer ashamed of her own passion. What he found in her mind was a mere echo of what was in his own mind. The man truly loved women and sex, and could never get enough of either. Even innocent girls turned him on, though he treated them with the respect they deserved. Had any of them been able to read his mind, they would have found themselves spitted on his eager member, riding the waves.