The roof went up the next day, and while Talos helped me, I didn’t really have a chance for any conversation in the morning. I used some of my remaining store of lumber for the frame, and I had enough shingles to make it fairly modern. It was possible I could make asphalt shingles at some point; the production cycle didn’t involve too many steps if I could find a source of coal or peat. In any case, I wouldn’t need to replace the roof for many years.

On top of the shingles I fixed up some solar panels. I’d deliberately designed a simple roof, free of obstructions, so that I could maximize the output, and I was pretty sure that it would supply all our household needs, at least, with some left over most of the year.

It was a sprawling five-bedroom house, all on one floor. One bathroom, two common areas, and a kitchen. I didn’t know that was enough for everyone who wanted to stay around me, but I expected there’d be a whole little complex in the new location eventually. The capital of Abbyland.

Brick couldn’t completely replace lumber, however, and we were going to run out, especially with all the new construction. The battle had caused a lot of damage in the forest, but mostly not the kind that produced usable lumber. A team of zombies carted out lots of branches and kindling, but what they got would be more useful as firewood than for construction.

There were two small forests to the north, and I needed to know more about them, so at lunch the next day, I had a council meeting. Now that I was more centrally located, it was easy to let the trolls and orcs know about a meeting by radioing the trading houses, and having whoever was staffing them tell the chiefs. Gavabar sent Rargar, and Zargaza came herself. I’d invited the two guard captains, too.

I asked Gren why the northern forests hadn’t been used by the trolls before, rather than trying to get wood from Xyla’s forest.

“Well, they are farther, for one thing. Takes a couple hours to get to the edge of either of them, rather than fifteen minutes. That means less logging time. But the one to the northwest is inhabited by goblins.”

I nodded. “Short, green?” I held my hand about waist high.

“Yes. And numerous. Sure, no one worries about fighting goblins one on one, but when there’s hundreds of them, maybe thousands, that’s a different story.”

“Ah,” Zargaza said. “But you have us now. We can slaughter them all. And I’m sure there’s a use for little zombies.”

Or you can make ‘em a blood supply for vampires. They breed quickly, so they’re perfect for that.

I frowned. “I’d rather not do any more slaughtering.”

“They’re just gobilns,” Gren said. “And with your zombies to do the bulk of the fighting, and our long range bows, we’d probably not lose anyone.”

I thought they were missing the point, so I moved on. “And the other forest?”

“We call it the Wicked Woods,” Gren said. “We think it might be haunted.”

“Ghosts?”

In one more level, you’ll be able to control ghosts yourself.

Gren shrugged. “Who knows. We sent scouting parties. They didn’t come back to report what they found. After two, we gave up.”

“Ah, but they were not orcs,” Zargaza said. “I could get a band of warriors ready –”

“This isn’t a competition between orcs and trolls,” I said. “If we go have a look, we’ll do it as a joint effort. But we really know nothing about the level of danger, do we? We can’t say it would be safe, even if we went with a hundred zombies and our best warriors.”

“By best warriors, she means her wives,” Gren said, with a smirk at Zargaza. It wasn’t a direct troll vs. orc comment, but it was still a pointed reminder that Zargaza’s orcs were not at the top of the pecking order, and that Zargaza herself didn’t share the same bond with me.

“And lovers,” Zargaza said smoothly, thereby including some orcs and herself.

“And my guards,” Bapho said. “But only if we’re guarding the Queen.”

“If Bapho’s brutes are going,” Captain Hornung said, “We will have to come along to keep an eye on them.”

“Okay, we’ll think about that,” I said “It’s not an emergency yet, although obviously we need to get ahead of the curve in a few places or we won’t be able to handle the emergencies that arrive.”

“You may, of course, get ahead on my curves any time,” Kendala said, bending over. Jill had bought a lot of clothes, and Kendala had found a French maid outfit to serve food in.

“That’s distracting,” I chided her.

“Excellent,” she said.

Gren whipped her top off entirely.

“What?” I asked.

“To keep your mind on the council,” Gren said. “Don’t want you getting distracted because our serving wench is getting all sexy. Wanton wench.”

Hornung stared for a moment, then jerked his head away.

“Put it back on, please,” I told Gren, and looked the other way while hopefully she did as I asked. “Anyone know if there’s any kind of magic that duplicates objects?”

“Well,” Lysandra said. “The gnomes have something like that, I think. But it’s pretty useless. It only duplicates non-magical things, I understand, and furthermore, what gets duplicated can’t be enchanted. They are pretty good at making things, but their skill can’t beat having good enchantments.”

I raised my eyebrows at her, and tried to stop my heart from leaping. I had thrown it out as a long shot, but maybe I should be more open to the idea that magic could do wacky things.

Lesseth could duplicate liquids she became familiar with. We’d bought an Ink Tank Printer and she could turn herself into the ink and refill the tank, as long as Valeria was around to heal her after. She didn’t seem to mind, and liked being useful, since she couldn’t carry heavy things around. But becoming anything solid was beyond her. Even being able to duplicate things like screws would be amazing. If they could do power tools, or computers, or – well, the list was endless. “Lysandra, that would be a lifesaver. Or at least it would be a huge help.”

“But I’ve never heard of anyone but gnomes knowing how to do it,” Lysandra said.

“So let’s go find some gnomes. Maybe they want something we have. Actually, maybe they’d like to duplicate some things we have.”

“But we’re talking about gnomes, here,” Lysandra said.

“Alright,” I said. “What’s wrong with gnomes?”

“Their sense of humor, for one thing.”

“We had a gnome come through the village once,” Gren reminisced. “He stole the men’s beer for the orgy. The women got drunk, but none of the boys could get it up.”

“Don’t tell me you all ended up fucking the gnome,” Lysandra said.

“Okay,” Gren said. “I won’t tell you that.”

“That’s gnomes for you,” Lysandra said. “I can’t believe you fucked a gnome.”

“I didn’t tell you I did,” Gren said.

“Okay, so gnomes can be a handful,” I said, trying to get the meeting back on track.

“Also, they have the worst potty mouths,” Lysandra told me. “Honestly.”

“On the positive side, Queen Abby,” Bapho said, “they are just the right height, if you know what I mean.”

“Everyone knows what you mean,” Hornung said drily.

“Wait,” Xyla said in her innocent voice. “What do you mean?”

“Also,” Bapho said, “they can’t talk with their mouths full.”

“Oh. Oh!” Xyla said, as if she was just catching on. I wasn’t buying it for one moment.

“Personally,” Kendala said. “I’m glad I’m the height I am. It means I have to kneel when I’m sucking Abby’s big –”

“Moving right along,” I said. “Where do we find a gnome wizard?”

“You know,” Lysandra said, “Calling someone a gnomophile is the fastest way to start a fight in Avonia.” She looked between Bapho and Gren. “I just can’t believe you two.”

“I didn’t tell you anything,” Gren said. “Locked lips.”

“Locked lips like that gnome girl I knew. Locked right around my –” Bapho said.

“Moving right along,” I said.

Valeria stroked my thigh. Maybe she meant it as calming, but it had another effect, too. And I needed to focus. “Lysandra, where do we find the gnomes?”

“They live underground, mostly. They have a barrow northeast of Avonia, I think, but I don’t know exactly where, because unlike some people, I’m not interested in gnomes.”

I nodded. “It’s about time to send a few more posters and bras to Avonia anyway, so I’ll send someone. Do you think we can get a map to the gnomes while we’re there? Do they have an embassy that might invite us, even?”

“Yes, I suppose so,” Lysandra said. “You wouldn’t mind control me to do it with a gnome, would you?”

“I wouldn’t mind control you to do anything,” I said, honestly.

She shivered.

“But if I did, it wouldn’t be to have sex with a gnome,” I added hastily.

She smiled. “Thank you, Abby. You’re very kind to me, given that you don’t have to be.”

The hell I didn’t. She was an elf princess, and at least in theory consort to the Archfiend. And anyway, I wanted to be kind to her. “Do you mind going?” I asked.

“Well, I’ll miss you horribly, of course, because you’ve made me addicted to you. But I’m the best person for those trips, aren’t I?”

“You are. With a guard, of course.”

Bapho said, “I can give her one. She is, after all, the Archfiendess.”

“In that case, we will have to send some people too,” Hornung said. “So that she doesn’t come to any harm at the hand of demons.”

I suspected he didn’t care that much whether an Archfiendess came to harm, but I wasn’t sure what his game was, exactly. Maybe he was just curious about our relations with Avonia. Either way, it solved a problem neatly for me. “Okay, good. That’s settled. Take a bike, Lysandra, and please hurry back.” She wouldn’t want to outpace her guards, but it would still make the trip easier.

The rest of the meeting was about little things. I hadn’t had a chance to chat with Talos, so I took him aside afterward and we walked around the outside of the nascent capital of Abbyland. I needed to name it before it became Abbyville or Abbytown.

“So,” I said, “One of the things that happens in poly sometimes is that new partners are super exciting. We call it NRE – New Relationship Energy.”

“You’re talking about me and Jill,” Talos said.

“Bingo. Anyway, sometimes people get all wrapped up in the new person, and it feels awesome! And there is a little anxiety in a new relationship, too, so that feeds the desire to pour lots of energy and time into it. But it’s important not to neglect the relationships you already have – in fact, those relationships may need some extra care – even though they aren’t the shiny new thing.”

“Are you telling me to tone it down with Jill because you’re jealous?”

I shook my head. “Jill deserves all the things, Talos. Have fun. But take care of Kathy, too. Think of how you’d feel if she was doing things with someone else. I suspect you might need some reassurance here and there, if you were in her shoes.”

“Huh,” Talos said. “Maybe if I invite them to have a threesome?”

I shook my head. “Trust me. Let that be their idea. Quality one-on-one time with Kathy is what you’re after.” I knew I didn’t always manage to practice what I preached these days. But then, life had gotten very complicated. Talos, on the other hand, should be able to pull it off.

“Alright, Abby,” Talos said. “I don’t suppose you’d ever, um –”

“Hmm?”

“That you’d ever be interested in me that way?”

I shook my head. I didn’t find the idea of sex with a man repugnant. I just didn’t find it especially attractive, either. “I’ve got enough going on as it is,” I said, wanting to be gentle.

“Ah,” Talos said. And then, after a pause. “I suppose I do, too.”

He walked away, and I smiled. So he wanted a threesome, did he? I’d given him some good advice. I knew Jill well enough to be nearly certain she’d suggest such a thing eventually, even if Kathy didn’t, although Kathy might not go for it.

Then it hit me that Jill might suggest a threesome that involved Talos and me, instead.

I’d deal with that problem another day. For now, it was off the table. Kathy had enough to struggle with, and I was not going to add fuel to that fire.

 You would think with all my lovers I’d have enough drama all on my own, but no, I had to get involved in Kathy and Talos’s, too. Well, hopefully they’d figure it out.