Chapter 35: "Your mission, should you choose to accept it..."

I now have an editor, so you all shouldn't need to put up with my typos and poor/dyslexic editing skills anymore. :)

* * *

Kendra lay in her hammock looking up at the underside of the Argo's weather deck. Her cheeks ached slightly from smiling so much. She figured that she must've been smiling in her sleep for them to feel like this. She used a bit of mana to heal the over-strained muscles, and then smiled at the necessity of doing so.

"You awake?" Selene called from another hammock.

There were four hammocks in the ladies' area, arranged in a square. Anthiel slept in the forward starboard hammock and Rachel had previously slept in the forward port hammock. That put Selene in the rear starboard hammock and Kendra in the rear port hammock, which had been Alana's at one time apparently.

"Yeah, why?" Kendra leaned out slightly and looked down so she could see the drop-dead gorgeous Brazilian woman, who was doing the same. They slept with their feet facing each other.

"Just curious." She replied. "I've been laying here trying to find my mana for a while now, but I can't even feel it."

"Finding your mana can take a while; it did for me."

"I'll keep at it then." The Brazilian woman sighed. "I just hope I'll be good at something for a change."

The dragon huntress looked up at her. "What do you mean?"

Selene hesitated, then shook her head. "Never mind. Rachel said that there's a theory that a person will have an affinity for the first kind of magic that's used on him. Do you think there's any truth to that?"

"That's an old wives' tale." Kendra shook her head. "However, one of my teachers said that if a person had a strong experience with magic before he learned to manipulate his own mana, he might have an affinity for the magic that was used on him."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, he said it was like baking bread." She explained. "The strong magic pushes the bread into a shape, and then learning to move your mana is like 'baking' the bread so it stays in that shape."

"Interesting." The Brazilian woman mused. She sounded...

Sad?

Disappointed in herself?

"Is something wrong?" Kendra asked.

"I keep getting my ass kicked by Ethan in training, and there's not much I can contribute here besides my sword arm, so I feel kind of useless."

"He's been practicing a lot longer than you have. It'll take time."

"I appear to have a lot of that."

"Oh?"

Selene nodded, then leaned back into her hammock. "Yeah. It'll be a while before we get time to deal with Smithbond and I get to go home." She made a thoughtful sound. "Well, at least I'll get to go home temporarily."

"Yeah, from the sounds of it, the secret government organizations are just as bad on Ethan's world as they are here."

Selene looked up again. "You sound as if you speak from experience."

Kendra hesitated before replying. "I've seen things."

The ex-FBI agent made a thoughtful sound. "I asked Taloni about you a while back, and she said that you said you were a 'problem eliminator'. Sounds pretty first hand to me."

"Fair." Kendra replied. "I hear you were a constable of some kind on Ethan's world. How did you achieve that without knowing the sword?"

"We used guns, and I'm a pretty good shot."

Kendra nodded, remembering that Ethan had described guns when recounting his story. "Well, I can't get a gun for you, but I can certainly teach you how to handle a sword better. In fact..." The dragon huntress looked around the room. "...we can do a little sparring before breakfast down below, since it's important to learn how to fight in an enclosed space. Interested?"

"Absolutely!" Selene replied.

* * *

Beth woke up with Ethan's arms around her and Taloni's gently fluttering wings tickling her back. She giggled and looked at the Fey, who appeared to still be fast asleep.

*Morning angel.* Ethan said with a smile, though she could feel the edge of the dragon through their bond.

*Good morning Dominus.* She thought back as she snuggled closer to him. *I really missed this while you were captured.*

*Me too angel, me too.* He replied. *Fortunately, you should never have to deal with that again.*

*I hope so.* She replied with a sigh. *My father will be really mad that you married more women than just me though, so I'm worried he'll try to separate the others from you. I know they'd hate it as much as I would.*

*Never. Going. To. Happen.* The dragon thought back, and if he'd been speaking it probably would've come out as a growl.

*I'm glad, but he still won't be happy about your other wives.*

*I thought that was legal here?* He replied, a bit of Ethan coming back.

*It is, but--* The blonde stopped as she heard a contented sigh from Ethan's other side. She lifted her head to see Rachel and Alana sleeping in each other's arms, the redhead's back snuggled up to Ethan's. She couldn't see Rachel's face, but Alana looked rapturously content.

She frowned. *Is it just me, or do they look almost... I don't know; like a couple?*

Ethan chuckled. *You finally noticed huh?*

*Wait, 'finally'? This isn't new?*

Ethan outright laughed at that. *Not by a long stretch, but I don't mind. Actually, I think it's kind of cute.*

*Oh.* Was all Beth could think to reply. She vaguely remembered learning that some women liked other women the way women like men, but she'd never met any of them.

Well, apparently she had.

"Hmm?" Rachel yawned as she started stretching, probably woken by Ethan laughing.

"Somfing fny masser?" Taloni mumbled as she also started waking and stretching.

About a minute later, three bleary eyed women were yawning and stretching while Beth enjoyed snuggling with their husband. As usual, Rachel was a bit more reserved about her stretching, and she made sure the sheet was covering her while she did. Ethan retracted his wings and lay on his back, pulling Rachel closer on his left and Beth closer on his right. He looked at his two remaining wives, then frowned.

"Well ladies, we've got this huge new bed, let's see if we can't get everyone snuggled up with the new space."

Alana rolled so she was lower than Rachel and Taloni mirrored her, so the two women were laying with her heads on Ethan's stomach, while the other two were laying their heads on his chest. He reached down as far as he could and managed to sort of get his arms around all four of them.

"Ah, that's better." He sighed looking at all of them.

Beth smiled at him, so incredibly grateful that she was here with him. She found it odd, but she even liked his smooth scales against her skin.

"So, you were about to explain why your dad doesn't like multiple wives." Ethan said to her.

"Yes, so his mother was a second wife." Beth explained. "But his stepfather -- my step-grandfather -- didn't really want to marry her. He was kind of pressured into it because she was his brother's widow, and she needed someone to provide for her after her first husband -- my grandfather -- died."

"I take it she wasn't treated well?" Rachel asked.

"No, she wasn't." Beth nodded sadly. "It really is a shame; Grams is such a nice woman, but she had a hard life and was treated very badly."

"How badly are we talking here?" Ethan asked.

"She was basically made to be a maid, near the level of a slave." The blonde said sadly. "The other wife was treated very well, and so were her kids, but not Grams or her kids. My father and his siblings were basically servants in the house. I once heard Grams saying that the only time he paid any attention to her was when she made a mistake or he wanted sex."

"That's awful." Alana's face fell.

"It doesn't happen often, but I've heard of marriages like that." Rachel said with a similarly sad expression. "The Book of Light is clear that husbands must take care of their wives, and usually a husband is castigated by the community if he doesn't. If he doesn't straighten up, the community will 'correct' him for it."

"Why didn't that happen here?" He asked.

"My step-grandfather was good at hiding it." Beth replied. "Apparently, he would occasionally beat her but make sure the bruises didn't show, and then he would be nice to her in public, but basically ignore her in private. Well, unless he wanted something."

"Oh." Alana cocked her head to one side, like something had just occurred to her. "Your father is worried that'll happen to you because of Ethan and I. He wanted to marry me originally, but he was sort of pressured into marrying you, and your father is worried that Ethan will be like his stepfather."

"I would guess so." Beth nodded. That made a lot of sense, and she kind of knew it somewhere in the back of her mind but hadn't really thought about it consciously.

"Hmm, so I need to convince Lord Borden that I won't treat you like that." Ethan mused.

"I don't think you can." Beth replied. "Grams got to be the perfect little actress and she was able to convince anyone that she was madly in love with her abusive husband and was so grateful that he'd married her. I'm not sure anything you or I said would make a difference."

"And I don't suppose anything his other wives said would carry weight either." Rachel added.

"Gram's fellow wife was also pretty mean to her in private, but treated her like a sister in public." Beth shook her head. "So probably not."

"What about Anthiel or Serif?" Taloni asked. "They know you all treat us well master, maybe they could vouch for us?"

"That might help." Beth said. "But I doubt that alone would convince my father. He might assume that Ethan is good at hiding it."

"I mean, I literally fought a necromancer and crossed worlds to bring you back from the dead." Ethan pointed out. "Won't that count for something?"

"Maybe!" Beth exclaimed brightly.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Rachel said as she backed off a bit and propped herself up on her elbows, though the sheets still covered her pretty well. "Things like this aren't usually logical; they're more emotional. If he had a bad experience his entire childhood, it'll color his view of everything without him realizing it."

"Yeah, good point." Ethan frowned, then looked at Beth. "And you don't think that Anthiel or Serif's word would be enough?"

She smiled back into his green, cat-like dragon eyes. "It won't hurt, but I doubt it'll be enough to convince him."

"I hate to say this, but we should think about the worst case scenario." Rachel said.

Ethan grimaced. 'Which is?"

The redhead took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "He could take the Argo. I doubt he'd hurt any of us, if for no other reason than you're reputed to be a prophet of Illuminar. But the Argo does belong to him; we're technically just borrowing it."

"That would be bad." He nodded.

"Especially for Kendra." Taloni pointed out. "We just told her last night that she could make the Argo her home."

"Yeah." He sighed. "I think she'd be okay if she could stay with us, and worst case scenario we could get passage back to Nalatia. I'm sure The King or Navaro would put us up for a bit, and maybe get us another airship, but I'd rather not." He looked around the captain's cabin. "I don't know, the Argo is really starting to feel like home."

"Now that Kendra's is here?" Taloni gave him a teasing smile.

He rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"Regardless, we should tell Kendra." Alana suggested. "Especially given the invitation for her to stay with us last night, she should know."

"Agreed." He nodded.

* * *

"Get off the horse."

Sarah jerked awake from her attempt to sleep atop the horse. It was early morning and they had been riding all night. Not fast, but continuously. They had taken so many turns on the roads that she was hopelessly lost and obviously quite far from home.

"Hey, chin up; it'll be okay." Lady Ekthros said from beside her, though she looked quite worried at the guards around her. Sarah was incredibly glad that she was here; she had been nothing but kind to her.

They had stopped near a large earthen ramp which led up to an airship that was docked at the top. The soldiers were dismounting and tying their horses to nearby horse hitches. It looked like a tiny little outpost. They'd exited the forest, and she could see unfamiliar rolling green hills stretching into the horizon. Despite the situation, it was a good view and she was grateful for it.

It cheered her up slightly.

She silently prayed. *Illuminar, I know I can't escape this, but please help Lady Ekthros escape. She's been so nice and I would hate to see something bad happen to her because of me. And please make me good.*

One of the soldiers roughly pulled her off the horse, grabbed her by the arm, and started half-pulling, half-dragging her towards the ramp up to the airship. Lady Ekthros wasn't far behind, being likewise pulled along by another soldier.

They were dragged onto an airship which was about the same size as Ethan's, though not nearly as nice. The wood had an aged look to it, like this ship was old and not very well taken care of. It was clearly a military vessel, and the dozen soldiers milling about the deck made that obvious.

She gulped.

They brought the two women below decks and dragged them to the rear of the ship to a small steel cell. Sarah and Lady Ekthros were roughly thrown into the cell and the door was locked behind them.

"Now I don't want no trouble from you bitches, you hear?" One of the soldiers said. He had a nasty wart on his cheek and didn't look like he even knew what a bath was; the stench coming off him was all but confirmation of that. "You cause us any trouble, and I might just let the boys have some fun."

He made a lewd thrusting motion with his hips to drive the point home.

Lady Ekthros gave him a scathing look while Sarah retreated behind the older woman. The auburn-haired woman didn't look as scared as Sarah felt, but there was a waver in her cold expression; she must be scared too, just hiding it better.

He scoffed and left the room, leaving the two women alone.

Sarah sat down, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. It would be okay, at least she hoped it would be. Gabriella had promised that life would get hard, and this was certainly hard. But it would get better.

The angel had said so.

"Hey, come here." Lady Ekthros said as she sat down next to her and pulled her close, wrapping her arms around the innkeeper's daughter. "It'll be okay; we'll get through this."

Sarah nodded, wishing more than anything that Ethan was here. He could help. He was the prophet of Illuminar and such a good man. He could help... if only he knew.

Sadly, he didn't.

"We can figure a way out of this." Lady Ekthros said.

"I wish..." She said, then stopped.

"You wish... what?" The auburn haired woman prompted.

"I wish the prophet of Illuminar knew that we were here. He could help." She admitted.

Something about the older woman's body language changed. She suddenly seemed stiffer and less open, like she knew something that she didn't want to share.

She spoke after a moment, but did so in a very diplomatic tone. "Maybe he could."

"You don't think he would?" Sarah asked.

"I didn't say that exactly." Lady Ekthros said delicately.

"But you meant it, didn't you?"

She hesitated a moment before answering. "I'm... I'm not as convinced about him as most people."

"Why?"

"I really shouldn't say." She replied.

"Why?"

"He's..." Lady Ekthros hesitated, then shook her head. "It doesn't matter; he's not coming so there's no reason to shatter the image." She said this, then inhaled sharply like she'd said too much.

Shatter the image?

What did she mean?

She'd met Ethan and knew him to be a good person, but Lady Ekthros seemed to think he wasn't.

Why?

She was an advisor to a lord, so perhaps she knew something that other people didn't? She couldn't imagine what it would be though. Given all that he had done, it seemed impossible that he wasn't a good person.

He must be a good person...

Right?

* * *

Kendra mostly listened as Ethan and his wives laid out the situation with Lord Borden over breakfast. When they had finished, she asked the only question that was on her mind. Well actually she hesitated, took a deep breath and then asked.

"If you're forced to leave the Argo, can I come with you?"

"Of course." Ethan replied immediately. "I meant what I said last night. And while it might not be on the Argo, you're welcome to travel with us wherever we go."

"Thank you." She nodded. "Then, I have a confession to make: I think I'm partially responsible for Lord Borden knowing that you have multiple wives."

"Oh?" Beth asked.

"Yeah." Kendra replied to the blonde. "He asked about you when I went to confirm Ethan's story. I didn't want to give anything away, so I simply said that you were happy and getting along well with your fellow wives. I thought that was the minimum I could say to put a father at ease. I'm sorry."

Ethan shrugged. "He would've found out anyway."

Beth nodded. "It seemed like half of Ivernia knew that Ethan had multiple wives by the time we stopped to pick up Selene, so he would've found out soon anyway."

"There's another thing." The dragon huntress said. "He sort of insinuated I wasn't welcome in the city anymore after I told him that I wouldn't let Taloni be hurt or separated from you."

The Fey beamed.

"I mean, you can stay outside if you want." Ethan said. "We can drop you somewhere outside the city and pick you up when we leave if you'd prefer."

She hesitated only a moment before shaking her head. "No, I haven't broken any laws and he'll need something significant to charge me. Plus, if I arrive with all of you it would seem suspicious if something happened to me. I'd like to come with."

"You're welcome to." Ethan smiled.

"So, what should we do when we arrive then?" Kendra asked. Then she realized that she had just included herself in the Argo's crew by saying 'we'.

Hmm.

She liked that.

"I'm not sure there's much we can do except hope for the best." Ethan said. "I figure we'll just tell him what happened and hope he understands."

Kendra noticed that Beth glanced down slightly and bit her lip. "Beth, you don't think that will work?"

"I hope it will." The blonde replied. "I know one thing about my father though; he often says that 'talk is copper, actions are gold'."

Selene chuckled. "Yeah, we have a similar saying on Earth."

"I'm not sure what actions we could take to convince him though." Ethan said rubbing his chin.

"Also, you might not want to tell him that I died." Beth grimaced. "He won't take that well, despite the fact that I came back from the dead."

"Maybe master could tell him about his conversation with Illuminar." Taloni suggested with a slight flutter of her wings. "Surely that would help."

Beth shook her head. "I doubt it. No one else was there to corroborate the story."

"Well, you could tell him all about Gabriella then." The Fey countered.

"Then I would have to tell him that I died." She replied. "That wouldn't be good. Like I said, one of my father's favorite sayings is 'talk is copper, actions are gold'."

"We should all brainstorm and see what we can come up with." Ethan shook his head. "We have a couple of days before we arrive."

After breakfast ended, Kendra realized for the first time that she didn't have any idea what the Argo's crew did to pass the time. She helped clean up from breakfast as best she could, though she didn't know where anything went. It seemed that Selene had sort of taken over that job though, and she felt slightly in the way.

Ethan's wives all followed Alana to the boxes containing the weapons that Graflex had forged. The wood elf started enchanting by the looks of it, and the others helped by donating mana. Taloni donated first, and when she was done she walked up to Ethan.

"Ready master?" She asked brightly.

"Always." He grinned back.

They both took to the sky and it seemed like this was something of a morning ritual for them. They didn't fly very far away from the Argo, but they seemed to enjoy themselves. It rather reminded Kendra of a couple taking a morning walk, only it was a morning fly instead. After about ten minutes, Taloni started to droop slightly in her flight and they returned to the Argo. That's when the dragon huntress realized that she wasn't wearing the weight reduction necklace; she was flying all on her own.

Kendra smiled.

It wasn't long ago that the Fey girl needed the necklace to fly that long, now she could do it under her own strength. The raven-haired woman guessed that before long the Fey would be able to fly as long as a human could walk. That brought a smile to her face.

By the time Ethan had returned, Alana appeared to have finished working with what she was enchanting, and she presented the training sword to Ethan. "Here you go; all done. I gave the entire thing a self-repairing enchantment and primed it for a summoning enchantment. A drop of deep mana is all it takes to finish it."

Ethan took the sword, concentrated for a moment, then hurled it into the air. It was pointed towards him when he started summoning, but it righted itself in mid-air and flew towards him hilt first. He caught it deftly and spun it expertly.

"Damn, I still can't get over how amazing this feels in the hand." He said after a moment.

He activated the hilt extension and spun it like a spear, then deactivated it and started moving it like a sword again. Kendra had to admit that it was a pretty clever weapon.

"Wanna spar?" Selene asked him.

"Sure." He replied, then frowned. "I should probably do it with my armor on though, just so I get used to it."

"Oh, you finished the armor then?" Kendra asked.

Ethan got a massive grin on his face. "Check this out."

He spread his arms out, and then Kendra saw a bunch of white armor plates fly out from the direction of the captain's cabin. They flew to him and stuck to his body, almost instantly curving down and locking into place, covering him from head to toe in armor. His hands were only partially armored though, and it looked like some of the smaller plates hadn't been finished yet.

Still, it was impressive.

The armor had pretty good coverage considering it was all plates and no chainmail. There were gaps between the plates of course, but they weren't very large. A skilled swordsman could target the gaps, but most ordinary fighters wouldn't have a chance.

* * *

Ethan finished locking the pieces of armor into place and got a massive grin on his face. "Pretty cool right?!"

"It is." Kendra agreed, and he noticed that there wasn't an edge in her voice. Now that he thought about it, there really hadn't been an edge in her tone since the previous evening.

Hmm.

The change was good.

"Ready?" Selene asked, then hesitated. "So, do I need to hit the gaps?"

"Nah." Ethan shook his head. "We'll call them as hits like I'm unarmored. I mostly want to get used to the feeling and weight."

"Okay." The Brazilian woman nodded, then turned to Kendra. "You want to call go?"

The dragon huntress smiled, and he got the feeling that she liked being included.

"Ready.... Begin." She called.

Ethan raised his practice blade, ready for his first actual sparring session with the new weapon. Selene raised her sword and shield and slowly advanced with nearly her entire body protected by the large kite shield. He activated the hilt extension and aimed a thrust up high to move her shield out of position. She batted the tip of his blade away with her shield, and simultaneously stepped in to close the distance. He retracted the hilt extension to get weapon into sword form, then--

His vision blurred slightly and time slowed for a split second as he saw Selene aim a high descending blow.

His vision cleared just as Selene aimed a high descending blow. Startled, by the sudden change in vision, he leapt backwards and shook his head slightly.

Obviously able to tell that something was wrong, the Brazilian woman lowered her weapons. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so." He frowned. "My vision just got slightly blurry there for a moment. Let's keep going."

Selene nodded and raised her weapons as Ethan raised his. They nodded at each other, then Selene charged forward. He responded by switching to spear form and aiming a thrust at her legs, which she blocked with her shield. He took a step back to gain distance and switched to sword mode just as--

His vision blurred slightly and time slowed for a split second as Selene began an artful flat-blade thrust.

Time began to move normally again, just as Selene began an artful flat-blade thrust. He parried it with difficultly and took a step back to get more distance, but Selene wouldn't let him have it. Covering nearly her entire body with her kite shield, she pressed the attack, starting to--

His vision blurred slightly and time slowed for a split second as Selene began a diagonal slice aimed at his torso.

Time began to move normally again, just as Selene began a diagonal slice aimed at his torso.

"Stop!" He called as he jumped back, shaking his head and feeling somewhat disoriented by his vision changing so rapidly.

To her credit, Selene immediately pulled her strike and even looked a little concerned. "Seriously, are you okay? I've never been able to press the attack like that before."

"I don't know." He said, then thought. *Taloni, can you come over here?*

The Fey was at his side in seconds. "Yes master?"

"I'm having a weird thing with my vision, can you check me out?"

The Fey got a pink tinge in her cheeks and thought to him. *You are perfectly sexy master.*

He rolled his eyes and chuckled. *Not how I meant that.*

She smiled coyly at him, then put her hand on his head and closed her eyes for nearly a minute. "I don't see anything master."

"What's wrong?" Selene asked as his other wives came up, all looking a bit concerned.

"I don't know." He shook his head. "My vision went slightly blurry for a moment and then I saw..." He cocked his head to one side. "I saw your attack a split second before you started it."

Selene gaped at him. "You're kidding."

"No." He shook his head. "But it wasn't anything like you might think. It was incredibly distracting and disorienting, and that's without the vision blurring."

Selene frowned. "Did you vision actually blur, or were you just seeing two things at the same time so close together in time that it appeared to blur?"

He opened his mouth to reply, closed it, then scratched the top of his head. "You know, I think you might be right. If so, then this whole spider-sense, predicting the future thing is a non-starter; it's so disorienting that I could barely fight."

"When you enchanted yourself, did you try for all danger?" Rachel asked.

"I did." He replied.

"Maybe that's the problem." Kendra suggested. "You don't really need to be informed of danger you're already aware of, just danger you aren't aware of.

"Good point." He grinned at her. "That means I'll need to disenchant what I've already done and restart from scratch. I'll take being warned of a surprise attack, even if it's a little disorienting. Plus, it should get less disorienting the further out I can see."

Ethan closed his eyes and focused on removing what he'd enchanted so far. It took nearly a minute, but he was able to without much trouble. After he'd finished, it occurred to him that he'd never disenchanted himself before and yet had no trouble with it. He was thankful that what Alana had said on his first night in the Ten Kingdoms still held true; dragons could use magic instinctively. Of course, he was rubbish at enchanting anything other than himself, but he had the lovely wood elf for that.

"Okay, disenchantment done." He announced. "I'll start back up with the new enchantment tonight, though judging by the last one it'll take a few days to work." He looked at Selene. "Shall we resume?"

* * *

As she suspected would happen, Selene got her ass kicked in sparring the rest of the morning. Ethan was back to his usual self and she only landed blows in two matches that morning. As much as it galled her to admit it after having spent half her life training in a dojo, Ethan was a better fighter than she was; at least with weapons. It seemed his real world experience and him being trained by people who actually put their lives on the line when they dueled made a real difference.

He was a good teacher too.

He didn't have much to say about her footwork, but he had spent months handling a spear and he was good with it. Really good. She could barely touch him when he was using his training weapon in spear mode. On the rare occasion that she got close enough to use her arming sword, he would just switch to sword mode and her advantage would disappear.

Halfway through the morning he'd switched to a training spear so Selene could get some more realistic practice in. About an hour later, he switched back to his training sword and used it exclusively in sword mode. She did much better due to his inexperience with the large war sword -- she'd scored both her hits on him while he was using sword-only mode -- but she still lost a lot.

By lunchtime, she was feeling a little inadequate.

Ethan had even been quite encouraging and had never put her down. His dragon side kept peeking out though, and she could tell that at least his dragon side was disappointed in her when it did. Like the first time she'd met him in 'dragon mode', he looked at her like she was beneath his notice.

She hated that, and only partially because it make her nether regions react.

After lunch, she declined to continue sparring and wandered to the front of the ship to stare out into space.

"Copper for your thoughts?"

Selene looked behind her to see that Kendra had wandered up near her. Behind her, Ethan was sparring with Serif. The ex-FBI agent took a slightly perverse amount of pleasure from the fact that Serif was beating Ethan as soundly as Ethan had been beating her.

"I don't know." The Brazilian woman frowned. "Why do you ask?"

"I know your type." Kendra replied. "You're a bit of a warrior and hate to lose."

"Guilty as charged." She nodded. "I'm not sure it's entirely that though."

"Oh?"

The Brazilian woman turned and leaned on the railing. Kendra was a bit shorter than she was, but something about her just screamed dangerous. She wasn't threatening in the slightest, but Selene could tell that Kendra wasn't someone to be trifled with, despite how nice she had been lately. Selene guessed that they were about the same age, and given Kendra's previous occupation she felt a slight bit of kinship with the raven-haired woman.

"I just realized something earlier, when I was sparring with Ethan." She sighed. "I've been asking myself why Ethan seems to fall for every woman he meets except for me."

"And me." Kendra corrected.

Selene shook her head. "No, he likes you."

The dragon huntress raised her eyebrow.

"Not as much as his wives perhaps, but he does." Selene clarified. "I'm not saying that he's head-over-heels in love with you or anything, but he likes you and trusts you."

Kendra looked at her for several seconds before frowning. "You're not kidding, are you?"

"No, I'm not."

The dragon huntress made a thoughtful sound. "Anyway, you were saying about Ethan falling in love with everyone except you."

"Yeah, I feel kind of silly saying this out loud, but I didn't used to get it. I mean, I'm good looking and I think I have a pleasant personality."

"Agreed, though 'good-looking' would be a pretty big step down for you."

"Thank you." Selene replied before continuing. "But I realized something this morning. I've spent my whole life in training it seems. I've been doing martial arts since I could walk, and spent much of my childhood preparing to be an FBI agent. Now, I'm stuck on another world so I'll never be an FBI agent, and I'm getting my ass kicked in martial arts."

She looked at Kendra. "I just feel like I'm useless; like there's nothing I can do and I'm just completely useless."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, consider Ethan's other wives." She said. "I mean, Alana is this incredible enchanting chick who's also super great with a bow. Beth has what seems to be an encyclopedic knowledge of the world and can do that whole 'astral projection' thing. Taloni is the sweetest girl I've ever met, she can freakin' fly, she's an insanely good healer, and she can pilot the Argo. Rachel is a lord's daughter, super brilliant and insightful, and she's a powerful mage taboot. You--"

"I'm not one of Ethan's wives." Kendra interrupted.

"I know, but you're this super-deadly dragon huntress who has history and apparently some serious black ops skills. Then there's Anthiel. That chick is drop dead gorgeous, super wise, and has been around long enough to school everyone on this ship in life lessons."

"Fair." Kendra nodded.

"Okay, but that's not all." Selene continued, not really able to stop herself now that she'd started. "There's Serif, who apparently is some super bad-ass who's so good he even intimidates you."

"He does." The dragon huntress admitted. "What about Raklan?"

"He's an ass; he doesn't count."

The raven haired woman chuckled. "Again, fair."

"So I'm on this ship with all these incredible people and you know what I have that they don't?"

"What?"

"Pretty much nothing." Selene let her shoulders slump. "I mean, objectively speaking I'm probably a bit more attractive."

"More than a bit." Kendra interjected.

"Thanks, but that's all I have. I don't really have any special skills, or anything to bring to the table. I can't help at all; I'm basically dead weight. But it's worse." She finally admitted.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, every single woman on this ship is nicer than I am."

"You have met me, right?" Kendra raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but you have a good heart and everyone can see it." Selene countered. "I mean, you were hunting Ethan when you decided to charge in and save Taloni and Anthiel."

"I was more observing than hunting at that point." The raven-haired woman replied, though she looked pleased at the compliment.

"Tomayto, tomahto." The Brazilian woman replied. "Everyone on this ship has some special skills and a great personality, and I don't. Hell, even Sarah knows a shit-ton about cooking, hospitality, and taking care of a business; that's in addition to the whole 'demon-possessed super-strength' thing. Everyone in Ethan's circle is a damn site better than I am in every way... except for maybe looks. And what good is having a slightly prettier face?"

"What makes you think you don't have a great personality?" Kendra countered, and Selene noticed that she didn't disagree with anything else that she'd pointed out.

"Because I don't." She replied with a sigh as she hung her head. "I'm just now realizing this, but I'm a bit of a stick-in-the-mud."

Kendra looked confused at the idiom.

"I mean, I've never done anything interesting outside of martial arts, and I don't really know how to be a friend because I never really had any." Selene explained. "I studied hard in school and didn't really have many friends because I was always working. Yeah I got my master's degree early, but it took a shit-ton of work and nearly all my time studying. I never made any real friends."

"I can relate to not having friends." Kendra nodded, and then leaned up against the railing with the Brazilian woman. They both looked out across the beautiful Ivernian countryside.

* * *

Kendra listened to Selene's rant, trying to understand where the woman was coming from. She understood not having friends, but the rest of it was foreign; even the parts she understood.

Selene continued. "I just keep thinking that everyone has these fun stories to share at mealtimes, and I don't. I hear the others talking and I realize that they have actual personalities, while I'm pretty much boring." She finished, and then said something so quietly that Kendra didn't quite catch it.

"What was that?" The dragon huntress asked.

Selene looked at her, and for the first time ever the Brazilian woman looked a little sheepish and a touch guilty. "I said, 'no wonder Ethan isn't interested in me'." Then she hastily clarified. "Not that I want him to be, it's just hard feeling like I don't have anything for him to be interested in. Well, besides my looks."

Kendra eyed the absolutely drop-dead gorgeous woman for a moment. "Let me guess, you've had men throwing themselves at you your entire life, and you don't know what to do now that Ethan isn't."

"Sort of." Selene put an elbow on the Argo's railing and flopped her head down on her hand. "I don't really want him to. I'm not even attracted to him, I just wish that there was something about me besides my looks that was worth noticing. I'm tired of being noticed for my looks, and want to have something else about me that's worth getting to know."

Kendra looked at the other woman for a moment.

She didn't think that Selene was deceiving herself about not being interested in Ethan. She genuinely didn't seem interested in him, or if she was interested it seemed to only be a passing fancy. However, she did appear bothered by the other issues she'd brought up. The funny thing was, she got the distinct impression that Selene would be considered an accomplished woman on her own world, but perhaps not here.

"So, let me ask you this." The dragon huntress finally said. "Would you have these same issues on your own world? That is, would you feel the same way?"

"Maybe?" Selene frowned. "I spent most of my life preparing to be an FBI agent and I never will be one again. Smithbond saw to that. That's a hell of a thing to have on your record too. I have no idea what I would do on Earth."

"How about teach martial arts?"

"I suppose so." She shrugged. "My dad would certainly love that." She hung her head. "My dad... I haven't talked to him in so long. He's going to worry. And my mom..." She shook her head. "...she's going to be a nervous wreck."

"You might be able to contact them with that 'telefun' thing once you get back to Earth."

"Telephone." Selene shook her head. "Maybe, but I probably shouldn't. I'm still trying to think of a situation where I can remain on Earth and not be a prisoner or executed. Destroying the portal -- the single most valuable find the US Government has ever made -- isn't going to sit well with them."

"You could always come back to the Ten Kingdoms." Kendra suggested.

"Yeah, but then I'd need to become wife number six." She shuddered. "No thank you."

"Wife number five." Kendra corrected. "He only has four wives, and I'm not number five. I'm definitely not number five."

Selene grinned. "Methinks the lady doth protest too much."

"Huh?"

"It's from a play on Earth." Selene explained. "One of the characters makes a huge deal of saying she definitely wouldn't do something that she was planning to do, and another character who's watching says 'The lady doth protest too much methinks', to indicate that the vehement denial is actually the character overcompensating for something she wants."

"I don't want to marry Ethan though." Kendra replied firmly.

"Are you sure?"

Kendra took a moment to think. Ethan was certainly a good man, and the kind of man she would like to marry one day. However, no matter how good he was, there was one thing that she would never be able to get over. And even if she could -- and she definitely couldn't -- her stomach certainly wouldn't get over it.

"He's a dragon." She finally said. "If he was a man, maybe."

Selene raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, if he was a man I would be very interested, especially since we're bonded." She admitted. "But he's not a man; he's a dragon. No matter how good he is, I can't think about him touching me without feeling nauseous. That's kind of a deal breaker since I'm an orphan and thus can choose my own husband."

Selene got a mischievous grin on her face. "So, you think about him touching you then?" She paused, then shook her head. "Oh great, I've spent too much time with his wives; they're rubbing off on me."

Kendra chuckled, but didn't reply; she was too busy thinking about what Selene had said. Would she want to marry him if he wasn't a dragon? She hadn't really thought about it much before, but now that she was...

Hmm.

She could see it.

He was a good man; probably the best man she'd ever known even though he was a dragon. He was kind, caring, selfless, brave, and funny. He had his problems -- dragon temper foremost among them -- but he was a good guy. She was smart enough to know not to look for perfect, and honestly she would be happy if she could meet a man who was half as good as Ethan.

"You're thinking about it, aren't you?" Selene asked, shaking Kendra from her reverie.

"Yeah, but he's still a dragon." She shrugged. "I couldn't do it. Seriously, I'd probably vomit the first time he tried to kiss me."

"I couldn't marry a man with other wives." Selene replied. "Seriously, I'd kill him."

Kendra shrugged again. "That doesn't bother me, especially if you consider who those wives are. My real concern is how I'm going to find another man while being bonded to Ethan. I just don't think it would be right trying to marry someone else when I'm bonded to him."

"I hadn't even thought about that." Selene mused. "Yeah, I don't think it would be fair to the other guy to have you bonded to Ethan."

"There are good men out there, I just don't know where I'd find one as good as Ethan." The dragon huntress mused.

"I hear you." Selene agree vehemently. "How on Earth am I going to find a guy who wouldn't even consider trying to buy me from my father?"

"In the Ten Kingdoms? Good luck."

"I was afraid you were going to say that." The Brazilian woman sighed. "I guess that makes Ethan just about my only choice, little though he wants me."

"Yeah, me too." Kendra agreed, then she realized what she'd just said.

The two women looked at each other.

Shit.

"Well, I guess we can always look forward to being single." Selene finally said.

"Yeah..." Kendra replied with a sigh, suddenly a lot less happy about her future prospects.

* * *

Alana put her hand over her womb as she watched Ethan and the dragon tag-team Serif in sparring. Her husband was struggling so much to keep the dragon under control, to stop himself from lashing out at those around him for the smallest things. She knew his other wives could tell, but they hadn't been around him as long as she had. She could see the struggle as plain as the nose on her face... and he wasn't winning.

He wasn't exactly losing either, but he was losing ground.

"He'll be okay." She whispered to her unborn daughter, hoping that it was true. She well remembered the wood carving in Nalatia that had depicted Ithlan's slow descent into madness from the very same cause. She really didn't know how to help her husband either. His dragon side was peeking out more and more, and she wasn't sure what to do.

"Do you have a moment?" Kendra asked.

"Sure, what's up?" The wood elf replied, tearing her eyes away from her husband.

"Ethan." The dragon huntress nodded her head towards him. "What's going on with him? He's been a lot more dragonish since I came back, and that's a lot of change in less than two weeks."

Alana looked at her for a moment, realizing that she was probably just getting the proverbial lay of the land as far as the Argo went. She'd seen the dragon huntress talking to Selene, and it appeared that their newest crewmember liked to know what was going on.

She didn't blame her.

The wood elf wanted to say 'he's starting to go mad because he needs to have sex with you', but didn't think that would be appropriate. Besides, Ethan seemed determined not to put that pressure on her, and she respected his decision. She didn't like the consequences, but she probably would've made the same choice if she was in his position.

"He's struggling with his dragon side." She finally said.

"Obviously." Kendra replied. "But why? I spent a long time watching the Argo, and he's never been this dragonish without a definable, obvious cause. Now he seems like he goes dragon at the drop of a hat. Why?"

"I um, I probably shouldn't say."

"Does it have something to do with me?" The raven-haired woman asked while narrowing her eyes.

Damn, she was perceptive.

Alana tried -- and failed -- to keep herself from reacting. She didn't react strongly, but it was obvious from Kendra's face that the other woman had seen her reaction.

"So what do I need to do to fix it?" The dragon huntress asked.

Alana hesitated a moment before replying. "I shouldn't say."

"So, you do know what's going on with Ethan, I can see how much it pains you, and you still won't say?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"Why?"

The wood elf took a moment before answering. "Ethan decided that while you could help, we won't ask you to. I actually agree with his decision, though I'll admit I don't like the side effects."

"Then change the side effect." Kendra countered. "Tell me how I can help. I'm not made of glass you know; I can take it."

Alana thought back to how the dragon huntress had gotten nauseous every time she'd seen Ethan be affectionate with his wives and shook her head. "Not with this."

"Oh for the love of Illuminar, would you please--" Kendra began, but was interrupted but a snarl from across the deck.

She turned to see that Ethan and Serif had made their way quite far towards the quarterdeck while sparing; much further than normal. It looked like Ethan had been backpedaling and had tripped over Taloni, who had been sitting on the deck practicing tying sailing knots. Her husband appeared to have recovered his balance, but had thrown a none-too-nice snarl at the Fey girl. She didn't seem hurt, just surprised.

Taloni really was becoming a resilient woman.

"Hey asshole!" Kendra shouted at him while stalking towards him. "Cut it out!"

Ethan -- no, the dragon -- whipped his head around and growled at her.

*ETHAN!* Alana shouted at him mentally to jar him out of it.

It didn't work.

Unlike every other time, it didn't work.

Uh-oh.

He shook his head like normal, but didn't seem to come to himself very much. Alana bit her lip. She'd been worried that Kendra's presence might do this. She'd mentioned it the previous night, though Ethan had thought it wouldn't be a problem.

Apparently it was.

Kendra walked right up to the irate dragon. "Get a hold of yourself Ethan." She hissed.

"I'm okay Kendra, really I am." Taloni said. The Fey didn't look hurt, just startled.

Both dragon and dragon huntress ignored her as they glared at each other.

"What in Saidow's lair is going on with you that you'd snap at Taloni like that?" Kendra finally asked, glancing at the Fey teen like Ethan had just hurt a close family member.

Alana could feel Ethan and the dragon vying for control, and she was sure that everyone could feel the tension in the air. For a long minute the two just stared at each other.

"Master, this is Kendra's home." The Fey said gently, putting her hand softly on his arm. "Please calm down."

Finally, Ethan seemed to come to himself a bit. He hung his head and shook it, probably at himself, before looking at his Fey wife. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I just..."

"I forgive you master." Taloni said sweetly, then stepped right into his space and gave him a hug.

He hugged her back lightly at first, and then strongly and he bent over the short Fey girl and held her tightly. "I'm really sorry Tee."

"I already forgave you master." The Fey replied. "I know your dragon side isn't you."

Ethan looked like he was going to disagree for a moment, but apparently decided not to voice it. "Thank you."

Kendra wisely waited until they had let go of each other before speaking again. "Okay Ethan, spill. What in Saidow's Lair is going on here?"

"It's..." He hesitated for a moment and then shook his head. "It's not your concern; I'll figure something out."

"If it hurts Taloni, you can bet your ass it's my concern." She retorted. "I know I'm a guest here and maybe it isn't my place, but I'm not going to just stand around and let you snap at Taloni like that. You can kick me off the Argo if you like, but I won't stand for it."

Kendra finished with an expression that was both brave and angry, but her lip quivered slightly when she mentioned the possibility of him kicking her off the airship.

"I wouldn't do that to you." He said firmly, though he still didn't meet anyone's eye. "I'm handling it."

The dragon huntress exhaled softly, then pointed out gently. "You aren't handling it, not if you're exploding like this."

He didn't disagree.

"You insinuated last night that I could help, but that you didn't want to burden me." Kendra continued. "While I really appreciate that, I would rather be burdened than have you exploding all the time, especially at Taloni. How bad can it be anyway?"

Ethan opened his mouth to reply, then closed it and hung his head before finally speaking. "If I were you, I wouldn't want to know."

"Well you're not me, and I want to know."

He inclined his head slightly to one side in assent, though didn't speak.

*Ethan.* Alana thought directly to him. *Why don't you just tell her?*

*I... I don't know.* He said.

*I can if that would be easier.* She volunteered.

*Maybe.* He shrugged. *I need to think about it, and I really need...* He looked around then said aloud. "I'm going to go clear my head and calm down a little; I'll be back in a bit."

And with that, he took to the skies and started slowly and lazily flying away from the Argo, much as someone on a stroll might do.

Alana watched him fly away feeling very conflicted. She completely understood why he didn't want to tell Kendra, but at the same time perhaps it was better that she knew. Like the dragon huntress herself had said, she wasn't made of glass. She was a tough, resourceful woman and the wood elf was certain that the raven-haired woman could handle it.

As she thought about it, she realized that Ethan himself must know this. And since he did, she wondered why he hadn't told her already.

Hmm.

* * *

Sarah huddled in the corner of her cell on the airship feeling dreadful. Fortunately, Lady Ekthros was there, but she didn't seem to be able to help either. She almost wished that her problem would manifest so she could escape. However, that idea had been made moot when she'd felt the airship move under her as it got underway. She wasn't sure if she could survive a fall from an airship, even with her problem active and protecting her.

She wished that she knew where they were going.

She guessed that they wouldn't tell her if she asked. She had heard that some mages -- especially arch mages -- could use magic to actually read another person's mind. If she could do that, then she could read the sailor's mind and know. Of course, she didn't know any mage and Lady Ekthros obviously wasn't an arch mage because otherwise she would have already freed herself.

She wished that Ethan was here.

Well, not really. She didn't want him to be captured. But it would be nice to have him here. He was so nice and kind, and she felt so much better around him. He made her feel safe, and she desperately wanted to feel safe right now.

* * *

Ethan wasn't literally kicking himself as he soared over the Ivernian landscape, but he would've been covered with bruises if he was. He hated losing control like that, and it was the second time he'd done so at Taloni. Of all his wonderful wives -- none of whom deserved that -- Taloni was the sweetest and deserved it the least.

He hung his head.

He found his mind drifting to Sarah and her problem. He found himself wishing that she was around to talk to because she would understand. He wished that she didn't understand for her sake, but he was glad that someone did. Man, he really wished that he could talk to her right now.

He sighed.

He was almost tempted to fly back to her inn, but it was too far and would be farther on the return trip since the Argo was sailing away from her inn. Still, he really wanted to talk to her and found himself wishing that she wasn't betrothed, and not for the first time.

He sighed again.

That's life.

He hoped her betrothed at least knew how amazing she was. He found himself nursing the desire to pound him if he didn't appreciate her.

*Ethan?* Alana's mental voice came directly to him and not to the group chat. It sounded more tentative than usual.

*Yeah?*

*Are you okay? You seem to be feeling more down than you were a few seconds ago.*

*I was actually thinking about Sarah.* He replied. *I was kind of wishing that she was around because she'd really understand this.*

*Oh.* The wood elf replied, and he caught a strange affectation in her mental tone.

*Something wrong?*

*No, not really.* She replied. *I'm glad you found someone who can relate.*

*But...?* He thought to her. *I feel like there's a 'but' coming."

*It's nothing, I just wish I could be that for you.*

*You really don't.* He replied, thinking about what was required to gain that knowledge.

*Actually, and I know this is stupid, but I do.* She replied softly. *I don't want to have the problem, but I could always help you before, almost no matter what you were going through. I don't feel like I can help you with this and I wish I could.*

*That makes sense; I'd feel the same if you were going through something.*

*Anyway, how are you feeling about the situation with Kendra?* The wood elf thought to him, and he got the distinct impression she was changing the topic on purpose.

*I don't know.* He admitted as he watched the lush Ivernian countryside scroll by underneath him. Something about it was calming him, though he wasn't sure why. Something about this land, about Ivernia, just called to him somehow and made him feel better.

He wasn't sure why.

*Why don't you want to tell her?* Alana asked after a moment.

*I don't know.* He admitted after thinking about it for a moment. *I realize she can handle it and say no, I just feel like me saying 'I'm going to keep losing my temper unless you have sex with me' isn't a good idea, even if it's true.*

*I see what you mean, which is why I offered to tell her for you.*

*And I appreciate that, but I would still feel like we're pressuring her and we literally just invited her to make the Argo her home last night. I feel like it'll come across as a 'you can stay if you have sex with me' kind of thing. I obviously don't want to do that.*

*Fair point, but is there more to it?* Alana countered. *That's a very good reason all by itself, but I know you Ethan; I feel like there's more to it.*

*Maybe?* He shrugged, not that she could see the gesture.

*Is it something to do with Kendra herself?*

He thought about that for a few moments. Kendra was... Hmm. Despite the glimpse he'd gotten of the totality of her being when they'd bonded, He really didn't know her very well. For comparison, he could imagine how each of his other wives would react in certain situations. He could imagine their facial expressions and body language and how they would feel about various things. His knowledge wasn't perfect of course, but he knew them reasonably well.

Kendra, not so much.

He knew she was a deadly warrior and cunning, but also that she cared enough to intervene with Taloni. He knew she that was willing to reconsider long-held beliefs and deeply ingrained prejudices, and even change her mind on them. He knew that she had the humility to admit when she was wrong, and the strength of character to apologize. She was also fiercely loyal, brave, and pretty selfless when it came to the people she cared about. All of those facts together made for a pretty amazing person.

But that was the thing: those were just facts that he knew about her.

He didn't really know her.

The most time they'd ever spent together was while imprisoned and the airship ride afterward. Except for that one night, they'd never had a real one-on-one conversation. And telling each other their stories really didn't count because it was a communal affair. Other than with a few obvious things -- like dragons and Taloni -- he couldn't imagine how she'd react to various situations like he could with his other wives.

He didn't really know her at all.

*Copper for your thoughts?* Alana thought to him with a touch of amusement.

*I was just thinking about Kendra.*

*And what did you decide?*

*Um, I'd go on a second date.* He finally said.

*Oh?*

*I kind of feel like that.* He said. *I know a fair bit about her, but I don't really feel like I know her despite our history and the fact that we're already bonded. I think I'm interested in getting to know her, but I don't yet.*

*Is that part of the reason you're hesitant to tell her?*

*How do you mean?*

*Um.* His first wife paused for a moment before answering. *Are you worried that telling her might pressure her, which might possibly push her away?*

Ethan started a slow turn as he thought about that for a moment. *It's possible. I'd really like to make her feel welcome on the Argo, and I don't think pressuring someone about sex is a good way to do that.*

*No, I mean are you worried it will affect your relationship with her?*

*It almost certainly will, and no I don't like that.* He conceded. *It's weird, and maybe partially because of the dragon bonding thing, but I do like having her around. I like that she wants to be around, and I don't want to mess that up.*

*At this point, there might be just as much danger of pushing her away by not saying something.* Alana pointed out.

*How do you figure?*

*I don't know about you, but my mind tends to go to the worst possible explanation in situations like this. If I was Kendra, my mind would be spinning all sorts of fanciful theories. Most of them would probably be worse than the truth.*

*Fair point.* He conceded. *Am I going to have to start calling you the wise brunette?* He chuckled.

He could hear her amusement as she replied. *Nah, but I must admit, I do like what you call me, even though it annoys me most of the time.*

*What, princess?*

*Yeah. It makes me feel valued and loved. Like you're some heroic dragon that rescued me from the evil knight in shining armor.*

He outright laughed at that.

There was a comfortable silence for nearly a minute while he considered what she'd said. She really did have a point.

*I suppose I should do the mature thing and actually talk to Kendra when I get back to the Argo, shouldn't I?* He finally said.

*I think it's a good idea.* She replied.

*Okay; I will if she asks again.*

* * *

"Wow; I wasn't expecting that." Kendra admitted. She'd asked the moment Ethan had returned to the Argo, and he'd explained. She was still trying to process what he'd said though. All his wives plus Selene were there listening, though Anthiel and the two crewmen were elsewhere.

"Yeah, that's why I didn't want to tell you." Ethan said. "I also want to make it clear -- yet again -- that I'm not asking."

"Yeah, I heard the first dozen times." Kendra replied with the edge of a smile on her face.

"Good." He nodded.

"And just to be clear, I wouldn't even if you asked." She added, then stated matter-of-factly. "I'd chop your... 'equipment' off in self-defense before doing that."

All of his other wives looked horrified.

"I'd definitely like to avoid that." Ethan replied equally matter-of-factly, then added with a grin. "I have a fair few ladies that I need to keep satisfied."

"That's fair." The dragon huntress said.

"So, you're good then?" He asked. "We're good?"

She nodded. "As long as you don't try anything, we're good."

"Good." Ethan looked around the deck. "I think I'm going to find Serif and see if we can work on the longsword again. I need a lot more practice."

The crew dispersed after that, though Selene remained closer. The Brazilian woman leaned up against the railing about five feet away and watched Ethan and Serif spar with interest. However, Kendra got the distinct impression that she hadn't walked away because she had something to say. She just hadn't said it yet though.

The dragon huntress turned her mind towards what Ethan had just said.

She might've overstated the case slightly when she'd told him that she'd chop his 'equipment' off if he tried anything. She might've overstated it by rather a lot actually. She had exactly zero desire to be in bed with the dragon -- none whatsoever -- her stomach roiled at just the thought. But for some strange reason, her nether regions itched justly slightly at the thought of Ethan. Not any dragon of course.

God no.

But Ethan...

She had had dreams where she'd been in bed with him before; where he'd held her before. She definitely didn't want the sex. That thought made her skin crawl and her stomach roil. But the snuggling afterwards... Okay, that also made her skin crawl and stomach roil; but it was also appealing too. To be that close to someone... To be as close as physically possible...

Okay, the second closest as physically possible. Obvious the closest would involve sex. Her stomach lurched and she resolved to think about less unpleasant matters.

Like snuggling with Ethan.

Her stomach clenched, but at least she didn't feel like she was about to lose her lunch.

"Penny for your thoughts." Selene said, having scooted close enough to have a private conversation without entering her personal space.

"I'm trying to think about how to help Ethan with his problem without... you know."

Selene chuckled. "You say 'his problem'. That kind of reminds me of Sarah."

"Sarah?" Kendra frowned, the name sounded familiar but it took her a moment to place it. "Right, that innkeeper's daughter who was nice to you?" She remembered Selene mentioning her in passing while she was telling Ethan how she came to be on the Argo.

"That's her." Selene said, then a look of comprehension dawned on her face. "Oh, you don't know what happened when Ethan met her."

"Did something happen?"

Selene launched into the tale, and Kendra found her mouth falling open wider as it progressed. By the end, she was both shocked and completely unsurprised by the conclusion.

"So she beat the crap out of him, he consoled her, and then they both fell head-over-heels in love with each other?"

"Pretty much." Selene said glumly.

"What's wrong...?" Kendra started, and then she realized. "Ah, that explains why you included Sarah earlier when you were wondering why Ethan wasn't falling for you when he seems to fall for everyone else."

"Yeah." The Brazilian woman admitted. "Anyway, you were talking Ethan and his problem."

Kendra noticed the none-too-subtle change of topic and decided not to comment on it. "Yeah; I'm obviously not going to help that way, but I would like to."

"Any ideas?"

The dragon huntress thought about it for a moment. "I don't have a solution, but I might have a stopgap measure which should alleviate the symptoms."

"Such as?"

* * *

Ethan found himself greatly enjoying the longsword, or at least his war sword sized version. It was fundamentally a more technically demanding weapon than the spear and there was much more to learn. However, some of the fundamentals were the same, so he wasn't starting from square one. Serif's skill made him feel like he was though.

Ethan raised his training sword again, still in disbelief at how good it felt in his hands. He was pretty sure the weapon's balance and handling were half the reason he wasn't getting completely annihilated in practice. Serif was using a shorter blade, but it somehow seemed to be like a lance in the skilled man's hands.

"You need two things to win a sword fight: perfect distance and the right timing." Serif repeated for what felt like the thousandth time. "In order to win, you need the control both."

"Distance is easier." Ethan said, hefting his longer blade.

"But timing is just as crucial." Serif countered. "Turn on your enhanced reflexes; you'll see what I mean."

He did so, and waited for Serif to attack.

The crewman did so, coming in with a descending cut that moved in what seemed like slow motion to Ethan. He didn't raise his sword immediately though, waiting a split second before raising it as fast as possible to get a lot of momentum. His blade batted Serif's away and he spun it around for a counterblow. Serif's blade was too far out of position to parry and the other man was forced to step back to avoid the tip of Ethan's blade.

Serif looked at him. "That was a perfectly timed counterblow, so why didn't you hit me?"

"Distance." Ethan admitted.

"You need both timing and proper distance to win."

He nodded.

"Ethan?" Kendra called from nearby

He turned towards her. "What's up?"

"I have a suggestion that might help get the dragon under control, at least temporarily."

"I'm all ears." He said vehemently.

* * *

Beth watched with interest as Ethan and Kendra sat facing each other crossed-legged, which Ethan had called 'Indian style." Both of them had their eyes closed, and both were taking slow, regular breaths. They each took about three seconds to inhale, and another three to exhale. Her fellow wives plus Selene were all watching, and Anthiel was occasionally glancing down from the quarterdeck.

"What exactly is this?" Beth asked the others quietly so as not to disturb the pair.

"It looks like meditation to me." Selene said. "Kendra didn't call it that, but a rose by any other name..."

"Any other name... what?" The blonde asked feeling confused.

"Oh, sorry. It's from a play on my world. The full line is 'a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet'."

"Ah, okay." Beth said, immediately gathering the meaning.

"Is it working?" The Brazilian woman asked.

The blonde closed her eyes and looked at her bond with him. He didn't appear to be any more settled or more peaceful, yet he did seem like he was a bit more in control. His dragon side was just as close to the surface, but it looked like it might be harder for it to break through.

"Sort of." Beth finally replied. "I think it'll help him stay in control, but it's not actually solving the problem. I get the feeling his dragon side is being suppressed, not dealt with."

Rachel frowned. "Meaning that while this might help in the short term, it might actually cause a larger dragon outburst at some point."

Alana nodded. "I get that feeling too."

Beth noticed that the wood elf seemed to lean into Rachel just slightly after speaking. Something about how she did it was different than with Ethan's other wives though. It was closer and more intimate. It was like how Ethan's wives all touched him; it had that level of closeness. She had noticed that Alana and Rachel had been getting closer lately, but something about their closeness seemed more than the closeness that either shared with their fellow wives. The blonde assumed that was because they liked each other given what Ethan had said that morning, but wasn't sure.

Taloni sighed. "Master wouldn't need to worry about losing control if they would just marry each properly and go to bed."

Alana shook her head. "I think Ethan has some interest, but Kendra certainly doesn't."

The Fey teen looked at the dragon huntress for several seconds before replying to the wood elf. "I think Kendra likes him more than she knows or can admit, even to herself. I'm pretty sure she likes him even more than he likes her."

"What makes you so sure?" Selene asked.

Taloni opened her mouth to reply, then closed it and frowned. "I don't know how I know, I just know."

Beth shrugged. "Well, you've been right about everything else concerning them so far."

The blonde eventually got bored of watching Ethan and Kendra breathing and wandered away to the front of the ship. As much as she was looking forward to seeing her family again, she was a little worried how her father would handle things. She dreaded the idea of being separated from Ethan's other wives. She'd grown quite close to them, especially Tee and Alana, and would hate to be parted from them. In a way, she saw them almost like sisters, and she'd always wanted a sister or two.

She leaned forward and put her elbow on the Argo's railing, looking out across the lush Ivernia countryside. It really was a pretty land. She would've enjoyed the beauty more though if she knew what would happen when they arrived in Gralden.

She figured that she would find out the day after tomorrow.

* * *

Kendra opened her eyes the next morning thinking about the day ahead. Tomorrow they would arrive in Gralden and face the problem head on. She hoped that Lord Borden could be reasoned with, but wasn't sure how likely that was given what Beth had explained about his reasons for disliking multiple wives.

"Selene are you there?" She asked.

"Yeah, why?" The Brazilian woman said from the hammock opposite her.

"Just checking." The dragon huntress replied, which was mostly true. The full truth was that Kendra loved waking up in a room where she wasn't alone. She'd woken up alone for many, many years, so not waking alone felt wonderful. Indescribably wonderful.

"You have something on your mind?" Selene asked.

"Not really, you?"

"Not really. I'm still having trouble finding my mana even with Rachel coaching me every day."

The two women chatted for a while before Kendra's stomach complained. She swung her legs out of the hammock and stood. "Well, I'm going to get breakfast."

They made their way out onto the weather deck and sat down around the breakfast fire. Serif was eating, but no one else was.

"Where is everyone else?" Kendra asked as she pulled some stew from the pot.

"I believe Ethan has one more to go, then they should be out." Anthiel called from the quarterdeck.

"One more to go? What do you--" She stopped. Suddenly the food was slightly less appealing as she realized what the high elf meant. She soldiered on though, knowing she needed to eat.

About a minute later, she started hearing feminine moans and sighs interspersed with masculine grunts coming from the captain's cabin.

Suddenly, her face felt warm and her stomach started churning.

"You get used to it." Selene said wryly. "They do that a lot."

Kendra forced herself to swallow her food and her stomach to not dry heave. She felt a little green around the gills as she spoke. "How much?"

"A lot." The Brazilian woman replied, her cheeks getting just a twinge of pink.

The moans, sighs, and grunts got louder until they seemed to hit a crescendo, then tapered off.

Thank Illuminar.

About five minutes later, Ethan and company left the captain's cabin. He looked frustrated -- a look that seemed to intensify slightly as his gaze fell on her -- but his wives looked radiantly happy and she vaguely wondered what Ethan could possibly be doing to them to make them look that way. She knew what they had been doing of course, but she'd rarely heard of women enjoying it as much as men. Her stomach threatened to stage a revolt as she thought about it though, so she tried thinking about something else.

Anthiel sat down at breakfast not long after Ethan and his wives, and for some reason started talking about jams and jellies, which led to everyone discussing which flavors they liked best. Kendra herself didn't chime in until directly asked, but listened nevertheless. Even a discussion about something as mundane as jams and jellies made the corners of her mouth pulled upwards slightly.

She really did love it here.

Despite having to hear the dragon bed his wives, she loved it.

"So, we should reach Gralden tomorrow morning?" Ethan asked Taloni after he finished wolfing down his breakfast. His table manners seemed to fade with his human side, and he'd been rather dragonish when he'd exited the captain's cabin this morning.

"Yes master." The Fey teen said a bit somberly.

"Hey, cheer up." He replied. "I won't let anyone take you from me."

"I'm glad master." She replied, but didn't look much more cheerful.

"I would really feel better about this if we had a plan." Rachel said as she frowned. "Just showing up and hoping that a lord with an axe to grind won't make life difficult seems... unwise."

"Agreed, but I'm not sure what else we could do." Ethan replied.

"Lords can be dangerous when angered Ethan." Kendra pointed out. "Lord Borden has a well-deserved reputation for being honest to a fault, but he also has a less well known reputation for being devious even while being scrupulously honest."

"He does?" Beth looked at Kendra with her mouth hanging open slightly.

"He owns The Bank." The dragon huntress replied. "Not merely a bank; he owns The Bank. You don't get to be that powerful or wealthy without also being shrewd and a little devious."

Beth stared.

Kendra felt a bit bad for her having to find out this way. It was likely that he kept his business dealings separate from his family dealings, and thus the blonde would have no idea about this.

"He's not a good man." Taloni said sadly.

Everyone looked at her.

Even Kendra felt her jaw inclined to drop a few inches. The Fey teen usually saw the best in everyone, and for her to make a pronouncement like that was unusual.

"What makes you so sure?" Beth said, the pitch and volume of her voice higher than normal.

"Because he let master into the gold vault." The Fey replied.

"That doesn't mean anything." The blond countered sharply.

"You forget, I grew up in a gold mine with dragons nearby." Taloni looked sad and sympathetic, and she spoke gently and softly, but she also didn't back down. "He's a lord that deals with gold. He must've known how master would react; how protective of the gold he'd become. He must've known that master would attack anyone who tried to take it from him."

"But he sent me in to help." Alana countered. "He sent me in rather than the guards so Ethan might come out without a fight."

"Maybe." Taloni replied, and she wouldn't meet anyone's eye.

It took Kendra a moment to realize what the Fey teen had already put together. She was right; Lord Borden was devious. She wondered how the sweet Fey teen had put it together, and then remembered that she'd already said; she grew up in a gold mine. Despite how sweet she was, she'd had a hard life before joining the Argo and was eminently familiar with dragons and gold.

She cocked her head to one side; maybe Taloni was so sweet because she'd had a hard life before joining the Argo?

"Speak your mind Tee." Ethan said.

"Well, I'm not sure master, but..." She glanced at Beth. "... but I don't think your father expected Alana to come out of the vault alive. Anyone who's ever tried to take gold from a dragon..." The Fey trailed off as Beth's face grew red and she balled up her fists.

"You're talking about my father!" The blonde leapt up, her face red and a tiny vein on her forehead starting to stand out slightly. "He most certainly did not try to make sure Alana died! He wouldn't do that! How could you ever think he would?! You've never even met him for Illuminar's sake!"

"I hope I'm wrong." Taloni replied genuinely, but her tone made it clear that she didn't think she was.

"Beth--" Alana started to say in a placating tone.

"Don't you 'Beth' me!" The blonde snapped at the brunette. "This... this..." She shot Taloni a nasty look. "This fairy thinks my father is a murderer."

"I am not a fairy!" Taloni said, jumping up as her face also became red.

"Enough." The dragon growled at his two youngest wives.

"But master, did you hear what she called me!" Taloni exclaimed at the same time that Beth said: "Dominus, that fairy called my father a--"

"ENOUGH!" Ethan thundered in a tone that had a touch of a dragon's roar in it as he also leapt to his feet.

Dead silence fell.

No one moved.

Neither of the blonde teens seemed to even be able to change expressions as they froze in place.

Ethan looked back and forth between them for a moment before speaking in a quiet but deadly tone. "Now, I don't give a flying fuck what the provocation is, neither of you will EVER speak that way to each other, EVER again. Do I make myself clear?"

Both teens nodded

"I said, do I make myself clear?" He repeated firmly.

"Yes Dominus." Beth bowed her head, and for the first time she looked a bit ashamed of herself.

"Yes master." Taloni did likewise.

"Now, apologize to each other." He said in a tone that brooked no argument.

"I'm sorry Taloni." The blonde mumbled, not meeting anyone's eye, least of all the honey-blonde Fey.

"I'm sorry Beth." The Fey said, barely able to glance at the other blonde.

Ethan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I love you both very much; too much to let a few harsh words come between you. I want to hear what you both think, and I want you both to be able to tell each other, but be civil to one another."

"Yes Dominus." Beth nodded.

"Yes master." Taloni nodded.

"And just to be clear, I'm not mad at either of you." Ethan added.

Both teens visibly relaxed and let out a sigh of relief.

"Come here." He opened his arms and both blonde teens fell into them. He kissed each on the top of the head.

"I'm really sorry Tee." Beth said as Ethan held them both.

"Me too Bee." The Fey replied. "Forgive me?"

"Always." Beth nodded with watery eyes. "Will you forgive me?"

"Always." Taloni echoed, her eyes also moist.

Kendra had watched the whole thing unfold with shock and more than a little curiosity. She knew that teenage girls fight, but somehow she had forgotten just how young the two blondes were. Both weren't much past the age to be married, and she supposed that she shouldn't be surprised that they had yelled at each other.

As she thought about it, she realized that in her head she'd built up this idea that Ethan had a perfect family with perfect wives who never had troubles. They certainly were wonderful, but obviously they weren't perfect. In a way it was almost a relief that they sometimes had issues too. If they didn't have any issues but she did, then she probably wouldn't have fit in at all long-term.

"Now, Beth are you going to be okay if we talk about your father and what happened in the vault?" Ethan asked her gently.

"I think so." The blonde nodded. She was starting to look less mad at the idea and more sad.

"Master, it might help if she sat in your lap." Taloni suggested. "That always helps me feel better."

"I'd like that, thank you Tee." The blonde replied.

"Anytime Bee." The Fey nodded.

Ethan sat back down in what he'd once called 'Indian style', Beth slipped onto his lap, and he wrapped his arms around her.

There were several seconds of silence before the blonde herself broke it by addressing the Fey teen. "Do you really think that my father..."

Beth swallowed hard.

Ethan gave her a comforting squeeze.

Kendra couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to be on Ethan's lap like that; to be held and hugged like that. She had to immediately change her train of thought since her stomach protested, but thankfully not to the level where she was in danger of losing breakfast.

"I think so." Taloni said after several seconds. "You've seen how master gets when..." She glanced at him. "...well, your father must have known how master would react. A dragon would rip apart most people without hesitation to protect their gold. I think the only reason he didn't was because he and Alana are bonded."

The wood elf made a thoughtful sound.

"It makes a certain kind of sense if your moral compass isn't particularly good." Kendra nodded. "If Ethan had killed Alana, then the guards would've killed him without a second thought. Lord Borden never wanted Ethan to marry Beth, but he was required to by the contract bounty. That would've been a simple way to get rid of both Ethan and Alana without anyone being wiser. They would've all assumed that Ethan was trying to steal gold from the bank, and that's a capital offense anyway."

"I can't believe that my father..." Beth slumped against Ethan and swallowed hard, seemingly unable to finish her sentence.

"Sorry Beth, but Kendra is making a lot of sense." Selene gave the blonde a sympathetic smile. "That was the one part of your story that didn't make sense; a lord giving a dragon access to the gold vault? But when you put it like that..." She shook her head. "...yeah, it makes sense."

"Well, shit." Ethan shook his head. "With friends like these..."

"Yeah." Alana sighed.

"We don't know for sure though, right?" Beth said from where she was slumped on Ethan's lap. "I mean, he could've really thought that Alana could bring Ethan out safely, right?" She sounded hopeful, but her voice was devoid of all conviction.

"I suppose it's possible." Ethan replied with just as little conviction.

"I was afraid you'd say that." Beth sighed, then swallowed hard.

"I know how you feel." Rachel said, speaking up for the first time in quite a while. "I still remember how I felt the first time I learned that my father did something like that. It hurts. It'll hurt less with time, but it..." She looked at Ethan. "What's that Earth expression? It 'hurts like hell'?"

He nodded.

"There's still something that we need to figure out though." Rachel continued. "Especially in light of this, we need a plan. A good plan. With this new information, I wouldn't put it past Lord Borden to 'arrange' for Lord Delmar to find out that we'll be in Gralden in exchange for my father not hurting Beth. Granted that's a worst case scenario, but it's possible."

Beth opened her mouth, probably to object, but then closed it and fell silent.

Her eyes became a bit watery.

"So what kind of plan?" Ethan asked. "From what I understand, lords in the Ten Kingdoms are like kings and have near absolute authority in their respective realms."

"Sort of, but not really." Kendra replied. "They have a lot of power true, but ultimately the emperor rules everything. Mostly the emperor leaves them alone as long as they behave and pay tribute. However, he can depose and install a lord at his whim, as technically the human lords are part of his kingdom."

"Practically speaking though, could Lord Borden just order our execution?" Ethan asked. "It's not like much law stands in the way."

"There's the law of Illuminar." Rachel said. "But most lords can twist that into a dough knot if need be."

"Dough knot?" Selene asked.

"Yeah, it's a bit of dough that's twisted and then cooked."

"Like a pretzel." Ethan nodded. "So that begs the question: what could we possibly have to restrain an angry lord?"

"The will of the people." Alana said, a smile slowly spreading onto her face.

"Oh?" Ethan asked. "What did you have in mind?"

The wood elf grinned.

* * *

Ethan lifted his hand to help Alana into Kendra's airship, and then also offered a hand to help Taloni and Rachel after her. Kendra didn't give him a chance to offer, but leapt into the canoe-sized airship without help. He looked up at the twilight sky, for the first time in a long time not looking forward to bedtime. The whole day had likewise been a somber affair, especially lunch and dinner. He'd spent much of it training with the longsword just to keep his mind off the impending temporary parting that had now arrived.

"You're sure this is a good idea?" He asked the four women.

"We talked about it for half the afternoon." Rachel pointed out. "I really hate being away from you for a night, but didn't we all agree it was best?"

"Yeah we did." He said glumly, looking at the airship which would carry them away. "I know what you mean about hating being away, times three."

The redhead hesitated in her seat, then stood and leaned over to him. She planted a tender kiss on his cheek, then drew back with sad eyes and whispered. "I'm going to miss you my lord."

"And I you, beautiful."

Beside him, Beth as leaning against him looking nearly as somber as her fellow wives.

"Cheer up Bee, you'll have master all to yourself for a night." The Fey said.

"Yeah, but I don't really feel like..." She trailed off and then sighed. "Be safe, all of you."

His wives chorused that they would.

"Kendra, I'm counting on you to keep them safe." Ethan said to the dragon huntress. "I'm entrusting you with what's most precious to me in the whole world; the whole universe."

The barest hint of a confused smile played around Kendra's mouth for a moment before she nodded. "I'll bring them back safe, or die trying."

"Hopefully, that won't be necessary." He replied. "As much as I'd hate to lose them, I'd hate to lose you too."

The dragon huntress opened her mouth, hesitated, then closed it again. She made a thoughtful sound before speaking. "Why?"

He shrugged. "Well, maybe you're not the worst thing ever."

Behind him, Selene chuckled and started humming something.

Everyone looked at her.

"Oh come Ethan, you don't recognize that song?"

"What song?"

"The song 'maybe you're not the worst thing ever'. You've never heard it?"

He shook his head. "What's it from?"

She sighed and then began to sing. "Way back in days of old, there was a legend told, about a hero known as..." She trailed off as she looked at the glances she was getting from his wives.

"Who sings that?" Alana asked with a wince.

"The cast of a TV show, why?" The Brazilian woman asked.

"Maybe let them sing it." Ethan said with an amused smile as he rubbed his ear.

Selene sighed and nodded. "I know."

"Anyway, we're off." Kendra said after a slightly awkward pause. "See you around noon tomorrow."

"See you soon ladies, I love you; all of you." He said sincerely.

Both Kendra and Taloni got strange expressions on their faces, but not the same one. The airship started rising rapidly and they were a dozen feet above him before he realized why those particular two women had gotten the strange expressions.

*I didn't mean it that way, not to Kendra.* He thought directly to Taloni.

*I know master, but she doesn't seem displeased anyway.*

*Oh?*

*No master, she doesn't look unhappy at all. You should tell her that you love her more often.* She said in a mischievous voice.

*Okay, I'll move some 'I love yous' from you to her then.* He replied in a similarly mischievous tone.

*Oh master, you're so bad.* She replied, and he could just imagine the exact facial expression she'd make, and the exact way her head would tilt just slightly as she shook her head with a smile.

Damn, he was going to miss her.

Miss all of them.

It was only for one night, but still. Beside him, Beth sighed.

"You too?" He asked.

"Yeah." She said as she leaned against him.

They watched for a while as Kendra's faster airship slowly pulled away from the Argo, which was running fewer sails than usual right now. After the conversation that had led to his wives spending the night away from him, he'd given the order to slow down in order to time the Argo's arrival properly. He hated that they were gone, but there was nothing for it. Lord Borden had put them in a tough spot.

He and Beth watched for a while until the tiny airship was out of sight. Well, out of sight for his blonde wife; he'd be able to see them for a long time.

She turned to him. "Can we just go to bed? I don't really feel like being sociable right now."

"Sure." He took her hand and led her into the captain's cabin.

Beth peeled off her dress, and he found his eyes glued. Despite the very sexy, very naked, and very nubile wife stripping in front of him, he didn't have much of a desire to start anything. Not tonight. He could feel the blonde's emotions and knew that she didn't either.

Still, she was beautiful.

She looked young, even for her age, and her long legs would be any dancer's dream. Her waist was slender, and small breasts perky, her long, blonde hair silky, and her face...

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked when he saw her expression.

She shook her head.

He opened his arms and she fell into them. He held her close for several minutes before she spoke.

"My father tried to kill you and Alana." She finally said, and something about her tone was final.

"We don't know that for sure." He pointed out.

His youngest wife nuzzled her head in under his arm, wiggling closer to him before speaking again. "Don't we though? Is it even possible that it was an accident? That he didn't know what might happen?"

"I'd love to tell you that it's possible." He replied. "I'd love to say that we're just misunderstanding him and there's a good chance that he had our best interest at heart." He paused.

"But?"

He shook his head. "But I don't think he did. Your father didn't think I was a suitable husband for you, and he wanted me out of the way. Or at least, wanted Alana out of the way since he knew I was in love with her."

"Yeah." She said, then almost whimpered. "Why? How? How could my father..." She shook her head.

"I don't know." He said honestly, then added half-heartedly. "If it helps, I think he was doing it for you."

"It doesn't help though." She shook her head as she pulled the sheets up over her head, though not over his since she was snuggled into his shoulder.

"Yeah, I didn't think it would."

They laid there for a few minutes, him holding her, and she clinging to him.

"I really don't know what to think." She finally said. "Is my father really like that? Was my entire childhood a lie? Does my mom know? Does Charles?"

"I doubt Charles does." He said, thinking about her younger brother who might not be a teenager yet.

"Well that's something." She said without humor or cheer. "But what about mom? Does she know?"

"I really don't know what to tell you." He admitted. "I'd like to help, but I really don't know what to say."

"I'm not sure there's anything you can say." She whispered after a moment.

He held her for nearly an hour before she finally drifted off to sleep. Ethan laid awake for a while longer trying to think of some way to help her. Sadly, he really couldn't. He hadn't caused the problem, which made it much harder to fix it. He wanted to fix her relationship with her father, but had no clue how to do that. Frankly, if they were right about what Lord Borden had done, he wasn't sure there was a fix.

He looked at his youngest wife, wishing he could help. She looked so peaceful when she slept, and he wished that she would be able to look the same in the waking hours again soon. Sadly, family issues often weren't so easily solved, especially ones of this nature.

He hoped it could be one day though.

* * *

"Kendra, why don't you want to marry master?"

The dragon huntress thought about it for barely a moment before her stomach gave her at least one good reason. There were others of course others, but that alone was good enough.

"Actually, I'm a little curious too." Alana said.

Kendra looked up at her. Taloni and Kendra were sitting in the rear near the rudder, while Rachel and Alana were sitting up front, with their backs towards Gralden. The wood elf and the redhead both had interested expressions on their faces. The similarity between them was particularly striking right now.

"He's a dragon." She said with a shrug, hoping they would take the hint.

Taloni didn't. "But Kendra, isn't he a good man?"

"He's not a man, he's a dragon."

"Okay, then isn't he a good dragon?" The Fey teen pressed.

"I suppose he is." She conceded.

"So then, why don't you want to marry him?"

"Did you want to marry every good man you ever met?" Kendra asked.

"No, only Ethan." Taloni replied. "But then, I'd never met a man like him before. I'll bet you haven't either."

"No, I suppose I haven't." The dragon huntress conceded again.

"So why not?"

"Tee, maybe let it go?" Alana suggested with an amused smile.

The Fey teen worked her mouth for a moment, clearly wanting to ask more. Finally, she let her head droop. "Okay."

"It's okay, I don't mind." Kendra offered, not able to resist the mournful expression on the Fey's face.

"Then why?"

"I could never marry a dragon." She finally said. "I just couldn't do it. Nothing personal about Ethan, but I couldn't do it. Too many bad memories with dragons, and too many instincts where they are concerned; I'd never sleep a wink. Plus, I don't like him that way."

"Oh. Okay." Taloni replied sounding a bit disappointed for a few moments, then she smiled. "I'm glad you decided to make your home with us though, even if you and master aren't married yet."

The dragon huntress decided not to comment on the Fey teen's use of the word 'yet'. A few moments later, Kendra noticed Rachel giving her a piercing look.

"You don't like him that way, or you don't want to like him that way?" The redhead asked.

"What's the difference?"

"One is a definitive fact about how you feel." The redhead explained. "The other is more about hiding what you feel, even from yourself, because you don't want to feel it."

Kendra shook her head. "I'm not interested."

"Okay." The redhead replied, but she had a sly smile on her face.

"What?"

"You sound like me before I realized that I was head-over-heels in love with Ethan." The redhead said with an amused smile.

Taloni looked blissful. "I knew it!"

Kendra gave the redhead a look, which she answered with an intentionally and comically saintly smile.

"Taloni, please don't go getting your hopes up." Kendra said with a sigh. "Even if I was head over heels in love with Ethan -- and I definitely am not -- I still wouldn't marry him."

The Fey looked confused. "Why not?"

"Because there is absolutely no way that I would ever let a dragon touch me." She said firmly. "The very idea is nausea-inducing. Seriously. I wanted to vomit when I shook his hand to seal the deal for me delivering the weapons. I'd probably vomit if he touched me anywhere vaguely personal... and then I'd start hacking off appendages; and I don't mean arms and legs."

"Ah, the tail." Alana said with a snigger.

The dragon huntress rolled her eyes.

"Okay, well at least you have good reasons." Taloni said thoughtfully, then cocked her head to one side and spoke almost to herself. "I wonder how you'll get over them." She shook her head as if to dismiss an idle musing, and then laid down and pulled a blanket up. "Good night."

"Night." Kendra replied, and the other two women bid the Fey sweet dreams, but the dragon huntress wasn't really paying attention anymore.

Every word that she'd told Taloni was true. However, she had no control over her dreams. More often than not lately, Ethan was being affectionate with her while her conscious mind rested, though rarely sexual. It felt wonderful... but only in the dream. Consciousness brought with it a roiling stomach and a powerful desire to vomit.

If she was brutally honest with herself, she was a bit sad about that.

* * *

Alana felt someone give her a gentle shake, which roused her from her sleep. She could tell that it was still pretty dark without opening her eyes, and she regretfully blinked them open. It was pre-dawn and the sky was just about to start getting lighter as the airship slowly descended.

"Hey sweetie, we're docking in Gralden."

The wood elf yawned as she smiled to herself. Rachel had called her 'sweetie' again. The first time had been the morning after the redhead's wedding night, and she'd loved it. Right now though, she missed Ethan. The only time she'd slept away from him since they had gotten married was while he was captured, and she'd hated that. This wasn't so bad since it was only one night, but she still didn't like it at all.

"Thanks." She replied sitting up and opening her eyes.

"Don't forget your hood." Rachel whispered as Kendra's airship continued to sink towards the Gralden docks. They weren't large, but there was space for several good-sized airships, few smaller berths for ones the size of Kendra's, and a few more for mid-sized airships.

The city of Gralden was nestled up to the base of a rather large mountain. The streets were thus inclined a bit and if you entered from one of the gates, you'd spend most of your time walking at a very slight upwards incline. The poorer areas were lower down and the richer higher up, culminating in the richest buildings which were around The Bank.

The wood elf flipped the hood on her cloak up as Taloni and Rachel did the same. The traveling cloaks were just a backup and wouldn't hide them very well if someone was looking. But since the night air was a bit chilly, no one would look twice at someone wearing a cloak. They didn't think anyone would be looking for them, but couldn't be sure.

As far as they knew, Lord Borden didn't know that Kendra had joined them, and thus didn't know that they had a second airship. He would have no reason to suspect any of Ethan's wives would arrive in a different airship, and thus wouldn't be looking.

At least, that was the hope.

Kendra and Taloni had the airship docked fifteen minutes later. The dockmaster had looked at them sleepily, but accepted the docking fee without comment. Once they'd paid it and moved out of the docks, everyone turned to the wood elf.

"So, where's the nearest tavern that trades in rumors as much as ale?" Kendra asked.

"Beth told me about one that should do, it's not far from the docks." She replied.

"Lead on." Rachel said.

They mostly walked in silence, their upcoming mission very different than anything she had done before. Above them, the sky was growing lighter as the true dawn hours started to set it.

"You're sure this will work?" She asked Kendra as they walked.

"I'm sure I can get the rumor started." The raven-haired woman replied. "If this place is like most others, they'll jump at the bait, which should help us with Lord Borden."

"I hope so."

"Me too." Kendra said. "The last time I was here, he suggested that this wouldn't be a very safe city for me should I ever return."

Alana didn't know how to reply, so she gave the dragon huntress a sympathetic smile and a quick side-hug as they walked. The taller woman seemed startled at the hug, but not displeased.

Not long after, they arrived.

"The Tavern." Rachel read the sign. "Original."

"I think it's a play on 'The Bank', but it's a pretty obvious one." Alana chuckled. They could hear the sounds of several drunken men singing a song from inside.

"Okay, you ladies can go inside about ten minutes after I go in. Pick a corner table that's out of the way, order some drinks, and sip it. Don't just drink it; sip it unless you know you can hold your liquor."

The three other women assented, and Alana made a mental note to make sure that the incredibly sweet Fey didn't order anything too strong or too drink it too fast.

"You sure this is the right kind of place?" Alana asked. "It doesn't sound like the men in there will be keen to spread rumors."

"No, but their wives will." Kendra replied. "Most of the men who are out drinking until daybreak are married and avoiding their wives. They'll get an earful when they get home unless they have something to distract them."

"Like a juicy bit of gossip." Taloni said nodding.

"Exactly." The raven haired woman nodded. "Put this info into the hands of a few busybodies, and I'll guarantee the whole town will know by noon."

"Well, that's what we're hoping for." Rachel nodded.

"Alright, I'm going in." The dragon huntress said. She turned and strode purposefully into the tavern, banging the doors open and letting them bang shut behind her.

She knew how to make an entrance.

"And now we wait." Rachel said.

Taloni seemed to have the hardest time with that. She kept shifting her weight from one leg to the other, and the wood elf could see her wings flutter underneath the cloak occasionally. After what she guessed was about ten minutes, Alana nodded towards the tavern and the three women entered.

They had already known this from listening outside, but apparently the party was still in full swing. Most of the men appeared to be just tipsy, but a few were straight up drunk. The Tavern had a rustic feel, with fur rugs, antler chandeliers, and wrought Iron torch sconces. There was a large fire cheerfully crackling in the hearth, and the bartender looked to be a gruff, strong, even-tempered sort. There were two women moving about the room providing drinks. They were dressed in a slightly proactive way, but it had probably been a decade or two since either was considered 'hot'.

Alana scoped out an empty table that faced the door and led the other two women towards it. She made sure they all could be seen by the rest of the room once Kendra called attention to them, but they were out of the way until then.

"What can I get for you lovely ladies?" One of the waitresses asked after approaching.

"I'll just have some cider." Alana said.

"Red wine, if you have it." Rachel said.

"We sure do hon." The waitress replied, and then turned to the teen Fey. "And how about you? Just some cider too?"

The Fey grinned. "Cider yes, but add a shot of Elven fire whiskey and a shot of peppermint schnapps."

The waitress looked impressed. "Wow, it's not every day that someone orders a copper mage; coming right up."

Alana and Rachel stared at her.

"What?" She asked sweetly.

"How...?" Alana trailed off, not sure how to articulate her question.

"Oh." The Fey teen chuckled. "I grew up with a bunch of miners, and they really liked their alcohol. A copper mage is my favorite, though I'd get a burning airship if I had some ice cube molds nearby. I'm not good at making ice with magic, but I can do it a pinch if I have some time."

"Wow, I guess I never thought..." The wood elf trailed off and looked at Rachel, whose mouth was slightly agape as she looked at the incredibly sweet and innocent little Fey girl.

"What's a burning airship?" Rachel finally got out. "It's not actually burning, is it?"

"Oh yes it is." Taloni replied. "You light the alcohol on fire just before you drink it. The ice cubes float and fizzle and the whole thing looks kind of like an airship that's on fire, with the ice cubes being the hull. The hot and cold contrast is really good."

"I'll take your word for it." Alana said, not exactly sure what to do with this new revelation about Taloni.

She shook her head and turned her attention to the bar.

It was up to Kendra now.

* * *

Kendra belched loudly, making sure to project the sound towards the rather crude fellows in the tavern with her. She wasn't normally given to such manners, but the mission called for it. There was a rousing chorus of laughs at a woman doing that, much less in a public place.

"Well shit woman, you can drink here anytime." One of the fellows guffawed. He had a full beard and prominent mole.

"I'll even buy you a round if you can convince my wife that belching isn't bad manners!" Another man with a goatee and moustache added, and everyone laughed.

"Done!" Kendra replied with more enthusiasm than she felt. "But you're on your own with your other bad habits; how long has it been since you bathed?" She ribbed and they clinked flagons.

"It's been so long, I might need some help." The first fellow -- beard-and-mole -- said.

"I might help... if I thought we could get you clean before winter." She cracked back, leaving everyone in stiches.

"No problem, I got stamina." Beard-and-mole replied good-naturedly.

"Your gut probably does, it's been bouncing up a storm." The dragon huntress replied, indicating his rather impressive beer belly.

"Yup, been workin' on that for years." He chuckled back, and then took another swig from his flagon.

"Speaking o' workin', whatcha doing little lady that brings you to a tavern at this hour?" Another fellow asked.

Kendra hesitated ever-so-slightly before answering. Not long enough to make someone suspicious, but just long enough to make it seem like she didn't want to say. "I'm uh, looking for a drink!"

Everyone eyed her.

"Come on now, you can tell us." Beard-and-mole said.

"We don't bite." Goatee-and-mustache added.

"Thank Illuminar, I'd die of infection." She replied, pretending like she was laughing it off, but also making sure her voice was slightly higher pitched than normal.

Suddenly, everyone was interested.

"I'll buy your next round if you tell us." Beard-and-mole said, and she could tell that he was becoming suspicious.

Perfect.

She made a non-committal grunt. "This might be my last anyway."

Goatee-and-mustache raised his eyebrow. "You looked like you were gonna be packing them drinks away for a while yet."

"Well, I gotta stay sober while on duty." She replied.

"On duty?" Beard-and-mole said. "What do you do?"

"Um." Kendra let her eyes go slightly wider than normal, as if she'd accidentally let something slip. "I'm a sword hand on an airship." She said quickly.

"We ain't on no airship, so how could you be on duty?" Goatee-and-mustache asked.

Kendra put a slightly panicked look on her face for the briefest moment, let her eyes flick to the corner where Alana, Taloni, and Rachel were, and then thought to the group. *Taloni, take that cloak off so they can see your wings.*

At least goatee-and-mustache had seen her eyes move, and he followed her eye line to see Ethan's wives in the corner

"Who is they?" Beard-and-mole asked, just as the Fey teen casually shrugged her cloak off, allowing anyone who was looking to see her beautiful wings sticking out the back of her pretty halter-top lilac dress.

Goatee-and-mustache whistled low to himself. "Wow, not often that you see a Fey in these here parts."

"You guarding them or something?" Beard-and-mole asked.

Kendra hesitated for a fraction of a second before replying. "What of it?"

"Who are they?" Goatee-and-mustache eyed the wives for several seconds.

"They're no one." Kendra replied quickly. She was worried it might've been too fast, but apparently not since every eye turned towards her.

*Alana, they need to see your ears.* Kendra though to the group.

Moments later, the wood elf casually tucked her chocolate brown hair behind the ear that faced the bar.

"Hmm, that's a wood elf wearing a green dress..." Goatee-and-mustache mused.

"And a Fey girl..." Beard-and-mole's jaw dropped.

"And a redhead..." Goatee-and-mustache's eyes widened.

They both turned to her.

"They can't be..." The former asked. "Can they?

"Can they what?" The latter looked at Kendra appraisingly, like he had a newfound respect for her.

"That redhead's hair matches the rumors..." Another man mused.

"Holy fucking shit!" Beard-and-mole breathed.

"I disagree." Kendra said dryly. "There's absolutely nothing holy about fucking shit."

They all laughed, but now seemed terribly interested in Ethan's wives. Not bad interested, but very curious.

"Them ladies aren't the dragon's wives, are they?" Beard-and-mole asked almost reverently.

Kendra changed her expression to one of blind panic.

"They are!" Goatee-and-mustache exclaimed. "What in Illuminar's name are they doing here?"

"I can't say." She replied quickly.

Beard-and-mole looked at her. "Is he here? Is the prophet of Illuminar here?"

Kendra made her eyes go wide, and then thought to the other ladies. *Heads up ladies, I'm sending them your way.*

* * *

Beth woke up to the mental voices of her fellow wives coordinating their plan. She'd known that was likely, but wished she could've slept longer. She snuggled closer into Ethan, missing the near ever-present feeling of having another one of his wives next to her in bed. She had thought that it would be amazing to have him to herself for a night. And it might've been if today was any other day.

Alas...

Next to her, Ethan was still mostly asleep. He stirred a little when one of his wives said something to the group, but he was mostly out.

The blonde sat up, looking around the captain's cabin. It was half the size of her room in Gralden, which had never seemed large enough to her growing up. Now though... now it felt quite empty without Alana, Taloni, and Rachel in it. She winced as she thought about how possessive she'd been of Ethan when they'd first gotten married. Two months ago, she would've been horrified to share her husband.

Now...

She smiled.

Now she wouldn't have it any other way. She felt her eyes get slightly watery as she realized how much she missed them.

* * *

"So the dragon -- the prophet of Illuminar Himself -- is coming to Gralden?"

Rachel nodded at the fellow with a full beard and mole. He and a half dozen other men had gathered around their table not long ago, seemingly quite excited to meet the wives of the dragon.

*Alana, is this what it was like at Sarah's inn that first time?* Rachel telepathically asked the group.

*Yup, pretty much. Though the Ivernians were much happier to see us. They seem mostly curious here.* The wood elf thought to the group before speaking aloud to answer beard-and-mole. "Yes he is coming to Gralden; later today in fact. He should dock around noon, perhaps a little after."

*Agreed, the Ivernians were happy to see us, but here they just seem mostly curious.* Taloni nodded, then looked at the inebriated men around the table. "You can meet him when he docks if you'd like, I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

"Didn't I hear that he has a blonde wife too?" A man with a moustache and goatee asked. "Where is she? What does she looked like?"

"You've already seen her." Rachel replied, deciding to try and smooth things over by flattering their soon-to-be host. It was always harder for someone to slander you after you said good things about him in public.

"I have?" Moustache-and-goatee replied.

"You all probably have." Alana piped up. "Her maiden name is Borden; Elizabeth Borden."

The men stared.

"But she got married two months ago to some really average lookin' fella, not a dragon." Beard-and-mole said.

Taloni smiled. "You remember in the Book of Light, where the prophet Dalien was given a prophecy and then told to seal it up because it wasn't time for it to be proclaimed?"

"Uh, sure." Beard-and-mole replied, clearly not recalling it at all.

"It's like that." Rachel replied, remembering the story. "The man that Beth married was the dragon wearing a disguise gem, which Lord Borden knew at the time."

"So Lady Beth is married to the prophet, and she's coming back 'round noon too?" Moustache-and-goatee asked.

"She is." Alana nodded.

The excitement level skyrocketed at this pronouncement. Apparently, Beth really was a local celebrity.

Rachel noticed the wood elf get a slightly sly smile before the brunette spoke to the group. *I'm going to try and pave the road ahead by flattering our soon-to-be host. It's always harder for someone to slander you after you said good things about him in public.*

Rachel smiled at their synchronicity.

"In fact, Lord Borden knew that Beth's husband was a dragon." Alana said. "He also generously allowed our husband to borrow his airship. We've all been sailing around the Ten Kingdoms on it, and our husband has been able to do all the things he's done because Lord Borden was nice enough to lend him the airship. We owe him a great debt and are incredibly grateful."

*Smooth Alana, smooth.* Kendra thought to the rest of the group with an impressed smile on her face.

All the tavern's patrons were nodding their heads and appeared to be a bit impressed with their resident lord. Rachel was pretty sure that couldn't be a bad thing.

* * *

Kendra watched this exchange, thinking it should do the trick, so she thought to everyone. *Mission accomplished. Now, once you've made the sale, the important thing is to stop selling. We need to leave. Now.*

Alana looked out the window, and jumped slightly like she was started. "Oh ladies, look at the time. We need to be going."

The men gave them some space as Ethan's wives stood up, beard-and-mole still seemed curious though. "Lord Borden really knew that lady Beth's husband was the dragon, and he really let him borrow his own personal airship?"

"He did, and we intend to thank him today." Kendra said, managing to keep a smile off of her face at the irony.

They made their excuses and left the tavern after paying their bill. The walked purposely away from the tavern until they'd rounded a corner and were out of sight, at which point they stopped.

"Good job ladies." The dragon huntress nodded to them, then looked at Taloni. "Did I see you drinking a copper mage?"

"It's my second favorite drink." The Fey teen shrugged.

"Okay." She shook her head, and then glanced towards the airship docks. "We should probably stay out of sight for a while; at least until Ethan gets here. Lord Borden will hear the rumors soon and I'd prefer that he didn't find us until Ethan arrives."

"I know a few places to hide." Rachel piped up. "I was hiding out here for a while before I... um, before I attacked Ethan and Beth on their wedding night."

Kendra winced. "I feel you."

"And none of us will ever hold it against either of you." Alana said firmly.

"Good." Rachel and Kendra said in unison.

"Now, I suppose we just need to wait until master arrives." Taloni said wistfully. "I miss him."

"Me too." The wood elf said. "Now, let's just hope that our little mission here was enough that Lord Borden will give Ethan a fair hearing."

Rachel looked skeptical, but nodded. "Yeah, let's hope."

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

The next chapter will be submitted on July 27th, and probably come out on the 29th or 30th after the review process. See you then! :)

Also, I'd like to extend a very special thanks to two of my readers, one of whom didn't want to be credited by name. So "Anonymous" and Joseph: thank you so much for your support. I really appreciate it.

STORY TAGS: dragon, magic, medieval, elf, teen, romance, virgin, harem, cuckquean