Chapter 42: "Here there be monsters"

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

* * *

Selene didn't sleep very well after her dream the previous night. She managed to sleep for a reasonable length of time, but it wasn't good sleep. She woke up more than once with that dream on her mind, and the strangeness of it boggled her mind. The more she thought about it, the less it made sense. She spent rather a long time thinking about it after she woke, until she realized that she wasn't getting back to sleep.

She got up not long after sunrise, dreading going onto the weather deck with the steady pitter-patter of rain that was surely soaking every inch of the airship that wasn't below decks. She figured that her choice was to either get sopping wet, or stay below decks with nothing to do and not much room to spar.

This world didn't even have umbrellas.

She trudged up the stairs to the weather deck and looked out the door. The rain was coming down pretty consistently, though fortunately it was a warm day. It wasn't exactly a heavy rain, but it was one of those 'soaking rains' that tended to last all day. The only bright side was that the warm weather meant you wouldn't get a chill, but you would get soaked.

Ugh.

That seemed a perfect complement to her poor night's sleep

Ethan and his wives were sitting around where the breakfast fire usually was, apparently not bothered by the rain very much. Serif was also there, though Anthiel was on the quarterdeck and Raklan was elsewhere. It took Selene a moment to realize that while every one of the ladies had hair that looked like she'd just stepped out of the shower, their clothes looked relatively dry. Not perfectly dry, but relatively dry.

How the...?

She shook her head, still not wanting to get soaked. Still, she was hungry so she stepped out and immediately felt what would probably be the norm for the day.

Wet.

She walked over to the circle, grabbed a barrel of pickles and pulled one out, making sure to re-cover it quickly.

"Good morning Selene." Ethan said cheerily.

"Wet morning is more like it." She said as she took a large bite of the pickle and then looked at the mostly dry ladies. "How the hell are your clothes so dry?"

"It's a side effect of the self-repairing enchantment." Beth replied.

"How the hell does a self-repairing enchantment keep clothes dry?"

The blonde looked at Alana.

"It's because 'self-repairing' is a bit of misnomer." The wood elf said when she had finished chewing. "It actually takes a... I think you would call it a 'snapshot' of the way the item is when it's enchanted, and then always tries to return it to that state if it changes from that state."

"Oh, and those dresses were enchanted dry, so they want to stay dry. Yeah, that makes sense." Selene sighed and then took another bite of her pickle.

This morning, Selene was sitting next to Rachel, who was next to Alana, who was next to Ethan. He looked at the distance between them, then shrugged and extended his wing, holding it above her head and creating an instant rain shield for her.

"Thank you." She said, slightly caught off guard by his thoughtfulness. She supposed that she shouldn't be of course, and it was a nice gesture. She smiled at him, even despite her mood.

"Selene, what's wrong?" Kendra asked. "You seem uncharacteristically grumpy this morning."

"I had a bad dream."

"Oh?" The dragon huntress eyed her. "How bad?"

"Bad." She recounted the dream, mostly hitting the highlights. "I felt like I needed a shower by the end."

"Well, I can move my wing." Ethan winked.

"You can, your wing muscles must be getting tired and I'm already soaked." She said, feeling a bit bad that he was being so nice to her when she couldn't reciprocate.

"I can fly for hours." He pointed out, not moving the wing. "Don't worry about it."

"That's a really weird dream." Rachel said after several seconds. "Like, really weird."

"You're telling me." The Brazilian woman shook her head. "I've never had a dream that was so weird before, have you?"

The redhead didn't answer right away, which instantly drew the eyes of the two blonde teens.

"You had a weird dream too?" Beth asked.

"What was it?" Taloni echoed.

"Well, it wasn't recently." The mage replied. "But I suppose it's time I told you all about it. I once had two dreams the same night, and it was the night I met Gabriella..."

The redhead recounted both dreams to a captive audience.

"Wow, I never knew you were dealing with that." Alana said when she had finished. "Some of what happened with you around then makes a lot more sense now."

"I wanted to tell you, but we weren't..." Rachel hesitated, then looked at the wood elf. "Well, we're a lot closer now." She blushed.

Alana took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

She didn't let go.

"Anyone else have a strange dream?" Ethan asked.

"Um, I did once." Kendra said hesitantly.

All eyes turned to her.

"It was quite a while ago, around when the Argo visited Gonorran's camp." The dragon huntress said. "I was dancing in a ballroom which was somehow located on the lower deck of my airship."

"That airship?" Ethan chuckled as he pointed to the canoe-sized airship which was lashed to the deck of the Argo near the bow.

"Yeah; it was a dream." She shrugged, and her eyes got a little light behind them as she said the next sentence to him. "You and I danced a whole dance together, and it was so much fun. Then Alana came up with a baby girl, Ruth I guess. She let me hold her and that's when I realized that everyone in the ballroom had disappeared. I ran out the doors, but somehow ended up on a battlefield. There were dead bodies everywhere, and small fires, and smoke was drifting across the battlefield. The firelight gave a red cast to the area, and it almost looked like there was blood in the air."

"That sounds eerily familiar to a dream I once had." Ethan grimaced. "It was not long after I came to the Ten Kingdoms, right before I woke up after bonding to Alana."

"Oh?" Selene asked. This was starting to get weird and she didn't know what to make of it.

"Yeah." He nodded. "It was almost exactly as you described, and I was there fighting a black dragon."

Kendra sucked in her breath. "Was he using a mace and shield, and you were using a sword that sort of glowed with an inner light?"

"How did you..." Ethan's jaw dropped. "You saw the same thing?"

"If that's what you saw, then yes."

"It wasn't exactly the same though." He frowned. "The sword that glowed with an inner light in your dream sounds like the angelic blade Aharown, but I saw myself wielding what I now think was my dragon steel sword and a shield."

"I don't think you had a shield. Kendra replied. "If I recall correctly, you were only using the glowing sword and it wasn't that large."

Everyone looked around at everyone else as the rain continued to fall, the almost cheerful pitter-patter of the raindrops belying the somber mood. Selene almost couldn't believe her ears. Did these people ever have a normal day?

"Do... do you think it was prophetic?" Taloni asked quietly.

"Dear Illuminar in heaven, I hope not." Kendra said vehemently. "I was still holding Ruth on the battlefield."

Alana put a hand protectively over her womb. "You were?"

Kendra nodded. "Gabriella told me to protect the baby, and then black dragon saw me and came after me. I tried running, but he was too fast. He knocked me to the ground and I shielded Ruth with my body as he started to swing his mace. That's when I woke up."

Ethan took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I hope that's not prophetic."

"If I may?" Rachel interjected.

"Please." Ethan and Alana said at the same time. The mood was somber enough that no one even batted an eye at their synchronicity, Selene least of all.

The redhead continued. "Gabriella told me something about my dreams that I think might apply to your dreams too, since they were slightly different from each other."

"What did she tell you?" Beth asked.

"She said." Rachel closed her eyes for several seconds, then quoted: "While the specifics aren't necessarily accurate, the generalities are." She looked at them. "She then told me that the dreams didn't tell me exactly what would happen, but instead gave a general impression of what things would be like."

"So, me fighting the black dragon on a large battlefield." Ethan said. "And possibly some threat to Ruth?"

Alana looked frozen in place, horror etched onto her face and she put both hands protectively over her womb. "No, not Ruth."

"You're damn right not Ruth." Ethan growled. "If anyone tried to hurt her, I'd--"

"--rip him limb from fucking limb." Selene finished, imitating the 'quiet but deadly' tone he usually used when making that particular threat. "You really don't do things halfway, do you?"

"When it involves the safety of my family, fuck no." He stated flatly.

Selene nodded, that fact not bothering her in the slightest. In fact, she wholeheartedly approved after what had happened to her brother.

"Um, Master." Taloni said tentatively, breaking the silence that had fallen after that pronouncement.

"What?" He looked at her.

"Um, this is really serious and I don't want anything to happen to you or Ruth, but can I suggest something?"

"Go ahead."

"Um, the book of Light says: 'Don't borrow problems from tomorrow; today has enough troubles to worry about.' It's good that we know bad things are coming because we can prepare for them." The Fey's wings fluttered nervously. "But I don't think we should miss the good things that we have now because there are bad things coming in the future."

Selene looked at the Fey teen, her respect for her increasing by leaps and bounds.

Wow.

That was a really mature way to look at it.

"That's really good advice." Ethan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Is that why you're always so cheerful? Because you don't let tomorrow's problems bother you today?"

"Partially Master. But I trust Illuminar to take care of us too, which also helps. I'm not saying we shouldn't prepare, or plan, or take precautions, but worrying now won't improve a problem later."

"You're absolutely right." Ethan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I can get ready for what's coming while appreciating what I have now." He looked around at his wives and smiled.

Selene had to admit that was a really great way to look at things. She could tell that Alana was having a bit more trouble doing that since the wood elf's hand was still over her womb, but even she looked calmer than she had a minute ago.

"Ruth will be okay." The wood elf said after several seconds. "I had a dream with Gabriella where she said I would nurse the baby in my womb; that she would be safe."

Ethan breathed a sigh of relief, and a similar sentiment was echoed in various way by most everyone.

"But what about Master?" The Fey teen asked. "Did Gabriella say anything about him?"

Alana grimaced and shook her head.

Everyone looked at Ethan.

Silence fell for several seconds after she said this, and everyone seemed to be processing. Selene knew she was. Finally, Ethan himself broke it.

"Ruth will be safe, and we should focus on the present and what we do have." He nodded to himself, then turned to Kendra. "So, you really like to dance?"

"Yes Drago, I really do."

He turned to Selene. "Do you mind if I rob you of your umbrella?"

She shrugged. "It's your wing."

He retracted it, stood, and then held a hand out to Kendra. "May I have this dance?"

She looked around. "There's no music."

"Anthiel." Ethan called up to the quarterdeck where the high elf pilot was. "Could you provide a tune so I can dance with my wife?"

"Certainly captain." She came down the stairs to the main deck and then ducked just inside the doorway to the lower decks so she was out of the rain. Then she produced an instrument that looked like small recorder and started playing.

"May I have this dance?" He asked the dragon huntress again.

"It's raining." She pointed out.

"It is." He nodded. "And?"

"Thank you Drago." She replied as she rose gracefully to her feet, a smile starting to form on her face.

* * *

Taloni felt herself grin in spite of what they'd just learned as Master led Kendra out onto the middle of the Argo's deck. Her friend didn't look like she knew what to do with herself. She was grinning broadly, despite the rain and the heavy things just revealed.

"Do you really think of him as Master?" Selene asked, shifting the Fey's attention.

"Of course I do." She replied. "He's 'Master' to me, now and forever. I rarely even use his name even when I'm thinking about him."

"Okay." The Brazilian woman shrugged, then like the rest of the ladies turned to watch Master and Kendra.

He had led her to an open area of the deck and then pulled her into the classic dancing frame. She put her hand on his arm, looking at him like she couldn't believe it.

Then they started dancing.

She was clearly the better dancer, though he did okay. Before long, Kendra was grinning silly and twirling in the rain. Her dress spun up when she did, and the water slid off of it in the most beautiful patterns; nearly as beautiful as the dragon huntress herself.

Taloni couldn't understand why Kendra thought her scars made her unattractive in some way. She looked amazing even with them. She just wished Kendra could see herself the way Taloni herself did; an amazing woman and a perfect older sister.

Well, that's how the Fey thought of her anyway.

It wasn't long before her fellow wives all stood up and wanted to dance too. However, with only one man and five women, the women soon ended up pairing off to dance. Taloni ended up dancing with Beth, both of them giggling a lot as they tried to figure out who would dance the man's part. Beth did because she was taller, and there was a lot of toe-stepping and more giggling as they tried to figure it out.

Alana and Rachel seemed a bit too timid to dance with each other, but eventually their husband switched partners and they each got a dance.

Taloni could tell that everyone was still a bit on edge after what they'd learned earlier, but they were all doing their best to be joyful in the moment, and it was good to see.

The Fey sighed.

She really loved her family.

* * *

"Mining camp sighted."

Ethan resisted the urge to look since Raklan would surely take advantage of his distraction to score a hit in their sparring match. Dancing with his wives earlier in the morning had been a great distraction from the heavy revelations and was great fun -- Kendra seemed like she was still on cloud nine -- but eventually they had stopped. The rain hadn't though. It was still coming down, but it was more like a heavy drizzle than a heavy rain.

He had decided to spar since he needed all the practice he could get, and doubly so since the conversation earlier in the morning. Further, practice in the rain didn't happen that often during summer in the Ten Kingdoms and he wanted to take advantage.

On the other side of the mast, Selene and Serif were also sparring. The Brazilian woman never won against him of course -- no one did -- but she was getting better every day. She had a vast body of martial arts experience as a foundation, which probably explained how she was improving so fast.

Anthiel had taken pity on the drenched beauty and loaned her a dress that was self-repairing, and thus water resistant. It didn't fit her quite right since Anthiel was taller and differently proportioned, but it didn't look bad on her either. Honestly, with as gorgeous as she was, she could probably wear a burlap sack and be fetching.

Very fetching.

Raklan made his move, and Ethan reacted, parrying the blow and returning with a counter-blow of his own, which the larger man parried before disengaging. Their bouts were going more like that lately; not a quick victory but a series of exchanges before one of them won. It was still usually Raklan, but Ethan was starting to win more often. He wasn't using his strength enhancing armor or improved reflexes while training though. He could've done much better if he was, but Serif insisted his training would be more effective without them and he trusted the man when it came to combat.

"Touché" Ethan called a minute later as Raklan's training blade smacked into his armor. The armor prevented the hits from hurting, but they were still scored as wins.

With the match done, Ethan turned his attention towards the mine.

Below him was a large rolling meadow that was the usual lush shade of green that covered Ivernia. There was a large, fast-moving stream running through it coming down from the mountains, though 'hills' probably would've been a more accurate description. He could see true mountains rising to the west of him, but it looked like the mine was on the tail end of the mountain range. Yeah, they were more like large, green, rocky hills than mountains.

The hills looked like Ireland.

Or maybe Scotland?

One of the two; maybe a combination of them. He'd see plenty of pictures of the two countries, and even some aerial footage on Earth. Everything he was seeing now made him think of the 'mountains' of either Scotland or Ireland. They were a lush, verdant green color, almost more so than the meadow below it. The hills started rather abruptly out of the land below, though the color change between the hills and meadow was more gradual.

He could see what looked like the entrance to a mine cut into the base of one of the large hills.

About three hundred yards north of the mine was a rise in the meadow, and on that rise was a walled town. The rise was perhaps a dozen feet above the plains around it, and the town looked like most of the other towns he'd seen in Ivernia. It looked run-down, but from lack of resources not a lack of care or lazy maintenance.

The wall around the town was palisade style, with long, thick, and straight tree trunks rising at least a dozen feet into the air and ending in sharp points. It looked like there might also be a crude form of barbed wire at the top too.

Projecting out and up from the north side of a portion of the wall was a very wide, very sturdy looking airship dock. It was almost thirty feet wide and rose well above the plains below, with plenty of room for an airship's lower mast. If an airship turned the crossbeams on its masts so they were in line with the keel, two airships could dock and simultaneously loaded and/or unloaded since the dock was so wide.

"What do you think Master?" Taloni asked as she walked up behind him.

He pulled her to him so they were standing with her back to his front and his arms around her. "I think you're an amazing wife honey." He kissed her on top of the head.

"Aww, thank you Master." She beamed and craned her neck around to kiss him, then spoke again once the kiss broke. "But I meant about the mine and mining town."

"It looks like..." He turned to see his other wives and Selene had come up behind him. It was somewhat amusing to see all their hair looking about the same in the rain. Even Beth's hair looked dark when completely soaked.

"It looks like most of Ivernia; poor, but well-cared for with limited resources." He finished. "It makes me wonder just how bad the Ivernian Reeves are."

"Reeves, those are the tax collectors?" Selene asked.

"Yes." Beth replied. "They have a reputation for skimming taxes and taking more than they should, but I don't think anywhere has it as bad as Ivernia."

"So maybe I need to pay this town's Reeve a visit too." Ethan mused.

"I would've loved to see the previous Reeve visit sir." Alana grinned.

"Master was amazing." Taloni sighed from his arms.

"Speaking of amazing, take us in honey." He told the Fey as he released her, and then activated his disguise gem since they would be entering a new town.

"Yes Master." She nodded, only a bit of trepidation in her tone.

Taloni went to the quarterdeck where Anthiel stepped aside for her, and the Fey issued the orders necessary to bring the airship into the dock. She did it even more confidently than when they left Gralden, though she still said "please" whenever she issued an order. Anthiel watched the entire time, saying nothing until Serif and Raklan had finished tying the Argo to the dock.

"Well done Taloni." The high elf said proudly. "You are becoming an excellent airship pilot."

The Fey beamed.

Ethan walked up to the quarterdeck and kissed her deeply, speaking only when he had left her breathless. "I'm really proud of you honey."

The honey-blonde had a dreamy, contented expression on her face as she replied in a similarly dreamy tone. "Mmm, thank you Master."

"Come on, time to go." He led the way over to the gangplank, which the two crewmen had just deployed, and walked onto the dock followed by his wives and Selene. There was no one on the dock, which wasn't that surprising considering the rain.

"Ladies." He stopped and summoned his sword in its scabbard, then turned back to them. "Run to the hold and get those swords that the wood elf king gave us. If we run into orcs, I want to be ready."

All of his wives except Taloni immediately headed in that direction.

"Master, must I wear a sword? I don't know how to use one, and I don't want to."

He frowned, tapping his clawed foot on the wooden decking of the dock. He could see Taloni doing more harm than good with a sword, not to mention how she would feel if she ever actually had to use one on somebody. He thought even Beth would be okay, especially with how tough she'd become since the recent visit to Gralden.

"Okay, but only because you can fly." He finally said. "But you'll fly straight back to the Argo if we see any hint of trouble; understand?"

"Yes Master, thank you." She smiled.

Not long after, his wives and Selene returned wearing arming swords, and Rachel had her mage's staff in hand too. Selene was adjusting something leather on both her forearms; apparently Alana had finished her strength-enhancing vambraces. The wood elf was also carrying his... wait, that wasn't his armor backpack. It was a near solid chunk of white, but looked like it was composed of all his armor pieces.

"Is that my armor?" He asked.

The wood elf nodded. "I gave it a variant of the self-summoning spell, so if you detach your armor from yourself it will reform into this, and you can attach it to your back with the same hard points as your backpack."

"I remember you saying something about that, thanks." He fastened it to his back and -- since he already had his war sword at his side -- he led the way down the shallow ramp and towards the town. He set a slow pace since the rain and wet wood were making the ramp slippery. Well, slippery for the others; he had claws. Not that anyone besides his wives could see that with his disguise gem activated.

They walked down the ramp and towards a small shack near the bottom. It looked like some kind of guard shack, but it appeared to be empty.

"Where should we go Master?"

He looked around, not sure. "Well, I guess we'll just pick a direction and start walking."

The town didn't look like it had been planned very well. The streets were winding and bending, and there was no semblance of order to the layout. He walked for a minute, but didn't see anyone to talk to. The town clearly wasn't deserted as he could see signs of life everywhere, but it looked like almost everyone was inside their somewhat rundown wooden houses; probably because of the rain.

They sloshed through the wet and muddy streets for a minute before hearing the sounds of music coming from a slightly larger building. He headed towards it with the ladies in tow.

It looked like a tavern.

Judging from the outside, it was a small, inexpensive tavern that had seen better days. Like almost everything in Ivernia, it looked well-care for but was still wearing out for lack of resources. He shook his head, his dislike of Lord Farbrottan and the corrupt Reeves increasing by the moment.

"Come on." He stepped up to the door and pushed it open.

The inside was like the outside; well taken care of but past its prime. There were perhaps a dozen men in there, all nursing a drink of some kind or another. In the corner there was a fellow who was playing an instrument that closely resembled a piano, though with minor differences. Something about it reminded him of a few saloons he'd seen in western movies.

At the door's opening, everyone glanced his way, then did a double-take.

He supposed it must look weird; a thoroughly average looking fellow leading six beautiful women into a tavern. All of them were armed except for Taloni, though she had wings, plus Selene was an absolute knockout even with her hair soaked through. Maybe especially with her hair soaked through.

"Hi." Ethan waved his hand.

"What can I get for you stranger?" The man behind the bar asked genially.

"Information mostly." He replied.

*Ethan, order some beer.* Kendra thought to everyone in an urgent tone. *Trust me.*

"But I wouldn't say no to some beer first if you have it." Ethan added, then thought to her. *Thanks.*

"Long as you got coppers, I've got beer." The barman replied with a smile.

"That I do." Ethan walked over to the bar as every man in the place looked at the ladies. He was somewhat reassured that the looks were more of admiration and disbelief than lustful.

Rachel surreptitiously slipped him a copper from the ship's treasury, which she usually carried, and he dropped it on the bar. The bartender took it, poured some beer from a wooden barrel, and then set the flagon down in front of him.

"Thanks." He took a sip. He didn't usually like beer, but this wasn't too bad.

"You all some kind of mercenary outfit or something?" A fellow sitting at the bar asked. He had a full beard and looked like a shrewd type; not nefarious, just shrewd.

"Not mercenary, but I hear you have a problem with orcs." Ethan replied, then took another sip.

"Them there are elven swords." Another man said, gesturing to the scabbards holding the arming swords that all the ladies were wearing. The scabbards weren't ornate, but they did have an unmistakably elven design aesthetic.

"They are." Ethan nodded, seeing no reason to deny the obvious.

The shrewd fellow at the bar scrutinized the newcomers, then Ethan's own sword. "I know steel. See here, my father was a blacksmith and I've been mining iron most of my life. That there isn't regular steel. Unless I miss my guess, that there is dragon steel."

All eyes in the tavern moved to the hilt of Ethan's sword.

"And them there ladies." The shrewd man continued. "That's a wood elf in a green dress, a human in a blue one, and a Fey wearing a lilac dress, and another human in a red dress. Not sure about them other two though." He stroked his beard. "Plus, there's that there dragon steel sword."

"Is that white armor?" Someone said from behind him, scrutinizing his armor pack.

"It's the prophet." Someone whispered in awe. "The rumors say he uses a disguise gem so he doesn't frighten the faithful."

Seeing no reason to deny what they had clearly worked out, he nodded. "I actually use the disguise gem so I don't get a panicked reaction from guards."

Suddenly, the bartender batted Ethan's flagon off the bar. "The prophet of Illuminar won't be drinking that--" He finished the sentence in some language that Ethan didn't recognize. The barman pulled an expensive looking bottle from behind the bar and held it high. "He drinks the best whiskey in the house!"

The tavern patrons erupted in a loud cheer.

"I'm actually not a fan of whiskey, but thanks." Ethan said, not wanting the man to waste what looked to be a very expensive bottle.

"You said you're here about the orcs." The shrewd man said. "Did Pegger find you?"

"Pegger?" Ethan raised his eyebrow.

"That's what we call him; he has a pegged-leg and went looking for you."

"He did find me." Ethan replied. "And I found you. So, who should I talk to about helping with the orcs?"

"That'll be Grindle." The barkeep said. "He owns the mine."

"That sort of makes him the de facto mayor of this here town." The shrewd fellow added.

"Where might I find him?" Ethan asked.

"The large house over yonder." The barkeep said, pointing in a direction. "He's good people, and has had a rough go of it."

"Alright." He nodded and stood up. "I'll go see him then."

"Could you turn the disguise gem off?" One of the men sitting at a table asked. "I'd like to be able to say I saw the prophet in his true form."

"Sure." Ethan shrugged then clicked the disguise gem off. There was a collective intake of breath, a moment of stunned silence, then applause.

He smiled nervously back at them.

"Thank you for coming Mr. Ejder sir." The shrewd man said. "We've been needing your help here something fierce."

"I'll do what I can." Ethan replied. "I'm not sure how much it'll be, but I'll try."

"Illuminar is with you; there's nothing you can't do if you believe." The barkeep said with conviction.

"Uh, thanks." He nodded, then glanced at the ladies who were looking at him with various levels of admiration and amusement.

"Ladies." He said, then nodded his head in the direction of the door.

"You have some mighty fine wives there." The barman said with a respectful nod to the ladies. "I'd keep them far from the mines; them damn animals don't make no distinction between the menfolk and the womenfolk."

"Noted, thanks." He replied, then glanced at his wives, especially Kendra. "And they're even more wonderful than they look, which is saying something."

As one, every man in the tavern raised his glass.

"To the prophet's wives!" The shrewd man called.

"Huzzah!" The rest said, then they all took a swig.

The ladies blushed, Kendra especially.

"Amen." Ethan grinned, then reactivated the disguise gem before departing the tavern.

* * *

Selene had felt a strange rush of cheerfulness and hope when Ethan had been revealed, which was weird. The sense of cheerfulness and hope decreased in strength as she followed the other ladies out the door, and disappeared once she was not far from the tavern.

Again, weird.

She followed with the others as Ethan headed in the direction that the barman had pointed, and it wasn't hard to see what he meant by 'large house over yonder'. The 'large house' was indeed larger than the houses around it, but that didn't make it large. On the contrary, it would be considered a small house back home.

Selene started to feel rather haggard as they approached it, like her limbs didn't want to move properly for lack of motivation. It wasn't hard to push through the feeling and keep moving, but it was weird that she felt that way in the first place. She started feeling it even more as they walked up to the door.

Ethan knocked several times.

No answer.

He knocked again, and Selene heard a feminine voice from inside. "I'm coming."

There was a brief pause and then the door opened to reveal an extremely haggard looking woman. She looked to be about fifty, but something told Selene that the woman looked a lot older than she actually was. Her salt-and-pepper hair was tied back, but a large number of strands had worked loose and they were 'frizzing'. Her clothes were clean, but rumpled and patched in more than one place.

"Who died this time?" She asked like she carried the weight of the world as she opened the door. "And why in Saidow's lair didn't I hear the orc horn when..." She trailed off as she saw them. Her eyes went from one to another as she scrutinized them.

Selene felt a mixture of emotions inside herself, and they seemed to cycle rapidly.

Confusion first, then apprehension as the woman looked them over, then a sense of dawning comprehension as the woman looked at each of the girl's dresses. That was followed by a sense of awe and wonder as the woman's eyes went wide. Then the Brazilian woman felt shock as the woman covered her mouth with her hand.

It made no sense for Selene to feel those emotions, but it made a lot of sense for the woman to feel them. So then why was she herself feeling...?

Unless...

No.

That was an outlandish idea. Completely and totally outlandish and simply impossible. Although, it did make sense...

"You..." The woman finally gasped. "You're the prophet of Illuminar."

Ethan nodded. "I heard that you all need help down here."

"Oh thank Illuminar!" She gushed.

Suddenly, Selene felt a sense of hopefulness that she hadn't felt in... well, ever. It was even greater than what she'd felt at the tavern.

Okay, that was weird.

There was only one explanation that she could think of, but it seemed too far-fetched and outlandish to consider. On the other hand, she was following a dragon who was married to five women, including a wood elf, a woman who could astral project, a Fey, a mage, and a former dragon huntress. Maybe she needed to reassess what qualified as 'far-fetched and outlandish'.

Plus, it was the only explanation that made sense...

"Come in, come in." The woman said moving aside. "Don't stand out there getting soaked to your bones."

They entered and the inside of the house looked much like the inside of the tavern; it was worn with age, but well-cared for with limited resources. It was more homey than the tavern though, and the sparse decorations seemed to be made from repurposed items. It reminded her of some houses she'd seen in western movies for some reason, but she couldn't quite pinpoint why.

The woman turned and yelled into the house. "Horacio, you'll want to see this."

Moments later, a bit of that haggard feeling returned as footsteps approached and a man came around a corner. He looked like he was in his sixties, but he was probably closer to forty. Very little of a dark color remained in his sea of mostly gray hair. His beard was mostly days-old stubble, and he looked somewhat thin and haggard as well. He looked like he desperately needed a long nap; they both did.

"Who died this time?" He said heavy as he entered the room. "And why the fuck didn't I hear the orc horns if there was an attack on..." He trailed off as he saw Ethan's party.

Selene felt a similar cycling of emotions that she'd felt with the woman, and that seemed to confirm the impossible to her. She started shaking her head slowly, disbelief at the obvious solution making her almost want to laugh.

"Are you okay?" Kendra asked quietly.

"I think I'm feeling the emotions of the people around me." She replied just as quietly, voicing the only explanation that made sense. Okay, it didn't actually make sense, but it was the only one she could think of.

Kendra's eyes went wide and her mouth fell open slightly. The dragon huntress stared at her for several seconds then her mouth formed a perfect 'O' and she cocked her head to one side. Moments later she slowly nodded her head and started smiling.

"What?" The caramel haired beauty asked.

"That actually makes sense; I'll explain later, and teach you how to block all that out."

"Thank you." Selene nodded vehemently, then turned her attention back to the conversation that Ethan was having.

"I can't believe you're here." The old man -- Horacio Grindle apparently -- was saying. "I see you, but I can't believe..." He breathed a sigh of relief. "We're saved. Thank Illuminar, we're saved."

"Look, I'll do what I can, but don't get your hopes up." Ethan replied. "I'm just one man-- err, dragon, and I won't put my wives in danger, so I don't know how much I can do."

"Anything." The woman said with firm conviction. "You can do anything that Illuminar -- blessed be He -- has called you to do."

Ethan shifted his weight from one foot to the other and scratched the back of his head as he made an expression not far from a wince. "Again, I'll do what I can."

A slightly awkward silence fell.

"Come, let me get you some lunch; it's about that time." The woman offered.

* * *

Ethan gave the couple a brief rundown of how he'd heard about their plight over a light lunch of slightly stale bread and some watered-down wine. He couldn't help but notice that everything in this house looked slightly similar to Talven and Salma's house. Apparently, even the owner of a mine wasn't spared from the ridiculous, tax-induced poverty that had gripped Ivernia. He clenched his hand into a fist under the table, wanting to have a few choice words with this Lord Farbrottan who was oppressing his good citizens.

"So that's how we came to be here, what's your problem and what can I do?" He asked.

"Kill them motherfuckin' orcs, that's what." Horacio growled. "They've been attacking the miners two or three times a week as they're on the way to the mine, or on the way back. They ambush from the hills with them damn warbows of theirs, and anyone who gets hit and can't make it to safety is dragged off into the hills, never to be see again."

"Except as a trophy." The woman -- Hestia -- added bitterly.

"Trophy?" Rachel asked.

"Orcs sometimes wear the bones of what they've killed as a trophy." Beth volunteered, though she looked horrified.

"That's polite way of saying they wear the bones of our friends to mock us." Horacio said bitterly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean--" Beth started to apologize, but Horacio held up his hand.

"Don't worry young lady, I know you didn't mean anything by it." He really looked like he could use a long nap and a long vacation. Also, not seeing the bones of former friends worn by orcs would also probably do wonders.

"You mentioned orc horns?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah, they always blow a horn several seconds before they attack." Horacio replied. "Don't make no sense to me since they attack like ambushers anyway. Good thing they do though, since that means we have a few seconds to get the shields up."

"The warning doesn't always help though." Hestia added. "It takes a very thick and heavy shield to stop an orcish warbow. Carrying them is a lot of work and sometimes they fail."

"Even when they work, the orcs or them smaller goblins might charge." Horacio shuddered. "Them clubs and axes they use is just devastatin', even when they aren't being swung by seven foot giants."

"Seven feet?" Beth asked. "I thought only the tallest orcs were that tall?"

"They look that tall when they're charging you." He shrugged. "Lord Kalus is here with a few men and they've reduced casualties dramatically, but they can't actually stop the attacks since it's only a few men."

"So, what do you want me to do?" Ethan asked.

"Call down a lightning storm from heaven and fry every last one of them godless sons o' bitches." Horacio replied.

"Yeah, I can do a single lightning bolt at a time; I can't do lightning storms."

"Okay, fry them one-at-a-time then." Horacio shrugged. "I don't care, long as they meet Saidow face-to-face."

"If I may ask, why don't you just leave the mine?" Rachel said after a slightly awkward silence. "Surely there must be other places to dig for iron."

"Yeah, but none as rich, which is why Lord Fatbrat won't let us leave." Hestia looked like she wanted to strangle the man herself.

Ethan completely understood the sentiment. "He won't let you leave?"

"He's made it clear that 'misfortune' would befall whoever left, and so far he's made good on that for the few people who have left." The haggard man shook his head. "We've got certain death with Fatbrat, or likely death with the orcs. That's the only reason anyone is still here."

"If they were always this bad, why start mining here in the first place?" Selene asked.

"They weren't always this bad." He replied. "The orcs were always dangerous if crossed, but weren't eating us when I started the mine all those years ago. They kept themselves to themselves as long as we stayed out of the mountains. Damn, we even had a kid decide to go exploring in the hills years ago and they scared the ever-living shit out of him before herding him out of the hills; didn't hurt him though. He's still in town; good worker."

"So what changed?" Ethan asked.

"Fuck if I know." Horacio replied.

*Dominus, perhaps it was a different orc clan back then.* Beth thought to all of them. *Maybe a new clan pushed the old clan out and that's why things changed?*

*Good thought.* He nodded, then looked at their host. "Horacio, did the clans change? Maybe there's a new clan that's quite different."

"I don't give a shit." The man replied. "Them fuckers are a bunch of bloodthirsty animals who need to pay for what they've done."

*Great diplomat that one.* Alana thought to everyone sardonically.

"Well, I'll start by trying to find them." Ethan replied, managing to not react to his first wife's comment. "I'd try aerial reconnaissance, but the rain makes it hard to see from high up. I'd be worried about being shot if I flew low enough to see well today."

"They probably won't attack today anyway, on account of the rain." Hestia said. "I guess it's no fun to murder innocent miners in the rain. Though they might attack if it stops."

"Is there anything we can do until then?" Ethan asked.

"Not unless you have a healer with you too." Horacio replied.

Taloni perked up at that.

"Well, one of us is." He grinned at his Fey wife.

Both of their hosts looked at him for a moment, then each other, then up towards the heavens and said in unison. "Blessed be He."

"Blessed be He." Ethan and all his wives echoed, him mostly because it seemed like the right thing to do in this situation. 'When in Rome' right?

* * *

Selene found herself going through a whirlwind of emotions during the conversation. Hope, anger and disgust were prominent among them, and they lined up almost perfectly with what she could read of their hosts' body language and facial expressions.

Damn that was weird.

She had started to be able to separate her own emotions from theirs in just the short time she'd been paying attention. However, she would've been lying if she said their emotions didn't affect her.

Ethan and company got up to leave after the lunch was over, and she followed them outside into the rain. Kendra kept close to her the whole time, and occasionally glanced in her direction. The caramel haired beauty was pretty sure the dragon huntress was checking up on her, and greatly appreciated it.

They were walking towards the warehouse that had been converted into a makeshift hospital. As she got closer, she started to feel... unwell. Parts of her body started to ache, and as they got closer they started to downright hurt. Not badly, but definitely some.

"Are you okay?" Kendra asked after Selene unsuccessfully tried to suppress a grimace.

"I'm not feeling too good." She admitted.

"What's wrong?" The raven haired woman asked.

Selene told her, and the dragon huntress put a hand on her shoulder to stop her short, and then spoke to the others. "Hey, go on ahead. I'm going to take Selene back to the Argo."

Ethan turned, looked between them, then at Selene. "Are you okay?"

"She'll be fine." Kendra replied. "I have a suspicion what's wrong, and if I'm right she'll be better than fine."

"Better than fine?" Beth asked.

"I'll explain later once I've confirmed. Go on ahead."

Ethan hesitated a moment, and then silence fell for several seconds as they all looked at each other. Telepathy; Selene was sure of it. She seen it enough to recognize the signs.

After maybe ten seconds, Ethan and his other wives turned and continued on, while Kendra nodded her head in the direction of the Argo. The further they walked from the makeshift hospital, the better Selene felt. They sloshed their way through the rain and muddy streets for a minute or two before arriving at the Argo, boarding, and then going below decks to escape the rain.

"You look better." Kendra observed.

"I feel much better." Selene affirmed. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Telepathy?"

"Well, I was going to say I might be empathic. You think it's real telepathy?"

"I do." The dragon huntress nodded. "Think about it; your amazing win streak yesterday against Raklan via predicting his moves, the dream you had was probably you accidentally casting yourself into Raklan's dream, and now that you've been around other people, you're picking up their moods too. It all makes sense."

"By why only Raklan when there's other people on the Argo whose emotions..." Selene trailed off. "Oh, because everyone else on the Argo has mental defenses, but I'll bet Raklan doesn't."

"Exactly." Kendra replied.

"But how did it happen?" The telepath countered. "I thought that telepathy was supposed to be one of the hardest magical arts to learn."

"It is, but remember that conversation we had the morning after I joined the Argo?"

"Yeah, we did some sparring after it, and we talked about how I was having trouble finding my mana..." The Brazilian woman frowned. "...and you said that--" She stopped as her eyes went wide. "You said that if someone has a strong experience with magic shortly before they learn to manipulate their own mana, then they will likely develop an affinity for that kind of magic. You said that the experience will mold their mana, and then the person moving their mana afterwards will 'harden' the mold. You said it was like baking some bread into shape."

"Exactly." Kendra nodded. "You had about the most violent, powerful experience it's possible to have with telepathy less than an hour before you moved your mana for the first time. The only way it could've been more violent is if you had actually been attacked."

"Holy shit, you're right." Her jaw dropped. "That explains why my mana has a pattern to it but no one else's mana does." The Brazilian woman cocked her head to one side. "How do you know so much about telepathy if it's so rare?"

"One of my instructors was a telepath, and he taught us about it." Kendra replied. "He also made sure our mental defenses were up to snuff before we went active so no one could read our minds."

"Reading minds." Selene shook her head with a smile, then her eyes went wide. "Dude! I'm freaking Professor X!" She hesitated. "Well, I'm not bald, not a man, and not a cripple, but otherwise..."

She grinned.

"First things first." Kendra said. "Let me teach you how to shield your mind so the moods of everyone around you won't affect you. Then you can figure out how to be a bald, male, cripple." She said it with a straight face, but there was a smile in her eyes.

"Deal."

* * *

"Okay, so tell me again why Tee can't heal infections." Ethan said to Rachel as he watched the Fey move around the room visiting various injured people and healing them.

"It's really hard to tell the difference between the other person's body and what's infecting him." Rachel explained. "You can do it in your own body with training and practice because you can feel your own body, and thus feel what doesn't belong. But it's not like that with another person; it's just too hard to tell the difference."

"Oh, okay. I guess that makes some sense." He nodded. "Sad though; it would be really cool if a mage could."

"It would." The redhead replied. "It's only because of mages that we know what causes infections though, so at least that's something."

"Fair." He nodded and looking around again.

The 'hospital' was merely a converted warehouse with some beds. About a dozen were occupied, mostly by men with a battle injury of some kind or another. Many had arrow wounds, some had wounds that looked like they were made with an axe, and still others had crushing wounds almost certainly made by some kind of club.

"That girl is a marvel." The only 'nurse' said. "She's healed four men now and shows no signs of slowing down. She must have an Illuminar-sized mana pool or more experience than a girl her age should have."

"Yeah, she was a healer at another mine for a long time." Ethan replied. "She's damn good at it too; saved my life more than once."

*I'm running low on mana.* Taloni thought to everyone. *Would anyone be willing to donate some regular mana so I can keep going?*

*I will.* Beth jumped up and walked over to her.

"You have some mighty fine wives there Mr. Prophet sir." The nurse said.

"That I do ma'am, that I do." He said proudly.

The nurse looked pleased with his response.

"How did it get so bad here?" He asked.

"It's because our lord is a sack of dragon shit--" She stopped and looked mortified. "I'm sorry, I meant no offense."

"None taken." Ethan assured her with a smile. "Shit is bad no matter which animal it comes from."

"Thank you." She breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, Lord Farbrottan is squeezing us so tight that we can't afford anything. We've got a few young women who've just started their monthly bleeding and the families can't even afford self-cleaning undergarments for their girls." She huffed. "I mean, what's the world coming to?"

"Um, I could help with that." Alana volunteered. "I've got plenty of experience enchanting, so if you got some undergarments that are clean and high enough quality to take the enchantment, I'd be happy to help."

The nurse looked at her for several seconds with her jaw hanging open, then lifted her eyes to the heavens. "Blessed are you Illuminar -- king of the universe -- for providing for your people." Then she descended on the wood elf with a hug that was so strong that Ethan almost felt like he should intervene.

"I'll have them ready clean and ready first thing in the morning!" The nurse promised as she turned to leave.

"They need to be dry too; exactly in the condition to be worn." The wood elf called after the nurse as the woman hurried away.

Ethan chuckled.

*Hey.* Kendra thought to all of them. *When you guys are done, I think you should come back to the Argo.*

*Is Selene okay?* He asked.

*Better than okay, but I'll let her tell you about that herself.*

Bee and Tee both looked at him.

*I'll be done in five minutes Master.* Taloni thought to them excitedly.

He chuckled. *Okay, but I don't think we'll head back for a little while yet.*

*Why not?!* Beth looked mortified, and was obviously itching to return to find out what Selene had to say.

*Because I thought I'd head back to that tavern and finish my beer first.* He managed to reply with a straight face.

*Dom-i-nus.* Beth sighed.

*Mas-ter.* Tee shook her head while Alana and Rachel rolled their eyes.

He chuckled.

* * *

Sarah waited with bated breath for Lady Ekthros to speak, thinking that this time -- at last -- the older woman would answer her question.

"And you're sure you really want to know?" The lady asked.

Sarah nodded, both excited and nervous to learn the truth about Ethan-- err, the prophet of Illuminar. He couldn't just be 'Ethan' to her. She didn't want to start thinking about him that way regardless of how desperately she wanted to think about him that way.

"Once I tell you, you can't un-hear it." The auburn haired woman cautioned again.

"I know, but I trust you completely after what you did for me, and I need to know." The innkeeper's daughter replied. "Please tell me?"

The Lady hesitated for several seconds, then finally nodded. "First, you need to know that this information is extremely privileged. I have only shared it with a few people, and I'm only sharing it with you now because I think this 'Ethan' has taken a special interest in you."

Sarah felt her heart start to soar, but that was only until she saw the look on the other woman's face.

"That's not a good thing." Lady Ekthros said. "Let me back up to the beginning and tell you how he came to the Ten Kingdoms. Did you know he's not from here?"

"Yes. Both he and Selene mentioned something about that."

"Of course they did." Lady Ekthros shook her head. "The most convincing lies are almost entirely true, with only a tiny bit of untruth mixed with them, or a few details omitted." She took a deep breath. "He was brought to this world by dark magic."

Sarah's jaw dropped as her eyes widened.

"It's true." Lady Ekthros said. "A dragon in Lord Delmar's land was attacked and his newly adult son was killed during the attack. The dragon hired a necromancer to bring his son back from the dead, however things didn't go to plan."

"What do you mean? And how do you know this?"

"As you can imagine, rooting out dark mana users is of the highest priority for Lord Delmar." Lady Ekthros explained. "Dark mana drawn from living beings which have died is incredibly corruptive, and even a small amount could turn the most wonderful person you ever met into a sociopath."

"Right."

"Well, when we heard about the dragon -- Ethan -- I had my men track down the necromancer." Lady Ekthros continued. "He confirmed that he used a dark mana resurrection spell, and that's how Ethan arrived here."

Sarah inhaled sharply. "No."

"Yes." The auburn haired woman nodded grimly. "The necromancer drained the life force of a person while that person was alive in order to do the spell. A process that I'm told is incredibly painful."

"That's how he got here? But..." She frowned. "But that doesn't mean he asked for it right? I mean, it could've happened by accident... right?"

"I'm sure you don't know much about the dark arts, but from what I understand -- from what Lord Borden's chief arch mage says -- it's not possible for Ethan to have accidentally hijacked the resurrection spell. I'm not an expert because I've never used dark magic, much less a dark resurrection spell, so I could be wrong. However, the people I talked to know this stuff very well and I trust them on it."

Sarah felt like she had been gut-punched.

Ethan had used dark magic?

No.

No that wasn't possible. Not the prophet of Illuminar.

"Look, I don't want to say that he did it for sure." Lady Ekthros said delicately. "It's possible there was some random event that interfered in the necromancer's spell."

"But you think Ethan did it on purpose."

"It looks that way."

Sarah took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Judging from the old woman's expression, she wasn't done. "There's more, isn't there?"

Lady Ekthros grimaced. "Are you sure you want to hear the rest?"

She bit her lip, then nodded.

The auburn haired woman continued. "Well, you know what the Book of Light says about necromancers, so obviously Lord Delmar's men tried to capture Ethan, but they failed. But even more strange, a woman he'd met only hours before seemed willing to die for him."

"You have a theory on that, don't you?" Sarah asked, not wanting to hear it but knowing she needed to.

"It's just a theory though, so I want you to realize that it might not be true. It's the only thing I can think of, but I don't want you to base your opinion of Ethan on it, because it's just a theory."

"Ok, but I want to hear."

The older woman nodded. "Do you know about dragon compulsion?"

"Everyone has heard of it, but most think it's a myth."

"It's not. Dragons can do it, and I know this for a fact."

"Oh." Sarah put her hand over her mouth. "You think he... that he made Alana..." Her eyes grew wide again. "You think that he made all of his wives..."

"I don't want to think so, but consider who is following Ethan around." Lady Ekthros said as she ticked them off on her fingers. "The daughter of the two most powerful wood elven houses, Lord Borden's daughter, Lord Delmar's daughter, and a dragon huntress. How else could he have gotten such an impressive array of women to follow him and share his bed in only a few months?"

Sarah didn't reply. It did seem hard now that she mentioned it; nigh impossible in fact.

"And then Elizabeth Borden was kidnapped, and you've met her so I assume you know she's Lord Borden's daughter?" Lady Ekthros continued.

"Yes."

"We think it was done by Lord Delmar's daughter, Rachel, who I've known since she was little. She's a good person and would never kidnap someone. Not unless..." The auburn haired woman trailed off, seemingly not wanting to finish the sentence.

"Not unless she was being influenced." Sarah finished the thought and bit her lip.

Could it be?

Could Ethan...

"And if she was being influenced to kidnap..." Lady Ekthros grimaced.

The innkeeper's daughter sucked her breath in sharply. "Then Ethan must've been behind Beth's kidnapping."

"I don't know that for sure." The older woman said hastily. "But the timing was awfully convenient, and it gave Ethan -- a dragon -- a direct connection with one of the largest stores of gold in the entire Ten Kingdoms, and a beautiful young woman for his bed too."

"Oh." Was all Sarah could think to say.

It made sense.

It was awful, but it made sense.

The other woman continued. "Lord Delmar tried to catch up with his daughter when Ethan wed Lady Borden, but couldn't find her. He then disinherited her, since the most likely reason that Ethan enthralled Rachel was to gain some kind of hold over Narlotten or Lord Delmar. Lord Delmar was trying to protect her, hoping that the dragon might cast her off, but..." She shook her head. "But she still follows him."

"You think he is compelling all of his wives to..." Sarah sucked in her breath. "But that's absolutely horrible if it's true."

"I know." She replied darkly. "Believe me I know, but it gets worse."

"Worse? How could it get worse?"

"You know of the girl whose death he was accused of in Arcanum?"

"Yes, but he was proved innocent in a trial by combat." Sarah countered.

"Was he?" Lady Ekthros grimaced. "Consider, Ethan had no combat experience and was completely unarmed and unarmored, while the Arena champion had years of combat experience, enchanted weapons, and full chainmail armor. How did he win? How could he win fairly."

"Oh." Sarah face fell. "You think that Ethan bribed..." She covered her mouth. "But the Book of Light says a bribe is detestable to Illuminar."

"It does." Lady Ekthros replied. "But it might not have been a bribe."

"Oh?" Sarah said, leaning forward and listening intently.

"It might've been blackmail." The other woman said.

Sarah's heart fell to somewhere below the floor.

The lady continued. "That also explains why the dragon's slave killed him a few nights later; Ethan might've been worried that he would talk."

"Oh, I never thought..." Sarah felt like the breath had been sucked from her lungs and the light pulled from the room. If she had been standing up, she would've sunk to the floor.

Her knees felt weak.

She felt sick to her stomach.

"I told you, you don't want to hear the rest." Lady Ekthros said sadly.

"There's... there's more?" Sarah barely got out in a whisper.

"But you don't need to listen." The older woman said hastily.

"Please, no matter how hard it is to hear, I need to know."

"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you."

Sarah nodded, not really able to do much else.

"The slave who killed the Arena champion -- Hailey -- was never seen again after she left Arcanum with Ethan." Lady Ekthros paused, then added. "Do you know what the first rule of assassination is?"

"It's a cliché from stories, but the first rule of assassination is to kill the assass-- no." She covered her mouth. "No he couldn't have."

"I'm not saying he did." Lady Ekthros added very quickly. "But it's very strange that the slave -- Hailey -- was never seen in the Ten Kingdoms again."

Sarah swallowed.

She could feel her eye getting watery. How could he... how could anyone...?

"I should stop now." Lady Ekthros said, eyeing the girl's distraught countenance.

"No, please finish." Sarah swallowed hard, not wanting to believe it but needing to hear it anyway.

"Okay, but this is maybe the worst of all." Lady Ekthros opened her mouth, but hesitated. "Are you sure you want to hear this?"

Sarah swallowed hard, but nodded anyway.

"Well, according to my eyewitness, the girl who died in Arcanum was Elizabeth Borden."

"Ethan told me that, but he also said he got her back."

"Yes but did he say how?"

Sarah shook her head.

"Let me tell you what I know and you can draw your own conclusion. Ethan visited a mining camp after leaving Arcanum, and Lady Borden wasn't with them then, but Hailey was. Then he visited a necromancer's camp. The next time anyone saw him, he had Lady Borden with him despite the fact that she had died, but Hailey has never been seen again."

"Oh." The innkeeper's daughter said as the full force of what had just been said hit her. "But that would mean..."

"It would mean that Ethan Ejder -- reputed to be a prophet of Illuminar -- sought out a necromancer and possibly used the dark arts to bring Beth back to life. That requires a living sacrifice for it to work, but who could he have used since his crew is so small? Perhaps someone who hasn't been seen since he departed for the necromancer's camp? Perhaps someone who assassinated the man he defeated under suspicious circumstances?"

Sarah sucked in her breath as she realized the implication. "The slave; Hailey."

"I'm not saying he did." The other woman said. "But someone must've been sacrificed if he used a necromancer's resurrection spell, which as you know can't be done without the most horrific and painful kind of murder possible."

"Pulling a living person's deep mana out of his body." Sarah's lip trembled.

It was reputed to be the most horrible way to die ever devised, but it was absolutely necessary for a necromancer's resurrection spell. A life for a life; that was the only way that men who weren't servants of Illuminar could raise the dead, and even then it didn't always work, and could only be done a short time after the person died.

That made something occur to Sarah.

"Wait, what about him raising that dead woman in The Arena, and summoning lightning? Could someone who wasn't a servant of Illuminar -- blessed be He -- possibly do such a thing."

"You make a good point." Lady Ekthros grimaced. "However, how much do you know about illusion magic?"

"Almost nothing, other than it exists and can create illusions.

"I asked a few mages who specialize in illusion magic if the appearance of lighting could be replicated. Every single one of them was able to produce a convincing illusion of lightning. It takes planning and intent though; it can't happen on accident."

Sarah covered her mouth again, scarcely able to believe what she was hearing. "And if he didn't strike someone dead with lightning, and it was only an illusion, then he didn't need to raise... it was all an act?"

"It seems that way." Lady Ekthros replied.

She felt like her entire world had been turned upside down.

It all made perfect sense

It painted a picture of Ethan that made him look like nothing less than an agent of darkness, perhaps a follower of Saidow himself and certainly an enemy of Illuminar.

Her stomach clenched and her eyes got watery.

It couldn't be...

Yet, it seemed to be...

She blinked several times as she felt her breath start to come in short, ragged gasps. Suddenly she had this feeling of blind panic that made it hard to think straight. It was like her brain was lost in a sea of emotion and she was barely hanging onto a piece of driftwood. It was like she was being tossed in a stormy sea and only barely keeping her head above water.

It wasn't quite fear -- thank Illuminar otherwise her problem might manifest -- but her chest felt tight and she could feel her breath getting shorter.

"Sarah? Sarah, calm down you're hyperventilating." Lady Ekthros said, moving closer and wrapping her arms around her.

It took several minutes for the innkeeper's daughter to calm down; for the blind panic to slowly subside with Lady Ekthros's soothing words. She couldn't even remember what the words were, just that what she said was comforting. She did remember the auburn haired woman looking at her with fierce concentration, like she was trying to learn something extra while comforting her.

The thing that finally helped her fully calm down was remembering Gabriella's visit in a dream, and the angel's promise that 'it will all be okay in the end; if it's not okay, it's not the end'. She wasn't okay right now; not remotely. But since she wasn't okay, it wasn't the end.

"I'm okay." Sarah finally said as she slowly regained the ability to breathe and speak normally.

"That's part of why I didn't want to tell you." The other woman said. "It's a lot to take in."

"Yes, but I'm glad that..." She panted slightly, trying to fully regain control of herself. "Thank you for telling me everything."

Despite everything she'd just heard, she would be okay. Gabriella had said she would be and angels never lie. She went over that dream in her head, remembering every detail as she tried to hold onto that hope.

Lady Ekthros didn't respond.

Sarah looked at her and the other woman had a strange expression on her face.

"What?" The innkeeper's daughter asked.

"I... I don't want to tell a lie of omission; I didn't quite tell you everything." The other woman bit her lip, and she had spoken with great reluctance.

"What else is there?" Sarah asked, scarcely able to believe that there could be more.

"I don't want to say because it's... it's even less confirmed than everything else." She grimaced like she wished she hadn't spoken at all.

"Please tell me? Please?"

"After what you just went through because of what I said..." Lady Ekthros shook her head. "I'd rather not put you through anything more."

"But now that I know there's more, I'll constantly be worried about what it is." She countered. "I'm sure whatever I'll imagine is worse than the truth. Please tell me."

Lady Ekthros hesitated.

"Please." Sarah trembled slightly, worrying that the other woman wouldn't agree.

After the longest several seconds of her young life, Lady Ekthros finally did speak. "Okay, but remember I have no solid evidence for this, and only a few scattered reports that are still unsubstantiated."

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind."

The amber haired woman took a deep breath, then spoke. "I've had people talk to those that Ethan interacted with. It seems that sometimes when he wanted them to do something, they would have a dream that involved an angel."

"Wh... What?" Sarah felt her heart sink so far and so fast that it was probably below ground level already.

"Yeah, the person that Ethan is trying to influence will sometimes have a dream about an angel, who usually says something about life getting harder, but it will all be okay if that person holds on. Then Ethan 'miraculously' turns up and makes the person's life better, and the person thinks it's divine providence."

"But... I..." Sarah couldn't breathe.

Her chest felt tight.

No.

No it wasn't possible.

It...

But...

Lady Ekthros looked at her and her face fell. "Oh no, you had one of those dreams, didn't you?"

Sarah nodded mutely as her eyes welled up with tears. "But why? What could he possibly want with me?"

"You're very strong Sarah, or at least can be sometimes." Lady Ekthros replied. "He might want you to help him, or to take your power, or perhaps something more nefarious. He might even have tried to compel you to make you attracted to him to make it easier for him."

Sarah's throat felt tight.

Her eyes were leaking, coating her cheeks in saltwater and she couldn't make them stop.

No.

Not Ethan.

Not the only man who...

She screwed her eyes shut, remembering the flutter in her heart that he always caused. Could that have been compulsion just like he did to his wives? It had come on rather suddenly, and she'd never felt those feelings for a man before. Had he been compelling her? Had he really just wanted to use her for her abilities; for her problem? Was that all she was to him? Could she even trust her feelings for him?

"If it helps, I think he needs sustained eye contact to compel someone, so if you've never..." Lady Ekthros trailed off as Sarah looked at her wide-eyed.

"Oh." Lady Ekthros grimaced. "If you already have, then..." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

Sarah had never felt like this before.

Ever.

She felt like she was breaking in half; like she had already been broken in half. Like her heart had cracked and a piece of it had fallen out, never to be repaired.

"I... I don't know who I could ever trust." She managed to get out as she tried in vain to fight back the tears. "If not even Ethan is..." She swallowed, then looked up into Lady Ekthros's dark grey eyes.

They were hauntingly beautiful.

At that moment -- no doubt because some cloud or other had shifted outside on this cloudy day -- a ray of sunshine shone in through the tiny barred window into the small cell and landed on Lady Ekthros's face. Something about the other woman's face softened. She already had a look of sympathy on her face, but suddenly it seemed to be a little deeper.

A little more genuine.

Maybe a lot more genuine.

Sarah noticed that Lady Ekthros's eyes seemed to become a slightly lighter gray for a few moments. Like some of the color that had been sapped from them partially returned. Instead of being dark gray, they were a medium-dark gray for a short time, though still far darker than the usual shade of gray someone's eyes might be.

"Who could I ever trust?" Sarah asked, her voice cracking as she did so.

"There's not many good men here, but there are some." The other woman said, and something about her voice seemed softer, kinder, and more caring. "I only know of one that I'd trust."

"Lord Delmar?"

"No." She shook her head. "Well sort of, but not for the reason you might expect. I was thinking of someone else."

"Who?"

The corners of Lady Ekthros's mouth pulled upwards slightly, though only momentarily, and there was a bit of sadness in her eyes. "If you ever find yourself in trouble and can make it to Arcanum, go to the Great Temple of Illuminar and ask for Luminar Kossel. He's a good man, he would help you, and I would trust him. Other than that..."

She shook her head.

The ray of sunlight coming through the window disappeared, assuredly covered by a cloud outside. Lady Ekthros's eyes darkened again, becoming fully dark grey once more. Something about her face then changed, becoming harder and more... more... something. More like the Lady Ekthros she'd spent all this time with.

"What about Selene?" Sarah finally asked, wanting to know the answer but dreading it too. If Selene wasn't a good person then... she didn't know what she'd do."

"Well, did she meet Ethan before she met you?"

Sarah nodded.

"And she spoke well of him?"

Sarah nodded again.

"Then she might be deceived, or being compelled."

"But how could he do that to Selene?" Sarah asked, thinking about how wonderful her friend was.

"The Book of Lights says: 'don't be misled: even Saidow's minions masquerade as angels of light'." Lady Ekthros replied. "Who knows why evil men do what they do."

A curious kind of calm came over Sarah.

She had been so conflicted about Ethan because she thought he was a good man. But he wasn't. He wasn't and that made everything clearer. She would marry Rindrin, and could do so without any regret in her heart. At least, that's what she told herself. Her heart still ached at the news, but the rest of her...

She clenched her fist.

She almost wished that the Brazilian woman hadn't intervened when she had attacked Ethan, and she felt shocked at that thought. But if he had done what Lady Ekthros said he'd done, then he deserved it and more. She shuddered when she thought of what he'd done and how much she had liked him. Still, at least she learned of his true nature before she'd been hurt.

But Selene...

"Thank you." Sarah said after several moments. "That was really hard to hear, but I'm glad I know the truth now."

"You're welcome Sarah." Lady Ekthros replied, then looked down a bit guiltily. "So, I have a confession to make."

"Oh?"

"I went to your inn partially to meet you."

Sarah blinked.

"I was in the area and heard that Ethan had visited you." Lady Ekthros continued. "I knew the rumors of course, and I wanted to make sure. I confess that when I arrived, I was more worried about making sure you weren't used against Lord Delmar than I was about helping you. I didn't realize that I really wanted to help you until I got to know you a bit better. So, I'm sorry for misleading you; please forgive me?"

The auburn haired woman looked at her, and Sarah could see hope and bit of vulnerability in her eyes.

"Of course I forgive you." She replied.

"Thank you."

Sarah smiled at the other woman and gave her a hug, so incredibly grateful to have learned what Ethan was really like. Her heart still hurt though. She still wanted him to be who everyone thought she was. He wasn't but she wanted him to be.

She really did.

* * *

Ethan's jaw was hanging open by the time that Kendra and Selene had finished explaining what they'd discovered about Selene's new telepathic abilities. They had congregated below decks to get out of the rain, though it had slowed to barely a drizzle by the late afternoon.

"How much does a semester cost?" Ethan managed to get out when she'd finished.

"Come again?" Selene asked.

"At your school for gifted youngsters in upstate New York." He looked her up and down and then whistled. "Charles Francis Xavier, you're a lot cuter than the comics make you out to be."

Selene chuckled.

"Or the movies; Patrick Stewart has nothing on you." He laughed.

"I don't know, that voice..." She laughed with him.

As usual when he made an Earth reference, everyone else look confused.

"It's an--" He started to say, but all his wives interrupted in unison.

"--an Earth thing."

"I feel like I'm missing so much." Alana shook her head. "Is this how you two feel when we talk about things in the Ten Kingdoms that--"

"Yes!" The two Earthlings finished before she did.

"What's telepathy like?!" Beth exclaimed at the caramel-haired beauty.

"Um, so far like feeling other people's moods." Selene replied. "I haven't tried to do anything else with it yet."

"Would you?!" Beth said immediately. "You can try it on me! I wouldn't mind, and I don't have any deep dark secrets."

"Yes." Selene said in a mock-mad scientist voice while wiggling her fingers like she was handling a marionette. "You shall be my slave! Muhahahaha!"

Everyone laughed, the Brazilian woman hardest of all.

Ethan cocked his head to one side. This wasn't like her. She was never this cheerful, or at least hadn't been in a long time. It was good to see, but definitely unusual.

Hmm.

At first he thought that a really cheerful person might be nearby and influencing her mood, but then he remembered that Selene now had some mental defenses so other people's moods shouldn't affect her now.

"Selene, you seem abnormally happy, even for a girl who just realized that she's psychic." He pointed out as he leaned on the wall of the Argo's lower deck. "What has you in such a good mood?"

"I'm finally not useless!" Selene exclaimed, then froze.

"What do you mean?" He asked, recognizing that she'd probably said a lot more in her jubilation than she might have otherwise.

"Nothing, don't worry about it." She replied quickly.

Too quickly.

Everyone was looking at her.

He scrutinized her. "Selene, I'm not exactly going to pin you to the wall and tickle you until you tell us, but a blind man could see that you've been really out of sorts for quite a while now. Is that why? Did you feel useless?"

"You could tell?" The Brazilian woman grimaced.

"Yes." Alana nodded. "In fact, I think most of us have asked you about it at one point or another."

The caramel haired beauty inclined her head in concession.

"So what is it Selene?" Ethan asked again. "What's really eating you?"

She swallowed and suddenly her eyes looked a little hurt. Well, not 'hurt' exactly, but something close to it.

"Hey it's okay." Taloni said. "I promise we won't judge."

"It's that." Selene inclined her head towards Taloni. "You all are so incredible. You all have this amazing and diverse set of skills and abilities and you can actually do something useful and helpful around here. I can't. I don't know jack-shit, and I keep trying to learn, but I can't get anything right and I'm so far behind that I feel like I'll never catch up."

It seemed like once she started, she couldn't stop herself.

"And you all have these amazing personalities too. You're such fun and interesting people, and the only thing I've done with my life is train and study. I'm basically a cookie-cutter, a dime-a-doze, 'type A' personality who could barely hold a conversation if someone asked me to describe myself because there's nothing to me. I basically don't even have a personality; I'm that boring. I'm that useless, and--"

She stopped, then looked down at the floor. Her shoulders were hunched, and despite being the tallest member of the group -- even taller than Ethan by an inch -- she seemed to resemble the shortest in stature, if not actual height.

Everyone looked at her for a moment before Kendra spoke up. "I knew you were struggling with this a bit, but you should've heard the conversation after you left the room right after I tried on my dress for the first time."

"Why?" The dejected woman asked.

"Because we spent a minute talking about how we all admire you and wished we could be a bit more like you." The dragon huntress replied.

Selene looked at her, mouth agape. She worked it for a few seconds, then cocked her head to one side. "Why?"

"For starters, the way your train." Alana said. "I remember talking to Beth about that during those first two days you were with us before we rendezvoused with Ethan after he was captured. You trained all day, every day, for several days in a row, and we were impressed by that."

"We still are." The blonde agreed. "You must've broken your fingers five times, but you never quit. You had Anthiel patch you up and kept working. I've never seen anyone work that hard and we were both impressed, and you haven't let up since then."

"I admire how you always want to help." Tee piped up. "You always help clean up after meals, and offer to help make them, and you were always offering to help Mirella in Gralden. You care about helping people, and I think that's really wonderful."

"I admire how sharp you are." Rachel said. "Your advice about talking to the wood elves in Nalatia was nothing short of brilliant. I've spent my entire life at court and you framed the legal case better than I ever could have."

"And you don't give up." Kendra added. "How many times have you struggled with something in the Ten Kingdoms, and just kept working on it no matter what, even if you felt like you were getting nowhere. That's a brilliant quality to have."

"My wives are all correct, but that's not what I admire most about you." Ethan said.

Selene glanced at him, not quite meeting his eye but looking a bit hopeful.

"I admire how you always want to help people who are hurting." He said. "Don't think it escaped my notice that you were pushing harder than anyone to get out of Gralden so we could get here and help the people at the mine. Let's face it, you're drop dead gorgeous and could've had your pick of men on Earth. You could've married a wealthy guy and had a life of ease. But you didn't, did you?"

She shook her head.

"You're incredibly driven, sharp as a tack, and think quickly on your feet too." Ethan continued. "You could've become one hell of a Lawyer, doctor, or even a politician, but you didn't pick that either."

She shook her head again.

"Instead, you took a job where you knew you'd be perennially underpaid, underappreciated, and would even have your life put in danger because you wanted to help people, didn't you?"

She hesitated, but seemed reluctant to confirm what Ethan already knew to be true.

"And I have a sneaking suspicion that the reason you train so hard isn't for your own benefit, but so you can help others who need it when the opportunity arises. That's the reason, isn't it?"

"Um..." She waggled her head. "I do it partially for me; I enjoy it."

He raised his eyebrow. "I'm sure you do, but that's not the main reason. Is it?"

She hesitated, then shook her head.

"You primarily train that hard so you can help other people if the need arises, don't you?"

She hesitated a bit longer, then nodded sheepishly.

"That's pretty damn impressive, because I see how you train." Ethan said. "I see how relentless you are. That speaks volumes about how much you care about helping others."

"It does." Alana added, and the rest of his wives all agreed.

"Look Selene, I can't comment on some of what you've said, but I will say this: you're an incredible woman and we're lucky to have you on the Argo for however long you're here."

"That's what we all were saying the day Kendra got her dress!" Taloni beamed.

"We were." Kendra agreed, and everyone else voiced their agreement too.

Selene stared.

"Look, it's great that you now have a unique skill that's incredibly useful." Ethan said. "I'm sure it'll help a lot, especially when dealing with SmithBond on Earth. But even if you had never gotten that talent, I for one am still glad you're here. You're a valuable member of this crew, and please don't ever doubt that."

The caramel haired beauty swallowed hard and blinked several times. Her eyes appeared to get a bit watery as she smiled. "Thank you, all of you. I don't know how to say... that is, I'm not sure how to describe what this means to me."

"It's okay, we can tell." Taloni grinned at her, then called loudly. "Group hug!"

His wives converged on her as one, wrapping her in a large group hug. Selene looked uncomfortable and embarrassed, but there was a big smile on her face too.

"Oh!" Beth exclaimed as the group hug broke. "I wonder if you could connect to our group chat right now since you're telepathic."

"I bet she could!" Tee said just as excitedly as her wings fluttered quickly.

"I can try." Selene replied a bit too quickly.

Apparently she didn't mind a change of topic.

* * *

*Am I doing this right?* Selene thought towards what she was pretty sure was the right place.

*Yes!* Beth and Taloni thought back at the same time.

*You're coming through loud and clear.* Ethan replied to the group chat. *Well that was fast, though being psychic probably helps. Hey, is this anything like using Cerebro?"

*Very funny.* Selene replied at the reference to the machine which enhanced Professor X's psychic powers.

The other ladies looked confused for a moment.

"What's Cerebro?" Beth asked.

The Brazilian woman explained the concept, and the blonde looked at her strangely. "Your world is so strange. You make up the most fantastical stories instead of focusing on more real things."

Selene didn't point out the Ten Kingdom's obsession with Illuminar and then spoke aloud. "Different strokes for different folks."

"Well, I suppose we could've waited to bond then." Ethan pointed out, then shrugged. "Still, I imagine this is going to make a huge difference when you go to Earth to deal with the portal and Gonorran."

"Yeah, I was thinking that too." The caramel haired beauty nodded. "For the first time, I feel like I might actually have a chance."

"Good, I'd hate to see something happen to you." He replied.

"That makes two of us." Selene nodded.

"More than just two." Alana said significantly.

"Thank you." Selene replied, doing her best to keep her emotions at bay.

She still could barely believe that they all thought so well of her. She'd had no idea. None whatsoever. In hindsight though, they had always included her while planning things, even sometimes when it didn't make sense to. She just hadn't known how much Ethan and his wives valued her.

It felt good.

She felt like some invisible weight had been lifted off her shoulders; like the clouds had parted and bathed her in cheerful sunlight. She felt like she could like climb Mount Everest or go toe-to-toe with Serif. She hadn't realized how much she had slipped into something resembling depression until she was starting to climb out of it.

She took a deep breath and let it out, a smile on her face.

"I really appreciate you all saying something." She finally said. "I've been--"

"Captain." Anthiel called down the stairs from the weather deck. "You have a visitor."

Ethan hesitated, looking at Selene.

"Go." She said. "Whoever it is might need help."

He gave her a long look, then a small smile appeared on his face. It was subtle, but there and she heard his mental voice coming directly to her. *Selene, I meant what I said before.*

*Oh?*

*You are drop dead gorgeous, but the most attractive thing about you isn't your body or face; it's your heart.* He looked at her with a lopsided grin. *You care more about helping others than anyone I've ever met, including my other wives. That's a rare quality, and it makes you anything but a -- how did you put it? -- a cookie-cutter, dime-a-doze, 'type A' personality.*

The caramel haired beauty felt her throat get slightly tight as her eyes got a bit watery.

He continued. *You're the kind of person who would take a bullet for a complete stranger. I don't think you realize how rare that is, or how unique it makes you. You might disguise your desire to help others behind a 'type A' personality mask, but the mask isn't who you are.*

*It isn't?* Her voice would've cracked if she was speaking aloud.

He shook his head. *It's just a mask you wear, seemingly on purpose, and it conceals the very best part of an incredible woman.*

She blinked.

She could feel a warmth in her chest that lightened her heart even further as she tried not to screw up her face and cry right there on the spot. He understood her. How did he understand her so well? Was it the bonding? Could it be anything else? He knew. He knew something about her that she'd never really told anyone, something that no one -- perhaps not even her dad -- knew about her.

He understood.

How did he understand?

*You're serious?* She finally replied.

*I am.* He nodded, then smiled and inclined his head towards the top of the stairs. "Come on."

She managed to get control of herself as she followed him up the stairs, though perhaps it was just the mask slipping back into place. His wives came too, and they discovered that the rain had finally stopped, leaving everything a bit of a soggy mess. The boards of the Argo's decking were still a bit slick so she watched her step.

Standing on the Argo near the gangplank was a man and a woman who looked like they were a couple. He was wearing what she'd come to recognize as the robes of a Luminar, and she was dressed in what looked like 'Sunday best' clothes. Apparently in Ivernia that meant no patches or frayed edges.

They were both standing up very straight with near perfect posture. Neither had a single hair out of place, but they didn't seem to be overly concerned with appearances either. He had thick, short sideburns that came down and stopped short of where his moustache would be if he'd had one. She had her hair loose, but there were no stray strands of hair, as if none dared to step out of line.

"Prophet of Illuminar, you do us great honor with your visit." He said with a deep and respectful bow. "I apologize for not visiting you earlier, but I only just became aware of your presence minutes ago."

Somehow, Selene believed him.

He looked like the sort of fellow who was that prim and proper all the time, and was ready to rush out the door because he always looked like this.

"Uh, thanks." Ethan replied, then ran his hand over the top of his head, where his hair would be if he were human. "What can I do for you?"

"It would give me great honor if you would visit our humble chapel for services tomorrow morning at daybreak." The man replied. "It is short notice, but I would be beyond honored if you would give the homily."

*Homily?* Ethan asked the group chat.

Selene heard this, and still wasn't sure what to make of it.

It was weird.

Convenient, but weird.

*The teaching Master. The Luminar usually teaches for 15-30 minutes during service.*

Ethan addressed the couple. "Um, I definitely won't teach, but I guess I could come..." He looked at his wives. "Ladies?"

"I would love to." Alana had a grin on her face. "I haven't been able to attend service in... in far too long."

"I'd love to also." Beth smiled. "I've missed that since living on the Argo."

"Oh could we Master?!" Taloni was nearly bouncing on the balls of her feet and her wings were fluttering like mad. "I haven't been to service since the Luminar at the mine moved away years ago."

"I wouldn't object." Rachel said.

"I'm very much in favor." Kendra added.

Ethan looked at Selene. "How about it? Interested?"

"Not really, but it could be entertaining." She shrugged.

The man's wife looked at her. "I take it you haven't been enlightened to the marvelous, manifold wisdom and riches of the glorious and holy God of Light?"

"Sorry, no." The caramel haired beauty shook her head.

The woman gave her a look that wouldn't have been out of place on a mother who was consoling her child as she spoke. "Illuminar accepts all sinners who repent and commit themselves to a holy life. I hope you will soon count yourself among his faithful."

The Brazilian woman made a non-committal grunt, a strategy with she'd long ago adopted when dealing with Bible thumpers. She figured it would work equally as well with Book-of-Light-thumpers.

"Please come to the morning service." The man looked at Ethan. "You and your six wives are welcome--"

"Five." Selene interrupted. "He's only got five; I'm not married to him, just traveling on the same ship."

"Oh, my deepest apologies." He said with another bow that could've come from a teaching manual on how to bow properly. "However, it would be our greatest honor to have you attend."

"I guess we'll see you there." Ethan replied.

"I am most grateful." He bowed. "And I know my flock will be grateful to have you among them. Word of the righteous deeds you're done in the name of Illuminar -- blessed be He -- has reached our ears, and we glorify the God of light for His benevolent response to our unworthy supplications."

"Uh... you're welcome?" Ethan replied, looking a bit like a fish out of water.

"Until the morrow, I shall bid you adieu Prophet of--"

The man stopped as a loud sound came from the distance, in the direction of the mine's entrance.

It was a horn.

A loud horn.

Suddenly the man looked worried as he clasped his hands together and looked up to heaven. "Oh Illuminar -- blessed be You -- please protect your flock from this orc attack."

"ORCS!!!" A guard on top of the walls called, and then began ringing an alarm bell.

"No time like the present." Ethan muttered, then Selene saw his armor activate. It flew from the armor-stack on his back to cover his body, and he reached down to pat the weapons he'd just summoned to his side; all three of them.

"Be careful Master." Taloni's wings fluttered as she grimaced.

"I will be; you all stay on the ship." He replied.

Selene wanted to object, but he didn't give her a chance. Moments later he'd sprung into the air, wings extending as he sped towards the mine's entrance.

* * *

Ethan looked at his destination, which was coming up fast.

The entrance to Dotmier Mine was relatively large and set into the side of the rocky hill, though with the rocky overhang you couldn't see into the mine. Perhaps ten feet above the top of the mine's entrance was a small plateau. The ends curved down at perhaps a 45 degree angle around the mine's entrance, so you could scramble up or down. The tree line of the hills stopped maybe a dozen yards from the drop-off over the mine's entrance. The trees weren't terribly large, and there was a lot of bushes in the tree line.

It was from these bushes that Ethan got his first good look at an orc from among the dozen or so that had appeared.

They were tall and powerfully muscled. The shortest looked to be about six feet, and the tallest nearly seven feet. All of them were wearing relatively little in the way of clothing. They had boots, shorts, and a sort of vest on their chests with a large imprint of a hand in red paint; at least he hoped it was paint. All of the clothing was made of leather, and some of it looked fur-lined. Their green skin looked thick and tough, and they had small tusks sticking up out of their mouths.

They didn't look stupid or unintelligent though.

Quite the contrary in fact.

He got the sense that while they might not excel at astrophysics, they were at least as smart as the average man, and likely far more cunning.

Nearly all were carrying strung longbows, each taller than its owner. They carried the arrows in quivers attached to their hips and the arrows looked to be several feet long and over 1/2 inch thick. Additionally, many orcs had one-handed axes stuffed through their leather belts, though a few had larger two handed axes.

Coming from the mine was a large group of men, each carrying a large, thick shield on his back. The moment the alarm had sounded, they took off running towards town, which meant their backs were protected by the shields. The orcs drew their bows and launched a volley of arrows at their prey. The shields stopped most of the arrows, but not all.

Two men fell, their shields having been pierced by the monstrous arrows from the incredibly powerful warbows.

No one stopped to help them.

The orcs quickly drew new arrows and Ethan was sure a couple more men might fall to them. He needed to draw their attention, and there was one thing that drew attention better than anything else.

He roared.

He opened his mouth and let loose the thunderous noise in full force. For most men, it froze them in their tracks. Ethan had seen men completely lose the will to fight from just hearing it, never mind having a dragon flying at you at full speed.

The orcs didn't flinch.

They merely changed targets.

Suddenly, he wished that the shields the king of the wood elves had given him had a summoning spell on them. He waited until the last second -- after the arrows had been released but before they'd gotten too close -- before tucking his wings and diving.

The world slowed and an orcish arrow hit a gap in his tail armor, piercing deep into his tail.

He only had a split second to react as he realized that his "spider-sense" enchantment had just triggered. It worked. It gave him almost no warning -- maybe a quarter of a second -- but with his enhanced reflexes it was just barely enough to alter the location of his tail so the arrow slammed into the armor instead of a gap.

Wham!

He hissed as the massive arrow hit.

Fuck that hurt!

He landed on the ground and began running flat out on all fours at the orcs. They were grouped fairly close together in a rough line, and a single grenade could've taken out half of them. That's when he remembered that in his haste to intervene, he'd forgotten his grenades too.

Fuck!

Some of the orcs reached for another arrow, then stopped. He was too close. The orcs seemed to relish this though, and wide grins split their faces as they all drew they axes, though one had a long sword; probably taken from a soldier or something. He charged towards the left side of the line, knowing that he'd find himself surrounded if he charged the middle of it.

Ethan waited until he was about twenty yards distant, then leapt in the air, drawing his javelin in dagger mode as he did. He pulled it back, and waited until the last second to extend it before whipping it out as fast and hard as possible. The orc he'd aimed at didn't have a chance to dodge, even his less than perfectly aimed throw. It punched through his shoulder like it wasn't even there and buried itself up to the grip. The orc dropped his axe, that arm no longer useful.

Ethan threw his war hammer at the orc's head and it went down; definitely dazed, but probably not dead.

As he landed, he drew his dragon steel sword and then for the first time truly realized what he was in for.

The orcs weren't just big.

They were HUGE.

Ethan himself was about 5" 8".

The smallest orc had at least six inches on him and probably outweighed him by double; all of it muscle, sinew, and bone. These orcs looked much like human body builders.

He was tiny compared to them.

And they knew it.

They started moving forward. They weren't charging like reckless berserkers, but moving to encircle him. Knowing it was a bad idea to let that happen, he attacked the end of the line. The orc seemed to light up when this happened, hefting a long wooden club instead of an axe. It was about four feet long and maybe two inches thick. That suited Ethan just fine, as the higher mass would make the weapon easier to predict.

The orc swung at him. It was a level swing with plenty of power, but not like a baseball player would swing. This orc had his hands spread further apart than that, and didn't over-swing very much at all.

But it was enough.

Ethan ducked down under the swing, angling his war sword so the club hit the flat of his blade at an angle, deflecting it up. Before the orc could reposition it for defense, Ethan whipped his much faster weapon around and down, slicing through both of the orc's arms in a single stroke. It was the first time that he had ever cut anything living with his dragon steel blade and he couldn't have been more pleased with the result.

It cut like a hot knife through butter.

He didn't have time to celebrate his success because the other ten orcs were closing fast. He turned to face them, lowering his sword into a low guard. The other orcs halted their approach, obviously having seen what he'd done to two of their compatriots in only a few seconds.

Ethan took this opportunity to call his hammer back to his hand and start charging it. Other than to show Talven and Selma that he could use lightning, he hadn't used the new dragon steel head for lightning before. He had decided to go for a targeted shot at the largest and most powerful looking orc to make sure he sent a message.

He felt very much like the underdog looking at the ten remaining orcs forming a semi-circle around him.

They absolutely TOWERED over him.

It was like facing a bunch of pro NFL linebackers in a fight. Actually, these guys were taller than that. It was like facing a bunch of professional basketball players who were built like linebackers. Some of the larger ones might've been 300+ pounds of pure bone, muscle, and sinew. He wasn't able to see over most of their shoulders, and he would've fit under the armpit of more than one of them... and they were built like linebackers.

Frankly, it was terrifying.

One of the orcs gestured at the largest orc, and then said something in a language he assumed was orcish. It was a bit guttural, but had a flowing quality to it and reminded him a bit of the Klingon language from Star Trek. The largest orc took a step forward, raising his axe and clearly preparing to attack. Ethan responded by lifting his hammer and releasing the charge he'd been building.

CRACK!!!

A lightning bolt arced out of his war hammer, burning through the leather vest and slamming into the largest orc's chest. He nearly screamed in pain and clapped his hand over his chest. Ethan saw a large burn wound on the chest before it was covered, but couldn't tell exactly how deep the bolt had gone.

Damn.

This new hammer was WAY more powerful than his old one. He kept his hammer raised, and slowly moved it around at the orcs as he started charging it again. The threat was obvious.

The orcs froze.

The largest orc seemed to struggle to stay standing for several more seconds, then his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell forward. He hit the ground with an almost palpable 'thud'; possibly dead, but definitely unconscious.

"The miners are off the menu." Ethan said loudly. "Leave them alone or you'll have to deal with me."

Several of the orcs scowled at him.

Others brought their axes up to cover their chests as if to use them as a makeshift shield.

"Leave, and never come back." Ethan ordered.

A particularly shrewd looking orc grinned wickedly at him, then turned his head towards the forest and then shouted what sounded like several commands in orcish. There was a rustling sound, then about two dozen more green skinned orc-like creatures came out of the forest.

But these 'orcs' were much smaller.

Ethan towered over the newcomers like the larger orcs towered over him. They were maybe four feet tall at the tallest, though some were as much as a half foot shorter. They looked like their larger relatives, only they were thin and lanky; like a teenage boy who'd hit a growth spurt and thus was all limbs. He vaguely remembered the old man with a pegged-leg calling the smaller ones 'goblins'.

The goblins charged him.

With seemingly no care for their own safety and almost no regard for strategy or tactics, the goblins ran straight at him wielding thick sticks like baseball bats.

The larger orcs smirked.

Ethan grimaced, then dropped his hammer and drew his war sword back for a strike, telegraphing it as a warning. The goblins didn't seem to notice nor care. He swung a powerful blow, putting all his strength into it to overpower any potential blocks or parries.

They didn't try to do either.

Their attacks were rudimentary at best, consisting of baseball-style swings. Thanks to his enhanced reflexes, he was able to aim a swing that killed three of them at once while avoiding their wooden clubs.

It didn't matter.

The rest kept on coming, and there were a lot of them.

He leapt into the air, spreading his wings to escape being mobbed by them. He shuddered to think what would've happened if he didn't have that option. They would've dogpiled on top of him for sure. If he hadn't been crushed, he certainly would've been killed once he was pinned.

One in the air, he sheathed his sword called his javelin and hammer back to his hands. The goblins seemed to chase after him like a cat or dog would chase after a fly it couldn't reach. They were snarling and chomping at the bit to get at him, but he was safe fifty feet up in the air.

Finally, the goblins got halfway smart and started grabbing rocks to hurl at him. They couldn't throw anything heavy enough to damage him high enough to hit him though, so he mostly ignored it.

That's when he realized the orcs' plan.

The large orcs had started heading down towards the two injured miners, probably intent on collecting them while he himself was distracted. Growling, he swooped towards them and let loose with his javelin. It speared an orc, but Ethan's aim had been rather poor since he hadn't practiced with it as much as his other weapons. It went through the fleshy part of the orc's side, but besides being painful it wouldn't have caused any real damage.

Then he let loose with his hammer as he flew over them. The lightning bolt struck its target, but only in the weapon hand. The orc dropped the axe, but immediately picked it up with his other hand.

Ethan swooped down and landed to guard the two downed men, who were trying to crawl towards the city.

They were groaning in pain.

*Tee, as soon as it's safe I want you to fly out and heal these men.* He thought to her.

*Yes Master.* Came her worried reply.

He understood her concern.

He could try to kill the orcs by flying around and throwing his javelin repeatedly, assuming they didn't respond with their warbows. However that would take time, and the orcs would probably be able to drag the two men back into the forest where his ability to fly would be eliminated due to the dense tree line. That wouldn't bode well if he was swarmed by the goblins again.

Speaking of which, the goblins were charging forward to join their larger brothers in arms.

Ethan considered his options, not quite sure how to proceed. He didn't want to leave the two men there, but if he stood his ground he'd almost certainly be mobbed by the goblins and killed. He was considering how to last as long as possible when movement from inside the mine's entrance drew his eye.

"Advance! Defensive encircle!" Someone called loudly from inside the mine.

Moments later, two dozen men clad in chainmail came charging out of the mine. They also had large shields, but these ones looked to be enchanted to reduce weight since they were running with them. They were incredibly thick too; almost certainly thick enough to stop an orcish warbow.

In perfect unison with perfect formation, they raised their shields in an overlapping fashion to provide cover from orcish arrows as they rushed towards Ethan, but they weren't attacking. With perfect precision, the two dozen men created a circle around the two injured men and Ethan, shields held outward creating a barrier against the attackers. Each man carried a spear too, and there was a slot in the shield for the spear. The result was a wall of shields protected by a wall of spears.

They were further protected because some of the men kept their shields high, stacking them on top of the men facing the orcs to prevent those in the circle with their backs facing the orcs from being shot from behind.

Leading the men and now standing in the center of the circle was someone who somewhat reminded Ethan of a Roman centurion. He was wearing chainmail, and his helmet looked like it came straight out of the Roman Empire. He wasn't particularly large or tall, but he carried himself with supreme confidence without even a hint of arrogance.

He had a full, short beard and his eyes were on the enemy as he spoke. "The prophet of Illuminar I presume?"

"I've been called that."

"It's an honor to meet you. I am the Lord Regent of Timarou, Kalus by name." That's when Ethan remembered the pegged-leg fellow had mentioned a Lord Kalus, and the mine's owner had earlier in the day as well.

"My name is Ethan, but I guess you knew that."

Kalus nodded as he scrutinized the oncoming forces, who had halted their advance. It was two dozen well-armed and obviously well trained men plus Ethan, against nine orcs and just under two dozen goblins.

"It's over." Lord Kalus called to the orcs. "Retreat and tend to your wounded; you'll take no men today."

The orcs scrutinized the defensive wall, and then one of them called towards the goblins in the orc tongue. The goblins stopped short, but they were still looking longingly at the humans. After several seconds, the orcs waved the goblins towards the forest and followed behind, disappearing into the trees while dragging their wounded compatriots.

They were gone.

The men still held in formation, and he was reminded of the stories about the guards at Buckingham Palace in London. Apparently they were completely unflappable and would stand at attention without movement for hours. Kalus's men seemed that disciplined.

"Thank you." Ethan said to Lord Kalus. "Will they be back soon, or ambush us?"

"No." The lord replied. "Orcs always sound the horn before they attack, and they have retired from the field of battle; they shall not return today."

"Okay, good." He said, then thought to his Fey wife. *It's safe and I need you here as fast as you can, two men are hurt.*

*I'm coming Master!* She replied, relief all over her tone.

He glanced towards the settlement and sure enough, a tiny female shape had risen above the walls and was making a beeline towards his location.

Kalus looked at the two men. "Would that we had a healer here."

"Don't worry, I got that covered." He replied. "I do have a question though: why wait in the mine and not escort the men to and from the mine?" Ethan asked.

"Because then the mine itself and the men still in it would be unprotected." Kalus replied. "I have only two dozen men here, and like all men we must sleep. We don't have enough men to secure the mine and protect the miners at the same time. I dare not bring more men for fear of bringing war between Timarou and Ivernia."

"Fair." He nodded.

Moments later one of the soldiers facing the settlement called to Lord Kalus. "Commander, we have incoming."

"That's my wife, and she's a healer." Ethan said.

"Praise Illuminar." Kalus said.

* * *

Selene paced on the ramparts of the town facing the mine, wishing she could do more to help. After seeing those goblins swarm Ethan, she understood that she would've been more of a hindrance than a help. However, that didn't make her less frustrated at her current inability to help. Taloni had flown out and healed the men, and it looked like the commander of the soldiers was accompanying Ethan, Tee, and the two previously wounded men back to the city while the two dozen soldiers were going back into the mine.

The gate in the palisade was opening as they came through, and all Ethan's of wives mobbed him. Kendra was more reserved about her affections, but a blind man could see that she was just as relieved as the others.

From not far away, The Brazilian woman saw two other women running over to embrace the commander of the soldiers who had rescued Ethan. One was an ash blonde, the other had amber colored hair. Both were beautiful, and they looked just as relieved to see him as Ethan's wives were to see their own husband.

Selene hung at the periphery of the group, watching and feeling a bit left out.

Ethan looked up from his wives and gave her an amused smile. *No one is stopping you from joining in.*

Her jaw dropped. *How'd you know?*

*Apparently your telepathic abilities mean I can sense your emotions much sooner than the others; it wasn't hard to guess from that since you've done nothing to prevent me from feeling them.*

She frowned as their various hugs broke; she could fix that right now, but for some reason decided that maybe it would be better to do it later. You know, when she could concentrate on it properly. She wouldn't want to take five seconds now because she wanted to do it properly and not be distracted. Yes, that was a good reason to wait... right?

It seemed like one.

Probably.

"Ladies, this is Lord Regent Kalus of Timarou." Ethan said to his wives. "Lord Kalus, these are my wives: Alana, Beth, you've met Taloni, Rachel, and Kendra." He had indicated each as he said their names, then indicated the caramel haired beauty. "And this is Selene, a good friend and valuable member of my crew."

"It is truly a pleasure ladies." Lord Kalus said. "These are my wives; Shara and Lyra." He indicated the amber haired woman first and then the ash blonde.

"Pleasure." Ethan nodded to them.

Shara nodded back in a regal, reserved way. She seemed like the kind of person who was raised having good manners drilled into her. Despite that, her smile was warm and genuine. His other wife, Lyra, was in some ways the opposite, and some ways the same. She also had a kind and sincere smile, but she seemed far less reserved and wilder. She seemed like the kind of person who would grab life by the horns and give it a French kiss.

"What brings the lord of another land here?" Selene asked.

"My mission is partially practical, partially humanitarian." Kalus replied. "Timarou is not so blessed with iron as Ivernia, and the miners needed help."

"He's being modest." Lyra piped up with an impish grin. "He can't stand watching people suffer and had to get involved."

Kalus gave her a reproving look, but didn't disagree. Instead he turned to Shara. "Where is Taiven?"

"At the lodging with Octavian." The amber haired woman replied. "I told him he could join us when you returned."

"Ah." Kalus had a small smile on his face as he looked over her shoulder.

Selene saw a boy of six or seven walking towards them, and she assumed it was Taiven. He had the same confident walk and bearing of his father, and his hair had the same amber color as his mother. He walked up to them and Kalus made the introductions.

Taiven looked at all of Ethan's wives and gave them a respectful bow, but his eyes seemed to hover on Rachel for several seconds longer than the others, even Selene herself.

After those several seconds, he walked up to the redhead and gave her another respectful bow before speaking very respectfully. "You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. If you have a daughter and your husband will allow it, I'm going to marry her."

It was a simple statement of fact.

The boy wasn't flirting or joking either. He was very respectful, and for some reason it didn't come across as wide-eyed childish optimism. Selene got the impression that this boy had been born older than most. Everyone was suppressing laughter, but the boy didn't seem the least bit embarrassed.

On the contrary.

He turned to Ethan and bowed respectfully. "Sir, if you would allow it, I would very much like the honor of the hand of Rachel's oldest daughter when she comes of age."

Lyra was silently cracking up, almost doubled over in laughter behind her-- stepson? Nephew? What do you call the son or daughter of a co-wife? Anyway, most of Ethan's wives and the man himself were trying not to laugh.

"Well, I was planning to let her pick her own husband." Ethan replied, apparently unable to stop himself from grinning.

"In that case sir, will you allow me the honor of courting her and wooing her once she comes of age?" Taiven continued, completely undeterred.

"Sure, why not?" Ethan nodded while grinning ear-to-ear.

"Thank you sir, I will hold you to that." Taiven said with a deep and respectful bow. As he was facing downwards at the deepest part of his bow when probably no one else could see, Selene saw a boyish grin of barely restrained delight peeking through his controlled demeanor. Suddenly, he looked like he might have a bit of his aunt-- or step mother? Anyway, it looked like Lyra might've rubbed off a bit on him too.

"He will hold you to it." Kalus said with amused pride all over his face. "I've impressed upon my son the importance of keeping his word."

"That's a good thing." Ethan nodded, then the Brazilian woman heard his voice in their group chat. *So Rachel, sounds like you have a wedding to plan for...*

His wives shook their heads.

"Rachel, your husband tells me that you are a powerful mage." Kalus said to the redhead.

*He's getting to know the in-laws.* Beth thought to everyone with a mischievous grin.

Rachel ignored the blonde, but looked quite pleased with the praise. "Powerful? I think he's overstating it a bit. I'm okay, but I'm no Moragana."

"Moragana?" Selene asked, the name sounding somewhat familiar.

The redhead nodded. "Moragana the Fey. She's one of the most famous arch mages in Ten Kingdoms history."

"Wait, Moragana the Fey?" The Brazilian woman raised an eyebrow, then turned to Ethan. "Doesn't that sound like a famous mage from Earth too?"

"Morgan Le Fey from the Arthurian legends, though sometimes she's called 'Morgana'." Ethan replied. "Though, I think 'le' is just French for 'the', and Morgana is just one letter off, so..."

"Moragana vs Morgana, the Fey." Selene frowned, then looked at Rachel. "You wouldn't happen to know of a wizard around the same time named 'Merlin' would you?"

"Merlin?" The mage shook her head. "No."

"Oh, do you mean Merlinus? Sometimes called 'Myrddin'?" Beth asked.

"Merlinus would be the Latin form of Merlin, so maybe." The Brazilian woman mused.

Ethan looked around at the Ten Kingdoms natives. "How about King Arthur? Lancelot? Guinevere? Do those names sound familiar too, or anything close to them connected with Merlin and Morgana? Or Merlinus and Moragana the Fey."

Everyone else shook their heads.

"What's their story?" Selene asked.

Beth answered first. "They are famous as the couple that brought men to the Ten Kingdoms."

"Wait, did you say brought men to the Ten Kingdoms?" Ethan's jaw dropped. "Men aren't native here?"

"No." Beth replied as if was obvious and self-evident. "Merlinus and Moragana brought many thousands of people from another world to help them escape the aftermath of a great war. Or at least that's how the legend goes. That's how men came to be in the Ten Kingdoms."

Ethan and Selene looked at each other.

"That explains why the people here speak English." Ethan grinned. "I always wondered why, but even though English was very different back then, I suppose it makes sense that it evolved along similar lines as it did on Earth."

"Especially if contact between the worlds continued." Selene nodded. "It seems like we keep finding out that this world interacts with our own more than one might think."

"Yeah; funny how that works." Ethan replied.

"You aren't from the Ten Kingdoms?" Lord Kalus asked.

Ethan shook his head. "Nope."

Shara looked at her husband and raised her eyebrows as if in a question. He hesitated a moment and then nodded. Then the amber haired woman addressed the Argo's crew. "The good people of this town are letting us use a small house while we are here. We would love to have all of you over for dinner so we could hear more."

"It would be good to dine with the prophet of Illuminar before services tomorrow." Lord Kalus nodded. "Please, join us."

"Sounds like a plan." Ethan replied, then thought to the group chat. *We should get to know the in-laws.*

Rachel shook her head slowly as they started following Lord Kalus and his wives, but there was an embarrassed smile on her face too.

* * *

Sarah had spent much of the day thinking about what Lady Ekthros had told her about Ethan. She almost couldn't believe it, but it made so much sense. Everything she had said had made sense. Plus, the lady hadn't exactly been excited to share. She'd actively tried to discourage the innkeeper's daughter from hearing it, which made her think that the older woman was being more truthful.

And what she'd said about dreams of angels?

There was no way she could've known that. Not unless she was a powerful telepath, but that was impossible because only the most powerful mages could be telepaths and Lady Ekthros didn't know magic, otherwise she surely would've used it to escape by now. That meant she was telling the truth.

Ethan wasn't a good person.

Sarah felt her eyes get moist and she blinked several times. He had seemed so good. She wanted him to be good so badly. She had thought that he was the prophet of Illuminar, so how could he be bad? Alas, he was. He was and she had fallen for it.

Right then she vowed never to be taken in so badly again.

Ever.

Her throat got tight as she realized that her heart ached in a way that it never had before. It felt like someone had opened her chest and scraped out her insides with a rusty spoon.

How could emptiness hurt so much?

She was shaken from her reverie by the sound of footsteps on the stairs. It sounded like someone was running up them in armor, but she couldn't imagine why since they never had before.

"Get that door open." A powerful voice commanded. Something about it reminded her of Ethan slightly. It was something about the commanding nature, though it lacked Ethan's softness.

The door opened and a guard who was trembling slightly hurried through, followed by a tall, powerfully built, and extremely well-dressed man. He absolutely towered over the guard, being at least a whole foot taller than Sarah's 5' 4" frame. His eyes were similar in color to Ethan's green eyes, but they lacked warmth. Right now they were radiating cold fury.

"Lord Delmar." Lady Ekthros rose gracefully and gave him a respectful curtsy.

"Get that cell open." Lord Delmar barked at the guard, looking visibly angry. For some reason, Sarah got the impression that he was usually a calm, cool, collected sort of man.

He looked at Lady Ekthros. "My apologies, it took me some time to track you down once I discovered that you had been taken."

"Nothing to apologize for my lord." She replied with a respectful head bow.

"We are leaving; my airship is just outside."

"May I bring this girl with?" Lady Ekthros indicated Sarah. "She has been a great help and comfort while I was imprisoned, and she was imprisoned for offenses she didn't commit."

Sarah gulped, glad the older woman hadn't revealed the she was the cause of the lady's captivity.

"Very well." Lord Delmar nodded, then looked at her.

Almost the instant their eyes met, she saw a flicker of something on the lord's face. She wasn't sure what, but it was definitely something. Displeasure perhaps? No, that wasn't it. Perhaps disgust? No, that wasn't right either. Fear? That seemed closer, but wasn't right. The flicker disappeared before she could figure out what it was.

"I trust you were treated well as a lady of my court?" Lord Delmar turned towards Lady Ekthros, and Sarah couldn't tell if he was being serious or not.

"As well as one could expect from Ivernian soldiers." Lady Ekthros replied; a mid-winter blizzard might've been warmer than her tone.

Lord Delmar scrutinized her for a moment. "Point them out and justice will be done."

"I would be happy to." The Lady scowled. "But perhaps not until after we leave; I would hate for Sarah to see such things."

Lord Delmar turned to the innkeeper's daughter. "Sarah is it?"

"Yes sir." She nodded, and then did her best to curtsy. It wasn't very graceful, and she hoped that was okay.

"Do you know how we punish rapists in Narlotten?" He asked. Narlotten was the name of Lord Delmar's territory and it had a reputation for extremely low crime.

"Yes sir." She nodded.

"How?"

The innkeeper's daughter swallowed hard. "You castrate them with a knife that's only just sharp enough, and then publicly crucify them immediately afterwards sir." She replied, then shuddered.

He nodded. "Do you know how many rapes occurred in all of Narlotten last year?"

"No sir."

"Two." Lord Delmar replied. "Hundreds of thousands of people, only two rapes. A virgin not yet of marriageable age could walk from one end of my capital city to the other at midnight and no harm would befall her. Do you know why?"

Sarah swallowed hard. "No one wants that punishment sir."

"Some might not like my methods." Lord Delmar continued. "However, there's not a single woman in Narlotten who would complain about the results. You should learn this lesson now: evil men do not respond to weakness; they prey on it, feed on it. They are only subdued by strength. Are you strong Sarah?"

"I try to be." She didn't meet his eyes.

"Good, because the punishment for those men won't change because you can't stomach it." Lord Delmar said, then turned to Lady Ekthros. "The men will setup for the crucifixions here and now in this castle. If Lord Farbrottan takes issue with that, I will deal with him personally. I will not force the girl to watch, nor do I care if she does. However, I will not delay administering justice. I will not let a weak stomach foster weak actions against wicked men; doing so will only embolden them. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Lord Delmar." Lady Ekthros replied.

The lord nodded curtly, then spoke again. "Now, have you learned more about the false prophet and his necromantic activities, or learned where that traitorous necromancer who was hiding in plain sight in my army might have gone after he escaped?"

"The necromancer who brought the false prophet here -- Hermair -- has not been recaptured, but your entire military will have been informed by now, and they have his description. I did confirm that the false prophet passed through the area I visited, but I was captured before I could learn more."

"Keep looking for both of them; tolerating false prophets and necromancers only breeds more of them." Lord Delmar instructed, then added to both women. "Come, my airship awaits."

Sarah fell into step behind Lady Ekthros, who was following Lord Delmar. She followed them down the long winding staircase and through the castle.

"Remain here with my men." Lord Delmar instructed the innkeeper's daughter when they'd reached the entryway, in which several Narlotten soldiers were standing at attention. Then he left with Lady Ekthros for several minutes.

Sarah fidgeted a bit until he returned, and he was speaking to Lady Ekthros as he returned to the room.

"--and my men will begin erecting the crucifixes; they'll ride back to the capital when they are done." He finished.

"Yes Lord Delmar." Lady Ekthros nodded.

The lord looked at Sarah and spoke curtly, but not unkindly. "Follow."

Moments later they exited the castle into the bright sun. The sun felt like it was burning her eyes after so long being inside, but once her eyes adjusted the sun was wonderful. She could see dark rain clouds far to the east, but here the earlier clouds had given way to sunny and pleasant weather.

Lord Delmar met a few of his own soldiers right outside the keep. She could tell they were his because their surcoats had a stylized black dragon on a red background, instead of the Ivernian flag which had a green background with a stylized white mountain in the center. Lord Delmar's men clustered around him in a protective fashion, but they needn't have bothered. The Ivernian soldiers were giving the Narlotten soldiers a wide berth.

Lord Delmar led them across the courtyard and up a stairway to the top of the walls where they walked along the battlements towards the airship berth, where Lord Delmar's airship was docked.

The airship was incredible.

While the Argo was small, sleek, and fast-looking, Lord Delmar's airship just screamed 'powerful'. It was far larger than the Argo, being at least three decks and having six masts if you counted both upper and lower. It was also over twice as wide as the Argo, and nearly twice as long.

The boards comprising the ship's sides had been painted in a two-tone color scheme, so each board had a black upper and red lower. From a distance it would probably make the ship look maroon. There were subtle gold and silver accents all along the airship, adding a touch of class and refinement to the overall look. The sails were essentially large versions of the Narlotten flag, with its red body and stylized black dragon.

The men on the airship all looked sharp and crisp, and the deck looked nearly clean enough to eat off of. Despite that and the clear sense of military discipline, none of the men seemed put on edge by Lord Delmar's presence, though they obviously revered the man.

"Lord Delmar, what course shall we set?" Someone who could only be the captain asked him when they had boarded.

"Make all sails to Karnas." Lord Delmar instructed. Apparently they were headed to Narlotten's capital city and the seat of Lord Delmar's power.

"Aye, aye." The man saluted, then walked towards the quarterdeck.

Lady Ekthros walked towards the front of the ship and looked over the side not facing the castle in which they had been imprisoned. The innkeeper's daughter followed her, not sure what was going to happen to her now.

"Lady Ekthros." Sarah whispered to her. "How will I get back to my father's inn from Karnas?"

"I can send you in an airship from Karnas, but are you sure you want to return?" The auburn haired woman replied. "The false prophet might go looking for you there."

Sarah frowned.

She didn't want that, not if he was after her. However, she did want to see her father and she was still betrothed to Rindrin.

"How about this." Lady Ekthros said. "I'll write a letter about your situation and send it to your father and your betrothed so they know you're safe and what's happened to you. Then I can pay to have them relocate to Karnas if they want to. There's always room for more inns and blacksmiths in the city."

Sarah's eyes went wide. "Would you?"

"I'd be happy to." The older woman smiled. "What good is being an advisor to a lord if you can't help people occasionally?"

"Thank you so much." Sarah threw her arms around the other woman and gave her a huge hug. While her mouth was near the lady's ear, she whispered. "You didn't tell Lord Delmar that I was the reason you were captured, or about my problem."

The auburn haired woman gave her a gentle squeeze. "No, I didn't."

Sarah let go and looked at her. Given what the lord had said earlier about tolerating certain wicked things, she was rather worried about what might happen if he found out. "I can't imagine he would be very happy if he knew."

"Maybe, maybe not. He can be quite reasonable." She replied, then winked. "Fortunately he doesn't need to know; it'll be a secret, just between us girls."

"Are you sure?" Sarah asked. "He is your lord and I wouldn't want to get you into trouble, or get myself into trouble."

She bit her lip.

Lady Ekthros chuckled. "Dear girl, I'm the one who's chiefly responsible for keeping Lord Delmar informed. I learned a long time ago that what Lord Delmar doesn't know won't hurt him." She smiled, almost to herself. "And trust me, there are many things that he doesn't need to know."

"Oh."

Hmm.

Sarah was surprised to hear that, but nodded. "If you're sure it won't be a problem."

"It's no problem." The woman assured her. "I promise you'll be safe in Karnas even if the false prophet comes calling. Lord Delmar maintains a large force of Dragon Slayers in Narlotten to deal with any dragons who surface. They are more than capable of keeping Ethan out."

Sarah felt herself breathe a sigh of relief, then faltered.

She didn't want to keep Ethan away from her. Or at least, she didn't want to want to keep him away from her. But after what he'd done... She didn't want to see him ever again. She wished he was different, but alas...

Some people hid their true colors too well.

She thought of the promise from Gabriella, that: "it'll all be okay in the end; if it's not okay, it's not the end" and wished it had been real and not Ethan trying manipulate her. Alas... she shook her head. It had all been a trick by him to deceive her.

She hated that.

She really hated it.

"It'll be okay." Lady Ekthros promised. "Now, how would you like to get out of that old rag you're wearing and into some fine lady's clothes?"

"Really? Thank you!" Sarah beamed.

The two women headed below decks as the airship began to depart. Sarah felt incredibly glad that she had been warned of a dangerous enemy masquerading as a friend, and most especially that she had found a true friend.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Note: This chapter began and ended on day 91 of Ethan's life in the Ten Kingdoms. Also, I realize that English would've evolved very differently in the centuries since men arrive from Earth. However, I wanted to make it somewhat plausible that the 'common tongue' in the 10 Kingdoms was English. It's not perfect, but I like the connection to the Arthurian legends. I submit new chapters on the last Wednesday of every month, and they usually drop after the 2-3 days review process. Thus I'll submit the next chapter on February 22nd, and it'll probably drop on February 24th or February 25th.

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