Chapter 43: If you want to make Illuminar laugh...

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

* * *

"Interesting." Ethan mused as he considered what he'd just heard from Lord Kalus of Timarou, the man who had helped him against the orcs earlier that day.

He was sitting at the table in the house that Lord Kalus and his wives were using after having eaten a meal with them. He was still at the table, while his wives and Kalus's wives had moved to another room to discuss decidedly less martial concerns. It sounded like they were mostly talking about children, since all of Lyra's children and the rest of Shara's children had been left under the care of someone named Titus back in Timarou. Kalus's son Taiven was sitting at the table with them, not speaking but hanging on every word.

He looked at his host. "So you're saying you actually encircled a larger enemy force with your smaller force and defeated them that way? Wow, impressive."

Kalus shrugged. "It was the only option left, it seemed imprudent not to take it."

"I can't imagine that happens very often."

"No." The lord replied. "But much work had been done to make them think our force was larger than it actually was, which partially accounts for the battle's success."

Ethan noticed that Lord Kalus didn't use the word "I" much when talking about his achievements. He told the story, but he wasn't the star; merely another player in the events. He found that quite interesting and rather liked it about the man. He was extremely confident, but there didn't seem to be an ounce of arrogance in him.

"It sounds like you've seen a lifetime of battles." Ethan said. "I've only seen a few, and none involving armies."

"You are fortunate then." Lord Kalus replied. "Soldiers suffer in war, but the civilians usually suffer more; doubly so when the military is willing to sacrifice them for an objective."

"It sounds like you have a specific instance in mind." Ethan noted.

"Not one I was involved in, but there is an excellent example involving Lord Delmar."

"Oh?" Ethan perked up, suddenly even more interested.

"Many years ago, before he was a lord, he was a commander in the Narlotten Military." Kalus said. "His military intercepted a communication from an enemy force and learned two things. First, the enemy was going to attack a village on Narlotten's outskirts in five days. Second, the enemy was going to leave only enough troops to maintain the appearance of strength at one point in their lines in ten days."

"So if he saved the village, the enemy would know he intercepted the communications and wouldn't weaken their lines." Ethan replied. "But if he didn't save the village, he could break their lines and score a major victory."

"Precisely."

"How many people in the village died?" He asked, not sure he actually wanted to know.

"In this case none, but not because of Lord Delmar's intervention." Lord Kalus replied. "The enemy apparently stumbled upon a dragon not far from the village. The sounds of battle, dragon's breath, and dragon's roars caused everyone to flee the village, leaving it empty when the enemy did arrive. Still, the villagers lost everything except their lives, which would not have happened if Lord Delmar had intervened."

Ethan nodded, not sure what to make of the story. To be sure it was cold hearted for Lord Delmar to leave the village exposed, but what if he had been the dragon? Was that him trying to have his cake and eat it too by warning them as a dragon? Even if it was, it was still cold to allow their entire village to be captured so the villagers lost everything. Brilliant, calculating, and ruthless, but not entirely devoid of compassion.

Hmm.

Interesting.

"How'd you hear of this?" Ethan asked.

"Every lord has spies in every other lord's court." Lord Kalus replied.

"Fair." Ethan nodded, thinking that politics in the Ten Kingdoms was probably just as cutthroat as on Earth, and 'cutthroat' might be more literal here.

"Mr. Ejder sir." Taiven spoke up during this slight lull in conversation. "If you would be willing, I would very much like to show you something before you leave."

"Oh? What's that?"

Lord Kalus got a smile on his face that was both proud and amused.

* * *

*Okay, this should be interesting.* Kendra thought to everyone while suppressing a smile. She wanted to laugh out loud, but was trying to be sensitive.

*Yes, Rachel's son-in-law was very insistent.* Ethan replied with a grin.

*Guys...* The redhead shook her head.

"Are you watching Mr. Ejder sir? I promise you won't regret it." Taiven said. He had set up several small targets at the end of a blind alley in the mining town, and was standing with a sling ready and several smooth stones in a small pouch on his belt. He had insisted on showing Ethan how skilled he was, and Kendra was pretty sure this had a lot to do with him wanting to wed Ethan and Rachel's future daughter.

"Yeah, go ahead." Ethan replied, then thought to the group. *I'm really not expecting much. I mean, how good could a seven year old...*

He trailed off as the boy started slinging.

He was good.

Very good.

Taiven had set up ten targets on top of pieces of pottery. The targets were only about two inches in diameter, and they were at least a dozen yards away. He hit every single one without a single miss, and quickly too. He would load the sling, and then while his right hand gave it exactly one full rotation and released, his left hand drew a new stone from the pouch. After the release, he had catching the free end and re-loading down to nearly an art form.

The boy was seven years old.

"Wow." Ethan said when Taiven had finished.

"Yeah." Kendra nodded, thinking that there weren't many children so skilled with a sling even among the Aldmiri.

"I will be able to take good care of your daughter if you let me marry her Mr. Ejder sir." Taiven said with a small bow. "And father says I'm ready to move up from practicing with wooden swords to training with blunt steel ones. I will be an expert swordsman by the time she comes of age."

"I'm sure you will be." Ethan nodded, the edge of a chuckle in his voice.

"He's very dedicated." Kendra observed to the boy's mother, who along with her fellow wife and husband had watched the whole thing as well.

"He is." Shara replied, and no one could miss the note of motherly pride in her voice.

"That's my son." Lord Kalus said, and he sounded even more proud than the boy's mother did.

"He seems a fine young man." Alana said, nudging Rachel with her elbow. "Good husband material for someone's daughter..."

The redhead shot her a look, but the edge of a smile was on her face anyway.

"Thank you so much for dinner." Ethan said to their host and his wives.

"It was our pleasure." Lord Kalus' second wife Lyra replied, then she added in a playful, mock-annoyed tone. "I'd say we should do it again, but my husband seems intent on making sure the miners don't die lately, so he isn't around much." She made a dramatic exaggerated sigh.

Ethan chuckled.

"At least we get him for services." Shara said, looking fondly at her husband.

"Speaking of, we should be going." Ethan said. "Services at dawn don't leave a lot of time for sleep. Thanks again"

"It was my pleasure." Lord Kalus said, extending his hand to Ethan.

"And mine as well." He replied, shaking his hand.

There were other goodbyes among the wives, then the Argo's crew set out to return to their airship. The rain all day had reduced almost everything to a sopping wet mess, but thanks to her wonderful new self-cleaning dress, Kendra didn't mind much. The air had that fresh and clean 'after a rain' smell to it, and her stomach was full of better food than they usually had on the Argo.

Overhead, the moon was shining down, casting a nice glow to the area and providing plenty of light to see. Unless Kendra missed her guess, Alana and Rachel were walking a little closer to each other than normal. She wondered if the slightly romantic glow from the moon had anything to do with it.

"That was some story." Kendra said once they were out of earshot. "How Lord Kalus ended up meeting and marrying Shara and Lyra I mean."

"It was." Ethan nodded. "It makes what happen with us seem a bit... tame."

"Still, I'm glad everything worked out for everyone." She smiled at him, and he smiled back at her, then he stopped in his tracks.

"What?" She asked.

He looked at her with an impish grin. "Have I kissed you yet today?"

"Just this morning." She replied, feeling confused. "In fact, it was the first time we kissed without compulsion and--"

She never got to finish her sentence, because he stepped right up to her and kissed her full on the lips. She sighed slightly and relaxed in her husband's arms. Her stomach didn't even bother protesting. It waved a white flag and walked off the field of battle, and the dragon huntress was sure she'd never see it again.

Good riddance.

"Please don't ever stop doing that." She whispered when the kiss broke.

"Never." He promised. "I'll always be happy to kiss my good girl."

She sighed.

"Come on." He nodded his head towards the Argo, took her hand, and they started walking again.

She sighed again. How had she gotten so lucky? How had she been so blessed?

They walked until they were in sight of the Argo, at which point Selene spoke up. "Hey, I think I'm going to take a walk; clear my head."

"Of your thoughts or someone else's?" Ethan winked at her.

"Why, yours of course." She quipped back playfully.

He chuckled. "Enjoy; you know where to find us."

She gave him a thumbs up and peeled away from the group. The rest of them boarded the Argo.

Once aboard, Beth turned to Ethan. "Dominus, I need your help."

"Oh?" He raised his eyebrow. "With what?"

"Well..." She began coyly. "When you kissed Kendra a few minutes ago, I got a bit jealous. I know that's a bad thing for a wife, and I think I need to be corrected so I don't feel that way again." She finished with something between a playful grin and a smoldering expression.

"That is indeed serious." He said, obviously catching on. "I will have to discipline you severely for it."

"Oh, thank you Dominus." She said, blushing furiously.

"Into the bedroom young lady." Ethan said in a mock-stern expression. "You know what to do."

"Yes Dominus!" She beamed, then practically ran there with him following behind with a Cheshire grin.

"What's she supposed to do?" Kendra asked her fellow wives.

Alana blushed scarlet and whispered the response. "Um, bend over the bed and lift her dress so he can spank her."

Kendra stared.

"Uh-huh." Rachel nodded, her cheeks approaching the color of her roots.

"You're kidding." The dragon huntress said after several seconds.

"They aren't." Taloni said, her cheeks a bit pink.

"That girl is..." The dragon huntress frowned. "...weird. Lovely, but weird."

Her fellow wives all nodded.

"Kendra, why don't you want the rest of us to see your scars?" Taloni asked after a moment and completely out of the blue.

The dragon huntress froze slightly.

"Rachel and I are going to take a walk." Alana announced abruptly.

"We are?" The redhead look surprised for a moment, looked at Taloni and Kendra and then nodded. "We are."

The couple walked off towards the front of the Argo, leaving Kendra with Taloni.

"You don't think that your scars bother us, do you?" The Fey teen asked.

If anyone else had asked, Kendra wouldn't have wanted to answer. But the way Taloni asked was so genuine, honest, and caring that she didn't mind answering. Well, she did mind a little since didn't really want to discuss it, but she answered anyway.

"It's..." She frowned. "It's silly."

"Of course it's not." Taloni smiled. "Nothing that bothers you this much could possibly be silly."

Kendra smiled, then took a deep breath and spoke in a low voice to the one person on the Argo to whom she could admit this. "I'm not very pretty."

Taloni opened her mouth, probably to disagree, but the raven haired woman didn't give her a chance. "It's true, and you know that if someone looked at all of Ethan's wives in any objective way, I'm definitely the least attractive, and it's not even close."

The Fey scrutinized her for several long seconds. "I think you're beautiful, but..." She frowned. "I suppose I could see why you think you aren't. You are though."

"And not only am I Ethan's least attractive wife, but I also have all these scars." She sighed, then looked down at the decking. "I know Ethan loves me, and is attracted to me, and I don't think he cares about my scars. I'm not sure why, but I don't think he does. But I care."

That was about the moment that Kendra heard the faint 'smack' sound of-- she felt her cheeks grow warm as she realized it was Ethan spanking Beth at her request.

That sound was followed by the blonde's voice coming faintly from the captain's cabin. "Thank you Dominus, may I please have another?"

The dragon huntress shook her head as her cheeks warmed.

"Bee is really nice, but really strange sometimes." Taloni shook her head as her wings fluttered, then looked at Kendra again. "You were saying."

"I care about my scars. I care that I'm not as pretty as the rest of you all. I want to be, but I'm not. I can't do anything to change my face to be more attractive. I just wish my body wasn't so marred and disfigured. If I had a good body, then maybe..." She trailed off, not sure how she was going to finish that sentence.

"I don't know what to say Kendra." Taloni said after several seconds. "I like you just the way you are, for who you are. But I do understand about not feeling pretty. For the longest time, I felt like the best I could be was 'cute'. It wasn't until I met Master that I felt beautiful."

Kendra let out a wistful sigh and gave her an apologetic smile. "I wish I felt beautiful. I just feel like I owe Ethan so much, and wish I at least had a better body to give him for everything he's done for me."

Taloni raised her eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure Master wouldn't like it if he knew you thought that way."

"He wouldn't." She conceded. "I just feel like he's given me so much and I want to give something back, even though he explicitly said I shouldn't think that way. I just can't help it, I just owe him so much. I really want him to be happy with me."

"If that kiss earlier was any indication, he's very happy with you." The Fey teen pointed out.

"I know, but did you ever feel like you owe someone so much that you'll never be able to pay him back?"

She nodded. "Master."

"I'm not even good in bed and--" She stopped as she heard Beth getting another good smack, though the yelp of pleasure seemed to indicate she was happy about that. "I just feel like I'll never be able to pay him back."

"He wouldn't want you to." The Fey teen said. "He loves you just the way you are. Just be yourself and I'm sure that's all Master would want."

"You're right." Kendra conceded, but it didn't change how she felt.

* * *

Selene looked up at the moon, marveling at how similar and yet how different it looked from Earth's moon. It had a similar shade and tone, but the topography looked completely different. It cast a similar light, but on closer inspection it was nothing like home. She smiled as she realized that applied to so many things in the Ten Kingdoms.

She was somewhat aimlessly wandering through Dotmier, the mining town having completely wound down around dark. The ground was still a sloshy, muddy mess with all the rain earlier that day, but the dress Anthiel had lent her made that less of a concern.

As she walked, she thought about Ethan, his wives, and her future.

They were a lovely family and she couldn't deny it, even if they offended her modern 21st century American sensibilities. Living with them day-in and day-out for weeks was making her reassess her priorities a bit. Did she want to get married? Have kids? Have a successful career? Try to have all three?

The more she thought about it, two different paths were emerging in her mind. She wanted to help people, and that meant devoting time to a career which would help people. On the other hand, she wanted to be there for her kids if she got married and became a mom.

Maybe she could do some charity work on the side as a mom, but that wasn't really 'her'. Charity, helping the poor, and other such things were wonderful and she greatly respected those who did them, but that wasn't her. She wanted to be fighting the bad guys and stopping them from hurting people. She didn't see a way to do that while having a husband and kids. At least, not a way that would allow her to have as much time with the kids she wanted to have.

Hmm.

It was a pickle.

The more she thought about it, the more she was thinking that she wasn't really a maternal person. She seemed to have missed the 'Ooo, Babies!' gene that all the other girls she knew had. Or maybe she'd just been too distracted by becoming an FBI agent.

At the back of her mind, and idea occurred to her than maybe this 'Illuminar' wanted her to become one of Ethan's wives and help people that way, while bearing his children.

She shook her head.

She looked up at the moon and thought out loud. "Yeah, sorry; not going to happen. I'm just not the nurturing or maternal type. I never have been, and I don't plan to be." She shook her head as she kept walking, certain that she just wasn't wired that way.

Moments later, she heard a strange sound.

She stopped.

She frowned, then cocked her head to the side to listen again. She didn't hear it. She shook her head and was about to keep going when she heard it again. It was a strange, almost squeaking sound. But there was something about it which sounded strained too, like whatever was making it was struggling to make the sound.

She looked around, trying to see what made it in the semi-dark dirt streets lit only by the moon. She stood there for a couple of minutes, each time she heard the sound helping her hone in on it a little more. Finally, she saw the source of the sound and felt her heart just absolutely melt.

It was a kitten.

A tiny little kitten laying soaking wet in the mud. A board had fallen on one of the kitten's rear legs, pinning it to the ground. Worse, it was pinned at the edge of a puddle, and it looked like the kitten was straining to keep itself out of the water.

It was tiny too.

It could've curled up in the palm of her hand. Instantly she rushed over and lifted the board, which wasn't actually that large, but almost anything would do it when you're a kitten under two pounds. The kitten struggled free and stood up, favoring the leg slightly. It was so covered in mud that Selene couldn't even tell what its coloring was.

Then she noticed that it was shivering.

Selene reached out and picked it up. It was cold. It was cold, and wet, and shivering. It took only a moment for her training on first aid and hypothermia to kick in. She needed to get the kitten warm, and fast.

In a flash, she wrapped the kitten in her dress to help dry it off, then pulled the front of her dress down just enough that she could set the wet, muddy kitten against her chest. She set it between her breasts to get the most contact possible, and then tried what Rachel had been teaching her about moving heat around. She wasn't very good at it, nor very fast, but she was able to pull some heat from her core and move it to the kitten.

It stopped shivering.

Moments later, it seemed to snuggle up to her chest and then it started purring. Selene swallowed hard and could feel her eyes get watery as the tiny kitten nestled itself closer to her and closed its eyes.

It looked exhausted.

It was warm and out of danger, but still muddy and wet. She needed to clean it up before she let it go again. Her eyes got even wetter at that thought, but she couldn't keep it... right? That just wouldn't work... right?

She decided that was a problem for 'future Selene' and turned towards the Argo, knowing that she could find everything she needed to help this adorable, near helpless kitten on the airship.

* * *

"This is nice." Alana said as she walked next to Rachel in the moonlight. They had strolled to the front of the Argo, then started making a slow circuit around the front of the deck between the mast and the prow. It wasn't quite a romantic walk, but it was with Rachel and it was in the moonlight. Despite what she knew was happening in the captain's cabin right now, she was happy right where she was.

"It is." The redhead gave her an embarrassed grin. "Isn't it?"

"Yeah." The wood elf grinned at her. There was a good six inch difference in their height, and that allowed the wood elf to lean her head over and touch it gently to Rachel's shoulder for a moment before straightening up again.

They walked a bit more, stopping at the front of the Argo where the two railings met.

The view was gorgeous.

The moon gave the most incredible lighting on the mountains, the meadow below them, and the large stream which ran through it. Her wood-elven eyes could see for a long way in the darkness, and she loved the way the grass reflected the moonlight in gently rippling waves across the peaceful meadow. It was so serene and tranquil.

She sighed.

"The view?" Rachel asked, looking at her.

"Mmm hmm." She nodded. "The company is wonderful too."

"It is." Rachel said, then stiffened slightly.

Alana smiled at her best friend, recognizing her trademark 'mouth ran ahead of her brain' honesty. She liked that about her.

The brunette looked directly at Rachel. "Yes, she is wonderful."

Rachel blushed furiously, but smiled. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Just say how you feel? How can you feel safe enough to do that?"

"I don't know." The wood elf shrugged. "I guess I know that you would never hurt me, and that makes me feel free to open up."

"Oh." Rachel looked down. "I know you wouldn't hurt me either, but opening up..." She frowned. "That never went well growing up."

"I'm sorry."

"That's life." The redhead replied. "I just keep wondering..."

"Wondering... what?" She prompted.

"Can I..." She swallowed. "Can I 'open up' about what I've really been thinking and you not think I'm crazy?"

"I already think you're crazy, but the good kind." Alana winked.

Rachel chuckled nervously.

"I meant that as a compliment." The brunette explained. "You went one-on-one against a necromancer, which takes guts and a few straps loose."

"Oh." The redhead looked relieved and smiled. "I've been thinking..." She took another deep breath. "I've been thinking: what if my father isn't as bad as we've been thinking he is?"

"Um, what about..." Alana pointed to the black mark on the redhead's finger where the will-breaker ring had rested.

"Okay, so set aside that and the gold cube for a moment." Rachel countered.

"Those are the two worst things he's done, both involving demons, but okay. Go ahead."

"I've been thinking about my childhood a lot and trying to reassess things objectively." Rachel said. "While doing that, I got to thinking about Ethan and Lord Delmar. No matter how good our husband is, he was brought here by a death shaman; a necromancer. I don't know if you know this, but my father abhors necromancers."

"Really? I didn't know that."

"He does." The redhead said. "I've heard many theories on why, but no one really knows for sure. I once heard a rumor that a necromancer was suspected of having a hand in the pox outbreak that killed my mother, but I doubt that. Regardless, he relentlessly hunts necromancers who enter Narlotten, often even after they've left."

"Oh." The wood elf cocked her head to one side. "You think your father is hunting Ethan because of how he came here; because it involved necromancy?"

"Maybe?" She said, a note of hope in her tone. "What if Lord Delmar is hunting Ethan because of that, and not some other reason?"

"Hmm." Alana frowned. "I mean, that would make some sense. Well, except for the will-breaker ring and the curse on the gold cube. If I remember right, that takes not only dark magic, but also a demon's involvement."

"Yeah, that's the one thing I can't figure out." The redhead conceded. "However, it just doesn't make sense. My father's people love him. I mean, really love him. Like, almost fanatically love him. It doesn't make sense that he's secretly making deals with demons and employing necromancers if he's such a well-loved lord."

"Fair, but one could say the same thing about him being a dragon."

"Oh." Rachel shoulders slumped a bit. "Yeah, I guess that's true."

"Besides, there's the will-breaker ring and curse on the gold cube. Plus, Lady Ekthros sure as Saidow's lair isn't mistaken about Ethan; she's just plain evil and his right-hand man from what I understand."

"Yeah, also true." Rachel conceded with a sigh.

"Plus, Lord Borden told Ethan and me that your father has a tendency to attack people close to his enemies to weaken them." The wood elf continued. "He attacks innocent people simply because they are close to his enemies; that's not something a good man does."

"I've never heard that." Rachel's face fell further and her shoulders slumped more. "It's just... I spent almost every moment of my childhood trying so hard to please my father. I did everything he wanted me to do and poured my heart and soul into trying to make him proud of me. I think a part of me isn't ready to let go of that dream."

"Of your father being proud of you?"

Rachel swallowed hard. Her eyes got a bit watery and she bit her lip, then she closed her eyes and then slowly nodded. "It's just, it seemed like the more I tried to make him happy, the more unhappy he was with me. I tried so hard for years and he never..." She blinked a few times and then closed her eyes.

"I'm sorry." Alana stepped in to give her a hug, and the redhead hugged her back fiercely.

"I know I'm not your father, but I'm proud of you." The wood elf said, giving her a little extra squeeze in the hug

Rachel made a sound halfway between a sob and chuckle. "Thank you."

"Any time."

The redhead pulled back slightly, wiping the corners of her eyes as she did so. "I just don't want to believe that my father is..." She took a deep breath. "I realized that I never actually saw my father doing any of the horrible things that I'd heard that he did. Like, do you remember me telling you about my pet rabbit, Theodore?"

The wood elf nodded. "Yeah, you and your father found him in the woods, nursed him back to health, but then a guard accidentally killed him one day and your father had him thrown in the stocks, then drawn and quartered."

"Right, but did he?" The redhead asked. "I never saw any of that. None of it. I only heard about it from one of my handmaidens, and in hindsight, I think she might've become one of my handmaidens because of Lady Ekthros."

"Oh." The brunette grimaced. "You're thinking that she... Hmm."

"I don't know, maybe?" Rachel raised her hands in the air, palms up. "We're back to the same problem I told you about the day I learned that my father is a dragon: I don't know. I don't know what really happened, and I don't know what to believe. I mostly heard the worst things about my father from that handmaiden. But did she tell me because she was the only person with the courage to tell me about my father, or was she the only one because the stories weren't true, or maybe they were exaggerated all out of proportion?"

"I don't know."

"That's exactly the problem; I don't know either." Rachel made a sound halfway between a groan and a sigh. "I just don't want to think of my father as a horrible person if he's not."

"I understand that." Alana nodded. "I spent most of my life not knowing what my parents were like until I met them. But I go back to the will-breaker ring and the curse on the gold cube. I don't see how someone could be involved with the demonic forces necessary to create those items and still be a good person."

"You're not wrong."

Alana then remembered something else, and it must've showed on her face because Rachel cocked her head to one side and spoke.

"What?"

"Well, I just remembered that both Ethan and Kendra had dreams where your father was fighting Ethan and trying to kill him." She put her hand over her womb. "And Kendra's dream had Gabriella telling her to protect Ruth from your father."

"Oh, I forgot about..." Rachel's shoulders slumped and she sighed. "Is it awful that I don't want my father to be the bad guy, even with all that?"

"No." The wood elf felt her heart go out to the other woman. "No, not at all. I completely understand."

"It's just, I talked to Ethan about it that day, the day the three of us talked about that kiss..." The redhead trailed off. She had been looking into Alana's eyes, but then her cheeks went red and she looked down a bit.

"That was a... an interesting conversation." The brunette said, not wanting to push.

The redhead looked at her, and Alana could see in Rachel's beautiful blue eyes that her emotional walls were down. She looked a bit vulnerable and scared, but she had a smile on her face. A nervous, anxious smile, but a smile nonetheless.

"I... I like..." She opened her mouth, probably to finish the sentence, but didn't. After several seconds, she finally spoke again. "I like... that we talked about it."

Alana smiled.

She was pretty sure that her best friend had intended to end that sentence differently, but had lost her nerve. She replied how she would've if her best friend had finished the sentence with what she thought was the original ending.

"I like you too Rachel, kind of a lot."

The redhead looked down, and for a moment Alana worried that she'd been too direct. However, then she caught sight of the other woman's radiant smile. It was harder to see with her head down, but it was there and it was nearly ear-to-ear.

"I'm really glad you do." Rachel glanced at Alana, her radiant smile was nervous and embarrassed, but it reached deep into her eyes. There was an awkward moment until Rachel spoke, quite possibly to fill the silence. "It's a beautiful night tonight."

"It is." Alana nodded, looking up at the moon.

"I like walking with you." The redhead said after another few seconds. "Here, in the moonlight. It's... it's nice."

"It is." She smiled back.

"Can..." Rachel glanced at Alana's hand, then into her eyes, then looked down slightly. "Can... can I hold your--"

*Um, I need some help.* Selene's mental voice called to the group chat. *I found a little kitten while I was walking and it's in not-great shape.*

*A kitten!* Taloni's exuberant voice came. *Bring it to the Argo, I would love to help heal a kitten!*

*I'm already on my way, and should be there in a minute or two.*

Alana looked at Rachel, her best friend seeming frozen. Having a pretty good guess what she had been about to ask, the wood elf reached out and took her friend's hand. Rachel smiled in response, and this smile reached even deeper into her eyes.

* * *

Selene came up the gangplank onto the Argo and was greeted by every female member of the crew plus Ethan. Even Anthiel was there. Beth looked a bit flushed, she had bedhead hair, and it looked like she had dressed hastily.

"Here it is." Selene said, pulling the tiny kitten up enough that everyone could see it.

There was a collective "aww" from all the ladies, and even Ethan smiled. She was aware that her upper chest was muddy from the kitten and he might get a glimpse of cleavage. However, she found herself not minding out of concern for the kitten, and he wasn't looking anyway. The kitten had stopped shivering and looked like it was trying desperately to stay awake.

"Here, let me see and I'll make sure he's okay." Taloni said.

The Brazilian woman reluctantly handed the kitten to Taloni, who held it carefully for several long moments.

The Fey spoke not long after. "He wasn't hurt badly at all, it was just a bruise and I healed it. Also, he's a boy."

"We need to clean him off." Beth said. "I'll get some water!" She took off running towards the lower deck.

Everyone gathered around as the Fey teen returned the kitten to Selene's waiting hands. For some reason, the caramel haired beauty didn't want to let go of him once she had him again.

"Here's some water!" Beth said, returning with a large-ish bowl that had some water in it.

"Rachel, can you heat the water?" Kendra asked. "We wouldn't want him to get cold while we're cleaning him."

"Absolutely." The teen mage replied, then dipped her fingers into the water. A few seconds later, she nodded. "It's slightly warmer than my fingers, but not hot."

"He doesn't like the water." Selene fussed, not wanting to cause any more distress to the tiny, helpless kitten that was the very definition of adorableness.

"Then let me do it." Kendra said. "It's what's best for him, even if he doesn't like it."

Selene hesitated.

"Kendra is right." Ethan added. "He really won't be able to stay warm with his fur matted with mud like that."

The Brazilian woman nodded, then reluctantly tried to hand the kitten over to Kendra. The kitten wrapped his little paws around Selene's finger, not using his claws but clearly not wanting to let go of her.

"Aww." She felt her heart just melt.

"Put your hands in the water with him." Kendra said. "We'll do it together."

Together, the two warrior women managed to get the kitten halfway clean. He struggled against the water, but didn't use his claws or teeth and was clearly exhausted so didn't fight too much. Once he was some semblance of clean, they could see his coloring.

He was mostly white, with large splotches of black fur on his back, sides, and head. His tail was entirely black with a white tip, and his head was likewise mostly black, though his face was mostly white. One of his eyes had black fur surrounding it, a bit like a raccoon.

"He's so wet that he'll never get warm." Selene fussed.

"I grabbed a towel while you were washing him." Alana said, offering it to her.

Selene carefully set the kitten on the towel and dried him off as best as she could. He was still wet, but much less so. The kitten looked at all of them bleary-eyed, and he shrank back from Ethan when he saw him, struggling to get away. Selene brought him close to her chest and he calmed; still wary, but more relaxed and again fighting to keep his eyes open.

"Well, he certainly seems to have taken to you." Ethan chuckled.

"Yeah..." She said as she looked at him, gently petting the fur on top of his head. "He's a good baby kitten."

The kitten started purring.

Loudly.

Impressively loudly for such a small creature.

"Aww." The Brazilian woman used the towel to wipe the mud off her chest and then cupped the kitten to her chest, gently petting him with a finger.

"So..." Ethan said with a lopsided grin and chuckle as he looked pointedly at her. "Where's he going to sleep?"

"Probably below decks." Anthiel said. "I don't think he's big enough to climb the stairs to the weather deck, and I wouldn't want him to fall overboard through the gangplank, or through the drainage holes on the main weather deck."

"Looks like he's rooming with you." Ethan said to Selene, then added with a wink. "Don't look so heartbroken."

She smiled, but her eyes were so entirely captivated by the adorable creature that she wasn't really paying attention.

"Can I hold him?" Beth asked.

Selene hesitated, not really wanting to let go of him right now.

"How about in the morning." Alana suggested. "Taloni says he's fine, but he looks super tired and could probably use some rest before we all hold him." She looked at Selene, and then added as if daring her to disagree. "And we're all going to hold him."

The Brazilian woman nodded, then looked at the kitten. "Time for bed baby kitten, I'll make up a really nice bed for you so you can sleep really well."

"He might also be hungry." Kendra pointed out.

Not long afterwards, the kitten was chowing down on some finely chopped bits of raw meat from the ship's hold. He ate like he hadn't ever eaten a meal before. It didn't take him long to finish though, and then he started licking his paw and rubbing his face with the freshly-licked paw.

"Aww, he washes his face after he eats." Taloni cooed.

The kitten yawned, and Selene scooped him up. Everyone except Ethan gave him a little pet while she held him, then the Brazilian woman took him down the stairs to the ladies section of the rooms. While holding the kitten with one hand, she used the other to create a makeshift bed with the few clothes that she had, mostly gifts from the other ladies on the Argo.

She set the kitten in the bed, and he curled up and closed his eye almost at once.

She stood and smiled, her heart feeling something she'd never felt before as she looked at the kitten she had rescued. Well, her and the rest of the Argo's crew. She stood next to the makeshift bed for several minutes just watching the kitten sleep, barely able to believe just how much she cared for him, even though she hadn't known he existed an hour ago.

She climbed into her hammock and closed her eyes, her heart feeling lighter than it had in a long time. Just earlier that day she'd discovered that the rest of the Argo's crew admired and respected her, she'd learned that she was a telepath, and now she had a little kitten. She didn't think life could get any better than this.

Then she found out it could.

She hadn't been lying in bed for a whole minute before she heard the tiny, squeaky attempt at a meow. She looked over the edge of her hammock to see that the kitten was awake again, though his eyelids were clearly very heavy. He was straining his whole body to produce that adorable squeaky meow, and he was looking at her as he did so.

"What do you want?" She asked in a decidedly 'baby talk' voice.

Squeaky meow.

"What?"

Squeaky meow.

"I think he might want to sleep with you." Anthiel said as she entered, carrying a very shallow water dish and a square pan full of sand. She set both down near the makeshift bed, then turned to Selene. "You might want to pick him up, or you both might not get any sleep."

"Are you sure?" Selene asked. "He's so tiny and I might hurt him if I roll in my sleep."

"Selene, you're in a wraparound hammock so you won't move too much and you're a woman." The high elf replied. "New mothers tend to have a sense about this kind of thing, and he has claws to let you know if you squish him. He'll be fine."

"Okay." She smiled, rather happy to hear that.

She climbed out of her hammock and picked the kitten up. He curled up in her hands immediately and started purring. She climbed back into her hammock and set him down on her chest. He turned himself around once, then flopped down, closed his eyes, and was asleep in seconds.

"Aww." Selene said as the kitten's purrs were so loud they reminded her of a boat motor on Earth.

"Congratulations." Anthiel said, peeking her head over the side of the hammock.

"Thank you." She replied, then closed her eyes and fell into one of the best sleeps of her life, with the little kitten's purring helping her into dreamland.

* * *

Ethan had to chuckle to himself at the gushing conversation about the kitten as everyone got ready for bed. They couldn't stop talking about the cute little fur ball.

Rachel and Kendra both slipped into bed wearing their dresses, though the rest stripped naked as usual. It was the strangest thing; before having multiple wives, he would've thought that having three naked women getting into bed with him would get him hard instantly every single time. Sometimes though, it was so normal, natural, and familial that he just enjoyed the sight. To be sure, he'd be rock hard in an instant if one of them showed interest, but tonight he just enjoyed the show his wives didn't realize they were putting on.

They all eventually stopped talking and Ethan felt himself drift off to sleep with them, with Beth snuggled in his arms.

*Ethan?*

Kendra's mental voice coming directly to him instead of the group chat woke him up some time later. He opened his eyes to see that it was quite dark out, and quite late too. He guessed around midnight as the cobwebs slowly cleared from his sleepy brain.

*Is everything okay?* He thought to her as he fought a yawn.

*Did I wake you up?* She replied. *I'm sorry, I thought I saw you moving and-- I'm sorry.*

*It's okay, what's wrong?*

*Nothing.* She replied quickly. Perhaps a little too quickly. *Please go back to sleep, I'm sorry for waking you.*

He lifted his head to look at her. She was just beyond Beth who was in his arms, and Taloni was just beyond the dragon huntress.

*I'm awake now and I can tell something's bothering you; what's wrong?*

She looked at him and grimaced. *No it's okay. Please go back to sleep.*

He raised an eyebrow and looked directly into her eyes, though obviously without compulsion. *Kendra, tell me what's wrong.*

She bit her lip and leaned up slightly. That's when he noticed that she was naked; she was naked and not hiding herself from him at all, even though he could easily see the large scar that went from the top of her right shoulder to the bottom of her left ribcage.

*I can't sleep.* She finally said.

*Do you know why?*

She hesitated, then averted her eyes. *I'm sorry I bothered you.* She laid back down and closed her eyes, but a blind man could see she still wanted to talk.

*Kendra, I'm not going to make you tell me what's wrong, but I would really like to know.*

She opened her beautiful brown eyes again. *I um...* She looked down. *I was laying on the bed, and that reminded me of our wedding day and I kept remembering..." She closed her eyes, let out a soft sigh, licked her lips slightly and then bit her lip. *...remembering what we did and I can't...* She swallowed. *...I can't get it out of my head.*

*Oh*? He replied, noticing for the first time what he was feeling from her over their bond.

*Mmm-hmm.* She exhaled breathily, then glanced at him. *I feel all warm and there's this... well it's not an itch exactly, but it's... it's so distracting and I can't sleep.*

Ethan couldn't help but smile.

Kendra had had exactly one sexual experience in her entire life, and that had been two days ago; three if it was after midnight. Despite that -- or possibly because of it -- she was so horny that she couldn't sleep.

*Kendra.* He thought to her softly.

She glanced up at him.

*Good girl.* He smiled.

She blushed slightly, but smiled too.

*You're a good girl for telling me what's wrong.* He continued.

*I thought you would be upset that I woke you, I didn't mean to.*

*I know, and I'm not upset. Now, do you want me to scratch that itch?*

Her smiled got wider, but then she looked down too. *It's Beth's night.*

*Don't worry about Beth.* He replied. *She sleeps like a log late at night. Do you want that itch scratched?*

She closed her eyes and made a tiny sound that was breathy, and was somewhere between a sigh, a moan, and a mewl.

She nodded.

Then she opened her eyes and looked at him nervously. *Is that okay?*

*Yes. Yes that's perfectly okay.* He replied, his body reacting in predictable ways. *Hop off the bed for a moment.*

She did, and stood there in all her naked glory. His body began reacting faster, and he gently rolled Beth out of his arms. The blonde didn't react at all, as he knew she wouldn't; she slept like the dead sometimes. He beckoned Kendra closer, and she slid into bed beside him, facing him.

*I don't know how to... to...* She bit her lip.

*Fortunately I have some practice.* He winked.

She blushed.

She was laying on her side facing him, and he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. She let out a tiny moan and shuddered in delight at his touch. Damn, even Alana didn't react this strongly to being near him. He leaned in and kissed her tenderly, which she returned with feeling, but also with reserve. She made him think of a coiled spring or a cat ready to pounce; she had so much restrained passion bubbling under the surface.

*Could...* She pulled back slightly and looked into his eyes. *Could you put your--* She looked down at his hips, then back into his eyes, silently pleading.

*Already?* His eyes widened.

She nodded, lifting her leg and resting it on his hip to give him better access. He reached down and barely brushed her nether lips with a finger, just to make sure.

She was soaked.

Utterly soaked.

Not only that, but she was lubricating herself so fast that he could almost feel the flow. He looked at her, chuckling as he raised his eyebrow slightly.

*I'm sorry.* She looked down.

He used the side of his index finger to gently lift her chin again and smiled at her. *You have nothing to be sorry for.* He adjusted his hips so the head of his cock bumped up against her nether lips.

She sucked in her breath, then moaned softly.

*You're a good girl.*

She smiled, then whimpered slightly as she adjusted her hips fractionally.

*And I would really like to reward my good girl.*

He pushed.

He was gentle but firm and she slowly spread for him. She closed her eyes and opened her mouth as if gasping for air, but no sound came out except a breathy sigh. She wiggled her hips slightly, changing the angle and making it easier for him. She was still very tight. Not as tight as Alana, but very tight.

He pushed deeper, and her expression changed to something more like a grimace, but she pushed herself down so he slid deeper into her. Her breaths were short, fast, and quiet as she clung to him tightly. She was virtually silent as he worked his way fully into her, the only sounds coming from her were nearly silent sighs, moans, and the occasional mewling sound. All were so quiet that someone standing a few feet away would probably miss them

*Better?* He asked once he was fully inside of her.

She closed her eyes and nodded, relief all over her expression. She rocked her hips slightly, making him move slightly inside of her and she moaned, then stifled it; probably so she wouldn't wake the others.

*Could...* She exhaled breathily. *Could you stay still for a moment?*

*Sure.* He said, and gently started tracing his finger over her upper body while keeping his hips stationary.

Kendra moaned softly, then started to slowly rock her hips, making him move a small bit inside of her. She rocked slowly, making a sigh, or moan, or breathy exhale every time she moved. After several seconds he started gently rocking with her so he was moving back and forth a bit while inside her.

It took thirty seconds.

Her entire body seized up after just thirty seconds of them moving together. Her eyes went wide, then clamped shut and she appeared to be bracing herself... then she started trembling. He held her as her entire body shuddered while she desperately clung to him, holding him tighter than was comfortable until she seemed to lose control of her limbs.

He wrapped his arms around her, holding her as the incredibly erotic sight and feeling made him go off as well. Like on their wedding night, she kept this up for many long seconds until she slowly began to come down. She took fast shallow breaths for several seconds before her breath calmed too. She completely relaxed against him, becoming floppy and almost like dead weight she was so relaxed.

"Thank you, and I'm sorry. So, so sorry." She whispered so quietly that he almost couldn't hear her.

"What are you sorry for?" He whispered back.

She didn't reply.

He looked down to see that she had fallen asleep. Her expression was serene, sleeping having apparently cleared her mind of whatever she was apologizing for. He was half tempted to wake her, but decided to ask her what she'd meant in the morning instead. He grimaced slightly as he realized that it really was Beth's turn to sleep in his arms; he just hadn't thought Kendra would fall asleep so fast.

Hmm.

There was always a chance that they might sort themselves out once they were asleep since they tended to do that. He hoped that would be the case because he wasn't sure how to get Kendra and Beth back into their respective positions without waking them both.

Plus, this was the first time Kendra had ever initiated sex, and honestly he didn't want to let go of her right now. He kissed the top of her head, disbelief hitting him all over again at the wonderful group of women that shared his bed every night. He felt so incredibly blessed to have them all, and Kendra was no exception.

He laid his head down, trying to think of what Kendra could possibly have been apologizing for.

* * *

Sarah woke a little before the sun, just as her body had become accustomed to at her father's inn. The bed she was sleeping on was the most comfortable that she'd ever slept on. She had never felt such soft sheets either, other than some of the fabrics at the shop of Mr. Mesaville the tailor.

She slipped out of bed and looked around the tiny room, which was so small because space was limited on an airship. It was smaller than her room at her father's inn, though not by much. The room was perhaps four feet wide, half of which was taken up by the bed, and half was walking space. Most of the crew slept in hammocks from what she understood, and Lady Ekthros had made sure she got her own room, which was a real treat and she appreciated it immensely.

She looked up to the ceiling and whispered to the heavens. "Dear Illuminar -- blessed be you -- thank you for keeping me safe while I was imprisoned. I wish I had known what Ethan was like, but thank you for letting me know. Please help Lady Ekthros, and please help her recover from what happened."

She hesitated, then added. "And thank you for that dream with Gabriella. I realize now that it wasn't you, but I still trust you even if I was fooled by something else. Please give me discernment, and please help me not to be fooled again. Amen."

"Miss Sarah." A feminine voice came from the other side of the door. "May I enter?"

"One moment." The innkeeper's daughter slipped out of the bed and put on a dress over the thin cotton shift that she'd slept in. "Come in."

The door opened and a woman about Sarah's age and height entered. She had curly copper colored hair and more freckles than there were stars in the night sky. She was also very pale of skin, though she didn't look unhealthy, just pale.

"Hello, my name is Fiona and I've been sent to get ya." She had an accent, but not a bad one and she was perfectly understandable.

"For what?" Sarah asked.

"The Lord Delmar wants to be seeing ya." She said, and her accent made 'lord' sound like 'lard'.

The innkeeper's daughter froze. "Why?"

"Oh, nothing to be worrying about." She replied with a kind smile. "You naught did nothing wrong, so you have nothing to be worrying about."

Sarah nodded.

"Also, sorry if my baby was waking ya up this morning." The copper haired girl said. "He's being a bit fussy this morning, and I'm in a room nearby."

"I actually slept very well, so don't worry." Sarah replied.

"Well I'm glad to be hearing that." Fiona said. "Now, do you want to be eating something first before you see the Lord Delmar, or do you want to be going right now?"

"Um, breakfast?" Sarah said, grateful for the delay since she didn't want to meet Lord Delmar at all.

"Alright then, I'll be taking you to the galley for breakfast then." Fiona replied.

The innkeeper's daughter grimaced, but nodded.

Fiona looked at her grimace, then stepped in and closed the door before speaking in a lower voice. "Look, I know the Lord Delmar can be scary to many people, but don't you be worrying now. I've lived in Narlotten my entire life, and can tell ya that the Lord Delmar is good to the people, including me and my baby. He's a good lord, and no good person has anything to be fearing from him."

Sarah nodded, not entirely convinced but slightly reassured.

* * *

Selene was ushered back to the waking world by the loud purrs of a tiny kitten snuggling against her ear. Apparently, sometime during the night he had moved from her chest and was now curled up against the side of her head, purring away.

The Brazilian woman couldn't help but smile ear-to-ear.

"Selene, you awake?" Kendra's voice came from somewhere nearby not long afterwards.

"Yeah." She replied dreamily as she leaned her head a bit closer to the kitten.

"You might want to get up if you're coming with us to service."

"Um, I'm good." She smiled.

The dragon huntress's head appeared over the top of the hammock. "Aww." She smiled when she saw what was going on. "I completely understand, but you still might want to come up and eat. If you miss breakfast you might be on your own."

The caramel haired beauty shrugged and snuggled her head closer to the kitten. "I don't mind."

"And he might miss breakfast too hungry." Kendra pointed out.

"Okay." Selene said with a sigh, then scooped the kitten up and climbed out of the hammock. He snuggled into her hand as the two women went up to the weather deck to see everyone eating by the fire. It was still before sunrise, though it was plenty light enough to see. Curiously, Kendra seemed to be avoiding Ethan's eye and sat as far away from him as possible.

"Kitten!" Beth gushed when Selene made her appearance.

The Brazilian woman was instantly surrounded by doting women, all anxious to pet and hold him. She reluctantly let the other women hold him, instantly missing the little ball of sunshine. He did really well with all the attention. He shied away a bit at first, but soon seemed happy he started rubbing his cheek against the various women's hands, which Selene had heard that this was the kitten expressing affection by 'claiming' them. Anthiel produced some chopped up raw meat, which quickly got the kitten's attention.

Selene managed to grab a bite to eat while everyone was gushing over him. Sitting there watching this was among the happiest times in her life that she could remember.

* * *

Ethan eyed Kendra as she seemed to intentionally avoid him. She had already gotten up and left the captain's cabin when he had woken up that morning, and the hustle and bustle to get ready for the dawn service had prevented him from speaking with her so far.

*Kendra, sooner or later you should let me know what's bothering you.* He thought directly to her so the others couldn't hear.

*Yes Drago.* She replied, but didn't look at him. She didn't seem angry though, more like guilty.

Hmm.

Interesting.

He couldn't figure out what she could possibly feel guilty about though. Beth had been in his arms that morning when he'd woken up, so he really didn't see what she could feel guilty about. He was half tempted to pull her aside before they left, but just then Anthiel spoke up from the quarterdeck.

"Visitors ahoy captain."

He looked over at the gangplank to see Lord Kalus, his wives Shara and Lyra, and his son Taiven standing at the end of the gangplank. Ethan noticed that the patriarch of the family had a sword at his side, and Taiven had his sling looped around his waist like a belt. Something told him both of them could deployed their weapons at high speed.

"Permission to escort you to services." Lord Kalus asked.

"I would appreciate it." Ethan smiled widely and stood up to greet them. He didn't know his way around the town yet, and he didn't know anything about the services or how they were conducted, both of which he'd mentioned the previous evening. Apparently, the Lord Regent of Timarou had remembered and gone out of his way to help.

That was a nice gesture.

Really nice.

"I really enjoyed dinner last night and the conversation." Ethan glanced at Taiven. "The demonstration was also quite impressive."

"Aye, I agree." The lord replied.

It took another minute or two for Ethan and his wives to finish up. Ethan had them collect their swords again -- Taloni excepted -- and he attached his armor pack to his back and his sword to his side. He considered bringing his dagger/javelin and war hammer, but he doubted that something would happen so fast that he couldn't summon them if they were needed. Besides, he had his armor and war sword.

Once they were ready, Selene hesitated to leave, looking at the little kitten.

"You didn't say you had a kitten." Shara said, her eyes lighting up.

"Just got him last night on the way home, and I don't want to leave him so soon." Selene frowned.

"I'll put him on the lower decks where he can be free to roam safely." Anthiel said. "I already had Serif warn Raklan to leave him alone, so he'll be fine."

A few minutes later and with much hesitation, Selene joined the group after depositing the kitten on the lower decks where he could roam without risk of falling overboard. Ethan led the way across the gangplank and then followed Lord Kalus through the mining town. However, it didn't escape his notice that Kendra was trailing the pack. He would normally have talked to her on the way, but Lord Kalus addressed him before he got a chance.

They exchanged small talk while walking to the... temple? Chapel? He wasn't sure what they called it, and was less so once he saw it.

The building was large, but not ornate.

In fact, it didn't look much different from the other buildings in town, though perhaps slightly better maintained. Ethan found that quite interesting, and it was a contrast to every 'holy building' like churches, mosques, temples, and the like on Earth. Outside there was a steady stream of people heading inside, and it looked like most of the small mining town had turned up for the service.

The inside was much the same as the outside. It was well-maintained and clean but otherwise didn't look much like a religious building, except perhaps in the seating arrangement. The long pews were arranged in a semi-circle around a central point, and there was a lectern at the central point on which was perched a large book; probably the Book of Light.

"This should be interesting." Selene mused as they found a seat near the back and off on the lectern's right side

"Yeah, it should be." He agreed.

Lord Kalus and his family sat not far away. Ethan again looked at Kendra, seriously considering talking to her telepathically now, but she was talking to Rachel. He didn't miss that she'd sat as far away from him as possible while still sitting with the Argo's crew.

Hmm.

* * *

Sarah thought that breakfast was delicious, but was too nervous about her impending meeting with Lord Delmar to enjoy it very much. She was trying not to bite her nails and had caught herself wringing her hands more than once as they walked towards his office.

"Don't you be worrying none." Fiona said kindly, her curly copper hair bouncing slightly as they walked through the middle deck of Lord Delmar's airship. "The Lord Delmar won't be doing anything bad to anyone that isn't deserving it, and you haven't done anything to deserve it, have ya?"

Sarah grimaced, but didn't reply.

"Here we are." The other woman said, stopping in front of a door on which the upper half was made of several glass squares so a person outside the room could see in. Inside, Lord Delmar was sitting behind a desk writing something. There were several large but neat stacks of papers on the desk, but they paled in comparison to the man himself. He was large; easily over a foot taller than Sarah and powerfully built.

She gulped.

Fiona knocked once on the door. The lord looked up and waved her in with two fingers, then went back to writing. The copper haired girl opened the door and ushered Sarah in.

"This here be Sarah, Lord Delmar." She said, her accent again making 'lord' sound like 'lard'.

"Thank you Fiona, you may go." He said curtly, but not unkindly.

Fiona bowed slightly and then left, closing the door behind her. She could still be seen through the window, and it looked like she was waiting there.

Lord Delmar was still writing, so Sarah just stood there not knowing what to do. For want of anything else, she looked around the room. It was almost entirely utilitarian, save for one painting. Everything about it except for that painting looked like the abode of someone who had no personal life and lived for his work. There were books and papers everywhere, but it was all neat and orderly.

There was a clock in one corner of the room, and its slow, rhythmic ticking provided one of the only two sounds in the room. The other sound was the scratching of Lord Delmar's quill on the paper. Being that those were the only two sounds, they stood out to her ears like they were deafeningly loud.

It was surreal.

For want of anything else to do, Sarah looked at the large painting of a woman who closely resembled Rachel. She had the same color hair, though it was red all the way to the tips unlike Ethan's wife. She had the same blue eyes, and their faces were very similar too, though the woman in the portrait was a little older than Rachel.

"My late wife." Lord Delmar said, still writing and not looking up.

"She's beautiful." The innkeeper's daughter replied.

"She was." He said almost entirely without emotion. However, Sarah got the distinct impression that there was in fact a deep well of emotion there, but he was hiding it well. She recognized it in the tone, having also concealed her emotions when others had asked her about her mother.

"I'm sorry that she..." Sarah started to say then stopped, realizing that might be a touchy subject.

Lord Delmar stopped writing.

He didn't look at her, but also didn't move for several seconds. Finally, he struck the extra ink off his quill, put it in its holder, and capped the bottle of ink. He looked up at her for several seconds, scrutinizing her.

"Have a seat." He said, indicating a chair opposite him on the other side of the desk.

She sat down and he looked into her eyes long enough that it became uncomfortable and then she looked down.

Still he didn't speak.

The uncomfortable silence hovered in the air for at least a minute before he broke it. "Lady Ekthros insists that you helped her greatly, but was not entirely forthcoming when I asked how the two of you came to be imprisoned together." He paused. "She would have told me if I had pushed of course, but I understand she's had an ordeal. Tell me, how did you come to be imprisoned with her?"

Sarah bit her lip and started intently examining the floor. "Um, she uh..." She swallowed hard, then took a deep breath. "They weren't after her; they were after me."

"Why?"

She glanced up at him, but he was looking at her impassively. His expression was unreadable and she had no idea what he was thinking.

She returned her gaze to her shoes. "Um, because I..." She could feel her eyes getting watery and blinked a few times. "Because Eth-- because the false prophet came to my father's inn, and Lord Farbrotten came a few days later and left a few soldiers to watch the inn in case he returned. They were going to hurt my father and I... I..."

Her breath caught in her throat.

"You... what?"

"Please don't kill me." She whispered, still not looking up.

"What crime did you commit that I might order your execution?" He asked, his tone still impassive.

"I um... I killed them." She finally managed to get out, then added hastily. "But they were going to hurt my father."

"You killed two Ivernian soldiers? How."

Sarah subconsciously started wringing her hands in her lap.

"Oh, you are that innkeeper's daughter." Lord Delmar said after a moment.

She nodded.

"Knowing Lady Ekthros, that would indeed explain it." He made a thoughtful sound, then picked up his quill, glanced at her for a moment, then returned his attention to whatever it was that he had been writing.

"You may go." He said after several seconds.

She froze.

Lord Delmar uncapped the ink bottle, dipped his quill into the ink, and then resumed writing. He paid her no attention at all. The scratching of the quill on the paper -- so mundane in almost any other context -- now almost felt deafeningly loud since it was the only sound in the room aside from the faint ticking of a clock. She sat in the chair for almost a minute, not quite believing this strange turn of events. She didn't know what she had been expecting, but it hadn't been this.

Finally, she slowly stood, hoping he wasn't about to change his mind.

He just kept on writing.

Occasionally he would pause for a moment, but he would then return to writing. He paid her no mind, and the only sound in the room was the faint ticking of a clock and the scratching of the quill on the paper.

It was surreal.

She had made it to the door and had her hand on the knob when she stopped. She looked back at him; he was still writing away and ignoring her completely.

"Um, Lord Delmar?" She said tentatively.

He stopped writing, struck the ink out of his quill, put it in its holder, and capped the bottle of ink before looking at her. "Yes?"

"You... You're not going to... um..." She bit her lip.

"I had my men make a thorough investigation of your case many years ago when it first came to my attention." He replied. "You and your father went to many of Illuminar's temples and visited every exorcist his finances would allow. They all said that you were heartbroken about your condition and that you begged them to help you."

He steepled his hands and leaned forward. "I have no tolerance for necromancers or those who consort with the powers of darkness, but this is not you. You didn't seek them out, but rather had their taint forced upon you. Then you tried everything in your power to be rid of their influence. That makes you a victim, not a criminal. We do not punish victims in Narlotten, only criminals."

"Oh." She looked at him, not sure what to say.

"Do you have something further to say?" He asked curtly, though not unkindly.

She shook her head.

"Then you may go." He returned his attention to his desk, uncapping his ink bottle, inking his quill, and beginning to write again. It didn't seem like he was being rude or standoffish either; he merely looked very busy and intent on his work.

Sarah opened the door and slipped out to find Fiona waiting for her.

"You see, there's nothing to be worrying about." The copper haired woman said with a grin.

Sarah nodded sheepishly.

"Then maybe you'll be listening to me more next time." She teased with a smile.

"Thank you." The innkeeper's daughter said.

"Now, I should confess." Fiona said. "I might have been listening to the conversation you were having at the door. Lord Delmar doesn't want to be alone in a room with a woman in case of a scandal, so that's why his office is having the glass windows, so someone can be watching. Well, I was watching and couldn't help but overhear, and I hope ya can forgive me for that."

"Oh. Uh, okay." She smiled.

"Good." The copper haired woman replied. "Now, do you have anything to be doing, or are ya free?"

"I don't think I have anything to do." Sarah replied.

"Then would you be wanting to come on deck for some fresh air?"

"You're not worried about my... my problem?"

Fiona shook her head. "If the Lord Delmar is saying you're not a threat, then that's good enough for me."

Sarah cocked her head to one side. "You really trust him."

The copper haired woman nodded. "Aye, anyone who has known him for a long time is trusting him. He's been good to me, and not just me."

Sarah nodded, not sure what exactly to make of this but glad all the same. "I guess it makes sense that Lady Ekthros would work for such a good lord."

Fiona made a face at the mention of the lady's name, and it wasn't a good face. She quickly tried to cover and change her expression, but she wasn't very good at it. Sarah got the impression that she was someone who wore her heart on her sleeve and wasn't afraid to share her opinion.

"Is something wrong with Lady Ekthros?" Sarah asked.

"I be trusting the Lord Delmar on almost everything, but that lady is..." She shook her head. "Anyway, would ya be wanting to come walk the deck for some fresh air? My baby is down for a nap so I'm having some free time."

"I would like that." Sarah replied with a smile.

* * *

Ethan glanced over at Kendra, who was still talking to Rachel. He wanted to say something, but she was clearly trying to avoid him and he didn't think now was a good time.

"It's about to start master." Taloni said excitedly from right next to him.

"How do you know?" He asked.

"Look at the glass master." She pointed to a piece of what looked like frosted glass that was hanging from the ceiling. It was white-ish and was hanging some distance from a window in the wall. He could see the rays from the sun on the ceiling, slowly descending through the window in the wall and about to hit frosted glass.

Moments later, the light hit the frosted glass, and it became quite bright. Almost instantly, the people in the packed room quieted down. The Luminar they'd met the previous day stood and walked to the lectern.

He cleared his throat, then began to read. "And it shall come about, says Illuminar, that if you build a house in which to assemble to honor my name, that you shall open the assembly with these words."

All the people said the next words in unison. "Illuminar is God, who made the heavens and all their host, the world and all it contains. He does not dwell in houses made with human hands, but it is His delight to dwell with His people. Therefore, wherever we shall assemble to honor the name of Illuminar, He shall be in our midst."

The Luminar said. "And all Illuminar's people said:"

"Blessed be He." The congregation responded.

"Amen." The Luminar said. "Let us sing the 34th psalm."

Everyone clearly knew it by heart and sang it with enthusiasm, including his wives. Taloni especially was singing with a huge smile on her face and she looked so incredibly content.

Ethan noticed that off to one side of the central open area was a young man wearing what looked like a 'light' version of a Luminar's robes. While the Luminar's robes were long-sleeved and came down to his ankles, the young man's were much shorter and Ethan could see both the lower half of his pants and all of his sleeves. Both were white and both had a seven-pointed star in yellow fabric on the front though. He guessed that the younger man might be an apprentice Luminar but wasn't sure.

He almost asked his wives, but they were all singing.

Selene looked at him with an awkward smile, which he returned.

The service continued and it reminded Ethan a bit of a Catholic mass for the first half. They sang a few songs, then the Luminar read a few passages from the Book of Light. That's when he saw something that he'd never seen in any religious service before.

Real audience participation.

About halfway through, the Luminar asked if anyone had something to share. Several men came forward one-at-a-time and shared just a minute or two on what they believed that Illuminar was doing in their lives. It was strange, but also kind of neat that the people in the pews weren't just watching.

Afterwards, the Luminar stood up.

*This is the Homily master.* Taloni said, her wings fluttering and huge smile on her face as she leaned forward so she was sitting on the edge of the pew.

He grinned at her enthusiasm, then turned to pay attention. On the rare occasion he found himself in a church, he ordinarily tuned sermons out. He decided to give this one a fair shake though. The Luminar went up to the lectern, still without a single hair out of place on his head. His short, thick sideburns might've been trimmed with a slide rule they were so precise.

"Last week we looked at the holiness of Illuminar, this week we'll look at the opposite side of the copper; the depravity of man."

*Uh oh.* Selene thought directly to him, but interestingly not to the group chat.

*Yeah, this could get interesting.* He agreed.

Taloni shifted a bit in her seat next to him.

"The Book of light teaches us that no man is righteous." The Luminar began. "But it's more than that. One need only look at the world around us to see that not only is man not righteous, but he is altogether wicked with nothing to redeem him."

Ethan glanced at his wives, all of whom had a slight frown on their face, especially Taloni.

"Now, to avoid this great and glorious truth, some will seek to twist the Book of Light." The Luminar continued. "For it says: 'But if a wicked man turns from all his sins, and observes my commandments, and practices justice and righteousness, he shall surely live and not die. All his sins which he has committed will no longer be remembered against him."

Ethan glanced at Kendra, remembering how she had recounted that Gabriella had recited this exact passage to her not long before she had apologized to him. For the first time that morning, the dragon huntress had a look of relief on her face and seemed a bit calmer.

"But they forget the following verse." The Luminar looked at the congregation. "It goes like this: But if a righteous man turns away from righteousness and practices wickedness, all of his righteous deeds will no longer be remembered because of the wickedness he practices and the sins he pursues; for them he will surely die."

The Luminar looked up. "One sin." He let that hang in the air. "It only takes one tiny little accidental sin for your righteous deeds to no longer be remembered by Illuminar."

*I'll take crimes against good interpretation for $500 Alex.* Selene thought to Ethan.

At almost the say time, Rachel glanced at him and thought to everyone. *I've never heard that verse applied that way before.*

*Yeah.* Alana frowned. *I always thought it was about actually pursuing evil on purpose, not messing up accidentally.*

Ethan looked at Kendra, and the relived look on her face was gone. She had slumped in her seat a little and was looking somewhat intently at the floor. The almost guilty expression had returned to her face too.

Next to him, Taloni frowned and sat back a bit from the edge of the pew. Her lips were pursed and she was flexing her delicate fingers. She was also breathing rather loudly and only through her nose, given that her mouth was clamped tightly shut.

"This is the great truth that most don't understand about mankind's utter depravity." The Luminar continued. "Nothing we can do can please Illuminar if it is followed by even a single sin."

*I've never heard a Luminar teach like this before, and I've heard homilies all over the Ten Kingdoms.* Rachel frowned.

*Yeah, this doesn't sound right to me.* Beth agreed. *I've read the whole Book of Light and attended services every week of my life until I got married; this doesn't sound right.*

*You're not the only one who thinks so.* Alana replied.

Ethan's wives nodded in agreement while he was remembering his conversation with Illuminar. This didn't sound like Him at all. Taloni sat back in the pew and crossed her arms over her chest. An errant strand of hair ended up in her face and she puffed it out of the way like it had done her a great personal wrong.

Kendra looked miserable.

Ethan felt a small growl escape his throat before he realized it, and he got strange looks from the people nearby.

The Luminar continued. "In fact, our wickedness is so great that if we even intend to sin while committing a righteous deed, the worth of the righteous deed is nullified because of the intent to sin. Even if a wicked man rescues orphans and gives alms to the poor, this is detestable in Illuminar's sight because of the evil in the man's heart. Yes, even almsgiving can be detestable to Illuminar if done by a wicked man. That is how evil we are; evil enough to make even righteous deeds wicked."

Taloni's wings buzzed.

Nut fluttered.

Buzzed.

It sounded almost like a wasp or bee, only with an angrier edge to it. The sound was rather loud too, considering that they were up against the pew and vibrated against it. The normally happy Fey muttered something under her breath in a language that Ethan didn't understand.

*Taloni!* Alana thought to the group chat with shock on her face. *Language.*

The Fey teen gave the wood elf an apologetic grimace, then returned to glaring at the Luminar like Ethan had never seen her glare at anyone.

Ever.

Frankly, her gaze had been less withering when Lady Ekthros was in view.

Ethan looked at Kendra, and could see her face had gone completely stoic, like a mask had slid into place. The look in her eyes was unmistakable though.

*Alana.* He thought directly to her. *How big of a scene will it make if we leave right now?*

*Big, why?*

*Kendra.* He replied, then nodded his head towards his newest wife.

The wood elf glanced at the dragon huntress then looked back at him with a slight grimace. *Might be worth it though.*

He hesitated, not sure if they should leave right now. If it got much worse though...

"The Book of Light says that our sins are as odious to Illuminar as our manure is to us." The Luminar looked up. "And I would say worth even less than manure, because at least manure can be used as fertilizer. Consider that for a moment; our sins are ours, meaning they are a part of us. Whenever we sin -- and we can never fully stop -- we are worth less than manure in Illuminar's eyes."

Kendra looked heartbroken.

*Okay ladies, it's time--* Ethan started to think to the group chat, intending to leave at that very moment. This asinine 'teaching' was worth less than manure and he didn't like how it was affecting his newest wife, so he didn't care if leaving made a scene.

Taloni beat him to it.

Making a scene that is.

She jumped up onto the pew -- all five foot two inches of her -- and shouted at the top of her incredibly loud set of pipes. "THAT'S NOT TRUE YOU LIAR!"

The whole room froze.

"THAT'S ALL A LIE, YOU--" She finished her sentence with a few words in a language that Ethan didn't recognize, probably the Fey tongue, but he could guess the gist.

Alana sucked in her breath and then her jaw dropped at the normally sweet Fey's words, and that's when he remembered that his first wife also spoke Fey. Two other women -- a mother and daughter by the looks of them -- nearby apparently could too because they audibly gasped at Taloni's words.

The Luminar's eyes widened, but then he frowned. "Sit down young lady; you haven't studied the Book of Light and thus don't understand--"

"I understand enough!" Taloni snapped, her face red and hands balled up into fists. "You are blaspheming Illuminar's name! How DARE you!"

*Taloni, you aren't wrong, but calm down.* Ethan thought to everyone.

*No!* She telepathically snapped at him, but didn't even look at him and instead was continuing to stare daggers at the Luminar. "You know that the Book of Light says Illuminar's lovingkindness lasts throughout all generations, and that it says he'll forgive all who repent, how could you make Him out to be such a monster!"

"Guards, please remove her; gently." The luminar heavily stressed the final word.

Ethan looked towards the entrance, in the direction that the luminar had looked. Sure enough, there were two men who looked like they were supposed to be guards. They were wearing swords and what looked like thick linen jackets with metal chains sewn onto it in a grid, probably to defeat sword cuts. The two of them looked at each other, then started forward.

At this, Ethan hopped onto the pew and let his hand rest on his war sword. "Touch her, and you'll never touch anything again." He growled.

They stopped in their tracks, even though he had his disguise gem on.

"Thank you master, that luminar--" She started to say, temper still evident but not directed at him.

"Taloni." He said with a hint of sharpness in his tone as he gave her a stern warning look and subtly shook his head.

For the first time since her outburst, she looked a bit cowed.

She sat down.

*Time to leave ladies.* He thought to them, then addressed the room. "I would apologize for the interruption, but that homily had its wires crossed. We'll be leaving now."

Every eye in the room was on them as they filed out.

Lord Kalus gave him a subtle nod of respect as he left, but pretty much everyone else just stared open-mouthed and wide-eyed. Apparently, no one had dared to interrupt a sermon before and the people didn't know what to make of it. He strode out of the building with his wives and Selene following him.

He walked down the winding streets of the poor mining town trying to decide what to do and say about what had just happened.

He looked at Kendra and she seemed to be walking like a zombie; no feeling or emotion whatsoever. It was like she'd gone numb. He wanted to talk to her -- needed to talk to her -- but that was a conversation that needed to happen in private on the Argo.

They were halfway back to the airship before anyone said anything, and it was Taloni who did so.

"Master?" Her voice was quiet and small. "Are... are you mad at me?"

"No honey, I'm not mad." He said, and gave her a small smile. "I was stern because I don't think you realize how you were coming across."

"Oh?"

He nodded. "That outburst of yours made him seem like the calm and reasonable one, even though what he said was way out in left field."

"Left field?" Beth asked.

"It means he was completely wrong." He clarified, then looked at the honey-blonde haired Fey. "But your outburst made it seem like he was the reasonable one, and it's always easier to believe a reasonable person."

"Oh." She looked down at the ground. "You mean... did I actually make it sound like he was right?"

"Not right, exactly." Alana chimed in. "But consider, if you saw two people behave like that, who would you be more likely to listen to?"

"Oh." The Fey teen's eyes got a bit watery. "I'm sorry Master."

"What's done is done, just remember that in a debate, the first person to lose his cools always loses the debate, even if he's right."

"I will master."

"Come here." He put his arm around her as they walked. She leaned into him and sniffled a little.

"Oh." Ethan added to everyone. "And yes, I know that me lecturing anyone about losing his temper is the pot calling the kettle black; sorry about that."

They all seemed to get that idiom.

A minute later, they arrived back at the Argo to an amused grin from their high elf pilot. "Well, judging by the time, I'm guessing Ethan took exception to something in the homily?"

"Taloni actually." He replied as they walked across the gangplank onto the Argo. The Fey teen seemed deep in thought, and while he wanted to talk to her more, he thought it would be better if she had a chance to cool down and think about it for a bit.

He turned to Kendra instead. "We need to talk."

The dragon huntress swallowed hard, but nodded.

* * *

Sarah inhaled the fresh air as she stood near the front of Lord Delmar's airship. It smelled good. There had been some rain earlier in the morning before the sun had come up and the airship wasn't cruising that high. Thus, that wonderful 'after rain' scent was in the air. After so long in the dank, cold castle, it was wonderful to be outside. Being that it was summer, the air was pleasant even right after sunrise. The sun had just risen, and the purples, pinks, and oranges of dawn hadn't fully faded from the sky yet.

It was beautiful.

"Aye, 'tis a sight isn't it?" Fiona asked from beside her, her accent making her sound even more pleased than she looked.

"It's beautiful."

"Aye, you don't get many views like this except on an airship." The copper haired woman said. "I'm lucky the Lord Delmar doesn't mind me coming, what with my baby and all." Her accent again made 'lord' sound like 'lard'.

"Is that usual?" Sarah asked, looking over the side of the airship to enjoy the sight of the Ivernian landscape scrolling underneath.

"It 'tis a bit unusual yeah." Fiona nodded. "But the Lord Delmar is a good man and he's got his reasons."

"Oh?"

"Aye." The copper haired woman hesitated. "I'm not sure I should be saying though. The Lord Delmar wasn't exactly asking me to keep it a secret, but he's been good to me and my baby since..." The other woman got a pained smile on her face. "Well for a few months now. He is going through a lot right now, and it's meaning a lot that he took time to be taking care of me and my baby despite all that."

"What's he going through?" Sarah asked, trying to imagine what a lord in the Ten Kingdoms had to worry about.

"Well, I suppose it's an open secret so there won't be no harm in me telling ya." Fiona frowned slightly. "The Lord Delmar has a daughter -- Rachel -- and she... well she was always being a bit of a problem child the way I'm hearing it."

"Really?" The innkeeper's daughter frowned. "I met her once and she seemed really nice."

"I've never met her so I can't rightly be saying." Fiona admitted. "But 'tis an open secret in the castle that she was being a rebellious daughter most of the time, since she was quite young."

"Really?"

"Aye, and 'tis a shame too, cause from what I'm gathering the Lord Delmar really loves his little girl, but she wasn't much returning the favor. She was being friendly to others, but was never liking her father much. Over time they were growing apart because of it." Fiona paused. "Only thing that I know the girl had right is that she wasn't liking Lady Ekthros much."

Sarah frowned but let the comment about Lady Ekthros pass. Apparently Fiona didn't know what she was really like.

"Anyway, it's a bit of an open secret around the castle that the Lord Delmar found out that Rachel was trying to learn some of the dark arts." Fiona continued, then hesitated. "And you understand that I'm only saying this because everyone already knows, and because you're being uncomfortable with the Lord Delmar, yes?"

Sarah nodded, getting the distinct impression that Fiona was not only a very loyal person, but also scrupulously honest too. She wasn't sure what gave her that impression, but she definitely got it.

"Well, the rumor is that the Lord Delmar was getting angry and lost his temper when he was finding this out. I heard that they were fighting when he was losing his temper, though this is guesswork on account of no one actually saw it. Then she is leaving right after and joining the false prophet, and the Lord Delmar is being forced to disown her so the false prophet is having no claim on Narlotten through her."

"Oh." Sarah said, not sure what to make of this new information.

"It 'tis causing a stir that is." The copper haired woman continued. "You see now, the Lord Delmar is having no heirs anymore since he disinherited his only daughter, and so she can't bear a son to continue his line. Every noble and commoner in Narlotten is wanting him to marry again so he can have a heir. But in the Lord Delmar's eyes, I don't think any woman will be measuring up to Rachel's mother, Helene, Illuminar rest her soul."

"Oh, I didn't think of that."

"I'm just saying, the Lord Delmar is going through a lot." Fiona said. "But he's a good man that Lord Delmar, and you don't have nothing to be fearing from him, not unless you are doing evil. But ya don't seem to be the type." She finished with a smile.

"Thank you." The innkeeper's daughter smiled back. "I try not to hurt anyone, or anything."

"I could tell that about ya, which is why I wasn't worrying about you meeting the Lord Delmar. Now I need to be getting back to the galley soon. The Lord Delmar was asking me to get ya when I brought him his breakfast, but I properly work in the ship's galley."

"Could I come?" Sarah asked. "I've always loved cooking and I'd love to see how a real lord's kitchen is run."

"I'm not thinking there will be a problem with that." Fiona replied.

"Sarah!" Lady Ekthros called from across the weather deck, near the stairs to the lower decks.

The smile on Fiona's face suddenly became a bit more... stiff at the lady's words. She didn't exactly frown, but her smile suddenly didn't reach her eyes.

"There you are." Lady Ekthros said to the innkeeper's daughter when she'd walked up, then she looked at the copper haired girl and pursed her lips. "Fiona."

"Lady Ekthros." Fiona replied respectfully, if a bit stiffly. But both women's tones were very cool; not necessarily cold, but certainly not warm.

The lady turned to Sarah. "Would you like to accompany me to breakfast? The ship's galley isn't the castle's kitchens, but the food is good."

"Um, I already ate, but thank you." Sarah replied.

Lady Ekthros raised her eyebrow. "You did?"

"The Lord Delmar was wanting to be seeing her this morning." Fiona explained. "I took her for a bite to eat first, on account of her being nervous."

"That was thoughtful." Lady Ekthros replied to the copper haired girl, though her tone hadn't warmed any. She sounded a bit annoyed if anything, then looked at Sarah. "Well, we should meet for lunch then."

"I'll look forward to it." Sarah said brightly.

The lady smiled, then turned and left.

Fiona's lips pressed themselves into a thin line once the lady's back was turned. After several moments, she shook her head and looked at Sarah again. "Now, you were still wanting to be seeing the kitchens?"

She nodded.

"Then let's go down there now, I think you'll be liking it."

* * *

"Little kitty?" Selene called as she walked down the stairs to the lower deck of the Argo. Moments later, she heard a little scratching sound and the rapid padding of soft feet on wood. Moments after that, the kitten came into view, running towards her. He was running so fast that he overshot a bit and had to scramble his tiny legs to stop himself and backtrack. When he arrived, he rubbed his cheek against her legs.

"Aww." The Brazilian woman felt her heart melt a bit as she reached down and scooped him up. "Hey little kitty." She whispered affectionately to him.

He started purring.

She carried him up to the weather deck and started looking around, thinking of what needed to be done to 'kitten-proof' the weather deck. Really, it wouldn't take much while at port, and even less while they were in the air.

Like a naval vessel from the Age of Sail on Earth, the railings on the Argo were merely an extension of the sides, only capped with a bit of nicer wood. The only place he might be able to slide off the deck were the rain holes, cut into the deck every so often so rain had a place to run off. While docked, there was also the opening in the railing for the gangplank. Once those two were taken care of, he could be able to roam to his heart's content without worrying that he would fall off.

"Don't worry, I already started." Antheil said from behind her.

"Huh?"

"The drainage holes merely need a bit of self-repairing netting, and I already had Serif start on making a way to stop him from getting out via the gangplank."

She smiled at the high elf pilot. "Has anyone ever told you that you are amazing?"

"My husband does, all the time." Her eyes twinkled.

"He's right." She smiled.

"I know." She said without a hint of arrogance. "I've already started cutting the netting, and I'm sure Alana will be willing to enchant it to be self-repairing. We even have some brass staples in the hold that I can use to attach the netting. Should be done in a few hours, you'll just have to hold him until Serif and I are done."

Selene made a mock-sigh as she petted her little kitten. "Oh, how will I ever manage?"

Anthiel laughed.

* * *

Ethan closed the door to the captain's cabin after he and Kendra had walked through it. She looked awful. Beautiful, but awful. She had dark circles under her eyes, which were almost red, though he didn't think she had actually cried. She wasn't looking at him and was intently examining the floor instead.

"Kendra." He said softly.

She sniffled but didn't look up.

"What's wrong?"

She swallowed hard and screwed up her face, then hesitated for a moment before shaking her head slightly.

"I can't help if you don't tell me what's wrong."

"Stop." She whispered.

"Stop what?"

She blinked her watery eyes a few times and turned away from him before speaking so quietly he had a little trouble following her. "Stop being so nice to me. You shouldn't be nice to me; I don't deserve it."

"Well, let's not get onto the topic of what we both deserve." He replied. "Frankly, neither of us would come off well."

She didn't reply.

He frowned, then an idea occurred to him and he sat down on the bed, his legs hanging over the edge of it. "Kendra, come here."

She shook her head slightly.

"I won't make you, but it would make me very happy if you did." He said, trying to figure out what could possibly be bothering his newest wife.

The raven haired woman hesitated several moments, then turned to face him. She had a few wet lines on her cheeks that originated from the corners of her eyes. She bit her lip as she looked at him.

"Come here." He said, using a bit more authority in his tone, though without sternness.

She almost automatically took a few steps forward. He reached out and took her hand, pulling her closer. She resisted slightly, but only slightly and seemed to be fighting herself as much as him. He pulled her in so she was sitting across his lap, and she stopped resisting the moment she was there. She wrapped her arms around him and held to him tightly, like she never wanted to let go.

She let out a tiny whimper, and then held him even tighter. He was glad she didn't have her strength enhancing vambraces active, or it could've hurt.

He held for almost a minute before he spoke softly into her ear. "What's wrong?"

"I woke you up for..." She sniffled. "...you know."

"Sex." He grinned.

"But I realized that..." She trailed off.

"That... what?" He prompted.

"I know you said that I shouldn't worry about it, but I can't not worry about it. I owe you too much."

"Oh?" He frowned.

She pulled herself tighter to him. "You're so good to me and I haven't done anything to--"

"Kendra." He said softly, and she stopped instantly. "Have you ever considered that you don't have to do anything?"

She pulled back a little to look at him, confusion all over her face and in her beautiful brown eyes.

"You don't need to 'pay me back'." He said, looking into her eyes. "I never asked you to, and I don't want you to."

"You don't want...?" She cocked her head to one side and worked her mouth for a moment.

"That's right, I don't want you trying to pay me back, just like I said on our wedding day." He said. "I'm happy to help you however I can because you're my wife, not because I'm going to get something out of it."

"But you can't just give to me all the time while I don't give anything back." She countered. "I'd feel just awful."

"Is that what you think happened last night?" He asked as it clicked in his mind.

She averted her eyes and then nodded.

"Would it shock you to know that I loved that?"

Her head whipped up so fast he thought she might give herself whiplash.

"I did." He nodded. "In fact, the only thing I didn't like about it was that you felt guilty afterwards."

She stared at him for several seconds before her mouth fell open. "You're serious?"

He nodded.

"But... but I didn't even do anything for you."

"Yes you did, or didn't you notice something had leaked out of you when you woke up?"

"Oh." She fell silent for several seconds. "But..."

"I loved it." He assured her. "Consider, what if I woke you up because I couldn't sleep because I wanted you so much? Would you like that?"

She closed her eyes and bit her lip then nodded, letting a small sigh escape her lips as she did so. Moments later a shadow crossed her face and she looked at him again. "But I don't even have a pretty face, and I have all those scars."

He raised his eyebrow. "Take off your dress."

She blinked. "What?"

"Take off your dress." He repeated. "I think you need a little reminder of exactly what I think of your face and body."

She hesitated.

He leaned forward and whispered into her ear. "Right now, I'm trying to decide what kind of noises I want you to make while I'm inside you."

Kendra let out a small moan as she shuddered.

"Clothes, now." He whispered into her ear.

Five seconds.

It took Kendra five seconds to get her dress and shoes off. It took another five for her to get her strength-enhancing vambraces off so that she was standing in front of him utterly, completely, and gloriously naked. Her body was more lean, toned, and athletic than the rest of his wives, and her darker skin -- somewhere between a Latina and the olive complexion of a Mediterranean woman -- looked magnificent.

He stepped forward and swept her into his arms. He set her down on the bed and climbed over her, his cock as large as it had ever been.

He got a wicked smile on his face as an idea occurred to him. "Now, I'm about to do something you'll hate almost as much as you love it."

"Wha... what?" She asked in an almost scared whisper.

He grinned at her, then moved his head lower and kissed her right shoulder, right where her longest scar began. It was the one that started on her right shoulder, then went diagonally down over the top of her right breast, under the bottom of her left, and ended near the bottom of her ribcage on the left side.

She sighed.

He moved down the scar a tiny bit, then kissed again. He repeated this several times before Kendra squirmed slightly, probably realizing what he was doing.

"Stop." She whispered, but thanks to their bond he could tell she really didn't want him to.

He looked her right in the eye. "Not unless you can 100% honestly tell me you don't want me to keep kissing your scar."

She froze for a moment, then bit her lip.

"That's what I thought." He grinned.

She blushed.

"Now since you interrupted me, I'll have to start at the beginning again."

She swallowed, and her eyes suddenly got a little watery. She screwed up her face slightly, then nodded.

He returned his lips to her scar, starting at the beginning and taking his time to ensure he kissed every inch of it. A few seconds in, her breathing became heavier and shorter. When he was about halfway down that scar, she put her hands on his head, pulling him into her chest. When he finally reached the end, he gave it a tiny little lick.

Kendra tensed.

She opened her mouth like she was gasping for air, then the tension released and she let out a strangled groan, followed by gasping for air.

It was a mini orgasm.

He looked at her. "I don't think I've ever even heard of a woman as sensitive as you."

She bit her lip. "Is that bad?"

"As far from bad as it's possible to be." He grinned. "Now, there's another scar right here..."

He looked down and kissed the top of the burn scar that ran along her left side, starting at the bottom of her ribcage running and down onto the middle of her left thigh. It took a lot longer to kiss all of that one, mostly owing to its far greater surface area. Kendra had at least one more mini orgasm as he did, possibly more. Once that one was finished, he kissed every inch of the bite mark on her right thigh, then the stab scar above that, and then finally the long one on her left arm.

When he had finally finished, he moved up so he could look her in the eye. She had a massive smile that reached deep into her beautiful brown eyes and her temples were streaked with happy tears. He reached up and gently brushed an errant strand of hair from her face.

"Convinced?" He asked softly.

She slowly nodded.

"You sure?" He grinned

She started to nod again, then got an embarrassed smile on her face as she whispered. "I think I will be when... when you finish."

She bit her lip, then slowly and haltingly rolled over. On the back of her right thigh was of course the other half of the bite marks. Additionally, on her back starting at her shoulder blades and ending around her hips were three long scars that looked like a dragon had slashed at her back with its claws, and the middle one was slightly longer than the other two. They didn't look as deep as the one on her front, which was good because they were at an angle and crossed over her spine. Much deeper and it could've damaged her spine.

He kissed those scars too.

Every inch of them.

Kendra shuddered her way through another mini-orgasm or two as he did, both when he was kissing right next to her spine. He made a mental note that she was sensitive there, mostly so he could take advantage of that in the future.

When he'd finished kissing all of her scars, he rolled her back over.

She looked blissfully happy.

She had a dopy grin on her face and her eyes were only partially open. She looked radiant, and the only thing he could think to compare it to was Alana right after she'd found out that she was pregnant.

"Satisfied?" He asked.

"Almost Drago." Her cheeks went red as she spread her legs, then touched her hands to his hips, gently asking him to come closer.

He did.

Much closer.

Her slit was doing a good impression of Niagara Falls as he slid inside of her, and she came almost instantly. Like every previous time, she locked up tight and she held herself to him, then lost all control of her body. She was vibrating and spasming so hard that he would've been worried she was having a seizure if he didn't know better. He continued thrusting, letting loose inside of her for the second time in twelve hours.

Afterwards, it took a few moments for them both to catch their breaths.

"That... that was even better than... than the first two times." Kendra panted. "It can't keep getting better, can it?"

He grinned. "Only one way to find out."

"Mmm." She laid her head back, eyes closed and a contented smile on her face as she recovered her breath and he rested his head on her chest. Okay, maybe on her breasts. In his defense though, her breasts were very comfortable.

"Hey." He lifted his head to look at her after a minute.

"Yeah." She said dreamily.

"I really do think you're beautiful." He said. "And if you disagree, you're just wrong; sorry." He added with a lopsided grin.

"Okay." She nodded. She didn't look convinced, but she did look somewhat reassured. That would have to do for now.

He laid on his side and pulled her close, she snuggled into him and sighed.

"Am I a bad wife?" She asked a minute later, and while there was vulnerability in her tone, she didn't seem as fragile as she had when they'd entered the room.

"No." He replied simply. "I'm literally the only person on the planet who's qualified to answer that question, and the answer is most definitely no."

She made a thoughtful sound and then snuggled closer to him. "Am I a good wife?"

He looked down into her beautiful brown eyes and smiled. "You're my good girl, and yes that means 'yes'."

She snuggled closer to him, but didn't reply for several seconds. "Did you enjoy that?"

"You couldn't tell?"

She smiled sheepishly. "I was rather distracted."

He looked deep into her gorgeous brown eyes. "I did enjoy it. In fact, I loved it."

She bit her lip and nodded, but he felt like she had something more to say. A minute later she did. "Could I be better?"

He looked at her almost sternly. "Please tell me you're not asking that because you feel like sex is one way you could pay me back."

She looked down almost instantly.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Kendra, I don't want you to 'pay me back', least of all with sex."

"You don't?"

He shook his head. "I'd rather you had sex with me because you wanted to, or maybe because you were grateful, not because you felt like you had to."

"Oh." She was still looking down, and still not meeting his eye. "But... but I feel like I enjoy it more than you do, which means I... that I'm..."

He sighed. "Which means you feel like you owe me even more when we have sex."

She nodded.

"Is that what was bothering you last night?"

She hesitated, then nodded. "I feel like I'm taking even more advantage of you."

"Well if that's the case, then I like being taken advantage of."

She gave him a half-hearted smile for a moment, then it faded and she didn't reply for several seconds. "I don't think you realize how much I owe..."

She trailed off at his raised eyebrow.

"Please let me finish?" Kendra said, her brown eyes looking like they wanted nothing more in the world.

"As long as we talk about that 'owing' thing afterward." He finally said.

"I would've been alone my entire life." She said. "Every minute of every day, and week, and month, and year and decade. You saved me from that. You saved me from..." Her voice cracked slightly and she blinked to keep the liquid in her eyes from slipping out. "I can never thank you enough for that. Ever."

"I don't mind if you thank me." He replied. "But there's an enormous and vast difference between thanking someone because you want to, and feeling like you owe that person something."

She made a thoughtful sound. "I can try to focus more on thanking you."

"...but you still feel like you owe me?" He guessed.

She nodded.

He pulled her closer and held her. "I can't change how you feel, but just know that I'm not looking for you to pay me back."

"I'll try to remember that." She whispered.

"Good." He kissed the top of her head. She seemed like she was doing better. Not perfect, but better. Still though, he didn't like that she felt like she owed him. He didn't think there was much he could do about it right now, but that would need more thought. Or maybe she just needed more time.

Hmm.

Hopefully the latter, but he didn't think time alone would solve this one.

* * *

Selene took a deep breath and tried again to heal her skin with magic like Rachel had explained. Apparently, the best way to learn to heal yourself was for someone to give you a good hard poke with a needle so you could close the wound. It was harder than she had thought it would be, and took a lot of mana and concentration, but thankfully didn't bleed very much or scar at all.

It did hurt though.

Rachel even had a needle with a metal disc a quarter inch up the shaft to make sure it didn't puncture too deep, and it was a wound from that needle that she was trying to heal. After spending almost five minutes and a large chunk of her mana to close that one little pinprick, she looked around. Beth and Taloni were playing with the kitten near the captain's cabin door while Alana and Rachel were looking over Ethan's sword and talking, probably about how to enchant it further.

Ethan and Kendra were still in the captain's cabin of course. While she couldn't hear anything, the amused looks his other wives occasionally gave each told her everything she needed to know about what was happening in there.

"Did you get it?" Rachel asked as she walked closer.

"Yeah, but it took forever and a ton of mana." The Brazilian woman replied. "How does Taloni heal so many people if it takes this much mana?"

"Experience." The teen mage replied. "The better you get, the more efficient you'll be at using mana. Healing shouldn't take that much, and in a few days it'll take much less time and mana."

"Well that's good."

The redhead pulled out the large needle again. "Ready to try again."

Selene grimaced, but nodded.

She was saved by Anthiel's voice from the quarterdeck. "Visitors coming up the dock's ramp."

Rachel gave her an understanding smile and put the needle away.

The Luminar and his wife appeared at the top of the ramp moments later, both smiling. Selene thought that was odd given how Ethan had publicly disagreed with him maybe an hour ago. When Taloni saw them, she huffed, turned on her heel, and walked below decks without a word.

"Is the prophet about?" The luminar asked.

*Ethan, that luminar is here for you.* Alana thought to the group chat.

*What the blazes does he want?* Ethan replied, and it might've been a growl if he'd spoken it.

*No idea.*

*I'll be out in a minute.* He replied, frustration evident in his tone.

"He should be out of the captain's cabin in a few minutes." The wood elf told the visitors and stepped aside to let them board.

She didn't welcome him aboard.

To be sure her body language communicated that they could come aboard, but she didn't actually say anything. They came aboard across the gangplank, and the ever-curious kitten ran up to them and sniffed. He then made a face, backed up a few steps, then turned and scampered over to Selene.

She couldn't help but smile at that.

Neither the luminar nor his wife attempted to engage anyone in conversation, though they managed to avoid coming off as standoffish too. Mostly they just stood there waiting, looking like an advertisement for some product that was supposed to improve your posture.

Eventually Ethan emerged from the captain's cabin with Kendra in tow.

"What." Ethan said without preamble. It was a question, but barely.

"Have I offend you in some way?" The luminar replied.

"That asinine sermon did." Ethan replied curtly. "What do you want?"

The luminar seemed like he'd been caught flat-footed. "I had been planning to thank you for your support and for swiftly removing your wife so you could discipline her. Now..." He frowned.

"Support?" Ethan stared.

"Discipline Taloni?" Kendra nearly growled. "For what?"

"For making a scene and disagreeing with the sermon, which I thought you liked." He replied to Ethan. His mouth was slightly open, and he was looking at the two of them like they were strange creatures he'd never seen before.

"Like it?" Ethan's mouth fell open. "I said that shit had its wires crossed. How the hell did you think I liked it from that?"

"Well, wires are used to fasten things more permanently than twine." The luminar's wife said. "So we naturally assumed..." She trailed of at the look on Ethan's face.

"That asinine 'sermon' was about the farthest thing from what Illuminar would say." Ethan retorted. "I didn't talk to Him for long, but the topic came up and what you said was complete bullshit."

The luminar took a step back and his eyes widened slightly, but then he recovered himself. "What I said came straight from the Book of Light."

"No it didn't!" Taloni called from out of sight, almost certainly at the top of the stairs to the lower decks.

"She's right." Alana said. "I've never heard a luminar teach like that before."

"Nor I, and I've heard luminars from all over the Ten Kingdoms." Rachel said. "You twisted those passages into a dough knot."

"Even I have heard enough about the Book of Light to know you're wrong." Selene interjected. "And that's saying something as I've never read a word of it."

The luminar's wife gave her the kind of expression you might give an orphaned child who was hungry.

Bitch.

The luminar frowned. "It puzzles me that Illuminar would choose someone so unlearned in His marvelous ways to be a prophet. It's only once we understand the depths of our own depravity that we can properly appreciate his goodness."

"I don't want to be rude, but take that shit somewhere else." Ethan said, and it looked like he was restraining himself from growling. "You hurt one of my wives this morning with that sermon, and I have half a mind to throw you off the ship for it."

The luminar blinked.

His wife's eyes widened.

"I did not mean to hurt, nor to give offense." He finally said. "But I must teach Illuminar's truth."

Ethan spoke with a hint of a growl in his tone. "Then teach it someplace else because you aren't teaching anything Illuminar would approve of, and I don't want that crap on my ship."

The luminar scrutinized Ethan for several seconds, then nodded. "I shall take my leave then."

He turned but his wife hesitated long enough to speak. "You should listen to my husband if you are willing to change your minds. He knows so much and can help you understand what you're missing about Illuminar and His glorious mysteries."

"Thanks but no thanks." Ethan replied. His voice wasn't exactly cool, but it wasn't warm either. Selene couldn't help but shake her head after the couple left, at the wife especially.

Good riddance.

Once they were out of earshot, she turned to Ethan. "Wow, who shoved a massive stick up her ass?"

"Oh, I don't know about massive." Ethan said in a deadpan voice. "I doubt he's well-endowed."

It took Selene a moment to catch his meaning.

Wow.

She started laughing.

"I don't get it." Beth said, looking at the Brazilian woman.

"Have you ever heard of anal sex?" Ethan asked.

"No, there weren't any books on sex in my father's house." The blonde replied, then cocked her head to one side. "Though, he might've done that on purpose because I loved to read so much. What is it?"

He explained it, and the teen clamped her hands over her butt. "Eww! Gross! Who would ever want to--" She froze as she looked at her husband. "Dominus, you wouldn't want... I mean, you wouldn't ask me to-- would you?"

"No." He shook his head. "I know some people love it, but I always felt like it was about as sanitary as sticking my dick in a toilet bowl. I have zero interest."

"Oh good." Beth breathed a sigh of relief.

Unless Selene was mistaken, it looked like his other wives were concealing similar looks of relief.

"Okay, next things next." Ethan said after a moment. "I need to go orc hunting."

* * *

Beth looked at her husband, really grateful that he didn't want to try... that. It sounded really uncomfortable, and she had absolutely no desire to try it.

"Angel, did you want to come with me?"

"What?" She frowned. "I thought you were going 'orc hunting' as you called it?"

"I am, want to come?"

"Uh..." She looked at her skinny arms which had never had any training in combat. "Um, Dominus, I'm pretty sure that's a bad idea."

"Are you now?" He grinned. "I sense a money making opportunity. How much do you want to bet?"

"Uh, I don't have anything to bet." She grimaced.

He just looked at her, and she felt like he had something up his sleeve. "Dominus, I know you wouldn't want me to get hurt, but there's no way I could come with you into orc territory without getting-- Oh!" Her eyes went wide as she realized what he had planned.

"Now you're getting there." His grin got wider. "Interested?"

"I would love to!" She leapt forward and threw her arms around him.

He hugged her back, then set her down. "You might want to relieve yourself before you enter the Astral Plane; we might be gone a long time.

"Oh! Good idea." She replied, then rushed to the latrine on the lower decks, finishing and washing as fast as she could before running back up the stairs. When she reached the top of the steps, she saw that Ethan was already in his armor with his weapons on the deck next to him. Everyone seemed to be watching the kitten, who was pushing the bottom of Ethan's hammer around with his nose and paws.

"He's trying to lift it." Selene chuckled.

"He can if he's worthy." Ethan joked back, and Beth remembered that had to do with one of those 'superheroes' from Ethan's home.

After several seconds, the kitten managed to get his paws under it enough that he lifted the very end of the wooden end of the war hammer. Then he nudged it up so he was holding it up with his head, and it slid down onto his back. He looked very pleased with himself.

"He is worthy." Ethan laughed.

"Maybe that should be his name then." Selene said, crouching down and petting the kitten with a happy sigh.

"Worthy?" Rachel raised her eyebrow. "That's a weird name for a cat."

Apparently the kitten agreed because he let out a squeaky meow that definitely sounded negative to the blonde teen.

"No, Thor." The Brazilian woman replied, which was met by a decidedly more positive sound from the cute fur ball. He then started rubbing up against the Brazilian woman and purring rather loudly.

"Oh, I like that." Rachel said after Selene had explained the hammer connection.

"I think he likes it too." Beth said as she watched.

"Okay then little guy, your name is Thor." The Brazilian beauty said to the kitten.

Thor started purring.

Everyone clapped, laughed, or did both. Curiously, Taloni was missing from the group. She had disappeared when the luminar and his wife had shown up, but never reappeared.

"You ready angel?" Ethan asked once Thor had moved on from the hammer and he had attached not only his other weapons, but also put on the grenade satchel and grabbed one of the enchanted rollable leather shields that the wood elven king had given them. It was currently in his hands, but Alana was eyeing it.

"What?" The blonde asked her.

"I have an idea; can I see the shield for a moment?" The wood elf asked Ethan.

He handed it over, and she closed her eyes a moved her hands slowly over it. After a minute, she looked up at him. "I have an idea, do you mind if I do some minor enchanting to the thin layer of dragon leather on the outside?"

"Go ahead." Ethan replied.

"What are you going to do?" The blonde teen asked.

"You'll see." Alana's eyes twinkled. She went down the stairs for several minutes, then returned with the shield rolled tightly from both ends. When flat, it was large and teardrop shaped. When rolled, it was only a few inches tall and very little more wide.

"Try this." She said, giving it to Ethan.

He slipped his hand through the shield, and it looked like an oversized bracer on his left arm. It would limit that arm's mobility somewhat because it stuck out past his elbow and also past his hand, but far less than it would when full size. When it was like this, Beth was sure that he could use his sword in two hands, which would've been nearly impossible when full size.

"It's now double activatable, so you can have it in either position." The enchantress explained. "Try activating it a few times."

He did.

The shield snapped out to be full size, then snapped back to the rolled configuration.

Ethan grinned. "It's perfect." He stepped closer to her and gave her a kiss full on the lips. Alana moaned into the kiss a bit and returned it with enthusiasm.

"I'll thank you properly tonight, but consider that a down payment." He said when their kiss broke.

"Mmm, I can't wait." She smiled back.

He turned to the blonde teen. "You ready?"

"Yes Dominus!" She exclaimed.

"Well then get to it." He nodded his head towards the captain's cabin.

Beth rushed inside and laid down on the bed, making sure the position was comfortable because her body would be in it for potentially several hours while she was on the Astral Plane. She closed her eyes and focused her attention on remembering the strangely purple world, then imagined her body was strapped to the bed while she sat up.

When she opened her eyes, everything was purple.

She grinned, then realized that the image of her being strapped to the bed could be fun in a certain other context...

Hmm.

*I'm ready Dominus.* She thought to everyone as she left the captain's cabin. She couldn't help but notice that Ethan still had the angelic blade Aharown on his side in addition to his other weapons. It was the only thing of normal color on the Astral Plane, and that made it stand out a lot.

*Alright then, why don't you start walking towards the mine.* He thought back. *I'm going to do some aerial recon so we can go in the right direction once we get there, although...* He frowned. *I wonder if I could enchant my eyes so I could see you? We're bonded, so... Hmm.* He closed his eyes for several seconds, which eventually stretched out to over a minute before he opened them again. He looked around, then his eyes settled on her.

He wolf whistled.

Beth felt her cheeks grow warm, which was weird since she wasn't in her body right now.

"You look a bit like a ghost, but at least I'll know where you are." He smiled at her. "Go ahead, and I'll meet you by the mine's entrance."

* * *

Ethan flapped his wings more to gain even more altitude, not entirely sure how high he should be to be safe from orcish arrows. He figured a thousand feet should be enough with his armor, enhanced reflexes, and the precognition that warned him of danger; his own personal 'dragon-sense'.

He looked down at the field and could see a faint blue glow walking across it. He had tightened the focus of the enchantment in his eyes, making it as narrow as possible to keep the mana costs down and it had worked. It used a sizeable chunk of his mana, but not so much that he couldn't heal in a fight. The result was that he could see a faint royal blue outline of his second wife. He'd chosen the color on purpose because it matched her dress.

He could see her clearly, but he could also see through her. It was a bit like a ghost in many movies. He could make out facial expressions without much difficultly, but he also could've seen the expressions of someone who was standing behind her.

*Go ahead and wait at the edge of the forest by the mine's entrance, and I'll meet you once I've done a fly-over.* He told her.

*Yes Dominus.* She said brightly, the smile that appeared on her face just barely visible to his dragon eyes.

He flew over the mountain range -- really more like a 'large hill range' -- looking for an orcish encampment. The hill range was densely wooded in some areas, but completely void of trees in other. The areas that were void of trees were extremely green like the rest of Ivernia, but there were plentiful bushes and other plants which gave it a wild appearance anyway.

Eventually he saw what he was looking for. It was situated about a mile southwest of the mine's entrance on a large hill with a mostly flat top. It was entirely devoid of trees on both the hilltop and slopes, which would both make defense with bows easy, and also make attacking it difficult. It would also make sneaking up on the camp virtually impossible.

It looked like the orcs dwelt in teepees similar to the Native America Indians. Instead of being arranged in a ring, they were arranged around a central large building, radiating outwards so the line of sight to the slope of the hill was blocked as little as possible.

Smart.

Annoying, but smart.

Of course, those particular things didn't affect him because he could fly. However, the large orcs wandering around as sentries with axes, clubs, and longswords -- the latter probably stolen from men they'd killed -- would definitely affect him. That and the bows; he was sure every male orc in the camp had a bow, though few were carrying them right now.

There were also a lot of goblins in the camp too, usually hanging out in groups of three.

There were several hills nearby on which an orc and several goblins were watching herds of sheep. For some reason, that seemed like a really strange thing to Ethan. However, he supposed that if they ate mostly meat, they'd need a source for it. It made sense, but still just seemed wrong to think of orcs as shepherds.

Overall it looked like there were maybe two hundred total in the camp, counting orcs and goblins.

The numbers were lower than he'd been expecting, but still far more than he could fight at one time.

*I'm heading to you.* He thought to Beth as he turned.

*I'll be waiting.* She replied.

He dropped down next to her at the edge of the forest not long afterwards. *You look good while blue.*

She frowned. *Don't you mean 'in blue'?*

*Nah.* He explained how he saw her while she was on the Astral Plane.

She chuckled. *Okay, I'll concede 'while blue'.*

He dropped down to all fours and decided that stealth was the right approach. The last thing he wanted was to be ambushed by orcs in a place where he couldn't fly. Being ambushed by goblins would be even worse. They started walking towards the orcish encampment as he tried to figure out what the plan was.

*Dominus, it's pretty cool that you can just enchant your eyes like that.* Beth said as they walked through the forest.

*Yeah, it is.* He replied. "I'm pretty sure the only reason I can see you is because we're bonded though."

*Oh?*

*Yeah, I think if I tried to see anything else, it either wouldn't work, or would take so much mana that it wouldn't be worth it.*

*Makes sense.* Beth replied, but he got the distinct impression that she had more to say. It took her another minute to say it though.

*Taloni told you no earlier at the service.* She pointed out.

*I noticed.* He nodded.

*Were you going to talk to her about that?*

He shook his head. *She'll come talk to me when she's ready to. I'm pretty sure it really bothers her, or will when she finishes calming down.*

*She hasn't already?*

*No.* He shook his head as he avoided stepping on a branch so the noise wouldn't give him away. *She was starting to, but she got upset again when the Luminar and his wife showed up again. That's part of the reason I didn't talk to her about it before I left.*

*Hmm.* She nodded, but didn't speak for several seconds. *You know her really well Dominus. You know us all really well, don't you?*

*I don't know about 'really well', but I try.*

The blonde stopped and looked at him, the near-transparent blue hue of her face in a thoughtful expression. *Who am I?*

*What do you mean?* He asked.

*Well, you know all of us so well, I guess I'm just wondering if you know who I am because I'm not really sure.*

*Oh?*

*Well, I guess I've always thought of myself in relation to other people. I mean, growing up in Gralden I was always 'Lord Borden's daughter', and then I got married and now I'm 'the prophet's wife'." She paused. *I realized after that talk with my father that I know exactly who I am in one area of my life -- I'm your wife and proud to be -- but what about the other areas?*

*Oh?*

*Yes.* She nodded. *I guess I was just wondering, who am I by myself? You know, not in relation to other people.*

He looked at her, and realized that she was just exactly the right age to start asking those kinds of questions. *I think you're you. You're Elizabeth Ejder, a kind, curious, knowledgeable, and--" He winked at her. "--a sometimes annoying well-read young woman who can do Astral Projection, which is pretty impressive if you think about it.*

She chuckled, then pursed her lips. *But that's just what I can do, who am I besides that?*

*What do you mean?*

*Um, am I a carefree girl, or am I more reserved? Am I a country girl or a city girl? Am I the kind of person you could see being happy as just a mother, or should I do something more?*

*Well, two things occur to me.* He replied as they started walking again. *First, why does it have to be only one of those? Why does it have to be one or the other? Why can't you be a country girl and a city girl? Why can't you be reserved sometimes and carefree at others?*

*I don't know, I suppose I could be?* She cocked her to one side, then looked at him. *What's the second thing?*

*There's no such thing a 'just a mother'.* He replied. *Being a mother is a lot of work, and I have nothing but the highest respect for full-time or stay-at-home moms.*

*Really?* Her face look hopeful.

*Absolutely.* He replied.

*Am I the kind of person you could see doing that?*

He gave her an amused look. *You do realize you're asking me to tell you what kind of person you are, right? That's not a good question for me, it's a better question for you.*

*I know, it's just that--* She stopped mid-sentence, and he knew exactly why.

Someone blew a horn from nearby.

An orcish horn.

Knowing it could only be for him, he stood up looking around for the danger.

The whole word slowed as he saw an orcish arrow heading towards his breastplate, striking dead on so that it cracked a rib.

His enhanced reflexes kicked in the instant his 'dragon-sense' activated. He couldn't possibly hope to dodge the arrow because he had only a quarter of a second notice. However, he twisted his torso as fast as he possibly could, angling it so the arrow hit obliquely.

Wham!

He was physically pushed back by the impact, which hurt like hell but thankfully didn't break any bones. It felt like someone had hit him with a small hammer though. The arrow didn't exactly skitter off, but instead the arrowhead cut a furrow into his dragon skin armor before it slid off. It didn't penetrate, but the furrow was deeper than he would've liked.

It also created a small dent.

He knew the self-repairing armor would begin to heal itself immediately, but doubted it would finish the job before the end of this fight.

He recovered his balance and activated his shield, unfurling it as half a dozen orcs arose from the bushes nearby. They didn't give him time to ready himself, but instead started charging at him instantly. They were all at least a foot taller than he was and built like line linebackers. One had a sword, two had axes paired with wooden shields, and the last three had clubs with spiked bands around the business end.

They were four yards out and closing, and he couldn't fly away because of the trees around him.

Fuck.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Note: This chapter began on day 91 of Ethan's life in the Ten Kingdoms, and ended on day 92. I'm glad so many people like the language connection from the last chapter. :) I try to make my stories as "realistic" as possible, including the fantastical bits. I'm glad that you all enjoy the extra details needed to make it that way.

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 March 29th, and it'll probably drop on March 30 or April 1st.

I'd like to extend a very special thanks to two of my patrons, 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