Chapter 44: No good deed goes unpunished

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

* * *

Ethan's enhanced reflexes gave him time to think, and he used that time just as Serif had drilled into him.

First, threat identification.

Six orcs had ambushed him in the forest leading to orc's camp, all rushing at him. They all towered over him, being as tall as professional basketball players and built like NFL linebackers. One was armed with a longsword, two had axes paired with wooden shields, and the remaining three had wooden clubs with iron bands at the tip. None of the orcs had armor. Their clothes all had a spread-fingered hand painted on their clothes in what looked like red paint. At least he hoped it was paint.

Second, threat assessment.

The longsword wielder: low threat, low defense. The blade couldn't penetrate his armor, and he highly doubted the orc was skilled enough to hit the small gaps between Ethan's armor plates. Further, the comparatively lightweight blade didn't have enough momentum to damage him through the armor like a heavier blunt weapon would. With his vastly superior training, Ethan was pretty sure he could defeat him in a few seconds if it was a one-on-one fight.

The two axe wielders with shields: medium threat, high defense. The axes were heavy enough to pose a danger even through the armor because of blunt force trauma, and would easily lop off a limb if they hit a gap between his armor plates. Their shields would make it significantly harder to attack them too.

The three club wielders: high threat, low defense. Those clubs might be able to break bones with blunt force even through the armor; avoid at all costs. The upside is that they were slower than his sword so defeating them wouldn't be as hard... but there were three of them.

Third, threat priority.

The two axe and shield wielders would take longer to kill because of the shields. The club wielders were high-risk, high reward. The longsword wielder would be relatively easy and fast to defeat, reducing the number of opponents.

The longsword wielder it is.

He pivoted on the balls of his feet to his ten 'O clock, dug his claws into the earth and leapt forward, raising his shield to block the incoming longsword attack as he drew his war sword. The orc's longsword bit slightly into his leather shield, but not much. Ethan angled the shield around a bit to give room to fully draw his large war sword. It cleared the scabbard and he rotated his wrist, keeping the blade above the shield as he cut towards the orc's chest.

The world slowed. The axe blade from the orc who had been in front of him -- but was now beside him -- impacted the back of Ethan's knee, hitting the gap between the armor plates and severing his leg.

Reacting to the warning from his 'dragon-sense', Ethan jerked his leg up as fast as he could, making the axe impact on the back of the greaves instead of his knee. With only a quarter-second warning, it was close.

Very close.

Wham!

The axe bit into his armor slightly, but didn't penetrate. The impact felt like a tank had rolled over his leg, but it still worked and wasn't broken. The impact and his fast leg adjustment made his sword attack on the longsword wielder go wide. His momentum carried him forward though, and he collapsed the shield to roll forward between the longsword wielder and the axe wielder who had attacked him.

He rolled into a standing position and leapt backwards to get some space.

Being a dragon, it was quite a jump.

Still, his chest ached from the earlier arrow hit and his leg was throbbing from the axe hit. They weren't damaged enough to impact his fighting skills though, so he didn't start healing them. He might need the mana for more serious wounds soon.

The six orcs fanned out in front of him.

It took him a moment to realize that they looked more interested in cutting off his escape rather than maneuvering for an attack. The primitive, draconic part of his brain recognized this from before when they had used goblins to rush at him.

Was that their plan now?

He chanced a glance behind him and didn't see anything, but the orcs had managed to surround and ambush him earlier and he had been completely oblivious to their presence, so he wasn't sure that meant anything. He could only think of one way to ensure he wasn't ambushed from the rear.

He leapt into a tree.

The lower branch was about fifteen feet off the ground. It was high but doable, especially with his strength enhancing armor. He sheathed his war sword and then realized that the distance had its downsides against orcs.

They were pulling out their warbows.

He reached down and snatched his dagger from his side, activated it into javelin mode, and threw it at one of the orcs who had a club. The orc had great reflexes and mostly managed to dodge it. Ethan had been aiming for his heart, but it pierced through his shoulder instead. It looked like it had punched through the joint too, which would've shattered the bones that it hadn't cut through.

Then he raised his shield as the other orcs loosed their arrows.

The impact on his shield from five orcish arrows coming from powerful 200+ pound warbows knocked him off balance and out of the tree. He rolled his shield and then twisted in mid-air to land on his feet, thanking his lucky stars that dragons were similar to cats that way and it was almost automatic, like a reflex.

The orcs started forward, and that's when Ethan remembered something.

He had grenades.

He reached into the grenade satchel and grabbed one with his right hand, leaving his sword in its scabbard. The orcs fanned out again and he realized that he wouldn't be able to get more than two, maybe three if he was lucky. Fortunately, two of them were standing together; an axe-and-shield orc next to a club orc.

He activated the grenade, waited three of the five seconds on the fuse to ensure that they didn't try to throw it back at him, then tossed it so it landed between the two of them. The orcs looked confused for a second, then...

BOOM!!!

Ethan had raised his shield just before the grenade had gone off to protect himself as a precaution, so he didn't actually see what happened.

He saw the aftermath though.

The grenade had-- well the two orcs were gone. Not vaporized, but there were bits of them all over the immediate area. The bits were large enough to be recognizable, and there was a red coating over the area that hadn't there had been seconds before.

The eyes of the remaining orcs widened to as large as saucers.

As much as Ethan would've liked to threaten them with another grenade, it was too risky if they tried to throw it back at him. His armor would protect most of him, but there were gaps between the plates and he didn't want to test the shield's strength. Instead, he drew his war sword and collapsed his shield so he could hold the blade in two hands. With only four opponents, one of whom had a disabled arm, he felt much more confident.

"Back off." He said as he moved his sword into a low guard, then raised a hand and summoned his javelin back to his hand, which elicited a cry of pain as it pulled itself out of the injured orc's shoulder. He cocked it back ready to throw, the threat obvious.

The orcs looked at each other and one said something in orcish.

Another replied with something that sounded decidedly disagreeable, but then a third orc spoke with an authoritative tone and gestured towards the camp. Slowly and without turning their backs, the remaining orcs collected their warbows started backing away from him.

Ethan didn't lower his sword.

With their long legs, it didn't take long for them to be far enough away that they were obscured by the trees. They retreated while facing him for a long ways before turning and double-timing it away from him, looking back regularly until they were out of sight.

Ethan let out a sigh of relief and lowered his sword, but wasn't stupid enough to lower his guard. He'd already been ambushed by orcs, so apparently their large size didn't prevent them from being quite stealthy. Come to think of it, their green skin tone probably helped as well. He switched his javelin to dagger mode and sheathed it, and likewise sheathed his sword.

*Ethan?* Alana's voice came tentatively to the group chat.

*I'm okay.* He replied, guessing that they had felt his emotions and had remained silent during the fight so as not to distract him. *A few orcs ambushed us but I'm okay. Alana, that new enchantment that made the shield rollable might've saved my life.*

*Oh, thank Illuminar.* The wood elf replied, which was followed by similar exclamations by his remaining wives.

*I think I might spend some time improving my hearing; I don't want to get ambushed like that again.* He mused to them, but afterward considered the noise of the grenades on enhanced ears.

That didn't sound pleasant.

Hmm.

*Good idea.* Selene replied. *Also, be careful out there; you'd leave behind a lot of widows if something happened to you.*

He smiled.

That sounded like the Brazilian woman was actually concerned about him, but didn't want to come right out and say it.

*I will be.* He replied, then turned to the translucent royal blue outline that indicated where Beth's Astral Plane form was. *So Angel, how do you feel about doing a little recon?*

*Oh?*

*Yeah.* He smiled and winked at her. *You didn't think I brought you all the way out here just because I like your hot body and pretty face, did you?*

The blonde chuckled and blushed, or at least he thought it was a blush; it was harder to tell when she was translucent. She hesitated for a moment.

*Come on, can you honestly tell me you aren't curious what an orc encampment is like?*

She smiled widely.

*I thought so, get going.* He said and swung his hand so that if she had been solid, he would've given her a playful smack on the butt.

*Yes Dominus!* She beamed, then took off running after the orcs.

As he watched her leave, he started healing the bruises from the fight. They weren't bad so it didn't take long. However, it did occur to him that he was getting awfully comfortable with fighting for his life. He wasn't even shocked anymore when someone appeared out of nowhere and tried to shuffle him loose from his mortal coil.

Now he was about to find out what an orc camp was like...

...unless there was another ambush.

That was always a possibility lately, and it seemed to happen to him and those around him with alarming frequency. Still, one ambush a day seemed like the max, right? Surely no one would ambush him again -- or worse his wives -- today, right? He shook his head; he'd gone from unmarried and ambush-free on Earth, to having five wives and constant ambushes in the Ten Kingdoms.

My how life had changed.

* * *

Selene winced as Rachel poked her with the large needle again, just deep enough that she could practice healing but not so deep as to cause problems. The needle actually had a round disk about a quarter inch from the point to prevent it from going too deep. It still hurt though.

"Okay, here goes." The Brazilian woman started focusing on the wound again, incorporating what the teen mage had just told her about healing. The caramel haired beauty had asked Taloni as well, but the Fey teen was clearly one of those intuitive types and her explanations weren't as helpful as Rachel's were. The redhead was clear and methodical while Taloni -- as helpful as she was trying to be -- was more abstract about how to actually do it.

Selene hated abstracts.

It went much faster this time and used much less mana with the teen mage's help, but still took over a minute and a significant chunk of her mana. Still, not bad for only her second day trying.

"Okay, that's better." She said as she looked at the now-healed wound after wiping away the few drops of blood that had escaped.

"You are picking this up so incredibly fast." The redhead shook her head slowly.

"Really?"

The teen mage nodded. "Yes. It took me a lot longer. I suspect it might have something to do with your bond to Ethan."

Selene frowned, but nodded anyway. "My telepathy did seem to appear almost instantly after bonding to him, and both magic and collecting mana got a lot easier too."

"Precisely." The redhead said. "All of us found it easier to collect mana after bonding to him, and I found it easier to do magic as well. Regardless, that's probably enough healing practice for today. You're probably down to what, half mana?"

"About." Selene replied, checking and seeing that her 'mana river' was about half as full as when she'd started.

"We'll pick it up later when you have more mana." Rachel said.

"I'll meditate to restore it then."

"Actually, it might be good if we just walked around town to do that."

"Oh?"

The redhead nodded. "Like I've explained before, all living creatures pull more mana than they need from the Ether and leave the excess lying around. Normally it's scooped up by mages pretty quickly in populated areas, which is why we usually need to meditate to pull it faster through the barrier. This town doesn't have any mages though, so you should be able to replenish your mana faster and more easily if we take a walk while you pull the excess in."

"Okay, let's do that then." She smiled. She didn't actually dislike meditating to restore her mana, but a walk sounded a lot more fun.

"Did I hear something about a walk?" Alana asked from nearby.

"Yeah, Selene and I were going to take a walk to replenish her mana. Did..." Rachel blushed slightly and got the tiniest of embarrassed smiles on her face. "Did you want to come with us?"

"I'd love to." A seemingly involuntary grin spread across the wood elf's face.

"Should we invite Taloni and Kendra too?" Selene asked, thinking they might feel left out.

"Sure." Alana and Rachel said at the same time, then looked at each other and got identical half-amused, half-embarrassed smiles.

Selene stood and looked around for the Fey and the dragon huntress but didn't see them on deck. However, she did see some riders to the north heading towards the town in the far distance. She squinted, but could only make out that there were about a dozen riders wearing green.

She shrugged and the three women found the other two and then told Anthiel what they were doing. Selene went below decks to the women's quarters at the front of the ship to find Thor. He was still curled up on some of Selene's clothes, just like he had been when the Brazilian woman had started practicing healing with Rachel.

"You're a good kitty." She whispered and gently petted him.

He started purring, though he didn't wake up.

"I'll be back soon." She whispered, then went up to the weather deck to link up with the rest of the girls and they headed towards the gangplank.

"Um, should we be armed?" Taloni asked just before stepping onto the gangplank. "Master seemed to think it was a good idea because of the orcs."

Selene hesitated and looked at Alana.

"It can't hurt, and that's what Ethan wanted." The wood elf replied.

They all went to the hold to get one of the elven swords that the wood elf king had given them. Selene hadn't yet seen a good reason to take her strength enhancing vambraces off -- much like Kendra never took hers off either -- and she grabbed one of the elven swords like all the other women except for Taloni.

Then they set off.

Dotmier was a much different town to walk through when it wasn't sopping wet from all-day rain. It was still a bit muddy, but it was far more pleasant. There were people outside doing various family chores like washing, plus kids playing outside and old men sitting on chairs shooting the breeze.

The town had a similar look and feel to one of those westerns where the hero rides up to a town that's slightly past it's prime, only the ground was mud instead of sand and the buildings were much closer together. The wood of the various buildings were mostly a weather-beaten gray color and it wasn't common to see newer wood. The sun was poking through the cloudy sky in places and the air was warm, as was typical for summer.

Rachel told Selene how to draw in the mana laying around the area as they walked, and the Brazilian woman found it much easier and faster than meditating to restore her mana.

Ahead of her, Alana and Rachel were leading the way.

It was funny to see because one of their hands would occasionally twitch towards the other, but they never actually held hands. Brushed each other once or twice yes, but not held. Unless Selene missed her guess, they were nervous about holding hands in public. Hell, Rachel was probably nervous about doing it in private.

The walk turned into a long, ambling stroll through town.

A lot of people waved to them and otherwise greeted them. More than one recognized them and they said things like:

"I'll be praying for your husband."

"Thank Illuminar that you're here."

Or even "I wish I could marry the prophet too" from some of the younger women.

Selene kept her comments about that to herself.

They eventually made it to the town gates as some riders were entering, and they looked like the ones she'd seen just before they left for the walk. All of them were wearing chainmail, and over it was a green surcoat with a stylized white mountain in the center of the chest.

The townspeople didn't exactly flee before them, but they certainly seemed to have business elsewhere all of a sudden.

Hmm.

The soldiers clearly noticed them -- frankly, they were a hard group to miss -- and their eyes followed them.

"Let's move on ladies." Alana said quietly enough that the men wouldn't hear, but not so low that it would look suspicious.

They moved on, and Selene could almost feel the soldiers' eyes on them until they were out of sight. Something about their gaze made her want to take a shower.

*Hey ladies, is something wrong?* Ethan asked, doubtless feeling their discomfort.

*Just some Ivernian guards staring while we take a walk around town; we're fine.* Alana replied.

*Okay, good.* He replied. *Beth should get to the orc camp soon; did you all want to hear, or should she only tell me what she--

*All of us!* Taloni interjected excitedly.

The ladies around her chuckled.

*Ok, just me it is then.* Ethan replied with mischievous amusement all over his tone.

*Mas-ter.* The Fey teen sighed as she shook her head.

Selene laughed.

They ambled around the town for another few minutes before deciding to head back to the Argo. Selene's mana was full and it was starting to get unpleasantly warm in the mid-morning sun. The clouds had started to dissipate from the sky, leaving them in the sun more as well.

"Hold up." Kendra said a minute later and they all stopped. The dragon huntress looked around, seeming a bit more tense that normal.

"What's wrong?" Alana asked.

"I'm not sure, but something feels off." The raven haired woman replied as she looked around.

"Off?" Selene asked.

"Yeah." The dragon huntress frowned, then rested her non-sword hand on the hilt of her bastard sword. "Keep your eyes open, something isn't right."

Alana nodded, then looked down the street they had been planning to take back to the Argo. "How about we try another way?"

Kendra nodded. "Selene, take point. I'll bring up the rear. Taloni, stay between Alana and Rachel."

Everyone nodded and then did as the veteran warrior instructed. The walked down a new street, and it did seem a bit quiet now that Selene was paying attention.

Too quiet.

"Halt!"

In front of them, one of the Ivernian soldiers stepped out from behind a building. He was followed by five more men who fanned out and blocked the exit from that direction. Five of the men were holding arming swords and shields, the last was armed with a bow.

Selene looked behind them to see five more soldiers run up behind them from another street.

They were trapped.

That wasn't good.

All the ladies stopped, looking wary.

*Ethan, we're about to be ambushed by some Ivernian guards.* Alana thought to the group chat.

*Fuck!* Ethan nearly roared over the bond. *I can't fly directly there because of the trees. God Damnit! I'll make for open ground and get there as fast as I can.*

The wood elf looked at the man who seemed to be commanding the others, as he had white shoulder markings on his surcoat which the others didn't. "What can I help you with?"

"Are you the wives of Ethan Ejder." The man said.

It wasn't a question.

"Yes." Alana replied simply. Selene supposed that it didn't make much sense to lie; it was rather obvious and the news was all over town.

"Surrender your weapons; you're under arrest." The commander barked.

"For what crime?" The wood elf asked.

"Aiding and abetting that Fey--" He pointed at Taloni. "--who accompanied your husband while he attacked a Reeve."

"From what I understand, that Reeve was cheating people out of their money by taking more than he should have." The brunette countered. "Shouldn't you be arresting him?"

"No one messes with a Reeve in Ivernia. No one." The commander replied, clearly not interested in discussing the matter. "Drop your weapons or we'll take them off your corpses."

"You sure you want to make a dragon angry by attacking his wives?" Selene asked.

The commander scoffed. "Everyone knows that dragons don't give a shit about the bitches they bed; he'll replace you within a month. Last chance; drop your weapons."

*Ladies.* Alana though to all of them. *Surrender or no?*

Selene considered. The men were wearing almost full chainmail, though their faces were exposed. Their elven swords could pierce the chainmail on a good reinforced thrust, but cuts would be entirely ineffective. On the other hand, none of the ladies were wearing armor and Selene didn't have her shield either. Sure she'd practiced without it, but she was far better with it.

"Kill them." The commander said, apparently thinking that three seconds of hesitation was too long.

Selene drew her sword.

Behind her, she heard Kendra do the same and then the dragon huntress thought to everyone. *Taloni, fly back to the Argo and get Serif and Raklan. Now!*

The Fey nodded, then her wings became a blur as she started flying away.

*Rachel, behind us!* Kendra though to everyone.

The men at the rear had charged.

Rachel spun around and let off two successive air-rams, knocking them back and stunning them somewhat. But for a few seconds, she hadn't been looking forwards.

She hadn't been watching the enemy archer.

Twang!

Taloni screamed.

Selene looked up to see the most wonderful, sweetest girl she'd ever met tumble out of the sky with an arrow sticking out of her chest. She couldn't even see where she'd gone or how injured she was because she'd tumbled out of sight, behind another building.

"Taloni!" Kendra yelled.

*Selene, incoming!* Rachel thought to the group chat, a blazing inferno in her tone.

The Brazilian woman looked forward in time to see an incredibly powerful air-ram hit the archer from behind, blasting him forwards and towards her. She extended her blade, activating her strength enhancing vambraces just before the archer was literally thrown onto her sword. Her blade easily punctured the chainmail and buried itself up to the hilt in the man's chest, piercing his heart through. She barely had time to recover and remove her sword because the other guards from the front started closing.

Fast.

* * *

Ethan tore through the forest as fast as he possibly could, making for open ground so he could fly.

Then he felt it.

Taloni!

He felt their bond erupt in pain, then he felt her blackout. She wasn't dead, but she must be injured. Badly injured.

*Taloni!* He called to her telepathically, but she didn't answer. He could still feel her so she was alive, but she didn't answer.

The dragon within him roared in rage and he made no attempt to suppress it. Someone had hurt Taloni. He didn't know who, but he was a dead man. Absolutely fucking dead! He gave his dragon instincts free reign as he strained his muscles running on all fours, seeing open ground just ahead.

* * *

Selene narrowly dodged a thrust that would've ended all possibility of her having children, then riposted with her arming sword. The soldier in front of her blocked it though. Another soldier next to him hacked at her, but was blown backwards by an air-ram from Rachel.

*Thanks Rachel.* She thought to everyone.

They were in trouble.

Kendra was holding off the five men to their rear while Selene held off the ones in front, and only alternating support from Rachel was even making that much possible. Alana had her sword out, but clearly didn't have much experience with it so she was wisely staying back and only attacking targets of opportunity. That didn't happen very often and she hadn't scored a good hit yet.

Really, Selene wanted to finish this fast so they could find Taloni, but there was no way to escape.

If only Alana had her bow.

*Some fireballs would be really nice right now Rachel.* Selene though to everyone.

*Then I'd have to stop--* An air ram hit a soldier in front of Selene. *--doing that.*

That's when Selene remembered.

She wasn't fighting at full strength.

She had an ace up her sleeve.

Telepathy.

She took a fraction of a second to open a window in her mental defenses so she could try to figure out what the man in front on her was going to-- half a dozen sword moves came to her mind at once. She instantly shut the window into her mind to block out the chaos, which she assumed was from multiple men. It had been a lot easier to predict Raklan when it was only one person.

She had been distracted for barely a moment while trying to do use telepathy, so Rachel had to save her skin. Thankfully, the air-ram she used made the soldier stumble into one of his comrades, making them off balance enough that Selene managed to get the point of her sword into one's neck. It didn't go deep, but hitting the throat meant you didn't need to.

He went down...

But there were four more behind him.

"Fuck!" Kendra hissed from behind her, and Selene chanced a glance. The dragon huntress had also downed one of the soldiers, but was fighting for all she was worth to keep the remaining four at bay. She was just too heavily outnumbered even with Rachel's help.

Selene had the same problem.

The other soldiers apparently had underestimated her, probably because of her looks which happened a lot. But now that she'd killed one of them, they were being a lot more cautious. Rachel kept throwing them back but wasn't using full power air-rams -- probably for lack of time -- so they weren't going very far and got back into the fray quickly. She dearly wished that Alana had her bow; half of them would've been dead right now.

Maybe all.

They were barely fighting to a standstill as it was, and the soldiers could afford to make a few mistakes with their chainmail armor. The ladies couldn't since they didn't have any.

It was looking grim...

...then Selene noticed a dark shadow flying low and fast towards them.

Ethan.

She felt her heart soar slightly as she parried another attack.

"I'm going to have some fun with y--" The soldier she'd been fighting started to say, but he never got a chance to finish the sentence.

Ethan's javelin suddenly burst through his chest.

The man directly in front of Selene hadn't noticed the oncoming dragon yet and aimed a slice at the Brazilian woman that she barely parried. The man next to him took advantage of the opening to try to run her through. However, he never got the chance.

The dragon landed on him.

It wasn't a tackle either. The dragon had dived from at least a hundred feet up and landed on him feet first, his claws digging into the chainmail. The man crumpled like someone stomping on a soda can, and the crunch was sickening.

There was a soldier on either side of him and neither out-lived the crumpled man by more than a second. At the same moment that the dragon's feet made contact, the tip of Ethan's dragon steel sword burst through one man's chest, and the other man--

CRACK!!!

The sonic boom from the lightning coming from the war hammer was nearly deafening. The electricity arced over the second soldier's chainmail, though oddly it didn't seem to affect him. Instead, it arced over the chainmail and disappeared into the ground.

The hammer strike did affect him though.

The man's back had probably been broken by the impact, and Selene took the opportunity to make sure he was dead by thrusting into his prostrate form.

The dragon kept moving.

He didn't even slow down.

One moment he was landing on the soldier, the next he was pushing off to jump into the air over his other wives. He left his sword behind, embedded up to the hilt in the solider it had killed. Then Rachel -- probably having been told to do so by him -- sent out an air-ram that pushed all of the soldiers back a few feet, but fell far short of knocking them down.

The dragon landed in the newly cleared space, extending his shield as he went. The men swung at him as one, but the large kite shield blocked their attacks. Then the dragon crouched and spun, his long tail acting like a longer third leg and sweeping two of them off their feet.

Still the dragon was moving.

He leapt forward out of his crouch, bringing his hammer down into the face of one of the soldiers he'd knocked down before he had even hit the ground. The dragon then shield-bashed one of the two still-standing soldiers, knocking one into the other. Then he brought his tail down hard on the soldier who'd just been knocked down but still had his face. The man exhaled in such a way that Selene was sure he'd just had the wind knocked out of him.

The dragon kept moving, using his shield like a battering ram he slammed into the two remaining soldiers with magically enhanced strength. He whipped his hammer out from behind the shield, hitting one man in the head.

He dropped like a ton of bricks.

The remaining man dropped his sword and might've been about to surrender... but he never got the chance. The dragon whipped his shield out, striking him in the throat. That was followed by a hammer strike to the side of the head. On earth, he would've had a closed-casket funeral.

Only then did the dragon stop.

From beginning to end, the whole thing had been one long, fluid attack. Each motion had flown from the previous and into the next with seemingly no break in flow or motion. It had taken less than ten seconds from start to finish. It had been like watching a deadly ballet. Despite the situation, she felt a slight itch in her loins at the fearsome and awe-inspiring demonstration of martial skill...

...then she remembered Taloni.

"Ethan, Taloni needs help!" Selene called. "She was hit by an arrow as she tried to fly to the Argo, that way." She pointed in the direction Taloni had fallen and Ethan instantly leapt into the air, flapping his wings to get over the buildings and dropping out of sight.

He was gone as suddenly as he'd appeared.

Selene took a deep breath.

Wow.

She could barely believe the carnage he had wrought in only a few seconds. There were ten dead men around them, only three of which had been killed by the ladies in a protracted and desperate fight for survival. The dragon had arrived and killed the remaining seven in about that many seconds. The one remaining living soldier who Ethan had smacked with his tail was still alive but gasping for breath, likely from having the wind knocked out of him.

Alana walked up to him and put a sword point to his neck.

He froze.

Selene simply couldn't believe how much devastation Ethan had wrought. Suddenly, it made a little more sense why everyone on this world feared dragons. Of course, Ethan had weapons and armor other dragons wouldn't have, plus the element of surprise which probably made him five times more effective than he otherwise might have been, but still.

"Rachel, Kendra, split up and go try to find Ethan and Taloni and see if you can heal her." Alana said. "Selene and I will make sure this Saidow spawn doesn't move an inch..." She leaned forward with a look of cold fury on her face, sword point still at his throat. "...unless he wants to meet Saidow personally."

Kendra and Rachel took off running in opposite directions.

The man gulped.

* * *

It didn't take long for Ethan to find Taloni. She hadn't fallen very far, and it looked like she'd hit a roof before tumbling into the street below. His blood ran cold when he saw the broken shaft of an arrow sticking out of her chest, but someone had beat him there.

A man was wrapping what looked like a hand towel around the arrow shaft that was sticking out of her chest. The Fey teen was propped up against a woman. Ethan vaguely recognized her as one of the two women who'd gasped when Taloni had sworn in the Fey language at the dawn service just a couple hours ago. He didn't recognize the man at all.

"Where's a healer when you need--" The man started to say.

The man and woman both jumped as Ethan dropped down next them.

"Is she okay!" He asked urgently, dropping his hammer and rushing over to his wife.

The couple was staring at him wide-eyed, and that's when Ethan realized that he was a dragon that was probably covered in blood. His war hammer especially almost looked like he dipped it in red paint.

"That's my wife." He said urgently. "How is she?"

"Um..." The woman swallowed. "The arrow missed her heart by a fair margin, but it punctured a lung."

Now that he was looking at the wound, it looked bad. The arrow had fortunately missed her wings, but it had punched through her chest on her right side and was still embedded there. The entry wound was on her back just below her right shoulder blade. The arrow was poking through her dress in the front, about two inches above the nipple of her right breast. Thankfully the arrowhead was of the slim, anti-armor bodkin type and not the wide-bladed hunting type. The former mostly poked holes, the latter might've caused enough bleeding to kill her by now. The back of the arrow shaft had snapped off right near the entry wound, probably when she'd fallen.

She was still breathing, but it was labored and she was unconscious.

*Ethan, I just sent Kendra and Rachel to find you, but they could probably use some help.* Alana thought to him.

"Kendra! Rachel! I'm over here!" He called loudly.

"I don't know what to do except keep pressure on the wound." The man said. He had wrapped a towel around the wound and pushed it up tight against her chest. Although his hands were near the Fey's breast to hold the towel, he wasn't touching it.

"I've got people coming." Ethan replied, then called loudly again. "Kendra! Rachel!"

A few moments later, Kendra and then Rachel appeared at opposite ends of the street. The moment his wives saw him, they sprinted towards him, Kendra dropping her sword in her haste.

"How is she?" Rachel asked, arriving first with the dragon huntress only moments behind.

"You tell me." Ethan said, feeling his hands start to shake slightly. He didn't know what to do, but there was nothing he wanted more than to save his wife.

"Move, let me see." Kendra said.

He moved, remembering that she would probably know first aid given her former occupation.

Kendra put her hand on Taloni, closed her eyes for several seconds, and then sighed in relief. "Okay, I think she'll be fine but we need to get this arrow out. Rachel, how good are you at healing others?"

The mage grimaced. "Not terrible, but I'm not Taloni either."

Kendra gave her a pained smile. "No one is."

Ethan swallowed hard.

"We'll do it together." Rachel replied, worry on her face.

Kendra looked at Ethan and the other man. "We need to lay her down on something clean, then pull the arrow out the front. Rachel and I will start healing as soon as possible, and hopefully she won't get too much blood in her lungs if we work fast."

"Something to set her on?" Ethan looked around wildly for a moment before he thought of something. He disengaged the back plate of his armor and dropped with the inside facing up. The outside was covered in blood, but the inside was pretty clean. It was the cleanest thing he had anyway.

Since Taloni was propped up against the woman, she helped lower the Fey onto the armor plate. The honey-blonde teen looked so small and frail to him right now. His wonderful wife. He took a deep breath and tried to remember that Kendra had said that she should be fine.

"Okay, you pull and we'll heal." Kendra said first to Ethan and then Rachel.

Ethan put one hand flat on Taloni's upper chest around the slightly bloody towel and wrapped his other hand around the arrow's shaft.

"Pull." Kendra said after both she and Rachel had their hands on the Fey teen.

He did.

With his strength-enhancing armor nearly doubling his strength, he pulled the arrow out with one hand, then used the towel to cover the wound and hopefully soak up as much blood as possible so as little blood as possible got into her chest cavity, and especially her lung.

Kendra and Rachel both had their eyes closed and Ethan could almost feel the magic at work, knitting the Fey's seemingly frail body back together.

After about a minute, they both stopped.

"She should be fine." Kendra breathed a sigh of relief, then hesitated. "Well, eventually. She'll need to take it easy for the next couple days, and she'll probably also need to monitor it for infections since we can't. But she should be fine in a few days."

Ethan breathed a huge sigh of relief. *She'll be fine ladies.* He thought to everyone.

The rush of relief from all his other wives was almost palpable.

*She'll need to rest a few days, but should make a full recovery.* He added.

Ethan looked down and realized that his hand was shaking slightly. He was still holding the bloody arrow. He dropped it like it was a venomous snake. His whole body suddenly felt very warm and his breath got a bit shaky.

"Ethan, calm down." Kendra said in a soothing voice. "She'll be okay, and the last thing we need is for you to go into shock. It's just adrenaline; it'll pass. She'll be okay."

He took a few deep breaths and nodded, then looked down at his third wife.

Taloni.

He could feel himself tearing up at the mere thought of losing her. He blinked several times, trying to get himself under control. His hands were still shaking. It felt like his heart was pounding in his chest. He reached down and touched her cheek with the back of his fingers, gently stroking it while his hands shook slightly. Even in her unconscious state, he could've sworn that she inclined her head toward his hand fractionally.

He sniffled and blinked several times, and the liquid that he hadn't realized had been threatening to escape his eyes finally did so. He took a long shuddering breath as he realized how close he'd come to... to losing...

He swallowed hard.

It was too much.

"Hey, hey she'll be okay." He heard Kendra's voice from beside him, and moments later the dragon huntress had wrapped her arms around him. "She's fine, we saved her."

He broke down.

He could feel himself beginning to nearly sob and he clung to his fifth wife, and Rachel too when she added her slender arms to Kendra's.

"It'll be okay." Rachel said, though her voice cracked a bit. "She'll be okay."

"But she almost wasn't." He swallowed.

"But she is." Kendra replied. "Let it out, but she'll be okay."

"Masser?" He heard a faint voice mumble.

Instantly Kendra and Rachel were off him and looking at Taloni.

"I'm here Tee, I'm here." He leaned forward and gently stroked her cheek.

Her lips curved up slightly and she let out a soft sigh. "Mmm, Masser..." She mumbled and then seemed to fall asleep, her chest slowly rising and falling.

Kendra made a noise somewhere between a heavy exhale, a sigh, and a laugh.

"What?" He asked.

"She just had an arrow through her chest and was unconscious, yet was aware enough to try to take care of you when you were upset." Kendra smile. "Can you think of anything more 'Taloni' than that?"

He smiled as he looked at his Fey wife. "No, I really can't."

He took a deep breath.

She would be okay.

She was okay.

* * *

Sarah followed Fiona towards the kitchens of Lord Delmar's airship, the Helene. Apparently it had originally been named something else, but he had renamed it after his wife had died.

"I was hearing that it was her favorite airship." Fiona continued her explanation. "There's a rumor going around that he hired an arch-mage to enchant all the wood to be self-repairing because he was wanting to preserve it in memory of her. Apparently, they were married on it."

"Aww, that's so sweet." She felt her heart ache slightly. She knew what it was like to lose someone you loved and she would never forget her mother. "And sad."

"Aye, it 'tis." The copper haired woman nodded. "The Lord Delmar is using the Helene most often, even though he has larger and grander airships."

Fiona's accent made 'lord' sound like 'lard'. Her copper hair bounced a bit as she walked, and her pale skin had more freckles than the night sky had stars. Her smiles were genuine and reached into her eyes, but there was always a bit of pain there too. Somehow, that made her smiles more meaningful.

"Ah, here we are." The copper haired woman said, then opened a door into a large but slightly cramped kitchen.

There were many women rushing about cutting, chopping, and stirring various things. There were spices lining the walls and no shortage of vegetables in barrels. There was an iron firepan suspended above the deck with a fire in it, and hanging over it was a large pot. It looked like they were making soup because people were regularly putting vegetables in it.

"Fiona, where you been?" A large, confident woman asked. "Lord Delmar wants some chicken soup for lunch and we need to get it going."

The woman wasn't very tall but she looked like she meant business. She had a slightly plump look about her and her mousy brown hair was tied into a loose bun at the back of her head. She was wearing a simple dress with an oversized apron over it and looked like she could successfully out arm-wrestle half the men Sarah had met in her life.

"Yes Marge." Fiona said with a curtsy.

"And who's this?" The woman -- Marge apparently -- looked at Sarah.

"She a guest of Lady Ekthros." Fiona said, then added what seemed to be a clarification. "But she's really nice."

"First time for everything." The woman frowned, then scrutinized Sarah.

"She likes cooking and wanted to see the kitchen." Fiona explained

"Well, you're welcome to be here, but we're working and I ain't got no time or space for observers. If you're in here, you're cooking."

"Okay!" The innkeeper's daughter beamed. She hadn't cooked anything since she'd been captured, which meant it had been far too long in her opinion.

"What do you know how to do?" The cook asked.

"Um." She hesitated. "Well, my father owns an inn and I do-- well, I did most of the cooking. People seemed to like my food." She felt a little pained as she thought about her father. She missed him and wanted to see him again as soon as she could. Sadly, that might be a while. Lady Ekthros had promised to send him a letter explaining everything, but that would take time.

The woman harrumphed. "Well, we'll see about that. You know how to make a white roux?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Well you can help with the broth then." Marge said. "Just let me double-check your work before you add anything to the pot."

"Okay!" Sarah beamed.

"Well, why are you standing around gawking then? Get to it!" The woman barked, though she wasn't grumpy; just busy.

"Yes ma'am." Sarah said and got to work, humming to herself as she did.

She had really missed cooking.

* * *

Ethan could feel his heartbeat slowly returning to normal as he reminded himself yet again that his third wife would be fine. Weak for a couple days, but fine. He looked up at the couple who had helped her before he had arrived. They looked to be in their late thirties or early forties. They were dressed well enough, but certainly not richly. He got a good vibe from them.

"My name is Ethan, and these are my wives, Taloni, Rachel, and Kendra." He indicated each in turn.

"We know, we saw you all at service this morning." The man smiled. "My name is Arven, and this is my wife Ketura."

"Concubine." Ketura corrected her husband, then spoke to Ethan. "Nice to meet you."

Her husband shook his head -- the concubine thing sounded like one of those old married couple disagreements -- and then he continued. "It's a pleasure to meet the prophet of Illuminar, despite the circumstances."

"Pleasure to meet you both." Ethan replied. "And thank you so much for helping her." He gestured at Taloni.

"I heard her scream and saw her fall, so we came over to help. We were happy to." He replied and his wife -- or concubine? -- agreed.

"I should get her home." He said, looking at his dear wife.

"I know you have an airship, but my house is nearby if you don't mind. You would be most welcome for an early lunch."

"Thank you, but we couldn't impose." Ethan replied.

"Actually, I wish you would." Arven said.

"Oh?"

"I was actually hoping to speak with you regarding that sermon from this morning."

"I hated it." Ethan offered, not taking his eyes of his unconscious wife.

"I had hoped you would say that given your demeanor, your words notwithstanding." The other man said. "I would love to host you for lunch, and your other wives are welcome also."

*Um, ladies would you want to attend lunch with the couple that helped us save Taloni?* He asked everyone, and got a general chorus of agreement.

*Ethan, one of the soldiers is still alive.* Alana said. *I'm not sure what you want to do with him.*

*Hang on.* He looked at Arven, glad of some practical matters to distract him. "Do you have a jail in this town?"

"Not really." The man shook his head.

Ethan thought to everyone. *Okay, get Serif or Raklan down here to tie him up and we'll thrown him in the Argo's hold for now until we get a chance to interrogate him. I want to know who attacked you and why.*

*Will do.* The wood elf replied.

"You're sure you don't mind?" He asked the couple again.

"We would love to have you over." The woman assured him.

"Okay, then we'd be happy to accept."

* * *

"Um, excuse me, Marge?" Sarah asked tentatively.

The plump woman turned around from the chicken she'd been deboning. "What?" Her tone was terse, but not unfriendly.

"Um, where are the eggs?"

Marge raised an eyebrow. "Eggs? Whatever for? We're making chicken soup not egg soup."

"Oh, I always..." The innkeeper's daughter stopped. "Nevermind." She turned to go, but then felt the cook's hand on her shoulder.

"Stop it girl. If you've got something to say, say it. Stop bandying about."

"Oh, um." She hesitated a moment. "I always added some diced, hard-boiled eggs to my chicken soup. The whites add some color and texture, and the yolks dissolve and give the broth a nice bit of richness in the flavor and add some body too."

Marge looked at her for several seconds. "I've been cooking for several decades and I've never heard of that."

"Oh, well it was just something I tried one day and really liked."

Marge looked at her for a long moment, then spoke without taking her eyes off of Sarah. "Fiona, go get a bowl, a large ladle, and one of those hard boiled eggs we keep on hand for the first officer." The cook then eyed Sarah. "I'm not so proud that I won't try an interesting idea, even if I don't think it'll work."

"I think you'll like it." The innkeeper's daughter said with a smile.

"We'll see." Marge replied. "Go make it up and I'll try it."

Sarah did so, taking care to mince the hardboiled egg finely and stir the bowl well so the yolk completely dissolved. She only used part of the egg, since this was just for a bowl and not for a whole pot.

Marge then took a spoon and tasted the soup from the pot after blowing on it to cool it. "Then let's try yours." The cook did the same with the small bowl that Sarah's modified soup was in.

"Hmm." The cook mused as she tasted it.

Sarah waited with bated breath.

After several seconds, the cook looked at her. "You're right; richer flavor and a bit more body to the broth." The plump woman rubbed her chin for a moment and spoke almost to herself. "Okay, we'll add eggs to chicken soup for the foreseeable future then." She looked at Sarah with an approving nod. "Get enough eggs hard-boiled for that pot, and snap to it."

"Yes ma'am!" She replied, heart swelling at the professional cook's approval of her work.

"Well done Sarah." Fiona said from behind her. "Now come on, I'll be showing you where the eggs are."

* * *

Ethan had stowed his armor into backpack form and then carefully picked Taloni up and carried her in his arms to Arven and Ketura's house. The Fey teen looked a bit pale, but was sleeping peacefully and seemed to be okay. He watched where he was going, but he spent rather a lot of time looking at his third wife. She had the cutest round face that he adored and a great deal of innocence despite her hard life. He couldn't see her eyes since they were closed, but they were captivating and her smile... He didn't think he would ever be able to put into words how glad he was that she was okay.

Eventually he arrived.

Arven and Ketura's house looked much like most of the other buildings in Ivernia; well-taken care of but in some disrepair anyway for want of funds. Their house might've been in a bit better shape than others, but not by a lot. The inside was quite cozy and comfortable. It was decorated in a style that reminded Ethan of a ranch in the country, though less 'cowboy' and more 'homey'.

"Yalia, we're home." Arven called when he'd walked in, then turned to Ethan. "If you'll follow my daughter, she can put your wife in her bed for now, just let her put something down for the blood first."

"Pa'pa, is Matthew coming ov--" The question ended as the speaker entered and saw the visitors. She was perhaps late teens or very early twenties. She gave them a little curtsy that was a perfect balance between childlike innocence and womanly grace, and her voice was kind and pleasant. "Hello."

Yalia was... hard to categorize.

She wasn't beautiful, she wasn't ugly, and oddly she wasn't anywhere in between either. She was... the only word he could think of was 'marriageable', and yes that was a strange descriptor. Something about how she looked just screamed 'marry me because I'll be the perfect wife'. Ethan didn't have any interest in marrying her, but that was the vibe she gave off, and he was positive that she wasn't doing it on purpose.

It just seemed to be the way she was.

Strange.

She wouldn't win any beauty contests, but no one would ever call her ugly. She wouldn't turn heads, but something about her was captivating. It was like she sat entirely outside the traditional concept of physical beauty, and yet was reasonably physically attractive despite that.

It was... weird.

She had brown hair and was about Sarah's height, with dainty features, kind eyes, and a pleasant smile.

"Yalia, please put a towel on your bed and help Ethan put his injured wife down on it." Arven said.

"Yes Pa'pa." She grabbed a towel from a nearby cabinet and led Ethan to a small bedroom with a bed that was barely the size of a twin on Earth. Honestly, her room was only a little larger than Sarah's room at the inn.

These people definitely weren't rich.

"Here let me clear these." Yalia said, carefully picking up some books and papers from the bed and setting them gently on a nearby wooden crate that was covered in a crocheted doily and seemed to serve as an end table. She then spread the large and somewhat ragged-looking towel on the bed.

Ethan stepped over and gently set Taloni down, and she made a slight sighing noise in her sleep as he did so. When he started withdrawing his arms, the Fey teen half muttered something in her sleep that sounded a bit like a protest.

He tucked her hair behind her ears and kissed her gently on the forehead. "Sleep Tee, I'll just be in the next room if you need me."

She sighed and seemed to relax at his instruction.

He stood up and made to leave, but was finding it hard.

"If you like, I can sit with her." Yalia offered. "I was doing some reading and I like having company." For some reason, he got the distinct impression that the girl really wouldn't mind.

"Thanks." He nodded. He stepped to the door, but still had a hard time leaving his wife.

"Ethan." Rachel said from behind him. "She'll be okay."

"Yeah, I know." He nodded.

He didn't move.

He stood there for several minutes, just watching her sleep. At that moment, he thought she was the most beautiful sleeper he'd ever seen. He didn't care how weird that sounded either, it was true.

"Ethan."

He smiled. This time it was Alana's tender voice. He reached his hand out towards her without looking behind him and she took it, giving it a gentle squeeze before hugging his arm.

She gently kissed his arm, and then spoke softly. "She's okay and she needs to rest."

He nodded slowly. "I know."

"Come on sir, we shouldn't neglect our hosts."

"Okay." He replied.

He still didn't move.

"I promise I'll let you know if anything changes." Yalia said before sitting down on another wooden crate with a cushion attached to it to turn it into a backless chair. She picked up one of the books that she had put on the crate/end table.

"Okay." He said, and this time he let his first wife gently pull him away from the doorway.

"You sir, are a man in love." Arven said as he watched Ethan return to the living room and offered him a seat on the couch.

"I am." Ethan unhooked his armor pack and set it down, then flopped down in the offered seat and let out a great sigh.

*Ethan, Serif and Raklan have the surviving soldier tied up on the Argo's lower deck.* Selene thought to him. *I'll be there soon.*

*Um, could someone give me directions?* Beth asked.

*Sorry angel, I completely forgot.* Ethan said.

*The others were in danger; I completely understand.* The blonde replied. *I'll be at the Argo soon, I just need some directions to where you all are.*

*I'll wait for you and we'll walk there together.* Selene volunteered.

*Thank you.* The blonde replied.

*Someone is going to find those bodies.* Ethan thought to everyone. Now that he wasn't so worried about Taloni, he was starting to think through the implications of what had just happened. His weapons had already been retrieved and returned to him, but there were still dead bodies in the street.

*There's not much we can do about the bodies at this point.* Kendra replied. *You'd need a full team for containment and it's already not going to happen. We would've had to start seconds after the battle finished in a town like this.*

*It was self-defense, though I'm not sure how much the Ivernian military will care.* Selene interjected.

*I can go tell the mayor if you like, that way we're as open as possible about this.* Kendra volunteered.

*I'll head back to the Argo and make sure Selene and Beth don't get lost since they haven't been here yet.* Rachel offered.

*Thanks, I'd appreciate it.* Ethan replied.

Kendra spoke aloud at this point. "Rachel and I have some errands to run, so we'll be back soon if that's okay."

"It's entirely fine." Their host replied.

The two women left, leaving Ethan with Alana sitting on a couch that had clearly seen better days. It was well-repaired and clean, but rather worn in places.

"So, what happened?" Arven asked. "That looked like an Ivernian military arrow and I thought I heard the sounds of battle."

Alana gave him a brief description of what had happened, which led to Arven asking about Ethan's brush with the Reeve, which led to the retelling of that story as well.

"I'm afraid you've made a serious enemy of Lord Farbrottan." Arven sighed when they had finished. "He doesn't tolerate interference with his Reeves. He comes down like a hammer on anyone who interferes with tax collection."

"Which my husband knows from personal experience." Ketura shook her head ruefully.

"Oh?" Alana asked.

"Yes, I'm the Reeve of this barony." Arven replied. "However, I don't produce as much tax revenue as other Reeves because I don't cheat the people. Suffice it to say that I'm not popular in my field."

Ethan stared at him.

He looked around the house and realized that Arven lived very little better than those around him, which was a far cry from that corrupt Reeve, Zalaus. He then remembered the mine owner's words from the previous day -- had it only been one day? -- saying that the Reeve here was actually an honest man.

"I'm afraid I haven't paid my taxes." Ethan said in a halfhearted attempt at humor.

Arven and Ketura chuckled.

Ethan leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

What a morning.

First waking up with Kendra gone because she felt guilty, then that disaster of a service, then the talk with Kendra afterwards, then the recon of the orc camp and getting ambushed, his wives getting ambushed, and finally Taloni's injuries and healing. He was mentally, physically, and emotionally drained; like a wet towel that had been wrung out by the Hulk, or the punching bag of a champion boxer.

"Stick a fork in me, I'm done." He said, then took a deep breath.

"I realize that you're exhausted." Arven began. "But there's something you need to consider."

"Yeah?" He said, not opening his eyes.

"There's a good chance that the local military outpost will send more men."

Ethan lifted his head. "You mean, when their men don't return?"

"Yes." Arven nodded. "It probably won't be until tomorrow at the earliest, or more likely the day afterwards. But eventually they will come. Lord Farbrottan is very formulaic when dealing with people who threaten his Reeves."

"I'm afraid Arven is right." Ketura nodded.

"So our days in Dotmier are numbered." Alana finished.

"Well, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised." Ethan sighed. "For some reason, I've got a real bad habit of making enemies and needing to leave places in a hurry."

Ethan frowned as he realized that leaving would complicate dealing with the orc situation. He hoped they wouldn't need to go too far from the mine, but he could fly even if they did. It would be more difficult, but he was determined to deal with the orcs as soon as possible.

"Since you'll need to leave, I was hoping you might do something before you do." Arven said.

"Okay, I'll straighten out the local Reeve." He said in another halfhearted attempt at humor. The others shook their heads with smiles on their faces, but he didn't actually get a laugh.

"Actually, there is a fellow who you are uniquely suited to 'straightening out', though not in the sense of fixing his morals; they are impeccable." Arven said.

"Who?"

"The man I hope will one day wed my daughter." Arven replied.

That got Ethan's attention.

* * *

Kendra double-timed it down the streets of Dotmier, reviewing the earlier battle in her head. The Aldmiri had drilled it into her head to analyze every encounter afterward to improve future engagements. Given what they had all been up against, she was very happy with how things turned out except for one thing.

Taloni.

Kendra was the one who'd told her to fly back to the Argo. It had made perfect sense at the time, but in hindsight she was the one who had been the most directly responsible for Taloni's injury. The only question was: should she have done something different?

If she hadn't told Taloni to fly, the archer might've shot someone else and it could've been fatal. At the time, telling the Fey teen to leave made sense since it removed the only person who couldn't fight from the engagement and offered the fastest chance of reinforcements. She thought it was the best decision she could've made at the time with the information that she'd had.

But Taloni...

She shook her head and resolved to ask someone else about it, Serif maybe. Possibly Selene or Ethan, but they had far less experience with this sort of thing than Serif did.

She arrived at the house of the mayor, who was also the mine owner that they had met the previous day, and knocked on the door. There was a brief pause, then it opened.

"What happened?" He asked as soon as he saw her face. She liked not having to hide her emotions so much anymore.

"Ethan's wives were attacked by Ivernian soldiers." She replied, then gave him the abbreviated version of what had happened.

"Is the Fey girl going to live?" He asked when she'd finished.

"She will."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, them damn orcs have killed enough people without others dying from Fatbrat's minions. You do know what'll happen though?"

"He'll send more men?"

The mayor nodded. "Maybe a pair of airships too."

"We'll need to be long gone by the time they arrive." Kendra replied.

He hung his head. "Thanks for trying to help with the orcs; even the attempt means a lot."

"Who said we were done trying to help?" She countered.

He looked up at her and cocked his head to one side. "But you need to leave."

"Yes, leave Dotmier the town." The dragon huntress replied. "But we just need to be out of sight; we can still help if we sail over the hills and maybe come from the other direction. I know Ethan, and he absolutely won't abandon Dotmier."

The mayor breathed a sigh of relief, looked up to the heavens and spoke. "Blessed be He."

"Blessed be He." Kendra echoed. "I need to go, but I thought you should know what happened."

"I appreciate it." He said. "If it's all the same to you, could you make it seem like you were chased out of town? I would rather Lord Farbrottan didn't come down on us like a hammer for sheltering people who killed Ivernian soldiers, even if the soldiers deserved what they got."

"I'll talk to Ethan and see what we can do." She nodded. "However, I really do need to get going."

"Thank you, and may Illuminar guide you on the path of light as you travel."

"And you as well."

* * *

*We're here.*

Ethan looked up as Selene and the rest of his wives entered Arven's house, Alana excepted since she was already there.

"Welcome." Ketura said, standing up. "Come in, come in; please have a seat." She indicated the other chairs around the smallish room, which had enough that everyone could have a seat. They nearly filled the room, but there was room for them.

Introductions were made, then Ethan looked at his host. "Now, you were saying something about wanting me to 'straighten out' someone who you wanted to marry your daughter?" Ethan felt he at least owed Arven that much for his help with Taloni.

"Yes." Arven nodded. "Tell me, what did you think of Yalia?"

"Um, she seemed nice." He replied neutrally, not really sure where this was going and not wanting to reveal his full impression.

"That's not what you thought." Ketura chuckled. "Men only think one of two things about Yalia, and that's not one of them."

"Be honest, I promise I won't be offended." Arven added with an amused smile.

"Well, if I'm being honest, she seemed..." He frowned. "I want to make it clear that I'm not interested, but the only word I can think of to describe her is 'marriageable'."

Arven and Ketura gave each other amused grins before the former spoke. "Exactly. She's a nymph and you're a good man."

"Oh." Alana said as if everything made perfect sense, and his other wives had similar expressions. Selene on the other hand looked as confused as he felt.

"Um, could you clue in the non-Ten Kingdom's natives?" The Brazilian woman asked.

"Nymphs are like the opposite of dragons." Beth volunteered. "There are no male nymphs, only female nymphs because the mothers only have daughters--" The blonde looked at Ketura. "Oh, you're a nymph too."

"I am." Their hostess nodded, though to Ethan she didn't look 'marriageable'; maybe because she was already married?

"So how does that explain why nymphs look..." The caramel haired beauty looked at Ethan with an expression that plainly said 'here we go again'. "...marriageable."

"Because you're a good man." Ketura replied. "All good men think nymphs look marriageable. By contrast, men who wouldn't make good husbands find nymphs--" She hesitated. "Perhaps not unattractive, but there's no real appeal either. There's no attraction, sexual or otherwise. They just don't think anything about them and mostly ignore them."

"But why?" Ethan asked. "Why are nymphs like that?"

"Because nymphs make perfect wives." Beth said. "When a nymph bonds to a man -- well, a male of most any sentient race -- she changes to become his ideal wife."

Ethan and Selene stared.

"You're kidding." Selene said after several seconds.

"No." Ketura shook her head. "I was a very different person before I bonded to Arven."

Selene made a face.

Ethan ignored that and addressed the nymph. "How were you different?"

"For one, I hated math with a passion." Ketura said. "I hated anything that was repetitive, I hated cooking, I hated having company over, and I was mousy; I had no confidence and would've never dreamed of disagreeing with anyone about anything."

Arven let out a mock-wistful sigh. "I still miss that about her pre-bonded self."

"Oh you." Ketura gave him a playful smack on the arm. She certainly didn't seem mousy now.

"How did you change then?" Selene asked, a frown on her face.

The nymph looked at her husband and raised her eyebrows.

He chuckled and shook his head. "She loves math and counting. Seriously, she looks forward to when we need to do the tax tables because she finds it so relaxing."

"Just a couple of months." Ketura said with a wistful sigh, then she eyed her husband. "I also love having company over, which is good because otherwise you'd be a recluse."

"Guilty as charged." He conceded.

"What determines how you change?" Ethan asked.

"What he needs." Ketura replied simply. "I imagine that if he became a tailor I would suddenly love sewing and lose interest in math. Because I'm a nymph, I'm always the perfect wife for him. He once had a bout of depression and I suddenly craved long walks in the countryside and started to love telling jokes. Arven knew how happy they made me, so he would come with me to walk in the sun and listen to my terrible jokes, and it cheered him up. Once he was better, those things returned to their previous level of enjoyment."

"Interesting." Ethan said. "Weird, but interesting."

"That seems... awful." Selene said looking at the nymph. "You just change for him? Without warning and without you having any say?"

"I actually love that about myself, but yes." Ketura nodded. "I'm whatever he needs me to be, and frankly I'm happier for it. I love that about myself, but I didn't completely change. I still have similar interests and mostly the same personality as before I bonded."

The Brazilian woman frowned, but didn't say anything else.

"Yes she's different, but not that different." Arven said. "I knew her for a little while before we bonded and she's very similar. Not the same, but similar and she was wonderful before."

His wife smiled at him.

"She's the perfect wife." Arven said, then he sat up straighter and leaned forward a bit. "And Yalia will always be the perfect wife for whoever she bonds to in marriage; she'll change to be what he needs."

"Thankfully not necessarily what her husband wants, but what he needs." Ketura clarified.

"The trouble is, I like my daughter exactly how she is right now." Arven said. "I don't want her to change, and while she won't change that much, I'd like her to remain as much who she is now as possible."

"That makes perfect sense." Ethan nodded, confused by the existence of a creature like a nymph. In some ways Beth was absolutely right: they were the opposite of dragons.

Although...

Hmm.

In bed he was actually not that different from a nymph. Once he started listening to his dragon instincts, he could tell what his wives wanted and needed in bed. So were dragons really the opposite of nymphs? Or perhaps they were flip sides of the same coin?

"I'd say more, but I think it would be better if you could see it." Arven said, then looked at his wife. "Could you please dear?"

She stood and looked around at her guests. "If you'll excuse me, I'll be back in a few minutes." She then headed out the front door, closing it behind her.

"Where's she going?" Ethan asked.

"You'll see." Arven replied. "In the meantime, there should be some lunch in the kitchen, as promised."

* * *

"I only helped a little with the broth, but what do you think?" Sarah asked after Lady Ekthros had tried the chicken soup. They had been planning to meet for lunch since she'd had breakfast with Fiona before her meeting with Lord Delmar earlier that morning.

They were sitting in the ship's galley at lunchtime. The room was mostly lit by several chandeliers, though there was also light from several portholes in the side of the ship too. There were a large number of tables for the crew, though most of them were unoccupied right now.

"It's very good." The auburn haired woman replied. "What did you do?"

Sarah explained about the hard-boiled eggs.

"Ah, yes. I can taste the difference." She nodded, looking pleased with the innkeeper's daughter.

"I really liked being in the ship's kitchen." Sarah said.

"Did you?" Lady Ekthros replied. Her expression hadn't changed, but her smile seemed like it didn't quite reach into her dark gray eyes anymore.

"Yes, and I was wondering... I mean, since I don't have anything else to do and I want to help somehow... um, could I maybe... Uh, possibly... help down there?"

"You want a job in the kitchens?"

"Well, not a job really, just... I really like cooking and I've missed it. I'd also like to help since I'm not doing anything anyway."

Lady Ekthros eyed her for several seconds.

"Can I do that, is that okay?" Sarah asked.

"Well, there's nothing exactly wrong with that." The older woman admitted. She really wasn't that old; perhaps late forties or early fifties and she looked good for her age.

"But, you think it's a bad idea?" Sarah pressed.

She hesitated a moment before replying. "I wouldn't go that far, but I don't think it's a good idea either."

"Why?"

"Well, imagine for a moment that someone ran into you several times over your life, but only ended up seeing you while your problem was out."

The innkeeper's daughter winced.

"That's the kitchen staff with me." Lady Ekthros said. "They've seen me at my best too, but I'm afraid the poor impression seemed to stick."

"Oh, well that's okay." Sarah smiled. "After everything you've done for me, they could never change my opinion of you."

"That's good to hear." The auburn-haired woman replied.

"So, it's okay with you?"

Lady Ekthros hesitated for several seconds, then nodded slowly and almost reluctantly spoke. "I'll talk to the cook."

"Thank you!" She beamed. She had missed cooking so much and was really looking forward to doing it regularly again.

* * *

Selene couldn't help but watch Ethan as he watched Taloni sleep after they had finished the light lunch that Ketura had offered, and left behind before she had departed. The look on his face was at once contented and sad; relieved yet pained. The Brazilian woman was sure that he wouldn't be fully happy again until she was up, around, and back to her usual cheery self.

Frankly, she would feel better then too. While Selene wasn't super close to the Fey teen, she was still a wonderful person and a joy to be around. The Brazilian woman felt a small degree of satisfaction that it had been her blade that had killed the man who'd shot her. True it had been Rachel as much as herself, but she was glad.

Behind her, she heard the door open and Ketura returned with a young man following her through the door.

The young man looked to be in his mid-twenties and about Ethan's height, but rail thin. Not 'unhealthy and needed a meal' thin though, it just seemed to be his build. He didn't look tough enough to be called 'wiry', but he was thin enough for the descriptor. He had medium brown hair, sparse facial hair, and gave off the air of a bookish fellow.

Something about him gave her a good vibe.

He seemed like a kind fellow, if a bit odd. Perhaps a bit geeky? Something about him gave off the general air of a Ten Kingdoms 'nerd', if there was such a thing.

"Yalia, Matthew is here." Ketura called.

The younger nymph got a wide smile on her face and jumped up. Oddly, Selene didn't get any vibes of romantic attraction from her to Matthew. The young nymph's smile seemed more like her best friend had showed up, not a crush. The best way that Selene could describe Yalia was that she seemed like the perfect person to work at a library. She would be one of those librarians who wore glasses and pencil skirts and was completely unaware of how adorable she was.

She was just that kind of girl.

"Matthew!" The younger nymph beamed while the older one looked amused. "I'm glad you came, I've been wanting to talk about that one passage a bit more."

"Me too, I think I finally worked it out." Matthew replied, a wide grin splitting his face as he gazed at Yalia. Not merely 'looked' at her; he gazed at her. Selene would've bet a fair sum of money that he couldn't stop smiling while looking at her.

"One minute." The younger nymph then addressed Ethan. "Mr. Ejder, might you give me leave to watch your wife from the kitchen table? I can see her from there and I wanted to show Matthew what I've been working on."

Ethan had an amused smile too. "Sure."

"Matthew. Matthew?" Yalia looked at him, but his eyes had landed on Ethan and the young man was staring opened mouthed.

"You... y-you're the prophet of Illuminar." The young man stammered.

Ethan hesitated a moment, then nodded.

Selene couldn't help but chuckle. Ethan had been slowly resigning himself to that role, but he still clearly wasn't comfortable with it.

"Could..." Matthew gaped at him, then glanced at Yalia, then looked back at him. "Could Yalia and I talk to you at some point? We were talking about that sermon after the service and..." He slowly shook his head. "I can't believe you're here."

"Uh, sure we can talk about it." Ethan replied while scratching the back of his head and shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"I will look forward to it sir." He grinned. Then as if some magnet was attached to the young nymph, he turned back towards her. "Shall we?"

Yalia nodded her head excitedly.

"Matthew, Yalia." Arven called. "Why don't the two of you go into mine and Ketura's room instead of Yalia's room today?"

"Thank you Pa'pa." The young nymph said, then looked at Ethan.

"Go." He nodded his head. "Taloni will be fine."

"Thank you." Yalia and Matthew said at the same time.

They looked at each other and she giggled while he chuckled. They went into her room, grabbed some of the papers that the young nymph had been looking at, and then they started walking through the living room towards a door on the far side as he spoke to her. "I was thinking, we were taking that perfective participle as circumstantial, but what if it's supposed to be adjectival?"

Yalia cocked her head to one side, then her eyes went wide. "Oh! That explains why it's in the nominative case and not accusative or dative." She clapped her hands together. "Syntactically, that's makes so much more sense."

"Right!" The grin on Matthew's face lit his eyes up. "That's what I was thinking. And then the inflection on the following infinitive would mean--" His voice was mostly cut off as the door closed, and Selene was 100% sure that a nergasm was about to happen in there.

"Just remember to come out for dinner." Ketura called loudly after them, then shook her head with an amused smile. "I swear half the reason he's so thin is that he forgets to eat."

"What are they doing?" Selene asked.

"Translating the Book of Light from the original languages into the common tongue, and doing it well too." Arven said, and no one could miss the note of fatherly pride in his voice. "They've been working on it together for years and are near finishing."

"Wow; that's quite the undertaking." Beth looked awed.

"It wasn't written in the common tongue?" Selene asked.

Beth shook her head. "No, it's mostly written in the old tongue and ancient elvish. Neither are spoken anymore, so usually only luminars learn them to understand the Book of Light better."

"Matthew started teaching Yalia while he himself was learning, so they basically learned it together. Yalia took to it like a fish to water." Ketura explained, motherly pride evident in her tone.

Ethan looked at Arven. "You let your daughter alone in a room with a boy who's clearly head-over-heels in love with her, and with the door closed too?"

"She's a nymph." Arven replied as if that explained everything.

"Meaning...?" Selene asked.

"Just like Fey, nymphs don't experience romantic or sexual attraction until they are bonded." Ketura explained. Beth had opened her mouth, probably to explain as well, but the older nymph had beaten her to it. "But after we are bonded..." She gave her husband a sly look.

Arven flashed a Cheshire grin at his wife, then continued speaking to his guests. "Plus Matthew wouldn't dare touch her; he wants to marry her too much."

"How much?" Rachel asked.

"Near sixty." Arven said, his tone clearly indicating that he was impressed.

Alana whistled. "How?"

"He did every odd job in town for the last... well many years." He said.

"I think he has saved every single copper that he didn't need in order to afford Yalia." Ketura said, clearly pleased with the fact.

"I take it you're talking about Yalia's..." Selene tried not to make a face. "...bride price?"

"Of course." Ketura replied.

Beth spoke up to Selene. "Thirty silver is a more normal bride-price, and a high bride-price would be forty silver. Well, except for among the nobility."

"So Matthew offered you double the normal bride-price for Yalia and you said no?" Ethan asked.

Arven nodded.

"Why?" Selene asked while resisting the urge to give a lecture on the topic of bride-prices. "Those two are so adorkable."

"Adorkable?" Beth asked.

"It's a combination of 'adorable' and 'dork', meaning dorky, nerdy, and/or geeky but in an adorable way." The Brazilian woman clarified, then looked at Arven. "Why did you say no?"

"Because he disliked the sermon as much as you did--" Arven nodded to Ethan. "--and yet said nothing."

"I'm not following." Selene replied.

"He..." Arven hesitated, probably choosing his words carefully. "He lacks the confidence in his own opinions to stand up for himself and what he believes."

"Oh." Ethan nodded. "You're worried that he might not stand up for your daughter because he won't stand up for what he believes."

"Precisely." Arven nodded. "I would really like them to marry because he loves her just exactly as she is. She wouldn't change much for him, if she changes at all. However..." He shook his head.

"But you're worried about your daughter since he might not stand up for himself, and thus perhaps not her either." Ethan finished.

"Plus, you love that boy like he's your own son." Ketura added, and her husband didn't disagree. She continued. "Arven and I have talked about it a lot, and I hate to admit that he's right."

"He isn't spineless." Arven clarified. "But he doesn't have enough confidence that he could be right to challenge the Luminar, at least not in public."

"And you think I can help because I'm reputed to be the prophet of Illuminar?"

"I would simply ask that you talk to him." Their host said. "And without mentioning this conversation. I want him to get there on his own."

"I can do that." Ethan nodded. "When?"

"How about you stay for dinner tonight? Ketura suggested. "Matthew and Yalia will be in there all afternoon translating, with many breaks for theology discussions."

"I suppose I could do that." He replied. They had already been served a light lunch,

*We should interrogate that soldier we have on the Argo soon.* Kendra thought to everyone. *If we'll be here for dinner, that's a fair bit of time and it would be better to interrogate him now while the memory from the battle is still fresh in his mind.*

*Um, okay.* Ethan thought to everyone, then spoke to Ketura. "If it's okay, could some of my wives stay here for a bit while the rest of us run an errand?"

"Of course." Arven replied.

* * *

Kendra followed Ethan through the streets of Dotmier with Selene beside her, noting that he glanced back at Arven and Ketura's house regularly.

"Ethan, Taloni will be fine." The dragon huntress assured him. "Alana, Beth, and Rachel are there, and she probably won't wake up for a while. Her body had quite a shock and she needs some rest to recover."

"I know." He sighed, but didn't stop glancing back occasionally.

She considered asking him about her decision to send Taloni to the Argo, but thought better of it. That really was a better question for Serif; Ethan would just comfort her and she wanted the brutally honest truth.

"So, how are we going to do this?" Selene asked from beside her.

"Good cop, bad cop, and extremely pissed-off dragon." Ethan growled.

"I assume I'm the good cop?" The Brazilian woman asked.

"Beautiful women make men more compliant and more likely to talk." Kendra said, and managed to keep any hint of jealousy out of her voice. Selene was a wonderful person and the dragon huntress was glad she was so beautiful. However, she wanted to be beautiful too.

"Also, she's psychic." Ethan said, the previous growl not having left his tone completely.

"You want me to read his mind?" She raised her eyebrow.

"You need the practice for your mission to Earth; can you think of anyone better to practice on than that piece of shit?" Ethan replied as he rounded a corner that led to the ramp up to the Argo's docking berth.

Hmm.

Kendra had to admit that he had a point.

"I'm really not sure about the ethics of reading someone's mind without his permission." Selene countered.

"That bastard tried to kill my wives and he hurt Taloni; he deserves it." Ethan growled in response. He was also flexing his fingers and his claws were partially sliding from their sheaths.

"I see your point, but still..." The caramel haired beauty frowned.

"If you prefer, I can beat it out of him." The dragon growled in response.

"Ethan, stop a moment." Kendra said, stopping to stand where she was. "You need to calm down before we do this."

He stopped and looked at her. "I'm trying, but I can't get the image of Taloni with an arrow--" He stopped, growled, and then looked at her. "I have a real problem with cold blooded murder; that's the only reason that bastard will still be breathing come nightfall."

"Ethan, look me in the eyes and promise me you won't do something you'll regret." Kendra said firmly. "I once had a teammate who went down that road, and it doesn't end well."

"I won't kill him." Ethan promised. "I might beat the crap out of him, but I won't use claws or teeth except to intimidate."

"Promise?" She pressed.

"Yes."

"Okay, then let's make a plan." Kendra said.

* * *

Selene wasn't particularly happy with how this was going, but she had to admit the plan was good. For that matter, she made a mental note to never make an enemy of Kendra. The dragon huntress might not know much about family life, but some of her ideas had been... Well, she didn't want the dragon huntress as an enemy. They finally settled on one of her less scary ideas.

Well, less scary for everyone but the prisoner.

"LET ME AT HIM!" Ethan bellowed for the benefit of the prisoner. "I WILL RIP HIS FUCKING HEAD OFF!" Ethan continued, and punctuated the statement by banging his fist on the door with his strength-enhancing armor active.

The door rocked on its frame.

They were outside of the small supply room underneath the captain's cabin, which was the only place on the lower deck that had a door besides the latrine. The prisoner was on the other side of the door. Given Ethan's acting performance, Selene was very glad that Anthiel had offered to take Thor for a walk; she doubted the kitten would've stood for this and would've been worried that he'd bolt.

"Ethan, calm down!" Kendra said in an urgent tone that belied her relaxed posture. "He can't talk if you rip his--"

"I DON'T FUCKING CARE!!!" Ethan bellowed again, his voice carrying the edge of a dragon's roar.

"Please!" Kendra said again, and loudly. "Let me pull his fingernails off first, or something else that will let him actually talk."

"Fuck the nails!" Ethan said, a little less loudly but still plenty loud enough. "Rip the fucking fingers off, or start with his dick and balls!"

"Could we please not mutilate the prisoner?" Selene interjected as planned.

That was followed by the planned dragon's roar.

The Brazilian woman had been covering her ears, but it was still deafening. Now that she was bonded to Ethan, it was both more and less terrifying. Less because she knew him better; more because she could also feel the emotion behind it, which was frighteningly real.

"Let me try, it'll be faster and we won't need to hurt him." Selene pleaded when her heart had unfrozen from the panic-inducing sound.

"Neither is necessarily an advantage." Kendra said. "I can keep him alive for a long, long time." Her tone left no one in doubt about the pain level during that time.

Wow.

That woman could be ruthless.

"Please." Selene pleaded again, only mostly sure she was acting.

"You have five minutes." Ethan snapped at the door. "After that..." He snarled loudly, and it sounded like he was about to tear the door off. He probably wasn't -- hopefully -- but the prisoner didn't know that.

Selene opened the door, making sure to open it wide enough that the prisoner could see Ethan's snarling face before she closed it behind her.

She could smell urine.

The man was cowering in a corner, his arms around his legs as he sat upright, huddled in the fetal position. His pants had a wet spot on them in the front. His face was white as a sheet and his knuckles were white as they gripped his legs tightly. He was shivering slightly and his hands were shaking like a leaf in the wind. He didn't look that old now that she was looking at him properly. He seemed younger than she was; maybe late teens or very early twenties.

"Hi." Selene said, giving him a small wave.

His hand made a movement, but it wasn't a wave back. Perhaps an attempt at a wave, but it was a failed attempt.

"What's your name?" Selene asked, trying to remember what they'd covered in FBI training about interrogations. Establishing a rapport was very important, she remembered that much, but everything else seemed to fly out of her head.

Fortunately, there was always his head.

When he didn't answer -- probably because he was terrified -- Selene opened a window in her mental defenses and for the first time on her life, intentionally tried to read someone's mind outside of combat.

It wasn't what she expected.

She had sort of been expecting to hear words. You know, what was running through his mind at that moment. Instead, she got a rush of thoughts, images, and emotions that were too jumbled to make sense of. It was like a movie that was playing at ten times the normal speed with the volume turned up to eleven. It was chaotic and messy, and didn't yield anything remotely useful.

Hell, forget useful; she didn't get anything that was coherent

She shook her head and closed her mental defenses again. She guessed that was because of his current state of mind, and if he was calmer she would be more successful. She remembered Lord Borden's mage Valten who was a telepath, and he had been able to do this. Obviously she needed some practice, but now wasn't the time. It looked like she needed do this the old fashioned way.

"What's your name?" She repeated, going closer and crouching down next to him.

"It... it..." He swallowed, then looked fearfully at the door.

"It's okay, they won't be in here for a few minutes yet." She assured him. "It's just us right now. Take a deep breath."

He did.

"Okay, now take two more."

He did, and he seemed to be trembling less.

"What's your name?" She asked again, smiling at him.

"Taral." He said.

"Okay Taral, I assume you heard what my comrades were discussing?"

He gulped and nodded quickly. "I..."

"You... what?" She asked as gently as possible.

"The... the squad leader said that dragons didn't care about women, that our men could..." His face went even whiter. "They're all dead."

"Yes, but you survived." She said. "How did you know where to find us?"

"Everyone knew." He replied, a tremble still in his voice. "I think the dragon told someone after he confronted that Reeve and I guess word got around."

*Shit.* Ethan thought to her. *I should've kept my mouth shut.*

"Why did you come to find us anyway?" Selene continued.

"The... th-the Reeve that was attacked." He gulped. "The duke of the region heard about it the morning after it happened and sent orders to our outpost by carrier pigeon."

"Orders to... what?"

"Capture or kill, but..." He swallowed hard. "I'm just a soldier. I joined up because my folks couldn't afford another mouth on the farm. I didn't sign up for..." He gulped.

Shit.

Selene kept her face neutral, but thought to Ethan. *Are you hearing this?*

He didn't reply.

Now that the Brazilian woman was looking at him properly, he looked pretty young. Honestly, he looked like he might be Beth or Taloni's age; maybe slightly older. He was just a kid. True, a kid who'd tried to kill her and Ethan's wives, but still a kid.

"What did you think being a soldier would be like?" Selene asked.

"Um, I thought it would be lots of training and a lot of boring watch duty." Talar replied, and he had stopped clenching his arms around his legs so hard. He was also taking more normal breaths instead of near hyperventilating. "I know the Ivernian military has a reputation, but not all of us are... we're not all..."

"What about your squad commander?" Selene asked, remembering that he hadn't exactly been the reasonable sort.

"He's not-- well, he wasn't a good guy." Talar replied. "That fucker was knee deep in whores and... and other things." He stopped. "I swear most of us weren't like that though. But in the Ivernian military, refusing to follow orders can get you killed."

*Ethan, tell me that you're hearing this.* She thought to him.

Again, he didn't answer.

"And you were supposed to capture or kill Ethan and his wives??" She asked aloud when he hadn't replied.

Taral nodded. "Or at least just make sure he didn't leave until the main force arrived."

"Main force?" Selene raised her eyebrows.

He nodded. "Our orders said that the duke had dispatched two airships with a whole platoon of marines on each one."

Her eyes widened. "A whole platoon? Each?"

He nodded. "If the duke sent them when he sent our orders, they'll be here soon; probably tomorrow morning."

*Fuck!* Ethan growled, then thought to everyone. *Ladies, we're going to have company in the morning; we need to leave town as soon as possible.*

*Actually, might be better to wait until just after nightfall and before the moon rises.* Kendra suggested. *That way it'll be hard for the townspeople to see where we go if they're asked.*

*Okay, we can do that.* Ethan agreed after a moment.

*What about him?* Selene asked.

It took several seconds for Ethan to respond. *I'm coming in, and I'm not as upset as I'll seem.*

Moments later the door opened and Ethan entered wearing his armor. Instantly the prisoner froze. Ethan walked over to him, reached down, and lifted him into the air with one hand.

"Let me make something perfectly clear." He hissed in a quiet but deadly tone. "If anyone touches my wives, I'll rip him limb from fucking limb. I'm letting you live for one reason: you are going to tell everyone this. You are going to tell everyone what happened and exactly what I did to the men who attacked my wives. Then you're going to tell everyone that I'll do the same to anyone who touches them."

The man went white as a sheet.

"You're going to tell everyone who will listen." Ethan snarled. "You're going to spread the news as far as you possibly can. Understand?"

He nodded vigorously.

Ethan growled, and it looked like his grip tightened slightly. "Do. You. Understand?"

"Yes." The man managed to whisper.

"Get out of my sight." Ethan hissed, then dropped him.

The man scrambled to his feet and ran out of the room as fast as his legs could carry him.

* * *

Ethan took a deep breath as what he'd just heard ran through his mind. No matter how you looked at it, he wasn't happy with how things had happened. He had been justified in killing the men earlier; they had been trying to kill his wives and he'd kill them again in a heartbeat without hesitation or mercy to protect his wives. Yet as he thought back on his many battles, he had always been pretty sure his enemies were terrible people with no exceptions.

Now...

Now he wasn't so sure.

How many of the men he'd killed were just following orders, or believed that he and his wives were evil? How many of them were like the kid who'd just ran out of the room?

"Ethan?" Selene said.

"Hmm?"

"Are you okay?"

He hesitated. Was he?

"I don't know." He finally said. "The world all seemed so black and white up until a few minutes ago. I'm not sorry I defended my wives, and I'd do it again without hesitation or mercy."

"But?" The Brazilian woman asked.

"But if some of them are like that." He nodded his head to the door through which Talar had just bolted. "It's just not so black and white anymore. I've never been very comfortable with shades of gray, now..." He frowned. "Now the world is looking grayer by the hour."

"It's less gray than I'm used to." Kendra countered, leaning on the doorframe. "The Aldmiri lived in shades of gray. Frankly, living with you has made the world less gray for me, and I'm not just talking about morally."

He gave her a half-hearted smile.

"I'm just thinking..." He frowned again.

"Thinking...?" Kendra prompted.

"How many of the men I killed were like that?" He indicated the door through which Talar had fled. "Maybe some of them were good people -- good soldiers -- who were just following orders."

"And that's a fair point, but not an excuse." Selene countered. "Many of the guards at Auschwitz or the other Nazi concentration camps were 'just following orders'. That doesn't excuse them, though I realize that's an overblown comparison."

"Yeah." He rubbed his hand over the top of his head, where his hair would be if he was human. "I'm just thinking about something that Rachel once said, about the possibility of Lord Delmar chasing me because he thought I was a necromancer. So what about -- for example -- the men Lord Delmar sent after us those first two days I was here? Sure Hermair is evil, but what about the soldiers? Were they good people who thought they were hunting an evil necromancer? How could I fault them for that?"

"I don't know." Selene conceded.

"I could see Lord Delmar's men being innocent if they thought you were a necromancer." Kendra said. "But that kid that we just let go was willing to help kill five innocent women. He knew that the only thing you did was challenge a corrupt Reeve, and he was willing to help kill your wives for that non-crime. Not even you, your innocent wives. That makes him anything but innocent in my book."

"You won't even give him the benefit of the doubt?" Selene asked.

"For someone who didn't know, absolutely I would." The dragon huntress replied. "Again, Lord Delmar's soldiers right after Ethan arrived would fall into that category, especially if they thought he was a necromancer. I myself even fell into that category once. But for someone who knew that what he was doing was wrong and did it anyway, no."

She shook her head.

"We'll have to talk more about this later." Ethan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Anyway, we should get back to Arven and Ketura's house. If the airships aren't coming until the morning, then we can do dinner, but I want to be on the Argo and ready to leave at nightfall."

"You go ahead, I'll tell Anthiel and meet you there." Kendra volunteered.

He nodded and headed up to the weather deck with Selene in tow.

As he trudged up the steps, it occurred to him just how crucial Selene's help had been today. Without her, his wives would probably be dead. Plus she'd been instrumental in getting information out of their prisoner and she'd had a good perspective afterwards.

He stopped at the top of the stairs and looked back at her.

She was drop-dead gorgeous of course, with perfectly feminine features and a figure and face that were literal perfection. He didn't think it was possible for a woman to be more physically beautiful. That wasn't what he was looking at though; he was looking at her. He'd seen a glimpse of who she truly was when they'd bonded, and she really was a great person.

"What?" The Brazilian woman asked.

"I'm really going to miss you when you return to Earth." He replied.

"Oh?"

"Yeah." He nodded, though he was frowning a bit too. "The Argo won't be the same without you."

"Oh." She looked surprised, but smiled. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Come on, we should get going."

He led the way off the ship and into the town, realizing for the first time that the Argo would indeed feel more empty without her.

* * *

Kendra told Anthiel what had happened, of their plans to leave that evening by nightfall, and thanked her for taking care of Thor. Then she set out to find the man she wanted to talk to.

"Serif?" Kendra said to get his attention.

"Yes Kendra?" He replied while adjusting some ropes to prepare for their departure.

"I had a question I wanted to ask you about the engagement earlier today." She then summarized what had happened and her doubts about her telling Taloni to return to the Argo. "Did I do the right thing?"

He looked at her for a long moment. "Did you have the information and expertise to make a better decision at the time?"

"I don't think so, even right now I'm not sure what I could've done differently."

"If you couldn't have done better, then you couldn't have done better." He said simply. "You tried to remove the non-combatant from the field while simultaneously calling for reinforcements. I might have done the same thing in that situation. Sometimes, even the best plans are frustrated by the enemy."

She nodded. "Thank you."

He nodded respectfully, then went back to his work.

She turned to go down the gangplank and was halfway down the ramp when she noticed something, or rather someone. There was a man walking casually across the street who glanced at the airship just once too often. As she looked at his outfit, she realized something.

It was wrong.

The guy, the way he was walking, the clothes he was wearing, everything; it was just wrong. Not that most people would notice, but then again most people weren't trained by the Aldmiri. She walked normally until the man rounded a corner and then she rushed back to the Argo, to Serif.

"Serif, we've been made."

"I know." He replied calmly. "He's been there since twenty-seven minutes before sunrise. It's probably a local asset, and he's quite inexperienced."

"You're not worried?"

"No, and I wasn't worried about the ones in Nalatia or our most recent visit to Gralden either." Serif continued sorting the rope like they were merely discussing the weather. "They have been recon and nothing more or I would have informed the captain."

"I missed them." She confessed.

"I know." Serif replied without judgement.

"They didn't have a hand in the earlier attack." She said, mostly sure she was right.

"Correct." Serif nodded once. "If the Aldmiri wanted you dead, you would be dead. It shouldn't surprise you that they're watching Ethan, given all the attention he has drawn to himself. I expect that we will see more of them in the future, and possibly more than simple recon scouts as well."

She nodded.

The fact that she'd missed agents doing recon was a bit unsettling. Still, as long as they only did recon she wasn't too bothered. The Aldmiri did like to keep tabs on anything noteworthy, and a reputed prophet of Illuminar was certainly noteworthy.

She just hoped they continued their recon and did nothing else.

* * *

Ethan figured it was mid-afternoon as he walked back to Arven and Ketura's house. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and there were only a few clouds in the beautiful blue sky. A gentle breeze wafted through the town, bringing a bit of relief from the warm weather. All in all, it was a perfect summer day.

Unless you counted the day's events that is.

He knocked on the door of their house when he arrived and Ketura opened it moments later.

"What's wrong?" She asked the moment she saw him, and she stepped aside for him to enter.

"Basically, there's a couple platoons of Ivernian soldiers on two airships coming our way."

Ketura gasped, Arven grimaced.

"Yeah, they will probably arrive tomorrow morning, so we're planning to leave right after dark to make it harder for them to follow us. Plus, if we leave before the moon rises then the townspeople should have a harder time seeing where we go in case they ask."

"I understand, and I'm sorry you couldn't stay longer." Arven said.

"I could have an early dinner ready in an hour." Ketura volunteered. "If you aren't leaving until dark, would you be able to stay for an early dinner?"

Ethan looked around at his wives. *Ladies, opinions?*

*I'd love to stay sir.*

*Dominus, it has been wonderful talking with a real nymph! I'd love to stay too.*

*I would like that my lord.*

*I would as well Drago.*

*Mmm?* Came Taloni's sleepy mental voice.

He dashed into Yalia's room to see the Fey stirring on the bed. He rushed over to her and sat down beside her on the edge of the small bed. "Hey honey, how you feeling?"

"Tired Masser." She mumbled sleepily, her pronunciation slurred. "My chess hurs."

She yawned.

"Yeah, you were shot with an arrow."

"Mmm, you saved me though." She said sleepily, then yawned again.

"Rest up honey, we're leaving Dotmier soon."

Her eyes fluttered open. She made a face as if she'd just realized something and put her hand on her chest, right over where the arrow had struck. "It's healed but..." Her lilac eyes went wide. "I was shot."

"You were."

Her eyes went wider. "Are the others alright?"

"They're fine." He assured her.

She sighed in relief. "Okay, good."

He reached down and cupped her cheek with his hand. She leaned into his hand, resting her cheek in his palm and smiling at him. He gave her a lopsided grin, then gently pulled her into a hug. She moved a bit stiffly on her right side, but hugged him back. Her right arm didn't squeeze quite as tight as usual, but that wasn't surprising with her recent injury.

"I love you Master." She whispered.

"I love you too honey." He gave her a little extra squeeze and intended to let go, but just couldn't. He held onto her for at least another minute before letting go enough that he could see her face without letting her out of his arms.

"I'm okay Master." She said when he let go.

"Yeah, but you almost weren't." He swallowed hard and felt his eyes get watery.

"But I am okay because you and Illuminar took good care of me." She said. "Though, I think I'll be more careful flying if there are archers around."

He half chuckled, then swallowed hard and spoke through a slightly cracked voice. "That's a good idea."

"Where are we?" She asked as she looked around.

He explained what had happened after she'd been shot and how that led to them being here.

"Could you help me up so I can thank them?" She asked. "I'm feeling a bit sore at the moment."

"Sure." He stood and held out his hand.

She got up gingerly, moving slowly and far more stiffly than she usually did, especially on her right side. She wobbled slightly once she was standing and he put an arm around her to steady her.

"Thank you Master." She sounded a bit out of breath.

He helped her out into the living area, and she looked a bit winded after walking only a dozen feet. He helped her sit down in the nearest chair and she leaned against it, clutching it slightly for support.

"Are you okay?" He asked. "You seem way more tired than I thought you would be after you were healed."

"It's... It's because." The Fey teen yawned, then gestured to Beth.

"It because an organ was hit." Beth explained. "Injuries to the torso shock the body more, enough that they often take a couple of days to recover from, even with magical healing. She should be back to normal in a couple of days, and able to move around much better after a good night's rest."

"Thank you for helping me." The Fey teen said to their hosts.

"We were happy to." Arven replied.

"We were." Ketura said, then addressed Ethan. "So, did you and your wives want to stay for an early dinner?"

"After what you've done for Taloni, we'd be happy to." He said to her and Arven. "I can't thank you enough; she means the world to me."

"Again, my wife and I were glad to help." He replied.

"Concubine." Ketura corrected, then started heading towards the kitchen. "I'll start dinner now."

"Wait." Ethan asked. "Why does she keep calling herself your concubine, but you keep calling her your wife?"

Arven rolled his eyes. "She's just being careful."

"Careful?"

"Yeah, for obvious reasons." Their host replied.

"Um." Selene said. "I didn't grow up around here, so could someone explain? I'm kind of lost."

Ethan was glad she asked because he was lost too.

"A concubine is a wife who's also a slave." Beth replied. "If a man marries his slave, then she becomes a concubine, who's a wife that's also a slave."

Selene's jaw dropped as she rounded on Arven. "Ketura is your slave?!"

He frowned. "I prefer to think of her as my wife -- since she is my wife -- but technically yes, she's also a slave."

"I'm your slave." Ketura corrected in an amused tone from the kitchen.

Arven rolled his eyes slightly and called back at her. "You know, I could really use a wife whose ears weren't so good."

"If that were true, my ears wouldn't be so good." She called back from out of sight, clearly ribbing him.

Selene was still staring opened mouthed at Arven.

"What?" He asked.

"Your wife is your slave, that's what." The Brazilian woman said, her voice dripping in disgust and... something he couldn't place.

"Well, it's not like I can free her." Arven replied with confusion on his face.

"And why the hell not?" The caramel haired beauty snapped.

*Selene, take it down a notch.* Ethan though directly to her. *We're their guests and you will be polite even when you're upset.*

She glanced at him and nodded her head in concession.

"You really don't know about the slave controversy?" Arven asked.

Both Ethan and Selene shook their heads, though his other wives all seemed to know.

"What controversy?" The Brazilian woman asked. "Slavery should be outlawed. Period."

"Don't say that." Taloni spoke up, tired though she was. "That's a pretty heartless thing to say, don't you think?"

Selene stared at the former slave, mouth agape.

"Yeah, I agree with Taloni." Ketura -- who was currently a slave -- said from the kitchen. "That would be rather cruel."

Ethan stared too.

Huh?

"Okay, I'm confused." He said, trying not to jump to conclusions. "You think it's a bad thing to outlaw kidnapping people and forcing them to work for you?"

The Fey teen looked as confused as he felt.

"Maybe we should clarify terms before we go any further." Rachel interjected. "Unless you live in one of the no-free lorddoms like Arcanum, slavery in the Ten Kingdoms is entirely voluntary."

"Voluntary slavery?" He raised his eyebrow. "How does that work?"

"I know the perfect people to explain this." Arven said, then called loudly. "Matthew! Yalia! Could you come out here please?"

A moment later, the door to the room opened and they stepped out. Ethan couldn't help but smile at the two of them; they looked like the kind of couple who would be equally at home hosting a dinner party as they would playing D&D or visiting a comic convention. As Selene put it, they were adorkable together.

"Yes Pa'pa?" The young nymph asked.

"It seems there's someone here who needs to hear what the Book of Light says about slavery." He said to his daughter and her-- well, the man who was in love with her.

Matthew looked at Yalia and grinned. "Go ahead."

"No, you can; I got to last time." She replied, an anticipatory grin on her face.

"Together?" He suggested.

"Sure." She beamed.

They turned towards the room and began reciting in perfect unison. "Thus says Illuminar, if anyone becomes destitute so he cannot feed himself or his family, or he becomes overladen with debt that he cannot repay, he may go to his neighbor and say: 'I am destitute or burdened by debts that I cannot repay; let me serve you.'. Then his neighbor may accept him into his service, fully providing for his needs and the needs of his family. On the first day of his service, all of his property shall be sold to pay his debts, and whatever is leftover shall be forgiven him; if he has money after the debts are paid, it shall be given to his master. On the last day of his seventh year of service, his master shall give him a sum equal to one year's wages, and the man shall go free. I am Illuminar."

"So, it's like a bankruptcy system with a lump sum payment at the end?" Selene said after several seconds.

Matthew nodded. "It's assumed that the payment at the end is for a fresh start."

Selene frowned slightly. "I suppose that's not quite as bad as I was thinking."

"And you could pick your 'owner', so you could choose someone who's not a bad guy." Ethan mused.

"There are also laws about how a master must treat his slaves in the next several verses too." Yalia added, looking between the two earthlings.

"Slaves go free immediately if he neglects to provide for them or abuses them." Matthew added.

"Or at least that's what Illuminar decreed." The young nymph said, finishing Matthew's explanation.

"Some places don't respect those laws though." The young man grimaced.

"Yeah, no kidding." Ethan said, thinking about Hailey and the abuses she'd suffered. That brought another question to his mind. "But what about forced slavery? I know someone who sure as hell didn't volunteer to be a slave; she was forced into it."

"Some places don't take Illuminar's commands seriously." Matthew replied, and he was looking at Ethan with an odd expression on his face as he did so. "Some places allow forced slavery, even though kidnapping is punished by death according to the Book of Light."

"It is?" Ethan asked.

He nodded and then glanced at Yalia, who grinned and they began to recite: "If anyone kidnaps a man, whether he kidnapped him or the kidnapped man is found in his possession, he shall surely die. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you. I am Illuminar."

"Sounds good to me." Selene said while clenching her fist, and Ethan remembered that her younger brother had been kidnapped leading to his death. He didn't think the death penalty sounded like a bad punishment for kidnapping either; he'd certainly seen enough missing children posters to last a lifetime.

"So, slavery is supposed to be voluntary?" Selene frowned. "That's... well, that's not a deal I would ever think of making -- like, ever; for any reason whatsoever -- but I suppose if you were truly destitute... and if it is voluntary with a lump sum payment at the end... Hmm."

"I suppose it's better than starving." Ethan conceded. "As long as it's voluntary..." He frowned. He still didn't like it, but he supposed that as long as all parties knew the rules and consented...

Hmm.

"So, pardon me for asking." Selene said to Arven. "But Yalia is definitely older than seven, so it's been more than seven years; why isn't Ketura free?"

Arven looked at Matthew and Yalia and indicated that they should answer.

"It's Ivernian law, partially because of translation debate." Yalia said.

Matthew picked up where she left off. "The debate is about the Old Tongue word 'nardos' used in the verse Yalia and I quoted about slavery. It primarily means 'man', in the sense of a single adult male, but it's also the term used generally for mankind, which includes both men and women. Thus, there's a debate over if female slaves must be set free, or if they remain slaves forever."

"But if women can't be freed because that word only applies to men, then how could they become slaves in the first place?" Ethan pointed out.

"Because it says 'anyone' at the beginning of the verse about entering into slavery, but 'man' when it references the slave going free." Matthew explained. "It's not a good argument, but that's the argument made by those who don't think you need to free female slaves."

"And it's worse." Yalia added. "Some say that female slaves can't be set free."

"Let me guess, Lord Farbrottan says that?" Ethan replied.

Arven, Matthew, and Yalia all nodded.

"He does." Ketura called from the kitchen.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Selene rolled her eyes.

"He actually made it illegal to try and set a female slave free." Arven explained. "There's a pretty hefty punishment for both slave and master, which is why Ketura is still my concubine and not a normal wife."

"A concubine is a wife." Ketura corrected from the kitchen. "I wouldn't let him ravish me daily if I wasn't his wife."

Yalia blushed scarlet and Matthew's cheeks got a bit pinker.

Ethan and his wives chuckled.

"But still, to be forced to do whatever your husband wants because you're his slave." Selene made a face. "That's really not right. Like, majorly wrong." She started pacing a bit. "Seriously, he could just be like 'get in the bedroom' and you'd have to listen because you were a slave. That's some kinky shit right there, and no woman in her right mind would be okay with that. It's just so..." She shuddered. "It's demeaning, like you're just a possession, an object for him to objectify and use to his heart's..." She trailed off as she looked around to see everyone staring at her, some with amused looks.

"I'm just saying that it's not right." She said, perhaps a bit more defensively than necessary.

"Oh, it's not so bad." Ketura said, poking her head out of the kitchen with a mischievous smile that indicated it was the very opposite of bad in her opinion. "And it seems like you've put a lot of thought into this..."

Selene's cheeks went slightly pink and she clamped her mouth shut.

Ethan resisted the urge to chuckle, and then noticed that Taloni seemed a bit tired. "Tee, I think you could use a more comfortable seat."

"Oh?" She looked up at him.

He nodded and picked her up, then sat down on an open space on the couch next to Alana, and of course Tee ended up on his lap.

She curled up, snuggling into him. "Thank you Master."

"Is Taloni also a concubine?" Yalia asked.

He shook his head. "She just likes to call me that."

"I do." The Fey teen sighed and snuggled closer to him.

"Narlotten is a 'must free' territory." Rachel said out of the blue. "Unless the woman actively asks to remain a slave -- so she can continue being provided for -- the master must free her at the end of seven years."

"Oh?" Ethan looked up at her.

The redhead nodded, but didn't say anything else. Now that she said that, he vaguely remembered Gonorran saying something about Lord Delmar not liking slavers.

Hmm.

Interesting.

He knew that Rachel didn't want her father to be a bad guy, and she seemed to be looking for anything that would indicate he wasn't. He had to admit that this bit of news about Lord Delmar's territory was unexpected, but that alone didn't make someone good.

"Pardon me for asking." Matthew addressed Ethan. "But I thought you would've known about all of this, being Illuminar's prophet."

Ethan shook his head with a smile as he chuckled. "Then it'll really shock you to learn that I didn't believe God existed four months ago."

Matthew and Yalia stared.

"It's true. And the lightning I can use; that's an enchantment on my hammer that you could use if you knew enough about how lightning worked." He glanced at Selene. "And Selene here could've saved that woman in The Arena just as easily as I did. It's a common technique where I come from, though it only works on the recently dead and only for certain causes. Hell, I could teach it to both of you if we had a couple hours."

At the exact same moment, Matthew and Yalia's mouths fell open.

Ethan chuckled at their synchronicity. "Look, I'm not really comfortable with the title 'prophet of Illuminar'. I was visited by an angel in a dream, but most of my wives have been too."

The young couple glanced at his wives, clearly impressed.

"Literally the only thing that sets me apart from anyone else is what happened on Mount Ianis, but it was the king of the wood elves who set that up, not me." Ethan continued. "I did actually have a conversation with Illuminar up there though." He hesitated, and then added. "Do you want to know how it started?"

Matthew and Yalia both nodded, then they both sat down, sitting at the edge of their seats as they leaned forward.

"Before I realized He was Illuminar, I told Him that I thought He was unjust and didn't run the universe very well."

Ethan almost laughed at the young couple's flabbergasted expressions. It looked like you'd need a car jack to pick their jaws up from the floor. The expressions on their faces were identical and had appeared at the exact same time.

"Oh, and I've never read a word of the Book of Light. Taloni here--" He gave her an affectionate squeeze. "--does every morning though." He looked at them. "The point is that the only thing that might put me in the realm of a prophet is that I had one short conversation with Illuminar, one time. That's it."

"And the angelic visits Master." Taloni added.

"Okay that too, but most of my wives have had those too and no one is calling them prophetesses."

"So..." Matthew cocked his head to one side. "So you're not a lifelong follower of Illuminar? You haven't attended..." He trailed off.

Yalia picked up right where he'd stopped. "...you haven't attended Seminary to become a Luminar, or otherwise educated?"

He shook his head. "Frankly, I'm probably the least qualified person in the Ten Kingdoms to be a prophet. Hell, this morning was literally the first time I'd ever attended a service in one of Illuminar's temples."

Matthew and Yalia gaped at him.

They glanced at each other, both worked their mouths like they wanted to say something, then looked back at him.

"But..." Matthew worked his jaw.

"...why?" Yalia finished his sentence, her jaw also agape.

"Because Illuminar uses the simple things of the world to confound the wise, and the unlearned to mystify the intelligent." Taloni quoted, then looked up at Ethan. "Though, you aren't simple or unlearned master."

"Thanks." He smiled at her.

"So, Illuminar is using you to help the people as a prophet, even though you aren't..." Matthew trailed off, then frowned slightly and rubbed the stubble on his chin. He looked at Ethan for several seconds, then spoke again. "What did you think of the sermon this morning? Or, at least the part you heard."

"Why don't you tell me what you thought of it, then I'll tell you what I thought."

"I thought..." He looked at Yalia, then back at Ethan. "Well we were talking about it earlier and... well there's a sense where he's not technically wrong, or at least not entirely wrong. We really don't deserve Illuminar's favor, but He knows that; He knows that we aren't perfect."

Yalia smiled at him.

While there didn't seem to be any romantic attraction -- probably because she was an un-bonded nymph -- she clearly thought the world of him.

"It just seems like Illuminar would be pleased with someone who was following Him by genuinely doing his best, even if it wasn't that good. I think He would only be truly unhappy with someone who didn't even try to do what was right, or someone who was actively rebelling again Him by intentionally doing wrong. It's like how parents don't hate their kids if they mess up once, you know? They might discipline the kid so he does better next time, but one mistake doesn't mean the parents suddenly stop caring."

Ethan chuckled, and Matthew suddenly looked down and shifted in his seat while he ran his hand through his hair. Man, he really didn't have any confidence in his opinions.

Shame.

"Ladies." Ethan said. "I told you about my conversation with Illuminar; how does what Matthew just said stack up?"

"Very well sir." Alana said.

The rest of his wives agreed.

"They're right." Ethan confirmed.

The young man looked up at him, a sheepish grin on his face.

Ethan looked at him. "Look kid, people will be telling you that you've got it wrong your entire life. That'll never stop. Ever. That's why you need to do the work and study for yourself to make up your own damn mind. Be willing to change it if someone has a better argument, or better data, or better reasoning, but absolutely make up your mind and stick to your convictions unless someone gives you a good reason to change them."

Matthew made a thoughtful sound.

"To paraphrase a hero from my world." Ethan began. "It doesn't matter what the luminars say. It doesn't matter what the lords or the mobs say. It doesn't matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is something right. You are required to stand up for what you believe, no matter the odds or consequences. When the lords, and the mobs, and the whole world tells you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth and tell the whole world: 'No, you move'."

*Captain America?* Selene thought to him.

*Yeah.* He replied. *The comic, not the movies.*

Matthew looked at him for a long moment, and Ethan thought he saw something behind his eyes. Some little flicker of understanding perhaps.

"I like that." Matthew said after several moments.

"Be warned that it's easier said than done." Ethan added. "But it should be done."

The young man nodded, a thoughtful expression on his face. He cocked his head to one side and made a thoughtful sound, but didn't say anything else.

"So, I hear you're an apprentice luminar studying to be a Luminar." Ethan said after letting Matthew think on that for several seconds.

Matthew seemed to take a moment to return his attention from whatever he was thinking about to the room. "Yes, though technically my studies are complete."

"So why aren't you a luminar then?" Selene asked.

"I'm not married." The young man replied.

"Oh?" Ethan raised his eyebrow. "Luminars have to be married?"

"Yes, the Book of Light says so." Yalia answered, then added. "Illuminar often uses family relationships to explain spiritual truths, like the relationship between a husband and wife or between father and son. How could a man properly understand what the God of Light is like unless he has been a husband or father as Illuminar pictures Himself to be in allegory?"

"That makes some sense I suppose." He conceded, but out of the corner of his eye he noticed that a certain caramel haired beauty seemed to be miles away. "You two seem to know that book well."

"Well, we have been translating it for ages now." The young nymph beamed.

"We have." Matthew agreed with a wide smile.

"How's that going?" Ethan asked, rather curious about the process.

* * *

Selene stopped fully listening to the conversation at this point, still resisting the urge to clench her fist at the idea of a wife also being her husband's slave. It was so demeaning, and degrading, and it basically made the wife into property, which was so... so... She shook her head and went into the kitchen where Ketura was slicing some vegetables.

"Did you want any help with dinner?" The Brazilian woman asked, both wanting to be useful and wanting something to distract herself.

"Thank you, yes. Could you stir that?" The nymph replied, nodding her head towards a pot suspended over a small fire in the fireplace.

"So..." She said when she'd grabbed the wooden spoon and stirred what was in the pot, which looked like rice. "...I was going to ask how you and Arven met, but I suppose I should ask how he bought you instead." She tried to keep any trace of bitterness out of her voice, but wasn't entirely successful.

"He didn't buy me." The nymph's eye twinkled.

"He didn't? But I thought..." She frowned.

"No, you assumed." Ketura corrected gently as she resumed slicing some vegetables. "You assumed that he bought me because I'm a slave, just like you assumed that I don't enjoy being my husband's slave."

"How could you?"

Ketura paused her chopping to look at the caramel haired beauty with a piercing gaze for several seconds. Then she spoke without accusation, but her tone was just as piercing as her gaze. "Do you really want to know, or would you prefer to keep judging me?"

Ouch.

Selene averted her eyes, cheeks suddenly feeling quite warm. More than once she'd considered what would happen if someone ever saw her browsing history, especially when she was in one of her kinkier moods. She had wondered how ashamed she would feel if they knew. Now, she had a pretty good idea of how ashamed she'd feel because she felt just as exposed now. Not quite in the same way, but she had an idea.

"I'm sorry." Selene said. "It's just... I just don't understand."

"I made some bad decisions when I was young." Ketura said. "Very bad, which left me alone and copperless in a strange city where I didn't know anyone. I was young, and naïve, and..." She hesitated. "Well, the reason I didn't starve was because I asked to be a slave."

"Oh, to Arven?"

The nymph shook her head. "No, someone else. Someone who realized that I was a nymph and decided to resell me to the highest bidder. We make perfect wives you know, regardless of who we're wed to, which has a certain value on the market."

"Wait, wouldn't reselling a slave go against the Book of Light?" Selene countered. "It seems like being able to pick your--" She grimaced. "--your owner was explicitly stated with no provision for you being sold."

"The Book of Light also says 'you shall not murder', and yet people still murder." Ketura replied. "Plenty of lorddoms allow the reselling of slaves, including Ivernia, regardless of what the Book of Light says."

"And Arven could afford you?"

"I already said that he didn't buy me." Ketura had an amused smile on her face as she raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to let me finish, or just keep making incorrect guesses?"

"Sorry, go ahead."

"My owner brought me to Ivernia, to be wed to a wealthy landowner who had... unpleasant intentions for me."

"Oh?"

She nodded, but didn't explain. "Arven happened to be there that day, collecting the fellow's taxes. He recognized what I was, and guessed that the rich man had something distasteful planned. He padded the tax bill so heavily that the rich man would've lost an incredible amount of money, then 'generously' said he could make the bill go away if the man gave me to him."

"Oh."

"That's how he ended up owning me." Ketura replied. "It was the only thing he could do to save me from my own youthful foolishness, and also the only time he's ever cheated someone on his taxes."

The Brazilian woman chuckled.

"I like that he owns me." Ketura continued while she started chopping vegetables again. "I like that he treats me like an equal virtually all the time, even though I'm a slave."

"Wait, virtually all the time?" She raised her eyebrow.

Ketura got a mischievous grin on her face, glanced towards the living room, then came closer to Selene and said in a low voice. "You have no idea how wonderful it is to have your husband treat you like a queen outside the bedroom... and a sex slave inside the bedroom."

Wow.

That was...

Hmm...

Selene closed her eyes and felt a warm, slightly involuntary shiver spread through her body.

Ketura was right, she didn't know from personal experience. From erotic fiction however... from that she had a good idea what that might be like. In fact, she had a very good idea based on an extremely large sample size. Frankly, it was an embarrassingly large sample size, and half the reason her browser was set to clear her browsing history every time she closed it.

But the 'queen' element was always missing from those stories.

That was new.

That was different.

The stories were usually about the slavery all the time, even if they looked normal in public. But if she -- well, obviously not her but maybe someone else -- but if she could be treated 'like a queen' outside the bedroom and like a--

Her cheeks suddenly felt warm.

If someone could treat her like... like that in the bedroom but then treat her well outside the bedroom...

Hmm.

She'd never really seen that before, nor read it in a story. Glimpses sure, but the slavery was always an 'all the time' thing, not a 'strictly limited to the bedroom' kind of thing. But being treated like a queen outside the bedroom and a -- she could barely even finish the thought -- inside the bedroom had a certain kind of appeal.

It certainly did for the nymph.

Ketura's eyelids fluttered slightly, and she exhaled breathily. "There's no way I would ever give that up. If I wasn't actually his slave, it would merely be acting or fun; pretending. But with me being actually being his slave..." The nymph bit her lip, suppressed a sigh, and then took deep, calming breath. "Well, let's just say I wear my collar proudly."

Selene hadn't noticed before, but she was indeed wearing a collar. It was fairly thin and looked more like a choker than anything else, but it was indeed a collar.

"You've seen us in public." Ketura continued. "Doesn't he treat me well?"

"He does." She conceded.

"He treats me very well in private too." She grinned. "But what we might consider 'very well' might be a bit different than most people's idea of 'very well'."

Selene stared, not sure how to reply.

Ketura had just opened up pretty widely about her sex life. Selene herself obviously wasn't jealous, or interested, or even remotely curious about the various intricate and probably fascinating details of how that worked. No, that was something she definitely, positively had no interest in.

"How does--" She started to ask, but then reminded herself that she didn't want to know.

"Very well." Ketura replied with the same type of smile Ethan's wives often had when they left the captain's cabin.

Selene reminded herself yet again that she wasn't interested.

Not even a little bit...

Not at all...

* * *

After having lunch with Lady Ekthros, Sarah had wandered the weather deck of the airship Helene for several hours, enjoying the wind in her hair and sunshine on her face. It was so much better than that dank cell in the castle and she enjoyed it immensely. In the middle of the afternoon, Lady Ekthros had told her that she'd spoken to the cook and Sarah could start in the kitchen first thing in the morning.

She had a smile on her face the rest of the afternoon.

It was getting towards late afternoon when she thought she should go below decks, but stopped to look upwards for a moment.

"Dear Illuminar -- blessed be you -- thank you for this nice day. Thank you that I could help with the soup this morning, and thank you that I get to work in the kitchens tomorrow. And thank you for Lady Ekthros and Fiona, and please help them both with whatever they need. Amen."

She smiled at the sun, then went below decks.

Lacking anything else to do, she headed towards her room. When she'd found the right corridor, she heard the sounds of an infant crying. She felt her heart go out a bit and made a small 'aww' sound.

It was easy to find out where it was coming from.

A few doors down from her room the door was slightly ajar, and peeking in she saw a mass of curly copper hair holding a baby over her shoulder as she gently patted his back.

"Oh, oh I know little guy." Fiona said as she very gently bounced herself up and down, assuredly trying to calm the baby. "It'll be alright there, there's no need to be crying."

Sarah turned to leave, not wanting to intrude.

However, she'd only made it a step before a feminine voice came from the room. "Ach, I'm sorry Sarah." Fiona said, her accent making 'sorry' sound like 'soory'. "Me baby just woke and he's not happy about his nap being cut short."

"It's okay." The innkeeper's daughter said, popping back in despite the racket the baby was making. "I heard him crying and just wanted to make sure he's okay."

"Except for being tired he's fine, my ears on the other hand..." The copper-haired girl gave her an apologetic smile, then almost winced as he let out a particularly loud wail.

"Would you like a break?" Sarah asked.

"Oh would I ever, thank you so much." Fiona nodded, then carefully but quickly handed the baby over.

Sarah took the baby and cradled him in her arms. "Hi there."

The baby stopped wailing for a moment as he looked at her, then screwed up his face again and started belting it out just as loud as before.

"He's likes it when you're walking with him." Fiona said, rubbing her one ear. "There's not much space in here, but I'm trying to stay in here when he's like this so I'm not bothering anyone."

Fiona's room was the same size as Sarah's, which was small. The bed was only a little wider than Sarah's shoulders -- maybe two feet wide -- and took up half the room's width. Fiona also had small crib big enough for the baby which reduced the walking space even more. Sarah did the best she could, cradling him and trying to get him to calm down, but it took a while. He appeared to be fighting sleep with all his might and only seemed to drift off when he'd exhausted himself from fighting.

"He's got a lot of fight in him, like his father." Fiona had a sad smile on her face as she said this. She blinked a few times and then turned her head away from Sarah to look out the porthole.

"Where is your husband?" Sarah asked, continuing her slightly rocking motion and attempt at pacing in the small room to make sure the baby stayed asleep.

"He's..." The copper haired woman didn't look at her as she replied, and her voice cracked slightly. "He's gone to be with Illuminar."

"I'm sorry."

"Aye." Fiona sniffled. "Me too."

"What was he like?" Sarah asked. She was partially curious, but also remembered how after her mother had died, she had sometimes liked people asking about her because then she could talk about her.

"He was the best tracker in Narlotten." Fiona wiped her cheeks and looked back at her, the faintest traces of a wet smear barely visible where the girl had wiped her cheek. "He joined the military as a ranger and was getting promoted quickly because there isn't anything he couldn't be tracking." She smiled. "He was born holding a bow too. He could draw and shoot with perfect accuracy faster than lightning."

Fiona smiled and wiped her cheek again. "And he had the best smile. He was always making everyone laugh. Occasionally I was worrying that we'd go broke because he was being so generous helping people, but he just couldn't stop himself from helping and we were never wanting." She swallowed hard and surreptitiously wiped her eye again.

"He sounds wonderful." Sarah said.

"He was." She nodded.

"What happened to him?" Sarah asked, looking down at the baby. He had a shock of copper hair like his mother, though he didn't look much like her otherwise; he must resemble his father.

"He was being called in to help with tracking because some of Lord Delmar's men were hunting a suspected necromancer that had just appeared the day before." She set her jaw and clenched her fist. "And now half the Ten Kingdoms thinks that damned necromancer is some kind of saint or prophet, him being a dragon notwithstanding."

Sarah inhaled sharply. "You don't mean..."

"Oh, I do." Fiona said with cold fury in her voice, making her accent even stronger as she continued. "That fooking false prophet killed me husband."

* * *

~~EPILOGUE for Chapter 44

*You're kidding, three times?* Anthiel felt an amused smile creep onto her face as she thought the question to her husband.

*It's the truth.* Ralgar replied, amusement in his tone. *Miri thinks she's fertile and she wants a baby so much; almost as much as you did before our first one.*

*I remember when we made him, on that vacation on the Isle of Moragana...* She trailed off as she remembered nearly a hundred years ago.

*That's one week I'll never forget.* Ralgar had a playful edge to his voice. *Mirella has been almost as amorous. In fact, she's snuggling right next to me right now.* He paused. *And she wants me to convey the usual message.*

The high elf pilot smiled. *She knows she didn't need my permission to marry you, and I'm glad she did.*

*Me too.* He replied. *I didn't realize how starved she was for affection and someone to care about her until we were wed. It's been wonderful to see her blossom that last couple of months. I'm just sorry you're missing it.*

*I am as well, but the Argo won't need me forever. Tell Miri that I miss her and hopefully we can...* The high elf stopped as she noticed two tiny dots on the horizon to the north that were too far away to be birds.

*Problem?* Ralgar asked, suddenly all business as he probably sensed her emotions.

*I'll let you know.* She scooped up her enchanted telescope -- a gift from him for their 50th wedding anniversary -- and pulled it up to her eye. It wasn't as advanced as Kendra's, but with her far greater eyesight it didn't need to be.

*There are two airships heading for us, and unless I miss my guess they are flying the Ivernian flag.* She frowned, apparently the airships had encountered good winds because they were going to arrive early. *Can you identify them if I describe them?* She asked, less familiar with military airships than he was, since he was an admiral in Lord Borden's navy.

*They are Ivernian and I recognize the class.* Ralgar replied when she had finished describing them. *Typical compliment is a platoon of marines and a dozen sailors, plus mages.*

*So forty-eight crew plus mages, putting their total number at over one hundred if you include both airships.*

*Precisely.* Her husband replied. *They are usually crewed with two or three mages each.*

Anthiel looked at the sky, which was just starting to darken as the sun had recently set. Thankfully, the airships had shown up before dark. While her eyesight was incredible since she was a high elf, high elves didn't have the night vision that wood elves did.

*Ethan should be back long before they arrive.* She said after a moment. *He wanted to leave right after dark and he takes the protection of his wives seriously; he won't be late. Unfortunately it's clear skies tonight, the moon is near full, and there's only a short gap between darkness and moonrise this time of year. They will be able to follow us easily.*

*Be careful Ani.* Her husband thought to her. *The Argo only has a few real fighters and they have over one hundred. You're outnumbered ten or twelve to one.*

Anthiel took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then thought to her husband again. *I'll say a prayer, and would you and Mirella please pray as well? We'll need all the help we can get.*

TO BE CONTINUED...

This chapter began and ended on day 92 of Ethan's life in the Ten Kingdoms. 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 April 26th, and it'll probably drop on the 28th or the 29th.

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