Chapter 45: Cat and Mouse

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

* * *

Ethan looked at Arven and Ketura as he stood at the door of their house preparing to leave. "Thank you so much for helping Taloni when she was shot. I don't know that I could ever fully express how grateful I am."

"It was our pleasure." Arven replied.

"Thank you for talking to Matthew." Ketura added in a low voice so the young man -- who was debating some point about the syntax of the Old Tongue with the couple's daughter Yalia -- didn't hear. "I would love to see him wed to our daughter one day, and I think you might have helped that happen."

"I'm glad." Ethan said.

"Ethan, it's getting dark." Kendra pointed out. It was approaching dusk, and the last vestiges of a beautiful sunset were fading from the sky as the dark blues of twilight began to take hold. It was still light enough to see, it wouldn't be for long.

"Thank you again, but we really need to get back to our airship so we can leave by dark." Ethan said to their hosts. He hated leaving so abruptly, but it was better than going up against the two platoons of soldiers on the airships that were on their way.

"Come on honey." He said to Taloni, taking her hand.

The Fey teen still got tired easily after having been shot earlier, and she clutched his arm as she held his hand.

"Thank you for helping me." She said to their hosts, then seemed to run out of breath.

"We were happy to." Arven assured her, then added with a smile. "Just make sure you rest up and heal."

"I will." She assured them.

They finished saying goodbye and then headed out onto the darkening streets of Dotmier, Ethan leading his wives and Selene. The moon hadn't risen yet and the town was getting dark. The cheerful light of a few lanterns shone out from several house windows, but it seemed like most hadn't lit lamps. He wondered if that was because they thought the lamp oil was too expensive. Dotmier reminded him a bit of a shanty town, though in better repair. Like most of Ivernia, the lack of repair was for want of resources and not a want of care.

Taloni was clinging to his arm a bit and got progressively slower as they walked.

"Honey, would you prefer I carried you?" He asked when they were perhaps halfway to the Argo.

She nodded. "Thank you Master."

He scooped her into his arms, her tiny frame making it easy.

She snuggled into him, then looked up at him with her shining but tired lilac eyes. "Master, could we go see the Luminar before we leave?"

"Why?"

"Because..." She looked down and her shoulders slumped slightly. "Because I called him some bad names during that service and I need to apologize. I shouldn't have called him names no matter how wrong he was."

"You called him names?" He raised his eyebrow. She'd said something in the Fey tongue, but he hadn't known what. He supposed that it had been pretty obvious from her tone though.

"She did; very bad names." Alana said with an amused smile.

"We can't today." He replied. "It's too dangerous. However, we'll almost certainly be back at some point and you can apologize then."

"Okay." She nodded, then closed her eyes and let her head flop against him. He thought she might've started dozing almost immediately.

"Wait!" Someone called after them.

Ethan turned to see Matthew running up behind them and stopped so the young man could catch up.

"Wait." He stopped when he'd caught up, then leaned over and put his hands on his knees, breathing hard.

"What's up Matthew?" Ethan asked.

"I just... had a... question." He panted.

"Take a second to catch your breath, then ask." Ethan replied. He glanced at the sky which was still getting darker, but they weren't cutting it close yet.

The young man took a moment to catch his breath, then spoke. "I wanted to say thank you and ask..." He took a deep breath. "Should I have said something during that sermon this morning? To disagree with it I mean."

Ethan looked at the young man for a long moment. "I won't answer, but not because it's not a good question. It most certainly is a good question."

"Oh?"

"It is." Ethan confirmed. "But that's not a question for me, that's a question for you. I have my convictions, and there are things I'll let slide and things I won't. Those things are different for everyone, but everyone has them. Do you know what I mean?"

"I do, but that's the problem." Matthew replied. "It seems serious, and it's serious enough that I talked to him in private, but to directly challenge him in public..." He shook his head. "That's far more serious and I just don't know if this is important enough."

"I think you do." Ethan replied scrutinizing him. "You might lack the courage to follow your convictions, but deep down you know."

"Ouch." He looked down slightly. "I probably needed to hear that, but ouch."

"Look at it this way." Ethan added, since the young man clearly cared deeply about Illuminar and the Book of Light. "If Illuminar were here in person, what would He have done? Would He have let a sermon like that slide?"

Matthew frowned. "Probably not."

"That might be a good test for you then, though the bar is high."

The young man nodded, clearly deep in thought.

"We need to get going, and I'll be rooting for you." Ethan said.

"I'll be... b..." Taloni yawned. "I'll be praying for you and Yalia."

"Thank you." Matthew said, then added. "May Illuminar guide you on the path of light as you travel."

"And you as well." Ethan replied.

Matthew waved and left.

Ethan looked after him for a few moments, then he turned and continued walking towards the Argo. He really did hope that Matthew could find the courage to challenge that luminar on his theology. Ethan himself didn't know enough to attempt it, but Matthew almost certainly did; probably far more than enough. He just needed the courage to act.

They started walking up the ramp to the Argo's docking berth not long after. When they reached the top, he saw Taiven on the deck playing with Thor. The kitten seemed to have taken a liking to the boy and was purring loudly. Like his father, Lord Kalus, Taiven looked very confident without being arrogant; and the boy had amber hair like his mother, Shara.

"You have returned." Taiven said, first standing up and then giving them a respectful bow. "Your pilot Anthiel said I could wait here for you; I bring a message from my mother." He paused. "And myself as the crown prince of Timarou."

"What's the message?" Ethan asked.

"That regardless of how Ivernia treats hers guests, Timarou welcomes you." The seven-year-old boy said regally. "My mother and I heard about you being attacked. While my father had already returned to the mines when the attack occurred, she and I agree that he would not believe you were at fault, and neither do we. Thus, please consider Timarou a safe harbor for you on all your travels. We would welcome you and protect you from any enemies who would seek to unlawfully persecute you."

*Seven going on seventy.* Selene thought to everyone.

*I think it's cute.* Rachel replied.

"Thank you Taiven, and please thank your mother and father for me as well." Ethan replied to the boy. "I'm really glad to hear that."

Taiven bowed, then added with a boyish grin. "And besides, I would love to have you visit our capital; it's amazing!" Apparently, he was only proper when the situation called for it.

"We might take you up on that." Ethan nodded.

Taiven turned to his fourth wife. "Lady Rachel, might I show you something?" He asked with an ear-to-ear smile.

"Sure." The redhead replied.

*Someone's trying to get in good with the mother-in-law...* Beth though to everyone in a sing-song tone.

Most of them chuckled, Rachel rolled her eyes.

Taiven looked at Thor, then mimed shooting a small bow and said: "Twang."

As if on cue, Thor seemed to sway on the spot then flopped over on his side, eyes closed like he had been shot. Taloni started laughing from Ethan's arms and the others followed suit.

Thor jumped up at the noise, then spotted Selene and bounded over to meet her only to be stopped by the netting that someone had put over the opening where the gangplank extended, assuredly to prevent Thor from leaving the Argo. The kitten sat down, scrunched up his face, and made a squeaky meow. Selene grinned ear-to-ear, then darted forward and scooped up the kitten, who instantly started purring.

* * *

Alana watched all this with a smile on her face as her family and Selene made their way across the gangplank, replacing the netting when they were done. Despite the earlier events, or maybe because of them, it felt extra good to laugh. Sadly, her laugh was interrupted by Anthiel, as the high elf caught her attention and then pointed towards the sky to the north. She looked and her wood elf eyes noticed something on the horizon.

"Um Ethan." She said, squinting slightly to try and see it better. "Are those airships incoming?"

Ethan's head snapped to the horizon, his dragon eyes able to see even better than her wood elf ones. "Shit!" He breathed after several seconds. "They are, and they're headed this way."

"I shall not delay your departure any further." Taiven said instantly. "Sir, I hope you will remember that you have a sanctuary in Timarou, should you ever need it."

"I won't forget, and thank you." He replied.

"Then I shall take my leave." He bowed regally to them, flashed a boyish grin, and then hurried across the gangplank.

Alana moved to the Argo's railing, leaning out and trying to focus her excellent wood elf eyes on the incoming airship. She couldn't make out much more than the silhouette though.

"Here, try this." Kendra said from beside her, offering her the enchanted spyglass she'd presumably retrieved from her own canoe-sized airship, which was strapped to the Argo's deck near the bow.

The wood elf crouched and set the spyglass on the Argo's railing for stability, then looked again. Her elven eyes combined with the magnification allowed her to see much better.

They were Ivernian military airships alright.

The green paint, large size, and Ivernian flag on the mast made that clear enough. However, there was another flag flying below it, and it almost looked like--

"Is that Lord Delmar's flag?" Ethan asked from her other side.

"I think so." The wood elf replied. "It's red with a stylized black dragon on it."

"That's Narlotten's flag." Rachel confirmed from behind her.

"Gee, you'd think Lord Delmar the black dragon would've picked something less obvious for his flag." Selene said from somewhere nearby.

"That's been Narlotten's flag for centuries." Rachel said. "Ever since my ancestors first became lords of Narlotten. My country--" She stopped, then corrected herself. "My father's country is actually somewhat famous for the black dragons that used to live there in abundance, though few remain now. That's why the Narlotten flag has a black dragon on it."

Alana handed the spyglass back to Kendra and went to stand next to her best friend. The brunette slipped her hand into the redhead's, giving it a comforting squeeze. The disowned lord's daughter gave her a grateful look with a pained smile.

"I'm getting really sick of being run out of town by that asshole." Ethan growled.

"Me too." Rachel said quietly enough that Alana didn't think anyone else heard her. She gave the redhead's hand another gentle squeeze and an apologetic smile.

"Anthiel." Ethan called. "How soon can we be underway?"

"Two minutes to leave dock, three more to hit altitude." The high elf replied as Serif and Raklan pulled the gangplank onto the Argo. "I saw them coming earlier and everything is ready for our departure."

"I can help Master." Taloni said, starting to move in his arms.

He didn't put her down. "And you will, but not today. You rest up and get better, then you can help."

The Fey teen looked relieved and relaxed into his arms again. "Yes Master, thank you."

"They're going to see us." Ethan said as he gazed out at the other airships. "They know right where we are and they're going to see us. We should've left earlier."

"I never imagined they'd get here this fast." Kendra said, looking down. "Sorry for suggesting that we wait. That was my mistake."

"It was my call, not yours." Ethan replied. "We all make mistakes, so don't beat yourself up over it because the buck stops here."

"Yes Drago." The raven-haired woman replied, but Alana highly doubted that she wouldn't blame herself if anyone was hurt because of the late departure.

"What now?" Beth asked.

"Ladies, ideas?" He said, and ended looking at Kendra.

No one said anything for several seconds.

Finally, Kendra seemed to give in under his gaze and voiced her opinion. "I think we should head south-by-southwest over the mountains and make for the Gulf of Sayora."

"Where's that?" Ethan asked.

"It's just on the other side of the mountains to the south." Beth supplied. "The mountain range that defends almost all of Ivernia's southern border abuts the Gulf of Sayora. Well, there's some flatland on the southern side of the mountains, but not much."

"It might be possible to hide in the hills there." Rachel said. "I flew over the southern mountains one time in my father's airship, and I think there are enough hills and valleys that it might work."

"It's possible, but consider how airship combat happens." Kendra countered.

Ethan sighed. "I probably should've asked this a long time ago: how does airship combat usually go?"

"Airships can't knock each other out of the sky, so it's usually an archery contest; at least from what I've read." Beth replied.

"She's somewhat right." Kendra interjected. "The ships often embark on a race upwards, because whichever ship is higher can more easily rain arrows down on the other. The goal is usually to sweep the deck, then fly over the other ship and have boarders drop down."

"Unless you want to destroy the airship." Beth said. "Then sometimes one airship will sail over another and drop flaming pitch to try and burn it."

"Ouch!" Ethan winced. "Yeah, let's make sure that doesn't happen."

"It won't." Rachel said confidently. "If they try to light fire to my home, I'll happily return it to the sender."

Alana looked at her best friend proudly, remembering how she had returned Havorleth's dragon fire to him. Certainly she could do the same with any fire dropped on the Argo.

"Fire isn't usually used for that exact reason." Kendra said. "The fire can be turned against you if the ship has a mage on it, and all military airships have mages for that reason, among others."

"Speaking of, you need to be especially careful of mages." Rachel added. "While air-rams aren't usually deadly on land, a good mage can throw enemy crewmen clear off an airship if he's close enough."

"That's why airship crew who are on the deck often tie themselves down." Kendra supplied.

"So how do you actually win?" Ethan asked. "There's no cannons and you can't sink an airship like you can with a boat."

"Archers primarily." Beth said. "That's why all military airships are equipped with deployable crenellations."

"They are?" Ethan asked.

"Of course they are." Beth's tone wouldn't have been out of place if Ethan had asked if mankind were capable of speaking.

"Oh, I didn't know." He said. "What about the Argo?"

"We're fully equipped." Anthiel said from the quarterdeck.

"Master, look carefully at the inside of the ship's side." Taloni said from his arms. "The Argo is a luxury airship so they are made to blend in, but you can see them if you look."

Alana did, and she could almost see what the Fey was saying.

Along the inside of the Argo's four-foot high sidewalls, she could see that there were roughly square sections. These sections were carefully fitted so they didn't look out of place, but now that she was looking she could see them. The square sections had a gap between them of a few inches, though that gap was filled with another piece of wood that was obviously intended to help the squares blend in.

If those square sections folded up, it would create a large amount of cover, with slits large enough for a bowman to shoot from without exposing himself very much. They looked thick too; plenty thick enough to stop even orcish arrows.

Huh.

She'd never noticed.

Still, that would be excellent cover if they had to fight another airship. The slits were certainly wide enough for her to properly shoot through, and she was a good shot with a bow.

"Well, I hope we don't need them, but it's good to have them." The wood elf said.

"Agreed." Ethan looked at the incoming airships, distant though they were. "I bet I could do a number on their rigging with my sword in a fly-by." He mused.

"Airships have a lot of archers." Kendra countered. "That might be risky."

"Then please don't." Alana said. "It would be nearly impossible for us to help you if you were hit while flying."

"I could do it after it gets dark but before the moon comes out." He replied. "I can see well enough without the moon but they shouldn't be able to see me, so the risk would be minimal."

"Unless you didn't see a rope and flew into it." Alana countered. "Even with your dragon eyes you could miss something without moonlight."

He frowned. "That's true; and hitting one at high speed would be very bad."

"You could use your javelin instead." Kendra suggested. "Keep far enough away to avoid the rigging, throw it to kill one of the crew, then summon it back. You could do that repeatedly and they would never see it coming."

Ethan frowned. "I'm not sure I want to do that right now. Not after that interrogation earlier."

"What about it?" Alana asked.

"I'll tell you about it while we get underway." He replied.

* * *

Sarah held Fiona's little baby boy as the copper-haired woman composed herself. She really felt for the widow who was trying to take care of a newborn and grieve at the same time, while also working.

"I'm sorry to be coming apart like this in front of ya." Fiona said, wiping her cheeks. "It wasn't long ago and it's still hard."

"I completely understand." The innkeeper's daughter replied. "I remember when my mother died; I cried for weeks."

"I'm sorry to be hearing that." The copper haired woman sniffled. "It 'tis a true shame to be losing someone so close."

"It is." She looked down at the boy, who had finally fallen asleep in her arms.

"You can be setting him in the crib now." Fiona said, wiping her eyes one last time before standing up. "He sleeps like his father, so nothing short of a battle will wake him when he's truly asleep. It's getting him to sleep that's the trouble."

Sarah did, making sure to support the baby's neck as she did so. He fussed slightly and rubbed his face with his fist, but then stilled himself. The innkeeper's daughter put a light blanket over him, thinking he wouldn't need much with the warm summer evening.

"I thank you." The copper haired woman moved to stand next to her, looking into the crib in the tiny room. "He's all I have left of my Sean."

"He's a beautiful baby."

"Like his father." The widow blinked, then looked at Sarah. "He was a good husband, though we weren't wed for long before..." She swallowed. "He was writing me often when he was away, and his last letter was so wonderful. I am wanting to read it all the time, but I'm trying not to because I want to get it enchanted to be self-repairing so I'll always have it."

"My father did that for a portrait of my mother." Sarah nodded. "That was before... well when we had more money."

"Aye, 'tis a good thing that, to be having those things." Fiona nodded. "I have a small portrait of Sean that I keep in my room at Karnas. The Lord Delmar was being generous, giving me that room and my job in the kitchens."

"He did?"

Fiona pressed her lips into a thin line, and shook her head. "I wasn't supposed to be saying that; he was asking me not to be spreading it around."

"Oh, I'd ask but... Well now I understand why you like Lord Delmar so much."

"Well, I'm not liking him, just liking him as a lord." The copper haired girl corrected. "He has been good to me even though he doesn't know me at all, making sure me and my baby were taken care of after my Sean died. He visited me personally, and was telling me that he was sorry for my loss, and he was offering to pay to have me relocate to Karnas and give me a job in the kitchens."

"That's really unusual for a Lord, isn't it?" Sarah asked, thinking that Lord Farbrottan would never do something like that.

"He's an unusual lord." The copper haired woman replied. "He was saying he was doing it because of Hermair, the necromancer that brought the false prophet to the Ten Kingdoms and was hiding in plain sight in his army. He was saying that Sean's death was because of his failure to recognize that there was a necromancer in his army, and so he was wanting to take care of me because he was saying his failures led to my husband's death."

"Really?"

"Aye." Fiona nodded. "I think he was blaming himself and wanting to help because he felt like it was his fault. Anyway, that's how I came to be working in his kitchens. But I would appreciate it if you weren't saying anything about this to anyone. He was asking that I wouldn't spread it around."

"Is that because he was worried about how the people would react if they knew a necromancer was hiding in plain sight in his army?"

Fiona shook her head. "No, he was making a public announcement about that, letting the people know and even giving Hermair's description and that he was a necromancer. The part he wasn't wanting me to share was how he was helping me."

Sarah cocked her head to one side. "Wait, if he did that for you and didn't want anyone to know, I wonder if he has done that for other families and told them not to 'spread it around' too."

"I'm thinking the same; he's a good lord." Fiona said. "Better than most, and I don't know what I would've done without his help. I was really needing it, and he wasn't asking for anything in return."

"Nothing?"

"Well, I was asking how I could repay him. He was saying that I shouldn't be bothering with that. I was insisting though, so you know what he was saying?"

"What?"

"He was asking if I would be praying for his daughter, Rachel." The copper haired girl replied. "He was worrying about her, and was saying that if I was insisting on repaying him -- which I was -- that I could be praying hard for her because she was needing it badly."

"Oh." Sarah would never have guessed Lord Delmar would do that. He had seemed so aloof the one time that she'd met him and he didn't seem the type to care.

Maybe he was.

That was about the time that the innkeeper's daughter noticed the fading light outside the window. "I should go; Lady Ekthros said I could help in the kitchens, and I want to be up early to start."

"Aye, Marge will appreciate that." Fiona said. "Thank you for your help with Conner." She nodded towards the baby sleeping in the crib.

"I was happy to help." She smiled as she got up.

Fiona stood also, and the innkeeper's daughter hesitated a moment before offering a hug. The copper haired girl accepted it, and it was a good hug. Tight, but not too tight.

"Sarah, I think we're going to be good friends." Fiona said when the hug broke.

"I'd like that." Sarah smiled, remembering that the widow even knew about her problem after having overheard her conversation with Lord Delmar.

She wanted to be her friend anyway.

She got slightly choked up as she made her way back to her room, but in the best possible way. She hadn't had a friend her own age since she was little, before her problem. And while Fiona was doubtless a few years older than she herself was, it couldn't be by much. She found herself smiling and not able to stop; not wanting to stop.

* * *

"And that's basically it." Ethan finished relating how the interrogation went with some input from Selene and Kendra. "I'm trying to decide how comfortable I am ambushing them without warning because some of them might not be..." He paused, looking for the words. "Some of them might be like that kid; not malevolent but just following orders."

"That makes sense." Beth said. "Good people being in a bad situation doesn't make them bad people."

Kendra frowned. "What about when good people are asked to do bad things and then do them? At that point they aren't good people anymore."

"But they might not know." The blonde replied.

"And that's different." Kendra said. "I fell into that camp once, so I have a lot of sympathy for someone who thinks we're guilty and is hunting us because of that. These Ivernian soldiers aren't that. They know that our only crime is confronting a corrupt Reeve, and despite that they're still willing to kill us. They know that we're innocent and are trying to kill us anyway. That makes them wicked, and thus I have no problem using lethal force to defend ourselves."

"Don't you think you're being a bit harsh?" Selene asked as she petted Thor, who was sleeping in her lap. "I see your point and even agree somewhat, but there's a world of difference between evil on purpose and being coerced into doing evil."

"The motivation is different, but the actions are the same." The dragon huntress replied. "At the end of the day, I'll judge a man by his actions. Knowingly murdering an innocent person is still knowingly murdering an innocent person, regardless of whether you did it gleefully or regretfully."

"That doesn't leave a lot of room for repentance." Alana said. "What if someone did something wrong and later repented? Would you still think the same?"

"That's a bit different." The raven-haired woman replied. "I'm willing to forgive almost anything if someone repents -- I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't -- but we know these men aren't repentant."

"How could you possibly know that?" Beth frowned.

"Because they're still trying to kill us when they know we're innocent."

"Oh." Beth's frown deepened and she crossed her arms over her chest, but she didn't reply.

"Innocent until proven guilty." Selene interjected. "That's the cornerstone of justice, so until someone does something that's wrong, that person should enjoy the presumption of innocence. That's important."

"But it could become a bad point if you get stabbed; pun intended." Rachel interjected. "Presuming innocence makes perfect sense in a courtroom, but I won't wait for someone to hurt my friends before I defend them."

"So you would launch a preemptive strike?" Alana was looking at the redhead like she had grown a third eye.

"You didn't object when I air-rammed that fellow on Earth who was drawing a gun on you." The mage countered. "Selene is right that we should presume innocence in a courtroom. On the street, if someone comes at me with a weapon, I won't assume he has good motives; I'll defend my friends and myself with all necessary force."

"That makes sense, I'm just saying that there should be a way back from that." Alana said.

"I have no problem with that, assuming he survives." Rachel said.

"But Rachel, isn't that a bit unfair?" Beth replied. "What if a good person was attacking you and you killed him not knowing that."

"Then Illuminar will let me know at the final judgment." The redhead replied. "The Book of Light allows for self-defense, even using lethal force in self-defense."

"That does bring up an interesting point though." Ethan said, thinking about his first two days in the Ten Kingdoms. "What if soldiers attack you after being misled to think that you're evil? Consider the men who attacked Alana and me the first couple days we were in the Ten Kingdoms."

"Exactly!" Beth said. "That's part of my point."

"So, are you saying that Ethan and Alana shouldn't have defended themselves?" Kendra asked her.

"Well no." The blonde replied, deflating slightly.

"Besides, we aren't talking about the Narlotten soldiers from three months ago." The dragon huntress said, swinging the conversation back to the matter at hand. "We're talking about the Ivernian soldiers that right now are coming to kill or capture us. Would you have us surrender?"

"Of course not, but we shouldn't kill them unless we have to." Beth frowned.

"We have to." Kendra said firmly. "They have their orders and they'll try to carry them out. It's us or them, and I'm going to make damn sure it isn't us."

"But we could avoid them, then no one has to die." The blonde said, her voice rising slightly in both pitch and volume.

"And if we always run from evil men, then we'll always be running from evil men." The raven-haired woman replied. "Pacifying a bully won't discourage him; quite the opposite in fact."

"Kendra's right." Rachel interjected. "Evil men don't respond to weakness; they prey on it; feed on it. They are only defeated by strength."

"That sounds like something your father would say." Alana noted.

"Narlotten is one of the most crime-free lorddoms in the Ten Kingdoms." Rachel replied. "Just because my father is trying to kill us doesn't mean he's wrong about everything."

"But some of the punishments there are barbaric!" Beth exclaimed.

"But effective." Rachel replied simply.

The blonde's mouth fell open. "How can you say that?"

"Yeah, that sounds an awful lot like 'the ends justifies the means'." Alana added.

"I'm fine with any moral means to achieve a good end." Rachel countered. "But if you think that Narlotten's punishments are an immoral means, then show me in the Book of Light where they are stated to be immoral."

The wood elf opened her mouth to reply, but apparently couldn't think of anything to say.

"One thing is certain: these Ivernian soldiers are not using moral methods, but immoral ones." Kendra interjected, and Ethan couldn't help but notice that she was keeping the discussion on the immediate threat as she continued. "They are following wicked orders, and thus we have every right to defend ourselves with all necessary force. Does anyone really think that we shouldn't defend ourselves?" The dragon huntress looked around, eventually settling her gaze on Beth.

The blonde drew her lips into a thin line, huffed slightly and crossed her arms over her chest again. "Well what if they were just following orders?"

"I don't think that 'just following orders' is a good excuse." Selene said. "Some of the worst things imaginable have been done by men who were 'just following orders'. Remind me to tell you about the Nazis and Auschwitz sometime."

"Not sure what those are, but otherwise I agree." Kendra nodded. "Wicked orders shouldn't be obeyed, and a righteous man wouldn't obey wicked orders."

Ethan was listening to the debate with great interest.

It was the first time he could think of that all his wives were disagreeing with each other about something important. Given how many of them there were, obviously they would disagree about things sometimes. It was interesting to see where the lines were drawn though. However, one of his wives hadn't weighed in yet.

"How about you honey?" Ethan asked the Fey teen on his lap. "What do you think?"

"Yes Tee, I could use some backup." Beth said, sounding relieved.

"Um, sorry Bee, but I think Kendra is right." Taloni replied. "The Book of Light says: 'Do not walk the path with the wicked, lest you be caught up with them in their sins and their judgement falls on you as well.' They know Master is a prophet of Illuminar, and they know we're innocent. I don't want anyone to die, but they are walking with the wicked and trying to kill innocent people. Illuminar doesn't like it when innocent blood is spilled."

Beth stared.

There was silence for several seconds before Beth rounded on him, hands on her hips and a challenge in her voice, as if she was daring him to disagree with her. "Well what about you Dominus?"

He chuckled.

"What?" She asked, clearly confused.

He started laughing harder at the teen who was so clearly irate and possibly even trying to intimidate him into agreeing. His laughter was shaking him enough that Taloni sat up straighter so she wasn't leaning on him, but she didn't leave his lap.

"What's so funny Dominus!" Beth said, her voice both louder and higher pitched than normal.

"You're so mad." He said through his laughter.

"Why is that funny?!" She huffed.

He looked at her; his youngest wife and the one who had the most unbridled optimism about life. He loved that about her. "Beth, promise me that you'll never change." He said with a proud smile.

The blonde cocked her head to one side and worked her mouth for several seconds, apparently not sure how to respond. "But what's your opinion?" She finally asked a bit more calmly.

"I'm just not comfortable attacking out of nowhere." He replied. "I have no problem defending myself or my wives, but I'd like to give them a chance."

"Oh?" All his wives plus Selene said at the exact same moment.

He chuckled. "Yes. First I want to see if they are still following us in the morning. If not, then I don't need to do anything. But if they are..." He pursed his lips and he considered. "If they are, then I'm going to drop in and give them one chance to turn around, go home, and stop threatening my family. If they take it, good. If not, then may God have mercy on their souls..." He looked around grimly. "Because I won't."

Everyone seemed to consider that for a moment, and Kendra was the first to speak up. "I think that's a tactical mistake, but probably the right thing to do." She hesitated for a moment. "If I was in their shoes, I would want a chance too."

"A chance for redemption before judgement." Alana said. "That's a good idea."

"I suppose if you gave them a chance..." Beth frowned and then pursed her lips, but didn't finish the thought.

"I agree with Kendra that it's a tactical mistake, but I also agree that it's the right thing to do." Rachel added.

Taloni yawned, then snuggled into him more. "I think that's very wise Master, I wish I had thought to suggest it."

"Right now, a good suggestion is bedtime." Ethan said, putting his arms under the honey-blonde and standing up. Then a thought occurred to him. "I suppose I could try to issue the warning tonight."

"I would vote on the morning." Alana said. "They might think you're attacking if you land on the ship at night. During the day it would be more obvious that you want to talk, not fight."

"But they would have a much easier time hitting him with arrows because they'll be able to see him well." Beth grimaced.

"A warning might not be necessary if they aren't able to follow the Argo." Kendra said. "You will be more vulnerable during the day, but you might not need to expose yourself at all if they aren't able to follow the Argo. So there's a chance that if you wait until the morning, they might lose us during the night. It's not a large chance since the moon is about to come out and it's a mostly cloudless night, but it's a chance."

"On the other hand." Selene interjected. "If you show up tonight you can easily escape into the darkness with almost no risk to yourself."

"I like that plan." Beth said.

"But they would be more likely to see me as a threat." Ethan frowned. "In the morning, I could fly out holding a white flag. Would that keep them from attacking, at least on the journey to the airship?"

"It should." Rachel said. "Everyone respects the white flag, so you should be able to land safely."

"I'll wait until the morning then." Ethan said after several seconds. "A dragon in full armor showing up unannounced in the dark sounds like a good way to make people panic and think it's a surprise attack. That's the opposite of what I want."

Beth opened her mouth, probably to object, but he headed her off.

"I have my 'dragon-sense' to warn me of danger and armor that can stop an orcish warbow; I should be able to get away safely even if they do attack."

"They probably will." Kendra said.

"That's a chance I'm willing to take." Ethan replied. "For now, it's bedtime." He looked at Taloni. "I do believe it's your night to sleep in my arms."

"Given what happened earlier, it would be her night even if it wasn't her night." Alana said. "But yes it is."

His other wives agreed.

Not long afterwards, they were all in the captain's cabin on the bed. Ethan wrapped his arms around the tiny Fey teen, holding her tightly and grateful that she was still here. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"What's wrong Master?" She asked. She was snuggled up against him, her arms tucked up to her chest and her head resting on his bicep.

"I'm just glad you're okay." He kissed the top of her head.

"We all are." Kendra added, and the others agreed.

"I love my family." The Fey closed her eyes and snuggled closer to him.

"We love you too." He whispered, then closed his eyes. It had been quite the day and he was glad that it was ending. He only hoped tomorrow would be better, not worse.

* * *

Sarah felt the waking world approach and smiled; she would be cooking this morning. She opened her eyes, looking up at the small port hole to see that the sky hadn't quite started to lighten yet. Getting up before daybreak had been normal at her father's inn and she was happy to be doing it again.

She got out of bed, said her morning prayers, made sure she was presentable, used the latrine, and then headed off towards the kitchens.

"You're here early." The head cook, Marge, said when she had opened the door and slipped through, closing it behind her.

No one else was there.

"Oh, am I too early?" She asked with a slight grimace.

The large woman laughed. "Ain't no such thing in cooking."

"I agree." She nodded.

"I like a girl with a good enough work ethic to come in early. I like her even more when she isn't a dunderhead when it comes to seasoning." The large woman said with a faint aura of approval in her tone.

Sarah smiled. "Where should I start?"

"Peeling potatoes." Marge replied. "We're doing potato pancakes for breakfast this morning."

"Okay." Sarah nodded, then went to tie her hair up.

The door behind her opened and she stepped out of the way as Fiona entered, also in the middle of tying her hair up.

"Oh, Sarah, you're here early." The copper haired woman broke into a smile when she saw her.

Sarah beamed back.

Fiona had smiled when she saw her, presumably because she had seen her. As Ethan had once said, that made her heart happy. Her heart fell slightly when she thought of him, but considering what Lady Ekthros had told her and how he had hurt Fiona...

She shook her head and then followed the copper haired girl as they went to get some potatoes to peel them.

* * *

The smell of smoke wafted into Rachel's nose as she drifted back to the waking world. She snapped her eyes open, but couldn't see anything smoking. She lifted her head and looked around, but didn't see any smoke at all. Judging by the semi-darkness outside the window, it was too early for Anthiel to have started the breakfast fire too. Where was that faint smoky smell coming from?

Hmm.

She frowned and set her head back down, only to notice the beautifully chaotic mess of chocolate brown hair in front of her. She woke up every morning with the wonderful wood elf in her arms and couldn't believe how lucky she was to have that.

She sighed.

As she looked at her best friend, she had a sudden urge to kiss her on the forehead. She didn't know why, but she wanted to. The brunette had the most beautiful skin; sun-kissed, soft, and smooth. It was strange; during the waking hours the redhead found herself having a hard time looking at the wood elf for any length of time. But now, while she was sleeping... She smiled; she couldn't tear her eyes away.

The wood elf stirred several minutes later, yawning and stretching as she woke.

"Morning." Rachel whispered.

"Morning." Alana whispered back as her beautiful eyelashes fluttered open to reveal gorgeous hazel eyes.

They looked into each other's eyes for several seconds before Alana spoke. "Why do we feel so comfortable like this, but so uncomfortable touching the rest of the time?"

"I don't know." Rachel glanced down, more to avert her eyes than anything. However, she was treated to the sight of Alana's naked body pressed up against hers. Rachel herself had much paler skin that her best friend and was significantly larger in the bust, so she didn't see much.

But what she did see...

She looked back at Alana, suppressing the sigh that wanted to escape her lips as she felt a familiar itch forming between her legs. It was different than with Ethan though. It was more primal and forceful with their husband, but it was softer and more gentle with Alana; like a lullaby that draws you in compared to a river's current that carries you along.

"I really like this." Rachel said, becoming more aware that they were actually holding each other while naked. Something about it lacked a sexual component though, despite the itch in her nether lips and their bare skin touching everywhere.

"Me too." The wood elf nodded. "You know, we have decades of this to look forward too."

Rachel closed her eyes and sighed softly. "Yeah."

The wood elf raised her arm and rested it on Rachel's side, so the elbow was near the bottom of her ribs and her hand on the redhead's shoulder. "I really like this."

The mage could feel her brain starting to lock up at the more intimate touch. Normally Alana had the opposite effect, but right now her brain was trying its best to imitate a frozen glacier.

"Should I move my hand?" The wood elf asked.

Rachel instinctively shook her head.

Her brain was still panicking though.

That must've showed on her face because Alana spoke again. "Are you sure? I can move it if it makes you uncomfortable."

Rachel shook her head again, not able to fully express what was going through her head for two reasons. First, her best friend's arm was incredibly distracting. Second, her brain was zooming all over the place and yet half-frozen at the same time. It took an incredible effort, but the redhead forced herself to concentrate enough to speak.

"I um..." She swallowed. "I really like it. Your arm I mean." She realized how that sounded and felt her cheeks get hot. "Where your arm is, not your arm."

Alana raised an eyebrow.

Rachel felt herself start to panic and suddenly the words started tumbling out very fast. "I didn't mean that I don't like your arm. I do like your arm, it's a great arm. I just meant that I like where it is, and I wasn't--"

The brunette chuckled and gave her an affectionate pat on the shoulder. "I knew what you meant."

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

Alana smiled contentedly then took a deep breath. Halfway through inhaling her expression changed and she wrinkled her nose. "Okay seriously, where is that smoky smell coming from?"

Apparently their conversation -- which had risen to normal conversation volume at this point -- was starting to wake everyone else too because Taloni lifted her head and yawned.

The Fey teen scrunched up her face after several seconds and she sniffed. "Eww."

Ethan stirred at this and started stretching, then stopped as he too sniffed the air. "Is that smoke?"

"That's what we thought." Rachel said, pulling the sheets up to make sure she was covered. She wasn't sure why she didn't want the others seeing her naked, but for some reason she didn't. Well, Alana already had -- and more than once -- but she wasn't included in that. For some reason, she just didn't mind with the lovely wood elf.

"Maybe Raklan started the breakfast fire." Beth joked, her head poking up from Ethan's other side.

"I can check." Ethan extricated himself from the bed and then cracked the door open to peer out. He closed the door and turned around shaking his head. "Nope, the breakfast fire isn't lit yet."

"Well, you are a dragon." Kendra pointed out from under the sheets. "That's one potential source of smoke."

Ethan's eyes got huge, then his face split into a massive grin. "Just in time to fight some airships too."

"I doubt you'll be able to do anything useful with fire for days, maybe a week or two." The dragon huntress replied. "But it seems like fire is finally on the horizon for you."

"It's about damn time." He grinned, then his expression became more concerned. Taloni had just sat up, and she put her hand on her right breast over her wound.

He walked over and sat down next to her, his tail curling around her lower half. "How are you feeling this morning honey?"

"Much better Master." She replied. "I still feel tired, and my chest still aches a bit, but it doesn't hurt at all."

"Good." He smiled.

She looked down at her naked breast after removing her hand. "I have a scar master." She looked at him and smiled, then said a bit more excitedly. "I have a scar!" She turned and showed her back on the right side to him. "Do I have one on my back too?"

Rachel could see from where she was, and the Fey did indeed have a scar on her back from the entry wound. It was round, with four tiny little points sticking out slightly from it; probably from the edges of the arrowhead.

"Um Tee, you seem happy that you have a scar." Beth said. "Why?"

The Fey teen looked at her with a wide smile. "I have no idea." She turned to Ethan. "You don't care that I have scars right?"

"I care that you were injured, but the scars don't bother me at all." He replied.

"Look Bee, you can feel it right now." The honey blonde grabbed the blonde's hand and put it on the scar on her front, which was about two inches above her pink nipple.

"Yes Tee, it feels great." Beth winked, then gave her breast a squeeze.

"Wait, let me feel." Ethan said, replacing Beth's hand on Tee's breast with his own, covering it completely. "Mmm, yes it definitely feels good." He grinned and her and started subtly massaging it.

"Oh Master." She rolled her eyes shook her head at him, though her smile was even wider.

It certainly was good to see her in brighter spirits because she had been somewhat lethargic the previous day. The redhead was pretty sure she'd tire herself out soon since she was still recovering from her wound, but in a day or two she should be back to normal.

Rachel also couldn't help but notice Kendra's reaction to the conversation. The raven-haired woman looked pensive as she saw Tee showing her scar to anyone who wanted to see it, not really caring that she was putting everyone's eyes and even hands on her breast.

It simply didn't bother Taloni.

Rachel thought about the burn scar on her shoulder that she'd gotten while fighting Gonorran, and how much she'd been ashamed of it. She didn't want anyone to see it, and yet Taloni didn't seem to care about such things.

Her eyes met Kendra, and the dragon huntress gave her a thoughtful frown, shrugged, and shook her head. Rachel did the same in reply, feeling about the same. It didn't make sense to her, but she was glad that the Fey teen didn't care.

She kind of wished that she didn't care.

Eventually, and probably owing to the Fey teen starting to run out of steam, everyone got dressed without the morning turning into a long session in the bedroom. They filed out onto the weather deck and the first thing Ethan did was go to the quarterdeck and look behind the Argo, and Rachel and his other wives were right behind him.

"Well, I don't think we lost them." The redhead said wryly.

There were two airships following the Argo from a couple hundred feet above them and perhaps a half mile behind them. The sky had started to lighten, but the sun was far from up.

"Okay, I'll give them a warning after breakfast then." Ethan said. "I'm just glad you ladies are okay after that ambush."

"So are we Master." Taloni said from next to him, though she took a deep breath afterwards and was leaning on the railing more than she might ordinarily do. Apparently her excited outburst earlier had worn her out.

"That's because someone reminded us to bring weapons." Selene said to the Fey. "Kendra would've been the only one armed if you hadn't."

"Speaking of." Ethan turned to Rachel. "After breakfast could you write a letter to the king of the wood elves thanking him for those weapons? He saved all of you and we should really thank him for that."

"I will." The redhead replied.

"Thanks." Ethan said. "Now, breakfast before dawn and then a talk with some airships."

* * *

Ethan feathered his wings, slowing down from painfully slow to excruciatingly slow as he approached one of the two Ivernian military airships. A white flag had been attached to his javelin and he was slowly swinging it below him. They hadn't tried to shoot him yet, so that was something.

The sun hadn't quite risen yet and the eastern sky was just starting to show patches of reds, oranges, and purples as the sun prepared to crest the horizon. It was shaping up to be a beautiful sunrise and he would rather spend the dawn hours watching it with his wives than issuing warnings.

The airships looked like they were both the same model as each other, but one had clearly been in service longer. They were about the same length as the Argo at about 100 feet, but also significantly wider at perhaps 25 feet versus the Argo's 16. Compared to the Argo they each had an additional mast both top and bottom for four total versus the Argo's two total, which helped to explain how they were keeping pace. There were two men on the deck of each airship who were wearing red surcoats with a stylized black dragon on them.

Apparently, the Ivernian airships weren't flying the Narlotten flag below the Ivernian flag just for fun.

Ethan picked the right airship since his rollable shield was on his left arm, and thus it would protect him better from the second airship if it started shooting at him. The airships were sailing close enough together that everyone on both ships would be able to hear him easily, but they were also staggered so they both had full wind. The left airship would be in front of and slightly to the west of him when he landed on the right one. He started descending towards the very front of that ship's bow, wanting to be able to escape as fast as possible if it went wrong.

He had a feeling that it would.

As he approached, he noticed someone on the deck was banging on a drum in what seemed to be a specific rhythm. Several more men came running up from the lower decks and everyone on the deck rearranged themselves. He guessed the drum signaled them to be ready for action.

By the time he'd closed close enough to start hearing them talk, there were at least two dozen archers on deck with strung bows. They hadn't nocked any arrows though, so that was something.

He landed on the railing at the airship's bow as lightly and non-threateningly as he could. The Ivernian soldiers took a collective step back, but the two Narlotten soldiers stood their ground. They were wearing swords and had a commanding presence about them.

"Hello there." Ethan said loudly, resisting the temptation to mimic Obi-Wan Kenobi's voice from Episode III.

"You come to surrender?" A gruff looking fellow said as he strode closer. He had a fancy coat, tricorn hat, and a commanding air about him. He didn't pass his men, but he was near the front of them.

"Not exactly." Ethan replied. "Why are you after me?"

"You attacked a Reeve." The captain replied. "Lord Farbrottan has a standing bounty on anyone who messes with a Reeve and I aim to collect."

"Did you know he was corrupt?"

"He's a Reeve in Ivernia, of course he was corrupt." The captain retorted. "Don't matter, the reward is the same."

Ethan frowned; avarice wasn't exactly a high-handed motive. He dropped his right hand to his war hammer and started charging it, making sure to target the bolt to the captain. If the captain was going to attack, Ethan would make sure it would cost him.

Still the men might be different.

He opened his mouth and spoke loudly, figuring 'when in Rome'. "Men, you know that I've committed no wrong and that I'm reputed to be a prophet of Illuminar. I've done nothing wrong, and yet Ivernian soldiers tried to kill my wives, who are even more innocent that I am, since they had nothing to do with my confrontation with the Reeve."

"That Fey girl was there." The captain countered. "There's reward out on her too."

"She didn't interfere, nor even speak to anyone involved and you know that." Ethan retorted. "Is that what Illuminar would want? For you to attack innocent women?"

"Archers, ready." The captain ordered.

The archers reached into their quivers to drawn arrows, but several seemed hesitant. They nocked arrows into their bows, but didn't draw or shoot. Several of them glanced at their fellow archers while shifting uncomfortably on their feet.

"You can either refuse to support this wickedness and live..." Ethan said loudly, though he subtly moved his left arm forward. His shield was attached to it in rolled configuration, and he might need it soon. "...or you can continue to threaten my wives, in which case I will kill every last one of you." He finished with a low growl.

He had intended to let his dragon side show a bit, but not quite that much. Apparently, being bonded to Selene and not sleeping with her was starting to have an effect. Not much of one, but a little.

Dang.

"Archers, aim and loose." The captain ordered.

Ethan deployed his shield and raised it, bracing himself for the impacts moments before they occurred. They didn't hit nearly as hard as orc arrows and he was braced, so he stood his ground.

"Anyone armed is fair game." Ethan called loudly as he lowered his shield enough to see over it. "If you want to see the next sunrise, drop your weapons or turn the ship around."

"Archers, loose at will." The captain commanded.

Ethan had purposely shown up without his dragon steel war sword, wanting to be the least intimidating he could be to give diplomacy a chance. However, now diplomacy had had its chance. He snatched his hammer off his belt and let loose the large charge that had accumulated before the archers had reloaded.

CRACK!

The lightning bolt arced forward, hitting the captain square in the chest. Like with the orc, it clearly caused a pretty severe burn, and maybe a deep one. However, he couldn't tell just how severe without getting closer since the captain had dropped to the deck almost immediately.

The airship's crew froze.

Ethan decided to make the impression even more terrifying as he spoke. "I will defend myself and my wives with all necessary force. Drop your weapons or turn the ship around. If you don't..."

He opened his mouth, thought about the possibility of them hurting his wives, and let loose a dragon's roar that intentionally had his dragon side fully loosed in it.

The sound was terrifying.

The entirety of the airship's crew froze in place. One or two sailors had dark spots appear on their trousers and the rest went wide-eyed. The two Narlotten soldiers seemed less affected, or perhaps they were just more disciplined. They didn't move either, but didn't seem quite as frozen as their Ivernian counterparts.

And with that -- while they were frozen in fear -- he collapsed his shield, turned and leapt off the airship. He spread his wings, turning his downwards momentum into forward speed and made towards the Argo as fast as possible, not wanting to be in arrow range when they recovered.

Thankfully, he wasn't.

He looked behind himself and saw that by the time the archers had made it to the railing and were in position to shoot, he was already too far away.

* * *

Sarah carried the large bowl of potato peelings up the stairs and dumped them over the side of the Helene as instructed. The bowl was large and had been heavy, but not heavier than the logs she had hauled back at the inn, and thankfully this was the last one.

"There we are, all done." Fiona said from beside her, dumping hers as well.

"It's a lot different cooking for a few hundred men versus less than a dozen." The innkeeper's daughter said. "Are there really that many men on the Helene?"

"Aye, 'tis so." The copper haired woman nodded. "She could be crewed with far less, but then she wouldn't be faring well in a battle. Most of the men are marines, and ones well trained in both archery and close-quarters combat."

"That makes sense, I'm just surprised." Sarah replied. "The few airship pilots who came through the inn had very small crews compared to the Helene, even when the airships were near this size."

"Aye, but they were probably traders, so they weren't needing large crews."

The innkeeper's daughter nodded.

They two women took a moment to catch their breath, having been running and working hard all morning to produce food for the large crew. Sarah leaned against the side of the ship and took a deep breath, enjoying the summer's morning air that would assuredly turn too warm for comfort by mid-day.

Nearby, Lady Ekthros and Lord Delmar emerged from the lower decks. They were talking, but their voices were low and quiet. After several seconds, the auburn haired woman pointed to someone on the deck not far from them, and Lord Delmar strode towards the man.

"Lieutenant, stand fast." The lord ordered.

Instantly, the man snapped to attention.

Lord Delmar walked up to him and the difference in size was large. Lord Delmar stood around six and a half feet tall. He had a large, powerfully built frame and the muscular "V" upper body shape that came with it. By contrast, the other man was only a few inches taller than Sarah, perhaps around Ethan's height. The result was that the lord absolutely towered over the man.

Lord Delmar walked right into the man's space, and the smaller man would've had to crane his neck to look the lord in the eyes. He wasn't though, he remained at attention and instead looked the lord squarely in the throat.

Lord Delmar stood there for several seconds before speaking. "How long have you been passing information to the traitorous necromancer Hermair?"

Sarah gasped, recognizing the name of the necromancer who had brought Ethan to the Ten Kingdoms.

The man paled. "Lord Delmar, I haven't--"

His answer was cut off as Lord Delmar reached out and placed a single hand around the man's throat, he didn't appear to be choking him though.

"How long?" Lord Delmar repeated. In contrast with his actions, his voice was calm, cool, and collected. Despite his hand around the man's neck, he seemed as impassive as a stone wall and just as likely to yield.

The man worked his mouth for a moment, not answering as his face went white as a sheet.

"How long?" Lord Delmar lifted the man off the deck with one hand, his tone still calm. The man responded by grabbing the lord's forearm with both hands, holding himself by his arms instead of Lord Delmar holding him by his neck.

Sarah's jaw dropped as she froze in place.

It was shock not fear, which was good because otherwise her problem might manifest. Regardless, she couldn't believe what she was seeing right in front of her eyes. Firstly that Lord Delmar was strong enough to pick the man up with one arm, but it was possible with his size, especially with a strength-enhancing enchantment. More so it was the aura he projected. He was perfectly calm and collected, seemingly no more bothered by the man's reaction than he would be by an insect.

It was unnerving.

"I... I haven't..." The man struggled to speak.

"If you confess now, you will be spared a traitor's death." Lord Delmar said with much the same tone as you might use when asking someone if he preferred blueberry pie or cherry pie. "If you do you not, you will be given a fair trial and then a traitor's death if found guilty."

At the phrase 'traitor's death', the man -- who was already white as a sheet and not because he couldn't breathe -- seemed to get even paler, though Sarah wasn't sure how that was possible.

"How long?" Lord Delmar repeated calmly.

"Just the last few months, since he was discovered, but he threatened to hurt my family if I didn't!" The man pleaded.

"What information did you pass to him?" Lord Delmar asked, and by his tone he might've been asking about the weather.

"He just wanted to know if I heard anything about him from the soldiers, that's it I swear." The man said, the tone and pitch of his voice rising. "But he said he would hurt my family if I didn't!"

The lord narrowed his eyes slightly. "And you didn't think to notify me? Or your commander? Or your squad mates? Or anyone else to protect your family? Instead, you took his silver rather than take steps to protect your family."

"H-he said, said that he w-would--" The man's words died on his lips as he saw what Sarah saw.

Lord Delmar didn't care.

Not one bit.

His face was as impassive as stone, as compassionate as rock, and as immovable as a mountain. He wouldn't be convinced, wouldn't be dissuaded, and wouldn't be placated. The man might as well have been arguing with a brick wall, or trying to convince the tides not to change.

"Had you acted honorably, you would have lived and I would have personally seen to it that nothing harmed your family..." Lord Delmar said in that same calm, unflappable voice. "...but you did not. However, you confessed and have earn a quick death instead of a traitor's death. You have one minute to make your peace with Illuminar, for afterward you will surely meet Him."

The man spluttered and tried to fight. He tried to kick out at Lord Delmar, but his actions were feeble and movements weak as he struggled. The sailor had nothing to hold onto besides the man still holding him with one arm. The man struggled for nearly the whole minute, trying to escape and not able to. Finally, in the final seconds, he looked up to the heavens and began to whisper something that sounded like pleading to the innkeeper's daughter who was still watching, unable to turn away.

Finally Lord Delmar spoke, and Sarah recognized the traditional words spoken before the interment at a funeral. "A man's spirit comes from Illuminar, and to Illuminar it returns. Blessed be He."

Normally, everyone in attendance at the funeral would echo with: "Blessed be He", but no one spoke. The spectacle had drawn the eyes of everyone on deck, but not a single person echoed the sentiment.

It was eerie.

Lord Delmar swung the man out over the side of the Helene so he was hanging over thin air continued in his calm, unflappable voice. "As Illuminar formed man out of the earth, so we return this man to the earth. May Illuminar have mercy on his soul."

Lord Delmar's hand opened.

The man fell.

He grasped Lord Delmar's arm, but for some reason couldn't gain purchase on either the arm or the clothing. He tried for the side of the Helene's railing, but he had already fallen too far.

He dropped out of sight.

The scream he let out sounded for several seconds before abruptly being cut short.

Sarah shuddered.

Lord Delmar turned to the crew and said in loud, clear, and calm voice. "Sic semper proditoribus."

"Thus always to traitors." Fiona whispered to Sarah, translating the phrase. The copper haired woman still looked stunned, but not as stunned as Sarah herself was.

The innkeeper's daughter stared, mouth agape.

She couldn't...

She didn't...

She blinked, not believing what had just occurred before her very eyes, not a dozen feet from her. She didn't have the words to describe how she felt. Her body remained rooted to the spot, frozen by what she had just witnessed. Her body seemed to have forgotten how to move.

Lord Delmar turned and began walking back towards Lady Ekthros, then seemed to spy them out of the corner of his eye. He turned to face them and spoke in a conversational tone. "Fiona, Sarah; please tell Marge that the potato pancakes this morning were excellent."

"Yes Lord Delmar." Fiona said, recovering first, though she still looked stricken. She gave him a respectful curtsy, which Sarah tried to copy but her body was slow and sluggish, leading to a decidedly ungraceful curtsy.

Lord Delmar fixed his gaze on Sarah for a long moment, then turned and walked to Lady Ekthros. The two began to discuss something that involved diplomats as they walked back towards the stairs to the lower decks, eventually disappearing from sight.

Still Sarah stared, feeling frozen and chilled to the bone despite the warm summer air.

* * *

"Okay, so let's hear about airship combat 101 again, because it looks like I'll need to know." Ethan said, having gathered the entire crew of the Argo on the weather deck, including Anthiel, Serif, and Raklan. He doubted the last one would offer helpful advice, but you never know. Thor was also there, regularly rubbing up against his various wives and especially against Selene. The kitten avoided him and Raklan though, and also seemed wary of Serif.

"101?" Beth raised her eyebrow.

He explained what it meant while Selene looked amused.

"Airships are usually deployed in pairs." Serif said, surprising Ethan as he normally didn't talk much. "It's hard to defeat an airship unless you can kill enough of the crew, and it's hard to kill crew that are hiding behind crenellations. The attacker's goal is usually to arrange the ships in a shallow 'V' formation, with the defending ship at the bottom of the 'V' and the two attacking ships at the two tops of the 'V' so the attackers can shoot from both sides. Then there's nowhere on deck the crew can hide from arrows."

"So it's like 3D chess, or maybe checkers, but you need to get on either side of an airship to capture it." Ethan frowned. "That makes sense, but it puts us in a bad spot since we only have one airship."

"It also partially explains why Ralgar is so good at capturing when playing penté--" Selene said, nodding towards the high elven admiral's wife. "--since you capture by putting two of your pieces on either side of two of your opponent's pieces."

Anthiel smiled, her eyes twinkling.

"It also makes height a major component." Ethan mused.

"Airship battles can become a 'race to the top'." Anthiel conceded. "However, it gets cold if you go too high and the air gets thin. That's one limit, but there are others."

"So, it's like a game of chicken, where you're both racing towards an invisible wall?" Selene said, and then had to explain what the game 'chicken' was.

"Like Anthiel said, it can become a race to the top." Serif said. "However, falling can also be an effective defense since the crenellations aren't wide enough to allow the archers to lean out in order to shoot at a steep downward angle. Thus, falling quickly can also protect a ship."

"Why aren't they wide enough?" Ethan asked. "That seems like a no-brainer."

"Because then the gaps would be wide enough for enemy archers to shoot crew on the opposite side of the deck through the gaps." Serif replied. "The crew could also simply retreat below decks to avoid enemy arrows. However, doing so would allow the enemy to board the ship unopposed."

"Which would be bad." Ethan nodded. "So how does one airship destroy another? It's not like a boat where you can punch holes in the hull and sink it."

"Usually airships are only destroyed when all the mages on an airship have been killed, and then the ship is set on fire afterwards." Anthiel replied. "That rarely happens. Usually the airships disengage when one has the upper hand, or are captured."

"Hmm." Ethan frowned and looked back at the two airships on their tail. A half mile really wasn't that far, and they had definitely gained during the night.

"How'd they catch up?" Ethan finally asked. "I thought the Argo was really fast."

"It is, but we aren't running full sail, plus they have two masts to our one." Anthiel replied. "Notice that they have every sail out, plus sail extenders to keep pace with us, yet we're only running normal sail."

He looked.

Sure enough, it looked like the pursuing ships had everything that could catch the wind out on both masts; four counting the upper and lower ones. Conversely, the Argo was running a single mast -- two counting upper and lower masts -- and while it certainly looked like most of the sails were out, there could certainly be more if they were running like the ships that were chasing them. Certainly the Argo didn't have any more sails out than usual.

"So we can control the engagement because we're faster." He smiled. "The only question is, where do we want to engage them?"

"Actually, I think a better question is how are we going to engage them?" Kendra said. "We can't win at a distance with archers, but we might fare well in a boarding action since you, Selene, Serif, Raklan, and myself together would be a match for almost any common soldier, especially in the confines of a ship's deck. But the odds of anyone except you getting onto their deck without being turned into a pincushion is vanishingly low, even with our greater speed."

"A grenade to the base of their mast?" He suggested. "Or even more than one grenade? If we can destroy their mast, or at least one of them, they probably would be smart enough to retreat. Even if they aren't, we should be able to get into position to fight much more easily."

"Not necessarily." Antheil replied. "Destroying a mast greatly hampers horizontal speed and maneuverability. However, they can still rise and fall at will since that isn't controlled by the masts, but rather the internal ballast logs. Even if you destroy every mast, they can still rise and fall at will."

"Good point." He frowned. "Okay, I can see I'll need to start thinking less like battleship and more like a flight sim video game."

"Flight sim?" Beth asked.

He explained the concept.

"Further, grenades might not work well." Rachel interjected. "Even if I didn't know what they could do, I would certainly air-ram anything that I saw my enemy throwing at my mast."

"Good point." He looked at the airships again.

It was still early morning and the sun had just barely risen. In the east, the sky had become a beautiful mosaic of color as the underside of the clouds were painted with reds, oranges, and purples. Behind them, the two airships were still trying in vain to catch the Argo. At some point he would have to let them, but he wanted it to be at a point of his choosing.

"So airship battles usually end with retreat or boarding." He mused. "How does the boarding work? Do they need to get above us like that one fellow did when we left Gralden?"

"That can work, but isn't the most common method." Serif replied. "Military airships are equipped with ballistae that shoot ballista bolts with enchanted rope attached. The rope is enchanted to be almost impossible to cut, thus facilitating a boarding action. The range is short, but the heads of the ballista bolts are shaped like a grappling hook and they are almost certain to catch on the ship's rigging."

"The Argo is so equipped." Anthiel said. "I stowed the boarding Ballistae on the lower deck on the first night though because they're an eyesore and I didn't think we would need them for a while."

Ethan vaguely remembered seeing a half a dozen Ballistae on the Argo the first time he'd laid eyes on it, but that had been almost three months ago at this point. A very long and busy three months.

"So we need to either scare them enough to make them retreat, or figure out how to board them." He looked around at the Argo's crew.

Serif and Raklan were incredible fighters, as was Kendra. He and Selene could put up a good showing, owing to his dragon enchantments and her telepathy. Alana was a potent archer if she had enough arrows, and Rachel had her magic. However, he really didn't want to put the women in harm's way. He knew that was a bit sexist, but it was how he felt.

Selene spoke up. "Serif, in your honest opinion, could we win without casualties if somehow we were able to board them?"

The man didn't answer for several seconds, which didn't make Ethan feel better.

"It is possible if we board the quarterdeck and use the stairs as choke-points to eliminate the advantage of their greater numbers, which would also give greater elevation to defend against the archers on deck." He finally said. "However, we would need to eliminate their mages first. That would be both the most important and most difficult goal to preventing casualties."

"Agreed." Rachel spoke up. "It doesn't take a very powerful mage to air-ram someone off of a ship."

"Hmm." Ethan tapped one of his toe-claws on the decking as he considered that. "The trouble is making sure we got all of the mages. We would need to know for sure."

"I could find out how many there are." Beth volunteered. "If you drop me off on one of the airships in my Astral Plane form, I could do that easily."

"If you knew where the mage were, you could fly by and use your javelin to eliminate them." Kendra pointed out.

"I can help with that too." The blonde offered. "They can't see me and I can tell Ethan where they are."

He raised his eyebrow at her. "You want to be my spotter?"

"I don't want to." Her face fell slightly, yet she spoke the next words without any wavering in her tone. "But someone needs to and I'm better suited for it than anyone else."

He couldn't argue with the last part. Her ability to astral project and natural curiosity made her the perfect scout, but he still wasn't comfortable with that. He didn't think it would be good for her to help kill someone.

Hmm.

"You seem awfully eager to help despite your position last night." Alana pointed out.

"I'm not eager." The blonde looked down a bit. "But I'm the only one who can do it. I don't like it, but Ethan did warn them. They might hurt one of you if we don't do something, and I can't let that happen."

"You could always come out of the sun." Selene pointed out. "They would never see you coming."

Ethan frowned.

He liked the 'out of the sun' idea, but didn't like the idea of Beth being his spotter. He didn't think that would be good for her, and doubly so since the conversation the previous night where she had ardently argued for not killing anyone. She was easily the most wide-eyed, optimistic, and innocent of his wives. Someone like that wasn't well-suited for this mission on a personal level, even if her skills -- both Astral Projection and her natural curiosity -- were tailor-made for this kind scouting mission. He was far more worried about what this might do to her than he was about the pursuing airships, especially since they could simply outrun them if it was necessary.

His frown deepened.

"I can do it Dominus." The blonde teen added. "Please trust me?"

He looked at her for a long moment, then thought to Alana. *Thoughts?*

*She'll be crushed if you don't say yes.* The wood elf replied with clear hesitation in her tone. *She'll feel like you don't think she can do it or don't trust her, and that will hurt; badly. It's the kind of hurt that will never fully go away either. I'm not sure she's ready for this kind of mission, but letting her do it might be the lesser of the two evils.*

He looked at his youngest wife for a long moment, not liking the direction this was going.

* * *

Beth wrapped her arms tightly around her purple dragon as he flew them towards one of the airships pursuing them. They looked strange on the Astral Plane, though most everything did when it was a shade of purple that nature hadn't intended.

"You're sure you're willing to be my spotter?" Ethan asked for what Beth felt must be the hundredth time.

"Yes Dominus."

"You seemed pretty adamant last night that killing them wasn't a good idea." He pointed out.

"But they're coming after us, and you did warn them." She replied. "I'm still not happy about it, but they're coming after my family; I want to protect my family."

"My brave angel." He smiled at her, craning his neck around since she was on his back.

"Thank you." She replied, but didn't say anything else.

She was okay with helping, or at least she thought she was. She certainly didn't want them to catch the Argo, and since they would have to fight she wanted to be useful. However...

Hmm.

"What's wrong?" Ethan asked as he started slowly circling one of the pursuing airships, their crew being completely oblivious to the two people who were on the Astral Plane.

"I don't know." She frowned. "Am I the kind of person who helps with this sort of thing?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you were planning to attack from the sun so they couldn't see you coming, and I was going to tell you when the mages were on deck. I'm just wondering what kind of a person that makes me."

"I'm not sure I follow." He replied, banking to get closer but not starting to come in for a landing yet.

"I'm going to help you... uh, take care of those mages." She said quietly, the 'whoosh' of air not being a problem on the Astral Plane. "I don't think I'd have a problem if they were attacking us, but they aren't."

"Say the word and I'll take you back."

"No, I want to help." She replied truthfully. But she wasn't sure how comfortable she was with spotting. Scouting yes, but spotting? She was the only person who could do it though, so what choice did she have? "I just, I want to hear your opinion on attacking them when they aren't attacking us."

"I would say that they are attacking us." He replied after a long moment. "Sure they aren't swinging a sword or shooting a bow at this very moment, but they certainly are trying to catch us so they can kill us."

"That's true." She conceded, remembering Taloni's wound, but the blonde frowned anyway. "I just don't know what kind of person I am, and I'm trying to figure it out, and I'm wondering if this tells me something about myself."

"Everything you do tells you something about yourself." He replied. "People are complex, and rarely boil down to stereotypes. It sounds like you're trying to pigeon-hole yourself into one type of person, but life doesn't work that way."

"I just want to know who I am." She replied with a sigh. "I've been thinking about it more lately and I don't know who I am or how to describe myself without using a relationship to someone else. I think I'm defining myself based on other people, and I'm not sure I should be."

He looked back at her as he started another slow circuit around the enemy ship. His gaze was piercing, but also kind and thoughtful.

"What?" She asked.

"I know exactly how I would describe you, but it sounds like you need to see who you are for yourself."

"But that's just it, who am I?" She asked.

"You'll discover that as you live life." He replied.

She nodded, though of course he couldn't see that. "I suppose right now I'm a young wife doing what she can to protect her family."

"Perhaps that's not a bad thing." He looked back at her, and she couldn't quite place his expression. It wasn't quite a grimace, but it wasn't that far from one either. "Okay, I'm coming in for a landing."

He banked a bit more sharply and she held onto him a bit tighter as he swooped down and landed on the deck. It felt strange that no one noticed them, but of course no could see them since they were on the Astral Plane. Still, it felt weird and slightly uncomfortable to be walking around with no one noticing her again; she'd had enough of that during her two weeks with Gabriella.

"Okay, I'm going to fly back to the Argo and get back in my body." Ethan said. "Let me know when you've discovered how many mages there are, and when one of them is on deck."

"Yes Dominus."

He paused, looking at her intently. "You're sure you want to do this?"

She nodded. "I want to help Dominus, and this is something only I can do."

He scrutinized her for several seconds more before nodding. "Tell me if you have any second thoughts."

"Yes Dominus."

He gave her a kiss on the forehead and then leapt into the air, flying swiftly back towards their home. She smiled: home. It was rather surprising how much their airship had begun to feel like one. She smiled, then started looking around.

The airship was definitely bigger than the Argo, though not by a lot. It had two masts and was wider, but about the same length. That made it look more 'fat', and probably helped account for the Argo's speed advantage.

The men milling about the weather deck looked rather bored. There were about a dozen men on deck, half of which were wearing a surcoat with the Ivernian flag on the front. The others look like sailors except for the one man who had a red surcoat with a stylized black dragon on it.

The Narlotten man looked very different than everyone else.

He looked neat and more polished. His uniform fit him better and he wore it with more pride and an air of distinction about him. He seemed like the sort of fellow who would be at home visiting a lord's court as part of the retinue. It made a contrast to the Ivernian men around him who looked downright sloppy by comparison.

The blonde looked around the deck, deciding that now was as good a time to start as any. She went looking for the mages.

* * *

Ethan sat up in the captain's cabin, having just reentered his body. He shook his head: 'reentered his body'. His life had gotten very strange in the past few months. Beth's body was next to him on the bed, her chest slowly rising and falling with her breathing. On a lark, he kissed her forehead and then went out onto the weather deck.

His wives had congregated on the quarterdeck and he joined them. "Well, Beth will let us know about the mages, now we just need to figure out how to deal with the archers."

"Speaking of archers." Alana made room for him in the conversation circle and looked up at him. "I have a favor to ask."

"A favor?"

"Well, not really a favor, more like a request; but only if we can afford it." The wood elf said. She hadn't actually grimaced, but it looked like she wanted to.

"Afford what?" He asked.

"Well, I can do the enchanting myself so that will help with the cost, but it'll still be expensive." The brunette continued.

"What will be expensive?"

She took a deep breath. "I would really like a travel bow and some travel arrows, or rather the raw materials since I can enchant it myself."

He raised his hands palms up. "What's a travel bow?"

"It's a leather bow that's enchanted to act like a bow by means of a stiffening enchantment." She replied. "But it's an activatable enchantment, so you can tuck the bow away when it's not being used, or even wear it like a belt. But when you need it, you can activate the enchantment and it functions like a regular bow."

"That's really cool." He grinned. "Like, really cool. I take it that travel arrows are the same basic idea?"

"Yes, leather shafts with a stiffening enchantment." The wood elf replied. "I know it'll be super expensive, but I couldn't do anything when we were ambushed earlier. I have no training in the sword and I probably would've gotten in the way or gotten myself killed. But if I would've had a bow..."

"You would've killed half of them, maybe all." He nodded. "Sure, go for it."

Alana beamed.

"Um, do you know how much the raw materials cost my lord?" Rachel asked him.

"No, but it's just high grade leather, and we have some of that on the Argo." He replied. "I assume she'll need to buy the arrowheads and stuff, which would be the expensive part?"

"Actually, the bow is the expensive part because needs to be made from dragon leather." Alana said. "Even the highest quality leather can't take more than two enchantments, maybe three if all of them are very small or weak. However, a travel bow needs three strong enchantments to work, so it needs to be made of dragon leather."

"Why three enchantments?" Ethan asked. "Wouldn't just an activatable stiffening enchantment be enough?"

She shook her head. "The stiffening enchantment is one, yes; but you need more. The travel bow springs into position when you activate it, which is basically like dry-firing any other bow. Thus you also need a strengthening enchantment so it survives being opened. Further, the travel bow will damage itself from opening, so it needs a self-repairing enchantment to be used more than a few times. I personally wouldn't trust one after the second activation unless it had a self-repairing enchantment, but ideally you would activate it several times while making it to ensure it's properly enchanted."

"Ah, that makes sense. I can't wait to see it."

"You still don't mind?" She asked.

He shook his head, then slipped into an impression of Captain Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation. "Make it so number one."

Selene chuckled, everyone else looked a bit confused.

"Thank you, but it will be very expensive." Alana said. "So expensive that I'm not sure we could afford it, but I wanted to at least see."

"How expensive are we talking?" He asked.

"I wanted a smaller recurve style shaped like this." The wood elf said, and traced a shape in the air that closely resembled a Mongolian short recurve bow. "That will help with the cost, I just need the dragon leather."

"...and how much will it cost?" He asked again.

"Well, you could probably get a decent sized plot of land for the cost."

"Maybe with a house on it depending on the area." Rachel added.

Ethan grimaced. "I don't think we have that kind of money to throw around, but it couldn't hurt to see how much it would cost. Where would we get the dragon leather way out here?"

"I was planning to send a letter to Elder Goman, since he could certainly buy it in Arcanum." Alana replied. "If he rolled the leather strip across the width, it could probably fit through the hole in the portal stone. I was going to ask him to check the price, and the coins for it should fit through the portal stone too so we could pay him for it, assuming we could afford it."

"Good idea." He said.

"Thank you, I just wanted to make sure it might be okay, since it could be expensive."

"The safety of my wives is a top priority." He replied.

"Aww." She leaned up and kissed him. "You treat us so well."

"I try." He grinned.

"You succeed." Kendra said quietly.

He looked at her and she gave him a half smile. There was a slightly awkward silence for several moments until their high elf pilot spoke up.

"Captain, we'll hit the Gulf of Sayora just over those twin peaks." She pointed to two mountain peaks -- well, perhaps 'extremely large hill peaks' was more accurate -- that were in the distance. "After that I'll need a heading. I can keep going south, but once we're over the gulf there won't be any terrain to take advantage of."

"You think we can take advantage of the terrain?" He asked, remembering that she'd been an airship pilot longer than the rest of the crew had been alive.

"I do." The high elf replied. "I think we can use those twin peaks to our advantage, which is why I chose to plot a course to them last night since you didn't specify anything other than south to the Gulf of Sayora."

Ethan look at the peaks again.

They rose out of the hills surrounding them, sharply pointed and towering into the air at least twice as high as the surrounding hills. They met to form a "V" at about the altitude that the Argo was cruising, and then went hundreds of feet higher; possibly more. The area around the "V" and below it was lush and green, but above that it quickly became rock and stone with little to no vegetation.

Honestly, they looked a little like two stalagmites had grown together from the tops of two massive hills.

"How can we use them?" He asked Anthiel.

"We could sail in between them and then drop altitude until they can't see us, then turn either east or west while we're out of sight. They will almost certainly split up to intercept us. That will allow us to fight them one at a time."

"Brilliant, I love it." He grinned, then frowned. "But couldn't they just gain altitude to see which way we head?"

"They could, but why would they?" Anthiel replied. "They have larger ships and likely an entire platoon of marines on board each so they wouldn't fear us at all. One of them will almost certainly catch us If they split up, so why wouldn't they? Plus, they would need to fly very high indeed to see us with as low as we could drop, which they would know."

"Fair." He looked at the peaks ahead of them and at the airships behind them and considered. "Well ladies, what do you think: east or west?" They were traveling south, so east was to their left and west to their right if you faced the front of the ship.

"I vote east Master." Taloni said. "We'll have slightly better wind for maneuvering, and thus an advantage against whichever ship goes east because the wind will be on our side."

"She's right." Anthiel agreed.

Kendra made a thoughtful sound. "On the other hand, if we go west then the sun will make it harder for them to see us for an hour, maybe more if we can rise with the sun for a while. That might enable us to launch a surprise attack."

"Except they'll know where we are, unless..." He looked at the twin peaks again. "...unless we don't do what they expect."

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked.

He steepled his hands together. "Well, I was thinking that--"

*Dominus?* The blonde teen thought to the group chat.

*What's up angel?*

*I found out that they have three mages on this ship, though only one of them is on deck right now.*

*Okay, we're strategizing right now, but I'll need his location soon for my attack run.*

*Okay Dominus, let me know when you're ready.*

*I will angel.*

"You were saying master?" Taloni asked. "You said you were thinking something."

"Yeah, what if we don't do what they expect?" He replied. "Once they see us sail through the peaks, they'll expect us to turn either east or west. What if we don't do either?"

A shrewd smile started forming on Kendra's face. "What did you have in mind?"

He turned to Anthiel. "How fast could you turn the Argo around; a complete 180?"

The high elf grinned, then turned to Taloni. "I assume you've heard of a spin-drop turn?"

The Fey's eyes got as large as saucers and her wings fluttered so much that they almost vibrated. "Really?!"

Anthiel nodded turned to Ethan with a sly grin. "Very fast."

"Then what if we pass between the peaks, drop down so they can't see us, turn the Argo completely around, and then rise back up and sail back between the peaks after they've passed?" He suggested with a wicked smile. "Then we can turn west so the sun is at our back as we approach the western airship. They probably won't know where we've gone, and hopefully will miss us if we come out of the sun."

"Brilliant." Kendra breathed.

"Thank you." He replied, then added. "Plus, I already dropped Beth off on the western airship so I wouldn't need to move her."

"You couldn't hide the Argo on approach though." Anthiel said. "It's too big to conceal if we get close. However, as long as we stay far away we will be nearly impossible to spot in the sun."

Kendra looked at Ethan. "And that goes double if you fly out of the sun with your javelin like Selene suggested earlier, then summon it back before they know what's hit them."

"Shock and awe; I like it." He grinned, then his grin faltered. "I know that I gave them a chance to avoid a fight; I wish they'd taken it."

"As do I my lord." Rachel replied. "But the odds of that were never high. Lord Farbrottan is apparently very concerned whenever someone interferes with his Reeves."

He frowned, then looked back towards the way they came. Not towards the airships, but past that as if he could see all the way to where this particular problem had begun; to the town where he'd confronted the corrupt Reeve.

"What's wrong?" Alana asked.

"I'm just thinking about Talven and Salma." He replied, considering the couple who had told him of the corrupt Reeve in the first place. "If they sent two airships to get me for confronting the Reeve, what might they do to Talven and Salma if they found out that they were the ones who told me about him?"

"Oh." The wood elf frowned. "But they probably didn't, right? You didn't tell anyone that they were the ones who told you, right?"

"I didn't, but I did mention their names to the fellow who I asked to help make sure everyone got their taxes back." His shoulders slumped. "Oh man, and what's going to happen to him? I don't even know his name."

"I don't know." Rachel said. "I don't expect he fared well when the Ivernian soldiers found out."

"If we weren't dealing with being attacked by two airships with a platoon of marines each, and if we didn't need to help with the orc problem, I might want to head back there to check on them."

"That's a good idea Master." Taloni said. "They were really nice people and I would hate to see anything bad happen to them."

"Agreed." He nodded, then his gaze shifted from looking to appreciating.

"What?" The Fey asked.

"I'm really glad you're okay." He looked around at his wives and Selene. "That you're all okay." His gaze settled on Rachel. "Could you compose that letter to the king of the wood elves to thank him for those weapons he gave us? They saved your lives and I'd like to thank him for that."

"Yes my lord, I can do that now." She hesitated just a moment before adding. "And maybe Alana should come so we can also get that letter sent to Elder Goman about her travel bow?"

He suppressed a grin at the redhead including his first wife. "Sure, makes perfect sense."

* * *

"Alright, that finishes the letter to Elder Goman." Rachel said as she rolled it tightly and slipped it through the portal stone whose counterpart led to the arch mage.

"Thank you; your handwriting is prettier than mine." The wood elf replied. "I hope it won't be too expensive."

"We'll find some way to make it work; you shouldn't be without your bow." The redhead looked at the brunette, doing her best not to get lost in her hazel eyes. "What were you planning to do about arrows?"

"I can buy the arrowheads and nocks from any blacksmith, and I was going to use some of the leather in the hold for the shafts. They only need an activatable hardening enchantment to work, and I might add a summoning enchantment so I don't need to keep making more of them whenever I shoot them."

"You're really clever." Rachel said, then blushed slightly.

"Thank you." Alana beamed. "Coming from the 'wise redhead', that means a lot."

Rachel returned the smile, and felt a warmth in her chest that had nothing to do with the warm summer air. There was a lull in the conversation, but not an uncomfortable one.

"Were you going to write that letter to the wood elven king next?" Alana asked.

The redhead nodded. "Yes, I'll just need to pull out all the flowery language I was forced to learn at court. I hated it at the time, but maybe there was a reason my father made me learn all of it."

She started running her fingers through her hair as she thought about how to start it, but they got snagged on a knot. "Maybe I'll brush my hair first. Oh, to be a Fey."

"Yeah, I'm jealous of Taloni's never-tangling hair too." The wood elf replied, then hesitated. "You know, I could brush your hair."

Rachel blinked. "What?"

"Well, you were going to write that letter and you can start right now if I help."

Somehow, the redhead got the impression that the speed at which the letter could be written had nothing to do with her best friend's reasoning for offering.

She liked that.

"Okay." Rachel gave her a small smile, then picked up the quill again. Her heart was feeling quite fluttery and her brain wanted to lock up, but with only Alana's comforting presence around, she didn't.

Alana opened a drawer and pulled out her own hairbrush, which really wasn't that different from the others except it had an elven design aesthetic. Then, in a totally natural way that somehow didn't make her brain want to freeze, Alana did the most amazing thing ever.

She brushed her hair.

She didn't do it sensually, but somehow it was sensuous. She was soft and tender, kind and caring. She handled the redhead's hair with a care and tenderness that made Rachel's heart feel like warm pudding just out of the oven that hadn't entirely set just yet. She felt a smile creep onto her face as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the simple sensation.

"You're not writing." The wood elf pointed out softly, a note of amusement in her tone.

"Right." She forced herself to concentrate on the letter and began to compose it, trying not to lose herself in the sensations emanating from her scalp.

It wasn't easy.

"Did you want me to finish before you write." Alana chuckled.

"Mmm." Rachel sighed.

It had never been like this when her handmaidens had brushed her hair. They did it in a quick and efficient manner that untangled her hair without damaging it. However, they weren't this caring or affectionate. As her best friend brushed, she started humming a pretty melody that Rachel vaguely recognized as an elven lullaby.

It was nice.

Peaceful.

After a few minutes, Rachel did manage to get a short 'thank you' letter written to the king of the wood elves, and even slipped it through the appropriate portal stone. Afterwards, she leaned back in the chair and just enjoyed the sensation. She was pretty sure that her hair had been thoroughly brushed several minutes ago, but wasn't planning to ask Alana to stop.

Finally, the wood elf did though.

She set the brush down and ran her fingers through the redhead's hair, slowly moving from the red roots down as it slowly faded to blonde at the tips, making it look like fire. She could be checking for knots, but the slow caressing made Rachel think there was more to it.

After the second or third time through, Alana stopped. "Your hair is enchant-- wait, you magically dye the blonde part of your hair?!"

"Well yeah." The mage replied, turning in her chair to look at her. "You didn't think my hair naturally lightened from red to blonde, did you?"

"Oh." The wood elf closed her mouth and cocked her head to one side. "I suppose that makes sense, I just didn't realize... When did you start?"

"A couple years ago. Someone called me a hothead at about the time I wanted to cut my hair, but I wasn't allowed to cut it. I didn't want to entirely lose the color though because my mother's hair was this exact color, so I just lightened the color toward the ends. I thought it looked like fire and thus fit."

"It does fit you." Alana looked at her, and unless Rachel was much mistaken there was no small amount of fondness in her expression.

"Why do you like me?" The redhead asked, her brain running ahead of her mouth. Rachel froze, barely believing that those words had escaped her lips.

Alana grinned. "Do I have to pick just one reason?"

The mage shook her head.

"You're fascinating." Alana said, giving her a smile. "You're kind and caring, but also throw fireballs at necromancers. You have this incredible strength, but you're also vulnerable too. Most importantly, you're a good person and you care about people. You might sometimes struggle to show it, but I know you do."

Rachel smiled.

"And I know you're a bit scared about opening up because of how you grew up." Alana continued. "But I think you want to. I think you want to open up and let everyone see you, but you're scared about being that open because it means being vulnerable. That was never a safe thing when you were growing up so it makes you incredibly nervous."

"How do you know me so well?" Rachel asked, slowly shaking her head in disbelief.

"I pay attention." The wood elf replied. "You're easy to pay attention to."

The redhead leaned her head against the wood elf, who was still standing right behind her chair. "You make it easier to open up."

"I do?" Alana asked.

"You've always been easy to open up to." Rachel nodded. "It's easier around you, at least for me. I always over-think everything, but when you're around... I don't know. Somehow I feel calmer; like I don't need to have everything figured out and I like that."

The wood elf smiled. "I'm glad."

"You've always been that way; calming, caring, and kind." The redhead smiled at the brunette, wishing she could rattle off a long list of the wood elf's qualities too, but her brain had chosen that moment to lock up. "I really appreciate that."

Rachel relaxed her head against her friend and sighed. The wood elf gently ran her hands through the human's hair. They stayed like that in comfortable silence for over a minute before something broke into their thoughts.

*Ladies, Anthiel says that we'll all want to see this 'spin drop turn', and she'll be starting soon.* Ethan thought to everyone.

Neither woman moved.

"We should probably go see." Alana said, but didn't move.

"We should." Rachel agreed, also not moving.

The redhead closed her eyes and felt a faint smile come unbidden to her face. She loved leaning on Alana like this. It was so warm, cozy, and intimate. She felt safe here too; like nothing bad would ever happen. The only other time she felt way that was in Ethan's arms.

She let slip a soft sigh, which her best friend echoed moments later.

"We should really go." Rachel said several seconds later.

"Agreed." Alana echoed.

Neither moved.

"This is silly." Alana finally said. "Besides Ethan, there's literally no one on this ship with more willpower than you and I. We should be able to stop and go watch."

"Yeah we should." Rachel said. With a monumental exertion of willpower, the redhead lifted her head from leaning against the wood elf and looked up.

She was smiling.

They both were.

It was a smile that reached deep into their eyes as they looked at each other. The redhead felt her heart flutter slightly as she looked into those rich hazel eyes.

"Come on." The brunette offered her hand, which the redhead took, and then the she led her out onto the weather deck, still holding her hand.

* * *

Ethan couldn't help but smile as he saw his first and fourth wives emerge hand-in-hand from the captain's cabin. It was about time they did something more than make googly eyes at each other.

"Okay, I'm ready." Anthiel called from the quarterdeck.

On either side of the Argo and to the stern were the two tall mountain spires they had just sailed between. The two airships behind then had already started to diverge, almost certainly plotting an intercept course to the east and west. On the quarterdeck, Taloni looked a bit tired but was watching with rapt attention.

"Shedding altitude." The high elf pilot called as they passed far enough beyond the "v" between the twin peaks.

Immediately, the Argo started dropping until the pursuing airships were out of sight, and then a bit more. The high elf pilot sailed the Argo a little farther, until there was a lot of room underneath the Argo.

"Captain, please grab the rope I indicated earlier and bring it up here." Anthiel said.

He did, and ended up on the quarterdeck by the ship's wheel while the high elf pilot was explaining how to do the maneuver to Taloni.

"And this one?" Anthiel pointed to one of the lit gemstones on the 'control panel' that was next to the ship's wheel. He knew it mainly controlled the ballast logs that caused the Argo to rise or fall, but it did other things too.

"That one deactivates the enchantment that makes the ship's side act like a keel." The Fey answered. "But you said I should never turn it off unless I knew what I was doing."

"Today is that day." Anthiel grinned. "In order for the maneuver to work, that enchantment must be deactivated for a short time; why?"

"Because if it was active, then there would be too much resistance for the Argo to spin." Taloni replied. "It would be like trying to push a boat sideways through the water."

"Exactly." The high elf looked over the deck.

Selene and Serif were on the starboard side holding a rope that was threaded through a block-and-tackle pulley. Ethan himself was holding a rope that was similarly threaded through the same, only on the rear port side of the airship. Kendra had come up to join him, and she gave him a smile that he was happy to return.

"Slow us down." Anthiel said to the Fey teen.

"Aye." Taloni nodded, then touched a gem on the control panel, which lit up softly moments later.

Instantly, he felt the Argo start to slow down.

He knew from watching Taloni dock the Argo previously that she had activated an enchantment on the front of the ship, similar to the one that was on the sides. This enchantment somehow -- and he still didn't understand it even though Alana, Taloni, and Anthiel had previously explained it -- but it somehow made the air in front of the Argo resistant to the airship's passage, like water resists a boat.

In short order, the Argo had come to a complete stop, then Anthiel turned to Ethan. "You'll want your strength enhancing armor pieces."

He summoned them.

"Alright ladies, pull!" Anthiel said to the twin pairs of Serif and Selene, and Ethan and Kendra. It occurred to Ethan than all of them except Serif definitely had strength enhancing items, which made him think the nigh-invincible duelist must as well.

They pulled on the rope.

Before long, the Argo's sails had been pulled from their normal position until the upper and lower sails formed two solid helixes, like a solid DNA strand. It was like a shallow corkscrew, only with the sail material being the corkscrew.

"Tie the ropes off." Anthiel called, and with Kendra's help he tied the rope to a reinforced part of the railing that obviously was there for this exact purpose. It looked like Kendra had tied a slip-knot that could be released at a moment's notice.

"Taloni, deactivate the enchantment and let us drop. Fast." Anthiel said.

The Fey teen grinned and her wings fluttered as she did so. She touched the control panel again, and most of the lights went out at once. He assumed that was her turning off all the ballast logs at once.

The Argo instantly started dropping.

With the sails twisted as they were and the enchantment that made the hull act like a keel deactivated, the Argo began to slowly spin as it fell. Ethan grinned as he finally saw what was going on. They were doing a zero-point turn in an airship, using the fall to make wind pass over the helically arranged sails to make the ship spin.

Brilliant.

Once the ship had made a quarter of a turn, Anthiel said to Taloni. "Okay, stop the fall... now!" Then the high elf then called loudly. "Release the ropes!"

Kendra pulled the slip-knot out and the rope went slack just as the Fey teen touched the control panel again, and nearly every light on it lit up at the same moment. The Argo's descent instantly slowed, the large ship creaking at the sudden reversal of forces. It had just barely started to reverse the fall and start rising again when the Fey teen turned half the lights off and the ship stopped in midair, neither rising nor falling.

The ship's momentum kept the Argo turning for a time though, and Ethan could tell that the high elf pilot was waiting for just the right moment to stop the turn. The wind resistance naturally slowed their turn somewhat, but with the sails no longer tied down it wasn't too much.

Still the high elf waited.

"Now!" Anthiel called as they had turned to face almost the direction they had come.

Instantly Taloni touched the control panel, reactivating the 'keel' enchantment and the Argo suddenly lurched slightly as the enchantment that created resistance to lateral movement reengaged.

The turn was over.

He looked at the prow of the ship, pleased but not surprised to see they were pointed exactly in the direction they had come, though a few hundred feet lower. They had executed a perfect zero point turn, and were now ready to sail back the way they'd come.

"You did it!" Taloni exclaimed, looking at Anthiel with something approaching awe.

"No, you did it." The high elf replied with a wide smile. "I merely gave you the timing."

"I did..." The Fey's eyes went wide as she looked at the control panel, then at the ship's bow, then back at the high elf. She stared for several seconds, then her wings started fluttering so much they were almost vibrating. "I did it! Well, with your help, but I--" Her mouth fell open. "--I just did a spin drop turn!"

She jumped excitedly, then faltered and landed, coughing slightly. The cough wasn't just an 'I inhaled dust' kind of cough though. It sounded like a wet 'hacking cough' someone might get if he was sick.

Ethan rushed over to her. "Are you okay?"

"Yes Master." She said after she'd finished. "I um... I'm still clearing the infection from the arrow."

His eyes widened. "Infection?"

"I'm fine master." She assured him as she stood with her hands on her knees, catching her breath. "I just got so excited and hadn't finished clearing it yet. It'll be gone later today, or tonight at the latest."

"You're sure?" He fixed her with a piercing stare.

"Yes Master." She nodded, though she was breathing a bit heavier than normal. "I promise I will take it easy and rest."

"How about you finish clearing the infection and then take a nice long nap?" He suggested. He wanted to make it more than a suggestion, but didn't.

"Yes Master." She nodded.

"Also, I'm really proud of how you handled yourself with the drop spin turn."

"Thank you Master, though it's a 'spin drop turn'." She smiled at him, then her smiled faltered. She bit her lip, then thought to him alone. *Um, Master?*

*Yes honey?*

*Um, at some point, hopefully not today but at some point..." She took a deep breath. *I told you no Master. At that service, you told me to do something and I told you no.*

*I know, and we should talk about that because I know it bothers you.* He replied softly. *Not today because you should get better first, but maybe tomorrow we should talk.*

*Thank you Master.* She gave him a half smile. *Thank you for not being mad at me.*

*Why would I be mad at you?*

Her half smile faded. *I... can we talk tomorrow?*

He nodded. *I'm always here for you, whether to talk or anything else.*

*Thank you Master.* She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, then leaned her head against his chest.

He kissed the top of her head.

"Captain, might I suggest Taloni has some hot tea?" Anthiel said. "I find it helps mightily."

"I'd like that." The Fey teen replied.

"Some tea to help Tee get better?" Kendra said with a smile.

Ethan chuckled, then looked at the Fey teen seriously. "Make sure you do get better Tee."

"I will."

"Good, now I need to go keep a lookout so we know when those airships have passed enough to sail back through the gap."

"Be caref--" She coughed, and while it was still a hacking cough it was less severe. "Be careful Master."

"I will Tee, I will." He kissed her on the top of the head again, then spread his wings and headed towards the bottom of the "V" between the twin peaks so he could signal the Argo when it was time to begin its return journey.

* * *

Sarah sat in her small room on the Helene, completely unable to process what she had witnessed earlier that morning. She didn't have the words for it, nor did she know what to say. She didn't even know what to think. She had been starting to get the impression that Lord Delmar was a good person, but could a good person do that?

He had been so calm and detached, as if the man meant nothing to him at all; like his life had as much worth as a cow or chicken, perhaps an insect. He had showed as much emotion about killing that man as a farmer might when it was time to butcher a farmyard animal.

It was unsettling.

"Sarah?" A gentle knock on her door roused her from her reverie. "Could I be coming in?"

"Come in." Sarah replied, recognizing Fiona's voice, accent, and her peculiar way of speaking.

The copper haired woman slipped in and closed the door behind her. "You were seeming upset by what happened earlier, and I was wanting to make sure you were okay before we were needing to start lunch."

"I... I don't know." She replied. "He was so scary."

"That's the Lord Delmar for ya." Fiona said, walking over and sitting down next to Sarah. "He is kind to good men, but ruthless to wicked men."

"But... but he just killed him."

"He confessed." The copper haired girl replied. "He was working with the necromancer who brought the false prophet here." One of her hands clenched into a fist, though the expression on her face was kind.

"But still, to do that with no emotion..." Sarah shook her head.

"The Lord Delmar is having emotion, but he is controlling himself." The other girl said. "You've seen him speak of his wife yes?"

Sarah nodded.

"There can be no doubting there's emotion there, yes?"

She nodded again, thinking back to the time she had been in his office and commented on the framed portrait of Helene Delmar. The lord had indeed hidden his emotions well, but there was no denying the affection he held for his deceased wife.

"Besides, the Lord Delmar was being merciful to the man." The copper haired girl continued.

Sarah looked at her, mouth open. "What?"

"Are you knowing the penalty for treason in Narlotten?"

She shook her head.

Fiona grimaced. "Well, I'm not wanting to speak of it now, but it's worse than the penalty for rape by a fair margin."

Sarah stared.

The penalty for rape in Narlotten was for the man to be castrated with a knife that was just sharp enough, and then for him to be crucified immediately afterwards. She could hardly imagine a more horrible way to die.

"The Lord Delmar gave him a quick death, which was a bit of mercy on his part." The copper haired girl continued, then looked down. "I'm agreeing that it was hard to see, but the Lord Delmar was being merciful to him by giving him a quick death instead of... that."

The innkeeper's daughter shuddered. "If that was merciful, then I'd hate to see..."

She shuddered again.

"This was something that my Sean was telling me." Fiona replied. "War is cruel and brutal, and crime is no less so and must be kept in check. The only thing worse than war and crime is not taking steps to prevent them. I'm not liking the Lord Delmar's harsh punishments, but I am understanding that he is doing them to keep his people safe."

"But it seems so cruel." The innkeeper's daughter replied.

"Aye." The copper haired woman conceded. "I was telling that to Sean, and my husband was saying that while the Lord Delmar might be a little harsh, Narlotten is probably the safest lorddom in the Ten Kingdoms." She paused. "Well, I hear Timarou is becoming nearly as safe since Lord Kalus was given the throne, but he is also strict."

Sarah considered that.

She'd of course hear that Timarou was much improved since Lord Kalus had become the Lord Regent seven or eight years ago. However, she had never heard of a punishment in Timarou that was as horrible as in Narlotten. Yes the laws were strict, but the punishments didn't seem as tortuous.

"You don't mind that Lord Delmar killed a man right in front of us?" Sarah finally asked.

"I would be lying if I was saying that I'm entirely okay with it." The copper haired woman replied. "But I've seen the other side of the Lord Delmar."

"Oh?"

She nodded. "Perhaps it's because I'm a widow and he's a widower. I told him I was bonded with my husband, and he..." The cooper haired woman trailed off slightly. "I think he was knowing my pain. I'm thinking he has a kind side, but few people are seeing it."

"But that doesn't make it okay." Sarah replied. "I do feel sorry for him about Lady Helene, but that doesn't make it okay."

"No, but he is applying the law evenly and fairly to everyone, noble or commoner alike." Fiona said. "Everyone is knowing the laws and the penalties for breaking them. I might not be liking them, but at least he is applying them equally to everyone."

As Fiona finished saying this, she seemed to hesitate for a fraction of a second. It wasn't much, but it seemed like more than a coincidence to Sarah that she had hesitated after declaring Lord Delmar's equal treatment under the law.

"Everyone?" She raised her eyebrow.

"Well, there is one exception." The copper hair woman admitted. "It's the death penalty to be knowingly associating with necromancers, but he isn't letting anyone hurt his daughter, Rachel."

"Really?"

Fiona nodded. "Aye, I think he is still caring about her, even after all she is doing to him."

Sarah considered that.

On the one hand, Lord Delmar had been entirely ruthless, cold, and unfeeling earlier that day. He had been utterly without mercy or pity. On the other hand, she couldn't deny the emotion she'd seen from him when he'd mentioned his deceased wife. He had concealed it well, but it was there. And then to bend all of Narlotten's laws and his rigid enforcement of them so his daughter wouldn't be killed...

Hmm.

"Something you might not be knowing about the Lord Delmar." Fiona said. "According to the other servants at the castle, he never does anything except work for the people of Narlotten."

"Oh?"

"Aye, he gets up at the same time every day and works." The copper haired woman continued. "He is writing letters, entertaining dignitaries, nobles, and holding common court all day long."

"Common court?" Sarah asked.

"Aye, he is allowing commoners from all over Narlotten to come and air their grievances and petitions to him in person. He is meeting with them often so he can be hearing what they're saying."

"Really?" Sarah had heard that occasionally, some lords would meet with the common folk, but never like that. She couldn't even imagine Lord Farbrottan doing something like that.

"Aye." Fiona nodded. "There's a reason the people of Narlotten are loving him so."

Sarah frowned; maybe Lord Delmar was more complicated than she had thought. What he had done earlier was still unsettling, but no one who cared that much about his wife and daughter could be entirely bad. And add the fact that he meets personally with the common people, and the innkeeper's daughter was well and thoroughly confused about the lord's character.

"He is an interesting man, the Lord Delmar." Fiona said. "Like I was saying before, he is good to the good, but he is ruthless to the wicked."

"I suppose he could be worse." Sarah conceded.

"Men aren't all one thing or all another thing." The copper haired woman said sagely. "They are like a blanket woven with many different colors of thread. Look too closely at any one thread and you're likely missing the pattern on the blanket, and seeing the man for just one thing when he is actually many things. Rarely is a man all good or all evil. Like a blanket, they have both woven through them."

Unbidden, Ethan came to Sarah's mind.

Was it possible that maybe, just maybe, there was more to him than the threads that Lady Ekthros had shown her? Lord Delmar was certainly complicated enough; could Ethan be too?

"What about his fight with his daughter?" Sarah asked after several moments. "You said Lord Delmar and Rachel fought?"

"Well, he is only a man, and men are having tempers." Fiona replied. "I'm sure you're knowing that men are saying things they don't mean, and are doing things they regret when they're losing their tempers. And if his daughter was delving into dark magic, can you think of anything more likely to be making the Lord Delmar furious beyond measure?"

"True." Sarah nodded, still not sure what to make of Lord Delmar. At the back of her mind, a small sliver of her brain began to wonder about Ethan as well.

* * *

Beth walked through the lower deck of the Ivernian military airship, noticing just how different it was from the Argo. While her home was slender, sleek and tidy, this airship almost seemed to be the opposite. It was about the same length, but much wider and not nearly as well cared for. It only had two decks like the Argo, but there were far more hammocks and provisions to accommodate the larger crew. By her rough count, there were just over fifty men on the other airship.

*Hey angel.* Her husband thought to everyone. *We're about ready to move the Argo, and we'd like you to help spot if you're up for it.*

*Sure! What do you need me to do?* She asked as she hurried up the stairs to the weather deck.

*Just let us know when the Argo is hidden in the sun.* He replied. *We'll be heading out of the twin peaks soon, so be ready.*

*I'm ready!* She grinned as she raced to the stern of the ship, which was roughly facing the twin peaks. She arrived at the quarterdeck, where the captain and first mate were having an interesting conversation.

"Where the fuck is that dragon?" The captain frowned as he looked out towards the twin peaks.

"He must've turned east to follow our sister ship." The first mate replied.

"I don't like this." The captain looked around, grimacing. "Them dragons is wily creatures."

Beth giggled.

*Dominus, they are really confused about where you are.* She thought to everyone.

*Well, hopefully they'll stay that way until late morning.* He replied. *Okay, we're rising now. Let us know when you can see us, and don't look directly at the sun please, just in case.*

*I won't.* He looked towards the twin peaks, beyond which the sun had risen.

Visually speaking from her perspective, there was only a small gap between the newly risen sun and the twin peaks where the Argo would soon be visible, but it wouldn't be visible for long. It was hard to look at it because of the brightness of the sun.

*Okay, we're starting our ascent.* Ethan said.

About a minute later, the blonde thought she saw something between the twin peaks and the sun, but it wasn't there for long and the sun was so bright that it was hard to look at it. Beth looked around the deck and it didn't appear that anyone else had noticed.

*You're in the sun Dominus.* She thought to everyone. *It doesn't seem like anyone noticed.*

*Okay, thanks for letting us know.* He replied to everyone, then thought to her alone. *Angel, are you sure you're okay with being my spotter for this?*

*Yes Dominus, I want to help.* She said firmly.

*Okay.* He thought to her, then thought to everyone. *Red leader this is Gold Leader; I'm starting my attack run.*

*I copy, Gold Leader. Move into position.* Selene thought to the group chat, laughter evident in her tone. Beth rolled her eyes, assuming it was from one of those 'movie' things that the two Earthlings seemed to quote so often.

*Okay angel, I'm ready; point him out.* He thought to Beth.

The blonde walked to the front of the quarterdeck, scanning the deck for the mage on deck. *He's between the two masts Dominus, on the port side of the ship leaning against the railing. He's wearing the Ivernian military uniform, not the two sailors nearby.*

*Okay, Let me know if anything changes.* He thought to her. There was a brief pause, then he thought to her again. *And you're sure you're okay with this?*

*Yes Dominus.* She replied, mostly sure that she was.

At that moment, a large crew man started up the stairs to the quarterdeck, blocking her view. She jumped over the quarterdeck's railing and landed on the main weather deck, then walked forward so she was close enough that she wouldn't lose sight of the mage.

The target.

She frowned.

Was she okay with helping? She supposed that he was actually trying to hurt her family, and she couldn't allow that. But right now, at this exact moment, he wasn't. He was just looking out the Gulf of Sayora, probably enjoying the view. He really didn't--

Suddenly, the mage had Ethan's javelin embedded in his chest.

Beth jumped, startled by its sudden appearance even though she'd been expecting it. It had come seemingly out of nowhere, burying itself in the man's chest up to the grip. She had known her husband was coming, but even so she barely saw the gray blur streak past at breakneck speed. Moments later, Ethan's javelin jerked itself out of the man and disappeared over the side of the ship.

The mage fell to the deck clutching his chest.

Blood was pouring out of the wound, since Ethan's aim had been true and the javelin had pierced the mage's heart.

Beth stared.

She was vaguely aware that other people were becoming aware of the downed mage as he hit the decking. There was a commotion as several sailors ran to his side. Someone called for a mage, and shortly afterwards another mage came up from the lower decks. The newcoming mage rushed to the fallen one, putting his hands over the wound and presumably trying to heal him.

It wasn't enough.

The healing mage was too late.

The injured mage slumped and then lay still.

Moments later, Beth saw what she should have been expecting, but had completely forgotten. She had noticed it before in some of Ethan's other fights, but the fights had always been so chaotic that she hadn't really noticed this more than peripherally. Plus she had always been paying more attention to those she wanted to protect.

On the Astral Plane, a purple form that looked identical to the mage started slowly floating up from out of the dead body. It was the mage, only in Astral Plane form and he was slowly floating upwards. He looked around, then his eyes seem to lite on Beth and his mouth fell open. "I... am I dead?"

Beth nodded.

His eye widened as he floated upwards. "Are you an angel?"

She shook her head. "No. I'm one of Ethan's wives, and I'm sorry."

"His wives?" The mage's eyes grew wide as he continued to slowly float upwards. "He really is a prophet?"

She nodded.

The man looked stricken as he drifted ever upwards, now far enough that he would have to raise his voice to be heard by her. He was staring at her mouth agape, and did so for long enough that by the time he spoke, she couldn't hear him with how rapidly he was rising.

She stared after him for over a minute until he had disappeared, wondering what would become of him. She knew from the Book of Light that everyone -- good and bad -- was pulled upwards into Illuminar's light for the final judgement.

She wondered how he would fare.

She further wondered about her role in sending him upwards. Had she done the right thing? He certainly was aware that Ethan was innocent and was still hunting him. Did that make him a wicked man? Was he innocent? Had she just helped to kill an innocent man?

She didn't know.

* * *

Ethan had dived low after he released his javelin, and was now racing back towards the twin peaks only a dozen or so feet above the crystal clear waters of the Gulf of Sayora. They were gorgeous. They looked like pictures he'd seen of the Bahamas, or of some other place renowned for clear waters. Even at his speed, he could see fish swimming under the water. The deeper water looked to contain some beautiful coral and schools of fish, their scales reflecting the bright sunlight.

This was Ivernia?

It looked so different from the verdant fields, rolling hills, and lush scenery he'd come to associate with Ivernia. However, it did have one thing in common with the rest of the country:

It was gorgeous.

It didn't look like anyone from the airships had noticed him yet, which he thought was a good sign. He continued flying low and until he'd reached a hill large enough to conceal him, then he landed.

*Beth, how did I do?* He thought directly to her.

She didn't reply for a moment, and she sounded a bit distracted when she did. *Um, he's dead Dominus.*

He frowned. *How are you?*

She didn't answer for several seconds. *He was trying to kill us, right?*

*Apparently the orders were to kill or capture, but the captain didn't sound very interested in capturing.* He paused, the gorgeous scenery around him fading into the background out of concern for his wife. *Are you okay Beth?*

Again, she took a few moments to answer the question, and it wasn't really an answer. *He died. He died right in front of me.*

*That's what I was worried about.* Ethan replied, wanting to kick himself for letting himself be talked into letting her help. *I'll head back to the Argo, astral project, and then come get you.*

*No, no there's still two mages over here.* She replied, though her tone wavered.

*Beth, I don't care. We'll find some other way of taking them out, or we'll outrun them, or we'll figure something else out.*

She didn't reply for several seconds.

He didn't push, waiting for her to speak.

*Dominus... Ethan, I want to help.* She finally said. *I won't pretend that I'm okay because I know how much you hate it when any of your wives pretend they are okay when they aren't. But if I don't help now when I can and something happens to any of us, I'll never forgive myself later.*

Ethan took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

That put him in a spot.

On the one hand, Beth was still a teenage girl who was just starting to find herself in the world. He really didn't want to put her through anything she shouldn't see, and he was already regretting that he'd let her help. On the other hand, that's what she wanted to do. He knew that she would listen if he told her no, but that made him more reluctant to make a decision for her, not less.

*Please Ethan?* The blonde thought to him. *I don't know what kind of person I am -- I'm still figuring that out -- but I know I want to be the kind of person who would protect her family. Please let me?*

He looked towards the airship that she was on, wishing he could look into her deep blue eyes. He tapped his clawed foot on the rocky ground underneath of him, frowning.

*You're sure that's what you want?*

*Yes, I'm sure.* She replied quickly. There was trepidation in her tone, but apparently she had been spending time with Alana because he caught a hint of his first wife's iron willpower in the blonde's response too.

*You promise you'll tell me the moment this is too much, even if I'm mid-attack?* He finally asked.

*Yes Dominus.*

He frowned and shook his head, wondering if he was making a mistake. She seemed determined to do this and he didn't want to make her stop, especially not if she'd feel guilty about it later. He knew that she'd never forgive herself if he stopped her and afterwards something -- anything -- happened to the Argo's crew.

*Okay, but you tell me the moment that you're not sure.*

*Yes Dominus.*

Ethan couldn't decide if he'd done the right thing. His desire to let Beth make her own choices was clashing with his desire to protect her. He thought he'd made the right choice, especially since his second wife had grown up a lot since confronting her father. He thought she could handle it, but you could never be sure about this kind of thing.

He just hoped that he'd made the right choice.

* * *

Kendra finished her normal workout routine to keep herself ready for action and then headed up to the weather deck. Ethan hadn't returned from his first attack run yet, though the raven-haired woman was pretty sure that he would leave again as soon as he returned to do a second run.

She looked around the deck and spotted Taloni standing next to Selene. The Fey had pulled one side of her dress down a bit, almost certainly to show the Brazilian woman her scar. The caramel-haired beauty seemed more amused than anything as the Fey pointed to the mark.

Kendra chuckled.

She headed over to them just as Tee left to go up to the quarterdeck.

"She sure seems excited about her scar." Selene said to Kendra as Taloni headed up the stairs.

"You should've seen her this morning." The raven-haired woman said wryly. "She was showing everyone in the bedroom, and she wasn't wearing her dress."

The caramel-haired beauty chuckled. "She really doesn't seem to care, which I'll admit I find surprising. I think most women would be self-conscious about their scars."

Kendra averted her eyes slightly, realizing that Selene had no idea that her body was covered in them.

"Dragon huntress and super spy who's seen a lot of combat." Selene grimaced. "I just put my foot in my mouth, didn't I?"

"It's okay, for some reason Ethan doesn't seem to care; he thinks I'm beautiful even with all of them."

"All of them? Is there a lot?"

The raven-haired woman nodded. "I don't have any on my right arm or face, otherwise... Yeah there's a lot."

"I'm sorry."

"It is what it is." She shrugged. "At least I'm still alive."

Selene smiled. "A fact I'm rather glad of."

"Yeah?"

She nodded. "You've been a good friend."

"So have you." Kendra replied.

There was a comfortable silence for a moment before Selene spoke. "Can I say something that might be slightly insensitive, but I totally don't mean it that way."

"Um, sure?"

"I'm slightly jealous." The Brazilian woman said. "People haven't taken me seriously since I grew boobs, and I'm sure it's because of how I look. I used to wish I would get a scar or something to make me look tough so people would take me seriously. Frankly, I'm a little jealous of you that way."

Kendra stared. "Jealous of me?"

"Yeah, there's something about you that just screams 'dangerous'." She cocked her head to side. "Well, except when you're trying to blend in. But otherwise, no one would ever mess with you, or not take you seriously. I've never had that, and it would be really nice for people to take me seriously."

Kendra continued staring for several seconds. "Do you have any idea what I would give to have a fraction of your beauty?"

"I'd give you some if I could." She smiled wryly. "Do you have any idea what I would give to be taken seriously?"

The dragon huntress frowned for a moment, then slowly shook her head with a half-amused, half-wistful smile. "The crops are always better in the other farmer's field."

Selene chuckled. "On Earth we say 'the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence'. Same basic idea."

"I must admit, I do like all the skills I have." Kendra said.

"Okay, if we're being honest, I like that I can make most any man weak at the knees with a look." Selene said, not quite meeting Kendra's eye. "Yeah I realize that's pretty vain, but I like my effect on men. Well, men who aren't Ethan anyway; he seems immune."

Kendra raised her eyebrow.

"What?" Selene asked.

"He's not immune." The raven-haired woman replied. "But he is smart enough to fall for you for who are, not merely for how you look."

The caramel-haired beauty made a thoughtful sound. "Really?"

"The day you bonded, Ethan said that he had a feeling that you would break the bond when you finished your mission on earth." Kendra said. "I'm not saying he was broken hearted, but I could tell from his tone that he was going to miss you."

"Really?"

"I think so." She nodded. "I'm not saying he's head-over-heels in love with you or anything, but I know he'll be sad to see you go."

"That seems more recent though." Selene pointed out.

"True, but I'd also say he's gotten to know you better recently." Kendra countered. "Bonding first, then you admitting how you felt about your usefulness afterwards, and don't think everyone missed that you two had a private telepathic conversation afterwards. We don't know what was said -- and I'm not asking -- but that whole thing changed things for him I think. You must have noticed that he thinks highly of you."

The Brazilian woman made a thoughtful sound, then a small smile appeared on her face. "Yeah, I needed to have that pointed out to me, but I guess he does."

* * *

Ethan twisted in mid-air, going from a near vertical dive to horizontally skimming over the water as he finished his second attack run on the other ship. He waited for Beth to let him know if he had hit his target, and for a moment he almost considered praying that she would be okay.

Weird.

*He's down.* The blonde thought to everyone a moment later, about when his javelin caught up with him and he stuck it to his side. He couldn't get a good read on her tone, and her emotions through their bond were more confusing than anything else.

*How are you?* He asked her privately.

*I... I'll be okay Dominus.* She didn't sound like it.

*Let me know if that changes.* He grimaced.

*They spotted you Dominus.* The blonde thought to everyone, and he couldn't tell if she said that to change the topic or not. *And the last mage is still below decks. I'll let you know when he comes up.*

*I'm heading back to the Argo the long way.* He thought to everyone. *Hopefully they won't figure out where we're hiding.*

*Especially given that we're literally hiding in the middle of the sky where anyone else could see us.* Kendra chimed in.

He chuckled.

He flew far out of his way to dip behind some hills and then angled himself to fly up the twin peaks, then from there to bridge the short gap from the twin peaks to the Argo. Well, a short gap visually, and only from the perspective of the other airship.

"What's wrong?" Alana asked almost the moment she saw him.

He hadn't landed on the Argo after the first run, so she hadn't seen him since the first mage died. He telepathically gave her a short rundown about his concerns about Beth, since the conversations with the blonde had been one-on-one and not in the group chat.

Alana made a thoughtful frown and slowly nodded when he'd finished. *I think you should talk to Anthiel about this. She has kids that have grown up and moved away, so she might have a good perspective. I realize it's not the same with a wife as with kids, but I'll bet she'll have a good perspective anyway.*

He smiled, then stepped up and kissed her.

"Have I ever told you that I love you and don't know what I'd do without you?" He said when the kiss broke, though he had only pulled back slightly.

She grinned. "Not lately, I'd have to hear it again." She winked.

"Oh wait." He put on a mock thoughtful expression. "No, sorry. That was Taloni not you. My mistake." He winked back.

The wood elf rolled her eyes, then glanced pointedly up at the quarterdeck where their high elf pilot was.

"Freedom versus safety." Anthiel nodded when he had finished explaining. "Every parent's dilemma. How much freedom? How early? And what if it backfires? I realize it's your wife not a child, but I've been there and you worry."

"Pretty much." He nodded. "Any advice?"

"People are too individual for that." She replied. "Take Rachel. If she was my child, I would've given her free reign on nearly any activity she wanted to pursue, or anything she wanted to learn, trusting her to not take on more than she could handle. But I wouldn't let her be courted by a boy until I knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't break her heart. Taloni is different though. I would've only let her pursue a few things she really loves, but vetoed the rest. I would trust her not to be careless with her heart though."

Ethan looked towards the other airship where Beth was, then took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Did I make a mistake?"

"Only time will tell." Anthiel replied. "For what it's worth, I would've made the same choice."

"It's actually worth a lot, thank you." He replied.

He checked his bond with the blonde, and found it... confusing. She was clearly thinking about things and her emotions were cycling rapidly enough that he couldn't get a good read on them, other than that she was clearly uncertain and bothered. How bothered seemed to change by the moment though.

"She'll let you know when she's ready to talk about it." Anthiel said. "That's assuming she'll want to talk about it, which she might not."

"Okay." He nodded.

He stood at the quarterdeck for several minutes looking out across the beautiful Gulf of Sayora. What he wouldn't give to have a house on its beaches, though he loved the woods too. Perhaps a house in the woods not far from its beaches? That would be perfect.

"I don't like the waiting game." He finally said to Anthiel.

The high elf chuckled, her tone slightly musical. "It's good practice for parenting, of which patience is a large part."

He nodded his head in concession, then looked out across the beautiful gulf for several minutes.

It was so peaceful.

*Um, I think they realized what we are up to.* Beth told the group chat. *The captain just ordered the last mage to stay below decks for his protection.*

*Well that complicates things.* Kendra replied. *It's a bad idea to board an airship with an enemy mage on board. I think we'd do okay boarding without him, but it will get dangerous fast with him.*

*If he's below decks we'll have to change our strategy.* Ethan thought to them with a frown.

*Dominus, I have an idea.* The blonde said. *The portholes on the lower deck are reasonably large, though not large enough for you to fit through, but he likes to pace. If it was dark enough, you could fly to the airship and hang onto one of the portholes, and then maybe get him through the porthole.*

*That's not a bad idea.* Rachel pointed out. *They probably won't think to look, and if it's dark enough they probably won't notice you arrive.*

*So I attack them at nightfall to deal with the last mage.* He mused. *That might work.*

*We'll have to avoid them all day though, and what comes after the last mage is dealt with?* Alana asked.

Ethan looked at her. *Then we pounce.*

TO BE CONTINUED...

Note: This chapter began on day 92 of Ethan's life in the Ten Kingdoms, and ended on day 93. 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 May 31, and it'll probably drop on June 2nd or 3rd.

I saw there was a bit of a firestorm in the comments of the previous chapter. Several commenters correctly pointed out that "indentured servitude" is a more accurate term. Poutnikl's comment is accurate on why I didn't use it. Perhaps I should have.

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