Chapter 46: Pounce

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

* * *

*She's okay Ethan.* Alana thought to her husband, who was currently standing in the captain's cabin watching Taloni take a morning nap. She continued using telepathy so as not to wake the sleeping teen. *Tee said that she cleared the infection and she already has a lot of her energy back.*

*I know.* He thought back to her, but he kept looking.

*I'll check the portal stones.* She thought to him, smiling and letting him watch his third wife sleep. It was only the previous day that she'd been injured, but it felt like a couple of months ago with everything that had happened. She opened the drawer in which they kept the portal stones.

*You okay?* She heard her husband ask.

*Uh-huh.* She stared into the open drawer at a long coil of leather that most certainly hadn't been there when she had last opened the drawer.

It couldn't be...

Could it?

She reached into the drawer and picked the leather up. She had only asked Elder Goman to check what a piece of dragon leather this size would cost, hoping they could afford it so they could make a travel bow for her. Now there was a strip of leather of the exact size she'd asked for. It was very thick too, exactly what was needed and much thicker than she thought they'd be able to afford. She closed her eyes and appraised it for its enchanting potential, not daring to believe that Elder Goman could've--

She gasped.

He had.

*Hey princess, what you got there?* Ethan asked.

*Elder Goman sent us some dragon leather. It's exactly according to the dimensions I gave.* She replied, scarcely daring to believe it with how expensive dragon hide was. She looked up at her husband. *Do you know how much this is worth?*

*A lot?*

The wood elf nodded in confirmation, still not quite believing it.

*There's a note.* Her husband said, reaching into the drawer, drawing it out, and then reading to her. *I had a leathersmith who owed me a favor, so please accept this to ensure our dragon friend doesn't lose what's most precious to him. I will send some elven steel travel arrowheads and travel nocks when you know how much mass the arrows will need to fly properly with your travel bow's poundage. Expect some dragon skin shafts in the next few days; you'll have to make do with regular leather for now.* Ethan looked up. *It's signed Elder Goman.*

Alana ran her hand over the leather, appraising it with a critical eye. It was very thick leather, clearly from the thickest -- and therefore most expensive -- part of the hide. She hadn't expected for the leather to be this thick. That was wonderful because the thicker it was, the stronger her bow could be. She had been planning on much thinner dragon leather, hoping to merely match the draw weight on her normal bow.

This would exceed it easily.

Possibly far exceed it since the strength of a travel bow grew exponentially with the thickness of the dragon leather, and she'd rarely seen thicker leather from any animal. She stared at the strip of leather, hardly daring to believe that she was holding it in her hands. Finding the dragon leather for Ethan's armor had been a stroke of luck -- or perhaps divine providence? -- and one that she hadn't ever expected to be repeated. Now it had been repeated. Well, sort of.

Wow.

*Will you be able to enchant it today?* Her husband asked.

She shook her head. *No, it took nearly a week to get the enchantment right last time, though I can be much faster this time since I've done it before. I have my wooden bow for when we board the airship though.*

*I'm still not sure how I feel about boarding those airships following us.* Her husband said with a frown on his face. *Mostly because of you ladies; I don't want anything happening to you.*

*I don't either, but we don't really have a choice, do we?*

He hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.

*Ethan, I know you want to protect us, but it's entirely possible that one of us could get seriously hurt.*

Alana felt a burst of anger over their bond and a low growl escaped his throat.

*Your dragon side acting up?* She asked.

*A little.* His lips were drawn into a thin line.

*Maybe you should get Selene to 'hold your wing' before the battle tonight.* She suggested.

*I'll be fine.*

*Ethan, I'll trust you if you're sure, but consider what happened with Beth in Arcanum. Isn't it better to be safe than sorry?*

He looked at for a long moment. *It makes it really hard to argue when you first say you'll follow my lead, then make a compelling case that I should do something.*

She grinned impishly at him. *I'll follow your lead, but consider that except for Tee who's still asleep, we're alone in a room with a lockable door, and my dress is removable...*

It was his turn to grin, then he hesitated. *Tee is still sleeping and I don't want to wake her.*

*Good point.* The wood elf replied. *Later then.*

*Definitely.*

* * *

"That was quick."

Ethan looked at the Brazilian woman who had just spoken as he and Alana exited the captain's cabin. He put on a mock-arrogant tone, struck a mock-heroic pose, and spoke with a mostly straight face. "I'm just that good."

The Brazilian woman snort-laughed.

"He is." Alana said without a hint of embarrassment.

Kendra closed her eyes and made a small sound that was somewhere between a grunt and a sigh.

The Brazilian woman looked at her. "Seriously?"

The dragon huntress nodded. "I didn't know it was possible to feel that good until--" She stopped and went a most amusing shade of pink, which contrasted magnificently with her slightly darker skin tone. If he was honest with himself, he was rather proud of how well his newest wife enjoyed sharing his bed.

"Anyway." Selene interjected, then looked at him. "You want to spar?"

They did for a while, after which Taloni came out of the captain's cabin mid-morning looking bleary-eyed but otherwise good.

He walked over to her. "How are you feeling?"

"Mu... M..." The Fey teen yawed. "Much better Master. I'm ready to help tonight."

"Speaking of, what's the plan for the airship ambush?" Selene asked. "I mean, after you take care of the last remaining mage."

"We'll need to think of some way to get a position where we can board them, but they can't board us." Ethan replied. "Though honestly, I have no idea how to do that."

"It can certainly be hard." Anthiel said from above him near ship's wheel. "That's most of the art of airship combat."

"Could we do something like what happened when we left Gralden?" Ethan asked, remembering how Falkaan's airship had descended down from above and the men had fast-roped down.

"Too many archers." Kendra shook her head. "There will always be a few on deck, even more so now that they've realized how effective a dragon attack can be."

"Unless we do it at night." Selene cocked her head to one side, then looked at Ethan. "Have you ever seen Master and Commander with Russell Crowe?"

"No, never got around to it, why?"

"There's a point in the movie where our hero's ship is being chased by a more powerful ship." Selene replied. "So they create a little decoy raft and hang lanterns on it at night in the exact same position as on the larger ship. Then they snuff out the larger ship's lanterns at the same time they uncover the raft's lanterns. Then the main ship turns while the decoy raft keeps going, allowing them to escape."

"Clever." He nodded.

"Yeah, I was just thinking; why don't we do the same with Kendra's airship?" She turned to the raven-haired woman. "Assuming you're okay with it."

"What's mine is his." She shrugged nodding her head towards Ethan.

Selene made a face, but didn't say anything.

"That's a clever idea." Anthiel said. "I left the lamps running all last night because the sky was clear and I didn't see any point in putting them out, so it shouldn't seem odd to them."

"I say we do it." Ethan said. "The only thing I'm worried about is if they see through the deception."

"I think I know a dragon who could arrange a distraction at the appropriate time." Kendra deadpanned.

Half of his wives laughed, though Taloni finished hers with a bit of a cough.

"You should really get some rest Tee." He said. "More rest I mean."

"I will Master." She replied.

"Good."

"You'll need her to pilot the decoy." Kendra said.

He looked at her.

"No one else can do it." The dragon huntress pointed out. "You need Serif and me on the boarding party and Anthiel needs to pilot the Argo. There's no one else who can operate an airship, or at least not well enough.

He frowned. "I don't like that you're right."

"Master, if I'm on the decoy I'll be safe and far from the battle." The Fey teen pointed out. "There isn't anywhere safer for me to be."

"You're still not fully recovered." He replied.

"But I'm close Master, and I want to help. I cleared the infection up earlier and everything is healed, my body just needs a little longer to get over the shock. I promise I can do this, and I promise it won't hurt me or even slow my recovery."

"Plus, it will keep her as far away from the battle as possible." Kendra said. "I wouldn't have suggested it if I didn't think she could do it."

Of that, Ethan had no doubts. "Okay, but I want Beth's body on Kendra's airship with you too. That'll keep her as safe as possible too." He looked pointedly at the Fey teen. "You'll be responsible for keeping Bee safe."

"I will Master, I promise." Tee's tone was serious, as was her expression.

"Going back to the distraction to make boarding possible, grenades are pretty distracting." Selene said after a moment. "If you chuck a grenade onto the weather deck right after you kill the last mage -- hell, chuck two or three -- I'm pretty sure they won't be paying much attention to the Argo once those bad boys go off."

"Brilliant Selene." Ethan said with a respectful nod, then he cocked his head to one side. "I can't decide whether I should be feeling happy about this plan or feeling sorry for those poor bastards."

"It could be worse." Selene replied, her tone clinical. "I could've suggested that you toss a few grenades into the crew quarters through the portholes at the same time you toss ones onto the deck."

Everyone looked at her.

"Remind me never to piss you off." Ethan said after several seconds.

"Ethan, never piss me off." Selene with a mostly a straight face, though she cracked into a conflicted and wry smile after a moment. "Before he-- Well, my brother liked playing shooter games and grenades were his favorite. I got suckered into playing occasionally and learned a few things."

"There's a part of me that thinks it's a good idea tactically, but..." He shook his head. "I'm not sure I could do it, and I'm not sure I could live with myself if I did."

"That's not a bad thing Master." Taloni said quietly.

"I'm glad you said that." Selene said to Ethan. "I'm not glad I thought of it."

"Hey, we all have dark thoughts from time-to-time." Ethan replied. "Doesn't mean we have to act on them."

She nodded.

"Throwing grenades on deck for a distraction is a good plan, especially if you do it right after killing the last mage." Kendra said after a few awkward moments. "I agree that throwing a few into the barracks is a little..." She hesitated. "Even I wouldn't be comfortable with that, even though they are trying to kill us."

Ethan growled, and he could feel his dragon side bristling even more than normal at the idea of his wives being hurt.

"Okay, that's twice in one day." Alana spoke up.

"What is?" Selene asked.

"His dragon side is acting up." The wood elf replied, then finished before he could speak. "And please don't deny it sir; we can all feel it."

He hesitated, then nodded. "Fair."

The brunette turned to the caramel-haired beauty with an apologetic look. "You know what that means, don't you?"

Selene sighed. "I need to hold his wing."

* * *

"I can't believe I'm doing this." Selene said as she held onto the tip of one of Ethan's wings. He was in the room underneath the captain's cabin with the door ajar enough to fit his wing through it. She had grabbed a small stool and was sitting on it while Thor was curled up against her feet sleeping.

She reached down and gave the kitten a gentle pet as she spoke softly. "That's a good kitty."

"I'm not a kitty." Ethan replied with a chuckle. "But yours seems very taken with you."

"The feeling is mutual." She replied, reaching down to gently pet him again. "I never had a pet growing up, but now..." She smiled. "...I don't know how I ever lived without one."

"I like having the little guy around too, though he still seems skittish around me."

"Well, you are dragon." She pointed out.

"True." He paused for a moment. "As much as we all love him, he really is your kitten. After you finish with Smithbond, Gonorran, and the portal, you should take him back to Earth with you."

"I'd like that." The Brazilian woman smiled. "He meows every night until I pick him up and put him in the hammock with me, and then snuggles up on my chest, starts purring and falls asleep. It's pretty wonderful."

"Well in his defense, you do have a nice chest." He replied with a chuckle, then added. "Sorry, slipped out; the flirting is becoming second nature with five wives around."

"I don't mind." She chuckled. "You're not creepy about it like some guys." She paused. "It's a little weird to be talking about this with what you're doing."

"Was doing; I got distracted."

Selene sat on her stool, proverbially twiddling her thumbs as she held Ethan's wing. She knew exactly what he was doing in the room next to her, and she was proverbially 'holding his hand' as he did it, yet it didn't feel weird to her. Or at least, it didn't feel as weird as she would've guessed it would. In fact, she found herself wondering what he would be thinking about. He had five wives, so she assumed one of them. Maybe more than one? Was he remembering some particular time with one of them, or all of them?

"Curious about something?" Ethan asked.

"How did you-- oh, the bond." She figured that 'turnabout was fair play', and checked his emotions. Oddly, he didn't seem to be particularly turned on right now. "Not in the mood?"

"Eh, not really." He shrugged. "I mean, I usually have at least one of the five most amazing women in the world turning me on. Walls just aren't my fetish." He said the last part with a chuckle.

She chuckled too, then added for no particular reason. "I have to imagine too, on account of having no experience."

"None?"

She shook her head, not that he could see that. "None. I've never been kissed either since I couldn't find a guy who wasn't either intimidated by my beauty, or else a total asshole. I just had to imagine a situation when I took care of things, usually inspired by movies or... other things."

She wasn't about to admit that she'd turned to erotic fiction to plug the holes in her fantasies. She'd gradually honed in on her own particular kink over the last few years through reading those stories. She was surprised where she'd ended up, but she couldn't deny it turned her on.

He chuckled, then switched to telepathy, only to her. *Well, I suppose I could do that too. Let's see, what would be an interesting situation...* He made a thoughtful sound from the other side of the door.

A hundred different scenarios ran through the Brazilian woman's head, mostly ones inspired by what she'd read online. She was glad that no one could read her mind because she wasn't sure she would ever be able to look at anyone who knew.

*Let's say there's a woman who's just getting home from work.* Ethan began. *You know the type, caramel hair, amber eyes, flawless bronzed skin, a perfect body, and more drive and determination than most. This professional woman closes and locks her house door, sets down her badge and gun, and then gets a text from her significant other.*

Selene rolled her eyes, very much doubting that he could come up with anything that would appeal to her. Maybe his dragon side, but not the man himself. Of course, she was detecting a hint of dragonishness from him; was that even a word?

*The text contains some very specific instructions that she must follow or risk...* He trailed off.

The Brazilian woman hesitated for a full five seconds before deciding to take the bait. *Okay, I'll bite; risk what?*

*Risk being disciplined by him, obviously.*

Selene bit her lip and adjusted herself on her stool slightly. Okay, maybe he wasn't entirely bad at this.

*The woman reads the instructions through twice to make sure she doesn't miss anything.* Ethan continued. *Then goes upstairs and stands by the bed. She removes and neatly folds her clothes one at a time, until she isn't wearing anything except her black high heels.*

The caramel-haired beauty resisted the urge to sigh; it sounded like he was going vanilla with this after all.

Shame.

*Then she goes into the drawer and pulls out four items.*

Four?

Selene frowned. What four items?

*The woman checks the instructions again, just to make sure so she doesn't disappoint him, then goes downstairs with the items into the living room, where the blinds are drawn.*

Living room? She cocked her head to one side; where was he going with this? At least he'd said the blinds were drawn. Public exposure definitely wasn't her kink. Ugh! She hoped he wasn't going in a direction that involved pain either. That had never been a turn on for her.

*She steps up to the table that he had designed specifically for her, for just such an occasion.*

Selene looked at the door, beyond which a very confusing man-- err, dragon, was speaking. Where was he going with this?

*Then still wearing her high heels, she puts her right leg by the leg of the table and attaches her ankle to the table with the custom-made, fur-lined leather cuffs that she was so grateful to receive for her birthday.*

Wait, what?

She stared at the door, a slight itch starting to form in her nether regions. He wasn't going to... was he?

*Then she attaches her other ankle to the other table leg, spreading her legs wide.* He continued, and unless Selene was much mistaken, there was definitely a hint of dragon in his tone.

She swallowed, then adjusted herself on the stool as her cheeks grew warm along with certain other parts of her. Thor yawned sleepily, then stood up and started walking towards the women's sleeping area, where he had a bowl of water. She was glad he did; she would've been self-conscious with him there.

*Then she bends over the table.* He continued to a rapt audience of one. *She is facing the center of the room, directly the opposite the entrance.*

Selene bit her lip.

If the woman was naked with her ankles spread and attached to the table legs, then her legs, butt, and... other things would be totally exposed, facing the entrance of the room. She adjusted herself on her seat again, and was starting to feel glad that Alana had given her a pair of self-cleaning underwear a while back. She was starting to feel moist down there and thus might need it.

*Then she attaches something that she had to work very hard to get; something she had to earn.* He continued, but stopped there.

The Brazilian woman waited with bated breath for several seconds before she simply had to know. *What?*

*Her collar.*

Selene suppressed a moan, not understanding how he knew how to play into her kink so well. She'd never told anyone. Ever. She was careful to always use a privacy-focused browser, always use the most private mode and settings of that browser, and she always used a VPN.

It must be that damn bond.

*But she doesn't stop there.* Ethan continued. *This is a special collar with a small metal ring in front.*

She swallowed.

Hard.

To her, that was the clincher of a collar. Anything else could be passed off as a fashion accessory or choker. For her, that small metal ring in the front made it obvious that it wasn't a choker, but a collar. Any woman could wear a choker, but only special women -- women who'd proved they were worthy of it -- could wear a collar.

The tiniest moan escaped her lips, but she suppressed it almost instantly.

She hoped he hadn't heard.

*Then this woman continues doing what she was instructed to do.* He continued. *She lays flat on the table which was custom made to ensure her comfort. Then she clips a small carabiner to the collar, attaching the cord on its other end to a cleverly concealed hitch on the table, intended for just such a purpose. Then she adjusts the cord until ti's just tight enough that she can't move herself backwards, though without any unpleasant pressure on her neck.*

Selene pictured it in her head. If the woman's high-heel clad feet were still on the floor cuffed to the table legs, and her torso was laying across the table with her butt facing the room's entrance, and her collar was attached to the far side of the table so she couldn't move backwards...

Mmm.

Holy shit that was hot!

In her mind, it needed only one more thing to make it perfect. But he wouldn't say it, would he?

*Then, she reaches for the final item.* He continued.

Oh please, let him think of it.

Please.

*She feels around until her hands hit the cuffs, which she then uses to cuff her hands behind her back.*

Fuck yes!

Selene let out a tiny sigh, scarcely believing that Ethan -- kind, caring, and selfless Ethan -- could've come up with exactly this. She hadn't known it until he'd said it, but that was definitely a fantasy of hers now. She'd never thought of a situation quite like this, but damn it was hot.

She bit her lip and waited for him to continue.

He didn't.

She waited almost thirty seconds, but he still didn't say anything.

*Ethan?* She asked tentatively when almost a minute of agonizing silence had passed.

*Yes Selene?* He replied as if they were discussing the weather or some other trivial matter, not like he hadn't just given her one of the hottest fantasies of her life, if not the hottest.

*I... Uh...* She floundered, her cheeks burning at even the thought of asking him to continue.

*You... what?* He asked calmly, with a hint of dragonish smugness in the background.

He knew.

Fuck, he knew.

How did he know? Probably the bond. Damn it. He knew and he was going to make her ask for more. For some reason, that was almost as hot as the story he'd been spinning. He wasn't going to let her get away with hinting; she would have to ask. He was making her ask.

Grr, why was that so hot?

*I was wondering if you had finished.* She finally replied.

*Not yet.* He replied. *I would've told you to let go of my wing if I was finished 'taking care' of things in here.*

Shit.

He was wasn't going to make this easy. *Um, I meant the... the story.*

*I just said I was going to create a situation.* He replied. *I've done that.*

She wanted to groan in frustration. He was playing with her; toying with her. He knew how much she wanted to hear more and was going to make her ask for it. He was playing her like a fiddle and she almost hated how much that turned her on.

She bit her lip. *Um, you could continue if you wanted.*

*Selene, stop pussyfooting around.* He replied, a note of sharpness in his dragon-tinged tone. *Say what you want or be silent.*

*I want...* Could she admit it to him? He must already know; surely he must. That's when she remembered that he could feel her emotions over their bond.

He did know.

Her cheeks suddenly felt hot.

She grimaced and then covered her mouth, only to realize that he didn't seem disturbed by it at all. Far from it in fact, he had actually been spinning a story where...

*I want you to keep going... with the story.* She said, needing to get the words out before she stopped herself. She had always thought that everyone would think there was something wrong with her for her kink.

He didn't.

He not only didn't think something was wrong with her, but he had actually fed into it; he'd joined her in it. She never thought that would happen.

Ever.

*Say please.* He replied, and somehow she knew that this had nothing to do with manners.

She shuddered as her nether lips started to almost tingle. She suppressed a moan, scarcely believing how good he was at this. He was taking control of the situation in a way that made her just... Mmm. She couldn't have scripted this better if she had tried.

*Please.* She thought to him. The thought was faint; almost like a whisper.

A plea.

*Very well.* He replied. *The woman stays there, laying comfortably across the table with her ankles cuffed to the legs, her collar fastened to the far side, and her hands cuffed behind her back. Completely naked. Exposed. Laid bare for her lover to see.*

Selene shuddered again as she let out a soft sigh. Her breathing was shallower than normal, her cheeks were flushed, and her entire body felt warm; almost feverish.

*She lays over the table as the minutes slowly tick by, each one bringing her lover closer as she waits for him.* He paused, probably for effect. *She waits for him in exactly the way that he wants her to wait.*

The caramel-haired beauty opened her mouth and let out a breathy exhale.

*Finally, she hears a car pull into the driveway.* He continued. *Her heart quickens.*

Selene's certainly did.

*She can feel her body reacting to him, to what is about to happen.*

The Brazilian woman could too. If she had been the woman laying on that table, she would've had viscous moisture running down her legs.

*She hears the door unlock, open, then close.*

Selene's breath caught. She wanted him to see her -- not Ethan to see her, but the man to see the woman -- and be captivated by her.

*She hears soft footfalls, then the telltale creak of a floorboard in the room's entrance announcing that he could see her.*

The caramel-haired beauty made to put her left hand between her legs since she was still holding Ethan's wing with her right. This was going to be good. She knew it was. If he was going to get off, she sure as hell was going to as well.

*Selene!* Ethan thought to her sharply, his dragon side again tinging his tone.

She froze.

*Hand at your side unless you want me to stop.*

Her mouth fell open.

How did he know?

Was it the bond? She doubted the feeling were that granular; perhaps his dragon instincts were letting him know? That would make more sense. It still strained credulity though. There was a door between them so he couldn't see. Could he hear? Did he just know her that well? Maybe he'd learned something from their bonding? Some deeper insight perhaps?

It must be the bond.

Stupid fucking bond!

Selene put her hand down, not wanting him to stop but also wanting to take advantage of the tale he was spinning while hating that she couldn't. Okay, not exactly hating it. In a strange way, it was kind of hot that he wasn't letting her. She didn't know why, but it was.

*The woman hears him breathing, but can't look to see him.* He continued. *Her hair and the collar being attached to the table make that impossible. So instead she waits.*

Selene waited with bated breath.

*She hears him take a step forward, then he makes an appreciative sound.*

Selene moaned softly, imagining him doing that after seeing her like that; completely exposed and utterly helpless.

*He takes another step forward and she feels his hand gently brush the outer curve of her hip, still unable to look or respond because she's so helplessly secured.*

If the caramel-haired woman had been able to use her hands, she would be cresting a wave right about now.

*The man leans over her helpless and captive body; so close that she can almost feel him touching her, but he isn't anymore.* He continued. *Then she feels a single one of his fingers slowly trace up the outside of her thigh, going over the curve of her hip and up her side.*

Selene was imagining so hard that could she almost feel it.

*His finger comes up her side and over her shoulderblade.*

She shuddered.

*Then he leans down and whispers into her ear: 'you've done so well, I have a surprise for you'."

It took most of Selene's willpower not to start franticly rubbing her clit.

Then she heard a slight groan from Ethan in the next room.

Wait, what?

He couldn't be done?

No!

This was just getting good! Okay, it had been good for a long time, it was just getting great. Beyond great, beyond incredible even.

*You can let go of my wing.* Ethan said.

She did, her face and heart sinking faster than a stone even as her arousal soared. He was done?! But--

He opened the door and was standing there with an unreadable expression. "I do feel a bit less dragonish, thanks."

She nodded, trying to reconcile the raging fire in her loins with the casual way he was speaking. "Uh, you're welcome?"

Damnit!

She needed a little time alone to finish with her fingers what he'd started with his words.

He grinned at her a bit wickedly, and she got the distinct impression that his dragon side was still running the show. *And if you can restrain your fingers until next time, I might finish that story.*

Her eyes widened. *You 'might' finish it?*

*Might.* He nodded. *I make no promises.*

She stared at him incredulously. *After that, you want me to wait a week on the off chance that you might finish it?*

*Then don't wait.* He shrugged. *But if you don't, then you will never know how it ends.* He grinned at her wickedly. *Your call.*

And with that, he gave her a cheeky grin and then walked up the stairs to the Argo's weather deck.

She stared after him.

That brilliant, wonderful, devious, infuriating, caring, maddening, kind, and pseudo-sadistic dragon had just given her a fantasy that she would never forget. How was she supposed to wait a whole week?! She had just had the most intense sexual experience of her life!

As she thought about it, she realized that all three of the most erotic experiences of her life involved Ethan. Number three had been listening to him, Beth, and Alana make love after Beth had come back from the dead. Number two was how he'd looked at her at the portal before he'd left Earth. And now this? And he wanted her to wait?!

What the hell?!

That was the exact moment when she remembered something. She had read and enjoyed stories with this as an element. In fact, she'd sought them out before and on a regular basis; stories where the male lead incentivized the heroine to deny herself -- or even edge -- with the promise of future rewards.

Fuck!

It was definitely, positively, in no way whatsoever at least ten times hotter in real life than in stories.

Not at all.

Not one bit...

* * *

"The other airship has changed course." Kendra said, adjusting her spyglass as she saw it come into view. It had been hidden from the Argo by the twin peaks they had sailed through earlier that morning, but now was visible. She was standing on the quarterdeck of the Argo with Anthiel, and had been checking that direction for the airship regularly for the last hour.

"I'm surprised they didn't change course sooner." The high elf replied. "Oh, and our quarry is turning too."

The dragon huntress looked forward and saw that the ship which Ethan had attacked earlier was indeed turning. It hadn't seen them already because they'd remained in the sun from its perspective, but it would see them very soon.

"Ethan just got back." Alana said as she came up the stairs to the quarterdeck. Their husband had just finished bringing Beth's Astral Plane form back to her body since they wouldn't need her on the target airship for the rest of the day, and she understandably didn't want to spend it alone.

"Captain." Anthiel called loudly.

Ethan came up the stairs to the quarterdeck not long afterwards. "What's up, oh captain my captain?"

The high elf raised her eyebrow.

"It's from a movie." He explained.

"I'll need a course." She said a moment later, ignoring his comment. "Both two airships are turning and both will see us soon."

"I suppose back in the direction of Dotmier makes the most sense." He replied. "We won't reach there before dark, will we?"

"No." Anthiel replied.

"Then we'll have time to ambush them before we get there." He looked out at the ship they weren't following. "Can you plot a course that won't allow the ships to catch us, but will still allow us to ambush the one I attacked?"

"Do dragons breathe fire?" The high elf replied, then started issuing orders to Serif and Raklan, and not long afterwards the Argo began to turn.

For the next hour, not much happened.

Frankly it was boring.

Kendra watched Ethan sparring with both Serif and Raklan, alternating with whoever Selene wasn't sparring with. The two airships had clearly caught sight of them and were giving chase, which was perfect. Anthiel had angled the Argo's trajectory so that the airship whose mages Ethan had mostly eliminated was much closer. The Argo was moving slightly faster, so the other airship wouldn't be able to catch up.

At about lunchtime Anthiel reheated a pot of some kind of stew and everyone gathered around it to eat. Kendra sat next to Selene and could tell that something was off about the Brazilian woman. She seemed both more frustrated than normal and also much happier than normal. The dragon huntress wasn't sure why and made a mental note to ask her later.

It didn't take long for Thor to run up to the Brazilian woman, snuggling and purring on her lap as she sat cross-legged eating and petting him.

"Ethan." Selene said after a minute. "I bet Thor would warm up to you if you fed him for a few meals."

"Good idea." Kendra said.

Anthiel always cut up some raw meat for the kitten as part of preparing meals, and she offered that plate to Ethan instead Selene this time.

"Thor." Ethan called.

The kitten looked at him warily, but remained on Selene's lap and meowed up at her.

"Go get your food." The Brazilian woman told him. "Ethan's got it, and he's not such a bad guy."

The kitten meowed again, then almost pointedly turned his back to her, walked off Selene's lap, and flopped down next to Kendra.

Everyone laughed.

"I've been thinking about tonight." Kendra said once she'd stopped laughing. "Are we sure the decoy plan is a good idea? Maneuvering an airship the size of the Argo into position to board without being seen will be hard, especially if everyone is on edge from a recent grenade attack."

"Do you have another option?" Rachel asked.

"I was thinking -- and hear me out before you object -- what if we board using my airship?"

Several of them looked at her canoe-sized airship, then back at her.

"Like I said, hear me out." The dragon huntress continued. "It has overkill for ballast logs; like, way overkill. It could fit everyone who needs to go and still stay aloft, as long as we don't need to gain altitude quickly. Plus we won't need to fit Ethan since he can fly and thus won't need to be on my airship."

"Okay, but that's still six people: Alana, Rachel, you, Selene, Serif, and Raklan." Ethan said as he held out a piece of meat for Thor, who was still refusing to come near him.

"It can do it." Kendra said. "I was once on an airship of the same model while it was keeping eight people aloft. It took forever to rise, but it would stay in the air. Mine only needs to carry six people."

"How does it not tip over with that many people?" Selene asked.

"The two masts." Kendra replied. "The lower mast of an airship is always left at full weight, and the upper mast is enchanted so it has the maximum possible negative weight."

"Which is the normal weight, just inverted." Alana added. "So if something weighs a thousand pounds, you can enchant it to weigh negative one thousand pounds."

"Exactly." Kendra nodded. "So with the lower mast pulling down and the upper mast pulling up, that provides plenty of counterbalance to keep most any airship upright. My airship can do it, and I think it would be easier than using the Argo."

"An important factor is the camouflage, which will make the mission much easier." Serif said, which was unusual as he rarely spoke at meals.

"Camo? What camo?" Ethan asked.

"Let me show you." Kendra stood up, and Thor meowed at her too. "Go get your food from Ethan." She waved toward her husband. She smiled, her husband; she still couldn't believe that she was married.

She walked over to her airship and touched the hull and then the sails. Slowly the color changed from natural wood and linen to a dark navy blue, of the type that would blend in well at night. She returned to the lunch circle to shocked and slightly awed looks.

"Wow, that's amazing." Taloni said, her eyes as big as saucers.

Alana was staring at the dragon huntress. "How in Saidow's lair did they fit that enchantment into the wood with the lightening enchantment?"

"Well, I know that the wood was grown especially for Aldmiri airships." The raven-haired woman replied. "I think they source it from a wood elven family."

"They must." The wood elf mused. "You'd need some wood nearly as good the staves my adopted family made to fit both enchantments." She cocked her head to one side. "Or simply have been clever and enchanted only a thin part on the outside to be color changing while making the bulk of the enchantment lightening."

"Or both." The raven-haired woman suggested, then addressed everyone. "Also, notice that my airship doesn't have a protrusion on the front to hold sail lines like the Argo does, so you can get much closer than you could with the Argo. Since it's so small and it's very dark before the moon rises, we could sail up from underneath if Ethan eliminates the lookout on the lower crow's nest."

"I'll be the first to admit it; that sounds like a better idea than mine." Selene nodded. "It'll be much harder for them to see us coming and we'll have more flexibility on where to board."

"The quarterdeck." Anthiel said. "If you control the quarterdeck, you control the ship."

"Plus, the two stairs on either side are convenient choke points." Kendra said. "If we put Serif and Raklan on one stairway, and then myself, Selene, and Ethan on the other, and have Alana and Rachel providing ranged and magic support, we'll have a solid defense and they won't be able to get behind us."

"I'm not crazy about sending a pregnant woman into battle." Ethan frowned.

"I'll be fine, I wouldn't go if I didn't think Ruth would be safe." Alana said, putting her hand over her womb. "I'll hide behind Rachel's shield the entire time. I can pop out, aim, release, and get back behind the shield fast enough that I'll be safe. Plus I'll pop out at random intervals and in different places."

"I promise I'll take good care of her." The redhead said, and not a soul in the Ten Kingdoms would've doubted the sincerity in her tone.

"I still feel like this is a very bad idea." He frowned.

"I'm not perfectly happy with it either." The wood elf replied. "But I couldn't live with myself if something happened to one of you when I could've done something to prevent it." There was a short pause, then she added to the group chat in a deadpan tone. *Except Raklan.*

Everyone in the chat chuckled.

"Besides, I had that dream where Gabriella showed me that I would nurse Ruth." The brunette continued. "I'll be fine."

"That's asking me to take a lot on faith." He pointed out.

"Master, she's an angel." Tee countered. "She couldn't lie and she's never been wrong before."

"You're reinforcing my point about taking a lot on faith." He replied.

"At this point, why wouldn't you?" Kendra asked. "I realize that you didn't believe in God before coming to the Ten Kingdoms, but since then you've met an angel and spoken to Illuminar personally. Why wouldn't you trust Him?"

"Gabriella helped me save your life several times Dominus." Beth pointed out, but she seemed a little distracted.

He inclined his head in concession, but didn't look entirely convinced. "I guess you're not wrong."

"Drago, we have that chainmail from the wood elven king." Kendra pointed out. "An arrow from a strong bow might pierce it, but otherwise she'll be well protected."

"Ethan, if you tell me to stay on the Argo I will." Alana added. "But please let me help. I know I'll be fine, and I want to help save my family." She glanced at Selene and Anthiel. "And my friends."

"I still don't like it." He said after several seconds.

"I don't like that we have to attack at all, but this is where we find ourselves." The wood elf pointed out.

Ethan looked at his first wife for a long minute, and Kendra could tell that they were having some kind of telepathic conversation but didn't know what was being said since it wasn't in the group chat.

Finally he nodded. "Okay, but you will take every conceivable precaution and be as careful as possible."

"Yes sir." Alana replied seriously, looking around at all of them and at Beth a moment longer than the rest.

That's when Kendra realized that Beth had barely said a word. In fact, she'd hardly said a word all morning since returning. Something about her tone had sounded off, but her unusual silence and the lack of her typical youthful enthusiasm was standing out to the dragon huntress.

Hmm.

There were several seconds of silence before Selene thought to everyone. *Don't look now, but I think Thor is finally getting hungry.*

The kitten was slowly, haltingly, and cautiously creeping towards Ethan, who still had his food. He looked down at the kitten, who then turned and scrambled away towards Selene as fast as his little legs could carry him.

Everyone laughed.

"Well, that's progress anyway." Ethan chuckled.

* * *

"But it's dative, not accusative." Yalia said to Matthew, the young nymph cocking her head to one side at her friend's mistake. "I'm usually the one to confuse inflections and you usually catch me at it."

She looked at her best friend, slightly confused by his error. It really wasn't like him to make it. They were in her room, sitting side-by-side on the wooden crates he'd long ago snagged and given to her to use as chairs. He was thoughtful that way. They had a copy of the Book of Light in the original language open on the bed and next to it was some paper with their translation.

She smiled: their translation.

It was hard to put into words just how much she enjoyed working on it, and it was even better working on it with Matthew. He was such good company and she liked it when her friend came over.

"Oh yeah, you're right." Matthew frowned. "I don't know how I missed that."

"You've seemed like you're a thousand leagues away ever since the prophet visited last night." She pointed out. "What's troubling you?"

Matthew was silent for several seconds before replying. "I didn't say anything during that sermon." He finally replied.

"Neither did I, and neither did anyone else who disagreed." Yalia replied, still not happy that she hadn't spoken up. However, she had this very strong feeling that she shouldn't be the one to speak up, partially because she had no formal training so she doubted people would listen. She really felt like Matthew should say something since he was an apprentice luminar. She had even mentioned the idea of him saying something publicly once or twice, but hadn't ever pushed him on it.

"I know, but I was formally trained to be a luminar and no one else was." He said, running his hands through his hair. "I feel like that makes me more... I don't know, maybe more responsible to speak up? You know why I've been reluctant to say something, but after talking with the prophet... I almost feel guilty that I haven't."

"I think it would be good if you did." She replied. "I know you could do it too, you know the Book of Light better than he, and you know it in the original languages too."

"Yeah..." He frowned, then looked out the window towards the building that had been converted for use as a chapel. He turned to her and looked at her for several long seconds before speaking again. "Can I be perfectly honest?"

"Always." She smiled at him.

"I'm ashamed that I haven't said anything." He hung his head. "He's been the luminar in town for several years now and I've disagreed the entire time, but I never said a word."

The young nymph put a comforting hand on his arm. "You can always change that."

He looked at her and smiled.

For some reason, she thought it might've been because of her gentle touch, but didn't understand why. Her mother and father both assured her that she would understand these sorts of things mere moments after bonding, but she didn't right now.

"Yeah..." He nodded slowly. "Yeah, I suppose I could." He cocked his head to one side. "But you already know that I've talked to him in private and he won't budge."

"Perhaps he doesn't need to?" Yalia suggested. "Perhaps disagreeing with him during the service might change things."

"I would be directly challenging him." He pointed out. "It would turn into a debate."

"Then how about I help you prepare?" She volunteered. "I know his position well, and you've told me all about your conversations with him so I know the kinds of arguments he would use. I could pretend to be him so you can get some practice."

"You'd do that?"

She nodded with a smile. "That's what friends are for."

He smiled back. "I'd like that."

"Okay, let me just get a new piece of paper for notes." She stood up. "I'll be right back."

She walked into the kitchen where her father and mother, Arven and Ketura, were sitting at the table. Her room was connected to the kitchen, so they were a mere ten feet away and of course had heard everything. That had led to more than one theology discussion with her family and Matthew after a long day of translating, and those were some of the best times in her young life.

Her parents were having some tea as they worked on what looked like some tax papers. However, they were both beaming. They kept looking at each other and their expressions made it look like Illuminar's Day had come early. It wasn't even that strange look they gave each other before disappearing into the bedroom; they looked like a dream had just come true.

"Ma'ma, Pa'pa; why are you both so happy?"

"You'll see dear." Her father said while smiling ear-to-ear. "You'll see."

* * *

Sarah suppressed a yawn as she finished washing the last of the dinner dishes in the Helene's galley. She dried her hands on a nearby towel and took just a moment to stretch and work out the kinks that had developed from cooking most of the day in the airship's galley. She was sore all over, but it was a good kind of sore. The light coming through the portholes had slowly dimmed as evening progressed, eventually fading into the dark blues of twilight.

The innkeeper's daughter then spent the next twenty minutes straightening up the last few things with Fiona, who was also still working and able to tell her where everything went. Finally they were done and the kitchen some semblance of clean when she realized something.

There were only three people left in the kitchen: her, Fiona, and Marge.

The head cook was looking at her, shaking her head and smiling. "I didn't think I'd ever get another worker like Fiona, but you seem determined to prove me wrong."

"Thank you." Sarah's cheeks got a bit warm at the praise.

"If you were planning on staying on in the kitchens when we get to Karnas in the morning, I'd be happy to have you." Marge said, then glanced at Fiona. "Even with having to take care of Conner, this girl gets more work done than all of my other cooks. I'd give my eye teeth to have another worker like that, and I'll make sure you're paid well for it."

"Paid?" The innkeeper's daughter stared at the head cook. She'd never had her own money before, unless you counted in her youth when her father would occasionally give her a copper or two at a festival.

"Fiona can fill you in, and I'll start you off the same as I started her." Marge said, then turned and left the kitchen.

"I could get paid?" Sarah stared at the copper haired woman.

"Of course. You weren't expecting to be working for free, were ya?"

"I... I hadn't thought about it." She replied honestly.

Fiona started laughing.

"What?" Sarah said a bit defensively.

"I'm not meaning any harm nor to be making fun of ya." She was still chuckling with a smile. "I'm just not knowing anyone else who would be considering a job without considering the pay

"Oh." The innkeeper's daughter nodded, realizing that probably was indeed strange.

"Now, the pay is very good, as long as you're considering the benefits." Fiona said when she had stopped laughing. "The castle is providing everything you're needing, including food, a room, laundry, and the like. So while they only pay a few coppers, you don't need to be spending money on most things unless you are wanting to." She paused. "Or unless you have a baby who is growing like a weed and needing new clothes every five minutes."

Sarah chuckled at that.

"I would love to be working with you in the kitchens." The copper haired woman continued. "I hope you'll be saying yes."

"Yes, at least for now." Sarah replied, looking forward to not only spending more time with Fiona, but also being able to cook most of the day.

She had no idea what to do with the money.

What does one spend money on when all her needs were met? She had no idea. Perhaps new clothes? Well, she didn't really need fancy clothes. Lady Ekthros had given her enough clothes and shoes to wear, and she of course still had her self-cleaning underthings. She couldn't think of anything that she actually needed.

"Come on." Fiona said, nodding her head towards the door. "I'll need to be checking on Conner and I was wanting to show you something."

"Okay." She smiled.

Sarah followed her friend through the Helene's middle deck, eventually ending up at the rooms. She followed the other woman into her room, where Conner was still asleep.

"Here, I was wanting to show you my Sean's last letter." Fiona said. "I'm not usually pulling it out because it's his last letter, and I'm wanting to get it enchanted to be self-repairing so I always have it. I only show it to friends, so I thought you should be seeing it."

"Aww." Sarah couldn't help but smile. It had been years since she had a friend close to her own age. They had all disappeared when she got her problem but now her heart was feeling incredibly light... until she remembered something.

She bit her lip and looked down.

"Are ya alright?" Fiona asked, suddenly looking concerned.

"I um..." She swallowed. "I can't..." She took a deep breath. Fiona didn't seem like the kind of person who would judge her because she couldn't read. She was nice, or at least she seemed nice. She could tell her that, right?

"I... I can't read." Sarah finally admitted.

She knew that her parents had wanted her to learn, but then her mother had died. Her father had been grief stricken and overwhelmed with running the inn, then she'd gotten her problem. By the time her father had finished taking her to the various temples and luminars to try and cure her, she had missed a lot time. It had taken years of constant work to get the inn back on its feet after they returned and it had barely stayed afloat ever since then. Somehow in all that craziness she'd never had a chance to learn to read. In fact, she'd missed most of her schooling.

"Oh." Both of Fiona's eyebrows went up for a moment, then she shrugged. "Well then, we'll just have to be fixing that, now won't we? I can be teaching ya to read."

Sarah stared. "Really?"

"Aye, recipes are usually written down, and I know how ya like cooking." Fiona said, then added with a wink. "I'm just making sure you'll helpful in the kitchens. No other reason of course."

Sarah laughed.

Was this really happening?

Would she really learn to read?

"You're sure?"

"Aye, I'm sure." The copper haired woman said. "It clearly is bothering ya, and I'm happy to be helping." She looked at her pointedly. "Especially to be helping a friend."

Sarah smiled, feeling like she could cry in happiness.

* * *

Selene took a deep breath then let the chainmail slide down, doing everything possible to not get her hair caught in it. It took a minute, but she managed to only lose a few strands of hair. Alana and Rachel had already put theirs on and headed up to the weather deck, but she found herself moving more slowly because of the jittery feeling in her hands and butterflies in her stomach.

"Oww." She said as she carefully flipped her long caramel hair out from under the chainmail onto her back, losing a few more strands of hair.

"Yeah, that happens." Kendra said as she likewise pulled her hair out from under the chainmail she had just put on, wincing just as the Brazilian woman had when she also lost a few strands.

Selene looked out the small porthole in the Argo's lower deck, confirming that the light had indeed faded to the twilight hours. She took another deep, calming breath trying to reduce the jittery feeling and calm the butterflies in her stomach.

"Pre battle jitters?" The dragon huntress asked as she picked up her sword.

Selene nodded.

"It happens to everyone, especially the first few times." She said as she buckled her sword belt over the chainmail. "The important thing is to not let it get to you. You'll be fine."

"I hope so." Selene took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Except for the ambush where Taloni got hurt, I've never fought with a sharp sword before, plus I've never intentionally gone into battle before. I've been sparring like a madwoman, but my sparring partners were never trying to kill me. They will be tonight. It's pretty sobering."

"Good." Kendra nodded as she picked up one of the large leather kite shields that the wood elven king had given to Ethan. "Cockiness is the fastest way to die; I'd rather you were sober and had your head in the fight. Feeling like that is a good sign, as long as you don't paralyze yourself in fear or anxiety."

"I don't think I'll do that until I have some fellow with bad breath charging me."

"Not all Ivernian soldiers have bad breath; some have horrible breath." Kendra said with a straight face.

Selene chuckled. "I'm glad at least one of us still has a sense of humor about this."

"I've done this more times than I can count." The dragon huntress replied as she triple checked everything. "It's even scarier when you're suiting up to fight a dragon who weighs ten times more than you do and breathes fire. Give me men in armor over that any day."

"How will the Ivernian soldiers be armored?"

"Almost certainly chainmail, but most of them will need a minute to put it on. There will be about a dozen men on deck suited up, and the rest will have to suit up before they will attack. The sailors probably won't be involved much, other than maybe a few arrows."

"Okay." Selene took another deep breath as she too buckled on her sword to her slender waist. Okay, it wasn't her sword. It was one of the arming swords that the wood elven king had given to Ethan for his wives; she was just borrowing it.

"You'll do fine." Kendra assured her.

"I hope so." She picked up the kite shield that she'd been training with for the last... "Wow." She looked at the dragon huntress. "I've been here for nearly a month already. Where did the time go?"

"I don't know." She shrugged. "Sometimes it feels like it's been years since I first met Ethan."

"I know what you mean."

"Come on." The dragon huntress said. "It's time to go; Ethan will have dropped Beth off in Astral Plane form by now, and we need to get onto my airship and into position before the moon rises."

"Agreed." Selene nodded, her hands still feeling jittery and her stomach still hosting a swarm of butterflies. She was glad she'd eaten a light dinner, though she didn't think she was in danger of losing that dinner. She took another deep, calming breath.

*You can do this Selene.* She thought to herself, remembering that she had been in a life-or-death fight once before when she'd first arrived. Still though, it was completely different to be intentionally walking into a situation where several dozen men would be trying to kill you.

"You'll do fine." Kendra gave her a half-smile, then nodded towards the stairs to the weather deck. "Let's get going."

"Okay." She double and triple checked that she had everything, and then followed the dragon huntress towards the stairs.

* * *

Ethan flew past the pursuing airship's lower crow's nest, releasing his javelin when he got close enough to hit the single lookout. The javelin hit dead center of the man's chest and he barely made a sound before he crumpled. Ethan circled their target, making sure to stay as far as possible from the airship to avoid being spotted as he called his javelin back and attached it to his side. His armor was on his back in pack form with some dark cloth wrapped around the white armor to make him and it harder to see.

*I found him Dominus.* Beth thought to everyone. *He's pacing on the lower deck.*

*Okay, I'm landing on the lower crow's nest now.* He replied, still a little confused that there wasn't anyone else on lookout below the hull. He wouldn't have dared try this with the upper lookout since all the crew might've seen, plus the multitude of lanterns lighting the airship's deck would've made seeing him easy. However, no one else seemed to be watching the lower crow's nest. Perhaps it was rare to be attacked from below? That made sense since you couldn't attack with archers or board from below.

He swooped around and landed as lightly as possible, looking up to make sure that no one could see him from the small hole in the underside of the hull, out of which the ladder to the lower crow's nest came. Once landed, he started climbing the ladder as quietly as possible, keeping a sharp eye out for movement at the top.

There wasn't any.

He got to the top of the ladder and then looked out at the various ropes for the rigging. He had considered trying to fly right to the side of the ship, but was pretty sure someone would see him arrive or hear him land. That went double because he had almost no experience landing on the side of things.

*We're passing under you Drago.* Kendra though to everyone. *Alana says she can see you, but I certainly can't in this darkness.*

*Good.* He replied. *How long until the moon rises?*

There was a slight pause, then Taloni spoke up. *Anthiel says we don't have long Master, maybe ten or fifteen minutes.*

He nodded, glad that both his still-recovering Fey wife and Beth's body were safe on the Argo.

*I'll be in position right under their tail in two minutes.* Kendra thought to everyone.

He looked down to see Kendra's very small airship stuffed full of people. Alana, Rachel, Kendra, Selene, Serif, and Raklan made the ship look like nearly standing room only. It wasn't quite that cramped, but it was close.

He shifted his focus, looking for the rope hanging down the side that he'd seen while flying. It wasn't a long jump to with his dragon legs; only about twelve feet horizontally. However, he was going to try something different that didn't have the potential to make so much noise; something that only a dragon could do: use his wing claws. He didn't use them often, but now seemed like a perfect opportunity.

No time like the present.

He leaned out as far as possible, then reached out with his wing and hooked the rope with his wing claw.

That done, he hooked his other wing claw on a rung of the ladder and started slowly taking his weight off his hands and feet.

It worked.

Suspended by his two wing claws, he shifted towards the rope as much as possible, then started pulling up with the wing hooked to the rope. It really wasn't much different than doing a one-armed pull-up, so he was glad he'd only have to do one. Thankfully his wing muscles were quite strong. It would be easier with his strength-enhancing armor on, but the white color might give him away.

Finally, he got his hands on the rope and started pulling himself up. Fortunately, the Ivernians were sloppy. The rope he was holding would probably have pulled somewhere visible if it had been strung properly -- or at least that's what Taloni had said when he described it earlier -- but this one wasn't strung properly.

*Okay angel, where is he now?* Ethan asked, having firmly attached himself to the side of the ship by reaching up with both of his wings claws and hooking them on the edge of a porthole. He doubted anyone would notice in the darkness with no moon. He thought he probably looked like a bat flattening itself to the side of a wooden building and had to resist the urge to start humming the Batman theme.

*He's on the port side, and he just sat down on a barrel.* His second wife said.

*Great.* He frowned. *I'm on the starboard side.*

*Hang on Dominus.* Beth thought to everyone.

*We're in position Drago.* Kendra thought to the group chat not long afterwards.

He looked and could see them. The dragon huntress had brought her tiny little airship up under the stern of the enemy airship, with her sail low enough not to be seen. If she slowed slightly and rose up, they would be in a perfect position to jump onto the quarterdeck.

*Okay, hang tight.* He replied.

*Okay Dominus, he's headed towards the starboard side.* Beth said a minute later.

*Did you do something to make that happen?* Ethan asked her privately.

There was a long pause before she answered. *Yes Dominus.*

*Are you okay with that?*

There was a longer pause, then she thought to the group chat. *He's almost in position, middle of the ship, starboard side, near a porthole.*

Ethan frowned, not liking that she had dodged his question but rather busy to address it now. He pulled himself up and peeked an eye through the porthole, his dragon eyes easily able to see in the darkness. He didn't see the enemy mage though.

Damn, wrong porthole.

*One porthole to the rear Dominus.* Beth supplied helpfully.

He held onto his current porthole with one wing claw, then carefully used the other to hook the next one to the rear. It was only about six feet away, so not too bad. It took him several long seconds to move quietly from one to the other, then he peeked again.

*I see him.* He thought to everyone. The mage was easy to make out because Beth was standing right next to him. The faint blue outline of the blonde indicated her presence on the Astral Plane, and she was pointing to him.

He carefully unhooked his javelin in dagger form, activated it into javelin form, and got ready. He waited until the man was right in front of the porthole, three feet inside and stationary before striking. He whipped the javelin out, activating his enhanced reflexes so he could grab the tail end before it flew too far into the airship and would be hard to recover via summoning.

He hit his target.

The javelin sunk into the man's chest, going nearly all the way through. If he judged the angle right, it would've gone through the man's heart. Even if not, he'd be in no shape to fight any time soon. He pulled his javelin back out, the frictionless enchantment that Alana had put on the forward shaft and head making it far easier than it otherwise would've been.

*Mission accomplished.* Ethan thought. He gave the javelin a little flick, and all the blood came right off, not even trying to stay attached because of the frictionless enchantment. He switched it to dagger form and stowed it at his side.

*Kendra, you're up.* He thought to everyone. *Let me know when your mast is about twenty seconds from being seen and I'll chuck a few grenades on deck as a distraction.*

*Yes Drago.*

Still holding onto one of the portholes with his two wing claws, he reached down and pulled two grenades out of his grenade satchel. At this point, it was starting to get a bit a light and he made a mental note to make more grenades at some point.

Then he waited.

About a minute later, Kendra alerted him. *We'll be seen in about thirty seconds.*

*Good enough.* He thought, wanting to make sure that no one was paying attention to the quarterdeck while they rose.

He activated both grenades, then gently lobbed them up and over the side of the airship onto the middle of the main weather deck. Then he tucked his legs up and pushed off of the side of the airship as hard as he could, not caring how much noise he made since the grenades would go off in a few seconds. As he did this, he summoned his armor, which flew off his back and attached itself to him. Once away from the ship, he twisted in mid-air and spread his wings. If they saw him, so much the better because--

"DRAGON!!!" Someone shouted from the deck of the airship. "The Dragon is here!!! Starboard side! Starbo--"

BOOM!!! BOOM!!!

He could feel the concussion from the grenades. The noise was deafening and despite that he could hear cries of both shock and pain from the deck of the airship.

*I'm going to loop around to the front of the ship to draw their attention.* He said, turning in mid-air to head towards the ship's bow.

That's when he got his first view of the deck after the grenades had exploded.

It was chaos.

The deck of the airship was brightly lit with a multitude of lanterns, enabling even a human to see well.

The grenades had landed in between the airship's upper masts, and it looked like a few unfortunate souls had been caught in the explosions. He wasn't sure how many because there wasn't enough left to tell without closer examination. The two grenades had left twin indentations in the wooden deck, the charred edges of the indentations partially breaking through into the deck below. The men on the deck seemed either stunned in horror or looking wildly around for where the threat was.

That's when it occurred to him that they had literally never seen something like a grenade before, nor heard of anything like it.

Ever.

When he had first mentioned creating grenades, he'd had to explain what the word 'explosion' meant. He considered what it must be like to see an explosion first hand while previously having no concept of what it was or where it came from.

Suddenly, he understood their horror.

He swopped around to the front of the dreck and landed, then roared. If he was the distraction, he was going to make damn sure he was distracting. Most of the men on deck froze at the terrifying primal sound. A few didn't, one of the Narlotten soldiers among them. He seemed stunned for a moment, but then raised his bow and nocked an arrow.

Ethan stopped his roar and raised his shield in time to intercept that arrow, then he peeked at the quarterdeck. There were only two or three men on the quarterdeck, and their attention was fixed entirely forward at the dragon at the ship's bow. They didn't even notice the tiny airship which was nearly high enough that its crew could board.

"Recover men!" The Narlotten soldier called. "It's only one young dragon not yet old enough to breathe fire. Charge and kill him!" And with that, he did as he himself had suggested. He dropped his bow, drew his sword and started forward.

Ethan hopped down from the railing, drawing his war sword. Seemingly spurned on by the Narlotten man's courage, several Ivernian soldiers started forward, drawing their swords as they did so. It was four against one, and Ethan wasn't confident enough in his swordsmanship against unknown opponents wearing full chainmail armor. Unarmored orcs, maybe. Fully armored and trained soldiers, much less so.

Besides, he was just the diversion for now.

*Alana, Rachel, clear the quarterdeck.* He thought to everyone.

He dropped into a defensive stance as the first two soldiers stepped up, coordinating their attacks from multiple directions and forcing Ethan to retreat slightly. He needed to create space, and fortunately he had an excellent way to do that. He activated his sword for the first time in real combat, lengthening the extension that made it more similar to a spear than a sword. Using his superior leverage combined with the element of surprise, he batted one of the soldier's blades aside and aimed a follow-up slice that connected hard with the man's ribs.

To no one's surprise, the chainmail protected the man.

The man clutched his side at the impact, probably having a few broken ribs, but of course even Ethan's dragon steel blade couldn't cut through the dozens of riveted steel rings in the chainmail. A thrust would've easily broken since the force was concentrated on only a single ring, but a cut never would defeat dozens of steel rings. Ethan drew his sword-spear back and chanced a glance at the quarterdeck.

It was clear of living enemy combatants, as one had an arrow through him and Rachel had apparently air-rammed the other two forward so they landed on the main weather deck near the rear mast. The six occupants of Kendra's airship were disembarking, and the dragon huntress herself appeared to be tying her canoe-sized airship to the larger airship's railing. They would be in position in mere moments.

Mission Accomplish.

Quarterdeck taken.

Time to regroup.

Four more Ivernian soldiers charged him, and he leapt backwards over the railing, free falling for barely a moment before twisting in midair, spreading his wings, and looping under the airship, being sure to give the masts and rigging a wide berth. A few flaps later, he came up behind the ship and dropped onto the quarterdeck near his wives and allies.

Serif and Raklan had already taken up position at the port stairway up to the quarterdeck. They were both armed with large kite shields and short spears, as well as swords at their sides. Meanwhile Kendra and Selene had taken positions on the starboard stairs up to the quarterdeck, and both were armed with elven kite shields and swords; Kendra with her dragon steel bastard sword, Selene with her elven arming sword. Rachel and Alana were behind the ship's wheel, probably using it for cover. Rachel had another elven kite shield and her staff, while Alana had her wooden bow with an arrow nocked.

Ethan landed behind the swordswomen, war sword still out.

"Hey ladies, come here often?" He asked in the most ridiculous mock-flirting voice he could muster.

Neither reacted.

Kendra was too focused on the threat, and Selene's eyes were a bit wide and her breathing slightly shallow.

He pat a hand on the Brazilian woman's shoulder. "You can do this Selene. I've seen how you train, I've sparred against you, and you can do this. Keep your shield up and stay frosty; you'll be fine."

She nodded at him, a bit of fire and iron in her eyes as her trepidation seemed to lessen slightly.

On the main weather deck, the soldiers and sailors seemed to have regrouped themselves. He could hear pounding on the stairs as at least two dozen more soldiers came up from the lower deck clad in armor. They each had a sword on one hip and a quiver on the other, bows in hand, and shields on their backs.

"Criminals! Lay down your weapons!" The captain of the airship called.

*Go ahead.* Selene thought to him. *I know you want to.*

Ethan grinned because she had also recognized the similarity of the man's words to the Persian commander in the movie 300. Just like the movie, he whipped his javelin out, spearing the captain dead center of his chest. The man staggered for barely a moment before falling backwards to the deck.

Then Ethan called loudly at the rest of the soldiers. "Ivernian; come and take them!" Then he summoned his javelin back so it couldn't be used against friendlies.

Not to be outdone, Selene thought the next line in the movie to him. *Give them, nothing! But take from them, everything!*

There was a pregnant pause for a moment, then all hell broke loose.

* * *

Taloni looked up towards the night sky, closing her eyes and praying even harder as the battle began. She couldn't help fight, but she would still do everything in her power to help. Right now that meant praying, and pray she did.

* * *

The arrows came first.

Selene raised her shield as most of the enemy soldiers on deck launched a volley of arrows, many of which slammed into her elven kite shield. Thankfully they didn't pierce it. The impact was jarring though and it startled her. Something about the arrows striking her shield made the seriousness of the situation hit her in a way that nothing ever had before, knowing that they were real and sharp arrows fired with the intention to kill.

She had a momentary flashback to her first fight on this world, where she's used the Glock 26 to kill her kidnappers. She could feel her palms getting sweaty as she realized yet again there were two or three dozen men on the other side of her shield that wanted to kill her.

She swallowed hard.

She took a few deep, calming breaths and gripped her sword tighter, determined to fight through.

*You can do this Selene.* Ethan thought to her as he lowered his shield slightly after the first volley of arrows.

She didn't reply, choosing instead to try and focus on the threat in front of her. Besides, her stomach was roiling and she wasn't entirely sure the contents of her stomach would remain there if she replied.

She took another deep breath.

"Charge!" Someone on the deck called.

The Brazilian looked over her shield and had to duck again almost instantly as a second volley of arrows slammed into her shield and over her head. She waited just a moment, then cautiously peeked out again. The soldiers at the rear had lowered their bows and the men at the front had charged. There were a dozen men lining up on each staircase, but the ones on Selene's side looked like they were stacking up to fight her specifically.

Shit.

It didn't take a genius to figure out why. Raklan was huge, Serif was next to him looking deadly, and Kendra certainly had her game face on. By contrast, Selene herself looked like a model instead of a warrior. Not for the first time, she wished that something about her appearance would scream 'deadly'. She supposed her actions would have to do.

She tightened her grip on her sword and slid the point behind her shield to hide it so she could thrust out at any moment without warning. The man in front of her did the same. The soldiers were universally armed with smaller shields and arming swords, just like she was, though her shield was considerably bigger. The three foot long swords were excellent for fighting in confined spaces, which is what they were doing.

He was coming up the stairs at her, so his small shield provided an incredible defense because of the angle.

She barely had a target.

Only her larger, teardrop-shaped shield afforded her the same level of protection. The top was wide and the lower portion protected her legs very well. She took the few seconds she had before they were in range to open a window in her mental defenses to try and figure out what the man stacking up in front of her would do.

It didn't work, not that she expected it to.

Not because she couldn't sense thoughts, but because she could sense too many. There were too many soldiers and she hadn't learned how to filter a single man's thoughts out yet, or even tried to learn. She knew it was possible, but this wasn't the time to learn. She had only learned that she could read minds two days ago, and it would take time to build up her skill. She would be able to make short work of any opponents who didn't have mental shielding once she did, but it was all about skill until then.

She closed the window and focused on the man in front of her.

Then the lines met.

The Brazilian woman angled her shield slightly to parry the overhand swing to her head, then thrust out with her sword lower towards a small hole he'd left in his defenses. With her strength enhancing vambraces, she had enough power to punch through the chainmail with a single thrust. She felt his chainmail pop and her sword sunk into the outside of his thigh. It wasn't a mortal wound, but it would certainly be painful. The man cried out and fell backwards, only to be replaced by another man in mere moments.

The battle was chaos.

Pure, unadulterated chaos.

There were sounds assaulting Selene's ears from every direction. Kendra was on the outside of their set of stairs, and she could hear her fighting. To her left, Serif and Raklan were also fighting. She occasionally heard Alana's bow twang, and no one could miss the few fireballs that Rachel threw. Behind her, Ethan was lending support to the girls by using his sword in spear mode.

It was all Selene could do to stay alive.

The stairs weren't wide -- maybe six feet -- but that was still enough for two soldiers to attack at once. Kendra was all poised and calm perfection; a Valkyrie who'd done this a thousand times.

Selene was trying not to panic.

Because every attacking soldier was below her on the stairs, even his relatively small shield covered a lot of his body as he charged towards her. The Brazilian woman angled her shield for defense while simultaneously thrusting out with her arming sword at the next soldier.

She missed.

The soldier adjusted his shield slightly to intercept her blade and struck out with his own sword at Selene's hand. She jerked her hand back, mentally kicking herself for letting it go past the end of her shield's protection in the first place. Rookie mistake that had almost cost her a hand.

Beside her, Kendra's second opponent stumbled and then rolled down the steps.

Selene ducked slightly and pushed forward with her shield, striking out with her arming sword low at the man's thigh again.

"Ah!" He cried out in pain as she felt her strength-enhanced thrust pop one of the riveted chainmail links and sink into his thigh. He stumbled slightly, injured but not out of the fight yet. She body-slammed the back of her shield into him to push him down and away.

It worked.

He tumbled down the stairs, injured but not fatally... only to be replaced with another soldier. She tightened her grip on her sword and engaged the newcomer.

* * *

Ethan almost wanted to swap out with Selene or Kendra, feeling a bit bad that the women were on the front lines while he was behind them. His blade had reach in spear mode which their swords didn't however. Kendra was deadly of course, and Serif and Raklan were such an effective team that the soldiers had all but stopped attacking them after the first couple of men had died near instantly.

Selene was the surprising one.

She fought like a machine.

She didn't have the experience or skill of the other three frontline fighters, but she held her own. She didn't give up, she didn't give ground, and she fought like a woman possessed. While the others were undoubtedly better swordsmen -- owing to their far greater experience -- Selene wasn't letting her inexperience keep her down. She was holding her own. She repeatedly thrust, hacked, and slashed at the soldiers who came up to meet her and none got through her.

It was pretty impressive given that half of them outweighed her by double and would be far stronger if she didn't have her strength-enhancing vambraces.

Ethan himself provided support from the rear, thrusting out at targets of opportunity whenever he could. Kendra especially caught on very quickly, and would intentionally attack in ways that made the soldiers open to attacks from him. Selene only took a moment longer to figure this out before she started doing the same thing.

The three of them worked as a team, the ladies creating openings and him taking advantage of them whenever possible, unless the ladies got to them first. None of them went down quickly though and he was starting to feel the strain. It was only a few minutes in and Ethan was very conscious of how tired he was getting. He was suddenly glad that he'd spent hours on end training, which had definitely built up his endurance.

* * *

Alana bent her bow back, stepped slightly out around Rachel's shield and let the arrow fly. She was back behind the shield before it found its mark, but the cry of pain told her that her aim had been true.

In front of her, Rachel poked her head out and then whipped her hand out, releasing the heat that she had been collecting from the ambient air in the form of a fireball. It took a mage much longer without a potent source of heat, but the powerful redhead was making do. In her hand she had the staff from the wood elven king, a staff that Alana herself had made.

She liked that.

The wood elf nocked another arrow to her bow and then peeked out to pick her next target. She pulled her head back in as she noticed something, then thought to everyone. *Not everyone is attacking. Some of them seem reluctant.*

She saw her husband and best friend survey the deck in response, but Selene and Kendra were too busy fighting.

*You're right.* Ethan replied, then thrust his sword-spear out at someone who was attacking Kendra. The man blocked the strike as Ethan spoke again. *Maybe we can use that?*

"Reinforced charge!" Someone on the deck called, and the wood elf saw that it was one of the two Narlotten soldiers.

She raised her bow and let an arrow fly, but her arrow hit his chainmail and stopped, not piercing it. She sent the next arrow towards his face, but he had raised a shield and intercepted it, beating a hasty retreat behind the rear mast to further protect himself.

*Brace yourselves!* Kendra thought to everyone, though that message must've been intended for Ethan and Selene.

Almost a dozen soldiers had stacked up in a row that was two wide and six deep in front of them. Each man had put his shield to the side to protect against arrow and fireballs, and put an arm on the back of the man in front of him. They were charging forward together as a solid unit.

They were trying to push through, a dozen attackers charging the three defenders.

Oh no.

Alana nocked another arrow into her bow, but was forced to wait as several arrows slammed into Rachel's shield and several more whizzed past the edge. Rachel struck first, pointing her hand at the mass of soldiers and firing an air-ram.

It only partially worked.

The men were side-on, so there was already less force. Added to that that they had formed up in a tight and overlapping formation meant that her air-ram was acting on several people instead of just one. It jostled the formation, but no one went flying.

Alana drew her bow and let an arrow fly, hitting the man that was about to run into Selene. He crumpled, but that barely slowed the man behind him. Ethan had turned his shield sideways and put it across Selene and Kendra's backs, digging his claws into the decking to try and gain purchase.

It wasn't enough.

The eleven men in the formation slammed into Selene and Kendra, forcing them back despite the defenders' height advantage. There were just too many of them. Slowly, leaving deep scratches in the decking from where Ethan's claws had gripped, the attackers pushed them back.

Alana let loose another arrow and Rachel a fireball. The arrow downed another, but the thick padding under the chainmail seemed to mostly protect the soldiers from the fireball's heat; it was like trying to get through an oven mitt with heat. Ethan managed to thrust while pushing, and he and Kendra both managed to hit one each of the front men, but there were still a bunch behind them.

They pushed the defenders back enough that one soldier slipped around Selene and made to stab the wood elf.

Wham!

Now separated from the pack, Rachel hit him with an incredibly powerful air-ram that threw him over both his compatriots and the side of the airship. He screamed as he fell. Two more men piled through the gap. The first met one of Alana's arrows, the second formed a brief but very intimate relationship with Ethan's war hammer.

The remaining six men seemed to all pile onto Selene, who had been anchoring the inside. She went down, two burly men trying to tackle her. That was their mistake. She dove backwards, driving her sword forward into the one soldier. With his weight falling towards her and her enchantment-enhanced strength, the sword buried itself up to the hilt in his torso. The second man tried to take her head off, but missed.

Kendra grabbed the man's shield -- probably trying to save Selene -- and the man let it go and then grabbed the front of Selene's chainmail shirt while Ethan desperately tried to fend off two more attackers who were trying to turn Kendra into a shish-kabob.

Grabbing Selene turned out to be a big mistake though.

The Brazilian woman dropped her shield -- her sword already having disappeared into another soldier's gut -- put her hands on the soldiers' arm and jumped up, wrapping her legs around his arm and pulling him forward. Alana wasn't entirely sure how the caramel-haired beauty managed the next move. Moments later, the man screamed in pain as his elbow bent at an unnatural angle while Selene used her body weight to throw him to the ground whilst simultaneously regaining her footing.

Selene landed perfectly in a crouch position, grabbed a dropped sword and her dropped shield, and wasted no time getting back into the fight.

There were plenty of targets to choose from.

At this point, the soldiers had seemingly abandoned Serif and Raklan's stairway and were running to climb up the breached staircase. Several of them had been staying just out of reach of the deadly crewmen so the defenders had to remain at their post, but now apparently got impatient and decided to run around and attack the opening on the other staircase.

That lack of discipline cost the defenders dearly.

Faced with no threats, the nigh invincible swordsman left Raklan to defend the stairway and began attacking the soldiers who'd rushed up onto the quarterdeck. With nearly all of the boarders attacking, and especially Serif joining the fray, it was a bloodbath.

No soldier lasted long.

Within twenty seconds, they'd reestablished control over the quarterdeck. Five seconds later they had returned to their defensive positions.

* * *

"It's over!" Ethan called down to the weather deck, hoping that they would give up their suicidal attempts to retake the quarterdeck. The airship only had about a dozen soldiers left, the bulk of the rest having died either on the ill-fated charge or before it. The remainder hadn't attacked and looked very hesitant to do so.

He could feel some nerves from Taloni, so he thought to her. *Hey honey, it's okay; we won and no one was seriously hurt.*

Her relief was palpable.

*Ethan.* His first wife thought to everyone. *I think a lot of the remaining soldiers are the ones who were initially reluctant to attack us.*

*Okay, thanks.* He thought back, then spoke aloud. "Stop chasing my wives and myself; we've done nothing wrong."

"Except attack an Ivernian military airship." The Narlotten soldier replied. "That makes you a fugitive in all of the Ten Kingdoms; nowhere is safe for you now."

Ethan ignored him. "Who's the ranking officer on this ship?"

Several of the sailors looked at one man, who was indeed dressed a bit better and more neatly than the others.

The man stepped forward, swallowed hard, then spoke. His voice was shaky, but determined. "I'm the first officer, commander Montral."

Ethan nodded, remembering that he'd killed the captain at the start of the battle. "Well Commander Montral, I am Ethan Ejder. Are you going to stop pursuing us, or does my crew need to finish this fight?"

The man looked around at his own crew, none of whom looked eager to resume fighting. Still, he hesitated before speaking. "I have my orders Mr. Ejder, and Lord Farbrottan doesn't take kindly to men who don't carry out their orders. He could hang us for treason."

Ethan looked around at the near two-dozen dead men. "You've lost two thirds of your soldiers and gained nothing. With the men you have left you can't win."

"Aye, but it won't matter to our lord." The first officer replied. "We still have twice your fighters, not to mention a dozen sailors. He would consider it cowardice to the level of treason to surrender when we outnumber you so heavily."

Ethan narrowed his eyes. "I'd rather not kill every last one of you, but I would to protect my family."

"Then we understand each other." Commander Montral replied. "Lord Farbrottan doesn't confine his punishments to those he considers traitors; sometimes he includes their families. I'd rather my family not be thrown in prison -- or worse -- because I was labeled a traitor and thus they were under suspicion."

Ethan stared.

The Narlotten soldier also looked at the commander, mild surprise on his face.

"Here's the thing commander." Ethan said after several moments. "I think you'll agree that my crew could easily take the ship without a single survivor."

Montral swallowed, but nodded.

"You can't possibly mean he'd rather you all die than surrender."

The commander grimaced. "Apparently you don't know Lord Farbrottan very well."

Ethan stared at the man for several seconds. "I really don't know what to say to that."

"Welcome to Ivernia." Montral replied with a shrug, and many of the men on deck nodded.

*Ideas?* Ethan thought to everyone.

*Disable the ship?* Kendra suggested. *They can't follow us if the airship doesn't work.*

*Didn't Rachel pull the control gem from Gonorran's portal?* Selene added. *Could we do something like that here?*

*Master, that would only prevent vertical movement.* Taloni chimed in. *They could still sail it around, just not gain or lose altitude. But you could disable the ballast logs, which would prevent that.*

*We could put the ship down and then disable them.* The dragon huntress suggested. *Then they truly couldn't follow us.*

*Alana, how long would it take to disenchant some ballast logs?* He asked.

*Not long.* She replied.

"Kendra." He said aloud. "Kill our momentum and put us down. I want the lower mast touching the earth."

"Yes Drago." His fifth wife said, walking to control panel.

"What are you doing?" Commander Montral asked.

"He can't punish you for not chasing us if your ship is disabled." Ethan replied.

The commander and the Narlotten soldier both stared at him.

* * *

Alana felt a small 'bump' as the airship's lower mast gently impacted the ground below them. Kendra had expertly and quickly halted the airship just like Taloni had during the spin drop turn, and then lowered it until the lower mast was touching the ground in one of the many clearings in the forest below. Afterwards, the wood elf had gone up to do her part.

"Ballast logs have been disenchanted." The wood elf said aloud as she took her hand off the control panel, then thought to everyone. *Actually, I just added a mana-lock to their weight enchantment, but they won't know that.*

*Mana lock?* Ethan and Selene asked at the same time.

The wood elf almost chuckled at their synchronicity. *It's an enchantment that makes it so only one person can activate an enchanted item. In this case me, but I made it loose enough that Ethan and anyone he is bonded to should be able to activate it too. It takes a decently knowledgeable mage to disenchant what I did too, so I don't imagine this airship will be going anywhere for a while.*

*That sounds really useful.* Ethan thought to her. *How come people don't put a mana-lock on everything?*

*It's a devilishly tricky enchantment, so it's very expensive. Plus it gets ten times harder if it needs to be keyed to someone other than the mage who enchanted it.* She explained. *Plus, it can only be keyed to one person, bonded people excepted. That dramatically limits its usefulness.*

*Ah, that makes sense.* He replied, then spoke aloud. "My wife has disabled the ballast logs, so I suggest you hail your sister ship to pick you up. I hear there are orcs in these woods."

The crew looked around at each other, clearly nervous at the mention of orcs.

*The other airship is actually catching up quickly now that we're not moving. We should leave soon so they don't catch us.* Alana thought to him, her wood elven eyes seeing what few others on the ship could.

"We're leaving." Ethan waved everyone towards Kendra's airship, though he himself didn't move. "Anyone who tries to interfere with that will have to go through me."

No one tried.

* * *

Ethan breathed a sigh of relief as he dropped his armor pack and weapons onto the Argo's deck.

What a night.

He thanked his lucky stars that no one on his crew had been seriously hurt, especially his wives and Selene. They had stacked the deck as far as possible in their favor before attacking, but you never really knew with these sorts of things.

Selene had been hit multiple times in the chainmail and so moved gingerly for a while, but the armor had done its job. Kendra had been favoring her left side for a while, so he assumed she'd taken some hits that she'd healed. He himself had taken at least a dozen hits to his armor, a couple of which would've fatally landed in the gaps between plates without his enhanced reflexes and dragon sense. His shield arm was throbbing and his weapon arm felt like he had run a marathon via one-handed handstands. Still, other than one thrust that had slipped past Selene and pierced her chainmail to give her a small-ish puncture wound in her side -- which she and Kendra had already healed -- there were no serious injuries.

The self-repairing chainmail turned out to shed blood reasonably well, and given that both women were wearing self-cleaning clothes underneath -- Selene's lent to her by Anthiel -- there was a surprising lack of blood to cleanup. Kendra had insisted on doing a post-mortem on the way back while the battle was still fresh in their minds, and the general consensus was that it went well.

His sigh of relief slowly morphed into a yawn.

"I hear you." Selene said, mirroring the yawn and looking more tired than anyone else as she and the other ladies came up from the lower deck after shedding their weapons and armor as well. At her feet, a certain furball was making squeaky meow sounds and rubbing against her leg. She picked him up and petted him gently. "Hi my little baby kitten."

Thor rubbed his cheek on hers while purring loudly.

Ethan yawned again. "I don't know about anyone else, but I'm beat."

"Agreed." Alana said, though she was on the quarterdeck looking back towards the airship they had just left. "The other airship looks like it's picking up the crew."

"Captain." Anthiel said. "It might be a good idea to put out the Argo's lanterns. I believe I can lose them in the dark tonight. It's entirely possible that if we lose them, they'll go home now that they've seen what we can do."

"Why didn't we just do that the first night?" Selene asked.

"The moon, since the first night was clear." Anthiel replied, then gestured to the sky. "You can see the cloud cover rolling in, so they might not be able to follow us because they will have a harder time seeing us."

"Do it." Ethan said. "Worst case scenario is that we don't lose them."

"Aye, aye." The high elf replied, then went about snuffing out the lanterns that normally lit the Argo at night, plunging the Argo's deck into semi-darkness. He could see just fine, but he knew it was a bit dark for the humans on board. The moon was out, but some clouds were moving across the sky and were covering it more and more often.

*Don't worry angel, I haven't forgotten you.* He thought to everyone, just to keep them in the loop. *I'll come get you in a minute.*

*Dominus, I can stay here a little longer?* The blonde replied. *I followed commander Montral and he's talking with the captain of the other airship. I can stay here to see what they decide.*

*You sure you want to?* He asked, feeling like there was more to it.

*Yes Dominus, I'd like to help and you can get me in the morning. I know you're tired.*

*Is Beth okay?* Alana thought directly to him.

*I wish I knew.* He grimaced.

*Please let me stay Dominus.* The blonde said after a moment. *I want to help, and I know this will help.*

He looked at Alana and thought directly to her. *Thoughts?*

*She has a point; it would be good to know what they are planning.* The wood elf replied. *Besides, she might be offering because she needs time to think.*

He nodded, still not liking the situation.

Beth was his youngest wife, arguably the most impressionable, and certainly the most bright-eyed and optimistic about life. He wished that she hadn't volunteered to be his spotter, but she had wanted to help and wouldn't be dissuaded. Now he was wishing that he hadn't listened to her pleas.

On the other hand, he knew that she would've been hurt if he had said no. She would've correctly assumed that he'd said no because he thought she couldn't handle it. Knowing her, that would've hurt her deeply. Partially because of that, letting her do it had seemed like the right response at the time. Now he just hoped that she would come through it okay.

*Okay angel, I'll come get you in the morning.* He thought to everyone.

"Thor and I are going to... to..." Selene yawned. "We're going to bed."

"Good night, and thank you so much." Ethan replied. "You did fantastic."

"I did?" She looked genuinely surprised.

"You did." Kendra said. "You held the line and didn't give. Sure their charge broke through, but they would've broke through me or Ethan too; whoever was on the inside. And when they did, you kept on fighting even after being disarmed, and pulled one incredible grappling move. I don't even know how you broke that fellow's arm."

"Brazilian Jui-justu." The caramel-haired beauty replied. "I'm been practicing since I was a little girl."

"Maybe you can teach me some." The dragon huntress said. "That was seriously impressive grappling work."

"Really?" Selene's smile was becoming very wide. Given Kendra's experience with combat, Ethan thought that her wanting to learn from Selene was quite the compliment.

"Really." Kendra nodded.

"I wouldn't say no either." Ethan added. "You did incredibly well and we could never have done it without you."

"Thank you." She smiled at them.

Taloni asked what Selene had done, which led to a short discussion that saw the caramel-haired beauty blushing at the praise heaped on her. Even Serif was complimentary of her fighting and especially her grappling move. Needless to say, the Brazilian woman was smiling ear-to-ear when she went below decks for bed.

Ethan led his own wives into the captain's cabin. Alana and Taloni peeled off their clothes as usual while Rachel and Kendra were more reserved, preferring to keep themselves covered. He hoped that one day they would be comfortable enough to sleep without them, but they weren't right now. Kendra helped him move Beth's body to the end of the bed and he put a light blanket over her to make sure she didn't get too cold.

He was in bed with the rest of his wives not long afterwards, Rachel snuggled into his arms.

He sighed.

"What my lord?" She said as she looked at him. Rachel preferred to sleep facing him, while his other wives liked to spoon with him being the big spoon.

"I'm just thinking." He replied. "I should feel so incredibly lucky holding a different amazing woman every night, but sometimes I feel bereft instead."

"Oh?" Her eyes widened slightly and he could almost see the panic behind her eyes.

"I wish I could hold you all every night." He said softly, then gently stroked her cheek.

Her eyes calmed and she smiled at him. "At least you have your wings."

"That I do, and a wise redhead too." He kissed her forehead and she sighed. She tucked her arms up against her chest and snuggled closer to him, and he responded by wrapping his arms a bit more tightly around her. She snuggled her head up under his chin and completely relaxed into him. On her other side, Alana was snuggled with her back to the redhead's back.

*This is so easy with you.* Rachel thought to him, either because her voice would've been muffled or because she wanted privacy.

*Yeah, I know what you mean.* He gently nuzzled his chin against the top of her head.

The redhead hesitated. *You really don't mind if two of your wives are attracted to each other?*

*Not in the slightest. In fact, I think it would be wonderful.*

The redhead nodded. *It's simple with you, but I... I like...*

*You like Alana. I already know.*

*Is that okay?*

*More than okay.* He replied, then started gently stroking her back. Not in an arousing way, but in what he hoped was a calming and soothing way. She let out a soft sigh and snuggled closer, though he wasn't sure how she managed that given how close they were already.

*How's it going with Alana by the way?* He asked.

*I don't know.* The redhead replied. *I don't know what to do.*

*Well, this might help.* He replied. *I'm going to ask you a question, and I want you to reply with the first thing that comes to your mind.* He thought to her.

*Okay my lord.*

*What do you want to happen with Alana?*

Suddenly, the redhead tensed up. He almost smiled; she did tend to get stuck in her head and freeze on emotional issues. He continued his soothing rub of her back and she slowly relaxed.

*What was the first thing you thought of?* He finally asked once she'd relaxed a bit.

She stiffened slightly again.

*Rachel, you can tell me.* He thought to her softly.

There was a several second pause before she replied. *I can't.*

He chuckled. *You can, but please don't feel like you have to."

*Thank you.* The redhead replied.

*Night.* He thought to her, then yawned and closed his eyes.

It was almost a full minute later before Rachel replied again. *I want to kiss Alana goodnight.*

*I know she'd love that.* He smiled, then added impishly. *Especially if you used tongue.*

*I didn't mean like that!* The redhead buried her head in his chest, and he guessed her cheeks were closer to the color of her roots than her hair. *I just meant, you know, a kiss to say goodnight.*

*Why don't you?*

*I... I would have to ask first, and I couldn't.*

*Well, I know you'll make her incredibly happy when you do ask.*

*Really?* She looked up at him, her pale blue eyes shining with hope.

*Absolutely.* He grinned back at her. *She'll be on cloud nine for a week.*

Rachel smiled, and it was one of those 'trying-not-to-smile-but-smiling-anyway' kind of smiles. *Thank you my lord.*

*You're welcome beautiful.*

A part of him wanted to ask Alana on Rachel's behalf, but he knew that was the wrong move. This was something the redheaded teen needed to do for herself. She needed to want it enough to ask despite her embarrassment. He figured it would take her a little while to summon her courage, but he didn't think it would take too long given the longing he could feel from her over their bond.

* * *

Sarah stared at the bit of paper that Fiona had written on. The copper-haired woman had started teaching her to read immediately, starting with the alphabet.

"But why do 'p' and 'h' together sound like 'f'?" The innkeeper's daughter said. "That doesn't make any sense. Why wouldn't you just use an 'f'?"

"Aye, it doesn't make sense at all does it?" Fiona replied. "If I had a copper for everything in the common tongue that didn't make sense, I'd be rivaling the Lord Delmar in wealth." Her accent made 'lord' sound like 'lard'.

The innkeeper's daughter slowly shook her head. "Okay, well at least I know that in advance."

"Aye, 'tis a good thing you're forewarned because it's more confusing later."

"Thank you." Sarah said, trying to remember all the names of all the letters. "I never thought I would ever learn to read, and this is just..." She beamed. "...it's so wonderful and I can't thank you enough."

"I'm happy to be helping." The copper hair woman smiled back. "And it'll be nice to be having someone else in the kitchens who isn't afraid of a little work."

"I really like cooking, and I'm looking forward to it too."

Sarah left Fiona's room not long afterwards, still holding the small piece of paper on which the copper haired woman had written the alphabet of the common tongue. She couldn't remember all of them yet, but she was determined to go over them every possible second until she knew them by heart.

She tried to figure out something that she could do to thank Fiona as she slipped into her own room. The woman had been so kind to her and she really wanted to do something, but had no idea what to do. She thought about it as she got ready for bed, eventually remembering how Fiona wanted to get her deceased husband's letter enchanted to be self-repairing.

That was something she could do.

She could save up her coppers and pay for someone to enchant it for Fiona. She smiled as she slipped into bed, imagining the look on the other woman's face at the surprise. She hoped that would be a good thank you gift, and thought it might be.

* * *

Ethan felt the bed shift under him, which was probably what had stirred him from his sleep. He opened his eye to see that while it was still dark outside, the sky had started to lighten in the pre-dawn hours. He looked around to see Kendra slipping her dress on near the bed, though the rest of his wives were still asleep.

*How's my good girl this morning?* He thought to her.

She jumped slightly, then gave him a smile. *She's...* The raven-haired woman paused a moment. *She's pensive.*

*Oh?*

She nodded, but didn't elaborate.

He looked down to check on Rachel and saw exactly what he expected to see. Her lower half was still snuggled up against him, but her upper half had moved away just enough that she could also snuggle with Alana. The brunette and redhead had rested their foreheads together during the night, and they looked incredibly adorable laying there sleeping.

He smiled, then looked up at his raven-haired wife.

*I was about to do my morning exercises Drago, did you want to join me?*

*Absolutely.* He slowly and carefully slipped out of bed and all his wives seemed to start stirring.

"Go back to sleep." He whispered to them. "I'm just stretching my legs with Kendra."

His other wives seemed to settle at this, readjusted, and then dozed off again. Ethan would never cease to be amazed at the ability of a woman to wake when her man got out of bed. It was almost like a sixth sense.

*Come on.* He headed towards the door and opened it, holding it open for Kendra. She smiled at him as she walked through.

The air was pretty warm for early morning, though that wasn't surprising since it was summer in the Ten Kingdoms. The sky was dotted with clouds but it looked like it would be sunny and warm. Frankly, it was shaping up to be a bit too warm for his taste.

"Hang on Kendra, let me check on Beth." He said, then thought to the blonde. *How are you doing angel?*

His second wife didn't respond for several seconds. *I'm...* There was a long pause before she spoke again. *The airships decided to go home Dominus. The men seemed very nervous and the captain said that he had lost us in the night. I think they might've been able to follow us if they really wanted to though.*

Ethan frowned, not missing her avoidance of his question. *Okay, thanks for letting me know. But how are you doing?*

*I'm...* She didn't finish her thought for several seconds. *I'm uh...* The blonde trailed off, not finishing her sentence but her tone spoke volumes.

*Okay.* He said, wanting to acknowledge her but not knowing what to say otherwise. *Do you want me to come get you?*

*I would love that Dominus.* She replied. *I don't like it here.*

*Okay, I'll be there soon.* He turned to Kendra.

"You need to go get Beth." The dragon huntress stated.

He nodded. "How'd you know?"

"She helped kill someone for the first time yesterday. That can have a strange effect on a person."

He looked at her. "How about you?"

She inclined her head as if in concession. "I'm a cold-blooded killer Ethan, but I wasn't always one."

"Cold blooded?" He raised his eyebrow.

She nodded. "I don't talk about my past for a reason. I'm not ashamed of it, but it's not the sort of thing I want to advertise to the others because they wouldn't understand. They don't know what it's like to look into a man's eyes as his life leaves him because of your blade. That sort of thing stays with you."

He inclined his head in concession, noting that her tone was casual; like they were discussing the weather.

"If you do it long enough, it won't even bother you." She continued, her tone so neutral that it must be intentional. "That's when it gets scary."

He looked at her for a long moment. "Those scars are more than skin deep, aren't they?"

Kendra nodded.

He nodded his head slowly for a moment, then looked at her significantly. "I still love you, scars and all."

"I know." She gave him a half smile which faded quickly. "Sometimes I don't know why, but I know."

He looked at her for several long seconds. "I never thought I'd find myself married to a former assassin."

The corners of Kendra's mouth twitched up for a moment before she raised an eyebrow and said in a deadpan voice. "A former assassin?"

He chuckled. "Why Mrs. Ejder, was that a joke?"

She smiled, and it reached into her eyes. "I am Mrs. Ejder, aren't I?"

"You are." He nodded. "Though I confess whenever I call one of my wives that, I think of my mom."

Kendra's smile widened for a moment, then it faded somewhat. "There's another Mrs. Ejder who needs a ride right now."

"Sorry, I had been planning to exercise with you."

"Another day?" She asked with some hope in her voice.

He nodded. "It's a date."

* * *

Beth glanced in the direction of the Argo every few seconds as she waited for her husband to come get her. She couldn't see the Argo since it had sailed quite far away, but she knew roughly where it was. She paced back and forth on the second airship's deck, the other airship having been disabled and left behind in the forest.

But while she was constantly scanning the purple-hued horizon of the Astral Plane for Ethan, her thoughts were on the previous day.

Her mind seemed entirely consumed with the reaction of the first mage that Ethan had killed yesterday. The look on his face as he had floated upwards towards the light was... she couldn't think of the words. He had asked if she was an angel, but the blonde found herself wondering if she was closer to Illuminar's angel of death, Balyera.

She didn't like that.

Not at all.

Last night had also been disturbing; more disturbing if that was possible. She had lured a man to his death. She had intentionally gotten the last mage into a position where Ethan could kill him. And while she hadn't thrown the javelin, she might as well have thrown it.

She had killed a man.

Three men actually, and the one had genuinely seemed surprised to find out that Ethan wasn't a bad guy. That made her feel sick to her stomach. What if she had helped kill a good man? Good men?

*Hey angel, I'm almost there.* Her husband thought to her.

She almost winced. She had always loved it when he called her angel before. Now... Now it was a reminder of something that she very much wanted to forget. That first mage had thought she was an angel and the association was sticking in her mind. She didn't like that it was, but it was.

She swallowed hard.

*You okay?* He thought to her again when she didn't reply.

*I'm...* She bit her lip, knowing that he hated it when she was less than honest. *I'm not sure I am.*

She looked towards the horizon again and finally saw her husband flying incredibly fast towards her. For some reason, he always flew much faster on the astral plane. Moments later he dropped down on the deck next to her and pulled her close. She didn't resist and hugged him back fiercely.

"I missed you." She said after several moments.

"And I you." He pulled back just slightly to look into her eyes. "How are you doing?"

Beth swallowed and looked down. She wanted to tell him all about it, and yet she didn't want to at the same time. She wanted him to know, and yet she wanted him to never find out.

"I don't know." She finally whispered.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She hesitated then shook her head. "Not now. Maybe later?"

Ethan took a deep breath -- which wasn't actually necessary on the Astral Plane -- and let it out slowly. "Okay, but I'm always here to talk when you're ready."

"I know, and thank you." She felt her heart lighten a bit and the corners of her mouth twitched up slightly.

"Come on angel; let's get you home."

The trace of a smile disappeared from her face when he called her angel. "Um, Dominus; can I make a really strange request, and can you not ask why I'm making it?"

He scrutinized her for a moment before replying. "You can ask, I can't promise I'll grant the request though."

"Can..." She bit her lip. "...just for a little while, can you not call me 'angel'?"

He stared at her for several long seconds. He opened his mouth to speak and she could see the question 'why?' forming, but he stopped.

"Okay Beth." He nodded, then gave her a piercing look. "But at some point you need to talk about this with someone. It doesn't have to be me -- maybe Anthiel, and Kendra would be a good choice too -- but I can tell this is really bothering you and you should talk to someone about it."

"I know, I will." She said, but she didn't really want to for some reason. It just felt like too much and she didn't know how to process it at all. She didn't know what to think, or even how to think about it. She wanted to talk about it with Ethan, but didn't know how to.

Well, that wasn't true.

She knew she could tell him and he'd listen, but she just couldn't bring herself to.

Not yet.

* * *

Ethan swallowed the last bite of breakfast and glanced at Beth for the millionth time that morning. The usually bright and cheerful teen was noticeably subdued and had barely said a word since returning to the Argo. She would answer a question if asked, but not with her usual exuberance. In fact, she rarely gave more than monosyllabic answers all morning.

"Ethan." Kendra spoke up. "I have an idea I wanted to suggest, but everyone would need to agree."

"What's the idea?" He asked.

"Taloni getting shot made me think that one day it might be very dangerous that only one of your wives is good at healing. I really think we should all be at least proficient. Rachel and I are okay, but we could certainly be better." She looked at the redhead. "No offense."

"None taken." Rachel replied. "It's entirely true; I'm better at breaking things than fixing them."

"I think it's a good idea, though I'm not looking forward to practicing." Alana said with a sigh and glanced at Selene, who'd been regularly getting poked with a needle so she had something on which to practice healing.

There was a momentary silence where everyone looked at Beth, but the blonde didn't say anything and frankly seemed oblivious to the conversation.

"Beth?" Ethan said gently.

"Hmm?" She looked up at him, her deep blue eyes were pools of confusion and something else that he couldn't place.

"Would you be okay learning how to heal yourself and others, just in case something happens in the future?" Ethan asked.

"Sure." She shrugged, but her mind was obviously elsewhere and she was clearly just agreeing to agree. He resisted the impulse to grimace; Beth sounded almost completely disinterested in learning something new.

That wasn't good.

The rest of his wives seemed to notice as well. They exchanged worried glances for a several seconds before Kendra swung the conversation back to the topic at hand.

"It would be good for you to learn as well Drago." Kendra pointed out.

"You're not wrong." He nodded, his mind still on Beth despite recognizing Kendra's idea could be very important in the future. "I can heal myself, but the only time I've ever tried healing someone else was Alana after that incident in Lord Borden's vault. I wasn't very good at it and it took a lot of mana." He looked at Rachel. "You can take care of the teaching aspect I hope?"

"Yes my lord." The redhead nodded.

He looked at Tee. "And since you're brilliant at healing, I'm sure your input would be greatly appreciated."

"Happily Master."

"In other magical news." Alana said. "I was going to start enchanting that strip of dragon leather into a travel bow. I want to make a test version in regular leather first, then get the initial enchantments done on the travel bow either late today or early tomorrow. However, I'll need some donated mana to get all that done."

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and Alana behind a bow is a lot more than an ounce." Selene said. "I vote we all donate mana to Alana so she can get it done today, then practice healing tomorrow or the day after..." She made a face. "...or the day after that."

Ethan chuckled. "Tired of getting poked?"

The Brazilian beauty nodded.

"I never get tired of being poked... sir." Alana grinned slyly at him.

Taloni giggled while Rachel and Kendra exchanged significant looks and slightly embarrassed smiles. Selene just rolled her eyes.

Beth didn't react at all.

"Actually, mana from just one person would be enough to start." The wood elf said, then looked at Rachel. "Would you be willing to help? Donate mana that is?"

*Deep mana or regular mana?* Ethan thought to her with an impish grin, causing the elf to shoot him a look.

"I'd be happy to." The redhead replied.

"Did you want to watch?" Alana asked Beth. "You know, see how it's done?"

"Eh, I'm tired." The blonde shrugged with near complete disinterest. "I might just take a nap."

Everyone stared at her, a fact of which she seemed oblivious.

*She's not okay, is she?* Alana thought to Ethan.

He looked at his first wife with a grimace and subtly shook his head. *Any idea how to help?*

*Not really.* The wood elf replied. *Perhaps Anthiel might?*

*Maybe.* He was trying not to worry about the blonde teen, but it was hard. The worst part was that he didn't know what to do.

"Master?" Taloni looked at him. "Could we take our usual morning fly this morning? We missed it the last few days because of the service and then I was injured; I've missed it."

He smiled at his third wife despite what was going on with his second. "Absolutely."

They left not long after.

It was wonderful.

They hadn't taken their usual morning fly in a couple days and he was enjoying it, but his mind slipped back onto Beth regularly.

"Bee isn't doing well, is she?" Taloni asked once they were away from the Argo, flying relatively low over the range of large hills. They were flying away from the enemy airships and keeping low to make sure they weren't spotted. The odds of that were practically non-existent, but he didn't want to tempt fate.

"No she's not." He shook his head. "I'm pretty sure she's really shaken from watching someone die right in front of her."

"That's hard." The Fey teen nodded.

He looked at her. "That sounds like you know from personal experience."

"I was a healer at the mine Master." She gave him a pained smile. "Not everyone made it."

"Oh."

"Um Master." The Fey teen glanced over at him. "Can I change the topic? I don't like talking about the men I couldn't save."

"Sure." He replied, being reminded that Kendra wasn't his only wife with internal scars.

Taloni was silent for several seconds, and he could almost feel the nervous energy coming off of her as they started a slow, gentle turn through the sky, only a few dozen feet above the treetops.

"Um Master, at the service a couple days ago, I told you no."

He almost smiled. "Yes you did; I was wondering when you would bring that up."

"You promise you're not mad?"

"Actually, I'm more upset by you snapping at me than you telling me no." He replied. "And to be clear, I'm hardly upset about that at all; that might be the first time you've ever snapped at me."

"I'm sorry I snapped." She didn't look at him.

"I forgive you." He replied. "I'll always forgive you."

"Thank you, but I don't want to take advantage of that."

"That's a good thing." He smiled.

"And I'm sorry I lost my temper." She added. "And I'm sorry that I called that luminar names; I shouldn't have done that."

Ethan wanted to add 'even if he deserved them', but decided to be mature about it. "It sounds like you're leading up to something."

She nodded, then frowned. "Can we land to talk about this? It's easier to hear without the wind and I prefer speaking to telepathy."

"Sure." He looked around and spotted a rocky outcropping that was high enough above the surrounding area that no orc could easily climb it or shoot arrows at anyone on it. He pointed it out to the Fey teen and they both made for it. It was a stretch that was perhaps thirty feet wide and fifty feet long, covered in grass with a few small, scraggily bushes.

They landed, his third wife touching down daintily with her toes before her delicate-looking wings relaxed against her back. "Master, I'm sorry about a lot of things that happened that morning."

"But?"

"But it made me realize something that I don't like, and I almost feel like I need to apologize for that too."

"What?"

"I don't think this would happen Master." She began, and she was looking down with a sad expression. "But if you ever told me to do something that Illuminar doesn't allow, then I..." She took a deep breath. "...then I would have to disobey you." The Fey teen then added quickly. "I wouldn't want to, but if I had to choose between obeying Illuminar and obeying you, then I would have to..." She took another deep breath. "...I would have to obey Illuminar."

Ethan cocked his head to one side.

Interesting.

He supposed that this wasn't entirely surprising to hear from her. In fact, considering that she read the Book of Light every morning and was easily the most devout of his wives, it wasn't surprising at all. Well, maybe a little surprising, but certainly not shocking.

"That really bothers you, doesn't it?" He finally asked.

She nodded. "Master, I don't think you realize that I like obeying you."

She spoke firmly, and he was struck by the calm confidence in her voice. It had been less than two months since they had gotten married and the difference between her confidence then and now was nothing short of astounding. He had seen glimpses of it with how she'd grown as an airship pilot, but it looked like her confidence in that area was spilling over to other parts of her life as well.

It was good to see.

"You like obeying me." He finally said, and it was almost a question.

"Yes Master, very much." The Fey teen crouched down and ran her hand through the grass, which was still wet with the morning dew. "It genuinely makes me happy. It always has."

"Is that because you were a slave most of your life?"

"I don't think so." She stood and cocked her head to one side. "I don't remember my parents very well, but I do remember being a very compliant daughter. I did what they asked because I wanted to please them; to make them happy. It's the same thing with you. I actually like making you happy, and I like doing what you tell me to do. It was similar with Thaltien, even though I was his slave and it didn't feel nearly as good as with you or my parents."

"I don't want you to be my slave though." He pointed out.

"I don't want to be your slave either Master; I don't want to be anyone's slave." She said firmly with iron behind her eyes. "I know I was treated well for a slave, especially one near Arcanum, but I wasn't happy. I wanted to fly and do something with airships, but I couldn't. Instead every day I descended into a dark, dank mine. It was so lifeless, so dead, and so..." She closed her eyes and shuddered. "If I ever was a slave again, I know I'd feel the same regardless of where I was."

"That makes some sense."

"It might be different if they had done things the way Illuminar ordained." She added. "If I could've been looking forward to freedom I don't think I would've hated it so much." She looked at him, a sad smile on her face. "I felt trapped until you rescued me. I only realized it recently, but I was dying a little bit inside every day that I went into that mine. Even if I had a good master, I know I would feel trapped again if I was a slave again. I couldn't do it."

"I didn't know you felt that way." He said, though he certainly remembered her tears of joy the day after they'd gotten married when it hit her that she wouldn't ever have to go back into the mine. "You certainly seemed supportive of it when we were talking at Arven and Ketura's house the other day."

"I'm supportive of it because Illuminar allowed it, and it did prevent me from starving when I was a child." The Fey teen replied. "But I never want to be a slave again. Ever; I would die inside."

Again, her voice was firm.

Resolute.

"The way you treat me and like calling me 'Master' gives the opposite impression."

"That's different." The honey blond said as she bent over and picked up a small wildflower. She smiled at it, smelled it, and then tucked her hair behind her ear and slipped the flower into her hair above that ear. "I want to treat you like my master, I want to obey you, and I want to make you happy; but I don't want to be anyone's slave ever again, even yours. I might want to obey you like I was your slave, but actually being one..." She shook her head. "Never."

"That looks good." He indicated the flower. "And I'm glad to hear you say that about being a slave."

"Thank you Master." She beamed, then looked at him. "I really like making you happy, and I really like obeying you because it makes me happy too. That's partially why I don't like the idea that I would have to disobey you if it meant breaking one of Illuminar's commands."

"I'm not sure it's healthy to wrap your happiness so completely around me." He pointed out.

"I don't, or at least not in every area." She took off her shoes and started walking in the grass, which was still wet from the morning dew. "Pleasing you makes me happy as a wife, but I'm also happy piloting the Argo, or talking with my fellow wives."

"Hmm." He frowned. "Well at least that's good."

"I know you've never been comfortable with me calling you Master." Taloni added as she wiggled her bare toes in the wet grass. "Thank you for letting me, and thank you for letting me obey you."

"It seems really weird to be thanked for 'letting' someone obey me."

"But thank you anyway." She smiled at him. "I kind of need it. I don't think I realized that until recently, but I really do. I don't think I would be happy if I didn't have someone to serve, someone to make happy."

As Ethan thought back on it, he remembered that on the day after their wedding he had sent Alana to ask Taloni's friend Prayla about this. He'd wanted to know if she was always so compliant and -- for lack of a better word -- submissive. Prayla had told Alana that Tee had indeed always been that way. It seemed that part of her had limits though, which was a good thing in his mind.

"But not as a slave." He finally said.

"Never as a slave." She said firmly.

"I can live with that." He smiled.

She smiled back at him, then looked down slightly. "I'm sorry for disobeying you when you told me to calm down. But I'm not sorry I said something because that luminar was blaspheming Illuminar. I should've been calmer though, and most especially I should've obeyed you when you told me to calm down."

He looked at her for several long seconds before speaking again. "I agree that someone should've said something and that calmer would've been better when you spoke. But I'm not sure you need to apologize for disobeying me."

"But I promised to obey you at our wedding Master. I made a vow, and Illuminar says that we need to keep our vows."

"I probably shouldn't have let you make that particular part of the vows." He replied.

"It wasn't your choice to make." Taloni countered, reminding him more and more of his other wives, Alana and Rachel especially. She clearly had been spending time with them and their confidence was rubbing off on her.

It was good to see.

"I promised to obey you because I wanted to." The Fey teen continued. "And I feel really bad when I don't. Not only because I'm breaking Illuminar's command to keep my oaths, but also because I want to. It makes you happy, and it makes me happy."

"Hmm." He frowned, turning what she'd said over in his mind.

On the one hand, it was a very 'Taloni' thing to be happy because she made someone else was happy. On the other hand, he could see the potential for that to be a bad thing as well. On yet another hand, she did seem to have some balance. She wasn't wrapping her entire existence and happiness around him -- which made him glad -- but he still wasn't sure he liked the authority dynamic that she so clearly wanted and enjoyed.

"Master, I noticed that you didn't deny that it makes you happy."

He looked at her, then cocked his head to one side. "Huh, you're right."

"You're still not denying it." The Fey teen pressed with an impish grin.

He opened his mouth, then realized that he wasn't sure that he could honestly do so. He did like it; it made everything flow so seamlessly and well without any friction. He had always clashed with his ex-fiancé, and previous girlfriends as well. His marriages lacked that friction and it was nice. He wasn't sure it was good, but it was nice.

"I'm glad your wives obey you Master, because if no one had the final say it would be really hard to make a decision, especially with so many wives." Taloni said, unknowingly echoing what he had been thinking. "I like that you have the final say."

"You do?"

She nodded. "I can make suggestions and I know you will always consider what all your wives think, but I would hate feeling the pressure of making the final decisions like you do. That would be horrible. You're such a great husband that I always feel like I have a say, but don't ever feel the pressure of making the final decision."

"Hmm." He cocked his head to one side and made a thoughtful frown.

"I think your other wives feel the same Master. I can ask them if you don't mind."

"Go ahead." He nodded.

Taloni telepathically explained how she felt about decision making to the rest of his wives and asked what they thought

As usual, Alana was the first to reply. *I agree sir. I love knowing that my opinion and ideas matter to you and will be considered, but not having to make the final decision.*

There was a long pause, then Beth answered with much less than her usual enthusiasm. *I agree.* Ethan almost got the impression that someone had nudged her to get her to reply.

*I do as well my lord. We have influence because you listen to us, but none of the stress of final decision making. I like that.*

*I'm used to making my own decisions Drago, but I do prefer the advisor role because there's less pressure. Plus I know you care about us, so I know you'd never make a decision unless you thought it was best for us. You also wouldn't make a decision without asking our opinion, which I like.*

*Can I chime in?* Selene asked when Kendra had finished.

*Sure.* Ethan replied.

Taloni grinned at him, and that's when he realized he'd done it again; he had taken charge almost automatically.

*I've never liked the idea of the man being in charge.* The Brazilian beauty said. *But the way you do it is the least objectionable way that I've ever heard of. You listen and consider everyone's ideas, and only then make a decision. I've never heard you make a decision that didn't make sense, even if I didn't totally agree. If you're going to accept the 'man in charge' view of things, your way might be the best way.*

*Thanks.* He replied, shocked and more than a little surprised at her assessment.

*Any time.* Selene replied. *Now if you'll excuse me, Kendra was in the middle of schooling me in sparring.*

He laughed. *Okay.*

Taloni walked up to him, barefoot with a flower in her hair and a wide smile on her face. "You see Master, everyone likes obeying you so you don't have to feel guilty about it."

He nodded his head in concession, still not entirely comfortable with it. However, he had to admit it worked pretty damn well and everyone else was happy with that arrangement. Even Selene wasn't as bothered as he thought she would be.

Taloni smiled at him, then leaned up on her toes to kiss him tenderly, leaning against him with a contented sigh afterwards. "Master."

"Yes honey?"

She pulled back just enough to look into his eyes. "Will you finally accept that you're in charge and your wives like following you?"

He chuckled. "You know what honey, I think I'm starting to. I won't pretend I'm entirely comfortable with it, but I'm starting to."

"Good." She leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed him again.

They talked for a few more minutes about unrelated things before Tee suggested that they head back to the Argo, which they did.

They were flying back when he saw it.

An orc.

The large green-skinned humanoid was in a clearing far below them and appeared to be alone. The clearing was actually more of a rocky outcropping that overlooked a small waterfall. The orc was standing, leaning over something that it looked like he was working on. There was a large two-handed Dane Axe within arm's reach, and a shield next to it, but he otherwise appeared to be alone. He also appeared to be working on something that Ethan couldn't see from his angle.

But that's not what caught Ethan's attention.

It was the symbol on the orc's leather vest.

It was a blue circle.

All of the orcs he'd seen so far had a red hand on their vest, not a blue circle. That was interesting and caught his attention.

Hmm.

*Beth, do you know how orc clans differentiate themselves from one another?* He thought to everyone.

*I think symbols on their clothing Dominus.* The blonde replied after several seconds, but he could tell she was distracted.

*Thank you.* He replied, then thought to everyone. *Ladies, I just spotted an orc who had a blue circle on his vest instead of the red hand that all the other orcs I've seen had. I think he might be from a different clan.*

*That would make sense.* Kendra spoke up. *Clannish cultures often like to display their allegiance prominently.*

*I'm going to escort Taloni back to the Argo, grab my weapons and armor, and then I'm going to go say hi.* He said. *Hopefully this clan is a little more interested in talking.*

*They might be.* Alana replied. *We're not that far from Dotmier, so maybe he's part of the clan that originally bordered the mine?*

*Here's hoping.* He replied, determined not to let his mission to stop the orcs from eating the miners get derailed again.

It had taken far too long to deal with those airships, and now it was time to get back on point. The only thing that even tempted him to hesitate was his desire to fly back north and check on Talven and Salma. The couple that had told him about the corrupt Reeve might be suffering for doing so, and he wanted to check on them. However, dealing with the orcs who were eating people was a higher priority.

It was time to start actually solving the orc problem.

Finally.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Note: This chapter began on day 93 of Ethan's life in the Ten Kingdoms, and ended on day 94. Also, I'm in the final stages of finishing another story that's just over 100k words spread over 5 chapters. It takes places 7-8 years before ADT and tells the backstory for Lord Kalus, Shara, and Lyra. I hope to get it finished and start submitting this month, but no promises. I won't start until it's done and I currently plan to drop one chapter per week.

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 June 28th, and it'll probably drop on the June 30th or July 1st.

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

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