Chapter 47: Orcish Delight

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

* * *

Kendra watched Beth carefully as the blonde listlessly moped around the deck. She knew better than most people what watching someone die right in front of you can do to a person. Still, the blonde seemed to be taking it better than many, though not as good as some. It was definitely affecting her though.

Ethan and Taloni returned from their morning flight and her husband immediately began summoning his weapons. Kendra thought that the orc the couple had seen on their way back was a welcome chance to return to the reason they had come to Dotmier in the first place.

"You sure that the orc you saw was alone?" Alana asked as Ethan secured everything.

"It looked that way." He replied as he doubled checked to make sure that he had everything. "I'm going to bring the grenades anyway though, just in case."

"I'll get them for you Master." Taloni volunteered, then rushed towards the stairs to the lower deck.

"You don't have to wonder." Beth said. "I could find out for certain."

Kendra pursed her lips.

If the blonde was volunteering to scout again, then she was either way worse or possibly way better than Kendra had thought. Or maybe she was just in denial; yeah, denial seemed most likely.

Ethan scrutinized her for several seconds. "Beth, I'd rather you didn't."

"Please let me Dominus." The blonde replied, showing more emotion than she had since the first mage on the enemy airship had died. "If something happened to you in an ambush because I didn't scout ahead, I'm not sure I could live with myself."

Ethan frowned.

"I promise I'll look away if anything happens, or I'll run away, or do anything else you want me to do." The blonde pleaded. "Just please let me help."

*I would let her.* Kendra thought to Ethan. *She clearly doesn't want to see anything die again, and I've seen this before with Aldmiri after their first mission. It's better to let her help with virtually no risk of trauma than to keep her away from everything.*

He looked at the raven-haired woman. *Are you sure?*

*No, but I've seen it turn out better when agents weren't left to sit with their thoughts. We have a saying in the Ten Kingdoms about getting back in the saddle immediately after being thrown from a horse, otherwise the person can stew in fear and it makes everything harder later.*

Ethan looked back at Beth. "One condition."

"Name it." She nodded.

He looked at her seriously. "If it looks like something might happen, you turn and run."

"I will."

"I mean that Beth; if it even looks like trouble is coming, promise me that you'll run."

"I promise." The blonde replied.

"Okay, I'll fly you there on the Astral Plane, then come back, get back into my body, then head out again." He said and the blonde nodded.

The two disappeared into the captain's cabin and Ethan announced that they were off less than a minute later. Kendra walked to the Argo's railing and stared out in the direction that they would be heading.

"I'm worried about Beth too." Alana said, coming up next to the dragon huntress. "But she's slowly gotten tougher the longer I've known her, and she grew a lot after she confronted her father. She might have it rough for a while, but I think she'll be okay in the end."

"I think so too." Taloni said, stepping up to the railing with the grenade satchel. "But maybe we should all pray for her anyway; I think that would help."

"Good idea." Kendra agreed.

It occurred to her that she might need to talk to Beth about this, and soon. She was likely the only person on the Argo who truly knew what the blonde teen was going through. Thankfully, it had only been a single day since the first mage had died, and not twelve hours yet since the battle the previous night. The former Aldmiri resolved to look for an opportune moment to pull the blonde aside for a conversation at some point that very day.

* * *

Ethan kept a close eye on his youngest wife as he circled high above the orc he had spotted earlier. The orc was still slightly hunched over and he looked like he was working on something. Beth had been looking through the area on the Astral Plane since he dropped her off, and now he was back in his body flying overhead.

*See anything?* He asked her, glad to be seeing in color again instead of the monotonous purple hue of the Astral plane.

*No Dominus, and I've searched in a nearly one hundred yard radius.*

*Okay, thanks. You can retreat to a safe distance.*

There was a long pause before Beth replied. *I can't be hurt on the Astral Plane, or at least not by anything short of a Drago's fire. I'll be fine.*

*I'm more worried about your mind and heart than your body.*

The blonde teen took another second or two to reply. *Dominus, I'm not made of glass. I'll be okay.*

He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before replying. *Okay, but remember that if it looks like anything is going to happen--*

*--I know, I know.* She cut him off. *I'll run away.*

He frowned at her tone, but let it slide. She was going through a lot right now and he didn't want to push her too hard.

*I'm going in.* He thought to everyone, then tucked his wings and dived straight down. The wind whistled past as he hurtled towards the ground, wanting to cover the distance as fast as possible and aiming at the opposite edge of the clearing from the orc. He figured that showing up as far away as possible was the best move. His armor was on his back and he thought that not wearing it might reduce the chances of instigating a fight.

At least, he hoped it would.

As he neared the ground, he spread his wings and flapped hard several times to kill his momentum. Oddly, that didn't bring the attention of the orc who seemed completely absorbed in what he was doing. He landed and even that didn't draw attention to himself.

*Beth, do you know what he's doing?* He thought to everyone as he confirmed yet again that all his weapons were at his side.

*No, I was busy making sure there wasn't anyone to ambush you and didn't think to look.*

Ethan could feel the concern from the rest of his wives at this statement, and even some from Selene. It wasn't natural for Beth to not be curious about that kind of thing.

He frowned.

That wasn't good.

Still, Kendra seemed to think that Beth would be better served by having something to do and he was willing to trust her on that. He stood up straight, tried to look non-threatening, and then loudly cleared his throat.

The orc jumped slightly and turned to face him. In one of the orc's hands was what looked like a crude paintbrush, and in his other hand he was carrying a piece of flat-ish bark with what looked like several small dollops of paint on it. That's when Ethan noticed what the orc was working on, which he hadn't been able to see from the sky.

It was a painting.

A real, live, honest-to-goodness painting.

The orc had clearly been painting the small waterfall nearby and was only half done. Ethan wasn't an art critic, but it looked okay to him. The style was a bit primitive and the canvas was animal hide, but it was passably well done. The orc dropped both things he was carrying and picked up the Dane Axe next to him, but made no further aggressive moves. Ethan was glad, since this orc was almost a foot taller and probably outweighed him by double.

"Hello there." Ethan said, intentionally not letting his voice slip into an Obi-Wan Kenobi impression and hoping the orc knew some English. The other orcs had seemed to understand him a little, so he hoped that would be the case here as well.

The orc narrowed his eyes, then spoke in broken English. "You dragon. Why no attack?"

"I'm looking to talk." He replied, keeping his hands away from his weapons.

"Dragon no ever talk." The orc shook his head. "Dragon burn and eat, dragon no do else."

"I'm not most dragons."

"You say, but you no prove." The orc grunted. "You prove, we talk. You no prove, we no talk."

"I didn't attack on sight and I announced myself." Ethan pointed out. "Is that proof enough?"

"That no proof. That good, but that no proof."

Ethan considered for a moment, then an idea occurred to him. He reached down and as non-threateningly as possible took off all his weapons and dropped them on the ground. He then took several steps towards the orc with his hands raised. The orc didn't know that he could summon weapons and he couldn't think of another way to allay the orc's fears.

"Is that proof enough?"

"That no proof." The orc narrowed his eyes but lowered his axe slightly. "But good. What you want talk?"

"The mine nearby." Ethan said. "Some orcs have been killing and eating the miners."

The orc scowled. "Dragon blame wrong clan. That Red Hand. Me no Red Hand." He pointed to the blue circle on his chest.

*Bingo, we have a different clan here.* He thought to everyone, then spoke to the orc. "I was hoping you were part of a different clan."

"Why you hope? Mine no have gold. Why dragon interest?"

"Some dragons are interested in more than gold." Ethan replied. "I assume that the Red Hands have recently taken control of the area around the mine?"

"That talk no for Grobozlesh." He pointed to himself. "That talk for clan chief."

"Then can I talk to your clan chief?"

"If you strong, you have talk." The orc smiled, and while the smile showed all of his teeth and his small tusks, it didn't look sinister; he looked genuinely delighted. "You prove strength, you talk clan chief. You no prove strength, you no talk clan chief."

"How do I prove my strength?"

"We have not-real fight." The orc replied, his smile growing broader. "I use axe back, you use sword flat." He gestured to Ethan's sword behind him. "We have fight that no-real. You win, you strong and talk clan chief. You no win, you not strong and no have talk."

"I have another sword that's not sharp at all back on my airship." Ethan replied. "Would that be better?"

The orc looked at him for a moment, then nodded. "You fly, get no-sharp sword. I wait."

"Will do." Ethan replied and was about to turn and collect his weapons, then stopped. "My name is Ethan. You said your name is Grobozlesh?"

The orc nodded his head once and grunted what sounded like an affirmation.

"Pleasure to meet you Grobozlesh."

"If you strong, I pleased. If you no strong, you no matter." The orc replied matter-of-factly.

"Noted." Ethan said, then collected his weapons, not wanting to reveal that he could summon them if he didn't have to. It was time to get ready to duel an orc who was a foot taller and maybe twice his weight. This would be interesting.

* * *

Sarah leaned over the side of the airship Helene, scarcely able to believe what Lord Delmar's capital city of Karnas looked like from the air. The city was set at the confluence of three large rivers which flowed together into an even larger fourth river, which flowed south. The two rivers that came from the east and west formed the northern border of Ivernia and the southern border of Narlotten. Narlotten's capital city of Karnas was set entirely on the north side of the border rivers, and also spanned both sides of the river that came from the north. Karnas's southern counterpart city in Ivernia was both far smaller and shabbier.

Sarah had seen many cities in Ivernia while her father was taking her across the land visiting temples of Illuminar to try and fix her problem. All of them looked worn-down because the people were poor. Even Ivernia's capital city of Paliso looked that way, though less so.

Karnas was different.

It looked... she couldn't think of a word other than "alive". The airship wasn't very high because they were coming in to land near the castle in the center of the city. Because of that, she could see everything and it looked wonderful. The buildings all seemed to be in good repair, even in the poorer sections of the city. In one of the smaller town squares there was obviously a festival of some kind happening, and the people looked both lively and happy. They were dancing, playing instruments, and eating more food than she'd ever seen in one place at a time.

The people were also wearing such brightly colored clothes!

Ivernian clothes tended to be natural colors because it was cheaper, but that didn't seem to be a concern here. It looked like even poorer people could afford colorful clothes. In fact, it looked like the poor in Narlotten were better off than many of the middle-earners in Ivernia.

Under the Helene, many of the citizens were waving at the airship. It sounded like the people were welcoming Lord Delmar back, and doing so enthusiastically. Many of them were smiling ear-to-ear at the return of their lord, which was again foreign to the Ivernian girl. She'd never seen any of the common folk welcome Lord Farbrottan.

Ever.

The closer the airship got to the castle, the wealthier everything seemed to become. The homes that would've been considered excellent in Ivernia suddenly looked like shacks compared to the splendor of some of the buildings here.

The castle itself was a marvel.

Large versions of the Narlotten flag flew from its towers, flying high and fluttering in the light wind. The battlements were high and looked impregnable, and the soldiers patrolling the walls looked crisp and attentive. On the higher floors, stained glass windows covered many parts of the wall, making it beautiful to behold. It seemed that the outside of the castle was coated with something smooth, because the entire thing looked like one solid piece of stone.

"Wow." She breathed as she took it all in.

"Aye." Fiona said from beside her, her baby in her arms and not fussing at the moment. The copper haired woman had taken her up on deck before they'd arrived, insisting that Sarah should see the city. The innkeeper's daughter was glad she had.

"We'll be landing over there." Fiona pointed towards a dock that extended out from the castle's upper crenellations. "And 'tis looking like the welcoming party is waiting for the Lord Delmar." She finished, her accent making 'lord' sound like 'lard'.

On the dock were a dozen people, half of which were soldiers and half of which were clearly nobles of some sort. Their clothes were elegant and regal, but not ostentatious and managed to avoid looking like they were dressing for show. The docking process didn't take long, and it was clear that the Helene's crew were extremely well trained and disciplined.

"Lord Delmar!" One of the nobles said when the Helene was docked and the gangplank extended. He looked to be in his sixties and slightly overweight, but not greatly so. He wasn't tall and had graying hair, but he looked healthy and reasonably fit despite his slight gut.

"Sir Warrick." Lord Delmar nodded at him curtly.

"I see you were successful." Sir Warrick turned to Lady Ekthros. "It's a pleasure to have you back with us my lady."

"Sir Warrick." The auburn-haired women nodded politely. She had told Sarah earlier that day that she would be extremely busy catching up once they got back, and thus wouldn't be able to see her much -- if at all -- for several days, perhaps a week.

"I don't suppose you found a new wife on your trip my lord?" Sir Warrick said to Lord Delmar. "The citizens are getting restless about the lack of an heir, not to mention the lack of prospects to produce one since you disinherited your daughter."

"I am aware." The lord replied, sweeping past the man without a backwards glance.

"Please be reasonable Lord Delmar." Sir Warrick replied as he hurried after the much longer-legged lord. "The people need to know their future is secure, and an heir will do that. I could have every eligible noble girl in Narlotten here in less than a fortnight. Perhaps none will match up to the Lady Helene, but--"

"Sir Warrick." Lord Delmar stopped the moment his deceased wife's name had been mentioned. He then turned towards the man, his face mostly impassive and his tone almost preternaturally neutral. "I am aware. You will limit your reminders on this topic to no more than once per day."

"Yes my lord." Sir Warrick said with a slight bow.

"Now, report on what has happened since my departure." Lord Delmar said, turning and walking towards the castle, Sir Warrick and his personal guard following behind him.

Fiona chuckled.

"What?" Sarah asked.

"If the Lord Delmar only is only letting the members of his court be reminding him once a day, they'll still be reminding him all day."

"They want him to get married that much?"

"Aye." The copper haired woman nodded. "Everyone in Narlotten is wanting it because of what Sir Warrick was saying; he's needing an heir. Most of the eligible women in Narlotten would be volunteering, and not just because he's a lord."

Sarah chuckled at that too, and couldn't help but notice the contrast with Lord Farbrottan. The ladies of Ivernia didn't even want to meet him, much less marry him.

The innkeeper's daughter leaned over the side of the Helene to look into the castle. It looked almost entirely like what she would've expected except for one thing. There was a small enclosure that was perhaps ten feet square and walled off by a nice wooden fence inside a larger courtyard. Inside the enclosure was some well-watered green grass and some tastefully arranged flowers around a single tombstone.

"That's the Lady Helene's grave." Fiona offered helpfully. "The Delmar family has a royal graveyard, but it's far enough away that the Lord Delmar couldn't be visiting it regularly. He had this built when she died, and he is going to see her often."

"He is?"

"Aye." The copper haired woman nodded and she resettled her son on her hip. "He was hiring the best gardener in Narlotten to maintain it too."

Sarah looked down at the peaceful and tranquil sanctuary that the small area created. "He must've really loved her."

"Aye, 'tis no doubt of that."

They both looked at it for several seconds before Fiona spoke again. "Would you be wanting to see the dormitories? The kitchen staff have nice rooms near the kitchens, and since you are working in the kitchens you are welcome to be staying there."

"I'd love to see them!"

* * *

Ethan flapped his wings to slow his descent as he again landed in the clearing where Grobozlesh was waiting for him. The orc was now holding a shield that was large and round, much like a Viking-era shield. Ethan was wearing his armor though, so perhaps that would even things out in a real fight.

*Dominus, I've been watching the whole time you were gone and no other orcs have come.* The blonde thought to him. *He also didn't blow a horn or anything to call anyone.*

*Thanks angel.* He replied, then remembered that she had asked him not to call her that for a while. *Sorry, I forgot.*

*It's okay.* Beth replied in a tone that told Ethan it was very much not okay. Not that she was mad, but something was clearly bothering her. He would've asked, but the orc spoke before he got a chance.

"You return." Grobozlesh said. "You have no-sharp sword?"

Ethan gave his training blade a flourish. "I do."

"Then we have no-real fight." The orc raised his shield and axe and then rolled the axe in his fingers so the blunt side was facing forwards Ethan instead of the sharp side.

Ethan sized him up.

He was about a foot taller, which translated to longer arms and thus longer reach. The orc's axe was also nearly the size of a Dane Axe, being nearly four feet long. That meant that Grobozlesh had significantly longer reach which Ethan wasn't used to fighting, at least not with non-polearms. The orc's large shield was at least four feet in diameter and provided him with an incredible amount of protection.

Ethan raised his own sword and deployed his rollable shield, wanting a solid defense against that axe. Being hit with the blunt end would hurt, and it might even hit hard enough to break bones through armor. It didn't look like the orc wanted to hurt him though. Grobozlesh had a wide smile on his face, as if he wanted to be right here fighting more than anything else in the whole world.

He looked positively delighted.

Ethan had to admit that he was curious how he'd stack up in this fight. Something about this orc seemed different than the Red Hand orcs. Something about him seemed more calculating and methodical. He guessed he would be a more difficult opponent.

The orc bellowed a war cry then charged, a smile still on his face. Despite that, his shield wasn't out of place nor had his footwork gotten sloppy. He was charging, but doing so intelligently.

Ethan grinned.

He gave his sword a slight flourish then jogged forward several steps to meet his opponent. The orc slowed slightly as he approached and held his shield out farther from his body and snapped out with the blunt side of his axe. Ethan adjusted his shield a little to block the blow, but wasn't prepared for the follow-up.

The orc stepped in and punched out with his shield.

Now, the orc's shield was different to the shields he was used to fighting on the Argo against Selene, Serif, and Raklan. Those shields were strapped to the forearm, limiting their mobility in many ways. This orc's shield wasn't. It was gripped in the center and thus could be freely rotated in most any direction. In a flash he could move it from protecting the right side to the left side just by moving his wrist, or he could rotate his wrist and arm to make it face almost any direction.

That made it harder to predict.

The world slowed as the orc pivoted his arm and punched his shield out, striking Ethan in the jaw and dazing him.

Ethan reacted to his 'dragon sense' by lifting his own shield to block the orc's shield, but since he only had a quarter second warning it wasn't entirely successful. He tucked his head slightly, and instead of the shield striking his head flat on, it skittered up the enchantment-hardened dragon leather.

He took a step back to get some room, but Grobozlesh wouldn't give it to him.

The orc snapped the blunt side of his axe out again, rotating his shield to cover the opposite line of attack. Ethan attempted to parry the axe with his sword, but its far greater mass and the orc's greater strength made that difficult. Once his training sword was engaged, Grobozlesh flipped his axe head around so the sharp side was out and then jerked it down, using the bottom of the axe to hook Ethan's blade and yank it out of position. He followed that with another attempted shield strike, which Ethan saw coming and managed to avoid.

Barely, but he did.

He used his dragon legs and enhanced strength to leap backwards enough to get some distance and reassess.

Grobozlesh was good.

Very good.

He kept his shield constantly moving, rotating, and turning to protect himself incredibly well, and in ways that just weren't possible with a shield that was strapped to the arm. With that powerful defense, he was then free to strike out with his axe with near impunity. If the defender managed to block the axe, he would switch instantly to attacking with the edge of the large round shield. Further, he kept his hands relatively close together while he fought, and thus both of his arms were covered by his shield the entire time.

*Selene, you've got to see how these orcs fight with shields.* He thought to everyone. *It's amazing.*

*Oh?* The caramel-haired beauty replied.

*Yeah, I'll tell you about it later when I'm not getting my ass kicked.*

*Deal.* She replied, laughter evident in her tone.

Ethan took a deep breath and remembered what Serif had taught him. The nigh invincible duelist had spent a lot of time teaching him how to analyze his opponents, far more than Ethan would've thought was important. It had started to make more sense when the orcs had ambushed him, and made even more so now.

The core of the problem was reach and defense.

Grobozlesh had longer arms and a slightly longer weapon, plus a large shield for defense. Normally Ethan would've gone for the legs, but the orc's much longer reach meant that he couldn't get close enough even with his large war sword. Fortunately, his weapon had a built-in fix for that problem. The only question was whether he wanted to reveal that advantage in advance or mid-fight. The element of surprise being a powerful ally solved that debate for him.

He activated his shield to roll it against his arm. Then he shifted his guard stance so that he could more easily shift into two-handed grip when his sword switched to 'spear mode' by activating the leather strip at the back. That would give him an extra 2.5 feet of grip and effectively turned his sword into a spear that was half blade.

That should do it.

Grobozlesh came at him again, repeating his former unpredictable pattern of attacks. Using his enhanced reflexes to gauge the timing, Ethan waited until the orc was switching his shield around so it briefly blocked the orc's eyesight. Once it had, he extended his sword into spear mode and snapped it out, using the extra 2.5 feet of length to score a hit on Grobozlesh's lower leg before the orc was even aware of the danger. The instant Ethan felt the impact, he jerked his sword back, retracting the leather strap at the back to return it to sword mode again while hoping that the orc would miss that feature.

Grobozlesh stumbled slightly, but instantly stopped his attack. He lowered his weapons and looked at Ethan in obvious confusion. Apparently he hadn't noticed the extension or reaction given the look on his face. Thank God for his enhanced reflexes which enabled such precise timing.

"You no have length. How you hit?" The orc asked, his jaw hanging slightly open.

"Magic." Ethan grinned.

"You no say?"

He shook his head. "Would you reveal combat secrets to someone you just met?"

"No, strong word." Grobozlesh nodded his head. "You prove strength. Now we walk, see clan chief."

Ethan nodded. "I'm looking forward to it."

"Come, you bring no sharp sword." The orc said. "You prove strength to clan chief. You no win, but hear Red Hand mine if you fight strong."

"Does everything require a fight in orc culture?" Ethan asked.

"No, strength test sometime."

Ethan chuckled. "Okay, lead on."

"Grobozlesh no want dragon behind. You walk side, three heights."

"Three heights?"

"Three orc height space."

"So I'm supposed to let you lead, but walk the height of three orcs to one side?"

The orc's grunt sounded like an affirmative response, so Ethan rested his training sword on his shoulder and put about the height of three orcs distance between them. He didn't ask what the standard orc height was of course, as he didn't get the impression that a more precise measurement was forthcoming.

"If we're going to meet your clan chief, I take it we're going to your camp?" Ethan asked.

"You see camp, you no enter camp." Grobozlesh replied. "You stranger. Only friend enter camp."

"Fair enough." He nodded. "Lead on."

* * *

"This is really nice." Sarah said when Fiona had opened the door to one of the rooms in the dormitories. "This is really where the servants live?"

"Aye." The copper haired woman replied.

One of the rooms was several times the size of her single room at her father's inn. It was rectangular with two nice bunk beds and four large chests. There was also a window and nice curtain on it, the walls were a pretty blue color, and someone had hand-painted little flowers on the walls at about waist height. Something about the room just felt nice and cozy.

"I get to live here?" Sarah asked. The dormitories were in a wooden building inside the castle walls, but not part of the castle itself. Plus the kitchens were only a short walk away.

"Aye, though this particular room is looking full." The copper haired woman replied. "There are up to four girls in a room, and most of them are nice."

"Most of them?"

Fiona's smile faltered as she readjusted her now sleeping son on her arms. "Aye, there's a few girls who... well, never-you-mind. Anyway, you can be picking any unoccupied bed, but you'll be sharing with a few other girls so it's best to be checking with whoever is living there for courtesy's sake."

"Are your roommates nice?" Sarah asked, never having shared a room with anyone before, being an only daughter.

"Well, I'm not having any." A slight bit of color came to Fiona's pale and heavily freckled face. "My Conner was waking the girls, so they were finding different rooms. I'm sleeping at the end of the hall so he isn't waking anyone."

"Oh, well do you want a roommate?"

Fiona looked at her for several seconds. "Really? You be doing that for me?"

"I would." The innkeeper's daughter smiled. "You've been a great friend, and I haven't had a friend my own age since... well, it's been a while."

"I would love to be having you as a roommate." Fiona smiled, and unless Sarah missed her guess, the freckle-faced woman's eyes were slightly watery.

* * *

Ethan followed Grobozlesh through the forest, staying to his side and about the height of three orcs distant. The orc himself didn't seem too wary, but he certainly wasn't relaxed either. Ahead of him, Ethan occasionally caught a glimpse of the royal blue outline of Beth's Astral Plane form. She was still resolutely scouting ahead to make sure there were no ambushes, and had been the entire time. It occurred to him that her natural curiosity plus her ability to astral project made her an ideal scout and she was doing it marvelously.

He just wasn't sure how she herself was doing.

*Hey Beth, how are you holding up?* He thought to her.

*I haven't seen anything, and I've been running crisscross ahead of you the whole time.* She replied.

*That's great and you're doing a wonderful job scouting, but that's not what I asked.*

*I'm okay for now Dominus.* The blonde replied after a few moments. However, her tone was more 'forced cheerful' than genuinely cheerful.

*When that's true, let me know.* He replied. *And until it's true, I'm always here if you want to talk.*

Beth stopped moving and turned towards him. She gave him a pained smile, nodded, and then resumed her scouting. He slowly shook his head as he walked; he wasn't sure how to help her and didn't want to pressure her into talking before she was ready. However, something told him that the longer she kept this bottled up, the more it would affect her and the harder it would be for her to heal.

"You shake head. You have problem?" Grobozlesh asked.

"I was thinking of one of my wives." He replied.

"You have not-one wife? You have more?" The orc raised his eyebrow, his small tusks somehow becoming more prominent as he did so.

"I have five wives." He replied. "It sometimes seems like a lot, but I'm a happy man."

"You no man. You dragon."

Ethan hesitated for just a moment before answering, eventually settling on the shortest version that wasn't a lie. "I was raised by humans and pretty much adopted all of their customs, including referring to myself as a man. I still think of myself as one despite the dragon body."

The orc shrugged at that information, then spoke. "You strong if beat all wives."

"What?" Ethan worked his mouth for a second, trying to understand what the orc could possibly mean. "What do you mean 'beat all wives'? Why would I do that?"

"Why woman marry man if she stronger?" The orc spoke like he was explaining something very obvious to someone very slow. "Man no beat woman, man no marry woman." He frowned. "Hu-mans no have wedding fight?"

Ethan suppressed a chuckle. "Not usually during the wedding."

"When you have wedding fight?"

"I mean, human married couples aren't supposed to fight."

The orc stopped walking and just stared at him.

"What?" Ethan asked.

"If he no prove stronger, why she marry?" Grobozlesh stated. "Hu-man no make sense."

"Orc no make sense." Ethan replied, imitating the orc's clipped and broken English.

The orc grunted, then smiled. "Orc and hu-man not same."

"Agreed." Ethan grinned back, then resumed 'following' Grobozlesh. The orc occasionally made a grunting noise that sounded a bit like chuckling.

Several minutes later, Beth thought to everyone. *Dominus, we're coming up on what looks like another orc camp.*

His orc guide stopped about a minute later as they reached the edge of the forest, beyond which was a large, low hill with several teepees on it. "You stay, I go. Talk clan chief."

"I'll be here." Ethan nodded.

Grobozlesh walked towards the camp and Ethan found a tree to lean against. He guessed that he would be waiting for a while and he was fine with that given all the chaos of the last week or so. Hell, he'd married Kendra less than a week ago. He thought about that for a moment and found himself shaking his head. It felt like it had been nearly a year, but it was less than a week.

Wow.

What a week.

It had been a dangerous week too, and his wives had been in far more danger than he liked. He didn't suppose the danger would stop coming, but he wanted to be prepared as much as possible. Alana's travel bow would help, but he wanted some defense as well.

*Ladies, got a minute?* He though to everyone. They all chorused that they did, so he continued. *I'm looking for ideas on how to keep you all safer in case of another ambush. I'm hoping that there's something like a travel bow for armor, because I'm pretty sure you all don't want to wear chainmail 24/7. Ideas?*

*I could enchant some cloth to be cut resistant.* Alana suggested. *It won't be as good as chainmail, but it would certainly help against sword attacks.*

*Could you enchant all the dresses to be that way?* He asked.

*No, I'm afraid not.* The wood elf replied. *They already have a self-cleaning/self-repairing enchantment, and the fabric doesn't have room for two enchantemnts.*

*Could we get some that does?* Selene chimed in. *I really like the idea of cut resistant clothes.*

*Fabric that can take two enchantments is incredibly expensive.* Rachel replied.

*Why?* Ethan asked. *Good quality leather can take two enchantments and that's not so expensive.*

*True, but skin was once alive in a way that plants aren't, so leather takes enchantments more easily.* Alana explained. *It's hard to get plant fibers to hold enchantments as well as animal materials. And cloth made from animal hair isn't much better because it's never really 'alive' to channel mana, or at least not the way skin is, so its ability to hold enchantments is less than leather. It takes a lot of skill to make cloth that will take two enchantments, so it's rare and expensive.*

*Is that why a staff made by your family was valuable?* Selene asked. *Because your adopted family could make them able to hold two enchantments?*

*Yes.* The wood elf replied. *It takes someone with a very high level of skill and they aren't common. The most common type of cloth that can take two enchantments is silk, since it comes from an animal -- silkworms -- and thus it's easier to make a high enough quality. Silk is already expensive though, and the extra work required to make it hold two enchantments at least doubles the price. Probably more; I don't know because I've never bought any.*

*What about just using a cut resistant layer next to the skin?* Ethan suggested. *It doesn't need a self-repairing enchantment if we assume it'll be single use.*

*It would have to be next to the skin all the time and it won't clean itself.* Rachel countered. *That would get uncomfortable very fast.*

*I've done that before; you don't want to.* Kendra chimed in. *Something about the cut resistant enchantment seems to soak up odors and they are almost impossible to clean. You would be pretty rank after wearing it only a day.*

*That makes sense.* Their resident enchantress agreed. *The enchantment makes things resistant to being separated, so if some dirt or other things got rubbed in it would adhere more strongly than normal. It's part of the nature of the enchantment too, so there's nothing you can do about it except have a self-cleaning enchantment, which obviously means self-repairing too.*

*What about layering the fabrics?* Selene suggested. *Self-cleaning next to the skin, then cut resistant, and then self-cleaning again? That should keep the cut resistant fabric clean so it won't stink.*

*It's also three layers of fabric.* Rachel pointed out. *Does anyone want to wear that much in this heat?*

No one said yes.

Ethan wasn't uncomfortable because he was in the shade of the trees, but the summer air was definitely warm. Three layers of cloth would indeed be incredibly uncomfortable. Hell, it could actually be dangerous because the ladies might sweat so much that they'd risk dehydration or heat stroke if they did anything strenuous.

*Frankly ladies, I don't want you wearing any layers when you're hot.* Ethan thought to them with a sly grin on his face.

He could feel his wives' amusement... among other things.

Even Selene seemed a bit turned on.

He frowned to himself as he remembered his conversation with Selene while she had 'held his wing'. He couldn't believe what he'd said, but somehow his dragon instincts had helped him know exactly what to say. He'd ended by telling her to keep her fingers to herself or he wouldn't finish her fantasy. He wasn't sure why he'd said it and she had seemed annoyed, but he could also tell that she loved it.

*Any other ideas for everyday protection?* He asked.

*Condoms.* Selene thought only to him, and there was a hint of impishness in her voice.

*Why Selene, will you be needing that kind of everyday protection?* He replied without missing a beat.

She didn't reply.

*Ethan.* Alana thought to him privately. *What did you just say to Selene? She just went redder than Rachel's roots.*

He laughed out loud and was about to explain when he realized that the wood elf probably didn't know what a condom was.

*I'll explain later.* He replied, then thought to everyone. *Anyone have any ideas for everyday protection other than obscenely expensive, double-enchanted fabric?* He asked again, then decided to rib their resident telepath. *Selene, any thoughts?*

*No.* She replied almost instantly, but didn't say anything else.

He chuckled.

*None that I can think of.* Alana said. *At least none that would be comfortable enough to wear everyday.*

*Me either my lord.*

*Nor I Drago. I will say that I was issued cut resistant and self-cleaning clothes for one mission. They're nice and would be ideal if we can find some cloth.*

*We'll have to keep a look out for some.* Ethan replied. *If anyone comes up with anything else, let me know.*

*Will do sir.* Alana replied, and his other wives echoed her.

Ethan leaned back against the tree again, enjoying the relative peace of the morning. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and a gentle breeze was wafting in through the edge of the forest. He didn't have anything else to do right now and he was glad for the break.

* * *

"Taloni, I have a question if you have a minute." Kendra said to the Fey teen, who had just landed on the deck after a routine inspection of the rigging.

"What is it?"

The dragon huntress took a deep breath. "Why are you so happy about your scar that you ran around showing it off to everyone except the men on board?"

"Well, I showed it to one man..." She grinned.

Kendra chuckled. "Yes, but you know what I mean."

"Um, it's proof that I actually went through something." The honey blonde replied. "I mean, my life hasn't exactly been easy, but there's no way anyone would know that by looking at me." She paused. "Not that I would let any man except Master see that particular scar, but it shows that I survived. It shows that I went through--" She cocked her head to one side. "What's that phrase that Ethan and Selene sometimes use?"

"I think it's 'go through hell'." The dragon huntress replied. "Whatever 'hell' is."

"That's it." Taloni said. "It shows that I 'went through hell' and survived. Plus, it makes me think about Master and Illuminar. Yes I was hurt, but the scar is a reminder that they both took care of me."

"Hmm." Kendra made a thoughtful frown.

"Kendra, I know you have been through a lot." The Fey teen continued. "I know your think your scars made you ugly or disfigured, but I think they prove you are a survivor and that Illuminar took care of you."

"Maybe, but I have so many." Kendra replied.

"I'd wager not as many as I do." A man's voice said.

Kendra jumped and her hand started reaching for her sword before she realized it was Serif's voice. She stopped and forced herself to relax as her heartbeat returned to normal.

"Where...?" Taloni's eyes widened and her jaw dropped at the man's appearance.

"How did you do that?" Kendra asked. She and Taloni had been talking in the middle of the Argo's deck with no cover nearby and nothing nearby to hide behind either.

No one could do that.

It was impossible.

Well, she would've said it was impossible just moments ago. Of course she had heard rumors about the Serif before, but had always thought they were just that: rumors. They were more like ghost stories that children told each other around a campfire. Judging by the stories, he was almost as revered as Balyera, Illuminar's Angel of Death. She stared at him for a moment, not quite believing that he had appeared out of nowhere like that.

"How...?" She repeated, mouth agape.

"The scars? I wasn't always 'the Serif'." He replied as if they were merely discussing the weather. "Now if you will excuse me, I do believe Raklan is about to start some mischief with our recent feline addition to the crew."

Kendra looked around the deck as Serif walked away, but the hulking crewman was nowhere to be seen. How did Serif know that he was about to start something if he couldn't see him?

"Did they teach you to do that?" Taloni asked Kendra after several seconds of stunned silence.

"They taught me to sneak, but not like that." The dragon huntress replied. Still though, Serif's admission about scars was interesting. She couldn't see any, but then he always wore long sleeves and long pants like she did. Well, until recently; now she wore her wonderful dress which covered just as much.

Taloni's perspective was interesting, and it actually reminded her of her conversation with Selene the previous day. The Brazilian woman had been jealous of the fact that Kendra looked tough. Selene didn't care about her scars, she knew Taloni didn't, and frankly Ethan's other wives didn't either. Lastly, Ethan had kissed every inch of every one of her scars, so he must not care either.

At the end of the day, maybe the only one who cared about them was her?

Hmm.

* * *

*Beth, where are you?* Ethan asked when he realized that he hadn't seen her Astral Plane form in a little while.

*In the orc camp Dominus.* Her tone was neutral.

*See anything interesting?* He asked, hoping to encourage that part of her.

*Some.* She said after a moment. *Grobozlesh went to the large teepee in the middle of the camp and talked to a huge orc and some old orcs for a while. They're still talking. I don't speak orcish though, sorry.*

*That's fine; you'd have to be an orc to speak it and I'm not a big fan of green skin.*

He felt some amusement from her, but it faded quickly.

Several minutes later, Beth thought to everyone. *Grobozlesh is coming back with that huge orc.*

Ethan stood up from leaning on the tree and waited.

Sure enough, the orcish painter was returning with another orc who was about seven feet tall and powerfully built, even more so than the other orcs he'd seen. He was wearing the typical orcish attire of leather boots, shorts, and a leather vest with a symbol on it. In this case it was a blue circle like Grobozlesh, and Ethan made a mental note to ask if the clan markings had any deeper meaning beyond marking the clan.

Behind this large orc, Grobozlesh was walking and carrying both a longsword and also a much larger shield than he had used earlier. Something told him that these were the larger orc's weapons.

Hmm.

Given their obsession with strength, he gathered that another "not real" fight was forthcoming. The larger orc walked right up to Ethan, almost close enough to be in his personal space but not quite. Ethan recognized this for exactly what it was: a power play. The orc was using his much larger size to try and physically intimidate Ethan. He'd seen similar moves before, but it was a bit more effective when done by a green-skinned orc that was over a foot taller than the person he was trying to intimidate.

Ethan didn't move.

He highly doubted that a surprise attack was forthcoming and he had his dragon sense to warn him anyway. No, he needed to respond in kind. He straightened his back, held his ground, and looked the orc right in the eye, sizing him up in return. The larger orc made a small grunting sound, and Ethan felt like he had just passed some kind of test.

"You is Ethan." The larger orc said. "Me is Drazglent, clan chief."

"Please to meet you Drazglent." He replied, noting that this orc's English was better. Not great, but better.

"You want talk mine history." The clan chief stated more than asked.

"I do. The Red Hands have been killing and eating miners lately, but weren't for a long time. I want to know what changed."

"If you want Red Hand history, you talk to Red Hand." Drazglent grunted.

"I don't want to know their history, especially because I suspect that your clan used to live near the mine. I want to know why things changed and why your clan doesn't control the area around the mine anymore."

"You ask about clan shame." The clan chief frowned, his tusks prominent as he did so. "We no talk about clan shame with stranger. You become friend of clan, then we talk."

"How do I become a friend of the clan then?" Ethan asked.

"First, only strong become friend of clan." The chieftain stated. "We have not-real fight. You fight well, you might become friend of clan. You no fight well, you not become friend of clan."

"I'm good with that." Ethan replied, noticing a pattern in orc culture.

"This is not-sharp sword." The orc chieftain took his blade from Grobozlesh and held it up so Ethan could see that it was indeed blunt. "You use not-sharp sword?"

"That's the plan." Ethan replied.

He walked several paces away, drew his dragon-steel sword and sunk it into the earth. Normally he'd never dream of doing that to a sword because it would dull the edge. However, his blade was dragon steel and self-repairing; it would return to perfectly sharp quickly, assuming it even dulled at all. Now unencumbered, he grabbed the training sword he'd carried here and turned to face the clan chief. Drazglent had taken his shield from Grobozlesh and likewise faced Ethan.

"Ready, fight!" Grobozlesh said, reminding Ethan slightly of the game Street Fighter 2 on the SNES.

Unlike the orcish painter, the chieftain didn't rush in. He raised his large shield and for the first time Ethan realized how big the shield actually was. The damn thing was nearly five feet in diameter and made of leather stiff enough that it was probably enchanted. It was made of several pieces of leather over which two long strips had been attached in an "X" shape, probably to protect the stitching.

With Drazglent crouching slightly, the five-foot round shield covered basically his entire body. Ethan very much doubted that the longsword the orc chieftain was holding had been made by orcs, but that didn't make it less deadly. The chieftain was wielding it in one hand despite the blade alone being around three feet long.

Crap.

The immense shield and long blade together would be a formidable challenge to overcome, and that wasn't even counting the orc's immense height and the long reach that came with it. Grobozlesh had been using a smaller wooden shield and slower weapon, which had made a huge difference.

That left Ethan with a bit of a problem.

In a real fight he'd solve that problem with a grenade, but that wasn't an option here. Given the orcish obsession with strength, he guessed that Drazglent was the best fighter in the camp, or at least close. He extended his shield and gripped his training sword more tightly, trying to decide how to attack this seven foot green problem.

That led to one thought: WWSD.

What would Serif do?

He focused on his training and remembered that Serif said that it was always a good idea to focus on your advantages. In his case, that was enhanced reflexes, his 'dragon sense', and the fact that he had wings and a tail; the extra appendages could be useful.

"You think long." Drazglent said.

"Haste makes waste." He replied.

"You thinker." The orc chieftain nodded once, and Ethan thought he caught a hint of approval.

Ethan considered again, and decided to capitalize on his advantages. He might have a bit less reach, but his weapon was probably faster owing to the different blade geometries; his was more slender at the tip. Further, he would have leverage in spear mode. He would rely on that.

He started forward cautiously, keeping his shield up and his sword in a low guard. Drazglent did the same, only with his sword in a high guard. They started circling one another slowly, each gauging the other's reactions. After several moments, Ethan hazarded a careful hack with his sword that was just in measure; Drazglent could either block or step back a bit.

He stepped back.

Good choice.

Blocking almost any attack opened up holes in your defense of some sort, but simply stepping away solved that without revealing his fighting style. It almost certainly resembled Grobozlesh's fighting style, but no two fighters were exactly the same.

Ethan stepped forward again and attacked, this time he was fully in measure so Drazglent would have to block or parry. The orc did by rotating his center-gripped round shield from his left side to the right, presumably with a flick of the wrist. The motioned batted Ethan's blade aside and the chieftain hacked down with his sword while Ethan's blade was out of position. He raised his shield to block the attack, and then used the momentum of the orc's shield parrying his sword to accelerate it and swing it around for a counterstrike.

The chieftain was fast, Ethan had to give him that.

The orc stopped his cut and transitioned to a block while simultaneously punching out with his shield. Ethan stopped the shield strike with his own shield, but with a few hundred pounds of burly orc driving the strike, he was knocked back anyway.

He recovered, hopping out of measure as he tried to figure another way to attack the problem.

This orc was good.

Huge and good.

Ethan changed his stance to one that better suited the spear-mode of his weapon and went at Drazglent again. Since the sword and shield combo wasn't working; it was time to try something different. Truth be told, he could probably get by without the shield because of his armor. However, he somehow doubted that the clan chief would be willing to ignore hits to his armor, despite the fact that no sword would ever pierce it.

He stepped within measure of his sword and struck out high, hoping to force Drazglent to raise his shield and thus block the orc's own line of sight for a moment.

It sort of worked.

Drazglent raised his shield a little, but not much.

Ethan collapsed his shield and then pulled his strike, transitioning from a vertical descending cut aimed at the head into an arcing cut aimed for the lower legs as he extended it into spear mode. Hours and hours of practice doing this exact thing had made the motion as smooth as greased lightning and nearly as fast.

It didn't matter.

The chieftain lowered his massive shield fast enough to block the strike, not that he had to move it very far.

Ethan didn't stop though.

As Heinrich had taught him months ago, the advantage of the spear was speed because of leverage. A small movement of the hands meant a large movement of the business end and Ethan used that to his full advantage. He attacked high, then low, then high again, doing everything he could to keep the orc chieftain off balance and on the defensive.

It worked for several seconds, but that damn shield was just too big and Drazglent knew how to use it too well. After ten unfruitful seconds, Ethan stepped back to rethink his strategy.

"You have enchanted weapon." Drazglent said.

"Yeah, a friend made it for me." He said, breathing heavily. He could keep going for a long time, but that didn't mean he wasn't tired.

"You strong." The chieftain lowered his weapons.

"Because I have an enchanted weapon?"

The large orc scowled. "Weapon not make warrior strong. Weapon not matter; warrior matter."

"I couldn't agree more." Ethan lowered his own practice blade, grateful for the reprieve.

Honestly, he wasn't sure if he could've beaten Drazglent in a fair fight. With grenades sure, but otherwise? He supposed that he could start hacking away at the shield with his dragon steel sword, but that was about the only way he saw to win. The orc was incredibly skilled and his shield was simply massive, making it hard to get around.

"So, does that mean I get to hear about the mine?" Ethan asked.

Drazglent shook his head. "You prove strong, you could be friend of clan. You not yet."

"How do I become a friend of the clan then?" Ethan asked, thinking that this felt similar to a side quest in a video game: beat the two mini-bosses and then join the clan. He supposed that clichés became clichés for a reason.

"Defeat clan enemy." Drazglent said. "Red Hand is enemy. Take one Red Hand vest, bring to our camp. Then you friend of clan."

"Defeat." Ethan clarified. "Not kill?"

"Orc not surrender vest." The chieftain replied. "If you have orc vest, orc is dead. This is orc way."

"This is the way." Ethan echoed.

"Until you have vest, not welcome in camp." Drazglent continued. "Return with vest, then we talk."

"Okay, I'll get a vest then." Ethan nodded.

* * *

"Right here?" Rachel asked as she held yet another nail in position, thinking it should be in about the right spot.

Alana scrutinized the nail's position for several seconds before nodding. "Yes, that should be just about right." The brunette then looked at the redhead with a mischievous grin. "Now Rachel, remember that you're supposed to hit the nail, not your finger."

Rachel gave her a look, then carefully aimed the hammer, not wanting to hit her fingers.

Again.

Wham!

"Ouch!" The redhead cried out in pain as she brought the hammer down on her thumb instead of the nail. "Bloody Saidow spawn." She hissed under her breath, her thumb throbbing as she cradled it and started healing it.

"Yet again, you're supposed to hit the iron nail, not your fingernail." Alana said with what looked like barely suppressed laughter.

"Well it's not my fault that I've never used a hammer before!" The lord's daughter retorted, giving the wood elf a look.

That only made her laugh harder.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be laughing." Alana said through her laughter. "But I've never seen such a brilliant person struggle with something so simple."

Rachel felt her cheeks grow a bit warm and couldn't tell if it was from the ribbing or the compliment. She looked down at the board that they had been setting nails into which, when it was finished, would be the jig for the travel bow.

They were nearly done.

The board was from the Argo's store of raw materials, as were the nails. Alana had traced out the shape that the bow needed to be in when it was relaxed and unbent. It looked like a shallow "u", and the tops of the "u" would be bent back when strung to form the traditional shape of a recurve bow. Ethan had said it looked like a "Mongolian short recurve bow". To her it looked like a classic wood elf bow. They were short but could be incredibly powerful. It would be even more powerful when she made it out of dragon leather; this was the just the normal leather prototype.

"What were you going to make the draw weight?" Rachel asked.

"Probably about fifty pounds because I can shoot that all day." The wood elf replied absent-mindedly as she carefully marked out the next portion on the wooden board. "Well, it'll draw at fifty anyway. I'm going to enchant it in two parts. The middle will give it a constant fifty pound draw weight, the rest of the bow will have an enchantment that triggers when I release it from full draw. Should boost the poundage to over one hundred; maybe one-fifty."

Rachel stared at her.

"What?" Alana asked.

"You figured out how to do a triggered enchantment based on movement?" The redhead felt her jaw drop.

"I did." The brunette smiled, looking very pleased with herself.

She had every right to be. Enchanters had been chasing that goal for a long time and her best friend had figured it out. Most said it couldn't be done because it would violate one of magic's most fundamental laws: the Conservation of Mana.

Wow.

"The trick is making it a hybrid of activated and triggered." The wood elf explained. "It needs a drop of mana like an activated enchantment otherwise it can't activate without violating the Conservation of Mana. The real trick was making the enchantmentboth triggered and activated, but also enchanting it so that activating it doesn't trigger the strength increase and only the trigger does. I need to put a tiny bit of mana into the bow each shot, but it's so little it almost doesn't matter and it's almost second-nature by now."

"And you called me brilliant." The lord's daughter kept staring with wide eyes. "That's incredible; you are incredible." She felt the words leave her mouth before she'd realized she'd said them, then felt her cheeks grow warm. Thankfully, she didn't feel like she needed to avert her eyes because they had been so hopelessly captured by the most gorgeous hazels eyes in the Ten Kingdoms.

"Thank you." The wood elf smiled sheepishly at her, and unless Rachel missed her guess there was a little pink in her cheeks as well.

More to avoid awkwardness than anything else, Rachel picked up the hammer again. "Okay, one more time."

"Remember, keep your eye on the nail; the iron nail." The brunette winked.

The redhead did, and this time she drove the nail in. "Finally."

"See, I knew you could do it." Alana beamed at her.

They stared at each other for a moment before the redhead realized she was staring, then she reluctantly averted her eyes. Several seconds, later, she found her pale blue eyes almost magnetically attracted back to Alana's rich hazel ones.

Why did she have to have such beautifully distracting eyes?

Unbidden, her conversation with Ethan the previous night about her wanting to kiss Alana goodnight came to her mind. She dearly wanted to lean in and kiss her best friend's beautiful lips. She remembered the first and only time their lips had met as if the memory was seared into her brain with a branding iron. She doubted that she would ever forget it as long as she lived, and she dearly wanted to do it again.

"You okay?" Alana asked with chuckle. "You look like your brain went on a walk and left the rest of you behind."

"It did a little." She nodded. "Thanks for guiding me back."

"Any time." The hazel-eyed beauty beamed. "That's what I'm here for; what all of us are here for."

Rachel smiled. "It's been pretty wonderful having all of you around; my fellow wives I mean. I never had any siblings growing up and I always wanted some. It's been so wonderful that we all get along so well and help each other."

"Hmm." Alana cocked her head to one side and got a thoughtful frown on her face.

"What?" The redhead asked.

"Well, what you just said got me thinking about Sarah."

"Oh?"

"Yeah..." The wood elf nodded, then looked up and cocked her head to another side. "Yeah you mentioning how well we all get along together reminded me of my worries about Sarah. And now I'm thinking..."

"Thinking... what?"

Alana looked at her. "What if I've been worried for nothing? I remember Ethan saying that Illuminar said part of the reason he would have seven wives is because I wanted sisters. If that's the case, would Illuminar arrange for Ethan to marry someone who I would hate? Or who would drive Ethan and I further apart?"

Rachel nodded her head in concession. "That's not a bad point."

"You just mentioned how we all work together so well, and that's true." The wood elf started pacing with thoughtful frown on her face. "Even Selene fits so well with all of us, though admittedly she's not married to Ethan and it sounds like she will break her bond with Ethan and return to live on Earth. So why wouldn't Ethan's final two wives also fit in perfectly too?"

"Again, that's a good point." Rachel ran her hands through her hair, thinking about it. "And our skills complement each other well too. You're an enchantress; Beth knows so much and can astral project; Taloni can heal so well and pilot the Argo; I'm a mage; Kendra has her... very particular set of skills; Selene is Telepathic, has a good legal mind, and is a great fighter as well. Again though, it seems like she'll break the bond and return to Ethan's world."

"What are you thinking about Sarah and her skills then?" Alana asked, and it sounded like a genuine question.

"Well, it's a bit overlooked in importance but still crucial; she likes cooking." The redhead replied. "If Ethan has seven wives and only three kids with each of us, that's almost thirty people. That's a lot of food, and the rest of us don't like cooking. I don't even know how to cook."

The brunette got a sly smile. "Well, it's easier than using a hammer..." She winked.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Anyway, none of us like cooking, do we?"

The wood elf made her adorable 'thinking about it' expression while she waggled her head back and forth for a moment, then shook her head. "No, we really don't."

"I know Anthiel is taking care of that right now, but she can't forever." The redhead added. "That's one thing, and there's probably more if you're right."

"Well, she is demon-possessed and it sounds like Lord Delmar or Lady Ekthros might be dealing with demons because you need them to make will-breaker rings." Alana said. "She might have some experience in that area which could help. Plus she's incredibly strong and fast, not to mention being nearly impervious to harm. That ambush would've gone very differently if she had been with us."

"She doesn't seem like a fighter though, not like Kendra or Selene." Rachel pointed out. "She seems more like the artistic type and probably too kind for that; she would probably be worried about hurting someone. I agree about the rest though."

"She is kind." Alana nodded slowly. "I suppose maybe I've been worried for nothing. Well, maybe not nothing. But I might've been worrying more than I should've been."

The redhead eyed her. "You're still worried."

She inclined her head in concession. "My heart doesn't always listen to my brain."

"I know what that's like." Rachel said quietly.

The wood elf's smile suddenly reached deep into her eyes. "I know."

There was a comfortable silence for a moment before Rachel spoke again. "I hope you're right. I would hate to see you less happy if Ethan did marry Sarah."

"Me too." Alana replied.

They stood on the Argo's deck for several long moments. Neither spoke and Rachel just enjoyed the company of the most wonderful woman she knew. Her other fellow wives were wonderful too, but Alana was just... there was just something extra special about her.

Finally, Alana looked down at the board-turned-form on which they were going to make the prototype for her travel bow out of regular leather. "Only a few more nails left, and I can drive them if you like." Her eyes twinkled.

Rachel gave her a look.

* * *

Ethan sat up after returning to his body from the Astral plane. Beth sat up beside him since he'd just picked her up in her Astral Plane form and returned them to the captain's cabin. He looked at the blonde, who had rotated so her legs were hanging off the edge of the bed. She seemed lost in thought.

"Hey, how you doing?" He asked.

She looked at him and her eyes were both hurt and confused at the same time. "I'm..." She blinked a few times and then looked down, started slowly swinging her feet, and shrugged.

It didn't seem like a conclusion to that sentence was forthcoming, so he spoke. "Do you want to talk?"

She slowly shook her head. "I would take a hug though."

He scooted over and wrapped his arms around her tightly. She completely relaxed into him.

"I'm always here for you, whatever you need." He said.

She nodded and gave him an extra squeeze, but didn't reply. After a minute she broke the hug and looked deep into his eyes.

"Thank you for believing in me." She finally said. "I didn't think you would let me scout out that airship." She looked down. "I'm not sure I was ready, but thank you for believing in me."

"You're welcome." He replied softly. "If I'm honest, the only reason I hesitated was because I was worried that something like this would happen; that it might hurt you."

She gave him a pained half smile. "You know me so well."

"I try."

"You succeed." She fell silent for several moments, then gestured towards the door. "You should get going. I'm sure the others miss you."

He smiled at her, doubting greatly that was the real reason; apparently she wanted to be alone with her thoughts. He wasn't sure that was a great idea, but he was willing to respect her wishes for now. He might push a little harder sometime in the future if she didn't get better though.

"Okay." He kissed her forehead and then stood up.

The blonde teen watched him, not speaking nor smiling for several moments. Her lips were slightly pursed off to one side and she made a thoughtful sound. "Ethan."

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad I married you." She said softly after several moments. "I know that right now I'm..." She looked down and swallowed. "...but even with all that, and dying for two weeks, and everything else." She looked back up at him and attempted a smile. She didn't fully succeed, but it looked like she was trying. "Marrying you was still the best thing that ever happened to me."

He smiled at her, then leaned over and kissed her forehead again. "I know the feeling."

The blonde teen sighed softly and managed to get a small but genuine smile on her face for almost a whole second before it faded.

"If you ever need anything, let me know." He said, getting the impression that she wanted some time to think.

She nodded.

He brushed the side of his hand against her cheek, then reluctantly left the room. He wanted nothing more than to make this all okay for her, but he didn't know how to. It was the hardest thing in the world to see someone he loved in pain while knowing there was nothing he could do about it.

He took a deep breath and looked around the deck.

Alana and Rachel were working on what looked like her travel bow prototype, Taloni was on the quarterdeck talking to Anthiel, and Kendra was sparring with Selene. When the Brazilian woman saw him, she signaled Kendra to stop and walked right over.

"So, about those orc shields..." Selene when she arrived. He described them at length and she got a grin on her face. "That sounds really neat, I'd love to see that in action."

"You wouldn't want to fight them though." He said, and his other wives had wandered over while he and the caramel-haired beauty were talking. "Now I need to get a Red Hand vest somehow." He then explained about his talk with the orc chieftain, Drazglent.

"How about off one of the ones you've already killed?" Selene asked. "It's video gaming 101 and this sounds oddly like a 'fetch quest' as my brother used to call them."

Everyone but Ethan stared at her; he chuckled.

The caramel-haired sighed and looked at Ethan. "I'm glad at least one person here gets Earth references." She then proceeded to explain what she meant, which took longer than it probably needed to. While Selene was speaking, Beth wandered out of the captain's cabin and started listening as well. She wasn't listening with rapt attention like she usually would, but she was listening.

He took that as a good sign.

Finally, the blonde spoke up when their resident telepath had finished. "Dominus, I think you could find one where you used that grenade against the orcs. I don't remember perfectly, but I think one of them was--" She grimaced. "--'intact' enough."

"Good idea, I'll check there first." He nodded.

"Let me come Dominus." Beth said almost instantly. "If you drop me off I can scout the area for you and make sure you aren't ambushed again."

He raised his eyebrow. "Really?"

She nodded.

He scrutinized her for several long seconds. "You're sure you want to?"

She swallowed, then nodded. "I am, I want to help."

"Okay." He nodded, feeling like he couldn't reasonably say no since he had let her scout earlier. Plus, she had seemed so grateful that he believed in her not long ago. "But the same rules as earlier this morning with the orcs."

"Yes Dominus."

"Okay, let's go." He nodded towards the captain's cabin.

"One moment sir." Alana spoke up, then looked at Beth. "Would you like a hug?"

Beth did that thing women sometimes do where they look like they're about to cry as they smile, then the blonde nodded. The wood elf stepped forward and wrapped her in a tight hug. She was joined moments later by the rest of his wives and Selene.

"Whatever is going on, we're here for you." Alana said softly.

"We are." Taloni echoed.

"And always will be." Rachel added.

"If you want some perspective from someone who's gone through this, let me know." Kendra offered.

"Just say the word and I'll help however I can." Selene finished.

The blonde had wet streaks on her cheeks by time they all had finished, and her smile was pained but utterly genuine. "I love you all so much." She sniffled, then some of the tensions seemed to drain out of her as all her fellow wives and Selene hugged her tightly again.

Ethan felt a surge of pride at his wives' response.

They were such an amazing collection of women and he felt truly blessed to call them his. Not for the first time, he thanked his lucky stars that he had come to the Ten Kingdoms. In the back of his mind, he remembered his conversation with Illuminar and how he'd been told that Illuminar had chosen him for this because he'd asked. For a brief moment, he wondered if he should be thanking Illuminar too.

Then the moment passed.

The large group hug broke and his youngest wife looked better. Not fully better, and perhaps not even mostly better, but she definitely looked better than she had been a few minutes ago. He offered a hug and she readily fell into it.

After a few seconds, she seemed to relax into him a bit and sighed. "I don't know how I could do this without my family."

"Fortunately, you'll never have to find out." He replied softly.

"Thank Illuminar." She let go and leaned back enough to look at him, and then around at all of them. "We really are a family, aren't we? A family just starting out, and with only one child on the way, but a family nevertheless."

"We are." He nodded. "I would've never expected how everything happened and how we all came together, but I wouldn't trade the people on this ship for the world and all it contains." He paused. "Okay, maybe Raklan."

Beth chuckled slightly, and for a moment he saw the bubbly teen come back. Her expression became more serious after a few seconds and the sadness never left her eyes, but the smile was back for a moment.

He liked that.

He liked that underneath her currently morose demeanor, his beautiful youngest wife was at her core still the bright and cheerful girl that he'd married. He liked that about her and didn't ever want it to change.

* * *

Selene held the elven kite shield by the handle without her arm through the strap and twisted it around experimentally to see what a round shield might be like. She liked it. While the massive teardrop-shaped kite shield was large enough to defend her entire body when held properly, the size could make it a bit cumbersome. She could be less worried about leg strikes since she would be wearing chainmail, and the extra flexibility of a center-gripped round shield appealed to her a lot.

"Meow."

She looked down to see her adorable kitten rubbing up against her ankle; he wasn't tall enough to reach any higher.

"Hey baby kitten." She cooed, realizing that her voice went up in pitch and she couldn't help but use a 'baby talk' tone of voice every time she addressed him. "Did you come to tell me that it's time to take a break from training?"

Thor looked up at her, and she could've almost sworn that he nodded his head a little. Fair enough, she'd been training most of the morning.

"You finally ready to stop wearing me out?" Kendra asked. "Being your sparring partner is exhausting."

"Same." The caramel-haired beauty replied. "And I still can't beat you."

"Give it time." The dragon huntress replied. "I've been training for most of my life, you've been training for a month. Granted it's been almost all of almost every day for a month, and you have a lot of martial arts experience which helps, but it's still only a month."

"Fair." Selene nodded in concession as she petted Thor. Still, her mind was on the more maneuverable round shield possibilities. She liked it compared to the teardrop kite shield, at least in theory.

*I found a vest.* Ethan thought to everyone. *The grenade shredded the front, but the back is still intact and that should be enough.*

*They might even be impressed by it then.* Kendra added.

*Good point.* Ethan replied, amusement in his tone.

*How's Beth doing?* Selene thought to him privately.

*I think a bit better, but certainly not good.*

The Brazilian woman frowned. She really had no clue what to say to the blonde to help, but she did want to help. She continued petting her kitten as she held her kite shield, slowly rotating it and thinking about what it would be like as a round shield.

"You know, I'm pretty sure Alana could enchant some regular leather so you could practice and try a round shield." Kendra said, also petting the now purring Thor.

"That's not a bad idea, but she's busy with her travel bow."

"She's busy because travel bows are complex, not because they take a lot of mana." The dragon huntress countered. "I would bet that if you and I offered to donate regular mana to enchant it, she would do it today."

"You think so?"

Kendra nodded.

"Okay, I might do that." Selene gently scratched Thor under the chin as the kitten nuzzled his head against her leg. She did this for several seconds before realizing that she had the perfect person to ask about Beth right next to her. "Do you think Beth will be okay?"

"Possibly." Kendra replied. "I keep thinking that I should talk to her, but haven't had a chance yet."

"What would you say?" Selene asked.

Kendra gave her a strange look that the Brazilian woman couldn't quite place. "Selene, you've never killed someone in cold blood or when you weren't fighting for your life, have you?"

"No." She shook her head.

"Then I'm not sure you can understand what Beth is going through." The dragon huntress replied as she kept petting Thor, who was now alternately rubbing up against the two women. Kendra's tone was oddly neutral, and it didn't sound forced or intentional either. She was simply stating a fact. Her lack of emotion on the matter was almost unsettling, as if this wasn't something that bothered her any more than mismatched socks would bother people on Earth.

"How many people have you killed?" Selene asked, wondering aloud how much experience it would take to make someone this unbothered by the topic.

Kendra looked into her eyes for a moment, then glanced over at Alana. "Come on, let's see if our favorite wood elf is willing to help you with that round shield."

Selene nodded, following the former assassin as she wondered how much blood the woman had on her hands.

* * *

Beth half listened as Ethan explained his plan for meeting with the orcs after they had returned with the vest. He didn't consider it dangerous and she didn't feel like doing anything so she didn't volunteer to scout this time. A part of her wanted to. A part of her wanted to be right there listening while he talked with the orcs about the mine and learned what happened because it probably would be fascinating.

The rest of her though...

She pretended to pay attention until he'd finished, then he took off towards the orc encampment. He'd kissed each of them before he left and she had returned it, but her heart wasn't in it. She loved him dearly, but she just didn't have the emotional energy to express it. She felt like a dark cloud or weighty blanket had settled over her and she didn't know how to remove it.

She had helped to kill a man; a man who might've been innocent.

She didn't know what to do about that. She had asked Illuminar to forgive her if he had been innocent, but was that enough? What if the man had a family? Or children? What if she had helped to create widows and orphans?

She felt... icky.

She felt like she needed a good long bath, but knew it wouldn't help how she felt. There was no water that could wash away what she was feeling. She was finding it harder and harder to look anyone in the eye. Her fellow wives had been so wonderful earlier with the group hug and her husband always was, but everything wonderful that they did just made her feel -- by comparison -- just so...

So...

She shuddered slightly. She wanted to take a bath. A long, hot bath with as much soap as she could find, even though she knew it wouldn't help. She swallowed hard, her heart somewhere around her knees.

"Beth."

She looked up to see Kendra standing there with a piercing gaze.

"We need to talk." The dragon huntress said in a tone that brooked no argument. Kendra gently took her hand without preamble or asking and led her towards the bow of the Argo. The blonde considered resisting, but just didn't have the energy to.

"Tell me what you were doing about a month after your eleventh birthday." Kendra said when they had arrived at the front of the ship and were quite far from anyone else.

"Um..." She cocked her head to the side, trying to think. "Uh, I think I had just discovered the Dominus novels at my father's house and was devouring them. Why?"

"What else was going on in your life then?"

"Uh, not much?" She frowned, not having a clue where this was going. "My brother Charles was getting bratty. Um, my mother was starting to fuss about who I would marry when I came of age because there weren't many prospects that my father approved of. You know, normal girl stuff."

"Would you like to know what I did a month after I turned eleven?" The dragon huntress asked.

"What?" Beth asked almost automatically.

"I went on my first mission." The raven-haired woman replied.

"What was it?" Beth replied instantly, her curiosity getting the better of her since Kendra had previously deflected any and all of her attempts to find out more about her life before meeting Ethan. Besides, it was a good distraction from... other things.

Kendra looked at her, and there was something behind the other woman's eyes that the blonde teen couldn't place as she spoke. "I was given exactly what I needed and told exactly what I needed to do, then sent out into the city to do it. It was a warm day, I remember that. The sun was shining but I don't remember any birds. There was one cloud in the sky that I thought looked like a unicorn."

The dragon huntress had a slightly faraway look in her eyes before refocusing on Beth. "I found my way to where I needed to be; a busy street, but not too busy. One that had much traffic during the day and almost none at night. It was going to be cold that night; the wind which blew in from the desert was always cold at night. I stayed on that street all day begging for scraps like I had been told to."

"Why were you begging?" The blonde asked.

"Patience." The raven-haired woman replied. "Patience is always important. I begged all day, just as I had been told to. Then around twilight the street traffic dried up. The crowd of people slowed to a trickle and eventually stopped altogether. The street was deserted, and once it had been deserted for a while I retreated to a nearby blind alley to wait."

"Wait? Wait for what?"

"Patience." Kendra repeated. "With all things, patience and control." The dragon huntress got an almost amused smile on her face that was nevertheless mournful. "Patience and control; they drilled that into us. Patience and control." She said it almost like a mantra.

Beth opened her mouth to ask what came next, but Kendra caught her eye and stared at her for a moment.

Then she understood.

Patience and control.

She stilled her questions, guessing that Kendra wouldn't answer unless she had patience. She waited... and waited... and waited. She shifted on her feet several times but didn't speak. She got the distinction impression that Kendra would make her wait longer if she spoke, so she just waited... and waited.

It was several long minutes before Kendra spoke again.

"That was how long it took." She said. "That's how long I waited for a man to look into the alley and see me. I was a scrawny, dirty, badly dressed 11 year-old girl just like the Aldmiri wanted me to be. He had kind eyes, I remember that. Or at least I though they looked kind. He had brown hair, a lopsided grin, and he looked like he felt sorry for me."

Beth opened her mouth to ask what happened, but Kendra caught her eye again and the question died on her lips. The dragon huntress didn't look stern, but suddenly Beth didn't feel like she should ask.

How did Kendra do that?

"He came closer and asked if I needed help." She continued. "He asked if I needed food or a blanket for when the night got cold. I didn't reply; I was told not to. I did sort of nod, and he came closer. He was within arm's reach, but he didn't reach out. He just stood there offering help to an eleven year old girl. Do you know what happened next?"

Beth shook her head.

"I killed him." Kendra said, almost without emotion. By her tone you might've thought she was telling Beth what she'd eaten for breakfast or her favorite idle pastime. "He stepped close enough, and before he could react I drew this dagger."

Suddenly, Kendra had a dagger in her hands.

Beth gasped.

She hadn't seen Kendra draw it and had no idea where she could've possibly hidden it. Her eyes went wide as her heart jumped into her throat for a moment before she remembered that this was Kendra; she would never hurt her.

The knife's slender blade was about seven inches long and came to a wicked point. It looked deadly in the thrust, and the blonde vaguely remembered Selene had once described something similar that she'd called a "Fairbairn-Sykes" commando knife. It looked like an assassin's weapon, if there was such a thing.

"I slid this dagger into his chest before he could react." Kendra said, again mostly without emotion.

"You stabbed him in the heart?" Beth whispered once she'd found her voice again.

"Yes, but I was aiming for aortic artery just above his heart. I missed." Kendra shook her head. "He tried to fight me off, but he couldn't because I was wearing these." She tapped her forearms where the blonde knew her strength-enhancing vambraces were. "He did manage to get the dagger out, and I got his blood all over my clothes."

Kendra looked directly at her. "I was an eleven year old girl covered in the blood of a man that I had just killed... just murdered."

Beth stared.

She had still been playing with dolls when she was eleven. She couldn't even imagine going through... that. She couldn't fathom going through it at that age either. She couldn't wrap her mind around it. Her biggest concerns had been what dresses she was going to wear, her brother teasing her, and other things that seemed entirely silly right now.

"You... you stabbed him in the heart?" Beth repeated, her brain having trouble wrapping her mind around an eleven year old girl doing that.

"Yes, but again I was aiming for the aortic artery just above the heart." Kendra replied, her tone calm and even. "Do you know how I knew where that was?"

Beth shook her head.

"Because my trainers had shown me a few months prior."

"Like, in a drawing?"

"No." Kendra shook her head. "They brought me and the other trainees into a room, then dragged a man in. He fought them, but they were too strong. He fought them while they brought him in, he fought them when they threw him on the table, and he fought them as they strapped him down. The entire time he was pleading for his life."

Beth stared, her brain not able to comprehend the story her fellow wife was telling. Her brain almost refused to accept it.

"Then the instructor stabbed one of these daggers into his skull." Kendra showed the teen her dagger again. "I remember how still he was after that. It was eerie. His eyes were open and unblinking, but vacant. Then the instructor started cutting. He showed us all the places that men were weak, where to thrust, where to cut, where to..." Kendra swallowed hard and closed her eyes for a moment, then looked at Beth again. "But that wasn't the worst part. That wasn't what kept me up at night."

"What did?" Beth asked almost automatically, not wanting to know and yet wanting to know at the same time.

"You first." Kendra replied. "Tell me what's keeping you up at night."

Beth stared at her for a moment.

"Believe me when I say that whatever you've done, I've done worse." Kendra said with a calm and resolute sincerity that frankly unnerved the blonde teen. Kendra wasn't boasting, apologizing, or even rationalizing; she was simply stating a fact.

"He..." Beth felt her eyes start to get watery as a lump formed in her throat.

"He what?" Kendra asked without judgement.

"He... that first mage, he..." The blonde teen blinked and wiped the corners of her eyes as the lump in her throat got bigger and the knot in her stomach got tighter. "He... he asked if I was an angel." She blinked several times and tried to remember to breathe. "When I told him I was one of Ethan's wives, he... his eyes went wide and he asked me if Ethan really was a prophet."

Beth bit her lip and looked down. "I nodded."

"Beth, you still haven't told me what's bothering you." Kendra said gently. "I promise I won't judge, and I guarantee that I've done worse."

"He... he didn't think that Ethan was a prophet." She didn't lift her head. "What if that man was innocent? What if he thought Ethan was just a criminal and that he was hunting a criminal?" She was having trouble forcing the words out. It felt like that lump in her throat had expanded to the size of her head. "What if I helped kill an innocent man?" She hesitated. "Innocent men."

Kendra took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I think there's something you need to know."

"What?" Beth whispered.

"There are only a few kinds of people in this world." The dragon huntress began to explain. "First are the wolves. You know them; you've met them. People like Lord Delmar, Lady Ekthros, Lord Farbrottan, and that magistrate in Arcanum, just to name a few. They are the people who prey on others without regard to the moral cost or who they hurt in the process."

Kendra leaned up against the railing and looked out across the hills of Ivernia as she continued. "Then there are the sheep. The ones who are easily led and easily manipulated into believing -- and more importantly doing -- what the wolves want. These are both the victims and enablers of the wolves. They mostly are hurt, killed, or victimized by the wolves, but some let themselves be pushed into helping the wolves, even if they aren't wolves themselves."

"That's a bleak outlook." Beth pointed out.

"There's yet one more category." The dragon huntress countered. "That category is the sheepdogs. They are just as strong as the wolves, they are just as dangerous as the wolves, and they are willing to fight just as fiercely as the wolves. In fact, the sheepdogs are exactly like the wolves in every way except in one crucial difference. Do you know what it is?"

Beth nodded, the answer being rather obvious. "They protect the sheep instead of trying to hurt them."

"Our husband is one of those rare sheepdogs." Kendra nodded. "Now, which category did those mages fall into?"

"The sheep?" The blonde teen replied after several moments thinking about it. "I don't think he was evil, but he certainly wasn't protecting the rest of the sheep." She cocked her head to one side. "But wouldn't that make him a victim?"

"Was that soldier who survived ambushing us in Dotmier a victim?"

"Only kind of." Beth admitted. "He... well he was forced into it, but he was willing to kill us even when we hadn't done anything wrong." She then hastily added. "But he was forced into it."

"And that's the problem with sheep." Kendra turned and looked at her, her elbow still on the railing. "They aren't wolves, but they will help the wolves if pushed. And if someone is helping evil men do evil things..." The raven-haired woman let that hang in the air.

Beth bit her lip.

Kendra's logic made a certain kind of sense, but she didn't like it. She didn't like it one bit. "It just doesn't seem right to put people who aren't actually malevolent into the category of 'evil men'. That just doesn't seem right to me."

"If someone murders a man, what do we call him?"

Beth felt her shoulders slump and she joined Kendra in leaning on the railing with a sigh. "A murderer."

"Does the reason matter?"

"What about self-defense?"

"Self-defense isn't murder by definition." Kendra replied. "Murder is when you intentionally kill someone without reasonable cause. Regardless of the motivation, someone who commits murder is still a murderer, isn't he?"

"Well, yes." She conceded. "But the motivation does matter."

"Yes it does." The raven-haired women replied. "But if someone intentionally murders an innocent woman, we still call him a murderer regardless of the motivation."

"So... the men I helped kill were murders?"

"No, but they were in the middle of trying to commit murder." Kendra looked at her. "It's not radically different than if they were charging an innocent person with a sword. Remember, about two dozen of them tried that exact thing during the battle last night. We tried running from them, we tried warning them, and they knew that we were innocent. In the end, they were intentionally trying to kill us even though they knew we were innocent. They might not have succeeded, but they tried."

Beth frowned, not liking where this was going. She couldn't say that Kendra was wrong, but she still didn't like it.

"But they weren't trying to be wicked." She finally said.

"Ah, but there's a difference between malevolence and wickedness." The dragon huntress replied. "The wolves are malevolent, and malevolent men are always wicked. However, not all wicked men are malevolent. The sheep who chose to cave to pressure and do wicked things aren't malevolent, but that doesn't mean that they aren't wicked."

Kendra averted her eyes. "I was that way once."

"When you tried to kill Ethan?"

She nodded.

"You aren't anymore."

"You're a sweet girl Beth." Kendra gave her a small smile, but it faded quickly. "I'm not. If you didn't realize this from my story earlier, then let me make it clear now; I'm a cold-blooded killer. I've never been malevolent, but I have been wicked... just like the men you helped kill."

"Wicked but not malevolent." Beth frowned thoughtfully.

It made sense.

The men who'd attacked them certainly didn't seem like they were wicked people by nature. It seemed like they were just following wicked orders. They weren't malevolent, but Beth could no longer deny that they were... well, that they had tried to do wicked things even if they failed.

"You were deceived though." Beth said. "That's the difference between you and them. You thought you were doing the right thing, while they knew they were doing the wrong thing."

Kendra gave her a pained smile. "Like I said, you're a sweet girl."

"You don't agree?"

She shook her head.

"But I think it matters." The blonde pressed. "You were trying to do the right thing, or at least what you thought was the right thing. They weren't. They were willing to do evil while you were trying to do good. That seems really different to me."

"That's kind of you to say." Kendra replied, and the blonde noticed that she still wasn't exactly agreeing.

"Oh." Beth cocked her head to one side as something occurred to her. "You're a sheepdog. You thought Ethan was a wolf and you were trying to fight him off as a sheepdog fights off a wolf."

"We weren't talking about me." Kendra said, and Beth couldn't tell if she was deflecting or not. "We were talking about men who are malevolent and wicked, versus men who are wicked without malevolence. The former are wolves, the latter..." The dragon huntress trailed off, her look and tone both indicating that she wanted the blonde to finish the sentence.

"The latter are wicked sheep." Beth sighed, not liking this at all, but unable to disagree. "It never occurred to me before that someone could be wicked without being malevolent."

"It doesn't occur to many people, but I've seen more of the world than most." Kendra replied. "I promise you, some of the worst deeds imaginable were perpetrated by sheep acting under orders from wolves. Eventually, some of those sheep become wolves themselves." She sighed. "But many don't; many remain wicked sheep listening to the orders of wolves. I do believe that Taloni had an excellent quote from the Book of Light about their fate."

Beth nodded, then recited. "Do not walk the path with the wicked, lest you be caught up with them in their sins and their judgement falls on you as well."

"The men on those airships weren't intentionally trying to be wicked, but they were certainly walking the path with the wicked and thus deserved their fate. Ethan even gave them a chance to repent; to turn away from their wickedness before it consumed them. They didn't, and received the due penalty for their wickedness."

Beth looked at her. "It almost sounds like you're quoting the Book of Light."

Kendra shook her head. "No, but I am intentionally emulating its language. The Aldmiri wanted us to have a moral core to our actions, so we were educated in the Book of Light too."

"Moral core?" Beth's jaw dropped. "They had you murder someone when you were eleven!"

"They said he was guilty, though I was never told of what." Kendra shrugged, and Beth couldn't read her body language or facial expressions enough to know what she thought about that. Perhaps she was unbothered, perhaps it bothered her deeply and she was concealing it. The blonde truly couldn't tell if it bothered Kendra.

It bothered Beth though.

A lot.

The very idea of an organization sending an eleven year old girl to kill someone was just... just... She shuddered. She had a hard time believing that they could ever be on Illuminar's side. That of course led her to another question.

"Are the Aldmiri wolves?"

Kendra's face was unreadable as she replied. "Sometimes the line between wolf and sheepdog is... less clear than we might wish."

"That's not an answer."

Kendra looked at her for a long moment. "How do you feel about what you did yesterday now?"

"You're avoiding the question."

The dragon huntress almost smiled. "Yes... but so are you."

The blonde realized that Kendra wouldn't answer the question, so she turned her mind to the woman's question.

How did she feel?

She really wasn't sure.

She knew she didn't feel perfectly better, but she didn't feel as bad either. She had seen men die right in front of her before and while she hadn't liked it, they had all been wicked men, like those at Gonorran's camp. But if the men that she'd helped Ethan kill yesterday were actually wicked men and not innocent...

Hmm.

She didn't feel as bad about that.

Not good, but not as bad either.

They hadn't been malevolent, but apparently someone could be wicked without being malevolent. She had never really considered that before and didn't like it. She didn't like that someone could do wicked things -- become a wicked person -- without wanting to. She had always thought that wicked men were that way on purpose.

What if they weren't?

Or, what if some of them weren't?

What if Kendra was right and the soldiers who followed Lord Farbrottan were wicked not because they wanted to be, but because they followed wicked orders without refusing them.

Hmm.

It made sense.

She didn't like it, but it made sense.

She thought about it for several minutes, turning it around and looking at it from various angles in her head. Kendra was right there next to her the entire time. She didn't speak, or ask more questions, or ignore her either; she was simply there. For some reason, that was comforting.

Beth finally spoke after thinking about it for some time. "I think I feel better, but I don't think I could call myself 'good' just yet."

Kendra gave her a pained smile. "I know exactly what you mean."

"You have scars that aren't on your skin, don't you?"

She nodded slowly.

Beth frowned and slowly nodded too. "Well for what it's worth, I don't mind that you have scars. I wish you didn't have to carry them because I know they bother you, but you are a beautiful person to use all the pain you've suffered to help me. Thank you; I won't ever forget it."

Kendra swallowed and got a pained smile on her face. "Thank you, and you're welcome."

Beth smiled, then spoke again. "I don't think you know this, but I've been trying to figure out who I am. You know, as a person."

"Oh?"

"Yes." Beth nodded. "I don't know exactly who I am, but now I know part of who I want to be."

"Which is?"

"I want to be a sheepdog." The blonde teen said firmly. "I don't know if I am one, but I want to be one."

Kendra smiled. "There's one way that you can tell a sheepdog from a sheep every time."

"Oh?"

The dragon huntress nodded. "When a sheepdog sees someone in trouble -- even a stranger he's never met before -- he can't help but intervene. It's instinct; sheepdogs just can't help themselves."

Beth smiled. "Like our husband."

Kendra nodded.

Beth's smile widened as something occurred to her. "Or like you when you rescued Anthiel and Taloni at Gonorran's camp?"

Kendra hesitated for a moment, then nodded her head in concession.

"Thank you for being a sheepdog." Beth said, then offered a hug. Kendra took it and the blonde gave her a tight squeeze.

She didn't feel entirely better, but she did feel better. She really needed to think about this more and she doubted that she would settle herself about it anytime soon. However, now she had a way to think about it; a perspective that she didn't have before.

As their hug broke, Kendra appeared to be looking over the blonde's shoulder at something. Beth looked as well, and saw that Alana and Rachel had finished enchanting a round shield for Selene and were now attaching the regular leather travel bow prototype to the wooden board they were using as a form.

"I think I'll go see how they're enchanting the travel bow; it looks really interesting." Beth said.

Kendra gave her a small smile in return, and despite the smallness of the smile it reached deep into her eyes. "Welcome back Beth."

"Huh?"

"Nothing." Kendra smiled wider. "Why don't you go watch; I think they're about to start."

Beth gave the dragon huntress a last confused look before her curiosity impelled her to turn and hurry over to see the enchantress at work on something that the blonde had never seen before.

* * *

As it turned out, Sarah thought that Fiona's room was lovely, if a bit spartan. It was at the end of a hallway in the girls' dormitories and it looked like there was no one living across the hall or in the adjoining room. The room itself was the same pretty blue color as the other room, though without the hand-painted flowers. It didn't look like Fiona had done much decorating though. The room was clean, but rather spartan and the only thing that appeared to be a decoration was a small portrait of a man.

The man in the portrait had a short, reddish-brown beard, wild looking hair of the same color, and a lopsided grin that was both amused and endearing. The innkeeper's daughter could see a lot of Conner's features on the man's face, leaving her in no doubt as to who he was.

"Ach, there you are you little bugger." Fiona said, snatching a long bit of cloth that had fallen from the bed and was laying partially concealed between the bed and the trunk beside it. "Conner has been missing you."

"What is it?"

"I'm using it for Conner so he can be with me while I'm working." The copper haired woman replied. "I wrap it around me so he is strapped to my chest or back, depending on what I'm doing. He's not old enough to be crawling, so this way I can be keeping him with me."

"Oh, that's nice."

Speaking of, the infant started fussing at that moment and appeared to be waking up.

"Ach, he'll be needing a feeding. It's about time too; I was getting a bit full." Fiona adjusted her breasts under her dress a bit, and it did look like she had some discomfort.

"Um, is it okay if I wander around a bit?" Sarah asked.

"Aye, of course it's okay." The copper haired woman replied. "This is your home now; you can be wandering."

Sarah nodded, then left so Fiona could feed Conner in peace.

As it turned out, the large three-story dormitory building looked like it housed all of the castle's maids, cooks, and the cleaners too on the various floors. It seemed like the different occupations generally grouped together on floors, but it seemed like it wasn't assigned either because she definitely saw some women in different outfits seemingly sharing the same rooms.

The thing that stuck out to Sarah was how everything was in good repair. It was nothing like Ivernia where everyone took good care of what they had, but were always behind on repair anyway. She could tell the dormitory building wasn't new, but everything appeared to be in perfect working order. It even had a fresh coat of paint.

The Ivernian girl wandered around for a while before encountering something interesting.

A girl fell.

To be more precise, she half-fell, half-rolled out of a hallway in front of Sarah. It looked like she had fallen backwards too, and she landed in a decidedly ungraceful fashion on her butt. Sarah was hurrying forward to help when two other girls stepped out of the same hallway. Something about their body language seemed... off. They looked more predatory than anything else, and suddenly Sarah wasn't sure that the girl's fall was entirely accidental.

"Are you okay?" Sarah asked as she hurried up the girl who had fallen.

"She's fine, she's just clumsy." One of the two predatory girls said, then looked at the fallen girl. "Isn't that right Amy?"

The fallen girl -- Amy apparently -- nodded mutely, not looking up at them or even at Sarah.

"And who are you?" The second predatory girl asked, eyeing Sarah suspiciously.

"My name is Sarah." She replied, then looked back at Amy. "Are you okay?"

"I already told you, she's fine." The first predatory girl said firmly. "I haven't seen you around here before; cooks, maids, or cleaners?"

"Cook." Sarah stood, placing herself between Amy and the other two girls as she realized that the fallen girl probably wouldn't say a single thing as long as the two other girls were there.

"You must be new." The second predatory girl said, looking Sarah up and down.

"I am." She replied, but didn't think that saying anything else would be wise.

The first girl smirked. "Then we'll definitely need to talk at some point."

"Soon." The second girl added, then looked at the fallen girl. "Amy, keep what we talked about in mind and we'll see you later."

And with that, the two predatory girls got identical sickly-sweet smiles on their faces before they turned and walked away.

Sarah stared after them for a moment, then returned her attention to Amy when they were out of earshot. "Are you okay?"

The girl nodded mutely, but Sarah wasn't convinced. "Are you sure?"

Amy nodded, then struggled to her feet. She mumbled something that Sarah couldn't make out, and then rushed away.

The innkeeper's daughter frowned; apparently all wasn't right in Karnas after all.

* * *

Ethan landed on the outskirts of the Blue Circle camp where he'd dueled with the orc chieftain Drazglent, making no attempt to hide his approach or landing. He was holding the partially shredded Red Hand vest that the Blue Circles had wanted him to get to become a friend of the clan, whatever that meant. He didn't have a way to call them, so he figured he'd just wait where he was until they noticed him since his approach had been obvious and some orcs in the camp had clearly seen him when he'd flown over.

It didn't take long.

Grobozlesh started walking down the hill towards him only a few minutes after he'd landed, a large smile on his face.

"You return, bring Red Hand vest." The orc stated.

"I did."

"Vest ripped. You use claws and teeth?"

"Something like that." Ethan shrugged, not wanting to explain how grenades worked. "Can I talk to Drazglent about the mine now?"

Grobozlesh made an affirmative sounding grunt and he nodded once. "I get Drazglent. He decide."

He left and returned not long afterwards with Drazglent in tow. The orc chieftain walked right up into Ethan's personal space just as before, and just as before Ethan stood his ground.

"You give vest." Drazglent said without preamble.

Ethan held it up.

Drazglent examined it for a moment, then his eyes narrowed. "This blood old, not fresh."

"Nope, I killed a few of them a couple days ago and just went to go get a vest."

Drazglent scowled. "Not fresh."

"You didn't say it had to be fresh." Ethan replied. "You just said to bring you a vest from a Red Hand that I had killed. I brought you one."

The orc chieftain's scowl deepened. "You not friend of clan. You ask us trust, but you not prove trust."

"Well, I suppose I could go get another vest if you insist, but I'd rather not take the time." Ethan replied. "You see the kind of damage I can do--" He pointed to the ventilated vest. "--so hopefully it's obvious I could go get another one."

"You strong, not that strong." Drazglent replied. "We have not-real fight, I not see such strength."

Ethan smirked. "There are weapons that are too powerful to use in a 'not-real' fight. They would kill my opponent when I didn't mean to."

"You show weapon." The orc chieftain grunted, still standing right in Ethan's personal space and clearly not believing a word Ethan said.

"Fine." Ethan sighed, reached into the grenade satchel to pull out a grenade, turned, and spotted a smallish tree that was perhaps ten yards distant. "Watch that tree." He pointed to it.

Drazglent scoffed. "Tree not orc."

"It really wouldn't matter." Ethan took a step back, armed the grenade, and gave it a gentle toss. It landed right next to the small tree.

After two or three seconds, Drazglent spoke. "That not weapon. That--"

BOOM!!!

The tree... disappeared.

It was only an inch or two in diameter, and the only thing left of the trunk was a tiny shredded stump. The top had been blown clean off and landed quite far away. Plus there was a small crater in the dirt, all of which looked as impressive as he had hoped it would.

"Unless orc skin is tougher than a tree, I'm pretty sure that would do it." Ethan said to the two orcs, both of whom were looking at the tree with their jaws slightly slack, which made their tusks stand out prominently. They weren't stunned for long though, and the larger orc turned to Ethan.

"You have strong weapon."

"No, I made a strong weapon." Ethan corrected, figuring that the orcs would take his meaning. "I'm the only person in the Ten Kingdoms with those because I made them."

Drazglent looked at him for several seconds, glanced at the tree, then looked at the vest Ethan had brought, and then nodded respectfully. "Not fresh not matter."

"Thank you." Ethan nodded.

"Come, you meet elders, become friend of clan if you prove strong in mind." The orc chieftain said, then turned and started walking up the hill towards the Blue Circle camp.

* * *

Alana took her hands off the prototype bow travel bow made from normal leather, having just finished the enchanting. "Done."

"So, can we see this one open?" Beth asked. "I've never seen a travel bow in person before."

"And you still haven't." The wood elf replied. "This is only a prototype like any other bow just to make sure that the size and proportions are correct for the travel bow. I didn't want to try my first leather bow with dragon leather."

"Makes sense." Rachel said, then held her wooden bow out to her. "You wanted the string from this?"

"I did." She smiled. "My dad -- well, my adoptive dad -- and I made it together. The bowstring is made from animal sinew and enchanted to be self-healing and super strong, so it will work for both this prototype and the travel bow too."

She smiled, liking the fact that she would have something from her adoptive father on her new bow. He had actually helped her make her wooden bow and bowstring years ago, but sadly it wasn't as useful as a travel bow would be. She intended to keep the wooden bow though; she had too many good memories of her adoptive father teaching her archery to let go of it.

"Okay, here we go." She strung the leather bow, grabbed an arrow, and got Raklan to haul one of the archery targets up from the lower deck. The large crewman put it at the bow of the ship and Alana stood near the captain's cabin door.

"Hi Thor." She said as the kitten rubbed up against her ankle. She gave him a gentle pet, then drew the arrow back and let it fly.

"Bullseye!" Taloni clapped.

Alana frowned.

Her arrow had landed near the edge of the three inch bullseye. That was either because she hadn't used this bow before and every bow shot a little differently, or the fact that she hadn't practiced in months. She might need to start practicing, especially when she finished the travel bow because the edge of the bullseye was nearly a miss in her book.

"And?" Beth asked, definitely closer to her usual inquisitive self. She wasn't quite back to normal, but she was far better than she had been earlier. The wood elf made a mental note to thank Kendra since she had seen them talking earlier.

"It works." Alana replied. "I don't see any modifications that need to be made, so I think I'm ready to start on the travel bow."

Kendra looked at her. "You did the enchanting correctly in one go? That's impressive."

"She is." Rachel said.

Alana felt her cheeks grow warm as she smiled at the redhead. Rachel had donated the regular mana necessary to finish enchanting the prototype in a single day. The wood elf had briefly wondered what it would be like to share a different kind of mana with her, but discarded the idea immediately. She was married to Ethan so that wouldn't ever happen.

* * *

Ethan followed the orc chieftain up the hill toward the village and unsurprisingly saw a lot of orcs poking their heads out. That grenade had certainly caused a racket and he would've been curious too if he'd never heard one before.

"You use thunder." Grobozlesh said from behind him, a gruff nod of respect following this pronouncement.

"Not quite, but it's pretty effective." Ethan replied.

"What noise if not thunder?" The orc replied.

"It's... complicated to explain." He replied, and the orc shrugged.

That was about the time that Ethan had reached high enough on the hill that he could actually see the orc camp. It reminded him a little bit of some documentaries he'd seen about the Native American Indians, only with a distinctly orcish twist. The orcs lived in teepees and the camp itself looked both primitive and efficient. There were several racks for drying hides, several orcs making arrows, and several others working with a charcoal fire on some iron tools and weapons; mostly axes and arrowheads.

Nearly everyone stared at him.

He wasn't surprised by that though; how often did a dragon walk through an orc camp outside of battle?

The orc women were built like female body builders from what he could see, though about a half foot shorter on average than the men. They all looked very strong, though they lacked the small tusks that the men had. The orcish women all wore fur-lined leather like the males did, but were even less covered. The leather covered their breasts and pelvic region much like a high coverage bikini might. However, these were clearly not designed to entice. Instead, they were eminently practical and probably designed to keep them cool by not covering much skin. The women all wore moccasins, unlike the males who wore boots with thick leather soles. Despite that, most of the women had a crude iron dagger at their sides.

There were a lot of goblins in the camp too. He was again reminded of lanky teenagers when he looked at them, and he found himself wondering if that's what they were; orcs who hadn't matured yet. They all seemed to possess the attention span of a kid with ADHD who was off his meds. The orc men and women kept them in line, but it seemed like that job was closer to herding cats than sheep or cattle.

The goblins seemed like they congregated in groups of three, and it seemed like any minor provocation by another goblin inside that group was met by an impromptu wrestling match. It looked more like dogs or cats at play than an attempt to injure though. Perhaps a dominance thing? However, any provocation by another group of three goblins led to every member of both groups getting involved in a multi-person wrestle tangle. It never looked like the goblins were intentionally trying to hurt each other, but they certainly didn't pull their punches in these 'not real' fights either.

Interesting.

Drazglent led him to the largest teepee which was easily twice the size of all the others. Unlike the other teepees, which he assumed were homes, this one had a long log that was laying on the ground in front of the entrance. One end 'blocked' the entrance -- if something you could step over could be considered blocking -- and the other end lay nestled in a carved wooden sconce clearly intended to prevent the long log from rolling or sliding. The log had an iron handle sticking up out of it, just in front of the tent's entrance.

"What's with the log?" Ethan asked.

"You strong, you enter tent. You not strong, you not enter tent." Drazglent replied.

And with that, the orc chieftain walked up to the log, grabbed the handle, lifted the log over his head using both hands, stepped under it, then set it back down on the ground.

"You strong, you enter. You not strong, you not enter." Drazglent repeated, pointing at the log.

Ethan could've easily stepped over it, but that obviously wasn't the point. It was intended to provide a very different sort of 'security'. Activating his strength enhancing armor pieces, he sized the log up. There was no way in hell he could lift it without his armor and he was doubtful of his chances even with his armor.

Oh well; no harm in trying.

He walked up to the log like Drazglent had and wrapped his hands around the handle. Remembering the old saying 'lift with your legs not with your back', he crouched down and tried to lift it. He could feel every single one of his muscles straining to the limit, but the log moved. It took him nearly ten seconds of constant fighting but he got it up over his head. It felt like his muscles were about to tear and his legs felt like rubber... but he did it.

Setting it down took almost as long. He got the distinct impression that just dropping it would be frowned upon, so he did his best to lower it gently. It only kind of worked; he fumbled it at the end it fell the last foot.

"Hmm." Drazglent frowned. "You... not weak."

Ethan was pretty sure that wasn't actually a compliment, so he shrugged. Behind him, Grobozlesh lifted the log and stepped under it with nearly as much ease as Drazglent had. Afterwards, the orc chieftain turned and walked into the large teepee.

Both the door flap and smoke flap of the teepee were open so it was quite light inside, not that Ethan needed it to be with his dragon eyes. There were five older orcs inside sitting around the fire in the center, and judging by the bedrolls around the edges he guessed that they lived here. Their skin was somewhat wrinkled, though some more than others. They reminded Ethan of the orc version of American Indian elders sitting around the campfire that he had seen in a few movies.

One even had a pipe.

The one that looked to be the oldest had a thick cane beside him. Judging by his thin arms and legs, Ethan guessed that he wouldn't get around very well without it. He vaguely wondered how he had even entered the tent if lifting the log was required. The orc had a necklace made of teeth around his neck, and they looked like wolves' teeth or perhaps some other canine predator. His clothes were leather like the others, but styled differently. His vest looked more like a man's vest than the ones the other orcs wore. Save for that, he looked a bit like the stereotypical orcish shaman from fantasy artwork he'd seen.

"Drazglent." The old orc said in a voice that that clearly came from a frail body, but it had a confidence and strength to it that was surprising. "I warned you that the Red Hands taking the mine would be bad for the clan."

His English was accented, but clear.

The orc chieftain grunted in acknowledgement, but frowned anyway. "Dragon not prove strong in mind yet." He turned to Ethan, indicating the older orcs. "They strong in mind. You prove strong in mind, you hear story of mine."

Ethan took a deep breath and let it out slowly, reminding himself that he was doing this to stop people from being eaten alive by the Red hands. Still they were making him jump through a lot of hoops.

"How do I do that?" He asked.

Drazglent looked at the oldest orc, who scrutinized Ethan for several moments before speaking. "What belongs to you, but others use it more than you do?"

"My name." Ethan replied instantly, having heard that particular riddle before.

All of the orcs grunted in approval, probably at his fast response.

Drazglent didn't look happy. "Not true test; weak riddle." He turned to Ethan. "Now you make strong riddle. Only strong mind can make strong riddle. You see our mind is stronger."

*Hey ladies, do you know any good riddles?* He thought to everyone almost on instinct. It was becoming second nature to talk to his wives this way, though on balance he realized that the orcs might not like that he was asking for help. Oh well, they could deal if they ever found out.

*I have several.* Rachel replied immediately.

He grinned. *I should've known that my wise redhead would have a few. Pick one that's both good and would make me sound smart.*

*Easy.* She replied, and then relayed it to him.

Ethan in turn repeated it to the orcs after a suitable pause. "What runs but never walks, murmurs but never talks; has a bed but never sleeps, has a mouth but never eats?

The oldest orc smiled ear-to-ear. "I know the answer, but I not tell."

Drazglent looked even more irked and said something in orcish.

"Are you not strong enough for having a good manners?" The oldest orc replied. "Speak the Common Tongue so the guest of us may hear."

"Why you not tell?" The orc chieftain growled at the other orc, and Ethan began to wonder just exactly what the role of chieftain was in the orc culture since Drazglent clearly didn't call the shots, or at least not by himself.

"You not listen to my strong council on mine and Red Hand clan." The oldest orc replied. "I not listen when you ask for help with riddle."

"Then why did you say you know the answer?" Ethan asked.

"Honor." The ancient orc replied. "To know and not say would be a lie of not-saying. A lie of not-saying bad like a lie that is said. We orcs have honor; we not tell lies of not-saying."

"Fair." Ethan nodded his head in agreement, rather wishing he could communicate that idea to a certain other honor culture he'd recently encountered.

"A river." Grobozlesh said to Ethan after a moment. "River runs, sound of river like murmur, hu-mans call river bottom bed, and river end called mouth."

"Correct-a-mundo." Ethan nodded.

"I have riddle." Drazglent said. "I speak riddle in orc so you hear beauty; riddle not beauty in Common Tongue. Then I speak riddle in Common Tongue."

"Go ahead." Ethan shrugged.

The orc chieftain said something in orcish that did indeed have an excellently lyrical rhythm and rhyme to it, then he spoke in the Common Tongue. "I fall every day. Though I fall every day, I not break or touch ground. What I am?"

'What am I?' Ethan corrected in his head, then thought about it for a moment before asking his wives.

*Night.* Alana replied. *That was one of my father's-- well, my adoptive father's favorite riddles.*

*Thanks.* Ethan thought to her, then said aloud. "Night."

"You ask the final riddle." The oldest orc said. "If it is a strong riddle, then you prove strong of mind and we speak of the mine; whatever you wish to know."

Ethan started thinking about all the riddles he'd heard in his lifetime and had to discard many of them because the answer was something from Earth. He really wanted to twist the screws to Drazglent a bit too. But what riddle to ask? He wanted something that that the orc culture that was focused on strength might not--

He grinned as the perfect one occurred to him. "I'm lighter than a feather, but not even the strongest man can hold me for more than a few minutes; what am I?"

The orcs all stared at him.

He just smiled back.

He could almost see the wheels turning in their heads since their culture was all about strength. It was a good riddle for them, and he was pretty pleased with himself for remembering it. Drazglent looked particularly put out, which suited Ethan just fine.

"I know answer, but I not share it." The oldest orc said several seconds later.

"You must have a very strong mind." Ethan grinned at him. He had wanted to say 'You're pretty sharp', but thought the strength-oriented phrasing was better for orcs.

The elderly orc had the edge of a grin on his face at his compliment.

"Breath." One of the other older orcs said after nearly a minute. "Breath light than feather, but no can hold long time."

"Bingo." Ethan nodded, then at the confused look added. "I mean that's the right answer."

The oldest orc looked at Ethan. "You proved strong in battle, helpful against our enemies, and proved you are strong in mind. Now we speak of the mine and Red Hands. What do you want to know?"

TO BE CONTINUED...

Note: This chapter began and ended on day 94 of Ethan's life in the Ten Kingdoms. Also, I FINALLY finished that other story about the backstory for Lord Kalus, Shara, and Lyra. ^_^ It's called "Strange Bedfellows" and is just over 100k words broken up over 5 chapters, so normal ADT chapter size. I plan to start publishing it here in the next few days and plan to drop a chapter every couple of days. The short description is "A noble knight and virgin princess forced together by a tyrant". The first two chapters will be under the reluctance section, with the final three probably under romance. And before anyone asks, no it's definitely NOT a "rape story".

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 July 26th and it'll probably drop on the 28th or 29th. 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