Chapter 55: The sixth day of the sixth month

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

* * *

Several hours ago

Ethan dropped the last few feet to the ground with the weight-reduction necklace in his hand, landing next to Rachel after Lord Delmar had taken her off the Argo during the fight. He had wasted no time in coming to collect her, and thankfully she seemed completely unhurt. They needed to leave the area pronto in case Lord Delmar was able to remove the arrow that Alana had shot into him and return.

"Rachel?" He said gently, not sure how she would be feeling after what had just happened with her father.

The redhead turned to face him, happy tears on her cheeks and one of the widest smiles he'd ever seen on her face. "He does care about me." She said, her tone as joyful as it had been when she told him about her kiss with Alana.

"He does?"

She nodded. "He said that Lord Delmar would be livid if I was injured." Her smile grew even wider if that was possible. "But he is my father and he didn't know that I knew that. Why would he say that unless it was true?"

Ethan could think of several reasons -- trying to gain her sympathy for starters -- but didn't want to completely deflate her right now. "That could indicate that."

"Could?" She looked at him, her smile faltering slightly. "You don't think so?"

"I don't know." He replied honestly. "Kendra said that he was holding back while you were on the Argo and that it looked like he didn't want to hurt you."

The redhead bit her lip. "You... you don't think that means he cares about me?"

"I want to tell you that it does, and it does indeed look that way, but I don't want to get your hopes up. I don't want to crush them either."

She nodded slowly. "I... I got a bit carried away just now, didn't I?" Her shoulders slumped.

"I don't know." He replied honestly, stepping closer and enfolding her in a hug which she readily accepted. "We can't dismiss that he was careful not to hurt you, but we probably shouldn't jump to conclusions either. Remember, he did put a will-breaker ring on you."

"Oh." She pulled back a bit and looked at the black mark on her finger where the will-breaker ring had once sat. "But maybe that wasn't him? Maybe Lady Ekthros was behind that and she just tricked him into giving it to me without knowing what it was? If he trusts her, that would make sense, right?"

"It would make sense, but we don't know if that's what happened." He looked into her pale blue eyes. "I don't want you to dismiss that possibility because it is a possibility, but I don't want you to latch onto it as the only possibility either."

"You're always so kind to me." Rachel smiled at him. "You let me down so gently without crushing--" Her breath hitched slightly. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He smiled at her. "I promise that we'll eventually figure out what's going on with your father. I don't want you to lose hope until we do, but remember the dreams that Kendra and I had where I was fighting him on a battlefield. Frankly, it seemed like a fight to the death and I didn't get the impression that he would ever back down."

The redhead took a deep breath. "Yeah, I did forget about those." Her shoulders slumped.

"That doesn't mean that he doesn't care about you." Ethan added, hoping not to crush her entirely. "Just because he and I might be locked in a fight to the death doesn't mean that he doesn't care about you."

"But from my perspective, that fight can't be won." She swallowed. "No matter who wins, one of you will..."

Not knowing what to say, he held her again.

* * *

Now

Fiona stared at Lord Delmar, having heard and understood every single word he had said but still thinking she must be missing something. "I'm sorry milord, I must be mishearing you."

"I asked if you would be willing to marry me so that Narlotten could obtain an heir." The lord repeated. He still looked like a black-scaled dragon. He was a dragon. That fact alone was shocking, but a marriage proposal on top of it?

"I think I'm needing to sit down." The copper-haired woman said after a few moments.

Lord Delmar indicated one of the chairs facing the desk and she sat down on it, only then realizing that she was still holding the arrow that she had removed from his back mere minutes before. She looked at it for several seconds, scarcely believing the night's strange events.

"I can take that." He offered.

He had apparently gotten up and moved next to her chair while she was distracted. She handed him the arrow, then he walked over to the fireplace and tossed it in. The shaft seemed rather reluctant to catch fire, but it eventually did. Fiona watched the relatively thin piece of leather start burning, using that as a focal point to ground herself.

She needed that right now.

After a moment she realized that she was still wearing the strength-enhancing cuffs that Lord Delmar had offered to give her the strength needed to pull the arrow out of his back. She removed them and put them on the desk, still trying to come to terms with the night's events.

"Would it be easier if I returned to my human form?" Lord Delmar asked. Curiously, she didn't get the sense that he was overly concerned about her, only her ability to answer his proposal. This seemed entirely like a practical suggestion rather than one made because he had some particular concern for her beyond what he might have for anyone else.

"I'm... I'm not liking falsehoods much." She replied after a moment. "I'm understanding why you're using use the disguise enchantment and I'm not faulting you, but I'm preferring the real to the illusion."

"Wise." He replied simply and then sat back down at his desk. "In that case, let me be clear. My proposal does not arise from any attraction to you nor a desire for a wife, but purely because of Narlotten's need for an heir. This would be a purely practical marriage, though I will endeavor to be a good husband as Illuminar commands."

Fiona couldn't help but compare this proposal with Sean's. She had wished him luck when he went to talk to her father about her hand and she could tell that Sean had been nervous that her father would say no. He was all smiles when he came out and had hugged her tight enough to almost hurt when he had secured her hand. He'd thrown an impromptu party with his mates that night as well. Everyone in town had known how happy he was to wed her.

This proposal on the other hand...

"Lord Delmar, I... I'm..." She stopped and then started again. "It's rather late and I'm tired. I think I should be sleeping on this because no one is making their best decisions at this hour."

"That is wise." He nodded. "And as you said you prefer honesty, you should know that I was not born 'Alexander Delmar'. My sire named me 'Dalgard'."

"Dalgard." Fiona repeated, the name sounding foreign on her tongue. "Thank ya for telling me that. I should be getting to bed."

He nodded.

She stood and walked to the door, but stopped before opening it as a question occurred to her. She hesitated a moment and then decided that he had proposed marriage to her and thus had opened the door to a more personal type of relationship. She would never have asked her question as a mere servant, but as someone he might marry...

She wanted to know.

She turned to look at him. "I'm having a question tonight if you aren't minding."

"You should always feel free to ask; given my proposal, I will be inclined to answer." He replied, and she felt like it was an unspoken implication that he could choose not to answer.

"Was the Lady Helene knowing? That you're a dragon I mean."

He nodded once. "She first met me as a dragon." Then he spoke again after a moment. "The idea for me to use a disguise enchantment originated with her." The corners of his mouth moved upwards fractionally and the look in his eyes was suddenly faraway as well. His face returned to neutral after only a moment though.

She nodded slowly, then added. "Is anyone else knowing?"

"Only Lady Ekthros, and she has helped to conceal that fact more than once. That is only one of many reasons that I trust her implicitly."

Fiona frowned.

"Given the words exchanged when you two met, I understand your dislike of her." He continued. "However, no one has worked more tirelessly to improve the lives of Narlotten citizens than she has. A not-insignificant amount of Narlotten's prosperity, safety, and general wellbeing came from her counsel."

"Oh?"

"Indeed." He replied, but didn't explain further.

"Okay. I'll be bidding you goodnight milord."

"Goodnight Fiona." He said, then turned his attention to some papers on the desk as he usually did when she left after delivering one of his meals.

Fiona exited the room feeling like she must be dreaming. It was so surreal. She pinched herself and didn't wake up, so maybe she wasn't. It was a lot to be taking in. She walked back to her room in the dormitories, only vaguely aware that there weren't any guards to be seen inside the castle just as there weren't any on her way to see the Lord Delmar. She briefly wondered if he had arranged that to prevent gossip, but wasn't sure.

Marge was snoozing in a chair and Conner was sound asleep in his cradle when she arrived. She quietly woke the head cook who left barely a minute later, clearly also tired. Marge didn't ask what Lord Delmar had needed and Fiona didn't offer an explanation.

The copper-haired woman climbed into her bed and pulled the covers up, only realizing after doing so that she had forgotten to remove her dress. She got up, changed into her nightgown, then slipped back into bed. She laid on her back looking upwards but not really paying attention as she thought about the Lord Delmar's proposal.

Wow.

She could be a lord's wife if she wanted to be. And not just any lord, but the Lord Delmar. She felt a slight smile on her face at that, but then she thought of Sean. Her husband had died less than four months ago and the pain was still fresh. However, before he left for his first assignment, Sean had outright told her that if something happened to him, she shouldn't feel bad about marrying again.

It was all still so fresh though.

Then again, there was Conner to think about. Being the adopted son of a lord would guarantee him the best and brightest possible future. He could never be in line for the throne of course, but perhaps that was a good thing? He would have all the benefits of being a lord's son without the dangers that came with being in the line of succession. But still, she would have a child who was in line for the throne and it was hard to believe that a son of hers might sit on Narlotten's throne.

Of course, it would also be Lord Delmar's son and Fiona obviously knew how babies were made. She wasn't sure what to make of her reaction to that. A part of her clearly and happily recalled the lord with his shirt off. That same part also reminded her of the stories and rumors about a dragon's skill in bed. On the other hand, Sean's death was so recent and so fresh...

She laid awake in bed for rather a long time thinking about it, turning it over and over in her mind until she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Several hours ago

"It's not fair."

"Huh?" Selene looked at Kendra who was staring at her face, and the caramel-haired beauty wasn't entirely sure what her best friend meant. The dragon huntress had just returned from the Midnight Sun and both airships were starting to turn. Luminar Kossel, Serif, and Raklan had returned to their respective ships and now they were getting underway.

"I have a lot of scars and they make me ugly, but you get one and it's the opposite." Kendra slowly shook her head. "It's not fair."

"It's not." Rachel agreed, and now she was looking at Selene's face as well.

"What? Oh, my cheek scarred?" Selene asked.

"Beautifully." Kendra glowered.

"Hang on, I'll get a mirror." Beth dashed into the captain's cabin and dashed out a moment later, then handed a small handheld mirror to Selene.

The Brazilian woman looked into it at her left cheek.

It had indeed scarred.

The scar started a quarter-inch from where the middle of her ear met her cheek and extended along that cheek down to end under the corner of her mouth, about halfway between her lips and chin. It wasn't raised and didn't ripple, but it was a noticeable line that would never fully be hidden, even by makeup.

"It makes you look fierce." Taloni said.

"It does, and not a single ounce less attractive." Rachel said with the tiniest note of bitterness in her voice. "If anything, it's the opposite."

"How is it possible that a scar makes you look more gorgeous." Kendra shook her head again. "It's just not fair."

"Sorry?" Selene raised both her hands, palms up, in an almost apologetic way.

"Don't be; I'm happy for you, it's just..." The dragon huntress shook her head again. "I'm a little jealous."

Selene looked at the scar again and then held the mirror further away to see her entire face. She didn't want to sound vain, but they weren't wrong. For some reason, the scar seemed to make her features more striking and also gave the impression that she was 'fierce' as well as gorgeous.

She smiled.

People had never taken her seriously because of how beautiful she was. Looking at her reflection right now, she knew that wouldn't be a problem anymore. She looked at one side of her cheek and then the other to compare how she looked both with and without it. The scar on her left cheek was glaringly obvious and yet somehow it didn't seem to matter very much. Honestly, she almost thought the side with the scar looked better.

"I almost like it." She smiled.

Kendra scoffed and threw her hands up while Rachel gave Selene the stink eye. Neither seemed truly upset, but they both looked somewhat irritated with her. Bee and Tee giggled while Alana just looked on with an amused smile.

"Selene, you've always been drop-dead gorgeous." Ethan said as he looked at her. "But with that scar..." He made a thoughtful noise and nodded slowly. "It makes you look dangerous in addition to gorgeous."

The Brazilian woman felt her heart do a small little backflip as a slightly warm and cozy feeling started to arise in her chest. Then she remembered the whole birthday incident.

The feeling instantly disappeared.

"Thanks." She said, not sure what else to say.

"We should all get to bed." Kendra said. "Especially you Selene; you need to be well rested for your mission tomorrow so you can come back safely."

She nodded, that warm and cozy feeling returning at Kendra's words despite her guilt over the whole birthday incident. They all headed to bed not long afterwards. Selene made her way down to her hammock and flopped into it with Thor. The kitten immediately curled up and started sleeping, but sleep was slow in coming for her.

She kept replaying the conversation about birthdays in her head and kicked herself every time she did. Why did she have to fuck it up so badly? Why?! That was so stupid! She knew better and yet she'd done it anyway. She had reacted on instinct and hadn't planned to lie, but she still knew better. Before that, she couldn't even remember the last time she'd told such a bald-faced lie. It just wasn't her and yet she'd done it anyway.

She sighed.

She half hoped the mission to destroy the portal would go south spectacularly after it was destroyed so she wouldn't have to deal with feeling this way anymore.

* * *

Now

Fiona woke up before the sun as usual, her mind picking up right where it had left off as she had fallen asleep. Did she want to marry Lord Delmar? She moved her arms to stretch and found herself extra aware of how lonely it was in the bed this morning.

That was another thing to consider.

She had married Sean for love and didn't think she'd find that again, or at least not like it had been with her husband. A part of her considered marrying Lord Delmar just for the practical reason of not being alone when she grew older. She could move back home of course, but she wanted to stay in Karnas because of Lord Delmar's offer to provide a fine education for her son.

She frowned and tried to think of it from every angle.

It wasn't long before something else occurred to her. If she had been the first lady of Narlotten, she could've protected Amy from Tia and Mia. And more than just that, she could potentially do a lot of good and help a lot of people with that kind of influence. A lord's wife had no real authority of course, but she would have his ear and could bring his attention to problems when she saw them. She could help a lot of people that way.

That was a good reason.

Besides, Conner would have the best possible education and opportunities with Lord Delmar as his adoptive father. It would also prevent her from being lonely as she aged. Of course, remembering what the lord had looked like with his shirt off didn't hurt, though as a dragon...

Could she learn to love a dragon?

She wasn't sure, but she was sure that she could learn to love Lord Delmar. He had been so good to her and was such a great man. She supposed that if he was a dragon, she could learn to love him. He didn't make it hard, though she doubted he would ever truly love her back. Fiona wasn't Helene and the copper-haired woman doubted very much that anyone could take Helene's place in the Lord Delmar's heart.

Then again, she wasn't trying to; she wasn't marrying for love.

She might marry for Conner, for the chance to help others, and so she wouldn't be lonely when she was old, but it wasn't for love. As she thought about potential reasons to turn him down, she couldn't think of any that compared to even one of her reasons to accept, much less all three.

Hmm.

She felt a small smile grow on her face as an idle fantasy flitted through her mind. What if he could learn to love her? The smile grew as she thought about it, though the possibility seemed remote. She knew that she would always be in second place to Helene, but since she wasn't marrying for love, she was okay with that. And if he learned to love her even half as much as he loved Helene, or even a quarter as much...

The smile on her face grew as she thought about that.

Then it faltered.

She didn't think that the Lord Delmar was especially given to love or romance at all, with one obvious exception. She imagined that Helene must have been an extraordinary woman to capture his heart so completely despite him being so aloof. She frowned; her fantasy seemed like an idle one, unless...

"Huh." She mused as an idea occurred to her.

That might help.

It certainly would make it far more likely that he would come to love her at least a little. It was something she'd had with Sean and dearly loved and wouldn't want to miss in a marriage. Plus, many people said that it virtually guaranteed that two good spouses would fall in love with each other eventually because it was subtle, but it was also powerful.

It seemed like a very good idea indeed. Well, she wasn't sure that Lord Delmar would agree. But now that she'd thought of it, she realized that she didn't want to be married without it. In addition to her other reasons to marry him, she could have a chance at true and lasting love again if he would agree to it.

That led to an important question.

Would he?

* * *

Ethan stood up after finishing an early breakfast and looked around at his wives and Selene. No one had said much during breakfast, Kendra least of all. Selene stood up after he did and then everyone else followed suit. Still, no one said anything.

"I feel like I'm at a funeral." Selene said after a few moments.

"Might as well be." Beth huffed. "We'll never see you again."

"That's not true." The Brazilian woman replied. "Assuming that I come out of this mission okay, I plan--"

"When." Kendra interrupted firmly. "When you come out of it okay."

Selene smiled. "Then when I come out of it okay, I'll probably have to come back here to flee from Smithbond--" She smiled. "--I mean, agent Clive Eustace Humphry and his nameless agency."

"You don't really believe that though, do you?" Rachel said.

"Well, I've had this feeling that things will work out okay and that I could still become an FBI agent, but that's just wishful thinking."

"I don't think it is." Taloni said. "I feel like you'll get the chance."

Everyone looked around at each other, all probably thinking exactly what Ethan was. Tee was incredibly intuitive and if she felt like it was likely, then it probably was. Ethan couldn't see how it could happen, but he'd learned not to ignore his third wife's gut.

The Fey teen hesitated, then added. "You don't need to stay though. You could come back here." Her tone was hopeful but sad.

"I plan to come back here at least once." She replied. "I want to say a proper goodbye to everyone, and hopefully that will include Sarah." She looked at Ethan. "Were you still planning to fly down to Paliso and talk to Lord Farbrottan about where Lady Ekthros might have taken her?"

"I was." He nodded. He'd been trying to keep the wonderful innkeeper's daughter out of his thoughts to stop himself from worrying so much. The attack the previous night, Selene leaving, and Kendra's state of mind because of the impending departure at least were good distractions.

"You could stay." Taloni said to Selene. "Instead of coming back to say goodbye, you could come back to stay."

"I could..." Selene conceded, but her tone indicated that she wasn't perfectly happy with that idea.

"You promised." Ethan said. "When we had that long discussion about if we were going to war, you promised that if you got the chance to become an FBI agent, you'd take it. And we all know you'd never lie."

Selene shifted uncomfortably on her feet and looked down.

"As much as I want you to come back to the Argo, you shouldn't stop pursuing something you've been working towards your entire life because of us." He finished.

"Okay." The Brazilian woman nodded, though she still didn't look entirely happy about it.

Kendra sniffled. "At least Luminar Kossel gave Ethan that pair of linked portals. We could visit each other occasionally."

"Hopefully more than occasionally." Selene replied. It looked like she had attempted a smile, but it wasn't a very successful attempt.

Kendra nodded.

Everyone gave Selene a hug and Kendra gave her one longer than the rest by a significant margin.

"You're coming back to visit." Kendra said firmly when she had let Selene go. "This isn't goodbye. It's not." She sniffled again and it almost sounded like she was trying to convince herself.

"I'm definitely coming back to visit." Selene replied, though she was blinking rather a lot more than normal. "Maybe I can... I don't know, show you around Earth sometime?"

"I'd like that." Kendra nodded, sniffled, and blinked a bit, then looked around at everyone. "We need to pray for Selene before she goes."

They did.

All of his wives plus Anthiel prayed, and just because everyone looked at him expectantly when they were done, he did as well. It was awkward and he didn't know what to say, but the ladies seemed to appreciate his awkward fumblings anyway.

"Thor." Selene called. "Thor."

The kitten ran over to her and she reached down and petted him. "I promise I'll be back."

Thor nuzzled her hand.

Selene picked him up and petted him. "Hopefully it won't be too long and the others will take good care of you while I'm gone."

Thor cocked his head to one side and meowed.

She held him for another minute before he started squirming. "I have to put him down now, don't I?"

"We'll take good care of him." Alana promised.

Selene swallowed hard, nodded, and then set him down. He scampered off to sniff some spot on the decking while she watched him.

Everyone watched him for a moment until Selene spoke. "I really need to go."

She didn't move.

It was several minutes later that Alana gave Selene the weight-reduction necklace and she put it on, then she climbed onto Ethan's back.

"Back in a bit." He said.

"Take care." Selene looked around at everyone but ended looking at Kendra.

"You too." The raven-haired woman replied.

Then they left.

Selene didn't say anything while he flew towards the portal and it was a reasonably long flight. Anthiel had sailed the Argo quite far during the night and so they needed to fly back near the abandoned temple where the portal was. Eventually, he landed on the road near it, far enough away that any lookouts wouldn't see.

"Well, I guess this is it." He said after she slid off his back and returned the weight-reduction necklace.

"I guess so." She replied.

Neither moved.

It was really strange that this moment was finally here. She had been such an integral part of his crew for... well it wasn't actually that long. It had only been about a month but it seemed like so much longer, years even. Frankly, she had become such an integral part of his life that he was finding it hard to believe that she was leaving, but she was. She was going to become an FBI agent and probably work her way right to the top. She did that; worked too hard and didn't take as good care of herself as she probably should.

"Hey Selene." He finally said.

"Yeah?"

"If you get a chance, get one of those iced chai lattes with whipped cream and fudge sauce you mentioned the other day."

She raised her eye. "You remembered?"

He shrugged. "You really don't take care of yourself; I'm just trying to make sure you do."

"You noticed?"

He nodded. "You make sure the necessities are taken care of, but you haven't actually enjoyed life very much until recently, have you?"

"Fair." She inclined her head in concession. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." He managed a smile, but with Selene leaving it wasn't very large.

"I guess I should go, huh?"

He nodded. That was indeed the plan.

"Hey Ethan."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for... for everything." She half smiled. "I think the last month-- has it only been a month?"

He nodded.

"Well, it's been the best month of my life, or at least the best since my brother died and I became..." She trailed off, probably looking for the right word.

"Training obsessed?" He suggested.

"...me." She sighed. "That's just who I am now, who I needed to become so I can be an FBI agent who can really help people."

"It's always about that for you, isn't it? Helping people I mean."

"I don't remember what I was like before my brother died, but since then..." She waggled her head back and forth. "Maybe a little."

"Take care of yourself Selene." He said, offering his hand. "I mean that."

"I'll try." She took his hand and shook it.

Ethan felt like this parting should be more momentous. She was leaving the Argo for good, not counting the occasional visit. A handshake and well-wishes seemed woefully inadequate to the occasion, but it was the best that he had.

"Go on, get out of here." He finally said, trying his best to smile. It didn't feel right and probably didn't look right, but he tried.

"Okay." She half-smiled back.

Then she turned and started walking. After a moment, she stopped and looked back at him. "Take care of Kendra for me, will you?"

"Always." He nodded, feeling his throat get rather tight and his eyes a bit watery.

"Thanks." She nodded, then turned and walked away.

Ethan watched her go, feeling like an enormous part of his life was walking out of it and not liking that fact.

* * *

Sarah yawned and stretched as she woke, making sure not to hit Amy beside her. Ellis had brought two small military-style two-man tents so the two women shared one. Amy snored softly and occasionally talked in her sleep, but it was still nice to have her there. Having now lived with another person in her room, Sarah was certain that she didn't want to sleep alone again. She supposed that once she married Rindrin she would have her wish. She rather hoped that Amy would marry him as well since she was wonderful company.

"Rise and shine ladies; we're burning daylight." Ellis said from outside the tent. They had camped off the road in a copse of trees with some denser underbrush that was close enough to the road to get moving again quickly.

Amy started stirring beside her and so Sarah tried to get up to leave the tent, but her leg muscles protested loudly.

"Oww." She groaned. She hadn't ridden a horse for any appreciable length of time in a very long time and her legs were letting her know about it.

"Is that your legs miss?" Ellis asked from outside the tent.

"Yes, they're very sore." She replied as she moved stiffly. She hadn't noticed it very much the previous day when they had bedded down, but she certainly noticed it today.

"I have a rub that will help miss." He replied. I'll set it outside your tent in a tin. Rub it on everywhere that's sore and I guarantee you will feel better soon."

"Thank you." Sarah replied with a wide smile; relief sounded wonderful.

"Yes, thank you." Amy said and then yawned.

The two ladies faced away from each other to apply the salve after Sarah retrieved it. It didn't smell very good but the relief it provided was incredible. The two ladies left the tent, they all ate a quick breakfast, relieved themselves, and then got back on the road.

"How long until we get there?" Amy asked once they had returned to the road and were underway.

"At least another day, possibly two days miss." Ellis replied. "It depends on if we make good time."

Sarah started her usual morning prayers while they were riding, mostly about protection for Fiona and Conner. She couldn't imagine anything could keep them safe from Lady Ekthros, but she hoped and prayed that Illuminar would do something.

* * *

"I'm from Earth, please don't shoot." Selene said loudly as she walked through the forest with her hands raised. She was pretty sure they wouldn't shoot because of what she was saying and also because they almost certainly had seen her face before. She would've been listed as missing in action and they probably would've been briefed.

Well, hopefully.

"I'm from Earth, please don't shoot." Selene said loudly again, just as she had been doing every several seconds since she'd entered the forest

She opened a one-way window in her mental defenses and reached out with her telepathy, hoping to get a sense of what was coming. She could feel several minds nearby, but it was hard to get a read on their exact location or thoughts. She certainly didn't get any fear or worry though, which was good. Mostly it was curiosity.

"Halt!" Someone stepped out from behind a large tree in front of her with a rifle raised.

She froze.

He frowned. "Miss Dawson; you were listed as MIA and likely KIA." He eyed the scar on her cheek. "It looks like you came close anyway."

"I did. A few times actually." She agreed. "Pardon me for the cliché, but I might never get another chance to say this: take me to your leader."

The man smiled while somehow not looking less serious or lowering his rifle. "Keep your hands where I can see them." He raised his voice. "Squad, guard Miss Dawson."

Several more men stepped out from around her all with rifles at the ready. She interlocked her fingers and rested them on her head, glad that they weren't handcuffing her. They did pat her down looking for weapons, but were very professional about it and didn't grope. They walked for a short distance until they reached a break in the trees, beyond which were the ruins of the temple where she had arrived in the Ten Kingdoms.

It was unrecognizable.

Overhead, a massive camouflage canopy had been stretched over the entire clearing. It was probably several pieces and it covered everything that she could see. From the air, they were well-disguised. They had erected what looked like modular metal walls around the temple, and she could see at least one surface-to-air missile launcher beyond them. There were also several.50 caliber machine guns spaced around the wall at regular intervals.

It was a fortress.

Or at least, it would be utterly impregnable to the technology in the Ten Kingdoms.

As she looked around, she realized that they had probably spent most of the last month setting up the heavily defended base. It had probably taken that long given the short time a portal could remain open and the amount of equipment they had moved through it. From a tactical standpoint, that made sense; it was better to secure your proverbial beachhead before expanding out.

They walked her through the gate and she drew rather a lot of stares as they did so. She was used to that, but she noticed that there were fewer up-and-down looks at her body and more stares at her cheek. She smiled wryly; apparently her scar had changed things.

Things were about what she expected to see inside the walls. There were rather a lot of prefabricated buildings and about equal numbers of soldiers and scientist types in lab coats. She was still drawing a lot of stares and guessed she was their first uninvited visitor.

They escorted her into what looked like the command building. The inside looked exactly like what a forward operations base in the field usually looked like from watching movies. Apparently, Hollywood got some things right.

"Sir, Miss Selene Dawson." The leader of the squad guarding her announced upon entry.

A woman built like Brienne of Tarth from Game of Thrones looked up from her desk. She would never win a beauty contest but looked like she could snap a small man in half. She was wearing camo fatigues and had a piercing expression on her face.

"And what makes you think that Sergeant?" She asked. "You read the briefing; they have disguise tech."

"Apologies Sir." He replied.

The woman looked at Selene. "You'll have to confirm your identity."

"Sure. How?"

The commander sat down at a nearby computer, typed for several seconds, then looked at her. "Mother's maiden name?"

"Yoshida."

"Blood type?"

"O-negative."

"Birthday?"

"June sixth." Selene replied, feeling yet another wince of guilt for having lied to everyone on the Argo. She wasn't even sure why she had done it other than she didn't want to be forced to marry Ethan. Hell, he'd probably be a good husband and she wasn't even that opposed to being his wife after living with his family for a month. However, she didn't want Illuminar to force her to marry him. She didn't care when her birthday was, she sure as hell wasn't going to be forced into marriage by anyone.

Ever.

The woman nodded. "Sing a few bars of some popular songs in the US."

Selene sighed again, but was rather glad that this woman was sharp and taking precautions; she didn't seem the type to do anything rash. She sang a few verses from some popular Taylor Swift songs that one of her college roommates had played seemingly forever on repeat.

The woman held up her hand, though she rubbed her ear with the other hand. "That's enough singing."

"I can't carry a tune in a bucket, sorry." Selene replied apologetically.

"Nor can I." The woman looked at her for a moment before speaking. "I'm Colonel Mattock; it's good to see that you survived Miss Dawson."

"It's good to have survived."

"It looks like you had some difficulty with that." The colonel gestured to her scar.

"A little run-in with a dragon." She replied. Luminar Kossel had been adamant that she must never lie. The agents of Smithbond's organization were trained to spot a lie from a thousand yards which made it a bad idea. He did however point out that she didn't need to tell them everything.

"What happened to the others who scouted with you?" Colonel Mattock asked.

"We were ambushed while scouting and they were killed." Selene replied. "I'm pretty sure I survived only because they had some, uh, 'unsavory' plans for me."

Mattock grunted. "Command will want to debrief you. The next scheduled portal opening is tomorrow at 1400 hours, so you'll have to sit tight here for a while."

"I guessed that would happen." She replied, thinking that 2pm the next day wasn't so bad.

"I have standing orders to treat an operative who comes back alone as potentially compromised as a precaution." The colonel continued, then looked at the men who had brought her in. "Sergeant, think of something to secure her since we don't have a brig and make sure she's comfortable." The colonel then turned her attention back to the screen in front of her.

The men who had brought her in took her to one of the poles that held the canopy up and then used handcuffs to secure one of her wrists to a length of lightweight chain attached to one of the canopy supports. The location was visible to many people and not too far from the command tent, though too far to hear anything coming from it. Then someone dragged a metal cot with its mattress out from one of the nearby barracks.

"Someone will check on you every hour." The Sergeant said. "Chow is at 0700, 1300 and 1900, holler if you need to use the latrine."

"Will do." She nodded.

"One of my men brought a deck of cards he volunteered to lend you if you know enough solitaire games to pass the time." The sergeant offered.

"I know a couple, thanks; I'd really appreciate that." She smiled.

He nodded and returned a minute later with a deck of cards, then his squad headed back towards the gate, presumably to return to their posts. Selene closed her eyes and directed her attention towards Colonel Mattock, hoping to get something from her mind. It took her several minutes to sort through the mental cacophony and find the base commander's mind. When she did, she stepped into the colonel's surface-level thoughts to get a sense of what they were planning.

It was a bit disappointing.

It seemed like the colonel was more an administrator and defense coordinator than anything else. The flashes, images, and impressions that Selene got from her were almost entirely about administration, making sure the base was defended, and ensuring that the scientists were properly supplied. Selene pulled out of her mind, and like other minds that she'd encountered, she felt a slight resistance as she did so. It seemed the deeper she went, the harder it was to leave a person's mind.

She spent the next hour or so looking into the various minds around her, mostly trying to focus on the scientists. Sadly, she learned very little. It seemed like everyone was compartmentalized into various tasks and no one -- not even the base commander -- had the full picture.

However, from what she gathered, it seemed like they were merely on an information-gathering mission for now. However, a lot of the thoughts she picked up were excitement for moving beyond the small base. That didn't bode well.

* * *

*Selene, how are you doing?* Ethan thought to the group chat about fifteen minutes after he had returned to the Argo.

*Fine.* She replied and gave them a summary of what had happened so far.

*Good.* Kendra thought to everyone.

He looked over at her. The dragon huntress had been pacing the Argo's deck for the last several minutes and showed no sign of slowing down. He guessed she'd been doing that for a while because she'd been doing so when he returned.

*Hey guys, I'm going to close my connection to the group chat.* Selene thought to everyone. *Sometimes you all need to talk to each other and I don't want to get distracted if that happens when I need to pay attention. I also don't want anyone to suspect that I'm telepathic. I'll keep my link with Ethan open though, so if you all need to talk to me, let him know and I'll open up my link to the group chat again.*

Ethan looked at Kendra who had just gone slightly stiff, then he replied. *That's a good idea, but be careful Selene.*

*I will.* The Brazilian woman replied. *Closing it now.*

Then silence.

It wasn't thirty seconds later that Kendra walked up to him. "I need to do something Drago. I can't just sit here and wait; I can't."

"We could spar?" He suggested. "Unless you have another idea."

"Selene and I were talking about finding a miscreant dragon to get more dragon scales for travel swords." She replied. "Sarah's inn is at a major crossroads and busy lately, so it would be a perfect place for me to ask about dragons causing trouble nearby."

He raised his eyebrow. "You want to go back?"

She nodded. "Just you and I, and only I would go into the outpost. I would disguise myself first and change clothes. I promise that I can blend in and no one would know, even if Lord Delmar has people watching the place."

He frowned. "I'm not sure that's safe."

"It is." Serif said, seemingly appearing out of nowhere as he sometimes did.

He looked at him. "This is Kendra's safety we're talking about."

"She will be safe." The man replied calmly.

"How can you be sure?" Ethan replied.

"Experience." Serif replied, but didn't explain further.

"Even Serif says it's safe." Kendra said. "Please Drago, I have to do something."

He hesitated.

"Lord Delmar almost certainly only left a single man to watch the inn." Kendra added. "I will be long gone before reinforcements could arrive, even if whoever is watching the inn recognizes me."

He looked at Serif, who nodded.

"Okay, but get in and out as fast as you can." He said after a moment.

"Thank you Drago."

Ethan told the others, who all objected on safety grounds until they learned that Serif thought it was perfectly safe. No one objected after that. Kendra changed into clothing much more similar to what she had worn before she married him and he had to admit that she looked entirely commonplace and would be easy to miss in a crowd. She was good at that.

Then with many promises to be careful, they set off. They didn't talk much on the way as Kendra seemed distracted. Ethan dropped to the ground in the forest a mile from the inn, having flown barely above the treetops the whole way so he wouldn't be seen. He walked with Kendra to the edge of the forest near the inn so he could be close in case something happened.

"Call if you need me; I'll be right here." He looked at her seriously.

"Drago, I trained most of my life for exactly this kind of thing; I'll be fine." She replied.

"Still, I'm only a thought away and can be there in seconds."

She smiled at him, then kissed him tenderly on the lips. "I love that you care."

"I care because I love you."

She smiled wider. "I love you too. Back soon."

She turned and walked out onto the road and towards the inn. She was back barely twenty minutes later.

"That was fast." He said.

She nodded. "I'm good at what I do."

"And?"

"A dragon kidnapped a lawyer's daughter southwest of here in Tesselae." She replied. "I had to promise to return later with some dragon scales for the man who gave me the information though."

"That's fine." He replied.

"The woman that the dragon kidnapped is young-ish and reputed to be incredibly beautiful, so I'm guessing it's a bit of breeding fever."

"Breeding fever?"

She nodded. "Some young dragons get this incredibly strong drive to breed right after leaving their sire. It's rare, but they will often kidnap a girl and rape her until she's pregnant." She grimaced, then added. "Fortunately, the drive is only incredibly strong until they impregnate someone, then it tends to fade."

If Ethan could've blushed, he would have.

Kendra cocked her head to one side. "Oh, Alana..." She cocked her head to the other side and smiled. "I guess I know why Ruth was conceived at such an inopportune time then."

"Guilty as charged." He grimaced. "I was pretty obsessed with... that until it happened, and then... well, I still want to be a father but the urge wasn't as overwhelming once Ruth was conceived. I wouldn't trade my daughter for the world though."

Kendra nodded. "She'll love that, but we should get back. There's a good chance an innocent woman is being regularly raped and we need to help."

"Agreed, and I think Selene would agree as well." He replied.

Kendra got a pained half-smile on her face. "She would."

* * *

Fiona had spent almost the entire morning thinking about Lord Delmar's proposal. The more she thought about it, the more it seemed like a good idea. Not because of her heart, but simply because it made sense. Though, her heart wasn't exactly opposed either.

However, she could only roll it around in her head for so long before she got bored. She strapped Conner to her chest as usual and then went down to the kitchens even though the Lord Delmar had given her the day off.

"Fiona, what are you doing here?" Marge asked when she had arrived.

"My friends moved away and my room is feeling a bit empty." She replied. "I was hoping to be useful here."

Marge stopped rolling out some dough to look at her. "Lord Delmar said that when you arrived, I should offer to let you bring him his lunch."

"When?" Fiona frowned. "He wasn't saying 'if'? He was saying 'when'?"

Marge nodded.

"And how was he knowing that I would be here?"

Marge shrugged. "He told me that around breakfast. He said you didn't have to, but to offer you the chance."

Fiona hesitated for a moment.

She supposed that he was wanting to talk about his proposal, though she wasn't sure how he could've known that she would go to work in the kitchens today. She herself hadn't known until she had decided not even an hour ago.

"I can be doing that." She finally said.

"Good. Until then, I could use someone who won't overwork the dough." Marge indicated the dough she had been working on.

Fiona got to work, still wondering about the man-- err, dragon who might well be her fiancé soon.

* * *

"So where is Tesselae?" Ethan asked Taloni when he and Kendra had returned to the Argo.

"It's here Master." The Fey teen pulled out a map and pointed to a small town that was southeast of Sarah's inn and perhaps one-quarter of the way to Dotmier from there. She then pointed to a spot west of Tesselae and almost directly south of Sarah's inn. "We're here right now."

"That's not too far then." Ethan mused. He turned to Kendra and Serif. "What are the odds that Lord Delmar will be able to find the Argo again?"

"Miniscule." Kendra replied. We sailed through the night and could've gone in almost any direction. I guarantee that he has more important things to do than fly around all of Ivernia looking for us."

"Agreed." Serif said when Ethan looked at him.

"Good." He replied. "If I'm flying down to Paliso to 'visit' Lord Farbrottan, I'm a bit worried about security. I don't want to leave the Argo undefended for that long."

"It won't be." Serif said simply.

"Ethan, you need to go." Alana looked at him seriously. "You'll never forgive yourself if you don't."

"Captain." Anthiel spoke up. "I flew us low and at full sail all night with more than one change of course. Even my elven eyes haven't seen a ship following us and no one on the ground could have. The Argo is as safe as it could be, unless perhaps if it was surrounded by Timarou's airship fleet."

"Okay, then I'll go to Paliso tonight." He looked at Kendra. "But first we need to help this kidnapped woman."

Kendra shook her head. "It'll take me the better part of the day to track the dragon down and Tesselae is almost in the opposite direction of Paliso from where we are. I can take my airship, track down the dragon's lair, and then wait until you can join me before hunting it."

"It's a good plan." Rachel noted.

"I agree Sir."

"I'll miss you Dominus, but you need to find Sarah." Beth said.

"I agree Master."

"Selene, what do you--" Ethan stopped, only realizing what he'd said after the words had left his mouth.

Everyone looked around at each other.

"Well I'm going to say the quiet part out loud; I hate that Selene is gone." Alana said.

Everyone voiced agreement except for Kendra, whose face displayed her agreement even if her words didn't.

"I'm going to get my airship ready to leave." The dragon huntress said as her face went from pained to unnaturally neutral.

Ethan watched her walk away, wishing that he'd thought before he'd opened his mouth.

"Give her time." Alana suggested. "I wish I could change Selene's birthday, but since I can't..." She trailed off.

"Since we can't, let's help Master get ready to rescue his next wife, or maybe his seventh wife." Taloni suggested.

"Ladies, Sarah is betrothed." Ethan sighed.

"Which makes me wonder how she will get un-betrothed." Beth grinned.

Ethan rolled his eyes. If he was honest with himself, he wanted nothing more than to call Sarah 'Mrs. Ejder'. However, she was betrothed. There was no way in hell that he would do anything with a betrothed woman. Ever. Beth's assumption that she would get un-betrothed seemed incredibly far-fetched and he put it out of his mind.

Well, he tried.

* * *

Fiona knocked on the door to Lord Delmar's office, nodding to the two guards outside of it as usual. They returned the respectful nod but otherwise said nothing, again as usual. She opened the door and it made the same slight creaking sound that it always did.

Lord Delmar's office looked the same as it always did. She glanced at the fireplace to see it cold with no traces of the arrow that she'd pulled from the lord less than twelve hours ago. Lord Delmar was sitting at the desk and writing as he usually did. She knew that he spent much of the day in meetings and that he often caught up on such things during his meals.

Just like normal.

It was so strange that everything was both exactly the same and completely different today. She set his meal down on the open space on his desk that was always there.

"Thank you Fiona." He said without looking up, again like usual.

She found herself wondering if perhaps she had dreamed the previous night, but her earlier conversation with Marge made that seem highly unlikely. He didn't even look at the food initially, apparently caught up in his work. She curtsied and then turned to leave, not sure why he had asked for her to bring his lunch.

"Tarry a moment." He said, again without looking up.

"Milord." She stopped.

He continued writing for several more moments until he had finished his sentence, then struck the ink out of his quill, put it in its holder, and capped the bottle of ink before looking at her. "Would you be willing to walk about the deck of the Helene with me tonight immediately following dinner?"

"Milord?" She cocked her head to one side.

"I have something rather particular I wish to discuss with you." He said, but didn't elaborate. "I will ask Marge if she can watch your son for the duration."

"I can be doing that milord." She nodded.

"Tonight then." He said, then uncapped the bottle of ink, retrieved his pen, dipped it in the ink, and then returned to writing.

Fiona left the room, not sure what to make of him anymore. It had been obvious when she was a mere servant in the castle that his aloof manner was only natural. It wasn't proper for a lord to become too familiar with any woman, much less one in his employ. But today he had been just like always. That made her wonder if perhaps he would always be like that.

Hmm.

As she stepped out, the two guards on either side of the door gave her slightly odd looks. They had surely heard the conversation and she knew they could be trusted never to share it -- that was literally the job description of guarding Lord Delmar's office -- but they definitely had heard. Neither said anything, but both were looking at her like they'd never seen her before.

She smiled half-heartedly at them and returned to the kitchens, not sure what to say. She knew they wouldn't tell a soul, but then it occurred to her that if she was meeting the Lord Delmar on his airship, that meeting might generate rumors. On the other hand, it was a place they could talk without fear of being overheard. The highest towers of Karnas's castle could see onto the deck of the Helene so propriety would be maintained. However, it still might generate rumors.

But honestly, she wasn't worrying about that. If word got out that Lord Delmar had even considered marrying her, it could do her nothing but good.

No, she was thinking about the man himself.

Well, the dragon himself.

She reminded herself of her reasons for agreeing to marry him: that it would be best for Conner, that she might be able to help people as the First Lady of Narlotten, and that it might help her be less lonely as she grew older. Lastly, she did hope that he might potentially learn to care for her, even learn to love her.

That put her in mind of her earlier idea and she decided to bring it up to him tonight on the Helene. She didn't know if he would agree, but if he did, he might eventually learn to feel for her a tiny fraction of what he so obviously felt for Helene.

* * *

Thanks to his third wife's excellent prediction of how long the trip would take, Ethan found himself arriving over Ivernia's capital city of Paliso just after darkness had settled on the city. His dragon eyes had no trouble seeing even as high up as he was, but he highly doubted that anyone would see him, except perhaps a wood elf who was looking.

Paliso was quite the sight.

To the south of the city was the large mountain range that protected nearly all of Ivernia's southern border. For no apparent reason, the mountains just stopped for a mile or two only to pick up again as if the large gap between them didn't exist. Between the thousand-foot-plus sheer vertical cliffs was sparkling water as clear and blue as he'd ever seen it. On the far side of the mountains was a vast expanse of water he knew to be the Gulf of Sayora.

On this side of the mountains was an immense bay that was several miles wide and about half that long. Feeding into the bay opposite the Gulf of Sayora was the massive Bolavine River. Most of the shoreline in the bay was taken up by some kind of dock, whether large or small. It was the same for miles up the shore of the river as well.

It reminded him a little of New Orleans in the US, where its convenient location as a port had made it a massive and sprawling city. However, Paliso seemed to lack the infamous nightlife of New Orleans, though there were certainly plenty of taverns. It didn't seem like raucous parties or getting blind drunk was part of the culture here though.

Most of the city seemed to be like the rest of Ivernia; as well maintained as obvious poverty would allow. However, a small section of the city was the opposite. On the southeastern side of the bay were homes that probably cost as much as an entire city block.

Possibly more.

Some of them definitely more.

Ethan didn't have a problem with someone becoming wealthy through hard and honest work, but he seriously doubted that was the case here; Ivernia's oppressive taxes made that seem entirely unlikely. The most opulent and magnificent building was set on a slight rise which gave it a commanding view of the city below. It didn't take a genius to guess whose residence it was.

It wasn't as large or grand as Versailles in France, but compared to most of the city around it, it was close. It was four stories tall with large balconies around the upper levels and no shortage of gilding on various surfaces. Honestly, it looked a little gaudy. It was way too much and it didn't look like the designer knew that.

Ethan circled above the ornate building looking for a place to land.

While he was flying, he noticed something.

Out of the limelight, completely dark and slightly further southeast of the extravagant palace was another smaller mansion, but this one contrasted with the others. It didn't seem to have any gold or silver but was clearly incredibly nice. It was surrounded by a mansion-sized yard and there was a ring of trees from a small nearby forest encircling it which gave it a lot of privacy. It came across as more like a massive cabin in the woods that had been designed with a lot of love and care, despite the obvious neglect. It was probably big enough for a man with seven wives and the resulting children...

Hmm.

He looked around and decided that he could let the very last vestiges of light fade from the sky before he met Lord Farbrottan. He looped around to the far side of the abandoned mansion and dove to land next to it. There were vines creeping up the side of the house but they didn't seem to have hurt the wood all. Maybe it was self-repairing?

He walked up to the back door and noticed the intricate carving work into the railings of the wraparound porch and the door. Despite the obvious neglect and overgrown plants everywhere, the mansion itself seemed like it was in perfect shape without any damage at all. He walked up to the door and noticed that the metal hadn't rusted either; perhaps elven steel enchanted to be self-repairing like the rest of the house seemed to be?

He pulled the latch and the door opened easily, like it had been oiled yesterday.

He wasn't sure why, but he walked in, closing the door behind him.

It was...

It felt like home.

He wasn't sure why, but it did; it felt comfortable and cozy despite the size. The ceilings were high and roomy, but nothing about this house -- mansion really -- seemed like it was built to display wealth. Something about it just felt cozy despite the size. The walls were all made of paneled wood that was in perfect condition.

He took a moment to wander a few rooms and his fondness for the place only deepened as he saw more, neglected though it was. Almost everything in the house seemed to have been put together with love and something about this house just... just felt right. It was in such incredible shape despite the obvious neglect that all of the wood must be enchanted to be self-repairing.

*Ladies, I think I found our house.* He thought to everyone.

*Oh?* Alana replied with more than a little amusement.

*Yeah.* He described the house to his wives as he walked back towards the door.

*It sounds wonderful.* Beth gushed when he was done.

*It does Master.*

*Indeed my lord.*

*I can live anywhere.* Kendra added and he could almost hear her shrugging, then she added. *I've landed and started tracking the dragon.*

*Thanks Kendra.* He thought to everyone, then added. *Alana, your thoughts on the house?*

*The house sounds wonderful. What's the outside like?*

He exited the building and looked around. *Well, there's a very large yard that's surrounded by trees and there's a small stream running through one end of it. It's on a bit of rise and there's a path leading towards the city, but the path is overgrown. It looks like there's a large stables and some large outbuildings as well.*

*It sounds perfect.* Alana said after a moment. *But you really need to go talk to Lord Farbrottan about Lady Ekthros and Sarah.*

*You're pushing awfully hard for that.* He pointed out.

*I'm your first wife.* She replied. *For some reason, I feel like I need to make sure all your other wives are taken care of.*

*She's not my wife and she won't--*

*Ethan.* She interrupted him. *She will. I don't know how, but she will. Go get her.*

*Okay.* He took one last look at the most perfect house he had ever seen and then took to the skies.

* * *

Fiona took another peek into the great hall to see that dinner had indeed concluded. Summer was slowly coming to an end and the days had started to get slightly shorter. Not a lot shorter, but enough that it was dark by the time that the late dinner in the great hall had finished. She turned and walked to the spiral staircase that led up to the docking berth for the Helene.

When she exited into the night air, she saw the large form of Lord Delmar striding across the gangplank and onto his favorite airship. There were several lanterns lit on deck to provide light, as well as on the docking berth at the top of the castle as well. Above her, the highest towers of the castle could be seen with the lookouts stationed atop them.

Fiona took a deep breath and then walked forward.

"Good evening Fiona." Lord Delmar said after she stepped off the gangplank and onto the Helene. He was standing on the far side of the weather deck looking towards the south. He glanced at her and gave her a nod of acknowledgment before returning his gaze to the scenery. She got the impression that he was more contemplative than enjoying the view though.

"Good evening milord." She replied as she walked up to stand next to him at the railing, also looking out at the scenery.

"Have you thought about my proposal?" He asked without preamble.

"I've been thinking of little else milord."

"And?" He was still looking out over the railing.

"I'm wondering why you were asking last night." She said after a moment. "That was a big thing to be asking so quickly."

"I began inquiries into you for this purpose the moment you left my office after you passed that test." He replied.

"Really?" Her eyes widened.

"Narlotten needs an heir." He replied as if that explained everything.

"Begging your pardon milord, but why are you needing an heir? Aren't dragons living a long time?"

"Significantly longer than men." He nodded once. "That is why I need a wife to produce an heir, so that in several decades I can appear to die of old age without leaving Narlotten bereft of a ruler. I never wanted another wife after Helene, but the good of Narlotten requires it."

"Oh." She thought about that for a moment. "I'm glad you are loving Narlotten so much."

He made a thoughtful sound and seemed to consider for a few moments before speaking. "I do not love Narlotten."

She looked at him. "What?"

He turned to look at her and he seemed entirely sincere as he spoke. "I do not love Narlotten."

She blinked.

She stared.

She worked her jaw wordlessly for a moment, not entirely sure what to say. "You don't?" She finally managed to get out.

"No." He said simply, as if he was merely talking about the quality of dinner.

"Begging your pardon milord, but your actions are making it seem like your feelings for Narlotten are stronger than mere 'like'."

"I do not even like Narlotten, nor do I dislike it." He replied, again as if they were speaking of some food or drink. "I simply do not care about it, as you would not care about the weather many kingdoms away."

Fiona realized her jaw was hanging open and then closed it.

Then she stared.

Well, kept staring.

One of the things she'd learned when first coming to Karnas was how hard Lord Delmar worked for Narlotten. She knew that he rose before almost everyone else and went to bed after everyone else, taking no time for himself and no vacations. Ever. He worked tirelessly for Narlotten and she'd seen that firsthand more than once.

And yet he was indifferent to it?

How did that even make sense?

And yet she didn't get the sense that he was being untruthful; he seemed sincere. It then occurred to her that he probably hadn't said this to anyone else for obvious reasons, and yet he was saying it to her. She wasn't sure what to make of that. Was he opening up to her? Was he merely ensuring that she was well-informed before she decided?

"Then why are you working so long and so hard for it?" She finally asked.

Lord Delmar swallowed and blinked perhaps a bit more often than was usual. "While Helene was on her deathbed, she made me swear to do what was best for Narlotten after she was gone. I am keeping my promise to her."

Fiona would've been less stunned if Lord Delmar had slapped her.

He was doing all of that for Helene? She frowned; it seemed like there must be more to it though. No one could be working that hard and that long because of that. Although... Hmm, she had long heard that Lord Delmar and Helene had shared a love that few ever do, so maybe?

"I... I'm having a hard time believing that you care so little for Narlotten with how hard you're working for it." She said.

He made a thoughtful sound and then inclined his head as if in concession. "Believe as you wish."

"What about your daughter? Are you caring about her?" Fiona asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

Lord Delmar's face became a stony mask as he looked out over the railing again. Despite his stony expression, she got the distinct feeling that he was concealing a rather vast well of emotion. "There is but one thing in all of Illuminar's creation for which I care, and that is the rebellious, wicked, and spitefully vindictive daughter that Illuminar both blessed and cursed me with."

"Vindictive?"

He nodded. "Helene once made a small doily for me because..." He paused, closed his eyes for a moment, and then reopened them and continued. "After she passed, I had it enchanted to be self-repairing because it was very precious to me. One day in a fit of rage, Rachel burned it to ash because I had denied her some whim that she fancied."

"Oh? You couldn't be stopping her?"

"I was not present; Lady Ekthros investigated the matter and presented ironclad evidence that it was Rachel."

It was at this moment that Fiona realized that Lord Delmar was talking more now than she had ever heard him talk about anything to anyone. Ever. He was usually a man of few words, but perhaps that was because he had no one to talk to? Perhaps he was lonely and didn't get to talk much, which perhaps accounted for his relative verboseness now?

"That is but one link in a long chain of events." He continued. "I would not have imagined that she could be so unlike her mother."

"How were you and the Lady Helene meeting?" Fiona asked.

Lord Delmar opened his mouth, then paused. "That story is best left for another time."

...and the terse lord was back.

Fiona almost smiled to herself; she had known that there must be something more to him under his impassive demeanor.

"Do you have objections to my proposal?" He asked.

"I'm not having many." She replied. "I'm hoping I'm not out of line milord, but I was having a question: I thought dragons were only having dragons as offspring and I'm not understanding how Rachel was born nor how we could be having a son."

"I am a dragon; I can enchant myself to produce the effect and also choose the gender."

"Oh." She had never considered that but supposed it made sense. "Okay, then. Um, I'm hoping I'm not out of line milord, but I'm having few conditions."

He scrutinized her for several long seconds. Suddenly, she had a great deal of sympathy for all the men who had been beaten by Lord Delmar in a negotiation.

"Such as?" He finally replied.

"Well, Conner first." She began. "I'm wanting you to promise that -- succession excepted -- that you'll be treating him like he was your own son. I'm wanting you to be treating him no different than any other sons we have, except regarding the throne of course."

"That is acceptable." He replied without even a pause to consider it.

"And if I'm being the First Lady of Narlotten, I'm wanting to use that position to help others." Fiona said, then hastily added. "I'm not asking for any authority or anything, but I am asking that you'll be listening to me when I'm thinking that someone is needing help."

He made a thoughtful sound and waited several seconds before replying. "I will promise to hear you out; I will not promise to act, but I will promise to give serious consideration to action."

"Aye, that's fair." She nodded, having seen enough from him to think that he would indeed listen. "Third, I'm hearing that some lords and ladies are sleeping in separate beds and I'm not wanting that. I'm wanting us to sleep in the same bed."

Lord Delmar again made a thoughtful noise, though this one was decidedly less positive. "That would not be my preference."

"I'm really wanting that." Fiona said. "I'm not saying that I would say no without it, but it would be making me very happy and not having it would be hard."

The lord scrutinized her for almost a whole minute without speaking. Finally, he inhaled deeply and then exhaled just as deeply. "I will agree to that."

"Then there's just one last thing milord." It was her turn to take a deep breath. "If we're going to be married, I'm wanting us to bond."

"That is out of the question." He spoke as if it was a self-evident fact, like water being wet or the sky being large.

"I'm afraid I must be insisting on that milord." Fiona replied. "I could be bending on two of my conditions, but the treatment of Conner and us bonding are things I can't be bending on."

"The former is admirable and I would not even consider denying it." He replied. "The latter is a point on which I cannot and will not be moved. Bonding to a dragon is different than bonding to other species and it carries limitations that I cannot accept."

"Limitation? What are you meaning?"

"They are irrelevant because I cannot accept them."

"I'm understanding that." She gave him a small smile. "I'm feeling flattered that you were offering though."

"You will not reconsider?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm afraid I can't be reconsidering on that point."

Lord Delmar inclined his head in concession and made a thoughtful sound. "Very well. Your service to me last night with the arrow was greatly appreciated. I shall direct my steward to double your pay from now on in gratitude."

Fiona smiled widely at that. "Thank you milord."

"You may go." He said in exactly the same tone he usually used when dismissing her after she had finished dropping off a meal.

She curtsied and he gave a respectful nod of his head before he turned to look out over the Helene's railing again. She walked back across the gangplank and stepped onto the dock, but turned back to face him.

"Yes?" He said after a moment without turning.

"You really are a good lord and I'll be praying that Illuminar will be sending the right woman to ya." She said.

"Thank you Fiona." He replied. His head started to turn and for a moment Fiona thought that he might say something else, then it returned to its previous position and he remained silent.

She wasn't sure what to make of that as she returned to the castle.

She still felt slightly flattered that he had asked her, and that fact brought a smile to her face. She was also glad that she had stood her ground on bonding. She had been bonded with Sean and she didn't want anything less with a future husband. Since she was a widow and could choose her husband herself, she was determined to bond if she ever got married again.

Her smile faltered a bit that Lord Delmar was adamant that he wouldn't bond, but there was nothing she could be doing about that.

* * *

Ethan flew at least a thousand feet above what looked like Paliso's palace looking for a place to land. He had identified a few balconies that looked to be the lord's but wasn't sure which one to land on. Those balconies were all next to each other though, so maybe they all led to the same room or were otherwise connected? He took a minute more and then decided that he would land on one of the side balconies and try to approach more stealthily.

He dived.

He tucked his wings and hurtled towards the balcony, taking note of the guards armed with bows on the walls and airships in the sky and making sure to avoid them. He was pretty sure they couldn't hit him anyway. He kept his wings folded until the last minute, then spread them wide and gave an almighty, magically-strength-enhanced flap to help kill his momentum, then dropped the final few feet onto the balcony.

It was opulent. It almost looked like the railing itself had been gilded in gold. The sconces, candle stands, and much of the crown molding were gilded as well. The fabric on the drapes clearly had gold and silver threads woven through them as well.

It was all a bit much.

His dragon side liked it, but he thought it was gaudy and tasteless; it was a display of obscene wealth for the sake of displaying obscene wealth.

Despite how impressive the balcony was, the room it led to was far less so. The room wasn't very large compared to the balcony, being roughly square and perhaps fifteen feet on a side, whereas the balcony was at least that wide and twice the length. There was a small bed about the size of a twin bed with what looked like silk sheets, but otherwise it was entirely unimpressive.

The woman sitting on it was impressive though.

She was gorgeous.

Drop dead gorgeous.

No, that wasn't a strong enough description.

Frankly, this woman could not only give Selene a run for her money in a beauty competition, but she could legitimately win. If forced to pick a winner, he wasn't sure he could. Maybe flipping a coin would be the best way to decide? Helen of Troy was reputed to have a face that launched a thousand ships; but like Selene, this woman had an everything to launch a thousand ships.

Her skin was dusky-toned and entirely without a single flaw of any kind anywhere. Her black hair shone and fell in cascading waves and her figure was the stuff of legend. Her silk clothing was a cheerful orange color and covered everything, but was also clearly designed to allure and attract.

It took Ethan a moment to recover, but she seemed not to have noticed him. She was reading a thick book and the title was "The Legal Status of Slaves and Concubines in the Ten Kingdoms and Other Lands with a Focus on Their Treatment and the Permissibility of Their Emancipation."

That's when it clicked.

The small room and bed in such an extravagant palace right off what looked to be the lord's room. This woman was a concubine; a slave. He glanced at her neck and although her hair almost entirely obscured it at this angle, she was indeed wearing a slave collar.

Ethan clenched his fist and a tiny growl escaped his throat.

The woman looked at him. Her eyes widened slightly, though she didn't react otherwise. They were sad eyes, defeated eyes. She looked like all trace of hope had vanished from her soul long ago. She looked like any dreams she might've had or desires she'd once harbored were long gone, crushed into oblivion.

She looked him up and down for a moment before speaking with a slight accent. "Are you going to kill me?"

She sounded almost...

...hopeful?

"Of course I'm not going to kill you." He replied. "I'm here hoping to save someone, not kill someone."

"Oh." She sounded almost disappointed and her shoulders slumped a little further, if that was possible. She went back to her book, somehow looking even more sad than before. He wasn't even sure how that was possible.

Suddenly, Ethan had the urge to rearrange Lord Farbrottan's face -- and maybe his groin -- for how he obviously treated this woman.

A strong urge.

He looked at the only door in this room -- which led towards the rooms attached to the other large balconies -- and strode through it, banging it open as he did so. The room on the other side was beyond extravagant. Gold and silver lined almost everything that wasn't covered by obviously expensive works of art that had been painted on the walls like wallpaper. The candlesticks and other items in the room looked like gold, and his dragon senses confirmed that they were solid gold.

In the middle of the room was a bed that was almost comically large. Sitting on the bed was a man who could only be Lord Farbrotten, though there was a woman and also a child of about ten there as well. The lord and the woman were sitting together with the boy on the lord's lap and the lord was reading a book out loud to the boy.

Lord Farbrottan was about average height, though he was thin and wiry. His hair was an unremarkable brown color and he had no beard. However, there was something seedy about the lord's appearance. He was sitting up straight despite the boy on his lap and appeared to be enjoying reading to him. He had rather a lot of frown lines on his face despite his current smile. The woman next to him was reasonably attractive but not especially beautiful and her sandy blonde hair matched that of the boy's.

That was the exact moment that Ethan realized he'd screwed up.

Badly.

Lord Farbrottan snapped his head up when Ethan banged the door open. Ethan stopped just inside the room, not having expected to find the man with his family. The two men looked at each other for a moment, each sizing the other up.

Lord Farbrottan spoke loudly. "Fevie, get in here and bring your brats with you!"

Another door off the massive room opened and a gorgeous woman came running out, several young children behind her ranging in age from three or four to about ten. From the woman's dress, beauty, and slave collar, he assumed that she was another concubine.

"Come here!" The lord commanded and all of the newcomers practically ran to him, and clearly not because they loved him either. Once the woman and children were in front of him -- conveniently situated directly between the lord and Ethan -- Lord Farbrottan spoke to the woman sitting next to him and the boy on his lap. "Leave as quickly as you can and get the palace guard."

Suddenly, Ethan wanted to rearrange the man's face even worse.

It looked like Lord Farbrottan had called a concubine and her children -- who were presumably also his children -- into the room to function as human shields while the two that Ethan assumed were his wife and son escaped. Once they had left, Lord Farbrottan seemed to relax almost entirely.

"The prophet of Illuminar, Ethan Ejder." Lord Farbrottan said, not getting up and looking as relaxed as he might be if Ethan were in chains, not standing there with a war sword at his side. "Though with midnight blue armor instead of white; I assume to facilitate your entrance to my palace?

Ethan nodded, then spoke through gritted teeth. "Lord Farbrottan." He really wanted to teach the man a lesson but there were children in the room.

The lord smirked. "To what do I owe the honor of this visit?"

"You have rather a lot to answer for." Ethan replied, looking at the children and thinking about the over-taxed Ivernians.

"And yet I won't." The lord replied, still perfectly calm as he indicated the children around him. "You wouldn't attack with these young eyes looking on..." He looked Ethan directly in the eye, a bit of malice in his expression. "...would you?"

"Those are your children." Ethan snapped back, gripping the hilt of his war sword with his non-sword hand until it almost hurt.

The lord shrugged. "Yes, but they are the children from a slave." He waved carelessly at the gorgeous concubine next to him. "What are they to me?"

Ethan stared.

He shook his head slightly as if to clear it, sure he'd misheard. "You can't be serious."

"I love my wife and children." The lord replied, indicating the door through which the woman and boy had left. "But my concubines? They are stress relief at the end of a hard day, worth exactly what I paid for them and not a copper more."

Ethan stared.

Moments later, he heard the sound of armor-clad feet hitting the ground and the door through which the lady and the boy had left was flung open and a dozen men dressed in full chainmail armor came in.

"Hold." Lord Farbrottan said, raising his hand.

They stopped, notably on the opposite side of Lord Farbrottan from Ethan, and thus completely out of position to protect their lord.

"I would hear what this dragon has to say." The lord continued. "I'm curious what brings him all the way here just to seek an audience with me."

"Lady Ekthros." Ethan said after a moment. "She kidnapped the demon-possessed innkeeper's daughter and I want to know where she took her."

"Interesting." Lord Farbrottan mused. "Whatever could you possibly want with a Saidow Spawn like that witch?"

Ethan decided to skirt the truth. "She's demon-possessed, I'm called a prophet; I'm pretty sure you can figure it out."

The lord outright laughed at that. "You have gone there at least twice, perhaps three times now? Or at least your wives have. It sounds like you are interested in more than exorcising her demon. Why? She's borderline ugly."

"I don't expect that someone like you would understand." Ethan said through gritted teeth.

"The prophet and the demon-possessed girl; who would've thought it." The lord had a wide smile on his face, but his eyes also lit up like a hunter who had just spotted a weakness in his prey.

"Where is she?" Ethan asked.

"Give me a reason to tell you." Lord Farbrottan replied. Suddenly, Ethan got the distinct impression that he was being toyed with like a cat might toy with a mouse as the lord continued. "And please, no threats of physical violence. We both know you aren't man enough to hurt me with children watching."

There was so much wrong with that statement that Ethan didn't even know where to begin. Worse, he couldn't think of a threat that might work. He hadn't counted on children being present and he certainly wasn't going to make life worse for these kids who had just heard their own father explicitly say that he didn't care about them.

"Nothing?" Lord Farbrottan said. "Well, then I have to wonder how such an impotent lizard keeps all those wives satisfied." He paused. "Do you need some of your crewmen to help when you can't get it up?"

"One of these days, you are going to meet my blade." Ethan replied, knowing the other man was trying to rile him up and refusing to take the bait. He shifted his gaze to the concubine by his side. "And when that happens, I'll make sure someone takes care of your widows and orphans."

The concubine gave him the tiniest of smiles, but only on the side of her face that the lord couldn't see. The rest of her face remained a stone mask.

"Why wait?" Lord Farbrottan replied with a smug grin.

"Huh?"

"Why wait until I'm dead to take care of them? I'm sure you met the darkie in there." He waved carelessly at the room from which Ethan had come. "She's getting too old to be a good concubine and she can't breed so she's easy to get rid of because she has no children. She won't do much except lay there in bed anymore anyway, so I'll sell her to you."

Ethan took a deep breath, reminding himself yet again that murdering a man in front of his children would be bad for the children, regardless of how horrible of a father he was.

"There's no way in hell that I would ever own a slave." Ethan replied.

"Then I'll kick her out of the palace tonight." Lord Farbrottan shrugged. "It's easy when they don't have kids and I'm sure she'll probably be fine on the streets until morning... probably."

The other concubine's face told Ethan everything he needed to know about how 'safe' that plan was. Ethan stared at the man for several seconds, trying to figure out what the man's game was. It didn't make any sense, unless... Oh, he was thinking that Ethan would try to protect the dusky-skinned concubine and thus wouldn't be able to fly with her extra weight. He was hoping to keep Ethan on the ground and kill him.

Ethan growled.

After escorting Talven and Salma instead of being able to fly them to Talven's parents' house, he decided that it was better to keep Alana's weight-reduction necklace with him whenever he left the Argo just in case he needed it. He could obviously put it on the dusky-skinned concubine and still fly away, but Lord Farbrottan didn't know that. Was he really willing to just throw her away like that? Could he really be that wicked?

"You're bluffing." Ethan said after a few moments.

"Maybe I am, but are you willing to take that chance?" Lord Farbrottan smirked. "She's a succulent morsel to be sure, even if she is a darkie. I'm sure the nightlife will leave her alone... right?"

His smirk deepened.

He was enjoying this.

Ethan gripped his war sword tighter but still wasn't willing to use it with the children there.

"Darkie, get out here!" The lord called loudly.

Ethan heard movement behind him and the woman hurried out. Her eyes still looked dead though.

"I haven't used her in months because she's been so lethargic." Lord Farbrottan said. His smile wouldn't have been out of line if seen on a used car salesman, and Ethan realized that that's probably exactly how the lord saw this woman. To him, she was merely used goods and nothing more, even though she couldn't be older than her early twenties, maybe 25 at most.

"Imagine how she'll look wrapped around your cock." He paused. "Assuming an impotent lizard can get it up."

Ethan growled.

"If not, then imagine how she'll look in the morning after a night on the streets." The lord finished, his smirk still there. "Your move."

Ethan glanced at her.

She looked back at him and he saw the tiniest glimmer of hope in her eyes that most certainly hadn't been there before. He frowned and looked at Lord Farbrottan, then back at her.

"What do you want?" He asked her, hoping that she would let him free her.

She bit her lip, glanced at Lord Farbrottan, then back at him. "To leave." She said quietly.

"That'll cost you at least one copper." Lord Farbrottan said.

Ethan growled at him, then fished a copper out of the grenade satchel and flipped it to him as he growled. "Anything for just one more coin huh?"

The lord deftly caught it. "This?" He scoffed and then flipped it to one of the guards. "This is just to make the sale legal; I couldn't care less about the money."

"The way you squeeze the entire country dry with your taxes tells me that you're lying." Ethan retorted.

The lord laughed and this time he did sound truly amused.

"Something funny?" Ethan growled.

"The heavy taxes aren't about revenue." The lord said as if he was explaining something very obvious to someone very stupid. "I would be far wealthier if I cut the tax rate because the people could produce more if they weren't being bled dry. Besides, does it look like I need the money?" He indicated the gold-encrusted room around him.

"Then why?" Ethan asked.

Lord Farbrottan smiled. "People living just above sustenance level don't have time to think about revolting; they spend all their time staying alive. As long as they can afford the necessities and the occasional drink, they remain placid; controllable. It's only when they can't get enough or have too much that they get ideas above their station and revolt like they tried to do against my father. I won't make his mistakes. I monitor the tax situation very carefully and it's exactly where it needs to be to keep the rabble under control."

Once again, Ethan reminded himself that murdering the man in front of his children would be very bad for the children. The man was bleeding the nation dry for power and using his own children as proverbial human shields, or at least something very close to that. Neither fact seemed to bother the lord in the slightest.

"One day soon, I'm going to kill you." Ethan stated matter-of-factly.

"But not today." Lord Farbrottan replied with a smirk.

He clenched his fist, then remembered the woman right next to him and looked at her. "Pull your hair back; let me see what I can do about that collar."

She hesitated and glanced at Lord Farbrottan, who gestured for her to do so. "You're his now, not mine."

She did.

Ethan popped out the incredibly sharp claw on his right hand that he had used to cut the slave collar off of Rachel while they had been imprisoned. Something told him that this one wouldn't take nearly as long to cut through and he was right; it didn't have a hardening enchantment. It took less than a minute to cut through it with his beyond-razor-sharp claw and he let it fall to the ground.

The dusky-skinned woman looked at it like she couldn't believe it.

"Enjoy the flight with the extra weight." Lord Farbrottan smirked.

Ethan pretended that he hadn't thought of that and let it show on his face. The lord's smirk widened and then he gestured for the guards to move forward, which they did.

"Get back in the room." Ethan said and the woman rushed to obey.

Ethan was only a moment behind her and he closed the door behind him, but it didn't have a lock. He fished around in his grenade satchel for a moment until he felt what he was looking for and pulled it out.

"This is a weight-reduction necklace." He whispered as he held it out to her. "Put it on and I can fly us out of here."

She nodded and threw it on, then hesitated a moment. She dashed to the bed, ripped the pillow out of the pillowcase, swept everything on top of her dresser into the pillowcase, and then threw it over her shoulder.

Ethan turned around and dropped onto all fours. "Get on my back, wrap your legs around my tail, and try not to choke me."

She did without a word.

The moment she was secure, he ran to the edge of the balcony and leapt forward, spreading his wings and beating them as hard and as fast as he could to gain altitude.

The world slowed and one of the dozen arrows coming from below managed to find a gap in his armor plates, puncturing his torso.

Ethan reacted to the precognition, altering his body slightly so the offending arrow skittered off of his armor instead. Only one of the other arrows hit him and it fortunately hit the armor as well. In mere moments they were too far away for any archer to hit them, but that didn't stop him from climbing higher as fast as he could just to be safe.

Finally, he relaxed a bit once he'd hit nearly a thousand feet. The woman on his back was holding on for dear life, though thankfully she wasn't choking him with her arms.

"Hey, we're safe." He said loudly, looking back into her absolutely gorgeous face.

"Thank you Meelas." She said with her slight accent.

"Meelas?" He asked.

"It means 'my rescuer' in my native tongue." She explained.

"You're welcome. I'm Ethan by the way; Ethan Ejder."

"I am Ekdala MetTatian Mylera de Sekoral, but my Friend-Name is Myla." She replied. He couldn't help but notice that the hopelessness in her eyes was gone.

* * *

*Ekdala MetTatian Mylera de Sekoral.* Alana repeated to everyone after Ethan had recounted what had happened. She and her fellow wives were all in the captain's cabin and mostly naked except for Rachel who was wearing her underwear and Kendra who was elsewhere to hunt down that dragon. *That sounds like it's from the Southern Lands.*

*It is.* Rachel confirmed. *Down there the family name is first and she isn't a noblewoman or she would've added 'Ti' in front of her last name. There are other prefixes for different social strata and she didn't use any of them, so she's a commoner. The father's name comes next -- which is 'Tatian' since 'Met' means 'son or daughter of' -- then her personal name is 'Mylera' and she is from the town of Sekoral, which is what 'de Sekoral' means. She told you that her 'Friend-Name' is Myla, which means that she considers you a friend and would like you to address her as Myla.*

*Myla.* Ethan repeated. * I can do that. Where is Sekoral?*

*It's a very large port town on the Western Sea.* Rachel replied. *You get there by sailing west out of the Gulf of Sayora and turning south to follow the coast. I went there once with my father.*

The redhead looked at Alana, who returned the look. The two women had spent most of the afternoon dissecting every possible implication of Lord Delmar taking the redhead off the Argo the previous night while the wood elf had practiced with her travel bow and new arrows. Sadly, they had no idea what Lord Delmar's actions actually meant.

*She doesn't consider herself married.* Rachel added. *A married woman introduces herself as 'Dal' and then her husband's name, not 'Met' and then her father's name.*

*That makes sense given what just happened.* He replied. *I should rendezvous with the Argo in a couple hours, so can someone make sure there's a hammock in the ladies' area ready for her, or ask Anthiel to?*

*I can do that.* Alana volunteered, then slipped off the bed and grabbed her dress.

She didn't miss that Rachel's eyes followed her and so put a little more movement than she might ordinarily when getting dressed. She caught the redhead's eye when she was done and Rachel blushed, but she didn't look away.

Alana grinned.

She slipped out of the cabin and told Anthiel that they would have a guest arriving soon. The high elf looked rather amused but said nothing other than volunteering to make sure she got sorted when she arrived.

Alana was about to slip back into the cabin when she noticed Thor scrambling up the last step from the lower decks. The kitten ran to the captain's cabin door and then started pawing it and batting at it.

"Hang on little guy." Alana said gently, then opened the door for him.

Thor slipped inside almost instantly.

He bounded to the bed and meowed loudly until someone picked him up and put him on it, then he ran right to the spot where Selene had slept the two times she'd slept in here. The kitten sat down and looked around as if his owner might appear. When she didn't, he turned around once and flopped down looking miserable. He let out a mournful meow as he sniffed the sheets, then rolled on the spot where Selene had slept.

"Sorry Thor, but she'll be back." Alana said gently as she came back into the captain's cabin and closed the door behind her.

The kitten looked at her and then put his head back down on the sheets. He looked a little better, but he was clearly missing Selene just as much as everyone else.

"I wish I could change Selene's birthday." Alana sighed as she watched him.

*Dominus, when is Myla's birthday?* Beth asked the group chat.

*I'm not going to ask, and you ladies won't either.* Ethan replied. *She's been through a lot and we're going to give her space and time to heal.*

*Yes Dominus.*

*Yes Master, though it sounds like she knows the law like Selene does if her book is any indication.* Taloni pointed out.

*I wonder if she's telepathic too!* Beth grinned.

*Ladies...* Ethan thought to everyone, and Alana could just imagine how he would be shaking his head.

The wood elf pulled her dress off now that she was back with her fellow wives, doing it just a bit more slowly and sensuously than she might otherwise do when Ethan wasn't around. It had the desired effect too; Rachel wasn't full-on ogling, but she was certainly watching.

*My lord.* Rachel added, though her eyes were still on Alana. *It does seem odd that less than twenty-four hours after Selene left you are bringing another gorgeous woman to the Argo who seems to have legal experience. That seems significant.*

*Go to sleep ladies.* Ethan said with humor all over his mental tone. *You obviously aren't thinking clearly.*

*Not to add to the confusion Drago, but you should know something.* Kendra spoke up. *I met with the parents of the kidnapped girl. He's a lawyer by trade and his youngest daughter -- the one who the dragon kidnapped -- has helped him at his law office for years and I saw a portrait; she's just as beautiful as Selene."

All the ladies looked at each other.

*That's... I'm trying to think of the word.* Alana mused.

*A coincidence.* Ethan finished. *I have five wives already and I'm in no hurry to add more.*

*Except Sarah.* Alana teased.

*Ladies, would you all please tickle Alana for me.* Ethan thought to everyone with good-natured malice in his tone.

As one, Bee and Tee looked at her.

"Wait, this isn't--" The wood elf started to say, but was interrupted by the mischievous blondes tackling her and pinning her down.

The two blondes had jumped in without hesitation, but Rachel held back. Alana thought she could get free if she wiggled enough, but stopped just short of that point and instead thought privately to her husband. *Rachel is hesitating.*

*I'll take care of it.* He replied with amusement in his tone.

About thirty seconds later, Alana felt two perfectly feminine fingers touch her naked stomach hesitantly, and then they started tickling her just as hesitantly. Alana would've been smiling even if she wasn't being tickled. It took a few minutes for Ethan's smallest wife to escape from the bed and stand in the middle of the room, breathing heavily from all the laughing.

Rachel -- the one who had tickled her the most since the blondes were holding her down -- was breathing almost as heavily, was almost as red, and the wood elf didn't miss that there appeared to be a slight bit of moisture on the area between her legs.

Alana couldn't help but smile at that.

* * *

Kendra took a deep breath as she considered what the previous conversation might mean. She already knew that Selene's birthday didn't match the pattern and she felt sorry for Myla, but something about the whole thing just didn't sit right with her.

She wasn't sure what, but it didn't.

She put it out of her mind for the moment and focused on following the tracks in front of her. It wasn't hard because this dragon didn't appear to be particularly bright. It had made rather a lot of mistakes that she rarely saw dragons make, much less making them all at once.

It had walked along the shore of a stream instead of in the stream to cover its tracks, it had defecated along its trail and didn't bother to bury it or even do something about the smell, and it had walked on muddy spots when there were stones right nearby.

The trail was so obvious that she had initially thought it was a false trail or trap, but it wasn't.

It was always a bad idea to underestimate a dragon, but this one didn't seem very sharp. Dumb dragons were rare, but it happened and ironically the dumbest dragons were more likely to have breeding fever. Maybe they knew they wouldn't last long and wanted to reproduce before they died?

Regardless, she kept on tracking, determined to focus on what was in front of her and not think about Selene's dangerous mission. She prayed for her when she did think of it, but then tried to refocus on the mission as quickly as possible.

It only partially worked.

* * *

Ethan woke slowly, feeling groggy from having gotten to bed late the previous night. Myla hadn't said much after introducing herself and had gone straight to bed when Anthiel had offered to show her to a hammock. His wives had all rolled towards him in their sleep when he'd slipped into bed which had made him smile. This morning Rachel was in his arms, though the redhead had turned around and had her arms around Alana, who was snuggled up to her as closely as reasonably possible.

He was glad that he'd been able to rescue Myla, but otherwise the mission to Paliso was a complete and utter failure. He had learned nothing about Lady Ekthros or Sarah's whereabouts. Further, he had no other way to find her either.

"Master?"

He looked up to see Taloni standing there, her copy of the Book of Light open on the desk.

"Morning Tee." He whispered.

"I prayed for Sarah." The Fey teen whispered back.

"Thank you." He smiled at her and appreciated the thought, but he wasn't convinced that it would help.

"You'll find her Master, I'm sure of it."

"I hope so." Normally the sight of one of his wives standing naked in front of him would raise his spirits, and it did a little, but not much right now.

Tee slipped into bed and snuggled up to his back with a tender kiss on his scales.

He smiled.

It wasn't long before everyone else woke up and they could clearly sense his mood. They were affectionate but not sensual. Honestly, they kind of dog-piled him, surrounding him with soft, smooth skin. It was almost like a group hug lying down. Rachel was extra close to him, probably partially to hide her intimate bits from the others.

He got slightly choked up.

"We'll find her." Alana said. "Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but we will."

"You're leading the charge to do so." He pointed out.

"I like to think of myself as one of those 'cheerleaders' that you mentioned." She replied. "I just need a short skirt."

"I like your current skirt." He quipped.

She looked down at her naked torso. "What this old thing?" She winked.

Everyone chuckled.

"Master, I really do think that Sarah is okay." Taloni said after a moment. "I feel it like how I felt that you would marry Kendra. I really do think she is okay."

Ethan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You're sure?"

"Yes Master." She nodded.

He nodded slowly, feeling better. He didn't know why, but when Tee got strong feelings like that she was almost never wrong. He could tell from their bond that she did feel strongly about it which went a long way towards putting his heart at ease.

"Why didn't you say so before?" Beth asked the Fey teen.

"Because I didn't feel like that until this morning while I was praying for her." Tee replied.

Ethan took a deep breath. "Okay, that's good enough for me."

Everyone else voiced general agreement.

With that weight on his mind somewhat lessened, he turned to other things. "I really should get up, eat, and go help Kendra track down that dragon. There's a woman who might be having a very rough time of it right now."

They all agreed and started getting up.

* * *

*Drago, I've tracked the dragon to its lair.* Kendra thought to everyone. She'd slept the previous night, though not as well as she would've with Ethan there, and picked up the trail after waking up a half hour ago. Her search had just borne fruit.

*Okay, I just got up.* He replied. *Also, Tee had a bit of intuition this morning.*

They explained, after which Kendra replied. *I'm glad to hear that.*

*Me too.* Her husband thought to everyone, and he did sound better as he continued. *I'll eat breakfast and then I'll fly to you. See you soon.*

*Looking forward to it Drago.* Kendra settled a little more comfortably into the lookout position she'd found and waited. While waiting, she tried rather hard to pray for Selene instead of only worrying about her friend. She was only partially successful.

* * *

Ethan stepped out into the morning air, noting that it wasn't as warm as usual. It wasn't cool either, but the ever-present warm summer air seemed to have dipped a few degrees this morning. His wives followed him out and Serif and Raklan were by the breakfast fire, but Anthiel and Myla were nowhere to be seen.

"Where are Anthiel and Myla?" He asked as he started getting his food.

"Here." The high elf said as she topped the stairs, followed by the dusky-skinned woman he had rescued the previous night.

Myla walked forward with a lot of poise and grace, stopped several feet short of the others, did an obviously formal bow that was also half curtsy, then straightened up and spoke in her slight accent. "Hail, I am Ekdala MetTatian Mylera de Sekoral, but my Friend-Name is Myla."

Rachel stood and did the exact same bow almost flawlessly. "Hail Myla, I am Ejder DalEthan Rachel de Karnas, but my Friend-Name is Rachel. Your presence brings joy to our home and lightness to our hearts."

Myla beamed.

Ethan got the distinct impression that Rachel had just aced a formal greeting that was traditional among Myla's people.

"Your greeting brings joy to my heart." Myla replied to Rachel with a smile, then addressed everyone else. "But I am in your home; please introduce yourselves as you would normally."

Everyone did, though Taloni outdid everyone else by offering a hug to the gorgeous woman and she seemed pleased to accept it.

"Please, take a seat and get some food." Ethan said.

"If you want to wear something else, I can get or make something for you." Alana offered.

Ethan thought that was a good idea. While Myla's dress covered all of the important bits, it was rather on the skimpy side and definitely had a 'harem' vibe about it.

"I have a few dresses which should fit you." Anthiel offered.

"That would bring joy to my heart." Myla smiled. She hesitated and some of the joy on her face faltered. "Might I eat first?"

"Eat as much as you want." Ethan said.

"We have plenty." Alana assured her. "And we can make more if we run out."

Myla smiled again, but it wasn't quite the beaming smile from before. She started eating and while she looked happy enough, she rarely made eye contact with anyone and spoke even less. Occasionally someone would move quickly or there would be an unexpected sound and she would jump slightly.

*She's been through hell.* Ethan thought to everyone.

*Maybe we can help her Master?* Tee suggested.

*I hope so.* He nodded, then spoke aloud. "I need to get going soon."

Myla looked up at him in alarm.

"My other wife is out tracking a dragon who kidnapped someone." He explained. "I'm going to help her kill it, free the someone, and I should be back in a few hours."

"It would bring joy to my heart to see your safe return." Myla said, though he couldn't tell if she was being sincere or if it sounded rehearsed. It might've been either but it was hard to tell.

"Master, should I set course for Dotmier now that you are back from Paliso?" Taloni asked. " Tesselae is almost on the way."

"Good idea." He nodded once he'd finished chewing. "I promised Matthew that I would be back by the time he challenges that Luminar and we're already cutting it close."

"I will then." The Fey teen smiled at him.

He noticed that she had asked if she should get the Argo started, not if Anthiel should. He had noticed her doing more of the piloting lately, but it seemed like she was becoming very comfortable with piloting the Argo by herself. He smiled at that; she had come a long way from the timid girl he'd married.

Once he finished eating, he made sure he was properly armed, kissed all his wives, and then took to the skies. Once he had himself oriented, he thought to everyone. *Did Myla sound a little odd when she wished for my safe return?*

*I think she spoke truthfully but had rehearsed it as a lie so many times that it sounded strange when it came out.* Rachel replied.

*You sound like you have some experience with that.* He pointed out.

*My father wasn't always easy to live with.* She replied, but didn't explain further.

* * *

Kendra smiled as her husband came into sight, flying just over the treetops and landing right next to her.

"There's my good girl." He grinned.

She couldn't help but smile back at him, even despite Selene being gone and how silly it was for him to think that she was a good person.

He looked at her pointedly. "You are a good person."

"I'm glad you think so Drago." She replied.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and sighed while slowly shaking his head. "One of these days, I hope you see yourself like I do; like all of us do."

"That would be nice."

"Come here." He pulled her close, kissed her tenderly, then looked around. "Okay, what are we dealing with?"

"Single dragon, almost certainly not old enough to breathe fire yet." Kendra launched into her report. "He's taken refuge in a small cave in the nearby hill. No eyes on the woman, but the dragon has brought some fruit back to the cave so it's almost certain that she's still alive. The lair is partially concealed by a copse of trees and our best approach vector is from the southeast. There's a small rise that will conceal us almost the entire way."

Ethan grinned at her.

"What?" She asked when she saw the grin on his face.

"You are adorable when you're all business, you know that?"

She tried unsuccessfully not to smile at that. "He's standard mature size 2, so slightly smaller and slimmer than you are."

Ethan put on a mock-frown. "Do these scales make me look fat?"

She raised her eyebrow.

"Nevermind." He chuckled. "Anything else I should know?"

"One personal observation." She replied. "He made some really dumb choices about covering his tracks. I'm not sure he's fighting with a full rack of weapons, if you know what I mean."

"I won't complain about a dumb opponent for a change." He nodded. "Okay, let's go."

They set off, leaving the cover Kendra was using and heading towards the copse of trees where the dragon's cave was. The land here was lush and green like the rest of Ivernia, but there were noticeably fewer trees. She and her husband double-timed it across the meadow, crossing the mile or so to the copse quickly.

They slowed down as they got closer and Ethan dropped to all fours. It was amazing how easily he seemed to stalk forward that way, like some great cat on the prowl. They reached the copse without incident and began to climb the small, rocky hill. It only stuck up about twenty feet from the surrounding plain and the copse only covered half of that.

Once they were above the entrance and hidden behind some scraggly brush, Kendra thought to him. *How did you want to approach this Drago?*

*You're the dragon huntress, recommendations?*

*For weaker dragons, the direct approach usually works best, especially if they can't breathe fire yet.* She replied. *It's best to wait until it leaves so we can get between it and its lair. Otherwise, it will often hunker down and you have to either engage it in its lair -- which is a bad idea -- or starve it out.*

*We don't have time for that, the waiting game it is.* He replied.

*Remember that we want the hide and scales, so try to do as little damage to them as possible.* She reminded him.

*So kill the evil dragon without hurting him; gotcha.* He winked.

She rolled her eyes.

Then they waited.

* * *

"Fiona."

She had just finished kneading a large batch of dough in the kitchens when Marge called her name.

"Yes?" The copper-haired woman looked at her.

"Come here." The head cook waved her over.

Fiona knocked the excess flour from her hands and walked over to her. "Yes?"

"Sir Warrick sent a messenger; he wants you to meet him for tea this afternoon in the Gibstine drawing room." Marge said, eyeing Fiona with something that looked like a cross between curiosity and suspicion.

"But why?"

"I don't know." Marge shrugged. "But there have been rumors that Lord Delmar had a meeting last night on the Helene with a woman whose description sounds suspiciously like yours."

"Oh." Fiona frowned.

She thought that perhaps the rumors would happen, but Sir Warrick wanting a meeting? He was one of the most senior members of Lord Delmar's court. She supposed that Lord Delmar might've told him about his proposal, but that didn't seem likely.

Marge nodded. "You're excused to get cleaned up."

"Thank you." Fiona replied, not sure what to make of this development. She supposed that she'd find out what he wanted at teatime.

* * *

Ethan waited with Kendra nearly two hours before they saw the dragon leave the cave on all fours, shaking its head as it went and muttering something under its breath, though what was anyone's guess. Ethan waited until it was a fair distance from the cave before stalking forward on all fours. He made it to above the cave's entrance and dropped down, making sure to make some noise as he landed.

The other dragon whipped around.

It was a somewhat skinny dragon. His scales were a medium gray that was several shades lighter than Ethan's own. Something about the face and skull shape seemed off as well. Ethan couldn't place it, but something about this dragon just looked a little... off.

It snarled at him. "She's mine!"

"She's not yours, you kidnapped her." He replied calmly. He would've ordinarily drawn his war sword, but something told him that his dagger would be a better choice since this was likely to get up close and personal. Plus, he was trying not to hurt the hide or scales very much.

The other dragon started walking towards him and again, Ethan got the impression that something about this dragon was a bit off. He walked like... like... Well, this dragon reminded Ethan of a jock he'd known in high school who hit like a freight train on the football field but needed a lot of tutoring to maintain the minimum GPA to play.

The other dragon charged at him.

Ethan readied his dagger and activated his enhanced reflexes to time his attack properly. The other dragon leapt at him, apparently heedless of the fact that Ethan was both armed and armored. Ethan waited until the other dragon was entirely in the air and thus unable to change direction before he whipped his dagger out and up, aiming to stab up from the underside of the other dragon's jaw.

It worked.

The dagger smoothly punctured through the soft underside of his attacker's jaw and there was a slight 'bump' as he felt it punch through the underside of the skull and into the brain. His attacker hit him not as a snarling dragon but rather as dragon-shaped dead weight. Ethan turned slightly and levered the body over so it dropped to the ground without taking him with it.

"Wow." He said as he looked at the now-dead dragon. "It never goes that smoothly."

"Oh my God!" A feminine voice gushed from inside the cave. A young woman who was probably in her early or mid-twenties ran out of the cave, though she had a rope tied tightly around her ankle. She had to duck to leave because the ceiling was probably only five feet high and -- like Myla -- this woman was about Selene's height.

She was also gorgeous.

Drop dead gorgeous.

For the second time in as many days, he took a moment to absorb a vision of feminine perfection in front of him. Unlike Myla, this girl was incredibly fair-skinned, even more so than Rachel. She had platinum blonde hair that fell in perfect waves and a round face that was a perfect combination of gorgeous and cute. Gorgeously cute? If someone lined up Selene, Myla, and this woman and forced him to pick the most beautiful, he would probably ask for some dice to help him pick.

She had a wide, dazzling smile on her face and certainly didn't look like she'd just been repeatedly raped.

"You're the prophet!" She gushed. "I never thought..." Her eyes went wide. "Of course you're the prophet, you killed him so easily!"

"And you aren't bothered by that?" Kendra asked from above her. Ethan and the dragon huntress had agreed that she would remain in reserve in case a surprise attack was warranted on their foe. Thankfully it hadn't been.

She whipped around to look at Kendra, then Ethan, then at Kendra again. "You're one of his wives, aren't you?!"

Kendra nodded.

"Oh my word, this is the greatest thing ever!" The woman was bouncing on the balls of her feet and had a look of absolutely undisguised and unconcealed glee.

"Are you okay?" Ethan asked.

"I'm fine." She stared at him. "I can't believe I'm meeting the prophet!"

"Did he rape you?" Kendra asked without preamble.

"No, he was pretty stupid and easy to manipulate." She rolled her eyes. "All he could think about was getting me pregnant so I told him I was at the wrong part of my cycle and that the women in my family needed to eat a special fruit blend for a month before trying or it wouldn't work."

Ethan raised his eyebrow.

"He was really stupid." She chuckled.

"All it could 'think' about?" Kendra repeated the woman's words. "How did you know what it was thinking?"

"Oh." She went slightly pink in her porcelain cheeks but her enthusiasm wasn't dampened. "I'm kind of a little telepathic."

"A little?" Ethan looked at her.

"Okay, a lot." She grinned. "Daddy says I'll never get married; I keep seeing what all the boys are thinking and it's never good." She made a face like someone had just stuck manure under her nose. "Anyway, I know exactly what to say to drive them away and Daddy can't figure out how I'm doing it." She giggled.

"Gotcha." Ethan said to the woman, then looked at Kendra.

His fifth wife had gone stony-faced as she thought to him. *Legal expertise from working with her lawyer father, telepathy, and she's gorgeous?*

He shrugged. *Yeah, that's weird.*

"Why don't you take her home; I'll take care of this." Kendra indicated the dragon's body. He couldn't tell if it was a practical suggestion or if the raven-haired woman was annoyed.

He gave her a thumbs up.

* * *

"Alana, may I ask you a question?"

The wood elf turned to see Myla standing near her not quite meeting her eye. Alana had been practicing with her travel bow for the last hour, determined to never be forced to take the 'safe' shot again like she'd been forced to do with Lord Delmar.

"Of course." Alana said with a smile.

"When..." The dusky-skinned woman looked down. "When will Master Ethan collar me?"

Alana stared. "What?"

"I am a slave." Myla said. "I think he will be a better master than Lord Farbrottan, but I would not wish to grow used to freedom only to have it removed by a collar once more."

"He's not going to collar you and you aren't a slave anymore." Alana replied. "Ethan hates slavery. He isn't even comfortable with the entirely voluntary version that Illuminar allows in the Book of Light, much less the horrible version that Lord Farbrottan allows."

Myla nodded slowly. "But it is illegal to free a slave in Ivernia."

"Ethan cares a lot more about what's right than what's legal." Alana replied. "You aren't a slave and Ethan would never treat you as one."

She nodded slowly but didn't speak.

"Your life is your own." Alana said with a smile. "What do you want to do with it?"

"I wish to obtain a divorce from Lord Farbrottan." Myla replied without hesitation.

"Well, I know a Luminar nearby who should be able to write a divorce certificate for you." Alana nodded towards the Midnight Sun, which was still sailing in rough formation with the Argo.

"Truly?" Myla asked.

Alana nodded. "And given the circumstances, I'm pretty sure he'll wave the customary waiting period as well."

The dusky-skinned woman blinked a few times and swallowed. "You believe that he would?"

"I think so." She nodded. "You'll be your own woman soon, what would you like to do?"

"I had not considered that, but my heart is filled with gratitude and I would wish to balance the debt I owe." She hesitated a moment before speaking. "Would it be helpful to have someone with telepathic skill assisting you?"

Alana stared. "You're telepathic?"

Myla nodded. "And I have studied the law as well. I will endeavor to assist however I am able."

Alana continued staring for several seconds before her brain caught up. "I really appreciate that Myla and I'm sure Ethan will too."

The former slave smiled.

It wasn't a wide smile and there was pain in her eyes, but the smile did reach into her eyes.

"When Ethan gets back, I'll ask him to fly you over to the Midnight Sun so Luminar Kossel can write that divorce certificate."

"My heart is filled with gratitude." Myla said, did her bow that was also half-curtsy, and then wandered away.

*Guys, there's something you really need to hear.* She thought to everyone.

* * *

Ethan was rather glad that the woman he and Kendra had rescued -- Victoria was her name -- had gotten somewhat out of breath as they finished walking back towards her town after flying most of the way. The woman had something of Beth's inexhaustible energy about her and right now he was glad she was directing that towards walking because he couldn't believe what his first wife was telling him. Well, he did believe her, but still...

Then he explained about Victoria to his wives.

The result was stunned silence for several long seconds.

*My lord, that's two incredibly gorgeous women who have legal backgrounds and are telepathic, just like Selene.* Rachel pointed out.

*And telepathy is incredibly rare.* Beth added.

*The probability of finding that combination in a single woman is vanishingly low.* Rachel pointed out. *The odds of finding it in three women?*

*It's basically impossible.* Alana finished.

*Master, I think we should ask them what their birthdays are.*

Ethan took a deep breath, thinking about it a lot more seriously than when it had been teasingly mentioned the previous night. *I see your point Tee.*

*But why are there two of them?* Kendra asked. *Ethan already has five wives and Sarah makes six so there's only one remaining.*

*Ladies, Sarah won't--* He started to say, but Alana interrupted.

*Sir, she will be number six or number seven, regardless of how many times you have everyone tickle me.*

He took a deep breath, unable to keep a smile off of his face at that possibility.

"That's my house, right there." Victoria pointed to a house that was significantly larger than the other houses in town and in better repair as well. It wasn't ostentatious or gaudy though. It actually looked quite nice and tasteful. Somewhat unusually for the houses in Ivernia, it also looked to be in good repair. He was pretty sure that made her parents rich by Ivernian standards.

*I just arrived, so we'll have to table this for now.* He thought to everyone and then spoke aloud to Victoria. "Are your parents rich?"

"Uh-huh." She smiled. "Well, not quite rich. Daddy does a lot of organizational work for Baron Martel and he pays well, even if he is..." She lowered her voice. "...I've heard he's worse than Lord Farbrottan."

Having just met the lord, Ethan found that difficult to believe.

"Come on in, you're going to love my parents." She beamed, then opened the door and called loudly. "Mother! Father! I'm home! The Prophet of Illuminar rescued......me."

It didn't take a genius to figure out why her voice had faltered at the end.

Ivernian soldiers.

There were a half dozen of them in the house talking to a man and a woman who could only be Victoria's parents. The family resemblance was unmistakable, though the daughter was far more attractive than the mother had probably ever been.

Ethan of course had his disguise gem activated for the walk through town. However, one of the soldiers raised his hand and waved it between them, like he was clearing his vision or brushing something out of the way.

"The prophet of Illuminar." That soldier grinned, avarice in his eyes.

"Don't try it." Ethan said, resting his non-sword hand on his war sword while he gently pushed Victoria to the side with his other. Normally he would've opted for a different weapon indoors, but the front room in this house was large and had high ceilings.

The soldiers all looked at each other with wide smiles on their faces.

"It's six to one." One of them said while drawing his sword.

Ethan sighed as he drew his own sword. "Everyone who doesn't want to die, leave the room."

Victoria and her parents fled.

The soldiers attacked.

Thankfully they weren't wearing chainmail or any other kind of armor. Ethan parried the incoming overhand strike and then used his superior strength to lever his blade down and thrust out into the attacker's face while the four others spread out to come from multiple angles. The last one had his sword drawn but hung back and seemed hesitant to attack.

The remaining four attacked at the same time.

Ethan deployed his rollable shield to protect from the two on his left side and blocked one of the strikes from the right while stepping back to avoid the other. Then he crouched and turned, using his tail to trip the one he had parried. Ethan twisted his war sword around from the hanging overhand block he had used and snapped it down, cutting deeply into the man's torso.

That accomplished, Ethan leapt forward at the other man, blocking his clumsy counterstrike on his armor before this soldier too felt the bite of Ethan's blade. He turned to face the other two and charged forward, using his large kite shield as a battering ram on the one. He knocked the solider into the wall and he fell to the ground while Ethan parried an attack from the other. With one on the floor, it took Ethan approximately two seconds to kill the standing attacker and then he whipped his sword around at the other.

The prone soldier managed to block Ethan's sword strike but couldn't win in the bind against Ethan's dragon physique and enchantment-enhanced strength. Two seconds later, he too left the land of the living. Ethan stood, not even out of breath as he turned to face the last soldier.

The man dropped his sword and fled.

Ethan flicked his sword and all of the blood slid completely off of the blade thanks to its frictionless enchantment, then he returned it to its scabbard. What a difference armor made.

"They're gone." Ethan said loudly.

Several seconds later, Victoria and her parents reentered the room.

Her father looked around at the dead bodies and whistled. "The prophet of Illuminar -- blessed be He."

"Blessed be He." Everyone echoed, even Ethan because 'when in Rome'...

"You have my undying gratitude for returning my daughter to me." The man continued. He was a slightly pasty man and didn't look entirely healthy. In contrast to the vibrant and youthful look of his wife and daughter, his face was a bit drawn, his hair was a bit thin, and his clothes hung off him in such a way that Ethan was pretty sure he was rather thin. By contrast, his eyes were bright, alert, and spoke of obvious intelligence. It seemed that what this man lacked in body, he more than made up for in mind. His wife was clinging to his arm as well, which spoke well of him too.

"I was happy to help, though I'm afraid I've put you in a bad spot with the Ivernian military." Ethan indicated the bodies on the ground.

"Indeed." The man nodded, then extended his hand towards Ethan. "I am Harold Gladstone and this is my wife Carla."

"Pleasure." Ethan shook his hand and then looked at the bodies again. "I don't suppose the local authorities will understand?"

"The Baron Martell? Hardly." Harold replied. "He makes Lord Farbrottan seem like a generous and forgiving fellow. His manor house is less than five miles away and I have petitioned him every day since my girl was taken, but he still took many days to send these men to help, even with my years of service." No one would miss the bitterness in the man's tone.

"Do you have somewhere you can go?" Ethan asked.

"Not nearby." The man replied. "I have family outside of Baron Martell's jurisdiction, but I'm afraid no place in Ivernia will be safe after this." He looked at his wife. "Perhaps we could make it to Timarou?"

"All the way to Timarou?" His wife looked both skeptical and fearful.

"The wood elves might turn us away, Narlotten will extradite us, Har'peton is just as far and much worse, Koilas is further away, and the wilding lands are out of the question for obvious reasons." Harold frowned. "What other option is there?"

"My airship, at least for a short while." Ethan said. "It's nearby and we're heading towards the Timarou border next. I'd feel a lot better about you hitching a ride with us than walking overland. I've heard the Ivernian roads are dangerous and the Ivernian military might catch up with you."

"Are you sure?" Harold asked.

"Yeah." He nodded. "It's only for a couple days, then we'll be quite close to Ivernia's border with Timarou and you can cross there."

Harold breathed a sigh of relief and suddenly looked a few years younger. "I cannot thank you enough; First you save my daughter and then my entire family."

"Speaking of, they won't go after the other children, will they?" Harold's wife asked.

He shook his head. "No, they have been out of the house long enough that they shouldn't." He looked at Ethan. "Vicky was a surprise late child, born ten years after our previous child."

"Okay." Ethan nodded. "Well, grab only what you can't leave behind. My airship is a decent size, but we'll be taking a canoe-sized airship to get there so pack light and pack fast."

The family assented and then went to do just that.

*Heads up ladies, we're going to have guests on the Argo for a few days.* Ethan thought to everyone and then explained.

*Yes sir, I'll let Anthiel know to expect a few more for lunch.* Alana replied.

*I'm almost finished here Drago.* Kendra replied. *I'll meet you at my airship soon.*

*Okay, sounds good.* He replied, thinking the Argo would have a lot of guests soon with the Gladstone family plus Myla. Speaking of, he supposed that he really needed to sit down with the former slave at some point and have a talk about what she wanted to do in life.

* * *

Ethan touched down on the Argo's deck, glad that the trip had been uneventful. Victoria's family hadn't brought much besides some family portraits, a rather hefty coin purse, and some self-cleaning clothes. Harold had brought a few books and the ladies had brought some jewelry, but thankfully they had listened to him and had packed lightly. Kendra set her airship down on the Argo not long after Ethan had returned since he'd flown with them as an escort in case of problems.

"Is that food?" Victoria said as she sniffed the air. "That dragon didn't feed me much and I'm starving!" She looked at Ethan. "May I please have some?"

"Have as much as you like." He smiled.

"Thank you!" She beamed and then ran to the circle where everyone else was.

"She's quite excitable." Ethan observed to her parents.

"And always has been." Her mother agreed.

"She could find the bright spot in a pig sty." Harold agreed. "You wouldn't know it to look at her, but she's been through rather a lot in her short life and come out well."

"She has?" Ethan asked. Her family seemed wealthy for Ivernians and nothing about her life or personality appeared to indicate hardship, though obviously appearances could be deceiving.

"Another story for another time." Her father nodded.

Ethan shrugged and walked over to the lunch crowd wanting some grub as well. Myla had just stood up and introduced herself -- notably without the 'Friend-Name' part -- and Victoria looked confused.

"So your name is 'Ekdala'?" The platinum blonde asked.

Rachel then explained how the formal introduction was done, after which Victoria looked at Myla and said haltingly. "Hail, I am Gladstone... MetHarold... Victoria... de Tesselae... Is that right?"

"Hai." Myla nodded, so Ethan assumed that 'hai' meant 'yes'.

Victoria smiled and then got some food with her parents and Ethan not far behind her. It ended up being a rather large circle around the firepan on which lunch was cooked. With so many new people around, Ethan paid rather a lot of attention to the atmosphere. It was good. There was some awkwardness since introductions were being made, but otherwise it was good.

*It seems that everyone is getting along.* Alana thought to him about halfway through lunch.

*It's good to see.* He replied.

As lunch was winding down, someone mentioned Nalatia and Beth jumped up and thought to everyone. *I haven't checked the portals yet today.* She dashed into the captain's cabin and returned several seconds later with an envelope which she handed to Alana. "It's in elvish."

The wood elf opened it. "It's from the king of the wood elves. He has a ward who was the daughter of a dear friend who died..." She scanned lower. "Apparently she has been begging him to delay her Metherion -- an elven noblewoman's traditional coming-of-age ball -- until you could attend." She then added telepathically. *He included a small portrait and she's just as gorgeous as Selene, Myla, or Victoria. He also confidentially mentioned that she has some skill in telepathy and that her father was in the legal field; I think he's hoping you'll be interested in marrying her.*

Ethan and all of his wives looked at each other.

"Does it say when she came of age?" Beth asked aloud.

Alana scanned the letter for several moments. "Um, yes right here it says that her birthday was on--" She looked up at her fellow wives and Ethan. "--her birthday is Setas sixth."

"Oh, that's my birthday too." Victoria said brightly.

"Mine as well." Myla said, then took another bite of her lunch.

Ethan's jaw dropped.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Note: This chapter began on day 102 of Ethan's life in the Ten Kingdoms and ended on day 104. So, I would like to apologize for the insane number of typos in the early chapters of ADT before I got an editor. I recently went back through with an AI-powered error/grammar-checking tool and fixed more typos than I thought possible. There were just so, so many. I had no idea. I'm really sorry and also incredibly grateful that you all stuck with our heroes despite the errors. I'll re-upload the corrected chapters as an editor I'm working with finishes them, so that's coming. :)

I submit new chapters on the last Wednesday of every month, and they usually drop after the 2-3 days review process. Thus I'll submit the next chapter on March 27th, and it'll probably drop on March 29th or 30th.

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