Chapter 56: What will a man give in exchange for his soul?

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

* * *

Ethan looked at the two drop-dead gorgeous 20-something-year-old guests on the Argo, then at Alana, then at the letter she was holding which mentioned a third gorgeous woman, and then thought to his wives. *Three? Three drop-dead gorgeous women who were born on the sixth day of the sixth month, are telepathic, and have experience in the legal field?*

*It's Selene's exact skillset in women who couldn't be more different from her in temperament.* Rachel pointed out.

*Not her exact skillset.* Kendra said while clenching her teeth. *None of them know how to fight and none of them can replace Selene; even Thor knows that.* She flicked her eyes toward the kitten, who had been watching the large lunch crowd from the doorway to the lower decks. He seemed a lot less interested in meeting new people without Selene around.

*No they can't; no one ever could.* Ethan agreed. *Let's go into the captain's cabin or someone might figure out that we're talking telepathically.*

*We didn't have to worry about that with Selene.* Kendra grumbled.

"Ladies." Ethan said and all of the assembled women looked at him. He smiled wryly. "Sorry, I meant my wives. We need to talk in the captain's cabin for a few minutes."

Everyone shrugged or nodded and then he and his wives headed into the captain's cabin.

*Telepathy only.* Ethan thought to them once he closed the door. *I don't want anyone to overhear this.*

They nodded.

*So what the hell does this mean?* He asked. * I have a guess, but I want to know what you all are thinking.*

No one said anything initially.

Everyone looked at everyone else except for Kendra, who was breathing rather heavily, had her fists and jaw clenched, and was glaring at the floor like it had done her a great personal wrong.

*Master, I think Illuminar is giving you a choice.* Taloni finally said. *I think any of them could fall in love with you and you can choose who you want as your sixth wife.*

Ethan didn't say this out loud, but his mind went immediately to Selene. Sure Victoria and Myla were nice, and the wood elven king's ward almost certainly was as well, but he missed Selene. That was probably because of his bond with her and the logical part of his brain was telling him that he would feel the same about Victoria or Myla if he bonded to one of them.

But he wasn't bonded to them.

He was bonded with Selene.

He'd known that he would miss her, but he found himself a little surprised at how much he missed her. He felt like a part of him was missing, which again was probably a result of the bond.

*I find it odd that we learned of three other women with Selene's qualifications so soon after she left; it's been just over twenty-four hours.* Rachel mused. *The only thing that's different about them is that Selene doesn't share their birthday.*

*That's not the only difference.* Alana replied, beating Ethan to the punch. *They might have the same skills and abilities, but they are very different people.*

*Agreed.* He nodded. *People aren't just interchangeable like that.*

*But Master, that doesn't mean they won't make good wives.* Taloni pointed out. *You have five wives and we are all different from one another.*

*But all of you are great wives, though in very different ways.* Ethan mused, catching on. *So you're saying that none of them could replace Selene, but they could be good wives in other ways?*

*Yes Master.* Taloni replied, but she didn't look happy about it. If he didn't miss his guess, she preferred Selene.

He did too.

*Kendra, please don't take this the wrong way.* Alana said looking at the raven-haired woman. *But even though I would prefer Selene, there's no reason that Myla, Victoria, or the king's ward couldn't fit just as well as she does.*

Kendra made a sound that very nearly resembled a growl, but she didn't disagree.

*You're talking like there's a choice between Myla, Victoria, the king's ward, and Selene.* Rachel pointed out. *But that's not the case because Selene's birthday isn't Setas sixth.*

Kendra's head snapped up and her eyes went wide as she sucked in her breath. *Yes it is.*

*What?* Ethan asked as everyone else looked at the former Aldmiri.

*It's the only thing that makes sense.* The raven-haired woman frowned. *Myla and Victoria have too much in common with Selene for it to be a coincidence; it fits too well. Selene lied.* Her frown turned into a scowl. *I'll never forget that moment when she said her birthday didn't fit the pattern. I didn't even consider it then, but thinking back now? With my training in lie detection...* She clenched her fist. *Selene lied to us.*

*Oh?* Rachel cocked her head to one side. *Oh.* She cocked her head to the other side. *Thinking about her reaction at the time...*

*...and how weird she was about it afterwards.* Alana added, then grimaced.

Tee looked at him. *That would make sense Master, but do we really think that she would lie to us?*

No one answered.

*She shielded her emotions from me.* Ethan said after a few moments. *She might've been worried that I would notice her feeling guilty. Now that I think of it, I think I felt some guilt from her before she did that.*

Slam!

Kendra had slammed the bottom of her fist into the side of the large wardrobe nearby.

Everyone jumped slightly.

*I should've been paying closer attention* The former Aldmiri scowled. *I could tell something was off with her reaction, but I never even considered that she might've...* She set her jaw. *How could she...?*

*I don't know.* Ethan replied. Honestly, he felt a little gut-punched. It had literally never occurred to him that Selene would lie, but now it seemed awfully likely.

*Are you sure?* Beth asked while looking at Kendra.

She nodded. *Looking back, all the signs were there. I didn't notice at the time, but...*

*What does that mean?* Taloni asked.

*I think it means that Selene could have married Ethan but she chose not to.* Rachel replied, but she was frowning as well.

*Oh!* Beth exclaimed as her eyes widened. *I just remembered something. When I was trapped by that demonic tendril in Arcanum, Gabriella gave me the choice to help Ethan or not. I asked what would happen if I chose not to help him, and she said that Illuminar would provide help from another source if I didn't. Thinking back on it, I think she meant that Illuminar would've given you a different wife; someone other than me if I had wanted that.*

*I'm glad you didn't.* Ethan replied, not even wanting to think about not being married to the blonde.

*Me too.* Beth smiled, then looked around at everyone. *I think Rachel is right. I think that Selene had the same choice that I had and she chose not to marry Ethan.*

*Maybe.* Alana countered. *But assuming her birthday is Setas Sixth--*

*June Sixth.* Ethan interjected. *That's the sixth day of the sixth month on Earth's calender.*

Alana nodded and then continued. *--then assuming that Selene's birthday is June sixth, there's no reason that she couldn't change her mind and still marry Ethan.*

*I hope she does Master.* Tee almost managed a smile.

*Do you want her to change her mind Dominus?* Beth asked.

*Honestly, I don't know.* He sighed. *I've had enough of women lying to me for an entire lifetime.*

Everyone looked at him confused.

*Your ex-fiancée?* Alana guessed.

He nodded. *Though, I don't think it was premeditated with Selene so I guess it's not quite the same thing.*

*I hate to put it in such an uncouth manner my lord, but you do have options if Selene lying concerns you* Rachel pointed out.

*Maybe, but I'm only one half of the equation.* He replied. *There's nothing to guarantee that Myla, Victoria, or the king's ward will fall in love with me or want to marry me. Hell, there's nothing to guarantee that I'll fall in love with them.*

*Master, look at their birthdays.* Taloni spoke up. *I think Illuminar picked them because they could fall in love with you and you with them.*

He smiled at her. *You really are a wonderful wife, you know that?*

Tee beamed.

*So both you and they have a choice.* Rachel summarized. *It seems like Selene made hers though.*

*Maybe she did.* Alana corrected gently. *Nothing has been decided until wedding vows are exchanged. Until then, we don't know.*

*Good point.* Ethan nodded slowly, then looked at Kendra. *Time to weigh it.*

Her fist was closed, her jaw clenched, and her breathing heavier than normal as she replied. *I think you should tell Selene about the three women and their birthdays to see how she reacts; that'll confirm that she lied.*

He nodded, noticing the sureness in her tone.

* * *

Selene was on her thirty millionth game of Solitaire and half ready to chuck the deck across the compound because every time a six came up, she remembered how she had lied to Ethan and his wives. Somehow, sixes seemed to come up every other card.

And more than that, she felt... weird.

She missed Ethan.

She missed his wives and especially Kendra, but the way she missed Ethan was... different. It was unexpected. Strange. She just felt like something inside of her was... missing? No that wasn't right. Hollow? Well, that was closer. Empty? That wasn't far off. It was weird and she'd never felt like this before.

It must be the bond.

Stupid magic.

She started yet another game of Solitaire, cursing her luck that the first set of three cards she drew had a six on top. It had been a boring previous 30 hours or so. They'd fed her the same meals everyone else got, let her use the bathroom whenever she needed and generally been nice to her. That didn't change that she was basically a prisoner attached to a nearby support pole by a length of light chain.

*Hey Selene, got a minute?* Ethan thought privately to her.

*Sure, I'm just bored here; what's up?*

*Well, something happened here that I thought you'd want to know about.*

He then explained about Myla, Victoria, the wood elven king's ward, and their very particular set of qualifications and shared birthday. The longer she listened, the more she felt her blood pressure rise.

*So basically,* She replied when he had finished. *You can pick any one of the three you want and Illuminar will make her fall madly in love with you? What the hell! He is such a fucking dick!*

*I don't think it'll work like that.* He replied.

*Oh really? Because from where I'm sitting it sounds like He's giving you the pick of three gorgeous women. You just need to decide which flavor you like and presto! He'll make her fall right in line and into your bed. Seriously, what a mind fuck! How is that different from... I don't know... 'third party rape' for lack of a better term.*

*You know, it might be possible that they could fall for me without being forced; I'm not exactly Lord Farbrottan.* He replied evenly. Oddly, he didn't sound hurt or offended.

She wasn't sure why that bothered her.

She took a deep, calming breath. *Fair, I just think that...* She shook her head. *I'm getting really tired of Illuminar not giving people any choices.*

*Now wait just a minute.* He interjected. *You just said that He gave me a choice -- even if I disagree that it's how things will play out -- and now you're saying He doesn't give people choices?*

*Well of course He gives you a choice; you're the 'prophet of Illuminar'.* She tried to keep the bitterness out of her tone but wasn't entirely successful. *The rest of us peons aren't so lucky. We don't all have gorgeous women falling at our feet.*

*Why Selene, do you want gorgeous women falling at your feet?* He teased.

She didn't dignify his teasing with a response.

*Alright Selene, what's really bothering you?* He asked. *And don't give me a BS line about how you're pissed at Illuminar; I'm pretty sure there's more to it than that.*

*I don't like bullies.* She replied. *When I feel like I'm being forced to do something, I just dig my heels in and fight back harder.*

*I call bullshit.* Ethan replied. *You might not like it, but I've never seen you 'dig your heels in' when someone tells you what to do. Besides, who's forcing you to do anything?*

She grimaced.

Damn, she really needed to be more careful about what she said. He didn't know that she had lied about her birthday because she had felt like Illuminar was giving her no choice in the matter.

*No one is; I detest it on general principle.* She finally replied, acutely aware that she wasn't as calm as she should be if that was actually the case.

Ethan didn't reply for several seconds, and when he did there was a strange inflection to his mental tone that she couldn't place. *I was afraid you'd say that.*

Selene didn't reply.

She didn't know what to say.

*Anyway, I thought I'd let you know what was going on here.* He added after a moment. *Let me know if anything changes over there.*

*Will do* She tried to sound cheerful but was pretty sure that she had failed miserably. Hell, she'd failed miserably at pretty much everything lately, or at least she felt like she had. She'd lied to Ethan and worse, she'd lied to Kendra. She knew how much the former Aldmiri had trust issues and it just occurred to her now how much those would be triggered if she confessed.

She couldn't do that.

Not to Kendra.

In the back of her mind, she knew she was rationalizing. However, she did a pretty good job of ignoring that part of her mind. If she confessed, Kendra would be hurt. Worse, she might find it harder to trust others. Thus, it would be better if she didn't confess. Yes, it would be better for Kendra. The fact that not confessing allowed her to avoid admitting just how colossally badly she'd screwed up was just a bonus. That's all it was. It certainly wasn't a driving motivation or anything.

She shook her head and went back to her game of Solitaire. Seeing no moves, she flipped over the next three cards from the deck.

The top card was a six.

* * *

Ethan looked at his wives who were still assembled in the captain's cabin. He took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and then whispered. "Yeah, I'm as sure she lied as I can be without a confession."

Kendra's face became a stone mask. "I'm going to train."

She turned and left the room without another word.

No one said anything for several seconds until Alana held up the wood-elven king's letter, which she had been holding the whole time. "We should probably reply to this soon and let him know if we are going to attend his ward's coming-of-age ball."

Ethan nodded, looking at the door through which his newest wife had gone. "I think we probably should go given all that he's done for us. Does anyone disagree?"

No one did.

"I would agree, especially with the wood elves." Rachel replied. "It would be a rather egregious snub to refuse the offer."

"I definitely agree." Alana added. "And honestly Sir, I think we could use something as relaxing as a ball given all that's happened lately. I think it would be good for us."

"I would love that Dominus."

"Me too Master."

"I as well my lord."

He nodded, still thinking about Kendra. "Okay, tell him that we'll need to finish helping the orcs at Dotmier before we can attend, but that we'll be there."

* * *

Sarah yawned and stretched on her horse, slowly starting to recognize some of the nearby scenery.

"How much further?" Amy asked as she adjusted herself in the saddle yet again.

"Not much further if I'm reading the map right miss." Ellis replied.

"It's not much further." Sarah agreed. "I recognize some of this and we should be there before dinnertime."

"Thank Illuminar." Amy adjusted herself in the saddle again and then looked around at the scenery. "I can't wait to paint all of this."

"I lived my whole life in this forest except when father was taking me around to try and fix my problem." Sarah said as she looked around. "I don't think I realized how beautiful it was until now."

"It is." Amy sighed, then adjusted in the saddle again. "I don't like riding anymore."

"You'll change your mind once you aren't so sore miss." Ellis chuckled. "I'll leave some of that salve with the two of you so you can use it in the morning. Just don't use it more than once per day."

"Why not?" Sarah asked.

"Your legs will fall off miss." He replied with a perfectly straight face.

Sarah and Amy laughed.

Ellis cracked a smile. "It'll give you a rash miss; best only once per day."

"Okay." She nodded, looking forward to seeing her father again. Less so Rindrin, but she wouldn't even mind seeing him. He was a good man and her betrothed; she could learn to be happy with him and to love him. Well, she thought she could.

She hoped she could.

* * *

"Miss Dawson."

She looked up to see a soldier approaching her. "Yes?"

"The next scheduled portal opening is approaching." The man said. "I've been assigned to escort you into the temple."

She held up her wrist and he unlocked the handcuffs. She rubbed her wrist, still trying to keep her mind off the conversation with Ethan an hour or two ago.

"Thank you." She looked down at the deck of cards that had been her companion for much of the previous day and a half. "Can you make sure these get back to their owner?"

"Yes ma'am." He nodded.

She stood and stretched, missing the movement she usually got while training on the Argo. She tried to keep a scowl off of her face as she thought about that and about how Illuminar was sitting somewhere up in the sky dictating how everyone down here would live their lives. She resisted the urge to growl -- she must've been spending too much time with Ethan -- and remembered that she was here on serious business. She had a mission.

She followed the soldier through the camp and into the ruined temple that the portal was in.

It had changed a lot.

Before it had been covered in animal droppings and moss, and there had been stalactites on the twenty-foot-high vaulted ceiling. No more. The place had been scrubbed and militarized. There was a steel ramp that looked like it could support a tank in front of the portal. There were computers, battery banks, crates of supplies, weapons, and ammo along with dozens of people who looked like they were ready to move a lot of things quickly. She supposed they needed to given that the portal would stay open for less than a minute. There were also about a dozen people who looked like they were heading through; perhaps rotating back to Earth?

They were standing in front of the portal which still looked like it had been abandoned for centuries. However, the wood that formed the portal lacked the splitting and dryness usually associated with old wood. It was about ten feet on the inside and fourteen on the outside. It looked like there was a place for gemstones, but they were gone, probably long gone.

"Over here Miss Dawson." The base commander said.

Selene walked over to join her.

"We'll be sending you with the men rotating out." She said. "Go stand with them."

"Aye, Aye." Selene nodded and then went to stand at the designated place with the designated people, still hating how Illuminar was telling people to go places and do things. She spent the next several minutes resisting the urge to clench her fist and scowl.

"Portal opening in one minute!" Someone called.

She spent that minute trying not to seethe about Illuminar. She wasn't very successful. In fact, she found the feeling growing now that she didn't have that stupid card game to distract her.

"Portal opening in 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1..."

Ahead of her in the very center of the portal, something that looked a lot like water appeared. It almost seemed to bubble for a moment and then it started 'spilling' out. It looked like water swirling down the drain only in reverse. It swirled open for several seconds, moving like viscous water until it met the edges of the portal ring.

"Hold." The same man called. A second or two later, the surface of the portal changed slightly, taking on a slightly rainbow-esque shimmer that was quite subtle and looked more like calm water.

"Move out!"

Selene double-timed it forward and through the portal with everyone else. Passing through the portal was just as unpleasant as the last time. It felt like getting a bone-deep chill which then completely disappeared, only to be replaced by a slight warming sensation and simultaneously no small amount of chills. She did her best to ignore the sensation and keep moving though because the people around her didn't stop.

The moment she was through, someone grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side.

In front of her, unfathomable interstellar distances from where she'd been for the last month, she saw the Earth counterpart to the base she'd just been at. It looked much the same, only it was a concrete room instead of a stone one. The same military types were there and similar equipment. She could see Gonorran there with his cold, all-black eyes and several dead goats were around him. Next to him and staring right at her was Smithbond-- No, Clive Eustace Humphry.

Still pissed about the birthday thing and Illuminar, she said the first thing that came to her mind. "Hey Clive, 'sup."

In hindsight, not the smartest move.

* * *

"Drago?"

Alana turned to see Kendra standing behind her with her mask firmly in place, addressing their husband who was right next to the wood elf. Alana had been standing outside the captain's cabin practicing with her bow and new travel arrows.

She was determined to get her accuracy with the new travel bow and the new travel arrows at least as good as it was with her original bow and arrow set. She didn't want to be in a position like the other night where she had a perfect shot at Lord Delmar and couldn't take it because of accuracy concerns. She was getting much better, but she wasn't where she wanted to be just yet. Her arrows were all landing in an area the size of a small apple at 75 yards, but she knew she could do better once she really learned this bow well.

Myla and Ethan were next to her watching. Alana had noticed that Myla did that a lot; she seemed to enjoy watching people, perhaps analyzing what they were doing.

"What's up?" Ethan asked the dragon huntress.

"I promised the man who told us about the dragon who kidnapped Victoria that I would return with a few dragon scales in payment for the information." She paused. "I don't lie."

Myla frowned.

It didn't escape Alana's notice that the dusky-skinned woman frowned in reaction to Kendra's comment about lying. She looked at Ethan for a moment, then Kendra, and then seemed to hesitate for a moment.

"Meelas?" The dusky-skinned woman said in her slight accent after several seconds. "I had not wish to interrupt, but since you will be departing from the Argo on a journey, might I inquire concerning a favor?"

"Sure."

"Alana indicated that you would be willing to fly me to the Midnight Sun so that Luminar Kossel could write a divorce certificate for me."

"Oh, sure." He nodded, glanced at Kendra, then back at her. "Would you be okay waiting until Kendra and I return? It won't take too long."

"Hai." She nodded but didn't say anything else.

"Then Kendra and I should get going." Ethan said. "I'll fly you over there when I get back."

"Thank you mast--" The former slave stopped. "Thank you Meelas."

"You're welcome." He replied, after which he grabbed the grenade satchel and his weapons and then took off with Kendra on his back.

Myla seemed to relax slightly once he was gone.

"Kendra wasn't insinuating that Ethan lied." Alana said once they were gone.

Myla looked at her.

"Kendra just found out that someone she knows lied to her and she's rather upset about it." Alana explained. "Ethan is one of the most honest men that I know; he doesn't lie."

Myla nodded, but didn't say anything else.

"Myla, you're among friends here." Alana said kindly with a smile. "We aren't perfect, but we do try to help whoever we can, however we can. Ethan is nothing like Lord Farbrottan. He actually prefers when we speak up and share our opinions."

Myla nodded slowly and glanced into Alana's eyes for a moment. The wood elf got the strong impression that there was rather a lot going on in the other woman's mind that she wasn't sharing. She was not dissimilar to Rachel that way, in how you could almost see the wheels turning in her head. Unlike Rachel however, Myla's silence didn't seem to be nervousness or insecurity. It seemed more intentional and deliberate; a choice rather than because of insecurity.

"My heart is filled with gratitude for your explanation." Myla said after a moment.

"You're welcome." Alana smiled.

* * *

Fiona took a deep breath as she stood outside the Gibstine drawing room in the castle at Karnas. She had no idea why Sir Warrick wanted to meet her for tea, but Marge had suggested that perhaps Fiona's meeting with Lord Delmar on the Helene the previous night might not have gone unnoticed.

As she thought about it, Sir Warrick was the man who had asked if Lord Delmar had found a wife when he had returned from picking up Lady Ekthros and Sarah in Ivernia, making it even more likely that this had something to do with the proposal. The copper-haired woman frowned, not particularly happy with this turn of events but also not sure it was a bad thing either.

She looked down to see Conner snoozing away on her chest, held securely in place by the wrap that her mother-in-law had given her. Sean's mother had sworn that Fiona would learn to love it and the woman had been right. She was also wearing one of the nicer dresses that she owned, not that it was fancy. It occurred to her just then that she hadn't worn anything special to see Lord Delmar but had to see Sir Warrick.

Hmm.

Perhaps she was more comfortable with the lord?

She took another deep breath and then opened the door.

The Gibstine drawing room was fairly typical for a drawing room in this castle. There were bookshelves on one wall, windows to the outside on another, several tables, chairs, and a few couches arranged in the room. Everything was obviously of the highest quality but none of it was ostentatious. No one would doubt the wealth of the owner, but no one would accuse him of flaunting that wealth either. The room had a decorating scheme primarily in a pale green color.

Sitting at one of the tables that was large enough to comfortably seat four was Sir Warrick himself. He was probably in his sixties and was slightly overweight, but not overly so. He wasn't tall and his hair had greyed somewhat, though he still looked reasonably healthy and fit despite his slight gut. He looked up when the door opened.

"Miss McWilliams." He stood up and did a head bow. "Thank you for meeting me. Please, take a seat." He indicated another chair at the table that had been pulled out slightly.

"Sir Warrick." Fiona curtsied and then walked to the chair and sat down. "I must be confessing to some confusion at your invitation; to what am I owing the honor?"

"Straight to business eh?" He chuckled. "Very well, though let me pour you some tea first."

He did so.

He looked at her for a long moment and tapped his finger on the table a few times while he did. "Miss McWilliams, before last night, do you know the last time that Lord Delmar intentionally met alone with an unmarried woman of childbearing age, outside the context of a prearranged meeting related to affairs of the kingdom?"

"I'm afraid I'm not knowing." She replied. "I've only been in Karnas for a few months now."

"Let me give you a hint." He pointed to a small painting on the wall. It was of a redheaded girl of about ten or eleven who bore a striking resemblance to Helene Delmar. It was almost certainly a painting of her as a child, though she supposed that it could also be her daughter, Rachel, who apparently looked a lot like her.

"The Lady Helene?" Fiona guessed.

Sir Warrick nodded. "I have been trying to convince Lord Delmar to take a wife for fifteen years. The traditional mourning period for a member of the monarchy is one year; I afforded him twice that because I have never seen a man so taken with a woman as Lord Delmar was with Helene, Illuminar rest her soul."

"Amen." Fiona said, feeling sad for Lord Delmar once again; she knew what it was like to lose a spouse.

"Fifteen years." Sir Warrick repeated. "Fifteen. Several times a week for fifteen years I have tried to arrange for Lord Delmar to see an eligible young noblewoman, and eventually I urged him to see any eligible young woman of good character. For fifteen years he has politely refused." He paused. "And occasionally not so politely."

"Oh?"

He nodded. "Then after he disinherited Rachel, I began to entreat him in earnest. Every single day since then I have asked him to take even a single meeting with even one young woman and he has steadfastly refused." He looked at her pointedly. "Until last night."

Fiona didn't say a word, not sure where he was going with this and not wanting to reveal more than she should.

He eyed her like a constable might examine a particularly important piece of evidence. "Last night, without the knowledge of anyone in the castle save the guards who saw it and one or two people who glanced out a window -- one of whom told me -- the most committed bachelor I have ever seen met with you. Alone."

He stopped talking, quite possibly waiting for her to answer. Fiona took a page from Lord Delmar's book and simply didn't reply. She met Sir Warrick's eye but didn't speak for several long moments. "Sir Warrick, were you asking a question?"

"Why you?" He replied. "Why is Lord Delmar making overtures of marriage to you?"

"Begging your pardon Sir Warrick, but you weren't a part of the conversation so you aren't knowing what we were discussing."

"You deny that he made overtures of marriage?" He raised his eyebrow.

"I'm not denying nor am I confirming." Fiona replied evenly. "I'm simply saying that you aren't knowing what was being said and that I'll not be repeating what we were talking about unless the Lord Delmar himself is giving me permission."

He looked like he'd been slapped for a moment and then he started chuckling. "Ah, so it's discretion in a young woman that he's after; no wonder he's been looking for so long."

Again taking a page from Lord Delmar's book, Fiona remained silent and kept her expression neutral.

Sir Warrick smiled. "Well, if you are discreet enough to catch Lord Delmar's eye, I suppose I won't get more than tonight's menu out of you then."

"Roast lamb is the main course, though of course there will be many sides." Fiona said with a smile.

Sir Warrick laughed. "You're not unlike her."

"Who?"

He pointed to the portrait of the redheaded girl. "Helene."

"Oh?"

He nodded. "She had a very dry sense of humor and was the only person I know who could make Lord Delmar laugh." He got a faraway and fond look in his eyes. "She had a biting wit that she rarely used except when someone stepped quite far over the line, but when she used it everyone would laugh, even the person she was admonishing. She could even get Lord Delmar to laugh out loud during dinner in the great hall." His smile faded. "I have only rarely heard him laugh since she passed. Even then, it was only when Rachel was in view, and even that stopped once she became rebellious."

"That's truly a shame." She replied.

Sir Warrick looked at Fiona. "He needs a wife. True the kingdom needs an heir, but he needs a wife. He needs someone to remind him that the world has goodness, beauty, and happiness. He needs to be reminded that there is more than duty and law in the world."

"It's sounding like you're more concerned for him than for the kingdom having an heir." Fiona pointed out.

He made an expression that was somehow a smile mixed with a thoughtful frown. "I do believe that Lord Delmar has exquisite taste in women Miss McWilliams. You are discrete, perceptive, funny, and obviously intelligent. Plus, if the rumors I hear are true, you are uncommonly kind and caring as well."

"Thank you." She smiled; that was quite the compliment.

"If Lord Delmar has made overtures of marriage to you, I can only assume there was some reason that you turned him down." Sir Warrick said after a few moments. "I do not know what your reasons are, but if at all possible, I would urge you to reconsider your reservations for Lord Delmar's sake." He then added. "And the kingdom's as well."

She frowned. "It's sounding like you're worrying about him."

He nodded. "He hasn't been the same since Helene died, and he grew noticeably more sullen after he was forced to disinherit Rachel as well. It is subtle and I'm sure goes unnoticed by all save those who spend the most time with him, but he has. All men have their limits Miss McWilliams. Lord Delmar's limits are greater than most -- so great in fact that he must've been blessed by Illuminar Himself -- but he does have them." He looked at her pointedly. "I would not wish to find out what they are."

"I'm understanding that." Fiona replied.

"I ask you to reconsider what it was that made you reject his offer of marriage." Sir Warrick said. "I do not know your reason so perhaps you cannot, and I would understand if that was the case, but I would urge you to reconsider if at all possible. Lord Delmar and the kingdom itself might depend on it."

"You're assuming that he's made such an offer." Fiona replied, knowing that almost any other response would reveal that he was correct.

He smiled. "A woman as discreet as you would surely be worth more than many jewels to Lord Delmar; keep that in mind. It might be that you have something he cannot afford to slip through his grasp. Keep that in mind if you cannot reconsider your reasons; perhaps he will bend enough to accommodate you, or perhaps a compromise could be reached."

"Thank you for the tea Sir Warrick." She said, taking her first sip. It was good tea and it was almost a shame that they had been talking long enough that it had cooled a bit more than she would've preferred.

She stood.

He stood as well and gave her a long look. "I think that you would make an excellent First Lady, Miss McWilliams."

"Oh?"

"You have something of Helene's spirit in you, in how you care about others and go out of your way to help them." He replied. "Lord Delmar needs that. He is a hard man and utterly devoted to Narlotten's good, but could do with a regular reminder that a softer touch can sometimes be more effective. He also needs to be reminded regularly that there is more to the world than duty and law. Helene provided that counterbalance and I believe that you could as well."

"That's a right potent compliment there." She replied with a smile.

"And it is genuine." He pulled out a pocket watch and then looked at her. "I must be going. Please bear in mind what I said."

"I'm thanking you for being so open, and at least I'm knowing how to pray for the Lord Delmar better."

"So discreet." He chuckled again with a wide smile. "It's a small wonder that Lady Ekthros doesn't recruit you for the intelligence service."

Fiona forced a smile.

He turned to leave but stopped before opening the door. "I appreciate your discretion, so I will say that you should feel free to repeat the contents of this conversation to Lord Delmar if you wish or feel it wise."

"Thank you Sir Warrick." She curtsied.

"Miss McWilliams." He gave her another head bow and then left the room.

Fiona sat back down and took another sip of the tea, cooler than was ideal though it was. She wasn't sure what to make of what she had just learned.

She could see his point about Lord Delmar though, about him working endlessly with little joy for a long time. That could certainly break a person, though she didn't know if it would break a dragon as well. They were somewhat renowned for being solitary beings, so perhaps it was different for them. Then again, he had apparently become even more sullen after Rachel left, so perhaps they weren't so solitary. Or at least Lord Delmar might not be.

Fiona liked the idea that she could be helping him. She wanted to after everything that he had done for her and Conner. Honestly, a part of her felt like she perhaps owed him for all he had done. She didn't want to marry for that, but that didn't change how she felt.

But Sean...

Fiona felt her throat tighten slightly as she thought about her deceased husband. They hadn't been married very long and he had spent much of that time away as a soldier, but she was still missing him dearly. Was she even ready to be married again? She wasn't sure. She was hating how lonely she'd been. Having Sarah around had been wonderful, but it served to highlight just how empty her life was without her husband and friends.

She wanted to be married again and Sean had told her that if something happened to him, she should remarry. Of all the men she'd met, none could hold a candle to Lord Delmar, even with him being a dragon.

But she wanted to be bonded.

She couldn't explain it, but she just felt closer to her husband after they had bonded. It was a subtle thing, but it was strong. Humans didn't usually live long enough to enjoy the full fruits of bonding like being able to sense emotions and even talk to each other over great distances. She knew deep in her spirit that she had felt better when Sean was around after they had bonded. It was subtle, but powerful.

She wanted that again.

She wanted her husband to feel that for her.

If the Lord Delmar did, she thought that he might grow to have a fraction of the affection for her that he had for Helene. Fiona thought that even a quarter of that affection would be enough. It seemed unlikely that he would develop much affection for her without bonding and he had refused to bond.

Perhaps Sir Warrick was right.

Perhaps the Lord Delmar would accommodate her if she was patient.

* * *

"Here they are." Kendra said as she dropped a half dozen dragon scales into the man's hand at Sarah's father's inn. There were only a half dozen people in the inn right now, but she expected that number would increase as the sun got lower. It wasn't late yet, but travelers would be looking for lodging soon.

She liked being on a mission like this. It was a good distraction from other things.

"Thank ya kindly." The old-timer grinned, showing that he was missing a few teeth. "I can tell ya about some more dragons little lady. Why, I hear there's a copper-colored dragon that's been working his way slowly south looking for some steel grey dragon. I know he ain't too far south yet, but I could find out in exchange for a few of his scales."

"How far south?" Kendra asked with entirely unfeigned interest.

"Not too far, I hear he's halfway between Arcanum and here, but I could find out exactly where for the right price." The man replied.

Kendra kept her face neutral as she shook her head. "Nah; me and the boys are going to live the good life for a while after this score."

"I don't blame ya!" He man said, then he raised his voice. "Festus, a flagon of your finest ale!"

The innkeeper brought one over.

"I need to get going, thanks!" Kendra said with far more joviality than she felt as she turned to leave, then she thought to everyone. *Bad news. The fellow says that he heard about a copper-colored dragon who's flying south looking for a steel grey dragon.*

*Kyrupto.* Ethan replied. *Damn, as if we didn't have enough to worry about.*

*I'll bet he wants to settle up with you.* Rachel added.

*Fortunately, the man said that Kyrupto isn't too far south yet.* Kendra opened the door to the inn and stepped out.

*Thank Illuminar for that.* Taloni said, her mental tone wavering slightly.

Kendra looked around by habit and saw three people leisurely riding into the outpost. The leader was a fit man with sandy blond hair, a short beard that was slightly darker, and bright blue eyes. Behind him was a girl with dark brown hair that was kept off her face with a bow that had an artistic knot at the top. Behind her was a girl with long, unhealthy-looking long brown hair. She was very plain, almost bordering on unattractive but not quite.

"Home sweet home." The second girl sighed as they approached the inn.

*Drago, do you recognize any of the three people riding up to the inn?* She thought to him privately.

*Oh my God.* His stunned reply came several seconds later. *That's Sarah!*

* * *

Sarah yawned slightly, quite tired from the long journey and so incredibly glad that they were reaching the end of it. She had never been so happy to see her father's slightly dilapidated inn. Despite everything with Lady Ekthros and the danger to Fiona and Conner, she felt her spirits lift slightly.

"I will take care of the horses." Ellis said as they all dismounted. "It is too late to start the return journey, so I will lodge here tonight and depart tomorrow."

"Thank you for everything." Sarah said. "We might not have made it without you."

He looked at her. "I think you sell yourself short miss; I would not imagine much would stand in your way if you were determined to pursue it."

She winced. "I'm getting better about keeping my problem under control."

"I was not referring to that miss." He replied with a smile, then led the horses and mule away without explaining.

"He's right." Amy said. "I bet you could do anything!"

"Thank you?" Sarah wasn't sure what to make of that.

"Come on, I know you wanted to see your father and I can't wait to meet Rindrin!"

Sarah chuckled. "Okay."

The two women walked into the inn, passing a woman with raven-colored hair who had just left it as they did so. Sarah noted that the inn was quite full for this time of day. She couldn't remember the last time there were so many people at once, and certainly not at this time of day. It must be because word had traveled about her absence.

That gave her pause.

She wanted to see her father and let him know that she was okay, but should she stay? If her being gone had this much effect, maybe he would be better off if she left after seeing him. Or maybe she should marry Rindrin immediately? Then she could live at his house and the outpost would flourish but she could still see her father regularly.

But Ethan...

She reminded herself that she was betrothed to Rindrin, no matter how much her heart yearned for Ethan. She was determined to be faithful to her betrothed and she would never do anything indecent, but -- perhaps because of everything she'd been through lately -- she could now admit how she felt to herself.

Standing there, she took a moment to say a quick prayer to Illuminar. *Please, if I'm supposed to be in Ethan's life, please send me a sign. Something that I can't miss, something that is obvious and--*

"Sarah!" A man's voice called behind her as the door banged open.

Her eyes went wide as she recognized that voice. It couldn't be... could it?

She turned to see if it was--

It was.

It was him.

Ethan.

For the tiniest, briefest, infinitesimally small moment, Sarah's heart felt so full that she thought it would burst. Him bursting through the door like that while she was literally asking for a sign from Illuminar was just... just... there were no words.

Then she remembered Lady Ekthros.

She remembered the threat.

Her heart started to plummet, but then she remembered something else. She had asked for a sign and been given one. Illuminar knew that she couldn't say anything to Ethan. He'd known that when He'd sent her a sign and He knew that she would have to give Ethan the cold shoulder, but Illuminar had given her that sign anyway. Unlike when she'd given in to fear and not trusted the angel Gabriella, she decided to trust Illuminar now.

She turned to face him and it took some effort to not smile at him. "Yes?"

"You're okay." Ethan's eyes were wide, like he couldn't believe it.

"I am."

"How?" He stepped closer to her.

She stepped back in an obvious way, hoping he'd get the hint. "Did you want something?"

"What's wrong?" He asked.

She didn't reply.

"Sarah?" He took a small step forward.

She took a small step back, keenly aware of how many people were watching this exchange. "What?"

"Did she hurt you?" Ethan asked. Sarah had to resist the urge to let her heart melt at the protectiveness in his voice.

"I think you should go." She said after a moment.

"Go?" He shook his head like he'd been slapped. "Why?"

"You need to go." She said firmly, determined that if Lady Ekthros's agents were watching this rather public exchange, they wouldn't fault her in the slightest.

Ethan stared at her for several moments, clearly confused. Then he lifted his head fractionally and his eyes widened just slightly. "I'm not who she said I am."

"You need to go." Sarah repeated, not sure what else to say.

"I'm almost sure she's trying to create soldiers who are..." he paused, probably searching for the right words. "...like what happened when you were young." He finished, clearly trying not to say 'demon' out loud and probably because of the audience.

He knew.

She didn't know how, but he knew. She didn't need to worry about telling him; he already knew. She did everything she could to keep from reacting while internally breathing a sigh of relief.

"Ethan, leave." She repeated as firmly as she knew how.

He closed his eyes. His head drooped slightly and his shoulders slumped. He swallowed and then nodded. "I'm glad you're okay."

She didn't reply.

She wanted to. With everything in her she wanted to, but she couldn't.

He turned to leave, walked to the door and put his hand on the latch, then stopped. His head came up a bit and he cocked it to one side as if considering something. After a couple of seconds, he turned his head and upper body towards her, still obviously about to leave but also apparently having more to say.

He looked at her for a long moment before speaking. "When is your birthday?"

She stared.

Her birthday?

Why was he asking...?

Huh?

"Why?" She asked in spite of herself. It was just such a strange question.

"I know you asked me to leave and I think I know why." He replied. "And I'll respect your wishes and go, but please tell me when you're birthday is. I'll leave as soon as you do."

She stared at him for a long moment, trying to decide if Lady Ekthros would have any problem with that. She couldn't think of a reason that she would. It didn't run afoul of any of the conditions and Ethan had just said that he would leave when she told him. She certainly didn't mind if he knew and rather wanted him to know.

"Septas seventh." She replied after a moment. She liked that her birthday was on the seventh day of the seventh month. It had long been a superstition that since Illuminar's sigil was a seven-pointed star, perhaps He had an affinity for the number.

Ethan smiled.

It was a small smile but it looked utterly genuine. It reached deep into his eyes as he looked at her. "I think we'll meet again. I don't know when or where -- not here because I'm pretty sure that you-know-who is watching the inn -- but I think we'll meet again."

Then he opened the door and stepped out, closing it behind him.

Sarah smiled.

She smiled wider than she had since Lady Ekthros had threatened her. Ethan knew about the demon-possessed soldiers and he had said that they would see each other again. And what's more, she felt like she had gotten a clear sign from Illuminar. She had no idea how that was going to work itself out, but if Illuminar wanted it to work, she knew it would.

She turned to see the stunned inn patrons, a stunned artistic friend, and her father standing there, all with their mouths agape.

She raised her voice slightly to address the room. "Yes I'm the demon-possessed innkeeper's daughter, yes that was the prophet of Illuminar using a disguise gem, and no I won't be staying for long. I'm just here to visit my father and then I'm leaving again, and yes I'm leaving before bed so there's no need for you all to leave."

She turned to her father. "Hi daddy."

"Sarah?" Her father croaked out like he couldn't believe it was her.

She nodded. "It's me Daddy."

He ran over to give her a hug which she eagerly accepted. It felt good for him to hold her like this again. He seemed younger than she'd seen him in a while, or perhaps it was his relief at seeing her. Regardless, it felt good.

* * *

Ethan took a deep breath and exhaled slowly with a massive smile on his face. Sarah's birthday was Septas seventh. It seemed like Lady Ekthros had filled Sarah's head with lies about who he was, but her birthday was the seventh day of the seventh month. She was betrothed, but her birthday fit the pattern. As had been pointed out to him more than once, a betrothal wasn't a marriage; a betrothal could be broken off.

Given her birthday, it seemed like that might happen.

There was no way in hell that he would ever even consider messing with a married woman, nor even an engaged one. But if the betrothal was broken off without his involvement... Well, that was another story. He knew she wasn't thrilled to marry Rindrin and hoped that might lead to her being single again. He wouldn't interfere, but if the birthdays were right, maybe he wouldn't have to.

"Drago?" Kendra asked. She had remained outside to keep watch and thus was right there.

He smiled at her. "I just learned the most incredible thing."

"What?"

"Well, Sarah's birth--"

"Hold fast dragon!" A man called from Ethan's right side.

He turned to see the man who had ridden in with Sarah and the other girl. He had his sword drawn and was in a combat stance. Judging by how he carried himself and held the sword, Ethan could tell that this man was very skilled.

"By the authority of Lord Delmar and under the extradition treaty he has with Ivernia, I order you to drop your weapons."

Ethan looked at him. "How could you tell?"

"Lord Delmar warned me to check for disguise enchantments on any man I met here." The man replied. "Surrender."

"No, I don't think I will." Ethan smiled; nothing could ruin his good mood today.

The man started forward.

"Don't try it." Ethan put his hand on his sword's hilt. "I'm wearing full armor while you have none, I have a longer blade, enchantments to increase my strength, and better reflexes than any man could ever hope to have. I would rather not be forced to kill you."

The man narrowed his eyes but stopped advancing. "I can't let you leave."

"There's literally nothing you can do to stop me." Ethan shrugged. "There's no sense throwing your life away to try when you know you can't succeed."

"The lightning." The man said after several seconds. "I've been trained to see through illusions; let me see you use lightning as proof that you are a servant of the God of Light."

"Sure." Ethan started charging his hammer, casually removed it from his belt, then once the charge was strong enough he tossed it high into the air and released it.

Crack!

He hadn't made it a massive charge, but apparently it was enough. The other man lowered his blade into a more defensive stance, though his eyes were still wary.

"Full disclosure, me using lightning is an enchantment like any other." Ethan said as he returned the hammer to his side. "Anyone who knows how it works can use it."

"You're saying you aren't a prophet?"

"I'm saying that me using lightning doesn't prove anything." Ethan replied, then glanced at Kendra. "My wife and I are leaving. You can try to stop us, but she's more skilled with a blade than I am and I'd rather not kill anyone."

The man narrowed his eyes. "Take one step towards the inn and I'll have no choice but to defend those inside, even at the cost of my life." He hesitated. "But you're right; I can't stop you from leaving."

"Good enough." Ethan smiled, then turned and left. He made sure he was between the man and Kendra and glanced back regularly, but the man didn't make any aggressive moves. He moved to block the inn's door almost immediately, but otherwise he didn't move.

Once they were out of both danger and earshot, Kendra spoke. "What were you going to say Drago?"

"Hang on, let me tell everyone at once." He replied.

* * *

Alana wasn't sure what to say or think after learning about Sarah's birthday. She had told Ethan several times that he would marry Sarah, but getting what seemed like certain confirmation of that was still... still.... she didn't know what it was.

"Hey." A soft, feminine hand touched her own and she couldn't help but smile. The two of them were in the storage room below the captain's cabin, working on the new dresses for everyone.

She looked at her fellow wife and best friend who was also so much more than just a friend before replying to everyone. *Well, I suppose it's official.*

*Not really, but it does seem...* Ethan trailed off.

*Official?* Rachel suggested as she gave the wood elf's hand a gentle squeeze.

*It sounds like that to me Master.* Tee sounded excited.

*Me too.* Beth chimed in.

*Alana?* Ethan thought to everyone. *Your thoughts?*

Hmm, her thoughts. What were her thoughts? There were so many that she settled on the one that mattered most. *I'm choosing to believe that Illuminar wouldn't give you a wife that would come between you and any of your other wives.* She said after a moment. *I... I don't always feel like that, but I do think it's true.*

*I promise I'll never let that happen.* He replied.

*Good.* She half smiled. *Then it sounds like Sarah's last name will be Ejder at some point.*

He didn't reply for a moment, but Kendra piped up. *He's grinning pretty widely.*

Alana chuckled nervously.

"It'll be okay." Rachel said softly.

Alana nodded.

*We're going to head back now.* Ethan thought to everyone.

*Okay.* Alana replied. *Oh, don't forget that Myla wanted you to fly her over to the Midnight Sun so that Luminar Kossel could write a divorce certificate to make it official.*

*Right, and then he and I should probably talk about his plans for when we head back to Dotmier.* He replied. *I'll do that when I get back.*

There was a general chorus of agreement, after which Alana looked at Rachel. "Tell me that I'm not crazy."

"You're not crazy." The redhead replied. "Both you and Beth thought she was really nice, and don't forget that part of the reason Illuminar decided to give Ethan multiple wives is that you wanted sisters; would He really give you a horrible one?"

"I believe that here--" She touched her forehead. "--but down here--" She touched her chest over her heart. "--I have a little trouble believing it."

"Would a--" Rachel started to say, then clamped her mouth shut.

"What?"

The redhead shook her head as her cheeks went slightly pink. "Nothing, my mouth was just running ahead of my brain, that's all."

"Tell me." Alana prodded gently.

Rachel shook her head and Alana could tell that she wanted to speak, but she probably couldn't bring herself to.

"Tell me, or I'll compliment you until your cheeks are the same color as your roots." She grinned wickedly.

Rachel blushed.

Then the redhead opened her mouth, closed it, then blushed a little more. "I have that head-heart thing backwards. My heart knows, but my head resists."

"Rachel, you are a beautiful woman." Alana began.

Rachel blushed crimson.

"You have the nicest, deepest blue eyes that make a person want to get lost in them." She continued to her still-reddening friend. "Your skin is like silk or velvet, and I would love to feel it all over my skin while we--"

"Kiss!" Rachel squeaked out.

"Huh?"

Rachel bit her lip. "I was going to ask if you would feel better if I kissed you, but that's silly..." she trailed off as their eyes met. She cocked her head to one side, making her red hair which faded to blonde at the tips wave beautifully. After a moment, she bit her lip and then spoke again. "It's not silly, is it?"

The brunette smiled ear-to-ear as she shook her head. "No."

"Alana, can I kiss you? Would that help?"

"You can kiss me whenever you want, and yes it would help." The wood elf beamed.

Then Rachel did.

In a move that was so shocking that Alana almost didn't know how to react, Rachel reached out to pull Alana closer, bent down slightly, and kissed her tenderly on the lips. She hadn't hesitated either; she had just done it.

It was wonderful.

Alana sighed into the kiss as she returned it, savoring the feeling of the most perfect pair of feminine lips in the Ten Kingdoms. She tasted wonderful, better than Alana remembered. Rachel moved her lips slightly on Alana's for several wonderful moments before drawing back slowly with a subtle smile on her face.

"This isn't bad, wrong, dirty, or shameful, is it?" Rachel asked, but it was more like a statement than a question.

"No." Alana beamed.

"I want Ethan to see us kiss." Rachel said after another moment.

"You do?" Alana's eyes widened as her heart inflated.

Rachel nodded. "I think he would like it, and I think that I..." She bit her lip. "I'm trying to get better and I... I don't like hiding that we kiss. It makes it feel, um..." She frowned. "It makes me feel like it's something we have to hide, like it's dirty or wrong, but it isn't. I don't want to hide it."

Alana grinned ear-to-ear. "I don't want to either."

"So then, tonight? Maybe we can kiss goodnight while Ethan is still awake?"

"I would love that!" Alana said, then looked down a bit and saw the fabric all around them, which reminded her of what she'd just learned about Sarah. "Um, would you want to help me with something in the meantime?"

"What?"

Alana took a deep breath and then looked Rachel in the eyes. "I have Sarah's measurements and if she's going to marry Ethan, she'll need a dress."

Rachel nodded slowly. "I can help."

"Thank you." Alana bit her lip. "I... I really do think it will be fine. I'm hoping that doing this will help make me feel like it will be fine."

"Alana, no one could ever not love you." The redhead said, then apparently realized what had just come out of her mouth and went the prettiest shade of red all over again.

Alana beamed.

* * *

"How did you know my name?"

Selene looked up at Smithbond -- or 'Clive' -- from her chair in the one of base's interrogation rooms. The aluminum chairs were just as cold and uncomfortable as she remembered and she was pretty sure that he had previously beaten her to a bloody pulp in this very room. The concrete walls and large two-way mirror were identical, though perhaps the base had many identical interrogation rooms.

"I ran into one of your old friends while I was in the Ten Kingdoms." Selene replied, still majorly pissed about the new women around Ethan and that they shared her birthday, beauty, and skills. Frankly, it made her feel replaceable and used. She wasn't exactly dying to marry Ethan, but she didn't like the fact that she had been tossed aside like yesterday's trash. She was acutely aware that she was being unreasonable, but she was so pissed that she didn't care right now.

Thankfully, Smithb-- Clive was around to torment. "He wanted to make sure I called you by your name."

"Who did you meet?" Clive's eyes narrowed and he leaned in a bit closer, making his rather larger frame intrude into her personal space.

"Someone." Selene smirked.

"Commander Marsgrov?"

"Never heard of him."

"Kuvok?" He asked.

"Never heard of him either."

"Tell me." Clive ordered, not nearly as calm and collected as he had been before.

"Eh, you haven't even asked me how I'm doing yet." She shot back.

He grabbed the hair at the back of her head hard enough to hurt and then shook her head slightly. If anyone else had tried that, she would've kicked his ass. Sadly, Clive was better at hand-to-hand combat than she was. Instead, she focused on the battle that she could win.

"Okay, I'll give you a hint, but only if you tell me whether or not your mother still calls you 'Goober'."

He scowled and let go of her hair. "Kossel."

"That's the one." She smiled at him, silently thanking the luminar for the many hours he'd spent helping to prep her.

"I assume he's been keeping watch on the portal?" Clive said.

"Yup." She replied. "I gotta say, he wasn't impressed with how you've handled things."

Clive opened his mouth to reply, but stopped and stood up straight. He appeared to be getting a hold of himself so Selene took a moment to open a one-way window in her mental defenses to touch his mind. She had no plans to try and investigate now because she wasn't good enough to split her attention like that yet. However, it would be a lot easier to pick his mind out of the others in the base if she had an idea of what she was looking for.

His mind was... interesting.

She only barely brushed it before leaving but found it slightly disturbing. It wasn't like Raklan or the man she'd interrogated in Timarou though. Those men had filthy minds imagining awful things. Clive was different. His mind seemed more ordered and segmented, like he kept everything compartmentalized. His mind was more like a long corridor with dozens of doors, or like an office building with dozens of enclosed cubicles.

She desperately wanted to go snooping but needed to pay attention to the conversation right now.

"Report on your mission." Clive said after several seconds.

"Basically, I didn't learn a whole lot that you didn't already learn from Hailey." She replied. "The thing I learned that you would probably be most interested in is about magic and why it doesn't really work here."

"Explain." He said with at least the veneer of calm. A super brief touch of his mind told her that it was just that though: a veneer. Damn, Kossel was right; Clive really did have a hard time regaining his cool once he lost it.

"Magic is powered by mana, which you pull through some kind of magical barrier that prevents too much of it from killing us." She explained. "However, the barrier where Earth is located is super thick. I learned enough to draw mana and it's almost an order of magnitude harder on Earth than it was in the Ten Kingdoms. Not quite, but a lot."

She didn't add that that was comparing her before she bonded with Ethan to her now.

"I already knew that." He said smugly.

"Oh?" Selene asked, marveling how much trouble Clive was having returning to the calm, cool, and collected -- if somewhat brutal -- man she had known him as last time.

"Gonorran has been teaching me magic."

Selene frowned. "He's a necromancer, please tell me he's not teaching you to use dark mana."

"As you say, the barrier is thick." He replied. "There aren't many other sources of mana."

She took a close look at his eyes; they were the same shade of blue that they always had been so he clearly hadn't actually used any dark mana. "You haven't figured out how to move your mana around, have you?"

A muscle twitched in his cheek.

"You really need to thank your lucky stars that you haven't." Selene continued. "Did Gonorran tell you what dark mana does? Did he say what effect mana taken from the dead has on a person?"

Clive didn't reply.

She sighed; of course he didn't. "It corrodes the soul."

He raised an eyebrow.

"I'm serious. Anthiel -- she's a high elf I met -- tells this story about a man she knew who used some dark mana to save some people in his village from an attack. Before he used the dark mana, he was the nicest, kindest, sweetest man you'd ever meet; a real 'salt of the earth' kind of mage. But he changed after he absorbed the dark mana, even though he had the best of intentions. It was like he couldn't tell right from wrong anymore."

Clive frowned.

She plowed on. "He ended up killing a dozen people before he was finally stopped. Dark mana turns you into a psychopath... or maybe a sociopath?" She cocked her head to one side. "I can never remember which one can't tell right from wrong."

"Psychopath."

"Yeah, if you use dark mana, you basically become a psychopath." Selene continued. "They go bad; they all go bad. They suddenly don't care about hurting others and then casually talk about murdering children to provide mana to open a portal. That was Gonorran by the way."

Clive didn't reply.

"Last time I was here, we were talking about Gonorran and you said that the eyes are the windows to the soul." She continued. "You then asked me what it says about a person if his eyes are entirely black. That's what dark mana does. You yourself said that about the mage who sent the first team to the Ten Kingdoms. You said that right after he pulled the dark mana from the cow you slaughtered to power the portal, his eyes darkened and turned black."

Clive inclined his head in concession.

"Don't touch dark mana." She continued. "I'm serious; it'll turn you into a psychopathic mini-Gonorran. Maybe if you only used a tiny bit it wouldn't corrupt you fully and wouldn't turn your eyes completely black, but any amount would definitely corrupt you. And if you use more than just a tiny little bit, your eyes will fade to black. Once that happens, you'll be lost and gone forever."

"Oh my darlin', Clementine." He mused.

"Huh?"

"An old folk song."

"Okay." Selene shrugged. "Seriously though, don't use dark mana. I can tell you haven't because your eyes haven't darkened, but don't. It'll make you an even worse person."

"I'll take that under advisement." Clive said after a moment. He seemed to have gotten his cool back and he was unreadable again. Well, unreadable via facial expressions. Selene had spent rather a lot of time training her telepathy with Octavian and the rest of Shara and Lyra's royal guard. She reached out and just barely brushed his mind and was entirely unsurprised by what she learned. She really wanted to investigate his mind a little more but also wanted to be fully present and aware for this conversation.

"Meaning you haven't heard a word I said." She sighed. "Look, it's your life. I'm just telling you how to not ruin it. And further--"

"Selene." Clive looked at her. "Be quiet."

She closed her mouth.

"You were always so compliant." Clive said after a moment. "You take orders so well and you'll fit in so well with our organization."

She stared daggers at him.

Clive smiled, though it didn't look like he was amused. "Even now you're not speaking; you take orders so well."

"I really don't." Selene replied, thinking about how she'd lied to her best friend and the best people she'd ever known because she felt like Illuminar was telling her what to do.

"Name one example." Clive replied.

"I didn't give you my phone." She replied.

"Not immediately, but you did." Clive smirked. "You came with me when I told you to, you helped interrogate Gonorran when I told you to, you helped with Jason, Hailey, and Melinda because I told you to, you left them without saying goodbye because I told you to, you went to 10K1 because I told you to. You are very compliant Selene, and your internet history proves it."

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "What do you mean?"

"You have very interesting tastes in... entertainment." Clive leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on the metal table and steepling his hands. "Bondage, spanking, mind control, embarrassment, male dom, and even--" He looked at her. "--women being dominated by other women." He clicked his tongue several times. "Is there a kink you don't enjoy?"

Selene's face grew hot enough to fry an egg.

He knew?

How did he know?

"You almost seem to get off on being told what to do." Clive continued. "I bet you did almost everything you were told to do on the other side of the portal as well."

"I did not." She said, only realizing after she'd spoken that she sounded defensive.

"Oh?"

Selene opened her mouth to defend herself but then realized that she couldn't. Sure she'd fought the bandits, but once she'd gone to Sarah's inn... huh. She'd gone to the monastery because she'd been told to. She'd returned over their objections, but only because she'd told Sarah that she would. She'd joined up with the Argo's crew because they had told her to, she'd started learning swords because Serif had told her to, she'd...

Huh.

The longer she thought, the more she realized that she did do what people told her to do. Sure she usually had a choice, but when given one she tended to do what she was told, except for that whole birthday thing with Illuminar.

"You even became an FBI agent because you were told to." Clive said, twisting the proverbial knife. "Did you choose a single thing in your life?"

She winced.

It was true.

Right after her brother had been kidnapped, she had asked one of the FBI agents what she could do to help. After many asks, the agent had replied: "You can't help today, but become an FBI agent and maybe you can help another family who will go through this in the future." Selene had taken that to heart and done what she'd been told.

In fact, the more she thought about it the more it was true of everything in her life. She'd started martial arts because her father had told her to. Of course, she was three at the time, but still. She'd done everything her teachers had told her to, everything her guidance counselors had told her to, done everything her professors had told her to do.

Everyone.

"We'll talk more later." Clive said as he stood.

Selene nodded mutely, only realizing that she was doing as she was told again. She was led to a small cell and left alone with her thoughts. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that it was a pattern in her life. She didn't like that. It wasn't until after she'd been sitting alone with her thoughts for some time that she remembered that she'd seen the cell number outside before they put her in.

It was cell number six.

* * *

Taloni flew up into the air to meet Master as he and Kendra returned from Sarah's inn. He had a big smile on his face and he was trying to not let it overtake his whole face. Tee smiled; she was glad that Master would be able to marry Sarah. He was so smitten with her and she was glad that it would make him so happy. Even Alana -- the only one of her fellow wives who wasn't enthusiastic about it -- didn't seem as upset anymore. Perhaps unsure, but not upset.

She looped around to fly next to Master and grinned slyly at him. "Are you happy about something Master?"

"I'm about to break down crying." He winked back with a huge smile as they returned to the Argo.

Once there, Kendra slid off of Master's back, handed him the weight-reduction necklace, and then walked towards the stairs to the lower decks. Alana came up with Myla in tow.

"Meelas." Myla said with a bow that was half curtsy. "Would you still be willing to transport me to the Midnight Sun so that Luminar Kossel might draw up a divorce certificate?"

"Sure." He replied, still grinning ear-to-ear.

"Can I come Master?" Taloni asked. He had been gone a lot lately and she could fly over with him easily since the Midnight Sun was only a hundred yards away from the Argo.

"Sure." He turned to Myla and held out the weight-reduction necklace. "Here, put this on and we'll get going."

She did, climbed onto his back, and then the three of them flew over. Taloni arrived first since she had flown right over to meet Master and Myla there. Luminar Kossel was on the weather deck wearing simple clothes that would blend in almost anywhere in the Ten Kingdoms. He was leaning on the railing and had his head slightly bowed and his eyes closed, but didn't look sleepy; he must be praying.

Tee landed as quietly as she could and then waited.

"If you are waiting for me to finish praying, you might have a long wait." The luminar said kindly after a moment. "Especially on this particular prayer."

"What were you praying for?" Tee asked.

"Nothing you need concern yourself with." He replied with a smile, then turned his attention to Master and Myla as they landed. "To what do I owe the honor?"

Myla stepped forward and did her half-bow, half curtsy. "Greetings, I am Ekdala MetTatian Mylera de Sekoral, and this meeting brings me joy."

"Hello Mylera." Luminar Kossel bowed formally in return. "I am Kossel MetGeorge Adrian de Arcanum, and this introduction brings me joy."

Taloni assumed that was a proper response because Myla beamed. She had a beautiful smile, at least as beautiful as Selene's. That thought made Tee's face fall slightly though; she missed Selene. Even though Selene had lied, she still missed her.

"What can I do for you my dear?" Luminar asked Myla, his tone more grandfatherly than anything else.

Myla looked at Master.

"She was hoping you could make up a certificate of divorce." He explained.

"That's a serious request." Kossel frowned. "On what grounds?"

Master and Myla then explained how he had rescued her from Lord Farbrottan.

"That would indeed be cause." Luminar Kossel said when they had finished, then looked at Myla. "Let me fetch some paper and ink."

"My heart is filled with gratitude." Myla nodded, then turned to Master. "Meelas, I would not wish to delay you in your business."

"Business?" Luminar Kossel asked.

"Yeah, I wanted to ask what your plans were since the Argo is heading back to Dotmier."

"I will ask Falkaan to anchor the Midnight Sun ten or twenty miles south of the portal, that way I can be on hand to help return everything once Selene has completed her mission."

"Perfect, thanks." He nodded.

"I shall attend to that divorce certificate then." Luminar Kossel went below decks and returned not long afterwards with a piece of paper and a bottle of ink, then frowned. "Hmm, there's a bit of a breeze up here; I'll do this below decks."

"May I watch?" Taloni asked, having never seen a divorce certificate before.

"Certainly." The luminar headed back below decks while Master and Myla remained above decks.

Tee followed him to a small room under the captain's cabin that had a table and several chairs as a centerpiece. The room had several weapon racks around the edges and some armor and training gear as well. There was also a small wine rack with several different vintages of mead. Tee smiled; Kendra would really enjoy the honey wine. The windows were rather small and thus it wasn't very bright, but bright enough to read.

"I'm really glad you can do this for Myla." Taloni said as Kossel sat down. "She seems like a really nice person, though she's a bit quiet."

"Hurt women often are." He replied.

"I hope we can help her." Tee said. "I know she went through something awful but I like to think that we can add some brightness to her life now. You know, maybe help her recover a little?"

"That's a good perspective." He said as he sat down and began to write. "Do you always think like that?"

"Um, I don't know?" She cocked her head to one side. "I guess when I see someone hurting, I want to help them feel better."

"That's a good thing." Luminar Kossel smiled, and the look in his eyes was far away for a moment. "You remind me of someone I used to know."

"Used to know?" Tee said as she took a moment to examine the mead bottles a little more closely. "What happened to him?"

"Her." He corrected kindly as he wrote. "And she lost her way." He paused. "Well, perhaps I should say that her way was lost for her. Sadly, even the best and most noble of intentions can produce unforeseen consequences."

"Oh." Taloni's face fell. "What kind of consequences?"

"The tragic kind." He replied with a sad sigh. "But that's a depressing story for another time."

Taloni nodded, then looked over his shoulder as he wrote.

* * *

Knock. Knock.

Fiona looked up from her knitting, wondering who could be knocking so late in the afternoon. Everyone she knew who might come calling was currently working in the castle and wouldn't get off for a few hours yet. She checked that Conner was still taking his afternoon nap and then got up and walked to the door.

She opened the door to see a messenger standing there. He was wearing a uniform similar to the Narlotten guards, but without the armor or weapons and with a livery collar.

"Miss Fiona McWilliams?" He asked.

"Aye."

"Sir Warrick has extended an invitation for you to join him at dinner tonight in the great hall." He said. "I have been asked to bring him your response as well."

Fiona slowly shook her head and she smiled; the nobleman was being crafty. She knew from bringing dishes up to the great hall for the servers that Sir Warrick sat at Lord Delmar's right hand and Lady Ekthros sat near Sir Warrick. However, with Lady Ekthros gone, her seat would be empty and that would put Fiona's seat very close to Lord Delmar. She was willing to bet every copper she owned that Sir Warrick would ask to switch seats if she accepted, which would put her right next to Lord Delmar.

"I'm sorry, but I can't be making it tonight." She told the messenger. Lord Delmar had made it clear that he wouldn't bond and Fiona wouldn't marry him without bonding.

"Sir Warrick instructed that if you replied in the negative, I should offer this if you go--" The messenger held up a gold coin. "--and give you this." He held up a small, sealed note.

She frowned.

She took the note and broke to seal to read:

+ + +

Miss McWilliams,

This is obviously a blatant bribe to put you in closer contact with the person of whom we spoke earlier. You agree to nothing by accepting and need not even engage him in conversation, though obviously I hope you will. Your presence is all that I ask. I have already informed him that I have asked you, and even why.

I will have my own wife watch over your son during dinner, or Marge owes me a few favors if you would be more comfortable with her.

+ + +

Fiona looked at the note, then the gold coin, then at Conner. It really was a hard offer to turn down. Sir Warrick's wife was well-known to be a kindly woman who loved children and the servants universally spoke well of her. Her biggest fault seemed to be that she hovered slightly out of nervousness that someone would take ill.

The food that went to the great hall was the best in the castle, plus a gold coin wasn't nothing. It was a fair bit of money and certainly enough to entice.

Plus, she found herself curious about what Lord Delmar would be like in a more casual setting like an ordinary, non-official dinner in the great hall. She had enjoyed her more casual interactions with him and -- if she was honest with herself -- she would like more of them. She wasn't sure if it was her grief, her loneliness, or something else, but she wanted to go.

"Okay." She nodded.

* * *

"Are you okay?" Ethan asked Myla. They had been standing at the railing of the Midnight Sun in slightly awkward silence for several minutes now. The dusky-skinned woman wasn't being standoffish, but she certainly wasn't verbose.

"I will be much improved when I am no longer married, Meelas." She said quietly.

"And you're no longer a slave either." He pointed out. "You'll be well and truly free; a clean slate."

She swallowed, glanced at him, then down. "There is not enough water in the Western Sea to wash me clean of him."

Oh.

Ethan ran his hand over the top of his head where his hair would be if he had any. He didn't know how to reply. What should a person say to that? He had literally no idea what she was going through and thus no idea what could help. Finally, he settled for something slightly generic that he didn't think would hurt since he didn't know how to help.

"I'm sorry. If there's anything that I or my wives can do to help, let us know."

"You rescued me Meelas." She said softly. "I cannot ask for more than that."

"You could, but that's up to you." He offered.

She didn't reply.

He decided not to push and looked around, noticing that on the Argo, Kendra was doing solo drills against the Ten Kingdom's variant of one of the large, heavy, cylindrical bags that boxers used to practice punching. Only at the moment she was practicing with a wooden training sword.

He checked his bond with her and unsurprisingly it was a tempest of emotions. He didn't even try to sort through them and didn't envy what she was dealing with. He had his own issues with Selene. He understood why she had lied, even if it stung. He knew that it hadn't been premeditated and that she'd simply reacted badly when it happened so he could forgive her if she apologized.

He found it a lot harder to forgive how much Selene had hurt Kendra. He had a sneaking suspicion that the caramel-haired beauty had blocked him from sensing her emotions because she was feeling incredibly guilty.

Frankly, he was fine with that.

She should feel guilty.

Frankly, she should feel like crap, especially for how she had hurt Kendra. He hoped that Selene would feel bad enough to apologize, but he had no idea if she would.

From behind him, he heard a particularly loud 'slap' sound as Kendra appeared to take her frustrations out on the punching bag with her wooden training sword. He slowly shook his head. Damn it Selene, why? He had a guess why, but that didn't make him feel any better.

Wack!

He looked at the Argo again to see Kendra slam her training sword into the punching bag again and with more force. And then she did it again...

And again...

And again.

"Myla, I'll be back in a few minutes; I need to check on Kendra."

"Hai." She nodded.

He spread his wings and it didn't take him long to get there. By the time he had, all of Kendra's precise form had completely disappeared, replaced by swinging the practice sword repeatedly like a baseball bat as hard as she could. She wasn't practicing anymore; she was simply beating on the punching bag as hard and as fast as she possibly could.

He landed near her just as she started swinging in earnest, pummeling the punching bag like she hated it with an all-consuming passion.

She just kept swinging.

Everyone else on the deck had noticed as well. The Argo's crew all looked sympathetic, but their visitors looked like they were watching a crazy woman have a fit. Honestly, that wasn't far from the truth right now.

She just kept swinging...

...then she started crying.

Then she also added a strangled cry to each hit as she bashed the punching bag again and again. She slowly got louder, bashing and almost screaming with every hit.

"Kendra." He said.

The former Aldmiri didn't stop, but it looked like the tears were coming even faster and she was certainly hitting harder.

"Kendra." He said a little more loudly.

"I hate her!" Kendra nearly screamed as she bashed the punching bag again and again. "I hate her! I hate her! I hate her!"

Ethan stepped forward and used his enhanced reflexes to catch the training sword just as Kendra wound up for another strike.

"No you don't." He said as gently as he could.

Kendra collapsed to her knees, breathing heavily as she dropped the training sword. He knelt down next to her and pulled her into his arms.

"I want to." She managed to choke out. "I want to hate her so much." She looked into his eyes. "Why can't I hate her?"

"Because you care about her even though she hurt you."

"I don't want to care anymore." Kendra sniffled. "I don't want to care; tell me how to stop caring." She looked up at him with her big brown eyes. "Please tell me how I can not care."

"It doesn't work that way." He said softly as he held her.

"I want it to." She sniffled again. "I want to not care about her."

Ethan swallowed, understanding entirely how she felt right now. "Do you know the last thing that Selene said to me before she started walking to the portal?"

Kendra sniffled again and shook her head.

"She said: 'Take care of Kendra for me'." He smiled at her, though it was a pained smile.

Kendra stared at him for a long moment.

She swallowed.

Her eyes welled up with tears again and she leaned into him.

He just held her.

He held her for almost a whole minute before she spoke again.

"But if she cared so much that she asked, why would she...?" She sniffled.

"I would guess because she didn't feel like she had a choice in the matter." He replied gently. "I think she likes being told what to do, but she wants to have a choice. She felt like Illuminar wasn't giving her a choice and probably reacted without thinking about it."

"But why?" Kendra blinked a few times, her tear-streaked cheeks no longer being continually watered.

"Think about how you felt about dragons when we first met." He replied. "Imagine if Illuminar told you that you would marry me the day after we met; how would you feel?"

"Oh." She looked down, still half-sitting on the deck and half-leaning on him. "But, she could still change her mind, right? You could still marry her if she changed her mind, right?"

"I could." He admitted hesitantly.

"Could?"

"I would need to think about it." He replied. "I won't deny that I really miss her, but she lied to me. I know you've only heard a little about my ex, but I think I have trust issues from her that I haven't sorted out. It helps that I can feel what all my wives feel, but I can't with Selene. I don't know how she feels about this and without knowing that, I just don't know how much I could trust her."

"Oh." Kendra bit her lip and nodded, then looked into his eyes with her deep, beautiful brown ones. "But will you promise me that you'll still consider her if she's willing? You don't have to choose her, but please promise me that you'll think about it?"

"That's an odd request from someone who was screaming that she hated her a few minutes ago." He pointed out.

She looked down and spoke quietly. "I still hate her, but I think I love her too. Not the way that Alana and Rachel love each other, but I do."

"I know." He smiled and kissed the top of her head. "I have no idea who will end up being my sixth wife, but I'll try to keep an open mind. Honestly, though, I think it will end up being more Selene's decision than anyone else's."

"You do?"

He nodded. "I think I could forgive her and maybe even trust her again, but she would have to want it. She would need to apologize, truly want it, and choose it."

Kendra got a pained smile on her face. "I suppose that's a consequence of free will; Illuminar lets us choose and sometimes we don't like what other people choose."

"Yeah." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Kendra, can I ask you to promise me something?"

"Anything."

"Give Victoria and Myla a chance, or at least don't treat them like they are trying to replace Selene." He said as gently as he could. "I don't know who I'll end up marrying, but I'm pretty sure that Selene will break her bond with me and move back to Earth. If that happens -- if she chooses to leave us -- I might end up marrying one of our guests. So please, treat them gently; they aren't responsible for what Selene did or what she chooses to do. Plus, one of them might well end up being one of your fellow wives."

Kendra nodded slowly, then wiped her cheeks. "I'll try Drago." She looked down. "Oh, I'm a mess."

"A beautiful mess." He smiled.

He would never understand why Kendra didn't find herself attractive. True, she wasn't Selene and she wasn't what most people considered beautiful, but he thought she was.

"Kendra."

"Yeah?"

"I love you." He said softly.

"I love you too Drago." She smiled, though there was something slightly forced about it. He guessed that she was choking down a comment on how she wasn't worthy of it, but she didn't voice it.

* * *

Kendra took a deep breath and leaned into her husband more. She smiled at that; her husband. She was married. She still couldn't believe that sometimes. A few months ago she couldn't have imagined that her life would be what it was now. She couldn't have imagined having a husband, co-wives who were wonderful, and a friend that she missed so dearly.

A part of her hated Selene, but only a part of her and not even a large part. The longer she thought about her friend, the less she hated her.

*Um, guys?* Selene's voice came to the group chat.

*Are you okay?* Kendra asked on impulse.

Ethan gave her a gentle squeeze.

*Yeah, I'm okay.* Selene hesitated. *Well, physically okay anyway but there's something you should know.* She then explained about Gonorran teaching Smithbond magic, and almost certainly dark magic.

*Holy crap.* Ethan shook his head. *Is there anything you can do?*

*Not sitting in this cell.* Selene replied after a moment, but her mental tone sounded odd.

*Is something wrong?" Ethan asked.

*Um, can I ask a question?* The Brazilian woman asked.

*Always.* Alana replied.

*Am I... um...* She paused. *Am I a pushover? Do I just do what people tell me to do?*

Kendra looked up at Ethan, the confusion she felt mirrored in his eyes.

*Why do you ask?* He replied.

She explained what Clive had said to her. *Am I really like that? Do I just do what I'm told?*

Ethan chuckled slightly and then whispered to Kendra. "Irony."

She nodded, not sure what to think about that.

*Should I be honest?* Ethan thought to everyone after a moment.

Selene waited longer than usual to reply. *Please do.*

*You like to be told what to do.* Kendra said after a moment, surprising herself slightly that she'd spoken up. *But not just by anyone.*

*Oh?* The caramel-haired beauty replied.

*What would you do if Gonorran told you to do something?* Ethan asked.

*Tell him to get bent.* Selene replied. *So I'm not... I don't know, a pushover?*

*No.* Alana said.

*You're actually rather strong-willed.* Rachel added. *You have convictions about helping people that run deep and won't cross them for anything.*

*We actually admire that about you.* Beth said.

*You wouldn't turn down someone if he asked for help, no matter who told you to ignore him.* Taloni added.

*They're right.* Ethan added. *You do realize that Smithbond-- I mean, Clive, was intentionally trying to get under your skin. You riled him up and he was returning the favor in a little petty revenge. Don't let him get to you.*

*Thanks.* She replied, then waited several long moments before continuing. *You all are the best--* She stopped and if Kendra didn't miss her guess, Selene had stopped because she had gotten choked up. In fact, the raven-haired woman could imagine her exact facial expression.

*Hey, um...* Selene continued. *I'm really grateful for... for everything. I know I can be... uh, I'm not always the best person or the easiest person to live with and sometimes I... what I mean to say is, um, if I've ever done anything to hurt any of you, I'm really sorry.*

Kendra looked at Ethan, her eyes getting watery again as she replied. *We forgive you Selene.* Then she spoke aloud to Ethan. "She's sorry. I think that was her trying to apologize for lying without admitting that she lied, wasn't it?"

"You know, I think you're right." He said with a pained half-smile, then thought to everyone. *Yeah, we forgive you.*

Her fellow wives echoed that sentiment after her husband did.

*Thank you.* Selene replied.

"I'm still mad at her." Kendra said quietly to Ethan.

"I would be surprised if you weren't." He replied.

"I still care about her." She added a few moments later.

He smiled. "I would be surprised if you didn't."

* * *

Fiona was wearing her nicest dress and still felt rather underdressed for dinner in the great hall. Perhaps not by a lot, but she did. The doors were open and she was standing outside looking in so it was hard not to be comparing herself to others. As was typical in the Ten Kingdoms, there were three long tables arranged in a "U" shape. Lord Delmar was sitting in the center of the central table with an empty seat to his left. From what she had heard, it had remained empty since Helene's death.

The hall was grand but not ostentatious. Everything was of the highest quality but nothing was jewel-encrusted or even necessarily gilded. Gold and silver were used in the decor, but as tasteful accents to the pallet of red and black on the stone walls, not as central themes.

"Ready?" Sir Warrick asked from beside her.

She took a deep breath. "As long as you aren't expecting anything, aye."

He smiled at her. "I'm expecting rather a lot, but I believe it will happen by you simply being yourself."

"Okay." She shrugged. "And the Lord Delmar is knowing?"

"Even about the gold." He replied. "I think he found it amusing that you had to be paid to spend time with him."

She felt her cheeks grow slightly warm. "That's not what I was thinking."

"Then you'll have to tell him that." He winked, then started forward. "Come."

He started forward and she followed, not liking the idea that Lord Delmar might think that she needed to be paid to enjoy his company. She didn't. She enjoyed his company normally and...

Huh.

It had never occurred to her before that she actually enjoyed being in his company.

Sir Warrick led her to the high table and then pulled a chair out for her. He had explained beforehand that the rules of etiquette dictated that no one should be seated at the high table unless they had been explicitly invited, and a common way of doing that for a woman was to pull her chair out for her.

Fiona sat down and glanced down the table.

Sir Warrick was sitting down to her left and beyond him was Lord Delmar. The lord gave her a curt nod of acknowledgment but otherwise didn't react. On Fiona's other side was General Carrow who she knew very little about other than he was in charge of Narlotten's ground forces. Sir Warrick's wife wasn't at the table since she was taking care of Conner, and General Carrow and his wife seemed to have moved up a seat so the former could talk with Sir Warrick.

"Ma'am." The General nodded to her, then looked at Sir Warrick. "I still say it could be accomplished with no or minimal loss of life."

Sir Warrick sighed. "But it is not our country to intervene."

"But it is an ally's country and we do have troops there."

"That doesn't mean we should interfere in another lorddom." Sir Warrick countered.

"I'm sorry, to be interrupting." Fiona said. "But what are you talking about?"

"The orcs in Ivernia." General Carrow replied. "I think we should intervene to help the Ivernia military, Sir Warrick disagrees."

"Lord Farbrottan says the loss of life is minimal and attacks are infrequent." Sir Warrick replied. "He says that the miners chose to mine there and have been there for years; they know the risks and could leave if it became too dangerous."

"And you trust Lord Farbrottan on that, do you?" General Carrow asked.

Sir Warrick shrugged. "As much as I would trust him on anything else."

"I'm hoping that's not much." Fiona said more to herself than either of them.

They both looked at her.

"I was having a roommate from Ivernia and she wasn't trusting him at all." Fiona explained as one of the servants came to serve her and Sir Warrick some food. It smelled wonderful.

"This woman has more wisdom than the head of Lord Delmar's council." General Carrow said, obviously poking fun at Sir Warrick.

"It would be a poor idea to insinuate to a lord that he is lying or untrustworthy." Sir Warrick replied, then looked at Fiona. "My dear, it would be a shame if you had to sit between two grumpy old men talking business for an entire meal. Please, trade seats with me and we will spare you the pain."

Fiona resisted the urge to smile.

That hadn't taken long.

Further -- and she had known this going in -- there wasn't a good or polite way to refuse him that wouldn't be a social faux pas. So she nodded and switched seats with him, which of course put her right next to Lord Delmar.

"Fiona." He said absentmindedly without looking at her.

"Milord." She said respectfully, then tucked in to her food.

It was very good.

Marge and the rest of the kitchen staff had outdone themselves tonight and everything was wonderful. Beside her, Sir Warrick and General Carrow continued to debate the merits of Narlotten intervening in the orc situation in Ivernia. Lord Delmar didn't say a word. He seemed to be there only to eat or drink and nothing else. She couldn't tell if he was bored or simply keeping his expression neutral.

Finally, about halfway through dinner, Sir Warrick turned to Lord Delmar. "What think you my lord?"

"It is a fool's errand to discuss action without accurate knowledge of the situation." He replied, then took a drink.

"Well, perhaps we should send someone to find out." General Carrow suggested.

"It would need to be someone of uncommon courage and keen intellect to discover the truth of the situation." Lord Delmar replied.

Fiona smiled, remembering the lord's humorous comment while Sarah had been accused. Prince Vulrit of Marcadia had said that he didn't feel safe in the castle while a demon-possessed girl was there and then said that he would leave unless she left. To that, Lord Delmar had said that his wit and bravery would be missed.

"Perhaps you could ask Prince Vulrit." Fiona said in jest, though quietly enough that only those immediately around her could hear it.

The corners of Lord Delmar's mouth twitched upwards slightly for several moments and he exhaled slightly louder and more forcefully than he usually did. It almost sounded like he had laughed. Well, not exactly laughed. It probably wouldn't even qualify as a chuckle, but he apparently found it funny enough to merit a reaction at least.

She went back to eating and a minute later noticed that there was rather a lot of whispering happening in the room and suddenly, rather a lot of people were staring...

...at her.

They were staring at her.

In hindsight, she should've realized that something like this would happen. Lord Delmar's reaction had obviously been noticed and apparently the person or persons who had noticed it had taken it upon themselves to spread the news far and wide. Given how obsessed the Narlotten citizens were with Lord Delmar and how concerned they were about him needing an heir, plus him having apparently not laughed at the dinner table in years, word of this would spread like wildfire. By dinner tomorrow, quite possibly every person in Karnas would know.

Fiona gave Sir Warrick a look.

He smiled in return, looking like Illuminar's Day had come early.

She looked at Lord Delmar who seemed completely unconcerned. He had returned to eating like nothing had happened. Fiona highly doubted that he had missed the reaction of the room, but it appeared not to bother him at all.

* * *

"Kendra?"

The dragon huntress looked up after supper to see Victoria standing there. The gorgeous platinum blonde had a smile on her face as usual, though she looked somewhat sympathetic right now as well. Her parents had behaved somewhat nervously around Kendra during dinner after her meltdown earlier. She didn't blame them, but at least Myla and Victoria didn't. Victoria was just as cheerful as ever and Myla as quiet as ever, though the latter spent a lot of time watching everyone.

"Yes?" Kendra replied. She had been sitting near the front of the Argo doing a little prayer and meditation to calm herself. She didn't feel entirely better, but she did feel somewhat better.

"I heard your..." She paused, probably looking for the right word.

"Outburst?"

"I was hoping for something less negative sounding, but yes." Victoria replied. "It sounds like you just discovered that someone you know isn't who you thought he was."

"Something like that." Kendra replied, not wanting to 'out' Selene nor discuss what had truly happened.

"Well, I get that." The platinum blonde said with a sympathetic smile. "Can I share something that I find encouraging from the Book of Light?"

"Sure."

"It's my favorite verse." Victoria said, then quoted: "The grateful pauper can be happy with little, the ungrateful king cannot be content with a whole kingdom. Be grateful for what you have while you have it, for the future is not guaranteed."

"Wise words." Kendra nodded.

"Indeed." She looked at Kendra significantly. "I don't think I need to tell you that people are horrible; you look like the kind of person who's experienced that yourself. But every once in a while, you might meet someone who is a little less horrible than everyone else."

Oddly, Victoria seemed to mean that both seriously and literally; it seemed that she truly believed that the world was divided into horrible people and slightly less horrible people.

Interesting.

"I've found that unless you focus on the bright side of things, you'll drown in despair." The platinum blonde continued. "So I don't know what your friend did, but it seems like the people here aren't horrible. Try to remember that if the horribleness of everyone else begins to weigh you down; it might help."

Kendra looked at her for several seconds before speaking. "How long have you been telepathic?"

Suddenly, Victoria's smile didn't quite reach into her eyes. "Too long."

"I'll keep what you said in mind." Kendra replied after a moment. "And thank you."

"You're welcome, I hope it helps." She smiled and then turned to rejoin the others.

Near the captain's cabin, Ethan had apparently broken out that game of penté that Anthiel and her husband Ralgar had given them while they were in Gralden. Ethan and Harold, Victoria's father, were currently playing a game with several other people watching.

Kendra stood and walked over to join them.

"I started as a lawyer, but over time I became more like an administrator." Harold was saying, then he placed a piece, putting three of them in a row. "Tria."

"Damn, good move." Ethan frowned as he looked at the board. "What kind of administration? Local?"

"Actually throughout the barony." Harold replied. "It might be among the smallest baronies in Ivernia, but Baron Martel has a lot of connections and he wanted someone to oversee things. I 'volunteered' to help him if you ask him."

"Volunteered?" Ethan chuckled. "Sounds like he's a delightful person." He rolled his eyes and then finally placed his next piece, blocking one end of Harold's tria.

"Tria." Harold said as he placed his own piece. "Actually, two trias."

Ethan exhaled heavily. "I concede. Damn, that's three in a row now."

"So what does the prophet of Illuminar do?" Harold asked as they cleaned the pieces off the board to begin again.

"Mostly fly around the Ten Kingdoms getting ambushed and occasionally helping people." He replied and then placed his first piece since the loser always goes first in penté.

"It sounds like modern prophets do not have it easier than those in the Book of Light." Victoria said from her seat near her father.

Ethan shrugged. "We're trying to fix that."

"I'm working on it now actually." Alana said as she put another stitch in the leather she was working on.

Kendra had noticed her working with it earlier too. It looked like she was making a small pouch for her belt -- not the travel bow disguised as a belt, but an actual belt -- and Kendra guessed it was to hold her new and more powerful travel arrows. The wood elf had been splitting her time between sewing dresses and practicing with her new arrows, and her accuracy was becoming her usual level of incredible. Before long, she would be able to split an arrow with a follow-up arrow again.

Not long afterwards, Harold claimed his fourth victory.

"Can I try my hand against the prophet?" Victoria asked.

"Sure." Ethan replied.

The platinum blonde was good. Not quite as good as her father, but she managed to win two-thirds of her games against Ethan.

"Might I play the winner?" Myla asked.

"Sure." Ethan moved and the two telepaths sat down to play each other, though Kendra was sure that they had mental defenses so that wasn't a factor.

Neither spoke much as they played. They were very evenly matched despite having radically different play styles. Myla's moves were careful and precise; even the way she set the pieces onto the board seemed deliberate and done with much forethought. Victoria was a little more chaotic and random, but somehow that chaos didn't translate into less skill. The dusky-skinned woman seemed to excel at planning ahead and putting Victoria in tight spots, but the platinum blonde seemed to excel at thinking on her proverbial feet to extricate herself from those spots, often snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.

It was interesting to watch.

About halfway through their games, Thor wandered over and for the first time, actually approached the guests. Without Selene here, he just hadn't seemed interested in meeting new people. He went up to Myla first and sniffed her several times, then did the same to Victoria. He sat down and looked at them for a moment, then went to each in turn and rubbed the side of his face against them once.

"Aww." Victoria smiled while Myla beamed.

Then Thor did the most 'cat' thing possible; he walked on the board and flopped down in the middle of it. The pieces were of course thrown out of place and yet Thor was looking around like he'd done nothing wrong.

"I was just about to win." Victoria said with a smile as she shook her head slowly. "I would be very upset at you if you weren't so cute."

"He is." Myla agreed, then reached out to pet him gently.

Victoria petted him too and Thor seemed to enjoy it. He didn't react to them the way he did to Selene, but he did seem to like them.

* * *

Sarah stepped out into the night air with Amy behind her. She had spent a wonderful few hours with her father and it had been so good to see him up and about. He had seemed younger and more energetic than she'd seen him in many years and that did her heart good. He had remarked several times how much she'd changed and it seemed a compliment, which also did Sarah's heart good. Amy had said very little, though she had occasionally glanced towards the door a few times.

"Are you sure he won't mind?" The artistic girl asked the innkeeper's daughter as they walked towards Rindrin's blacksmith shop.

"I don't think he will." Sarah replied. "We are betrothed and there will be two of us, so there aren't any concerns about propriety."

"But still..." Amy was clutching her 'Honesty' painting to her chest and looked quite nervous.

"It will be fine." Sarah smiled at her. "I don't think I've ever seen him get angry at someone for asking him a question." She cocked her head to one side. "Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen him get truly angry. Frustrated and upset, yes, but never truly angry."

"That's good." Amy smiled, but it was a nervous smile.

"Trust me, you'll be fine." Sarah said as they reached the door.

"Okay." Amy replied, her tone indicating that she had doubts.

Sarah knocked.

"One minute." Rindrin said from the other side of the door. Sarah heard the distinct, slightly 'crunching' sound of something being put into the coals of a fire, then footsteps, then the door opened. Rindrin's eyes widened for a moment, then he smiled. "I see that prophet made good on his word."

Sarah's father had already told her of Ethan's earlier visit, and she had felt like her heart had expanded so much that she thought it might burst when she'd learned of that.

"Actually, Ethan didn't find me." Sarah replied. "I've just come from Karnas, where I met Amy here." She indicated her friend. "She has a question she wants to ask you."

"Hi." Amy gave Rindrin a nervous little wave of the hand.

He shrugged and opened the door. "Come on in."

They did.

The room was rather brightly lit for this time of day by the forge and several bright lanterns. It looked like how it always had, except it seemed that people needed a lot more blacksmithing work done lately judging by the number of items on his 'to fix' table.

"One minute." Rindrin said as he went back over to the forge, pulled something out of it, and set it on the anvil without working it; apparently he was done smithing for a while. Once done, he returned and led them into the rear 'house' portion of the building and indicated that they should sit down at a table. "What's this about you being in Karnas?"

Sarah gave him a very abbreviated version of her travels in recent weeks. "I can give you more details if you want, but that's the gist."

Rindrin shrugged. "Well, I'm glad you ain't been hurt." He looked at Amy. "What were you wantin' to ask?"

"Um, what do you think of this picture?" She held it up so Rindrin could see it.

He leaned in slightly to look at it for a moment and then frowned. "It's ugly crap." He looked at the artist. "You seem like the artistic type though, so there ain't no reason you couldn't practice up and become a good artist."

"Marry me." Amy breathed dreamily, then clapped a hand to her mouth to hide the grimace that had suddenly appeared as she whispered. "Did I just say that out loud?"

Sarah laughed.

Rindrin looked confused.

Amy went beet red.

"I'll explain later." Sarah said to Rindrin after she'd stopped laughing and put her arm around her friend. "However, I was hoping to ask you for a favor."

"Like?" He replied.

"I can't stay at my father's inn because I'll scare away all the customers." She explained. "I know you have a spare bedroom and I was hoping that Amy and I could stay there until we get married. If we don't, we won't have a place to go except the inn, and again that will scare everyone away from the outpost."

He frowned. "Your father knows about you asking this?"

"He does." Sarah nodded. "He trusts you and there will be two of us so there shouldn't be a propriety problem."

Rindrin looked at Amy, though he was clearly still speaking to Sarah. "You trust this girl?"

"I do."

"Fine by me, though don't be expectin' much in the way of comfort." He shrugged. "And if you'll be livin' here anyway, we should be marryin' soon to keep things right and proper."

Once upon a time, Sarah would've just agreed and they probably would've been married tomorrow or the next day. But she wasn't the same girl that she had been even a month ago. "Um, could we talk about that in the morning?"

Rindrin eyed her for a moment. "You sweet on the prophet the same as he's sweet on you?"

Sarah froze slightly, not sure how to respond. Her heart was soaring at the thought of Ethan being 'sweet on her', but she wasn't sure what Rindrin would think of that fact.

Thankfully, he spoke up and she didn't need to reply. "Yeah, we can talk in the morning. Don't let the hammering keep you up."

"We won't." Sarah smiled, glad that he didn't seem upset.

The two women went to his spare bedroom. It was small, lacked any sort of decoration, and the sheets smelled slightly musty, but otherwise it was fine. Sarah and Amy then went out and grabbed their things and brought them into the room, not that there was much. Once that was done, they changed into sleeping gowns and slid into the bed.

Laying there with Amy next to her, Sarah thought about Selene. She missed her friend dearly. Of course, her father had told her that Selene had come by the inn, but since she was traveling with Ethan, Lady Ekthros's threat meant that Sarah couldn't talk to her even if she did come by the inn again. Sarah sighed, wishing that something could happen that might protect Fiona and Conner from Lady Ekthros as she had prayed so many times.

Outside, she heard the sound of a hammer rhythmically hitting metal.

Amy sighed wistfully. "It's like music."

Sarah chuckled. "You really like him, don't you?"

"He's perfect." She sighed dreamily.

Sarah smiled while thinking about a different man who was perfect, or at least perfect for her.

* * *

Fiona set her utensils at the top of her plate and leaned back in her chair, feeling rather more full than she usually did after dinner. She helped make the food for the high table regularly and had tasted it as part of making it of course, but it tasted better tonight for some reason. Maybe it was because she didn't have to make it.

The high table had mostly emptied by now, though Sir Warrick, General Carrow, and Lord Delmar were all still there. Mage Weston had left a few minutes before and said good evening to her specifically before leaving, which she appreciated. Sir Warrick and General Carrow had spent most of the meal discussing the orc situation in Ivernia and debating the merits of intervening.

"My dear Fiona." Sir Warrick said loudly enough that he obviously intended to be heard by more than just her, though not loudly enough to be suspicious. "Please remain here for a few minutes while the poor delusional General and I go check something."

"Aye, I can be doing that." She nodded.

They got up and left, though she had no idea for what or why. Knowing Sir Warrick, he had probably made up some excuse so that Fiona could talk to Lord Delmar alone. Currently, the two of them were alone, or as alone as one could be in such a room. There were a few people at the far end of the other tables, but they were far away enough that a low conversation wouldn't carry to them.

"Milord, can I be asking a question?" She asked in a low enough voice that it wouldn't carry.

He nodded once, though didn't look at her.

"What are you really thinking about the orcs in Ivernia?"

"Exactly what I said." He replied. "We do not know enough to make an informed decision. That is why Lady Ekthros is on her way to Dotmier now."

"She is?"

He nodded once. "I believe she traveled most of the way by portal; she might have already arrived."

She smiled. "I'm liking that you care so much."

Lord Delmar made a thoughtful sound, then lowered his tone even though no one was nearby. "I do not care, neither about the miners nor their plight."

Fiona stared at him. "But, but the orcs are eating the miners. You're not caring about that?"

"No." He said simply "Illuminar instructs those in power to look after those who are powerless so I shall obey. However, were I to concern myself with every injustice outside of Narlotten's borders, I would think of little else."

Fiona stared.

After several seconds she realized her mouth was open and closed it, still not quite believing what she was hearing. "What if your daughter was there? Wouldn't you be caring then?"

"Yes, but she is not there." He replied.

"But there are other daughters, sons, fathers, and wives there." She countered. "Surely you could be imagining yourself in their shoes and how they must be feeling."

Lord Delmar didn't reply.

She didn't get the impression that it was because she had stumped him either. He had simply chosen not to reply. She thought about that for a minute and something about it didn't sit right with her and she didn't think that he could truly be that unfeeling.

"I'm having trouble believing that you aren't caring milord." She finally said.

"Believe as you wish." He replied without emotion.

Fiona frowned.

It was possible that Lord Delmar was so cold-hearted, but she doubted it. From what everyone said about Helene, she cared deeply about helping other people and it seemed impossible that she could truly love a man who was so indifferent to the sufferings of others. Their love had seemed to be the stuff of legends, which made him being uncaring seem even less likely.

Although...

Perhaps he had grown colder toward others since her passing? That was possible, especially since it had been fifteen years. Given what Sir Warrick had said earlier, that seemed a likely possibility. It certainly seemed more likely than someone as caring as Helene falling in love with someone who didn't care about others.

"What would the Lady Helene be saying about that?" Fiona asked after a moment.

Lord Delmar's expression didn't change, but suddenly he did seem a bit stiffer. It was subtle, but there. "She is not alive to ask."

Fiona nodded her head in concession, finding this conversation rather strange.

"My offer is still open, should you reconsider." Lord Delmar said after a moment.

"I'm not sure I can be reconsidering my condition milord." She replied. "That's truly near and dear to my heart and I don't think I could be doing it without that."

He made a thoughtful sound and then inclined his head in concession slightly. "The offer will remain open if you do reconsider."

Fiona looked around to make sure that no one was near before speaking in a low voice. "If I can be asking, what are the side effects that are making you so determined not to?"

He looked at her for a moment. "I would need to bed you every other day to maintain full control of my faculties. Subtle but noticeable effects would appear beyond three or four days. Should you become unavailable for merely a week, it could compromise my ability to rule to the best of my ability."

"Really?" Her eyes widened. Whatever she had been expecting, it certainly wasn't that.

"Consider Ithlan." Lord Delmar replied. "His descent into madness came about because he bonded to too many women to increase his power, and then he was not able to service them all."

Fiona nodded.

That did make some sense.

"I..." She hesitated a moment, considering what she was about to say rather carefully. He had laid out pretty clearly what would be required to keep him a good lord if they bonded. She wanted him to be a good lord, she wanted to marry him, and she wanted to bond to him. If that's what was required...

In the back of her mind, she also had the vision of him with his shirt off. She knew from seeing his dragon form that he was truly that well-muscled, and she would be lying if she said that wasn't a factor, however small it was.

"I would be willing to join with you that often." She finally said, though her voice wavered more than she wanted it to.

"Even when you are ill?" He replied. "When you have just given birth? When the child is keeping you up all night and you are too tired to move?"

Fiona took a deep breath. "Aye. I've been all of those and know that I could."

Lord Delmar made a thoughtful sound that somehow sounded slightly negative, as if he didn't think she would reply that way and perhaps hadn't wanted her to.

"I still cannot accept the limitation." He said after several moments. "Good evening Fiona." He gave her a respectful nod of the head, then stood and left.

As he did so, Sir Warrick's statement about him needing her more than she needed him came to mind. The last time they had talked, he hadn't even been willing to discuss the downsides. This time he had. Perhaps that was progress?

She wasn't sure when this had happened or when she'd started wanting this, but she realized that she truly did want to marry him. Conner needed a father, she wanted a husband, and she could think of no one better for those roles. True he proclaimed himself to be unfeeling, but she couldn't imagine that was the case. Not if Helene had loved him as much as everyone said. Perhaps he had grown a bit calloused over the years, but she thought there was a man-- err, dragon with a good heart in there still.

If she held out for him to agree to bonding, she might be able to coax him back to the man he had been many years ago with Helene. She would be entirely fine marrying him exactly as he was, but she thought he was more than he made himself out to be.

All she had to do was wait, hope, and pray that he would agree to bond.

* * *

Yalia beamed at Matthew's response to her latest question. She had been imitating what Luminar Percival was likely to say to Matthew when her friend challenged him about the depravity of man, and Matthew's answer was perfect. They were in her room while her parents were sitting at the kitchen table going over some tax forms.

"You're getting so good at this!" She hugged him excitedly.

"Thanks." He said as he hugged her back. "I think I'll be okay this time, especially if the prophet is there."

"He said he would be." She replied. "He still has a few days to get back so I'm sure it will be fine."

"Yalia, Matthew." Her father, Arven, called from the kitchen. "You've been holed up in there all afternoon; come get some dinner."

They both entered the kitchen and got some food. She noticed that her parents were smiling widely again; they had been doing that a lot lately but hadn't told her what they were so happy about.

They were about halfway through eating when there was a knock at the door.

"Who is that?" Yalia asked, looking at her parents.

Arven shrugged. "I have no idea."

"I'll get it." She volunteered, jumping up out of her seat and going to the door.

She opened it to see a woman standing there. The woman was tall, probably just over six feet. Although she looked like she was in her late forties, Yalia thought she probably looked young for her age. She was wearing a simple but elegant dress that somehow made her look slightly intimidating, though the young nymph couldn't figure out why. Her face had sharp, angular features and there was nary a laugh or smile line to be seen, though she looked pleasant enough right now.

Her hair was auburn in color and her eyes were dark grey.

"Hello, is this the house of Arven the Reeve?" The woman asked.

"That's me." Arven said, standing up and coming to the door. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, I was traveling through the area and asked where I might find an honest, trustworthy man who could tell me what is really going on with the orcs here." She smiled. "I was somewhat surprised that they suggested that I talk to an Ivernian Reeve, but apparently they aren't all bad."

"Oh, he's bad alright." His wife, Ketura, said teasingly from behind him. "But he's also quite honest."

The visitor laughed. "Glad to hear that I wasn't misdirected. Might I come in?"

"Sure." The man stepped aside and held the door open and the auburn-haired woman stepped inside.

"I'm Arven, this is my wife Ketura--"

"Concubine." Ketura corrected.

Arven continued as if she hadn't interrupted. "--my daughter Yalia, and a family friend, Matthew." He indicated each in turn.

"I'm pleased to meet all of you." Their guest replied. "My name is Ekthros, Lady Ekthros."

TO BE CONTINUED...

Note: This chapter began and ended on day 104 of Ethan's life in the Ten Kingdoms. I submit new chapters on the last Wednesday of every month, and they usually drop after the 2-3 days review process. Thus I'll submit the next chapter on April 24th, and it'll probably drop on April 26th or 27th.

I'd like to extend a very special thanks to two of my readers, 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, elf, teen, romance, virgin, harem, blonde, brunette, redhead