Chapter 57: Diabolus Ex Machina

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

* * *

Ethan yawned as he led his wives into the captain's cabin after bidding everyone good night. With Victoria and her parents Harold and Carla plus Myla, there were rather more people on the Argo than usual. Once the door was closed behind him, his wives started casually shucking their dresses as they chatted about random things. He leaned against the doorframe and watched, a smile on his face as he saw them all getting along perfectly and being perfectly comfortable with each other.

They climbed onto the bed once they were naked, still chatting away like old friends. Rachel wasn't naked of course, but even she had reached to undo the wrap supporting her breasts before catching herself and stopping.

He smiled wider at that.

"Dominus?" Beth looked at him quizzically.

"You all are wonderful." He smiled, looking at all of them and ending with a somewhat pointed look at Kendra.

She frowned slightly and then made an adorable face where it looked like she was trying to frown, but the edge of a smile played around her lips anyway.

His wives all sighed.

That was about when he heard a soft scratching at the captain's cabin door.

"Thor?" Alana guessed.

The ladies all moved so they wouldn't be exposed if Ethan opened the door a crack. Once they had moved, he did and the little kitten darted into the room and Ethan closed the door behind him. Thor immediately ran to the bed and then sat down and let out a loud, squeaky meow.

"Come here." Kendra said as she picked him up and put him on the bed. He immediately ran to what looked like a specific spot and started sniffing, then flopped down and let out a mournful meow.

"That's where Selene slept those two nights that she slept in here." Beth said to Ethan.

"Sorry little kitty, she's not here." Ethan said.

Thor let out another mournful meow.

His wives looked around at each other.

"Someone please say something." Taloni asked with her eyes looking slightly watery.

"My Lord." Rachel spoke up. "We should talk about the battle with..." She looked at the door, outside of which their guests might be able to hear. "...with the black dragon."

"Good idea." Kendra gently petted Thor and then turned to face Ethan, her scars on display for all to see and yet she didn't seem bothered or self-conscious about them.

It was good to see.

"Yeah." He went to the bed and sat down so he could see everyone, then spoke in a low voice so as not to be overheard by those outside. "Let's start with the obvious. I think it's pretty certain that Lady Ekthros or Lord Delmar has people watching Sarah's inn."

"Agreed." Kendra nodded.

"That means we probably shouldn't go back, doesn't it?" Beth asked.

"We shouldn't do more than a quick visit like I did earlier today unless we want to fight Lord Delmar again." Kendra replied. "Anything longer would be the height of foolishness considering how the fight went. I have fought some dangerous dragons in my day, but he is Drago-level in power."

"Yeah." Ethan nodded. "I'm pretty certain he could've killed us all even with that arrow in his back." He looked at Alana. "Nice shot by the way."

"Thank you, and I agree about Lord Delmar." The wood elf said. "He wasn't Kyrupto, but I don't think we stood a chance even with him wounded."

"We didn't." Kendra said matter-of-factly. "And speaking of Kyrupto, I told Ethan this earlier, but you all should know that he's headed down south and almost certainly looking for Ethan." She then explained what the man at Sarah's inn had told her about the copper dragon.

"That's not good Master." Tee's wings fluttered.

"Understatement of the century." Ethan nodded. "But one thing at a time. Orcs first and then hopefully Selene will be able to deal with the portal and Gonorran, then we'll be free to focus on Kyrupto and the two lords trying to kill us. One impossible thing at a time."

His wives all nodded.

"My lord, what if we only had to fight Lord Farbrottan?" Rachel said quietly. "Maybe my father could be convinced that we're not... well, you know."

"Why don't you tell everyone what happened when he took you off the Argo?" Ethan suggested.

Rachel told everyone and then bit her lip. "What if he didn't put the will-breaker ring on me? What if Lady Ekthros tricked him into giving it to me and he didn't know? She did say that it was a kidnapping ring."

"Kidnapping ring?" Ethan asked.

"It's something that Lady Ekthros invented." The redhead explained. "The Ring is linked to a piece of leather cord attached to a heavy weight. When the ring is activated, the leather tries to fly to the ring but is prevented by the weight. However, the enchantment means that the leather cord is always pointing at the kidnapped person, making him or her easy to find."

"That's very clever." Alana nodded, then cocked her head to one side. "I could easily create something like that for all of us in case one of us is captured again, and maybe a collar for Thor as well."

"Good idea." Ethan gave her a thumbs up.

Rachel hesitated a moment before speaking again. "So, do you think that Lady Ekthros convinced him to give me the will breaker ring without him knowing what it was?"

"Perhaps." Kendra frowned. "But dragons seem quite attuned to demonic things; you think he would've sensed something."

"But Ethan didn't sense the curse on the cold cube." The redhead pointed out.

"But Kyrupto did." Kendra interjected.

"Only after it had been destroyed." Rachel replied.

"If I'm paying attention, I can tell now." Ethan said. "Maybe I just missed it before because I knew almost nothing about magic or curses?"

"Or maybe the curse disguises itself since you didn't sense it before the curse was destroyed." Rachel suggested. "That would make sense for a will-breaker ring too; I know they're hard to detect."

"Well, there's an easy way to check." Alana said, then got up from the bed and walked to the large desk in the opposite corner of the room. Ethan watched his naked wife with interest as she fished a key out of one of the top drawers, and especially when she bent over to unlock one of the small bottom drawers. She then pulled out a small ring that Ethan hadn't seen in months. The last time he had seen it, Alana had broken Rachel's finger to get it off of her. The redhead still had a black mark on her otherwise perfect fingers from where it had rested.

"You kept it?" He asked, his eyes widening.

"What was I supposed to do? Throw it over the side?" The wood elf replied apologetically. "I didn't know what else to do but lock it up and hide it away."

"Fair." He conceded

"I tried disenchanting it but couldn't." She continued. "I'm not sure any mage could without removing the curse on it; it was just too strongly fused to the ring."

He frowned. "I haven't noticed it once all these months."

"Here, I'll put it in your hand and you can see if you sense anything now." She said as she walked to him. "Just don't put it on."

He gave her a look and then accepted it as she dropped it into the palm of his hand. He closed his eyes and concentrated for almost a whole minute, trying to sense anything 'off' about the ring.

He couldn't.

"Yeah, I can't tell." He said finally. "But perhaps the curse was broken when the ring came off of Rachel's finger?"

"I can check Dominus." Beth volunteered. "It will probably show up on the Astral Plane."

"Do it." He gave her a thumbs up.

Beth laid down and closed her eyes. About ten seconds later she thought to everyone. *I can see the ring and it has a faint dark aura around it that looks like the demon I saw in Arcanum.*

*Thanks.* Ethan thought to everyone.

Several seconds later, Beth's eyes opened and she sat up. "It's subtle, but it's definitely there Dominus."

He tried to feel anything wrong or off about the ring again and couldn't. "Yeah, I can't tell that anything is off with it."

"I'll put it away." Alana offered.

He handed it to her and she locked it back in the desk drawer, returned to the bed, and then looked at Rachel. "Well, apparently it's possible that he didn't know."

Rachel's smile was ear-to-ear. "I knew it."

"Hey beautiful, I don't want you to get your hopes up too much." Ethan said gently. "Just because it's possible doesn't mean it happened. It might have, but we don't know. Try to be 'cautiously optimistic' instead of jumping to conclusions, okay?"

She nodded, her smile less radiant but not gone.

"Maybe we won't need to fight him then?" Beth suggested. "Maybe if we can convince him that you're innocent he'll stop trying to kill us?"

"You're forgetting the dreams that Ethan and I had." Kendra said. "We both saw Lord Delmar fighting Ethan on a battlefield somewhere. They were too similar to be coincidental; I think they were prophetic."

Rachel's smile faded.

"Sir, if we've learned one thing from what happened with Selene, it's that there's room for us to choose." Alana pointed out as she took Rachel's hand. "Maybe we can come up with some way to avoid that."

"We know Lord Delmar is a dragon." Kendra said. "He might be willing to call off his search if we threatened to make that knowledge public."

"Kendra!" Rachel said sharply.

The former Aldmiri shrugged, clearly unbothered by the redhead being upset. "You wanted to avoid a fight; that's one way to avoid a fight."

"I don't like that idea Master." Tee frowned.

"Me either." Beth agreed.

"It seems like a good way to make sure that he never seriously considers that we're innocent." Alana said. "That's blackmail, which is illegal. More importantly, it's wrong."

"I don't like it either." Ethan frowned. "It might work, and given how many times he's tried to kill us I think it might be justified, but still..." He shook his head slowly. "That seems like a slippery slope and I'm not inclined to try."

"And blackmail is wrong Master." Taloni said firmly.

"Is it always wrong?" Kendra countered. "If a judge constantly renders unlawful verdicts and you blackmail him to apply the law, is that wrong? If an evildoer is escaping the law's notice, is wrong to blackmail him to behave morally?"

Tee looked at her for a long moment and then spoke like she was quoting something. "Do not be mislead, for there are some who say 'let us do evil that good might result'. As I live, says Illuminar, you shall not do such a thing to profane my name with your detestable deeds."

"I've never heard that verse before." Kendra frowned.

"Given what you've said the Aldmiri do, I'm not surprised." Rachel pointed out.

The former Aldmiri inclined her head in concession, a thoughtful frown on her face. "Still, I guess that I had always thought..." She trailed off, her thoughtful frown deepening.

"Kendra, two wrongs don't make a right." Tee said with the same certainty that someone might use when asserting that the sun would rise in the morning.

"I'm inclined to agree." Ethan said. "Besides, the attempt would certainly convince him that we're the bad guys and it could backfire on us."

"How could it backfire?" Beth asked.

"Well, right now he's constrained by the necessity to keep up public appearances." He explained. "If he was revealed to be a dragon -- assuming that people believed us -- it would free him to act with impunity because he wouldn't need to worry about his secret getting out."

"That's a good practical objection as well." Kendra nodded. "Speaking of practical, you said that you've been enchanting yourself to make yourself faster; did that help during the fight?"

"No, not really." He replied. "The trouble is I need to do almost every part of my body at once to make it effective. I think I did notice a difference, but it was very small. I'm thinking I might do something else, at least for a while."

"What?" Beth asked.

"Enchanting my skin and scales to be cut-resistant, but only where it's not covered by my armor." He replied. "The armor is strong enough to stop most attacks, but the gaps are a problem. I need to be able to move though, so I figure if I enchant the skin and scales underneath to be cut-resistant, that will help a lot against someone fast enough to target the gaps."

"I agree." Kendra said. "I would start with your neck and then your torso because they are the most vulnerable."

"Good idea." He nodded.

"I might also do the palm and fingers on your left hand." The former Aldmiri said.

"Why?"

"Half-swording." She replied.

Half-swording was when you grabbed your own blade with your off-hand to increase your control and leverage. Ethan hadn't yet dared to try it with his dragon steel sword because it was so obscenely sharp. However, it could be effective if both his skin and scales were cut-resistant.

"Good idea." He nodded.

"Sir, we should talk about it if you decide to increase your speed again." Alana said. "I didn't mention this before because I knew it would take a while for you to get fast enough, but enchantment-enhanced speed can put a lot of extra strain on your joints, so we should talk about enchanting your joints to take the extra strain before you get very far in enchanting yourself to be faster."

"I'll do that." He nodded. "Anything else?"

"Weapons." Kendra said. "You used your sword a lot and it wasn't very effective because he was too close most of the time. Your javelin in its dagger form has greater penetrative power and is shorter, so it's more suitable for those kinds of encounters." She paused. "Unless perhaps if your opponent was wielding a weapon. But against unarmed foes like Dragos and demon-possessed men, you might want to reach for your dagger first."

"Agreed. I did at the end, but should've sooner." Ethan replied. "Anything else?"

"Given what's happened lately, you might want to teach us all that 'CPR' thing you used on Kendra in the Arena." Rachel suggested.

"Good idea." Alana nodded and looked at Ethan. "Our lives are dangerous and you're the only one who knows how to do it. If something happens to one of us and you aren't there or are busy fighting someone, then whoever was hurt could be in serious trouble."

Ethan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Good point. That just jumped straight to the top of the priority list. We'll do it tomorrow morning after breakfast."

"Master, you could also teach Myla and Victoria since you might marry them." Taloni suggested. "I think Anthiel would like to know as well, maybe even Serif and Raklan."

"That would leave only Victoria's parents out of the training." Rachel pointed out.

"Then I guess I might as well teach everyone." Ethan said. "Hell, that's one skill I would love to spread far and wide because it can save lives."

His wives beamed at him.

"Okay, CPR training tomorrow morning." He looked around at his wives. "Anything else?"

When no one spoke, Alana gave Rachel a gentle and subtle nudge.

"Now?" The redhead's eyes widened slightly as she looked at the brunette.

"Why not now?" The wood elf replied with a barely concealed smile.

"What are you talking about?" Beth asked.

"I'm a bit curious myself." Ethan added.

Rachel took a deep breath. "Um, I was talking with Alana earlier and... and there's something we want to show Ethan."

"Such as?" He asked.

The redhead bit her lip and looked at Alana, who spoke.

"It would be easier to just show you I think." She looked at Rachel. "Standing might be easier."

The redhead nodded and Alana led the way for the two of them to get off the bed and stand on the floor facing everyone. Rachel's cheeks and upper chest had started to turn a bit red and Alana looked like she was barely keeping herself calm.

"So, what are we going to see?" Ethan asked. He had a guess, but he certainly wasn't going to voice it in case doing so made Rachel more nervous.

"Um..." The redhead shifted from one foot to the other and glanced at Alana before speaking to everyone else. "Promise you won't laugh?"

"No, but I promise we won't make fun." Ethan replied.

His other wives agreed.

Rachel nodded slowly. After a moment she turned to face Alana, who had an ear-to-ear smile on her face.

"Ready?" The wood elf asked as she took one of Rachel's hands.

The redhead grimaced slightly, but she seemed to have trouble keeping that expression on her face while looking at the wood elf. In mere moments, she had actually started smiling and nodded her head fractionally. Alana stepped slightly closer and Rachel reciprocated. They were only a few inches apart so their six-inch height difference was quite apparent.

At the same time, both licked their lips slightly.

Ethan stifled a chuckle as his suspicion was confirmed.

After several long seconds of them standing there in obvious anticipation, Alana spoke. "Rachel."

"Yeah?"

"Kiss me."

The redhead leaned down, hesitated for barely a moment, and then gently pressed her lips to Alana's. They both made a soft sighing sound as the wood elf brought her arms up and put them around the taller redhead's neck while Rachel put her arms around Alana's torso.

It was quite possibly the most intimate kiss that Ethan had ever seen. He had been part of ones at least that intimate with his wives, but he'd never seen a kiss quite like this one as an observer. It was soft and gentle with notes of hesitation and nervousness, but it was also utterly open and genuine. There was not a single soul in all the universe that would doubt the affection these two had for each other.

The two women adjusted slightly and their lips moved softly on each other's as they both let out another tiny, almost imperceptible sigh before their lips parted. When they did, they weren't more than a millimeter apart and Rachel bridged that gap with her lips for a tiny follow-up kiss which made Alana smile.

Ethan grinned.

He clapped several times, beaming ear to ear. "That was marvelous and I'm so incredibly proud of you two, especially you Rachel."

Rachel went beet red.

Alana beamed and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"The only person who kisses me like that is Ethan." Beth said with wonder in her tone.

"I could try." Tee suggested.

The two blondes faced each other seriously, kept their serious expressions for maybe two seconds, and then dissolved into a fit of giggles.

"Can I say something odd?" Kendra asked.

"You've never needed permission before." Ethan teased.

"I want to kiss Selene, but not because I love her like Alana and Rachel love each other." The raven-haired woman said thoughtfully. "I just want her to know that I care."

Everyone stared at her for a moment.

"It's not like you to open up like that." Ethan pointed out.

"I know this might be hard to believe, but I often got in trouble with the Aldmiri because I wore my heart on my sleeve."

Stunned silence.

"Really?" Ethan asked after a moment.

She nodded. "I don't think I'll ever be like that again, at least not publicly, but I'm trying to be more open with..." She smiled. "...with my family."

Taloni gave her an impromptu hug.

"I'm proud of you Kendra." Ethan beamed. "A bit confused about your comment, but proud."

"I do want to." Kendra said quietly.

"Even after she lied to you?" Alana asked, her arms still around Rachel and the redhead's arms still around her.

"I said it was strange." Kendra nodded.

"I think Selene knows how much you care." Ethan pointed out to her. He had never noticed even a hint of romantic attraction between Kendra and Selene, but they certainly seemed to enjoy each others' company.

"I hope so." Kendra said quietly.

"She does." Rachel said. "She cares about the rest of us, but she really cares about you."

Beth huffed. "I miss Selene and her birthday fits the pattern; why can't she just stop being so stubborn and come back to marry Ethan?"

"I miss her too." Taloni huffed as well. "I like Myla and Victoria and they're both nice, but I wish Selene would come back."

"Yeah..." Ethan nodded as he thought of the old proverb: 'you never really know what you have until you lose it'. "But it seems like Myla and Victoria showing up means that she made her choice and decided not to. I wish she hadn't, and I wish that I'd paid more attention to her when she was here, but now..." He trailed off, not wanting to finish that sentence.

"It's hard to imagine the Argo without Selene." Alana said after a moment.

"It is." Rachel agreed.

"Ladies." Ethan said to the couple, choosing to focus on the good for now. "That was a beautiful kiss."

Rachel blushed scarlet even as the two of them beamed.

"In fact..." He looked at his other three wives and especially at Kendra since it was her night to sleep in his arms. "Would you all be okay with suspending the normal rotation for one night?"

"Why?" Kendra asked.

"Because to celebrate Alana and Rachel kissing in public -- well, semi-public -- like they've been kissing in private, I thought I might sleep on my back with both of them in my arms tonight. That is, if you don't mind since it's your night."

The two women in question beamed.

Kendra glanced at them and then nodded. "Okay." Then she got a slight smile on her face as she blushed. "But only if Alana... uh... 'makes it up to me' the next time we're all in bed." Her blush deepened.

"You've been spending too much time with the blondes." Ethan chuckled.

"Or maybe the right amount of time..." Beth grinned slyly.

Ethan rolled his eyes and chuckled again.

Not long afterwards, they were all settled into bed. Ethan had Alana snuggled up to his right side while Rachel snuggled up to his left. The two women snuck another small kiss before settling in to sleep.

That made him smile.

* * *

Sarah woke up with a smile on her face, thinking about the sign she'd gotten from Illuminar the previous day that she would be a part of Ethan's life. She didn't know how big of a part, but she knew exactly what part she wanted to play.

She wanted to be his wife.

She didn't care that he had other wives because she'd met them all and they were lovely. Honestly, that only made the idea more attractive because she would love to have such kind women as co-wives for the rest of her life. She didn't mind sharing him with such wonderful women and she would rather have part of him than all of another man-- err, dragon. That's what she wanted.

That of course made her think of Lady Ekthros's threat. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that Illuminar had sent her a sign. The more she thought about those two things at the same time, the more she realized that there was something she should do that she really didn't want to do. She fought an internal battle with herself for a minute before she acquiesced.

"Dear Illuminar -- blessed be you -- please..." She took a deep breath. "Please help Lady Ekthros to realize that what she's doing is wrong and stop. And please, can you help her realize that strongly enough that she'll repent? Please at least make it so she won't ever hurt anyone else again. Amen."

She knew praying for the 'lady' was the right thing to do, but she didn't feel like doing it.

With that done, she finished her morning prayers and then turned her mind to the rest of the day. Amy wasn't in the bed with her, but she could hear the gentle clink of pots, pans, and plates from the kitchen. Shrugging, she got out of bed, changed into her dress, and went into the kitchen.

Amy was dressed and apparently had made a breakfast of pancakes and eggs, which Rindrin was eating. The artistic girl was watching him with rapt attention as he explained some detail about smithing to her. Sarah had no idea that Amy had an interest in smithing, but by the way she was hanging on his every word you might've thought it was a lifelong passion.

Sarah resisted the urge to chuckle at her friend's infatuation.

"Good morning Sarah." Amy said brightly. "I made breakfast."

"Help yourself." Rindrin grunted.

"Good morning, and thank you." She put some of both on her plate and sat down at Rindrin's small table.

The food was reasonably good. Amy wasn't a master chef but no one would complain about her food either. Sarah listened to Rindrin and Amy as she ate without speaking much while also trying to keep an amused smile off of her face at how obviously smitten her friend was with Rindrin. She wasn't even hiding it either. She would occasionally look at him and sigh and she had a slightly dopey smile that never left her face.

"So, Sarah." Rindrin said to her when she'd finished eating. "You wanted to talk this morning about you and the prophet being sweet on each other. I figure that's the reason you wanted to delay us gettin' married."

Sarah froze slightly, grimaced, and then nodded. "Yes, that... that's true." She admitted.

Rindrin frowned. "Well, I ain't got no special objection to that except that it's not quite right for a man to have two unwed women livin' with him. Other than that, I ain't got no problem with waiting."

Sarah glanced pointedly at Amy and smiled slyly. "What about your wife and her friend living with you?"

The blacksmith looked at Amy. "We just met yesterday; you wantin' that?"

"I would love that." She sighed.

"I smell like smoke most days." He said while looking at her. "That smell don't come out easy so don't expect me to smell good."

"I love the smell of wood smoke."

"I snore." He continued. "And I'm up early pounding steel and sometimes stay up late doin' the same."

"It sounds like music."

"I will expect a wife of mine to be a hard worker."

"I am." She said brightly.

Rindrin and Amy went on like this for at least ten minutes. He kept listing every negative thing about himself that might make him a poor husband and Amy had an instant comeback for every single one of them. Rindrin was pretty exhaustive too. Sarah had known him since she was a child and he listed just about everything relevant. Amy didn't seem to care about any of it.

"Well, I'll tell you what." Rindrin said when he had seemingly finally run out of negative things about himself to list. "I reckon you're rushing into this and won't think straight on it for a couple of years at least." He frowned. "But you seem like a nice girl who'd make a good wife."

"She is and she would." Sarah interjected.

"Well, I reckon we should wait a week then." The blacksmith finally said. "If you ain't seen something about me that gives you pause by the end of it, we'll get married. You said your dad ain't living no more right?"

Amy nodded, her bright demeanor dimming for the first time since she'd met Rindrin.

"Well, that means you can pick a husband for yourself." He nodded. "One week."

"Two days?" Amy countered.

Rindrin raised his eyebrow.

"Please?" Amy asked.

He frowned. "We'll see."

"Thank you!" Amy beamed.

Sarah chuckled. From what she knew of the two of them, she thought they would be very happy together. Further, she didn't have a wedding impending anymore. She was still technically betrothed, but she knew Rindrin wouldn't push the issue, especially if he had a wife in Amy. While that didn't exactly leave her free to marry Ethan, it seemed more possible now than it had when she had woken up.

That made her smile.

* * *

"Lady Fiona."

Fiona sighed, slowly shook her head, and then turned to face one of her fellow cooks in the kitchens. "Like I've been saying all morning, I'm not a Lady."

"Not yet." The other cook teased with an impish grin. "But after what I heard happened at dinner last night, it's only a matter of time..." She finished in a slightly sing-song tone.

Fiona slowly shook her head; she would never be living that down. Word that she had almost made Lord Delmar chuckle seemed to have spread throughout the entire castle like wildfire. She doubted there was a single person in the castle who didn't know by bedtime the previous evening. Probably every single person in Karnas would know by mid-morning. She was glad she had amused him, but her little joke was turning out to be a right pain in the arse.

"By the way." The other cook added. "It's my morning to take Lord Delmar his breakfast and I'm just not feeling up to it." The woman gave an exaggerated sigh and put the back of her hand on her forehead. "I just don't know how I could manage." She was barely concealing a smile and she had also been practically dancing around the kitchens that morning up until now.

Fiona raised her eyebrow.

"Just please let me be there for the wedding." The cook continued. "Please? You can stick me in the far corner of the upper balcony, but please let me be there?"

Fiona sighed again. "I don't suppose there's anything I can be saying that'll change your mind?"

"Lady Fiona Delmar." She said wistfully. "It has such a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

"Fine, I'll be taking him his breakfast if you'll stop."

"Okay." She said brightly. "I bet he's such a romantic deep down." And with that, she resumed chopping the vegetables in front of her.

Sadly, the trend the other woman had started seemed contagious; that wasn't the last time she was called 'Lady Fiona' that morning.

* * *

"Thank you for everything Ellis." Sarah said as she gave him a hug and Amy did the same right afterwards. It was just after dawn and the guardsman had already saddled his horse outside the inn's stables and was ready to depart. He was wearing his traveling clothes and looked wide awake.

"Thank you for being so kind miss." He replied to Sarah. "It's more than I deserve."

"If we all got what we deserve, we would have a very bad time of it." The innkeeper's daughter replied with a smile.

"Truer words have rarely been spoken miss." He nodded. He hesitated a moment, then spoke again. "I didn't tell you this yesterday, but I met the..." He hesitated. "Lord Delmar would say that he's a false prophet but after meeting him I am not so sure."

"Oh?" Sarah asked.

"Yes miss." Ellis had his non-sword hand resting on his sword hilt and he tapped it with his finger. "He had every opportunity to kill me but asked me to stand down for my sake; I believe he could have killed me without much effort given the disparity in our armor and weapons. To speak the truth, I believe he asked me to stand down for my sake."

"But I thought he was a necromancer." Amy said.

"I saw no black in his pupils and I'm trained to see through magical disguises." Ellis replied. "If he is using a disguise enchantment, it must be an uncommonly powerful one."

"Will you tell Lord Delmar this?" Sarah asked.

"Indeed." He nodded. "Lord Delmar is a wise and prudent lord, but no man is perfect. I believe he might be mistaken about this Ethan based on my experience, but perhaps Lord Delmar knows something I do not." He looked at Sarah. "I mentioned this because it seems he came here to meet you and I thought you should know."

"Thank you." She smiled at him. "Please be safe on the road? I would hate for something to happen to you."

"I will have to be, for I don't have you to protect me." He said dryly and with an almost perfectly straight face.

They chuckled.

"I must be going." He mounted his horse.

"May Illuminar guide you on the path of light as you travel." Sarah said as she and Amy stepped back from Ellis's horse. The guardsman also had let out the reigns of the other horses so he could guide all of them at once.

"And you as well, though I think He already is in your case." He said with a pointed look at her.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"When I consider all that has happened with you, I cannot help but see Illuminar's hand." He replied with a smile. "Farewell miss." He nodded his head respectfully, then turned his horse and began to ride away.

"What did he mean by that?" Sarah asked Amy.

"Ellis is right." Her friend smiled. "I think Illuminar has a special place in his heart for you."

Sarah blinked. "But isn't that true of everyone?"

Amy nodded. "Yes, but I think it's a little extra true of you." Before Sarah could think of a response, Amy continued. "Now, could you help me plan a small wedding?"

"I would be honored." Sarah beamed, though she was still slightly confused about what Amy and Ellis meant.

* * *

"Good morning milord." Fiona said as she entered Lord Delmar's office with his breakfast. Today it was fried chicken with a side of braised greens. As Fiona thought back on the lord's breakfasts, it occurred to her that he did seem to enjoy meat more than other dishes. She supposed that made sense given that he was a dragon.

"Good morning Fiona." He replied without looking up. Today was unusual in that he was not writing, but rather appeared to be studying two different long letters.

She set the dish down on the desk on the spot that was always open for meals.

"Did Garina take ill?" He asked, again without looking up.

"No milord." Fiona replied with a sigh. "She was asking me to take you your breakfast, I think because she was wanting to be playing matchmaker. She kept calling me 'Lady Fiona', over my objections of course."

He made a thoughtful sound, then stacked the letters and put them face down on his desk before looking at her. "That could be your title, should you wish it."

"I'm knowing that." She smiled. "But I'm afraid I can't be moving on that one point milord."

He nodded his head slightly in concession, then made another thoughtful sound and leaned back in his chair. "Why?"

"Um, I'm knowing what it's like when my husband is loving me." She replied, feeling her throat get ever-so-slightly tighter as she thought about it. "I'm knowing how much the Lady Helene was meaning to you and how devoted you were. I'm not thinking there will be room for another woman in your heart unless you're bonding to her. I'm not expecting you to love me the way you were loving Helene, but I am wanting you to love me at least a little and I'm not thinking that's likely unless we're bonding."

He made another thoughtful sound and this one had a decidedly negative sound to it. It took Fiona a moment to guess why he might not approve and she spoke again when she did.

"I'm not wanting to take the Lady Helene's place." She clarified. "I'm not thinking any woman could. I'm hoping you might end up loving me half, or even a mere quarter of how much you were loving her. I could be happy with that I think, since I'm knowing that no one could be taking the Lady Helene's place in your heart. I'm not wanting to try, I'm just wanting my husband to love me."

Lord Delmar inclined his head in concession, though he also frowned.

For almost a whole minute he looked at her. During that time, his expression remained mostly unchanged but there were some subtle changes. He made a few thoughtful sounds, none of which seemed positive but they also didn't seem overly negative either.

Finally, he spoke. "I do not suppose that I can reasonably refuse such a request for those reasons if I am to be a good husband as Illuminar commands." He frowned. "I could agree, but there are things you should know before I do." He stood up and walked to the door of his office. "Follow me."

She did.

She followed him through the castle and up several long flights of stairs, finally realizing where they were going when they entered a corridor that she recognized. The Helene; they were going to the airship Helene. Once they emerged out into the morning air he strode towards the airship. There were half a dozen guards posted at the gangplank leading to it and they snapped to attention when they saw him.

"At ease." He said, stopping at the gangplank. "I wish to speak privately with Miss McWilliams; guard the staircase until we return."

"Yes Lord Delmar." Their leader gave a respectful head bow and then they double-timed it towards the staircase from which the couple had come.

"Come." He led her onto the Helene where they could speak in relative privacy. The castle had towers that were taller than the Helene and those towers had lookouts so propriety was maintained, yet they could have a private conversation.

"Bonding does not only change the situation for me, it would also for you as well." He said to her.

"Oh?"

"You have heard of dragon compulsion?"

"Aye milord, but I'm usually hearing that it's a myth or only possible among the most powerful Dragos."

"It is not a myth. Bonding with me will enable me to compel you to do as I wish."

"Oh." She took a moment to absorb that.

Wow.

That was...

Wow.

She could see the potential to abuse that power, but on the other hand, he was telling her about it. He was almost warning her about it. Would he use it wrongly if he was warning her? Still though, to what extent?

"You could be compelling me to be doing anything milord?"

"Perhaps I over-spoke." He corrected himself. "You have heard of hypnosis?"

"Aye milord."

"It is comparable to an extremely strong hypnotic induction." He explained. "A dragon cannot compel someone to do something against his moral core. For example, I could not compel you to harm Conner."

"That's good to be hearing." She very nearly breathed a sigh of relief.

"I can however plant compulsions that last indefinitely."

"Oh?"

He nodded. "I could compel you to cease speaking and you would not be able to speak unless I permitted it."

She frowned. "Even if I was fighting it?"

"No compulsion is absolute." He conceded after a moment. "Should you fight long enough and hard enough, the compulsion would break even though we are bonded."

Fiona looked at him for a moment as she considered what that meant. "I'm assuming dragons can't be compelling each other, so how are you knowing this?"

"Helene. She insisted on testing it."

"How?"

The corners of Lord Delmar's mouth moved upwards the tiniest fraction of an inch and the look in his eyes got a slightly far away look for a moment. "She had me compel her to only eat with her right hand, not her left." He paused. "She was left-handed and quite frustrated that it required several days to break." The corners of his mouth went upwards a hair more, though no one would say he was smiling; it wasn't even a slight smile. "Her nose crinkled in concentration for days when she tried at dinner."

Fiona smiled at the look on his face.

The motion seemed to get his attention and the faraway look in his eyes disappeared as he refocused on her. The barely there 'not-quite-smile' faded as well. "I could have compelled her to do anything I wished, as I would be able to do to you." His tone indicated a serious warning, which made Fiona realize what was truly going on.

"You're trying to scare me." She pointed out after thinking about it for a moment. "You're hoping that me learning this will scare me into not bonding with you."

"I am." He replied simply.

"What you aren't counting on is that I'm trusting you." She replied. "You're a good lord and a good man; I'm knowing that you won't be taking advantage of me even if bonding is giving you the power to."

He made a thoughtful noise that was decidedly negative. "You will not be dissuaded?"

"No milord, not about bonding."

He looked at her for several long seconds. "It has been seventeen years since I entered a negotiation and conceded on every point without gaining equal or greater concessions from the other party." He inclined his head as if in concession. "Perhaps Sir Warrick was right."

"About what milord?"

"He said that there was something of Helene's spirit about you."

Fiona stared at him for a moment before she realized that her mouth was hanging open and closed it. He was really comparing her to Helene?

Wow.

She could hardly imagine a more potent compliment from him.

"You will not attempt to take Helene's place?" He asked.

"No milord." She replied when she'd found her voice again and scraped her jaw off of the decking. She could hardly believe that compliment from the Lord Delmar, even though she was sure that he hadn't meant it as one.

"Then I will agree to your terms." He said after a moment.

"Then I'm happy to be accepting your proposal milord." She smiled, still not quite believing that compliment.

That's when it hit her.

She was now engaged...

...to Lord Delmar.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly as the enormity of that started to sink in.

* * *

Ethan yawned as he opened his eyes and blinked several times at the early morning light shining in through the enormous glass-block window that covered the rear wall of the captain's cabin. He looked down to see Alana and Rachel still snuggled up beside him in much the same way they had fallen asleep, only now they were closer to each other. Their heads were nearly touching and their hands were resting against each other.

That made him smile.

However, his bladder was informing him that remaining in bed wasn't an option. He carefully extricated himself from them and of course they both stirred as soon as he moved.

"I'm just using the latrine." He said softly. "Go back to sleep."

The two women both mumbled something as he slipped away and they snuggled closer to each other and appeared to fall back asleep. He smiled and turned to see Taloni, Kendra, and Beth by the desk with Tee's copy of the Book of Light open. They were all naked and looking at either him or the sleeping couple on the bed.

It was funny; before having five wives he would've thought that seeing three naked women all looking his direction would've been an instant turn-on. It was, but what stood out to him more was how natural and comfortable they all were. Their amazing bodies aside, he really appreciated just how much of a tight-knit family they were becoming.

"Bible study?" He whispered as he stepped over to them.

"What's a 'Bible'?" Beth asked.

"Never mind." He smiled at her. "I guess you decided to join?"

The blonde nodded. "I was curious and woke up when Tee got up."

"Sorry." The Fey teen whispered to her.

"Don't worry about it." Beth smiled.

He gave them each a quick good morning kiss, then spoke. "I'm going to open the door so I can use the latrine."

The girls all moved so they couldn't be seen with the door partially open and then he slipped out. He noticed that Myla was up and doing some kind of exercise near the front of the Argo. He went downstairs, used the latrine, then came back and made to head towards the captain's cabin again, but stopped.

He glanced at Myla and figured that he should probably check in with her. He walked towards her, making sure that he walked loudly enough to not startle her.

She didn't stop.

She was moving slowly and her exercises seemed to focus more on flexibility and balance than strength. They reminded him a little of Tai Chi. She was doing many of them while balancing on one foot and they were slow, flowing, and graceful motions that radiated refinement and elegance.

"Morning." He said when she appeared to hit a stopping point.

She turned to face him and did that semi-formal bow that was also half curtsy. "Good morning Meelas." However, she didn't look him in the eye. He didn't get the sense that it was nerves though, more like... maybe a habit?

She didn't say anything else and a slightly awkward silence fell.

"You like exercising?" He asked.

"No Meelas."

Another awkward silence.

"Well, I suppose it's good to keep in shape even if you don't enjoy it." He said.

"Hai, Meelas."

He remembered that she often used 'hai' to mean 'yes' and so nodded.

Yet another awkward silence.

"Well, I'm sorry if I interrupted you."

She got a small smile on her face. "The interruption brought joy to my heart Meelas."

He smiled back at her.

...and yet another awkward silence.

"Meelas." Myla said after several long moments.

"Yes Myla?"

"Might I ask a question?"

He smiled at her, hoping she would take it as comforting. "You are always free to ask questions, always. I might not answer every question, but you should always feel free to ask."

She nodded slowly. "What will you do with me?"

"I hadn't planned to 'do' anything with you." He replied. "Your life is your own now to do with as you please. I'll try to help however I can, but you get to choose."

She glanced up into his eyes for a moment and her gaze was searching before she averted them again. "My heart is filled with gratitude Meelas."

She sounded sincere.

It was hard to tell with how little she spoke, but she did.

"What do you want Myla?" He asked. "I would love to help you if I can."

She swallowed and looked down further. "It is not my place to ask Meelas, but my heart feels joy at your words."

He frowned slightly, reminded somewhat of Anthiel's co-wife Mirella who had behaved somewhat similarly and had a not-dissimilar background. "Myla, it is your place to ask. I offered to help and would like to if I can. I'm asking, and unless you don't want to say then I would like you to."

"You misunderstand Meelas." She replied gently and then looked him in the eye again. "It is not because of a lack of confidence that I do not ask, but rather because it would not be proper for me to ask."

"Not proper?"

"Hai, Meelas."

He didn't get the impression that her request would be something improper, but rather that there was some rule of etiquette that she would be breaking if she asked.

"Is it something that I could grant?" He asked.

"Hai, Meelas."

He frowned. "Would granting it hurt me, my family, or the Argo's crew? Or would it put them in danger, or otherwise put us at risk of any kind of harm?"

"I do not believe so, Meelas."

He thought about it for several seconds. It seemed clear that Myla had the potential to be his wife given her birthday and other attributes. If his other wives were any indication, she was a good person who wouldn't try to take advantage of him. Besides, he had to admit that so far, Illuminar was pretty damn good at picking wives.

Finally, he spoke again. "Then I'll grant your request without knowing what it is."

"It brings joy to my heart to hear that Meelas, but it is extraordinarily unwise to strike a bargain without knowing the stipulations that you are agreeing to." She replied, though a small smile had appeared on her face.

"I don't think I'll regret it in this case, will I Myla?"

"I hope not Meelas. I do not think you will." Her smile grew wider.

"Then I'm going to grant it." He said, going on a hunch and also a gut feeling that she wouldn't try to take advantage of him. "Now, can I know what I offered?" He asked, only slightly nervous about the answer.

"It brings my heart joy and I am filled with gratitude that you will allow me to remain on the Argo for a time." She said after a moment, then bit her lip and said quietly. "I have nowhere else to go."

"You definitely could've asked for that." He smiled, feeling slightly relieved.

"It would not be proper for me to invite myself to live in someone else's home." She replied.

He nodded his head in concession. "Fair, but you are welcome to stay here until you find someplace you would rather be."

"My heart is filled with gratitude Meelas." She did that half-bow, half-curtsy thing again and there was quite a large and genuine smile on her face. She looked both extremely pleased and very grateful.

"You're welcome." He smiled, then turned to let her continue exercising. As he walked away, he found himself appreciating her gratitude and that she was concerned about being impolite or asking too much of others. Those were great qualities and it didn't hurt that she was also smart, kind, and gorgeous. He appreciated all those things and he saw how she could make a good wife.

But he missed Selene.

It was strange; he hadn't thought of Selene much in a romantic way before and wasn't even thinking of her that way now. However, he didn't like the idea of her leaving his life forever; it just didn't sit well with him. He had a constant low-level ache in his heart from her absence that was almost certainly from their bond. He assumed that if she broke it the ache would go away, but it was there for now and functioning as a constant, low-level reminder that she wasn't here.

He didn't like that.

Not at all.

* * *

Selene lay in her cell in the nameless agency's base, wishing she had something more to do than be alone with her thoughts. She didn't like her thoughts right now; not at all. Despite her general, non-specific apology to Ethan and his wives the previous day, she didn't feel much better. A little better maybe, but not much. She'd been left to stew with her thoughts for far too long now and she was beginning to get restless.

What she really wanted was a good long sparring session with Ethan or Kendra, perhaps Serif. Hell, she'd take Raklan at this point even despite how he regularly leered at her. The crewman probably thought he was being subtle, but he wasn't.

She sighed.

She missed Ethan and Kendra.

She missed the rest of them as well, but those two more than the rest. She wasn't surprised by how much she missed her best friend, but she was a little surprised by how much she missed Ethan. She had this constant low-level ache in her heart because they were apart that she'd never experienced before. She knew it was because of their bond, but damn it if she didn't miss being around him. Hell, she knew she'd be happier if she was just in the same room with him.

Damn bond.

She missed Thor too. She missed her little kitty so much. She missed his squeaky meows, she missed his curious and playful nature, and she missed snuggling with him at night. What she wouldn't give to be woken by his wet nose sniffing her face again. She really, really missed him.

She heard the bolt to her cell door slide open, which provided a welcome respite from her thoughts and the subtle but ever-present ache in her heart. She put her game face on for when Smithbond-- No, Clive came through the door.

He didn't.

The door was only opened partway and a tiny woman slipped through it. It took Selene a minute to recognize her because her hair wasn't purple this time. She was the computer whiz who had expertly led the tactical team from the van when they had captured Gonorran. She was also the one who had played the 'good cop' when Gonorran had healed Selene and Hailey.

She was tiny, only a little bigger than Alana and probably not quite as tall as Beth or Taloni. Her hair was a fairly common brown color in contrast to the bright purple it had been before. She was dressed differently as well. Whereas before Selene had gotten a punk rocker vibe, now she looked like a professional woman in a business suit, complete with a pencil skirt. It wasn't an expensive suit but she wore it well. She was also wearing glasses with delicate and elegant frames this time. She almost looked like a different person than last time.

She glanced out the door before closing it behind her. "Hello Miss Dawson, do you remember me?"

"Yvonne, I think." Selene replied.

She nodded. "Special Agent Yvonne Benson, and I'm sorry about Agent Humphry."

"Clive is pretty much an asshole." Selene said, not sure where this was going.

"I think calling him an asshole is an insult to the asshole community." Agent Benson replied with a mostly straight face.

Selene chuckled. "Let me guess, we're doing 'good cop, bad cop' again?"

"No." Yvonne shook her head. "Agent Humphry doesn't know that I'm here and I would appreciate it if you wouldn't tell him."

"Oh?"

She nodded. "Let me level with you Miss Dawson. I could get in serious trouble if you told him that I came to talk to you. I had to loop the cameras--" She gestured to the one in the room. "--to do this and he could get me demoted or court-martialed if he found out I was here."

"Then why do it?" Selene asked.

"Because I was the one who compiled the personnel profile on you." She leaned against the door. "You have test scores, IQ scores, and a level of competence and drive that could catapult you to the top of almost any profession you wanted. Yet you chose to join the FBI because helping people is so personally important to you."

Selene nodded in concession, not wanting to toot her own horn.

"It follows logically that you also care about preventing people from getting hurt." Yvonne looked at her seriously. "Were you serious when you warned Agent Humphry about the corrupting influence of this 'dark mana' that comes from dead things?"

"I was." She nodded. "Deadly serious. I might've even undersold it a bit but I don't have first-hand experience so I can't be sure."

Yvonne took a deep breath. "I was afraid of that."

"You're worried too?" Selene asked, keenly aware that this might be another trick of some kind.

"Agent Humphry's moral compass is so screwed up that I'm surprised he can navigate to the parking lot most days." The woman said as she stood up straight and then started slowly pacing. "The one good thing I can say about him is that he wouldn't ever betray his country." She stopped and cocked her head to one side. "That might be the only good thing I can say about him." She frowned for a moment, then continued. "If this 'dark mana' that you're talking about does what you say it will, he'll go rogue. If that happens, he'll indulge his brutal streak and I don't even want to think about the bodies that will pile up."

"Oh." Selene nodded, having no trouble believing it.

"Exactly." Yvonne said. "We would catch him eventually, but a lot of good people would probably die first and not pleasantly, especially any women he targets. The kind of porn he likes makes your kinks seem like a couple of virgin teens holding hands for the first time at a church picnic."

Selene felt her cheeks grow rather warm. Still, if Yvonne was telling the truth then Clive must have some very unsavory appetites. "How do you know what kind of porn he likes?"

"There's very little that happens electronically on this base that I don't know about because I'm a techie at heart. That's how I know about your kinks, even though you put a lot of effort into hiding them." She looked at Selene's pink cheeks and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I don't mean to embarrass you and I don't judge you for it. I once built a profile on a guy who got off watching women sneeze."

She stared. "You're kidding."

"Nope." Agent Benson shook her head. "My point is that Agent Humphry can't be allowed to learn how to use this 'dark mana' you were talking about. He has spent almost every waking minute since your last conversation with him working on it too."

"That's not good." Selene grimaced.

"No, it's not." Yvonne hesitated, then spoke. "Look, Agent Humphry has always preferred to use the stick while I prefer to start with the carrot. You wouldn't know this with how he treats me, but I'm actually second in command here and was originally slated to run this mission."

"You were?"

"Yes." She nodded. "But years ago, he was in the room when they sent the initial recon team through the portal and when the mage went crazy afterwards. I was down the hall putting out some metaphorical computer fires and never directly interacted with the people we captured from 10k1. Thus, even though it was many years ago, he has direct first-hand experience with both magic and people from 10k1 while I don't. You can guess how he leveraged that."

"Yup."

"So I was second fiddle and he made me dress up and dye my hair to make a specific impression on you."

Selene raised her eyebrow. "Was that the only reason?"

"Did I mention he can also be petty?" Yvonne smiled wryly.

"I'm shocked." Selene said in a deadpan tone.

"--shocked to find pettiness here." Yvonne said in a strange accent. It took Selene a moment to realize that she was paraphrasing the famous line in Casablanca from Captain Louis Renault, only about pettiness instead of gambling.

She chuckled.

"I knew I liked you." Yvonne smiled, then her look became serious once more. "So, don't give him anything to help and I'll try to work things on my end. There must be a superior I haven't worn out my welcome with about him." She paused. "It would be nice if my old S.O. was here. I believe you know him, Adrian Kossel?"

Selene smiled. "I do."

"He taught me to always try the carrot first." Yvonne continued. "He always said: never kill when maiming will do, never maim when hurting will do, never hurt when threatening will do, never threaten when persuading will do, and never persuade when asking will do."

"It sounds like Clive didn't listen."

"Not even a little." Yvonne shook her head. "So let me offer a carrot for you to 'buy' your silence. I think if this doesn't go completely south, I can get you your job at the FBI back."

Selene's eyes widened. "You're kidding me."

"No I'm not, but it's not a sure thing." Agent Benson shook her head. "Our agency has a lot of pull, especially when it comes to undoing things we did. It won't be instant, but I'm 95% sure I can get your job back, and about 90% sure I can make it like you were never discharged in the first place."

"That would be... really?" She realized her mouth was open and closed it.

"Yes." Yvonne nodded. "Just don't say anything to Agent Humphry, I'll see if I can take care of the rest."

"Deal." Selene grinned.

"Good." The agent smiled at her and then turned towards the door, however, she stopped with her hand on the handle and looked back at Selene. "Clive wasn't entirely wrong about what he said about you -- about you wanting to be told what to do -- even if he was being a total ass. But he was missing a crucial piece."

"Oh?"

"Like I said, I compiled the profile on you and part of that involved me examining some of your... let's call it 'recreational reading'."

Selene felt her cheeks get rather warm.

"Yes the heroines were told what to do, but I noticed a common theme in the stories you liked the most; something that makes it nothing like how Agent Humphry made it sound."

"What?" Selene asked, only realizing after she'd spoken that her throat had gotten slightly dry and thus she sounded a bit hoarse.

"It's hard to explain." Yvonne frowned. "But I guess... I honestly think a part of it is good, and it's maybe even healthy for someone like you, and I don't mean 'someone like you' in a bad way."

Selene cocked her head to one side. "A good and healthy thing?"

Yvonne nodded. "Maybe not healthy for everyone, but you're more driven than most people. From what I dug up while compiling your profile, you don't seem to take very good care of yourself. Physically and career-wise, yes, but not so much socially. You're something of an isolated loner."

"I recently realized that." Selene admitted. It had taken living on the Argo for a month, but she hadn't realized what she was missing until she had found it.

"I'm not sure if you noticed, but a lot of the heroines in the stories you read the most followed the same pattern." Yvonne pointed out.

Selene cocked her head to one side.

Huh.

"I hadn't noticed." Selene admitted after thinking about it for a moment. "Not always the same way, but yeah... yeah I see that."

"Did you also notice that your favorite stories didn't tend to focus on the kink?"

"They didn't?

Yvonne shook her head. "No, they didn't. They focused on something else. Something that I think you crave because somewhere deep down, I think you know you need it because you don't take care of yourself very well."

"What?"

Yvonne smiled. "The male lead was always someone who took good care of the heroine in every area, not just sex."

Selene cocked her head to the side. "How so."

Agent Benson opened her mouth, then stopped as her watch beeped. "Shit, I have to go." She said with a grimace after looking at it. "Remember, don't tell anyone I was here." Then she opened the door and slipped out.

Selene let out a slightly strangled groan. Why couldn't the watch have waited ten more seconds! Still, Yvonne's assessment had given her something to think about.

* * *

Fiona followed Lord Delmar -- her fiancé -- back down the stairs into the castle, not quite believing what had just happened. She couldn't decide which was more shocking: that she was now engaged to Lord Delmar or that her now-fiancé had compared her to Lady Helene. She supposed that some women would feel insulted at being compared to their intended's deceased wife, but she didn't; she felt honored.

She took another deep breath as it hit her again that before long, she would be the First Lady of Narlotten: Lady Fiona Delmar. She had been focusing so much on the personal aspects of marrying the Lord Delmar that she hadn't given much thought to what it would actually be like being the First Lady.

What was she thinking?

She didn't know how to be a lady.

Well, not a right and proper noble lady.

"Milord." She said, trying to keep her nerves out of her voice but not entirely successfully.

He stopped and turned to face her. "Yes?"

"I'm not knowing how to be a proper lady." She admitted. "Not a noble one anyway."

"You need not concern yourself with that unless you wish to." He replied. "Those skills can be taught and your primary function will be to bear an heir. You may have more involvement beyond that if you wish, but it will not be forced upon you."

"How romantic." She replied wryly, but nodded. She knew he wasn't marrying her for romance.

"I endeavored to be clear that our marriage was not to be a romantic one, but a practical one." He replied.

"I'm knowing that." She replied. "I'm just... hearing it said that plainly was surprising me a bit."

"You have previously indicated that you prefer the truth to fiction."

"I'm still preferring it milord."

"Then come." He turned and led her back to his office door but didn't enter. Instead, he spoke to one of his errand boys, who was sitting outside on a bench there just for them. "Tell Marge that Fiona will not be returning to the kitchens today."

"Yes Lord Delmar!" The boy jumped up and took off with a large grin on his face.

He turned to the other errand boy. "Fetch Nurse Belcosta and bring her here directly."

"Yes Lord Delmar!" The other boy nodded his head respectfully and then took off.

Lord Delmar turned to Fiona. "She will watch Conner while you and I attend to some business."

Fiona took a deep breath. "You're sure you can be trusting her?"

"Yes." He replied. "Nurse Belcosta was Rachel's caretaker until she was three. There are few women more knowledgeable about children or more trustworthy in the castle. Helene, myself, and several others including a telepath vetted her thoroughly. I recently had her thoroughly vetted again in preparation for your acceptance."

"Okay." She hesitated, wondering if the telepath that had been mentioned was Lady Ekthros.

Her trepidation must've showed though because Lord Delmar spoke. "Speak your mind."

"I'm hoping that the telepath wasn't..." She glanced at the guards. "You know who."

"It was not." Lord Delmar replied. "I am aware of your personal dislike of Lady Ekthros and thus to avoid complication, I did not involve her in any of these preparations, nor even inform her of them.

"Thank you milord." Fiona gave him a small smile. Lady Ekthros excepted, he seemed to have excellent judgment about people and she was trusting him with her son.

About two minutes later, a woman who looked to be in her fifties followed Lord Delmar's errand boy around the corner. Fiona instantly took a liking to her. She seemed like the sort of person who could seamlessly slip into the role of grandmother for anyone younger than she was. She had a youthful energy about her too and the few lines on her face looked to mostly be from laughing.

"You summoned me Lord Delmar?" The woman said; even her voice sounded kind

"This is the woman of whom we spoke." He said, then indicated Fiona. "She has accepted."

"Pleased to meet you my lady." Nurse Belcosta smiled at her. "I promise I'll take good care of your son whenever you need me to. And I'm well-trained in healing, such as it won't leave even a trace of a scar for when he acquires the bumps and scrapes that boys are notorious for attracting."

"It's good to be hearing that." Fiona smiled.

"She is in need of your services now." Lord Delmar said.

"I guessed." Nurse Belcosta smiled, then looked at Fiona. "I promise I'll take good care of him, and can do so in your room in the dormitories until you have more official lodgings."

"That'll be fine, thank you." The copper-haired woman said.

She gently slipped Conner out of the cloth wrap that held him to her chest while he slowly woke from the nap he'd been taking. Of course, that made him start fussing. Nurse Belcosta held her arms out and after a moment of hesitation wherein she reminded herself that Lord Delmar had thoroughly vetted the woman, Fiona handed Conner off to his new nurse.

"Oh, it's alright there." Nurse Belcosta said kindly and started gently rocking him in her arms.

He quieted down almost at once.

Fiona stared. "How are you doing that? It's taking me forever to get him to calm down sometimes."

"I'll tell you all my secrets when you have more time." The other woman replied with a smile.

Lord Delmar looked at Fiona. "Do you know where the council room is?"

"Aye milord."

"I will eat my breakfast and then meet you there. If anyone questions your presence, tell them that you are there on my orders."

"Aye milord."

Without another word, he entered his office and closed the door behind him.

"I'll take him to your room at the dormitories." Nurse Belcosta said with a smile. "We'll be there when you're done."

"Okay." Fiona swallowed, trying to remind herself that Conner would be okay.

The nurse held Conner against her hip and started walking away while Fiona watched her son until he rounded the corner. She knew he should be fine. She got a good feeling from Nurse Belcosta and Lord Delmar had thoroughly vetted her.

Conner would be fine.

Fiona took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Right; the council chambers."

She looked up and noticed the two guards outside the lord's officer. Both glanced at the office where he was and gave her knowing smiles, but neither said anything. They wouldn't, but she supposed that it would be all over the castle soon anyway.

She walked to the council chamber slowly, feeling no desire to be there without Lord Delmar... her fiancé. What a strange thought that was. It occurred to her as she was walking that she wanted to send a letter to her family so they found out from her instead of at the same time as everyone else. She wanted to let Sarah and Amy know as well. She wondered if the Lord Delmar would be willing to send riders to inform them.

She thought he might.

She was lost in thought and didn't realize that until she had arrived at the council chambers. There were two guards outside the doors just like Lord Delmar's office, and she recognized the men as ones who also occasionally guarded Lord Delmar's officer. Perhaps there was a rotation?

"Lord Delmar was telling me to go into the council chambers." She said to them, hoping they would believe her since they had seen her before.

The two guards looked at each other, knowing looks and suppressed smiles on their faces before one of them spoke up. "He said he might send you here sometime in the next few days. You may enter." He waved towards the door.

She wasn't sure how the Lord Delmar had known, but apparently he had. Come to think of it, he had been predicting rather a lot concerning her and she wasn't sure what to think about that. He had never done anything to make her distrust him so she wasn't bothered, but it was strange.

She took a deep breath and walked through the doors.

It wasn't what she had expected.

The room was smaller than she had thought it would be and also lacked decoration of any kind. Well, unless you counted the iron candlesticks and chandelier. On one wall, there was a large map showing the whole of the Ten Kingdoms as well as much of the lands beyond them. Another wall had several large windows for light and yet another wall had a large wall-to-wall shelf that was filled with books and scrolls.

In the middle of the room was a large round table with a map of Narlotten painted on it. There were a dozen chairs evenly spaced around it, though one of them was larger than the others and the chair immediately to its left was smaller than the rest, somewhat more feminine in design, and had a cushion, which the others lacked. It looked well cared for, but judging by the lack of wear, it also looked like it hadn't been used for a long time; years probably.

She cocked her head to one side.

Perhaps seventeen years?

Mage Weston and Sir Warrick were already there looking at the large map of the Ten Kingdoms, though both looked her way when she entered.

"Miss McWilliams." The latter said with a smile that was growing wider by the moment. "Did Lord Delmar send you to join us?"

"Aye." She nodded.

Mage Weston laughed and held his hand out palm up toward Sir Warrick. "That'll be five coppers."

"Gladly paid." Sir Warrick said with a laugh as he fished a few coins out of his pocket and dropped them into the mage's hand as he addressed her. "If you had waited one more day, this would be going my direction... Lady Fiona."

"I'm not a lady." She replied while resisting the urge to wring her hands together.

"Not yet." Mage Weston smiled. "But you might want to get used to the title."

"Indeed, don't be coy." Mage Westin chided gently. "You know as well as I do that Lord Delmar would not invite anyone into this room that didn't hold a high office in Narlotten. Your presence is confirmation that you and Lord Delmar are now engaged to be married."

She hesitated a moment and then nodded. "Aye."

"Nervous?" The mage asked.

"Aye." She said with more than a little vehemence in her tone.

"Good." He smiled. "A woman who wasn't nervous about suddenly being thrust into your position would make a poor First Lady indeed. Just remember, Lord Delmar doesn't need a lady of perfect refinement or courtly manners; he needs someone who is genuinely kind and cares about others. That will likely help with that 'stick up his rear end' as Lady Ekthros once put it."

Sir Warrick laughed. "She might be a scary old broad, but she is funny."

That comment reminded Fiona that she knew something about Lady Ekthros that no one else here would know. She didn't want to bring it up with them, but as she thought about it, she realized that she needed to bring it up with Lord Delmar.

Soon.

She wasn't looking forward to that.

* * *

Alana had been vaguely aware of Ethan getting up earlier and she wanted to get up with him. However, after he'd told them to stay and Rachel had pulled her closer, she decided that obeying her husband was absolutely the right thing to do. Now she was waking up again enveloped in Rachel's arms and felt like her heart was so full it could burst. Rachel had actually kissed her in front of everyone last night and that was just... just...

She sighed.

"You too?" Rachel said softly.

Alana opened her eyes to see the beautiful pale blue eyes of her best friend looking back at her adoringly. "Were you watching me sleep?"

The redhead nodded sheepishly. "I didn't think you would mind."

"I don't." She beamed.

Rachel sighed.

"You're getting less self-conscious." Alana pointed out.

She nodded.

"I mean a lot and very recently." Alana continued. "Is there a reason?"

Rachel bit her lip.

"There is?"

Rachel nodded.

"What?"

The redhead looked into her eyes for a moment. "Promise you won't laugh?"

"Never."

"It's... I think it's what happened with my father." She averted her eyes for a moment. "I've spent a long time thinking that he didn't care about me and was disappointed in me." She swallowed hard. "He might still be disappointed in me, but now I know that he cares. He might be working with demons, but he cares about me and I..." She took a deep breath. "I can't describe how that feels."

"You don't need to." Alana smiled widely. "I just met my father recently after thinking my parents had given me up because they didn't care. Then I found out that he had been watching over me my whole life and that they had been forced to sedate my mother because she tried so hard to keep me."

"I remember." Rachel had a small smile on her face that was nonetheless utterly resplendent.

"So I do get it; I understand." She hesitated. "And I like this new, more confident side of you. It's good to see."

"I like it too. It's hard, but..." Rachel looked into her eyes for a moment. "...it's not as hard when you and Ethan are there. With you two, I feel like... like..."

"Like you're so happy you could burst?"

Rachel nodded and then she bit her lip. "I... I want to do something this morning."

"What?"

"Well, you know how my brain is, and when I saw that we had the room to ourselves, I... I got to thinking..." She bit her lip again.

Alana looked around to see that they did indeed have the room to themselves. Apparently, Ethan and their fellow wives had already gotten up for the day.

"What?" The brunette asked.

Rachel glanced down, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. "Is... is it okay if I... If I lower the sheet a bit?" She blushed scarlet.

Alana blinked. "Really?"

Rachel nodded slowly, her cheeks getting even redder and the red flush beginning to travel down her neck and onto her upper chest. They were snuggled facing each other and laying mostly on their sides but also a little on their backs. The sheet was currently doing a reasonable job of keeping Rachel's ample assets covered, but if she pulled it down a little more it wouldn't.

"I would love that." Alana beamed. "Are you sure you want to?"

The redhead nodded, her pale cheeks getting even redder.

Rachel moved her arm a bit as if she was going to start moving the sheet, but she seemed to freeze. She hesitated for a moment and then whispered in a slightly hoarse tone. "Could you?"

"I would love to." Alana beamed, then got a sly grin on her face. "But you have to ask me specifically what you want me to do and more importantly, tell me why you want me to do it..." She let that hang in the air for a moment for effect, then added. "...or do it yourself."

Rachel bit her lip as she went redder.

She opened her mouth, went redder still, worked it for a moment, and then closed it. "You're horrible."

Alana subtly shook her head. "No, I'm just not letting you take the easy way out; I love you too much for that."

Rachel's blush spread a little lower onto her upper chest as her smile reached deep into her eyes. "I love you too Sweetie."

"You called me 'sweetie'." Alana grinned. "You haven't done that in ages."

"I know." Rachel replied. "I... After I realized that I liked you, saying it felt... different. It wasn't just a friendly endearment, it was..."

"More?"

Rachel nodded.

The wood elf beamed. "Are you okay with 'more'?"

Rachel bit her lip. "Can I say what I'm thinking and you not laugh at me?"

"I can't promise that I won't laugh -- your cuteness is often laugh-worthy -- but I can promise that I'll never make fun of you."

Rachel nodded slowly. "I'm jealous of Ethan's other wives, including you."

"Why?"

The redhead took a deep breath. "Um, when we come unto the bedroom you all take your clothes off and it doesn't bother you. When we're all... um, 'in bed together', you all are happy to 'play' with each other and I'm... I'm not."

"Do you want to be?" Alana asked, intentionally setting aside her desire to introduce Rachel to everything she knew about making love to a woman.

The redheaded teen hesitated for a moment, then slowly nodded. "But... but more than I want that with them, I want it... I want..."

She swallowed.

Hard.

"You want... what?" Alana asked with bated breath, hoping that Rachel wanted to say what Alana wanted her to say. She thought it was possible, even likely, and yearned to hear it.

"I..." She took a deep breath. "More than I want it with them, I want it... with..." She swallowed. "I want it more with... with you."

Alana felt like her heart would burst her ribcage, then the captain's cabin, then the whole Ten Kingdoms. She grinned, possibly wider than she had ever grinned before.

"I want that too." She finally said when she had found her voice. "Like, a lot."

Rachel was beet red at this point, and the red extended down her neck and onto her upper chest. If the point sticking up into the bedsheet right over her right breast was any indication, she liked the idea as much as Alana herself did.

"That's... That's why." Rachel took a deep breath, then raised her hand and hooked a finger over the top of the sheet. She bit her lip again, and then inched the sheet down an bit.

Alana smiled. "You know, I've seen your beautiful breasts before, when we woke up the morning after your wedding night."

"You think they're beautiful?"

The brunette nodded. "Gorgeous, just like the rest of you."

Rachel froze for a moment and then made the face that she usually made right before her mouth ran ahead of her brain, only this time she didn't speak.

She moved.

They were lying on their sides facing each other and their heads were facing the door and their feet were facing the rear wall of the captain's cabin. In one fluid motion, Rachel tucked up her legs and sort of half-rolled, half-slid off the bed, then she stood up.

Naked.

She stood up completely naked.

That lasted for almost a whole second before her eyes went wide like she'd realized what she'd done, and then she dived down so the bed was between her body and the brunette's eyes.

Alana laughed as she rolled onto her stomach, but she didn't scooch forward in order to let the redhead hide herself. Rachel's head poked up enough that Alana could see her. She had gone even redder, if that was possible.

"You promised you wouldn't make fun." She said, sounding almost hurt.

"I'm not making fun." She chuckled. "And I said that sometimes your cuteness is too adorable not to laugh."

"Oh." Rachel got a nervous smile on her face at that reassurance.

"Rachel, you are a beautiful woman." Alana continued. "And I realize that I'm biased and probably objectively wrong, but I think you're more beautiful than Selene, Myla, or Victoria."

"Really?" Rachel's smile got both wider and more embarrassed.

"Yes." The wood elf supported her head with her hands as she lay on her stomach beaming at her best friend who was also more than just a best friend. "And given what I just saw, I can say that with confidence, biased though my opinion is."

"Okay." Rachel nodded. "Even with..." She looked at the one shoulder with the subtle burn scar she'd gotten from their fight with Gonorran. It wasn't a bad scar and it wasn't even particularly noticeable, but it was there.

"Even with." Alana nodded. "It doesn't even figure in."

Rachel bit her lip and slowly nodded. "Not at all?"

"Not even a little."

Rachel took a deep breath and then started to rise slightly, but stopped before Alana could see more than her shoulders. "Promise?"

"As Illuminar lives, I don't care."

Rachel nodded and then slowly stood up. Her blush was as present as ever and covered much of her torso at this point, but she was still doing it. She was still standing up so Alana could see her, and she was doing it completely and utterly naked.

She was gorgeous.

Perfection itself.

Okay, on some level Alana realized that Rachel wasn't actually physically perfect, but in the wood elf's totally biased opinion, she was perfect. She was absolutely perfect in body as well as in both her hesitation and bravery. She had one arm and hand over her breasts and the other covering the area between her legs, but she was voluntarily standing in front of her naked.

"Mmm." Alana sighed, a dopy grin spreading on her face.

"I... I'm okay?" The redhead asked, then bit her lip and trembled slightly.

"Rachel, like I said before, you're easily more beautiful than Selene, or Myla, or Victoria." The brunette replied.

"That's not true." Rachel said quietly.

"Well, to be fair I haven't seen any of them naked, but judging from what I have seen and in my totally biased opinion, it's not even close."

"You're biased." Rachel mumbled, though a small smile was playing around the edge of her lips.

Alana chuckled. "I just said that. Now please, just let me enjoy this." She rested her chin in her hands and looked her best friend up and down. Well, Rachel was more than her best friend but she didn't think there was a word for what they were. She thought there should be though.

"Enjoy?" The redhead seemed to relax a little. She shifted her weight to the other foot and that smile playing around her lips widened.

"Absolutely."

Rachel hesitated, then lowered the arm in front of her breasts fractionally, took a deep breath, then lowered it completely so Alana could see her. She had the prettiest pink nipples sitting at the perfect angle atop her shapely breasts. Her breathing slowly made them rise and fall and the subtle movement was entrancing, but only because it was Rachel.

"Perfection." Alana said dreamily after a moment. "Thank you for trusting me. I know this is really hard for you and I appreciate how much you're trusting me."

Rachel bit her lip, then she moved her other hand too.

She had a slightly wild tuft of red hair above her slit that was the exact same shade as her roots. Her outer lips were slightly spread and her inner lips protruded slightly. The wood elf's eyes could clearly see more than a little wetness there too. More importantly, Rachel was voluntarily showing herself to her.

"Thank you for not being..." The redhead bit her lip. "Well, thank you for being you."

Alana slipped off the bed and wrapped her arms around Rachel. "You're welcome."

Rachel reciprocated, holding her tightly and lovingly for almost a minute before speaking without letting go nor loosening her grip. "Um, someday, maybe someday soon, could... could we..."

Rachel swallowed hard.

"Yes." Alana whispered back softly. "I can't wait."

Rachel made a sound that was halfway between a sigh and a soft moan and then snuggled a little closer in their naked hug. They stayed like that for some time, simply holding each other and enjoying the exquisite sensation of bare skin in their long embrace.

* * *

Fiona had once gone fishing with her father in her youth. He loved fishing and he always brought a small open-topped net that he would put his catches into so they could stay alive until he was finished. She had noticed that once in the small net, the fish seemed to be very confused in the small space and ended up looking around seeming like they had no idea how to react or respond.

Right now, she knew exactly how they felt.

She was in the Narlotten Council chambers with all of the most important, influential, and powerful people in the lorddom and she was a widowed cook. If any of them needed some food, she could help. Otherwise...

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"It will get better."

She jumped slightly at the voice coming from beside her, which belonged to Mage Weston.

"I remember my first day in this room." He spoke with the air of someone reminiscing as he looked around the room. "I looked around and thought: 'what am I doing here? Is this some kind of mistake? I feel like it's a mistake'."

"I'm knowing the feeling." She replied vehemently.

"It will get better." The mage repeated. "I wasn't on the council when Helene was alive, but Lord Delmar did something rather unusual for a lord in the Ten Kingdoms, though I hear Lord Kalus does the same."

"What's that?"

"Invite his wife -- 'wives' in the case of Lord Kalus -- into the council chambers." Mage Weston said then looked around at the others. "Don't let their titles or influence intimidate you; we are all fallible men here and none is perfect. Endeavor to be the most mature version of yourself while you are here and I think you shall not disappoint."

"Thank you." She breathed a sigh of relief.

The door opened and Lord Delmar strode in.

Her fiancé.

It just felt too strange; she was engaged to the Lord Delmar.

"Call to order." He said without preamble.

"Oh tosh now." General Carrow replied as he made his way to a seat. "Shouldn't we at least take a moment to celebrate the pending nuptials before getting down to business?"

"The 'pending nuptials' are the first order of business." Lord Delmar replied as he sat down on what could only be described as the head seat at the round table, though mostly because it was slightly larger than the others. Not by much, but a little

"Behold, Lord Delmar the great romantic." Mage Weston chuckled as he also headed for an open seat.

Fiona hesitated a moment, not wanting to take someone else's seat. It appeared that there were exactly two chairs more than there were people. The one chair was on Lord Delmar's left side and it was the one that looked slightly more feminine and clearly hadn't been used in years, though it was obviously well cared for. The other empty seat was between Sir Warrick and General Carrow, which he assumed was normally Lady Ekthros's seat.

She opted for that one.

"Trade seats with me." Sir Warrick said before she could sit down. "I would love to see you put another smile onto our dear lord's face."

"Good luck." General Carrow said jovially. "Even the great jester Lady Ekthros hasn't been able to do that."

Fiona didn't say this out loud, but she found herself wondering why everyone seemed to think that Lady Ekthros was funny. She had never heard that before nor witnessed it. Still, she sat down between Lord Delmar and Sir Warrick, hoping that she wouldn't make a fool of herself.

"Please begin." Lord Delmar said to one of the men that she didn't know when everyone was seated.

He was sitting on General Carrow's other side and he bowed his head and everyone else followed suit while he said an opening prayer asking for wisdom and guidance from Illuminar for the council's business.

When he had finished, Lord Delmar addressed the room. "The first item of business is the wedding. I propose a public announcement at noon today followed by a wedding this evening."

"Absolutely not!" Sir Warrick laughed. "The people have been waiting forever for this my lord; they will need a grand royal wedding to equal the last one."

"Sir Warrick is right." General Carrow said. "I understand your desire to marry quickly, but it will seem rushed and that will invite speculation of a scandal where none exists."

Several others voiced similar sentiments for various reasons.

"There is little reason to wait." Lord Delmar replied. "Narlotten needs an heir and a legitimate one cannot be produced without a marriage. Given that there is no heir as of now, chaos would ensue should something happen to me. The Emperor would be forced to step in to appoint a new lord and the people will certainly not prefer that."

"Only because the new lord wouldn't be your son." Sir Warrick said. "If you wish it to be soon, perhaps a grand wedding could be pulled quickly?" He looked at the fellow who prayed to open the meeting.

"It could be done." The man frowned. "Two months should be a minimum and three would be better, though that would be a tight timetable."

"The royal wedding shouldn't be 'tight'." Sir Warrick countered. "It should be a grand affair, not hastily thrown together."

For the next few minutes, most of the council debated how long it would take to plan a grand wedding. The general consensus was three or four months minimum, though many said that six months would be better. A few of the members and the Lord Delmar himself were wanting a wedding within a fortnight, preferably within a few days. Eventually, after several minutes of discussion, Lord Delmar looked at the castle's mage.

"Mage Weston, you have thoughts." Lord Delmar addressed him, likely because he had his head cocked to one side like he was thinking and hadn't yet weighed in.

"I was thinking that since she is here, perhaps the bride might like to weigh in."

Everyone looked at Fiona.

She hesitated a moment before speaking. "Um, I'm thinking: why can't it be both?"

"Explain." Lord Delmar said. It wasn't quite a command, though it was stronger than a request.

She took a deep breath before speaking. "Well, I'm knowing that the people are wanting a grand wedding since everyone has been wanting you to be getting married for a long time now. But I'm also understanding how the people are wanting an heir. I'm hearing the talk in the kitchens and elsewhere and many are worrying about that. So if we were wanting to make the people happy, we could be having two weddings. One could be small and private quite soon as the Lord Delmar was saying for an heir, and then we could be having another wedding many months from now so the people will be having their grand wedding later."

She paused, then added. "It's like when a lord dies and his son is becoming the new lord immediately, but then they're having a grand coronation later. We could be doing the same with two weddings."

There was a collective nodding of heads around the room and several of the older members were looking at her as if they had never seen something like her before.

Mage Weston smiled at her. "The most impressive thing about your response was not that it perfectly accommodated the two sides of the debate." His smile widened. "The most impressive thing is that you talked solely about what the people of Narlotten would want and didn't voice your own personal opinion about your own wedding." He looked at Lord Delmar. "I do believe your taste in women is entirely impeccable; she appears to be a rare gem who is more concerned for others than herself."

Fiona felt her cheeks grow warm and knew the blush would be obvious on her very pale cheeks, heavily freckled though they were.

"Sir Warrick was right." One of the older ones mused as he stroked his white beard. "You remind me a little of Helene my lady. You are different of course, but not so different that one who knew her couldn't see a slight similarity of spirit."

The older members all nodded their heads.

"Very well, it shall be two weddings." Lord Delmar said.

"I suggest making an announcement at noon today." Sir Warrick said. "Perhaps the grand wedding could be moved to next year in the spring? It will already be winter in a few months and that would bode poorly for the wedding; spring is more agreeable for weddings."

There was a general chorus of agreement at that, except for Lord Delmar who looked at her. "Would that be agreeable?"

"Aye milord."

"Then all that's left for today is to decide when we shall be married." The lord said to everyone, though he did end looking at her.

"I'm thinking the people will be preferring if the news about you being engaged had spread before you were suddenly married." She said.

"Perhaps at sundown tomorrow?" Sir Warrick suggested. "That will be enough time for the news to spread to everyone in the city. Anyone who doesn't know at that point will have had ample opportunity and his friends will look at him strangely for not knowing."

"That is acceptable, see to it Sir Warrick." Lord Delmar nodded once. "Now, the next order of business is the ongoing negotiations with Marcadia."

Fiona listened to the rest of the council meeting without speaking up since she had very little idea what was going on. It was obvious that she was listening to important conversations that had been going on for some time now and so she lacked the context to properly understand them. It was interesting to see her fiancé interact with his council though. He treated them no differently than he treated her, listening carefully and making decisions with authority while never ignoring input, but somehow he always remained somewhat aloof.

That put her in mind of Lady Ekthros and what she knew of her from Sarah. She took a deep breath, realizing that she really needed to talk to him about that soon.

"Milord." She said when the meeting had ended.

"Yes Fiona." He replied as everyone stood and began to file out of the room.

"Might I be talking to you for a few minutes privately?"

He frowned slightly, but Sir Warrick spoke up. "No one will think you two are losing control if you have the council chambers alone for a few minutes. Please take the room; you can't go up to the Helene every time you want to talk."

"Very well." He nodded once. Once everyone else had left, he looked at her. "Proceed."

"I think you should be knowing something that Sarah was telling me about Lady Ekthros." She then told him about Lady Ekthros reading Sarah's mind while Sarah was recounting the story of her possession, and that she and Sarah suspected Lady Ekthros was trying to create demon-possessed soldiers.

He listened without interruption until she was done and then spoke. "The Book of Light requires two or three witnesses; do you have another?"

"No milord." She admitted.

He made a thoughtful sound that definitely had a slightly negative tone to it. "Lady Ekthros did tell me that she looked into Sarah's mind to see about her possession. She said her primary purpose was to know if that memory was at all connected to the false prophet, who she believes is attempting to do just as you say; create demon-possessed soldiers."

Fiona frowned.

"Lady Ekthros also said that she saw evidence that the false prophet -- who I might remind you is a dragon -- had begun to install some subtle and permanent compulsions in Sarah's mind. Lady Ekthros also said that she believed that these compulsions were responsible for Sarah not trusting her anymore, since she was trying to convince Sarah not to trust Ethan."

Fiona's frown deepened, but that did make some sense. Not perfect sense, but some sense. That damn false prophet had killed her husband and while she certainly had no love for Lady Ekthros, she did find it easier to believe that the false prophet was up to no good. That went double because Lord Delmar was trusting Lady Ekthros so much.

Hmm.

"Can I be asking why you are trusting Lady Ekthros so much?" The copper-haired woman asked after a moment.

"She and her husband saved Helene's life during an assassination attempt on me near the very beginning of my reign." Lord Delmar replied. "Lady Ekthros was grievously injured protecting Helene and almost died. She would have died if the court mage at that time hadn't acted so quickly to save her."

"Her husband?" Fiona felt her jaw drop. "Lady Ekthros is married?"

He nodded once. "I have not seen him for many years, but she has not initiated a divorce despite his abandonment of her providing ample cause according to the Book of Light. Thus, she is still married."

Fiona stared.

Wow; she would never have guessed that.

Still, her mind swung around to what Lord Delmar had told her about Lady Ekthros having been saved by the previous court mage. "Are you sure the previous court mage wasn't working with her?" She finally asked.

"Yes." He replied simply, then lowered his voice. "Mage Weston's predecessor -- Illuminar rest his soul -- was the one who created my disguise enchantment for me at the behest of Helene and her father, the former lord of Narlotten."

"Helene's father was knowing that you're a dra--" She stopped. "That you're a... you know?" She whispered so quietly that no one besides him could've heard, even if they were in the room.

He nodded once.

She stared at him for a moment before finding her voice. "One day, you'll have to be telling me that story."

"Perhaps." He replied in an even tone.

"I'm still not trusting Lady Ekthros." Fiona said after a moment.

"You are letting your emotions cloud your judgement in this case." He replied.

"Cloud my--" She glared at him. "On the day you and I met, she was saying that you were wasting your time visiting me and Conner because my Sean dying was part of a soldier's duty!"

"Fiona." He looked into her eyes and suddenly she felt somewhat like a misbehaving child. "Change your tone."

"Yes milord." She took a deep breath and continued more calmly. "I'm sorry, but anyone who is thinking that men who are giving their lives defending Narlotten aren't worth your time is someone I can't be trusting." The widows of Narlotten soldiers were taken care of, but Lord Delmar visiting her personally was something that Fiona had never expected.

"She was mistaken of course." He said. "However, your response did not improve the situation. To call the verbal tirade that you directed at her 'uncivil' would be a near-criminal understatement."

"Every word I was saying was true." Fiona with a veneer of calm to her voice.

"Just because something is true does not mean that it needs to be said." He replied calmly. "As the Book of Light says: A fool continually says all that is on his mind, but a wise man holds his tongue until it is prudent to speak."

Fiona bristled, but she couldn't argue with that.

She waited, but he didn't continue.

The seconds stretched out to almost a minute of silence before it grew uncomfortable enough that Fiona spoke again. "I'm seeing your point. I'm still not liking Lady Ekthros though."

"That is your prerogative." He replied. "However, you should know that no one -- possibly including myself -- has worked harder or longer for the good of Narlotten."

"I keep hearing that, but what is she doing?"

"It was her suggestion to require a trial by jury for all criminal courts." He replied. "She suggested improvements to irrigation that greatly increased crop production and thus the general wealth. She also wrote the Narlotten Charter of Rights, which guarantees certain basic rights for all citizens regardless of circumstance or wealth, among many other contributions."

Fiona inclined her head in concession. "I can't be denying that those are good things, but I'm still not liking her."

"That is your prerogative."

"I'm sorry I was losing my temper earlier." She said after a moment.

"Then you are forgiven." He replied. "However, we should not tarry too long alone together in a room until we are wed lest we create a scandal."

"Aye milord." She nodded.

"Come, you should attend to your son for a time while the announcement is being written." He said as he strode towards the door. "I will have your things moved to one of the castle's guest rooms until our wedding night."

"You don't need to be doing that." She replied, knowing that the castle's guest rooms were fit for visiting dignitaries and even kings. She wasn't needing anything that grand.

He opened the door for her and held it open. "It is for security reasons, not comfort reasons. You should well know that your room isn't secure given that someone ransacked it recently."

She stopped in her tracks halfway through the door and looked at him. "You were knowing about that?"

He didn't reply, he just looked at her.

That's when it hit her; of course he knew. "Are you knowing who it was?"

"Not with two or three witnesses."

She smiled; he did know. Perhaps he couldn't prove it, but he did know.

"Spend some time with your son." Lord Delmar said as they walked down the hallway after leaving the room. "By the time the announcement is made, everything you own will have been moved to a guest room. Nurse Belcosta will have an adjoining room to attend to Conner when the need arises."

"Aye milord." She nodded.

"I will send someone to collect you when it is time for the announcement to be made."

"Aye milord." She nodded again.

He gave her a curt nod, then strode away without another word.

"It wasn't for romance." She reminded herself when he was gone. She hoped it would develop into one and the fact that they would bond might help, but ultimately she wasn't marrying for love. She was hoping for it, but she wasn't counting on it.

She took a deep breath and slowly shook her head at how much her life had been turned upside down in the past few weeks.

* * *

"CPR." Ethan repeated. "It stands for cardiopulmonary resuscitation." He was speaking to the entire crew of the Argo including their guests. As he thought about it, he realized that he wasn't quite sure where to sort Myla. He had told her that she could live on the Argo which made her more than a guest, but somehow including her in the crew didn't sound right yet.

"Is that what you used to bring Kendra and me back to life?" Beth asked.

"Yup." He replied.

"You're going to teach us to raise the dead!?" Victoria's mouth fell open and her eyes grew as wide as saucers.

"No, but also kind of yes... sort of. It only works on certain kinds of death and only right after it happened." He then started explaining it to a rapt audience.

"That's almost romantic." Taloni said with a slightly dreamy voice when he'd finished. "It's like in a story where the hero brings the maiden back to life with a kiss."

Victoria got a sly grin on her face. "And you know, a little bit boob groping."

Everyone sniggered except for the platinum blonde's mother, who said quite sharply. "Victoria Angelique Gladstone! I don't want to ever hear such things from your mouth again!"

"Yes mother." She said with an appropriately recalcitrant look, but her sly smile hadn't entirely disappeared.

"I am so sorry Prophet Ejder." Her mother -- Carla -- said with something approaching horror in her mortified expression. "I promise we raised her better than that."

"Mrs. Gladstone, I have five wives and we all sleep in the same room... at the same time." Ethan replied with a chuckle. "Trust me, it'll take more than that to shock me."

Victoria's mother breathed a subtle sigh of relief.

"Now, about CPR." Ethan addressed everyone.

He spent the next two hours going over the basics of CPR with everyone. He had pulled a large sack of grain up from the lower decks so they could practice compressions, and a mostly empty bag that was tied shut made a passible head. Most of them picked it up very fast, with Rachel, Myla, and Victoria standing out as learning head-and-shoulders faster than everyone else. Everyone got there eventually in the end though except for Raklan, who Ethan was pretty sure would accidentally cave in someone's chest instead of saving the person; subtly definitely wasn't one of his strong suits.

About halfway through, Taloni asked if it was possible to do CPR on Ethan because his snout didn't make blowing air into his lungs very easy. It took a few tries but they finally figured that if someone held his snout closed, someone else could do the mouth-to-mouth portion.

Of course, all of his wives insisted on confirming it for 'his safety'. That led to several very enjoyable minutes as he laid on his back and each of his wives kissed him fiercely-- uh, 'practiced life-saving measures'. At one point, it looked like Victoria was going to comment on this, but a withering look from her mother prevented that.

After the teaching session was over, everyone split up to do other things except for Victoria, who came up to him afterwards. "Mr. Ejder?"

"Please, call me 'Ethan'."

"Ethan, part of the reason that everyone believes that you're a prophet is because you raised someone from the dead in Arcanum." The platinum blonde said. "By teaching this, people will be less likely to think you're a prophet."

"I know." He shrugged. "So?"

"I understand why you would teach your wives, and even your crew, but me and my family?" She didn't look confused exactly, but more surprised; perhaps in the way someone would be surprised to learn that some mass murderer was also a caring father.

He looked at her for a long moment. "You really haven't met many good people in your life, have you?"

She shook her head.

He lowered his voice so as not to be overheard. "Spending too much time in other people's heads?"

She waggled her head back and forth a bit and matched his volume. "It... I started pretty young and it took a long time before I was able to block everything out. People are really awful; you should hear the kinds of things people think." She shuddered slightly. "For example, do you know what Raklan has imagined doing to me?"

Ethan winced. "Oof, I wouldn't want to know."

"I didn't either." She gave him a pained smile, though it was more pain than smile. "You and your wives seem like such good people, but I can't read your minds to know for sure. And in my experience, some of the people who seem the nicest can also be some of the worst."

"So, I'm not sure how to say this without sounding wrong, but how are you not way more messed up?"

She did actually smile this time. "Because for as awful as people can be, sometimes people can think the sweetest things. Even people you wouldn't expect."

"Fair." He nodded. "Your father said that you could find a bright spot in a pig sty."

She nodded. "When everything is dark, one does tend to cling to the light."

"Again, fair."

"Well, I'm going to see if Mom is still mad at me." She said after a moment.

"Good luck." He winked.

She chuckled and then started walking away but stopped. She hesitated, then turned to look at him. "So, I'm not from the Southern Lands like Myla, but um, I going to say my 'Friend-Name' is Vicky. You're welcome to use it."

"Vicky." He nodded slowly. "Well, then pretend my Friend-Name is Ethan." He winked.

She chuckled. "Will do."

As she left, he found himself liking the idea of an official Friend-Name. It was a rather unique custom and he thought it had a lot of practical merit.

"Drago?"

"Yes?" He looked at Kendra. "Does my brown-eyed beauty need something?"

She smiled, though it was an embarrassed smile. "I was thinking; Selene and I were talking about travel swords and now we have the dragon steel for them."

"The scales are still attached to the hide though, right?"

"No, I finished stripping the hide this morning and I currently have it tanning."

"Wow, that was fast."

"I have experience." She shrugged.

He grinned slyly. "Yes, you're getting very experienced."

She blushed slightly and then nodded. "I like that."

"Me too." He grinned. "Did you have someone in mind to make the travel swords?"

"Graflex in Arcanum since the scales will fit through the portal stone to Elder Goman." She replied. "The finished product won't, but if we send more than enough dragon scales through, the extra scales can be Graflex's payment." She paused. "Well, some of them. All of the rest would be far too much."

"Sounds like a good plan." He nodded. "You might want to drop him a note asking before you send him the scales though."

"I will." She smiled at him.

He pulled her into a hug. "You know, I'm really glad that I married you."

She hugged him back tightly. "Me too."

*They're done!* Alana thought to everyone halfway through the hug.

Kendra leaned back and grinned, which he wasn't expecting from her.

*What's done?* He thought to everyone as he gave Kendra a quizzical look.

*The dresses Master!* Tee thought to everyone.

"Everyone will be a lot safer with them." Kendra said with a massive smile.

Ethan smiled. It was very 'Kendra' that one of the biggest smiles that he'd ever seen on her was because her new family was better protected.

*Will we have time to show our husband before we arrive at Dotmier?* Rachel asked.

*We will.* Tee replied.

*Wait, we're that close?* Ethan asked.

*We are Master.* Tee replied. *The wind has been very good so we should arrive late this afternoon or early this evening. Plus we already sailed part of the way when we ran from Lord Delmar.*

*Oh good.* He replied. *I was thinking that I'd have to fly myself the rest of the way to be back in time for the service where Matthew was going to challenge that luminar.* He smiled, thinking that it would be good to see that. Plus, Arven was sure to let his daughter Yalia marry the young man if he actually did it and didn't choke like the previous time he'd tried.

*So, I guess I'm not getting any hints about the new dresses.* He asked

*Nope, not unless you explicitly tell me to spoil the surprise.* Alana replied. *You didn't last time and it was worth the wait, wasn't it?*

*Okay, but I'm looking forward to seeing them; soon.*

*How about right after lunch?* The wood elf suggested.

*Perfect.*

* * *

Fiona had never stood on the announcement balcony of the castle in Narlotten before. It wasn't technically part of the castle, but rather part of the walls around the castle and overlooked the main thoroughfare leading into the castle. Whenever an announcement was going to be made, they would raise a special flag underneath the Narlotten flag and the area around the entrance would usually fill up quickly.

That flag was flying now and she could hear the crowd all talking excitedly below. She couldn't pick out any distinct words at this distance, but the general air of excitement was much greater than she had ever heard it before. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she looked around at all the unfamiliar faces on the balcony with her. She recognized a few of them, but she didn't actually know any of them well.

Including her fiancé.

She was going to marry him in a day and a half and she didn't know him well at all.

She looked down and smoothed some non-existent wrinkles on her dress. It was the finest dress that she owned and it still looked rather subdued compared to what everyone around her was wearing. She wasn't necessarily underdressed, but she felt like she was.

She took another deep breath and tried to figure out what to do with her hands. Nurse Belcosta had Conner a few feet away so Fiona wasn't holding him. What should she do with her hands? She tried holding them in front of her but that felt weird. Interlacing her fingers didn't help and it just felt odd to leave them hanging by her side.

Thankfully, she was saved by the trumpeter.

The man stepped up to the end of the balcony's railing and blew several long, clear notes. The crowd below instantly fell silent and then the trumpeter backed away as Lord Delmar stepped to the edge of the balcony. She had been told to wait just out of sight until he called for her and a tiny part of her was hoping that he wouldn't. He would, but she could feel little butterflies in her stomach as she thought about it.

"People of Narlotten." The lord began, speaking into something that magically magnified his already powerful voice. "I'm sure the rumors from the castle have reached you. I am here today to confirm that they are true. Very shorty, Narlotten will have a First Lady again."

The applause and cheers combined were thunderous.

Practically deafening.

She looked over at Conner to see the baby starting to wail. Without missing a beat, Nurse Belcosta quickly sat down on the stone and put her hands over his little ears to shield them from the cacophony.

Fiona smiled at that.

It took over a minute for the applause and cheering to die down, and then only because Lord Delmar raised his hand to call for silence.

"The future First Lady of Narlotten is a young widow." Lord Delmar continued. "Her husband gave his life in defense of our country and he should be honored for that. Take a moment of silence to honor Sean McWilliams for his ultimate sacrifice."

Absolute silence fell.

Besides the sound of the light breeze and the flag flapping, no sound was heard. Fiona felt her throat get slightly tight. She wasn't sure if Lord Delmar intended this, but her Sean would now be honored throughout the land because Lord Delmar's proclamation would likely be read verbatim in many places.

"His widow, Fiona McWilliams, has been working in the castle for several months now." The Lord continued. "In that time, she has gone out of her way to help many in the castle and demonstrated an incredible degree of integrity. More importantly, her integrity has been tested and found to be true. That is why I chose to ask her."

He motioned her forward and she went, feeling like the butterflies in her stomach were doing their best imitation of a hurricane.

"Citizens of Narlotten, I present to you your future First Lady: Fiona McWilliams." He timed his words so that she became visible to the crowd as he spoke her name.

Again, the cheers and applause were deafening.

Again, it took almost a minute before they quieted down enough for Lord Delmar to continue. "There was some debate among the council as to when the wedding should occur, with some wanting it immediately to ensure an heir and some wanting a grand wedding months later. It was Fiona herself who suggested both."

The crowd seemed to be waiting with bated breath.

"There will indeed be a grand wedding in the spring, but there will also be a very small wedding at sundown tomorrow evening so an heir--"

He stopped speaking as the crowd erupted in applause and cheers. It took nearly two whole minutes for it to start dying down and just as Lord Delmar was getting ready to speak again, various people in the crowd began shouting the last thing that Fiona would've expected.

"Kiss!"

"The engagement kiss!"

"Give her a kiss!"

"Kiss her!"

Slowly it became a chant. "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"

Fiona felt her cheeks get hot as she realized that she had completely forgotten about the long-standing tradition of the newly engaged or betrothed couple kissing exactly one time when the announcement was publicly made. She looked at Lord Delmar.

"It is tradition." He said simply.

She nodded.

Then with no other preamble, he leaned in to kiss her.

Fiona remembered her betrothal kiss to Sean vividly. They had both been excited and a bit nervous and had accidentally clunked teeth, which made her giggle a bit during their first kiss. It was awkward, unsure, and the most loving thing she had experienced to that point.

Her kiss with Lord Delmar wasn't.

It was -- for lack of a better word -- perfunctory. He kissed her firmly enough and long enough to be respectable, but not one moment longer. There was no passion, no heat, and no emotion in the kiss; he was doing his duty and nothing more.

She did put in more.

True, she didn't know him that well. However, he had been so incredibly good to her and Conner that she felt rather warmly towards him. Okay, more than a little warmly towards him if she was honest with herself. She certainly didn't feel for him what she had felt for Sean, but she greatly appreciated him.

She put everything she felt for him into the kiss.

When he pulled back he looked... Surprised? That's when she remembered that there were other people around. For some reason, that fact had fled from her mind while she was kissing him. That's when she realized that she had just kissed Lord Delmar in front of hundreds of people. They were clapping and applauding just as loudly as they had done before and she couldn't understand how she could've missed that with all the noise they were making.

Lord Delmar looked at her for barely a moment before turning back to the crowd and finishing the announcement with a few more details, which she already knew. Once the announcement was made, he led her off the announcement balcony and they returned to the castle with Sir Warrick and the nurse holding Conner in tow.

Lord Delmar turned to her once they were inside. "I have pressing matters to attend to. Please, follow Sir Warrick to the guest quarters where you will be measured and fitted for a wedding dress. The most expensive seamstress in the city has been contracted for this purpose; apparently, she comes highly recommended by many ladies of the court."

"Aye milord." She replied. "Can I be making a request?"

He nodded once.

"Could you be sending messengers to my family and Sarah? I'm preferring that they learn from me before they hear it as news."

"That is possible." He replied. "I will dispatch two messenger airships today; that will ensure they receive the news before word spreads. Do you wish to write a letter to them?"

"Aye, and thank you very much." She replied, surprised that he had volunteered to send messenger airships. They were just about the fastest way to send messages in the Ten Kingdoms and she was very grateful.

"You are welcome." He replied mostly without emotion. "Good day." He nodded respectfully at her, then turned and walked away.

"Not exactly a great romantic these days." Sir Warrick mused as the lord walked away. "I think you might be able to bring that side of him back."

"Was he being romantic with Helene?" Fiona asked as her fiancé rounded the corner.

The nobleman smiled. "He would kiss her before their every parting in a manner that was just shy of indecorous. Naturally, she returned his affections with interest. More than once I entered a room where the two of them appeared to have been locked in a passionate -- though fully clothed -- embrace just moments prior." He got an amused smile on his face. "If I were to discover that Rachel had been conceived outside of their bed chamber, I wouldn't have the slightest trouble believing it.

Fiona stared at him. "You're being serious?"

"Indeed." Sir Warrick smiled. "Lord Delmar was once young and in love much like many of us are. Alas, his romance was cut short." He slowly shook his head.

Fiona hoped that perhaps in time he might feel some small fraction of that affection for her at some point. She thought it might be possible and found herself very glad that she had been insisting on bonding with him.

* * *

Ethan leaned up against the Argo's railing by the foot of the starboard stairs up to the quarterdeck waiting for the 'fashion show' to begin. Joining him were the Argo's guests, most of whom seemed interested.

"Are you ready?" Anthiel asked from beside him, resuming her role of announcer like she had the first time.

"Go for it." He gave her a thumbs up.

"Here they come; the lovely wives of Ethan Ejder, starting with the lovely wood-elven ringleader, Alana Ejder."

Alana came out in a dress that looked very similar to the one she had been wearing since Ethan had met her, but with some subtle differences. As before, it was a knee-length green dress with short sleeves and a scooped neck that showed almost no cleavage. However, the fabric's pattern had changed. Whereas before the pattern woven into the fabric had resembled leaves, now it looked like she had achieved a similar effect with subtle changes in the color palette.

Beth's royal blue dress looked almost the same as before, except for the sleeves. Whereas before it was sleeveless with thin straps, now it had 'fluttery' sleeves with a "v" neck, though again it showed almost no cleavage. The bottom portion came to mid-calf and was tight around the waist, creating the illusion that her already long legs were even longer.

Taloni's lilac halter-top dress also looked almost identical to its previous iteration. Her skirt was a bit shorter than the others at just above knee length, but she also wore some shorts of the same length underneath it to protect her modesty while flying. This dress also had some extra fabric around the edges of the halter-top that looked quite similar to Beth's fluttery sleeves.

Rachel's red -- almost maroon -- dress was just as stunning as the previous version. It had cap sleeves and the neckline was similar to Alana's scooped neck, but instead it had two angles on each side; one nearly vertical that angled inwards and the other mostly horizontal that arced over her generous and shapely breasts. The dress broke roughly at her knees, again similar to Alana's dress. Honestly, Rachel and Alana's dresses looked similar enough that they almost looked like a matched set.

He guessed that wasn't accidental.

Kendra's purple dress was completely unchanged. It still had a high neckline with long sleeves and a nearly floor-length skirt portion, both of which looked pleated. He knew that when she activated the dress, the slightly billowy sleeves and the skirt portion would self-summon so the dress became more like pants and a shirt than a dress. It was perfect for his tactically-minded wife.

A few things stood out though.

With the exception of Kendra, all the dresses appeared to have extra fabric in the arm/sleeve area that hadn't been there before. Also curious was that all of them appeared to have tight-ish cloth bracelets on both wrists that matched the color of the dress and also had a small strap that went over the thumb. Even more curious was that they all appeared to be wearing cloth ankle bracelets that appeared to have a strap that went into their shoes. Those style elements seemed to tie all of the dresses together, quite different though they were. That in turn made the ladies look like they belonged together as a unit.

He liked that.

Reinforcing that impression, each woman was also wearing a sash across her chest that he knew to be the cut-resistant cloth shields that Selene had invented.

Selene...

For a moment, he indulged in an idle fantasy that Selene was there too, wearing a dress not unlike his wives' own dresses but in a style all her own. He imagined that she was every bit his wife just like Alana, Beth, Taloni, Rachel, and Kendra were. He liked that image.

Then it faded.

She didn't want that; she didn't want to marry him. She had made her choice and he was going to respect it. He wasn't happy about it, but he was going to respect it. Another image climbed into his mind, one of Myla, or Victoria, or the wood elven king's ward whose name he still didn't know. Somehow, he could picture any one of them standing where Selene had stood just moments ago. He wasn't nearly as happy about that as he had been to imagine Selene, but for some reason, the latter three women seemed to fit in a way that Selene just didn't.

Not anymore.

His smile faltered.

*We miss Selene too.* Alana thought to everyone, darn near reading his mind.

*How could you tell?* He replied.

*We can all tell because we feel the same.* Beth volunteered.

*Master, we all talked about designing a dress for her and it didn't feel right to any of us.* Taloni added.

*Because she made her choice, even if we don't like it.* Rachel explained.

*She could still change her mind.* Kendra pointed out after a moment.

*Do you really think she will?* He asked.

No one answered.

There was a long moment of silence before Ethan decided to focus on the positive and spoke aloud. "You ladies are beautiful."

They smiled in return.

"And well-protected too." Alana added. "Ladies, on the count of three. One... Two.... Three."

Kendra's dress switched to its 'fighting mode', but the other dresses changed as well. From the underside, something like loose pants came down and met their cloth ankle bracelets, completely covering their legs in cut-resistant fabric. Likewise, the same thing happened with their arms. Folded or concealed cloth on each of the ladies' dresses came out to meet the cloth bracelets, covering each woman's arm in cut-resistant fabric as well. Those with necklines had additional fabric bridge the gap to cover the exposed skin there as well. Once activated, all his wives were covered nearly head to toe in cut-resistant fabric, with only feet, hands, neck, and faces excepted.

"Wow." He whistled. "Holy crap that's some impressive design work."

"It was mostly Alana and Rachel." Beth said with a sly grin. "They make a great team."

"They do." He agreed.

The couple got a bit of pink in their cheeks.

"I'm really proud of you two." Ethan said to them without teasing. "Seriously, what you've done here is incredible and I'll feel so much better knowing that you ladies are walking around fully protected."

"Thank you." They said at the exact same moment, then they glanced at each other at the same moment, then they both got a slightly embarrassed smile on their faces.

He chuckled, then went back to looking at the dresses. "I assume there's some enchanted leather in the bracelets and ankle bracelets?"

"They're cloth wrapped around enchanted leather." Alana nodded. "I also hid some enchanted leather in various other places on the sleeves which are enchanted to attract each other once activated, which is what makes it work."

"Makes sense." He nodded slowly. "Damn, that's pretty amazing."

"Thank you." She smiled back at him. "I had a feeling that since we're arriving at Dotmier today, I should really make a push to get them finished."

"Any particular reason?"

"Not really." The wood elf hesitated. "I just had a feeling."

He frowned. "Like, a hunch? Or are we talking about the kind of feeling that Taloni sometimes gets?"

"I might have suggested it too Master." The Fey teen said. Her wings fluttered a bit.

"Well, that's not ominous at all." He grimaced.

* * *

Fiona finished writing separate letters to her family and Sarah, then handed them to the waiting Narlotten errand boy. "Here you go."

"I will deliver them, Lady Fiona." The boy gave her a respectful head bow and then left the room.

It was quite a room.

Frankly, it was far too grand a room for her. It was tasteful, but there was no doubt that it was designed to impress visiting dignitaries and kings. There was too much purple, gold, and silver for her tastes. It was grand, but felt almost sterile.

"It's only temporary." Nurse Belcosta pointed out. She was holding Conner who seemed entirely content with the nurse as long as Fiona was in view. When the boy's mother wasn't, he tended to fuss.

"I'm knowing that, I just hope the Lord Delmar isn't keeping his room like this."

"No one knows." The nurse said and she gently rocked Conner.

"Really?"

"Not a single person besides Lord Delmar has been in his room since Lady Helene died." The nurse said. "He won't let anyone enter."

"Is anyone knowing why?" Fiona asked.

The nurse shook her head. "Everything in the room is self-cleaning so it's not necessary, but it is odd. He doesn't have anyone stock the fire in the winter, or put away his clothes, or anything like that. He simply doesn't allow anyone inside for any reason. He even put a summoning lock on the door."

Fiona thought that was strange. Summoning locks worked by having an enchanted piece of leather or wood that unhooked the latch. The person would put a drop of deep mana into the leather so only he could summon it, and doing so would open the door. Since no one else could summon it, it was impossible for anyone else to open the door. On balance, perhaps that made sense. Perhaps it was the one place where he could be himself without his disguise enchantment?

There was a knock on the door.

"You can be coming in." Fiona said.

The door opened and a woman in a ridiculously elaborate and extravagant dress entered, followed by half a dozen people carrying various fabrics and other sewing supplies. Fiona felt her heart sink slightly. If this was the seamstress, they probably wouldn't be seeing eye-to-eye on a dress.

* * *

"Drago?"

Ethan had just slung the grenade satchel over his head and shoulder when Kendra called his name and he looked at her. "What's up?"

"Elder Goman replied to my earlier letter about the travel swords." The dragon huntress replied. "Graflex said he can make them and will take some scales in payment, so I passed enough scales through the portal for him to start."

"Perfect, thanks." He gave her a thumbs up and then double-checked that he had everything he might need for a fight. He was hoping he wouldn't need the preparations, but with Taloni and Alana having a hunch, he figured it was better to be safe than sorry.

About fifteen minutes later, Ethan triple-checked to make sure he had all of his armor and weapons on him as Taloni expertly brought the Argo into the airship dock at Dotmier. It had begun to drizzle and so everything was a little wet, but neither he nor his wives minded very much with their self-cleaning -- and thus water-resistant -- clothes and armor.

"I don't see anything unusual." Alana said from beside him at the bow of the ship.

"Well, then let's hope we all have over-active imaginations." He replied.

"Wait, is that Matthew?" The woof elf said.

Ethan looked down to see the apprentice luminar sprinting towards the dock where the Argo was finishing landing. Serif and Raklan were tying the ship to the bollards and would lower the gangplank shortly.

"That doesn't look good." He looked at Alana and grimaced. "He must've been watching to see when we arrived if he's in such a hurry."

*Matthew is sprinting towards the Argo.* The wood elf thought to everyone.

They all hurriedly congregated at the gangplank, which had only just dropped as Matthew arrived. The young man slid on the dock's slightly wet wood and had to scramble to keep from falling. He ran across the Argo's gangplank and onto the ship, stopping only then to catch his breath.

"L... La..." He said as he panted, hands on his knees as he bent over, clearly trying to catch his breath.

"Take a deep breath." Ethan instructed as their guests also congregated by the gangplank.

Matthew did indeed take a couple of deep breaths, then stood. "Lady... Ekthros... was.... here..." He panted.

Ethan's jaw dropped as a couple of the onlookers sucked in their breath.

"When?" Ethan asked once the shock wore off.

"It was... she left this morning." Matthew panted. "She said... that she was here... to investigate the orc..." He yawned despite not looking tired. "...the orc situation. I think she lied. I think she was here... looking for you and your wives."

"Are you okay?" Alana asked, beating him to the punch.

"What about Arven, Ketura, and Yalia?" Beth asked fearfully.

"They're all fine, thank Illuminar." Matthew said as he started to breathe more normally. "Arven sent me to get Lord Kalus's wives because they have bodyguards."

"Clever." Ethan mused. "Plus, there's no way she would try something with Shara and Lyra around."

"I wouldn't wager on that." Rachel said darkly.

Ethan and his wives exchanged significant looks.

"She's telepathic." Rachel grimaced. "There's no telling how much she knows now."

"Don't worry." Matthew said, still obviously recovering his breath but at least speaking normally. "Arven is a Reeve so he knows how to shield his mind. He taught Ketura and Yalia, and Yalia taught me."

"Silver lining." Ethan breathed a sigh of relief. "Though, pretty much the whole town knew we were here and I doubt they have mental defenses, so it's a good bet that she knows as well."

"But there's more." Matthew continued. "Lady Ekthros came here with only one bodyguard. I don't know who he was, but something about him wasn't right."

"How?" Ethan asked, having a sinking feeling that he knew what and why.

"I'm not sure, but the way he looked at everyone." Matthew shook his head. "It was like... like." He seemed to struggle for words.

"Like he wanted them to die in the slowest, most excruciatingly painful way possible?" Ethan suggested as the sinking feeling worsened. Now that he wasn't so focused on Matthew, he noticed a familiar sensation that was quickly growing stronger; a sensation that was making his dragon side want to flee.

"Something like that." Matthew nodded with a grimace.

Ethan swallowed.

Hard.

"Tee, get us out of here. Now." Ethan said.

"Yes Master." She said as her face went pale. She turned and flew towards the quarterdeck, her wings a blur.

"Serif, Raklan, get the Argo free of the dock." Ethan ordered.

"Leaving so soon?" A voice came from the dock.

The scales on the back of Ethan's neck stood up. His heart seemed to freeze in his chest as his dragon instincts started screaming for him to run.

He didn't.

He turned to see exactly what he expected to see.

It was him.

The demon-possessed man that Ethan himself had only barely escaped from just over a week ago was standing there, somehow looking both smug and murderous at the same time. There was no possible way they could leave before he could get on the airship and Ethan couldn't run this time because his family was here.

He couldn't think of an expletive strong enough to capture his reaction to that.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Note: This chapter began on day 104 of Ethan's life in the Ten Kingdoms and ended on day 105. I submit new chapters on the last Wednesday of every month, and they usually drop after the 2-3 days review process. Thus I'll submit the next chapter on May 29th, and it'll probably drop on May 31st or June 1st.

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

STORY TAGS: dragon, magic, elf, teen, romance, virgin, harem, blonde, brunette, redhead