Chapter 58: Three weddings and an elf

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

* * *

Ethan stared at the demon-possessed man who had appeared on the Dotmier dock just after the Argo had landed. The man didn't seem about to attack, so Ethan stepped forward and put himself at the Argo's end of the gangplank so the man would have to go through him to get to the others. Behind him, Matthew was still catching his breath and no one else had moved.

*Is that him Master?* Taloni asked with a slight tremble in her tone.

*It is.* Ethan replied, not taking his eyes off of the possessed man. Then he spoke aloud. "Beth, Taloni; take our guests into the captain's cabin."

"Yes Dominus." Beth replied at the same time that Taloni spoke. "Yes Master."

He could hear movement behind him but didn't look; he had bigger concerns at the moment.

"My, my; you do have them well trained." The possessed man said in an amused tone that was also dripping with derision.

"And you seem a lot more vocal than the last time we met." Ethan replied coolly.

"I don't have a gag order this time." The man grinned a wide, toothy grin that didn't speak of amusement but something rather different. It was like looking at a kid on Christmas morning, if the kid was looking forward to smashing every present in sight.

"Any chance we can talk this out?" He asked. He was certain the answer was no, but it couldn't hurt to try and he was stalling for time to come up with an attack plan.

The possessed man slowly shook his head, his malevolent and anticipatory smile growing wider.

Ethan considered.

He had his armor on and his dragon-steel war sword at his side. He knew the war sword could hurt the man since it had sliced into him during their previous fight. However, even though the sword was incredibly agile for its size, he wasn't sure it was the best weapon for this fight. The man had been wearing leather armor under his shirt the previous time and thus almost certainly was this time as well. Hitting limbs was tougher, especially since the possessed man was so fast.

Ideally, he would've used Aharown, but he couldn't wield the angelic blade unless he was on the Astral Plane, which he wasn't now. However, it might be possible that Beth could draw it from his scabbard and use it.

His javelin held a lot of promise in dagger form. That tiny tip concentrated the force so much that when combined with its weight, it should be easily able to punch through. He knew it would go through the man's skin easily and suspected it might go through bone as well if he could get a good angle.

His hammer of course was devastating on armored targets, but he wasn't sure how much it would do against the possessed man. The lightning was certainly worth a try. He started charging his hammer, pulling the charge from the man directly to target it at him.

The possessed man laughed. "Go ahead, full charge. I'll wait."

He had a sinking feeling it would fail, but did so anyway because it couldn't hurt to try. Once his hammer was fully charged, he released the charge at the man's face.

CRACK!

It did nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

It was hard to tell, but it looked like the lightning had met a spot in front of the man and dissipated there instead of going into him.

Damn.

The door to the captain's cabin opened a crack and Tee stepped out slightly. Ethan then saw the blue outline of Beth's astral form walk through her to stand on the deck. Ethan thought he might've seen the possessed man's eyes track the blonde, but wasn't sure. He also saw Serif and Raklan guarding the captain's cabin, probably because of Beth. Lord Borden had hired them to protect her, not the rest of the crew, so he wasn't sure he could count on their help.

The man took a step forward and onto the Argo's gangplank, that malevolent and anticipatory smile still present. "I am going to break your back so you can't move." He said to Ethan as if it was a universally acknowledged fact. "Then I am going to slowly beat everyone you love to death in front of your eyes. And since I have a male body, I think I'll do other things to the women first."

The man's tone left Ethan in no doubt as to what he meant. It also made it clear that he was looking forward to this. He was almost savoring this. To this man, or more likely the demon inside of him, this was fun. This was what he wanted to do and he was going to enjoy it immensely.

That was the moment.

That was the exact moment Ethan realized that he had no choice but to win this fight. If he didn't, everyone he loved would die. He took a deep, calming breath and tried to clear his mind for the fight ahead. He had no idea how to win, but he was determined to win no matter what it cost him. He hoped there was some way he could survive it, but if not, that was a price he was willing to pay to keep his family safe.

Ethan's reaction must've shown on his face because the possessed man chuckled. "Good, breaking Illuminar's pets is even more delightful when they're resolved."

"Why do you hate us so much?" Alana asked.

"And why do you hate Illuminar so much?" Rachel added.

"Imagine being in the presence of the most perfect being in all of existence." The man said, his tone dripping with suppressed rage and utter contempt. "No, imagine being in the shadow of the most perfect being ever to exist. Imagine His divine flawlessness mocking you every moment of every day, knowing that you can never even approach what he is. Imagine having your soul's greatest desire paraded in front of you every moment of every hour for an eternity, knowing it will forever be out of your reach."

"You wanted to be God?" Ethan raised his eyebrow.

The possessed man ignored him. "Then came the ultimate insult: mortals." He spat, the man's tone giving Ethan the impression that no mortal could truly understand the level of contempt this possessed man had for mortals.

"The enemy gave you what he denied us: the ability to forget, to not know what He is like." He spoke with almost as much longing as derision. "Once you've been in His presence, you can't forget it; it's not possible to forget something so transcendent. But mortals? You weren't created in his presence; you haven't seen what can't be unseen." He scowled. "You can deny Him, forget Him, or ignore Him. But we? We are forced to live with a perfect recollection of His magnificent perfection forever mocking us, we who were created first and are your betters in every way."

Ethan chanced a glance behind to make sure all the Argo's guests were no longer on deck since the man was monologuing. Thankfully, the deck was now clear of non-combatants.

"Oh, but then..." He grinned. He grinned a terrible grin that made Ethan's skin crawl. "Then the bravest of us, Saidow, found Illuminar's weakness."

"Illuminar doesn't have a weakness." Taloni said clearly and confidently, though she was trembling slightly.

The possessed man snorted with derision. "Doesn't He?"

"Then what is it?" Ethan asked.

"Choice. Free will." His grin became wider and even more disturbing. "Everything relies on Illuminar to maintain its very existence. We thought that if we rebelled, He would destroy us, wink us out of existence just like that." He snapped his fingers. "But the bravest us of -- a noble freedom fighter -- chose to defy Illuminar by tempting mortals to sin..." His grin turned sinister. "...and he lived. That's when we realized; the one thing that Illuminar won't do is violate free will. We can do whatever we want and He wouldn't annihilate us. That's His weakness: he lets us choose even if it means we defy Him." The creature chuckled mirthlessly. "And so we did. Saidow started a revolution the likes of which has never happened before and won't ever happen again."

"But why?" Rachel asked. "What could you possibly gain? You still can't be God and you can't hurt Him either; it seems pointless."

"Pointless? Pointless!?" The possessed man looked at Rachel like she was the dumbest person in the world. "Illuminar made mortals in his image. That connection means that when you feel joy, He feels joy. When you feel happy, He feels happy." He got a grin on his face that was truly disturbing. "And most importantly, when you suffer, He suffers. You are nothing; breath on the wind lasting barely a moment. You are beneath our contempt. But like a parent hurts when his child is hurt, when we hurt you, we hurt Him."

Ethan could barely believe the pure, unadulterated vitriol in the man's tone. This was hatred, malice, and loathing at a level that he didn't think he would ever be able to understand. It was evil in its purest form, which probably shouldn't have been surprising given who was speaking.

The possessed man smiled even more widely, his grin becoming anticipatory and malevolent again. "You know, I could almost thank you." He licked his lips like someone anticipating a delicious meal might. "It's not often that we get to kill one of Illuminar's prophets."

"I'm not a prophet." Ethan replied firmly.

"Man's capacity for self-delusion is delicious." The possessed man chuckled. "The Enemy won't violate my free will even to save one of His prophets..." The man glanced at Ethan's wives. "...or his wives." The man slowly and deliberately cracked his knuckles. "So with your dying breath, curse Him. He's the one who won't save you."

The possessed man moved.

He moved every bit as fast as Ethan had expected him to move. Ethan had hoped that the gangplank would give him an advantage because the possessed man would have to come right at him, but it didn't work out that way. He thrust out with his blade but the possessed man dropped down, sliding on his knees and coming in for what was sure to be a painful counterattack.

Rachel didn't let him.

The possessed man was thrown bodily towards the Argo's rear and slightly up, blown clear off the gangplank by the teen mage. He managed to grab one of the Argo's rigging lines and hung for a moment until Alana put an arrow into his hand. The tiny arrowhead from the wood elf's enormously powerful bow managed to punch through the soft part of his hand between the bones. The hand disappeared as the possessed man fell out of sight.

Ethan grinned, but his relief was short-lived.

The possessed man must've caught something and pulled himself hard because it was almost like he had jumped up from a platform underneath him. He grabbed the rigging only to be hit with another air-ram from their resident mage. He held onto the rigging though despite his body being blown nearly horizontal. Alana sent another arrow his way, but he managed to dodge it.

"You first." The possessed man said with a smile while looking at Rachel, almost completely ignoring the hole in his hand from where Alana had shot him.

The wood elf nocked another arrow and Ethan tried to get between their enemy and Rachel, but he wasn't fast enough. The possessed man slipped onto the decking and the redhead threw her hand out again, presumably shooting another air-ram. However, this time the possessed man waved his hand in front of him and the air-ram fizzled out.

Their enemy knocked Alana out of the way and Rachel threw herself backwards to try and dodge.

She wasn't fast enough.

The possessed man's fist collided with the redhead's jaw.

Crack.

Ethan heard the flat crack of Rachel's jaw breaking as she fell backwards. He felt the full fury of his dragon side surge as he charged forward with his war sword, aiming a descending vertical cut at the man and wanting to split him in half. He was ready to change angles at a moment's notice in case the man tried to dodge.

He didn't.

As he had done over a week ago, the possessed man slapped his hands together on either side of the descending war sword, catching the blade between his palms. Ethan tried to twist it out of the possessed man's grasp, but he was too strong. He decided to try something unorthodox and jumped up, twisting the sword as he aimed a double kick at the man who had hurt one of his wives.

It almost worked.

The possessed man stood there looking amused as Ethan's feet collided with his chest. However, that gave Ethan enough leverage to use both legs to pull his sword out of the man's grip... or it would have. The possessed man suddenly let go, throwing Ethan's balance off. Thankfully, his dragon reflexes kicked in. He twisted in mid-air and landed on his feet.

Behind the possessed man, Ethan could see Alana with an arrow ready to shoot, but the wood elf seemed hesitant because the possessed man was directly between herself and him. He understood her reticence; the man was fast enough to dodge and he didn't want to get hit.

Kendra -- who had been on Ethan's other side further from his other wives -- chose that moment to attack, thrusting out at the man with her dragon-steel sword. He batted her blade away with his forearm like it was a child's toy; he must be wearing enchanted vambraces under his sleeves like Kendra did.

Ethan heaved himself up from the deck just as the possessed man stepped forward and aimed a punch at Kendra's center of mass. The dragon huntress dropped her sword and managed to intercept his punch with one of her hands, catching it with her palm. It did nothing to slow the punch down, but Kendra apparently used her arm like a shock absorber as she threw herself backwards. She was thrown bodily several yards, though thankfully not over the side and she hit the deck and rolled into a crouching position.

Ethan attacked again, this time with his hammer.

However, the possessed man simply caught the war hammer's shaft and wrenched it out of Ethan's hands. He threw it over the side of the Argo, that malevolent and anticipatory smile widening.

That's when Beth tried.

Ethan could see the royal blue outline of her Astral Plane form as the blonde wound up her finger to try and poke the man's eye out.

She never got a chance.

The possessed man obviously saw that attack coming. Ethan would've never been able to see the following split-second pause in the man's counterattack if he didn't have enhanced reflexes. The possessed man seemed to pause for a moment, his brow furrowed slightly in concentration. Then he snapped his arm out and hit Beth's incoming forearm with a knife-hand chop at incredible speed.

Beth's arm broke.

The blonde's forearm bent at an unnatural angle and Ethan could almost hear a 'crack' from the captain's cabin where her body was lying. The blonde let out a silent scream that couldn't be heard except on the Astral Plane and fell to the deck cradling her arm. He was pretty sure Tee would start healing it instantly, but it still made his blood boil.

The possessed man laughed.

He laughed like someone had just told him a great joke, only there was a disturbing cadence to his laugh that made Ethan shudder.

He was enjoying this; reveling in it.

Ethan growled.

His sword hadn't worked and his hammer hadn't worked, it was time for his last weapon. He snatched his dagger from his belt and was about to attack when he remembered something that Serif had constantly beat into his brain during training: a single precisely calculated attack on a well-analyzed opponent was worth a thousand thoughtless attacks. His blood boiled at the sight of two of his wives so injured, but if they were going to survive this, he needed to be smart.

Analysis.

He triggered his enhanced reflexes to their highest possible degree to give him time to think. Luckily, his opponent was still laughing.

Primary opponent: one demon-possessed man, approximately five feet ten inches, approximate weight, 200 pounds. Primary advantages: speed, strength, high damage resistance, and leather armor on his upper torso and forearms. Weapons: none. Weaknesses: none.

Well, not none.

Alana's arrow had pierced through the fleshy part of his hand and Ethan had previously cut fleshy parts as well. That was something; that was where he needed to target his attacks. Avoid cuts at bone, though his javelin might be able to pierce bone with enough force at the right angle. That meant the neck, stomach, and groin were the primary targets.

Biggest obstacle: speed. As long as the possessed man could move that fast, he would be nearly impossible to hit effectively. That meant that Ethan needed to incapacitate enough muscles to slow him down. That would be harder without his war sword, but perhaps not impossible. The trouble was that the possessed man was fast enough to block most attacks, though...

Ethan looked at his dagger.

He had barely used it in javelin mode before but it occurred to him that the extremely lightweight tip would be incredibly fast to move. It was almost like a short rapier because it was so light. That was something. If he used it in javelin mode, perhaps he could thrust effectively with the point. He settled on that plan and activated the javelin, switching to a spear stance since there were only about two feet in front of the grip portion.

The possessed man watched him, his posture still relaxed and unafraid.

Ethan stepped forward as Kendra got ready to as well.

*Kendra, hold back for now and see if you can help Rachel.* He thought to everyone.

*Yes Drago.* The dragon huntress shifted to move laterally around the possessed man.

"Do heal her." He grinned maliciously. "It's always better when they're conscious before the end."

Ethan took a measured step forward and then thrust out with the tip of his extended javelin. The possessed man tried to bat it out of the way, but Ethan circled the tip around his block, the leverage of the long-ish shaft meaning that even the demon couldn't quite move fast enough to stop it.

Unfortunately, it didn't matter.

Ethan was able to thrust into the possessed man's stomach, but the man simply pushed himself forward, impaling himself deeper and catching the shaft. Ethan tried to jerk it back out, but the possessed man was too quick. He grabbed the shaft and then pulled it out of himself. Notably, the wound didn't appear to be bleeding. He jerked the javelin out of Ethan's hand and threw it over the side of the Argo.

Ethan jumped backwards to think.

He had exactly two weapons left that he hadn't tried, but he couldn't use Aharown except while on the Astral Plane. He was really starting to wonder why the hell Gabriella had given him that sword if the damn thing was useless in a fight with demons. Maybe he could use it to save Sarah? If that was all it did -- and he was beginning to suspect that was the case -- he would be okay with that.

He turned his attention back to the fight, trying to figure out how to use his most powerful weapon: grenades. Obviously throwing them was out because he couldn't predict where it would end up if the man batted one aside. He considered 'cooking' a grenade so it exploded just as it arrived, but that was fraught with issues too. His timing would have to be perfect or it might be deflected and hurt one of his wives, or else explode in his hand. No, the grenade needed to be held against the possessed man until it went off. That led him to one inescapable conclusion about what he needed to do.

Ethan swallowed, then thought to Kendra privately. *Can a dragon regrow limbs like some lizards can?*

*Yes, but why--* The dragon huntress's eyes widened. "Drago, you can't."

He fished a grenade out of the grenade satchel and switched it over to his left hand; his non-dominant hand. *I don't think I have a better option.*

The possessed man started forward again, completely ignoring the grenade in Ethan's hand. Thank God for small favors. Ethan wondered for a moment if he should take that literally before the possessed man reached out and grabbed Ethan's arm.

"And now, we paralyze you." He moved so incredibly fast.

He kicked Ethan's legs out from under him so that he ended up on his knees, the possessed man put a hand on Ethan's neck. Ethan reached out with his left arm holding the grenade and activated it.

Five seconds.

Ethan pushed it up against the possessed man's stomach just under his leather armor. In a moment of what he thought was brilliance, he dropped the leather shield off of his left arm and summoned it to his right, placed that between himself and the grenade, and pushed for all he was worth, like he was trying to push the possessed man away.

Four seconds.

The possessed man moved his upper torso incredibly quickly and avoided another arrow that sailed through the space that his head had just occupied. Then he looked into Ethan's eyes and started squeezing his neck.

"She's first." The possessed man grinned wickedly.

Three seconds.

Ethan didn't dare give even the tiniest quip or smile to reveal what was about to happen in case the man got an inkling of what was up against his stomach. He still struggled for all he was worth, not wanting the possessed man to realize what was going on until it was too late.

Two seconds.

The possessed man brought his other hand onto Ethan's neck and he could tell that he was about to have his neck snapped low enough that he would live, but not be able to move. It wasn't enough time!

He cried out in desperation, letting every last bit of desperation he felt into his voice and hoping to buy those precious few moments he needed. "No! Please don't!"

One second.

The possessed man grinned. "I love when they beg for--"

BOOM!!!

The world instantly went black.

* * *

Fiona took a deep breath and let it out slowly before speaking. "I'm saying that I'm not wanting a dress that fancy; why is that so hard for you to be understanding?"

The seamstress did what she'd done the last couple times Fiona had said something similar; she waved her hand dismissively. "You simply don't know how a proper lady should dress for her wedding. I've made dresses for all the most prominent ladies in Karnas; once they see what I design, they never turn it down."

Fiona took a moment to look around the extravagant guest room in the castle at Karnas where she would stay until her wedding the following evening. Afterwards, her new permanent home would be in Lord Delmar's room. She would be lying if she said she wasn't both nervous and looking forward to that at the same time.

But that was tomorrow. Today, she had a meddlesome seamstress to deal with. "Are you finished taking my measurements?"

"Ages ago." The seamstress said dismissively as she looked between two fabrics. One was woven with gold thread in it and the other with silver. Fiona was pretty sure both were made from the metals themselves.

"Then I'm afraid I'll be asking you to leave the measurements and the room." The future First Lady said firmly.

"I'm not done yet." The seamstress said dismissively as she picked up a jewel-encrusted broach.

"Yes, you are done." Fiona said firmly. "And you'll be leaving since you aren't listening."

The seamstress looked like she'd been slapped.

Fiona walked to the door and opened it. "You'll either be leaving now or I'll be having the guards escort you out."

The two guards outside the door turned slightly to look and put their non-sword hands on the pommels of their swords, sending a clear message. Fiona stepped out of the way, holding the door open and indicating yet again that she should leave. The seamstress huffed, held her head high -- or more accurately held her nose in the air -- and strutted out muttering unkind things about Fiona's fashion sense. The seamstress's half-dozen attendants rushed to pick up everything and follow her.

"Hold a moment." Fiona stopped one of the seamstress's apprentices as she was about to leave, the last one in the line. "I saw you helping to keep my son entertained."

Nurse Belcosta was in the room keeping Conner occupied, and this particular apprentice seamstress had gone out of her way to make him giggle. That of course endeared her to Fiona, but it had also earned her a sharp rebuke from the seamstress that Fiona had just evicted.

"I'm sorry my lady." The apprentice seamstress said, not meeting her eye.

"There's nothing that you should be feeling sorry about." Fiona smiled kindly. "I was loving to see that. Now, are you understanding what I was wanting in a dress?"

"I think so my lady." The girl nodded. She looked to be about fourteen, perhaps fifteen at the oldest.

"Could you be telling me?"

"I think you want a dress that any young bride in Narlotten might wear." The girl smiled. "It sounded like you wanted the girls of Narlotten to be able to get married in a dress that was as fine as their First Lady's dress." She paused. "I think that's really sweet."

"I'm glad you're liking it." Fiona smiled. "Now, could you be making me such a dress?"

"Um, not by myself, not by tomorrow night." The girl grimaced. "There's too much cutting and sewing for one person."

"Are you knowing enough seamstresses to be doing the work by then? Maybe friends you have, or perhaps that woman's--" she glanced in the direction of the recently ejected seamstress. "--other apprentices?"

The girl nodded vigorously.

Fiona looked at one of the guards. "This young woman will lead you to some women I'll be needing for my wedding; can you be confirming that I'm needing them in case anyone is doubting?"

"Yes my lady." The guard said with a head bow.

Fiona looked at the girl. "Can you be starting right away?"

"I can." The girl beamed. "I shall return soon so you can pick the design."

Fiona hesitated a moment. The girl had asked the seamstress about a few options, all of which had been much closer to what Fiona herself would've chosen. She clearly had an artistic eye and Fiona had a hunch.

"I'm not thinking that'll be necessary; you have my measurements, yes?"

The girl nodded.

Fiona hesitated only a moment before deciding to trust her hunch. "Then you be picking the design; pick something that any bride in Narlotten would be wanting to wear, except it should be in blue of course."

It was a longstanding tradition in the Ten Kingdoms that widows who remarried would wear blue. Virgin brides wore white of course, but blue was also associated with purity, though of a different kind. A widow obviously wasn't a virgin, but that wasn't meaning that one couldn't be pure if she had been faithful to her husband, and Fiona obviously had been. Blue wedding dresses for widows recognized that purity of another kind by longstanding tradition.

The girl stared at Fiona.

"You're wasting time." The bride said with a smile after a few moments.

"That's... I can't pick your wedding dress." The girl finally said.

"And why not?" Fiona asked. "You're seeming like a girl with good sense and you're having a good idea of what I'm wanting."

"Can you at least approve the design we pick?"

"Of course." Fiona smiled, noting that the girl had said 'we' instead of 'I'; it sounded like she wasn't averse to getting other people's opinions.

The girl nearly squealed in delight. "You won't be sorry, I promise!"

"I'm not thinking I will." Her smiled widened. "Now, what's your name?"

"Glese, my lady." She curtsied.

"Well, I'll be looking forward to seeing what you're coming up with Glese." Fiona smiled at her.

"Me too!" The girl beamed and then scurried off, the guard having to jog to keep up with her.

Fiona chuckled.

"That was rather trusting." Nurse Belcosta pointed out.

"I'm knowing that, but I was also having a feeling." Fiona wasn't sure why, but she thought that Glese could do it and wanted to give her the chance.

* * *

Kendra's ears were ringing and she felt slightly disoriented from the grenade having gone off so close to her. She staggered on the spot, fighting to keep her balance with her ears so off-kilter. It took her several seconds, but she managed to stay standing through sheer force of will and then survey the scene.

The good news: the demon-possessed man was down. He was still moving, but he was down. The grenade appeared to have blown off most of the fleshy bits from the bottom of his ribcage to almost clear down to his knees. If it was anyone or anything else, except possibly a Drago, it probably would've blown him in half. Certainly, nothing natural was keeping him alive.

Her beloved husband was also down and unmoving. His left arm ended in a bloody stump a few inches before his wrist, but he was alive. She could see the slow rise and fall of his chest, though his breathing was labored. The stump of his arm was bleeding, but not as much as you might expect from such a large wound thanks to his dragon biology. His dragon-leather vambrace was nowhere to be seen. It had probably been blown off, though it clearly had prevented his entire forearm from being lost. Ethan putting his shield in between himself and the grenade had saved his life.

*Taloni, Ethan needs you.* Alana thought to everyone as the wood elf rushed to Rachel's side. The redhead hadn't moved since the possessed man had hit her, but she too was alive and breathing.

The door to the captain's cabin burst open and Tee literally flew out. She looked around, saw Rachel, then saw Ethan and made a beeline straight for him. She hadn't even landed before she'd put her hands on him, then she closed her eyes in concentration. Kendra didn't blame Tee for her haste. Rachel looked okay other than being unconscious, but Ethan looked like a mess. The shield had protected him from the shrapnel, but the force had clearly done a lot of damage.

Frankly, she didn't want to know how much.

Kendra retrieved her bastard sword and stepped cautiously closer to the possessed man. The man's arms were moving, but the explosion had stripped off a lot of skin and muscle tissue so they didn't appear to be working properly. Oddly, he didn't appear to be bleeding much. He should have been, but apparently some unnatural force was keeping the body together and the blood contained.

*How is Rachel?* Kendra asked, not taking her eyes from their adversary who was struggling to move properly.

*That Saidow Spawn broke her jaw!* The fury in Alana's tone was without precedent.

*Let me heal her!* Tee said urgently. *He might have hurt her head and head injuries need great care.*

*How is Ethan?* The wood elf asked, a slight tremble in her tone.

*Master will be okay.* The Fey teen replied after a few moments. *I'll heal Rachel as soon as I can.*

*Please hurry.* Alana replied, looking at the redhead.

*I will.*

It was a tense few minutes while Taloni worked on Ethan, finally moving when she was done. *Master is stable, I'll finish healing him after Rachel.* Taloni moved every bit as fast to get to Rachel's side as she had to get to Ethan's, then put her hand on the unconscious redhead and closed her eyes.

Kendra maintained her silent vigil on the possessed man, who had managed enough coordination that he was slowly crawling along the Argo's weather deck towards the gangplank. Not taking her eyes off of him, Kendra moved laterally around him, reached the gangplank, and then pulled it back onto the Argo, cutting off any potential escape routes.

The possessed man sneered at her, seemingly oblivious to the immense amount of pain he must be in. If it was any other foe she had faced over the years, she would've simply ended him right there. However, she wasn't sure that he wasn't faking and she wasn't willing to chance it without backup.

* * *

Ethan felt like someone had dipped his left arm into a meat grinder and then decided to play a drum solo on his head while his head was somehow inside the drum. He groaned as the memory of what happened rushed back to him and he realized that his wives might be in danger. Unfortunately, his body didn't want to move. He could move it, but it was pure agony.

Instead, he focused tightly on the Astral Plane and exactly what it looked like, then imagined himself sitting up. The pain immediately lessened as he entered the Astral Plane and thus had some distance from his body.

*Dominus!* Beth thought to everyone since she could see him because she was on the Astral Plane as well.

*I'm okay.* He thought to everyone to intercept the chorus of questions that he knew would come.

He took stock of the situation. Kendra had her sword pointed at the possessed man, who clearly couldn't use his legs at all and could only barely use his arms. Taloni was healing Rachel while Alana was watching them carefully, but also glancing at the possessed man regularly. Her travel bow was ready with an arrow nocked into it.

He looked at the possessed man and an idea occurred to him.

He reached down and drew the angelic blade he'd been carrying without using for far too long. The moment his fingers wrapped around the hilt, he could almost feel something from the angelic blade. When he drew it, its pure white light seemed to shine a little brighter. He was pretty sure that it was because of the demon nearby.

Ethan looked down at his body and saw the bloody stump of his arm.

"That was really brave Dominus." The blonde said she looked at his body. "I'm sorry about your hand though."

"Kendra says it'll grow back."

"Oh, thank Illuminar." She breathed a sigh of relief, which he always found amusing since you didn't need to breathe on the Astral Plane.

He looked at the possessed man. The man looked right back at him. The level of visceral hate and loathing rolling off of him right now made Ethan shudder. It made his spine tingle and skin crawl at the same time that the scales on the back of his neck stood up.

"You." It spat.

"Me." He nodded, then raised the angelic blade.

For the first time, something resembling fear tinged the man's eyes as they tracked the blade.

"Now, let's have a little chat." He stepped forward and lowered the blade, pointing it at the possessed man's head. "Tell me who created you, or summoned you, or however you got into that man's body; who's responsible?"

The possessed man was still tracking Aharown with his eyes, which couldn't be too hard since the point of the blade was barely six inches from his face.

"Talk." Ethan inched the glowing blade slightly closer. He could've sworn it glowed slightly brighter as he did so.

"I can't." It growled at him, eyes never leaving the blade. "Breaking the contract means I have to leave."

"I'm not exactly sure what this blade will do to you..." Ethan said calmly. "...but I'm rather curious to find out."

"Not saying is part of the contract." The possessed man replied, still eyeing the blade.

"Beth, are you curious to see what happens?" Ethan asked her, keeping his tone casual. What he actually wanted to do was slowly cut this fucker into a million pieces for hurting his wives. However, he was trying to use some level of self-control. He needed information before this creature met its end... a slow, painful, horrible end.

"Yes Dominus." The blonde said with rather more venom than he'd ever heard from her. "I would love to see what happens."

The possessed man swallowed.

"Speak; final warning." Ethan said, moving the blade's tip to barely an inch away.

The man hesitated.

Ethan flicked the blade out and thrust maybe an inch into the man's shoulder. A dreadful, horrible, screechy wail filled the air. It was so loud and so disturbing that Ethan almost wanted to cover his ears, but he held firm. He let the blade stay there for another few moments and then pulled it back.

Curiously, there was no wound.

The man's body appeared completely unaffected by the thrust despite the sound. There was no stab wound or even a hole in his shirt. It appeared that angelic blade didn't harm mortal flesh, only demon-- uh, whatever demons had instead of flesh.

"Ready to talk?" Ethan asked.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then all of a sudden, it seemed like whatever was holding the possessed man together simply stopped. The body flopped to the deck unmoving and the blood that had been seemingly suspended was all of a sudden not suspended anymore. The result was a mess on the Argo's deck, but that wasn't what was holding Ethan's attention.

It was the thing rising from the now-corpse.

It was a... well, he didn't know how to describe it. It was like something completely devoid of light was rising in the general shape of a man. He couldn't see it exactly, but he could see where it wasn't; where it sucked every last ray of light into a void as empty and black as a bottomless pit. It wasn't even black; it was the absence of light.

Yet despite that, it clearly had a face. Not a face that Ethan could see, yet somehow he could see it, but yet not really. He couldn't see eyes, or a nose, or a face, or anything like that, but Ethan could somehow see its expression.

It was eerie.

It made his skin crawl.

He shuddered.

He kept the sword pointed at the thing as it rose from the corpse. Ethan did notice what appeared to be a wound of sorts. On the demon's shoulder right where Ethan had stabbed the possessed man, something like smoke or steam was wafting up from the wound. It was evaporating slowly as it hit the air, but it definitely looked like this creature, this demon, was 'bleeding smoke' or something like that.

Ethan made sure to hold the blade between them. This was the first time he had ever seen a demon in person and he was damn sure he didn't want to let his guard down.

"We will meet again, servant of Illuminar." The demon spat, its tone full of derision and contempt.

And then it started to leave.

It was strange to see. It didn't move, but it started to get smaller as though it was traveling rapidly into the distance, but it also didn't move at the same time. It didn't really get smaller as it got smaller, and it faded into the distance as it didn't move. Something about that was quite unsettling. Eventually, it faded from view and Aharown returned to its normal level of luminescence.

Only then did Ethan breathe a sigh of relief. *It's gone ladies; it's over.*

"Um, Dominus." Beth pointed to his body.

He looked just in time to see Kendra raise her sword and snap the blade down on his forearm, cutting an eighth of an inch behind the bloody stump and leaving a perfectly clean cut instead of the burned, blackened, and bloody mess that had been there before.

*Kendra!* Ethan thought to everyone.

*It needed to be done Drago.* The dragon huntress replied calmly, almost clinically. *It will grow back much faster with a clean wound and the risk of infection is less.*

*She's right Master.* Taloni added. The Fey teen still had her hands on Rachel and was presumably still healing her.

*How is Rachel?* Ethan asked, tearing his eyes from his own body as Kendra began to wrap the stump of his arm in some fabric that she'd pulled from somewhere while he was interrogating the demon; her airship maybe.

*She'll be fine master.* Tee replied. *He hit her very hard and her brain is slightly bruised, but I can fix that. *It takes a lot longer to properly heal a head wound because of the brain, but I promise she will be fine and recover fully.*

*No long-term side effects on her brain?* He asked, almost afraid of the answer.

*Not even one Master.* Tee confirmed with a small smile before she looked back at the redhead and furrowed her eyebrows in concentration.

Alana visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

Ethan was right there with her.

This was getting too normal, too common. They couldn't afford another fight like that again. Though, he supposed that it was something of their own fault. They had returned to Dotmier one too many times and he supposed it was only a matter of time before they were discovered. He figured they would be fine here for a day or two, until the possessed man failed to report in. After that... He shook his head. After that, they probably shouldn't come back.

* * *

Rachel felt like she was floating on the open sea with the waves gently rocking her. It felt nice. She lay there for several long moments before she realized that the rocking felt wrong for waves. It seemed concentrated on her shoulder instead of throughout her whole body and she wasn't moving.

"Rachel?" A soothing, masculine voice said from nearby. She smiled; Ethan.

"Rachel?" The most beautiful voice in the Ten Kingdoms spoke next. Both sounded calm, but she just wanted to rest and relax in--

She remembered.

She sat bolt upright as her eyes opened.

Clunk!

"Ow!" Taloni said as Rachel hissed in pain.

The redhead had failed to notice her in time to stop the collision.

"Sorry Tee." Rachel put her hand on her head, noting that besides the sharper pain where they had collided, much of the rest of her head had that dull ache that she'd learned to associate with the aftermath of magical healing. It would fade after one or two nights of good rest though.

She looked around to see that she was in the captain's cabin lying on the bed with her husband and all her co-wives clustered around her. Myla, Victoria, Harold and Carla Gladstone, and Matthew were at the open door looking in. Judging by the lack of light coming in through the window, it was after dark, though the captain's cabin was lit by two small lanterns that hung from the ceiling.

"What happened?" She asked as she slowly shook her head. Her jaw made a tiny little 'click' sound as she moved it; it wasn't painful, but it certainly had never done that before.

"How much do you remember?" Ethan asked looking concerned.

"Um, that possessed man charged me, then nothing." She said, trying to remember what had happened. That's when she noticed that Ethan's left hand was gone and his arm ended in a bandaged stump about two-thirds of the way down his forearm. "My lord, what happened?!"

"He was amazing." Beth said, though she was grimacing at the same time.

They explained what had happened after the possessed man had knocked her out. Rachel couldn't help noticing that while all the Argo's guests listened intently, Victoria did more so. When they described Ethan's 'sacrifice play', and especially when Kendra said that it was intentional to save his wives, Victoria glanced at Ethan and cocked her head to one side ever-so-slightly. Then a small, almost disbelieving smile appeared on her face despite her obvious concern.

"My lord, I love you, but you need to stop doing that." Rachel said when they finished explaining. "You almost killed yourself trying to defend me from Kyrupto, you took a kill spell to protect Taloni, and now this? You need to be more careful my lord, otherwise..." She swallowed hard, not wanting to even think about life without her wonderful husband.

"I'll try." Ethan replied. He ran his right hand over his head where his hair would be if he were human. "But I'll do whatever it takes to keep you ladies safe. I hope it never comes to that, but if it does--"

"You'll think of another way." Alana interrupted firmly.

"You will." Kendra said almost as fiercely.

Their husband nodded but no one was fooled; he was still willing if it came down to it.

*Then perhaps we should brainstorm to make sure it never comes to that.* Rachel thought to everyone, not even willing to entertain the possibility.

*We'll need some privacy.* Alana pointed out.

"Hey." Ethan turned to their guests who were watching at the door. "I really appreciate your concern, but--"

"But you would like to be alone with your family; consider it done." Harold finished with a smile. He then herded everyone away from the door and closed it.

"They are good people." Taloni said with a smile.

"The Gladstones, or all of them?" Beth asked.

"All of them." The Fey teen smiled wider, then her smile faltered and she looked at their husband. "Master, you need to be more careful."

"More powerful and more careful would be better." Kendra spoke up.

"I agree my lord." Rachel nodded, though her jaw made that faint 'click' again as she finished. It still didn't hurt in the slightest though.

"How?" He asked. "I've been using all my mana to enchant myself to be faster and I can tell that it'll make a huge difference eventually, but it takes time."

"The problem is that he was so much faster, but one of us can fix that." Kendra said, then looked at Alana.

Alana shook her head. "I would rather not have my husband be unable to walk."

Ethan looked back and forth between them. "What are you talking about?"

"An enchantment on your armor to increase your speed." Rachel guessed. "But they destroy a person's body. There's an old story about seven invincible warriors who had enchanted items made to double their strength and speed. They were unstoppable in their first battle, but the strain on their joints from the enchantments was too much. Before long they could barely walk, much less fight. They ended their lives bedridden and in enormous pain every time they moved."

"Even the Aldmiri never use speed enchantments for that reason." Kendra offered. "But our husband is a dragon. We've all seen dragons move incredibly fast; likely faster than such an enchantment could allow."

"But why did it destroy those warriors' joints so fast?" Beth asked. "I've always wondered and no one could tell me."

"Math." Rachel replied, trying to remember what she'd learned in her very complete schooling. "Strengthening enchantments reinforce the joints which is why they don't hurt the user. However, with a speed enchantment, the force on the person is squared."

Taloni looked at the redhead, opened her mouth, paused, then spoke. "Huh? What do squares have to do with speed?"

"I mean a 'square' in the mathematical sense of multiplying a number against itself." Rachel explained, remembering that Tee had been educated in a mining camp and thus almost certainly hadn't learned the more advanced math that her father had insisted that Rachel herself learn. The teen mage continued. "So, it should be obvious that doubling a person's strength will also double the strain on the body."

"Right." Ethan nodded, along with everyone else.

"Now, a body can handle when the strain is doubled because it can get used to it, and especially because the enchantment itself strengthens your tissues, which helps."

"Okay, I'm tracking so far." Ethan nodded.

"Now, Estien's second law concerning magical speed enchantments states that the strain that a magical speed enchantment will create on the enchanted item is equal to the square of the speed increase." She noticed Taloni looking confused, so added: "Meaning that if the speed is doubled, you multiply 2 times 2 to get 4. That's 4 times the strain on the body, multiplied by the already doubled strain from the strengthening enchantment. That means with doubled strength and doubled speed, you're applying 8 times the normal force to your body."

"Wow, that adds up fast." Ethan frowned.

"And I'm not done." The redhead continued. "You also need to consider the impact force of a weapon you're using, which adds even more shock at the moment of impact because of the greatly increased speed. Thus, it's usually at least ten times the strain on the body; often more."

Ethan sucked in some air through his teeth. "Ouch!"

"That might explain why Lord Delmar didn't use a weapon." Kendra mused. "I'm sure he could enchant his body to take the additional strain, but I imagine it would be a lot."

"He did in my dream." Ethan replied.

"Mine too now that you mentioned it." She replied. "As I said, there's no reason that he couldn't enchant himself to take the additional strain."

"So basically, I need to enchant my joints so they can survive all that additional strain too." He looked around at his wives, ending with Alana. "Thoughts?"

"Frictionless is an obvious place to start, though it obviously doesn't eliminate friction, only greatly reduces it." She replied. "Also, there's an enchantment to make things more abrasion-resistant that would help. It's not commonly used because other enchantments give greater overall utility, but I think it would help in your case."

"And of course, simply strengthening them." Rachel added. "Those three together should reduce the wear on your joints to effectively nothing."

"Okay." Ethan nodded slowly. "I'll do the frictionless enchantment first, starting with my spine, hip, and shoulder joints."

"You might consider starting with your knee, elbow, wrist, ankle, and finger joints." Rachel suggested. "They will likely be put under greater strain owing to their greater movement speed in combat."

"I know, but I want to get the speed enchantment on my armor as soon as possible in case we run into another possessed man."

"Then why--" Rachel stopped, then bit her lip as she realized why.

"Because I can regrow arms and legs; I can't regrow my spine." He explained.

"What are you saying?" Alana asked, a fearful look on her face.

"I'm saying that if it came down to it, I could be fast enough to fight one of these things for a single fight." He replied. "If I destroy my arm and leg joints, I can always have Kendra chop them off and grow new ones. I can't do that with my spine, and it would be a lot harder with my hip and shoulder joints too."

All his wives started at him.

"You can't be serious Master." Tee was wide-eyed with her mouth open and her lip trembling slightly.

"I can be serious because I sure as hell would rather lose a limb than a wife." He replied, his tone deadly serious.

Rachel couldn't decide whether she should be horrified or instantly fall more deeply in love with her wonderful husband. Judging by the looks on her fellow wives' faces, they felt about the same.

"This is war." Ethan said after a moment. "I'll admit that I don't know a lot about war, but I do know how to play chess."

Rachel nodded, since he had explained the game before to them several times.

"In chess, sometimes you need to sacrifice a piece to win the game." He continued. "I'm not willing to sacrifice any of you, but my own limbs..." He took a deep breath. "This is war; sometimes sacrifices must be made."

"I love you." Alana said softly.

"I love you too Dominus, but please be careful; I don't want you to lose any limbs, even if you can regrow them."

"Master, I agree with Alana and Bee."

"As do I my Lord." Rachel took a deep breath, the seriousness of what they were up against hitting her once again. If that wasn't enough, she had the visual reminder of Ethan's left arm ending several inches before where his hand should've started.

"I can't believe I'm married to you, Drago." Kendra said, blinking a bit more than she usually did. "You're so good and I'm just--"

"--You are wonderful too." Ethan cut her off. "No matter how you see yourself, you are a good person."

"Thank you Drago." She gave him a pained half-smile, but as usual hadn't agreed. "Enchanting your spine first is a good plan. I like the idea of you doing your hips next." Her cheeks went slightly pink.

"Why ever is that?" Alana asked slyly.

The dragon huntress went a slightly deeper shade of red while Rachel's cheeks started to feel slightly warm. She agreed with the sentiment but completely understood Kendra's embarrassment.

Ethan grinned at her. "I like sharing a bed with you too."

Kendra's cheeks went slightly pinker, but she smiled all the same.

Ethan looked around at all of them. "So I'll work on my spine first, then hips, then shoulders. Until then, we'll do everything in our power to avoid these demon-possessed men."

"Sounds like a plan Sir." Alana nodded and all of his other wives agreed.

"Good, because I'm starving." Ethan said.

"You will be until your hand grows back." Kendra said. "Eat as much as you want; the more food you get, the faster your body can grow a new hand."

"How long will that take?" Beth asked.

"Not long if he eats enough." The dragon huntress replied. "We aren't sure why, but dragons can regrow limbs much faster than growing them initially."

"But how long?" The blonde insisted.

"Um, maybe a week?" The raven-haired woman replied. "There was at least one dragon we fought that regrew about that much that fast."

"A week?" Ethan nodded slowly. "So you're saying that after we take care of the orcs, we need to find somewhere we can lay up and do nothing for a week?" A smile slowly appeared on his face. "So basically, we need to take a short vacation."

"Really?" Taloni's wings vibrated as her face lit up. "I've never been on a vacation before Master!"

Rachel felt her heart go out to the delightful Fey girl who surely hadn't ever had a true vacation since she was a slave. If anyone deserved to have one, Tee did.

"Well, soon you'll be able to." He then looked at his wives. "Where does everyone want to go?"

"The Isle of Moragana?" Rachel suggested, having seen the paradise of an island while on a trip with her father once.

"Oh could we!" Beth gushed. "I've heard that it's incredibly beautiful and it's just south of Ivernia in the Gulf of Sayora, so it's not far."

"Anyone object?" He looked around.

None of them did.

"Okay, vacation on The Isle of Moragana it is." He smiled. "You all deserve it after everything that's happened in the last few weeks."

"Or months." Alana suggested. "Really, since you arrived all our lives have been turned completely upside down."

"Thank Illuminar for that!" Tee gushed. "My life has been so wonderful since I met Master."

His other wives agreed, though Rachel found herself a bit lost in thought as she considered what her life had been like since her husband had come to the Ten Kingdoms.

"Rachel?" Ethan asked.

"I was just thinking about how different my life was three and a half months ago." She replied. "I was wearing a will breaker ring, miserably entertaining suitors, and extremely unhappy. Now..." She smiled, then her smile faltered. "I hope that Lady Ekthros convinced my father to give me that ring without him knowing what it was."

"I do too, and it could've happened." Ethan replied. "I certainly couldn't tell there was anything wrong with it when I held it the other day. A part of me is curious if I could tell if I put it on, but I'm obviously not going to test that."

"Good." Alana said firmly.

"I agree Dominus, but I'm not sure it would affect you like it does most people." Beth mused.

"Why?" He asked.

The blonde hesitated, so Rachel spoke up. "Because you're a dragon. I'm only a dragon's daughter and I was able to resist the ring for several years."

"Wait, years?" Beth asked.

The redhead nodded.

"Hmm, from what I understand, even the longest duration and sneakiest will breaker rings rarely take more than one or two years to do their work." Kendra said.

"I wore it longer than two years." She looked at Ethan. "It might make you more easily convinced or more prone to deception, but I doubt that a will breaker ring could ever break a dragon's will."

"Unless it was offering me food right now." Ethan winked. "Seriously, I'm starving and I'm going to get something to eat."

"There's one other thing we should probably discuss." Kendra said.

"What?" Ethan asked, glancing at the door beyond which food was accessible.

"The Aldmiri." She replied. "We fought someone who was possessed by a demon; they will want to know."

"Do you have any contacts you can use to inform them?" Rachel asked, thinking that would be the easiest way.

"Yes and no." The raven-haired woman replied. "I can get a message to them, but whether or not they believe me is another matter."

"How about the Serif?" Beth asked. "I still want to know what happened to make him so famous."

"It's not famous exactly, it's--" Kendra stopped. "I'm not going to say. Anyway, he's in the same position that I'm in; he left the order. It's more likely they would pay attention if we both informed them, but they know we're traveling together so it wouldn't have the same weight it would have if we weren't."

Ethan nodded slowly. "It would be nice to have some backup, but I'm not sure what they could do." He looked at Kendra. "Could a squad of the Aldmiri's best take one out?"

Kendra frowned thoughtfully for a moment and then slowly shook her head. "No. They honestly wouldn't stand a chance. We only survived because of the grenades and your near-suicidal selflessness."

"It still might be a good idea to notify them." Ethan said after a moment. "If nothing else, they might be able to help us pinpoint where they're coming from."

"They won't." Kendra replied. "Frankly, that information stays exclusively within the Aldmiri. Plus, since Lord Delmar has publicly accused you of necromancy, they would never share that kind of information with you or anyone associated with you."

"That makes sense." Rachel nodded, not liking it but seeing why.

"So, inform them or no?" Ethan looked around at them.

"I would say yes, but just that it happened." Kendra replied when no one else spoke. "I can write a short report about the encounter, but then... oh." She cocked her head to the other side. "I would have to explain how we survived, which would involve telling them about the grenades. There's a good chance they would want to question you about how to make them."

"That doesn't sound good Master." Tee's wings fluttered.

"It's not." The former Aldmiri confirmed.

"Okay, we'll keep it to ourselves for now, but we should tell Elder Goman and ask him to pass it on to Luminar Kossel." Ethan said after a moment. "Someone besides us should know."

"Good idea." Alana agreed, and everyone else followed suit.

"Good, because I'm starving." Ethan grinned.

* * *

"I am loving that." Fiona beamed when she looked in the full-length mirror and saw the dress mockup that Glese and her friends had created in the last few hours. Being a mockup, it was mostly held together with pins and a few loose stitches, but that was enough to see what it would look like finished.

It was a beautiful true blue color that somehow didn't clash with her copper-colored hair but rather complemented it perfectly. The sleeves were form-fitting until the elbow, at which point they widened into a cone that draped well and ended with white lace. The V-neck collar also had some white lace and the dress's upper hugged her torso without being restrictive or too suggestive. The lower part was quite full, came down to her ankles, and was also trimmed with white lace on the lower hem. There was also a subtle blue lace pattern around the waist. It was an incredibly simple and elegant dress that didn't scream 'money'; something that any bride in Narlotten could wear on her wedding day.

"Really?" Glese asked, having spent the last few minutes biting her lip and shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

"It's perfect." The bride smiled. "It's exactly what I was wanting."

"Oh good." The girl breathed a sigh of relief. "I was worried that it was too simple."

"Not in the slightest." Fiona assured her as she adjusted to look at herself from all angles. It obviously wasn't finished, but it looked wonderful on her anyway.

"Oh!" Glese lit up a bit. "Mage Weston heard about all this and offered to enchant the dress to be self-repairing."

Fiona smiled. "I'm glad to be hearing that."

"If you need more dresses for all your functions, I would be happy to make them." Glese said, and it looked like she was trying not to beg.

"All my functions?" Fiona asked.

The girl nodded. "I've always heard that a First Lady has plenty of places to go and things to do."

Fiona cocked her head to one side, having not considered that before. "Well, if you keep doing such a good job I'm not seeing why I should look anywhere else."

Glese beamed. "Okay, now let me finish the pinning so my friends and I can do the sewing."

The girl spent the next several minutes pinning and re-pinning everything until it looked just right, then Fiona carefully took the dress off behind a changing screen and changed into her old clothes. Once Glese had the dress back, she hurried from the room.

"I like her." Nurse Belcosta said from the corner of the room where Conner was sleeping. "You might consider asking her to be one of your handmaidens; trust me, you'll need the help."

"I will?"

The nurse nodded. "Perhaps not right away, but your schedule will fill faster than you might think and it will help to have someone keeping track of it."

Fiona nodded slowly. "Perhaps I should be asking the Lord Delmar about that."

"Why not now?"

"Now?"

"Is there a good reason to wait?"

Fiona nodded her head in concession, then another thing occurred to her. "Oh, and I'm not having anything to pay them with either. I'll need to be asking him about that."

"Go; I'll watch over Conner." The nurse said.

Fiona nodded and left, heading towards Lord Delmar's office. It occurred to her that her life had been turned completely upside down and honestly, she wasn't minding that. She was engaged to Lord Delmar and a part of her seemed to glow a little brighter at that fact.

"Could I be seeing the Lord Delmar?" She asked the two guards outside his office once she arrived.

One of the guards smiled, then turned and knocked loudly on the door. "Fiona McWilliams to see you my lord."

"Enter." A voice came from the other side of the door.

The guard opened the door for her and stepped back so she could go in. His office looked much as it always did, though he wasn't currently behind his desk. He appeared to be pacing slowly, though the room wasn't large. His hands were clasped behind his back and he was standing rod straight. With him being almost a whole foot taller than her five-foot-six frame, he looked quite striking and imposing.

"Begging your pardon milord, but I'm having two questions."

"Proceed."

She explained about Glese and the dress, then added. "So I'm wondering if I can be choosing a handmaiden to help me and if I could be having a little coin to pay her."

"Of course." He replied, then stepped to his desk, opened a drawer, pulled out a small coin purse, and held it out to her. "I intended to give this to you after the wedding, but given your request I will now. You shall have a monthly stipend as Helene did, in the same amount. Should you wish to exceed that amount, we will discuss it."

"Aye milord." Fiona took the small coin purse and realized that it was rather heavy. She peeked inside and saw--

Her eyes widened. "I'm not sure how I could be spending this much in a year, but I'm thanking ya."

He nodded curtly. "Is that all?"

"Aye milord."

"Then I shall see you at dinner in the great hall." He said, then resumed pacing.

"Oh, right." She nodded slowly as she realized that's where she would likely be taking her meals from now on. My how things had changed.

* * *

Ethan said up a little straighter and tried to silence the belch that wanted to come up after dinner. He was only mostly successful.

"Did you want more?" Anthiel asked in an amused tone, eyeing the bones on his plate that he had picked clean. He had probably eaten as much as all of his wives combined and was only now starting to feel even slightly satisfied. He was pretty sure his stomach had expanded and he would've been worried about his pants fitting if he wore any.

"I'm good for now, maybe later."

"I don't envy you Kendra." Alana chuckled. "He'll probably wake you up in the middle of the night while getting up to eat some more."

"A price worth paying." The dragon huntress got a small smile on her face as she looked at him.

He smiled back at her and then glanced at Matthew, who they had persuaded to eat dinner with them. The young man hadn't said a lot since they had met the possessed man. *Do we think Matthew is okay?* He thought to everyone.

*He likely is.* Rachel replied.

*Ketura told us that he and Yalia often volunteer at the clinic in town, helping with the men who've been attacked by orcs.* Alana added.

*He is probably more nervous about confronting the local luminar tomorrow if he's seen orc wounds regularly; they can be quite gruesome.* Kendra explained.

He nodded slowly, then addressed the young man. "So, tomorrow morning at the local chapel, right?"

The young man took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "At sunrise, yeah."

"You will do fine." Alana assured him, beating Ethan to the punch.

"What's happening at the service tomorrow?" Victoria asked.

They explained that Matthew wanted to challenge the luminar in Dotmier about his hyper-focus on the depravity of man. When they were done, both Myla and Victoria opened their mouths to speak to Matthew at the same time, then stopped.

"You go ahead." The platinum blonde offered.

The dusky-skinned beauty shook her head. "I would not wish to speak out of turn; please, express what is on your mind."

"Thanks." Victoria said brightly, then turned to Matthew. "I was just going to say that I worked with my father in legal matters for years. I could help sharpen your arguments if you want."

"Really?" Matthew asked.

"Sure, I'd be happy to."

"I wished to offer my services to that same end." Myla said.

The three of them went to the front of the Argo and presumably began to work on that.

"Speaking of, could we accompany you to the services tomorrow?" Harold asked. "I would hate to miss."

"Of course." He nodded.

Alana nudged him and then looked pointedly at Matthew. "He has two of the most beautiful women I've ever seen talking to him and he doesn't even seem to notice." She chuckled. "He's truly smitten with Yalia."

"I know the feeling." He said, looking at her fondly.

"Of being smitten with Yalia." She teased back.

"Of course, what else did you think I meant?" He winked. After a moment, he looked down at his missing left hand and shook his head slowly. "How did we all get so used to being ambushed and injured that we're joking and laughing like it never happened only hours later?"

"Lots of practice." Rachel said with a sigh.

"Yeah." He shook his head again, then noticed that Alana hadn't finished all of her pork chop. "Did you want the rest of that?"

She laughed as she offered him her plate, and he devoured the remaining food on it.

* * *

Anthiel was playing a tune softly on the flute that Ralgar had given her for one of their many wedding anniversaries when she heard the door to the captain's cabin open.

Again.

She looked up at the sky and guessed that it was about three in the morning. She chuckled, then looked over the railing onto the main weather deck to see exactly what she expected to see.

"Hungry again?" She asked.

Ethan nodded. "Yeah, I'm hoping the third time will be the charm."

She chuckled. "I recommend the salted venison; it'll be better raw."

"How did you know?"

She just smiled at him. He shrugged and went below decks.

*Are you still up Ani?* Her husband asked her.

*Yes, but the real question is: why are you up?*

*Guess.* He replied with amusement in his tone.

*Well, before we left Gralden I did tell Mirella to practice a lot.* The high elf chuckled. *I'm glad to hear she is, though it's a bit late for that, or early depending on how you look at it.*

*She woke me up.* He replied. *I was finally able to talk to Lord Borden about my retirement late yesterday.*

*Was he willing to reconsider?*

*No, and I did ask if the reason was because I took a second wife.*

Anthiel sighed. *Let me guess, he didn't deny it but wouldn't provide another reason and cleverly changed the topic.*

*Still as sharp as ever.* He replied with a smile in his tone.

*How did Mirella take that?*

*She asked me if I had guessed that Lord Borden might send me into an early retirement if I married her.* He replied. *When I said yes, she got rather... amorous.*

*You're a good elf Ralgar Kiarien.* Anthiel said with a wide smile on her face. *I'm glad Miri recognizes that.*

*Thank you.* There was a moment of silence before he continued. *I find myself suspecting that the transfer to training will be short-lived. Given how few ties we have in Gralden, we might consider moving; perhaps to Timarou given the Argo's positive dealings with their lord?*

Anthiel smiled. *I'm sure Lord Kalus would welcome an experienced fleet admiral, or at least grant us citizenship.*

*I would hope for the position in his fleet.* Ralgar replied. *I'm not yet 130; a middle-aged elf with my experience should be able to secure a position, assuming Miri wouldn't mind the move. She misses you.*

*I miss her too, tell her hi for me.*

*I always do, and by the way, she's becoming more adventurous.* He replied with obvious pride in his tone. *She voluntarily spoke to our neighbors to the north yesterday without me prompting her. It's wonderful to see her growing.*

*Good. Now, why don't you treat her to a nice long session with that wonderful tongue of yours? And when she's recovered from passing out, tell her it was from me.*

*Will do.* He replied with laughter in his tone.

* * *

Sarah was sitting with Amy in the back of Rindrin's buggy as they headed to the nearby town of Marsdale for the service in the local chapel of Illuminar. They were so early for the dawn service that it was nearly dark and it looked like they were the first to arrive, as Sarah had been hoping.

"I'm just saying that we'll already be there with a luminar." The innkeeper's daughter whispered so Rindrin wouldn't hear from the driver's seat. "If you don't do it today, it'll probably be another week."

"I know, and I would love to marry him today, but he would have to agree." Amy whispered back. At Sarah's insistence, the artistic girl was wearing her prettiest dress and Sarah had spent a few minutes this morning fixing up her hair. That was as much as they could do to make Amy look pretty on what they were hoping would be her wedding day.

"I think I might have an idea how I could convince him." Sarah whispered as the buggy pulled up to the chapel.

"How?" Amy asked.

The buggy stopped and thus the noise cover that they had been using to speak privately with Rindrin close by was gone.

"I'll tell you after the service." Sarah said as she climbed out.

Rindrin hitched the horses to one of the hitching posts near the chapel and then they all headed towards the doors. The local luminar was outside in his robes, sweeping some dirt off the small, almost ground-level porch in front of the chapel in the pre-dawn but slowly lightening sky.

"Good morning Rindrin." The luminar said with a smile. "And who do you have with...?" The luminar stopped as his eyes fell on Sarah. "You wouldn't be Festus's daughter, would you?" His voice had a trace of fear.

"I would be, and I'm looking forward to the service this morning." She smiled, making sure it was a warm smile.

The luminar frowned. "Beggin' your pardon, and I know your problem ain't your fault, but I still don't think you should be here."

"But wouldn't someone with my problem need Illuminar's help more than anyone?" She countered.

The luminar apparently didn't have an answer for that. "I'm just not wantin' no trouble here."

"I promise that I won't cause any problems." Sarah continued. "I can even sit in the back away from everyone, but I want to attend the service. We got here early to prevent causing any problems."

The luminar nodded in concession, though he was standing a bit farther from her than a person normally would to have a conversation. He frowned, then stepped aside to let them enter. "Try not to let anyone notice you; I don't want you to scare all Illuminar's faithful away."

"You mean Illuminar's other faithful." Rindrin corrected while eyeing the luminar, who nodded under the withering look from the large and powerfully built blacksmith.

They entered and found seats near the back. Like most chapels, this one was arranged in a semi-circle so the people could see each other. Sarah sat at the very far end with Rindrin and Amy in front of her. Rindrin's large frame mostly blocked her from view. Sarah didn't care though; for the first time in rather a long time, she would be at a service.

She couldn't help but smile as the service started not long afterwards.

* * *

"You will be fine." Ethan assured Matthew as the young man took a deep breath for the dozenth time. They were standing just outside the entrance to Dotmier's chapel as a steady stream of people made their way in. His wives were next to him, as were Arven, Ketura, and Yalia. Lucien, Shara, Lyra, and Taiven had just arrived moments before and made a beeline to them as well. The Gladstone family had already gone inside, and Myla had joined them after asking for his permission. He wasn't sure why she had asked for his permission and made a mental note to ask her later.

Next to him, Alana picked her head up slightly, smiled, then whispered something to Arven, who waggled his head back and forth for a moment before nodding. Alana grinned.

*What was that?* He asked her.

*You'll see in a moment.* She replied mischievously.

While Lucien spoke some encouraging yet challenging words to Matthew, Alana slipped to Yalia's side and whispered something in her ear. The young nymph looked at Alana like she had sprouted a third nostril for a moment.

"Trust me, and your father said it was okay." The wood elf said quietly enough that Matthew couldn't have heard.

"Okay." Yalia shrugged.

Alana beamed.

Once Lucien was done talking with Matthew, he turned to Ethan and extended his hand, which Ethan shook.

"Good to see you again." The lord nodded respectfully.

"And you." Ethan agreed.

"What happened to your shield hand?" Lucien asked while eyeing it.

"It's a long story that I want to tell you, but perhaps after the service." Ethan replied.

"Very well." The lord nodded. "The orcs spent much of the last week drilling and preparing the battleground; both are ready. The battle will happen tomorrow."

Ethan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Okay; I'll be there."

"Grobozlesh will be pleased to hear that." Lucien smiled. "He seems to regard you much as a man might regard a brother."

That made Ethan smile. "Yeah, he's pretty cool."

"Come, sunrise approaches." Lucien indicated the ever-lightening sky in the east and they all made their way inside.

Just before they sat down, Yalia went up to Matthew, took one of his hands, and looked him right in the eye. "I think you're a great man and I know you can do this." She then leaned up slightly and gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek.

Matthew looked like lightning from above had rooted him to the spot. It took several seconds for him to react, and when he did he looked like he was flying on cloud nine.

*Good work.* Ethan nudged Alana with a smile.

She grinned back.

"Thanks Yalia, I..." He took a deep breath. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." The young nymph looked very pleased that her friend was pleased, but nothing more. Not for the first time, Ethan wondered why nymphs didn't feel any romantic or sexual attraction until they were bonded. By contrast, Matthew looked ten feet tall and like he had won the lottery.

"It's starting." Taloni whispered as the light came in through the window and illuminated a piece of frosted glass. Almost instantly the entire room quieted down and sat down.

*I hope Matthew can do it.* Tee thought to everyone.

They all agreed.

The service went pretty much like the previous one he had attended. There was an opening prayer, then some singing, then several different passages from the Book of Light were read, then the luminar opened the floor up and a few men from the congregation shared what they thought Illuminar was doing in their lives.

During that part, he thought to Selene. *Hey, you busy?*

*Nope.* She replied instantly. *What's up?*

*Just sitting through another service and feeling like a fish out of water.* He replied. *You?*

*Waiting in mind-numbing boredom for something to happen.* The caramel-haired beauty replied. *I haven't heard a thing since Yvonne came to see me.*

*Thor has been missing you.* He said after a few moments. *He's been wanting to sleep in the captain's cabin every night after he can't find you.*

*Aww, I miss him too.*

*Yeah, he sometimes wanders all around the Argo looking for you, then goes and finds someone and meows at them loudly like it's their fault that you're gone.*

*Aww, poor baby kitten.* She nearly cooed. *I feel like I need to relearn how to sleep without him there; I miss him so much.*

*Yeah, the ladies have been missing you terribly too.* He said with a teasing edge to his tone.

*The ladies have huh?* She replied and He could hear the smile in her tone.

*Yeah, and more than a little. Myla and Victoria are nice, but they aren't--* He swallowed. *Well, yeah; you're missed.*

*I miss 'the ladies' too.* She teased after a moment.

*Yeah, they're pretty great.*

*They are.*

There was a long silence before she spoke again. *Ethan?*

*Yeah?*

*Tell me I'm doing the right thing.* Her tone was even, but had a subtle note of pleading in it, or maybe 'pleading adjacent'.

*About the portal? That needs to be done.*

*No, I mean about leaving the Argo, moving back to Earth, and becoming an FBI agent.* She paused. *Am I doing the right thing?*

Ethan took a deep breath and considered before answering. He was certain that she had lied about her birthday and he couldn't help but wonder if she was having second thoughts about that. He missed her so much it was almost a physical ache, but she had lied to him; she lied to all of them. He thought he could forgive her for that, but she needed to come clean of her own volition. She needed to confess and apologize.

Damn, her lying was bothering him more than he had realized.

*What other option is there?* He finally said. *I suppose you could come back and live on the Argo, but is that really what you want to do?*

There was a long pause before she replied. *I don't know. I've had a lot of time to sit and think here and...* She trailed off. *What should I do?*

Again, Ethan took a deep breath as he got the distinct impression that she was asking him to tell her what to do. Honestly, it sounded like she wanted him to tell her what to do. Ordinarily, he would've told her to come back.

But she had lied.

She had lied and she hadn't admitted it.

*I won't tell you what to do Selene.* He said after a few moments. *It's your life and you will have to make your own decision.*

*Oh.* Was all she said for several long seconds. *But what if I make the wrong one?*

*Living with our choices is part of life.* He replied evenly. *Unless you're willing to let someone else decide your life for you, you'll need to make your own choices to the best of your ability. Then you, and you alone, are responsible for what happens from there on out.*

*Yeah, I guess so.* The Brazilian woman was again silent for a moment before speaking telepathically again. *Can I get some advice?*

Ethan smiled.

She wasn't asking for advice; not really. She was asking him to tell her what to do under the guise of asking for advice. *To quote a famous author: advice is a dangerous thing, even from the wise to the wise.*

Selene didn't say anything for quite a while.

As he sat there thinking about everything, he realized that he knew which choice she would make, mostly because of who she was. She was absolutely gorgeous, sharp as a tack, and more driven than a dragon defending his hoard. She could've become a doctor, lawyer, senator, model, or any other profession that she set her sights on. Hell, she could've married a billionaire and lived in the lap of luxury. But she hadn't chosen any of that.

Instead, she had chosen to go into law enforcement because she wanted to help other people so much. She had chosen a profession that would endanger her life because helping other people was so personally important to her. And as much as he wanted her to stay, she wouldn't have that kind of opportunity here in the Ten Kingdoms. That meant that he knew what she would do.

She was going to break their bond.

The realization hit him like a gut punch.

He had known forever that she wanted to become an FBI agent. On the day they had bonded, he'd even had a strong feeling that she would eventually break their bond so she could move back to Earth. However, despite that, he had never seriously considered that it might actually happen.

But it would.

She was going to break their bond because she thought that's how she could help others the most. He loved that about her, he really did, he just hated what that would probably mean. She truly was an incredible woman to have a core motivation like that and he found himself kicking himself for having taken such an incredible woman for granted.

He didn't want to lose her.

For a moment, that made him hesitate. Selene had asked for his advice and he could tell her to stay. He was pretty sure she would listen. She almost certainly would stay if he told her to stay... But she had lied.

If she hadn't lied, he would've told her to stay. He might've even asked her to stay if she had confessed and apologized, but she hadn't. He could forgive her, but she needed to confess; she needed to want it. Until then... He slowly shook his head. Until then, he couldn't ask her to stay even though he wanted her to stay.

He really wanted her to stay.

Again, he found himself kicking himself for not appreciating her more while she was on the Argo.

*I'm going to stay on Earth and become an FBI agent.* She finally replied.

*I know.* He said as his throat got slightly tight. *Just promise me that you'll take care of yourself Selene. You're really bad at that, so promise me that you'll take care of yourself.*

*I promise Ethan.*

*Good.* He swallowed hard, trying to imagine his life without Selene in it. He didn't like that thought.

Not one bit.

* * *

Fiona felt incredibly strange sitting next to Lord Delmar in the large cathedral in Narlotten. She had only visited it once before and she had only made it into the foyer before Conner began fussing and she'd left so as not to disturb others. Yet here she was, sitting in the pews with a few of Lord Delmar's personal guard around her listening to what was probably the finest and most polished homily that she'd ever heard.

Even Conner was barely fussing and Nurse Belcosta was nearby to take him if he did.

Eventually, the homily finished and the luminar looked at Lord Delmar and Fiona. "Could the happy couple come to the front?"

Fiona froze slightly, not sure exactly how to do that properly. Fortunately, her fiancé knew. He rose and offered her his arm which she took while breathing an internal sigh of relief. He would know exactly what to do. She handed Conner off to the nurse and then Lord Delmar led her to the front and they stopped in front of the luminar.

"I ask everyone to pray a special blessing for this couple and their impending nuptials tonight." The luminar said. "Please, join me in bowing your heads and saying a prayer for this marriage."

Fiona bowed her head and prayed as well. It was only after they were done and Lord Delmar had turned around that she realized everyone in the massive grand cathedral of Narlotten was looking at them; at her.

She froze.

"Fiona, take a deep breath." Lord Delmar said quietly and almost gently.

She did and felt very slightly better. She had her hand looped through his arm and he rested his other hand on top of hers. That helped. He then led her down and back to their seats for the closing of the service. It took the copper-haired woman several minutes to feel normal again after being up in front of that many people. Although, it was good to know that so many people were praying for them.

"Thank you." She said to him when they had reentered the lord's carriage for the short trip back to the castle. The carriage somehow seemed to fit its owner. It was of the highest quality in every respect, but other than the Narlotten crest on the carriage, there was little else to mark it as the lord's carriage.

He gave her a respectful and acknowledging nod of the head, but didn't say anything else. She would've said more, but Conner started fussing and it was about his mealtime. By the time she'd finished feeding him, they had arrived back at the castle and Lord Delmar had already left.

Still, that tiny bit of gentleness stood out to her.

It made her smile.

* * *

Selene sat in her cell thinking, remembering, and trying not to remember. As she thought about things, she came to one inescapable conclusion: she was well and truly fucked. She had lied to everyone on the Argo so she couldn't go back. She couldn't confess because she was worried about what it would do to Kendra, and frankly, she felt her heart sink at the very real possibility that they wouldn't forgive her.

They had no reason to.

Even if they did forgive her, they would have no reason to trust her ever again and she couldn't even blame them. It was her fault. It was all her fault. It was the biggest mistake she'd ever made in her entire life and now she had to live with it. She leaned her head back on the wall and tried not to think about what her life would be like without all of them in it, especially Ethan and Kendra.

There was an almost physical ache in her heart from not being near Ethan. She knew it was just the bond, but it was still there. Slightly less physical but not less painful was her friendship with Kendra. The former Aldmiri had major trust issues and Selene had gone and done the worst possible thing she could do to trigger those. It didn't matter if she came clean, she was going to hurt Kendra either way. At least if she left, Kendra might not be so wounded; she might still be able to trust other people.

She was vaguely aware that she was rationalizing, but she didn't think she was wrong. Ethan had been right; she had made her decision and it seemed like she would have to live with it. Worse, Kendra would have to live with it. Her throat got tight as she considered that.

She didn't like that.

Not at all.

* * *

Yalia gripped her mother's hand tightly as Matthew stood up to challenge the luminar when he'd mentioned man's depravity mere moments into the homily. She wanted her friend to do well with all her heart. She had hated seeing him so upset and depressed after the last service in which he had frozen. She wasn't sure why, but Alana had seemed convinced that her telling him that he was a great man and then giving him a chaste kiss on the cheek would help. It didn't make sense to the young nymph, but Matthew had certainly seemed to enjoy it and take comfort from it, perhaps even strength.

"Yes Matthew?" Luminar Percival said, pausing his teaching when he saw him standing there.

"Um, I don't agree." Matthew's tone was wavering just like it had the last time.

[Please Illuminar, please help him.] She whispered in the Fey tongue.

Her mother gave her hand a gentle squeeze. [He'll do fine.]

"Why is that?" Percival asked Matthew calmly, not at all seeming bothered by the interruption.

"Um..." Matthew looked around the room and hesitated.

[You can do it.] She whispered even though he was too far away to hear her.

His eyes found hers and he looked like he might falter again. Then something occurred to the young nymph. She glanced pointedly to where the prophet and Lord Kalus were sitting and smiled at Matthew, hoping he would take her meaning. Matthew glanced in their direction, then touched the tips of his fingers to his cheek where she had kissed it.

"Matthew?" The luminar prodded gently.

Matthew took a deep breath and Yalia's heart soared as he began to speak. He was doing it!

* * *

Ethan couldn't help but smile as Matthew began to speak. Next to him, Taloni was leaning forward in her seat and grinning.

"You say that it only takes a single sin to cast us out of Illuminar's good graces." Matthew said, his tone wavering and yet somehow also firm.

"Of course." The luminar replied. "For the Book of Light says: 'But if a righteous man turns away from righteousness and practices wickedness, all of his righteous deeds will no longer be remembered because of the wickedness he practices and the sins he pursues; for them he will surely die.' "

"But that's just the point." Matthew said. "It doesn't say 'the sin he pursues' in the singular; it says the sins he pursues. That's sins, plural, and he is actively pursuing them. This isn't an accidental thing; it's a willful and deliberate choice."

"But don't you pursue something wicked when you commit a sin?" The Luminar countered, oddly not seeming bothered by the interruption nor even speaking down to Matthew. "When a thief steals, doesn't he pursue the thing he wants to steal?"

"In the original ancient elvish, that's an imperfective verb." Matthew countered. "It indicates a continual and ongoing action, not a one-time occurrence. This isn't something that's done one time, it's something that the person is doing continually."

Percival frowned. "Are you sure it's imperfective?"

"I am." Matthew said, his tone growing more confident the longer he spoke. "The full phrase is--" He said something in a language that resembled the elven tongue Ethan had heard in Nalatia among the wood elves, though it didn't sound exactly the same.

"That would indeed be imperfective." Percival's frown deepened as he slowly nodded in concession. "But just because that idea isn't taught in this passage doesn't mean it isn't taught elsewhere. He is ready to cast us out after just a single sin because He is so Holy."

Matthew shook his head. "Illuminar constantly paints the picture of us as his children; do you completely turn away from your children if they make a single mistake?" He paused a moment, then added. "What if they were sorry for the mistake, would you still turn your child away?"

*Ethan, look at Kendra.* Alana thought privately to him.

He glanced sideways to see the former Aldmiri with her head cocked to one side like she was thinking. She seemed to be paying close attention.

*I think Matthew struck a chord with her.* The wood elf smiled at him.

"I know I don't have any kids, but I can imagine." Matthew continued. "If my child messed up -- even if he messed up intentionally and badly -- if he came to me later and apologized and was truly sorry, I don't think I could hold it against him; could you?"

The luminar tapped his finger on the lectern, clearly thinking.

Kendra leaned forward in her seat.

"Imagine that you were a parent and your little girl came to you." The young man continued. "Imagine that she was crying because she realized how badly she'd sinned and felt truly awful about it."

Kendra appeared to be hanging on Matthew's words.

Ethan couldn't keep a grin off of his face.

"Could any good parent turn his daughter away if she was truly sorry?" Matthew asked. "Put yourself in Illuminar's shoes and remember that's how He sees us; as His children. If we are truly sorry, repent, and 'turn from our wickedness', then as the Book of Light says: 'all his sins which he has committed will no longer be remembered against him'."

Ethan saw a small and relieved smile appear on Kendra's face. She breathed in deeply and when she exhaled, he could almost see some of the tension drain out of her.

"But there are still consequences." Luminar Percival replied.

"Of course there are." Matthew agreed. "If you stole something, you still need to return it with interest to compensate for the loss, and the authorities will still charge and punish you, but we weren't talking about that. We were talking about Illuminar." He started pacing slightly. "If your daughter came to you confessing a sin that she was truly sorry for, even if you felt like she needed a punishment to make sure the lesson stuck, wouldn't you forgive her?"

Luminar Percival tapped the lectern again, clearly thinking.

Kendra looked at Ethan, her eyes wide and full of hope as she thought to him privately. *You talked to Illuminar and..." She smiled. "...Matthew is right, isn't he?"

He nodded, grinning widely. *He said that if the worst man imaginable truly repented, He would call him his friend.*

The former Aldmiri slowly nodded her head, her smile growing wider. *I could never hold it against my daughter if she...* Kendra cocked her head to one side. *I suppose even if I was a terrible person, that doesn't mean I'm a terrible personnow, does it? Illuminar is the most righteous being who has ever lived, and if even He can forgive me...* She cocked her head to the other side. *I suppose it's kind of stupid for me to think I'm worse than an all-knowing God thinks I am, isn't it?*

He grinned at her as he nodded.

*I feel lighter.* The raven-haired woman said after a moment.

*You look it.* His smile had about hit its limit for width and his heart felt as light as she looked.

Finally!

Something had finally gotten through to her!

He wanted to laugh out loud for joy but settled instead for gazing at his beloved Kendra. He almost did laugh as he considered how strange that thought would've been to him a few months ago when they had first met.

Kendra looked at him again and she had a dopy, contented smile on her face. Throughout the rest of the service, she never stopped smiling and her posture was better too. She was sitting up straighter and didn't seem to be able to stop smiling.

It was good to see.

The remaining time usually taken up by the homily was instead occupied by Matthew and the luminar politely debating the topic of the depravity of man. They moved to other verses before long and Matthew had an answer to almost everything the luminar brought up. Not everything, but most of it. Tellingly, it was usually Luminar Percival who switched to a new verse after Matthew had answered it. After nearly half an hour, they mutually agreed that it was time for the service to end, after which Matthew returned to his seat and the Luminar closed the service.

Ethan's family, Lucien's family, and Arven's family were all sitting near each other while Matthew had sat up closer to the front where he usually did, since apparently an apprentice luminar did actually play a role in the service sometimes. The young man got up the moment the service ended and made his way back to them. Yalia nearly steamrolled a few people to get into the aisle after which she threw her arms around him in a huge hug.

"I knew you could do it!" She gushed. "I'm so proud of you!"

"As am I." Lucien offered the young man a hand, which he shook. "If I ever need someone to debate matters of religion in the Timarou court, I very well might call on you."

"He might." Shara agreed while Lyra nodded.

It took a few moments for Matthew to scrape his jaw off the floor before stammering. "T-thank you."

"Bloody well done." Ethan said. "That was the best sermon-debate thing I've ever heard."

"Thank you."

Arven stepped forward next and shook Matthew's hand, then spoke. "I believe you owe me thirty silver."

Matthew opened his mouth to reply, closed it, cocked his head to one side, then finally spoke. "I do?"

Arven grinned. "You don't think I'd let Yalia go for a copper less, do you?"

Matthew's eyes became as wide as saucers. "You don't mean... do you?"

Ketura gave her daughter a gentle push towards the flabbergasted young man. "He does mean."

"Unless he doesn't want to." Arven said with a chuckle.

"I do!" Matthew said, almost cutting Arven off in his haste to respond.

Everyone laughed.

"Wait, I get to marry Matthew and spend the rest of my life with him?" Yalia looked stunned, but certainly not unhappy.

"You do." Her father nodded proudly.

Yalia's face lit up like a spotlight, which Ethan thought was rather odd since nymphs -- like all Fey females -- don't feel romantic or sexual attraction until they bond. She must really like him as a friend. Ethan resisted smiling as he remembered how sexual Taloni had become after bonding; Matthew would have a pretty wonderful wedding night.

"If you're willing to forgo the traditional betrothal kiss in favor of a same-day wedding, how about tonight?" Ketura asked.

"Really?" Matthew and Yalia said at the same time.

Everyone laughed again.

"Really." Arven said. "I've been hoping this day would come for years now."

"Then why--" Matthew stopped. "Oh, because you wanted me to..." He looked toward where the debate had just happened. "Why?"

"Put yourself in my shoes." Arven replied. "Would you want a daughter of yours to marry someone who wouldn't stand up for what he thought was right?"

Matthew nodded slowly, then looked at his now-betrothed with the largest smile Ethan had seen in a long time. "I promise I'll take good care of her sir."

"I know, or we wouldn't be having this conversation." Arven smiled.

Matthew put an arm around Yalia's shoulders and pulled her to him gently, looking like he had won the lottery. The young nymph happily leaned against him and beamed. The way Matthew held her was possessive, but not in a bad way; he was holding her like he never wanted to let her go.

"Mr. Ejder, Lord Kalus." Matthew looked at them. "Thank you both." He looked at Yalia, though he was clearly still talking to the two men. "I wouldn't have her if you both hadn't given me the courage. I'm in your debt."

"Call me Lucien, and I will consider your debt settled if you invite my family to your pending nuptials."

"I second that." Ethan added.

"Done." Matthew said.

"Ma'ma, are you sure about tonight?" Yalia asked. "That's not a lot of time to put a wedding together."

"Dear, I've been working on this since Matthew first asked your father a couple years ago."

"You did?" The young nymph looked at her betrothed.

"Many, many times." Matthew nodded. "As long as you don't mind, I would love to call you my wife tonight."

"I don't mind at all!" She beamed, clearly happy about her upcoming title, then she looked at her mother. "Is that why you've been asking me what I wanted in my wedding so much the past few years?"

Ketura grinned.

* * *

"Rindrin, can I point something out?" Sarah asked as they left the chapel after the service had concluded and almost everyone else had left.

"Sure." He shrugged reached the hitching post, clearly preparing to leave.

"You said that you would marry Amy in no more than a week if she didn't change her mind, but you don't come into town very often."

"Oh!" Amy turned to face the blacksmith. "Sarah is right. You'll make me wait longer than you said you would if we wait until the next service."

"You wouldn't want to do that, would you?" Sarah asked, a sly smile on her face.

Rindrin frowned, then looked at Amy. "You reckon you'd be okay with that? There won't be no wedding to speak of, just the luminar, us, and Sarah."

"I don't care." Amy beamed.

Rindrin frowned. "Well, I reckon you'll not be thinking more clearly even if we wait another week." He stroked his head a moment. "Okay, we can ask the luminar if you think you won't change your mind."

"I won't!" Amy exclaimed, looking like Illuminar's day had come early.

Ordinarily, Sarah might have thought they should get to know each other longer. However, she had been through a lot with Amy and had known Rindrin since childhood; he would be good to her and she would be a doting wife. Sarah smiled as the trio headed back into the chapel so Amy and Rindrin could get married. She was very happy for them both.

* * *

"I'm thinking I'll be more beautiful at this wedding than my first." Fiona said as she looked at the finished dress in the mirror. Glese and her friends -- one of whom had come with her this time -- had absolutely outdone themselves, which was impressive considering the short length of time they had to design and make the dress.

"I'm hardly believing that you were designing and sewing this so fast." The bride said as she looked in the mirror again. Then she looked at her son, who was being held by Nurse Belcosta. "Isn't it wonderful little guy?"

Conner replied with happy baby sounds.

"That was Nessie!" Glese said proudly, indicating the friend that had come. "She designed the whole thing, I just came up with the idea!"

In contrast to Glese's wildly artistic and enthusiastic free-spiritedness, Nessie was far more reserved. She looked to be about fourteen or fifteen, or about the same age as Glese. Nessie wore her hair up in a bun that didn't have a single hair out of place, except two locks that hung down on either side of her face, framing it well. Her dress was perfectly pressed and she was standing perfectly straight. Despite that, she smiled warmly at her friend's praise.

"Well, I'm thinking you two are making a wonderful team." Fiona said finally.

"We do everything together." Glese beamed. "One day, we'll meet a rich noble who will fall madly in love with both of us and marry us on the same day and then we'll always be together!" She proclaimed this like it was a universally acknowledged fact that everyone would easily agree on.

"That would indeed be wonderful." Nessie said, though her tone was more reserved and doubtful. Hopeful, but also somewhat doubtful.

Fiona took a moment to consider, then decided to ask anyway. These girls seemed like wonderful people and Fiona usually had a good sense about people. Glese seemed a bit flighty, but a good person and she certainly had outdone herself with the wedding dress. Nessie seemed like the sort of person who would make a much better secretary and could keep on top of things, which Fiona could see being useful. She had heard that most First Ladies had a half dozen handmaidens, but she was hoping to get by with fewer. The fact that they were already friends seemed like the sugar drop on top of the custard.

"You know, it's more likely that you'll be meeting that noble if you were working as handmaidens to a lady." The copper-haired woman said casually.

"That would be wonderful!" Glese beamed, clearly oblivious to what Fiona was offering.

Nessie eyed the bride, a quizzical look on her face. "If you know of any ladies that are looking, Glese and I would most assuredly volunteer."

"I might be knowing one." Fiona said with a mostly straight face.

"Who?" Glese asked.

Fiona looked at her pointedly.

"She is." Nessie said after a moment, a hint of a smile on her otherwise neutral face.

"No!? Really?!" Glese's eyes went wide. "You don't mean..." Her jaw dropped. "Do you really mean...?"

"I am meaning." Fiona nodded.

Glese nearly screamed in delight and ran forward to give Fiona a tight hug, which the bride returned.

"Thank you very much." Nessie said, the smile on her face growing a bit wider despite her obvious attempts to control it.

"You're welcome, but it won't all be fun and games." Fiona added. "I'll be needing you two to make sure that I'm knowing where I need to go and that I have everything I'm needing to go there. Can you be handling that?"

"Nessie can!" Glese beamed, letting go of Fiona. "She can organize and plan anything, and I can make it happen!"

"Good." Fiona nodded. "Now, how many of your friends were helping you with the dress?"

"There were five of us working." Nessie replied, still clearly not able to stop smiling.

The bride pulled out the coin purse that her fiancé -- that was still a weird thought -- had given her and counted out seven silver coins. "Here's one for each of your friends, and two for each of you since you were doing the design and concept work."

The two teen girls stared at the coins she was offering, clearly not believing how much she was offering. Fiona chuckled at that; sure it was probably a bit much, but she was wanting to be paying them well. She made a mental note to find out how much handmaidens were paid so she could be paying them well.

* * *

"And that's pretty much what happened." Ethan finished explaining to Lucien and Arven. They were standing outside the chapel of Illuminar discussing how Ethan had lost his hand since Lucien had asked once they were clear of the ladies, who now were running around to help prepare for the wedding that evening.

"Demonic soldiers." The lord slowly shook his head. "That is one foe that no mortal is prepared to face, present company excluded."

"I'm not exactly prepared to face them either, I just don't have much of a choice." Ethan replied.

"He was at my house." Arven took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he watched his wife and daughter talking animatedly nearby.

"Yeah, I know the feeling." Ethan nodded, then looked at Lucien. "You once told me that I should focus on whatever was the biggest threat when I went to war; it's obviously this by a mile."

"True." Lucien replied. "But I also counseled you to strike multiple places so the enemy has a harder time determining your true target."

"You did and I'll have to remember that." He nodded. "The trouble is, I have no idea where to start looking. Lady Ekthros could be creating them at any place in Narlotten or Ivernia and I have literally no idea where to start."

"I'm afraid that Timarou's intelligence service will not be able to assist in this; there have been no reports of anything like this." The lord said.

"That doesn't surprise me." Ethan sighed. "Lady Ekthros seems pretty slippery."

"Perhaps a bit of physical exertion would liven the mind?" Lucien suggested. "I confess to wondering how my swordsmanship skills would stack up against the prophet."

Ethan raised the stump of his left arm. "You have me at a disadvantage."

"From what I have seen, you could still hold your shield since it attaches to your vambrace." Lucien replied. "But if not, I'm happy to confine myself to a single hand. Though I must insist you not use your enhanced reflexes or strength-enhancing enchantments."

"Fair." Ethan nodded.

And so they returned to the Argo and sparred. More accurately, Ethan was thoroughly schooled in the proper use of the sword. Lucien wasn't quite at Serif's level, but he was damn near an artist with a longsword. Ethan found himself becoming the victim of sword moves and binds that he'd never encountered before, not even sparring with Serif and Kendra.

The sparring was much more difficult without his left hand. He was used to switching between a one-handed grip with the deployable shield and a two-handed grip. However, he obviously couldn't use two hands when he was missing his left hand. That caused him to lose rather a lot until he stopped instinctually trying to use two hands. However, he was pretty sure that wouldn't have made much difference.

"Damn, you're good." He said when they paused for some water.

"I should hope so; I have spent nearly every day of my life practicing since I was fourteen." The lord replied, breathing slightly harder than normal but certainly not out of breath.

"I don't know how I'll ever catch up."

"You are a dragon." The lord replied. "There is no reason that you couldn't enchant yourself to absorb information and techniques faster. Had I the ability, I would surely do so."

Ethan cocked his head to one side. "Damn, now I feel like kicking myself. Those mental enchantments take a lot less mana than physical enchantments and that would make a huge difference."

As Ethan thought about it, he wondered if Lord Delmar had done that. Mental enchantments took significantly less mana and stacked very high. He'd only stopped improving his reflexes because his body wasn't fast enough to take advantage of faster reflexes, not because they couldn't get faster. And that was just reflexes. If he could enchant himself to learn things faster, to improve his skills faster...

Wow.

That could be incredibly powerful.

He knew from talking to Rachel that Lord Delmar had become lord of Narlotten in his mid-late twenties, assuming the official timeline could be believed. He would've been collecting mana from the gold in the vault from anywhere in the castle since a dragon didn't need to be that close. Combined with him enchanting himself to learn things faster, Ethan could see how Lord Delmar had become so powerful so quickly. Plus, he had served in the castle before becoming the lord, meaning that by now he had been collecting mana from Narlotten's immense gold vault for decades.

As Ethan thought about it, he realized that he needed to alter his enchantment priorities. He still needed to enchant his spine so he could survive if he was forced to use the speed enchantment that Alana would add to his armor. That came first because without it, he wasn't sure he could protect his wives. After that, he intended to make himself learn things faster, and maybe improve his reflexes a bit more to make the best possible use of the additional speed from the enchantments.

"Something to consider." Lucien smiled, then raised his training sword. "There are still a few moves you haven't properly learned how to defend from; we should resume."

"Are you ever not teaching?" Ethan asked.

"Am I?" Lucien asked as he raised his practice sword.

"Okay, but after this I need something to eat." Ethan replied. Despite a large dinner the previous night, several large midnight snacks, and a very large breakfast, he was feeling peckish again.

They spared for another hour before Lucien disengaged and pointed to the sky behind him. Ethan turned to look and saw...

Huh.

It looked like four people, three of whom were Fey men. Two of the Fey men were flying and it looked like underneath both of them was slung a-- he wasn't sure what to call it. It looked like a "luxury stretcher" for lack of a better term. Each luxury stretcher had a person in it; one was another Fey man who was sleeping, and the other had an elven woman who looked to be about Alana's age who was looking at him excitedly. Thanks to his dragon eyes, he could see her perfectly despite how far away she was.

She was gorgeous.

Drop dead gorgeous.

She ranked right up there with Selene, Myla, and Victoria in terms of beauty, which meant he was pretty sure who she was. The only question was, why was she here?

* * *

Selene closed her eyes and cast her mind about the base looking for either Yvonne or Clive 'Smithbond' Humphry. It was a really good distraction from everything with Ethan and something she could do to pass the time. Unfortunately, it was rather hard to find those two minds in the large base. It wasn't just the size, but the sheer number of people. There were hundreds of them, which made Selene think that the nameless agency must work closely with the military or had very deep pockets.

It took a while, but she did manage to find Clive's mind. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into his thoughts.

Like before, she found his mind odd. It was an altogether more orderly mind than she usually encountered. It was something like a long hallway with many doors, or perhaps an office space full of cubicles. Unlike the previous minds, she couldn't just sit there and let images flow around her as she usually did. This mind required a little more intentionality.

Solidifying the mental image of a long hallway with doors, she proverbially walked to the nearest door and opened it. She immediately felt herself being drawn into the room but resisted, remembering that the deeper she went into someone's mind, the harder it was to leave.

This 'door' was full of what looked like some kind of training. She got images and flashes of fights, weightlifting, running, and other such things before she'd seen enough and closed the proverbial mental door. It didn't want to close. She had to apply some force of will to get it to close and even more so to take a proverbial step back. Like the man himself, his mind certainly wasn't welcoming.

She repeated this process with a few more doors before finding something interesting.

This particular door looked 'newer' for some reason. Opening it up, she saw images and flashes of Gonorran talking to Clive. Selene even recognized some of what he was teaching since Rachel had said the same things to her when teaching her how to find her mana.

From what she could gather, he was getting very close.

She grimaced and then tried another door. She opened it to see--

She slammed the door shut and jerked herself out of his mind as she covered her mouth, resisting the urge to vomit. She actually threw up in her mouth a little bit before choking it down and she shuddered, wishing that this cell had a shower and that someone had invented brain bleach. She shuddered again, a cold shiver running down her spine.

Yvonne hadn't been kidding; Clive really did have some despicable taste in...

She shuddered again.

She took several minutes to calm herself down and then she reached out again, this time looking for Yvonne's mind. It took fifteen minutes of searching, but she did find it.

Yvonne's mind was much more "normal" in one sense because Selene could simply step into it and let everything flow around her like she usually did. It was very abnormal in another sense because everything seemed to be moving at double speed. There were a zillion thoughts flying around at insane speeds and perhaps most impressively, none of them were colliding with each other.

Yvonne seemed to be working on fifty billion things at once, or at least that's what it seemed like. Selene was getting dizzy just watching the images flash by her. It took a minute, but the telepath was eventually able to catch glimpses of what Yvonne was working on and all of it made sense. Most of it seemed concerned with Clive, Gonorran, or the security of the base. It was somewhat encouraging to Selene that Yvonne actually seemed to know some of the people in the base and care about them.

Then everything stopped.

The entire frenetic dance seemed to completely stop for a moment and only a single image was in Yvonne's head. It was her with someone who seemed like her husband and two children who were obviously their kids. There was also a huge shaggy dog and everyone was smiling and obviously happy, including the dog. Yvonne looked a bit younger, so she guessed it was a memory. Or maybe since Yvonne herself was in it, perhaps a picture? Either way, Selene got the distinct impression that Yvonne's current life wasn't far different than the picture, at least when she had downtime.

Then everything started again.

Yvonne's mind was back to the frenetic, fast-paced flow of images from before. Selene withdrew from her mind, noting that leaving was easier than with most people, which was especially noticeable in contrast to Clive's unwelcoming mind from earlier. Huh, interesting. She opened her eyes in her cell, thinking about the image that Yvonne appeared to go to when she needed a mental break.

It was a good image. Family, happiness, togetherness. It made the Brazilian woman smile as she thought about a few memories like that she had from before her brother had died. Those were some of the happiest memories of her life, back when her family was whole. She wondered if she would ever have that again.

She wanted it.

She wanted it rather a lot.

* * *

Sarah couldn't help but smile as she rode back with Rindrin and Amy; the newly married couple. Amy had asked if she could sit on Rindrin's lap on the way home and the groom -- apparently being something of a softy -- had agreed. The bride spent rather a lot of time giggling and nearly as much kissing him.

It made Sarah smile.

It also made her think of Ethan and how she wanted to do that with him. She wanted to sit on his lap feeling all giggly after marrying him. She wanted to kiss him and have him kiss her back. She wanted to do other things as well, but she tried not to think about that. Still, Illuminar had sent her a sign that she would be a part of Ethan's life. She didn't know how, when, or what that part would be, but she couldn't wait.

* * *

Ethan watched as the Fey men came in for a landing at the dock near the Argo. They gently set the luxury stretchers down, then unhooked them from themselves because they were attached with some kind of harness, then landed. It occurred to Ethan that if the Fey men kept up a rotation where two were always flying while one man was sleeping, they could fly and carry a single passenger indefinitely.

The moment she was able, the gorgeous elf jumped up beaming. He couldn't help but notice that she was rather tall for a wood elf. The king of the wood elves was quite tall for a wood elf at about five and a half feet. This elf was about three inches taller, so about the same height as Selene, Myla, and Victoria.

She had dark brown hair with the tiniest hint of a red hue to it. Her ears were pointed and her skin was slightly fairer than Alana's, though it still looked sun-kissed. Her eyes were slightly almond-shaped with turquoise irises that exactly matched the color of her dress. The dress came down to mid-calf with three-quarter length sleeves and a V-neck that showed practically no cleavage.

Given all of this, he assumed that he must be looking at the ward of the wood-elven king.

She came up the edge of the Argo's gangplank, did a small curtsey, and then spoke in a musical voice with a slight accent. "My name is Pelathia Numiarian Asimentae, called wild-child."

Ethan raised his eyebrow. "Wild child?"

She smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, my guardian thinks I'm-- well, I think he thought that making me introduce myself like that would help curb my 'wild ways'." She put the last two words in air quotes.

"Did it?"

She grimaced a bit sheepishly.

Behind her, the Fey men appeared to have collected their things and started flying off. They had left behind a large leather traveling bag that had a turquoise bow that matched the elf's dress, so he assumed it was hers. Ethan looked at the gorgeous elf and then looked pointedly at the departing Fey.

"Yeah, sorry about that." The sheepish look got even deeper. "My sister kind of paid for the trip and she told me it was a one-way sort of thing, so I would have to ask-- Oh!" She turned and opened a small traveling bag, riffled around for a moment, and then pulled out a coin purse and held it out towards him. "She figured that since you're a dragon, you wouldn't mind a very large stack of gold to take me back? Please?" She somehow managed to smile widely, hopefully, pleadingly, and also sheepishly all at the same time.

His dragon senses could tell that the coin purse was full of gold, which made it harder to suppress his smile as he replied. "Your sister huh?"

She nodded. "Yeah, she got the pretty red hair and the family fortune, I got the bad rep and the king as my guardian. Otherwise, I totally would have sent her instead." She winked.

He chuckled.

"So, can I stay with you until you go back to Nalatia? Please?" She asked.

"One question first." He replied. "How did you know I would be here?"

"I might've been snooping at my guardian's portal stone to you and I saw your reply before he did." The sheepish grimace was back. "You said that you would be here and when I mentioned that to my sister, she offered to pay for the trip. I couldn't say no."

"Why?"

"Because my guardian is going to pick a husband for me at some point, and probably some point soon." She replied. "I want to get married and have children, I do, but I want to see the world first; see what's out there. The wood elves are a little insular by nature so I rarely travel outside of Nalatia except to visit my sister, which I try to do as often as possible."

"You don't sound like a typical wood elf." He pointed out. "There's a distinct lack of 'honor language' from you I've noticed."

"I'm only half wood elf, my father was a high elf." She replied. "I practice speaking normally when I'm around my sister. Can I ride back with you?"

Ethan considered for a moment.

Simply put, she didn't have a way to get back to Nalatia without him. Add to that the fact that her birthday was the sixth day of the sixth month like Selene, Myla, and Victoria, and this felt like something he should do. A part of him didn't want to though. A part of him wanted to get Selene back and marry her. Another part of him wanted to yell at Selene until he was hoarse for everything the Brazilian woman had put him and Kendra through. Yet another part of him wanted to dance around the subject with her and make her squirm. Yet another part of him wanted to confront her and demand an answer.

This elf seemed nice, but she wasn't Selene. In the back of his mind, he remembered the advice he had given to Kendra: that she should give Myla, Victoria, and the king's ward a chance. He hated when he had to follow his own advice sometimes.

"Okay." He nodded.

"Thank you." The elven girl beamed, then grimaced. "And I'm really sorry about the whole: leaving-you-no-choice-and-pressuring-you-into-it, thing. I wouldn't have, but my sister offered to pay for my flight out here and I might never have an opportunity like this again, so..." That sheepish but embarrassed smile that was also half grimace was back.

Ethan shrugged. "Promise that you won't sink the Argo or fight with the crew and we'll call it even."

"Okay." She nodded. "And my sister calls me 'Thea'."

"Thea." He nodded. "Nice to meet you Thea."

"It's nice to meet you." She looked around beaming "So this is Dotmier?"

* * *

"Taloni?"

The Fey teen turned to see the bride standing there looking slightly nervous and a little bit confused.

"How can I help?" Tee asked, pausing putting the circles of flowers on the pews in the chapel to decorate it.

"Um, can I ask you a question about marriage?"

"Me?"

Yalia nodded. "I asked my mother, but she just keeps saying 'you'll see'."

Taloni stood there for a moment with no idea what to say. Someone was asking her for marriage advice? She had been married less than two months and she hadn't even entered her twenties yet.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk to someone else?" She finally replied. "I'm not sure I'm the right person; maybe Alana?"

Yalia bit her lip. "Um, Alana isn't a Fey and you are, which is why I wanted to ask you."

"Oh. Okay."

"So..." Yalia grimaced slightly. "Oh, this is awkward." She bit her lip. "I know that my parents sometimes disappear into their bedroom and I was wondering, um, why? I mean, I'm going to be married tonight and I know that they do something in there because they both come out looking super happy. I guess I want to know what I can do to make Matthew look that happy."

"Oh." Tee smiled. "Um, do you know how babies are made?"

"Of course." The young nymph nodded. "Matthew will have an appendage that fits into my vagina and he'll inject his seed using it, but that's not really what I wanted to know about. I mostly wanted to know what married couples do in the bedroom that's apparently so wonderful. I really want to make sure Matthew enjoys it, but I have no idea how."

Taloni giggled, remembering how it had been for her. Like all Fey women, Tee hadn't felt the slightest ounce of romantic or sexual attraction until she had bonded. Once she had, it was like a dam had burst or someone had kindled a bonfire in her loins. It took most of her self-control to prevent herself from throwing herself at him.

"Um, Yalia, I know this probably isn't what you want to hear, but I don't know if I can explain it." She finally said.

"Why not?"

"Because... um... It's kind of like a gift; if you tell the person what was in it, you would ruin the surprise."

"Oh." Yalia's shoulders slumped slightly.

'But I can promise that Matthew won't be disappointed." Tee added brightly. "You'll want to do things with him the moment you two bond; just do those things with him and he'll be happy."

"You promise?" The young nymph asked.

"I promise." Tee beamed. "He'll love it."

"Okay." The bride nodded, looking relieved but not entirely reassured.

"Come on, let's finish decorating so you can make Matthew get a dopey grin like your parents." Taloni suggested.

They did.

They worked with Taloni's fellow wives, Myla, Victoria, Ketura, and several of the women of Dotmier for a while until Master contacted the telepathic group chat.

*Ladies, you'll never guess who just showed up in Dotmier.* He then told them about Thea's arrival.

*Can we meet to talk in person, maybe on the Argo?* Alana asked. *The wedding prep is nearly done since Yalia has good taste but doesn't want anything extravagant.*

*Good idea, everyone else agree?* He replied.

Everyone did.

*See you all soon.* He said.

Tee elected to fly to the Argo and so arrived first. She landed next to Master and kissed him, then looked at Thea. The elf was at the front of the Argo and was looking into the town and surrounding area like she'd never seen anything like it before.

"The early Fey gets the kiss." Master winked.

"I already got that." She replied in a mock dismissive voice. "What else do you have?"

He grinned. "I would show you, but not in a public place."

She grinned back and they flirted until her fellow wives arrived. Curiously, Myla and Victoria were following them.

Tee gave Alana a quizzical look.

*They saw us leaving, guessed we were going back to the Argo, and asked why. I told them about Thea and then Myla asked if she and Victoria could talk to us; all of us.* The wood elf thought to everyone. *She didn't say about what.*

*Curiouser and curiouser.* Master replied.

Tee gave him a quizzical look.

*It's from a book.* He said as everyone arrived and walked onto the Argo.

"Meelas, might I ask our new guest to join us?* Myla asked in her slight accent.

"I got it." He replied, then looked towards the Argo's bow. "Thea."

The elf hurried over, did a small curtsey, and then spoke in a musical voice with a slight accent, though one quite different than Myla's. "My name is Pelathia Numiarian Asimentae, called wild-child."

Everyone else introduced themselves as well, ending with Myla doing her traditional greeting, then the dusky-skinned woman addressed Thea. "If they do not know, might I tell the others present?"

"Know about...?" Thea looked confused for a moment, then brightened. "Oh, yeah; they already know."

"What do we already know?" Beth asked.

"That I'm telepathic." Thea replied. "I know my guardian mentioned it."

"How did you know she's telepathic?" Beth asked Myla before the dusky-skinned woman could speak.

"Windows." Victoria answered for her. "Most people with mental defenses have solid walls. Telepaths have one-way windows so they can use their abilities." She looked at Myla. "I could tell within moments of meeting you, I assume you could tell about me?"

"Hai." The dusky-skinned woman nodded, then addressed Master. "It would seem an unlikely coincidence that Victoria, Thea, and myself all share the same birthday, and are telepathic, and that does not take into account our physical forms."

"Is that a tactful way of saying that we are all gorgeous?" Thea asked with a wink. Oddly, Taloni didn't get the sense that Thea was especially vain, just that she enjoyed a good joke.

Everyone chuckled.

Myla nodded, then looked at Master. "Meelas, I request that if you know the reason for this, that you might enlighten us?"

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Well, since you asked..."

* * *

Sarah was very tempted to vacate Rindrin's house given the noises coming from the master bedroom. She knew what was happening in there, and doubly so because Amy apparently wasn't shy about voicing her enjoyment, she just didn't want to hear it.

She slipped out and walked across the dirt road, past her father's inn, and into the forest. She hummed as she walked, happy for her friend and also looking forward to checking on her small garden for the first time in a while. As she walked, she continued praying for Fiona and Conner, but she wasn't as worried as she had once been for some reason. She wasn't sure why.

Her garden had done quite well in her absence, but it did need some attention. She got to work, wondering what Ethan might be up to.

* * *

"So yeah, that's about it." Ethan finished explaining about the birthdays to the Argo's three most beautiful guests. He hadn't mentioned Selene though, mostly because he didn't want to 'rat her out'. He didn't think there was a good way to mention her birthday without also mentioning that she lied, and he didn't want to do that.

"So, there's a chance I could be your sixth wife?" Victoria's jaw dropped. "That's super cool!"

Myla didn't say anything and Thea chuckled. "I think my guardian was hoping something like this would happen."

The three gorgeous women all looked at each other, then Victoria spoke. "So... are we, like, competing or something? I don't think I'd like that."

"A little friendly competition could be fun." Thea said with a good-natured but decidedly mischievous smile playing around her lips.

"Meelas, why did you not inform us of this before?" Myla asked.

"I didn't want any of you to feel pressured." He replied. "Plus, I'm really not looking for more wives right now. I have my hands full with five and frankly, I have no idea what to do."

Myla was watching him but didn't say anything. He got the distinct impression that she saw a lot more than most people, but she also kept her counsel to herself.

"Maybe you don't need to do anything?" Alana suggested. "Maybe there's no rush for anything to happen."

"I don't think there is a rush." Rachel agreed.

"And I want to be clear." Ethan said, looking at the three radiantly gorgeous women. "I'm not going to pressure you three into anything. If you're not interested, just say so and I'll never bring it up again."

Myla nodded, but both Victoria and Thea looked confused.

"But, who we marry isn't up to us." The platinum blonde said, clearly confused.

"Indeed, choosing the groom is for fathers and guardians, not the bride." Thea replied, also clearly confused.

Ethan sighed.

Right, that's how they did things in the Ten Kingdoms.

"They do things a little differently where Ethan is from." Kendra explained. He was glad to see that the slight glow about her from this morning hadn't faded.

"You two are both going to travel with Ethan, aren't you?" Victoria asked Myla and Thea.

They both nodded.

She grinned. "I'll bet a thousand gold that if I tell my father about the birthdays and potential to marry the prophet, he would let me come too." She looked at Ethan. "If he says it's okay, can I?"

"You want to?" His eyes widened. "Did you forget what happened just yesterday?"

"What happened yesterday?" Thea asked.

He explained about the demon-possessed man attacking them. The smile on Thea's face slowly got wider the longer he talked, though she somehow managed to look a little disturbed too. He wasn't sure why she looked so interested, though she had mentioned wanting to see new things; that was pretty new.

"Yes, I still want to travel with you." Victoria said when he was done explaining to Thea. "Your current wives clearly adore you, you were willing to sacrifice yourself for them so you must be a good man, and the noises that come out of the captain's cabin..." Her smile reached into her twinkling eyes. "I'm sure there are worse husbands out there."

"Indeed there are." Myla said quietly.

"I agree with Victoria." Thea said after a moment. "I mean, you live on an airship and I bet you see a lot things. And really, could the prophet of Illuminar be a bad husband?"

"I have observed him carefully since boarding the Argo and would not disagree with that assessment." Myla added.

"Well, you all are welcome on the Argo." Ethan said as he ran his hand over the top of his head where his hair would be if he had any. "I make no promises about marriage, but you all are welcome to travel with us for a while."

"I'll go ask my father!" Victoria said excitedly, then rushed off.

"Can I go explore the town?" Thea asked.

Ethan considered for a moment. "It should be safe enough today. However, we'll be leaving tonight right after the wedding so don't get lost. Oh, and don't leave the walls; there are orcs out there."

"Okay!" Thea then ran across the gangplank and towards the town.

Myla looked at him. "Meelas, I would like to continue assisting the happy couple to prepare for their wedding, if I might?"

"Go ahead." He replied, noticing that her tone had wavered slightly when she said the phrase 'happy couple'.

"My heart is filled with gratitude." She did a half-curtsey and then she too left the Argo.

"They all seem completely unbothered by the idea that Illuminar might've orchestrated their lives so they would fit as one of my wives." He mused.

"Master, it doesn't bother any of us either." Tee replied. "I still don't understand why Selene doesn't like it."

"I agree Drago. The idea that Illuminar guides everything is taught in every service from infancy; why would it bother us?"

He nodded in concession, though he still wasn't sure he agreed. Although, he had to admit his life had turned out pretty well with Illuminar doing some guiding.

"That's Matthew and Yalia." Kendra said, nodding her head towards the dock, which the bride and groom were walking up together. He had to admit that they made a great couple. His first impression that they were the Ten Kingdoms equivalent of 'nerds' still fit. As Selene put it, they were adorkable together.

Selene...

He took a deep breath and put the Brazilian woman out of his mind. She had made her choice and he needed to accept it, little though he wanted to.

"How's the happy couple?" Ethan asked when they arrived at the gangplank.

"Wonderful!" Matthew beamed and the bride nodded as the groom continued. "We wanted to ask you a question."

"Shoot."

They looked at each other before he looked at Ethan. "Could you marry us?"

Ethan blinked. "What?"

"We would love it if the person who officially blessed our marriage was the prophet of Illuminar." Yalia explained.

"Uh..." He hesitated for a moment. "Um, sure?"

The happy couple beamed.

"I've never done that before though, so I'm not sure how." He admitted.

"I can help." Anthiel offered from the quarterdeck.

"Thank you." He gave her a thumbs up.

"Okay, we're going to the chapel to pray together before the service." Matthew said.

"That's a Ten Kingdoms tradition." Alana whispered as the happy couple left.

"I know, Beth and I did it before our wedding." He replied. "I guess I need to brush up on how to perform a wedding."

"Relax, you fought a demon yesterday." Rachel teased. "A wedding can't be worse... probably." She winked.

Everyone laughed.

* * *

The bride took her fiancé's hand as they entered the very small chapel in Narlotten's castle for the traditional pre-wedding prayer. She wasn't wearing her wedding dress of course; that was only later for the service. She was wearing a normal, everyday dress and felt a little underdressed compared to Lord Delmar, but then again, he technically wasn't wearing anything and it was all his disguise gem.

They knelt down at the front of the chapel and as was tradition, both prayed silently for their upcoming marriage. Fiona prayed for her upcoming marriage similarly to how she'd prayed for her prior marriage to Sean, only this time she was asking that her husband would fall in love with her at all instead of asking that he would fall more deeply in love the longer they were married. After several minutes, she lifted her head and opened her eyes to see that he had already finished.

"Fiona, there are several things you should know before we bond." He said quietly, presumably so as not to be overheard. "When we bond, you will be able to see through my disguise gem; do not be alarmed, it has not malfunctioned."

"Oh." She nodded. "I'm glad you're telling me that in advance."

"Additionally, at the moment of bonding, I will be able to see your entire life." He continued. "Every single thing you have ever seen, heard, thought, or felt; I will be able to see all of it."

Her eyes widened. "Everything?"

He nodded.

She wasn't sure if she liked that until something occurred to her. "Will I be seeing the same for you?"

"Yes and no. You do not have the reflexes to see everything, so for you, it will be a blur and leave you with only a vague impression."

"Oh." Her heart sank just a bit at that, but still, that was a lot of Lord Delmar to be seeing. She felt a smile creep onto her face as she thought about it. She was definitely looking forward to that. However, she certainly hadn't had anything like that with Sean.

"I haven't been hearing of anything like that happening during bonding before." She whispered.

"Bonding with a dragon is different." He explained. "No other species experiences this when they bond, even the Fey."

She nodded slowly.

"One final thing." He continued. "Helene said that at the moment of bonding, she was overcome with the urge to couple." He hesitated for the tiniest moment before continuing. "Obviously, that would not be proper in public."

"Nay, I dare say it wouldn't." She nodded.

"That is all." He looked at her for a long moment. "Should these be unacceptable to you, we could not bond."

"I'm finding them very acceptable." She smiled, thinking especially of getting a flash of his life.

He made a thoughtful sound that had a definite negative sound to it, but he nodded all the same. "Very well."

He stood and offered his hand to help her rise as well. She took it, noticing that his hands were rather larger than her own more petite ones. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly as it hit her that in under an hour, she would be Lady Delmar.

"Are you having second thoughts?" He asked, stopping before they left the tiny chapel in the castle.

She took another deep breath.

"If you wish, the wedding could be canceled." He said. Although he sounded reluctant to offer, he also sounded genuine. "I would not wish to pressure you into a match; say the word and it shall be canceled and I would ensure that you and Conner were well looked after and also shield you from any repercussions from displeased citizens."

She smiled. "I wasn't having second thoughts. And if I was having them, you offering to cancel would be putting them at ease. It's just hitting me how big of a change is coming."

He nodded slowly. "I understand; I was not always a lord."

She nodded slowly.

"Come, the wedding awaits." He offered his hand again and she took it. The butterflies in her stomach hadn't stopped, but she did feel reassured.

* * *

Yalia could hardly believe that this was happening. She was slowly walking up the aisle on her father's arm in the prettiest dress she'd ever worn and about to become the wife of her best friend. And the sugar drop on top of the custard was that the prophet of Illuminar was going to do the ceremony! Her mother had what looked like tears of joy on her face as the bride walked down the aisle. At Yalia's side, her father was blinking a bit more than normal and his smile was wider than her mother's.

They reached the end of the aisle where Matthew was waiting; he looked very nice in his best clothes. Her father extended her hand towards Matthew who took it like he couldn't believe that this was happening. Her betrothed's smile was ear-to-ear and his eyes were shining.

"Take good care of her." Arven said quietly.

"I will sir, I promise." Matthew replied seriously.

Yalia smiled; she liked how much Matthew cared about people. Her betrothed held her hand firmly but gently as he led her a few steps forward to where the prophet was standing. Alana was right next to him, helping him turn pages since he only had one hand.

The prophet cleared his throat. "I've never done this before and I only have the vows in front of me, so you'll forgive me if I blend a little of where I come from in here."

Yalia nodded and so did Matthew.

"Well then, dearly beloved, we're gathered here in the sight of Illuminar and these witnesses to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony. I haven't known either of them very long, but Matthew looks at Yalia like she's his sunshine and best friend. Yalia, it's obvious to everyone that you think the world of Matthew. Once you've bonded, I guarantee that will only get better in ways you can't imagine yet."

Alana looked like she was stifling a chuckle.

The prophet grinned. "And obviously knowing this, the parents of the bride have scheduled the wedding reception for an hour and a half after the wedding so the young couple can enjoy some... bonding time."

Yalia could hear chuckling behind her, but she wasn't sure what that meant.

"Ready?" The prophet asked.

The couple nodded.

He cleared his throat. "Do you Matthew, with full knowledge and consent; take this woman, Yalia, to be your wife in the covenant of marriage? Do you swear to keep and provide for her all of your days, committing to treat her with honor, love, and respect in all circumstances to the best of your ability, and allow only death to separate you?"

"I do." Matthew beamed at her as he spoke.

The prophet turned to her. "Do you Yalia, with full knowledge and consent, give yourself to this man, Matthew, to be his wife in the covenant of marriage? Do you swear to follow and obey him for all of your days, committing to give yourself only to him; and to the best of your ability treat him with honor, love, and respect in all circumstances, and allow only death to separate you?"

"I do." Yalia said, so glad this was happening and trying to imagine what it would be like being married. She could see them eating breakfast together while talking like they always did, and maybe laying in bed translating on a lazy morning.

That made her smile even wider.

The prophet looked down at the paper as Alana turned the page, then he spoke. "This couple wishes to exchange more than vows. They wish to become permanently bonded through the linking of their deep mana." He looked at them. "Now if you will join hands, please exchange your deep mana."

Matthew turned to her and took her other hand, his smile growing even wider if that was possible. Yalia closed her eyes and pushed a tiny drop of deep mana into him, and moments later she felt a drop of his deep mana. Moments later, something odd happened. She got this impression of Matthew. She wasn't sure where it came from, but it lined up perfectly with everything she knew of him.

He was a good man.

Then, something else happened.

She felt this warmth start from somewhere deep inside of her. Well, it wasn't quite warmth, but it was definitely heat. It seemed to spread all throughout her body, especially in her nether regions and breasts. Suddenly, almost every part of her was tingling slightly and it wanted to be touched. No, it craved being touched, but only by Matthew.

Matthew...

She bit her lip as she looked at him. Had he always looked that... scrumptious? Oh dear Illuminar in heaven, he looked amazing. She found herself wondering what he looked like without that shirt. He really shouldn't be wearing a shirt...

She was vaguely aware of the prophet speaking in the background. "Then in the name of Illuminar, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Matthew, you may kiss your bride."

It took every ounce of self-control that Yalia possessed not to leap at Matthew and kiss him. She had never understood the appeal of kissing before, but now...

Mmm...

The moment Matthew wrapped his arms around her she lost all self-control and nearly leapt at him to kiss him.

"Oww!" They both said as they clunked teeth.

"Guys." The prophet said, shaking from silent laughter as he pointed to the door. "Ketura said this would happen; Matthew's house is that way."

"Go." Arven said loudly to Matthew while laughing. "The longer you wait, the more injuries you'll sustain."

She didn't need encouragement, nor did Matthew. He took her hand and they started running... Together.

* * *

The traditional music to which a bride walked down the aisle began and Fiona took a deep breath. This was it. In a few minutes, she was going to marry Lord Delmar. She glanced beside her where Nurse Belcosta was holding a sleeping Conner. She took another deep breath, wishing that Amy and especially Sarah could be here with her.

The two soldiers flanking the door opened it after the first few notes of the song.

It was time.

She took another deep breath, said a silent prayer to Illuminar, and then began to walk down the aisle. She wanted to see how her future husband reacted to seeing her in her new, beautiful wedding dress. Sadly, he was far enough away that if he reacted, it was too subtle to see, even in the small chapel.

*I'm not marrying for love.* She thought to herself as she slowly walked down the aisle towards him. She was of course unescorted because she was a widow, which was unfortunate because she could've really used her father's comforting presence right now. There weren't many people in the small castle chapel, but Mage Weston stood out. He was standing at the very end of the aisle with the few other guests and he gave her a smile that was both comforting and happy.

She appreciated that.

Another guest was the cook who'd played matchmaker and sent Fiona to deliver Lord Delmar's breakfast the morning they had become engaged. Fiona had promised she could come, at the time thinking the wedding wouldn't happen. Of course she made good on her promise now.

She reached the end of the aisle and Lord Delmar held his hand out to her. She took it. He had dressed up somewhat for this occasion. Or rather, she supposed that he had altered his disguise enchantment to project better clothes. She supposed she should appreciate that.

He gave her a subtle and respectful nod as she joined him in front of the luminar. She smiled back at him, sure that she was doing the right thing but wishing that he looked a little more... more... Well, almost anything if she was being honest. He seemed impassive and without emotion at the moment.

The luminar began speaking and she found herself smiling. Perhaps her soon-to-be husband would mellow and become more affectionate once they were married, and especially bonded. She was holding out hope for that.

Eventually, they reached the vows.

"Do you, Lord Alexander Delmar, with full knowledge and consent; take this woman, Fiona McWilliams, to be your wife in the covenant of marriage? Do you swear to keep and provide for her all of your days, committing to treat her with honor, love, and respect in all circumstances to the best of your ability, and allow only death to separate you?"

"I do." He replied, notably without much emotion.

The Luminar turned to her. "Do you, Fiona McWilliams, with full knowledge and consent, give yourself to this man, Lord Alexander Delmar, to be his wife in the covenant of marriage? Do you swear to follow and obey him for all of your days, committing to give yourself only to him; and to the best of your ability treat him with honor, love, and respect in all circumstances, and allow only death to separate you?"

She felt the smile on her face widen. "I do."

It hit her only a moment later that as of this moment, she was no longer Miss McWilliams; She was Lady Delmar. She was married to the lord of Narlotten and thus was Narlotten's First Lady.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

The luminar spoke again. "The happy couple wishes to seal their marriage by mixing their deep mana to create an indissoluble bond." He looked at the bride and groom in turn. "Please, exchange your deep mana now."

She turned to face him.

Her husband.

He was almost a whole foot taller than she was and powerfully muscled. He extended his hands, which were larger than hers by no small amount and yet he held her hands gently, though she wouldn't have said it was tenderly.

She closed her eyes and reached rather far back to remember how to move her deep mana because she hadn't done it very much after learning how. She had mostly learned how so she could bond with Sean and hadn't needed to move it since then. It was a mere moment before she felt his deep mana though. It was... powerful. That was the only word that she could think of to describe it. It was almost like touching a force of nature like a hurricane, tidal wave, or tornado.

She knew her mana wasn't anything like that, but she hoped he would accept it anyway. She managed to push a drop of her deep mana into him after about ten seconds.

For a moment, she felt nothing.

Then, it happened.

He had accepted her mana like she had accepted his and she could feel it mixing. Somehow, this was so very different than with Sean. With her first husband, she hadn't felt much at all. Perhaps a vague impression of who he was for a moment, then nothing; the bond had faded to a subtle but powerful background feeling.

This was different.

Completely different.

She felt a part of herself mixing with him, becoming a part of him as he also became a part of her.

The bond flared up for a moment as it solidified and she saw everything. Absolutely everything. His entire life flashed before her eyes in a blaze of images too fast for her to make out much. But there was one scene that stood out as brighter than the rest, or maybe it just looked that way because it was the first bright one.

The image was of a young redheaded girl of perhaps ten or twelve rolling in a field of flowers next to a small black dragon that couldn't be much older than she was. The girl was laughing and giggling while the black dragon laughed loudly as well.

He looked so happy.

They both did.

That picture seemed to be burned into the lord's memory like a branding iron. There were a thousand other images that she didn't catch, but in many of them he seemed joyful; content. She thought she saw many of him laughing even.

She saw all of him.

Everything.

Who he had been, who he was, and who he wanted to be. It was as beautiful as it was heartbreaking, as tragic as it was heartwarming. He was like a shell of a man, perfectly intact on the outside but on the inside only held up by two points of lights. It was like seeing two stars in the night sky, or perhaps two lanterns beside each other on a moonless, pitch-black night. The brighter one was clearly Helene, or at least his memories of her. The smaller one was clearly Rachel.

They shone brightly above a city bathed in shadow.

Those two lights alone were above everything else. In their light, everything else faded into meaninglessness and worthless shadow. Everything else paled in comparison to those two lights. While formless shadows lapped against the shores of his mind like waves everywhere, anywhere the rays from those two lights shone, the shadows seemed unable to gain purchase.

It was like seeing a city whose streets had been flooded with shadowy water. The shadows had completely submerged the low buildings but seemed unable to drown the higher buildings. The shadows continuously broke against the high buildings but to no avail, like waves breaking on the cliff face. There were even clear wear marks where the shadow had tried and failed to erode the buildings. Those wear marks were completely absent near the twin lights, the shadow seemingly unable to exist wherever the rays from the two lights shone.

And that's when Fiona noticed something about the shadow.

The shadows seemed to be more than just depression or dim memories that didn't matter. The shadowy waves breaking upon the buildings of Lord Delmar's mind seemed like more than just natural waves; it looked like they were breaking with intent; with purpose. The darkness wasn't just some depression, though it surely was that as well.

No, this was more.

It seemed like the shadows were intentionally trying to erode whatever they touched. Like waves or a current of water can erode almost anything given enough time, this black shadow seemed to be working hard to erode Lord Delmar's--

Wait...

What?

What had she been thinking about?

The bond ended and for the life of her, Fiona couldn't remember what she had just seen. She was left only with an impression of him and a recollection of the brightest memory she'd seen. For a moment, she remembered the shadows that she'd seen as well. Then the moment passed and she couldn't remember...

Huh.

She knew she'd just seen something very important but couldn't remember what. She remembered the twin points of light that were Helene and Rachel, and also the one image of the young black dragon with Helene. However, she thought she had just seen something else that was important. But for the life of her, she couldn't remember what it was.

The luminar cleared his throat. "In the name of the Great God of Light, Illuminar -- blessed be He -- I now pronounce you husband and wife. Lord Delmar, you may kiss your bride."

She looked at him and he looked back at her. His expression hadn't changed, but something in his eyes had. She definitely wouldn't call them soft, but they seemed slightly less hard as he looked at her.

He put his hand around her waist, pulled her close, and then gently kissed her on the lips. There was no emotion behind the kiss, but somehow it did feel slightly different than their first kiss. She put as much emotion as she had into it, and even more so because she truly felt for him now that she knew how much he missed Helene and Rachel.

The luminar began speaking again, but Fiona was too busy looking at her new husband to notice. In the back of her mind, she felt like she was forgetting something important. However, that thought also slipped from her mind even as she tried to hold onto it.

It didn't occur to her again.

~~EPILOGUE for Chapter 58

It took almost all of Yalia's self-control to keep her hands off of Matthew while they ran to his tiny house, and she was only able to because she knew he could touch her without restraint once they arrived. It felt like torture waiting for him to unlock the door and she almost tackled him once they were inside.

Dear Illuminar in heaven, why hadn't she noticed how amazing he was before!

Why!

His scent, his strong hands, his sharp mind, and how he cared about people. She leapt onto him, wrapping her legs around his torso and kissing him as if her life depended on it. She was vaguely aware of his hand leaving her body for a moment and then hearing the door shut, but that was background noise.

"Touch me." She almost moaned in between kissing every inch of his face and neck that she could reach. Oh dear Illuminar in heaven, it felt like her loins were on fire!

"Where?" He asked as he kissed her back, somewhat more hesitantly.

"Anywhere." She sighed as she let her head roll at his touch.

His hand came up and brushed the back of her neck and she really did moan. Loudly.

"Oh God, do that again." She begged.

He did and she moaned louder. Skin. His skin on her skin was just incredible.

Skin...

She hopped off of him and began attacking his clothes, trying desperately to get them off. Why was he wearing so much clothing!

"Yalia, you'll rip--"

She jerked his shirt and heard the buttons go flying. She didn't care. She'd crawl around on her hands and knees to find them or make new buttons. She needed him naked. Now.

"Careful!" He said, being entirely too practical and far too clothed.

She pulled back and looked him dead in the eyes, letting her lust roll off of her. "If you don't take my dress off, I'm going to tear it off." She almost purred, shocked by this new side of herself but strangely loving it too.

Matthew didn't need any more encouragement. She covered his bare chest with kisses and slid her hands all over his torso while he clumsily worked the buttons on the back of her dress.

"They're on the wrong side." He said after a moment, clearly frustrated at his slow progress.

"Rip them." She moaned. "Tear my dress off of me, please."

"Yalia." He looked at her. "I have more shirts, but we need to return to the reception later."

"I don't care." She replied, feeling like she was going to scream if she didn't do something with her loins.

"Stand still." He said.

She managed to stay mostly still long enough that he was able to unbutton her dress enough that she could jerk it down. She heard a button go flying. Matthew didn't seem to notice because he was too busy staring at her newly exposed breasts. Yalia wasn't large enough to need a support wrap so she never wore one. Plus, her mother had insisted that today she go without one for her wedding. She was glad that she'd listened.

The rapturous look on Matthew's face made her heart sing.

"Dear Illuminar in heaven, they're so beautiful." He whispered hoarsely in awe.

"And they're all yours." She grinned. "Touch them."

He hesitated a moment, but not able to wait any longer, she reached down and pulled his hands to them, pressing her hands on top of his so they stayed attached and she leaned forward and kissed him again. Then with his hands pressed against her breasts and both sets of hands sandwiched between them, she pressed her entire body up against his.

For one moment, she paused her wild and sensual attack on him as something deep down inside of her told her that he needed that right now. He needed her to calm down if only for a few moments. Somehow, she knew it in her bones. She nuzzled her head against his chin and nestled the side of her head against his upper chest. At that moment, she felt in her bones that she needed to tell him how she felt about him.

"Thank you for marrying me." She said softly as she leaned against him, his hands still pressed to her breasts.

"You're thanking me?" He sounded confused.

She pulled back enough that she could look into his kind, caring eyes and nodded entirely genuinely. "You're one of the best men I've ever known, my best friend, and I can't believe that Illuminar was so good as to let me be your wife. I'm so happy right now that I want it to never end."

Matthew almost seemed to be tearing up. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse and cracked slightly. "Really?"

She nodded.

"I think you have it backwards." He said after a few moments, surprise and shock in his tone. "I think I'm the most blessed man in the Ten Kingdoms to call you my wife."

"Then maybe we're both blessed." She smiled at him.

He nodded, and the fire in her loins seemed to return with full force.

"Squeeze them, gently." She sighed as she squeezed her own hands gently over his, which were still over her breasts.

He did.

She let out a breathy exhale as one of the most wonderful sensations that she'd ever felt coursed through her body at his simple, loving, and tender caress of her breasts. He did it again and for some reason, it felt even better. Dear Illuminar in heaven she loved him.

Suddenly, she got an idea of how she could show him that she loved him. She slid her hands off of his and reached down to his pants. She knew they were held up by drawstrings but it took her a moment to find them. Once she did, she pulled them out and pulled the knot so they came undone.

He pulled back slightly, eyes wide.

She licked her lips.

She wasn't sure where the idea to use her mouth on his manhood had come from, but she wanted to try it.

"Yalia, I um, I'm not very big and--"

She looked down and her jaw dropped. "Oh dear Illuminar in heaven, that's huge! It must be five or six inches long!" She stared at it slack-jawed, eyes bugging out and hardly believing how big it was.

Matthew's look of concern disappeared and all of a sudden he seemed to stand up a bit straighter. She reached down and wrapped her tiny hands around it.

"I think I'm in love." She said, not even entirely sure what the word meant but knowing that it fit perfectly. "I can fit my hand around it, but..." She looked up at him. "How do you hide something so huge all the time?"

He grinned sheepishly. "It gets harder when you're around."

"Harder?" She looked at him slyly. "I should make sure."

She sank to her knees, never taking her eyes off of his. Somehow, she just knew in her bones that he wanted to keep looking into her eyes. She didn't know how she knew, but she did. Without breaking eye contact, she gently pulled his manhood out enough that it was within range and then -- still looking him in the eye -- she kissed it. Matthew shuddered slightly as he groaned. The sound kindled the fire in her loins again and she slipped the entirety of his manhood in her mouth, never breaking eye contact.

The reaction was priceless. Matthew's eyes bugged out momentarily, then his eyelids fluttered for a moment as he groaned. Not knowing what else to do, the young nymph started experimenting. She figured that using her teeth would be a bad idea, but she tried just about everything else. She kissed, she licked, she sucked, she blew a little -- that didn't work out as well -- and whatever else she could think of.

Matthew seemed to adore all of it.

More than that, he seemed to be entirely stunned and completely unsure what to do or how to react. She liked that; she liked keeping him off balance. The entire time, she'd kept looking at him adoringly, not believing how lucky she was to have him. He didn't seem to know what to do with his hands either and eventually settled on caressing her hair.

She loved that.

He was such a good man and he was treating her like she was the most precious thing in the whole world. She could tell how much he cared by the tenderness in his fingertips as he touched her.

"Matthew my husband." She said as she pulled her mouth off of him for a moment. "Your naked wife wants to tell you how much she loves being married to you."

He groaned slightly as he stood there, then his eyes went wide. "Yalia, I'm about to--"

She slipped her lips over the head of his manhood, curious to see if he could finish his sentence with her lips around his-- The burst of warmth came without warning and she almost pulled back until she realized what it was. When she did, she wasn't sure what else to do but swallow it. Both the texture and taste were a little weird, but certainly not bad. However, the noises he was making were the exact opposite of bad. He let out a slightly strangled groan, which combined with the rapturous look on his face made her nether regions itch even more for some reason.

"Sorry." He said after he had stopped spurting.

"Matthew, please don't ever be sorry for doing that." She beamed at him. "I loved it."

"You did?" Again, wide eyes and a disbelieving expression were on his face.

She nodded.

"Really?"

She nodded again. "It was actually rather fun, especially seeing the look on your face."

He blinked at her. "Fun?"

She stood up and leaned against him, feeling slightly less crazy and wanting to feel his skin. He had such incredible skin and she loved the way it felt. It felt even better when he wrapped his arms around her and held tightly, like he never wanted to let her go.

She liked that.

"Very fun." She said dreamily. "I loved seeing your reaction. It made me feel like... um..." She looked up at him. "Did you ever wake up on Illuminar's Day, have a warm, cozy breakfast with your family, and feel like everything was right in the world because your family loved you?"

He nodded.

"I could tell how much you love me, and I loved that." Her smile grew wider. "I loved you as a friend before we bonded, but now... now it's different. Better."

"Better?" His eyes widened slightly and his mouth was slightly open.

"Better." She nodded and then snuggled closer to him while he held her tightly, but not too tightly. It was the perfect amount of tightness.

They stayed like that for a minute or two before the fire in her loins seemed to waken from its temporary slumber.

"Um, Matthew?"

"Yeah."

"Is there more we can do?" She asked.

He pulled back enough that he could look into her eyes. His eyes were nearly as wide as his smile as he spoke. "More?"

She nodded. "I want to feel closer to you."

"Um, well there's one thing I can think of." He said almost hesitantly. "Well, actually two."

"What?" She asked, then realized that she had started rocking her hips against him gently. Why was she doing that? She wasn't sure she cared though because it felt good.

"Um, one of the, uh, someone in town told me that I should, um..." He looked down for a moment and seemed to lose his train of thought as his eyeline fell on her breasts.

She liked that.

She liked that he thought she was so beautiful that even his brilliant mind could get flustered and lose track because of her body. Dear Illuminar in heaven, has he always been this wonderful?

"That you should...?" She prompted.

"Um, he said that ladies like it when I use my tongue, um, 'down there'." He glanced at the area between her legs.

"Oh?" The nymph cocked her head to one side. "Would that feel good?"

Matthew shrugged. "I could try?"

"Um, maybe just try touching with your finger first?" Yalia suggested.

Matthew hesitated a moment, slowly reached down, but paused before touching her. "You don't mind?"

She grinned. "Never; you can touch me anywhere."

He brushed the outside of her slit with his finger.

She almost lost her balance at the sensations that coursed through her. It was getting better!? How could this night possibly be getting better!?

"So, good?" He asked with a slightly teasing grin.

"So good." She sighed and nodded. "Dear Illuminar in heaven, I could do this twenty times a day." Her eyes snapped open as she realized something. "Oh!"

"What?" He asked, then brushed her slit again.

Her legs turned to jelly for a moment and she flopped against him to support herself.

"Having trouble?" He asked as he gently stroked her again.

"You're terrible." She said when her brain began to work again.

"So, what were you saying?" He asked with a teasing edge in his tone as he gently touched her again.

It took almost five full minutes before she could talk properly while he was teasing her like that. "I once heard the word 'nymphomanic' and asked my mother what it--" She sighed as he stroked her again, but was determined to finish the sentence. "--it meant."

"And?" He stroked her again, clearly enjoying the effect he was having on her.

"She said it meant that nymphs like the bed, but wouldn't explain further." Yalia grinned, then sighed and let her head roll back as her husband touched her again. "I get it now; I'll want to do this fifty times a day. How does anyone ever leave the bedroom?"

Her husband looked her up and down, obviously drinking in the sight of her naked body. "I have no idea."

"Oh!" Yalia's eyes widened again as something else occurred to her.

"What?" Matthew asked, stopping his tease.

"The keeping of the commandments!" She blurted out her epiphany.

He stared at her. "What?"

"That phrase in that verse we had so much trouble translating the other day; it's not 'the to keep the commandments', it's 'the keeping of the commandments!"

Matthew looked confused, so she plowed on. "I just remembered. It's an articular infinitive, which should be treated as a noun according to Sebin's Rule about articular infinitives when there's an articular genitive noun following it!"

Matthew stared at her for a moment, then his eyes went wide and he slapped his palm on his forehead. "Of course! It's in the apodosis, which also explains the subjunctive verb in the predicate!"

"I need to write that down!" Yalia said.

"Absolutely!" Matthew grinned, paused, then his grin turned into a sly one as he gestured for her to go first. "The paper and quills are in my bedroom."

She did go first, only realizing after she'd moved that Matthew's eyes were glued to her naked back, butt, and legs as she walked the few short steps to his bedroom in the tiny house. She put a little extra sway in her steps when she noticed, also noticing that a certain part of him had recovered and was standing proud again.

She liked that.

She found the paper, quill, and ink bottle on the crate he used as a desk. As she started to uncap it, she felt his fingertips brush her naked back. Again, her legs turned halfway to jelly and she struggled to stand as she tried not to knock the ink bottle off of the makeshift desk.

"Matthew, I can't..." She sighed and her eyes rolled back in her head slightly as he did it again. "...I can't concentrate."

"You're doing fine." He teased as he did it again.

Despite Matthew's relentless teasing, she did manage to get the cap off the bottle without spilling it. Well, mostly without spilling it. She grabbed the quill and managed to dip it gently into the ink bottle, Matthew slowly exploring her back, butt, and shoulders with his fingertips all the while. She started writing on a corner of a piece of paper but was smearing it everywhere

"I can stop." Matthew offered even as he got more adventurous, his hands sliding around to her sides and began to brush her front.

"Don't you dare." She breathed.

Matthew chuckled.

It took far longer to write the translation of those few words out than it should have. She was only mostly sure she'd be able to read it in the morning, but she didn't care. His manhood had started to poke her in some rather intimate areas and for some reason, it seemed like she had gotten quite wet down there. She couldn't figure out how though because she hadn't spilled any ink nor drank anything that could've spilled.

"Done!" She announced as she finally managed to re-cap the ink bottle, then turned around and nearly leapt on her husband, kissing every inch of his face, neck, and shoulders that she could reach. God his skin was amazing! Not just the skin she was kissing, but all of his skin everywhere. It was touching her everywhere and the sensation was--

Oh!

She had lowered herself a bit and felt his manhood bump up against her slit. A sudden rush of understanding coursed through her as a new desire awakened within her, one she'd never felt before. She knew that he was supposed to go inside of her to make a baby, and now... She bit her lip; she had a strong feeling that it would feel amazing.

"Can..." She sighed as he began to kiss the side of her neck. "...can we try the tongue thing tomorrow?"

"Not tonight?" He asked, sounding slightly surprised.

"Um, I want to try something else first, and you might not want to when we're done."

"What?" He pulled back just enough to look at her and the look in his eyes was still adoring. She didn't think she'd ever get tired of seeing that expression in his eyes.

"Um, can you, um..." She lowered herself a tiny bit so that his manhood brushed up against her slit again.

He nodded. "But I'm not that strong and you're getting heavy."

"Then drop us on the bed without letting go." She said. "I don't want you to let go of me."

"I never will." He replied, something approaching sincere wonder in his tone as he gazed at her. He didn't merely 'look' at her; he gazed at her. Her heart felt like warm pudding at that look.

Matthew awkwardly turned and managed to put her back to his bed, then he slowly leaned over until they over-balanced and fell. He seemed like he was trying to stay standing, or maybe lower her with some semblance of control but she clung tightly to him, pulling him down on top of her.

"Ow." They both said as they clunked heads slightly in their fall. Not badly thankfully and they both chuckled, then looked into each other's eyes.

She smiled. "If you do this, I'll get pregnant."

"Probably." He nodded, his own smile getting wider.

"You'll be a wonderful father." She said softly as she brushed her fingertips against his cheek.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." She smiled. "Can, can you..." She looked down to where his hips were pressed against hers. "I want to raise a family with you, and I want to feel..." She bit her lip.

"Feel?" He prodded.

"I want to be as close as possible to you in every way." She finally in a dreamy tone.

"I don't think I could say no if I wanted to." He replied, then leaned down and planted a tender, loving, perfect, amazing, and incredible kiss on her lips. She moved her lips against his, enjoying the softness and tenderness there. Almost without realizing what she was doing, she spread her legs to give him better access.

While still kissing her, he moved his hips up and she felt him bump up against her slit. She rocked her hips slightly as he pushed a bit...

...and then slid up along her slit instead of inside.

She giggled.

"Sorry." He tried again, adjusting his hips but slid up along her slit again.

"It's lower." She said, then reached down and pressed two of her fingers to his manhood, pushing it down enough to line him up. "Try that."

He looked into her eyes as he slowly pushed forward. He was slow and careful, and she could tell that he was watching for any signs of discomfort on her part. There weren't any. It was the strangest sensation that she'd ever felt, but also one of the most wonderful too.

He slid in.

Yalia felt a slight pinching sensation and then opened her mouth in a silent scream as the most wonderful sensation she had ever felt radiated outwards from her nether regions. She wanted more. She needed more. She wanted him deep inside of her more than anything she'd ever wanted in her entire life.

He instantly stopped and pulled out. "Are you okay?"

"No, I need you back in." She panted, trying to get her hips closer to his.

"Okay." He said, then went back in.

It was even better the second time, and there was no pinching sensation. She did everything she could to seat him as deeply inside of herself as she could while he moved slowly, obviously trying to make sure he didn't hurt her.

"I'm not fragile." She panted when he finally bottomed out.

Her husband pulled back slightly and then pushed in again, making the young nymph moan in pleasure. She couldn't believe no one had told her how wonderful this was! Again, he pulled out slowly and pushed back in slowly, but it was too slow. She started using her hands and legs to try to get him to speed up and he did. In fact, he seemed quite eager to. In maybe a minute and at her urging, he started truly thrusting inside her in earnest.

It was wonderful.

Yalia could do little more than hang on as the man she loved most in the world made her feel better than she thought possible. This stretched for the most wonderful few minutes of her life until suddenly, Matthew thrust a bit more powerfully a few times and then pushed himself as deep inside of her as he could while letting out a sound that was somewhere between a strangled growl and a groan.

Then she felt a burst of warmth inside of her.

The moment she felt it, the warmth seemed to spread from her nether regions to encompass her whole body. The most sublime tremors seemed to start everywhere at once and everything she'd felt up until this moment seemed to pale in comparison to the sensation coursing through her right now. She arched her back and pulled herself as close to Matthew as possible, wanting this to go on forever.

It was almost like she was losing control of her body, like it had a mind of its own. There were the most delightful tremors everywhere, but they were strongest where she was joined to Matthew. She didn't have the words to describe what was happening. She didn't think they existed. She panted and moaned uncontrollably and she pressed herself to the most wonderful man she knew, indescribably grateful for how he had made her feel.

She felt like that for almost a whole minute, but it eventually subsided. The incredible, indescribable pleasure she'd ever felt morphed into the coziest, sleepiest, most content feeling that she'd ever felt.

Matthew slumped onto her, panting with her.

"Wow." She breathed.

"Yeah." He echoed.

He lay on top of her, though still supporting most of his weight so she didn't feel squished. After about a minute, he rolled and flopped down next to her, still panting slightly.

"I... had a... plan." He said after a minute.

"Oh?" She turned her head to look at him.

He gazed back at her. "I was going to slowly remove your dress, kissing every bit that was exposed as it was revealed."

She smiled.

"Then I was going to try that tongue thing I was told about." He continued, breathing heavily and grinning silly. "I was told that women sometimes need some... uh, extra help, especially the first time and I wanted to make sure you enjoyed it."

"You did?" She rolled on her side and then snuggled up to his. He put his arm around her and gazed at her like he still couldn't believe it.

"Well, yeah." He replied, gazing into her eyes. "I figured that I would enjoy it regardless, so I thought I should focus on making sure you would."

She smiled dreamily. "Really?"

"Well, yeah." He shrugged. "I mean, the Book of Light says that husbands should love their wives like their own bodies, so I assumed that applied to sex too."

"Aww." She beamed at him, enjoying the feeling of snuggling skin-to-skin for the first time with her beloved husband and best friend. They lay there enjoying that simple and exquisite pleasure for several long minutes until Yalia started thinking about what Matthew had just said and the fire in her loins started stirring again.

She leaned up, making sure to position herself so her breasts were quite noticeable. "Um, Matthew."

"Yeah?" He looked into her eyes, but definitely glanced at her prominently displayed breasts.

"Could we do that again?" She bit her lip. "And maybe try that tongue thing in the morning?"

He grinned.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Note: This chapter began on day 105 of Ethan's life in the Ten Kingdoms and ended on day 106. I submit new chapters on the last Wednesday of every month, and they usually drop after the 2-3 days review process. Thus I'll submit the next chapter on June 26th, and it'll probably drop on June 28th or 29th.

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

STORY TAGS: dragon, fantasy, elf, teen, romantic, virgin, harem, brunette, blonde, redhead