Chapter 63: "We'll always have Paris"

IMPORTANT: Please the whole chapter, in order, and the ending note if you find yourself getting upset about this chapter. :)

* * *

"And you're sure you don't mind?" Sarah asked her father for a third time.

Festus nodded. "I trust you Sarah, and he's a prophet, and there are many others on the Argo." He glanced up at the airship still anchored above the inn, then at Ethan.

"There's a ladies' area in the bow; no men allowed." Ethan said. "I promise I won't do anything with her that I wouldn't do in front of you. Well, at least until we're married."

Festus nodded. "Then I give you my permission for Sarah to travel with you, though it ain't exactly the normal way of doing things."

"Thank you!" Sarah gave him a huge hug, her heart nearly singing in joy.

After that, the long process of her saying goodbye to everyone started while the Argo's crew began climbing the long ladder up to its weather deck. She hugged her father and Rindrin, and then gave Amy one final hug by the Argo's ladder. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too." Her friend said as she hugged her back tightly. "Visit as often as you can, as often as it's safe."

"I will." Sarah promised, gave her an extra squeeze, and then let go. At this point, all of the Argo's crew were already aboard except for Ethan and Myla. Sarah cocked her head to one side as she realized that wasn't true; she was now part of the Argo's crew.

She smiled.

Myla said goodbye to Falkaan and then started climbing up the ladder's wooden rungs, though the rope to which they were attached swayed quite a bit. As she did, Sarah watched Falkaan approach Ethan, her betrothed.

Her betrothed; that thought made her smile wider.

"Prophet, would you have use for an extra airship or sword hand?" The dark elf asked Ethan.

"Um, probably?" He scratched the top of his head, then glanced up to where Myla was still climbing, then back at the dark elf. "Found a good reason to stick around?"

"Quite possibly." Falkaan replied, but didn't say anything else and his expression was hard for Sarah to read. The attention he'd been paying to Myla since the two of them were introduced was very easy to read though.

Ethan chuckled. "I certainly don't mind, though we're heading to the Gulf of Sayora for a little vacation next, if that's someplace you wouldn't mind going."

"Then the Midnight Sun will fly in formation with the Argo at least that far, if you will allow it."

"Sure, be my guest." Ethan replied, a knowing smile on his face. "In fact, you're welcome to spend the rest of the day on the Argo if you have a reason to." He was clearly suppressing a smile as he glanced up to where Myla was climbing onto the Argo's weather deck.

"Then I am again in your debt." He gave Ethan a head bow and began to climb the ladder, leaving Sarah and Ethan at the bottom with Amy and Sarah's father.

Sarah gave both of them one last hug and goodbye, then started climbing the ladder as well. Below her, she saw her father talk to Ethan for a moment before her betrothed -- she loved calling him that -- spread his wings and flew to the Argo's weather deck. Sarah finished the several-story climb not long afterward and looked around at her new home.

She beamed.

"What did my father want to talk to you about?" She asked her betrothed.

He chuckled. "He had a rather pointed warning about what might happen to me if I took advantage of you before our wedding."

She felt her cheeks go warm. "I know you wouldn't though."

"True, but damn, do I want to." He gave her a look that would've been scandalous in the right company.

She blushed.

"Don't worry, you'll soon grow immune to his teasing." Rachel said with an apologetic smile.

Ethan looked at her and moments later, she turned bright red.

"Immune huh?" He teased the redhead, whose cheeks were rapidly approaching the color of a radish.

"You can speak to each other telepathically, right?" Sarah asked as all of Ethan's wives plus Selene, Victoria, and Thea gathered around in a circle. Myla was talking with Falkaan nearby after the dark elf had signaled his airship to follow the Argo.

"We can, and you should be able to also as soon as we bond." Ethan grinned.

"Actually, maybe sooner." Victoria said with a thoughtful expression.

"Really?" Ethan and Sarah said at the same time.

Everyone laughed, then the platinum blonde continued. "You all built mental tunnels so no one else could hear you or eavesdrop on your conversations, right?"

Ethan and his wives nodded.

"The reason you need to be bonded is to find the other person's mind, but you have four telepaths on the ship." Victoria continued. "There's no reason that we couldn't build the tunnels between your minds. They would be weak and someone could knock them down, but as long as they were up, Sarah should theoretically be able to talk to the rest of you."

Ethan grinned at her. "If we were married, I'd kiss you!"

"If we were married, you could do a lot more than kiss me." Victoria replied with a sly smile.

Everyone stared at her.

"What?" She said without even a hint of defensiveness in her tone. "My mother isn't here to scold me, so why shouldn't I flirt?"

Ethan chuckled and shook his head, then looked at Sarah. "Are you interested?"

"In flirting?" She replied, feeling a wonderful lightness to her whole being.

Ethan laughed.

It was a deep 'from the belly' sort of laugh that she really liked.

"I meant in being able to communicate telepathically now, before we--"

"Yes!" She interrupted in her haste to agree.

"Good." Ethan grinned.

"Let's give it a go then; no time like the present." Victoria said, then looked at Thea.

"Let's do it." Thea nodded, and then she waved Myla over.

"Okay, what should I do?" Sarah asked.

"Just open a window in your mental defenses, we'll take care of the rest." Victoria replied.

Sarah did, though it took her a moment to figure out how. The next ten minutes were rather boring since the telepaths were apparently at work, but she couldn't see what they were doing. However, she could tell that as the minutes wore on, their expressions seemed to get less positive.

"It's not working." Selene finally said as all four telepaths opened their eyes.

"We tried building a tunnel between your minds, but it wouldn't stay connected." Victoria said.

"After this experimentation, I do not believe it is possible to establish such a private communication channel between two persons who are not bonded." Myla said in her slight Southern Lands accent. "Unless perhaps if all participants were telepathic."

"What they said." Thea nodded, then looked at Sarah and Ethan. "Sorry."

"Not your fault." Ethan replied. "Thanks for trying though."

"Yes, thank you." Sarah agreed, hesitated, then asked the obvious question. "How did four telepaths end up on the Argo since it's such a rare gift?"

"Maybe we should swap stories?" Selene suggested. "We'll tell you all about how Robin Hood here got the Merry Band together, and then you can tell us what happened to you?"

"Robin Hood?" Sarah looked quizzically at Ethan.

He chuckled. "I'll explain, but I'd love to know what happened to you right after we tell you our story; I think Selene has a great idea."

"I would love to know how you all came together." Sarah smiled, though she wasn't looking forward to repeating what had happened with Lady Ekthros. The memories were still painful, but she wanted them to know what had happened.

"Okay then, story time." Ethan smiled.

* * *

Fiona took a deep breath and clutched her husband's arm a bit tighter as Timarou's flagship approached, finishing its final docking procedures at the airship dock on the highest level of Karnas's castle. Opposite the dock from Timarou's flagship was Narlotten's own flagship, and the contrast between the two was quite interesting. Timarou's flagship was blue with white trim in many places, while Narlotten's was black and red. They were both roughly the same size, but Narlotten's flagship seemed slightly more aggressive in its design, while Timarou's was more elegant.

Fiona was standing with the welcome delegation and trying to calm the butterflies in her stomach. This would be her first official meeting with the leaders of another lorddom and she said a silent prayer to Illuminar that she wouldn't cause a terrible diplomatic incident. Behind her, her bodyguard Tabitha was standing silent and watchful.

"You need not worry." Lord Delmar said to her quietly. "By reputation, Lord Kalus and his wives are not the sort to easily take offense."

"Thank ya for saying that." She whispered back, then took another deep breath as the sailors on Timarou's flagship dropped the gangplank into place.

A man who could only be Lord Kalus stepped onto the gangplank and strode across it, stopping just before he reached the end and looking at Lord Delmar. "I, Lord Regent Kalus of Timarou, formally request entrance to Narlotten's most noble castle in Karnas."

"I, Lord Delmar of Narlotten, welcome you to our castle and invite you and your family to dine with us in the great hall tonight."

"Thank you Lord Delmar." Lord Kalus replied, then stepped off the gangplank onto the dock. Behind him, an ash-blonde woman and a woman with amber-colored hair stepped onto the gangplank, accompanied by several children. There were six of them, ranging in age from perhaps seven or eight down to two or three. All were clearly the lord's children. Behind them, several Timarou officials were following.

The introductions were made for everyone and Fiona tried her best to commit the names to memory. Sadly, with the lord's family and all the officials, there were simply too many and she knew she would fail miserably. She just hoped that she could manage to carry on a conversation without using names.

No sooner had the introductions been finished than the ash blonde came right up to Fiona and looked her square in the eye. "You look about as comfortable as a mare with a horsefly that won't stop biting."

Fiona felt herself freeze slightly.

The ash blonde smiled. "Relax, I felt the same way at my first state meeting. Too many names to remember and too many rules of etiquette, am I right?"

Fiona nodded mutely.

"Don't worry, if a teenage rancher's daughter with no formal training can do it, I'm sure an elegant woman like you can." She looked at Lord Delmar. "Right?"

"I have never seen any evidence to the contrary." He replied.

"You have a baby, right?" Lyra asked.

"I do." Fiona smiled.

"Well, let's go get our kids introduced, that way it won't be awkward if we get along horribly." Lyra grinned. "My eldest is dying to hold any baby that she can get her hands on."

"Mo-ther!" A girl of about seven whispered urgently and pleadingly. Her hair color was halfway between Lyra's and Lord Kalus's and she looked aghast.

Fiona smiled.

"Come on, let's go find... Conner, right?" Lyra asked and Fiona nodded, so she continued. "Let's leave Shar and the men to talk about the boring 'running a lorddom' stuff."

Fiona nodded. "Okay, I can be doing that."

Lyra steered her towards the only stairway leading away from the dock, and Fiona felt a lot more at ease as she followed, Tabitha right behind them.

* * *

Sarah breathed a sigh of relief when Ethan and his wives finished their story; it all made perfect sense. She hadn't told them what Lady Ekthros accused him of, but their story answered everything perfectly. She also could feel her heart grow heavy for Fiona and Sean, since it seemed like the necromancer who brought Ethan to the Ten Kingdoms had tricked the Narlotten guards. She could feel the impulse to tear up when she thought about them and their widows.

"Well, that's our story; how about yours?" Ethan asked.

"Right." Sarah nodded, not looking forward to telling certain parts of it, especially the parts while she had been imprisoned by Lady Ekthros.

* * *

"I'm gonna kill her." Ethan growled, trying to resist the urge to stop pacing furiously and hunt the woman down after what Sarah had just told him. "I'm gonna find her and rip her limb from fucking limb." He growled again.

"Ethan, you're scaring Sarah." Selene said firmly.

He stopped and looked at his new betrothed, which meant that she was almost his wife here in the Ten Kingdoms. That thought helped calm him down, but then he remembered what Lady Ekthros had done to her and... A low growl escaped his throat without him meaning to make it.

All of his wives plus Selene, Victoria, and Thea were sitting in a circle listening. Myla was standing next to Falkaan on the periphery and both were also listening intently. Talven and Salma had come up from the lower decks after Tee had told them Ethan was about to tell his story, and they were listening just as intently as anyone else while their children played on the deck.

Because of the audience, they had omitted the fact that Lord Delmar was a dragon. He, his wives, and Selene had talked about it telepathically and decided that was the best move for now. He made a mental note to tell Sarah later, assuming he remembered once he had calmed down.

More than once during Sarah's story, she'd been interrupted by one of his wives for a hug or other consolation for how things had gone, the most recent one being only moments ago. He was glad they were so caring and Sarah obviously appreciated it.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down before addressing his betrothed. "Sorry."

"I'm okay." Sarah said, her voice quiet. "It was awful, but I'm okay. That's not the worst thing that happened though."

Everyone stared at her.

"She cut out a piece of your arm without anesthetic!" Ethan said incredulously. "It gets worse?!"

Sarah nodded darkly.

* * *

"Mommy, he smiled at me!"

Fiona couldn't help but smile as Lyra's oldest daughter, Liza, started beaming with excitement as Conner smiled at her. They were in the nursery with Lyra's three children, though her two youngest were passed out sleeping on the couch in the room. Tabitha was in the room as well, and Fiona was starting to get used to having the bodyguard around. She was almost like a shadow she was so inconspicuous and unobtrusive, but yet would act bubbly and cheerful whenever anyone other than Fiona was around.

"I see that." Lyra beamed at her daughter. "Just make sure you keep supporting his neck."

"I will." Liza looked down at Conner with a dreamy smile on her face.

"There, see? Kids make everything less awkward." Lyra said to Fiona with a reassuring smile.

"Aye, I'm seeing that." She smiled back. "Thank you for being so kind; I feel like I'm lost being the First Lady."

"Honestly, you'll probably feel that way for a few years." Lyra replied. "I did, but you get used to it like anything else. Like my husband says, 'If you do not apply yourself, you will not improve'."

"Wise words." Fiona replied.

"Can I ask a question that's a bit personal?" Lyra asked a minute later.

"Aye, you can be asking, but I might not be answering."

"You and Lord Delmar; how did it happen?" Lyra asked. "I'm not looking for specifics, but he seems somewhat... aloof even though you seem quite enamored."

"I am." She smiled. "He's a good man and good lord, but he's still hurting from his first wife dying."

Lyra nodded slowly, glanced at where her daughter was still entranced with Conner, and then lowered her voice. "I gathered that he wants an heir, but if I can be so bold as to ask: in the bedroom, is he looking to produce an heir or enjoy you?"

Fiona felt her cheeks grow warm at the topic and glanced towards Liza, who wasn't far away.

"She never pays attention to anything else when she's holding a baby." Lyra explained, her voice still low.

"He's... uh..." Fiona hesitated, not sure how much to say.

"I thought so." Lyra gave her a knowing smile. "Do you know what Shar and I do when our husband has had a hard day?"

"I'm having no idea." Fiona replied, but she had a sneaking suspicion that the answer would make her blush.

"When he comes to bed, we make sure that he enjoys himself as much as possible." She said, still speaking quietly. "He often protests, but there is very little that can cheer a man up faster than a wife who is determined to make him enjoy himself in the bedroom."

Fiona had been right; she could feel her cheeks growing warm.

"That's part of what a wife can offer her husband." Lyra continued. "She can create a sanctuary where he can relax from whatever happened during the day. Men sometimes need to be reminded that the world doesn't need to be hard and harsh all the time; it can have beauty and softness too. Lord Delmar seems like the kind of man who could use a reminder of that."

Fiona nodded her head in concession.

"You can be that reminder for him." Lyra smiled encouragingly. "You can make your marriage a place where he can relax and unwind; you can make it a refuge and sanctuary from the struggles of the world." Her smile turned sly. "And if you make the bedchamber a place where he can enjoy your beauty freely, fully, and to his heart's content, you might be surprised how much his heart will soften, and how fast it will happen."

Cheeks feeling downright hot, Fiona eyed her with a frown. "Are you being sure about that?"

Lyra nodded. "I have known more than one woman with a crusty husband who softened when she became more enthusiastic about sharing herself with him in bed." She paused. "It works best on good men, but you already said he was a good man, so..."

"I wouldn't be knowing where to start." Fiona admitted.

"I guessed, so I thought I'd give you your wedding present away from prying eyes." Lyra reached into an unobtrusive pocket of her flowing dress and pulled a small, thin, leather-bound book out. "I wouldn't read that with anyone else around." Lyra said as she handed it to Fiona. "That could get... embarrassing."

"Why, what's in it that's so--" Fiona had flipped it open to look and then snapped it shut as her cheeks suddenly felt even hotter.

"Told you." Lyra chuckled.

"Those drawings are..." Fiona tried to think of a word but couldn't. She was half tempted to throw it in a fire before someone saw her with it.

"They are barely sketches, and just enough so the description makes sense." Lyra said quietly while making sure that Liza was still preoccupied with Conner, and she was. The girl was slowly walking back and forth on the other side of the room, singing a soft lullaby to the baby.

"There's a description too?" Fiona's cheeks were beyond hot at this point.

Lyra nodded. "I recommend page fifteen, but then again I grew up with horses so I've always been partial to..." She looked Fiona directly in the eyes..."riding."

Fiona was pretty certain that if it was possible to die of embarrassment, she would have.

* * *

"Ethan?" Sarah asked tentatively after she finished recounting what Lady Ekthros had done as Sarah was leaving Karnas. Her betrothed had stood up with one fist clenched -- his other hand hadn't regrown enough to have a fist yet -- and he was taking deep breaths. Lots of them. Long, slow, deep breaths with a heavy and forceful exhale.

"Just..." He took another deep breath and spoke in a forcedly even tone. "...just give me a minute."

"He always gets like that when it comes to one of us getting hurt." Beth explained.

"I remember what you said happened when you left Gralden." Sarah nodded. She'd initially had trouble reconciling the kind man she knew with the savage dragon that his wives had described him sometimes becoming. Looking at him now, it was easier to believe.

"I. Am. Going. To. Kill. Her." Ethan finally said, not sounding the least bit like he had calmed down. If anything he sounded more angry, but it was a more settled kind of rage. This wasn't an outburst, this was more like something that had been heating for a while and had only now hit a rolling boil.

"Drago, remember that you-know-who called in a favor about her." Kendra pointed out.

"I don't give a shit." Ethan said, his tone calm and deadly. "If Adrian Kossel wants her alive, he can take her alive his own damn self."

"Wait, Luminar Kossel's first name is Adrian?" Sarah asked, suddenly remembering something that she had forgotten to tell them about.

"It is." Alana confirmed.

Sarah's jaw dropped. "While I was imprisoned, Lady Ekthros called out the name 'Adrian' in her sleep, and it sounded like she was worried about him." She paused. "Didn't you say he's a luminar in Arcanum?"

"Yes, why?" Taloni asked with suspicion in her tone, and Sarah got the impression that the Fey teen didn't like her very much.

"Because when the sun hit her that one time, when her eyes went lighter gray, she mentioned that there was a luminar in Arcanum that she thought was a good man." Sarah replied. "She said he would help me if I was ever in trouble, and that she would trust him. Then she implied that she wouldn't trust anyone else."

"Oh!" Selene's head snapped up as her jaw dropped, then she clapped her hand to her forehead. "Oh!"

"What?" Ethan asked.

The caramel-haired beauty looked around, then hesitated. She frowned, then her eyes went slightly unfocused for a moment. A moment later, Ethan and all his wives nodded.

"I'm not sure I should tell anyone except Ethan and his wives, obviously including Sarah as one of his wives." Selene said a moment later.

"Victoria and I can wait here." Thea volunteered.

Victoria frowned but nodded. "Okay."

"Thank you." Selene said. "I'm pretty sure that I can tell Ethan and his wives, but I'm not sure about others."

"I'll find out eventually then." Thea winked.

Victoria rolled her eyes but chuckled.

"To the captain's cabin?" Alana asked her husband.

Ethan nodded, then led Selene, Sarah, and all of his wives into the captain's cabin. Ethan and his wives all sat on the bed while Selene and Sarah stood. Sarah just wasn't comfortable sitting on the bed, even though she wanted to. It looked like Selene felt similarly.

"So, what is it?" Ethan asked Selene in a low voice.

Then Selene explained about the biologist that Yvonne had mentioned who had flirted with Luminar Kossel, the tiny grave, and what Adrian had said beside that grave. When she finished, everyone was staring at her.

"Are you saying that Lady Ekthros is married to Luminar Kossel?" Beth asked with her eyes wide and mouth open.

"And that she lost a baby?" Taloni asked, looking sad.

"If Sarah is right about her eyes changing color in the sun, that actually makes a lot of sense." Rachel said, and next to her, Alana nodded.

"Why?" Selene, Sarah, and Ethan all asked at the same time.

It was a mark of how serious the conversation was that no one laughed, or even chuckled.

"Well, obviously using dark mana turns someone's eyes completely black." Rachel began to explain. "Sunlight has a repressive effect on dark mana though, which is why necromancers tend to prefer very dark spaces to work. Perhaps Lady Ekthros used only a little dark mana so her eye color only went halfway to black? If so, since sunlight represses dark mana, perhaps her eyes become a little lighter in the sun because of sunlight's repressive effect on dark mana?" She cocked her head to one side. "Now I wish I'd paid more attention to her eyes growing up."

"You don't remember her eyes changing color?" Beth asked.

Rachel shook her head. "Not really, but again, I wasn't paying attention."

"That could either be the will-breaker ring, or simply not noticing something about someone who's always around, even if she is evil." Selene mused.

Rachel looked at Sarah. "Didn't you say that she seemed less evil when she was in the full sun too?"

Sarah nodded. "She did, and she was more kind, but being in the sun didn't make her change her plans."

"That makes sense." Rachel nodded and made a thoughtful sound. "Sunlight doesn't eradicate dark mana, just represses it slightly. If she only used a little bit of dark mana, it would make sense that sunlight slightly represses the dark mana's effects, including the eye color darkening. That fits what Sarah described and is the only thing I can think of to explain it. Gonorran's eyes didn't change color, but he was obviously fully corrupted. I suppose it's possible that Lady Ekthros only used the tiniest little bit of dark mana, and thus wasn't corrupted completely."

"Like hell." Ethan retorted. "She's as evil as they come."

Selene shook her head. "They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Maybe she really does think that 'the ends justifies the means', and if her end goal is good enough, then she might think that no means is too evil."

"She basically said that to me." Ethan frowned.

"And if she used even a sliver of dark mana, that explains the grave." Alana said, putting her hand over her womb.

Rachel nodded, then took her hand.

"How so?" Ethan asked, and Sarah was glad he had asked because she wanted to know as well.

"Because dark mana comes from death and thus is diametrically opposed to life." Rachel said, her eyes sad. "If Lady Ekthros was pregnant when she took in dark mana -- even the tiniest sliver -- I'm virtually certain it would almost immediately trigger a miscarriage."

Sarah's breath caught in her throat.

Lady Ekthros had lost her baby and her humanity at the same time? Despite how terrible the woman had been to her, Sarah couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

"Master, when I was with Luminar Kossel while he was writing Myla's divorce certificate, he said that I reminded him of someone he used to know. Someone whose 'way was lost for her', and he said she had noble intentions with unforeseen and tragic consequences." The Fey teen's wings drooped. "I think Luminar Kossel wants to save his wife."

Everyone looked around at everyone else for several long seconds.

Finally, Rachel spoke, her voice skeptical. "Lady Ekthros was once like Taloni?"

"It's possible." Kendra replied. "I've hunted a few necromancers and every once in a while, we hear that one was a good man before he started using dark magic."

"But Luminar Kossel can't be trying to save his wife -- if Lady Ekthros actually is his wife -- because there's no coming back from that; there's no cure and no way to remove dark mana's taint." Rachel replied.

"True, but then again, I've never heard of anyone only using a sliver of dark mana and then never using it again." Kendra replied. "There are rare reports of people only using a sliver and not completely succumbing, but they always go back and use more of it and then are completely corrupted. I've never heard of someone stopping at just one use; not until today. Maybe there is something he can do since she's not completely corrupted?"

"If she's 'not completely corrupted', I would hate to see what she would be like completely corrupted." Ethan said after a moment.

Sarah nodded.

Her head was still spinning from hearing Ethan's story and now this? She didn't know what to make of it. She didn't know how to make sense of everything she'd just learned.

"It makes sense though." Ethan said after a minute, his temper looking somewhat deflated. "Actually, it explains a lot."

"What do you mean Master?" Taloni asked.

"Well, when I talked to her, she seemed genuinely angry that -- in her words -- she had been 'forced' to do what she did to Sarah." He replied, then looked at her. "Sarah, you said it looked like she was truly sorry too, right?"

She nodded. "And she apologized to me and the girl that she killed. She really did seem sorry. I thought she was just being mean at the time, but maybe she wasn't?"

"That would make some sense." Rachel interjected. "Dark mana twists someone's moral compass. She might have moral goals, but not see why murder and kidnapping are wrong if done in the service of those goals. Or maybe she does see it, but thinks that her goals are good enough to justify such evils, and even worse ones."

Ethan flopped backwards to lay flat on his back with his legs hanging off the bed, then puffed out some air. "Wow, what a mess. She's still thoroughly evil, but..."

Sarah didn't know what to think.

* * *

Ethan looked up at the ceiling of the captain's cabin, trying to make sense of what he'd just learned. What an absolute mess; a quagmire of moral stickiness from which he didn't see a way out. Sure, Lady Ekthros was evil, but it sounded like she had used that tiny sliver of dark mana for a noble reason. In their conversation, she had even said that she hadn't known the cost and would never use it again. Apparently, it was rare that someone stuck to that.

Lady Ekthros had.

But she was so incredibly evil. The things she'd done and the lives she'd ruined...

"It sounds like Lady Ekthros might be similar to how I was when I had the will-breaker ring on." Rachel said quietly. "If her motives were good and she didn't know..." The redhead trailed off.

"But is she like that though?" Alana asked.

"That's a damn good question." Ethan sat up and looked around. No one spoke for several long moments and eventually he did. "Yeah, that's a damn good question."

"I think this is why Luminar Kossel wanted me to see that grave." Selene said after a long silence. "I think he knew we would figure this out eventually, and I think he wanted us to... well, maybe not sympathize, but perhaps not look at her like she's all evil."

"Ten minutes ago, I would've happily killed her as dead as a doornail without a second thought; now...?" He trailed off, not sure how he should end that sentence.

"What if it was Taloni?" Alana asked quietly. "Luminar Kossel said that Lady Ekthros used to be like Taloni right?" She looked around at all of them. "I know Tee would never do this, but if somehow Tee got a sliver of 'dark mana poisoning', what wouldn't we do to save her?"

Again, everyone looked around at each other, the same thought written on everyone's faces.

"We would do whatever it took, save for overt evil." Kendra replied.

Everyone either nodded or agreed verbally.

"She lost her baby." Sarah said, putting her hand over her stomach. Her eyes looked a little watery.

"Yeah." Alana said quietly, doing the same thing.

"What a complete mess." Ethan shook his head again.

"I think the term you're looking for is either 'FUBAR', or 'clusterfuck'." Selene grimaced, then added. "Though 'SNAFU' also fits.

"What do 'FUBAR' and 'SNAFU' mean?" Beth asked.

"'Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition', and 'Situation Normal; All Fucked Up'." Ethan replied absent-mindedly.

"Master, I think Selene is right." Tee said, her wings drooping and face downcast.

"Yeah..." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. After several seconds, he looked at Sarah. "Was there more to your story?"

Sarah shook her head. "I already told you about the attack on the way to my father's inn, and we talked earlier about how I went around asking about how to get a divorce."

He nodded, the latter chunk of conversation having taken place after the betrothal.

"The only other thing is that I did get a letter from Fiona; she's now the First Lady of Narlotten." Sarah said.

Rachel's head whipped around so fast that Ethan thought she might hurt something. "What? That's who my father married?"

Sarah nodded.

"Oh." Rachel said quietly.

Ethan and Alana each took one of her hands and gave it a squeeze.

After several moments, Rachel actually got a small smile on her face. "From what you said, she's a good person."

"She's a wonderful person." Sarah replied. "She really cares about people and I know she will love him."

Rachel nodded and bit her lip. "I hope they're happy."

"Me too." Sarah said, then gave Rachel an apologetic smile. "And I have that letter for you from Mage Weston."

Rachel actually smiled at that. "Really?"

Sarah nodded. "I can go get it if you want?"

Rachel nodded.

Sarah left the room and came back a minute or two later with a folded letter sealed with wax in her hand. One corner of it was burned slightly, but not badly. Sarah offered it to Rachel. "Here you go."

"Thank you." The redhead smiled, then broke the wax seal and opened it. Her eyes were scanning the page like she was reading it, but it looked like gibberish to Ethan.

"What does it say?" Beth asked.

Rachel actually smiled; a small smile, but it was a smile. "It's written in code, but it's a moral dilemma test. I think he wants to make sure I haven't used dark mana."

"What's the test?" Beth leaned forward to look over her shoulder.

"I'll tell you later; I don't feel up to it tonight." The redhead said, then looked at Sarah.

"Fiona really is a good person." Sarah assured her. "I know she'll do her best to make him happy."

Rachel nodded slowly. "I'm glad, I just wish..."

"Can I give you a hug?" Sarah asked.

Rachel nodded, and Sarah came forward, sat on the very edge of the bed, and hugged the redhead. Rachel hugged her back, and it looked like a good hug. When the hug broke, Sarah resumed her previous place in the room. Ethan looked around at who was in there.

Alana, Beth, Taloni, Rachel, Kendra, Selene, and Sarah.

That was them.

That was the seven wives he wanted.

Illuminar had told him that he would have seven wives, and he wanted Selene to be one of them. He might be happy with Thea or Victoria down the road, but he didn't want to find out; he wanted Selene. He had paid a lot of attention to her emotions over the last couple days, and she still felt incredibly guilty for lying to them. Ironically, he was pretty sure that because of that, Selene might be the least likely to ever deceive any of them ever again.

"What?" Selene asked him.

That's when he realized that he'd been staring at her. "I'm going to miss you Selene." He replied after a moment.

She nodded. "And I, you."

"Master, can we please talk about something else?" Taloni asked. "I don't want to think about Selene leaving."

"I don't either." Sarah said.

"Well, there's nothing stopping us from visiting Ethan's parents, or rather having them here because Tee can't go to Earth." Alana pointed out, then glanced at the mostly dark sky through the window. "Okay, not tonight, but in the morning."

"I would love that." Ethan smiled. "Honestly, I would love to get my dad's perspective on everything that's happened in the last few months."

"I would love to meet them." Sarah smiled.

"We would too." Beth grinned. "Only Alana got to last time."

"I can write a letter to Elder Goman and ask him if he would be willing to open the portal to Earth tomorrow morning." Alana offered.

"Do we need to give you and Rachel some privacy to..." Beth looked at them. "...'write a letter'."

"Yes, they have been 'writing letters' a lot lately." Tee teased as Rachel and Alana both went slightly red.

"It's about time." Selene chuckled. "They've been making eyes at each other forever."

Ethan noticed Sarah looking around at everyone in the room with a confused look on her face. Her nose scrunched up in the most adorable way with that expression and he couldn't help staring. For once, he didn't feel bad about that because she was now his betrothed.

Eventually, Sarah's eyes found his and she blushed slightly. "What?"

"Nothing." He smiled back at her. "Just looking; I can do that now."

"You can." She beamed, then glanced at Alana and Rachel, then back at him. "What does everyone mean by 'writing a letter'? I don't think it's the obvious meaning."

Ethan took a moment to figure out how to say it in a non-crass way, but Selene beat him to it. The gorgeous caramel-haired beauty leaned over and started whispering into Sarah's ear. Sarah's eyes got wider the longer Selene talked until they looked like they might pop out of her head.

Sarah's jaw dropped and she looked at Selene and whispered with bright red cheeks. "Women do that?"

"Yes." Alana grinned. "Some of us most certainly do."

"Thank Illuminar." Rachel sighed with a dreamy look at Alana.

"Amen." Taloni grinned.

"I was nervous the first time, but it's wonderful." Beth assured Sarah.

"It is." Kendra added.

"I'll take their word for it." Selene winked.

Everyone laughed except for Sarah, who seemed too scandalized to say anything.

"You don't have to." Ethan assured her. "I promise that none of us will ever pressure you into anything. Ever."

Sarah nodded mutely, her eyes still huge and mouth still open.

"I'll write that letter to Elder Goman asking about the portal to see your parents." Alana said, then looked at Rachel. "And then we can 'write a letter' in private later."

The redhead nodded, bit her lip, hesitated, then spoke quietly. "I'd love that, but it... I would be okay with... um, with not doing it 'in private' sometime too." She went beet red.

Ethan grinned. "Whenever you're ready, we'll be ready too."

Rachel nodded.

Alana chuckled, then spoke to the still-thunderstruck Sarah. "Just imagine making a baby with Ethan, then imagine six other naked women all kissing and touching you at the same time to make it feel even better."

Sarah gaped at her.

Ethan stood and went over to her, then bent down slightly to look her in the eyes. "I promise, no one will ever pressure you to do that. We would love it, but we won't push. Okay?"

She nodded, eyes still wide but she looked less frozen and her mouth was no longer hanging open.

"You aren't regretting our betrothal, are you?" He asked. He was pretty sure she wasn't, but wanted to make sure; they had just dropped a pretty big bomb on her.

"No." She shook her head, then smiled. "Never."

"Good."

They grinned at each other.

* * *

Fiona had mostly enjoyed dinner with Lord Kalus's family in the castle's great hall. Lyra had sat next to her and they got to talking about how they had grown up, which was fun. Lord Delmar was on Fiona's other side with Lord Kalus beyond him, and Lady Shara beyond that. The conversation had been lively and the food was good.

As the meal was ending, Fiona stood with her husband, who addressed Lord Kalus. "It would be advisable to meet in a more suitable venue tomorrow to discuss matters of business between our lorddoms."

Lord Kalus nodded. "Would shortly after breakfast suit you, Lord Delmar?"

"It would; I shall see you then." He replied, then indicated his steward, who was standing nearby. "My steward will show you to your room. I wish you a pleasant night's rest."

"And you as well." Lord Kalus replied.

"Lady Fiona." Shara spoke as the two families were about to part. "Might I have a word with you for a moment?"

Fiona nodded and they took several steps away from the table. She was frankly jealous of how the other lady seemed to glide along the floor without touching it.

"I would like to apologize for the indecorous behavior of my fellow wife." Shara said in a low tone, but there was a small smile on her face. "However, her advice is indeed good."

"She told you what we were talking about?" Fiona felt her cheeks grow warm.

"Not at all." Shara replied with a comforting smile. "I simply know her well enough to guess the topic and to know that she would offer good advice, though in a slightly uncouth manner."

Fiona chuckled nervously. "Are you sure I should be taking her advice?"

Shara nodded. "The two of us don't always see eye-to-eye -- especially in matters of decorum -- but Lyra is wise beyond her years and the best friend I could imagine. Even if you find it... embarrassing, I would suggest you take her advice, whatever it was."

Fiona nodded slowly. "Thank you. I'm not sure I can, but thank you."

"A husband does tend to enjoy when his wife is... actively involved in certain areas." Shara said delicately and quietly, then spoke a little louder. "I must bid you good night."

"Good night Lady Shara." Fiona replied.

The other lady gave a regal and formal curtsy, then floated away.

Lord Delmar had waited for Fiona, and she was now following him through the castle to their bedroom while carrying a sleepy Conner. Fiona and Lord Delmar had followed the same routine since getting married, that night they had had that long conversation excepted. He would use compulsion long enough that she needed no preparation, she would remove her dress, then they would couple for a minute or two before he finished, then he would go to sleep.

Oddly, despite his complete lack of foreplay or tenderness in bed, she could feel her nether regions waking in anticipation. She wasn't sure how -- something about his dragon physiology, or perhaps his sheer size -- but she was growing to enjoy their coupling, even as short as it was. She was entirely sure that she was enjoying it more than he was at least.

But Lyra's advice...

They reached the bedroom and he opened it, then held it open for her. He always did that. She found herself wondering how much he cared because he did seem to treat her like he cared, she just wasn't sure that he actually did. She put Conner in his crib and then turned to look into the room, rather a lot going through her mind.

"Fiona?" He said, making her realize that she had been staring into space in his general direction.

"I'm sorry milord, I was getting lost in thought."

"You have done nothing that would warrant an apology." He replied. "You should remove your dress if we are to couple tonight."

She nodded, not at all feeling like she wanted to take Lyra's advice tonight. Well, she wanted to, but it felt like something was missing. She wasn't sure what, but something. Despite that, she could feel her nether regions waking up in anticipation of their coupling, regardless of how short it was.

It was short, as usual.

Afterwards, she crawled into bed next to him and as usual, snuggled up against his back. It was always like this. He always slept on his side with his back to her, though he didn't seem to make a point of doing that. When she woke up in the middle of the night to feed Conner, he had never changed position.

She and Sean had gone to bed angry at each other one night and still woken up in each other's arms. She wished she and her current husband could be that way, and she resolved to try Lyra's suggestion tomorrow night. She felt like she needed something else though; something as a prelude to that. She had no idea what though.

* * *

"Selene, you're coming with me to see my parents."

The Brazilian beauty looked at him, not sure how to respond to that. They had all just finished breakfast and now his wives were running around cleaning everything on the entire airship in preparation for their mother-in-law's visit.

"You didn't ask." She pointed out.

"You don't like to be asked." He replied, then lowered his voice slightly. "I thought we established long ago that you like being told what to do."

"Not all the time." She replied, realizing too late that her tone was slightly defensive.

"I know." He grinned at her. "You're still coming with me, and I'm still not asking." He winked.

"You're up to something." She eyed him.

"Me? Never." He said in a deadpan tone while his eyes twinkled.

It took her about five seconds to realize two things. First, she loved that he wanted her to come with him; not one of his wives, but her. And second, she was thoroughly annoyed that he knew her well enough to tell her to come instead of asking, and 'worse', he knew she liked it. No, if she was being completely honest with herself, she loved it.

Plus, he wouldn't push if she said 'no'.

She knew that.

But partially because of that, she didn't want to say 'no'. "You're sure you want me to come? Me, and not one of your wives?"

"I'm sure." He smiled at her, his eyes still twinkling. "Oh, and you're coming back to the Argo with me and my parents; this isn't goodbye."

She nodded and then proceeded to start getting ready.

"Okay, I'm ready." Selene said a while later as she dropped the weight reduction necklace around her neck and smoothed the non-existent wrinkles on the women's suit that Yvonne had given to her before she'd left Earth. It was more appropriate attire on Earth than the dress she had borrowed from Anthiel when she'd returned to the Argo.

The Argo's crew plus Talven and Salma were on the weather deck where Selene and Ethan were preparing to leave, and the ladies had paused their cleaning frenzy to send them off. He had his disguise gem on and it was making him look like a large eagle.

Ethan nodded at her statement, then looked at Alana. "Go ahead and send the letter."

The wood elf slipped into the captain's cabin only to exit a few seconds later. Selene looked over the side of the Argo to see the portal hanging below the Midnight Sun as it flew in formation with the Argo.

"Elder Goman's letter last night said that he would target the portal's endpoint to about a thousand feet above the portal in the base." Rachel said. "It should be safe to fly through, but I would toss something through first just to make sure it doesn't bounce back in case the base is deeper underground than that."

"It isn't." Selene said. "I saw an overhead door opening once; it's a few dozen feet underground at most."

"Okay, hop on." Ethan said to her, bending over slightly instead of dropping to all fours because around his waist was a cloth strap whose other end was securely tied around the receiving end of the paired portals that Luminar Kossel had given to him. The plan was to leave the receiving ring on Earth so he could see his parents more.

Selene hopped on so she was riding piggyback style, but with the weight reduction necklace, it was child's play to hold herself up without choking him. He kissed each of his wives, then grinned at Sarah.

"I can't wait until you can kiss me goodbye like that too." She said wistfully.

He nodded. "You're sure you don't want to kiss again until we're married."

Sarah looked sad, but nodded. "I want to, but I'm sure. It's the way I was always taught and I would feel guilty if I did."

"Okay, I won't push." He nodded. Selene was glad that he was respecting Sarah's boundaries, even if Selene herself didn't understand what the big deal was about kissing before marriage, especially since they were betrothed.

Ethan cocked his head to one side, which forced Selene to duck slightly to avoid the twin horns that spiraled out from the back of his head, then he spoke. "Forehead?"

Sarah smiled and nodded, then Ethan -- with Selene still on his shoulders -- stepped up to her and planted a tender kiss on his new betrothed's forehead.

They both sighed.

Selene tried not to be jealous.

"The portal is opening." Alana called.

"Okay, we'll see you all in a few hours." Ethan said.

Selene tightened her grip on his torso as he jumped off the Argo, swung around, and flew at the portal at top speed. She closed her eyes and clung tightly to him. Moments later, she felt his wings pull in against her, followed by a bone-deep chill, which was then replaced by a warming sensation accompanied by a chill that made her shudder.

*We're through safely.* Ethan thought to everyone, then added privately to Selene. *Do you recognize the area?*

She opened her eyes and looked down, trying to ignore the massive amount of wind generated by the speed at which he was flying. *No, but I don't have dragon eyes either.*

*Fair.* He chuckled.

It took about fifteen minutes before either of them saw a landmark they could navigate by, and then another hour and a half of flying to get near their destination.

Ethan's parents lived on a small farm that was a short drive from the nearby town, which was a pretty good size. There were fenced-in fields all around his parents' house and cows were grazing in those fields. Near the house, there was a small cluster of trees with a creek between it and the house. There was a small footbridge over the creek that looked quite nice as well.

Honestly, the whole place looked very nice. Not in an uptight way, but in a cozy, well-put-together way that made her instantly comfortable. It seemed like an idyllic place to grow up, it seemed peaceful; serene.

She liked that.

*I'm diving, hang on.* He said.

She squeezed a little tighter and he dove, hurtling towards the patch of trees. He pulled up at the last moment and flapped to kill their momentum before dropping lightly to the ground. He stood and, for a moment, Selene kept holding onto him even though she didn't need to. It was only a moment, then she dropped down and handed the weight-reduction necklace back to him. The gossamer outline of an eagle disappeared from around Ethan, only to be replaced with his human form from before he had died.

"Let's go." He glanced toward the house and grinned as he detached the portal ring and hoisted it onto his shoulder, clearly excited to see his parents again.

She nodded with a smile, wishing that she could be that excited to see her parents again. She would be excited to see her dad, but her mother fussed incessantly and frankly was slightly exhausting to be around. Selene remembered her being more carefree in her youth, before everything with Selene's brother had happened.

They walked over the small footbridge and down a cobblestone path towards a tan house with a charcoal gray roof and a wrap-around porch with a white fence. All around the house were flowers that looked like they were lovingly tended to and they looked incredible. Selene loved the feel of this place. It felt like coming home to a house full of love and laughter, even though she'd never been here before.

Ethan walked onto the back porch, set the portal's receiving ring down, and then holding it with his left hand -- which still hadn't fully regrown -- he knocked on the door with his right.

No one answered.

He waited several long seconds, then knocked again.

No answer.

"I guess no one is home?" Selene said.

"Yeah, probably both at work, which is what I was hoping." He replied, then got that same twinkle in his eye he'd had when he'd told her she was coming.

Then to Selene's complete shock, he turned the doorknob and the door opened.

"It's not locked?" She asked, her eyes wide.

"Nope." He said as he stepped inside and held the door open for her. "I don't think they've ever used the locks here."

She stared at him as she walked into the house. "Why?"

"It's the country; nothing happens out here." He closed the door behind her.

Like the outside of the house, the inside was cozy but nice. Selene instantly felt comfortable here, even though she'd never been here before nor met the owners. There were a few paintings on the walls, a lot of family pictures, and even a framed picture of a drawing that had clearly been done by a young child hanging in a position of honor.

Ethan picked up the house's landline -- they had a landline? -- and punched in a number he'd clearly dialed many times before. Purely to hear the conversation and for no other reason of any kind whatsoever, she came up to him and leaned her head in, after which he angled it so she would be able to hear better. Their faces were quite close and Selene made a valiant but ultimately futile effort to ignore both that fact and how good it felt.

"Ruth's Salon and Day Spa, this is Emily, how can I help you?" A way-too-cheerful voice answered.

"Is Ruth there?" Ethan asked.

"One moment." The girl replied.

About thirty seconds later, someone else spoke. "This is Ruth, how can I help you?"

"Mom, it's Ethan. I'm in town and I was hoping I could steal you and Dad for the day."

"Just a second." Ruth replied, then Selene heard her say something to someone else. There was a brief pause, then Ruth spoke again. "Michelle has the salon for the rest of the day, which is good because I would hate to kick everyone out when I closed."

Ethan laughed.

"Your dad doesn't have any meetings today, which is perfect. Where are you?" Ruth asked.

"Actually, I'm home. Well, your house."

"I'll call him and we'll be there in fifteen minutes, unless we hit the train."

"Okay, see you soon Mom."

"I love you Ethan."

"Love you too Mom."

He hung up and turned to face Selene, which given how close she was to hear the call, put their faces extremely close. Strangely, it wasn't uncomfortable being this close to him. She thought it should be, especially given her impending departure, but it wasn't.

After a few moments, he smiled with that twinkle in his eye again. "We have a few minutes, just like I hoped, and I know exactly what you need."

"Oh?" She replied, quite aware that his face was well within easy kissing distance. She almost licked her lips before she caught herself.

"Yeah, follow me." He turned and headed into the kitchen. There were breakfast dishes in the sink and the dish strainer had a few clean dishes in it, but otherwise, it was clean and just as cozy as the rest of the house.

Ethan opened a few cupboards and pulled out something that looked like a thickened, metal, angular hourglass and a bag of what looked like coffee grounds.

"What are you doing?" She asked as he disassembled the strange metal hourglass thing.

"You've been craving coffee, right?"

She nodded.

"Well, I can't make one of those iced chai lattes with whipped cream and fudge sauce that you've said you wanted, but I used to make lattes for my mom sometimes. I only know how to make them the one way and I'm a bit rusty now, but she said they're pretty good." He smiled at her. "I thought you'd like one."

"Really?" She replied, her voice coming close to cracking as her eyes suddenly felt watery.

"Yeah." He nodded with a smile, and then turned back to making it. "You're one of the most capable women I've ever met Selene, but -- no offense -- you suck at taking care of yourself. You need someone to pamper you occasionally and today, it's my privilege."

That was the moment Selene realized that he'd insisted on her coming just so he could make a latte for her. She was very glad that he wasn't as close as he had been during the phone call at that moment. If he had been, she wasn't sure she could've resisted kissing him.

* * *

"So it's 'I before E, except after C'."

"That's the rule." Alana nodded to Sarah. The wood elf was teaching the newcomer how to read, or rather resuming her lessons as it seemed like Fiona and Amy had given her a good foundation. They were sitting on the weather deck outside the captain's cabin with Rachel nearby and watching. Really, they were mostly just passing time until Ethan contacted them. They'd already done everything they could do to get ready, and now it was a waiting game.

"Okay, 'I before E, except after C'." Sarah nodded slowly.

Rachel laughed. "Except when your weird, feisty, and foreign neighbors Keith and Sheila pull a heinous heist of eight counterfeit beige sleighs, forfeiting fancier weights from their heir, albeit ones seized from a glacier of scientifically strange height."

Alana closed her eyes and slowly shook her head, unable to resist smiling.

"I'm missing something." Sarah said, looking back and forth between them.

"Most of those words violate the rule." Alana explained. "For example, 'weird' is spelled W-E-I-R-D."

"Oh, then it doesn't seem like a very good rule." Sarah laughed.

"It really isn't." Rachel agreed. "Sadly, an awful lot of the rules for the common tongue are that way. That's why I like math better; the rules are the same no matter the language."

Sarah hesitated a moment, then addressed Rachel. "Um, I would hate to be a burden, but I never learned much math either."

"When did you stop?" Rachel asked

"Um, my mother had told me about something called 'division', but I never learned how to do it. She said it was like cutting a recipe in half or quarters, which I can do, but I'm sure there's more to it."

"I don't know much math either." Taloni spoke up from the quarterdeck. "Anthiel has taught me some for navigating, but I don't know much outside of that. If you are going to teach Sarah math, can I learn too?"

"Sure." Rachel smiled. "Maybe not today since we're expecting some very important company though."

"Speaking of." Sarah took a deep breath and looked at Alana. "Can... um, if Anthiel doesn't mind, could I make dinner tonight?"

"I don't mind." Anthiel said loudly from the quarterdeck with a chuckle. "In fact, I insist."

"I think Ethan would like that." Alana smiled. "Trying to make a good impression on your in-laws?"

Sarah waggled her head back and forth before half-nodding. "Um, only a little. All of Ethan's wives are amazing people and they can do amazing things, and I'm just... me. The only thing I can do well is cook, so I want to help the only way I can."

Rachel spoke up. "The problem lies not in your overestimation of us -- and you are over-estimating us by the way -- but the problem is that you underestimate yourself."

"Really?" Sarah asked.

"Yes." Alana nodded. "Ethan cares far more about who you are than what you can do for him. If he cared what people could do for him, he would've already married Thea."

Sarah nodded her head in concession.

"Be the best version of yourself and don't worry about how much you can 'do' for Ethan or us." Alana added. "Always try to be better than you were yesterday, but don't try to earn something from your family." She smiled. "It's not supposed to work that way, thank Illuminar."

"Okay." Sarah nodded. She had a small smile on her face, but didn't look entirely reassured.

* * *

Selene took of sip of the latte that Ethan had made. It wasn't the most delicious latte that she'd ever had, nor even in the top ten. However, it was undoubtedly the best latte she'd ever had in her entire life. No exceptions. She would've picked this one homemade, average-to-good latte over the best-tasting latte in the entire world without a second thought.

"So, they should be here soon." Ethan said as he glanced at the cuckoo clock. "But I want to say something that's probably a bad idea to say, but I need to say it anyway."

"Go ahead." She replied, managing to keep her voice from cracking as she took another sip of the most wonderful latte in the world.

"If you ever decided that you could live in the Ten Kingdoms, I would marry you." He stated it matter-of-factly, like it was a foregone conclusion. "Hell, I would move to Earth and marry you if Alana and especially Taloni could live here. I know how important helping people is to you so I won't ask you to stay, but I wanted you to know that if you could stay, I would make you my wife."

Selene felt her face twist into a bizarre combination of a smile and anguished grimace as her eyes became watery and her throat got tight. "Really?"

"Yes." He said firmly, then winked. "I might even let you have a say in the matter."

She gave a half-hearted attempt at a chuckle which ended up sounding more like a sob as she nodded. "You know me so well." She looked at her beautiful, precious latte, then took another sip.

"I really don't, but I'd like to." He said with a pained smile on his face.

"I would like that too." She swallowed. "I wish..." She trailed off, not able to say it out loud for fear she'd start crying.

"I do too." He looked at her for a long moment. "Selene, I want you to swear to me that you'll find someone who will look out for you."

"I don't want--"

"I don't necessarily mean a man." He interrupted; damn, he did know her well. "It could be a friend, or family member, or hell, even a professional life coach. But find someone who will take care of you. I know you'll crush it in your career, but I want to make sure that you find someone to take care of you."

She nodded.

"Promise me." He said sternly, but there was warm caring behind his eyes.

"I promise." She nodded, having no idea how she would keep that promise. She had promised him though, so she was sure as hell going to keep that promise.

She hated this.

Why couldn't there be someone else on Earth who could do what she could do? If it wasn't for her telepathy, she would happily pack up and move to the Ten Kingdoms. She wasn't stupid enough to think that her drive, determination, and intelligence were unique. If she wasn't telepathic, there would be hundreds, maybe thousands of people who could do her job at the FBI.

Ethan lifted his head. "I think I hear their car."

"Ugh, I'm a mess." She sniffled.

"A beautiful mess." He smiled at her, then gave her a lopsided grin. "...and I wasn't talking about your looks."

She actually chuckled at that, then took another sip of her precious latte.

"You'll like my parents." He said with a smile.

"I don't doubt it." She smiled back. It was a bit forced, but not entirely.

Then she heard the front door burst open.

"We're in the kitchen." Ethan called loudly.

"We?" A female voice said. "Is Alana here too..." Ruth Ejder trailed off as she rounded the corner. She looked like she was in her late thirties or early forties, but judging by how old Ethan was, she must look young for her age. Her clothes were simple but elegant, she had a small gold cross on a necklace around her neck, and the faint lines on her kind face seemed to be mostly from smiling and laughter.

Ruth stopped short, looked from her son, to Selene, to the latte that the Brazilian woman was cradling in her hands, then looked Selene in the eyes. "What's wrong and how can I help?"

"Ruth, you should wait until the car stops before jumping out." A male voice said in an amused tone from the other room before Richard Ejder came into view. Selene got a very 'Clint Eastwood' vibe from him, even though there wasn't much resemblance. He was thin, but looked wiry and tough as nails.

"You heard the question young lady." Ruth said in a stern motherly tone while still eyeing Selene.

"We'll tell you all about it later." Ethan said, but his mother cut him off by raising her hand, never taking her piercing eyes from Selene.

"Um, I recently made a huge life choice." She replied, getting the impression that Ruth Ejder was a formidable woman who wouldn't take no for an answer. "It's the right one, but I wish it wasn't."

Ruth nodded slowly, then spoke to her son while still looking at Selene. "Ethan, you said you had the whole day, right?"

"Yup." He nodded.

"What's your name?" Ruth asked Selene.

"Selene, we actually talked once before."

"The FBI agent who called?" Richard asked.

Selene nodded.

"I guess you found Ethan." Ruth smiled.

"Actually, he found me." She dearly wished she could say that in quite another sense.

"That sounds like an interesting story." Ruth said, and Selene got the distinct impression that she was planning to get the story behind what was bothering Selene, and not from idle curiosity either; it seemed like she was determined to help. That wasn't a surprise when Selene considered that Ethan was her son.

"It's an interesting story, and I know Ethan wants to tell it, but not here." Selene looked at Ethan.

He hefted the portal ring. "Yeah, there's something you need to know; something you might find hard to believe."

* * *

"A magic portal?"

"Yup." Ethan nodded to his dad, knowing how insane that sounded. "That's why Alana and I couldn't tell you where we've been; we weren't on this planet." He fished the weight reduction necklace out of the grenade satchel and held it up. "I know it's hard to believe, that's why Alana suggested that I bring this."

His parents looked at each other the same way that they had when Ethan had been seven and told the biggest -- and last -- lie he'd ever told them. To this day, he still winced when he thought about the punishment he'd gotten, but it worked because he'd never lied to them ever again.

"Put it on, then have Dad pick you up." Ethan held the necklace out to her.

"Why?" Richard narrowed his eyes.

"Trust me, try it."

His mother hesitated a moment, then took the necklace and slipped it on, after which Richard picked his wife up. Both of them gasped. They had alarmed looks on their faces for several seconds, then seemingly communicating telepathically, Ruth pulled the necklace off and handed it to Richard, who put it on. Ruth was then able to pick him up easily. After several seconds of stunned silence, his dad took off the necklace and handed it back to Ethan.

"Magic." His dad stared at him.

Ethan nodded. "And this portal can take you to my home, where the rest of the family wants to meet you."

"The 'rest' of the family?" Ruth raised her eyebrow. "Isn't it just you and Alana?" Her eyes flicked to Selene for a moment.

"I'd rather explain there, if that's okay." Ethan replied, painfully aware of his slip-up. He wanted to put his wives in front of his parents before he broke the news. You know, just in case.

Ruth looked at her husband and raised her eyebrows, probably asking an unspoken question.

After a moment, his father nodded. "Okay, how do we travel through a... a magic portal?"

*Ladies, please start charging the portal.* He thought to the group chat, then grabbed the portal and laid it against the counter so it was almost entirely upright. "Simple, just go through it when it opens, which will be in about a minute."

*It's charging now.* Rachel replied.

"It's pretty uncomfortable by the way." Selene said, taking the last sip of her latte. She then set the mug in the sink and filled it with water, probably so it could soak.

His parents nodded, and a slightly awkward silence fell until the portal started to open.

His parents gasped.

They started at it in wide-eyed wonder as the portal began to open, looking like water circling down the drain only in reverse. Over about ten seconds, it spiraled outward until it met the outside of the ring, then the surface became more still and took on a slightly rainbow-like reflectance, like a soap bubble.

"It's only open for a minute, so please hurry." Ethan said. "I'll go first; Selene, bring up the rear."

Selene gave him a thumbs up and then he ducked down and went through the three-foot-wide portal. It was just as uncomfortable as ever, but the sight on the other side made up for it.

As had been previously planned, all his wives were standing in marriage order in front of him. The portal had been leaned up against the captain's cabin door, with the result that beyond his wives, you could see the Ivernian mountains in the distance, in addition to the panoramic view afforded by the airship. Honestly, they were going for 'shock and awe', hoping that would help his parents freak out less at his multiple wives if they were already overwhelmed.

At least, that was the hope.

It was a full ten seconds before anyone else came through. He was just about to ask Selene what was happening when first his father and then his mother came through, followed closely by Selene.

His parents stared wide-eyed at everything in front of them.

"Mom, Dad; welcome to my airship: the Argo." Ethan said.

They didn't reply.

They might not have heard him with how they were looking around in stunned silence.

"Is this..." Ruth looked around, her voice slightly hoarse. "...is this real?"

"It is." Alana replied. "Welcome to our home."

It took a full five seconds before Ruth's eyes settled on Alana. "Hi Alana."

"Hi... Mom." Alana said, and Ethan remembered that his mother had asked his wife to call her that during their brief visit a few months ago.

Richard took a few steps until he was at the Argo's railing and looked down. "Ru, you need to see this."

Ruth walked to the railing to stand next to her husband, her jaw dropping. "How...? There are two sails."

Ethan chuckled. "That's what stands out to you?"

His father looked at him, his 'thinking face' on. "That necklace; you do this with a stronger version of that, don't you?"

He nodded. "The wood is enchanted."

His father nodded slowly, then he seemed to see the Midnight Sun flying in formation about fifty yards distant to the starboard and slightly to the rear. His mother continued to look about in shock, and Ethan couldn't help but smile. Both of his parents had been totally unflappable his entire youth. It was good to know that even they could feel a little overwhelmed.

*Strike while the iron is hot, Drago.* Kendra thought to everyone. Her face was a mask, but he knew her well enough to know that she was nervous.

"Mom, Dad, there are some people I'd like you to meet." He indicated his wives, pointing to each in turn. "You already know Alana, this is Beth, Taloni, Rachel, Kendra, and Sarah." He took a deep breath. "They're my wives."

His parents looked at the ladies, then stared at him.

"Wives?" Richard asked.

"Plural?" Ruth's mouth fell open.

All of his wives shifted uncomfortably and the nervous energy coming from them over his bond could've powered a small city.

"Yes, wives; plural." He confirmed. "I didn't set out to marry so many, but that's a normal thing here and it just sort of... happened."

"You'll get more grandchildren." Selene volunteered, probably remembering that Luminar Kossel had said pointing that fact out might help smooth things over.

Taloni's wings fluttered nervously.

"I hope you're not too upset about me having multiple wives." Ethan said when they didn't speak.

Ruth and Richard looked at each other, then at him, then at his wives, then back at him. If he thought they had been stunned before...

Finally, Richard spoke. "I'm a bit disappointed that you think that."

Ethan could feel his heart deflating, and his wives as well.

His father raised his hand and started counting on his fingers as he spoke. "Abdon, Hosea, Jacob, Abijah, Moses, Caleb, Abraham, David, and..." He looked at his wife. "Who am I missing?"

"Gideon." Ruth replied. Judging by her body language and the fact that her eyes had returned to a normal size, it looked like she was recovering.

"Ah, right, Gideon." Richard looked at Ethan. "And those are just the ones who were described positively; there were plenty that weren't."

In response to Ethan's vacant look, Ruth clicked her tongue and touched the small golden cross around her neck. "All that time in Sunday school and you really didn't pay attention."

"Oh." Ethan said as it clicked for him. "Polygamists in the Bible?" He was only pretty sure, since he'd gotten bored with church very young and thus had stopped going when he was old enough that his parents didn't make him go anymore.

"That's just the ones who were reputed to be righteous men." Richard replied. "Many of them are in the 'Faith Hall of Fame' in Hebrews chapter 11. If God Himself doesn't have a problem with it, I don't see how we can."

The collective sigh of relief from his wives was almost palpable.

Ethan stared at his parents. "It really doesn't bother you?"

"Would you like it to?" Ruth winked.

"No." Ethan answered quickly. "I just never thought..." He trailed off, not quite believing it.

"You should try thinking; it helps." Richard quipped.

Everyone chuckled.

"Now, I want to meet all my daughters-in-law, and you must tell me how you all met Ethan." Ruth grinned, then looked reprovingly at Ethan and Alana. "You dodged the question last time, and I want the whole story about how you met this time."

Ethan and Alana looked at each other, trying to decide how to break the news that he wasn't human anymore.

"Yeah, um, about that..." He grimaced.

* * *

Fiona sat down at a large table in the castle's large meeting room. It was reserved for more formal affairs where more privacy was required than the great hall afforded. Currently present in the room were herself, Lord Delmar, Sir Warrick, and Mage Weston on one side of the table, and Lord Kalus, Lady Shara, Lady Lyra, and two of Timarou's retinue whom Fiona didn't know on the other side

Lyra gave her a questioning look and mouthed. "Well?"

Fiona felt her cheeks grow warm and subtly shook her head.

Lyra rolled her eyes, then mimed opening a book, then held up two fingers, then four. Fiona made a mental note to check page twenty-four in that scandalous little book when she had a chance.

"Call to order." Lord Delmar said, then looked at Lord Kalus. "Narlotten welcomes Timarou to our court, and hopes for a fruitful and productive meeting this morning."

"Timarou gratefully acknowledges our host's generosity." Lord Kalus replied with a respectful nod of the head. "Shall we pray to Illuminar -- blessed be He -- before we begin?"

"Sir Warrick, would you lead us in prayer." Lord Delmar asked.

He did.

When he had finished, Lord Kalus spoke up. "Lord Delmar, would you permit me to speak first?"

Lord Delmar nodded.

"I confess to a dual purpose in coming." The other lord said. "While I did indeed wish to congratulate you on your marriage, I have of late spent some time with the prophet of Illuminar. I thus wished to understand your reasons for believing that he is a necromancer."

"You have spent some time with him, even fighting alongside him; what is your assessment?" Lord Delmar replied, and Fiona couldn't help but notice that he didn't appear to be very forthcoming with anyone else either; at least he wasn't only that way with her.

"The prophet of Illuminar appears to be a man chiefly concerned with helping those less fortunate than himself." Lord Kalus replied. "He has no black in his eyes, and I recently ensured he was in the presence of the head of my intelligence division and also a master mage who specializes in penetrating disguise enchantments. Neither could discern even a hint of disguise enchantment."

"Are these men here?" Lord Delmar asked.

"You know my court mage is." Lord Kalus indicated a man on his side of the table. "Obviously I will not speak to the whereabouts of the head of my intelligence."

Lord Delmar looked at Timarou's court mage. "What color are my eyes?"

The mage looked intently at Lord Delmar for several seconds. "Pale blue."

Fiona resisted the urge to frown. She had spent rather a lot of time looking into her husband's eyes and knew them to be pale green, not pale blue. They had been pale green for as long as she had known him, even before she could see through his disguise enchantment. A quick glance at him showed that they were indeed pale green, but then she could see right through his disguise enchantment because she was bonded to him.

"You do not detect a disguise enchantment?" Lord Delmar asked Timarou's mage.

Fiona found herself trying not to look anxious. Surely her husband knew what he was doing and wouldn't ask someone to intentionally look for a disguise enchantment on him unless he knew he wouldn't be discovered... But she still gripped the arm of her chair tightly, though thankfully that couldn't be seen by others since it was below the table.

Timarou's court mage looked at Lord Delmar intently for several more seconds, then raised his hand and moved it through the air as if he was brushing something aside. Then he frowned and did it again. Another long moment passed and he did it a third time.

"There is mana from enchantment, though it is unusually subtle." The mage finally said. "I can discern no trace of disguise enchantment. Enchantment yes, perhaps on your clothes, or a strengthening enchantment, but not a disguise enchantment."

Lord Delmar looked at Lord Kalus. "Perhaps you have been misled by the false prophet."

Timarou's lord frowned. "You give me your word that you are wearing an active disguise enchantment at this very moment?"

"Fiona, what color are my eyes?" Lord Delmar asked without looking at her, possibly so she couldn't see the color as a show for their guests?

"Pale green milord."

Lord Delmar turned to the court mage. "Observe."

Moments later, Timarou's mage raised both of his eyebrows. "Pale green, with only the tiniest murmur of disguise magic when deactivated, so subtle it could be easily missed." He seemed more fascinated than anything else, like Conner when he saw something new and fixated on it.

Lord Delmar looked at Lord Kalus. "I believe you have been misled. The head of my intelligence believes that the false prophet is intentionally attempting to correct his image, and thus he is intentionally engaging in superficially selfless behavior in order to gain allies."

Lord Kalus looked at his counterpart for several long seconds before looking at his own court mage. "You could not see through the disguise?"

"No my lord."

Timarou's lord looked at Narlotten's lord for a long moment. "What evidence do you have that he is a necromancer?"

"Such evidence as cannot be revealed without exposing the agents who collected the evidence, which I obviously will not do." Lord Delmar replied. "You are not the first to fall victim to his trickery, nor do I suspect you will be the last. I feel for the women he has under his thrall, among whom is my own daughter, disinherited though she is."

"I have spent a not inconsiderable amount of time with the wives of the prophet." Shara spoke up, and her tone was so perfectly cultivated that Fiona couldn't help but be a little jealous. The lady seemed to command the attention of the room nearly as well as her husband did. "I have rarely seen women so thoroughly in love with their husband."

"Perhaps you have not fully considered the subtle complexities and insidious power of dragon compulsion." Lord Delmar replied. "Have you forgotten the stories of Ithlan?"

Shara didn't seem to have a reply to that.

"Wait." Lyra spoke up. "I apologize, but I'm just a poorly educated rancher's daughter; to which stories are you referring?"

"The story of Thermia as recorded by Asthenarius, a chronicler contemporary with Ithlan." Lord Delmar replied. "Thermia was hopelessly besotted with our first emperor until his death, at which time the compulsion broke and she realized the deception. Thereafter, she became a broken shell of a woman, unable to cope with the indignities Ithlan inflicted on her. Yet despite this, not a single man, elf, or dwarf suspected anything was amiss, even her lifelong best friend who was like her sister and to whom she had bonded. Thermia is the most famous and well-documented of these stories, but there are others."

As Fiona was learning was normal, her husband simply let that hang in the air, the implication clear. She took a deep breath as she realized part of the reason that Lord Delmar hated the false prophet so much. She was forced to admit that he might have more reason to hate him than she herself did.

Although, she well remembered him saying that dragon compulsion was like hypnosis, and thus couldn't compel someone to violate his moral core. That didn't make a lot of sense with Thermia's story.

After a moment, Shara spoke again. "Textual analysis demonstrates that Asthenarius did not approve of our first emperor, as he omitted many of his positive accomplishments while highlighting his failures. Given these facts, and that no other chronicler records similar such stories, it is entirely possible that Thermia's breakdown resulted from a broken heart, not broken compulsion."

"The Book of Light requires the testimony of two or three witnesses." Lord Delmar replied. "Where are your witnesses to establish Asthenarius as a false chronicler? What records establish him to be thus?"

Shara smiled. "Take care, Lord Delmar, that you are not proverbially impaled on your own metaphorical sword, for as you know, Asthenarius is the only witness to such stories."

The two looked at each other for several moments before Lord Kalus spoke. "You both agree on one thing. The Book of Light requires the testimony of two or three witnesses." He looked at Lord Delmar. "While your suppositions do indeed appear plausible, I shall not condemn him until two or three witnesses can be produced."

Fiona couldn't help but notice that Lord Kalus had stopped calling the false prophet 'the prophet of Illuminar' during the course of the meeting. As the meeting turned to other matters, she hoped that perhaps her husband had succeeded in planting a seed of doubt.

* * *

"What do you mean, a dragon?"

Ethan winced slightly at his mother's tone. Explaining what had happened was proving to be... interesting.

"It's called a disguise gem." Rachel explained. "It makes him look human so he doesn't scare people."

"Back up to the part where my son is now a dragon." Richard said, and Ethan couldn't tell if he was amused or impressed.

"Okay, I'll turn the disguise gem off; just don't freak out." He clicked it off.

His mother jumped.

His father grinned. "So, can you breathe fire?"

"I'm working on it." He replied, then looked at his mother. "Are you okay?"

Ruth was staring at him, frozen stiff.

"Give her a moment." His dad chuckled, then put an arm around his wife and kissed the top of her head.

"I'm... I'll be okay." Ruth said after a moment. She took a few deep breaths and then looked at Alana. "So, when you said you were pregnant, um..."

"Our baby girl won't be a dragon." Alana assured her.

"Ruth will be an elf; a wood elf to be specific." Ethan said.

Alana pulled her ears back so they could see them.

"Ruth?" Ethan's mother asked sounding slightly choked up.

He grinned. "We all thought that would be a good name."

His mother got very choked up and Ethan was pretty sure that anything bad he had ever done would've been forgiven at that moment. After that, his parents seemed to relax. They took the fact that Alana was an elf and that Taloni was a Fey in stride, as well as the broad strokes of what had happened since he came to the Ten Kingdoms. Of course, the retelling was more about how he had met each of his wives than the various threats they faced, but Ethan made sure to work those in because he wanted to talk to his dad about them later.

Once they had covered all of his current wives, Ruth turned to Sarah. "So, how did you meet him?"

"Um, so that's a story..." Ethan said, not sure how his very Christian parents would react to his wonderful betrothed... who was unfortunately slightly demon-possessed.

* * *

"I was loving that you were coming." Fiona said as she walked with Lyra and Shara towards Timarou's flagship, Conner in her arms. "I'm sorry that you're leaving so soon though."

"We shall endeavor to visit again, though it will likely be some time before an opportunity presents itself." Shara replied as she nearly glided along the stone hallway. Fiona couldn't figure out how she did it.

"Yeah, I'd love to see you again." Lyra agreed, then added with a sly smile. "See how you're getting on and how far you've gotten."

Fiona tried not to blush as she considered that the lady was almost certainly referencing that book. A part of her wondered how a lady had even gotten ahold of such a book.

They reached the spiral staircase up to the dock and Fiona gestured for the visiting ladies to go first. They did, and Fiona realized that Tabitha had been behind them the entire time. Her bodyguard disguised as a handmaiden was almost preternaturally silent in both work and movement, and Fiona had more than once jumped upon discovering her nearby.

"Ach, Tabby." Fiona shook her head. "I think I'm needing to get you a bell to wear; you're going to be giving me a heart attack one of these days."

"I'll be more careful my lady." Her bodyguard replied in the same bubbly tone that she always used when others were around.

Fiona followed her guests up the stairs while holding Conner, her son looking around bright-eyed and being very calm. They reached the dock where Lord Delmar and Lord Kalus were already there and talking. Much of the earlier meeting had centered on trade between the two countries. They didn't share a border, but were still able to come to a mutually beneficial arrangement to smooth the trade between them that did exist.

True to her word, Tabby had placed herself right at the edge of Fiona's peripheral vision. Exactly at the edge. Fiona wasn't sure she wanted to know how her bodyguard knew where that was with such precision. Putting that out of her mind, Fiona turned her attention to Shara and Lyra. She wanted to give them both a hug, but that was a bit hard while holding Conner.

Fiona turned to Tabby. "Could you be holding Conner for a moment?"

"Yes my lady." The bodyguard replied in a bubbly and excited tone. As usual, it was impossible to tell that her excitement and bubbliness weren't genuine.

"Thank you." Fiona said as she gave Lyra a hug.

"You're welcome, and trust me; it works." Lyra grinned as she returned the hug.

"Lady Fiona, might I have a word with you before we depart?" Lady Shara asked.

"Aye."

The two of them walked a few steps away to gain some privacy, then Shara spoke in a low enough tone that they wouldn't be overheard. "Lady Fiona, might I suggest something that I believe will help bring you closer to your husband?"

"Please." She nodded vigorously.

"Every night on which we can, my husband, Lyra, and myself pray together before falling asleep." The lady said. "You can learn a lot about what is near and dear to someone's heart by hearing him pray." Shara's cheeks got the slightest bit of pink in them. "If you add this to Lyra's suggestion, I do believe it could work wonders."

"Thank you." Fiona breathed a sigh of relief. "I confess to being nervous about trying Lyra's suggestion, but I think I could be doing yours."

"Both would be ideal." Shara replied with a smile. "Both physical and emotional intimacy are important for a marriage."

"Aye, you're not wrong there." Fiona replied.

"One more thing." Lady Shara said. "Lyra, my husband, and I discussed what your husband said at the meeting about Ethan."

"The false prophet?"

Shara smiled. "You and I both believe that a necromancer is to blame for your first husband's death, but we do not agree on who it is."

"I'm not understanding." Fiona frowned. "The prophet was killing him, there's none denying that."

"What if the necromancer called Hermair lied about Ethan, making the Narlotten soldiers think he was a necromancer when he was innocent?" Shara replied. "Thus, Hermair sent good men -- including your husband -- to their deaths because an innocent man was defending himself."

Fiona resisted the urge to ball up her fists and tried to keep her tone calm and civil. It wasn't easy. "That false prophet was killing my husband."

"I know." Shara replied, her face falling. She looked so sympathetic that Fiona could feel her anger fizzling out somewhat as the other lady continued. "I couldn't imagine what that was like, what you've gone through."

Fiona nodded mutely, not sure what to say.

"Hypothetically, what if an evil necromancer tricked two good men into fighting each other and one of them died?" Shara asked gently. "Would the fault lie with the man who defended himself, or with the necromancer who tricked them into fighting each other?"

Fiona narrowed her eyes. "My husband wasn't convincing you, was he?"

"I will admit that we had a collective moment of doubt." Shara replied. "But we have spent time with Ethan and his wives. I do not believe that he is as you believe. According to multiple eyewitnesses, he attempted to sacrifice himself to save his wives from an assassin." She looked directly into Fiona's eyes. "Could a necromancer ever do that?"

"He wasn't succeeding in sacrificing himself then?" Fiona replied, trying in vain to keep her tone neutral and not bitterly disappointed.

"Lady Fiona." Shara said, seemingly undeterred. "Could a necromancer ever sacrifice himself to save someone else?"

"No." Fiona admitted. "But he could be pretending or using magical illusions to be making it look like he would."

Shara slowly nodded. "I will not attempt to persuade you further. We agree that a necromancer is responsible for your husband's death; I only ask that you consider that perhaps it was Hermair, not Ethan."

"I don't think I'm able to be considering that." Fiona replied, again trying to keep herself calm. Shara and Lyra both had already gone out of their way to help her and she really appreciated that. They clearly had been deceived by the false prophet, and Fiona supposed that made them victims of a sort as well.

"Have you not read the Book of Light?" Shara replied with a soft smile. "And the word of Illuminar came to the prophet, so that he said to the people: 'Thus says Illuminar, let no judge among you decide a case with partiality, for I am Illuminar who does not show partiality. Let your judgement be just and true, not deciding a case until you have heard the evidence, lest you condemn the innocent or absolve the wicked."

Fiona felt a muscle in her cheek twitch, but Shara wasn't wrong. Fiona had definitely heard that verse before and she couldn't deny that it applied here. Then again, Lord Delmar had surely heard the evidence and he was convinced.

"I am willing to admit that my family could be mistaken about Ethan." Shara continued. "I do not believe we are, but I must admit the possibility of course." Shara gave her a small smile that was somehow quite sympathetic. "I only ask you to do what the Book of Light commands and allow for the possibility that Ethan is not a necromancer."

"I..." Fiona pressed her lips tightly together for a moment. "I'm not sure I can be doing that, but maybe I could be trying to." She paused, and then for honesty's sake felt compelled to add. "I might not be trying very hard though."

Shara chuckled. "I understand."

Fiona nodded.

"Please, do pray with your husband." Shara suggested, obviously changing topics. "You will hear what is important to him in a way that few other things will reveal. That in turn can serve to deepen your relationship. I believe it will cause significant improvement, especially when combined with Lyra's suggestion."

Fiona nodded, grateful that Shara had made that suggestion. They returned to the group and Fiona gave both of the ladies another hug. Lord Delmar and Lord Kalus shook hands and exchanged official-sounding goodbyes, and then the Timarou party boarded their airship. It wasn't long before the airship had disconnected itself from the dock and began its journey home.

Home.

Fiona smiled at that.

It was surprising just how much the castle had begun to feel like home. It wasn't like her hometown where she had had a lot of family and friends, but it was starting to feel like home anyway.

She smiled and turned to see Tabby holding Conner. That wasn't strange, but it was strange that Tabby was looking into his eyes. Fiona had never seen Tabby look at anything that wasn't a potential threat longer than a single second, and yet she was doing so now.

"You can be holding him longer if you like." Fiona offered.

"No need." Tabitha replied, then handed the baby over with the same fake, bubbly cheer she always projected when others were around.

Fiona turned to her husband, who was speaking with Sir Warrick, and walked over to them.

"I believe the prophet will seek sanctuary in Timarou, should he require one." Lord Delmar was saying.

"Indeed so." Sir Warrick replied, then noticed Fiona and gave her a respectful head bow before addressing Lord Delmar again. "If you will excuse me my lord, I believe your wife requires your attention."

He gave another head bow, then headed towards the stairs leading back into the castle.

"Fiona." Her husband said with a slight nod of his head.

"Milord." She smiled at him. "I'm having a request."

"Speak."

She took a deep breath. "Could we be praying together before bed tonight?"

He looked at her for a long moment before nodding once.

"Thank you milord." She smiled at him.

"You are welcome." He replied without emotion. "Was there anything else?"

"No milord."

He gave her a respectful nod, then turned towards the staircase and walked away. She watched him go with a slight smile on her face. She wasn't sure how Lyra or Lady Shara's suggestions would go, but she wanted to try them.

In the back of her mind, the other thing she'd talked to Shara about bubbled up. Fiona didn't like it, but the other lady technically had a point. She wasn't sure it mattered though because her husband had seen all the evidence and thought the false prophet was guilty. She knew how seriously he took the Book of Light and how carefully he followed Illuminar's commands.

Still, Lady Shara was technically right.

Fiona didn't like that.

* * *

"Oh, you poor dear."

Ethan couldn't help but smile at his mother's response after hearing Sarah's story, and even more once Ruth got up and went over to give his betrothed a tight hug. Sarah herself seemed a little choked up and he guessed that she wasn't used to people accepting her so readily. That wasn't the first time that his mother had said those exact words and hugged one of his wives. He was pretty sure that all of them had gotten that at some point while telling their respective stories.

"Are there any more surprises?" Richard asked when they were done.

"Well, I did talk to God in person once." Ethan replied, which of course led to him telling that story and recounting the conversation as close to word-for-word as he could remember it.

"Seven wives?" Ruth took a deep breath and looked around, her eyes settling on Selene. "I suppose you're the last one?"

"I could've been." Selene said quietly.

That of course led to explaining the birthdays, which led to mentioning Myla, Victoria, and Thea.

"Where are they?" Ruth asked looking around.

"Victoria suggested that they gather below decks to give us some time with you." Rachel explained. "Talven and Salma felt like they would be intruding, so they are down there as well."

"Well, I want to meet them!" Ruth grinned.

"Who are Talven and Salma?" Richard asked.

Another round of explanations later, everyone was on the weather deck talking and mingling like they had known each other forever. As always, Ruth was the perfect hostess even when it wasn't her house. The moment Ruth heard about Myla and Falkaan, she insisted on meeting the dark elf. That led to the two airships docking, which led to Falkaan and Luminar Kossel joining the party.

Both of his parents had seemed quite impressed by how Tee piloted the Argo, which led to a discussion of the skills of Ethan's various wives. That led to Alana showing off some of her enchantments and archery, Beth demonstrating astral projection similarly to how she had done with her father, Rachel doing a magic exhibition, and Kendra demonstrating her skill with the sword. His parents were suitably impressed with all of them, which made Ethan's wives virtually glow in happiness.

"So, what are you incredible at?" Richard asked Sarah when Kendra had finished.

"Um, I can cook." She replied sheepishly.

"Wonderful!" Ruth gushed. "Can I help you make dinner?"

"Of course." Sarah beamed.

Given that it was already late afternoon, some of the men hauled the cooking pot up from the lower decks and several of the women got to work chopping and slicing for dinner. Ethan couldn't help but smile as Sarah easily and kindly directed the cooking while doing much of the work. Before long, heavenly smells were wafting through the air.

"Dad, can I talk to you for a bit?" Ethan asked while dinner was being made.

"Sure son." Richard replied, and Ethan felt a lot better when he realized that his dad was wearing his 'proud father' expression.

They walked to the front of the Argo and Ethan explained some of the other things that hadn't been explained yet, mostly about the danger they were in and all the threats they were facing. It took longer to explain it than Ethan thought it should have.

"You aren't looking for advice." Richard stated when he was done. "You already know what you need to do."

Ethan nodded. "But I don't know how to do it. It's two lords and their armies plus their fleets of airships, and I'm only one man with one airship."

"Two airships." His father corrected, nodding his head toward the Midnight Sun. "And potentially three if you collect that Ivernian airship that Alana disabled after that airship battle you told me about."

Ethan nodded his head in concession. "But not nearly enough crew or soldiers to fight two lords; I basically only have Serif and Raklan. They're bloody incredible fighters, but they aren't an army."

"I can't help with an army, but I could procure a few force multipliers." He mimed slapping a magazine into a rifle and then charging it.

"Hang on." Ethan said. *Kendra, can you come over here for a minute?*

She arrived faster than he would've thought possible and without seeming to hurry, then Richard repeated his offer.

The former Aldmiri shook her head. "If the Aldmiri learned of weapons like this, they would never leave us alone until they possessed them. I've been thinking about it and you could present the grenades as something only a dragon can create, which they would likely accept since they are based on fire. But these rifles?" She shook her head again. "We can run from two lords; we can't run from the Aldmiri."

"And you can't move to Earth because Alana and Taloni can't live there long-term." Richard frowned.

"Taloni can't even visit." Ethan replied, vividly recalling how she had collapsed within seconds of portalling to Earth and he had needed to carry her back through the portal, whereupon she had revived almost instantly.

"I believe you could find allies in the orcs, if only against Lord Farbrottan." His father said after a moment. "I don't expect their dealings with the Ivernian military have been pleasant."

"That's true." Ethan nodded. "They won't be enough, but that's true."

"Ethan, what have I always told you to do when you are uncertain?"

"Keep doing the next right thing." He smiled. "Right now, I think that's a vacation for my family. We've been through so much in the last... damn, almost four months now." He paused to think about it. "Yeah, it'll be four months in one week."

"You've done a lot here in a short time." Richard replied. "Keep plugging away; I'm proud of you Ethan, of the man you've become and the life you've built for yourself."

Ethan could feel his heart swelling.

* * *

"Holy crap, this is amazing!" Selene breathed after taking the first bite of the soup that Sarah had made for dinner. "This is like... like..." She took another bite and nearly moaned.

All around her, almost everyone was making similar comments or noises. Given the number of people, they had hauled the enchanted leather table and chairs they had used for dinner with Lord Kalus and his family in Dotmier up to the deck. There was enough seating for everyone, but not many chairs to spare. Thor was perched on her lap, taking a nap after thoroughly sniffing out the food and apparently deciding that it didn't have enough meat in it to warrant his interest.

"It's called 'Kyselica'." Sarah said, beaming and blushing slightly at the praise being heaped upon her. "It was my mother's favorite dish."

"No wonder!" Selene said, then took another bite.

Even with as much soup as there was, it was all gone and the pot scraped clean by the end of dinner. The table had no shortage of laughter and it seemed like everyone was having a wonderful time. Even the stoic Myla had smiled and actually chuckled once or twice, though the fact that she was sitting next to Falkaan probably had something to do with that.

Most everyone helped to clean up, and while Selene was helping, Ruth approached her.

"Can we talk for a minute?"

"Sure." Selene replied then they stepped to the side, eventually climbing the stairs to the quarterdeck to ensure they were out of the way. "What's up?"

"How long have you been in love with my son?" Ruth asked with a knowing smile tinged with sadness.

"I don't know when it happened." Selene felt herself deflate slightly. "I don't know how either. I wasn't trying to, he's just..." She smiled as she thought about him, though the smile faded somewhat when she thought about her impending departure.

"He told me why you are going back to Earth, and I think what you're doing is very noble."

"Thank you." Selene tried to smile, but wasn't very successful.

"I just wanted to let you know that our home is always open to you." Ruth said kindly. "I'll give you my number too and if you ever need help, or want a listening ear, or anything else, I would be happy to do whatever I can."

Selene sniffled slightly, determined that she wasn't actually going to cry at the offer. "Thank you, but why?"

"Because my son loves you, and because you look like you could use some support." Ruth replied, her tone warm and comforting.

"Now I know where he gets it." She sniffled again. "Helping people I mean."

"He gets it at least as much from his father too." Ruth smiled. "Our house is your house."

"You're sure?" Selene asked.

Ruth nodded. "Whatever we can do and however we can help, whenever you need it; just let us know."

"Okay." Selene's voice cracked slightly and she blinked a few times trying to clear her eyes.

"Come here." Ruth gave her a hug, which Selene gratefully accepted.

"Do you know when you're moving back to Earth?" Ruth asked once the hug broke.

Selene hesitated for several seconds before replying honestly and trying not to let her voice crack. "I keep trying to think of a reason to delay leaving, but I can't come up with one." She wished that wasn't true, she wished it with all her heart, but it was true. She blinked a few more times and then wiped the corner of her eye.

"If you come home tonight with us, I'll make cinnamon rolls for breakfast." Ruth offered. "I don't think you should be alone after leaving."

"I don't want to be alone." She replied, the liquid in her eyes threatening to spill onto her cheeks at the thought of leaving the Argo.

"I even have a cat carrier for Thor." Ruth said. "A client gave it to me ages ago and you're welcome to have it."

"Thank you." She took a deep breath that had a slight shudder to it.

"You know, you don't need to focus on how sad a parting is." Ruth said. "Instead, you can focus on the next time you will see each other. You can focus on the happy times coming instead of the goodbye."

"I like that." Selene said, managing a small but genuine smile. "I need to talk to Kendra then; we need to plan a time she can come to Earth."

"Why not tonight?" Ruth asked. "From what I understand, Ethan can open the portal whenever he wants. You could both spend the night at our house, eat cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and then you can even spend part of the day together before she goes home."

Selene smiled. "I like that idea, and I know she will too."

* * *

Fiona took a deep breath, her nether regions tingling for some reason that she didn't quite understand. Her husband hadn't done anything remotely sexy since they had returned to his-- uh, their room and she had just finished putting Conner to bed. Perhaps it was anticipation? But then, she was only mostly sure she would be able to work up the courage to do things differently tonight.

"You wished to pray." Lord Delmar said as he removed the large dragon-steel pendant that she assumed held his disguise enchantment.

"Aye milord."

"Come." He moved to the foot of the bed and she went beside him as he kneeled down.

"Illuminar, I ask that you help me keep my vow to Helene to be a good lord of Narlotten, and help me to be an acceptable husband to Fiona." He spoke mostly without emotion, but as he continued, she thought there was a slight... something to his tone. "And please rescue Rachel from the clutches of the false prophet; protect her from his predations as much as you are willing, and give myself and Lady Ekthros the wisdom needed to find him so Rachel might be rescued. And please, if only for Helene's sake since she served you so devotedly, keep Rachel from dark magic. Amen."

By the end, his voice had a slight waver to it. Fiona couldn't help but notice the focus of his prayers and that he had invoked Helene's name. She was starting to learn his mannerisms and the tone of his voice, and there had definitely been a note of caring when he had prayed for his daughter.

He looked at her. "Proceed."

Fiona closed her eyes and bowed her head, then said a silent prayer that Illuminar would guide her prayers tonight. For some reason, she felt slightly nervous as she began to speak.

"Dear Illuminar, could you please be helping my husband rule Narlotten well and be making wise decisions. And please be helping me be a good first lady, and especially a good wife and mother. Please be protecting Rachel from the prophet, and Sarah too. I know they're both thinking that he's a good man, so please be opening their eyes so they can be seeing what he's really like, and please be protecting them. Amen."

She opened her eyes to see him looking at her. She couldn't quite read his expression though. His eyes were open perhaps fractionally more than normal, so maybe he was surprised?

"What?" She asked.

"You prayed for Rachel." He replied, his tone similar to how it had been when he himself had prayed for her.

"Of course I was praying for her." Fiona replied. "A blind man could be seeing that you are caring for her, and so I'm wanting to help however I can."

He looked at her for a long moment before speaking, and when he spoke his tone was almost imperceptibly hoarse-sounding. It was subtle though, and she would've missed it if she hadn't been paying attention. "Thank you."

"You're welcome milord." She smiled at him, and he continued to look at her for several seconds. She couldn't make out what his expression meant though. Ach! He was too bloody hard to read. She found herself wishing that there was some way to speed up the bonding process by a few decades so she could be feeling his emotions. Sadly, she didn't know of a way to do that, and she doubted he would agree even if she did.

"We should couple before bed." He finally said, then stood up.

"Aye milord, and I'm having a thought about that as well, if you're willing to listen?"

He nodded once.

"Could..." She could feel her cheeks getting warm as she remembered Lyra's advice. "Could I be doing more this time?"

"More?" He raised one eyebrow.

She bit her lip and nodded. "Um, I'm wondering if... could you be laying on the bed? On your back?"

He regarded her almost entirely impassively for several moments before speaking. "It is not necessary for you to trouble yourself."

Fiona's cheeks were incredibly warm at this point, but she was determined to try. "I wouldn't be troubling myself milord; I'm wanting to."

He blinked.

He regarded her for several seconds and she was struck by their height difference as he did. He was nearly a whole foot taller than she was and powerfully built. Further, his disguise gem was on a nearby table and thus she could see every inch of his powerfully muscled body underneath his scales.

She hoped what she said was part of the reason for this, but his enormous cock slid from its usual place and met the air, rapidly growing as she watched. She could feel her nether regions starting to tingle and almost itch just looking at it. Fiona honestly wasn't sure how she had managed to fit it inside of her so many times.

"I do not understand." He finally said as his cock reached full mast.

"I'm wanting to show you how I'm feeling about you, and I'm not sure how else I can be doing it properly." She said, pretty sure her cheeks were almost the color of her hair.

He made a thoughtful sound, and it didn't sound like a negative one. Then again, it was hard to be sure with him.

"Please milord?" She asked, making it nothing more than a simple request.

"Very well." He replied, and she got the impression that if he was a normal man, he might have shrugged. He walked over to the bed and lay down near the middle of it.

She smiled, then reached up and began to undo the buttons holding the front of her dress closed. He watched, but not with the same kind of interest that Sean had always shown when she did this. Still, Fiona thought that perhaps his eyes might be tracking her fingers and watching as her skin was revealed. She was painfully aware that might be wishful thinking though.

She undid the last button and shrugged her shoulders a bit so the dress began to fall. She did nothing to stop it. Sean's eyes had instantly raked her body whenever she did that, and then he had often given her a lopsided grin and licked his lips in anticipation.

Lord Delmar didn't.

However, Fiona thought that she might have seen a tiny twitch in her husband's cock. She smiled as she realized that it might be the most revealing and emotive part of him.

She stepped over to the side of the bed, putting one foot directly in front of the other so her hips swayed as she walked slowly. She hoped it was a seductive sway of her hips. He didn't seem to be paying much attention, but she thought there might be another small twitch in his cock.

She smiled wider.

Once she reached the side of the bed, she leaned forward and began to slowly crawl towards him. It had been a long time since she had done this and she was only mostly sure that it was something most men would enjoy. Sean certainly had. She continued crawling up the bed, passing his feet and then lowering herself a bit so her skin rubbed up against his scales.

His cock twitched ever-so-slightly.

She smiled, glad that there was at least one part of him that she could affect. He watched the whole time, but he seemed less interested in her body and the way she was slowly sliding up, dragging her naked body along him. Instead, he seemed more curious than anything else.

She smiled what she hoped was a seductive smile as she drew level with his cock. A part of her wanted to try using her mouth and tongue as foreplay, but she somehow doubted that was the right move. Instead, she continued to slide up, making sure his cock ended up brushing the valley between her breasts. Her relatively large-at-the-moment nursing breasts.

This time, she felt his cock twitch slightly as her breasts surrounded it.

Finally, she drew nearly level with him.

He looked into her eyes, and for once he didn't seem quite so hard to read. "Fiona, why...?"

"Because I'm wanting to." She smiled at him. "Can I be having your permission to be enjoying myself milord?"

He nodded without saying anything, and she got the impression that this time, it might actually be because he didn't know what to say. She smiled, then reached down and took hold of his cock. It twitched slightly at her touch and she smiled at him because of that. She couldn't get her fingers all the way around him because he was so large, but that was okay because she didn't need to.

"I'm not thinking that I'll be needing help tonight milord." Her smile widened as she brushed the crown of his cock against her slit, feeling it slide along since she was more than wet enough.

He cocked his head to one side. "I would not have guessed that--" He paused a fraction of a second as she slid back just enough that her nether lips began to part. "--that you would be this... prepared."

She looked into his eyes, enjoying the fact that he actually seemed to not only be looking at her, but also focusing on her.

She liked that.

"Milord, surely you've been noticing that I've been needing less 'preparation'." She said.

Just as he opened his mouth to respond, she slid down a bit more, nestling the crown of his cock fully inside of her. His attempt at speech paused for a moment, and Fiona found herself jubilant that she could actually get him off-balance like this; she never had before.

She also opened her mouth and let out a small sigh at the immense fullness between her legs. He was impressively huge and seemed to be rearranging her insides, despite how little of him she had taken so far.

He cocked his head to one side and just stared at her.

For once, he wasn't as hard to read: he was confused. He was looking at her like he had never seen anything like her before and his stoic mannerisms had slipped a little.

She smiled.

She started putting a little roll in her hips as she slid slowly back, circling her hips slightly as she slid down so that she was stimulating every inch of him, and him every inch of her. She felt her eyes roll back in her head a bit at the sensations coursing through her. She wasn't sure how he did it -- sheer size maybe -- but having him inside of her had always felt amazing, even when he wasn't putting any effort in.

She felt the crown of his cock just barely kiss the entrance of her womb just as she fully bottomed out. She squeezed her internal muscles as hard as she could and then started to rock her hips slightly as she looked into his eyes. She was resting her forearms on his chest and their size difference was more noticeable right now for some reason.

She looked into his green, cat-like eyes which were finally and fully focused on her.

She smiled at him.

He didn't reply nor smile back, but he did continue looking at her with what she could only describe as wonder-tinged confusion.

"I know that you..." She sighed. "...haven't been enjoying our couplings milord." She let out a breathy exhale as a rock of her hips hit that perfect spot deep inside of her. "But I'm wanting you to know that..." She sighed again and her eyelids fluttered as she found a good rhythm. "...I'm wanting you to know that I've been enjoying them."

"Oh." He replied, but didn't say anything else.

Had she truly rendered him speechless?

Not just taciturn and stoic, but truly speechless?

"And I'm knowing that you were only marrying me for an heir." She continued that delightful rhythm. "But I'm wanting you to know that I'm wanting to carry your baby; I'm looking forward to it."

"You are?" He asked. Then, if she wasn't mistaken, she thought she heard the tiniest groan of pleasure from him. It was so quiet that it was hard to be sure, but she thought it was.

"I am." She smiled at him. "You're a wonderful man and I'm wanting to make a baby with you, I'm wanting to carry him for you and raise him with you. It's not about what you offered to Conner or me being the First Lady; right now, I'm just a woman wanting to make a new life with her husband. I'm wanting to feel my husband's baby in my womb."

She leaned down so that she was resting her torso against his chest as she kept rocking. It was a little harder in this position, but she loved the closeness.

"Fiona." He said softly.

She looked up into his eyes and could see undeniable sadness there.

He spoke again. "I do not believe that I am capable of being the husband that--"

She squeezed her internal muscles, sat up slightly, and began riding him more vigorously. "I'm not asking you to." She said softly as she looked into his eyes. "I'm loving you even if you are having a hard time loving me."

If anything, he now looked more confused.

Even more incredible, she could actually get a sense of what he was thinking from looking at his expressions right now.

She grinned wider, then spoke softly. "Milord, I'm having two requests."

"Proceed." He replied, his tone only 'neutral adjacent', not truly neutral.

"Could you please be giving me your baby tonight?" She whispered, almost automatically speeding up as she did, realizing how much the idea excited her.

"I will attempt to do so, as always, and the second thing?"

"Please be letting me kiss you milord?" She asked, having a sudden yearning to do so. She'd only just realized it, but she had only kissed her husband twice; once when they announced their engagement, once at their wedding.

He nodded his head fractionally, and she almost lunged forward to kiss him, her hips seemingly moving of their own accord. He kissed her back much like the previous two times, without much emotion. However, this time she could almost feel surprise in his kiss.

Then he touched her.

She thought it might've been a reflex, perhaps something he had done habitually with Helene when she had ridden him, but she felt the tips of his fingers brush her waist on either side.

The tension that had been building in her loins instantly snapped, prompting a loud cry of pleasure as her whole body shuddered. She felt the radiating pleasures of a mini-orgasm start to wash through her body. She clamped down on him and pushed more passionately into the kiss, hoping for a reaction from him.

Any kind of reaction.

She got one.

She felt him twitch inside of her and then a burst of warmth. She moaned aloud as she kept rocking her hips, delighted that her husband had responded to her. She opened her eyes and there was undeniable surprise on his face. She grinned as she kept rocking, determined to ensure that he would enjoy this to the fullest.

He just looked at her.

He didn't have any particular expression on his face, but he was clearly looking at her, and she loved that.

Before long, she slowed her rocking and flopped onto his chest, feeling far more sleepy than she had ever felt after coupling with him. She nestled her cheek up against his smooth scales and tucked her arms up to her chest as she lay there, feeling him slowly softening inside of her.

"That was unexpected." He said almost a minute later.

"Mmm?" She murmured, quite content right where she was. She could tell that sleep wasn't far away and he had made no attempt to move her. He wasn't trying to move her now, and he had clearly been focusing on her during their coupling, which she loved.

He didn't reply and so she nestled herself a little tighter against him and closed her eyes. She drifted off to sleep not long afterwards, a contented smile on her face.

* * *

"So you'll be back in one month maximum, and not a day longer." Kendra confirmed as she looked at Selene.

Her friend nodded. "It'll probably be sooner; Yvonne made it sound like it would take a couple of weeks to get me reinstated at the FBI, and I'd love to come back here before I go back."

"And for my wedding." Sarah added. "I want you to be the maid of honor."

Selene beamed. "I'd love that, thank you." She looked around at everyone else, who by this time was mostly just the Argo's crew and Falkaan.

"I'll be back to visit, I promise." Selene said.

"We'll hold you to that." Ethan said, his tone both serious and teasing at the same time.

"Hugs all around." Taloni announced, and then she led the charge to give the departing woman a hug. Everyone else followed suit, ending with Anthiel

"Mirella wanted me to thank you before you left." The high elf said as she hugged Selene. "She would love to see you again sometime if Illuminar's guidance allows."

"I would love that too." Selene replied, and her tone was genuine. However, Kendra didn't miss the slight face that Selene made at the mention of Illuminar. Anthiel wouldn't have seen it because of the hug though.

More than one person had a tear in their eye as they said their goodbyes, but it wasn't as sad or as awkward this time as it had been the last time when she had departed for the portal mission. It felt more like she was moving across town than to another world.

Kendra was glad of that.

It took a second round of hugs before Ethan hauled the projecting ring of the paired portals up to the weather deck and leaned it against the captain's cabin door, then he turned to look at Selene

He opened his mouth to speak, but Selene beat him to it with a smile. "Yes, I promise I'll take care of myself."

"Good." He gave her another hug, and he held on a little longer than the rest did. Kendra couldn't help but smile when she noticed that Selene made no attempt to leave the hug early either.

"I'm looking forward to your first visit." He said when he finally let her go.

"Me too." She smiled at him. The smile definitely had a note of sadness, but it was a real smile.

"Before you go, we have a present for you." Alana said to Selene, and held up a small cat collar and a bracelet. The bracelet had a small piece of leather hanging from it and was stylistically flexible enough to go with almost any outfit. "They are linked, so if you activate the bracelet, the hanging piece of leather will self-summon towards the collar, thus pointing at Thor so you'll always be able to find him, no matter what."

Selene got slightly choked up. "Thank you so much."

That led to another round of hugs, then Richard and Ruth said their goodbyes as well, with many more hugs, handshakes, and promises to see each other again soon. Everyone fussed over Thor as well, since he was going with Selene. Beth and Taloni volunteered to power the portal as the goodbyes were finishing, but they both wanted extra hugs as 'payment'.

"The portal is opening." Beth said, and Kendra turned to see that it was indeed open.

Richard, Ruth, Kendra and Selene -- the latter holding Thor with his new collar on -- all ducked through the portal. It was just as unpleasant as Kendra remembered, but worth it. Thor immediately started scrambling in Selene's arms, clearly less happy about portal travel than Kendra was. Selene managed to set him down without dropping him and he took off running, making it under the nearest piece of furniture in a flash.

"Well, at least you have that bracelet to find him." Ruth chuckled.

Kendra looked around at the kitchen of Ethan's childhood home and smiled. Selene's description had been accurate; it looked like love had been built into the walls. That said, it was also filled with the most bizarre collection of devices that Kendra had ever seen. Many of them were glowing without magic, which was bizarre.

"I'm heading to bed; I have some meetings in the morning." Richard said, then looked at his guests. "I'll join you for breakfast though."

Everyone said good night to him and then Ruth spoke. "I'll get started on that cinnamon roll dough."

"I should call Yvonne." Selene said, then looked at Ruth. "Can I use your phone?"

"Sure." Ruth replied, then looked at Kendra. "Did you want to help make the dough?"

"I'm not really a baker; that's Sarah."

"I was more thinking that we could talk, but you're free to watch if you like." Her mother-in-law replied, and Kendra got the distinct impression that Ruth wouldn't take 'no' for an answer.

"I can help."

Ruth pulled a bunch of ingredients out and set Kendra to heating the milk on the stove to lukewarm. The ease with which the device produced fire was astounding, especially since it didn't use magic.

"You know, I'm still friends with some ladies that I only see occasionally." Ruth said as she measured some other ingredients into another bowl.

"Really?" Kendra asked as she touched the milk in the pot to check the temperature.

"I talk to them once or twice a month, but only see them every few years."

"Through that 'telephone' thing?" Kendra asked.

"Yes." Ruth looked at her pointedly. "Just because you don't live with someone doesn't mean you can't remain friends, even good friends."

"It won't be the same though." Kendra said as she examined the knobs on the stove before turning the heat off.

"No, but it can still be wonderful." Ruth replied with a smile.

"I would like that." Kendra managed to smile in return.

Selene returned to the room as Ruth began to knead the sticky dough. The Brazilian woman had a slight frown on her face.

"What?" Ruth asked.

"Yvonne arranged for a paramedic couple to take care of my temporary death." Selene replied. "Apparently, they are the ones who revived Beth, and they live in the same town that Hailey, Jason, and Melinda live in."

"That's not far, I could drive you." Ruth offered.

Selene slowly shook her head with smile. "Yvonne said that you'd offer; she's incredibly insightful."

Ruth chuckled. "Well, the offer stands. Now Selene, come here and take over." She stepped away from the lump of dough.

"I'm not really--"

"Hop to it." Ruth said, and again, Kendra didn't think she'd take no for an answer... then she looked at Kendra. "You too."

And that was how Kendra and Selene ended up side-by-side kneading dough together after Ruth had split the dough in half. It was strange and they both ended up with flour on their clothes, but both of them had smiles on their faces as they worked together.

* * *

Ethan, the Argo's crew, and the visitors from the Midnight Sun finished cleaning up after Kendra, Selene, and his parents had left. It didn't take long thanks to the self-cleaning table, utensils, and dishes, nor did carrying everything back down to the storage room with so many people helping.

After everything was done, Falkaan approached him. "Prophet Ejder, might I have a word."

"Ethan is fine." He replied. "But sure, what's up?"

The dark elf looked at him for a long moment before speaking. "I would like your permission to marry Myla."

"Wait, what?" He replied, sure he'd misunderstood.

"Myla is a divorced woman, and thus can choose her own husband." The dark elf replied. "I asked her earlier tonight and she said she would not marry anyone without your blessing."

Ethan stared at the man for several long seconds as he digested that. "Didn't you two just meet yesterday?"

"Yes."

"Then why would you want to marry someone that you just met yesterday?" Ethan asked.

"Because she had the potential to be the wife of a prophet of Illuminar, even though she chose not to be, and thus must be a woman of impeccable moral character."

"And that's enough?"

Falkaan nodded. "I have wanted a family for decades, but believed that I would never find someone whom I could trust enough to marry. I could trust her."

"And trust is enough?" Ethan asked.

"She must also be willing, and I believe she is. She said that she would not marry without your permission, which is why I ask."

Ethan remembered Kendra saying that the two of them would be perfect for each other, but he definitely wanted to talk to Myla. He somewhat understood why she wanted him to approve of a future husband -- given how badly her choosing her first husband had gone -- but he definitely wanted to talk to her about this.

"I'll talk to her and get back to you." Ethan said.

"Thank you." Falkaan said, then returned to the Midnight Sun, after which the two ships undocked from each other.

"Problem?" Alana asked as he watched the other airship pull away and take up formation to the starboard and slightly behind the Argo.

He explained about the conversation he'd just had, as well as what Kendra had said about the couple. "This is so weird to me. Something like this would never happen where I came from."

She smiled and leaned up against him. "You'll figure it out."

"Advice?"

"I think they're cute together Dominus." Beth volunteered as she walked up to them, his other wives not far behind.

"I agree Master." Tee beamed.

"Well, we'll see what Myla has to say, but not tonight." He replied, then yawned. "I'm beat."

They headed off to bed after saying goodnight to Sarah, Ethan wondering at how strange his life had become. Once in bed, he said good night to his wives and then thought to everyone. *Good night Kendra, good night Selene.*

*Good night Drago, and good night everyone else.*

*Night Ethan, night ladies.*

*Selene, will you stay connected to the group chat after you break the bond?* Beth asked. *Oh, unless you can't; we tried that with Sarah yesterday and it didn't work.*

*She wasn't bonded to Ethan though, and I am.* Selene replied. *We couldn't anchor the connection, but my connection is already anchored. It might be hard to re-anchor if I disconnected from the group chat, but it should stay attached.*

*Then you haveto stay connected!* Beth gushed. *Could you please?*

*Um, I guess that's up to you all.* Selene replied, clear surprise in her tone. *I assumed I wouldn't, but if you all wanted me to, then maybe--*

*We want you to.* Kendra interrupted.

*Does anyone object?* Ethan asked.

No one did, and in fact, almost everyone talked over everyone else to try to convince her to stay connected.

*Well, it's decided Selene; you're staying connected to the group chat.* Ethan chuckled after getting his wives to stop talking all at once.

*Thank you.* Selene replied, her mental tone full of warmth.

*Drago, she's nearly crying she's so happy.* Kendra thought privately to him.

He smiled at that, knowing exactly how she felt. As he lay there thinking about Selene -- okay, worrying about how she didn't have anyone to take care of her -- an idea occurred to him. He thought about it for a moment before deciding it was a good idea, but he would need some help to pull it off.

*Hey Kendra.* He thought to her privately. *Would you be willing to help me do something for Selene.*

*Of course.* She replied instantly.

He then started explaining his idea.

* * *

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Hailey?" Selene asked over the Ejder's phone while the tantalizing scent of cinnamon rolls wafted through the house and the morning sun streamed in through the windows.

"Who's calling please?" Hailey asked.

"It's Selene Dawson, we met at--"

"Selene! Oh, thank God you're okay!" Hailey said loudly enough that Selene pulled the phone a little bit away from her ear. "Mels, Jason, it's Selene!" Hailey called, clearly having taken the phone away from her mouth before yelling. In the background, Selene could hear a baby start crying. Apparently, Melinda had given birth since Selene had last seen her, which made sense because the Latina had been very pregnant.

"I'll get the baby." Hailey said, then it sounded like the phone was set down, then a moment later it was picked back up.

"Selene, damn, I'm so glad to hear you're okay." A man's voice said, so probably Jason. "Hang on, let me put you on speakerphone." A moment later, the sound of a baby crying filled the phone.

"I'll take Ethan, he probably wants breakfast." Melinda said.

"What happened to you?" Hailey asked a moment later, her voice echoing slightly on speakerphone.

"It's a long story, but I just got back to Earth and I'll be up in your neck of the woods later today, so I wanted to know if I could come by."

"Of course." Jason replied. "Our door is always open for the woman who saved Hailey and Mels."

"Great, I'm not sure when I'll get there, so can I call you when I'm closer? Will you be home?"

"All three of us will be." Hailey replied. "Jason took some vacation since Ethan was born, Mels is on maternity leave, and my manager called last night to inform me that I would be taking a paid vacation day today, which seemed odd since he's usually a tightwad." There was a slight pause. "Did you have something to do with that?"

"No, but I think I know who did." Selene chuckled. "I'll explain when I get there."

"Okay, see you soon." Hailey said cheerfully.

"Great, bye."

"Bye."

Selene hung up the phone and then something she'd heard caught up to her. Had Melinda called the baby 'Ethan'?

Huh.

She shook her head and then looked at the number that Yvonne had given her the previous night and dialed her second call.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Theodore?"

"Nobody except my mother and Sophia call me that, but yes." He paused. "Is this Selene?"

"Yup." She replied, since Yvonne had told her that the paramedic would be expecting her call.

"You the one who wants to die for five or ten seconds, then come back for no apparent reason?"

"That's me."

"That explains why both Sophia and I got PTO, even though we were both out of vacation days. You have my address?"

"Yup, I'll be down there later."

"Okay, see you then." He hesitated. "You aren't going to bring that werewolf fellow, are you?"

It took Selene a moment to remember that Ethan had pretended to be a werewolf when they had revived Beth, mostly to avoid lengthy explanations. "No, just me and a friend."

"Okay, see you later then." He hung up.

The moment she hung up the phone, Kendra tapped her on the arm and whispered excitedly. "Why didn't Ethan tell us that his parents were ultra-wealthy?"

"Ultra-wealthy?" Selene raised an eyebrow since the Ejders looked middle class, maybe upper-middle-class at best. "What makes you think that?"

"They have two-horn cows!" The raven-haired woman whispered excitedly with wide eyes and shock in her tone as she pointed out the window where they could see some cows grazing.

"Um, all cows have two horns." She replied, then added. "Well, I think some cows have none at all, but all cows that have horns have two horns."

Kendra stared at her for a moment. "You don't have any normal cows here?"

"Those cows are normal, or normal for us." Selene chuckled.

"Oh." Kendra frowned, but nodded. "Okay."

"How many horns do cows in the Ten Kingdoms have?" Selene asked.

"One of course."

"Where?"

"The middle of the snout." Kendra replied.

Selene asked Ruth if she could use her computer and pulled up a few images of a Rhinoceros that Kendra said looked about right, well, as far as the horn went. A few more searches confirmed that Kendra thought Earth cows looked just like Ten Kingdom cows except for the horn.

Huh.

Cows with only one horn.

Weird.

"It's weird seeing cows with two horns." Kendra mused from beside her, which made Selene laugh. The two women laughed and chuckled together, then finally looked at each other.

"I'll visit as often as I can." Selene promised.

"I'll hold you to that." Kendra replied.

"Ladies, cinnamon rolls!" Ruth called from the kitchen.

To say that they were heavenly would've been underselling them.

* * *

Fiona slowly drifted to the waking world with a smile on her face. She was alone in bed as usual, but the way her husband had been last night... she smiled wider. She yawned and stretched on the bed, feeling better than she had in many a night; at least since her first husband had left for what turned out to be his final deployment.

"You are pregnant." Lord Delmar said from somewhere nearby.

Fiona's eyes snapped open and she sat bolt upright. "What?"

"I check every morning." He was standing near the bed, holding Conner as usual and reading something. This morning it was a book. "This morning, I felt something drawing mana from the Ether inside your womb; something that was not you. Thus, you are pregnant."

"I am?" Fiona reached down and put a hand over her naked stomach.

"Yes." He nodded once. "Thus, we are only required to couple every third day."

She frowned. "Are you only wanting to couple that often?"

"That is all that is required." He replied, and both his tone and his body language were unreadable. His stoicism was starting to grate on her, rather a lot actually.

"Begging your pardon milord, but I'm noticing that you're having a very bad habit of not answering direct questions." She replied. "Are you only wanting to couple that often, or are you wanting to couple more often?"

He looked at her for a long moment. "I have no plans to initiate more often than that." She couldn't help but notice that while she had asked what he wanted to do, he had answered with what he planned to do. Especially with Lord Delmar, those weren't necessarily the same thing.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then looked at him. "Again milord, you're not answering the question."

He made a thoughtful sound. "You are quite perceptive, more so than many diplomats with whom I have negotiated."

"Thank you." She smiled. "But that's still not answering the question, and flattery won't be distracting me."

He made a thoughtful sound and looked at her for a long moment with his piercing eyes. For some reason, she found it a lot easier to hold his gaze now that they were married.

"I am willing to answer your question, but I do not believe you will like the answer." He finally said.

Fiona felt herself deflate slightly as she nodded.

After a moment, he walked up to her and began handing Conner to her. She took the baby, a small smile coming to her face as she saw Conner looking up at her and smiling.

"I shall commence my day." He said a moment later, then walked to the door and left.

She stared after him for a moment before she realized that he still hadn't actually answered her question. He had told her that she wouldn't like the answer, but that didn't mean that he didn't want to couple more often.

Perhaps there was another reason that she wouldn't like the answer? Maybe he liked coupling but doing so reminded him of Helene, and that was painful? Or maybe Helene had come into his mind while they were coupling and he thought she wouldn't like that. Or maybe it was something completely different?

She decided not to pursue it further, and instead simply initiate sex every night. He might turn her down, maybe, but she thought it more likely that he wouldn't. Shara seemed to think that Lyra was insightful and Lyra had seemed to think it would help, and she had loved last night so much that she decided to keep going.

And besides...

She felt a smile grow on her face as she realized that Lord Delmar's baby was now growing in her womb. It didn't feel real, but apparently it was.

* * *

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Kendra asked as they stood outside of a house, inside of which Ted and Sophia were waiting to stop and then restart Selene's heart. To Kendra, the house looked incredible and like it belonged to some minor noble, or at least a wealthy man. However, Selene had assured her that it was pretty typical of a 'suburban' home. Kendra found that hard to believe, but then again, she was also trying to wrap her head around two-horn cows being common.

The drive had been incredibly fast, so fast that Kendra felt unsettled at how fast Ruth's 'car' went the entire drive. She was quite glad when they had arrived, the numerous fascinating sights notwithstanding. When they had arrived, Selene noted that there was an ambulance parked outside the house.

"I'm sure I don't want to." Selene sighed. "But I need to."

Kendra nodded, knowing her friend had a good reason but wishing she didn't. "I'm coming, just in case."

Selene smiled at her. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Selene raised her hand, hesitated a moment, took a deep breath, and then knocked on the door.

"Coming." About five seconds later, the door opened and a man matching Ethan's description of the paramedic Ted stood there. He had a pistol on his hip and behind him was a woman who was almost certainly Sophia.

"Selene?" Ted asked, looking skeptical.

"That's me." She nodded.

"And you're sure we won't get another visit from that werewolf fellow?" Ted asked.

"You won't." Kendra replied, remembering that Ethan had told them he was a werewolf to avoid answering certain questions.

"How is the blonde girl we saved? Beth I think?" Sophia asked.

"She's doing very well, just as vivacious as ever." Selene replied.

Ted just stared at them for several seconds.

"Can you do the 'temporary death' thing?" Selene asked.

He nodded slowly. "I'm just trying to figure out how you convinced the governor to call us over Zoom to personally ask for our help."

Kendra resisted the urge to smile; apparently, Yvonne hadn't left anything to chance.

"Friends in high places." Selene replied. "Can we get it over with?"

He nodded, then pointed to the ambulance. "We'll do it in there."

The four of them -- Kendra, Selene, Ted, and Sophia -- headed to the ambulance. Ruth was still in the car reassuring Thor, who was in the borrowed cat carrier. The little kitten did not like the car trip and especially didn't like being separated from Selene, even though he could see her.

They piled into the ambulance and closed the door behind them. The two paramedics then began hooking up a wide array of devices to Selene after having her lie down on the bed in the ambulance. Kendra didn't recognize most of what was going on, but Selene seemed to. Or at least her friend seemed familiar enough that she didn't look worried.

After a few minutes of this, Ted held up a clear tube with a needle on one end and showed it to Selene. "Are you sure about this? Once we start, we can't stop."

Kendra slipped her hand into Selene's hand, not quite believing that this was happening. It had been the plan ever since Selene had suggested bonding with Ethan, but it was still hard to believe it. The day Ethan and Selene had bonded, he had said that he thought Selene would return to Earth and break the bond. Even Taloni had said that she felt like Selene would do this.

But now that the moment was here, it didn't feel real.

Kendra almost felt like she wasn't herself, but instead was someone else watching the scene unfold. It was surreal, like a dream she was watching in third person, but it wasn't a dream.

She squeezed Selene's hand and her friend looked at her.

"Hang on a moment." Selene glanced at Ted, then looked back at Kendra. "It'll be okay; I'll still visit."

"I know." Kendra replied, feeling her throat get tight and her eyes get watery. She blinked several times and drew a slightly shuddering breath as the enormity of what was about to happen hit her. She wiped her eyes with her free hand and they came away wet.

"Promise me you'll stay connected to the group chat." Kendra said after a moment, trying not to sniffle or let the tears collecting in the corners of her eyes fall.

"I promise." Selene replied, her voice cracking slightly.

* * *

Selene looked at her best friend, not quite believing that this was really happening. She was really doing it; she was about to break her bond with Ethan. She hated that. She wished there was a way around it but couldn't think of one. She'd been racking her brain for days trying to come up with one and still didn't have one. She was the only telepath on Earth, so she could do things that no one else could; she could help people that no one else was able to help.

*Well, it's time.* She thought to everyone, then swallowed.

Hard.

*I wish it wasn't.* Alana replied. *But you're always welcome on the Argo, no matter what.*

*I agree, but I wish you didn't have to go.* Beth added, and Selene could almost hear the huff in her mental tone.

*I wish Illuminar had decided that you would be Master's sixth wife.* Taloni added mournfully.

*You will be missed.* Rachel replied a moment later. *Greatly missed in fact.*

Selene looked at Kendra.

*When you visit the Argo, we should spar.* Her best friend thought to everyone as a single tear leaked from her eye and traced a path down her cheek. *You wouldn't want to get out of practice.*

*No, I wouldn't.* Selene nodded, her face screwed up into a combination of a smile and grimace all at once.

*Sarah says that she's going to miss you and she can't wait for you to visit.* Alana thought to everyone a moment later.

*Tell her that I'll miss her too, that I'm so happy she'll get to marry Ethan, and that I'm glad I'll be able to come to the wedding.* Selene replied, her throat feeling tight as she swallowed.

*You'll be there.* Ethan said firmly.

*Good.* Selene managed to smile, though it was a pained smile and somewhat forced.

*Selene, take care of yourself.* Ethan thought to everyone. *And say hi to Jason, Hailey, and Melinda for me.*

*I'll do both.* She promised.

No one said anything after that.

The ambulance was almost silent, while Ted was looking at the two of them like they were crazy. Sophia looked sympathetic, if a bit confused.

"Ready?" Ted asked.

Selene nodded.

* * *

Sarah was standing in the captain's cabin with her betrothed and future co-wives. Ethan was looking up at the ceiling with watery eyes and not saying anything while he held all of them. Somehow, Alana and Sarah had ended up in his arms and he was holding everyone else with his wings. He was blinking a lot and sniffling regularly, and she could tell that it wouldn't be long before the liquid in his eyes would spill out.

She knew they would see Selene again, but for some reason, that didn't help very much right now.

"They're starting now." Alana whispered to her, communicating what was going on in the group chat.

"Thank you." Sarah whispered in response, then hugged her betrothed a little more tightly.

He drew a long, shuddering breath. "I'm not ready." He shook his head. "I don't want her to go."

Sarah hugged him more tightly, and it seemed like the rest of his wives did also. She would've liked to do more, but she didn't know what to do.

* * *

Ethan felt the bond break.

It was like his heart was a taut string that had snapped, or a piece of pottery that had chipped; only he was the string, he was the pottery.

It felt like a piece of his heart had been snapped off.

No, it was worse than that.

It felt like a piece of himself had been snapped off. It was like someone had grabbed a small but fundamental part of who he was and ripped it away, leaving a small but raw and ragged hole in its place. Having recently lost his hand, he could honestly say that it felt like that. It felt like a part of him was suddenly missing.

Gone.

He sucked in his breath; it almost physically hurt.

It felt like the kind of pain you get when you over-exercise and your muscles scream in pain the next day. It felt like the dull, achy pain you get from them days later when they've partially healed too. It felt like having a broken bone. It felt like a splinter on the bottom of your foot when you step on it. It felt like all of that at once.

If Ethan hadn't known better, he would've thought he was having a heart attack. He wondered if Selene would feel it at the same intensity and hoped she wouldn't. He was a dragon, a creature steeped in magic, so he guessed that she wouldn't feel it as much. He was glad of that for her sake.

*They're bringing her back now.* Kendra thought to everyone, and Alana relayed that to Sarah.

A tiny part of him hoped beyond hope that the bond would reform when they resuscitated her. He knew it wouldn't -- he'd had to re-bond with Beth when she had been brought back -- but a part of him wished for it. He became aware that the scales around his eyes and especially below them were wet. Quite wet.

*She's awake and breathing again.* Kendra thought to everyone, relief palpable in her mental tone.

*Selene?* He thought to everyone instantly.

No response.

*Selene?* He thought to everyone again, more insistently this time.

Still no answer.

* * *

Selene hadn't been conscious to feel the bond break, but something definitely felt different when she came back. It took her a minute to put her finger on it though. There was a dull, background ache in her... well, it wasn't her heart, not exactly. It felt like a stronger version of the background ache she'd felt while being far away from Ethan. Hmm. She remembered Ethan talking about how much it had hurt after Beth had died, but she wasn't feeling it anything like that strong.

Physically, she felt exhausted.

Her whole body ached, especially the area around her heart. It felt like the day after a bad flu and her whole body felt weak and strained. By reflex, she started using magic to heal the area, but there was barely anything that needed healing. She felt better after finishing, but not a lot better; she still felt like a limp noodle after a hard workout.

"Are you okay?" Kendra asked from beside her while still holding her hand.

"I've been better." She groaned, then tried to sit up.

"Hang on, let me disconnect these." Sophia said, then started to remove some of the sensors she'd attached before they'd started. Selene happily flopped backwards and didn't move; moving was exhausting right now. After a minute, they were off and Kendra helped her sit up. She felt a little woozy and swayed a little, but not enough that she was worried that she would fall down.

"Don't try to stand." Ted said. "I'm amazed that you can even sit up."

"Magical healing; it's a wonderful thing." Selene groaned, then blinked a few times as her eyelids started feeling a little heavy and dry.

Ted and Sophia looked at each other, then at her.

"Is there any way we could learn that?" Ted asked.

"We could help a lot of people if we could heal with magic." Sophia added. "Is it possible?"

"Not really." Selene replied, not wanting to even get on the topic of magic. She reached out to brush their minds and...

...and...

Huh.

She closed her eyes to concentrate since she was finding it hard to even find their minds. She did, but it took far longer than usual. As she thought about it, that actually made sense. Bonding with Ethan had greatly boosted her telepathic powers, so breaking the bond had probably removed that boost. Still, she could still use telepathy, and she was sure she'd be able to get back what she'd lost with some time and practice. Myla, Victoria, and Thea were all better telepaths than she was without bonding, so she could certainly catch up.

She tried to stand, but almost instantly lost her balance and Kendra caught her.

"Easy, be careful." Her friend cautioned.

"You really should lie down for a while." Ted said.

"I need to get going." She shook her head, then looked at Kendra. "I should've realized how wiped I would be afterward; I'm not sure where to go."

"We're going to see Jason, Haley, and Melinda; they'll watch after you for a bit." Kendra told Selene.

"I would hate to ask." Selene replied as she made it to the ambulance doors.

"You don't need to." Kendra replied as she opened the doors and hopped down while Sophia helped to keep Selene steady. "Last night, Ethan asked me to ask your mother to 'dial them' so I could ask if they could take care of you until you're feeling better."

"What?" The ache in Selene's heart was suddenly joined by a warm feeling that was probably caused by her bond with...

Oh.

"He asked me last night and Ruth did something with the phone you used to get the number while you were in that 'shower' thing this morning." She paused. "I would really love having one of those back home."

Selene smiled and nodded, still not believing that Ethan had thought to take care of her like that. It was just so like him and made her heart feel all warm and gooey inside. She couldn't even blame the bond this time; this was all her without any influence from the now-broken bond.

"Careful!" Sophia said as she grabbed Selene's arm to stop her from overbalancing and falling out of the ambulance.

"I got her." Kendra said, and between the two women, they got Selene down without a fall.

"Okay, maybe I'm not 100% stable on my feet." Selene admitted as she leaned on Kendra.

"The symptoms should wear off over the next day or two." Ted said as he hopped down. "Try to rest until then. If you slept most of that time, that would be healthy and normal. Just make sure to rest."

"Will do, and thank you both."

"You're welcome." Sophia replied, Ted just nodded.

"Come on." Kendra helped her to Ruth's car and then into the back seat, where Thor's cat carrier was seat-belted into the middle seat.

Selene managed to sit down without falling thanks to some help from Kendra, but Thor gave her a strange look when she sat down. The kitten cocked his head to one side and looked at her, then cautiously approached the side of the cat carrier and started sniffing.

"It's okay little kitty, it's just me." She said, then stifled a yawn. Apparently, dying took a lot out of you, even if it was only a temporary death.

Thor seemed unconvinced that it was Selene for at least ten seconds, during which time he sniffed her incessantly and fixed his piercing gaze on her. Eventually, after thoroughly investigating the fingers she poked through the cat carrier, he apparently decided that it was her after all and began to purr and nuzzle her fingers.

"Could he tell that you broke your bond with Ethan?" Ruth asked from the driver's seat as Kendra sat down in the back seat on Thor's other side.

The moment the door was closed, the raven-haired woman looked at Selene seriously. "Why have you been ignoring the group chat?"

"Ignoring it?" She frowned. "I haven't heard anything from it since-- Oh crap." She then explained about her telepathic abilities diminishing.

Kendra's eyes went unfocused for several long moments. "I just explained to everyone. Try focusing harder; maybe you'll hear us if you concentrate."

Selene did.

She closed her eyes and concentrated. It took her a moment to realize that she could hear something, but it was far quieter than before.

*Ethan.* She thought to everyone, then looked at Kendra. "Could you hear that from me?"

Kendra shook her head.

"Okay, I'll try shouting." She closed her eyes and thought with all her mental force. *HELLO!*

"I heard it, but it wasn't loud enough to understand." Kendra replied out loud.

"I'll work on it." Selene said. "It's a lot harder to read someone's mind now too, but I'm sure I can get better at it."

Kendra nodded, then her eyes went a little unfocused for a moment. "I let everyone know; they were a little worried for a few minutes. I'm guessing it's because you broke the bond, so you don't have the advantage of a dragon increasing your magical abilities."

"I think so too." Selene nodded, then let her eyes close for a few moments. She could really go for a long nap right about now. In fact, she wanted to know who had attached anvils to her eyelids as she yawned.

"I'll get us to your friends' house." Ruth said, putting the car into gear and starting the navigation on her phone.

* * *

Kendra helped Selene out of Ruth's car, making sure that her friend didn't fall. She was a little floppy and unsteady on her feet, although she seemed okay otherwise. Behind them, Ruth grabbed the cat carrier with Thor and the little kitty seemed happy with Ruth there. She was a hard woman to dislike, not that Kendra had any inclination to. Quite the opposite in fact.

They crossed the street and traipsed up the stairs to the second floor, Kendra keeping an arm around Selene's waist the entire time. Her friend seemed to be doing okay, but Kendra didn't want to take any chances. They passed the first door and stopped at the second, and Kendra noticed a small ornament shaped like a wreath that Ethan had once described as a 'Christmas tree ornament'.

Kendra knocked and moments later the door was flung open by Hailey. Kendra had never met the woman in person, but she definitely recognized her from her time surveilling the Argo. She was a thin, willowy woman with an athletic build and hair just as black as Kendra's.

"Selene, are you okay?" Hailey asked in alarm.

"I'm fine." Selene said with a slight grimace. "Just had to get my heart temporarily stopped to break my bond with Ethan."

"Bond with..." Hailey shook her head. "What, three wives wasn't enough?"

"Five." Kendra corrected. "Plus, he got betrothed to his seventh -- and last -- wife two days ago."

"Seven wives?" Melinda said as she came into view. She had darker skin and also black hair, and Selene had described her as 'Latina' before, though Kendra wasn't sure what that meant. She was quite attractive and carrying a baby.

The baby was wrapped up and awake, though he looked a bit sleepy. He had a similar skin tone as his mother, though several shades lighter. That was explained when the father came into view.

Selene had once described Jason as someone who looked like he should've been in a cologne ad. Apparently, men in cologne ads were tall, very fit, muscular, and handsome. He had dark hair, a bit of stubble for a beard, a strong jaw, and the exact same eyes as his son.

"Seven?" Jason said, his jaw dropping a bit. "Man, how much stamina does he have?"

"A lot." Kendra replied, managing to keep her face straight and avoid blushing.

That resulted in a slightly awkward silence where everyone except for Jason seemed slightly embarrassed.

"Any friend of Ethan's is a friend of ours." Jason said as Hailey opened the door wide.

"Come in." Melinda waved them forward.

They all piled in, with Ruth coming in last with Thor. The kitten was hiding in the corner of the cat carrier and was clearly unsure about everything around him.

"I'm Ethan's mother, Ruth Ejder; I'm the chauffeur today." She said as she came in.

That prompted a very warm greeting from Jason, Hailey, and Melinda, which included many hugs directed at the visitors. Kendra managed not to feel too awkward hugging complete strangers. It seemed impossible that this was her life now considering what it had been like only three months ago.

"You're welcome to stay as long as you like." Jason said when all the introductions had been made and Kendra had helped Selene to the couch, onto which she flopped.

"Thank you, I really appreciate it." Selene said, then yawned.

"Go ahead, take a nap." Hailey said. "I do all the time."

"Until Ethan wakes up." Melinda chuckled. "Or wants to be fed, or has a diaper problem." She looked fondly at her son. Kendra could tell that the new mother was tired, but she had a slight glow about her when she looked at the baby.

"Wait, you named your son Ethan?" Kendra asked.

"Not after anyone you know though." Jason winked and everyone laughed.

"He brought Hailey back to us." Melinda said, casting a fond glance at the willowy woman. "We all thought it was a fitting way to honor him."

"It would've been 'Selene' if it had been a girl." Hailey volunteered.

Selene got slightly choked up.

"Seriously though, please stay as long as you want." Jason repeated. "From what we heard, it sounds like you won't be back in the FBI for a few weeks and you're welcome to stay with us the entire time."

"Longer, if you need to." Melinda added, and both Jason and Hailey nodded.

"We'd be happy to have Thor around too." Hailey added. "I actually ran out earlier and grabbed some cat food, a litter box, and some food and water bowls."

"Ethan really asked you guys to take care of me?" Selene asked quietly.

"Don't be silly; he can't talk yet." Jason deadpanned while looking at his son.

Everyone chuckled and then Melinda spoke. "He did ask, but we would've volunteered."

Selene looked like she was about to cry.

Kendra wanted to comfort her telepathically through the group chat, but doubted Selene would even hear her unless she was paying close attention. Melinda and Hailey closed in on their houseguest, sat down on either side of her, and asked what was wrong.

Meanwhile, Jason stepped beside Kendra and spoke a bit more quietly. "Hey, can I ask a few... 'logistical' questions before you leave? Being in a relationship with both Hailey and Melinda is wonderful and we're all happy, but I won't pretend it's been perfect and occasionally there's some... friction, and I'd love some advice."

Kendra smiled slightly at the irony of someone asking her for relationship advice; her of all people. Still, she nodded. "I'll answer what I can."

* * *

Ethan found it easier to breathe after a few hours. The initial spike of pain had faded into a more background ache, rather like it had felt after Beth had died. He still felt like a part of him was missing, but at least it wasn't like pouring vinegar into an open wound anymore.

His wives had been incredible.

They had remained near him, not saying much but simply sharing his grief. A part of him thought he was being silly because Selene would be back to visit. He knew he'd see her again and he knew that she was in good hands, she just wasn't in his hands.

Sarah had apparently thought ahead and asked his mother for a recipe because his betrothed had made a good imitation of his favorite childhood soup, though it tasted better than the original. Her thoughtfulness really helped, but nothing actually fixed the problem.

Selene had broken their bond.

He had thought she would since the day they had bonded, and yet he still found himself shaking his head in disbelief. It didn't seem real. It was real, but it didn't feel like it. Eventually, Alana had convinced him to spar with Serif for a while to distract himself, which helped. Well, not 'helped', but it did provide a much-needed distraction.

*You'll never guess what Jason and Melinda named their son.* Kendra thought to everyone, amusement in her mental tone.

*What?* Bee and Tee asked at the same time.

*Ethan.*

Despite himself, Ethan felt his mouth pull into a small smile. *Really?*

*Yes, mostly as a way to honor you.*

*Tell them I'm flattered.* He replied, hesitated, then asked what he really wanted to know. *How is Selene?*

*She's taking a nap on the couch and they promised to take good care of her.* Kendra replied. *They let Thor out after he calmed down and he seems to like everyone here, though he does tend to scurry away when little Ethan starts crying.*

Beth spoke up. *I asked Myla, Victoria, and Thea, about Selene's weakened telepathy.* Beth added. *They say Selene will be able to talk to us like normal again once she's built up her telepathic strength.*

*Good.* Kendra replied. *Otherwise it would be hard to coordinate opening the portal. At least we can hear her when she mentally shouts, though not understand her yet.*

*Speaking of Myla, you should talk to her about Falkaan's proposal.* Alana reminded him.

*I know, and I will, but...* He sighed. *...but tomorrow, not today.*

*And master, you need to use Aharown to deal with Sarah's demon.* Taloni added. *Maybe not today, but tomorrow at the latest.* Her tone was firm and almost... disapproving?

Hmm.

*Yeah, I'll take care of both of those tomorrow, just...* He sighed and shook his head, that ache in his heart feeling overwhelming right now. *...just not now.*

*Yes Master.* Tee replied.

He glanced over to where his Fey wife was on the quarterdeck with Anthiel, and saw that the Fey had a frown on her face. Even more odd, Tee was looking at Sarah with a frown, though his betrothed couldn't see it since she was looking at him.

"I can't wait until I can hear you all talking telepathically." Sarah smiled wistfully.

"Sorry, we forgot." Alana replied, saving him from having to answer.

She then recounted the conversation nearly word-perfect for Sarah's benefit, prompting his betrothed to give the wood elf a hug in thanks. Ethan tried to summon the emotional reserves to smile at that, but he seemed to have exhausted them earlier.

* * *

"We are going to visit each other, and soon." Kendra said firmly.

"We are." Selene replied just as firmly.

They were standing near the door and it was past time for Kendra to leave, she had just been stalling. Kendra was on at least her tenth 'goodbye' hug by now.

"I need to go." She swallowed, then took a deep breath and put her hand on the door handle.

Selene stepped forward and gave her another hug. It took two more hugs and several more goodbyes before she found herself walking down the stairs towards Ruth's car with Ruth right behind her. She opened the door and got in, and even remembered the 'seat belt' thing that both Selene and Ruth had insisted was important. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Sometimes, relationships hurt." Ruth said with a sympathetic smile. "It sucks, but the alternative is not having relationships and being alone."

"I don't want that." Kendra replied, shuddering to think of going back to the reclusive woman she'd been only a few months ago. At this point, she didn't think she could survive being all alone like that again, not after having lived on the Argo.

"I want to see my husband." She said quietly, thinking about having his strong arms around her.

Ruth turned the car on. "Now that, I can help with."

* * *

Despite the persistent ache in his heart, Ethan couldn't help but smile as Kendra stepped through the portal. She locked her eyes onto him almost immediately and ran to him, throwing her arms around him the moment he was in range. She didn't say anything, she just held him tightly while he held her back. He kissed the top of her head and then leaned his head on top of hers.

It didn't take long for his other wives to turn it into a group hug. Sarah even joined in. It looked like she felt a little awkward, but the sympathetic look on her face was undeniable and she was trying. He liked that.

Eventually, they all headed to bed a bit early. Sarah asked for a kiss on the forehead before they parted and that helped lift his spirits a little.

"I miss her too." Sarah gave him a sympathetic smile.

"Thanks." He replied, his voice cracking as he gave Sarah a hug. It was amazing having her here on the Argo, and especially because she was betrothed to him. It was a dream come true and helped to lift his spirits, but they didn't make it very high with Selene having just left and broken their bond.

He got into bed, somewhat oblivious to his other wives joining him. It took Taloni wiggling into his arms for him to realize that all of his wives were there, snuggling up against him in solidarity. He tried to think of something to say, but couldn't think of anything.

"It's okay, we know." Alana said.

He nodded.

He laid in bed for what felt like forever, eventually becoming aware that his cheeks -- or rather the dragon equivalent -- were wet. He sniffled and tried to wipe them, but they wouldn't stay dry.

* * *

Selene was lying on the couch, having not felt like getting up since she woke up from a second impromptu nap. Thor was snuggled up against her and she was glad for the kitten's comforting presence because it was all starting to hit her; really hit her.

She had broken her bond with Ethan.

It was broken.

Maybe it was because what they'd pumped her with earlier to stop her heart was wearing off, or maybe it was the shock of everything, or maybe it was as simple as the reality sinking in. Regardless, it was hitting her all at once.

She wasn't bonded to Ethan anymore.

She didn't live on the Argo anymore.

She wouldn't see him or Kendra every day anymore.

She lay there on the couch, trying unsuccessfully to blink the silent tears away. It didn't work. She was leaving a wet spot on the couch and she couldn't work up the emotional energy to care.

She wasn't bonded anymore.

She didn't live with Ethan or his family anymore, especially Kendra.

She sniffled and blinked as a fresh round of liquid spilled from her eyes and traced a path down her cheek. She thought she'd done the right thing because she'd never be able to live with herself if she abandoned the people she could help on Earth. But it was only just hitting her that she might not be able to live with herself for leaving Ethan, Kendra, and the Argo either.

She thought she'd be able to soldier on in life, even feeling like this, like a piece of her had broken off. She felt like there was this hole in her chest where her heart usually was, or maybe her heart had a hole in it. She felt like a part of her was missing. The only thing she could think to compare it to was when her brother had died and the enormous hole that he had left in her life.

It was that bad.

No, it was almost worse. It was worse because she had chosen it. She had chosen to break the bond and move back to Earth. If she had known it would hurt this much, she never would've bonded with Ethan in the first place.

But she had.

She had, and she would need to learn to live with it. She had learned to live with her brother's death, so maybe she could learn to live with this too? Ultimately, despite how much it hurt, she thought that she had done the right thing by choosing to help people on Earth, people that only she could help.

That would have to be enough for her.

She could do that...

...or at least, that's what she told herself repeatedly until she drifted off to sleep.

TO BE CONTINUED...

I realize that this chapter might upset some people -- I lost a few patrons over it -- but this had to happen because of who Selene is; it would've been a fundamental betrayal of her core motivations to have this go any other way. However, I will promise a happy ending for her. I won't promise if it'll be with Ethan or not, or if it'll be in the Ten Kingdoms or on Earth, or even if it'll be the next chapter or the final chapter, but she will get one.

Note: This chapter began on day 112 of Ethan's life in the Ten Kingdoms and ended on day 114. 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 November 27th, and it'll probably drop on the 29th or 30th.

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

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