Chapter 79: Collateral Damage

* * *

Sarah took a deep breath as she watched Timarou's flagship settle into its berth at the Nalatia docks. She smoothed her dress out for the dozenth time, even though its self-repair properties meant that it couldn't truly wrinkle. She let the breath out slowly, trying to keep her face calm and relaxed.

It wasn't as easy as she would've liked.

Timarou's flagship was immense, far larger than the Argo. It was nearly twice as long and had at least one more deck, maybe two. It was bedecked in Timarou's royal colors of blue and white, and an immense flag large enough to be a small sail depicted a rearing horse in those colors; the horse was white and the background blue. It was at once impressive and beautiful, but being this close also made her want to hyperventilate.

"Trust me, there's no need to be nervous." Alana said from beside her, and all of Ethan's other wives agreed, except Beth, who was with Ethan at the tournament. Normally, such a greeting would've been handled by high-ranking diplomats or even someone like Thea, but Ethan's wives had volunteered to be the greeting party instead, and The King had agreed.

"Shara and Lyra are great people, and so is Lucien." Selene said.

Beside them, Kendra nodded. She was standing on her own two feet, finally, though she wasn't as sure on them as she had been before the ambush. Taloni had said it would be another day or two before she was fully recovered, though Sarah was just glad that she would fully recover. She was also glad for Kendra's sake that she didn't need the wheelchair anymore; she knew that Kendra hated it.

The Timarou flagship's crew lowered the gangplank, and a small family had gathered on the other side of it. The patriarch of the family stood somewhat rigidly, though he didn't seem unpleasant. He had a short, full beard and wore a small crown on his head. It was small enough that it almost blended into his thick hair, but not quite.

Next to him were two women, both beautiful and both smiling. One had amber-colored hair and the other was an ash blonde. The amber-haired woman was standing prim and proper, though her smile was genuine and reached into her eyes. The ash blonde was grinning ear-to-ear, and Sarah got the distinct impression that she wore her heart on her sleeve. Next to them were a bunch of children, all of whom clearly belonged to the family.

"My favorite prophet's wives!" The ash blonde exclaimed when the gangplank was firmly in place.

Most of Ethan's other wives laughed; Sarah was too busy trying to calm the butterflies in her stomach.

The Timarou royal family came across the gangplank and exchanged many warm greetings and tight hugs with Ethan's other wives. Sarah hung back, not sure how to behave.

"Ah, this must be the legendary Sarah." The ash blonde said as she separated herself from the happy group.

"Um, legendary?" Sarah asked.

"Yup, I'm Lyra." The ash blonde said as she swooped in for a tight hug. "Also, we don't bite." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Mostly."

Sarah tried to chuckle as she hugged back awkwardly.

"Seriously, you captured the heart of a dragon prophet; you shouldn't be nervous about meeting a rancher's daughter." Lyra said with a comforting smile as their hug broke.

"Um, okay?" Sarah replied hesitantly.

"Sarah my dear." The amber-haired woman said next as she virtually floated toward her. "You need not be troubled. Neither I, nor Lyra, nor my husband have anything but high regard for you." She then curtsied.

"Um, thank you." It took Sarah a moment to remember that she should curtsy back. That made the butterflies in her stomach dance a little more.

"Would it help to know that Shar snores?" Lyra asked.

Sarah actually did manage a chuckle at that.

Shara closed her eyes, slowly shook her head, and then let out a slightly long-suffering sigh. "Lyra, that--"

"--that is undignified to reveal." Lyra finished. "But aren't you always saying how a hostess should strive to make everyone comfortable? Well, she chuckled, therefore she's comfortable." She paused. "Well, more comfortable." She put her arm around Sarah and spoke to her fellow wife in a mock-disappointed tone. "Really Shar, you should work at being more refined."

Everyone laughed.

Even Shara smiled.

"I do believe that fire and ice have more in common than my wives." Lord Kalus said with an amused smile. "But different though they are, they make a nearly perfect pair."

Both Shara and Lyra looked at him, and their expressions said it all. Shara was more refined and proper about it, but they looked at him in much the same way that Ethan's wives looked at Ethan. Sarah really liked that.

"We have not travelled alone." Shara said after a moment, and indicated the gangplank, down which four people were walking.

Sarah stared at the last one.

It was an orc.

She froze.

Her heart seemed to freeze in her chest as her eyes went wide and her feet seemed rooted to the spot. Everything she'd ever heard about orcs came flooding back to her in an instant.

"Sarah!" Selene stepped between her and the orc and looked her in the eye. "That's Grobozlesh, and he's a friend."

"Friend?" Sarah said, still rooted to the spot.

"Yes, a friend." Alana confirmed. "He's our friend and not a threat."

"He's also delightfully blunt." Lyra chimed in with a wide smile.

"He is my guest." Lord Kalus told her. "Please, do not let your darker side prevail."

Sarah nodded slowly as her breathing returned to normal and her heart began to calm down.

"I is Grobozlesh." The orc said as he thumped his chest. Sarah would've been intimidated even if he hadn't been an orc because he towered over her and everyone else. "I not harm E-tan's wifes. You not need to be afraid."

"Um." Sarah swallowed. "N-nice to, to meet you."

The orc grunted.

"And this is Matthew and Yalia." Alana indicated the young couple that Sarah hadn't noticed because the orc had captured all of her attention.

They were both clearly young, with him probably being in his mid-twenties and her probably in her early twenties at the oldest. He was about Ethan's height, but rail-thin even though he didn't look unhealthy. His facial hair was somewhat sparse and his brown hair somewhat messy, but he had a wide smile on his face. Yalia was about Sarah's height with dainty features, kind eyes, and a pleasant smile. They both looked like what Selene had once described as a 'nerd', and were adorable together.

The young couple greeted everyone with warm smiles and tight hugs as well, though Sarah held back again. Or at least she did until Lyra slipped behind her and none-too-gently 'nudged' her forward.

"It's wonderful to finally meet you." Yalia said, then gave her a hug just as warm and tight as she had given the others.

"It's a pleasure." Matthew said with a smile.

"Um, likewise." Sarah replied.

"And you've already met Victoria's future husband." Alana said to Sarah with an impish grin as she indicated the fourth person who had come down the gangplank.

It was Colonel Reginald Forsythe.

He was slightly taller than Ethan and was wearing the standard Ivernian military uniform, which consisted of a green surcoat with a white mountain in the center over chainmail. He looked a lot like Lord Farbrottan from how Ethan had described him, which wasn't surprising because he was the lord's nephew. He was thin and wiry, and his hair was an unremarkable brown color. He had a beard, but it was quite short, rather like how Lord Kalus wore his. It amused Sarah to see that he had the exact same eye color as Victoria.

"I believe Mrs. Ejder--" The Colonel indicated Alana. "--is misinformed; Victoria and I are neither betrothed nor engaged."

"Not yet..." Taloni said in a teasing, sing-song tone.

The man ignored her and bowed slightly to Sarah. "Good morning."

"Hello again." Sarah replied while trying not to laugh at Tee's antics.

A few more pleasantries were exchanged, then they began to walk toward the palace. Somehow, Shara ended up next to Sarah with enough space between the rest of the group and the two of them for a semi-private conversation. Sarah had no idea how the lady had done it though.

"Sarah, are you aware that I am, perhaps, most strict about my children's posture?" Shara asked.

"Um, I think Alana mentioned that, why?"

"Because there is a curious trick the mind plays on itself." Shara replied. "When one stands as if one is confident, one feels more confident."

Sarah got a thoughtful frown on her face for a moment. "Really?"

"Yes, really." Shara replied seriously, though kindly. "I have observed that if someone is feeling out of sorts, a simple way to rectify the feeling -- at least in part -- is to assume a fully erect posture with the shoulders back."

Sarah thought about that for a moment, then stood up a little straighter and pulled her shoulders back. "It feels strange." She said after a moment.

"I surmised that it would, but do you not feel better?" Shara replied.

"I..." Sarah felt her lips pull into a small smile. "I think I do."

"You are the betrothed of the prophet, chosen to be his wife by Illuminar Himself." Shara added. "You need not feel inferior in anyone's company."

Sarah smiled wider at that.

"Come, let us become better acquainted." Shara said with a kind smile. "I have heard that you greatly enjoy singing, dancing, and art."

Sarah smiled wider.

* * *

Ethan double-checked that his dragon-leather armor was properly in place as he prepared to fight his first match of the morning. It was down to the quarter-final matches, and the top eight were indeed very good. Shockingly good. Without his dragon reflexes and armor enchantments, he wasn't sure he could beat some of them. Of course, he wasn't worried about fighting them with those advantages on his side.

Nearby, Beth was yawning on the Astral Plane. He could tell that she was bored, and probably wanting a book to read, but she was stubbornly sticking with him. That dedication had made him smile many times.

"Who do you think will win?" Candice asked from beside him.

"Scarface." Ethan nodded toward one of the contestants, who had a large scar on his face. It wasn't the man's name, but Ethan wasn't going to bother learning the names of people he'd never see again.

Candice nodded slowly, then lowered her voice so no one nearby could hear. "And you won't win?"

"Nope." He shook his head. He wanted to remind her that his disguise gem probably wouldn't survive intense scrutiny from Lord Farbrottan's security, and that the winner met Lord Farbrottan personally, but didn't want to be overheard.

"And, you'll be okay?" She asked at normal volume.

"Yup." He nodded. "These fights aren't even dangerous, and not even close to the most dangerous ones I've been in."

"What's the most dangerous ones you've been in?"

He looked down at his left hand and flexed it for a moment, then spoke quietly again. "Well, I discovered firsthand that dragons can regrow limbs after one battle, so..."

Candice's eyes went wide. "Really?" She looked at his hand.

"Yeah, that was painful." He replied. "Worth it, but painful."

"What made it worth it?" She asked.

He smiled faintly as he thought about the women he was currently missing. It was only about... maybe a day and a half or so until he saw them again. "I was able to save my wives."

"You're up." The Ivernian soldier by the gate entrance said.

"Right, let's do this." Ethan said, then headed into the arena.

* * *

"I normally wouldn't say 'I told you so', but this is a special occasion." Alana said to an almost beaming Sarah. The walk to the palace surrounded by the Lightguard, the wood elven royal guard, and Timarou's royal guard, had been thankfully uneventful. Though, she was pretty sure that all the protectors plus all the protectees could probably have stormed a good-sized airship and won in a straight-up battle. They probably could've taken a large airship if Kendra was at one hundred percent.

"She's so nice!" Sarah gushed quietly as they found their seats in one of the dining rooms in one of the buildings right off the palace. Alana was certain that The King or The Queen had done that so Sarah could attend. It was incredibly thoughtful.

"Shara and Lyra both are." Alana agreed as they sat down.

The table was full of friends, including The King and The Queen, Ahjah and Thea, the rest of Ethan's wives except for Beth of course, the Timarou royal family, and their guests as well. Though, their guests were mostly listening and rarely spoke. The food was incredible, with the notable exception of the soup that Thea had helped make. It wasn't actually bad, but she doubted that anyone would order it from a restaurant.

"Thea, my dear, you have many wonderful qualities, giftings, and skills." Ahjah said to her after tasting the soup. "I also greatly admire how you always strive to improve yourself; it is a most admirable quality, especially in a wife."

Thea gave him a look, but was also clearly having trouble not smiling at him too.

Ahjah raised his glass and spoke again. "To Thea."

"To Thea." Everyone echoed the toast and took a sip of their drinks, most of them with suppressed smiles.

Alana couldn't help but admire how beautifully he had balanced complimenting his betrothed with teasing her, and also helping her save face in front of the other diners.

"Ah, young love." The King said with a smile. "It is one of the greatest joys that Illuminar -- blessed be He -- has gifted to mortals.

"Wise words." Lord Kalus replied, then raised his glass. "To the many gifts that the God of Light has blessed us with."

Again, everyone toasted.

The conversation moved on and it flowed easily between everyone, which brought a smile to Alana's face. Eventually, the topic of the ambush in Nalatia came up, which led to a recounting of it for those who weren't there.

"Thank you so, so much for that double-enchantable cloth." Alana said to Shara, Lyra, and Lord Kalus when the tale was finished. "We would all be dead without it."

"It was our pleasure." Lord Kalus replied.

"Indeed, we were grateful for the opportunity to help." Shara added.

"We were." Lyra grinned. "Like I said, what's the point of being filthy rich if you can't help people once in a while?" She paused. "Well, not exactly filthy rich, but you know what I mean."

Alana resisted the urge to frown.

"What do you mean?" Taloni asked.

"She is referring to the rather extreme amount of debt my father accrued during the war that put my husband on Timarou's throne." Shara explained. "As a matter of technicality, the royal family has a negative net worth until the many, many loans are repaid."

"Indeed." Lord Kalus said. "We would not wish for Timarou to suffer the fate of Koilas."

"Um, what's Koilas and what was its fate?" Selene asked.

"Koilas is the territory of Lord Borden, Beth's father." Alana replied.

"It is a matter of public record, though it has become a cautionary tale." Lord Kalus replied. "The previous lord of Koilas accrued enormous amounts of debt on public works projects and to quell internal struggles. The holder of that debt was, of course, Lord Borden before he became lord. Additionally, and unbeknownst to the public at that time, many of the Koilas's nobles were deeply indebted to his bank as well."

"Koilas was in a tenuous position." Shara continued. "And then, their yearly payment to Lord Borden's bank went missing, pilfered by bandits en-route."

"More like pilfered by Lord Borden." Lyra shook her head.

"That theory has no supporting evidence." Lord Kalus said delicately.

"Lucien, I love you, but really?" Lyra sighed. "The normal caravan guards were replaced by rank amateurs by a noble who was in debt to Lord Borden up to his eyeballs, and he conveniently 'found' the missing shipment -- completely intact -- a couple months after Lord Borden became lord of Koilas." She paused. "Oh, and that guy's debt to Lord Borden somehow magically disappeared."

"As I said, there is no direct evidence that would warrant public speculation of such things." Lord Kalus replied with a pointed look at Lyra.

"So, he took over Koilas through debt?" Selene asked.

"Indeed." Lord Kalus replied. "When the shipment went missing, the previous lord and much of his court were indebted enough and far enough behind that Lord Borden was within his rights to throw them into debtor's prison, and such rights are imperial, not local to Koilas."

"So basically, Lord Borden 'graciously' cut a deal to wipe out all of Koilas's debt, the previous lord's debt, and all the nobles' debt if the previous lord would abdicate the throne and name Lord Borden as his successor. The alternative was being thrown into an imperial debtor's prison." Lyra summarized, then scowled. "Filthy bankers."

"Don't sugar coat it Lyra, tell us how you really feel." Selene chuckled.

Lyra opened her mouth to speak, but Shara put a hand on her arm and subtly shook her head. Lyra frowned, but nodded.

"I was kidding." Selene said. "That bad huh?"

Lyra's scowled deepened. "Small local bankers are fine, but the large ones that operate in multiple lorddoms..." She shook her head. "I didn't realize how bad they were until after Lucien became lord of Timarou. Did you know that Lord Borden financed both sides during the war?"

"He did?" Alana asked.

"Yup, and made a ton of gold doing it." Lyra's tone was forcedly calm, and Alana could almost hear the tirade that she would probably release if they were in a less public venue.

"Debt is much like fire; a fearful servant and a terrible master." The King spoke up. "It has its place, but we should never forget the God of Light's caution concerning it: the borrower is slave to the lender. Koilas discovered that to the ruin of the former lord's family."

"That is the reason our fair kingdom never contracts debt except in the most dire of circumstances." The Queen said. "We do, perhaps, grow more slowly without it, but we are slaves to no bank because of it."

"A worthwhile goal." Lord Kalus said. "Timarou is mere years from completely discharging its debt, and then it shall not accrue more. The citizenry will appreciate the tax reduction after it is fully discharged as well."

"And my husband is smart." Lyra added. "He transports Timarou's payments to Koilas on the royal airship with the entire royal guard, and entrusts no one else to the task."

"Smart." Alana said, thinking about that lost shipment.

"Um, pardon me for asking, but why would Lord Borden finance both sides of a war?" Sarah asked.

"Because most wars do not end with significant territorial changes." Lord Kalus replied.

"It is only because of my husband's tactical skill that Timarou found itself in peril." Shara added. "Wars are prohibitively expensive, and thus warring states often seek out financing to gain an upper hand, or to survive the conflict. In most cases, neither territory accomplishes much, except a large balance owed to the bankers who financed the war."

"And don't even get me started on how they get nobles to persuade kings and lords to start--" Lyra began, but again, Shara put a hand on her arm and subtly shook her head. Lyra scowled, though not at Shara, nodded subtly, and didn't finish her sentence.

"Does that include Lord Borden?" Selene asked Lyra. "Does he do that too?"

"This food is delicious." Lyra replied pointedly, then took another bite. Alana almost couldn't believe that Lyra of all people wasn't finishing her thought.

*That sounded like a 'yes' to me.* Selene thought to everyone.

No one replied, but Alana agreed. She couldn't be sure of course, but it did sound like that.

"My father got Narlotten out of debt and has refused to borrow since." Rachel said aloud after a moment. "I remember the party at the castle the day it was paid off. If I recall correctly, Lady Ekthros was the driving force behind the effort to eliminate Narlotten's debt."

"She was indeed." The King said. "It is an honorable endeavor to owe nothing to anyone except the consideration that Illuminar -- blessed be He -- requires."

"How is Ivernia's debt situation?" Selene asked.

"According to our intelligence, better than some lorddoms, worse than others." Lord Kalus replied. "They are somewhat reliant on debt, but not entirely."

"Our fair kingdom and Narlotten are unique as the only ones without debt." The King said, then nodded toward Lord Kalus. "With Timarou soon to join those noble ranks."

Lord Kalus inclined his head respectfully to The King.

*Kendra, I bet you've seen some serious shit when it comes to this kind of thing.* Selene thought to everyone. *Care to add anything?*

*No.* She replied simply as the audible conversation turned to other topics.

*Nothing?* Selene asked.

*Nothing.* Kendra confirmed.

*Not even a little?* Selene pressed.

*It is a poor idea to run afoul of bankers, especially for any large organization.* Kendra said after a moment. *Even the emperor is not immune to such considerations.*

*Wait, Bankers?* Beth asked. *What considerations? What did I miss?*

*We'll tell you when Ethan is ready to listen.* Alana replied after a moment, not looking forward to telling her what they had just learned; no one would want to hear something like that about her father.

* * *

*Beth, are you okay?* Ethan thought to her.

It was currently between bouts, and for the quarterfinals, semifinals, and final, they allowed an hour's rest minimum before a contestant had another bout. He had won his previous bout of course, but his opponent had been very good. Not good enough that he was worried about losing, but good enough that he'd had to pay attention.

He was currently standing at the edge of the arena leaning on the fence, while Beth was sitting down just inside the fence leaning up against one of the fenceposts. Her Astral form was visible to him as a blue outline, and she had pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She was slowly and subtly rocking back and forth in that position, and her chin was resting on her arms and knees.

*Beth?* He thought to her again, a little more gently.

*I feel like my entire childhood was a lie.* She replied after a moment. *I always thought that he was strict but fair, and a wonderful father. Now...*

*Nothing of what we learned changes that.* He replied. *He could've been doing dastardly deeds as a banker and still be a wonderful father; that's possible.*

Beth nodded, but her head was still resting on her knees. *You know what I hate most about growing up?*

*What?*

*I miss how simple being a kid was.* Beth sighed. *If you followed the rules, you never got in trouble. Daddy was the perfect man, mommy was the perfect woman, and the biggest problem I had to worry about was not losing track of time reading at the library.* She sighed. *I miss that. I would never want to go back, but I miss it. I miss the world being simple, and it being obvious who the good guys and bad guys are.*

*Yeah...* Ethan also sighed. *Yeah, I understand completely.*

They both said nothing for a minute or two, instead opting to watch the current bout. Ethan himself wasn't really watching, more like staring into space in the direction of the bout while his mind wandered. All things considered, Beth was taking this pretty well.

*Ethan?* She thought to him after a minute.

*Yeah?*

*I don't have to be like my father, right?*

*No, no you don't.* He replied. *Our parents obviously influence who we are, but we aren't copies of them. We can choose to be something else, something better, or even something worse if we aren't careful.*

Beth nodded slowly. *I want to be something better. I don't want to help people start wars, I want to help end them, or even prevent them if we can.* She looked at him. *Do you think I could do that?*

*You already have.* He smiled at her. *Have you forgotten that we ended the attacks on the miners near Dotmier and ended the 'war' between two orc clans?*

Beth got a half smile on her face, then bit her lip. *I know it happened, but it doesn't feel real.*

*Yeah, big things like that sometimes take a while to sink in.* He replied.

After another moment, Beth stood up and looked at him. *I'm not going to be like my father; I'm going to be a good person who helps people.* Her tone was firm, though her expression was conflicted.

*Good.* He smiled, then got a lopsided grin. *But I think you mean that you'll be a person who helps more people; you've already helped a lot of them.*

Beth nodded, and it looked like she was trying to smile. *Good.*

* * *

"This is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!"

Selene smiled at Yalia gushing over the Hall of Meeting, through which the tour of the castle grounds was currently progressing. The young nymph was spinning slowly on the spot, gazing wide-eyed at the intricately carved vaulted ceiling above.

Matthew leaned slightly closer to Selene and spoke with his eyes fixed on his wife. "It's the second most beautiful thing I've seen..."

Selene chuckled.

After the meal, Ahjah and Thea had ended up volunteering to give Matthew and Yalia, Colonel Forsythe, and Grobozlesh a tour of the palace grounds. Ethan wives -- minus Beth of course -- were tagging along since they hadn't gotten one yet, and The Queen had insisted.

*There's more than one way to wage a war.* Kendra thought to everyone as they proceeded through the Hall of Meeting. As had been normal during the tournament, Ethan had temporarily closed his connection to the group chat so they could use it without interrupting his bouts. Selene guessed that Beth had as well, and only partially for the same reason.

*I was thinking the same thing; finance.* Rachel replied.

*How would we do that?* Taloni asked.

*Ivernia is bordered by five different lorddoms.* Kendra replied. *Timarou, Har'Peton, Koilas, Narlotten, and the wood elves. They might seek a loan from any of them, especially Koilas, and could use those funds to help hunt us once we begin to fight Lord Farbrottan in earnest. Further away lorddoms are possible, but unlikely because of the time it takes and the diplomatic issues with moving large amounts of gold through another lorddom without sky piracy or taxes becoming an issue.*

*I doubt Beth's dad feels like loaning them money, so Koilas is out.* Alana replied. *It's almost certainly the same story with Timarou and the wood elves, though we should ask them.*

*That just leaves Narlotten and Har'Peton.* Rachel added. *Har'Peton has a small border with Ivernia, but they aren't exactly known for keeping their word.

*Timarou and Har'Peton have been rivals for centuries.* Kendra pointed out. *Lord Kalus will know how to deal with them.*

*That just leaves Narlotten.* Alana glanced at Rachel. *But they do have some kind of alliance going right now, so that might be harder to deal with.*

*I can ask Myla to ask Falkaan what kind of alliance it is.* Selene suggested. *I'll bet he knows; he's ridiculously well-connected.*

*Please do.* Alana replied.

"And this is the royal garden, tended by The Queen herself." Thea said as they rounded a corner and saw a small flower garden that was one of the most intricate and delightfully surprising combinations of chaos and order that she'd ever seen. It clearly had an underlying order, but it was impossible to discern exactly what that order was and the combination was exquisite.

*Myla.* Selene thought to the second group chat. *Can you ask Falkaan about Ivernia's alliance with Narlotten? Specifically, how likely is Narlotten to lend money to Ivernia?*

*Hai.* Myla replied, using the word that Selene had grown to recognize means 'yes' in the Southern Lands where Myla was from.

Ahead of them, Thea glanced back in her direction, since she was part of the second group chat as well.

"I'll explain later." Selene mouthed to the gorgeous elf, who nodded.

About a minute later, Myla thought to the second group chat. *Falkaan has completed his review of the available intelligence and surmises that Narlotten has loaned a not-insignificant quantity of gold to Ivernia's treasury. He additionally notes that Ivernia uses the coin loaned to them primarily for the purpose of funding military applications.*

*Thanks, and tell him thanks for me, will you?* Selene replied.

*Hai.*

Selene relayed that information to her fellow wives.

*We should talk to Ethan.* Alana suggested.

*I'll get him.* Selene replied. *Ethan, got a minute?* Selene thought to him, making sure her tone was casual so he didn't think it was urgent in case he was in the middle of a bout.

*One minute...* He replied.

The tour continued and Selene was indeed struck by how beautiful the whole thing was. It seemed like literally every single aspect of the wood elven architecture was laden with subtle detail, down to even some of the wooden pegs they used to hold things together. She had heard that the Japanese didn't use nails, instead preferring to fit wooden joints together such that they wouldn't come apart, and the wood elves appeared to share this design philosophy.

Honestly, she thought that fit them perfectly.

*Okay, I just finished the bout. What's up?* Ethan thought to her about two minutes later.

*I have some more information, but this would be better in the group chat.* Selene replied.

*Okay, shoot.* Ethan thought to the group chat, then they explained Kendra's suggestion and what they had learned.

*Hmm, so that begs the question: what kind of war did we want to fight?* He replied after a moment.

*Dominus, what do you mean?* Beth asked.

*Well, there's a boots on the ground, two armies fighting each other kind of war, but that's not the only kind of war. There's also guerrilla-style warfare, and the black ops style 'slip in, slip out' kind of war. Obviously cutting their funding off makes sense no matter what, and that's a great idea from my brown-eyed beauty, but it does mean we need to think about the kind of war we want to fight.*

*I think you mean the kind of war you want to fight initially.* Kendra replied. She was doing better than the rest of them at pretending to listen to Thea's tour while holding the telepathic conversation. *Lord Farbrottan will want to force a regular battle at some point. He'll just need to find someplace to force you to protect, then march on that place with an army. At that point, if you don't engage with an army, he'll just wipe that place out, find another one, and keep doing it.*

*Damn.* Ethan replied, and Selene could almost see how he'd be slowly nodding his head. *Yeah, good point. I was hoping that we could do a couple of surgical strikes to take out Lord Farbrottan and his sons. A couple of quick ops, and we're done.*

*It won't happen that way.* Kendra replied. *If Duke Farbrottan leaves and joins us -- which is probably a good idea in case Lord Farbrottan finds out that you two talked -- then Lord Farbrottan will know instantly what we're up to: a war of succession. He and his sons will surround themselves with an army of defenders.*

*She's right.* Rachel added.

*I understand that, but at the end of the day, we don't have an army.* Ethan replied. *What we do have are people with a very particular set of skills. Skills they've acquired over a very long career.*

Selene burst out laughing at the quote, even as Ethan finished it.

Everyone on the tour looked at her.

"Sorry, I was just thinking of-- something." She said, still chuckling. *It's a quote from a movie.* She thought to everyone, then she and Ethan explained what it was from and the context.

*I would like to say 'I told you so'.* Kendra replied when they were done. *Drago, if you had let me take care of them months ago, we wouldn't be in this position.*

*But back then, we would've needed to worry about the Aldmiri and the royal family.* Alana countered. *Prince George only gave us the go-ahead a few days ago, so we couldn't really have done it back then.*

*That's true.* Kendra conceded. *However, it sounds like you want to play directly into my area of expertise for this, at least initially.*

*I would like to, yeah.* Ethan replied. *It's like that game 'chess' that I told you all about: the objective is to capture the king. Nothing else matters. The more like a conventional war this becomes, the more collateral damage we'll cause. I don't want any civilians caught in the crossfire.* He paused. *Or at least, I want as few as possible.*

*I can talk to Myla so she can ask Falkaan to start tracking the movements of Lord Farbrottan and his older sons.* Selene suggested. I'm guessing we'll want to announce our return from the Wilding Lands with a bang, hopefully by taking out one of the sons before anyone knows we're back.*

*That sounds perfect.* He replied. *Anyone else see any issues with that idea?*

No one did.

*Okay, great.* Ethan replied. His voice softened slightly as he continued. *I can't wait to get all of this taken care of, then start adding kids to our family.*

Selene smiled, and the rest of her fellow wives did as well. She had no idea how to be a mother, and she'd never really thought about it before Ethan. Now... now she found the idea growing on her more and more. Though really, Thor had been the one to awaken that part of her.

*Question, has anyone talked to Matthew and Yalia about that whole Book of Light issue with shame?* Ethan asked.

*Not yet, we're getting a tour of the palace grounds right now, but I'll make sure I ask as soon as it's finished.* Alana replied, the excitement in her mental tone was almost palpable.

That made Selene smile.

* * *

"And finally, here is the chapel on the palace grounds."

Rachel smiled at the conclusion to Thea's tour, though they hadn't gone inside yet. Rachel guessed that Thea had given this tour before, though doubted she'd put as much effort in as she was now. The tour had focused on the more public-facing parts of the palace and avoided secure areas, but was impressive nonetheless.

Matthew, Yalia, and Grobozlesh seemed particularly impressed. The young couple's regular gasps of open-mouthed wonder were quite amusing to see. The orc was less vocal, but his eyes often had the same expression as the young couple.

"Strong builders." Groboz grunted as they walked toward the entrance of the chapel. "Wood elfs have weak honor, but very strong builders."

"The wood elven conception of honor is indeed different than the orcish one." Rachel replied. "However, different does not mean weak; it means different."

Groboz cocked his head to one side slightly. "Hmm, strong word."

Rachel smiled as they entered the chapel.

It was pretty standard fare for the wood elves, being 'built' from tree trunks that had grown together. The interior was light and airy, and it was covered in subtle, tasteful carvings depicting various scenes from the Book of Light.

Standing near the lectern was someone she hadn't seen in some time.

"And this is Luminar Adrian Kossel, from the Great Temple of Illuminar -- blessed be He -- in Arcanum."

"Hello." Luminar Kossel said, standing to greet them. He was introduced to those who hadn't met him yet, and when the introductions were done, he turned to Matthew and Yalia. "I hear that Ethan Ejder requested you come to Nalatia so that you might bring some clarity to the issue of whether a shamed person's shame can be removed."

Matthew swallowed, then nodded. "I don't feel qualified, but yeah, he asked."

Luminar Kossel nodded slowly. "Rarely are we ever qualified for the jobs that life, and Illuminar -- blessed be He -- put into our path. We can only prepare as best we can, and then strive to rise to the challenges that life provides to us."

Matthew smiled; it was a slightly nervous smile, but definitely a smile. "I have been getting a lot of good life advice lately; I'll add that to the pile."

Luminar Kossel nodded. "Now, come, I've arranged for you to have access to a copy of the Book of Light in the original tongue, as I assume you don't own one."

"No, the one we translated from belonged to someone else." Matthew confirmed.

"Then come, let us see if we can help the Prophet." Luminar Kossel said, and the young couple readily agreed.

"The King arranged this, didn't he?" Rachel asked Thea quietly as Luminar Kossel, Matthew, and Yalia headed out.

Thea smiled. "He rarely misses a trick."

The redhead looked at Alana, who was taking a deep breath.

"It will be fine." Rachel assured her.

"I hope so." The wood elf sighed. "There's so much riding on this that... yeah, I hope so."

"Illuminar will take care of it." Taloni said confidently.

Alana looked at her and spoke fondly. "I wish I had your faith."

Tee smiled back. "Someday, I think you will."

Rachel resisted the urge to chuckle at the exchange, especially since Tee had had a similar one with Ethan only a few days ago.

* * *

"One point, match over!"

Candice groaned along with the rest of the crowd as Harrison -- Ethan -- took a strike to the leg, ending the final match of the tournament. She'd known he would lose because he'd said he would, but still, she had been hoping...

She sighed.

The entire crowd seemed a little subdued, probably because they had rooted for him the entire match, cheering when he scored a hit and groaning when he was hit. The man who had won was very good, even Harrison had said so, but both she and the crowd had wanted Harrison to win. Honestly, she felt a little deflated and she wasn't even sure why.

"Well, that's done." He said when he exited the arena.

"Yeah, it is." She replied absent-mindedly, trying to think of why it bothered her so much. They obviously still had one more day here because of the big melee the following day, but still...

She watched the winner receive his prize and be escorted with honors off the field and toward the nobles' boxes, where she assumed he would meet Lord Farbrottan. Honestly, that would've been reason enough for her to intentionally lose if she had been fighting. Still, she kind of thought that--

Oof.

Someone bumped into her as he was walking past.

"Oh, sorry miss." The man said, then kept right on walking.

"You okay?" Harrison asked, a slightly annoyed look on his face as he looked at the man who had bumped into her.

"I'm fine." She nodded.

"Come on, let's get out of here." He said, then led her back to their small room. Once the door was closed, he looked at her. "That fellow was subtle about it, but he slipped a note into your pocket.

"He did?" She asked, reaching down to check them and-- Oh, sure enough, Harrison was right. She pulled the piece of paper out and unfolded it.

"What's it say?" He asked.

"Uh." She froze slightly. "Um, I... I can't read." She finished, her voice quite quiet. She held her breath, hoping he wouldn't think less of her for that.

"Oh." He sounded surprised, then shrugged. "Okay, I can read it."

She handed the note to him, paying close attention to how he reacted. He didn't seem bothered. After a moment, she whispered. "What's it say?"

"He wants to know if I have made a decision, and is letting me know that his brother might be getting suspicious." Harrison replied quietly. Candice assumed that the "he" was Duke Farbrottan.

"So what now?" She asked, ready to run for her life.

"Step back." He said, clearing a small path in the tiny room. "Don't scream, I'm just going to incinerate the letter."

She nodded.

He then held it up in the air, dropped it, and then puffed a tiny bit of fire from his mouth, which completely enveloped the letter and burned it completely to ash in mere moments. After that, he put his hands behind his back and began to slowly pace the room. The look on his face was intense, and honestly, Candice thought it was really attractive.

"Um, what should we do?" She asked again.

"Well, if Lord Farbrottan has begun to suspect something, that means we have three basic options." He replied quietly. "First, we can try to get Duke Farbrottan out now, even though it's during the festivities. Second, we can leave him behind and escape ourselves; I'm not planning to do that, but I'll certainly get you out of here if you want to go."

"Um, if I leave, won't that look suspicious?" She replied. "If so, I'll stay."

"It would look suspicious, yeah. Good point, and thanks." He nodded. "Then the third option is that we wait and see how things play out." He looked around the room. "And put the bed in front of the door so they can't sneak in while we're sleeping."

"Okay." She nodded. "What do you think will happen?"

He smiled, then quietly sang. "Que será, será; Whatever will be, will be; The future's not ours to see; Que será, será." He chuckled. "My mother was a fan of Doris Day, and some things stuck."

"Okay?" She replied, not sure what to make of that.

"The melee is tomorrow morning." He said a moment later. "After the melee, everyone will be free to go. I see no reason to raise suspicion by trying to leave if there is none." He paused, then cocked his head to one side. "Or to alert them that we're on to them."

"Okay." Candice nodded.

"Oh, and here." Ethan reached into a pouch of his belt and pulled out a silver coin, then flipped it to her. "In case something happens. I wouldn't want to short-change you."

Candice caught the silver coin, then hastily put it into her pocket with the other three. Four silver coins. She had four whole silver coins! Her heart soared...

...but only for a moment.

She put her hand back into her pocket and fingered those coins. She had been thinking about how much she could help her family with them, but as she thought about it, any help would only be temporary. Really, as long as Lord Farbrottan was ruling Ivernia, her family would never be safe. That was doubly true because she'd met the prophet and was helping him, but it was true for other families as well.

Her family wasn't especially rich or poor; they were in the middle, and Ivernia's taxes plus a single mishap had almost destroyed them. It could happen to almost any family, and even four gold coins couldn't prevent that. What use were a few silver coins against that?

* * *

Ethan opened his eyes in the pre-dawn darkness and looked up at the ceiling above him. Candice was sleeping next to him in the small bed, but the sheet was between them even though they were both under the comforter. She was fine company, but he couldn't wait to get back to his wives. He couldn't help but smile when he thought about holding them all again.

Candice moved in her sleep, then settled. She had seemed rather distracted the previous afternoon after he had given her the last silver coin, though he wasn't entirely sure why. He figured he would ask her about it after the melee.

In lieu of that, he thought as quietly as he could to the group chat. *Anyone awake?*

*Just me Drago.* Kendra replied instantly.

*Were you asleep?* He asked.

She didn't answer immediately. *Partially.*

He chuckled. *How are things?*

*Well, no intruders and no injuries.* She replied. He was pretty sure she was teasing him, but only pretty sure.

*How are you doing?*

*I should be able to do some light sparring today.* She replied. *I would try heavy sparring, but Tee made me promise to take it slow and easy.*

*Good.* Ethan smiled at that. *But that's how your body is doing. And as much as I love your body -- and I do -- I would also like to know how you are doing.*

There was a slight pause before she replied. *I was stuck in a wheelchair.* Her mental tone sounded too even to be natural. *I... I've defined myself by my ability to fight my whole life, and to have that taken completely away, even temporarily, was... I can't even describe it.*

*Like you didn't know who you were anymore?* He suggested.

*You've felt that way too?* She replied after a moment.

*Yeah, side effect of wrapping my entire life around my business and then getting it ripped away from me.* He replied, wincing as he did so. Not so much because he'd lost his business and his fiancé. Honestly, in hindsight, he was glad he hadn't married her and that he'd found other things to prioritize besides making money. No, he winced thinking about how such a terrible woman had been important to him, and that he had wrapped his entire life around his job.

*How did you move on from that?*

*I had to realize that the things I lost -- and really, they don't feel like a loss right now -- aren't me.* He replied. *I'm not my job, or my fiancé, or my ability to fight. Those things can be a part of you, but they shouldn't be what you wrap your identity around. Your identity is who you are; your character, interests, passions, strengths, weaknesses, and such. Your identity shouldn't be a skill you have; that's not healthy for anyone.*

She didn't reply immediately. When she did, her tone was slower and almost halting. *Well, I'm a wife. Um, I like training. Uh, I have trouble expressing myself.*

*Let me stop you for a moment.* Ethan thought to her. *Instead of 'I like training', how about 'I am very disciplined'? Instead of: 'I'm a wife' and 'I have trouble expressing myself', how about: 'I'm a deeply passionate woman who's guarded about who she loves, but loves deeply when she lets someone in'?*

Kendra didn't reply for at least ten seconds. When she did, her tone was cautious but optimistic *Is that how you see me?*

*Yup.* He smiled. *Obviously there's more to you than that, but that's who you are, not merely what you do.*

*I could still be all those things even if I couldn't fight.* She finally replied, and her tone sounded happier.

*Yes you could.* He grinned, not that she could see. *The Aldmiri conditioned you to think of yourself as a machine whose value rested in what you could do. That's not how normal people should look at each other. Obviously we should try to help our friends, but friends shouldn't exclusively look at each other based on what we can do for each other.*

*I think I know that somewhere, but I don't feel that way.* She replied.

*Of course you do.* He almost laughed, but prevented himself so he didn't wake Candice. *You don't care about me and your fellow wives because of what we can do for you, do you?*

*No.* She admitted.

*You're going through something of a metamorphosis I think.* He pointed out. *You're changing from an assassin into someone else... into something else.* He paused. *The Kendra I met months ago would never have this conversation. The process might be messy, and painful -- a caterpillar's insides literally turn into liquid goo before it emerges from the cocoon -- but I think the result will be no less beautiful.* He smiled. *My little butterfly.*

*Thank you.* Kendra's tone was full of sheepish warmth.

He chuckled. *My strongest warrior wife likes being called a fragile butterfly.*

*Butterflies are beautiful.* Kendra replied. *I've always wanted to be beautiful.*

*My little butterfly.* He smiled.

*Thank you.* Kendra thought to him after a moment. *I'm glad I'll still be able to fight, but you've given me something to think about.*

*You're welcome.*

* * *

A free Ivernia.

It had taken Candice most of the previous night, sleeping on it, and part of the morning after she'd woken up to figure out what she really wanted. Those four silver coins were wonderful, but they couldn't guarantee that they wouldn't be stolen, or taxed away, or simply spent if an emergency arose. Her family -- most Ivernia families really -- were only one bad accident away from debt slavery in Ivernia.

She hated that.

She would've liked to say that she was perfectly altruistic and wanted a free Ivernia for all Ivernians. However, that wasn't the case. She wanted a free Ivernia for her family, and also her friends; the people she knew, and had grown up with, and lived all of her young life with. That's who she cared about. That's who she wanted Ivernia to be free for. Well, them and the family she hoped to have one day.

She could just imagine sitting in a rocking chair -- something of a luxury item -- rocking her baby to sleep after nursing him in the early hours of the day. She could imagine doing that while her husband was getting ready for the day; not beaten and worn down, but happy. She could imagine having a bunch of children happily playing, not ever wondering where their next meal would come from, and not being forced to wear clothes that had been patched so many times that only a little of the original garment remained.

That was her dream.

It was such an incredibly wonderful dream that had seemed so far out of reach just a few days ago.

But now the Prophet was here.

He could make a difference.

And maybe, just maybe, she could help him make a difference. Maybe she could help him create a free Ivernia so that her family, friends, and her future children could live in peace without worrying about starving.

"You seem different this morning." Harrison said as she prepared herself for the day, not that there was a lot to do.

"I feel different." She replied after a moment, realizing that it was true.

"It seems like a good change." He observed.

"Thank you." She smiled, hoping that-- No, she wasn't going to finish that thought. He was only going to have seven wives, not eight; it wouldn't do any good to entertain those kinds of thoughts, no matter how pleasant they were...

She sighed.

As light began to appear in the pre-dawn hour, he led her out of their quarters and they joined the trickle of contestants heading toward the arena. At the contestant's entrance, a couple of Ivernian soldiers were stopping the contestants, checking them against a list, and then giving them either a red vest or a blue vest before allowing them in. Candice assumed that was for the teams in the melee.

Ethan was assigned to the blue team and put on an ill-fitting blue vest over his armor before going in. Several of the soldiers eyed her with eyebrow's raised, but let her follow him in without comment. As they had done for the previous few days, they ate in the contestants' hall.

As before, there were far more women here than on the first morning. It seemed like a significant number of the contestants and their women had taken a liking to each other. Judging by the ladies' smiles, it seemed like their first night hadn't been much different to her own.

Still though, as encouraging as that was, something seemed different this morning. She couldn't figure out what it was, but something seemed different.

* * *

"Well? How is it?"

Sarah took another sip of the soup that Thea had made. Honestly, the flavor wasn't good or bad, it just was. "Um, it's okay." They were standing in the kitchen in Ethan's suite, and Thea had made the soup herself.

"Better than yesterday?" Thea asked.

"Honestly, it's about the same."

Thea sighed. "How? After yesterday, I bribed one of the kitchen staff to walk me through making it a bunch of times."

Sarah tried to resist laughing. "It's soup."

"Believe me, I know." Thea replied, almost scowling at the soup bowl. "I never knew it was so hard."

"Um, when I was learning to read, Alana and Rachel kept reminding me that everything we try that's completely new feels hard at first." Sarah replied. "But they also said that if we kept working on it, it gets easier."

"I wish that part would hurry up." Thea sighed, then looked at her. "Thank you for tasting it, and for helping teach me how to cook. I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome." Sarah chuckled as she eyed the pot and considered how to improve it. Of course, their room was catered for every meal, but she enjoyed cooking and didn't want to completely stop. "With a little work, I think we can make it a lot better."

"Oh good." Thea breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you. And, can you show me how?"

"Of course." Sarah beamed.

"They're here!" Selene called from the living room, and Sarah heard the door open and the unmistakable sound of numerous people greeting each other.

"Here, just stir this slowly and don't add anything else." Sarah said, offering the wooden spoon to Thea.

The gorgeous elf hesitated, then nodded.

Sarah hurried out to the living room, reminded herself that Grobozlesh wasn't a threat, and then greeted Lord Kalus's family, Matthew and Yalia, Falkaan and Myla, Colonel Forsythe and Victoria, as well as Anthiel and also Ahjah. It made Sarah smile to be surrounded by so many friends, even if they were more friends of Ethan and his other wives than her.

"Sarah!" Thea called from the kitchen. "It's doing something weird."

Everyone looked at her and she rushed to the kitchen. Thankfully, she had gotten there in time and nothing bad had happened.

Not long afterward, everyone went into the dining room -- which had extra seating for this occasion -- and sat down to eat. The palace servants brought the food in, and it was delicious in Sarah's mind. Thea's soup was less so, but there was only so much that Sarah had been able to do to fix it

"How did it go yesterday?" Alana asked Matthew and Yalia after everyone was settled.

"Um, it was interesting." Matthew replied. "The wood elves' understanding of the passage seems legitimate, but something about their understanding just doesn't seem right, and I can't put my finger on it."

"Pardon, but what is the doctrinal issue under discussion?" Colonel Forsythe asked.

"It's a passage in the Book of Light." Rachel explained. "Illuminar warned them not to follow the 'new gods' -- Nesteri, or 'demons' in the common tongue -- and follow that with a warning." She looked at Matthew and Yalia. "I'm afraid I don't have it memorized."

Yalia spoke up. "Illuminar said about whoever does this -- and I quote -- His shame shall be forever on him, for he has violated the commandment of Illuminar; for whoever violates the commandment of Illuminar, his shame shall never depart from him all of his days."

Matthew smiled at her proudly, then addressed everyone else. "But I've never seen it understood that way before. Usually, it's translated this way: His shame shall be forever on him, for he has violated this commandment of Illuminar; for whoever violates this commandment of Illuminar, his shame shall never depart from him all of his days."

"The difference is 'the' versus 'this'." Colonel Forsythe said thoughtfully.

"The wood elves say it refers to all serious commandments of Illuminar, but every other translation says that it refers only to this specific command not to serve Nesteri or entice others to serve them." Alana explained.

"That section of the Book of Light was written in ancient elvish, so the elves are quite certain they have the correct understanding." Rachel added.

Matthew frowned.

"What?" Alana asked him.

"Something about that passage, and the whole book really, seems like it..." He trailed off and slowly shook his head. "You know, I think I should probably just sit down and read the whole Book of Light, cover to cover, looking for anything related."

"The usual way?" Yalia asked. There was a little bit of smolder in her eye and she bit her lip.

Matthew grinned. "Sounds wonderful."

Almost everyone at the table got knowing smiles that were mostly being hidden... mostly. Sarah had a good idea why, but didn't want to know the specifics.

"I thought everyone might want to know that Ralgar's airship should arrive late afternoon or early evening." Anthiel said in the temporary silence that followed.

"Really?" Selene's eyes lit up, though Sarah knew that was because of Anthiel's fellow wife, Mirella, who would be accompanying their husband.

"Yes." She said with a smile.

"Well, then perhaps this next part would be better for when he's here." Alana said, then looked at everyone. "Basically, we wanted to bring everyone up to speed on what has happened. We were planning to do that here this morning, but we can do it after Ralgar arrives if no one objects to having dinner together after he arrives.

No one did.

"I, for one, would enjoy another such gathering." Lord Kalus said, and everyone else agreed.

"Well, then never mind and we can just enjoy breakfast together." Alana smiled.

They did.

* * *

*Danger Will Robinson.* Ethan thought to everyone as he assembled with the rest of the fighters on his side for the melee.

*Uh oh, what's wrong?* Selene replied almost instantly.

He looked around at the contestants surrounding him. *I have most of the best fighters on my team, and I doubt it's random. They apparently decided to stick me in the center line with four or five... 'interesting' fighters around me.*

*And those four or five fighters seem really Conarang.* Beth added.

*Conarang?* Ethan and Selene replied at the same time.

*Yeah, like the story.* The blonde replied.

*There's an old story about a murderous thief who--* Rachel stopped. *No time for that, but it means up to no good, shifty, and possibly slightly murderous.*

*Sounds about right.* Ethan looked around, trying to gauge the rest of the fighters on his side. Except for those four or five guys, most of them seemed like rougher fellows.

*Beth, I realize the ones closest to me look the most 'Conarang'.* He thought to everyone. *But do the rest seem like they're on that spectrum as well?*

*Um, let me look.* She flapped her wings and managed to get a slow-ish circle around them before stumbling into a landing. She was getting better, but it seemed that flying didn't come as instinctively for humans as it did for men in a dragon's body. *They seem spread out on both sides Dominus, though most of the ones on your side are near you.*

*Thanks Angel.* He replied, then spoke to the man nearest him. "Hey man, tournaments almost over, huh?"

The fellow shrugged, but didn't meet his eye and didn't reply either.

"What are your plans after the tournament?" He said to another fellow.

He got the same reaction.

*They aren't looking me in the eye.* Ethan thought to everyone. *Beth, check on Candice; I can't see her well from here.*

Beth moved, and a moment later... *Um, Dominus. A few Ivernian soldiers have taken up a position behind her, but far enough away that I don't think she's noticed yet. They are keeping a close eye on her.* She spoke again a moment later. *Dominus, look at the nobles' box.*

Ethan did, and was thoroughly unsurprised at what he saw.

About a dozen Ivernian soldiers -- or possibly royal guard-types given the extra gold on their uniforms -- were entering the box and taking up guard positions. It might not have been suspicious normally, but they hadn't been there the previous days and they were guarding all the exits.

*It never goes smooth. Why does it never go smooth?* Selene thought to everyone.

*Murphy's Law.* Ethan replied with a sigh.

*Dominus, what's Murphy's Law?*

*Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong, and at the worst possible time.* He replied. *Beth, I need you to return to the airship and see if Halasses or Serif can lend us any support.*

*On my way.* Beth turned and started awkwardly flying, though she was getting better.

Ethan took a moment to think about it and realized that he had walked into a trap, though probably one set after the tournament had started. Even the loose vest he was wearing would make it hard to deploy his wings. If things went south, he probably wouldn't have time to cut it off, and he didn't have his sharp sword with him anyway. Candice still had that. He could summon it, obviously, but that would give away that he knew the jig was up.

*Beth, tell them that their first priority should be...* He started to think to everyone, but trailed off. He had been planning to say to protect Candice, since she was innocent in all of this. But another part of his brain -- the cold, calculating, purely logical part of his brain -- reminded him that Duke Farbrottan needed to survive this. If he didn't, they were in trouble. Ivernia was in trouble.

But Candice...

*You have limited assets on site and two protectees.* Kendra thought to him. *You have to choose Drago.*

"Fuck." He whispered under his breath.

*There is a proverb about the man who tried to catch two birds and ended up losing both.* Kendra continued, her mental tone clinical.

*They need her alive to interrogate her.* Rachel thought to everyone. *They don't need Duke Farbrottan alive, so you could prioritize rescuing the Duke and come back for Candice.*

She was right.

Ethan knew she was right.

He clenched his fist and took a long, slow, deep breath. *I'm not leaving her behind. Period.*

*You can fly.* Selene pointed out. *If they need her alive, then Beth can stay with her to follow her, and maybe you can rescue her once the Duke is safe.*

*Battle not with monsters, lest you become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes into you.* Selene thought to everyone.

*Nietzsche.* Ethan nodded slowly, recognizing the quote. *No man left behind. That's the rule. No matter how bad it gets, no man left behind.* He paused. *Or woman in this case.*

*Hopefully in all cases.* Selene quipped, but her attempt to lighten the mood fell flatter than a pancake.

Ethan glanced toward Candice, though he was in the center of the scrum and so couldn't see her well. She had a smile on her face and was clearly trying to see him amongst the contestants around him. She seemed hopeful.

He took a deep breath; he could do this. Somehow, he could.

He hoped.

* * *

Candice craned her neck to see if she could see Ethan in the crowd of contestants that were forming up on either side of the arena. She really couldn't, but didn't mind looking.

"Subjects of Ivernia." A magically magnified voice boomed over the area.

Candice knew from the first word that it wasn't Duke Farbrottan, though the voice sounded similar to his. She scowled. Judging from the murmuring that had broken out all around her, everyone else had a similar opinion. She wasn't a violent person by nature, but she found herself wishing that he found himself alone in a room with Ethan.

"Welcome to the final day of the tournament." He said, and honestly, she thought he sounded a little smug. "As a reminder, because of the altercation in the previous tournament melee, any disruption by a contestant will be met with swift retribution."

"Altercation my ass." Someone nearby muttered. "They ain't been no altercation last year and you know it, you fucking fatbottom."

Candice wanted to ask why Lord Farbrottan said there was an altercation if there hadn't been one, but then again, maybe he just enjoyed lying?

"The first team to have all its members eliminated loses." Lord Farbrottan continued, now sounding impatient. "Ready, set, begin!"

Almost immediately, both teams started advancing toward each other, and only moments later, something happened on Harrison's team, right in the center of the line. She couldn't see what happened though.

* * *

The world slowed as half a dozen people around Ethan thrust out toward him with previously concealed knives, one of them hitting a gap between his armor plates.

Ethan reacted to his danger sense triggering by adjusting his position so all the knives would hit his armor. Thankfully, his disguise gem meant that they couldn't see his armor, and thus they couldn't see the gaps between the plates. It still hurt though.

He let out a strangled growl and activated his strength-enhancing armor, then spun his shield arm around to get some space...

...all while the whole group of them was advancing.

"I said no disruptions!" Lord Farbrottan bellowed the moment Ethan had begun to defend himself. "Ten silver to whoever kills that man."

Sensing that he had about three seconds to live if he stayed where he was, he crouched down and leapt high into the air, using his already powerful dragon legs, enhanced by his strength-enhancing armor. Sadly, there really was only one way to go: forward.

Behind him was the nobles' box and a couple dozen Ivernian guards. He didn't think he could take them without a weapon, and his only weapon nearby was in the hands of Candice, who also happened to be forward of him. He dropped his training sword and used his claw -- the one that he'd enchanted to be hyper-sharp while he'd been captured in Nalatia -- to slice through the vest he was wearing, just in case he'd need his wings. At the same time, he reached out his other hand and summoned his war sword.

Candice was obviously surprised when the scabbard in her hand jerked forward. She grabbed onto it, but not before the scabbard's throat was angled toward him, allowing his war sword to leave it and fly through the air toward Ethan. He hit the ground of the arena between the two advancing sides, and a moment later, his war sword landed in his hand.

Both sides stopped charging immediately.

They both skidded to a halt, both ending maybe ten yards from him.

For a moment, Ethan considered simply using the shock that everyone was obviously feeling to escape. However, he couldn't; he had two people he needed to bring with him. Then he considered flying to rescue Candice, but she was probably being overlooked right now, and thus was probably somewhat safe. He then considered flying up to the nobles' box and killing Lord Farbrottan. However, not only did the man have three sons who would take his place, but he also highly doubted that Duke Farbrottan would survive such an encounter.

Then, another idea occurred to him.

He remembered the dozens of Ivernia women who had been forced to give up their virginities to many of the contestants. Not all, some clearly had done the right thing, but many hadn't. Lord Farbrottan had just put a price on his head right here. The good men would realize who he was and not attack, and those would probably be the same ones who were considerate to the women. The wicked men would take the offer, and they were almost certainly the ones who had effectively raped the women.

He slowly flourished his sword.

*Dominus, I brought your hammer and javelin.* Beth thought to him at about the same time that he saw her Astral form return to the area. *They're in the airship, so they wouldn't take long to arrive.*

*Thanks Angel.* He replied, then summoned both of them.

"That's the false prophet!" Lord Farbrottan boomed. "Whoever kills that necromancer, I'll make him rich beyond his wildest dreams!"

About half of the men had their eyes light up. The other half seemed to hesitate. Some looked like they were merely scared of his blade, the rest looked at him with something akin to reverence.

His mind still thinking about the wicked men and what they'd done to the women, Ethan raised his voice. "Citizens of Ivernia... not subjects, but citizens."

He looked around the area. Everyone in the stands was standing on their feet, most of them staring in awe.

"My name is Ethan Ejder." He said loudly. He felt his hammer coming closer, so he decided to play it up a little. He waited until it landed in his hand, then gave it a little flourish as he charged it. The moment it was charged enough to release a suitably loud lightning bolt, he released it.

Crack!

Everyone jumped.

"If you feel like collecting the reward Ol' Fatbottom is offering, feel free to try it." He said loudly enough for everyone to hear. "If your moral compass still works, or you don't want to meet Illuminar in the next few minutes, I suggest you leave the arena." He holstered his javelin and then gave his war sword a casual flourish as he began to charge his hammer again. "The choice is yours."

"He's good, but I beat him, and he had trouble with many of you." The winner of the tournament -- who Ethan had been calling 'Scarface' -- said loudly.

Ethan looked around and saw that some of the contestants who were most smitten with their women were hesitating, many looking at the less savory fellows with a pensive expression. He guessed that they were thinking of joining his side, but he didn't want to have friendlies to protect.

"Feel free to try." Ethan shrugged, speaking to Scarface, then addressed everyone else. "If you're still in the arena in about ten seconds and aren't trying to leave it, I have some bad news for you." He casually adjusted his war sword to drive the point home.

The good contestants seemed to reconsider helping him, and after a moment of hesitation, they started hurrying toward the exits.

The rest started forward cautiously.

As they did, Ethan realized that this was the first time in his life that he had intentionally set things up in advance so that he would kill a lot of men. He'd been forced into every other battle, but not this time. As they formed a ring around him, he considered what that meant. Sure, they were wicked men, but he had intentionally gone out of his way to ensure that they would attack him so he could kill them.

Of course, the odds were that they had done plenty of things to deserve what was about to happen, but he couldn't be sure. He sure as hell wasn't going to hold back now that it was done, but Selene's quotation of Nietzsche was currently ringing in his ears.

* * *

Beth concentrated with all her might as she took a running jump and flapped her wings. It was a lot harder to fly well than it looked. Ethan and Tee made it look as easy as walking, and she hoped it would be that easy for her one day, but it wasn't today. It took all her focus and concentration to aim herself toward the nobles' box and not come in too high, too low, or too fast.

She mostly managed it.

She crashed into the seats behind where Lord Farbrottan and his brother were standing. Of course, they didn't give in the slightest because she was on the Astral Plane and so it hurt; a lot. She wasn't injured though, even though she probably would've broken an arm if she wasn't on the Astral Plane. She would never understand why things worked the way they did here; why would it hurt if she couldn't be injured?

She folded her wings and stood up, feeling slightly dazed.

In front of her, Lord Farbrottan was standing at the railing and watching the scene below unfold. Ethan had always described him as a seedy man, and Beth understood why after seeing him in person. Something about him just made her skin crawl.

He had several guards around him, and just beyond them on one side was Duke Farbrottan. He was watching the events below unfold dispassionately, which honestly didn't surprise her. They were easily over two stories in the air, which is probably why they weren't guarding Duke Farbrottan more closely.

"Well little brother, I suppose it was always going to end this way." Lord Farbrottan said after a few moments. "Then again, we both know you have no loyalty to anything but yourself."

"You seem to think that Illuminar's hand isn't in these events." The duke replied.

"You care not for Illuminar's will." Lord Farbrottan retorted dismissively.

"I care not for Illuminar Himself." The duke corrected. "However, it is unwise to pit yourself against a being of His power, so I care very much about His will."

Lord Farbrottan scoffed. "Plotting treason and to betray your brother and lord seems very much against this will you supposedly care so much about."

"From a certain point of view, perhaps." The duke replied, but didn't elaborate.

An Ivernian soldier hurried into the box and up to Lord Farbrottan. "My lord, the archers are in position. Shall I have them open fire on the false prophet?"

"Not the archers." Lord Farbrottan said dismissively. "We'll use up the contestants first." He gestured to the arena, where they had enclosed Ethan. "Arrows cost money, the dead cost nothing."

*Ethan, they have archers around the area somewhere.* She thought to him. *Lord Farbrottan plans to see if you survive fighting all the contestants before having them attack you.*

*Thanks for the heads up Angel.* He thought back. *Stay up there and keep an eye out, but the moment Candice starts to go anywhere, I want you to stick to her side like white on rice.*

*Rice is brown Dominus, what--* She stopped. *I'll ask later.*

*Not much to tell, we have white rice on Earth.* He replied as he turned, adjusting his position as the other contestants slowly closed on him.

*Okay.* She replied, not wanting to distract him further.

* * *

Candice was trying to remember not to chew on her lip or grind her teeth as she watched them encircle Ethan. She knew he was a good fighter, but she didn't think he could win. It seemed impossible. And if she looked up, she could see Duke Farbrottan surrounded by Ivernian guards. The prophet and Duke Farbrottan were the best chance Ivernia had of ever being free, and they were both about to die.

She swallowed.

Hard.

"Illuminar, if you're up there, can you please save them?" She asked under her breath. No, she pleaded under her breath. "Whatever it takes, please save them. I'll do whatever I can to help them, whatever it costs me, I don't care. Just please, please save them so they can save Ivernia. Please."

Ethan twitched his sword.

The whole mass of contestants surrounding him flinched.

He chuckled. He was carrying his war hammer in one hand and his war sword in the other. "Anyone?" He asked the men around him. "Don't any of you limp-dicks have the balls to try?"

Candice bit her lip.

Ivernia needed him alive; why was he goading them? Did he have a death wish?

* * *

Ethan felt the charge in his hammer reaching critical mass and prepared to release it. He would've liked to target Scarface, but the man had a steel helmet and there were a few others between him and Ethan that might interfere. Instead, he targeted the second-best fighter and got ready to drop his hammer after releasing the charge, and then throw his javelin at the third-best.

"Come on, you bunch of pussies." Ethan taunted.

No one moved.

"Fine, my turn." The hammer was as fully charged as it could be, so he got devious. He clicked his disguise gem off. There was a collective gasp of breath and many eyes widened, which was what he wanted. He snapped his eyes shut an instant before he released the charge.

CRACK!!!

The noise was deafening.

It had been a long time since he'd released a bolt that powerful and he'd forgotten how loud and bright it was. Killing one man was just a bonus. The real advantage was the noise and light, which was bright even with his eyes closed.

Basically, it was a weak flashbang.

Everyone surrounding him recoiled, except the man who the bolt had hit; he fell dead with a charred hole in his forehead.

Ethan moved.

He dropped his hammer instantly and snatched his javelin, activated it, and threw it at the third-best fighter. The man's gambeson didn't have a prayer of stopping the master-crafted dragon steel tip and it punched right through him. At the same time, Ethan threw his war sword like a javelin at the fourth-best fighter as well. It likewise arranged an impromptu introduction between the man it hit and Illuminar.

The moment both weapons had left his hands, he snatched two grenades from his belt. He activated both of them, and tossed them behind him so they would hit different parts of the circle.

He then leapt forward, summoning his war sword as he did so, trusting the pandemonium that he'd unleashed and his armor to protect him for those crucial first few moments. His sword landed in his palm just as he reached the circle of men surrounding him. The man tried to put up a defense, but he was clearly dazed and utterly shocked by the lightning bolt.

Ethan barely felt any resistance as his blade sliced through the man's neck.

He spun the blade around to track his next target, putting his thumb on the flat of the blade and reversing the direction of movement as he spun it 'helicopter style' to execute a Zwerchhau strike on the next man in the line. The man tried to block it, but he'd been caught off guard and Ethan was able to power through the block enough that his blade bit deeply into the man's arm, severing it.

He'd bleed out.

Two more quick strikes on weak opponents downed them, and then five seconds had passed and both grenades went off simultaneously.

BOOM!!! BOOM!!!

It was... messy.

The air around him exploded in a rain of gore. Suddenly, almost everything around him was covered in a fine red mist as the more solid bits hit everyone, including him. More importantly, the area was showered in airborne dust and dirt from the arena floor.

He'd been expecting that though.

They hadn't.

He was sure that many of them were battle-hardened veterans, but they'd never seen an explosion before, nor even heard of one because the Ten Kingdoms didn't have explosives. He couldn't imagine the kind of impact this would have on them.

Well, actually he could.

Or more accurately, he didn't have to.

He could see it.

Many of them were frozen in abject horror. Ethan wasn't. In fact, he was already moving toward his next kill.

* * *

Candice was frozen. She had been gripping the railing around the arena and found that she couldn't let go. She was staring at what had seemed like a helpless situation only moments before. Now, it was a shower of dust; red dust, and solid bits, and--

Her stomach lurched.

Those two... things, whatever they were, had kicked up two massive clouds of dust that were partially obscuring the battle currently taking place. The only thing she could see was a white blur moving through the cloud of dust. There were many shouts, yells, and the near-constant sound of steel striking against steel. Almost every time it happened, a dark shadow mostly obscured by the cloud of dust fell to the ground.

Still, the white figure moved.

The shouts and ringing of steel slowly lessened. It was subtle, but it was slow and steady. Every few seconds, the white figure moved again as another dark shadow hit the ground. There were fewer shouts now, but more cries of pain.

The sound of steel on steel decreased too.

Slowly at first, but steadily.

The ring of steel on steel stopped being constant and became more occasional. The shouts decreased, and many turned into cries of fear or pain. Over the next several moments, the sound of steel on steel became very occasional.

Finally, it ceased altogether.

A dreadful, terrible, eerie silence fell over the field.

That silence was deafening.

Utterly deafening.

It was surreal.

The only sound that Candice could hear was the very faint whisper of the gentle breeze. Nothing else. Not a single spectator said a word or even made a sound. After several moments of this unnerving silence, she realized that she had been holding her breath. She let the breath out, and the sound startled her like the first time she had heard a whip crack.

She jumped.

She took a long, slow, shuddering breath as she slowly became aware of her surroundings again. One of the bodies had fallen outside of the dust screen, and the sight was-- Her stomach lurched, and she bent over as she lost her breakfast all over the ground in front of her.

A gentle breeze arose, probably someone doing magic to clear the dust cloud, and the dirt that had clouded the view of the battlefield drifted away. Ethan -- the dragon clad in white armor -- was standing there in the center with bodies all around him. He was completely uninjured. His white armor, despite surely having been covered in blood, didn't have a drop of blood on it. It must be enchanted to be self-cleaning, so the blood simply didn't stick to it.

The image was striking.

From the bodies, someone slowly stood. It took Candice a moment to realize that it was Scarface, and that he was completely unharmed as well.

"Hiding among the dead." Ethan observed. "Smart."

Scarface raised his sword. "I beat you once, I can do it again now that you're out of tricks."

Ethan actually laughed. "One chance; leave now."

"Fuck you." Scarface took a step forward; it sounded like his ego had been bruised.

"Your funeral." Ethan shrugged, inhaled deeply, then let out a several-second-long gout of fire at him. The man instantly burst into flame. He screamed as he dropped his sword and tried to bat the fire away, but it didn't work. Candice looked away as his screams intensified. Moments later, they stopped altogether and she heard a dull thud.

* * *

*Damn, I'm never doing that again; that took way too much mana.*

Beth grimaced as she saw Scarface's remains continue burning in the arena. *How much mana Dominus?* She asked, feeling somewhat sick to her stomach.

*Too much.* He replied. *But I thought the effect would be worth it.*

Beth looked at Lord Farbrottan, who had turned slightly white. *I think it was Dominus.*

*Okay, time to get the Duke; any ideas how to do it without killing him?* He asked.

*No, but I think--* Beth stopped mid-sentence as Duke Farbrottan -- who didn't seem shocked like everyone else was -- suddenly moved. He stepped to the railing, put his hands on it, leapt over it to hang over thin air for barely a moment, then he pushed off the wall and began falling toward the ground.

Beth gasped.

* * *

Two stories.

It was two whole stories at least, and maybe two and a half or three. Ethan watched in slow motion as the Duke fell, hoping against hope that he wouldn't break his neck. It took almost a whole second for Ethan to realize that he should be there when the Duke landed to protect him. He took off sprinting.

Ethan had been trained by rather a lot of people on how to fall correctly so he didn't injure himself in a fall. His dragon instincts mostly took care of that, but he did know how to fall correctly as a pure human. Thankfully, it looked like Duke Farbrottan had received at least a little training in that area because he tried to roll through the fall to absorb his momentum.

Sadly, it only partially worked.

He clearly understood the theory, but his execution left rather a lot to be desired. Ethan heard a cracking sound and the Duke yelled in pain as he lost his form. He ended up in an uncontrolled sideways roll instead of the head-over-heels style that was proper.

But he was alive.

Ethan reached his side moments later as he groaned in pain. One of his legs was clearly broken, but he looked fine otherwise. He was surely banged up with all kinds of bruises, but he'd live.

* * *

Candice couldn't believe her eyes. Not only had Ethan killed everyone in the arena without getting so much as a scratch, but Duke Farbrottan had also escaped from Lord Farbrottan. It felt like a miracle. It felt like there was a chance for a free Ivernia where her loved ones could finally be free and not worry about starving to death or debt slavery...

...as long as both Ethan and Duke Farbrottan survived.

Candice hesitated for several moments, not sure of what she should do. She wanted to help them. She needed to help them because there was no free Ivernia without them. She hovered in indecision for a moment before she ducked through the horizontal boards of the arena's fence and started sprinting towards them. She wasn't sure what she could do, but she sure couldn't do anything from so far away.

* * *

*Candice is running toward you.* Beth called from her overlook in the nobles' box, which had long since been vacated. Lord Farbrottan had turned to run the moment he'd come to his senses, and his entire guard detail had followed in short order. Some of them might even have run so fast to protect their lord.

Ethan looked up towards her. *Dang, why?*

*Maybe she wants--* Beth stopped as she saw something. *Dominus! The archers!* She almost screamed at him mentally.

It turned out that the archers had been deployed to the tops of the small hills on either side of the arena that served as seats for the commoner spectators. They had been wearing cloaks at the height of the crowd, and thrown them off, causing a minor panic among the commoners who had been watching.

Now the commoners were running.

There were shouts and screams as every one of them started fleeing to escape the archers. Thankfully, it looked like they were being careful and no one was being trampled, which was good because there were women and children in the crowd. She hoped none of the children would be too traumatized by Ethan's slaughter of the other contestants.

The archers' position put Ethan in a little bit of a bind. Duke Farbrottan had fallen at the base of the nobles' boxes, which put both of the hills in front of them, but not by much. Thus, Ethan's flat shield would have a very hard time defending from both sets of archers at the same time. And really, Beth was impressed that the archers hadn't run away. Though, they looked like they weren't just normal Ivernian soldiers, so they were probably part of Lord Farbrottan's personal guard.

*Ah, shit!* Ethan thought to her, then pulled his shield off his arm so he could hold it by the grip. He used the shield to protect the Duke on one side, and his own armor-clad body to protect from the other side.

As one, the archers released a volley of arrows.

* * *

Candice skidded to a halt as she realized what was about to happen. They were going to kill the prophet, unless... That armor couldn't be for nothing.

The archers released a full volley of arrows, all of which impacted Ethan's shield or armor. The Prophet staggered under the multiple impacts, but didn't seem injured.

Candice ran forward.

She had ducked into the arena because that was the shortest path, and she spotted a largish, sturdy-looking wooden shield lying almost in her path next to its previous owner. She stopped to pick it up, surprised by how heavy it was. Still, it wasn't too heavy and she ran forward, hoping that the archers wouldn't notice her.

* * *

Ethan saw Candice running forward and saw her pick up the shield. She was clearly trying to help, but she was directly between the archers. If they noticed her...

*Beth, give Candice a good hard nudge after I roar.* He thought to her, then opened his mouth and let loose a powerful roar into the air, even feeding a little mana into it to make it more powerful. The result was exactly what he'd hoped it would be.

Everyone in the area froze.

Well, everyone except himself, Beth, and Duke Farbrottan. Apparently, the duke's muted emotions made him resistant to the effect. Beth had already landed behind Candice, paused, and then gave her a bit of a push from behind. Ethan knew that it took a lot of concentration for Beth to do that, and Candice barely moved, but it was enough to shake her from her frozen state. She started running toward him again, lugging the shield with her.

Ethan thought about carrying the duke out of there, but he would be totally exposed to the archers' arrows. Flying wouldn't work for the same reason; he'd be totally exposed during takeoff, plus, Ethan would have to leave Candice behind.

He wasn't going to do that.

"Sorry Duke, this'll suck." Ethan said as he realized one way that would work, then grabbed the man's arm, dug his toe-claws into the soft earth, and started dragging him toward the gap between one of the tiny spectator hills and the nobles' box. That was the shortest path he could think of to get out of this mess.

"I'll survive." The duke replied through gritted teeth. He lifted his broken leg into the air so it wasn't dragging, but he was clearly muffling cries of pain anyway.

Candice arrived a second or two later, partially out of breath. "How can I help?"

Ethan looked around; the archers were beginning to recover. "Take these." He said, dropping his vambraces off and slapping them onto Candice's forearms. They didn't fit well, but they did fit and she needed the extra strength right now. Besides, he had two others still enhancing his own strength.

"Trade shields and protect him." He swapped shields with her so she had the massive dragon-leather one and he had the heavier and smaller round shield that she had scavenged. "Lay on top of him with the shield above you and I'll pull you both."

Her eyes widened, but then she nodded and without hesitation, laid herself on top of the duke with her back to his front so she could shield them both. The duke -- still grimacing in pain -- wrapped his arms around her waist to secure her.

Ethan started dragging them both.

It was a little harder with only one set of strength-enhancing armor pieces, but not too hard. Plus, adrenaline.

By now, the archers had recovered.

They started nocking their arrows and let loose another volley. Thankfully, they weren't exactly Robin Hood. Many of the arrows impacted the shields or his armor, but many didn't. He was constantly readjusting himself in response to incoming arrows to make sure he was as covered as possible. His danger sense warned him of anything that his enhanced reflexes missed, and he was mostly able to block everything.

Mostly.

He hissed as one of the arrows sliced into his forearm as it passed by. He put a little more gas into dragging the duke and Candice. They both seemed okay, and his enormous shield was fully protecting them. Though, it wobbled dangerously whenever too many arrows hit the same side at the same time. It was light, but its light weight did mean it was easier to push out of position.

He had dragged them between the nobles' box and one of the hills, and was now headed toward the small rooms that the contestants had stayed in, and beyond those were the wall. He wasn't sure how he was going to get past that yet. Maybe jump over it while carrying him and then her?

He hissed again as an arrowhead punched through the round shield he was carrying and nicked his forearm. Okay, non-dragon leather shields weren't nearly as effective.

Still, he dragged on.

By now, all of the archers were behind him, meaning the arrows were only coming from one direction. That made them far easier to block. The archers seemed to have slowed their fire to run down the hills and pursue them.

*Dominus, I just took a quick look around the area and about a dozen Ivernian soldiers are coming.* Beth thought to him. He guessed that they hadn't seen the carnage or they'd likely be a little more hesitant.

"Fuck." He muttered under his breath. *How far to the airship?*

*It's about a half mile, but we can't let them see it.* Beth replied.

*Did you tell Serif and Halasses that we're in trouble?*

*Yes Dominus.*

He frowned as he continued pulling with all his might. He needed one hand to pull and the other to hold the shield, so he couldn't use his grenades. He couldn't do anything about the archers or incoming attackers, but maybe Beth could...

*Hey Angel, sorry to ask, but how would you feel about poking a few eyes out?* He thought to her.

There was a moment's pause before she replied. *I can't do it quickly, but... but I will.*

The archers had followed his path, and now were starting to fan out to make it harder for them to block their arrows. Beth's blue Astral Plane form rushed toward the archer on the furthest right from Ethan's perspective. She paused for a moment, then jabbed her finger out toward the man's eye.

He screamed in pain, dropped his bow, and clutched his eye.

"Keep coming after me you'll get the same treatment!" Ethan yelled.

The archers hesitated.

At that moment, about a dozen Ivernian soldiers came running up behind the archers, saw their fighting retreat, and made a beeline for them.

"Fuck." He growled. "Candice, shield him as best you can." He let go of the duke's arm and summoned his war sword, which he'd dropped earlier to free his hands. In the meantime, he pulled a grenade off his belt, armed it, and threw it about where he thought the Ivernian soldiers would be when it went off.

He was close-ish.

BOOM!!!

They had all passed by the time it went off, though a couple of the rear-most ones had been knocked forward by the blast. Ethan surged forward, throwing his javelin to kill their leader, then diving in with his war hammer. The best thing about using the hammer against men wearing chainmail is that chainmail afforded almost no protection against the blunt weapon.

Even better, the soldiers were stunned by the grenade and off balance. He taken three of them down before the others recovered. Ethan summoned his javelin and tossed it again, taking out another one of them.

Then his war sword arrived.

He caught it and immediately brought it down on one fellow's exposed wrist, then reversed the cut and took off another man's head. This made the rest of them back off and reassess. Unfortunately, the archers chose this moment to start shooting at both him and the ones he was protecting.

From behind him, he heard a scream of pain.

A feminine scream of pain.

* * *

Candice felt like her arms were made of jelly because they hurt so much from fighting to hold the shield in place. Still, she was doing okay and the duke hadn't attempted to touch her inappropriately even once. Instead, he'd kept his arms firmly around her waist and nowhere else.

Thankfully, she'd gotten a bit of a reprieve. She didn't know what had happened that made one of their enemies scream and the rest stop shooting, but she was glad.

BOOM!!!

Candice jumped at the sound of another one of those dreadful noises that had created so much dust and caused so many casualties. She then heard the sounds of battle. There was a brief silence, and then--

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

The arrows started peppering the shield she was holding, and she hadn't been ready. She hadn't been bracing it like she had been, and the shield was knocked out of position.

She screamed in pain as suddenly, her left calf felt like it had been dipped in fire. The pain made her clench, holding the shield tighter and she even managed to get it fully back over both of them.

But her leg still felt like it was being held over a hot fire.

* * *

Ethan snarled at the archers and leapt forward, raising his war sword as he went. The archers he was heading toward scattered away from him, but the rest were still shooting. And the moment he started to chase one, the others aimed their bows at him.

The primal part of his brain wanted to chase them all down and rip them apart, but the more rational side of his brain reminded him that getting surrounded by archers was a terrible idea right now, especially without his dragon-leather shield and both vambraces.

He heard another scream behind and saw that his distraction had allowed one of the Ivernian soldiers to run up to Candice and the duke. That soldier had ripped the shield out of her hands and he raised his sword.

Ethan threw his war sword.

It wasn't the best idea, but it was literally the only one he had. The moment it was thrown, he summoned his hammer and used his wings to propel him forward as fast as he possibly could. His war sword hit the soldier. It wasn't a killing blow, but it did knock him off balance long enough that Ethan was able to land on the man and cave in his skull with every ounce of strength he possessed.

*Ethan! The Archers!* Beth screamed at him telepathically.

Unfortunately, with that Ivernian soldier dead, the archers didn't need to worry about friendly fire anymore and they all nocked arrows to fire. Ethan summoned his shield and dove between the archers and his allies, angling the shield to protect as much of them as he could on such short notice.

It mostly worked.

Candice screamed in pain again.

He chanced a glance behind him to see that another arrow had embedded itself halfway into her right knee.

She passed out.

He didn't blame her.

Two of the archers screamed in pain, drawing Ethan's attention. They were holding their eyes, and it looked like Beth had gotten two of them at once.

"Anyone not fleeing like Saidow himself is chasing you will get the same treatment." Ethan snarled at them.

The Ivernians all looked at each other, hesitating. Moments later, Beth moved on to the next one, paused with a look of concentration, then poked another archer's eye out.

He screamed.

The rest broke, running away as fast as they possibly could. Ethan didn't let down his guard though; they weren't safe yet.

*Beth, let me know if any of the archers even look back.* He thought to her urgently.

*Yes Dominus.* She replied instantly.

He deactivated his dragon-leather shield so that it rolled against his forearm, then -- knowing it was a bad idea but not having a better one -- he picked up his allies one at a time, hoisting them one over each shoulder, and then began to run as fast as he could toward the wall. After about two steps, he activated the weight reduction enchantment in his armor to lighten the load, then summoned his vambraces back to his forearms from Candice to get the benefit of their strength enhancement again. His heart was pounding, and not from the effort. If anyone came right now, they were screwed.

Thankfully, no one came.

Apparently, they'd scared them all off.

He reached the wall soon after, set Candice down and set his shield on top of her -- just in case -- and then jumped over the wall with Duke Farbrottan. On the other side of the wall, Serif and Halasses were waiting about a dozen feet down the wall from where he'd jumped over.

"Retrieve your other ally, we will guard him." Serif said.

Ethan nodded, jumped back over the wall, scooped up the unconscious Candice, and jumped back over the wall. As he did, he noticed that her injured right knee was hanging in a way that knees definitely weren't supposed to hang.

Fuck.

The moment he landed, Halasses zeroed in on the injured woman's knee. "Honored prophet, please fly her to the airship; we will take the duke."

He nodded.

*I'll show you where it is Dominus.* Beth said, the outline of her Astral Plane form -- which was only visible to his eyes -- having just walked through the wall.

*Do it.* He replied.

She spread her wings and awkwardly flew, Ethan right behind her, and Serif and Halasses right behind them. When he got to the airship, tucked away at the edge of an idyllic clearing in a beautiful patch of trees, he gently set Candice down in the airship.

She apparently had woken up again, and her hair was plastered to her sweaty skin. She was whimpering and appeared to reach down toward her knee a few times, but each time that happened she whimpered again and gave up the effort.

"I'll be right back." he said softly.

"No, don't go." She whimpered.

"I have to get the duke, but I'll be back as soon as I can." He replied.

She nodded, then whimpered again.

*I'll keep watch Dominus.* Beth told him.

*Thanks Angel.* He took a deep breath, stood up, and then turned to go get Duke Farbrottan. Thankfully, mercifully, and almost unbelievably, nothing went wrong when he did.

* * *

"They're okay, they're safe, and they're lifting off now." Alana told Sarah, Thea, Ahjah, and Victoria, all of whom were in their suite at Nalatia with the rest of her fellow wives, except for Beth of course. They had stayed after the breakfast was over and everyone else had left. Taloni had insisted that they all start praying the moment combat had broken out, and no one had objected.

There was a collective sigh of relief from everyone.

Alana herself put her hand on her womb. "It's okay Ruth, your daddy is okay."

"That much stress can't be good for a baby." Selene said, the concern on her face not having fully faded yet. "Hell, I feel like we probably all have some form of collective PTSD at this point."

"PTSD?" Taloni asked.

Selene explained, then added. "I don't mean to minimize the people who legitimately struggle with it, but at this point, I feel like we'll qualify the moment we slow down enough to process everything that's happened."

"War does not chiefly create winners and losers, but survivors and casualties." Ahjah said, and Alana recognized the quote from a famous elven general.

"And collateral damage." Thea added quietly.

He nodded.

No one else spoke.

Alana gently rubbed her stomach over her womb as the reality of what the coming war might be like crashed over her. She swallowed. Hard.

"It will be worth it though, right?" Sarah asked. "All of Ivernia is struggling, so maybe..." She trailed off.

"I think it will." Taloni said after several moments of silence.

Alana nodded slowly, then took a deep breath and let it out just as slowly.

*Hey, so, an update.* Ethan thought to everyone, and she could hear sadness in his tone.

* * *

"Candice, Candice, look at me." Ethan said as he held her hand on the small airship as it rose into the air. Serif and Halasses had just deployed the sails, and were now coming over to look at the injured woman.

Candice let out a strangled groan of pain and squeezed Ethan's hand so tightly that it was uncomfortable, which was impressive when you considered his strength-enhancing enchantments.

"Listen, I know it's going to hurt like hell, but they need to get the arrows out." He said.

She pulled herself closer to him and squeezed his hand tightly. It looked like she was going to say something, then she let out a whimper of pain and just nodded.

Halasses leaned over her. "Can you use magic to fight infections?"

She whimpered again as she shook her head. "N-no."

The elf nodded grimly. "Then the arrow through the calf can wait. We need to take the leg first."

"No!" Candice said and tried to move, then virtually screamed in pain as the movement jostled the knee that currently had an arrow through it.

"There's nothing we can do to save the leg." Halasses said. "Not here, not without an experienced healer."

"But, but I--" Candice stopped and let out another strangled cry of pain.

Halasses leaned over her, took her other hand, and spoke in a tone that was at once strong and comforting. "The arrow is clearly dirty. Thus, if I leave the leg, the risk of infection is almost absolute. Even if it is not infected, you likely won't be able to use it properly ever again because neither I nor Mr. Serif possess the skill to heal it properly."

Candice was silently crying now.

It took a lot of self-control for Ethan to remain calm and not go find Lord Farbrottan and rip him limb from limb. He would've liked to fly Candice to Nalatia so she could get help, but they didn't have anything for infections beyond alcohol in the Ten Kingdoms. Plus, the ride would probably cause even more damage to the knee.

"I... I don't want..." Candice was pleading, but her pleading was cut short by another cry of pain.

"I will leave it if you wish, but you will wish that I had not." Halasses added in that same strong, calm, and reassuring voice. "It will never work properly again, and sepsis is a terrible way to die."

Candice looked at Ethan, her face still drenched in sweat and splattered with dirt. Her red dress was dirty beyond repair and ripped in a few places. Her eyes were wide and her teeth gritted as another whimper leaked out.

"I'm sorry, but I think you need to." He said after a moment, realizing that she was silently asking for his opinion.

Candice sniffled, then whimpered, then nodded once at Halasses.

The elf extracted a small vial of liquid from somewhere, then looked at Ethan. "Lean her up so she can take the laudanum."

He did.

She cried out in pain several more times and almost constantly whimpered, but forced herself still long enough to drink the whole thing down. Her eyelids started drooping almost immediately, so he thought it must have something besides laudanum in it.

It worked quickly.

She lost consciousness in less than a minute. Ethan could've put her back down, but he didn't feel right doing so. Instead, he laid her back down on his lap and cradled her slightly.

"I have rarely seen a woman display such fortitude." Halasses said as he grabbed a small bag that had been stowed in the tiny airship. He pulled out a small saw and cut the arrow away on either side of her knee, since it had gone through the dress. He then pulled her dress up enough to do the work without exposing her, applied a tourniquet, then quickly and efficiently cut away the lower half of her leg.

Ethan didn't want to watch.

He looked down at Candice, who almost seemed to be grimacing in her sleep.

"She was so brave." Beth said from beside him, now back in her body.

"She was." Ethan replied, his voice cracking slightly. "I don't think I could've saved the duke without her." Speaking of... He looked at the duke, who had Serif leaning over him with a hand on his broken leg.

"Broken bones aren't hard to heal if they're set correctly." Beth explained. "But joint wounds like Candice's are hard for even experienced healers."

Ethan nodded, then looked at Candice again. "If we win this war and install the duke, it'll be because of her."

Beth nodded.

"Done." Halasses said sometime later.

He had done a "fish mouth" amputation, sterilized the wound with alcohol, and then sewn the upper and lower flaps together to cover the bone. He then pulled her dress back down and moved to her other leg, from which he removed the other arrow, sterilized the wound with alcohol, and then sewed it up as well.

"Pardon me for asking, but how did the combat go?" Halasses asked.

Ethan gave him a summary, then concluded. "Honestly, I'm surprised we weren't attacked by more soldiers."

"The King had agents engage in sabotage." Halasses replied. "They would have found that after you were attacked, their gates would be inoperable for a time."

Ethan almost smiled at that. "Damn, he's good."

"Both morally and in regards to his skill." Halasses agreed, then looked at Candice. "I have met trained soldiers who did not display such bravery as this woman."

"Yeah." Ethan nodded. "Well, she wanted to visit Nalatia; I guess she'll get her chance."

"I would suggest that you tell her story without embellishment to The King." The elf replied. "Unless I am much mistaken, he will see fit to recognize her bravery. Though, because of the nature of the operation, he will not be able to do so publicly."

"She deserves it." Ethan replied.

"She does." Halasses agreed. The elf looked at him for a long moment. "Is this the first time that you have seen a comrade permanently injured?"

Ethan nodded. "Kendra thankfully turned out to only be temporary." He closed his eyes and shook his head slowly. "If only I'd been faster."

"Such thoughts will drive even the wisest of men to madness." The elf replied. "What is done, is done. Perhaps consider how you can learn from it, but do not dwell on what might have been longer than necessary to learn. For again, that way leads to madness."

"We call it 'survivor's guilt' where I'm from." Ethan sighed. "I feel like I could've done more."

"Did you do the best you could have done with the knowledge, skills, and tools at your disposal at that time?"

Ethan hesitated. "I tried."

"It's..." Beth bit her lip. "It might be my fault. I hesitated when the archers paused their shooting. If I had kept going, got another one or two of them..."

"One simply cannot know." Halasses replied. "There is a delicate balance in war between showing mercy and pressing your advantage. However, in general, unless the enemy has thrown down his weapons or is fleeing, pressing your advantage is usually the correct course of action."

Beth nodded. "I hate that."

"The fairer sex holds mercy in high esteem." Halasses replied. "Not one would condemn you for it, but such instincts must be tempered on the battlefield."

Beth nodded again. "I hate that too."

Ethan inclined his head in concession. He wasn't overly fond of it either, but sitting here with the injured Candice lying across his lap, he found himself wishing that he'd killed every last one of those sons of bitches. Then again, in the back of his mind, Selene's quote from Nietzsche came to mind. He found it harder to care than he probably should have.

He didn't know what to think of that.

"No one died." Beth said after several long moments. "We escaped and no one died. I know that Candice..." She gestured to the woman's leg, and it was strange to see the dress draped over the stump, when there should've been a knee and lower leg there. "Um, but at least no one died."

"Yeah, that's true." He admitted. He looked at where Candice's lower leg should've been. "It still feels like a loss though." He paused, then turned to look at Duke Farbrottan. "No offense."

"None taken." He replied, and Ethan believed him. "Mr. Ejder, you have my gratitude for the rescue; I very much doubt I would currently be breathing if you had not intervened."

"You're welcome." Ethan replied. He meant it, but his tone sounded hollow.

"If it is any consolation to her when she wakes, I dispatched orders to repay her family's debt and move them to a successful farm of no mean size before our escape." He added as he slowly moved his recently healed leg. "I also ensured that it would not be traced back to me, and had the records of her presence at the tournament destroyed. Therefore, her family should not have to fear reprisals."

"She'll be happy to hear that, thank you." Ethan replied, then fell silent.

The airship had risen to a low cruising height -- so it would be harder to spot from afar -- and it had already turned toward the wood elven kingdom. Ethan had originally been planning to fly home to see the rest of his wives as soon as possible. However, he didn't feel right leaving Candice. When she woke up, everyone else except the duke would be complete strangers.

"Dominus, don't forget your training sword and the scabbard for your war sword." Beth said to him after a minute.

"Yeah, thanks for reminding me." He nodded and summoned both, glad that Alana had had the foresight to make the scabbard summonable.

Alana...

*Hey, so, an update.* Ethan thought to everyone, and he could hear the sadness in his tone.

He told them what had happened to Candice, and the shock he could feel over their bond mirrored his own. With all their time in the Ten Kingdoms and all the battles and the resultant wounds, nothing like this had happened before. Beth had died, but they'd brought her back, and they'd all gotten scars, but nothing like this. Nothing permanent.

He clenched his fist again, sorely tempted to fly back and go on a rampage, killing every Ivernian soldier that he met. He knew it was the wrong thing to do, but a very large part of him simply didn't care.

*Drago, Selene was right.* Kendra thought to everyone, probably having sensed his mood. *Battle not with monsters, lest you become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes into you.* She paused. *I've been down that road Drago. I know exactly where it ends. And I know that's not where you want to be.*

He nodded slowly, not that they could see it.

Beth put a hand on his shoulder, then moved next to him and rested her head there instead. It was one of the kindest, softest, and most feminine things that anyone had ever done to comfort him. Her simply being there and being close was almost like a balm for the tempest of his impulses.

He wanted to scream, he wanted to rage, he wanted to cradle Candice and tell her that it would be alright, he wanted to roar, he wanted to find Lord Farbrottan and tear his limbs off... slowly. He wanted to fly back in the night and slaughter every Ivernian soldier in the area. He wanted to find all of Lord Farbrottan's sons right this moment and make them suffer their father's fate for what they were doing to Ivernia... and what they'd done to Candice.

It wasn't right.

It wasn't fair.

A young woman in the prime of her life would now have to live through the rest of her life missing half her leg because of Ivernia's ruling family. It made him want to scream, to roar, to rage; to unleash on them the sum total of all the white-hot rage coursing through his veins. He wanted to burn them alive for what they had done and laugh as they screamed in pain. He wanted to--

*Dominus.* Beth thought to him gently.

He looked down at her as she looked back up at him, her eyes wide, vulnerable, and almost timid. She had picked her head up to look at him.

*You're scaring me.* Her mental tone was quiet, small, and fit perfectly with her words.

She was still leaning against him.

He swallowed.

Hard.

*I'm sorry.* He mentally whispered back, the rage in his veins was still bubbling, but he managed to force it under the surface for the moment.

Beth's eyes were still wide, almost timid, and vulnerable. She hesitated for a moment, tried and failed to give him a half smile, and then slowly, haltingly, laid her head back down on his shoulder. He slid an arm around her and kissed the top of her head, to which she made a soft, feminine sigh of contentment.

That helped.

He sat there for quite some time with his arm around Beth, and with Candice sleeping on his lap. He felt like he was internally at war with himself the whole time, the Angel on his one shoulder barely restraining the proverbial demon on the other.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Note: This chapter began on day 142 of Ethan's life in the Ten Kingdoms and ended on day 143. I submit new chapters on the last Wednesday of every month, and they usually drop after the 2-3 day review process. Thus I'll submit the next chapter on April 29th, and it'll probably drop on May 1st or 2nd.

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

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