Chapter 80: "The one you feed."

* * *

Candice had always loved the feeling of waking up groggy. Ever since she was a little girl, that feeling of gentle brain fog and listless desire to do nothing except keep her eyes closed and drift off back to sleep, or maybe doze, had been wonderful. It was the ultimate luxury to hover between awake and asleep because she had nothing to do. It hadn't happened often, but on the rare occasions that she'd been able to doze in a thick fog of grogginess, she'd loved it.

That's how she felt now.

She didn't think that she had anything to do, or at least she couldn't remember that she did. She thought that all her chores were done and couldn't think of anything on the farm that needed doing... wait...

It came rushing back to her in an instant.

Her father's accident, his slow recovery, losing the farm, the offer to 'entertain' at the tournament, meeting Ethan and then Duke Farbrottan, the melee, rescuing the duke, and-- She closed her eyes a little tighter, not wanting to remember her knee. It couldn't be real.

She swallowed, then tried to wiggle the toes of her right foot. Nothing happened. She didn't feel anything. She swallowed again, her throat feeling tighter than it had a moment ago. She had always thought that her legs were one of her better features, and now...

"You awake?" A kind, tender, caring, and masculine voice whispered from nearby.

Ethan.

"I..." She started to reply, but couldn't think of anything to say. Shockingly, her leg didn't feel painful, though she thought that might be because of the laudanum. Come to think of it, that might be part of why she was so groggy and felt a vague sense of happiness despite everything.

"It's okay, you can rest." He said.

She nodded, but didn't feel like resting. After a moment, she opened her eyes, squinting at the brightness of the day.

It was a gorgeous day.

There were only a few wisps of cloud in the sky, there was a gentle breeze, and she could hear birds singing their cheerful songs nearby. The sky was a beautiful blue, and the few clouds only served to underscore how blue and enormous it was. It was a nearly perfect day with a strong note of autumn air, though it wasn't cold.

She looked around to see that she was in the bow of the tiny airship. Ethan was nearby, as was Beth, though everyone else was aft of the mast. They were flying with what looked like all their sails deployed, though she didn't have a real sense of how fast they were moving because she was lying down and couldn't see the ground moving under them.

"This is the first time I've been on an airship." She said after a moment, wanting to talk about anything other than her leg.

"It's a great day for that I suppose." Ethan replied, eyeing her closely.

After a moment, she spoke again. "How bad is it?"

He closed his eyes and sighed. "Halasses says that he cleaned it well, so there should be no infection."

She nodded slowly. "But... um, how bad is it?"

"It's..." He trailed off as he looked in the direction of her knee.

She couldn't bring herself to look at it yet.

"I'm sorry." He said after a moment. "I tried, but... Yeah, I'm sorry."

Candice bit her lip, then sat up and looked down. Her dress was a mess. It was dirty and ripped in several places, so she was showing more skin than she would've preferred. It wasn't a lot of skin, but it made her uncomfortable anyway. But lower down, her knee was...

"I'm so, so sorry." Ethan said again.

"It isn't your fault." She said after a moment as she stared at the dress draped over the stump of her right leg, just above where the knee should have been. "I knew I could get hurt, I just didn't think..."

She stared at it.

"If it helps, Duke Farbrottan paid off your family's debt and moved them to a large farm, then destroyed all records of you being at the tournament." Ethan said.

Candice actually managed a smile, then her smile faltered. "I shouldn't go see them though, right? Lord Farbrottan might hurt them if he found out."

"Yeah." Ethan replied with a heavy sigh. "Sadly, yeah."

She looked around at the gorgeous Ivernian countryside around them, not sure what to do or where to go. She couldn't go back to her parents, which is what she'd been planning on doing after the tournament. She didn't know if Ethan's offer to accompany him to Nalatia was still an option, and she didn't want to assume. She bit her lip.

"Hey, I'll make sure you're taken care of." He said after looking at her for several seconds. "I'm sure I can put you up in Nalatia somewhere, and I know some elves that'll make sure you're taken care of."

Candice felt herself deflate slightly, and wasn't awake enough to hide it.

"You don't want that?" He asked

"Um..." She looked over at Duke Farbrottan, hesitated, then spoke. "I want to help."

"I thought you didn't like him?" Ethan asked.

Candice cocked her head to one side for a moment, wondering what he meant, then it hit her and she made a face. "Oh, no, not like that." She shuddered. "I want to help you. Um, with Ivernia."

He blinked. "Even after..." he gestured at her knee.

She bit her lip again, then nodded.

"Why?" He asked, and he sounded genuinely curious.

"I have this dream." She said, smiling slightly even despite the situation; was that the laudanum again? "I want to get married one day, and have some children. I know it's silly, but I want to be rich enough to have a three-room house." She could feel her cheeks grow warm at the thought; that was dreaming rather high. "And I don't want my children to ever wonder where their next meal will come from, or if they'll have a next meal. That can't happen as long as Lord Farbrottan is ruling Ivernia."

Ethan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I get that dream, but you still want to help? After what helping cost you?"

Candice hesitated a moment, then slowly nodded. "Um, if I can." She looked at her leg. "This is awful, but... but if it means my children won't have to worry about eating, it's worth it."

Ethan stared at her for a few moments. "You're serious?"

She nodded.

He opened his mouth to say something, paused, then closed it.

"Do other Ivernians feel that way?" Beth asked.

"Um, I know some do." Candice replied, the idea that Ivernia could be free making her already sleepy-happy brain feel better.

"You seem awfully cheerful." Ethan said after a moment.

"That's the laudanum Dominus." Beth replied. "It makes you that way for a while."

He inclined his head in concession, then looked at Candice. "Well, I don't see why you can't come with us. I'm not sure on which airship, because it's sounding like there will be four of them soon, but you're welcome to join us." He paused. "I can't guarantee that something worse won't happen though. Honestly, this made me realize just how dangerous what we're doing is."

"Okay." Candice replied. It took a moment to realize that she had agreed so quickly because she hated the idea of being parted from him. Not that she didn't want to help Ivernia -- she did and was telling the truth about that -- but she also didn't want to be away from Ethan.

"Think about it." Ethan said after a minute. "We have a lot to do in Nalatia before we strike out again, and you'll have all that time to consider what you want to do. Whatever you decide though, I'll make sure you're taken care of; it's the least I can do."

"Thank you." She replied, her heart feeling quite warm at the thought of Ethan taking care of her. She knew she probably shouldn't, but she did.

Candice also noticed that Beth was eyeing her carefully, though not suspiciously.

* * *

*You really think so?* Selene asked the group chat, which Ethan was currently not a part of because Beth had asked him to close his connection to it for a few minutes for some 'girl talk'. All of Ethan's wives -- except for Beth of course -- plus Thea, Ahjah, Victoria, and Anthiel were currently at the Nalatia docks surrounded by the Lightguard and no small number of the palace guard as well; The King had insisted on the additional protection if they wanted to venture out.

*I do think she's falling for him.* Beth replied. *Don't get me wrong, I like Candice. She's kind, and brave, and she wants to help. But I think the more time she spends around Ethan, the more attached she'll get. Illuminar said only seven wives though. Honestly, as much as I love you ladies and wouldn't trade you for anything, I don't want Ethan's time split any more than it already is.*

Selene couldn't help but smile at Beth's analysis. She was expressing herself calmly, rationally, and had pinpointed the exact problems that Selene herself had noticed when Beth suggested that Candice might be crushing on Ethan. It was one of those little moments where Selene noticed just how much the blonde teen had grown up in the few months she'd known her.

"They're here." Taloni pointed to an airship that was heading toward them.

"Anthiel, the name." Alana said with a grin as she looked at the Argo's pilot.

"He told me it was a surprise." The over one hundred-year-old elf replied with a wide smile, and the tiniest hint of almost girlish glee in her tone.

"What's the name, for those of us with only human eyes?" Selene asked.

"The Cloud Song." Alana replied.

Selene smiled, recognizing that 'Cloud Song' was Anthiel's elven title.

"It was apparently Mirella's idea, and she was both insistent and 'persuasive' in arguing for it." Anthiel said. Based on the high elf's tone, Selene was pretty sure that Mirella's 'arguments' likely had very few words, if any at all.

"Given that we'll be a tiny fleet of four airships, it will be good to have an admiral with us." Kendra mused.

Selene nodded slowly; the Argo owned by Ethan, the Midnight Sun owned by Falkaan, the Nomad's Pride leased from The King by Ahjah, and the Cloud Song owned by Ralgar. It was a small fleet. Very small, but still a fleet.

*Maybe Candice could fly with Ralgar?* Selene suggested to the group chat as the Cloud Song maneuvered into position over the docking berth.

*I was actually thinking that we could keep her on the Argo and introduce her to Ellis.* Alana replied. *It was Sarah's idea, and honestly, I think they would make a great couple.*

*But that means she would be on the Argo near Ethan, and I don't think that would be good for her.* Beth replied. *She's already too attached to him, and she already lost her leg. A broken heart on top of that would be just awful.*

*Perhaps we could simply wait and see if she still wants to travel with us when we leave, and lay out her options then.* Rachel suggested.

*Agreed.* Selene replied, and the others followed suit. *Besides, she can't marry anyone until her father agrees, so why bother playing matchmaker now?* She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at that fact. Though, she had gotten her own father to sign off so someone here would perform her wedding, so she supposed it would be hypocritical to condemn it too hard... not that it would stop her.

The Cloud Song finished docking and its crew lowered the gangplank while Selene waved to Mirella, who was positively beaming. Behind her and slightly shorter was Ralgar himself. Selene had always thought it odd that he was shorter than both his wives, but you'd never know by the way he carried himself. Except for possibly Lord Kalus and the Crown Prince, she had never met anyone who was so genuinely confident and humble at the same time.

The Cloud Song's crew was clearly on the older side for an airship crew, though not 'old'. It looked like most of them were in their forties, with a few younger, and some with lots of gray in their hair. Every single one of them was fit and spry though, and not a single one of them seemed anything like Raklan, which was a relief.

"Selene!" Mirella gushed when the gangplank was down and she'd hurried across it.

"Mirella!" Selene waited until she crossed and then gave her a tight hug, noting that the elf seemed much less withdrawn now than before. That was probably the result of being married to Ralgar for many months, and having a bun in the oven probably didn't hurt either. The latter certainly showed in her demeanor.

"You seem happy." Selene observed when the hug broke.

The high elf beamed, then rested her hand over her womb. "I've never been happier. Ralgar has been amazing, and I never thought..." She got slightly choked up as her beaming continued and she glanced at him.

"Hello handsome." Anthiel nearly purred nearby as her husband crossed the gangplank. He dipped the over one hundred-year-old elf and kissed her deeply, and Selene felt slightly odd about watching.

Mirella blushed.

"If you'll pardon me, I have something to discuss with my wife." Ralgar said, and then led her right back across the gangplank and into the captain's cabin.

Mirella's blush deepened.

Selene chuckled, then addressed her. "So, what's been happening?"

Mirella gave them all a quick overview of what had been happening, with promises to explain more later, then she turned to Sarah. "I believe you are Sarah?"

Sarah nodded. Notably, her cheeks had gone pink at Ralgar and Anthiel at the same time Mirella's had.

"I have been so looking forward to meeting you." Mirella said with a warm smile. "Ralgar thinks we will get along extremely well based on what Anthiel has told him, though, he declined to say why because he wanted it to be a surprise."

"Oh." Sarah replied. "Okay, um, well, I hear you are a great cook and I like cooking. Maybe that's why?"

"Oh, you do?" Mirella's smile widened further. "I would so enjoy having someone to cook with, if, perhaps, you would be willing to share a kitchen?"

Sarah got a wide smile on her face. "I would love that."

"Anthiel suggested that there was a meal with friends that needed preparing for tomorrow evening, once Ethan has returned." Mirella said. "Would you consider making that a project for the two of us?"

Sarah beamed. "Of course, but could Thea help? She's learning how to cook and I'm honored to call her my friend."

"Of course." Mirella replied, genuine enthusiasm in her tone as she was introduced to the betrothed couple, and then Victoria.

The chefs almost immediately started talking about food, and the result was that Selene's stomach started telling her to undereat tomorrow so she could gorge herself on whatever culinary masterpieces the two whipped up.

About then, Ralgar and Anthiel returned from the captain's cabin. Anthiel's always-perfect hair was a little less perfect than usual and the high elf was smiling a little more deeply. Ralgar was still the picture of military discipline, but he also had a satisfied smile on his face.

He greeted all of Ethan's wives -- except for Beth of course because she wasn't there -- and then turned to Thea and Ahjah. "Congratulations on your betrothal. Ani assures me that you are absolutely perfect for each other, and I look forward to traveling with you and the Prophet."

The happy couple beamed.

Ralgar and Mirella also greeted Victoria, and then everyone set off for the palace grounds.

Selene maneuvered herself so she was next to Victoria. "Hey, I've noticed that you tend to fade into the background; is that on purpose?"

"A little." The platinum blonde nodded. "I'm really just a small-town girl and I'm out of my element. Plus, I like to see how other people behave." She paused. "Well, good people. I like seeing that."

"Ah, people watching." Selene nodded, paused, then added with a suppressed smile. "Is there a particular colonel-- I mean, 'person', who you like to watch?"

Victoria gave her a look, but the tiniest, subtlest, barely perceptible hint of color appeared in her porcelain cheeks.

Selene chuckled.

* * *

*Dominus?* Beth thought to her husband tentatively.

*Yeah?* His mental tone was calm, but she could tell that it wasn't a genuine calm. The fact that he was gripping the side of the small airship so tightly with his claws that he was creating permanent marks in the wood also clued her in.

*You aren't okay.*

*No, I'm not.* He confirmed. Again, his tone was forcedly calm with a not-so-subtle undercurrent of rage.

*You did everything you could Dominus.* She glanced back at Candice, who had fallen back asleep, which was no wonder with everything she'd been through. Beth almost wanted a nap herself.

*And it wasn't enough.* He replied with the edge of a growl in his tone, though it wasn't directed at her.

*Dominus.* She put a hand gently on his shoulder. He looked at her and she repeated herself a little more seriously. *You did everything you could.*

*And it wasn't enough.* He repeated himself as well, and she saw him clench his hand tighter against the wood.

She swallowed, not sure how to respond. She wished that Alana was here, or Rachel, or even Kendra might be able to help more.

After a moment, she tried again. *Dominus, I don't know how to help you.*

He looked at her, and she could tell that he was trying to smile. *Sometimes, when you didn't cause the problem, there's nothing you can do.*

She nodded slowly. *Nothing?*

He gave her a pained smile. *Honestly, the fact that you're here is helping me not to fly back and start doing things I would regret later.*

*Oh.* Beth swallowed, then bit her lip. Why was he like this? He wasn't usually this angry and-- Oh. *Dominus, it's been a while since you've taken us all to bed, and you know that makes your dragon temper worse.*

He inclined his head fractionally. *Yeah, but this is the first time, possibly ever, that I'm just not in the mood.*

*We should do that when we get home anyway.* Beth said. *It doesn't need to be passionate like it usually is, but you need it.*

He nodded once, but didn't reply. For possibly the first time ever, he was showing no interest in sex. She would've been a little hurt if all of this wasn't happening.

* * *

"I have no idea what they're cooking, but damn, I want some." Selene said as she breathed deeply from the smells wafting into the living area of their Nalatia suite. Thor, who was on her lap, sat up, sniffed the air, and then hopped down and headed toward the kitchen.

Ralgar had a subtle smile on his face as he looked toward the kitchen. Surprisingly, and slightly shockingly, Anthiel was sitting across his lap, lounging and leaning up against him with his arm around her. They weren't doing anything inappropriate, but apparently had taken Alana's suggestion to 'make yourselves at home' to heart.

"They are getting on better than I hoped." The high elf pilot mused

"Yup." Selene agreed. "We have a saying on Earth: Birds of a feather flock together."

"An apt saying." Ralgar nodded. "Miri has become more outgoing, but hasn't found someone with whom she truly could be a friend. Selfishly, I do hope Sarah will be that friend."

"Is that part of the reason you wanted to join us?" Rachel asked.

"It is." Ralgar confirmed. "Not a major reason, but certainly a reason."

"My husband is good that way." Anthiel said with a smile, then snuggled closer to him. It was amazing how she could do that while also not doing anything that looked inappropriate. It was even more amazing that she seemed younger when he was around. Not in maturity, but mannerisms; it would never not be entertaining to see hints of a young blushing bride in the over one hundred-year-old elven woman.

"Selene, we have that errand to run." Kendra said to her quietly while the conversation moved to other topics.

"Yeah, we should do that soon." She replied with a suppressed grin; her rapier was supposed to be ready today, and then the elven swordmaster was going to spar with Kendra to help her decide what kind of sword would be ideal for her.

They waited a minute or two, but just as they were planning to tell everyone they were leaving, Sarah popped out of the kitchen with Mirella, and Thea followed them. They were both smiling, and Thea looked less frazzled than she usually did when she was in the kitchen.

"Um, I just realized that there's a spice that would be perfect for dinner that we don't have here." Sarah said.

"I told her that we could get it in the kitchens, so we'll be back soon." Thea added.

"I will continue preparing dinner." Mirella said.

"We'll come with you." Selene said, indicating her and Kendra. "We wanted to go look at the armory anyway."

Everyone bade them goodbye, and they headed out. The walk wasn't long, and when they were about three-quarters of the way there, a door nearby opened and two elven women who were uniformed as maids began to leave a nearby building, then they caught sight of the group. Or more accurately, Sarah. At least, that was Selene's guess, given what happened next.

Both maids stopped, their eyes widened slightly, and then having clearly been caught off guard, one of them breathed something in elvish with a slightly shocked tone. Thea turned to look at them, her eyes narrowed, and her normally kind and cheerful face became cold.

Ice cold.

Arctic tundra cold.

"What?" Selene asked.

Thea said something to the two elven girls in elvish, her tone sharp and icy, and suddenly they looked down.

"We are very sorry for our thoughtless words." The one said to Sarah, and then both began intently examining their toes.

Sarah seemed to deflate slightly. Selene stepped over to her and put an arm around her, trying to comfort her.

"Um, I forgive you." Sarah said, though it almost sounded like a question, probably because she didn't speak elvish either.

"Thank you." The elven maid who had spoken said, and the two of them virtually fled back through the door they had just exited.

"What did they say?" Sarah asked after a moment, her tone quiet, small, and mousy.

Thea hesitated. "Um, they recognized that you have a demon problem, but you don't want to know the specifics, do you?"

Sarah hesitated as well, then took a deep breath and nodded.

Thea bit her lip. "Are you sure?

"Sarah, it might be better to let it go." Selene suggested.

Sarah swallowed, then nodded. "Okay."

"If it helps, it wasn't that bad, and I think she was just caught off guard." Thea added.

"What did you say in response?" Kendra asked.

"I reminded her that Sarah was not only our guest, but also betrothed to the Prophet." Thea replied, then looked at Sarah. "Don't let it bother you; word of this will spread and it won't happen in the future."

Sarah nodded, looking slightly better. Then after a moment, she cocked her head to one side, opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but stopped. A moment later, her shoulders slumped and all the excitement seemed to leave her eyes.

Selene shared a look with Kendra, then gave Sarah a gentle squeeze. "Please, don't let it get you down. Look at the grounds around you, how beautiful they are, and think of the friends and family you have who love you. Don't worry about what someone you'll probably never see again says."

Sarah nodded, but her body language didn't change.

*I'll try to cheer her up.* Thea thought to the second group chat. *You and Kendra can just go to the armory if you want. I can think of a thing or two to say that might be better without company.*

Selene nodded. *Okay.*

Selene removed her arm from around Sarah, and Thea took her place a moment later. It took a moment of coaxing, but the gorgeous elf did eventually get her to continue on toward the kitchens.

"The kitchens will help, but not a lot." Kendra said as she and Selene watched them go.

"Agreed, but you sound extremely sure of that." Selene replied.

"What others do to you can hurt, but ultimately, it's what you do -- or don't do -- that tears you up inside." Kendra replied, her voice pensive.

Selene looked at her. "I'd ask, but you don't want to talk about it, do you?"

"No, I don't." Kendra replied evenly, and Selene couldn't get a read on how she was feeling.

"Will you ever want to talk about it?"

"No." Kendra replied simply.

Selene made a thoughtful sound, then shrugged. "Well, shall we go see what my rapier looks like?"

Kendra actually cracked a smile at that. "Please."

* * *

Yalia 'accidentally' brushed her hand against the front of her husband's pants as she leaned in to take a closer look at the graceful flowing script on the pages in front of them. He glanced at her, trying to give her a look for distracting him, but he also had a little twinkle in his eyes. They were in the chapel on the palace grounds, leaning over the lectern on which a copy of the Book of Light was lying open. They had been carefully studying it all morning, trying to figure out how to help the Prophet.

Luminar Kossel was nearby reading something else, since a condition of them examining this particular copy of the Book of Light -- which was quite old -- was that a senior luminar be present.

"So, what do you think?" She asked innocently.

He stood up and looked down at the page, frowned, and then crossed one arm over his chest while he rested his chin on his other palm. "Did you notice the grammatical... oddities?"

She nodded. "Not at first because they're so subtle, but you're right, there are some."

Matthew's frown deepened and he pursed his lips. She wanted to kiss them, but restrained herself.

"We should go back and read the history portions that talk about the prophet Yaleed, since he wrote the passage we're trying to understand."

"Again?" The young nymph asked. "Thanks to my wonderful husband's needs and my mother's blood, I think I have it memorized already."

He smiled. "Yeah, but I don't. I have to do it the old-fashioned way."

Yalia gave him a smoldering look. "Oh?"

Matthew grinned back. "Yeah."

From nearby, Luminar Kossel chuckled. "Young love, I remember that fondly."

She turned to him. "I hope it stays this way, does it?"

The luminar gave her an odd look that she couldn't place. "If you marry the right person and life does not intervene, I believe it could."

Yalia was going to ask what he meant when the door to the chapel opened and two people walked in.

"Sarah, Thea." Yalia beamed, then rushed over to give them both a hug. Thea returned it, but seemed focused on Sarah, who looked like Illuminar's Day had been canceled.

"What happened?" Yalia asked.

Thea explained, then added. "I thought coming here might cheer her up."

"I bet Luminar Kossel will know what to do." Yalia turned to him, since both he and Matthew had already approached while Thea had been explaining.

"I'm afraid that I don't know what to say to help." The luminar said, though his tone sounded thoughtful and he was looking at Sarah intently, though she was still looking down and didn't seem to notice. "However..." he trailed off and tapped one of his fingers against the book he was holding.

"However...?" Yalia prompted.

Luminar Kossel looked at Thea. "I think that someone who will be at your coming-of-age ball might be able to help."

"Really!?" Thea exclaimed. "Who?"

"I shouldn't say, as I wouldn't wish to make a commitment for another." Luminar Kossel replied. "However, if you allow me to attend, I will ask myself. This person owes me a few favors, and hopefully can be persuaded." He got a strange sort of smile on his face as he said that. "It might take some convincing, and I cannot guarantee anything of course, but I do believe it's possible."

"Okay." Thea replied instantly. "I'll make sure you are admitted, though the official invitation list has already gone out, so I'll just ask someone to remain at the entrance to let you in."

"So much the better." Luminar Kossel replied, then looked at Sarah. "Now my dear, while I cannot improve your situation right now, I can think of a few psalms in the Book of Light that might cheer you up, or else some others that will make you feel less alone in your misery."

Sarah nodded, but didn't say anything.

* * *

"Oh. My. God." Selene breathed as she drew her rapier and moved it experimentally in the air for the first time. "Holy shit."

It felt like it was made for her.

It was, obviously, but she could feel it in the handling. It was perfect; beyond perfect. It seemed to respond to her thoughts just as much as her hand. The balance, handling, and even how it liked to move in her hand was... was... she just had no words.

The handle was intricately detailed, but subtly so. It was an incredibly fine work of art that also happened to be a sword. A deadly sword. It had the classic rapier look, but with a distinctly elven twist to the detailing, and holy crap, it was beautiful.

She was in the small dueling area outside the royal forge, which is where she assumed that they tested newly forged weapons. Next to her was Kendra, Graflex the dwarf, the elven forgemaster, and the elven swordmaster.

"Kendra, you've got to try this." Selene said, carefully handing the sword to her.

Kendra took it and moved it around. "It's a flawless blade. Not perfect for me, but perfect for you."

Graflex harrumphed. "Of course it ain't perfect for you, I made it for her." His tone indicated that he thought he was saying the most obvious thing in the world.

Kendra didn't reply, and instead she made subtle evasive motions with the tip, like she was dancing around an imaginary opponent's sword tip. "This would be absolutely deadly in combat against someone who's unarmored."

"Once given a stiffening enchantment, it should be able to pierce chainmail links with sufficient force." The forgemaster said. "However, it will indeed suffer slightly against armored opponents, given the length and relative lightness of the blade."

"Now, wife of the prophet." The swordmaster said to Kendra. "Are you sufficiently recovered to engage in some light sparring so we can decide what kind of blade would fit you best?"

"I am." Kendra replied, then handed the rapier back to Selene, who sheathed it.

The two of them went onto the sparring floor while the forgemaster handed Selene a significantly less ornate twin to her rapier, which was blunt. "It will handle exactly the same for sparring, yet is much less likely to result in injuries."

"Thank you." Selene said as she stared at her new weapon. It really felt like hers. "Thank you so much!"

"No, wife of the Prophet, thank you for the opportunity to serve Illuminar -- blessed be he -- by serving His prophet."

"Um, you're welcome?" Selene replied, not sure what else to say.

He nodded, then turned to watch Kendra and the swordmaster spar. It was obvious that she wasn't fully better, but she was a lot better. Selene wasn't even sure if it was still a recovery issue, and it might just be that Kendra had to get used to moving again.

"Her style is unique." The forgemaster observed after several minutes.

"How so?" Selene asked. She hadn't had a lot of sparring partners, so such differences weren't as obvious to her.

"It is extraordinarily efficient, and almost brutally so." The forgemaster replied. "However, there is a subtle beauty in such relentless efficiency; it's almost artistic."

Selene smiled at that. "Yeah, that's Kendra. She's the artistic type, but her arts are purely martial."

The forgemaster smiled widely at her joke. "I will, of course, defer to the swordmaster and Graflex, but I believe a blade style somewhere between a typical sword and your rapier might suit her."

Selene made a thoughtful sound. "On Earth, there was a transitional type of sword between longswords and rapiers like that." She paused. "And really, there's another, later sword type after rapiers that might even suit her better. It still has the hand protection, but it's more stripped down and practical -- more efficient -- and I could see Kendra being very happy with something like that."

"Do please describe such a weapon, as I believe you are correct." He replied.

She did, and Graflex was there the whole time. He was ostensibly watching the sparring, but Selene thought he was listening too.

* * *

"What's different about it?"

Yalia frowned for a moment as she thought about Sarah's question. Sarah herself seemed like she was doing a little better, but not a lot. Luminar Kossel had read a few psalms from the Book of Light, and then Yalia had sung one or two of them in the elven tongue, mostly because they were more beautiful than the translations into the common tongue. Those had seemed to cheer her up a little, but Sarah was still sitting down with her shoulders slumped and wasn't meeting anyone's eye.

"Well, it uses phrasing that you just don't find anywhere else in the Book of Light." Yalia replied. "For example, in the rest of the Book of Light, someone might say: 'I need something'. But in the prophet Yaleed's book, it says: 'I have a need for something'. It means the same thing, but the phrasing is different."

"There's a bunch of subtle little differences like that." Matthew added, then indicated himself and his wife. "We've found a dozen so far, none of which seem like they're used anywhere else in the Book of Light. They're all subtle though, and honestly, you wouldn't notice in most translations."

"Um, Taloni was reading the Book of Light to me on the Argo before we arrived and life got busy." Sarah said, then hesitated.

"Go ahead." Thea urged.

"Um, I think I remember someone saying 'I have a need' in something that Tee read, but I don't remember where."

Yalia frowned. If Sarah remembered that, it would mean that Taloni had a very literal translation into the Fey tongue, and that she'd translated it into the common tongue very literally as well. That made sense from what Yalia knew of Taloni, so that made her wonder: had they missed something?

She looked at her husband to see that he was frowning as well, which made her think that they had.

"Did we...?" Matthew began, but she was already trying to scan back through the Book of Light. Her nearly portrait-perfect memory had been a wonderful gift that her nymph heritage had blessed her with, and she was grateful for it.

"Oh!" Yalia exclaimed. "Yes, the general's speech when he addressed his clan about becoming part of the first kingdom!"

Matthew clapped his hand to his forehead. "Right!" He turned to the copy of the Book of Light and flipped to a page nearer the beginning, then they both began to read.

"I count eight of them." Matthew said when he was done.

"Nine." Yalia mused. "The articular infinitive."

"Oh, right." Matthew smiled, then looked at her with a twinkle in his eyes. "Like 'the keeping of the commandments'." He winked at her.

She felt her cheeks get warm as she remembered that particular portion of their wedding night.

"Nine of twelve in the short speech." Matthew mused. "That's a lot."

"What does it mean?" Thea asked.

"I'm not sure." Matthew frowned, then looked at his wife. "Can you do that thing where you look through the whole Book of Light in about a minute, looking for any other sections like that?"

Yalia closed her eyes and did so. It took her a little time to scan through what she remembered, and her memory wasn't entirely perfect, but it was way better since getting married because she was a nymph. She loved that.

"I think it's just the general's speech and the prophet Yaleed who talk like that." She replied after about a minute when she was done.

"They were contemporary with each other." Luminar Kossel pointed out. "Perhaps a regional or clan dialect?"

"No, all the major characters were enrolled in the genealogies and clan roll calls, except..." Matthew trailed off, then he cocked his head to one side and his mouth opened slightly.

"...except the prophets." Yalia finished. "As it's written: but the prophets were not enrolled by their clans, so they might remain servants of the God of Light alone."

"What if Yaleed and the general were part of the same clan, like Luminar Kossel suggested?" Matthew mused. "Their speech patterns match, and they lived at the same time, so it would make sense."

"Why would that matter?" Sarah asked.

"Because at the formation of the first united elven kingdom, there were several different dialects of elvish." Luminar Kossel replied. "If, perhaps, one of them had different rules for the definite article or demonstrative pronouns, then that might, perhaps, explain the common wood elven understanding of 'the' versus 'this' in the passage in question."

Matthew nodded. "Is there a way to know though? Are there any other books that survived from that time?"

"Yes, and the royal library should have all of them." Luminar Kossel replied.

"You'll need permission to see them, and I can give it." Thea replied. A moment later, she looked at Sarah and hesitated.

"Go, help them." Sarah said. "Alana needs this translation issue solved, and I'll be okay."

Thea nodded slowly. "Okay, but how about we wait here for a bit; maybe someone else will happen by and can walk you home."

Yalia was confused about why that would happen, but about five minutes later, Alana and Taloni did enter the chapel and offer to walk Sarah home. Yalia was confused by the timing since obviously no one had sent any messages. Still, it worked out well for Sarah, and Yalia was glad of that.

* * *

*She's not usually like this.* Selene thought to everyone as they all lay in bed that night. Sarah was there too, since Ethan wouldn't be back until early the next morning. Sarah hadn't said much the rest of the day. She had helped make the food, but had been mechanical about it. Mirella had ended up being the one to convince her to cook, and the generous -- and well-deserved -- compliments on her cooking had seemed to cheer her up a little, but it didn't last long.

"Sarah, we know what happened, but what's wrong?" Kendra asked her bluntly and without preamble.

Sarah bit her lip and looked down.

"You don't have to tell us." Taloni said gently.

"But I really think she should." Kendra said firmly, then looked at Sarah. "Sometimes, doing what's best for someone can hurt. We can just let you wallow in it, or you can tell us what's wrong so we can try to fix it."

"Kendra." Taloni said reprovingly.

"I..." Sarah started to say, swallowed, then finally spoke. "Is this what the rest of my life will be?"

"Not if you want the demon gone." Kendra replied.

"But..." Sarah bit her lip. "But what about what happened to Candice? What if something was going to happen to one of you, and I could've stopped it, but the demon was expelled so I couldn't do anything?"

Selene took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Well, shit."

"Indeed." Kendra replied, looking significantly more pensive than she had just a moment ago.

"Demons are Illuminar's enemies." Taloni said. "They won't help. They'll try to make it worse."

"But mine has helped." Sarah replied quietly. "When Kyrupto attacked, without my demon..." She paused. "What if that happened again and I couldn't fight?"

"The ends don't justify the means." Selene said after a moment. "But I really do get how hard that must be."

There was a general murmur of assent from everyone except Taloni. However, even she didn't say anything. She was frowning, but there was a note of pensiveness to her frown instead of it being a pure frown.

Selene couldn't imagine being in Sarah's position with that hanging over her head. No wonder she didn't want to get rid of it. Or rather, Selene knew that Sarah was desperate to want to get rid of it, but couldn't bring herself to actually want to get rid of it.

"Oh, hence your question." Selene said as the lightbulb went off. "If you won't get rid of it because you want to protect people, then yeah, the rest of your life." She grimaced.

Everyone else reacted similarly.

"Ethan should marry someone else." Sarah said after another moment, and she looked miserable.

"No, he shouldn't." Alana replied gently but firmly, then looked her in the eye. "You are going to marry him. He knew you had a demon when he asked your father for your hand, and he asked anyway."

Sarah nodded, the tiniest of smiles appearing on her face. "Okay, good."

"Rather than deciding that you aren't worthy and giving up, a much better response would be asking Illuminar for help." Alana suggested.

"I think we should pray now." Taloni said.

Sarah nodded.

They all prayed, even Selene, despite her feeling like it was stupid. She figured she had enough evidence that it wasn't at this point, but she still felt pretty stupid doing it. That didn't stop her though.

* * *

Candice was trying not to groan out loud again.

It wasn't easy.

It turned out that the laudanum had been doing a lot to numb the pain. Well, it wasn't quite 'pain'; it was more a powerful aching sensation that just wouldn't go away. She had woken up several times during the night because of it, and it wasn't getting better. She was pretty sure some magical healing would help, but Halasses had refused because he said that long-term, a better healer would make sure that she didn't have any pain in the future, while poor healing on a recent amputation could leave her with lasting pain.

It made perfect sense.

She still hated it.

She suppressed another groan. It felt like she had an open wound rubbing on something, which she almost did. She hadn't worked up the courage to look at her knee yet, but she had seen amputations before.

"We're almost there." Ethan said to her.

She nodded, then opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed was that the sky was just barely beginning to lighten in the pre-dawn hours. The second was that some of the sails had been struck. She looked at them for a moment, and then looked at Ethan.

"I hope you don't mind, but I had Serif and Halasses strike a few sails so the first time you saw Nalatia would be at sunrise." He explained. "It didn't add much time to our journey, and I thought the extra time would be worth it for you."

It was.

She thanked him of course, and then waited.

It was gorgeous.

The sun crested the horizon at about the same time that the famous elven city came into view, and she almost cried because it was so beautiful. The sunrise had painted the entire sky from East to West in a mosaic of reds, pinks, oranges, and purples. She'd never seen a sunrise like that before, and especially from the airship, it was jaw-dropping. Literally. She felt like she was in the middle of the most beautiful swirl of light and color she'd ever seen.

When she finally managed to tear her eyes away from the sky, she saw the elven city below her. The entire city was constructed of wood and attached to enormous trees that grew straight as an arrow, except the larger 'buildings' which were composed of trees grown together to form the walls. Each of them appeared to be a unique work of art that was designed to not only be beautiful, but also subtle and understated in its beauty. The tree canopy was there, but someone had strategically guided its growth so that the view of the sky wasn't completely obstructed. There was a tinge of fog covering the whole city in the early morning, just enough to make it look mysterious, ethereal, and otherworldly.

It was breathtaking.

She spent the entire final leg of the trip gazing at the beauty around her, scarcely able to believe that she was actually here, and with Ethan too.

"That's the palace, which is where we'll land." Ethan pointed ahead to the largest and most beautiful 'building' she'd yet seen. She just stared. She wasn't sure she could do anything else. More than once, she wiped a happy tear from her eye, even despite the persistent ache in her leg; it was just that wonderful.

It wasn't until the small airship had descended below the treetops toward a small dock at the palace that she was able to tear her eyes away from the city. On the dock were a few elves who looked like they were dressed as servants, one gorgeous elven woman, and seven other women who could only be Ethan's wives. She couldn't help but notice how beautiful they were, well, all except for two of them. One of those two was eyeing her carefully, just shy of suspiciously, and the other was intently examining her shoes.

"Here, let me help you." Ethan said after the airship had descended into a berth just large enough for it, so that the side of the airship was just barely higher than the surrounding dock.

He extended his hand and she took it, then he helped her to her feet, ducked down so she could put her arm around his shoulder, and he helped her out. Barely had they exited the airship when one of the most beautiful women Candice had ever seen rolled a strange-looking chair that had wheels on either side of it forward

"The King sends his regards for the honorable wounded." The gorgeous elven woman said, then head bowed.

"Honorable?" Candice asked.

"Yes, honorable Candice." The gorgeous elven woman nodded, then wheeled the chair up so she could easily sit in it.

"Thank you." She said, and Ethan helped her into it. It felt good to sit down. For some reason, doing much of anything was tiring right now. Halasses said it was partially exhaustion, and partially the blood loss from which she hadn't yet recovered.

"My name is Pelathea Numiarian Asimentae, called Wild-Child, and I am the ward of The King." The unbelievably beautiful elven woman said. "The King and The Queen sent me here to personally greet you, as it would not be proper for them to greet you when you landed."

Candice stared with her mouth hanging slightly open.

"However, they do wish to meet you later." Pelathea continued. "If you would be willing, they extend an invitation to a private luncheon together with them, my betrothed, and myself."

Candice tried to make a sound, but no words came out.

"You should probably say yes." Ethan suggested.

"Yes." Candice said instantly, still staring slack-jawed at the gorgeous elven woman.

Pelathea made a small 'shooing' gesture at Ethan, who then went to greet his wives. Candice's father and mother loved each other, and that was obvious to Candice growing up, but what she saw during that greeting was different. It was more, it was deeper, and it was utterly genuine.

She noticed that Ethan's shoulders relaxed a little when he hugged them, wrapping his wings around all of them at once. It seemed like a weight had lifted off his shoulders, and he was clearly leaning on them a little, both emotionally and physically.

"It's quite the sight, isn't it?" The gorgeous elven woman asked quietly after kneeling down beside the wheeled chair.

Candice nodded.

The elf looked at her for a moment, then gave her a kind smile. "I think many women will fall for him over his long life, but he only has eyes for his wives. He is so kind that a woman might easily think he might be interested, but kindness and interest are not the same thing."

Candice bit her lip.

The elf's tone hadn't been pointed, and she hadn't even looked at her significantly, but Candice took her meaning anyway. She nodded. "Okay."

The moment Ethan had finished greeting his wives, they all approached her, with a Fey girl -- a Fey girl! Candice had never seen a real Fey before -- leading the way.

"Hi, I'm Taloni. Can I look at the wound?" She asked, her tone kind and caring.

"She's a brilliant healer." Ethan explained.

"Okay." Candice nodded.

The Fey girl knelt down and put a hand on Candice's leg, right above the amputation.

While she did that, Ethan introduced her to his other wives, and Candice couldn't believe how kind they all were. Well, his betrothed seemed subdued and muted, but she didn't seem unkind, just like something serious was on her mind.

"The top and bottom have started healing to each other, so I can heal it." Taloni said after a minute or two. "It will probably ache a little for several days, but it shouldn't hurt or ache after that."

"Okay, thank you." Candice said.

The Fey girl closed her eyes, and moments later, Candice felt a prickly feeling down there. It was just shy of tickling, and it wasn't particularly pleasant, but the painful ache that she'd been dealing with faded everywhere the prickly feeling touched.

After a few minutes, Taloni opened her eyes and stood up. "Done. Again, it will feel odd for a few days, but it's fully healed."

Candice nodded. "Thank you, it feels much better."

The Fey girl smiled.

The gorgeous elven girl spoke next. "The King has ordered his best artisans to construct a replacement leg from wood and elven steel, as we do for all heroes in our realm. You will be able to walk with it, given some practice, and with the proper clothes, one might not even know about your injury." She paused. "Well, as long as you don't try to move faster than a walk."

Candice stared at her. "What?"

"My guardian is very generous, and he wanted to help you as much as possible." The elf said. "He can't acknowledge you publicly for political reasons, but privately, he holds you in high esteem for what you've done for the Prophet." Thea then smiled. "And, I would be more than happy to take you for a bath at the royal baths, then a proper dress fitting to replace yours."

Candice just stared.

* * *

Ethan watched Thea wheel Candice away, glad that The King had taken such pains to help her. At this point, he'd been holding back how he really felt for almost 24 hours, and he was getting bloody tired of holding it in. He really wanted to let all his feelings out, preferably directly at Lord Farbrottan.

Nearby, he was vaguely aware that Ahjah was offering Duke Farbrottan a suite inside the palace security perimeter. The duke accepted of course, and Ethan was glad that he didn't need to deal with that right now.

"Ethan?" Alana said softly.

He took a deep breath, let it out slowly, then looked at her. Once he had, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his torso in a tight hug. Almost automatically, he hugged her back. Moments later, all of his wives turned it into a tender group hug with him at the center. This wasn't a 'welcome back' hug though, nor even an 'I missed you' hug.

They were commiserating.

It was almost like when Beth had rested her head on his shoulder right after it had happened. It did his heart good and he could slowly feel some of the tension draining out of him. There was a lot to drain out, and it was only leaving as a trickle, but it helped.

"Come on, let's get back to the room." Alana suggested after a minute.

He nodded and they all headed back in silence.

As they approached the building with their suite, he noticed two of the Lightguard outside. He stopped and thanked them for protecting his family before continuing inside; he couldn't imagine what happened to Candice happening to one of his wives.

"I have a confession." Alana said once they were all in their suite, including Sarah.

"Oh?" Ethan asked.

She nodded. "We all talked it over and agreed." She hesitated. "You've been away from all of us for almost a week now, which means we haven't shared a bed in that long, and you know how your dragon side makes you crazy when we aren't doing it regularly."

He glanced at Sarah, who had very pink cheeks, but she didn't look like she was about to run.

"So I think you should spend a minute or two with Sarah sitting crossways on your lap snuggling, then we'll retire to the bedroom and the rest of us can sit straddling your lap."

"I'm not--"

"-not really in the mood." Alana finished. "I know, which is why we're more than happy to do all the work." She paused. "Really, one part of you always works whether you're in the mood or not, so..."

Sarah was nearly scarlet at this point, but at least she didn't look like she wanted to hide under a rock as she spoke. "You're back, so Thea's coming-of-age ball will be very soon, probably tomorrow evening. After that, we can get married."

"Soon after." He replied, even managing a small smile.

She nodded. "Um, can I sit on your lap for a minute or two?"

He nodded, then flopped down on a nearby couch. Sarah came over and sat across his lap, then leaned into him. He put his arms around her. What if it had been her? Well, demon, so probably not her, but one of his other wives?

"I have a confession." Sarah said after a few moments, then she told him what had happened, and how Candice's injury had affected her view of her demon.

Ethan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Yeah, I understand that. I'm pretty sure that the demon will try like hell to screw everything up for us, and you really need to get rid of it, but yeah; I get it."

Taloni was nearby and she pressed her lips into a thin line and crossed her arms, but didn't say anything.

"Okay, I'll go... uh..." Sarah hesitated. "I'll find something to do." She looked at Alana. "You'll take care of him?"

"Of course; I need to return the favor occasionally." She winked.

Sarah chuckled, then got off his lap and left the suite.

"Ready sir?" Alana asked him.

He sighed. "Almost any other time, I'd be 100% ready. Right now..."

"Tee, get the door." Kendra said as she went to the window and closed the blinds.

Thor, who had been lounging on the back of a nearby chair, looked at this, got a long-suffering look on his face, then hopped down and exited the main room, heading toward the kitchen. By the time he'd left, the blinds were closed and Tee had locked the front door.

"Okay ladies, let's see if we can improve our husband's mood." Alana said as she pulled her dress over the top of her head and deposited it carelessly on the floor. His other wives followed suit, but he found his eyes fixed on the small, subtle bump on Alana's stomach, right over her womb. The smile that had started to form on his face at her stripping faltered as he considered the possibility of something happening to his unborn daughter. For possibly the first time ever, his wives all being naked didn't send him to full mast in seconds.

"It will be okay." Alana said and she came closer and dropped onto the couch right next to him, snuggled up against him. "I had that dream with Gabriella where I was nursing Ruth, and she said it would happen. We'll be safe."

Ethan slid his hand around protectively over the baby bump, and Alana put her hand over his.

"Other people will get hurt." He said after a moment. "This is war, and war always has casualties and collateral damage. Always."

"Drago, Candice said that she wanted to help you free Ivernia, even after she lost her leg." Kendra pointed out. "She won't be the only one."

"But..." He trailed off as he realized that all his wives were gathered around him, naked as the day they were born, and they all looked concerned. They cared, and that was all over their expressions and body language.

"Yes Dominus, there are six butts." Beth teased, then turned around and wiggled hers, and his other wives followed suit, except for Alana who was sitting next to him. She got up a little and turned on one knee so she was straddling him.

"Now, would you please let your wives cheer you up?" Alana asked.

"I can try." He replied, actually managing a small smile.

* * *

Yalia blinked a few times, yawned, and then shook her head to clear it. Her vision still felt a little blurry so she rubbed her eyes, then stifled another yawn. She liked that the library smelled like books, ink, and old parchment, but they had stayed up way too late the previous night, and not for the fun reason either.

"Found it!" Matthew exclaimed quietly from nearby.

She hurried over to look over his shoulder, then shuddered. "Ew, in that book?"

Her husband shrugged. "We were looking at anything written around the same time, and this was."

"But The Sepo Cycle?" She grimaced. "I wouldn't want my parents to know I was in the same room with it." The cover was made of black leather, the pages were slightly yellowed, and the ink was a dark reddish brown; she hoped it wasn't blood.

This whole section of the library was sealed off by an elven steel gate and was guarded. It was only with Thea's permission -- and even then, she had to have that permission confirmed by The King himself -- that they had been allowed into this restricted section.

"Do you remember what Lord Kalus said at that one dinner on his flagship while we were traveling here?" He asked.

It took her a moment to realize what specific dinner he was probably referring to. "Oh, he said that if you want something you've never had, you'll have to do something you've never done."

"Exactly." Matthew replied. "I'm sure the luminars have studied every single document written by historians or those faithful to Illuminar. That only leaves certain other books that a luminar isn't likely to study."

"But a book about a Nesteri?" Yalia asked. "Didn't Sepo himself -- a Nesteri -- write some of it? And isn't it about his exploits and perversions?"

"Yes." Matthew nodded. "But, more importantly, it has this." He pointed to a spot on the page.

She leaned over and read it, then frowned. "The prophet Yaleed's tribe, who Sepo instructed his men to destroy..." She frowned and kept reading until she saw the name of the tribe, which made her gasp. "That's the general's tribe!"

"Exactly." Matthew nodded with a grin. "Those odd speech patterns that we noticed weren't a coincidence; the general and the prophet Yaleed were from the same tribe."

"Didn't a few other ancient books from that tribe survive the ages?" She asked. She thought so, but she hadn't been trained like he had.

"Yeah, a couple." Matthew nodded. "I bet they have them here, we'll just have to ask a librarian where they are."

Yalia smiled at him. "My husband; I'm so proud of you!"

He smiled back. "I couldn't have done it without you. Now, come on, let's go help the prophet."

She nodded excitedly, happy to help Ethan after all he'd done for them.

* * *

Candice stared at her reflection in the most perfect mirror she'd ever seen. She couldn't even believe how well she could see herself in it, nor what she looked like. She had been treated to the most incredible baths -- which were allowable because Taloni had healed her leg -- attendants, and even clothiers. She was wearing a brand-new dress that had been fitted to her while she had waited. It was beyond gorgeous, and yet also incredibly tasteful and classy as well.

"What do you think?" Thea asked; she'd insisted on being called 'Thea', even though she was basically a princess and Candice was just an Ivernian commoner.

"I... I look..." She stared at the dress, and what some of the elven servants had done with her hair, which was the most spectacular thing, even though it was very subtle.

"Exactly." Thea said.

The gorgeous elf had been helping her stand, and then helped her into the strange wheeled chair that allowed her to get along much more easily than a crutch would have.

"Now, to lunch with The King and The Queen." Thea said as she wheeled her out of the room and toward the palace proper.

"But what will I say?" Candice asked, hardly believing that this was happening. Even her leg had stopped aching, likely the result of something marvelous they had put in her bath.

"Just be yourself." Thea replied. "The luncheon will be in private, so the rules of decorum will be less strict. Be as polite as you know how to be; that's all they'll require in private like this."

Candice breathed a sigh of relief. "I've never had a formal dinner either, and aren't there multiple forks and spoons?"

"I'll help with that, just do as I do." Thea volunteered.

"Thank you." Candice said.

Not long after, Thea wheeled her into a private dining room where only three other people were; The King, The Queen, and Thea's Betrothed.

The moment she had entered, The Queen stood up, came over, and swooped in to give Candice a huge hug. "You are very welcome at our table my dear, for you were willing to give all you had for the Prophet of Illuminar -- blessed be He -- and gave that which cannot be returned to you." She indicated her leg. "May the God of Light bless you richly for your sacrifice."

There was a part of Candice that knew she was supposed to respond. However, that part of her seemed to have frozen on its way to figuring out how to respond. Instead, she felt frozen with her mouth hanging slightly open.

"Thea tells me that you love our fair capital, my dear." The Queen continued. "Perhaps when you feel able to speak again, I could invite you to tour Nalatia with me as my honored guest."

Candice stared for a moment before stammering. "I-I, I'd love to."

The Queen beamed.

* * *

Ethan lay on the bed in their bedroom in their suite in Nalatia, staring up at the ceiling and thinking. His head was indeed clearer now, but he still had to resist the urge to growl when he thought about what had happened to Candice. He still wanted to fly back to Ivernia and rip Lord Farbrottan a new one. And after that, he wanted to--

"Still?" Alana put a hand on his chest, since she was right next to him. His other wives were snuggled around him as well, and that's when he realized that they were all looking at him.

"Yeah." He nodded. "Not as bad as before, but yeah."

"Sparring." Kendra suggested. "When I have too much going on in my head, I've found that sparring tends to help. It'll give you something else to focus on, and maybe you can sort it out that way."

He nodded slowly. "You up for it?"

"Honestly, no." She replied. "Not the kind of heavy sparring you'll want to do."

Tee smiled at her.

"I would, but you already thrash me whenever we spar." Selene said. God she was gorgeous. It seemed like every single inch of her was literal feminine perfection. That plus the snuggling helped.

"Okay." He nodded. "I'll go see if any of the off-duty palace guard wants to spar; they gave me a standing invitation, so I'll take them up on it."

"Good." Alana said. "We'll probably go see The Queen and make sure the final details are right for our new dresses."

He nodded, hating that they had all needed new dresses because the ambush that hurt Kendra had revealed that their current dresses didn't cover enough to properly protect them.

"Thea's ball should be tomorrow." Rachel said, her perfect breasts heaving slightly after the time in bed. "Don't forget."

He nodded. "Okay, I'll go see if I can work some of this frustration off."

"Enjoy, and remember that we love you." Alana said.

"Love you too." He replied, then headed out.

* * *

"I finished this one, but didn't see anything helpful." Yalia said as she set the long scroll down. She was glad that someone had the foresight to enchant these scrolls to be self-repairing, else she hated to imagine how many would've been lost to time and use.

"What about what you didn't see?" Matthew replied absent-mindedly.

"Huh?"

He looked at her. "Well, we're looking at things written by the prophet Yaleed's clan before the first kingdom. Have you seen the demonstrative pronoun used in that passage of the Book of Light?" He cocked his head to one side. "Or any demonstrative pronouns for that matter?"

She thought about it for a moment, trying to remember if she'd seen the elven equivalent of 'this', 'that', 'these' or 'those'. She couldn't remember seeing them, and her nymph-enhanced memory made it unlikely that she missed them. "I don't think I have."

"Exactly." He smiled. "I just noticed it, but we've been through a few surviving texts from the prophet Yaleed's clan leading up to the first kingdom, and I haven't noticed a single demonstrative pronoun."

"You're right." She smiled. "Does that mean..." Her smile grew wider. "Does that mean that they didn't have them? Is that why that passage Yaleed wrote that the elves use to say shame can't be removed uses 'the' instead of 'this'?"

"Maybe." Matthew had a thoughtful frown on his face. "The prophet Yaleed wrote around the time that the first elven king formed the first kingdom by uniting the clans. The first king harmonized all the dialects of ancient elvish into the dialect that we now call ancient elvish, which means there had to be different dialects. What if Yaleed's clan had a dialect that didn't have demonstrative pronouns, and they used 'the' instead of demonstrative pronouns?"

Yalia grinned. "I bet that's it."

"But we still need proof." Matthew mused. "We can prove that the general and Yaleed are from the same clan from The Sepo Cycle, and that his clan appears to not use demonstrative pronouns at all. That's good, but not strong enough evidence. We need more if we're really going to convince Plesius and the other luminars."

Yalia looked at the books and scrolls they hadn't read yet. "Then I suppose we should get started."

He took a deep breath that was partially a sigh, then nodded.

She slinked closer and leaned down to whisper into his ear. "I'm very grateful that we can do this together, and I'll prove it tonight."

He grinned back, then they got to work.

* * *

"I yield!"

Ethan pulled his final attack, stopping his training sword short of striking the member of the palace guard that he was sparring with. Sparring helped a little, but not much, and he still regularly had to resist the urge to growl.

The dueling ring for the royal guardsmen was as well-crafted as the rest of the palace grounds and filled with just as much subtle beauty. It was round, but not raised and had no railings. In fact, the edges of the perfectly round ring were set into the wooden floor so skillfully that he doubted a razor blade tip could fit between the two.

Surrounding him were the quarters for the guardsmen, and they were functional, practical, and yet not without their own beauty. They too were skillfully made and, while plain, possessed a utilitarian beauty all their own. It was hard to describe, but reminded him a little of the Japanese buildings he'd seen in samurai movies. Not a lot, and not the roofs obviously, but a little.

"Honored prophet." The next royal guardsman in line to spar spoke up. "I wish to defer my turn until the turmoil in your soul does not present itself in your bladework."

Ethan looked at him for a moment. "Huh?"

"Such aggression is suitable for the battlefield." The guardsman replied. "However, on the training field, it is more likely to result in injury."

"Sorry." Ethan replied with a tired sigh. "It's been a rough couple of days and-- well, that's no excuse. I'm sorry."

"It is already forgiven and forgotten, honored prophet." The guardsman bowed. "It is notable that none of my fellow guardsman can withstand you, for we have trained daily for decades and yet cannot currently match your skill."

"Thanks." Ethan said, not sure how that had happened, and his enhancements were even off. Obviously he'd been training almost nonstop for months, almost since coming to the Ten Kingdoms, but less than six months seemed pretty damn fast to get that good. Unless... Huh. He cocked his head to one side as he realized that he'd enchanted himself to learn things faster recently. That might explain it.

"Perhaps you need a different opponent."

Ethan turned toward the voice, which was quite familiar. "Lord Kalus."

"Lucien, please." The lord replied, then extended a hand to shake his.

Ethan shook it and managed a neutral expression, which was a big step up from the scowl he'd been restraining since the tournament battle. "It's good to see you."

"Likewise." Lucien replied. "I heard what happened."

Ethan closed his eyes, nodded, and managed to keep a growl out of his tone as he spoke. "I'm dealing with it."

"It would appear that you are not dealing with it well." Lucien replied without judgment. "But that is a conversation for later. For now, I volunteer to be the victim of your anger, if a suitably-sized training sword can be procured, else I shall return to my airship to fetch one."

"Our training armory, honored Lord Kalus." One of the guardsmen indicated a small building nearby. Ethan would've called it a shed, but that was rather like calling a billionaire's tuxedo a 'just a suit'; it might be technically correct, but it was nevertheless completely wrong.

Lucien selected a sword near identical in size to the one that he'd used the last time they'd sparred, then entered the dueling ring. "Shall we use standard unarmored rules?"

"Sure." Ethan nodded.

Scoring with standard unarmored rules was very simple: strike a limb and the opponent must stop using it, strike the torso or head and you win. You could also win by forcing your opponent out of the ring. It simulated combat without armor, since combat with armor was a little harder to judge.

"Come." Lucien said as he raised his sword into a ready position.

Ethan took a deep breath, then stepped in with a cut at Lucien's torso, which the lord parried and took advantage of Ethan's slight overswing to launch a counterattack. Ethan was able to withdraw his blade quickly enough to block the strike, then he stepped back.

"I presume this is the first time someone you personally knew has been permanently injured?" Lord Kalus asked.

Ethan nodded, then tried again. He opened with a thrust that Lucien parried, then the lord angled his blade down as he pushed his arms out and launched a counter thrust. Ethan lifted his own blade and managed to deflect the thrust, but it was a close thing.

"You have improved greatly." Lucien said after a moment.

"Dragon." Ethan shrugged, then attacked again. Again, Lucien defended and it ended with no points for either of them.

"It was not your fault." Lucien said after a moment, then launched his own attack.

He was good.

Extremely good.

Ethan saw the attack coming and easily parried it, but what he hadn't seen was how the parry he'd chosen -- which normally would be ideal -- had also put him out of position for blocking the follow-up attack. It was only by the skin of his teeth that Ethan saw it coming and was able to hop backwards to avoid Lucien's blade... which apparently had been what Lucien had been expecting because he pressed the attack now that Ethan was close to the edge of the ring. If Ethan was human, he would've been forced out of the ring. Instead, he jumped over Lucien's head, making sure to cover his feet as he did so, which was good because Lucien definitely attacked them.

"Damn, you're still amazing." Ethan said, since Lucien hadn't pursued him.

"It was not your fault." Lucien repeated.

"Yeah, it kind of was." Ethan replied.

"Then you dishonor her sacrifice by claiming credit for it." Lucien replied calmly. "If it was your fault, then you can claim credit for her bravery and sacrifice."

"Not really; I put her in a bad spot and she responded well." Ethan replied. "I'm not responsible for her courage, just the circumstances that made it necessary."

Lucien almost smiled. "You debate as well as you spar."

Ethan shrugged.

"Cease holding back." Lucien said. "You could defeat me with a concerted effort."

"Done." Ethan stepped forward and cut strongly against him, forcing his blade up into a hanging parry. Ethan pulled his blow before it landed and rotated his sword around. Lucien responded by rotating his sword to intercept the tip of Ethan's blade, then thrusting forward with his tip since he now had control of the centerline. Ethan hastily stepped sideways to equalize control of the center, then wound his blade around Lucien's and succeeded in striking his torso... at the exact moment that Lucien's training blade hit his shoulder.

"A draw." Ethan said. That was new. Well, new against Lucien anyway.

"You have improved a vast amount in a very short space of time." Lord Kalus said as he returned his training sword to its place.

"Thanks." Ethan replied.

"Come, let us walk for a time." The lord suggested, and Ethan nodded.

They had the run of the palace grounds, and Lucien didn't seem to have any particular place in mind, so they walked in silence for a few minutes. Lucien didn't say anything immediately, and Ethan didn't feel like talking so he looked around. He could see a single leaf on a single tree nearby just starting to turn from vibrant green to yellow. Apparently, fall really was coming.

"It is a difficult thing to watch a comrade suffer." Lucien finally said. "More so when that suffering is permanent in some way."

"No shit Sherlock." Ethan replied with a sigh.

Lucian raised his eyebrow. "Vulgarity does not become a prophet."

"Honestly, I don't give a fuck right now." He replied.

Lucien actually smiled at that. "You have not lost your blunt honesty."

"I feel like shit." Ethan replied. "And worse, I don't know how I'm going to stop it from happening again. Candice is a good and kind person who just wanted to help. I get the feeling that there will be many more stories like hers before the end, assuming that fighting a war against Ivernia is worth it."

"There is an old elven proverb I am especially fond of." Lucien replied. "War does not chiefly create winners and losers, but survivors and casualties." He looked at him. "That is unavoidable. If you cannot bear the weight of casualties, then it is best not to enter the conflict. It is better to avoid the conflict entirely than to raise an army and then leave them leaderless."

"You're saying that I shouldn't try to free Ivernia?" Ethan asked.

"No, I am saying that you must be willing to see the war through to the end before the first battle is fought." Lord Kalus replied. "To do otherwise would be to waste the lives of those under your command, but such a thing is never acceptable for a leader under any circumstance."

"I thought you were going to give me a pep talk." Ethan replied after a moment.

"You are not a child." Lucien said. "Nor are you a young man needing a little guidance at a critical moment as Matthew did." Lucien looked at him significantly. "You are a man, and more, a leader of men. As such, I will not coddle you. The life of a leader in war leaves no room for coddling. If you do not have the will to pursue a course of action despite obstacles, then you are ill-suited to the type of leadership before you, and you should give such leadership to another."

"Heavy is the head that wears the crown." Ethan quoted.

"If I had been allowed to chart my own path in life, no son of mine would ever wear a crown." Lucien continued. "The command of men in battle, when life and death depend on your decisions, is a heavy burden to bear. I still harbor regrets from my battles, especially the early ones. I have, despite my greatest efforts, wasted the lives of men under my command because of inexperience. It will be the same for you. If you are not prepared to shoulder that burden, you must step aside and allow someone who can shoulder it to replace you. Too many lives will be at stake for a man of insufficient commitment to be at the helm of such a great endeavor."

Ethan nodded his head in concession, then mirrored the lord's earlier words. "You have not lost your blunt honesty."

"Some things are too important not to speak plainly." Lucien replied. "Again, I would not wish the burden of a soldier's life on any son of mine, and yet I must raise mine to be a lord. I wish it were not so, but alas, that is the situation I find myself in."

It was rare that Lord Kalus showed much emotion. However, at this moment, Ethan could see some of it buried in his eyes when he spoke about his son ruling; he looked slightly haunted. It was subtle, but definitely there.

"War is hell." Ethan sighed.

"Indeed, though you have not adequately explained what 'hell' is."

"Honestly, you probably don't want to know." Ethan replied. "There's an old story from Earth. A fellow named Cortez sailed across a great ocean to an unknown land. After landing, he burned his ships so his men wouldn't be tempted to try to return home. They were stuck there, and they had to survive or die."

"That would be an example of a leader with sufficient commitment." Lucien nodded. "At this moment, you have landed on a distant shore like this 'Cortez'. However, your proverbial ships are still intact."

"Only sort of." Ethan replied. "Those bounties are still in force."

"And they have been altered to be 'alive only'." Lucien replied. "Further, rumors have begun to spread of how brutally you defeated that ambush in Nalatia. I would wager that few bounty hunters would be willing to pursue the bounty, given the stories. If you traveled a significant distance, perhaps to the Southern Lands, or even the northern parts of the Ten Kingdoms, you would likely be safe."

Ethan inclined his head in concession, then thought about it for a moment. "I've always felt pushed into this. At just about every step of the way, I had to fight for one reason or another. I think this is the first time that I don't think I have to."

"I do believe that -- given Lord Borden's displeasure with Ivernia at the moment and Ivernia's need for credit -- we might perhaps even be able to convince Lord Farbrottan to drop the bounty if he could be assured that you would never return." Lord Kalus mused. "That is especially true if he suffered a fright such as Beth indicated he did."

"Lord Delmar is a different story." Ethan replied. "I married his daughter, so..."

"Even he will be convinced when the Crown Prince finishes his investigation." Lord Kalus replied. "Additionally, grandchildren do have a way of softening a man's heart. Perhaps you should consider pursuing that as a solution?"

Ethan actually managed a smile at that. "You're just saying that because your son swore up and down that he wanted to marry Rachel's first daughter."

"Partially." Lucien replied. "One does worry about the quality of a bride for his sons, and even more so the quality of a husband for his daughters. In your case, I believe she will be raised well."

"You know that I'm not on board with that whole arranged marriage thing, right?"

Lucien gave him an indulgent look. "I am aware. However, I am also aware that you have not yet held your own infant daughter. Until that time, I shall not consider your mind fully convinced on the matter."

"Okay." Ethan chuckled. "I'm not going to change my mind, but okay."

"We shall see." Lucien replied.

Ethan shrugged.

They stood there for several moments as Ethan thought about things. Would it be worth it? He knew that a lot of Ivernians were hurting, and of course there was the reason that Candice had been at the tournament in the first place. But still, if it did become a real war, at least hundreds of people would be injured or killed, and really it was probably more like thousands. Quite possibly tens of thousands?

That was a steep price to pay.

A very steep price.

Honestly, he wasn't sure what to think about it since as much as he loved Ivernia, it wasn't his country. Technically, he was homeless. Then again, he well remembered everything he'd heard from the Ivernians about how much they hated Lord Farbrottan and wanted him gone. Many of them were probably even willing to fight and die for the cause.

"You have much to think on." Lucien said. "I shall retire for now, and shall see you at dinner this evening."

Ethan nodded, his wives already having told him that everyone was coming over so he could update them on all that had happened, and what they were planning to do in the Wilding Lands. That of course reminded him that ultimately, there was almost certainly a demon -- a Nesteri -- behind all of this. He thought he had a responsibility to deal with that because he was the only one who could.

As he thought about it more, it occurred to him that he knew a fair number of Ivernians whose opinions he could get. They came from many walks of life as well, and so could give him a good feel for what Ivernia at large felt. Yeah... yeah, that sounded like a good idea.

* * *

"Here!" Yalia excitedly exclaimed as she finally found what they had been looking for. It was, of course, on the last few pages of the last book they'd looked at; why was it always that way?

"Where?" Matthew asked as he leaned over, setting his last book aside as well.

She pointed. "Notice how he's quoting the first volume of his histories?"

"A demonstrative pronoun." Mathew grinned. "I recognize that quote too."

"Me too." Yalia set her current book aside and pulled out another one, then flipped through it, her nymph-enhanced memory making it much easier to remember than it ever would've been before. "Here." She pointed.

Matthew leaned over her to read, translating into the common tongue as he did so. "Our food is scarce, since Sepo has instructed his armies to raze all the crops in the land." Matthew then looked back at Yalia's book and read aloud. "Our food is scarce, since Sepo has instructed his armies to raze all the crops in--" He grinned. "--in this land." He looked at his wife. "That's it, we were right."

Yalia beamed. "Will it be enough to convince Plesius and the other luminars?"

"It should be." Matthew stood up straight and rubbed his chin. "The Sepo Cycle establishes which clan the prophet Yaleed was from; that's the crucial piece. The few writings from that clan before the unification of the clans never use a demonstrative pronoun, but the writings from after the unification do use demonstrative pronouns. Then, we have a history book from after the unification using 'this' to quote 'the' in something written before the unification, and thus before all the elven dialects were merged into the one the elves are familiar with."

"That's a good case." Yalia breathed a sigh of relief. "Matthew, I think we did it; I think we helped the Prophet."

"I think we did." Matthew stared at the two books for a long moment, then he slowly shook his head with his mouth slightly open. "We actually did it, we actually got to help him."

"I know." Yalia beamed, then added a little more quietly. "I think we should celebrate after telling the Prophet."

Matthew clearly missed the innuendo because he nodded. She didn't mind though; she actually loved how focused he could get. Sometimes, she had to start removing clothes to get his attention. Of course, she also loved that her doing so never failed to get his attention, and keep it for a long time.

"We should put the rest of these away, and ask the librarian to keep these three available so we can show Plesius." He said after a moment, his 'I'm thinking-and-planning-deeply' expression and tone on full display. Yalia didn't understand why she found that both endearing and arousing, but she wasn't going to complain about it either.

They did put the books away as carefully as their age deserved, and they were just about to go find a librarian when Thea came into the area.

"Oh, there you are." The gorgeous elf said, then noticed the book in Yalia's hands.

It was The Sepo Cycle.

Thea froze slightly, her eyes widened, then she spoke hesitantly. "Uh, are you okay?"

Yalia went bright red and all of a sudden felt like the room's temperature had jumped a thousand degrees.

"She didn't read it; I had to." Matthew answered for her, saving her from having to. "We needed to read texts from around the Prophet Yaleed's time, and it was written around then."

"Oh." Thea nodded slowly. "Um, that dinner at Ethan's place is starting soon, if you still want to come?"

"Of course, we need to tell him what we found!" Yalia said excitedly.

From around the corner, a voice spoke in perfect elvish, the melodious sound of the language contrasting with the harsh words reminding her to be quiet.

"Sorry!" Yalia said in a whisper.

"Come on." Thea said with an impish grin, her volume definitely a little louder than what had earned Yalia a rebuke.

The librarian said nothing to The King's ward, leading Yalia to chuckle at Thea perfectly living up to her elven title.

* * *

"Right here, honored prophet."

"Thanks." Ethan said to Delabor after the elven herald had pointed out the door to the room where Candice was housed. One of the royal guards was stationed outside of it, which seemed odd.

"She expressed some unease in the aftermath of her ordeal." Delabor explained. "The King offered to have a guard posted outside her door so she need not worry about the slightest thing."

Ethan smiled. "Damn, I really could learn a lot about leadership from him."

The herald nodded. "The elven word that is translated into the common tongue as 'king' more accurately means 'highest father'. That is not accidental."

"He mentioned." Ethan nodded. "If all leaders were like him, the world would be a better place."

"But then, how would The Queen know which is hers?" Delabor asked with a perfectly straight face.

Ethan laughed. "You're a good man Delabor."

"A compliment not to be taken lightly, especially coming from the Prophet of Illuminar -- blessed be He." He bowed slightly. "If it will ease your mind, the luncheon with The King, The Queen, Golden Tongue, and Wild Child went extremely well. For someone unschooled in royal etiquette, she comported herself exceptionally well. Judging by her reactions, she enjoyed it greatly."

"Good, she deserves it." Ethan nodded.

"I believe she will be pleased to see you." The herald said, then turned and knocked gently on the door.

It opened a crack to reveal an elven maid. "She has just woken from her nap, honored prophet."

"Is that Ethan?" Candice called from somewhere inside.

"Yes, honored guest." The elven maid replied.

"Please let him in?" Candice said.

The elven maid opened the door wide, and Ethan stepped into an extremely nice suite. It looked much like the ones his family was currently living in, but with different colors and more feminine artistic styling. It looked incredibly nice, and he was glad that Candice had a place like this to stay.

The elven maid went through a door that looked like it led to a bedroom, then wheeled Candice out a minute later. The elven maid curtsied, then exited the room, leaving the door open a crack, probably for propriety.

"Hi." Candice said, her tone slightly unsure.

"Hi." He replied. "We're having a dinner tonight with all our friends, and I thought you might like to join us."

"I would love to." She replied with a smile.

He nodded, but didn't really have anything else to say. The silence drew out for several long seconds, then became slightly awkward. Most other days, he would've said something to ease the tension. Today, he had too much on his mind.

"Would you change it?" He asked after almost a minute of silence. "I mean, if you could go back in time, would you still get involved?"

Candice opened her mouth, then hesitated. She pursed her lips, frowned slightly, then looked at him and cocked her head ever-so-slightly to one side. "Could you have rescued the duke without my help?"

"Honestly, probably not." He admitted with a sigh.

Candice nodded slowly, then looked down at her missing knee and smoothed her dress. "I sometimes almost feel like I can feel my feet." She said after a few moments, and her tone was absent-minded. "My right foot itches slightly right now, but I can't scratch it because I don't have one."

"Phantom pain, or phantom itching." Ethan replied. "I've heard of that before, but I don't know how to help."

Candice nodded, and Ethan noticed that she hadn't answered his question. That was telling. Or at least, he thought it was.

"No." Candice said after another few moments.

"No what?" He asked.

She swallowed, then looked down at her knee. "I... I wouldn't change it. I hate it, and I miss--" She sniffled as she touched her leg. "I always thought I had nice legs." She swallowed, then blinked a few times as her eyes appeared to get watery. She brushed them with her hand, obviously trying to hide the tears that had been forming.

"I've seen your legs, all of them, they are nice legs." Ethan replied, not sure what else to say. Beth had nicer legs in his opinion, but he was biased and certainly wasn't going to say that to Candice. "Why wouldn't you change it?"

"What I said on the airship." Candice replied quietly. "I want my family to be safe, and if I have children, I want them to never worry about having enough food." She bit her lip, then smoothed her dress over the missing knee again. "If this is the price..." She swallowed again.

Ethan took a moment to digest that.

It really was quite the statement.

"I don't think you realize how much hope you've created." Candice said after a few moments, interrupting his train of thought. "When we first heard that there was a new prophet, everyone was excited, but slightly disappointed that you were in Arcanum, not Ivernia. Then, the reports of you visiting Ivernia began to multiply, and people began to hope that you would help Ivernia."

"Really?" Ethan asked.

She nodded. "Ethan, most of my neighbors lived in constant fear of debt slavery if something happened."

Ethan nodded slowly, remembering how Talven and Salma had been under-eating to make sure their kids had enough food.

"The men in our village even organized a prayer meeting to pray that you would come down and help us." She continued. "I thought it was a waste of time, but apparently it wasn't."

Ethan inclined his head in concession. "I want to help. But if I do, there's a good chance that a lot of good people will end up permanently injured, and a lot of others will probably die."

Candice nodded, then almost whispered. "I know."

"How would the townsfolk at that prayer meeting react if they really knew the cost?" Ethan asked.

"Some of them did know." She replied just as quietly.

Ethan didn't reply.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"You..." She hesitated. "You aren't thinking of not helping, are you?" Her tone was almost fearful.

"Honestly, with what happened to you, I wasn't sure Ivernians would think it worth it." He replied.

"They do." She replied. "I mean: 'yes', they'll think it's worth it."

He nodded slowly. "You sure?"

She nodded. "From what my father and grandfather have said, Lord Farbrottan's family has gotten worse with each generation. I've heard rumors of what his older sons are like, and I can't imagine Ivernia under their rule."

"I hadn't considered that, that his sons would be worse." Ethan frowned.

"Please don't let what happened to me stop you from helping Ivernia." Candice said. Her voice wasn't very loud, but her tone was on the edge of a plea.

"You're sure that Ivernia is ready for this?" He asked. "I don't know how things will go, but they certainly could be utterly catastrophic."

She nodded. "I don't know if Ivernia is ready for it, I'm not sure anyone can be, but they want it. I don't think that anyone wants to see what Lord Farbrottan's sons will be like on the throne."

Ethan inclined his head in concession. "Fair point."

"Please say that you'll help." She asked in a quiet voice that almost sounded scared that he would say no.

"I want to say yes, but I think I need to talk to the other Ivernians that I know first." Ethan replied. "I obviously believe you, but you can only speak for a small part of Ivernia. If everyone else feels the same, then yeah, I plan to help."

"Oh, good." She breathed a sigh of relief.

It occurred to Ethan that she probably wouldn't have done that if she thought the other Ivernians would disagree with her. Hmm, that was telling.

"When will you ask them?" Candice said after a moment.

"Probably tonight, at that dinner. Speaking of, did you still want to come?"

She nodded.

Ethan had a thought as he stepped around to wheel her to the dinner. She clearly wanted children, and Ethan knew of at least one good unattached man who was in Nalatia and would be traveling with them for some time. He even thought they would get along well.

He considered it for a moment, then thought to Selene. *Hey, can you ask Thea to talk to the Crown Prince? I'd like to add two more guests for dinner. They'll be traveling with us soon, so best to catch them up to speed.*

*Sure thing Boss.* She replied.

* * *

*Avengers! Assemble.* Selene thought to Ethan as everyone gathered in one of the dining rooms in the same building as their suite. It wasn't in their suite because there were too many people to comfortably fit. The guest list was expansive, consisting of all the friends and allies that they'd so far collected on their travels.

There was obviously Ethan, plus Alana, Beth, Taloni, Rachel, Kendra, Selene herself, and Sarah; Lord Kalus, Lady Shara, and Lady Lyra with their children; the last-minute invitees Ellis and Tabitha; Talven and Salma with their kids; Falkaan, Myla, Duke Farbrottan, Anthiel, Ralgar, Mirella, Colonel Forsythe, Victoria, Grobozlesh, Matthew and Yalia, Ahjah, Thea, and Candice; and they had also invited Halasses, the captain of the Lightguard.

*Is that everyone?* He quipped back.

*You wanted more?* She replied, then thought about it for a moment. *I mean, even the Avengers had Wakanda's army, and that would be nice.*

He chuckled. *It would indeed, but looking at the group we have here, I'm pretty happy with it.*

*Agreed.* She smiled at him. *Thea says that The King and The Queen decided not to come. Apparently, they thought it would be better for your cause if they weren't here.*

*Huh, okay.* He replied. *The King is almost a prophet he predicts things so well, so I'll trust him on that.*

*Again, agreed.* She replied.

"Dinner is ready!" Sarah told everyone. Apparently, there were enough people that Thea had nicked a few cooks from the royal kitchens to help Sarah, Mirella, and Thea prepare the meal.

"Honored Prophet." Lord Kalus said immediately. "I believe the head chair is yours." He indicated the chair that was arguably at the top of the tables that had been arranged in a square.

Everyone looked at Ethan.

"Well, I suppose if Lord Kalus is too nervous to sit there, I can oblige." Ethan replied.

Everyone either laughed or chuckled except for Tabitha; she showed no emotion at all.

*Still deflecting with humor I see...* Alana thought to everyone with amusement in her tone as they all sat down.

*Me?* He replied in mock offense. *I would never!*

*Speech! Speech! Speech!* Selene thought to everyone as a joke.

*You might want to say a few words, and probably pray over the meal.* Alana replied, and by now, everyone had sat down.

Ethan stood back up, and Selene couldn't help but admire how comfortable he looked. She knew he wasn't quite as comfortable as he looked, but damn if it wasn't sexy anyway.

"I guess you're wondering why I called you all here this evening." He began.

"Grobozlesh no wonder." The orc said with a grunt. "Groboz told."

"It's a cliché figure of speech from Earth." Ethan explained, then addressed the room. "Most of you here have either expressed an interest in coming with us, or have already committed to doing so." He paused. "So before things get crazy with balls--" he indicated Thea, then Sarah and himself. "--weddings, and such, I wanted to bring everyone up to speed on what's happened and what we're hoping to achieve. Everyone good with that?"

Everyone indicated that they were.

"Okay, good." He smiled. "Now, if you're anything like me, you can't wait to get ahold of whatever delights Sarah, Mirella, and Thea whipped up in the kitchen."

Several people glanced at Thea nervously.

"How about we experience new heights of culinary bliss, then move on to the serious topics?" Ethan suggested.

Everyone agreed, and they tucked in.

Ethan was correct; it was the best food that Selene had ever eaten.

* * *

Fiona knocked gently at the door to her husband's office, hoping he wouldn't mind the interruption.

"Enter." He replied, so she did.

As usual, his office was neat and organized, though not immaculately so. He was at the desk writing a letter, and next to him was a portal stone. It probably led to the castle at Karnas, but she wasn't sure. She did know that lords always had one with them to maintain communication when they had to leave, and she doubted her husband was an exception.

"Begging your pardon Milord." She said with a slight curtsey. "I'm hearing that the ball is happening tomorrow and I'm wondering if we're going?"

"We are indeed." He replied, paused his writing, struck the ink off the quill, put it in its holder, and then looked at her. "I had previously thought that you would be uncomfortable meeting the false prophet. However, given our recent conversation where you asked me not to kill him, I assume that is no longer the case."

"I'm not feeling comfortable with him, but I'm also not hating him as much as I was."

He nodded.

She hesitated. "Um, Milord?"

He looked at her for a moment. "When you say 'lord', your accent makes it sound like 'lard'."

Her cheeks grew slightly warm. "I'm sorry Milo--" She stopped, not sure how to finish the sentence.

"It was not a complaint." He said, and she believed him. In fact, there was something almost... fond? in his tone. "You wished to ask a question."

"Yes Milord." She paused. "I'm hearing that Thea is being good friends with Sarah, and so I'm sure her betrothed and his wives will be there. Um, including Rachel."

"I am aware." He replied, his face becoming less readable than normal. However, she'd been married to him long enough now to know he mostly did that when discussing something that was personally very important to him.

"I'm sure I'll be talking with Sarah there." Fiona continued. "And I'm sure there will be dancing. I'm sure that I could be asking Sarah to ask Rachel, and she'd be wanting to talk to you, maybe during a dance? I know you're caring about her a lot, and I'm sure she's caring about you."

"I would not be so sure of her care for me." He replied after a moment.

"But would you be willing to try?" Fiona asked.

He didn't reply immediately. "I would not reject the chance, if it arose."

Fiona smiled. "I'm glad to be hearing that. I'll be asking Sarah when I see her."

He looked at her for several long moments. "Regardless of whether you are successful, it was a very thoughtful suggestion. I appreciate it, and I will not forget it."

Fiona beamed.

* * *

"That's pretty much everything we wanted to recap." Ethan finished. They hadn't shared some of the most secret information -- like the fact that Lord Delmar was a dragon -- but they had shared most everything else. Matthew and Yalia had taken a moment to explain what they'd found during the recap, which resulted in Alana beaming like the sun. Ethan completely understood, and hoped it would turn out as well as it seemed that it might.

He looked around at everyone. "That's what we're up against; an embodied Nesteri, two lords, the powerful black dragon working with Lord Delmar, some giants, and lord knows how many demon-possessed men."

He looked around at the room, and was slightly surprised to see that everyone didn't look scared out of their minds. The children probably would have, but Lucien had set Taiven in charge of the rest and they were playing nearby, under the watchful eye of a few Lightguard.

"I realize Lord Kalus and his family can't get involved for political reasons." He indicated them. "But the rest of you have either been traveling with us, or have expressed interest in traveling with us. I wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page and knew what we were up against. Anyone who doesn't want to come, I'm sure I can ask The King to get him gainful employment here in Nalatia, at least short term." He looked at Talven and Salma, then Matthew and Yalia. "It'll be pretty dangerous, and I would completely understand."

"So, Yalia and I have talked and prayed about it, and we want to come." Matthew said. "We feel like we should if that's okay, and besides, Dotmier isn't as safe as it once was."

Yalia nodded. "After helping you here, I don't know if I would feel safe being surrounded by Ivernian soldiers in Dotmier." She explained.

"Fair enough, welcome to the party." Ethan replied, then looked at Talven and Salma.

The farmer and his wife looked at each other, then at him, and Talven spoke. "Salma and I talked about this a lot, and prayed about it more." He took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "We feel like we should come if you'll let us. But I don't want to put our children in danger."

"You are welcome to remain on the Midnight Sun." Falkaan offered. "It would not be difficult to remain aloft high enough to prevent almost all danger, save for attack by another airship. That would be unlikely, as the Wildings have few airships of any great size."

"Thank you." Talven replied, then looked at Ethan. "Then we want to come."

Ethan hesitated a moment because of the children, then remembered that Falkaan was a former Aldmiri with years -- probably decades -- of experience on airships. If he thought the children would be safe, that was good enough for Ethan. "Okay, glad to have you with us."

"It might be best if Duke Farbrottan travels on the Midnight Sun as well." Ralgar suggested. "If it intends to remain out of harm's way, it will likely be the safest place for him, if Falkaan would agree."

"I am agreeable to that." The dark elf replied.

"I am as well." Duke Farbrottan said.

"Makes sense." Ethan nodded. "Does anyone else want to stay behind?"

No one did.

"Are you sure?" Ethan asked. "Once we weigh anchor, we won't be coming back unless it's an emergency. So if you want to stay behind, now is the time to say something."

Again, no one did.

* * *

Candice raised her hand slowly, not wanting to say something but knowing she needed to. Her conversation with Ethan right before the meal could almost be the inspiration for a nightmare. If he didn't help Ivernia, she shuddered to think what would become of her homeland.

"Candice?" Ethan looked at her.

Of course, then everyone looked at her too, and she felt like sliding off her wheeled chair to hide under the table. She didn't, but wanted to.

"Um, after the Wilding Lands..." She took a deep breath. "Um... will... will you still try to help Ivernia?"

Candice waited with bated breath as Ethan looked around the table before he spoke. "So, war is hell. And if I try to help at all in Ivernia, it's likely to turn into a war. I'd like to ask the Ivernians here if that's something that you want me--"

"It is." Talven interrupted. "Yes, we want your help. Most of Ivernia has been praying for it since we heard word of a prophet, and praying for Illuminar to send someone before that."

"Please help." Victoria added. "I think most of my neighbors would crawl over broken pottery for a chance to oust Lord Farbrottan."

Talven nodded in agreement, and then Colonel Forsythe spoke up. "Perhaps surprisingly, Victoria is correct." She shot him a look as he continued. "While dramatic in expressing her position, she is nevertheless correct in essence, and that sentiment is widely held throughout Ivernia."

"Lord Farbrottan has weak honor." Groboz said. "He hate orc, though orc not hurt him. He not be lord is strong plan."

"I agree." Sarah said, and Candice was especially glad to hear that; his betrothed's opinion would surely carry a lot of weight.

Everyone looked at Duke Farbrottan, who spoke. "Self-interest colors my position, but my nephew is correct; the people would rejoice to see Lord Farbrottan replaced, and that sentiment is widespread." He paused. "They fear one of his sons becoming lord even more, and for good reason. Some of them have appetites too unseemly to speak on in polite company."

"So, it's unanimous then?" Ethan asked.

All the Ivernians at the table, including those who hadn't spoken, either nodded or verbally agreed.

Candice breathed a sigh of relief.

Crisis averted.

Nightmare prevented.

"Okay, after the Wilding Lands, Ivernia." Ethan said after a moment. His tone was calm and settled; resolute. Candice liked that.

Help was coming for her family.

* * *

Ethan wasn't sure what he'd expected to hear from the various Ivernians, but they were clearly convinced, and they believed other Ivernians were too. He wasn't looking forward to the war, but was glad that support for it was so unanimous, at least around this table.

They were going to free Ivernia.

He felt a warmth in his chest at that, and somewhere deep in his soul, it just felt like the right decision. He couldn't explain why he loved Ivernia so much, but he did. And if Lord Farbrottan was replaced by Duke Farbrottan, he could find a large house -- maybe that one on the outskirts of Paliso that he had loved so much on his only trip to Ivernia's capital -- and settle down to raise a large family.

He knew that dream was a long way off, but it gave him something to strive for.

Of course, the fact that Candice had needed to raise the question because of what had happened to her...

He tried to push that to the side for now. "Anything else?" He asked.

"I wish to raise the issue of the chain of command." Ralgar spoke up. "No navy can function properly with two admirals, much less if there is one for each airship. In combat, a proper chain of command is essential. As everyone is here now, this appears to be the time to address it." He looked at Ethan. "Obviously, Ethan should be the fleet admiral. However, the chain of command from there should be decided."

Ethan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Ralgar wasn't wrong. "Are you all comfortable with me being the fleet admiral?"

"It matters not." Lord Kalus said. "You are on a mission from Illuminar -- blessed be He. Our function is to support that mission, not usurp it. You are the fleet admiral; wear that responsibility well."

Everyone around the table except for Ellis and Tabitha agreed. Ellis seemed to be observing everything carefully, and who knew what Tabitha thought; she was entirely unreadable.

Ethan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Okay, I accept."

"Now, it is time to choose next in the chain of command." Ralgar said. "In naval fleets, the fleet admiral commands the fleet, while the captains of individual vessels are responsible for their ships. Thus, you should choose the order of the captains in the chain of command."

"Given the maritime nature of the excursion, I believe Ralgar would be a prudent choice for next in the chain of command." Lord Kalus said. "Though, of course, with the understanding that he would consult with the prophet's wives on overall directions, should the prophet be temporarily incapacitated or unavailable."

There was a general murmur of assent.

"Agreed." Ethan nodded, then looked between Falkaan and Ahjah, the other two ship captains. "Falkaan next; he's a lot older and has a lot more experience."

"If I might make a suggestion." Ahjah spoke up. "Perhaps Anthiel should be considered captain of the Argo and take a place in the chain of command above myself. I have skill in sailing but not in naval combat, while she has experience in both, and far more than I in both as well."

"Agreed, unless there's an objection?" Ethan asked.

There wasn't.

"What about your wives?" Matthew asked. "Where would they fall in the chain of command?"

"Advisory role only, I hope." Alana spoke up. "We're happy to make suggestions, but I don't think any of us wants command of the Argo, much less other ships."

His wives nodded in agreement.

"Okay, that's decided." He looked around. "Now, I suppose we should decide who should travel on which airship."

"Um." Candice raised her hand slowly.

"Go ahead." Ethan said to her.

"Can I come?" She asked. "I don't know what I could do to help, but I want to."

Ethan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Not because he was angry at her, but because of what had happened to her. The time he'd spent with his wives had helped, and his conversation with Lord Kalus had as well, but they merely reduced the boiling rage to a simmer.

"Given your demeanor, there is a story I believe would help you." Lord Kalus said.

"Oh?" Ethan replied

"There is an old proverb about a man who was training his grandson." Lucien began. "The boy tells his grandfather that he feels as if he has two dragons inside of him fighting one another. The one dragon tells him to strive to be his best, and the other offers temptations to his baser desires. The boy explains that the two dragons are fighting inside himself, and he asks his grandfather which one will win." He paused.

"The one you feed." Ethan supplied in the silence that followed, having recognized an almost identical proverb from Earth. "The grandfather tells the boy that the one who wins is the one you feed."

"Indeed." Lord Kalus nodded. "Your anger is understandable, but remember that there is a time and place for all things. If you feed the dragon of anger, it will grow stronger and cloud your judgement. However, if you recall that there is much good in this world and your life, and choose to focus on that, then the other dragon will win."

"Lord Kalus is wise." Ralgar nodded. "Your anger is justified and understandable, but few good decisions have ever arisen from anger. Take the anger that you feel and put it in its proper place; present, but not decisive. Every emotion should have a seat at the table when making a decision, but only a seat. The head of the council must be your will, and desire to do good, otherwise, ruin is likely to result."

"If I might humbly add to the statements made by men who are my betters." Ahjah spoke up. "There is much joy on the horizon, joy that could be missed in the fog of anger."

"Thea's coming-of-age-ball is tomorrow." Alana pointed out. "And hopefully, the double wedding with Thea and Ahjah plus you and Sarah will be very soon afterward."

"Anger is strong." Grobozlesh said. "You must be stronger than anger. If orc strong enough to master self, orc can master all thing."

"Strong word." Ethan replied, imitating how the orc himself usually spoke.

Ethan felt his anger change as he thought about that. It didn't go away, but it did morph from something like a raging fire to something more like hot coals. Still there, still burning, but not so overpowering. It was more subtle, but perhaps more powerful long-term. It was something that he could keep a lid on, and maybe, just maybe, get a chance to unleash at some point in the future.

"Thank you." Ethan said to those who'd spoken on this topic. "I appreciate it."

They nodded respectfully at him.

"Um, can I come?" Candice asked after a few moments of silence.

Ethan looked at her. "Are you sure?"

She nodded.

"I suppose there's just one question then." He said after a moment.

"What?" Candice asked, and she almost seemed to be holding her breath.

"Who's going on what airship?" Ethan replied with a smile.

* * *

After some discussion, they tentatively decided who would go where. On the Argo would be Ethan and his wives, plus Anthiel, Ellis, and Tabitha, and of course, Serif and Raklan. On the Midnight Sun would be Falkaan, Myla, Talven and Salma plus their kids, Duke Farbrottan, and Falkaan's pilot, Damon. On the Cloud Song would be Ralgar, Mirella, Colonel Forsythe, Victoria, Matthew, and Yalia. On the Nomad's Pride, Ahjah, Thea, Halasses, and Grobozlesh.

That of course left Candice without an airship, which Ethan pointed out to her. "We aren't ready to leave yet, and obviously we can move people around, but think about it for a while before asking to be on a specific ship. Obviously the captain of that ship would need to agree, but I think we can be pretty flexible... assuming you still want to come when we leave."

Candice nodded. "Okay."

"Wait a minute, how come in every division suggested, I'm always on the same ship with him?" Victoria asked, jerking her thumb at Colonel Forsythe, clear annoyance in her tone.

"Because how else are you going to warm to each other before you get married?" Alana replied as if it was the most obvious thing ever. A casual observer might've thought she was being straightforward, but Ethan knew her well enough to tell that she was also needling the gorgeous platinum-haired woman.

"Even if we did 'warm to each other', my father isn't here so obviously I can't get married." Victoria rolled her eyes.

"Actually..." Lyra spoke up in a sing-song tone.

Victoria whipped her head around to look at her. "My father didn't come, did he?"

"He did not." Lord Kalus replied. "However, before witnesses, he solemnly swore that if Ethan thought a man was worthy of your hand, that he would automatically give his permission in absentia, and asked my family to convey that to Ethan."

Colonel Forsythe looked at Ethan with a perfectly straight face. "Mr. Prophet, I have something very particular about which I wish to speak with you following this dinner."

"Of course." Ethan replied, guessing that he was teasing Victoria.

The platinum blonde obviously didn't think so because her jaw dropped and she stared at Colonel Forsythe. "You can't be serious! We can't get married!"

"How interesting that you assume the matter involves you." The Colonel replied, clearly not perturbed at all.

"I would be a terrible wife." Victoria said, changing tactics at the speed of light. "Seriously, I'm a terrible cook, I'm not great at cleaning, I have an attitude, and my mother could only have me, so I'm probably not very fertile."

The Colonel looked at her, his expression unreadable. "For what I would wish your primary duty to be, those skills aren't needed, and the final one would be considered a positive."

Victoria's jaw dropped.

She worked her jaw noiselessly for several seconds as her face got redder and redder, and Ethan didn't think it had much to do with embarrassment.

Then the Colonel smiled. It was subtle, but there.

"Oh." Victoria apparently realized what was happening, then the reddening of her face continued, but for a very different reason.

"Miss Gladstone." The Colonel said to her. "I must apologize. I would not ordinarily indulge in such crass, baseless humor, even when teasing. For that, I ask your forgiveness." He sounded sincere.

She stared at him for a moment, then mumbled something and subtly nodded.

"And what prompted this 'crass, baseless humor'?" Alana asked with an impish grin.

"I must confess I am more prone to such things when a certain woman is present." He replied.

"That's just another reason we should never, ever get married." Victoria said.

*The lady doth protest too much methinks.* Ethan quoted to Selene with a smile.

*Definitely* Selene replied, then spoke aloud. "So, I promise that I'm not trying to start trouble here; this is an honest observation. I've almost never seen two people with so much natural chemistry in my entire life." She looked at them pointedly. "I want you two to think about this for a moment: imagine that we finish all of this alive, you two go your separate ways, and you never see each other ever again."

Both Victoria and Colonel Forsythe cocked their heads to the side the exact same way at the exact same time.

"Now, I want you to imagine something else." Selene continued. "I want you to imagine how you'd feel about never seeing each other again, and if you'd always wonder what could've been..." She chuckled. "...even if you drive each other crazy."

The two of them seemed to consider that.

"Then again, she did assure me that she would be a poor wife." The Colonel finally said after several long moments.

Victoria gave him a look. "I mean, I could learn." She paused. "Not for you, obviously, but maybe for..." She trailed off and frowned.

"For..." Ethan prompted.

Victoria opened her mouth to reply, then her cheeks -- which had returned to their normal porcelain shade -- got a tinge of pink in them.

"If your first thought wasn't the good Colonel, I would be shocked." Lyra chuckled.

Victoria got slightly pinker and didn't answer.

"For that matter, how often do you two end up thinking about each other during any given day?" Selene asked. "Even if it's just thinking that the other person is really frustrating or annoying."

Neither of them replied, and the silence was very telling.

"She would be a good wife." Thea spoke up. "We talked while we were both on the Argo, and she really wants to be married and be a good wife." She paused. "And mother."

"My nephew would be an excellent husband." Duke Farbrottan spoke up. "I have observed him since youth, and he is exemplary in matters of both character and competence."

"And there's how they met too." Taloni said, then reminded everyone how all of the 'sixth day of the sixth month' women had met their future husbands shortly after saying that they didn't want to marry Ethan.

"A sign from Illuminar on whom to marry is indeed a wonderful thing." Lord Kalus pointed out.

Colonel Forsythe inclined his head in concession.

"Fine, whatever." Victoria huffed and rolled her eyes, but there was an edge of a smile on her face that she wasn't entirely able to conceal.

"Well, ask Ethan then." Lyra said to the Colonel.

He looked at Victoria instead.

"I know, I know, beautiful women are all terrible." Victoria rolled her eyes.

He just kept looking at her expectantly, as if waiting for an answer.

After about ten seconds, she started trying to conceal a smile. She wasn't very successful.

Still, the Colonel looked at her expectantly.

"Fine, I suppose you can't be all bad if you tried to stand up to Lord Farbrottan." Victoria said, trying and failing to sound casual.

The Colonel got the edge of a smile on his face, then looked at Ethan. "I believe I should have my head examined for this. However, given the seemingly obvious sign from Illuminar, with your approval, I wish to make Victoria my wife." He paused. "However, I am not sure how I would get the bride price to her father."

"We would be happy to convey it to him on our return trip." Lady Shara offered.

"Prophet, will you agree?" The Colonel asked.

*Victoria says that she'll kill me if I ever repeat this to anyone, but she wants you to say yes.* Selene thought to him. *He's basically living rent-free in her head, and she doesn't think that'll stop even if she marries someone else.*

Ethan smiled. "Permission granted; congratulations, both of you."

Victoria rolled her eyes, but that smile she had been trying to suppress got slightly larger.

"Now for the betrothal kiss!" Lyra said excitedly, and a little impishly.

"What!?" Victoria blanched slightly.

"That is what comes next..." Beth teased.

"But I don't want to kiss him!" Her eyes went wide.

"Then only one of us will enjoy it." The Colonel said calmly.

"Are you always this unflappable?" She shot him a look.

"Yes." He replied calmly.

*Tell Victoria from me: 'no takebacks'.* Ethan thought to Selene, who chuckled.

A moment later, Victoria shot him a look.

He laughed.

"Come, we should stand for this." Lord Kalus said, and everyone did.

Ethen ended up near the newly betrothed couple with Lord Kalus right next to him and Candice across from him. He was pleased to see that Ellis had helped maneuver her wheelchair to get her into position, but he still wanted to punch something when he saw her dress draped over the wheelchair where it should've been draped over her missing knee.

"The one you feed." Lord Kalus said quietly from next to him. "Anger has its place, but mind the one you feed, else you shall miss the moments like this that make life full."

Ethan nodded, and then very intentionally looked away from Candice's injury and at the newly betrothed couple.

Colonel Forsythe had taken her hand and led her into the center of their friends, then expertly turned her to face him. "I will attempt to be as good a husband to you as I know how. I expect the same from you as a wife."

She was staring into his eyes, some strange combination of a smile and a frown on her face. "Okay." Her tone was slightly breathy.

Colonel Forsythe raised a hand and brushed a few errant strands of her platinum blonde hair off her neck. Victoria inhaled sharply and breathily as the tips of his fingers brushed her neck, but she didn't move. Her eyes were slightly more closed than normal, and she appeared to be breathing slightly more heavily.

The Colonel lifted his hand under her hair, then moved his hand so the hair that had been in front on her left side fell onto her back, exposing the left side of her neck. She tilted her head up slightly and probably subconsciously, exposing her neck more and allowing her to look up at him, since he was slightly taller than she was.

"Victoria." He said softly.

"Colonel." She replied after a moment, and her tone again had a slightly breathy air to it. His hand was resting on her shoulder, near her neck.

He subtly shook his head. "We are betrothed now; it's Reginald."

Victoria swallowed, then spoke softly. "Reginald."

He nodded once, then moved his hand so it touched her neck, then slowly slid it around so his hand was resting on the nape of her neck under her hair. He took a small step closer, then seemed to pull Victoria toward him slowly. She hesitated, but then came without complaint. She let out a breathy exhale, and Ethan noticed that the porcelain skin of her upper chest had become slightly flushed.

Their lips were very close now.

Unlike the other betrothal kisses he'd seen, Victoria's eyes were still open when their lips met... but only for a moment. Victoria's eyelids fluttered a few times, and it almost looked like she was trying to keep them open, but eventually they fluttered closed and she let out a tiny, barely audible sigh.

Ethan smiled.

Lord Kalus was right. There were so many wonderful things coming that it didn't make sense to focus on what angered him. There was a new happy couple in front of them, though there would surely be fireworks in their betrothal and marriage as well. Additionally, Thea's coming-of-age ball was the very next day, and his wedding to Sarah hopefully soon after. Plus, it sounded like Matthew and Yalia had made great strides toward reforming the elves' view of shame, which would hopefully allow Alana's parents to finally get married.

Despite the difficulties, there were good things coming and he decided to focus on those for now. Watching Victoria relax into her betrothal kiss made it easier.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Note: This chapter began on day 143 of Ethan's life in the Ten Kingdoms and ended on day 144. 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 May 27th, and it'll probably drop on May 29th or 30th.

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