Chapter 84: Christmas in autumn?

* * *

Rachel shouted for joy as loudly as anyone else in the room. The smile on her best friend and lover's face at the news that her mother's shame would be removed was incredible. It made her look even more beautiful, which Rachel thought probably violated some law of nature; how could someone that lovely become even more lovely?

Of course, her brain only let her revel in that joy for a few seconds before it started plotting out what that would look like and how it would happen. The Conclave, probably in communication with the palace, would need to create some sort of public ritual to remove someone's shame. The wood elves were big on their rituals, and this would be no exception.

Once the ritual was agreed upon, and given what Plesius had just said, they would also need to create a list of 'crimes' and their corresponding minimum time that a person would need to spend shamed. Then, of course, there was the whole matter of how a previously shamed person should be addressed. Wood elves generally addressed one another with the prefix 'honored', but she doubted that would be applied to someone who was newly unshamed, at least initially.

Rachel thought it was pretty likely that Kalaya would be among the first to have her shame removed, and probably the first given House Kalon's position, Ethan's involvement, and the fact that Kalaya was The Queen's sister.

However, something was different this time.

Normally, her brain spun everything possible in a million different directions, mostly focusing on how things could go wrong. This time though, her brain didn't seem intent on focusing on all the ways it could go wrong. They occurred to her of course, but her brain wasn't focusing on them.

That was new.

It was nice, but it was new.

Rachel's train of thought was interrupted by Alana grabbing her with a bear hug, which the redhead happily returned. The initial celebration went on for at least ten minutes, and Rachel had never seen Halvaer and Railen Kalon smile so widely. The celebration eventually died down enough for someone to ask the obvious question.

Unsurprisingly, it was Beth. "So when can Kalaya have her shame removed?"

"Likely soon." Plesius replied. "While the details and minimum time that a person will be shamed must be decided, I raised the question of Alana's mother with the Conclave because I was aware that you would ask. They unanimously agreed that over twenty years was more than sufficient time, and by a considerable margin. A subcommittee was selected to present proposals for the de-shaming ceremony. Once the Conclave approves their suggestions, the ceremony can be planned." He smiled. "Further, among the members of the committee are all of the Conclave members whose relatives have been shamed, few though they are. Thus, I believe that we can expect a recommendation soon."

Rachel smiled; that was clever of the Conclave.

"Smart." Ethan said with a toothy grin. Every once in a while, it seemed rather strange to Rachel that she was married to a dragon. This time was no different, not that she'd change it for the world.

"Could my daughter's name be on my lips again presently?" Railen asked. "If she is to lose her shame, and it has been agreed that she can, could her family perhaps address her before the ceremony?"

"That would be unwise." Plesius replied. "Part of the ceremony will involve two or three witnesses who testify that the person losing their shame is indeed repentant, which makes it a legal proceeding. Thus, it would be unwise to return to normal interactions before the ceremony."

"Thank you for explaining." Railen nodded. Her face had fallen somewhat, but the fall was from the extreme edge of elation to 'merely' extremely happy. She looked at her husband.

"I know." Halvaer Kalon said, his normally stern military demeanor displaying an undeniable smile. "It will be wonderful to have the family whole again."

"It will." Railen beamed.

"I must take my leave, honored Prophet." Plesius said a moment later.

"Take care, and thanks for letting us know; we really appreciate it." He replied.

"You are welcome." The high priest bowed once, then left.

"We must depart as well, else some important appointments will be missed." Halvaer said, some of his stern military demeanor returning, but you could still see the smile.

Alana gave them both a huge hug, then Halvaer approached Ethan.

"Thank you, honored Prophet." He said. "This would not have happened without you, and you have my undying gratitude for healing my family."

"I was happy to help." Ethan replied with a smile.

Halvaer gave him a nod of respect, then he and his wife left.

"Damn, what a morning." Ethan grinned.

Alana bit her lip, gave him a smoldering look, then glanced at Sarah. "You're welcome to stay in the suite, but I'd like to thank my husband properly, and I might be a little... loud."

Sarah's cheeks got rather a lot of pink in them, and she nodded.

"Don't worry." Selene assured Sarah. "One day after you marry Ethan, he'll do something for you that just makes your heart melt so much that the only proper response is to tear all your clothes off and let him use your body as his own personal playground."

Her cheeks went red, but she smiled too, hesitated, then spoke quietly, as if admitting a secret. "I can't wait." Suddenly, her cheeks were bright red, but she didn't look mousey anymore. In fact, there was undeniable longing in her brilliant green eyes, controlled though it was.

Ethan grinned. "I know the feeling."

Sarah bit her lip, and it looked like she wanted to follow them into the bedroom, but of course she didn't. Rachel knew the look in her eyes, and it was something she'd never seen from Sarah before. Previously, Ethan's betrothed had always seemed embarrassed and hesitant about sex. She was still embarrassed, but the longing in her eyes clearly displayed a change in her. Apparently, either losing her demon and/or Kendra's talk with her a few mornings ago had helped; probably both. The change was subtle, but noticeable.

Alana grabbed Ethan's arm and tugged him toward the bedroom. "If Sarah wasn't here, you'd be inside me already." She said.

"I'll be back later." Sarah said, then turned to leave.

"Better make it much later..." Beth said in a slightly sing-song tone. "Alana can go for a long time when she gets like this."

Sarah opened her mouth to reply, hesitated, then closed it and hastily left. Her cheeks were nearly as dark as Rachel's own hair... but she had a wide smile on her face and her eyes were pools of desire.

* * *

Ethan watched his betrothed leave with more than a little reluctance, but reminded himself that the proper time would come soon. Hopefully very soon. That made him smile wider.

He let Alana tug him toward the bedroom, letting out a mock sigh like it was a great inconvenience. "A husband's work never ends. I suppose that I'll--"

The door shut, and almost the moment the sound reached his ears, Alana leapt onto him and kissed him with a ferocity that she'd never displayed before. Honestly, she might've bruised her lips.

"I... love... you... so... much!" The wood elf said in between kisses as she wrapped her legs around his waist and locked them at the ankles behind his back. She then pulled her dress off faster than he would've thought possible, which was followed by the exquisite sensation of her entire naked front pressing up against him.

God she felt wonderful.

"I want you inside me now." She said, only a few seconds after the door had closed.

"Alana dearest, it takes a few seconds to get to full mast--" He stopped as he felt a mouth around the head of his cock.

*I'll help.* Rachel thought to everyone as she ran her tongue around the head of his rapidly hardening cock. With his redheaded wife doing that and Alana kissing every inch of him she could reach while aggressively grinding her hips against him, it didn't take long.

"Here." Rachel said as she slipped off of him with an audible 'pop'. That was new. Rachel had previously tried to avoid making such sounds, but this time she seemed to do it intentionally. Hmm, she was clearly feeling better too, probably because of that dance she'd shared with her father.

Thankfully, all thoughts of Lord Delmar fled from his mind as he felt a soft, feminine hand wrap around his cock and angle it up toward Alana. It rested between her butt cheeks for a moment before she lifted herself up, and Rachel guided him into position, though the elf didn't lower herself around him yet.

"Anything you want, I'm yours." Alana said breathlessly and with conviction. "I don't care what it is, if there's anything you've been wanting to do to me, do it, I want you to." She hesitated. "I'll even, um..." She wiggled her butt a little. "If you really want to."

Ethan smiled even wider. "Actually, there is something that I'd really, really like to do with you, but I can't."

Suddenly, the elf looked slightly alarmed. "Why?"

"Because you're already pregnant. " He winked.

She laughed. "I am indeed. I'm carrying your baby right here." She put her hand on her stomach. "But you're sure there isn't anything?"

"Alana, Princess, I think you're misunderstanding something about me." He cocked his head to one side. "Honestly, probably men in general."

"What?" She asked, staring into his eyes with her rich hazel ones. Sarah definitely had the best eyes, but Alana's were beautiful too, and the look currently in them...

"We like sex, obviously, but do you know why?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I mean, I know it feels amazing, but I assume there's more?"

He nodded. "It's the connection. It's that the only man in the entire world who gets to do this is me, that you share your body and your passion with me, but won't ever share it with anyone else." He paused. "Well, any other man; my other wives don't count, obviously." He looked around at the rest of them and winked.

"Dom-i-nus." Beth groaned as she shook her head.

His other wives all rolled their eyes or shook their heads too.

"Look, I'm sure there are some men out there who are turned on by trying the dirtiest, nastiest things in bed that they can think of." Ethan continued. "However, I'm willing to bet that most men want exactly what I want: they just want a woman who loves them, is devoted to them, and thinks the world of them." He smiled into her eyes. "I really appreciate that you're so grateful that you'd let me do anything to you, but that's not what makes sex special."

Alana was smiling widely now, and it even looked like her eyes were getting watery.

"What makes it special is you." He looked her right in the eyes. "It's that you love me and want to do it with me. That's the part that matters. We could have 100% plain vanilla sex for the rest of our lives and it would still be special and wonderful."

"Hey Boss, don't knock vanilla; a good vanilla is a damn site better than chocolate or a complicated flavor." Selene piped up. He chose not to comment on the irony of Selene saying that.

"Yes." He looked Alana directly and deeply in the eyes. "It is."

Alana swallowed, her eyes shining. "Really?"

"Yes, really." He nodded, still holding her. "And there's one more thing: you're a good person outside the bedroom too. This wouldn't be any fun if you were causing all kinds of drama, but you don't. Honestly, for as chaotic as everything that's happened outside has been, our family itself has a lot of peace. I wouldn't trade that for the world. I can deal with fighting dragons, and necromancers, and giants, and possessed men, and every other damn thing we're up against. I can handle that. But you know what would make dealing with all of that impossible?"

"Trouble at home?" Alana replied.

"Exactly." He nodded. "Look, I realize that this might sound strange because I have six wives, and a seventh soon, but I'm a pretty normal guy. Before I met everyone in this room, I would've been perfectly happy with one wife, as long as it was one of you." He looked around. "And I mean that."

All of his wives beamed at him.

"The dream isn't seven gorgeous wives ready to drop their clothes in an instant." He paused. "Okay, I won't lie, that is a dream a lot of men have."

His wives chuckled.

"However, it's more a fantasy than anything else." He continued. "The real dream is a wife -- or wives -- who really love you, support you, and want to raise kids with you. I'd bet that 90% of men, probably 95% or more, would be perfectly happy with a wife and kids like that, plus some good honest work so they can provide for them. Men aren't that complicated; a happy family with a loving wife and some kids, plus a good job, will make most of us happy."

Several of his wives sniffled.

"That's the dream, and I have it times six, soon to be seven." He paused. "And now that I have all of you, I could never let you go."

"Oh man." Selene sniffled. "Boss, you might be in for a thorough workout after that."

His other wives seemed to agree.

Ethan let out a mock sigh. "Oh, if I must; a husband's work is never--"

He stopped as Alana finally stopped holding herself up, and sank down over his cock so it slid deep inside of her incredibly tight inner sanctum.

It felt like coming home.

* * *

Alana felt like she had just come home after a long day as she slid down and felt her wonderful, amazing, incredible husband fill her more full than she would've imagined was possible before she'd married him. It was more than that though; her heart felt much fuller than usual too. Not only because of her parents, but mostly because of what Ethan had just said.

Once she was fully seated in her very favorite seat in the entire world, she squeezed her internal muscles as she hugged him tightly.

"A full hug." Ethan said as he held her back. "I like that."

She leaned back slightly, ensuring that most of her front was pressed up against him while she looked him in the eyes. "I like you." She gave him another squeeze. "I like this, but I love you."

"Now wait just a cotton-pickin' minute." Ethan said in a mock-serious tone with an accent that he'd once identified as 'southern'. "Do you like me or love me? Make up your mind."

She chuckled.

He did too. "I don't think I'll ever get used to how it feels when a woman laughs while I'm inside of her."

"If you spend enough time inside of me, you might." She replied with an impish grin. "It's certainly worth a try."

"I suppose." He said with a mock-long-suffering sigh, then looked around. "Well ladies, I think I need to take Alana to the bedroom and see how many orgasms it takes to make her unconscious; anyone want to join--"

"I do!" Beth jumped up excitedly with an infectious excitement that brought a smile to their husband's face.

"Dress casual." Alana said as she started rocking her hips around their husband. "Very casual."

Beth beat everyone else to taking her dress off, though Tee was nearly as fast.

"Oh, I was thinking a tux." Ethan said casually as he slid his hands across her back, hitting that spot on her spine that always made her weak in the knees.

"If you can--" Alana sighed. "--can put one on without me needing to move, then..." She sighed again as his hands brushed the very outside of her breasts and she spoke in a slightly pleading tone. "...please just start already; I'm not Selene."

"No, you're not." He wrapped his arms around her to hold her in place, then started powerfully thrusting up into her. She would've kissed him, but her tiny wood elf body felt almost like a rag doll in his arms.

"Look at me." Ethan said after a minute or two, which already had Alana on the edge.

She did.

She looked deep into his eyes. He looked back into hers. That moment stretched out into what seemed like eternity.

* * *

Beth watched her husband and Alana stare into each other's eyes for several long moments before she realized that she'd seen this before. Ethan had mostly stopped moving and despite that, Alana's breaths were getting shallower and more breathy.

"Any second." The blonde whispered.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, Alana started trembling as Ethan groaned slightly. Her eyes rolled back into her head slightly, then she leaned forward and flopped against him as her whole body shuddered.

"How? They were barely moving." Selene stared from next to Beth, and the blonde couldn't help but notice how gorgeous she was, as usual. Beth would've been happy being married to just Ethan, but the fact that he had so many beautiful wives to share a bed with was a really nice bonus in her mind.

"I don't know." Beth replied. "They've done this before and I still don't get it."

"Oh." Selene shrugged. "Me either."

After several long moments, Alana opened her eyes and looked at him. "Really?"

"Yup." He nodded. "It doesn't take anything fancy in bed; the biggest turn-on is that you want to be in bed with me. Don't get me wrong, I'm up for trying new things, but that's not what I'm really after."

"I like that." She nodded slowly. "It takes the pressure off if I can just be me."

He nodded, then put his hand on her small but shapely breast. "Though, pressure can be appealing." He gave her breast a gentle squeeze.

She sighed.

"Dominus, I don't want to pressure you--" Beth paused. "Well, kind of one way, but that's not what I meant."

"The bedroom?" He asked, still standing with Alana in his arms.

She nodded. "It's way more comfortable for all of us; we wouldn't fit on the couch."

"Actually..." Selene grinned. "There might be a way. A potentially fun way if we stack things a little differently..." She looked around at all the wives in the room. "Well, maybe two stacks."

Ethan raised his eyebrow at her. "Not today, but maybe another day."

"What is it?" Beth asked. Her husband might not want to try new things in bed today, but she loved it and was always up for it.

"Selene, could you please take Beth's mind off the fact that neither of us are going to tell her today." Ethan replied with good-natured malice in his eyes, then he started walking toward the bedroom while still carrying Alana. He put a little bounce in his step, which very shortly had the wood elf moaning and sighing.

"Selene, what--" Beth's question was cut off as Selene pressed her lips to the blonde's own lips. Damn. It was so distracting when--

Selene cupped one of Beth's breasts and then pinched her nipple. Hard. Beth almost came right there.

"Patience is a virtue." Selene said in a slightly sing-song tone after breaking the kiss. She then released the one nipple, only to cup the blonde's other breast and pinch the other nipple.

Beth gasped.

Damn, she was good at that.

"Now, come along dear." Selene said in a mock-matronly tone as she gently led Beth toward the bedroom by her nipple. That very inconveniently made the blonde slightly weak in the knees. Damn, Selene was so, so good at that. Beth thought that if she 'misbehaved' just right, she might even get the gorgeous woman to spank her.

Beth had just enough presence of mind to wonder what Sarah would think when she found out what the blonde enjoyed in bed, but then Selene started running a hand across Beth's naked skin and the blonde found her thoughts scattering.

* * *

Rachel couldn't help but smile at Beth's 'discomfort' as Selene got the insatiable teen into the bedroom. Any of Ethan's other wives would've been furious if someone had tried that on them, but Beth... well, the blonde's tastes were rather different. In fact, it looked like she was getting close to that rather wonderful state where the brain disconnected from everything else and just was.

Rachel liked that.

She liked it a lot.

It was one of the few times that she felt like her brain got any kind of break. Honestly, it was one of the really nice perks of sex that she didn't know if other people would appreciate.

"Brain going a mile a minute?" Kendra asked from beside her as they walked into the bedroom. Ethan had set Alana down on the bed and was now making the wood elf sigh and moan in equal measure.

"Always, but this helps." She gestured toward the bed. "It's one of the rare times that I can just let go and just be, which is really nice."

Kendra nodded slowly. "I realize that I'm not Alana, and I always feel awkward about starting things, but I'd be happy to help empty your head a little for the next few minutes." She smiled.

Rachel smiled back. "Always so practical."

"I'll make you a deal." Kendra's eyes twinkled a little as she shrugged out of her dress. "I'll be less practical if you slow your brain down."

Rachel chuckled.

Kendra stepped forward and motioned up with her hands. "Arms."

Rachel was past the point where she would hesitate at things like that, which was good. It had taken some time to get there though. She lifted her arms.

Kendra quickly, efficiently, and gently pulled her dress off, then hooked her thumb into the wrap that Rachel used to support her rather large breasts. Sometimes, she wished they were smaller like Beth's or Taloni's so she didn't need the wrap. Of course, she always changed her mind about that whenever Ethan was touching them.

"I'm jealous." Kendra said as she unhooked the corner of the wrap and tugged, leading Rachel to spin on the spot so it would come off. "I always wanted ones more like yours."

Rachel stopped spinning as the wrap fell away, leaving her topless. As much as she had been nervous about it early in the marriage, she rather enjoyed it now.

Kendra sighed at Rachel's breasts, brushed them gently, then spoke. "What's it like?"

"Heavy and uncomfortable without support." The redhead replied honestly.

"As our husband would probably say: 'I can be supportive." Kendra cupped Rachel's breasts and began to massage them very gently, even perfectly.

Rachel let out a soft sigh, then closed her eyes and let her head roll back a little. "You're good at that."

"At this point, I have plenty of practice." Kendra replied with a smile in her tone.

A moment later, Rachel felt warm breath on one of her breasts, followed by a gentle kiss. She sighed again. Why did this feel so natural when Ethan and her fellow wives were around? She couldn't imagine doing it with anyone except Alana when Ethan wasn't around. But when he was, it was nice to--

Kendra brushed her lower lips with her fingers and Rachel sucked in her breath.

"No thinking, remember?" Kendra said.

Then, somehow, without Rachel even realizing it, she found that Kendra had maneuvered her to the bed, and she flopped down backwards onto it, landing on her back. It occurred to her that she hadn't checked to make sure she wouldn't fall on anyone. Huh, she supposed that she trusted Kendra that much.

Speaking of, the warrior woman was sensually 'attacking' her body with the kind of precision that Rachel might've expected from, well, the Aldmiri. Apparently, she had been paying attention to previous times in the bedroom because--

She sucked in her breath as a tongue flicked her clitoris.

"Mind if I tag in?" The loveliest feminine voice in the entire Ten Kingdoms said from somewhere nearby.

Rachel lifted her head and looked down to discover that the tongue belonged not to Kendra, but to Alana. She smiled even wider. The wood elf had that wonderful glow about her that all of Ethan's wives always had after spending time with their husband in bed.

"No thinking." Kendra repeated, and her tone had a very subtle teasing, playful note like Taloni or Beth often had. The warrior woman reached down and gently began massaging Rachel's large and very sensitive breasts, enough to drive the thoughts from her mind, especially as Alana put her soft, smooth tongue to work on her most sensitive place.

Rachel let the thoughts drift from her mind, only vaguely aware that the bed was being shaken more than usual. It must be Beth's turn.

* * *

Beth's absolute favorite thing in the world was when her husband grabbed her, pinned her to the bed, and just took her. She loved when he hammered her tiny little body like he was trying to break her. Not that he ever would -- she knew he would never hurt her -- but she wanted to feel like he might. At this moment, she was pinned to the bed with his arms wrapped around her arms, pinning her completely immobile. She couldn't move or escape if she wanted to, and she didn't want to.

The blonde let out a strangled groan as he tightened his arms around her, slightly constricting her entire torso as he slammed into her and outright growled into her ear. Before she'd married Ethan, she would've never believed that pain could be so wonderful. Okay, not really pain, but it almost felt like he was crushing her, and she loved it.

Then, without warning, Ethan suddenly let go of her. She was slightly stunned, but didn't have long to recover because he expertly flipped her around onto her hands and knees, grabbed her waist-length blonde hair, wrapped his hand around a handful of it for more leverage, and then pulled her up so she was only on her knees.

She moaned.

God she loved how he handled her!

He slid back inside of her slowly and forcefully, arching her back and neck as he pulled her neck close to his mouth and kissed it. She shuddered. He wrapped his arm around her torso and -- as Selene had done just minutes before -- pinched her nipple.

She came.

The wonderful tightness in her body that had been winding up suddenly snapped, and she just wasn't ready for it. Her legs went weak. They probably wouldn't have been able to support her even if she had remembered to try to support herself. She hadn't. Ethan was completely and fully supporting her as he slowly but forcefully moved in and out of her.

Just as her orgasm was winding down, Ethan tightened his grip on her hair, which she loved even outside the bedroom; it almost felt like a scalp massage when he did it.

"I want you to imagine something." Ethan whispered in her ear as he gently massaged her breast with his hand.

She shuddered, her whole body feeling like it was on fire at the sensations.

"Imagine the war is over, we've won, and your conquering husband wants to add to his family..." He thrust inside of her strongly as her breath caught.

Her orgasm slowed its downward trajectory, faltering but not completely disappearing.

"It's safe, and you're next..." Ethan whispered into her ear. "...next to be bred."

She moaned.

"It's your most fertile time of the month." He continued whispering softly into her ear as he held her in place and slid in and out of her. It was the forceful way he often did, but with what he was saying... Oh. My. Word. It was so much better.

"Your fellow wives have been teasing you all day, and it's finally time." He continued. "You feel something huge inside of you--" He pushed forward to make a point. "--and at that moment, you know that you are going to be bred. You're going to carry a baby. You're going to mix yourself with your husband to create a child."

Beth whimpered as her nether regions seemed to forget that orgasms were supposed to end, not start building again before the previous one was over.

"And then it happens." Ethan continued as he sped up. "You're in your husband's arms and he whispers into your ear."

Beth was reaching a crescendo higher than any she had felt before. Her entire body was on a hair trigger, her mouth open wide in a silent moan.

"Here it comes." Ethan said, then thrust powerfully into her. Moments later, she felt a burst of warmth deep inside of her, right up against her womb.

Her body snapped again, releasing the most powerful wave of pleasure that she'd ever felt. She lost all control of her body as it nearly vibrated, driving every thought, feeling, and emotion out of her head as the massive tsunami washed over her and carried her with it. She was tumbling like driftwood on the ocean, barely aware that her wonderful husband was still holding her.

"Imagine that right now, they're swimming toward your womb, about to create a baby..." Ethan breathed into her ear as she slowly started to come down, both metaphorically and literally since Ethan had lowered her to the bed.

His words set her off again.

* * *

"Master, what did you do to her?" Taloni stared wide-eyed at her fellow wife and sometimes partner in 'crime' as she lay on the bed, clearly out of it. Her body was regularly spasming, twitching, or even almost convulsing.

"Um, yeah." Master's expression was a strange combination of pride and amusement, with a tiny bit of sheepishness in it. "I might've told her to imagine I was getting her pregnant after the war was over."

Everyone looked at the blonde, who was only just now starting to fully recover. Still, she was flopped on the bed like a limp noodle. She was breathing rather heavily and her eyes were barely open, but there was a huge smile on her face.

"Damn." He chuckled. "I almost hate to think what she'll be like when we do this for real."

Everyone chuckled, most of them having stopped to watch the spectacle.

Taloni knee-walked over to Beth, put a hand on her, and checked her overall health. After a moment, Tee smiled; other than a racing heart that was slowly returning to normal, the blonde was in excellent health.

"You're always taking care of everyone." Master said, and she turned to see that he was looking at her.

"Of course Master." She smiled back. "When you find a family this wonderful, who wouldn't want to take care of it?"

He looked directly into her eyes as he beckoned her closer. "I know exactly what you mean."

Tee beamed, her wings fluttering as she scurried over to him, and he wrapped his strong arms around her. He held her just the right amount of tight; firmly enough that she knew he wanted her there, but not so tight as to be even the slightest bit uncomfortable. She liked that.

"I suppose you'll want a baby right after Beth." He said.

"I do, but I'll be last Master." Tee replied with a sigh.

Master pulled back a little to look at her, but he was still cradling her naked body tenderly in his arms. "What do you mean?"

"Well, none of your other wives have experience taking care of babies, right?"

He looked around, and none of his wives said they did.

"I do." Taloni explained. "I helped a lot of the miners take care of their babies, so I want to make sure that I still have a few months of being pregnant left when your other wives give birth so I can help."

Master got a massive smile on his face as he looked at her, and it made Tee's heart go all warm and gooey. "Honey, you really do take care of everyone, and I love that about you."

The sentiment was echoed by his other wives.

She sighed and relaxed completely into his arms with a wide smile on her face.

"You don't need to be last." Rachel pointed out. She was sitting up and Tee was jealous of Rachel's wonderful breasts. Tee's own were sensitive, and in a good way, but much smaller than she would prefer.

Rachel continued. "You can show us how to take care of a baby after Alana gives birth, since that'll be long before anyone else, even if Ethan got us all pregnant right now."

There was a collective sigh from Tee's fellow wives and the Fey herself.

"I wish." Beth said, though she still hadn't moved. "I love the idea, but Ethan is right; I can't do that as long as I'm the scout and there are possessed men around."

"I vote that Beth is next." Alana said, then added with a wink. "And as the only one who's already pregnant -- and thus isn't in the running -- my vote counts for more."

Master chuckled.

"Um, I actually want to nominate someone else, and no it's not me." Selene said after a moment, though her tone made it sound like she wanted it to be her.

Everyone looked at her before Beth beat everyone to asking the obvious question. "Who?"

* * *

Sarah wasn't sure what to do. Ever since losing her demon, she found that certain parts of herself were waking up in ways that they never had before. She had felt, um, 'interested' before of course, but not like she felt now. It had been there before, but had been muted and not something that she could see herself truly loving. Enjoying, sure, but not loving.

Now...

She was in her suite across from Ethan's suite and painfully aware of what was happening across the hall. Her nether regions had never felt quite this way before. There was an almost tingling feeling that she'd felt before, but never like this. Her whole body felt like it was a little more alive and more... more... more something.

She wanted to dance at the feeling, but she also wanted to groan in frustration. She wanted to-- well, if she was honest with herself, she wanted to run across the hall and join her betrothed and his other wives. She never would because Illuminar wouldn't approve... yet.

Kendra had relayed how Gabriella had told Beth that Illuminar loved when mortals had sex, otherwise He wouldn't have made that the way everyone reproduces. Sarah was so looking forward to that. Not just the, um, time in bed, but the other thing too.

She sighed.

She put her hand on her stomach, right over her womb. She couldn't help an ear-to-ear smile forming on her face as she thought about the possibility of carrying Ethan's baby... of carrying their baby. The baby would be part her, part Ethan, and that was just... just...

She sighed again and spun around on the spot, wishing she had someone to dance with. Unbidden, the thought of horizontal 'dancing' flitted into her mind.

She bit her lip.

Once, Ethan had told her about those 'movie' things from Earth. Apparently, all the early ones were in black, white, and shades of gray. Then they had figured out how to make them in color, and the difference was huge. This felt like that. It seemed like before her demon had left, she felt this kind of thing in shades of black, white, and gray. Now that it was gone, it felt like those feelings were bursting forth in full color.

She wanted to do something about it, but couldn't with Ethan. That only left one option... She exhaled, and it came out like a small sigh as she thought about what Kendra had said about fingers. She'd never tried it, but considering how she was feeling...

She looked around, then went to the door and made sure the inside latch was set so no one could walk in on her. Though, she couldn't help but imagine what would happen if Ethan did... She went to the bed and laid down on it, not quite sure how to start. She'd never done this before, but Kendra had described it enough for her to guess. She reached down and gently rubbed near the top of her slit.

She stifled a moan that someone outside might've heard.

Oh wow.

She did it again with the same result. She was lying there with her mouth open and eyes wide as she processed what she'd just felt. Kendra said it was even better when someone else did it, and Sarah was honestly having trouble imagining that. She didn't think Kendra would lie, but that seemed very hard.

She lay there, slowly massaging that very sensitive spot as she let her mind wander. What if she and Ethan were already married and he was doing this? What if they were on the bed together and he was captivated by her new beauty, and wanted to touch her all over?

Despite herself, she let a noise out that could be called a sigh, moan, or whimper; all were accurate but fell short. What if Ethan was there? What if he was on top of her because Kendra said that was the easiest way for the first time? What if...

Her one hand was on the top of her slit, she moved the other up to her stomach, right over her womb. What if it was after the war and he was going to... She could hardly bring herself to think about it. Kendra's descriptions had been clinical -- which she had appreciated at the time -- but now she wanted to know more. She wished she'd asked more.

Sarah couldn't even imagine what it must feel like to have his, his 'thing' inside of her. But what if it was inside of her? What if he was inside of her, doing the most intimate thing that two people could do, and at the same time he could be making her into a mother...

Something happened.

The pleasure that had been growing suddenly turned a corner. She stifled another sound as she continued to massage that little spot at the top of her slit. She felt the area tense up, then release and send little pulses of pleasure across her nether regions. It lasted for several seconds before it stopped.

She let her hand drop, panting slightly.

Wow.

If it was like that by herself, then what was it like with Ethan? With his other wives? She remembered Kendra's descriptions and Sarah was pretty sure that she'd just gotten a taste, and a small one at that. And if a mere taste was that wonderful...

Plus, the thought that had been running through her mind when it had happened... She sighed. She knew it would be a long time, but she was so looking forward to that, to making a little baby that was part her, part Ethan. She loved the idea that the most intimate thing they could do would result in a new person.

She lay there on the bed, recovering with a huge smile on her face as she thought about that.

* * *

"Okay, even if Illuminar hadn't capped it at seven, I would have to." Ethan said, panting slightly after finishing the marathon celebration in the bedroom. He and his wives were spread haphazardly across the enormous bed, most of them slightly out of breath as well. Plus, they all had that slight sheen of sweat from their workout. Though, today was a little warmer than it had been lately with fall approaching, so he supposed he wouldn't be seeing that again for a while as the weather cooled.

"Good, it's hard enough to wait for my turn as it is." Beth said.

"You had three turns." Alana pointed out. "How are you even still able to walk?"

"I'm not, that's why I'm laying down." The blonde replied with a chuckle.

After a moment, he turned his head to look at Kendra. "Go ahead."

"I didn't say anything." She replied.

"I know, and I didn't check our bond either." Ethan said with a smile. "But I still know that you have some mission in mind that you're thinking about or planning."

Kendra gave him a slightly sheepish smile, which was adorable. She was never like this anywhere else. But, in the bedroom and especially after a long session with his wives, she tended to be less guarded. He often wondered in those moments if he was getting a glimpse of who she would've become without the Aldmiri. He liked what he saw.

"What?" Kendra asked after a moment of him just looking at her.

"Nothing, just looking." He grinned back.

Her sheepish smile widened and she looked down a bit, but it looked like more sheepishness than embarrassment. It really was adorable to see her doing that.

"I was thinking about Kalaya and Navaro, and how we could help." She said after a moment, though her smile hadn't faded.

Alana appeared to get a little choked up, then she pulled herself up and knee-walked over to Kendra to give her a hug. A fully naked hug. Ethan sighed as one very exhausted part of him made a valiant effort to come to attention again.

"I shouldn't." Beth said looking at that part of him, then bit her lip.

"No, you shouldn't." Taloni chuckled. "Magic doesn't heal skin that's been rubbed raw, remember?"

The blonde sighed, then nodded.

"Anyway." Alana had stepped back and handed the metaphorical floor to Kendra.

"We should get Navaro, Halvaer Kalon, and Thea's sister Sarisa together to plan." She paused. "And maybe Thea and Ahjah too since they are skilled in speechcraft. Anyway, we should get them all in a room and discuss our next steps. I'm sure they'll know how we could help best."

"Great idea." Ethan gave her a thumbs up, then looked around at all his wives. "Everyone, or just me."

"It will be quite a crowd with everyone." Rachel pointed out. "Maybe just you and Alana."

"I can ask Thea to set something up." Selene suggested.

"Please do." Ethan nodded, then looked at Rachel. "So, when are you going to have lunch with your father?"

Rachel froze slightly. "Uh..."

"You were so excited when he offered, so why haven't you reached out?" Ethan continued.

"I wouldn't know what to say." She finally replied. "It would be with him and Fiona too, and I wouldn't know what to say to her either."

"What if you brought Sarah?" Alana suggested. "She already knows Fiona, so she can help keep the conversation going without all the awkwardness."

"That would help." Rachel smiled.

"And I know she'd love to go." Ethan added. "Heck, if you really wanted a lot of interference, you could probably bring Sarah's friend who loves painting." He frowned as he blanked on the name.

"Amy." Alana supplied.

"Right, Amy." Ethan said. "It'll be a lot easier to keep the conversation going with five, three of whom know each other."

Rachel nodded. "That's a wonderful idea, thank you."

"Thea just got back to me about that meeting; she says she'll work at setting something up." Selene said a moment later. "She and Ahjah are also happy to be included, and they'll do what they can."

"Let's hope we can do something." Ethan said. "I mean, consider who will be there: representatives from two Great Houses, The King's ward who's soon to be his adopted daughter, and some idiot dragon that Illuminar picked to speak for him." He put on a mock winning smile. "What could go wrong?"

"Boss, don't jinx it." Selene sighed.

"We should get up, find Sarah, and pray again." Taloni suggested.

Ethan hesitated a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, good idea."

* * *

Candice limped slowly toward her suite in the palace, every single part of her body aching as it had never ached before. The mage who had offered the invitation was helping her along, since she wasn't stable enough on her new wooden leg to walk without help yet. Really, with how she was feeling, she might not have made it even with two good legs.

It had been worth it though.

She had found her mana in only a few days, and they had ensured that she had had a powerful experience with healing magic shortly before. She should be quite gifted with it if they were telling the truth, and she had no reason to doubt that because Selene had explained it to Candice once. If Selene said that it was true, she believed it; Ethan was too wonderful for one of his wives to be a liar.

"Thanks." She managed to get out through gritted teeth. Nothing hurt anymore, but the intense aching plus the memory of the pain...

She shuddered.

"You are welcome." He replied. "The aches will fade over the next few days. Take care to get plenty of rest; your sponsor will ensure that the palace kitchens keep you supplied with nutrient-rich food."

"Sponsor?" She managed to get out, again through gritted teeth. She had often found herself doing meat-tenderizing duty, hitting the meat with a hammer that had a checkered face to tenderize it. She thought she might have a good idea how the meat felt.

"As explained, the method we used is an elven secret." The elven mage said as they reached the door to her suite and opened it for her. "Someone had to request an exception be made."

Candice nodded. She knew it was a secret, but hadn't really considered that. Who could have sponsored her?

The mage helped her to her bed, then stepped back. "What was the condition?"

Candice swallowed. "That I never tell anyone unless I want to experience something far less pleasant." She recited verbatim.

He nodded. "If anyone asks, what is your story?"

"That I'm sore because I took a bad fall because of the leg." She repeated it back to him for the dozenth time through the pain. It was even partially true; she'd accidentally fallen flat on her face once at the place where it had happened. "And that the mage who healed me helped me find my mana, and I was either blessed by Illuminar or got very lucky to find it so fast."

He nodded again. "We shall not meet again; rest and recover."

She nodded. "Thank you again."

He nodded once, then left. Oddly, he seemed to make no noise when he moved.

Candice flopped down on the bed and groaned. She lamented that she couldn't just kick her shoes off anymore; it was too hard with the wooden leg. She thought about trying, then just adjusted so only her feet were hanging over the side of the bed, then grabbed the covers and pulled them over herself. She closed her eyes and fell asleep in mere moments.

* * *

"Sent."

Ethan looked up as Rachel returned to their suite's living room, the letter no longer in her hand. All of his wives, including his betrothed, were in the living room after breakfast, mostly hanging out and talking.

"Enjoy." He said with a smile.

"I'll try." She replied, then took a deep breath.

"It'll be fine." Sarah said with a smile. "Fiona is very kind."

"Yes, but she's also my stepmother." Rachel frowned. "She's young enough to be my older sister and she's my stepmother. How do you treat a stepmother?"

"I don't think you need to 'treat her like a stepmother'." Ethan replied. "Honestly, just be yourself and I'm sure it will be fine. From what Sarah has said, she'll try to make it easy on you."

"That's assuming they accept." The redhead replied, worry in her tone.

"They will." Sarah assured her.

"How do you know?" Rachel asked.

"I know Fiona." Sarah replied. "She thinks it would be good for Lord Delmar to have lunch with you, so she'll make sure it happens."

"Okay." Rachel nodded slowly. After a few moments, she cocked her head to one side, frowned, then made a thoughtful sound. "I suppose..." She got the tiniest hint of a smile on her face. "I suppose that it might actually go well, or at least it could, right?" She looked around.

Ethan smiled. "Yeah, it could."

It was good to see Rachel seeing potentially good outcomes. She had been very bad at that until recently, and he suspected that the change had something to do with the dance she'd shared with her father at Thea's ball.

"There's certainly no reason to expect that it will go poorly." Alana added.

Rachel took a deep breath, then nodded. "Okay."

Ethan could tell that she wasn't entirely convinced, but she was apparently trying to look at the bright side anyway and focus on that. In his mind, that was a lot of progress for his usually worried wife.

About ten minutes later, one of the Lightguard knocked on the door. "Delabor King's Herald to see the Prophet and his wives."

"Send him in." Ethan smiled as he got up.

The door opened and the herald came in, then bowed. "Honored prophet, The King invites you and all of your wives--" He briefly glanced at Sarah. "--to the palace for a complete tour, followed by lunch with The King and The Queen."

Sarah's eyes went wide and she got a huge smile on her face. She'd only been to the palace once, for the celebratory dinner after she had gotten rid of her demon. There hadn't been much of a tour either, as they'd gone straight to the dining room.

"Thanks, that sounds great." Ethan replied.

"I shall be your tour guide, and we can leave at your earliest convenience." Delabor said.

His wives all hurried to get ready while Ethan watched in amusement. Still, that sounded like a lot more fun than what he had been planning: sparring all day until they heard news from the Conclave about the ceremony for shame being removed, or from Thea about the meeting they were hoping to have the next day.

* * *

Fiona had her eyes closed and brow slightly furrowed as she concentrated on the small amount of her blood in the bowl that she currently had the tip of her finger dipped into. She was straining to feel the last of the toxins that Mage Weston had added to the blood in the bowl, which he had done so she could practice purging toxins safely.

"Done." She said about a minute later, then suppressed a sigh. She knew why this was a good idea, and it was a good idea, but that didn't make it fun.

"You're getting much faster." Mage Weston said, putting down the book he was reading while she practiced. He seemed to be a fast reader because he rarely had the same book more than a few days in a row.

"Well, I've been practicing enough." She replied.

"And more than enough if you had your say, I would wager." The mage had a subtle smile on his face and an understanding look in his eye as he looked at her over the tops of his half-moon glasses.

"Aye, most certainly." Fiona nodded.

"At least you can console yourself that you are improving." Mage Weston said, gesturing to the bowl. Oddly, she noticed that he was wearing a ring on his index finger, which was unusual. As far as she could recall, she'd never seen him wear a ring before.

As she thought about it, she realized that she'd seen the ring before too. It was the ring Mage Weston had been working on the day after her will-breaker ring was discovered. He had been working on it in his study while they had a conversation about Ethan and his story. If she remembered right, he had called it an old passion project of his. It looked like it was made of dragon steel, and it had a small red gemstone in the center that was the exact color of Rachel and Helene's hair.

"Yes?" Mage Weston asked, again over his half-moon glasses.

"I was just noticing your ring." She replied. "Is that dragon steel?"

"Good eye." He nodded.

"Can I ask why you're wearing it?" She said after a moment. "I've never seen you wearing a ring before."

"True." He nodded. Then he sat up, pulled out the small vial of toxin, poured a drop into the bowl with her blood, then stirred it with the tiny spoon he'd used before. He then turned an hourglass to time her, then leaned back and picked up his book again.

She frowned. He clearly wanted her to keep practicing instead of talking about the ring, which only made Fiona want to talk about it more. She thought about it for a moment, then decided to purge the toxins first and then ask questions so he couldn't deflect by saying she had practicing to do.

She did.

Spurred by her curiosity, she was able to set a new personal best, judging from the hourglass.

"They say that curiosity killed the Fey, but it can also be a great motivator." Mage Weston said with a knowing smile, then looked at her. "For every new personal best, I'll answer one question about the ring."

"Can you tell me everything about it?" Fiona asked, trying to be clever and get all the answers she wanted with only one question.

"Careful, that's your one question and the answer is 'no'; I can't tell you everything about it without approximately two decades of study into advanced enchanting theory." He looked at her pointedly over his half-moon glasses. "Perhaps choose your question more carefully next time."

Fiona sighed, but nodded.

The blood in the bowl was getting a bit dry, so Mage Weston used some magic to incinerate it. Interestingly, the air around them -- already not warm, though not cold either, given the early autumn air -- didn't feel like it got any cooler, and she didn't see any fire nearby from which he could draw the heat. Of course, the Helene's kitchen was below them, so he'd probably just pulled it from there.

"Why are you always doing that instead of throwing it out?" Fiona asked.

"An over-abundance of caution." He replied when he was done. "One of my teachers had an unfortunate encounter with blood magic that he relayed to me. I would not be doing my duty if I allowed such a thing to affect you."

"What happened?" Fiona asked as she poked her finger again -- she was sadly getting used to that -- and dropped a few more drops of blood into the bowl.

"Lunch is coming soon, and I would not wish to put you off your appetite." Mage Weston replied as he dropped a drop of the toxin into the blood bowl and stirred it.

Fiona chuckled.

Mage Weston didn't. "That was, unfortunately, not a jest, Lady Delmar. Such things are banned and virtually non-existent in the Ten Kingdoms, and for good reason, but they are rampant in the Wilding Lands."

"You won't tell me the story you heard?"

He shook his head. "Not today, certainly. But attend to your studies; you have questions, remember?" He held up the hand on which he was wearing his ring.

She nodded and got to work.

"Hmm, close." Mage Weston said as he looked at the hourglass when she was finished. "Very close." He dropped another drop of toxin into the bowl, stirred it, then leaned back to read. "Again."

She did.

She had just finished, and just barely beaten her previous time when a palace messenger walked onto the Helene's deck and up to her. She accepted the message, thanked the messenger, washed her hand of blood, then read it.

She smiled.

"I think I might be needing to skip our lesson tomorrow." Fiona said as her smile widened. "Lord Delmar and I will be having company."

"Enjoy." He smiled. "Now, our lesson is about to conclude today, so you have one question." He held up the hand with the ring on it.

Fiona took a moment to think about her question. "What enchantments were you putting on it?"

"Good question." Mage Weston smiled. "There is, of course, a self-repairing enchantment. A thin layer on the exterior has an enchantment to make it harder and stronger, so it's nearly indestructible. The rest..." He looked at the ring. "It's something completely new, so it doesn't have a name. I doubt I'm the first to discover it though." He got a satisfied smile on his face. "Something of a passion project for me over the last few decades in fact."

"But what is the new enchantment doing?"

"That's another question, and you're out of questions for today." Mage Weston replied.

"Aye, but I was asking which enchantments, and you weren't telling me the last one."

Mage Weston inclined his head in concession. "As I said, it doesn't have a name. However, its function is to be a modulator to attenuate and regulate a mobile micro-fissure into the aetherian domain to enable the controlled effluxion of prodigious quantities of thaumatological catalysates for noetic, arcane, and aetheric applications."

Fiona stared at him.

She blinked

"You asked." He shrugged.

"I probably shouldn't be asking what all that means, should I?" She finally said.

"You're welcome to ask, but it would take some time to explain." He replied. "I suppose, to simplify it, they help me with my research."

"They?" Fiona asked.

For the first time, Mage Weston seemed to try to hide a reaction. It was a very small, micro reaction that she barely noticed, but it was there. He looked at her for a long moment. "Yes, 'they'; I made a second one."

"For who?"

Mage Weston smiled. "That is a question for another day."

Fiona chuckled. "Okay."

Really though, if it was just something to help him with his research, she wasn't sure it was worth asking about in a few days when they had their next lesson.

* * *

"Wait, wait, wait." Ethan said, pausing with a bite of brisket halfway to his mouth to stare at The King. "You're telling me that in the Wilding Lands, they offer literal animal sacrifices for good sailing weather?"

Ethan and his wives were in one of the smaller dining rooms in the palace with The King and The Queen, having lunch after their tour. Ethan had thought it was impressive as usual, but Sarah -- who had only seen a tiny part of it before -- had been a strange combination of dumbstruck and giddy the whole time. Honestly, it had been really good to see that on her.

It was also amazing just how much more expressive she was. He hadn't realized just how much that demon had been inhibiting her, both her mood and his ability to see her. Her face was more expressive, her eyes brighter, and a blind man could see that she was far happier.

"Indeed." The King replied. "Most captains in the Wilding Lands keep small animals, like chickens, on their ships in order to placate the Nesteri. If they are placated, good weather often results. If not, bad weather is the usual result."

Ethan realized that his fork was still halfway to his mouth and set it down. "You're kidding."

"He is not." The Queen assured him.

"But why?" Selene asked. "Why would--" She paused. "Okay, so many questions. How would the Nesteri do that? Why would the Nesteri do that? And why would Illuminar let them? It doesn't make any sense."

"Control." The King replied. "The Nesteri in charge of other lands manage their affairs differently, but Nesteri who control the Wilding Lands do it for control. Or at least, that is the prevailing theory."

"They just get a kick out of making people kill things?" Selene asked, her expression and tone skeptical.

The King shook his head. "They likely revel in it, but that is likely not why. It is merely one piece of a broader plan to create a specific environment and culture, one where life is not valued. If one must sacrifice an animal for such trivial things as crossing a body of water, the value of a life is diminished on a subconscious level. As part of multiple such rituals, the cumulative effect is significant."

"They want life to be cheap." Ethan nodded slowly, though with a grimace.

"That is the prevailing theory." The King confirmed. "There are many other elements to reinforce that mindset in their culture as well. Access to their temples, which is necessary for most any boon, requires that you cut yourself to offer your life's blood to them. Many of them require blood oaths, and their priests often command enormous power because they have the power to deny the common people access to their temples."

Selene looked at Ethan. "And I thought money-grubbing mega-church pastors were bad."

"And it is worse than currently expressed." The Queen said, her expression and tone dark. "If a man has a beautiful wife, the priest might require him to 'loan' his wife to the priest in order to access the temple."

Ethan and all of his wives stared.

Several of the women shuddered.

"Yet without temple access, the Nesteri will likely ruin the man's crops, or scatter his livestock, or cause other misfortune to befall him." The King said.

"That's seriously fucked up." Selene said, then clenched her jaw.

"And that is not the worst of it." The King said grimly. "However, now is not the time to discuss such things."

"He ordinarily would not discuss them over a meal, but, as you asked..." The Queen said.

Ethan nodded slowly, then took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Pilgrims in an unholy land." Selene said in a pretty good imitation of Sean Connery playing Henry Jones from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Ethan nodded again. "Damn. I knew it was bad, but..." He grimaced.

"Why does Illuminar allow that though?" Selene asked.

"The God of Light gave this world to mortals." The King replied. "Most mortals chose to give it to the dominion of the Nesteri in exchange for promises of a portion of their power. Illuminar -- blessed be He -- warned them of the grave consequences, and even enforced that the initial agreement would only be of temporary duration. Even after living under the Nesteri, most mortals still chose them over the God of Light."

"But why?" Beth asked. "It sounds like living there is horrible beyond belief; why would they want the Nesteri to rule?"

"Power and the illusion of freedom." The King replied. "The Nesteri promised -- and delivered -- their power to mortals, but only in fractions and measures, not the fullness the mortals deluded themselves into believing they would receive, even though the God of Light warned them repeatedly through many prophets over many decades. The Nesteri did fulfill their end of the bargain though, at least in a technical sense."

"You said 'the illusion of freedom'." Selene said. "What did you mean by that?"

"There is a misconception that 'freedom' means the ability to do whatever you wish." The King replied. "However, that is not true freedom, for enslavement to one's vices is still enslavement. A vice can be even more destructive than enslavement to another mortal, for slaves long for freedom; a man enslaved to his own vices only longs for more of the vice, and thus deeper enslavement."

Ethan nodded; drug addicts, alcoholics, and anyone else addicted to something proved that point pretty well.

"The denizens of the Wilding Lands longed to be free from the commands of Illuminar -- blessed be He." The King continued. "They longed to adulterate with other men's wives; to force a woman, or steal, or murder without consequence; they craved a taste of the Nesteri's power. These things they did, and their temporary enjoyment of these vices delivered them into enslavement. It produced only ruination, and yet they saw the very things that enslaved them as the hallmark of their freedom."

Ethan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Yeah, that wouldn't go well."

"That explains why they live their lives at the subsistence level." Rachel mused. "It's very hard to become successful when there's no government or morality in culture that ensures a safe environment to ply your trade. If contracts aren't enforced, you can't trust anyone to keep their word, and societies are built on such things. Without protection and morality in commerce, a society declines."

"Indeed it does." The King replied. "To this day, in some parts of the Wilding Lands, one might see the remains of the great society that once lived there. A visitor might observe the ruined cities built by those who strove upward toward the light, and yet they are now occupied by those who have sunk into darkness, those who haven't the skill or discipline to build something that's a mere shadow of the relics in which they reside."

"And we need to find Lady Ekthros's base in all that, huh?" Ethan said. "Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm inclined to stay on the Argo as much as possible.

His wives all nodded.

"I would agree with that aim." The King said. "However, since you will surely be required to leave your airship at times, I have prepared a few things that might aid you."

"Oh?" Ethan asked.

"Gifts, one for each of you, though, the Prophet has already received his in the form of his warded shield." The King replied. "Prudence advised giving it early, yet there are still other gifts, one for each of your wives."

"That's... Are you sure?" Ethan said. "I really, really appreciate it, but you've done so much for us already that I'm starting to feel guilty."

"It is my privilege to assist the Prophet that Illuminar -- blessed be He -- has chosen." The King replied. "Two of your wives are already aware, and know of their gifts--" he gestured to Selene and Kendra. "--for their gifts required their input."

Ethan looked at them.

"We don't know what the others are." Selene clarified.

"And we didn't think you'd mind us not saying anything, since The King wanted it to be a surprise." Kendra added.

"I don't mind, I'm just surprised." Ethan said, then looked at The King. "We can't thank you enough." He said seriously, and his wives echoed the sentiment.

"Continue to follow Illuminar, and that will be thanks enough." The King replied with a genuine smile.

* * *

*I knew the Wilding Lands were bad, but that's just terrible.* Alana thought to everyone as they got up from the table after the meal was over. The King was taking them to another place to give them the gifts. Honestly, Alana was slightly uncomfortable with that too, not that she'd ever insult The King's generosity by turning them down; that would be a terrible insult in this culture.

*No kidding.* Selene agreed. *I'm almost getting the picture of a greener version of a certain post-apocalyptic wasteland inhabited by ghouls, mutants, and the occasional mini-nuke.*

Next to Alana, Ethan made a very good effort to stifle a laugh, but wasn't entirely successful. Selene had a large smile on her face as well, and Alana guessed it was because Ethan had gotten her joke.

*It's a video game reference, the Fallout series.* Ethan explained, and then he and Selene explained a little bit about it.

*I will never cease to be amazed at the strangeness of Earth.* Alana said when he was done.

*The same could be said about me and the Ten Kingdoms.* Ethan replied with a twinkle in his eye. *But more seriously, yeah, it sounds terrible.*

*Drago, it will be especially terrible for you.* Kendra pointed out. *You'll want to help everyone, and you won't be able to.*

Alana looked at her husband. A small frown had appeared on his face and his jaw clenched at the same time.

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

*Nietzsche.* Ethan replied. *Damn.*

*Yup.* Selene agreed.

*It will be okay Master.* Tee said. *I'm sure that Illuminar will guide you when to help and when not to help.*

*Honey, the trouble is, I'll feel like shit if I don't help everyone who needs it, and it sounds like that's everyone.* Ethan replied. *People there are being hurt, killed, and raped; I'm damn sure that I'll want to do something about it. If you saw someone being hurt and then walked away when you could've done something, how would you feel about it?*

Tee didn't reply, but she frowned and her wings twitched, making a faint buzzing sound as they did.

*Exactly.* Ethan said after eyeing her wings.

*Drago, we can't save everyone.* Kendra pointed out. *We can help those we meet, but even that risks mission creep. Remember what happened with Talven and Salma.*

Alana considered that. While she was certainly glad that they'd helped Talven and Salma, their help had ended up making everything worse for the couple and their children. Though... Hmm. Had it? An Ivernian Reeve had been taking so much of their earnings in taxes that they had been having trouble staying fed. They didn't have that trouble now. They were well-fed, even if they were also exiles from their homeland.

*I think we should talk about this more later.* Alana suggested. *The King is being mighty generous, and we wouldn't want to risk not showing our full appreciation because we're worried about the future.*

*Good idea.* Ethan agreed.

Speaking of, they had just entered a courtyard in the palace complex. Light from the nearly cloudless blue sky was streaming in from above, and there was the cheerful sound of birds chirping and singing to each other. As was often the case, the decorations consisted entirely of sublimely carved wood and a few intricately sculpted wooden statues.

In a far corner of the courtyard, obviously put there for this unveiling, was a freestanding four-section 'wall', rather like a changing screen. Oddly, it seemed to fit in reasonably well, even if it did stand out. Alana wasn't sure how they managed that.

*Oh, Myla says that Falkaan found something significant about Nakhim's background, specifically about what happened that he became such a misogynist.* Selene thought to everyone, paused, then added. *My phrasing, not Myla's.*

Alana smiled; no, Myla wouldn't phrase it like that.

*We'll talk to them next if they're free.* Ethan replied.

*They're making preparations and will let me know when they're done.* Selene replied.

Next to her, Beth got a tiny extra spring in her step.

"Honored Prophet." The King said as he stopped and turned to face them. "With your permission, we shall begin with your most recent wife--" He indicated Sarah, since betrothal was basically the first stage of marriage. "--and end with the first." He indicated Alana.

"Be my guest." Ethan said.

* * *

Ethan couldn't help but smile. His wives deserved a whole lot of pampering after all the crap they'd been through. He would've liked to pamper them himself, but that just wasn't in the cards right now. He was glad The King could.

"For the Prophet's wife with the greatest affinity and enjoyment of domestic concerns, I offer something to increase her enjoyment of them." The King said, then said a short phrase in elvish.

Three elves came out from behind the screen, each holding a large collection of exquisite cookware. There were pots, pans, ladles, and anything else that one would need to cook anything her heart desired.

Sarah's eyes lit up.

Seriously, her fabulously brilliant green eyes got so bright that they seemed to almost glow. Her mouth opened wide and she put her hands over her mouth like she couldn't believe it. You might've thought she'd just won a billion dollars.

"They were made by the finest artisanal smiths in the realm, and are equal or superior to what is used in the palace kitchens." The King said, and he had a satisfied smile on his face at Sarah's reaction.

"Those... those are for me?" Sarah asked, her tone breathless and even a little hoarse.

"They are indeed." The Queen assured her.

"I..." Words seemed to fail Sarah as the elves set them in front of her. "I've never had my own..." She trailed off as she looked at them. She looked at The King after a long moment, eyes wide and tone full of disbelief. "Really?"

"Yes, really." He nodded, his satisfied smile taking on a note of amusement. "Everything has been made from elven steel, or elven copper, and enchanted to be self-repairing; they shall never wear out, nor be damaged beyond repair, so they shall forever be yours. Further, the self-repairing enchantment obviously makes them self-cleaning as well."

Sarah stood frozen as she looked at them.

The King continued. "Further, the utensils have a composite construction with tiny amounts of dragon steel embedded in them so you can summon them as your betrothed does his weapons, provided that you put a tiny drop of deep mana into each."

Sarah was still frozen.

The Queen chuckled and stepped forward to put a hand on Sarah's shoulder, and she jumped slightly at the touch. "Sarah darling, you may touch them; I promise they will not bite."

Sarah nodded mutely, then knelt down and did. The look of shock on her face was slowly morphing into wonder, and then made its way toward elation. The corners of her mouth started turning upward as her eyes got watery. She picked up one of the ladles as if it was made of glass.

After a moment, she clutched it to her chest and looked at The King. "Th-" Her voice was hoarse, so she cleared her throat and tried again. "Thank you. I don't even know how to..." She blinked, her eyes quite watery at this point. "Thank you."

"You are welcome." The King said, his smile widening.

"It was our pleasure." The Queen assured her.

"Thank you." Ethan said to the royal couple.

"As I said, it is our pleasure." The King nodded, then looked at Selene. "For the Prophet's sixth wife, you already know of your gift."

She nodded with a grin. "Yeah, but I haven't seen it since it was finished. Thank you so much!"

"You are welcome." The King replied, then looked at Ethan's other wives. "Selene's interest in weapons combined with her unique background and beauty demanded a weapon that suited her perfectly. The royal forgemaster worked in conjunction with the Prophet's own unofficial armorer, Graflax the dwarf, to produce this weapon. It contains the usual enchantments for self-repair, as well as a stiffening enchantment so the slender blade can maintain rigidity."

One of the elves came out from behind the screen with a rapier. It had never occurred to Ethan before, but that was the absolute perfect weapon for Selene; it was gorgeous, deadly, and had an elegance about it that perfectly fit his only wife from Earth.

He couldn't see the blade yet, but the hilt was a classic rapier complex-hilt style, of the kind with a crossguard too. The only difference was that the hilt was long enough for two hands, which oddly didn't look out of place. The hand protection was made from leather -- probably enchanted dragon leather -- and looked like the Munich Town Guard swords, only more elegant. The styling was classically elven, but it looked like whoever had done it had somehow incorporated some of Selene's personality into it. He wasn't sure how that was possible, but apparently it was.

The elf handed the sword to Selene, who drew it and then got a huge smile. "Better than I remembered." She looked at Ethan. "Maybe I'll finally be able to beat you regularly."

"Maybe." He replied, intentionally making his voice very skeptical.

"I also instructed the forgemaster to produce a blunt version to facilitate safe practice." The King said as one of the elves came out with a nearly identical rapier, though this one lacked a scabbard, was blunt, and the detailing was far less ornate.

"Thank you so, so much." Selene said as she moved the rapier around in the air, safely away from everyone else. To Ethan's eye, it looked like it was something of a blend between a traditional rapier and something that could cut well too. The blade got rather thin in the second half, and would only be rigid enough to fight with because of the stiffening enchantment. Still, given how thin it was and that Graflex had made it, it would probably slice through unarmored targets like a hot knife through butter... or like a lightsaber through Styrofoam.

Ethan looked at Kendra. "You already have a sword so..." He paused. "Wait, you aren't wearing it; what sword is that?" It looked similar to the one she'd been wearing since he'd met her, but he just realized that it wasn't the same.

"A loan from the royal armory while my sword was being reforged." Kendra replied, then turned to The King. "Thank you, both for the loan and especially for the real thing; I can't wait to see it." Kendra's face displayed a rare anticipatory smile in public, subtle though it was.

"Hers was made after mine, since she was still recovering when they started mine." Selene explained.

"Ah, gotcha." Ethan nodded.

The King said something in elvish, then one of the elves brought out another sword. This one was quite different from Selene's, though subtly similar in the details. This one looked like a two-handed military saber, complete with the brass -- or maybe gold? -- three-bar guard. However, the standard 3-bar design also had a crossguard incorporated into it so perfectly and naturally that he found himself wondering why more sabers didn't have them.

The elf presented the blade to Kendra, who handed him the sword she had been wearing in return, and then he stepped back as Kendra drew it. It was an interesting blade, and honestly looked a fair bit like Selene's blade, though slightly thicker and more 'normal', as opposed to Selene's extremely slender blade.

It was single-edged like many straight sabers, but fully half of the back edge was shaped more like a normal sword and sharpened. Unlike Selene's -- which had a narrow fuller running almost the whole length of the blade-- Kendra's sword had double fullers; one was centered and ran right up to almost the tip, and the other stopped just before the blade transitioned to double-edged.

"The blade looks like the British 1788 pattern, though a bit shorter." Selene mused.

Ethan shrugged, having no idea.

Kendra moved it around in the air, a subtle smile coming to her face as she did so. She stepped away from everyone else and made a few practice cuts, reversals, parries, and other motions. Her smile grew slightly wider each time she tried a motion, until it was almost a normal-person smile.

"This is the best blade I've ever held." Kendra said when she was done. "Ethan's and Selene's are the same quality, but this..." She gave it a small flourish. "...this is amazing and perfect for me." She looked at The King. "Thank you so much."

"You are welcome." He replied. "It also comes with a blunt training version."

One of the elves standing nearby offered it to her, and she sheathed the sharp version and then took it. "Thank you again."

The King nodded once, then turned to Rachel. "The only mage among the Prophet's wives; your gift is suitable to your preferred method of combat."

He said something in elvish, and the elf brought a small wooden box to Rachel, then opened it. Inside was what looked like a pair of fingerless gloves, only the palm of each had a small circular piece of dragon steel just over an inch wide, into which was set a very small gemstone.

Rachel gasped. "Are those what I think they are?"

The King smiled, then nodded. "Indeed."

"What are they?" Ethan and Selene asked at the same time, prompting chuckles from the others.

"Mage hands." Rachel said, awe in her voice. "I had always heard that they exist, but I never thought I would see them."

'What are they?" Ethan asked.

"They..." Rachel did that adorable thing she sometimes did when she had so much information to share that she actually had to stop and think before she opened her mouth to reply. "Effectively, they help a mage focus their magical attacks better." She finally said. "A staff can serve the same purpose, but to a much lesser degree and you can't do anything with fire because of the wood. These can."

"They are yours." The King said. "Please, test them."

As if on cue, one of the elves who had been bringing items out pulled back one of the sections of the divider behind which the gifts had been concealed to reveal a small fire. Above that was a target that looked like it could take some fire.

Rachel pulled one out of the box carefully, even reverently. After a moment of examining them, she slipped them both on and reached her hand toward the fire. As usual, the fire came to her hand when she used magic. However, to Ethan's untrained eye, it seemed like it came faster.

"Wow." Rachel said as she looked at the fire hovering above her palm. A moment later, she extended her hand toward the target and the fireball shot out from her hand. It struck the exact dead center of the target. Again, it seemed like it moved faster than normal.

"That's impressive." Alana said. "It looks like it roughly doubled your effective range."

"It did." Rachel nodded. "The difference when fighting a mage would be... I don't even know how to calculate that."

"An approximately seventy-five percent increase in advantage." The King said. "Based on tests performed by some of the most experienced battle mages in my court."

"I believe it." Rachel nodded, looking at her gloves.

"Why?" Ethan asked.

"Because of the increase in effective range." Rachel replied. "Do you remember when I fought Gonorran, and we kept getting closer to each other?"

"Sure." Ethan replied.

"That's because proximity matters when you're fighting another mage." Rachel explained. "The closer you are, the better you can manipulate mana. So with these--" She held up the mage gloves. "--they extend my effective range by nearly double. That means that any mage I fight will be at a disadvantage because I'm effectively closer than he is in terms of the effect on magic. I would be able to counter any spells much more easily because of that, and he would have a harder time countering mine. Against non-mages, I'll have a much longer effective range."

Ethan whistled. "Wow. I didn't know such a thing existed."

"They are somewhat legendary, and lots of people think they're a myth." She looked at her hands. "Apparently not."

"Dang." Ethan said. "Might be useful if you ever find yourself fighting a certain mage. Well, arch mage."

Rachel shook her head. "She's an arch mage, and so could simply outlast me. There's no way around that either, unless I try to become an arch mage. Less than half of the people who try survive the first attempt. I used to want to, but I have a lot more to live for now." She looked at him, then Alana, then the rest of her fellow wives.

"Safety first." He nodded.

"Additionally, I had some small say in the design." The Queen spoke up. "The important part can be removed from the gloves and attached to whatever else your heart desires, or can dream up."

Rachel looked at Alana, and Ethan guessed they would come up with something else eventually. Next to him, Taloni's wings were starting to vibrate a bit, likely in anticipation. Interestingly, Sarah appeared to be paying attention, but she was still by her gift, lovingly going over each and every one of its pieces.

"And now, to the Prophet's third wife, a weapon suitable for her disposition and interests." The King said.

Tee's wings vibrated even more as The King said something in elvish, and then one of the two elves brought another wooden box out and opened it in front of Taloni. This box was a little larger, and inside was a coil of leather, a leather pouch, and what looked like one fingerless glove.

"That's a sling!" Taloni said with excitement in her tone.

"It is, one made from dragon leather, as well as six dragon-steel-covered lead projectiles, and a pouch to carry them in." The King replied.

"Can I?" Taloni asked, her entire face shining and her wings just about vibrating. If they went any faster, she might start flying.

"It belongs to you now, so of course." The King said.

Tee took the sling carefully and checked the length. "It's perfect."

"The elven sling-master under whom you studied recommended that specific length." The King said.

"What is this?" Taloni asked, touching the single fingerless glove.

"To recover your projectiles." The King said. "Both the glove and projectiles are warded so that they only repel each other. Thus, you can safely call them back to your hand without risk of injury."

"Brilliant." Rachel said.

"It was standard among elite slinger units centuries ago when slingers still comprised a portion of the elven army." The King said, then looked at Taloni. "The target is not only there for Rachel's use."

The Fey teen grinned, then opened the pouch with the projectiles, but hesitated. "Two of them have a hole in them." The projectiles were roughly football-shaped, and two of the six did indeed have a small hole going completely through them.

"Yes." The King smiled, and it had an odd gleam. "Intentionally so, and I recommend that you test one of them. Only do not forget to put a drop of deep mana into the projectile first so you can summon it back after slinging it."

Tee pulled out one of the projectiles with a hole and everyone stepped back. She closed her eyes in concentration for a moment, then placed it into the sling, spun it up once and let it fly. Of course it hit the target, and near dead center too, but that wasn't what stood out; it was the sound.

It howled.

Or maybe shrieked?

The projectile traveling through the air created an eerie, piercing, shrieking, wailing, howling sound that was difficult to describe. 'Eerie' was the only good word that he could think of for it, or maybe 'chilling'. It made his spine tingle. If he still had hair on the back of his neck, he was pretty sure it would be standing on end. It made him think of a banshee's howl, not that he'd heard one before.

"The hole geometry is designed to produce a sound that mimics a banshee's howl." The King said, making Ethan smile. "Few sounds are more unsettling; only a dragon's roar is sure to have a more significant effect."

Taloni put the one glove on her left hand, then lifted her hand and summoned the projectile. You could see her hand move back at the 'impact', but the projectile never actually hit her hand or the leather glove.

Tee grinned, then turned to The King. "Thank you so much, and I'm going to pray that Illuminar blesses you really strongly for being so kind to us."

The King's smile widened. "I greatly appreciate that."

Ethan glanced at Beth, who looked like she wanted to shout 'what's my gift?'. However, to her credit, she was waiting patiently and not saying a thing. A quick check of their bond showed that she was more curious now than she had been in a very long time.

"Now, unfortunately, the gift for the Prophet's second wife cannot be revealed at this time." The King said.

Beth looked like Christmas had been cancelled.

The Queen rolled her eyes and chuckled.

"However, it can be revealed at this time." The King said after a several-second pause.

Everyone laughed.

Beth pressed her lips into a strange combination of annoyance and a smile that she was trying to resist. But after a moment, even she chuckled.

The King said something in elvish, then one of the elves brought out -- what else? -- a book. It was a large, thick book and leather bound. Honestly, calling it a 'tome' might be more accurate than a mere 'book'.

"The Mortals, Creatures, Animals, and Terrain of the Wilding Lands; A Comparative Study with a Focus on the Biology, Habits, and Hazards of our Enigmatic Neighbors." Beth read the title, her smile growing wider with each word.

"I love it!" The blonde exclaimed, then turned and gave The King a huge hug. "Thank you so much!"

"You are welcome." The King said.

Beth let go and took the large book from the elf who had presented it to her, then immediately sat down on the ground and opened it to read.

The King turned to Alana. "And now, for the Prophet's first wife."

"I'm very curious myself." Alana said with a smile on her face.

"Not all gifts are physical, and little can affect someone's ability to fight more than concern for loved ones." The King said. "Thus, when the Conclave makes its final decision regarding the ceremony for removing shame, I will publicly recommend that your mother be the first to undergo it."

Alana beamed, and her eyes got slightly watery.

"Further, I will attend the ceremony personally." The King continued. "Once her shame has been removed, I will invite her to the palace to dine at my table, signaling to all that once shame has been removed, it should be treated as fully removed." He looked at her significantly. "And because of this, should another elf find himself wishing for her hand, the state of her honor should not be an impediment."

Alana was very nearly crying at this point.

After a moment, she stepped forward and gave The King a hug. "Thank you." She said, her voice cracking.

"You are most welcome." The King replied.

After a moment, Alana stepped back and then hugged The Queen as well. Ethan knew enough about elven culture to realize how big a deal this would be. Without it, Kalaya's honor would be unclear and a major impediment that Nakhim could easily use to refuse the match. With The King's generous 'gift', getting Kalaya and Navaro married went from 'slim chance', to 'downright doable'.

That fact was obvious from Alana's face.

* * *

Candice woke from her nap feeling incredibly groggy. She normally enjoyed the feeling, but the aches all across her body made it hard to enjoy now. They were better than they had been when she'd fallen asleep, but still very uncomfortable.

She groaned.

"Honored guest of The King?" The elven maid who had been assigned to her said from nearby.

Candice tried to reply with actual words. She really did. However, it came across as a grunt.

"I have been informed that you have aches and pains that need soothing." The elven maid said. "I have drawn a hot bath for you filled with salves and healing balms to aid your recovery."

"Bless you." Candice breathed.

"I'll help you." The elven maid said, then did. She was surprisingly strong for someone so petite and managed to help Candice into the bathroom, help her undress and remove her wooden leg, and get her into the tub. Normally, Candice might've felt a little odd about being naked with someone else, but she'd needed a lot of help since losing her leg. Thus, it wasn't the first time this elven maid had helped her, and she'd always remained perfectly proper while doing so.

The bath felt amazing.

"If you sit up, I shall attach a floater for you." The elven maid offered. Elven floaters were ingenious devices that went under the arms and cradled the back of your neck and head, which allowed you to completely relax -- or even sleep -- in a bath because they kept your head out of the water.

"Please." Candice replied.

The maid did, then spoke when she was done. "Rest, honored guest."

"I will, thank... tha..." Candice yawned. "Thank you."

Less than a minute later, she'd drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"Damn!" Selene groaned as Ethan's training war sword smacked her leg. "I still can't beat you."

"It's a lot closer now though." Ethan pointed out. "I'm winning a lot less, and the margin of victory is much smaller."

They were in the training yard for the palace guard, which The King had offered so they could test their new weapons. Nearby, many of the palace guard were watching with great interest.

"Second by an inch is still second, but thanks." Selene sighed. "At least it's a lot more interesting to watch you and Kendra spar."

It was Ethan's turn to sigh. As it turned out, while the former Aldmiri was deadly with any weapon you put into her hands, she was especially deadly with a weapon custom-made for her. Seriously, she was a bloody menace.

"We need to get Serif up here to deflate that little cloud she's dancing on." Ethan 'whispered' loud enough for Kendra to hear.

"Selene, I know it's hard to see because you're always training against Ethan, Serif, and me, but you are deadly with that blade." Kendra said. "Your previous martial arts experience clearly helps, and you've reached quite an elite level at this point."

"I have?" She asked.

Kendra nodded. "You have."

"Anyone want to volunteer to spar with Selene?" Ethan asked the onlookers.

A few of them agreed, then put on some padded sparring gear.

The first one stepped into the ring and bowed. "I am new to the palace guard; I'm honored to spar with you."

"Likewise." Selene replied, then added. "That it's an honor, not about being new to the palace guard."

Ethan and Kendra chuckled.

The man raised his longsword. "Begin."

Selene didn't waste any time. She stepped in and put the full advantage of her reach to good use, aiming a thrust at the man's torso that she knew he'd parry. He did, and quite skillfully, but her slender blade was extremely nimble at the point. She moved her wrist in a small circular motion, which resulted in the tip of her blade arcing around his defense as she continued her lunging thrust.

"Point." The elf said, then frowned.

The next bout, he took the offense. He cut strongly at Selene, forcing her to block. However, instead of retreating and parrying -- which is probably what he'd been expecting her to do -- she outright blocked his attack with the base of her blade, which was thick enough and heavy enough for a strong defense. Then she pushed up and lunged in, turning her defense into an offensive strike.

"Point." The elf said. "I clearly have much to learn, and will leave further losses to my betters."

He and Selene bowed to each other, then he left the ring.

"Next." Kendra called.

For the next half hour or so, Selene sparred with the palace guard. She was a little surprised at how well she did, especially because they were supposed to be among the best swordsmen in the realm. She won about half the matches with her new rapier and was quite pleased with that.

*Miss Selene, Falkaan would like to inform you that the preparations for him to recount the story have been completed.* Myla thought to the second group chat.

*Thanks.* Selene replied as she bowed out of her next match. *Where at? Our suite? Yours?*

*If it would not cause significant hardship, Falkaan would prefer to set the meeting at a restaurant in the Dowthal region of Nalatia at the time of the evening meal.* Myla replied.

*Wait, the Dowthal region?* Thea chimed in. *That's not exactly the nice area of town.*

*How 'not nice' are we talking?* Selene asked.

*It's not dangerous in the sense of worrying about dying.* Thea clarified. *It's just one of the worse areas.*

*You will not be in any significant danger of a physical altercation.* Myla replied. *However, it is suggested to ensure that all valuables are safely stored in an inner compartment of your clothing to ensure that nothing of value is purloined.*

*Why does he want to meet there?* Selene asked. *I mean, he was just going to tell us about Nakhim's lost love, and we can do that anywhere.*

Myla had a subtle note of slyness in her tone as she replied. *He possesses good reasons, though he wished me not to say.*

*You know?* Victoria asked.

*Hai.* Myla said, and that was her usual way to say 'yes', probably from the Southern lands. *Falkaan has procured sufficient disguise gems for all the wives of Meelas.* Myla added, 'Meelas' being the term she used for Ethan; it meant 'rescuer' in her native tongue.

*Um, I'll ask him.* Selene replied, then thought to the group chat. *Hey Boss, Myla and Falkaan have an interesting idea...*

*That's... interesting.* He replied when she had explained. *I'm game if it's safe. And with the disguise gems, it should be.*

*Agreed.* Kendra thought to everyone. *We shouldn't rely on them regularly, but very occasionally shouldn't cause problems.*

*Anyone have an objection?* Ethan replied after a moment.

No one had any.

*Halasses will want to know, and come.* Kendra mused after a moment. *He won't like us traveling anywhere without the Lightguard.*

*You know, I have an idea.* Selene said, a smile growing on her face as she thought about Thea and Sarah playing matchmaker between Halasses and a certain woman. *Maybe, just maybe, what he needs is a date.*

*Candice?* Rachel asked.

*Yup.* Selene replied. *We can bring a few of the Lightguard for cover and set them up nearby.*

*We'll attract less attention with more men around.* Kendra pointed out. *One man and seven women will raise eyebrows. A mixed group will attract far fewer.*

*Okay, let's do it.* Ethan replied. *Who wants to ask Candice? I'm pretty sure that it shouldn't be me.* He paused. *She's nice, and I like her and all, but she should probably sit far away from me too.*

*I bet Thea will ask her, hang on.* Selene replied, then asked her.

*Sure, I'm in the palace right now anyway.* Thea replied.

*Great, thanks.* Selene then thought to the primary group chat. *Thea's on it.*

*Well, this should be interesting.* Ethan said. *We're going to the 'bad part' of Nalatia.*

*I can't wait to see what it's like!* Beth exclaimed.

Selene couldn't help but smile.

* * *

"Wait, why is this so important?" Candice asked Thea as she struggled to get her dress on. She'd never really appreciated how easy she'd had it before losing her leg. Before, she'd just stand and put the dress on. She couldn't do that now because she was liable to lose her balance and fall with her wooden leg. Thus, she had to do everything on the bed, and it was a major pain.

She did feel much better after her bath though. Whatever the elven maid had put in it had worked wonders on her aching body. The aches and pains were still worth it, but she couldn't wait to be somewhat back to normal and start practicing magic.

"Because Halasses will be there." Thea replied with a note of smugness in her tone from the other room.

Candice stopped. "Oh."

"Ethan will be there too, obviously, but you'll be sitting with Halasses and the Lightguard most likely." Thea continued. "Selene said that what you and Halasses need is a 'date', and I don't mean the fruit."

"What's a date?" Candice asked as she resumed getting dressed. The dress was on, now came the hard part: putting on the leg.

"It's where two people who are interested in each other go out by themselves to eat and often do some activity to get to know each other better." Thea explained. "Ethan and Selene explained it one time."

"Oh, that's..." Candice hesitated as she searched for the right word. "Weird. I like the idea, but two unmarried people out together with no chaperone?"

"Yeah, there's a lot of strange stuff that happens on Ethan's world." Thea said. "Remind me to tell you about their self-moving carts."

Candice stood up after finishing getting her wooden leg attached. She was grateful for it, but sorely missed her original leg. "Do I have to go?"

"Nope, but you will." Thea replied.

"Why?" Candice asked as she hobbled into the middle room where Thea was.

"Because you won't ever be able to marry Ethan." Thea replied with a sympathetic look. "And because Halasses is a good man who will take good care of you." The gorgeous elf hesitated. "And, you aren't likely to get many offers while you're in love with Ethan, at least not from humans. I hate to think practically, but he's probably the best offer of marriage that you'll ever get."

"I shouldn't be disappointed by that." Candice sighed. "He's everything I've ever wanted in a man, at least before I met Ethan."

Thea gave her a pointed look. "You can't marry Ethan, and you know that."

Candice sighed, but nodded.

Thea continued. "You can waste your youth and beauty pining for something that can never be, or you can try to enjoy yourself tonight with Halasses."

Candice nodded. "Okay."

* * *

Ethan would've been lying if he said he was comfortable with where he and his wives were. This part of Nalatia looked a good deal more run down than the areas he had been frequenting. True, the 'bad area' of Nalatia looked way better than the bad areas of Earth -- there was no danger of being shot for example -- but it was still a bad area.

He was at the head of the group with Rachel following the directions they'd been given. So far, it didn't look terrible. However, there were some broken windows about, the area didn't look particularly clean, and the walkway railings that prevented people from falling to their death were cracked or even broken in places. No one paid much attention to them, and the few who did looked mildly suspicious.

*Boss, I've been to bad areas of town.* Selene thought to him. *If this is a bad area of town, it's a damn site better than the bad areas on Earth.*

*Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.* He nodded.

Before too long, they reached their destination. It was one of the nicer 'buildings' in the area, or at least he didn't think that they would get food poisoning eating there. He glanced around and double-checked that all his wives were there. Maybe only bringing a few of them would've been smart, though at this point, the only one who couldn't fight was Sarah.

They were all wearing disguise gems, which he could see through because he was bonded to them, but he could still see the outline. It was strange to see Beth as a brunette and Alana as a dirty blonde. Selene looked like herself, but not nearly as gorgeous; that's probably what she would've looked like if she hadn't won the genetic lottery.

Ethan led the way into the restaurant, though 'diner' might've been a better term. The inside was clean-ish; more 'ish' than clean. There were plenty of seats open and it looked like only one waitress, a middle-aged elf who looked like the rest of the place; like her best years were long behind her and she was worse for their passing.

Falkaan and Myla were sitting down at a table in the corner, both wearing disguise gems. He couldn't see through them, but Falkaan still looked like a dark elf, and he wouldn't be holding hands like that with anyone other than Myla.

"Meelas." Myla smiled when she saw him.

"Hi Myla, how's married life treating you?" He asked as he and his wives sat down at the two large tables that had been pushed together to make room for all of them. The Lightguard and Candice sat close enough to hear, though not at the same table.

"My husband has endeavored to make my heart very happy." She replied with a dazzling smile. "He has succeeded far beyond what I would have imagined possible."

"Glad to hear it." Ethan replied, a grin forming on his face as well. He looked at Falkaan. "I'd ask how marriage is treating you, but I'm guessing that smile means pretty well."

"I have not one complaint." He said, then added. "Well, perhaps one serious one."

Myla snapped her eyes toward him, alarm on her face.

"We did not meet and marry sooner." Falkaan finished, clearly pretending to be oblivious to his wife's reaction.

Everyone chuckled as Myla's alarm morphed into amused annoyance.

"I know the feeling." Ethan nodded. "So, why meet here?"

The dark elf looked around. "You being familiar with this part of Nalatia will help explain some elements of the story."

"Okay, which is?" He replied.

"We are occupying space in this establishment, and so should order food first." Falkaan said, then raised his hand to call over the waitress.

"What do you want?" She asked with an attempt at a smile on her face, but she looked too world-weary to truly smile.

"What do you have?" Ethan asked.

The waitress rattled off the menu like she'd done it ten thousand times. She probably had.

"Are you okay?" Sarah asked when she was done, her 'I'm worried and want to help' expression on her face.

The waitress made another valiant attempt at a smile. "I will be fine; life has merely been difficult of late."

Sarah nodded slowly, but she frowned too.

"The steak and the flatbread wraps have received significant acclaim, if one is not sure what to order." Myla supplied.

The waitress glanced at Sarah, hesitated, then spoke. "The flatbread is a little stale tonight, for which I apologize, but the meat pies are fresh, and the steak is indeed delectable."

"Oh, I would love a meat pie." Sarah said brightly.

Most of the ladies opted for them, though Ethan and Falkaan both chose a steak. It seemed like the Lightguard was evenly split, and, perhaps surprisingly, Candice ordered a steak.

* * *

Candice couldn't stop her mouth from watering at the thought of having an entire steak to herself. Despite the aches and pains that hadn't fully faded, she was looking forward to this. She was sitting at the end of the table with Halasses, and it was the end nearer to the door. Ethan and his wives were on the opposite end.

"You seem more excited about this meal than I would have guessed." Halasses said.

She nodded. "I always heard that rich people could afford to eat a whole steak for a meal. I always wondered what that would be like."

"Enjoy it." He replied, then looked around again. He did that a lot, even if he was often quite subtle about it.

Oddly, or at least it felt odd to her, he didn't attempt to engage her in conversation. A few boys from her town had seemed to like her, and they always tried to start a conversation with her. He wasn't, and she wasn't sure what to do about that.

Even stranger from her perspective, the silence didn't seem awkward, at least not on his end. He seemed perfectly happy to sit comfortably in silence. Candice had seen her parents do that before: simply sit near each other while relaxing after a long day. Was it a good sign that she and Halasses could sit there in a comfortable silence, or did it just mean he wasn't very interested in her?

* * *

"So, what's the story?" Ethan asked after tasting his steak, which was pretty good. Not incredible, but pretty good.

"Our story begins, as these stories often do, with an up-and-coming politician." Selene replied in a solid imitation of V from 'V for Vendetta'.

He chuckled.

"She is not wrong." Falkaan replied, then continued in a perfect imitation of Selene imitating V. "Our story does indeed begin with an up-and-coming politician, or rather, a house head."

Everyone looked at him.

"My husband possesses much skill at impressions." Myla said proudly.

Ethan inclined his head in concession.

"Trade bites?" Sarah asked, since she was sitting next to him.

"Sure." He started cutting a piece for her, then looked at Falkaan. "Continue."

"When this story begins, Nakhim was young, barely passed the age considered to be reasonable for marriage." Falkaan said.

"That's mid-late twenties for men, even though elves are considered adults at twenty-three." Alana supplied helpfully. "Elven men usually get married a little later than women because they need to support a wife."

He gave her a thumbs up, then traded bites with Sarah. Dang, hers was good. Yeah, it was better than his steak.

"There was a minor house that Nalfigar regularly had dealings with." Falkaan continued. "Its head had a daughter who was considered attractive, but not excessively so. However, for some reason that I have not been able to ascertain, Nakhim was quite taken with her."

"I have undertaken a small investigation in addition to my husband's efforts." Myla said. "I was able to ascertain a potential reason."

"Oh?" Ethan asked. Myla had found out something Falkaan hadn't? Though, she was a telepath...

"Hai." She nodded. "In their youth, she did him a kindness that brought her no benefit and even cost her in a small way. I believe it was at that time that his attachment to her formed."

"Makes sense." Ethan nodded.

"What happened?" Beth asked.

"My heart feels much regret to say this, but it would not be proper for me to reveal the specific event." Myla replied.

The blonde nodded, though her face fell.

"Anyway, you were saying." Ethan said to Falkaan.

"He told his father, who was not keen on the match." The dark elf continued. "However, he was willing to allow it and negotiations for her bride price began. Simultaneously, House Nalfigar was involved in a complex business deal with another minor house that was aligned with the woman's house."

Ethan frowned; he could see where this was going.

"Your reaction at the connection is appropriate." Falkaan said. "Nakhim revealed some information to the woman during one of their conversations, and she told her father, who told the other house. That led to the other house gaining a significant advantage in the negotiations."

"I'll bet Nakhim's dad was pissed." Ethan replied.

"He was." Falkaan confirmed. "However, that was not the most significant..." He trailed off as the waitress returned.

"How is everyone doing?" She asked the room at large, then looked at Sarah. "Is your food acceptable?"

"It's good, thank you." Sarah gave her a genuine smile, which the waitress returned.

"Let me know if you need anything." She said, then left.

"She's nice." Sarah said.

Ethan shrugged, then looked at Falkaan. "You were saying?"

"Most significant was the woman's reaction when Nakhim confronted her." He continued. "She reacted dismissively, not understanding why he was so upset and minimizing her role and responsibility. She even accused him of trying to escape a promise that he had made -- on Illuminar Himself -- to marry her."

Ethan frowned.

"Since Nakhim's father refused to continue negotiations for her bride price, they never became betrothed." Falkaan continued. "Mere days later, she began flirting with the son of the house who had benefited from her information."

"Oof." Ethan winced. "That really sucks. Like, ginormous donkey balls."

Everyone except for Selene looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Earth has interesting slang; sue me." He shrugged.

"Nakhim felt as you might suppose." Falkaan continued after a moment. "He, with agreement from his father, believed that her affections were purely mercenary. He believed that she never felt any real affection for him, and that her aim was to secure a betrothal to the son of the other house, which did eventually happen. Of course, she married him not long afterward. However, Nakhim has a long memory, and his father was more vindictive than he himself is. House Nalfigar publicly cut all ties with both houses, which started them on the road to decline. It took time, but they eventually ceased to be even minor houses, and then vanished into obscurity."

"Oof, that's brutal." Ethan winced.

"It's more so in elven culture." Alana said. "Publicly cutting ties like that just isn't done. It publicly shames the other house, which makes it less likely that other houses will deal with them."

"But what happened to the woman?" Beth asked.

"As both houses declined, her husband fell into a depression, eventually falling ill and passing away." Falkaan replied. "Her father-in-law took her in, but he had been nearly ruined by that time and eventually sent her back to her own father, whose house had failed more slowly due to better management. However, he eventually took a significant risk to salvage his circumstances, and it did not succeed."

"There are some who believe that one of the last acts that Nakhim's father undertook was to ensure the venture was not successful." Myla added. "However, even my husband has not yet found conclusive evidence of such action."

"So her husband died and her father ended up broke." Ethan slowly shook his head. "Again, that's rough, but given what she did, I can't feel too bad for her."

"Ethan." Alana looked at him and spoke gently. "She's not your ex; she might have been just as terrible, but maybe she was just young and immature. We don't know."

He hesitated a moment, then nodded in concession. "That's fair."

* * *

Candice bit her lip as Falkaan came to the end of his story. The woman made one wrong choice, choosing the wrong man, and it ruined the rest of her life. She bit her lip, then looked at Halasses. He wasn't Ethan, but she couldn't have Ethan. Halasses seemed like a good man, and the last thing Candice wanted was to end up like the woman that Nakhim had loved.

That would be just...

She shuddered.

"Are you cold?" Halasses asked.

She shook her head. "I was just thinking about the woman." She nodded her head toward Ethan and Falkaan.

"Something troubling you?" Halasses asked.

"Um, yes." She hesitated for several long seconds as she tried to decide what to say. What she said next could affect her entire life going forward, either for better or for worse. That was a sobering thought.

"As a general rule, men prefer clarity." Halasses said after several seconds during which she had tried to decide how to say what she wanted to say. "If you are blunt and yet kind, any man of worth will appreciate your response, even if he disagrees with the contents."

"I was thinking about the woman Nakhim loved." She replied. "She picked the wrong man, and that ended up ruining her life." She paused. "I don't want to do that."

"Who would the wrong man be in your case?" Halasses asked. Oddly, though it was probably a good sign, he didn't seem upset or offended, or even concerned that he might be the wrong man.

"Um, if I'm perfectly honest, it's..." She glanced toward Ethan.

Halasses made a thoughtful sound. "It is in the very nature of mortals to want what we cannot have, and he already has the seven wives that Illuminar -- blessed be He -- allotted to him. It is good that you recognize that."

She nodded slowly, then spoke. "But I don't want to end up like the woman Nakhim loved."

She expected him to respond, but he didn't. He waited for her to continue.

"I didn't have a fully formed thought ready for after that." She said after a moment.

He looked at her for a long moment, and she got the distinct -- and slightly uncomfortable -- sense that he could see right through her. "You have a partially formed thought."

She nodded. "Um, I think that you..." She took a deep breath, then smiled. "I'm sitting in a restaurant in Nalatia having a conversation with a good elven man who has expressed interest in my hand; a slightly younger version of me might have swooned at the thought."

"Ironically, it is the fact that you do not swoon that prompted that offer." He replied. "I have wished for children since my youth, yet never found a woman of sufficient fortitude that I would consider her an appropriate mother."

"Thank you." Candice replied, hesitated, then added. "Is it okay that if I say yes, it will be mostly because I don't want to end up like the woman Nakhim loved?"

"Marriage is an interesting arrangement." He replied. "Some enter into it because of attraction, some for companionship to avoid loneliness, others for provision or protection, some because they wish children, and still others because it makes practical sense. I would not presume to pass judgement on a person's reasons for entering into marriage, provided that the person was upfront about those reasons."

Candice nodded slowly, thought about it for a moment, then spoke. "The King made you the captain of the Lightguard. That must mean he truly trusts you and that you're devoted to Illuminar, right?"

"Let not your own lips, but the lips of another praise you." One of the Lightguard sitting next to Halasses said. "Our captain is -- quite besides being the most fearsome swordsman I have ever encountered -- one of the very best men I know, surpassed only by my own father; I might be biased on that account though."

Halasses smiled. "I have met him; in this case, your bias aligns with reality."

Candice chuckled.

One by one, the men around Halasses all repeated a similar sentiment about their captain.

"I..." Candice hesitated, the obvious choice was in front of her, but she just didn't know.

"There is no reason you must decide tonight." Halasses said. "If you wish, discuss it with those you trust more, perhaps even Ethan himself. I am more concerned that you are certain than I am with a speedy reply."

"Okay." She breathed a sigh of relief, and his response had put her heart at ease somewhat. "If I had to answer tonight, and assuming that my father would agree, I would've said 'yes'."

"I am pleased to hear that, but take your time." He repeated. "Rarely do important decisions made in great haste come without regret."

She nodded.

Honestly, the way he was handling this made her even more inclined to say yes.

* * *

"Now that my steak is half gone..." Ethan said with a chuckle. His wives had all wanted to trade bites to taste his steak, with the result that he'd eaten less of it than he planned. Though his wives seemed happy and his bites of their food were good, so he was happy too.

"Falkaan, what happened to her?" Beth asked. "The woman Nakhim loved, I mean."

The dark elf got a subtle smile on his face. "I would wager that Rachel knows."

Everyone looked at her.

"I don't know, but I can guess." The redhead replied with a tiny smile on her face. She was easily Ethan's smartest wife and often put things together long before anyone else.

"Then what?" Beth asked.

Rachel's face fell slightly. "Ask yourself this: why would Falkaan take us here, to this part of the city and to this specific restaurant to tell us something that he could have told us literally anywhere else."

"Oh." Beth said as it hit Ethan too.

"Don't everyone look at once." Rachel said as comprehension dawned on everyone's faces.

"But, but she was the daughter of the head of a house." Beth said after a moment, then lowered her voice slightly. "A minor house, but a house; how is she a waitress now?"

"Very little is guaranteed in life." Falkaan replied. "Stories like this are more common than you might suspect."

"Does Nakhim know?" Ethan asked.

"Unknown." Falkaan replied. "He certainly could know. However, the pattern I have seen is that he would prefer not to be reminded of the pain in his youth. I suspect he does not know, but I would not wager even a copper on it."

Ethan glanced at the waitress. She looked... tired. Not like she needed a nap -- though it looked like she could use one of those too -- but more world-weary. She had probably been pretty at one time, but time and probably an unhealthy amount of stress had mostly taken that from her. She wasn't ugly or overweight, but her posture and general look weren't good for a woman of her age.

"That leaves an important question." Alana said. "What should we do next?"

Ethan took a deep breath and let it out slowly; that was a very good question.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Note: This chapter began and ended on day 149 of Ethan's life in the Ten Kingdoms. 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 September 30th, and it'll probably drop on October 2nd or3rd.

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