A Dragon's Tale Ch. 72

Chapter 72: The Once and Future Bodyguard

* * *

Alana slowly paced on the Argo's deck as she waited for her husband to return. She knew about how long it took to walk to the airship from the castle and he was overdue. Either something had happened on the way, which seemed unlikely since his emotions had remained relatively the same, or he was walking alot slower than normal. Given how he seemed to be feeling, that seemed more likely.

"What do you think happened?" Beth asked as the wood elf passed her while pacing.

"I don't know." Alana replied with a frown. "I'm hoping it's nothing too bad, but I've rarely felt him this..." She searched for the right word.

"Deflated." Rachel suggested.

"Yeah." The wood elf nodded.

"Um, I don't know if this would help, but maybe I could make something that would help cheer him up?" Sarah said. "I know that helps me when I'm feeling down. I need to know what he likes though." She paused. "Actually, I would like to know what all of your favorite meals are for the same reason."

Beth opened her mouth to speak, but Alana beat her the punch. "Wait, don't tell her; I'll write out a list and she can read it." She looked at Sarah pointedly

Sarah opened her mouth, probably to protest, but then closed it again. "Okay."

"I know you can't read fast yet, but youcan read now, and you need all the practice you can get if you want to be fast." Alana explained.

Sarah nodded.

"That's him." Kendra said.

Alana turned to look and saw Ethan... well, 'walking' probably wasn't the right word. Shuffling maybe? He was moving at maybe half the speed he usually walked and she recognized that particular gait of his; he usually only walked that way when he was lost in thought. However, his head and shoulders were slightly slumped as well. The guards that The King had assigned to them were following behind him and seemed extra alert, which was good because he clearly wasn't looking beyond the wooden street at his feet.

All of his wives looked around at each other, and even Victoria and Thea grimaced.

"That doesn't look good." Thea said after a moment.

Ahjah nodded once, though he didn't say anything. As usual, he was in close proximity to Thea since he was her custodian. However, something had definitely changed between the two of them. Every once in a while, one of them would glance at the other and whenever that happened, the one looking had a thoughtful expression.

Finally, Ethan arrived at the Argo.

He stopped at the gangplank beyond which all his wives plus Victoria and Thea were waiting, glanced up at them, then his shoulders slumped further. He took a deep breath, then stepped onto the gangplank and slowly walked across it.

"What happened?" Beth asked the moment he'd stepped onto the Argo. Alana thought it was a mark of how much Beth had matured that the question sounded more like concern for Ethan than curiosity about what he and The King had discussed; no one on the Argo knew what that was yet.

"Um..." He glanced up and his eyes found Alana's own eyes. They weren't as lively as usual, nor as gleaming with mirth and life. He looked like someone had suddenly taken all the wind out of his sails.

"Master, you can tell us." Tee said softly, her wings fluttering slightly.

"I know, and I'm about to, but..." He let out a deep, world-weary sign. He had once described a figure from Earth's mythology named 'Atlas' who held the entire world on his shoulders; he looked like that now. He glanced at Alana for a moment, then he winced. "I'm sorry."

"Whatever it is, I forgive you." She said, and she meant it.

He slowly shook his head and sighed again. "That's... thank you." The corners of his mouth inched upward slightly for a moment, or at least stopped being so downcast, then went down again. "I fucked up. I fucked up big time."

"How?" Rachel asked.

He began to explain.

* * *

For almost her entire life until recently, Rachel had felt alone. Her father had been somewhat distant in her early childhood, and as their relationship had deteriorated, there really hadn't been anyone else. Mage Weston a little, but he was more like a mentor or grandfather than a friend. That entire time, Rachel hadn't realized that loneliness -- while terrible -- had a silver lining: you didn't need to watch the ones you loved suffer.

One of the hardest things that Rachel had ever gone through was Ethan recounting his meeting with The King. The man she loved most in the world just looked... defeated. That alone had made her stomach clench, but then watching the woman she loved most in the world deflate as he told her what had happened...

That was worse.

Rachel swallowed. Her throat felt tight and she blinked rather more than she normally would. She wanted more than anything to use her magical skills to heal the hurt... but this wasn't that kind of hurt.

She couldn't heal Ethan's 'damaged honor' from his ill-advised jabs at Plesius. She couldn't change that Plesius would probably never want to help them, even though they would need his help to have a prayer of getting the wood-elven luminars to agree that a shamed person should be able to remove their shame. And she couldn't change that all of that massively complicated the already incredibly difficult goal of arranging for Alana's parents to marry.

"I'm sorry." Ethan said again when he was done.

Alana blinked a few times and then covered her mouth with her hand. She swallowed hard and then closed her eyes. She took a long, shuddering breath.

"I'm so, so sorry." Ethan repeated. "Will you forgive me?"

"There's nothing to forgive because I was there too; I could've said something." She replied, her voice cracking a bit. "I love you Ethan, and I'll always forgive you, I just... give me a minute."

She turned and took a couple steps away before covering her face with her hands. Rachel followed her and put an arm around her shoulders, and Alana relaxed into her a little.

"Was I stupid?" She asked after a moment.

"What?" Rachel asked.

"I got to spend a whole night talking with my father and it was wonderful." She replied, then sniffled slightly. "I had thought... and now this..."

"I know." Rachel gave her a gentle squeeze.

"Uh, Ethan?" Victoria spoke up behind them.

Alana wiped her face since her cheeks had gotten a bit wet and then turned to listen.

"Did The King give any indication that itwouldn't still be possible to convince the luminars?" The platinum blonde asked.

"No." He admitted with a sigh. "But it sounds like it'll be a herculean task."

Everyone except Selene hesitated, obviously just as unsure of what he meant as Rachel herself was.

"He means 'really difficult'." Selene volunteered and then explained the idiom.

"But 'really difficult' doesn't mean 'impossible'." Victoria pointed out with an encouraging smile. "It might be hard, and it mightseem impossible now, but that doesn't mean it actuallyis impossible."

*I'm feeling so grateful to Victoria right now that I don't even feel like teasing her that Colonel Forsythe will appreciate her optimism.* Ethan thought to the group chat a moment later.

Rachel didn't point out that more than anything else, Ethan not wanting to tease someone was an indication of how serious this was and how much it was affecting him.

"Thank you." He said aloud to Victoria.

"You're welcome, and I mean it; it's still possible, even if it's harder."

He nodded.

"My lord, I suggest that you put it out of your mind for a while and focus on something else." Rachel suggested. "Maybe sparring, perhaps something else; anything to get your mind off of it. We can all think about it and discuss it more later when we've had some time to process it and come up with ideas."

Ethan inclined his head in concession, then looked at Kendra and Selene.

"We would be happy to." Kendra said before he could speak, and Selene nodded.

He looked at Alana.

"Go ahead." She said before he'd spoken. "I'm still feeling tired anyway and I think I'll take another nap."

He looked at her for a long moment, long enough that Rachel thought a short telepathic conversation might be happening. But after a moment, he sighed, then nodded and went below decks, almost certainly to grab the training gear.

Alana walked into the captain's cabin, or maybe 'dragged herself' might be more accurate. Rachel followed her in and the wood elf flopped on the bed.

"You're not okay." Rachel said softly.

"No, I'm not." Alana admitted, her eyes tearing slightly. She wiped them. "My father -- uh, I mean my adoptive father -- always said that it was a bad idea to do anything while exhausted. I'm going to take his advice and sleep right now. besides..." She swallowed and trailed off.

"Besides... what?" Rachel prompted gently.

"I really don't want to deal with the real world right now." The loveliest elf in the entire Ten Kingdoms said. Her bottom lip quivered slightly.

Rachel walked up and put some blankets on her, then reached under the bed and grabbed the book she had been reading earlier. She slipped onto the bed next to her best friend, who closed her eyes and was out in less than a minute.

Rachel began mentally counting down in her head from two hundred and seventy. It took four and a half minutes for Alana to be deeply asleep enough that Rachel could occasionally stroke her hair without waking her. She loved doing that. She only wished that she could help more with the problem that had driven her best friend to take a nap in the first place.

She lifted the book and tried to read, but after trying to read the same sentence four times and it not sinking in, she put it down on the bed next to her. Ethan always called her his 'wise redhead' and everyone had always told her that she was smart. Well, she decided to put all of the intellect that Illuminar had given her to work on this problem.

* * *

Fiona looked out over the Helene's railing at Narlotten scrolling past underneath the airship. It was a wonderful sight and brought a smile to her face as usual. After having seen that her husband had modified a stateroom so Conner could have a play area, she was smiling even wider. He'd even made sure the crib in there was the same as in the castle, meaning he'd be less likely to wake up. Though, with them being on an airship it was likely anyway.

"Ma'am?"

She turned to see Ellis behind her, though oddly, Tabitha wasn't around.

"It's good to be seeing you Ellis." She smiled.

"Thank you ma'am."

"Where is Tabby?"

"She asked me to watch over you for five minutes while she eats and relieves herself." Ellis replied, a touch of amusement on his face.

Fiona chuckled. "Of course she'd only be needing five minutes for that."

Ellis chuckled as well. "She is very dedicated."

"So, I'd love to be knowing your opinion of her." Fiona asked on a lark.

"You have spent much more time around her than I have ma'am." He replied.

"Yes, but she's not exactly wanting to have a heart-to-heart." Fiona smiled wryly. "I was hoping you might be seeing something I haven't because you're working with her."

Ellis nodded. "To call her 'methodical' would be an understatement of the Book of Light proportions. She leaves nothing to chance and I never met anyone who trusts as little as she does."

"Aye, that's sounding about right." Fiona nodded. "Anything about her personally?"

Ellis made a thoughtful sound and cocked his head to one side slightly. "I discovered in sparring that she is frightfully skilled with a blade, but more telling is the manner in which she fights. She is willing to take large, even unusually large risks to ensure that her opponent falls. Perhaps that is a result of her training, but I would also guess that -- perhaps -- she does not fear death because she would welcome it."

Fiona's face fell slightly. "I'm feeling sorry for her then."

"Indeed." Ellis nodded. "It is difficult to disguise yourself in combat, even in sparring. Had she not insisted on sparring regularly to facilitate my training -- she is significantly more skilled than I am -- I would not have known this."

Fiona nodded slowly. "I'm still finding that sad."

Ellis looked at her for a long moment. "Pardon me for saying ma'am, but that is our profession."

She opened her mouth to reply, hesitated, then spoke. "I'm not sure I'm knowing what you mean."

"The life of a guardsman -- and a soldier as well -- is not so different from a bodyguard." Ellis replied. "We all know that life is fleeting, every one of us. An airship could descend from the clouds above and board us this very moment, and every guardsman on this ship would willingly fight and die to protect you and Lord Delmar. That is my profession. That is Tabitha's profession."

Fiona stared at him. She had known that in the back of her mind of course, but to hear him say it so bluntly was... Well, it was unsettling.

"To put it bluntly ma'am, my profession is death." Ellis said. "To slay those who attack the royal family, or to sell my life as dearly as possible to give them a chance to live, no matter how slim. Only one out of one hundred men who apply to become a palace guardsman succeeds, and we compete for that honor because we wish our loved ones to sleep safe at night from those who would do them harm. Lord Delmar's leadership makes them safe. Thus, it is our duty to keep him safe so that he can keep Narlotten safe."

Fiona swallowed. "Those are heavy words."

"They are." Ellis agreed. "I chose this profession not because I wish for death, for I do not wish to die. I wish Narlotten to remain as it is; safe, free, and good. If the cost of my country remaining that way is my life, that is a price I am willing to pay..." He looked at her significantly. "... and Tabitha is as well. At any moment of any day and without hesitation, she will lay down her life for you."

Fiona instantly thought back to how Tabby had reacted when Vera had burst through that door the other morning. She had no trouble believing that Tabby would indeed have died defending her.

"Some guardsmen cultivate a certain mindset." Ellis continued. "They cultivate a mindset that welcomes death because without a fear of death, they are more effective at protection. It is possible that Tabitha is one such person."

Fiona nodded slowly. "Thank you for explaining, and thank you for doing what you do."

He head bowed. "You are welcome ma'am; it is my honor."

Fiona found herself wondering if Tabby had cultivated that mindset herself, or -- since the bodyguard had mentioned 'conditioning' before -- if that mindset had been forced upon her.

* * *

Ethan carried the training gear down to the storage room under the captain's cabin where they stored it since they were done for now. Kendra and Selene had come down with him, though neither was saying much. They all stowed their gear and he paused to look at them; his wives. The corners of his mouth inched up a bit as he thought about that.

Kendra looked at him with that piercing stare she often used that made him feel like she could see right through him. Selene had an appraising look in her eye as well.

"I've never done that well against you before." Selene stated. "I know you weren't using any of your augmentations, but still."

"I know." He shrugged. "Thank you, both of you, for keeping me distracted for a bit. I think I needed that. But it's time to face reality." He looked up at the ceiling of the room, above which Alana was sleeping in the captain's cabin.

"She's not mad you know." Kendra said.

"I know." He replied heavily. "She's sad and hurt, which is almost worse."

"I doubt it's as bad as you think." Selene said. "Go, talk to her."

"Yeah, I will." He nodded. "Thanks again."

They nodded and he headed upstairs, stopped outside the captain's cabin, hesitated, then knocked softly.

*She's just starting to wake up.* Rachel thought to him.

He opened the door and slipped in. Rachel was sitting on the bed with her thinking face on. Next to her, Alana was curled up with her arms around a pillow and a few blankets tangled up around her. She looked so peaceful right now.

*She isn't upset at you; you know that, right?* Rachel thought to him.

*You're not the first person to say that.* He replied.

*Trust your 'wise redhead' my lord.* Rachel said with a twinkle in her eye.

He nodded slowly, then sat down on the edge of the bed. He reached out and tucked an errant strand of her chocolate-brown hair behind her delicate, beautiful, pointed ears.

"Mmm, efan." She mumbled, then reached up and pulled his hand down so that she could rest her head on it.

He smiled.

Rachel had a knowing smile on her face.

*Yes, you were right.* He thought to her.

She just smiled at him.

He watched her doze for a few minutes before speaking softly. "Hey, are you okay?"

Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at him. There was obviously pain there, but it didn't look like it was directed at him. "I'm..." She swallowed. "I'll be okay, I think... I hope."

He nodded slowly. "I'm going to fix this, or at least I'm going to try."

She nodded.

"I promise I'll be better about my temper." He added.

She took a deep breath. "I'm glad, I'm just worried."

"About your parents?"

She nodded.

He nodded slowly. "Well, how about we assemble the troops and see if we can do something about that?"

She nodded, then stretched and sat up. "Okay; let's do it."

*Selene, could you gather everyone?* Ethan thought to the group chat. *I know I screwed up, but if everyone is willing to help, I would really like to fix this for Alana, Kalaya, and Navaro.*

"Why don't you step outside the captain's cabin?" She replied with amusement in her tone.

Ethan, Alana, and Rachel all looked at each other.

He shrugged and opened the door to see--

He smiled.

They were all there. All of his wives, plus Myla and Falkaan, Victoria, Thea and Ahjah, Anthiel, and even Talven and Salma. All of them were on the Argo's weather deck waiting for them. Talven and Salma looked like they weren't sure what they were doing there, but they looked happy to be included.

"Hey Boss." Selene said with a large dose of sass. "Everyone just sort of wandered onto the Argo and I was trying to figure out what to do with them."

"Thank you, all of you." Ethan said after a moment when he'd found his voice.

Next to him, Alana was getting choked up.

"We all make mistakes, prophet." Falkaan said. "A good man admits them and is willing to change."

Everyone nodded or verbally agreed.

"Okay, let's get this party started." Selene said.

* * *

Kendra sat in what was becoming the usual circle of friends and allies on the Argo's deck. Everyone was there, having been gathered by Selene to help Ethan and Alana. Even Thor was there, though instead of hanging out in the center of the circle, he was currently snuggled between Kendra and Selene, eyes closed and sleeping.

"Thank you all again." Ethan said.

"With everything we owe you and your wives, we're all happy to help." Talven said, and everyone nodded as he continued. "I'm not sure how much help I'll be on this problem, but I'll do what I can."

"First, let me explain the problem." Rachel said, and then she laid out what The King had said about Ethan's argument with the high priest, Plesius.

"Sorry." Thea spoke up when she was done. "I realized it would be a problem, but I was distracted and didn't think the implications through or I would've said something."

"It's not your fault." Ethan said.

"I know, but I feel bad that I could've done something to help but didn't."

"No one holds that against you." Alana spoke up. "You did nothing wrong."

Thea nodded slowly, but didn't look entirely convinced.

"That's gold lost to a dragon though." Rachel said, paused, then chuckled slightly as she looked at Ethan. "Sorry, it's an idiom like: 'there's no use crying over spilled honey' and I didn't think about it before I said it."

He gave her a wry smile. "Well, there's a first time for everything."

Rachel smiled. "The way I see it, this is a two-part problem. First, how do we get from where we are now to back where we were before the argument? Second, how do we actually make a proper argument before the luminars and convince them, especially Plesius since it sounds like we'll need his help at some point."

"Ahjah, Thea, any input on the first part?" Kendra asked them since they seemed the most qualified to answer.

Thea got her 'thinking face' on.

Ahjah raised his eyebrows. "You would seek my opinion? I am but Pelathea's custodian."

"I'd welcome any advice at this point." Ethan replied. "I made a royal mess of things for Alana and her folks and I just want to fix it."

Ahjah made a thoughtful sound and then got a 'thinking face' on that looked remarkably similar to Thea's thinking face.

*Are you seeing this?* Beth thought to everyone.

Kendra exchanged subtle glances with everyone; they had all noticed too.

"A public apology." Ahjah said a moment later. "Preferablyvery public, and in front of the entire court."

Ethan glowered.

"It needs to be in the right spirit or it'll backfire." Thea added. "If it seems like you're apologizing only because you're being forced, or trying to get something, it'll likely have the opposite effect."

Ahjah nodded.

"You want me to apologize to that complete and unmitigated ass?" Ethan was clenching his teeth.

"No prophet." Ahjah said with a smile. "I was asked what would be most beneficial. I personally do not have any mana in the pool, so it does not affect me." He paused. "Except perhaps that it was not agreeable to see many who appear to be good elves negatively affected by the situation."

"I'll be honest, I'm not sure I could ever apologize to Plesius with a good attitude." Ethan said, and Kendra knew him well enough to know that he was bristling at the suggestion, just concealing it well. Much better than normal actually. Huh, maybe hewas learning.

"Then don't." Ahjah suggested. "Apologize to the high priest of Illuminar."

Ethan opened his mouth, hesitated, then closed it and cocked his head to one side. "Huh?"

"I think he means the office, not the man holding it." Thea said.

Ahjah nodded. "I'm sure you would agree that the office of high priest should be treated with respect."

"The office?" Ethan hesitated a moment, then shrugged. "Sure."

"And did you not disrespect a high office that by your own admission should be respected?" Ahjah continued.

"The office, yes." Ethan frowned. "But the person holding it..."

"Ah, but that is beside the point." Ahjah said. "Regardless of who holds the office, even if such a fellow is an unsavory cretin, the office should still command respect, should it not?"

"I suppose so." Ethan admitted, much to Kendra's amusement.

"Then offer your apology to 'the high priest of Illuminar' -- blessed be He -- and not to Plesius." Ahjah said. "One can respect the office and not the man, and given that you're aware of how your actions are affecting the young wood elves, don't you think an apology is warranted?"

Ethan hesitated.

"Also consider how your actions have affected those you love." He waved to everyone around them. "Surely you feel remorse for that, and there is nothing that says you can't apologize not only to the office, but broadly to everyone whom your words affected. Since that would doubtlessly include your wife and her parents, surely you could make it a sincere apology."

Again, Ethan hesitated, though after a moment he inclined his head in concession.

"You need not focus on an apology to Plesius you know." Ahjah added. "One could make it public and issue the apology to all who have been affected, only momentarily mentioning the high priest and directing the remainder of the apology to 'all who your actions affected'. Certainly, you must feel genuine remorse about that, otherwise we would not be discussing it here. Thus, such an apology would be truly genuine and effective at healing the damage done by yesterday's events."

"I..." Ethan nodded slowly. "I suppose I could do that."

"Holy shit." Selene laughed.

Kendra didn't laugh, but certainly agreed with the sentiment. Almost everyone was staring at Ethan like he'd suddenly sprouted a third wing.

"Ahjah Golden-Tongue." Alana said with a disbelieving look on her face. "A well-deserved title."

"Thank you." He nodded once.

"I never thought I'd see the day..." Beth breathed.

"I'm notthat bad." Ethan said with a hint of defensiveness in his tone.

"No, but itis Plesius." Kendra spoke up. "However, it's best not to dwell on that too long; what else needs to happen to convince them?"

"You would need a dragon-steel-clad argument from the Book of Light." Thea said. Ethan looked at Tee, but Thea spoke up again. "One not based on a translation, but rather the original languages."

"So, you're saying that we need someone who is an expert in the Book of Light, has a copy in ancient elvish, and knows it very well." Kendra said. "Does that sound like someone we know? Or rather, two someones?"

Everyone nodded except Ahjah.

"Do you think they would be willing?" Alana asked.

"I don't know." Ethan said. "There's also the matter of how they would get here; Dotmier is along way."

"I think they would be happy to help Master." Tee spoke up. "And Lord Kalus will travel very close to Dotmier on his way to the ball; he might be willing to bring them here."

"I bet he would." Selene said.

"Of whom are they speaking?" Kendra heard Ahjah ask Thea, who then briefly described Matthew and Yalia, that Ethan had helped them marry, and that they were translating the Book of Light.

"We should contact them as soon as possible." Alana said. "Lord Kalus probably has the furthest to come for the ball, so there will be some slight pressure for them to leave quickly so as not to make the other guests wait."

"But also understanding because they are so far." Thea spoke up. "Yes, I would send them a letter the moment this meeting is over, but it need not be sooner."

Ethan nodded. "Okay, what else? How else can we go about fixing this?"

"I have a suggestion, but you won't like it." Thea said.

"Oh?" Ethan asked, his tone resigned.

"After the apology, you really should sit down and talk with Plesius." The gorgeous elf replied. "At the very least, you need to find out why he hates you so much."

"Maybe you could even get him on your side?" Victoria said.

Everyone gave her a skeptical look.

"Stranger things have happened." She pointed out. "A prophet of Illuminar who's a dragon with seven wives? Demon-possessed men, the birthdays, everything with Lady E--" She stopped and looked at Ahjah. "Well, there's a lot."

"Could it hurt?" Rachel asked Ethan.

"Probably not?" He admitted.

"In combat, when there's a course of action that might improve your chances with no downside, it seems obvious that the action should be taken." Kendra said.

He inclined his head in concession.

"I will compile a brief on him." Falkaan volunteered.

"Thank you." Ethan said to the dark elf.

"Speaking of, anything on Alana's paternal grandfather?" Rachel asked Falkaan.

"Much, but as to specifics, I believe what Thea communicated at our meeting after Ethan wed Selene will suffice for now; as his name is, so is he."

Kendra frowned; Nakhim's name meant 'devious', which didn't bode well for them.

"Positioning Nakhim on your side is simple, though difficult." Ahjah said. "One need merely convince him that he will benefit, or that he will be spared some loss, or that his enemies will be adversely affected if he takes the position you desire. It is indeed far more difficult to do than to say, however, he will move heaven and earth if you succeed."

"Makes sense." Ethan nodded.

"I don't suppose seeing his son happily married is enough incentive?" Selene asked.

Thea shook her head. "Navaro would've married Kalaya long ago if that were the case. Nakhim isn't opposed to his son marrying happily, but he always puts his house first."

"So, question." Selene said a moment later. "Wasn't the thing that delayed them getting married last time negotiations on a bride price?"

"Yeah, that's what The King told me." Ethan confirmed. "You're worried about the same thing happening again?"

"It might." Selene replied.

"There's no precedent for the bride price of a woman whose shame has been removed." Thea replied. "That could make things much easier or much harder."

"And for the daughter of a Great House as well; that is quite a precedent to set." Rachel spoke up.

"There's a certain prestige tied to a woman's bride price." Thea said. Kendra didn't miss that her eyes flicked to Ahjah for the briefest moment before continuing. "So if Navaro didn't pay an appropriate bride price for Kalaya, it could cause problems for him later because she would be seen as less..." She appeared to cast around for the correct word.

"Less desirable." Ahjah supplied. "She would be looked down on in high society because of her low bride price."

"That's horrible." Selene said.

"We talked about the rich on your world once." Thea replied. "Didn't you mention that they looked down on people who were poor, or weren't brought up the right way, or don't dress in expensive enough clothes?"

Selene nodded.

"How is looking at a bride price any different than that?" Thea asked. "Other than perhaps it's a more 'one time' thing and it's more obvious, but it's still making judgements based on money and perceived value."

Selene frowned. "Maybe."

"Regardless." Kendra spoke up to keep the conversation on track. "Bride price is something we'll have to consider at some point."

"I'm sure Navaro has thought about that." Thea volunteered. "And I bet Sarisa would know more."

"Why don't we talk to her about this again?" Alana suggested.

"That's a good idea." Ethan agreed. "In the meantime, I should probably ask The King if I can address the court." He said with a sigh.

"But maybe not tonight." Alana suggested.

He nodded. "Is there anything else?"

No one spoke up.

"Okay, then thank you all again." He said, then stood up.

Everyone else followed suit, except for Thor who looked decidedly grumpy that Kendra and Selene had stood, thus interrupting his nap. He let out a loud and clearly displeased meow.

"Yes, I know." Selene scooped him up. "It's all terribly unfair that we all dote on you all the time and we just don't sit around so you can snuggle however you like."

Thor meowed again, and judging by the tone, he would've accepted Selene's statement as true without the sarcasm, and much less with it.

Kendra chuckled.

"Come on, let's get something to eat; then you can make a nuisance of yourself on the bed with the rest of us like always." Selene said affectionately.

* * *

Fiona drifted back to the waking world and cracked her eyes open, seeing that it was still the dead of night. She was laying snuggled up to and partially-on her husband, who was laying on his back. She thought she had heard Conner crying, but didn't hear him right now.

She frowned.

That was odd, unless...

She stilled her breathing and heard... was that singing?

It sounded like very faint singing. She lifted her head, though didn't move the rest of her body. In the dim light of the moon coming through the porthole, she could see that the door to the nursery was slightly ajar, just as she'd left it. She couldn't see anything in the other room, but she was pretty sure that she could hear faint singing.

The singing was feminine and extremely faint. She could barely make it out and certainly never would have been able to if the door wasn't cracked open. Whoever was singing had a very pretty voice, though it had a slightly haunting note as well. It was an old lullaby that Fiona had heard occasionally during her childhood.

However, the voice didn't sound like Nurse Belcosta; the tone was wrong.

But who else...?

She smiled.

Could it be?

She lay there listening for another moment. Conner made a noise that clearly indicated he was awake, though probably on the edge of sleep too. It was even a semi-happy noise, which was odd in and of itself. If he woke up in the night, he was never happy about it.

Ever.

Still, the extremely faint singing continued.

Fiona listened for a short while before adjusting slightly and the blankets moved, just barely making the tiniest sound.

The singing instantly stopped.

Fiona hurried out of bed, grabbed a robe and slipped it on, then hurried to the door to the nursery, hoping to confirm that her suspicion was correct. It couldn't have taken her more than five or ten seconds to get there, but by the time she had, the only person in the room was Conner. No one else was there. Further, the door appeared to be locked from the inside.

Rather than making Fiona think that she'd been imagining things, that actually confirmed her suspicion. She smiled as she looked down at her son, who looked to have just fallen back asleep. She smiled even wider as she returned to her own bed.

"Trouble?" Her husband asked, probably having been woken by her getting up so abruptly.

"No milord, I was just checking on Conner."

He didn't reply as she climbed back into bed with him. Perhaps thirty seconds later, his breathing changed and he was asleep again. Fiona lay there with a small smile on her face as she thought about the voice that had woken her.

* * *

Sarah hummed to herself as she added a few more spices to breakfast with a smile on her face. She stood up straight and looked around at the Argo and the docks beyond it. Sometimes, she could hardly believe that she was here and that this was her life. She said a silent prayer of thanks to Illuminar for all the blessings He had showered on her; it just seemed too good to be true.

There was her demon of course, but she didn't know what to do about that right now and she prayed about it regularly, so she put it out of her mind.

"Morning." A yawn-tinged voice said from behind her.

Sarah turned to see a slightly bleary-eyed Thea coming up the stairs with Ahjah right behind her. Even tired and yawning, Thea was one of the most gorgeous women Sarah had ever seen.

"Morn... mor..." Sarah echoed the yawn involuntarily. "Morning. Did you sleep well?"

The elf shrugged. "Okay, I had a lot on my mind."

"Like what?" Sarah asked.

Thea subtly flicked her eyes toward Ahjah, but he was positioned such that he wouldn't see. "You know, things."

"Um, Ahjah?" Sarah looked at him. "Could I talk with Thea for a minute?"

"As long as she does not abscond, I have no objection." He looked at Thea pointedly.

"I won't." She replied.

He nodded and wandered away to the Argo's bow.

"What about Ahjah?" Sarah asked.

"I want to marry him." Thea said with a smile.

Sarah grinned. "As Ethan might say, 'got bit by the love bug'?"

Thea shook her head. "No, not really. He must be a man of good character or my guardian would never have let him be my custodian, and he wants to live on an airship." She sighed with a smile. "That's enough for me."

Sarah nodded. "You two seem like you'll fit well together too."

"I hope so." Thea replied. "Even if we don't initially, we'll fall in love and fit well eventually because we'll bond at the wedding. Really, it's that he has an airship andwants to travel." She was grinning, then her grin faltered. "I just don't know how it could possibly happen."

"Why?" Sarah asked, having a guess but wanting to make sure.

"He's not a noble, and he's not rich." Thea replied. "There's a certain expectation that The King's children will marry into high society. I realize that I'm not his daughter, but from what I gathered growing up, the expectation is still there."

Sarah nodded slowly with a frown. "Is there anything you can do about that?"

"I don't know." Thea started pacing. "I could ask my guardian, but he's The King and all about tradition; I doubt he'd break that tradition for me." Her face was glum. "And even if he would, Ahjah mentioned in passing while we were on the Nomad's Pride that the only thing he has of value is his airship, and I can't believe he'd be willing to sell that." She paused. "Honestly, that might not even be worth enough."

Sarah's eyes widened. "Really?"

Thea nodded absentmindedly. "My sisters -- uh, my adoptive sisters, The King's daughters -- had a bride price worthfar more than an airship. And I don't want to sound vain, but..." she trailed off, obviously looking for the right words.

"But with how beautiful you are, yours might be even higher?" Sarah guessed.

Thea nodded, her trademark sheepish grimace making a comeback. "So I don't know what to do. I was thinking about it last night and that's why I had trouble falling asleep."

"Maybe Ethan could talk to The King and see what he thinks about all this?" Sarah asked.

Thea snapped her head toward Sarah. "You think he would?"

"Thea, you're the person who's mostly responsible for me and him being betrothed; he would be happy to help." Sarah replied with a smile.

Thea's face morphed from hopeful surprise to a grin, but then her grin faltered again. "But we don't even know how Ahjah feels. He said he was interested, but really we don't-- hey, what are you doing?" Thea asked as Sarah stepped forward, gently grabbed her wrist, and started tugging her toward the Argo's bow where Ahjah was.

"Returning a favor to a good friend." Sarah replied, then stopped. "Wait, hang on." She stepped over to the fire and rearranged the coals with a poker so breakfast wouldn't burn, then held her hand out to Thea. "Come on, let me help."

Thea hesitated a moment, bit her lip, then slowly raised her hand and took Sarah's. Sarah led and half-pulled her somewhat reluctant friend to the bow of the Argo.

"Yes?" Ahjah asked with an amused smile on his face.

"Um, Thea has something she wants to ask you?" Sarah said.

He looked at the gorgeous elf, amused smile widening. "Yes?"

Thea shot Sarah a look, then looked at Ahjah with a sheepish grimace. "Um, were... were you serious yesterday?"

"There was at least one point of the day where I was serious and not joking, yes." He replied without changing his expression, though his eyes twinkled.

Thea gave him a look.

He looked back, completely uncowed.

After a moment, Thea sighed. "Um, when you said that you had some interest in marrying me."

"I believe I said that I had more than just 'some' interest." He replied, his tone becoming more serious. "However, again, there are three difficult obstacles to that." He ticked them off on his fingers as he spoke. "First, I am not a noble and thus possess none of the titles required to wed a member of The King's family. Second, I don't possess the coin required for the bride price of a member of The King's family, especially not one so beautiful."

Thea smiled at that.

"Third, I am your custodian at present." He looked at her seriously. "It would likely be considered dishonorable for us to continue discussing this as long as that is true." He paused. "One could even argue that there might be propriety issues should we pursue it at any time in the near future."

Thea nodded. "Okay, thank you for answering."

"You are welcome." He nodded.

Sarah and Thea started walking back to where breakfast was cooking, but Sarah stopped halfway there.

"What?" Thea asked.

"Um, I want to ask Ahjah something; can you wait over there?" She indicated the breakfast fire.

Thea had a piercing expression for a moment before she nodded.

Sarah turned and walked back to Ahjah. "Ahjah?"

"Yes?" He asked.

"Would it be okay if I asked Ethan to talk to The King about this?" She asked. "I want to tell him that you had some interest, but I'd also make sure he told The King that you insisted that we not discuss it."

"Of course." Ahjah said.

"Really?"

He smiled. "I would not ask anyone to keep something regarding Thea secret from The King. For a custodian to do so would be the height of dishonorable behavior."

"Oh, okay, that makes sense." Sarah nodded.

"I do ask that you ask Ethan to stress that I chose to enforce the rules of decorum." Ahjah added. "But as Pelathea's custodian, I could never condone keeping secrets about her from The King."

"Okay." Sarah smiled and turned to leave, but then paused. "Ahjah, Thea has been incredibly good to me and I think you could make her happy. Promise me that if it happens, you'll treat her well."

Ahjah smiled. "For such a woman, how could I not?"

Sarah grinned, then hurried back to Thea. "Can you ask Selene if everyone in the captain's cabin is decent? I want to talk to them."

"About what?" She asked suspiciously.

"Ahjah." Sarah replied. "You helped me marry Ethan; I want to return the favor."

Thea blinked.

Her face screwed up in a smile as her eyes got slightly watery. "Really?"

Sarah nodded.

Thea threw her arms around Sarah and gave her a tight hug. "Thank you." She whispered into Sarah's ear.

"You're welcome, and I'm happy to do it." She replied as she hugged back.

Thea let go and wiped her cheeks. "Um, Selene says to give them a minute to get dressed."

A minute later, Thea gave Sarah the go-ahead and she slipped into the captain's cabin, closing the door behind her.

"Hey Darlin', what's up?" Ethan asked with a lopsided grin as he looked at her. She loved how he looked at her. He looked at her like she'd always imagined that dragons would look at gold, like she was the most precious thing in the world. Honestly, she felt like he said 'I love you' every single time he looked at her.

She sighed happily.

"Yes, I love how he looks at me too." Alana said with a knowing smile while his other wives nodded. "But you wanted to say something?"

Sarah nodded, then explained.

"I'd be happy to talk to The King." Ethan said when she was done. "Quite beside the fact that I'd love to see her happily married, we owe her big time for helping to get us betrothed."

Sarah nodded. "I really want to see her happy, and I think this might be the man Illuminar picked for her."

"He certainly does seem to fit." Rachel nodded.

Sarah couldn't help but notice that her normally very pale cheeks were slightly flushed. In fact, now that she had noticed it, it seemed like most of them were a little flushed. A few were even breathing a little heavier than normal and one or two had their skin glistening from perspiration.

"Um, did I interrupt something?"

"No... it was several somethings." Ethan winked.

"I have rather a lot of catching up to do." Selene said, then lowered her tone. "I'm just trying to make sure that he gets enough properuse out of his Precious." She had put rather a lot of emphasis on the word 'use'. "I want to make sure that I'm just asuseful as his other wives..." She winked.

Sarah suddenly felt her entire body grow warm, especially her cheeks. She opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out.

"Bad Precious." Ethan said to Selene in a mock-serious voice. "Bad."

"Your Precious probably needs to be corrected then..."

"I'll go." Sarah managed to squeak out. She had turned and was about to open the door when she stopped and looked back. "Um, did... did you all stop doing... uh, that just because I wanted to talk to you?"

"Of course." Ethan replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well, more 'paused' than stopped." Alana corrected with a sly grin, then she spoke more normally. "It's wonderful, but you're more important."

Sarah beamed. Her cheeks were burning, but she was beaming.

* * *

Ethan leaned against the door to the captain's cabin as he watched Taloni practice with her sling. A little further away, Kendra and Selene were teaching Sarah a little more about hand-to-hand combat. Taloni seemed to be having rather a lot of fun, but Sarah... He shook his head; she looked like a fish out of water. She seemed to enjoy the time with Kendra and especially Selene, but she was taking to combat the way an eel would take to boxing.

"Problem?" Alana asked.

He nodded his head toward Sarah. "She's not only not interested, but she's also not very good at it."

"Is it a bad idea to teach her then?" Alana asked.

"Good question." He replied, genuinely not sure how to answer it. "If she complains..." He smiled. "She won't complain."

"No, I don't think she will." Alana agreed. "But I could ask."

"Maybe do when you get a minute." He nodded. "I would like everyone to learn how to defend themselves, but I think Kendra thinks that Sarah should become a warrior and I don't think she could; she doesn't have the right temperament for it."

"Agreed." Alana said. "I'll ask Sarah about it, but you know she'll want to help."

"I think that's the 'mama bear' instinct." Ethan replied. "But yeah, please ask her some time and let me know what she says."

"Will do." She paused. "Are you okay? After yesterday."

"It is what it is." He replied. "I screwed up, but I don't think the issue was that I confronted Plesius; I think it was theway I did it. I've been thinking about it a lot, and The King never said it was a bad idea to confront him. In fact, he said that if I would've had a different attitude, I could've made all the same arguments -- without the insults -- and it would've been fine."

"I'm glad you said something." Alana said after a moment. "Yes, I wish it would've gone better, but you have never been one to mince words. I like that about you."

"Yeah?" He smiled at her.

She nodded. "Now that I've had some time to think about it, I'm not sure an apology is the right thing to do, or at least not like it was suggested at the meeting last night."

"I've actually been thinking along those lines as well." He replied with a smile, loving how they could be so in sync. "What's your reason?"

She nodded. "Do you believe what you said was true?"

"Of course." He replied.

She took a deep breath. "Then should you apologize?" She took another deep breath. "You weren't wrong. True, you probably shouldn't have relished putting Plesius in his place the way you did, but you weren't wrong."

He slowly nodded, but frowned as well. "The King was right about one thing; my temper. I realize that it wasn't exactly an outburst of anger against Plesius, but it wasn't far off either. That's been a real problem for me since... well, frankly, kicking that gas stove in anger is what killed me on Earth. I do have a temper problem and I do need to get better."

"But?" Alana asked. "I feel like there's a 'but' coming."

"But look at how much success Sarisa had over the last two decades." He replied. "Yes, I need to get better. And yes, I probably should've moderated my attitude when I confronted Plesius. But The King himself said that I wasn't wrong, and if I had done it with a different attitude, it would've turned out very well." He looked at her. "I could maybe apologize for my attitude, and maybe some of the personal attacks, but you're right; I don't think I should apologize for anything else."

She slowly nodded, but he couldn't tell what she was thinking.

After several long moments, she spoke. "While I was growing up, my father always said that 'kind but blunt' was the best policy." She paused, then added. "He wasn't a wood elf."

Ethan chuckled. "I guessed; you don't use enough 'honor language' for that."

Alana nodded. "Though, it was pretty funny to see Plesius spluttering after you insinuated that he didn't know how babies were made."

Ethan smiled. "Maybe I could've even made that joke if I'd done it right; a little less disdain and a little more 'friendly jab', you know?"

She nodded.

"Hey." He reached down and took her dainty, feminine hand. It was sometimes hard to believe she was an archer with how petite her hands were. "I promise that from now on, I'll do my best to think before I speak. I probably won't always succeed, but I promise that I'll try."

"Okay." She nodded, a smile on her face. After a moment, that smile took on a worried tinge. "I hope we can make this happen for my parents."

"Me too." He cocked his head to one side. "Did we get a response from Lucien about Matthew and Yalia yet?"

"I don't think anyone checked this morning."

"I will!" Beth volunteered from the quarterdeck above them.

He looked up. "Eavesdropping?"

"Of course." Her blue eyes twinkled as she hurried down the stairs and into the captain's cabin, then came out a moment later with a letter. She stopped before opening it. "Um, if I thought it was private, you know that I wouldn't have been listening, right?"

"No, but I trust you." He said with a smile.

She beamed, then opened the letter.

"What's it say?" Alana asked.

* * *

Yalia yawned, then stretched on the bed, making sure that every single inch of her naked body was on display for her husband. She loved doing that. She loved seeing how he invariably reacted every time she did it, and she loved what happened afterward even more.

"Already? You're going to kill me." Matthew chuckled. He had been halfway through putting his pants on, and she was aiming to make that hard for more than one reason...

"But I feel soempty." She batted her eyelashes at him and let her legs fall open. "It's like something is missing and I just... just don't feel up to doing anything right now."

As always, his cock had long since sprung to attention. "Twice before breakfast?" He asked, eyeing her like he always did.

"Well, I suppose if it's too much, I could make it my breakfast..." She licked her lips, then looked him in the eye. "But I think you'd rather do something... else." She moved her arm so her hand was near her slit, then gently touched it with a single finger, gently brushing the area that Matthew had found a few days after the wedding which made her feel incredible.

She gave an exaggerated sigh as she pushed her breasts up so they were more prominent. "Your wife is begging for your attention." She bit her lips and used her hands to part her nether regions so he could see how ready for him she was. "Please?"

Matthew grinned.

An hour later, they were finishing up breakfast, her with avery satisfied smile on her face. She sighed.

"What?" He asked, also smiling.

"I love being married." She sighed again.

"I know the feeling." His smile widened, then he looked at the stack of papers on the table. "You ready for the next round?"

"Oh, I feel a bit sore but I suppose I could..." She said with a coy smile.

He chuckled. "You know what I meant."

"I can't believe we're almost done." She said, looking at the single page they had left to translate. "I know that we should go back over and re-check everything once we are, but we're so close that I almost can't believe it."

"I know, which makes me wonder: what next?" Matthew said. "Yes there's more work on the translation, but I truly don't know what to do once we're finished."

"I think Illuminar will show us; that's why you felt like we should start praying about it, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I just don't know how anything could happen. I mean, we know the prophet, but he'll be busy fighting..." He glanced at the window and lowered his voice. "... well, you know who. I doubt he'll have need of our translation for a long time, so I wonder--"

Knock!

Knock!

"Who is it?" Matthew asked, and Yalia could see the concern in his eyes. It was never a good sign when someone knocked early in the morning. Not when there had been orc attacks, and even less so with the military occupation.

"A friend." A familiar masculine voice said.

"Perhaps three." A feminine voice said, and it sounded like... like...

"Is that Lady Shara?" Yalia whispered.

Matthew stood up, went to the door, unbolted the lock, and opened it to see Lord Kalus, Lady Shara, and Lady Lyra all standing there with smiles on their faces and at least a dozen heavily armed guards behind them.

"Well met, Matthew." Lord Kalus said. "Might we come in? We bear an invitation from the prophet."

"What kind of invitation?" Matthew asked as he stepped out of the way and beckoned them in.

"Have you two ever seen Nalatia?" Lyra asked.

They both shook their heads.

"Want to?" She asked with a grin.

Matthew and Yalia looked at each other, mouths open and eyes wide as her heart began to soar.

* * *

"The King wants to see me?" Ethan asked the elf's herald, Delabor, who had just arrived at the Argo.

"Yes, honored prophet." The herald said with a bow. "It is a matter of great importance, though not great urgency."

"Um, okay." He looked around at his wives, who had gathered at the Argo's gangplank when Delabor had arrived. "We don't have anything planned, do we?"

"No, nothing." Alana said. "Though, I was hoping that you wouldn't mind if I visited Sarisa sometime today. I wanted to ask her about my mother when she was little."

"As long as you have enough protection, I'm fine with that." Ethan nodded.

*It's a bit late for protection; you already knocked her up.* Selene thought to him in a teasing tone.

*Careful, or you're next.* He teased back.

*Promise?* She asked, and he wasn't entirely sure if she was teasing or not. He made a mental note to ask her later.

"Honored prophet." Delabor spoke up. "Perhaps some of the Lightguard might accompany your first wife on such an errand. I have many of the palace guard with me for our trip to the palace."

"Sounds great." He replied, then paused. "Lightguard?"

Delabor indicated the elves that had been guarding the approach to the Argo on the dock, and also escorting them everywhere.

"Ah, gotcha." Ethan nodded.

*I think I'll wait and see what The King wants before I grab Thea and see if I can visit Sarisa.* Alana thought to the group chat.

*I'll let you know as soon as I do.* He replied.

Not long after, he'd said goodbye to all his wives, kissed them all -- Sarah on the forehead -- and headed out with Delabor leading the way.

It was a good walk to the palace and something occurred to Ethan on the way. "Why aren't there more carriages and intra-city airships? It seems like most people walk everywhere, even The King."

"Tradition." The herald replied. "To indulge in too much convenience and succumb to the constant use of transport is not good for the body. A long walk is beneficial for both the body and mind, exercising the former and allowing the latter a respite so it does not become fatigued from constant use. It is also inspiring to the senses to see such architecture as this." He waved to the city around them.

"Well, I can't argue with that." Ethan conceded.

The whole way to the palace, he found his mind wandering and turning about the problem of how to deal with the fallout from his public spat with Plesius. A part of him wanted to just screw it and keep on being blunt. The King had said that the conversation the previous day could've gone well if he'd just adjusted his attitude, so maybe that was even an option.

Certainly, he could learn more tact, but at the end of the day, someone had needed to challenge Plesius. He should've had a better attitude when he had, but the challenge itself had needed to happen, and it probably needed to happen again. He just wasn't sure where the balance was between being bluntly honest and being careful with his words.

That, and he started wondering about Selene's comment. He knew the rest of his wives wanted kids, and Selene had mentioned maybe wanting them right before her bachelorette party. However, he had never had an actual conversation with her about that and thought that maybe he should.

Being lost in thought, the trip seemed to take no time at all. He let his mind wander a bit as he followed Delabor through the palace, still marveling at the incredibly lifelike carvings adorning every wall. The herald brought him to a part of the palace that Ethan had never seen before, and there were more guards than usual in this area.

"Honored prophet, please see The King through here." The herald said, opening an ornate door for him.

"Thanks." Ethan said, then walked through the door.

The contrast from his previous visit couldn't be more stark. The King was wearing clothes that even fashion-oblivious Ethan could tell were probably among the best he owned. Not that they were ostentatious -- they weren't -- but they were clearly incredibly formal. Unusually, he was also wearing an incredibly ornate and intricate crown. It was obviously made of wood, but had gold, silver, and copper accents.

"Something happening?" He asked.

"Honored prophet." The King head bowed. "I was instructed to invite you to the palace so that the Crown Prince of the Ten Kingdoms, George Calmarane, might meet you."

Suddenly, Ethan was glad that he was wearing his armor and had his war sword by his side. Thankfully, neither The King nor any of the guards had ever made an issue of him wearing it.

*Alana, did you get around to putting that speed-enhancing enchantment on my armor?* He thought to the group chat.

*I've been working on it, but it's not finished yet.* She replied, then added in a fearful tone. *Why?*

*Because I'm about to meet the Crown Prince.* Ethan replied.

*We'll start praying Master.* Tee replied instantly.

*Thank you.* He replied to her, and then he spoke to The King. "You couldn't have given me a warning?"

"I did; yesterday, in fact." The King replied.

"Oh, right."

"I do not believe you have anything about which to be concerned." The King said. "We will have a few minutes before he arrives, so perhaps take some time to compose yourself, should you wish to."

Ethan took a deep breath and nodded.

"As I said, you have little about which to be concerned." The King assured him.

"I'm glad to hear that." Ethan replied, but he started pacing anyway. The King looked a bit amused, but didn't say anything. Oddly, the amusement on his face reminded Ethan of Thea a bit, which of course reminded him that he was supposed to mention Thea's interest in Ahjah.

"So, you know how Thea has some wanderlust and basically wants to live on an airship?" He asked.

The King nodded. "She has felt that way since she was twelve, and likely earlier, though she might not have had the words to express herself on that point."

"Well, apparently when she went with Ahjah so he could sign some papers, she found out that he also would like to live on an airship, and even raise a family on one."

"I am aware." The King smiled. "That was his requested compensation for becoming Thea's custodian when I gave him the option to choose his compensation: an airship fitted to his specifications."

"Well, Thea found out about that, that he wants to live on an airship, and -- according to Sarah -- she now has this idea that they would make a great couple." Ethan explained. "Apparently, he thinks she would be a good wife, but didn't want to talk about that with her because he thought it might not be appropriate since he's her custodian. Anyway, long story short, they're interested in each other."

The King's smile widened. "Of course." His tone indicated that this was not news to him.

"You knew?"

"I knew it would happen, or very strongly suspected, given who they both are." The King replied, the smile on his face wider than Ethan had ever seen it.

He looked at him for a long moment before it clicked. "You set it up."

The King's smile widened.

"You sly dog." Ethan chuckled. "You knew they would fall for each other if they were introduced, and knew they would make each other happy, so you made sure they were introduced."

The King was full-on grinning at this point. "I have had men scouring the entire wood-elven kingdom for an elf who would be a suitable husband for Pelathea for a decade now. Of the few potential suitors that were found, he is by far the best of them. I have on occasion -- and without his knowledge -- adjusted the course of Ahjah's career to improve his suitability, and also made sure that he was presented with several difficult tests of character to ensure he would be a suitable husband. He alone passed every test."

"You've been looking for a whole decade?" Ethan asked.

The King nodded. "One of the most solemn and important duties of a father is to select a suitable husband for his daughters. I put no less effort into the task for Pelathea than for my other daughters." He paused, then chuckled. "In fact, her husband required rather a lot more."

Ethan decided to ignore the whole 'choosing a husband for his daughters' comment and focus on how seriously the elf took that responsibility. Obviously Ethan thought that Thea should be able to choose for herself. However, given the culture, The King was quite impressing him.

"So, I guess I should tell Thea that she's good?" Ethan smiled.

"Honored prophet, I would prefer that you did not at this time." The King replied. "There is value in striving for something, and even more value in overcoming perceived dangers and difficulties, even if they are not actual dangers or difficulties." He looked at Ethan. "I ask that you tell Ahjah that if he were to inquire about Pelethea's hand to me, I would not consider it impertinent nor a mark against his duties as custodian. However, please reveal nothing else of this conversation to either of them."

"You're going to make them sweat a bit?" He asked.

"Many people underestimate the value of work that produces perspiration." The King replied, and Ethan almost thought the elf was teasing him... almost. "More importantly, I wish for my ward and her custodian to discuss these things with each other, to plan how to bring them about together, and work together on a strategy to convince me of it, even though I orchestrated it without their knowledge. Such things are important for bringing a couple together and will help them to form a strong foundation for their future marriage."

"You really spent a lot of time thinking this out, didn't you?"

The King nodded. "Of course; it is a father's duty and I wish to see my Pelathea happily married."

The fact that The King had said 'my Pelathea' didn't escape Ethan's notice, and it brought a smile to his face. "Okay, I won't tell them anything except that you're open to hearing from Ahjah about a potential marriage." He nodded.

"I offer my thanks, honored prophet." The King head bowed. "I believe that Pelathea's happiness will be much improved."

They talked for another minute before Delabor opened the door, bowed, then spoke to Ethan. "Honored prophet, the Crown Prince approaches."

Ethan took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

* * *

"How are they doing this?" Fiona wondered aloud as the Helene soared over the wood-elven capital of Nalatia. She had heard stories of course, but hearing about the city and seeing it in person were two very different things. She would've loved to see Sarah and Amy's reactions to the city; she knew they would both love it.

"That is a closely guarded secret ma'am." Ellis replied from behind her. "The wood elves don't share it with anyone and keep it only to some of their most trusted builders."

"That's making sense if they can be doing this kind of thing." She said as she gazed at the incredible city.

She continued to admire the city as the Helene approached a large docking berth. Even the docking berths were attached to trees and she had no idea how it was possible to grow something like this.

"Those aren't wood elves waiting for us." Ellis said, nodding his head toward a dozen people who were waiting at the Helene's berth, right about where the gangplank would come down.

It took Fiona a minute to recognize who was waiting, and she waved enthusiastically when she did. It was Helga, the second wife of the Crown Prince of the Ten Kingdoms. Fiona had loved the other woman's visit to Karnas and the tea they'd had together, but sadly, the visit had been far too short.

Next to Helga was the Crown Prince's oldest son, Thomas, who had the paler features and more severe look of his mother, though he was also obviously his father's son as well. He seemed quite comfortable with Helga, and not for the first time, Fiona wondered if Helga was more a mother to him than his own mother was. Thomas looked to be in his early twenties, perhaps a bit younger, but carried himself well.

Behind them, there were at least a dozen bodyguards. Behind the bodyguards and some distance away, there was a delegation of finely dressed wood elves who were probably waiting to welcome Lord Delmar.

"Helga." Fiona said warmly when the gangplank was down as she hurried across it.

"Fiona." Helga replied just as warmly, and offered a hug as Fiona got closer, which she obviously accepted.

"I'm afraid there is some business to attend to before we can enjoy ourselves." Helga said when the hug broke, then she looked at Thomas.

"Lady Delmar." Thomas said with a warm smile and a gentlemanly bow.

Fiona curtsied in response, but she was onlymostly sure that was the right thing to do.

Thomas and Lord Delmar then exchanged formal greetings, after which the young man spoke. "I have a letter from my father." He offered it to Lord Delmar, who took it and started reading silently as Thomas continued. "He will have need of two of your wife's bodyguard detail, including Tabitha Ellentil."

"This is highly irregular." Lord Delmar said. Somehow, despite the fact that neither his tone nor body language was threatening, even Fiona felt an involuntary shudder. She wasn't sure how he did that, but somehow he could suddenly become the most imposing person she had ever met.

Thomas swallowed hard, but stood his ground. When he spoke, his voice had a slight waver in it, but Fiona didn't get the impression that he would back down. "Yes, yes it is Lord Delmar, which is why he wanted me to tell you personally. But it is what my father instructed."

Lord Delmar fixed him with an icy stare that might've made Fiona herself wither and melt. He didn't make any aggressive moves, nor change his posture or tone, but suddenly, the air around him almost seemed oppressive. Fiona thought he might be trying to get the young imperial to back down or reconsider through intimidation.

Thomas swallowed.

Hard.

He took a deep breath, then another, then he very slowly took his eyes off of Lord Delmar and looked at Tabby. "Tabitha, who..." He moved his eyes to Lord Delmar again for a moment, took another deep breath, then looked at Tabitha and spoke with a slight waver in his voice. "Who among your current guard detail do you distrust the least?"

Thomas was almost shaking slightly and it looked like he was taking more deliberate and deeper breaths than usual, but he wasn't cowering under Lord Delmar's gaze. Fiona could hardly believe it since she would've been cowering under the nearest large object if he had looked at her like that.

"Ellis Trelane." Tabitha said after a moment, then indicated the surprised-looking guardsman.

"Milord." Fiona said, then put her hand on her husband's arm, hoping to calm him down slightly. Suddenly, it was a little easier to breathe as he looked at her, and the menacing air about him faded.

Thomas seemed to breathe more easily as well, then addressed Tabitha. "I'm glad that you said Guardsman Trelane, otherwise I would've had to specifically inquire about him." He looked at Ellis. "By order of George Calmarane, Crown Prince of the Ten Kingdoms, report to the wood-elven palace for you to take the oath of office and be forthwith inducted as a member of the Imperial Guard, with all the responsibilities and privileges thereof."

Ellis stared for a moment, then nodded and bowed. "I am honored, but also honor-bound to the service of Lord Delmar."

"I release you from my service until such a time as the Imperial Guard releases you from theirs." Lord Delmar said. "You shall have the opportunity to return to my service, should you wish it and the Imperial Guard allows."

"Thank you Lord Delmar." Ellis bowed to him, then addressed Thomas. "I am at your service."

"Report to the palace with Tabitha; she will recognize the contact who will direct you both further." Thomas said, apparently breathing much more easily now that Lord Delmar had relented. He then looked at Lord Delmar. "My father apologizes for depriving your wife of two of her most skilled defenders. In return, he offers not two, but three of our finest to ensure her protection."

Thomas indicated three of the bodyguards around him, two of whom were female. They stepped forward and bowed.

Fiona hesitated, not sure what to think of this. Tabby had been at her side non-stop for weeks now, and to have her just leave...? She was in a strange place and wasn't sure she liked this. No, actually, she was sure that shedidn't like this.

More than that, Tabby was leaving?

It didn't seem real.

"I recognize them. They are competent. You need not worry." Tabitha said to Fiona, catching her off guard. It almost sounded like Tabby was trying to reassure her.

Wow.

"Okay." Fiona nodded, Tabitha's vote of confidence being enough for her, though her face and heart fell. "I'm going to be missing you Tabby."

Her bodyguard-- No, herformer bodyguard gave her a nod of acknowledgement

"Will she be coming back?" Fiona asked Thomas. "I'll be missing her if she isn't."

"I don't know." Thomas said. "My father has an assignment for them that will take a few days at minimum. It might extend longer, it might not, but I cannot be sure."

Fiona nodded, then looked at Tabby. "Can I be giving you a hug?"

"That is not necessary." Tabitha replied.

"Oh, come on Tabby." Helga said with a smile and a sigh. "Give her a hug."

There wasn't a single trace of emotion on Tabitha's face as she stepped forward and gave Fiona one of the most awkward hugs she'd ever received in her entire life.

Determined not to waste the opportunity, Fiona whispered into Tabby's ear. "I was liking your singing last night."

As usual, Tabitha didn't reply.

When the hug broke, and it wasn't a long hug, Ellis bowed to Fiona. "It was an honor ma'am."

"Aye, likewise." Fiona replied. "Be taking care of yourself Ellis, both of you."

"I will ma'am." Ellis head bowed.

Tabitha didn't say anything.

Instead, she turned and began walking toward the palace with Ellis right beside her.

"I'll be missing her." Fiona said as she watched them leave, her heart feeling heavy.

"I know how you feel." Helga replied while Lord Delmar and Thomas began to discuss something nearby. "I know she doesn't say much, but she leaves a hole that's difficult to fill." She paused. "I still miss her."

"Aye." Fiona nodded.

"However." Helga smiled. "We are now in one of the most beautiful cities in the Ten Kingdoms, so we can use it as a distraction. Have you been here before?"

"No, and it is beautiful."

"Well, seeing as our visit was cut short the last time, how about I show you around the city, assuming your husband doesn't mind?" Helga turned to Lord Delmar.

"I have no objection, provided her security detail is not further compromised." He said, his tone notquite perfectly calm. Almost, but not quite.

"I would like to convey my father's apologies." Thomas said. "Tabitha is uniquely suited to the assignment that he has in mind; no one else has the exact skillset required."

"And why did he request Guardsman Trelane?" Lord Delmar asked.

"My father instructed me not to say at present." Thomas replied.

"Come, let's leave the men to the boring business of running lorddoms and empires." Helga said to Fiona. "There is such beauty in the buildings to see, and stores to satisfy even the most discerning shopper."

Fiona smiled at that, but her smile faded slightly as she realized that Tabby wouldn't be behind her the whole time. It was strange, but for as much as Tabby frustrated her, it did indeed feel like there was a hole in Fiona's life now that Tabby wasn't her bodyguard anymore.

And it was so sudden.

"I know, her departure from my protection detail was abrupt as well." Helga said with a sympathetic look. "The shopping will at least distract you, and I'll make sure that my husband sends her around at least one more time before she sets off on the assignment."

"Thank you." Fiona replied, still feeling like it wasn't real.

It didn't feel real.

* * *

Ethan couldn't decide if it was a good thing or a bad thing that he kept wanting to touch the hilt of his war sword to make sure it was still there. Realistically, it just didn't matter. If the Crown Prince -- or more likely the men protecting him -- attacked, Ethan was screwed.

Oh, he could probably beat them, probably, but there were alot more where they came from. There was a whole empire's worth of people like Kendra who could hunt him and his wives to the ends of the world and beyond. That scared him. Not so much for himself, but for his wives and unborn daughter.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Do not worry yourself, honored prophet." The King said. "Comport yourself as one should, endeavor to be honest in all that proceeds from your mouth, and this meeting should prove fruitful and not to the detriment of yourself or your wives."

"Good." He replied, hopeful but not convinced.

The door opened and half a dozen men filed into the room. They were wearing mostly black clothing with the Ten Kingdom's flag on their chest. The clothing had leather pieces all over it, and he was willing to bet everything he owned that they were enchanted to function as armor. They were all wearing swords and secondary short swords as well. They all clearly meant business and carried themselves like Kendra often did when she wasn't trying to blend in.

Following the guards was a man who was almost certainly the Crown Prince. He had an easy-going confidence about him and his clothes were clearly high quality, but also weren't ostentatious. He had medium brown hair that straddled the line between curly and wavy, and brown eyes. Honestly, he looked like a regular guy to Ethan, the kind of fellow you might run into while out running errands.

That was promising.

The Crown Prince got a small smile on his face as he looked at Ethan. "As I live and breathe, the reputed prophet of Illuminar in the flesh." He paused. "Or 'scale' as the case might be."

Ethan probably would've chuckled if he was feeling better. "That's what they're saying."

The Crown Prince raised his eyebrow. "You don't agree?"

"Um, I don'tdisagree." He said delicately. "But I've never been comfortable with the title."

"That is true." The King spoke up. "At his first entrance into the throne room, he challenged the notion."

The Crown Prince nodded slowly, then addressed Ethan. "If you have not already guessed, I am George Calmarane, crown prince of the Ten Kingdoms, etcetera, etcetera." He bowed, and Ethan noticed that his tone when he said 'etcetera' was somewhat dismissive, as if he'd left his additional titles off because he didn't consider them important.

"Ethan Ejder." He replied. "I'd shake your hand, but..." He indicated the half-dozen guards who were currently between them.

"Both my father and wife extracted promises from me that I would be careful when meeting someone who could be a prophet or necromancer." Prince George said wryly. "My father was more worried that you're a prophet, and my wife more worried that you're a necromancer."

"Do you see any black in my eyes?" Ethan asked.

"No, but then again, disguise gems can be made rather strong." Prince George replied.

"I don't suppose there's anything I can say to convince you, is there?"

"Maybe, maybe not." The Crown Prince shrugged. "Take a seat, let's talk for a minute."

Ethan hesitated.

"Opposite ends of the table then, and I'll keep my bodyguards on my side." The Crown Prince said. "Of course, provided you keep that incredibly fine sword in its scabbard."

"Deal." Ethan said after a moment.

The Crown Prince indicated that The King should sit at the head of the table, then he sat down in an adjacent chair. Ethan sat down at the foot of the table, but kept the chair angled so that he could jump out at a moment's notice.

"Jumpy?" Prince George asked after looking at how the chair was positioned.

"Do you have any idea how many times my wives and I have been ambushed?"

"I know it has happened, but not the precise number of times." Prince George replied. "That's something I would like to rectify at some point soon, preferably very soon."

"Oh?"

The Crown Prince nodded and then spoke, and it sounded like he was quoting something. "And the word of Illuminar came to the prophet, so that he said to the people: 'Thus says Illuminar, let no judge among you decide a case with partiality, for I am Illuminar who does not show partiality. Let your judgement be just and true, not deciding a case until you have heard the evidence, lest you condemn the innocent or absolve the wicked."

"The Book of Light?" Ethan asked. He thought he'd heard Taloni quote that before, but wasn't sure.

Prince George raised his eyebrow. "You aren't familiar with that quotation? It is one of the most famous verses in Illuminar's book."

"Like I said, I'm not very comfortable being called a prophet." Ethan replied honestly. "Frankly, I had never even heard of Illuminar four months ago." He paused. "Actually, it's about four and a half months now. Anyway, I hadn't. Taloni would know the quote in an instant, but I'm a bit less studious." He paused again. "I've been too busy trying to keep me and my family alive."

"Interesting." Prince George leaned back in his chair, his hands interlocked behind his head.

"So, a bit of advice." Ethan said, an idea occurring to him. "Pay a little more attention to Lady Ekthros from Lord Delmar's court. She's into some pretty shady shit." He then realized it might sound like he was trying to shift blame, so he added. "I totally understand that you need to investigate me, and I'm not asking you to stop, but you alsoneed to take a good look at her."

Prince George leaned forward and fixed Ethan with a piercing stare. "Is the reason short or long?"

"Short version, she's creating demon-possessed men and sending them after me, and she put a will-breaker ring on Rachel, my fourth wife, Lord Delmar's daughter."

"I'm aware of the will-breaker rings, as my previous stop was Karnas to facilitate the investigation." Prince George replied. "I inquired about Lady Ekthros, and not a single one of Lord Delmar's council believed she had anything to do with them." He paused. "On the other hand, no man's discernment is perfect. On yet another hand, the accusation is coming from someone who has himself been accused of being a necromancer." He looked at Ethan pointedly. "You see my dilemma."

"I do." Ethan conceded. "She's still evil, but I do."

Prince George nodded slowly. "Lord Kalus of Timarou has already sent word to the Empire informing us that he had secondhand knowledge of such a thing, but since it was secondhand, he chose not to divulge his source. I think I know who it is now."

"Yup." Ethan nodded, smiling at what Lucien had done. Good man.

"I also have Lord Delmar and Lady Ekthros presenting somewhat convincing evidence that you are a necromancer, though not ironclad evidence." Prince George said. "That fact and the quote from the Book of Light is the reason I wanted to meet you."

"Oh?" Ethan asked, resisting the urge to check that his war sword was at his side.

"At some point soon, preferably tomorrow, I would like to invite you and all of your wives to a dinner." Prince George said. "The meal is incidental, but a nice way to dress up my real purpose: I want to hear your side of the story. The whole story, preferably from the beginning."

Ethan scrutinized him.

"The Book of Light instructs us not to make a judgement until we have heard all the evidence." Prince George continued. "Obviously, an important part of that will be hearing your side of the story and corroborating it. However, I will be unable to corroborate it if I haven't heard it. Thus, I would like the entire story straight from the unicorn's mouth, so to speak."

"That seems reasonable." Ethan nodded.

"Do you have anything planned for tomorrow, perhaps mid-morning?" The Crown Prince asked.

"I don't think so." Ethan replied.

"Then here is my proposal: The King--" The Crown Prince indicated him. "--has offered a secure location just outside the palace grounds but inside its security perimeter for this meal. He will provide the food and security, as I believe you trust him."

"I do." Ethan nodded.

The King smiled.

"I will bring my own guards of course, and you may even arrive with weapons for your protection if you would like, provided they aren't ranged weapons." He looked at Ethan pointedly. "That means your first wife must leave her travel bow behind, and you must leave your hammer and javelin behind as well."

"You know about those?"

Prince George raised his eyebrow.

"Okay, I guess that's fair." Ethan said as he thought about it. It really did make sense forthe Crown Prince to take precautions when meeting with someone who had been accused of being a necromancer.

"Excellent." He smiled. "Then, a late breakfast at mid-morning tomorrow, followed by you and your wives recounting your side of the story?"

Ethan hesitated for a moment. "I'm not really being given a choice, am I?"

"You havesome choice." The Crown Prince replied. "It is not my intention to force it out of you, but you understand that I cannot simply sit idly by while there are allegations of necromancy brought by credible sources."

"Fair." Ethan conceded.

"If you don't want to tell your side of the story, then I will have to seriously consider detaining you and escalating it to a criminal investigation because again, there are credible allegations of necromancy." He paused. "I would prefer to avoid that because you might indeed be a prophet of Illuminar, since many of those reports are credible as well. If you are indeed a prophet, the last thing the Crown would wish is to persecute you without cause... but we cannot let the allegations of necromancy go unanswered either."

"Again, fair."

"Full disclosure, this is my attempt to thread the needle of investigation without undue force." Prince George added. "If you are indeed a true prophet, I would not wish to taint any future relationship with the imperial family. But again, I must hear your side of the story. I prefer the pleasant way of dinner between our families. But if forced, I will have to consider less pleasant methods." Judging by his expression and tone, he wasreally hoping the latter wouldn't be necessary.

"I appreciate your honesty." Ethan said after a moment. "Okay, let's make that a plan then."

"Good, because The King's chef is divine." Prince George smiled. "I seriously think his taste buds were blessed by Illuminar Himself, blessed be He."

"No doubt." Ethan chuckled. "You should taste some of Sarah's cooking; she's my betrothed."

"Actually, I have." Prince George replied with an amused smile

"What?" Ethan's jaw dropped.

"In disguise of course, so she didn't know it was me." He replied. "In truth, the fact that -- by all accounts -- she fell in love with you is one of the biggest things that gives me pause about Lord Delmar's accusations. I have trouble believing that someone who cares that much about people in general, and Illuminar in specific, would ever be able to love a necromancer."

Ethan smiled. "She'll love to hear that."

"Do please tell her, and tell her that both my wife and I look forward to seeing her again." Prince George said with a smile.

"I will." Ethan nodded, his smile growing wider. He could just imagine the look on Sarah's face when she heard that. It was going to make her day. Or really, it might make her week or even month.

It took a moment for him to realize that Prince George was watching him closely.

"What?"

Prince George got a thoughtful expression on his face. "That look on your face just now. Either you are an incredible actor or you truly are in love with her."

"It's the latter." Ethan grinned. "Definitely the latter."

"I hope to believe that with no reservations one day." Prince George said.

"I hope you do as well." Ethan agreed.

* * *

"What?" Sarah stared at Ethan, her mind not quite able to process what she'd just heard. He had insisted on waiting until he got back to the Argo before telling everyone about his meeting with the Crown Prince for some reason, and he had just finished. "I... I've met the Crown Prince?"

Her mouth was hanging open.

Ethan laughed. "Yup, and in fact, he said that the fact that you fell in love with me is part of the reason he's hesitant to believe that I'm a necromancer because he has a hard time believing that someone who cares about people and Illuminar as much as you do could fall for a necromancer."

Sarah stared.

Her brain couldn't wrap itself around that statement. She understood every word perfectly of course, and she knew what he meant, but still...

"How...? Why...?" She worked her jaw, trying to form a coherent thought and get it out.

"Right before he left the room, he also mentioned that you were a good cook, even compared to the chefs at the imperial palace, if one took into account what you were working with." Ethan added. "Apparently, your oatmeal is nigh-unto divine, even though he doesn't usually like oatmeal."

Sarah just stared.

Selene laughed, walked over to Sarah, and put her arm around her shoulders as she spoke to Ethan. "I think you broke her brain."

Everyone laughed.

Sarah felt a smile grow on her face as what Ethan had said truly sunk in. "He... he thinks I'm okay, even despite my problem?"

"Apparently, he has good taste." Ethan smiled at her.

Sarah suddenly felt all warm and cozy inside as her smile got wider. "And, I'm actually helping him think you're a good person?"

"Apparently so." Alana said, then added with a sly grin. "He recognizes a quality woman with good taste when he sees one."

Sarah blushed.

Still, it was really wonderful how many people she was meeting lately who didn't seem to let her problem influence how they felt about her. She had never had that before and it was truly wonderful. In the back of her mind, an unbidden thought sprang up that pointed out that if everyone accepted her with the demon, she really didn't need to get rid of it. It wasn't ruining her life anymore, so why not let it stay?

She frowned.

She didn't like that thought. Not at all. It was a demon, an enemy of Illuminar, and she was playing host to it. Worse, she could maybe even get rid of it, but she was worried about being able to protect those she loved without it. She didn't like that fact, but it was indeed a fact.

"So, the Crown Prince wants us to tell our story." Kendra spoke up. "The question is, what should wenot say?"

"The more we leave out, the more they'll wonder." Selene spoke up. "Personally, aside from--" She stopped and Sarah guessed she said something to the group chat.

Alana pulled her a bit away from the others and whispered into her ear. "Selene thinks we shouldn't tell him that Lord Delmar is a dragon, Elder Goman is in his right mind, or how to make grenades, and then basically tell him everything else." She paused. "Ethan agreed that we should keep at least those things secret."

"I do too." Sarah whispered back.

"Sorry." Ethan looked around at the others assembled who weren't married to him. "There are a few things that we can't share, mostly because they aren't our secrets to tell."

"That's okay." Thea replied. "If you are careful with other people's secrets, then you'll be careful with ours as well."

"Yeah, Thea is right." Victoria said. "I would trust you less if you blabbed someone else's secrets." She got a sly smile on her face. "Just be glad Beth is married to you, or she'd pester you until you spilled."

"Hey!" Beth said, clearly not too upset given the smile on her face.

Victoria put on a mock-angelic face.

Everyone laughed.

"So, did you ask about Thea and Ahjah?" Sarah spoke up.

"I did." Ethan looked at Ahjah. "The King said that he wouldn't think it was improper if you asked about marrying Thea."

The elf nodded. "Thank you for asking."

"Did he say anything else?" Thea asked.

"Um." He cocked his head to one side. "Yeah, but nothing I can repeat."

"How was his demeanor?" Ahjah asked. "Was his permission for me to ask reluctant, or perhaps hesitant?"

"So, that's really between you and him." Ethan replied. "I was happy to mention it, I really hope it works out for you two, and I'm happy to help more; but if you want to know what The King thinks, you really need to talk to him."

"That is true." Ahjah said. "I will do so."

"Soon?" Thea asked.

"I will need to consider what to say and how to say it first." Ahjah replied. "This is a delicate situation, given my lack of coin and titles. It must be approached carefully to have any chance of success."

"I'll help." Thea replied instantly. "We can strategize and figure out the best way."

Ahjah smiled at her. "I would enjoy that."

"Me too." Thea had a wide smile on her face and Sarah couldn't tell if the elf's heart was singing because of Ahjah himself or because marrying him meant that she would likely get to live on an airship. Either way, she was happy for her friend.

Ethan looked at Ahjah for a moment, then at everyone else. "I think my wives and I need to adjourn to the captain's cabin to talk about what we're going to say, and more importantly, what wearen't going to say."

"If I might offer a suggestion." Ahjah spoke up.

"Please." Ethan replied.

"At the outset, mention that there are things you do not intend to share." The elf suggested. "That way, he will have no reason to suspect deception or doubt your word later should he discover information that you have neglected to share while investigating to corroborate your story."

"Great idea, thanks." Ethan replied.

Not long afterward, Sarah followed her betrothed and fellow wives into the captain's cabin, Ethan closing the door behind them. His other wives settled onto the bed in what looked like usual positions while Sarah, not sure what else to do, pulled out the chair in front of the desk, turned it around, and then sat down.

"So, I suppose we're not observing the usual dress code." Beth said slyly.

Sarah blushed.

"Oh, we will after we get married." Ethan said, a teasing nuance to his tone.

She blushed deeper and her cheeks started to get very warm.

Kendra gave Sarah an understanding glance and then spoke up. "Drago, I think we should also omit our plans for Ivernia when talking to the Crown Prince."

"Agreed." He nodded, then looked around at everyone else. "What else should we omit?"

"Once we've established that, we might also want to talk about how to recount certain parts of our story so that we don't accidentally reveal something we shouldn't." Rachel suggested. "Obviously not all of it because we don't want it to sound rehearsed, but we should discuss the parts that might take more careful phrasing."

"Another good idea." Ethan nodded. "Okay, let's get to work."

Sarah didn't have a lot to contribute to the discussion, mostly because her part of it began late and wasn't large, but everyone listened to her when she did talk. Maybe it was because the discussion was happening in the bedroom, but she felt more like she was part of the family than she usually did.

She loved that.

* * *

"I was having no idea that a city could be this beautiful." Fiona said as she and Helga sat at a small teahouse in downtown Nalatia sipping some tea that was beyond heavenly; she had no idea that simple tea could be such an incredible experience. Almost everything had been that way. The two of them had walked through the downtown area enjoying the sights and talking, accompanied by their guards of course. Nurse Belcosta was also with them carrying Conner.

"It's one of the most beautiful cities in the Ten Kingdoms." Helga agreed.

"One of?" Fiona's eyes widened.

"You should see the capital sometime." Helga nodded. "And in a strange way, Denvalt is almost as beautiful as the capital, though in a very different way."

Fiona nodded, having heard tales of how the dwarven capital city was not only the most amazing feat of engineering in the entire world, but also among the most mesmerizing. The capital was also reputed to be a marvelous sight, though it wasn't an engineering marvel the way Denvalt was.

Helga chuckled. "George brought one of the apprentice wood-elven diplomats to Karnas several years ago and the elf couldn't believe his eyes."

"Oh?"

"Indeed." Her smile widened. "He was amazed that we could build buildings that tall without a tree to support them."

Fiona laughed. "I suppose if you were growing up around all this, it would be strange."

"Indeed." Helga agreed.

There was a brief lull in the conversation and again, Fiona felt Tabitha's absence. Her bodyguard-- No, herformer bodyguard had been a constant presence for a while now and it felt strange not having her there. Very strange. It was like she had forgotten something important at home, and every time she realized it, she remembered that Tabby wasn't there anymore. It was strange, but for all the frustration Tabby had caused her, she really missed her too.

She looked at Helga. "If you're knowing and if you can be saying, what will Tabby be doing?"

"I can't say, but you will find out soon, possibly even tomorrow." Helga replied with an apologetic smile. "It's not anything dangerous though. Although, I'm sure she would emerge unscathed even if it was."

Fiona nodded slowly. "I was seeing her react one time, so I'm finding it easy to believe that."

"Oh?"

Fiona then told her about Vera and how they had met.

"That sounds like Tabby." Helga replied. "She did that once or twice while she was protecting me; I shudder to think what she would've done to someone who had attacked me for real."

"Aye." Fiona nodded. "That would be scary to see."

"Your husband can be frightening in his own right." Helga replied. "It's not many men that can be that menacing without being threatening."

"Aye." Fiona nodded. "I was impressed by how Thomas was standing up to him."

Helga smiled, and it was the kind of smile that Fiona herself tended to make when she felt especially proud of Conner. "George is a wonderful father. He has been preparing Thomas for his first rulership since he was born, and it's only a few years away now. A part of that is making sure he has the courage to not cave under pressure, and this was something akin to a final exam because almost no one can be more intimidating than Lord Delmar."

"Wait, his first rulership is only a few years away?" Fiona asked.

Helga nodded. "Ever since the Great Civil War, George's branch of the family changed how the throne is passed on. Starting at twenty-five, the men in line for the throne are put in charge of a small area to learn how to rule well. Every few years, that area of authority expands until by the time an heir is fifty, he's effectively running the entire Empire, even though the current emperor can of course overrule him."

"That's making a lot of sense." Fiona said.

"I think so." Helga agreed. "Thomas is doing very well, and I'm going to miss him when he gets his first rulership." Her tone sounded closer to a mother than anything else, and she got a slightly faraway look in her eye tinged with the tiniest bit of sadness. After a moment, she refocused on Fiona. "I do have my own children of course, but I tend to mother Princess Silvia's children as well."

"I was guessing that." Fiona nodded. "What about Princess Silvia? Is she minding?"

"She is often occupied with... other matters." Helga replied delicately. "She ensures that they receive the very best education in every subject possible -- and my own children have benefitted because George thankfully insisted on them being educated to the same level -- but she is somewhat typical for someone from the Winter Empire."

"I'm hearing they are aloof; is that true?"

"It's part of their culture." Helga nodded. "I think 'austere' is perhaps a good descriptor. However, she is a formidable woman."

Fiona couldn't help but notice that Helga layered every criticism of Princess Silvia with a compliment and wondered if that was on purpose. Either way, it reinforced Fiona's perception of Helga, that she was the true mother to Prince George's children. Judging by what she'd seen of Thomas so far, that seemed like a good thing.

* * *

Ethan yawned and stretched as he stood up in the captain's cabin after a long afternoon of strategizing about how to tell their story to the Crown Prince. He was grateful that they had some time to prepare since trying to tell everything off the cuff wouldn't have been ideal. Doable, but not ideal. Rachel had pointed out that Prince George must've known this when he made the offer, which they all took as a good sign.

It had been particularly difficult to figure out how to tell their story without mentioning their group chat. Figuring out how to tell their story while both concealing it and also not lying had taken rather a lot of work. They'd done it, but that had taken up a huge chunk of the discussion.

"Dominus, I just... ju..." Beth yawned. "I just thought of something. This isn't related to us recounting our story to the Crown Prince tomorrow, but when I died in Arcanum, floated up, and that black tendril grabbed me, do you remember how I described the person who was directing the people who brought in my body?"

"Vaguely, but I've met possessed men so I know what they look like." He replied, resisting the urge to yawn again; it had been a long afternoon.

"But that's just it Dominus, it didn't look like a possessed man." Beth replied.

Everyone looked at her.

"Possessed men look like normal men with a dark aura around them." Beth explained. "They might be a bit harder to see because of the dark aura, but they still look like men. That person didn't."

"Describe what he looked like again." Alana asked, beating Ethan to the punch.

"So, I could see his cloak, and even his clothes, but his face..." She shuddered. "There wasn't a face. It was like looking into a deep, dark pit where you couldn't see the bottom. It was the absence of light, but despite that, I could almost see his expression anyway." She shuddered again and Ethan could see her getting goosebumps. "It was creepy, and scary."

"If we can believe Lady Ekthros -- which yes is probably a bad idea but she didn't have a reason to lie at the time -- then that wasbefore she created the possessed men." Rachel pointed out.

"Yeah, she told me that she created them in response to the Earth outpost that Selene got shut down." Ethan mused. "That was definitely after we were in Arcanum."

"That's assuming she can be believed." Kendra pointed out.

"She had me dead to rights at the time." Ethan pointed out. "While I trust her about as far as Taloni could throw Drousin, I don't think she had a reason to lie about it." He frowned. "Not that I trust her even with that, but..." His frown deepened, then he looked around at everyone. "What do we make of the difference between the possessed men and the one in Arcanum?"

Everyone looked at either Beth or Taloni.

"He didn't seem to have the dark aura." Beth said after a moment. "Possessed men do, and Sarah does, but he didn't. He didn't even look black instead of the dark aura, he was just a void; like the absence of light and color."

"Does anyone have any idea what that means?" Ethan asked after a moment.

No one did.

Tee's wings fluttered a bit. "Um, I don't know Master, but if that person was darker than the aura around a possessed man, that can't be good."

"I'm inclined to agree Drago." Kendra spoke up.

"It could be several things." Rachel said after a moment. "It could be that all possessed men welcome the demon initially, but then most fight it after possession but this one didn't. It could be that the demon in Arcanum was present solely in the spiritual realm and perhaps was projecting some kind of illusion to interact with the mage or the men who carried Beth's body in." She looked at Beth. "Did you see it touch anything?"

Beth shook her head. "No, but I could see its cloak and clothes."

Rachel frowned. "Well, perhaps not an illusion then, or the clothes were projected by some kind of disguise created by demonic magic since we know demons can do that. It could be like how Gabriella has a body she can use, or it could even be that a man bonded to a demon and that's what you saw in Arcanum, though I'm not sure that's possible."

Tee shuddered and her wings nearly buzzed.

Everyone else did something similar, even Ethan.

"People are seriously fucked up." Selene said after a moment. "I'm not sure which of those it is, but I can just imagine some sickowanting to bond to a demon." She looked at Rachel. "Is that even possible? It doesn't seem like it should be possible."

"I don't think so, but I don't know." The redhead replied. "It seems entirely unlikely since they are incorporeal beings and mana belongs to the physical plane. But then again, if you had told me six months ago about all that I've seen in the last few months, I would never have believed you."

"So we don't know." Alana summarized.

"Agreed." Ethan nodded. "Well, if anyone thinks of anything, don't hesitate to speak up. Until then, I say we try to have a relaxing evening and a good night's sleep so we're on our game tomorrow."

"Good idea, with one suggestion." Selene spoke up, then looked at Tee. "Could you maybe ask Illuminar that it won't be a clusterfuck?"

Tee frowned. "I could, and I have, but why don'tyou ask Him?"

"I don't know, you're probably His favorite." She shrugged.

"I'll pray, but you should too." Tee paused, then looked around. "We all should."

Ethan sighed. "You're probably right."

They did.

It was incredibly awkward since most of them rarely prayed out loud, and it showed. However, they did manage to muddle through and eventually left the captain's cabin.

Thea and Ahjah were near the ship's bow, though the gorgeous elf excused herself, headed over to them, and volunteered to help Sarah make dinner, probably so they could talk. That left Ahjah at the bow with a pensive expression. Ethan was reminded that The King had said that a leader should take care of everyone under them, and Ethan supposed that probably included Ahjah at this point, at least peripherally.

He headed toward the bow, noting that the sky was just barely beginning to transition from the reddish sky of late afternoon into the blue tones of evening. With the docks around them, and especially the massive trees to which the docks were affixed, it almost felt like twilight in a forest.

"Honored prophet." Ahjah said with a respectful head bow.

"Honorable custodian." He replied with a lopsided grin.

Ahjah smiled, but fell short of a chuckle; he seemed too deep in thought for that.

"Penny-- uh, copper for your thoughts?"

"You think them worth so little?" Ahjah replied.

"No, I meant--" He stopped as he saw the look on Ahjah's face and chuckled. "Okay, you got me."

The elf smiled again, but he had a faraway look in his eye.

"What's on your mind?" Ethan asked as he leaned against the railing.

"Primarily, Thea." Ahjah replied. Interestingly, Ethan didn't detect much romantic attraction from him, if any at all. "I have just spent several hours conversing with her and find her to be lively, intelligent, and extremely caring. While discussing how to become betrothed, near the front of her mind was ensuring that The King and The Queen were not only accepting, but happy about the match. Further, her concern was primarily for them, not herself in that."

"She's a good woman." Ethan said.

"Exceptionally so." Ahjah agreed. "I do think perhaps the women you have met in your travels, and especially the ones you have married, have perhaps given you a false impression of the overall quality of eligible woman in the Ten Kingdoms." He said pensively. "The ones who reside on the Argo are of extremely uncommon quality."

Ethan grinned. "They are indeed."

"What I mean to say is that soft evidence of Illuminar selecting them can be found in their character." The elf replied. "I find it unlikely that any but Illuminar could assemble such a large group of incredible individuals in so short a time."

"Sometimes, it feels like years. But yeah, that makes sense." Ethan nodded.

"I suggest that you mention this to the Crown Prince tomorrow." Ahjah said. "It is soft evidence, but I would wager that it will carry significant weight with him upon further reflection."

"Good idea, I will."

A comfortable silence fell between them for a moment and Ethan found his eyes drawn to where Sarah was making dinner with Thea, the two of them working well together. He subtly moved his eyes to see what Ahjah was doing, and he appeared to be watching them as well. Well, more Thea than Sarah.

"My wives tell me that you might have a hard time affording her bride price." Ethan said after a minute, internally rolling his eyes at the practice.

Ahjah nodded. "I have but one thing to my name of real value, and that is the airship that The King granted as payment for my services as a custodian. I'm loath to part with it since it is everything I want in an airship; I was given input on its design and construction, and perhaps spent more hours than I should have overseeing every detail. I almost feel it is a part of me, but Thea..." He looked at her.

"But Thea...?" Ethan prompted.

Ahjah took a deep breath and then moved his gaze to Ethan. "Though it would feel like losing my arm, I could sacrifice the Nomad's Pride for her bride price and find another airship later in life, even if it wouldn't be as wonderful. However, I don't think I will find another elf maiden like Thea, and especially not one who will share my desire to live aboard an airship. Yet if I attempt to use it as her bride price and The King accepts, I will no longer possess an airship to give Thea the kind of life she and I would both prefer."

Ethan nodded slowly, internally marveling at The King's brilliance. Ahjah would be forced to choose between the material thing he valued most in the world and Thea. Ethan couldn't think of a more brilliant way for The King to ensure that Ahjah would put Thea's welfare above riches.

"I have not mentioned this to Thea of course." Ahjah said. "It is considered improper for an elf to discuss a woman's bride price with the woman before it is paid. However, I do wonder if, perhaps, she would find herself less enthused about the match were I not in possession of the Nomad's Pride."

"I don't think she would." Ethan said after a moment, being entirely honest. "Even if you two had to save up for an airship, it would be a shared goal and dream that you could both work toward. I think Thea's smart enough to value the promise of a future on an airship, even if it'll take a while to get there."

Ahjah nodded.

He took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and swallowed. "Then... then I believe I will see if The King will take the Nomad's Pride as Thea's bride price."

He took another deep breath and puffed it out all at once. Ahjah looked about how Ethan himself would look if he ever found himself forced to sell the Argo. Still, it said a lot about the elf that he was willing to give up his airship for Thea, especially since he obviously considered it his beloved airship. Ethan would've liked to help the young couple, but he wasn't sure what...

He smiled as an idea occurred to him. "Well, if The King agrees, I suppose you two can sail with us."

Ahjah smiled. "I would be more than happy with that, and the offer is very generous. However, a newlywed couple would need a room, even a small one, and the only one on the Argo is occupied."

"Actually, there are two rooms." Ethan replied. "I can't promise it'll be fancy, but the storage room under the captain's cabin is the exact same size as the captain's cabin, and it has a door too. We could move as much out of it as we could, move the rest to one side, and then fit a bed in there. It might not be fancy, but you could have a room."

Ahjah looked at Ethan for a moment. His eyes were slightly wide, his lips slightly parted, and his head cocked slightly to one side.

"Yes?" Ethan asked while resisting the urge to chuckle.

"You would do that?"

"I would." Ethan nodded. "Thea helped me get betrothed to Sarah, so I owe her one. Quite beside that, she's a wonderful woman and I'd love to see her happy. The King seems like a good judge of character and he appointed you as Thea's custodian, so I'm not worried that you'll be a problem. Plus, what I've seen of you reinforces that impression."

"You have my undying gratitude for that, honored prophet, even if The King will not agree to my marriage to Thea." Ahjah said, then head bowed.

"You're welcome, and please call me Ethan."

Ahjah nodded. "Then thank you, Ethan."

"I'm happy to help." He smiled.

* * *

"It doesn't taste right." Sarah mumbled to herself and then yawned. She hadn't slept as well as she might've liked the previous night, mostly because she was a bit concerned about meeting the Crown Prince, even though she had apparently met him before. She was trying to put it out of her mind while she made a light breakfast to hold them until the brunch with the Crown Prince, but it wasn't working very well.

"Let me taste." Thea said, since the gorgeous elf had been full-on pacing when Sarah had gotten up, likely trying to figure out how to help Ahjah convince The King to let them marry. She took a bite and then smiled. "Only you could consider something this wonderful as needing improvement."

"But it could be better." Sarah frowned.

"Maybe, but it is good." The gorgeous elf countered.

It took Sarah another five minutes to realize what spice was missing to make the dish perfect, after which she added it and tasted it again. "There, that's better."

Thea took a taste as well. "Oh wow, thatis better." She looked at Sarah. "Has anyone ever told you that you have a gift?"

Sarah beamed.

Not long after, Ethan and his other wives got up. Sarah of course hurried over to get her morning forehead kiss. Shereally wanted to kiss him on the lips, and couldn't wait until they were married so she could. She also really appreciated that he hadn't tried to pressure her to do it sooner.

Breakfast was a mostly quiet affair with most everyone seeming lost in thought. Sarah herself was as well, wondering how the meeting would go. Ethan's other wives looked various combinations of nervous, apprehensive, and unsure. Well, except for Kendra; Sarah could never tell how Kendra was feeling.

After breakfast, Ethan gathered his wives and they started walking toward the palace, escorted by the Lightguard of course. Sarah was glad they were there, but the fact that they were necessary made her nervous too.

"After this, we will need to pay more attention to fixing the shame issue." Rachel said after a minute of walking.

"Yeah, I hadn't forgotten." Ethan nodded. "Dealing with the Crown Prince so that we don't end up being hunted by the Aldmiri seems more important right now, but that's next."

Even Alana agreed with that.

"You okay?" Ethan asked Sarah a few minutes later.

"I think so?" She replied, well aware that her tone probably wouldn't inspire confidence.

"So, I used to work in sales." Ethan said with a smile. "There's an old rule that goes like this: once you've made the sale, stop selling." He looked at her pointedly. "The Crown Prince already thinks you're a good person; just be yourself and it'll be fine.

Sarah took a deep breath and nodded. He was right of course, and she did feel a tiny bit better, but there were still butterflies in her stomach.

* * *

Ethan gave Sarah a side-hug while they were walking and his betrothed seemed to appreciate it, but she didn't look entirely settled either. He understood. This was an incredibly important meeting and he wanted to make sure that he didn't screw it up; the stakes were too high.

While they were walking, it occurred to him to ask Selene about what she'd said yesterday. He thought about it for a minute before deciding to ask since it would be a good distraction for both of them; Selene looked nervous too.

*Hey Precious.* He thought to her. *Yesterday, you made a joke about 'protection' with Alana, and I teased that if you weren't careful, you might be next. To that, you said: 'Promise?'. Was that a joke or were you serious?*

She had a thoughtful frown on her face as she looked at him. *Honestly, I don't know.* She looked down and rested a hand over her womb. *If you would've asked me before I met all of you, I would've said that I don't have a maternal bone in my body, but now...* she trailed off, her thoughtful frown deepening somewhat.

*But now...?* He prompted.

*Well, Thor really helped that to change.* She replied. *And I hear my fellow wives talking about babies and kids and I just never heard women talking like that growing up. My fellow wives are all really looking forward to having kids and they see it as a wonderful thing that'll enrich their life, and I guess I never really thought about it that way before.*

*You didn't?* He asked, a bit surprised.

*Not really.* She replied. *I guess I was always told to get a career because that was how you found value in the world. But Alana and the rest of them don't think that way; they have a more... um...* She cocked her head to one side, clearly searching for the right word. *I guess 'integrated' view of things.*

*Integrated?*

Selene nodded. *For example, if Alana still grew staves for enchanting, I'm sure she'd have her kids working right alongside her.*

*She would.* Ethan smiled.

*It's just, they don't have this defined idea of a 'career' here like back on Earth, you know?* Selene continued. *For example, Talven's son helped him in the fields as best he could, and their daughter helped Salma take care of the house. It's more integrated here, and I like that, but I guess I still have the 'you must have a career' thought running around in my head.*

He nodded slowly. *Ah, I see you were taught what I sometimes call 'fake feminism'.*

She looked at him and raised her eyebrow.

*Well, feminism was supposed to be about choice, right?*

Selene nodded.

*The idea was that if a woman didn't want to stay home and raise kids, then she should be able to go have a career.*

Again, Selene nodded.

*But we're in this strange place on Earth where sometimes, I think some women -- definitely not all -- but some women arepushed into having a career like women used to bepushed into staying home and raising the kids. That's not really a feminist idea since feminism is supposed to be about choice. The woman is supposed to be able to choose what she wants. If she wants to be a CEO and she can find a company that'll have her, she should be able to. If she wants to be a stay-at-home wife and mother, and she can find a husband who'll have her and wants that, she should be able to.*

Selene made a thoughtful sound.

*I'm just saying that women shouldn't be pressured like it sounds like you were.* He explained. *They should be free to choose what they want without being pressured, regardless of whether it's a stay-at-home wife and mother or a CEO.*

Selene nodded slowly. *Yeah, I...* She frowned. *In the circles I grew up in, saying I wanted to be a CEO would've been celebrated. But if I said I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, everyone would've looked at me like I was crazy.*

*Exactly.* He said. *But feminism issupposed to be about choice. Personally, I think we should be able to celebrate a woman wanting to be a stay-at-home wife and mother just as much as her wanting to be a CEO.* He paused. *And really, that's a binary because there is avast range of options between the two, like entrepreneurship, or part-time jobs, or other things like that. It doesn't have to be so binary, but I think you get my point.*

Selene made a thoughtful sound as she nodded slowly.

*So, all that is to ask: what do you want?* He smiled at her. *Do you want kids?*

Selene got a tiny smile at the corners of her mouth that faded slightly after a moment. *Honestly, I don't know.* There was a tinge of fear in her voice that he didn't usually hear from her.

*What are you afraid of?* He asked.

She bit her lip. *Um, you never met my mother.*

*No, I haven't.*

*She... she fell apart after my brother died.* Selene said after a moment. *What if... Um, what if I did that?* Then she added very quickly. *I mean, I'm her daughter so her blood runs in my veins, so what if...* She swallowed hard.

Before Ethan could reply, she continued. "For that matter, what if I lost a child?* Her face paled. *I can only imagine if something happened to Thor, and I didn't carry him in my womb for nine months.* She looked at him, her eyes wider than normal and skin rather pale.

*Yeah...* Ethan grimaced; he didn't even want tothink about that. *Here's the thing though, do you want tonot have something just because there's a slim chance you might lose it? It would be terrible, but you can't only look at the bad. You need to weigh the good and bad and then decide. Do you want a baby, even if there's a slim chance that something bad might happen?*

*I... I don't know.* She replied after nearly ten seconds. *I don't want to be the kind of woman who's too scared of losing something to chase it, but...* She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. After a moment, she looked at him. *I'm only half of this though, do you want kids? Um, with me?*

He smiled. *Of course.*

She nodded slowly. *Then... can I take a little while to think about it and get back to you?*

His smile widened. *Of course.*

*Thank you.* She smiled and then fell silent, clearly deep in thought.

Not long afterwards, Kendra spoke up. "Look alive, we're here."

Ethan looked ahead and saw the palace approaching. Delabor was waiting near the entrance, presumably to guide them to the meeting place. Ethan took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

It was time to meet the Imperial Family.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Note: This chapter began on day 134 of Ethan's life in the Ten Kingdoms and ended on day 136. 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 August 27th, and it'll probably drop on the 29th or 30th.

I'd like to extend a very special thanks to my editors, and also three of my patrons, one of whom didn't want to be credited by name. So "Anonymous", Joseph, 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