A Dragon's Tale Ch. 57

"I miss her too." Taloni huffed as well. "I like Myla and Victoria and they're both nice, but I wish Selene would come back."

"Yeah..." Ethan nodded as he thought of the old proverb: 'you never really know what you have until you lose it'. "But it seems like Myla and Victoria showing up means that she made her choice and decided not to. I wish she hadn't, and I wish that I'd paid more attention to her when she was here, but now..." He trailed off, not wanting to finish that sentence.

"It's hard to imagine the Argo without Selene." Alana said after a moment.

"It is." Rachel agreed.

"Ladies." Ethan said to the couple, choosing to focus on the good for now. "That was a beautiful kiss."

Rachel blushed scarlet even as the two of them beamed.

"In fact..." He looked at his other three wives and especially at Kendra since it was her night to sleep in his arms. "Would you all be okay with suspending the normal rotation for one night?"

"Why?" Kendra asked.

"Because to celebrate Alana and Rachel kissing in public -- well, semi-public -- like they've been kissing in private, I thought I might sleep on my back with both of them in my arms tonight. That is, if you don't mind since it's your night."

The two women in question beamed.

Kendra glanced at them and then nodded. "Okay." Then she got a slight smile on her face as she blushed. "But only if Alana... uh... 'makes it up to me' the next time we're all in bed." Her blush deepened.

"You've been spending too much time with the blondes." Ethan chuckled.

"Or maybe the right amount of time..." Beth grinned slyly.

Ethan rolled his eyes and chuckled again.

Not long afterwards, they were all settled into bed. Ethan had Alana snuggled up to his right side while Rachel snuggled up to his left. The two women snuck another small kiss before settling in to sleep.

That made him smile.

* * *

Sarah woke up with a smile on her face, thinking about the sign she'd gotten from Illuminar the previous day that she would be a part of Ethan's life. She didn't know how big of a part, but she knew exactly what part she wanted to play.

She wanted to be his wife.

She didn't care that he had other wives because she'd met them all and they were lovely. Honestly, that only made the idea more attractive because she would love to have such kind women as co-wives for the rest of her life. She didn't mind sharing him with such wonderful women and she would rather have part of him than all of another man-- err, dragon. That's what she wanted.

That of course made her think of Lady Ekthros's threat. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that Illuminar had sent her a sign. The more she thought about those two things at the same time, the more she realized that there was something she should do that she really didn't want to do. She fought an internal battle with herself for a minute before she acquiesced.

"Dear Illuminar -- blessed be you -- please..." She took a deep breath. "Please help Lady Ekthros to realize that what she's doing is wrong and stop. And please, can you help her realize that strongly enough that she'll repent? Please at least make it so she won't ever hurt anyone else again. Amen."

She knew praying for the 'lady' was the right thing to do, but she didn't feel like doing it.

With that done, she finished her morning prayers and then turned her mind to the rest of the day. Amy wasn't in the bed with her, but she could hear the gentle clink of pots, pans, and plates from the kitchen. Shrugging, she got out of bed, changed into her dress, and went into the kitchen.

Amy was dressed and apparently had made a breakfast of pancakes and eggs, which Rindrin was eating. The artistic girl was watching him with rapt attention as he explained some detail about smithing to her. Sarah had no idea that Amy had an interest in smithing, but by the way she was hanging on his every word you might've thought it was a lifelong passion.

Sarah resisted the urge to chuckle at her friend's infatuation.

"Good morning Sarah." Amy said brightly. "I made breakfast."

"Help yourself." Rindrin grunted.

"Good morning, and thank you." She put some of both on her plate and sat down at Rindrin's small table.

The food was reasonably good. Amy wasn't a master chef but no one would complain about her food either. Sarah listened to Rindrin and Amy as she ate without speaking much while also trying to keep an amused smile off of her face at how obviously smitten her friend was with Rindrin. She wasn't even hiding it either. She would occasionally look at him and sigh and she had a slightly dopey smile that never left her face.

"So, Sarah." Rindrin said to her when she'd finished eating. "You wanted to talk this morning about you and the prophet being sweet on each other. I figure that's the reason you wanted to delay us gettin' married."

Sarah froze slightly, grimaced, and then nodded. "Yes, that... that's true." She admitted.

Rindrin frowned. "Well, I ain't got no special objection to that except that it's not quite right for a man to have two unwed women livin' with him. Other than that, I ain't got no problem with waiting."

Sarah glanced pointedly at Amy and smiled slyly. "What about your wife and her friend living with you?"

The blacksmith looked at Amy. "We just met yesterday; you wantin' that?"

"I would love that." She sighed.

"I smell like smoke most days." He said while looking at her. "That smell don't come out easy so don't expect me to smell good."

"I love the smell of wood smoke."

"I snore." He continued. "And I'm up early pounding steel and sometimes stay up late doin' the same."

"It sounds like music."

"I will expect a wife of mine to be a hard worker."

"I am." She said brightly.

Rindrin and Amy went on like this for at least ten minutes. He kept listing every negative thing about himself that might make him a poor husband and Amy had an instant comeback for every single one of them. Rindrin was pretty exhaustive too. Sarah had known him since she was a child and he listed just about everything relevant. Amy didn't seem to care about any of it.

"Well, I'll tell you what." Rindrin said when he had seemingly finally run out of negative things about himself to list. "I reckon you're rushing into this and won't think straight on it for a couple of years at least." He frowned. "But you seem like a nice girl who'd make a good wife."

"She is and she would." Sarah interjected.

"Well, I reckon we should wait a week then." The blacksmith finally said. "If you ain't seen something about me that gives you pause by the end of it, we'll get married. You said your dad ain't living no more right?"

Amy nodded, her bright demeanor dimming for the first time since she'd met Rindrin.

"Well, that means you can pick a husband for yourself." He nodded. "One week."

"Two days?" Amy countered.

Rindrin raised his eyebrow.

"Please?" Amy asked.

He frowned. "We'll see."

"Thank you!" Amy beamed.

Sarah chuckled. From what she knew of the two of them, she thought they would be very happy together. Further, she didn't have a wedding impending anymore. She was still technically betrothed, but she knew Rindrin wouldn't push the issue, especially if he had a wife in Amy. While that didn't exactly leave her free to marry Ethan, it seemed more possible now than it had when she had woken up.

That made her smile.

* * *

"Lady Fiona."

Fiona sighed, slowly shook her head, and then turned to face one of her fellow cooks in the kitchens. "Like I've been saying all morning, I'm not a Lady."

"Not yet." The other cook teased with an impish grin. "But after what I heard happened at dinner last night, it's only a matter of time..." She finished in a slightly sing-song tone.

Fiona slowly shook her head; she would never be living that down. Word that she had almost made Lord Delmar chuckle seemed to have spread throughout the entire castle like wildfire. She doubted there was a single person in the castle who didn't know by bedtime the previous evening. Probably every single person in Karnas would know by mid-morning. She was glad she had amused him, but her little joke was turning out to be a right pain in the arse.

"By the way." The other cook added. "It's my morning to take Lord Delmar his breakfast and I'm just not feeling up to it." The woman gave an exaggerated sigh and put the back of her hand on her forehead. "I just don't know how I could manage." She was barely concealing a smile and she had also been practically dancing around the kitchens that morning up until now.

Fiona raised her eyebrow.

"Just please let me be there for the wedding." The cook continued. "Please? You can stick me in the far corner of the upper balcony, but please let me be there?"

Fiona sighed again. "I don't suppose there's anything I can be saying that'll change your mind?"

"Lady Fiona Delmar." She said wistfully. "It has such a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

"Fine, I'll be taking him his breakfast if you'll stop."

"Okay." She said brightly. "I bet he's such a romantic deep down." And with that, she resumed chopping the vegetables in front of her.

Sadly, the trend the other woman had started seemed contagious; that wasn't the last time she was called 'Lady Fiona' that morning.

* * *

"Thank you for everything Ellis." Sarah said as she gave him a hug and Amy did the same right afterwards. It was just after dawn and the guardsman had already saddled his horse outside the inn's stables and was ready to depart. He was wearing his traveling clothes and looked wide awake.

"Thank you for being so kind miss." He replied to Sarah. "It's more than I deserve."

"If we all got what we deserve, we would have a very bad time of it." The innkeeper's daughter replied with a smile.

"Truer words have rarely been spoken miss." He nodded. He hesitated a moment, then spoke again. "I didn't tell you this yesterday, but I met the..." He hesitated. "Lord Delmar would say that he's a false prophet but after meeting him I am not so sure."

"Oh?" Sarah asked.

"Yes miss." Ellis had his non-sword hand resting on his sword hilt and he tapped it with his finger. "He had every opportunity to kill me but asked me to stand down for my sake; I believe he could have killed me without much effort given the disparity in our armor and weapons. To speak the truth, I believe he asked me to stand down for my sake."

"But I thought he was a necromancer." Amy said.

"I saw no black in his pupils and I'm trained to see through magical disguises." Ellis replied. "If he is using a disguise enchantment, it must be an uncommonly powerful one."

"Will you tell Lord Delmar this?" Sarah asked.

"Indeed." He nodded. "Lord Delmar is a wise and prudent lord, but no man is perfect. I believe he might be mistaken about this Ethan based on my experience, but perhaps Lord Delmar knows something I do not." He looked at Sarah. "I mentioned this because it seems he came here to meet you and I thought you should know."

"Thank you." She smiled at him. "Please be safe on the road? I would hate for something to happen to you."

"I will have to be, for I don't have you to protect me." He said dryly and with an almost perfectly straight face.

They chuckled.

"I must be going." He mounted his horse.

"May Illuminar guide you on the path of light as you travel." Sarah said as she and Amy stepped back from Ellis's horse. The guardsman also had let out the reigns of the other horses so he could guide all of them at once.

"And you as well, though I think He already is in your case." He said with a pointed look at her.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"When I consider all that has happened with you, I cannot help but see Illuminar's hand." He replied with a smile. "Farewell miss." He nodded his head respectfully, then turned his horse and began to ride away.

"What did he mean by that?" Sarah asked Amy.

"Ellis is right." Her friend smiled. "I think Illuminar has a special place in his heart for you."

Sarah blinked. "But isn't that true of everyone?"

Amy nodded. "Yes, but I think it's a little extra true of you." Before Sarah could think of a response, Amy continued. "Now, could you help me plan a small wedding?"

"I would be honored." Sarah beamed, though she was still slightly confused about what Amy and Ellis meant.

* * *

"Good morning milord." Fiona said as she entered Lord Delmar's office with his breakfast. Today it was fried chicken with a side of braised greens. As Fiona thought back on the lord's breakfasts, it occurred to her that he did seem to enjoy meat more than other dishes. She supposed that made sense given that he was a dragon.

"Good morning Fiona." He replied without looking up. Today was unusual in that he was not writing, but rather appeared to be studying two different long letters.

She set the dish down on the desk on the spot that was always open for meals.

"Did Garina take ill?" He asked, again without looking up.

"No milord." Fiona replied with a sigh. "She was asking me to take you your breakfast, I think because she was wanting to be playing matchmaker. She kept calling me 'Lady Fiona', over my objections of course."

He made a thoughtful sound, then stacked the letters and put them face down on his desk before looking at her. "That could be your title, should you wish it."

"I'm knowing that." She smiled. "But I'm afraid I can't be moving on that one point milord."

He nodded his head slightly in concession, then made another thoughtful sound and leaned back in his chair. "Why?"

"Um, I'm knowing what it's like when my husband is loving me." She replied, feeling her throat get ever-so-slightly tighter as she thought about it. "I'm knowing how much the Lady Helene was meaning to you and how devoted you were. I'm not thinking there will be room for another woman in your heart unless you're bonding to her. I'm not expecting you to love me the way you were loving Helene, but I am wanting you to love me at least a little and I'm not thinking that's likely unless we're bonding."

He made another thoughtful sound and this one had a decidedly negative sound to it. It took Fiona a moment to guess why he might not approve and she spoke again when she did.

"I'm not wanting to take the Lady Helene's place." She clarified. "I'm not thinking any woman could. I'm hoping you might end up loving me half, or even a mere quarter of how much you were loving her. I could be happy with that I think, since I'm knowing that no one could be taking the Lady Helene's place in your heart. I'm not wanting to try, I'm just wanting my husband to love me."

Lord Delmar inclined his head in concession, though he also frowned.

For almost a whole minute he looked at her. During that time, his expression remained mostly unchanged but there were some subtle changes. He made a few thoughtful sounds, none of which seemed positive but they also didn't seem overly negative either.

Finally, he spoke. "I do not suppose that I can reasonably refuse such a request for those reasons if I am to be a good husband as Illuminar commands." He frowned. "I could agree, but there are things you should know before I do." He stood up and walked to the door of his office. "Follow me."

She did.

She followed him through the castle and up several long flights of stairs, finally realizing where they were going when they entered a corridor that she recognized. The Helene; they were going to the airship Helene. Once they emerged out into the morning air he strode towards the airship. There were half a dozen guards posted at the gangplank leading to it and they snapped to attention when they saw him.

"At ease." He said, stopping at the gangplank. "I wish to speak privately with Miss McWilliams; guard the staircase until we return."

"Yes Lord Delmar." Their leader gave a respectful head bow and then they double-timed it towards the staircase from which the couple had come.

"Come." He led her onto the Helene where they could speak in relative privacy. The castle had towers that were taller than the Helene and those towers had lookouts so propriety was maintained, yet they could have a private conversation.

"Bonding does not only change the situation for me, it would also for you as well." He said to her.

"Oh?"

"You have heard of dragon compulsion?"

"Aye milord, but I'm usually hearing that it's a myth or only possible among the most powerful Dragos."

"It is not a myth. Bonding with me will enable me to compel you to do as I wish."

"Oh." She took a moment to absorb that.

Wow.

That was...

Wow.

She could see the potential to abuse that power, but on the other hand, he was telling her about it. He was almost warning her about it. Would he use it wrongly if he was warning her? Still though, to what extent?

"You could be compelling me to be doing anything milord?"

"Perhaps I over-spoke." He corrected himself. "You have heard of hypnosis?"

"Aye milord."

"It is comparable to an extremely strong hypnotic induction." He explained. "A dragon cannot compel someone to do something against his moral core. For example, I could not compel you to harm Conner."

"That's good to be hearing." She very nearly breathed a sigh of relief.

"I can however plant compulsions that last indefinitely."

"Oh?"

He nodded. "I could compel you to cease speaking and you would not be able to speak unless I permitted it."

She frowned. "Even if I was fighting it?"

"No compulsion is absolute." He conceded after a moment. "Should you fight long enough and hard enough, the compulsion would break even though we are bonded."

Fiona looked at him for a moment as she considered what that meant. "I'm assuming dragons can't be compelling each other, so how are you knowing this?"

"Helene. She insisted on testing it."

"How?"

The corners of Lord Delmar's mouth moved upwards the tiniest fraction of an inch and the look in his eyes got a slightly far away look for a moment. "She had me compel her to only eat with her right hand, not her left." He paused. "She was left-handed and quite frustrated that it required several days to break." The corners of his mouth went upwards a hair more, though no one would say he was smiling; it wasn't even a slight smile. "Her nose crinkled in concentration for days when she tried at dinner."

Fiona smiled at the look on his face.

The motion seemed to get his attention and the faraway look in his eyes disappeared as he refocused on her. The barely there 'not-quite-smile' faded as well. "I could have compelled her to do anything I wished, as I would be able to do to you." His tone indicated a serious warning, which made Fiona realize what was truly going on.

"You're trying to scare me." She pointed out after thinking about it for a moment. "You're hoping that me learning this will scare me into not bonding with you."

"I am." He replied simply.

"What you aren't counting on is that I'm trusting you." She replied. "You're a good lord and a good man; I'm knowing that you won't be taking advantage of me even if bonding is giving you the power to."

He made a thoughtful noise that was decidedly negative. "You will not be dissuaded?"

"No milord, not about bonding."

He looked at her for several long seconds. "It has been seventeen years since I entered a negotiation and conceded on every point without gaining equal or greater concessions from the other party." He inclined his head as if in concession. "Perhaps Sir Warrick was right."

"About what milord?"

"He said that there was something of Helene's spirit about you."

Fiona stared at him for a moment before she realized that her mouth was hanging open and closed it. He was really comparing her to Helene?

Wow.

She could hardly imagine a more potent compliment from him.