A Dragon's Tale Ch. 57

"You will not attempt to take Helene's place?" He asked.

"No milord." She replied when she'd found her voice again and scraped her jaw off of the decking. She could hardly believe that compliment from the Lord Delmar, even though she was sure that he hadn't meant it as one.

"Then I will agree to your terms." He said after a moment.

"Then I'm happy to be accepting your proposal milord." She smiled, still not quite believing that compliment.

That's when it hit her.

She was now engaged...

...to Lord Delmar.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly as the enormity of that started to sink in.

* * *

Ethan yawned as he opened his eyes and blinked several times at the early morning light shining in through the enormous glass-block window that covered the rear wall of the captain's cabin. He looked down to see Alana and Rachel still snuggled up beside him in much the same way they had fallen asleep, only now they were closer to each other. Their heads were nearly touching and their hands were resting against each other.

That made him smile.

However, his bladder was informing him that remaining in bed wasn't an option. He carefully extricated himself from them and of course they both stirred as soon as he moved.

"I'm just using the latrine." He said softly. "Go back to sleep."

The two women both mumbled something as he slipped away and they snuggled closer to each other and appeared to fall back asleep. He smiled and turned to see Taloni, Kendra, and Beth by the desk with Tee's copy of the Book of Light open. They were all naked and looking at either him or the sleeping couple on the bed.

It was funny; before having five wives he would've thought that seeing three naked women all looking his direction would've been an instant turn-on. It was, but what stood out to him more was how natural and comfortable they all were. Their amazing bodies aside, he really appreciated just how much of a tight-knit family they were becoming.

"Bible study?" He whispered as he stepped over to them.

"What's a 'Bible'?" Beth asked.

"Never mind." He smiled at her. "I guess you decided to join?"

The blonde nodded. "I was curious and woke up when Tee got up."

"Sorry." The Fey teen whispered to her.

"Don't worry about it." Beth smiled.

He gave them each a quick good morning kiss, then spoke. "I'm going to open the door so I can use the latrine."

The girls all moved so they couldn't be seen with the door partially open and then he slipped out. He noticed that Myla was up and doing some kind of exercise near the front of the Argo. He went downstairs, used the latrine, then came back and made to head towards the captain's cabin again, but stopped.

He glanced at Myla and figured that he should probably check in with her. He walked towards her, making sure that he walked loudly enough to not startle her.

She didn't stop.

She was moving slowly and her exercises seemed to focus more on flexibility and balance than strength. They reminded him a little of Tai Chi. She was doing many of them while balancing on one foot and they were slow, flowing, and graceful motions that radiated refinement and elegance.

"Morning." He said when she appeared to hit a stopping point.

She turned to face him and did that semi-formal bow that was also half curtsy. "Good morning Meelas." However, she didn't look him in the eye. He didn't get the sense that it was nerves though, more like... maybe a habit?

She didn't say anything else and a slightly awkward silence fell.

"You like exercising?" He asked.

"No Meelas."

Another awkward silence.

"Well, I suppose it's good to keep in shape even if you don't enjoy it." He said.

"Hai, Meelas."

He remembered that she often used 'hai' to mean 'yes' and so nodded.

Yet another awkward silence.

"Well, I'm sorry if I interrupted you."

She got a small smile on her face. "The interruption brought joy to my heart Meelas."

He smiled back at her.

...and yet another awkward silence.

"Meelas." Myla said after several long moments.

"Yes Myla?"

"Might I ask a question?"

He smiled at her, hoping she would take it as comforting. "You are always free to ask questions, always. I might not answer every question, but you should always feel free to ask."

She nodded slowly. "What will you do with me?"

"I hadn't planned to 'do' anything with you." He replied. "Your life is your own now to do with as you please. I'll try to help however I can, but you get to choose."

She glanced up into his eyes for a moment and her gaze was searching before she averted them again. "My heart is filled with gratitude Meelas."

She sounded sincere.

It was hard to tell with how little she spoke, but she did.

"What do you want Myla?" He asked. "I would love to help you if I can."

She swallowed and looked down further. "It is not my place to ask Meelas, but my heart feels joy at your words."

He frowned slightly, reminded somewhat of Anthiel's co-wife Mirella who had behaved somewhat similarly and had a not-dissimilar background. "Myla, it is your place to ask. I offered to help and would like to if I can. I'm asking, and unless you don't want to say then I would like you to."

"You misunderstand Meelas." She replied gently and then looked him in the eye again. "It is not because of a lack of confidence that I do not ask, but rather because it would not be proper for me to ask."

"Not proper?"

"Hai, Meelas."

He didn't get the impression that her request would be something improper, but rather that there was some rule of etiquette that she would be breaking if she asked.

"Is it something that I could grant?" He asked.

"Hai, Meelas."

He frowned. "Would granting it hurt me, my family, or the Argo's crew? Or would it put them in danger, or otherwise put us at risk of any kind of harm?"

"I do not believe so, Meelas."

He thought about it for several seconds. It seemed clear that Myla had the potential to be his wife given her birthday and other attributes. If his other wives were any indication, she was a good person who wouldn't try to take advantage of him. Besides, he had to admit that so far, Illuminar was pretty damn good at picking wives.

Finally, he spoke again. "Then I'll grant your request without knowing what it is."

"It brings joy to my heart to hear that Meelas, but it is extraordinarily unwise to strike a bargain without knowing the stipulations that you are agreeing to." She replied, though a small smile had appeared on her face.

"I don't think I'll regret it in this case, will I Myla?"

"I hope not Meelas. I do not think you will." Her smile grew wider.

"Then I'm going to grant it." He said, going on a hunch and also a gut feeling that she wouldn't try to take advantage of him. "Now, can I know what I offered?" He asked, only slightly nervous about the answer.

"It brings my heart joy and I am filled with gratitude that you will allow me to remain on the Argo for a time." She said after a moment, then bit her lip and said quietly. "I have nowhere else to go."

"You definitely could've asked for that." He smiled, feeling slightly relieved.

"It would not be proper for me to invite myself to live in someone else's home." She replied.

He nodded his head in concession. "Fair, but you are welcome to stay here until you find someplace you would rather be."

"My heart is filled with gratitude Meelas." She did that half-bow, half-curtsy thing again and there was quite a large and genuine smile on her face. She looked both extremely pleased and very grateful.

"You're welcome." He smiled, then turned to let her continue exercising. As he walked away, he found himself appreciating her gratitude and that she was concerned about being impolite or asking too much of others. Those were great qualities and it didn't hurt that she was also smart, kind, and gorgeous. He appreciated all those things and he saw how she could make a good wife.

But he missed Selene.

It was strange; he hadn't thought of Selene much in a romantic way before and wasn't even thinking of her that way now. However, he didn't like the idea of her leaving his life forever; it just didn't sit well with him. He had a constant low-level ache in his heart from her absence that was almost certainly from their bond. He assumed that if she broke it the ache would go away, but it was there for now and functioning as a constant, low-level reminder that she wasn't here.

He didn't like that.

Not at all.

* * *

Selene lay in her cell in the nameless agency's base, wishing she had something more to do than be alone with her thoughts. She didn't like her thoughts right now; not at all. Despite her general, non-specific apology to Ethan and his wives the previous day, she didn't feel much better. A little better maybe, but not much. She'd been left to stew with her thoughts for far too long now and she was beginning to get restless.

What she really wanted was a good long sparring session with Ethan or Kendra, perhaps Serif. Hell, she'd take Raklan at this point even despite how he regularly leered at her. The crewman probably thought he was being subtle, but he wasn't.

She sighed.

She missed Ethan and Kendra.

She missed the rest of them as well, but those two more than the rest. She wasn't surprised by how much she missed her best friend, but she was a little surprised by how much she missed Ethan. She had this constant low-level ache in her heart because they were apart that she'd never experienced before. She knew it was because of their bond, but damn it if she didn't miss being around him. Hell, she knew she'd be happier if she was just in the same room with him.

Damn bond.

She missed Thor too. She missed her little kitty so much. She missed his squeaky meows, she missed his curious and playful nature, and she missed snuggling with him at night. What she wouldn't give to be woken by his wet nose sniffing her face again. She really, really missed him.

She heard the bolt to her cell door slide open, which provided a welcome respite from her thoughts and the subtle but ever-present ache in her heart. She put her game face on for when Smithbond-- No, Clive came through the door.

He didn't.

The door was only opened partway and a tiny woman slipped through it. It took Selene a minute to recognize her because her hair wasn't purple this time. She was the computer whiz who had expertly led the tactical team from the van when they had captured Gonorran. She was also the one who had played the 'good cop' when Gonorran had healed Selene and Hailey.

She was tiny, only a little bigger than Alana and probably not quite as tall as Beth or Taloni. Her hair was a fairly common brown color in contrast to the bright purple it had been before. She was dressed differently as well. Whereas before Selene had gotten a punk rocker vibe, now she looked like a professional woman in a business suit, complete with a pencil skirt. It wasn't an expensive suit but she wore it well. She was also wearing glasses with delicate and elegant frames this time. She almost looked like a different person than last time.

She glanced out the door before closing it behind her. "Hello Miss Dawson, do you remember me?"

"Yvonne, I think." Selene replied.

She nodded. "Special Agent Yvonne Benson, and I'm sorry about Agent Humphry."

"Clive is pretty much an asshole." Selene said, not sure where this was going.

"I think calling him an asshole is an insult to the asshole community." Agent Benson replied with a mostly straight face.

Selene chuckled. "Let me guess, we're doing 'good cop, bad cop' again?"

"No." Yvonne shook her head. "Agent Humphry doesn't know that I'm here and I would appreciate it if you wouldn't tell him."

"Oh?"

She nodded. "Let me level with you Miss Dawson. I could get in serious trouble if you told him that I came to talk to you. I had to loop the cameras--" She gestured to the one in the room. "--to do this and he could get me demoted or court-martialed if he found out I was here."

"Then why do it?" Selene asked.

"Because I was the one who compiled the personnel profile on you." She leaned against the door. "You have test scores, IQ scores, and a level of competence and drive that could catapult you to the top of almost any profession you wanted. Yet you chose to join the FBI because helping people is so personally important to you."

Selene nodded in concession, not wanting to toot her own horn.

"It follows logically that you also care about preventing people from getting hurt." Yvonne looked at her seriously. "Were you serious when you warned Agent Humphry about the corrupting influence of this 'dark mana' that comes from dead things?"

"I was." She nodded. "Deadly serious. I might've even undersold it a bit but I don't have first-hand experience so I can't be sure."

Yvonne took a deep breath. "I was afraid of that."

"You're worried too?" Selene asked, keenly aware that this might be another trick of some kind.

"Agent Humphry's moral compass is so screwed up that I'm surprised he can navigate to the parking lot most days." The woman said as she stood up straight and then started slowly pacing. "The one good thing I can say about him is that he wouldn't ever betray his country." She stopped and cocked her head to one side. "That might be the only good thing I can say about him." She frowned for a moment, then continued. "If this 'dark mana' that you're talking about does what you say it will, he'll go rogue. If that happens, he'll indulge his brutal streak and I don't even want to think about the bodies that will pile up."

"Oh." Selene nodded, having no trouble believing it.

"Exactly." Yvonne said. "We would catch him eventually, but a lot of good people would probably die first and not pleasantly, especially any women he targets. The kind of porn he likes makes your kinks seem like a couple of virgin teens holding hands for the first time at a church picnic."

Selene felt her cheeks grow rather warm. Still, if Yvonne was telling the truth then Clive must have some very unsavory appetites. "How do you know what kind of porn he likes?"

"There's very little that happens electronically on this base that I don't know about because I'm a techie at heart. That's how I know about your kinks, even though you put a lot of effort into hiding them." She looked at Selene's pink cheeks and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I don't mean to embarrass you and I don't judge you for it. I once built a profile on a guy who got off watching women sneeze."

She stared. "You're kidding."

"Nope." Agent Benson shook her head. "My point is that Agent Humphry can't be allowed to learn how to use this 'dark mana' you were talking about. He has spent almost every waking minute since your last conversation with him working on it too."

"That's not good." Selene grimaced.

"No, it's not." Yvonne hesitated, then spoke. "Look, Agent Humphry has always preferred to use the stick while I prefer to start with the carrot. You wouldn't know this with how he treats me, but I'm actually second in command here and was originally slated to run this mission."

"You were?"

"Yes." She nodded. "But years ago, he was in the room when they sent the initial recon team through the portal and when the mage went crazy afterwards. I was down the hall putting out some metaphorical computer fires and never directly interacted with the people we captured from 10k1. Thus, even though it was many years ago, he has direct first-hand experience with both magic and people from 10k1 while I don't. You can guess how he leveraged that."

"Yup."

"So I was second fiddle and he made me dress up and dye my hair to make a specific impression on you."

Selene raised her eyebrow. "Was that the only reason?"

"Did I mention he can also be petty?" Yvonne smiled wryly.

"I'm shocked." Selene said in a deadpan tone.

"--shocked to find pettiness here." Yvonne said in a strange accent. It took Selene a moment to realize that she was paraphrasing the famous line in Casablanca from Captain Louis Renault, only about pettiness instead of gambling.

She chuckled.

"I knew I liked you." Yvonne smiled, then her look became serious once more. "So, don't give him anything to help and I'll try to work things on my end. There must be a superior I haven't worn out my welcome with about him." She paused. "It would be nice if my old S.O. was here. I believe you know him, Adrian Kossel?"

Selene smiled. "I do."

"He taught me to always try the carrot first." Yvonne continued. "He always said: never kill when maiming will do, never maim when hurting will do, never hurt when threatening will do, never threaten when persuading will do, and never persuade when asking will do."

"It sounds like Clive didn't listen."

"Not even a little." Yvonne shook her head. "So let me offer a carrot for you to 'buy' your silence. I think if this doesn't go completely south, I can get you your job at the FBI back."

Selene's eyes widened. "You're kidding me."

"No I'm not, but it's not a sure thing." Agent Benson shook her head. "Our agency has a lot of pull, especially when it comes to undoing things we did. It won't be instant, but I'm 95% sure I can get your job back, and about 90% sure I can make it like you were never discharged in the first place."

"That would be... really?" She realized her mouth was open and closed it.

"Yes." Yvonne nodded. "Just don't say anything to Agent Humphry, I'll see if I can take care of the rest."

"Deal." Selene grinned.

"Good." The agent smiled at her and then turned towards the door, however, she stopped with her hand on the handle and looked back at Selene. "Clive wasn't entirely wrong about what he said about you -- about you wanting to be told what to do -- even if he was being a total ass. But he was missing a crucial piece."

"Oh?"

"Like I said, I compiled the profile on you and part of that involved me examining some of your... let's call it 'recreational reading'."

Selene felt her cheeks get rather warm.

"Yes the heroines were told what to do, but I noticed a common theme in the stories you liked the most; something that makes it nothing like how Agent Humphry made it sound."

"What?" Selene asked, only realizing after she'd spoken that her throat had gotten slightly dry and thus she sounded a bit hoarse.

"It's hard to explain." Yvonne frowned. "But I guess... I honestly think a part of it is good, and it's maybe even healthy for someone like you, and I don't mean 'someone like you' in a bad way."

Selene cocked her head to one side. "A good and healthy thing?"

Yvonne nodded. "Maybe not healthy for everyone, but you're more driven than most people. From what I dug up while compiling your profile, you don't seem to take very good care of yourself. Physically and career-wise, yes, but not so much socially. You're something of an isolated loner."

"I recently realized that." Selene admitted. It had taken living on the Argo for a month, but she hadn't realized what she was missing until she had found it.

"I'm not sure if you noticed, but a lot of the heroines in the stories you read the most followed the same pattern." Yvonne pointed out.

Selene cocked her head to one side.

Huh.

"I hadn't noticed." Selene admitted after thinking about it for a moment. "Not always the same way, but yeah... yeah I see that."

"Did you also notice that your favorite stories didn't tend to focus on the kink?"

"They didn't?

Yvonne shook her head. "No, they didn't. They focused on something else. Something that I think you crave because somewhere deep down, I think you know you need it because you don't take care of yourself very well."

"What?"

Yvonne smiled. "The male lead was always someone who took good care of the heroine in every area, not just sex."