A Dragon's Tale Ch. 03

"Wait, back up to the part about Ethan marrying your daughter," Alana insisted.

"I offered a contract bounty for my children's safe return, and the reward for rescuing Beth is her hand in marriage," the man said as if that explained everything.

"But I don't have to marry her right? I mean, I don't have to accept the reward... Do I?"

"A contract bounty is a legal contract," Lord Borden explained. "By fulfilling the terms of the bounty, you implicitly sign the contract. Meaning you agree to collect the reward offered. You cannot ask for more, and the person who posted the bounty cannot give less. Both parties agree to the terms of the contract."

"So, I have to..."

"Yes," Lord Borden replied.

"To Beth?" Alana whispered.

He nodded.

"Oh wow," Ethan said. "I just wanted to save her; I didn't know I was signing up to have and to hold."

"You'd promise your daughter in marriage to just anyone?" Alana seemed upset at the thought.

"It wasn't supposed to be this way," Lord Borden replied. "The captain of my guard - Heinrich - has been smitten with Beth since they were both children. He has long wished to marry her, but I couldn't grant that wish because of his low birth. However, offering a contract bounty of marriage for whoever rescued her was a loophole. Heinrich has never failed me, and I assumed he would bring Beth home and they could be married. Alas, things did not happen that way."

"What does Beth think of Heinrich?" Ethan asked.

"She regards him as a trusted friend, though it stops short of attraction," Lord Borden replied. "Considering the deplorable quality of men vying for her hand, I thought Heinrich would be the best man to make her happy."

"So basically, we ruined everything when we rescued her," Ethan said.

"In so many words, yes," Lord Borden said. "Lord Delmar will stop at nothing to find you. When he discovers you are married - or even engaged - to Beth, she will become a primary target."

"Why?" Ethan asked.

"Lord Delmar often attacks the heart to weaken the body," Lord Borden replied. "It's despicable, but effective. By killing your fiancé or wife, he would hope to make you easier to kill. Either through rage or despair, it matters not to him."

"That's..," Ethan began to say.

"Horrible," Alana finished.

"It's also the position you have put my daughter in," Lord Borden didn't exactly look angry, but he sounded far from pleased.

"And you want Beth to marry Ethan, even though it would put her in such danger?" Alana asked.

A scowl played at the edges of Lord Borden's mouth, but he restrained it. "If you don't marry Beth, people would think me a liar who broke a contract and everyone would withdraw their money from The Bank. My family would be left penniless and my enemies would descend on us like a plague. We would all be dead within the week."

"Damned if you do, damned if you don't." Ethan said glumly.

He nodded. "Given the choice between certain death for all, and danger for one; I should think my enforced choice would be obvious."

"Well, Ethan and I are kind of married." Alana said. "I mean, not really, but we're bonded, so technically according to elven law we're married. What of that?"

"You know as well as I do that polygyny - although uncommon - is perfectly legal." Lord Borden said. "You requested separate bedrooms and clearly don't consider yourselves married. Do you deny it?"

Neither of them did.

Lord Borden leaned forward and locked eyes with Ethan. "To be clear, I'll not have my daughter sharing a husband with another woman. Should you try it, the consequences would be..." He paused long enough to be uncomfortable. "Severe."

Ethan nodded, and then a thought occurred to him. "Couldn't I just fake my death or something? That would get us both off the hook."

"You clearly don't know Lord Delmar." The banker leaned back in his chair. "Such a secret would not last long with him pursuing you and the truth would come out soon enough. Then we would be worse off than we are now, having added mass deception to our sins. The only thing that will do is your marriage to my daughter."

"Shouldn't Beth be a part of this conversation?" Ethan asked.

"I can send a servant to find her," Lord Borden said. "However, when I told her that her hand in marriage was part of the reward, she was pleased. I believe she's quite taken with you."

Ethan noticed Alana was sitting back in her chair with shoulders slumped and eyes on the floor. She glanced at him and in her eyes he saw something he'd never seen in her before: hopelessness. She looked so... defeated. He wouldn't have thought she was capable of a look like that before they'd entered the office.

"Could I talk with Alana privately for a few minutes?" Ethan asked.

Lord Borden hesitated - glancing toward the gold candlesticks in the room - before responding. "You may use my office."

He bowed and then left the room.

The door boomed shut behind him with an ominous finality to it.

"That starry sky is looking pretty cloudy right now," Ethan said to her. She nodded, but didn't reply. He stood up to offer a hug, which she rose and accepted. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Some of her worry drained away and they embraced for a minute.

"You should marry her," Alana said as she broke their hug. Her cheeks were moist with tears.

"I don't want to,"

"I know. But she's nice, smart, funny and gorgeous; you'll be happy with her I think."

"But-" Ethan started to say, but Alana cut him off.

"Any man would give his arm to marry her. Why wouldn't you?" She said sharply, and then she looked abashed and averted her eyes.

"First, I'm still recovering from Sarah, second I don't know her at all, third and most importantly..." Ethan waited until Alana met his eye before he finished. "You."

"Me?"

"Absolutely," Ethan nodded. "I'm not going to pretend I'm all doe-eyed in love, but you're a wonderful woman. Maybe it's because of our bond, but I think there's something between us that's worth exploring."

"You should marry her anyway. I'll be fine, really," she said, although she looked just the opposite. "Besides, I'll outlive her by a century or more. Maybe in a few decades when she dies..."

"That's optimistic." Ethan replied without humor.

Alana stared into his eyes for several seconds. She moved her hand up to touch his face, but then stopped, took a deep breath, and let it fall back to her side. She looked down at the floor and shook her head slightly. "With the lives of Beth and her family on the line, I don't see another choice. Do you?"

"I wish I did."

"Me too."

"What about our bond?" He asked. "I don't like the idea of being married to one woman and bonded to another."

"Maybe it'll break if you bond with her?" She suggested, but didn't sound convinced.

"You really think it will?"

"It has to, I can't..." She blinked and a single tear traced a heartbreaking path down her cheek.

He reached up and gently wiped it from her face. She leaned into his hand and the softest, quietest sigh escaped her beautiful lips.

"Will you be okay if it does break?" Ethan asked. "To put it bluntly, I'd rather marry you than her."

"I'll be fine," she said, though she clearly wasn't. "But I think it's best if we stay away from each other; at least until our bond is broken."

"That's assuming it breaks,"

"It has to," she almost pleaded. "So... you're going to marry her then?"

Ethan took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to ignore the lump in his throat. Dear God in heaven, what a colossal fucking mess. He thought life on earth was painful but this... this was something else. Now thinking about Alana leaving...

A deep primal rage welled up within him. He wanted to punch something or grab it rip it apart with his bare hands. No, screw that; he wanted to get his hands on Lord Delmar and tear that motherfucking bastard limb from-

Alana touched his chest and his rage mellowed.

He marveled at the effect a simple touch from her had on him. But despite her comforting presence, he couldn't deny the situation. Every one of his instincts screamed that this wasn't right, but he couldn't escape. As much as he wanted Alana, he couldn't sentence Beth and her entire family to death because of it.

"I think I have to."

"Congratulations," Alana said. She tried to sound cheerful, but didn't quite manage it. She did manage a pained smile. She had such a beautiful smile; how could something be so beautiful and yet so heartbreaking at the same time?

"I should go," she whispered. "Maybe Lord Borden has a job opening for a good enchanter. Also, please try to stay out of my emotions and our bond. I know it's hard, but please try okay?"

"I..." Ethan could think of anything to say, so he nodded.

"Goodbye Ethan," Alana said. "I'm glad I met you."

She gave him a kiss on the cheek, turned and walked toward the door. Ethan opened his mouth to try to convince her not to leave, but couldn't think of anything to say. She stopped with her hand on the doorknob and turned to look at him.

"You're a good man - er, dragon, Ethan," Alana said. "It's ironic that you agreeing to marry someone else makes me think I would have liked that privilege myself."

Before he could answer, she slipped out of the room and closed the door behind her. Ethan resisted the temptation to look at their bond and see how she was feeling. She'd just walked out of his life and no long wanted him in her head.

She was gone.

TO BE CONTINUED...