A Dragon's Tale Ch. 10

"What?" She asked.

"Taloni," he said. The merry mood faded slightly, but didn't leave altogether. Her smile faltered, but remained nevertheless.

She nodded. "Yeah."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bond with her. I wasn't even awake when it happened."

"I know, but the question remains: what now?"

"I don't know," he said. "She made a really good case that bonding is just as binding as marriage, maybe more so. I never planned to be married to two women, I just find myself...

"Semi-married to two of us?" she offered.

He nodded. "If I wasn't bonded to Taloni, I'd get down on one knee with a ring right now."

Alana looked very confused. "Why in Illuminar's name would you do that?"

"It's how we propose marriage where I come from."

Alana's mouth fell open. "You would marry me?"

Suddenly Ethan felt a little embarrassed, though he wasn't sure why. "Uh, yeah. I mean, assuming you were willing."

Her smile would've cracked the room in half if it was any wider.

"But what about Taloni?" Ethan asked.

Her smile faltered a bit, but only a bit. It seemed nothing could dampen her spirits. "I don't know. The Fey take bonds even more seriously than the elves do. I'm sure in her mind you're already married."

"Exactly, I just don't know what to do about it."

"We can't ask her to leave," Alana said. "I remember what it felt like when I left so you could marry Beth... It almost killed me Ethan. Probably because of our bond, but at times it was physically painful. If she as smitten with you as I think-"

"She is." He said. He didn't understand why she was so smitten, but she certainly was.

"-then I can't ask her to do that." The wood elf smiled wryly. "I've been through it and it's terrible. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. Well, maybe Lord Delmar, but I certainly wouldn't wish it on a sweet girl like Taloni."

"Yeah," he nodded. "I could feel your pain over our bond and - Lord Delmar excepted - I wouldn't wish that one anyone either.

"And just so we're clear, I'm not going anywhere." Alana gave him a look that dared him to disagree with her... and promised unending pain if he did.

"I wouldn't dream of you leaving." He said fervently. "If I never went another day without seeing you, I'd be a very happy man."

"Thank you." She smiled and blushed slightly. "That just leaves one option..."

"Which is?" he guessed what she was getting at, but couldn't believe she would suggest it.

"You're already semi-married to two women. I suppose you could be fully married to both of us."

"You're serious?" he raised his eyebrow.

She hesitated for a moment, then said "I am." He could feel her emotions over their bond and oddly, she did seem like she wasn't too bothered by it. Maybe a little, but not much. It was hard to tell though.

"And you're okay with this?" He asked to be sure.

"Do you see another option?" she asked.

"No, but there might be one,"

"I don't see it," she said. "I'm not going anywhere, and we can't send her away. I just don't have the heart; not after going through it myself. So if we're both staying..."

"I surprised you're suggesting that."

"Why?" She shrugged. "I mean it's not common but it certainly happens. I don't think most women would prefer being in a polygynous marriage, but they don't seem to hate it either."

"Wow, culture shock. It's been illegal for like... thousands of years where I come from."

"There aren't any laws against it here." She said. "Some of the rich nobles and lords have multiple wives since Ithlan set the precedent. It's not common, but it's definitely not rare either."

Ethan just stared at her. His fiancée had been the most jealous woman he'd ever been with. She would get upset if he had a short conversation with an attractive woman. Alana was the opposite. She wasn't jumping for joy at the idea, but still suggested it for Taloni's sake.

He cocked his head to one side.

She was the most giving, selfless person he had ever met; no exceptions. She seemed to put everyone else first and herself last. She was the one who told him to marry Beth after-

"Wait," he said. "If this was an option, why didn't you say something before I married Beth?"

Alana looked at him like he had just said that dragons were cuter and fluffier than newborn kittens. "Because Lord Borden is a Lord; don't you remember what he said on the topic?"

"Right," he nodded. Lord Borden's threat had been vague, but quite scary nevertheless.

"Besides, it didn't occur to me." She added. "I've always thought of marriage as two people spending their lives together. That's what I'd always hoped and dreamed of anyway." She looked away from him as she continued. "I... I don't want to lose you though, and I just couldn't hurt Taloni. I guess - if I had to - I could share you."

"What did I ever do to deserve you?" He asked as his jaw went slightly slack.

"Be the kind of man who'd risk his life for a complete stranger - twice - the day we met."

He smiled and offered a hug which she fell into it at once. Surprisingly, she didn't seem too upset. Her hair smelled like the forest after a spring rain.

He didn't know what to think.

There was a part of him that loved the idea of course. What red-blooded male wouldn't love the idea of sleeping with two different women? Jus the idea was enough to make the blood rush to his cock. And yet...

He sighed.

He wanted a partner in life. He wanted someone who would always have his back and whom he could trust completely; someone who would be there to celebrate the triumphs and help him through the defeats. He wanted to be the same for her. He supposed he would have to be that for two women.

He knew Alana was right. Sending Taloni away would shatter her heart into a thousand pieces. They couldn't do that to her, and he really didn't want her to leave anyway.

"About the only thing I can think of is not trying to kill the dragon," he said, but there was no conviction in his voice. "Then she wouldn't be able to come with us."

"Could you really do that?" Alana asked as she snuggled closer into the hug.

He shook his head. "No, I couldn't."

She sighed. "You're a good man Ethan-" she pulled away from the hug so she could look at him. "I just realized I don't know your last name."

He summoned his best British accent. "The name is Ejder; Ethan Ejder."

She looked confused. "Wait, Ethan is your middle name?"

He then had to explain about James Bond's famous introduction.

"You come from a strange world,"

"So do you."

They both chuckled.

Ethan looked around the small cabin trying to figure out how two wives would work. "This could get complicated."

"What?"

"I mean, with you and Taloni," he said evasively.

"Oh?" she had a sly smile on her face. "What specifically is going to be complicated?"

She was baiting him; well two could play at that game. "I meant as far as sleeping arrangements go. I mean, where will you be during my wedding night with Taloni?"

"Maybe I'd like to watch?" Alana said with a sensual and playful smile.

The moment the words left her mouth, her eyes doubled in size. She clapped a hand over her mouth, turned beet red, and turned so her back was to him. At the same time, he felt a flash of both arousal and massive embarrassment over their bond.

He was shocked, but mostly amused and curious. "Something you want to share with the whole class?"

She shook her head. "Nope; I'm good. Please forget I said that?"

"I don't know, that was pretty memorable," he said, though he regretted it as soon as he had. Their bond had been flooded with embarrassment, now it was completely subsuming any arousal she had previously felt.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Uh-huh," she nodded, though she didn't turn back around to face him. "I originally came in here to tell you that we've almost reached Arcanum."

"Okay, thanks."

She opened the door, stepped out, almost turned to look at him, but didn't. He didn't need their bond to know she was still very embarrassed. The door closed and left Ethan with one burning question.

Why was Alana turned on by the idea of watching him in bed with Taloni?

* * *

Alana wanted to find the nearest boulder and crawl under it. However, as there were no boulders on the Argo - and the whole crew was on the weather deck - she settled for going below decks. Once encased in the much dimmer light of the lower deck, she began to relax a little... but only a little.

Why had she said that?

What was wrong with her?

She wracked her brain trying to figure out where those thoughts came from, but she didn't have a clue. Women weren't supposed to be turned on by thinking about their man bedding to another woman. That was supposed to make them angry and vengeful. And yet...

And yet...

Alana shook her head trying to clear it. Unbidden, an image of Taloni laid out naked underneath Ethan came to mind. He was lovingly thrusting inside of her as she sighed and moaned in pleasure. There was a look of complete happiness and bliss on her face. The wood elf blinked trying to get it out of her head.

She didn't hate that image.

Why?

Why didn't she hate it?

Instead, she felt almost happy about it. There was a slight tinge of jealousy that she wasn't in Taloni's position, but otherwise... She covered her eyes with her hands. When had she gotten so comfortable with imagining... that?

She well recalled the first time she'd had sexual thoughts about Ethan, just before they'd left Gralden to rescue Beth. She had been nearly mortified by the idea of being intimate with anyone, especially Ethan. Now she imagined him making love to another woman and it didn't bother her much, if at all.

Well, it bothered her that it didn't bother her.

It was almost the opposite.

Somewhere deep down, she liked the idea that Ethan was so virile, so potent that she alone wasn't enough to satisfy him. She almost wanted to 'show him off' to other women; to see him take them to bed and watch him do unspeakable things to them while she waited for her turn.

The innocent wood elf alternately screwed her eyes shut and forced them wide open trying to erase the thought from her head.

It wasn't working.

She was finally distracted by a slight creak on the stairs behind her. Hailey had made it down the stairs with nary a sound and appeared to be sneaking. She glanced around and when she saw Alana, she stiffened slightly.

"Hi," Hailey said.

"Hi."

There was an awkward silence for several seconds before Hailey spoke again. "I thought you were still talking to Ethan in the captain's cabin."

She shook her head. "No, uh... I mean we were talking and uh, I sort of said something stupid and couldn't... uh."

Hailey smiled. "Lovers spat?"

"We're not lovers."

Hailey raised her eyebrow

"We're not." She said a little faster than she intended.

Hailey got a strange pained look on her face and gave Alana a smile that looked full of pain, but with a veneer of encouragement. "Look, a blind man could see you two are head over heels in love with each other. When you find something like that, you've got to hold onto it. Please, hold onto it and never let go because you never know when it'll be ripped away from you."

Hailey was trying to conceal it, but the look of anguish on her face was unmistakable.

"Are you okay?" Alana asked.

Hailey blinked a few times and turned her head away. She surreptitiously wiped a drop of moisture from the corner of her eye before responding. "I'm fine. I just don't want to see you and Ethan miss each other because of a stupid argument."

"We weren't exactly arguing."

Hailey smiled; it was still full of pain, but there was genuine happiness too. "Good. Do you love him?"

She hesitated before answering, wanting to say yes but for some reason she was almost scared to admit it

"Allow me to re-phrase," Hailey said. "Do you truly enjoy spending time with him? Do you love when your conversations start and never want them to end? Does he make you feel cherished and like you're the apple of his eye? Do you respect and admire him and feel lucky to be around him?

"Yes," Alana nodded; her heart swelling at Hailey's description.

"Then don't let him go. Trust me, you'll regret it if you do," Hailey said, and the poorly concealed pain on her face was back.

"Are you okay?" Alana asked again.

Hailey bit her lip and nodded. She couldn't have been less convincing if she tried, seeing as she was on the verge of tears.

"I know we've barely talked since you got here. But if you need an ear, I'm happy to listen," Alana said. She didn't want to pry, but Hailey looked like she needed a shoulder to cry on.

"Thanks," Hailey replied. "But I'm fine; really."

"Okay," Alana wasn't convinced, but nodded anyway because she didn't want to push. There was a slightly awkward silence for several seconds until she decided to break it. "What brings you down here anyway?"

Hailey stiffened slightly and the look of pain on her face changed to guilt. She looked at the floor and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'nothing', but she wasn't sure.

"What?"

Hailey glanced up, then looked down again before answering. "I was hoping to borrow a knife?"

"Sure, what for?"

"The market is - or at least can be - dangerous. I just wanted it for protection."

"Makes sense to me," Alana smiled and pointed to where they had stashed the weapons they'd gathered from the attack over Gralden. "They're just over there. You should find something that'll fit your needs. You're welcome to keep one of the knives too; we have plenty."

Hailey looked somewhere between ready to cry and like her birthday had come early. She looked very unsure for a few moments, then gave Alana a hug. The wood elf returned it, though was quite surprised by it.

"You are good people," Hailey said. "I'm sor- I... thank you."

"You're welcome," Alana said, and gave her a little extra squeeze in the hug.

"Please, don't let Ethan go," Hailey said after they had separated. "You'll never forgive yourself if you do. My advice, jump his bones before we touch down in Arcanum."

"What do you mean by 'jump his bones'?"

"You know, do the nasty? Polish his knob? Make the beast with two backs?" Hailey suggested each in turn. Alana was sure her confusion was written all over her face.

Hailey sighed. "You do know how babies are made right?"

Suddenly, all of Hailey's euphemisms made sense. "I would never! We may be bonded but we aren't married."

"Seriously? You won't let him taste of your forbidden fruits without a ring?"

"Certainly not!" Alana replied, remembering that they gave rings in marriage where he was from. "What kind of loose woman do you take me for?"

"Obviously not one who'll get laid," Hailey said. "Whatever, just don't let him slip out of your fingers. Trust me; you'll never forgive yourself."

And with that, she walked off towards the stash of weapons. Alana was left wondering what had happened to Hailey to make her so insistent on not letting go of the people you love.

That in turn made Alana wonder if she was right.

* * *

As a red-blooded male, Ethan had of course thought about what it would be like to have a threesome before. However, he had never seriously thought it would be a possibility until Alana had dropped a bomb.

Now, he was trying to focus on anything else. It turns out one of the downsides of being a dragon and walking around naked all day, was that there were no clothes to hide it when you got a boner. It wasn't a problem right now because he was alone in the captain's cabin, but he could definitely see it becoming an issue soon.

Instead of concentrating on that topic - as much as the primal part of his brain wanted to - he turned to other tasks. Specifically, he focused on trying to get an electricity-based magical attack to work.

It wasn't going well.

He figured that he needed to collect electrons in order to discharge them as electricity. Since electrons are negatively charge, he figure he needed to make himself positively charged to collect them. The trouble was, he had no idea how to do it. He tried several times to just by feel, but didn't notice a difference. Alana had said dragons learned magic instinctively, but he didn't see any evidence of it.

After nearly an hour of trying, he finally gave up. He had used a decent chunk of his mana trying, and it didn't seem to produce any results. He hadn't been able to produce so much as a static electric shock.

Eventually, someone knocked at the door of the captain's cabin. Fortunately, he'd been preoccupied long enough that he was no longer displaying his cock to the world.

"Come in."

The door opened and Rachel's flame colored hair poked around it. "I just thought you'd want to know we've docked. Hailey offered to guide us through the market, and Anthiel convinced Raklan to haul it back."

"Convinced?"

Rachel smiled. "I won't lie, it was entertaining to watch."

"Alright, I'll be out in a minute."

Rachel slipped in and closed the door behind her before speaking again. "And keep an eye on Hailey. I don't know exactly what's going on with her, but I would keep her close.

"I will."

She nodded then left, closing the door behind her.

His mind drifted back to Alana. At the end of the day, he just felt better when she was around. He loved her company, her smile, her sense of humor and the way her nose crinkled when she laughed. Plus, she was beautiful. But more than that, she had a truly good heart. She seemed to truly care about everyone. That made him smile whenever he thought about her.

Of course, he also liked Taloni but certainly not the same way. She possessed a youthful innocence and curiosity. Despite her slavery, she had a joy about her that just made him - and everyone else - happy to be around her.

However, if he had to pick between them it would be Alana; no question. He wanted her to know how much he cared for the wood elf, especially if he would end up being married to both of them.

He had a strong feeling that Taloni would want to be married the moment they set her free. That being the case, he needed to make it clear to Alana before they fought the dragon. Since they were about to collect the last gunpowder ingredient, it would probably be soon.

But what to do?

He had a couple ideas, but needed to bounce them off someone who knew the world and culture, which probably meant Rachel. Groaning at the fact that she had just left, He resolved to talk to her soon, but concentrate on getting the saltpeter for now.

A few minutes later, Ethan - with the disguise gem activated - joined Alana, Hailey, Rachel, and Raklan on the Argo's gangplank ready to disembark. It was late afternoon. The sun had already started to get low in the sky and cast long shadows red-ish shadows.

The weather deck of the Argo was hovering a few feet above the level of the ground. The lower mast and most of the ship's hull were settled in a long slot built for the purpose of docking airships.

All around them, the hustle and bustle of the dock was evident. Muscular men with tattoos and foul language were walking - or in some case drunkenly staggering - around everywhere. Most of them were carrying bags or rolling barrels to and from the various airships. Scattered among the manual laborers were better dressed gentlemen overseeing operations, and more than a few of them were elves.

There was no shortage of horses pulling carts and therefore a lot of horse droppings to avoid. Overall, it looked like a typical movie portrayal of naval docks from the Age of Sail on earth.

Ethan was just about to step onto the gangplank to wade into the sea of people when he realized something. "How are we going to pay for this?"