A Dragon's Tale Ch. 23

"So here's the deal." Yvonne said to Hailey. "You tell us about the world, what it's like and especially anything that might pose a threat, and then you and your friends can go home." She indicated Jason and Melinda. "We don't even care about that Ethan fellow, just the world."

That's when it hit Selene: they were playing 'good cop, bad cop' at a whole other level.

This was next-level interrogation.

Suddenly it all made sense. Smithbond had wanted Selene to intervene. He had wanted to beat her mercilessly so Hailey would see what he could do, so the threat against Melinda would be more effective. Then by making Yvonne come in bossing him around, he'd made it seem like 'the boss' was not only against this, but also infuriated by it. Having Gonorran heal them was a masterful stroke, putting them both in Yvonne's debt. And her saying she didn't want to hear about Ethan was the final straw to get her to speak with as little resistance as possible.

As this realization washed over her, she realized that Smithbond wasn't cowed by Yvonne at all.

He was probably behind this.

The only question was if they were telling the truth about letting the three civilians go when this was all done. She caught Smithbond's eye, glanced at them, then back at him and raised her eyebrow.

He nodded.

She hoped he was telling the truth about letting them go afterwards because Hailey was the next to speak.

"Okay, what do you want to know?"

* * *

Ethan watched the dragon huntress like hawk. She seemed unbothered by his explanation of CPR, but she was certainly very wary. She hadn't taken her eyes off of any of them since the moment she'd stepped foot on the Argo. Her arms were down and casual, but he could tell that behind the relaxed stance she was ready to explode into action.

There was at least fifty feet between them, as neither side was comfortable getting too close. She stood nearer to the bow of the ship where her own canoe-sized airship was docked to the Argo. Meanwhile, he and his wives stood near the entrance to the captain's cabin. This wasn't on accident, as he wanted his wives to be able to duck out of danger at a moment's notice.

He wasn't take chances.

Not with Kendra.

"So, you're saying it's not Illuminar's power that let you raise people from the dead, but some kind of... Science?" She looked skeptical.

Rachel nodded. "It sounds silly, but it's true."

Kendra frowned.

She seemed to do that a lot.

*Master, do you see what I meant about her being lonely?* Taloni asked tentatively while their guest seemed to mull things over.

*Not really.* He replied, not taking his eyes off the dragon huntress.

*I wish you could see it master.*

He glanced at his Fey bride and she had a slightly mournful look in her lilac eyes. He looked back at Kendra and tried to see what his Fey wife was saying. The dragon huntress looked like a predator. That was really all he could see. She was alert and primed for battle, her hands never straying far from her sword. She looked relaxed, but coiled like a serpent ready to strike.

He looked at her face, trying to gauge what was going on.

Her hair was jet black and fell down nearly straight, with just a hint of wave. Her skin was tanned like she'd spent a lot time in the sun, and yet it didn't look leathery or damaged. Her deep brown eyes were alert and cautious, darting to each of the Argo's crew in turn.

Her eyes seemed cold and hard; a warrior's eyes that offered no remorse, pity or mercy.

Then their eyes met

For the briefest moment, their eyes met and he saw something else flash in them. It was so fast that without his dragon enhanced reflexes he might've missed it. For an instant, her eyes looked less calculating and more... more... lonely? They were like a deep pool in the midst of the desert. The moment passed so quickly that he couldn't tell what she was feeling.

Hmm.

"Okay, so let's cut the bullshit." He said, deciding to try getting a straight answer. "You were trying to kill me, now you're merely following me and watching everything we do."

Kendra shrugged. He took that as a "Yes".

"The question is why?" You seemed to have stopped trying to kill me after I saved your life the second time, so why."

"It wasn't because you saved me." Kendra replied quietly.

"Then why?"

Kendra averted her eyes for one moment. Just an instant, but it was the first time she'd taken them off of one of the Argo's crew, and for some reason that seemed significant.

"Why Kendra?" He asked again.

"Because of her." Kendra said, pointed to Alana.

"Me?" His elven bride looked surprised. "What did I do?"

"It was the way he acted towards you." The dragon huntress clarified. "I've never seen a dragon be protective towards someone like that. Ever."

"Oh." Rachel said with a smile. "You've been following us to see what he's really like; to see if he's like other dragons."

Kendra nodded mutely.

"Then how about this." Ethan offered, glancing at the setting sun. "Join us for dinner here on the Argo."

Kendra stiffened, suddenly suspicious.

"You don't need to eat." He added. "Let us tell you our story. I'm guessing you've only heard Lord Delmar's version and the pack of lies he's been selling about us. Let us tell you our side of the story and you can judge for yourself."

"I have no way of knowing if you were telling the truth." She countered.

"And you know Lord Delmar is?" He raised his eyebrow. "If politicians here are anything like where I'm from, I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him, even if he wasn't trying to kill us."

Kendra made a thoughtful noise, and inclined her head slightly in concession.

"Please Kendra?" Taloni asked. "You don't have to believe us, but please at least hear us out?"

The dragon huntress stared at them for nearly a whole minute. She looked at all of them several times, her gaze landing on his Fey wife more often than the others.

She looked torn.

Finally, she sat down on the deck, placing her legs so she could spring up at a moment's notice. Then she looked at them again and spoke.

"I'm listening."

TO BE CONTINUED...

***It feels good to be back. ^_^ The personal situation that delayed this chapter got somewhat resolved, or at least enough that I've been able to get my writing back on track. Thank you all for the well-wishes. I should be back to my usual last Fri/Sat of the month release schedule. As always, if you don't see a new chapter then you can check my profile page for updates.***

***P.S. If you're looking for something to read until next month, you might consider: "AnimeCon Harem" by Literotica user "FortySixtyFour". It's clever, moving in some parts, and downright bonkers in others.***

STORY TAGS: dragon, magic, medieval, elf, teen, romance, virgin, harem, cuckquean