A Dragon's Tale Ch. 24

She shrugged. "He's a bit stern and a little fanatical, but he keeps the peace well and isn't a cruel tyrant."

"But he's backed by a dragon." Elder Goman countered. "Would you really see a dragon -- especially this black dragon -- ruling by proxy, or even having a say over what Lord Delmar decides?"

"I see your point." Kendra shuddered, then she realized what they were getting at and laughed. "You think Ethan could fight him? Seriously? He nearly died the last time he met a Drago. What makes you think he stands a chance against Lord Delmar and this black dragon?"

Kossel and Goman sat up straighter and exchanged a worried glance.

"He's already met a Drago?" The Luminar grimaced.

"Who?" The Arch mage asked.

"Kyrupto."

Both men breathed a sigh of relief.

"At least it was one of the weaker, kinder Dragos." The Arch mage said, relief in his tone.

"Weaker? Kinder?" Kendra's jaw dropped.

Kossel nodded. "Yes. Not the weakest certainly, but far from the strongest. Likely not as strong as the black dragon."

Kendra had heard the stories of what Dragos were like and thought Kyrupto fit them perfectly. It sent shivers down her spine to think of a dragon that was even more powerful. It was equally disturbing to think of a more powerful Drago with a less pleasant disposition; Kyrupto certainly hadn't been a ball of sunshine.

"Kendra, I think Illuminar has been preparing you for this your whole life." Luminar Kossel mused. "You are uniquely qualified to help Ethan against this threat, and your assistance could mean the difference between victory and defeat."

"Well, it'll be defeat then." She replied matter-of-factly. "Imight stop hunting him if his story checks out, but I'm a long way from helping him."

No soon had the words left her lips then she realized they weren't true. She'd already helped him; twice. She'd helped in the fight against Havorleth by shooting the larger dragon, and again the previous night by suggesting that Ethan enchant himself to be faster with better reflexes before increasing his strength or the hardness of his scales. Plus, just the previous night she'd realized that she wouldn't be able to continue hunting him for Taloni's sake.

"I mean, maybe he isn't as bad as other dragons, but he's no saint. I'd sooner wed a necromancer than help a dragon. It's okay if he doesn't die, but I'm certainly not going to help him."

The two elder men exchanged an amused, knowing glance.

"What?" She asked.

"Methinks the lady doth protest too much." Luminar Kossel said, and it sounded like he was quoting something.

"Huh?"

"It's from his world; a playwright named 'Shakespeare'." Elder Goman explained.

Kendra rolled her eyes.

Luminar Kossel just smiled. "It's wonderful to see you starting to loosen up Kendra; I haven't seen you show this much emotion since that time with that amethyst--"

"Hey!" She said sharply to stop him from starting that highly embarrassing story. Amethyst was by far her favorite gemstone and color, but that was not a story that she wanted told.

He was right about her showing her emotions though. She had been letting them show far more than she ever had, at least since starting her training. She took a deep calming breath and remembering that training, then let the emotion flow out of her face and body language.

It wouldn't do let these things show.

Not now anyway.

"And now she tries to conceal her feelings." Elder Goman chuckled. "Go, finish investigating his story and find out what he's really like. I'll lay odds you join his cause before the season is out."

"I'd say a month or less." Kossel countered.

"I'm not going to." Kendra said firmly.

They ignored her.

"The usual bet?" The Luminar asked.

"Of course." The arch mage replied.

"Guys, I'm not joining him."

"Of course you aren't." Elder Goman said dismissively. "Now, run along and keep confirming his story. I have a bottle of mulled wine riding on you holding out past the end of the month."

She glared at them.

* * *

"Yeah, this is all very doable." Alana said as she held Rachel's dress. She had been pretty sure it was, but not entirely sure until the redhead had handed it to her. She could now feel the fibers and ascertain how much of an enchantment they could take. It was high enough quality to hold a self-cleaning and self-repairing enchantment, but nothing else that would be useful.

"Good." Rachel replied, but there was a bit of hesitancy in her tone.

"You don't want me to?"

"No, I do. It's just..." The redhead looked pensive. That wasn't unusual, but she also looked conflicted and more than a little unsure of herself; neither of which were natural looks for her.

The mage looked at her. "Have I changed?"

"Changed how?"

"I don't know?" She shrugged. "In any way? Especially the last week or so."

"Hmm, what happened a week ago?" Alana asked trying to remember.

"We made grenades and Havorleth ambushed us in the evening."

"Wow. That was only a week ago?" She sighed. "It feels like so much longer. You know, I've only been married for..." She counted it out. "...ten days."

"Wow." Rachel nodded. "It feels like a lot longer."

"It does." The wood elf nodded. "I don't know that you've changed in the past week though."

"Really? No change?"

"Well, I was a bit surprised that you agreed to help get payback on Ethan's ex-fiancé." She admitted. "That might've been a bit out of character."

"Hmm." Rachel nodded, but didn't say anything.

"And you snapped at Ethan yesterday; that was really surprising. But other than that, no. What kind of change are you worried about?"

"Who said I was worried?"

The wood elf raised her eyebrow.

"Okay." Rachel nodded. "I'm worried that I'm changing and I don't like why."

"Why?"

"I..." The redhead hesitated. "I'd rather not say if that's okay."

Alana felt a tiny bit disappointed, but tried not to let it show. "Of course it's okay; you don't have to tell me anything."

Rachel hesitated a second longer, then cocked her head to one side. "So, me wearing this dress isn't out of character?"

"Of course not. It's... Hmm." Now that she thought about it, the wood elf didn't think she'd ever seen the redhead in a dress. Beth, Taloni, and Anthiel yes, but not Rachel. She had always worn pants and a blouse. She didn't look un-feminine, but dresses were rather out of character for her.

"Okay, so maybe it's a bit out of character for you to wear a dress." Alana admitted. "Why did you put it on this morning?"

"You'll think it's stupid." Rachel chuckled nervously, which again was very out-of-character for her.

"I won't."

"I wanted to look pretty." The redhead admitted, averting her eyes.

"That's not silly at all!" Alana beamed. "I feel that way all the time. Mostly because I want to look pretty for Ethan, but still."

Rachel flicked her eyes in Alana's direction, and she looked like a kid who'd been caught with her hand in the sweet roll tin. She looked...

Vulnerable.

Even guilty.

"Wait, you didn't..." Alana trailed off. "Did you?"

Rachel bit her lip and looked down, letting her hair partially conceal her face from view. The wood elf felt her heart leap in her chest, just before it swelled to about ten times its normal size. She had known that Rachel was attracted to Ethan, but for her to do this? For her to dress up for him; that was unprecedented.

Alana walked up to her friend and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Rachel, there's nothing wrong with wanting to look pretty. Nothing at all."

"But I feel like I've changed. I feel like I'm... I'm less 'me' than I was before. I would've never done that before."

"And that bothers you?" Alana asked.

"It wouldn't bother you?"

She shook her head. "No, not at all."

"Why?" The redhead's question was almost pleading.

"Because changing your clothes doesn't mean you've changed who you are."

"Doesn't it though?" Rachel countered. "That's something I never would've done before."

"If you got married in the future, would you like it your future husband did things for you -- things he wouldn't normally do -- just because you like them?"

"Yeah." Rachel admitted. "But I wouldn't want him to change who he is."

Alana resisted the urge to laugh. "You've heard Ethan say that most people will become like the five people they spend the most time around right?"

She nodded.

"Do you agree?"

Again she nodded. "Yeah, it makes sense."

"So you're going to change no matter who you're around right? You're going to change to be more like them. It's elven nature -- human too -- so why not chose to be around someone who you want to be more like?"

"I suppose I can't escape changing because I'maround someone." Rachel admitted. "I just don't want to changefor someone."

Alana grinned. "Someone like Ethan?"

Rachel hesitated a moment, sighed, and then nodded. "It just seems like a lot to ask. It seems really unfair. He gets all of you, he sleeps with all of you, he gets all of you focusing on him and changing for him, while you all get.... what? What could you possibly get that's worth all that?"

Rachel looked at her almost accusingly, as if daring her to disagree. The wood elf just smiled back, letting the joy that she felt show in every aspect of her being. She touched her hand to her womb and then grinned broadly at her best friend.

"I'm happy."

"Oh." The redhead seemed to deflate slightly as she looked down. "I'm not sure I could be happy living like that."

Alana wanted to gently grab her friend and shake her until she just admitted that she was in love with Ethan and wanted to marry him too. She didn't think that would help -- much less be something a good friend would do -- so she resisted though.

"Think about it like this." She finally said and then gestured to the dress. "You like feeling pretty right?"

"Yeah." Rachel admitted.

"And the dress makes you feel pretty?"

"Yeah."

"Then why wouldn't you wear it?" The wood elf pointed out. "Isn'tnot wearing the dress because Ethan likes it on you changing just as muchwearing it because he likes it on you?"

"You make a good point." The beautiful teen conceded.

"So then, why don't you just wear the dress because it makes you feel pretty?"

"Okay." Rachel smiled. "That's a good idea; I'm going to do that. The fact that Ethan called me beautiful while wearing it isn't the reason, it's just a nice bonus."

"Of course." Alana replied, but couldn't keep a knowing smile off her face.

Rachel gave her a look and then rolled her eyes. "I promise I'm wearing it for me, not for Ethan."

"Uh-huh." The wood elf replied, purposely not trying to hide her skepticism. "Now, let's go up on deck where the lighting is good. He'll be able to see you better up there." She with a wink.

Rachel gave her another look, but smiled anyway.

* * *

Kendra managed to control herself as she walked through Arcanum towards the docks. Kossel had been right; she was letting her emotions show a little too much lately. She needed to reign it in, and going to see her old teacher was great motivation. That is, assuming his airship was still docked in the Arcanum docks.

It was.

The Midnight Sun looked much as it ever had. The navy blue paint had faded, but was in good shape otherwise. The rigging looked like it had seen better days, but was still strong. The man himself was much that way.

"Kendra." Falkaan nodded to her as she stepped onto the gangplank. "Welcome back. How was the information hunt?"

"I'm... I'm not sure." She replied honestly.

The dark elf motioned her onto the ship with his right hand, his left sleeve ending at the elbow to match his arm which ended in the same place. He wore his trademark black tricorn hat and sailor's coat. He also looked tired. Not like he could use a nap, but world weary.

"Let's talk below." He said, nodding towards the door to the lower decks.

A few minutes later, Kendra had a glass of mead in her hands and was sitting around a small oak table with her former mentor.

"That's quite a story." He said when she'd finished giving him the short version of what she'd personally seen since they last talked, when he advised her to follow the dragon to see what he was like. She ended it just before Ethan recounting his own story.

"Yeah."

"And that must've been some hug for you to risk facing a Drago." He added with an appraising look.

She sighed. "Am I that obvious?"

"Not usually, but lately..." He took a sip of his mead. "Lately you've become a lot less controlled. Less rigid and more...."

"Emotional?" She suggested, remember the talk with Kossel and Goman.

He shook his head. "Human."

She raised her eyebrow.

"You know that in our line of work, you need to be more than human -- or elven in my case -- to survive. It takes discipline the likes of which few possess, and you're losing that discipline."

"I am?"

He nodded. "You've sighed twice since you arrived and I've never seen you get so emotional as when you mentioned that hug. You're trying to hide it, but you just aren't anymore."

"Shit." She said and then took a sip of her mead.

"If I might be frank, you were never cut out for this work. Never. You've mastered all the skills, but the personality..." He frowned. "It takes a certain detachment to survive very long in our profession, and you've always struggled with that."

"You're not wrong." She nodded. "I'd love to change that, to find a real connection, but I'm afraid that's hard to find."

"How did this dragon find it?" Falkaan asked.

Kendra gave him a brief synopsis of the story Ethan had told her, stopping at the point where they reach Arcanum, just before Lord Borden's daughter was killed.

"What happened in that alley?" She asked.

"The men I hired decided that they'd make more money ransoming Lord Delmar's daughter than collecting the bounty on the dragon." He replied. "I had as much control over them as the dragon did at that point. From my vantage point, it looked like he provoked them."

"He said his 'dragon side sort of took over'." She said. "Does that make any sense?"

"If you accept in the impossibility of a man inhabiting a dragon's body, then sure; anything is possible." He said evenly. She couldn't tell what he thought, and she never had been able to unless he wanted her to know. Apparently, he didn't right now.

"Hmm." He mused. "There did seem to be a rather abrupt change in behavior. That's all I can say for certain." He looked at her. "And the rest of his story?"

Kendra gave him a short-ish version, but her mind was preoccupied. There was only one other person that she could think of who could confirm other parts of Ethan's story, but she wasn't looking forward to making a trip to Gralden.

"Kendra." Falkaan said, shaking her out of her reverie.

"Sorry, I was just planning the next leg of my trip."

"Gralden?"

She nodded.

"You're getting out of the game." He said matter-of-factly.

"What?"

"The look in your eyes; I've seen it before. You're getting out of the game, out of the life. Just be careful. The past doesn't always let go easily and with a past like yours... watch your back."

"I wasn't planning to get out. I was planning to keep hunting freelance once I'm done verifying Ethan's story."

Faalkan smiled. "And now it's 'Ethan'. Not 'the dragon', not 'he', and certainly not 'it' as it was less than two weeks ago. Don't deny that this fellow has made a profound impact on you and the way you see dragons"

"I won't, but one good dragon--" She stopped herself. "One notentirely evil dragon doesn't mean that the rest aren't from Saidow himself. As long as there are dragons, I'll have work. And there are other targets to hunt as well."

He stared at her for several seconds. She could tell he was pondering something, but had no idea what he was thinking.

"No." He shook his head. "No, you won't. I know that you think you will, but when you get to be my age you recognize the signs. I'm glad you're getting out. Of all the people I've trained, you were always the most likely to escape."

"You talk as if I'm already gone."

"Aren't you?" He took another sip of his mead and let that hang in the air.

"You're not wrong about one thing; I'd like to be." She admitted.

"Finish confirming the dragon's story Kendra." He advised. "I have a sneaking suspicion that when you do, things might start to line up for you."

Kendra nodded; his intuition was rarely wrong.

* * *

Hailey hadn't felt this wonderful in four years. She had slept perfectly. Not merely 'good', not 'great', not even 'incredible'. She had slept perfectly. She owed that all to the man who was very quietly and very softly snoring in her ear.

She smiled.

He wasn't very loud, but was just loud enough to be slightly annoying. She'd given him crap about his snoring for years, but right now it was the best sound she could possibly hear. They were both laying exactly as they had fallen asleep, spooning with his arms around her. She sighed contentedly and snuggled closer to him.

He made a grumbly sound and pulled her closer.

Hailey's heart felt full.

She knew their situation wasn't ideal. She knew they were basically imprisoned and might be there for a long time if their captors didn't keep their word. However, right now she didn't care. Right now, everything was perfect. Jason made another grumbly sound in his sleep and then mumbled something she couldn't understand. She had missed that.

He made an appreciative sound and then got slightly more handsy. His fingers started roaming around her body, cupping her breast and feeling her sides. That's when Hailey felt something that she hadn't felt in a very long time. Years of living in constant fear had all but killed her libido. Now, with Jason's hands roaming over her body, that familiar itch between her legs began to creep back.

She moaned softly, unable to stop herself despite knowing that they weren't alone.

Jason made another appreciative noise and then mumbled. "Mels."

Hailey froze.

Did he just say that?

While he was snuggling with her?

She didn't know what to think. Did that mean he loved Mels? Of course he did, but why did he call her name when he was snuggled with her? Was it just habit? She had been gone for several years so maybe it was that?

Those thoughts and a dozen others chased themselves around her head for several seconds before she heard the other cot creak. The cell was almost perfectly quiet, aside from four people breathing. You could almost hear a pin drop. She heard someone walking over and the Latina woman herself came into view and crouched down in front of Hailey.

Her friend smiled faintly and whispered. "He would called your name in his sleep too."

Hailey felt her heart soar. "He did?"

The other woman nodded. "Most nights for as long as I can remember. It sometimes made me wonder..."

"He really loves you Mels." Hailey whispered, aware of the irony of her saying that while Jason's arms were wrapped around her and them having just spent the night sleeping side-by-side.

"Yeah... yeah he does." Melinda smiled.

It was a true, genuine smile.

Maybe it was because of their talk the previous night, or maybe it was because Jason had whispered her name while holding Hailey, but the Latina woman seemed much more at ease. Something had definitely changed. The worried woman from last night seemed to have given way to the calm, content woman in front of her. Something had apparently calmed most of her friend's fears.

That's when Hailey knew it was going to be okay; when she knew that somehow she and Melinda could work this out. And in that spirit, she decided to offer an olive branch.

"Switch?" Hailey offered.

Melinda smiled even wider. "Really?"