A Dragon's Tale Ch. 29

The Dragon huntress didn't say a word as she piloted the airship upwards and aimed it towards their destination. He'd done his best to communicate the location based on directions previously relayed from Anthiel through Alana and Beth. Kendra knew the area well enough that she didn't need anything more to get them aimed in the right direction.

Before long, Kendra had deployed the sails and they were off.

As they sailed away, Taloni breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Please, let's never get captured again."

"Hear, hear." Ethan agreed. "Though, it did give us some serious loot. I'm just surprised there wasn't a boss at the end of that dungeon."

Everyone stared.

"It's a video game thing; never mind." He said. He sometimes missed Hailey, who would get all his Earth references.

Rachel made an amused noise, then gently bumped him with her elbow. "It's almost like a Sydrusian when you're playing a game of finescharwtz."

"Huh." He said as his two wives started laughing. Even Kendra cracked a smile.

"I have no idea what any of that meant." He admitted.

"That's how we often feel." Taloni said through her laughter.

"Fair point." He chuckled.

* * *

Beth thought the food was really quite good. She was half-expecting some kind of gruel that she would have to choke down politely, but quite the opposite was the case. While the stew wasn't the best she'd ever had -- her father's cook was amazing -- it was pretty close. She would've never guessed that such high quality cuisine would be found in a small outpost like this.

"Is it good?" The innkeeper's daughter asked a few minutes after they'd been served.

"It's delicious!" Alana said. "The food on the Argo is decent, but this is something else."

The girl beamed.

"How did you season it?" Beth asked, her curiosity getting the best of her.

They talked about spices for a few minutes before the girl's father came up looking grumpy. "Damnit girl, not only are sitting with guests, but you're serving ones who haven't paid and we can't afford that." He turned to Alana and Beth. "You're freeloading there. So I'm gonna throw you out unless you cough up some coin."

"Father, these are--" Sarah began, but he cut her off.

"Two more people who took advantage of you." He said shaking his head. "You can't let people take advantage of you like that."

"Actually, she wanted to offer us a meal to thank us and was being incredibly sweet." Alana interjected cooly.

"Thank you for what?" The innkeeper scoffed.

"My name is Alana Ejder, called dragon-bride." She said both proudly and icily.

He blinked. "What?"

"You heard her." Beth said, then added. "And I am Elizabeth Ejder, daughter of Lord Borden and wife of Ethan Ejder; the dragon who's currently known as a prophet of Illuminar."

The innkeeper scoffed and then turned to Sarah. "You see girl, people will spin all sorts of stories and you can't just believe everything you hear."

"She didn't." Selene interjected. "I've met the dragon before and these two are indeed his wives."

The innkeeper's tone changed instantly. "I'm so sorry M'ladies; I had no idea. Any Lord's daughter is welcome here, and so are the wives of a prophet. Eat as much as you like; it's on the house."

"Excuse me miss." A man said from a nearby table. "Did you say you are wed to the dragon? Did you mean the dragon who fought in the Arena? Who wielded lightning and raised the dead?"

"I did."

"Well met good lady." The man stood, a wide smile breaking out as he bowed to her. "Your husband is... Well, it's good to hear of a prophet of Illuminar in these dark times. I'd like to buy you a drink."

"Wait, did you say those two there are wives of the dragon?" Someone called from a further table.

"I did good man." The first man replied.

There were half a dozen men in the inn, and all stood up and came over to them almost immediately. They were then bombarded with questions about everything under the sun that pertained to the dragon. Every single one of them seemed genuinely interested and grateful for the dragon, despite him never having visited Ivernia.

It was a strange experience, but Beth didn't exactly mind.

* * *

Ethan yawned as the night grew darker and the stars came out in full force. It was a beautiful night and not too cold. Rachel had been sitting next to him and just gently leaning up against him. She seemed in an odd mood and wasn't very talkative, but was clearly enjoying being close to him. Every once in a while she would look at him with her big blue eyes. Unlike most of the time he'd known her, there was some vulnerability in her eyes when she did. It seemed like she'd let her walls down a bit around him.

It was good to see.

"What's up?" He asked as she did this again.

She made a thoughtful sound, then rested her head on his shoulder. "Nothing much, I just..." She looked at him again. "I'm really glad we're bonded."

"Really?"

"Yeah." She said contentedly, then rested her head on his shoulder again.

"Me too." He touched the top of her head with his own head and sighed contentedly. He checked their bond and he could finally feel her a bit. Not as clearly as his other wives of course because they'd only bonded recently, but he could finally feel her.

He sighed contentedly.

Not long after he started to get hungry and Kendra pulled out some dried food. Mostly it was some kind of jerky, dried fruit, and nuts. The jerky had a bit of flavor, but everything was a bit bland. It was filling enough though. Everyone mostly ate in silence, which was unusual for them. On the Argo, there was plenty of talking and laughing as they ate. He supposed the relative silence now might be because of Kendra, but wasn't sure that was the real reason.

They all sat mostly silently after dinner too.

"Um, Rachel, can I talk to you?" Taloni finally asked.

"Sure." The redhead replied.

The Fey turned to Ethan and Kendra. "Would you mind if I switched places with Ethan?"

The dragon huntress frowned; The Fey doing so would put Ethan and Kendra right next to each other.

"Please?" Taloni asked again, her wings fluttering slightly as she did so.

"Okay." Kendra nodded.

The dragon and the Fey switched places, and he found himself standing over the dragon huntress for a moment.

"Do you mind?" He indicated the space next to her.

She casually rested her hand on the pommel of her sword. "Be my guest."

He sat down as she scooched as far away from him as the limited space would allow.

It was awkward.

Very awkward.

He thought back to their last conversation on an airship and figured he shouldn't be surprised. He shrugged and resolved not to let it bother him. On the other side of the airship, Taloni and Rachel were whispering away. He considered asking about what, but figured he'd let them talk. They both glanced over at him occasionally before looking away again.

Eventually, he could see Taloni's eyes begin to droop. She laid down and Rachel joined her as they continued their whispered conversation until he heard both of their breathing patterns change as they fell asleep.

"She did that on purpose." He said a few minutes after his wives had dropped off to sleep. He was sitting next to Kendra and would be for the rest of the evening, which no doubt had been the Fey's intention.

"Yeah, she did." Kendra agreed.

He turned and looked at her. Kendra was a strange woman to classify. She had jet black hair that fell mostly straight with just the barest hint of wave. It was shorter than his other wives, only coming down to maybe her armpit. She often had it tied back in a ponytail, but right now it was loose. If he was honest with himself, she wasn't unattractive.

She was fit but not super petite, and her body was slender and toned. Her skin was a bit darker, and he guessed part of that was the sun. Her skin tone reminded him of Hailey's Latina friend Melinda. She stood perhaps 5' 5", only a bit shorter than Rachel, but wasn't quite as well endowed. She sort of had a 'girl next door' look which made her easy to miss at a glance.

"What?" Kendra asked with a sigh.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I think I trust you enough to fall asleep here and be reasonably confident I won't wake up with a sword through my heart."

"If I was going to do something, you wouldn't wake up." Her tone was serious, but the corner of her mouth twitched upwards ever-so-slightly.

"Why Kendra, was that a bit of friendly banter?"

She shrugged. "Call it whatever you want."

He nodded and laid back. Her airship really hadn't been designed for comfort and it took a moment find a position where something wasn't poking him in the back. He laid there looking up at the stars, which made him think of a conversation with Alana long ago.

*Hey, I was just looking at the stars.* He thought to her.

*Oh?* She replied, though she sounded distracted.

*Yeah. Are you busy?*

*Sort of. Apparently you're a folk hero around here and everyone wanted to know about you the minute they found out I'm your wife.*

*Interesting.* He laughed.

"What?" Kendra asked from beside him.

"I'm just talking with Alana." He explained, then turned his mind towards his first wife. *Everything going well?*

*Yeah. Selene was working at the inn and wanted to finish the evening before leaving. We should be heading out soon.*

*Good; I can't wait to see you.*

*Me either.* She sent him some warm feelings of affection, which he returned.

He sighed and looked up again, and it took him a moment to notice that Kendra was staring slightly.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothing." She shook her head.

He propped himself up on his elbows. "As Taloni would probably say: you don't have to tell me what's wrong, but please don't pretend nothing is wrong if something is wrong."

"She would say that." Kendra nodded.

There was a long silence, then she made a noise like she was about to saying something, then didn't.

He shrugged, laid back down and closed his eyes.

A few minutes later, she finally spoke. It was in a slightly rush tone when she did, like she was forcing herself to say something. "What's it like?"

He opened his eyes and turned his head towards her to ask what she meant, then he caught the look in her eyes. It reminded him of that absolutely soul-crushing loneliness he'd felt from her when they'd bonded. He thought about her question for a moment, trying to figure out a way to describe his incredible marriages to someone who'd never even had a romantic relationship before.

It was hard.

"When you were little, did your parents ever tuck you into bed and kiss you good night?" He finally asked.

She nodded, and she put on a brave face but he could tell it was painful to think of them.

"It's like that; that feeling of being perfectly safe, warm, and loved, only all the time."

"Oh." She replied, her voice cracking slightly.

She blinked her eyes a few times and then looked away, followed by a slight long shuddering breath. That was followed by a few deep breaths that he recognized as someone trying to get control of themselves.

He wanted to kick himself for feeling bad for her. She'd attacked them several times. She'd even attacked Alana right before the fight with Havorleth. He well remembered the panic he'd felt when the wood elf hadn't answered his mental call and the frantic fighting to get to her and make sure she was okay. Kendra had done that and much more. If he had an ounce of sense, he'd harden his heart and let her feel bad...

...and yet.

He frowned.

And yet.

"Kendra, if there's anything I can do to help, let me know." He said softly.

She turned and looked at him, confusion written all over her face. "Why? Why would you say that?"

"I'm old fashioned I suppose; I don't like to see a woman cry."

"I'm not crying." She said a little defensively.

"And if I can help keep it that way, let me know." He said kindly.

She still looked as confused as hell, but nodded.

He laid back and closed his eyes, thinking about what life must be like for her. The brief glimpse he'd seen made it seem like she'd spent many months, maybe years, alone on this tiny airship. Before that she hadn't been able to trust anyone, and before that she'd been an orphan.

Several minutes later, he felt the boards under him shift.

He looked over to see that Kendra had laid down next to him. As far away as possible given the small space, but next to him. She had her arms crossed and was determinedly looking in the opposite direction.

"If you ever hurt any of them, I'll hunt you down, skin you alive, and wear your pelt as trophy." She said sulkily, which sort of ruined the effect of the threat. It sounded more comical than like a warning.

He almost chuckled. "Do you really think I would?"

She hesitated and then shook her head, still looking away from him. "No."

"You said 'them'. I assumed that means more than just Taloni now?"

Kendra made a thoughtful sound but didn't reply.

A few more minutes passed before either of them spoke again. This time it was the dragon huntress, who seemed pensive. "I still don't like you very much, but they seem to like you."

"Well, 'don't like' is a step up from 'trying like hell to kill'."

She turned to look at him. "What's a 'hell'?"

"It's... it's just swearing for emphasis." He finally said, not feeling like explaining the concept.

She nodded, made a thoughtful sound, and then turned away from him again.

"Night." He said.

"You touch me while I'm sleeping and I'll cut your head off." She said grumpily, though she didn't seem very angry with him.

"Sweet dreams Kendra."

She grumbled something in return that didn't sound wholly unpleasant.

He felt a small smile creep onto his face.

Interesting.

* * *

Selene noticed that it was later than usual when all of the inn's patrons finally headed to bed. They had seemed slightly awed at meeting the wood elf and the blonde because of their connection to the dragon. Many had asked for questions and stories, but it didn't escape Selene's notice that the dragon's wives' answers were light on details. They downplayed things too, but that oddly had the opposite effect of making everyone think they were just being modest about what really happened. Frankly Ethan's legend was more likely to grow than shrink after this.

Finally, Ethan's wives had extricated themselves and headed outside while Selene shooed everyone into the communal sleeping area before going outside herself.

"Are you ready?" Alana asked as she closed the door.

"Not quite." The Brazilian woman replied. "I need to grab something and say good bye to Sarah."

That's when it occurred to the ex-FBI agent that the girl had disappeared midway through the evening, once all her responsibilities were taken care of.

"Okay, we'll be on the Argo." Alana replied.

Selene nodded, having heard their airship's name earlier in the evening. She walked back inside but didn't see Sarah, so she headed through the kitchens to her little room.

She was inside...

...and she was crying.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Selene asked as she slid inside the tiny room and closed the door behind her.

"I'm okay." The girl said as she wiped a few tears from her face.

"Sarah, you arenot okay. What's wrong?"

"I'm going to miss you." She said, then a torrent of words tumbled out. "You've been the best friend a girl could ask for, like my best friend. Not that I've had a best friend before, but you were a really good one. I'm really happy you'll get to travel with the dragon and meet him -- I mean, meet him again -- I'm so jealous." Her cheeks turned red. "I mean, I'm not jealous likethat. I didn't mean that... I just meant.... um..."

Selene smiled and wrapped the smaller girl in a hug. "I'm going to miss you too."

"Could..." The girl started to say as they hugged each other, but seemed to lose her nerve.

"What?"

Sarah gave her an extra squeeze and then pulled back slightly. "Could you come back for my wedding? If you can? I want you to be my maid of honor."

"I would love to!" Selene beamed, though more at being the maid-of-honor than the wedding itself. "Do you know when it is yet?"

Sarah shook her head.

"Well, I try to come back before too long so I know then, okay?"

"Okay."

"Thank you for everything." The Brazilian woman said. "You were so nice to me and helped me so much. I don't know what I would've done without you."

"I was happy to help." The girl replied, and she looked it despite -- or perhaps especially because of -- the tears she was still wiping away.

Selene gave her another hug and then buckled her sword belt on. She gave Sarah another hug, thanked her again for everything, and then headed out. She'd made it halfway across the kitchen before she stopped, turned and hurried back into Sarah's room to give her another hug.

"I'm really going to miss you." She said as she held the girl, her eyes getting a bit wet. She wasn't usually given to displays of emotion, but...

"Yeah." Sarah nodded as she gave her a tight squeeze. "You have to go."

"I don't have to go." Selene replied, surprising herself. She hadn't realized how fond she'd grown of Sarah until she needed to leave.

"Yes you do." Sarah said kindly but firmly. "I love that you came here, but I know you want to get home and you can't do that by staying here. Please come back and visit if you can, but don't give up on what you want to do for me. I would feel terrible if you did."

Selene swallowed. "You're really sweet, you know that."

Sarah looked like she was going to disagree, but then just smiled. "Thank you."

Their hug finally broke and Selene wiped her now slightly leaking eyes.

Sarah likewise was still teary-eyed. "Please watch everything and let me know what the dragon and his wives are like when you come visit."

"I will." The Brazilian woman assured her, but didn't move.

"You need to go." Sarah said gently. "I'll see you soon. Well, hopefully soon."

Selene nodded, took a deep breath, and then left.

It occurred to her as she walked towards the Argo's rope ladder that she really didn't know the dragon or his wives well at all. She was essentially getting onto a boat full of strangers to go meet another stranger at whom she'd once pointed a gun. She grimaced as she started climbing the ladder; at least he had the ability to open a portal back to Earth. Given everything she'd heard about what he'd done and meeting his wives -- who were delightful and seemed incredibly happy -- he seemed like a good enough fellow to roll the dice on.

At least, she hoped he was.

She reached the top to see a woman waiting for her. She was quite tall, at least six feet and very beautiful. Her hair was silver, her skin was incredibly fair, and her features delicate and extremely feminine. She also noticed that the woman's ears were pointed. She was wearing a yellow and red dress that looked like the autumn leaves when they turned colors. The dress came to around mid-calf, but it was fitted enough on top and loose enough below that Selene didn't think it would hinder her movement at all. Under the dress were a pair of pants that clashed magnificently with her dress.

"Hello Miss Dawson; I am Anthiel, the ship's pilot." The woman said, offering a hand to help her onto the ship.

The Brazilian woman took the offered hand and stepped onto the Argo.

"It's getting late so I'll show you where your bunk is if you want to turn in." The high elf said. "You're free to roam the ship if you like, just not the captain's cabin."

"Fair enough, and thank you."

Anthiel led her down the stairs to the lower deck and through the entire lower deck to reach the very forward section. She saw several hammocks aft of a makeshift curtain, and four more behind the curtain. Judging from the clothes, the forward section was for the women.