A Dragon's Tale Ch. 31

Moments later, Ethan growled.

No, the dragon growled.

He leapt up from a seemingly sound sleep and spread his wings so they covered nearly the whole window, preventing any potential onlookers from the other airship from seeing in.

"Get Dressed!" He thundered, both mentally and audibly.

He was angry.

Very angry.

Rachel and Alana froze as Beth and Taloni seemed to be startled awake.

"CLOTHES! NOW!" The dragon thundered again as he continued covering the window with his wings.

The girls were frozen for a moment, and then there was a mad scramble for each one to locate her dress. A minute later they had succeeded and were all dressed, if hastily and frumpily. As he retracted his wings, the dragon growled out the window at the airship that had dared to cast its shadow into the room.

"Master, are you okay?" Taloni asked tentatively as she finished tying the halter top of her dress.

He whipped his head around to look at her, and for a moment Alana didn't even recognize her husband. He seemed fully dragon in that moment; like Ethan was gone. She'd seen him like this before, and there was only one way she knew to snap him out of it.

*ETHAN!* Alana mentally shouted at him with full force.

He almost physically recoiled.

He released a few growling snorts before he shook his head and seemed to relax a bit.

"Master?" Taloni said tentatively.

"Yeah honey, I'm okay. Well, now I am." He said to the Fey teen, who looked a bit unsure. His shoulder slumped and he sat down on the bed; a kind caring man once again, if a bit ashamed of himself.

He looked at Alana. "Thanks for snapping me out of it."

"Any time." The wood elf replied.

"I'm sorry Tee."

"I forgive you master."

"What happened?" Beth asked. "I've never seen you get so... so angry so quickly."

"I don't know." He said. "I was asleep and I think I felt the shadow of that airship and I remember my dragon side becoming enraged that someone besides me might see you girls." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'm sorry for snapping at you all."

"We forgive you." Alana said, speaking for everyone else, and they nodded in agreement before she continued. "But we really need to figure out why this is happening. You've had the dragon locked down pretty well for weeks now and he's suddenly coming back? That's not good."

"It's not like it changed." Ethan sighed. "I charged a dozen men in a rage the first night I was here."

"But it's worse lately." Rachel shook her head as everyone sat down on the bed again. "There must be triggers; what are they?"

Taloni -- wonderful, fearless Taloni crawled forward and onto his lap, almost like a small scared child might. "I know it hurts you master, but we're here for you no matter what."

He folded the tiny Fey in his arms, holding her tightly as he appeared to get choked up. "I don't deserve you girls."

"No one can deserve someone else Dominus -- Gabriella told me that -- but Illuminar did put us together for a reason and I trust His wisdom. Do you?"

He shrugged.

"What sets the dragon off?" Rachel asked again.

"When any of you is in danger, or someone wants to take my gold." His voice lowered to a growl as he said it, his dragon side peeking out again.

"Ethan, we're yours." Alana said, knowing how important that was to both man and dragon. "All of us are yours completely and forever. We'll never leave you and no one will take us from you."

He seemed to come to himself a bit.

"Okay, try this." Rachel said, and Alana could almost see the wheels in her head turning at the problem in front of them. "You've had the dragon pretty much under control for the last few weeks. When was the first time you felt that way? The first time you felt like the dragon wasn't trying to interfere?"

"Um, it was before we went to Earth." He replied, closing his eyes and cocking his head. "I'd just taken Alana and Taloni to bed for the first time, and they had both..." He frowned. "Actually, it was the first time I had slept with all my wives since coming to the Ten Kingdoms." He cocked his head to the other side. "Huh."

Rachel gave him a piercing but amused look. "You're saying that the dragon goes dormant when you have sex with all your wives?"

"Maybe." He nodded. "I remember talking to Gonorran the next day. It was like my dragon side was asleep and didn't want to be bothered. It only woke up when Gonorran said he wanted my gold."

"I'll bet it's more related to your..." The redhead's cheeks got slightly pink. "...your testicles my lord. They would've all been empty if you'd slept with all of your wives, right?"

"Yeah." Ethan nodded his head slowly. "Yeah, I think you might be right."

"But all your wives are here." Beth pointed out, looking around at the four of them.

"Kendra." Alana said. "I know you don't feel married to her, but you have a testicle for her, don't you."

He nodded.

"So..." The Fey teen's wings fluttered slightly as she looked up at Ethan slyly from his lap. "...if you want to get the dragon under control, you'll need to marry Kendra properly and take her to bed; won't you master?"

He groaned. "Damn, you might be right."

"That explains Ithlan." Beth mused aloud.

"Huh?" He replied.

"Remember that carving of Ithlan's story that we saw near the wood elven palace?" The blonde asked. "How he took a ton of wives and eventually went mad?"

"Vaguely." He nodded.

"Well, if we assume that he needed to sleep with all his wives like you do, then that explains a lot."

"It does." Rachel nodded. "One man-- er, dragon could reasonably take seven wives to bed. But the seventy or more that Ithlan had? That seems harder."

"How long after bonding with Kendra did it take before you felt the dragon gaining strength?" Alana asked.

"Maybe a week or so?" He mused. "I felt him get stronger before that I suppose, but it seemed like a week -- maybe a bit more -- was a bit of tipping point."

"Well, now we know how to beat your dragon." Alana said. "I suppose we just need to figure out how to get Kendra on board with the plan."

Ethan laughed mirthlessly. "Yeah, it'll be a cold day in hell before she lets me touch her, and I sure as hell won't force her."

Taloni made a thoughtful sound.

"What?" He asked.

The Fey gave him a pensive look. "What if she asked you to?"

Everyone stared open mouthed at her.

* * *

Kendra knew this was a dream. She knew it beyond a shadow of a doubt. There was no possible way that this was happening in the real world, and she was both very glad about that and terribly sorry about it at the same time. She wanted to fight and run as hard as she could to get away, but literally nothing in the universe -- possibly even Illuminar Himself -- could've made her want to leave.

She was naked and Ethan was holding her.

Not holding her down and not restraining her; just holding her as a lover might as they lay on a bed. She had never felt so exposed, vulnerable, and powerless as she did now. She didn't have a stitch of clothing on, not even her strength-enhancing vambraces. There was nothing she could do to protect herself if something went wrong, and there was a dragon right next to her. She could've done nothing to fight him if he attacked...

...but it was Ethan.

He gave her a gentle and affectionate squeeze and she snuggled closer to him while her brain screamed to run. Everything she knew about dragons and all her training was screaming at the top of its lungs for her to run.

But she couldn't run.

She didn'twant to run.

She didn't want to run because right now she felt the one thing that she'd been chasing her entire adult life. What she'd been chasing since her parents had been killed.

She didn't feel alone.

She felt safe, loved, and cared for.

She sighed.

She could almost sense the four other women around her. She was pretty sure that Alana, Beth, Taloni, and Rachel were also on the bed but she didn't care. Right now she didn't care that he had other wives. She didn't care that she had to share his affections or time. All she cared about right now was this wonderful, indescribable feeling of not being alone.

She could barely remember a time when she felt like this. She only had vague memories of this feeling from before her parents had died. She held onto those memories, but they'd faded with time despite her best efforts. She could barely remember ever feeling how she felt right now.

She sighed again.

* * *

Ethan blinked at his second youngest wife, and certainly the most innocent one. "Come again?"

The Fey teen looked at him with no doubt in her pretty lilac eyes. "She's a dragon huntress master. She hates dragons, but she really wants to be one of us; I know she does. She really wants to be one of your wives, she just might need some help getting over her hatred of dragons."

"I'm not into forcing anyone to have sex with me." He said firmly.

"But what if she really wanted you to master?" She replied earnestly. "I know Kendra wants to be married to you properly. I can see it in her eyes. What does your dragon side say?"

"Why?" He asked.

"Because didn't Illuminar say that your dragon side would know what your wives needed?" Taloni reminded him. "And didn't He say that your wives' needs must come before what you were comfortable with?"

He just stared at her in disbelief.

"So, I'm not agreeing with Taloni..." Rachel began.

"Thank you." He said, thankful for the support.

"...but." The redhead looked slightly guilty she continued. "But didn't Illuminar also say that your fifth and sixth wives would need things in bed that would make you uncomfortable? And didn't He also say that they would need your dragon side more than your human side at first?"

"I am most definitelynot going to force Kendra to do anything against her will." Ethan said firmly. "And that goes double for sex. Now, I appreciate that you all want to help, but I'm not doing it -- period -- and that's the end of this discussion."

He made eye contact with all of them and they all nodded in assent except for Taloni.

"I won't bring it up again if you don't want me to master, but I think it's whatshe both wants and needs. I know you care for your wives, but is it possible you're putting what you want before what Kendra needs?"

"You ladies are welcome to bring up anything with me whenever you want, even this." He clarified. "But I'm not making anyone do anything against their will."

"That's just it master; what if it isn't against her will?" Taloni pressed. "What if she really wants you to, and she just can't bring herself to admit it?"

"My lord, I needed your help to relax on my wedding night." Rachel added.

"Yes, but you asked." Ethan countered. "That kind of makes a difference."

"Fair." The redhead nodded.

Ethan shook his head, barely believing that he was even having this conversation. He could sort of understand where Taloni was coming from,IF that's was Kendra really wanted. But there was no way he was going to use his compulsion on someone that way.

Ever.

* * *

Kendra awoke to the early morning sun, the wonderful feeling of being held slipping away from her as sleep slipped from her brain. She groaned and pulled her covers over her head, wishing the dream could've gone on forever, yet also wishing that it had never happened at the same time.

Her stomach finally woke up and reacted to the thoughts in her brain.

As her stomach woke, the rest of her brain cleared the cobwebs and she realized what she'd been dreaming about.

She shuddered.

Not that it hadn't been nice -- it had been -- but with a dragon?

Never.

Never ever.

Even Ethan, who was the best dragon she'd ever known and arguably the best man period, wasn't enough for her to get over the idea of actually sharing a bed with a dragon. She shuddered, dry heaved again, and tried to think about something else.

Anything else.

She tried imagining that Ethan was a man, and that idea didn't upset her stomach nearly as much. He wasn't a man though, although she found herself a bit disappointed by that. Good men were hard to find. She supposed that if there was some way that she could get over him being a dragon... some way to be forced over that obstacle... some way that she wouldn't be disgusted by the mere thought, then maybe...

She shook her head.

That was a silly wish. She didn't hate dragons as much as she had when she'd first met Ethan, but she was a long way fromnot being disgusted by the idea of one merely touching her, even Ethan. But regardless of what her head said, her heart she wanted that dream.

It wanted it so, so much.

The rational part of her brain told her that it was silly because he was a dragon. Frankly, she wished that it was anyone but a dragon in that dream, or that Ethan wasn't a dragon. However, she had literally never heard of anyone who was that kind to his wives. She didn't want the dragon, but she wanted what his wives had.

She sighed. "I suppose I can't have my sweet roll and eat it too."

* * *

'What I wouldn't give for a cinnamon roll.' Selene thought to herself, then added. 'And some black coffee. That sounds perfect.' She loved how sugar in the cinnamon roll provided enough sweetness to balance the bitterness of the coffee, so the coffee didn't need creamer. It was a great combination and one she'd been missing of late

She looked out over the wood elven city of Nalatia in near disbelief as her palate craved some comforts from home. Sadly, it wasn't to be. Still though, the sight before her was an excellent distraction. She'd never seen a city consisting of thousands of incredibly sophisticated tree houses before. It was utterly foreign and utterly captivating at the same time.

"Selene, do you have a moment?"

She turned to see Ethan and his wives standing behind her.

"Sure, what's up?" She replied.

"You were FBI, so I assume you took some law courses in college, right?" He asked.

"Yup."

"Well, I've been thinking about my upcoming meeting with the wood elves and I wanted some legal perspective on an idea that I just had. There's some really messed up elements of their culture, and I think with some legal perspective I might be able to help set things right." He paused. "Okay, maybe not 'right', but perhaps less wrong."

"I'd be happy to help." She said, smiling brightly.

She had no clue why she was so thrilled that he'd asked, but she was. Even better, she finally had a way to help so she didn't feel like a useless addition to the crew and a drain on resources. She hated feeling like she couldn't help, and it sounded like she would finally have something to contribute.

It felt good.

* * *

The wood elven king stood at the dock as the dragon's airship slowly lowered itself into its berth. He spared a moment to look around the docks again, still surprised that the normal docks looked like this. They were so different from the docks that housed the royal airships, or the airship docks owned by the great houses. Comparatively speaking, the docks for commoners were rather crude. Functional and efficient yes, but crude.

It made an interesting contrast.

"Your majesty, is this not irregular?" The high priest of Illuminar asked another variation of the same question for the... Hmm. He had lost count of the number of times. It was a dozen at least.

"Plesius, a king should hasten to hear the words of Illuminar -- blessed be He -- which includes his prophets."

The shorter elf stood there rapidly changing facial expressions as he surely tried to figure out how to respond. "But how do we know that he's a prophet of Illuminar -- blessed be He. Would a true prophet refuse to reveal what was said to the high priest?"

The King resisted making a comment about that depending greatly on the high priest, but resisted. It would not be proper to shame him in front of so many of his court.

He decided not to answer.

The King glanced at Nevaro Nalfigar, whose presence The King had specially 'requested'. A request like that from him was always honored, as tradition dictated was proper. He hoped his presence would put the dragon's first wife in a good mood, and therefore perhaps the dragon also. Navaro was a good elf who could be a potent ally in several decades when his father began to take a step back from managing House Nalfigar. Not the least because The King had reunited him with his daughter, which surely bought him some goodwill.

The dragon's airship finished docking and two crewmen dropped the gangplank into place. The dragon and all his wives, plus Lord Delmar's disgraced daughter, were standing next to him. In the background, he noticed another woman whose ethnicity was hard to place. She was certainly beautiful though, even near the level of his own queen which was impressive.

Very impressive.

"Welcome honored dragon." The King said, and inclined his head as tradition dictated was proper. Were he confirmed as a prophet of Illuminar, a full bow would've been appropriate.

The dragon stepped onto the gangplank and something about him seemed different. He seemed a little less settled and more aggressive; more dragonish. It made a dramatic contrast to the calm dragon with whom he'd walked in the hanging gardens ten days ago.

"I'm honored to be greeted by the king himself." The prophet said. "I don't imagine you do this very often."

"Never before, honored dragon." The king replied. "Your meeting with Illuminar -- blessed be He -- has been on all our minds of late."

Plesius cleared his throat.

Both dragon and king ignored him.

The dragon met the king's eyes, then flicked his eyes towards his wives. There was something quite predatory in his gaze that demanded a response.

"Greetings wives of the honored dragon; you are most welcome in Nalatia." He said, walking the tightrope of decorum between not ignoring the dragon's request, yet not addressing his dishonored wives directly. Word of the dragon's statement to the guards had spread quickly. Apparently, the dragon thought that any dishonor directed towards his wives would dishonor the dragon himself, and the king had no desire to dishonor him, especially in public.

The dragon seemed to relax a little and became much less predatory. "Would you care to join me on my airship? I realize it's not much compared to your palace, but it's the best hospitality that I have to offer."

The king considered.

Obviously that was far outside decorum, but then prophets of Illuminar had a way of behaving that way. Not one prophet in the Book of Light behaved as decorously as most wood elves would prefer.

"I shall gratefully accept." The king said with another small incline of his head.

He stepped onto the gangplank and walked onto the airship. It was nice, if rather small compared to most royal airships, and even those of the great houses. The deck was only five meters wide, though made from quality timber. There were small scorch marks on part of the decking, and they seemed like dragon's fire had made them.

Curious.

"I didn't say you could come." The dragon sneered as Plesius had tried to follow The King.

The high priest of Illuminar looked like you could boil an egg on his forehead. "I must insist honored dragon! I am the high--"

"I don't give a flying fuck who you are." The dragon hissed. "You insulted my wives. You're not stepping one toe onto this airship until you apologize. And I mean giving each and every single one of them a direct apology which is directly addressed to each one..." He leaned forward slightly. "...using their names."

Plesius look stunned.

"But... but..." He spluttered, knowing that addressing a shamed person directly was absolutely unthinkable for a high priest of Illuminar.

"But what?" The dragon spat, standing up to his full height and towering over the shorter wood elf. "Go ahead, say it."