A Dragon's Tale Ch. 31

The cowardly high priest shrank back and stepped off the gangplank muttering under his breath.

The King resisted reacting.

It was absolutely unthinkable for anyone -- even the king himself -- to treat a priest of Illuminar that way. It simply wasn't done. The public shame the priest would undergo if the dragon was confirmed as a prophet would be unbearable for any normal wood elf; much less the high priest of Illuminar.

"However." The dragon said turning to the king and seeming to calm down a bit. "If it please your majesty, I would like to request the presence of someone from both House Nalfigar and House Kalon join us; your choice who."

With the dragon standing at the gangplank and the king on board the Argo, the dragon's back was facing The King's delegation. Ethan gave him a significant look, which he took as a request to have Navaro join them. The king smiled inwardly. He wasn't sure if the dragon had good political instincts or he was getting lucky, but that had been a shrewd move.

The king nodded his head respectfully at the dragon and then chose. "Halvaer house-head, and Navaro house-heir; we would have the honor of your company."

"I would be honored." Halver replied.

"I would also be honored." Navaro replied with a bow, having waited for the elder elf to reply first, as was customary among those of differing age.

* * *

Ethan took a good long look at the elder of the two elves that had just been invited aboard the Argo. Halvaer Kalon was definitely older than Navaro, and probably older than the king as well. He was a golden-haired elf with some grey about his temples and looked quite perceptive. One look made Ethan think that the elder wood elf knew exactly why he was invited on board. Halvaer's quick sideways glance towards Navaro revealed an only-slightly concealed distaste for the man.

The older elf himself had a very close family resemblance to Alana; anyone who saw them standing side by side would probably correctly assume that he was her grandfather. His blonde hair was cut close in an almost military fashion and his clothes were likewise cut in a way that made Ethan think of a US Marine in full dress uniform, though the colors and clothing were different, the effect was the same. There was also something in his bearing and demeanor, a certain level of discipline perhaps, which screamed ex-military.

"I am Halvaer Kalon, called 'house head'." He said with a bow that could've come straight from a military manual as he stepped up to the gangplank. "Renowned dragon, you do me and my house great honor with this invitation."

"No, the honor is mine." Ethan replied, remembering all the coaching that Alana and Rachel had given him that morning.

The elf smiled.

Apparently, even stern military men had a sense of levity. The elf stepped on board and Navaro came up next, with a bow that could best be described as grateful.

"I am Navaro Nalfigar, called 'house heir'." He said as if they'd never met, which technically they hadn't as far as anyone knew.

"Honored." He replied, trying to figure out how to give Alana some time with her father. He hated all the political maneuvering required that was necessary to do that, but hoped that someday it could be done in the open. He absolutely intended to do what he could to make that happen over the next few minutes.

"Anthiel, please bring our guests some refreshments; the best in the ship's hold." He called, just as Rachel had suggested.

"Aye, aye captain." The high elf bowed, and then moved quickly to go below decks.

"Would you gentlemen care to join me on the quarterdeck?" He asked the three elves.

They all nodded, so he led them up there. The Argo's gangplank was situated about halfway up the weather deck on the hundred-foot-long airship. By going up to the quarterdeck, they put nearly fifty feet in between them and the delegation. He figured that was enough for a semi-private conversation. Alana's elven ears were beautiful, but like all elves she couldn't hear much better than a human.

They had barely arrived before Anthiel returned and handed them each a glass of mead. They all thanked her, and then the high elf took her leave with a respectful bow.

Ethan took a sip of his glass before he spoke. "So, you all know why I'm here right?"

"You wish to convince us that you are a prophet of Illuminar." Halvaer said. He spoke slowly and carefully, pronouncing every syllable of every word carefully and clearly.

He also sounded very skeptical.

"So here's the deal; I have no idea if I am or not." Ethan said honestly. "Illuminar was there at the top of Mount Ianis, we had a great conversation, and I've been thinking about it a lot since it happened. He told me a couple things about me -- some personal guidance for my life -- but that's about it. I didn't remember to ask about the whole 'being a prophet' thing and He steered the conversation. So I talked with Illuminar and He gave me some guidance about my life, but not about anything else."

Halvaer regarded him pensively and then took a small, almost nonexistent, sip of his mead. "You speak without attempt to glorify yourself." He said matter-of-factly.

"I try." He replied.

The older elf savored the wine as he looked at Ethan. "And you are wed to the adopted daughter of the Tarihowen family; may Illuminar -- blessed be He -- rest their souls."

"I am, and grateful to be so." Ethan replied thinking that he truly was among the luckiest men alove to be married to Alana.

"That is good." Halvaer nodded, though his face was unreadable. "Since their passing prevented her adoptive father from choosing her husband, I have feared that she herself wouldn't choose a good man." He pasued significantly before adding: "Some of my female descendants don't have good taste in men."

Navaro set his jaw at the thinly-veiled insult, but remained silent.

"Oh my God." Ethan shook his head, and then remembered Selene's solution to a similar conversation on Earth. "Okay, so let's say -- hypothetically -- that Navaro was Alana's father. Now, I would understand if you were upset at him; hypothetically speaking."

"You have no daughters honored dragon." Halvaer replied. "Therefore, you cannot understand my feelings towards Navaro; were he responsible of course."

"Actually, Alana is currently pregnant with my first daughter." Ethan smiled. "I may not understand as you do, but I've got a real problem with an aspect of your culture which makes understanding your perspective real bloody hard; where's the forgiveness? Where's the grace?"

No one answered.

"Look, I'm not a very religious man." He said honestly. "I didn't even believe God existed until I had a conversation with Him. I'm not well versed in the Book of Light, but I can tell you this: Illuminar isway more willing to forgive than you guys are."

All three elves looked incensed.

"Do you know what Illuminar told me?" Ethan pressed. "He told me that the worst man alive -- the most depraved soul ever to walk the land -- needed only to acknowledge Him, repent, and turn from his wicked ways; then Illuminar would be that man's friend."

"That's blasphemy!" A squeaky voice shouted from the docks below.

Ethan walked to the quaterdeck's railing and looked down to see that Plesius had crept down the dock to be near enough to the Argo that he could hear their conversation.

"Shut him up, or I will." Ethan growled to The King, feeling the dragon starting to rise again. His draconic side seemed to be on a hair trigger lately, and he had a job of a time controlling it.

"I will not be silenced!" Plesius shouted. "I am the high priest of Illuminar himself -- blessed be He -- and I demand--"

Ethan leapt onto the railing so he was crouching as a Spiderman often did as he called his hammer to his hand. The moment he did so, Plesius fell silent. The dragon started charging his hammer as he growled at the spineless man.

"You demand... what?" He growled.

Plesius remained silent, moving his mouth wordlessly.

"Well, I'm waiting." He growled as his hammer approached full charge.

The elf didn't say anything, so Ethan extended his hammer and aimed it right at the elf. He went white. Ethan gave a low growl as he released the charge.

CRACK!

Plesius jumped as the lightning bolt passed right in front of him on its way to the ground.

"Next I'll have to demonstrate raising someone from the dead." He snarled. "Care to volunteer?"

Plesius seemed rooted to the spot.

"Then shut the fuck up." The dragon hissed.

The elf scampered off.

*Ethan.* Alana's voice came gently in his head. *That's my father, my grandfather, and the wood elven king. You might want to relax.*

*Thank you.* He replied shaking his head and focusing on pushing the dragon back. It had been so easy for weeks, but had gotten harder recently. He supposed he either needed to un-bond from Kendra or take her to bed. Surprisingly, he didn't find the latter option as distasteful as he thought he would, not that she'd ever be interested.

He hopped off the railing, dropping his hammer to the deck and turning to face his guests. "My apologies, I can't always keep the dragon under control."

"We all have dark impulses that we can't control." Navaro glanced at Halvaer. "And unfortunately they can hurt those we care about the most."

The older elf didn't reply.

Halvaer Kalon seemed impassive as Ethan returned to the small group, but that might've just been him being intentionally unreadable. He got the impression that the older elf was a pensive man who thought first and spoke later, only after much thought.

"You were speaking, honored dragon." The wood elven king said.

"Right." He nodded. "Why the hell is it so damn hard to be forgiven with you guys? If Illuminar can forgive the worst man imaginable if he repents and 'turns from his wickedness', then why the hell can't you?"

"I do not know this word 'hell' honored dragon." Halvaer said.

"Ignore it; it's swearing for emphasis anyway."

"Notice that even Illuminar -- blessed be He -- require repentance." Halvaer said. "Without that..." he shook his head.

Ethan turned to Navaro. "Hypothetically, if you were Alana's father and you wanted to apologize to Halvaer, how would you do it?"

"Hypothetically?" Navaro asked, letting the word hang for a moment before turning to the older elf. "Honored Halvaer, I..." He paused, apparently searching for the right words. "I made a grave error. I acted foolishly and impetuously and let the passion of my youth defile the most wonderful part of my life. I committed a grave sin against Illuminar -- blessed be He -- and against you, and against Kalaya."

The king and Halvaer seemed visibly shocked that he spoke her name. Ethan had to admit that 'Kalaya' was a very pretty name.

The younger elf swallowed hard. "I should have spoken up from the time it happened; yet I had been sworn to secrecy by a rash vow to your daughter, and couldn't betray her again; not after what we did. I crave your forgiveness, and please know that your daughter is still precious to me. My fondest wish is to undo the events of that night. Yet since I cannot, I would still take her hand -- despite what it would do to my name -- to rectify the grave wrong that I did to her. I must beg your forgiveness, though I have done nothing to earn it."

"Hypothetically." Ethan added.

Navaro opened his mouth, probably to agree, but no sound came out.

Halvaer seemed to consider, then looked impassively at his would be son-in-law. "You would make yourself an outcast."

It wasn't a question.

Navaro nodded. "Were I not bound by an oath, I would have done so long ago."

Halvaer looked at Ethan. "You say that Illuminar -- blessed be He -- can find it in His heart to forgive even the worst man alive if he repents and turns from his wickedness?"

"That's what He told me."

Halvaer turned to the younger elf, still impassive and completely unreadable. "And your wishes and intentions towards my daughter have not changed?"

"No sir; not since... not since long before we were of age to be married."

"Yes, I remember the day you two met." The corner of Halvaer's mouth twitch upwards slightly. "She was as taken with you as you were with her."

"I'm honored to hear that." Navaro replied, probably too nervous to actually smile.

"You demanded an audience the day after she became of age, breaking all proper protocols in your haste." Halvaer said pensively, then looked at the younger elf again. "Put yourself in my shoes. Imagine the dragon had not wed my granddaughter, but rather that she had been seduced by a man who'd impregnated her and then refused to take responsibility. How would you respond?"

Navaro swallowed, then nodded slightly. "I don't believe that I would have been as charitable as you have been sir."

"Good, then you understand." Halvaer said impassively. "I shall consider your words." He glanced at the dragon. "Hypothetically speaking of course."

"Thank you; I'm grateful." Navaro said, and he looked it.

Silence fell, and some of the tension between the two men seemed to have dissipated slightly. Certainly not completely, but slightly. He took that as a good sign and decided not to push. From what he could tell, that was a lot progress on that front for a single day. However, there was definitely another font that needed addressing, and right now.

He took a deep breath.

"Now, let's talk about Alana herself." Ethan said. "As I understand it, the Book of Light requires two or three witnesses to a crime in order to convict someone, correct?"

"That is true honored dragon." The King replied.

"And I assume that Illuminar doesn't allow someone to be punished for a crime until they have been convicted, right?"

"Again, you speak the truth honored dragon." Navaro said, and there was a note of hope in his tone.

"So here's my question: where are the witnesses to Alana's crime, and when was the conviction?"

The elves stared at him.

"Anyone?" He pressed.

"I don't understand." Halvaer said. "She was born from a defiled woman, and thus she is shamed."

"No, that's not what the Book of Light says." Ethan corrected. "You just agreed that you couldn't punish someone without a conviction, and you couldn't convict without two or three witnesses. Since you are obviously punishing Alana by not allowing her into the palace, not speaking to her directly, and not saying her name, then I want to know: when was the conviction, and where are the two or three witnesses? Hell, I'd like to hear the crime she committed too."

Navaro looked at Ethan confused for a moment, and then his confused look slowly morphed into a large smile. "That's brilliant."

"I would need to confer with the high priest of Illuminar, but you appear to have a point." Halvaer conceded.

"You said you weren't a prophet." The King chuckled. "You are certainly behaving as one; upturning customs and bringing trouble to long established traditions." He seemed amused by this rather than upset though. "I also shall consider your words; they bear much weight and have the ring of truth."

"I do have one more thing that you particularly might be interested in." Ethan said, turning to him with a smile on his face.

The King cocked his head to one side.

"Illuminar asked me alot of questions." He stated matter-of-factly.

The elves stared at him.

"I hate to sound like Plesius honored dragon." Navaro said with a bit of nervous hesitation. "But that does sound like a blasphemous assertion. Wouldn't that imply that Illuminar -- blessed be He -- doesn't know something?"

"Have you ever asked a question to make a point, even though you already knew the answer?" Ethan replied with a sly smile.

"Of course, I--" Navaro stopped as comprehension dawned. "Very clever honored dragon."

"Hmm." The King nodded. "Clever indeed."

Ethan looked at The King, and saw a small smile slowly spreading on his face. He gave Ethan a small, almost imperceptible nod of the head; probably in thanks.

Ethan returned it

"Now, one last thing." He turned to Halvaer. "I would like my wife to meet her mother."

"To parade her shame by inviting visitors would be the height of dishonor." Her grandfather said shaking his head.

"Doesn't the queen visit her?" Ethan replied.

Halvaer gave him a piercing look. "Honored dragon, that is an allowance we make for the crown alone, and only because of the enormous benefit to House Kalon. What benefit would your visit provide to outweigh the shame?"

Ethan smiled as his father's favorite scene from Star Trek, The Next Generation came to mind. Trying hard not to slip into Captain Picard's voice, he spoke softly. "The only benefit to House Kalon would be my gratitude."

"Your gratitude?" Halvaer looked skeptical.

"If you are unable to grant this small favor, then I shall be forced to look to the other great houses in the future." He glanced at the young Nalfigar elf then back at Alana's grandfather. "And thenthey would have my gratitude..."

That got Halvaer's attention.

* * *

Selene was listening to the conversation on the quarterdeck with Ethan's wives as they all stood near the stairs up to the quarterdeck. She found herself rather impressed by the way he'd handled himself; dragonesque outburst notwithstanding. She was glad her legal advice had helped. She still felt rather useless to assist in other areas, but was glad to be able to help in this one.

"I am so going to rock his world when they're done." Alana said quietly, and the Brazilian woman wondered if she'd realized that she'd spoken aloud. The wood elf's eyes were hooded with lust and she was taking slightly shorter, shallower breaths.

"Oh I know." Rachel replied. She didn't look quite as ready to jump him as the brunette did, but there was no mistaking the way she was subconsciously running her tongue subtly over her upper lip.

"What?" The wood elf asked after seeing the ex-FBI agent shake her head in amusement.

"You ladies have it bad." She chuckled.

"If you were one of the lucky women that he'd already married, you'd understand." Beth said with absolute confidence.

"Master is amazing in bed." Taloni agreed with a sigh.

"He can't bethat good." Selene rolled her eyes.

"Oh, yes he can be." Rachel said with a smile that spoke of both fond memories and absolute confidence.

Selene didn't know how to respond, so she didn't. A part of her could believe it though. That incident in the clearing on Earth had been the single most electrifyingly erotic experience of her life. No exceptions, and he hadn't even touched her. Second on that list had been the audio surveillance where she'd overheard him making love to Beth and Alana. She smiled wryly as she realized that 'coming back from the dead sex' could be added to the various types.

Apparently, it was amazing.

She wasn't 'dying' to find out, but she was certainly curious. Not curious enough to be interested in a man who was already sleeping with four other women though, especially since he would apparently be adding three more to the list.

Not long after, Ethan and the three elves came down from the quarterdeck. Selene shook her head, having been so lost in thought that she didn't even know what they were talking about.

"I appreciate the offer, but that's really too much." Ethan was saying.

What offer?

What had she missed while she was daydreaming?

"Nonsense; I'm honor-bound to present them to you." The King replied. "When an elf's guest is attacked, the host must furnish him with the best weapons and defense at his disposal in recompense. Honored demands nothing less."

"It's symbolic of the host's commitment to protect his guest." Navaro added by way of explanation.

"And since you were accosted; I must provide them." The King continued, then added genially. "You would shame me by refusing them."