A Dragon's Tale Ch. 33

Ethan couldn't care less about herbs or gardens, but found himself riveted anyway. The girl seemed to light up when she spoke about them, and the effect on her features was pronounced. Sarah was a fairly plain girl and not especially attractive. She wasn't ugly by any stretch, but even calling her 'pretty' might be stretching things slightly. However, he didn't care. Plus, the smile on her face as she talked about her garden did wonderful things to her countenance.

He found himself wishing that she wasn't betrothed.

It was silly.

The girl literally had a demon, and he already had four wonderful wives, possibly plus Kendra too. He knew that Illuminar said he'd have seven wives, and a part of him wished that Sarah could be number six or number seven. Alas, it couldn't be because she was betrothed. As much as he was starting to like her, he wouldn't ever do anything because he knew exactly how awful it was to have a fiancée leave for someone else.

After lunch was over, Rachel spoke up. "Ethan, I hate to cut things short, but we shouldn't tarry too long here. We really need to get to Gralden, and there's a good chance that this inn is being watched by either Lord Farbrottan or Lord Delmar." She cocked her head to one side. "Actually, Lady Ekthros is in charge of intelligence, so she might have people watching the place."

"Good point." He nodded, then turned to the man with the pegged-leg. "I have to travel to Gralden, but if you'll give the location of your mine to Taloni here--" He indicated the Fey girl. "--then I'll try to make my way there to help."

The man did so and they all walked out of the inn. Sarah followed them out, and she had a contented sort of smile on her face.

"Thank you for being so understanding about my problem." The innkeeper's daughter said to him as they all walked to the rope ladder hanging down from the Argo.

"No problem." He replied, then added with a wink. "We people with problems need to stick together."

She laughed.

She had a great laugh.

A really great laugh.

* * *

Selene couldn't believe the transformation in the innkeeper's daughter. She seemed almost like a different person with Ethan around. It seemed that something of her conversation with Ethan had sunk into the girl's ears and she didn't seem so down on herself anymore. She had hummed while making lunch and was laughing now. As Selene thought about it, she wasn't sure that she'd ever heard the girl laugh before.

She had a great laugh.

It was also amusing to see her and Ethan fall for each other, and they had; hard. It was patently obvious to everyone except perhaps the two of them. Sarah had been smitten with the idea of the dragon before, but she was absolutely head over heels in love now. Selene frowned at the expression 'head over heels'. Wasn't the head always over the heels, at least when standing?

Anyway, they were perhaps 'heels over head' in love with each other.

A tiny part of the Brazilian woman felt slightly jealous. Did Ethan fall in love with every woman he met except for her? She knew it was stupid, and self-centered, and selfish, and frankly she didn't want him to fall in love with her because she didn't want to share a husband.

However...

She sighed.

Once again, she couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with her. Ethan treated her well and was respectful, in fact he was a great example of a friend with no romantic attraction. But she didn't understand why there was no attraction. What was she missing that seemingly every other girl in his life had?

What was wrong with her?

Was she so self-absorbed that her personality was repelling him? Given her current train of thought, she thought that might be part of the problem. Really, what kind of woman is annoyed that a man isn't falling in love with her? She knew she was being self-absorbed, but she couldn't shake that question: what was so wrong with her?

She wanted to figure it out because she did want to get married someday. She supposed that she would have to find a husband in the Ten Kingdoms somehow. You know, one who didn't try to buy her from her father, and wouldn't want to sell any future daughters into marriage, and who acknowledged her as being fully his equal and partner in everything.

Yeah, like that was going to happen.

* * *

Rachel watched the goodbyes happening below her from the weather deck of the Argo. She'd said good bye to Sarah first and then climbed the ladder to see how things played out. As she'd guessed, Ethan and Sarah were doing that thing people did when they liked each other but didn't want to let on. They were maintaining a slightly too respectful distance and smiling seemingly at random times.

She chuckled.

"Copper for your thoughts?" Alana asked as she finished climbing the ladder and walked over to her.

"Our husband is funny." She replied, and then saw the expression on Alana's face fall slightly. "What?"

The wood elf sighed as she joined Rachel at the railing, looking down at the 'couple'. "He really likes her, doesn't he?"

"I'd say so." The redhead replied glancing down. Everyone else was making their way up the ladder, and Ethan had a hand and a foot on it, but was still talking to Sarah.

"Is that a problem?" Rachel asked.

Alana hesitated, then shook her head slowly. "No, not really."

"So, 'yes' in other words. What's wrong?"

Alana looked down and watched their husband chatting with the innkeeper's daughter. "It's stupid."

"Sweetie, nothing that's bothering you could possibly be stupid." The mage said kindly.

"Thank you." Her best friend blushed slightly. She leaned on the railing with one arm and looked at Rachel. "He fell for her even faster than he did for me."

"Oh." Rachel said nodding.

"I know it's stupid. He has three other wives and he loves all of us. I just always felt like... like..."

"Like you two have something special?" Rachel offered. "Beth and Taloni know that he loves them, but they occasionally say that you and he are soul mates. Are you feeling less like that?"

She grimaced, but nodded. "Does that make me a bad wife?"

Rachel shook her head. "You offered to give Sarah your chair knowing this, right?"

The wood elf nodded. "It's just that she understands him in a way that I never can. I can never be the one who understands what his dragon side is like; she can. I'm happy for him, I'm happy that he's finally found someone who truly understands. But it's not me, even though I'd like to be that for him. It's just..." She hung her head slightly. "I don't know."

"You're talking like they're already married." Rachel pointed out.

Alana gave her a look. "Did you see them together? It's only a matter of time."

"She's betrothed."

"And betrothals can be annulled." Alana pointed out.

"Only by the groom-to-be, and only with cause." Rachel countered. "Sarah doesn't strike me as the type to sleep with another man or publicly expose herself. So, I'm not sure her betrothed will ever have the grounds to divorce her."

"I just have a feeling." Alana said. "I'm not sure why, but it's like the feeling I had about you marrying him; I knew that you were going to marry Ethan. I just knew it in my bones."

"You're saying that you have the same feeling about Sarah?"

"Well, no." The wood elf admitted. "But did you see them together? They..." She looked down at them, still at the bottom of the ladder and still talking to each other like they never wanted to stop.

She sighed heavily. "They're perfect for each other."

"Come here." Rachel opened her arms and Alana leaned into them.

The brunette sighed. "I'm happy for them, and frankly I think that Ethan needs someone like that; someone who really understands his dragon side. I just wish it could be me."

"Do you feel like you're being replaced?" Rachel asked as their hug broke.

"No." She shook her head. "Ethan loves me right down to his bones. He'll never leave me or replace me. Ever. I don't think he could even if he wanted to, and I know he doesn't want to. I know he'd be horrified at just the thought of losing me. But I feel like I'm failing him because I can't be the one who understands his dragon side, but Sarah can."

"Neither can Taloni." Rachel observed to make a point. "Is she failing him?"

"Of course not. She's such a dear, and I think he needs that too."

"Or what about Beth?" Rachel pressed. "Is she failing him too?"

"Of course not, each one of us--" Alana stopped mid-sentence, then gave her best friend a piercing look. "I see why he calls you the 'wise redhead'."

"I try." She grinned.

"You're saying that we can't all be everything to Ethan, and that I don't have to be either."

Rachel nodded. "He once told me that he likes the fact that each of his wives has a distinct personality. You have a part of him that none of the rest of us have, and we each have a part of him that you don't have, because we're all different. If he marries Sarah -- and that's a big 'if' -- then her part of him might be more visible than yours, but that doesn't make yours less important."

"Okay." Alana nodded. She didn't exactly look cheerful, but didn't look downcast anymore.

"Besides, now you know how the rest of us feel." Rachel winked.

"What?"

"He loves and adores all of us more than life itself, but he has something extra special with you." Rachel replied. "I don't think that Beth and Taloni are wrong when they call you his soul-mate. I might occasionally get a bit jealous of how deep your bond is."

"Really?"

"A bit, yeah." She nodded. "Our resident blondes told me that you made him orgasm by just looking at him."

Alana smiled sheepishly. "Well, it takes more than just that, but okay; point taken."

"And by the way, you simply must let me in on that particular secret." Rachel said as she felt her cheeks get slightly warm.

"I'd love to." The wood elf grinned.

* * *

"Ethan?"

"Hmm?" He said, not really paying attention to anything except the small inn that was slowly fading into the distance behind the Argo. More accurately, he was remembering his conversation with one of the most delightful women that he'd ever met, and that was saying something. She was certainly the most delightful woman he'd ever met who he hadn't already married. He glanced towards the voice and saw his youngest wife looking at him knowingly.

"She'll make a great wife." Beth smiled at him.

"Yeah she--" His brain caught up with his mouth and he stopped. "Who will?"

"Sarah of course." The blonde said brightly. "She seems really nice. Well, as long as you don't scare her."

"Yeah, but she's someone else's girl, and I won't mess with that. Ever." He said firmly, not quite able to keep a note of sadness out of his voice.

"Well, I'm sure you'll see her again." She said. "Selene wanted to return for Sarah's wedding, and she's located pretty centrally in Ivernia, so I'm sure we'll pass nearby again."

"Maybe." Ethan suddenly had a mental picture of Sarah wearing a white wedding dress and standing at an altar with another man. He scowled. That was an image he didn't want to see in real life. Ever. She was betrothed and he wouldn't ever do anything to mess with that -- not after what his ex had done -- but that didn't mean he wanted to watch her marry someone else.

"Anyway, did you want something?" He asked.

"Yes, I was just wondering what the plan was." The ever-curious blonde asked.

"As far as...?"

"Well, I know we're going to see my father in Gralden." Beth said. "I was just wondering what we're going to do after that, since now we have an orc situation on the horizon."

"Yeah, things do seem to be piling up, don't they? Let's get everyone together and talk it out." He replied, glad for something to think about other than Sarah marrying someone else.

He scowled.

Not long after, Ethan, Alana, Beth, Taloni, Rachel, and Selene were all assembled in front of the captain's cabin where they usually ate breakfast.

"Okay, so we have a couple of things that we need to deal with." He said. "We're going to Gralden now obviously, but after that we have a couple of options." He ticked them off on his fingers. "First, there's dealing with the orcs at that mountain range. Second, there's the situation with Selene's old boss. Third, there's the situation with the wood elves in Nalatia, and especially Alana's parents. Thoughts?"

"As much as I hate to say this, I don't think Nalatia is as pressing as the other two." Alana said sadly.

"I agree." Rachel nodded, though she gave the wood elf a sympathetic look. "Orcs can be pretty horrible, but an invasion from your world might end up being more devastating."

"How did we get here?" Ethan shook his head with a wry smile. "We're sitting around calmly trying to decide which is more urgent: fighting the cannibalistic orcs or stopping a planetary invasion by a black ops government organization."

"Wow." Selene slowly shook her head. "Is life always like this on here?"

"Not usually." Alana chuckled. "My life was pretty quiet until a certain dragon crashed it." She looked at him fondly.

"I was a Lord's daughter." Beth said. "My biggest excitement was meeting the newest suitor for my hand."

"Same here." Rachel agreed.

"There were occasional dragon attacks at the mine, but otherwise my life was pretty boring unless Prayla dragged me into one of her schemes." Taloni offered.

Everyone looked at Selene.

"I just started as an FBI agent, but... Hmm." The caramel-haired beauty paused for a moment, and then got an odd look on her face.

"What?" He asked.

"It's..." She hesitated. "...it's nothing." She shook her head. He guessed that something had occurred to her, but she didn't look ready to share, so he didn't ask further.

"So, cannibalistic orcs or planetary invasion?" Rachel asked.

"Well, I have an idea about how we might fight the orcs, but how would we fight the invasion?" Beth asked.

"I think our primary targets would be Gonorran and the portal." Ethan replied. "If we can destroy the portal and neutralize Gonorran, then the threat is ended because they can't get here anymore. The trouble is, how do we do that?"

"Someone would have to go to Earth." Rachel replied after a moment. "There's really no other way to deal with either the portal or Gonorran since both are on Earth."

"Could we destroy the portal in the ruined temple here in the Ten Kingdoms?" Beth asked. "Would that help?"

"I don't think so." Rachel replied. "From what I understand, another portal just creates a more convenient way to target a portal's endpoint. They've already targeted the Ten Kingdoms, so destroying the portal here wouldn't make much difference since they could open the endpoint somewhere else in the Ten Kingdoms."

"Plus, even if that did work it might be a bad thing." Selene added. "From a tactical perspective, it's much better to know where the enemy will be. If Rachel is right, then destroying the portal here means the portal from Earth could open anywhere on this world. It's better if we at least know where they are going to arrive."

"Good point." Ethan said. "So we need to deal with Gonorran before the portal. So, who wants to go to Earth?"

No one replied.

"Yeah, me either." He nodded. "I get the feeling that they'd love to have a dragon to dissect."

"I'll go." Selene said, raising her hand with a sigh. "I'm the obvious choice. Anyone who's guarding the portal will have seen a picture of me because I went MIA with the first group, so they're much less likely to shoot. I can almost guarantee that they'll take me straight to Smithbond, so I can get close to Gonorran."

"That might be a one-way trip though." Ethan pointed out. "You seemed to think that Smithbond wanted you in his agency whether you wanted to be or not. Plus, they might just throw you in the brig."

"You're not wrong." Selene sighed. "I don't have much of a plan, but we can't do nothing."

Ethan looked at her with a newfound respect. It wasn't often that you meet a person who was willing to potentially throw her entire life away for a slim chance of success in a noble cause. It really was quite impressive that she offered and didn't need to be convinced.

"It doesn't have to be a one-way trip master." Taloni said. "We could bring Selene back to the Ten Kingdoms with the portal near Arcanum."

"Yes but, how would we know when she's ready to come back?" He countered.

"She could always just tell us master." The Fey said with a smile that was somehow both innocent and sly at the same time.

"Considering the problems I'm having with just one..." He paused searching for the right word.

"Wife who's not here?" The Fey suggested.

"...other woman I'm bonded that's not here, I'm pretty sure that bonding to Selene and sending her half a galaxy away would be a colossally stupid move."

"Besides, I'm not interested in sharing a husband." Selene said firmly.

"Okay, but then your journey back to Earth will be a one-way trip." Rachel said.

"I was born on Earth, and coming here wasn't exactly what I wanted." The Brazilian woman replied with a shrug.

"You sure you're going to be okay on Earth?" He asked. "I mean, you'll survive and aren't walking to your death?"

The gorgeous woman hesitated.

"Here's one thing to consider." Rachel said. "How will we know if Selene is successful if we can't communicate with her?"

"Oh." Ethan frowned. "I hadn't thought of that. Yeah, there would be no way to know..." He grimaced. "We really need to know for sure." He said finally.

"Plus, what about the men they already sent here?" Taloni asked. "They would be stranded here and what if they have families?"

Ethan clapped his hand to his forehead. "I hadn't even thought of that."

Selene shook her head. "I doubt they'd send men with families on this kind of mission because they might be stranded, and wouldn't want them to be distracted by that. But another point; do we want those men, weapons, and equipment from Earth here in the Ten Kingdoms?"

"Yeah, that's a lot of tech and weapons that really shouldn't be here, meaning we'd need to think of a way to get them home as well." Ethan took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Wow, this is turning into quite the undertaking."

"And it will likely only get harder the longer we wait." Rachel pointed out.

"True." Selene nodded.

Ethan groaned. "Well damn."

"Yeah." Alana sighed. "We need a plan if this is going to work."

"A good, well thought out one." Ethan agreed.

"Back to the original question then: how about orcs first?" Rachel suggested. "We can use the time it takes to get there and back planning and brainstorming."

"Not a bad idea." Ethan nodded. "Does everyone else agree?"

There was a general murmur of assent.

"Okay, orcs first then." Ethan announced.

"I do have a suggestion." Selene offered.

"Yes?" He replied.

"We can't be too far from the portal; it might be a good idea to do a little recon now while we're in the area. That way we know what we're up against."

"Good idea." He nodded. "I'd rather not put the Argo in harm's way though. I'll fly out and see what I can see."

"Please be careful master." Taloni said with a nervous flutter of her wings.

"I'll fly high and use the disguise gem. They'll only see a large vulture looking for a meal."

"So, it just occurred to me." Selene mused. "What else could you use that disguise gem for? It seems like a pretty OP thing to me."

"OP?" Beth asked.

"Sorry, it's video-game slang for 'Over-Powered'." Selene explained. "It certainly seems to be that."

"Not really." He replied. "Anyone who tries can tell when it's on. The guards in Nalatia did the moment they checked. I don't know if they could see through it, but they could definitely tell there was a disguise enchantment."

"There are more powerful ones though." Alana added. "Elder Goman had a disguise enchantment that I assume must stand up to scrutiny from all kinds of powerful mages. Ethan's is pretty noticeable by comparison, at least if you're looking for it."