A Dragon's Tale Ch. 39

About a minute later, he turned to her again. "And, you're sure that I'm not usually selfish, and putting other people in danger to satisfy my whims?"

"I'm sure that you don't do that; I wouldn't be here if you did." She said honestly. "Frankly, I've never met a man who was less selfish than you are. Very few men would try to talk Illuminar Himself out of giving him more wives, and even fewer would do so because he was concerned about his current wives."

Ethan looked like he was going to disagree, but it seemed like he couldn't come up with anything. He frowned, made another thoughtful sound, and then started to turn back to ground-watching, but stopped.

Kendra looked at him for several seconds, trying to decide what was going on in his head. Finally, she just asked. "So, please don't take this as me pushing, and feel free to say that you're not ready to talk about it, but what's eating you Ethan?"

He took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and then finally spoke. "It's Sarah."

"Sarah?" Kendra repeated. "What about her?"

Ethan again seemed to hesitate, and then it was like a dam burst. "I want her to be one of my wives. I really do. I don't know why, I don't know what it is about her, but I do. I just can't get her out of my head. She was no nice and that smile..."

He looked simultaneously happy and miserable; contented and jealous at the same time. "She's just so... so... I can't even put my finger on it, but damn I've fallen for her."

"She's betrothed." Kendra pointed out.

"I know." He hung his head and wouldn't meet her eye. "I feel like an asshole for crushing on another man's girl. My ex cheated on me and I'll never forgive her for that. From what I hear, betrothal is basically like marriage here, so I'm basically crushing on a married woman. I feel like a dick."

Kendra wasn't sure exactly what he meant by 'dick', but she could guess the general meaning from the context. "Betrothal isn't quite marriage." She offered. "It's close, but not the same. Her betrothed could end it if he had a good reason."

"What's a good reason?" Ethan asked, almost too quickly.

"Um, if she did something sexual with another man, or she abandoned him, or if she exposed herself to a man, or in public." Kendra replied. "Lewd exposure isn't a common reason to end a betrothal, but it happens."

Ethan shook his head. "She would never do any of those, so yeah she's going to get married. I'm an asshole."

Kendra had the impulse to touch his arm in a comforting fashion, but her stomach protested vehemently. She wanted to say something, but Ethan continued before she could figure out what to say.

"But let's say something happens; let's say that blacksmith fiancé of hers accidentally sticks his head in a forge." He scowled, and Kendra got the impression that he was trying not to wish that would happen. "Then what?"

"I don't follow."

"Okay, so let's pretend that she's single and willing to marry me, what kind of horrible husband would I be to do that to my current wives? Hell, the whole crew of the Argo, even you."

"Still not following."

He paused. "I really like Sarah, and for some reason I don't even care that she could literally rip me in half. It's stupid, but I just don't care. But what about my wives? What kind of monster willing puts his wives in danger because he's crushing on another man's girl?"

"Or maybe you're looking at it wrong." Kendra countered.

"Oh?"

"Try asking yourself this question instead." She offered. "What kind of man is wracked with guilt because he likes a betrothed woman, and then beats himself up because he's worried about putting his wives in danger because of his attraction to her? That doesn't sound like a monster, does it?"

"No." He admitted.

"Ethan, I've been in the world a lot longer than your other wives." She said. "Not age wise, I'm only as old as Alana and Selene, but in terms of living in the real world -- the dangerous parts of the world -- I've seen a lot more. I've seen real monsters. I've met real monsters."

"I'm not talking about dragons." He replied.

"I'm not either." The dragon huntress said darkly. "I didn't only deal with dragons. They can be horrible, but if they want you dead they'll simply fry you, bite your head off, or disembowel you. They take as much pleasure in a man's death as we would in stepping on a bug; they simply don't care. Men on the other hand..."

"What do you mean?"

She set her jaw. "You don't want to know."

"Maybe I do."

She swallowed hard. "I was once sent to... 'deal with' a man who had heard a rumor -- and not even a credible rumor -- that one of his wives had committed adultery. He took a spear shaft with an iron spike, stuck it upright into the ground, covered it with oil, used a poison to paralyze that wife, strung her up by her arms, and then slowly lowered--"

"Okay!" Ethan cut her off, clearly picturing it and shuddering while doing so.

"That's not even the worse thing he'd done or why I was sent to deal with him." Kendra said quietly. "And he's far from the worst person I've heard of; he's not even close. I've seen real monsters Ethan; I've met real monsters. You are many things and you have your problems... but being a monster isn't one of them."

"Thank you." He said, then he set his jaw. "I hope you gave that bastard what was coming to him."

"I've never seen anyone so happy to be widowed as his remaining wives." She nodded.

"Good."

He thought for a moment. "You really don't think I'm a monster? Even though I'm a dragon? Even though my dragon side will likely..." He swallowed hard as he looked at her, then it seemed like he couldn't bear it anymore and looked away.

She shook her head. "I wouldn't be here if I did; being a dragon has nothing to do with it. I've met men, elves, Fey, and many others who were monsters. Monsters come in all shapes, forms, sizes... and races. I've met real monsters Ethan; you aren't one of them."

He considered that for several moments before nodding his head in concession. "Thank you."

She looked at him for several seconds. "You really love Sarah that much?"

He winced and looked guilty, but nodded slowly.

"I hear that Anthiel has some good things to say about that." Kendra remarked.

"Oh?"

She nodded. "She says that love is doing what's best for someone else, regardless of what it costs you. What's best for Sarah?"

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "That I stay away, unless maybe if I can help her with her demon problem."

"Focus on that then." She suggested. "That's a problem that you, a prophet of Illuminar, might be able to solve; and solving it is certainly what's best for her."

"Good point." He nodded.

Kendra had never really had a friend before, but she felt that after a conversation like this that they should... she wasn't sure; maybe hug or something? The thought had barely occurred to her when her stomach clenched, so she resisted. Instead, she leaned back on the railing, feeling like she should do or say something, but not sure what to do or say.

Besides, it looked like he had more to say.

About a minute later, he did. "So, I'm not incredibly selfish for wanting another wife, even though I already have four amazing wives. I mean seriously, I am so blessed with Alana, Beth, Taloni, and Rachel. They are amazing women and I feel like a selfish idiot for wanting Sarah too."

"Well, Illuminar did say that you would have seven wives, right?"

"Yeah." He conceded. "You're going to say that it's not really applicable since I'm going to have seven anyway."

"You said it, not me." She grinned.

"Fair." He conceded.

He seemed to lose himself in thought for a bit and resumed looking out at the landscape. The Ivernian countryside seemed to settle him a bit, and Kendra had to admit that there was something vaguely calming about it. The sun was nearly risen, the light becoming a more cheerful orange-red than the blue hues of pre-dawn.

After several minutes, he finally spoke. "If there's ever anything I can do for you, just say the word."

"You're letting me live on the Argo; I couldn't really ask for more." She felt her eyes get slightly watery at that, but managed to keep it in. It wasn't easy though; it never was when she thought about the night she'd found out that she could make the Argo her home.

He gave her a small smile. "I know we spent a lot of time trying to kill each other, but I'm glad neither of us succeeded."

"Me too." She smiled back.

Ethan was on the starboard side of the ship, and Kendra the port and they were traveling mostly south. That put the sunrise off the Argo's port bow. Ethan turned to look at her, then he seemed to notice the sunrise and nodded towards it.

The dragon huntress turned to watch it too.

It was incredibly pretty.

The sky was mostly a cloudless blue, but covering the entire eastern sky were puffy clouds. The sun had just barely started to peek over the horizon, and it cast the underside of the cloud in the most beautiful mosaic of reds, oranges and purples.

It was sublime.

They watched for several minutes until something occurred to her: she was literally watching a sunrise with Ethan. She'd had her back to him the entire time, and for some strange reason that didn't bother her. She knew exactly what he was struggling with, and yet she had turned her back anyway. Now, they were watching this beautiful sunrise together and it felt...

Felt...

She couldn't think of anything to compare it to.

She'd never done this before, not romantically anyway. She'd seen plenty of sunrises while doing recon, and even occasionally with only a single male ally. But it was never like this; not even once. She had the strangest impulse to take a step back and lean up against him, but squashed it immediately. Her stomach led the charge, though her heart was lagging at the rear.

She was watching the sunrise with Ethan.

It was actually kind of...

Well, nice.

Except that 'nice' seemed insufficient to describe it. Pleasant? No, still not strong enough. Delightful? Wonderful? Those seemed closer; not right, but closer. Fearing to disturb the moment, she said nothing. She just stood there watching the sunrise with him.

She was eventually shaken from the moment by a clanging sound coming from the direction of the captain's cabin. She turned to see Raklan had dropped the metal ladle into the breakfast pot, which is what had made the noise. The entire crew of the Argo except for Ethan and herself was sitting around the breakfast fire, most were watching them with amused expressions.

Kendra blushed.

She wasn't sure why, but she did.

* * *

Ethan headed over to the breakfast fire, not sure what to make of Kendra's strange behavior this morning. First, she'd sought him out, then she'd been very comforting, and then most confusingly, they'd watched the sunrise together. He hadn't even realized that's what they were doing until it was nearly over.

He wasn't sure what to make of that.

He flopped down in the space between Rachel and Beth, which they'd seemingly left open for him since Alana was on Rachel's other side and Taloni was on Beth's other side. The Fey teen was sitting next to Kendra as usual, and Kendra was next to Selene.

He took some breakfast and started eating as he considered the conversation with Kendra. The raven-haired woman did have a point about helping Sarah. He did feel like he should stay away, mostly because he didn't trust himself around her. However, he might actually be able to help her with her demon problem, and he wanted to do that for her if he could.

He both loved and hated the idea of seeing her again. Loved it for obvious reasons, and hated it because he really didn't want to see her wed to another man. He couldn't fault her fiancé for his taste, but that didn't mean he detested him less, mostly on principle.

"So, Kendra and I were talking--" He started to say.

"Yes, we noticed." Anthiel interrupted with a knowing smile.

Taloni and Beth giggled.

He rolled his eyes. "--about Sarah."

Selene perked up.

"And I was thinking, we'll probably see her again since Selene wanted to be there for her wedding." He tried not to scowl at the thought, which produced rather a lot of mischievous and/or knowing looks. He ignored them. "Anyway, I was thinking that out of everyone in the Ten Kingdoms, the people that might actually stand the best chance of ridding her of her demon problem are on this ship right now. Is anyone else willing to help--"

"I will!" Beth, Taloni, and Selene chorused instantly, with his other wives not far behind.

"I will as well." Anthiel added, and Serif nodded once.

"Raklan?" The high elf pilot looked at him.

"I don't give a shit about the broad." He shrugged. "I'll do whatever you need; long as I'm paid, I'm happy."

Ethan rolled his eyes.

Asshole.

"Anyway, I thought probably we should brainstorm ideas, starting with our resident expert on demons." He turned to Beth.

The blonde teen froze in the middle of a bite. "mhwe?" She said with her mouth full, then closed it and covered her mouth.

He chuckled. "Finish chewing, we'll wait."

The blonde resumed chewing and the rest of them waited for her to finish. For some reason, it always seemed like chewing took forever when you were waiting for the person who was chewing to finish.

"Um, I only met the one demon and I was scared out of my mind." She finally said when she'd finished. "I mean, I have no idea what..." She cocked her head to one side. "Well, now that you mention it, I saw one other thing that looked almost exactly like the demon." She turned to Ethan. "It was that curse that was contained by the gold cube; the dark halo around your head."

"Didn't you chop that thing to bits?" Rachel asked.

Beth nodded. "With Aharown."

"Ah-har-own." Ethan repeated, making sure to get the pronunciation correct. "Could it be that simple?"

"It's an angelic blade master." The Fey's wings fluttered excitedly. "Surely it could slay a demon."

Beth clapped her hand to her forehead. "Why didn't I think of that before?"

"There was a lot going on." Alana pointed out. "None of the rest of us did either."

He gave her a comforting smile. "Yeah, I was a bit distracted as well."

"We know." Anthiel said with a knowing smile, then took a sip of her drink.

Ethan was pretty sure that if he was still human, he would've blushed. He gave the high elf a look, but she was unperturbed. If anything, she looked more amused.

"Master has been very distracted lately." Taloni teased.

"Ugh." He groaned. "We should change the Argo's name to the HMS Bounty."

Everyone stared except Selene, who laughed.

"There's a famous book on Earth entitled 'Mutiny on the HMS Bounty', inspired by actual events." The Brazilian woman explained.

"Anyway, that angelic blade certainly seems like it would be worth trying." Ethan nodded, then turned to Beth with a grimace. "I hate to ask you to use it though."

"That's okay, it's not mine anyway." The blonde replied. "Gabriella said I should hold onto it until I found its 'rightful owner'." She cocked her head to one side. "I'll bet it's you Dominus."

"Oh?"

"Well, you are the prophet of Illuminar." Beth pointed out. "It would make sense if the sword was intended for you. I only used it to deal with the dark halo curse on you, then it didn't feel right for me to use it again."

He shrugged, then something occurred to him. "Hey, that dark halo thing stuck to me, and I'm guessing that the spell wasn't created specifically for me, so wouldn't that mean it could be attached to a non-dragon? And that being the case, I thought it was impossible to enchant a non-dragon."

"As best as we can understand, things work entirely differently with divine and demonic magic." Rachel replied. "From what Beth described, I wouldn't call that dark halo a spell at all. It sounds like demonic magic, which is completely different. It's more properly called a 'curse', not a spell. We don't know much about them, but from what we know curses can be attached to anything."

"They can?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yes, it was attached to the gold cube, and can attach to other living things as well. For example, consider werewolves and vampires; it's not a physical malady that they have, it's a curse. A curse that can be passed from person to person, but a curse nonetheless. The divine equivalent is called a blessing, which works the same way only produces a positive effect."

"And there was a normal person in the Book of Light who was blessed with incredible strength, master." Taloni mentioned. "So it does seem to be different than regular magic."

He nodded, remembering that the wood elven king had once mentioned that same man with great strength. "I suppose it makes sense that mortal spells are different than demonic curses."

"It's sure troubling when they're used together though." Kendra said darkly and nodded towards Rachel.

"They can be used together?" The redhead raised her eyebrow.

The raven-haired woman nodded. "You didn't know that?"

The teen mage shook her head. "No."

"Oh. You're just so knowledgeable about magic that I assumed..." The dragon huntress looked surprised. "That's what a will-breaker ring is. It's a fusion of a demonic curse into an enchanted ring. The ring couldn't actually break someone's will without the demonic element."

"What?" Rachel put her hand over her mouth.

The dragon huntress nodded. "It's not commonly known because information about how to make them is destroyed or suppressed whenever it's found, but it's true. My team once went after a necromancer who'd made a deal with a lesser demon in order to make them. That's part of the reason they're banned and creating one is punishable by death; because it requires demonic involvement."

"Oh." The redhead replied.

She looked stunned

Alana reached over and gave her hand a comforting squeeze. It took a moment for Ethan to realize the implications that the brilliant redhead had almost certainly put together.

Could it be...?

"Wait." Ethan shook his head. "Wait, wait, wait; are you saying that Lord Delmar is not only a lord with armies and a whole platoon of dragon slayers, and he's not only a dragon with Drago-level power, but he might have demonic allies too, since he obviously acquired a will-breaker ring for Rachel?"

Silence fell.

No one said anything for several seconds. They all just looked at each other except Raklan, who didn't look like he was paying much attention.

Holy Shit.

"That would explain what happened to me when we first arrive in Arcanum." Beth said as her mouth fell open. "I always wondered why I was targeted, and how the demon knew where I was and was able to plan in advance. It must've been someone working with Lord Delmar."

"It must've been, because it sure as Saidow's Lair wasn't Falkaan." Kendra said with conviction. "He's far too cautious to get within a thousand leagues of anything to do with Saidow's minions.

"But, it could be someone other than my father, right?" Rachel asked, her eyes wide. "I mean, he might have someone working for him who... who would make the... the..." She trailed off.

"It's possible." Kendra conceded. "Lords tend to be the cautious type, so he might've had someone else make it on his orders."

"That's not any better." Taloni said quietly.

Ethan had to agree.

It was rather like the man who ordered an assassination being just as culpable as the hitman who carried it out. He put his arm around his redheaded wife and pulled her close. She didn't resist. Damn, she'd been through a lot in the last twenty four hours.

"Are you going to be okay?" He whispered to her.

"I knew my father could be bad, but this..." She whispered back, seemingly unable to finish her sentence.