A Dragon's Tale Ch. 39

He looked around at the still-stunned crew while holding his fourth wife. Kendra didn't seem very surprised, but then he supposed she must've known this all along and had assumed that they all already knew.

He didn't know what to think.

If Alana and Taloni could've survived on Earth, he'd be half tempted to finish with the orcs down south, use Aharown to try and deal with Sarah's demon problem, and then high-tail it back to Earth. Secret government organizations seemed like less of a threat than actual demons. And if Lord Delmar was actually working with actual demons...

He grimaced.

Suddenly, he felt a lot less secure about his future, and more importantly the futures for his wives and unborn daughter. His dragon steel weapons were incredible, but he didn't think they could be any use against spiritual foes. The one weapon that they did have -- Aharown -- still was only one weapon, no matter how powerful it was.

That's when he remembered The Witcher series, where the hero carried two blades: one sword for normal threats and another silver sword for monsters. He supposed that he would have to do the same, using the dragon steel weapons for normal threats and Aharown for the demonic ones, but he didn't fancy coming up against a demon.

Not at all.

The only demon that he would voluntarily face would be the one that had attached itself to Sarah. Sure it was risky, but for Sarah he was willing to take the chance. Otherwise... otherwise he knew enough not to mess with that kind of thing.

* * *

Sarah Jumped slightly as she felt something move against her. She jerked awake to discover an emaciated rat squeaking and running away. She was almost amused; even rats couldn't thrive in this place. She looked around the small, cold cell and almost wished that the old woman had left her in the laboratory all night; at least it was warmer there.

Lady Ekthros was in the cell next to her, also sleeping. She appeared to be having a bad dream, as she kept mumbling to herself and jerking slightly. The innkeeper's daughter considered waking her up, but figured she could use all the rest she could get, even if it wasn't pleasant.

"No... no..." The auburn-haired woman mumbled in her sleep. "No, Adrian..."

She started thrashing somewhat violently, so Sarah called her name loudly. "Lady Ekthros!"

The older woman jerked up and awake, looking wide eyed around the room like she was scared out of her mind. She seemed almost feral for a moment before her eyes settled on Sarah and she seemed to come to herself. She took a deep breath while looking at the innkeeper's daughter. That's when Sarah noticed her eye color, which for some reason she hadn't noticed before.

Her eyes were dark grey.

Not the normal color gray that she'd seen occasionally with the inn's visitors, but dark grey. She'd never seen that eye color before, and she'd seen thousands of people come through the inn over the years. Yet even 'dark grey' wasn't quite correct. It was an accurate description of the color, but something about her eye color looked faded; as if they had once been a normal grey color, but then something had darkened them.

Curious.

Eventually, Lady Ekthros put her hand over her heart and took a few deep breaths.

"Are you okay?" The innkeeper's daughter asked.

"I'll be okay." Lady Ekthros breathed deeply. "Sorry, bad dream."

"Who's Adrian?" She asked.

The corner of the other woman's mouth twitched, and Sarah couldn't tell if it had been headed upwards towards a smile or downwards towards a frown. She took another few deep breaths, then finally exhaled in a calm, determined way.

"He's..." A flicker of a happy, contented smile appeared on her face for the briefest moment before it turned to sadness, and then disappeared altogether. "He's no one you need concern yourself about."

Sarah was just about to ask a follow-up question when the door opened and one of the guards walked in. He grinned wickedly at the two women. "The old lady downstairs has more questions for you."

The two women looked at each other and grimaced.

* * *

"Rachel? Rachel can you hear me?"

"Huh?" The redhead turned to see Ethan behind her, and then she realized she didn't know where she was and had to get her bearings. She had somehow wandered down onto the Argo's lower deck and she was apparently pacing alongside the main ballast logs located in the center of the ship.

She had wandered away from the others and spent most of the morning wandering around the Argo trying to collect her thoughts. Everyone had been really considerate and given her space, but right about now she felt like she'd had enough space and didn't want to be alone anymore.

Her husband's timing had been perfect.

"Got a lot going on in that beautiful head of yours?" He asked with a smile.

She nodded.

"So... you agree that you've got a beautiful head then?" He said with a lopsided grin and a wink.

She half chuckled, but couldn't muster the emotional energy to do much more. With the revelation yesterday, the kiss from Alana, and the revelation that morning, she felt slightly numb.

"Come here." He gently pulled her into a hug and held her tightly.

She relaxed into him and let out the breath she hadn't realized that she been holding in. "My father is..." She whispered, barely able to get those words out, let alone finish the sentence.

"I know." He replied. "But whatever his faults are, he makes excellent daughters."

"How do I live with that?" She asked, not letting go of him.

"The same way you live with everything else." He said gently. "With a little help from your friends, and fellow wives, and your husband too. We're all here for you; whatever you need."

"I don't even know anymore." She confessed. "It's all too much."

"Yeah, that happens sometimes." He kissed the top of her head. "I don't know what to do to help, other than to promise that you'll always have me and your fellow wives. Believe me, if I had some clever thing to say that would make it all right, I would've already said it."

"Are you sure you still want me? I--"

"Yes." He said firmly. "Yes I still want you."

"But my father is--"

"You aren't your father." He said just as firmly. "He's tried to kill me since I arrived and I still married you. He could be Hitler for all I care, and I would still want you because you aren't him."

"Hitler?" She asked.

"Sorry, a man from Earth who started a world war."

She pulled back slightly to look at him. "A world war? You mean, the whole world was involved?"

"Pretty much." He nodded. "I love you Rachel, and I wouldn't trade you for anything. Marriage is a 'for better or worse' kind of arrangement, and I think this definitely qualifies as worse."

She nodded.

"So yeah, I'm still here, along with Alana, Beth, Taloni, and the rest of them too."

"But what if he--"

"Rachel." He held up his hand. "If, God forbid, something happens; if he somehow strikes me with a mortal blow, I promise that my last conscious act will be to tell you that I love you."

Her breath caught in her throat.

Her eyes started getting watery

She tried to smile at him, but her smile felt all distorted because she could feel herself starting to cry. He pulled her back against him and held her tightly.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she could feel the dragon's disgust at her tears over the bond. But the overpowering emotion that she got from him wasn't that; it was a deep sorrow that seemed like it came from his concern for her. He wanted to help her; she could feel it. And it seemed like the hardest thing for him was not being able to help.

She liked that he cared so much.

* * *

Ethan held Rachel as tears started silently falling down her cheeks. She had completely relaxed against him and was holding him like she never wanted him to let go. He didn't want to let her go either. It killed him how much her father was hurting her, yet he didn't know what to do about it either.

So he just held her.

Several minutes later, she lifted her head and looked into his eyes with her big, shining, caring blue ones. All her walls were down. She was as open and as emotionally fragile as he'd ever seen her, and she trusted him enough to be that vulnerable with him

He liked that.

He lifted his hand and gently stroked her cheek with the back of it. "I love you Rachel Ejder; my beautiful, wise redhead."

She smiled faintly. "And I love you Ethan Ejder, my wonderful lord."

He kissed her gently, and she returned it tenderly.

For a moment, he considered mentioning her kiss with Alana to help her sort through it, but he didn't think she needed that right now. Right now she needed to be reassured, and he was happy to do that. He knew that he needed to talk to her about it eventually, but it could wait.

* * *

Kendra walked over to the lunch fire, ready to eat after a fairly intense workout that morning. She and Selene had sparred for a bit while she taught the caramel-haired beauty more about the finer points of swordplay. Then she'd sparred against Raklan, who she beaten better than 50/50. Then she spared with Serif.

The legend himself.

She felt incredibly proud of herself that she'd almost beaten him more than once. She hadn't actually beaten him, but coming close still felt like an accomplishment given who he was. The workout had been invigorating and she could feel a slight sheen of perspiration on her tanned skin.

She reached the fire pit and stretched, just as Ethan and Rachel came up from the lower decks. She had been stretching as he came up, and his eyes fell on her.

He stopped.

She recognized the look in his eye.

It was the same hungry look that he often gave his wives before they disappeared into the captain's cabin. He had a wolfish grin on his face and his eyes raked her body. It would be okay though, because she knew how to beat this. He couldn't compel her if he didn't make direct eye contact. Therefore, the trick was simply to avoid making eye contact with him. That's all it would take.

So she shouldn't make eye contact because of what would happen if she did.

No eye contact.

That very was important.

She reminded herself of this twice before -- for some reason that she couldn't explain -- her eyes flicked to look into his. Instantly, she felt her control over her body wane. She suddenly felt a bit like a puppet on a string and found her limbs sluggish and unresponsive. Just like every previous time, it didn't matter how much she applied her will or how much she focused, she couldn't even close her eyes. She could blink, but not look away.

She had looked at him.

Why?

She knew exactly what would happen if she did, so why did she?

Why had she done it?

It didn't make any sense to her, but it almost didn't matter because he was on the move. He took a few steps forward onto the weather deck and she felt compelled to take a few steps also, so they were mirror-image on either side of the captain's cabin door, perhaps ten feet from it and about half that distance from each other.

"Kendra?" Taloni said, then she heard a sharp intake of breath. "Master?"

"Ethan?" Alana and Beth said at the same time that Rachel spoke up too. "My lord?"

He ignored them and kept staring into her eyes.

She couldn't look away.

* * *

Ethan could feel the full might of his dragon side bearing down on him and he couldn't fight it. He simply couldn't. It was too strong, fighting too hard, and it craved Kendra too much. Why had she met his eyes? Why? This would've been so much easier to resist if she hadn't looked at him. She must've known what would happen if she did, so why did she?

He could feel what the dragon wanted. It wanted to compel her into the captain's cabin, force her to strip for him, and then take her repeatedly.

He didn't.

He didn't want to do that to her because he knew what it would do to her, and he couldn't allow that. But it was like a ten-ton carjack was being used to move him. He fought with all of his might, but couldn't fight his dragon side any longer.

He was vaguely aware that time was passing, that he was panting at her as he took in her deliciously toned curves. She had a warrior's body that would surely be perfectly fit to house his next brood after he filled her virgin womb with his--

He clamped down on his dragon side as hard as he could, but it wasn't enough.

Nothing was enough.

That's when something occurred to him. He couldn't stop the dragon; that much was clear. However he might be able to alter what it compelled. In sword fighting, deflecting a strike was always easier than blocking it outright.

So he tried.

He thought about Kendra and everything he knew of her; how much she loved the Argo, how brave she was, how caring she could be, and used that to fuel his will against the dragon.

It worked.

Barely, but it worked.

He forced the dragon's compulsion to the rear and inserted his own. He pushed the only thought that he could think of on such a short notice. Relishing the irony of what he was about to compel, he hoped it would be enough.

*Whatever you actually want to do, do that.*

His control slipped, and at the last moment he realized that as he had compelled Kendra, the dragon had concealed the compulsion from her. She would act on it, but wouldn't know what compulsion she was acting on.

* * *

Kendra felt the compulsion, but strangely it felt insubstantial too. Like it was there and powerful, but somehow 'not there' too. Her mouth opened of its own accord and called towards the quarterdeck. "Anthiel, could you please come down here?"

What?

Why would she want Anthiel?

"Stay back." The dragon huntress called to Ethan's other wives as they started to intervene.

They stopped.

She could just see them in her peripheral vision and they looked stunned, but they stopped. She couldn't understand why. Why had she asked them to stop? Why had they stopped? Couldn't they see what was happening?!

"Yes?" The high elf pilot said as she arrived, standing facing them with her back to the captain's cabin.

"Marry us?" The dragon huntress asked.

Wait, wait?!

What the fuck?!

What in Saidow's lair?!

She couldn't move. She still couldn't move. She was locked in a battle of wills that she had no hope of winning with a dragon who hadn't said a word yet.

"You want me to marry you?" Anthiel asked and she seemed amused; like she'd known this was coming

*No! A thousand times no!* She screamed in her head towards Anthiel, but of course the high elf couldn't hear her. And besides, those weren't the words that came out as her tongue and vocal chords betrayed her.

"Yes Anthiel, please marry us."

Her mouth was apparently staging a rebellion. Kendra tried to pay attention to her peripheral vision -- since she couldn't look -- and it seemed like all of Ethan's wives were dumbstruck.

Then her rebellious mouth opened again. "Taloni, would you be my matron of honor?"

Even with only her peripheral vision, Kendra could tell that the Fey teen was ecstatic. "I would love to!"

The dragon huntress wanted to scream in frustration as her rebellious mouth staged yet another revolt and spoke again. "Alana, Beth, Rachel, Selene; would you be my bridesmaids?"

One after another, they assented. It took them several seconds of hesitation, but they did.

What in Saidow's lair was going on?!

Getting married wasn't what she wanted!

Well, okay; maybe a small part of her wanted it, but it was only a small part. All of this must be the dragon. That it; that's all it could be. She would never want this. Ever. Okay, it might mean she could share their bed which would be amazing, and yes Ethan was willing to fight and die for her, and yes he was the best man she'd ever known, and yes if she ever were going to get married it would be to him, but she would never want this.

"Are you ready to be married Kendra?" Anthiel asked.

"I am." She replied, not perfectly sure if it was the compulsion talking or not. She really did want to be married, not to a dragon though. She could tolerate Ethan, but not the dragon.

Anthiel turned to the dragon who was currently compelling her. He hadn't blinked once; damn dragon physiology with the second, transparent eyelid. He had a very dragonish sneer of triumph on his face. However, she saw a hint of the man that she was about to marry deep in his eyes.

Oh Illuminar, she was about to marry a dragon.

The high elf pilot cleared her throat. "Do you Ethan, with full knowledge and consent; take this woman, Kendra, to be your wife in the covenant of marriage? Do you swear to keep and provide for her all of your days, committing to treat her with honor, love, and respect in all circumstances to the best of your ability, and allow only death to separate you?"

"I do." He grinned as his eyes bored into her.

Anthiel then turned to her. "Do you Kendra, with full knowledge and consent, give yourself to this man, Ethan, to be his wife in the covenant of marriage? Do you swear to follow and obey him for all of your days, committing to give yourself only to him; and to the best of your ability treat him with honor, love, and respect in all circumstances, and allow only death to separate you?"

"I do." She replied softly, not fighting anymore.

What was the point?

The dragon had won. Now, she was about to be bred like some horse on a farm. She knew what dragons were like; what they wanted. She could maybe live with that with Ethan, maybe she could want that with Ethan, but never the dragon.

Anthiel spoke again, sealing her fate. "Then in the name of Illuminar, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Ethan, you may kiss your bride."

The dragon took a step forward, and surprisingly Kendra found that she had regained a tiny modicum of control; or perhaps he had allowed her a bit of control?

She wasn't sure which.

"No!" She said as he started to lean in to kiss her. To her surprised, he stopped.

"Not here." She pleaded.

"Where?" The dragon asked with a wicked grin.

The dragon huntress felt her cheeks burn as her traitorous mouth ran ahead of her again. "In there." She said, gesturing to the captain's cabin.

"I'll get the door for you... Mrs. Ejder." Taloni said as she skipped forward and opened the door while Anthiel moved out of the way.

She felt the dragon's compulsion and her body obeyed, but she still couldn't quite tell what he was compelling her to do. He moved, putting her back to the captain's cabin as his force of his will drove her slowly backwards. She passed through the open door with him following after her.

"Kendra, relax." Taloni said brightly. "Master will take good care of you."

The door closed behind them.

It sounded oddly final to the bride.

At that point, Kendra's brain unlocked enough that she remembered the telepathic group chat. She thought to them: *Why in Saidow's lair didn't you all intervene?*

There was a brief pause, then Alana replied. *Kendra, it didn't look like you wanted us to this time.*

*Kendra, I don't know if you realize it, but you were smiling.* Taloni added.

*You looked a bit nervous, but that's about it.* Beth added. *I've seen brides who were wildly in love look more nervous.*

*They're not wrong.* Rachel agreed. *You almost looked relieved.*

The dragon huntress was about to respond when the dragon burned a compulsion into to her as he spoke. "Until you leave this room, you'll utter nothing but the honest truth."

Kendra tried to tell everyone that she didn't want to marry him, but she couldn't for some reason. She tried several times to think that to them, but simply couldn't. Finally she settled on something that she could get out. *What made this time different?*

*Ethan was less dragonish.* Beth replied. *And it really looked like you wanted...* The blonde trailed off.