A Dragon's Tale Ch. 40

He didn't reply.

He didn't know what to say.

He turned it over in his head, trying to make sense of it and see a way out where everyone would be happy. The first option was of course that Sarah married Rindrin. However, he knew that wouldn't make her happy. She'd probably make the best of it and even lead a reasonably happy life, but it wasn't what she really wanted. If he was honest with himself, that's not what he wanted either.

Option number two was that Sarah somehow ended up not betrothed to Rindrin anymore, and stayed unmarried. He knew that wouldn't make her happy; she wanted to be married. He supposed that option 2.5 was that she married someone else besides Rindrin after her demon problem was dealt with. She could be happy if she found the right guy, but he somehow doubted she would.

Option number three was that Ethan himself married her, but then Alana... He frowned. His first wife had actively pushed them together by making the innkeeper's daughter sit next to him at the inn. She'd done that even though she'd probably been struggling with this even back then.

Unbidden, a smile came to his face as he looked at her.

"What?" She asked.

"You are an incredible woman Alana Ejder; absolutely incredible." He looked at her fondly, remembering all the things they'd been through together. There had been so, so much. He hadn't known that she existed four months ago, and yet now he couldn't imagine living life without her.

"Thank you." She blushed slightly. "It'll sound stupid if I say the same thing back to you now, but it's true."

"Thank you." He replied, and looked deep into her eyes. She had such beautifully rich hazel eyes. "Come what may, I will always love you Alana Ejder, my beautiful bride."

She closed her eyes and smiled, then leaned her head against his chest. "I love you too, my wonderful husband."

He closed his eyes and sighed, then got an impish grin on his face. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to jump out a window..."

"Brat." She rolled her eyes and shook her head at the reference to the first time she'd told him that she loved him, after which -- under the dark halo's influence -- he'd jumped out a window.

He chuckled.

She sighed and leaned into him again. "You know, Anthiel was right; I do feel closer to you right now, despite... well, you know."

"I feel the same." He replied. "And you know what, I like the idea that as good as things have been, they'll get better in the future."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "I mean, our marriage has been wonderful, but if it'll get better the longer we're married, and we're going to live for over a hundred years... it seems like we have some good times to look forward to, even if we hit a rough spot occasionally."

"As long as we don't give up and we keep working on our marriage." She smiled at him. "I can do that."

"Me too." He smiled back at her.

He didn't feel like the issue had been entirely resolved, but he felt better and Alana certainly looked more peaceful. Not perfectly peaceful, but more so. Her emotions seemed to have calmed a little too. He could still feel some uncertainty and doubt over their bond, but now there was an undercurrent of peace undergirding everything else she felt.

It was good to see.

* * *

Kendra had no idea what to do with herself. At this point in the evening, she was usually getting ready to go below deck and sleep in her hammock. However, she was married to Ethan now. Did that mean she could sleep in the captain's cabin with his other wives? She hoped so, but at the same time hoped not to.

She wanted to because one of her very best memories was falling asleep in the same bed next to Taloni. Having another person in bed with her had been indescribably wonderful. Literally. She didn't have the words to describe how much she had adored it.

But...

...but then she would probably take her dress off while she was sleeping and they would see her scars. She definitely didn't want that. Further -- and perhaps worse -- she knew that if she woke up next to Ethan, she might vomit. Her gag reflex was getting better, and quickly, but she didn't want to tempt it right now. She certainly didn't want to vomit all over the bed again, or -- worst case scenario -- on one of her fellow wives.

"Kendra." Taloni called. "Come on, it's time for bed."

She hesitated, which caused the Fey teen to hover over. Not walk; hover. Her wings became a blur and she hovered over like someone might do on a casual walk.

"What's wrong?" She asked when she'd arrived.

"Um, I'm just nervous I guess." The dragon huntress replied, which wasn't actually untrue.

Apparently, the Fey teen wasn't fooled. She raised her eyebrow and said with a chuckle. "Just pretend you're charging into a dragon's lair to fight instead of to sleep, and you'll be fine."

Kendra chuckled slightly. "Does he still do that thing where he covers you all with his wings?"

Taloni beamed. "Of course he does, in fact..." She trailed off and frowned slightly. "How'd you know he does that?"

The dragon huntress felt her cheeks get a bit warm as she answered. "I was doing surveillance on him for a while."

"Oh."

"I'm not sure that..." She hesitated, partially thinking about how the wing thing might make her nauseous, but more thinking about her scars. "I might need a bit more time before I'm ready for that."

"I can't wait until you are; it'll be wonderful to have you there with the rest of us."

Kendra nodded, but didn't reply. She wanted it so badly, but her scars...

She didn't want anyone to think she was ugly. She already knew that she was the least attractive of all Ethan's wives; she really didn't want them to know it too. She shook her head slightly; the Aldmiri had worked hard to train the goal of being beautiful out of her. She supposed that it was such a part of feminine nature that they couldn't get rid of it completely.

"I take it I'm losing my roommate." Selene said as she joined them. It looked like she was trying to pass it off as a joke, but it didn't look like she found it very funny.

"Not just yet." She replied.

"Gag reflex?" The caramel haired beauty asked.

Kendra nodded, but didn't elaborate.

* * *

Selene was trying to keep her thoughts to herself, and was doing a pretty good job of it. Ethan had married yet another woman. She flexed her fingers to prevent herself from making a fist; it just wasn't right. She might've occasionally enjoyed some erotic fiction with that as an element, but this was real life, not fiction. She knew it was their lives, and she wouldn't ever want to interfere. As her dad was fond of saying; 'not my circus, not my monkeys.'

But it still bothered her.

What bothered her even more was that her mission to Earth was likely to be a one-way trip unless she joined them. She really didn't want to. If Ethan was a man instead of a dragon, and could stay faithful to one woman, she would've liked to throw her proverbial hat in the ring. As it was...

She shook her head.

"Something wrong?" Taloni asked.

The Brazilian woman shook her head again. "No, just thinking. I should head to bed. Night"

"Goodnight." The Fey teen replied with a smile.

"I'll be down in a bit." Kendra said. "I just want to talk to Ethan first; make sure he's okay with me sleeping downstairs."

Selene raised her eye. "You know, you don't have to ask permission. He doesn't own you and you aren't a slave."

"I know." The dragon huntress replied, but she didn't seem bothered that she was asking for his permission. The most charitable explanation was her training, which seemed very military-like. The least generous was that this was Ethan's dragon side showing itself again.

The caramel haired beauty waved and then headed below decks.

Based on what she'd heard and witnessed, every time Ethan took a wife to bed, that wife went from being independent to submissive. Rachel had done it, Kendra had done it, and by all accounts Alana had as well. Taloni struck her as being naturally submissive, so that wasn't as bothersome. And Beth... She could see the young teen going either way.

Still, it was too much of a coincidence to ignore.

It seemed like sex cemented the bond, and that was the last thing Selene wanted to do, assuming she bonded with him in the first place. However, it was looking like she needed to for her mission to eliminate the portal and Gonorran. She shook her head as she ducked through the cloth curtain into the ladies area. She'd once been horrified at the idea of killing Gonorran without trial, now it didn't bother her nearly so much.

That wasn't good.

She flopped down into her hammock, determined that she wasn't going to become like the rest of Ethan's wives... if only she could figure out how to avoid it.

* * *

"Okay Kendra, I'll see you in the morning." Ethan said, trying to keep the disappointment out of his tone after the dragon huntress had explained her reasons for wanting to sleep below decks instead of with them.

"Goodnight Drago." She smiled, but didn't leave. Then she glanced at him and bit her lip slightly.

"Kiss?" He asked.

She nodded, though looked slightly green. Less than normal, but still a little bit. He locked eyes with her, forcing her stomach to calm like he had earlier.

"Drago?" Her eyes went wide.

"I just thought you'd like to enjoy a real kiss." He explained, not moving closer. "Should I stop?"

She bit her lip again, then shook her head fractionally.

With their eyes still locked, he leaned in to place a tender kiss on her lips. She initially leaned back just slightly, but when their lips met she made the softest sighing sound and then didn't resist at all. In fact, she leaned into the kiss slightly. Their eyes were still locked, and he was looking into her beautiful deep brown eyes.

He straightened up when the kiss broke. "I'm going to hold it for another few seconds to give your stomach time to calm down; we don't want a repeat of earlier."

She shook her head. "No, we don't." She smiled slightly. "Thank you Drago... is it weird that I'm calling you that? Is it okay?"

He nodded. "I've gotten used to my wives developing pet names for me when I take them to bed the first time." He nodded, then looked at her pointedly. "Good girl."

She blushed, and the corners of her mouth started pull upward, seemingly despite herself.

"You like it when I call you that?" He asked.

She blushed harder, hesitated for several seconds, then nodded.

"Should I do it more?"

Her cheeks were approaching the color of Rachel's roots, but she nodded slightly after a moment's hesitation.

"I'm going to drop the compulsion." He warned her, then did.

She closed her eyes and put her hand on her stomach, but it didn't look like she was going to vomit like she had earlier. In fact, she looked just mildly queasy; a vast improvement in only a few hours.

"Better?" He asked.

She nodded. "Give me some time and I won't need help."

"I'll look forward to that day." He smiled.

"Me too."

"Good night and sweet dreams... my good girl."

She blushed again as she smiled. "And you." She hesitated for several more seconds, her eyes flicked towards the door to the captain's cabin, then she sighed and turned towards the stairs to the lower decks.

Ethan sighed; he'd taken care of talking to two wives, two more to go since both Rachel and Beth were having father issues they might want to talk about. Well, three if he counted talking to Alana and Rachel together about their kiss. He couldn't help but smile as he thought about that. They both really liked each other, and he liked that they did.

Then there was Beth.

He really wanted to do something about her relationship with her father. Sadly, he didn't know what to do. He shook his head and went into the captain's cabin to see that all of his wives except Taloni and Kendra were already there. Alana and Rachel were sitting on the bed, though oddly not talking or sitting quite as close together as they usually did. He really needed to talk to them soon, either separately or together. Beth was flopped back on the bed.

"Hey." He said, then yawned.

They mirrored his yawn, and then he too flopped down on the bed. "It occurs to me that we should probably write a letter to Elder Goman and tell him about Lord Delmar being the black dragon."

"Good idea." Rachel nodded. "I can do that in the morning."

"Awesome." He gave her a thumbs up.

"I wonder if Lady Ekthros knows." Beth mused. "That Lord Delmar is a dragon that is."

"She almost certainly does." Rachel said bitterly. "She's incredibly well informed and a manipulative bitch too. I learned that the hard way growing up. She has an incredible talent for tricking anyone into believing anything, and I wouldn't put anything past her."

"Yeah, we should have a conversation about how to deal with her soon." Ethan agreed.

"I vote seven feet under." Rachel suggested. "But even with all of us working together that would be a tall order, especially because she's an arch mage."

"We can talk about it with everyone at breakfast tomorrow." Ethan agreed, just as the door opened and Taloni slipped in.

"Master, I know it's my night to sleep in your arms, but can I not tonight?" She asked.

Everyone stared at her. Of all his wives, she was the last one he would've ever dreamed would make that particular request.

"Yeah, but why?"

"I think that Kendra will do a Rachel master."

"Fair." He chuckled, and her reasoning for the request now made perfect sense. Then he cocked his head to one side as something occurred to him. "This will be the first night in... six weeks? That I haven't had a wife in my arms while I fell asleep."

"Well, how about you 'have' all of us in your arms tonight then..." Alana said with a sly grin.

No one objected.

* * *

Selene thought about the problem for a while until Kendra came down and slipped into her own hammock. Afterwards, the Brazilian woman laid awake for well over an hour trying to figure out what to do.

Eventually, she heard movement and looked up.

Kendra was sleepwalking.

Her eyes were open, but glassy and seemed unfocused. Not wanting the dragon huntress to fall overboard, Selene got up too and followed her, just in case. She couldn't help but smile to herself; this sounded eerily similar to Kendra recounting how she'd followed Rachel the night before the redhead's wedding.

Like in that story, Selene followed the other woman out onto the weather deck, watched her hesitate outside the captain's cabin, and then watched her slip in.

"Déjà vu." Anthiel said from the quarterdeck.

"Yeah, I suppose so." The caramel haired beauty shrugged.

"Care to join me?" The high elf pilot asked.

"Like Kendra did?"

"Well, it's going so much like last time that I'd hate to break the tradition."

Selene chuckled then climbed the stairs to the quarterdeck. "So what did you and Kendra talk about?"

"How much she'd fallen for Ethan without realizing it." Anthiel replied, and Selene felt like the high elf was watching her like a hawk.

"That's where she and I differ." Selene replied honestly. "He's a good guy, and I would be interested if he wasn't a dragon and could stay..." She trailed off, deciding not to finish the sentence with 'faithful to a woman'. "If he wasn't so thoroughly outside the monogamy camp."

Anthiel made a thoughtful sound. "You're very committed to that, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am." She nodded.

The high elf looked at her for several long seconds before speaking again. "But you still like him."

She nodded. "But at the end of the day, we want different things. He's already got five wives, and I'll be damned if I'm going to be wife number six. I'm not willing to share my husband with another woman, much less more than one; I just won't."

Anthiel made a thoughtful sound, then spoke without condescension or judgement. "We've already established that the idea of him bedding his wives -- plural -- turns you on."

Selene felt her cheeks grow warm as she recalled the tiny bet the two had made; a bet that lost her a copper because it did in fact turn her on.

The pilot continued. "Is it possible you're not as opposed as you think you are?"

She shook her head. "No. Just because something turns me on a bit doesn't mean I'm going to chase it. I mean, do you chase every hot guy you see?"

"Fair."

Selene was glad the high elf stopped there, because, she didn't want to get into what turned her on. If she didn't use private browsing all the time, she'd be worried that someone might see her browser history. That person would certainly never look at her the same again.

"So, you'll go back to Earth, take care of the portal, and then say goodbye to the Ten Kingdoms forever?"

"I hope so. The only hiccup is that I'll need to be able to talk to the people here, which requires bonding and then..." She trailed off as she considered what an unpleasant requirement of bonding was, at least if she didn't want to leave a rampaging dragon behind.

The trouble was that Ethan needed to have sex with her if they were going to bond, and Selene certainly wouldn't volunteer her V-card to Ethan just because it was necessary for a mission. No, she really needed a way around that; a way to satisfy his need for sex without actually having sex with him, or even marrying him.

Hmm.

What if...

She cocked head to one side as an idea occurred to her. It might actually work too, and would mean she could avoid having sex with him, but she didn't know enough about how bonds worked when sex was involved. Fortunately, there was someone right next to her who probably would know, or at least have a good guess.

She looked at Anthiel. "I have a couple questions."

* * *

Sarah paced nervously in the cell, trying not to bite her fingernails. Lady Ekthros had been gone for hours; since the middle of the afternoon and it was now well past nightfall. She kept throwing worried looks at the door, hoping that she would be back soon.

What if she wasn't?

What if they'd killed her and it was her fault? She didn't know how she could live with that. The auburn haired woman had been so incredibly kind to her, and protected her, and right now Sarah owed her everything. She literally had no idea what she would do without her. If she had gotten hurt because of her...

Finally, she heard movement.

Two of the guards from earlier returned carrying Lady Ekthros between them. She looked miserable, haggard, and like she'd been crying for hours. Her eyes were red and puffy, and that wasn't even counting the massive bruise that was forming on her cheek, or the black eye on the other side. Her dress looked ripped in several places and it obviously hadn't been put back on her quite right.

One of the two men unlocked the door and then they unceremoniously dropped her on the stone floor. She caught herself, but barely. Sarah knelt down, wanting to help but having no idea what to do.

The look in the older woman's dark gray eyes was heartbreaking.

"Are you--" She stopped as she realized how stupid a question that was to ask. Of course the other woman wasn't okay.

"I'll... I'll be fine." The lady replied, though the innkeeper's daughter thought she was putting on a brave face.

"I'm sorry, and thank you." Sarah said after a moment.

"You were ready to do worse for me." Lady Ekthros replied, then tried to move and whimpered. She put a hand on her butt and grimaced.

"Are you... did they..."

She nodded. "Tell me a story, something to distract me; please?"

"Uh, um." Sarah paused, not sure what story to tell as virtually every story that she'd ever heard chose that exact moment to go completely out of her head.

"Tell me... I don't know... How you got your problem or something." Lady Ekthros started to move, but winced and stopped.