A Dragon's Tale Ch. 40

"Um..." Sarah hesitated. Normally, the last thing she wanted to even think about was how she'd gotten her problem. Normally she buried those memories as deeply as possible, but after what Lady Ekthros had done for her...

"Um, I wasn't very old." She began. "It was before my monthly bleeding happened the first time. I was... well there's a hot spring near my father's inn that's deep in the forest. It comes out of a rock and then flows to a small overhang that's about six feet tall. The water is hot when it falls, but not too hot and it's really nice."

The other woman gave her a half smile. "A shower; that's called a shower where I come from."

"Well I really loved it, even though it was deep in the forest and far from the inn." Sarah continued. "Father always said going there was a bad idea, but I didn't listen and..."

She swallowed.

Lady Ekthros moved slightly and then winced in pain.

The noise prompted the innkeeper's daughter to keep going, since the other woman's selflessness had saved her. "I was playing there, and I guess that they heard me; I was playing rather loudly that day. I had finished and was dressed when two men came at me out of the forest."

She swallowed hard again.

She took a long, slow shuddering breath before forcing herself to continue. "They gagged me and one threw me over his shoulder. I tried kicking and fighting, but it was no use. I just wasn't strong enough and I was so afraid."

"What happened next?" Lady Ekthros asked.

"When we got far enough away, one of them stopped to relieve himself." She said. "Some little woodland creature surprised him, and he slipped and I guess he ended up landing in poison ivy. He was trying not to scratch his hip area for..."

She trailed off as she realized that this might've been what Gabriella meant when she said that Illuminar had protected her from being... well from them forcing themselves on her. He had itched himself for the rest of his short life, and that had almost certainly put him off the mood.

She closed her eyes and thought to Illuminar. *Thank you for protecting me. I don't understand why you didn't protect Lady Ekthros too, but thank you for protecting me and please help her. She needs it so much.*

"...for?" The other woman prompted.

"For quite a while." Sarah replied. "They took me to a small camp and tied me up in a tent. I was there for... a long time."

"How long?"

"Um, maybe two days? They barely fed me or let me relieve myself."

"Oh you poor thing." Lady Ekthros said, then winced herself.

"Then um..." She took a deep breath. "Then they took me out and tied me to a wooden table inside a cave. They had blocked the entrance off with a thick blanket and it was lit only with candles." She shuddered. "There were so many candles."

"Oh?"

Sarah nodded. "There were also strange symbols drawn on the floor and there were four men wearing hoods and long robes." She bit her lip. "One of them had a very large knife."

"Then what happened?"

"My hands and feet were tied to the corners of the table so tightly I could barely move." Sarah could feel herself starting to shake slightly, but forced herself to continue for Lady Ekthros's sake. "They were chanting louder and louder in a language I didn't recognize. One of them stepped up to the table and slowly raised the knife."

Sarah froze.

She tried to keep her lips moving to tell the story, but she couldn't get the words out. Suddenly, she felt almost like there was a weight on her chest, or something tied around her torso making it difficult to breathe. She could feel her heart racing in her chest. Her breath came in short, ragged gasps as she remembered everything about that moment, as if she was still there.

The knife had been glinting in the candlelight.

The men had been chanting.

She couldn't move.

Dear Illuminar in heaven, she hadn't been able to move and he was about to bring the knife down. She was going to die.

She could see the robed man preparing to bring the knife down into her chest... when suddenly time seemed to slow down.

*Are you scared little one?* A raspy, wispy voice said, but she hadn't heard it with her ears.

She nodded.

*I can help with that you know; make it so you never need to fear anything again.* The voice said. *Would you like that little one?*

She nodded, too frozen in fear to do anything else.

*Then do we have a deal? You'll invite me in and I'll make it so you never need fear anyone ever again?*

She nodded as the raised knife started coming down in slow motion.

*That's not enough little one; you have to say yes; you have to agree that we have a deal.*

"Yes." She whispered.

She heard the strange voice cackle in triumph...

...then she screamed.

Her entire body had suddenly coursed with some strange, cold darkness that both numbed her limbs and made them feel alive at the same time. She felt like she was dying, and yet she'd never felt more alive. She'd never been more scared, but had never been so free from fear at the same time. She'd never felt so free, yet so helplessly trapped. It was like someone was pouring fire into her veins, but the fire was freezing her instead of burning her. She felt like the most powerful girl in the Ten Kingdoms, but completely powerless at the same time.

Her arm moved of its own accord, breaking the cord which bound it like a single strand of hair. It reached up impossibly fast to stop the knife which was slowly being driven downwards.

Her arm impacted the man's arm.

Crack.

The sound was low, almost silent and muted, but also seemed deafeningly loud. The man's forearm bent at a strange angle, like he had a second elbow. She heard his scream of pain, but could do nothing about it.

She couldn't move, yet she was moving.

Her body broke the other bonds as easily as the first and Sarah shut her eyes as her tiny fist swung toward the man who was at least three times her size. She could block out the sight...

...but not the sound.

The crunch was sickening.

So was the warm spray of viscous liquid that landed on her face and arms.

She wanted to vomit. She wanted to die, knowing what she'd just done... but her body wouldn't stop. She couldn't make it stop. Nothing she did stopped her body; nothingcould stop her body from unleashing the carnage that followed.

"Sarah? Sarah can you hear me?"

She could hear the voice, but it was coming as if from a long way off. She was vaguely aware of her body in the present hyperventilating as she almost gasped for air. She was vaguely aware that she was both being held and gently shaken, but she was having trouble separating the memory from the present.

"Sarah, Sarah it's Lady Ekthros."

The innkeeper's daughter was gasping for breath.

"It's just an anxiety attack Sarah." Lady Ekthros said in a soothing voice. "It'll be okay; you'll be fine."

She didn't feel like it.

* * *

Ethan felt a bit groggy as he slowly returned to the waking world from his night's sleep. It had been a distinctly unpleasant experience to fall asleep without one of his wives in his arms, and he wasn't keen to repeat it any time soon. Even when he'd been captured, Taloni and Rachel had been there. But despite the fact that his first four wives had been in the bed with him, none was in his arms when he fell asleep...

...but one was now.

He opened an eye to see a beautifully chaotic mess of jet black hair that could only belong to Kendra. He smiled, remembering a similar morning with Rachel. However, Rachel had been clothed while Kendra most certainly wasn't. He could feel her naked skin pressed up against him as he held her in a spooning position.

He carefully moved his hand and gently brushed her hair out of her face so he could see her properly. The sun hadn't risen yet, or even started brightening the sky since it was still in the pre-dawn hours, but he could see her well enough with his dragon eyes.

She looked so peaceful.

Her face was free from any trace of worry or concern. Her lips were slightly parted and occasionally she would let out a soft, almost imperceptible sigh. She looked happy; content. He'd never seen her this relaxed, and wondered if she'd ever let her guard down this much before.

Somehow, he doubted that she had.

He smiled, laid his head back down and tried to suppress a yawn. It only partially worked, and he was still feeling groggy so he closed his eyes, figuring he'd fall back to sleep or at least doze. He really enjoyed having Kendra in bed with him, and especially in his arms.

He was only barely aware that he'd drifted off, but was awakened some time later by a most unpleasant sound.

Blech!

Ethan jerked awake as the sound of vomiting reached his ears. "Kendra, are you okay?"

"Mmm?" The dragon huntress mumbled, and he opened his eyes to see that she was still spooning sleepily with him and most certainly wasn't vomiting.

But then who...?

He turned his head to look. Beth, Taloni, and Rachel were similarly waking up, and of course Kendra was in his arms. But Alana's head was over the side of the bed, and she was holding her hair away from her mouth as she spat what appeared to be the last remnants of sick out of her mouth onto the floor.

"Are you okay?!" He asked, extricating himself from Kendra and hopping onto the floor to rush over to her while avoiding the small puddle of vomit.

"I've been better." She mumbled.

She was holding her stomach and looked... well like someone who'd just thrown up.

"Taloni!" He called urgently.

The Fey was there in a flash and put her hands on the wood elf.

"She seems to be fine." Taloni said after about a minute. "I can't feel anything wrong at all. I suppose it could be an infection, since those are nearly impossible to detect in someone else's body."

Alana shook her head. "I don't think it's an infection." She spat again. "I've been noticing that my breasts have been a bit tender the last day or two too."

"Morning sickness?" Beth suggested. "It's been about six weeks since your wedding night, so the timing is about right."

The brunette nodded. "That's what I was thinking."

Ethan let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, good."

His first wife gave him a look as she wiped her mouth and made a face, no doubt at the taste, or smell; or both.

"Okay, the morning sickness isn't good." He conceded. "But I'm glad it's not something serious."

The wood elf groaned. "You look forward to throwing up non-stop for a few weeks and then we'll talk about serious."

"I might be able to help." Beth offered. "I've read a few books about this and there are some herb mixtures which should help. You'll probably still get nauseous, but shouldn't vomit nearly as much."

"Oh I could kiss you." Alana breathed a sigh of relief.

"Please don't right now." The blonde made a face after glancing at the small puddle of sick.

"We should get this cleaned up." Ethan said, then looked at everyone. "That means clothes."

All of the women grabbed their dresses except Rachel and Kendra, both of whom seemed to prefer to stay under the sheets. Alana and Taloni respectively handed them their dresses, and the two more reserved women managed to slip them on while staying covered under the sheets. He had noticed that about Rachel of course, and he knew Kendra was nervous about the rest of his wives seeing her scars.

He looked at his elven wife and couldn't help but smile as he looked at her. She didn't have a baby bump yet of course; that was still a few months off. But she did have morning sickness, and for some reason that made things click in his brain like never before.

"You're pregnant." He said as he looked at her.

"That's not news; you were there when it happened." She winked.

"Yeah I know but..." He made a thoughtful sound. "I know this might sound weird, but seeing you get morning sickness really made it hit me. Not just here--" He indicated his head. "--but here too." He indicated his heart.

Then his eyes went wide. "Holy shit; I'm going to be a father." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"And you'll be a wonderful father." Kendra said from the bed, though he certainly hadn't been expecting her to say that.

He turned to her. "How do you know?"

She shrugged. "I just do." She looked down and put a hand on her stomach, over her womb, then looked back up at him. "Can I have a baby boy?"

Ethan's eyes went wide. "Come again?"

The dragon huntress blushed. "I don't mean now, but maybe someday in the future? I didn't realize it until just this second, but I want to have a baby boy." She had a subtle, probably involuntary smile playing about the edge of her lips and she looked nervous, but hopeful too. "Could I please Drago?"

"Uh..." He hesitated for just a moment. "You sure that's what you want?"

She nodded.

"Then I suppose... yeah. Okay." He nodded, then smiled. "Not right now, but after we deal with Lord Delmar, sure."

She smiled at him, though her cheeks were quite red.

"How about the rest of us?" Beth asked hopefully. "I don't care if it's a boy or girl, but could we all have your babies too?"

Suddenly, Ethan was confronted with three additional pairs of eyes, all looking up at him doe-eyed and with a combination of expectancy and hopefulness.

He nodded. "Once we're not in so much danger, absolutely."

As one, they all sighed.

"Right now though..." He turned back to Alana. "We're having a baby." He said like it was the first time he'd realized it. It wasn't, but it was hitting him all over again.

"We are." She smiled, though she didn't look entirely better.

"We need a name." He said after several seconds. "Every baby needs a name; a great name."

"We also need to get out of here; that smell is awful." Beth waved her hand in front of her nose.

"No problem." Rachel looked down at the pile of sick and extended a hand towards it. Moments later, ice crystals started forming. Moments after that, it was frozen solid. Ethan guessed the redhead released the heat into the room because it got fractionally warmer.

"That'll stop the stink for a few minutes." The teen mage announced, then rubbed her hands together excitedly. "Now, let's talk names."

That led to a rather lengthy discussion of names, with almost everyone suggesting a lot. Ethan had never realized just how different names in the Ten Kingdoms could be until that moment. While Rachel and Beth suggested mostly names that he was at least familiar with in passing, Alana, Taloni, and Kendra all seemed to mostly be familiar with names that sounded quite foreign to his ears.

After nearly twenty minutes, Alana shook her head. "I like a lot of those names, but something about them doesn't feel quite right, not for her." She put her hand over her womb.

"What about family names?" Beth suggested. "Your mother's name is Kalaya; that's a pretty name."

The wood elf hesitated before shaking her head. "That could get confusing."

"How about on your side Dominus?" The blonde asked.

"Oh!" Alana exclaimed, then looked at Ethan. "I know what I want to call her, if it's okay with you sir."

"What?" He asked.

"I really like your mom." The wood elf said. "And I thought her name was pretty. Could you name her that?"

"Wait, could I name her that?" He raised his eyebrow. "Don't you mean 'we'?"

"No." Alana shook her head looking very confused. "You're the girl's father; of course I'm going to suggest names, but ultimately it's your choice what to name her."

"It is?"

"Of course Dominus." Beth said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Fathers always have the final say in what their children are named."

"Could we name our daughter after your mother?" Alana asked, again sounding hopeful.

"Sure." He nodded, thinking about how happy that would make both mother and grandmother. Besides, his mom did have a good name.

"Um, what's your mother's name?" Kendra asked.

"Ruth." Ethan replied. "Her name is Ruth."

"That's a pretty name master." Taloni smiled.

"I agree." Alana smiled from her seat at the edge of the bed.

Ethan knelt down so he was in front of his first wife and put his head at the level of her womb. "Hello Ruth, I can't wait to meet you."

"I think she's excited to meet you too sir." Alana replied.

He lifted his hand and rested it on her stomach over her womb. "Hi there little girl. You'll have a lot of doting relatives soon."

"She will." Rachel grinned.

"Now, you need to focus on getting bigger so I can meet you." He said softly, then looked up into Alana's rich hazel eyes. "I'm really looking forward to that."

She sighed. "Me too sir, me too."

He stood up and offered a hand to the wood elf, who took it and stood. "Now, I think we need to make sure the mother is well fed so the baby grows faster." He winked.

She rolled her eyes.

"Come on, I'm hungry too." He led the way to the door and out onto the weather deck.

Anthiel, Serif and Selene were sitting around the breakfast fire, which was in its metal firepan, and they were eating breakfast. Selene appeared to be fidgeting a bit as she ate, though the others seemed normal enough.

He had barely left the captain's cabin when the Brazilian woman stood up. "Ethan, I've been thinking about it and -- if you're willing -- I think there's something we need to do as soon as possible. This morning if we can."

"Oh? What's that?"

The caramel haired beauty took a deep breath. "I think we need to bond."

TO BE CONTINUED...

Note: This chapter began on day 89 of Ethan's life in the Ten Kingdoms, and ended on day 90. I submit new chapters on the last Wednesday of every month, and they usually drop after the 2-3 days review process. Thus I'll submit the next chapter on December 28th, and it'll probably drop on December 30th or 31st.

I'd like to extend a very special thanks to two of my patrons, one of whom didn't want to be credited by name. So "Anonymous" and Joseph: thank you so much for your support. I really appreciate it.

STORY TAGS: dragon, magic, medieval, elf, teen, romance, virgin, harem, cuckquean