A Dragon's Tale Ch. 41

She was in more physical pain than she'd ever felt in her entire life. She could almost feel her toes trying to curl and her throat begging to scream. Her brain was begging to do anything to express the agony that the gently cutting knife was inflicting on her poor arm. She wished her problem would arise so she could break free and escape...

...but she wasn't scared.

She knew the old woman wasn't trying to kill her, or hurt her, or even trying to cause permanent damage. That simple fact kept her fear at a moderate simmer, not nearly enough to bring her problem to bear.

But she wanted to scream.

Dear Illuminar in heaven she wanted to scream!

The blood rolled down onto the cloth, but there wasn't as much as she thought there would be. The old woman continued this careful, precise cutting for several seconds before she reached over and grabbed some tweezers. The old woman dipped them in alcohol for several seconds, then stuck the tweezers into the cut.

Sarah felt like someone had shoved a branding iron into the open wound.

She could feel her eyes getting watery and tears slowly flowing down the sides of her face. She almost managed to let out a whimper, even despite the paralysis cuffs. Moments later, the old woman pulled out the tweezers, which were holding a tiny sliver of tissue.

"Muscle tissue." She said absentmindedly as she set it down in a small glass dish. "The blood didn't give me the answers I need, so I figured I'd look at the source directly."

She looked down at Sarah, then at her tears. "Oh I'm sorry, I forgot the opium; I'm sorry about that." She looked appalled at herself for a moment, then shrugged slightly. "Oh well, nothing for it now; I'll just heal the wound."

The older woman reached her hand out over the cut and Sarah could feel it closing as the pain slowly receded. It took a minute or two, but finally the wound was fully closed and she wanted to scream in pain much less. Her tears slowed and stopped, but the wound still ached.

"There you go, that's better." The old woman said happily, like she had just done something nice and was completely oblivious to the pain that Sarah had just gone through.

Seriously.

It was like the old woman had noticed that Sarah was in pain, but it hadn't registered. Not like she didn't care, but like she wasalmost completely oblivious. It really didn't seem like she was being mean, she just hadn't noticed.

"Here, let me get those cuffs off." She took off the left one first, and the innkeeper's daughter whimpered the moment she could move her body again.

"Was it really that bad?" The other woman asked.

Sarah swallowed hard, nodding slowly as the tears started coming back.

"Oh, I'm sorry. How can I make it up to you?" She hesitated, then removed the other paralysis cuff. "Other than releasing you of course. Obviously I can't do that until I've figured out what makes you so strong. Otherwise, what can I do?"

The innkeeper's daughter felt slightly frozen, except for her knees which seemed to want to knock together.

"Oh come on, what do you want?" The old woman rolled her eyes. "It's a bit cold up in the cells, warmer clothes? A better bed? A hot meal? A walk outside? Give me something here."

Too afraid to say anything else, Sarah just nodded.

The old woman shrugged. "Okay, coming up. Well, in a while. Right now, I want to examine this." She held up the glass dish with the muscle tissue. "You don't mind if I wait, right?" She asked casually, like they were discussing the weather.

Sarah shook her head quickly and vigorously.

"Perfect." She smiled then took the glass dish with her and walked over to one of the strange instruments, humming a strange tune as she did.

The way the old woman was behaving actually reminded Sarah of herself when she'd had a new idea for a meal and was making it for the first time. It was the joyous anticipation of experimentation and discovery, and oddly there didn't seem to be any malevolence in it at all.

Sarah didn't know what to make of that.

* * *

Alana watched her husband leave the room and couldn't think of something to say to keep him in the room until after he'd left. She glanced at Rachel, who looked nearly as stunned as she herself felt. Their eyes met extremely briefly, then both looked away at once.

The silence was deafening.

"Um..." Alana started, but couldn't think of a way to finish the sentence.

"Yes?" Her best friend asked at once.

"Uh..." Her mind scrambled, not helped by the gorgeous pair of blue eyes that were looking at her expectantly. Why did Rachel have to have such amazing, wonderful, and distracting eyes?

The redhead spoke after several long moments. "That's uh... that's an interesting thing our husband just said."

"Uh-huh." Alana nodded.

She had known that Ethan wasn't bothered by her attraction to the redhead, but she hadn't known he would actually find it... what was the word he'd used? Was it 'cool?' Or maybe 'neat'? She couldn't remember. 'Okay Alana, pull yourself together' she thought to herself, and willed her brain come up with something coherent to say.

"So... um, do you think that we-- Uh, do you think Beth and Taloni will be okay?" The wood elf finally asked.

Rachel glanced at her for a brief moment, then looked down just slightly as her fair cheeks got a bit more color than normal. "I think... I think that they might... um, that they..."

The redhead bit her lip.

The brunette waited with bated breath, trying not to get her hopes up too high while simultaneously bracing herself for a heart-crushing disappointment.

"Well, if it just happened the other day, it might be really new to them." Rachel finally said. "I mean, they might not know what to think; it might be too new."

The wood elf wanted to kick herself;of course Rachel would be feeling that way. She herself had taken quite a while to come to terms with the idea that she was attracted to the redhead; of course Rachel would need some time too.

"I completely understand that, it took me--" Alana stopped then quickly covered. "Uh, I can see how it might take a while to get used to some of that."

"Some of it?" Rachel repeated.

"Uh, yeah. It might take someone a while to come to grips with the fact that that she's attracted to her best friend."

Rachel glanced at her, a confused look on her face. However, Alana couldn't help but notice that the corners of the redhead's mouth had pulled upwards slightly. It didn't appear to be conscious either, which made the wood elf smile in return.

"Yeah." Rachel said softly, apparently not able to keep a small and embarrassed smile off her face. "Yeah that could take some time, but..." Her cheeks got red and she looked down. "...but I think it's possible."

Alana felt like her heart was going to burst.

Could a person die of happiness?

Apparently it wasn't possible because she would certainly be dead if it was. She wanted to scream and jump for joy, but restrained herself for the sake of her best friend. She didn't think those reactions would help her, so she let the excitement well up inside of her like one of those 'hot air balloons' Ethan had once described.

"So..." Rachel began to say, but bit her lip and fell silent.

"Yes?" Alana prompted gently.

"Do you think... um, do you think that...?" She hesitated, then took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Do you think that Beth or Taloni thinks that it's weird to be attracted to another woman?" The redhead blushed slightly, then bit her lip and looked down. She looked small, as if she was trying to shrink herself down and wouldn't meet the wood elf's eye.

"I don't think they need to." The brunette replied. "I mean, they might have thought that at first, but Illuminar doesn't say it's wrong. It's not exactlynormal, and yeah it might be weird at first; but that doesn't mean it's bad right?"

Rachel glanced up at her, and the look in her eyes was very vulnerable. She nodded slightly in concession, but didn't look entirely convinced. She bit her lip and adjusted her hips slightly.

"I um... I don't know." The redhead replied quietly. "I mean, Beth and Taloni might not have grown up hearing about things like that, so they might find it... I don't know, maybe a bit uncomfortable to consider. Well, notuncomfortable exactly, but maybe they might need some time to get used to it."

"It's okay." Alana smiled.

"Yeah?" The redhead looked up at her with an odd look in her eyes. Hopefulness maybe?

"Yeah." She replied with a comforting smile. "It takes time to get used to some things, and that's okay."

"I'm glad you think that." The corners of Rachel's pulled upward a bit. "I... I don't think Beth and Taloni would handle it well if someone was... well, if one of their fellow wives wasn't understanding. It might hurt."

"I would never hurt you." Alana said, putting her hand on the redhead's hand and giving it gentle squeeze.

"Thank you." The redhead gave her an actual smile, though it was a small and embarrassed one. "I know you wouldn't, I just... I don't really know what to think about..." She frowned. "I don't even..."

"Don't even... what?"

Rachel looked up into Alana's eyes. "How would I-- I mean, how would someone like Beth or Taloni cope with discovering something like this about themselves?"

"So, does it have to be a big thing?" The brunette replied cautiously. "Yeah it's another part of you, and it adds to who you already are, but you haven't really changed, have you?"

"It feels like a big change, for Beth and Taloni of course."

"But does it change who a person is at the core?" Alana asked. "You're still a wonderful, sweet, amazing woman; if you were also attracted to a fellow wife in addition to a husband, that's another facet of who you are, but the rest of you would still be the same, right?"

Rachel nodded slightly in concession. "I suppose if someone looked at it that way, it wouldn't betoo big of a change."

Alana smiled.

"But then, what if other people knew." Rachel grimaced. "They might... I don't know, they might think I'm some kind of... of..." She trailed off.

"Some kind of... what?"

The redhead grimaced. "I don't know."

"Well, who will think you're... 'that'?" She paused. "Whatever 'that' is."

"I don't know, people?"

Alana raised her eyebrow. "Just 'people' in general."

"Maybe?"

The wood elf slowly nodded, then pursed her lips. "What about the people here on the Argo; do you think they would think 'that'?"

She shook her head.

"And you already know that our husband wouldn't care, and he would actually like it."

Rachel nodded.

"And most importantly Illuminar; do you think He would be against that? Would He be against two of a man's wives falling in love with each other?"

The redhead hesitated, then slowly shook her head. "I don't think the Book of Light mentions it even once. You would think that it would mention it if it's wrong; if it was a sin." She frowned. "Right? I mean, wouldn't that make sense?"

"It would." The brunette nodded. "So if Illuminar doesn't mind, and your friends don't mind, and our husband would actually like it, then why would it matter if some other people thought... 'that'?"

Rachel inclined her head in concession, but didn't say anything else. Alana found herself wishing that she could tell what the redhead was feeling the same way that she could with Ethan, but sadly she couldn't. Still, her best friend looked a bit calmer about the whole thing than she had before.

Not perfectly calm, but calmer.

Finally, after quite a long pause, the redhead spoke again. "I imagine that Beth and Taloni might need some time to think about all this, you know?"

"Yeah?"

She nodded. "Yeah, it might help them come to terms with it." Rachel looked up at her with a small smile. "And it might be really helpful if they had a good friend to talk it over with who wouldn't judge, and who would accept them for who they are." Her smile got wider. "I think that would help a lot."

A wide smile started spreading over Alana's face without conscious effort and her heart suddenly swelled. "I'm glad to hear that."

"I um..." The redhead hesitated. "I should probably go think about... I mean, I should help Beth and Taloni think this through. Though, I need to help Selene find her deep mana too."

"Well, if they make a breakthrough, or simply want to talk, I'm always here for them... and you."

"I know they would really appreciate that." Rachel smiled, and Alana felt her own smile getting wider in response.

"I'm glad." The wood elf replied.

Rachel stood up, gave her another small smile, and then walked the few steps to the door. However, she paused before opening it and looked back at the wood elf. She seemed to fight an internal battle for several moments, and then finally spoke, her cheeks going scarlet as she did so. Her voice was quiet and almost scared, but she had an almost hopeful look on her face too.

"Alana, you know I wasn't talking about Beth and Taloni, right?"

The wood elf grinned and nodded. "Neither was I."

The redhead bit her lip, nodded slowly, then smiled. It was a small and embarrassed smile, but it reached deep into her gorgeous blue eyes. "I'm glad." She hesitated for several seconds. "I'm really glad."

Then she slipped out the door, closing it behind her.

Alana flopped back on the bed, feeling like this day couldn't possibly get better.

* * *

Ethan took a last look around the deck of his airship -- he grinned; his airship -- before he went into the captain's cabin with Beth, Alana and Rachel having vacated it a while ago. Rachel and Selene were away from everyone at the bow of the ship, the former teaching the latter how to find her deep mana. Alana was enchanting Rachel's staff near the mast, Taloni was talking with Anthiel about airship piloting at the ship's wheel, Serif was adjusting one of the ship's sail ropes, and Raklan was helping him.

"Come on, let's see this angelic blade." He said to the blonde as he stepped into the captain's cabin with her in tow.

She followed him and instantly hopped onto the bed and laid down.

"Hold on there." He chuckled. "You do realize that I've neverintentionally entered the Astral Plane, right?"

"Oh it's really easy Dominus, but only since you've been there before. If you hadn't it would be really hard. Just lay down, get comfortable, and then remember the Astral Plane and picture exactly what it looks like. Once you've done that, sit up while imagining that your body is tied to the bed."

"Okay, I'll give it a go." He nodded.

It took him several tries over several minutes, but he was finally able to. He stood up and looked around, marveling at how different the captain's cabin looked in shades of purple. The blonde had already been on the Astral Plane for a few minutes now, and she got a huge smile on her face when she saw him.

"You're here!" She exclaimed, and virtually leapt into his arms. Oddly, he was able to catch and interact with her just like in the physical world.

"Yeah, I heard there was a hot blonde here and I wanted to check her out." He winked, then looked at her properly. "Yup, she's hot alright."

He wolf whistled.

She blushed, or at least that's what he assumed the slight darkening of her cheeks was.

"Not blonde here though." He looked at her and frowned. "I thought seeing you as a brunette was weird, but purple hair... and purple skin..." He shook his head.

"My purple dragon." She sighed looking back at him

"Yeah, just don't call me 'Barney' and we'll be fine."

"Who's Barney?"

"Someone from Earth." He chuckled, then noticed the one thing that wasn't purple hanging in a scabbard at her side. "Is that it?"

"Yes, this is Aharown." She nodded, and carefully drew it from its scabbard.

The sword was just as bright and shining as Gabriella was. It seemed to glow with an inner light, and he didn't think anyone or anything in the universe could extinguish it. It was an arming sword, being about 3 feet long and doubled edged, and it looked exactly like a medieval one-handed 'knightly' sword. The blade was a flattened diamond in cross section, and it had no fuller.

Beth frowned as she held it. "It still really doesn't feel right in my hands; like it's not really mine. I don't feel bad just holding it, but I would feel really weird doing anything else with it."

"Hmm, well let me take a look." He said.

She sheathed the sword, then unbuckled the sword belt and handed it to him. Like the sword itself, the sword belt and scabbard weren't purple, but were colored normally, even on the Astral Plane. However, the belt and scabbard didn't have the same radiance that the blade itself did. The sword seemed more 'pure' somehow.

From the moment he touched the scabbard holding Aharown, it felt good.

He wasn't sure why.

Something about it just felt right in his hands. He unsheathed the sword, holding it with his right hand. It felt amazing in his hands; just as good as his dragon steel sword, possibly even better. He stepped back from Beth for safety and gave it an experimental swing.

He could've sworn he heard the blade almost sing as it sliced through the air. He swung it a few more times, but couldn't actually hear it. Maybe he was imagining it, but he would've sworn...

Hmm.

"How does it feel to you Dominus?"

"Great." He nodded as he swung it again. "It just feels right somehow."

She smiled. "I know what you mean. It felt like that in my hands too until I used it to free you from the dark halo curse. Afterwards it felt like its job was done in my hands and I was just holding it for someone. I guess now I know who."

"I won't complain." He nodded. "With the recent revelation about Lord Delmar or his lackeys having dealings with demons, I'll definitely feel better having a weapon that could hurt them."

He shuddered.

Demons.

"How the hell did this happen?" He shook his head. "Three months ago I would've never dreamed of fighting demons, lords or mages in anything but a video game. Now..." He slowly moved Aharown around again, took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Eventually he sheathed the sword and buckled it around his waist as his youngest wife spoke.

"Don't worry Dominus, I'll be right there with you." She promised.

He gave her a half smile. "I suppose you're the only one who can be; none of the others can enter the Astral Plane."

The blonde grimaced slightly. "I don't want to meet another demon Dominus, but I promise I'll do whatever it takes to help you, even it means meeting one again."

"My brave angel." He smiled at her.

"My purple dragon." She grinned back.

He couldn't help but hear the Barney theme song playing in his head.

* * *

"Elder Goman wrote again!"

Alana heard the blonde's voice, but was too busy floating on cloud nine to pay much attention.

Rachel liked her.

She couldn't have kept a smile off her face if she had wanted to. She was trying to at least do something useful by finishing Selene's strength enhancing vambraces. She'd already added the self-repairing enchantment and the activatable stiffening enchantment, so they would function incredibly well as armor. Now she just needed to finish the strength-enhancing enchantment and they would be ready.

*Gather round if you want to hear ladies.* Ethan thought to all of them. *Rachel, can you bring Selene?*

Alana started walking over to him, doing her very best not let her smile reach her ears.

She was only partially successful.

"What's it say?" Beth asked, almost bouncing on the balls of her feet. Alana noticed that she had a book in her hand too, probably one of the ones she'd gotten in Gralden.