A Dragon's Tale Ch. 46

"That's asking me to take a lot on faith." He pointed out.

"Master, she's an angel." Tee countered. "She couldn't lie and she's never been wrong before."

"You're reinforcing my point about taking a lot on faith." He replied.

"At this point, why wouldn't you?" Kendra asked. "I realize that you didn't believe in God before coming to the Ten Kingdoms, but since then you've met an angel and spoken to Illuminar personally. Why wouldn't you trust Him?"

"Gabriella helped me save your life several times Dominus." Beth pointed out, but she seemed a little distracted.

He inclined his head in concession, but didn't look entirely convinced. "I guess you're not wrong."

"Drago, we have that chainmail from the wood elven king." Kendra pointed out. "An arrow from a strong bow might pierce it, but otherwise she'll be well protected."

"Ethan, if you tell me to stay on the Argo I will." Alana added. "But please let me help. I know I'll be fine, and I want to help save my family." She glanced at Selene and Anthiel. "And my friends."

"I still don't like it." He said after several seconds.

"I don't like that we have to attack at all, but this is where we find ourselves." The wood elf pointed out.

Ethan looked at his first wife for a long minute, and Kendra could tell that they were having some kind of telepathic conversation but didn't know what was being said since it wasn't in the group chat.

Finally he nodded. "Okay, but you will take every conceivable precaution and be as careful as possible."

"Yes sir." Alana replied seriously, looking around at all of them and at Beth a moment longer than the rest.

That's when Kendra realized that Beth had barely said a word. In fact, she'd hardly said a word all morning since returning. Something about her tone had sounded off, but her unusual silence and the lack of her typical youthful enthusiasm was standing out to the dragon huntress.

Hmm.

There were several seconds of silence before Selene thought to everyone. *Don't look now, but I think Thor is finally getting hungry.*

The kitten was slowly, haltingly, and cautiously creeping towards Ethan, who still had his food. He looked down at the kitten, who then turned and scrambled away towards Selene as fast as his little legs could carry him.

Everyone laughed.

"Well, that's progress anyway." Ethan chuckled.

* * *

"But it's dative, not accusative." Yalia said to Matthew, the young nymph cocking her head to one side at her friend's mistake. "I'm usually the one to confuse inflections and you usually catch me at it."

She looked at her best friend, slightly confused by his error. It really wasn't like him to make it. They were in her room, sitting side-by-side on the wooden crates he'd long ago snagged and given to her to use as chairs. He was thoughtful that way. They had a copy of the Book of Light in the original language open on the bed and next to it was some paper with their translation.

She smiled: their translation.

It was hard to put into words just how much she enjoyed working on it, and it was even better working on it with Matthew. He was such good company and she liked it when her friend came over.

"Oh yeah, you're right." Matthew frowned. "I don't know how I missed that."

"You've seemed like you're a thousand leagues away ever since the prophet visited last night." She pointed out. "What's troubling you?"

Matthew was silent for several seconds before replying. "I didn't say anything during that sermon." He finally replied.

"Neither did I, and neither did anyone else who disagreed." Yalia replied, still not happy that she hadn't spoken up. However, she had this very strong feeling that she shouldn't be the one to speak up, partially because she had no formal training so she doubted people would listen. She really felt like Matthew should say something since he was an apprentice luminar. She had even mentioned the idea of him saying something publicly once or twice, but hadn't ever pushed him on it.

"I know, but I was formally trained to be a luminar and no one else was." He said, running his hands through his hair. "I feel like that makes me more... I don't know, maybe more responsible to speak up? You know why I've been reluctant to say something, but after talking with the prophet... I almost feel guilty that I haven't."

"I think it would be good if you did." She replied. "I know you could do it too, you know the Book of Light better than he, and you know it in the original languages too."

"Yeah..." He frowned, then looked out the window towards the building that had been converted for use as a chapel. He turned to her and looked at her for several long seconds before speaking again. "Can I be perfectly honest?"

"Always." She smiled at him.

"I'm ashamed that I haven't said anything." He hung his head. "He's been the luminar in town for several years now and I've disagreed the entire time, but I never said a word."

The young nymph put a comforting hand on his arm. "You can always change that."

He looked at her and smiled.

For some reason, she thought it might've been because of her gentle touch, but didn't understand why. Her mother and father both assured her that she would understand these sorts of things mere moments after bonding, but she didn't right now.

"Yeah..." He nodded slowly. "Yeah, I suppose I could." He cocked his head to one side. "But you already know that I've talked to him in private and he won't budge."

"Perhaps he doesn't need to?" Yalia suggested. "Perhaps disagreeing with him during the service might change things."

"I would be directly challenging him." He pointed out. "It would turn into a debate."

"Then how about I help you prepare?" She volunteered. "I know his position well, and you've told me all about your conversations with him so I know the kinds of arguments he would use. I could pretend to be him so you can get some practice."

"You'd do that?"

She nodded with a smile. "That's what friends are for."

He smiled back. "I'd like that."

"Okay, let me just get a new piece of paper for notes." She stood up. "I'll be right back."

She walked into the kitchen where her father and mother, Arven and Ketura, were sitting at the table. Her room was connected to the kitchen, so they were a mere ten feet away and of course had heard everything. That had led to more than one theology discussion with her family and Matthew after a long day of translating, and those were some of the best times in her young life.

Her parents were having some tea as they worked on what looked like some tax papers. However, they were both beaming. They kept looking at each other and their expressions made it look like Illuminar's Day had come early. It wasn't even that strange look they gave each other before disappearing into the bedroom; they looked like a dream had just come true.

"Ma'ma, Pa'pa; why are you both so happy?"

"You'll see dear." Her father said while smiling ear-to-ear. "You'll see."

* * *

Sarah suppressed a yawn as she finished washing the last of the dinner dishes in the Helene's galley. She dried her hands on a nearby towel and took just a moment to stretch and work out the kinks that had developed from cooking most of the day in the airship's galley. She was sore all over, but it was a good kind of sore. The light coming through the portholes had slowly dimmed as evening progressed, eventually fading into the dark blues of twilight.

The innkeeper's daughter then spent the next twenty minutes straightening up the last few things with Fiona, who was also still working and able to tell her where everything went. Finally they were done and the kitchen some semblance of clean when she realized something.

There were only three people left in the kitchen: her, Fiona, and Marge.

The head cook was looking at her, shaking her head and smiling. "I didn't think I'd ever get another worker like Fiona, but you seem determined to prove me wrong."

"Thank you." Sarah's cheeks got a bit warm at the praise.

"If you were planning on staying on in the kitchens when we get to Karnas in the morning, I'd be happy to have you." Marge said, then glanced at Fiona. "Even with having to take care of Conner, this girl gets more work done than all of my other cooks. I'd give my eye teeth to have another worker like that, and I'll make sure you're paid well for it."

"Paid?" The innkeeper's daughter stared at the head cook. She'd never had her own money before, unless you counted in her youth when her father would occasionally give her a copper or two at a festival.

"Fiona can fill you in, and I'll start you off the same as I started her." Marge said, then turned and left the kitchen.

"I could get paid?" Sarah stared at the copper haired woman.

"Of course. You weren't expecting to be working for free, were ya?"

"I... I hadn't thought about it." She replied honestly.

Fiona started laughing.

"What?" Sarah said a bit defensively.

"I'm not meaning any harm nor to be making fun of ya." She was still chuckling with a smile. "I'm just not knowing anyone else who would be considering a job without considering the pay

"Oh." The innkeeper's daughter nodded, realizing that probably was indeed strange.

"Now, the pay is very good, as long as you're considering the benefits." Fiona said when she had stopped laughing. "The castle is providing everything you're needing, including food, a room, laundry, and the like. So while they only pay a few coppers, you don't need to be spending money on most things unless you are wanting to." She paused. "Or unless you have a baby who is growing like a weed and needing new clothes every five minutes."

Sarah chuckled at that.

"I would love to be working with you in the kitchens." The copper haired woman continued. "I hope you'll be saying yes."

"Yes, at least for now." Sarah replied, looking forward to not only spending more time with Fiona, but also being able to cook most of the day.

She had no idea what to do with the money.

What does one spend money on when all her needs were met? She had no idea. Perhaps new clothes? Well, she didn't really need fancy clothes. Lady Ekthros had given her enough clothes and shoes to wear, and she of course still had her self-cleaning underthings. She couldn't think of anything that she actually needed.

"Come on." Fiona said, nodding her head towards the door. "I'll need to be checking on Conner and I was wanting to show you something."

"Okay." She smiled.

Sarah followed her friend through the Helene's middle deck, eventually ending up at the rooms. She followed the other woman into her room, where Conner was still asleep.

"Here, I was wanting to show you my Sean's last letter." Fiona said. "I'm not usually pulling it out because it's his last letter, and I'm wanting to get it enchanted to be self-repairing so I always have it. I only show it to friends, so I thought you should be seeing it."

"Aww." Sarah couldn't help but smile. It had been years since she had a friend close to her own age. They had all disappeared when she got her problem but now her heart was feeling incredibly light... until she remembered something.

She bit her lip and looked down.

"Are ya alright?" Fiona asked, suddenly looking concerned.

"I um..." She swallowed. "I can't..." She took a deep breath. Fiona didn't seem like the kind of person who would judge her because she couldn't read. She was nice, or at least she seemed nice. She could tell her that, right?

"I... I can't read." Sarah finally admitted.

She knew that her parents had wanted her to learn, but then her mother had died. Her father had been grief stricken and overwhelmed with running the inn, then she'd gotten her problem. By the time her father had finished taking her to the various temples and luminars to try and cure her, she had missed a lot time. It had taken years of constant work to get the inn back on its feet after they returned and it had barely stayed afloat ever since then. Somehow in all that craziness she'd never had a chance to learn to read. In fact, she'd missed most of her schooling.

"Oh." Both of Fiona's eyebrows went up for a moment, then she shrugged. "Well then, we'll just have to be fixing that, now won't we? I can be teaching ya to read."

Sarah stared. "Really?"

"Aye, recipes are usually written down, and I know how ya like cooking." Fiona said, then added with a wink. "I'm just making sure you'll helpful in the kitchens. No other reason of course."

Sarah laughed.

Was this really happening?

Would she really learn to read?

"You're sure?"

"Aye, I'm sure." The copper haired woman said. "It clearly is bothering ya, and I'm happy to be helping." She looked at her pointedly. "Especially to be helping a friend."

Sarah smiled, feeling like she could cry in happiness.

* * *

Selene took a deep breath then let the chainmail slide down, doing everything possible to not get her hair caught in it. It took a minute, but she managed to only lose a few strands of hair. Alana and Rachel had already put theirs on and headed up to the weather deck, but she found herself moving more slowly because of the jittery feeling in her hands and butterflies in her stomach.

"Oww." She said as she carefully flipped her long caramel hair out from under the chainmail onto her back, losing a few more strands of hair.

"Yeah, that happens." Kendra said as she likewise pulled her hair out from under the chainmail she had just put on, wincing just as the Brazilian woman had when she also lost a few strands.

Selene looked out the small porthole in the Argo's lower deck, confirming that the light had indeed faded to the twilight hours. She took another deep, calming breath trying to reduce the jittery feeling and calm the butterflies in her stomach.

"Pre battle jitters?" The dragon huntress asked as she picked up her sword.

Selene nodded.

"It happens to everyone, especially the first few times." She said as she buckled her sword belt over the chainmail. "The important thing is to not let it get to you. You'll be fine."

"I hope so." Selene took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Except for the ambush where Taloni got hurt, I've never fought with a sharp sword before, plus I've never intentionally gone into battle before. I've been sparring like a madwoman, but my sparring partners were never trying to kill me. They will be tonight. It's pretty sobering."

"Good." Kendra nodded as she picked up one of the large leather kite shields that the wood elven king had given to Ethan. "Cockiness is the fastest way to die; I'd rather you were sober and had your head in the fight. Feeling like that is a good sign, as long as you don't paralyze yourself in fear or anxiety."

"I don't think I'll do that until I have some fellow with bad breath charging me."

"Not all Ivernian soldiers have bad breath; some have horrible breath." Kendra said with a straight face.

Selene chuckled. "I'm glad at least one of us still has a sense of humor about this."

"I've done this more times than I can count." The dragon huntress replied as she triple checked everything. "It's even scarier when you're suiting up to fight a dragon who weighs ten times more than you do and breathes fire. Give me men in armor over that any day."

"How will the Ivernian soldiers be armored?"

"Almost certainly chainmail, but most of them will need a minute to put it on. There will be about a dozen men on deck suited up, and the rest will have to suit up before they will attack. The sailors probably won't be involved much, other than maybe a few arrows."

"Okay." Selene took another deep breath as she too buckled on her sword to her slender waist. Okay, it wasn'ther sword. It was one of the arming swords that the wood elven king had given to Ethan for his wives; she was just borrowing it.

"You'll do fine." Kendra assured her.

"I hope so." She picked up the kite shield that she'd been training with for the last... "Wow." She looked at the dragon huntress. "I've been here for nearly a month already. Where did the time go?"

"I don't know." She shrugged. "Sometimes it feels like it's been years since I first met Ethan."

"I know what you mean."

"Come on." The dragon huntress said. "It's time to go; Ethan will have dropped Beth off in Astral Plane form by now, and we need to get onto my airship and into position before the moon rises."

"Agreed." Selene nodded, her hands still feeling jittery and her stomach still hosting a swarm of butterflies. She was glad she'd eaten a light dinner, though she didn't think she was in danger of losing that dinner. She took another deep, calming breath.

*You can do this Selene.* She thought to herself, remembering that she had been in a life-or-death fight once before when she'd first arrived. Still though, it was completely different to be intentionally walking into a situation where several dozen men would be trying to kill you.

"You'll do fine." Kendra gave her a half-smile, then nodded towards the stairs to the weather deck. "Let's get going."

"Okay." She double and triple checked that she had everything, and then followed the dragon huntress towards the stairs.

* * *

Ethan flew past the pursuing airship's lower crow's nest, releasing his javelin when he got close enough to hit the single lookout. The javelin hit dead center of the man's chest and he barely made a sound before he crumpled. Ethan circled their target, making sure to stay as far as possible from the airship to avoid being spotted as he called his javelin back and attached it to his side. His armor was on his back in pack form with some dark cloth wrapped around the white armor to make him and it harder to see.

*I found him Dominus.* Beth thought to everyone. *He's pacing on the lower deck.*

*Okay, I'm landing on the lower crow's nest now.* He replied, still a little confused that there wasn't anyone else on lookout below the hull. He wouldn't have dared try this with the upper lookout since all the crew might've seen, plus the multitude of lanterns lighting the airship's deck would've made seeing him easy. However, no one else seemed to be watching the lower crow's nest. Perhaps it was rare to be attacked from below? That made sense since you couldn't attack with archers or board from below.

He swooped around and landed as lightly as possible, looking up to make sure that no one could see him from the small hole in the underside of the hull, out of which the ladder to the lower crow's nest came. Once landed, he started climbing the ladder as quietly as possible, keeping a sharp eye out for movement at the top.

There wasn't any.

He got to the top of the ladder and then looked out at the various ropes for the rigging. He had considered trying to fly right to the side of the ship, but was pretty sure someone would see him arrive or hear him land. That went double because he had almost no experience landing on theside of things.

*We're passing under you Drago.* Kendra though to everyone. *Alana says she can see you, but I certainly can't in this darkness.*

*Good.* He replied. *How long until the moon rises?*

There was a slight pause, then Taloni spoke up. *Anthiel says we don't have long Master, maybe ten or fifteen minutes.*

He nodded, glad that both his still-recovering Fey wife and Beth's body were safe on the Argo.

*I'll be in position right under their tail in two minutes.* Kendra thought to everyone.

He looked down to see Kendra's very small airship stuffed full of people. Alana, Rachel, Kendra, Selene, Serif, and Raklan made the ship look like nearly standing room only. It wasn'tquite that cramped, but it was close.

He shifted his focus, looking for the rope hanging down the side that he'd seen while flying. It wasn't a long jump to with his dragon legs; only about twelve feet horizontally. However, he was going to try something different that didn't have the potential to make so much noise; something that only a dragon could do: use his wing claws. He didn't use them often, but now seemed like a perfect opportunity.