A Dragon's Tale Ch. 49

Chapter 49: The die is cast

I now have an editor, so you all shouldn't need to put up with my typos and poor/dyslexic editing skills anymore. :)

Note: Many of the characters in Laerten were previously introduced in my other story: "Strange Bedfellows". Needless to say, spoilers for that story follow...

* * *

After learning that Lady Ekthros was probably a mage the previous night, Sarah felt like she had spent the rest of the night and this morning in a slightly dazed state. Working in the kitchens had helped somewhat since she had something she loved to take her mind off of it, but it was always at the back of her mind.

How?

More importantly, Why?

If Lady Ekthros really was a mage, it seemed almost certain that she had voluntarily let herself be captured. However, Sarah couldn't think of a reason she would do that that didn't involve her. The innkeeper's daughter found it hard to believe that the noblewoman would've let herself be captured just to be near her. That didn't make any sense.

"Sarah, maybe she wasn't being captured." Fiona suggested while she fed Conner during their morning break. "Maybe she was only making it look like she was being captured, but she was really working with the Ivernians?"

Sarah frowned. "But why?"

"I'm not knowing that, I'm just suggesting."

"I suppose it's possible." The innkeeper's daughter stood and started pacing back and forth in their room. It was fairly spartan and unadorned since Fiona had had her hands full with Conner and working since she moved in. Sarah's only possessions were a few dresses and a pair of shoes -- all gifted to her by Lady Ekthros -- so she didn't have decorations either. She really wanted to liven up the place, but she didn't have anything she could use to decorate.

"I'm not even sure that she's a mage." Sarah said after a few moments. "You said it was a rumor; maybe the rumors were wrong?"

"Aye, I'm not liking to be relying on gossip." The copper-haired woman nodded as she switched her baby from one side to the other under her nursing blanket. "We should be finding out for certain."

"But how? I could ask her, but how would I know if she was telling the truth? I don't know anyone else here to ask, do you?"

Fiona hesitated and made a thoughtful frown.

"You have an idea?"

The copper-haired woman waggled her head back and forth for a moment before speaking. "Well, I suppose I could be asking the Lord Delmar himself; he wouldn't lie." Her accent made 'lord' sound like 'lard'.

"You could do that?" Sarah's eyes went a little wide.

"Aye, I'm thinking I could. Someone from the kitchens is bringing him his meals for breakfast and lunch and I'm on the rotation. I could be asking to switch with whoever will be bringing him his lunch today."

"That would be wonderful, but do you think he would mind?" Sarah stopped her pacing to look at Fiona.

"I don'tthink he would be minding." Fiona's tone wasn't filled with confidence, but it wasn't filled with doubt either.

"I would love to know for sure, but only if you wouldn't get in trouble."

"I'm not thinking I would." The copper-haired woman said after a few moments. "I've never heard of the Lord Delmar being angry with someone for asking a question, even if he wasn't answering the question."

"Okay, good. And thank you."

The other woman smiled at her. "You're welcome."

Sarah resumed her pacing. "I keep trying to think of what Lady Ekthros could've wanted, but I can't think of anything that doesn't involve me."

"Well, I was noticing something while you were telling me the whole story last night."

"Oh?"

"Aye." Fiona nodded. "She was seeming to know things that she couldn't be knowing unless..." She frowned as she hesitated, and it was a deep frown too.

"Unless what?" Sarah asked.

"Well somehow, she was knowing things that only you should be knowing." Fiona said with more than the usual amount of care in her words. "And I'm thinking there's only one way that she could be knowing those things."

"Oh." Sarah said, catching on. She cocked her head to one side. "You think she's a telepath?"

"I'm not knowing another way to explain it."

Hmm.

Sarah started pacing again as she thought about that. It made some sense. She hated to admit it, but it made sense. The thing that had most convinced her that Ethan was evil was when Lady Ekthros had mentioned that he would use someone's dreams to manipulate that person, and then she had described something similar to Sarah's dream with Gabriella. That more than anything had convinced Sarah that Ethan wasn't a good person.

But what if Lady Ekthros had simply read her mind and lied about...

She grimaced.

"What are you thinking?" Fiona asked as she pulled Conner out from under her nursing blanket and started rocking him slowly as she burped him. The tired baby still seemed to be fighting sleep, but with a full tummy after eating he was losing that battle.

"I thought she was reluctant at the time, but now..." Sarah frowned and then realized she'd been making that particular expression rather a lot in the last twelve hours. "I think that more than anything else, she wanted me to think that the false prophet -- Ethan -- wasn't a good person."

Fiona drew her lips into a thin line and spoke with cold fury in her voice, though it wasn't directed at Sarah. "That Saidow spawn killed my husband." She clenched her jaw, but then loosened it slightly. "But I must be admitting, if Lady Ekthros was trying to convince you that he is wicked, then maybe..." She stopped and shook her head. "No, the Lord Delmar was telling me that he was a false prophet and he wouldn't be lying."

"But maybe he relied on Lady Ekthros to tell him what happened?" Sarah countered. "She did tell me that she's the one who's chiefly responsible for keeping him informed, so maybe she lied to him and he thought she was telling the truth."

"I'm not saying that couldn't be happening, but..." The copper-haired woman trailed off. She took a few deep breaths and then looked at Sarah. "Anyway, if we are thinking that Lady Ekthros is telepathic, then there's something you can be doing so she can't be reading your mind."

"Oh?" Sarah perked up.

"Aye." Fiona nodded. "The Lord Delmar allows anyone who's working at the castle to visit the court mage to be taught how to be shielding his mind. I think he's wanting the castle to be more secure."

"I could do that." Sarah nodded with a smile. "Even if she isn't a telepath, it would be good to know that no one can read my mind."

"Aye, I'm agreeing. That's why I was doing that not long after moving here."

"I'll do that." Sarah nodded again. "Were you going to ask Lord Delmar if Lady Ekthros is a mage?"

"Aye, I'll see if I can be bringing him his lunch today and ask then."

* * *

Alana yawned as the Argo's crew and guests ate breakfast. Anthiel had made plenty of food to feed everyone and they were all chowing down heartily and happily except for Ethan's wives, who were more subdued. Well, Selene seemed a bit more down than usual too. Everyone else was happy and relaxed, especially Shara and Lyra's personal guard.

"So, what's it like?" Shara asked from beside her. The lord's wife had settled next to the wood elf when breakfast had started, then Rachel had almost instantly claimed the wood elf's other side.

"What's what like?" Alana asked.

"Being the leader of four other wives." Shara replied.

"Leader?"

The amber-haired woman nodded. "You all clearly defer to Ethan, but his other wives all clearly defer to you. When there's a decision to be made, they look to you when Ethan isn't there. It's something I noticed and I wanted to ask what it was like."

"Oh, I hadn't noticed." Alana cocked her head to one side, thinking about it. As she did, it occurred to her that the lord's wife was right; her fellow wives did defer to her. She hadn't noticed it before, but they did.

Huh.

"That's interesting." She mused. "When did you notice that?"

"The night we hosted you all for dinner." Shara replied. "I have rarely met a man with so many wives, since most good men have two or three at most, and I find the dynamic interesting in its uniqueness."

"Me too." Alana smiled. "I never thought I'd have so many co-wives, but I always wanted sisters and they are the closest I'll ever have to them." She looked at her fellow wives and couldn't help but smile. "Honestly, they might be closer than blood sisters because those tend to marry and move away. I'll be with my fellow wives forever because we share a husband."

The lord's wife nodded. "Indeed. I had not thought about sharing a husband for most of my life, but Lyra is a wonderful friend who's always there. I find her adding greatly to my joy in good times and being a great source of comfort in dark times."

Alana nodded. "I know the feeling."

"May I inquire about Selene?" Shara continued. "She behaves like one of his wives and yet clearly isn't, nor does she seem much attracted to him. Why?"

"I don't know." The wood elf shrugged. "We told you about Ethan's home world and how Selene needs to get back to deal with the portal. I think she'll stay there. She seems to like Ethan as a friend, perhaps a good friend, but it doesn't seem like her attraction goes any deeper."

"Perhaps." Shara smiled. "I have some experience in trying not to form an attachment to a good man; it's not as easy as it sounds."

"Just ask Kendra." The wood elf chuckled. "But I do think Selene will stay on Earth. I'm not sure why, but I think she will. Before Kendra married Ethan, I noticed her doing things that made me think she was attracted to him, but I haven't noticed that with Selene." Alana looked at the Brazilian woman who was currently talking to Octavian, the head of Shara and Lyra's personal guard. "I'm going to miss her when she leaves; the Argo won't be the same without her."

"She does add something, doesn't she?" The amber-haired woman agreed, then looked around at the rest of the wood elf's fellow wives. "They all do. It's remarkable how well-suited you all are to each other. I would not have imagined five or six women would get along so well."

"Agreed, it's pretty amazing how much--" Alana began to say, but was interrupted by her husband.

*Ladies, I just found Talven and Salma's farm.* Ethan thought to everyone, his tone grim. *It's a pile of ash.*

Alana's eyes went wide and she looked around at her fellow wives, all of whom suddenly looked as grim as she felt.

Shara gave her a piercing look. "What's wrong?"

The wood elf hesitated, not wanting to reveal her ability to communicate with Ethan, but also not wanting to lie.

"It's your husband, isn't it?" The amber-haired woman said after a moment. "He can communicate with Selene because she's telepathic, and she can communicate with you and your fellow wives for the same reason. He just gave you all some bad news, didn't he?"

"Not exactly, but not far off." Alana replied, glad she wouldn't have to lie. "Talven and Salma -- the couple he went to check on -- their house has been burned to ash." She grimaced.

"Lord Farbrottan is cruel and vindictive, but not stupid." Shara said after a moment. "I would wager a large sum of gold that he didn't harm the family, only raze the house. Murdering them could cause an uprising and he would endeavor to avoid that."

"Oh good." Taloni sighed in obvious relief. "They were good people and I would hate to see them get hurt."

"Selene, could you relay that to Ethan?" Alana asked to maintain the fiction, and the Brazilian woman did.

*I'll start looking then.* He replied, the relief in his tone almost palpable.

"Are you sure they're alive?" The wood elf asked the lord's wife.

"No, but the most prudent course of action would be to leave them alive, even for a tyrant." She replied. "A living family to serve as an example of crossing him would be significantly more effective in deterring rebellion than a dead family who could become martyrs. Lord Farbrottan is many things, but reckless and foolhardy aren't among them."

"How do you know?" Rachel asked.

"I have met him before." Shara replied. "Ivernia borders Timarou, so I have encountered him several times. He shouldn't be trifled with."

"I'll pass that along." Selene said. "Sadly, I think we're already past that point; we've done rather more than trifle with him."

"Unfortunately, I agree." The lord's wife nodded, her lips drawn into a thin line.

* * *

From hundreds of feet in the air, Ethan stared at the pile of ash that had once been Talven and Salma's house. The couple that had told him of the corrupt Reeve had been worried about this, about their home being razed to the ground, but... He shook his head; he had never thought it would actually happen. Still, he hoped that what Selene had relayed from Shara was correct, because if it wasn't...

He clenched his fist.

Deciding to be smart about this, he flew towards the nearest large patch of clouds. Once above it, he altered his disguise gem to make him look like a large eagle. The disguise wouldn't fool anyone who wanted to see through it, but he thought this would be a lower profile option than his natural dragon form. He hung out above the cloud for a few minutes, circling just above it in case someone was watching from below.

Then he dived.

He hurtled straight towards the ground, only pulling up at the last moment and flapping his wings to kill his momentum. He landed and looked around. There wasn't anyone nearby, but the grass had clearly been trampled by a lot of people recently. Thankfully, he didn't see any signs of blood or bodies. The nearby field of crops appeared to be untouched as well.

Hmm.

He looked around, trying to put himself in the couple's shoes. Where would he have gone if his farm had been burned but his family was alive? He remembered that they had a toddler, so probably not very far. Probably not into town if the guards were there, and they almost certainly were. Let's see, they would need food and shelter, and most especially clean water.

That was something.

He had met the couple because he was rinsing out some sheets in a creek. The creek had looked clean and it was certainly a source of water. Maybe they had camped near the creek somewhere? With that in mind, he started walking. It took him several minutes to find the stream and then he started following it. He would've done it from the air but the tree canopy was dense enough that he would surely miss things.

"Talven! Salma!" He called loudly after about five minutes. This forest was large enough that he might not find them without help.

He continued following the stream away from town for nearly an hour without finding anything, even despite regularly calling out their names, so he took to the skies, returned to his starting point, and then started following it towards the town.

"Talven! Salma!" He called, though he considered that he might want to call more quietly once he got nearer to the town. He had walked for about fifteen minutes when he heard a rustling behind him and whipped around mid-stride.

It was Talven.

A very dirty, unkempt, tired, and haggard-looking Talven, but it was him. Ethan broke into a wide grin, but the man spoke before he could.

"What in Saidow's Lair are you!" His voice was almost frantic and he was holding his sword in what might be the worst guard position that Ethan had ever seen.

Ethan stared at the man for several seconds trying to figure out what he meant, then remembered that he hadn't clicked the disguise gem off. He looked down, and although he could only make out a gossamer outline he realized that the disguise from his disguise gem looked... weird. Eagles have very short legs and the disguise gem placed the eagle's foot where his feet were, but his own legs were a normal walking pace apart. Thus, the disguise gem had stretched the eagle-leg projection obscenely and it looked... weird. He moved his legs together and they looked normal, but they lookedsuperweird when apart.

"Sorry." He chuckled and then clicked the disguise gem off.

Talven was so startled that he nearly dropped his sword as he jumped. "What the..." His eyes went wide.

"It's me, Ethan."

"The... the prophet?"

"Yeah." Ethan nodded. Talven seemed slightly frozen and unsure, so Ethan spoke again. "Do you need to see the hammer and lightning again?"

He nodded mutely.

Ethan grabbed his hammer, charged it, and let out a small but visible lightning bolt with a loud "crack!"

"It's you." Talven lowered the sword and sighed with visible relief. "Oh thank Illuminar."

"Yeah, youreally have no idea how to use a sword, do you?"

He shook his head.

Ethan looked him up and down properly. His clothes had dirt -- possibly dried mud? -- all over them. He had bags under his eyes and his posture was slumped. He looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders and was starting to buckle under it.

"Are you okay?" Ethan asked. "Are Salma and the kids okay?"

He nodded. "Well, not 'okay', but they're alive and unhurt. Physically anyway."

"What happened?"

"You didn't tell anyone that we told you about Zalaus, did you?" Talven asked.

He shook his head. "No, but I mentioned to someone that your food situation was a bit dire and asked him to help."

Talven sighed and hung his head. "I appreciate the thought, but that must be how they found out."

"I'm sorry." Ethan said. "I didn't realize the harm it would cause; it's my fault you lost your home."

Talven sighed again. "You didn't do this, Duke Kranton's men did it."

"Thanks." Ethan replied, but he didn't feel any better. "You're a good man Talven."

"What makes you so sure?"

Ethan eyed him. "Tell me honestly, how much were you and your wife under-eating so your kids could have full bellies?"

"How'd you know?"

"I have eyes."

Talven nodded his head concession.

"Where's your family?" Ethan asked.

"Come on, this way."

* * *

"Okay, let's see what you've got Grandpa." Selene said with a grin to Octavian, continuing the friendly ribbing about age that had begun earlier that morning while discussing combat. She raised her training sword, getting ready to begin their first sparring match.

"Okay, but let me know if you need a break so your mom can nurse you." Octavian quipped back.

The Brazilian woman rolled her eyes. "Go."

Octavian leapt forward with a speed and agility that she wouldn't have expected from someone with gray in his hair. Selene raised her shield to block and cut out low with a counterstrike. Octavian dropped his shield slightly to block her attack and used his body weight to slam into her shield, knocking her off balance. She staggered for a moment but recovered...

...just in time to feel his training blade hit her leg.

"Damn, you've got some moves for an old man." Selene nodded at him.

"Let me try." Kendra said.

A few minutes later, the dragon huntress was holding a shield and training sword as she faced Octavian.

"Go get her Octi!" Lyra called from the sidelines.

"Octi?" Selene looked at the ash blonde, though perhaps 'champagne blonde' was more accurate since she was a warm-toned ash blonde.

She shrugged. "It seemed like the thing to say."

"Come on Kendra!" Taloni cheered.

"You can do it!" Beth called.

"We really shouldn't disappoint the spectators." Octavian smiled.

Kendra shrugged and raised her sword and shield.

Unlike before, Octavian didn't spring forward. Kendra didn't either. They stood there ready for several seconds before Octavian hazarded a careful attack. Kendra parried it with her shield but made no move to counterattack. This happened several times before Kendra counterattacked, and when she did was with less than her usual gusto. Her attacks were careful and precise, yet almost seemed too careful. Once the exchange was finished, Kendra got a smile on her face and lowered her sword and shield.