A Dragon's Tale Ch. 49

She needed to finish the travel bow as Ethan had suggested. It could shoot of course, but not at the high poundage that it would when the triggered enchantment was finished. More importantly, she needed to finish the enchantment that would allow her to wear it like a belt and then also get some travel arrows. She wanted a proper pouch for her travel arrows, but she figured that putting a few in her pocket in their coiled condition would be good enough for the short term.

She could finish the travel bow herself, but she needed to get the travel arrowheads and travel nocks from a smith somewhere. They were different from normal arrowheads and nocks because they were designed to attach to a leather arrow shaft instead of a wooden one. Travel bows were rare, and thus so were purveyors of their arrowheads and nocks. She would need to find someone who sold them.

That was first.

She stood up, having been sitting in the storage room under the captain's cabin. The handheld weapons and the Argo's boarding ballistae were neatly stacked in one corner of the room. It was unnerving to think that they might be seeing a lot more use soon. She shook her head and headed out of the room and up the stairs to the weather deck.

Selene was still working with the members of Shara and Lyra's personal guard. They were still surrounding her and someone would occasionally attack from out of nowhere while she tried to figure out who would attack using telepathy. It seemed like the Brazilian woman was getting better. She had her eyes closed and would open them once someone attacked, yet she was starting to react to the attacks even though she couldn't see them coming.

That was definitely progress.

Lyra was talking with Beth and Taloni, Rachel was talking with Shara, and Kendra was observing Selene and occasionally offering a helpful comment about the Brazilian woman's form. Alana ventured over to the most wonderful woman on the Argo to listen in.

"I didn't realize it was so unusual for lords to bring their daughters when they travel." Rachel was musing. "My father brought me all over the Ten Kingdoms ever since I can remember."

"My father was rather the opposite." Shara replied. "He rarely took me outside of Timarou, though I traveled the length and breadth of it more than once. I have not confirmed it, but I do believe my experience was far more typical for a lord's daughter than yours."

"Interesting." Rachel leaned against the Argo's railing with a thoughtful expression.

Alana joined them at the railing. "You are both lucky. I rarely got to see anywhere other than my parent's house or Gralden." She looked over the railing to see that the ground underneath them was green, but not the lush shade that she had grown to associate with Ivernia.

"We have passed into Timarou." Shara supplied helpfully. "Lyra was quite disappointed when the scouts recognized us from afar and didn't trouble us."

"How did I miss that?" The wood elf asked.

"It happened quickly, and you were, um... downstairs." Rachel finished delicately.

Ah, okay." Alana assumed that she meant in the latrine, then looked at the amber-haired woman. "Shara, could I ask you a question?"

"You just did, but I wouldn't object to answering another." She replied with a subtle smile that reached her eyes.

"Are there any shops in Laerten that sell nocks and arrowheads for a travel bow?"

"I'm sure there are." Shara replied. "I can even think of one that likely would, but Octavian would know for sure. Do you have a travel bow?"

"Sort of. I'm not finished making mine yet."

"After that ambush, I believe that's a very prudent course of action." The amber-haired woman said.

"I thought so." Alana replied. "If it's not too much trouble, could you have Octavian or someone else show me to the shop when we touch down in Laerten?"

"Are you expecting trouble?" Rachel asked.

"Not any specific trouble." The wood elf replied evasively. "I would just prefer to be prepared."

Rachel subtly pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes just slightly

Shara looked between the two of them for a moment and then spoke aloud. "I think I shall check on Taiven, if you will excuse me."

They did and Shara left, more gliding over the Argo's deck than walking.

"She left on purpose so we could talk." Rachel said once they were more alone.

Alana nodded. "She's very perceptive, and nice."

"Agreed." The redhead said, then added in a lower tone. "What did Ethan have to say?"

Alana hesitated, wanting to tell her but also wanting to let Ethan do it. "Um, he wanted to talk to everyone about something when he gets back."

"You know what it is, don't you?" Rachel stated matter-of-factly, though she didn't sound upset.

Alana nodded.

Rachel gave her a piercing look for a moment, then smiled. "Okay. Did you want help enchanting the travel arrow shafts?"

"Sure." Alana smiled, then something in Rachel's expression made something occur to the wood elf. "You know what it is, don't you? What Ethan wants to talk to us about I mean."

The corners of Rachel's mouth twitched up ever so slightly. "I have a guess."

"Your guesses are usually right." Alana smiled.

It was sometimes hard to remember that Rachel was only nineteen. A very mature nineteen because her father had forced her to grow up quickly, but nineteen all the same. She was incredibly brilliant for any age, but it stood out even more because of her relative youth.

"Come on, let's get those travel arrow shafts made." Rachel replied with a smile, then cocked her head to one side. "I think we also might want to get started teaching everyone to heal each other."

"Good idea, though I'm not looking forward to it." Alana nodded.

* * *

Ethan walked back into the flat area by Talven and Salma's dirt 'home', still thinking about his conversation with Gabriella. He wasn't looking forward to starting a war with two lords. His father had always told him never to start a fight unless it was to protect someone, but if someone else started a fight he should feel free to finish it. The trouble was he would be going up against a dragon who was a lot more powerful than he was, plus the armies and associated airships of two lords. He had no idea how to do that, but he was fed up with his family being attacked and also with what Lord Farbrottan was doing to Ivernia.

"Ethan, where's Gabriella?" Talven asked.

"She had to leave." He replied. "You said that you have family nearby right?"

"I do."

"I'll take you there."

Talven pursed his lips and then looked at Salma, who opened her mouth as if to say something but apparently decided against it.

"What?" He asked.

"When I said the bridges were guarded, I meant it." Talven said after a moment.

"How guarded?" Ethan asked.

"There will be at least half a dozen Ivernian soldiers on the main road at the toll booth on a bridge that we'll need to cross." Talven said. "My first thought after..." He looked at his kids who were still playing by the stream. "...afterit happened was walking there, but we don't have the coin and I'm not sure they would let us through."

Ethan rested his hand on his war sword. "Let me worry about that."

"Lord Farbrottan won't like that." Salma said, and he could see worry lines on her face. The woman wasn't thirty yet; she wasway too young to have worry lines. "He'll come after you."

"He already has." Ethan replied. "Like I said; they ambushed my wives and sent two airships after us. We killed two dozen soldiers defending ourselves. I'm pretty sure I'm already on the 'Ivernia's most wanted' posters."

"Lord Farbrottan might've put a bounty on you already." Talven replied. "If you help us, it'll only get worse."

"Yes it will." Ethan stated. "And I'm going to do a lot more to piss him off in the near future too."

"You are?"

"I am." He nodded. "Grab your stuff. I'll escort you to your family and then I need to get back down south to finish dealing with the orc situation."

Slowly, a smile spread across Talven's face. "No one has ever really stood up to Lord Farbrottan before."

"Then it's about damn time someone did."

"So many people have been praying for that for so long." Salma got a small smile on her face too, then looked up to the heavens. "Blessed be He."

Talven echoed the sentiment, then got his family up and moving in only a minute or two. It was easy since they didn't have much in the way of belongings anymore and basically only had to carry the basket with the food. Ethan was determined to fix the root cause of that. He wasn't sure how, but he was.

* * *

"Not usually." Selene replied to Octavian's unasked question on if she ever took a break as they entered the... fourth? Fifth? Hour of training her telepathy. Her mind felt like the Incredible Hulk had wrung out some unbreakable rag and then used it as a punching bag. Her eyelids were drooping with the mental effort of trying to read six people's minds at the same time while trying to detect their attacks. She found herself blinking rather a lot even when her eyes were open, and when they were closed they wanted to stay that way.

"Selene, even Lord Kalus never pushed his men this hard." Octavian said. "You need to rest."

"No, I need to get the hang of this." She countered.

"Which you will do more effectively after some rest." The guard captain replied. "You are neither golem nor angel; all men tire and need rest."

"Well fortunately, I... I'm..." She yawned. "I'm not a man."

Octavian chuckled, then looked at his men. "Stand down."

They looked relieved.

"I'll get there." The Brazilian woman said.

"I know you will." Octavian replied. "You are already anticipating nearly half of the attacks, and blocking perhaps a quarter of them starting with your eyes closed. For being surrounded by six men and having only trained for half a day, that is an impressive feat."

"N... Not..." She yawned again. "Not impressive enough; I'd get killed in a real fight."

"We can continue tomorrow." Octavian sighed.

"Actually, my bodyguards will be much too busy seeing their families after so long away from them." Shara said as she walked up. "And you will be too busy enjoying Laerten. Octavian is correct; you should take some time to rest, recuperate, and then resume training when you are rejuvenated and refreshed."

"Basically, I need to get a life." Selene sighed. "That's not the first time I've been told that."

"Perhaps people will stop telling you when you listen." Alana said in an amused tone as she walked up.

"Selene, you have to come see Laerten!" Beth exclaimed after looking over the side of the Argo.

The Brazilian woman stifled another yawn and walked to the airship's railing.

Laerten was set on a slight rise in a large plain. It was composed of two concentric circular walls; one rather small and the other very large. Inside the small innermost wall was the castle with a small field of open ground around it, probably so anyone assaulting the castle wouldn't have cover while doing so. In between the inner wall and outer wall was sprawled a massive city that looked quite wealthy and well-off. Outside the outermost wall, the city had spread as well, though less densely than the interior.

It looked like a nice city.

Unlike Ivernia, it didn't seem to suffer from the poverty problems that plagued its northwestern neighbor. In fact, conditions seemed to be very good even in what looked like the poor section of the city.

"That's my father's ranch." Lyra said, pointing to a small ranch several miles outside the city. About two dozen horses were grazing in a fenced-in enclosure and there was a large barn and a house nearby. "It used to be much further south, but he moved closer to the castle not long after I became a queen."

"Can we go riding?" Beth asked. "I haven't been riding in so long."

"That would be wonderful." Rachel agreed.

"Absolutely!" Lyra beamed. "His horses are the best in the Ten Kingdoms!"

"Tee, won't it be fun to go riding?" Beth said to her partner in crime.

Tee frowned slightly. "I don't like horses; they're mean."

Everyone stared at her.

"Ah, been around some badly trained horses have you?" Lyra replied, recovering first. "I'll let you ride my own personal horse, Stormy. She's so gentle that you could do cartwheels on her back and she wouldn't move."

Octavian leaned in towards Selene and spoke quietly. "She knows that from personal experience."

The Brazilian woman chuckled.

Taloni made a face. "I... I'd rather not."

Alana stepped forward. "Tee, you don't have to. I need to run a quick errand here before I go riding; did you want to come with me?"

"What errand?" Beth asked.

"You'll just have to wait and see." The wood elf said with a twinkle in her eye.

"It's getting close to dinnertime." Shara pointed out. "Perhaps we could sup at the castle and send a rider to inform Julian of our imminent arrival?"

"Julian?" Selene asked.

"My father." Lyra explained.

"I guarantee that our cooks are the finest in Timarou." The amber-haired lord's wife said with a pleased smile. "You shan't be disappointed."

"What Shar means is, the castle's food is bloody awe-some!" Lyra almost sang the last word, and then winked at her fellow wife.

Shara's smile got wider and she chuckled. "Yes, that."

* * *

Ethan's legs would've been feeling like limp noodles after all this walking except that he'd been training so often on the Argo. That didn't mean he wasn't tired though. It was nearing dinnertime and he was pretty certain that a black hole had formed where his stomach usually was. Talven, Salma, and their two older children had walked every bit as far but didn't have the benefit of his months of constant training. The three adults had taken turns holding the toddler, who still was unsteady on her feet and hadn't quite mastered walking yet.

It was amazing how heavy that little kid got after holding her for a few minutes.

After the first hour, Ethan had lent both adults and the two older children one piece of his strength-enhancing armor each. The pieces didn't fit any of them well, but they fit well enough that the enchantment worked which was what mattered. That had helped them stay on their feet longer, but they were clearly fading.

For better or worse, they didn't have much to carry; that helped.

"Okay, we need to stop." Talven said, looking at his six-year-old daughter, who looked about ready to faint.

"Sure, but let's get off the road first." Ethan said, pointing towards a small patch of trees that appeared to be near a bend in the river.

They had left the small forest near Talven's farm long ago, and now it was mostly flat land with a few rolling hills. Despite that, the scenery was still gorgeous. Ethan had never seen a more beautiful, lush, or fertile land than Ivernia and he found himself more and more drawn to it the longer he was there.

They found a small clearing in the patch of trees that was big enough for all of them to sit and be reasonably protected from the elements. It was summer so the nights weren't very cold and the river meant that it would take great effort to come at them from one direction. A dense thicket prevented access from another. He didn't think they were going to be ambushed, but he didn't want to take chances with the way things had been going lately.

"You know, I wish I would've thought to bring my wife's weight-reduction necklace." Ethan mused as he tore into his dinner.

"Oh?" Talven asked, having made sure his entire family had food before grabbing some himself.

"Yeah." Ethan nodded. "I could've flown you all one at a time. I've done it before and it's tiring, but it's much faster than this."

"Shame." The man nodded. "Still, I can't thank you enough for escorting us. The roads of Ivernia aren't as safe as they once were."

"Let me guess, Lord Farbrottan's doing?"

"It would be more accurate to say that it's hisnot doing." Talven replied.

"My parents used to talk about regular patrols on the roads." Salma spoke up. "There aren't any anymore."

"And that had predictable results. Gotcha." Ethan nodded and then took another bite of his food, speaking again only when he had finished chewing. "So you said there were tolls?"

Talven nodded. "Mostly over the bridges since there's no good way to bypass Ivernia's many rivers. We'll need to cross one to get to my father's farm."

"What are the odds that they'll let us pass without me needing to use this?" Ethan tapped his sword hilt.

"Wearing a sword to a toll booth or in a city is illegal." The man replied, then looked down at his own sword. "Usually I leave mine at home because of that."

"How much is the toll?" Ethan asked.

"One copper per person." Salma replied. "But we don't..." She looked down, probably embarrassed.

Ethan looked into his satchel and pulled out the coin purse that Anthiel had packed there. There were a few gold coins, about twenty silver coins, and about that many coppers as well.

"I don't want to cause any more trouble for you by starting a fight." Ethan said after a moment. "I'll pay the toll, and here's something to help you get back on your feet."

The human part of Ethan wanted to flip them one of the gold coins, but he knew his dragon instincts would violently protest. Instead, he grabbed about half of the silver coins and extended them towards the couple. Talven and Salma stared at the coins in his hand for several moments without reaching for them.

"Take them, please." Ethan said. "I can't bring your house back or undo the other damage I've done, but I can help you start again. It's partially my fault that you're in the situation that you're in, so I want to help make it right."

The married couple was eyeing the silver, but neither had taken it yet. They looked at each other, then back at him.

"I... I don't think I can take it." Talven finally said. "I don't like taking money that I didn't work to earn."

Salma nodded, though both were still looking at the silver.

"Well, then I'm at least going to pay the toll." Ethan countered, not wanting to push them. "Don't argue with me on that, or I'll... I'll join Lord Farbrottan." He winked.

They both chuckled.

"I appreciate you wanting to help us get back on our feet." Talven said finally.

"So what will you do to start over?" Ethan replied.

"Farm." Talven said simply. "It's the only thing I know how to do well."

"He's being modest." Salma interjected after finishing a yawn. "He could grow tropical plants in a desert; he's one of Ivernia's best farmers."

"She's biased." Talven said, though he looked pleased at his wife's praise.

"I am, but I'm also right." His wife grinned at him. "Every farmer who's close enough that he didn't need to cross a toll booth has asked for his advice at one time or another, and more than a few who needed to go through a toll booth have as well."

"Impressive." Ethan nodded respectfully at the man.

"Thank you." Talven replied. "And it impresses the ladies too. Seriously, Salma took one look at my bountiful fields, swooned, and then asked if I would ask her father for her hand."

Salma rolled her eyes. "I didn't swoon."

"But the rest happened exactly as I said." Talven said with a mostly straight face.

Salma rolled her eyes and shook her head with an embarrassed smile.

Ethan chuckled.

"I don't know about you two, but I don't want to walk another step tonight." Ethan said after a few moments.

"Amen." Talven and Salma both said.

"We'll tackle the toll in the morning then." He said and then flopped backwards, which actually took a bit of thought because his tail wasn't very flexible and he had to move it out of the way. He looked up into the sky, wondering how he'd gotten here contemplating going to war with not one, buttwo lords. He knew the whole tale of course, but he still had trouble believing it.