A Dragon's Tale Ch. 55

Ethan looked at Kendra who had just gone slightly stiff, then he replied. *That's a good idea, but be careful Selene.*

*I will.* The Brazilian woman replied. *Closing it now.*

Then silence.

It wasn't thirty seconds later that Kendra walked up to him. "I need to dosomething Drago. I can't just sit here and wait; I can't."

"We could spar?" He suggested. "Unless you have another idea."

"Selene and I were talking about finding a miscreant dragon to get more dragon scales for travel swords." She replied. "Sarah's inn is at a major crossroads and busy lately, so it would be a perfect place for me to ask about dragons causing trouble nearby."

He raised his eyebrow. "You want to go back?"

She nodded. "Just you and I, and only I would go into the outpost. I would disguise myself first and change clothes. I promise that I can blend in and no one would know, even if Lord Delmar has people watching the place."

He frowned. "I'm not sure that's safe."

"It is." Serif said, seemingly appearing out of nowhere as he sometimes did.

He looked at him. "This is Kendra's safety we're talking about."

"She will be safe." The man replied calmly.

"How can you be sure?" Ethan replied.

"Experience." Serif replied, but didn't explain further.

"Even Serif says it's safe." Kendra said. "Please Drago, I have to dosomething."

He hesitated.

"Lord Delmar almost certainly only left a single man to watch the inn." Kendra added. "I will be long gone before reinforcements could arrive, even if whoever is watching the inn recognizes me."

He looked at Serif, who nodded.

"Okay, but get in and out as fast as you can." He said after a moment.

"Thank you Drago."

Ethan told the others, who all objected on safety grounds until they learned that Serif thought it was perfectly safe. No one objected after that. Kendra changed into clothing much more similar to what she had worn before she married him and he had to admit that she looked entirely commonplace and would be easy to miss in a crowd. She was good at that.

Then with many promises to be careful, they set off. They didn't talk much on the way as Kendra seemed distracted. Ethan dropped to the ground in the forest a mile from the inn, having flown barely above the treetops the whole way so he wouldn't be seen. He walked with Kendra to the edge of the forest near the inn so he could be close in case something happened.

"Call if you need me; I'll be right here." He looked at her seriously.

"Drago, I trained most of my life for exactly this kind of thing; I'll be fine." She replied.

"Still, I'm only a thought away and can be there in seconds."

She smiled at him, then kissed him tenderly on the lips. "I love that you care."

"I care because I love you."

She smiled wider. "I love you too. Back soon."

She turned and walked out onto the road and towards the inn. She was back barely twenty minutes later.

"That was fast." He said.

She nodded. "I'm good at what I do."

"And?"

"A dragon kidnapped a lawyer's daughter southwest of here in Tesselae." She replied. "I had to promise to return later with some dragon scales for the man who gave me the information though."

"That's fine." He replied.

"The woman that the dragon kidnapped is young-ish and reputed to be incredibly beautiful, so I'm guessing it's a bit of breeding fever."

"Breeding fever?"

She nodded. "Some young dragons get this incredibly strong drive to breed right after leaving their sire. It's rare, but they will often kidnap a girl and rape her until she's pregnant." She grimaced, then added. "Fortunately, the drive is only incredibly strong until they impregnate someone, then it tends to fade."

If Ethan could've blushed, he would have.

Kendra cocked her head to one side. "Oh, Alana..." She cocked her head to the other side and smiled. "I guess I know why Ruth was conceived at such an inopportune time then."

"Guilty as charged." He grimaced. "I was pretty obsessed with...that until it happened, and then... well, I still want to be a father but the urge wasn't as overwhelming once Ruth was conceived. I wouldn't trade my daughter for the world though."

Kendra nodded. "She'll love that, but we should get back. There's a good chance an innocent woman is being regularly raped and we need to help."

"Agreed, and I think Selene would agree as well." He replied.

Kendra got a pained half-smile on her face. "She would."

* * *

Fiona had spent almost the entire morning thinking about Lord Delmar's proposal. The more she thought about it, the more it seemed like a good idea. Not because of her heart, but simply because it made sense. Though, her heart wasn't exactly opposed either.

However, she could only roll it around in her head for so long before she got bored. She strapped Conner to her chest as usual and then went down to the kitchens even though the Lord Delmar had given her the day off.

"Fiona, what are you doing here?" Marge asked when she had arrived.

"My friends moved away and my room is feeling a bit empty." She replied. "I was hoping to be useful here."

Marge stopped rolling out some dough to look at her. "Lord Delmar said that when you arrived, I should offer to let you bring him his lunch."

"When?" Fiona frowned. "He wasn't saying 'if'? He was saying 'when'?"

Marge nodded.

"And how was he knowing that I would be here?"

Marge shrugged. "He told me that around breakfast. He said you didn't have to, but to offer you the chance."

Fiona hesitated for a moment.

She supposed that he was wanting to talk about his proposal, though she wasn't sure how he could've known that she would go to work in the kitchens today. She herself hadn't known until she had decided not even an hour ago.

"I can be doing that." She finally said.

"Good. Until then, I could use someone who won't overwork the dough." Marge indicated the dough she had been working on.

Fiona got to work, still wondering about the man-- err, dragon who might well be her fiancé soon.

* * *

"So where is Tesselae?" Ethan asked Taloni when he and Kendra had returned to the Argo.

"It's here Master." The Fey teen pulled out a map and pointed to a small town that was southeast of Sarah's inn and perhaps one-quarter of the way to Dotmier from there. She then pointed to a spot west of Tesselae and almost directly south of Sarah's inn. "We're here right now."

"That's not too far then." Ethan mused. He turned to Kendra and Serif. "What are the odds that Lord Delmar will be able to find the Argo again?"

"Miniscule." Kendra replied. We sailed through the night and could've gone in almost any direction. I guarantee that he has more important things to do than fly around all of Ivernia looking for us."

"Agreed." Serif said when Ethan looked at him.

"Good." He replied. "If I'm flying down to Paliso to 'visit' Lord Farbrottan, I'm a bit worried about security. I don't want to leave the Argo undefended for that long."

"It won't be." Serif said simply.

"Ethan, you need to go." Alana looked at him seriously. "You'll never forgive yourself if you don't."

"Captain." Anthiel spoke up. "I flew us low and at full sail all night with more than one change of course. Even my elven eyes haven't seen a ship following us and no one on the ground could have. The Argo is as safe as it could be, unless perhaps if it was surrounded by Timarou's airship fleet."

"Okay, then I'll go to Paliso tonight." He looked at Kendra. "But first we need to help this kidnapped woman."

Kendra shook her head. "It'll take me the better part of the day to track the dragon down and Tesselae is almost in the opposite direction of Paliso from where we are. I can take my airship, track down the dragon's lair, and then wait until you can join me before hunting it."

"It's a good plan." Rachel noted.

"I agree Sir."

"I'll miss you Dominus, but you need to find Sarah." Beth said.

"I agree Master."

"Selene, what do you--" Ethan stopped, only realizing what he'd said after the words had left his mouth.

Everyone looked around at each other.

"Well I'm going to say the quiet part out loud; Ihate that Selene is gone." Alana said.

Everyone voiced agreement except for Kendra, whose face displayed her agreement even if her words didn't.

"I'm going to get my airship ready to leave." The dragon huntress said as her face went from pained to unnaturally neutral.

Ethan watched her walk away, wishing that he'd thought before he'd opened his mouth.

"Give her time." Alana suggested. "I wish I could change Selene's birthday, but since I can't..." She trailed off.

"Since we can't, let's help Master get ready to rescue his next wife, or maybe his seventh wife." Taloni suggested.

"Ladies, Sarah is betrothed." Ethan sighed.

"Which makes me wonder how she will get un-betrothed." Beth grinned.

Ethan rolled his eyes. If he was honest with himself, he wanted nothing more than to call Sarah 'Mrs. Ejder'. However, she was betrothed. There was no way in hell that he would do anything with a betrothed woman. Ever. Beth's assumption that she would get un-betrothed seemed incredibly far-fetched and he put it out of his mind.

Well, he tried.

* * *

Fiona knocked on the door to Lord Delmar's office, nodding to the two guards outside of it as usual. They returned the respectful nod but otherwise said nothing, again as usual. She opened the door and it made the same slight creaking sound that it always did.

Lord Delmar's office looked the same as it always did. She glanced at the fireplace to see it cold with no traces of the arrow that she'd pulled from the lord less than twelve hours ago. Lord Delmar was sitting at the desk and writing as he usually did. She knew that he spent much of the day in meetings and that he often caught up on such things during his meals.

Just like normal.

It was so strange that everything was both exactly the same and completely different today. She set his meal down on the open space on his desk that was always there.

"Thank you Fiona." He said without looking up, again like usual.

She found herself wondering if perhaps she had dreamed the previous night, but her earlier conversation with Marge made that seem highly unlikely. He didn't even look at the food initially, apparently caught up in his work. She curtsied and then turned to leave, not sure why he had asked for her to bring his lunch.

"Tarry a moment." He said, again without looking up.

"Milord." She stopped.

He continued writing for several more moments until he had finished his sentence, then struck the ink out of his quill, put it in its holder, and capped the bottle of ink before looking at her. "Would you be willing to walk about the deck of the Helene with me tonight immediately following dinner?"

"Milord?" She cocked her head to one side.

"I have something rather particular I wish to discuss with you." He said, but didn't elaborate. "I will ask Marge if she can watch your son for the duration."

"I can be doing that milord." She nodded.

"Tonight then." He said, then uncapped the bottle of ink, retrieved his pen, dipped it in the ink, and then returned to writing.

Fiona left the room, not sure what to make of him anymore. It had been obvious when she was a mere servant in the castle that his aloof manner was only natural. It wasn't proper for a lord to become too familiar with any woman, much less one in his employ. But today he had been just like always. That made her wonder if perhaps he would always be like that.

Hmm.

As she stepped out, the two guards on either side of the door gave her slightly odd looks. They had surely heard the conversation and she knew they could be trusted never to share it -- that was literally the job description of guarding Lord Delmar's office -- but they definitely had heard. Neither said anything, but both were looking at her like they'd never seen her before.

She smiled half-heartedly at them and returned to the kitchens, not sure what to say. She knew they wouldn't tell a soul, but then it occurred to her that if she was meeting the Lord Delmar on his airship, that meeting might generate rumors. On the other hand, it was a place they could talk without fear of being overheard. The highest towers of Karnas's castle could see onto the deck of the Helene so propriety would be maintained. However, it still might generate rumors.

But honestly, she wasn't worrying about that. If word got out that Lord Delmar had evenconsidered marrying her, it could do her nothing but good.

No, she was thinking about the man himself.

Well, the dragon himself.

She reminded herself of her reasons for agreeing to marry him: that it would be best for Conner, that she might be able to help people as the First Lady of Narlotten, and that it might help her be less lonely as she grew older. Lastly, she did hope that he might potentially learn to care for her, even learn to love her.

That put her in mind of her earlier idea and she decided to bring it up to him tonight on the Helene. She didn't know if he would agree, but if he did, he might eventually learn to feel for her a tiny fraction of what he so obviously felt for Helene.

* * *

Thanks to his third wife's excellent prediction of how long the trip would take, Ethan found himself arriving over Ivernia's capital city of Paliso just after darkness had settled on the city. His dragon eyes had no trouble seeing even as high up as he was, but he highly doubted that anyone would see him, except perhaps a wood elf who was looking.

Paliso was quite the sight.

To the south of the city was the large mountain range that protected nearly all of Ivernia's southern border. For no apparent reason, the mountains just stopped for a mile or two only to pick up again as if the large gap between them didn't exist. Between the thousand-foot-plus sheer vertical cliffs was sparkling water as clear and blue as he'd ever seen it. On the far side of the mountains was a vast expanse of water he knew to be the Gulf of Sayora.

On this side of the mountains was an immense bay that was several miles wide and about half that long. Feeding into the bay opposite the Gulf of Sayora was the massive Bolavine River. Most of the shoreline in the bay was taken up by some kind of dock, whether large or small. It was the same for miles up the shore of the river as well.

It reminded him a little of New Orleans in the US, where its convenient location as a port had made it a massive and sprawling city. However, Paliso seemed to lack the infamous nightlife of New Orleans, though there were certainly plenty of taverns. It didn't seem like raucous parties or getting blind drunk was part of the culture here though.

Most of the city seemed to be like the rest of Ivernia; as well maintained as obvious poverty would allow. However, a small section of the city was the opposite. On the southeastern side of the bay were homes that probably cost as much as an entire city block.

Possibly more.

Some of themdefinitely more.

Ethan didn't have a problem with someone becoming wealthy through hard and honest work, but he seriously doubted that was the case here; Ivernia's oppressive taxes made that seem entirely unlikely. The most opulent and magnificent building was set on a slight rise which gave it a commanding view of the city below. It didn't take a genius to guess whose residence it was.

It wasn't as large or grand as Versailles in France, but compared to most of the city around it, it was close. It was four stories tall with large balconies around the upper levels and no shortage of gilding on various surfaces. Honestly, it looked a little gaudy. It was way too much and it didn't look like the designer knew that.

Ethan circled above the ornate building looking for a place to land.

While he was flying, he noticed something.

Out of the limelight, completely dark and slightly further southeast of the extravagant palace was another smaller mansion, but this one contrasted with the others. It didn't seem to have any gold or silver but was clearly incredibly nice. It was surrounded by a mansion-sized yard and there was a ring of trees from a small nearby forest encircling it which gave it a lot of privacy. It came across as more like a massive cabin in the woods that had been designed with a lot of love and care, despite the obvious neglect. It was probably big enough for a man with seven wives and the resulting children...

Hmm.

He looked around and decided that he could let the very last vestiges of light fade from the sky before he met Lord Farbrottan. He looped around to the far side of the abandoned mansion and dove to land next to it. There were vines creeping up the side of the house but they didn't seem to have hurt the wood all. Maybe it was self-repairing?

He walked up to the back door and noticed the intricate carving work into the railings of the wraparound porch and the door. Despite the obvious neglect and overgrown plants everywhere, the mansion itself seemed like it was in perfect shape without any damage at all. He walked up to the door and noticed that the metal hadn't rusted either; perhaps elven steel enchanted to be self-repairing like the rest of the house seemed to be?

He pulled the latch and the door opened easily, like it had been oiled yesterday.

He wasn't sure why, but he walked in, closing the door behind him.

It was...

It felt like home.

He wasn't sure why, but it did; it felt comfortable and cozy despite the size. The ceilings were high and roomy, but nothing about this house -- mansion really -- seemed like it was built to display wealth. Something about it just felt cozy despite the size. The walls were all made of paneled wood that was in perfect condition.

He took a moment to wander a few rooms and his fondness for the place only deepened as he saw more, neglected though it was. Almost everything in the house seemed to have been put together with love and something about this house just... just felt right. It was in such incredible shape despite the obvious neglect that all of the wood must be enchanted to be self-repairing.

*Ladies, I think I found our house.* He thought to everyone.

*Oh?* Alana replied with more than a little amusement.

*Yeah.* He described the house to his wives as he walked back towards the door.

*It sounds wonderful.* Beth gushed when he was done.

*It does Master.*

*Indeed my lord.*

*I can live anywhere.* Kendra added and he could almost hear her shrugging, then she added. *I've landed and started tracking the dragon.*

*Thanks Kendra.* He thought to everyone, then added. *Alana, your thoughts on the house?*

*The house sounds wonderful. What's the outside like?*

He exited the building and looked around. *Well, there's a very large yard that's surrounded by trees and there's a small stream running through one end of it. It's on a bit of rise and there's a path leading towards the city, but the path is overgrown. It looks like there's a large stables and some large outbuildings as well.*

*It sounds perfect.* Alana said after a moment. *But you really need to go talk to Lord Farbrottan about Lady Ekthros and Sarah.*

*You're pushing awfully hard for that.* He pointed out.

*I'm your first wife.* She replied. *For some reason, I feel like I need to make sure all your other wives are taken care of.*

*She's not my wife and she won't--*

*Ethan.* She interrupted him. *She will. I don't know how, but she will. Go get her.*

*Okay.* He took one last look at the most perfect house he had ever seen and then took to the skies.

* * *

Fiona took another peek into the great hall to see that dinner had indeed concluded. Summer was slowly coming to an end and the days had started to get slightly shorter. Not a lot shorter, but enough that it was dark by the time that the late dinner in the great hall had finished. She turned and walked to the spiral staircase that led up to the docking berth for the Helene.