Chapter 23: Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer

I self-edit and admit editing isn’t my greatest skill. I apologize in advance for anything I missed.

Selene took a deep, calming breath and let it out slowly. She was standing in the observation room that looked into one of the interrogation rooms. Sitting on the other side of the two-way mirror was Hailey Oswald. The guards — or perhaps ‘henchmen’ was more accurate — had separated the three ‘visitors’ and she’d been told they were all going to separate interrogation rooms.

She almost snorted; they called them ‘visitors’ when ‘prisoners’ was more accurate. Come to think of it, they had called her a ‘visitor’ at least once before.

Hmm...

“Don’t worry, you’ll do fine.” Smithbond said. She hadn’t noticed him enter the room.

“What do you want from them?” She asked.

“Information mostly. She would’ve learned a lot about 10K1 while she was there. We need to know what she knows.”

Selene raised her eyebrow. “Wouldn’t it have been easier to show up with a badge and request the information? Did you really need to kidnap her?”

“Detain.” Smithbond corrected. “When citizens do it it’s kidnapping; when the government does it, it’s called detainment.”

“A rose by any other name...” She countered.

“How well did the badge work for you?”

“So the ends justify the means?”

“Miss Dawson, I’m not going to argue with you.” He said firmly. “You can either get in there and do the interrogation yourself, or I can find someone else to do it.”

Something about the way he said it made Selene think that ‘someone else’ wouldn’t be nearly as nice as she herself would be.

“For the record, I think you’re going about this all wrong.” She replied as she walked to the door. “The stick works best in combination with the carrot, not all by itself.”

He looked impassive. “Noted.”

She resisted the urge to glare at him before walking through the door into the interrogation room.

Hailey did glare at her.

“Good morning and I’m sorry.” Selene said, figuring that since she had no clue what was going on, honesty was the best policy. “I had no clue that my ‘colleague’ had kidnapped you until it was already done.” She said, putting the word ‘colleague’ in air quotes.

“I didn’t realize the FBI was kidnapping people these days.” Hailey replied with all the warmth of a winter snowstorm.

“They aren’t. Truthfully, I don’t know who these jokers are.” Selene said as she sat down in the aluminum chair across from the willowy woman. “I didn’t give them what they wanted so they made a phone call. Five minutes later I wasn’t an FBI agent anymore.”

“And now you’re working for them?”

“Something like that.” Selene grimaced. “Trust me, you’d rather talk to me than my ‘colleague’.”

Hailey scoffed. “Where the hell are Jason and Melinda?”

“Probably the other side of that wall.” She nodded to the wall behind Hailey, where she thought the other interrogation rooms where.

“I’m not saying shit until I see them. Hell, I’m not saying jack unless they’re in the room with me.”

Selene opened her mouth to reply when she heard the door behind her open. It was Smithbond. He walked into the room and right up to Hailey so he was towering over her in her personal space.

“Miss Oswald.” He said in a tone that was both conversational and menacing. “You can either talk to Miss Dawson here and now, or I will be conducting the interrogation personally.”

Hailey stood up as much as she could with her hands cuffed to the desk and then looked Smithbond right in the eye, though he was much taller. The willowy woman sized him up for a moment before speaking.

“Fuck. You.”

Smithbond smiled politely. Then without warning, his hand shot out and grabbed the back of Hailey’s head. Before either woman could react he had slammed Hailey’s face into the steel table. Hailey cried out in pain as a trickle of blood started dribbling out of her nose.

“What the fuck!” Selene jumped out of her chair and her hand went to her holster ... then she remembered that they’d taken her weapon.

“She was being uncooperative.” He replied like they were discussing the weather. “I’m making her cooperative.”

“Like hell you are!” Selene snapped back. “You can’t do that!”

He shrugged and then reached down and grabbed a fistful of Hailey’s hair. Near two decades of her father’s tutelage in martial arts came rushing back in an instant. She nearly leapt across the table to bring her hand down on his wrist at a pressure point. He let go of Hailey’s hair and twisted his hand to block her strike.

WHAM!

Selene saw stars.

She wasn’t even sure where his strike had come from because she hadn’t seen it coming. She staggered back, trying to catch her balance. She’d been hit before, and hard, but that had been something else.

Smithbond grabbed Hailey — who was still handcuffed to the table — and pulled her to her feet by her hair. “Now, do you have something to tell me?”

“Fuck off.” Hailey said, sounding even more defiant than last time. For some reason, Selene got the impression that this wasn’t her first time being beaten. Smithbond shrugged and pulled her head back, presumably to slam her into the table again.

Selene reacted.

She leapt forward, making sure to keep her defenses up and footing stable. Smithbond saw her coming, let go of Hailey, and aimed a counter-punch. Selene blocked it, then twisted her arm around to trap his hand and put his wrist in a joint-lock.

Or at least, that had been her plan.

He must’ve predicted it because he dodged the joint lock and managed to grab Selene’s wrist. She opened her hand and twisted her arm towards his thumb to escape, a move which had never failed before ... until now. With a deft twist and inside step, his other fist avoided her block and impacted her gut. Even with all her training to reduce impacts, he outweighed her by a lot and hit like a freight train.

She doubled over...

... just in time for her face to meet his knee.

She heard a popping sounds as she saw stars for a second time. She must’ve blacked out for a split second because the next thing she knew, she was on the ground. Her head was pounding, so she must’ve hit it when she fell. It was also hard to get back to her feet when the world was spinning. She looked up to see a very disappointed Smithbond standing over her.

He wasn’t even breathing hard.

“If you’re so concerned about Miss Oswald, perhaps you should share a cell with her until you learn something.” He said coldly.

She had planned to respond, but the headache was making it hard. For a moment she thought he might’ve been kidding. Then she realized; he wasn’t kidding. Not in the slightest.

He turned to Hailey. “Miss Oswald, I will give you the night to reconsider being cooperative. Then I will begin interrogating your friends ... starting with the pregnant one.”

Selene felt her jaw drop as Hailey’s eyes went wide.

“Over my dead body.” Selene struggled to her feet, the blood running hot in her veins at the mere thought of Smithbond assaulting a pregnant woman.

“Your funeral.” He shrugged. “Just don’t make that literal.”

It took a moment for Selene to realize that he might not be kidding.

She raised her fists anyway.

“Rachel, are you awake?” Alana called to her best friend from just outside the makeshift curtain that separated the girl’s area from the rest of the ship. The girl’s sleeping area was near the bow of the Argo on the lower deck, and despite all the fighting earlier, the ship seemed rather peaceful. She supposed it was the proverbial calm after the storm.

“Yeah.” Came the redhead’s reply, sounding like she was deep in thought.

“May I come in?”

“Sure.”

Alana ducked through the blanket to the ladies’ sleeping area. There were four hammocks, but only two were presently being used, with Anthiel sleeping in the other. Around both hammocks were neat piles of clothing. Near the high elf’s hammock was a collection of colorful dresses, while the teen mage’s collection was much more practical. Alana had never seen her wear a dress, as she preferring slacks and blouses. They were still feminine clothes, but not ‘girly’.

“What’s up?” Rachel asked from deep in her hammock.

“Three things. First, Ethan want your advice on the best way to enchant himself for combat.”

“Sure.” She replied absentmindedly.

“Second, he wanted to get your advice on how to make it so he and all his wives can all talk to each other at once.”

“I don’t have any experience with that, but I’ll do what I can. What’s the third thing?”

“I thought you should know that Kendra saw what happened earlier.” The wood elf replied, then explained how Anthiel had seen the dragon huntress sneaking off the ship.

“Hmm.” Rachel sat up looking thoughtful. “Did she have her weapons with her?”

“Anthiel said she had a Dragon Slayer bow, but only one arrow.”

“Hmm.” The beautiful redhead frowned. “Does that mean she would’ve attacked if she had another arrow, or that she only had the arrow for defense and was doing reconnaissance?”

“I don’t know.” The chocolate-haired elf replied. “Taloni thought she was here to help.”

“I can’t decide if she’s incredibly insightful or incredibly naïve.” Rachel replied.

“Really?” Alana asked, feeling confused.

“Well, think about it.” The redhead replied. “There was no way Kendra could’ve known that Kyrupto was going to arrive, and there’s no way that anyone would think he was our ally. If Kendra’s goal was to kill Ethan, why not attack after Kyrupto left? He obviously wasn’t an ally, and if she had wanted to kill Ethan, why didn’t she? She had ample opportunity before Anthiel noticed her. A surprise attack would’ve been successful, but she retreated instead of attacking. Why?”

“Good point.” The wood elf replied. “So, why did she come aboard then?”

“Beats me.” The redhead shrugged. “She’s done some very confusing things lately.”

“Agreed.” Alana noticed that Rachel’s nose crinkled slightly whenever she was deep in thought. It was adorable.

“What?” The redhead asked.

“Nothing.” Alana blushed slightly as she realized she might’ve been staring. “We should probably go see Ethan though.”

“Sure.” Rachel said, but didn’t move.

“Was there something else?”

The redhead stared at her thoughtfully for a moment. “Do you like being married?”

“I love it, why?” She couldn’t help but smile.

Rachel nodded thoughtfully. “Why do you love it?”

“Uh...” She hesitated. Why did she like being married? A flood of reasons came to her and it took a moment to pick which was the biggest reason. “Because I have someone to share my life with. Life can be really uncertain, and dangerous, and lonely sometimes. I like knowing that no matter what happens, I’ll be by his side. I’ll have someone to talk to and lean on, especially when life gets rough.”

Rachel got a mournful smile on her face. “That sounds nice.”

“What’s wrong?”

The teen mage hesitated a moment then shook her head, climbed out of the hammock and stood up. “Never mind. Let’s go find Ethan.”

“You don’t have to talk about it, but you look like you want to. Do you?”

Rachel gave her a genuine smile, which was strange because the teen mage also looked like she was on the edge of tears as she sat back down.

“Yes.” Rachel admitted, her lip trembling slightly as she replied.

“What is it then?” Alana asked, walking over and sitting down on the hammock next to her best friend.

“I don’t want to end up alone.” Rachel whispered after several moments. Her tone sounded like someone who was telling a grave secret or revealing forbidden knowledge.

“Why would you? You’ll always have us.”

“That’s kind to say, but eventually you and Ethan and his other wives will want to settle down somewhere. I’ll move to Arcanum to study to become an Arch Mage. I’m sure we’ll still see each other, but we’ll drift apart. And if I’m always studying, I won’t have time for...”

Rachel trailed off, looking out one of the small porthole windows that lined the lower deck of the Argo to let light into the lower decks.

She looked mournful.

“You seem to have put a lot of thought into this.” The wood elf observed.

“Something like that.” Rachel replied, still looking out the window. “I want to become an Arch Mage, I do, but what’s the good of achieving all your dreams if...”

Rachel sighed.

“ ... if you’re alone when you arrive.” Alana finished. “Yeah, that would be ... Yeah I understand.”

Rachel continued, and it sounded like she almost couldn’t stop herself. “I see how happy you, Beth, and Taloni are being married to Ethan. I want that, maybe not with Ethan, but I want it. And yet, he’s such a good guy; I have trouble believing that I could find a man to measure up, you know?”

“I do, yes.”

“Right.” Rachel nodded and looked back at her. “So I don’t want to settle, but it seems impossible that I’ll meet another man as good as Ethan. He just tried to give up his most precious possession in the entire world to save me, and then he nearly died protecting me. I mean, who does that?”

Alana couldn’t help but smile. “My husband.”

“Yeah.” Rachel sighed. “But who else? I could maybe see a man doing that for his wife, but for just a friend?”

“I don’t think you’re ‘just a friend’ to him Rachel.” Alana said quietly.

The redhead’s eyes got big. “Really?”

“Really.” She replied seriously. “He really care about you and values your opinion. You’re a great friend to him; a close friend; bit a confidant and trusted advisor.” She felt like the redhead was more, but wasn’t sure how to put it into words.

“Oh.” Rachel said, and her shoulder slumped slightly, like one of those deflating balloons Ethan had once described.

“Did you want to be more?” Alana asked, trying to keep her tone neutral instead of hopeful.

“No.” Rachel replied a little too quickly and a little too high pitched to be perfectly believable.

Alana managed to prevent herself from jumping for joy.

She knew it.

Rachel was attracted to Ethan, and she was pretty sure her husband was also attracted to her best friend. She managed to prevent an ear-to-ear smile from creeping onto her face. If Rachel really had fallen for him — and it seemed that she had — it was only a matter of time. The redhead probably didn’t realize it herself yet, but she would be married to Ethan too. Maybe not soon, but eventually.

Alana put her arm around the redhead. “Rachel, you’re only nineteen. You don’t need to have everything figured out right now. Everything will be okay in the end; if it’s not okay, it’s not the end.”

“Okay.” Rachel said with a sigh.

“The end.” The wood elf said with a wink.

Her best friend chuckled.

Rachel straightened up, took a deep breath and then turned to Alana with a much happier look on her face. “Let’s see if we can help Ethan and his lovely wives with their communication problem, shall we?”

She couldn’t help but smile at the compliment, though it wasn’t directly aimed at her.

“My lord the king?”

The king straightened up from the war council table and nodded for Delabor to enter. The cavernous room was made from dozens of trees which had been planted in a circle, so they had grown together to form the walls. The ceiling had been formed by branches which curved inwards, growing together so they met in a domed ceiling. From the outside it simply looked like a tree with an impressively wide trunk.

From the inside, it was even more impressive.

The high domed ceiling towered fifty feet above the floor. The many tree trunks which had grown together almost gave the appearance that you were inside the ribcage of some great beast of Illuminar. Around the edge of the room were placed torch sconces — set away from the wall of course — and some of the greatest sculptures and carvings in the whole wood elven kingdom. All made from wood of course, as was fitting and honorable.

“Approach Delabor.” The king instructed.

The rest of the war council also straightened up and paused their discussion. Of course, they didn’t stop discussing to prevent Delabor from hearing, but to honor the king by making it easier for him to speak the man on whom he had called.

“Apologies my king, but isn’t it strange that the dragon — while accepting your offer — has chosen to attend to an errand before coming here instead of coming directly here?”

There was a smattering of whispers around the council table

The king curled his lip. “Yes Delabor, it is strange. Few would insult the crown — and thus our ancestors — so flagrantly without cause.”

“Since he believed it to be a matter of life and death, would that be sufficient cause?”

The king clicked his tongue. “Perhaps; it is possibly the only cause that warrants such dishonor.”

“You are wise my king.” Delabor bowed.

“My king, might I have leave to address the honorable herald?” The high priest of Illuminar asked. As was proper and fitting, the high priest was always present at council meetings, for who could rule well without Illuminar’s input?

He nodded. “You have leave Plesius.”

Plesius was a thin man and quite wiry. As befitted the high priest, his robes were the purest white and adorned with a golden sun made from gold thread and gold adornments. He had a calculating look that the king always thought was odd for a holy high priest, but who could say a word against Illuminar’s high priest?

Plesius turned to Delabor. “Did he speak of his connection to Illuminar — blessed be He — or of any other holy matters?”

The king suppressed an envious expression. Plesius had just asked a simple question, something he himself as the king could never do unless it was to inquire of Illuminar Himself, or to inquire of Illuminar through one of His prophets. But as much as he wished to have a simple conversation, he couldn’t dishonor the crown — and thus the ancestors — by simply asking as Plesius had just done.

“He claimed not to be a prophet of Illuminar — blessed be He — but allowed for the possibility that he had accomplished his feats by the God of Light’s power.”

The king suppressed a sigh; a simple answer to a simple question. Not even with his own wife could he indulge in that luxury, just as tradition unfortunately dictated was proper.

“Interesting.” Plesius the high priest said. “At the least he is not a false prophet as he doesn’t claim to be a prophet at all.”

“That is good.” The king said. “The Book of Light is clear how false prophets are to be handled.”

“You are wise my king.” Plesius said with a bow.

The king inclined his head in a nod of respect, just as tradition dictated was proper. However, he did grow tired of the constant bowing, nodding, and servility that was displayed towards him. For them to do anything else would dishonor the crown and thus their ancestors, so it was required.

Still, he thought it would be nice — just for once — to have an honest conversation with an honest fellow without all the posturing and deference.

Ethan couldn’t help but laugh.

“What?” Taloni said defensively. “I’ve never seen one before and that’s what it sounds like.”

He chuckled. “I’ve never heard anyone describe a shower as a ‘falling hot water bath’ before.”

“Well, it sort of is.” Beth took up the Fey’s defense. “I mean, there’s so much water that it’s like a bath, but it is falling, so...”

“Thank you.” Taloni replied, then snuggled up closer to him.

They were all laying on the bed in the captain’s cabin. He was laying on his back while his two wives were snuggled up against him on either side. They were both wearing clothes as Alana was supposed to be back with Rachel soon.

He felt much better after his nap, and his two teens wives further improved his mood. The tone in the cabin was light, but almost determinedly so. Kyrupto had done a number on them, and right now a bit of lighthearted fun was a welcome respite.

“So what else?” The honey-blonde asked the blonde.

“Well, there’s this thing called a ‘hair dryer’...”

Ethan lay there mostly listening and occasionally chiming in as Beth described every detail of Earth to Taloni in exquisite detail. He could tell they were going to be wonderful friends. They were close in age and both possessed near boundless curiosity, which had already seemed to make them fast friends.

“--And that’s when we went to bed.” Beth finished, after explaining the events of the first day.

“Is that when...?” Taloni glanced at Ethan then back at the blonde, then lowered her voice to a whisper. “Is that when you kissed Alana?”

Beth nodded. “She’s a great kisser, and her lips are so soft.”

Ethan nodded appreciatively. “Both sets are, and you would know...”

Beth blushed scarlet and covered her face with her hands. “I can’t believe I did that.”

“Did what?” Taloni looked back and forth between them before settling on Ethan. “What do you mean ‘both sets are’?”

“Women have two sets of lips. This set...” He leaned down and kissed her tenderly. “ ... and the other set.” He pointedly looked down to the area between her legs.

The Fey looked confused for a moment before her eyes became as wide as saucers. She looked at Beth, mouth agape. “You kissed her...” He eyes went wide as her voice lower to a faint whisper. “Down ... down there?”

Beth’s cheeks were the color of a ripe tomato as she nodded, though she did look rather pleased with herself.

“By Illuminar that sounds...” She looked extremely conflicted. He felt a small spike of arousal over their bond, but she looked almost horrified too.

“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.” Ethan said with a chuckle. “Judging by Alana’s reactions, she loved it ... more than once...”

Taloni bit her lip.

The Fey looked at Beth with something between admiration and desire. She squirmed slightly against him in a very sensual way that was almost certainly subconscious.

“I think someone likes that idea.” He prompted.

The Fey blushed scarlet, but didn’t deny it.

“I enjoyed doing it.” Beth said nervously. “Alana is such a wonderful girl and I loved making her feel so good.” She glanced at the Fey, but couldn’t meet her eyes for long. “You’re a wonderful girl too.”

Taloni let out a tiny squeak.

Ethan couldn’t help but smile at the blonde’s transparent attempt at flirting. She was clearly slightly taken with his Fey wife, and he felt like they could use just a bit of prodding.

“You know.” Ethan said to Taloni as the blood rushed to his loins. “If you ask very nicely, Beth might give you the same treatment.”

He could feel her start to squirm against him in both arousal and embarrassment.

“I...” Beth wouldn’t look at either of them and spoke so quietly she was almost hard to hear. “I could do that...”

“I...” Taloni took a deep breath. “I mean, when you said ‘kissed’ I thought you just meant ... not that I’m opposed, I just...”

“So maybe start slow now and try other things later?” He suggested, immensely enjoying his two teen wives being nervously attracted to each other but being too embarrassed to admit it.

“Slow?” Beth asked.

“Sure.” He replied and then turned to Taloni. “Taloni, do you want to kiss Beth?”

The Fey froze like a deer in the headlights.

“A normal kiss I mean.” He corrected himself.

She loosened slightly, but bit her lip and seemed incapable of speaking. He raised his eyebrow.

“Yes master.” She squeaked out.

He turned to the other teen. “Do you want to kiss Taloni?”

“Yes Dominus.” She said after a moment of gathering her courage. “I would like that very much.”

“Then...” He moved his hands to indicate they should.

“Right now?” Taloni whispered in a hoarse voice.

“You certainly don’t have to, but if you both want to, why wait?”

They both nodded.

“So...” He again indicated with his hands.

At the same time, Beth and Taloni looked at each other and both bit their lip. It was adorable. Beth — ever the adventurous one — leaned her head forward so she was halfway across his chest. Moments later, Taloni slowly followed suit, bringing their lips close together.

“I ... I’ve never...” The Fey whispered.

“It’s just like kissing Ethan.” Beth replied kindly.

Taloni nodded.

Beth leaned in a bit more, so their lips where separated by only a fraction of an inch. Both of them turned their heads fractionally toward him and glanced with their eyes, seemingly to check if he was okay with this.

He grinned broadly.

Taloni bit her lip as she looked back at Beth, who licked her lips just slightly. The blonde leaned in a hair as the honey-blonde’s breath hitched. Their lips were almost touching...

CLICK.

They froze as the latch to the captain’s cabin door was pulled and the door swung inward, revealing a short chocolate-haired elf and a beautiful redhead. He was struck at that moment just how beautiful their resident mage was.

“I really do think that’s...” Alana stopped as she saw Ethan’s two younger wives frozen in an almost kiss. The corners of her mouth curved upwards into an amused grin.

Rachel’s eye widened.

Beth and Taloni jerked apart so fast you might’ve thought there was an electric shock.

“I was just ... Beth and I, um...” Taloni started to splutter.

“We weren’t ... I mean, this wasn’t...” Beth started to say. Both seemed to be directing their comments not at his first wife, but to Rachel.

“Ladies.” He said, resting a hand on each of them to stem the flow of reasons and rationalizations that was assuredly about to be unleashed. He looked at them kindly with an amused smile. “You did nothing wrong, so there’s no need to explain yourselves. Understand?”

They both looked relieved.

“Yes Dominus.”

“Yes master.”

He sat up and looked at Rachel. “Sorry if we made you uncomfortable.”

“No, I’m good.” She said, though her cheeks were slightly pinker than normal and her mouth parted much less than it usually did when she spoke. He couldn’t help but notice that she had nice, full lips.

He cocked his head to one side.

He realized that the first few times they’d met it had been in combat, and after that he’d been too concerned about her recovery to really notice her physically. By the time she’d recovered, she was so much a part of the crew that he’d never really stopped to admire her.

She was beautiful.

She was several inches taller than Alana, and had a few inches on his other wives too — no, not ‘other wives’ he corrected himself. She wasn’t his wife. Her flame-colored hair was about as long as Alana’s, and fell in waves down to mid-breast. He couldn’t help but notice that she was rather more amply endowed than his other wives too. Whereas Taloni had smaller B breasts, and Alana and Beth had full B maybe edging into C, Rachel was firmly on the large side of C.

There was a confidence in her posture that set off her shapely legs, narrow waist, and slender arms. Yet she didn’t have the look of a model from Earth either. She was beautiful, but it was a more subtle kind of beauty than seemed to grow with time, not diminish.

“What?” Rachel asked.

“Nothing.” He shook his head as he realized he’d been staring.

She is beautiful, isn’t she sir? Alana’s voice came over their bond.

Yeah, she is. He agreed.

“Anyway.” He said aloud. “Let’s see if we can figure out how to make a magical group chat work.”

Hailey let the soldiers lead her and didn’t resist. It hurt to resist, and she needed to save her strength. She was fully conscious, which was almost a shame because that meant she was also fully conscious of the pain radiating from her face. It felt like it had gone ten rounds with a heavyweight boxing champion.

She almost laughed.

Four years ago, she would’ve folded like a house of cards at the slightest threat of pain. Now ... now she was glad that this Smithbond fellow wasn’t a sadist. Her previous master had been a true sadist; a connoisseur of pain who derived pleasure from inflicting it.

Smithbond wasn’t.

He was decent at inflicting it, but she had been tortured by a master. He could do nothing compared to her experience in the Ten Kingdoms. But his threat to ‘interrogate’ Melinda...

That made her blood boil.

The soldiers led her to a large steel door, opened it, and unceremoniously pushed her in. She caught herself on her knees and then let herself slump over onto her back on the concrete floor. It had been a long day.

“Hailey!” Melinda shrieked as she rushed to her side.

Moments later, she felt two strong, masculine arms hook under her knees and shoulders to lift her easily off the floor and gently deposit her one of the two cots in the spartan jail cell.