Chapter 34: Home

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

“Master?”

“Hmm?” Ethan turned from staring into the pre-dawn sky over the Argo’s bow to look at his Fey wife. She was absolutely delightful. Her honey-blonde hair was gently moving on the breeze, her smile was captivating, and the iridescent wings that hung from her back were exotic and lovely. She was lovely, and quite possibly the sweetest girl he’d ever known, even including his other wives. And that was saying something.

She smiled at him. “I was just wondering, do you think you’ll ever feel about Kendra how you feel about Sarah and your wives?”

“Sarah’s engaged.” He stopped, then corrected himself. “Or betrothed; what’s the difference?”

“An engagement is when a woman chooses her husband for herself, which can only happen if she’s been previously married or her father isn’t around.” The Fey teen replied. “It can be broken easily by either side. A betrothal is when the groom pays a bride price to the girl’s father, at which point they’re considered married. Well, basically married anyway; it requires a divorce to break a betrothal.”

“Then Sarah is betrothed, which means she’s even less free.” He replied. “I’ve been on the receiving end of a fiancée cheating on me, and I could never be part of that.”

“But what about Kendra compared to your other wives?” The Fey pressed. “Could you love her like you love us?”

“Maybe?” He shrugged. “It’s funny, ever since Lady Ekthros forced us to bond, I’ve found it a lot harder to dislike her. I’m not saying I’m interested, but...” He shook his head. “I don’t know. She’s a pretty impressive person on balance. She’s clever, imaginative, and downright devious when it comes to hunting dragons. Plus she had the strength of character to admit that she was wrong and then apologize. Most importantly, she put herself in harm’s way to save the wife of an enemy. There are definitely things to like about her.”

“ ... but?” The Fey prodded.

“But she also has been pretty cold to me even after she stopped trying to kill me.” He pointed out.

“She’s really nice when you get to know her master.”

“Maybe, but I haven’t done that; I haven’t had a chance.”

“Would you be willing to?”

“I suppose so?” He shrugged. “We’re bonded, so I get the feeling that she’s going to be in our lives for a long time, like it or not.”

The Fey beamed.

“So, let me ask you.” He said after a few moments. “Why do you care about her so much? I know she saved your life, but it seems like it’s more than just that.”

“She’s a really good person master.” Taloni replied as she slipped her arm around his and snuggled up to it.

He cocked his head to one side, feeling like he could disagree but not sure that he’d be correct. If you discounted that she’d been trying to kill him, she had been rather good. Playing devil’s advocate, he knew what kind of trauma had caused her hatred of dragons. Plus, he could understand why she had been hunting him. Most people would have good reason to believe someone like Lord Delmar over a random dragon.

He found his thoughts drifting to Sarah, and how much he’d enjoyed meeting her. Well, except for the severe beating that he’d taken. It was weird; he’d never believed in love at first sight before, and while it hadn’t been exactly at first sight -- maybe more like first fight -- he’d fallen for the innkeeper’s daughter. Hard. If only she wasn’t betrothed...

He sighed.

Taloni giggled slightly beside him.

“What?”

“Alana, Beth, Taloni, Rachel, Kendra, Selene, and Sarah.” She said almost experimentally, as if to see how it sounded.

“What about them?”

“I’m just imagining growing old and raising a family with all of them.”

He rolled his eyes. “Kendra hates me, Selene isn’t interested, and Sarah’s engaged, --err, betrothed.”

The Fey shook her head and her wings quivered excitedly. “No master, Kendra doesn’t hate you. I saw how she kept glancing at you on her airship; I think she can’t admit to herself that she likes you. Selene wants you to like her more than she would admit too. And Sarah...” She frowned. “Hmm, I don’t know what color dress would look best on her.”

He blinked.

“What color dress?” He opened his mouth then cocked his head to one side. “Why would that matter?”

“Because all your wives need dresses master.” Taloni said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I know Kendra would like purple since her favorite gemstone is an amethyst. But I don’t know about Selene or Sarah.” She frowned, and her nose crinkled in an adorable way as she did so. “I should go ask Selene.”

She gave him a peck on the cheek and skipped away in the semi-darkness of pre-dawn, leaving him to wonder where all her confidence about who the rest of his wives would be had come from.

Kendra opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling above. It was still fairly dark as the sky was just starting to lighten. She’d just woken up from a dream where she’d been snuggling in bed with Ethan and all of his wives, and her body couldn’t seem to decide what to do about that.

Her stomach led the charge in the ‘against’ column, threatening to empty the last vestiges of the previous night’s dinner on the floor if she thought about it much. Meanwhile, her heart was screaming in delight at the dream and groaning in frustration that it had ended. Her mind was so deeply conflicted that she didn’t know what to think.

He was a good ‘man’, but he was also a dragon. She liked him well enough, but had absolutely no attraction to him. None. He wasn’t repulsive -- okay, he was a dragon so yes he was physically repulsive -- but personality-wise he was fine. Not good, not bad; just fine. Okay, he might be the most selfless man she’d ever met, but was that really personality? Wasn’t that more character than personality? Was there even a difference?

She rolled over a bit and sighed.

If he were a man, she might be willing to stay bonded to him. He might’ve been a decent husband for her if he was a man and not a dragon. He wasn’t though. She was pretty sure he’d let her stay on the Argo for a day or two, and she was positive that she wanted to try and break their bond. She figured that since death severed bonds, and she’d died for a short time after he’d struck her with lightning and then brought her back, he could do it again. That should break their bond, like with Beth when she had died. With the bond broken, she would be free again.

She wasn’t sure what she’d do with her freedom, but she’d have it.

She might even be able to stay on the Argo for a while, perhaps even longer than a day or two.

That made her smile.

“Here you go; I hope you like it.” Sarah said as she set breakfast down in front of the inn’s only real guest, since the man with the pegged-leg had left the previous day after delivering his message to Ethan. Lady Ekthros took the spoon and took a small bite of the oatmeal.

“It’s quite good.” She said after swallowing. “I taste the apple, cinnamon, nutmeg, and walnuts; but what’s that last flavor?”

“Cardamom.” Sarah said proudly, happy that a real, live, honest-to-goodness lady thought her cooking was good. “It pairs so incredibly well with cinnamon dishes, but so few people use it.”

Lady Ekthros took another bite and spoke after swallowing. ‘You have a gift my dear. Careful; I might steal you away for my own kitchens if your other meals are this delightful.”

“I would love that, but I’m betrothed.”

“Ah, who’s the lucky man?”

“Rindrin, he’s the blacksmith here in the outpost.” Sarah said, trying to maintain her cheerful façade.

The auburn-haired woman gave her a piercing look. “Not terribly fond of your betrothed, are you?”

The girl hesitated.

“I won’t push if you deny it, but you’re a terrible liar.” Lady Ekthros said with an amused chuckle.

“I’m ... I’m grateful that he’s willing to marry me.” She finally said honestly.

The auburn-haired woman looked slightly confused for a moment, then she made a thoughtful sound. “I don’t suppose that -- completely by accident -- I’ve stumbled onto ‘that’ inn, have I? Are you the girl that I’ve heard so many warnings about?”

Sarah hesitated again.

“You are. Hmm.” Lady Ekthros nodded and looked around the room with mild curiosity, finally setting her eyes on Sarah and giving her the onceover. “Well, you don’t look like the rumors.” She then smiled good-naturedly and added. “There’s no horns or anything.”

The girl grimaced and looked down

“Keep your chin up girl.” The woman said gently. “We all have things that we aren’t proud of, and not one of us is an exception. Besides, things can always get better.”

“They can, there’s even a real prophet of Illuminar in the land.” Sarah nodded thinking that he might someday be able to free her from her problem, then she frowned. “Though, I thought Lord Delmar put a bounty on him.” She said, remembering that the woman had mentioned that she worked for him the previous night.

“Yes well, he has his reasons.” Lady Ekthros shook her head. “I’d like to meet this Ethan fellow to see for myself, and hopefully he’s not...” She trailed off, like she had said too much. Oddly, Sarah got the impression that the older woman knew something about Ethan; something not good.

“I hope he can help me with my problem.” Sarah finally said to end the awkward silence. She couldn’t quite meet the lady’s eyes as she spoke though.

“Sarah, let me give you a piece of advice.” The woman said kindly. “Never let your head droop like that. The world is a hard place, and almost everyone will try to get you down. Don’t let them; be strong for yourself.”

“I do try.” She said, thinking that at least one person -- well, one person and his wives -- really lifted her up instead of bringing her down. Still, the other woman wasn’t wrong otherwise.

Kendra opened the door to Graflex’s shop with a slight spring in her step. She might actually be able to see Taloni that afternoon, and possibly even break her bond with Ethan. That would be wonderful. It would be even more wonderful if Ethan let her stay on the Argo for a few days afterwards.

“They’re done.” Graflex announced proudly, though oddly he didn’t seem happy about it. He pointed to four boxes near the front of the shop.

Two of them were large, two were small. The large ones were the both the same size at just under five feet long, about eighteen inches wide, and at least eight inches tall, though one was made out of a much cheaper wood than the other three. The larger of the two smaller boxes was about eighteen inches long and three inches square. The last box was the smallest at about eight inches long and again about three inches square.

“Where’s the spear?” Kendra asked as she looked at the boxes. The longest box wasn’t even five feet, and she remembered the spear at least being six feet long.

“In that box.” The dwarf muttered, unhelpfully waving his hand towards the stack of four boxes.

She raised an eyebrow.

He harrumphed. “You don’t like ‘em, you can get someone else to reforge them.”

She frowned, but nodded.

“Now here’s the important thing.” The dwarf continued. “Don’t even open the boxes until you’ve enchanted them all to be self-repairing. I’ve gone and put an edge on there that would cut silk that was dropped over it. If you muss that edge up before you enchant it, there ain’t no way to fix it without changing the perfect edge geometry. I designed these to be enchanted, so don’t even open the box until they’re enchanted to be self-repairing, ya hear?”

“Got it, open the box as soon as possible.” She retorted.

He harrumphed. “Ruin them however you want; I’ve already been paid.” He flipped a small piece of dragon steel that had been formed into a small disc in his hands, much like someone might do with a coin. “That cheaper box is the training version.” He added. “Your Ethan fellow can open it whenever, but I wouldn’t spar with it until it’s been enchanted to be self-repairing.”

“Noted.” She nodded and picked the boxes up. They were surprisingly light given what was in them, but she activated her strength-enhancing vambraces anyway because she had to walk.

“Thanks.” She said as she turned to leave.

Graflex harrumphed, then nodded and shuffled into the back room. Kendra shrugged and walked out carrying the boxes. It was somewhat awkward to carry all four of them and she got a few odd glances, but she managed. It wasn’t a long walk to return to the apartment that Elder Goman had set up for her, and she had a visitor when she opened the door.

“Elder Goman.” She said as she kicked the door closed behind her.

“Ah, Kendra.” The elderly arch mage said, dropping the ‘ancient and senile act’ the moment the door was closed, and deactivating what she assumed was a disguise gem. Physically, he didn’t look much different. His hair was still wispy and his robes still clung to his thin frame. But the overall effect had changed drastically. Suddenly his face didn’t look so heavily lined and his eyes looked a lot brighter. He looked like a fit man in his sixties instead of pushing one hundred and on death’s door.

“And no one sees through that disguise gem? With the company you must keep?” She asked as she set the boxes down.

“My dear Kendra, if you have enough dragon scale, mana, and enchanting knowledge, you can create a man-sized illusion that almost no one can see through unless they know exactly what to look for, and are actively looking for it.” He touched a large medallion on his chest, which looked like it was made from dragon steel. “It might cost a king’s ransom, but none has seen through it yet.”

She nodded, thinking about Ethan’s disguise gem which the Nalatia guards had seen through the moment they’d looked. She had known about more powerful disguise enchantments, but had never seen one in action. Elder Goman’s enchantment must be incredibly powerful since he rubbed shoulders with some of the most powerful wizards of the age.

“That’s some enchantment.” She finally said.

“Yes, but this isn’t the enchantment you need now.” He said glancing in the direction of his workshop where his portal was. “Are you ready to rejoin your husband?”

She shot him a dirty look.

“You’re bonded, are you not?”

“For now.” She nodded.

“The young often don’t realize what they have until they’ve complained about it.” He gave her a piercing look, then a slightly annoyed one. “I thought you’d hold out longer: now I’m afraid I owe Luminar Kossel that bottle of mulled wine.”

She glared at the reference to the bet they’d made in her presence the last time she’d been in Arcanum to confirm Ethan’s story.

“You said you could portal me to Ethan?” She said after several seconds, hoping that he’d take the hint.

He nodded. “Yes, though I assume you’ll want to take your airship with you.”

“I’m certainly not leaving it. The masts can fold, so it should fit through a portal.”

“Then I’ll have you travel outside of town, open a portal at ground level through which you can push your airship into my portal room. Once you’re in my lab, then I can open another portal and return you to him.” The arch mage’s eyes twinkled. “Your husband I mean.”

She shot him an even dirtier look.

“Rachel, do you have a minute?” Ethan asked after everyone had finished their late lunch.

The redhead smiled back at him, her blue eyes sparkling. “Absolutely.”

He extended his hand and led her amidships before turning to look at her. She was truly lovely. Her hair was darker red at the roots and it slowly faded to blonde at the tips, making it look like her head was on fire. Her blue eyes were filled with intelligence and -- when she looked at him -- love. Plus, she had a wonderful personality and was always good company.

“What?” She asked.

“Just looking.” He smiled at her.

The redhead appeared to smile despite herself. “What’s up?”

“I just wanted to ask how you’re doing.”

She raised an eyebrow. “I’m good, why?”

“Well, I was wondering about something.” He began.

She jumped in rather nervously. “I know I’m still a bit ... nervous being naked around your other wives. I promise I’m getting better though.”

“Oh, that’s good; that’s not what I was wondering about, but good.” He replied. He had noticed that she tended to keep covered up around his other wives. Even when they all woke up naked, she tended to stay under the sheets or reach for her dress.

“Oh, then what?” Rachel asked.

“I wanted to follow up on our conversation from our wedding day.” He replied. “You seemed adamant about not having a ‘lord’, and yet you have called me ‘my lord’ ever since that evening. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay with that.”

She cocked her head to one side as a wide smile split her face. “Really?”

He nodded.

“Even if I hadn’t been before -- and I was -- I would be now.” She closed her eyes for a moment before reopening them, the smile never leaving her face. “That was really thoughtful of you to ask. That’s really what you wanted to say?”

“Well yeah.” He nodded again. “I definitely prefer happy wives.”

“I really am okay.” She smiled even wider. “If anyone besides you tried to tell me what to do, I’d either laugh, glare, or give a scathing retort. But with you...” She cocked her head to one side and pursed her lips. “ ... with you it’s like ... like ... I don’t know. It’s like I somehow know deep in my bones that you’d never ask me to do anything that you didn’t think was the absolute best for me. Somehow, that makes me not mind.”

“Well, I’m glad you know that.” He smiled at her, but then his smile turned to a slight frown. “You do know that might be my dragon side influencing you though, right?”

“I do.” She nodded. “You said you can’t compel me, so it’s not likely though. I don’t think the dragon was involved. But even if he was, there’s nothing that anyone could do about it except break our bond, and I would rather die than let that happen.” She said firmly, then added with a grin. “Happiness or death; seems like one of life’s few easy choices, doesn’t it my lord?”

“It does, and I’m really happy to hear you say that.” He replied with a wide grin.

He really was.

It was good to hear that the fiercely independent redhead was actually enjoying being his wife. He certainly enjoyed having her as one, and he knew that Alana loved it too. That put him in mind of the birthmark that they both had, which for some reason he kept forgetting to tell the redhead about.

“So Rachel.” He began. “I keep meaning--”

Ethan?

He jerked his head up as a completely unfamiliar voice sounded in his head. It took him a moment to place it, and when he did his jaw dropped.

“What is it?” Rachel asked with concern.

“It’s Kendra.” He said marveling. “She just talked to me telepathically. Hang on.” He thought to Kendra. Hi, is everything okay?

Yes. She replied curtly.

Ladies, Kendra just contacted me telepathically. He thought to all his wives. The collective feelings of shock over his bonds with them mirrored how he felt. I’ll ask her to move to the group chat. He then thought to the dragon huntress. Kendra, could you talk to the group chat so everyone can listen in?

Am I doing this right? Her voice came to the group chat several seconds later.

Kendra! Taloni exclaimed with joy.

Hi Taloni. She replied almost sheepishly.

Kendra, are you okay? Alana and Rachel asked at the same time.

Yes, did something go wrong? Beth added.

Why are you all asking that? Kendra replied.

Because you’re talking to us telepathically. Ethan replied. I thought you never would.

Yeah well, Elder Goman said he wouldn’t open the portal until I let you know that I was coming, so... There was definitely some annoyance in her mental tone.

You’re ready to arrive? He asked.

I am now. She said, and he got the distinct sense that she’d just closed the gates of her mental fortress to block them all out again.

Taloni had walked up to him during the conversation and was beaming at him. “She’s going to love it here master.”

“Love it here?” He raised his eyebrow. “She’ll be here for like, five minutes to drop off the weapons and then she’ll take off.”

Taloni gave him a look much like his mother used to give him when he asked her a particularly dumb question about girls. “Master, I think she’ll ask if she can stay on the Argo.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.” The Fey shrugged. “I just feel like she will.”

“I’d say you were nuts if you hadn’t been right about everything involving Kendra so far.”

A minute or two later, Ethan saw a portal slowly opening about a hundred yards above the Argo. He was mostly looking at the underside of the portal, so it appeared to be a line instead of a disc, but it certainly was a portal. Moments later, the prow of Kendra’s canoe-sized airship appeared. It was among the strangest things that Ethan had ever seen: to be standing underneath a portal and watching the airship glide through it. Since he was underneath it, her airship looked like it was appearing out of thin air. It was so strange to watch it slowly appear as it slid through.

Once the airship was through, Taloni didn’t waste a moment. Her wings became a blur and she started flying up towards Kendra.

He smiled.

It had been just over a month since Taloni had been freed and started exercising her wings daily. At the beginning, she couldn’t even lift herself off the ground without the weight reduction necklace. Now she was flying a hundred yards straight up and didn’t seem very strained while doing so. He imagined that there must be some kind of magic involved for her wings get that strong that fast.

Regardless, it was good to see.

He took a deep breath as he realized that it had only been a month. He felt like time had somehow slowed to a crawl lately while simultaneously moving so fast that he couldn’t keep up. Yesterday had been a good example, what with meeting Sarah and all.

“She really loves flying.” Beth said from beside him.

He hadn’t noticed her approach, and he put his arm around her shoulder. “Hey angel, yeah she does. It’s good to see.”

The blonde leaned her head on his shoulder. “I keep feeling like this is a dream; a wonderful dream that I’m going to eventually wake up from and have to face real life again.”

He smiled and gave her a pointed look. “I know what you mean.”

She sighed and kissed his shoulder. “Can you pinch me? Just to make sure.”

“Eep!” She jumped as he gave her butt a little pinch.

“Still awake?” He asked.

She nodded dreamily, and spoke in much the same manner. “Yes Dominus, and I couldn’t be happier.”

He smiled and gave her another pointed look. “I know what you mean.”

He looked up in time to see Kendra’s head poke over the side of the airship. Apparently she’d finished her ‘hello hug’ from Taloni and...

He felt the dragon.

It stirred at the sight of the dragon huntress, and it took more self-control than Ethan liked to prevent the dragon from taking over, flying up there, and bending the dragon huntresses over in her own airship.

Ethan... Alana thought directly to him.

Yeah, I hate how much my dragon side is trying to assert control.

Should we be more dedicated to wearing you out in the bedroom in the future? She asked, and he knew she was serious because her comment didn’t contain an ounce of flirtation.

He looked around the deck until he saw her up on the quarterdeck, and then shook his head slightly. No, it doesn’t help. Might actually make things worse. He sighed in frustration. If I ever meet my dragon side, I’m going to pound him.

Alana gave him an ironic smile. I’ll get you a mirror.

He chuckled, but it still took a lot of effort to stop his dragon side from pouncing on the dragon huntress.

“I um ... I don’t...” Sarah looked down, wishing she had a better answer. It was lunchtime and she’d just served Lady Ekthros, who had started inquiring about Sarah’s wedding.

“I’ve never seen a woman look so down about her wedding dress.” Lady Ekthros said. “Surely you’re having one made, or making one yourself?”

Sarah shook her head. “No, the inn isn’t ... I mean I don’t have money for...” She looked at her shoes. “And I don’t know how to sew. I can mend things, but I don’t know how to make a dress from scratch.”

“Ah.” The auburn-haired woman looked around the inn and nodded. “Well, we can’t have that now can we?”

“Huh?”

Lady Ekthros smiled at her. “I need to go into town today to get...” She waved her hand carelessly and spoke with the air of someone coming up with a lazy excuse. “ ... get a new clasp for my cloak.”

Sarah starred.

She wasn’t wearing a cloak, and judging by her luggage, she probably didn’t have one with her. It sounded like she was making up an excuse to go into town so she could...

No.

No she couldn’t be planning to...

Could she?

The older woman smiled in a grandmotherly fashion. “I might as well stop by a tailor while we are in town and get you a nice dress for your wedding.”

“While we are in town?” The girl felt her jaw drop.

“Of course; unless you want to get married in your current dress?”

“You can’t do that; it’s too much.” Sarah replied quietly.

“Of course I can; I never had kids, and just want to pretend I have a daughter to spoil for a bit.” She winked. “You wouldn’t deny an old woman that simple pleasure, would you?”

“Thank you.” She could feel her eyes filling with happy tears. This woman was so nice; nearly as nice as Ethan, Selene, and Ethan’s wives. She counted herself extremely lucky that Illuminar had brought her into her life.

Ethan busied himself sparring with Serif as Kendra docked, trying to distract himself and his dragon side from her. It wasn’t attraction; it was pure unbridled lust and horniness that was being fueled by his dragon side. He growled and found himself being more aggressive with the war-sword sized longsword that he was using.

He’d actually been doing nearly all his sparring with a longsword since the trip to Nalatia, and especially since they had told Serif about Lord Delmar’s attack. The wiry crewman decided that the best way for Ethan to beat the longsword was to learn it, so that he knew its strengths and weaknesses from experience. He would’ve been lying if he said it wasn’t a dream come true; learning to swordfight that is. Serif was a master and he had learned so much in a very short time.

Eventually, Kendra’s ship finished docking and she stepped onto the Argo with Taloni in tow. Ethan paused his sparring match to look at her, feeling the dragon urging him on. It wasn’t exactly hard to resist, but it certainly wasn’t as easy as he would’ve preferred.

“Ethan.” The dragon huntress greeted him in a strange tone that was at once both terse and seemed like an attempt to be nice.

“Kendra.” He nodded back at her.

“I’ve got your weapons.” She said after an awkward moment.

“Weapons?” He raised his eyebrow. “Plural?”

“You didn’t think he needed all that dragon scale to make a single spearhead, did you?”

“Uh, I guess not.” He said, thinking about how many dragon scales were in the satchel compared to how much metal was in a spearhead.

The raven haired newcomer seemed to bite back a retort, then turned to the ship and pulled out four wooden boxes.

He noted that none of them was over five feet long and raised his other eyebrow. “Spear?”

“So, about that...” She told him what Graflex had told her about the designer of the weapons as his other wives arrived. All of them -- himself included -- were staring at her open mouthed when she was done.

“Gabriella designed these?” He looked at the boxes, thinking that they would probably be pretty special if she had.

“Apparently.” Kendra shrugged.

“I bet Illuminar did.” Taloni said in awe.

“I wonder what they are.” Beth said, curiosity burning in her eyes.

“Well, let’s look.” Ethan stepped forward but Kendra held up her hand.

“Graflex said you shouldn’t even open them until they’d been enchanted to be self-repairing. He said he’d put an insane edge that would need to be completely reshaped if it was nicked.”

Alana shook her head. “No, he just wanted to make sure Ethan didn’t go testing it and dull the edge before it was enchanted.”

“So, I can’t open any of them?” Ethan said feeling a bit crestfallen.