Chapter 62: Post Tenebras Lux

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

Ethan took a deep breath and for the third time ever, silently asked Illuminar for some help. Faced with two demon-possessed men and Lady Ekthros herself while trapped inside Talven and Salma’s parents’ house, he was distinctly aware of the old saying about there being no atheists in foxholes. At this point, he would take any help from any source he could. His left hand still hadn’t fully regrown, and even if it had, he didn’t have a prayer of beating even one of these possessed men in a straight-up fight, let alone two supported by an archmage.

“Oh, don’t look so scared.” Lady Ekthros said cheerfully as she slipped off her horse and walked towards the doorway to the house, though she stopped about a dozen feet from the door, remaining just behind the two possessed men. “I’m pretty sure you’ll like this offer.”

“You mean the ‘offer I can’t refuse’?” He raised his eyebrow. “Maybe don’t quote The Godfather if you’re trying to put me at ease.”

“Oh, don’t be silly.” She chuckled, then spoke in a rather good impression of Miracle Max from the Princess Bride. “I’m only mostly trying to reassure you; there’s a big difference between mostly reassured and reassured.” She winked.

In any other context, Ethan would’ve chuckled. Here, he was trying to decide if drawing his sword as a precaution would provoke the possessed men into attacking.

“And why would I believe a single thing you say?” He asked, not willing to trust her just because she had him dead to rights.

She chuckled, then spoke in a mock-serious tone. “I’m in government; obviously I must be a bastion of truth.”

“Yeah, well, you know what they say about how to tell if a politician is lying.” He retorted.

“His lips are moving.” She laughed. Oddly, her laugh reminded him of Taloni’s laugh in how it was so joyful and carefree. “I always preferred the ‘lie clock’ joke.”

“Lie clock joke?”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “A man gets to heaven and St. Peter invites him inside. Inside the pearly gates, he sees a bunch of clocks and asks what they are for. St. Peter tells him that they are ‘lie clocks’, and each one belongs to someone on Earth. Every time that person tells a lie, the clock’s hands move a little. So the man asks to see the lie clocks of a few famous people, and then asks about--” She stopped. “Ethan, pick a politician who you think is a constantly lying scumbag.”

“That’s not hard.” He replied, looking pointedly at her.

“That’ll work.” She chuckled. “Anyway, the man asks if he can see Lady Ekthros’s lie clock, and St. Peter replies that it’s in God’s office because He’s using it as a fan.”

Ethan tried to keep a straight face.

He really did.

But despite himself, he let out a few heavy exhales that an observer could mistake for suppressed chuckling.

“Before I make my offer, I need to apologize.” Lady Ekthros said.

He raised his eyebrow.

“I do.” She said, and she sounded totally sincere. She was either a world-class liar -- which seemed pretty likely -- or else she was being serious. “I’ve been unsuccessfully trying to kill you for several months now and apparently, I’m not very good at it.” She cocked her head to one side. “By the way, how did you escape that curse I had someone put on the gold cube? That should’ve been impossible.”

“An angel came down from heaven and broke it.” He replied sarcastically. That really was the truth, but he wasn’t about to tell her that.

“Oh, not you too.” Lady Ekthros shook her head. “Is everyone on this whole backwater world a religious nut?”

“That’s funny coming from the woman who’s currently being protected by two demon-possessed men.” He pointed out.

“Demon-possessed?” She sighed and shook her head. “Apparently you are. Anyway, I thought you were just another necromancer and so took charge of the manhunt. It was a while before I realized you weren’t, and I’m sorry for the attempts to kill you before I realized that.” She paused. “Well, and the attempts to kill you after I found out.”

“What the hell kind of apology is that?” He retorted. “And what do you mean you thought I was a necromancer? Weren’t you and Lord Delmar the ones who framed me?”

“Oh, that.” She winced, looking slightly embarrassed. “That was actually Hermair, the necromancer who brought you here; he framed you. He didn’t even tell us about you until evening on the day after you arrived. He lied to the Narlotten soldiers, telling them that you were a necromancer, and obviously he left his role in the whole affair out; I only found that out later when I questioned Drousin. He was very tight-lipped -- probably because of Lord Delmar’s stance on necromancers -- but he did tell me that Hermair brought you here via dark magic; that’s how I found out Hermair was a necromancer.”

Ethan wondered how much her ‘lie clock’ was currently spinning, but decided to humor her, if only to buy time. “So then why try to kill me if you knew I didn’t do anything wrong?”

“Well, you did kill a lot of Narlotten soldiers and later brought two people back from the dead; the only way resurrections happen here is necromancy.” She replied. “I didn’t know you weren’t a necromancer until you used your wing to block the kill spell I sent towards that Fey girl in Narlotten.”

“And why did you try to kill Taloni?” He growled. “She was unconscious and posed no threat.”

“She was aiding and abetting a necromancer, or at least I thought she was; that’s the death penalty.” Lady Ekthros replied. “But then you blocked the kill spell. A necromancer wouldn’t sacrifice himself for someone else. Ever. It’s lucky for me Lord Delmar didn’t see that by the way. If you hadn’t done that, you never would’ve woken up, despite Lord Delmar’s insistence on holding a trial.” She paused. “You would’ve been ‘shot while trying to escape’--” She put that in air quotes. “--instead of spending some time in a cell while I decided what to do with you.”

“And forcing Kendra and I to bond? Or sounding disappointed that Lord Delmar wouldn’t order Rachel’s death? What about that?”

“Well, we did think Rachel was helping a necromancer: you. It was also annoying for ... another reason.” She replied delicately. “But as for the bonding, I suppose I owe you an apology for that as well. I sometimes have transient vindictive moods ever since--” She stopped. “Well, I’m not always myself when they strike. Sorry about that.”

He raised his eyebrow; she was ‘apologizing’ -- if you could call it that -- as if she had done something trivial, like accidentally bump into someone at the supermarket. Unless her ‘lie clock’ was really spinning right now, she truly didn’t seem to see how terrible she had been.

“Anyway, I had to come up with a new plan once I learned that you weren’t a necromancer, since I don’t let necromancers live as a general rule.”

“What?” He outright laughed at that. “You put a will-breaker ring on Rachel and you’re being guarded by two demon-possessed men, and you’re telling me that you kill necromancers?”

“You know about the ring?” She shrugged, then asked with what seemed to be genuine curiosity. “How is Rachel doing?”

“Better now that the fucking will-breaker ring isn’t on her anymore.” He growled.

“Oh tosh.” She waved a hand dismissively. “People are always so scared of them, but unless the mage controlling the ring has given a person instructions, they’ll behave as ever they did.”

He stared at her incredulously.

“Seriously.” Lady Ekthros sighed. “Don’t you think it would be obvious that someone was wearing a will-breaker ring if they all became mindless, slack-jawed zombies?”

It took Ethan a moment to realize that she had a point.

Hmm.

If a will-breaker ring didn’t allow the person some semblance of normal behavior, it would be pretty obvious that they were wearing one. Kendra had said before that the rings were hard to detect, so maybe Lady Ekthros had a point? They were obviously still vile things, but maybe at least there was a tiny sliver of a silver lining to them. Okay, it was a microscopically small silver lining, but that was better than nothing.

“You’re admitting to using will-breaker rings and you expect me to believe that you hunt necromancers?” He finally said.

“I do.” She smiled and nodded cheerfully. “They make the world a worse place, so it’s my job to remove them from the world, by any means necessary.”

“Becoming evil to fight evil?”

She shook her head. “I used dark magic exactly one time, and the cost...” For a moment, her eyes softened and appeared to grow slightly lighter in color. He couldn’t be sure, but it looked like there was a lot of pain associated with whatever that cost had been.

“I knew better, and I had a good reason, but I didn’t know the cost.” She took a deep breath, and the inhale had a very slight shudder to it. “I never touched it again, and I never will touch it again. Ever.”

“I find that hard to believe given these two jokers.” He pointed to the two demon-possessed men. “And that’s not to mention Rachel’s will-breaker ring.”

“Dark magic is like fire; a fearful servant and a terrible master.” She replied, not looking happy about that fact. “Necromancers are the worst sort of creatures on the planet because they are utterly self-serving and they care nothing for others. However, dark magic provides access to tools and weapons that are more powerful and insidious than regular magic does. How can you win against such weapons without adopting them yourself?”

Ethan slowly shook his head. “And you trust a necromancer? After what you just said, you should know better.”

“Fortunately, I don’t have to trust one.” She smiled.

Ethan narrowed his eyes for a moment, then the answer came to him; it was the only thing that made sense. “You put a will-breaker ring on a Necromancer?”

Her smile widened.

“Hermair?”

“After he lied about you, yes.” She replied. “If you don’t care about being subtle, the rings can do their work quite quickly instead of taking months or years. I gave him a choice once I’d captured him; he picked the option that didn’t lead to a painful death and voluntarily surrendered to the ring.”

“He isn’t the only necromancer that you’ve put a will-breaker ring on, is he?” Ethan asked, thinking that someone must’ve made Rachel’s will-breaker ring.

Lady Ekthros just smiled.

“So that’s it; use dark magic to create pet necromancers to do the actual dirty work, thinking that they’ll never hurt anyone because of the rings.”

“There’s a sort of poetic irony to it, isn’t there?” Her smile widened. “I’m using the very dark magic they created to bend them to the right side; to fight for a better world.”

“I don’t think building a better world will ever involve summoning demons.” He nodded towards the two possessed men, who both looked like they wanted to tear him apart and yet hadn’t made a threatening move ... yet.

“Demons; I thought you’d know better than to believe silly religious myths since you were raised on Earth.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head, then narrowed her eyes and fixed him with a piercing gaze. “Anyway, that, my dear Mr. Ejder, was your fault.” She replied, her tone becoming less than perfectly pleasant for the first time.

“My fault?” He scoffed. “How the hell was that my fault?”

“The portal to Earth.” She narrowed her eyes. “There isn’t a single army or force in the Ten Kingdoms that could’ve successfully assaulted the base they set up in the forest. By the time I learned of it, it was too late; they were already too entrenched to remove them with the technology here. You forced my hand.”

Ethan opened his mouth to reply, but there was so much wrong with what she was saying that he wasn’t sure where to begin.

Then her tone became cold and icy, like a mid-winter blizzard. “Because of you, I had to put a kind and innocent girl through hell to figure out what made her super strength and durability work after one of my agents saw her in action. Because of you, I had to go digging in her head to find the last few pieces of the puzzle needed to create them. And because of you, I had to ‘persuade’ her to keep quiet so I wouldn’t be forced to kill her.”

Lady Ekthros sounded angry.

Genuinely angry.

He completely understood that because his blood was boiling at the moment. He didn’t know exactly what Lady Ekthros had done to Sarah, but just what she’d said made Ethan want to rip the ‘lady’ limb from fucking limb. His only consolation was that he’d seen Sarah recently and she appeared to be physically fine. Maybe not mentally, but physically.

Oddly, Lady Ekthros sounded nearly as mad as he felt. She sounded as angry as he probably sounded when talking to someone who had just threatened his wives. Her tone was controlled, but there was no mistaking the vitriol in it. She was blaming him for what she herself did? What the hell!?

“You’re insane.” Ethan finally said, not sure what else to think and trying to keep himself calm as he tried not to think about what Lady Ekthros might’ve done to Sarah.

“I’m not insane.” She replied calmly, some of the ice in her tone disappearing. “Insanity is trying the same things over and over again but expecting different results. Insanity is trying to fight evil with one hand tied behind your back. I’m not insane, I’m willing to do what’s necessary to make the world a better place.”

“By murdering people you know to be innocent?” Ethan challenged. “If you’re so serious about that, then maybe you should stop hunting me and my family.”

“Funny you should say that, because I did say that I was going to make you an offer you couldn’t refuse.”

“Oh?”

“I can’t go back and tell Lord Delmar that you aren’t a necromancer; not without revealing some things that he really shouldn’t know.” She replied. “However, I can offer this: if you leave the Ten Kingdoms, I can make sure you won’t be hunted by Narlotten.”

Ethan narrowed his eyes. “Explain.”

“You do your very best to make the world a better place Ethan.” Lady Ekthros replied. “I really am sorry about hunting you because I’ve learned that you are more committed to helping people than most men I’ve met in my life. I would like you to keep on being you; to keep flying around helping every random stranger who asks for your help. I just can’t let you keep doing that in the Ten Kingdoms because I would need to keep hunting you.” She looked at him intently. “So please, leave the Ten Kingdoms for somewhere else; the Southern Lands perhaps, or the Winter Empire, or the Seaborn Kingdoms; I don’t care. If you leave, I can stop hunting you and you can keep working to improve the world.”

“You’re serious?”

“As a heart attack.” She nodded. “I really am sorry for hunting you and your family Ethan. This is my way of trying to apologize and do what I can to make it right. I’ll admit that it’s not much, and certainly not compensation for all the hardship I’ve brought to you and your family, but it’s the best I can offer. Please, I ask your forgiveness and ask that you take the offer.” She hesitated, then added in a rather good imitation of Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride. “You seem a decent fellow, I’d hate to kill you.”

He decided to reply with a slightly modified version of the following line. “You seem an indecent fellow, I’d hate to die.”

She shrugged, much like Inigo Montoya had in the movie.

He frowned.

“That’s my offer, and I’m making it now because I want you to know that it’s genuine.” She continued. “I have you dead to rights; there’s no possible way that you could escape and I think you’ll agree that these two could easily kill you.”

Ethan inclined his head in concession.

“I’m sure you’d agree that without you, I could easily find and eliminate your airship’s crew, along with your wives.”

He growled.

“But I don’t want to.” Lady Ekthros added quickly, her tone sincere. “I want you to live and continue making the world a better place ... you just can’t do it in the Ten Kingdoms. If you leave, you’ll have nothing to fear from us ever again. If you stay...” She raised her hands, palms up as if to say there was nothing she could do.

He narrowed his eyes again, trying to decide how genuine she was. Her ‘lie clock’ joke was still fresh in his mind, but he couldn’t deny that she could easily kill him right now, but hadn’t. There wasn’t even a need to lull him into a false sense of security because she had such a massive upper hand right now. It didn’t make sense for her to lie even though she was certainly capable of it.

Was she really making a genuine offer?

On the other hand, Narlotten still had a rather large bounty on their heads, as did Lord Farbrottan of Ivernia. He doubted that she would rescind the bounty and he knew Lord Farbrottan wouldn’t. Thus, bounty hunters would still pursue them even if Lady Ekthros wouldn’t. Though, if the ‘lady’ wasn’t hunting them, then the possessed men wouldn’t hunt them either. Bounty hunters could be dangerous -- as evidenced by them ambushing his wives in Laerten -- but they weren’t even in the same league as possessed men.

Hmm.

“Think it over.” Lady Ekthros said. “I know you have the ward of the wood-elven king on your airship and you’ll want to return her. Do, but then you need to leave the Ten Kingdoms. I recommend the Southern Lands since Lord Farbrottan’s concubine travels with you and she could help you settle in there, but where you go is up to you.”

He frowned, trying to see how the offer she was making wasn’t genuine. He couldn’t, mostly because she had him dead to rights and he wasn’t dead.

“Oh, and Ethan; this is a one-time offer.” She added as she walked back to her horse. “If you set foot, wing, or sail back in the Ten Kingdoms after leaving, there will be no second chance.” She mounted her horse. “Please, for your sake and the sake of your family, take my offer; it won’t be offered again.”

He didn’t reply, honestly feeling a little too stunned to reply.

“Oh, and if you were worried about them--” She waved carelessly at the two possessed men. “--don’t be; show him your hands boys.”

They both raised their hands; they both had rings on them.

“I don’t take chances.” She said firmly to Ethan, then looked at them. “Come along boys, leave the nice dragon alone now.”

The two possessed men stared pure murder at him, but turned to leave anyway. They mounted the other two horses and the three of them left with Lady Ekthros leading the pack.

That was about when Ethan realized that his mouth was hanging open.

“So, is that a good enough reason for Rindrin to divorce me?” Sarah asked, doing her best not to sit at the very edge of her chair or look too excited.

Across the table from her in Rindrin’s house, Luminar Kossel made a thoughtful sound, leaned back in his chair, and stroked his chin with one hand while crossing the other over his chest. He looked intently at her for several seconds, then took a deep breath. “Perhaps.”

“Perhaps?” Sarah inched forward on her chair.

He nodded. “I see the precedent you wish to take advantage of, and your position has some merit. However, while technically you have a claim, the spirit of the story -- what seems to be the obvious reason that divorce was granted -- is clearly absent.”

Sarah swallowed, trying not to let her face fall. “But the same thing happened in the Book of Light. That prophet’s horrible wife exposed herself fully. I realize I didn’t do it on purpose, but that mage who attacked Amy and me on the road here did render me ... um, exposed. It’s almost the same, isn’t it?”

“Ah, but what’s missing is the intentionality.” The luminar replied. “That prophet’s wife was trying to entice the other man into committing adultery with her, you did no such thing. What if you were bathing and a man happened to see you somehow; would that also be cause for divorce?”

“Oh.” Sarah slumped in her seat slightly.

“Marriage is a serious affair in Illuminar’s eyes, and ending a marriage is even more so.” He continued. “Were I to accept your rationale, then every woman who was accidentally exposed could be divorced by her husband.”

Sarah took a deep breath. “I ... I see your point.”

“Let me think on it.” The luminar said after a moment. “I lean against writing the certificate, but on complex issues such as this, sleeping on it is usually a wise course of action.”

“Thank you, and thank you that you care so much about what Illuminar commands.” Sarah said, her throat feeling tight as she realized he likely wouldn’t write the divorce certificate.

“You’re welcome, and I try.” He smiled, though the smile had notes of sadness and sympathy in it.

“Would you like to stay for dinner?” Amy asked. She had mostly stayed quiet while Sarah had made her case, adding only the occasional detail or providing the necessary second witness to the attack.

“I would, but I’m afraid I’ve intruded too long and need to return to the Midnight Sun.” He replied as he stood. “Thank you very much for your hospitality.” He looked at Sarah. “Both of you.”

“You’re welcome.” Amy smiled.

“I promise to give this matter serious thought and prayer.” The luminar said to Sarah.

“Thank you.” She smiled, but was sure it looked more half-hearted than she had intended. He left and she turned to Amy. “There must be something else.”

“I don’t know Sarah, it doesn’t seem like there is.”

Sarah let herself flop forward so her head and upper torso were lying on the table. “I’m not going to give up; even if this isn’t a good enough reason, I will find one.”

“I’m sure you will.” Amy replied. “I told you before, I think you could do anything if you put your mind to it.”

“Thank you.” Sarah replied, still thinking about how she could possibly make herself a single and available woman again.

^∗That’s ... She really said that?^∗ Selene asked after Ethan had finished giving everyone in the group chat the short version of his conversation with Lady Ekthros. Selene had been in the middle of doing something she dearly missed when he’d contacted them; she’d been sparring with Kendra.

^∗Yup.^∗ He replied. ^∗And honestly, despite the fact that she’s a lying snake, I think the offer might be genuine. She could’ve easily killed me without even breaking a sweat.^∗

^∗Leave the Ten Kingdoms?^∗ Beth thought to everyone as she leaned against the door to the captain’s cabin, then looked to the northeast where her family lived.

^∗Master, she’s using dark magic and doesn’t want you to stop her.^∗ Taloni pointed out.

^∗Tee isn’t wrong.^∗ Rachel agreed. ^∗Sure, we would theoretically be safer, but only if we can trust her to leave us alone.^∗

^∗That’s a big ‘if’.^∗ Kendra frowned.

^∗Agreed.^∗ Ethan replied. ^∗Alana, how about you?^∗

^∗I think we should wait until all your wives can gather and talk about it all at once.^∗ She paused. ^∗That includes Sarah.^∗

Selene didn’t miss the quick glance that Alana and Rachel shared, nor how the redhead took her friend’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

^∗I would love that, she’s still betrothed though.^∗ He replied, and no one would miss the note of hopefulness in his tone.

^∗You said that she’s been working on that.^∗ Selene pointed out. ^∗I also didn’t get the impression that she was going to give up until she was divorced and free to marry you.^∗

^∗Really?^∗ He asked.

^∗Absolutely.^∗ Selene confirmed. ^∗I want to be at the wedding.^∗

^∗If it happens, I’d love that.^∗ Ethan replied, his tone and their bond undeniably happy.

^∗Master, I think Luminar Kossel would be more likely to write a divorce certificate if he knew about Sarah’s birthday.^∗ Tee added. ^∗I could fly to the Midnight Sun and tell him.^∗

^∗I would rather you didn’t.^∗ Ethan replied. ^∗We know Lady Ekthros is watching the area and you don’t know how to defend yourself.^∗

^∗We could send Elder Goman a letter so he could tell him, right Master?^∗

Selene smiled. ^∗Tee, are you playing matchmaker?^∗

The Fey teen looked at Selene like she’d sprouted a third nostril. ^∗Of course I am; marrying Sarah would make Master happy, and I want to make him happy.^∗

^∗I don’t deserve you ladies.^∗ Ethan said with rather a lot of warmth in his tone.

Taloni walked over to Selene and whispered. “I think Master would be very happy to marry you too.”

Selene gave her a sad smile. “That makes two of us, I just wish I could.”

“Me too.” Taloni replied, her wings drooping slightly. “I think he wants to marry you as much as he wants to marry Sarah.”

Selene could feel her heart swelling at that thought, but then its inflation was dampened when she remembered that it wasn’t going to happen. Ethan’s other wives plus Myla, Victoria, and Thea gravitated in their direction as Selene considered that.

“Huh.” Selene cocked her head to one side as something occurred to her and she spoke aloud. “Sarah’s birthday is on the seventh day of the seventh month, right?”

Taloni nodded.

“So then, what if Ethan marries her before he marries Myla, Victoria, or Thea?”

“That’s a good question.” Rachel agreed as she stepped closer. “Sarah is still betrothed though.”

“I don’t think she will be for long.” Taloni smiled. “Master will tell Luminar Kossel about the birthdays when he gets back, especially Sarah’s. If he truly cares about following Illuminar, I’m sure that will convince him.”

“Maybe.” Selene shrugged.

“But Master and Sarah will wait to get married until he marries...” Tee trailed off as a frown crossed her face. “Sarah will be Master’s seventh wife.”

^∗Hey Ethan.^∗ Selene thought to everyone. ^∗Are you leaning any particular way for wife number six? Or maybe leaning against one of them?^∗ She thought she was pretty good about keeping her tone nonchalant instead of longing and her expression neutral instead of pained.

Apparently, Kendra wasn’t fooled.

^∗That’s the second time you’ve asked today.^∗ Kendra pointed out. ^∗Why.^∗

^∗Um, I guess I just want to make sure my... ^∗ She tried to find the right word, not liking where she landed. ^∗ ... my replacement is up to snuff.^∗

“No one could replace you.” Kendra said quietly enough that no one else on the Argo would hear.

Selene smiled at her.

^∗Honestly, I’m leaning against Myla.^∗ Ethan replied after a few moments. ^∗I really like her a lot, but I’m a bit worried that I’d end up being the ‘rebound husband’. Or worse, that she would marry me because I rescued her so she felt obligated, or because I’m the first man to treat her halfway decently since ... well, for a long time.^∗

^∗So, not Myla.^∗ Selene ran her hand through her hair. ^∗You’re sure about that?^∗

^∗I’ve been thinking about it while flying since you asked earlier, and yeah, I think I’m sure.^∗ He replied after a minute. ^∗She’s welcome on the Argo for as long as she wants to stay though, obviously.^∗

^∗Obviously.^∗ Alana agreed.

That’s about when Selene noticed that Kendra had just cocked her head to one side and she had her ‘thinking face’ on.

“What?” Selene asked.

“Taloni was talking about the Midnight Sun earlier and it occurred to me that I should really invite Falkaan over for dinner. He could use a good meal and being around people he could...” She hesitated. “ ... well, perhaps not trust, but maybe let his guard down a little.”

“Do it.” Selene encouraged.

“And that’s about it.” Alana said as she finished showing Talven and Salma around the Argo. “I’m sorry I didn’t do this earlier, but Ethan was in danger and I was rather preoccupied.”

“I completely understand.” Salma replied, one arm around her husband and the other clutching their toddler.

“But you said the prophet is okay?” Talven asked.

She nodded. “It looked bad for a few minutes, but he is.”

“If he’s still at my parents’ house, and if you have some paper, could I write a short letter so they know what happened?”

“Sure.” Alana replied with a smile that she hoped was comforting. Not long afterwards, he had finished a short letter and they had powered up the portal again to pass it to Ethan, who said he’d leave it on the table.