Chapter 65: Vacation

Knock! Knock!

“Captain, you should see this.”

Ethan groaned as Anthiel’s voice carried through the captain’s cabin door. Rachel stirred in his arms, and Alana yawned and stretched on her other side, unconsciously putting every inch of her body on display and making him want to attend to other business this morning. Outside the enormous glass-block window, he could just barely see the sky beginning to lighten. And really, ‘lighten’ was almost overselling it; most people would probably still consider it ‘zero dark thirty’.

“I’m coming.” He said, then yawned. Alana and Rachel started stirring, so he spoke softly to them. “Stay in bed, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

They did and snuggled closer to each other in their semi-asleep state.

Taloni, Beth, and Kendra were already up, reading the Book of Light by candlelight as usual. All of them looked at the door and frowned slightly. Beth and Kendra had a case of casual bedhead that was incredibly sexy, and Tee’s honey-blonde hair was laying attractively across her bare skin, making him want to do other things even more. They slipped their dresses on and then he led the way out of the cabin, making sure no one could see into the cabin just in case Raklan was nearby.

“What’s ... wha...” He yawned. “What’s up?” He looked around, realizing that the Argo was far lower to the ground than he’d ever seen it before. In fact ... He frowned and walked to the railing to see that the lower mast was almost touching the ground and the anchor was down. Almost more odd, the Argo was docked with the Midnight Sun, which of course meant that Falkaan’s airship was similarly close to the ground. Both airships were in the middle of a large clearing in what looked like a small forest.

“Is something wrong with the Argo?” He asked in alarm.

“No.” Anthiel chuckled. “But if you climb -- not fly, but climb -- up to the crow’s nest and look almost directly in front of us, slightly to port, you’ll understand.

He raised his eyebrow at her, but she just motioned towards the crow’s nest. He shrugged and then walked to the ratlines and started climbing. Taloni flew up with him since she could hover and stay right by him. Once he got to the top, he stood and looked in the direction that Anthiel had indicated. The crow’s nest was just barely high enough that he could see what Anthiel had almost certainly wanted him to see over the treetops.

Airships.

Four of them.

Ethan’s dragon eyes -- which were even better than elven eyes -- could see the airships were flying a green flag with a white mountain in the center since the flags occasionally caught the lantern light from the deck below. That marked them as Ivernian military airships, and they were anchored around Dotmier. They looked similar to the ones that had chased the Argo from the mining town a few weeks ago, but there were twice as many.

“That’s not good Master.” Taloni’s wings fluttered.

“No, it’s not.” He frowned.

“Master.” Tee said hesitantly. “Do you think that Arven, Ketura, Matthew, and Yalia are okay?”

“I hope so.” He squinted, but the town’s palisade wall made it impossible to see into it. “I’ll bet that’s why we’re so low right now; so we aren’t seen.”

“I think so Master.”

He went back down the ratlines to see Anthiel.

“What was it?” Beth asked as soon as he hit the decking, so he explained.

“Falkaan spotted them first.” She said as he arrived. “My high-elven eyes are wonderful, but dark elves have far better night vision than high elves.”

“Well, thank God he spotted them.” Ethan said, glad they weren’t about to have another airship fight on their hands. “I suppose you’re thinking that we should stay here during the day and start moving after nightfall?”

Anthiel nodded.

“I guess they don’t have elven lookouts then because they aren’t chasing us.” He mused aloud as he tapped one of his claws on the wooden decking.

“Exactly.” Anthiel replied.

“Tonight, once it gets well and truly dark, I think I’ll fly to Dotmier and check on our friends.” Ethan said after a moment.

“That’s a good idea, but remember that Arven is a Reeve.” Anthiel pointed out. “It’s very likely he wasn’t bothered at all because Lord Farbrottan has severe penalties for anyone who harasses a Reeve.”

“Silver lining.” He nodded, then looked at Beth, Taloni, and Kendra. “I’m going back to bed, you ladies coming?”

“Yes, but not to bed.” Taloni replied. “I’m going to read the Book of Light.”

“Could you do that out here?” Sarah asked, having just come up the stairs from the lower decks. “I haven’t heard the Book of Light much because they wouldn’t let me into the chapel because of my problem, so I would love to listen.”

“I will, hearing Illuminar’s words might help you stop relying on his enemies.” Taloni replied with a pointed look.

Sarah bit her lip and looked down.

Ethan sighed. “Tee, be nice.”

She looked at him with obvious confusion in her expression. “But I am being nice Master. Sarah said she didn’t want to want the demon anymore, and hearing the Book of Light might help with that. That’s what she wants, and I’m trying to help her get what she wants.”

“She isn’t wrong.” Sarah said, though she didn’t meet anyone’s eye. “Thank you Taloni.”

“You’re welcome.” Tee replied, and her tone was kind.

“Hi.” Ethan said to Sarah.

“Hi.” She replied, her demeanor brightening somewhat.

“I’m going back to bed, but we’ll talk later, okay?”

Sarah nodded. “I’m looking forward to it.”

He headed into the captain’s cabin followed by his wives, though Tee only stayed for a moment to grab her copy of the Book of Light and then she left, closing the door behind her. Beth went to the bed and flopped down on it without even taking her dress off, clearly looking to pass out as fast as possible.

He looked at Kendra and sighed, then thought privately to her. ^∗Of all the wives I thought might not get along, I would never have guessed that Sarah and Taloni would be the two with the most friction.^∗

^∗Indeed.^∗ She replied, then looked at the bed, where Alana and Rachel had hopelessly intertwined themselves and Beth might already be sleeping. ^∗Does this mean your arms are free for the rest of the morning?^∗

He grinned at her.

“Your lives never do slow down, do they?”

Alana chuckled at Thea’s question. “Not lately.”

Everyone was sitting around the breakfast circle eating another fantastic meal that Sarah had prepared. It was amazing how she could draw the flavor out of almost anything and turn it into a mouth-watering culinary experience. Kendra and Myla had even convinced Falkaan to join them for breakfast. The dark elf was of course sitting next to the dusky-skinned beauty and both had the edge of a smile on their faces. Ethan had relayed the information about the ships around Dotmier, prompting the other elf’s comment.

Thea nodded. “Well, since we don’t have anything pressing to do right now, could I talk about a few things that I’ve been considering since you told everyone your story?”

Everyone looked at Ethan, who nodded. “Sure, go ahead.”

“Well, after hearing about Lady Ekthros, Lord Delmar, the black dragon that’s apparently working with him, and Lord Farbrottan, plus everything with Alana’s parents and grandparents, it occurred to me that my coming-of-age ball might get ... interesting.”

Alana nodded, glad they had decided to omit the fact that Lord Delmar was a dragon when they told their story. It occurred to her that they had forgotten to tell Sarah and thus needed to, but she was the only one who would be told. They had decided that -- for now -- that knowledge was to stay strictly in the family.

“Interesting how?” Beth immediately asked.

“Well...” Thea made her trademark half-embarrassed, half-sheepish grimace. “ ... um, because they’ll all be there.” She paused. “Well, probably not the black dragon, but everyone else.”

Everyone stared at her.

“It’s tradition to invite the lords of the neighboring lands when The King’s children -- or ward in my case -- comes of age.” Thea explained. “The wood elves also consider it a serious snub to not attend, so almost no one misses them.”

“I’m not sure that ‘interesting’ is a strong enough word.” Victoria pointed out. “That could be quite--” She looked at Ethan. “--what do you call it when one of those grenade things activates.”

“An explosion.”

Victoria nodded. “Then it could be like an explosion.”

Alana was sitting next to Rachel as normal and reached out to grab her friend’s hand and give it a gentle squeeze. The redhead gave her an appreciative smile in return.

“There’s also a chance that the emperor might be there, but it’s more likely that one of his sons will attend; possibly even the crown prince.” Thea added. “Same reason, though that invitation is made vague enough that the emperor wouldn’t be snubbing anyone if he doesn’t show up personally, because he is awfully busy.”

“If Selene were here, she would say that this is a ‘powder kug’.” Kendra said, her face a mask.

“Powder ‘keg’.” Ethan corrected, and he had that mournful look in his eye he always got when Selene was mentioned. He nodded all the same though, then looked at Rachel. “Are you up to seeing your father?”

“I suppose I will have to be.” She replied after a moment.

Alana gave her hand another comforting squeeze.

“How does that work since Master has a high bounty?” Taloni asked.

“You’ll be safe.” Thea assured them. “The King will make it clear that anyone taking hostile action will be dealt with, either by security, the military, or diplomatically.” She cocked her head to one side. “Possibly all three.”

“Well, that’s good.” Ethan said.

“You’ll get to meet my grandfather on my father’s side then.” Alana pointed out, some butterflies in her stomach deciding that this was a good time to stretch their wings.

“And maybe get your folks married.” Ethan nodded. “Well, hopefully.”

“Um, I hate to be a downer, but that won’t happen.” Thea interjected with an apologetic expression. “Navaro will need his father’s permission to marry Kalaya because he’s the heir to the house. His father will never agree because Kalaya is shamed. He would rather die than damage his house so much.”

“Wait, how could Alana’s father marrying her mother cause that much trouble?” Victoria asked.

“Kalaya is shamed.” Thea replied. “The dishonor it would bring the house alone would weaken them. Plus, Kalaya could never perform all the roles that a house head’s wife typically performs; it would be a disaster and might ultimately destroy House Nalfigar, or at least weaken it into a minor house.”

“Right; it’s an honor culture.” Ethan took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Is there any hope?” Rachel asked, voicing what Alana wanted to know but was too scared to ask because she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer.

“There’s ... some? Maybe...? I think?” Thea replied. “Before I left, I know that the luminars were all in a tizzy because of what Ethan said to my guardian. While The King would never override the luminars, some were arguing that they should be able to address Alana because she hadn’t actually committed a crime.”

“Ethan also made an argument that shamed people should be able to remove their shame.” Rachel replied. “Any word on that?”

“I know they were talking about it, but that’s such a huge cultural change that...” Thea slowly shook her head. “That will take more than just a single conversation between Ethan and the King to happen.”

“I’m happy to have as many as it takes.” Ethan said firmly. “Alana’s parents have been living like this for over twenty years; enough is enough.”

Alana felt her heart swell at his words, but it was still somewhat anchored by knowing how hard, maybe impossible, it would be for her parents to get married.

“Will Fiona be there?” Sarah asked.

“She’s the First Lady of Narlotten, so almost certainly.” Thea replied.

Sarah smiled, but her smile was both small and nervous.

“I’m sure she’ll want to see you.” Alana said, trying to be encouraging despite how complicated that particular friendship had become.

Sarah nodded but didn’t speak.

^∗Luminar Kossel and Lady Ekthros will both be there too.^∗ Kendra thought to everyone.

^∗Yeah.^∗ Ethan replied, then spoke aloud. “Well, this is shaping up to be a very interesting ball.”

“I wanted everyone to know.” Thea explained.

“And we appreciate that.” Alana said, knowing that’s exactly what her husband was thinking. She liked doing that; she liked that sometimes they were so in-sync that she could know exactly what he was thinking and vocalize it.

“I could make it a bit more interesting if you’d like.” Thea offered.

Everyone looked at her apprehensively.

“How?” Beth asked, uncharacteristically sounding like she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer.

“Well, I don’t know them that well, but I know your whole family loves them so I’m sure they would come.” Thea prefaced. “I could invite Lord Kalus and his family.”

Alana smiled at the same time her husband and fellow wives did.

“I’ll do it then.” Thea said as she looked at their smiling faces. “Um, I should probably send a letter to my guardian, and I’m sure Lord Kalus would appreciate a warning that the invitation is coming.” She looked at Ethan. “I could write a letter to my guardian, could you send it to him via your portal stone? Then maybe you could let Lord Kalus know an invitation is coming through your portal stone to Timarou?”

Ethan looked at Alana. “Make it so Number One.”

“Will do.” She chuckled, then remembered something and thought it to everyone. ^∗Ethan, we forgot to tell Sarah that Lord Delmar is a dragon.^∗

^∗Oh damn, you’re right.^∗ He replied, then looked at his betrothed. “Hey, after breakfast, there’s something my wives and I need to tell you.”

Sarah nodded, still obviously distracted, probably about Fiona. Alana knew that Rachel had included a short version of Ethan’s story since coming to the Ten Kingdoms in her letter to Mage Weston. She just hoped for Sarah’s sake that Fiona would be able to read it.

Fiona yawned as the sound of Conner fussing woke her. She felt much better than she had yesterday after the will-breaker ring had been removed from her finger. She shuddered as she thought about that. Still, Conner almost certainly needed feeding so she opened her eyes and sat up. Her husband wasn’t there, but that wasn’t surprising with how much light was coming in through the windows. Apparently, she’d slept quite late.

She got up and started nursing him, and her eyes fell on the letter that Sarah had sent to her. It was written in a flowing graceful script that obviously didn’t belong to Sarah, but apparently the false prophet’s first wife had written it; the one who had been with him when he had killed her Sean.

Fiona scowled at it.

However, having nothing better to do, she began to read the letter again as she nursed. She couldn’t believe that Sarah was being so naïve, and halfway through she had to put it down to avoid crumpling it up and throwing it across the room.

Unbidden, Lady Shara’s words to her on the castle’s dock came back to her. She had quoted the Book of Light, specifically the verse that says not to judge a case before hearing the evidence. Well, she didn’t need to be hearing the evidence; her husband had already heard it and he was the most impartial judge she could imagine, and well experienced in such matters. She trusted his judgement, but Sarah might not.

Fiona switched Conner to the other breast as she thought about it.

She remembered Mage Weston saying that along with Sarah’s letter, there was another one that apparently told the false prophet’s side of the story. That was surely the same line of dragon shit Sarah had heard, so maybe she needed to learn more to help her friend.

Yes...

Yes, that might be the best idea.

She doubted her husband would let her continue practicing magic because she was still feeling a little weak, but maybe she could be asking Mage Weston to point out the holes in the false prophet’s story so she could be showing them to Sarah. Maybe then she could save her friend from her necromantic betrothed.

Sarah stared open-mouthed at her betrothed as he and his wives finished explaining the most insane, incredibly unbelievable thing she had ever heard. Lord Delmar? A dragon?! He was the black dragon?! Although ... Huh, as she thought about it that did make some elements of the black dragon’s attack make a lot more sense.

“You okay?” Ethan whispered. They were in the captain’s cabin for privacy and all of them but her were sitting on the bed.

“Fiona married a dragon.” Sarah breathed, then she paused and almost chuckled. “I married a dragon, or I’m betrothed to one anyway; what are the odds that we would both marry dragons?”

Everyone else chuckled a little too, except for Rachel who seemed a little preoccupied. Sarah had noticed that about her. The redhead was brave, kind, and fearless, except when it came to matters of the heart; there she seemed more vulnerable than the rest of them.

“Sorry again we didn’t tell you earlier.” Ethan said. “We didn’t want to tell everyone, and we were going to tell you afterwards, but we got distracted.”

“Everything we learned about Lady Ekthros, and then your parents visiting, and Selene leaving.” Sarah nodded. “I understand why you forgot.” She hesitated. “Was there anything else you were going to tell me later?”

Ethan met her eyes with a smoldering look and a lopsided grin. “You’re going to look amazing when you’re nine months pregnant with our baby.”

Suddenly, Sarah’s cheeks felt incredibly hot. No, her entire body felt hot. She couldn’t tell if it was from embarrassment or from the other thing that made her warm. She couldn’t help but smile slightly, but she thought her face must be as red as Rachel’s hair right now.

“Oh, stop it.” Alana gave him a playful smack on the arm.

“What? It’s true.” He winked, completely uncowed.

Sarah’s cheeks were still hot and she had a mild urge to climb under something to hide, but she couldn’t deny that she loved what he said. She loved the idea that he wanted to make a baby with her and see her carrying their child. She really loved that.

“I can take him Lady Delmar.”

Fiona smiled at Nurse Belcosta. “I’m knowing that and I’m thanking you, but I’ve been feeling like I haven’t been getting enough time with him of late.” She looked down at Conner, who was strapped to her chest with the wrap that Sean’s mother had given her. “I’ll be taking him with me for a while.”

“Then I’ll catch up on my knitting.” The nurse said with a smile.

“I’ll come.” Tabby said brightly in her cheerful persona.

“Alright then, let’s be going.” Fiona said, then left the nursery with Tabby in tow.

The moment the door closed and they were beyond the two guardsmen at the door, Tabitha’s face became a mask again.

“Ach, how can you be doing that?” Fiona asked.

“Practice.” She replied simply.

“But it takes only a split second for you to be changing your whole personality; how is that possible?”

“Lots of practice.” Tabitha replied, but didn’t say anything else.

Fiona rolled her eyes and then walked to Mage Weston’s office. It was more tiring than she remembered and she found herself slowing down about halfway there.

“I will take Conner.” Tabitha said, her tone not dissimilar to Lord Delmar’s ‘there will be no argument’ tone.

“I’m fine.” Fiona replied.

Smooth as silk, Tabitha slipped past her and blocked her way. “You are over-taxing yourself. Lord Delmar gave me strict instructions this morning that I wasn’t to let you do that.” The bodyguard looked at her pointedly, her face still somehow a mask. “Give me Conner, or back to the Nursery with you.”

Fiona glared at the woman slightly, but it didn’t look like her bodyguard would take no for an answer. “Fine.” She unwrapped Conner and carefully handed him over, surprised at how much lighter she felt.

“We will rest here for a minute before continuing.” Tabitha stated as if it was a fact.

Fiona didn’t fight her.

They walked on a few minutes later and reached Mage Weston’s office without incident, and Fiona knocked.

“Enter.”

She opened the door and walked in, Tabitha right behind her. Mage Weston appeared to be in the middle of some sort of experiment. His small round table was covered with devices that she didn’t recognize, but they looked both expensive and delicate. In the very center of the table was a small ring, but not the will-breaker ring that had been removed from her yesterday. This ring also looked to be made of dragon steel and had a small red gemstone that almost exactly matched the color of Helene and Rachel’s hair. All of the instruments appeared to be pointing at the ring.

“Lady Delmar.” He gave her a slight bow, then scrutinized her over the top of his half-moon glasses. “You are still recovering, so there will be no magic lessons today.”

“I’m knowing that, and I’m not feeling up to it anyway.” She replied, then explained why she had come.

As she explained, she became aware that Tabitha -- now acting like a bubbly teen again -- was making silly faces and noises for Conner’s amusement behind her.

“I read that letter very carefully.” The mage said when she had finished explaining. “However, the holes you seek simply aren’t there.”

“What?”

“Let me put it this way.” The mage adjusted something on one of the delicate-looking instruments. “If I was presented with Lady Ekthros’s version of events and Rachel’s version of events side-by-side in a letter with no other knowledge of the situation, I would be more inclined to believe Rachel’s version.”

Fiona stared at him.

Behind her, it seemed like Tabby was playing peek-a-boo with Conner, who was making happy baby sounds whenever she did.

“You look surprised.” Mage Weston chuckled, then leaned in close to inspect the ring he was working on and spoke absent-mindedly. “I know that both your husband and Lady Ekthros know more about the situation than I do, and also that they have evidence I do not.” He adjusted something on another one of his instruments. “Perhaps you could ask one of them.”

“I suppose I’ll have to be doing that.” Fiona finally replied.

“Both of them will say that it doesn’t matter what evidence you have, that your friend Sarah is being compelled by her betrothed, and thus nothing you say to her will make a difference.” He frowned, then adjusted one of the instruments again, then his frown deepened as he looked at the ring in the center of the table. He took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes at it, clearly deep in thought.

“What are you working on?” Fiona asked after a moment.

“A long-running pet project of mine.” He replied absent-mindedly. “That will-breaker ring was vile, but the enchanting was masterful. The way the enchantments were cleverly intertwined gave me an idea for this old passion project of mine...” He frowned as he looked at the instruments again, then finally turned to Fiona. “I do more than teach Lord Delmar’s wife magic you know.” He winked.

She chuckled.

He looked at her for several long seconds, and his expression was much like Fiona’s grandfather when he was about to be explaining something deep about life.

Finally, the mage spoke. “I am older than your husband by a few decades and have learned to see the look men get when something is hindering their vision. He is a great and impartial judge, but he cannot see clearly where Ethan Ejder is concerned, I would guess because of the connection to Rachel.”

Fiona thought back to her husband’s reactions when the topic came up and she could definitely see that.

Mage Weston continued. “Lady Ekthros has a curious fixation with him as well, and I would not put it above her to bend the truth if she thought it would lead to the right outcome.” He paused. “In fact, I would not be shocked to learn that she would outright lie to achieve her goals.”

“But she wouldn’t be lying to Lord Delmar of course.” Fiona said.

Mage Weston didn’t reply. Instead, he only looked at her intently.

“She wouldn’t, would she?”

“I have no direct knowledge of her ever doing so.” He replied carefully. “Lord Delmar appears to have a blind spot where she is concerned, and I believe he trusts her more than he should. You yourself have your own blind spot where Ethan Ejder is concerned.”

“He was killing my husband!” Fiona replied, trying and failing to keep her voice calm.

“Even according to Lady Ekthros’s version of events, there were no eyewitnesses to that.” Mage Weston replied, his voice just as calm as ever. “Perhaps he did, perhaps he didn’t, and perhaps they were tricked into fighting each other, by Hermair for example.”

“Now you’re sounding like Lady Shara.” Fiona grumbled.

“Where do you think I heard it?” Mage Weston replied. “I managed to spend some time in the company of Lord Kalus, Lady Shara, and Lady Lyra while they were visiting. I listened to their side of the story, as told to them by Ethan Ejder. Rachel’s story aligns perfectly.”

“Well, obviously they were both repeating the same lies they heard from the false prophet.” Fiona countered.

“Lord Kalus is a very shrewd man.” The mage replied. “Lady Shara is equally so, and Lyra is as well in her own way. By reputation, they are difficult people to deceive, and even more so when they are united. Additionally, they have all spent considerable time in the company of him and his wives. None of them believes the accusations against the prophet, and not a single man in the Ten Kingdoms would impugn their honor.”

“That’s not meaning they aren’t being deceived.” Fiona replied as she resisted the urge to ball up her fists.

“Lady Fiona.” Mage Weston said, his tone reproving in a way that reminded her of her grandfather again. “Perhaps you should read the Book of Light more, or remember the verse that forbids us to make judgements before hearing all the evidence.”

She bit back a sharp retort and she nodded stiffly, her breaths huffing slightly as she tried to control her temper.

He looked at her pointedly. “The very fact that you are angry at the possibility that Ethan Ejder is innocent reveals a rather large blind spot, doesn’t it?”

She glared at him, but deep down in her heart, or possibly at the back of her mind, she had a tiny little voice that was resolutely pointing out that he was correct. In fact, that tiny voice was telling her that she was currently being the unreasonable one.

She didn’t like that.

Not at all.

Mage Weston’s tone became softer. “Your anger at your husband’s death is entirely understandable and perfectly justified; I just think it should be aimed at the correct person.”

“I’m supposing that’s not unreasonable.” She admitted.

“I would like you to consider the possibility that your husband was deceived by Hermair, and thus -- possibly -- did his duty and chased a potentially innocent dragon, and consider the hypothetical likelihood that the dragon in question defended himself from what he saw as an unjust assault. Yes, your first husband almost certainly died because of Ethan Ejder; but if that hypothetical chain of events is the truth, then I ask you: is he truly to blame, or is Hermair?”

Fiona had to unclench her jaw to reply, but she did. Her tone was definitely more forced than she wanted it to be, but at least it was polite-ish. “Well, I suppose I can be admitting that -- if that were the case, and I’m not saying it is -- then I suppose that I should be blaming Hermair more.”

He smiled at her, again reminding her of her grandfather’s ‘proud smile’ which she got whenever he approved of something she had just said or done. “You came in here looking for proof that Ethan Ejder was lying. The trouble is, we often see evidence of what we are looking for. If you come into the search with a forgone conclusion, you are likely to ignore evidence that disproves your conclusion, aren’t you?”

Fiona took a deep breath before nodding.

“Then perhaps you should consider searching for the truth rather than evidence of someone’s guilt.” He looked at her again over his half-moon glasses. “Then you will be more likely to find the truth.”

“I was telling Lady Shara that I could be trying.” Fiona replied, but as a point of honesty, felt obliged to add. “But as I was telling her, I’m not sure I’ll be trying very hard.”

“I’m rather certain she didn’t challenge you on that because she wished to avoid a diplomatic incident.” Mage Weston replied, then added somewhat sadly. “I have no such concerns; you are being foolish, short-sighted, and wicked.”

Fiona stared at him, mouth agape and eyes wide.