A Dragon's Tale
Copyright© 2022 by Antiproton
Chapter 72: The Once and Future Bodyguard
Fantasy Sex Story: Chapter 72: The Once and Future Bodyguard - An accident + Magic = A man's mind in a dragon's body. After being pulled into a high-fantasy world of elves, magic, and airships, our hero finds himself chased by lords, hunted by mages, and fighting to protect and nurture those he loves while also fighting his new dragon instincts. I promise a happy ending to this character-driven saga, but don't forget: "the course of true love never did run smooth".
Caution: This Fantasy Sex Story contains strong sexual content, including Ma/Fa Fa/Fa Mult Consensual Mind Control Reluctant Romantic Lesbian BiSexual Heterosexual High Fantasy Restart Magic non-anthro MaleDom Light Bond Group Sex Harem Polygamy/Polyamory Cream Pie First Oral Sex Pregnancy Slow
Alana slowly paced on the Argo’s deck as she waited for her husband to return. She knew about how long it took to walk to the airship from the castle and he was overdue. Either something had happened on the way, which seemed unlikely since his emotions had remained relatively the same, or he was walking a lot slower than normal. Given how he seemed to be feeling, that seemed more likely.
“What do you think happened?” Beth asked as the wood elf passed her while pacing.
“I don’t know.” Alana replied with a frown. “I’m hoping it’s nothing too bad, but I’ve rarely felt him this...” She searched for the right word.
“Deflated.” Rachel suggested.
“Yeah.” The wood elf nodded.
“Um, I don’t know if this would help, but maybe I could make something that would help cheer him up?” Sarah said. “I know that helps me when I’m feeling down. I need to know what he likes though.” She paused. “Actually, I would like to know what all of your favorite meals are for the same reason.”
Beth opened her mouth to speak, but Alana beat her the punch. “Wait, don’t tell her; I’ll write out a list and she can read it.” She looked at Sarah pointedly
Sarah opened her mouth, probably to protest, but then closed it again. “Okay.”
“I know you can’t read fast yet, but you can read now, and you need all the practice you can get if you want to be fast.” Alana explained.
Sarah nodded.
“That’s him.” Kendra said.
Alana turned to look and saw Ethan ... well, ‘walking’ probably wasn’t the right word. Shuffling maybe? He was moving at maybe half the speed he usually walked and she recognized that particular gait of his; he usually only walked that way when he was lost in thought. However, his head and shoulders were slightly slumped as well. The guards that The King had assigned to them were following behind him and seemed extra alert, which was good because he clearly wasn’t looking beyond the wooden street at his feet.
All of his wives looked around at each other, and even Victoria and Thea grimaced.
“That doesn’t look good.” Thea said after a moment.
Ahjah nodded once, though he didn’t say anything. As usual, he was in close proximity to Thea since he was her custodian. However, something had definitely changed between the two of them. Every once in a while, one of them would glance at the other and whenever that happened, the one looking had a thoughtful expression.
Finally, Ethan arrived at the Argo.
He stopped at the gangplank beyond which all his wives plus Victoria and Thea were waiting, glanced up at them, then his shoulders slumped further. He took a deep breath, then stepped onto the gangplank and slowly walked across it.
“What happened?” Beth asked the moment he’d stepped onto the Argo. Alana thought it was a mark of how much Beth had matured that the question sounded more like concern for Ethan than curiosity about what he and The King had discussed; no one on the Argo knew what that was yet.
“Um...” He glanced up and his eyes found Alana’s own eyes. They weren’t as lively as usual, nor as gleaming with mirth and life. He looked like someone had suddenly taken all the wind out of his sails.
“Master, you can tell us.” Tee said softly, her wings fluttering slightly.
“I know, and I’m about to, but...” He let out a deep, world-weary sign. He had once described a figure from Earth’s mythology named ‘Atlas’ who held the entire world on his shoulders; he looked like that now. He glanced at Alana for a moment, then he winced. “I’m sorry.”
“Whatever it is, I forgive you.” She said, and she meant it.
He slowly shook his head and sighed again. “That’s ... thank you.” The corners of his mouth inched upward slightly for a moment, or at least stopped being so downcast, then went down again. “I fucked up. I fucked up big time.”
“How?” Rachel asked.
He began to explain.
For almost her entire life until recently, Rachel had felt alone. Her father had been somewhat distant in her early childhood, and as their relationship had deteriorated, there really hadn’t been anyone else. Mage Weston a little, but he was more like a mentor or grandfather than a friend. That entire time, Rachel hadn’t realized that loneliness -- while terrible -- had a silver lining: you didn’t need to watch the ones you loved suffer.
One of the hardest things that Rachel had ever gone through was Ethan recounting his meeting with The King. The man she loved most in the world just looked ... defeated. That alone had made her stomach clench, but then watching the woman she loved most in the world deflate as he told her what had happened...
That was worse.
Rachel swallowed. Her throat felt tight and she blinked rather more than she normally would. She wanted more than anything to use her magical skills to heal the hurt ... but this wasn’t that kind of hurt.
She couldn’t heal Ethan’s ‘damaged honor’ from his ill-advised jabs at Plesius. She couldn’t change that Plesius would probably never want to help them, even though they would need his help to have a prayer of getting the wood-elven luminars to agree that a shamed person should be able to remove their shame. And she couldn’t change that all of that massively complicated the already incredibly difficult goal of arranging for Alana’s parents to marry.
“I’m sorry.” Ethan said again when he was done.
Alana blinked a few times and then covered her mouth with her hand. She swallowed hard and then closed her eyes. She took a long, shuddering breath.
“I’m so, so sorry.” Ethan repeated. “Will you forgive me?”
“There’s nothing to forgive because I was there too; I could’ve said something.” She replied, her voice cracking a bit. “I love you Ethan, and I’ll always forgive you, I just ... give me a minute.”
She turned and took a couple steps away before covering her face with her hands. Rachel followed her and put an arm around her shoulders, and Alana relaxed into her a little.
“Was I stupid?” She asked after a moment.
“What?” Rachel asked.
“I got to spend a whole night talking with my father and it was wonderful.” She replied, then sniffled slightly. “I had thought ... and now this...”
“I know.” Rachel gave her a gentle squeeze.
“Uh, Ethan?” Victoria spoke up behind them.
Alana wiped her face since her cheeks had gotten a bit wet and then turned to listen.
“Did The King give any indication that it wouldn’t still be possible to convince the luminars?” The platinum blonde asked.
“No.” He admitted with a sigh. “But it sounds like it’ll be a herculean task.”
Everyone except Selene hesitated, obviously just as unsure of what he meant as Rachel herself was.
“He means ‘really difficult’.” Selene volunteered and then explained the idiom.
“But ‘really difficult’ doesn’t mean ‘impossible’.” Victoria pointed out with an encouraging smile. “It might be hard, and it might seem impossible now, but that doesn’t mean it actually is impossible.”
∗I’m feeling so grateful to Victoria right now that I don’t even feel like teasing her that Colonel Forsythe will appreciate her optimism.∗ Ethan thought to the group chat a moment later.
Rachel didn’t point out that more than anything else, Ethan not wanting to tease someone was an indication of how serious this was and how much it was affecting him.
“Thank you.” He said aloud to Victoria.
“You’re welcome, and I mean it; it’s still possible, even if it’s harder.”
He nodded.
“My lord, I suggest that you put it out of your mind for a while and focus on something else.” Rachel suggested. “Maybe sparring, perhaps something else; anything to get your mind off of it. We can all think about it and discuss it more later when we’ve had some time to process it and come up with ideas.”
Ethan inclined his head in concession, then looked at Kendra and Selene.
“We would be happy to.” Kendra said before he could speak, and Selene nodded.
He looked at Alana.
“Go ahead.” She said before he’d spoken. “I’m still feeling tired anyway and I think I’ll take another nap.”
He looked at her for a long moment, long enough that Rachel thought a short telepathic conversation might be happening. But after a moment, he sighed, then nodded and went below decks, almost certainly to grab the training gear.
Alana walked into the captain’s cabin, or maybe ‘dragged herself’ might be more accurate. Rachel followed her in and the wood elf flopped on the bed.
“You’re not okay.” Rachel said softly.
“No, I’m not.” Alana admitted, her eyes tearing slightly. She wiped them. “My father -- uh, I mean my adoptive father -- always said that it was a bad idea to do anything while exhausted. I’m going to take his advice and sleep right now. besides...” She swallowed and trailed off.
“Besides ... what?” Rachel prompted gently.
“I really don’t want to deal with the real world right now.” The loveliest elf in the entire Ten Kingdoms said. Her bottom lip quivered slightly.
Rachel walked up and put some blankets on her, then reached under the bed and grabbed the book she had been reading earlier. She slipped onto the bed next to her best friend, who closed her eyes and was out in less than a minute.
Rachel began mentally counting down in her head from two hundred and seventy. It took four and a half minutes for Alana to be deeply asleep enough that Rachel could occasionally stroke her hair without waking her. She loved doing that. She only wished that she could help more with the problem that had driven her best friend to take a nap in the first place.
She lifted the book and tried to read, but after trying to read the same sentence four times and it not sinking in, she put it down on the bed next to her. Ethan always called her his ‘wise redhead’ and everyone had always told her that she was smart. Well, she decided to put all of the intellect that Illuminar had given her to work on this problem.
Fiona looked out over the Helene’s railing at Narlotten scrolling past underneath the airship. It was a wonderful sight and brought a smile to her face as usual. After having seen that her husband had modified a stateroom so Conner could have a play area, she was smiling even wider. He’d even made sure the crib in there was the same as in the castle, meaning he’d be less likely to wake up. Though, with them being on an airship it was likely anyway.
“Ma’am?”
She turned to see Ellis behind her, though oddly, Tabitha wasn’t around.
“It’s good to be seeing you Ellis.” She smiled.
“Thank you ma’am.”
“Where is Tabby?”
“She asked me to watch over you for five minutes while she eats and relieves herself.” Ellis replied, a touch of amusement on his face.
Fiona chuckled. “Of course she’d only be needing five minutes for that.”
Ellis chuckled as well. “She is very dedicated.”
“So, I’d love to be knowing your opinion of her.” Fiona asked on a lark.
“You have spent much more time around her than I have ma’am.” He replied.
“Yes, but she’s not exactly wanting to have a heart-to-heart.” Fiona smiled wryly. “I was hoping you might be seeing something I haven’t because you’re working with her.”
Ellis nodded. “To call her ‘methodical’ would be an understatement of the Book of Light proportions. She leaves nothing to chance and I never met anyone who trusts as little as she does.”
“Aye, that’s sounding about right.” Fiona nodded. “Anything about her personally?”
Ellis made a thoughtful sound and cocked his head to one side slightly. “I discovered in sparring that she is frightfully skilled with a blade, but more telling is the manner in which she fights. She is willing to take large, even unusually large risks to ensure that her opponent falls. Perhaps that is a result of her training, but I would also guess that -- perhaps -- she does not fear death because she would welcome it.”
Fiona’s face fell slightly. “I’m feeling sorry for her then.”
“Indeed.” Ellis nodded. “It is difficult to disguise yourself in combat, even in sparring. Had she not insisted on sparring regularly to facilitate my training -- she is significantly more skilled than I am -- I would not have known this.”
Fiona nodded slowly. “I’m still finding that sad.”
Ellis looked at her for a long moment. “Pardon me for saying ma’am, but that is our profession.”
She opened her mouth to reply, hesitated, then spoke. “I’m not sure I’m knowing what you mean.”
“The life of a guardsman -- and a soldier as well -- is not so different from a bodyguard.” Ellis replied. “We all know that life is fleeting, every one of us. An airship could descend from the clouds above and board us this very moment, and every guardsman on this ship would willingly fight and die to protect you and Lord Delmar. That is my profession. That is Tabitha’s profession.”
Fiona stared at him. She had known that in the back of her mind of course, but to hear him say it so bluntly was ... Well, it was unsettling.
“To put it bluntly ma’am, my profession is death.” Ellis said. “To slay those who attack the royal family, or to sell my life as dearly as possible to give them a chance to live, no matter how slim. Only one out of one hundred men who apply to become a palace guardsman succeeds, and we compete for that honor because we wish our loved ones to sleep safe at night from those who would do them harm. Lord Delmar’s leadership makes them safe. Thus, it is our duty to keep him safe so that he can keep Narlotten safe.”
Fiona swallowed. “Those are heavy words.”
“They are.” Ellis agreed. “I chose this profession not because I wish for death, for I do not wish to die. I wish Narlotten to remain as it is; safe, free, and good. If the cost of my country remaining that way is my life, that is a price I am willing to pay...” He looked at her significantly. “ ... and Tabitha is as well. At any moment of any day and without hesitation, she will lay down her life for you.”
Fiona instantly thought back to how Tabby had reacted when Vera had burst through that door the other morning. She had no trouble believing that Tabby would indeed have died defending her.
“Some guardsmen cultivate a certain mindset.” Ellis continued. “They cultivate a mindset that welcomes death because without a fear of death, they are more effective at protection. It is possible that Tabitha is one such person.”
Fiona nodded slowly. “Thank you for explaining, and thank you for doing what you do.”
He head bowed. “You are welcome ma’am; it is my honor.”
Fiona found herself wondering if Tabby had cultivated that mindset herself, or -- since the bodyguard had mentioned ‘conditioning’ before -- if that mindset had been forced upon her.
Ethan carried the training gear down to the storage room under the captain’s cabin where they stored it since they were done for now. Kendra and Selene had come down with him, though neither was saying much. They all stowed their gear and he paused to look at them; his wives. The corners of his mouth inched up a bit as he thought about that.
Kendra looked at him with that piercing stare she often used that made him feel like she could see right through him. Selene had an appraising look in her eye as well.
“I’ve never done that well against you before.” Selene stated. “I know you weren’t using any of your augmentations, but still.”
“I know.” He shrugged. “Thank you, both of you, for keeping me distracted for a bit. I think I needed that. But it’s time to face reality.” He looked up at the ceiling of the room, above which Alana was sleeping in the captain’s cabin.
“She’s not mad you know.” Kendra said.
“I know.” He replied heavily. “She’s sad and hurt, which is almost worse.”
“I doubt it’s as bad as you think.” Selene said. “Go, talk to her.”
“Yeah, I will.” He nodded. “Thanks again.”
They nodded and he headed upstairs, stopped outside the captain’s cabin, hesitated, then knocked softly.
∗She’s just starting to wake up.∗ Rachel thought to him.
He opened the door and slipped in. Rachel was sitting on the bed with her thinking face on. Next to her, Alana was curled up with her arms around a pillow and a few blankets tangled up around her. She looked so peaceful right now.
∗She isn’t upset at you; you know that, right?∗ Rachel thought to him.
∗You’re not the first person to say that.∗ He replied.
∗Trust your ‘wise redhead’ my lord.∗ Rachel said with a twinkle in her eye.
He nodded slowly, then sat down on the edge of the bed. He reached out and tucked an errant strand of her chocolate-brown hair behind her delicate, beautiful, pointed ears.
“Mmm, efan.” She mumbled, then reached up and pulled his hand down so that she could rest her head on it.
He smiled.
Rachel had a knowing smile on her face.
∗Yes, you were right.∗ He thought to her.
She just smiled at him.
He watched her doze for a few minutes before speaking softly. “Hey, are you okay?”
Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at him. There was obviously pain there, but it didn’t look like it was directed at him. “I’m...” She swallowed. “I’ll be okay, I think ... I hope.”
He nodded slowly. “I’m going to fix this, or at least I’m going to try.”
She nodded.
“I promise I’ll be better about my temper.” He added.
She took a deep breath. “I’m glad, I’m just worried.”
“About your parents?”
She nodded.
He nodded slowly. “Well, how about we assemble the troops and see if we can do something about that?”
She nodded, then stretched and sat up. “Okay; let’s do it.”
∗Selene, could you gather everyone?∗ Ethan thought to the group chat. ∗I know I screwed up, but if everyone is willing to help, I would really like to fix this for Alana, Kalaya, and Navaro.∗
“Why don’t you step outside the captain’s cabin?” She replied with amusement in her tone.
Ethan, Alana, and Rachel all looked at each other.
He shrugged and opened the door to see--
He smiled.
They were all there. All of his wives, plus Myla and Falkaan, Victoria, Thea and Ahjah, Anthiel, and even Talven and Salma. All of them were on the Argo’s weather deck waiting for them. Talven and Salma looked like they weren’t sure what they were doing there, but they looked happy to be included.
“Hey Boss.” Selene said with a large dose of sass. “Everyone just sort of wandered onto the Argo and I was trying to figure out what to do with them.”
“Thank you, all of you.” Ethan said after a moment when he’d found his voice.
Next to him, Alana was getting choked up.
“We all make mistakes, prophet.” Falkaan said. “A good man admits them and is willing to change.”
Everyone nodded or verbally agreed.
“Okay, let’s get this party started.” Selene said.
Kendra sat in what was becoming the usual circle of friends and allies on the Argo’s deck. Everyone was there, having been gathered by Selene to help Ethan and Alana. Even Thor was there, though instead of hanging out in the center of the circle, he was currently snuggled between Kendra and Selene, eyes closed and sleeping.
“Thank you all again.” Ethan said.
“With everything we owe you and your wives, we’re all happy to help.” Talven said, and everyone nodded as he continued. “I’m not sure how much help I’ll be on this problem, but I’ll do what I can.”
“First, let me explain the problem.” Rachel said, and then she laid out what The King had said about Ethan’s argument with the high priest, Plesius.
“Sorry.” Thea spoke up when she was done. “I realized it would be a problem, but I was distracted and didn’t think the implications through or I would’ve said something.”
“It’s not your fault.” Ethan said.
“I know, but I feel bad that I could’ve done something to help but didn’t.”
“No one holds that against you.” Alana spoke up. “You did nothing wrong.”
Thea nodded slowly, but didn’t look entirely convinced.
“That’s gold lost to a dragon though.” Rachel said, paused, then chuckled slightly as she looked at Ethan. “Sorry, it’s an idiom like: ‘there’s no use crying over spilled honey’ and I didn’t think about it before I said it.”
He gave her a wry smile. “Well, there’s a first time for everything.”
Rachel smiled. “The way I see it, this is a two-part problem. First, how do we get from where we are now to back where we were before the argument? Second, how do we actually make a proper argument before the luminars and convince them, especially Plesius since it sounds like we’ll need his help at some point.”
“Ahjah, Thea, any input on the first part?” Kendra asked them since they seemed the most qualified to answer.
Thea got her ‘thinking face’ on.
Ahjah raised his eyebrows. “You would seek my opinion? I am but Pelathea’s custodian.”
“I’d welcome any advice at this point.” Ethan replied. “I made a royal mess of things for Alana and her folks and I just want to fix it.”
Ahjah made a thoughtful sound and then got a ‘thinking face’ on that looked remarkably similar to Thea’s thinking face.
∗Are you seeing this?∗ Beth thought to everyone.
Kendra exchanged subtle glances with everyone; they had all noticed too.
“A public apology.” Ahjah said a moment later. “Preferably very public, and in front of the entire court.”
Ethan glowered.
“It needs to be in the right spirit or it’ll backfire.” Thea added. “If it seems like you’re apologizing only because you’re being forced, or trying to get something, it’ll likely have the opposite effect.”
Ahjah nodded.
“You want me to apologize to that complete and unmitigated ass?” Ethan was clenching his teeth.
“No prophet.” Ahjah said with a smile. “I was asked what would be most beneficial. I personally do not have any mana in the pool, so it does not affect me.” He paused. “Except perhaps that it was not agreeable to see many who appear to be good elves negatively affected by the situation.”
“I’ll be honest, I’m not sure I could ever apologize to Plesius with a good attitude.” Ethan said, and Kendra knew him well enough to know that he was bristling at the suggestion, just concealing it well. Much better than normal actually. Huh, maybe he was learning.
“Then don’t.” Ahjah suggested. “Apologize to the high priest of Illuminar.”
Ethan opened his mouth, hesitated, then closed it and cocked his head to one side. “Huh?”
“I think he means the office, not the man holding it.” Thea said.
Ahjah nodded. “I’m sure you would agree that the office of high priest should be treated with respect.”
“The office?” Ethan hesitated a moment, then shrugged. “Sure.”
“And did you not disrespect a high office that by your own admission should be respected?” Ahjah continued.
“The office, yes.” Ethan frowned. “But the person holding it...”
“Ah, but that is beside the point.” Ahjah said. “Regardless of who holds the office, even if such a fellow is an unsavory cretin, the office should still command respect, should it not?”
“I suppose so.” Ethan admitted, much to Kendra’s amusement.
“Then offer your apology to ‘the high priest of Illuminar’ -- blessed be He -- and not to Plesius.” Ahjah said. “One can respect the office and not the man, and given that you’re aware of how your actions are affecting the young wood elves, don’t you think an apology is warranted?”
Ethan hesitated.
“Also consider how your actions have affected those you love.” He waved to everyone around them. “Surely you feel remorse for that, and there is nothing that says you can’t apologize not only to the office, but broadly to everyone whom your words affected. Since that would doubtlessly include your wife and her parents, surely you could make it a sincere apology.”
Again, Ethan hesitated, though after a moment he inclined his head in concession.
“You need not focus on an apology to Plesius you know.” Ahjah added. “One could make it public and issue the apology to all who have been affected, only momentarily mentioning the high priest and directing the remainder of the apology to ‘all who your actions affected’. Certainly, you must feel genuine remorse about that, otherwise we would not be discussing it here. Thus, such an apology would be truly genuine and effective at healing the damage done by yesterday’s events.”
“I...” Ethan nodded slowly. “I suppose I could do that.”
“Holy shit.” Selene laughed.
Kendra didn’t laugh, but certainly agreed with the sentiment. Almost everyone was staring at Ethan like he’d suddenly sprouted a third wing.
“Ahjah Golden-Tongue.” Alana said with a disbelieving look on her face. “A well-deserved title.”
“Thank you.” He nodded once.
“I never thought I’d see the day...” Beth breathed.
“I’m not that bad.” Ethan said with a hint of defensiveness in his tone.
“No, but it is Plesius.” Kendra spoke up. “However, it’s best not to dwell on that too long; what else needs to happen to convince them?”
“You would need a dragon-steel-clad argument from the Book of Light.” Thea said. Ethan looked at Tee, but Thea spoke up again. “One not based on a translation, but rather the original languages.”
“So, you’re saying that we need someone who is an expert in the Book of Light, has a copy in ancient elvish, and knows it very well.” Kendra said. “Does that sound like someone we know? Or rather, two someones?”
Everyone nodded except Ahjah.
“Do you think they would be willing?” Alana asked.
“I don’t know.” Ethan said. “There’s also the matter of how they would get here; Dotmier is a long way.”
“I think they would be happy to help Master.” Tee spoke up. “And Lord Kalus will travel very close to Dotmier on his way to the ball; he might be willing to bring them here.”
“I bet he would.” Selene said.
“Of whom are they speaking?” Kendra heard Ahjah ask Thea, who then briefly described Matthew and Yalia, that Ethan had helped them marry, and that they were translating the Book of Light.
“We should contact them as soon as possible.” Alana said. “Lord Kalus probably has the furthest to come for the ball, so there will be some slight pressure for them to leave quickly so as not to make the other guests wait.”
“But also understanding because they are so far.” Thea spoke up. “Yes, I would send them a letter the moment this meeting is over, but it need not be sooner.”
Ethan nodded. “Okay, what else? How else can we go about fixing this?”
“I have a suggestion, but you won’t like it.” Thea said.
“Oh?” Ethan asked, his tone resigned.
“After the apology, you really should sit down and talk with Plesius.” The gorgeous elf replied. “At the very least, you need to find out why he hates you so much.”
“Maybe you could even get him on your side?” Victoria said.
Everyone gave her a skeptical look.
“Stranger things have happened.” She pointed out. “A prophet of Illuminar who’s a dragon with seven wives? Demon-possessed men, the birthdays, everything with Lady E--” She stopped and looked at Ahjah. “Well, there’s a lot.”
“Could it hurt?” Rachel asked Ethan.
“Probably not?” He admitted.
“In combat, when there’s a course of action that might improve your chances with no downside, it seems obvious that the action should be taken.” Kendra said.
He inclined his head in concession.
“I will compile a brief on him.” Falkaan volunteered.
“Thank you.” Ethan said to the dark elf.
“Speaking of, anything on Alana’s paternal grandfather?” Rachel asked Falkaan.
“Much, but as to specifics, I believe what Thea communicated at our meeting after Ethan wed Selene will suffice for now; as his name is, so is he.”
Kendra frowned; Nakhim’s name meant ‘devious’, which didn’t bode well for them.
“Positioning Nakhim on your side is simple, though difficult.” Ahjah said. “One need merely convince him that he will benefit, or that he will be spared some loss, or that his enemies will be adversely affected if he takes the position you desire. It is indeed far more difficult to do than to say, however, he will move heaven and earth if you succeed.”
“Makes sense.” Ethan nodded.
“I don’t suppose seeing his son happily married is enough incentive?” Selene asked.
Thea shook her head. “Navaro would’ve married Kalaya long ago if that were the case. Nakhim isn’t opposed to his son marrying happily, but he always puts his house first.”
“So, question.” Selene said a moment later. “Wasn’t the thing that delayed them getting married last time negotiations on a bride price?”
“Yeah, that’s what The King told me.” Ethan confirmed. “You’re worried about the same thing happening again?”
“It might.” Selene replied.