A Dragon's Tale
Copyright© 2022 by Antiproton
Chapter 73: Two or Three Witnesses
Fantasy Sex Story: Chapter 73: Two or Three Witnesses - 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
Ethan took a deep breath as he and his wives approached Delabor outside the wood-elven king’s palace so the herald could guide them to their meeting with the Crown Prince.
∗It’ll be okay.∗ Alana thought to everyone, but it was probably intended for him.
∗God, I hope so.∗ He replied, then waved to Delabor.
“Greetings, honored Prophet.” Delabor bowed. “The King requested that I escort you to the dining hall.”
“Thank you.” Ethan replied.
He led them away from the palace’s grand entrance toward a smaller but still grand building nearby. Of course, like all wood elven ‘buildings’, it was made of trees grown together. He really would’ve loved to know how they did that.
Thankfully, the inside of this other building was nearly as grand as the palace. Ethan had been hoping to show his wives just how incredible it was, and he was finally getting his chance. Their collective intake of breath brought a smile to his face. From floor to vaulted ceiling, the entryway to the large building was covered with one large, massive carving on the wall. This one was even done with several different types of wood to provide a variety of colors, making the whole thing absolutely stunning.
“Wow.” Alana breathed.
Everyone else nodded as they looked around, Sarah seeming especially captivated by the artistic display around them. Delabor had a small smile on his face as he stopped and let Ethan’s wives absorb the scenery. They did. All of them craned their necks to see into the ceiling high above them, slowly turning on the spot to take it all in.
“I see now why you wished to share this with them.” Delabor said to Ethan after several seconds.
He grinned and nodded.
After a minute, they all followed the herald down a short hallway that made Alana’s eyes get slightly watery, likely at the beauty, and then they entered what Ethan assumed was the room they’d be dining in. The table was very wide, at least six or seven feet wide and twice that long, and it was supported by an immense, thick slab of wood that ran the whole length of it. He wondered if that was to protect the legs and feet of people sitting at the table. It was set with gold and silver plates and cutlery, and the candlesticks were made of the same. There were exactly eight places on each side of the table.
No one was in the room though, which was a mild surprise.
“The King wished for you to have the opportunity to examine the room beforehand to put your mind at ease regarding any potential dangers.” Delabor said. “Now if you will excuse me, honored prophet, I have a task to attend to.”
Ethan nodded, and the herald bowed and left just as the door on the opposite side of the hall opened. The doors were set perpendicular to the table, in line with the center of the table, so it was between them. The newcomer was a woman who looked very young, late teens at the oldest. She had dark hair and her skin was about the same shade as Kendra’s. She was wearing a dress that covered every inch of her skin except her face and hands; even her neck was covered by a high collar.
Ethan might’ve thought she was a maid or waitress except for her utterly emotionless face. It was truly impressive how he could read literally nothing about her and how completely devoid of expression or emotion her face was.
“Tabitha.” Kendra said, looking at the newcomer.
“Kendra.” Tabitha replied, but didn’t say anything else.
∗She’s Aldmiri, or was when I left.∗ Kendra thought to the group chat. ∗She was easily the best of my class, though she was in a different training group so we didn’t see much of each other. Falkaan said that she’s the best he’s ever trained.∗
∗Is that good or bad news?∗ Rachel asked.
∗Yeah, she won’t try something, will she?∗ Selene asked.
∗Probably not.∗ Kendra replied. ∗She was always a bit emotional though, or at least she was the last time I saw her before we were sent to different teams in our mid-teens, so be nice.∗
∗Will do.∗ Ethan replied, then realized what Kendra had said and had to catch himself to keep from visibly reacting, which might give away the group chat. ∗Mid-teens? That’s how old she looks; how old is she?∗
∗About my age.∗ Kendra replied. ∗I don’t know exactly, but she certainly is older than she looks.∗
∗Okay, thanks.∗ Ethan replied to his twenty-three-year-old fifth wife.
“I am here to ensure no traps are planted while you examine the room.” Tabitha said after a moment. It was incredible how she could speak entirely without emotion.
“Kendra.” Ethan nodded at her.
Kendra went to work, inspecting every surface that could be accessed without breaking something. She checked everything, including under everything and behind everything while Tabitha watched impassively. Honestly, it was a little creepy how she could stand there so utterly without emotion.
“It’s clean.” Kendra announced when she had finished.
“The King and The Queen will arrive momentarily.” Tabitha said a moment later.
“Okay.” Ethan replied.
An awkward silence followed.
“How have you been Tabitha?” Kendra asked after almost thirty seconds of uncomfortable silence.
“Alive.” She replied with less emotion than a computer’s text-to-speech program.
Ethan chuckled. “Do they teach all of you to give nothing away?”
“Yes.” Tabitha replied, again, entirely without emotion.
“There’s an enchantment on the table.” Alana said after a moment.
“It’s a truce table.” Kendra nodded.
Everyone nodded except for Ethan and Selene.
“There’s a warding enchantment down the center.” Alana explained, then she walked forward, picked up a fork, and gently tossed it toward the center of the table. It seemed to hit an invisible wall and was flicked upwards rather violently, hit the ceiling, and Kendra caught it on the way down and returned it to its place.
“A typical truce table has dragon steel embedded in the center for the enchantment.” Beth volunteered.
Ethan nodded, rather impressed by the lengths the Crown Prince was going to. Though, it might be The King since it was in a wood-elven building.
∗And you’re setting sail soon?∗ Anthiel thought to her husband as she relaxed on the Argo’s quarterdeck. Normally, there were all kinds of sailing tasks to be accomplished, but there were none here in port and she was enjoying the chance to metaphorically kick up her feet and relax.
∗In the next day or two, yes.∗ Ralgar replied. ∗We will need to make several supply stops, and the journey itself will take over a week even with ideal wind, but I will be on course soon.∗
She smiled. ∗Wonderful. I’ve missed you and Miri so much.∗
∗And we, you.∗ He replied. ∗Oh, and the artist arrived in town yesterday and will be free today, so I will be able to get Miri added to the family portrait before we leave.∗
∗Oh wonderful.∗ Her smile widened.
∗I’ll feel better when we arrive.∗ He continued. ∗I have a full two dozen sailors who used to be marines that I can use to protect you. They might not look like much, but every one of them is reliable to the hilt and tough as dragon steel.∗
∗I love it when you get protective.∗ She chuckled. It never ceased to amaze her, even with her being over one hundred years old, that her husband could still make her heart sing like a blushing virgin bride.
∗Good, because I don’t intend to stop.∗ He replied, and she could hear the smile in his tone.
∗One moment.∗ Anthiel said as she noticed a group of people approaching the Argo, led by Delabor. Uncharacteristically, the look on the herald’s face was a bit more stony than normal.
Behind him were several men, all of whom looked like they meant business. They carried themselves like Kendra had before marrying Ethan and they wore what looked like imperial guard uniforms. Thankfully, they were stopped by the Lightguard, the elves The King had assigned to protect Ethan while he was in Nalatia.
“Halt.” One of the Lightguard said as the newcomers drew closer. “This dock is restricted access; the honorable Delabor may pass, the rest may not.”
The imperial guard who looked like their leader stepped forward and addressed Anthiel, though he had to raise his voice as he was rather far away. “I wish to extend an offer to the crew of the Argo from the Crown Prince.”
Anthiel looked at him for a moment, then got up and walked down the quarterdeck stairs and to the gangplank, but didn’t leave the Argo. “What sort of offer?”
“I was required to ensure that you understand that this is a true offer, and there will be no reprisal should you turn it down.” The man said, clearly not happy about that. “All those on the Argo may recount their tales of their time with the prophet to corroborate his story, if they wish to.” He hesitated, then added. “There will be no reprisal for those who don’t wish to do so.”
Again, judging by his tone, he wasn’t overly fond of that.
Anthiel smiled; that was a very shrewd move by the Crown Prince.
“I would be happy to.” Victoria volunteered from behind her.
“I would as well.” Thea said as she approached with Ahjah.
“My time with the prophet has been quite short, but I would be willing to testify as well.” Ahjah said.
“Hello Cledus.” Serif said, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.
The leader of these imperial guards paled slightly. “Serif.”
“Tell Prince George that the Serif trusts Ethan Ejder.” The wiry crewman said. “He often does not think before he acts and thus sometimes causes harm, but he does not act with ill intent.”
The leader of these imperial guards -- Cledus apparently -- nodded slowly. “I have what we need.”
“Cledus, collect their testimonies.” Serif’s tone had an edge to it. “Two or three witnesses Cledus, two or three.”
Cledus nodded.
Alana walked up to the truce table and put her hand on it, marveling at the subtle craftsmanship on the table. From afar, it merely looked like an ordinary tabletop. However, on closer inspection, what appeared to be wood grain from afar was actually many subtle carvings of various great meetings that appeared to have taken place at this exact table. There was also plenty of space for new carvings to showcase more meetings as well.
She smiled at that.
She supposed she couldn’t help it since she was a wood elf and so it was in her blood, but she loved things like this. She truly, deeply, did.
She moved her hand closer to the center of the table where she could feel the warding enchantment. It was obvious that it had been enchanted to protect it from disenchantment, but that actually made her real purpose easier: she wanted to know how the warding enchantment worked. One of the best things about making an enchantment disenchantment resistant was that it crystallized the enchantment, making it easier to ‘see’ how it worked. She reached out to get a sense of how it worked and had to resist the urge to let her mouth fall open.
It was dizzyingly complex.
It was like watching a courtly dance with a hundred members from above as they all moved in seemingly random directions and yet never collided or broke the constantly changing pattern. However this enchantment was done, it was the most complicated enchantment she’d ever seen by at least an order of magnitude.
“Problem?” Rachel asked her quietly.
“Look at this warding enchantment.” Alana said after a moment.
“It won’t mean as much to me as it does to you because I’m rubbish at enchanting, but okay.” The redhead replied, then closed her eyes and touched the table as well. After a moment she frowned. A moment later, her lips parted slightly and Alana found herself losing focus just a bit; Rachel had the most wonderfully feminine lips in the world. She had long ago decided to create two categories so that Rachel and Ethan could both be the best; Ethan had the best masculine features, and Rachel had the best feminine features. That way, they were both the best and didn’t conflict with each other.
“Sweetie?” Rachel said, waking Alana from the very enjoyable fantasy that had just started in her mind.
“Sorry, what do you think?” She asked.
“It is indeed complicated.” The loveliest woman in the Ten Kingdoms replied, though her tone had a bit of hesitation in it as well.
“But...?” Alana prompted.
“I’m not sure it’s too complicated.” Their resident mage said after a moment. “If we had a warding enchantment to examine and a lot of time, we might be able to reverse engineer it.”
“Exactly.” Alana smiled. “Not here, not now, but if we had something with a warding enchantment, even a tiny piece...”
∗My lord, do you think The King could give us a small piece of dragon leather or dragon steel with a warding enchantment on it?∗ Rachel thought to the group chat.
∗Maybe, why?∗ Ethan asked. Rachel explained, then he continued. ∗I can certainly ask.∗
∗Thank you.∗ Alana replied. ∗It’ll save a lot of time if we can work it out ourselves. Plus, it’ll give Rachel and me something to work on while you’re at that tournament to meet Duke Farbrottan, since we won’t be participating in it.∗
∗I’ll ask him the next time I get a chance.∗ Ethan nodded.
Alana and Rachel took almost another minute to examine the enchantment on the table before the door at the other end of the room by Tabitha opened and a man walked in. He was about as tall as Ethan and was wearing an Imperial Guard uniform that didn’t fit him quite right. Well enough, but not perfectly. He looked rather fit, had sandy blonde hair, a short beard that was slightly darker than his hair, and bright blue eyes.
Sarah gasped. “Ellis!?”
“Hello miss.” He gave her a respectful head bow. “I’m glad to see you are well.”
Sarah smiled widely and took several steps toward him before she seemed to notice Tabitha nearby and then stopped. “How have you been?”
“I have been very well miss, thank you. And you?” He looked happy enough to Alana, though he didn’t seem entirely comfortable in his uniform and -- if she had to guess -- he probably felt slightly awkward.
“Wonderful! I’m betrothed now.” She grinned, then glanced at Ethan.
“Hello again.” Ethan said. “I thought you worked for Lord Delmar.”
“Until yesterday, I did.” Ellis replied. “Prince George had me transferred to the Imperial guard.”
Alana could almost see the wheels turning in her husband’s head; he was wondering how much Lord Delmar was involved in this. Alana thought it was a valid concern, but she could see another potential reason for it.
“That makes some sense.” Rachel spoke up, beating her to the punch. “Sarah is comfortable with Ellis.” She looked at the guardsman. “She spoke highly of you.”
He smiled and looked at Sarah. “Thank you miss.”
“If Prince George was trying to make us more comfortable, choosing guards who some of us already knew and were comfortable with would make sense.” Rachel finished explaining.
Not ten seconds later, the door behind Tabitha and Ellis opened again, and two men entered wearing imperial guard uniforms.
“Aaron, Sebastian.” Kendra said to each in turn.
“Kendra.” They replied one after the other.
“I trained with them.” The former Aldmiri said to Ethan and her fellow wives. “They were among the ones I distrusted the least.”
The door opened again and The King and The Queen came through it, followed by the Crown Prince Himself. Two women were behind him. One had almost impossibly pale skin and cool-toned blonde hair combined with ice-blue eyes and a calculating expression. The other had light brown hair, freckles on her cheeks, and radiated genuineness and warmth. However, she looked quite nervous as she entered, and somewhat more so as her eyes landed on Ethan.
Behind them was a young man of about twenty, or perhaps a few years more. He was clearly the son of the Crown Prince and the icier woman, but he appeared to take after his father and the warmer woman in how he presented himself, except that he didn’t look as nervous as she did.
Behind the young man were two other men, both much older. One had the look of a mage, probably there to analyze the portions of their tale having to do with magic. The other was carrying a massive pile of paper that looked unused, and he had a satchel on his side that clinked gently as he walked; possibly bottles of ink? It was almost certainly a scribe to record their tale, which made sense. Behind them were a couple of young elven women who were almost certainly handmaidens to The Queen.
“Honored prophet, welcome to the Hall of Concordance.” The King said.
“Thank you for hosting this.” Ethan replied, then looked at the Crown Prince. “Hello again.”
“Good morning.” The Crown Prince head bowed. “Thank you for agreeing to this meeting.”
“You’re welcome.” Ethan replied.
“These are my wives, Princess Silvia of the Winter Empire, and my second wife, Helga.” Prince George replied, indicating each in turn.
Princess Silvia executed a flawless curtsy that would make any high-born lady jealous, while Helga curtsied in a less polished manner, still looking a bit nervous.
“And this is my oldest son, Thomas, who is next in line for the imperial throne.” Prince George said, indicating the young man.
Thomas bowed. “Well met, potential prophet.” His tone was clear and his diction perfect.
“Happy to meet you.” Ethan replied, but they were too far away to shake hands or anything. Plus, the imperial guards and truce table were between the Imperial family and Alana’s own family.
“This is my family.” Ethan indicated his wives and introduced each in turn.
When he introduced Sarah, she was staring at the Crown Prince and Helga. “I remember you.”
“I’m glad.” Helga said with a warm smile, though she still didn’t seem entirely at ease with Ethan there.
“You talked with me for over an hour about dancing and art.” Sarah said after a moment, still slack-jawed. She looked at Prince George. “You carried a log in for the fire for me.”
“You looked like you could use some help, and your father was ill that day as I recall.” He replied with a shrug, as if it was normal for the second most powerful man in the whole Ten Kingdoms to help feed the fire in a remote inn.
Alana was watching Sarah carefully and the smile on her face was so lovely. It was a happy, contented, almost nostalgic smile that Prince George and Helga seemed to appreciate, since they were smiling as well. Maybe not the same level of happiness, but they did have subtle smiles.
“Come, let us take our seats and eat.” The King said, gesturing to the table.
Ethan led his wives to the table and they took what seemed to be their assigned seats, since the napkins in each place matched his wives’ dresses exactly. The seating alternated from Ethan’s seat based on order of marriage, which put Ethan and Alana in the center, with Beth, Rachel, and Selene on Ethan’s left, and Alana, Tee, Kendra, and Sarah on his right.
Thus, The King and The Queen were at the head of the table, and the pairs on each side facing each other in order were: Selene and Tabitha at the end, then Rachel and the scribe, then Beth and Helga, then Ethan and Prince George, then Alana and Sylvia, then Taloni and Thomas, then Kendra and the mage, then Sarah and Ellis.
No one was sitting at the foot of the table.
Seeing that gave Ethan an idea. It was a really dumb idea, or at least it could be. Though it could also turn out quite well. Really, it was the flip of a coin as to which way it could go, unless ... He cocked his head to one side. With a slight modification, perhaps he could eliminate basically all of the downsides while still keeping the upside?
He briefly considered asking his wives, but there was no way to have that conversation without giving something away. He took another moment to think about it, and then decided it was worth the risk.
“Your Majesty, Prince George.” Ethan addressed each in turn. “Would either of you object to including one more person? Specifically, the High Priest Plesius...” He looked at The King. “ ... provided he’s willing to agree only to come as a listener, and thus only speak when spoken to, or when called on?”
All of his wives looked at him like he was nuts.
“Interesting.” Prince George said, suddenly looking very amused. “Even with the rumors flying of a verbal altercation?”
“Honestly, it’s because of the ‘verbal altercation.” He replied. “I stand behind every argument I made one hundred percent, but I was a little lacking in decorum. I’m kind of hoping this can be an olive branch, and maybe if he hears the whole story right from our mouths, he might be more willing to consider our side.”
The King subtly inclined his head toward Ethan in a gesture of respect.
His wives looked unsure but pensive, especially Rachel. Though, he wasn’t sure there was ever a time when the wheels in his wise redhead’s mind weren’t spinning.
“I don’t want it to devolve into another fight though, so that’s why I asked if he could just come as a listener.” Ethan continued. “I don’t mind him asking questions, but if he has to ... I don’t know, raise his hand or something before speaking, then at least we should be able to have a civil conversation. That way, he can get some questions answered as long as he isn’t disruptive.”
“I have no objection, as long as he doesn’t disrupt the telling of your story.” Prince George said after a moment.
“I will have him summoned.” The King said, then looked at one of the servants, and that servant head bowed and then hurried from the room.
“Mending fences or keeping your enemies close?” Princess Silvia asked. Even the tenor of her voice was cool and calculating.
“A little of both?” Ethan shrugged. “I haven’t been in the Ten Kingdoms for five months yet, but I’ve managed to rack up a long list of powerful enemies. I’d really like to move some of them to the ‘friends’ column if I can, but if I can’t...” He shrugged again. “I can’t make everyone happy.”
“Many enemies, much honor.” Princess Silvia replied.
“Many enemies, much danger to my family.” Ethan countered. “I’d prefer zero enemies and a ton of friends, but then again, you can’t always get what you want.”
“But if you try sometimes, well, you might find you get what you need.” Selene finished the song lyric, causing Ethan to chuckle.
Everyone looked at the two of them, prompting them to explain.
“Your home sounds like an interesting place.” Prince George said.
“It is, but the Ten Kingdoms has its own attractions as well.” He looked at his wives, a smile coming unbidden to his face.
“You aren’t how I’ve heard you described.” Helga said after a moment. She still looked nervous, but less so.
“How have I been described?” Ethan asked.
“Setting aside the accusations of necromancy, many believe you have a dragon’s temper and thirst for blood.” She replied.
Ethan winced slightly. “I don’t have the latter, but the temper ... um, I’m working on that.”
“He has never had a taste for blood or violence.” Alana spoke up. “Mostly, those stories have arisen from incidents where he felt that I or my fellow wives were in danger. When that happens, the aforementioned temper problem -- which he is indeed working on -- does tend to show itself.”
Helga glanced at her husband with a small smile, causing Ethan to wonder if perhaps even the even-keeled Prince George could get angry when his wives’ safety was threatened.
“Mr. Ejder, might I ask you to indulge a juvenile question?” Thomas spoke up.
“Go for it.” Ethan replied.
“What does it feel like to fly with your own wings?” The young man asked, obvious excitement in his eyes even with his proper manners and excellent diction.
“I’m not going to lie, it’s pretty great.” Ethan grinned, then did his best to describe it. He wasn’t sure he’d captured it perfectly, but the young man seemed very interested. To Prince George’s credit, he let his son ask and didn’t interrupt.
Not long afterwards, the food was served and everyone began to eat. Ethan noticed that Princess Silvia expertly steered the conversation away from important matters and kept it on superficial topics, like how they enjoyed Nalatia. Rachel and Alana obviously picked up on this, and did their part to keep the conversation at a similar level of non-importance.
Throughout the meal, Ethan noticed that Prince George kept a close eye on everything, though he wasn’t obvious about it. Likewise, Tabitha almost didn’t even blink in her silent vigil at one end of the table. At the other end on the same side, Ellis was watchful as well, but he did talk with Sarah a little.
“That was wonderful.” Prince George said as one of the servants took his plate and silverware after the meal was finished.
“It was.” Ethan agreed, and his wives did as well.
“Now, shall we move on to the task at hand?” Prince George asked.
“Sure, but we’re still missing one person.” Ethan replied, then looked at The King.
“Plesius arrived some time ago.” The King said, then nodded to a nearby servant, who head bowed and then left, only to return shortly with Plesius in tow.
The High Priest looked slightly confused, uncertain, and even a bit wary as he entered the room. He was wearing what were probably his finest robes, though they fell short of being ostentatious. He looked at everyone assembled for a moment, then bowed first to Prince George, then to The King.
“Your Imperial Highness, your Royal Majesty; I am honored to be included as an observer, and give my word I shall not be disruptive.” He looked at Ethan. “That it was your suggestion is ... surprising.”
“You’ll find I’m full of surprises.” He smiled back, restraining the impulse to chuckle at Selene’s face as she assuredly recognized the quote. “I would ask you to keep an open mind though.” He added. “There’s a quote in the Book of Light about that, right? About hearing both sides before rendering judgement?”
Plesius nodded.
The High Priest seemed unsure how to react, like he had expected to be attacked but wasn’t and he didn’t know what to do with that.
“All I’m asking is that you keep an open mind.” Ethan said, thinking about what he might say to someone who was undecided. “If you still think I’m a necromancer after we’re done, that’s fine. But please hold your final opinion until then, okay?”
Again, Plesius nodded. “I will.”
Ethan could tell that the High Priest had a lot more to say, but he appeared to be restraining himself. Probably because he was only supposed to be here as an observer and had just promised not to be disruptive. Although...
Huh.
It occurred to Ethan at that moment that perhaps he wasn’t the only person to whom The King had given a stern talking to regarding tempers.
“You may take my seat, honored High Priest.” The Queen said, rising gracefully from her own. “It would not be proper to ask the honored High Priest of Illuminar -- blessed be He -- to sit at the foot of the table.” She looked at her husband. “Might I have leave to gather some knitting and sit in a knitting chair instead of by your side?”
He nodded, and someone who was probably one of her handmaidens immediately hurried from the room, probably to get the knitting she had mentioned. Shortly thereafter, several servants had brought a profoundly comfortable-looking chair and The Queen was seated in it, working on something that didn’t look much like knitting from Earth. Honestly, it looked an order of magnitude more complicated because it was three-dimensional.
“Now that everyone is here and ready, please, begin.” Prince George said to Ethan.
“Sure, one thing first though.” Ethan said. “There are some things that we aren’t going to share or will be vague on. I just want to let you know that in advance for when you’re trying to confirm our story.” He nodded toward the scribe.
“Understandable.” Prince George replied. “Provided that what you do say is true, that won’t be a problem.”
“Good.” Ethan nodded.
“Please, begin.” Prince George said again.
“Okay, a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...” He began.
Selene laughed.
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