* * *
Kendra woke from her impromptu nap in her tiny airship feeling groggy. Her entire body ached and was sore like she'd done a full-body workout. She stayed under the blanket, not wanting to face the real world just yet.
It didn't make sense.
That blasted dragon didn't make a lick of sense.
The fact that she hadn't killed him didn't make any sense either. She'd had him dead to rights; close enough that she wouldn't miss and he couldn't have dodged, but far enough that he couldn't have charged her before she'd loosed the arrow.
She had him.
Why had she let him go?
Why?
She eventually stopped letting her brain run in circles, pulled the blanket off, and sat up. It was mid-morning and the sun was shining down. Its rays were casting intricate patterns on the ground below through the clouds and leaves. The river beneath her airship filled the air with the relaxing sound of running water. The birds were singing and small animals were sneaking up to the river to take a drink of water.
It was a little slice of paradise.
It was the kind of view that she wanted to have outside the window of her house one day. You know, when she actually owned a house. It was peaceful, serene, and stood in stark contrast to the uncertainty in her soul. She sat there just listening and watching for several minutes, hoping her dark mood would lift. It did, though not fully. It was hard to remain depressed amid such natural beauty and serenity.
She breathed deeply and exhaled slowly.
She needed to figure this out, and she couldn't do it alone. That only left one option: she needed to return to Arcanum and talk this over with Falkaan. He was the only one who might have some insight. Arcanum can't be far and besides, she needed to talk this out with someone and she literally didn't know anyone else.
Well, there was Luminar Kossel. But there was no way she would even consider telling him about it.
The decision made, Kendra hauled up the anchor and made ready to set sail. She was determined to get to the bottom of this. She needed to know why she had failed. More importantly, she needed to figure out what kind of hold this dragon had on her because she didn't like it.
Not one bit.
* * *
Rachel leaned over the side of the Argo for the dozenth time that morning. Ethan and Alana were still down below and appeared to be talking, but she was too far away to hear what they said. She wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but they had been down there for a long time; long after Alana appeared to be fully recovered.
Finally, they started climbing the rope ladder.
When they reached the top, Alana went directly to her and quietly said. "Can you join Ethan and me in the captain's cabin?"
"Sure, why?"
"You'll see." The wood elf whispered with a smile.
Her curiosity piqued, Rachel followed the chocolate-haired elf while Ethan told Anthiel to set a course for Taloni's mine.
"Okay, what's going on?" The redhead asked curiously when they were all in the room and the door was shut.
"Beth's alive." Ethan said with the biggest smile she had seen in a long time. "Okay, not technically alive, but she's walking around."
The redhead grimaced. "A zombie? Or a revenant? How did you run afoul of a necromancer? They are probably the most dangerous people in the Ten Kingdoms."
"Not like that." Alana said shaking her head, and curiously she had a rather wide smile on her face too.
"She's walking around on the Astral Plane." Ethan explained. "And further, she can touch things in this world."
"Nope, that's not how it works." Rachel shook her head. "All of the great mages say you can't affect the normal world while on the Astral Plane."
"Beth, would you give our Doubting Thomas a poke?" Ethan said to no one in particular.
"Who's Doubting Thom-- hey!" Rachel jumped back as something poked her in the shoulder.
Ethan and Alana had identical grins plastered on their faces.
"Beth?" Rachel said aloud.
Something gently tapped her shoulder twice.
"We've been using taps to communicate; two taps for yes, one tap for no." Ethan explained.
"So, you're saying Beth is in the room and on the Astral Plane?" Rachel asked.
Tap, tap.
"Pretty much." Ethan replied.
"That's... that's just incredible." She breathed. She had heard of people traveling the Astral Plane before, but doing so after death? And being able to touch things in the normal world while in the Astral Plane? That was completely new.
"How?" The red-headed teen asked.
Ethan shrugged. "We can only get so far with yes-or-no questions. Even getting her name and that she was on the Astral Plane took some time."
"So that's what you were doing under the Argo for so long." Rachel nodded. "Well, it's good to see you Beth, though I can't actually see you." She said wryly.
Tap, tap. Which Rachel took to mean "you too."
The redhead looked around the rather small group of people in the captain's cabin. "Why didn't you want to tell the others?"
"Two reasons." Alana said.
Ethan nodded. "First, I don't know how Kendra keeps finding out where we are, so I didn't want to say it in the open."
"Makes sense." Rachel nodded. "What's the second reason?"
Alana grinned. "I thought Raklan could be taken down a peg or two. Beth agreed."
Tap, tap.
Rachel started chuckling. "That's going to be priceless."
Ethan's eyes twinkled. "Just wait, it's getting near lunchtime and he always eats early."
After taking a moment to imagine that -- which brought a huge smile to her face -- Rachel took a moment to process the scene before her.
She rather vividly recalled the tension between Alana and Beth before the blonde's death... Or maybe she should say half-death? Partial death? Anyway, she also vividly recalled how unhappy the wood elf had been when Beth was around, mostly because the blonde had been keeping her from Ethan.
However, Alana didn't seem the least bit uncomfortable right now. In fact, she looked radiantly happy.
Rachel didn't understand.
Alana and Beth had been cordial before -- the elf more than the human -- but there was unavoidable tension because they were both in love with the same man. For some reason, that tension seemed to have completely disappeared. In its place was a positively glowing wood elf who didn't seem bothered by the idea of having a romantic rival -- or former romantic rival -- walking around the ship being able to see and hear everything.
Why?
Why wasn't she bothered?
And of course, there was another romantic rival about to enter the picture in the young Fey girl, Taloni. She could see that situation becoming a nightmare with three women all vying for the affections of a single man. She'd never seen such a thing end well before.
Ever.
She frowned. "So, have you talked to Beth about our young Fey friend?"
"Not yet." Ethan shook his head. "Probably should have mentioned it sooner though."
"Beth." Alana said with a smile. "Are you okay with sharing Ethan with a young Fey who's fallen head-over-heals in love with him?"
Moments, later, Alana's smile got even wider. "Yeah, I didn't think it'll be a problem."
"Wait, you're okay with that Beth?" Rachel asked.
Tap, tap.
"Two taps means yes, right?" The flame-haired teen asked.
"Yup." Ethan said, and he seemed to have noticed it was strange also. "This can't be a coincidence. Both of you were very upset at the idea of 'sharing me' just a few weeks ago. What changed?"
"I don't know." Alana shrugged. "Would you rather we were fighting like golems and trolls?"
"No, I just think it's..."
"...strange?" Rachel suggested. "I don't think it's a coincidence either."
"Oh?" Ethan and Alana said at the exact same time, then simultaneously glanced at each other and got identical dopey grins.
Rachel couldn't help but smile; their synchronicity was incredible sometimes. She turned to Ethan. "If I had to guess, I'd say it's a side effect of you bonding with multiple women. You seem to have somehow made them all okay with sharing you." She tried to keep any note of accusation out of her voice but wasn't entirely successful.
"Yeah, that would make sense." Alana nodded, leaning her head on Ethan's shoulder and saying with a chuckle. "I suppose it's a good thing, otherwise we might kill each other."
Rachel didn't react outwardly, but her friend's casual acceptance of such a deep change was unsettling to her. She was glad Alana wasn't upset anymore, but she wasn't sure that this was better. She didn't like the possibility that Ethan had changed her best friend, even though she was sure he'd done it unconsciously. To his credit, it seemed to bother him too, judging by the expression on his face.
"And this change doesn't bother you?" Ethan asked the wood elf.
She picked her head up off his shoulder and looked at him shrugging. "Should it?"
"It would bother me if I thought I was being changed without my knowledge or consent." He replied.
She nodded. "I suppose it should bother me too, but it doesn't. Not in the slightest."
"Beth, does it bother you?" He asked, paused a moment, then looked at the two visible women with a slight frown. "Apparently not."
Rachel pursed her lips.
Something wasn't right about this. She'd heard that men with multiple wives could encounter problems with them getting along, and this seemed like a built-in solution. However, that didn't make it a good solution. It raised all kinds of red flags for her. If she didn't know Ethan the way she did, she would've been very worried for his wives.
"Wow; you'll have three wives by the day's end." Alana mused.
"Scary thought." He agreed.
Alana gave him a seductive look. Moments later he got a look of pure shock on his face. His head whipped around to look at the wood elf so fast that Rachel was surprised he didn't strain something.
"What happened to the innocent wood elf I married?" He wondered aloud.
"What did she--" Rachel began, but then stopped and shook her head. "--No, never mind; I don't want to know."
Alana looked at Rachel and opened her mouth, but then turned beet red and closed it again.
"Speak your mind Rachel." Ethan said. "I can tell that something is brewing in that brilliant brain of yours, and you're usually pretty dead on."
Rachel considered. She knew what she wanted to say, but she wasn't sure she wanted to say it with Beth and Alana in the room. Not knowing what to say, she remained silent.
Alana stared at her for a moment and then cocked her head to one side. "Would it be easier if Beth and I left?"
The redhead nodded. "Yeah, I think so."
Alana stood up. "Come on Beth; let's go have some fun with Raklan." The wood elf kissed Ethan on the cheek then turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.
"You know," Rachel said after the door had closed behind her best friend. "She's absolutely crazy about you."
"Yeah. I'm not sure why, but yeah; she is." He agreed with a huge smile before getting more serious. "What's wrong?"
"I'm worried about them." She indicated the two women who had just left. "I know you'd die before letting any harm come to Alana, and I think the same is true of Taloni and Beth. But that only applies to intentional harm."
"You think I'm harming them unintentionally?"
"I don't know." Rachel ran her hands through her hair. "It's possible though. I think we can agree that they've changed. They used to compete for you and now it seems like they almost enjoy sharing you. You can't deny they've changed."
"They have." He nodded. "I definitely didn't do it on purpose, but I do think that I -- or maybe my dragon side -- is what changed them."
"Agreed." She nodded. "I suppose this change isn't too terrible because it's likely to make all of you a lot less stressed. I don't like it, but that's not what concerns me."
"What does?"
"You've changed them once without your knowledge." Rachel said with a somber expression. "So here's the question: What if more changes are coming without your knowledge?"
He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I don't know."
"Me either; and that's what scares me."
He sighed heavily. "This dragon thing is a major pain in the ass."
"Then maybe you just need a tail-ectomy." Rachel said with a wink, trying to lighten the mood.
He blinked at her, then chuckled and looked at her like he was seeing something new for the first time. "You're funny. You've been on the ship for weeks and I only just realized that."
She glanced at the door through which his wives had just exited. "You've been busy."
"Well thank you." He said. "I always appreciate your counsel. You're wise beyond your years, you know that?"
"Thank you." She smiled. For some reason, she always felt better after he complimented her, even more than other people. She wasn't sure why, but she definitely did.
"I need to think about this for a bit." He finally said. "Do you mind giving me the room?"
"Not at all." She turned toward the door, then felt compelled to add: "If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask."
"I won't. You're a good friend Rachel."
"Likewise." She replied, only realizing it was true after the words had escaped her lips.
She left before he could reply...
Then stopped short.
She nearly burst out laughing at the sight before her.
Raklan appeared to be trying to eat something out of a bowl with a spoon. But every time he tried to take a bite, the spoon was pushed slightly off course, spilling the contents. He was now holding the bowl directly under his mouth, but the dribble of food down his front told of several failed attempts before he had taken that precaution.
Alana was leaning up against the railing and clutching her stomach in silent laughter. Her face was red from laughing and there were tears coming out of her merry eyes.
Finally, Raklan gave up and flung the whole bowl and spoon over the side of the ship, muttering: "I wasn't that hungry anyway."
Rachel caught the wood elf's eye
They both nearly doubled over in silent laughter.