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Loose Threads
One Hundred Nine
Iain brought the Lemon Sour to a hover a dozen meters over the ocean as he used his perception to scan the water under the ship for threats. He didn’t see anything and brought the hammership down for a smooth landing.
He’d planned this trip and so the struts used for dry land operations had been rotated up and locked in place to run parallel to the main deck of the ship so that they wouldn’t be immersed in the seawater. They’d still catch a lot of spray from the waves, but that was easy to wash off with his decanter set on geyser after he returned to the valley.
The sea was calm in the early morning light, with just a slight swell that wouldn’t hurt anything, which was good since Iain hadn’t been sailing in many years. If bad weather sprang up, his only plan was to take off the ship and fly away like a smart dragon.
Once the Lemon Sour was floating on the ocean, Iain walked down the opening of the hold with his hand out. Every meter or so, a bright blue globe sprang into existence in front of his palm and hung in the air as he continued on his way. Each globe cooled the air around it to minus one hundred and fifty degrees Celsius. That air fell into the hold and quickly cooled the interior of the hold to below freezing. It also froze any moisture around each globe and a swirling cloud of light snow fell into the hold as Iain finished placing them.
After he’d finished preparing the hold, Iain ran to the bow of the ship and jumped off the bow as he shifted to his adult dragon form, taking to the air before he could hit the water below. He circled around and slowed to a hover next to the Lemon Sour. A coil of rope which connected to a vastly oversized weighted cast net had been staged on the deck at the bow of the ship beforehand and Iain carefully took the end of the rope in one forehand while grasping the net with the other and lifting both to his chest.
Still hovering, he drifted away from the ship as he used his perception to look for a school of fish near the surface. He located a school of tuna that had forced baitfish up to the surface and were feeding. He tossed the net over the school, twisting it to fling the cast net open before it hit the water.
When the descending net reached the end of the rope, the cast net closed over the fish it had fallen over, trapping them inside the net.
Iain’s shifted from a hover to a steep climb towards the Lemon Sour as he pulled the net full of fish from the water. He slowed to a hover once the net was over the hammership and then dropped down, lowering the net and its load into the hold of the ship. He carefully watched the ship sink into the water as it took up the weight of the net and fish. The Lemon Sour rode the waves much lower now, but still well above taking in water over the gunwales. He dropped the rope on top of the net and shifted back to elf form to fall to the deck.
He looked down into the hold at the fish. Estimate, he asked his twee.
From the loading tests we ran earlier on weight versus keel depth in water, you caught about six tons of fish. Roughly two tons should be allocated to go to the people of Ilhar Mrimm for drying and cooking. That should feed them for a while. The rest should, along with the crops and the hunting, feed you, your guests, the dwarves and the kobolds for six months or so. It might last longer, but since you’re keeping them warm, the kobolds are consuming nearly as much as a human would while staying far more active than human or dwarven miners can.
I’d like to be able to make another cast since the hold’s capacity is twenty five tons, Iain commented, but the only way I can safely open the net is if I’m standing on dry land. I put my full weight on the deck of the Lemon Sour and it’ll capsize when I start fiddling with the net.
If it doesn’t capsize it’ll probably twist enough under you to dump you into the water. It would look like a lumberjack losing a log rolling competition.
Iain grinned at the mental image. That too. Next time I’ll stage at least one more net so I can bring back a larger catch or I’ll upgrade the ship’s gravity generators to handle my big butt when I’m in dragon form. Or maybe I’ll do both. He lifted the ship out of the water a few meters and let it hover for a moment before taking it up to about fifty meters and turning for shore. He wasn’t in a hurry and the clean sea air was a nice change from the valley, so he set a leisurely pace towards shore.
He’d been flying for about twenty minutes when there was a tremendous eruption of water to starboard and the massive head and forequarters of a dragon turtle shot out of the water. The dragon turtle snapped its head back and opened its mouth to send something spinning high into the air. Iain had seen similar behavior with killer whales playing with their food but was surprised to see a dragon turtle doing it. Upon reflection, he didn’t know much about dragon turtles and so he decided to carefully observe and put the details of this event into his journal entry for the day.
Just before the object reached the top of its arc the dragon turtle submerged and moved backwards. Iain could see it sculling just under the surface and watching as the object began to fall.
Then Iain heard the object screaming for help in elven just before it plunged into the sea.
As the dragon turtle grabbed it again and tossed it back into the air, Iain brought the Lemon Sour up to a hundred meters and turned it to fly straight over the scene below.
This is insane. Do not do this.
Iain laughed at his twee as he ran to the stern of the ship. “I can’t disagree with your first statement, but I’m supposed to do good deeds and help people. The women that I love and both goddesses I serve want that, and I think that this qualifies.”
You just want to fight a dragon turtle since you haven’t faced one yet.
“No,” Iain threw himself off the stern as the ship passed over the dragon turtle and shifted to his full sized dragon form. “It’s not just that!” He snapped his wings twice to hold position over the dragon turtle is it tossed its victim into the air for a third time. Then he folded his wings and dropped to the attack.
Behind him, the Lemon Sour lifted to two hundred meters and hovered as instructed. In one hour the autopilot would kick in and take it back to the valley if, for some reason, Iain wasn’t available to command the vessel.
The dragon turtle had no chance to evade the attack and Iain’s impact drove the dragon turtle under the surface as Iain hooked the claws of his forehands and feet under the edge of the monster’s shell to anchor himself to his foe. The water vibrated around them as the dragon turtle roared in fury. Iain savaged the turtle’s right forelimb with his teeth and the water around them began to turn red as clouds of blood poured out of the wounds. When the turtle extended its head to try and bite Iain, he buried his teeth in the dragon turtle’s neck and shook his head violently, shredding the dragon turtle’s flesh. Blue light flared for an instant inside Iain’s mouth.
Iain tightened his grip on the dragon turtle’s shell and wrenched his head backwards and up with all his strength. He felt the popping noises in his mouth as the bones in the dragon turtle’s neck disarticulated and the tremendous creature went limp.
The limp form of the dragon turtle’s victim was almost neutrally buoyant and it was slowly sinking into the depths. Iain dove after it, keeping his wings folded tightly to reduce drag. He caught the figure in a forepaw and headed for the surface, using his tail for propulsion. He broke the surface and saw the Lemon Sour hovering at two hundred meters as he’d instructed before jumping overboard. He took remote control of it and dropped it down to splash into a harder landing than he’d intended. Guess I can only do so many things at once without starting to screw them up, he thought to himself.
You didn’t break the ship and that’s what matters, his twee noted. Can you lift her onto the deck?
Not without probably tearing the railing off the side of the ship. He shifted to elf form, dropping the dragon’s victim, and dove after it once more, caught it and used magic to levitate out of the water and onto the main deck.
His twee had been right, it was a female aquatic elf. She had dark blue skin striped with darker lines of brown and shoulder length dark green hair. Her right arm was obviously dislocated at the shoulder. Both legs below the knee were more naked bone than flesh and her lower torso and what remained of her legs had been shredded. Rivulets of blood ran across the deck from her wounds. Iain pressed his hands onto what little intact skin remained on her stomach and started healing her wounds, focusing first on the repairs necessary to keep her from dying. “Eirian.”
Smoke poured out from under his sopping shirt to become his silver Dragoness. “My lord, shall we process your latest opponent?”
“Please.”
She chuckled. “And should we save the head for your trophy room?”
Iain shot her an unhappy look. “I didn’t ask for that.”
“No, my lord, but the kobolds did and you, my lord, deserve it. The kobolds are your clanswomen and they will be upset if it is dismantled. The dwarves like it too. It shows your strength and gives them hope that you will always be strong enough to protect them from the drow.”
“You want this too,” Iain said accusingly.
“You are my lord and I and the rest of your harem are proud of what you have accomplished here so far. As any pokegirl would do, we wish to showcase the prowess and power of our male.”
“My living harem doesn’t have a trophy case like that for me,” Iain pointed out.
Eirian laughed. “Are you so certain of that, my lord?”
Iain started to say something and stopped himself with an effort. “Go. No, wait.” He pulled a dagger from his boot and held it up. A blue globe identical to the ones lining the hold appeared where the quillion met the blade. Then a green light covered it all. He flipped the knife around so he was holding it by the blade and held it out. “Here. The protective spell will last about five minutes. After that, the spell will end and the low temperature spell will become active again. Stick this on the underside of the dragon turtle’s corpse and it should generate enough ice before going to equilibrium to float the carcass up to close to the surface, if not all the way to the top.”
Eirian took the blade by the hilt. “Is this a spell we can learn, my lord?”
“We’d have to develop it and it might prove extremely complicated to recreate using formal magic.” He shrugged. “We’ll see if you want it.”
“I want, my lord. And this just proves you are worthy of our trophy room.”
“Go, annoying Dragoness.”
“Sapphire, Malachite, Alabaster, Garnet, Iolite, come with me.” They appeared and she took off with them following. They circled once and flew towards where Iain had killed the dragon turtle as he refocused his attention on his patient.
Once she was stable, he used his decanter of water, set on seawater, to hose down her and the deck until everything was clean. Letting blood soak into the wood to rot would make it a lot harder to hide the ship while camouflaged.
Then he took the ladder and climbed down into the hold. Most of his catch was yellowfin tuna and mackerel, which the tuna had been feeding on. Iain worked a couple of mackerel from the net and dropped them into a sack. He left the hold and went to the kitchen to fire up the ship’s stove and turned the fish into a rich soup for when the aquatic elf woke up.
Once the soup was simmering, Iain stripped and hosed off himself and his clothing with fresh water while he used his perception to keep an eye on the dragon turtle’s corpse. Right on schedule, ice spread under the body and grew downward. The body slowly floated to the surface while the Dragonesses began dismantling it for storage in Dikon.
It was good that the body floated since Dikon had never been designed for use underwater and the Dragonesses set them up on the top of the dragon turtle’s shell.
An hour later the aquatic elf’s eyes began to open and close as she fought her way to consciousness. He absently noted they were a similar blue to her skin. When her eyes opened completely and she slowly looked around, Iain spoke in a calm, even voice. “You were being attacked by a dragon turtle.” Her eyes jerked towards him. “It’s dead now and you’re on my ship.” He ladled the soup into a mug and moved slowly towards her. “You almost died and your body needs fuel to finish healing. In this cup is food for you. There’s plenty of soup so take all you want.” She struggled to sit up. “May I help you?” She nodded and Iain put the mug down and retrieved a roll of leather from storage that he used to prop her up.
Then he offered her the mug. She took it and sniffed it. Her eyes went wide and she gulped the contents down before shoving the mug into his hands. “More.”
Iain refilled the mug and gave it back to her. He filled it two more times before she stopped drinking with the mug half full, holding it against her chest to absorb the warmth from the soup while watching the wounds on her legs closing with visible speed. “Your healing magic is incredible. You are a priest?”
“I’m my goddess’s only male priest so technically I’m a priestess, but yes.” He smiled. “My name is Iain Grey.”
“I am Cairel.” Shrewd eyes met his. “I remember some of what happened. Something attacked Klovithalander while she was playing with me. Did you see it?” Iain nodded. “Can you explain what happened?”
Iain sat down cross legged on the deck. “I want you to tell me what happened to you and I’ll finish the story after you’re done. Can you do that?”
She sipped at the soup. “I was with a group that was returning from a hunting expedition when we were surprised by Klovithalander. This is not her normal territory and she caught us unaware. She ate everyone else and was playing with me. Something big attacked her and that’s all I remember until I woke up here.”
“This ship is the Lemon Sour and she can fly. I was flying home from doing some fishing when the dragon turtle surfaced off the starboard side and threw you into the air,” Iain said quietly. “I thought it had a shark or something to toy with until I heard you screaming. I decided to get involved at that point and rescued you from her. You were very badly injured and would have died. I started you healing and made some soup for you so you had something to eat. Food right now will help you to heal faster and more completely.”
Cairel’s eyes went wide as she looked past Iain. He swept the area with his perception as he turned to look. There wasn’t any threat that he could identify. “What is it?”
“Is that Klovithalander?”
Iain realized that the corpse had floated into view behind him and she could see it, probably for the first time. The Dragonesses had split into two teams, one of which was using energy blades to begin sectioning the shell into manageable pieces while a few others protected the area from a growing collection of sharks and other scavengers. While the scavengers were not a threat to the Dragonesses, they kept the hungry animals away from the carcass so they wouldn’t lose any of it to their endless stomachs. The harvesting was far enough away from the Lemon Sour that the Dragonesses were hard to identify as anything other than roughly man sized bipeds, but their scales flashed various colors in the sun as they moved. “Yes, it is.”
“What are they doing?”
“Since it’s dead, they’re harvesting it for me. I’ll sell most of it as raw material for wizards and smiths to use. Among other things, dragon turtle shell is very useful for shields and armor if prepared properly. Many ambitious smiths will pay a great deal for it.”
Her eyes were still wide as she shifted her gaze from the corpse to him. “Are you the creature that attacked her?”
Iain nodded. “As you suspect, I am. I’m a dragon.”
“Why did you save me?”
“It was the right thing to do.” Iain flashed a quick grin. “When you’re able to travel, I’ll escort you home.”
She frowned. “What do you want from me,” she asked curtly. She blinked and paled. “I mean no insult by my tone,” she said quickly in a fearful voice.
“You need to understand something. Dragons are people and every dragon is different. If Klovithalander or some other dragon would have been insulted at a direct question, it doesn’t mean I am. I prefer directness. I don’t want anything from you. I accepted responsibility for you when I rescued you. I don’t feel that responsibility will end until I return you to your home, where presumably you are safe or you tell me that you want me to stop being responsible for you. If you want to absolve me of that responsibility and swim home from here, I will be content with that and we will part company at that point.”
She looked down at the mug and then back up at him. “The seas here are very dangerous for my people. We only travel through this area in groups. Klovithalander was just one of the dangers. If you are willing to take me to my waters, I will accept your aid.”
“Then I’m taking you home as soon as you tell me what direction in which we need to travel.”
She immediately pointed northwest. “That way.”
Iain reached out through his bond. Eirian, I am taking Cariel home. Do you want anyone else from the harem to assist you?
My lord, if you can release them where this outlander cannot see it, send me Beryl, Lapis and Emerald. We do not wear clothes to be ruined by the seawater or the blood. If you cannot release them without her seeing it, do not send them.
Iain uncurled and stood. “I need to check on the fish I’ve got in the hold and make sure they’re staying cold. I didn’t expect an extended trip. I’ll only be gone for a few minutes.”
She drained the mug. “Could I have more soup? I don’t get to eat surface food very often and this is very good.”
Iain refilled her mug and clambered down the ladder into the hold. The fish were starting to freeze solid, but they’d spread out to cover a large portion of the hold’s deck. “This is going to be a nightmare to get clean without magic.” He dropped the last meter. “Beryl, Lapis and Emerald, come forth.”
The three Dragonesses poured off of him. “My lord,” Emerald said. “Command us.”
“Eirian has asked that you three join her in harvesting the dragon turtle. From here you can teleport to her by using your link with her.”
“Yes, my lord.” Emerald gestured and all three Dragonesses vanished.
“Aurum.”
The gold Dragoness appeared. “My lord?”
Iain held up his hand and a tiny blue globe appeared on the end of his index finger. “I drained the memories of Klovithalander, the dragon turtle, while I was fighting her. This is the location of her lair and her hoard. Leave me Julia, Matilda, Sorrel, Viersunuth and Helesatra while you take the others and clean it out.”
She cocked her head. “Eirian does not know about this?”
“This is my harem.”
The gold Dragoness nodded. “Indeed it is, my lord, and we are yours to command.” She chuckled. “It will give Eirian an appreciation for the frustration that Ninhursag feels from time to time.” She pressed her forehead against the globe. Her eyes narrowed speculatively for a moment. “I wish to trade. Viersunuth would be very helpful in this situation because of her size when in her normal form. The dragon turtle liked to use large rocks to block passages within her lair.”
Iain thought quickly. “Leave me Rhea in her place. Her various breath weapons make her useful in almost any situation.”
“I had thought Dabria, my lord.”
Iain shook his head. “While she’s powerful and ruthless, Dabria is too arrogant to make a good bodyguard, even after two hundred years in the harem. I need guards who can operate independently to protect me and Dabria thinks too little of potential threats to take them seriously unless someone like you, Aurum or Liadan are present to ride herd on her. I could be seriously hurt while waiting for her to act and that’s not desirable.”
“And the ones you have chosen will be diligent in protecting you and not underestimate potential threats. Rhea will do the same.” Aurum smiled. “Well chosen, my lord.” She held out her arm. “With the exceptions my lord has decided, ride me, my sisters.” Smoke poured off of Iain and settled onto her scaled skin. “Who will be in charge of your guard, my lord?”
“Matilda, with Sorrel as her second.”
“A wise choice, my lord. Matilda, you have heard. He is yours to protect. My lord, I will teleport to join Eirian and the others and then fly to the location of Klovithalander’s lair. Considering your plans and as it is underwater, should I evaluate it as a potential choice for a secondary facility?”
Iain hadn’t considered that option. “Please do.”
“I will, my lord.” She bowed. “I go.” A second later she was gone.
Iain climbed out of the hold to see an anxious Cairel waiting for him. “Is something wrong?”
“You were gone a long time.”
He had only been gone a few minutes, but she was injured, in a strange situation and he was her potential salvation. In her situation, a few minutes could easily seem like hours or even days. “Everything seems all right in the hold so we can get going.” He gestured towards the stern of the ship. “There are some benches and chairs back there as well as the chair I will control the ship from. I don’t think you can walk unaided yet, so can I carry you back there so you can keep me company during the trip?”
She moved one of her legs experimentally and held out her arms towards him. “Yes.”
Iain eyed her right hand. “Is that mug empty? I don’t want you dumping that soup down my back.”
Cairel smiled. “It is empty.” She put the mug down and held her arms out again. “Carry me.”
Iain carefully gathered her up in his arms and carried her to the seats near his control chair. He settled her down in the closest one and retrieved her mug. “More soup?”
“No.”
Iain sat down in the control seat. Because of Cairel, he piloted the Lemon Sour like it was a normal water going vessel and accelerated while remaining on the surface of the sea before lifting into the air and turning northwest.
“What of the people you left harvesting Klovithalander’s corpse,” Cairel asked suddenly after nearly ten minutes of silence.
Iain had been plotting, in his head, the revised routes and estimated times of arrival at Ilhar Mrimm based on their current trajectory. He started at her words. “What of them?”
“You left them behind. Won’t they worry that they’ve been abandoned?”
“They knew I was going to go on ahead and they won’t have any problems returning home when their job is complete.”
She digested that response in silence for several minutes. “Why were you fishing?”
She sounds bored, his twee noted.
Iain hadn’t missed that note in her tone either. “A village I associate with lost two of its better hunters recently when they moved somewhere else unexpectedly. Because of that, they’ve been coming up a bit short on meat while their remaining hunters are working to cover their absence. I’m helping by providing some fish to the villagers to supplement the hunting until the hunters can remedy the situation, which will probably take a few months.”
“You don’t live in the village?”
“I do not.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t want to.”
“Why not?”
“Are you going to ask questions the whole trip?”
She gestured at her still healing legs. “I can’t go exploring so I don’t have anything else to do except ask questions. And I like talking to you.”
“You could take a nap. Just tell me how long I need to travel before we reach your local seas.”
“I’m not sure because I can’t tell how fast we’re going.”
“Do you know what a mile is?”
She smiled. “No.”
Iain considered for a few seconds. “How many days swimming would it take for you to travel from where we were to get to our destination?”
“Five days,” she said without hesitating.
That’s roughly one hundred and ninety kilometers, his twee noted, based upon what we know of how fast Realms aquatic elves can swim. Unless you want to put her in the hold so we can go faster than thirty kilometers per hour while she avoids the winds generated beyond that velocity, that’s going to take nearly six and a half hours.
Iain smiled at Cairel. “We should be there in about seven hours. I can wake you up then and you can tell me if we’ve arrived yet.”
She gave him a petulant look. “I am not sleepy.”
Damn. Iain plastered a smile on his face. “That’s good. I could use the company.”
Cairel’s smile wiped the petulance away as if it had never existed. “Good.”
***
“I think we are near my home,” Cairel announced. “Land and let me taste the sea.”
Iain slowed the Lemon Sour and descended until the hull sliced into the ocean. As he’d suspected, Cairel had loved to spend the trip with him filling the time with her voice. It had actually made things a little easier since he didn’t have to respond much to keep her prattling on without a break.
He had noticed, however, that she was a great deal smarter than the airhead she tried to appear as and her aimless prattle hadn’t told him much about her, her family or her community. He’d even asked a couple of leading questions during the trip and her answers had been superficial and quickly changed back to commentary on the weather, the ship, the trip and her gratitude for rescue from the dragon turtle Klovithalander. She’d gone to great lengths to express her gratitude to him and had hinted at rewards once they’d arrived at their destination, but it had remained nothing but very vague hints.
He’d also noticed that she didn’t have much room for please or thank you in her vocabulary. She’d mostly given commands to him for any assistance and she’d done it with an unconscious ease that reminded him of Shatris’ behavior when the princess had first arrived during her visit. Aquatic elves didn’t normally wear clothes or jewelry, so it was her behavior that had provided the best clues Iain could find as to Cairel’s social status, as either highly placed in aquatic elf society, very wealthy in it or perhaps both.
He didn’t fault her for what he figured was her being cautious since he’d been just as reticent to provide more than simple answers to her prying questions about him and his.
He swung the Lemon Sour in a wide circle as he slowed the ship before turning into the breeze with just enough way on her to keep the ship moving in a straight line. He got up and retrieved a rope and bucket. He tossed the bucket over the side and let the rope play out so it would sink and fill with seawater.
A pulse of magic from behind him made him use his perception to check his surroundings. It had originated from Cairel, but he didn’t see where there had been any specific effect. He did notice, as he retrieved the bucket, that she was watching him intently, a gaze that softened to interested boredom when he turned around to bring the bucket to her.
She dipped her fingers into the water and sucked on them. “Stop the ship. We are close enough to my home.”
Iain put the bucket down near her and went back to the command chair. Once seated, he brought the Lemon Sour to a halt. Immediately she began turning broadside to the waves and rocking as each passed by beneath them. “You’re almost healed. Are you ready for me to take you home?”
“I still can’t swim well yet and I will not be towed by you. We can wait until I’m healed.”
Now what? You still are responsible for her so pitching her over the side is still unacceptable. His twee managed to sound as grumpy as he was starting to feel.
We wait. He eyed his patient. “Are you hungry?”
She shook her head. “No.”
Iain got up, went over and put his hand on Cairel’s forehead. She jerked away from his touch. “What are you doing?”
“I’m checking to see how well you’re healing.” He smiled. “You seem to be doing well.” He scooped up her mug and headed for the galley.
She’s completely healed, his twee noted.
He dropped the mug into the basket for dirty dinnerware. I know. And I’m pretty sure she knows it too. The question then becomes what is she waiting for? He frowned. That pulse of magic.
Yes, his twee mused. It’s not what are we waiting for, it’s who. It was a call of some kind. There was a feeling of curiosity. Are you sure she’s really an aquatic elf and not like you, something else that looks like an elf?
Iain shrugged as he headed back towards the command chair and Cairel. If she was a dragon, as soon as she was tossed into the air she could have shifted and flown away. She was severely injured and she did nearly die. The memories I have from Klovithalander match the story she told me. The dragon turtle spotted a group of aquatic elves traveling through her territory and she ambushed the group, which was seven elves total. Klovithalander randomly gobbled down the others and was keeping Cairel alive as a toy for a while until she got bored. His eyes narrowed as, with his perception, he saw over a dozen aquatic elves, all armed, surging towards the surface around the Lemon Sour. “Wait’s over.”
Cairel frowned. “What?”
“The people you called are here.”
Her eyes went very wide as she paled. “How did you know?”
The sea surged around the Lemon Sour, lifting to the height of the ship’s railing, and aquatic elves stepped out of the wave onto the deck. A male aquatic elf leveled an ornate trident at Iain. “Where is my daughter?”
Iain was watching the group watching him and he raised an eyebrow. “If your daughter is Cairel, you can see her sitting over there. If your daughter is Klovithalander, she’s dead. If she’s neither of those, I don’t know.”
The elf’s eyes narrowed. “Bind him.” He headed for Cairel.
“Anyone who touches me dies,” Iain said.
The male elf turned. “What did you say? We have you outnumbered. You are my prisoner until I learn what happened to my daughter and her guards.”
“I have tolerated your invasion of my ship because I feel that Cairel is my patient until I am relieved of responsibility for her care,” Iain replied, “and because I felt her use whatever spell or ability she called you with. Do not let that mislead you into thinking that you are in charge here. Right now you might be pirates, but I’m willing to see if that isn’t the case. If anyone touches me your daughter will become an orphan because you will be the second person I kill.”
“Father, this is Iain Grey and he rescued me from Klovithalander after she attacked us.” Cairel reached out to her father, who took her hand. “He saved my life, father.” She glanced at Iain. “And he claims to have been the one who killed Klovithalander.”
One of the other elves sneered. “I could claim to have killed her. That doesn’t make her dead.”
“I saw her dead body.” All of the elves stared at Cairel, who nodded to confirm her statement. “I did. And she was definitely dead. Some people were cutting her up. Iain said he intends to sell her for armor and spell components.”
Cairel’s father frowned. “You are unhurt.”
“I am now, father, because Iain healed my injuries. Klovithalander caught me and nearly killed me before Iain rescued me. She killed everyone else.” She looked at Iain. “This is my father, Trajor.”
“Duke Trajor to him,” one of the other elves said.
Trajor glanced at the elf. “Enough.” He turned to Iain. “Did you save my daughter’s life?”
“I did.”
“Did you kill Klovithalander?” Iain nodded. “Then I doubly owe you. My daughter is all that I have left of my family and Klovithalander was a menace to all of my people.” He drew himself up. “I am Duke Trajor and you are welcome in my home and in my waters without restriction.”
Iain bowed slightly. “I am Iain Grey and I am the leader of my clan, so I understand something about the responsibilities that ride on your shoulders. I accept your gratitude and I have no bad blood with you or yours at this time.” He smiled. “Someday I would like to visit your home and swim your waters, but today you should take your daughter home and mourn your dead. I will return one day to impose upon your hospitality.”
“You brought my daughter home. Your visit, whenever it is, will be a joy, not an imposition.” He smiled. “And if you cannot breathe water, that will not be an insurmountable problem.”
“I don’t think it will be.” Iain nodded towards Cairel. “Unfortunately, that visit cannot be now. The fish in my hold are not getting any fresher,” someone snickered softly, “and the people I caught them for are also my responsibility. I don’t want them to go hungry.”
Trajor laughed and helped Cairel to stand. “I understand. You will return and we will hunt together.” The other elves began jumping into the sea. “Do not be too long.”
“I won’t. Be well Trajor. And be well, Cairel.”
“You have to come visit, Iain. Don’t forget you still haven’t gotten your reward!”
Iain hadn’t gotten involved for a reward, but he wasn’t going to turn one down. “I’ll be back when I can,” he assured her. “Now take your father home so he can reassure himself that you’re safe.”
Trajor smiled gratefully at Iain. A wave rose on the port side to the railing and he and Cairel stepped into it and were gone.
Neat trick, his twee noted.
Yeah, but I can learn to do it if I want to. Iain settled down in the command chair and swept the ship with his perception to make sure he was alone with the fish before taking off and heading for Ilhar Mrimm
***
“Sir!” One of the dwarves came running into Iain’s lab. It was Regrim, one of the original freed slaves who’d joined the clan. Iain had retrieved another couple of dozen dwarves from Guallidurth recently, but Solnys had taken them in hand and disappeared with them into the dwarven part of the caves. Iain was going to give her another week before making the start of what was going to be a regular series of visits into the dwarf area. He was not going to give them the chance to hit him with more surprises. Besides, he had to get to know the newcomers. “We are under attack by dragons! Solnys sent me to warn you while the others get their armor and weapons.”
Iain closed his sketchpad. His defenses weren’t in place yet, but that didn’t really matter if they were under attack now. And if it was a dragon attack, even a single dragon would slaughter Solnys and the others. Of course, this world’s goblins might slaughter Solnys and the other dwarves. None of the dwarves had much experience with weapons. Some of the newcomers might, but Iain didn’t know for sure and it didn’t really matter. It was up to him, at least until he could set up a proper training program for his ad hoc militia and finish putting his magical defenses into place. “Show me.” They ran up the passage and turned right to the entrance to his caves.
Mental note, he told his twee, multiple hidden and open entrances to keep from being bottled up and having our entrance become a killing ground for our people or to have to suddenly find it necessary to excavate a new way out.
Don’t go too crazy with that idea since you will have to make sure they can be easily sealed to keep invaders from using them as multiple ways into your home, his twee replied.
He looked up to see two gold dragons gleaming brightly in the sunlight as they circled overhead. Iain recognized one of them as Laraxithius. The other, a female, was significantly larger than Laraxithius was, but Iain didn’t know who for certain she could be.
“Find Solnys and tell her I said for all of you to stay inside, Regrim,” Iain told the dwarf before stepping outside. “You are not ready to fight dragons.” With his perception he watched Regrim race off.
At least he follows orders immediately, his twee noted. That’s a good sign.
Iain knew the dragons would see him as soon as he moved into view and he waved to make sure they didn’t miss him.
The female turned and flew straight at him, dropping down until she was just above the treetops. Iain immediately prepared his magical shield in case she wasn’t friendly. As she approached, she breathed fire. Iain felt the heat as the flames passed safely overhead and then she pulled up and turned back towards Laraxithius, her laughter sounding as she flew.
A crackling noise made Iain turn to see the tops of several of his carefully planted and nurtured pecan trees were on fire. “Bloody hell.” He mimicked a technique he’d watched Ninhursag use and fog boiled up from the ground until it formed a thick cloud that rose to cover the burning treetops in a wet mist. The flames quickly cooled and sputtered out, leaving blackened branches, burned leaves and the stench of smoke filling his nostrils.
Iain turned back to the dragons just in time to watch them land a dozen meters from him. They changed into the forms of sun elves and moved towards him.
Laraxithius smiled at him. “Iain, I’d like you to meet Tagiss.” He looked at her. “This is Iain Grey, the one I’ve been telling you about.”
“Just a moment,” Iain said as he stepped past both sun elves. He hit Tagiss on the ass with his open hand hard enough to bring her up onto her toes with a yelp of pain.
She whirled to face him, her eyes blazing. “How dare you strike me!”
“You act like an adult,” Iain said in a hard voice, “you get greeted like an adult. Act like a spoiled child and set my trees on fire and you’ll get treated like a spoiled child should. You do that again and I will put you over my knee and spank you like you deserve until your ass is as red as a cherry and you won’t be able to sit on it without magical healing or the passage of several days.” She started to speak but he overrode her ruthlessly. “If you don’t like that, feel free to get off of my property and not come back until you’re ready to make amends.”
“Tagiss?” Laraxithius looked like he wanted to be anywhere but where he was standing, but he faced the dragoness he’d been trying to court unflinchingly when she snarled and whipped around to face him. “You asked to come here to meet Iain. I warned you that he doesn’t play the dominance games that many of us do. You are my guest here and your behavior is embarrassing me.”
Tagiss glared at Laraxithius for several seconds before Iain cleared his throat. She looked at him. “You tried something silly and got walloped on the butt for it. I think that settles things completely so you don’t need to do the hardest thing of all for a dragon to do and I think we should just close the matter and move on, if you can.”
Her voice was still angry, but her eyes weren’t as furious as they’d been. She was smart enough to realize he was offering her a way out of the situation and Iain’s estimation of her rose a few points. “There is nothing that is hard for a dragon to do.”
“Apologizing is almost impossible for any dragon,” Iain said calmly. “We happen to be very full of pride, after all, as we are dragons.”
Her lips twitched slightly as if she was trying not to smile. “It would be easy for me to apologize, should I ever need to do so.”
“Which you have not ever needed to do,” Iain said without a hint of the amusement he felt.
“Which I have not ever needed to do,” Tagiss agreed, her anger fading.
“The matter is ended?”
She nodded. “It is.”
“Good.” Iain held up a hand and a silver dove appeared in it. It was perched on his palm and it watched him intently as he spoke. “Tell Solnys that there is no attack and to stand down her troops. I will be with our guests and, unless there is an emergency, I would like us to not be disturbed until dinner. Also, I know about the damage to the pecan trees.”
The dove spoke in a high, piping voice. “Is a response required?”
“No. Go.” The dove flew into the cavern entrance as Iain turned to Laraxithius. “Good morning, what brings you here today with your friend?”
Laraxithius nodded to Tagiss. “She has a problem. It is dragon related and you are experienced in dealing with problematic dragons. I suggested that she talk to you about it.”
Iain raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t say what your role in this is.”
Tagiss smirked at him, “Laraxithius hopes that you can solve my problem and that I will look favorably on his advice and continue to consider him as a prospective mate.”
Iain nodded thoughtfully. “What is your problem?”
“There is an ancient blue dragon named Aardath that has decided to kill me. As her excuse, as if she needed one, she is claiming that I have stolen something from her. I did not steal from her, but I cannot prove it. I also cannot defeat her.”
“Aardath of the Shimmerscale blue dragons?”
Tagiss looked surprised and slightly unhappy at the same time. “You have heard of her?”
“One of her sons, Calazith of the Shimmerscale, lives in my hunting range. What do you want me to do about Aardath?”
“She has made it clear that either she dies or I do. I want you to kill her.”
Iain looked from Laraxithius to Tagiss. “So you get to live and he gets points in his quest to become your mate.”
“Actually, she said that if you do this, she will become my mate,” Laraxithius said quietly.
“I said in time I will become your mate,” Tagiss added.
Iain looked from one to the other again. “That’s great for the two of you. What do I get?”
Tagiss looked at him like he was stupid. “You get her hoard.”
Iain shook his head. “I get the hoard of any dragon I kill. You want me to do something for you. If all I get is the hoard I’d get anyways, you get this done for free. You are trying to hire me to kill someone for you, someone who happens to be evil.” He smiled. “I certainly don’t hire out as an assassin for free. And I suspect that you are hoping I don’t know the real problem you currently have. Unfortunately for you, I do know it.”
Laraxithius looked at him puzzledly as Tagiss gave him a suddenly wary look. “My problem is Aardath is going to kill me.”
“Yes, your problem is Aardath, but that’s not the whole problem,” Iain said.
“What is it she hopes you don’t know,” Laraxithius asked.
“The Shimmerscale are lawful and they have some rules. The important rule in this situation is that they’re a gang. If you attack one Shimmerscale, they will all go after you, and there are seven Shimmerscale dragons who follow that rule, along with four of their mates. I could easily find myself facing eleven angry blue dragons instead of just one.”
Laraxithius gaped at Iain for a second before rounding on Tagiss. “You knew this?” The expression on her face told him everything. “Do you want Iain to be killed?”
“She wants Aardath killed,” Iain said quietly. “If I kill her, the problem that is Aardath goes away. If it also brings the wrath of the Shimmerscale dragons down on me, they won’t become a problem for her. And if I die, well, you said that the other metallics aren’t sure if I’m evil or not. My death would remove another potential future problem.”
“You are not evil,” Laraxithius said hotly. He turned to Tagiss. “I can’t believe you were manipulating me into getting him killed. He is my friend.” He looked at Iain. “Believe me that I didn’t know what she was trying to do. I’ll understand if you never want to see me again.”
Iain smiled slightly. “Laraxithius, I have a question for you. Do you still want her as your mate?”
Laraxithius hissed. “Bahamut forgive, I shouldn’t but I still do. There’s something about her that draws me like a moth to a candle.”
Iain grinned. “The brain knows what the balls want even if the balls don’t explain to the brain why they want it. For a woman, substitute ovaries for balls.”
Laraxithius laughed. “I don’t think I’d have put it that way, but it doesn’t matter. She wants to get you killed. I won’t choose a prospective mate over a friend I already have.”
Iain eyed Tagiss thoughtfully. “Considering the world we live in, a certain amount of cold bloodedness can be desirable in a partner if you’re going to be raising hatchlings with her. If I kill Aardath, you will become Laraxithius’ mate.” She nodded. “Whether I live or die, you will do this if Aardath dies.”
“I will.”
“Do you know what fey are?”
She looked confused at the sudden change of topic. “I have dealt with one before. Extreme care must be taken with any terms that are negotiated. Why?”
“I am fey. I heard you say you’d become Laraxithius’ mate if I kill Aardath and I will hold you to that. If I agree to kill Aardath for you, you will give me five percent of all of the third best quality jewelry in your hoard before I do the job.”
Tagiss goggled at him. “Five percent?”
“I agree that’s it is actually lower than what I’d normally charge but you’re going to become my friend’s mate and, hopefully, my friend too. That’s why I’m giving you the low rate. For some stranger who just flew in out of the sky and didn’t have a friend of mine to vouch for her, my prices go up by orders of magnitude.” He smiled. “And I’d make them give up either their second best jewels and jewelry or their very best. I’d also insist on an inventory instead of trusting you to be honest.”
She stared at him for several seconds. “I will give you half before you kill her and half after. That way, if you fail, I don’t lose all the jewels you would have been owed if you succeed.”
“Agreed. And you will agree not to warn them or anyone who would warn them of what I am going to do.”
“Why in heaven would I do that?”
“You might still want me dead too.”
“I agree not to warn anyone. And I haven’t already warned them, either.” She shook her head. “And, while it’s true that your death wouldn’t bother me, I do not actively want you dead.”
Iain smiled. “That’s good and you’ve managed to answer my next question. Our agreement will not go into effect until half the jewels are in my possession, but you still can’t warn anyone that you’re hiring someone to kill Aardath.”
Tagiss nodded. “Agreed.”
“And done.” He looked to Laraxithius. “Are you staying long enough to try new cookies?”
“Of course,” Laraxithius replied. “What kind of new?”
“Chocolate chip kind of new.”
Laraxithius looked at Tagiss. “He keeps coming up with flavors and things I’ve never heard of, but so far all his cookies have been very good. Care to try some of whatever these chips are? If they’re like what he calls potato chips, they are very good.”
“I would.”
“One other thing,” Iain said. “I don’t know if Laraxithius warned you, but I have kobolds in my clan. They, along with everyone else here, is off limits. You are a guest and I will protect you if need be, but if you have a problem with one of my clan, you come to me. Dragon or not, you do not mete out justice here. That is my job. Can you accept that?”
“Kobolds are evil little creatures,” Tagiss said.
“Some might be. These are sworn to me and they serve me. I killed a red that they had been serving and they offered to serve me instead. I keep an eye on them and they haven’t done anything evil.”
Tagiss frowned. “How do they serve you?”
“They mine stone, ore and other resources for me, cut out tunnels as I need them to and I’m teaching them to farm crops. I also have some dwarves and one drow who already are clan or are considering joining the clan. There is also a green elf from the elf kingdom of Keltormir here as my guest. She’s visiting on behalf of her father, the king, whom I have an agreement with. Hopefully, later, we can engage in trade.”
Tagiss looked thoughtful. “When the time comes and Laraxithius and I choose a place to build a new home together, could we hire you to cut tunnels to our specifications?”
Laraxithius blinked before smiling as Iain nodded. “As long as you understand that there’s a lot of planning that must be done beforehand and we have ongoing projects of our own that may well take priority over what you want, so you can’t come and try to hire us to start digging the next day. What you can do is find a place and then come here and I can help plan out what you want and when various portions will be cut.” He smiled. “I’m pretty sure our prices for digging will be much less painful than the price we just negotiated for me to instigate a war with a blue dragon family. And I should point out that kobolds are excellent at making and setting traps that will stay armed for a long time with very little maintenance, so we might be able to hire on to help set up some preliminary defenses as you settle in.”
Tagiss nodded. “Then as long as you are taking responsibility for any evil they may commit; I will not get involved in their presence here.”
“Then come with me,” Iain said as he headed for the entrance to the caves.
***
Iain leaned back in his chair and regarded the person standing in front of him. “How do you feel, Selsharra?”
“My lord, the answer to that question may require a lengthy explanation. Perhaps it should suffice for me to say that I am here and I am ready to serve.”
Iain smiled. “If you don’t mind, I’d like you to answer the question. After all, I’m supposed to be immortal and you’re undead. I think we can spare the time unless that is your way of saying you’d rather not answer. If that is the case, just say so.”
The moon elf nodded. “My lord, I will attempt to answer the question without angering you.”
Iain snorted. “Don’t spare my feelings. If I ask a question, I’d better be prepared to hear an answer I might not like as much as I’d hoped I would. In any case, I don’t have a policy of shooting the messenger. If I do that, then I stop getting the truth and start getting what people think I want to hear. I’d rather have them tell me what I need to hear.”
Selsharra didn’t look like she believed him. “I am much older than any of your other servants and I have been without a purpose to my existence for several thousand years, ever since the family that I became a baelnorn to protect, my family, ceased to be.” Her rejuvenation was finally complete. Except for the fact that her black hair was very short and loose, she was now the twin to the Selsharra he’d already met. Her face, however, held a somberness and her eyes were filled with a pain that the other had not had. “I stepped down from my post as a High Wizard and accepted the passage to undeath because my family, the royal family of Evermeet, needed protection that the High Wizards could not provide. The High Wizards serve the royal family and protect it, but they have many other responsibilities and my family needed me to have only one purpose, to watch over them and keep my bloodline alive. For generations I protected them as much as I could, from every threat possible except the one thing I could not guard them against.” She broke off and was silent.
Iain could see from the tightness in her expression that she was lost in unhappy memories and spoke, if only to draw her back to the present. “What was that one thing?”
Her eyes refocused on him. “I could not protect my family from itself, my lord. We were never great in number and foolishness among some of the young thinned their ranks every generation. Honestly, foolishness among the adults did the same thing, and few children were born to correct the devastation of our losses. Every generation there were fewer and fewer of them until, one day, the last of them died and they were gone.” Her voice had become husky with emotion and her eyes were bleak. “That day, I failed in the charge I had sought and been given. Other than me, an undead creature that cannot reproduce, none of my bloodline had survived. Ever since that day, that failure has eaten at me. I had lost my entire purpose and my very existence was a mockery of the bloodline that I had failed to preserve.” Tears began trickling down her cheeks. “My lord, I tried to end my existence many times since then, but the magic that turned me into a baelnorn would not allow me to destroy myself and it will not allow me to stand still and let another destroy me. No matter how much I do not want to, I will always fight to survive. In the hope of finding rest, I threw myself into hunting down and fighting the greatest threats that faced the elven people, seeking destruction for my failures, but I was too powerful and the creatures that would fight me fell to my might, one by one, until there were no more.” Her head dropped. “I had failed in my quest for destruction and I retreated to my catacombs in Evermeet until you arrived and summoned me. I am not even sure how long I haunted the treasures that I had preserved to no purpose, where their existence mocked me every second of every day.” She met his gaze. “I do know that the world as it is now is strange to me, with kingdoms and wars that did not exist before I went into seclusion.” She smiled amusedly. “When I went into seclusion, the Vyshaan clan was just another in a series of ambitious sun elf groups that still lived in Evermeet and ruled nothing more than their ancestral lands when I last investigated them.”
Iain managed to keep the surprise from his face. What she’d just told him suggested that she’d isolated herself somewhere around six thousand years ago, which meant she’d been living almost completely alone for somewhere around forty elven generations. He suppressed a shiver at the thought of what all that time alone could have done to her psyche. “I do have a question. If you couldn’t be stopped by all of these enemies you went to destroy in the hopes that they would destroy you, how did we manage to capture you in the first place?”
The baelnorn chuckled. “I wondered that too, but upon consideration I realized that I had always gone out after my opponents. None of them knew where my demesne was, so none of them had ever come after me. I always researched my opponents before seeking them out and was fully prepared for any eventuality on their part when I confronted them. None of that was true where you were involved. Your summons both surprised and intrigued me, so I came immediately. I either never suspected that you could overpower me or some part of me still sought dissolution and kept me from considering proper preparations for our encounter.” She paused as if to marshal her thoughts. “And I had never faced several liches acting in concert. I was overpowered. Unless I prepare specifically for them, liches are resistant to even my magic.”
“And your current situation?”
“I am of mixed feelings about the present. I feel that you have enslaved me and I do not wish to be anyone’s slave. I also feel that the situation is more than a little hypocritical because you say you do not keep slaves. How do you feel about this?”
Iain didn’t look happy. “I’m not particularly pleased about it. I don’t want to keep slaves, but my options were to destroy you or draft you because you’d have never stopped trying to kill me since I know of your existence and you can’t have that. If I free you, you’ll just start planning your campaign against me and mine.”
Selsharra nodded. “That is true.”
“But if I destroy you, I will have to listen to my wife Kasserine, my analog of the princess Kasserine that disappeared during her travels, list all of the reasons I shouldn’t have destroyed you, starting with what an asset you and your knowledge is and ending with the fact that she would have wanted to try and recruit you so she had a second grandmother.” He grinned. “And, in every case, she would be right.” I also don’t want you to be unhappy with me, if I can.”
“Why are my feelings important to you?”
Iain’s smile vanished. “While you are undead and bound into my service, you are a sentient being and you have wants and needs. I want you to be as free as you can be, as long as my life remains safe from your attacks. To that end, I will make sure your needs are met and I’d like to try and meet as many of your wants as I can.”
Selsharra frowned. “This is why you are allowing Helesatra to pursue her vengeance on her family for past wrongs.”
“It is.”
“You want me to be happy in my servitude.”
Iain grimaced. “Yes.”
“Why?”
Iain’s grimace deepened. “That is an excellent question. I’m not a good person, but I don’t want to be an evil one. I don’t have a good internal gauge on what that means, but the women that I love do possess an excellent ability to discriminate between good and evil, so I am using their guidelines to try and not cross that line into evil.”
“These women include the descendants of this analog bloodline of mine?”
“Yes.”
“I will never be happy while I am part of your undead harem and subject to the whims of Eirian and the others. I was a princess and then a High Wizard and, finally, a duchess before I became a baelnorn. None of the harem here has earned the right to be my superior.”
Iain rubbed his face tiredly. “Yeah, I figured it would be something like that,” he said heavily. “But I don’t know what else to do with you.”
Selsharra watched him for several seconds, her green eyes dark and opaque. “I have a possible solution that will allow me the chance to be happy while still keeping your life safe from my vengeance.”
“I would very much like to hear what this solution is,” Iain said. “Please share it.”
“Understand that I volunteered to become a baelnorn to protect my bloodline, which was at the time the royal bloodline of Evermeet. I chose undeath in that instance because it allowed me to eternally guard that bloodline.”
She paused long enough that Iain decided she was waiting on a response from him. “I understand what you did and why you did it.”
Selsharra nodded. “I have known since I was a young girl that I needed a purpose in my life. First it was protecting Evermeet as a High Wizard. Then my purpose became protecting the royal bloodline. When that line ended, I had no purpose, and I could not return to my previous role in being a High Wizard as I am undead. I have had no purpose since and without a purpose I am empty.” Her eyes met his. “Without a purpose I cannot be happy.”
Iain nodded slowly. He’d known people who needed a reason to live before. “I understand that too. What is your solution?”
“When I became a High Wizard, I swore an oath to protect Evermeet. When I became a baelnorn, I swore new oaths to protect the royal bloodline. I am ready to swear those oaths again, this time to protect your bloodline. If I kill you after that, I will have failed in my duty and lost my purpose once more.” She smiled. “And for me to perform my duty as protector of your bloodline, you will have to release me from the harem so I cannot be commanded by any other and thus lessen my protection of your bloodline.” Her smile faded as Iain sat silently and looked at her evenly. “Will you consider my proposal?”
“I’m running through all of the possible permutations that I can think of and how badly all of this could go wrong before I express an opinion on your idea.” He was silent for several minutes before stirring. “Are you certain that this is the only way you could be happy with what has happened to you?”
“I am certain that I cannot be happy with the status quo. The little time I have already spent inside your harem has been intolerable. I am Eirian’s equal in every way and her superior in magic and she deigns to tell me what is best for me and the best way in which to complete a task. If she could give me something to do and then let me do it as I see fit to do it and on my own, I could possibly be content with my lot, but she will not and therefore I cannot.”
Iain rubbed the bridge of his nose for a moment. “I want you to write down this oath you want me to give you. I will look it over and make any changes I feel are necessary to ensure you are doing what I think you should be doing. I will then let you review the oath I intend to give you and then, if you have a problem with any of it, we can discuss it and see if an accommodation can be made. However, in the end, the final decision will be mine and you will take this oath or I will, as regrettable as it will be to me, destroy you. Is that acceptable?”
Selsharra smiled warmly. “I had been warned that you were fey and that you dealt with others as a fey would. I see that warning should have been heeded. I agree.”
Iain nodded. “Then there’s one last thing to do. Eirian.”
The silver Dragoness appeared in the center of the room. “My lord.” She glanced at Selsharra and her eyes narrowed. “My lord, whatever she wants, tell her no. She is too new to the harem to be making requests of you.”
“Eirian, I am the one to decide that.”
She bowed at the firmness of his voice. “Yes, my lord. You speak the truth.”
“There’s no way to sugarcoat this and I’m not usually prone to try, so here’s what’s going to happen. Effective immediately, Selsharra is no longer in the undead harem. She is, however, to continue to have access to all the clan’s resources without hindrance. If you feel there is a problem with something she is doing, you will bring that to my attention, not hers.”
“Then, my lord, as per your new instructions, I feel that she is taking unfair advantage of the relationship you have with the alternate Selsharra. This one is dangerous and thirsts for your death as well as our destruction.”
“Selsharra is leaving the undead harem so I can give her additional binding, Eirian. When that binding is complete, she is going to become the guardian of me and the rest of my bloodline.”
Eirian hissed loudly. “We protect you, my lord.”
Iain nodded. “You do and that will not stop, but once I asked you to help protect my family and you refused. Selsharra will not protect my wives and women, but she will help to guard and steward my children, which you and the rest of the undead harem will not voluntarily do.”
“And when both of us seek to protect you, my lord?”
“You will work with her to the best of your ability and she will do the same with you. You tend to react to threats in my immediate area, which will free Selsharra to use her magic and other abilities to look for other potential problems. You have worked with my living guards from time to time and so I know you can do this.”
Eirian nodded. “This is your final word, my lord?”
“This is my final word, Eirian. I’ll sit in on some of the meetings between you and Selsharra so I know that both of you, as proud and arrogant as you can be, are sincerely working to help keep me alive.”
Eirian chuckled. “That will be necessary, my lord. I am a pokegirl and a lich and she is a royal blooded moon elf lich and as arrogant and as proud as any pokegirl.”
Iain nodded. “I know she is. But I hope it may actually be easier to moderate between you and Selsharra than it was between you and Pandora, back in the beginning.”
“Considering that Pandora is a Celestial and because of that was then and is still seeking a way to destroy me permanently if she thinks I am even considering becoming a threat, my lord, you are probably correct.” She glanced at Selsharra again. “I will coordinate with her for the first meeting, my lord, and inform you of its time as soon as I can.”
“Good. Oh, and I want you to bring the newcomers by in the morning, except for Alyfaen and Phaerxae so I can give them twee.”
“Talyl and Sintree are also in Guallidurth, my lord, providing extra security at the Dinaen compound.” They were two of the other drow who had been added to the undead harem when Alyfaen had been captured.
“Leave them there. I’m going to Guallidurth next week and I can give them twee while I’m visiting. And you will still teach Selsharra to ride me and how to shadow walk.”
“Yes, my lord. Is there anything else?”
“There is.” Iain stood and walked to stand in front of Eirian. “Understand this, I am not unhappy with the job you and the harem have been doing. For the most part, in spite of certain issues you can’t seem to work past, I am pleased with what you’ve done for me.”
“Issues, my lord?”
“Your prejudices against harem members who are not Dragonesses.”
Eirian cocked her head. “That is not a prejudice, my lord. My decisions are always eminently practical. We dragon types are superior to the rest of the harem.”
Iain decided to drop the subject, at least for now. “Like I said, I’m pleased with what you’ve been doing. Selsharra’s removal isn’t a sign of disfavor.”
“Then why do it, my lord?”
“What she’s going to do will ensure the survivability of my progeny in the future, but more importantly, it’ll increase my survivability in the short and long term of here and now.”
“Many will see her removal as a demotion for the harem and a promotion for her.”
“She’s not a pokegirl. She and the others who are not pokegirls will always stand separately from the harem and we both know that.”
“Julia thinks like a pokegirl, my lord, and is happy with her place in the undead harem.”
“Julia grew up with pokegirls,” Iain pointed out. “And she wanted to become a Sanctuary Goth. Of course she wants to be just like the pokegirls in the harem. If I could figure out how to do it to a lich, she’d probably like me to turn her into a pokegirl, too.”
“I had not considered it that way, my lord.” Eirian frowned. “What about Selsharra’s possessions behind her wards and traps? Her preliminary inventory is quite extensive and she is the only one who can penetrate her defenses to retrieve them. Protecting you full time will mean that she is not bringing them to you.”
“I already have a solution for that. Tomorrow, I’m going to take all of the undead harem who can ride me and I’m going to shadow walk with Selsharra to the inside of her caverns. We have yet to find any magic defenses that can stop me from penetrating them when I shadow walk. Then the rest of you can go there and fetch out my things without having to brave her primary defenses while she’s focusing on her new job.”
“There are wards and other defenses scattered throughout my catacombs,” Selsharra said. “But I can show Eirian and the others how to temporarily neutralize most of them. As for the others, I will still have to retrieve the items in those holdings.”
“Do you have an issue with making those things available for us to use,” Iain asked.
“You will be the bloodline I will be protecting, after I have taken my new oaths. I have held these things in trust for the bloodline that I protect. Because of that, everything that I have and am is yours. If you choose to make it available for the undead harem to use, that is your choice, even if I decide for some reason to advise you against it, which I will certainly do for certain items that have been designed and manufactured for use by the Teu-tel-quessir exclusively.” She smiled. “Remember that I cannot protect you from yourself.”
“If you think I’m doing something stupid, I want you to tell me and promptly. In return, I will always hear you out. I may decide to not use your advice, but I will always listen to it before I decide to use it or not. And if I tell you I don’t want to hear something you feel you need to tell me, remind me of this conversation.”
“If this is true, then you are already more understanding of my role than my own bloodline was before its demise.”
Iain chuckled. “Kasserine doesn’t talk about her sister or family much, other than Kerrik and Ava, whom I also know. She did mention once that her sister was the best choice to run the kingdom and her Selsharra disagreed strongly with her, claiming that Kasserine would have been a much better ruler.”
“If these people are like the ones that I knew, this Selsharra was right and Kasserine was wrong. How is it that Selsharra didn’t put Kasserine on the throne if she returned from her trip?”
“Privacy.”
Selsharra frowned. “What?”
Eirian laughed. “I should go, my lord.” He nodded and a shadow slid across the floor under her feet until she dropped into it.
Selsharra was staring at the spot where the Dragoness had stood. “I have seen that before, but I do not understand what she is doing.”
“She’ll work on teaching you that, too,” Iain replied. “I am Grey clan and, if you’re going to be guarding me, so are you. One of the rules we have is about privacy. If privacy is invoked in a conversation and accepted, none of the people in that discussion can talk about what was discussed there unless the person invoking later requests revocation. There are other rules which you’ll learn in time.”
“So by saying privacy, you are invoking. What happens if I do not accept this invocation of privacy?”
“Then this conversation about Kasserine is over.” Iain flashed a grin. “And, yes, I already know you don’t like not knowing something that you might think is important.”
Selsharra scowled. “You are enjoying this.”
“No, I’m not. What’s going on is that Kasserine is my wife and I will protect her privacy probably even more than I will my own, and I value my privacy above the lives of pretty much everyone but me who is on this world.”
“What happens to me if I accept privacy and then discuss this without your permission?”
“I’ll have to decide at that point since Kasserine isn’t here to seek redress, but I can assure you that you will either regret breaking privacy for an extremely short time or for an extremely long time.”
Selsharra frowned for a second before her confusion cleared. “I would regret for a very short time until you destroyed me.”
“That would be an option, yes, and yes. If you break privacy I have to decide if I can trust you to do anything for me, and if I decide I can’t,” he shrugged. “I can’t let you go.”
“I accept privacy.”
Iain leaned back in his chair. “My Kasserine went on her trip, like yours did. But she returned, pregnant with a bastard child of rape. She didn’t remember what had happened to her or who had done it, but she gave birth to a silver haired full blooded moon elf boy. Her sister, the queen, ordered her to expose the child and she refused.” Selsharra inhaled sharply. “The child was named Kerrik and he was groomed to be an assassin for the crown in the hopes that he would die and remove the stain on the honor of the royal family.” Iain smiled slowly. “Kerrik was very talented and absorbed all of the training, both martial and magical, that was thrown at him. He was also precocious and killed his first man, a member of the queen’s guard, before he hit puberty.”
Selsharra frowned. “Did this guard do something to provoke the child?”
“He decided that Kasserine, who was not in favor at all with the court, was a slut and his for the taking. She refused him and he tried to force her to accept him while the child was around. The queen liked that guard, of course.”
“Of course,” Selsharra muttered disgustedly. “I remember her wide and often unsavory taste in males.”
“Kerrik grew up and was taken as a student by the scariest wizard on the planet, which took him out of circulation for a thousand years. During that time, Kasserine reached the prime of her life and stopped aging, but she continued to get stronger as a mage. The rest of her family continued aging.” Selsharra hissed softly as Iain continued. “I don’t remember whether it was her sister’s granddaughter or great granddaughter, but the queen at that time decided that Kasserine had to go. She really wanted Kasserine dead, but was afraid Selsharra would intercede to protect one of her bloodline from assassination.”
“I would have,” Selsharra said.
Iain smiled as he continued. “So she decided to exile Kasserine with pretty much just the clothes on her back. She thought she’d wait a while and then send the assassins after her aunt while Selsharra was busy elsewhere. It didn’t go quite as she’d planned. Kasserine was exiled, but she vanished and nothing, not even magical scrying, could find her. But the High Wizards she employed insisted she wasn’t dead.”
Selsharra shook her head. “What happened?”
“The son, Kerrik, happened. He had been exiled before his mother but had kept an eye on her. When she was banished, he used his magic to protect his mother and make her undetectable. Even Selsharra couldn’t locate her, although her magic did tell her that, somewhere, Kasserine still lived. It was what sustained her after the rest of the line died out but meant that another family took the throne since Selsharra couldn’t locate her. Unfortunately, during this time, Kerrik had been changed into a different being and Selsharra lost track of him too when she decided he no longer carried the correct bloodline.”
Selsharra shook her head. “That is a fantastic story.”
Iain chuckled. “It gets even better when I enter it, but that’s a tale for another time.”
“You are married to this Kasserine.”
“I am, as well as to her daughter, Ava. Selsharra is also clan and works to protect them both.”
“That story I want to hear.”
Iain stood. “Later. The invocation of privacy is ended at this point, so you can’t talk about what I’ve just told you, except to me, but everything after this is public, unless there’s another invocation.”
“I understand. I agreed to privacy and I will obey your dictates in this. I must go if I am to write down the oath so you can review it. When do you intend to oath me for this?”
“Just as soon as we agree on the final wording, so get moving, woman.” She nodded and left.
Iain Grey
Harem
Ninhursag Grey - Elfqueen & maharani
April Grey - Duelist & beta
Dominique Grey - Blessed Archmage
Pandora - Fiendish Archangel
Zareen - Nightmare
Sofia - Ria
Vanessa – Evangelion
Lucifer – Megami Sama
Ganieda – Snugglebunny Splice
Heather - Elfqueen
Marguerite – Unicorn
Scheherazade – Dread Wolf
Irena – Sanctuary Goth
Lynn – Dire Wolf
Rosemary – Mistoffeles
Dianthus – Elfqueen
Candace – Nurse Joy (kami)
Bellona – Dragonqueen
Elizabeth - Vampire
Outer Clan
Golden Cloud – equine unicorn
Arianrhod -Fey Goblin Female
Satellite Clan
74 male Goblins
89 female Goblins
Queendom / Outer Clan
73 Elves
Dionne - Elfqueen
Adrianna - Elfqueen
Heltu - Wet Queen
14 Wet Elves
Dead Harem
Eirian - Silver Dragoness
Aurum - Gold Dragoness
Skye - Blue Dragoness
Emerald - Green Dragoness
Beryl - Red Dragoness
Julia - human
Ling - Cheetit
Matilda - White Tigress
Liadan - Twau
Sorrel - Armsmistress
Natalie - Blazicunt
Maria – Slutton
Rhea Silvia – Chimera
Alabaster – Dragoness (white)
Onyx – Dragoness (black)
Lapis – Dragoness (blue)
Garnet – Dragoness (red)
Iolite – Dragoness (purple)
Malachite – Dragoness (green with white swirls)
Dabria (was Loviatar) – Dark Queen
Omisha (was Hel) – Demoness
Viersunuth great wyrm blue true dragoness
Helesatra Vyshaan half pit fiend (fiend) half sun elf. Princess of the Vyshaantar Empire.
Talyl – drow commoner
Zarza – drow commoner
Sabrae – drow commoner
Sintree – drow commoner
Alyfaen Dinaen – drow, matron of House Dinaen
Phaerxae Dinaen – drow, former matron of House Dinaen, mother of Alyfaen
Selsharra of Evermeet
Mother Children
Vanessa
Myrna (Age 4)
Saoirse
April
Dorothy: Duelist (Age 3)
Meara: Duelist
Regan: Duelist
Lucifer
Olivia: Megami Sama (Age 6)
Seraphina: Megami Sama
Miram: Angel (Age 5)
Zareen:
Caltha: Nightmare (Age 0)
Kim: Nightmare
Xanthe: Nightmare
Epona: Nightmare
Philippa: Nightmare
Nott: Nightmare
Nyx: Nightmare
Sofia
Anna: Ria
Esmerelda: Ria
Monica Chambers
James: Jamie Harris kid (Age 2)