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TO BE MATED 1343
"No, I don't think anyone would.""Good. As requested, you'll start as a night guard in the vault. Eventually, you'll need to learn the other positions if you are to manage The Bank effectively. Understood?""Yes sir.""Good, then follow me," Lord Borden stood. Ethan and Beth followed the older man out of the dining room through the house and into the night air. The town was mostly silent apart from the sounds of drinking and singing coming from the pubs.To his left, Ethan saw the mast of a sailing ship poking up in the distance. He thought that was strange as there weren't any large bodies of water nearby."What's that?""That's daddy's new airship," Beth replied. "I can show you in the morning, if you'd like.""An airship? Yes please!"Lord Borden led the way up the long flight of steps to The Bank. The stairs had no railings and were only six feet across. They were wide enough to be comfortable but narrow enough to prevent a lot of men from attacking at once. The stairs ended and
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Beth's face could've illuminated all of New York City the way it shone. "Enjoy your night and may Illuminar keep watch over you,"She left the vault and took the elevator up with Heinrich, who shouted for the elevator to rise. Beth gave him a hopeful smile as they ascended out of sightEthan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He hadn't considered what Beth must be going through, knowing that he was attracted to someone else but marrying her anyway. She seemed to take it well though, and her enthusiasm was just short of infectious.He was glad she was happy.He turned to look at the gold around him and the sight cheered him up immensely, though not completely. His dragon body might be responding to the gold with bliss but his mind was still mostly human. He missed Alana and he wanted to make Beth happy.She was a wonderful girl. She was smart, inquisitive, and a joy to be around. She had an infectious exuberance that was almost like a balm to his dark mood. He could learn to lov
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The moment Alana suggested that the gold belonged to someone else, a mask of pure rage and hate covered Ethan's face. She saw too late that Ethan's dragon nature had fully taken over."HOW DARE YOU!" he shouted as his face twisted into a mask of rage.This wasn't Ethan.This was the dragon.He raised his spear and lunged forward, the tip pointed straight at her heart. But the spear's tip stopped just short of her breast. She could feel the tip just brushing her dress.She stood her ground.He was breathing heavily, which came out as a series of noises that were halfway between a grunt and a snarl. He seemed to be fighting with himself, and the turmoil coming over their bond was proof.Just two weeks ago, if someone would've told her a dragon could restrain itself around gold like this she wouldn't have believed them. After all her conversations with Drousin, she didn't think one could. Yet Ethan was doing it.She smiled.When she did, the dragon blinked several times as if to clear it
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She couldn't come up with anything else to say, so she sat down next to Ethan and laid her head on his shoulder. He seemed startled at first, but didn't make any attempt to move her. After a moment, he relaxed slightly at her touch and put his arm around."I need to respect her wishes," he said after a few minutes."What do you mean?""She asked me to leave her alone," he replied. "To give her some space and distance so our bond could weaken.""I don't think bonds work like that Ethan. It may never get stronger, but they don't go away.""She thought if I bonded with you it might break the bond," Ethan said."Maybe," Beth replied. "I've never heard of a bond being broken that way. I suppose it might, but it just seems more likely to create a second bond."I suppose two bonds would be better than not bonding with my wife, right?"She nodded. "I'd rather it break your bond with her but..." Beth trailed off.She really didn't want her husband bonded to another woman, even if it was someon
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Beth turned and started walking. Not long after, they arrived at what looking like a large training room in one of the buildings close to The Bank. The walls of the room were covered with both training weapons and real weapons. There were also several types of padded armor for training.She asked Ethan to wait a moment and then she went and talked to Heinrich. After a minute or two, he glanced in Ethan's direction with a surly look on his face. Beth talked to him for another minute, and then the guard captain grabbed two training spears and a training sword and walked over to Ethan."You understand you're never going near the vault again." Heinrich saidl it wasn't a question.He nodded glumly."Beth convinced me you'd make a reasonable outer guard," he continued, though his tone made it clear he seriously doubted it. "It's my job to bring your fighting abilities up to snuff."He tossed a training spear to Ethan. It was a seven foot long shaft with a bundle of cloth tied to one end for
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Ethan nodded, put his training spear back on a rack and headed outside. It took a few moments for him to realize he hadn't been anywhere except the training grounds, barracks, or mess hall in almost two weeks. He breathed in the fresh air; he'd almost forgotten what it smelled like."Hello." A sweet voice came from his right. He turned to see Beth standing there in a royal blue dress. The dress accentuated all of her curves while still being modest and covering everything. It was designed to allure and attract while remaining modest; it did its job perfectly."Hi, you look great,"Beth blushed slightly. "Thank you. Father wouldn't let me see you while you were in training so I wanted to look my best for you.""I can honestly say you've never looked prettier." He couldn't help but smile at her.Beth beamed. "We only have a few hours before we're separated until the wedding, so let's hurry and get you patched up by Madam Hygea. We have a week's worth of preparations and only a few hours
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"I do," Ethan said after a deep breath.The priest turned toward Beth and she recited her own wedding vows. Oddly enough, the vows included a promise that Beth would obey him. Ethan barely had time to wonder if it was a cultural thing before the priest -- who they called a 'Luminar' -- turned to Beth to administer her vows."I absolutely do," Beth said when the priest had finished. Her eyes were shining like a full moon on a cloudless night and her face radiated bliss. He couldn't help but smile back at her."This couple wishes to exchange more than vows," the priest said. "They wish to become permanently bonded through the linking of their deep mana."At this pronouncement, faint whispers erupted throughout the hall."They have the necessary skill," The priest said. "Now if you will join hands, then please exchange your deep mana."Ethan took Beth's hand and closed his eyes. He could see the slushy pool of mana in his mind's eye. But under the slush was something else. Like water and
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"You are most kind and gracious, and we are grateful for the assistance," Lord Borden replied, although he didn't look remotely grateful."You would do the same for me," Lord Delmar said. "Now, I'm afraid I didn't have time to prepare a proper gift, given the lack of invitation. However, I do have something that any young couple starting out should need, and would like to present my gift."At the words "my gift", the entire gift line almost ran out of the way to make room for Lord Delmar. Judging from the looks of fear and panic on the people in the line, they weren't doing it just to be nice.Lord Delmar waved his hand and one of the soldiers stepped forward. He carried a box that looked like it weighed seventy or eighty pounds, even though it was quite small. Ethan didn't need to open the box to know what was inside.It was gold.A lot of gold.The soldier walked up to Ethan and Beth, set the box down, and then opened the lid so they could see inside. It was a cube of solid gold. It
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