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TO BE MATED 1403
"What?" She asked."Taloni," he said. The merry mood faded slightly, but didn't leave altogether. Her smile faltered, but remained nevertheless.She nodded. "Yeah.""I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bond with her. I wasn't even awake when it happened.""I know, but the question remains: what now?""I don't know," he said. "She made a really good case that bonding is just as binding as marriage, maybe more so. I never planned to be married to two women, I just find myself..."Semi-married to two of us?" she offered.He nodded. "If I wasn't bonded to Taloni, I'd get down on one knee with a ring right now."Alana looked very confused. "Why in Illuminar's name would you do that?""It's how we propose marriage where I come from."Alana's mouth fell open. "You would marry me?"Suddenly Ethan felt a little embarrassed, though he wasn't sure why. "Uh, yeah. I mean, assuming you were willing."Her smile would've cracked the room in half if it was any wider."But what about Taloni?" Ethan asked.Her
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She well recalled the first time she'd had sexual thoughts about Ethan, just before they'd left Gralden to rescue Beth. She had been nearly mortified by the idea of being intimate with anyone, especially Ethan. Now she imagined him making love to another woman and it didn't bother her much, if at all.Well, it bothered her that it didn't bother her.It was almost the opposite.Somewhere deep down, she liked the idea that Ethan was so virile, so potent that she alone wasn't enough to satisfy him. She almost wanted to 'show him off' to other women; to see him take them to bed and watch him do unspeakable things to them while she waited for her turn.The innocent wood elf alternately screwed her eyes shut and forced them wide open trying to erase the thought from her head.It wasn't working.She was finally distracted by a slight creak on the stairs behind her. Hailey had made it down the stairs with nary a sound and appeared to be sneaking. She glanced around and when she saw Alana, she
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Alana produced a small leather coin purse from her belt. "Anthiel gave me enough silver from the ship's treasury to get what we need."Ship's treasury?" he asked. Other than the cube of gold - which was safely hidden in the captain's cabin - he couldn't feel any other gold on board."Yeah, apparently Lord Borden loaded us up with a bunch of silver before we left Gralden." Alana explained. "He thought you'd have an easier time letting go of silver than gold."He nodded, then started down the gangplank. His foot had left the gangplank and was about to set foot on the metal moorings when-BZZZT!!Ethan jumped backwards and shouted in pain. A white-hot jolt had shot through his foot. For a split second, he thought they were being attacked and felt his flight-or-fight reflexes kick in.Then he realized what it was.It was a static electric shock.He nearly knocked Alana and Hailey over as he landed back on the wide gangplank. Everyone was staring at him looking extremely confused."That wa
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Hailey slipped through the crowd barely disturbing a single garment even though the crowd pressed in on all sides. Her stealth was made easier by the dim lighting. The red-orange hue of sunset had given way to the dark blue/gray of twilight. She had the knife under her robes, and she clutched it tightly to her chest."You can do this. You can do this." She said to herself for the millionth time.She knew she could do this.A quick excuse to Alana and she had bought herself a few hours of time before the Argo left. She had noticed Rachel watching her, and was extremely grateful that Ethan had unwittingly distracted her. If all went according to plan, The Arena Champion - her former master - would be dead and she would be back on the Argo before anyone suspected a thing. With a little luck, they would be far outside the city before anyone found the body."You can do this, you can do this."That bastard was finally going to pay for... for...Hailey pushed her grief to the back of her min
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A Deadly Engagement and Long-Awaited WeddingEthan took a deep breath. "Alana Tarihowen, will join your soul with mine as the strands of this braid are joined? Will you marry me?"For a few glorious seconds, the look on Alana's face was pure, unadulterated bliss. She reached out and touched the braid with the tips of her finger and she looked like the happiest woman in the entire world...But only for a few seconds.Then her face fell.She retracted her hand slowly as she met his eyes. Her eyes and their bond were filled with both longing and sadness; yearning and sorrow. She bit her lip and took a long, slow, trembling breath. Then with more hesitation and reluctance than he'd heard in his entire life, she uttered a single word:"No."* * *It was just before sundown as Kendra bowed low in respect before entering through one of the large double doors that led into Illuminar's grand cathedral. The sheer size and scope was incredible. Its highest was point hundreds of feet tall, and th
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He continued. "When this person -- someone you wouldn't expect -- saves your life, just remember this: they are your best chance in this life for true friendship and someone you can trust implicitly.""Truly?" She asked, though she didn't believe it was possible. It just seemed too good to be true."Truly," he said, but then his voice grew serious. "But He also gave a warning with the message. If you squander this chance, you may not get another. Don't waste it."* * *If Beth felt like walking to Ethan's ravine in the forest had taken a long time, it felt like walking back to Arcanum took even longer. She had initially enjoyed the hues of purple that made up the Astral Plane. Now -- after over a week there -- she never wanted to see that color again.During the long walk, she'd occasionally removed Aharown from its scabbard -- which was now secured to her belt -- and swung the blade around experimentally. It felt natural in her hands, like the hilt had been made for her, yet it felt
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*Then what?**It's... um, it's a sort of complicated topic involving my parents."*I thought they died,**They did, but um...* She trailed off, then said aloud. "What's going on with those two?" She nodded her head toward Anthiel and Raklan on the main weatherdeck, who appeared to be having an argument.As if on cue -- possibly even like she had been waiting for a break in conversation -- Rachel climbed onto the weather deck looking concerned."Hailey's not back yet," she said running her hands through her flame colored hair.Ethan glanced at the sky, which was fast abandoning twilight and becoming night. "Do we know where she is?""She said she had an errand to run and that she'd be back after dark," Alana replied.Rachel grimaced. "Something's not right. I should never have let her out of my sight.""Oh?" Ethan and Alana said at exactly the same time. They exchanged a glance, then an amused smile."I swear you two were made for each other," Rachel smiled and rolled her eyes at their
TO BE MATED 1410
Both the champion and Hailey snapped their eyes toward him. The Champion instantly started trying to shout through the gag, probably pleading for Ethan to release him. He was so thoroughly gagged, it came out as muffled grunts. Hailey had a look on her face that Ethan had never seen before.It was pure, unadulterated rage.Not the 'I'm-going-to-lose-control-and-break-something' kind of rage though. It was a quiet, deadly, and calculating rage that simmered and bubbled like the lava of a volcano before erupting. It was hot in its intensity and powerful in its strength."Hailey, what are you doing?""Correcting a karmic oversight." She hissed."That's not your job Hailey, leave that to the law.""There is no law for bastards like this," she poked the champion with the tip of her knife, drawing a few drops of blood. "His father is the Supreme Magistrate and he's rich as creases." she put the tip of her knife by his throat. "He can ignore the la
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