A strange proposal

Although the adventure with Allemare was done and your hefty reward received, you were feeling as anxious now as you did before facing the Chimera. You'd been gone far longer than you had intended; it was sunset of the next day by now, and you never told Trevolia and the others where you had gone. Your disheveled appearance would clearly give a sign, and you were going to have to own that. You knew your bardic magic could hide it; you'd done something similar back with Lord Diamant, but that wasn't the right way of doing this. They're supposed to be the women you want to marry; lying to them was hardly what they deserved. Not that this was much better. Before you did anything else, you wanted to make sure that you were paid up right: this was a considerable amount of money to have on you, more than enough to make you a target. The sooner you got it to Denethil, the sooner the work would begin, the sooner you can follow with the next stage of the plan, and the less chance for things to get weird.

Or, so you thought.

As you entered Denethil's store, you were met with the surprised and concern faces of your lovers, who appeared to have lingered there for some time. Your hope for a warm and affection embrace upon the safe return from your unexplained absence was swiftly dashed.

"Silve!" Trevolia shouted, jumping first "What the fuck is going on!? You say you went to get an outside perspective, cause your head is off, and than you just fucking disappear!? And now you're back, you look like you took a jog through a dragon's mouth, and your first stop is here!? Rather than coming home?"

"I can explain" You spoke quickly, trying to resist the desire to meet her emotions in kind.

"You had better!" Her response was immediate "and quickly!" your eyes drifted for a moment to see the other women. You could see in their eyes that they were as concerned about you, but were letting Trevolia run the show, at least for the moment. For as much as each of them mattered to you, they all knew to give deference to the Princess in times like this.

"Look, the event with the tyrant spider in the mine really got to me, and I think it got to all of us to some degree. I know we've been in danger before, had our share of bumps before, but something about that was different. I couldn't let things stay the same as they were before, not after our conversation"

Joan started to pipe in "You're not making any sense, Silve..."

Lita put her hand on Joan's shoulder "Rushing him isn't going to fix that. Come now, we've waited this long, holding our breath a moment longer won't hurt anything."

Realizing what it all came down to, you felt your heart pounding harder than you could remember. Your mouth had gotten dry. You had been open and **** before, but this was the real moment; the one time you really had to bear it all.

"When I went to talk to Trevolia the other night, she said something that I don't even think she caught, and once she did, my brain wouldn't let go of it. Nothing I could do would make me move on, and so I took matters into my own hands."

"Okay..." Trevolia was agitated still, obviously, but still had a moment of curiosity, "What did I say before or after sex that caused you run away and risk your life without telling us?"

"You called yourself my wife, Trevolia" Clodagh and Lita, already being the more emotional pair, already started to shift. Clodagh's rough hands covered her mouth in surprise. The Princess started to feel confused and conflicted, not fully recognizing the moment.

"I-I did?" She asked, absorbing the information while still angry "I..I don't remember that. But, what does that have to do with anything? How does that lead to all of these lies and you coming home looking like ass?"

"You can blame me, my dears" Denethil spoke up "The young lad had an idea, that I worked through with him. He's here looking like a mess because my work doesn't come cheap, and he decided you were worth it."

Eyes all around started to water, though you weren't sure they were all from happiness. Joan was in fact bordering on furious. "Oh sure, putting his life on the line for his favorite. He'd do anything to be able to afford a ring for her."

"No, my dear" The dwarf's words grew louder and more clear "He put his life on the line because he decided that you were all worth it..." The craftsman reached behind his counter with both hands. Gingerly, he pulled a hefty work cloth, upon which were held 5 identically styled silver rings; each of them containing five stones embedded within them.

You smirked at him gently "you said you needed the funds up front."

"I knew you were good for it, lad" He chuckled back "when these ladies couldn't find you, I had it right to suspect you were off trying to solve this as quickly as you could." He shook his head slightly "Oh, the impatience of the young. So much of your lives ahead of you, and yet you act like each day is your last, and it looks like that was nearly the case for you, eh lad?"

"Oh" You looked down at your tattered clothes "Ya, had a bad run in with a Chimera"

"What!" You heard a flurry of female voices shout out nearly simultaneously. Clodagh had gone a bit further, and rose to her feet.

"Silve, seriously? You, against a Chimera? Tell me you're joking. I'm about the most reckless one here, and I even won't put myself in that kind of fight if I didn't have to. You're not exactly Taraz the Terrifying, you know."

"I had help." You reassured them "Well, really, I was the help. Allemare and her friends were there, and I made a minor contribution."

There were wandering eyes at that name. Lita, for a change, had something to say "Well, at least you went off with some noteworthy heroes, and made it back in one piece, but, well, there's still a lot of concerns."

"Ya," Joan piped up, on the verge of a breakdown "Like what in Ten Hells are you thinking? What's with the rings Silve!?" Her voice quivered, her practiced indifference haven fallen away "What were you going to do with them? Surely you're not thinking..."

You put your hands on her shoulder to try and calm her down "I am, actually. Please, allow me this"

You take each of the rings in your right hand, before plucking a solitary one and holding it between your thumb and index of your left. With a few small steps, you were immediately in front your beloved Trevolia. Her face awash with tears, her breathing heavy, she was far from the public display of beauty she would want. She was still the most beautiful being you'd ever met.

"Trevolia, I know that things didn't go the way we planned" You began

There was a nervous laugh before she cut you off "Oh you horses's ass, we didn't plan anything"

"Right" You nodded and chuckled along "Still, things aren't the way we would have wanted to them to go. I've put you through a lot of trouble, a lot of hardship, and a lot of uncertainty. I'm sorry for that, I'll always wish you could have had the life you really deserved, but I'm so thankful that we've stuck together through all of this. I've tried my best to undo the chaos that I've caused, and I'll always love you." You took a small moment to breathe "I..I loved since we first met, you know. Even as little kids, I thought you were the most amazing girl in the world, and after all this time, that hasn't changed. I want this to last forever."

Extending your hand forward, you offered up the wedding band to the princess of Shoza, who graciously took it, through her open, happy sobs. The other ladies were in different manners of disarray as well, witnessing and sharing the emotions.

"I...I don't know what to say" She began as she got her act together"Other than sorry for looking like a mess and crying. This is just...I don't know. I guess I said yes before I even asked, hadn't I?"

"I guess so" you nodded along, smiling more than you ever remembered.

"It was always you, you know. All of the balls, the seasonal celebrations, the noble gatherings. After all the princes from all of the courtships, you were the one I always wanted. You're the only one treated me as an actual friend. I called myself your wife, because that's what I'd wanted for so long. In the quiet and dark nights in the palace, I could see it. Choosing you, choosing this, choosing my own life is more valuable than all the gold and artwork in all of the palaces of the world, even with everything that comes along." Her eyes looked over at the other women, and with a slight nod of her head, expressed all that need to be said.

You turned to Joan, who was the most physically shaken. She couldn't bring her eyes to meet yours, and looked almost angry with you.

"Silve, have you lost your mind?" She asked "Asking to marry multiple women? and worse, you want to marry me?"

"Well, yes" You answered calmly as you grabbed another ring, "Why shouldn't I?"

"Because this is insane!? Four wives, really? And besides, lets remember what happened. I've done nothing but pull you away from her. She's your true love Silve, I'm just a dark imposter and a saboteur."

"I don't know about that" you put your fingers under her chin, gently guiding her to look up at you "Without you, we wouldn't be here together right now. You risked your life for the two of us countless times, and all you ever asked for is a few coins and trying to get in my pants. You're selling yourself short, especially for a mercenary. Why are you beating yourself up about this?"

Joan's eyes swayed rapidly between the two of you "Because I was jealous of her! of both of you" Letting it all out started to break the strong rogue's spirit "I know I'm a backstabber and a scoundrel, and I deserve to be alone, but you two...I wanted so badly to shove her out of the way and take her place. After the event in Yokono, it was clear that wasn't going to happen, so I sharpened up. I still did what I did Silve, including what I did before we met."

She swallowed and looked down for a second "I'm not a good person. Some of it's the hand I've been dealt. After the war, Drow aren't high on anyone's trust list. You never seemed to care though. I gave you every reason to make me leave. You're smart, and resourceful, you could have found someone else, but you never did. Never even threatened it. That's more than anyone else has given me Silve, and more than I frankly deserve, and I have to know why? Why are you doing this?"

"Because I love you" You smiled softly as you answered, a most confident and genuine tone passing past your lips. You gently placed the ring in Joan's hands, which sprung on it like a trap. The drow lept to embrace you, her lithe arms struggling to wrap around your larger frame. With her head in your chest, you could hear her sobbing, with small attempts to apologize in between breaths.

Lita approached with slow, quiet steps, and a beaming smile. She placed her hand on your upper arm, and looked at Trevolia before fixating on you "Silve, Trevolia, everyone. As I see it, I owe you all my life. I cannot put into words how much you all mean to me. This is the only family I've ever had, and I want to keep it like this, with all of you. I will gladly be all of your wives."

Clodagh, who had been fairly quiet also let out nervous laughter "I'm still lost on how you survived that Chimera." a slight chuckle filled the room "I didn't think I was going to feel like this again, I really didn't. I found my soulmate, and we were going to stick out until the end. Unfortunately, Vinaran's end came much shorter, and I couldn't handle that. Not until I met you Silve, and the rest of you. The world's a far less cruel place now that you're in it. If I were to say no to you, I don't imagine I'd be able to say yes to anyone else ever again."

With a room of yesses and strong feelings, the other women came in for a larger, group embrace. Not a word was spoken; none needed to be. Enough had already been said. This was it; this was your family now, and that was enough.