The Truth of The Lie

First thing, Mark, Sam, Allie, Isa, and Laura did was drop off the supplies that Sam had picked up the other day, at the barricade, finishing that quest. Mark and Sam also did a flyover using their breath weapons to ease the pressure on the barricade. After some discussion, Mark, Isa, and Laura decided to stay and farm the cow-girls for XP. Sam and Allie wanted nothing more to do with the cow girls and did a few more fast quests before stopping back at the church of Cassandra to see how the progress on cleansing the idols had gone.

Petra greeted the two of them at the entrance of the building. “Heroes, to what do we owe the pleasure?”

Sam shook hands in greeting and said, “We wanted an update on the idols. We were told that Ethel’s return would accelerate the progress.”

“And it would, if she were here. I’ve been told she’s been informed about the task, but she has not come here to assist yet. Right now, I believe we will have the first idol cleansed sometime tomorrow. The second idol could be three, maybe four days. If you could go speak with Ethel and convince her to return here and assist us, that would be most beneficial.”

“I see. Thank you for telling us. Allie, let’s go find Ethel. Petra, any idea where she might be?”

“I was told she is still on the palace grounds, but beyond that, I don’t know.”

“Thanks, we’ll take our leave then.” Allie and Sam returned to the palace and began their search for Ethel. Allie initially wanted to follow her nose, but Ethel’s scent was everywhere here. Before finding Ethel, they found Talia, Sadie, and Brooke all fairly **** at the bar.

“Whoa! Did you drink a whole distillery?” Allie asked.

“(HIC!) NO! BROOKE, HERE ISHH JUSH' LOTSH OF FUN!” Sadie slurred.

“yeaaa... (hic!) shadie here ishh... ishh like ree-ally nishhh. Talia, too.” Brooke leaned against Talia. “they caught me up on ev-ery-thin'... an' then shadie caught me up on what she'sh been doin' shinsh college. hic! we're havin' a BLASHT!”

Sam pinched the bridge of her nose. “Okay, fine, have any of you seen Ethel?”

“Nope!” Talia said, happily.

Allie nudged Sam and flicked her eyes up towards the rafters. Sam glanced where Allie had and saw Plummage Plunderer perched in the rafters, staring intently at the women below.

Sam flew up to the bird, who almost flew off until Sam hit him with her dragon’s aura. Sam sat on the rafters next to the bird. “Now, bird, I don’t know your name, but I do know you can understand me just like Bertha can. I need to talk with Ethel, and I’m sure you know where she is.”

“Oh, yeah? And whatcha going to do about it if ol' Plumage Plunderer don’t tell you?”

“Hmm… I’ve always wondered how sparrow tastes.”

“You’re bluffing.”

“Yes, I wouldn’t actually eat you. I need to talk with Ethel all the same.”

“Well, maybe she doesn’t want to talk to you.”

Sam reached out and grabbed the bird. “Ethel, I assume you are listening in through the bird. I’m going to be holding on to him until we talk. So either I can come to you, or you can come to me. Your call.”

“She says fine, she’s in the gardens.”

Sam floated down with Plumage Plunder in hand. “Allie and I are going to go now. Brooke, try not to get too drunk. You still have your transformations to deal with tomorrow morning.”

“Bye!” The three drunk women said cheerily.

Allie followed Sam out, “Are those three going to be okay?”

“I think so. Brooke has always handled **** well, so she should be okay.”

“What’s with the bird?”

“He’s Ethel’s. I’m holding on to him to make sure Ethel doesn’t run off. She seems to be upset for some reason, and I’d like to know why.” A few minutes later, Sam and Allie entered the gardens to find Ethel and Squeak waiting for them. Sam immediately let Plumage Plunderer go upon seeing Ethel. Sam sat on a bench across from her, and Allie leaned against a tree.

It was obvious that Ethel had been crying. She was petting Squeak gently. Sam let her sit for a while. Sam eventually broke the silence after several minutes. “Ethel, can you tell me what’s wrong?”

“Everything. Everything is wrong.” Ethel bawled, and she started sobbing again.

“What do you mean by everything?”

Ethel’s response came between sobs. “I… I… heard… Talia… and Sadie… tell that girl… all about everything… About… how my entire life… is a lie…” Ethel buried her face in her hands and sobbed. Plumage Plunderer landed on Ethel’s shoulder and rubbed up against her.

Sam and Allie didn’t know how to respond. Allie eventually said, “Ethel, I wish there was something we could do to make this easier on you, but I don’t think there is any way to help with what you’re going through.”

“Why? Why me?” Ethel said after another minute of sobbing. It seemed she had run out of tears for the moment.

“I don’t know,” Sam said, standing and moving over to sit next to Ethel. “We didn’t tell you because it seemed cruel, and we weren’t sure you would believe us. What makes you think everything is a lie?”

“Talia explained the contest you’re all in. Harem Hotel. While I was in captivity, I was given a journal, or maybe the journal found me, I don’t know for sure anymore. It detailed someone else’s life and her experiences on Harem Hotel. Sadie even confirmed that Mark and Mary are the same person to me while I was there. That this is all a game to my goddess. So I listened in to see if Talia would tell the same story, and she did.”

“A journal?” Sam questioned. “That journal wouldn’t happen to be Daisy would it?”

“So, it’s all true then?” Ethel asked with a plea that said she wanted Sam to say ‘No.’

“I’m sorry, Ethel,” Sam said, wrapping her arm around Ethel.

“Am I real? Or am I just another NPC?”

“I can’t say for sure, but I don’t think you are simply another NPC. You feel more like the named NPCs, which we know are being played by real people; at least we’re fairly certain all of them are real. We know quite a few of them are.”

“Like my fake mom, Empress, Maja?”

Sam sighed and nodded, “Yes. Like her.”

“Is Maja really one of six sisters?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Can you introduce me to Petra?”

“Um… sure. Can I ask why?”

Ethel shook her head. “I want to ask her something myself.”

“Well, I know she’s playing all the priestesses, so we can go to the church. That was actually why we were looking for you.”

“Yeah, to complete a fake task for your stupid game.”

“Ethel,” Sam said, holding both her shoulders. “Things might not be as you thought, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t consequences to real people from the outcome of things here. If you want, Allie and I will join you at the church.”

“Please, I don’t think I can do this alone.” Ethel practically begged and held Sam’s hand. They were about to stand when Cassandra entered the gardens.

Cassandra said, “Please don’t do that.”

Ethel, almost out of habit, averted her gaze and bowed to Cassandra, and then realized what she was doing and got up. “YOU! HOW DARE YOU TREAT ME LIKE A PLAY THING! MAKE ME WORSHIP YOU!” Ethel took a step forward to hit Cassandra, but her slap ended up missing as Cassandra teleported behind her.

“Ethel, please calm down. I’ll explain. If after that, you want to go talk to Petra… I won’t stop you.”

“Why should I believe anything you say to me!?” Ethel ripped off her holy symbol of Cassandra and threw it on the ground at Cassandra’s feet.

“Ethel, you might not remember it, but I raised you.”

Sam and Allie looked shocked. “She’s your daughter!?” Allie exclaimed.

Cassandra nodded. “In some sense, yes. I raised you from birth. Watched over you until you reached adulthood. You aren’t my flesh and blood, but you most definitely are my daughter.”

Ethel was in shock and couldn’t respond.

“If she’s your daughter, why is this the first time we’re hearing about that?”

Cassandra sighed, “Because I was hoping that fact wouldn’t surface.”

“I want to talk to my real mother,” Ethel demanded.

Cassandra sat down on one of the benches. “Please, Ethel, let me explain before you do that. Before you hurt your birth mother.”

Sam grabbed Ethel’s hand, indicating that she should sit. Ethel reluctantly sat and said to Cassandra, “From the way you are both talking, am I right to assume that Petra is her mother?”

“She is.” Cassandra nodded. “Please don’t let that leave this room.”

“Why not?” Ethel demanded. “Why can’t I go talk to her?”

“Because she doesn’t know who you are. Nor do any of her sisters, including Smug.”

Allie stepped towards Cassandra and demanded. “What did you do to them?”

“What Petra asked of me,” Cassandra said, exhausted. “Allie, Sam, you both have an idea of how bad their season was. Ethel, I know you read Daisy, so you should have an idea of what happened. Ethel’s sperm contributor was the Master of that season.” Cassandra closed her eyes and took a few calming breaths. “Ethel, Petra doesn’t know who you are, because she cares about you. We’ve actually tried a few times in the past to reintroduce the two of you. Petra has either tried to harm herself or you because of it. As for this world, your memories of this world aren’t exactly fictional, and Maja isn’t exactly your fake mother either. Though the role she’s playing here is. We needed a place to actually raise you. Maja doesn’t know you are her niece, but she did help raise you. All your aunts did, even Petra helped, to some extent. They just don’t know you are actually their blood relation. They think you are someone I agreed to raise for a friend. This is a recreation of the world we raised you in. The only exception is that Smug wasn’t there. A different Dragon threatened your world, and succeeded in doing something similar to what Smug is pretending to do here.”

Squeak climbed up on Ethel’s shoulder and, in plain English that even Allie could understand, Squeak said. “Ethel, Cassandra isn’t lying to you. It’s all true.”

“You knew?” Ethel asked, clutching her chest.

Squeak nodded, “Yeah, we couldn’t tell you. Sorry.”

Allie asked, “How could you not tell the others?”

“Because I love them,” Cassandra said, exasperated. “Allie, Petra wanted Ethel to live. She wants her to be happy. Petra can’t get over what happened, though.”

Ethel looked distraught. “You mean that I remind her of her ****?”

“Yes, and more.”

Ethel barely whispered, “Astrid.”

Cassandra nodded. “Yes.”

“What has Ethel got to do with Astrid?” Sam asked.

“Astrid is the only one who knows besides Daisy and myself. Astrid did something to try to protect Petra and Ethel, and I had to eliminate her for it. The thing is, I’m pretty sure, her sacrifice was necessary for Ethel to survive. It got that bastard to cross a line so I could get rid of him.”

Cassandra turned to Ethel, “I won’t stop you from meeting with Petra, but if you go, I ask that you accept all your memories back first.”

“How do I know I can even trust them?” Ethel replied.

Squeak answered her question. “Because they’ll be true. Plumage and I never had our memories tampered with. Because Cassandra isn’t lying, she raised you from when you were a little girl.”

Sam interrupted. “Okay, hold on a second, why can’t you just help Petra? You rewrote Talia’s history. You can alter us significantly, too. Why can’t you help Petra by just having her be able to accept her daughter? Or make it so that Ethel’s biological father was someone else?”

“Ethel is a product of the show,” Cassandra said, shaking her head. “I’m limited in what I can do because of that. Even with the season cancelled, I’m limited.”

“Is that why you were setting her up with Mark? To try and fix things?”

“Yes. Ethel, I made an agreement with you before. If you got to this point, you would have two choices. You can choose to remember everything, or I’ll alter your memory so you forget all about this being a lie. Which would you prefer?”

“I want to remember.” Cassandra nodded and waved her hand over Ethel. Ethel felt a wave of vertigo. Sam caught her before she fell to the floor.

Ethel looked up at Cassandra. “I… I see I choose to remember.”

“Yes.”

“So what’s going to happen to me now? Back to stasis until next time?”

“No.” Cassandra shook her head. “There isn’t a next time. You’ve been in stasis a while, Ethel. This is my final season. I’ll give you a choice: you can join Mark’s staff or his Harem, take the round to consider. I can already tell you that you actually like him. Do you want me to make you forget about Petra? You usually do.”

“Not this time. If this is the end, then I want to know the truth.” Ethel got up and walked over to hug Cassandra. “Thank you. Thank you for everything mom.” Cassandra hugged Ethel tightly. Then Cassandra vanished.

Sam and Allie were stunned at the exchange they just witnessed. Sam asked, “Ethel? Are you okay?”

“No. No I’m not. But this is different than a few minutes ago. Could you please respect Cass’s request? Don’t tell anyone else about this conversation. Even Mark. Especially Mark.”

“I’m not lying to my husband. Not about something important. If he asks if I know what’s going on with you, I’ll tell him I do. I’ll also tell him that it's your secret to share, but that will likely get him to press you for some form of answer.”

“Allie, I feel like Mark would understand you keeping this secret,” Sam replied.

“Really, Sam? Tell me, how do you think he would react if he found out I told him I had absolutely no idea what was going on with Ethel, when I knew exactly what the issue was?”

Sam considered that. He would be pissed. Well crap. “Okay, I see your point.” What would he want me to do? Oh, literally, what Allie told Ethel that she would do. “Okay, Ethel, I’m going to be doing the same as Allie. I’m not bringing this up to him, but I’m also not going to lie and say I don’t know. Just that it is your secret to tell, not ours.”

Ethel sighed, “Fair enough.”

Sam asked, “Are you seriously considering joining Mark’s harem? Willingly? I know you said earlier that you thought he was your destined lover, chosen by Cassandra, but… well…”

“The Ethel you’ve met was still very much me, but I probably know less than you think I do about all this.” Sam and Allie gave her a disbelieving stare. “I’m being serious. Physically, I’m eighteen. Cass halted my aging after my world was plunged into lust, and she extracted me from it. Mentally I’m… what is it now, Squeak?”

“Twenty-one,” Squeak said helpfully.

“And most of those three years have been with my memories being messed with over time. I’m not like my aunts who are apparently ~BEEEEEE~ [CENSORED] ~EEEEEEEP~.”

Allie looked at Sam. “Umm, she was censored for you, too, right?”

“Yes, she was.”

“Censored? What do you mean?”

“When you tried to say your aunts' ages, we just heard a BEEP sound. It’s what is used in our world during broadcasts to censor certain words from being broadcast. Typically, it’s for profanity, but it can be used for other things, too.”

“Huh. That’s odd.”

“You know…” Allie looked thoughtful. “I bet if you actually wanted to share that info, Talia could understand it.”

“I’m good, no need to embarrass those old farts.”

“We’ve gotten distracted,” Sam said, “Ethel, could you answer my question?”

“If I want to be with Mark?” Sam nodded, “I don’t know. Mo— I mean, Cass, doesn’t set me up with guys she doesn’t like. She also explained my options when I agreed to all this. I always declined to try to persuade the Master she picked to take me as part of his harem. Instead, I went back to stasis until the next time. If I went back this time, I would be transferred to another host, with whom I wouldn’t have agreements. Hence why she told me to pick his staff or his harem.”

“You don’t have a problem sharing your future partner with your Aunt?” Sam asked. “Possibly even Petra?”

“What?”

“Hilde is part of the harem. I think it is part of some scheme she and Mark have cooked up to help Astrid.”

“Hmm… That would be a little weird. I won’t dismiss it out of hand, though. Mark does seem decent enough. Mary was… interesting.”

“They are the same person,” Allie said, defensively.

“Maybe… They don’t act the same. Though I do see considerable similarities. I am pleased that Mary refused to take advantage of me when she easily could have for the other team’s advantage.”

“Speaking of that… will you help us?” Allie asked hesitantly.

“Yes. I’ll go take care of the idols for you. The first one should be cleansed today, I think, and the second one should be cleansed either sometime tomorrow afternoon or the morning of the day after, depending upon interruptions. I’m probably going to make myself scarce for a day or two. If anyone asks, I’m busy cleansing the idols. I have some stuff to think about.”

“If you ever need to talk,” Sam said, putting a hand on Ethel’s shoulder, “I’ll listen.”

“Thanks.” Ethel stood and gave both women a hug. “I’ll be off, please don’t tell anyone else.”

Sam and Allie nodded. Ethel walked off. Allie placed her hands on her stomach and looked sad. Sam asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Petra. I can’t even imagine what she’s going through. I’m absolutely giddy to be pregnant. To both desperately want to protect your child but also hate the very thought of them, because of who the sperm donor was, that must be ****. I just want to give her a great big hug.”

Sam hugged Allie. “Allie, I love you. You know that, right?”

“I do, but I think that’s the first time you actually said that to me.” Allie leaned and kissed Sam. “I love you, too. Just wondering, what brought on the confession?”

Sam pressed her forehead against Allie’s, “I’ve had those thoughts. I wondered sometimes what I would have done. I’m glad I never had to find out. I think just seeing your reaction made me realize I needed to tell you that.”

Allie pulled Sam in close. “Well, I’m glad, and if you ever need a great big hug, I’m always here for you. Now, shall we retire for the night? It’s sort of getting late, and I wouldn’t mind some alone time with my girlfriend.”

“You do realize that we are sharing the room with Brooke and Talia, right?”

“Right…” Allie got contemplative. “Talia isn’t a problem, really, and Brooke is supposed to get the rest of her TFs tomorrow morning, right?”

“Allie, under no circumstances are we doing anything with Brooke. I want to make this clear. She’s off limits to you.”

“Okay, okay. I’ve got plenty of hotties to occupy me anyway. I just thought you might secretly be harboring feelings for her.”

“Allie, she’s straight, and I’m not going to take advantage of her TFs to have her do stuff with me.”

“Okay, I understand.” Allie then slyly said, “I see you didn’t say anything about not having feelings for Brooke.”

“I kissed her a long time ago, okay. It happened exactly once, I wasn’t sober, and I wasn’t in a good place. I was just reaching out for any sort of intimacy at the time. She was holding me. The next day, she told me she wasn’t upset with me, but that she had no interest in me like that. So, barring her coming and telling me explicitly that she would like to experiment, that isn’t happening. If anyone fucks around with Brooke, I don’t care who, I’ll rip them a new one.”

“Umm…” Allie looked at Sam hesitantly, “You do know Mark is likely to fuck around with her literally at some point?”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

“Sam, consider who I’m married to. Now tell me I wasn’t justified for being slightly concerned that you were being literal.”

“That’s a fair point. That is the type of thing Mark would absolutely mean like that.”

“Well, since we aren’t doing anything with Brooke, shall we find somewhere private where we can have some fun?”

Allie found herself wrapped up in a dragon a second later and fell backwards, landing softly on the grass. “We’re alone here, right now,” Sam said, rubbing her scales against Allie, while pinning her by the wrists. Sam reverted to being a humanoid a moment later, still pinning Allie as she began to kiss her.

Mark, Laura, and Isabella had made great strides in farming the cow-girls. Laura and Isabella more so than Mark, but he made sure they were buffed and topped up, while throwing out breath weapons and attacking with his claws and tail as a dragon. They were also rather impressed with Arnelle. At one point, Laura pulled Mark aside, “Hey, so that farmer chick, Arnelle? She seems… I don’t know, crazy powerful. Like when she chucks that pitchfork of hers… I feel like I would rather take your breath weapon head-on.”

“I know what you mean. Apparently, she’s only like this on farm land, though. It’s actually why they chose this specific spot for the lure.”

“You think she’s a real person, too?”

“No clue, don’t want to know,” Mark said, shaking his head. “I have enough issues as it is.” Mark got quiet for a time, and they continued to grind XP. Mark eventually asked Laura, “I know she said she knew it wasn’t really my fault, but do you think Sam is going to blame me for Brooke?”

“No. Not a chance. Cassandra saying Brooke was getting added eventually made it clear that you just changed the timing and manner of her addition, maybe also her paths. I’m willing to bet that [First Mate] path would have been something else if not for you giving Sam that TF.” Laura got quiet and crossed her arms. “Mark…” Mark could tell Laura had an uncomfortable question for him. “Do you really think this will work? With all of us? Brooke makes thirteen. I’m willing to bet Ethel and your ex-girlfriend will both get added. Then there’s you and Freya. You still ogle one another all the time.”

“We do?” Mark asked quizzically.

“Yes, it’s really transparent. I’m just worried you won’t have enough time for all of us. That’s before we start throwing in kids.”

“Hmmmm… well, unless I get the ability to clone myself, I don’t know what to tell you, besides that I will try to do my best.”

“Think you might actually get that? Maybe make this split between you and Mary permanent.”

“Laura, please don’t take this the wrong way. I most definitely don’t want that. I’m pretty sure that would result in Mary ending up in my harem eventually.”

“Seriously?”

“I would give it a seventy-thirty chance, in favor of that, yeah.”

“Well, I’m hoping that you’ll be able to clone yourself, without those complications. Otherwise, this might get complicated.”

Isa ran up to the two of them and started to rub up against Mark’s leg. She had just used her shadow, clones, and wolves, along with the howl, and now the buff was down. Mark squatted down and ruffled her hair while saying, “Who’s a good girl? Who’s a good girl? That’s right, Isa’s a good girl.”

“ARF!” Isa let out a happy bark and wagged her tail. (ISA IS A GOOD GIRL! THE BEST GIRL! BETTER THAN ALL THE OTHER GIRLS!)

Laura let Mark play with Isa and went out to grind more cow-girls. Recently, the herd had been thinning slightly, and it was getting late. Laura went until Isabella’s debuff had worn off, and the Mark got in a final breath weapon, before they flew back to the palace for the night.

When they arrived back at the palace, they were greeted by Freya in the courtyard. “Welcome back, heroes. I hope today was fruitful.”

“I think it was,” Mark replied. “Can you tell me where the others are? Including Ethel?”

“Lady Winchester, Princess Harper, and Squire Alvin are in the bar. Wasted. Lady Garret and Lady Irving… are preoccupied with one another, in the gardens. Princess Ethel has gone to the church and is cleansing the idols. I’ve been told that she finished cleansing the Mad Cow-girl Idol about an hour ago.”

“That explains why the herd was thinning,” Laura muttered.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think that is the case.” Freya said, “We’ve gotten strange reports. Harper’s Haven is currently non-functional. The residents are… I don’t know exactly how to describe it, but they seem to be unable to have enough sex to sate themselves. Weirdly, it might actually end up as a blessing that Asherland was razed, as with that city no longer sending traffic further west, the spread of whatever the Champions of Smug did in Harper’s Haven is mostly contained.”

“Mostly?”

“There is a report that in the south, a small city is suffering something similar. Then there are some Mad Cow-girls who are acting differently now. Stranger still, there has been a report of a black dragon to the east.”

Mark raised an eyebrow, “What’s strange about that? I was over to the east.”

“The dragon was most definitely not you. At first, observers thought it was you and weren’t concerned. The first reports to reach me were sent before you left the capital, though.”

“Then it has to be Ellen, or Mary.”

Laura asked, “How could it be, Mary? She would need Sam for that.”

“I don’t know if that’s true. Ellen could transform into Sam; she gets lesser versions of our TFs, maybe Mary could copy that from her, that way.”

“Maybe? I doubt it, though. I feel like it is more likely just Ellen doing something. I mean, dragons are a sweet mode of transportation.”

“That they are. Thank you for the information, Freya.” Freya bowed and took her leave. “Laura, I’m going to take Isa here and retire to my room.”

“Have fun…” Laura looked like she bit back on what she was going to say.

Isabella said, “You were about to say something like don’t forget to use protection or something similar, weren’t you?”

“Uh… yes. Bye!” Laura made herself scarce.

Isabella shook her head. “Shall we, Mark?” Isabella looped her arm around his. Heading to their room for the night. Upon getting there, Isabella flopped down on the bed.

Mark didn’t immediately join her. Instead, he made them both hot cocoa. When it was ready, he slid the table over to the bed and pulled up a chair. He took the chair while putting Isabella’s mug in a place she could grab without getting out of bed. Mark sat in silence, sipping his cocoa, letting Isabella figure things out.

Isabella started talking a little out of sorts, “Mark… I’m pregnant.”

“Yes.”

“Allie wants me to marry her…”

“Also correct.”

“What am I going to do?”

Mark smiled at Isabella. “I’m going to assume marry your best friend, become a mom, and possibly marry me before you become a mom, but I think that’s a fifty-fifty chance.”

“Mark! I’m being serious!”

“So, am I. Isa, when Allie suggested that I propose to you, your immediate response was ‘No’.”

“I hope you’re not upset about that.”

“I’m not. While I would definitely be there for you and the child no matter what, I wouldn’t marry someone I’m not in love with. Now, when Allie asked you to marry her, your response wasn’t to say no, but to ask if that was something, that was possible. It wasn’t ideal timing exactly, but it isn’t crazy to pop the question when you find out your partner is pregnant.”

“But Allie’s wife?”

Mark reached out and took Isabella’s hand. “Isa, without this show, that is likely what would have happened eventually.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“If we were a throuple, the most practical solution would have been for me to eventually divorce Allie, and have you two get married as far as children are concerned. As the father of the children, I have clear rights, and then since you two would be married, you would also be able to be legal guardians of each other’s children.”

“And you would have been okay with that?”

“I think so. Is that something you want?”

“This is all so sudden… we’ve only dated for a little more than two weeks.”

“Yeah, but you’ve known each other for longer than I’ve known either of you. For more than half your lives. Let me reframe the question for you. Eventually, do you see yourself and Allie getting married?”

“I… I do.”

“Then you should tell her that. If you aren’t ready right now, tell her that too, tell her you’ll accept being her fiancée, but she needs to understand it might be a long engagement.” Mark frowned slightly.

Isabella couldn’t help but chuckle seeing Mark’s frown. “You’re a bit annoyed that Allie asked me to marry her so quickly after calling off the engagement with you twice, and the third time it still took two and a half years to get married. Aren’t you?”

“A little yes, but also not really. Allie and I had problems. You know that well enough.”

“Probably less than you think,” Isabella said, sipping her cocoa. “Don’t get me wrong, Mark, I did know, but Allie didn’t air all your relationship issues to me.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Also, thank you.”

“What for?”

“Allie told me that it was your encouragement and reassurance that convinced her to keep trying with me.”

“Really? First time I’m hearing of this.”

“Yep. It was mentioned during a therapy session. So, thank you, Isa.” Isabella blushed and hid her face behind her mug. “Do you feel a bit better about things?”

“About Allie’s proposal? Yes. About being pregnant? Oh HELL no! Mark, my mother is going to kill both of us.”

“No, she won’t.”

“Even if she doesn’t, how are we supposed to do this? Also, what about my career? This could end my career. I was just about to get my big break, too.”

“Isa, I have a question. If you could perform but weren’t paid, would you still be happy?”

“That isn’t how it works.”

“Isa, why not?”

“Because the types of performances I’m looking for, the types that draw in crowds, are all competitive and paid.”

“Could you answer my original question, please? If it wasn’t a job, or career, if you weren’t paid, but could still entertain people, do the shows that you want to be a part of, would you be happy?”

“Yes, but I don’t see how that matters.”

“Princess, I think you would be surprised at the various doors that are open to you now.”

Isabella raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”

“First, Ellen has connections. Second, both Talia and Ellen have an obscene amount of money. I think Sadie does too. I’m not saying we simply buy you roles or anything, but we could simply fund our own shows. We can simply make the opportunities, hire other dancers, and put on the shows ourselves. Moreover, we can put on the shows you actually want to do, instead of whatever happens to be available.”

“And Talia would be okay with that? Isn’t that taking advantage of her wealth?”

“Wealth, I gave her. Wealth that will be mine when I eventually marry her.”

“She could demand a prenup.”

“Isa, that’s not going to happen, and I think we both know that.” Isabella nodded. “Also, I don’t know how these pocket uteruses Cassandra put in place work exactly, but it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that a lot of the unpleasantness of being pregnant will be sidestepped.”

“Okay… but still. Mark, we’re going to have a child together.”

Mark put his empty mug down on the table and moved to sit next to Isabella on the bed. Mark wrapped an arm around Isabella. “Isa, you’re going to be a great mom. So is Allie. We’ll raise these kids together, and we’ll be okay.”

“How are you just okay with this?”

“Isa, I was prepared to become a father. So it’s a bit less of a shock to me. I’m also going to have double-digit kids, and not a low double-digit either. That does scare me some. Honestly, what worries me right now isn’t the fact that you or Allie is pregnant. It’s that you both might be having a litter of pups just like wolves. Maybe even having accelerated gestation like wolves.”

The color drained from her face. Isabella gripped Mark’s arm tightly and almost hysterically asked, “Are… are you saying I could be pregnant with half a dozen children?” (I can’t handle that, please don’t let that be true.)

“Maybe?”

~Ping~

Mark pulled out his phone.

Cassandra: She has just the one.

Mark showed Isabella the message and saw her visibly relax. She let go of Mark’s arm and lay back on the bed. (Thank God. One is fine. I can manage one.)

Mark smiled, hearing that from her, even if she didn’t realize it.

“Mark, are you really okay with the fact that we’re going to have a child together because of a mistake?”

Isabella heard a low rumbling growl from Mark’s chest as he climbed on top of her. “Isa… it wasn’t a mistake. Was it a fluke? Maybe. I want to make one thing clear, though. It wasn’t a mistake. If I hear that again from you, I’ll set your pregnancy chance to 100% and show you just how much I was fine with breeding you. Maybe I’ll give you that litter of six.”

Isabella’s eyes went wide, and she bit her lip and rubbed her thighs together. (Damn, that sounds hot.) “You wouldn’t!” Isabella exclaimed.

Mark ran his hands along Isabella’s sides, “Do you really want to find out? Because your body wasn’t objecting.”

“Mark, stop.” (This is hot, but scary.)

Mark got off of Isabella. “Okay. I’m serious, though, Isa, it wasn’t a mistake. Both of us were okay with the chance, and I know both of us were aroused at the idea of me breeding you. So, seriously, don’t call it a mistake. At worst, it was a happy little accident.”

Isabella nodded. “I have to ask, you seemed rather aggressive about that. Why?”

“Because I have a new hoard, and you disparaged part of it.”

Isabella looked truly confused. (What the fuck is he talking about?)

“I might have a hoard of mothers now. Specifically, mothers of my children.”

“Ah.” Isabella thought about that and seemed oddly contented. (So, he considers me his now… I like that.)

“So, what would you like to do?” Mark asked.

“Nothing. A whole lot of nothing.”

“Sure. Would you like me to hold you while we do nothing?”

“Yes, please.”

Isabella and Mark took off their gear and snuggled up under the covers. Mark just held Isabella for a long while. He didn’t notice when she had drifted off to sleep. He leaned over, kissed the top of her head, and closed his own eyes soon after.