The dragon's harem

Arad, Roberta, and Gerald finally reached the forest house, seeing the workers hammer the fences around the large garden. "ARAD!" Aella jumped from a tree with her bow drawn, "Who's the two with you?" Her glares quickly shifted between Arad and Gerald.

"Calm down. Gerald needs a wheel fixed," Arad replied.

"The butcher of Sylvehime?" Aella pulled an arrow, "I'm not that patriotic, but that man spotted me hiding,"

Gerald looked away, "Sorry, it's just the old habits," He sighed.

"He's a retired knight," Arad looked at Aella.

"We elves live far longer than humans. He led several skirmishes and battles against the elves." She glared at Gerald, "When he got captured at Sylvehime, he escaped after murdering more than a hundred elves,"

"I said sorry about that," Gerald sighed, "You elves are the ones who attacked first. Why would you send a disease-filled ship to the capital?"

"I'm no noble, but I'm sure that ship never had any disease in it when it sailed. We elves don't resort to pity tricks. We live long enough to know those things never work," Aella replied.

"But your kind did it anyway," Gerald replied, "And even worse, you never answered our letters about it! We never attacked you for ten years and only seek answers, but you never replied,"

Aella lowered her bow, "From what I heard in the elvish capital. Those letters were littered with insults to our kind. I bet the higher started preparing for war after reading them,"

Gerald scratched his head, "Are you insane? We spent five months discussing the best wording to not trigger a war,"

Cain and Roberta kept looking from one side to the other, and it then clicked in Arad's head. [It's suspicious,] It wasn't a click. It was Mom.

"Excuse me," Arad said, walking between Aella and Gerald, "To me, it sounds like someone set you up,"

"Who's the idiot that will..." Gerald stopped, combing his beard, "We took that into consideration but dropped the theory. It was an elf that delivered the letters, and he told us that your people weren't happy,"

Aella blinked, "Wait, an elf?" She stared at Gerald, puzzled, "The one who brought the letter was a human. He even spat on the face of the Yggdrasil maiden who received his letter," She scratched her head, "We even had a large protest to kill the messenger after that insult, but the maidens were selfless and said that he might be stressed or consumed by rage over the incident,"

Arad looked at them, "You never talked with the elves?"

Gerald shook his head, "Each contact ended in bloodshed," He looked at Aella, "Even the lady here would have put an arrow in my neck if you weren't with me,"

"He's right," Aella replied, "I didn't fire since Arad brought you here. Otherwise, I would kill you and her," She glared at Roberta.

"Heh? Me two? I'm not a fighter," Roberta gasped.

"It doesn't matter. You can't be with the butcher of Sylvehime and be a soft person," Aella replied.

Arad remembers how Roberta fought the bandits, ^She has the spirit of her father,^ Arad thought, [Yeah, both her and her father are capable,]

Aella put her bow away, strapping it to her back, "Fine, you can stay, but don't think for a moment that you can move freely,"

Gerald smiled, "I know, I know, young lady can't trust me," He smiled, lifting his hands, "I only need to get my wheel fixed, that's all,"

Arad and Gerald walked toward Mira's bench while Roberta followed Aella.

"Stop following me!" Aella growled, and Roberta stared at her with a smile, "I just have something to ask about,"

"I don't have anything to tell you," Aella growled, "Go ask your people if you want information about the elves,"

Roberta shook her head, "I don't care about that, I have something to ask about this forest,"

Aella stopped, "What do you want?"

"As an elf, did you scout the forest?" Roberta asked with a smile, "I heard you people can't stand a forest unless you explore it,"

Aella nodded, "Yeah, I did."

"Then, did you see any black dragon nearby? He's a large one that can talk and is quite reasonable," Roberta asked with a smile, looking at Aella's face.

Aella froze momentarily, "I don't know what are you talking about. We won't be building a house here if there was a dragon nearby,"

"AH! I saw it," Roberta said with a smile, "Your ears twitched, and you tried to look away for a moment. You know about him,"

Aella sighed, "I don't know about him. You must be mistaken," She pointed to the forest, go and search on your own,"

"You aren't part of a dragon cult. Otherwise, you would have killed me, or at least tried to lead me away rather than sending me to search," Roberta replied, glaring at Aella with a smug face, "And considering that the city isn't informed about any dragon nearby. I guess he's hiding," Roberta walked around Aella, "Father is a fighter. It's my job to deal with people, and I know when they are lying,"

Aella pulled her dagger, "Take your father and scram,"

Roberta giggled, "No need to get violent," She smiled, "I can tell from your first respond that you know the dragon, and from the second that you know where to find him, you want to keep him hidden from the city,"

"You're wrong," Aella sighed, "There is no black dragon in this forest, and I've never seen a black dragon in the past hundred years,"

Roberta blinked, "That wasn't a lie," She took a step back, "How could it be, you just confirmed you saw the dragon I'm looking for, but you've never seen a black dragon lately,"

Aella realized how she could act. Roberta can tell when she's lying, but she is telling the truth as Arad isn't a black dragon. She can use that to her advantage, "Listen, I don't know any black dragon, I've never seen one lately, and I don't know any black dragon in this forest,"

"HEEE?" Roberta stared at Aella, taken aback, "You aren't lying, how?"

"You can tell when people lie?" Aella asked, she then noticed the faint golden glow in Roberta's eyes, "Detect lies! Magic?"

Roberta looked away, "Yeah, I learned it since it would be useful for me as a merchant," She sighed.

Aella scratched her head, "Divination magic is taxing, don't waste it by going around asking like this,"

Roberta replied, "I know, you don't have to tell me how I use my magic," She then approached Aella, "Now tell me, where can I find that dragon,"

"I don't know where you can find a black dragon,"

Roberta sighed, "Nothing. I only want to talk to him," She leaned on Aella, "I will hire a search party then,"

"Why are you so keen on finding a black dragon?" Aella sighed, "You will just get killed and eaten,"

"That dragon saved us from a bandit attack yesterday and only took a single gold coin as payment," Roberta look down, "I asked what he wants, and he said he was looking for a woman to bear his children and then left,"

^What are you doing Arad!^ Aella screamed inside her head.

"AH!" Roberta looked closely at Aella's face, "That the twitch. You know something!"

"NO!" Aella growled, "I just..." She looked down, "Fine, me and Arad are trying to have a child, but we aren't having much luck. You just tickled my frustration,"

"You two are married?" Roberta asked.

"Not yet. It might hang on me getting a child," Aella answered, and Roberta looked a bit sad, "Elves find it hard to get pregnant from humans,"

"Do you have any experience to share?" Aella asked, trying to shift the topic from dragons to babies, anything to avoid getting Arad busted.

"No, I never had any relation yet," Roberta sighed, "I could tell at a glance that all people who approached me only wanted to take my father's wealth. That dragon was the first one to refuse money and show no care toward me,"

Aella giggled, "Yeah, let's talk about babies. You don't have anything that could help?"

"Babies?" Roberta stared at Aella, "I have clothes and other things," She pulled a paper from her pocket and started reading, "I should have something,"

"Gracie's spit. The elephant trunk ordered a shipment of a hundred bottles, I brought an extra ten in case anyone broke, and lucky, one survived the trip," Roberta smiled, "Only nine bottles broke, and mostly in the bandit attack,"

"Gracie's spit? I never heard of such a disgusting thing," Aella cringed.

"It isn't a real spit. It's a magical potion that makes people more active in bed." Roberta then explained, "The legends say that the goddess Gracie's spit did wonder on people. The potion is named after that,"

"Gracie's spit," Aella looked at Roberta, "How much is it?"

"Three gold coins," Roberta smiled.

"Expensive!" Aella gasped.

"Well, it usually goes from fifty silver coins to one gold coin." Roberta smiled, "I will sell it to you cheaper if you tell me about the dragon,"

Aella pulled three gold coins from her pocket, "Here you go. I don't know anything about a black dragon,"

Roberta took the money, "Thanks for the business. I will send it to you before the evening,"