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That night the five of us camp out under the stars. It can best be described as a "lovey dovey" night -- for the ladies and I are all tender with relief at the outcome of this adventure. But late at night, under the high moon, I leave the tent. I move to where Gunther keeps watch.
"I am troubled, Gunther." I say.
"About what?" he replies. He is in his scholarly mood as well.
"In the eyes of my villagers, these ladies are supposed to be dead and eaten."
"But now the dragon is dead?"
"That's the problem. She isn't, is she? She is defeated, but not dead, and I have no dragon body to show off. Instead, the only 'corpse' I have is my own Dragon Machine, which is so badly damaged that I'm not sure we can disassemble it.
"What do I tell the villagers? What do these ladies tell the villagers?"
"The truth?"
"What? That I have been secretly abducting beautiful young women for ten years, and selling them into slavery? That with these last three and I have been having wild parties for the last couple weeks? And now, the party is over?" I shake my head. "This is messier than I anticipated, Gunther."
"I see what you mean." he says. We both sit in silence and watch the moonlit spring night pass.
Chasta comes out, "I'm restless tonight. Can I relieve someone from a watch?" she asks.
"No, but you can help me think about a quandary." I say, and I explain the problem.
"Ouch! You... we... do have a problem." she sits beside me and strokes the back of my neck.
After some thought I say out loud, "There are two straightforward solutions: I can treat you as I have treated the others before you -- send you off. Then some months later I can tip some village adventurer to investigate the lair, and have him discover that the dragon is now gone. Or, I can give you ladies amnesia, and leave you in the lair. Then I can rescue you, and you can go home."
She snuggles a bit closer, "Neither sounds good to me." She looks up at me. Her face says she has made a big choice. She kisses me lightly, "Baron, I want to stay at your side. I am now your woman."
I kiss her back, "I'm gong to let my male ego have a field day on this one: It was destiny, my dear." We both laugh.
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