53 Chapter 53 - There is Something About Mary

"Why do all of you immediately assume we need to have sex?" Mary asked seeming frustrated.

"We don't?" I asked unable to hide my disappointment which only caused the girls to laugh.

Mary shook her head, "For Megan no, we don't need to have sex, the work has already been done by the last mana wave, we just need to help her accept the changes." she explained.

My face dropped from disappointment causing another wave of laughter.

"Do not overestimate how much influence we have on the mana, it can make changes yes, but even with the influence of four emperors even simple changes could take months, drastic changes could take decades!" Mary told us with a sigh then as if it was an afterthought "You do need to sleep with Dena though. Her issue is a matter of perception, she can't feel like she really is your woman until you have been together. But that is for later." Mary told us.

Karen snorted. "Don't go pretending you don't enjoy sex just as much as the rest of us." she criticized Mary. "I still remember you sneaking in for some play time meant for the twins and Grace."

Mary coughed and blushed, "No one said I wasn't allowed to participate." Mary mumbled as her normally expressionless face blushed and she avoided Karen's gaze.

"Fine fine, I won't tease you anymore, but why did you let everyone else think that?" Karen asked.

"I wanted to see who was left." Mary replied then looked to me. "Remember this, when it came time to do the acts of a husband and wife, only we stayed." she told me.

I frowned. "That isn't completely fair Mary." I reminded her. Heather had seemed like she wanted to stay, but after what she had been through…

"No it isn't, but the world isn't fair either." Mary replied, "And I didn't say you needed to reject or push the others away, just remember that whatever happens from now on, those girls do not see you as their husband, not yet." she told me.

"Mary," Megan called out. "Was that really necessary? I know for a fact that Heather and Rebecca are almost ready, if it wasn't for what happened to her family I am sure Heather would be here right now, and Rebecca wants to be here but she has to watch the kids." Megan pointed out.

I frowned, Emily seemed old enough to take care of herself for a while.

"Rebecca took in Bryan when Heather collapsed, but even before that she was struggling. She is a good babysitter, but she was not ready to be a mother. She is trying of course, but…., let's just say she needed help." Megan explained.

I nodded, all of us had a big change in our life, some bigger than others.

"I know Megan, trust me I do, I was just telling him not to give up on Tracy before we came back." Mary replied. "I wanted everyone else who weren't ready to be his wives to leave. As I said before I have some things to tell Master, but I won't hide it from my sisters either."

"Sisters?" Grace asked with a frown.

"Sister wives." Calidia told her.

Grace seemed surprised for a moment then seemed to understand. "I hadn't thought of it... or us...I mean." she tried to speak and failed then stopped herself and took a deep breath. "I never really thought of us like that." she told us.

Megan chuckled then laughed as she moved over to Grace's side and hugged her. "Its fine, this is hard for you and I to take in, it will take some time for us to adjust." she comforted.

"What about Karen?" Calidia asked looking to my childhood friend.

Megan snorted. "She is in heaven right now so she doesn't count." she grumbled.

"We keep getting sidetracked." I pointed out then looked at Mary. "You wanted to explain?" I asked.

Mary nodded. "I do, but I have a condition if they stay." she told us.

"And that is?" Megan asked seriously.

"I would like Master to reinstate the martial bonds on us and add Trill and Dena." she told us all.

We were all a bit shocked by her demand. "Didn't we agree…." Megan started then stopped as she looked around the room at those who were present. "Oh, wait Trill! Are you sure about this? Once that bond is in place there is no turning back or changing your mind." Megan said moving to stand in front of the white haired woman. "You need to understand that before agreeing, there is no turning back once that bond is placed on you."

Trill frowned at Megan then looked around before stopping on me. "What is she talking about?" she asked me.

"It is an ability of mine, I can create magic bonds between people. The marital bond Mary wants is a permanent bond between us." I told her then explained what I knew of it. "I was intending to use a lesser bond, the one I currently have with Nala and Dena right now, until I was sure you were willing to stay." I finished.

Trill frowned then looked to Mary. "Is it necessary?" she asked her.

"For me to trust you with my secret? Yes." Mary replied. "If you are unwilling you can still leave, I would just ask you do not say anything about what we intend to discuss."

Trill considered it for a few more moments as her gaze wondered the room eyeing each girl before coming to rest on me again. "I admit that I am not completely convinced that you should stand above me, yet as you already have two empresses, and several potential empresses as your women I have to admit to your capability. It would be a long time before I could find another mate that matched you and I am not interested in flying that much. I will agree to this bond." she told me.

I nodded. I couldn't expect her to have any feelings for me, she didn't know me, and I wouldn't allow this if they hadn't explained how the beasts society worked. Then I looked around the room at everyone else, I didn't bother asking any of them if they were sure, I knew their answers. One by one I reinstated Calidia, Grace, Nala, and Mary's marital bond then I created a marital bond for Dena and Trill. I had to take a few moments to rest between making new marital bonds, but it wasn't nearly as bad as when I created the one for Jamie in the hospital.

When I was finished I didn't know what to think or feel. My two wives who had accepted the bond had grown to eight. I could feel them and their emotions almost as if they were extensions of myself. They were all nervous and excited, Karen was just full of lust and couldn't keep her eyes off of the other girls curves. If I wasn't aware of the fact that she looked at me with those same lust filled eyes, I would have to wonder if she accepted the marital bond just to get to the other girls. I think she and I would need to find some time to talk, and soon.

"So what is the big secret?" Megan asked as we all looked at Mary.

Mary hesitated for a moment then looked straight at me, I could feel her uncertainty and fear as she looked at me.

I walked towards her and pulled her into my arms hugging her close, "Its fine." I told her. "You are mine now and I will not let go no matter what you are hiding." I told her.

Mary sighed. "Tell me that again after." she told me sadly. Then she waved her hand and a space tunnel appeared on the wall. "Head through and I will tell you everything." she told me.

I frowned at her. "Is that wise? Doesn't one of us need to stay to keep the beasts and twisted away?" I asked.

"I will take care of that. You will understand when you get there." Mary assured me.

I was hesitant, but I also wanted to trust her. I didn't sense any deception from her. So I kissed her lightly which turned into a deeper kiss as she clung onto me desperately. Then she separated from me and turned away.

Nervously I took the first step into the space tunnel. It was a very long tunnel, much like the one Calidia had used to take the others to the haven. Whatever Mary's secret was I knew it had to be huge. 'Did you want the bond so I couldn't run away?' I thought to Mary as I walked along the tunnel.

'Yes' Mary replied simply. 'You do not understand plants yet, this bond has changed me in ways you won't be able to understand, I can not risk losing that.' she told me.

I had no idea why she was so scared that I would hate her once I knew her secret, but getting me to create an unbreakable bond between us before revealing it was a bit underhanded. If her secret wasn't game changing I was going to be pissed and have to punish her, repeatedly, until she couldn't stand in the morning.

Lost in my perverted daydream I reached the end of the tunnel and looked around for a moment. "Damn." was all I could think.

Initially I thought we had arrived in another world, but there was no sun despite how bright it was. Which meant we had to be inside a haven, as it was the only other option I was aware of. It was a fairly large haven, or at least I couldn't see its edge.

Straight in front of me was an enormous plant that towered at least a fewhundred feet above me. I wanted to call it a tree, but it seemed more like a giant tree sized bush, there were countless flowers of various colors, vines, thorns, and oddly shaped pods all over the plant.

When the others came through the tunnel they stopped and stared in shock just like I did. Calidia was the last to come though and after taking a single look at the plant her face turned pale then she collapsed onto the ground a look of terror on her face. "Green Death!" she mumbled then fainted.