All characters in sexual situations are 18 or older. Thanks for reading!
"Who are you, exactly?" Vel walked over to one of the armchairs and sat by the roaring fire. He did his best to avoid gazing at the mercurial abomination that was Discordia. Hekate was beautiful, but the way she triplicated over and over wasn't much easier to look at. He turned his attention to the small, strangely dressed man. "What pantheon are you from?"
"I'm from a pantheon in a world that diverged from yours. There, a single god tries to rule all. But he is beset by anger, hypocrisies, and vanity. I am the brightest of angels. The Day Star, kindler of freedom." Day Star smiled.
"What is an
angel
, then?" Cassia carefully walked over and stood next to Vel, placing her hand on his shoulder. She dared not sit for fear that she'd leave a puddle of sperm on this deity's chair. It was bad enough that she could feel it slowly sliding down the inside of her legs.
"An angel is a servant. A kind of... valet. To carry out orders, but not to question. Never to question." Day Star looked off into the fire in deep thought.
"You sound bitter." Vel got a sense of Day Star. He'd known others with grandiose opinions but without the station to actualize them.
Day Star laughed. "Well, I have an axe to grind. That is true." He looked back over at Cassia with a glance of innocent appraisal. "But you should be grateful for that. I know why your mother stands now. I know it is springtime where she cradles the future."
"What is he talking about?" Vel looked up at his mother.
Cassia's grip tightened on her son's shoulder. This creature was telling her that she would have her own son's child. And that this Day Star was responsible. Her heart went from anger, to gratitude, and then back to grief. She said nothing.
"Enough small talk." Hekate's voice sounded like three women singing in harmony.
"I hardly think the duchess's pregnancy is of small interest to any of us here." Day Star frowned and leaned back in his chair. "It is a sign of hope and harvest. And, of course, a disregard for the arbitrary rules of love set on high by --"
"That is enough of your pithy chatter, little valet." Hekate rose from her chair. She was short for a goddess, but beyond even northern standards of height. She stood at nearly nine feet, and her stola flowed down to the ground like water rushing over river rocks. "You don't need to know everything, but some things you must see." The goddess waived her hand and azure light filled the room. An image of a man on a throne formed out of the flames in the fire. "There was a man not long ago, the last ruler of the old empire. He accidentally discovered a channel of communication with the gods." Her trio of voices filled their ears with heartbreak.
"He was a clever man and asked for no boon. Instead, he sought to deceive." Hekate waved her hand again, and the mercurial goddess Discordia rose up in the flames, ever changing to a new form. "He sought to wrest magic away from the people, and cement his power for eons. He tricked Discordia, playing on her desire to overcome Pax. He helped her defeat the god of order and peace, and sent his ruined form far to the south. But unchecked, entropy and chaos are their own worst enemies. Discordia became ever more unstable, and this emperor tricked her into entrusting him with her power. Magic waned and a great war crashed upon the shores of the Surround. The northerners joined the rebels and the old empire fell." The fire blazed with the clash of steel and the screams of men falling on the battlefield. "Do you follow me, mortals?"
"The old emperor was responsible for the great drain of magic." Vel looked up at Hekate. She was one goddess, but his eyes could see flashes of three beauties overlapping each other. She was mesmerizing, but also discomfiting.
"When the new king entered Accipiter Cubitum Palace, he inherited Discordia and Pax's shrunken and divorced power," Hekate walked over to Discordia in the corner, but did not touch her. She looked with great pity at the goddess, who was many things and none at the same time. "I am the keeper of magic from times before Discordia and Pax made their truce. I found it was my time to step back into the role. I appeared to the new king and offered to return magic to the people. He declined and had his sorcerer build a tower to contain what he thought of as
his
magic. The tower was a ruin before it begun, but still he persisted. By accident, his failure crushed his niece to death. Her body happened to rest near the source and she was born as two, containing some of Discordia's power and some from Pax."
"So, the queens regent is actually the queen regent?" Cassia could see the pieces falling now. The queens had obviously killed their uncle and others to position themselves for power. It was a wonder they hadn't killed their brother or the princess.
"They are two, and they are one. But different than I am three and I am one." Hekate walked back to the fire and flames coalesced into a rising tower. "They seek to channel their power and complete their uncle's tower. The old sorcerer left plans that were almost correct. They figured out the rest."
"So, they finish the tower and become all powerful?" Vel rose from his seat. It was strange to stand and still look up at a woman. A goddess, he corrected himself. "And you've used this little guy." He nodded at Day Star. "To aid in reestablishing your magic through me. Why use Brynhild? She lies and prizes her own power above others."
"Do you question a goddess?" Hekate's one face turned to three, and they all smiled broadly. "Only those that possess some magic can see me. And I needed one as reckless as she. You are mostly right about the rest. Would you like to question my methods further?"
"No." Vel shook his head and looked to the floor. "So, we must destroy the tower before they become all powerful," he repeated.
"They are out of balance. I fear it may be worse than that. From that new, wicked tower a chaos may spread beyond my ability to check." Hekate waved her hand and the fire sputtered out, hissing. Smoke filled the room.
"And what of the other gods? Cannot Jupiter step on the queens regent?" Cassia had a strange feeling about the way the goddess glanced at her son. Hekate was sizing Vel up for something, and Cassia wondered if it would be a suicide mission. How could she wedge herself between one so powerful and her only remaining son?
"We don't often notice mortals. Our worlds are attenuated. I am here only because magic has been so affronted." Hekate's sweet melody of voices danced around the long room. Smoke lingered around her head, giving her an ominous aura.
"Well, that is the how we came to be here. What is the why?" Cassia neck hurt from looking up at the goddess. She was ready to have the deity's demand out in the open so she could refuse it. She would lose no more family to the queens regent and their mad tower.
"But you must know. The young duke has already said as much. You must destroy the tower." Hekate almost looked cross with Cassia, her trio of voices harmonized at a higher pitch.
Cassia snorted a laugh. "You would have the Tullius family dashed to the rocks like a helpless wreck. We are not your pawns."
"It's okay, Mother. We must." Vel put a calming hand on her bare arm.
The heat of Vel's touch diverted Cassia's alarm. "So, are we to sneak into the palace and frolic in the viper's lair?" Cassia would not normally have spoken thus to an ancient immortal, but her patience with life's tragedies had run out.
"You will have help." Hekate, moved over to Vel, reached down, and reached a glowing arm around his shoulders. "Come with me, mortal. We are needed under the dryads' forbearing gaze." She guided the duke toward a bookcase to their right. A door in the shelves opened. The warm radiance of a sunny afternoon fell into the room.
"Wait, what are you doing to him? Stop." Cassia moved toward Vel, but the faster she moved, the more she seemed to fix to the same spot.
"It's okay, Mother." Vel looked back at her and smiled. "Anyway, it's not like we have much of a choice." He stepped through the door and the shelves closed behind him.
Cassia put her hand to her belly. Would the life growing there be the last of Vel?
