Trying to determine where the sound had come from I turned from left to right, but doing this I realized it had only sounded in my head. 'Good, good,'
the voice now said, 'at least someone's thinking.'
The voice sounded special, as if the words were spoken outside and not in an enclosed space with a lot of fabric muffling the sound. Also, it was very clear, ringing was still the best description, and to be honest, rather supercilious, as if talking to a child.
'But my dear girl, to us you are still very much a child.' Whatever was
talking, it was also picking up my thoughts, which frightened me a little, but irritated me a lot!
'All right, reveal yourself, you've frightened Lukas very much, it's not funny,'
I said.
'You humans have such tempers, we were only trying to help. After all, you did free us from that filthy place, that bottom dweller playing with stolen powers, yuck. We very much prefer watching you three at it.'
Then it struck me: the statues. Elvish in make, besouled by their maker.
'It's gone now, your friends were too slow, and maybe better they were. It will be back though, or should we say, he? What is the use of bespelling your house to keep out intruders and hostile magic, if you keep a portal in your cellar?'
Put that way it did sound rather foolish. What I did know was that I felt very uncomfortable and, well, caught.
'Oh, you're such a cute threesome, why feel shame? Your horny lover is right you know, there's plenty of love to go around. Look, he's coming back, still frightened, and rightly so.'
And indeed, Lukas entered the bedroom, followed by Paul. Whilst Lukas went straight for my lap, curling up in my arms, hiding his face in my bosom, giving in to extreme fear, Paul walked to the statues with determination and spoke at them accusingly: 'There was nothing there, was this some kind of sick joke? Look at him.'
He pointed at our dear friend, who was beside himself, shuddering in my arms.
'Would you rather have slept and woken up with him gone?' said the voice in my head, and clearly Paul heard it too.
Lukas was no longer aware of anything, I truly believed he was in shock with fear.
'He left when you went downstairs, but he will be back. Your friend is worth his weight in gold with a gift like that.'
Those statues sure were outspoken, and to be honest their comments didn't help to quiet my concerns, and neither did Lukas' attitude, for in my mind cowering in fear never saved anyone.
Part of my mind protested that he had faced plenty today, including checking the cellar with Paul. Even the bravest soul had a breaking point, and this was Lukas'.
'Lukas, don't shut us out,' I pleaded, 'whatever or whoever that was, it's gone now.'
I felt him right himself a little, his head came up to look at me, and he said:
'You're right, this isn't helping anyone except maybe my father.'
Swallowing audibly he said: 'I panicked, but I'll be in control again soon.' But he did not get up from my arms, and I didn't want him to, I wanted to keep him close to me.
Paul spoke to the statues again: 'Thank you for the warning, we will certainly heed it.' Then to us: 'What shall we do? You need to be away from that portal, Lukas, but the question is, do we take you out of the house, or it?
I was planning to let George take it anyway to study it, this only speeds up the whole decision-making, but we do have tonight to think of.'
Lukas thought for a few minutes, then said: 'If it's my father coming for me, I'd prefer not to expose so many people to his wrath, or his seductive powers for that matter.
Frankly I'd rather it's just you, you're both strong and you know what he is.
So I'll just run over to the Nomes', I'm pretty sure Ilsa will welcome me to her bed.
And then we'll sort out the portal tomorrow.'
What could I say? That was Lukas, I was pleased he was my very own goat-man once again, and I supposed Ilsa would really want to give him some love.
Paul and me exchanged a fond smile, and then we watched Lukas dress.
Fortunately it was still early, so I was sure he'd find the family still awake.
I kissed him and said: 'Be careful.' He nodded and kissed Paul, saying 'If he does show up, please don't provoke him. He can squash you like a bug. He likes pretty girls, a lot, let Melissa distract him.'
And with that encouraging message he left.
And then Paul and me were left. I didn't think I would be able to sleep with the threat of someone breaking in our home hanging over my head, but I was really exhausted by now.
I asked Paul why I was so tired, and he replied: 'What you have been doing today, taking power from a ley-line and feeding it to Lukas, is much more profound than seeing into metal or shaping a fireball.
Remember how that tired you at first? All that power is passing through you, and you have to tame it before Lukas can handle it. Why don't you go to
sleep, I'll stay awake a little longer, and if nothing turns up I'll sleep too.
I guess our guests will wake us if something intrudes again.'
As I just couldn't stay awake anymore I snuggled against him and within minutes I was fast asleep. Though I didn't wake until the next morning I had a restless night, dreaming of a beautiful sunny coastline, with white rocks rising out of a deep blue sea.
I was sitting on a beautiful terrace overlooking the water, glass of sparkling red wine in my hand, celebrating with lovable horned friends, waited on hand and foot by an adoring host, tall and athletic, and with the face of an angel.
Of course I felt insulted, I thought I rated a more sophisticated priming tactic than that. I might be young, but I was not thát easily seduced.
What it did, was lessen my fear at the possibility of having to confront a god to protect my loved one.
But maybe that was his real plot, subtly encouraging us to underestimate him, then strike when we had convinced ourselves the danger had passed.
I was still contemplating this when Paul started to stroke me softly, distracting me instantly from my thoughts. I always wondered at the versatility of his hands, they could be as tender as this, making me feel every little hair on my body with their incredibly soft touch, but they could also hammer a shape in hard metal, or produce a tiny ornament, or pick up castings to hot for me to handle.
Turning towards him, I wanted him to stroke my breasts and to let his nimble hand glide between my legs.
But he took his time, feeling every curve and every muscle, even my arms and legs, as well as my feet, then upwards again towards my luscious bottom, finally stroking my inner legs, sending a thrill through me.
Then at last I got a kiss, but only a tiny one, and he was back to stroking again.
'Do you want more?' he asked huskily.
Of course I wanted more, he had my nerves screaming for more, so I said:
'Yes, please!' in his ear. 'Sit on my face then,' he said, 'and I'll give you everything you want.'
That sounded quite exciting, so I got up and did as he asked. The next moment he took hold of my labia and spread them to access what was lying underneath, and my passion sprang to overdrive by the expectation of what was to come.
And sure enough, when I felt his tongue touching me it was like a jolt of electricity, and a moan escaped me. He really dug in now, almost greedy, licking and sucking, with me still sitting up, nearly dizzy with the sensations assaulting me.
He couldn't seem to stop, even when I climaxed he went on, adding a few fingers, causing me to move along to feel them even better. A second high followed rather quickly, and now I hoped Paul was ready for some action of his own.
I let myself fall backwards on the bed, and pulled him over me, guiding his erect penis towards my mouth. Of course he enjoyed that very much, I could clearly see that, but I guess it still excited him a bit too much, for after a few moments he carefully removed himself from my mouth, and thrust himself in me with a grin on his face.
He reached out
for my breasts, arched his back so he could put one of my nipples in his mouth whilst being joined, which gave me a blissful jolt with every thrust he made.
I remembered feeling both sides of lovemaking one time with Lukas, and I wanted to let Paul feel that too, so I touched his mind to invite contact, and immediately felt a feeling of welcome wash over me, love, extreme heat, and a drive to thrust myself into the enveloping warmth, mingled with the exquisite jolts moving my own body.
He was clearly pleasantly surprised at experiencing my feelings as well as his own, and soon our senses mingled to one rising tide of pleasure and lust, almost impossible to separate, still rising until it broke free and we reached one shuddering climax.
Breathing hard, Paul let himself crash on me, trying out what he must have seen Lukas do. I welcomed him with open arms, always very happy to feel the weight and the heaving chest on me, and smell the intense lovemaking on my partner.
We had a few minutes still joined, and then he rolled to the side, and we kissed and embraced. 'Good morning love,' he said, 'did you have an interesting dream as well?'
I told him about it, letting my opinion on its simplicity shine through. He laughed and said: 'I had one like it, I was here, working and eating and sleeping on my own again, feeling devastated and lonely because you had left me for Lukas. I felt as insulted as you at being thought so easy to manipulate.'
'Are you afraid of the idea of his father coming to get him?' I asked.
Paul replied: 'Frankly I find it very difficult to imagine a real god, would he really be all-powerful? Lukas is so very human. Maybe they call a war-leader a god, or a great magician. Which would still make him rather dangerous, if he was really in our basement, we'd better watch out, but I find it hard to be afraid of someone I've never met.'
Since I felt more or less the same, I decided not to worry yet, it would not have any use anyway.
Chapter 45
Before we could bring the mirror to George, he drove by to pick it up, bringing another velvet cloth to wrap it up in, and a bright-eyed and happy Lukas.
He'd clearly had a good night with Ilsa, processing those horrible memories further.
The guys spent the morning working on their commissions, Paul obeying Lukas' rules about the hammering and lifting, and I sat at my desk and carefully drew a very detailed plan for the greenhouse, with all the relevant measurements, and included all the cross sections and a complete floor-plan separately.
That afternoon we went to the Nomes', where we spent the afternoon closeted with George and Tristan, studying the mirror, the three mages binding and sealing the portal in three traditions. Lukas and I just watched.
After that we healed another child, carefully anchored to Paul, and Lukas got his confidence back quickly. We made an appointment with Frances and George to set a date for our marriage, and Lukas taught all the children who wanted to learn to ride a bicycle.
There were only ten children left by this time, even Felicity had been taken home by her parents, a loving couple travelling by coach for the first time in their lives.
Tristan had set his influence to work to find Laura a place, and Lucy had found some peace in the Nomes' stables, among the horses, the ponies and the other occupants of a stables, such as cats and dogs and pigeons.
Bertha seemed to like her, a logical consequence of their mutual love of horses probably, and going on exciting rides with the tiny carriage gave the traumatized girl some happy memories within just a day.
Discussing his future with Jonathan, he told us he'd like to stay with his little group until they all had their memories back and a place to go, then visit his parents, who had written and wanted him to come home, offering to fetch him as soon as he was free to go.
But Jonathan wanted to take the opportunity Paul had offered him, of moving in with us and learning magic from a master, returning to the city after his intended visit with his parents. As long as he was staying with the Nomes', he was of course getting his first magic-lessons from Paul, and as much support and love as he needed from me.
The following week went by much the same, we worked on commissions and the greenhouse plans in the mornings, healed a child in the afternoons.
I went out once for an inspection of building materials for Fritz, the architect, and uncovered a few faulty beams.
I still had weird dreams at night, which bothered me quite a bit for I had hoped the influence of Lukas' father on my mind would stop with the portal removed from the house and bound by strong magical seals. The dreams stayed unsophisticated, but they did progress to an unnerving level of intimacy, from holding hands with the beautiful man whilst exploring his beautiful villa on the second night, to exploring his territory from his arms, seemingly flying over the area surrounding his abode, held safe and sound whilst the ground flashed by beneath us.
This was the third night, and I remembered Hermes was the messenger of the gods, his speed legendary. I found it hard to talk about these dreams with the men, for I didn't want to scare Lukas with them, and the thought of discussing them with Paul was just too embarrassing, I didn't want him to think I'd fantasized them, so I kept them to myself.
Each night they became more intimate, until I was having exquisite sex with a strange, beautiful man at night, a man who promised me I would become a goddess for real once he had managed to gain entrance to our world to take me with him.
Of course I knew they were just imaginations, sent to me to undermine my will and break my resistance before I could even think of using it against him.
I decided to think of Hermes as being as unsubtle as his sendings, and to prepare my defence accordingly, undergoing the dreams without a smatter of resistance, seeming to even welcome them, showing signs of admiration and enjoyment.
That was really hard to do, for I felt like an adulteress even though they were just dreams and fantasies, but he was clearly quite powerful to be able to send through three different kinds of spells and the shields on Paul's house, and I wanted him appeased and underestimating me if he ever came through the
portal.
It did affect my love-life somewhat, it was hard to enjoy being loved with one of those dreams still clinging to me like a slightly smudgy memory.
The boys seemed distracted too, both working on their new commissions every spare minute, thrown together by my distance, it seemed. My favourite contractor had indeed stepped by, and after seeing the shop and the handiwork within it had immediately put in an order for several boilers with very specific ornamentation, one of which I secretly suspected was to be his own.
He also wanted a bicycle, and since Lukas wanted to make one as well, Paul and Lukas spent some time on making moulds for several parts, and ordering materials for others.
Besides all this, I had a hunch that Paul was working on a gun, having been out alone a few hours and sitting at his desk drawing for an hour afterwards, and not wanting to show me what he had drawn. I didn't like the idea of having such a deadly weapon in the house, but at the same time I realized that it might be our only defence if it came to a confrontation with Lukas' dad.
The week seemed to creep by, my feeling of loneliness grew and my upcoming marriage seemed more like a sham than an event I was looking forward to.
Tristan had come to dinner and we had spent a lively night, with Lukas cooking and Paul and Tristan playing chess on the kitchen table.
The two mages had become quite friendly over the week, having met several times over business, concerning the future of the factory and the planned school. And they had also met at the Nomes', for Tristan was a regular there now, dating Ilsa and helping out with the healings and placing the children who had nowhere to go.
This was probably what endeared him most to Paul, for his concern for the welfare of those rejects was real, and he acted upon his concern and used his leverage within the council to improve their lot, and that of other rejected children in the city.
Having made his next move on the board, Tristan now s
aid: 'I want to thank you for your advice concerning Ilsa, Melissa.
Being loving but not in love did the trick totally, we have a great time, we even make love, but we have not discussed a future together or even the subject of love even once.
Should I start it, I think I would lose her instantly, so I guess I'll just play along and appreciate what she's willing to give me.'
I could tell he was a bit bothered by this, but frankly I didn't feel up to giving any more advice with my own feelings so disturbed. By now I desperately wanted advice myself on how to cope with those erotic dreams, I didn't dare tell anyone for fear of giving away my own act to my one-god audience, but I was feeling the distance with my loved ones more and more.
Fortunately Paul stepped in, and said: 'Give her more time, Tristan, it has only been a week and she has suffered a great deal for love. She'll get over it, I know her really well and she truly likes you. Ask her about her past, it might do her good to tell you.'
The visit was a nice change from our evenings together, when I felt the strain of my forced 'unfaithfulness' worst.
We used to have such comfortable, quiet evenings, and now Lukas often fled to a dance, and Paul worked on his gun, openly, sitting in the living-room with a leather apron and a file. He didn't seem put out or angry, just his usual way of keeping silent until the one with the problem was ready to talk about it, whilst I would have loved it if he had started a conversation, risking exposure of my plot to feel happy again.
At night he held me close lovingly, as if supporting me in my struggle but not able or not willing to ask for an explanation.
When Friday arrived I was relieved, for I hoped to be able to confide in my dad about the possible confrontation ahead, and the strain the continuing act was putting on me.
With Paul and me cycling again and Lukas walking along in quite a fast pace, but not yet running, we arrived at my parents' in good time. I knocked on the door and my mum opened it, welcoming us inside.
When we were in the living room I told them: 'Mum, dad, this is Lukas Hermeides, a very good friend of Paul and me, whom we would like to take along with us tonight.'
Mirror Bound Page 39