“This is embarrassing,” Hymn hissed.
“Why? I’m doing it with you.”
“My mistake. It’s perfectly fine then.”
“Ever flown like a hawk?”
“Why do you ask…?”
Iorvil looked out across the railing, the lake, and focused on the Bridge of Oriel. She ran, picked up speed while Hymn cowered in her arms, and leapt off the bow of the Gustfin. While they soared through the air, free of the shackles of the earth, she let out a roar for everything she believed in. They were alive. The gods ought to know.
Splash
Hymn sunk like a stone wrapped in Iorvil’s arm, yet she’d never felt safer than when the giant grinned at her underwater. She wouldn’t hate drowning, if Iorvil did it alongside her. They could get a head start on their next lives and be reborn into new bodies. Grow up together. Marry. Grow old. Die. And then do it all over.
If someone had told her they’d met each other before, in another circle, again and again, she would have taken it as truth. Iorvil seemed too grand, too endearing, for a woman she’d only met days ago. Her blue eyes were far too familiar. And with each moment they spent together, Iorvil became more recognizable. They must have met in another life, surely.
When she worried they might actually be headed into a watery grave together, Iorvil swam for the surface, burst out of the water, and lifted her high into the air to breathe. The Gustfin rested on the meadow, an obedient pet that wouldn’t leave without them.
Iorvil laughed, dropped her, and caught her again in her arms as she plunged into the warm water. “You’ll make someone very happy one day, Hymn.”
“I…” Hymn stuck her fingers into the wet mess that was Iorvil’s hair, took in her features by touching, forgot the hideous scar, and found herself drawn to those full lips. “I want to make…”
She’d never feared for her life like she did the second she realized what she’d been about to say. She wanted to make Iorvil very happy, not someone else. Her heart pounded at her ribcage, like it needed to scream for her brain to hear it and accept what it thought.
Gale had brought the worst luck down on them by acting the fool, stumbling into an airship of all things, and getting her entangled in Furore’s schemes. She may as well accept that she’d never see her mothers, the tavern, or Caelora again. If Rhabour was kind to her, he would give her a chance to buy the tavern in another timeline, but it wouldn’t be the same. She wouldn’t have earned it through hard work.
“Did you change your mind?” Iorvil asked and teased her by sliding her arms out of her tattered shirt. “Should we find somewhere more private? They might see us if they look over the railing.”
“No, I…”
Damn the gods. If she was cursed to never return home again, she may as well cherish what she’d found. If love could use her as a pawn without permission, what difference did resistance make?
“What, Hymn? Are you cold? Is the water not to your liking?” Iorvil swam backwards toward the Gustfin. It wasn’t until she stumbled, and almost dropped her, that Hymn suspected the giant may be walking along the bottom of the lake. She didn’t know how deep it was. Only that it had felt deep to her. “Are you mad because I embarrassed you? I can embarrass myself in front of those two. There’s nothing like a good laugh at your own—“
Hymn dug her nails into Iorvil, tugged at her hair, and kissed her lips because she couldn’t fight the desire anymore. Iorvil slid her hands up under her dress, groped her, and inserted her tongue between her lips as if the only thing she’d waited for to ravish her body was for Hymn to take the first step.
She soon lay under the bow of the Gustfin, where the others shouldn’t be able to see them, with Iorvil on top of her and their legs in the lake. She’d like to think she’d surrendered to the god of time before she’d surrendered to the goddess of love, but she doubted they would care when they called on her.
In the moment, she only worried about exposing Iorvil’s muscular figure and tracing it with her tongue. She hoped no one would take offence to how she would sooner worship a mortal than a deity. At least she could tell Iorvil wanted her best.
Reversal
Gale watched Iorvil run across the deck of the Gustfin with Hymn in her arms before she cleared her throat, turned back to Phoxene, and remembered what she had to do. Phoxene rubbed her forearms while they clicked.
“I’ve been thinking.” Gale stepped closer to Phoxene but that only caused her to take a step back. “How about we go on a date?”
Phoxene tore her eyes off her arms to stare at her. At first, Gale expected her to do more than that, to speak, but no for a long time, Phoxene merely stared at her, blinked, and went right back to staring. Gale swore she could hear beetles scurrying across the deck.
The wind played with her clothes and Phoxene’s unkempt hair. She coughed and considered whether she should give up on fame altogether. Fate’s demands to fulfill her dream were rather unreasonable, and she didn’t know how long she could keep up this staring contest with Phoxene.
“Did you hear what I—“
“My body hurts after what you did to me, and I think you left a bite mark at the top of my back,” Phoxene said, and tried to get a glimpse of she mark she mentioned by twisting her head. “If you wish, I’ll bring us close to a town next, as soon as I can jump again, and you can find some whore there to date.”
“I don’t think that’s how they work…”
“And I don’t care.” Phoxene grimaced. “Leave me alone to mend my shackles. If you wish to be of use to anyone, you can tell your twin and Iorvil I’ll be leaving soon. If they’re not on my ship, they’ll be left behind. Or better yet, pack their things and leave with them.”
She couldn’t allow Phoxene to leave, so she had to think of something to encourage her to stay in this place until a day had passed. “How are you this unfriendly? I only want to befriend you, and you’re—“
“Anyone who claims to be your friend is only looking out for themselves.” Phoxene sighed, stretched her arms, and reclined against the railing in the stern. “Friendship shouldn’t have to be affirmed with words.”
“I love you…?” The words tasted phony on her tongue, and they must sound worse.
Phoxene gritted her teeth. “What is it you want, Gale? Speak honestly, I’ll listen. I’ll even consider your request, but do not insult my intelligence.”
“I…” Gale scratched her neck. If she’d been smarter, she would have wrapped Phoxene around her pinkie. She’d heard of seductive women who could do that. Pirates liked to tell tales about them, and regardless of how some of them had almost gotten killed during their encounters, the pirates had still spoken about them with a sense of nostalgia.
“I’ll think better of you if you’re honest.” Phoxene pushed her chest forward and turned her head just right so the wind picked up her hair and made her look quite dreamlike with the rolling hills behind her. “I might even reward you for your decency. If you tell me what you hope to accomplish, I’ll think of leaving the ship for a stroll by the lake with you.”
“My goddess…” She bit her tongue. Judging by the expression on Phoxene’s face, she shouldn’t even had admitted that much.
“The gods do not get to make demands of me.” Phoxene tapped her index finger against her lips. “But maybe they do of you? Are you an obedient follower, Gale? I thought you were a courageous singer. Someone who would spit in the face of Thotrix and Rhabour if they angered her. Someone worth spending a night with. Was I mistaken?”
“I’d totally do that!” Gale shouted, louder than she’d meant to. She waited for Fate or Furore to strike her down, but no bolt of lightning appeared out of the clear sky.
“Would you?” Phoxene smiled at her from between the locks of her hair. “Then, logically, shouldn’t your first act of defiance be to tell me the truth? They wouldn’t want that, would they? I believe the first woman who stood up to the gods successfully would go down in history as more than a singer. As
a hero.”
Phoxene encouraged her to see two different paths. One where she obeyed Fate, and the goddess gave her everything she thought she deserved. Another where she disobeyed and claimed whatever ought to belong to her through force of personality.
“While you ponder whether you should do the right thing or not, if I may be so bold, could you…” Phoxene pushed her breasts together, so they threatened to pop out of her gown. “Bite me where I can see the mark?”
“My goddess asked me to convince you to stay here, for a day!” She blurted out. The words may as well have acquired a will of their own, because she’d not intended to confess them as readily as she had.
“And why is that?” Phoxene straightened her back, stopped pushing her breasts together, and pulled her hair out of her face when the wind switched directions. “Did she tell you, or do you obey every command given to you without thought? You’d make a perfect machine, if you do.”
“She promised she’d make me famous…” Gale understood she’d been tricked, but she didn’t think she’d missed out on anything. She’d already left enough marks on Phoxene. And maybe this was the right path. Her mothers had done everything Furore wanted and more, and they’d almost gotten killed before they’d built their tavern. “If I kept you distracted here for a day and returned you to the empire.”
“A day, you say?”
Gale nodded. “Yes.”
Phoxene stood silent, once more, and stared out across the lake while lost in thought. “A day is no time. If I warn Iorvil, we might be prepared for a confrontation with the empire. I could run, again, but if a goddess brought us here through influence of bad luck, she might drop us in the middle of their capital next. I’m dead then.”
“So…” Gale breathed out in relief, elated, because she didn’t have to betray anyone. “How about that walk by the lake?”
Phoxene watched her like she thought of her as a weird creature from another realm. “Let’s fuck and feast. I believe that’s what Iorvil and her brethren would have done to pass time. Those would have been my people’s customs, if I hadn’t been enslaved. I’m not a romantic, Gale.”
“I could sort of tell from the staring…”
“You could? My heart pounded so, so hard in my chest at the sight of your beauty that I couldn’t focus long enough to formulate a response unless I calmed myself.” Phoxene battered her eyelashes. “I’m sorry if it caught you off guard.”
“Really…?”
“No, daft girl, it did not.” Phoxene interlinked their arms, lead her away from the stern toward the nearest staircase.
“But you do find me attractive?” She couldn’t recall anyone complimenting her appearance like Phoxene had just done. Most of the compliments she’d received had been slurred at her by drunkards, and they weren’t very charming.
“You’re not repulsive to behold. I make do with what I’ve got. Never thought I’d value the company of another woman, but you’ve proved hardy and full of energy. A goat that never quits.”
“Thank you...?” Gale supposed the compliment hadn’t been slurred at her.
“You’re welcome.” Phoxene grinned.
Gone
Late at night while Iorvil shared a bed with Hymn and watched her lover sleep, Phoxene descended the creaking stairs, whistled, and waved for her to come. Since she didn’t trust the woman, she grabbed her axe on her way out, but she didn’t wake Hymn.
If someone managed to sleep on the Gustfin, they might all be able to take advantage of it. Gale seemed to suffer from some affliction. Phoxene was surely plotting something, especially if she needed her in the middle of the night. And Iorvil couldn’t get a wink of shuteye if she had to share a bed with Hymn.
It had proved impossible. Due in no small part to how thin the beds were, but also because Hymn made her worry for someone else in a way she hadn’t before. What if something happened before she got the twins home? What if she did get the twins home and Hymn returned to her normal life like nothing had transpired between the two of them? What if… Her mind refused to cease its endless stream of unfortunate scenarios.
“I have to warn you,” Phoxene whispered when she stepped into the dining hall. “Gale has betrayed us. She made a deal with her goddess to return me to the empire.“
“Sounds like she’s betrayed you.” Iorvil picked a chair up from the floor, brushed dust off its seat, and sat. “Or are we brethren now that it suits you, Phoxene?”
“Would Rhabour appreciate it if you took this tone with your sister?”
Iorvil crossed her arms. Phoxene leaned against the wall by the staircase, fidgeted, and waited for an answer. She knew she shouldn’t trust Phoxene, not after what she’d done during their first meeting, but she couldn’t claim she believed she should trust Gale either. If anything, it seemed likelier they’d work together to betray her and Hymn. And even then, Gale wouldn’t do it if she loved her twin.
“How did you discover she’s betrayed us?” Iorvil asked. If she’d shouldered the mantel of Rhabour’s champion, she had to shoulder the responsibility that came with it too.
“She told me.”
“She told you? Gale’s betrayed us, and she tells you?”
Phoxene grinned, waved her hand dismissively. “What do you expect? She’s a daft girl. She doesn’t know her tails from her horns. Even if she’s an adorable dreamer, she’ll get us all killed if we’re not careful. If we do not prepare to meet this challenge.”
“I don’t trust you either.” Iorvil lifted her shoulder in a half shrug. “I could describe you in unfavourable terms too, and it wouldn’t make you look smarter than Gale. You got captured.”
“As a child!” Phoxene gasped. “How can you put that on—“
“I’m not blaming you. I’m telling you to speak kinder about our guests. You don’t know what the circles have forced on them. Why are you so sure it’s worse than what you’ve endured?”
“I…” Phoxene thought for a while before she pursed her lips. “Point taken. And I’m sorry. Gale did not betray us.”
“You’ll want to make up your mind about whether she did or not, or I’m going to suspect you’re lying.”
“I am. I lied.” Phoxene massaged her wrists. “I convinced her not to betray us. To make a stand against the gods who’s pushed me around my entire life. But I need your help, or I’m going to become a victim again. I appreciate what you did for me when you freed me. I should have thanked you earlier.”
“Don’t thank me. Thank our brothers and sisters who lost their lives trying to save you. Their blood has seeped into the wood by now, and they may have been reborn, but they’re with us in spirit.”
“Right. I’ll…” Phoxene looked at the stains on the deck. “I’d prefer to do that alone, in my own way. About the gods…”
“What god are we talking about? The goddess of love?”
“I assume.”
“Why would she come for you? They told me it’s bad luck to talk about her, but I don’t think that’s reason to worry.”
“She could have allied herself with Thotrix.”
Iorvil winced at the idea. Rhabour needed help from other gods, if anyone, not Thotrix. No, they needed to lose their powers for what they’d done to her people. Evil would flourish as long as gods like Thotrix went unchallenged.
“I don’t think I can protect anyone from a god, even if I’d die for you as your sister and champion.”
“No need to die, I suspect. Everyone in the empire knows Thotrix wouldn’t lift a finger for them. If they mess up, lose a machine like me, they’ll have to retrieve it themselves or face the wrath of a god.” Phoxene threaded a hand through her hair. “We’d face the soldiers of the empire before anyone’s god, and we could handle those, couldn’t we?”
“Possibly.”
She’d left herself open by spending too much time with Hymn. If Thotrix’s servants showed up in full force at the wrong time, they’d get annihilated. She’d weakened those she’d sworn to protect, an
d now she would weaken them further if she didn’t prepare for a potential ambush. Gale may pose a risk.
Dream of Goodbye
Hymn walked the streets she’d visited thousands of times in reality and dream. Caelora appeared prosperous, though a number of the buildings showed wear and tear she’d not noticed in the past. The wind had left its mark on the wood after who knew how long. The ocean would consume them all one day, the village would slide back into the abyss.
But she’d not been gone for decades yet, so it unnerved her that Caelora had aged without her. She would not abandon her home. She would do everything in her power to return, soon. The village best not rot in her absence.
“Time changes everything.”
She turned towards the calming voice and discovered a wizened man, in a robe, with a long grey beard seated on a bench outside of someone’s home. She thought she recognized the house, but she didn’t think it was supposed to stand where it did. The dream may have changed its location.
“You could blame me for that, if you wish,” he said. “Time.”
“Who are you?” She didn’t need him to answer the question. “…Rhabour?”
“That’s my name. Don’t wear it out. I may soon be no more than another dead god.” Rhabour rose to his feet, grabbed a gnarled cane out of the ether, and limped over to her. “I do thank you for giving me a chance, but I wouldn’t lie to you and say I think it’s the wisest choice.”
“It’s wiser than the alternative. My mothers were used and abused by a demon.”
Rhabour smiled, and in his eyes, she could see the darkness of centuries of suffering and decay. It lent him an air of understanding, he’d seen worse than anything she could describe. “Does your mothers think of it like that, Hymn? Or do they think they got off lucky? You’ve not lived in Lho Allanar, as they have. It’s not a nice place. Its people are cruel, emotional.”
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