Of course she could ask Pan to build her a rack as soon as he was home, but she’d wanted to be the one to accomplish the task. After all, how hard could it be to convince a living wall to make pegs? Some of the branches were already nearly the right length and position. It should only take a little effort and would be a good test for how much she’d learned about working in Pan’s garden.
Well, maybe the seventh time would do the trick. Nina straightened her shoulders and raised her hands into the position Pan had shown her earlier and directed her stare onto the thin green branches of the wall. In her mind she pictured a set of pegs at equal intervals, each long and thick enough to support one of the pans.
She closed her eyes and spoke the incantation. “Garden glorious, green and good, do my bidding as you should.”
When she opened her eyes, the wall was shaking and for a moment Nina was thrilled that this time she might have actually done it. Her smile faded when she realized that instead of the short branches growing into pegs, they were actually shrinking back into the wall. It was as if the garden was deliberately thwarting her.
She leaned closer and listened to the leaves shaking, then frowned. It sounded like…giggling? The garden wall found this funny?
Outraged, Nina shook her finger at the quivering wall. “Are you laughing at me?”
As if in answer, the wall grew even smoother, the leaves settling into place with an expression she could only describe as smug. Nina was being dissed by a bunch of foliage. This would never do.
Narrowing her eyes, Nina leaned in to talk to the wall. She pitched her voice silky smooth, but with an edge of danger. “I know I’m new here, but I’m planning on spending a lot of time in this garden. Pan wants me to make this my home, too, and that means having you pay attention to me. If I can’t learn Pan’s methods, I might have to investigate others.”
The leaves lifted away from the wall, as if listening to her. Nina suppressed a smile and added a sinister note to her voice. “You know that I’ve spent a lot of time on Earth. The humans have non-magical ways of coaxing nature into doing their bidding, particularly in their gardens. They use tools to shape their plants. Like stakes…ties…trimmers”
The wall shivered a little.
“Sometimes they even have power tools for really big jobs…like hedge clippers.”
Now the wall visibly shook. Nina shrugged. “Now I’d hate to have to resort to something like that.” She eyed the wall. “For example, to hang my pots I’d have to get some pieces of wood and a hammer to pound them in. I’d put them right here, and here…” She used her finger to indicate the places she wanted pegs.
A profound shudder went through the wall and then short branches sprouted along the exact line where Nina hoped to put her pot rack, every place she’d pointed to. They grew to thick three-inch long pegs in a matter of minutes, perfect for her purposes. Nina smiled and ran an approving hand along the leaves. They fluttered and preened under her caress.
“I’m so glad we understand each other now,” she told it in her most soothing voice. “I’ll be talking to you later about the new benches in the pool area.”
She could almost swear she heard a resigned sigh come from the wall.
Nina was putting her pots away when she looked up to see a haze develop in the middle of the garden. She headed from the kitchen area to investigate only to find that there was now a pair of marble figures taking up the center of the plush lawn, nearly hiding the small duck pond behind them.
Lovely statues, but what were they doing in the middle of Pan’s home? Honestly, she wished he’d ask her before redecorating the place. If she were going to be living here indefinitely, it would be nice to have some say, particularly when it came to life-sized statues. They were nice and all, but they did take up a lot of room.
Pan arrived a few minutes later. He didn’t even glance at the statues, but instead set a small keg on the table and drew a nice tumbler of amber ale from it.
Still wondering about the new additions, Nina took the glass and sipped appreciatively. “I see you’ve visited the smith.”
“I did. He sends his regards. Wanted to know how the laptop was working out.”
“The machine is wonderful,” she told him. “I finished the intro and the entire first story, ‘The Genie and the Fisherwoman’, this afternoon.” She glanced over at the statues in the middle of the lawn. “That was before these arrived.”
Pan grinned at her. “Do you like them?
“Well, yes…” Frankly she wasn’t sure what to think about them. “They certainly are…large.”
Pouring himself a tumbler, Pan pulled her out onto the lawn. “They are life-sized. Created by Pygmalion himself.”
“Oh?” Nina examined them more closely. The statues really were exquisitely made, every curve lifelike. Even the expressions on their faces seemed alive. She could almost believe them actual people, frozen in space and time rather than carved stone. For an instant, she thought she saw one of the eyelids on the female flicker, and her chest move. Nina stepped back instantly. Could they be ensorcelled as her sister nymph Echo had been?
Pan was still grinning at her. “I was thinking you could use them in your work.”
Nina turned to stare at him. “How?”
“Well,” he said slowly. “Sometimes you want someone to act out a scene but if we do it we tend to get…distracted.”
Nina grinned. She knew just what he meant about getting distracted. That had turned out to be one of the best parts of this entire exercise.
Pan returned her smile then nodded at the statues. “I thought we could use the statues and have them act your scenes out instead.”
Suddenly Nina saw his plan. “You’re going to bring them to life? To act out my screenplay?” She clapped her hands together. What a great idea! She could have them be the Sultan and Scheherazade, the Genie and the Fisherwoman, The Kalandar Prince and the Lonely Widow…
“That, and other things. I remember what you said about enjoying variety.”
Enjoying variety? Nina’s heart sank. Surely he didn’t mean… “You want to have sex with them?”
“I thought we could use them that way. Kind of like sex toys. But not just me. You and me…and one of them…maybe both.” Pan’s voice sounded strained even though he spoke as if he were talking about the weather, rather than adding another lover to their bed.
It was hard to hide her disappointment. This was exactly what she’d been worried about with Pan. Already he was bored with her and looking for new bodies to bed.
She’d thought that he’d wanted her and her alone and now he’d not only gotten one extra person for sex, but two. And one was male! She’d thought Pan was no longer interested in having male lovers.
On the other hand, since what they’d done in the morning was most often associated with homosexual love…maybe he did miss having a stiff cock around in addition to his own. Nina eyed the male statue’s member. It would likely be pretty impressive when erect.
It certainly couldn’t be denied that the figures were beautiful and would probably make excellent lovers. Nina decided that she probably should be grateful that he’d brought people of stone into their home and not living souls. She didn’t feel grateful, though.
“Something wrong, Nina?” Pan seemed to have caught her changed mood. Better not to act as if anything bothered her. If he wanted to play it cool and bring others into their relationship, better these sex objects than real people.
With care she hid how miserable the idea made her. Maybe if she just thought of them as animated toys…not that that would be much help. After all, she’d named her first dildo Hector. It had been long, thick, carved of wood and painted a deep purple. For years it had given her satisfaction until it had finally split in two during a particularly strenuous workout. She’d been in tears when she’d laid Hector to rest after a century of use.
Even inanimate objects could become cherished in time. Nina glanced at Pan and wondered if he’d ever
really care for her as much as she had Hector. She could only hope so.
Certainly the female statue was such that most men would become fond of her. A beautiful face, long curling hair, and even in her current state of cold, hard marble, it didn’t take much imagination to see her as a voluptuous woman. Nina could almost imagine how she’d look when turned to life. She’d be any man’s wet dream, especially Pan’s.
Obtaining them to please her…sure he had. Nina wasn’t nearly naïve enough to believe that. Still, what was she to do? She couldn’t very well openly complain about his gift. After all, it was her pictures from the Dodi Does It series that had given him the idea of bringing in extra bodies to fuck in the first place. He clearly thought she wanted more than him.
Nina snuck a peek at Pan, still openly admiring the statues. What would he do if she told him she didn’t want anyone else? Wouldn’t he see her as needy and pathetic?
Even if it was true, she didn’t want him knowing it. A woman had to have something when a man left her. Pride, if nothing else.
Nina took a deep drink of her beer. It really was excellent, a testament to Pan’s exceptionally good taste. The truth was he’d shown great taste in selecting statuary as well.
She’d just have to make the best of things. He’d suggested they use the statues as actors in her play and that wasn’t such a bad idea. She could use them that way, have them work through her scenes and make love to each other. She had no objection to them doing that. She might even be able to find a way to restrict them to those love scenes and keep them out of anything involving her and Pan.
“I don’t find them that attractive,” she told him. “And I’d have to see how they act before I’d agree to anything else. They might be too stiff to work out.”
Pan looked pleased. “I suppose you are right. Let’s get started,” he said, moving toward the statues. Curious as to how the god was going to actually make them live, Nina observed carefully.
Taking position behind the stone figures, Pan placed one hand on the back of each of their heads. He chanted slowly.
“Figures of stone, hard and cold
Come to life as was done in old.
Cast off rigid form and be
As pliant as true flesh can be.”
A shudder seemed to run through each of the marble figures and as Nina watched color blossomed in the stone of their hair and skin. The color spread along the torso and limbs, the male considerably darker than the female, a rich chestnut brown to her light tan. Soft dark hair with tight curls appeared on the male’s head, while the female’s shoulder-length hair turned a fluffy pale red, the color of a dawning sky. Eyebrows and lips colored to match, as well as the hair covering their sexual parts. They blinked their eyes and the white irises filled with sky-blue on the woman and near inky black on the man. In unison, they turned their heads to each other, and their lips parted, revealing teeth still the marble white of before. Near identical smiles appeared on both faces, as if they knew some secret that Nina could only guess at.
They were just statues, she told herself, made by an artist whose skill was near god-like. That was why they seemed to have such strong personalities as they became living flesh. There couldn’t be any other reason.
Stiffly at first, but then more fluidly, each figure stretched from the near crouch it had been in, straightening limbs with audible creaks and cracks.
Where the two statues had been now stood a man and woman, both of them nude, both watching Nina with rapidly narrowing eyes. Nina began to wonder if this had been such a great idea Pan had had. In her experience, statues-come-to-life didn’t always behave as you expected them to.
Obviously not sharing her concerns, Pan strode around them to stand in front with her. “Aren’t they wonderful?” he asked, pride evident in his voice. “Could you ask for a better pair of subjects?”
Well, they certainly were magnificent, Nina had to give him that. The woman stood about medium height, her apparent age about mid-twenties, with the voluptuousness of a full-grown woman, not the young girl she’d originally thought her to be, heavy breasts and still narrow waist. If Nina had been casting for the part of Scheherazade, this woman would have been perfect.
The male was just as perfect. His dark skin made a nice contrast to the red-haired woman’s paleness, and Nina could picture in her mind how luscious the pair would look making love. With a practiced eye, she examined his cock and was happy to see it was uncut, perfect for the part of an Arabian prince. While significantly smaller than Pan’s mighty organ, he was still reasonably well-endowed.
Yes, the pair would make great stand-ins for the actors she’d need to play the parts in her screenplay, assuming they could take direction. She still worried about the likelihood they wouldn’t.
In addition there was the matter of the male’s glower at Pan’s comment. Whoever or whatever the statue was, he had a mind of his own and didn’t take well to being told what to do. She almost warned Pan to watch what he said to the pair. But then a bland expression took over the female’s face and she kneeled before Nina and Pan, gesturing to her fellow statue with a gesture so subtle that Nina almost didn’t notice it.
Her suspicions rose a little. What was going on with these two?
Reluctantly, the dark-skinned male joined her on his knees in the soft grass.
“Oh master and mistress, how may we serve thee?” the red-haired former statue said. “We were made to do as you request.”
Her male companion shot an angry look at her, but said nothing.
Pan beamed, turning to Nina. “You see, they’re exactly what we need.”
Need where? In their bedroom? Inwardly she cringed until she heard his next words.
“All that’s needed is your script and we can have them acting it out in no time. They are the perfect pair of actors for you.”
Nina drew a sigh of relief. At least at this point Pan wanted to use them for her screenplay instead of his own sexual gratification. Who knew how long that would last, but she could hope it lasted quite a while. In the meantime one way to avoid Pan thinking about sex with them was to get them dressed.
“Maybe you could magic them some clothes, Pan, something appropriate for an Arabian sultan and his wife. We wouldn’t want them to catch cold,” she said, gazing meaningfully at their exposed bodies.
* * * * *
Pan watched his woman with a growing dread. Was Nina thinking about sex with their new playthings already? He’d just turned them to living flesh and she was already giving them the benefit of her professional stare. Nina ran an evaluating gaze up and down the now living bodies. Did her stare fix a little too long on the male’s genitals?
He suppressed a groan. Perhaps bringing the statues into his home hadn’t been such a good idea. Obviously she liked them…maybe even more than he’d hoped. She wanted to put clothes on them. That sounded like she wanted to treat them like real people, which was not what he’d wanted. If they were real, she might fall in love with one of them.
The next thing you know she’d want to name them…
“What are your names?” Nina asked.
Pan withheld another groan as the male and female looked at each other in obvious puzzlement. They were just statues, not real people. What would they be doing with names?
“Names, mistress?” the female asked.
Crossing her arms, Nina gave the pair an impassive stare. “Yes, names. I want to know what to call you.”
Male and female exchanged glances. With a shrug, he spoke first. “My name is Ast…”
“Aster,” the female finished, giving the male a sharp look. “His name is Aster and mine is Dawn.”
Pan grumbled to himself. It was time to get involved and remind them who was boss. He couldn’t let the statues forget he was the one to give them life. He needed to control them and make sure nothing happened that he didn’t approve of.
“Dawn,” Pan repeated. “A lovely name for a lovely lady.” He took her hand and kissed it, tryin
g not to pay attention to the intense look the dark-skinned male was giving him.
He was grateful to see the even more intense look Nina gave him. Good, let her feel a little jealous, that would only make her appreciate him more. He didn’t want to seem too caught up in her otherwise he’d risk her becoming bored.
If Nina knew just how much she meant to him she’d be gone from his garden before he could stop her. Yes, this was the best course, to keep things casual.
Even it if killed him.
Dawn took her hand back from him, a look of near annoyance on her face as she returned to her feet. Aster was quick to be by her side, his attitude somewhere between protective and threatening. As the bigger man loomed over him, Pan wondered if this really had been the best idea he’d ever had. Or the best idea Hep had ever had, since it really had been the smith’s suggestion that Pan give these no-longer-stone figures a home.
As he thought about it, he realized it was probably a good sign that Nina wanted to put clothes on them. Naked, they really were too much of a temptation, both for him and for her. Pan sketched his hand along their bodies and immediately fibers from the air appeared to knit themselves together into clothing. Long harem pants and a tight little bodice for the statue named Dawn, tunic, vest, and pants for Aster, her male counterpart. For both the fabrics were rich, velvets, silks, and satins, appropriate for a sultan and his queen.
Looks of astonishment followed by those of appreciation were evidenced on the former statues’ faces. Dawn’s smile seemed genuine as she rubbed her hand along the fine velvet of her bodice.
“I’m dressed like a queen!”
Aster stood proudly, folding his hands across his now-covered chest. “And I’m a king.” He certainly looked the part with his chin held high in the air. He turned his steady stare on Pan and he felt a measure of menace surrounding the no-longer-stone man.
If ever there was a man destined to play a homicidal sultan, Aster had been made for the role. Hopefully all murder would remain part of the fantasy and not become reality.
Divine Interventions: Nemesis of the Garden Page 7