Goddess Unbound: A Reverse Harem Fantasy (The Airluds Trilogy Book 3)

by Nhys Glover

  Once on the ground, we walked the league into town and spent the night there, sharing a small room in a place we'd make our base for the time we were in enemy territory. If I hadn't been so nervous, I would have put up a fight for a better class of establishment. Just because we were spies didn't mean we had to be itchy spies. I'd become quite spoiled in the time I'd been with the Airluds, I realised. Having a bed that didn't rustle with crawling creatures now seemed like a necessity rather than an unexpected gift.

  But, as I said, I was too nervous to complain about it then, thought I made up for it later when I felt more comfortable in our new surroundings.

  The following morning, Trace left to begin his task while we headed for the Crown and Thorn on the other side of town to beg for work. Trace would join us at our accommodation when he could, but the bulk of the time Zem and me expected to be on our own.

  We had no problem getting work as scullery lads and started that very day. The work was gruelling, but no more than working with airlings, so neither of us complained overly much during the next few days. In the early hours of each morning we'd crawled back to our room and collapse onto rustling pallets, asleep before our bodies were horizontal, only to start all again as soon as we awoke.

  For three long days we kept it up without hearing or seeing a sign of Trace. Then, just before dawn on the fourth day, Trace returned to wake us up from our well-deserved slumber.

  "The meeting is tonight. I have spoken to ten of the men I trust most. When they understood about the bloodlines, they were all keen to join the rebellion and take their places as legitimate Elemental Masters. They have agreed to speak to others they think would be open to the cause and will be here tonight. I told them I was staying at the Crown and Thorn and could be found there if they needed to speak further. That should bring out any who plan to betray me. This is when you and your skills will be especially valuable, Red."

  I gritted my teeth and nodded. I knew he called me that only to annoy me, so I wouldn't let him get to me.

  "Can we go back to sleep now?" Zem demanded rudely, his annoyance at the nickname more apparent than my own.

  Trace nodded with a graceful gesture and wide grin that could be plainly seen in the shadowy darkness. His optimism was palpable and I couldn't help being infected by it. This was really happening. We were really about to bring a bunch of very powerful mages into the rebel fold!

  We settled once more onto our pallets on the floor. Our early-morning arrival sprawled out on his pallet, fully-clothed, and was instantly asleep. Where Trace had spent his sleeping hours since we'd last seen him, I had no idea. But I was too tired to care. I snuggled down into the calico-covered straw and fell back into a deep and dreamless sleep.

  By the time we woke again Trace was gone. Groaning, I felt the aches and pains of too many long days and nights spent standing over a sink, washing plates and tankards, and fought the urge to scratch. My skin was already a mass of welts from the feasts the little bastards had been having on me every night, I didn't need to make it worse with scratches.

  "You all right?" Zem asked in concern, hearing my groan.

  "Aye, just weary to the bone and eaten alive. I'll be glad when this day is over and we can get back where we belong. To a bed free of bugs. Goddess, that sounds good!" I sighed dramatically, to make my point.

  Zem nodded, sat up, put on his boots and headed for the wash basin in the corner, without uttering another word aloud, though his head was filled with thoughts of ways he could ease my burden. Those thoughts would go around and around in his head without ever finding a way out, because we both knew I wasn't about to accept special privileges just because I was a girl.

  There was a privy down the hall, but the only place to wash was in our room, using the wooden bowl on the small bench above the refuse pot. The water in the jug was cold, but at least by the time we rose midmorning it was no longer icy. It might be spring, but it was still fraggin' cold in the mornings.

  I made my way to the privy before taking my turn at the bowl. My hair was growing longer and now hung almost to my shoulders. Less and less people looked at me oddly or commented on it, these days, unlike the moons after Airsha first cut away all my knotted and lice-infested locks. Most of the time I tied it in a tail at the back of my head. One day it would be long enough for me to use a harem knot on it, like the one Airsha used on her hair. It looked elegant and feminine on her. I wondered if it would work the same magic on me. I doubted it, though it would signal to the world that I was female. Something that was already becoming too well-known for my liking.

  I'd become the least feminine girl possible after my mother died, and I'd always been happier that way. Or maybe it was Airshin who'd made me change my attitude, though I didn't like crediting him with teaching me the lesson that being pretty and female was akin to wearing a target on your back. But I'd softened my stance on being female since Zem and the lads had found out I was a girl. Everyone had adjusted amazingly well to my new gender. Their good-natured jibes and comments had only served to make me feel accepted.

  As soon as we arrived at the Crown and Thorn I could sense something was afoot. There were men milling around who were not the usual early-morning ale-flies. I quickly listened in to their thoughts and knew I was right. They were some of Trace's brothers come looking for him. Though they appeared dangerous, I picked up no indication they were here to harm Trace. In fact, these were men who had been told of the meeting by others and wanted to hear more about it before they stepped into a possibly dangerous situation later in the evening. Trace may be looking for traitors to the Godling's cause, they worried, and this might just be a way to flush them out.

  These were not trusting men, and I could understand their thinking. Since they'd been discovered to be mistakes of nature they had been turned on by the people they trusted most. I knew a little of that. The first time Mam had dangled me before a man whose appetites were for little girls I'd felt betrayed. It didn't matter that she never let them get anywhere with me. The fact she'd used me like that had eaten at me. I hadn't realised just how much until I found myself with the Airluds, and I was reminded of the kind of safety I'd felt when Dah was alive.

  I asked the cook, who'd only just come on duty, if I could serve the men their ale. As we weren't supposed to start for another turn, she was happy enough with the arrangement. Having more than the usual morning custom put pressure on her when she had stew to cook for the noon and evening meals.

  While Zem stood in the doorway keeping his eye on me, I went to the table where the men had seated themselves. I knew Trace would appear at different times during the day and into the evening to check with me, but I felt the need to let these men know they were not walking into a trap.

  They were seven in all, ranging from about seventeen to thirty. There was nothing that marked them as sharing a similar background − not their clothing, their looks, or their way of speaking. Some were nobles, some of the lesser classes, though none were from a poor fisherfolk background like me.

  "What can I get you, gents," I asked, putting on my best host face. I didn't usually work with the customers, but I'd seen it done often enough to be able to mimic the jovial camaraderie publicans and barmaids usually adopted.

  "A round of ale for each of us and some information." said a sandy-haired man with a neat beard and friendly eyes. I knew the eyes were lying to me. This was not a friendly man. In fact, he was probably the most dangerous of them all. But I would play along.

  "Certainly," I said with a smile. "How can I assist you?"

  "A man is staying here. Big, black-skinned man who speaks like a lord but doesn't dress like one. Is he around anywhere?"

  "Trace. You want to speak to Trace," I said, going for shock tactics.

  It worked. Their inner voices were chattering away like excited childlings, though their expressions remained stoic. I separated them out and listened. Again, only caution and worry that they were being set up. None seemed to want to turn traitor them
selves.

  They were tired of the Godling's promises. None of them believed he'd ever be true to his word and legitimise them. He was fighting to destroy the abominations fuelling the rebellion. Why would he not eventually turn on them too, as the Godlings before him had done? Mistakes were never owned, they were always hidden. Trace's invitation had come at just the right time. They'd been looking for a way out. Their shared hope was that this might be it.

  "Aye, Trace," the bearded man acknowledged cautiously.

  "He's in and out. But you have nothing to fear here. No one will report you to the Godling. And the rebels are offering you all respected places among them," I said softly, though there was no one close by who could overhear us.

  Eyes narrowed on me. "What do you know of the rebels?" asked a thin man in his early twenties. A noble from his speech.

  "I am one. I came with Trace to help convince you of the honesty of this offer. Just so you know, I'm an Elemental Mistress, as you are all Elemental Masters as far as the rebels are concerned. None of us are mistakes of nature."

  The youngest of them, a lad with pale skin and inky black hair, uttered a scoffing grunt. His thick dark lashes made the blue of his eyes stand out as he ran his gaze slowly over my boyish figure. I felt no threat or lechery from him, just disdain. If I was a girl, then I was a pretty poor specimen of one, as far as he was concerned.

  For the first time in suns, I wished to be pretty so this good-looking young man would look at me with interest. In the same breath, I wished his cock would fall off for rejecting me so easily.

  "Show us what you can do, little lady," one impudent lad suggested. He was a little older than black-hair but nowhere near as attractive.

  "Only if you show me what you can do. And I doubt you are foolish enough to do any such thing in a public place like this. Maybe tonight I will entertain you with my gift."

  "Being able to sing or dance doesn't make you a magical daughter," another growled in annoyance.

  "I'm afraid I can neither sing nor dance. I was not referring to that kind of entertainment."

  "You might entertain a man who likes boys, but I doubt you could prove much entertainment for us." This was black-hair.

  "Why is it that all men think with their little heads? Or maybe you have no other brain to think with," I snapped, glad to be able to take a piece of him.

  Black-hair surged to his feet and was in my face in an instant. I would have been frightened if I hadn't already picked up from his thoughts that he simply wanted to intimidate me.

  But Zem didn't know that. He was at my side in an instant, pushing the other lad back with his superior strength. Black-hair fell flat on his butt, and the others roared in amusement.

  "Let me introduce Zem, another of our kind. I think he has demonstrated his magic a little too well. Zem, thank you, but it wasn't necessary."

  The men at the table were staring at Zem as if he'd grown an extra head. They were wondering how such a weakling could have pushed over a much larger lad so easily.

  "If there was such a thing as a god of war, he would have gifted Zem his powers," I explained, glancing around to make sure no one else was paying attention to the little drama playing out. No one seemed bothered. "And he's my protector. So be warned. I can defend myself, because the Goddess has trained me, but I hardly need to when Zem's at my side. He took down several of the Godling's airling troopers on his own less than a half moon ago."

  "Airling troopers? The runts of the litter, those lads are," grumbled the impudent lad, though he was eyeing Zem with a level of respect.

  "When did you take them on?" asked the bearded man, still probing for betrayal.

  "The Godling sent Airsha's brother to our Airling Training Centre to disrupt it. Then fourteen airling troopers arrived to capture the Goddess. Zem and his lads made short work of them while the Airluds and me made short work of the weed who betrayed his own sister." I knew I was saying too much, but I also knew these men had no plans to betray us. What they needed was enough evidence to believe what they were being offered was real.

  "Airsha did more than any of us. Took down three men herself and then froze two more from a distance," Zem said with not a hint of his shy, insecure and troubled self. He was in warrior mode and would likely stay in it until he was sure these men were no threat to me.

  "I thought this daughter of the Godling was an Air Mistress," another man said, interested despite his seemingly casual tone.

  "She is called the Goddess Incarnate or the Chosen One by the rebels. And she is not limited to one element, or even one expression of that element. She controls air, freezes water, ignites fire, heals and can make the earth open up at a twist of her hand. Oh, and she can communicate with airlings... and... well, never mind. You get the point. She keeps discovering more and more powers every day. No one knows the extent of them.

  "And she's already given birth to two magical childlings, though some of us are starting to wonder if that part of the Prophesy was misread or misunderstood. They assumed she'd be like the Godling and would produce all the necessary magical sons and daughters the world would need from her own womb. But what she's actually doing is making it known that there are already plenty of elemental mages being born in the world who aren't sired by the Godling. That the Goddess never set him or his ancestors up to do it all themselves."

  "What Prophesy?" Beard asked, his caution giving way to true interest. All of them were interested now, even black-hair, who had risen from the ground, brushed himself off, and taken his seat again − giving Zem a wide-birth as he did so.

  "Trace can tell you all that tonight. I've probably said too much. But I think we can trust you. And I hope I've convinced you that you can trust us. Trace has seen the advantages of siding with the rebellion, you might too."

  "Both sides want us to fight for them," grumbled a previously silent man with reddish hair, who was sitting closest to the wall.

  "The difference is that you will be respected and applauded by the rebels while you do it, not hidden away like shameful secrets, as you are now."

  This point hit home as I knew it would. They exchanged glances and nodded. Beard, the spokesman, told me what I already knew. "We will be back tonight. And there may be a few more with us. They aren't expected back until later today, but we'll let them know."

  "Just don't bring any rotten apples with you," I cautioned.

  They knew what I meant and nodded. "We won't worry about those ales. Thanks for the information."

  And with that they were gone.

  I turned to Zem who was scowling at me. "You weren't supposed to do that."

  I shrugged. "I read them, and they were all just looking to assure themselves this wasn't a trap. Rather than wait for Trace to do that, I did it."

  "You told them you were a girl," he went on, his brows knitting together even more firmly.

  Again I shrugged and added a sniff for good measure. "Why not? They weren't a danger to me. Not as a girl or as a rebel. You don't have to protect me from the world, Zem, only the people who want to hurt me. And they weren't trying to hurt me."

  "That one I knocked down was about to."

  "No, he wasn't. I read him, and he was just trying to intimidate me. He's the youngest and is attempting to establish a place for himself with his brothers. You probably did him no favours."

  "He wouldn't turn us in because of it, would he?" Zem changed tack so fast I was stunned.

  I hadn't read black-hair after he was knocked down. I thought I understood enough about his motivations already by then. But would he try to get even if he felt humiliated?

  I thought about what I had heard in his thoughts. He'd only recently finished his training and become part of the brotherhood. His height, strength and his magic made him higher up the pecking order than most new members, but he wanted to improve his station fast. He deserved to. His father was the son of the Godling's own father. He was nobility. Minor royalty, in fact, before his fall from grace. But he was not prepar
ed to remain at the bottom. Ambitious. He was ambitious. Would his ambition make him choose the Godling and forfeit his brethren to improve his position?

  Aye, he might very well do so if he felt I'd shamed him before his new brothers. He might feel he'd lost ground with them he could never regain. And it might just be enough to have him changing sides.

  Why hadn't I kept my stupid, smart-arse mouth closed!

  Chapter Nineteen

  FLEA

  I was nervous when I told Trace what I'd done, particularly our worries that black-hair might turn on us because of the insult we'd meted out. His dark, handsome face had been closed while I explained, but he broke into a smirking grin by the time I was finished.

  The devilish, cocky Trace was back, and it was a relief to see. Except for the childlike wonder during his airling flight, and the grin this morning, Trace had become too serious since taking on this mission. He'd lost his special blend of devil-may-care charm most females found so appealing. Now he was back in form, and it felt like he was donning a familiar and much-loved mask. I had a few of those myself.

  He patted me on the shoulder. "You did well, Red. And do not worry about the lad. From your description, I know of whom you speak, and he wants his place among us too much to betray us. This skill of yours is definitely an advantage."

  I puffed up with pride. And Zem did too, for me. He was such an odd lad. Most would be looking to be praised for their abilities and feel threatened when mine were singled out ahead of his, as Trace was doing now. But not Zem. I wanted to hug him for his loyalty and selflessness.

  The rest of the day was uneventful, and by the time the Abominations began to dribble in, one or two at a time, the evening meal was over and the general carousing had commenced. As I collected used plates and tankards, I directed all those I knew to be Abominations to the back room. By the time the last had arrived, there had to be close to twenty-five present.

  I wandered in to take orders, Zem close on my heels. I did it slowly so I could get a feel for the room. It was positive, and I felt confident the risk had been worth it. No one present was here under false pretences.