by Unknown
“But you'd expect me to sleep only with you,” he sat back and studied me.
“Yes, I know it seems unfair but my beasts are very territorial,” I shook my head. “Even if I wanted to allow my men to have other women, I don't think my animals would allow it. Look what my lioness is doing to me just so I'll give her another lover. I don't want to think about what she'd do if she thought I was sharing them. Then there's my dragon. The number of our lovers doesn't matter to her but she's very possessive of what we make ours. I've learned that it's best not to fight her if I don't have to. Can you imagine pissing off a dragon?”
“Actually, I can,” he grimaced, “but let's not get into that. I won't commit to that type of arrangement.”
“I completely understand,” I said as internally, my lioness roared an angry denial.
“Not without first dating you,” he went on to my great surprise.
“What?” I blinked in shock.
“I want to date you,” Re nodded. “I want a preview of how it can be between us and I want a few conditions to our arrangement.”
“Conditions?” I lifted a brow.
“Yes,” he inhaled deep and then went on. “First, the dating. It will be between you and I only. I want to get to know you before I get close to your husbands.”
“Okay,” I blinked some more.
“And I want sex,” he said blandly. “I want to know how every part of our relationship will be and the sex will be a big part of it. I want it before I commit to this and I want it soon. I know that may seem like I'm just trying to bed you but I assure you, it's with the intention of creating something lasting between us. We need to know if we're compatible before this goes further.”
“I think we'll be compatible,” I rolled my eyes.
“There are things about me that you don't know,” Re held up a hand in warning. “Private things that may make you revise that statement.”
“Okay,” I swallowed past the sudden dry lump in my throat.
“There will be no holding back,” he continued. “I want to know everything about you and I want to be able to share myself with you.”
“Sounds good,” I nodded. “What's the catch?”
“Once we've decided if this will be a long term thing,” he said gently. “Then I want my own time with you. I know about your magic and how it works. I know I need to sleep surrounded by your other men so that I can accept them and this situation. I will do that if I must but then I will expect you to make time to be only with me. I need some kind of an illusion that I have you to myself or it won't work for me... lioness magic or not.”
“Re,” I smiled and took his hand. “How do you think we make it work? The men each have their own bedroom but they also have separate places that are purely theirs. Well, Kirill shares Pride Palace with me so his private place is just a little waterfall we like to go to, but Trevor has a cabin in our mountains and Azrael has Shehaquim. Then Arach of course, has all of Faerie to himself. He really needs that illusion you're talking about and when I'm around him, I try not to mention the others at all. I even take off my wedding ring.” I lifted up my hand with its gold band.
“Really?” He blinked in surprise. “How do you find the time for all of this?”
“The Ring of Remembrance,” I held up my other hand and showed him the ring my fey father had left me. The clear cabochon glowed in the room's low light and Re stared at it, entranced. “It allows me to jump back in time, to remember and re-experience things, but I've found a bit of a loophole. Time in each realm is a separate thing and in order to relive it, I must have been there living it to begin with. If I go back into a time and realm which I have never experienced, then I'm able to function in it freely. This means that I can leave the Faerie Realm and go back to the moment I left the God Realm without losing any time here. Then I can go right back to the moment I left Faerie and pick up where I left off there. Which is the only reason I can leave Rian there; he doesn't even know that I've left.”
“So you leap back and forth in time and as long as your lovers are in different realms, you can be with them constantly?” He grasped it fast.
“Yes,” I went on. “And I use it to go on dates with my husbands here by jumping back and forth from the God Realm to the Human Realm.”
“So for example, you could go on a date with Trevor in the Human Realm and then go back in time to the God Realm and reuse those same hours with Azrael in Heaven?”
“Yes, exactly,” I nodded.
“Well, look at that,” he smiled. “This may work after all.”
Chapter Thirteen
“I don't think this is going to work after all,” Trevor said just hours after Re had left... with the promise of returning for me that night.
I had told Re that I needed to talk to my husbands before I made any kind of decision, even if it was only to date. Turns out, I'd been right to be wary.
“It must vork,” Kirill said firmly.
“We don't need another stubborn alpha male who's going to make demands of our wife,” Trevor growled. “It's bad enough with the Lizard King.”
“I think a wuss would be much worse,” Azrael said reasonably. “We wouldn't be able to count on him to defend her and that's the whole point, isn't it? The lioness magic wants a strong mate to help protect the goddess. A beta male isn't going to work.”
“I think Azrael's right,” I shrugged. “I danced with a few guys who would fall into that beta category and I didn't feel anything. In fact, my lioness yawned at one point.”
“See?” Kirill waved a hand toward me.
“Well what gives Re the right to make demands?” Trevor tried again.
“Uh, the fact that we need him?” Azrael continued in his calm tone.
“We don't need him.” Trevor snarled.
“Ve do, my friend,” Kirill laid a hand on Trevor's shoulder. “Ve need him. Zis is right man, I know it.”
“So we just give in?” Trevor looked at Kirill like he was stabbing him in the back.
“Nyet,” Kirill said gently. “Ve are not giving in, ve are luring in. Most men don't vant zis. I know it seems shocking now but try and remember vhat it vas like before Vervain. You vouldn't have shared voman. Re is like zat now.”
Trevor frowned and pondered. Then he lifted his eyes to Kirill's and nodded.
“All of you get private moments with me,” I said. “That's what he'd be getting. There would just be more moments for him right now, while we get to know each other during a trial period.”
“It's the trial period that bothers me the most,” Trevor admitted. “What if he's just doing this so he can sleep with you and then he leaves you at the end?”
“Then he's a fool,” Azrael chuckled, “because if he isn't already half in love with our wife, he will be after spending just one day with her undivided attention.”
“Fair enough,” Trevor huffed and looked over to me.
“I don't think Re's that kind of man,” I sighed. “If he was, I wouldn't be attracted to him.”
“True,” Trevor sighed.
“And this is Re, we're talking about,” Azrael grimaced. “If he wanted to have sex with a beautiful woman, the hardest part for him would be deciding on which one or how many.”
“There's that,” Trevor huffed and came to sit beside me on the bed. “Alright, Minn Elska, go on your date and do what you need to do with the Egyptian. If I'm completely honest, I'm a little relieved that I won't have to try and satisfy you tonight.”
“Nyet, you shouldn't have said zat,” Kirill rolled his eyes as Azrael inhaled sharply.
“Brother,” Az laughed. “You realize I will hold those words against you for eternity.”
“Watch it, bird man,” Trevor growled. “Two swipes of my claws and those wings are mine.”
“Dogs,” Azrael snorted. “Always barking up the wrong tree. If this bird actually came down and paid those empty threats any attention, you'd be wolf-kebabs in seconds.”
“Bring it on, Son
of Satan,” Trevor growled.
“Anytime, Son of a Bitch,” Azrael shot back.
“Zat vas not right,” Kirill tsked but I wasn't sure who he was chiding.
“Watch it or I'll go Son of Sam on you both,” I growled.
“My mom wasn't a bitch, just an asshole,” Trevor snapped.
We all paused and looked back and forth between each other before bursting into laughter.
Chapter Fourteen
Re took me home for our first date, as in his home territory inside Duat. I had no idea that gods lived beyond the Gates to Aaru, the gates which guarded a horrifying path that only the worthy souls were “lucky” enough to travel. Those worthy ones had to confront monsters and pass through several more gates before they were purified enough to be in the presence of Osiris... who also happened to live in Aaru.
Re's territory was just beyond the first gate (well, second if you counted the golden gate in the Hall of Two Truths). But we didn't need to go through any gate to get there, we just traced. Yay, no confronting monsters for me. Not that I minded monsters, it was just that I already had to walk through Hell to visit my in-laws, I didn't want to have to do it to visit a lover.
He led me out of an empty, stone, tracing chamber and through grand, airy hallways with high ceilings held up by Egyptian columns. They were painted brightly, with lotus petals forming crowns at their tops. The floor was smooth sandstone and the furniture was simple Egyptian designs, very elegant but not really my taste. I liked lush and plush; a lot of pillows and thick carpets. Things that made an environment comfortable. The hard wood furniture looked decidedly uncomfortable.
We went up a wide, white staircase with gold handrails, to the second floor. There we went into a library/office which was decorated much more to my liking. A large wood desk dominated one end, surrounded by floor-to-ceiling bookshelves full of both books and interesting pieces of art. There was a maroon and gold rug on the floor and over it were placed a couple of chairs upholstered in brown leather. A small table sat between the chairs and behind them were more bookshelves. The smell of leather and old paper permeated the air. I breathed deep as we passed through the room and went out onto a balcony.
The balcony was wide, taking more than a few strides to cross it and reach its low railing, and it seemed to circle the top floor of the palace. Mostly empty, the space in front of us held only a few potted palms and two wood chairs. I guess Re didn't want anything to detract from the spectacular view.
Low, rolling, grass-covered hills spread out before us with grand, smoky-violet mountains soaring up behind them. A sparkling river ambled through the terrain and groups of palm trees added a little texture. A few cream colored stone buildings glistened in the bright sun and snow white birds flew above it all with long trailing tails flowing behind them like ribbons.
“Beautiful,” I whispered.
“Thank you,” he smiled at the scene. “It's simple but I love it.”
“Whose homes are those?” I pointed to the buildings.
“The Spirits of the Corn,” he said.
“Spirits?” I questioned. “Well, as long as they're not Children of the Corn.”
“The horror film?” He cocked his head at me.
“Oh, well done, you,” I nodded in appreciation. “I didn't expect you to be up to date on human pop culture.”
“I have a lot of time on my hands,” he grimaced. “The Egyptians think I spend all day pulling the sun across the sky and then spend all night dead, floating through the Underworld to be reborn again in the morning. It doesn't exactly leave me with a lot of work to do.”
“And would you do it?” I lifted a brow at him. “If they did expect something from you that you could actually perform?”
“Of course,” he huffed and pulled himself up as if offended. “They're my people, I owe it to them.”
“Good to hear,” I nodded approvingly. “Well, you totally lucked out. Azrael spends a lot of his time collecting souls and he used to take care of Shehaquim too but Michael's been taking over for him a lot lately. Like you, Michael doesn't really have much to do so it's not a big deal for him to watch over the Third Heaven.”
“I don't know,” Re mused. “I think it might be nice to have a purpose. Or at least some way to contribute.”
“Well, what about these spirits?” I asked. “What do they do? Can you help them?”
“They're basically caretakers, they watch over the land and handle the servants,” he frowned. “I don't think they'd like my interference.”
“The servants?” I lifted a brow.
“I told you,” he slid a smirk my way. “I'm kinda a big deal in Egypt.”
I burst out laughing.
“Seriously though,” he went on. “My people sometimes ask to serve me instead of lazing away in their afterlife across the river.”
“Interesting choice,” I cleared my throat.
“Well, they don't actually do any work,” he shrugged. “They each have a few ushabti to command. My followers, they're called Heteptiu, they just kind of oversee what needs to be done and in exchange, they get to be close to me.”
“Ushabti?” I lifted a brow.
“Ushabti are kind of like golems I guess,” he seemed to ponder it a moment before he continued. “When a person dies, his family creates little clay statues which they imbue with magic and entomb with the body. This energy follows the soul into the afterlife and becomes an ushabti, a magical shadow person, who performs any labor which needs to be done for the soul.”
“Hmph,” I huffed. “That's a nice perk but still, these souls serve you here forever?”
“Devotion,” he shrugged, “it's a wondrous thing.”
“No kidding,” I looked away, thinking of all the devotion given to me and how lucky I was to receive it.
“I know this is going to seem weird for a first date,” he took a deep breath, “but I want to introduce you to my daughters. They're very important to me. In fact, one of their titles is; The Eye of Re.”
Something clenched anxiously inside my belly but I had no idea why. So I pushed the strange sensation away and lifted a brow at Re, “One of their titles?” How can they, plural, be an eye, singular? And your eye to boot?”
“They both hold the title,” he grinned. “Egyptians tended to hand out numerous traits and titles which then had to be shared. Sekhmet and Bastet were born twins but they developed into goddesses separately. Still, I'm their father and because of our connection, they were given similar magics. Though Sekhmet is fiercer than her sister, more prone towards war, where Bastet is calmer and more protective without being so aggressive. As a father, I hate to say such things but Bastet is kinder, more loving, and she's my favorite.”
“You can't help but have a favorite,” I said gently. “We all get along better with certain types of personalities and our children are no exception. With such differing temperaments, it makes sense that one would appeal to you more than the other.”
“Yes, I think you're right,” he agreed. “Thank you. That makes me feel a lot better.”
“Gods can be human too,” I gave him a grin. “Besides, it's not like you love Bastet more than Sekhmet... wait a minute,” I cocked my head at him. “What about their mother? Are we going to have to deal with a scorned woman? Scorned women are the worst.”
“No, not scorned. She's deceased,” Re said softly.
“I'm so sorry,” I touched his hand gently. “I've known that pain.”
“Yes, I know you have,” he smiled sadly. “I was at Odin's funeral. I saw how broken you were. I remember thinking to myself that you still had other lovers, that you shouldn't be so destroyed by the death of one. But it's like with my children, isn't it? Loving more than one man doesn't lessen anything, it doesn't thin the love out or water it down in any way.”
“Sometimes I think it makes the love stronger. Like, the more men I love, the harder I try to be sure that all of them are happy, that no one goes wanting, and the effort makes me fo
cus on them so much that I can't help but love them more,” I stopped and chewed my lip. “Does that make any sense?”
“Yes,” Re nodded. “When we lose sight of our partner's needs, we lose sight of the love we have for them. I think that's why a lot of marriages fail and then later the couple reconnects. Their time apart makes them miss each other and refocus on what had drawn them together to begin with. Then suddenly, they're back in love. The heart is a muscle like any other, it must be exercised to stay strong.”
“Exactly,” I exhaled on a low laugh. “I love all of my husbands deeply, more than life or fire or breath. When Odin died, that love threatened to destroy me but at the same time, it was what saved me,” I went on slowly, breathing deep through the painful memories. “I wanted to lie down beside him on that boat and just let the life drain out of me, but I couldn't. I had Trevor to think about; he would die with me. And Kirill, who would lose his sanity along with the rest of my lions. And Azrael, who would go back to being the reclusive Angel of Death, ever comforting the grieving but never comforted himself. And finally Arach, whose race would die out without me.”
“Sounds like you have a lot on your shoulders,” he whispered. “But perhaps that's a good thing.”
“How's that?”
“You have a lot to live for and without all of it, you would have died,” he said simply. “You would have given up and gone to the grave with Odin. Instead, you picked yourself up and went into the Void after him. You brought him back.”
“And maybe I shouldn't have,” I whispered, my mind straying to Odin as it often did lately.
Was he happy? Did she make him smile? Laugh? I missed his laugh and his peacock-colored eyes. But he didn't have those eyes anymore, just like I didn't have him anymore. People always say heartache gets easier, that it lessens with time, but I've found that when you truly love someone, the pain never goes away. It gets buried, pushed down and ignored like any other pain the body learns to live with. And just like a constant backache or headache, as soon as you give it any thought, heartache is right back with you, as strong as it ever was.