by Pam Uphoff
"Gallery disappeared. Poof. Like . . . magic." He looked a bit pale.
Easterly scowled. "Was he the white haired one, or the dark?"
"Dark. The white haired man, actually it's really pale blond, that's Lord Hell. They say he's one of the Old Gods." The private was recovering fast, and nearly smirked at the last. "If you believe in that sort of thing."
"Oh, you just saw magic, but you balk at the idea of gods?" Garit decided he'd better hunt down Xen . . . or just stand here and wait for him. He was headed this way.
"Oh, everyone said it was magic, but all I saw was, well, probably I blinked." He looked a little surly. "I don't know how he got away."
Colonel Janic ducked through the rapidly thinning crowd. "All accounted for?"
Bricker nodded. "All that were here." His eyes slid toward Garit. "Fossi, Staven and Rebo are posted out."
Janic nodded. "I'll send someone to check on Rebo. Lady Eden didn't attend tonight, I have people headed out to . . . He broke off as Deena wedged herself through the crowd.
"Lady Eden left town to winter in the south, as the guest of some friends."
Janic senior gritted his teeth. "How did we miss that?"
Uncle Rufi was right behind and must have caught the exchange. "Damn these corridors. If he's gone off with Ricardo . . . "
Garit looked around at a deep voice behind him.
"I can go straight to Rip Crossing and check." Xen's father. How had he gotten here? Was he really the God of War? Damn. And Xen was right behind him. Garit suppressed a smirk. Finally! Someone who makes Xen look small.
"We better go with you." Rufi was looking grim. Angry. "Let's check Rip Crossing first. But there's no telling where he might have taken Lady Eden . . . "
Chapter Thirty-three
Fall 1391
Rip Crossing, Desolation Territory
Lady, soon-to-be-Princess, Eden was having a wonderful time.
Her Rebo had had such a good idea. With Daddy not paying any attention, they'd gone the other way and found some new friends here in Rip Crossing.
"Wine for the Almost-Newly-Weds!" The young man, rather oddly named Eternal, took the bottle from Rebo's old friend, Ricardo. He pulled the cork and started pouring.
It must be fortified with something distilled, because the first sip went straight to her head. She flushed and leaned on Rebo as he laughed with the others, then took a sip.
"Damn! This is fine." He drank and slipped an arm around her. "We need to get married, soon." He finished the glass. "Real soon." He took her in his arms and kissed her, pulling her tight and rubbing his crotch against hers, the fabric between them tantalizing, but also protecting her modesty.
She blushed, not feeling very modest at the moment. She hid her confusion in the glass of wine.
"Hey, you two could use the big hot pool, there's no one else here but us." Ricardo said. "Come and see it. It's the place we hold most of our parties."
Grape giggled. "Right now the guys are too scared to party. Two witches on the prowl." She finished off her glass of wine and poured more for Rebo and Eden before filling her own.
Zap laughed. "We're not scared, we're cautious. It comes of all this education we keep getting." He drained his glass and held it back out for more.
Heso was the fourth man. He snorted. "We need to throw a wedding that will be remembered forever. How does it go?"
They walked into an incredible room. A steaming basin of water hissed and bubbled, and ran over the side of its rock basin, across the floor to the steaming still pond in the middle. It was beautiful, surreal.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered together today to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony."
Eden giggled, and one of the detached parts of her brain noted that he had it nearly right. And what a beautiful setting for a wedding. There were flowers now, white flowers, and her dress was white and pure.
"The state of wedded bliss is natural to the human spirit, however at odds it may be with hormonal impulses. It is the public acknowledgement of a permanent bond, allowing the man and woman to fuck each other blind whenever they so wish. It is fitting therefore, that this lovely couple come before us, the depraved perverts of Rip Crossing to solemnize their vows."
Eden blinked through a giggling haze, distracted by Rebo, who was doing something to her lacing. She might look like she was wearing a wedding dress, but she was really still in her riding suit. How odd. She drank more wine.
"Prince Rebo, do you take Lady Eden to be your lawful wedded wife, to cherish and hump, so long as you both shall last?"
"I do."
Eden sighed. He sounded so completely firm. She finished her second glass of wine, and Ricardo poured her another.
"Lady Eden, do you take Prince Rebo to be your lawful wedded husband, to service frequently, for so long as you both shall last?"
She smiled beatifically. "I do." She drained the glass.
"By the power vested in me by no-one whatsoever, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride." Heso smirked. "Then I get to kiss her. Fucking will come a little latter."
Rebo kissed her, and she kissed him back, and people were patting her back and congratulating them. She blushed suddenly when she realized that Rebo had untied the draw strings on her split riding skirt and that it was in danger of falling off. She clutched at it, vaguely aware that she really shouldn't have had three glasses of wine on an empty stomach.
She lost her grip on her skirt as Rebo pulled her unlaced bodice off over her head. Her arms tangled in it, and her skirt fell. "Wait, Rebo that wasn't a real . . . " She staggered and fell to the ground, Rebo on her, tangling his legs in hers, forcing himself in-between them. "Rebo, you can't . . . "
But he was. She yelped a protest, way too late, as he drove deep and yelled as if he were the one in pain. He jerked off her and rolled away.
"Whoo Hoo! The marriage is off to a fast start." Ricardo yelled. "Let us all be Rebos and Edens today!"
She staggered to her feet, and bumped into a woman who looked awfully familiar, so did the next one. Rebo swept her off her feet, and kissed her. "And now, my sweet, let's show these people how it ought to be done."
He stepped into the steaming pool and kissed his way from her hairline to her shoulder as he lowered both of them into the water. Now he was tender and sweet and gentle and she loved every long lingering moment of it as she gave herself to her husband. The others were frolicking in the pool as well, and she closed her eyes in dreamy satisfaction.
A Rebo yelled, as if in pain, but also in ecstasy, and abandoned an Eden abruptly. The other Rebos and Edens laughed, saying something about virgin witches. More wine was pressed on her and she got entirely too drunk, and in fact would have sworn at one time that there were two Rebos making love to each other, while other Rebos and Edens splashed and played and made love in the pool. More yelling.
Then two Rebos made love to her at once. They sandwiched her between them. The one in front was kissing her while the one behind fondled her breasts.
Then some other people came.
***
Garit staggered.
They were outside, on rough rock. A large building, with light coming through the glass doors was to Garit's right. Xen stepped out of the group, and led the way through the door, into an empty cavern of a room. Noise echoed down a hallway, and they tracked it down. To a full blown orgy in a natural hot pool, steaming slightly. Garit blinked. The people had odd overlays on their faces, as if wearing translucent masks. All the men looked like Rebo, all the women like the same gorgeous blonde. Except he could see underneath that they didn't. Except for the one who really was Rebo. And the one who really was the blonde.
Rufi stepped up and grabbed the one who was definitely the Crown Prince and hauled him away from his shadow masked lover. He eyed the pool narrowly. Garit wondered uneasily what exactly he was thinking. All those women, possibly bearing Rebo's children . . . He'd already made such a mess out of the inherita
nce, what harm could a few more bastards do? And how angry is Rufi? He can't do anything to Rebo, but all those women who . . . mostly sort of look alike . . . The men all with illusions of being Rebo? He can see through the illusion, like I can, but I'll bet most of the guards can't.
Xen's father touched Rebo's forehead. "Don't be too hard on him, Rufi. Art had spells on him. Boy, observe your fiancé."
Rebo jerked back, then stared stunned at the pool. "That Bitch . . . Ricardo . . . " His eyes rolled up and he collapsed.
The god hoisted him over his shoulder. "Xen, make sure none of these women have the Prince's baby."
And they were suddenly back in the Ballroom. The god offloaded the naked and moaning prince. A pair of guards grabbed him and hastily removed him from the almost empty room.
Rufi growled. "Damn it. I ought to have . . . "
"No. That's a road you don't want to travel. No matter what else, that would have worse repercussions, for longer." The god disappeared.
"Bloody high handed gods." Rufi glared at thin air. "All of them, damn it." He looked around. "And he left his son behind to . . . do Gods know what. Janic, you take over here, I'll go tell Leano what his grandson's done this time."
"Yes, sir." Janic looked around, narrow-eyed. "Where's Wolfson?"
Garit shifted uncertainly. In trouble? "I believe he's still back at Rip Crossing."
Janic scowled. "Bet that's going to be an interesting report. Right, let's be all nice and legal about this. Captain? Secure a perimeter around Gallery's mansion. I'll go wake up a judge for the . . . "
Garit faded back. Not my command.
"I have got t'talk to that guy."
Garit looked around at the mutter. Easterly was peering around at all the uniformed men. "Which one?"
"Wolfson. He's in a King's Own uniform. Young, brown hair, very tall." Easterly squirmed. "Magic."
Garit eyed Easterly curiously. He was one of Garit's favorites of the royal guards. He'd spent a couple of years overseas after laying hands on the Crown Prince. Tanned Rebo's sixteen year old butt. He'd come back with a lieutenant's rank, and hadn't pulled much palace guard duty, since. "Magic? Oh, is that how you always managed to find Rebo?"
Easterly looked horrified. "Old Gods, no. It's just . . . sometimes . . . I need t'talk t'someone who knows about this . . . stuff."
Garit nodded. "I'll tell him when I see him. Or, he's one of Janic's men, so he'll probably be around . . . as soon as he gets back." He eyed the rest of the internal security guards, hovering as if they wanted to sweep him up and tuck him safely away somewhere. He shrugged. He might as well sleep in his own bed tonight, and find a witch to open a corridor to Ash for him tomorrow.
***
The strangers all disappeared. Except one man she thought she knew from a party somewhere.
"Xen, make sure none of these women have the Prince's baby."
No one spoke, but voices buzzed in Eden's head.
:: What? ::
:: Sorry, son. Rufi was contemplating killing all the women. I don't think he would, but no point in letting him even think about going down that path. Catch. ::
The man grabbed a bottle of wine right out of thin air. :: The usual? ::
:: Yes. It insures that the sperm chosen is highly magical. You can either keep track of the witches and make sure a wizard or mage comes in each one, or take care of it yourself if you're not sure. ::
:: Right. Thanks, Dad.::
He sounded like a sarcastic snot.
He held his hands out, frowning at them. A glittering net of light formed. . .
He threw the glittering something at the pool. It poured down over every Eden . . . Eden flinched as it fell through her and disappeared. She shut out the sight and the buzzing voices, and got back to pleasing her multiple husbands. When the one in back finished, another scooped her up and took her from the front.
"Hey, Xen brought another bottle! Excellent, we're about out." This Xen fellow was relieved of the bottle by one of the Rebos, and a trio of Edens tackled Xen's clothing.
Eden didn't like watching as he flirted with an Eden. He wasn't her husband! What did he think he was doing?
But wait—she threw a puzzled look back at them—that wasn't an Eden, it was Lava, one of her new friends.
And the Eden that accosted him next turned rather abruptly into Hazel, and they hugged and kissed a bit, but that man didn't seem interested in much more. One of the Rebos went over to cuddle her. Wait, they're only supposed to cuddle me.
Like some evil spell, everyone this Xen touched seemed to turn into someone else. He slapped Rebo's backside as it bobbed, and suddenly he was Heso. Were priests supposed to do that at weddings? Err, anytime? It was definitely disturbing to see him with an Eden. She wouldn't really do it with anyone but her husband, and that Eden ought not either. Except when Xen touched her, she became Grape. Good, because an Eden would not have that much fun with anyone but her husband.
Then suddenly Xen was touching her. She jerked away, wondering who she'd just turned into. A new Rebo pulled her away and she clung to him trembling until he made love to her and nearly made her forget about the Evil Xen. She caught glimpses of the horrible man laughing with some of her other new friends, Nile, Kile and Gavi. Where had all the Edens gone? Had he changed them all? Then he was back, slapped Rebo familiarly on the shoulder as he got out of the pool. And suddenly Rebo was Ricardo. In her. She shoved him away, scrambled out of the pool and looked frantically around for Rebo, but they were all gone. Xen had changed every single one of them into someone else.
"Rebo?"
Xen shook his head. "His uncle came and hauled him away. I suppose, with this orgy, Rebo got what he wanted, and stopped seeing you as a nice young woman." He was dressing in a uniform, King's Own. One of General Rufi's men.
She stared at him in disbelief. "He wouldn't leave. He loves me. And Daddy said I could have him." Ha! Now he was in trouble. "Where's my father?"
"He was plotting against the throne. He's run off." He finished buttoning his shirt and reached for his jacket.
She stared at him in disbelief.
"If you would like, I can transport you back to Karista. I believe you have just inherited a fair amount of property."
She leaped to her feet and backed away from him. "I want to go home. You, you. Get away from me." She started sobbing. "I want Rebo."
Xen looked around and picked out her clothing from the heaps around. She shrank away from him, but he only dumped her bodice over her head and helped her with the laces while she scrambled into her riding skirt. She stormed out. The horses were gone. The Army horses that Rebo had said they could take. Without Rebo she had no right to them.
Without a real marriage. The wine was wearing off fast and she was starting to think. To try and piece a few things together. "What did I just do?" she asked out loud.
"You got screwed by five different men in an orgy."
She shook her head. "No, no, they were all Rebo . . . they were."
"They all had illusions overlaying their real appearances. I can take you home quickly, if you'd like."
Shaking in increasing horror, she nodded. He led her through an arch, and then a barn wall and then everything shifted and she was in front of her home. The mansion was in a complete uproar, Army officers everywhere. It's true. She collapsed into a sobbing heap.
An officer strode out the front door like he owned it and practically pounced on her.
He nodded to the Evil Xen. "Look around, damn it. See what they're missing." He surveyed Eden. "Lady Eden, let's go have a chat."
A ferocious looking young woman followed, and as Eden cowered away from the officer, gave her a hug. "Men! What did they do to you, Honey?"
Eden sobbed and fumbled her way through the uncertainties of the last few hours. The woman officer, Deena Something, was horrified and protective, and finally took her away to a remote guest room, "Let's get you away from all the mess Eden, they've treated you badly enough already."
>
But Eden couldn't really sleep, and after wrestling with chaotic and worsening dreams of orgies with hideous creatures, she got up and crept back out. She followed voices to her father's office, but stopped outside the doorway, peeking and listening.
Xen was in her father's room, sitting on the floor, cross-legged like some uncouth child. His eyes were closed. Deena kicked him. Not very hard, unfortunately.
She drew her foot back for another kick, but put it down as the man opened his eyes.
"About time. Old Gods! You've been sitting there for three hours. I kept checking that you were breathing. I don't know why, after what you did to that pathetic girl."
The officer was leaning on the desk, his back to her. "Yes. I've heard a lot of excuses, but I'll bet yours is going to be a doozy."
"My . . . The God of War told me to ensure that none of the women in the orgy would bear the Prince's child. The wine they were drinking . . . surely by now the rumors about that wine are general knowledge?"
"Oh sure, every snake piss salesman has a bottle of the wine of the gods."
"Well, they were drinking the real thing. Among its effects, is a fertility drug so strong it's a virtual guarantee of pregnancy. However it also selects the sperm to maximize the magical potential of the baby. So I threw a spell on each of the women to destroy all the haploid cells, err, sperm, already in them, and made doubly sure by making sure that there was highly magical sperm available. I suspect that I ought to do the sperm sweep again, but if the sweeper spell misses a single sperm . . . well, it would be unfortunate if that was the Prince's."
"Right." The officer growled. "But I don't think joining the orgy was a very wise thing to do."
The Evil Xen bit his lip, eyes narrowed as if worried. Or thinking.
Deena kicked him.
"Oww! Tell you what. I'll give you each a jot of joy juice and you can get private with the person of your choice and see if it lives up to expectations." He pulled his hip flask out and offered it. "I keep it handy in case of injury. I mostly use it on horses, honest."