by LM Brown
Everyone around him suddenly jumped to their feet and hurried into the temple. He hadn’t seen or heard anything to signal the priests had been called inside, but clearly they had been summoned.
Guessing that Medina was the one who had called them, Phoebus followed behind, hoping to find the goddess that way.
Inside the temple was a hive of activity. The priests all seemed to be engrossed in their tasks with no one paying him any mind at all.
He didn’t see Medina at first, but suddenly there she was, standing just a few feet away from him.
“Good afternoon, Phoebus. What can I do for you today?”
“I wanted to talk to you about something,” Phoebus said. “Is there somewhere we can speak privately?”
Medina replied by transporting them into what he guessed were her private chambers. “What is it you wish to ask me? Obviously your mating trigger has been found, so I can’t imagine what else you might want, unless Caspian isn’t enough for you?”
“He is everything I could have wanted in a lover,” Phoebus replied.
“I’m so happy for you.”
“Are you?” Phoebus asked. “Because I’ve heard otherwise.”
Medina frowned, her face the image of confusion.
“Am I cursed?” he asked.
“Men know when I’ve cursed them,” Medina replied with a laugh. “They usually find themselves with limp cocks that won’t perform, no matter what they try. Your own is clearly in full working order.”
Phoebus suspected she might be deliberately avoiding his question. Perhaps another tactic was in order. “Did you curse Caspian to find love and lose it?”
Medina waved away his question. “I might have said something to that effect. You shouldn’t let it trouble you.”
“Not let it trouble me?” Phoebus shouted. “I love him and you’ve cursed him to lose me!”
“It’s not as bad as you think.”
“Did you know you’d cursed him when you sent me to his temple?”
“Yes,” Medina confirmed. Phoebus formed the distinct impression she wasn’t bothered about this in the slightest.
“You deliberately sent me to him, knowing you’d cursed him and knowing it wasn’t just his life you were interfering with. It was mine too.”
Medina, who had been perfectly calm just moments before, rose from her seat, her eyes blazing in fury. Phoebus had never seen anything like it and cringed at the unnatural gaze.
“You dare to speak to me that way?”
Phoebus shrank back against the archway.
“Caspian needs to learn a lesson, and yes, I sent you to him to help with that. He has found love and he was destined to lose it.”
“Was?” Phoebus squeaked.
“He seeks to avoid the curse by making you immortal,” Medina said. “And it will work, if the pantheon votes in his favor.”
Phoebus didn’t think she sounded too pleased about the prospect.
Suddenly all the heat went out of her eyes and she sat back down with a sigh.
“Non-specific curses, like this one, are hard to predict. They don’t always play out as I intend them to.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean I thought you’d reject Caspian. There you were, an innocent merman, faced with a god who has bedded so many men he lost count centuries ago. I never imagined you would develop any feelings for him, least of all love.”
“But I did,” Phoebus said. “I love him, but because of your curse, I’m going to lose him.”
“Not if you become immortal,” Medina reminded him. “If it helps to make amends, I will cast my vote in your favor. I’ll also do my best to convince those gods who value my opinion to do likewise.”
“You know I’ll have to give up my fins to become immortal?” Phoebus asked.
“Yes, that’s something that can’t be helped, I’m afraid.”
“Mer is what I am. I’ve never known anything else.”
“When you’ve lived as a man for a few centuries, you’ll barely remember what it was to have fins.”
“That’s what worries me. I don’t want to forget who I am.”
Medina shrugged and the sound of someone calling her from outside distracted her from his contemplation. She was gone in a flash, leaving him to wonder what in the world he was going to do.
Chapter Ten
Phoebus floated on the water, letting the comfortable familiarity of the sea ease his troubled mind. He flipped his fins, wondering if this might be one of the last times he did this.
Could he really give up being mer and embrace life with only one form?
He didn’t know.
It wasn’t just the lack of fins that troubled him. He wasn’t sure he wanted to live forever, not when it meant losing his family and friends to the ravages of time.
Caspian had assured him that he would still be able to visit Atlantis, survive under the ocean and communicate with the mer telepathically. It wasn’t as if he would become a mortal human. As an immortal, he would at least have powers that would enable him to do as the Atlanteans did.
He wondered if Caspian would let him live in the sunken city. Somehow he doubted it.
Phoebus would be much happier in the ocean than sharing the palace with Caspian’s priests.
“There you are,” Caspian said, startling Phoebus, who still wasn’t quite used to immortals appearing out of thin air. “What are you doing out here?”
Phoebus recovered his composure and settled back again. Caspian floated alongside him. “Just thinking.”
“You shouldn’t really swim so far from the guards,” Caspian warned. “It can be dangerous out here on your own.”
“I’m perfectly fine.”
“Still, all it takes is one shark and—”
Phoebus flipped and swiped at Caspian with his tail, sending the god spinning under the water. “I’m not completely helpless, you know.”
Caspian spluttered as he righted himself. “I never said you were. I just couldn’t bear to lose you, not when we’re so close to the vote.”
Phoebus sighed and swam into Caspian’s arms. “I know. Medina’s curse really has you worried, doesn’t it?”
“You know about that?” Caspian asked. “Who told you?”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m not worried about it.”
“I’m probably scared enough for both of us,” Caspian admitted.
Phoebus kissed him, light and brief. “The vote is just two days away. I think I can manage to stay out of trouble until then.”
Caspian raised an eyebrow, his expression dubious.
A moment later Phoebus found himself on his back in Caspian’s bed, the god hovering over him.
“Much better,” Caspian said. “I think I’ll just keep you right here until the vote.”
Phoebus tried to give him a stern glare, but with Caspian teasing his fins, he couldn’t quite manage it. “You do remember that I’ve not made my mind up yet?”
Caspian frowned at the reminder. “Why wouldn’t you want this?”
A pointed cough in the archway provided one of the reasons. Rafe glared at them, though quickly schooled his features into a more neutral expression the moment Caspian turned to face him.
“What is it, Rafe?”
Rafe dropped to one knee. “Caspian, my god, I bring news of the offerings made in your temple in the city.”
“You can report on that later. Just distribute the offerings as normal. You know the procedure.”
Rafe continued to linger in the entrance.
“What is it?” Caspian repeated.
“Do you want some company?” Rafe asked. “It has been some time since you requested my services, and I understand you’ve not been inviting your other priests to your bed either.”
“I have all the company I need,” Caspian replied. “Please deal with the offerings and spread the word that I’m not to be disturbed for the rest of the day.”
“Very good,” Rafe said before disappearing
through the archway.
Phoebus shivered, unable to shake the uneasy feeling Rafe always left him with.
“Now, where were we?” Caspian said.
Phoebus stopped his progression back down on top of him with a firm hand. “Caspian, why do your priests have to live here in the palace?”
“They have always lived here,” Caspian replied. “It’s the custom.”
“Andaman’s priests don’t live with him.”
“Andaman has never fucked his priests, so he doesn’t need them close by.”
Phoebus pushed Caspian off him and swung around. With his fins still slightly damp, he couldn’t yet rise from the bed and storm out of the room, but the lack of legs was the only thing stopping him.
“What did I say?” Caspian asked, sounding confused.
“You really have no idea, do you?” Phoebus frantically dried his tail with the sheet.
“Apparently not. Would you care to enlighten me?”
“You want to keep Rafe and the others close by, so they’re near at hand to warm your bed.”
Caspian leaped off the bed and towered over him. “Didn’t you just hear me send him away, telling him I have all the company I want?”
“Yes, I heard.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“Why can’t they live in Atlantis?” Phoebus asked. “If you truly want me by your side, to share your life and build a home with you, why can’t you send them away?”
“This palace is their home.”
Phoebus finally regained his legs and he rose to stand face-to-face with Caspian. “You’re asking me to make this my home too. Don’t I get a say in this?”
“It seems that you’re already having that say,” Caspian retorted.
“I might be having my say, but you’re not exactly listening to me. If I accept your offer—if your petition is passed—you’re expecting me to share your home with a dozen other men. Half of those hate me because I’m mer, and the other half because they think I’ve stolen your affections from them.”
“They don’t hate you,” Caspian said. “If they did, I’d know. I can read their minds.”
“And they’ve had plenty of time to learn how to bury their thoughts,” Phoebus argued. “You can be right there in the room when they send their insults directly to me without you ever hearing them.”
Caspian appeared taken aback and Phoebus wondered whether he had said something he shouldn’t have.
“My priests say inappropriate things to you in my presence?” Caspian asked.
Phoebus sat back on the bed with a sigh. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Do they?” Caspian pressed.
“Yes.”
“Which ones dare to do this?”
Phoebus shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t take any notice of them. It’s only words.”
“Clearly you do take notice or you wouldn’t mention it. Now tell me who?”
“It would be easier to tell you which of them don’t taunt me,” Phoebus muttered.
Caspian sat beside him and took hold of his hand. “I’m sorry, Phoebus. I have always tried to give my priests privacy within their own heads. I dislike it when other immortals pry into my thoughts, so I try not to do it to others. I see I have been remiss in my duties though. Come. Put on a robe and follow me.”
“What are you going to do?” Phoebus asked. He made no effort to find a robe or even move from his spot on the bed. He had a bad feeling about this. The last thing he needed was for the priests to have another reason to hate him.
Caspian fetched him a robe and pulled him to his feet. He pulled the robe around him, tying the sash and straightening the fabric with a fastidiousness that Phoebus had never seen before. When he was presentable, Caspian changed his own robes with nothing more than a thought, the wet ones disappearing and his best dry ones taking their place.
“Why didn’t you make my robe appear like that?” Phoebus asked, partly from curiosity and partly to stall for time.
Caspian smiled and gave him a quick peck on the lips. “I like dressing you nearly as much as I like undressing you. You should know by now that I don’t always consider speed to be a good thing. Now come along. I’ve summoned all the priests for an audience in the temple.”
“You really don’t have to do that,” Phoebus said. “It might make things worse.”
Caspian ignored him and transported them immediately into the temple proper.
All of Caspian’s priests had gathered, most appearing rather confused as to what they were doing there.
Caspian sat on his throne and gestured for Phoebus to stand beside him.
“I would like your attention, please,” Caspian said, his voice echoing unnaturally throughout the room.
The priests all faced him, save for Rafe, who stood with his head bowed but his eyes trained firmly on Phoebus. He didn’t need to meet the high priest’s gaze to feel the malevolence in it.
Caspian said nothing and Phoebus began to fidget, wanting him to hurry things along.
“I see,” Caspian finally said, drawing Phoebus’ attention back to him. He raised his hand to Phoebus, who took it and let the god draw him near. “I have always tried to give you all privacy. Unlike some of the other immortals, I don’t routinely poke into the minds of my priests. Perhaps I should have done so.”
Several of the priests shifted their feet, heads bowed and faces flushed.
Caspian maintained his grip on Phoebus’ hand as he rose from his throne. “Phoebus is not a passing fancy. He is not a whore. He is the man I intend to spend my life with. As such, you will all treat him with respect. If you don’t feel you are able to do this, then I would recommend you renounce me right here and now and return to Atlantis, permanently.”
Phoebus drew in a sharp breath but Caspian wasn’t finished.
“If the only reason you remain in my service is because you desire my body, then again, I tell you to renounce me and find another lover. From this day forward, Phoebus is the only man I will take into my bed. If anyone here thinks they can convince me otherwise, leave now.”
Caspian raised Phoebus’ hand to his lips and kissed his palm. “From now on, I will be routinely checking in with each of you, and I will see anything you try to hide from me.”
“Caspian, you don’t have to do that,” Phoebus whispered, but his lover ignored him.
“If you cannot accept Phoebus in my life, leave my service. For if I discover any one of you disrespecting him again, my fury will know no bounds. You will be cast from my temple, and you will find no work with any other immortal in the Atlantean pantheon. You will treat Phoebus as you would me or you will pay the price for your deceitfulness. Now, get back to work, all of you, and remember that your thoughts are no longer your own.”
They scattered like a flock of birds, hurrying from the room to escape their chosen god’s temper. Even Rafe appeared taken aback at Caspian’s speech.
When the room had emptied, Caspian turned back to Phoebus. “I’m sorry I didn’t notice how my priests were treating you.”
Phoebus shrugged. “You do know that the worst of them won’t change their ways? Wouldn’t it just be easier to put some distance between them and the palace now, rather than have to dismiss them later from your service entirely?”
“They know not to cross me,” Caspian said.
“But—”
“No.” Caspian raised his fingers to Phoebus’ lips. “The palace is their home, just as it is yours. They have been given fair warning of what they must do from now on. If any of them step out of line, I will see them gone from here, but until then, I will not send them from their home. Do you understand me?”
Phoebus nodded. He wasn’t asking for them to be dismissed. He just wanted to have a home that was for the two of them, without Caspian’s entourage. He supposed that it was too much to ask for and the price of immortality and loving a god.
“A compromise,” Caspian said.
“Did you j
ust read my mind?” Phoebus asked.
“Yes, and I make no apologies for it this time.”
“What sort of compromise?”
“In future, when priests enter my service, they shall live on Earth, not on the Isle of the Gods.”
“That’s a compromise?”
“Yes. In time, those who serve me now will come to the end of their lives. You will have me to yourself for eternity. Surely you can share our home with them for a little time.”
“They could live another hundred years!”
Caspian laughed. “You are mortal still. You think a hundred years is a long time. You will soon find that it is gone in the blink of an eye. And for as long as you are sharing your home with my priests, I will be watching them carefully. I promise I will protect you from their hostility.”
Phoebus wasn’t entirely convinced, but the compromise was clearly the best offer he was going to get.
Now all he had to do was make the final decision about whether he accepted immortality or not.
As he always did when he needed to think things through, Phoebus returned to the ocean and his mer form. He couldn’t put off the decision much longer.
He swam back and forth in his small house at the edge of the city as he weighed his options. He knew Caspian wanted him to live on the Isle of the Gods, but perhaps he might allow him to keep this place, at least until his current priests were no longer living. Surely, with all the compromises he was making, he could ask Caspian for this one.
Ajax found him there and swam down to sit on one of the sponges. “You’re not still fussing about whether to become immortal, are you?”
“Yes, of course I am.”
“Why is it such a hard decision to make? I’d have thought after your recent brush with death, you’d be eager for it.”
“It was hardly a brush with death,” Phoebus replied. “The shark barely grazed me.”
“If it was close enough to touch you, it was a brush with death. I’m surprised Caspian has even let you back into the water while you’re still vulnerable.”
“He doesn’t know I’m here,” Phoebus said.
“Uh-oh.”
“I don’t need his permission to come to the ocean. I’m not his prisoner.”