1 comments/ 2336 views/ 0 favorites The Balance: Finale By: Glaze72 Hello All: Here is the last installment in Ariana and Abiron's story. I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. As always, your votes and comments are welcomed. Chapter 27 "Where is she?" Ariana looked mildly at her husband. They were alone in their chambers in the Great Temple. Ariana held a book in her hands, while Abiron paced fretfully in front of the fire. Three months had gone by since the confrontation in the audience chamber. The borders of Heklos had remained placid. What, if any, action Rome might take was still unknown. Abiron stalked to an open window and glared out into the garden, as if his eyes could pierce trees and stone and distance and find Angela. He took a deep breath of unseasonably warm air. The seasons were changing and all could feel it. Though it was only March, this southern land was already showing the first signs of spring. Flowers were sprouting in the garden, and the tips of trees were showing the first blushes of green as leaves began to bud. It promised to be a gentle spring and bountiful summer. All that it lacked, in Abiron's view, was Angela. For six weeks they had steady word of her travels with Sean. Then, silence. He turned to his wife. "Do you think she's all right?" he asked, for the thirty-seventh time in the past month. Ariana sighed. "I have no way of knowing, my love. I thought that the tracking spell I put on the tokens I gave them would last longer than this. But they haven't moved since they left the temple at Trikala. And they haven't appeared at any temple since then. "But I would not worry too much, Abiron. If they were in danger, we would know. The Deity has invested too much time in her and Paul to let either of them come to grief now." Abiron nodded. Sighing, he closed the shutters firmly, and barred them as well. "I know," he said sadly. "I just..." "You worry." She rose and embraced him. "It is a hard thing, my darling, to send one you love into danger. Trust me, a mother knows this all too well." Abiron returned her embrace fiercely. He suddenly stepped away and looked seriously into her face. "Mother, please know that my worry for Angela does not mean that I feel any less strongly for you. I want us all to be safe here, even that Scot you seem so fond of." "Not so fond that he has found his way into my bed yet," Ariana replied sourly. "if I didn't know better, I would venture that he finds me too old for him, especially now that he has a wife of his own." Abiron grinned. That had come as a shock to them all, though perhaps less so to Ariana, who had seen Paul with the Priestess of the Wanton, than to the rest of them. Diana had shown up at the Great Temple a little less than two months ago, asked for Paul, and had announced cheerfully that she was pregnant with his child. That had been a moment worth remembering. Even now Abiron chuckled at the memory of Paul turning stark white with stupefaction, then begging forgiveness. When Diana explained sunnily that she wanted his child Paul would not rest until he had browbeaten Diana into accepting his proposal for marriage. Not that it had needed much arguing to convince Diana to marry Paul. And Ariana had been enormously (indeed, some might say inordinately) pleased to perform the wedding for Paul and Diana. Now three months pregnant and just beginning to show, Diana had provided a happy counterpoint in a household that was growing increasingly grim with worry over Angela and Sean's whereabouts. "Has he figured out yet that you jiggered the marriage vows for them, just as the Deity did for us?" he asked. "I am pretty sure she has. She gave me a look out of those eyes of hers as soon as I said the words. But I think he was still too shocked to pay much attention." She gave a giggle. "Besides, every time I try to trap him alone he gets these wide eyes," she demonstrated, showing a look of mock-terror on her face, eyes goggling. "It won't work forever, though. Sooner or later I am going to trip him and take what I want. "Especially now that I have what I wanted from you," she said softly. Taking his hand she lay it on her still-flat belly, her fingers covering his. She raised herself up and kissed him softly. The news of Ariana's pregnancy, announced only a few days ago, had filled him with wonder. An event which they had both yearned for in the abstract had, when it had become a reality, filled him with awe and terror. Keeping to the rules the Deity had laid down for his line generations ago, he knew that their child would be a daughter. He put the fact that he would one day impregnate her in turn out of his mind. "Well, at least with Diana and Paul and their child in residence, we know that our daughter will have a playmate," he said with a smile. @@@ The next afternoon saw Ariana drilling Paul again on what he would need to know to become a full priest of the Deity. They sat together at a table in one of the inner halls as he recited for her. Off to one side Abiron sat at another table, putting together the duty roster for the guards for the week to come. On a couch nearby Diana sat, reading a book. As if Paul needs a chaperone, Ariana thought with amusement. And as if Diana would be a good one. If I took my gown off and decided to rut with him here on the floor, Diana would be urging us on with one hand stroking her flower. That is, if she wasn't on the floor with us herself. She shook her mind free of the alluring fantasy. "Now then, Paul, what are the prime characteristics of each incarnation of the Deity?" she asked. Paul groaned, "Really, Ariana? Do we have to go over this again? I learned this the first week." "Because when I haul you up in front of twelve priests and priestesses of the Deity next week, I want you to know this up, down, and backwards. I have gotten a few notes from my colleagues about the advisability of admitting a former christian cleric into the priesthood. You are going to know this material so well that there is no way they can deny you your chain." Paul sighed, "All right. "For the Lass, joy. "For the Lad, enthusiasm. "For the Youth, purity. "For the Maiden, chastity." Another voice, higher and clearer than Paul's, joined in from the door. "For the Wanton, lust. "For the Lover, passion. "For the Father, security." A third voice, deeper than either of the first two, added its music to theirs. "For the Mother, comfort. "For the Huntress, sustenance. "For the Warrior, protection. "For the Graybeard, foresight. "And for the Crone, wisdom." All eyes turned to the door, where Angela and Sean stood. They were obviously tired, and marked with the dirt of the road. Their skin was darker, as if they had spent much time in the sun and wind. Both of them, especially Sean, were leaner with their travels. Angela still bore the staff the Graybeard had given her, however reluctant the gift may have been, and Sean had a vicious set of scabs, peeling as they healed, marring one of his cheeks. With a shout of joy Abiron leaped from his table, scattering the papers onto the floor. He grabbed Angela around the waist and spun her in place, laughing unashamedly as she batted ineffectually at his head. Finally he put her down. "You're here! You're well?" he asked. "I am," she said. Standing herself, Ariana walked to her husband's side. Looping an arm around his waist, she examined Angela closely. Perhaps not wanting to crowd the recent arrivals too closely, Diana rose and walked to Paul's table, where she stood with her hands on her husband's shoulders. "Indeed, she seems most wonderfully well," she said. And she was. Her carriage was straight and her face, though red from the chill outside, was as purely beautiful as ever. Her hair had grown, and fell in gentle waves past her shoulders. And there was something else, Ariana thought. In the light of the fire and candles, Angela almost shone. The tense, bitter fragility of the woman she had been was gone. In its place was the deep calm of one who had accepted, after a long struggle, who she truly was. The anger was still there, but it was bound and banked. To be used, if necessary. But not to be indulged. And there was something else... Ariana smiled her welcome, "You have grown, child." Angela flushed and looked down at her chest. "You can tell?" she asked. A sea of vacant faces met her gaze. At her side, Sean bit his cheek to keep from laughing. "Oh," she said in a small voice. "You meant in other ways. Yes. I suppose I have. "We were on the road for about a month and a half, when I learned that the tokens you gave us were tracking our movements, and also that the temples were reporting back to you here. It was a novice of a temple of the Lad in Trikala who let the information slip." "And I bet that boy's ears are still ringing. The lass has a sharp tongue when she has a mind to use it," said Sean with a smile. "So I took the tokens and threw them in a midden-heap," Angela continued, her eyes dark with remembered fury. "I decided it was another case of people trying to control me. Granted," she said as Ariana and Abiron started to protest, "I wasn't in the clearest state of mind. In fact I was beginning to wonder if I was going mad. "In my chambers in the inns and the temples where we were staying, I was noticing changes to my body. Despite the warning of the maids of my youth, I had frown lines. I have no idea what could have possibly caused them," she said with a trace of her old acerbic humor. "But they were disappearing. My visage was growing more pleasant. I once had a terrible habit of chewing my nails. Now they were clean and even. "And," she said calmly, as if she was discussing the price of flour, "I seemed to have grown an inch or two in stature. And also about...about my breasts." Ariana cocked her head and looked at Angela's chest. Indeed, the gown seemed to be straining to hold in Angela's bust. The skin of her chest, darker with sun than it had been before, swelled over the tight-bound cloth. "A gift," Diana's voice was soft with awe. Angela nodded at her. "I know so now. A bribe, I thought it then. That I was being made into a milch-cow so I would be found more appealing. When I discovered you were keeping me under observation, it was more than I could bear. I determined to leave your land entirely. "So I marched for the nearest border, Sean protesting every step of the way. Of course," she said when Sean opened his mouth, "he didn't have the good sense to leave when I ordered him to." "Swore an oath, didn't I?" Sean said laconically. "I wasn't about to leave just because you were having a little upset. It's the sort of thing that happens to women," he grinned, stepping nimbly away when she threw a punch at him. "So what made you decide to come back?" Abiron asked. He trembled at the thought that their good intentions had nearly cost him his loved one. "The Deity visited me in my dreams. For five nights in a row! He is worse than you are, Abiron. The Lad apologized. The Graybeard tried to convince me with wisdom. The Youth assured me of the purity of His motives. The Lover...well, let's not dwell on what He tried to do." Abiron protested soundlessly, jaw flapping aimlessly, until he saw the gleam of amusement in Angela's eye. "No, I tell a lie. He tried to convince me of the carnal pleasures that awaited here. I remained unmoved. "On the last night, the Father came to me. He played dirty. He told me how much He loved me and how He wanted me to be happy. How the changes to my body were gifts that he and his avatars had decided to bestow on Paul and myself in thanks for what we had done. "The next day I turned around and started back here." "Changes to Paul's body?" Ariana looked at Diana questioningly. "Oh a little bit here, a little bit there," Diana flipped her hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. I certainly don't," she said with a wicked grin, as Paul blushed. "Less than a dozen miles from the border, we were," Sean continued. "Rough place, too. Hadn't come more than three miles back this way before we were attacked by thieves. That's how I got these decorations here," he gestured towards his face. "But we ran them off. I did for two myself, and your girl here took the staff the Greybeard gave her and proceeded to beat the ever-loving piss out of the one who tried to grab our mule and baggage. Only put the stupid bastard into a coma, didn't she? "Seems to have calmed her down a mite, though," he said with a grin. "It's in my mind that she's happier when she's found someone to hit." Angela gave him a long, level look which promised future mayhem. This seemed, Abiron thought, to be a topic of conversation which Sean enjoyed mightily. And Angela less so. Still, he thought, three months ago Angela would not have borne teasing of any type. Ariana clapped her hands briskly, reminding Abiron of the way she had drawn his attention back to her during his own childhood. "Well, I don't see any point in trying to continue lessons when our friends are returned to us," she said. "I am declaring the rest of this day a holiday. In this temple, at least. Before we go, though, I have a few questions. Angela, do I understand correctly that your return here means that you desire to stay and take instruction as a priestess of the Deity?" "I do, my lady," Angela said quietly. "Although I have not found your country to be a paradise, you never claimed it was. And what I have seen leads me to believe that what Abiron told me is true. I am happy here and wish to stay. What is more, I believe I have found a vocation. Not as a priestess of...of the Wanton," she said. "But rather as one of the Huntress. I hope," she said with a sad glance at Abiron, "that we can still work together, my friend." Abiron frowned in puzzlement, while Ariana and Diana laughed outright. "My dear child," said Ariana with a smile, "do you think that we take on one aspect and one aspect only of our Deity? Just because you wish to serve the Huntress in all her fierce glory does not mean that you may not spend your nights in the company of the Wanton. And with the man you choose to share your bounty with." "They all have their place," said Diana to Angela, her warm voice heavy with love. "Even when I am closest to my Deity, the touch of the Wanton strong within me, there is the joy of the Lass, and the wisdom of the Crone, and the eagerness of the Mother for another child. And what good is the chastity of the Maiden if it is never broken?" Angela smiled with happiness, eyes practically glowing. She looked at Abiron, her gaze smoldering, promising... "Didn't I tell you, lass? Our Lady is not so harsh as to deny you the pleasure of the body, even if you decide your chosen avatar is that wicked cruel Huntress," said Sean. Angela rounded on him, face drawn into a fierce frown. "By the Lover's Cock, don't you ever shut up? 'Lass' indeed! You're not that much older than I am." "See? What did I tell you? Terrible temper she has, to be sure. You might want to think about whether you really want her around," said Sean, his face creased in a large grin. He bowed extravagantly to the rest of them. "I'm off to see a friend. But since I seem to have accidentally become your guard captain, I will return here for the evening meal." Ariana looked at Abiron and Diana, a question in her eyes. Diana nodded with enthusiasm, Abiron with a resigned smile. "Actually," said Arianna, "If you could stay for the evening rite as well, we would be grateful for your presence. We have not thanked you properly for your care of Angela." Bowing his acceptance, Sean agreed and left. Ariana found Angela considering Diana with a small frown. "Forgive me if we have met before," she said, "but I do not recall your name. May I ask who you are?" Diana smiled. "No reason why you should recognize me. I did not have the pleasure of making your acquaintance when you were here before. My name is Diana. I served in the temple of the Wanton, where I met Paul and accompanied him over the border into manhood." Angela nodded, understanding the reference. Diana squeezed his hand, face glowing with love. "He is my husband now, and the father of my child." Angela blinked. She stared at Paul. "You're married? To her? You? And you are going to be a father?" Paul shrugged helplessly. "I can't really explain how it happened. It just did. One day I was a monk of Christ, and terribly confident about how I was going to rescue an entire nation from paganism...and the next I wake up with this wonderful woman in my bed," here he kissed her, "and can see her stomach swell as our child grows within her. "Funny thing, life." "We plan, the Deity laughs," quoted Abiron. "But that's wonderful!" exclaimed Angela. She rushed to Diana's side and gathered them both in her embrace. She truly has changed, Abiron thought. She has regained her capacity for joy. This is what she was meant to be, before her thug of a father did his best to ruin her. "Since this seems to be a day for announcing good news," he said, getting his wife's nod of permission, "I can tell you that..." "What? You too?" She rushed to Ariana, then suddenly checked herself. She gave a full curtsy, heedless of the mud on her boots and splashed around the hem of her gown and cloak. She stood and looked Ariana full in the face. "My lady, please accept my congratulations on the conception of your child. And for all your past kindnesses, may I give you my most sincere thanks." Ariana's eyes pooled with unshed tears. "Oh, please get up," she whispered. Drawing Angela close, she laid a loving hand on her cheek. "Since the day I saw you in the salon, fierce and grieving, all I wished for was your happiness. It eases my heart to see you in joy." Angela gave her a quivering smile. "So this means I am the only woman here is who isn't pregnant?" "Don't tell me you didn't have your chances," said Diana with a smile. "What about that guardsman of yours? He seems to be a pleasant enough sort. Well-made, good teeth. Obviously has his wits about him. And those marks on his face. Do you think he'll scar?" she asked dreamily. "It gives him a very...pirate-y look, don't you think? Pity he isn't a little taller." Paul smiled indulgently at his wife. A series of long conversations with her had made him well aware that trying to keep Diana chained to his bed would only result in unhappiness for them both. But most of that unhappiness would be his. Diana, he had found, had a cheerful capacity for violence that at least matched that of Angela. Their first discussion about whether their marriage would be monogamous had resulted in her pulling down his breeches, stroking him to erection, then grabbing his cock and threatening to remove it if he ever mentioned such a damnfool notion again. She, she had said, had no intention of binding herself to one lover only, no matter how spectacular in the bedchamber. And while she appreciated his devotion to her, it would not be fair if he held himself to a standard she knew she could never match. "Goodness, no," Angela was saying. "Sean was a perfect gentleman the entire time, mores the pity. He treated me like I was made out of spun sugar and moonbeams. I think he would have fainted if I would have tried to drag him into bed. "And since he was the only one I felt I could fully trust, my bed has been cold since I left here." "Well," said Ariana, "we'll have to do something about that, won't we?" The Balance: Finale Chapter 28 It was a merry group that met for the evening meal later that day. All six of them were gathered in the dining hall in the temple. Angela was pleased that Sean had made a conspicuous effort to make a good impression. Though he still bore the marks on his face from his fight with the thieves on the border, he was dressed in freshly-laundered clothes; clean leather breeches with a white tunic, with a leather vest over it. Indeed, all of them were dressed in their best. Abiron and Ariana wore the clothes, Ariana said, that they had been wed in. Diana was resplendent in a white gown so thin as to be practically translucent. It both revealed and concealed her curves, including the small rise of her belly where her child lay. Paul wore a robe that reminded one of his former life as a monk, but it bore the brave sunburst of the Deity on the chest, and was cut to emphasize the graceful strength of his arms and legs. She shifted uncomfortably in her chair, and put down a forkful of gravy-soaked rabbit to surreptitiously adjust her clothing. Ariana had made sure the clothes she had left behind had been brought to the temple in anticipation of Angela's return. However, her soft green dress, the color of new leaves, did not quite fit her new...dimensions. Rather than risk her breasts overflowing the bodice, she had loosened the laces. However, this stratagem had only meant her breasts were free to move about, and the rubbing of the cloth on her nipples was causing some distinctly...distracting...sensations within her. Her eyes fixed on Sean. At the moment, he was regaling the group with a tale from their time traveling together. "...so we're at the temple of the Lover, in...where was it, Angela?" "Graikos," she said shortly, cheeks warming as she recalled that evening. "And all the men there looking at her like she's a side of beef and they haven't eaten in three days," Sean continued. "Bunch of horny louts," she muttered, just loud enough for the rest of them to hear. "And after Angela here goes to her chambers, it seems they all had the same thought, which was to ease the poor girl's loneliness. I was in the guest chamber next to hers, and I could hear them, one after the other, knocking on her door." "Five of them," Angela said with exasperation. "I had to answer the door five times, and tell five different men that no, I did not need any comforting this evening. You may want to have a look at that temple, my lady," she said to Ariana. "I am not sure how many of them actually have a vocation. Not that they were rude in any way," she said to Ariana's narrowed eyes, "but they certainly were eager. Very eager," she said with a small smile of remembrance. "It's a danger," agreed Ariana. "Too many people thinking that serving the Lover or the Wanton means a steady supply of women or men to bed. I'll make some inquiries." "At any rate, after the fifth one, I went downstairs and rang the dinner bell until I had roused the whole temple, and told the entire group..." "In no uncertain terms," put in Sean. "That I was perfectly well and did not need any easing, or comforting, or soothing, or consoling, or any other word which would allow them to get their greedy hands on my body. I also told them the next one to knock on my door would get themselves a knock on the head from a staff blessed by the Deity Himself. "That put an end to that foolishness." Abiron and Diana laughed, and Angela went on the attack. "But what about you, Sean? If I recall correctly, there were several ladies who were eager to jump into your bed after we told them what happened here. A genuine hero of the realm sitting and eating and drinking beer right in front of them, and you wouldn't even crook a finger." "I was your guard," Sean muttered, face flaming. Across the table, Diana narrowed her eyes as she looked at him. "Can't guard you if I'm busy with that sort of nonsense." "Which brings me to a question that I had been meaning to ask you," said Angela, cutting off what was for Sean an embarrassing line of inquiry. "Sean, we know you used to be an atheist. But that when the Deity manifested in throne room and healed your hand you received the proof you needed. If you are going to be our Captain of Guards, I need to know if your faith is still firm. "No one is asking you to join the priesthood, though if you spend time with us here, you may surprise yourself. There have been many soldiers and guardsmen in our past who have become warrior-priests, and have served that avatar of the Deity." Sean nodded. "As for faith, my lady, who can say for sure? How much of my rebellion against Rome was due to a false god, and how much was due to the greed and stupidity I saw when I was younger is anyone's guess. "But I can tell you this. I believe that your Deity is real. And after what I have seen over the past few months, I would happily lay down my life for Her," here his face grew grim. "Or for any of you that are in my care." "Speaking of greed," said Abiron, "but was it Kris that you went to see earlier? Did the annulment that Rome held for ransom come through?" "I did see him. He is happy and healthy and married. And if that widow-woman of his isn't pregnant yet, it isn't for lack of trying. He was walking like she had worn all the skin off his..." he suddenly caught himself, looked at Diana and Ariana, and blushed, cutting short what he was going to say. Diana put her chin in her hands and looked at Sean piercingly. "For a fighting man, you certainly try to keep your tongue under control when you are speaking with us. That is a sad thing. We try here to make sure our men's tongues are under our control." Ariana laughed loudly at the jest, as did Abiron. Paul only smiled fondly, and leaned over to plant a kiss on his wife's lips, which she returned strongly. Seeing them all together, happy and joyous, brought a warm sense of comfort to Angela. She thought how close it had all come to ruin. But here she was, snug in the bosom of her new home. In fact, she was beginning to feel very warm indeed. With a start, she realized that her right hand was cupping her breast, fingers caressing the sensitive flesh, her thumb idly stroking the nipple. She dropped her hand and took a bite of vegetables, face flaming. She looked up to see Diana observing her with understanding and sympathy in her gaze. "It's all new to you, isn't it? The increased desire, the changes in your body?" At Angela's startled nod, she continued. "It was the same way for me when I first found my vocation and the Wanton manifested in me for the first time. I could hardly keep my hands off myself. If you find that the gifts of the Deity are a little bit...more...than you need, you can ask Him to moderate them. Though I would leave the chest alone. It suits you very well, my dear." "It's not that I'm ungrateful," Ariana said. She made a vague motion towards her bosom. "I am just having a hard time adjusting to what I have. And will it continue? What good is a set of teats if I can't haul them around?" From her seat at the head of the table, Ariana nodded. With a keen glance she took in Angela's body. "I do not think He will give you any more than what you now have, daughter. But please know that this is the Great Temple of the Diety in Heklos. It is here that His presence is strongest." "This has its good and bad points," Abiron said with a crooked smile. "We are stronger here. But so is She. And gods sometimes lose track of how they are aeffecting mortals. If you find it is too much for you, or that you feel you are losing yourself in Her, let us know. We have ways to help." Ariana looked at Angela. "Seeing you now, with no cloak or coat on, it does seem that you have been blessed...disproportionately. What say you, Abiron? You are the only one who has seen her with her clothes off. How much has our friend's bounty been increased?" Abiron glanced at Angela, and decided a little gentle teasing would not be out of place. "Well, my lady, it is difficult to be absolutely sure. Regarding the past, what Angela had was delightful. What there was of it. "I mean, from a purely physical point of view, what she had was certainly enough," he sighed in mock-sadness. "Medically speaking, I would say that they were...adequate. But there are always going to be those small-minded fellows who think that more is always better. And those people would be happily surprised to see Angela now." Diana was red-faced as she sought to control her giggles. Across the table from her, Angela slowly ran her thumb down the edge of an eating knife, eying Abiron as a butcher does a particularly troublesome joint of meat. Ariana glanced at the hourglass. "I think I should cut this line of inquiry short, before Angela cuts Abiron short." She gathered Paul, Abiron, and Diana in her eyes. "My friends, are we agreed? Angela to join with us, as novice and priestess of the Huntress in training? Sean to join with us, and to become our Captain of Guards?" The others nodded. "With all my heart," said Abiron. "Gladly," said Diana, with smoldering glances at both Angela and Sean. "Love shared is love doubled," quoted Paul. Ariana nodded. "Very well. Let us go to the worship area for the evening rite." As they walked slowly down the hall, Angela asked, "Sean, did Angela ever tell you about the relationship between Abiron and myself?" Frowning, Sean shook his head. "My lady, we discussed you very little. She did speak of her feelings for Abiron, and the hope that she could return here. And she had nothing but the highest praise for you. But she did not discuss your marriage with the High Priest at all." "Not my secret to share," said Angela quietly, walking a few steps behind. "Not a secret," said Angela with a small smile. "Just something we don't discuss much." In a few sentences, she told Sean of her and Abiron's true relationship, and the reason for it. Sean was strangely accepting. "Local custom," he shrugged. "Each religion has its own oddities. The christians pretend they are eating their god's flesh and blood. Making love to your mother or son isn't any stranger than that." Ariana nodded. "However, I think the Deity is changing the rules on us," she said, as they drew near the worship area. "Rather than depend on one family for faith, and to interbreed it with itself to keep the line pure, He is casting a wider net. When I visited Pathia, I passed along my belief that the Deity would be choosing those of superior faith and asking them to sire children on each other. "Much like a stockman breeds sheep for finer wool, He is breeding us for faith." She opened the door, and they gasped at what they saw within. "Of course, this does have its advantages." Chapter 29 Just as in the audience chamber many weeks before, all twelves incarnations of the Deity stood before them at the head of the room. Angela stood stock-still and turned to Abiron. "I thought we were merely going to observe the evening rites. What are they doing here?" she asked, her voice half-fearful. Abiron grinned. "They're marrying us." "What? Marrying us? You're already married, you dolt! Are you going to divorce Ariana and try to marry me? If that's what you think I advise you reconsider!" From Angela's other side, Paul cleared his throat politely, "I think Abiron may have chosen his words poorly," he said solemnly. "When he said that the Deity was marrying us, he meant that the Deity was marrying all of us. To each other," he explained to her open-mouthed astonishment. "So, I'll be married to you. And to Abiron. And to Sean. And to Ariana. And to Diana?" she asked, an unidentifiable emotion clouding her voice. "Yes," said Diana, her voice warm and loving from behind her. Angela felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist, and she shivered as Diana's lips brushed her neck. "All you have to do is to promise to love us and protect us, and to guard our children as you would your own." Angela looked at Ariana for guidance, nearly weeping. "Why?" she asked. "Why us? Why me?" "Because we love you," she answered. "And because of your faith," added Abiron judiciously. "Do you know how hard we had to fight for you? We could have broken Ulf in two days. Lambert would have taken...four days, Mother?" "Three," she replied. "It took us damn near a fortnight for you and Paul. Ariana performed one of the greatest healings she has ever done, and it still took a trip to the temple of the Wanton and a betrayal by his superior to bring him over. "And as for you, Angela, you shine. There is so much faith and love in you right now you practically glow with it. To have that, to be able to call upon it at need? You have no idea how potent a weapon you are, my love. "And Sean as well! When Paul first met him, he was as firm in his non-belief as Paul was in his devotion to his god. But look at him now! A firm believer in the Deity and now our Captain of Guards. Who wouldn't want to have a mind that strong on his side?" He waved a hand where Sean had been a moment before. And found Sean absent. He was huddled on a bench next to the far wall. When they approached him, he looked up, eyes haunted in an honest, homely face, tanned by winter sun, thick brown hair falling over his intelligent brow. He tried to smile, mouth shaking, but that failed and he lowered his head again. "No," he said softly. "No. No no no no no." Eyes hot, Angela opened her mouth, but was cut off my a sharp gesture from Ariana. Diana stepped forward, but she shook her head. She gathered them together. "This one needs a gentle touch, I think," she said softly. "The poor man is terrified. If you try to force him, Angela, I'm afraid he will only dig his heels in deeper. And Diana, he does not know you well enough to trust you. Not yet. Not with something of this size staring him in the face. "Go on ahead. We'll be up momentarily." "I know what I want to have staring me in the face," Diana said with a smirk. She then flushed and turned away before Ariana's frown. "There is a time and a place, Diana. Not now, I beg you." She walked to the bench and sat down beside Sean and watched the others wander slowly away. Beside her Sean stirred and spoke quietly, his accent that of his far-away land. "My Ma died of the fever when I was six years old. My younger sister died when a damn drunk fool cut her with scythe and the wound went foul when I was eleven. My older sister died in childbed when I was sixteen, and my Da died of the cough when I was nineteen. "I was alone, and had little land, no prospects, and was no great beauty to look at. All that the world taught me was that your loved ones will leave you, and will leave you all alone. I could find no woman to share my life and continue my line. Eventually I left my home and came here. Until three months ago, I had one good friend in all the world. And no family." He took a wracking breath, "And now you are asking me to marry five other persons. To love them, to protect their children. Children that may be mine! "I can't do it." "Of course you can," Ariana's voice was low and kind. "Sean, don't you see? We are all of us damaged in some way. We all lose those who are close to us. I lost my mother and father when I was barely an adult. Angela was cast out of her own home. Paul is an orphan who was flogged for the most innocent of acts. Of the six of us, only Abiron and Diana are whole. And Abiron was informed at the age of eighteen that he would have to marry his mother and sire a child on her, while the hand of the Deity rests so strongly on Diana that she is half a saint already." "I've never been married. I don't know how to be married. I never thought I would marry." "You had never been a guard before you came to Heklos, but from what I hear, you are very good at it. Just because you have never done anything before doesn't mean you have no skill. It just means your skills are untried." "My lady," Sean said desperately, "you don't want me. Just because I knocked that bastard Lambert over when he was going after Angela is no reason to reward me so highly. I am just about resigned to be Captain in a temple where, Deity willing, there will never be any violence. I was a free farmer with my own land, but I am not suited to the high tables of the nobility. I will shame you in public and embarrass you in private. Pick someone else." "And what makes you think," said Ariana, beginning to lose her temper, "that we are the ones doing the choosing? We have been pulled and pushed, guided and goaded, so that the six of us would be in this place at this time. Do you think it simple chance that Paul and Angela were chosen to come here? Do you think it a mere twist of fate that you traveled hundreds of miles so you could be here, now? "You have been chosen, Sean," she said softly, "just as much as the rest of us. And we approve of you heartily. Angela and Paul spent enough time with you to be sure of you. Do you think she would hesitate for a moment to say so if she did not find you to her liking? She knows what a marriage means. Paul sees no problem being a co-husband to you. Do you think he would allow someone unworthy to watch over his child? The rest of us value you just as highly, although it may be on less acquaintance, because we trust them. And because we trust the Deity, who, in the end, was the one who chose you. "And as far as the nobility is concerned, do you think that we spend our days in castles, eating our meals off of silver plates? We are priests of the Deity, Sean, not of the christian god of your youth. We worship and we teach. We help and we heal. We do not spend our time squeezing peasants for coin or measuring ourselves for silks. Trust me, you will be spending far more time grubbing in the garden than you will attending high functions. Our temple is wealthy, but only because we only take what is freely given, and plow that money back into the land. It is a means to aid others, nothing more. We do not love money for its own sake, but only for what it may accomplish for us. "So, will you marry us?" Sean looked up and his throat worked convulsively. "Let's make it easier. Sean, will you marry me?" "Lady, I will," he said hoarsely. "Will you marry Angela? Paul? Abiron? And Diana?" He nodded as each person was named. "Good. Now that this silliness is over, let's go get married." @@@ It really was absurdly easy, Sean thought later. They stood in a line before the twelve incarnations of the Deity; Ariana, Abiron, Angela, Paul, himself, and Diana. He was shaking like a man with a fever when a small hand snuck into his and squeezed it tightly. Returning the pressure, he looked down at Diana smiling up at him. Taking a deep breath, he tried to put the strangeness of the situation out of his mind. The Father walked to Ariana. "Ariana, daughter of Persephone and Aethon, will you take Abiron, Angela, Paul, Sean, and Diana to be your husbands and wives?" Ariana's voice was clear and joyous, "Father, I will." Next, the Lass approached Abiron. She held a rag dolly, Sean noticed, and her face was decidedly grubby. "Abiron, son of Ariana and Aethon, will you take Ariana, Angela, Paul, Sean, and Diana to be your husbands and wives?" Abiron's voice was low and firm. "Lass, I will," The Huntress stalked slowly towards Angela, carrying a bow over one shoulder, and a sheaf of arrows at her hip. Angela started to lower her eyes, then raised them and met those of her avatar's likeness firmly. The Huntress' lip's quirked. The Balance: Finale "Well done," and her voice was the low growl of a hunting cat. "Angela, daughter of Robert and Aelfwen, will you take Ariana, Abiron, Paul, Sean, and Diana to be your husbands and wives?" "My Lady Huntress, I will." The Graybeard slowly walked to Paul. He had, Sean noted, a new staff. "Paul, son of Conn and Fiona," and here Paul gasped, "will you take Ariana, Abiron, Angela, Sean, and Diana to be your husbands and wives?" Paul whispered, "You found my parents. How? Who are they? Are they...are they well?" The Graybeard nodded, "We found them, lad. Someday soon We will tell you the full tale. But for now, there are a few people who are wondering if you are going to marry them or not." "Graybeard, I will." Next the Youth stepped forward. His face was bright and his eyes clear and joyous, a young man in the fullness of his strength. "Sean, son of Taran and Morna," Sean's eyes watered as he heard the much-beloved names of his parents, "will you take Ariana, Abiron, Angela, Paul, and Diana to be your husbands and wives?" Sean's guts clenched, and he squeezed his eyes shut. Taking a deep breath, he stilled the gibbering of his mind and forced down the paralyzing fear. "Youth, I will." Lastly, and to no one's surprise, the Wanton came forward for Diana. "Daughter Diana, true daughter of Helen and Linos, will you take Ariana, Abiron, Angela, Paul, and Sean to be your husbands and wives?" "Wanton, I will." The Wanton stepped back into line. Lastly, the Mother came forward. Her eyes were kind, and she was surrounded by the smell of warm bread. Her mere presence made Sean want to climb into her lap for comfort. "We have used you hard these last several months, my children. We will not say that We are sorry, for Our survival is as important in our mind as the survival of your nation is in yours. "What the coming days will bring, We cannot hope to answer at this time. The threads of chance are still being woven. "However, I can tell you that Ariana has guessed rightly. We have depended on the faith of one family for too long. The recent years, where her line was reduced to a young woman and her child, have taught Us the error of Our ways. "We would not cease to exist if your line did, Ariana. But it would be a hard blow. We have decided that those whose faith is strongest should be bound to each other, if such can be arranged. The six of you are one example of this new course. Others will follow. The children Ariana and Diana bear may choose to wed each other. Or they may seek out others like themselves. We give them the choice that we did not give you. "Be well, children. If you need Us, call on Us. "We are proud of you." @@@ The Deity had left, and it was only the six of them again. They sat quietly in the main parlor, talking softly. Sean settled more comfortably into the embrace of his chair, happy to be warm and indoors after too many nights camping outside or staying in shabby inns, a victim of Angela's desire to stay unnoticed until she returned to the Great Temple. Through drooping eyelids, he saw Ariana stand and walk over to where Paul sat with Diana. "I am going to bed now," she said. "Paul, I would be very pleased if you would join me." Paul swallowed and looked at Diana. "She has just as much claim on you as I do now, darling," she said with a smile. "You have nothing to apologize for. Go and make my sister-wife happy." Rising, Paul set his hand in Ariana's and they left the room together. "We are going to have to guard ourselves closely against jealousy," Abiron said softly. Angela and Diana nodded their agreement. "I am not sure how this will all work," Angela said. "Let's enjoy tonight, and worry about tomorrow when tomorrow comes," Diana suggested. "No one is saying that we have to set up a rota, or that on certain days certain people will pick who they spend their nights with. We are all adults and the Deity brought us together for a purpose. He would not have done so if we were the sort of people who would be driven to envy by an issue such as this." Angela nodded. She rose and took Abiron's hand. "Husband, will you share my bed tonight?" "My love, I will." On their way out the door, Angela paused. "Diana, will you accompany Sean this evening? He may be too tired by our travels and by his own wit to do anything but nap, but I would take it very much amiss if her were to doze off and fall into the fire." Diana smiled deeply. "It would be my pleasure, Angela." "I thought it would." Hand in hand, she and Abiron left. Angela's words brought Sean out of his foggy haze and into wide awareness of his state. He was alone with a priestess of the Wanton. A woman he had just married. Quietly, unmoving, he began to panic. "Sean, why don't you come over here and sit by me?" the goddess in front of him asked. Knees shaking, he rose and crossed the room to join her. He sat beside her, rigid and upright, as comfortable as if someone had stuck a knife in his belly. Her hand dropped softly to his wrist, fingers like fire brushing the inside of his arm. He glanced nervously at her, then just as quickly looked away. "Sean?" He opened his mouth. Tried to speak. Nothing. "Sean, look at me." Despairing, he turned and looked at her, beautiful and alluring and Deity help him, his wife. He dropped his head into his hands. "I told her this was a mistake," he said bitterly. "What? You have known me for less than a full day, and the fact that you don't carry me off to bed like a cheap whore means that you are a failure as a man? Give yourself some credit, Sean. Grace and polite action are something to be treasured, not a weakness to be disdained." Somehow, some way, he managed to untangle his frozen vocal cords. "I...have no gift for talk. Not with a woman. Not when we are alone." He gestured futilely. "Oh, I can be clever and witty when I'm in a group, like earlier today. But I...I just can't do it. "You never wed." It was not a question. Sean snorted. "I never got to the point where I could even think about asking a woman to wed me. I wasn't a serf, but I was a long way from wealthy. And the death-taxes on my farm meant that not many women looked on me as a favorable catch. Add to that my contempt for the church, my habit of asking questions that the high and mighty would rather people like me not ask, the fact that I was an awkward, clumsy youth, and it is no wonder that when I gathered the courage to approach the young women of the village I did not meet with success." Got him talking at least, smiled Diana to himself. Just like some of the others I have guided. He convinced himself that he is unlovable. So he hid his romanticism behind a wall of intellect and sarcasm. She held his hand, careful not to make a move that could make it seem like a seduction. She kept her voice light and friendly. "Well, whatever you looked like as a youth, you do not look ill as a man. Better than many, I would say." She touched his cheek gently, fingers avoiding the marks of violence. "Tell me the tale of how you got these." Sean laughed grimly. "Damn near had my stupid head knocked off, is how I got them. We were just starting back for here. I was dead tired. I had been arguing with Angela non-stop for the better part of a week that she was over-reacting about the Deity's gifts, but she wasn't having it. She wouldn't stay in the temples, she was avoiding the inns. So I was having to take the watch while she slept. I knew there could be trouble on the border. "When she woke up one morning and announced that the Father had visited her and convinced her to come back, I praised every aspect of the Deity I could think of, and some I made up on the spot. I was practically out on my feet, just stumbling along with one of my arms over the mule's neck, putting one foot in front of the other, hoping to find an inn where I could get some sleep. "They came at us from the woods. If they had any training at all they would have had us clean. Should have attacked me as a group. Or at least had two of them double-team me. As it was, I managed to cut the first one down just before the second one hit me with a club that felt like a tree trunk. Lucky for me it cracked when it hit me..." "I knew Scot's heads were hard," grinned Diana. "Har har. He was left with just a stump in his hand. Stupid bastard should have run. But I guess he was desperate enough to think he could take me. I was down on the ground, bleeding and woozy, but when he came in for the kill I was able to get my dagger into him. Angela had already taken the other one out by that time. Grandmother's Loom, that girl is fierce!" "And here you are, talking to me as if you are a real person. That wasn't so hard, was it?" Sean stared for a moment, then gave a rueful smile. "Fooled me, lass, now didn't you?" "Oldest trick in the book. Get the other person to talking about himself," she smiled. "And here is another question I need to know. How long has it been?" Sean considered a quick and easy lie, but he knew this woman, priestess as she was, would see through a falsehood in a second. He met her eyes openly. "Never." Diana nodded sadly, "Poor boy. I thought so. The way you froze up whenever the talk came to you and the opportunities you had on the road, being a hero. And the way you talked about how you left home. I don't think you would have left if there had been anything for you there." "There wasn't," Sean said flatly. "No family, no love, and no opportunity for love. Not with the bloody damned church holding us all in its fist. No loveplay without marriage. And what lass would have a man like the one I was?" "But Sean, why didn't you take advantage of the temples here? There was no reason for you to live chaste. You are a kind, decent man," she said, slipping an arm around his shoulders and giving him a hug. "Any priestess of the Wanton would have been honored to guide you. I know I would have." "I was an atheist, remember?" he said with a bitter smile. "What self-respecting non-believer would take advantage of religion just to satisfy his lust? I may be many things, Diana, but at least in this I was not a hypocrite." Diana laughed, deep and full. "You poor man! You ran away from a society that forbids bodily pleasure to one that does not, but because of your rejection of their views, you could not take advantage of what you found in your new home." "Exactly." He sighed and leaned back, relaxed at last. "But now we are married," she said, her voice low in his ear. "And I would be happy to guide you. In fact," she continued, "I am afraid I am going to have to insist on it." She stood and held her hands out to him. Gathering his courage, he took them in his and let her guide him to his feet. He stood there, uncertain, while she examined him. "Let me think," she mused. "There are many ways of setting one's partner at ease in our temple. Many of those we accompany have the same problems you do, Sean. They are unsure of themselves, nervous, convinced they are not worthy of love. But they are. You are. "What we sometimes do is have them pretend they are someone else. A figure of their better, most perfect self." "What, like a play? An act?" "No, not that. But we have them convince themselves that they are the best person they can be. "For example..." she turned away, and he heard her murmur, "And I really liked this dress, too, but I'll be too big for it in a few months anyway," followed by the sound of cloth tearing. When she turned back to him, Sean was stunned. Gone was the elegant woman of a moment before. In front of him was a wild creature, her dressed ripped, showing vast expanses of her legs and bosom. Her hair was mussed and her chest rose and fell spasmodically, as if she had just been engaged in some desperate exertion. "Oh Captain," she cried, hurling herself into his arms, "Thank the Deity you came to save me from those vicious criminals!" Her face pressed against his chest, but one hand was curled over his buttocks, stroking them firmly. She lifted her face to look at him, and he could not help look down the length of her throat to the curves of her heaving breasts. "However shall I thank you?" Sean's mind raced. "Thanks are not needed, Lady Angela..." "Lady Angela?" she exclaimed. "I am not she. Do you not recognize me? I am Priestess Diana, who you agreed to guide to my new temple. But I see now, my lord Captain, you are wounded. Did the blow on your head addle your wits?" "Only for a moment, my lady priestess," said Sean. He was beginning to see how the game was played. "Pray, tell me," he continued, striving for the tone and rhythm of the plays he sometimes attended in the town, "Are you well? You come to me so disheveled that I must think those bandits have done you an injury." "Nay, my good Captain, for you arrived in time to save my virtue, if I had any virtue to be saved," she said with a throaty laugh. She cupped his groin. "Indeed, I was impressed by the work you did with your...sword. Please, accompany me to yonder bower, where I may bathe your wounds and put you at ease." She led him out of the parlor and into the hall. Sean watched, amazed, as he walked beside her. Without breaking stride, Diana somehow managed to remove her gown. A loosening of a belt, a quick rip of a seam, and rags and tatters floated to the floor. Within moments, the priestess of the Wanton was strutting next to him, clad only in a pair of heeled sandals, proud breasts thrust boldly outward, capped by joyfully erect nipples. Taking Sean by the hand, she led him to her private rooms. Early in her marriage to Paul, she had realized the time would come when she would need her own place. The Wanton was strong within her, and her wisdom foretold that one day she would take a lover other than her husband, and that their bedchamber would be a poor place to consummate a relationship. Indeed, this chamber was very much like her rooms in the temple of the Wanton. The bed was different, but no less magnificent, and she had managed to convince the temple to sell her many of her favorite tapestries. "Lie down, brave captain, while I tend you," she said. Sean lay on the bed, trying to quell his nervousness. After a quick detour to a corner of the room, Diana came back, holding a bowl of hot water in one hand and several clean cloths in another. Kneeling beside him on the bed, she rapidly undid his leather vest and removed it. "Please, my lady, there is no need to trouble yourself so," he said. "There is every need," she contradicted him. "I will not allow my noble captain to lie untended when it is in my power to aid him. Who knows what filth those ruffians had on their weapons? I will not be satisfied until I examine every inch of you." She matched actions to words and removed his shirt. Quick as thought, she straddled him and allowed her weight to fall onto his groin. He closed his eyes and fought for control as she bathed him with hot water and dried him with soft, comfortable towels. He felt Diana turn. Opening his eyes, he saw that she had reversed herself, and was now engaged in removing his boots. As she worked, she made sure her buttocks, sweetly curved, were thrust towards him. Unasked, his hands came up to rest on her hips, palms caressing her strongly muscled thighs. With a pair of thumps, his bots hit the floor. The stockings soon followed. With a look of avaricious glee in her eyes, Diana quickly unbuttoned the flies of his breeches and removed them. A look of shock passed over her face, and she cried out in horror. "I knew it! The foul fiends have wounded you. Look here, mighty Captain! Your dagger rests, limp as a boned fish, when it should be hard and sharp. However can we amend this calamity?" "I am told," said Sean, trying to keep a note of rising hilarity out of his voice, "that with the proper spell, priestesses of the Wanton can make even the limpest dagger ready for battle." "Indeed we can," Paula purred, a note of excitement threading through the music of her voice. "But tell me, puissant Captain, would you rather this spell be made with the hands, or the mouth?" "I think that the mouth would be the better choice," said Sean, unable to keep his desire from showing. "It shall be as you ask." Slowly, how slowly, she bent to her task. One hand lovingly cradled his testes, the other braced her body as she lowered her head to his phallus. Sean caught his breath, and she laid a gentle kiss, tender and sweet, on the skin of his manhood. Another, only the slightest distance away. Then another, and he felt her lips open and her tongue venture out for the smallest of tastes. And he was growing, his shaft lengthening, thickening, laying heavy on the inside of his thigh as his fear drained away. Pulsing hotly, and now she was kissing the bulbous head, mouth open, tongue dancing, and he was rising, cock growing hard, harder, the influx of blood forcing it towards his belly, and she was following it with her mouth, never leaving him, hands now braced on his chest as her head bobbed, slicking his length with her saliva. He could feel the tidal surge of his seed within him, urgent for release, as could she, body-wise as she was. Reluctantly she removed her mouth from him. "Your dagger is once more ready for battle, gallant Captain," she said, idly stroking him. She wriggled contentedly, pubis gently grinding against the hard muscles of his thigh. He could see how her nether lips had opened, the flower of her womanhood displaying itself for him to see, shiny with her womanly dew. "What other service may I do, my lord?" "If it please you, my lady..." and here he trailed off, his reluctance to speak not entirely an act. "Yes, valiant Captain?" "I would ask. No, I would beg, for one kiss from your lips, for their color outshines the flowers of the field, and as the holy light of your eyes does the diamonds of the mine. I do not deserve such a boon, but you bade me state my heart's desire." "It shall be as you ask, bold Captain, for your request was as courteous as it was audacious." She dropped her hands to either side of his hips, and slowly, sinuously, she slid up his body, stopping every few inches to shower him with kisses. His stomach, his chest, the inside of his elbow. She suckled on the tender skin of his neck, tongue licking along his jawline. Her breasts followed her path, and Sean could barely breathe for longing. She kissed the curve of his ear, breath tickling inside, and he arched up hard against her, aching to enter her, but she agilely dodged his instinctive thrust. "No, my love. Not yet. First I must grant your wish and bestow a kiss upon you," her voice was gently amused, yet with a thread of passion that more than matched his own. She smiled down into his face. He gazed back up at her, scarcely believing his good fortune. His hands rested above her hips, where they flared in to the sweet curve of her waist. His thumbs, wiser than he was, gently stroked the underside of her ribs, making the muscles of her belly tremble. Oh, this one will be a mighty lover for me, she thought. For all of us. She caught his eye as it rested on the small curve of her stomach where her growing child slept. He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Are you sure this will cause you no harm?" "The only way you could hurt me or my baby was if you were diseased, gentle Captain. I and the Deity both know that you are not, else you would never have been allowed to my marriage bed "Now, kiss me, you fool." Matching action to words, she bent down and pressed her lips to his, barely brushing his flesh. Tentatively at first, then with growing courage, he returned her caresses. She moaned deep in her throat as her mouth opened, and his questing tongue found hers, both urgent and shy at the same time. His hands came hard around her back, one pressed into the base of her spine, the other between her shoulder blades, as he matched her desire with his. She let her weight sag down upon him, her aching nipples pressed into the strong muscles of his chest. Her legs spread, and she let her open flower graze the sensitive skin of his cock, coating it with her fluids. Again he surged up toward her, and again she danced away, laughing.