“You are joking, right?” I asked her while a laugh escaped me.
“No, totally being serious. So after one of the orgies, two or three Deities got their panties in a twist and chaos ensued. That’s why there hasn’t been a conclave ever since.”
Well, if I hadn’t been scared to go to the meeting before, I definitely was now.
* **
It was late afternoon when we finally finished the invitations and we were all lounging on the sofas when the doors to the library opened and Lydia strolled in, back from her trip to Vhalyra, the capital.
“Well, well, well, I disappear for a few days and you all have nothing better to do than to get drunk in the library?” she drawled, but came closer to give us all a hug.
Well, save for Theo of course.
“I see you have already prepared the invites, I hope you have put the names of the recipients on it, because rumor has it that there are several names we can cross off our list.” Malek poured Lydia a drink and she started telling us about the assignment Theo had given her: To travel to the capital gauge the overall atmosphere there these days. She had visited the bars of the city and she had spent several nights in the nightclubs that were frequented by the deities.
“Very little is known in the capital about what’s happening here or in the mortal realm,” she explained. “So long as the Heralds won’t reach Aetheria, it seems like they don’t care all that much. They think this problem mainly affects the humans and thus is none of their business.” She sent me an apologetic look. “I also tried to find out which Gods have been absent from their usual spots in the past few months. It seems that there are quite a few deities who have suddenly gone rogue. Of course those rumors are just that, but I think it’s worth looking into.”
She handed Theo a list of names then and he read them carefully. Theo got to work straight away and cross-referenced the list to the one Lythandra had made of otherGods who had vocalized their displeasure about being pushed to the Gods realm before. In the end, there were three names that stood out:
Meridion, The God of Trade and Prosperity
Vulkaron, The God of the Forge
Somnaris, the God of Dreams and Illusions
“Do you know them?” I asked Theo when he had read out their names to the group.
“I have met them in passing, but never had any close ties with either of them. As far as I know, there is no direct link that connects the three of them, their courts are far apart in the God realm and professionally there is no reason to assume that their paths cross regularly. I will pull up everything we know about them from the library, maybe this will give us a clue about what to expect,” Theo said. “But for now, I think we should call it a day. Cae, can you make sure the invites get sent out tonight?”
The sentinel bowed slightly and left to take care of the letters. Malek left as well, he was tasked with putting together a group of soldiers to guard the Lodge and the temple while we were going to the capital. Lythandra and Thalora were tasked with traveling ahead to the city to speak to their friends and prepare them for the meeting of the Deities. Lydia went straight to bed since she had had a long day traveling and so only me, the Abbot and Theo remained.
“I am going to start doing some research on these Gods, you are free to return to the Lodge,” Theo said.
I wanted to stay.
Should I stay?
Would he want me to?
Was I even going to be of any use at all?
Tap, tap, tap, tap.
Red for the roses, white for the veil, one to remember and one to betray.
Stay.
