Chapter 29
Courting War
Along the eastern slopes of the Mountain of the Gods was Lake Larius. Wide and pristine, it reflected the sky, clouds and the mountain. Sky Father flew above it, pale skin fading into clouds as he cruised through his domain. He dipped low to the waters and was shadowed for a time by dolphins. They raced beneath him, leaping up occasionally and looking at him with intelligent eyes. On some invisible signal they all dived down again and were seen no more.
The waves of the lake were small and gentle. Ahead, though, they appeared to be cresting. Only they were not so much breaking as rising up. Gentle fountains rose up in spectacular arrays. Some flowed freely, others were frozen still. Together they formed intricate and fluid shapes. It was the palace of Waterbearer.
Sky Father alighted slowly, his waist condensing from mist to muscles and skin. The form of his legs became apparent, then solidified. Last were his toes, which touched down and left ripples on the smooth soft liquid surface. He parted a curtain of water and entered a side chamber. Surprised looking fish and mollusks scampered away, within the water walls whispering “Sky Father” over and over.
He paused, letting his fingers play through the fountain of water playing on pearls. They glistened and gleamed and their depths reflected vistas other than this room.
“My, my, my,” came a deep liquid voice. “So it is the Sky Father.” He turned and a woman of his own stature was leaning casually against the doorway. Her skin was the color of a stormy ocean, and her hair was made of ocean foam. It cascaded up and down her long back, live waves on a shore. She wore no clothes from the waist up and the flowing skirt like the cascade of a waterfall that covered her from the waist down was hardly modest. “It's been quite a while since you visited... my temple.”
“Waterbearer,” he said, inclining his head respectfully.
“So many summonses, to such a dry court,” she complained. Walking slowly into the room. “Doom, gloom and war. Tempest and fugue are the only songs heard there.” She ran her finger along his chin. “Do you tire of such tunes? Is that why you visit here?” She looked pointedly behind him. “Alone?”
He took her hand from his chin, kissed it, and gently returned it. “I do grow tired of talk. I grow eager for action.”
She turned and looked at him over her shoulder, through the curtain of her foam hair. “How forward of you.”
He gave the barest of sighs. “The need is urgent...” he began.
“I'm not surprised,” she interrupted. “With such a frigid wife.”
“I need your help...” he started again.
She laughed and glowing bubbles sailed from her mouth to pop against his skin. “After having ignored me for so long, you'll have to court me better than that.”
“This is serious!” he said, his temper rising.
“Of course!” she said. “I have my reputation. Come back tomorrow. Anticipation will make your tongue gentler.” She leaned against the doorway again, facing out.
“There is no time for this,” he said. “Our fate hangs in the balance. We must to war and I need you by my side.”
She turned back to him, folding her arms. “This again?” She shook her head. “I've had my say. I see no profit in rushing to war. Let us see if they are bold enough to make the first move.” She eyed him suggestively.
“You see no personal profit in it,” Sky Father said. “You toy with the doom of all of us.”
“Our doom or your doom?” retorted Waterbearer.
“We've been through all of this,” said Sky Father.
“Yes, yes,” said Waterbearer, holding the back of her palm to her forehead. “So much so I feel a headache coming on.”
Sky Father paused, getting his temper under control. He took a deep breath, and then released it. “There is more,” he said. She looked at him idly between two of her fingers. “They have uncovered something with their new magic.” She moved her hand to her cheek, and considered him. “Something even we do not have.”
“We are the gods,” she said. “We have everything,” she smiled sarcastically.
“They have discovered a power. A source of magical energy.” He smiled at her. “The gods need people. Soon, they will not.”
She moved her hand to her chin. “And then people will not need gods.”
“Precisely. This is why we must strike now,” he said.
“Why me? Why aren't you batting your eyelashes at Martius?” she said.
“Martius is a general. He is not a leader,” said Sky Father. “This is bigger than that.”
“Bigger?” she asked. “What could be bigger than him and his... spear?”
“Don't be coy,” said Sky Father. “You, me and Grave Keeper. We're the powers of the pantheon. Think of your stature. What if we went to war without you? How would that look?”
“It depends on if you won or lost,” she said, moving her hands to her hips. She pursed her lips. “Does Hearth Mother know you are here?”
“She sent me,” said Sky Father.
“Is that so?” said Waterbearer, sashaying forward. She stopped, close enough so he felt her breath on his skin. “Then I guess she doesn't mind we're together. Alone.”
“I'm not sure I would say that,” he said, carefully. “She understands the importance of this, though.”
“Unabated magical power,” said Waterbearer. “That would be nice.” She moved her lips towards his, then away. “So would being Queen of the gods.”
“If you went to war, and came back with such power as that, the populace might demand it,” said Sky Father.
She placed her hands on his chest. They were cold, he was hot. “And we just bend to the whims of the populace?”
“We have up till now,” he said, looking down into her eyes. “If we secured this new power source... All that could change.”
“And we could do what we wanted?” she asked pressing the rest of herself up against him.
“For those who had the power, yes,” he said.
“And what is it you want?” she asked, looking deep into his eyes.
His eyes looked down upon her, but not quite into her eyes. “I think you know what that is.”
She drew back, and sat on the edge of the fountain. He drew breath quickly in the sudden absence. “Where do they keep this power of powers?”
“Beyond the civilized world,” he said. “Where they hide all their blasphemy.”
“The Scioni Academy of Magic at Irontree,” she said.
“You are familiar with it?” he said.
She raised her eyebrows. “Just because Heqet is my understudy in magic now does not mean that I have no interest in the subject. You are not seeking my aid because of my prowess with weapons! So, certainly, I am well informed with the blasphemy of our enemy.”
He nodded his head. “Indeed, in this you are valuable.”
“I hope for other things too,” she said coyly. “Is this where we attack?”
“No. It is a strong point for them and a weak point for us. We attack in Romitu. They cannot afford not to contest us there,” said Sky Father.
“Still,” said Waterbearer, a finger on her lip. “It is precious to them. A feint in that direction could provide a valuable distraction.”
“Yes. But it would be a stretch. Our resources are limited. A frontal strike is best,” he said.
She smiled and shrugged. “Well, I think I happen to have a few 'resources' that I could specifically deploy in that direction.”
“We cannot afford to support them,” said Sky Father. “It would be suicide.”
“They're expendable,” said Waterbearer. “For a cause such as this.”
Sky Father sighed. “Well, you've always been good at getting people to fight for you to their own detriment.”