Goddess's Saga 1: Touch of the Goddess (15 page)

When she finally pulled
free from the kiss, she touched his cheek and teased him.

“
You taste like whiskey.”

He grinned and teased her bac
k.

“
And you taste like marzipan.”

She saw his eyes wander from her face to the stunning view below them.
He pulled her with him to the crenulated balustrade and looked out over the lush landscape.

It was hard to imagine evil lurking when the afternoon was so beautiful, when the sun shone so nice and warm, and her lover
’s arms around here were so strong and safe.

If the rest of the castle was modern and comfortable, the dining room went completely along the lines of what one could expect from seeing the stone-clad building from the outside.

The large hall with its dark colours, heavy furniture, and sparse lighting might look cheerful if dressed up for a ball or a great banquet. Like this, with only the three of them there and the light from the candles on the table unable to chase the darkness away, even Stephan found it depressing.

Olga
seemed as gloomy as the surroundings.

“
I’m sorry I’m not very good company. Being in here always reminds me of my family. I both want to remember them, and want to forget.”

He
nodded.

“
I can relate to that. I’ve been there and gone through great lengths to forget. It doesn’t work.”

Maria
poked in the food on her plate and he murmured, “You doing okay there, sweetheart?”

“
Yes, there’s just so much of everything.”

She was right; there was too much food
and too much wine.

Did all this come from the strange kitchen filled with giggling girls?

Whoever cooked still did it for a large family, and that couldn’t make the situation any easier on the heiress.

Eventually, Maria pushed her barely touched plate away.

“Tell us more about them. About the others, I mean.”

Olga gave a slight shrug.

“The ones that came to the square today were in the third stage. At first, they can look and appear almost human, and that’s the greatest scare of all. You see people you know and trust, acting like they always did, but they’re just trying to lure you away so they can get to you. Even then they shun the sun, but it doesn’t hurt them as quickly as it does later.”

Unusually long speech coming from her.

If things had been different, if he hadn’t met his Goddess, he’d be working hard on getting that cute face and funny accent into bed.

She might have sensed the thought.
She raised her eyes and met his gaze, and he could have sworn she was blushing.

“
What do you think, Mister Forks? None of us have been able to trust anyone for a long time. No one can sleep well or feel safe for even a second, unless the sun is shining. Will it always be like this? Will there be any of us left?”

He
took a long sip of his wine.

“
I think we’ll find a solution. And odds are everyone can sleep undisturbed tonight, right, Babe?”

Maria
shrugged.

“
This place is under my protection now. No harm will come to the inhabitants.”

Olga exclaimed,
“Say what?”

“I’m keeping them out and I will continue to keep them out.”

Stephan barely listened; his mind toyed with another line of thought.

“I wonder if the host dies, or if something of the original person survives.”

Olga didn
’t seem to hear him. She stared at the Goddess.

“
You have such powers. You can control the weather, and you can keep those… those monsters away just like that? Can you turn everything back the way it was? Can you bring my people back? My family?”

This is a good time to
lie, babe.

“
I could. But it doesn’t work that way.”

A feverish glint of hope
lit Olga’s eyes. He knew what she thought, could recognize the whirlwind of emotions in her eyes. The thought of having everything back could be intoxicating.

You can only go forward, never back.

“If you can do it, why haven’t you done so already?”

The
Goddess’s voice was mild when she repeated her own words.

“
Because it doesn’t work that way.”

He sighed; it was easy to see where this was going, even before Olga shouted,
“What do you mean doesn’t work that way?”

Pushing her plate away,
Maria leaned her elbows on the table and stared into the other woman’s eyes.

“
The people you knew are gone. They have moved on to another time and place, another dimension if you so wish. Some will come back here to be reborn, and others will move on along new paths. It is a balance that shouldn’t be disturbed.”

He knew she had done it, at least once. To bring
him
back from the dead.

Or, had she? She told him she healed his body, but that the choice to come back had been his.

“Screw the balance. Bring them back!”

Maria
’s face showed no emotion at all.

“
Furthermore, their bodies carry new sentient beings now. It’s a form of life that might appear different to you, maybe even evil, but it has a right to exist. We do not have the right to judge whose life is more important, but we do have a moral obligation to respect what’s alive right now.”

Olga
bared her teeth, and for a moment he thought she would throw something at the Goddess, or why not jump her with the sword.

“
Moral obligation? Are you high? How dare you say the life of my brother isn’t worth more than one of those… things?”

Maria shrugged.

“You humans from Earth have gotten that courtesy time and time again. Violent and destructive, doing the exact opposite to what you were once put there to do, many races could have wiped you out many times over, but everyone hoped you’d one day evolve and better yourselves, and…”

Olga bounced out of her chair.

Now was probably a good time to interfere, before everything got out of hand.

He
pulled a hand through his hair and got to his feet.

“
That’s enough.”

He didn
’t raise his voice, but both girls fell silent and stared at him.

“
I feel for you Olga, and I see your point of view. I lost my children, and I would have given anything to have them back. I see her point too. Trust me, I know what she’s talking about. Now, we came here to offer our help, and if you don’t want what we’re willing to give, we’ll leave. Right now.”

She stared at him and clenched her jaw.

Beautiful, defiant woman.

“
What is it going to be?”

“
Your arrival is the first hope this planet has seen for a long time. I guess I would be wrong to turn it down. Let’s bring dessert to the library.”

Maria muttered,
“Yay, more stuff to eat.”

He bent
over and whispered in her ear.

“
Be nice. You two aren’t even playing on the same field.”

She looked like she wanted to stick her tongue out, but she kept quiet, took his hand, and followed him.

The time of miracles is not yet over; the Goddess did what I asked of her. I would expect her to do the opposite...

She perked up when they reached the library. The walls were filled with shelves holding everything from old books with real paper, bound in leather, to
holo-novels and encyclopaedias stored on memory cards.

Olga nodded towards a shelf.

“My father always said knowledge is the best weapon in any battle for survival. All these words in storage haven’t helped us find neither a cure nor a weapon, but the answer might be in here. Your gun is the only thing I’ve seen able to kill them. The technology is amazing.”

Yeah, well, I
’m kind of attached to it, so you can’t have it.

Girls bringing in dessert made him think about that kitchen again. The mere thought of all those young women flocking around him, trying to touch, made him feel guilty.

Could she see it in his eyes? It wasn’t exactly a betrayal. He didn’t go there on purpose, but they had been so... intimate.

By the time
both the coffee pot and the bottle of cognac were empty, the room revolved slowly around him, and he wanted to take his Goddess with him and go to bed while he could still walk.

She was right. There
’s too much... everything here. I must have had enough wine and booze for Olga’s entire family

Maria probably wore
something interesting under that pretty dress of hers, and he wanted to see it before falling asleep. Their host kept talking.

His mind wanted to tune out, to
just stop listening, but she seemed to want his response to everything, and he squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his forehead.

Maria smirked. Did she know what went through his mind?

Finally, Olga asked, “So, what plans do we have for tomorrow?”

Maria
’s answer came quickly.

“
Stephan and I will take our rover and go investigate the cave where the first person got infected. There might be some answers there. You will stay here, and take care of your people. They need you for moral support.”

In the next moment, Olga
’s hand was on his arm.

“
I don’t want to be left behind. It’s about
my
people.”

He
shrugged. He was tired and drunk, and not in the mood to be diplomatic any longer.

“
Well, I don’t want to get up early in the morning. Still, it’s what we’re going to do.”

Maria laughed.

*****

Stephan
’s head cleared a little on the way to their rooms, but he still wanted to sink down on the bed and, well, pass out.

Maria stared out the window.

I should probably talk to her... Say something. It doesn’t have to be bright, just say something that isn’t ‘tits’.

“
You okay, babe?”

“
It looks so quiet, and the lit windows are so cosy in comparison to all the darkness. It’s hard to imagine something malevolent lurking out there.”

She needs you. Get up, and don
’t topple over.

He made it over to her and rested his hands on her shoulders.

“I’m just thinking... The woman who lost her son today, should I have done more? It would have been easy to bring him back to her, safe and sound, but I didn’t. Is that evil, neglectful, or just according to plan?”

This is too deep a discussion for right now. Can we talk about this tomorrow?

He squeezed his eyes together, hoping thinking would be easier if he didn’t see everything around him.

“
I don’t know. You’re not evil, so I suppose you just let things unfold the way they’re supposed to. People’s lives wouldn’t be the same if the Gods interfered with them all the time.”

She shuddered, and he pulled her with him to a plush armchair. Sitting down with her on his lap was heavenly. She rested her head against his, and he struggled to not fall asleep.

“Why don’t you like Olga?”

Crap, I wasn
’t going to ask her that.

“
I like her just fine.”

“
If you say so.”

Because I could have sworn you wanted to turn her into a toad. Or is that too stereotypical? I don
’t think you wanted to turn her into a kitten...

S
he sighed.

“
I don’t know why I don’t like Olga.”

It didn
’t sound exactly true, but he wasn’t going to push her. He just gave her a little squeeze.

“
It doesn’t matter.”

“
I guess that... She’s a beautiful, strong, and intelligent woman. There’s no match for her on the planet, at least not until you came along. All three of us know that.”

Stephan
laughed.

“
Are you jealous, sweetheart? You know there’s only one woman for me. I’m not going to run away with the Russian doll.”

She glanced into his eyes and sounded gloomy.

“
Maybe not, but that doesn’t mean she won’t run off with you.”

“
Well, as tempting as that sounds, I’m gonna have to decline. I have some other really important things to do.”

He
tickled her, and when she was almost screaming with laughter, he lifted her up, tossed her over his shoulder, and carried her to bed.

“
You know, Olga is hot, and she has a really sexy accent, but I...” he paused to slap her butt, “...have all I need right here.”

He dropped her on the bed as he said the last two words, and frowned a little.

“Are you fond of this dress?”

“
No, but...”