Flame of Cytherea 05

Chapter 17

Nicci had enough feeling sorry for herself. She sighed. There was no choice really. She loved her father dearly, but Justin was her future. She just had to hope her father came to his senses one day and they could be a family again. Until he could see her for more than a little girl needing protection, which she hadn't been for quite a while, it was inevitable.

Even if she chose to stay, the cycle would just repeat itself. No, Justin was her future, and she would not give him up. Hopefully the king would come to his senses quickly, but even if it took years to reconcile, that wouldn't be her fault.

It would hurt, she would miss him, but it was the way it had to be. She also determined she would not sneak out like a child, like she had almost two weeks ago. This time she was taking the front door.

She sighed gazing out her window, it was the middle of the night and she was wide awake. That's what she got when she cried herself to sleep and slept the day away. She was wary though on the timing, if she marched to Justin's rooms and joined them, her father could make things difficult for them. Even by simply throwing one or the other out of the castle.

But she wanted to at least let Justin and the others know her plans, that she would not abandon them and what they had. Her new family. She slid the secret door open and slipped inside...

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Nora woke fully alert and looking around. She could swear she heard a latch click. When the book shelf pushed out from the wall and a figure stepped in the room she prepared an attack. Before releasing it, she saw it was Nicci and started cursing up a storm.

Nicci giggled, "It's good to see you too!"

She said frostily, "Damn it Nicci, I almost took your head off."

By this time everyone else was awake and pulling Nicci into a hug, including her.

Nicci said, "I'll join you all when you leave, I hope that won't be too long..." she went on to explain her choice.

"Nicci, why don't you just join us now?" Sally asked.

She was wondering that too, but she agreed with Nicci when it was explained.

"I want to, but I am afraid that my father's anger with me for making this decision will be turned toward all of you. At least when we are leaving we will all be out of his sight."

She considered that, she had never known the king to be petty, but then, things might be a different story involving his obsession with keeping Nicci safe.

She hugged Nicci back fiercely when the princess made her rounds before kissing Justin hard and fast.

Nicci said regretfully, breaking out of Justin's embrace, "I'm curious about your day, but I need to get back to my room in case someone checks."

She watched as Nicci slipped into the passage before she lay back against Justin and tried to fall back asleep...

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Sally yawned. She was trying to wake up after last night. She had decided to give Justin a rest after he slept with both Kat and Nora earlier in the evening, but she had been having a very pleasant dream when Nicci woke them all up. Needless to say, she was running on very little sleep.

She was happy to see the smile on Justin's face though; the change in him had been obvious once Nicci had stopped by to share their plans. He also looked a little too awake after their time together last night. Then it hit her, of course he looked awake. She leaned into him and whispered.

"Would you give me a little pick me up, you tired me out last night."

She smiled as she felt his magic suffuse her with energy and love from the goddess. She kissed his cheek and thanked him and got back to eating her food. She hoped they found out what he had to do today, and that it would all work out...

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Kat knew it had just been a day, but she was missing the smells and sounds of nature. The city looked nice, but it wasn't comfortable for her. She had an urge to change and run into the surrounding hills, go for a hunt. Nothing overwhelming, her talent didn't control her, but it did make the city an uncomfortable place to be and she just felt uneasy.

She felt better when she reached out and took Justin's hand, as they walked back to the temple. She hoped the high priestess would see them as promised, so they could go.

She studied her intended mate as they walked, he was walking with more confidence now. She could see his inner strength reflected on his visage, though he insisted he was just Justin, she saw so much more than that. She wasn't sure if he was even aware of it, he was humble and always trying to downplay his own importance. But he radiated a calm authority now that she and the other women could sense.

It just made her love him more. She wanted so much, she wanted his child, a long life together, but she knew it had to wait. When he caught her studying him and gave her a questioning look, she just smiled and winked. She couldn't exactly tell him could she? How besotted he made her, or how amazing he was? It would make him uncomfortable, or worse, arrogant. She preferred him just the way he was...

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As they walked up to the temple he saw the priest from yesterday waiting at the door. He almost groaned at the looks he got when the priest bowed to him. He most definitely did not want to be famous. At least the bow was brief.

The priest said respectfully, "Follow me please."

They were led down the same hallways as yesterday, but then kept going deeper into the temple. There were large murals on the walls as they got further into the temple. Some depicting the act of sex, some were just a couple standing together that was drawn so well you could see the love in their eyes. There were also drawings depicting pregnant women and some of families with young children.

They were led into a room with comfortable couches and chairs, it looked like a lounge of some sort.

The priest said diffidently, "Please make yourselves comfortable, the high priestess will be here shortly."

They sat on one of the couches, they did not have to wait long. A short time later their chatting was interrupted by the door opening.

The high priestess Celia was in her mid fifties, but she was still in good shape and quite attractive. She smiled at them and said, "Welcome to the temple of Cytherea. Please, call me Celia, we will have no formalities between us Flame of Cytherea."

He relaxed at her friendly greeting and said, "You must call me Justin then, if that is the case."

She smiled at his response and said, "My priest tells me you want to know about the last Flame, I assume that is because you are at a loss as to what our goddess asks of you?"

When he nodded she said, "Normally I wouldn't tell anyone, but then, you aren't just anyone. You need this information to do our goddess's will, yet, I would have an oath from the five of you that what I say here will never pass your lips for the remainder of your lives."

He thought about that for a moment, then replied, "With the exception of needing to for success, and that I will extract a similar oath from that person, I would be okay with that. Specifically one of our number is missing today, and she will need to know what we are doing. And who can say if any others will be needed?"

The ladies all agreed with him on the necessity of not being completely locked down. Celia didn't exactly look thrilled by the exceptions, if it became general knowledge they could face a new crisis weekly from idiotic power hungry assholes, but she would accept it as long as he extracted an oath first and said as much.

When they finished giving their oaths, Celia began explaining.

"Two thousand years ago, the goddess came to this world. There is much speculation about it, but we truly do not know the reason why. Before then, we had worshipped gods that simply weren't real, in an attempt to explain the world around us. The goddess loved us, and wished to walk with us personally, and be a part of our lives. But she could not do so without compromising our free will.

"It is said she loved us so much that she found a way. Shortly after that, all the children being born had magical talents. As you know, when we use them we can feel the goddess's love, yet, she does not interfere in our free will or how we use them. It is simply enough for her to have this personal connection with all her children.

"I don't understand it completely, but free will is a gift, and as such, we believe knowledge of our goddess, and other gods, were given to us. That way, we had a way to choose to reject our goddess, even choose another god. Regardless of what the full answer may be, the result was a cache of knowledge was found. Knowledge of our goddess and other gods."

She frowned, seeming to collect her thoughts, then continued.

"There is much we don't know, we are not truly sure why or how the knowledge was given, but it is what we suspect. Most people had no inclination at all to replace our goddess, or even invite a second one in. But it only takes one.

"The wrong man got a hold of the wrong knowledge, and through diverse rituals managed to summon a semblance of a new god. It is said this new god offered the man power and riches if he created an anchor through which the new god could enter this world.

"The greed of the fool caused him to agree, and do so. He also found like minded men and they committed atrocities to forward the cause of this new god, and while he was rewarded with power as promised, he also changed.

"The new god was a dark god, who slowly consumed his soul. The man had unwittingly given his free will away and he became nothing but a puppet. As the darkness spread the people turned to Cytherea for help, begging for her assistance.

"That was why, and when, the first Flame of Cytherea was born."

He sat back as she paused. She rose from her chair and she offered them all something to drink. He thought about what he heard as she passed out refreshments, and it sounded like she was half guessing on a lot of this stuff. Hopefully she was right about the important things.

Celia took a sip of her drink then continued, "It was brutal, the war that started up. With the Flame's help however the darkness was pushed back and enough of the dark god's followers were killed, that his anchor to this world became vulnerable.

"You can do many amazing things with your protective powers Justin, but that is the true reason for them. You can cleanse the anchor that allows the dark god influence in our world, as long as his followers are limited. Right now I think you have a good chance, but wait too long and it will be too late, except for another large scale war that will ravage the world once again. If you try when he is too powerful, when he has too many followers, you will die.

"When the dark god was banished the first time, the people that were left two thousand years ago decided to destroy all knowledge of the rituals and spells designed to create that anchor. The spells which form the anchor were inscribed on an altar of some kind. That is why I extracted your oaths. Free will is preserved, but without the knowledge of how to make deals with the dark god, every power hungry fool won't be able to repeat it.

"Unfortunately we failed to find all the knowledge, that is why you are here, and the dark god is once again in this world. If you do not stop him, this world will slowly turn into a living hell before finally dying."

He thought about it for a moment, then asked, "How do I find it?"

Celia replied, "If the king of Egeria is truly responsible, it will be somewhere in his castle. You will be able to feel it when it's near."

Right... So they just needed to waltz into an enemy's caste and find an altar... He snorted. Forget the danger of the altar, just getting to it will be a nightmare.

But all he said was, "Thank you Celia, is there anything else you think we should know?"

She shook her head and said, "Just be careful."

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Sara hated straightening this room the most. It was too close to the room at the end of the hall, the one that felt wrong to her. It felt like sandpaper against her talent, and she had turned it off as she made the bed. She was sure that room had a lot to do with how the king changed the last two years, but the wrong feeling coming from there had grown over time.

She hated turning off her talent, it helped her keep track of any returning people so she could duck out, but she had to. She froze like a scared rabbit when she heard the door open behind her and hated herself for it. She tried to compose her face and she turned. The lord was standing directly behind her, leering down.

She sighed, shoulders slumping. She did try to avoid it, but when it happened she felt she had no choice. She had to submit, where else would she go?

"On your knees, now."

His rough angry barking voice made her freeze again, but before she could recover and resign herself to doing so, she felt his fist against the side of her head and fell to her knees.

His smarmy voice said, "Better, follow my orders faster next time."

She felt him grab her by the hair and start using her mouth. She couldn't breathe, and it didn't seem like he cared. Her head was slightly spinning from the blow as well, making it worse. She tried to push him back but he just laughed sadistically and started going faster, tearing into her throat. She started seeing spots in front of her eyes and panic rose within her, along with a great deal of suppressed anger from the last two years.

She took all her feelings, the fear, the anger, the uncertainty, and the desperation from the fear he would kill her, and focused it at his mind pushing hard with her talent.

She felt his hands release her hair and she fell back onto her ass. She looked up and saw him holding his head as he screamed in a way she had never heard before. Then he passed out.

She gulped the air in relief. Then as what happened registered she was terrified. She just assaulted a lord with magic, they would kill her for that. She just sat in a panic for a while not sure what to do. After a few minutes she noticed the lord still wasn't moving. She moved closer and checked him. She almost passed out when she couldn't feel him breathing, he was dead, she had killed him.

There was a small beaten down part of her that felt satisfaction, the man had deserved it. But mostly she was terrified. This place may be all she knew, but she couldn't stay here anymore. She hated herself and her life at times, but she had never wanted to die, or at least, not really.

She jumped up and ran toward the servant's entrance. She was sure she would be stopped, that someone would look at her and scream, "Murderer!" but that didn't happen. When she made it out into the city, she stopped for a moment, not having any idea what to do or where to go. Her mind slowly came to realize staying in the city wouldn't work, as soon as the lord's body was found they would hunt her.

She was scared, but she walked through the city, she was just too emotionally exhausted to run anyway. When she got out of the city, she started north on the road. She knew she was in trouble, and was scared of being chased, but she was also worried about food and water. She hadn't thought to grab any and she had no idea how to hunt.

She simply kept walking, not knowing what else to do...

Chapter 18

They were back at the castle eating lunch. They figured they would get in one more good meal before hitting the road. Since time was an issue they decided to leave right after.

The more Justin thought about it, the more he saw holes in the story that Celia had told them. While the free will part made sense, he wasn't at all sure the knowledge part made sense. It was two separate things, he didn't see how the gods were responsible for giving knowledge, free will didn't require knowledge to exist.

He hoped the important parts were true, and if there were secrets his goddess simply didn't want him to know, he would have to get over it. That didn't change what he felt he must do.

He was a little concerned about how to get word to Nicci, but it turned out to be unnecessary as she slipped into the room halfway through lunch and sat down. She was dressed in her sexy leather bustier, otherwise known as armor, with a smile that lit her whole face and made her eyes twinkle. He was more than happy she was here.

Nicci said, "I missed you all, one of the servants said you were back, and that you were packing to leave. So here I am."

Sally laughed and arched an eyebrow, "So you've had a spy on us?"

Nicci looked faux shocked at the idea, then winked, "Of course I did."

After lunch he and Nicci spent a half hour in the other room for a proper reunion before they set off. No one stopped them as they left the castle and walked through the city, and he wondered briefly what had occurred between Nicci and her father before she came to them, but he didn't ask.

He really didn't have to, and she would talk about it if and when she wanted to. And not necessarily to him either.

They made good time the first half of the afternoon, but had to slow as the sky darkened and it started raining. After a miserable two hours of running in the rain as it slowly got colder, they stopped for the day. They were all soaked and in a bad mood, but Sally raised her arms and a smaller version of the shelters the earth talents built rose right out of the ground.

Nora asked, "When did you learn that?" the look on her face clearly asking why she hadn't done it before now.

Sally answered, "I watched the earth talents do it a few days ago, I finally got it working last night, it's a little complicated but not too bad."

They all went inside and stripped out of their soaked clothes. He sighed in relief when he felt Sally use her clean and refresh magic on them. He felt so good compared to the soaked and sticky skin he had moments before. He gave her a lingering kiss in thanks, and when she blushed and stepped back he realized they were all very naked and he had an inevitable reaction.

He firmly reminded himself as he got dressed, that he was in four separate relationships, though he couldn't completely get the fantasy out of his head that the circumstances drew out. Trying to start a five way would probably result in four very mad women and him in the doghouse.

He smiled though, as he watched Sally and Nora hang a blanket, and Sally cast that privacy spell on it. The building did have a crude stone fire pit with vents to draw the smoke outside. So he went back out in the rain and started collecting wood. It was a little damp, but Nicci could light anything with her talent so he wasn't worried about it. He also noted Kat had changed forms and took off, he assumed hunting.

It wasn't too long before the delicious smell of venison cooking on the fire filled the shelter. They sat on the floor cuddled against each other and close to the warmth of the fire as they made plans. Or rather he thought, Nora made plans and they tried to contribute to them.

They basically decided to use stealth to cross, once they were over they were going with subterfuge, they would all wear normal clothes and try and look like Egerians just travelling to the capitol for work. It would slow them down, but if they tried to barrel through they would have a kingdom's worth of soldiers trying to stop them.

They would decide how to infiltrate the castle when they got there and had taken a look at things. There were too many unknowns to come up with a plan before seeing the layout of it.

When the meat was done cooking they took a break from the conversation to enjoy it. They had some bread in the packs and it made a good meal. They took it easy and relaxed, enjoying the feeling of being full and just talked for a while. When the conversation died down Nora grabbed his hand and led him behind the blanket.