Chapter 34

Sounds on the stairs brought the two adults back to the world, but the little boy remained totally concentrated on his lunch. Lukas whispered: 'Melissa, I can feel his emotions just as if they are an adult's, only they are much more focussed on just one thing that occupies him at that moment, his world is much narrower.'

She looked at their child in wonder, she always thought that babies were just some kind of eating and pooping animal, without much feeling, she would love to experience it with him some time. But now, she hoped Paul was coming, she knew he'd be wanting to work, she was glad Lukas was still here, but she did miss Paul, she was rarely without him these days.

There was a knock on the door, which was weird, since Paul would not knock, and neither would Aphrodite, and before long Paul stuck his head in the door and asked: 'Are you decent? There is someone here to see Lukas, but he wants to meet little Edward, too.'

As she rearranged the blankets to cover her other breast, and saw Lukas picking up a bathrobe and putting it on, she wondered who it might be, for frankly Melissa didn't feel the slightest shame to appear naked before Hermes, George or Frances. If it was someone else, Lukas better hide his hoofs, too.

She motioned at him, but he had already thought of it himself, for he jumped on the bed and stuck his hoofs beneath the duvet.

And not a moment too soon, for Paul came in with an embarrassed looking Mr Jones, who was carrying a basket of fruit with both hands, and nearly fainted with relief when he saw Lukas looking his usual self.

Always polite, he handed the basket to Lukas, and said to him: 'I was expecting you to be in a bad way after what happened, I felt so guilty for bringing you in harm's way. I'm so glad to see you doing well, my dear boy, please tell me all about how you managed to escape lasting hurt. But first I'm going to congratulate your mistress on the birth of her son, ladies first, you see.'

Lukas thought it quite funny to be found lying in a bed with what Mr Jones thought was his boss' wife.

But Lukas could see Paul and Melissa found it very embarrassing to be seen as his superiors, and as Mr Jones kissed Melissa's hand to congratulate her, Paul had apparently decided to disclose some of the truth to their professional friend, for he said: 'Rupert, Lukas and I always keep up a façade on the work-floor, but you have become such a good friend by now that I feel you need to know how things really are between us.'

Mr Jones looked at him with a certain surprise, and since little Edward was now done drinking and showed some interest in their business-partner, Lukas took him from Melissa so she could cover her other breast as well, and he held their son upright against his shoulder to let him burp, curious how much of the truth Paul would tell Mr Jones.

'It is true that I teach Lukas metal-craft. But our working-relationship is much more equal than it seems when we are installing, he works for himself, and I work for myself, or we work together as equals, no formal apprenticeship involved. We choose to work that way in public because it is simpler to have one person doing the talking.

And then there is our marriage: Melissa and I are married, and our little Edward will carry my name, but in fact Lukas is included in our love, again as equal partner, he is not in this bed as incident, we always sleep together. We hide this from the outside world, where marriages are supposed to be between man and woman.

But if you look really well at this most beautiful of baby-boys, you will see that he is in fact Lukas' natural son, not mine. See that cute lip, and those beautiful brown eyes.

I hope you will not mind knowing this, that you will not hold it against us that we don't live in a traditional marriage. We like working with you.'

That Mr Jones was stunned by this information was very clear, but he did not show any sign of indignation or anger, he just processed the information in silence and then said: 'You did startle me for a moment, Paul, but I know you are all good people, and very professional. But you and Melissa seem so much in love...'

Paul laughed merrily and observed: 'We áre very much in love, Rupert, but Lukas is so sweet that neither of us could resist him.'

The sturdy contractor proved he had a logical mind by asking, rather embarrassed: 'But how can you be so sure the baby is his then?'

He had a point there, and Melissa was curious how Paul would explain that.

'That is difficult to explain, let's just say a higher power revealed to us who the father of our child really was.'

The weird thing was that that didn't seem to surprise Mr Jones at all, he accepted the totally illogical explanation with a: 'Somehow I can believe that, you know some very powerful people who seem to be surrounded by a certain mystery, like Sir George Nomes, and that beautiful young man who stayed there when I met him for the first time, and council member Telling.

Young Lukas here, he seems to be different, too, not very much, but I saw him scalded by boiling water yesterday, his skin was blistering all over his face and his hands, I feared for his handsome face and his hands at the very least, and yes, for his life at the worst. And now he is fine, his skin still pink and tender, and he is holding his son as if he has had children before.'

Mr Jones was very observant indeed, and he had an excellent memory: 'That reminds me Melissa, that I saw you stun a man half again your size with a slap.

I have long thought there is more to all of you than meets the eye, but I will not tell anyone that. Your secret is safe with me.

I've heard stories of a slender young man with brown curly hair healing poor people all over the city, all through winter. I just hope that if something bad ever happens to me on a work-site, that you will be there, Lukas.'

Lukas bent over towards Mr Jones with his son, keeping his legs and hoofs hidden under the blanket, and he replied: 'I hope so too, Mr Jones. And if I'm not, you can always send for me. And now little Edward wants to meet you, see how he watches you?'

The dark eyes were indeed fixed on Mr Jones with more intent than a baby usually displayed, and the man felt a bit uncomfortable under that fearless gaze. But the eyes were very large and very friendly, beautifully shaped and with long dark lashes already, and the little face was so incredibly cute with his father's dented lip but the chubby cheeks of an infant, that it was just not possible to feel any negative feeling at all.

One just had to love this baby, and to stroke its dear little fuzzy head and its soft cheek, so Mr Jones did just that. Little Edward kept his serious look, for of course he couldn't laugh yet, Mr Jones had children of his own and he remembered that stage where babies look as if they know the truth about the world and everything in it but can't communicate the answers yet.

And Lukas didn't look the same as usual either, this was not a twenty-year-old apprentice metal worker, there was an adult man looking out of those dark eyes. Had this man cured himself of burns that would have left him mutilated, if not killed with shock and infection within days?

These thoughts came over him in a second, and after that second he blurted out: 'He does look like you Lukas, his dark eyes are exactly the same shape, and the dent in his lip. He'll grow to look more like you every day, what will the people think?'

'They'll probably think Lukas slept with my wife, which is true. I know, because I was there. Let the people talk, Rupert, our friends know the truth, and I'm already totally smitten with this spitting image of the dearest friend I have on this earth.'

Edward turned his gaze towards Paul, and somehow Paul knew he was supposed to carry him around for a while. As he moved towards Lukas, the latter already held Edward out to Paul. Had Lukas received unspoken instructions too?

Paul looked at Lukas and saw him nod. Apparently Rupert didn't know half of it, and neither did he.

Seeing Paul handle his son with such affection, and feeling the love in this unconventional family, Mr Jones said to Melissa: 'I congratulate you on such a fine boy, and such fine fathers. The only thing I regret the tiniest bit is that little Edward will not have your glorious hair. I had hoped to see that pass on to the next generation. But where one child is born, usually more will follow, so there is still hope of a copper-haired Kenwick beauty.'

Melissa realized he was right, Edward would have dark hair, but she was also tickled Mr Jones had had thoughts on the colour of their baby's hair.

He went on: 'Do I have your permission to talk a little business now? With two husbands to share the load, I am hoping you will be back on the market for inspections soon? I have several I'm keeping for you, I don't want anyone else there and I'll send a carriage of course.'

Nothing could have made Melissa happier, and she said: 'The midwife insists on my taking at least a week off to recover and get used to having a baby, but after that I will be totally at your service, and gladly. I've missed work.'

'Great,' Mr Jones said, 'we have a deal, then, before Mr Millner beats me to it, I know he is waiting for you to resume work as well. And for the gentlemen, I have an official request for two brass or copper boilers for the glass-house, with every safety precaution that can be had, to be delivered and installed before the cold sets in. Can you make an offer on those? As large as you can safely make them?'

Paul nodded, a bit distracted because he was nuzzling and kissing his son, and observed: 'We're doing well with bicycles and swords, but we can fit in a few boilers this summer. There's this whole new mouth to feed, you see. You don't want to know how much his father eats, and the small one has so much growing to do.'

Lukas smiled his broadest smile, always happy when made fun of, and Mr Jones added: 'That reminds me, the gardener of the glass-house would like to talk to your smallish friend again, he worked up his nerve to ask me, he was very sorry that their discourse was interrupted by that terrible accident. I understand your friend works at the Nomes' Manor, in the new greenhouse?'

Lukas asserted himself much more, and replied: 'He does, John is very good with plants, and he enjoyed talking to the glass-house man just as much. Lady Nomes mostly grows useful plants, those that carry fruit, and I think John is very interested in the ornamental ones as well.'

'That's what the gardener said, he wanted to know more about tropical plants that bear fruit, so they can exchange information and maybe even seedlings.'

At that very moment, someone entered the room, and everyone looked at the door and saw Aphrodite come in, bearing a tray with coffee, tea and cups. She saw Mr Jones and said: 'One moment please, let me yell at John.'

She walked out again, indeed yelled something, in Greek, then returned almost immediately: 'I asked him to bring an extra plate and cup, for your visitor.'

Paul saw Mr Jones gape at the beauty of the goddess, Victorian dress did become her exceptionally well. Paul himself was still totally overcome by Melissa's looks, but he knew most men thought Aphrodite the most beautiful woman that ever existed.

He had to introduce her, and decided on impulse to just use her own name. Paul handed Edward to his beautiful mother, who took him eagerly, which made Paul very happy, and then he said: Rupert, may I introduce you to our midwife, Lukas' aunt Aphrodite. Aphrodite, this is Rupert Jones, the contractor who has made our business a success. He has also built the iron frame of Frances' greenhouse.'

Mr Jones kissed the hand Aphrodite held out to him, she had been learning Victorian manners very quickly, using Tristan's as example of the most exalted ones.

Mr Jones was still unable to speak, but the goddess asked him: 'I supposed you'd be willing to take a cup of coffee with us, Mr Jones, in honour of the latest addition to the Kenwick family?'

With everything Paul had just told him, Mr Jones would be thinking feverishly whether she meant that or was being sarcastic. Apparently he decided to just drink the coffee: 'Yes, Miss, please.' And suddenly he managed to say very politely: 'You are very well-named, Miss Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love cannot possibly be more beautiful than you.'

'Why thank you for your compliment, Mr Jones, to be compared to a goddess is so nice! Though I am a Misses, I've been married for quite some years now. To a master-smith, actually, as accomplished in his way as Paul here, but slightly less bent on modern inventions. My husband likes traditional ironwork.'

Blushing, Mr Jones accepted a cup of coffee with a polite bow.

Now John entered as well, carrying another tray with lunch articles, bread, cheese, olives, and plates and cutlery.

He shook hands with Mr Jones, and that worthy man told him about the gardener of the glass-house in person. John was pleased, and he promised to cycle by the glass-house on his afternoon off.

After lunch, Mr Jones left, having looked his fill of Aphrodite throughout the meal.

Little Edward had another drink, then fell asleep again in his mother's arms.

Paul observed: 'I thought you'd be at the manor, John.'

'I was planning to, but Aphrodite asked me to stay and keep her company, so I did. I will be going there this afternoon, though, to put in my hours of work.'

'Do you want to go, too, Lukas?' Paul asked, 'I'm planning to stay with Melissa this afternoon, so you can tell George and your father the good news.'

Lukas replied: 'I really want to, but won't you miss me? I promised to be there for you.'

His aunt said: 'I'm staying here, so you can go without feeling guilty. Everything will be just fine.'

'I'll come with you then, John,' Lukas said to his friend, 'they'll be amazed.'

Aphrodite stayed for another five days, in which she taught them everything she knew about babies, and helped run the household so they could connect to their new family-member and to each other. Not being allowed to make love was pretty hard on Melissa, apparently her urges were so high that even a birth couldn't put her off it.

She did encourage Lukas to indulge Aphrodite at least once, it was clear the goddess wanted to very much, and it was not as if it was an unpleasant duty to share love with her. Melissa wouldn't have minded if Paul had done so too, but he absolutely denied the need to share, he was very satisfied to express their love differently until she was totally recovered.

With his and Lukas' attentions Melissa bore her own growing unrest reasonably well, and little Edward thrived under their excellent care. Paul was soon back into his old routine, working in the mornings, playing in the afternoons, and with Aphrodite staying at their house most of the time, Lukas could often join him in the workshop.

John worked most mornings, too, then spent the afternoons with Aphrodite in the apartment, and their involvement changed him from a rather humble, self-effacing shade of a man, into the self-assured lover he had been, enjoying life much more keenly because the goddess of love appreciated playing with him so obviously.

He saw Hailee regularly at the manor, and they interacted playfully, but neither made a move for the other, John transferred his regained confidence to Frances, in the secrecy of their little love-nest between the large plants of the old greenhouse, and John supposed that Hailee shared love with Marcus.

She did gain self-confidence and a certain independence at the manor, Frances told him she was reading a lot, and had talked with Ilsa for a long time about her ambitions and hopes. She was still in doubt whether to stay or leave.

Of course Melissa and Edward had a lot of visitors, all their friends and family came by, and Edward seemed to know them all, his gaze upon each newcomer, and according to Lukas his feelings much like: So this is Jakob. Glad to have finally seen him.

Little Edward's meeting with Hermes was profound, as his grandfather came in and kissed Melissa with that special intimacy they shared since Greece, Hermes looked away from her as if called, and picked up the baby first, holding him as he liked being held, nestled in the person's arm but able to look at them conveniently. His steady gaze spoke volumes.

But with Hermes, a whole conversation seemed to take place. The beautiful god stood in silence, with Edward in his arm, holding each other's gaze, exchanging a world of information for all anyone could see, and only then, after as much as five minutes, did Hermes nuzzle the little neck and kiss the cute face.

Edward stayed in his arms for the entire visit, and when Hermes left after just a short time, mother and baby still needed their rest after all, he cried in disappointment, sounding like any other baby, and letting himself be comforted by his mother's presence like any other baby.

But Melissa was not lying in bed all day, she was up and about from day two, doing any chore but cooking, watching the men cook, or sitting in the easy chair in the workshop, a bit worried about the noise and the heat of the forge, but little Edward loved the workshop, there was so much to see, he didn't know where to look first.

Though she didn't like it at all, she forced herself to leave Edward with either of his fathers at least once a day for a short period of time, to go shopping with Aphrodite, to visit Frances at the manor, often seeing Ilsa there, or just to sit and read in the garden or go for a little bicycle ride, alone or with one of the others.

Since she was always back for the next meal, Edward never cried when she left, he loved being with Paul or Lukas just as much.

When Aphrodite left, Hermes went with her, and they were on their own. Lukas spent a little more time with John, either at home or in the apartment, and George became a regular visitor once again, often bringing Frances to either sit with Melissa and the baby, or work in the garden with John.

Melissa's parents made their appearance often, and her sisters and Paul's parents once, though Sofia was a more regular visitor, staying in London in summer she sought their company more often, for with her parents on the Kenwick estate she had to look elsewhere for a little company.

The inspections resumed, as frequent as they had been, still a steady source of income for their household, and a great source of gratification for Melissa, though it was harder than she had ever expected to leave her little son behind, even in the excellent care of Paul and Lukas.

When they went to the doctor's house to practice and teach, they took little Edward with them, and Catherine adored him, had several of those unspoken conversations with him. Lukas asked Adison to let him come with her for a few births, and she allowed him to, testing the knowledge Aphrodite had left him with, and teaching him more.

On one of these visits, the mother-to-be had a life-threatening case of pneumonia, which Adison was dosing her against. She had not tried to heal her with magic, never having had a case of pneumonia before, and Lukas suggested he cure the sickness with her following the process, Lukas expected her to learn the treatment for this specific disease quicker with an example to follow.

Sending any witnesses out of the room, Lukas had carefully linked to Adison, as they had done before, taking care they wouldn't experience the need to exchange intimacies, and activated his talent.

As he went to the source of the sickness and battled the shapes that caused it, he felt something fall into place in his companion, and when they got back onto the now, the woman much improved already, Adison thanked him for showing her how to beat this dangerous disease.

They arranged for Adison to come with him on some of his excursions to the poor neighbourhoods, though the mild weather improved the living conditions of the homeless, there were still those who needed care, and it was a perfect place to practise healing magic, especially with Vincent watching their backs.

With little Edward two weeks old, Lukas was at the manor on his morning run, as he met Jonathan, who was looking for him to discuss a certain sensitive matter.

They sat on lazy chairs in the garden near the greenhouse, where they had healed child after child of severe trauma almost a year ago. Then Jonathan said: 'Rhoda and I are getting ever closer, and we really want to become physical.

But she cannot bear my touch if it gets too intimate, she is still traumatized I think, but she just accepts it and says time is needed to heal the rest of the damage.

I don't trust Hera, she wanted Rhoda's memories to hurt Dionysus, and she may not be as talented as you are in healing trauma, what if it can be improved, so we can at least stroke each other a little? I don't need to share love already, but I'd like to kiss her and sleep together.

And she still has nightmares that leave her depressed all day, something Paul is involved with, for I've noticed she has trouble facing him, yet he is perfectly relaxed with her, encouraging her to hold Edward, but whenever they meet she has to control herself not to flee from him, and she dreams the night after. She hurts.

She adapts magnificently, knows what she wants, studies hard, she even helps me with my magic sometimes, she has sight, though she cannot use her magic, it seems no power accumulates in her but mostly she has no will to try at all, she just says she cannot and I dare not insist.

I want her to be at peace, we haven't talked about the past yet, I want to tell her about mine and I want to hear what hurt her so, but she is not going to share her story with me as long as it still haunts her day and night. She will not let me stay with her to comfort her after a nightmare, she doesn't want me to touch her with love at all.'

Lukas said: 'I'm glad you're asking me, I had a feeling something was not yet right, and I'd like to help. But I want Melissa along, she can see things I can't, and I'll need her to cope with my own guilt, and my anger that might flare up when I help her process her memories.

For you are right that Paul had something to do with it, she hurt him really badly, and I love him so much. You need to be there, too, and I want George to anchor us. Paul can mind the baby, he needs to not be there.

It took Jonathan another two weeks to convince Rhoda to let Lukas and Melissa try a healing on her. To let Paul's wife and lover into her head to see what she had done to him was a lot to ask.

But before Rhoda had reached a decision, a boy banged on their door in the middle of the night. Lukas dressed and ran full speed to the Telling mansion, to help Adison with the delivery of Ilsa's baby. He arrived first, of course, and found Ilsa still in the first stages of labor.

Calming mother and father both, he waited for Adison, and when she arrived it took the usual eight hours for Ilsa to deliver a healthy baby boy. Lukas could see the difference between Ilsa and Melissa, Ilsa was exhausted but satisfied with her accomplishment, whereas Melissa had been in a much better state physically, but totally worked-up in her mind.

The little boy, who was called Peter George after both grandfathers, was much less intense than Edward, he was sleepy and content, as he had been all along.

Lukas was amazed how much his own son had grown in three weeks, he was quite a bit larger already though Edward was born a bit earlier than they had expected, and little Paul much later than expected.

They had had few comments on little Edward's likeness to himself, but in a way Paul and him didn't look that much different, they both had curly hair and a slender figure, only Lukas was a bit more boyish than Paul, but a baby was boyish by nature. It was the eye-colour and the dented lip that gave him away to those who knew.

Cleaning up the bed and the new mother was done quickly with the help of a trusted servant, and Frances had arrived by now to help the couple adjust to having a baby for the first few days.

As they sat together afterwards, enjoying a cup of excellent and well-deserved coffee, Adison asked Lukas to assist him in a birthing she expected within weeks, a difficult one she feared might end in losing either mother or child, or both, without Lukas' help to prevent internal bleeding. Lukas consented of course, and agreed to come on the next check-up visit.

Their clientele was much different, mostly well-to-do and some even wealthy, and Adison insisted on paying Lukas for his efforts.

He would take the money and invest it in helping the poor, his crafting made him enough to live on, the rest would go to those who needed it desperately.

He was still eager to have his own practice, but couldn't think of a way to make it safe to practice magic in the same place all the time, according to Mr Jones, and Adison and Victor, stories were already circulating about a young man who healed the poor, and it wouldn't do to have someone get too curious about the number of miraculous healings that was being performed.

Lukas was the only known cure for tuberculosis, a fact that should not become common knowledge, and no matter how badly he wanted to save everyone, he needed to find a way to be able to do so in secret.

Lukas ran back from the Telling house, considering taking a shower in the apartment, John never locked it and since it was around ten already he would probably be off to the estate. And if he were still in, there were other things they could do, since Aphrodite had left, Lukas and John had resumed their occasional sharing, somehow they both had a need to make their love physical once in a while.

But John had already left, and since the others would be waiting for news, Lukas took a quick shower and went to the kitchen for breakfast.

His little family was already there, and the first thing Lukas did was greet Edward, by picking him up and kissing him, relishing the milky scent of a new baby. Then Paul and Melissa got their kisses, Lukas still holding the baby, who watched everything with interest.

'It's a boy, of course, Aphrodite had already hinted at that, and he's healthy and much less interested in the world than this little fellow.' Edward got another few kisses. 'Of course that might be because he was on his way so much longer. Ilsa was tired but content, Frances arrived just after the birth, she's taking care of them. They called him Peter George.'

They went to work quickly, to have the afternoon free for a visit to their friends.

Nearly two weeks later, when Rhoda had finally agreed to let Lukas and Melissa address her trauma, they gathered in the little garden near the greenhouses. George was there, too, he had a lot of faith in Lukas and expected Rhoda to improve a lot in spirits by having her past attended to.

Jonathan would not share in the healing, Rhoda did not want him to see her memories or feel her pain, she wanted to tell him herself, and he respected that, he just wanted to be near for moral support, as he had been there for each of his lost children.

With everyone sitting down comfortably, and Melissa knowing their baby in Paul's loving care, they all linked, and Lukas touched Rhoda and activated his talent. He knew what was coming, but still it was an assault on his feelings.

Shockingly little had been done to detach Rhoda from her feelings, she was just barely able to go on living, on will-power and Jonathan's ceaseless support alone.

Lukas felt Melissa's outrage, those self-important Greek gods were so fallible, how could they have considered her cured of trauma?

He agreed but wanted to take on the memories quickly, he knew they'd start with the part he had a shameful share in. But this was not about him, and anyway, he felt Melissa's support, he had been at fault but he couldn't have known and he was trying to make up.

But before he encountered any memories, he had to remove one of those barriers the lost children had had in their minds, keeping back the memories of their pasts. This was a strong barrier, of course it held back some heinous things, but Lukas was very strong, and was through it in a few heartbeats.

Strangely enough, with the barrier removed, they were not flooded with memories as in all the former cases, but then, every mind was different. Lukas found the most recent traumatic memories soon enough.

Going over the memories of having her magic burnt out, again and again, Lukas was mostly caught up by his guilt and Rhoda's state of mind at that time, her near-total madness, her all-consuming need to get at someone, anyone, fading fast and already being replaced by deep remorse.

But Melissa managed to view the whole scene more objectively, and she tried to figure out what Aphrodite had done exactly, whether she had just willed the magic to be gone, or had focussed on specific targets and destroyed them. She intended to check the damage later.

It took a long time and a lot of power from Lukas to fade that set of memories, and then they went on to the next, the ones that concerned both of them personally because they involved the person they both loved most in the world.

Of course they had already experienced these memories when they saved John from Hera's attempt on his sanity, but these were still strong, and very hurtful. Lukas was impressed by Melissa's mental strength, for she did not flee from seeing her beloved beaten, abused, humiliated, tortured, and finally almost killed, she could even feel some compassion for the woman who did it to him, to have relived these memories of an atrocious crime every day and every night. Small wonder she avoided seeing Paul.

Lukas detached the memories immediately, Aphrodite had done it for him before, and they no longer had a hold on him, he could go over them with Rhoda until she finally let go of them, still not convinced she had paid enough, but exhausted with living with guilt as well as fear.

As Rhoda let them go, Lukas could feel Melissa following suit, though he would spend some time with her later to see if they were not bothering her.

But now they were approaching the worst memories of them all, the months in which Rhoda had been at court by day, but had been abused and tortured beneath Hermes' palace by night, subtle practices that left her skin unblemished, but destroyed her hold on reality by subverting every ideal she had ever had of love and faith.

Ishtar had seduced Rhoda to love her slavishly, by getting into her mind but also by showing her body the most exquisite feelings of love and sexual fulfilment. And when Rhoda had been totally won, the goddess had turned that love on her by abusing her herself, but also letting her be despoiled by countless others, night after night, for months, until she had finally broken.

The shame of having allowed herself to be seduced, and the fear of repercussions from their own gods for becoming involved with barbarians, had kept her from seeking help, and when the situation came to be that her uncle, who had gotten her into this in the first place, had warned her against, had asked her to create a diversion for, she had unleashed all her fear and her hatred on the person she had projected every thing that had been done to her on: a defenceless, blameless foreigner, who had done nothing worse than choose to share his love with a lower-ranked girl at court.

Though had he gone with her voluntarily, the outcome would not have been different, she'd have tortured and killed him anyway.

The thing that had been done to Rhoda was really bad, Lukas was concerned that she might never be able to physically love again.

She had been programmed by Ishtar to bring pain and misery to anyone she loved, the goddess' revenge for Dionysus keeping Lykos out of her clutches.

All Rhoda's better feelings had been turned against her, it was a miracle she could even feel attachment to Jonathan, but Lukas was not surprised she could not bear being touched.

Her feelings had all been wired in a new and perverted way, a stimulus giving the totally opposite reaction to what it should. Lukas could help her process the memories, but the wiring was still totally wrong, and might cause her to react unpredictably to physical attraction and love.

She felt some of that, for she had not kept Jonathan at a distance for nothing, if they tried to make love, she would hurt him, she couldn't help it.

Lukas appealed to Melissa for advice, and together they looked for a way to disconnect the wiring and redo it. But it was just too complicated, there was no way they could find out how feelings worked and rewire them. In the end, Melissa proposed: 'Can't you rewire her by just willing it to be? You're a god, aren't you? If it takes too much power I can feed you, if you need more, George can feed you from the node. Maybe by making love to her, bit by bit, redirecting the feelings as they come at you?'

Seeing some sense in that, Lukas thought it would be hard to do, and difficult for Jonathan to accept, letting Lukas do what he couldn't, but that would be the couple's decision.

So Lukas first went over the horrible memories with Rhoda, again and again, and they, too, receded at last. If she never tried to love again, she would not be pained by these memories, but if she tried to make love, they would be back, or she would do things to create new horrible memories.

That done, they did what Melissa wanted, and checked out her body for signs of magic ability having been destroyed.

Pretty soon they found the evidence, the satchels supposed to contain magic power were shrivelled and rendered totally useless, indeed showing signs of having been burned to their destruction. One seemed vaguely better than the others, and Lukas opened it carefully and tried to repair it a little bit.

But the ducts leading towards them were damaged as well, broken off, burnt shut, shrivelled and dead.

Again, he managed to find two that were not totally hopeless, and he healed them and brought them towards the one functioning satchel. Nothing happened, no power started to accumulate, but that might take some time.

It would never be more power than just enough to light a candle, but Melissa knew there was something they were forgetting. It had to do with Rhoda still having sight, but she couldn't think of it, this had been tired work, and they were not done yet, they still had a difficult talk with Rhoda and Jonathan before them.

They went back into the now, where Frances was ready with tea from the red jar for Melissa, and coffee for all of them.

Rhoda seemed completely restored, and she thanked all three of them profusely. Jonathan was also beaming, he knew he had been right!

But there was not just good news, they had to tell the bad news, too, and before the young couple started thinking of making love.

Lukas said: 'Rhoda, Jonathan, not all is as good as it seems now. There is still damage in Rhoda, which I could not heal from the inside.

The thing that was done to you by the Babylonian goddess, I have receded the memories, so you are no longer traumatized by them, but what she did to you has rewired your feelings, so that if you ever try to make love, or love someone intensely, the outcome will be totally wrong.

You'll feel hate instead of lust, or fear instead of love, nothing will come out right, and a lot of pain and even severe harm may result.'

This was a shock to them, for Rhoda felt just fine, she was looking forward to sharing love with Jonathan now, she could face the thought of him touching her with desire.

But Lukas was so serious, they had never seen him that way, well, actually Rhoda had, but Lukas had just receded that memory. She had never seen him that serious here in England. So they had to believe him.

'So she can never love again? Not ever?' Jonathan asked, abhorred by the very idea.

'There may be something I can do,' Lukas answered, 'but I have never tried it, and you will not like it, Jonathan.'

'Let me decide that for myself,' Jonathan sounded like an adult just now, 'no, let Rhoda decide for herself what she likes or doesn't. It's her life that was ruined.'

'Tell us,' Rhoda said plainly, dryly.

'I think I can undo the damage tiny bit by tiny bit, but I'd have to do it instinctively, will it to be gone, on the supposition I'm still a god, even here, and can do so.

But to do so I would need to trigger every single one of these faulty circuits, and that means...'

He just couldn't bring himself to say it.

'Spit it out, Lukas,' Jonathan said, 'don't keep us in the dark.'

Rhoda looked fearful, and Jonathan only a little less.

'I'd have to make love to you, Rhoda, start at the beginning, work my way through all the feelings involved.'

Both youths' faces were a study in relief: 'Is that all?' Rhoda seemed to speak for both of them.

'You don't mind?' asked Lukas, stunned.

'I'd make love to you myself, Lukas, if it had any chance of helping Rhoda,' Jonathan said, laughing.

Rhoda observed: 'It will be an honour to make love to you, master Lykos, everybody wants to.'

If the situation hadn't been so serious, Melissa would have thought it hilarious. But it was not certain at all that Lukas was right about this, and things might get dangerous, or have no effect at all.

'You will let me anchor you and feed you, won't you, Lukas, from a discreet distance?' George observed.

'You and Melissa please, George. I may need her ability to see through things as well as your node-power. This will be my biggest challenge yet.'

Melissa knew Lukas and Rhoda wanted to do it straight away, but she was a mother with a baby not even a month old, and the process had taken hours so far. Little Edward needed to be fed first, she was starting to feel uncomfortable, both physically and emotionally.

It would be a lot of hassle, but there was nothing for it, her baby needed his mother.

Rhoda observed: 'You need to go back to little Edward, don't you? I can wait, you need to be concentrated to watch over us, babies don't wait.'

As it turned out, she didn't need to wait very long, for when they came back to the manor house Paul was there, with Edward. He embraced both Lukas and Melissa eagerly, he was getting worried at their long absence, and had taken Edward in the carrying sling on the bicycle to see whether everything was all right.

Melissa took her baby and let him relieve the pressure on her breasts, as Lukas told Paul what they had learned, and what he planned to do to try to help her.

Paul agreed totally, glad now he had given in to his disquiet. He noticed that Rhoda was a lot easier towards him, looking him in the eye, showing no signs of wanting to escape and run when he greeted her, even initiating a hug, something he had left off after she reacted adversely the first time.

Little Edward stuffed himself greedily and let his dad take him with a reluctant Jonathan to see the stables and Percy, the two-headed dog. Melissa suggested using Frances' little love-nest in the old greenhouse as place of treatment. It was private, safe, and nice and hot, which both parties involved liked.

She and George stayed on the terrace next to the greenhouse, in physical contact, and Lukas took Rhoda inside. She was anxious now Jonathan was no longer with her, and Lukas soothed her as he would a child.

When they got to the little love-nest, Rhoda was amazed: 'I never knew this was here, it's so romantic! Her anxiety seemed forgotten for a moment.

'I didn't know either, until John told me about it. It's Frances little secret. If you plan to use it in the future, please ask her first.'

As they sat down on the low couch, Lukas said: 'I have no idea what is going to happen, Rhoda, I'm as much in the dark here as you are, so please have patience with me.'

She smiled benignly and admitted: 'I've always wanted to share love with you, Lukas, so if anyone can help me, it must be you.' She was almost eager now.

They started with a kiss, getting ever more passionate, Lukas' feelings rose quickly, he was not getting as much loving as he was used to, Melissa was still bleeding a little, so they could not have intercourse yet, though they had found out they could have any other kind of lovemaking.

But somehow rough loving had always been their thing, and they both missed it.

Rhoda's passionate kissing was answering some need in him, but still Lukas managed to lower his shield a tiny bit, to pick up any strange reactions before they'd have consequences.

That was none to soon, for it saved his tongue when she suddenly flared up in anger and bit down hard. Not on him, though, he had been warned and had broken off the kiss.

Immediately she felt guilt and fear, Lukas was too shocked to have seen where the anger came from, but Melissa had seen and led him to it. He saw the wrong immediately and corrected it.

Soothing Rhoda away from her guilt he dared kiss her again, trusting his empathy to warn him of any dangerous feelings.

She gave herself up to the kiss with difficulty, afraid to hurt Lukas, but she knew she had to and she had a very strong will, and slowly she got into the flow again. This time she felt anger flaring up but not enough to want to hurt him, and he knew where it was seated now and corrected it even further, not even letting go of her mouth.

Rhoda had not made love for months, and Lukas' gentleness and passion were very heady, she really wanted Jonathan but she knew he was untouched and would need guidance, this was much better for now, to explore loving in the hands of the master.

She leaned into the kiss, not feeling anger flare up anymore, just lust, and they took a few seconds to catch their breath and kissed again, and everything was fine.

Lukas took it one step further and stroked her softly, touching her hair and her face, as well as kissing her, and she wanted to touch him, too. They took off their clothing and stroked each other with heat, until he felt a sudden fear flare up in her, noting where it came from by himself this time, and addressing it without taking his hands off her body.

He felt genuine pleasure in her as well, not all was lost, it was just the unpredictability of her adverse reactions that made it superbly dangerous, not something a seventeen-year old could manage, no matter how talented.

Still stroking, she felt his muscle with pleasure, and showed an interest in his special features, never having really seen them before. This time, rage struck so suddenly she managed a hit on him, and as he reeled back she was already in tears with shame, but Melissa had caught this one and his solid muscle had caught the blow, and he soon found the error and attended to it.

He soothed her back into passion, a tiny bit more alert, but just as determined to fight this subversion and win. She became pliant again in his arms, truly harmless for that moment, the rage came over her in flashes that she had no control over whatsoever.

His skill in addressing the rage was growing, he only needed one attempt to get rid of such a connection, but who knew how many of them were left?

They were back to stroking with heat, and though his private parts felt very exposed, Lukas was willing to take a hit there too if that could save this girl's love from destroying her life.

He caught the next one in time and saved his balls from a mauling, removing the connection to her anger in one smooth action.

Making love was hard work this way, and not very rewarding for his body. But his mind was feeling a triumph, it did work, though it was a lot more painful than he had expected.

It took him close to half an hour to go from stroking to sucking her nipples, and he averted several attempts on very sensitive parts of himself, taking away the connection to her rage each time.

But then it seemed to give up, he could stroke her breasts without feeling any emotion but pure lust, so he moved between her legs and carefully licked her a few times, not getting any negative feelings again.

So he got to it seriously, making her moan and shiver in delight, her love-starved body reacting eagerly to his every move, starting to lose himself a little in rising ardour.

That cost him a black eye when she next lashed out, fortunately Melissa had miraculously kept her cool and showed him where the trouble was.

He managed to go on, detaching himself from his body a little, or he'd be black and blue for days, allowing himself to feel just enough lust to be able to proceed. Each time she lashed out at him, he had to soothe her back into passion, and they were both getting quite tired, despite the excitement.

When another half hour had passed, she had had several highs, and she wanted to please him with her mouth, a scary prospect but one he would have to face. Melissa let him know it was too dangerous, and it was, but what could he do?

He let Rhoda have his proud member, and hoped for the best, staying alert despite her expert ministrations, hoping to fool the angry part of her into action by playing his heat stronger than it actually was.

And he caught that flash of rage before an attack resulted, taking the connection away in one decided action, forever, he hoped. He loved Jonathan far too much! When she had sucked him with relish for some time without feeling anything that didn't belong, Lukas thought it was time for the final stage. And that is when she broke down in total fear instead of rage.

He felt like a rapist, a word he had learned only on this world, but he forced himself to not discard the very idea of intercourse, this needed to be addressed as well as the rage. Though the fear seemed a matter of trauma instead of rewiring, Lukas knew he had removed the trauma, and this fear could not be that of a victim of rape.

This was subversion by an evil mind, pretending to be trauma so it would be left intact.

Melissa confirmed his opinion, and pointed out the place where the wrong connection was, he had missed it in his shock at her sudden fear.

That out of the way, she wanted to go on, not just from determination to see it through, when the wrong feeling was gone it was gone without recall, and she truly felt lust and a need to have him inside her.

So he tried once more, and got no reaction that he shouldn't. He kept himself detached and concentrated on pleasing her, and was rewarded with another bout of extreme fear, and an effort to get away from him.

That hurt more than blows, but Melissa was there to keep him on track and address it.

They tried again, and this time, she enjoyed his art without feeling any more fear. Lukas feared one last all-out assault, so he kept going, but with part of him still on the alert. That was the right decision, for just before she climaxed, there was one huge wave of fear and rage combined, an all out attempt on his feelings and on his body, and there even seemed to be a feeble effort at magic in it.

Having expected it, he managed to trace it and remove it, but that bit of intense concentration on her mind did cost him, he got thrown off her with extreme violence, his face taking another hit, his testicles kneed full-force, and he literally flew through the air and landed in a totally wrong way, striking his head on a boulder and feeling a crack in his wrist.

When he got up he was barely conscious, and he felt Rhoda wrap him in her arms and lead him back to the bed. She was in tears, but they did not feel like guilt, they felt relieved.

She held him tenderly, stroked his hair and his face, and whispered: 'Thank you so much Lukas, master of love, you've freed me, I'm certain, something has lifted, the taint is gone. I'm sorry it cost you so much.'

He felt a little better already, his head bled where it had hit the stone, but though his wrist hurt, it didn't feel broken, and besides, he had healed worse in himself.

So he sealed the wound and repaired the wrist, the pain in his testicles was already receding.

Then he looked straight at Rhoda and asked: 'I'm still very horny, shall we finish what we started? See if it's safe for Jonathan?'

She nodded, and he said with his broadest grin: 'If you scratch my horn-bases, you'll meet the true master of love.'

No-one had ever resisted that smile, and neither could Rhoda. She just had to kiss him, and they started all over again, building it up slowly, but of course things went a bit faster now, Lukas was incredibly heated, and Rhoda not much less so.

Melissa stayed with them, and stayed alert, she was not risking her beloved because she was aching for some rough loving herself.

Besides, Lukas wasn't rough at all, this girl had been raped repeatedly and she needed respect.

But ultimately he did get his cue from Rhoda that it was time for him to get to the serious business, for she scratched his horns firmly and got what she was ready for, and soon he had her gasping for breath in total ecstasy.

It was over quickly, Lukas had had quite enough for one day, he wilted after one climax and crashed next to her. She thanked him, and asked: 'Do you think it's safe now for Jonathan? It'll be his first time, it needs to be free of risk.'

Lukas nodded, confirming: 'I think it is, and you'll be taking it slow anyway, if you feel a hint of rage or fear, just stop and let me know. We'll work on it.

Her eyes filled with tears and she whispered: 'You are so good, to take that risk for me, after what I did to your mate. And Melissa, she helped a lot, didn't she?'

'She did,' he answered, 'she kept her head cool and told me where the wrong connections were, so I could correct them.

Let's find Jonathan, he'll be in knots, and I bet little Edward will be happy to see his mother.'