Chapter 52
Lukas went for the dance-floor via one of my sisters, and I went straight for Paul, who was talking to Jonathan, and who pointed his head at my dad sitting down with his parents and talking away with them.
I just couldn't believe it, my old man, a factory worker, sitting there chatting with the noblest nobles in the county.
'I introduced him to them, he asked me to. They've been sitting there ever since, hanging on the lips of a man they'd not even see if they met him in the street. Do you have any idea what they're discussing?'
Paul was clearly very curious. I told him: 'I asked him to ask you for the introduction. He knows people somehow, can reach their hearts. I thought he might get them to think about how they treat you, they might learn something.'
Paul bowed his head, and commented: 'So you noticed. Somehow they can never be happy for me, not even now. That is why I didn't want them on our wedding, but it was the right thing to do to ask them, I'm glad George did. How's our divine guest?'
Jonathan was feeling a bit left out of our conversation, so I asked him if he had been frightened of Hermes when he showed up.
He said: 'Yes, I was, but with so much power all around me I had good hopes it would end well. And I saw Paul carrying a gun, something a guy from ancient Greece will not be familiar with. I thought he could always shoot him, and your dad didn't seem afraid at all, so I guess my fear didn't last long.
The puppy was hilarious, Lucy just adores it. But how is he, Lukas' father?'
I thought he was very diplomatic, to bring the conversation back to Paul's question, and I replied: 'Not very well, he woke up in a lot of pain, as much as you were in when you had been shot, Paul. So I held him in my arms and Lukas got a painkiller.
And Lukas gave him a piece of his mind, until he didn't like his negative feelings anymore and just forgave his dad.
Oh, he speaks only Greek now, so I could only understand Lukas' part of the conversation. And when the painkiller started to work and I didn't feel sorry for him anymore I felt dirty again, holding him, smelling him after those dreams. But he denied having sent them.'
Jonathan lost me near the end, so I explained: 'A few nights ago, I dreamt of making love to Lukas' dad, not just once but several times. It made me very uncomfortable, and I thought he had sent them to convince me to let Lukas go. But he says he didn't.'
Paul nodded in understanding, and explained: 'I had my doubts about those dreams, after the mirror had moved they went on, but the shields on my home are virtually impenetrable.
And once the mirror was sealed, nothing could pass that seal, and still the dreams went on.
They didn't stop until we got your father's shields, at which exact same moment the elves stopped being able to read our surface thoughts. I suspect our elvish friends sent them, either to amuse themselves or to prime us against what happened today.'
'But how did they know what Lukas' dad looked like?' Jonathan asked.
Boy did he have a quick mind!
'They can see everything in the house, and I guess they studied him for a few days before they alerted us to his presence. The rest of the dream was probably myths combined with their fantasy,' Paul surmised.
Which meant I had been rather unfair towards a seriously injured man, and I felt a little ashamed of myself.
Still, it wasn't as if Hermes himself was saint. I decided to be nicer to him in the future, but not to feel sorry about this evening.
Now Jonathan asked with a broad grin: 'And, do you feel any different now you're married?'
First, I had to laugh at his cheekiness, he was such a nice kid, I really hoped he'd return to us so we could see him grow up and help him reach his potential.
But then I felt Paul's intensity, and turning towards him I saw he had that look again. My body froze and I had to remind myself to breathe, until he broke the spell by smiling affably and telling Jonathan: 'Naw, nothing's changed, really.'
His eyes didn't leave mine, though, and he gently took me in his arms and kissed me with the same intensity with which he had looked at me, reminding me instantly of our first weeks together. How much I had wanted him, and how little encouragement he had given me. And after Lukas came, how Paul looked at me with this intensity, but never acted on it, held back by his innate restraint and his misunderstanding of what was going on between Lukas and me.
'Will you dance with me?' sounded Paul's voice, now very low and husky.
I nodded, and Paul said: 'Will you excuse us, Jonathan, I'm taking my lady to the dance-floor.'
And Jonathan replied: 'Good idea, I think I'll find me a nice girl too.'
It was a slow dance, and we had a very nice, intimate time, going through the next two dances in close contact, almost like a dream.
After the second, I released my new husband to Lukas once more, and found myself swept up by my dad, who said: 'Good, a chance at getting a dance in with my lovely daughter.'
He was glad for the chance to speak to me, and he told me: 'Your husband introduced me to his parents, and they've been more than happy to talk to me. They realised something was lacking in their interaction with Paul, but they had no idea how to reach him.
I've given them some tips, I hope it helps. They were surprisingly friendly considering the difference in class, I suppose my fearless attitude towards your second father-in-law impressed them.'
I remarked: 'Thanks dad, I hope it helps. I had the feeling Paul isn't even trying anymore, but they truly seem to love him.
I think you did the right thing, dad, forcing Lukas to face his father. But Hermes might have attacked you, do you really think you could have withstood him?'
My dad replied: 'He was pretty awesome, but I think I could have drained him myself, yes. I've this whole circle behind me, you see. With so many other adepts to distract him I am pretty sure we would have managed without casualties.
But of course his own hubris did him in much more efficiently, and more thoroughly. How's he? And how's Lukas?'
'Hermes was still pretty bad, in a lot of pain, Lukas said he had damaged nerve endings,' and my father mused: 'Like a lightning strike, that is excruciatingly painful, I feel sorry for him.'
That made the state Hermes was in clearer to me, I thought he was just overreacting to a bit of pain because he wasn't used to feel it.
I went on: 'He asked what had happened, and Lukas told him, quite accusingly, and didn't want to accept an apology.
Lukas explained how being dragged off to heal people would most likely have killed him, and his dad truly seemed to feel that.
Then Lukas threw off his negative feelings and treated his dad as any seriously injured patient, and things looked up.
You were right, dad, Lukas needs to be free of negativity, and I think he has a chance to teach his father some compassion.
He doesn't seem to be a bad man, just spoiled by being all-powerful. Being brought so low, having to rely totally on mere mortals may make him a better person for ever. Though I wouldn't trust him at all whenever he gets his power back.'
Mildly, my dad said: 'I think he may surprise you yet, I think he has the same capacity for loving as his son has. I'm glad Lukas let go of his worst feelings, he is such an untainted creature, I would be intensely sorry to see him hold on to fear or blame.
And what about George, Hermes seemed to trust George a lot.'
I answered: 'Have you heard of transferring power with a direct mind-link?' My dad's eyes went large: 'Heard of it, yes, but we never do it, we prefer ritual transfer of power. Takes a bit longer, but not as intimate.'
'Well, George had no time for rituals, so he emptied the entire ley-line into Hermes' personal stash to save his life. By the time he regained consciousness George was gone from his mind, but I suppose the link was still there.
George doesn't mind having a god aching for him, he likes young men and will indulge him until it fades. Actually, he is planning not to leave an enemy at his back, and I trust him to act ethically.'
I could see my dad doubted the ethics of using a mind-merge to make an enemy into a friend, but he was not going to argue with me.
Instead he asked: 'So you see ley-lines as well. Can you use them?' I replied: 'I can, I often feed Lukas when he's healing.'
'Who'd have thought that, you showed so little potential as a kid. Well, fortunately Paul saw it before a predator or a witch hunter did. And now you are safely hidden and in control.'
We danced in silence now, and I watched Paul and Lukas, talking animatedly whilst dancing, and Jonathan, who was dancing with Ilsa.
'Paul's parents already gone away?' I asked my dad, and he replied: 'I think they're with Frances, for a tour of the greenhouse. They told me they are thinking of getting one of their own.'
When the dance was through, the party started to diminish a little, with my sisters and my parents leaving.
We agreed to meet a little more often from now on, and I really looked forward to that, my sisters were much less stuffy than I remembered them.
I decided to sit with George and Tristan for a while, I had hardly seen them or spoken to them all day, and I wondered what they thought of all that had happened.
As I approached I could see that nothing had changed in the time that I had been dancing and chatting, Tristan and George were talking calmly whilst Hermes was sleeping on his long chair, holding on tightly to George in his sleep.
When they set their eyes on me they greeted me cordially, though quietly, and Tristan invited me to sit on the chair next to him.
I asked: 'How is it going?' and George answered: 'Much the same, I think the poor lad is in quite a lot of pain, even though he is fast asleep.'
Tristan chuckled and observed: 'If he's a lad, George, my great-grandma is a toddler! He's centuries old, don't let his innocent looks fool you. Though I agree with you, he seems to be in pain, and he bears it as a boy would: badly.'
'My father compared the effects of nerve-damage to those of a lightning-strike,' I said. Both men showed their sympathy in their expressions, and George commented: 'That would be excruciatingly painful, I hope it's not that bad.
Though I also clearly remember the things he threatened Lukas with, and all of us, so maybe it isn't just a bad thing for him to suffer a little. Might make him a bit more emphatic. Still, I do feel sorry for him.'
With this remark, he looked at Hermes' still form, and as if he'd heard it, a series of spasm's seized his body and shook it like a dog would its prey, then left him lying still again.
Tristan observed quietly: 'That didn't look to good, I'll go find Lukas to check on him. And then I'll find Ilsa afterwards, see if she'll dance with me a little more. If I can be of any further use please let me know.'
George looked very worried, and commented: 'What he really needs, is to be back in his own country, where his power and immortality would be restored instantly.'
I nodded, and said: 'But according to Lukas, that portal's other end lies in a kind of demon world close to his own, he can't cross that in this state.
And I don't think Lukas will volunteer to take him home and face him with his powers restored instantly. Besides, the damage may be slow to heal, I wouldn't be surprised if it cannot be undone by restoring his power.'
I had a feeling that Lukas might want to try another healing, as he had done in Paul's case, if only to be rid of his unwanted visitor that much sooner.
Within minutes of Tristan leaving to find him, Lukas came, bringing Paul. Lukas asked: 'What happened, Tristan said he had a seizure of some kind?'
He kneeled at his father's side, and touched his face gently, and I was very happy to see that he really seemed to have forgiven his father, for he looked like a concerned son and nothing else. Even George had been less forgiving, thinking out loud that a little suffering might not do this arrogant bully any harm.
'Don't go in without preparation, Lukas, he can seize your mind in his agony and we might never find it again,' Paul said anxiously, 'maybe you shouldn't even touch him without anchor.'
In answer, Lukas held out his one hand to Paul, and only when Paul had kneeled beside him, holding it firmly against his chest, Lukas caressed his father's beautiful features with something much like love.
He explained: 'He was a really good father to me for a long time, doing the things fathers should do for their little boys, playing, teaching, even teasing, but when my mother died when I was near adulthood, it hit him hard, and he started to avoid me.
Maybe I reminded him of her too much, my siblings are only half-siblings, their mothers were not satyrs, they looked more like him. He was milder when she was still alive, I can't remember him ever trying to sway me with his will before that.
But after she died he grew cold towards me, and when my Gift hadn't blossomed by the time I was an adult, he sent me away to Dionysos' court for herald's training.
I had become quite promiscuous, worse than my people usually are, and I had a bad reputation where we lived, he couldn't have found a spouse for me even if he had wanted to marry me off. I haven't had any sign of love from him for twenty-five years, and I have not touched him for as long. I've been wanting to do this for a long long time, even if he is not aware right now.
If there is a chance he'll die, or even if he's healed and leaves, I won't have the chance again, so I'll take it now, in remembrance of the good times we spent together.'
And he continued to caress his father really tenderly, finally getting a reaction when Hermes woke up a little, pain in his every feature, but strong enough to reach out a hand to his son and stroking his rough curls, and his cute face.
They were both crying and I could clearly see that Lukas couldn't stand the sight of his father in such pain any longer. He was going to try another healing, and he would need an anchor as well as someone to feed him power.
'I'll anchor you, you can help him find the problem and feed him power. Use mine, the ley-line is still dry,' Paul said quietly, and I sat down beside Lukas on his other side, touching his bare skin under his shirt with my arm, and his mind with a brushing touch of my own mind.
He let me in, and loosened his talent once more.
Despite his pain, Hermes was following the procedure with interest, and I was a bit afraid to enter his private zone, until I felt Paul's sure touch on my mind, our steady anchor to the now, stronger than Hermes in this condition, on our world, a node with easy reach.
And despite George's obvious partiality for the beautiful young man, I trusted him as well to keep an eye on things from an arcane point of view.
Lukas' talent sprang to life, and I managed to follow it this time, searching for the source of the pain, and finding it, simply put, everywhere. All the nerves in his body, visible as lines endlessly branching in this virtual reality of Lukas' talent, spread densely throughout his entire body but especially dense in his skin and organs, and his brain, all those nerves were on fire from the reaction shock.
It was like lightning reversed, instead of an overload of power these nerves had been drained dry of their power by the failed spell. The effect was much the same, though George had given Hermes enough power back to keep his life-processes going, his nerves were so raw that the very working of those processes hurt agonizingly, and they would keep on hurting until they had recovered from the blow and gone back to their usual quiet state.
I instantly understood that our fear to bring him back to fighting power had saved his life: had George filled his reserves to capacity, his nerves would have shut down completely with the overload of power.
Taking him back to his own world, bringing his power back instantly, would likely kill him as well, the nerve damage had been inflicted here and could not be undone.
He would have to stay here until his nerves could handle power again, and he would have to be sedated against the pain, for the nerves could only heal themselves over a certain period of time. Lukas was already trying to soothe them as well as he could with his talent, pulling a lot of energy out of him which I then replaced from Paul's stash.
I suggested to Lukas he should check Hermes' power level, for if his magical power charged too quickly, or he'd use it before he had healed himself far enough, he would surely lose the use of some nerves, leaving him crippled or even comatose or dead.
And sure enough, Hermes' magical power was already replenishing itself quickly, which was probably why he was in ever increasing pain.
We had to figure out where the power came from, and shut down that source immediately, or he'd be screaming in agony within hours.
This was not an easy task and it fell to me mostly, with Lukas helping me to interpret the flows we saw inside his father's body.
It seemed that magical energy was stored throughout the body, in pockets used solely for this purpose. Hermes' were huge, of course they were, he had managed to call a hound of Hell from his world to ours, on nothing but the power amassed in these pockets.
I watched one to see how it filled up, and saw a tiny trickle coming from inside his own body, that was his personal power, I guessed, for it was blue.
Then there was a sizeable amount of green, coming in from outside, just through his skin. That must be the power one got from a ley-line, only this was too little for a ley-line, it seemed he harvested it straight from nature without even thinking about it. Interesting advantage of being a god, wherever one was?
Then there was a tiny bit of red, but healthy red, maybe power given to him voluntarily by other people instead of forced from them? Maybe he had a handful of worshippers on earth, in a strange cult where they celebrated ancient Greek gods? They would be devastated to miss his visit.
And there was a tiny bit of lighter red coming in, a tiny trickle also, which I couldn't place for now. But the main power coming in was from nature itself, and it was causing him excruciating pain. It needed to be stopped.
Now I felt an urge from outside, someone was pulling us back into the now, worried about us. We knew enough, so we let ourselves be moved, and soon I felt arms around me, holding me up. Slowly I woke up enough to recognize the arms as Jonathan's.
Jonathan? He looked me in the eye and said: 'Paul and Lukas are fine, but Lukas is out cold in Paul's arms, and he asked me to catch you. Tea?'
I felt much better knowing my men were fine, so I said drolly: 'Don't mind if I do.' And soon I was sitting against my own husband, one of his arms around me, the other around Lukas, and I was handed a cup of steaming fragrant tea.
Four sets of eyes were watching me intently, dying to know what we had found out. Looking at Hermes, I could see he was a little better, but not much.
George was giving as much solace as he could, and in a flash of insight I checked their interaction with sight. Pale red energy was emanating from George towards Hermes, and being absorbed by his skin. The realisation made me a bit dizzy, and I was not up to speaking yet, so I sipped more tea, and snuggled against Paul, hoping to get some of that pink stuff myself.
I stroked Lukas' rough hair, giving him some of it too. He didn't look too bad, just fagged. He'd come around soon, and with his energy topped up by Paul and some of that tea he would be able to tell his dad what was wrong with him, and what the cure would be.
I looked at Hermes and said: 'We found out what is wrong with you, you're not dying, but all is not well either. When Lukas here is feeling better he'll tell you all about it.'
Of course, Hermes looked at me uncomprehendingly, but Paul translated what I said in Greek, and to my surprise and delight I could understand what he said in my mind. I continued: 'One thing can't wait, Paul, or rather, George, can you put a shield on him that stops node-energy from entering his body, no matter how tiny the amount? It is only a matter of life and death.'
That got a weird look, but I must have done something right the past few weeks, for without asking any questions, George gathered energy and put a nice blue shield on Hermes, that shrank to fit his body exactly and lost its colour at the same time.
The change on Hermes' face was immediate, he sighed with relief and looked at me thankfully, spilling some Greek words.
Paul translated: 'He has no clue how you did that, but it just about halved the pain he is in.'
I observed: 'And for the other half, he'll have to rely on good old painkillers, so if you would be so kind Jonathan, to please run over to Frances and ask her for the strongest ones Hermes may take?' Jonathan was away without even saying anything, and I poured a cup of tea for Hermes to cool enough to swallow the painkiller with, whilst Paul translated what I had said into Greek.
Now Paul said, a bit worried: 'He's out longer than usual, you were down there for so long, is he all right?'
I asked 'Have you checked his power-level?' Paul nodded, and said: 'All at full strength.' With my new knowledge of pink power, I suggested: Why not scratch his horns a little, I think he needs a bit of love to wake him up.'
I stroked his beloved face whilst Paul scratched his horn-bases gently, and soon Lukas opened his eyes, eager for a kiss or two. I let Paul do the honours, he had been rather worried after all, let him assure himself that Lukas was just fine by sharing an ardent kiss. I poured a cup of tea for Lukas as well, and handed it to him as soon as he was done kissing Paul.
But that wouldn't do at all, he wanted me to kiss him too, so I obliged, how could I ever refuse him a little bit of love? After the kisses, he was happy to drink his tea, resting against Paul, drinking in Paul's obvious relief he was in good health.
Lukas was so good in finding love wherever it could be had, and he was starting to really see the subtle forms it could take as well as the more obvious ones.
