Charlemagne paced around the room restlessly. One of his ersatz servants had finally located some suitable clothing, so he did feel a little less vulnerable. Vulnerable. Now there was an unpleasant word. Especially for a Nietzschean. He definitely couldn't overpower one goddess, let alone two. Possibly he could outsmart them, but at present, he didn't have enough information to formulate a viable plan. Then there was the small matter of escape. If he could get by the irate duo, though, he thought that his step-son could probably get him out.
He also wasn't sure about how he felt about the new revelations about his wife. He had known that she had been a goddess, and still was, apparently, but instead of studying the old myths, he had just rejoiced in her presence and learned only as much about her as she was prepared to tell him. She had left an awful lot out. Like marriage and a child. So, it was an arranged marriage, like his and Elsbeth's had been, still.., He tabled the subject. Time enough to go into it later. Quite a lot of time evidently. Then, he decided it really didn't matter, because he loved Meaghan and always would.
If he had not had a Nietzschean's training and self-control, he would have jumped out of his skin when a hand fell on his shoulder from behind.
"Some sort of warning would be appropriate," he suggested. "Since there no longer seems to be a door to knock on." He turned around.
Eos and Selene stood there looking at him in a manner he was absolutely sure he did not like. "Hello, pretty," Selene cooed. "Are we getting bored? Ready to play?"
Charlemagne decided that tact wasn't going to work anyway, so might as well be blunt. "I seriously doubt that I'll ever be that bored," he stated, and folded his arms across his chest.
"Those silly little serving wenches dressed him, Selene," Eos pouted. "I liked his night-clothes much better." She giggled. "I think I'd like him even better in nothing at all."
"Don't count on that happening," Charlemagne warned.
"Oh, pretty boy," Eos laughed, "I think I can." She waved her hand, and his clothes disappeared.
"That's hardly playing fair, is it?" he asked mildly. He went over to the chest that Psyche had been rummaging through. Even that silly little dress would be preferable to prancing around naked in front of these two predators. The lid to the chest wouldn't open.
"We make the rules here, not you." Selene came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. Charlemagne pulled himself free from her and put a meter or so of distance between them.
"A married man and still so shy?" asked Eos. "We don't intend to hurt you, Charlemagne. Unless you force us to. Why push us into causing you pain, when what we are really interested in is pleasure? Yours as well as ours."
"Thank you, but no," Charlemagne said. "Find another playmate, ladies. My affections are entirely devoted to my wife."
"We couldn't care less about your affections." Selene spoke scornfully. "Just your beautiful body. Who knows, maybe if you give in to our demands we may even eventually tire of you and set you free."
"Really?" Charlemagne didn't actually believe that she'd do it for a moment. "And just when do you think eventually might be?"
Selene shrugged. "A millennia or two," she mused. "Maybe three or four. Maybe never. Are you a gambling man?"
"Not with those odds," he muttered.
"Maybe we're going about this the wrong way, Selene," her fair-haired sister said. "And it really isn't fair that he should be the only one of us with no clothes on."
"I hadn't thought about that," the raven-haired beauty replied. "But you may be right. Shall we?"
The pair of them giggled a little wickedly. Then their clothes disappeared as well.
In deference to how he felt about Meg, Charlemagne thought he ought to close his eyes, but he didn't think that would be the most prudent course of action at the moment. And part of him didn't want to. They were incredibly beautiful. Not, in his eyes, as beautiful as his beloved Meaghan, of course, but they were beautiful. And the sight of them was causing a physical reaction that he simply couldn't control.
"Ooh, look Selene," Eos chirped delightedly. "Maybe he does want to play after all."
&&&&&&&&
Meaghan was trying to get herself under control, but wasn't having an easy time of it. "I'm sorry," she sniffled. "I'm just so worried about Charlemagne."
"We understand," Dylan said sympathetically. "We want to check with the pilot of his ship to find out the route they were taking. Then we'll go have a look and see if we can find any trace of his ship."
"We certainly shall," Meaghan said, wiping her eyes on her sleeve, there being nothing else available.
"Wait a minute, Meaghan," Hunt protested. "Shouldn't you be staying home with the children? We can handle this."
"Since whoever has done this returned the children," Meaghan pointed out. "It suggests to me that they are safe. And I won't rest until I know that Charlemagne is too."
"So you're just going to leave the kids in the hands of the servants?" Bekka was actually a little shocked. She wasn't real keen on the whole motherhood thing herself, but she knew that Meaghan was.
"You're right, I ought to have someone else here with them," Meaghan said. "When Trance called to tell me that you were arriving she said that Seamus got on well with William and Richard." All eyes turned toward Harper.
"Wait just one ever-lovin' minute," Harper protested. "I was just fooling around and playing with them. I don't know thing one about taking care of them."
"That's what the servants are for," Meaghan explained. "They know the routines and all, but the children also need someone a little less.., impersonal to be with them. And impersonal is something you could never be, Seamus." She managed and weak smile and ruffled Harper's hair.
"I think I'm being steamrollered here," Harper groused. He looked at Meaghan's tear-stained face and couldn't help himself. "You know, if it was anyone else, I'd give them a flat no."
"Thank you, Seamus." Meaghan hugged him. "Dylan, I'll have someone take you and Bekka to talk to the ship's crew, then Mr. Harper and I will break the news to the children and I'll pack a few things."
"It never occurred to you that I might say no, did it?" Hunt asked her.
It hadn't. She whirled around to face him. "You wouldn't, would you?" she asked in a small voice.
Dylan sighed. "Damsels in distress are a weakness of mine," he muttered helplessly.
Meaghan brightened a bit. "It's settled then."
&&&&&&&&
When they left, Harper had the two little girls seated on his knees, and the boys gathered close by while he told them an entirely improbable story the hero of which, of course, was none other than Seamus Zelazny Harper. The children probably didn't understand half the words he was using, but he spoke with such feeling and inflection that they were held enraptured by the tall tale. Dylan and Bekka were amazed, and Meaghan felt better knowing he was there with her children.
As the Maru took off, Meaghan said, "I want to thank you both for what you're doing for me. And for Charlemagne."
"You know we'd look for Charlemagne anyway, don't you?" Bekka asked. "I mean, we're the good guys, it's part of what we do."
"I know," her friend answered softly. "But I just have this feeling that I have to be with you when we find him."
"I thought you didn't do that anymore." Dylan looked puzzled.
"I don't.., I mean I can't," Meaghan protested. "Woman's intuition?"
"Being in love?" Bekka suggested.
"If you think I'm going to argue with two women at the same time..," Dylan mumbled. He gave them a weak smile.
&&&&&&&&
If they had only come at him one at a time, Charlemagne thought, he might have a better chance. But there was only so much space in the room, and if he dodged one of the amorous goddesses, the other one would simply cut off his escape.
He was really not enjoying this. And immortal he might be, but he still seemed to be subject to fatigue, and he was starting to run down. He supposed that he might have been able to drive them off rather than run, but he didn't want to raise the stakes just yet. So far there had been no more than threats, embarrassment and pursuit. If he started attacking, he wasn't quite sure where things would go, but he was pretty certain he wouldn't like it there.
Selene stopped chasing him. "He just keeps running away," she complained. "I don't think he's ready to play yet."
Eos joined her, "True, but it was sort of fun to watch him run," she giggled and waved her hand and they were clothed again. "Especially the way his..,"
"How about some clothes for me, too?" Charlemagne suggested hopefully. Threats were one thing, but there was something just too terribly humiliating about being a figure of fun.
Evening and dawn exchanged glances. "Oh, very well," Selene said. "But you're not being a very good sport about this."
Charlemagne found that while he was still shirtless, he at least had pants on now. A major improvement in the state of affairs.
"I don't intend to be a good sport," he remarked rudely. "I have no desire whatsoever to be here. I'm not going to engage in sex with either one of you. All I want is to return to my wife and children."
"You are stubborn, aren't you?" Eos observed. "Maybe that's why I couldn't compel you. But make no mistake, beautiful boy, you are going nowhere."
The furnishings of the room, with the exception of the table, one chair, and of course, the bed disappeared. Furthermore, Charlemagne found that he was manacled to the wall. The chain was rather lengthy, to be sure, but his freedom was being curtailed even more.
"Start re-thinking your attitude, pretty," Selene advised. "The next time we visit, I believe that we're going to be a little more insistent." And between one breath and the next, the pair disappeared.
Charlemagne yanked at his chain experimentally. Rock solid, which was about what he expected. In a sudden, uncontrollable fit of frustration, he kicked the chair over. Then hopped up and down on one foot swearing, since he'd forgotten he wasn't wearing shoes, either.