Eros and Psyche appeared and silently began bathing Charlemagne's wounds. He tried to engage them in conversation a time or two, but they were mindless automatons, and he saw his chances of escape dwindling even further away.

After they had finished tending to the painful welts, Psyche brought him food and drink. Charlemagne was beginning to find the silence disconcerting.

"Eros." At the sound of his name the god turned and looked at him blankly. Charlemagne stood and went over to him, and grabbing his shoulders, shook him soundly. Eros merely stood and took it and completely failed to react.

In frustration, or perhaps desperation, Charlemagne picked up his nearly empty plate and flung it against the far wall. The only reaction that resulted was that the silent pair went over and cleaned up the mess. Then, they disappeared.

Charlemagne sat back down and wondered how much he could take before he lost his mind.

&&&&&&&

Meaghan was back up on her feet. Even though the marks on her face and elsewhere were rapidly fading, they stood out like beacons against her fair skin.

Meaghan herself was toweringly furious. Trance had never seen her like this, pacing and swearing and vowing terrible retribution on the goddesses who had made off with her husband.

"We have to find them first," Trance reminded her, breaking in on yet another tirade.

Meaghan paused in mid-step. "Oh, I'll find them all right. Somehow, I'll find them, and I'll make them pay for what they've done to Charlemagne."

"Meaghan," Trance began a bit tentatively, "is there anyone you can.., talk to? Find out what's going on?"

Meaghan's features brightened noticeably. "Eros! Of course. He's always, or almost always been a good boy. I'm sure he'll help me out." She closed her eyes and began searching for her son's mind. She seemed to be at it for some minutes. "Now that's odd," she mumbled, her brow furrowing. "I can't seem to find him. I've never not been able to find Eros."

"Is there anyone else?" the alien woman asked.

"That I could count on to help?" The love goddess shook her head. "Most of them are totally self-centered, even after all these long eons. And there are a few who still do bear me grudges several millennia after the fact. Hera persists in resenting me just because I am one of father's bastards. Not that we're all that uncommon. Father always did have a roving eye."

"What about him?" Trance suggested.

"Who? Father?" Meaghan would have giggled at the notion if the situation were not so serious. "He's not exactly.., reliable." She had an idea. "Trance, I'd like to try Eros again. Can you give me a.., a boost?"

"What do you want me to do?"

&&&&&&

Eros sat staring blankly ahead with, literally, nothing on his mind. Then, there seemed to be, almost like an itch in the depths of his brain. He blinked, but the irritation continued and grew stronger. He reached up and scratched his head, but that didn't help because the source was inside his head. Suddenly, his eyes lost the soulless glaze that had characterized them since the goddesses put the compulsion on him. "Mother?" he said softly.

&&&&&&&&

Charlemagne was doing some simple calisthenics, such as he was able to do with the chains in the way, not only to keep himself in shape, but simply to while away the time with nothing to do, and no one to talk to. He intended to work himself into exhaustion. He wasn't sleeping well, these days, and he was beginning to have dreams about his captors that were.., disturbing. He wondered if Eos and Selene were sending the dreams to him. He almost hoped that they were, he hated to think that his own subconscious was doing this to him. He was in the middle of a series of push-ups when he came to the realization that he was no longer alone. He was really getting tired of having people just appear in the same room with him without warning.

He stopped what he was doing and flopped down on the floor. He rolled over on his back and saw.., Meg?

Charlemagne sprang to his feet, and Meg threw herself into his arms, and he had to hide his reactions, for he immediately realized that it was not Meaghan. She looked like his wife, but the movements were not quite the same, and as she snuggled close to him, he could tell that her pheromones were different. The copy of Meaghan pulled his head down to kiss him, and even the way her lips tasted was different. It had to be Eos or Selene, but which one?

"Charlemagne?" The woman in his arms had noticed that he had held back during the kiss.

"I'm sorry, love," he murmured, pulling her closer. "You are so beautiful, Meg. Eos and Selene couldn't even begin to compare to you."

She suddenly pushed him away from her and stamped her foot. And suddenly Meaghan became Eos. "Wretched boy!" she snarled. "Aphrodite isn't even showing her true beauty. How can you say that she is more beautiful than I?"

"Because she is," Charlemagne said simply. "There is no way that she, or anyone else could possibly be more beautiful to me."

"You're a sentimental fool, Charlemagne," the dawn goddess said. "I could be any woman you want me to be. Why cling to your silly fantasies?"

"But you can't be the woman I want you to be," he pointed out. "We just proved that. You can look like Meg, but you can't be Meg. And she is all I want."

She slapped his face, hard, on the side that had the welt yet, and disappeared.

&&&&&&&

"Ow!" Meaghan put her hand to her cheek. Over the original injury appeared a red hand-print.

Dylan looked uneasily at her. He wanted to do something to help her, but how could he when they didn't even know where her tormenter was? "You were saying something about contacting your.., son?"

Meaghan managed a weak smile. "Eros, yes. He is with Charlemagne. Evidently he and Psyche, I really will have to apologize to that child, slipped in, in the guise of servants. Unfortunately, they got found out. Eos and Selene put them under a compulsion. It took Trance's help for me to get through to my son at all. But he's still a little disoriented from the compulsion, so he couldn't tell me exactly where they were." She sighed. "At least I know he's there to try to keep Charlemagne from harm, although what he can do, I'm not sure."

"Why can't he just, well, bring Charlemagne here?" Hunt asked.

"It's too far, Dylan. Especially if he's bringing two people," Meaghan explained. "And you'd hardly expect him to leave his wife to the tender mercies of Selene and Eos, would you? Besides, they seem to have some sort of shielding over the place. If he tried, it would set off all sorts of alarms. My son is good, but he's outnumbered."

"So how do we find them?" Dylan was starting to feel a little helpless.

"Now that he's aware, I can sort of.., focus on Eros," Meaghan informed him. "I can't get us there all at once, but I think I can set us on the right path."

"All right," Hunt sighed. "Where next?"

Meaghan looked at the star chart on the screen. Her eyes seemed to lose their focus for a moment, then she pointed at a spot on the chart. "There."

"Can you get us there, Bekka?" the captain asked.

"Can and will," Bekka confirmed.

&&&&&&&&&

"You're still being very naughty, pretty," Selene told her captive. "I think we've been more than patient with you up till now, but you're going to have to start cooperating."

Charlemagne leaned against the wall and made a rude gesture at her.

"That was the wrong answer," she snapped.

"Or maybe you're just asking the wrong questions," Charlemagne needled her.

"Why do you insist on being so obstinate?" the moon goddess demanded. "You could have everything you desire, and the affections of two goddesses. Yet all you can think of is your dreary, mundane, mortal lifestyle."

"I'm wealthy, I'm powerful, I have five adorable children and I happen to be married to the goddess of love and beauty," he pointed out. "What could you possibly give me that I haven't got? Another wife? I've had two at once, and there were times when I almost felt that was too many."

"More children?" The goddess seemed a little less sure of herself.

"Meg can do that. And in case it has somehow escaped your notice, I infinitely prefer her to you." Charlemagne gave Selene a thorough visual inspection, and the expression on his face said that he most assuredly found her wanting. Then, even though reason screamed that it was a foolish thing to do, he turned his back on her.

It was a mistake, of the worst kind. Unthinkingly, he had presented her with a target for her ire.

Selene didn't even bother conjuring up a weapon per se. Instead, her fingernails became talons and she used them to rake deep gouges down the length of his back, tearing into flesh, and even muscle.

Charlemagne passed out from the pain, and lay on the floor, bleeding profusely.

&&&&&&&

Meaghan screamed once and then she too, passed out. Dylan bent to pick her up, but when he touched her back, his hand encountered something wet and sticky. He pulled his hand away and found it covered with blood. He turned the goddess over and found that the back of her dress was saturated with blood. "Andromeda!"

"Trance is on her way," the AI said.

&&&&&&

Even though it was unnecessary, Seamus felt compelled to check on the children one last time before he turned in for the night himself. He went through the rooms, tucking in a blanket here, or kissing a little face there before he had assured himself that all was well. At least on his end of things. He really wished he knew what was going on.