by Amy Sumida
I held Re's shoulder as I stepped out of my underwear, and he looked up; placing his face right before my sex. Re leaned forward and gently nuzzled me before he stood.
Trevor groaned and turned away; setting my gown on the bed as he did. “I can't watch; I'm going back to the balcony.”
Re chuckled as he fetched my bridal lingerie. “Amateur.”
“Just give me the underwear.” I rolled my eyes.
“Uh-uh,” Re tsked me. “You had your chance. Now that the wolf is gone, I can take my time.”
“As if you weren't already?” I huffed.
Re came up behind me and angled his arms before me; lifting the bra. I slid my arms through the straps, and he pulled them over my shoulders before he fastened the back.
“Bend over, La-la,” he purred.
“What?”
“We have to properly adjust your breasts,” he said innocently. “Don't you know how to put on a bra?”
“Yeah; it's kind of self-explanatory.”
“Alas; it is not,” Re said. “You must bend over like this.” He pushed me over gently; his hands moving slowly but firmly over my back. “And then your breasts will fall forward into proper position within the cups.” He leaned over me and moved his hands around my sides and over my breasts. “They sometimes need a little help,” he whispered into my ear.
Re's hands began massaging me as he lifted my breasts. But damn if they didn't settle more fully into the bra. He tweaked my nipples before he lifted us together.
“There; perfect,” Re declared. “And now, the panties.”
“I don't know if I'm going to make it through this,” I muttered.
Re smiled mischievously as he stepped around to my front; holding a silk thong off his pointer finger. He crouched before me again and held the panties open for me to step into. Re slowly lifted them up my thighs—the silk caressing my skin as much as he was—and I tensed in anticipation. But he only settled the silk over me and stood. I relaxed—thinking he was done—but as he moved to get the dress, his hand skimmed over the silk panty; pushing in just enough to torment me.
“Re,” I snarled.
“Lift your arms, La-la,” Re said.
I did, and he slipped the gown over my head. It settled over my body as if it were made for me; much heavier than I'd expected. It had thick straps that were beaded with faceted stones; as was the V neckline. It may have been slinky, with its bias cut, but it was also lined and looked more modest than I'd expected.
“Come and see.” Re took my hand and led me up the steps to his pleasure plateau, where there was a full-length mirror set beside the clothing rack.
We stopped before the mirror, and I turned side to side to admire the gown. The crystals at the bodice trailed down into floral patterns that outlined my waist. The designs continued down in ribbons over my hips; two of them falling back to border the hem of my train.
“It's magnificent,” I whispered.
“I'm not done,” Re said as he pulled some of my hair back and secured it. “Stay right there.”
Re went to his wardrobe again and then hurried back to me. He was holding a large velvet box and a veil. Re tucked a comb in the base he'd made of my hair and fluffed out the attached veil. And then he opened the black box. He lifted out a gold crown; a thin band set with diamonds. It came to a gentle peak in the front; supporting a round diamond with rays of smaller stones set around it—a sun. I sighed as he set it over the veil. And then he drew a layer of the veil over the crown and my face.
“You look so beautiful,” he whispered.
I smiled at him through the misty silk.
“Don't forget these.” Trevor had returned and was holding a bouquet of delicate, pink and lavender flowers.
Re took my arm and escorted me down the stairs to Trevor. I reached for the bouquet and froze. The flowers looked so familiar, and they were giving me a horrible anxiety.
“Where did you get those?” I whispered.
“The flowers?” Re asked in surprise. “Anubis brought them for us. He has the most amazing gardens in Aaru.”
A vision overtook me; I saw a magnificent garden done in a French style; with raised beds containing the same flowers in the bouquet. The flowers blurred as I raced through the garden; away from a god. My breath quickened and my knees shook as I saw a beautiful peacock fountain before me and a maze looming behind it. I ran for the safety of the high hedges; the scent of those same blossoms permeating the air. And then rough hands caught me and pulled me down onto the grass. I looked up into the eyes of a jackal and then down at the muscled body of a man that was attached to the monstrous head. I screamed.
“Vervain!” Trevor was shaking me gently.
I opened my eyes and saw Trevor above me and, for just a second, he was the Jackal God. I screamed again and pushed at him.
“Minn Elska!” Trevor shouted. “It's me.”
“La-la, please.” Re's face came into view as he stroked my cheek. “Calm down. What's happening to you?”
“I...” I heaved a relieved breath as the world returned to normal. I was safe; lying on Re's bed between him and Trevor. I sat up and sighed. “I'm sorry; it was a memory. A horrible memory.”
“It's okay—” Re started to say.
And then the bedroom door opened, and Anubis rushed in.
“What's going on in here? You've unsettled the guests,” Anubis said.
I took one look at Anubis' face and knew that it had been him. The waiters he had been instructing; Re had called them Anubis' jackals. They were shapeshifters, but in the opposite way that Trevor was. The jackals were originally animals, and then they were given human bodies as an alternative form. And Anubis was their god. I knew all of this instantly, and with the knowledge came that of what he'd done to me.
I started to tremble; no wonder his painting had affected me so badly.
“We're fine,” Re was saying to Anubis. “Just a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding?” Anubis scowled at me, and I cringed. “What's wrong with her?”
“Get the fuck out,” Trevor growled as he leaned protectively in front of me.
“Fine!” Anubis huffed and turned to leave, but then his expression changed to one of confusion, and he glanced back at me.
Anubis' eyes widened as he took in my terrified stare, and then his jaw fell open. Just as I was about to start screaming at him, other memories rushed in. I saw Anubis begging for my forgiveness, and I knew that he was as broken as Blue had been. I took a deep breath and swallowed my fear. Anubis' stare was becoming panicked, but I shook my head slightly at him; I wasn't about to ruin this day with whatever had happened between us in another time.
“Sorry to have disturbed you,” Anubis whispered and left.
“Tell me,” Trevor growled at me as soon as the door was closed.
“No,” I said firmly as I stood.
The men moved with me; both of them staring at me in shock. I settled my crown back into place and smoothed out the gown; still breathing heavily.
“La-la?” Re asked. “Did you and Anubis have a love affair?”
“No,” I said again. “It was definitely not a love affair.”
Re's gaze hardened as he stood, and Trevor started to growl; low in his throat.
“Let it go,” I said sternly to them both.
They gaped at me.
“But, Minn Elska,” Trevor whispered.
“No!” I said. “And throw those fucking flowers out the window.”
Trevor looked at Re, and Re nodded. Trevor retrieved the bouquet from where it had been discarded on the carpet and went to the balcony once again.
“La-la,” Re said gently.
I turned a hard stare on him.
“Please don't look at me like that,” Re begged as he drew closer. “If you want to keep your secret, I won't press you to tell me, but if I can ease your pain in any way, I'd like to. Even if I need to hurt my grandson to do it. Does Anubis deserve my fury?”
“No,” I whispered and closed my eyes. I breathed deeply again and pushed away the past. “No; leave him be.”
“As you wish,” Re said softly. “But know that I would do anything for you, and if someone hurts you, I will kill them; no matter who they are.”
“Thank you, Re.” I turned into his embrace, and he held me tightly. “But I can do my own killing.”
Re looked down at me in surprise.
Chapter Forty-Four
Re left me with Trevor, who would be walking me down the aisle. Believe me; I know how screwed up that sounds, but it felt perfect. Re had decorated his ballroom with enormous arrangements of white flowers and swaths of white silk. The color seemed even brighter against the vivid murals adorning the ballroom and it made the room feel pure; the perfect backdrop for a new beginning.
Trevor escorted me down a white carpet runner; between rows of Egyptian Gods who were Re's family. They smiled at me, but I could tell that they were confused. No one could understand why Re was suddenly getting married, and there was more than one pair of eyes that stared at me suspiciously above smiling lips. I didn't blame them; I'd be just as suspicious. But I couldn't allow them to ruin this moment for me.
So, I kept my eyes on Re, and when Trevor offered Re my hand and then kissed my cheek, I felt the rightness of the moment. This was meant to happen, and it was meant to happen now. Whatever may have been going on with my life trying to correct the changes that had been made to it, I knew that Re and I were right on schedule.
That certainty made everything better. I stared at Re in perfect bliss as he recited his vows to me. I was so lost in him that I had to be nudged after I failed to respond to the prompt for my own vows. Re smiled knowingly at me as I stumbled over the words, but when it came time to seal our union with a kiss, his expression transformed into one of pure adoration. Our lips met with what felt like destiny, and I reveled in this triumph. We had won; it may have been a small victory, but it was a vital one. Re and I had found each other and united our lives right when we were supposed to.
The Gods cheered, and it felt as if they were celebrating our triumph with us. I eased out of our kiss and stared at Re contentedly. Then he took my hand to escort me down the aisle and into our life as a married couple.
Music began to play and the furniture was moved about as tables were brought into the ballroom and a feast was laid out. But Re wasn't ready to sit down. He swept up my train, draped it over my arm, and then guided me around the room in our first dance. The Egyptian Gods loved this; they applauded as they watched their patriarch dance with his new bride. Then several couples joined us, and the celebration took off.
We feasted and then cut the cake together, but the garter and bouquet tosses were bypassed; one had already been thrown and the other didn't exist. Still, Duat wine was flowing, and no one seemed to notice the absence of the human traditions. I met and danced with several of Re's family members, and I was even able to dance with Trevor a few times. It was lovely... until Anubis sought me out.
“Is that how you seduced my grandfather?” Anubis growled as he grabbed my arm and swept me out of the ballroom.
Re and Trevor were both distracted by our guests and didn't notice me leaving; Anubis had timed his abduction well. I could have screamed, but I didn't want to make a scene, and I also wanted to believe that Anubis was a good man beneath all of his bluster.
“What do you mean?” I asked as he shoved me into a side room.
“That vision you gave me,” Anubis growled. “You had me going at first, but then I realized that it had to be a trick. And if you could do it to me, then you could do it to the Sun God himself.”
“I didn't do anything to you, Anubis,” I said softly. “I was just as affected by the memory as you were.”
“Memory,” he huffed. “Don't try to sell me your stupid story about this being an altered timeline.”
Ask him how you could have possibly known what his palace looks like, Alaric prompted. You couldn't give him a vision of something you've never seen.
Good point.
“You saw us together in your palace, right?” I asked him.
Anubis narrowed his eyes and nodded.
“I've never been to Aaru, Anubis,” I said reasonably. “You'd know if I had.”
Anubis blinked as he processed this. “You could have come in through Duat. You could have... ”
I just stared at him and waited for him to accept the truth.
“This isn't possible,” he whispered.
“It is,” I said. “It's not a trick. Believe me, I wish it were. Do you think I enjoyed feeling those things? Or seeing you like that? Seeing myself like that? Now, I know why I freaked out about Re's chains. You had me bound like an animal.”
Anubis swallowed roughly. “I admit that I'm a traditional god; I believe in the proper order of things. Humans should not mingle with gods. I can imagine how I might become furious with one for overstepping her place, but I don't want to believe myself capable of such... evil.”
“Did you see how you came through it?” I softened my tone.
“The Fountain?” He asked. “Yes.”
“Will that help you?” I asked. “Can it actually heal your pain?”
“The Fountain washes away any kind of illness or infection,” he said. “Even that of the mind. I believe it will restore me to the man I once was.”
“Then why haven't you done it already?”
“I've grown accustomed to the malaise, I suppose,” he admitted. “Apathetic to my own discomfort.”
“That malaise will become much more if you don't act soon,” I said. “Go home and have a swim, Anubis. Please.”
“All right.” He sighed and started for the door. “I will—”
Before Anubis reached the door, my new husband stormed in; his eyes alight and furious. Re set that burning stare on Anubis and started for him with hands curled into claws. Trevor surged in behind Re and did the same.
“Stop!” I shouted, and the men froze; all of them. “I'm fine; we were just talking.”
Re and Trevor glared at Anubis and then turned to look me over. They shared a relieved look between them and relaxed.
“You had to talk to my bride behind a closed door?” Re asked Anubis. “Why?”
“I wanted to know about the visions I'd seen,” Anubis admitted. “Vervain cleared some things up for me, and now, I'm leaving.”
“You're leaving?” Re frowned. “Why?”
“I feel the urge to go for a swim.” Anubis sent me a secret smile and eased past Re. “Congratulations, Grandfather; I wish you the best with your lovely bride.”
“Thank you,” Re said in confusion as he watched Anubis go. Then he turned to me. “Vervain?”
“I'm fine,” I said again. “It's been handled.”
“It looks as if we have one of those women who saves herself,” Trevor said to Re.
“Give it time,” Re said. “I'm sure we'll come in handy one day.”
“Men.” I rolled my eyes and strode out the door. “They all want to be heroes.”
Chapter Forty-Five
Before we reached the ballroom, Re took my hand and pulled me to a stop.
“It's time for the honeymoon, La-la,” he said.
“What?” I asked. “But we've only been celebrating for an hour or so.” And then I remembered. “Right; we don't have a lot of time.”
“I've packed a bag for us,” Re said. “Trevor will let our guests know so that we won't be delayed by well-wishers.”
I kissed Trevor goodbye, and then he passed Re a leather duffel bag.
“You've got two hours, lovebirds,” Trevor said.
“We won't be late,” Re assured Trevor as he led me to the tracing chamber.
“Where are we going?” I asked him.
“You'll see,” Re said with a grin. “Hold onto me, La-la.”
I went into his embrace, and Re traced us away. We reformed in another Egyptian palace; this one was also on the ba
nks of a river, but it was much closer to the water than Re's palace. Re escorted me out of the palace and down a set of stairs that were bracketed by a pair of enormous statues. I glanced up at them in curiosity.
“Those are Horus' parents,” Re said and then waved his hand outward. “Welcome to the Kingdom of Osiris.”
“Is this...?” I walked forward in a daze; staring at the fields of velvety grass that rolled over gentle hills.
The river widened into a lake in front of the palace; its banks furred with reeds. Long-legged birds picked their way through the shallows, and the sun glinted off their snowy feathers as well as the water. A gentle breeze blew through the nearby palm trees; rustling their sharp fronds and carrying the scent of lotus and amber oil to me. Directly before us, a path led down to a dock, and a magnificent boat was moored there. It had white sails and a shallow hull adorned with golden suns.
“Heaven,” Re finished my sentence. “This is where souls come to find their peace.”
“It's lovely,” I whispered.
“And it's where we shall first make love as husband and wife,” he continued with a sexy smile.
Re picked me up and carried me down the path to the boat. He set me down once we were aboard and then undid the ropes that tied us to the dock. The sails cracked as they caught the breeze, and I realized that the scent I'd noticed earlier was coming from the fabric. Scented sails; how luxurious. I stepped across the polished planks in a daze as we began to drift down the river.
“Do you like it?” Re asked softly as he came to stand beside me at the railing.
“I love it,” I said with a smile.
The Egyptian landscape was spotted with gleaming palaces of gold, silver, and clear crystal. Enormous statues were set among the palaces; their faces painted with such detail that they seemed to be alive. In the distance, sparkling cities gave the horizon a jagged edge, and the sky was patterned with the flight of jewel-toned birds. A road paved with gold bricks ran alongside the river a bit before it curved off toward the cities.
“Does that road lead to Oz?” I asked with a little smirk.
