Further south down the river there were three more kingdoms with which the Mulanders had traded by boat. Two of them were wary of the new kingdom and one was downright hostile. The hostile one however was the one farthest away, so it wasn't much of a concern, yet.
Also there were several small city-states both on the river and in the area that had all been at war with the Mulanders, again for several decades now. All of them were cautious, but wanted to engage in some level of diplomacy or trade.
“Well right now as long as no one wants to start another war, I think everyone will be happy.” I said smiling.
“No, they’re all a bit too afraid of us for that, rumors of the new Hilander champion and war leader have been making the rounds,” Rachel laughed, “and no one really wants to deal with him after what he did to the Mulander king and his kingdom.”
“Well, that’s a good thing.”
Rachel nodded, “Very. It also helps that the Mulanders weren’t very popular because of their appetite for slaves. They were constantly having to raid their smaller neighbors to keep their needs met. As we don’t practice much in the way of slavery here, that’s one less thing for them to worry about. I’m hoping that we can get enough trade going with some of the smaller cities that I can convince them to join my kingdom ten or twenty years from now.”
“You think they’d do that?” I asked surprised.
Rachel shrugged, “I’ll set up their rulers as nobles in my court. Yeah they’ll have to listen to me and do what I ask of them, but they’ll have a lot more power and a lot more security as part of the kingdom. We’re turning into a big power in this area, and I mean to make us the biggest.”
“And just how are you planning to do that?”
Rachel smiled rather sweetly at me, “Diplomacy whereever we can, a royal wedding or two with our children, and sending you and Holse out when all else fails.”
“Oh really?” I said turning my ears back and giving her a look.
She laughed at me, “Oh, you’ll do it, and you know you will too, so don’t even fake any moral outrage!”
“And how do you know me so well?” I asked carefully.
“I seem to recall your taking my army and conquering a certain city?” She giggled. “I’m sure that when the time comes that I start thinking about conquest, you’re already going to be all but begging me to let you take Holse and the army into the field.”
I lowered my ears and looked embarrassed. I had been the driving force to take over the Mulanders’s city after all. I guess it was only natural for Rachel to think of me as the conquering type.
Rachel snickered at my expression and gave me a hug, so I kissed her and did my best to distract her from that line of thought. Or at least distract me; I shouldn’t be so naive as to think that I wouldn’t be involved in more wars, my own home was still full of them for all that they were so much more technologically advanced.
It was a couple of weeks later and I was outside in the courtyard working with a practice sword on the pells. While my body probably didn’t need the exercise to stay in shape being as I was a champion, I still enjoyed the practice and my skills were definitely not god given; I had to develop those myself.
“So, still mad at me?”
I turned and looked at the woman who had addressed me. I instantly realized that she was a champion, that it was Stephanie.
“A little,” I growled. “But you’re right. I have been thinking with my dick too much. I’m not used to all the attention.”
“I was talking about my killing you,” she smirked at me.
“Trust me, the dick comment was worse. Plus Fel explained it to me.” I chuckled.
“Fel?” She asked curious.
“Feliogustus.”
“Ah, I call Aryanna ‘Ary.’”
“So now what?” I asked.
“Now I get to train you some more.”
“Well, I’ll get you a sword.”
“Not that kind of practice,” she laughed.
“I’m not sleeping with you,” I warned.
“Aww, but you’re kind of cute in that form.”
“I don’t feel like dying again. Sorry.”
“Don’t worry; I won’t be doing that to you again. But that’s still not what I meant. Come on, let’s go for a walk.”
“Is this going to be a long walk?” I asked.
“A few hours, why?”
“Wanted to know if I need to tell my wife anything.”
“Nice to see you care about her.”
“I care about both of them, a lot. Don’t ever think otherwise,” I growled.
She looked surprised, “So you didn’t just hook up with that prostitute in Riverhead to get laid?”
I growled again, and took a deep breath to compose myself, “Look, are you actively trying to piss me off here? I thought it didn’t matter in your culture what women did, and even if it did matter, I don’t care. Got it?”
“Wow, impressive.” She said. “I like how your fur bristles when you get all mad and stuff. Rule number two, whenever you talk to other champions, you tell them that your wife back in Riverhead is just some prostitute you hooked up with. The only reason you married her was because she was incredibly hot and you don’t like sharing much. Also because it gives you control over her and you’re just using her to ensure that you have a safe place to stay if you ever need one.”
“But that’s not true!” I growled again.
“Quit growling, I know that, you know that, but do you want anyone else to know that? Ary will do what she can to keep your woman safe, but you don’t want people, people like us, to know you care. As for your queen here, of course you’re doing her, she’s the hottest and most powerful bitch in town and as champion it’s your right to take her and again, you don’t share, so you made sure that the only one breeding her is you. Tell jokes about them that demean them, make everyone think that you just love screwing hot babes and get a kick out of making them have your kids. Rule two is that you love nobody but yourself, and if you do, you sure as hell don’t let anyone know about it!”
I had stopped growling about halfway through. “What about you? Is it okay that you know?”
“Trust Feliogustus, he’s your god now after all. If he wants to screw you over there isn’t a lot you’re going to be able to do about it, plus he already knows who you love and don’t love. With Ary, well anyone that is one of her followers she’s going to figure it out. But she really cares about her people, so she won’t use it against you. Me? I’m not the type to do that kind of thing.
“But there are a lot of gods and champions out there who will try to use it against you. Never trust anyone unless Feliogustus tells you that you can. And even then, keep your eyes open.”
I had stripped off my gear by now and followed her. I was wearing shorts and sandals, she wasn’t wearing much more so I enjoyed the view while reminding myself that the last time I tried to have sex with her, she killed me. Sobering thought.
We struck off towards a portal that was about a two-hour walk out of town. At least that’s where I assumed we were heading because we were walking directly towards it. I found I could sense all the portals within a day’s travel if I concentrated hard enough.
“Now something to be aware of. Right now Feliogustus can hear and see everything you’re doing, and he can read all of your surface thoughts. He knows your mind and what you’re up to, whenever you are in his sphere of influence that is always the case.”
“So that’s anywhere on this planet?”
“Yes and no. If you were in the lands of a competing god, he might not pick up your thoughts unless you were thinking them at him. But he’d still see and hear all in public, most private places as well unless they’re in the other god’s control, like in a temple. That has to do with his being a god, and the limited omniscience god’s get.
“Now Ary, cannot see what I’m up to, she can’t pick up all my thoughts either. Unless of course I am thinking at her. That’
s because I’m out of her sphere. She’s not a goddess here. Now I can open my mind more and let her see what I see and hear what I hear.”
“So that is how we are their ‘eyes and ears’?” I asked.
“Exactly. So I want to pop through that portal up ahead and let you try sending to Feliogustus so you’ll know how to do it. When we’re done you’ll open up a portal for the two of us to go back so you can see how that works too.”
“How many can I bring through a portal?”
“It depends on your strength and experience. But you should be able to handle us both this first time.”
She then ran down through all of the cantrips and simple spells I should be able to do. I knew most of them, mainly they were things to make life simpler and make your presence more impressive. By the time she’d finished we were at the portal.
“Before you go through, I want you to concentrate on the portal, tell me what you feel.”
“What I feel?”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes and concentrated on the portal. It had a quality to it that was hard to explain, but I knew I’d know it as unique if I ever found it again. It didn’t worry me it almost felt safe.
“Okay, now what?”
“Always check a portal before going through it. Some go places where you’ll be destroyed instantly. As you learn more portals, some will feel familiar enough to give you a clue as to what’s on the other side.”
“Do they all feel unique?”
“As far as anyone knows, yes, no two feel the same. If there is an obvious physical threat, like say molten lava, you should feel it. At least as a champion you’ll re-incarnate.”
I nodded.
“Okay, let’s go through then.”
I stepped through behind her and looked around. We were still felinoid, but our fur was lighter colors, and my size was more reasonable. We were in the midst of a large desert, the sun was bright and the sand was hot beneath my paws, even with the sandals.
“Okay, try changing into your champion form.”
“How do I do that?”
“Concentrate.”
I tried doing that, and sure enough, I changed. Changing back was just as easy; it was too hot out for me to be in that form here for long I felt.
“You can access your champion abilities fully in your champion form, no matter where you are. That means the healing, the strength, heightened senses, etcetera.”
I nodded.
“Okay, now let’s work on the eyes and ears thing.”
I nodded again.
“Hold the thought of Feliogustus in your mind, I find concentrating on the way Ary appears to me to work.”
“And I’m supposed to do that while doing everything else?”
She nodded, “Try it.”
I did, and I found it was rather easy. I immediately got the feeling that Fel was paying attention to everything I was seeing and hearing.
“Not so hard, is it?”
“Actually no, it isn’t. Now, turn it back off.”
That took me a minute.
“That wasn’t so easy.” I said surprised.
She nodded, “If you pass out while connected, you’ll stay connected. However that’s not true if you fall asleep.”
“Is there anyway to tell if someone else is connected?”
“No, but realize that Feliogustus can break the connection if he wants. Try connecting again.”
I did that, and Fel was there again.
“Okay, would you please break the connection, Feliogustus?”
There was a sudden snapping feeling and I felt a sharp, but brief, stinging sensation.
“Ow!” I said surprised.
“Rule three, don’t bug your god with the ‘eyes and ears’ stuff unless it’s important or you’ve been told to. They don’t like giving us that much of their attention unless it is important. So there is a bit of a price to pay if you bug them with it too much.”
“Okay, so how do I do this gate thing?”
“In a moment, now that I know you’re not being listened in on, I want to tell you the truth about a few things.”
I raised an eyebrow and quirked an ear. “Away from our respective bosses?”
“Yes. You know that Aryanna set you up for this job right?”
“Well yeah, she told me she recruited me.”
“Well when do you think the recruiting started?”
I opened my muzzle, then stopped and thought a moment. When had it started? “I was going to say when I married Darlene, but suddenly I’m not so sure.”
“Darlene was bait. She was placed there to reel you in and see what kind of a man you were.”
I blinked a little shocked. “Bait?”
Stephanie nodded, “She’s had dreams that a young attractive man of means would one day come into her life and make her very happy.”
“And so she threw herself at me when she met me.” I said softly.
“Don’t doubt her feelings for you, Will, she does love you, Ary won’t force people to love other people and the dream never mentioned marriage, or your buying her an inn. That was a nice act by the way, Aryanna really liked it.”
“But I’d still have to have stayed at the Swann to meet her,” I said.
“The gate guard you met always sends people to the Swann; it’s his father’s place after all. Making sure he was on duty is easy for a goddess, Will. Especially a goddess who has a decent ability at seeing the future.”
“So she started recruiting me before I came to Riverhead. Was it when I came through the portal by accident?”
Stephanie shook her head. “Nope. You didn’t really find that portal by accident, you’re sensitive to the portals which is part of why you were recruited, and as for tripping,” She grinned, “I pushed you Will.”
I blinked. That was a lot to take in. I sat down on the hot sand, pretty much ignoring the pain the heat caused in my ass.
“When did it start, Stephanie?”
“When we dated.”
I looked up at her. “We dated? I think I would have remembered you.”
Stephanie sighed, “Jennifer.”
I gasped surprised. “Jen? Is that you?”
“’fraid so.”
“Well at least you weren’t lying when you said you had to leave the country for work....” I said and tried to smile at her.
“Yeah well. I was sent to find the best possible recruit I could find, and well....” She smiled at me.
“I was the best?” I laughed, “I find that rather hard to believe.”
“Oh, I don’t know, judging from your accomplishments so far, I think Ary did pretty well in picking you.”
That made me wonder, “How many others were there?”
“Three.”
“What happened to them?”
“Well one I vetoed right from the start, too unstable. Another one didn’t do very well when he had to save me from that mugger.”
“The mugger was a set up?”
She smiled, “Yeah. Sort of.”
“What do you mean ‘sort of’?”
“The one that failed that part of the test got shot and nearly died.”
“That sounds kind of harsh.”
“Well, being a champion is harsh.”
“And the remaining one?”
“He died.”
“Died?”
“Yeah, he kind of went a little off the deep end and tried to set himself up as a sort of warlord when he got to Hillshire, not where you came out, it was in another part of the kingdom.”
“Let me guess, you killed him.”
She sighed and nodded. “Yes.”
“Then the whole portal thing?”
“Was staged. Closing a portal is impossible actually, but it can be blocked for a time, and Ary just blocked it on you.”
“Why?”
“To see how you’d react, what you’d do. To make you desperate enough that when Feliogustus contacted you, you’d sign up. Ary’s know
n for several years when Feliogustus’s moment of need would come, and she spent all of them trying to find the right man for the job. The man who’d win his war for him.”
I thought about that. “Getting fired?”
“Yup, we set that up.”
“The Ren Faire?”
“Yup, that too.”
“And all those kinky things you taught me in bed?” I looked up at her.
Stephanie actually blushed, “Umm, that wasn’t part of the job actually. That was just because I really liked you and figured you’d be the one to get to this point.”
“Well, thanks for the vote of confidence I guess. So why tell me all of this, now?”
“Because eventually you’ll figure it out. And usually it happens at the worst possible time. Ary manipulated you on a number of levels; she’s probably doing it still. Gods do that to their champions, and Ary does that to everyone.”
“Even Fel?”
“Maybe not him. He’s a sharp one, that’s why he and Ary are so close.”
I filed that one away for later, and got back to the main point. Well at least the main point as far as I concerned “So why me? Why all of this?”
“Because like I said, she wanted Feliogustus to win his war. And now that he has she has this quest she wants us to go on. This thing she has spent the last twenty years putting together a team so it can be done.”
“And I’m the man who can do it?”
“You’re one of the people who can do it. Ary has recruited over a dozen champions; she even recruited me, though it was for someone else originally. She has a knack for finding people; she got me out of a high tech society not unlike where you came from, where she seems to get a lot of her recruits. You’re one of the best I’ve seen her recruit; she pulled out all the stops for Feliogustus. She’s put you through every test she could think of and you’ve passed them all. So when the time comes that someone throws it all in your face in an attempt to get you to defect, or at least hesitate, now you’ll be prepared to deal with it. Yes, she’s a manipulative, conniving, and contriving being. That’s what gods do and she does it to the T’s. But she keeps her word, she takes care of her people, and she never abandons her friends or allies.”
Portals of Infinity: Book One: Champion for Hire Page 17
