My Soul to Take

by Amy Sumida

  “So does being a boyfriend,” Re stood and offered me his hand. “I don't have to give a shit about all of your feelings. It's a one man show on my side of the line.”

  I took his hand and let him help me stand, garnering growls and protests from my husbands.

  “You're not going to correct his language?” Trevor waved indignantly.

  “He's not asking me to have more babies,” I huffed. “And he rarely swears, it's only you guys who drive him to it.”

  “Thank you, Lala,” Re kissed my cheek and the growling started again.

  “Hey,” I stared my husbands down. “He's right; you all just got what you wanted on his time and that was after he sacrificed hours to help us. So if I were you, I'd shut the hell up and be happy about it instead of risking a pissed off Vervain.”

  “Have fun on your date, Tima,” Kirill said judiciously while the others pouted.

  “Thank you, and I won't be back until late tomorrow,” I took Re's arm and let him lead me out of the room.

  “Late tomorrow?” Re asked hopefully. “I still get a full twenty-four hours?”

  “I'd give you more if I could,” I shrugged. “You deserve it.”

  “It's nice to be appreciated,” he nodded.

  “So,” I looked him up and down. “We've already been to a vodou barbecue. Whatchu wanna do now?”

  “I'm taking you to Egypt,” he grinned broadly.

  “Oh? Your old stomping grounds, eh?”

  “That's right. I want you to see where my life as a god began,” he led me into the tracing chamber. “And I want to show off my skills as a seducer.”

  “That's ridiculous, I know all about your skills already,” I laughed and we stepped into the Aether.

  We reformed behind a small grouping of palm trees and when we skirted around them, a wide river came into view. There was a long, flat boat docked just twenty feet away, waiting for us. I imagine they'd been waiting for quite awhile since Re must have had this planned from the beginning.

  “This is one of my pleasure boats,” he gestured to it.

  “Of course it is,” I rolled my eyes and then muttered. “One of his pleasure boats.”

  I had to hand it to Re, the term pleasure boat was appropriate. The craft was large, luxurious, and obviously made for having a good time. It looked big enough to hold hundreds of people, with three levels rising up from the deck. There was a square sail at the front and a sharply dressed crew standing at attention near the railing. I hoped they'd seen us walking up and had just been really fast at getting in line because if they'd been standing there for hours, they were going to be a disgruntled crew. There might be a mutiny.

  Re led me up a metal plank onto the deck and we were greeted by the captain and his crew, none of whom seemed the least bit bothered by our tardiness. Then a steward led us to the front of the ship where a semi-circular lounging area was strewn with rose petals. A tray of appetizers and a bottle of champagne on ice waited for us on a glass coffee table. Curving around the coffee table was a long overstuffed, white couch set right into an extended portion of the ship. The ends of the couch formed a sort of lounging area and Re went to the one on the right. He sat on the edge of the couch and drew me down beside him, pushing me gently back into the cushions and then scooping my legs up onto the long length of the couch.

  “Now it's time for you to forget about everything else... but me,” he kissed the tip of my nose. “Just relax and watch Egypt sail by. I'll pour us some champagne.”

  “You're good,” I chuckled as I sank back into pillows bigger than my body and stared up at the clear sky.

  The scent of roses washed over me, melding with the delicious appetizers nearby. Oddly enough, they went well together. I suppose that's why roses are often used for center pieces, their scent pairs well with most food. I breathed in deep as the ship started to move but then I straightened up and coughed. I looked at Re in horror.

  “What is it?” He handed me my drink.

  “It stinks,” I whispered.

  “What does?” He sniffed the air.

  “The river, it reeks,” I looked past the railing at the murky water and saw something disgusting go drifting by. “Oh yuck.”

  “It's basically a sewer system for the land,” Re shrugged. “It's become a bit more polluted than it was in my day but once we get going, the breeze will remove the odor.”

  “I have three animals, Re,” I grimaced. “All with sensitive sniffers.”

  “That's why there's rose petals,” he offered with a smile.

  “Okay,” I tried to smile back. He had put so much effort into our date, I was starting to feel like an ass for saying anything. So I took another deep breath, hoping my nose would get blind to the smell soon.

  “Here, have a mushroom puff,” he handed me a little plate full of little food.

  “Thanks,” I took the delicate hors d'oeuvre and popped it into my mouth.

  It was wonderful and when Re slipped onto the couch behind me and put his arms around me, I forgot all about the smell. It may have had something to do with the scent of Re wafting up around me; burning frankincense. I've known a few witches who smelled like incense because they burned so much of it, it just seeped into their skin. But Re never burned incense. I suppose he didn't need to.

  I watched lush lime-green pastures go by only to be replaced with stretches of golden sand, and then came the grass once more. Things kept changing; mountains giving way to plains which undulated up into soft hills. It was a generous landscape, always giving you new things to look at. I pondered Re's scent as I enjoyed the view, wondering if he could smell himself. Most likely not. Which made me wonder what I smelled like. Did I have a unique scent like most gods did? I hoped it was strawberries, I've always liked the smell of strawberries. But it was probably something like dragon scales or cheesecake.

  “That's the famous Abu Simbel temples,” Re waved a hand towards two stone structures fronted with huge statues of some old pharaoh. “Ramesses the second built it to honor him and his wife, Nefertari but I, of course, feature predominantly as well.”

  “Don't you mean Nefertiti?” I teased him.

  “No, Nefertiti was married to Akhenaten, not Ramesses,” he went on seriously. “Ramesses named Nefertari The-one-for-whom-the-sun-shines,” Re chuckled. “If only he knew.”

  “No,” I gasped and looked back at him. “You didn't.”

  “She seduced me,” he huffed. “She was wily, that one. Very smart. Got herself her own temple,” he waved to the smaller building. “Interesting fact;” his tone moved into excited geek, “this isn't the original spot they were built on. They had to be moved so that a man-made lake could be put in their place. So they were placed here, on the dam built to control the Nile floods.”

  “Interesting indeed,” I frowned. “Why couldn't they put the lake somewhere else?”

  “I don't understand why they needed a lake at all, frankly,” he huffed. “Humans should leave landscape design to the gods.”

  “You didn't build Egypt,” I snorted.

  “No but I would have done a much better job at redesigning it than they did,” he sniffed.

  “Alright, Sun God, shine on with your bad self,” I laughed.

  “I will, Lala,” he nuzzled my cheek as his hand started to creep up my dress.

  “I don't think so,” I slapped it away.

  “Why not?”

  “We're out on display in the middle of a river,” I huffed.

  “It's the Nile, not just any river,” he huffed back. “And no one's looking.”

  “Everyone is looking,” I glanced back at the staff, standing at the railing one floor up from us, and they all quickly looked away in that guilty maneuver of eavesdroppers everywhere. “They can't help it, you're so shiny.”

  “Fine,” he sighed. “We'll wait.”

  “Re?”

  “Yes?”

  “What do you think about this whole Blood to Heart business?”

  “I thin
k it's a big step,” he said carefully.

  “Do you think it's fair of them to ask me to do it?”

  “I don't think anyone should be pressured into taking the oath,” he evaded the question. “It's something that lovers do... out of love for each other. Not something a husband demands from his wife. If you don't want to take the oaths, don't take them, Lala.”

  “I already said I would,” I sighed.

  “So?” He shrugged. “You're a woman, women change like the wind. Be changeable.”

  “But I want them to be happy.”

  “Then take the oath,” he shrugged. “But you will resent them for it. I know you and I would never insist on such a thing for that very reason.”

  “Hmph,” I looked back at him. “Why don't they know that?”

  “Because so very few men are as smart or insightful as I,” he said loftily. “You must not hold this against them.”

  “You're such an ass,” I shook my head.

  “Yes, I do have such an ass,” he smiled. “A glorious golden one that you like to dig your little kitty claws into.”

  “And the Sun God hears exactly what the Sun God wants to hear,” I muttered to myself.

  “The Sun God, Re,” he corrected. “Don't confuse me with your other sun boys.”

  “My other what?” I sat up and turned to face him.

  “Your sun boys,” he waved his hand limply. “You know; Huitzilopochtli, whom you've reduced to a color... and the wrong color at that; and the other one... oh what's his name? He's Native something or other... Navajo, I think. You slept with his brother, remember?”

  “Yes, I remember,” I growled. “Toby and Naye, they're twins.”

  “Naye. Right. Once again you reduce a long, glorious name into two syllables and the man allowed it.”

  “While you insist on drawing out your mere one syllable name into a whole damn sentence,” I shot back. “And Naye gave himself that nickname.”

  “It's not just the name that matters but the title it holds,” he chided me. “Besides, I was so adored, so magnificent, that they kept combining me with other gods to try and pass on some of my greatness. So you must be specific when you refer to me.”

  “What are you rambling on about now?”

  “Well, first you must understand that there were two spellings for my name to begin with. There's Re with an E and Ra with an A. That makes every combination into two versions right off. So we have Amun-Re, Atum-Re, Re-Horakhty-”

  “Alright,” I held up my hands. “Enough. I surrender to your magnificence and loquaciousness.”

  “As you should,” he nodded regally. “And there you are; you surrendered to me instead of me allowing you your way with my name. I'm obviously more virile than those other sun boys.”

  “You know, you are so obnoxious that I'd throw myself into the river to escape you if it wasn't so damn dirty.”

  “It's cleaner up here,” he waved his hand and I saw that indeed, it was a little fresher.

  “Hmm, in that case,” I started to get up.

  “I don't think so, little Lala,” he caught me around the waist and pulled me back down to the couch. “I may not be demanding a blood oath from you but I do demand that you at least remain in my presence.”

  “Demand, demand,” I rolled my eyes. “Perhaps you should try a different word.”

  “Ask?” He blinked innocently at me. “Request? Entice?” He lowered his voice to a purr. “Tempt,” his lips went to my neck but then he pulled back suddenly. “Oh that's just barbaric,” he huffed.

  “What is?”

  “That cretin wounded you,” he waved a hand at my marked neck.

  “Oh, right,” I sighed. “It's a froekn thing, he has instincts.”

  “Ah, instincts. Such as marking his territory like a dog,” Re nodded sarcastically. “Of course, why did I even think to question it?”

  “Re, you have whips and chains in your sex toy collection,” I pointed out. “How is one little love nip worse than that?”

  “I don't actually beat women,” he sat up a little in horror and peered down at me. “You should know better than that. I use every tool lightly, for pleasure, not pain.”

  “Well, we all make sacrifices for those we love and honestly, I enjoy it,” I shrugged and then went still with revelation. “Damn it, I do have to make that oath. They've done so much for me, sacrificed so much, I can't say no to this.”

  “Blah, blah, blah,” Re rolled his eyes. “They've sacrificed,” he mimicked my voice. “Oh please. They did exactly as they wanted to in order to get exactly who they wanted; you. Yes, it's a sacrifice but only in the sense that they were trading up; an exchange of one thing for something much better.”

  “What?”

  “Humans have been doing it since they first beheld our power,” he sighed. “They offer us something they think would please us but then they expect us to do something for them in return. They want their crops to bear fruit or the rain to come, et cetera, et cetera.” He waved grandly. “Now, I ask you; is that a true sacrifice or is it a trade?”

  “Well,” I thought it over. “I suppose all sacrifice is made in order to achieve some sort of goal. Sacrifice has purpose behind it, even if it's simply trading your life for that of another.”

  “Originally, the reason humans sacrificed to us was love,” he lifted his chin. “They loved us and so they gave willingly to us. We were the ones who offered them something in return. We showed them favor for favoring us and the exchange of sacrifice and patronage was born.”

  “Alright,” I huffed. “So we've worked out the definition of sacrifice. So what? It doesn't change the fact that they've all given up things for me.”

  “Like what?”

  “For starters, they share me. They gave up normal monogamous relationships,” I frowned. Why were we even having this conversation on our date? It was beginning to feel weird.

  “A choice,” he shrugged. “They could have easily said no.”

  “But they love me, so they sacrificed the chance of having a woman they didn't have to share.”

  “They made their choice,” he nodded. “They wanted you more than they wanted to have a woman all to themselves. Just as my worshipers wanted my favor more than a sheep or a goat.”

  “They gave you goats?” I cocked my head at him.

  “Yes but that's besides the point,” he cleared his throat. “Your men are right where they want to be. No one forced them to choose you, they did so all on their own.”

  “But I still get the better end of the deal,” I argued.

  “Do you?” He blinked innocently at me. “Who's sitting here lamenting over whether or not she should give in to the demands of her four husbands after they teamed up against her and guilted her into feeling like she had to say yes to something she didn't want to do? Let me give you a hint,” he leaned in to whisper to me, “it's not me.”

  I gaped at him as I thought it over. Didn't I owe them? Or was love supposed to be beyond feelings of debt? But shouldn't I try to make them happy? Or should I take responsibility for my own happiness and expect them to do the same? But what if they were taking responsibility for their own happiness by trying to get me to make an oath to them? Oh, it was beginning to make my head hurt.

  “There are benefits and detriments to each side of this,” Re went on. “Yes, you have the love and loyalty of all of us but you also have the headache of making sure we all feel loved while you also try to be a mother to your twins as well as to your grown sons you had in another life. It sounds like way too much work for me,” he sighed and laid back to lazily reach for his champagne and take a sip. “I'd much rather be on this end of the stick, as you call it.”

  “Really?” I asked in shock. “I would have thought you'd like to have multiple lovers again.”

  “Multiple lovers, sure,” he smiled wickedly. “But not multiple wives. There's a big difference between love and a lover. When that single letter is removed, a weight of obligation replaces it.
I once wore the heavy mantle of a terrible responsibility upon my shoulders and I never wish to do so again.”

  “Terrible responsibility,” I mulled it over. “No, I don't find it terrible, this responsibility I have to your heart; to all of their hearts. I find it...” I inhaled deep as the emotions washed up over me, “beautiful, thrilling, humbling, and very empowering. Loving all of you makes me stronger.”

  “Then what are you whining about, Lala?” He leaned forward and whispered against my lips.

  “I have no idea,” I took his breath as my own and then claimed the rest of him with a kiss. Mine. I'll take him, yes thank you, and no, I don't mind the responsibility at all.

  So why was I whining about the oaths? It seemed a little like childish pouting now. So what if they had access to my mind? I could block them out if I wanted to. This was the life I chose, just as they had chosen me, and if they needed this to be happy, I would make it happen. Not out of guilt but out of love.

  How funny that it wasn't Trevor who truly convinced me in the end. It was Re, the only one of them who wouldn't be getting an oath. Yet.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The boat docked and Re led me to land, where a line of rugged terrain vehicles were parked. Don't ask me what kind of vehicle they were exactly, I have no idea. All I know is that they were big and black. The interior of the one he helped me into was surprisingly comfortable, with plush leather seats and crisp a/c. As soon as our door shut, we were zooming across the desert and Re was reaching for another bottle of champagne.

  I had imagined the deserts of Egypt to be flat wastelands speckled with small patches of oasis-green but it turns out that it's not flat at all. We rumbled over hills and through huge rock formations the color of latte froth. Several formations had foundations that had been worn away and tops which fanned out in bubbled oddity, making them appear to be colossal mushrooms... the shitake variety. It was an exotic, almost ethereal world and in the middle of it we came to a billowing tent, whiter than the sparse clouds which stretched thin above us.

  “What's this?” I peered out of the window as we stopped before the tent.