Dom looked Rasson in the eye and thanked the god for saving his life, then promised he would never go to the mediaists. He hoped Rasson knew he meant it.
‘See you ’round,’ Dom added.
Rasson laughed gently. ‘I do not believe you will.’
Before Dom could respond, a vortex of ice rushed up from his feet, shielding Rasson from view. When it dropped, Dom was on a different world entirely, standing waist-deep in shivering savannah grasses. The stone monoliths on this planet were supposed to be something else. And better yet, no one had ever captured any footage of them.
Until now.
Dom unclipped his vidcam from his belt and tossed it into the air. He had work to do.
• • •
‘Lost interest in your little toy, did you?’ was the first thing Fayay said when Rasson obeyed his summons. The Watine had chosen to meet him inside a dank cavern that had blood-red seaweed crawling up the walls.
Rasson linked his hands behind his back, trying to keep them from trembling. He couldn’t think of anything to say, because he didn’t want to tip Fayay off to what he’d really hoped to get out of Dom.
Please do not let him find out, he pleaded silently, hoping his father would hear and indulge him, just as he indulged the mortals who cried out for their Creator God.
‘Or did your toy lose interest in you?’ Fayay continued. A wet snort disturbed the curtain of hair smothering his face. ‘I am not surprised. I have often tried to teach you how to gain the respect of mortals, but you seem to lack the ability to learn.’
‘I know,’ Rasson murmured. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘But you always listen to me and try to do as I say, which you are aware means much to me,’ Fayay said, his lips parting. His teeth were smeared with fungus and the gaps between them played host to tiny crabs but Rasson didn’t care, because his brother rarely smiled enough to display them. This was a good sign.
Rasson managed a smile of his own. ‘I do listen, Fayay. My eternal existence would be utterly boring without these conversations of ours.’
Fayay laughed darkly; it was an oily sound that threatened to slide down the back of Rasson’s throat. ‘Really? Is that all I am to you? A diversion? A way to pass the time?’
‘No, of course not,’ Rasson said quickly. ‘Fayay, I was being funny. It’s a trait I picked up off the mortal.’
‘Lose that trait — now,’ Fayay ordered. ‘Did you learn anything of use? Or did you choose to have fun with your toy instead? I know the men are to your tastes.’
Rasson dropped his voice to a murmur, half hoping his brother wouldn’t hear it. ‘The mortal was not interested in pursuing a physical relationship. I did not press the issue.’
Fayay smirked. ‘My poor little Rasson. You are a god. You do not need some mortal’s permission for such a thing.’
They’d had this conversation before, Rasson reminded himself, but his heart refused to crawl out of his gut. He’d bound Dom to the bed with his powers at the start, not just to keep the mortal from injuring himself, but because he knew it was something Fayay did to trap his conquests. But when it had come down to it…Rasson hadn’t wanted to mimic his brother. He’d let Dom go.
When Rasson failed to laugh and joke along, as he always had, he knew immediately that he’d made a mistake.
‘Rasson, have you disregarded everything I’ve told you about these ungrateful creatures?’ Fayay spat. ‘They will give you nothing — you must take it!’
The ire in Fayay’s tone struck him like acid. Rasson flinched. ‘I am sorry I failed you, brother. I will heed your words in future.’
‘Good! Now go hunt down that mortal, whom you no doubt kept alive — do not deny it, you are so predictable — and take what you are owed.’
‘No.’
‘No?’ Fayay flicked his greasy hair out of his face, scowling. ‘Why not?’
Rasson was already dipping his head forward to apologise before he realised what he was doing. He lifted his chin. ‘I don’t want to.’
‘Pathetic,’ Fayay sneered. ‘You should have killed him, as you promised you would. Perhaps I will do it in your place.’
‘No,’ Rasson said again.
Fayay’s pale blue eyes narrowed and became as sharp as icicles. ‘Why should I not deal with this mortal who is in danger of rendering you impotent, in more ways than one?’
‘I chose him as my consort,’ Rasson said, surprised that he could sound — and feel — so calm, given that the water inside the cavern was now spitting steam. He already regretted his words, but it was the only way to keep Dom safe. A few years ago, some time after the Desine’s wife had needed to make that deal with Fayay, the Ine had warned the Watine that he would be punished if he harmed any of his siblings’ chosen spouses.
Rasson swallowed with difficulty. ‘My consort is wrapping up his mortal affairs. Once he’s done with that, he’ll accept the binding.’
Fayay’s nostrils flared. ‘You never used to lie to me, Rasson.’
The Watine would have looked furious to anyone else. But Rasson could see that he was upset, hurt even, that his younger brother would turn against him, as so many others had. The walls in the cavern had actually started to cry.
But this was only the first time Fayay had realised that his brother was not being entirely honest with him. Rasson had frequently disagreed with Fayay, but it had been so much easier to wear a polite smile instead of arguing.
‘It’s not a lie,’ Rasson insisted. ‘When Dom returns, we will be married.’
‘You are a fool,’ Fayay told him. ‘Did he promise he would return? He only said that so you would release him. They all say such stupid, transparent things.’ He paused, flicking his tongue repeatedly, as though to rid himself of some sour taste. ‘Very well. I will not harm your precious mortal. But you must promise not to make a mistake like this again.’
Rasson’s chest ached. Yes, he and Fayay could overcome this, and in time they would heal the rift yawning between them. But oh, he missed Dom. He missed their fascinating conversations, the delight on Dom’s face when they watched those sunsets, and that howl of laughter Dom would toss over his shoulder whenever he managed to outrun Rasson through the fortress’ tunnels (Rasson had promised not to use his powers on those occasions).
‘It was not a mistake,’ Rasson said quietly.
‘No?’ Fayay arched both eyebrows. ‘How do you know? You are so young.’
Rasson frowned at his brother. ‘I know more than you realise, Fayay. It was not a mistake. I learned so much from him.’
‘I see,’ Fayay drawled. ‘This consort of yours was sent by the Ine to teach you, just as he sent wives to Sandsa and Kuja. Do not forget, Rasson, those mortals were created only to teach our brothers lessons. You do not need to love your lesson.’
‘No, it wasn’t like that…’ Rasson protested weakly.
A smirk slashed its way across Fayay’s pale features. ‘Poor Rasson. Poor little Rasson. You thought you’d managed to capture a mortal all by yourself, when in fact Father intended for you to meet him all along.’
No, no, no. Something squirmed inside Rasson’s stomach. For a moment he wondered if Fayay had teleported a fanged Eransian eel inside him, but that wouldn’t have hurt nearly as much. It was my decision to save Dom. My decision to let him go. Not yours, Father — mine!
‘I wonder, what could you possibly learn from this mortal that you couldn’t learn from me?’ Fayay went on, flashing those foul teeth again.
Rasson felt sick; he feared he would throw up if opened his mouth. But he was too angry to stop the words simmering out of him. ‘That I am not you. That I can make my own decisions. I do not need you, Fayay. I never did.’
Fayay stiffened. ‘You are upset. I understand. Let us speak of this another time.’
‘There won’t be another time,’ Rasson said.
‘You still need me,’ Fayay told him, his expression darker than the shadows around them. ‘You will call for me when you realise t
hat. I’ll be waiting, Rasson.’
‘That’s your choice. Farewell, brother.’
There must have been some love left between them, because Fayay did not attack him. Rasson vanished unhindered, teleporting away to that same icefield he’d spent hours on with Dom. He watched the superb sunset for a time, trying to ignore the empty space beside him, then finally asked, ‘Father…was Dom sent to me as a lesson?’
He didn’t expect an answer. But he got one. Yes.
Rasson bit down hard on his lip. ‘I know Fayay has done awful things, things he expected me to do, things I couldn’t do, but I…I never meant to hurt him.’
You cannot remain in his shadow, Rasson. That position will only cause you pain. The Ine’s voice was surprisingly gentle. You needed to stand up to Fayay, for your own good and for the good of the mortals who rely on your kindness.
‘Why couldn’t you just…talk to me? As a father to a son?’ The wind was raw in Rasson’s throat, forcing him to whisper.
This was the most effective method.
Rasson blinked rapidly, the tears on his cheeks hardening into tiny beads of ice. ‘I wish you hadn’t sent Dom to teach me this lesson. I have lost more than a consort. I’ve lost a brother. But at least I had them, even if it was only for a little while. I never had a father, did I?’
The Ine didn’t respond. Rasson squeezed his eyes shut, pained, then shed his body and drifted away, to tend to the mortals in his domain. They thought the Creator God loved and cared for them, but they were nothing but convenient tools. The Ine’s godly children fared little better.
Rasson envied the mortals their blissful ignorance.
CHAPTER SIX
Eleven Old Earth months later
‘Are you going into hiding because of that price on your head, Mr Zhang?’ Nisha’s voice carried the hint of an uncharacteristic smirk. ‘It is my duty to remind you that the Graphic Stock Collection does not provide assistance to employees who have offended local populations. Seducing a Lentarian politician’s husband and breaking up her family unit counts as causing offence. You’re on your own if a bounty hunter finds you.’
Lying in a cramped transportation pod and stowed away in the hold with hundreds of other people, Dom had to admit that he should have expected this response to his request for vacation time; he’d only asked for it on one previous occasion.
He winced and rolled his shoulders. If he’d wanted to, he could have seduced the captain of this particular vessel and scored himself a more comfortable bed.
But the captain had been a sturdy man with thick biceps. Definitely not Dom’s type.
‘No, Nisha, this has nothing to do with what happened on Lentaria,’ Dom said, suppressing a small smile. His conquest had been slim, pale and oddly skittish for a Lentarian. Despite the four arms, it had been so easy to imagine someone else. ‘I just…I never get a chance to work on my art. I need to make time for it now or I never will.’
‘I don’t care what you do with your time,’ Nisha said, ‘so long as you get back to work in a month.’
She had barely cut the connection when a voice on the ship’s intercom announced that they were arriving at Dom’s chosen destination. Ignoring the uncomfortable jolt inside his stomach, one that had nothing to do with the increasingly uneven movement of the vessel as it tore through the planet’s atmosphere, Dom dutifully rolled out of his pod and retrieved his hoverbike from the bay beside it.
The ramp in the floor dropped open while he was still pulling on his visor and gloves. Cold and unforgiving wind began to batter him immediately, one gust of it so fierce that it caused the ship to juke. Drawing in a gulp of frigid oxygen, Dom strapped himself in, flicked the ignition switch and then shot down the ramp.
He fell towards the raging sea, but only until the hoverpads kicked in. Dom let out a whoop of exhilaration and darted around the first iceberg in his path. He’d bought the hoverbike a few months ago and had learned how to use it within days — it was far more reliable than the various brands of hoverboots that kept failing him. And it was fast. Very fast. It definitely beat walking. There was no time for that anymore.
Dom was surprised he even found the right iceberg. He’d only seen it from the outside that one time, thanks to Rasson’s insistence on keeping Dom inside the fortress (except for those fun excursions to other planets). But there it was: the immense chunk of ice that had nearly been the death of him.
He parked on top of it. And waited.
Half an hour dwindled by. Dom paced, inwardly berating himself. Had he expected Rasson to immediately appear and fall upon him in delight?
When two torturous hours had passed, the biting wind still his only companion, Dom cast off his pride and knelt, a gloved hand caressing the rough surface of the iceberg.
‘Rass,’ he said quietly. ‘Rass, I’ve returned. To you.’
More silence.
Dom tried to swallow the guilt but it lodged at the back of his throat. Despite what he’d said to Rasson, it must have been obvious that he had never intended to come back. But he’d had eleven months to think things over. Eleven months of counting each new fleck of grey that appeared in his hair.
‘I came here to marry you,’ Dom continued. ‘You made me that offer, Rass. If you want to rescind it, fine, but I’ll be staying here until nightfall.’
He never made it back onto his feet. Twin vortices swept up around him and the hoverbike, depositing both man and machine inside the antechamber that shared a door with Dom’s old bedroom. Rasson was there, in his usual silksein robe — but he was standing against the opposite wall, arms crossed and looking decidedly nonplussed. Dom couldn’t blame him.
‘You want the immortality,’ Rasson stated. ‘Not me.’
Dom winced. Laid out like that, it did sound pretty bad. ‘I’m sorry. Forget I mentioned it. Don’t suppose we can spend the afternoon catching up and eating caviar and pancakes instead?’
A snort of laughter from the god. The air warmed considerably. ‘We certainly can. I am surprised you came at all, that you risked your freedom in an attempt to gain immortality.’
‘You’ll let me go, like you did last time,’ Dom said, trying not to make it sound too much like a question. He leaned heavily on his hoverbike as he eased himself up from the floor.
‘Yes, of course,’ Rasson assured him. ‘You do not need to fear otherwise.’
Dom’s requested food appeared seconds later, arrayed between the recliners. Without another word to each other, they both sat down and began to eat, often making eye contact, sometimes even reaching for the same platter at the same time. But their hands never met.
Dom finally broke the silence. ‘You kept the place intact.’
‘You said you would return.’
‘And you believed me?’
‘Not entirely,’ Rasson admitted, sending a shy glance in Dom’s direction. ‘But I made it for you. And I have…many happy memories here.’
Dom decided he wouldn’t bring up the immortality thing again. The moment he came to this conclusion, smiling and swallowing became a lot easier. So too did admitting that he’d come for a terrible reason. He mentioned as much to Rasson, who then said, ‘Of course the offer still stands. We can perform the binding right now if you wish.’
‘But I’d only be doing it so I can keep gallivanting about the galaxy.’
Rasson’s lips curled. ‘Gallivanting. Yes, you seem to do that a lot.’
‘You watched me,’ Dom guessed.
‘Yes,’ Rasson said — and then the spark of humour in his eyes died. ‘At first. Then it occurred to me that this was an invasion of your privacy.’
‘Rass, you know I like being watched. And I pretended it was you. Every time.’
Rasson frowned. ‘You’re just saying that. You don’t need to gain my favour. I have already offered to marry you.’
‘Rass…’ Dom sighed, rubbing his forehead. This was all his fault. ‘I spent a month trapped here with you and I never got to touch you. Galactic
Gods, thinking about you makes me come quicker than anything else. I can’t help those fantasies.’
Dom watched a smile spread reluctantly over Rasson’s features.
‘I have conditions,’ the god said after a moment. ‘If you are getting immortality out of this, then I should get something too.’
‘Only fair,’ Dom said cautiously.
Rasson’s throat bobbed. ‘I want you here for…for half a year. Every year.’
‘Rass, I only get one Old Earth month of vacation time,’ Dom argued.
‘Three months then.’
‘One or there’s no point.’
‘One month every year,’ Rasson agreed easily — much too easily. Dom wasn’t sure if the god had been toying with him, but he figured he deserved it. Rasson added, ‘And I will teleport you wherever you wish to go at the end of that month.’
Dom nodded shortly. ‘Sounds good. Now, if you’re expecting monogamy…’
Rasson’s eyebrows rose.
‘…sorry, but I can’t spend the rest of eternity tossing myself off,’ Dom finished.
Rasson’s expression darkened. ‘Yes, you can, if you wish to remain immortal. You will bed no one while married to me.’
‘No one?’ Dom repeated, smirking. ‘Not even you?’
Rasson’s mouth oscillated for several moments, not a single sound escaping it. But then a great hunger came over that ageless face and the god’s pale eyes raked up and down Dom’s form. Dom was still clothed but suddenly felt like he wasn’t. Stark, he wished he was naked already.
‘So, one month of me living here and driving you mad with pleasure, then eleven months of you knowing that the only one I’ll ever touch is you…’ Dom trailed off, allowing his gaze to feast on Rasson in return. ‘Every single year. What do you think?’
‘I think I could be satisfied with this arrangement,’ Rasson replied.
‘Great, then let’s do this.’ Dom paused. ‘Wait, what is it we’ll be doing, exactly?’
• • •
He returned to me, Rasson thought as they walked side by side into the bedroom.
The Galactic Pantheon Novellas Page 10
