by Tyler Wild
Joy smiled. “I forgot. You’re new. You’re in Valinsmor now. Valinsmor is love. I want to share my love with you.”
Who was I to argue?
Joy turned her gaze to the girls. “You don’t mind, do you?”
They stammered, not sure how to respond. Cassandra and I weren’t technically together. After all, she had broken up with me. Sophia didn’t mind sharing me before, but we had just met Joy, and I don’t think Sophia had time to make up her mind about her.
Sophia finally answered tentatively, “No. Go ahead.”
“You can join in, if you’d like?” Joy said, innocently.
65
Kron
Valinsmor had a special quality about it. There was no denying that. Everything was perfect. It was all the best parts of the world, and none of the crap. It was the way you wished life could be.
Joy led me from the lake. The girls opted to stay behind and continued frolicking in the water. I don’t think they were particularly keen on witnessing my little tryst with this heavenly nymph.
Joy took my hand and pulled me into a secluded area ensconced by trees and flowers. The minute we left the water behind our bodies were almost instantly dry. I never felt cold waiting for the water to evaporate.
Everything was perfect.
And so was Joy’s body.
She pulled me to the ground on a plush bed of grass. There were no bugs or creepy crawly things in Valinsmor. No wasps, bees, spiders, or snakes. It didn’t need a natural ecosystem. From what I understood, all life in the heavenly land sprang from the gods. If the gods died, the land would perish.
I caressed Joy’s body as our lips embraced. Her ample breasts had the perfect amount of hang in them, and my hands explored them thoroughly.
Our tongues danced, and our passion grew. My fingers moved across her flat stomach, plunging between her thighs. I found her slick center and stoked her desire. She bucked and writhed with pleasure, and soon my handiwork brought her to the edge of orgasm, then pushed her over.
Her sweaty body tensed and convulsed. A scream of ecstasy escaped her lungs. I kept teasing her, sending pleasurable pulses through her body until she finally grabbed my hand and moved it away, too tender to go on.
She needed a break.
It was her turn to pleasure me.
She gazed lovingly at me with her big blue eyes. “If you can make me feel that way with just your fingers, I can’t wait until you put something else inside me.”
She kissed me again with passion, and our mouths melted into one another. Our tongues collided, and her hand found my root, returning the favor.
Her mouth found my neck, and her tongue traced down my chest, plunging down my abs. She didn’t waste anytime wrapping her full lips around me.
I was definitely in heaven.
Her head bobbed up and down, and before long, her oral talent made me explode. That’s when she knew something was different about me.
Her eyes widened.
She swallowed and sat up. “You’re mortal, aren’t you?”
“Why do you say that?”
“There is no need for reproduction in Valinsmor. Yet you have ample… seed?”
I stammered. “Perhaps it’s just the last remnants of my earthly body.”
Her doubtful eyes surveyed me. “I don’t think so.” She glanced around to see if anyone else was nearby. Then she whispered, “Mortals are not allowed in Valinsmor.”
“I’m not mortal.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You’re lying!”
“No, I’m not.”
Anger and fear twisted her face. “You’re not supposed to be here. I must tell someone.”
She stood up and marched away.
I sprang to my feet and chased after her, grabbing her by the arm. “Please! Don’t tell anyone we are here.” I paused. “You’re right. We are all mortal.”
Her brow crinkled, and a look of fear mixed with confusion played on her face. “How did you get here?” She paused, deep in thought. “There is no way to get here except through death or the…” her eyes rounded, “the underworld!”
She tried to jerk her arm free of my grasp.
I held on tight and pulled her back. “Joy, wait! Just listen to me.”
I didn’t know what I was going to say. That we were there to incapacitate Xerius and kidnap his daughter, Jayna? That would not have gone over well. The last thing I needed was Joy telling the gods of our plan. We’d be smote by Xerius and banished back to the underworld, and my kingdom would suffer under the tyranny of Evron.
I didn’t want to lie to her, but…
“I can explain everything.” I hesitated for a moment, trying to come up with something.
She jerked her arm free and backed away. “You are evil. Every word that comes from your tongue is a lie. You are here to destroy paradise.”
Before I could protest, she spun around and ran.
This wasn’t working out as planned.
66
Kron
I reached into my pouch and grabbed a pinch of the fairy dust, then chased after her. I ran in front of her and blocked her path. “Wait! Just hear me out.”
She paused for a moment.
Long enough for me to blow the fairy dust into her face.
The sparkling powder looked like glitter. It hung in the air and clouded around her. A dazed look washed over her face, and a thin smile tugged at her lips.
“You’re going to sneak us into the palace. And you’re not going to tell anyone who we are, or why we are here.”
She hesitated for a second. “Okay.”
I was a little surprised. Everything Sophia said about fairy dust was true. It really did have the power to compel.
“Is everything okay?” Cassandra asked, coming to see what the commotion was about. “We heard arguing.”
Sophia joined her.
“I’ve got everything under control,” I said.
“What’s wrong with her?” Sophia asked.
I explained the situation to them.
“I think you’re losing your touch,” Sophia teased. “The old you wouldn’t have had to resort to fairy dust to control a woman.”
I scowled at her playfully.
“Nobody controls me,” Joy said. “I do whatever I want.”
“Sure, sweetie,” Sophia said, her voice thick with condescension.
“Joy is going to get us into the castle, but I don’t think our weapons are going to go over well.”
“We’ll leave them behind,” Cassandra suggested.
“Oh, no!” Sophia protested. “We went through too much to leave that dagger unguarded.”
“We can’t take it with us,” Cassandra said.
”Relax, I will guard the dagger,“ Asgoth said.
“And just how do you propose on doing that?” Sophia asked.
“If anyone picks me up, I will persuade them to defend the dagger.”
Sophia arched an incredulous eyebrow.
“Trust me,” Cassandra said. “He’s more than capable.”
“I guess we could bury the weapons under these trees,” I suggested.
I wasn’t too keen on the thought of leaving our weapons behind, but we didn’t have a better option. We scooped out enough dirt to hide our swords and the loot we had taken from the underworld. We covered it with dirt and leaves and marched across the lush valley toward the glimmering castle on the hill.
The castle guards were little more than decorative figures. There weren’t too many threats to Xerius in Valinsmor.
I had to admit I was a little concerned about Joy.
I didn’t know how long the compulsion would last, or if she had been faking it entirely. She could have been putting on a ruse just to get us before the gods where she could safely rat us out. I held my breath and crossed my fingers.
“These are my new friends,” Joy said in her bubbly voice. “They’re here in service to Xerius.”
My body relaxed, and I exhaled.
The guards let
us past without any inspection.
We entered the main hall, and I was blown away by the castle’s opulence. The main hall had tall columns and vaulted ceilings. It was built with expert craftsmanship, and meticulous attention to detail. There were statues, carvings, etchings. Everything was accented with gold.
To be honest, it was a little gaudy and over-the-top. But Xerius wasn’t known for restraint. After all, who was going to say no to him? Who was going to tell him his taste sucked?
Nobody.
He was far too powerful to suffer advice from lesser beings.
Members of Xerius’s court scurried about. All manner of servants, entertainers, cooks, custodians, warriors, and concubines.
I was beginning to get the impression that Xerius wasn’t any different from any other feudal lord who bossed around his serfs.
I had never been a fan of the gods and often thought their judgment unfair. They set the terms that we all had to live by, controlled the rules of the physical world, and seemed preoccupied with their own drama.
Rarely did they intervene in the affairs of man for the better.
The world was filled with death and destruction, famine and war, disease and pestilence. Yet the gods lived decadent lives, seemingly oblivious to the suffering of mankind.
The more of this decadence I saw, the less guilty I felt about our plot to kidnap Jayna.
Joy led us through the sprawling castle to the kitchen. It was teeming with activity. The head chef barked commands, ordering servants about like a tyrant.
I clenched my jaw, glaring at the rotund man.
His gaze met mine, and he flew into a rage. “Why are you just standing there? Get busy!”
I had to stifle my urge to beat the daylights out of him. “What do you want us to do?”
He pointed at Cassandra. “You. You’re on flower detail.” His gaze turned to Sophia. “You, wine service.” His eyes flicked back to me. “You, come with me!”
67
Kron
“Serve this platter of beef,” the chef said to me.
The large silver tray was filled with various cuts of fine meat—steak, poultry, lamb. The tray was heavy and carrying it around for more than a few minutes as the gods picked from it was not my idea of fun.
The whole thing was beyond ridiculous. With a wave of his hand, Xerius could have created an enormous spread of food. He didn’t need a team of chefs and servants to feed him.
I doubted if he needed sustenance at all.
It was strictly to indulge his senses and satiate his need for control and adoration.
“You,” the chef said, pointing to Sophia. “Take this wine and serve the gods.”
He placed a carafe of red wine and some glasses before Sophia and Joy on the center island. Then he pointed to Cassandra and commanded her to follow him out of the room, into the floral department. She was to spread rose petals about Xerius and the other gods.
Sophia and I exchanged a glance.
“Joy,” I said, distracting her.
Her blue eyes flicked to mine.
Sophia slipped the vial of Setia’s tears from her pocket and removed the lid. She poured the entire contents into the carafe.
I cringed. All she needed to do was put a single drop.
“Is something wrong?” Joy asked.
“No. Not at all. I just wanted to look at your pretty face.”
Joy smiled. “Why don’t you have some wine?”
“No, thanks.”
Joy grabbed the carafe and poured a glass. “Are you sure? Nobody’s going to mind. I do it all the time.”
She took a sip, and a moment later the sleeping potion took effect. It acted on Joy considerably faster than it would on a god. And she had taken enough to put an elephant to sleep.
The carafe slipped from her hand, shattering on the floor. Shards of glass scattered across the tile.
Her legs gave out from underneath her, and she staggered to the island. Her glass tumbled from her hand, spilling across the island before she fell to the ground.
The breaking glass echoed throughout the kitchen and was met with wide-eyed stares from the staff.
Fear bathed their faces.
They froze in their tracks for a moment, then scampered about their business, trying to get as far away from the scene of the accident as possible. Nobody wanted to be around when the head chef returned.
Even worse, there was no potion left.
I cringed.
We had come all this way, and our plan looked to be in shambles.
Sophia grabbed the empty glass of wine that Joy had knocked over on the island. It didn’t shatter. She scooped some wine from the island into the glass while I looked for another carafe.
I found one and filled the glass and wiped the dripping edges with a rag. There should have been more than enough of the devil’s tears to be effective. “Go. Take it directly to Xerius now!”
Sophia scurried out of the room just as the chef returned. A scowl twisted on his face as he saw the spilled wine and broken glass. “What happened?”
“She slipped and fell,” I said. “She hit her head.”
“Somebody clean this up!” he shouted. “What is wrong with you people? Can’t you do anything right?” His anger turned to me. “Get out there and serve that tray!”
I hefted the tray over my shoulder and carried it out of the kitchen as a slew of other servants scurried to mop the floor and clean the glass.
I made my way into the Great Hall where Xerius reclined atop a riser as scantily clad babes fed him grapes. He groped them every opportunity he could find.
Epheria, his wife, seemed to ignore his lecherous ways, though his actions would draw the occasional glare or eye-roll from the goddess. She tolerated his actions, up to a point.
The chamber was filled with various other deities and several demigods. I weaved my way through the crowd, offering the appetizers.
I glanced across the hall to see Sophia serving the glass of wine to Xerius. He was more preoccupied with her shapely form. I hadn’t seen any other cat-girls in the palace. Sophia was something of a rarity.
Xerius took the glass of wine and ogled Sophia, running his hand up the outside of her thigh. “Well, look at you? Aren’t you intriguing?”
A fake giggle erupted from Sophia’s lips, and she pretended to blush.
“Let me ask you my darling, have you ever been with a god before?”
“I’m afraid I haven’t had the pleasure.”
“Maybe we can rectify that?”
“Perhaps we can?” Sophia replied in a coquettish tone.
68
Kron
Xerius took Sophia’s hand as he stood up. “Come with me, my darling?”
“Careful, you might get fleas,” Epheria muttered.
Xerius ignored her as he pulled Sophia across the chamber.
I clenched my jaw. The thought of another man putting his hands on Sophia enraged me. Even if the other man was the most powerful deity in existence.
I knew this was all part of the plan to seduce him and slip the ring on his finger, but it made me nauseous. I prayed to the universe that it wouldn’t go too far.
Jayna, Xerius’s daughter, strolled through the chamber. She looked less than impressed with the little soirée.
“Why don’t you join the festivities?” Xerius asked before he disappeared up the staircase with Sophia.
“Thanks, I’ll pass,” Jayna said. Her voice was thick with condescension. “Don’t you all have anything better to do than laze around all day getting drunk?”
“What else is the life of a god for?” Dysiphious said.
He was a handsome deity with a rippling chest, tanned skin, and dark hair. His square jaw and mesmerizing eyes had wooed many a deity and mortal alike.
Jayna seemed unaffected by his charm. She rolled her eyes and proceeded across the chamber to a staircase opposite from the one where Xerius was standing.
She was absolutely stunning.
Her hair was golden and sparkled in the shafts of sunlight that spilled into the chamber. Her tanned skin was almost luminescent, like that of all deities. She wore a sheer white dress that revealed her sumptuous form. Her perky nipples poked through the fabric, commanding the attention of every male in the hall.
I served a few more gods, then tried to inconspicuously follow Jayna up the staircase. I glanced across the chamber as I climbed the steps—Sophia disappeared up the opposite stairwell.
I followed Jayna to her chamber, keeping my distance. I waited a moment, then knocked on her door. She pulled it open and glared at me. “What do you want?”
“I thought I’d see if you wanted anything from the tray?”
She scowled at me. “If I had wanted something from the tray, I would have taken it. Now leave me be.”
“Certainly,” I said. “Are you sure there’s nothing else I can do for you?”
My pulse pounded, and nerves fluttered in my stomach. Her beauty was mesmerizing. And her skin emitted a flowery fresh scent. Her velvety voice was hypnotic. But she was being a royal bitch.
“You can leave me alone before I get angry and have you banished to the underworld.”
I almost laughed.
I guess the smirk on my face enraged her. “You find that amusing?”
“I do, actually.”
She clenched her jaw, and fury filled her eyes. Before she had a chance to smite me, or turn me into a toad, I blew a handful of fairy dust into her face.
She coughed, and her face twisted with confusion. Then rage filled her eyes. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
It didn’t work!
I staggered back with wide eyes, not knowing what to expect.
She was pissed.
It took her a moment to realize what I had done. “Do you really think you can compel me with fairy dust?”
I shrugged innocently.
“Fool! Do you think me that weak minded?”
“No,” I stammered, backing up as she marched forward.
