A little chuckle left him before he returned to his mind and had a sudden feeling of terror as he wondered what had caused him to laugh.
"I have found nothing untrue with your accusations Cade Willmartin, I judge that Farth the chaos god, Machiel the war god, and Eroth the god of wisdom shall be barred from viewing or interfering with your task."
As the red-faced Farth admitted defeat with a curt nod to Unbolge before turning to stare daggers at Miranda as she gave him a smug look of victory.
"I accept your decision, your eminence, I would like to request my property be returned to me."
Cade, Promena, and Miranda barked out a collective laugh before the chaos god turned to look at Unbolge to find him fighting to join them in their mirth as the three laughed in his face.
"Thaaat's not going to happen. She is mine now to do with what I please, maybe you shouldn't leave your toys around where they could get lost."
Snorting after his smug statement made in between his peals of laughter he turned to his smiling Mira as she recovered from her mirth receiving a nod of agreement.
"The law on the ownership of thralls is very clear on this issue, as you well know Farth. Any thrall who escapes their master and doesn't request to return to their original owner and is claimed by another shall be their sole property."
As the chaos god fumed a being stymied by Promena's smug words, Unbolge turned his glowing gaze to the red woman on Cade's arm.
As she stiffened at his mental invasion and review of her memories Cade kissed her on her red lips after she returned to herself.
"What my daughter has said is true Farth, the cambion belongs to Mr. Willmartin by our laws, if the brand on her horn wasn't proof enough."
Turing his head toward the angry god next to him with a derisive look on his face, he returned his attention to his daughter, her husband, and cambion wife.
"Promena, I believe your husband's task is still unfinished, though I require yours and his ears for a PRIVATE discussion, your red wife may stay as well.
Giving the chaos god a smug look as he left the throne room in a huff, Cade couldn't help but send one last mental barb at the petty bitch of a god.
"By the way, she says my dick is bigger than yours."
Not caring if the message made its way through the gods supposedly impressive mental defenses he snorted in mirth as he felt the man stumble as the door closed behind him.
Turning his head towards his soon to be father in law he joined the huge man in laughing at the barb and its reaction.
"Now that that is out of the way let me see my grandchild."
Confusion grew on his face for several seconds after his father in law's statement before dizzying amazement took its place as a gurgling grey-eyed caramel-skinned baby appeared in his goddess's arms.
Supported by his Mira as he swayed on his feet he saw Promena kiss their baby's brow below his short white head of hair as tears coursed down his slack face.
"All in due time my son will you enjoy this little miracle of life and joy once more. I can't allow you to keep these memories I have selfishly made for myself but I promise you on my life that you will see this little rascal soon enough."
Recovering his wits, he joined his growing family in loving on the child in his wife's arms.
Spitting in the gods face who tried to eliminate him and his family was a fantastic win for him, but as he held his son in his arms for however long he could, that moment brought more joy to his heart than a thousand barbs he could have thrown at Farth.
Kissing his Promena as he held his little Jak he couldn't think of another place he would rather be.
Returning to their home with the assurance he would have no further issues with the asshoe, Cade wondered for a moment why there were tears on his face and why his heart ached something fierce.
Standing dumbfounded by his swirling emotions he was surrounded by his wives and missed the silent communication that went through their group.
Confusion ran through him at the group hug they gave him, along with sniffles from some of them, as Promena and Mina each took a cheek to wipe the newly sprouted tears from his eyes before kissing him in turn.
"I think you could use some rest and love, my Cade."
Nodding in agreement with his Mina along with letting out a shaky breath, not trusting his voice at that moment, he let himself be led to their room.
Later that night after making love to his wives in turn, he had needed... no craved their touches and kisses more than usual, he finally joined them in slumber with the steady beats of his family's hearts lulling him to sleep before a confusing vision of little grey eyes flew through his mind as darkness claimed him.
Pounding at the door woke him from his slumber the next morning as his dream of holding a caramel-skinned baby left him reaching for air before he lost hold of the hazy dream.
Wondering where he was for a moment, the continued pounding on their door wiped the remnants of the dream from his mind, and looking to the full bed around him he left his sleeping wives to answer the rude person still trying to knock their door off its hinges.
Seeing a bleary-eyed Xandia exit her suite as he reached the last step down from the second-floor wing he held out his hand to her.
Her smile and soft hand in his helped soothe his still confusingly aching heart.
Her sudden kiss helped even more and he almost knocked out whoever was trying to wake up the whole neighborhood as he returned the kiss with interest before he heard Erot shout his name.
"That's better, now let's invite our rude guest in."
His Dia's words wiped away the last of his frustration at the orc that had woke him and left the ache at a dim glow with her caring words and tone.
"Let's, he might need another kick to the balls to help him with his manners though."
Her tinkling laughter at his half-serious remark turned to a full-blown laugh as Cade opened the door to a hunched-over Erot as he looked around cautiously covering his pride and joy.
"H..hello Cade, I just wanted to tell you personally that yours and Nat's..."
The growly word Cade had come to associate with "baby shower" was followed by Erot's explanation that the event would occur later on that afternoon.
"Well come on in, I think Dia and I were just about to make breakfast."
Stepping aside for their guest he lit up a few pain receptors on his green backside that made the green man squeal and Xandia guffaw as she made her way to the kitchen.
After their wives had joined him, Xandia, and Erot at the table they had been overjoyed at the prospect of a baby shower later, even as Nat explained the Earth term to her cousin.
Promena gave him a sad smile that he gave a questioning look at before she shook her head dismissively and gave him the bright smile he knew and loved.
He let the concern over her sad expression fall from his mind when he decided to meet with Unbolge he had assumed their trip to squeal on Farth might have included a few things he didn't need to know at the time.
Trusting in his goddess to keep him on his path to godhood he listened to his wives chat about the party later and left the issue of his missing memories for someone who cared.
Tantrums and repercussions
Slamming the door to his private quarters closed Farth roared out his rage for several moments before sitting down on his bed.
Capturing a small bit of the shadowy substance that was an integral part of his planet and its denizens he forced his rage and frustration into the ball of shifting shadows and sent it careening towards the wall of his room with a savage push of his will.
As it impacted with the stone the chaos gods intent and need to funnel his rage at being forced into a corner by the godling Cade and the unexpected foiling of his plan to keep Promena's godly form and physical one separate exploded in a riot of colors as his vague intent warped the reality around the stones.
As the light show dissipated a golem, horribly formed and without direction, fell to
the floor with a crash.
Irritation flowed through him at the waste of power and as he moved to correct the results of his temper tantrum the golem exploded into sharp bits that instead of ricocheting off the walls instead latched onto every part of him not covered by another piece of the stone.
Falling to his face as his creation made his body immobile, Farth raged against the constructs restraint on his body for long minutes, as he found his ability to warp reality to his liking deflected at every turn.
Throwing his indomitable powers for hours against the golem trap he finally decided to use his brain to free himself instead of his powers.
A full day passed as he tried and failed innumerable times to free himself, attempting to negotiate with the simple intelligence gained him nothing, and trying to use his race's ability to manipulate time almost killed him as he found himself halfway free with the golem securing his lower half inside of it with the unknown ability he had granted it during his tantrum.
Ready to call one of his compatriots for help hours later he was suddenly free as the shadowy energy fueling the construct ran out and the stone comprising it fell to dust.
Hurrying to the bathroom after his long imprisonment he relived himself and called the other gods under his command.
He suspected if Eroth could replicate the events that created the golem he would have another way to sever Unbolge's boundless power from the god that didn't require the long-drawn-out process that they had been using for centuries.
Waiting on their replies he tried to think of another way to use the golem or adjust their plan to sacrifice some of their numbers to the ether, creating an almost impenetrable shield around the source of Unbolge's power.
The gods that had joined their ancestors in the ether at his bidding had used their last moments of consciousness to implant their own impossibly small part of the shield, that unbeknownst to Unbolge was bit by bit cutting off his connection to the ether.
They had many millennia left for that plan to be completed, if his little golem traps could separate the god from his power for even a minute, Farth would use that time to make it his own and rule as Unbolge should have.
"I know this changes our plans but it wasn't outside of the realm of possibility. You said so yourself Machiel that Promena's bodies might come together and create an heir. We simply need to eliminate the child after we return Unbolge to the ether. I think I will leave Cade alive and torture him by killing his wives and children in front of him for his transgressions against me."
As the chaos god murmured his plans to punish their adversary, Machiel rolled his eyes in irritation at the pacing god.
"If you had just followed our advice and sent another few dozen of my warriors and Eroth's mages we wouldn't be having this conversation. Now we are blind to Cade's progress because of YOUR vanity and impatience..."
Stopped short in his tirade by the hovering ball of chaos in front of his face Machiel regretted his outburst and leaned back from the volatile energy.
"I might have overstepped..."
"It is fine Machiel, I agree we should have sent more men to deal with them. I underestimated their strength and was trying to be wary of Unbolge's attention but Eroth here is going to make that particular problem moot, correct?"
As his attention turned from the war god to the god of wisdom, Farth heard Machiel's exhale of relief that helped soothe his bruised pride as Eroth looked up from his examination of the piece of the golem that had held him hostage for a day and a half.
"Yes, I think it should be possible to replicate the chaotic enchantment you created in your little tantrum."
Eroth held Farth's irritated gaze for several seconds as he let the chaos god master his emotions, if the volatile god wanted his help he better get over his superior sense of pride when it came to him.
Eroth had better things to do than play nanny to the idiot's pride that had caused the deaths of six of his students.
As Eroth lamented all of the potential lost with Farth's inept decision to ignore their pleas to send more manpower to see the job done properly he saw the frustration clear from Farth's face as he gave him a curt nod.
"See it done Eroth, I want them ready for testing within the month. We must get this done right the first time or Unbolge will have our heads for betraying him."
As the two other gods left his room Farth's eyes lost focus as he imagined taking his proper place in the cosmos, seated in Unbolge's throne with the very fabric of the universe at his beck and call and subject to his every whim.
The family that fights together... fights together
Finishing his meal and smiling at his wives lively discussion about what they were planning to wear to the baby shower Cade was distracted for a moment by the reason they had traveled to this continent.
They needed to conquer this country.
While that had been a relatively simple task in Dejot, the disheartening lives of the people there had screamed at the need for a savior to remove those in power.
Havroth had just required him to claim his beautiful dwarven wife and marry into power, though with his mining empire controlling a massive portion of the mithril and plenty of other raw metals they could have snubbed their noses at the dwarven council and still made them their bitches.
Krumash and the merchant guild as a whole were pulled into his little empire by the prospect of the wealth he could provide through the trade of his mining business's product.
He imagined it would be the same here in Vanden, but with the addition of the various mercenary clans having more than a little say in how their country was run and the fighting force to back up any disagreements he wasn't sure his... negotiations with the merchant guild would lead to his complete control over the city much less the country.
He had even gone so far as to ask his Natty after their date if her Clan held any sway over the mercenary guilds.
She had shot that idea down with a laugh, her clan might be powerful but any clan that got out of hand was handled by the rest.
Voicing his concerns to the table as Xandia finished her meal and with a passing kiss to his lips before she began to clean up the breakfast mess he got his wives views about their take over of Vanden after Erot departed with a few kind words and a large green hand over his backside.
"We need not do much my love. A few of Erot's group and Sedara have expressed interest in our home's amenities. If we can market them to the merchants here in Mustef we can gain a significant amount of power over how the country is run. With the wealth and patents we will own, we will essentially be the power behind the council. The lobbyists of your world have nothing on us, my love, we have a few contracts in place with the merchant guild already through Sedara for our assorted appliances. All we need to do after we follow through on them is wait for the wealth and power of the businesses to eclipse that of the council."
After his Mina's explanation and Sabine and Beth's nods of agreement, he felt a little better about their chances of competing this particular task.
"Have we found any enchanters to employ here or are we going to ship our completed goods over the sea?"
He smiled as his sweet's attention shifted to him from a heated discussion with his Beth at his question.
"This continent's lack of raw metals would make the manufacture of our goods here almost impossible my Cade, it would also help our growing business in Opect to ship the finished goods out of Krumash. That would also provide another outlet for our mine's production to fill, mitigating the increased availability of mithril and keeping its price up and our need for storage down."
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