Fledgling Demigod Ch. 09

["Among other things,"] he said. Then, teasing her back he said, ["You're a smart girl. I'm sure you can figure it out."]

She giggled and said, ["Don't worry. She and I will have a long talk before breakfast."]

["Thanks, toots,"] he said with a playful smirk.

["Ass,"] she said and Galen roared out loud with laughter.

"Grace?" Galen called and she answered immediately. Galen started when he turned to see the petite maid right behind him. "Dammit, woman are you stalking me?"

"More like shadowing you, my lord," she said. "How can I be of assistance?"

"I need to get to Drusilla's room and I just remembered I don't know where it is," he said.

"I can take you there, my lord, though she's not in her room," she said. "She's in the courtyard."

"It's almost creepy how you know that," he said.

"Thank you, my lord," she said with a pleased smile and curtseyed.

"Will you see to Lucinda?" Galen asked.

"Already being taken care of, my lord," she said.

"Geez, woman," Galen said with a chuckle. "Next thing you'll be telling me the emperor's army is on our doorstep."

"Oh, I wouldn't know that, my lord," she said. "I only know what goes on inside the castle. For instance, Lady Lucinda is currently taking a salt bath to soothe her sore, ah, muscles." She blushed slightly.

"Please don't tell me you're doing all of this in the hopes that I'll marry you next?" he said sarcastically.

She curtseyed again and gave him a coy smile. "I wouldn't dream of it, my lord," she said with a knowing blush then strolled down the hall from where he'd come. Her hips swayed hypnotically and Galen facepalmed as he groaned.

"Are all the women of this world this brazen and cock-starved?" he asked to the ceiling.

"Most likely, my lord," Drusilla said from the end of the hall behind him and Galen jumped. "I apologize for startling you, my lord," she said with a playful grin.

"No, it's okay," he said, waving off her apology. "I just didn't expect an answer, is all."

She smiled at him and her red eyes sparkled with mischievous intent. "Then why ask the question, my lord?" she asked and chuckled.

Galen shook his head and chuckled. "Anyway," he said. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes," she said as he she beckoned him forward. "I wanted to give you an update on the preparations and to ask your advice."

"About what?" he asked, following her along.

"I know you said you wanted me to kill the imperial army if they failed to heed certain demands in the negotiations," she said. "And I could do that but it would take an awfully long time hand to hand."

"Okay," Galen said, hesitantly. "I assume you have an alternative?"

Her grin was absolutely malicious and Galen instinctively took a step away from her. "Fire," she said.

"Okay," he said, chuckling again. "You sounded a little too happy with that one word. So you want to transform into dragon mode and burn the whole army to a crisp?"

"Like crispy bacon," she said giddy with excitement.

"You are entirely too excited about this," he said with a playful smile.

"Well, it's just been so long since I've burned anyone, my lord," she said.

"Speaking of that," Galen said. "You know you of all people don't have to address me by my title, right?"

She shrugged. "You are a king, I am a queen, yet I am also your vassal," she said. "Which makes you my lord." She gave him a playful wink. "Now, about the fire," she asked, excitedly.

He laughed at her youthful excitement. "Okay," he said. "I see two potential problems with that scenario. One: I see the fields and forests ablaze for days with no way to put out the fire. Two: How would you dispose of any stragglers that might flee at the sight of you?"

"All good questions, my lord," she said with a twinkle in her eyes as she stopped at a door. Opening the door and pushing through she motioned for him to enter.

Galen looked around and gawked at the size of it. Then, it hit him. "This was Lord Beyron's personal quarters," he said.

Drusilla turned to look at him with concern. "Was it?" she asked. "I wasn't aware. I can move to another room, if you like."

"No," he said. "No, this is perfect as there was something I wanted to discuss with you as well. But first," He held up a hand to forestall her question. "Please answer my questions."

"Oh, right," she said. "Well the answer to the first question is easy. We dragons can concentrate our breath powers to pinpoint accuracy. Any fires that pop up on the field as a result of the imperial army burning we can just stomp out. There should be minimal damage to the surrounding area and we'll be so far from the trees they shouldn't even catch fire at all."

"Stomp out," he said and she nodded. "Just how big a dragon are you? If you don't mind me asking."

"Uh, about the size of this castle," she said and Galen choked on a bit of spit in his mouth.

Coughing, he said, "Really!? I knew dragons were big but...wow!"

"Yes," she said. "Although Pru'skila is only about the size of a small building. Or a large house."

"Wow. Okay," he said. "Alright, and the second? What's your solution to that?"

"That will be a bit more tricky," she said. "Do you have money enough to hire mercenaries for the day?"

"If that's your plan," he said, nodding. "Then I'll leave it to you. I only have one request."

"What's that, my lord?" she asked.

"I want you to address the main body of the army," he said. "Inform them that any who want to surrender before the battle starts, if necessary, may, and live."

"And if they do?" she asked.

"Have Altus disarm them and place them in the cells below the guard house," he said.

"Certainly, my lord," she said.

"And for gods sake, please make sure Altus remembers to treat them decently," he said. "Now, as to what I wanted to talk to you about, I'm going away for a week after the battle and I wondered if you'd be willing to oversee Spellthorn until I return?"

"Oh," she said. "I don't see a problem with that, my lord."

"I knew you'd be perfect for it," he said. "And feel free to let Priscilla have some duties as well but don't let her be mean to the staff."

"It will be done, my lord," she said. "Anything else?"

"Yes," he said. "I wonder if you'd have any idea how I could get to Prax within a day or so?"

She looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Not since Chasen have I allowed another to ride my back, Lord Galen," she said. "I made a vow never again."

"Oh," he said. "I'm sorry. I meant no offense. I was actually referring to portal magic? If you knew of a way?"

"Oh," she said and blushed slightly. "Of course. I'm sorry, my lord but portal magic is a long-dead art. I'm shocked Lord Beyron figured enough of it out to bring you here." He looked crestfallen so she reassured him. "I will keep to my promises, though, to look into his spell and see if we can perfect it safely enough for travel."

"Thank you," he said. He turned to go. "I've got to meet Lucinda for breakfast. Thank you, Drusilla."

"I didn't say I didn't have a solution, my lord," she said.

Galen paused and turned to see a mischievous smile on her face. "Oh?" he asked.

"You might not be keen on the idea, though," she said and her eyes glinted with a flash of humor.

"Oh," he said, realizing what she was going to say. "I'm sure she'll try to throw me off," he said with a chuckle.

Drusilla shrugged. "She told me what you said to her yesterday when she came to give you her report," she said.

"And?" Galen asked hesitantly.

"She also told me what you didn't say, my lord," Drusilla said with mischievous glee.

"I'm confused," Galen said. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Drusilla said. "She's smitten with you, that's for certain. For the first time in her life since And'skila, she's taken with a male. And I think you're smitten with her as well."

"I'll not deny she's insanely beautiful," Galen admitted. "But her attitude makes her uglier than troll dung. No offense."

"None taken, my lord," she said. "I know her attitude is a bit rough around the edges."

"But?" he prodded.

"Oh, no but," she said with a grin. "That was it."

He chuckled. "I'll ask her," he said as he turned to go.

"She'll say no," Drusilla answered.

"Then I guess I'll have to order her to," he said over his shoulder.

"That might be wise, my lord," she said with a playful chuckle.

Galen turned at the door to narrow his eyes at her. "You know something you think I don't, don't you?" he asked.

"I'll just say this, my lord," she said with another secret smile. "When you do finally convince her to marry you, you won't have any problems taking charge in the bedroom."

Galen blinked at her as she started humming to herself and walked to her bed chamber. Shaking his head, he walked away to meet his new wife for breakfast. ["Told you,"] Devi said in his head.

["Yeah, yeah,"] he thought dryly.

["Oh!"] she said. ["I just had a devilishly good idea."]

["I don't think those two words mix well together in a sentence,"] he said.

["At your wedding announcement you can have Cyril's fight as entertainment!"] she practically squealed in excitement.

["What the hell is wrong with you?"] he asked with a chuckle.

["What?"] she asked. ["They have to have some form of entertainment and as blood-thirsty as these people are you might make a few friends."]

["Have you talked to Lucinda yet?"] he asked, changing the subject.

["Yes,"] she answered. ["She's all caught up on pertinent information and she just informed me she thinks my idea is excellent."] She huffed indignantly and Galen could see an image of her in his mind with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face.

["How the hell can you be so vividly indignant if you don't have a body?"] he asked.

["Uh, goddess,"] she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

["Well, I'm not risking my wife's life on our wedding day,"] he said. ["Or wedding announcement day. If she wants to do this she'll have to find someone else to fight Cyril."]

["Careful, Champion,"] Devi cautioned. ["You don't want to piss off your new wife the day after you marry her."]

Galen sighed as he entered the dining hall. "Whatever," he said aloud. Looking around he spotted Lucinda waiting for him and smiled. She returned his smile and then he noticed Priscilla sitting across from her. He frowned slightly and Priscilla got up and stormed off. "What was that about?" he asked Lucinda when he approached.

Lucinda sighed. "She was just asking about you," she said. "Before you ask, I promised her I wouldn't tell you about what."

"Was she at least being civil?" he asked before kissing her on the cheek then taking the seat Priscilla just vacated.

"Surprisingly, yes," she replied. "Albeit she still had that haughtiness just under the surface of her tone."

"Hmm," Galen hummed. "Too bad she left so quickly. I need to speak with her."

"Oh?" Lucinda asked and the corners of her mouth turned up into a knowing smirk.

"Not you, too," Galen said, rolling his eyes and sighing deeply. "Between you, Devi, and Drusilla you're all going to drive me insane with your little girly secrets."

She giggled then and it surprised Galen how girly that giggle was. She was a badass warrior and seeing her giggle like a school girl messed with his psyche. "So, Devi informed me how her power works," she said when she calmed down.

"Yeah?" Galen asked and motioned for her to continue while they ate.

"I'll need to be her follower, won't I?" she asked.

"Only if you want to," he replied. "We'll not force you."

"I serve no god or goddess currently," she said. "And Devi sounds like a reasonable goddess to her followers. Though it is hard to trust the divine as they tend to be fickle."

"I don't know anything about that," Galen admitted. "I know about Norse Mythology from back home. Greek and Roman Mythology is sort of combined. But over all there's only one God from my world and while he's a benevolent, loving God, he pretty much leaves the human race to do whatever they wish without interfering."

"What is Greek and Roman and how can they combine?" Lucinda asked.

"Yeah, that's sort of fucked up," he said, chuckling. "The Greeks and Romans are peoples of different countries but somehow ended up worshipping the same gods. For example, Zeus is considered the chief deity of the Greek pantheon but goes by the name Jupiter in the Roman pantheon."

"So, the same gods ruled both countries," she said, trying to figure it out. "Were they at war with each other?"

"I think so?" Galen said hesitantly, framing his answer in a question. "Honestly, my knowledge on history is pretty much nil so I'm not sure, but, I suppose it's possible they were at one point in time."

"So the same gods ruled both lands that were at war with each other," she said.

"Like I said," he replied. "Pretty fucked up. It had something to do with the gods having split personalities and whichever country won the war, that's the personality that took on the main part of that god's psyche."

"So if these Romans won," she began.

"Then Zeus would become Jupiter and vice versa if the Greeks won," he replied, finishing for her.

"So confusing," she said.

"Yeah, so, while I don't know about the gods from this world, I can say that Devi has been nothing but helpful and kind," he told her. "She wants what's best for this world. So much so that she's pretty much ignoring the MO of divinity to make the world a better place."

"What's em-oh?" she asked.

"Modus Operandi," he answered. "It means a particular way of doing things. In her case, normal gods want to expand and grow, which means as many followers as possible. The quicker they do that, the more power they gain."

"And how is she different?" Lucinda asked.

"She's determined to keep her divinity a secret for as long as it takes for me to set the world straight, as it were," he answered. "Hence the reason why I wasn't allowed to tell you anything about her up until she revealed herself to you last night."

"So, let me get this straight," she said. "The more people that know about her, the weaker she becomes. But the more people that follow her, as with all the divine, the stronger she is. However, she's not interested in more followers because it will make her weaker in the time it takes for you to do what you need to save the world?"

"It's a head-spinner for sure," he replied, chuckling. "But I'm confident that she's not like the other gods. She genuinely cares for her people."

Lucinda sighed. "I think I'm going to have to talk to her more before making my decision," she said. "The fact that a goddess is willing to have a conversation with her followers alone is a point in her favor, though."

["I'm an open book,"] Devi said and both of them jumped, forgetting she was listening.

"Fucking hell!" Lucinda exclaimed. "I wish there was a way you could warn us before doing that, my lady."

["Hmm,"] Devi said absently. ["There is, but, where is the fun in that?"]

"Goddess of mischief indeed," Galen said with a scowl. "Are you ready to go, Lucy?"

"Not yet, my lord," she said with a coy smile. "I will be by just before midday."

"Good," he said, standing. "I need to go piss off a dragon." He kissed her softly on the lips and left. She stared after him, wide-eyed and blushing to her roots. He noticed the whole of the dining hall staring at him as he walked to the door and he briefly wondered why.

["It's because it's considered taboo to kiss in front of people,"] Devi said.

["Oh, well,"] he thought back to her. ["They'll just have to get used to it. There are a lot of things in this world that I'm sure are taboo that they're about to experience on a regular basis.] Then, speaking out loud, he said, "Grace?"

She popped up behind him again in the corridor. "My lord?" she asked and Galen nearly jumped through the roof.

"Good goddess, woman!" he exclaimed. "If you're going to do that get in front of me next time!"

"That would be impossible, my lord, as I have no idea the direction you're taking," she said with a sly smile.

"Oh?" he asked with a mischievous grin. "I thought you knew everything in the castle?"

Her face fell. "Fair point, my lord," she said with a small curtsey.

"Find Priscilla," he ordered. "Have her report to my quarters."

"As you will, my lord," she replied, curtseyed, and trotted off in the direction he was going.

Galen hadn't even gotten to his room yet and he could hear Priscilla pounding on his door from a few corridors away. He could tell she was frustrated by her grunts and unintelligible growls as she paced the corridor outside his room. By the time he reached the corner just down from his room she was in a furious state that he hadn't opened the door. He leaned against the wall just out of sight and listened in. Her feet were shuffling rapidly back and forth and he couldn't help but smile just a little bit.

"Stupid human," she muttered. "WHY AREN'T YOU ANSWERING!?" she yelled and pounded a couple more times on the door. "Fucking hell," she muttered again as she paced the floor. "It's almost not worth the trouble," she muttered under her breath. It wasn't loud enough that he'd hear her through the door but he had no trouble discerning her words from just down the corridor. "If I haven't been so fucking horny I'd have been gone a long time ago, vassalage be damned."

["Interesting,"] he thought to his goddess. ["I'm so sorry I doubted you, my Devi."]

She harrumphed but didn't reply. "He's just so maddeningly handsome for a stupid human," Priscilla muttered. Galen heard her pause in her pacing and he risked a peek around the corner. She was leaning with her forehead against his door and her eyes closed. "How do I tell him I want him to take me?" she asked herself barely above a whisper. "How do I swallow my pride as he had directed me to do on so many occasions when I don't know how to do that? How do I tell him I want him to pin me against the wall and..." she trailed off as she pounded on the door again in rage. "GALEN! WHY ARE YOU IGNORING ME!?!?"

As much as he had initially enjoyed this, he couldn't let it go on. Stepping around the corner, he said, "Priscilla? How did you get here so fast?"

She rounded on him. "You! Why aren't you in your room?" she seethed. "I've been pounding on your door for ten minutes!"

"What?" he asked, confused, as he approached. "Why, I just left Grace with instructions to summon you not five minutes ago. Do you have a report? Is something wrong?"

Her face went slightly blue in embarrassment but she masked it with anger. Her eyes darted quickly from side to side to think up an excuse. "I-I-I was already here when she found me," she stuttered. "Yes, I mean, no, I don't have a report, and no, nothing's wrong, I just--" she growled as she cut herself off. Then, with no small amount of effort, she composed herself. Galen just stood there and allowed her to calm down. Finally, with her back straight and shoulders slightly back she said, "You sent for me, my lord?" This pushed her breasts out slightly and accentuated them nicely even though he couldn't see anything through the scales.

"I did," he said and nodded slightly. "Would you like to come in so I can discuss something with you?"

"As you will, my lord," she said with perfect reticence.

He pushed through his door and she followed. He motioned to a chair for her to sit but she chose to stand just inside his door. "Close the door, please," he said and she eyed him a moment before complying. Taking the chair he offered her, Galen looked at her and sighed. "When is this going to end, Priscilla?" he asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about, my lord," she said with her chin raised a little higher and an aloofness to her tone.

He sighed and placed his head in his hands. "Are you ready to go to Redd, at least?" he asked.