Page 59 of Dark Stars
"You have a beautiful home, if strange to myalbeit limited experience," Jones said. "Ain't never seen anythinglike it."
"Nor had I, when I first arrived. It was agood deal more barren back then. Everything covered in dirt,rolling hills of nothing that took time to whittle away to revealthe temple grounds, longer still to create my gardens."
"Do you get visitors?"
"Yes, quite often. All sorts of beings fromall sorts of worlds. Some experienced travelers, others who gotlost doing things they should not have, practitioners of the arcanewho thought they knew what they were doing. More than a few of themhave mistakenmefor the primordial god they sought, oftenenough I'm starting to slip into some books, and now they comeseeking me explicitly. Interesting, to be certain. So now thismatter of the cults is cleaned up, what will all of you do?"
"Figure out how to tell my family I'm movingpermanently across the country to live with the boyfriend I'veknown for like, not even two weeks," Alejo said. "Wish meluck."
Ahmad laughed. "Three days, habibi. That ishow long it took me to move here. You took your time, really."
"Figure out how to deal with beingpermanently stuck to this smart ass," Harold said, pointing a thumbat Jones, who rolled his eyes.
Bobby smirked. "So couples' night? Cardgames? Charades? Couples' cruise? You two would love that, beingtrapped on a boat with—"
"I will fasten cement shoes to every lastone of your tentacles and drop you over the side," Jones said.
"I don't need to breathe the way the rest ofyou do, so that's an empty threat."
Jones heaved a sigh. "Just be quiet, youdamn spooky calamari."
"I wanna go on a cruise," Alejo said.
Harold snorted. "Don't let him cheap out onyou, Alejandro. Your little Lord of the Flickering Lights therecould rent or buy a whole private yacht to spoil you."
Bobby rolled his eyes. "We'll figure it outlater. For now, we still need to deal with a certain conniving,backstabbing witch."
"Seal his magic and drop him off in themiddle of nowhere and force him to live like the ordinary," Haroldsaid.
"That's what I said!" Alejo grinned.
Jones scoffed. "Let me have him as asnack."
"I'll take him," Ahmad said. "I'll eitherget him on the straight and narrow, as they say, or feed him toyour mother."
"Decisions, decisions," Bobby said dryly."Let Alejo choose—it's his backstabbing ex after all."
"Tempting though it is to just let him bevampire food, or see how long he stays lost in the woods, I wouldstill like my friend to maybe learn not to be a backstabbingcretin. For old time's sake, or something. Let Lord Ahmad have him.See how he likes life under…do you have a fancy title?"
"My beloved's kin call me Consort of theSecret One. Mortals, more and more often, refer to me as the HighPriest of the Temple of Lost Creation, and the Sacred Servitor ofthe Dark Stars. All titles of service, which is fitting for me, andmy happy destiny. Quite different from my dearest son, who isalready a lord in his own right."
"Not that I ever noticed," Bobby said."Priests had to tell me. I didn't know I had any of those either.Still don't want them."
Ahmad chuckled. "That is your way, and whythe light is called to you, despite the deep darkness that is yournature. Be away, then, and bring back to me the trifling boy whowill be my attendant and apprentice for many centuries to come.Take this," he held his hands out palms up, and they filled withsilvery black-green smoke that solidified into a box of black-greenwood that would make any human who saw it deeply uncomfortable, andbreak weaker minds that dared to touch anyway. "Put this on him,then bring him to me."
"Yes, Father. Thank you again for all yourhelp." Bobby's eyes glowed as he reached out to his mother toconvey gratitude to her as well, and a faint series of resonatingtrills washed through the air.
"Thank you both, for everything," Haroldsaid.
Jones added his own thank you in Arabic,making Ahmad's face light up. Alejo then added his thanks, andhugged Ahmad as well.
Then they left, Bobby taking them back,emerging in his own house.
"So what's in the box?" Alejo asked. "Kindamakes my skin crawl a little bit, but that seems to be a thing withprimordials."
"At its core, it's similar to yournecklaces. But overlaying that is essentially a training collar.It's full, florid name is the Collar of Deep Awakening.Essentially, it will contain Michael to my father's will and orbit.Not a slave, he isn't forced to do anything, but he can't leave acertain area and trying to hurt my father or anyone else will causeconsiderable pain. But the trick of this collar is that its poweris entirely self-regulated. The less he needs it, the less power ithas over him, until eventually it will fall off because he doesn'trequire it anymore. So, basically, the more he grows and improves,the freer he becomes. It's not the sort of thing that would work oneveryone, but it will work on Michael, who might be rotten, but notquite all the way to his core. A thousand years of self-reflectionwill probably fix him."
Harold whistled. "Cannot imagine somethinglike that in human hands. Your father is about the only one I trustwith the leash."
