Page 39 of Mischief Maker
But I don’t think she is coming to drink our wine or eat our strange food.
Eventually, she disappears underneath the great hall, and we are all left to wonder if she has reached the peak or not. I watch for a soft body falling from the rocks, but there is silence.
When the other immortals grow bored, they disperse and return to their debauched activities. But I don’t leave the platform, watching and waiting, wondering why this strange creature is here.
I don’t know how much time passes before there comes a small knock at the heavy doors of the hall. Terano stands up, a mystified look on his face. If they do not open, how could someone be let inside?
He heads toward the doors, but I’m there before he is. This time, when I pull the handles, they open with a heavy creak.
Standing in the doorway is a young woman with bright hazel eyes, her brown hair wafting behind her. When she sees me, she smiles.
“Kireth.” The way she says my name, a sense of recognition flutters through me. The cobwebs in my mind are blowing in the wind, clinging to the walls.
“Who are you?” I ask. Her dress is so plain, she looks as if she came here from a peasant’s hovel.
The happiness in her eyes at seeing me fades. “Don’t you remember me, Kireth? I’m Faela. I came to get you.”
“But I don’t know you,” I say, though I feel like perhaps I used to.
She shakes her head, disbelieving. “But you do know me.” She reaches toward me, and instinctively, I back away.
What is a mortal doing in this realm? Was she sent here to test me?
It’s as if I can see her heart breaking on her face. Whoever she is, she certainly knows me. I wonder if I had an affair with her hundreds of years ago and it’s simply slipped my mind.
“Why don’t you let our guest in?” Terano suggests gently, opening the door wider. “Please, enter, mortal. You have had a long journey.”
I step to the side as the woman bows her head deeply. “Thank you,” she says, then steps over the threshold. She looks up at my father, her eyes wide. “Forgive me, but who are you?”
His laugh comes out a bellow. “Of course, she does not remember me. That is why I’m here, after all.” He slaps his belly. “I am Terano, god of the sea. And you have reached the hall of the gods.”
Her little mouth falls open, and a few of the other immortals have a laugh at her expense.
“Would you like some wine, dear Faela?” my father asks.
The woman glances at me, as if unsure what to do—and hoping I will help her.
“Do as you like,” I say, waving a hand. Her brows crease, like she had hoped for a different answer.
“Then, please, join us.” Terano closes the door behind her with a thud. “It has been some time since I enjoyed the company of a mortal.”
The other gods surround her, all curious about this creature that’s wandered into our midst. I don’t like watching them fawn and gawk, but I have no say over what becomes of this human visitor. She keeps glancing over at me as naked gods come down from their nests to marvel at her, and I sense her distress.
It’s when Lavis, the god of misdeeds, pulls up the hem of her dress and causes her to shriek that I intervene.
“Leave her be,” I growl, plucking his hands away. I won’t let her be touched like this. The other gods back away, and Terano chuckles.
“Perhaps this mortal is spoken for,” he says mischievously.
Anoinda flashes me an irritated look. “Is this why you won’t play with me, Kireth?” she asks, grabbing the mortal’s arm. “You’ve got a hard-on for this plain human girl?”
A fire I didn’t know existed is stoked inside me. I shove Anoinda, hard, and the other gods gasp as she stumbles back. I take the stranger’s hand and lead her away from the cluster of nosy fools, toward a set of stairs on the far end of the hall. Reluctantly, she follows me.
“Kireth?” she asks, tentative. “Where are you taking me?”
“Away from these bumbling idiots.”
It wasn’t too many centuries ago that I was one of them, but now they seem like idle, stupid courtesans. The woman doesn’t ask anything else as I guide her up the steps, toward one of the platforms with a curtained room. Inside, a goddess is moaning while another has her face buried between her legs.
