Fifteen #2
"Which is?"
"It doesn't matter how good I am, or your father who raised you. On the field, the only thing that will ever matter is you. Oh, and go to temple, be faithful to your god, and listen to the dictates of your king."
"Huh?"
"I work for a god, my other wife is a queen, I just took over a country and put one of my daughters on the throne, and now I get to play regent for the next decade or two. What else am I gonna say?" I said, shooting him a wink.
"I'm still not happy with you, you know."
"Yeah, I get that. But if I'd shown up now and again, would you still respect the man who raised you and be calling him 'Dad'? I'm betting he's a good man and deserves that."
"Still…"
"Theo, you turned out all right, and you're heading into an honorable profession.
Your mother is a princess, and they're calling you a prince, so you'll end up an officer.
I'm pleased to see you're doing well. So drop it and move on—yeah, I'm not perfect, and I've made mistakes, but you're not one of them. "
Theo was quiet for a moment.
"Helena said you can turn into a big, two-legged cat?"
I chuckled. "Yeah. I'm from a world where that's what people look like. I'm also a lot bigger and even stronger. Like I said, I work for a god."
"Grandfather is going to invite you to dinner tonight."
"I expected as much."
"He's got a problem; he needs someone to solve it."
"And I should do this, why?"
Theo sighed, stopped, and looked around. We were just outside the café.
"It involves Jordon."
"Who?"
"Your other son."
I growled a bit, I admit. "What happened?"
"He's an asshole."
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and swore. "Fuck."
"Yeah. Mom told me not to tell you, but—" he shrugged "—I felt it was only fair to warn you what was coming."
"It's bad, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is. Part of why I'm so pissed. We were friends."
I took another deep breath. "I'll fix it."
"I'm not sure you can."
"Then a lot of very surprised people are going to die," I growled. "Now, play nice, and let's go eat."
We walked into the room; I smiled at Chari and sat down by Suzona.
"Ah, you ordered for me! Thank you!" I said and started on lunch. "So, what did I miss?"
"Well, I see you brought my son back in one piece," Chari said, "so it couldn't have been all bad."
"With the usual amount of hard work, I think he's going to be quite a warrior."
"Suzona mentioned some of the things you've had to deal with over the last few years."
I winced. "Yeah, there were a few bad times there. I needed to teach a few people some terminal lessons."
"But a goddess? Really?"
I shrugged. "I don't discriminate when it comes to evil."
"Still, that's a lot to take in, Will."
"Don't I know it. So how is life treating you?"
We made small talk after that, though Theo was quiet and didn't say much.
"Oh, the king, my father, is having a dinner tonight, and you are, of course, invited," Chari said as we finished up.
"Wouldn't miss it," I said, smiling.
"I'm looking forward to it," Suzona agreed.
When they left the café, Elsabeth showed us back to our rooms.
"There's a dinner tonight in the palace," she told us when we got back.
"Princess Chari mentioned it," Suzona said.
"I'm guessing you'll be showing up nude?" I asked.
Suzona smacked me and started to say something, when Elsabeth said, "Yes."
I watched, smiling, as Elsabeth explained the local custom to her.
"You're not partaking, William, understand?" Suzona growled at me after Elsabeth finished.
"Most definitely not," I agreed.
"I need to take a nap," I said.
"A nap sounds good," Suzona said.
"Would you like company?" Elsabeth asked a little shyly.
I blinked, and Suzona looked at her in surprise. "I thought you were afraid of him?"
"Umm, maybe? But his daughter is beautiful, and his son is very handsome, so maybe I shouldn't be?"
I shook my head. "I'm sorry, but right now I'm not looking for anything more than I've already got."
Going into the bedroom with Suzona, I closed the door behind us.
"I wonder if these rooms are bugged?" I asked in the language of Hillshire.
"Probably."
I nodded. "I'm gonna go have a chat. You might want to, too."
Stripping down to the buff, I lay on the bed and cuddled Suzona's naked body when she did the same. Then, closing my eyes, I thought about Fel.
§ §
"William," Fel said, handing me a beer. "No, I don't know what's going on, and that bothers me."
"Oh?"
"I can't see gods, priests, temples, or champions, and I don't think your son is a god or a temple."
"As I'm getting the suspicion that whatever happened was rather sudden, I don't think he's a priest, either."
"This does, however, throw an interesting light on the initial reaction to your arrival, what your daughter said, and tonight's dinner."
"I'm all ears."
"Jocelyn showed up without permission; I think that's obvious. That they wanted permission, and the initial reaction, seems to indicate the problem is a big one, and they're worried you'll make it worse."
"Oh, I'm sure I will," I growled.
"Ah, but for whom? Jocelyn still likes you; that is obvious, and your daughter likes you, as well. Jocelyn convinced Chari to pull her son out of training to meet you and went to the trouble of getting you permission to be there, obviously, based on Jocelyn's report on you."
"What about Elsabeth?"
"Jocelyn is obviously a lot more important. Plus, she knows you, and your actions really were fatherly. Same again with Theodoros. Whatever the problem is with your son, Jordon, the king wasn't able to just kill him, which is the kind of solution kings are famous for."
"So?"
"I think you're going to be getting felt out over if you will deal with your son for them. And if that dealing will be in a manner that the king will approve of."
I thought about that for a minute.
"They want him gone, don't they?"
"That would be my belief, yes."
"Can I toss him through to you?"
"William, I might have to kill him."
"Fel, if you have to kill him, then I'd have had to kill him," I said, shaking my head.
"If he's that far gone, I don't know if I could do it.
I'm too much of a sucker for my kids, I think that's always been obvious.
So if you do, if you did, I'd be sad, hell maybe I'd cry my eyes out over it.
But—" I looked up at Fel, standing behind the bar "—you're my god and my best friend, and I have to back you on this, because I know you won't do it unless there's no other way. "
Fel put his hand on my head and smiled, and I was filled with a sense of peace.
"There are times I'm still grateful to Aryanna for finding you for me.
I will not abuse your trust, William, but if he is a champion for another god, don't throw him through until after he's quit. Otherwise, I'll have no choice at all."
I nodded. That made sense.
"Anything I need to know?"
"I think you may have realigned your daughter's thoughts on the world."
"Let me guess, she wants to visit?"
"I think it's more that she wouldn't mind a boyfriend like her father. Of course, she'd have to give up some of her luxuries if she did."
"Oh, with all the tech here, how much of a role do the local gods play?"
"That's one of those things I'm trying to learn. I have no presence there other than you right now."
I nodded slowly at that.
"Well, I guess I'll just have to play it as I see it. Until later, Fel."
"Later, William."
§ §
The ride to the palace was quiet. I had a lot on my mind, and Suzona picked up on it.
For all I knew, Fel might have talked with Aryanna, who might have told Suzona what was going on.
Elsabeth was sitting across from us in the limo, wearing only a cloak.
Underneath it, she was nude, though she was wearing a fair bit of jewelry, same as Aoi had way back when, though I hadn't realized it until after we'd gotten to the dinner.
I suddenly realized that both my daughter and my son would be nude if they were there, too. For all that I'd gotten used to nudity back in Riverhead and on Saladin, I wasn't sure whether I was okay with that or not.
The car pulled up to a stop before the palace, the door opened, and I helped Suzona and Elsabeth out.
I put my arm around Suzona as we walked in.
The outfits we wore were the ones I'd paid for, and they looked quite good.
Suzona looked ravishingly beautiful and ready to kill anyone who got out of line, as always.
It turned out that yes, Jocelyn and Helena were there, as were Princess Chira and my son, Prince Theo.
Helena was definitely attracting eyes, but apparently, she was used to it.
I think more than a few of the females there were checking out Theo, as well, but I was also getting a surprising amount of interest.
There was a bit of socializing; I mostly stood with Jocelyn and Helena, as Suzona and I made small talk with them after I was introduced to Jocelyn's husband.
He was an impressive-looking man, about my size, though he looked older than me now.
He was an officer in the king's guard, and I think his rank equated to that of a colonel?
He was a nice man, and I liked him immediately.
"I'm surprised your other children aren't here tonight," I said to Jocelyn and Paterick while sipping at my drink.
"Helena's only here because she's your daughter," Paterick told me.
"Oh, I didn't know that. Theodoros, then?"
"He's here because, while he may be the least of the princes, he is still a prince."
"Ah." I nodded. I saw that Chari was with a rather handsome man who was quite smartly dressed.
"So who did Chari marry?" I asked.
"My younger brother."
"Really?" I asked, surprised.