Chapter Nineteen #2
“Me? The big bad? Oh, no. Though I’m flattered you’d think so.
I just wanted to meet a fellow Fate dabbler and welcome you to the Sanctuary.
Find out how you’re settling in. See if you needed any shopping or restaurant recommendations.
Although clearly you’ve already benefitted from Riya’s nimble fingers, that bikini really suits you.
You should definitely drop by her boutique, there’s a dress on the mannequin in the window that just screams your name. ”
Um. What? Not a lot of things caught Vaia by surprise, unless a deity was interfering, and actively hiding the approach of five giant Minotaurs busting down the door. Come to cause havoc and kidnap themselves a Fate.
“And there’s the most charming little place two doors down from the cinema on the main square for sale that you should really check out. It used to be a gin bar before it closed down. It would make a stunning boutique wine bar, if someone, and her two sisters, had a little vision.”
Vaia wasn’t sure if she was being manipulated, strong-armed, or just flat out tempted by a big sparkly carrot. Problem was, where there was a carrot, there was too often a big stick ready to thump you on the head the moment you stuck your head out the burrow.
“And through a quirk of Fate.” Alma smiled at her own joke.
“State rules governing gambling don’t apply within the boundaries of the Sanctuary.
Here, the High Council sets the rules. And we’re always looking for ways to encourage new business owners to the area.
Well, darling girl.” Alma rose gracefully to her feet.
“I’ll leave you to enjoy all this glorious peace and quiet.
” She waved, sauntering away, leaving Vaia sitting there, a little gobsmacked for the first time in twelve years.
All Vaia’s instincts were screaming, it’s a trap, it’s a trap.
Glancing down at the deck of cards, just sitting in her hand, inert.
From the moment the Handmaiden mantle had settled over Vaia’s shoulders she’d had that deck in her hand and had been non-stop cutting it, re-cutting it, sometime briefly shuffling it.
Each card representing a myriad of places, people, things, actions, outcomes – and thanks to her powers, Vaia understood what it meant every time she cut the cards.
That Fate had made a decision. Good, bad, indifferent. Fate was relentless, never letting up.
Her older sister, Mimi, interminably fidgeted with six twelve-sided dice. Whilst her younger sister, Arna, click clacked five abnormally large knuckle bones, reading Fate’s out come in the way they were positioned in her hand.
Fate never stopped. Except from the moment she’d arrived here in the Southern Sanctuary, the relentless need to cut the deck had disappeared.
The sneaky matchmaker hinting that this place was the reason.
Could she? Dare she? Tentatively Vaia dropped her hand, cautiously letting go of the cards, amazed when they remained on the ground.
Her whole body beginning to tremble in shock.
It had to be this place, full of magic, full of magical people.
A lot of whom danced with Fate. Not just the matchmaker.
Closing her eyes, Vaia sent out a pulse of magic.
Sensing the others. The Fate Weaver who made the wonderful bikinis, descended from a distinguished line of dragons.
A Pathfinder, capable of identifying all the options open to a person when they hit a crossroad, manipulating and nudging people accordingly.
The Matchmaker was easy to sense, her energy bright and weirdly glittery.
Bam! Vaia’s senses almost overloaded as she fought to pull her magic back.
A Spider Mage, a strong one. They were notoriously mad, bad and extremely dangerous to know.
That had to be Darcy Montgomery of the micro plaid skirt and wielder of chopsticks and rocket launchers.
This place, this Sanctuary, was full of people dealing with Fate.
Was that why the cards were weirdly quiet and the constant clamouring in Vaia’s brain had backed down to a dull roar from the moment she’d arrived?
Did it matter what the reason was? Family lore always maintained that it took the Handmaidens decades, sometimes longer, to come to terms with their powers, to be equal to them, rather than be ridden by them.
But if this place gave them even a smidgeon of control, and there was a charming little disused building that would be perfect for a bar, and the local laws allowed gambling?
Oh, Praise Moria, it seems like the Siros sisters had just found themselves a new home.
Of course there would be a catch. There was always a catch. But staring down at the seemingly ordinary pack of cards on the towel, Vaia was beyond sure her sisters would agree that the price would be worth paying.
Two shadows momentarily blocked the sun’s warmth. Instinctively Vaia snatched up the cards, cutting the deck, she didn’t even need to look, she knew every card so well just by touch. Not enemies. Not exactly friends. She recognised them, Nico and Gigi, looking for answers. Hah, weren’t they all?
“Hello again. Please, join me.” Gesturing to the spare towel spread out beside her.
Lucky she’d brought it along, it was certainly getting a workout today.
“Are you okay?” She queried Gigi as she sat down cross legged, the sweater, leggings and the blanket wrapped around her shoulders a little worrying, given the bright sunny day.
“Just a slight health hiccup.” Gigi flashing her a seemingly genuine smile.
Vaia couldn’t resist a little sneak peek, cutting the cards. Hmmm, interesting.
“We have some questions.” Nico’s gaze was more shuttered, wary, he didn’t trust that Vaia wasn’t in league with Qetesh and her mother.
Curious, Vaia cut the cards again, weird, things had definitely changed between Gigi and Nico since she saw them in Florence, they were a couple but not a couple.
That was convoluted. And thankfully not her problem, she had no desire to dip her toes into matchmaking waters.
Those murky depths would suck her under for sure, and she had enough to deal with. “What did you want to know?”
“Whose side are you on in all this? The Cabal of Deities that want to rule the world, or those who would oppose them?”
“I’m just your average everyday girl kidnapped by a bunch of giant Minotaurs.
Imprisoned by an Egyptian Goddess of Love, who really wouldn’t know a genuine emotion if it was an asp biting her on the butt.
Before being pawned off to her demi-goddess spoilt blinkered daughter in a vain attempt to somehow coerce or intimidate me into helping them on their stupid quest to kidnap a baby. ”
“So did you or didn’t you help them?” Nico growled out the question.
“Yes.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“Sure it is, it’s just not the one you were looking for.”
Nico’s expression darkened, Gigi reaching out from under her blanket to place a hand on his arm. “Hold on. Let me understand this. As one of Fate’s Handmaidens, you claim neutrality. But you can split the difference, can’t you? Be both helpful, or unhelpful.”
“Yes.” Vaia couldn’t help but smile, Gigi got it.
“And depending what the question is, or how it’s phrased, I have a lot of scope as to how I can answer.
But what most people don’t get when they ask me a question is that I’m forbidden from giving out spoilers.
You’d be better off asking your questions of your Pathfinder, and Spider Mage, but only if they understood every player and possibility on the table.
And even the Goddess of Fate, Moira, doesn’t have all that intelligence yet.
I can assure you, the Minotaurs and the kidnapping were as much of a shock to her as it was to me and my sisters.
Which has actually worked out in your favour. ”
“How so?” Nico was absently rubbing Gigi’s cool hand.
“My Goddess is, in a word, pissed. Dragging her, me, into this campaign to rule the Earthly Plane was a big misstep by Hathor. I can’t give away anything for free, but Moira has indicated that I have a lot more leniency when it comes to you guys.
Having spent some time now with both looney tunes mother and vapid demi-daughter, I wouldn’t mind a little payback.
” Vaia shivered, Hathor was a big fan of orgies, she’d never be able to look at another grape again she suspected.
“You called me fire-touched. What does that mean, exactly?”
“Ah, you picked up on that, did you? I was dropping hints like they were A-bombs that day. So you’ve probably already twigged that you’re a descendant through your father’s line of Kuat, the Aztec God of Fire.”
“Yes, I get that. But what does it mean to be fire-touched? Can I swallow fire? Throw fireballs? What?”
“I wouldn’t try swallowing it, if I were you. But what you could do is pick up a baby who channels the sun as a weapon and would obliterate anyone else who tried to do that against her will.”
“I can pick up the baby? That’s all I get out of having a God for a fucking relative?”
“Well, that and a certain level of resistance to deity fuelled coercion or influence. It’s partly why you’re not a mindless golden love slave right now at Qetesh’s beck and call. So, maybe a little gratitude wouldn’t go astray.”
“Fine. What about the trojan horse reference? Am I an unwitting danger to the baby?”
“Ugh. Now we’re getting into spoiler territory. I will say though that it’s a really good question and you should definitely follow up on it.”
“How and with whom?”
Vaia shrugged. “Ask around, read a book, I really couldn’t say more than that.”
Nico’s expression shifted from scowly to frustrated. “Where can we find Hathor?”
“She isn’t fond of this Plane, which is weird really, given she wants a big slice of it. She has a palatial abode on another Plane, and don’t ask me which one. I was blindfolded going in and out so I have no idea.”
“What do you plan to do next?” Gigi enquired, curious.
“Next?” Ouranos, in the name of the Heavens, when was the last time she hadn’t had Fate pounding away at her so she could actually think straight and make a calculated personal decision?
The constant cutting of the deck, the rolling of the dice and the throwing of the bones, the only way Vaia and her sisters had found to keep themselves from going mad.
But it meant they were always on, the flow of Fate always battering away at them.
Not here though. Nothing but seagulls, waves lapping against the shore, and pesky locals wanting something from her.
The more time she spent here, the more Vaia was beginning to see the positives.
Although of course, if the darling little for sale boutique bar did prove perfect for their needs and they really did decide to settle here, there would be a price to pay.
There always was. But the idea of signing up for a war against a plotting Cabal of Deities – as much as Fate would allow – didn’t exactly detract from the tempting offer.
To be truthful, after a few weeks as prisoner of Hathor and then Qetesh, Vaia wouldn’t be averse to a little personal payback.
“Given the number of bikinis in the gift bag I received this morning, I believe I get a four day reprieve to do nothing but lie on this gorgeous beach and soak up the sun. On the fifth day?” Vaia shrugged. “Whatever Fate brings I suppose.”
Nico looked like he wasn’t finished questioning her but Gigi seemed to realise that Vaia had given them as much as she could, unless they asked a question in a specific way, and even then, the chances of Vaia being able to give them a useful answer was questionable.
The other woman appearing to understand that the many rules and regulations of being a Fate were quite literally burned into Vaia’s bones.
“Come on, Nico, I really need a hot chocolate or something to warm me up.”
Nico, rolling his shirt-sleeves up because he was hot, sent her a grumpy scowl, not because he was angry, Vaia thought, but because he was worried about her, this woman who was both his and not his. And again, not Vaia’s problem.
She watched the duo rise. Gigi smiling down at Vaia.
“Thanks.” From under the blanket she held out a small purple and white striped box.
“Just a few little treats, to welcome you to the Sanctuary.” And now she was the one giving Vaia a knowing wink.
The bikinis, the matchmaker’s casual visit, the box, which according to the label was full of coffee and orange truffles, two of her favourite flavours, Vaia couldn’t help but wonder if there wasn’t a bulletin board detailing all her personal likes and dislikes up in the town square.
It would be weird, living in a place like this, where everyone knew about the Supernatural and would be poking their noses into the Siros sisters’ personal business.
Though perhaps once they discovered how hamstrung the sisters were by the rules that governed Fate they’d back off.
Though she had meant what she’d said earlier, Vaia was prepared to push the boundaries of those rules to their very limit to get a little payback on the deity Cabal that thought to use and abuse her.
Hmmm, but what if joining the war effort wasn’t the only price to be paid?
That visit from the local matchmaker, it had Vaia’s instincts twitching.
What if… what if, no. It seemed silly but suddenly she had to know, staring down at the cards, gripping them tightly, thinking about her own future, her own Fate.
Ouch. Abruptly dropping the deck down onto the towel beside her.
Every card from the suit of hearts had landed face up, every other card landing face down. Statistically bloody impossible. Unless Fate was involved. Crap. The queen of hearts card in particular was looking up at Vaia with a strange mocking glint in her eye.
Hah, love and her? It wasn’t unheard of for Fate’s Maidens to meld, to marry.
When they met the one, and made a commitment, it was for life.
But the journey to falling in love? Every family story about a Handmaiden meeting the love of their life was full of drama, danger, adventure and deadly challenges.
Gathering up the cards, Vaia frowned, she could run, find her sisters, and the three of them could establish a new base of operations elsewhere in the world. She’d heard Barbados was nice.
The problem was Fate. It always found you in the end. Usually it was best to face it head on.
What do you know. A place to live. A new business to set up. And the love of her life soon to gatecrash it all.
Blindsided twice in a matter of months. It really didn’t bode well for the future, or this man, whoever he might turn out to be.
Bloody Fate.