The rest of Jadis’ bath time was a relaxing, if slightly odd, experience. Despite the sexually charged atmosphere, no one tried to initiate anything, either on her side or the side of the priestesses. Even Alex behaved herself, though she did insist on washing Jadis in the same way she had done for her. It had been… interesting to have Alex’s small, human hands and her large, demonic ones run reverentially through Jay’s hair.
Another fascinating aspect of the bath had been watching Alex swim. Once all of the washing and massages had been through, everyone had gotten into the larger bathing pools for a soak. Two of the pools, one with warm water and the other with cool, were ten feet deep and plenty wide enough that a normal-sized person could go for a swim if they wanted to. For Jadis, it was a short swim, but still doable. Once Alex saw Jadis’ selves take the plunge, she jumped right in as well.
Alex swam like, well, an octopus. While her main body remained mostly motionless, her tentacles pushed her along in an undulating fashion that was really quite elegant. Most of the priestesses stayed out of the pool that Alex swam in, but a few followed Aurea’s example and were at least willing to sit with their feet in the water while they watched the strange Demon glide under the surface for many minutes without any need to come up for air.
Seeing how easily Alex moved through the water made Jadis wonder why she had never seen more demons in the ocean. Sure, she hadn’t spent much time around the water herself so naturally she didn’t think about it much, but she would have thought that there would have been a greater fear among soldiers and sailors that demons might attack from under the surface. Demons didn’t need to breathe and, from what Jadis knew of how Alex saw the world, were quite capable of sensing things around them regardless of light. To her mind, that meant the ocean was the perfect place for demons to rule uncontested, especially since the avatar race of the Goddess of the Ocean had been killed off by demons long ago. And yet, their ship had sailed across the ocean for weeks without any issue.
There had to be some piece to the puzzle that Jadis was missing. She made a mental note to ask Aila and the others about demons and water when they had some time alone.
After bathtime had ended, Jadis and her companions had been given fresh new clothes to wear while their old things were being cleaned. Jadis didn’t know how anyone had managed to make clothing in her size so quickly, but she was certain that magic had to be involved.
While everyone else received finely made, comfortable clothes in styles that closely matched what they usually wore, Jadis’ gifted ensemble was nothing she ever would have chosen for herself under most circumstances. The purple tunics she had been given had long, flowing sleeves, tight belts to go around the waist in order to accentuate her figure, and an excessive amount of gold embroidery. The pants were black, tight, had even more gold embroidery on them, and did nothing to hide the bulges between her three bodies’ legs. Fortunately, the tunics were long enough that she was mostly covered, at least for people who had their heads above the height of her waist. Anyone else, though, was going to get an eyeful.
Aurea and her priestesses did not see a problem with the arrangement.
Alex had as much trouble with her clothing as Jadis did, so at least she could look to the Demon to share in her garment-based misery. The Demon did not like to wear clothing, for whatever reason, though she did so on Jadis’ request. Whoever Aurea was using to make the clothes had come up with a kind of black halter top that was secured with belts to go on Alex’s torso. There was some confusion getting the piece onto the Demon, but that had more to do with Alex not understanding the purpose of the top than any issues with its design. Fortunately, the pair of black pants that were tailored just for Alex went on without any issue.
Once they were all dressed and presentable, Aurea had taken them to the dining hall of the temple where a magnificent breakfast had been laid out. There were all kinds of meats, fruits, breads, jams, pies, and soups to choose from in a display that was practically a work of art. The food was presented buffet style, not that Jadis got the chance to take a plate to the long table. The moment she sat down at the seat of honor she’d been given at the head table on the far side of the hall, dozens of plates had been placed before her three bodies piled high with samples of every kind of dish that she had seen on the buffet display.
The food was just as delicious as it looked. Jadis and her companions took their time eating since there was no need to rush. With all of her friends and lovers sat at the same table, along with the high priests, there was plenty to talk about. It was during the luxurious meal that Jadis was introduced to someone she’d been hoping to meet.
“So, you have a ritual that can pause a woman’s pregnancy?” Jay asked the short, plump older woman with kind, brown eyes.
“Yes, Lady Jadis,” Bertha replied with a slight bow of her head. “My primary class is of the Midwife variety. I received a more standard priestess class when I reached my twentieth level, but when I managed to unlock my tertiary class, I received a divine ritualist class that is a mix of the two. I’ve been training a few other priestesses in the hopes that they will also unlock the class, but so far, I am the only one.”
“You’re above CLR sixty?” Aila asked from her seat across from Jay. “Before the demon invasion? That is very impressive.”
“It’s been a long road,” Bertha smiled demurely. “But I managed it!”
“What’s your secret?” Jay asked with a playful grin. “Unless you want to keep it to yourself.”
“No secret, Lady Jadis,” the woman said with a twinkle in her eye. “Just lots and lots of babies. And being far too old.”
“Call me Jay,” Jay insisted for the umpteenth time that morning. “I’m really not a Lady anything. Also, you don’t look old at all. I’d be shocked if you said you were over sixty.”
“Well, prepare to be shocked, Lady Jadis,” Bertha announced while completely ignoring Jay’s request about her name. “I will be eighty years old next spring.”
Jadis jolted in some surprise. She hadn’t been joking when she’d said that the priestess didn’t look that old. She had pegged the woman’s age at somewhere in her mid-fifties at the most. Clearly, being a servant of Lyssandria came with some perks.
“That’s amazing,” Jay said earnestly. “You really do look great.”
“Thank you,” Bertha smiled and bowed her head again. “I have been blessed, certainly. Speaking of blessings, are you or any of your lovely companions in need of my services right now?”
“Uh,” Jay stammered for a moment at the sudden question. “No. I’m, uh, not pregnant at this time.”
Jay winced internally at the awkward way she’d responded, but Bertha didn’t seem to mind.
“One of us might be,” Aila said, instantly drawing Jadis’ attention.
“What?” Jay asked, the food on the forks of her other two bodies forgotten as all three of her focused on Aila. “Who?”
“Don’t you remember?” Aila asked dryly. “Kerr’s been teasing the possibility for weeks now.”
Ah. Jadis had turned her potency skill off during the last time she’d been with her therion lover. She hadn’t thought that Kerr had been serious though about going into heat. Kerr liked to make jokes and play pranks. Surely her allusions to the possibility of being pregnant had been nothing more than her usual teasing.
Right?
“Do you have a skill or spell that can confirm if a woman is with child?” Aila asked Bertha as Jadis just stared in dumb silence.
“I most certainly do,” the older priestess said with barely contained excitement. “I’m sorry, I don’t believe I’ve been introduced to Kerr yet, but if you lead me to her, I can get an answer in a moment’s time.”
Jadis could only watch as Aila pointed out her horned lover with a finger and Bertha bustled over to Kerr with a purpose. Once the older woman had reached the archer and was beyond easy earshot, Jay leaned across the table to speak quietly to her arcanist girlfriend.
“She’s not really pregnant, is she?” Jay asked with a little more desperation in her tone than she had intended. “I mean, I don’t know if I’m ready to find this out right now.”
Aila shrugged once before putting a small forkful of a green fruit into her mouth. Taking her time to chew, she looked up at Jay with a perfectly innocent expression.
“I’m really not sure if she is or not. But if you weren’t prepared to be a father, you probably shouldn't fuck your lovers without protection, hm?”
Jay stared at Aila, her mouth open for a second, before she snapped it shut and glared at her redheaded lover.
“This is for that thing back in Glitnir, isn’t it.”
Aila only shrugged lightly, though Jadis could just barely make out the smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
It was only a few moments later that Jadis overheard the conversation between Bertha and Kerr and learned that she was not yet a mother-father. It wasn’t exactly relief that swept through her at the news, though. The panic certainly disappeared, though she also felt a tinge of disappointment. A particular tug in her gut also bubbled up from within that Jadis had learned to recognize as an outside instinct. That externally born influence was also disappointed and was strongly encouraging her to give it another try.
“Okay Lyssandria, I hear you,” Jay mumbled as she sat back heavily in her seat. “I’ve got the message.”
“Lyssandria speaks to you? Oh, what am I saying, you’re a Nephilim! Of course she does.”
Jay startled, then looked down to see that Roy, the goblin paladin, was standing at her right elbow. The gaudy goblin had his helmet off, revealing his bright pink hair that was styled in a ridiculously perfect pompadour. Considering all the armor he wore, Jadis was shocked that he had been able to sneak up on her. Though, to be fair, she had been rather distracted.
“Oh, uh, yeah,” Jay said as she turned slightly in her seat to better face the man. “She does from time to time. What’s up, Roy?”
“Sorry to disturb you while you are eating, my lady,” Roy said apologetically as he took something from under one arm. “But I have some letters here for you. I took the liberty of putting the more, ah, important ones at the top.”
The object that the paladin ended up passing to Jadis was a large bundle of envelopes. There were dozens of letters, all of them with wax seals and family crests painstakingly inked onto the front. Most of them were addressed to “Lady Jadis” though a good number were addressed either to “Fortune’s Favored” or to "Lady Ahlstrom”. Jadis wasn’t entirely sure how both her first and last name had gotten around so fast, but she supposed she really shouldn’t have been surprised. The capital city’s rumor mill was no doubt hard at work.
Thanking Roy, Jay picked up her seat and carried it over to the other side of the table so that she could sit between Aila and Eir. Showing the letters to both of them, she began going through them to see what they were all about.
“These are messages from weapon and armor smiths,” Aila said as she perused through the pile of letters that were addressed to Fortune’s Favored. “They want to sell you their weapons and armor at a discount. No doubt they want to be able to advertise that they are the ones supplying the only Nephilim in the world. Not a bad idea, honestly. I bet they do that with the Hero and his party, too.”
“The empire doesn’t supply the Hero with all their gear?” Jay asked, looking up from the letter she was holding that was edged with gold leaf. “I figured that they’d be given everything they could possibly need straight from the imperial armory or whatever.”
“To a degree, yes,” Aila said as she waggled one hand back and forth. “The Hero is always well-supplied, but it’s more like they are given a large stipend that they can use as they see fit. The empire can’t just give the Hero the whole treasury, after all. There’s a lot that the nation still has to use that coin for, especially in a time of war.”
“Huh,” Jay murmured as she tilted her head to one side. “I guess I just imagined that every time the Hero shows up, the emperor or whoever just hands them all the best magical gear they have and sends them on their way.”
“Mm, I think that is something that some nations do,” Aila absently nodded as she opened another letter. “And I’m sure the empire has probably done that in the past, too. But the problem with that is, the Hero isn’t always from Alfhilderunn. The empire is big, but there are lots of other countries out there, especially on the eastern, western, and northern continents. If you give the Hero all of your best enchanted gear, they’re probably not going to give it back once the demonic invasion is over. And if they then decide to move to a nation that isn’t friendly to your own, well… It’s happened in the past. Heroes don’t just go away when the invasion is done.”
Jadis hadn’t thought much about it before, but Aila’s words made a lot of sense. Heroes were real people. Chosen by the gods and all that, but still just people with their own desires and motivations that wouldn’t just go away because they received a holy class and divine gift. In fact, considering how high level most Heroes had to get, they were in the unique position of being extremely powerful, elite warriors who were also still young enough that they had decades of their lives left to pursue their own personal goals. Even if the Hero wasn’t an asshole who wanted to use his power to go to war with other nations in order to expand his home country’s territory, once that hero died, Jadis doubted the home nation would give any of the relics and artifacts that the hero had been given back to the nation that had lent them to the hero.
The whole Hero thing was looking more and more complicated the more Jadis thought about it. She wasn’t even the Hero, just sort of Hero adjacent, and her life was getting more complicated by the second. The actual Hero had to have it pretty rough.
“These are invitations from noble families,” Eir said as she showed one of the letters she had opened to Jay. “Dinners, tea parties, a few balls. They will want to meet you, to gauge who you are as a person as well as satisfy their curiosity concerning many of the rumors that are spreading throughout the city. We will have to be cautious about which letters you respond to. Any function that you choose to attend will signal favoritism and any that you do not attend could lead nobles to feel they are being purposefully snubbed.”
“God dammit…” Jay sighed heavily as she glanced at the thick stack of opened letters that Eir had already gone through. “How many are there?”
“More invitations to events than you can possibly attend,” Eir smiled sympathetically. “Even with three of you.”
“Well, shit,” Jay cursed as she held up the golden letter she’d just opened. “I guess this is one I should probably make time for, at least.”
“What is it?” Aila asked as both she and Eir leaned closer to see the letter.
“An invitation from Second Prince Kestil,” Jay replied as she set the letter down on the table. “He wants to meet me for tea at my earliest convenience.”
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