Comet Fall (Wine of the Gods) (36 page)

Verse
had brought the news to New Tokyo, and a good part of the expedition had taken the corridor to Ash. Selano had returned, towing Gre, and after the story, had taken them all off to Karista. Women and former Eunuchs included.

Rustle noted the Rip Crossing witches fitting in with the others, and quietly returned to New Tokyo.

***

Ask had somehow
been magically transformed into a respected adult witch, and was given instruction along with the other Half Moon witches. And she'd been better at channeling, metal working and prospecting than most of them.

Smugness at achievement felt wonderfully sinful.
And the prospecting meant she could pay her tab at the Tavern, even though Harry laughed about it. Fine, he was a god, and probably didn't need a whole lot of money. But it felt great to be so independent.

There was failure, too. Not even Answer was able to achieve her goal of moving rocks on the Moon. But they all worked together, and could move rocks hundreds of miles away.

She walked, occasionally, up to the winery and talked to her father. Got to know him as an adult, to feel and delight in his pride at her growing abilities.

"I regret letting these father-less witches keep me from acting like a proper parent."

A soft step on the porch, the newest goddess peeked in. "It was only logical. We started from such a divided and divisive culture." The thin woman ghosted in through the open front door. Ask looked at her curiously. The Goddess hadn't been out much since her rescue . . . had it actually been three months already?

"Yes, dear. Time doesn't matter how busy we are or are not. It ticks along regardless."

"Sorry," Ask blushed. "I need to control my leakage better."

"Yes, although you are definitely better than average. Most of the witches don't even try. Oh, that's very good," she nodded approval, as Ask tucked in all her mental corners.

"I hadn't actually thought of a god or goddess of logic." Ask commented. "Why are such attributes, umm, attached to you?"

She chuckled. "Because that was what I was like before . . . whatever it was that bashed our brains. Somehow I became even more so, and . . .odd things kept happening around me. I try to tuck it in, as you did, dear, and just bring it out at need. Wasn't fast enough with Edmund."

"We're all pretty good at shedding each other's effects." The Auld Wulf shrugged. "Not that I've often tried to shed yours."

"Such flattery. I haven't often needed to affect you, you tend toward the logical instead of the emotional. The reason I came up is that I think it's time for me to see this Karista, and the Colleges there."

The Aulf Wulf studied her. "Remember that the road goes both directions."

"
Indeed. I may be right back. I'm having a bit of trouble adjusting to the modern world, so to speak."

"
Human nature hasn't changed. Every thing else is details. I need to check up on several things in Karista. Will you travel with me? We could eschew the corridors and let you see the countryside, the towns."

"That sounds delightful."

"So it'll be horse and wagon and hope the snow keeps light. And the roads clear. I'll meet you at Harry's for breakfast."

Ask excused herself, and walked back down with Lady Logic.

"Something is bothering you."

"Yes, secondhand jealousy. A good friend of mine is enamored with the Wolf. She's been away too long, and I worry that they'll forget each other."

Logic smiled. "That would be this Rustle whose very name is enough to turn the man into a frittering mess? Fear not. I don't like emotions, and being infertile without massive inconvenience, I see no reason for sex, either."

"Oh dear," Ask eyed her curiously. "What do you think about deliberately creating magic users that are as powerful as the gods?"

"Something that I certainly hope is unique happened to us. I think these new double sourced children will simply be powerful magic users. " She peeked at the twins, sleeping in Ask's backpack. "And we completely disregarded the wizard gene. Life is just fascinating, and keeps throwing wonderful new things into ones path."

Ask blinked. "Yes, it does, doesn't it?"

Logic sighed. "There was someone, once, that I loved. I can't even remember his name. Before the Exile, I think. Well. I don't think these babies will attract the attention of the collective subconscious. The force that shapes and controls the gods."

"I hope you are right," Ask said. "Begging your pardon, but you gods are really messed up."

Logic chuckled. "We are indeed. I plan on returning to Ash often, so I will bid you goodnight, instead of farewell." She walked into Gisele's herb garden, pausing to sniff here and there.

Ask walked into Harry's, and wandered back to help in the kitchen. Just because she was a paying guest, was no reason to not
help cook.

In the morning, s
he watched the god and goddess leave in a heavy closed chase with some misgivings.
She's his kind. She must understand him better than a twenty-two year old can. Damn, damn, damn.
Then the twins woke, hungry, and took up all her attention.

***

The Auld Wulf had forgotten how odd the gods were. Logic was a good reminder. Not that she wasn't good company; an old colleague, never an enemy and always a friend. Never a lover, though. Sex wasn't logical. Goddesses, like gods, gained their special abilities through the interactions of the genes on the X and Y chromosomes. To be female, they had an extra X chromosome, and he rather thought there'd been some hormone treatments involved. The result, however feminine on the outside had some serious problems on the insides. A good part of Gisele's expertise with reproduction stemmed from a desire to have children of her own. She kept threatening Romeau . . . She'd had a daughter several centuries ago, when she thought Romeau dead. Nil's mother. Somehow in wanting her child to fit into that society, she had lost track of what that would mean, personally. Linda had died of old age centuries ago.

He'd bought the carriag
e in Karista and traveled it back to Ash. Nil had supplied the handsome brown foursome, happy to have someone else do the selling for him. The geldings trotted along happily, energetic in the just barely freezing temperatures, and they made good time.

Bail swung aboard at Fort Stag, and chatted a bit
.

Apparently rumors were flying about the "new" gods. Pity so many people had seen Edmund's little scene.
Logic made some dry comments about Just Deserts through the open curtains and window. Apparently Michael and Trump were making an interesting addition to Karista's High Society.

The King's Mage had begged an island from the King, and set up the former harem guards and the ten ladies as a Mage's retreat.
The new mage compass had somehow become popular, with people bragging about how well they knew Bran and Oscar. The compass was having to fend off patrons.

The Auld Wulf laughed at that, then Bail dropped off and started the walk back.

The Auld Wulf
cheated a bit, travelling the entire rig across the boring and empty plains, and gave the foursome a taste of one of Gisele's mixtures. They trotted and walked on through the night.

Logic s
lept and the Auld Wulf studied the comet they called the Captain. The comet was bright enough to trace the tail half way across the sky.  They camped the next night and reached the first inn on the route in the late afternoon of the sixth day. Logic was glad of the early stop and chatted with some merchants also bound for Karista. The Auld Wulf yawned through an early dinner and went to bed, leaving her talking to a pair of young teenage girls.

The horses were in fine shape and raring to go the next morning. Logic complimented the Hosteller on h
is facilities and they were off. With the teen age girls. They passed the merchants, who had gotten an early start, before noon.

They stopped at a small town for lunch, and the Auld Wulf talked to the girls.

"There's no men to marry," Gili shrugged. "So we can be spinsters living with our parents and taking care of them as they age, or we can go to town."

Logic smiled.
"And if I'm to live in town I'll need some people to help me. I'm not very good at some things, and not at all at ease in this society. So I've hired the girls. If we don't suit each other they can find employment from a secure position, not desperation."

"Very logical," Wolf agreed.
The girls were pleasant company for the weeks needed when traveling without magical assistance.

In Karista t
hey stayed at Rufi's, with his staff trying to bring the country girls quickly up to speed. While the Auld Wulf talked to diplomats, Logic spent her time in the Royal Library, and then the college of philosophy. He made sure she met Weg, with his insatiable appetite for knowledge. They hit it off immediately.

In the science department he couldn't find an astronomer confident enough to predict any possible future comet falls. In fact they looked a bit offended at the notion, and skeptical of his insistence that it had happened before.
But a few of them were taking notes, and looking worried.
I need to look into better telescopes. A big observatory of our own. Too much to do, too few gods taking the long view and paying attention. But with Logic taking an interest, that matter may be taken care of.

The g
oddess took a lease on a small dignified house midway between the library and the campus and the girls took it over and looked like they could do a good job of taking care of her. Rufi looked like he would love to take care of her too.

He
lunched with his banker, discussed the best way to fund an observatory, and introduced him to Logic . . . damn it, why couldn't he remember her name? She opened a personal account, and joined Wolf in operating a fund for scientific projects.

T
hen he hired a boat briefly to drop him off on Hell's Island. The hounds ran down to greet him and led him up to Hell's transplanted palace. They were amazingly well behaved. He searched his memory and failed to find previous notice of tail wagging.

"Good morning
, Trump," he called up, seeing her with the children.

The almost-four-year-old twins remembered
him as a familiar figure and ran to drag him up to see their sisters. Three of the quadruplets toddled about.

"We're a bit worried about Heliotrope," Tromp admitted. "Although Azure was a bit slow too."

Michael wandered out. "Here to check on your Ash witch? Trump said you lot were over-protective. I thought she was kidding."

The Auld Wulf chuckled. "At one point the World was down to four witches, two mages and nine wizards as its entire complement of
trained magic users. Other than us gods, mind you. So we got over-protective. The main reason I came, apart from my exquisite manners, mind you, being in town and all, was to show you this."

He folded up and sat down on the ground, drawing an immediate crowd of little girls.

"Ha! The big, bad God of War had better watch his reputation." Hell grinned.

The Auld Wulf created a dimensional cube, a stick figure in dimensions the human eye couldn't see. Michael
, of course, could see it. The Auld Wulf held his hand out and the dark haired twin tried to grab the cube. She laughed as her fingers slid through it.

The strawberry blonde hunted for whatever it was her sister was trying to get. "I want it!" she told him. But she couldn't see it.

The gaggle of toddlers ignored it, but the littlest one crawled over and used the Auld Wulf as a handy handhold to practice standing up.

Michael had gone very still and quiet.

"Apparently the wizard X gene in combination with either the mage Y or the witch X enables dimensional abilities. We call them the 'special witch and wizard skills' to avoid panic among the possessors or their parents by using the term god."