The Demon God's Choice

A chittering of troublesome birds chattered incessantly against my pounding head until I was forced to open my eyes, embrace the sunlight, and turn to find that my irksome companions were not winged at all. I've got to start kicking women out of bed before I fall asleep.

"...said she overheard one of the Gods complaining that Zeus was so mean while she was around. As if pleasing the God of Gods was really an option. It was like she thought she was talking to a dumb human."

"Tch. What an arrogant bitch. As if she's too good for sacred dick."

The pair of nymphs were beautiful, sensual, and typically pleasant company. I'd shared my bed with them many times; Desidera and Harmonielle worked downstairs at the bar in the lobby and, on occassion, as waitstaff for the elaborate balls the Queen liked to throw. As the Master of Ceremonies, I was around them often. I trusted them, and I trusted they'd deliver a fantastic fuck or, at the very least, a sensual show. But their incessant need to gossip like lowly human women was the fastest way to reverse all the blood flow from my groin.

"According to Queen Liessa, she's received a Godly engagement. Isn't that insane? I've never heard of a Nethi getting married before. And right now? I thought those had to be assigned at birth."

"Maybe it's a punishment from Zeus. For rejecting him. She's probably going to have to marry someone so ugly it'll hurt to look at him."

I groaned, stretched my arms up and over my head, and leapt out of the bed and away from their horrendous argument, but the girls were not about to let me off the hook just like that.

"What do you think about it, Boss?" Desi purred, crawling over to where I stood so she could toy with me for a moment. Nielle sat back and watched us, doing some toying of her own.

I shrugged, stepping back and enjoying the pout my lover gave from the rejection. "It's a punishment, certainly. For her betrothed."

They laughed again and found warmth in one another's embrace, paying me no mind as I walked into the baths adjoining my bedroom. They were happy to pleasure one another with or without my company, which was fine by me. If it weren't for the genetics my father passed down, I'd be happy to live the rest of my life in celibacy. While I mostly took after my mother as far as power, status, and strength were concerned, I had been cursed with an insatiable appetite for sex and an aura of irresistability. Beings of all kinds, classes, and genders fell in my lap everywhere I went.

Except one.

She was the subject of the girls' earlier conversation. Alchimia was the last person I wanted to think about right now. The competitive, narcisstic enchantress was an old acquantance. We'd known each other centuries ago when we were both in school, and even then our relationship had been complicated and bitter. Now, she was coming to my town, my workplace to remind me that I was a God in name only. Until I found a way to earn favor with Zeus and be granted permission to leave this purgatory of serving him as a minor member of a lower court, I was hardly even a demon where my peers were concerned. I deserved to be at least her equal, much less Alchimia's servant once she became Queen.

I had hardly slipped into the steaming hot bath and closed my eyes to forget my troubles when I heard the unmistakable chime of a God descending from Olympus. Seeing as it was directly into my penthouse it could only be...

"Oh, Goddess!" I heard Desi and Nielle scrambling to gather their things, dress, and make their exit. My mother ignored them, and I allowed myself a groan of frustration while the noise of their exit provided me some cover. She glided into the bathroom and perched atop a rock near me, facing the other direction, her dark eyes locked on me with frightening intensity.

Admittedly, it was a shock to see my mother here. I had all but forgotten what she looked like; Bia almost never left Zeus's side. The last time she'd descended had been to carry out her orders of binding Promethus to the mountains. Her skin shined with golden light and the muscles of her arms and back held her body as still as stone with perfect posture. I could almost feel the heat of her arrogance and propriety from where I sat. She waited to be greeted, as was customary for a Goddess of her position. No matter that I was her own child. No matter that she probably owed me some sort of explanation for her extended absence. When I called on her in times of hardship, she never answered. Now that my choices were intertwined with her fate? She couldn't arrive fast enough.

"Mother," I said, gruffly, shifting so more of my body was under the water.

"Malfazan," she answered, her voice ringing out across the room like a bell. "You must know why I'm here."

"I haven't the slightest," I lied, watching with amusement as her shoulders tensed with irritation. "It's been nearly 500 years since I last saw you. Several times that since you were the one to a pay a visit and not the other way around. Perhaps you've come to make up for lost time." I swirled a long fingernail through the top of the water, watching irridescent black swirls of the potions turn and twist.

"Don't be smart," she hissed, her whole face contorting into an image of near-wrath. I could see, then, the accumulated stress betwixt her brows. Her normally proud features were stretched taut across her pretty face. She looked somehow older, though goddesses did not age. I corrected my posture and met her gaze with a stoicism I did not know I was capable of.

"I'm sorry, Mother," I answered her, lowering my eyes to the water. "I do know why you're here. She arrives at The Palace at 3:00 this afternoon. I've gotten a copy of her schedule and I have been enlisted as her guard for the week. I've heard she insists on bringing her own, but he won't arrive until next Monday." I heard my mother suck in a sharp breath. This was her way of letting me know that what I told her was not good enough. She needed more from me. When she didn't speak for a few moments, I hesitantly added, "She does know that she was granted a soul bond. She just does not know that it is me. According to the treaty, she need not know until her coronation, which won't be for a few more years."

Alchimia Nethi was the latest in an impossibly ancient line of enchantresses, all of whom had served the Gods by acting as the Queen Regents of Echelon. The town was a particular burden to command; it was home to the most nefarious of all mystics, a lawless land designed to provide the mischievous and the twisted a playground in which to expend their less savory energies, so to speak. It had been effective for tens of thousands of years at maintaining the peace, but only under the rule of the illustrious Nethis.

"You have to tell her now, Malfazan. Zeus is growing impatient. Just because his intentions are not known to you does not mean that you are not bound to carry them out. You will marry Alchimia. He will not change his mind. And if you keep him waiting much longer without proper cause, there is no telling what he will take from you, son. From us, even, should your fall from grace be so far. Remeber what I have done to get you where you are, God of the Realms."

Ah, and just like that, there it was. My mother's visit was born of self-interest. Not that I was surprised. Zeus must have threatened her with some demotion or something if I did not meet expectations.

"Excuse me, Boss." My mother and I both looked up at the intrusion. "The Queen's daughter has arrived and is requesting your immediate presence."

"But it is hardly 9:00 in the morning," Bia protested hotly.

"Sorry, Goddess. No one was expecting her this early. We are not sure what's happened."

What the actual fuck?