To Be Chosen By A God

Chapter 8

                He arrived in what appeared to be her village.  Her back was to him as she knelt on the muddy ground in front of a small garden plot.  She was pulling weeds and harvesting some of the root vegetables.  He walked towards her and she turned her head at the sound of movement.

                “Micah?  Did I make you angry?”  She was still kneeling on the ground, twisting her muddied hands in her lap.

                “Why would you think that?”  He asked her.

                “You sent me back here.  I must have displeased you somehow.  I thought we were starting to get to know each other.”  She was refusing to look at him, afraid of what she would see.

                “Chelsea, look at me.”  She raised her tear filled eyes to his.  “You are only dreaming.”  She looked confused.  “Do the edges of anything you are not focusing at look blurry?  Things at a distance are indistinct?”  He could see understanding brighten her face.  “Besides, in the last few moments, your clothing has changed at least five times.”

                “It has?”

                He chuckled as he nodded.  It was good to see her and be able to talk to her.  “What do you remember?”

                “What do you mean?  We went to bed, but why did you come into my dreams?”  He could tell she was still confused.

                “This afternoon, you came to me with my lunch and a basket to send down to your family.  Do you remember what happened after?”

                She tried to concentrate on that day that in her dream seemed so long ago.  “I grabbed the empty pitcher to take back down with me and you were talking to an older man.  As I crossed behind you I looked over at him and then I felt sicker than I’ve ever felt before.  I couldn’t support myself anymore and I fell to the ground.  You took me somewhere in a hurry and….” She blushed.  “You kissed me I think.”

                “While I would like you to pretend that didn’t happen, do you remember why I kissed you?”

                “You asked me to forgive you for it, but you were going to try to heal me.  Did it work?  And why do you want me to pretend it never happened?”

                “Because a first kiss should never be under duress.  And no.  It didn’t.”

                “Am I dying then?”

                “No.  My mother is a goddess of healing.  She felt the strong pull of something counter to her specialty in my Haven so she came to find out what caused such a pull.”

                “How did she know where your Haven is?  And…. Your mother?”

                He smiled.  “She showed me how to create it.  And yes.  Varia, goddess of healing is my mother.  Remember how I said that a god can only conceive a child with another god?”  She nodded.  “I’m the only such child that has survived.  The others could not gain a following and so grew old and died many long centuries ago.  My mother taught me all about medicinal herbs and how they can be used to treat various issues.  I have done my best to pass this information on to my priests and priestesses.  From being around my mother and seeing her use her power of healing, I eventually figured out a way to be able to do it.  It’s nowhere near what she can do, but for minor injuries, I do fairly well.  She came and healed you but you will be asleep for many days while your body recovers.  I wanted to let you know that you were safe, but while she healed you, you woke and warned me.  Do you remember it?”

                She tried to remember, but couldn’t.  “You told me you were a diversion.  You were right, but why did you know that?  How could you have known that?”  He took her hands and lifted her to stand and led her inside to sit at the kitchen table.  As they walked, the mud fell away and disappeared in the way of dreams.

                They sat down and she replied, “Margaret has been having me read books from your library and we talk about them after so that if I don’t understand something, she can help explain it.  The last book I chose, was one written by you about war and strategy.  When I saw that man speaking with you, he looked at me.  His look was not angry, it was…… like he was thinking.”

                “Calculating?”

                She nodded.  “I remember wanting to tell you that I thought I was a diversion, but I don’t remember waking up at all.  I guess I was able to get it out after all.”

                Micah understood now why she had said what she did.  It was because of her that his people were not dealing with plague now.  “The man I was speaking with is Luther, god of disease.  He used you to try to sneak in a man with plague into my lands.”

                “Why would he do that?  That’s horrible!”

                “He can control who becomes infected and who doesn’t.  I cannot.  I have no ability in disease and precious little in healing.  My people would have called out to me to save them from the plague but other than quarantine, I would be able to do nothing.  People would have begun losing faith in me and could have sought out a different god to worship.  With Luther’s lands bordering mine, he would have instructed his priests to ‘come to the rescue’ and many people would have become his followers within a few short years.”

                “Did he always look so much older than you?”

                “No.  He has been steadily losing followers.  All of the neighboring gods have taken chunks out of his territories, but I have taken the largest and he resents me for that.  The evening prayers are beginning, so I must leave.  I will stop by frequently as you recover, but the best thing for you is sleep in which you dream.  I’m going to send you off into your next dream.  You may find it easier to control your dreams as I stop in.  I’m glad you are doing well.”  He smiled as he faded out of her dream and he was unaware of what her next dream became as he began listening to the evening prayers.

                When they were finished, he laid Chelsea next to him on her side and laid her head on his shoulder so that he could wrap his arm around her back and place one of her hands on his chest for him to clasp with his free hand.

                The next morning when he woke, he stayed with her and enjoyed the feel of her body next to his.  He laid with her as he listened to the morning prayers.  When they finished, he pecked her on her forehead and then took his morning shower. 

                After getting dressed, he used his power to cleanse Chelsea’s body and clean her nightgown.  He then lifted her into his arms and took her up to the attic.  He concentrated on the materials needed to create a cot for her to lay on while he was working.  The materials entered the attic and swirled around for a few moments before forming into a cot complete with sheets, pillow and quilt.  He pulled back the covers, laid her on the cot and covered her up tenderly.

                He checked her bladder and bowels and again removed the contents.  He brushed a few strands of her hair from her face and then headed down to the kitchen.  He made himself breakfast with his power and then made a fruit mash and a vegetable mash for Chelsea.  He took them up to the attic and slowly fed them to her.

                He worked for the morning and then at noon, made another meal for them both, removed her waste and went back to work.  He would wait for the evening to walk her dreams.  After dinner, he took her back up to their bedroom and again held her on his lap, snugged up to his chest.  He waited for her eyes to begin moving, signifying that she was dreaming.  He closed his eyes and again, entered her dream.

                She was young; no more than ten, and she was playing with her sisters in a field outside of the village.  They were running around and playing all sorts of games.  The game seemed to change every few moments from tag to hide and seek, to pretending to be animals or other people.  He looked around and though the land had changed, he recognized this place.  He had once stood in this very spot many centuries ago when he still walked the earth gathering followers.

                He looked back over at the girls, only Chelsea being distinct, and saw her glance over at him.  She stopped what she was doing and plucked a wild flower from the ground.  She walked over to him and set it at his feet.

                “Chelsea.”  He called to her as she had turned around to again play with her sisters.

                She turned around and tilted her head as she looked at him.  “Micah?  It’s you and not a statue of you?”  She moved towards him and as she did, each step saw her age a year until she stood before him as she had not so long ago.

                He reached down and took the flower at his feet and tucked it into her hair.  “Even in your dreams you would give me flowers?”

                She blushed.  “I don’t really remember.  I don’t remember ever dreaming of you before that time with Nightshade and you certainly disappeared before I would have been able to give you a flower.”  He chuckled, remembering that night.  He had been so happy that she would still be eligible.

                “I want to show you something.  Standing here reminded me.”  He took her hand and led her over to the far side of the field.  There were raised stones that looked like they marked where walls had once stood.  Her sisters would pretend it was where their castle stood, but the other villagers said it was just the foundations of a very old farmhouse.  She had always felt at peace here though she didn’t know why.  This was the place she often plucked the flowers she took to the temple for Micah.

                “Do you know what this place is?”

                “The site of an old farmhouse.  At least that’s what the villagers said.”

                “No.  This place is where my first temple was built.  It was small and later, the stones were all removed except the foundation stones and used to build the temple you grew up going to.  I didn’t realize until I saw this place in your dreams where you actually lived.”

                “Maybe that explains it.”

                “Explains what?”

                “Why I always felt so comfortable here.  Flowers tended to grow here and most of the flowers I took to your statue came from here.  Isn’t it strange?”

                “Sounds like fate to me.”  He smiled.  “Will you show me around?”

                “Ok.  Is there anywhere in particular you want to see?”

                “No.  But this would be the only way you would be able to show me around your village and we certainly have the time.”  He held out his hand to her and she hesitantly grasped it.  He adjusted her grip so that they were holding hands again and he followed her lead.  The village was a walled village, so they traveled to the road and then to the entrance to the village.  There was another gate closer, but this way, he would see it the same way other travelers saw it.  The road ran the length of the village and separated the temple from the houses and shops.  This road had businesses on one side such as the bakery and smithy and on the other were various stalls usually set up by merchants.  Beyond the merchant stalls was the temple so as they entered the village, she led him towards the temple.

                Unlike most of the outside, the interior of the temple was in sharp focus.  It showed that she had been to this place often.  Paths or streets she never traveled would appear the haziest and would eventually balk her if she tried to travel down them.  She would either be unable to move any further, or she would be transported to a place she had been to.  It was the nature of dreams.  She would only be able to go to places she had been to before and would only be able to experience things she had experienced before.  Those dreams before where she dreamt he was going to harm her or r**e her, the action would happen but she wouldn’t feel anything because she had never been penetrated before.  She might feel pain because everyone has hurt themselves before, but it would not be the right pain for what she had been dreaming.

                While he had been to the land before, if he was the dreamer, he would not be able to dream of this village before entering it in her dreams.  There were limits and exceptions to the rules, of course.  Now that he had been to her village in her dreams, he would be able to dream about it now.  All people could fly and fall in dreams and everyone could swim or drown in a dream.

                She showed him the temple and it was a novel experience to see it from this angle instead of seeing it from above like he usually did.  After the temple, they went down to the market.  It was empty as things usually became when she wasn’t in a dream.

                “What does it usually look like when there are people here?”  He asked her.  She tried to tell him how this stall usually sells soaps and that stall usually had leather wears.  “This is still your dream.  If you focus your mind on what you want to see here, it will respond and do so.  Try it.”  She closed her eyes and thought about how it usually was in the market with the smells of baking bread and the smells of spices at another stall, the heat from the forge and the babel of voices.  The people were indistinct as they moved about.

                As they walked they would look at some of the items and she would sometimes say something about a particular item.  “These are the leather bracers we bought for my father when his wore out.”  They were a simple style without any tooling or dying and only 4 inches wide.   There were others there that would go all the way up the forearm and had various designs tooled and dyed into the leather.  Micah put on a pair with a thought.

                “What do you think?”  He asked.

                “They suit you.”  She smiled.  They walked down a few stalls and there were a number of brightly colored shawls.  He took a bright yellow one and wrapped it around her shoulders.  Later he took an ivory hair comb and set it in her hair.  They came across a cobbler stall and he changed his boots for a set on display.  They were much smaller than his feet, but they somehow fit anyway.  They continued to shop in this manner, encouraging the other to put on something that might be silly or look good on them.

                They eventually came to a shop that sold animal figurines.  She was looking at a carving she had seen many times.  It was a large bird with this large tail that fanned out around it.  The carving had been lacquered in blues, greens and a little black.

                “Do you like peacocks?”  He asked her.

                “Is that what it’s called?  And they exist?  This isn’t just something he made up?”

                He nodded.  “You won’t find them in any of my territories.  They like warmer lands, but yes, they exist in Draven’s lands.”

                “Draven?”

                “He’s the god of love and hate.  You’ll meet him soon enough.  You’ll meet all of the gods and goddesses eventually.  We’ll talk about that later when you wake up.”  She nodded.

                “They must be beautiful.”

                “It’s only the males that have the large tails.  They use them to attract a mate.”

                “Do you think I’ll see a real one someday?”

                “If you wish it.”  His eyes grew distant and she knew it must be time again for the evening prayers.

                “It’s time for you to go again, isn’t it?”

                “It is.  I’m sorry.  I wish I could stay longer.”  He kissed her hand.

                “It’s ok.  The time in between didn’t seem so long.  I’ll see you again soon.”

                “Yes you will.”  He kissed her hand again and disappeared as he sent her into her next dream.

                He opened his eyes and adjusted her so she would lay next to him as she had the previous night.  He relaxed as he listened to the evening prayers.  He hoped the closeness they were having in her dreams would continue when she woke up.

                The next day went as the previous one had.  During the evening when he walked her dream, he found her in her bedroom afraid of something that was trying to get in from the other side.  It was banging on the door and clawing at the wood.  She was hiding behind a bed and shaking with fear.

                His feet shuffled on the floor, making a noise that drew her sight to him.  “Micah!”  She wrapped her arms around him.  She seemed a little younger.

                “What’s wrong, Chelsea?”

                “It’s a demon.  Can you kill it?”

                “You’ve seen a demon before?”  She shook her head.  He understood then that it was a nightmare and her mind had made the ‘bad guy’ a demon.  The demon was still trying to break open the door and she, while still holding on to him, moved so that she was more behind him.  He knew that the demon would never enter the room because that was the nature of dreams.  She was not snapping out of the dream with him present as she had done before.  This dream was holding on.

                “I won’t be able to kill your demon, Chelsea.  You will have to face it or it will continue to pound at your door.  I will be right here with you.”  He made his broadsword appear at his right hip to give her comfort.  She clutched at the back of his shirt, burying her face into his back.

                “But I’m scared.”

                “I’ll be right here with you and you won’t be harmed.  I swear it.  Open the door Chelsea.  It’s ok.”  He drew her from behind him and pushed her towards the door.  “Have I ever lied to you?  I promise you’ll be safe.”

                As she touched the door, the pounding ceased.  She took a deep breath and opened the door.  On the other side was the bedroom she shared with Micah.  They could see their bed and on it was a much older looking Chelsea and a grief stricken Micah kneeling to the side of the bed.  He had one of Chelsea’s hands in his.

                “Please, just wake up, Chelsea.  I would do anything to see you walking around again.”  The other Micah begged.

                “Is this what you’re afraid of, Chelsea?  Never waking up?”  Micah asked gently.

                “Yes.”  She whispered as the image faded away.  She looked up at him and he could tell that she had been able to step out of the dream now that she had faced it.

                “My mother said you would be unconscious for several days.  It has only been two whole days and a part of another.  I expect you to be unconscious for a few more days.”  He brushed her hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear.  She looked down, and he could tell that she was still worried.  “The dreaming is good for you.  You need it in order to regain your health.  I would bring you into my dreams if I thought you would heal just as fast, but I’m sure that it has to be your own restful sleep.  How about we have a picnic?”

                She was confused.  A picnic?  She hugged herself.  He led her to the main room of her parents’ house.  She was suddenly ashamed and embarrassed about her poor and humble family home.  When he stood in it, he seemed like he was too large for the place; too clean.  She looked down at her hands and saw the dirt beneath her fingernails and the dirt that had become embedded into the creases and wrinkles of her skin.

                He watched her transformation.  “What’s wrong, Chelsea?”  She shook her head and looked away.  “Is there something wrong?  What has happened?”

                “You just look wrong in a place so….”

                “Humble?”

                “Poor.  Cramped.  Dirty.”

                “Dirty?  Chelsea, your home was not dirty.  Its well taken care of and well used.  That doesn’t make it dirty.  It can’t be that cramped.  There were six of you that lived here and you seemed to do well enough with the space.  So what if you were poor, you never wanted for anything, did you?”  She shook her head.  “So where is this coming from?”

                “I don’t know.  I see you in here and it’s wrong somehow.  Like you’re too big for the place.  Too…”

                “Too much like a god?”  She nodded.  “You don’t think I’ve lived in my share of houses that look just like this one?”  She shook her head.  He chuckled.  “I have.  I’ve lived in tents too.  Slept in a couple stables too.  While it’s been a long time, I feel just as comfortable in a home like this as I do in the mansion I created in my Haven.”  A large basket appeared on the kitchen table along with a large blanket.  “Come on.”  He offered his arm for her to take.  She reached out tentatively, wrapping her hands around his bicep.  He placed a hand over her hands.  He smiled as he picked up the basket and blanket and led her outside.

                “Concentrate on the field and that you want to be there and we’ll go there for the picnic.”  She closed her eyes and concentrated on the field.  “And step.”  He guided her in taking a step forward and she could feel the tall grass on her legs.  She opened her eyes and was surprised to see the field.  He looked around and chuckled as he realized she had taken them to the site of his first temple.

                He set the basket on the ground and spread out the blanket.  He removed their boots with a thought, picked up the basket, led her to the center of the blanket, and sat down.  “Don’t be alarmed when the food has no taste and the drinks don’t quench.  It’s how it is in a dream, but it’s the motions that make it fun.”  The basket seemed bottomless as items that shouldn’t have fit inside were brought out.  They snacked on sandwiches and tossed blueberries into each other’s mouths.  They drank wine and chatted, learning more about each other than they had before.

                All too soon for Chelsea, he had to leave as the evening prayers began.  As always, their time together seemed so short.  He kissed her forehead and bid her sweet dreams as he sent her to her next dream and opened his eyes in the waking world.  He listened to the evening prayers, readied them both for bed and slept with her next to him again. 

                The next day while he was in his work room and sending baskets of honey down to some of the temples to sell or give out, he received a communication request from Draven, the god of love and hate.  His skin was dark and his hair long.  He kept it in tiny braids, and women found him incredibly attractive.

                “Good day, Draven.”

                “Good day, Micah.  I have heard of the tragedy that befell your charge.  How is she doing?”

                “She’s still resting from the healing.”  He adjusted the view so that Draven would be able to see Chelsea on the cot.

                “You’ve been keeping her close?  You’re not afraid he will attack her again, are you?”

                “No.  I just want to be there when she finally wakes up.  She will be weakened and I don’t want her to want for anything.”

                “How much longer until she wakes up?”

                “At least another day.  Could be two.”

                “He won’t get away with this, Micah.  The amount of love we invest in our consorts makes what he did monstrous.  Especially when it’s been such a long time since you’ve opened your heart again.”

                “I’m sure that was his plan.  He tried an attack while Varia was healing Chelsea.  You know how much he blames me for his dwindling territory.”  Micah replied bitterly.

                “He does it to himself.  You can’t only use fear to keep people worshiping you.  What kind of attack did he use?”

                “He sent a man on a horse who was affected by plague.  He would have snuck in if Chelsea hadn’t warned me that she was a diversion.”

                “She loves you.  From what Varia told me, she wouldn’t have been able to regain consciousness like that without intense emotion fueling it.  From what I can feel from her, it was love.  I can’t wait to meet her at the Summit.”  He smiled widely.

                “Thank you, Draven.  You’ve always been a good friend to me.  Can I ask you a small favor?”

                “What would you ask?”

                “You still have peacocks that live in your territories, right?”  He nodded.  “Chelsea asked me if she would ever see a real one and I was wondering if you could record some for her.  While I was walking with her in her dreams, she showed me a wooden statue of one and thought they were made up.  I’d like to be able to show her what they really look like.”

                “I could bring you a pair of them at the Summit if you like.”

                “I wouldn’t know how to take care of them.  A recording would be fine.”

                “Of course.”

                “How are Nalia and Edwina?”

                “My wives are doing fine.  Nalia is insatiable, but I love it.”  He grinned.  Micah knew he had unknowingly chosen a nymphomaniac for one of his wives.  Draven didn’t always choose multiple wives, but when he found he loved both of them equally, chose to bring them both to his Haven.  It had happened often enough with him that the other gods were used to him having more than one wife at a time.  He only ever would have brought them over at the same time, not as one aged.  The three of them had a good relationship together and his wives had even come to care for each other over the years.  He had found that Edwina, while she did like men well enough, did prefer women and Nalia eventually came to realize that while she much preferred men, liked women enough to sate Edwina in that regard.  The love Draven had with Edwina was more intellectual and emotional whereas the relationship with Nalia was emotional and physical.  It was the best of both worlds for all of them.

                They made other small talk, but eventually ended the communication.  That evening, he again entered her dreams.  She was sitting on one of the benches that were on one of the many paths to the out-buildings of the mansion.  She was sitting with her head in her hands.  He sat down next to her and she looked over at him.  Her eyes were red-rimmed and he could tell she had been crying.

                “I was hoping you would come soon.  Micah, I don’t know how much more of this I can take.  I’ve relived nearly every memory I have and now if I do let myself follow the dream rather than control it, I dream that I’ve woken up, but I haven’t, that I’ve become like a ghost in your home, or that I’m trapped in a body that can’t even open its eyes to communicate.  I just can’t do it anymore.”  Tears were flowing down her face as she spoke.  Micah wrapped his arms around her and held her, rubbing her back. 

                “I’m so sorry, Chelsea.  It should only be another day now.  Your body had to use a lot of vitality when my mother healed you.  Had I been the one trying to heal you, you might still be fevered which would have either killed you by now or broken your mind and made you an invalid.  How about we go horseback riding?  Or we could fly?”

                “You’re trying to distract me, aren’t you?”  She replied.

                “If it will take your mind off it, I’d try anything.”

                She shook her head.  “I’ve had a lot of time to think and I want to ask you something.”

                “Anything.”  He whispered.

                “Why a virgin?  There’s nothing wrong with a woman who has had s*x before.”

                She released him so that she could look at him.  “It wasn’t always like this.  When I still walked the land, I didn’t think about whether a woman was a virgin or not.  We would satisfy an itch together and sometimes I would see her again and sometimes I would not.  I was waging a war to get a foot hold in the lands of the god Owen, god of wine and intoxication.  I strategized that he would be the easiest to take lands from while also not worrying that I might accidently take lands from my mother.

                “Once I finally had a strong hold, it was time for me to make a Haven.  Being around your followers for too long can make them have unrealistic expectations of you and they can also become too familiar.  It is a fine line to walk.  I wanted a companion to stay with me in the newly made Haven, so I asked the woman I had what I thought was a good relationship with to be my wife and to live with me apart from the other mortals.  She agreed and I thought we were happy.

                “I learned things about myself then.  I learned that I’m a fairly jealous person.  I don’t feel I had unfounded jealousy.  For example, I would never think she was sleeping with every man she spoke to.  But I did find I worried about how I compared with the other men she had slept with.  Draven, the god of love and hate, later assured me that this is normal for men and I suppose women too.  I became obsessed with it.  If she suggested something, I immediately assumed it was because another man did it with her and…..well, I never said anything, but the insecurities were still there. 

                “Also, while any woman I might have loved was dead, the men she had loved enough to give herself to, were still alive.  What if she loved them more than she loved me?  When she became pregnant, all my fears and doubts were confirmed.  I hated all women after that.  Thought them all to be lying snakes.  After she died, I promised myself to never love another woman; to never make myself so vulnerable.  It was several centuries later and Draven had taken me under his wing in regard to love.  I saw how he was with his wife and I didn’t understand how he could trust her so much.

                “It took time, but he eventually healed my broken heart and showed me that I could love again and that the actions of one woman shouldn’t condemn the whole s*x.  He pointed out that women who had not voluntarily had s*x before; so virgins and women who had been r***d, would be the best option for me so that I wouldn’t have such jealous thoughts about them.  Many centuries later, I discovered that if a woman was a virgin, I could give her a special gift during the wedding ceremony.  It’s not much, but at least it’s something.

                “When my last wife died, I decided that I just couldn’t do this anymore.  I couldn’t love someone, only to have to watch her grow old and die.  When she died, there were several years where I didn’t care anymore.  I was a mess.  The people that live here, know what to do when a wife dies.  They give me a year to wallow in my grief and then they start bringing around babies for me to watch for them.  They know how much I love being around them.”  He smiled sardonically at Chelsea.  “You’ll always want what you can never have.  But they help to bring me out of my funk.  But I was done for nearly four decades.  My resolve was sure and I threw myself into being the best god I could.  I became extra vigilant for demons and dragons and the hunters that started then were probably the best that had ever been trained.  Soldiers in my territories became better fighters and my lands were safe again.

                “One day, this little girl began leaving flowers at one of my statues.  It was certainly odd.  People will sometimes leave tokens, but they are usually left in hopes of getting something from me.  This little girl, just did it out of love.  I didn’t think much of it, thinking that it would pass, but she kept at it every day.  When the winter snows hit, I figured she would stop, but she didn’t.  She began leaving pine cones or bits of evergreen instead.  I still didn’t think it would last, but she continued for many years.  Such a simple act intrigued me.  I finally asked the local priest the name of the little girl that left me flowers.  I began wondering if she also prayed to me and if she did, what did she pray about?  I would listen to the prayers harder, trying to catch her voice, but I never could.  When she wouldn’t show up with her flower for me, I would worry.  I would ask the priest who would go and check on her and then take over a remedy to help with a cough or cold or sore throat or bring down a fever.”

                She looked up at him and he was not facing her.  He was looking out over the Haven with red rimmed eyes and a few tear tacks.

                “It was her that began healing my heart and I found that I was falling in love with her as she got older.  Draven encouraged me to begin a new search for a wife.  He could see that I was ready to love again and had even found love.  I asked the priest the young girl’s age but she was too young for the choosing.  So I waited.  I asked for her birthdate and while I was getting the house ready for a new bride, the date passed me by.  She had been eligible for a month before I began the search.  I was fair.  I genuinely considered the other girls, but I always came back to you, Chelsea.  The mark the priest puts on your hand helps to make it easier to find and track the girls still in the running.  Their prayers would be as loud to me as if they were in a temple and I would always be aware of them while they were marked.  I finally realized that the one prayer that had stayed the same for over a decade was also one of the shortest, which was why I couldn’t figure out which prayers were yours before being marked.”

                He looked over at her and her stunned expression.  “That’s why virgins, and that’s why it was you.  I have loved you for many years and that’s why it was so hard to deceive you when you first came here; to watch you cry and know it was because of me.  To try to make you hate me, but watch you fear me instead.  I was harsher because if I dropped my guard, even a little bit, you would see that I would do anything you asked.  If you ask me to, I will stay with you until you wake up and only leave you when the prayers come in.  I don’t think I can be in your dreams and listen to the prayers at the same time.  They might flood your dreams with the overflow.”

                She looked away from him, touched with how much he cared for her.  He loved her.  He loved her.  He loved her.  It was all she could think about for a few moments.  He wasn’t hinting at it even a little bit and he wasn’t trying to conceal it.  She had been coming to love him she knew.  She wasn’t quite ready to say the words to him, but she realized he wasn’t telling her this to make her decide to love him.  He was sharing his fear with her and laying himself as bare as he could.  She was the reason he had been able to love again.  She looked back at him and he was no longer looking at her.  Tears continued to course down his face as he wondered if he had revealed too much of himself to her.  Would she tear his heart out?  Laugh at him? 

                He felt a hand on his cheek that was opposite her and it pulled his face gently to look at his beloved.  She leaned up and over a little bit and he understood what she was trying to do.  He leaned down and met his lips with hers.  The kiss was a simple lip to lip kiss.  It was light and soft and ended far too soon for him.

                “I am not in love with you yet, but I am getting there.  Be patient with me.”  She whispered.  He smiled.  Of course he would be patient with her.

                “The evening prayers are starting to come in.  Do you want me to come back and stay with you until you wake up?”

                She shook her head.  “I’d appreciate if you stayed the night, but I can handle another day, I think.”

                He kissed her forehead.  “Then I shouldn’t be too long.”  He faded out of her dreams and opened his eyes in the waking world.  He clutched her to himself, elated at what had transpired.  He listened to the evening prayers, prepared them both for sleep and then entered her dreams again.  She was now in their sitting room, but instead of the two chairs, there was a large comfortable looking couch.  One arm was much taller than the other which was angled and was meant to be sat on with your feet on the cushions and leaning back against the tall arm.  She was sitting on the side that had the low arm so he took the seat next to her.

                “Would you……hold me?”  She asked timidly.

                “I would do anything for you.”  He adjusted how he was sitting so that one of his legs went behind her on the couch.  “Come up here.”  He said, patting his chest.  She awkwardly laid against him and he helped her find a comfortable position.  They settled with her on her side in the pocket created between his body and the back of the couch with her legs bent a little at the hip and knee so that they would go between his.  He languidly ran his hand on her side, stroking her.  Her head was on his shoulder and he would sometimes run his fingers through her hair.  He was content.  He wished this could continue in their waking life, but was happy enough to hold her here in her dreams.  He wondered if she dozed into a dream within a dream, but he was not powerful enough in this discipline to be able to tell or to even follow her there if she did.

                Morning prayers began and he was sad to leave her.  She was very understanding though and she watched as he faded from her dream.  It was in the afternoon while he was still tending to his lands when he heard a deep intake of breath.  He finished setting a light rain into effect over one of his lands when he heard her croak out his name.  “Micah?”