“Well, if you had gotten here earlier you would have been privy to the discussion of our little problem.” Mama scolds before smiling, “We’ve missed you Neamhain.”
“I’ve missed you too, Ashlinn.”
Daxell is by our side, “Do you know where we can find Thanatos?”
“But of course, I know how to find him. He serves under my husband, Neit, the White Horseman.” Neamhain drops that little bombshell without batting an eye. Leaving the rest of us speechless.
46
Surprise!
(Daxell)
Everyone just stops to look at Neamhain in disbelief. Evidently, not even her closest friends have any idea as to who she is at her very core. I’m the first to recover from her announcement, “It’s very important that we speak with him.”
Neamhain stills, assessing me and LJ, and then nods, “Of course. I can arrange a meeting, but you will not only want to meet with Thanatos, but the rest of the four horsemen.”
“I don’t understand. Neamhain? How could you have kept this from us all this time?”Ashlinn demands as she begins to pace out of the corner of my eye. After everything that has transpired this afternoon she looks almost distraught with this latest revelation. “And who, pray tell, is Neit?!” She demands.
“My dear, my relationship with Neit and the four horsemen has been a secret from everyone at large. It was never my intent to hurt any of you with my omission, but it looks like the time has come for me to introduce you all to my husband as well as his fellow sentinels. You see, Neit is our god of war, it only made sense that he would become the White Horseman, but the rest of the Horsemen are comprised of Nyx’s children.” She looks at LJ before continuing, “Nemesis’ brother and two of her sisters. That’s why I think it will be pertinent to include all of the Horsemen in this meeting.”
“You’re married to the god of war?” LJ whispers in astonishment.
Neamhain smiles and gently caresses LJ’s cheek, “But of course. I am a spirit goddess, the banshee’s do my bidding. We are perfectly matched.”
Sighing Ashlinn stops pacing, “Well that does explain why you are always disappearing for long lengths of time.”
The beautiful goddess just laughs, “Ash, I do adore you.”
Dagda interupts, “Neamhain, you should have been the secret keeper goddess. I have never met anyone that is so adept at keeping secrets. When can you arrange a meeting and where. I’m not sure that here at the Keep is a good idea. They are the Four Horsemen of the apocalypse. Having War and Death together in one place is one thing, but then we don’t even know who the other two are.”
Neamhain lifts her chin to counter, “Neit would never do harm to those I love, Dagda.”
Alaric steps forward, “I don’t think that Dagda meant any disrespect, but he’s right, I would prefer to ere on the side of caution. We will agree to meet at Tarron’s. I spoke with him earlier. He’s been detained from this evenings meeting but has agreed that Raven’s Claw Keep can be used as a neutral meeting place. I will bring him up to speed later. We need to arrange for a meeting as soon as possible.”
“I’m afraid that the earliest that I can arrange for a meeting will be four days from now. Neit left earlier, that’s why I was detained.” A blush stains her cheeks that has me grinning because that could only mean one thing, the two had gotten busy before he left out.
LJ chuckles, “Okay, we get the idea. What could Nyx do in four days? I’ve had to acclimate to everything after my ascension and everything that has happened since. We can check in on Lachlan in the morning. That will give him plenty of time to wrap his mind around things in The Mortal Realm while we get some much needed rest. Neamhain, if you can speed up this meeting even by a day that would be helpful.”
“I’ll see what I can do, but when the four are together, I really have no way to reach him. I know that he is okay through our bond but that is all. He cuts me off. He tries to protect me from his work.”
“You mean war, strife and discord, famine, and death?” I counter.
She winces, then narrows her eyes, pinning me with a look, “You are one to talk. You and LJ have just ascended to become Retribution. The ways of the realms have been in play since the beginning of time, young god. The Four Horsemen have been at this far longer than you can even imagine. So I wouldn’t go pointing fingers.”
“Point taken. I’m sorry if I offended you.”
“You didn’t, but I would take care when speaking with the four. They are extremely intense, especially when they are together. They feed off of one another, even Neit, their leader is not immune to their combined power.” Looking around the room, she says, “I’ll do what I can. In the meantime, we need to stay vigilent.
Ashlinn turns as if just now realizing something, “You were the reason that the Four Horsemen showed up at the end of the battle with Morríganna, Neit was there for you.”
Neamhain smiles, “He always shows up when I go into battle but is rarely seen. He was happy to see me shed my crone persona.”
“I bet.” Ashlinn snickers. “Come, let’s catch up. Have you been shacked up with your god of war all this time? You’ve been gone for ages. Don’t think that I’m going to forgive you so easily, you’ve been keeping secrets from Lexie and me for over twenty years. Dagda’s right, you should be the secret keeper goddess, you’re so good at it.” Turning back to us, she says, “Go on you two. Tomorrow is another day and I can tell that you’re both exhausted. Get some rest. There really is nothing else that can be done tonight.”
LJ makes to give her parents a hug
