Isu was glaring at both of us with pure jealousy. I chuckled when I saw it. The former Death Goddess was definitely a possessive one.
Elyse and I moved closer to each other, the distance between our bodies mere inches now. I slid my hands down around the back of her hips and dug my fingertips softly into her firm ass. She bit her lip and let out a subtle gasp and a giggle. She dropped her arms from above her head and draped them over my shoulders, and for a few moments, we simply stared into each other’s hungry eyes.
Before I could move in to kiss her, she spoke.
“Thank you for everything you’ve done for me, Vance,” she said. “I wasn’t sure you’d actually stay with me. Without you, I never would have regained my bishopric and title from Nabu.”
“Hey, I told you I’d help you, so I did. Keeping my word is very important to me.”
“Well, thank you all the same. It’s rare these days to find a man who does keep his word.” She smiled at me, but there were tears forming in her eyes.
“Is there something else?”
“I’m happy to have my position back,” she said, “but also… I’m sad.”
“Sad?”
“You still have to retrieve your own title and lands from your uncle. I’ll help you, but after it’s done, there’ll be no reason for us to continue working together.”
“I know this is your home,” I said, “and there’s a lot you’ll have to take care of now that you’re bishop.”
“But?”
“Have you forgotten what Nabu said? He’s not the only one serving the Blood God. No doubt there’s others doing more terrible shit in the Blood God’s name.”
Elyse allowed me to twirl her around, then pull her close to me again. “What would you have me do? Leave Erst? After everything?”
She didn’t seem offended. Rather, she looked like she wanted me to convince her that staying in Erst wasn’t the best use of her talents, or the best way to fulfil her role as Bishop of Erst.
“The way I see it, you still have a lot of work to do.”
“Erst needs me.”
“Prand needs you. The whole kingdom. Assign a few trusted senior priests to run things here for you for a while. Come with me, help me get my title and lands back from my uncle. Then stamp out the rest of these clowns who serve the Blood God. Erst will be waiting here for you when we’re done. Besides, you need to put your new powers to use. What better way than crushing the enemies of the Lord and cleaning up the kingdom?”
She smirked. “Technically, you’re an enemy of the Lord.”
I ignored her and pulled her closer, our bodies pressing against each other now. “Now that you’ve had a taste of dispensing justice, do you really want to stop here?”
She considered this as we continued dancing. Her breath was hot on my neck, her skin soft beneath my hands.
“You’re right,” she said eventually. “There are more people like Nabu out there, serving the Lord of Light with one hand and the Blood God with the other. And there are a few priests who I can trust to take my seat here temporarily.”
We danced for a short while longer, but then Elyse noticed Isu staring at us too. She leaned in close and whispered into my ear.
“You should be very wary of Isu, Vance. I know that she gave you your powers, and that you’re now stronger than her. But I still don’t trust her.”
“I’m the Death God now, not her. There’s nothing she can do to me.”
“Now that you’ve stabbed her with her own weapon, which was forged by her, to serve her. So, what’s to stop her doing the exact same thing to you when your back is turned? Don’t imagine that she won’t seek payment for your debt. You took her divinity away from her. I bet she’s willing to do just about anything to take it back from you.”
“I’m not scared of her. I’m not stupid, either.”
“I know. Just be careful around her. I’ll do my best to watch over you, but I can’t be around all the time.”
I smiled at Elyse as the musicians ended the song and started packing up. We walked back to the table and found Rami and Isu sitting with Cranton, who was telling them about the fountain in the center of Erst.
“Vance,” he said, “I heard you all were interested in Xayon.”
“You have information about the fountain?” I asked.
“Well, I’ve done a lot of research on Xayon and her old temples. Back before the Church of Light burned all of them down in the purge.”
“Elyse said the fountain has Xayon’s symbol on it.”
“Correct,” Cranton said. “But there’s more, man. The fountain, and the rest of Erst, was built on a Temple of Xayon. One of the biggest in all of Prand. Old tomes and scrolls say that the temple was massive, man. Bigger than the Luminescent Spires.”
“Impressive. So, the fountain can give us access?”
“Could do, yeah. The temple had a huge network of underground tunnels. During the purge, Church architects flattened every part of it above ground.”
“Except for the fountain,” I said, growing a little tired of Cranton not answering my questions.
Cranton thrust up a finger and pointed it at me. “Winner! Someone get this man an ale! Or some greenfoil. You sure you don’t want to partake?” He flipped open his purse and grinned at me.
“No, thanks.”
“Tell the man about the wind-cursed fountain!” Rami suddenly blurted out.
“Okay, easy on the reins there, sister.” Cranton sighed. “I always wanted to stuff my pipe with some greenfoil and go exploring down there. The only stuff I’ve been able to find about it, though, hints at the fountain. Something about it leading
