Chapter Eight
Caspian found his sister consulting with her Oracles. They were in deep discussion and he was reluctant to interrupt them. He lingered in the outer chamber, waiting for them to finish.
When they were done, the Oracles left, each of them bowing respectfully to him as they passed.
Cari stood in the doorway to her private chambers, waiting for him to join her.
“What brings you here?” Cari asked.
“Phoebus.”
“Your merman lover? What about him?”
“I want you to look into his future for me.”
Cari frowned at him. “You are well aware that knowing the future means you risk changing it.”
“Yes, I know, but what if there’s another shark attack, like the one a few days ago?”
“You’re worrying over things that might never happen. If I see something in the future that bodes ill for Phoebus, I’ll make sure to tell you about it.”
“You didn’t tell me about the shark attack until after it had happened.”
“Caspian, you are well aware that my visions don’t always occur with enough time for me to prevent them, particularly when the vision shows no fatalities.”
“Phoebus was hurt and it could have been prevented.”
“Not by me. There simply wasn’t enough time between my vision and the attack. Is he very shaken by what happened?”
“He doesn’t seem to be. I suspect I’m more bothered about it than he is. His lack of concern is why I would see him safe.”
Cari sat on her couch and put up her feet. “For someone who was considering ending things with him just a few days ago, you seem very concerned about him. Are you ready to admit you like him yet?”
“Of course I like him. I wouldn’t bother asking about his future otherwise.”
“No, I mean you really like him,” Cari said. “You are considering keeping him in your life for longer than most of your other lovers.”
“Very well. I admit it. He’s a sweet young thing and I’m enjoying teaching him about the pleasures that can be found when two lovers share their bodies.”
“Have you considered inducting him into your rank of priests?”
“No, of course not. He’s mer. You know as well as I do that the mer don’t worship us. I merely enjoy having his company in my bed.”
“And is Rafe becoming accustomed to having Phoebus around?”
Caspian realized immediately that Cari had already been sneaking glimpses of his future. “Rafe is jealous, as usual, and needs to be reminded of his place. His future is not the one I’m concerned about.”
“I’ve never seen you worried about any of your lovers’ futures. What makes Phoebus so special?”
Caspian shrugged. “I don’t know. I just want to know that he’ll be safe.”
“I’m sure he’ll be fine for as long as he holds your interest, which probably won’t be for much longer.”
Caspian shot his sister a sour look. “I don’t know why I bother asking you to look into the future. You never tell me what I want to hear.”
“You ask me because you know I’ll give you nothing but the truth.”
Caspian knew she was right, even if he didn’t want to admit it out loud. “There is one way I could ensure his safety.”
“Such as?”
“I could petition the pantheon for permission to make Phoebus immortal. Would you support me in this?”
“Why would you want to make him immortal?”
“To keep him safe, of course.”
“And you think making him immortal will accomplish that?”
“Of course. He would not fear sickness, and all but the most serious of injuries could be cured with only a thought.”
“Did Phoebus ask you to petition on his behalf?” Cari questioned quietly.
“No. He probably doesn’t even know there’s a possibility of such a thing. As one of the mer, he’s not accustomed to Atlantean ways.”
“Are you saying you haven’t talked about this with him?”
“Not yet. I would not wish to raise false hopes.”
“His—or yours?”
“Both.”
Cari took Caspian’s hands in her own. “Brother, why do you really want to make Phoebus immortal?”
“I told you, to keep him safe.”
“Immortality is not the only way to do that. He could live here on the Isle. If he were to swear loyalty to you and serve you as one of your priests, no one would question his presence in your home.”
“Do they question it now?” Caspian asked.
“There are those who have noticed that he is your latest favorite. They talk of how he has lasted longer than most of your lovers. The Atlanteans have a wager on how long he will be warming your bed.”
“They what?” Caspian glared at his sister as he snatched his hands from her grasp.
“I believe the shortest odds are that you will have lost interest in him before the next solstice.”
“How dare they?”
Cari laughed airily. “You know the Atlanteans wager on anything and everything. This has always been their way. It never bothered you before.”
“They weren’t betting on my love life before.”
Cari smirked at him.
“What?” he asked. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing, my brother, nothing at all. Tell me, why have you never considered offering immortality to one of your priests?”
“I assume you mean Rafe?”
“Yes. After all, he has been asking you to make just such a petition for some years now.”
Caspian grimaced. The thought of an eternity with Rafe at his side was not one he wished to contemplate.
“Your high priest won’t be pleased when he hears you wish to make Phoebus immortal.”
“These days, he’s never pleased about anything.”
“Can you blame him?”
“As my high priest, he is sworn to serve me. As a former lover, he is most troublesome.”
“Former?”
“I have not taken him into my bed since Phoebus. His jealousy is most unattractive.”
“What of your other priests?” Cari asked. “Have you bedded any of those since the merman?”
“No. Phoebus is a most satisfying lover.”
“Hmm. I seem to recall you saying how no single man could ever be enough for you.”
“For the moment, Phoebus is enough.”
Cari frowned at him. “For the moment? And if he were to join us in immortality and was no longer enough for you, what then?”
“I…”
Cari rose and stared down at him. “If you want to make him immortal because you cannot bear the thought of eternity without him, then, yes, I will support your petition. But if you wish to give him this gift for any other reason, then I cannot give you my vote.”
She left the room, leaving Caspian alone. He needed the support of the other immortals if Phoebus were to drink from the cup of eternal life. They each had one vote on his petition and the majority had to vote in his favor. If he couldn’t even persuade his own sister to side with him, what hope did he have of convincing the rest?
* * * *
“Phoebus, how would you like to stay with me permanently?” Caspian asked.
“I already told you, I like the sea too much to leave it for a life on land.”
“You could still visit Atlantis or any other part of the ocean, but you would be safe from harm.”
Phoebus kicked at the sand as they strolled down the beach. “You’re not making sense. I can already do that.”
“Not safely.”
“It’s safe enough. Besides, if I stay here forever, I can’t visit the ocean.”
Caspian drew Phoebus to a halt and sat them down on the dunes. “If you accept my offer, you would be safe. You would be immortal.”
“What do you mean? How is that possible?”
“There is cup that has a never-ending supply of water from the fountain of life. It is strictly guarded, but any god or goddess can petition the rest of the pantheon for permission to make someone immortal.”
“Have many humans become immortal in this way?”
“A fair number, but none in the last few centuries.”
“And how many mer?”
“None.”
“Not all of the Atlantean gods are accepting of the mer. They would never agree to making me, or any other merman, immortal.”
“They wouldn’t have to. As long as the majority agrees, then you could drink from the cup.”
Instead of being delighted at the prospect, Phoebus appeared troubled.
“What is it? Don’t you want to stay with me?”
Phoebus sighed. “I don’t know. I never even thought about the possibility of living forever. What would I even do for all that time?”
“You would remain at my side, of course.”
Phoebus laughed, short and harsh. “Until you get bored and want someone else. Is there a second cup to reverse the effects of the first?”
“No, if you tired of immortality, you would have to find a way to take your own life or have another take it from you.”
“So being immortal isn’t entirely safe anyway.”
“It’s an improvement on your current state.”
“I notice that you didn’t contradict me when I said that you would become bored with me.”
“Ah. No, I didn’t, did I?”
Phoebus sighed and rested his chin on his raised knees. “I don’t know if I want to live forever.”
“Not even to be with me? You said you loved me.”
“I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Why not? If it’s what you feel, then you were merely being honest with me.”
“Honesty isn’t always recommended.”
“I think you’ll find that in most circumstances, it is.”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s not like I can take the words back.”
“No, and I’m glad you said them. But if you love me as you say you do, why wouldn’t you wish to be with me forever?”
Phoebus shook his head. “Because you don’t love me. If I wanted to spend eternity with someone, it would be with a man who loved me back.”
Caspian could tell Phoebus wanted him to say the words, but he couldn’t do it. He cared for Phoebus, more than he could recall caring for anyone else in all his long life, yet he didn’t love him. He wasn’t sure he had ever loved anyone.
“I might grow to love you,” he offered. It was the best he could do, and even as he spoke the words, he knew they weren’t enough.
“No, you won’t,” Phoebus replied. “If you thought there was any possibility of that, you wouldn’t keep reminding me that I’ll always have to share your bed with other men.”
“I haven’t been with another man since the day I took you to the baths.”
“Well, that explains the hostility of your priests.”
Caspian grabbed Phoebus’ arm. “Have they said anything to you?”
“Nothing much,” Phoebus replied. “Just reminding me that you’ll soon tire of me, and I knew that already.”
“You don’t have much faith in me, do you?”
“I’m not Atlantean. I don’t have faith in any of you gods.”
“That’s not what I meant. Faith in me as a man.”
Phoebus shook his head, but there was a smile on his lips. “You have more priests than any other god or goddess, save Medina, and you’ve fucked all of them and cast them aside for the next man who catches your eye. It would be rather arrogant of me to believe that you’ll treat me any differently.”
“What would it take to convince you to accept the gift of immortality?” Caspian asked, hoping from the bottom of his heart that it was a price he could pay.
“I don’t know.”
“What if I give up all other men?”
Phoebus raised an eyebrow, skepticism written all over his face.
“No other man will share my bed from this day forth.”
“It’s easy to say that now, but what about next season? No, Caspian, you know as well as I do that you’d never manage to keep that promise.”
Caspian bristled at the—probably justified—insult that he could not keep his word. He held out his hand and a silver dagger appeared in his palm. He took the blade in one hand and sliced the tip across the palm of the other, drawing a thin line of blood.
He tugged aside his robes and placed the wounded hand over his heart.
“By this blood oath, I swear to you that no other man will know my touch as long as you live.”
Phoebus stared at him silently.
“Do you believe me?” Caspian asked. “Tell me you trust my word.”
Phoebus nodded. “I believe you, but why would you make such an oath?”
“Because I want you at my side, forever. Will you allow me to petition the pantheon on your behalf?”
Phoebus glanced out over the waves for several long minutes. “Yes, Caspian.”
“And if they grant my request, you’ll join me in immortality?”
Phoebus shivered visibly. “I don’t know. I need time to think about it.”
“You can take all the time you need.”
Caspian healed and cleaned his hand with his powers before lowering Phoebus back onto the sands. “Phoebus, don’t return to the ocean tonight. Stay here with me.”
Phoebus nodded and captured Caspian’s lips in a heated kiss.
Caspian would have liked to keep Phoebus on the Isle until the petition was heard and voted on, but such matters took time.
* * * *
Caspian looked around the table where the rest of the gods were staring at him as though he’d lost his mind. It was unusual for him to call a council meeting at all, and he had certainly never called the pantheon together for a reason such as this. Several immortals looked at him as if they were waiting for him to tell them it was some kind of joke.
“Are you sure about this?” his father finally asked. “I mean, you’re not exactly known for fidelity.”
Odessa turned to her husband with a glare. “As my son, it’s about time he was. I think it’s wonderful that our Caspian has finally found someone worthy of his love.”
Caspian frowned, but he knew the wisdom of holding his tongue. Telling his mother he wasn’t in love would do nothing to help win the support of the other gods.
Cari kept her eyes on her goblet, clearly lost in her thoughts.
“We’ll need time to consider your petition,” Antar, Caspian’s grandfather, said. “And your merman will need to decide if he can make the sacrifice necessary as well.”
“Merman?” Mariana interrupted. “This Phoebus is a merman?”
“Yes, he is,” Caspian replied.
“You failed to mention that.”
“I didn’t feel it was relevant.”
Antar coughed loudly. “Actually, his being mer does pose another problem.”
“What do you mean?” Caspian asked.
“Not only will he have to watch his family and friends grow old and pass from this world, he will have to make an additional sacrifice.”
“I don’t see why.”
Antar shook his head. “This is not my rule. The properties of the waters of life cure all ills, remove all scars and, in the case of the mer, transforms them into humans, permanently.”
“What are you saying? Phoebus would have to give up his fins?”
“Yes. It isn’t something we can change. The waters of life have only been drunk by one mer before, and the effect on the mermaid was immediate.”
“I didn’t know any mer had become immortal,” Caspian said. “Are you sure?”
“It was before you were born. Unfortunately, the loss of her fins was too much for her and she chose to end her life.”
Shivers ran up and down Caspian’s spine. “Would this happen to Phoebus?”
“I don’t know. There was no cure for what ailed her, the malady being entirely in her mind.”
“I’ll have to talk to Phoebus about this.” Caspian couldn’t keep it from him, even though he dreaded the thought of Phoebus changing his mind. His merman loved the sea and his mer form. To give that up was a sacrifice Caspian had not anticipated.
* * * *
The potted plant smashed against the door jamb and Phoebus ducked to avoid the shards and dirt as they flew in all directions.
“You devious little whore,” Rafe snarled. “How did you do it? How did you talk him into it?”
Phoebus had known word would get out about Caspian’s petition, but he hadn’t expected it to reach Rafe’s ears quite so quickly.
“I knew nothing about such things until he raised the possibility with me,” Phoebus said. “I’m mer. You know we know little of the Atlanteans and their customs.”
Rafe stalked across the room and pushed Phoebus into the wall. “You lying little worm. I’ve served Caspian since I came of age. Everything he’s ever asked of me, I’ve done it, willingly, and in the hope that one day he might wish me to join him for eternity.”
Phoebus stepped out of Rafe’s reach. “You’ve served him in the hope of what you might gain from him. I thought the priests were meant to serve their gods without conditions.”
“You dare to speak to me like that?”
“I don’t have to listen to this. These are my rooms, and I want you to get out of them.”
“As high priest of the God of Justice, I have the right to enter the quarters of any of the lesser priests.”
“I’m not a priest and I’m telling you to leave.”
“No, you’re not a priest. You’re just a whore.”
“Whores get paid for their services.”
“And what is immortality but the price Caspian is paying for the pleasure of your arse?”
Phoebus clenched his fists and resisted the impulse to smack Rafe in the mouth. The mer were generally a peaceful race, but there was something about the high priest that angered him to a point where he nearly forgot himself.
“Are you that good a fuck?” Rafe asked.
With lightning-fast moves, he grabbed Phoebus and flung him onto the bed.
Phoebus twisted to scramble off the bed, but Rafe was suddenly on top of him. For the first time in his life, Phoebus wished the mer wore clothing, so there would be something between him and Rafe.
He screamed at the top of his lungs, but Rafe only laughed.
“Caspian is meeting with the rest of the gods, putting forward his petition. There’s no one to hear you except the other priests, and they hate you as much as I do.”
“Get off me,” Phoebus shouted as he bucked his hips to try to dislodge the larger man.
Rafe thrust a hand between Phoebus’ legs and shoved them apart. “Let’s see what you have that he finds so fascinating.”
“Caspian will kill you when he finds out about this,” Phoebus warned.
“I’m his high priest,” Rafe whispered into Phoebus’ ear. “I’m untouchable…unlike you.”
Phoebus struggled in earnest. He scratched and bit any part of Rafe’s body that he could reach. He screamed until his throat felt raw, desperate for someone to hear him.
No one came, and he realized for the first time that he might be in real danger.
With strength he didn’t know he had, Phoebus clawed at Rafe’s eyes, causing the other man to pull back in pain. Fast as an eel, Phoebus slid from the bed and raced out of the room.
He only stopped running when he had travelled through the portal and back to Atlantis. He swam from the temple and headed to his home—his real home. The rooms in the palace were just that. His home was in the water, with the rest of his people.
* * * *
Following the meeting of the pantheon, Caspian found Phoebus in the ocean—where else? He watched him for a while before he made his presence known. The merman seemed so happy in the water. Could he really ask him to give up his fins?
A shark swam in the distance and Caspian’s mind was made up. If the only way to keep Phoebus safe was for him to become human, then so be it.
He got the merman’s attention and took him to land. Rather than risk interruption by Rafe or one of the other priests, Caspian took them to a deserted island where no one would bother them.
“I didn’t expect to see you today,” Phoebus said as he dried his fins. “I thought you were petitioning the other gods.”
“I have been. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”
Phoebus stilled for a moment. “I haven’t made my mind up whether I want immortality yet.”
“I know. The gods will need time to cast their votes as well. There’s something else you need to know, though.”
“Yes?”
“If you were to drink from the cup of immortality, you would become human.” Caspian bit his lower lip as he tried to read Phoebus’ expression.
“You mean permanently, don’t you?” Phoebus asked.
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that before?”
Caspian bobbed down so they were on a level. “I didn’t know. I only found out at the meeting. No mer has taken the route of immortality in my lifetime, but apparently one did before I was born.”
“They did? Who is it? Can I talk to him…or her?”
“I’m sorry. She is no longer with us,” Caspian replied, hoping Phoebus would leave it at that and not question him further in that regard. He didn’t want to tell him about the mermaid’s depression at leaving the sea unless he absolutely had to.
“Oh.” Phoebus looked out at the sea. “Then I suppose that’s another thing I must take into account when I make my decision.”
Caspian nodded, even though Phoebus wasn’t looking at him. At least this latest issue hadn’t convinced Phoebus to turn down the offer of immortality.
If only I knew how to talk him into accepting it.