RD 3 Ch 2

Chapter 2

Simone stepped out of the car as Amanda opened the door for her. "Thank you, as always," she nodded to the driver. 

"It is a pleasure, mistress," the leggy blonde replied, tucking her arm into her gut and practically folding herself over in a bow to Simone. "You are, after all, the saintess of our order, and the most holy." A smile spread across Amanda's face. "We've done what you've asked, and we've continued recruitment." 

Simone gave her a slight smile as Nyx’s look of confusion passed between the two. The gorgon had barely fit into the Rolls-Royce, her tail winding back and forth in the backseat and even spilling out into the passenger seat up front. 

"Her order?" Nyx asked. 

"There's a group of us that worship Bran, known as the Mul’Branova. He has helped initiate a number of us, as well as saved us from demons and demonic possession." Simone answered.

Nyx nodded along. "He mentioned something about saving people from possession. I didn't realize there was a religious order." 

Simone gave the younger woman a polite smile. "And I would be their saintess." Bran wasn’t the kind to manage this sort of attention, so that fell on Simone.

Nyx looked like she was about to say something before closing her mouth.

Simone could already imagine she was going to comment on how Bran might feel about that role. But the reality was that Bran didn't always do what was in his best interest. He wanted forces to help him with the demons. He needed people who would follow any order, and would back him wherever he went. Knowing that, Simone had made it her goal to expand the order, as well as assist them in gaining strength. 

"I'm sure when Bran has a moment, he will stop by to inspect the order and casually wave his hand, empowering a number of you." Simone turned around, "Speaking of, where is he?" 

At some point in Vein City's traffic, he and Gloria's car had disappeared, leaving Amanda's car as well as the two limousines that had trailed behind them on their own. 

Amanda scratched at her cheek. "Gloria probably just wanted a moment alone with him." There was something she wasn't saying.

Simone wasn't dense. It was clear that a rift had formed between Gloria and Bran, one that she would need to pay attention to and help mend if she could. 

While Bran was an incredible man, capable of great feats, he could also be as dense as a box of rocks. A very lovable box of rocks. Chances were, well… she trailed off in her thoughts.

Whatever. With Bran's current strength, it wasn't as if Gloria could do any lasting damage. In fact, if she ever did get angry enough to fry his ass, he would probably think she was trying to help him train his resistances. 

Simone wiped a hand along her face. "So dense." She took a deep breath, put a smile on, and turned to Amanda. "If you'll do me a favor. Without Gloria, I assume you know where they will be staying?" She pointed over at the limousines that were disgorging their occupants. 

Thorin had opted not to take the cars and instead walked with Bran's mother from the airport. They would be a while. But Circe, her small elite team, as well as Bran's three servants, were shortly exiting the limousine. 

Amanda nodded. "Yes, Saintess, I will ensure that they find their rooms. However, would you do me a favor and wait to meet the Mul’Branova? Then I can introduce you to the new members." 

That made sense to Simone. Not to mention it continued to elevate Amanda. The two drivers were in a sort of competition.

Many of the Mul'Branova were hoping they could elevate themselves to some relevance to Bran personally.

Internally, Simone winced at the idea because she knew how they had been initiated and that put Bran off considerably. All of them would follow his words as if they were holy scripture, even without any compulsion from the initiation process. But to Bran, because he had that sort of control over someone, he would always keep his distance. 

Amanda had already stepped away to usher the others into the structure that lay out before Simone.

Simone looked around. While they had been away, Gloria and the Nester family had done a considerable amount of work. The patches of exposed rebar still stood in the foundation, it seems, in their haste. They laid the rebar and poured the concrete in sections, some of which were already having buildings placed atop them. It was a marvel that they had made so much progress in such a short time.

"The walls would be the last thing, Gloria said," Simone mused, staring out at the massive expanse. It was said that Thorin himself had loosened the soil of over a square mile in a single day. The thought of what he must have done to achieve that was something Simone didn't want to dwell on. The destructive power of the initiated still boggled her mind.

She pointed at the three servants before they could be led away, hooking her fingers back towards her. These three, Simone wanted to utilize.

They did a double take, pointing to themselves in confirmation, only for Simone to nod and beckon them again, this time with less patience. They hurried over.

The three of them were dressed up like dolls. Their purpose couldn't be any more obvious. Each of them was a honey trap, spread out in different appeals. Hercules and Zeus must have thought themselves so clever to put such tantalizing bait out for her lovely box of bricks.

"What do you need, Mistress?" They dipped their heads subserviently. Simone tapped her foot lightly and crossed her arms as she looked at them all over again.

"First off, quit the overly subservient attitudes." The three of them blinked and glanced up through their lashes at Simone. "You three are going to have to make a decision, a very important decision, that will change the entire flow of your lives." She checked to make sure she had their complete and undivided attention.

They were now staring back at her.

"Wonderful. Now, my lovely and intelligent man, Bran, will eventually use you."

The three of them started to smile before Simone cleared her throat.

"Not in the way you think. His importance cannot be understated. What is going to happen is he's going to come here and build out his forces and develop them in likely incredibly brutal methods." Their smiles were dimming, though their attention had not waned. "Great. Now you understand. You three have an opportunity to become three pairs of hands to help him, while also reporting back to the Heroes Clan on his doings."

Those fading smiles became pensive frowns.

When Simone glanced at each one of them, they were truly lovely ladies. Maybe if she played her cards right, she could at least get Bran to entertain them a little with her. Simone pushed those thoughts from her mind. It wasn't the time to be thinking with that part of her anatomy.

"Right. If I'm going to continue this, I need names," she said.

"Myra, Zyra, and Fyra," they said one after the other.

Simone blinked. "Are you serious?"

All three of them nodded in unison.

"I'll come up with something clever to call you all as a group later," Simone sighed. "You are all Hercules family members that lack bloodlines, am I correct?"

They all nodded. They were a diverse group. A bombshell blonde, a fiery redhead, and a raven-haired seductress. They really had gone for the whole range.

"What you need to do is make yourself available for Bran. As well as myself, Gloria, and Nyx," Simone gestured over to the woman who was standing quietly by the side, slightly stunned at the current conversation. "The three of us are, of course, Bran's women. And as far as he is concerned, our words are his." The three of them nodded.

"As you no doubt learned in the Hero's Clan, Bran will have the ability, if he does not already, to give you powerful bloodlines." She could practically see the way each of their eyes sparkled with hope.

To the Hero's Clan, bloodlines were everything. They were equivalent to your status in the family. Thus, Bran's ability to give them one, particularly a powerful one, was possibly one of the most enticing offers he could make.

Simone had no doubt Bran was going to give them one regardless. It was Simone's job to make sure her lovely box of rocks did so in a way that engendered loyalty. She wanted these women even more dedicated to helping him, rather than them feeling like they had tricked it out of him for one free exchange.

"Good, so you understand. Bran’s opinion of you will likely directly relate to the strength of the bloodline he gives you, and he holds loyalty in high regard."

They were all now nodding eagerly.

"I would love to be able to tell Bran that you three are only passing back absolutely pertinent information to the Hero's Clan. And that, of course, if you are nearby and see anything remotely secretive, that would not go back until it became general knowledge." The three were now nodding along eagerly again. "Good. I'm glad we all understand what is expected. I would like to remind the three of you that Bran went through the Hero's Clan prison and stripped all of those that the Clan deemed unworthy of their bloodlines."

Simone pursed her lips. She had a coup de grace of arguments here. "And do you think that if you become invaluable to Bran that he would rip them from you?" Simone raised an eyebrow. "And even if you think you could run back to the Clan, do you think the Clan would protect you from Bran?" Simone shook her head, already telling them the answer that the Clan would not. "No, the Clan would jail you, and then hope it made Bran happy the next time he visited and was asked to strip you of your bloodlines."

The redhead, Myra, who apparently was the smarter of the three, swallowed around a lump in her throat and nodded, only for the other two to pick up on the action and go along with her.

"Good. Good. I'm glad we understand each other. Because if we understand each other, and you three all help me, then I'm sure I can put a word in with Bran and make sure you get the outcomes you want." Simone put her arms around two of them and began walking.

Myra hesitated. "What's the best thing we can do?" 

Simone smiled wide. "I knew you were the smart one. The best thing you can do is come with me. We'll make sure to get you guys settled close to where Bran and I are staying. That way, as you are needed, you may be available for help in all matters. And remember, this conversation is between us and us alone." There was a hard edge to her voice. She had dealt with more than one girl over the years that needed a firm hand to understand the rules, lest they break them and upset the balance of the system as a whole. "This conversation is not for Bran. It is not for the Heroes Clan, nor Circe, nor Hercules, nor Zeus." She explicitly named even the clan leaders.

Zyra, the raven-haired one, asked, "Nor Persephone?"

"It is just for me and you and Nyx." Simone included the gorgon after a moment.

"Is Bran okay with this?" Nyx asked, causing Simone to squint at her. Throwing any doubt into this was not ideal.

"Bran is more than okay with this. He all but expects it," Simone said. "The problem is that the second someone makes a mistake, he tends to just execute them rather than setting expectations in the first place." Simone pursed her lips and glanced at everyone present. "And we have the lovely chance to be his ladies." She smiled, “He is offering us protection and power even greater than the clan heads of the Heroes Clan can offer us.”

With those words, Nyx started nodding furiously, the three servants picking up the gesture and going along with her.

"Wonderful. Now, let's see where in this budding fortress Bran is going to live. If I know Gloria well enough, his room is already built, or rather, his wing is already built. And she's staked out part of his room." Simone headed that way.

"Mistress Gloria seemed..." Myra hesitated. "Like she was upset."

"Oh, she was. Bran left her to go gallivant amongst the Heroes Clan for some time. She'll get over it. Even if she doesn't think she will right now. She just needs to be reminded why she fell in love with Bran in the first place. There is still a fire there that just needs to be restocked after it was banked for the night." Simone squinted off into the distance, wondering where exactly Gloria had brought him.