Balm in Gilead Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Of Mice and Men

The taste of victory was sweeter than Soma’s wine.

“I must have her.”

A sentiment Freya shared most deeply, almost as deeply as she detested the little godling across from her. “I understand what you mean, Apollo.” She leaned forward, letting the decolletage of her dress shift enticingly. “But still, it would be… unseemly to challenge the Hestia Familia to a wargame so soon after their first one.”

Apollo managed to wrench his eyes away from her cleavage after several long seconds. “I… suppose that’s true.” He shuffled, settling his toga back over his thin frame. “I wouldn’t want to participate in something so… ugly.”

How droll, but what could one expect from an immortal that didn’t realize togas had gone out of vogue a few millennia ago? Freya sat back, taking a sip of her wine. The two of them were in a massive banquet hall in Apollo’s mansion. The service was impeccable, the food bordering on divine (which took on a whole new meaning these days, and she wished she was back at the Hostess of Fertility already.

Her kind were truly, and Freya thought this knowing the full irony of it, the worst kind of people.

She would not waste her precious Taylor on the likes of Apollo.

“Indeed,” Freya replied. “A different approach would be better. After all, isn’t Hestia part of your own Pantheon?”

He snorted, slouching back in his chair. “Who cares about that brat. Besides, you’re one to talk about Pantheons. You and Loki haven’t talked in—.”

Freya smiled, and Apollo shut his mouth. “What was that?”

“Nothing… my dear.”

Freya felt a slight urge to take Ottar’s sword and run this bastard through with it. Oh, but they were so quick to forget that she was a goddess of war as well as love and beauty. There was much beauty to be found in the sublime art of combat, from a lustrous spray of blood to utter triumph over one’s enemies.

It was part of why she was so enthralled by Taylor.

It would be a lie to say never had a mortal seen such war as that beautiful little child, but she had seen more than enough to whet Freya’s appetite.

“Best make sure to keep track of yourself, Apollo.” Freya gave an airy laugh. “It wouldn’t do to overreach… going after your new toy.”

Or in any other regard.

Ottar was standing behind her chair because the entirety of the Apollo Familia would not be enough to keep him at bay. It would do Apollo some good to remember that.

It would do Freya some good for him to be irritated and short sighted and boorish, as was his wont, when making his first ham-fisted grab at Freya’s diamond.

“…Of course.” He cleared his throat, running a hand through his silky red hair as he tried to resettle himself. “So what do you suggest, dearest Freya?”

It was the laurels, Freya decided. They were gaudy on mortal champions who had proved their valor, but a little bit of showmanship was the reward of mortal ardor. Less so the realm of the gods.

Freya wondered what Taylor would look like, with that very same wreath adorning her sable hair.

She laughed again. “Simply a bit of circumspection, Apollo,” she said. “Hestia loves her children, but she has two of them now, and she’s never been the type of person who does things by halves.”

Apollo, manipulative bastard that he was, quickly caught her point. “You think she’ll neglect Taylor in favor of her new child?” He raised an eyebrow. “After how she performed in the Wargame?”

Of course he wouldn’t be able to see it. Apollo was ever a child chasing after his newest toy, like the sun chasing the moon across the heavens.

Not that he’d had much luck there, either.

“Oh I’m sure she’ll be most interested in both of them. But she’s a busy girl, and really, does Taylor strike you as the type of person who invites much attention?”

“No.” Apollo tapped his chin. “She did seem cool and mysterious, like a mountain shrouded in a veil of clouds.” Freya resisted the urge to roll her eyes. The wargame at the Amphitheater had revealed, among other things, that gods could reach a heavenly level of mastery with mortal hands. Left yet unexplored, was how a god’s skills might decay if they left them to atrophy in their mortal body.

But it wouldn’t do to bring that up in current company. Apollo’s sun-baked head couldn’t handle it.

“Exactly,” she said instead. “So Hestia will focus on her new child and her… job.” Apollo snorted at the words. Freya allowed herself a small mou of disdain as well.

Really, she was grateful that Hestia had given her the idea in the first place, all the way back in Heaven. So grateful, in fact, that Freya would refrain from seizing Taylor outright, no matter how much her heart ached for her gem.

Apollo chuckled, drawing her attention back to the conversation. “And then Taylor will feel neglected with her little goddess.” A rather unattractive smirk flicked across his face. “Which will of course have her looking for new opportunities.”

Freya nodded. “You know how mortals are, so transient. Really that girl is hardly any different,” she lied as naturally as she breathed. “I don’t see why you’re so obsessed with her. Or why you even need my help.”

“Why, because you see so clearly, Freya!” He made a grand sweep with his arms. “I was tempted to throw down my own gauntlet right then and there in the amphitheater! But I knew there was a reason it was a bad idea.”

More likely, he was so caught up in the idea of having that he never got to the point of getting.

Freya would say that gods could be foolish like that, but really it was men.

“I’m always willing to help out a friend, Apollo.” She took another small sip of her wine. “Hestia has no reason to accept, anyway.”

He hummed. “It would be simple enough to force her hand.”

“And how, again, did that work out for Soma?”

“True! Ah what a fool, his entire family disbanded, except for a pet stolen away for Hestia to play with.” Apollo laughed. “And then he got sent back to heaven as well!” Freya simply smiled. There would be a fair few more ‘foolish’ gods returning to Heaven by the time she was done.

Well, at least one more.

“Still, it wouldn’t do to wait, would it?” She cupped her cheek. “If you are interested in her, it only makes sense that a few other deities would be as well.”

“Yes. I have to make sure I get in front of the other undesirables.” Apollo’s mood dipped, and he started drumming his fingers across the table. “It wouldn’t do to ply her with gifts.”

“Oh, whyever not?”

Apollo puffed up his chest. “Surely you can see why, Freya. With the number of suitors you have, the gifts you receive each month must be enough to fill a banquet hall.”

Two, if she bothered attending more than a single event, but really, what was a few million Vallis between friends?

“True, it wouldn’t be good to seem overeager would it?” She smiled. “Taylor seems like the type of mortal that spooks easily, you wouldn’t want to scare her off.”

“Spook? The girl who downed a handful of Soma wine.” Apollo laughed again. “Are you sure we’re talking about the same girl? No, if I move too slowly, some idiot like Ganesh will get in front of me.”

Freya gave a polite laugh. “That sounds like a perfect idea. What do you have in mind then?”

Apollo gave a little hum, holding out his goblet. “I have half a mind to continue what Soma started off, for whatever reason. I could have a few smaller Familias… harass her a bit more, then it would be child’s play to step in and sweep the damsel off her feet.” He grinned, so proud of his ingenuity.

Oh sweet summer child, Freya thought.

But that act was played out, repeating it would be worse than counter to her plans.

It would be boring.

“Please, you can certainly do better than Soma, don’t you think?” She nibbled at a pastry, shifting so that Apollo’s mind was focused on her delicate shoulders, instead of the sting in her words. “Instead of something that might be traced back to you with a single indelicate word, why not something a bit more daring.”

“Oh?” Apollo grinned. “You have an idea for me, just like that?”

Freya shrugged. “I can’t say I understand the appeal, she’s a comely enough child, but nothing compared to my Ottar.” She reached back without looking, cradling her lovely’s chin for a moment. “Why not help a friend then?”

“Well, then, I await your wisdom.”

“Now, now,” Freya wagged a finger. “Did you really think I would give you my ‘wisdom’ for free? Come now, Apollo, we know each other better than that don’t we?”

He snorted, taking another swig of his wine. “So much for being friends,” he said, but she could see the interest in his eyes. This too was part of war. Making your enemy believe they understood your designs.

As for making Apollo pay for the pleasure of doing her bidding, well, that was simply good bargaining, wasn’t it?

He thought about it for a few minutes, while Freya nibbled at the hors d’oeuvres without a care in the world. Then he nodded. “Very well.” He made a sweeping gesture. “What can my humble Familia do for you this day, Freya? Let me know what you think your advice is worth.”

Freya laughed. “Come now, I hardly intend to beggar you. If this girl is truly as valuable as you think, then any price I’d think to ask would be a bargain.”

He rolled his eyes. “Next you’ll ask for my entire mansion, as if you don’t already have enough.”

“My dear, that is exactly why I wouldn’t ask for such a thing.” She smiled. “What are material possessions to us? We have more than enough to spare, don’t you think?”

“Hmph, rather.” He looked more than a bit relieved though. Some gods were far more interested in material possessions that they ought to be. Freya, on the other hand, bargained in the most valuable coin of all.

The mortal soul.

“So what do you want then? A favor, to be recalled at a later time?”

“How droll.” Freya sipped her wine. It really wasn’t as good as Soma’s. Such a shame she would have to return to heaven to drink more of his perfected brew. She wondered if it would taste even better now. Perhaps… she shook the thought aside. “Besides, what kind of friend would I be if I demanded you help me just because I helped you with this small matter?”

Apollo’s eyes tightened slightly at the reminder of the difference between them. Oh yes, he would do perfectly now, he would polish the tarnish off of Freya’s precious gem for her, all the while completely oblivious to her designs.

“What do you want, Freya?”

“Nothing much.” She hummed, a small smile dancing on her lips. “Certainly nothing you’d consider a bad bargain, after all.”

“You haven’t even told me what your so-called advice is, and you’re trying to butter me up for a higher price?”

Freya’s smile dipped into a sharp smirk. “Apollo, do you mean to suggest that my advice won’t work exactly as planned?” She set her cup down. “In that case, I think I might take my leave.”

“No, no!” He half-rose from his chair. “I spoke in jest, please, Lady Freya, let me know what you think is a proper price for your help.”

She hummed, making a great show of thinking about it, before pointing. “Why I think that laurel of yours would do nicely.”

Apollo looked poleaxed“My… wreath?”

Freya smiled, tilting her head. “Why not? Don’t you have more?”

Yes, Soma’s wine was sweet.

But as a blank faced Apollo placed his precious laurel of victory into her hands, Freya couldn’t help but think that victory tasted so much sweeter.