Dark Secrets Unveiled (The Children of the Gods #45) - I.T. Lucas Page 0,35
gods need people to socialize with, a group that they can belong to. We are not meant to live in solitude, and as you know, the Odus could not fulfill that need because they are not fully sentient. Besides, I wanted to have children, and to do that, I needed male company.”
Alena smiled into her cup. “Obviously.”
“Borrowing from existing legends, I invented a new mythology that suited my needs. I was a chosen of the goddess Frella, her priestess, and the Odus were mute servants gifted to me by the goddess.”
“I’ve never heard of a Norse goddess named Frella.”
Annani smirked. “Neither have I, but as I said before, people lived in contained areas, and outsiders bearing new information were rare. Each group of tribes or clans had a slightly different spin on the basic Norse mythology, and it was easy to add one more deity to an existing pantheon.”
Folding her other leg under her, Alena covered both feet with her skirt. “Let me guess. Frella was the goddess of love.”
“Naturally. But since the Norse pantheon already had several goddesses of love and fertility, I had to give her a different spin. Frella was the goddess of carnal love, not fertility. That was why her priestesses were barren and forbidden to marry but were free to bestow their extensive carnal knowledge on deserving males.”
“Convenient. How did one become deserving?”
Annani laughed. “They had to bathe. After scrubbing themselves, their hair, and their garments clean, they were allowed to petition me, and I only chose those who appealed to me.” She winked. “You know my type.”
“Tall and fierce.”
“Not only that. Since I was hoping to conceive, I also looked for intelligence and leadership ability.”
“With those conditions, I can’t imagine that there were too many to choose from.”
“No. And that was a problem. For obvious reasons, I could not keep lovers for long, and the selection of worthy males was small.”
“Was it because you didn’t want to get attached?”
“That too. But do not forget that after each encounter, I had to thrall some of their memories away. In the throes of passion, my control over the glow of my eyes and skin was tenuous, and sometimes it slipped completely. I could not repeatedly thrall my lovers without causing them damage. Back then, I did not know how many consecutive thralls were safe, so I experimented, pushing the boundaries. The upper limit was one month spent with one male.”
Alena frowned. “That’s too long.”
“I agree. Most got up to three consecutive nights, and then they had to petition me again. I had a rotation. But since I only accepted bachelors, that selection was pitifully limited. They were either awfully young and inexperienced or old widowers. I did not enjoy myself.”
Alena grimaced. “I can imagine.”
“Until Gudbrand petitioned me.”
“I assume that was David’s other self.”
“Correct. He was the son of a chieftain, older, bigger, stronger, a fierce warrior, and a natural leader. I wanted him to father my child.”
“So, you kept him for too long and fried his brain?”
Annani sighed. “No. I planned to spend the allotted month with him, let him go, and then wait for him to petition me again. But things did not work out as I planned.”
“Was he immune to thralling?”
“Not at first. But he had an incredibly strong personality, a true berserker. And when in the berserker trance-like fury, he was uncontrollable, which meant not susceptible to thralling.”
“Weren’t the berserkers supposed to do that only in the heat of battle?”
Annani smiled sadly. “Yes, but post-traumatic stress disorder is not the product of the twenty-first century. It is as old as humans fighting and killing each other. Normally, Gudbrand was a charming guy and an exceptional lover, but unbeknownst to me or even to him, his berserker was easily triggered.”
Alena’s hand flew to her chest. “Did he hurt you?”
“He didn’t get the chance. But I was unprepared, and my reaction was born out of fear. Needless to say, the outcome was disastrous. Knowing what I know today, I could have handled it better.”
24
David
Each night Gudbrand had promised himself that he would refuse to chew weed with Ania, and each morning he’d gone home remembering next to nothing, which meant that he’d succumbed to her wishes and accepted the offer.
Or perhaps there was another explanation?
Perhaps Ania really was a demoness or a witch, and she took his memories away?
But why would she do that?
He could remember the sex vividly, the immense pleasure and satisfaction, his and hers, so why couldn’t he remember anything else?