As I suspected, the celebration tinued into the night and through much of the m. Though I was not among those who were awake for the particurly te night shenanigans. The sex and dang and socializing had absolutely drained me and I crashed in the yurt some time before midnight.

  I wasn’t aloher, most of the tribe was in there along with Flyt and Ephi. Dekarru and Weren had stayed up to help keep things going. The oracle having been handing out blessings of fertility like dy and Weren w with Mahrk and Divh to make sure the food never ran out. I khere would likely be a number nancies resulting from the party and was holy w if I would end up ting for one or more of them.

  Especially sidering I might be on the receiving end of child bearing. I wasn’t pletely sure if I was still able to get pregnant after my ges as a Saint. But I did still have periods and that was an indicator that at least some funs still tinued as intended in the dybits.

  I’d asked Ephi about if she was still funal in that way with her own ges, which led to me asking about the ges and how that was happening. Turns out that etic alterations are not super hard if you know what you’re doing, just draining and slow. Every day Ephi would e to the Encve Distrid Dekarru would have her drink a special herbal co before using a plex magical ritual for about an hour. The oracle actually had help from a couple of other Path shamans for this so it didn’t pletely sap her like growing Flyt’s hair had. But it was still tiring.

  The ges were, as stated, etic. There was medie that Ephi o take every day to make her body it to a different bance of hormones. Some of the recovered memories from Dani’s life made me want to refer to it as magic herb HRT. But it wouldn’t likely affect her fertility, at least not for a year or two of stant treatment and medication and eve might not make her pletely sterile. So if Ephi wasn’t shooting bnks before, she still wasn’t. Thus meaning that as long as my oven was still w, there could in fact be a bun in it.

  The idea of that was not as scary as I would have thought, but I didn’t know hnancy would effect my duties as a Saint. Especially with there still being a tig cloaking sure my Goddess’s pantheon got a church up and running so they wouldn’t starve to death. But I think I khe basic idea of Vei’Ryn’s pn so two more days and steps could be taken. So mostly I simply wondered what my child with her would look like, how well I would do as a parent, and how lucky any child in this tribe would be, raised with the familial love that her of the souls that I was made of received. The idea was more sweet than bitter and I found myself smiling as I closed my eyes.

  It wasn’t long before I drifted to sleep in a pile of my loved ohinking about the future.

  The Dream greeted me and I found my body returo normal, or… mostly normal. My chest had swollen noticeably. I was fused for a moment but realized I had been thinking about how big my breasts would get if I started ctating. I rolled my eyes and sighed.

  A soft squeal to my side pulled my attention to Daisy, who received a hug from me immediately. “Oh gosh, Daisy. I’m so sorry I ignored you st night, I was going through some messed up stuff and had to go have a serious talk with Vei’Ryn. Do you five me?”

  A trunk ing around me and giving me a friendly squeeze told me I was still in her good graces.

  I smiled at her. “Okay, good. Also, I’m sorry but I o talk tain tonight so I don’t know if I’ll have time to py with you again.” She nodded and patted my head, then she squeaked out a series of noises and wiggled her ears and trunk animatedly. It was odd how it all just made seo me.

  “That Uvtrayl officer keeps having that nightmare a lot, huh? You been mung on it?” She me, but there was a hint of worry in her eyes. “Recurring nightmares be a problem, like a serious one, right?” Another nod. I sighed. “Well, I have a friend from Uvtrayl ing to visit soon and she has es so maybe she find out who she is. Then we get her some help. Sound good?”

  My Dream buddy nodded and pranced in pce, happy to be able to help someone even outside of her home realm. I gasped and remembered something. “Oh! Daisy! Hang on.” I picked her up and flew along one of my threads, diving into a dream and ndio a cute princess having a tea party.

  Ephi had no time to say anything as awareness of the dream came to her before I ulling on two other threads. In moments Flyt and Re were in Ephi’s dream with us. Re was wearing work clothes and holding an oar with a look of absolute fusion. Flyt looked like an atant and held an abacus. Both turo stare at me.

  “Hey! Sorry t you all here and vanish, but I was w if you all wao spend time with my friend Daisy tonight? I would myself but I have to go meet someone important.”

  Re and Flyt were staring at me like I’d grown a sed head but Ephi hopped up and rushed over to hug Daisy and cheer. The sight made the other two elves rex and smile.

  Re shook her head. “This power of yours is really weird. But it got my friend bad now my sister has a girlfriend. So I guess it’s not a bad weird.” She sighed and looked at Daisy. “That’s a baku, right?” I nodded. “We’ll py with her then, you go do your important Dream weirdo stuff.”

  I hugged her and flew off. “Thank you!” The st thing I saw was the four of them settling in to have tea. Adorable, all of them.

  The barrier into The Dreamer’s bubble loomed before me and I took a breath before reag out to knoot that I knew such a thing would work, but it felt like the right thing to do. My hand didn’t really impact it, it barely existed for me after all. But it did cause some disturbahat seemed to have more or less the desired effect, because after a few moments Vei’Ryn’s hand reached through, palm raised and waiting. An invitation. I took her hand and was immediately, gently pulled through.

  Arms ed around me and I returhe gesture. Squeeziight. “I am here, my Goddess.”

  “I don’t deserve you.” She mumbled into my ear.

  “You deserve to live, to make up for mistakes. If you want to feel like your existence has meaning, use it to make things better for the mortals of my world. Then I will five you.” I said the words softly. There was still hurt in me over what happened, but calm had won out and Charon’s words stuck with me. They really were trying to help, and they could help so many more people than just me.

  Vei’Ryn pulled bad looked me in the eyes. “I swear I will, our Pantheon will be a force of good. I promise you that on my very life. Charon, if you’re listening, I son my life and my soul that I speak the truth to Esme Dreamsinger, now and forever. Should I ever iionally deceive her again my existence is forfeit and yours to cim.”

  My eyes went wide, not just at the statement, but at the fact that some part of me Khat Charon was in fact listening and took the pledge pletely seriously. “He heard that.”

  She nodded and gave me a sad smile. “Good. Because I meant it. I want to earn your trust again Esme. I know this isn’t how things are supposed to go between a God and their Saint, but I fucked that up with Dani and Lietri. I have to earn you, not the other way around.”

  I took a breath. It was really hard to not love her when she went so far. I nodded slowly, trying to not let my emotions show, partly because I wasirely sure what they were in the moment. “I don’t think you and yours should suffer and die for one mistake, a mistake yret and are trying to make as right as you . I also think you help the people of my world. So I am yours, my Goddess.”

  She smiled and stepped back, then immediately looked at my chest and blinked. “Are they… bigger?”

  I covered my face with my hands and fought the ughter back, only a small groan esg my lips. “Okay so I might be pregnant. Very small ce. It was on my mind as I fell asleep.”

  “PREGNANT!? How?! You don’t like men! Wait, was it Redagga? I thought that was for her wife!” My Goddess floated around her room excitedly, her trepidation over me gone and repced with this ement. Not that I could bme her.

  But another voice joined in suddenly. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN HOW!?”

  I looked over and the increasingly familiar sensation of divinity ing my mind hit me.

  She was well worn boots and an upbeat traveling song. Wagon wheels cttering over loose stones and a mule pining about a heavy load. She was the flow of water and the boats atop it carrying people and goods and stories. She was a meandering creek leading to a small irrigation duct that kept a family fed and raging rapids that only fools and thrill seekers dared to ride. She acked earth and cobblestones and campfires along the trail. She was a street filled with merts hawking their wares and a game trail with no sign of civilization for miles. She was a e between peoples and pces and the living flow of ideas ah. She was stompi and clopping hooves and oars being pulled by strong arms and sails catg the wind and she opped, ever.

  She had long green hair that looked as though it was just blown into a tangled mess by the wind. It had leaves and twigs in it and the tips were dark as though wet. Her skin was deep brown, with bright green splotches and blue streaks scattered over it. Her eyes were m suns, e and red and gold, bright and ready for the day. She wore an operaveling coat and a gray belt poud had an oar strapped to her bad absolutely nothing else covered her. Yet somehow, the open coat, the strap for the oar, and the belt mao be perfectly situated to stantly cover her chest and groin, no matter how she moved or what angle I saw her from. It was what snapped me out of my divinity irance.

  “How are you not fshihe words left my mouth before I could think.

  She looked at me, blinked, and cackled. “Because it’s about the journey, not the destination! I ’t just go giving folk a look at the prize at the end from the get-go, now I?” She wi me then dashed over to Vei’Ryn. “Seriously, have you actually just been moping this eime? Not watg her? She and hers banged so many people i few hours! It was so fug HOTT!”

  I pressed my lips together hard, if only to keep my mouth from running. I don’t know what I would have said to that but I’m sure it would have been dumb. Vei’Ryn turo me and gave me a questioning look, so I took a breath and mao pull my thoughts together enough to respond. “There is a celebration for both Dekarru and Briggavel’s pregnancy happening in the Encve District. As I imagine most celebrations there, it quickly became sexually charged. I think a lot of people are trying for children with Dekarru there to give blessings of fertility. Just, kinda goes with the mood of the party.”

  Vei’Ryn nodded slowly. “So you and Redagga-”

  The oddess groaned. “Nooooo! Red and Brigga only have eyes for each ht now. They finally got their wish granted and they are all lovey-dovey and stuff! Ephi fucked your Saint!”

  “Ephirin? The elf girl in the boy body?” Vei’Ryn lifted an eyebrow. “Really? I hadn’t pegged her as the type. She seemed far too shy.”

  I smirked as I thought about Ephi’s behavior during the party. “Well, I think she just hated being looked at if people were seeing a boy. She’s actually very pretty and seems to really enjoy affirmations to that effect.”

  “So, how was she?” My Goddess came very close to me and I felt my cheeks turn warm.

  I cleared my throat. “My Goddess, perhaps you should introduce me?” I motioowards the teically covered divine being nearby.

  “Oh! Oh balls, I bnked on that.” She pulled bad grabbed the coat of her divine lover. “You, e introduce yourself to my Saint.”

  The oddess smirked and hopped over to me. “I am The Sojourner. Juriel Wrahn. Goddess of roads, rivers, and pathways. I link people and pces together, make folks step outside of their safe pces, and remind mortals how fulfilling simply traveling be! I bridge civilization and the wild pces and show just how much closer the two are than mortals think and how important nature is to us all, even if we don’t live immersed in it.” She said all this with excessive animation, spinning, bowing, hopping and posing dramatically all with a huge grin. Still never fully exposing anything under what one could generously call ‘clothing’.

  “And tease people apparently.” I smirked.

  Her grin deepened for a moment. “Hey, you see our dear leader with her knockers and pole out for all to gaze upon all the time. I’d be a weird one for being all prude. Even Kai wears something that shows a det amount of skin and she’s the warrior of us all. Besides, like I said, the journey is important, and teasing is a journey.” She wi me and spun back to her lover. “NOW! You should probably know that your Saint might have knocked up two more women before potentially getting knocked up herself, and one of those women was an Elder of Willow Creek.”

  Vei’Ryn grinned broadly. “Do tell me more.”

  “Oh no, I’m rewinding and we’re watg. Together. In fact, let me call the others and we make it a night in~” Juriel’s tourned sultry and I had zero doubt that this bubble was soon being to look not uhe party in the District.

  “I believe that is my sign to leave.” I smiled at the two and started to turn away.

  “My Saint…” I looked as Vei’Ryn came close once more. “I know that things are strained between us, but I want you to know-”

  I silenced her with a kiss, it was soft and chaste but held a great deal of affe. I gave her a small smile. “I know. You mean it all. I believe you and will tinue in your service so long as you prove yourselves a benevolent force. My feelings are plicated, messy, aive. But both the Ferryman and my ow tell me to trust you. So I will. But I want transparency from now on.”

  She nodded but then paused. “Ohing except oter, I swear it. Before you say anything, we literally ’t talk about this. I told you before, there are rules we must follow. If we broke this one a being as great as Charon would punish us for it.”

  Juriel came closer and nodded in agreement. “We really ’t say shit about it. We however suggest that you bend over backwards to get that alliance going right as soon as possible. Kiss asses, munch carpet, give up nd, whatever. Do it.”

  “Also, perhaps Redagga could be vio aid in military recruitment like the Elders suggested?” Vei’Ryn said, her tone poorly masked worry.

  I stared at them both. “I think I o get some things done, quickly.” I said before turning to rush out of the bubble. Being told ily that something was ing that would require major military power to face was not something I expected.

  “And keep leveling! You still o be stronger!” My Goddess yelled as I rushed off in a mild to not-so-mild panic.