Chapter 324: Visitation

Chapter 324: Visitation

Jadis sourly stared at the docks of Glitnir through the tiny window of her prison cell.

Well, that wasn’t fair. The plush bedroom she’d been put into wasn’t intended for prisoners. More of a “visiting dignitaries” kind of setup. The room was spacious, the ceilings plenty tall enough to accommodate her height, and the furnishings were frankly luxurious. The rugs were soft, the bed almost large enough for all three of her to squeeze onto, and there was an attached bathroom with a heated bathtub. The window wasn’t tiny, either. Small for her, but perfectly average sized for anyone else.

No, the problem wasn’t anything to do with the room. The problem was the fact that Jadis was confined to it.

While Jadis had been allowed a modicum of freedom, she was still technically under arrest. Runar, the bastard bear that he was, had argued that she was also a flight risk since she’d previously resisted arrest and was also clearly of a power level that warranted extra precautions. Vraekae had told the Valbjorn that he was an idiot in that particular way the elf was capable of insulting people without saying so directly but had ultimately had little choice but to agree that Jadis could not be given leave to wonder wherever she willed until the legal troubles were resolved. That meant no sightseeing. No nighttime dates. No fun. Just a nice room in a tall government building that she’d been escorted to so quickly after docking that she’d barely even had a chance to take in what little of the city she’d been rushed through.

One of the nice things about having multiple bodies was that it enabled Jadis to perform multiple activities at the same time. For the moment, it meant Jadis could mope around her apartment prison in three different ways.

“Good gods, Jadis. You’re pouting like a child. Is a night under house arrest really that terrible?”

Syd glanced at Aila, the redheaded mage standing in the open door holding a platter in her hands. Since Syd’s head was hanging over the edge of the bed, the view was upside down so it took a moment for Jadis to parse what was on the platter, but after a moment she realized that Aila had brought a variety small bowls that looked like they were filled with multicolored mounds of whipped cream. Maybe they were some form of ice cream?

“Blue, I’m so fucking bored,” Syd moaned. “I’m too bored to even sleep.”

“I’ve been sleeping for weeks,” Dys grumbled, her face planted into the thick fur carpet, her body partially under the low table set between a couple of couches. “I don’t want to sleep anymore.”

“This is not how I wanted to spend my first night on the mainland,” Jay sighed, her breath fogging the windowpane. “Couldn’t they at least let me stay in the same room as you all?”

“Apparently not,” Aila let out her own sigh as she shut the door with a foot, blocking any further view of the four guards stationed outside in the hallway. “Now that you’re awake, Runar is being a stickler for following the formalities of prisoner transport. At least you’re getting the ‘noble’ treatment. It could be worse.”

“He’s just doing this because I fucked up his face,” Dys grumbled, turning her head to the side so her words were more audible. “He’s lucky I don’t find him right now and shave the rest of his fur off.”

“Probably,” Aila agreed as she walked over with the tray and set it down on the table. “He seems like the type to hold a grudge.”

“Hug?” Syd pleaded, holding her arms out towards Aila without otherwise changing her position.

Aila’s lips quirked up in a smirk, but without complaint or comment she walked over to where Syd lay on the bed. As soon as she was in range, Syd wrapped her arms around Aila’s waist in a tight hold.

“Jay, this isn’t exactly an easy position for me to—ow! What are you—stop that!”

Syd did not stop and instead continued to playfully nip and bite as Aila’s inner thighs. With her head positioned so perfectly between her girlfriend’s legs, how could she be expected to resist? Besides, Aila had guessed which body Syd was wrong. She deserved some light punishment.

“Jadis! Stop!” Aila yelped out a laugh. “I’m going to get you for this!”

With such a dangerous threat looming over her, Jadis knew she had to act fast. Shifting swiftly, Syd pulled Aila over on top of her, causing the redhead to let out a cry of surprise. In just a few quick movements, Syd had the arcanist pinned underneath her. Any further protests that Aila might have made were silenced by a passionate kiss that went on long enough that both of them were breathless by the time their lips parted.

“Can you stay with me?” Syd asked softly, her eyes focused on Aila’s parted lips.

“No,” Aila answered, breathing hard. “I want to, but they insisted on separate rooms. Something about flight risks and jail breaks. I... can’t really think of the details right now. I don’t really want to, honestly.”

“Then I guess we don’t have much time before the warden calls for curfew,” Syd murmured, dipping her head down for another brief taste of Aila’s sweetness before pulling back. “We’d better get started.”

“Started?”

“We have a bond to renew, don’t we?”

“But—”

Jadis didn’t listen to Aila’s weak protest before once more capturing her mouth with her own. It had been weeks since she’d made love to her girl and she didn’t want to waste another moment. Sure, from her perspective it hadn’t felt all that long; she hadn’t been aware of the passage of time while she was in a coma. However, even the thought of not being with her lovers for so long made Jadis antsy.

“That’s where we come in,” Shoto said with a cheeky grin. “A bit of preferential treatment should do the trick.”

“Since you have been given a mission directly from Destarious, the temples will put their weight behind you to apply some pressure.” Aurea explained, her voice calm and soothing. “In fact, since the charges that prompted this whole debacle were those of heresy and association with the Cult of Samleos, we can easily claim some level of jurisdiction. The Holy Council will certainly be involved, in any case. We should hopefully be able to push the proceedings forward to a minimal timeframe.”

“That sounds good,” Jay nodded slowly as she leaned back against the couch. Her violet eyes flicked between the two priests. “Now, what do you want for the help?”

Vraekae snorted, a sound so unprecedented that Eir’s mouth actually hung open in surprise. The magistrate’s face was composed an instant later, but Jadis was certain she could see the ghost of a smile hiding in the cold woman’s eyes.

“It is gratifying to see that you are starting to understand the way politics work,” Vraekae complimented Jadis in an utterly deadpan voice.

“I always understood,” Jay glowered. “I just don’t like it.”

“To answer your question,” Aurea politely redirected the conversation, “nothing that we feel you don’t already want. A few minor considerations. Some time spent in the temple communing with the followers of our Lady.”

“Destarious, too,” Sholto cut in before shoving another spoonful of cream into his mouth.

“Destarious’ temple, too,” Aurea acknowledged. “A few works that will benefit the faithful. Nothing that should cause you any inconvenience.”

“And...?” Jay asked, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“She wants you to impregnate her,” Sholto let the statement thump onto the table with all the care and tact of a hippo in a crowded buffet.

With a graceful ease that made Jay’s eyebrow shoot up, the blonde priestess reached over to the goblin and flicked his floppy ear with enough force to make an audible snap. Sholto yelped, his hand going to his abused earlobe. Aurea never took her eyes off of Jay.

“A crass insinuation. However, the Temple of Lyssandria does want to ensure that the Nephilim lineage continues, even if only through crossbreeds. We understand that you are already in the process of trying to impregnate priestess Eir, correct?”

It was less of a question and more of a confirmation. Clearly Aurea already knew the answer. Jay still nodded, waiting to see where the woman was going.

“Excellent. We have priestesses in the capital who can perform rituals of fertility that should be able to help, since elves are notorious for their low fertility rates. That said, the temple will also want to ensure a diversity of offspring. The exact numbers are open for discussion, but we think it appropriate that you also impregnate several other of our priestesses as well. I think fifty would be a good number to start, if you agree?”

Jadis just stared at Aurea. Her silence went long enough that the woman actually started to lose some of her calm poise, a slight fidget appearing in her folded hands. The others in the room didn’t say anything either, just watching as Jay continued to silently watch the high priestess. Eventually, the blonde woman’s composure broke and she hesitantly opened her mouth.

“Perhaps a smaller number?”

“I am not going to fuck a bunch of strange women that I don’t know,” Jay stated flatly. “I am definitely not going to impregnate a bunch of women I don’t know so they can scurry off with my children to do who the fuck knows with them.”

“Well, your involvement in their upbringing would be welcomed,” Aurea said hurriedly. “And it isn’t as though the women you would be impregnating would be randomly taken from the streets. They would be devout clerics and priestesses of the faith who would make devoted mothers to a new generation of Nephilim!”

“I told you,” Aila said, speaking up before Aurea could say more. “Jadis has a lot of lovers. But she doesn’t sleep around. She just doesn’t work like that. You can’t just throw women at her and expect her to be happy with that.”

“That’s a shock,” Sholto said under his breath, though he quickly shut his mouth as several different women glared at him.

“If it’s a matter of selection, we can certainly make accommodations. A screening process, perhaps?”

Jay shook her head at the priestess, letting out an exasperated sigh. This was not a problem that Jadis ever thought she would have to deal with. A religious order was actually trying to convince her to breed her race back into existence. The bizarreness of the situation aside, Jadis just wasn’t comfortable with a temple mandating she sleep around and make a bunch of strangers preggers.

However, Jadis did plan on impregnating Eir, as well as any of her other lovers who wanted it. Was it that weird to do the same for other women who were interested? Now that she had started to get a feel for what she was looking for, she could sense that alien gut reaction that was coming from outside of herself. Lyssandria, or at least she presumed it was Lyssandria, was definitely giving her some approving vibes whenever she contemplated the idea. Her “mother goddess” wanted grandchildren, or so it seemed. Lots of them.

Looking at Aila and Eir, Jadis saw that while neither looked particularly happy with the high priestess’ request, neither looked like they were upset, either. She imagined some variation of this talk had already played out while she was unconscious, so they probably had had more time to come to terms with the situation than her. At that thought, Jadis didn’t really want to consider how exactly they were planning on proceeding with the breeding if she never recovered from her coma.

“Alright, let’s talk this out,” Jay sighed. “But first, get some more of this fruity cream stuff. This is going to take a while.”