So much for judging the abbess over power dynamics.

It occurred to me that we weren’t speaking English, nor had the Cultivator. And even though I could understand everything Makayla was saying, the word vessel had enough nuance that I should’ve have jumped to conclusions.

Still, based on context, I had my suspicions. “What do you mean by Kavala’s Vessel? Is my body going to host the goddess?”

Makayla looked around at the bewildered stares. “Everyone return to your business. It’s almost time for morning prayers.”

The women all formed halos above their head. Then they filed out, whispering.

Still, my new elf ears picked out everything.

“What’s wrong with Alyna?”

“Did she hit her head?”

“You saw how clumsy she was!”

“Did the abbess bed her silly?”

Heat flared to my cheeks. Apparently, Alyna’s and Makayla’s relationship was no secret. Whether the others thought of one or the other as a predator, I didn’t know at the time.

Makayla turned from their retreating backs back to me and took my hands.

A tingling shot up my spine. Even if I’d only known her for half an hour, my body responded to her touch.

“What is going on, Alyna?” she asked.

How do you explain to someone that their lover’s soul is gone, replaced by a misfit loser from a different world?

Answer is, you don’t. I shifted of my feet, and would’ve tripped had she not been holding on to me.

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember anything.” Looking up, I gestured to the murals. “I don’t even know anything about Kavala. Are these stories about her?”

“Some are tales from when she and the other gods walked the world, some are of her incarnations in a Vessel, and some are prophecy.”

A Vessel. Alyna.

Me.

At least, if I remained in Alyna’s body. And if that were the case, I would need to find out just what a Vessel was.

I pushed that to the back of my mind, and studied the ceiling.

And gasped.

The moon of swirling blue, which fit perfectly in the hole in the dome, had brightened at the edge.

“What’s wrong?” Makayla asked, concern in her tone.

“The moon, it’s getting brighter.”

“That’s no moon,” she deadpanned, channeling her inner Han Solo. Though in this case, any awe was over my ignorance.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

“What is it?”

“Kavala’s Eye. Come.” She took my hand, tugged me to the edge of the chamber, and gestured back through the hole.

From this new angle, Kavala’s Eye didn’t take up the entire opening. The sky brightened on one side like early dawn; and in that sliver, a silvery sphere similar in size to Earth’s moon hung.

While I’d excelled in Introduction to Women’s Studies, I’d just gotten by in basic Astronomy. Perhaps we were now on a moon, orbiting a planet the locals called Kavala’s Eye?

I pointed to the moon.

Makayla’s hand closed around my finger as she gasped. She opened my hand. “We’re not humans. Don’t be so rude.”

That would explain her reaction to the Cultivator pointing at the giant vase earlier.

I opened my fingers and gestured the way she had, albeit with far less grace. “What’s its name?”

She put palms on my cheeks and turned my head to face a mural near the opening of the dome. “His name is Kili, the Trickster.”

Like Loki, maybe. I studied the painting, where Kavala sat in the lap of an impossibly stunning elf male with silver hair. They were locked in an embrace, their mutual affection spilling off the image.

A primal heat bloomed in my core. The thin strip of cloth covering my nethers would drench through if I looked for too long, so tore my gaze away. “Is that past or prophecy?”

“That was from a thousand cycles ago, on a rare occasion when both Kili and Kavala entered the world through Vessels at the same time. The two saved our people from a human tyrant.”

She really didn’t like humans. With an open hand, I gestured to the lower mural depicting a human. “Is that past or prophecy?”

“Prophecy.” Makayla’s face pinched up like a raisin. Well, a raisin on botox, since there wasn’t a single errant crease on her smooth skin.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s sacrilege.”

“To sleep with a human?” Wasn’t Kavala patron goddess of love in all its forms? This smacked of my parent’s racism.

“You saw that violent monster.” Makayla shuddered again. “So… hideous. And hairy. And that smell.”

After having spent all but the last hour of my life as a human, I might’ve taken offense, but couldn’t disagree. And especially compared to these beautiful beings, humans were definitely lacking.

But if humans were hideous, violent monsters… “What about the minotaur?” That was utterly gross. Hopefully, that wasn’t prophecy which a Vessel—namely, me—would have to experience.

Still, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the scene. I rubbed my neck.

“Past.” Makayla said.

Relief washed over me. “Did that happen to a Vessel?”

She shook her head. “That’s how Kavala’s original earthly form perished and her essence returned to the heavens.”

Strangled by a minotaur. My hand strayed to my throat. As an avid consumer of fantasy stories, I could surmise how this played out. “Thus, the prohibition against choking.”

Makayla cast her eyes downward, and prodded the mossy floor with her pretty toes. She whispered, “You’ve been obsessed with it, ever since we were old enough to know what intercourse was.”

A chill ran up my spine as I rubbed my neck. I wasn’t one to judge kinks, but Alyna had a dangerous one. Unlike her, I’d tried not to think about sex at all, since my body hadn’t been properly equipped.

Now it was.

Not only that, it responded to Makayla’s touch.

But for how long? What did it mean to be a vessel? I could guess from her story about Kili and Kavala.

“So,” I asked, “This body will host the Goddess?”

“This body?” Her pretty brow again formed as many wrinkles as someone with botox treatments. “ You mean, your body?”

“Uh, yes?” I made a decisive nod. “I mean, yes.”

She gave me a curious look. “Not exactly. A mortal shell couldn’t possibly hold all her essence. Only a small portion. A spark.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. By some cruel, cosmic joke, these poor people had expected Alyna’s body to host a goddess’ spark, but instead got me.

And me, not only did I have a body that now matched my identity… “So it will still be me, imbued with the power of a goddess?”

She looked down. “Well, your body will host her Will.”

All excitement drained. “What does that mean? Will I just become a bystander, experiencing what she does with this body?”

Makayla licked her lips. “We’re not exactly sure.”

My head swam, and I swayed on my feet.

“Don’t worry, it may not happen our lifetimes. Many Vessels have come and gone since Kavala last graced the world with her Presence. She only comes in times of great need.”

Given how Human Cultivators had orphaned me and her, what if that time was now?

My vision darkening at the edges, and I swayed on my feet.