Waking up with Lilyth next to me is something that would likely never stop bringing me happiness. I really liked Caei, and would happily be with her for the rest of my life, but she’d never be like Lilyth to me, and best I could tell it was mutual.

I noticed that she changed into the kitsune form overnight and since she was lying with her back towards me, I wrapped my hand around her chest and scratched her behind the ear with the other.

Time to test this one.

The results were great for both of us.

When we were cuddling together afterwards, still feeling the rush after our morning exercise, I said:

‘You know… I’ve been thinking.’

‘What about?’ Lilyth asked, her hand caressing my stomach.

‘About what we said yesterday. You know… us choosing ourselves over others.’

‘I guess that one warrants a follow-up.’

‘What do you think it means?’

‘That means, my love, that we are developing serious feelings for each other.’

My love, my heart began beating faster.

‘Promise me we’ll get married someday,’ I said, led by an impulse.

I don’t know how much time we have left. We can die at any moment. I… want this. I really do.

‘I promise… In fact…’

Lilyth got up from the bed and then knelt in front of me on one knee:

‘Aki of Dan-Hem, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?’

‘Yes, silly,’ I said.

‘So… how are marriages actually done on Dwynveia?’ Lilyth asked after we finished kissing.

‘The Church of Light usually does ceremonies, but if you aren't keen about that… that's pretty much it, I think. What did you expect?’

‘Back home we tend to have massive ceremonies and reception parties. And some formalities, but I don’t think it matters here. Let me ask Nyx.’

I waited for a moment.

‘She says that sometimes a priest of theirs would say the formulas, though since she is fresh out of these, she would be happy to do it for us if we wanted, but we should get Caei on board first.’

‘How do we do that?’ I asked her.

‘I have an idea.’

And when she explained it, I agreed to it without hesitation.

We ate breakfast with the rest of the girls. We still had enough leftover tacos and oddly enough they were still as warm as they were yesterday.

‘Back when Ereshkigal named me her Paladin she got me an excellent tea,’ Lilyth said. ‘It also never got any colder. So probably if gods give you food it stays good.’

‘Don’t worry guys… what happened between me and Ren yesterday,’ Caei told us after we finished eating. ‘We discussed it and that was a one-off thing. I don’t know what came over me…’

‘Ren by the sounds of it,’ Lilyth joked to the annoyance of them both. ‘No stress. We are happy you feel that way, though.

‘Yeah,’ I agreed.

‘Thank you. That really takes a great weight off my chest. That other me in my head is so annoying.’

‘That’s why we understand the situation,’ Lilyth confirmed. We'd be monsters if we were like “We know you have someone who was madly in love with Ren in your head, but want you to ignore it.” The same applies to you, Ren. You were in love with Caei. Your mind may say she is not Caei, but your heart… and loins…’

‘As Nyx said yesterday, we really can’t expect you to be perfect here,’ I added. ‘Take it at your own pace.’

‘And that's not because we don’t believe you can be faithful, Caei,’ Lilyth quickly said. ‘It’s because we care about you and don’t want to torment you by imposing strict rules here.’

‘Still, I will do my best,’ Caei said.

‘As will I,’ Ren said. ‘I don’t want to c- intrude.’

‘Umm… and speaking of being faithful, we also have something to confess,’ I said. ‘We kinda… got agreed to be married with Lilyth.’

‘Wow!’ Ren exclaimed. ‘That's great guys!’

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Caeileera seemed less pleased.

‘I’m happy for you guys, I guess that explains…’

‘Don’t worry,’ I quickly stopped her. ‘We discussed this with Lilyth, and Nyx sees no issue.

We both knelt before Caeileera

‘Caeileera of the Sanguine, we cannot imagine our lives without you. Will you do us the honour of becoming our wife?’

Caei was positively stunned. We took her completely by surprise. Tears of joy began flowing from her eyes.

‘I never… I didn't… Oh, guys, you have no idea how much this means to me. Yes!’

‘You three continue to have the weirdest relationship I have ever seen,’ Sav said, shaking her head. ‘But I wish you kids luck. Gods know you deserve some happiness.’

‘That they do,’ Nyx, said after arriving with a thundercrack,’ said. ‘You all do, kiddos, and I’ll be happy to help you all

along the way. Anyway… Aki, Lilyth and Caeileera would you stand before me, please?

We complied.

‘Do you, Aki, take Lilyth and Caeileera as your wives?’

‘Yes,’ I said, happily.

‘Do you Caeileera, take Aki and Lilyth as your wives?

‘I do,’ She said still crying.

‘Do you Lilyth, take Aki and Caeileera as your wives?

‘I do!’ Lilyth smiled.

‘I now pronounce you wives.’

She booped us all on our noses.

‘I would say “Now go fuck” but I think it would not be considerate for the other two. So I guess you can now kiss the other two brides and the goddess. If you want.’

She gave as a wink. We laughed and did. The kiss with Nyx was weird but not unpleasant. Quite electrifying, in fact.

Afterwards, Ren and Sav gave us hugs, and that was that. I was now married. To two women. By a goddess. In a crappy inn room. Not what I expected when the day started.

‘Anyway, let’s go see Irmen,’ Nyx said. ‘She wanted to meet you, yes? Might as well tag along since I am here.’

The inn was empty when we got down. It was just the innkeeper.

‘By the Light, you are a rowdy bunch,’ he said in annoyance. ‘Thought I wouldn't get a wink of sleep. And women shouldn't…’

‘... let you finish that sentence, mortal, if you ever want another boat of yours to be able to leave port,’ Nyx said.

‘Who are you?’ The innkeeper shouted. ‘How dare you…’

‘You may know me as Ter’ius, mortal,’ Nyx thundered. ‘So believe me I will dare.’

There was a thundercrack at the last word. The room visibly darkened as storm clouds gathered over the island, blotting out the sun.

The man looked pale like a ghost.

‘T-t-th-th-th-’ he stuttered in a weak voice.

‘Yes,’ Nyx said with another thundercrack. ‘So when I say that women can do whatever they want, they really can do whatever or whoever they want.’

‘Y-yes, l-lady T-Ter’ius,’ the innkeeper squeaked.

‘Glad we understand ourselves,’ the goddess beamed at him, and while the sky remained overcast the clouds seemed less oppressive.

‘You know, Nyx,’ Lilyth began after we left the building,’ I really hope I will never get on your bad side.’

‘So that means all the intended recipients of the message received it,’ the goddess smiled. ‘Don’t worry… in your case the message here was “we are on your side. But remember - you will inevitably encounter less lenient gods”. Believe me, I wouldn't have bothered with any of you, none of us would if we thought you were the kind of people capable of truly irking us off.’

‘Thank you for your trust then,’ Lilyth said. ‘And don’t worry… I learned my lesson.’

‘Let’s see how long that holds once you meet a god you don’t want to bone…’

Lilyth’s face grew blue with embarrassment.

‘I don’t, I mean… I’d never…’

Nyx giggled and said:

‘Gotcha!’

We asked around if anyone had seen Kaede, to appease our consciences more than anything, and the answer we got was that she went towards the mountain immediately after making it to the island.

‘Do you mind us looking for her, given what we discussed yesterday?’ Caei asked.

‘No,’ the goddess answered. ‘Not at all. There is a difference between “Don't become a gang leader again” and “Don’t warn a woman against incoming danger”. Care needs to be taken in this case for Ren’s sake but that's it. But don’t treat this as an obligation from me. Other than the tasks you get from me and the others, I will never require you to risk your lives. And even for those if it gets too dangerous feel free to run away.’

‘And I don’t suppose you know where she is?’ Caei asked.

‘Even if I did, I would not be able tell you where she is or help you find her. But I don't. We are not omniscient, Caeileera. We know more than you think, but less than you’d expect, and truth be told we have neither time, ability nor the inclination to track every single mortal. I wish I could tell you more, but god rules. As I told Lilyth I cannot provide you much with terms of world knowledge.’

‘I’ve been wondering about something, Nyx,’ Savri said after we resumed our journey. ‘Why am I the odd one out? With regards to the patronage, I mean.’

‘None of us thought you would be interested given the circumstances of your recent departure from the Abyss, and your overall goals.’

‘Initially, you would be right… but after meeting with you…’

‘I’ll be happy to take you on. Any of us would be.’

‘But most of the magic I know is Life…’

‘That matters less than you think. Aki knows barely any magic, Lilyth mostly Umbral, Caeileera a complete mix and Ren absolutely nothing. This is more about… personal development and helping you meet your objectives. The reason it was Irmen who chose Aki is because she wants to be a good and cunning leader. Plus a graceful fighter. That's the area Irmi is best suited to. As you may have guessed, Caei wants the Sanguine to become… more of an independent species. That's where Akh’ret will be the best. But since your overall goal is to “Leave Dwynveia”... None of us will be any better at helping you than the other.’

‘And you don’t mind that?’

‘Why would we? You left your loved ones there. The only one who can call you a fool for wanting to return to them is yourself. We will be sorry to lose you, of course, but we cannot stand between you and your happiness.’

‘Will you take me on then?’ the medic asked in a breaking voice.

‘It will be my honour, Savri Adzhenair.’

Nyx produced another pendant and gave it to Savri. Then, being herself, she booped her nose.