The snowflakes tumbled softly to the ground like I was standing inside of a shaken-up snow globe, and every instinct in me screamed to run out to play in it. I envisioned children laughing and twirling beneath the falling snow and cups of warm cocoa being sipped next to a window. Winter was one of my favorite seasons, but I usually ran hot-blooded, so the lower temperatures didn’t bother me the way they did other people.
Thinking about others’ distaste for the cold made me realize the snow also meant added hardship for Bastianville, and a frown creased my brow as I considered whether or not we were prepared for the upcoming winter storms.
I headed back inside to put on some thicker layers, and I ran into Mahini on the stairs.
“Good morning,” the desert goddess greeted me with a sleepy smile. “I can’t believe I slept in so late.”
“You’re usually such an early riser,” I agreed.
“This child has me exhausted,” Mahini confessed as she placed a tender hand on her lower stomach.
“You need to learn how to take it easy.” I covered her hand with my own, and I smiled warmly. “You work too hard. Maybe this baby will be a good lesson for you on balance.”
“Would you make me become weak?” Mahini frowned, and her eyes were like daggers. “I am a warrior.”
“You’ll still be a warrior after the baby is born,” I said, and I pecked her on the cheek. “Just a little bit busier.”
“We’ve already discussed distributing the child-rearing duties among the five of us,” Mahini said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “There will be no reason for me to miss training or going on expeditions with you.”
“Alright, momma bear,” I laughed. “By the way, it’s snowing, so I’d dress warmly before going outside. I wouldn’t want you to get sick on top of being pregnant. You’d be bedridden for sure.”
Mahini’s eyes widened in terror at the thought, and she turned to head back up the stairs without a word. I chuckled as I followed behind her, and when we emerged from the bedroom in our winter gear, Zenda was awake.
“Good morning!” The historian moved about the kitchen cutting up fruit and buttering biscuits. “Are you hungry?”
“I was upstairs for like ten minutes,” I chuckled. “You’re efficient.”
“I usually am tight on time in the mornings,” Zenda explained.
“The priests are early risers, and my father started taking appointments shortly after sunrise.”
“Yikes,” Elissa said as she bounced into the room like a ray of sunshine. “If you weren’t making so much noise, I would have been able to sleep until noon!”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Zenda’s eyes widened.
“No, no, it’s okay,” Elissa giggled. “Now that Bash is home, I’d rather be awake anyway.”
“Lissy’s sleep has been so odd since becoming pregnant,”
Mahini informed me in a conspiratorial tone. “Where she gets the energy from is beyond me…”
I chuckled at the differences between the two women and the love they shared. Mahini and Elissa had been friends before I met them, so they’d already known each other for quite some time. Now that they were sister-wives, though, they’d become even closer, and I hoped that never changed.
“Shush,” Elissa said with a playful glare. “If you’d stop doing training sessions every day, sometimes several times a day, then maybe you wouldn’t be so tired.”
“I must maintain my skills.” Mahini straightened her shoulders.
“So I may better protect our babies.”
“You are both with child?” Zenda’s eyebrows rose. “I thought it was just Caelia and Eva.”
“We were pregnant first,” Elissa said in a proud tone. “But we met Bash first, so…”
We all knew how babies were made, so she didn’t need to finish her sentence.
“I am excited to see the newborns!” Zenda’s eyes lit up with delight. “I’ve never been around children before.”
“Me, either,” I confessed with a sheepish smile.
“Pfft.” Elissa flapped a hand. “You’re a god, you’ll be fine.”
“Now, we were discussing breakfast?” Mahini craned her neck to peer over Zenda’s shoulder at the food on the counter, and we all laughed.
We were halfway through a light breakfast when Evangeline and Caelia joined us, but the two women looked awake and
refreshed as they poured their hot tea. Caelia wore the simple frock I’d grown accustomed to seeing on her while she worked in her shop, but Eva wore leather breeches and a plain white shirt.
Neither looked prepared for the icy weather outside.
“You know it’s snowing, right?” I said as I looked pointedly at their clothes. “That looks kind of thin.”
The two women glanced at each other and then at the rest of us.
“It’s snowing?” Eva groaned. “I hate winter.”
“I think it’s quite nice,” Caelia argued. “There’s Winter Tidings to look forward to.”
At least I had one person in agreement with me about the winter, and I looked at the others to gauge their reactions. Mahini seemed unconcerned either way, Elissa was already shivering, but Zenda sat straight-backed and blank-faced as she listened attentively.
Mixed reviews.
I needed to make sure everything was ready before the snow piled too high to travel through, so I made a new save point before I
asked any questions. That way I could remain the awesome all-knowing god they saw me as.
“It’ll be over eventually, right?” I chuckled. “How long do the seasons last in Sorreyal?”
“Depends on where you are, I suppose,” Eva mused. “Further north the winters are harsh and last nearly half the year. South of Vallenwood, it’s mostly just a wet season where the rains increase, but the temperature never drops below freezing. I’m unfamiliar with Bastianville, but I would say with its proximity to the mountains that we’ll have a good wet snowfall.”
“It doesn’t go away until spring,” Elissa sighed.
“Then the snow melts down the mountain, and we get flooded,”
Mahini added. “That’s when you know winter is over.”
“What was last winter like?” I asked.
It was a reasonable question to ask since it had been less than a year since I’d been summoned into this magical fantasy world, but it would be even cooler to bring up things they hadn’t told me yet when I laid out my winter preparations.
“Long,” Elissa grumbled. “Cold.”
“I take it you’re not a fan,” I laughed and tweaked her nose.
“You can stay inside the whole time if you want. I’ll have people bring everything you need straight to the doorstep.”
“You’re amazing.” Her face brightened, and she leaned across the table to plant a wet kiss on my lips. “Thanks, Bash.”
One down.
“I wish I could stay with her,” Eva said as though she could read my mind. “But I would go stir-crazy. I need to stay active, or I’ll drive myself insane.”
After I’d gotten all the information I needed, I reset back to my save point with a wave of my will, and we continued our breakfast without the questions. Bastianville had fared alright without me during the winter before, but food grew sparse, and dry kindling became a rarity, so I was determined to make this season even easier on the growing town.
Once we’d all eaten and the rest of the women were dressed in warmer clothing, the six of us made our way outside. My boots crunched through the snow on the steps, and I made a mental note to start clearing paths as soon as the flakes let up.
Maybe I could pay Dalwin a few gold coins from my pirate treasure hoard to have him do it.
Hell, the kid would likely do it for free just because the God of Time asked him to, but I didn’t want to take advantage of my position. I was a benevolent god, at least where the people of Bastianville were concerned.
Dressed in warm pants and heavy boots, the girls had no problems following the path I carved through the snow, but I moved slowly so I could pat down bigger sections at a time. By the time we reached the main street, there were a few other townsfolk out and about, but they were so bundled up that I couldn’t tell who they were.
“Bash!” Jaxtom boomed from down the road, and the giant of a man lifted his bare arm over his head.
The crazy fucker wasn’t even wearing a shirt.
“Aren’t you cold?” Mahini’s razor-sharp eyes scanned over the blacksmith’s pert nipples and goose pimply arms.
“Eh, it’s good for ya every once in a while.” Jax shrugged.
“Freshens up the blood.”
“If you say so.” Elissa stomped her feet and rubbed her arms through her thick, fleece-lined cloak.
Jaxtom laughed and shook his head.
“What are you up to?” I asked.
“Checking on Torya’s stock of firewood,” Jax explained as he jerked his chin toward the town’s only inn.
“You are a very cute couple,” Zenda said.
“Aye. Thanks.” Jaxtom actually blushed, and the blacksmith ran a hand over his buzzed head.
“Do you think the rest of the town is ready for winter?” I asked bluntly.
I trusted Jaxtom’s opinion more than most, and we’d been good friends ever since I’d first arrived in Bastianville back before it had even been renamed after me. I’d spammed resets until I’d mastered the art of smithing a fine quality blade, and I’d managed to impress the skilled blacksmith on my “first try” from his perspective.
I’d earned his respect, and we’d been buddies ever since.
“Could be better.” Jax spat to the side of the road. “Could be worse.”
“Cool,” I chuckled. “Let’s see if we can make it awesome.”
“Knowin’ you,” Jax said, “it’s going to be the best winter Bastianville ever saw.”
“I hope so, my friend,” I said, and I clapped him on the shoulder. “Let’s grab Riondale and get the cannons mounted on the walls first. Then we’ll make sure everyone in town has enough firewood to last them until summer.”
“We’ll need to clear the road out of town if we want to continue to receive shipments,” Caelia said. “I have a few contacts who take up the work every winter.”
“Perfect.” I nodded. “See if they can recruit a few more workers so we can extend the cleared section out as far as possible. I’d like to keep the roads open between here and the rest of my holdings.”
“That will require regular maintenance,” Eva pointed out.
“We have the people and the money to pay them,” I countered.
“I’m sure there’s more than a few people who just moved to town that are still looking for work.”
“The migration hasn’t stopped.” Mahini gestured to a side street that angled off the main road. “We had to build a whole new section of houses while you were gone.”
“The homes are starting to edge up against the walls,” Jax joked.
“We can start building upward.” I shrugged. “That’s what they do in the big cities.”
We started walking toward the barracks as we spoke, and the number of people on the streets increased as we passed through town. People swept snow from porches, carried armfuls of wood inside, checked on their animals, and some even just stood gawking at the snow.
The barracks were bustling with activity when we arrived, and a wide section of ground had already been cleared of snow in a perimeter around the building. The structure itself was just a repurposed house I’d given to Riondale to use, but it housed the wall guards between their shifts, the officers beneath him, and his personal chambers and office. The young general could rarely be found behind his desk, though, so I hoped he was still in the building at all.
The two guards on either side of the entrance snapped to attention as we approached, and they held open the door for me with their faces locked blankly forward. Riondale had been training his men well, and I was glad to see my choice in leadership was so well-placed.
“Great One!” Bryn, one of Riondale’s men who’d been sent with me on the dragon hunt a while back, greeted me with wide, surprised eyes. “It is an honor to see you!”
“At ease, Bryn,” I laughed. “It’s good to see you, too. Where’s your cousin?”
Bryn, Thanor, and Ian were all related to Riondale through their grandma, Yaya, and the canny old lady had raised them all single-handedly. They were good men, and they’d been loyal, trustworthy followers.
“The general just returned from his morning rounds, sir,” Bryn informed me. “He went to his office to do his daily reports.”
“Thanks.” I grinned. “Let’s grab a drink with the other boys some other time.”
“Say the word, Great One!” Bryn matched my grin with a shit-eating one of his own.
“Just call me Bash next time,” I warned.
“Deal,” the soldier laughed before he saluted me.
I made my way up the stairs to the general’s office, and I knocked on the door as I swung it open.
“Come in.” Riondale barely looked up from his papers when we entered his office, but then the seven of us crowded the small space, and he looked up with a grin. “This is a surprise!”
I ushered Mahini and Elissa, who were the most pregnant, into the two chairs on the opposite side of the desk from the general, and the rest of us stood behind them.
“It’s snowing,” I pointed out as though this explained everything, and the general lifted an eyebrow in a questioning manner. “Bastianville did okay last year, but there are a lot of ways we can better prepare while there’s still time. I need your help to organize some large-scale measures to ensure everything continues as normal for the rest of the winter.”
“Great idea.” Riondale nodded. “I’ve made a few plans in your absence as the season grew closer, but I’m not familiar with leading so many people, and I have been so busy that I’m afraid my plans haven’t been fully enacted yet.”
“First, we need to get the cannons on the walls,” I said. “And find a source for more cannonballs. Then double the amount of dry wood in storage, if not triple, and triple-check all our food storage levels. I don’t want anyone going hungry or freezing to death on my watch.”
Riondale nodded. “It will be done.”
We spent the rest of the morning discussing our plans, and the general had runners flying from his office and headed in all directions with various instructions. I had an army at my disposal and four towns to organize, so once Bastianville was set, I’d travel to Ivywood, Carleone, and Wyndvale to ensure all my holdings were thriving.
With the fast travel amulet I’d received from the High Priest for killing the God of the Purge, I could blip from one necklace to the other magically, so I wasn’t worried about the time it would take to travel throughout my territory anymore.
After Riondale and I were on the same page, and the army was put to work getting everything done, the rest of us were free to check in on the business owners to see what they would need. A couple of new places had opened up, and I was eager to check them out, but I didn’t want to play favorites, so I started at one end of the street and worked my way around to the other.
There was a new restaurant and a new tavern, and I noticed construction of a new inn going up on the opposite side of town from Torya’s. Bastianville’s population had nearly tripled since I’d first taken control of the town, and the flow of travelers had steadily
increased with no signs of slowing down. There was more than enough business traffic for everyone to get rich, but Stryker’s face popped into my head.
I doubted the cynical man would be thrilled at the competition, but it was nothing a few words with the God of Time couldn’t fix. The man had held a grudge against me at first, but after a few drinks and a few resets, I’d figured out the source of the issue, and it didn’t have anything to do with me.
“Let’s go have a drink at Stryker’s,” I suggested.
“Sounds great,” Elissa said with an exhausted sigh. “We’ve been walking around all day.”
“I could go for some tea,” Zenda said.
“Oh, come on!” I laughed. “You’re the only one who isn’t pregnant. Drink with me? It’ll put a fire in your stomach.”
“Do you have zuzu?” Zenda’s lips twitched into a smile.
“Not at Stryker’s,” I said. “But there’s spirits just as strong, I promise. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.”
“Alright.” The blue-skinned beauty dipped her hooded head.
“The rest of us will have to settle for tea, though,” Caelia said.
“It won’t be forever,” Mahini pointed out.
“And then we’ll have babies!” Eva squealed.
“I gotta get back to the inn for dinner,” Jax muttered.
“Tell Torya we said hello,” I said with a teasing smile, and the blacksmith nodded sheepishly before we parted ways.
Stryker’s tavern was warm and inviting with a fire blazing in the grate, and we took up seats at an empty table near the flames. To my surprise, it wasn’t the burly, typically sour-faced bartender who appeared from the back-room doors, but a curvy auburn-haired woman in a cleavage-revealing top and apron.
“Abi!” Elissa greeted warmly.
My mind reeled as the familiar-sounding name clicked a memory from another timeline, and I struggled to control my demeanor. Abi was Stryker’s wife who’d run off with a false god before I’d arrived in town, and the barkeep had been heartbroken and sour ever since.
“Hello, Abi,” I said with a bright smile. “I have been looking forward to meeting you.”
“Great One!” the busty woman gasped and immediately dropped down into a deep curtsy. “And his ladies! Stryker, Stryker!
Come quick! We have special guests!”
“What is it, woman,” Stryker’s voice growled playfully, and he came out of the back room an instant later, but his face lit up when he saw us. “Bash! I was hoping you’d stop in for a mug soon. I see you met my wife.”
The barkeep wrapped an arm around Abi’s waist, and his chest puffed out in pride. I was a little surprised the tavern owner had let the woman come back after she ran off with a false god, but he seemed overjoyed by her return.
I needed to know what happened, though, so I made a new save point with a wave of my will.
“How did this happen?” I laughed. “When did this happen? Tell me everything.”
“It was you, actually,” Abi said softly as she cast her hazel eyes to the floor. “You killed the God of the Purge, and I was freed from his influence.”
My jaw really did fall open at those words, and my head spun.
She’d been in the Zaborial Isles and had somehow managed to find her way back to Bastianville before we did, but we’d traveled to Arajah as well, so it wasn’t entirely unreasonable. She had to be a
very resourceful woman, though, and my opinion of her elevated based on that observation alone.
“The god who lured you away from town…” I began to piece together the story from what I already knew about Stryker, and what I’d learned about the power the God of the Purge possessed.
The asshole easily could have hypnotized the poor woman and broken the barkeep’s heart in the process. He’d managed to force me to turn my own blades on myself during one fatal attempt to kill him, but after that I got my hands on a protection amulet so I wouldn’t fall victim to his abilities anymore. I’d seen a few people who weren’t from the Zaborial Isles among the freed zombies, like Risthan from Arajah, but I had no idea the man had made it as far as Bastianville.
“He called himself the God of the Purge.” Abi nodded sadly. “I remember some of what he made me do…”
“We can forget all that.” Stryker rubbed her shoulder in a comforting manner. “You’re home now.”
“That’s incredible,” I breathed.
“It’s all thanks to you,” the tavern owner said as he flashed me a broad grin. “You’ve fixed all my ails, Bash. Just as you promised.”
I reset back to my save point with a wave of my will, but I had a shit-eating grin on my face when the chime rang in my ears.
“You traveled far to return home,” I said in an all-knowing voice. “That shows true strength of character.”
“I had to get home to Strykie,” Abi giggled. “My sugar bear can’t function without me.”
“Aye, that’s the truth,” Stryker said with a smile, and he was practically all googly-eyed as he stared at his wife.
I’d never seen the barkeep be so pleasant and happy, and it lifted my heart. I hadn’t even realized I was healing the man’s broken heart when I agreed to destroy the God of the Purge’s evil influence.
We spent the rest of the night drinking and catching up with the reunited couple, and it was truly heart-warming to see the obvious love in Abi’s eyes as she gazed at her husband. My women shared tales of our adventures both overseas and throughout Sorreyal, and I had to admit it was quite the story when it was all laid out.
I’d been a busy god.
The next morning, I was woken up by a loud pounding knock on the front door, and I threw on a pair of pants and grabbed one of my panabas before I trotted down the stairs.
Jaxtom stood on my porch, and his eyebrows were knitted together into a deep frown. The muscular blacksmith wore a leather tunic that made him look like a Native American, but he wrung his hands together in an anxious manner.
“What the fuck is going on?” I asked as I scrutinized my friend.
“It’s barely sunup, Jax.”
“Well, Bash, uh,” Jax muttered and ran a hand over his head.
“There’s no emergency, but I need to ask ye somethin’.”
“Um, okay?” I stood back to let him in. “I’ll pour us a drink. It looks like you could use one. Ever had a Zaborian drink called zuzu?
It’ll make the hair on your chest fall off.”
Jax chuckled and followed me inside, but he shuffled his feet and kept his eyes cast on the floor. I shook my head in confusion as I fetched my carafe of zuzu, and I poured two small cups in silence before I handed my friend one. I lifted it in cheers and tossed it back, and the blacksmith copied my motion, but he immediately began to sputter and cough.
“What’d ye call that?” Jax wheezed. “Hell fire?”
“What’s going on, Jax?” I pressed, and I took his empty cup to pour another round. “I’ve never seen you like this before, and we’ve
been through some shit together.”
“Well, it’s hard to say, ye know, heart stuff.” Jax accepted the second cup, but this time he sipped it gingerly. He still winced, but his shoulders relaxed a little, and some warmth returned to his face.
“Heart stuff?” I tilted my head. “What do you mean? Is everything okay with Torya? Did she leave you?”
“No, no, she’d never…” Jax cleared his throat, but then he looked me dead in the eyes. “I wanna marry her, Bash.”
“Oh.” I laughed loud and hard in relief, but then I placed a comforting hand on my friend’s shoulder. “You had me worried there for a minute.”
“You don’t get it.” Jax frowned. “I ain’t ever been married ‘fore.”
“Everything is going to be fine.” I grinned. “How can I help?
What do you need? Name it, and it’s yours.”
“I, uh, need you to say the words at the ceremony.” Jax shuffled his feet. “Well, I want it to be you. Torya, too. You mean a lot to us, Bash. We ain’t ever believed in a god until you showed up and fixed everythin’.”
“Done.” I clapped my hands with finality. “It’ll be the best wedding I’ve ever officiated.”
“You’ve done some already?” Jax raised an eyebrow.
“Nope.” I grinned. “That’s how I know it’ll be the best.”
“Aye.” Jax smiled faintly, tossed back the remnants of his zuzu, and handed me the empty cup. “That’d be nice.”
We talked a little bit more until the blacksmith seemed back to his normal self again, and then I sent him back to his betrothed with reassurances that she’d have the wedding of her dreams. The two were some of the leaders on the Elder Council I’d created, and the town had depended on them long before I’d ever shown up.
They were good people, and they deserved all the happiness they could find.
I spent the next few days helping with wedding plans, winter preparations, and trade agreements. I was a busy man, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. The construction on my church was nearly completed, and the engaged couple agreed to wait until it was finished before they said their vows. With the temperature dropping steadily every day, it wouldn’t be very enjoyable to have the ceremony in the town square.
When the final touches were made on the interior of the new building, we informed the betrothed, but that sent them into panic
attacks. They scrambled to gather up all the necessary items and got everyone organized in record time, and we decided to have the ceremony at sunset the next day.
There would be a potluck feast afterward, so we began construction of a large pavilion to hold everyone, but I had to admit there were some downsides to the colder weather.
“Everyone ready?” I asked before we made our way over to the church.
The ladies were all dazzling even in their thicker, fur-lined winter dresses and cloaks, and I let out an appreciative whistle as I scanned them over.
“I can’t wait to see Jaxtom and Torya finally say their vows.”
Mahini wore an ice-blue dress split over each leg to reveal thick leggings beneath, and her black cloak had a silver hem surrounding the hood.
“They’ve both been so good to the town.” Elissa looked graceful in a dark green velvet hood over a matching low-cut gown, but she paired the ensemble with long, elbow-length white gloves.
“Even though I haven’t known them long, they’ve always been kind to me.” Evangeline wore fur-lined breeches made of shiny black
leather, and she had a gray tunic tucked into the waist, but her outer covering stopped just under her butt to allow for more movement.
“They’re good folk.” Caelia’s soft purple gown looked warm with the mink fur wrapped around her neck, and her cream-colored hood contrasted the dark colors of her hair nicely.
Then my gaze fell on Zenda, and my jaw fell slack.
“I’m ready,” Zenda said in a soft, shy voice.
The blue-skinned goddess wore a dark blue number that clung to her form in all the right places, and the slits on either side of her legs revealed thigh-high fur-lined boots. She’d thrown back the hood of her midnight-black cloak, and black gloves covered her hands to the wrist.
“You’re all so fucking hot I’m going to lose my mind,” I said.
I said it over and over again, but it was always worth repeating.
I was one lucky son of a bitch.
I wore a military-style jacket I’d had custom-made for the occasion by Bellona, the town’s seamstress, and I thought I looked pretty crisp in my new getup, but I wasn’t worried about my appearance.
I was focused on the happiness of two of my closest friends.
We made our way to the chapel, and we joined the flow of townsfolk as they poured in through the open double-doors. Sarosh stood at the entrance, and she passed out programs to everyone as they entered. She wore a thick maroon robe, and her hair was tucked beneath a fur hat.
She looked just as I imagined a priestess should.
“Howdy,” I said as I accepted the program.
“A wonderful day for a wedding, is it not?” Sarosh smiled. “I’m glad you’re the one officiating so I can enjoy the ceremony.”
“Do you like weddings?” I asked.
“Very much,” Sarosh said, but then she tilted her head toward the entrance. “I’ll see you inside.”
I realized I was holding up the line, and I gave her an apologetic smile before moving on. The inside of the church was warm and inviting, and lanterns hung from the exposed wooden ceiling beams. It reminded me of a scene out of a medieval movie, and it was all mine.
I showed the ladies to a bench in the front where they could get a good view of the ceremony, and the other members of the
Elder Council took the other front row seats. Then I strode up to the platform to take a position on the center of the stage.
Jaxtom walked in a few moments later from a side entrance, and I chuckled when I saw the blacksmith in a tight-fitting black tuxedo-style outfit. His face was freshly shaved, and he smelled like flowers. He also kept straightening the sleeves of his jacket and clearing his throat, so I placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“Everything is going to be fine.” I grinned. “You look, and smell, great. Torya’s going to be so happy.”
Once everyone had squeezed into the building, the music began to roll down from one of the balconies, and the doors opened one more time. Then Torya stepped into the opening and paused to build drama, and every pair of eyes in the room leapt to her.
The innkeeper’s dress was made of lace, and it hugged her body like it was barely even there, but the skirt trailed several feet behind her. She wore a strand of pearls around her neck, and she gripped a bouquet of white lilies. Her veil covered her face, but I could see the shadow of her smile beneath the sheer lace. Then the bride walked slowly down the aisle in time to the music, and everyone watched on in awed silence.
Torya looked beautiful, and I flicked a sideways glance at Jaxtom to see his reaction. The love in his eyes was plain for everyone to see, and tears sprang into their corners before he dabbed them quickly away.
The innkeeper stepped up onto the platform, arranged her train and skirts, and then took Jaxtom’s hands in her own.
“Ladies and gentlemen, people of Bastianville, merchants and travelers from afar,” I said in a loud voice as I started the ceremony.
“Welcome to the union of Jaxtom and Torya.”