Salem, Vivian, and Lucy joined us to eat their dinner and we updated them on everything that had happened since they had gone into their F.I.Ts. We didn’t mention the budding intimate relationship between Daenyss, Rei, and me though, because that was something that we wished to discuss with Salem privately. Still, with all the God-related stuff, Jonesy’s fate, Succubae, and Domains to talk about, there was plenty to tell them.

Salem was eager to learn more about my new Domains while her new Liyun’shael daughter wanted to give me a report on how productive their time in the F.I.Ts had been. In addition to Lucy becoming a ‘kitty’ as she had wanted, Vivian and Lucy had picked up a variety of new skills and a couple of languages, including Japanese and Elvish since those were looking to be Varüus’kiel’s official languages other than English. Salem had also picked up Japanese and a few new skills in her time as a trainer and leader in the simulation.

Vivian had successfully given those wanting to learn her occupation some practical hands-on experience as well, and she felt that they were all as ready as they could be to act as OB/GYNs and reproductive endocrinologists for the clinics in the capital and the Glades of the four Courts. All that they really needed was for construction to be finished on the clinics and suitable equipment and tools to ply their new trade. In the week since they had gone into the simulation, the Magi and Atlanteans in charge of construction have been focusing on the essentials; mostly homes for people, the hospital, and the reproductive and women’s health clinic that Vivian would be opening with those of her students who were staying in the capital.

The latter was almost complete, at least the structure, though there were a lot of conveniences and basics that still needed to be added to make it into a real clinic. The hospital was nearly done, but again, there was equipment needed, like basic lighting and stuff that the Atlanteans were trying to produce as quickly as possible and I had made it clear that the hospital was our biggest priority at the moment. Even once lighting, doors, and all the other basics and conveniences were added, the hospital would still need equipment though.

I knew that the Atlanteans had artificed medical scanners and diagnostic equipment that put their modern human equivalents to shame, so we wouldn’t need any of the big ticket, ‘high tech’ equipment. Jhuras and his people were even producing special hospital beds with built-in diagnostic equipment similar to what was in the F.I.Ts. The basic medical tools and supplies were a different story though. For that, we would need to find a reputable wholesale supplier of medical equipment and supplies.

We would need to order examination tables and various other medical equipment for the clinics and the hospital in bulk, and some of that would have to be magically re-sized for the use of patients who didn’t fall within the human size range, such as the Namahage and the Sprites and other tiny Fae. Vivian was able to give us a list of the important stuff and some contacts that she used for her office, and the name of the person in charge of that kind of thing for the hospital she had worked at in Toronto though.

We would be following up on that as quickly as possible and we had at least one source where we could get everything that Vivian would need. We could raid her medical practice. I decided that there was no time like the present for the latter. There was only one problem though. I had never been to Toronto, and there was no handy newscast to give me an image to lock onto, so I wouldn’t be able to teleport or portal us there.

Vivian herself solved the issue. While they had been in the F.I.Ts, nearly six weeks had passed by their perspective and she had spent what spare time she had learning the basics of magick from her new mother. Salem was so adorable, acting like a proud mama as she told us how Vivian had become very adept at earth and plant-based magick. She had also taught her new daughter some basic utility spells that I had taught her, including the group teleport spell.

We decided that it would be best if only my protectors and I went with her. It was around eleven o’clock at night there and her practice had been closed for a while now, so her office should have been empty, but there probably wouldn’t be much room for a large group. I wanted to go with her so I could teleport back to Toronto later though, and I wanted us to have some protection in case we were seen.

Once Vivian had pictured her office in her mind and mentally tagged the five of us, we reappeared inside of a small and dark office waiting room. It was a little odd being the passenger instead of the spell caster for a change, but I was glad to see that Vivian was doing so well under Salem’s guidance. She quickly headed toward the examination room and then started mentally tagging everything for teleportation, followed by a supply closet that was still fairly well stocked.

I stayed with her in case she needed me, and to get an idea of what tools might be needed, but she knew what she needed and seemed to have things well In hand. Everything vanished as she stepped back into the examination room and Vivian looked around the now-empty room before heaving a sigh. “There, everything is in the clinic; I’ll organize it all later. You know, I haven’t been here in months, not since I was diagnosed as terminal. I never thought I’d be coming back but the lease was paid for a year.”

“You don’t have to stay with us if you don’t want to, Vivian,” I offered, placing a hand on her shoulder. “You and Lucy could go back to who you were before and pick up your lives here. I’d like you to stay, we could use your experience even if others do have your skills now, but nobody would fault you if you don’t want to stay in Varüus’kiel.”

The Moss Maiden shook her head and gave me a tremulous smile. “I appreciate the offer, Your Majesty, but I don’t think that anyone can go back to a normal life now that magick and Gods are back in the world. Besides, my Mahair and I have gotten close while we were in the simulation and Lucy adores her. It’s nice to have a family and to truly belong somewhere again too. I became a reproductive endocrinologist so I could help people who want children but can’t have them easily, I think that applies to your people more than most. Some of the stories I’ve heard from the people I was training made me realize that. You all want children so badly but some of you never have them, even waiting and trying for hundreds of years. I think that I’m right where I belong.”

I nodded and smiled back, allowing my relief to show. “That’s good, because we’d hate to lose you, and I think that Lucy would make a great playmate for my little sister, Tíana. Is there anything else that you would like to bring with you? Anything sentimental from home?”

“I want a few things from my office, like my diplomas, but there is no home to go to,” Vivian replied with a shake of her head. “Our apartment was mostly emptied out before we left for Vancouver; I… wasn’t expecting to come back here so everything that was really important, like photos, were in my carry-on baggage. Home is Varüus’kiel now, we’ll make new memories there, good ones.”

“Okay, we’ll give you a moment to collect those things. I’m going to call Loki and let them know that we’ll be taking the day off training tomorrow to get some important things done. I’d rather get on ordering all of the equipment for the hospital and clinics while it’s all fresh in my mind. It’s a priority and I’d rather not put it off now that we have suppliers we can order through for our other needs,” I told her before mumbling a quick spell to teleport my purse to me, taking out my phone, and looking for Loki’s number in my contacts list.

“Okay, I won’t be long,” she managed to get out before giving me a perplexed look. It wasn’t the casual teleporting of my purse that set her off though as she asked, “Wait, you have a god on your speed dial?”

I let out a giggle as I nodded. “Just Loki though, I don’t need a phone to talk to Danu whenever I want. I’d probably have Thor and Sif in my contacts list too if either of them had a phone. Loki teases them about being like old people when it comes to modern tech but the truth is that neither of them spends enough time in the mortal world to really need one.”

“The mundane just flies right out the window with you, doesn’t it, Your Majesty?” Vivian didn’t wait for a response though, chuckling and shaking her head as she made her way toward her office.

I hit the icon to call Loki. It was a moment before there was a reply though and I was surprised to hear Sif’s voice. “I think I can handle it, Cuz. You shouldn’t be on the phone, or doing much else right now in your state. Taelya, is that you?”

I managed to contain my surprise and replied, “Hi, Sif. Yeah, it’s me. What’s up with Loki?” Loki had seemed their usual self when we had parted ways earlier, aside from ‘not feeling the whole gender thing’ and adopting a more androgynous look today.

“Well, my cousin decided to introduce Thor and I to this lovely little bar in San Francisco called Two Spirits and we’ve been drinking. Poor Loki just doesn’t have the tolerance that we do though,” the Goddess replied, a sigh escaping her.

“I do so! I can drinks you all under the table!” I heard Loki say in the background, more giggling than speaking.

Sif groaned outright this time. “Perhaps it was a bad idea to indulge them but there are a lot of people like Loki here it would seem, between genders at the moment, and they feel comfortable here. Thor and I barely have a buzz going but Loki is already pretty far gone. The last time they drank this much they wound up pregnant… and a horse. I guess they will be staying with us tonight so we can keep them out of trouble. I do not envy them the hangover they will have for tomorrow’s training session with you.”

“Actually, that’s what I’m calling about, Sif. There are some things that I want to take care of tomorrow, so I think that we’ll be taking a day or two off from training.”

“That is fine, Taelya. We all realize that you have responsibilities and you cannot spend every day training with us. You should be able to protect yourselves well enough if any Gods show up, but I would suggest trying to avoid that possibility by staying in public as much as possible. Also, make sure that you have your protectors and some Succubae watching over you,” she suggested.

Sif and Thor had become a bit protective of us. I appreciated the concern and that she cared so much, so I tried not to take offense to her being a mother hen. She was like that with family, and she and Thor had made it clear that they were starting to see Nishalle, Lilith, Lissany, and me that way. “We’ll be careful, Sif. Enjoy your night out and take care of your cousin.”

“We will, Taelya…”

Whatever else Sif was going to add was interrupted by Loki yelling in the background, “Woo! Gender swaps for everyone!”

“For Odin’s sake, Loki! You can’t just swap somebody’s gender like that without asking!” Sif shouted, and I winced as I pulled the phone away from my sensitive ear.

“I’m helping! They’ll be happy! ‘Sides, I didn’t switch everyone, you an’ Thor are still the same, mostly ‘cause he looks terrible inna dress and you’d do horrible things to me. I only changed those who wanted it, to make their bodies match who they are inside. Tha’ genderfluid one might be a problem though. At leas’ nobody identified as an attack helicopter.” With that, Loki’s voice dissolved into a fit of giggling in the background.

O…kay. That was mildly concerning, but hopefully Sif and Thor would handle it. They were the responsible ones after all. “At least ask them first! I swear, Loki, we’re going to talk to every one of these people and make sure it is what they want!” Thor’s voice insisted.

Loki countered with, “You can’t take this away from them! They’re my people!”

Sif seemed to groan on the other end. “If they want it and will be happier this way then you won’t have to change them back. Maybe if we get them drunk enough they’ll forget how it happened, or that we were involved.”

“Ya hear that?! Siffy’s buying! A round o’ drinks fer everyone!” Loki squealed in what sounded like delight.

“Beer only! Not the expensive stuff!” Sif shouted, making me wince again before she apologized. “Sorry, Taelya, I should go deal with this.”

“Uh… yeah, not gonna lie; that sounds like a mess. You’re not going to get in any trouble with the other Gods, are you?” I asked in concern.

“No more than usual when Loki decides we should go drinking. We are not here in our true forms so we technically have not shown ourselves to mortals,” Sif replied in a hushed tone. “I should try to get Loki under control though so I will talk to you later. You and the girls take care of yourselves.”

“Good luck, Sif. We’ll see you later,” I offered before disconnecting the call.

That was a long conversation for just telling them we won’t be around tomorrow,” Nishalle commented as the others looked at me with varying degrees of curiosity. Even Vivian, who had emerged from her former office.

“Yeah, Thor, Sif, and Loki went to a bar,” I started to explain.

“That sound like the start of a really bad joke,” Pete interjected with a raised eyebrow.

“More than you know,” I told them with a sigh. “Loki is a cheap drunk, and you know how when you’re drunk, everything is funny sometimes? Picture that, with the God/dess of mischief in a bar full of transgendered people and wanting to ‘help’.”

“I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing,” Lissany commented. There was a pensive look on her face as she tried to imagine such a scene.

“Neither am I,” I admitted, “but Sif is going to handle it, or at least work on damage control. I don’t think Loki actually swapped the gender of anyone who didn’t truly wish for it though. You know how they are, impulsive and sometimes misguided, but their heart is usually in the right place.”

“Well, I hope they wanted it. After that brief taste that you gave me back when I was being an asshole, I wouldn’t wish gender dysphoria on my worst enemy,” Harley contributed, wincing visibly at whatever thoughts that brought up.

~o~O~o~

“Why are we doing this again?” Harley asked in a hushed and slightly annoyed tone as we walked through the lobby of the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Toronto just before one in the morning, local time. I didn’t blame her for being annoyed since we were drawing a lot of stares, mostly from the hotel staff as we approached the front desk. It was a rhetorical question, so I didn’t bother answering. She knew damn well why we were here right now and dressed as we were.

Once we had returned with Vivian to Varüus’kiel, we had discussed how to best go about this mission. Sif had been right that we should stay as public as possible, but for more reasons than just avoiding murderous Gods. This business needed to be conducted officially. While a crap-load of food, sewing supplies, clothing, and even construction supplies could be bought easily from wholesalers in my Autumn Cortez alter ego and attributed to genuine and legal business ventures, or just the eccentric idiosyncrasies of the idle rich, a large number of medical tools, equipment, and medications was a different story.

With that in mind, the plan was to make it very obvious that the Empress of Varüus’kiel was in town on business. With all of the phones that I saw out in the lobby, even at this time of night, word was going to get out fast. With the way we were dressed, not hiding behind glamours, and my growing celebrity status on the internet, I was half expecting the ‘Department of Changed Affairs’ to come and break down my hotel room door within the hour, if the establishment even let me get a room here.

I hadn’t liked the idea when Rei had suggested it, but my consort had made a valid point. As long as powerful and influential non-humans such as us remained hidden by glamours and the like, the Changed Rights movement would never get any traction and people like those in the DCA could just continue to nab our kind off the streets and into the shadows to exploit or hurt them. We needed to stay in the light if we wanted to effect change and forge peace.

I also felt that hiding behind glamours, unless it was necessary or desirable to keep a low profile, would seem like we were ashamed of who and what we were. I was Fae, and I was proud of it. I wouldn’t hide that from anybody and I wouldn’t allow anyone to try to make me seem lesser and drag me off into those shadows to hide some inconvenient truths from the masses.

So, here we were, with probably every phone in the lobby recording our every step as we walked to the front desk. Grell had returned to the warehouse to help Whisper manage things there and work on artificing a few new things. Kinara had gone back to the safe house under the guard of a half dozen Succubae who would keep her company and go with her when she went to Caitlin’s office to give the new Witch her magick lesson. There were also two dozen Succubae on the roof of this hotel in case they were needed and Lilith had joined my entourage.

Nishalle was in the front, acting as our forward guard in her armor, with her weapons within easy reach. Tokh’dhraí are generally terrifying but my sister took that to a whole new level. As my sister’s eyes peeled the room, most likely for danger and possible exits, her mere glance had people keeping their distance.

Pete brought up the rear in his Lindwyrm hide armor with his flak jacket on top, giving him a fantasy mercenary look. If his mere size didn’t intimidate someone enough to keep them away, the claymore strapped across his back would. His assault rifle was hidden away though unless it was needed for some reason; none of us was bearing firearms openly right now to try to make this look ceremonial rather than potentially violent.

To either side of my entourage, walked Lissany and Harley in their shiny new armor and weapons, looking very impressive. Except when one of them grumbled about all of the stares, but at least they did that too quietly for human ears to hear. It was mostly an act though since I knew they were both practically preening with people looking at them in their new gear.

My entourage consisted of Rei, Daenyss, Salem, and Lilith. The first three were all decked out in illusions provided by my Attendant; a navy blue dress and heels for Daenyss, a similar cream-colored affair for Salem that went well with her moss-like skin, and a dark emerald gown for Rei that made her white tails stand out and went well with her black hair. Lilith was apparently planning on acting as an additional bodyguard on this trip rather than as my High Priestess since she was fully armored up in her scales.

Finally, there was me at the center of it all. I was wearing my complete set of new armor as well, complete with the silver silk cape attached to the pauldrons. My other option had been a violet dress in the Fae style, meaning that it barely covered the important bits. I wasn’t against it, but it was too cold in Toronto for my taste and Lilith felt that I needed to appear both regal and powerful, and the armor worked for that. I didn’t wear my crown though, that was for special occasions and would have made me feel even more overdressed.

When we stepped up to the front desk, Daenyss moved up to stand by my sister. I would have gone myself but Daenyss would want to do her thing, and we were trying to sell the whole ceremonial angle. “I present Her Imperial Majesty, Taelya nír Keshwaindyr: Chosen daughter of the Goddess Danu; Demigoddess of magick, the moon, the sea, nature, justice, love, sex, and doves; Empress of Varüus’kiel; ruler of all Fae; slayer of Tiamat the Dragon Queen; and Queen of the Heavens. Her Majesty would like two of your finest suites for the next two nights while she conducts business in your fair city.”

I had to hand it to Daenyss, she had the formality thing down but then, she’d had it down since she first came to serve me. We probably wouldn’t need the room for two nights, but it was possible that making contact might take a couple of days and it would help sell that we were here on business. If our business here happened to conclude earlier, then we would just check out early.

The poor concierge, a young woman who barely looked old enough to be out of high school and had her blonde hair in a tight bun at the back of her head, was caught staring and couldn’t say anything for a moment. Finally, once she had managed to pick up her jaw and stop staring, she managed to get out, “Th-that’s her… you’re them… I…”

“Clearly, she has internet access,” Nishalle snarked.

“She could have seen the news,” Rei offered as an alternative.

It was about then that the young woman in question managed to wrangle her errant tongue. “Yes, of course, we have two adjoining suites available on the twentieth floor if you would like?”

“That would be fine,” I started to reply before looking at her nametag and adding, “Megan.”

After that, Megan was the consummate professional. I included a two hundred dollar tip for her when paid cash upfront for our stay and a room deposit. I had been a little worried about using credit cards under the name Autumn Cortez. I would have to look into credit cards for my own name, though I had to wonder if any of the major credit card companies would give cards out to a Fae with no established credit, Empress or not.

It seemed that the Ritz Carlton had no policy in place yet regarding non-human guests, so other than having to pay cash there was no problem with us staying here, at least on paper. Some people, like the bellhop, didn’t seem too happy to have us there but I tried my best to remain magnanimous and friendly since we were trying to develop a good public image. At least he hadn’t gotten close enough to be affected by the sex auras that Lilith and I were pumping out. Maybe he was just upset that we didn’t have any luggage for him to carry but it was far more likely distaste for non-humans. I tried to put it out of my mind as we went to our suites and turned in for the night, I had other things to worry about, after all.

Rei, Daenyss, Salem, and, I took one suite of rooms, while Lilith and my official protectors took the one beside it. As we headed up to the room, the five of them decided to take turns standing guard outside our suite for two-hour shifts while the others slept. With that decided, we all turned in for the night, or at least retired to our suites.

Before we actually slept, Rei, Daenyss, and I needed to have a talk with Salem. Once inside, Daenyss pulled the tiny Moss Maiden toward the couch in the living area of the suite and we all sat down. Rei seemed the most nervous about the impending conversation and we had all barely sat down before she blurted out, “Salem, while you were in the F.I.T we kinda…” She trailed off, either unwilling or uncertain how to finish her aborted sentence.

“Had sex with Daenyss?” Salem suggested casually.

I tried not to giggle but poor Rei looked as stunned as that Megan girl had earlier as she tried to stammer out a reply. “We… I… how did you…”

“Umm… hello? Three of us in this room are Fae. Casual sex is kinda our thing. Daenyss is a Nymph too so like me, she needs some release of pent-up sexual energy fairly often. I’m just glad that someone was helping her with that while I was gone. I had plenty of sex in the simulation; it’s not a big deal. I think teaching Vivian about being Fae, and a Liyun’shael in particular, sorta helped me to be more practical about stuff like this, but I’m a bit surprised that she’d ask the two of you. I mean, she loves you both but she’s always so worried about remaining professional with you.” The last was said with an apologetic smile in Daenyss’s direction.

“We’re trying to find a balance for her,” I said, relieved that she wasn’t upset. She seemed a bit more mature and in touch with herself and I loved it. It was so damn attractive. “That’s not all that we wanted to talk to you about though, Salem.”

For a moment, the Liyun’shael looked as vulnerable as she had back when she had first changed in the game. “It’s not like Daenyss and I have made sahir kien or anything. Even if we had, she'd still be free to sleep with whoever she wants.”

“I was waiting until you were ready,” Daenyss admitted with a blush. “I didn’t want to rush it, but I do want to wear your sahir kien.”

“It’s not just about Daenyss though,” I said, blushing bright red. “I recently realized some things. I thought that I saw everyone in our group as my family but you and Daenyss are different, I’m attracted to you both, and I want to spend more time getting to you both better. I guess I see you as friends and more? Potentially lovers?”

“Tae, I’ve gotten over a lot of my hang-ups. You’re hot, you’re one of my two best friends, and I owe you more than I can ever hope to repay. If you want to ‘get to know me better’ as a Fae, then I’m up for that. You don’t need to be nervous about it.”

“What about more?” Rei asked. “We’d like to make sure that we’re all compatible and okay with it before making anything official but if we are all compatible and find that we’re all interested, how would you feel about a relationship, with all of us?”

Salem’s eyes widened in sudden understanding. “I… wow. Okay, that was surprising. I’m not averse to the idea if we’re all good together and want to give it a go but how would that even work?”

“Not much differently than a normal Fae relationship,” I told her as my blush flared up again. “It would be a polygamous relationship between the four of us. The sahir kien marks Rei and me as favored lovers, and her as my consort, but there’s nothing saying you can’t have more than two people in a relationship. It’s been done a few times before, actually. Rei would remain my consort and you and Daenyss could wear one another’s sahir kien. I guess if we all decided to make it official between the four of us we could get something like matching rings for our own sake, but that’s jumping ahead to if it works out.”

Rei squeezed my right hand and nodded as she said, “I’m not Fae like the three of you but I’m willing to give this a try if all of you are.”

“I only want the three of you to be happy, but I hope that we can all be happy together,” Daenyss contributed with a blush as she took my left hand and Salem’s right. It was nice to see her willing to pursue her own happiness instead of just worrying about everyone else’s for a change.

Salem took a deep breath and nodded, and I noticed her knee bouncing with nervous energy. “Okay, let’s give this a chance. Do we need to set ground rules? Where do we start?”

Rei’s tone was serious as she offered, “There is one rule that Tae and I follow, and I think it’s important if we’re going to trust one another enough to try this. As you said, you’re all Fae and casual sex is a thing, but we should be honest with each other about who we have sex with outside of the relationship. I’d also probably use regular purification spells on all of us but that’s not so much a rule as a personal comfort thing.”

“Yeah, honesty is our number one rule,” I agreed. “I want to be able to be honest with all of you, and know that you feel comfortable being honest with me too, even if it’s not something that I want to hear. It’s basically the same deal as our party, I count on all of you to tell me if I’m doing something wrong or letting my Fae nature get the better of me, and I’ll do the same for you. If this is going to work between the four of us then we need to be more than lovers, we need to be a team. As for where to start? Well, there’s a king-sized bed in that bedroom. Whether we start just talking as we fall asleep or do something more is all up to you, Salem.”

The Moss Maiden smiled as she got to her feet. “Okay, let’s go to bed then. We can start by talking at first and see where things go from there.”