Goddess of the Rose (Goddess Summoning #4)(41)

Awash in shame, he bowed his head again. "I do, Great Goddess."

Her voice softened. "I do not do this to be cruel. I do this as protection for you, as well as the realm. For what mortal woman could ever truly love a beast?"

Awaiting no response from him, Hecate raised her torch and disappeared in a whirlwind of light, leaving her Guardian as he was before, alone and filled with despair.

Chapter Fourteen

UNLIKE the first time, there was no confusion or lingering sense of displacement when she woke up. Mikki knew exactly where she was. She opened her eyes to the perky light of full morning shining in a golden wave through the wall of windows. Someone had drawn back the curtains, and she could see that the table she'd eaten dinner at the night before had been reset for breakfast.

Had he directed that breakfast be prepared for her? Was he out there again, watching? Mikki's stomach gave a sickening lurch as she wondered what it would be like to see him in the full light of day. Last night he had belonged to the darkness, like the boogey monster or a nightmare creature. Or . . . her imagination murmured . . . a forbidden lover.

"Get a grip on yourself." Mikki sat up, shaking her head as if the physical movement would clear the ridiculous thoughts from it, and she was struck again by the beauty of the room that was now hers. Pushing the Guardian from her mind, she intended to leap out of bed and glide gracefully to her balcony, as should any woman lucky enough to live in a room this incredible, but the leap turned into a stagger, and the glide became a stiff limp accompanied by a groan when she made her body straighten fully.

Oh baby, she was sore! She hobbled to the door. When the handmaidens had first met her, they had seemed to think she was unusually old for an Empousa. Maybe that was because it took a damn teenager to withstand the hidden torture of casting a circle and dancing around with a gaggle of women. Who knew? Even her hair hurt. She sniffed at herself. And she needed a bath. A long, hot one.

She opened the door and was met by a cool, rose-scented breeze. It pulled her attention from the waiting breakfast, her sore muscles and the mysterious Guardian, and drew her across the wide balcony so she could look out over the vast gardens.

Mikki was awestruck.

The land that stretched before her was filled with bed after bed of roses. They blazed clouds of color in the green sky of their branches. White marble paths circled labyrinthine around the beds, connecting them to trees and shrubs and an occasional water feature. She could see the creamy marble of the domed roof of Hecate's Temple and the dancing reflection of the sun off the great central fountain that stood near it.

It was so beautiful that it weakened the disbelief and cynicism she had learned from a very young age to carry as her shield. She could be happy here . . . she could belong.

"It is your charge, Empousa."

This morning Hecate's presence did not startle her. The goddess materializing beside her felt comforting - a reinforcement of the miracle that lay before her.

"This is where I belong," Mikki said without looking away from the gardens.

"Yes, it is your destiny." The goddess sounded pleased by her acknowledgment.

Mikki turned to face Hecate and flushed with surprise. Last night the goddess had appeared an indeterminate age, anywhere from thirty-something to fiftysomething. This morning Hecate wore the same night-colored robes and star-studded headdress. The gigantic dogs lounged by her feet, as they had the night before. But the goddess had shed decades. She had the fresh face and tight figure of a teenager. Her smooth cheeks were kissed with a blush of youthful peach.

Hecate frowned and raised gracefully arched brows. "You do not recognize your goddess, Empousa?"

Mikki swallowed hard. She might look like a teenager, but Hecate had certainly not lost any of her powerful aura.

"It's not that I don't recognize you; it's just that you're so young!"

"Of my triple forms I simply chose the Maiden today. But do not be fooled by the facade of youth. You should already know that the exterior of a woman does not define her interior."

"It may not define her, but it certainly affects her. I'm old enough to know that," Mikki said automatically. Then, appalled at the brusque tone she had inadvertently used, she added, "I didn't mean any disrespect."

Intelligent gray eyes looked unnaturally mature and out of place in the goddess's smooth young face. "I rarely find it disrespectful when an Empousa speaks honestly to me, Mikado. And you are correct. Too often our exterior is what we are judged by, especially in your old world, one that has largely forgotten the lessons of the goddesses." Hecate shrugged her smooth shoulders. "Even in my realm where a woman's appearance should not be the basis on which she is judged, my daughters too often forget the lessons of the three-faced goddess." Hecate's wise gray eyes sparkled. "For instance, some would say that an Empousa of your advanced years is too old to assume the role of my High Priestess. They would not say it in my presence, but they would say it. And how would you answer their impertinence, Mikado?"

Mikki ignored the stiffness in her back and her sore muscles and met the goddess's steady gaze. "I'd say that I may be older, but that also means I've lived through more experiences, so I suggest they watch their silly young selves. Age and treachery usually triumph over youth and exuberance."

Hecate laughed, and as she did so, her appearance shifted so she was, once again, the beautiful, middle-age woman Mikki had met the night before. "I will tell you a secret, my Empousa. Of the three, this is the form I prefer. Youth is often overrated."