Goddess of the Rose (Goddess Summoning #4)(64)

"Floga, your area of the garden is the section that is most southerly. This happens to include the rose gate. I know it would be quicker for your women to go to the forest and use the loam for fertilizer as we did yesterday, but I'm concerned about having the gate open again today."

Floga looked surprised, and Mikki couldn't really blame her. Just yesterday she'd insisted, in front of everybody, that Asterius keep the gate open, danger be damned. Mikki looked at him. "What do you advise?"

"I believe you are wise to be concerned about reopening the gate so soon," he said.

"So we are agreed that maybe in a day or two Floga can allow the women to collect more loam, but right now it's not a good idea?"

"Yes, Empousa. We are in agreement."

"Good." She knew the smile she gave him was obvious in its warmth, and she could feel the handmaiden's eyes watching her every expression, but she didn't care. Let them all know she valued the Guardian's judgment. She would not treat him like an animal when he was not one, and neither would they. Not while she was Empousa. There was a new boss in the realm, and they'd better get used to it. Still smiling, she turned to Floga. "Do you understand what I need you to do?"

"Yes, Empousa."

"Good. Then you're free to get started. The Guardian and I will be along shortly."

Floga's eyes widened, but she said nothing as she curtseyed and then hurried from the balcony, leaving the priestess and the beast alone.

"Good morning, Asterius," Mikki said softly.

And that was it. The sound of his true name on her lips undid him. He could not fight his desire for her and his need to be in her presence. Despite the spell Hecate had placed upon him and the pain it would cause him, come spring or come the very gates of the Underworld, for as long as they had together he had to hear the sweet sound of her voice and, if fate granted it, feel the touch of her hand again.

"Forgive me, Mikado."

"For what?"

"For the way the night ended. I have no practice in . . ." He paused, struggling for words he'd never before spoken.

"There's nothing to forgive," she said. "It's hard to know the right thing to say or do, especially when you're faced with a completely new situation. Sometimes it's easier to run away."

"That makes me sound like a coward."

She smiled. "No, it makes you sound human."

He looked shocked, and then, slowly, his lips turned up into a smile that eventually reached his eyes. "You are an extraordinary woman, Mikado."

"Well, let's see if you still think so at the end of the day."

He raised a questioning brow.

"I'm going to put all those muscles of yours to work. Tonight you'll be too tired not to sleep."

His dark eyes caught hers. "You knew I didn't sleep last night?"

"Don't be too impressed by my powers of observation. It doesn't take a goddess to figure it out. You look pretty rough this morning."

"And I am usually so handsome," he said dryly.

She gasped. "Do not tell me that you just made a joke!" Mikki's laughter floated musically on the breeze as the two of them made their way from the balcony. Neither noticed the women who peered wide-eyed from the palace windows, watching them go.Chapter Thirty

Chapter Twenty-Two

MIKADO hadn't been exaggerating when she'd said she was going to put his muscles to work. Asterius had never lifted so many baskets or dug so many holes in all the long centuries of his immortal life.

And he'd never been so happy.

He'd been working beside Mikado all day. She actively supervised, which meant she did not shy from even the dirtiest of jobs. He could tell that the women of the realm were not pleased with the messy, tiring tasks she had given them, but they were visibly pleased that their Empousa was right in the middle of the mess with them. She worked twice as hard as they did; she seemed to be everywhere at once. And perhaps most surprisingly, she was cheerful about the work. The High Priestess appeared to actually enjoy getting her hands in the dirt as she demonstrated exactly how the earth needed to be worked around the roots of the bushes. She didn't shy away from the rank fertilizer; she did the opposite. The Empousa helped scoop it into the dirt and even laughed and made jokes about the irony that such a horrid smell could make sweet roses thrive.

He ignored the looks the women gave him. He was used to it. No matter how often he walked amongst them, the women of the realm were always uncomfortable around him. More so now than ever before. They all knew what he had done and the rage his actions had evoked from their goddess. They, too, had paid for his error. They hadn't been encased in stone and banished from the realm, as he had. They had only to wait . . . without aging . . . without changing . . . unable to do more than watch time pass around them for all the centuries he slept. He could only imagine how disturbing it must be for them to see him beside their new Empousa, especially when she made it clear that she appreciated his opinion and she treated him like . . .

Mikado treated him as if he were a man.

What a true and wondrous miracle she was. And she did stay in his presence - or rather, he stayed in hers. She began the inspection of the roses in the east, and after thoroughly examining all of the beds, with Aeras promising to follow each of her directions, she had moved to the south.