two.
“Well?” Orion said.
“Let’s hear it,” Alex echoed.
The twins were identical, blond, and nearly as tall as Morgan, equally endowed with muscle and intelligence. Both men wore the blue-and-gold kilt and insignia of the elite warrior class. Orion’s chest band also bore four silver tridents, signifying an officer who had led his company into suicide missions four times, and lived to tell the tale. Alex had won his share of awards, but disdained to display them. In wartime, he was more effective working alone, often as an assassin.
Although he was the oldest and crown prince, Morgan suspected that either of these two brothers would make a better king than he would be. Certainly, both were fearless warriors; Orion was slightly more levelheaded in leading troops, but if he were pressed, Morgan’s choice for the throne would have been Alex, younger of the twins, with his intense intuitive powers. Poseidon had to be strong and possess great leadership qualities, but most important, he had to be wise. Right now, Morgan felt lacking in all those attributes.
“It is a woman,” Orion said. “He’s thinking with his phallus. What have you done now, Morgan?”
Alex’s penetrating gaze met Morgan’s. “It’s a human woman, isn’t it?”
“By Zeus’s foreskin, you’re right!” Orion’s eyes widened in surprise. “I didn’t think you had it in you, big brother.” He laughed. “How was she?”
Morgan tensed, anger rising up from deep inside. “It’s not like that,” he muttered. “I didn’t—”
“You’re a saint.” Orion shrugged. “You’re not the first, and you won’t be the last to break that commandment. Human females can be delicious.”
“Speak for yourself,” Alex corrected. “I’ve never seen one I’d be willing to risk my career for, but I’m not the expert.” Alex gestured at his twin. “He’s fathered more than one half-human babe in the last century.”
“I’m cutting back,” Orion insisted. “I haven’t been with a human female in—”
“Months,” his twin finished. “What about that Maori girl, the one with the outrigger canoe? The one who tried to brain you with a club?”
“Pania is not part of this discussion.” Orion scowled at Alex.
“I’m just saying.” Alex rolled his eyes. “That oldest boy of hers could swim underwater longer than any human child—”
“That boy is a great-grandfather. It happened a long time ago.”
“So it’s not just a rumor,” Morgan put in. “You have fathered—”
Orion fisted his right hand and smacked it in his left. “I just told you. It was a long time ago.” His brow tightened and his green eyes took on a hard edge.
“Maybe by human standards,” Alex said. “And the Maori woman did try to kill him.”
Morgan could see that Orion was no longer amused by the turn of the conversation. “I didn’t have intercourse with her,” he said, “but I wanted to.”
“I know where you’re coming from. As I said, they can be very alluring.” Orion’s sea-green eyes clouded, as though he were remembering another time and another place. “And for the record, Pania thought I was a shark when she hit me.”
“And why was that?” Alex taunted. “Could it be because you had cast an illusion over her, so that she saw a hammerhead?”
“It was a white, not a hammerhead. And it was a good spell. Three fishermen on the beach thought I was a shark, as well.”
Morgan got to his feet. “I suppose I should be happy that I’m not the only sinner in the family, but I’d hoped to get your advice on what to do about my problem. And she’s not a great-grandmother.”
“You’re mad for her?” Orion asked seriously.
Morgan nodded. “It seems that way.”
“Does she have a name, this human?” Alex asked, no longer joking.
“Claire.”
“And is she beautiful?” Alex nodded. “I think she is, but not in the usual way. There’s something very different about her, isn’t there?”
“Yes,”
“Well?” Orion said.
“Let’s hear it,” Alex echoed.
The twins were identical, blond, and nearly as tall as Morgan, equally endowed with muscle and intelligence. Both men wore the blue-and-gold kilt and insignia of the elite warrior class. Orion’s chest band also bore four silver tridents, signifying an officer who had led his company into suicide missions four times, and lived to tell the tale. Alex had won his share of awards, but disdained to display them. In wartime, he was more effective working alone, often as an assassin.
Although he was the oldest and crown prince, Morgan suspected that either of these two brothers would make a better king than he would be. Certainly, both were fearless warriors; Orion was slightly more levelheaded in leading troops, but if he were pressed, Morgan’s choice for the throne would have been Alex, younger of the twins, with his intense intuitive powers. Poseidon had to be strong and possess great leadership qualities, but most important, he had to be wise. Right now, Morgan felt lacking in all those attributes.
“It is a woman,” Orion said. “He’s thinking with his phallus. What have you done now, Morgan?”
Alex’s penetrating gaze met Morgan’s. “It’s a human woman, isn’t it?”
“By Zeus’s foreskin, you’re right!” Orion’s eyes widened in surprise. “I didn’t think you had it in you, big brother.” He laughed. “How was she?”
Morgan tensed, anger rising up from deep inside. “It’s not like that,” he muttered. “I didn’t—”
“You’re a saint.” Orion shrugged. “You’re not the first, and you won’t be the last to break that commandment. Human females can be delicious.”
“Speak for yourself,” Alex corrected. “I’ve never seen one I’d be willing to risk my career for, but I’m not the expert.” Alex gestured at his twin. “He’s fathered more than one half-human babe in the last century.”
“I’m cutting back,” Orion insisted. “I haven’t been with a human female in—”
“Months,” his twin finished. “What about that Maori girl, the one with the outrigger canoe? The one who tried to brain you with a club?”
“Pania is not part of this discussion.” Orion scowled at Alex.
“I’m just saying.” Alex rolled his eyes. “That oldest boy of hers could swim underwater longer than any human child—”
“That boy is a great-grandfather. It happened a long time ago.”
“So it’s not just a rumor,” Morgan put in. “You have fathered—”
Orion fisted his right hand and smacked it in his left. “I just told you. It was a long time ago.” His brow tightened and his green eyes took on a hard edge.
“Maybe by human standards,” Alex said. “And the Maori woman did try to kill him.”
Morgan could see that Orion was no longer amused by the turn of the conversation. “I didn’t have intercourse with her,” he said, “but I wanted to.”
“I know where you’re coming from. As I said, they can be very alluring.” Orion’s sea-green eyes clouded, as though he were remembering another time and another place. “And for the record, Pania thought I was a shark when she hit me.”
“And why was that?” Alex taunted. “Could it be because you had cast an illusion over her, so that she saw a hammerhead?”
“It was a white, not a hammerhead. And it was a good spell. Three fishermen on the beach thought I was a shark, as well.”
Morgan got to his feet. “I suppose I should be happy that I’m not the only sinner in the family, but I’d hoped to get your advice on what to do about my problem. And she’s not a great-grandmother.”
“You’re mad for her?” Orion asked seriously.
Morgan nodded. “It seems that way.”
“Does she have a name, this human?” Alex asked, no longer joking.
“Claire.”
“And is she beautiful?” Alex nodded. “I think she is, but not in the usual way. There’s something very different about her, isn’t there?”
“Yes,”
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