Chapter 252

The priest led us into a meeting room with two couches across from each other and a large coffee table between them. Off to the right was a small shrine with a plush looking carpet in front of it. Rather than any kind of effigy, there was a small wooden plaque that had the words "Great Mother" carved into them in elvish. On either side of the plaque were a lit pair of green candles that gave off a light pine needle scent.

"Please sit on this couch here, Altiena will be in with her assistant shortly." The woman bowed and closed the door behind her before leaving.

I looked at my friends and shrugged before sitting down on the couch next to Bella with Nelly and Kal'daeryn on the opposite side of her. We weren't waiting long before a young looking elven woman with auburn hair opened the door and pushed in a small cart with tea cakes and a teapot that had steam filtering through its spout. She was dressed as a servant, with a fairly simple but well-tailored maid outfit. My first instinct was to look at her neck which was kept bare, meaning she was not being held as a slave.

He clasped her hands in front of her and bowed to us. "My name is Velen, I am High Priest Altiena's personal assistant. She will be along in just a moment. I have been told there are a few subjects to discuss so I brought tea and some pastries, would any of you like some?"

All four of us murmured agreement and she happily poured six cups of tea and set four of them in front of us before taking the seat farthest from the door. Before any of us could ask her anything, the door quickly opened and shut behind another elven woman. This one had long black hair and piercing silver eyes. The deep lines under her eyes made her look sleep deprived, especially compared to other elves I've met. She sat down next to the younger elf and immediately picked up her cup of tea and swallowed it down before placing it down next to her assistant to fill again.

She awkwardly rubbed her face for a moment before looking at each of us, quickly meeting our eyes before moving on to the next. Her eyes lingered on Nelly for a moment before finally settling on mine. "It's nice to meet the four of you, my name is Altiena. I'm not really sure why you needed to meet with me on such short notice but a friend of mine in the Morkinnen temple called in a favor so I moved you up ahead of some people who have been waiting a while. I don't say this to be rude, but I do hope that you have a reasonably good reason to meet with me."

Suddenly the atmosphere of the room shifted and felt suffocating as a seventh presence joined us at the far end of the table. The younger elven woman was the first to notice and gasped followed by a crash as Altiena dropped her teacup onto the hardwood table and spilled hot tea all over the surface. Her eyes were wide and stared at a voluptuous elven woman who sat at the end of the coffee table in a chair that was a perfect match to the couches but hadn't been there before. The letters on the plaque behind her shined a brilliant gold and the candles flared out in bright green flames. The feeling of the room felt familiar to me, it felt very similar to when Sorsette let her divine power free in our private meeting in the great library. The goddess Velenthel appeared to us as a curvy elven woman, with bright blond hair and gentle blue eyes. She wore a scandalously thin light-green dress that made her impressive breasts appear as if they would fall out at any moment, yet as she moved it followed her body without slipping or revealing anything indecent.

"Great Mother!" Altiena gasped out. She moved to stand up but stopped when the Goddess Velenthel gestured for her to stay. She waved a hand and the teacup that had shattered reformed and the spilled tea vanished.

When she looked back at Altiena, Velenthel had a pleasant smile on her face. "Altiena dear, you haven't been getting enough sleep. Let me help you." With another wave of her hand, all the fatigue vanished from her face and that alone made the high priest look much younger. She turned to the younger elf. "Hello Velen dear, you do a wonderful job of taking care of others but I do wish you would be a tad bit more ambitious. Develop your restoration magic a little more and you're sure to climb to Altiena's rank before she retires. You shouldn't be so self-conscious about being named after me. I find it charming and you may tell anyone that teases you about it that your goddess herself approves."

The younger elf made an almost choking sound before she frantically nodded. "Yes, Great Mother!"

Altiena's eyes scanned over our group looking for something that would make this situation make more sense, but she couldn't find it. Her face was full of surprise, confusion, and bewilderment as she looked for something to latch onto. My friends looked just as surprised as they did, especially Nelly who had practically frozen in place from the situation. She was completely caught off guard by the circumstances she had become a part of. I think I was the only one in the room who wasn't freaking out, I sort of expected this outcome.

"Now... how should we do this... Hmm..." Goddess Velenthel's eyes trailed over the four of us before stopping on me. "If you have come to discuss things in peace, then you wouldn't mind waiting while we take care of other matters first. Would you Baphomet?"

"Of course not," I replied. "I came here for my friend Nelly as much as I have for myself."

A smile graced her lips but she seemed hesitant to show it. "Good. Then I will discuss things pertaining to her her first." She turned to Nelly who looked absolutely petrified to have the god's weight of focus on her directly. "Nelly dear, you wish to become a priest of mine?"

Nelly opened her mouth and closed it a few times before working up the nerve to answer. "Yes, my goddess." The two priests in the room gawked at the situation. I knew from my research that Velenthel rarely appeared directly in front of mortals and never just to accept a priest into her ranks.

Velenthel's gaze shifted to me for a moment before returning to the cowkin. "You do realize that becoming my priest may put you at odds with your current mistress, do you not?"

Nelly's mouth opened for a moment before she closed it to think through her response. After a short pause, she shook her head. "I don't believe Lilith would do anything that would go against your teachings, my goddess. If she strays too far from that path I will do everything I can to set her right. The oath that I took was only to not work against her. I do not believe that would include trying to convince her to change her path if I believed it to be the wrong one to take."

"Then would you consent to taking an oath to me as well? An oath to stand up to her when you think she is wrong, no matter the risk to yourself?" Velenthel pressed.

The cowkin's jaw was tight with anxiety before she answered again. "I would be willing to stand up to Lilith, short of breaking my oath to her."

Velenthel raised an eyebrow. "You would treat Baphomet's oath as above mine?"

Nelly looked like she swallowed a bug but as conflicting as her response looked, she confidently answered. "She is my savior, and the savior of my... my love. For that I owe her my loyalty first. If that is unacceptable I... I understand." Her voice sounded almost defeated by the end.

"Hmm..." A long pause of silence filled the room. The two priests of Velenthel quietly stared at their goddess, taking in every moment of her presence. When she finally spoke again, Velenthel's eyes were trained on me. "I do not completely trust Baphomet..." Her gaze then shifted back to Nelly. "Though I acknowledge that she has come a long way from the former demon she had started as." The statement broke the trance that her two priests were in and their gazes snapped to me in an instant. If she noticed their reaction, she didn't comment on it. "I will accept an oath that allows for you to only follow it in the event that it does not conflict with the first, on the condition that you never stray from my teachings yourself. Be warned, that will mean that it will be enforced as strongly as your current oath to Baphomet would be. You will never be allowed to stray from my teachings again, but for that, I will make you a priest with a goddess-touched class. Free to follow her to your heart's content, but you'll be her voice of reason as much as my spy."

"Hardly a spy if you tell me outright," I said with amusement. The two priests jerked back in surprise at my casual address to the goddess. I admit I was acting a bit brazen right now, but it felt right.

"Then, how do you feel about this arrangement with my follower?" Velenthel asked.

I leaned back into the sofa and quietly arranged my thoughts before meeting her gaze and answering. "Can you tell me directly whether or not you're a part of the Tamin Church?"

Her calm disposition turned to fury for a split second before she settled down into simmering anger. "I am not allowed to answer that due to the accords."

I frowned and tilted my head in response. "Sorsette was able to claim quite directly that she was not a part of it, and gave me several suggestions of other gods she was sure were cleared as well. Why are you not able to answer?"

Velenthel's eyebrows raised. "You have spoken to Sorsette directly?" She turned her head and frowned. "Why indeed... I was sure that answering that would be a break in the accords, but all of the gods would know if Sorsette had broken them. Did she find some sort of loophole? If anyone would find one it it would be her." She focused her eyes on me again. "Show me your arm. Unhidden."

I knew what she was getting at. I suppose showing this to another god was different than showing it to the guards of the city but... I glanced at the two priests in the room.

Velenthel theatrically sighed. "You two, keep the contents of Baphomet and her friend's affairs private. Are you satisfied?" she finished with an edge of irritation. Her demeanor since I asked her about the Tamin church has completely changed.

"Yes, Goddess," the two answered in harmony.

I lifted my arm and pulled up my sleeve before dismissing the magic that hid the two marks I received from Charon and Sorsette. They appear as markings in my fur as if they were tattooed there. I was a little confused why a goddess needed me to dismiss my magic. They don't seem as 'all-powerful' as I assumed but maybe they had to follow a set of rules I wasn't aware of.

"Two?" she said incredulously. "And one from him as well?" She stared at my arm in deep contemplation before shaking her head. "I cannot risk it. I will speak with Sorsette privately but I cannot give you an answer. If you have his mark though, that does imply that I should not be as wary of you as I have been until now. Intriguing." She shook her head and scoffed before turning back to Nelly. "I'm sorry dear. We've gotten a bit off-topic." She turned to look at me again. "I hope you can be satisfied with my non-answer. Baphomet, what do you say about her oath?"

It was time to make a gamble. If Velenthel was a member of the Tamin church, I would be inviting a spy along with me. However, I just don't see Velenthel being among them. It would just be too odd. I did not see any indication of racism among her followers when tending to the wounded in the entrance hall and I haven't heard any complaints about my relationship with my girlfriends or the succubi's regular sexual activities either. I wasn't sure what she knew about them though. If she didn't know about the tattoo then maybe she didn't know about those either.

"Do you have anything against my relationship with my girlfriends, or how we as succubi have to feed on lust aspected mana?" I asked her directly.

Velenthel raised one eyebrow. "I am aware of how your race has changed. I just don't know what to make of it yet. The only... issue I have with your regular fornication is that all of you block your pregnancies too much." She glanced at Bella for a moment. "Though I suppose not all of that is your fault precisely." She turned back to me. "In general, no. Your race now feeds on lust, thus you are not strictly fornicating for procreation but for sustenance which is, while not ideal from my perspective, acceptable as far as I'm concerned. I have no strong objection to sexual recreation, nor same sex pairings either, especially if they seek ways to procreate despite that. Anything else you're concerned about?"

I looked at Nelly who was still staring back at me with a concerned look. When I looked back at Velenthel I sighed. "I would not be against taking her along with me, and even allowing her to give you 'reports' of my actions. But I do not have a good enough grasp of your teachings to know if our values conflict in any major way. I will continue to do what I believe is right and just. I will not refuse Nelly's suggestions and counsel, but I also will not follow her lead blindly if our views conflict. Is that acceptable?"

Velenthel nodded once. "Acceptable." She turned to Nelly. "Nelly dear, if you agree as well then recite this oath to me once I finish. 'I swear to forevermore live by the teachings of Goddess Velenthel as best as I can interpret them. And to always stand up and give guidance to those who would go against her teachings to the best of my ability. So long as this oath does not conflict with my oath to Lilith Baphomet.' Now, please repeat."

Kal'daeryn squeezed Nelly's hand and she took a deep breath before staring directly at her goddess. "I swear to forevermore live by the teachings of Goddess Velenthel as best as I can interpret them. And to always stand up and give guidance to those who would go against her teachings to the best of my ability. So long as this oath does not conflict with my oath to Lilith Baphomet."

Velenthel smiled at her and nodded. "Well done, my Oracle." The words made the two priests gasp but they did not interrupt. The noise did grab Velenthel's attention though and she turned to smile at them. "Fret not, she will be traveling so she won't cause you two any undue headaches. However, if you need services of an Oracle, then perhaps you may be able to track her down in the future."

The goddess turned back to me. "Well then Baphomet. While there is one outstanding request, I think it is better to tackle our business first before I consider granting your family any boons."