THE LAST SECRET KEEPER Secret Keeper series books 1-4

CHAPTER 32

Lanecea had sex on the brain but wasn't sure what Herja's problem was, Storm's wife struggling just as much if not more to focus. Lani never thought she'd see the day when she found Herja amusing, but here she was being quite entertained as she watched Herja struggle to maintain her concentration, parroting every sentence Lanecea spoke. Freya was just as amused, struggling not to giggle, only Eva unaware of how funny Herja sounded and that was just because she was busy kissing Lanecea's thigh as she reclined at the amused queen's side.

"Are you quite alright, Herja?" Lanecea grinned at the blonde, struggling to sound serious.

Herja ran her fingers through her hair before meeting Lanecea's eyes. "I've learned the hard way to pay attention to everything that comes out of your mouth. You are always very serious."

"That's a good observation," Lani bit back a giggle as Herja became distracted once again watching Eva shower Lani's thigh with kisses, her eyes then turning to Revna who was showering Lani's shoulder with kisses as she snuggled with her Priestess Mamma who was feeding the newest babies, the newborns constantly rotating since they were born less than twenty-four hours before.

Freya winked at Lani over Herja's head, the two women sharing an unspoken secret before Freya began to enlighten the common woman on the facts of life she had missed out on all the times she had been as distracted as she was at that very moment.

"Regions and territories are very important," Freya tried to explain better than Lanecea had when teaching the children their geography lesson a few minutes earlier. "The boundary lines for the gods are clearly defined and under no circumstance will they cross into another's territory without invitation, except for Tarvos who tends to think more with his cock than with his head."

The twins giggled before Reaghan added, "but if he hadn't been thinking with his other head, Mamma never would have been rescued that night. It was a good thing he was just coming back from breeding Blossom."

"What did I miss?" Herja attempted to get caught up once more as she dragged her eyes away from Eva to the baby in her arms, the infant growing impatient for his turn.

"Blossom, Tarvas's mistress, is a cow," Llia explained patiently for her stepmother.

"Oh," Herja looked just as confused as before. "A cow rescued your mother?"

"No," Lia was infinitely more patient than her twin who was currently struggling not to roll her eyes, "Blossom is the mistress. Tarvos is the bull diety. Have you never heard of the Celt gods? Tarvos is always very horny and his great love is Blossom, the cow who lived by Mamma's house near the orchard. The farm where Blossom lives is located in Frey and Freya's territory, so he was trespassing that night, but it turned out to be for the best as who knows what would have become of Mamma if he hadn't found her and brought her to the Celt gods that night. Magick, you know, is very real."

"Oh." 

"It's okay, Mom," Revna finally looked up from kissing Lani's shoulder. "It's a lot to learn but you will find it easier if you just remember that Frey and Freya are Germanic gods and they watch out for their own people. The Himmlers and Wagners are German and live in the territory of those gods and Tarvos is a horny Celt god who gets into trouble. He is half man, half bull, and Blossom, the cow, is the love of his life. Easy, right?"

Herja nodded, finally understanding why this was important to learn as part of the geography lesson. Now that she had that squared away in her head, Lanecea proceeded with the lesson.

"After The Great Massacre, most of the gods who had survived went into hiding, but many remained, staying with the faithful. However, after the rise of Christianity, many of their followers were slain en masse for believing in the old ways. Others converted under threat of death while others genuinely believed in the new religion. It didn't matter, the result was the same. The people turned their backs on their gods and abandoned them, the gods at last turned their backs on their people, retreating with the others who had hid thousands of years ago. Now, My Darlings, as you can see on this map, these are the regions that no longer have gods..."

"Is there a god or goddess that rules over where our farm is located?" Thorson juggled his sons in one arm as he reached for the map. "Which territory are we in?"

Taran stepped away from the window, turning his attention to his half-brother. 

"The gods rule over territories where they are conceived or in the case of the older gods, where their people gathered in a concentrated area. There are gods for this region, of course..." Taran met his mother's eyes for a moment, deciding to leave it at that after seeing the warning look she gave her son. "...but what Mamma is trying to say is that the gods need to spread out - their people need them whether they know it or not, just like Mamma needed Tarvos. It's important that the people always have gods they can turn to and the areas Mamma is showing us do not have gods waiting for their people."

"That's correct. There are many gods for this territory, My Darling Prince, and they are bound to this territory forever because they were conceived here but it is time to spread out. If the people turn back to the old ways, we need to be prepared."

Thorson's eyes darkened as what Lanecea was struggling to teach finally dawned on him, the young man swearing under his breath a second before Lani winked at him, the queen blushing.

"Dad needs to know..." Thorson began.

"This is why homeschooling is important. They don't teach these lessons in public school so your father wouldn't know the importance of geography," Lanecea struggled in earnest to keep a straight face, especially when Thorson moaned and laughed at the same time.

Now understanding why there was such a concentration of gods where the farm was located, everything made sense but it was rather hilarious. Of course, King Storm and Lanecea had conceived all their gods and goddesses where the farm was located while the king and Storm were separated and Thorson had impregnated Lani on their land as well, following his father's footsteps. Now it made sense why Lanecea was so determined to be on the move soon as the other regions on the map needed the divine more.

"So I was thinking..." Lani continued after Thorson drew his attention back to what she was teaching, "We could return to Italy but it is a papal stronghold and their people are a stubborn lot. Well, they were Romans, so it is to be expected, but I would also like to return to France. I was promised the opportunity to witness a questioning first-hand and I need to be sure things are still running smoothly in my absence..."