Abaddon Summer

Chapter Five

Maeno spent the first few weeks of his summer having fun. About a week in, he noticed some new women showing interest, but they were coated in magic. He figured someone was trying to pull a spell on him or it was a test from Lugh, so he ignored them. A couple weeks in, Lugh called him and the first thing they said?

"You're not in trouble," Keph said.

"You are a bit of a slut, though," Nendan muttered teasingly as he lifted a paper, eyebrows rising as Maeno realized it was a list of his conquests.

"I...uh—" he started.

"Not in trouble," Keph said forcefully.

"Well, not with us," Nendan said. "Might be a few fathers looking to cut you."

"What?" Maeno protested.

"Nendan," Keph said sternly.

"Oh, he enjoys the teasing," Nendan countered. "One day, he'll laugh about it. Maeno, we've had six pregnancies so far from you. The one, we know how that panned out. Another discovered she was pregnant, causing a companion to suspect and then cascading into a complete review. Why are none of these women upset with you? I'd really like to know. How does one keep six partners and a variety of one-night stands so happy that they don't mind being one of another in a... a long list of—and why only women?"

Thankfully, neither of them mentioned that Pao was one of his lovers. It was one of those unspoken things. Nendan still got upset about it every once in a while.

"What?" Maeno squawked out, the rest of it slowly sinking in. "But I used—"

"You're right, none of our business," Nendan said. "Good for us, though, Maeno. Take a moment. Breathe."

He took a moment, biting his bottom lip as he felt tears spring to his eyes. He didn't understand how it could have happened.

"I did the magic. None of them said anything—is that what happened to Taya?"

Both men looked up at him suddenly. They shared a look, then turned back to Maeno, who sniffed as they stared back, and he realized that was a considering look, not surprised.

"What?" he asked.

"Taya Kaulu is Lord Kaulu's baby girl," Nendan said.

"She mentioned her daddy was powerful, but..." Maeno shook his head and shrugged. "Wait. Did you say Kaulu? She told me she was a bastard."

The two men shared another look.

Nendan sighed.

"All right," Nendan sighed again as he sat back. "Taya is pregnant, yes. Kaulu can't have bastards, and she... oh, she was not happy about that. She went home because of it, yes, but... better her father deals with her than me. Pin her. This conversation technically started with her, but it progressed through a variety of women. We tried, uh, when this sort of thing happens, Maeno, we spell women and toss them at you. Sort it out and then have a conversation. But you avoided every one of them."

Maeno's mouth opened to protest, but then he closed it again.

"Yeah, 'cause I saw the magic," Maeno protested. "You didn't tell me—"

"That we found women willing to have sex with you knowing they'll probably get pregnant because the going theory is that your spell protects you from all magic?" Nendan asked.

"Still wouldn't explain the fertility rate," Keph muttered pointedly.

"Best theory we've got," Nendan countered in a similar tone.