Choice

Ahach swallowed down his panic, and struggled to maintain a calm demeanor. "What makes you say that?" he asked, then suppressed a wince as his voice cracked from stress.

Elui hesitated for a moment. "The angels... they aren't... well, smart," she said, flushing slightly. "They follow their commands to the letter, but don't extrapolate their orders much. When I asked about Enochiel's background, where He's coming from, why He is coming only now, they told me they were commanded to secrecy. But nobody commanded them to not describe Him, what His physical form looked like, what His personality was like..."

Ahsch let out a sigh. "And they described me perfectly," he concluded. Elui just nodded, and the hrafthi slouched back in his chair, letting his head roll back to stare at the ceiling. What the fuck do I do? he asked his sister and familiar.

I think you know what you should do, Ariin answered him right away, Mahat having passed on the exchange as it happened once it became clear that something significant was going on.

Ahsch just gave them a noncommittal grunt, then looked at Eli again. "I suppose the most important question now is what you're going to do with this information," he broke the tense silence between them.

The rabbit-girl flinched, refusing to meet his gaze. "So it's true," she whispered, a hint of terror in her voice.

"Before you get too worked up," Ahsch tiredly interjected, "I have no interest in hurting you. But you understand, you knowing that makes things... difficult for me."

She ducked her head. "I swear, I meant no harm or offense, my curiosity got the better of me! I have no intent to use this knowledge at all!"

Ahsch felt sick as he heard an echo of his sister's voice in his head. What I should do... he thought grimly to himself. "Elui, before I decide anything, I need you to understand, what you learned is dangerous, and not only to myself. My sister, my wife, all of House Odestag, and any number of others could be harmed if it was known that the... 'god' that the Order of Enochiel worships is, as of now, just a hrafthi. I haven't the power to smite those who would harm us, nor secret us away from hateful eyes. We are ****, and appearing harmless yet enigmatic is the best defense we have right now. Before you, all those who knew that Enochiel is me had some vested interest in seeing the Order succeed. And not that I think you wish us ill, but you're not invested in the same way."

Elui was shaking, and though she wasn't crying she was clearly petrified by what he might do. And Ahsch hated it. He wanted to comfort her, reassure her,_ believe _that there was no chance she would betray them, even accidentally. But the part of him that he'd been developing, the leader, the god, knew that he had to be careful, and that his choice could have far-reaching consequences. If one of the other religions became interested, or a royal - hells, if Byrdrek or Fauna decided to take an interest - then the rabbit-girl might not have much choice in speaking. And while Ahsch had no ironclad means of ensuring her silence, he could still take steps to lessen the risk.

But was it really the right choice? Making decisions for her, forcing her into a position of weakness and dependency, giving himself power over her... was that really okay?

Mahat has been keeping me up-to-date, Avery's voice was oddly sympathetic, yet firm as usual. And although you might not like what I have to say, I figure you'd appreciate another 'mortal' perspective: you know you won't **** any power to claim over her, and she'll honestly be safer. Once you have enough power to protect what you need to, you can free her, assuming that's ever an option, but you'll be a god, so I doubt you'll never be able to do it.

Ahsch was hardly surprised by his wife's opinion, but she was right - he did appreciate it. However, he could see an alternative option.

"I need something to guarantee your secrecy," he finally said. Even to his own ears, he sounded exhausted. "I can think of two ways to achieve that." He met her gaze for a moment, but rather than her fear, it was his guilt that made him be the one to look away first. "Option one: I keep you under 'house arrest:' you don't go anywhere or be around anyone without one of my inner circle present. You'd probably end up confined to the Odestag suite in R'sath, and given how few of us there are, you'd have many, _many _long days of nothing to look forward to. You'd be free to read, or train, or educate yourself, whatever you wanted. But your contact with other people would be... seriously restricted. At least until I could ensure the safety of myself and my people." She didn't seem particularly inclined towards liking or hating that, at least, not through the fear she'd been shrouded in for the whole conversation.

"Option two," he continued, "would allow you generally more freedom now, but might end up lasting indefinitely... and not because I want it to." He sighed again. "My primary Mana Generation Method is called Dominant's Tithe. As part of it, others can swear an oath of obedience to me, becoming my Thralls, and I can... well, 'influence their desires.' It's not outright mind control, but if I command something, you end up _wanting _to obey, though more **** things, or things you don't want to do are a lot harder to ****. But from what little I've done to experiment with it, it's insidious, and persistent, if imperfect. But I don't know of any way to undo the oaths and free people. But I suspect that once I become powerful enough, I can simply will it, or something to that extent. With that, I'd be more willing to give you more freedom, though I'd want you to stay either at the Temple or the Odestag suite, and have an escort with you if you were to leave. I'd also give you several commands, mainly to keep things secret." He shifted in his seat, then cleared his throat as he flushed slightly. "Due to some... meddling on another's part, one of the conditions of being my Thrall is that you need explicit, individual permission to orgasm. I wouldn't withhold that from you, but you deserve to know. We've figured out that written permission works as well."

As he'd explained the options, Elui's trembling had finally, blessedly stopped. She stared at Ahsch for a long moment once he was done, and it was again the hrafthi who refused to match gazes. Eventually, the rabbit-girl looked down in thought, a frown on her face.

After a couple minutes, Ahsch caught a shade of something out of the corner of his eye. Resolve swept through the makeup of Elui's emotions, and she dropped to a knee, hesitated, then down to both. "I prayed to all the gods of the Kingdom before," she said slowly. "I begged their help. I got nothing. Until you." Slowly, deliberately, she bowed forward, until she had her head on the floor, her hands palm down, one over the other and supporting her forehead. "I swear my obedience and loyalty to Enochiel, to Ahsch, the only god to whom my worship seems to have mattered." Her voice trembled as she finished, "My life is in Your hands."

As Elui's Thralldom locked into place, and Ahsch could sense the fifth 'slot' be claimed, he blinked in shock as it went further, the oath resonating with that 'loose divinity' that seemed unbound by his Boons, though he could feel it tie in with his sense of his domains of bonds and dominance.

It occurred to him that this was the first time he'd gained a Thrall as a worshiped god.

Ahsch let out a sigh, unsure how he felt. He almost wished she had chosen house arrest, since at least then he wouldn't have yet _another _unwilling Thrall. But at the same time, he could understand the preference for more physical freedom at the cost of the... 'weirdness' of being his Thrall.