Asserting Dominance

“Oh? And who are you supposed to be hmmm?” Ishtar asked in that bitchy ‘rich woman queen bee’ persona she had adopted at some point since you had rescued her.

“I’m Artemis, and you are?” Artemis replied calmly.

“Ishtar” the woman said, snorting derisively as she looked over the silver goddess. “Such a slip of a woman, you sure you’re even a goddess?” Ishtar asked snappishly, brushing hair over her shoulder in a dismissive motion. Artemis, for her part, merely raised an eyebrow at the woman before turning to look at you.

“Exactly what are you doing?” you ask Ishtar, folding your arms.

“Oh just asserting dominance dear” Ishtar replied, turning back to Artemis and sizing her up.

“Oh?” Artemis asked. It didn’t take a god to know her patience was running out, but since you were one you could feel her power flowing out of her in angry waves. “Asserting dominance are you?” Artemis asked, the room itself now shivering in fright.

“Uhhhhh” Ishtar replied, backing away from the silver goddess. You take that cue to leave, quickly ducking out of the doorway and into the hall of your home.

“What’s going on in there?” you hear Strabo asking behind you as you draw the curtain that served as a door.

“A foolish little kitty challenged a fox to a contest of mischief” you reply as the sounds of a hand on bare arse cheek reverberated around the compound.

“Hmm, I almost feel sorry for the woman” Strabo commented as another spank sounded off.

“She brought it on herself” you say as another spank . . . never arrived. You frown and dart back to the curtain, opening it up just enough to get a look at what’s going on inside of the room. There, in the center of the room, with her dress hiked up and her arse glowing from the punishment she just received was Ishtar clutching Artemis like her life depended on it and wailing. With her eyes screwed shut, not that it stopped or even slowed the tears, and her body shaking, Ishtar poured her heart out while Artemis rubbed soothing circles into her back. The silver fox cracked one eye open and gave you a look before closing it again and nuzzling Ishtar. Your frown faded into a soft smile as you released the curtain and stepped back.

“I take it dominance has been asserted?” Strabo asked.

“When we found her, I had thought her lost” you mutter “she was catatonic” you added. “She must have been imprisoned in that lonely garden for centuries” you sigh.

“I’d expect a human woman to go mad after a few months . . . that there was anything left at all . . .” Strabo commented.

“Just a spark, all that remained of the rebellious god of Mesopotamia . . . just a spark” you mutter.

“It’s all it takes to set a city to blaze” Strabo grunted. “One spark lights a revolution” he told you. “How long has Artemis been pregnant for?” Strabo asked and you whirled around to look at him.

“How on earth did you know?” you ask incredulously.

“She’s glowing” Strabo commented “And she stopped wearing tunics in favour of more loose dresses” he added.

“Only a few weeks” you mutter “before the solstice actually” you add and get a thoughtful hum from Strabo.

“She’s going through the morning sickness phase then” Strabo commented.

“She would, if she was human” you reply, getting a raised eyebrow from the venerable soldier. “We’re gods, remember? And Artemis herself was the midwife of the Olyimpians, so she knows what she’s going through and how hard it’s going to be” you explain.

“Any additional problems to normal pregnancies?” Strabo asked.

“Let’s just say we’ll not be doing it near human habitation and leave it at that” you reply with a grouch. “Half gods are violent enough, giving birth to a full god has destroyed entire civilisations before” you say. Strabo shuddered at your words.

“Good that you have someone experienced in such things then” Strabo commented.

“Indeed” you reply “start cherry picking the men that will form the legion we are taking to **** Atlantis” you say “I’ll create a simulation world where the men can train without needing to leave the city or stage an **** on the coastline” you say.

“Hmm, has that ever been done before?” Strabo asked.

“Staging an **** on a coastline? Yeah, the Emperor Caligula did it . . . he was so successful that they gave him a Triumph” you reply. Strabo jolted in surprise before staring at you.

“That can’t be true,” he said, shaking his head.

“It’s true, in so far that he ordered his people to give him a Triumph, and by that point it was common knowledge that saying no to him was a good way to lose your head” you explain and Strabo chuckled.

“Ahh madness, where would we be without you” he said wistfully.

“A much better place” you reply, the both of you chuckle.