Over the next several days, Orion, Bridget, and Lucia helped the new arrivals settle into life at the fortress. More women arrived every day, sometimes just one, sometimes half a dozen. Orion's fortress was massive and could house many hundreds of people. Lucia sometimes wondered if he hadn't planned it that way from the beginning.

Bridget had been angry at first, but she understood why it had to be done, and she started to come around. They could not afford to be at odds with the allied immortals. It wasn't like the world before the dark sun.

Lucia assured Bridget that she would find someone good for her. They would use their spells and their magic to draw the man most suited for Bridget. Lucia wouldn’t let her friend or any other woman end up with a bad man. They planned to use their considerable strength to assure that that did not happen.

Lucia and Bridget begin organizing the witches into a coven to do the work of the priestesses of the temple. Witches were not simply breeding stock for other immortals. They had an important role in the world as wielders of powerful magic and immortals themselves.

Now that they had reawakened to their own identities, their long life was possible for them again. The magic that Gama had blessed them with ran through their veins. They would take up the old ways, carry out the old rituals, and praise the Goddess in the way that they had for thousands of years before the veil.

The coven used magic to carry stones from a quarry in the mountain to build a ritual space much like the monoliths of old. On the day of the first ritual, two dozen new priestesses gathered in a grove behind the fortress at high noon. Giant quartz rocks stood in a circle around the perimeter.

“I call upon the Goddess Gama, our Mother. Creator of all. Wielder of the magic web. Queen of the Earth and inner realms.”

Lucia called on the light of the sun and the blessing of the Goddess to oversee the temple and protect them all with her love. No matter where the Goddess had gone, Lucia knew that their prayers would reach her and that she would always wish to protect her children.

After the first ritual was complete, the witches met in the grand banquet hall on the ground floor of the fortress. Now that they had completed their first gathering as a coven, Lucia knew it was time to tell them the truth of what was expected of them. She had avoided this conversation for as long as she could, but it couldn't wait any longer. Orion had been conversing with the allied forces, ensuring them the witches would become available for mating soon.

They’d accepted his terms, but now the women needed to know what their fate would be. Lucia stood from the head table, her long white robes flowing around her body. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she knew that many of these women could feel that there was something amiss.

"My beautiful, beloved sisters," Lucia started. "It is good for us all to be together again after so many centuries of forgetfulness. The dark sun reawakened our powers and now we gather here together as we once were.

“We all know by now that the destiny of the priestesses of Gama is to be the mothers of all immortals. We must take that responsibility seriously in these times of great evil. The reality of our world is that there are many dangers, not only to the humans, but to the witches as well.

“Every immortal alive today will want to mate with a witch who will give birth to immortal children. There is a battle being waged right now as we eat our cake and drink our champagne. The Surge will stop at nothing to take over the world.

“Xander Valdis wants more than just the human population under his rule. He wants all of us under his thumb. He wants to sweep destruction across the face of the Earth and leave nothing good and true alive. And because of that, I must tell you now the expectation of all witches who remain under the protection of the fortress.

“This is our new temple to Gama and as long as you are here you will be protected from The Surge and from all immortals who would molest you. But our protection must come with a condition. In order for the temple to not be attacked by even our own allies, the eligible unmarried witches of the coven must offer themselves as mates to immortal males."

There was a gasp from the crowd and everyone broke out into loud chatter. There were objections all around and Lucia could feel their anger and frustration mounting.

"I thought we were safe here!" one of the women yelled.

"You are safe here. You will always be safe here. But you must understand we are under a tremendous amount of pressure. The world is not the world we once knew. We must cooperate if we want to preserve any of our ideals. If we want to see a bright future for ourselves and for our children, we must have the cooperation of the allied immortals."

"You're selling us out," said another woman.

"No she's not," Bridget said, standing. "You don't understand what will happen to you outside of these walls. The immortals who are roaming the Earth now will be able to sense your magic. The second they see you, they will take you and they will rape you until you give birth to their children. Is that what you want? To be left with no choice at all? To have no protection? The males we will allow to choose among the witches will have already been screened by Orion and our arch-priestess Lucia. They will not let unjust men come here to claim us."

"Thank you, Bridget," Lucia started. “This is how it will work. There will be a random rotation. Every month, six women will be offered as mates to the suitors who come to the fortress. We don't know how many suitors will arrive each month. But we will only offer six women as mates. Each witch may refuse to be mated for one rotation. On the second rotation, she must choose or she will lose the protection of the fortress. This is the only way to keep all of us safe. I beg you sisters to understand what we all must sacrifice to live in a better world."

"You are not being expected to offer yourself to a stranger," said one of the women.

"That is only because my husband has already claimed me. Remember, my dear sisters, you were most likely alive two thousand years ago. Your soul existed on this plane during the time before the veil. In all likelihood, you will find your husbands from that time. These negotiations are only to gain the cooperation of the allied immortals and those not allied with us. It's unlikely that you will ever be approached by a man who is distasteful to you."

"You can't guarantee that."

"You're right, I can't. And that is why you are allowed to refuse one rotation. That means that you may refuse all suitors, even if there are a hundred of them to choose from,” Lucia explained.

"But then on the next rotation we must choose or we are left to fend for ourselves," said one of the angry witches.

"I am afraid this is our only option. And if you do not agree now then you may leave. No one expects you to stay here. We're not forcing you. But the fact is that if you remain under our protection you must agree to cooperate. It is the only way that we can function while protecting everyone," Lucia said, her voice cracking.

"Sisters, please. Let our arch-priestess rest. I sense this decision is extremely distressing for her," Bridget said.

Orion had remained silent during the announcement. Lucia slipped into her chair, feeling the weight of the declaration heavy on her shoulders. Her priestesses were angry at her, and it was an incredibly uncomfortable feeling. But there was something else besides that, she could feel a stirring inside her, something she had not been paying attention to.

She reached under the table, grasped Orion's hand, and squeezed it tight. She needed to be alone with him, to hold him, and to feel herself under his protection. She mourned for the women who did not yet have their husbands. And she prayed more than anything that her sister witches would all find the men who had loved them in a previous lifetime. Her love for Orion was the most important, most brilliant, most amazing thing in her life, and she wouldn't trade it for anything.

As the witches filed out of the grand banquet room and went upstairs to change out of their robes, Lucia walked upstairs to the quarters she shared with Orion.

They had a grand suite on the third floor with a huge bed at the center. There was a sitting room and another small study off to the side.

When the night fell, they walked onto the balcony outside the French doors and looked up at the clear sky. The moon shone brightly over the land, illuminating the courtyard in a pale silver blue glow. Orion wrapped his arm around Lucia and held her close to him.

"You are worried, my love. I can smell your distress," Orion said.

Above in the night sky the stars fell in a shower. All around, above her, the shooting stars streaked across the sky. She felt as if it was an omen, but she wasn't quite sure if it was good or bad. She closed her eyes, feeling Orion's quiet strength beside her.

Lucia searched deep inside herself, trying to understand her own feelings and the strange stirring sensation at her core. Suddenly, she knew what it was.

She was with child.

A memory of the last time she'd learned that she and Orion would be having a new baby flashed across her mind. It had been on a night much like this one, with the stars streaking across the sky. Now she knew that it was indeed a good omen.

"Husband," she said, opening her eyes. "I am with child."

Orion gathered her into his arms and gazed into her eyes. His own eyes shone brightly in the light of the moon as he leaned in to kiss her. In that moment, even with all the death and destruction, even with all the anger of her own sister witches, Lucia could not have been happier.