Finn
“How old is your drone?” I asked and looked around the interior, which was minimalist and showed wear and tear.
“It’s not my drone, it’s a community drone, and this is one of our S-models,” Hans informed me in a soft voice. “They were introduced about ten years ago and is slightly bigger and newer than the old T-Model.”
“Does the S stand for slow?” I asked, because it was ridiculous how slow this drone was flying. “Oh, wait, was that a bird that just passed us?”
Hans naively looked out the window, and it made me laugh. He fit the image of a Momsiman perfectly with his feminine appearance and gullible nature.
“I see,” he said and smiled. “You were jesting about the bird.”
“Me? No, I never joke. Anything I say is a fact, and there’s really no need to debate it, since I’m pretty sure I’m always right.”
Hans gave me a strained smile.
“Can’t this drone go any faster?” I asked and tapped my foot on the scratched floor with impatience.
“I’m afraid not,” he answered. “The drone is operating at the regulated speed limits and it’s better to be safe than fast.” He pointed to the info line in the bottom of the window. “We will reach our destination in ninety-four minutes.”
“You know, in the Northlands most drones are hybrids that can be controlled manually. We use them for racing and as long as you’re outside the city there are no speed limits. They’re bigger, more luxurious, and with a lot less patina than this one. I guess being used by everyone instead of just one owner makes a difference.”
“I suppose it does,” Hans agreed and began asking me questions about our lives in the Northlands.
When we closed in on Athena’s home, I leaned forward, and squinted my eyes to see the odd building in the distance. “What the fuck!”
Hans gave me a sideways glance. “You’ve never seen a Dutch windmill before?”
“Yeah, but only in books and movies. Why the hell would you have those around in this day and age?”
The slow speed of the drone gave me time to study the rural landscape and take in the windmill in front of us.
“We don’t build them for their energy efficiency,” Hans smiled. “There are much better ways to harvest energy these days, but to us they serve as a symbol.”
“And what symbol is that?”
“Our priests and priestesses always live in Dutch windmills. I’ve forgotten why, but I know there’s a reason and it makes it easy to find them.”
I pointed straight ahead and lowered my brows. “Athena lives there?”
“Yes.”
“But it’s outside of the city.”
“Yes.” He frowned as if he didn’t understand my comment.
“But isn’t a priest supposed to help people and aren’t people living in the city?”
“It’s only a short ride with a drone,” Hans pointed out.
“Does she live alone or is she a member of a coven?”
“A coven?” Hans shook his head as if he wasn’t sure what I was referring to. “I’ve never met Athena, but as far as I know she lives alone.”
I saw Athena before the drone had even landed. She stood in the doorway of the windmill, wearing a simple dark green dress, and watching us as we got out and approached her.
How could I have forgotten how beautiful she was? It threw me off that her eyes were full of curiosity rather than resentment. Had she forgotten what an ass I had been to her?
“May peace surround you.” Hans smiled and stepped forward to take her hands.
The ten seconds their formal greeting took gave me time to take in the vibrant color of her red hair, the glow of her skin, and the youthful freckles that still made it impossible for me to accept that she was really thirty years old as she had told me.
“May peace surround you, Finn.” Athena stepped in front of me and reached out both hands.
I hesitated, but took her hands and locked eyes with the woman who stood between me and sexual gratification. Her curse resounded in my mind like it had about a thousand times already. It’s done. I made sure that you’ll never find satisfaction with a woman. Ever!
“Welcome to my home,” Athena said and gestured a hand to the door. “Won’t you come inside?”
I looked toward Hans. “Would you mind giving us a minute of privacy?”
He nodded. After thanking him I stepped inside the round building. “Wow, it’s really nice.”
“Why is there surprise in your voice?” Athena asked as she moved to a round table where she took a seat.
Without answering her question, I asked: “Why didn’t you tell me you lived in a windmill?”
“There are a lot of things I didn’t tell you.”
“Yeah, but why a windmill?”
“The Windmill symbolizes the energy that connects us all. I’m not sure who started the tradition that priestesses live in windmills, but it goes back to right after the Toxic War. The survivors of that fatal war agreed that it was the division that had caused countries to fight each other and the only way forward would be to work together. There could be no them and us anymore. As a result, all countries became one big unity named the Motherlands and all religions were banned.
“I know, but that doesn’t explain the windmill.”
Athena gave me a patient smile. “With all religions banned, the few churches that had survived the war were torn down. I understand the reasoning behind the decision, but the banning of religion left a huge hole in many people’s lives and the effects were devastating.
“Eventually, the Council reintroduced us theologians, this time without the preaching and the doctrines of religion. Our job isn’t to tell people how to live their lives and we don’t talk about heaven and hell.
“Then what do you talk about?”
“We talk about the core of every religion.”
“What would that be?”
“That would be love, of course,” she said with a smile. “First, we were called spiritual counselors, but the word priestess won in the end. We modern priests talk about connection, unity, acceptance, forgiveness, and love. We seek to empower people and give them a sense of purpose in life.”
“Sounds like you created your own religion.”
Athena smiled and shook her head. “I see your point, but we do not preach or press with any sort of doctrine on how to live, think, or feel.”
“No, I’ll bet you don’t. But your Council does that for you with all their rules and laws.” I sauntered over to take a seat at the table.
She didn’t answer.
“No one is going to believe me at home when I tell them you Motlanders replaced churches with windmills.”
“There was worshiping in a church. To us a windmill is just the home of a priestess.”
“Right.”
I looked around the room. I liked all the warm colors of her furniture, rugs, and paintings. Some of the pictures on the wall looked like they had been drawn by children, and she had stacks of books piled on the floor. Living at the Gray Mansion, I was used to extravagance, but Athena’s furniture looked used and none of it matched. The four chairs at the dining table were different in style and there was a dark burn mark on the table between us. Still, her house was cozy with her eclectic collection of silly things that probably held sentimental value to her.
“It’s funny,” I said without looking at her. “Before my first trip to the Motherlands, I imagined it all as white, boring, and sterile.”
“Why?”
I shrugged. “I just did.”
There was an awkward silence before I cleared my throat and said what I had come here to say. “Look, Athena, it wasn’t right of Magni to kidnap you. I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
She waited for me to continue.
“I would like to apologize for my part in it.” I wasn’t used to apologizing, but thought I did a fabulous job when I gave her my most apologetic smile.
“Is that it?” Athena asked. “Is that your apology?”
“Yes, I’ve thought a lot about what happened, and I feel really awful about it.”
Athena’s direct stare bored right through me. Her thick dark lashes surrounded eyes that made me think of an art project Kya had made me help the students with last week. The children had collected leaves in the forest and used them as models to paint their own pictures of leaves.
Just like those leaves, Athena’s eyes were a display of matching colors: a vivid green with a bright gold starburst around the pupil and a darker green rim around the iris.
“Why did you really come here?” she asked and leaned forward, placing her elbows on the table.
So this woman wasn’t as easy to fool as Pearl had been, but then again Athena had seen sides of me that Pearl had never experienced. Not for one second would Athena think of me as a good person.
“I truly am sorry,” I assured her.
Athena studied me, and then she leaned back in her seat tucking her hands under her thighs. “All right, and do you feel better now that you have apologized?”
Folding my lower lip between my teeth, I summoned my most sincere tone. “It would help if you forgave me.”
“Ahh, I should have known that you’re not just here to apologize. You are here to ask for my forgiveness, is that it?”
“Yes, and of course the best way for me to know that you have truly forgiven me would be if you lifted the curse.” My voice lowered as I spoke the last word.
“Ahhh, now I see.” Athena’s head fell forward and she thought about it while I cleared my throat and continued.
“It didn’t matter much when I had no prospects of being with a woman, but now…” I trailed off.
“Yes, I saw you on the news when that young man climbed the flagpole.”
“That was Marco, and it was a good thing he did, because the next day women treated us like superstars.”
“I heard,” she whispered. “It’s baffling to me, but I suppose not even modern people are immune to ancient programming.”
“Exactly. Now that the women have developed a taste for Nmen, I’m here to spread some joy.”
“I don’t see how the curse is stopping you from spreading joy,” she said matter-of-factly.
“Listen, Athena.” It was my turn to lean over the table. “Let me be honest with you, I slept with five women during my last visit here and it only confirmed that your fucking curse is working.”
Athena winced “Please don’t use that word in my house.”
“No problem. Just undo the curse and I’ll be on my way. You’ll never have to see me again.”
Athena’s eyes drifted to the side and her chest lifted in a heavy sigh.
“What?” I said. “Talk to me, can you do it or not?”
“It’s more complicated to undo a curse than it is to cast it.”
“But you can do it?” I asked with eagerness.
She nodded. “Yes, but it’s going to take time and I want something in return.”
My throat was burning. Hearing her say that she could undo the curse made me all dizzy with excitement. “What do you want?”
Athena hardened her face and looked into my eyes again. “Five days, I want five days.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You took five days from me, and now I want five days from you.”
My eyebrows dipped low and my hands plowed through my long curly hair when I asked the obvious question in a low incredulous tone. “You want me to be your hostage for five days?”
“Since you’ll be volunteering to give back what you took, it wouldn’t be right to call you a hostage. Besides, in order for you to be a hostage, I would need to have the purpose of trading you for something, which I don’t.”
“But why would you want me in your house? We both know you hate me.” I hated how calm and collected she seemed about the whole situation. Like she was asking me to take off my shoes before stepping into her house.
“I don’t hate you. I did not appreciate what you did to me, but I have found my peace with what happened.”
“Then why are you looking for revenge?”
Athena shrugged. “My motivation is my own. The question is: are you willing to pay the price of five days to have me lift the curse?”
“Even if I wanted to stay, I couldn’t. I’m supposed to attend all these different events, and Hans is probably already wondering what’s taking me so long.”
“Would you like me to talk to him?” she offered.
I rubbed my face before huffing out air. “You can’t be serious about this?”
But she looked very serious when she repeated her request. “Five days, Finn.”
I threw up my hands and raised my voice a little. “And what are you gonna do with me for five days?”
“I’m going to do to you what you did to me.”
I jerked my head back. “The hell you are.”
She held my direct stare, and raised an eyebrow.
“Fuck that, Athena. What would even be the purpose?”
“As I said, my motivation is my own and this is the last time I’m going to ask you to stop using that word in my house.” She stood up. “Take a few minutes to think it through. I’ll be waiting with Hans outside.”
Every unsatisfying sexual encounter that I’d had ran through my mind, and Athena hadn’t even reached the door when I stood up so abruptly that my chair tilted. “Okay, I’ll do it.”
Her body stiffened before she turned and gave me a nod. “Good. Excuse me while I go and explain it to Hans.”