The Story of the Trees - Sword, Ring, and Crown Book One

Chapter Twenty-Five

"What's Aisa doing up there?" Luis whispered.

As if I knew! 

 Next, the two outrageously handsome men stood from their thrones and helped Aisa stand up.  She rose with a groan, then toddled forward a few steps. First one man (or should I call them gods?), then the other kissed her on the lips. Ugh. Then she patted each one of them on the cheek.

Afterward, they let her hands go, and she weaved a little on her feet but didn't fall. She made a hacking sound as she cleared her throat, then adjusted her glasses. The amazingly handsome guy on the right-handed her a long staff made of oak which had appeared in his hand while she was clearing her throat. She took it as she scanned the crowd. Her gaze lit on me. 

"Ah, Matt!" Aisa crowed.

Everyone in the ballroom had prostrated themselves, except for Ciaran and my friends from Earth (even Luke, Erick, and my banmuinen kissed the floor).

"Get over here, Matt, and bring that God-awful court you got with you. Sheesh! Did you pull those guys from a bargain bin at the thrift store? Where's number seven?" She rapped her staff against the ground. The other two courts scrambled to make way for me as I walked forward.

The rest of my court rose, and we all approached the dais. "Aisa, you're Duir?" I asked.

She looked at her throne and the two men beside her before turning back to me.  "Duh!"

Because she was an idiot, some woman from the crowd cut in. "Eternal Goddess! May your light shine forever! The Elect Regina should go first as is due her rank!"

Aisa tilted her staff in the person's direction, and a hole that opened up beneath her swallowed her. Her scream cut off when the hole closed up. "Anyone else wanna speak up?" my former landlord rasped loudly.

No one else dared to speak up. I also noticed that no one seemed surprised to see a creaky old woman in a velour tracksuit up there. Her attention returned to me. "You ain't gonna pass this thing, so did you bring my present?"

Shoot. Luke had given me those three coins - one for each of them - but I left them on the desk. I could feel him burning laser holes through my back, and I clenched my jaw.

"Um, no. I forgot them."

"Ha! That's the problem with you, Matt. You always rush around and forget things!"

I ignored the beginnings of one of her fact based rants and asked, "Aisa, where'd you put the real Goddess? Did you tie her up in a curse sweater and stash her someplace?"

The crowd murmured in shock at the familiar way I was speaking to their Goddess.

"That's funny, Matt!! Ho-ho-ho-humph! Maybe you'll give an old woman more respect if I put on my party dress." She rapped her staff against the ground and transformed into a tall, golden-skinned woman with eyes the color of nut butter and snarly, oak-colored hair twisted with roots and branches. On her head was a crown similar to Valenia's, but it was taller and had more leaves and acorns. Her velour tracksuit turned into a red medieval-style gown that was embroidered with oak leaves.

I gaped at the beautiful Goddess. In a land of beauties like this one, Aisa/Duir was stunning. I couldn't believe this had been the old woman who fumed over her knitting. Despite her snarly hair, she had a regal bearing, with a straight nose, high cheekbones, and full lips. She reminded me of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi.

The crowd made a gasp of adoration as they gazed at her from the floor. She nodded her head sweetly at them. She was still looking benign as she said,  "When the first drops of snow came down, we all were worried, of course. It defied even the Trees attempts to stop it. But, something amazing also happened as the first snowflake fell on Aleria. We discovered that the doorway to Earth was open. That door had been closed for centuries."