Hexed

I took a seat across from her, moving her ale out of the way.
    » Excellent. Now let’s review what happened here, shall we? You showed up uninvited and I welcomed you in. I offered you refreshment and you accepted. You made a proposal to me and I said I would think about it. You ripped off my shirt and then tried to kill me. Now I ask you, which part of that sequence of events breaks every law of hospitality known to our race? «
    » You left out the part where you fornicated with the Morrigan. «
    » Not while you were here. Answer my question. «
    Sullenly, Brighid said, » The part where I ripped off your shirt was a minor breach of hospitality. «
    » We are making excellent progress, « I enthused. » How about the part where you tried to kill me? Was that not also poor conduct for a guest? «
    » Yes—strictly speaking. But you gave me cause! «
    » No, Brighid, I did not. If I had agreed to be your consort first and then fornicated with the Morrigan in front of you with Def Leppard on the stereo, then that would have been cause to incinerate me on the spot. But I am a free man and I gave you no such cause. And beyond that, I cannot fathom why you’d react like a jilted high school girl. This wasn’t done out of jealousy, was it? «
    » No, « Brighid said. » I was not motivated by jealousy. «
    » I thought not. And did you propose that I become your consort out of any true affection for me? «
    » No. «
    » Of course not. Before we get to the real reason you asked me to be your consort, I would like to address your accusation. If I were truly ‘the Morrigan’s creature,’ as you put it, then I could have killed you already, and indeed I should have and would have. We would not be talking right now if I were beholden to her will or if I were part of some evil plot to usurp you. «
    » Then what is between you? « Brighid asked.
    » She regenerated my ear for me, « I said, flicking the lobe. » Sex magic. «
    Brighid flinched. » I did not know you had lost it. No one told me. «
    » Yep. I lost it in the Superstition Mountains when I was killing Aenghus Óg for you. Speaking of which, did you tell Flidais to kidnap Oberon to make sure I showed up? «
    The goddess sighed. » Yes. «
    › Grr. You know, you’re not as nice as I originally thought. ‹
    » I couldn’t agree more, Oberon, « I said. » Brighid, I want you to think a moment about what you have done here. I am the last man on this plane who worships you in the old way. I gave you full rites on Samhain just a few nights ago. «
    » Yes, but you gave them to the Morrigan too. «
    » As I should! And to Ogma. And to Manannan Mac Lir and all the rest. For they are my gods, as you are. And now to be served thus, after millennia of faith in your goodness and beauty and purity of spirit—and for what? Let’s have that answer now. Why did you truly want me to be your consort? «
    » I want the secret of your amulet. I can study it better in Tír na nÓg. «
    » Is that your sole motivation? «
    » No. It would thwart the Morrigan. «
    » Thwart her how? That’s more important to you, isn’t it? «
    » Yes. She wishes to be supreme in Tír na nÓg, and she is using you to make it happen. «
    » You are no better, « I pointed out. » You wish to be supreme, and you would use me the same way. I’m disgusted with you both. And you know what really chaps my hide here? «
    › Testify! ‹
    » It’s that you’ve come down so dramatically from your pedestal. I can’t even have a proper crisis of faith and vacillate between the image of perfection and my shattered illusions, because you’ve left no doubt that there is nothing divine about your nature. Do you not see how you have debased yourself, or do you persist in thinking that you acted justly in trying to kill me? Wait—don’t answer that yet. « An inconsistency demanded resolution. » Why did you try to kill me with fire? «
    Brighid shrugged. » Usually it gets the job done. « This admission—made under a spell that brooked no deceit—told me that Brighid still knew nothing about my deal with the Morrigan, or she wouldn’t have even tried to kill me. Regardless, it was perplexing behavior.
    » But you expressly knew that my amulet protects me from most magic, « I said. » Did you forget that? «
    » No. I just didn’t think it would prove strong enough to stand against me. «
    » Ah, you thought your magic was stronger than mine. «
    » Yes. «
    » When mortals take excessive