Free The Wayward Godking by Brendan Carroll

I found myself on Lucio’s doorstep,” he shrugged. “Lucio had dreamt of me. She may be in the Seventh Gate.”
    “But I dream of her too!” Simon blurted and then looked rather pale.
    “Then you should dream of her more often.” Mark clapped him on the shoulder. “It is entirely permissible to dream of our angels, Simon, even if they fall short of our expectations.”
    Mark got up and approached the stone again.
    “Place your hand on the stone, Simon, and have a look.”
    Simon hesitated, but Mark insisted taking the Healer’s hand and laying it on the stone next to his own. They jerked their heads slightly when the stone’s power struck their minds. “The double contact will muddle the image we present here,” Mark whispered.
    They both looked into the stone at the same time. Mark saw his sons, Luke and the Dove… No, he saw Luke Andrew and Omar and with them, Meredith and Dunya. In front of them sat the dark Lord, Kinmalla.
    “Listen,” Mark breathed the word to Simon.
    “… ibn Adalune ibn Adar ibn Anu, you stand before this court accused of multiple crimes against humanity. I find you guilty of the charges levied against you. A recess of forty-five glimmers will be taken while punishment is considered.”
    They heard a loud banging and Mark watched as the judge left the ruddy glow of the chamber. The vision wavered and he saw Dunya’s terrified face. Then Omar popped into view as he pulled his sister to him and hugged her tightly, trying to comfort her once more.
    “There is no need to worry, my love,” the Prophet whispered to her as she cried against his white and gold tunic overlay. “He has nothing to levy against you.”
    “Uhhhh that might not necessarily be true, Omar.” Luke Andrew appeared in the vision. “He pronounced Nicole’s charges intermixed with mine. When I challenged him, he said that we… Nicole and I… are one and the same in the eyes of God. I shudder to think what that means, but I believe it is because we were twins. You and Dunya are also twins.”
    “Omar.” Dunya pushed her brother back and looked up at him. “It is exactly as I told you. We are indivisible. Nothing you do can change that. Wither thou goest, there go I. You have always known this. We belong together, Omar, and whatever he does to you, wherever he sends you, there I will go as well. I would not have it any other way.”
    Luke Andrew frowned at her and then at Omar.
    “I’ve heard this before, Omar!” Luke backed away from them. “It’s all the same with them. What is wrong with you, Dunya? Has Nicole been talking to you? What about William? Where does he fit in?”
    “You know perfectly well what I’m talking about, Luke Andrew Ramsay!” Dunya scowled at him darkly. “You’ve always known it. You and Nicole are at odds just as Grandmother and Lord Marduk. They are one and the same, parts of one whole, and yet, Semiramis refuses to admit it. You are like Semiramis. You see something in Nicole that frightens you and so, you reject her. She loves you more than her own life, Luke, and you tear out her heart and trample it. When are you going to stop parading around as a man and accept your destiny? Accept the truth! You are not a man. You never were a man. You will never be one.”
    Mark Andrew broke the connection and pulled Simon’s hand from the stone.
    The Healer looked at him in silence.
    “It seems the gods are in trouble, Simon,” Mark said after a moment.
    “Then you should get back there and straighten it out.” Simon shrugged, but seemed about to bolt. “I have a hard time dealing with this. In fact, I don’t want to deal with it at all. I try to forget what you are… what Meredith is.” Simon pressed his hands to his ears. “What I am.”
    “Simon, please…” Mark reached for him and he backed further away, bumping into a stack of books, sending them every which way across the floor.
    It was the same problem that had surfaced when Simon had finally realized that Mark