Future Indefinite by Dave Duncan

“Mm! You are not only a startlingly beautiful woman, Eleal Singer, but you have exquisite taste in clothes!”
    She gasped out her thanks. She had money to indulge her whims now, and this gown was her newest and best, just bought for winter. She had not worn it before—fine white wool, decorated only with big rhinestone buttons down the front and brocade on the collar. She always chose clothes with long skirts to hide her boot; she suspected that the long sleeves and high collar were a reaction to the skimpy things she wore to perform. It was snug around the bodice, though, with a high, tight waist supporting her breasts, and from there it fell full and loose. To have her clothes praised by a god was a heady sensation. She avoided his eye, feeling herself blush.
    He led her to a russet leather couch, seating her next to the fire and settling down beside her. She clasped her hands on her knees and stared at them as if she were a fourteen-year-old with her first man.
    “And you claim to be my daughter? Who was your mother?”
    “Itheria Impresario.” When there was no reaction, she continued. “She disappeared for a fortnight, here in Jurg. I know very little about her. She bore me and then she just died, and I was reared by my grandfather, Trong Impresario, and his wife—his second wife, Ambria. She said my mother hadn’t been a bad woman, she had…” Been seduced by the god, but she couldn’t say that. “Pined away for love?”
    Ken’th sighed faintly. “That does happen, I’m afraid. I don’t recall the name. It could have been me. I’m not usually quite that fickle—only a fortnight? But it is possible, I suppose.” He slid an arm around her, making her heart flip.
    “You are certainly beautiful enough to be the child of a god. You sing for a living?”
    “Yes, Lord.”
    “Where?”
    “Oh, all over the place. I have performed in many of the Vales and at many places here in Jurg.” That was all true. The Trong Troupe had traveled. Tigurb’l often arranged for her to perform in private houses.
    “Fascinating!” the god said softly. “And you mentioned the Liberator! Are you the Eleal named in the Filoby Testament ?”
    “Yes, Lord.”
    “Father?”
    “Yes…Father.” She glanced sideways.
    He raised dark eyebrows and waited. He was smiling, but his amusement held none of the mockery the priest’s had. He was taking her concern seriously.
    Talk…“I did what was prophesied. When the Liberator came, I tended him, washed him. He fell very sick, and I nursed him. I did everything I was supposed to, Father!”
    Ken’th frowned. “You know, I find I dislike that title? I have no experience at being a father, Eleal. That’s not my job. For that you need Visek.”
    “Of course, Lord!”
    “I am god of virility,” he said apologetically. “I do have duties. If I tried to keep track of all the bastards I have fathered in the last few hundred years, I would have no time for anything else. You do understand?”
    “Yes, of course, Lord!”
    “Call me Ken’th.”
    She hesitated, appalled.
    “Go on!” he said, teasing. “You wanted me in the flesh. You have me in the flesh, so call me Ken’th!”
    “Yes, Ken’th.”
    “That’s better.”
    For a moment he just smiled at her. She smiled back with mounting confidence. He was handsome, now she saw him close—handsome and attractive. His face did not at all resemble the face on the statue. Not arrogant, not callous, but kind and trustworthy and sympathetic.
    “How old are you?”
    “Seventeen…Ken’th.”
    “So when the Liberator came you were only a child. He was not a baby, of course, although the text implied he would be. How old was he?”
    “Eighteen, he told me.”
    “Lovers?”
    “Oh no ! Of course not!”
    The god’s arm tightened around her. “And what did you want to tell me about him?”
    This was where matters might become just a trifle delicate. Her heart began to speed up again. “He’s reported to be up in