Prologue

Okay. This will be the cronicle of my life, or at least those parts that matter most. And before you start thinking me an arrogant, self-centered bastard, to begin a story like this, I ask you to bear with me for a while. You will see that this is no ordinary tale. Perhaps you will not believe what you read, but that is, of course, entirely up to you. I swear it’s all the truth. That what will follow is exactly what happened. All of it. And everyone.

Speaking of everyones, there is someone I must talk about before actually starting my story. I know, I know, get on with it, I can squirm in portraits of characters later, but this you need to know before reading anything else.

I am talking about Lugh, of course - which is, according to him, to be pronounced “Luke”. He’s my best friend, and the sort of friend who always is there for you, always knows what youre thinking, and only ever does anything if it is to make you happy. He’s cheerful and lively, sometimes up to a tiring point, but of course he never notices that. Lugh loves practical jokes and pranks, and has generally made a living out of them. That is important to know, trust me. The only reason he gets away with it, is because he is so damn charming.

Lugh is, by any standard, handsome. With his slightly pale skin, sparkling green eyes, flaming red hair and easy, elegantly shaped, eternally smiling mouth, he is damn hard to resist.

Oh yeah, and did I mention he’s a demi-god as well?

He’s a demi-god.

Though I know there are different meanings to that word, in Lugh’s case it just means he is not as powerful as most of the major gods, but whether that is despite his ambitions or of his own accord, I could not say. My guess would be the latter.

However, although he may be less than influentual in the Heavens, on Earth the gods practically gave him free reign, mostly because he never really intrudes in on any of their plans, unless he’s feeling like pulling a leg on them, and because he amuses them. Which was probably his goal in the first place. So Lugh plays around on Earth, has fun here, has fun there, stays out of the ways of the gods and drives mankind mad.

Every once in a lifetime, he makes an exception, though. And I am one of those exceptions.

I was born the son of a priestess of Teanu, at the Teanur Temple in Ravindha. When I was a week old, a ritual was held to ascertain my affinity, my alignment; that is, would I be fit to become a priest, and if so, to which god? Being the son of my mother, who came from a long line of Teanur priests and priestesses, it was generally thought that I would be a priest of Teanu as well. Which was probably the way things would have turned out, if not for one small thing.

All the proper incantations were done, and the High Priest invoked my god/goddes, cross out whichever is not appropriate, to show him/herself. And lo and behond, when not Teanu but, I am sure you can guess, none other than Lugh appeared. And without any disagreement of dissent coming from the gods, either. That was unheard of.

Well, it was. It only ever happens once in a lifetime. I just said that.

According to legend, Lugh placed a hand on my forehead and said, with uncharacteristic tenderness and formality,

‘This boy is mine. Mine to serve, and for me to serve him. To be bound to me in a divine bond, that shall last for as long as his soul shall exist.’ Yeah, I know, pretty heavy, isn’t it? Religion usually is.

And so I became the only living priest of Lugh. There had been many before me, and there will be many after me, but only ever one at any given time. For some reason, Lugh prefers it that way; prefers to have one person to have his undivided, unconditional love and attentions. If you think about it, it is far easier than having a clergy large abough to fill a kingdom. Or an empire, in the case of some of the gods.

But, as you will no doubt be wondering by now, this is not my story. This is but the beginning of it, and if you read it, all that I have just told you will make certain things more clear. At any rate it will give you a sense of dramatic irony, since I must admit I was pretty thick for most of the tale. Which, of course, made it all the more fun for Lugh.

I have forgiven him for most of it, by now. Not everything, though. The things Jeric had to endure… but I am getting ahead of myself. I should start at the beginning, or at least a beginning.

Let’s pick a night, seven years ago. Me, sitting in the library, reading. Unaware of the adventure ahead of me.

Or Lugh, bursting into the room, for that matter.