76. Two Weeks

        The jarring din of the front door bells of Dion's Salon damaging the wall yet again meant Atalon was in a bad mood and needed to cool off. Mel hadn't heard the bell bash so loudly in a long time. He stormed into the salon moments later, thrashing the beaded curtain out of his way, beside himself with rage. 

    There was always a chair available for times like these. Mel sat him down, placed a warmed aromatic around his shoulders and combed through his hair as he filled her in. The situation in Ebar was so much worse than he could have imagined, he couldn't even have invented such a blatant disrespect for the establishment, nor imagined the embarrassment his false divinations had presented. 

        "He lied to me! He lied through the Crystal Skull! Orius is an EVIL Serpent, I TRUSTED him! He insisted things were going EXACTLY as planned, now I'm going to have to COMPLETELY RECOLONIZE EBAR!"

         "Shhhh.... Mel urged him to lower his voice, reminding him of the public setting. "I wouldn't worry about Orius" she urged, lifting his hair over the towel, relaxing him with her tender touch like no other goddess could. She had no fear of his anger, she was one of the few he liked, that was one of the reasons he liked her. "Remember, Orius is a pussy! Don’t forget who you are!"

         "You're right" Atalon agreed, calmed by her words. "Why should I worry? As soon as Aquilla's out of the way, he'll be begging for our mercy! He's powerless without his military and even if there is a large gold deposit in Ebar, he will never develop the industry to produce that without Atlan trade. Lay them off! What an IDIOT!"

        

         Atalon began to relax as Mel fixed his hair. "I've decided to throw a Farewell Celebration!" 

         "Oooh! For who?" Mel pressed for more.

         "It's Farewell to the Old Empire" he explained. "Farewell Lunie land! Farewell Garbage Gens! It’s going to be bigger than any celebration we've ever had before. It's going to last for two weeks!"
         "Two weeks?" Mel was surprised, even for Atalon a two week celebration was an extravagance unheard of. She tried to picture such a scenario, struggling with logistics first. "Would all the citizens of Atlan be invited?
         "Oh no!" Atalon smiled. "Of course not! There will be special guests, that way we can accommodate guests from all across the empire" he continued to divulge his plan as Mel combed his hair.

         "For two weeks? But where will they all stay? The Hotel Medel is always booked up! I know your friends, they'd rather stay at the Villa!"  Mel always offered helpful insights, the king's face lit up at the idea. 

         "Then stay at the Villa they shall!" He beamed.

         The Hotel Medel was still too small. "And how will we accommodate the... Less friendly guests? What about our own presentation?"

         "Only the finest gens will be invited" he clarified. "Our very best Products. They will stay in the Grand Courtyard!"
         "The Grand Courtyard?" Mel paused to look at him in the reflection in the mirror, for a moment wondering if the king had lost his mind.

         "Yes! I'm building a tent city" he explained. "We've got so many projects to unveil to go along with the New Empire I thought we'd present them in one big celebration. I thought we should take the last two weeks of the Old Empire out with a bang! I asked Nolan to design a Fireworks Show, but it's a big secret. Shhh! Don't tell anyone!"

         "A Fireworks show?" Mel echoed, questioning.
         Atalon winked at her in the mirror. "You'll see! It's a surprise! I'm saving it for the Grand Finalé! It's going to be fabulous" he assured. "Now of course, I'm going to need your expertise to select the most exceptional aribu to be our less-friendly guests."

         "Of course" she smiled, relieved to learn she would be the formal selection process. "You know I'll only select the very best!" Mel knew almost everygen in Atlan and most of the gens from the neighboring cities were patrons of the Salon, or a satellite of the Salon, she organized all their files, she knew which ones to select already, Medena kept her up to date. Her position gave her a powerful status, everyone knew it too, that's why everyone wanted to be her friend.

         Atalon continued, aroused now. "I'd like twelve of the very best Golden Goddesses for the party in the Villa too!"

         "You won't be disappointed!" Mel assured as she ran the comb through his hair, trimming the damaged ends.

         "Good!" Atalon relaxed into the chair, feeling assured by Mel's devotion. "I'd like you to be with me this evening" he took her hand, catching her eye in the reflection of the mirror. "Will you join me for a dip in the pool?"

         Mel was torn about being with Atalon. She longed to be in the arms of a handsome young god like Nolan but even though she knew Nolan yearned to be with her too, a bigger part of her couldn't resist the security, fame and glamour Atalon provided even though deep down she had no feelings for the ancient Anunnaki god. She had to feign a desire to be with him, and that was hard sometimes. The truth was, Aquilla aside, Atalon was by far the most hideous creature alive in the empire, his BloodWine breath was toxic already, ghastly now that he was smoking a pipe, his frankincense was overbearing, his moods unbearable, everyone knew it but no one dared say it out loud. She knew the only reason everyone wanted to be her friend was because of her power; her power wasn't guaranteed, or free. She wasn't his wife, nor was she sure she really wanted to be. The perks of being his goddess kept the power play alive, everyone wanted to be a part of her group, she was that friend, it was too good to let go. "I'd love to, Your Honor" she smiled, sweetly.

         Through the back room door, Dion watched the two chatting, he could overhear every word, even when they whispered like that, he could read their lips in the mirror, even when it was inverted like that. Mel was privy to the inside workings of Atalon's world, it was through Mel he learned what they were, she kept him up to date, their relationship worked in his favor, too.

         "Atalon's decided to throw some stupid Farewell Celebration" he informed, returning his attention to the game table.

         "I heard already." Halki tossed him the dice. "Halios wants to use it to stage his coup."