In the end, I'm a bad mouth. The party was, against all odds, enjoyable. Ereshkigal was content to stand in a corner, nicely, like the well-behaved puppy she should never stop being. I had the strange experience of a constructive conversation with Enki, for a change. And finally, the most important thing: Xihe was lovely. More than I ever imagined possible. For millennia, I had this awful anxiety that she could come at any time and force me to be hers. We talk about a reinir who promised that she would take me... Promises are sacred for us.

I would have fought back, of course. However, there is an ocean between knowing how to keep a few untrained civilians at bay and dueling one of the best fighters in the universe. The people of Uruk compare brawls between chicks to catfights. Here, I would play as a tiny kitten hoping to compete with a raging lion the size of a planet. She would crush me. No one will protect my ass. No one cares because that's my purpose. I remain a talking sex toy for my peers.

You want to know what's worse? They are right! My function is literally to fight, lose and serve to satisfy an admiral. The difference is that I love Leilin and my sweetheart was precisely that: sweet. Xihe does not attract me, especially since my wife's rivalries are close to my heart. I am her plaything. Ultimately, Xihe is only interested in Freyja. A chance.

By itself, their relationship deserves a little more explanation. Both of them are very strong characters! You have Xihe, who personifies reinirs' martial efficiency. A stern, confident, rigid, methodical, precise, ruthless and honest woman. Matriarch of the Xi, she bears all characteristics of this family: pale skin, fierce eyes and long black hair. Otherwise, she is hopelessly humorless, and yet hates being left out of jokes. Her officers used to say that you could see her killjoy side shining brightly. In our entire fleet, she was the only one with a reputation for harshly punishing her subordinates caught in an act of 'fraternization', earning her this charming nickname of « Xihe the frigid ».

It is often admitted, almost universally to my regret, that she is less attractive than me. Nevertheless, in terms of raw power, without going into technicalities, I would like to point out that she used to fight by shattering stars... Our subtle fellow did not receive the responsibility of solar goddess without reason. The unfortunate woman has the defect of being simultaneously haughty and jealous. Her rivalry with Leilin exists because she can't stand coming in second place. This seems to be a family trait, as all Xi's have a similar tendency.

Freyja, on the other hand, is nothing alike. Firstly, you have to understand that our glorious Queen of Sied and my humble self are very similar, way too much. So much so that I do not doubt that at some time in the past, Leilin must have been greatly infatuated with her. If we stand side by side, you'd swear I am her sister. The wonders of genetic engineering! Secondly, Freyja is not really a name, but an ancient sobriquet that has marked the ages and means « Woman-Lady », « Ja » signifying in Sied language 'Lady' and « Freu », 'Woman'. For example, all knights of Sied are known as « Valkyrja » or « ladies of the slaughters ».

The northern peoples like to give her highness a brother, but our charming sovereign actually plays both roles, abusing her talents as a shape-shifter at will. She enjoys building a myth to explain the 'miracles' of which our kind are capable. Like me, she writes and has authored many epic poems that end up being sung to humans. They become part of their oral tradition after a few generations.

Her love for art has given her an official position as a deity of beauty. Let's face it, even in Ashimora's time it was accepted everywhere that Freyja is the most beautiful woman alive. Therefore, you will not find anyone who would consider such a title inappropriate. You will even hear from the villages of the poles that her 'fingers love gold', due to a wrong translation of a famous saying from the kingdom of Sied, which says that writers are artists who « weave clouds with a golden thread ».

As an anecdote, I regularly travel to the icy north. People initially thought they saw Freyja, but then realize that I'm not that gorgeous. After a while, they offered me a name, Frigg. That being said, the similarity is so striking that you will find few places where our selves are not openly mistaken for one another. A pair of cloud weavers! Character-wise, Freyja is... outstanding. As blunt and brutal as she is independent and romantic, the monarch is capable of either unbelievable politeness or a complete lack of manners, depending on her mood.

You could watch her sculpting, painting, writing or composing symphonies one night in a dress of impossible workmanship, glowing like love personified. The next day, here she is in a tavern singing the worst vulgarities conceivable, sitting half-naked on the shoulders of a bearded farmer. Her might and authority place her far above the rest of us, miserable commoners. No matter what her fantasies are, no one would dare to stop her from indulging them or blame her for doing so. Freyja is not shy about her sexual life. Her princesses maintained harems and it is said that our queen enjoyed the very masculine company of hers. An expensive luxury. She retains that vice to this day.

Since I am approaching the bottom of my page, and there is clearly no shortage of things to say, we will continue next time.