Cortin felt a sudden brief hysteria. Standing here naked and sweaty, in definite need of a bath--and they were telling her, with absolute seriousness, that she was more powerful than King or Pope! That was a frightening idea--but Mike was right, making changes required action. Still-- "I . . . let me clean up and think about it. It's too tempting--sounds too easy." "We do all need baths," Illyanov agreed, putting his arm around her waist and starting to urge her toward her rooms. "It will be far less easy than it sounds, beloved; this merely makes it possible. But we will all help you." Before, that sort of presumption would have irritated her, or worse--she might not have wanted to bathe with him, maybe not with anyone. Now, though, she realized that she did want company, specifically Ivan's, and she slid her arm around his waist. They were silent as the tub filled, Illyanov respecting Cortin's need to think. He'd had no trouble accepting her as the Protector, unlike a couple of the others, but he did have the advantage of Dmitrian traditional prophecies and a mother who'd been matter-of-factly certain her eldest son would meet the Promised One and fulfill those prophecies with Her. He'd guessed it might be Joan when she fulfilled part of them by becoming an Inquisitor who assured herself of her subjects' guilt, had thought it highly probable when she'd fulfilled another part by celebrating her restored sexuality with all of them, and had become positive when Michael told him she knew nothing of her mission, also as prophesied. Becoming one with her hadn't been necessary to his belief in her, though he admitted to himself that it was good to know rather than simply believe. The awesome vastness of even the body-limited part of her Self was both humbling and a promise of what humanity in the Systems could become under her protection and guidance. The permanent Protector's later, of course--but most definitely Joan's for now. Cortin stirred the rising water with her foot, watching the ripples, comforted by the man sitting on the edge of the tub with her, his arm around her shoulders. Taken at face value, her Writ did give her almost unlimited power, and she'd like nothing better than to use it to give those she loved the first expanded Family. Most of them, anyway . . . the royals would have to find other spouses at their own level, Ivan and Brad already had families and intentions of expanding them with friends/lovers, and she . . . well, she knew perfectly well she couldn't be part of the marriage. She'd give them a nice Nuptial Mass, though. The thought of Mass made her think of Communion, the rapturous absorption in Divinity she experienced sharing Jeshua's Body and Blood. And had experienced earlier today, first drinking from Mike, then in union. It was confusing that three such different experiences could affect her the same way . . . "Shall we get in before the water gets cold?"