Chapter 13 #2
Katana’s brows rose. “I suppose I do not know a lot about Hel. Why would you call him the master of darkness and what are pale ones?” Everyone looked amongst each other in a way that sent a chill down her spine.
In the couple days she’d spent with this group, Hel had never given her a reason to think he was anything but loving to Valeen.
Powerful certainly, but the way he looked at her, it was like she was the only thing that mattered in his world.
The way she’d always wished Atlanta would look at her. “He has not hurt Valeen, has he?”
“It’s not her anyone needs to worry about,” Piper said, turning away with a frown.
“You mean he hurts other people?”
“That’s the understatement of the year.” Fennan’s tone was harsh though Katana didn’t think he meant to snap at her. “And the pale ones were once elves but now they’re monsters who eat people and have no remorse or conscience. He created them.”
Katana blinked rapidly trying to picture elves eating people and shook her head to clear that image. “Excuse me? He created them how?”
“Oh, I know!” Tif’s hand shot up and she jumped in place then blushed when everyone looked at her. “Well, according to him it was the All Mother’s punishment, not entirely his doing. Something about balance and consequences for magical greed. I don’t understand it myself, but you might.”
“Even you’re defending him now?” Fennan groaned.
“The important thing is he’s on our side so none of us need to worry about him,” Thane said quickly. “Do you want to see more of the grounds, Katana?”
So apparently there was a lot she needed to catch up on, but she’d rather hear it from her sister. “That would be lovely.”
They left the others behind and walked side by side on a path toward the gray high cliffs at the back of the castle.
It wasn’t long before their walk touring the grounds brought them to a hot spring surrounded by a small grove of pink and purple poplar trees.
The sunshine brought out the bright blooms and butterflies danced in the air.
A quiet wind made the grass and flowers sway and carried a sweet scent.
Thane stopped at the water’s edge and dipped his fingers in. “This is called the Casburn Springs. It’s named after an elven ancestor of mine. It’s hot but not scalding. I used to swim here when I was young, but I don’t even remember the last time I went in.”
“Should we get in then?” Katana lit up with the idea. She hadn’t had a bath since she arrived and had only wiped herself down with a cloth. She had been too timid to ask the servants to fill the tub.
“If you want to, I can keep watch.”
“You want to watch me bathe?” She slowly smiled.
His cheeks flushed and he rubbed the back of his neck. “I didn’t mean you… the area for—you know what I mean.”
“You are cute when you blush.” She pushed the sleeves of her dress off her shoulders and let the fabric pool around her feet, leaving her in a bralette and high-cut underwear. “I was teasing by the way.”
“Um.” His eyes widened as they trailed down her form. He didn’t try to look away or pretend like he wasn’t inspecting every inch of her flesh. But it wasn’t in a way that made her skin crawl or even brought a blush to her cheeks. He was simply taking in what was in front of him.
“So surprised. You already untied my dress once and had me on your lap in something almost as revealing.” She winked and dipped her toe in.
“I—what?”
“Have you forgotten already?” She sank down into the water until it reached her throat and sighed. “This was exactly what I needed.”
“No, I just didn’t expect you to strip down like that I guess.”
“I am not ashamed of my body. It is beautiful.”
He laughed and the sound of it made her stomach flutter.
“Well, I had forgotten that goddesses aren’t as modest. In Adalon there is a certain dress code among females.
Males don’t walk around with their shirts off either unless training on a particularly warm day or in close company.
” He sat at the edge of the water and tucked his knees toward his chest. “Did Atlanta hit you, Katana?”
Katana’s breath stopped and she ran her hands through the warm water. “Why would you think that?”
“The night I found you under the tree, you flinched when I raised my hand. And there’s a few other things you’ve said…”
It wasn’t something she liked to talk about. “He did.”
“How many times?” His voice had dropped lower.
“Too many to count,” she whispered. She didn’t know why she felt she could tell him things she didn’t confess to others. Lying to him felt wrong.
“And you stayed?” He sounded like he wanted to truly know without judgment.
“It is complicated.”
“I understand complicated well.”
“Would you understand if I said it was more difficult to leave than to stay? Remember when I told you I wanted a divorce, and he would not allow it? We shared a territory, we have children, and a long history. And it did not happen that often. I learned what I could say and do and what I should not.”
“You said it happened more times than you could count.”
She sighed. “We were together for a very long time. More time than you have been alive. It is part of my past now. It feels like another life—because it was. I decided that is not who I am anymore.” There was no excuse for it.
She knew that even then, but it was impossible to part with someone powerful like Atlanta.
Where would she have gone to escape him?
It terrified her to think of him finding out she was alive now.
The thought of facing him was the only thing keeping her from going to Runevale to find her son and two daughters.
Eventually she would but she needed to build her courage and learn this new mortal body better.
“I will not ever go back to him. I do not even consider him my husband. I died. Should death not set me free?”
His eyes darkened. “I hope I don’t ever meet him.”
“Why?”
“Because I might kill him.”
The corners of her mouth threatened to curl upward. “Why do you care?”
He pinned her with those eyes, like a deep whimsical forest. “Why shouldn’t I?”
“You barely know me.”
“It doesn’t mean I can’t care.”
“Maybe we should get to know each other better then. Did you prefer your life in Palenor or Runevale?”
“My life in Runevale isn’t who I am anymore either,” he murmured.
“So, you will stay here then, when you have your immortality back and the threat of the council is gone?”
“Yes, I will remain in Palenor to be High King.”
So, he wanted to be where Valeen wasn’t? Or was it duty that called him? Most gods wanted to be in Runevale. It was their homeworld.
The heat of the water was getting to be a bit much, so she rose until it was at her waist. Steam rolled off her skin and the water clung to her white bralette.
She noticed his eyes slowly move down. It was only then she realized how see-through the fabric had become.
But she was never one to be embarrassed of her body and it seemed silly to dip back under.
“What do you want out of life, Thane?”
His throat bobbed and green eyes flicked back to her face. “I don’t know anymore.”
“But you did once?”
“Yes,” he whispered.
“Well, I want to travel the realms. I want to see the Deserts of Anahar and the woodland elves’ tree houses.
I want to walk down the infamous Pearl Avenue in Ryvengaard with the dragons and see the ice caves in the Frostlands.
I rarely left Runevale. Seeing this place has been a dream. Thank you for showing me around.”
“Why didn’t you do this before?” His brows knitted.
Cupping water she splashed herself and thought back.
“I had responsibilities. I felt chained to my territory in some ways.” Admitting that Atlanta didn’t like her leaving was hard, but she finally said, “And Atlanta hated when I left. If I did leave the realm, it was with him, and he does not enjoy traveling.”
“Because he thought it was dangerous or…”
She frowned. “Partly, but mostly because he was worried I would fall in love with someone else.”
“And yet he had other lovers.” Thane shook his head. “Well, now you can do whatever you want. How does it feel to be free?”
She spread her arms wide and tilted her chin toward the azure sky. “It feels like when you see a bird flying, riding on the wind simply existing. Without him here I get to be… me.”
Thane smiled and she couldn’t help but admire his full lips over his perfect teeth, but it slowly faded.
“Is something wrong?” Katana asked. Had she brought up something she shouldn’t have?
He simply shook his head and looked up at the blossoms in the trees.
“Do you know how long it has been since I have been kissed?” Katana splashed her chest once more.
His head snapped in her direction and looked like she’d struck him across the face.
Then his gaze dipped again to her wet bralette and now peaked nipples.
Could she get that blush to deepen even further?
Get him to smile again? He had such a lovely smile; it was a shame to see him frown.
“And it has been even longer since I have been properly bedded.” Yes, those cheeks could get rather rosy. “It has been at least a few thousand years. I am practically a virgin these days.”
The bob of his throat and the sudden flare of his pupils were satisfying to watch. “Maker Above, Katana,” he murmured, but the corners of his mouth began to curl up. “I’m going to have to go find a cold river to plunge into in a minute.”
“Or you could join me, but it is far from cold.”
“I better not.”
She strode out of the water and past him, brushing her knuckles against his shoulder. She walked out from under the shade of the poplar trees where the sun felt wonderful on her skin. Her magic tingled and relished in the light.
When she turned back around, he was leaned up against a tree trunk with his muscular arms crossed.
It was freeing to be away from Atlanta, and to flirt like she never could without worrying he would hurt her.
“I think it is almost supper. My stomach is growling.” She picked up her dress and draped it over her arm.
He practically stumbled pushing off the tree and was at her side in a flash. “You can’t go inside like that.”
“Like what?”
His eyes flared. “Like—dripping wet and practically naked. That white bra isn’t hiding anything .”
“I suppose I will just have to stand here until I am dry. I do not want to get my dress wet. It could stain the silk. It is a delicate fabric.”
Her brow arched as she watched him tug off his tunic.
A moment later, he took the dress from her arm and slipped his too-large shirt over her head.
Giggling, she pushed her arms through the sleeves and let the white cotton fabric drape to her mid thighs.
The sleeves fell just past her fingertips.
“This is sure to cause more gossip than breakfast.”