Chapter 30 #2
A snowy gust slams into me, pulling my cloak away so that the ice crystals can cling to the thin fabric of my chiton. I don’t waste any more time thinking about my romantic life. I need to put on some real fucking clothes.
It’s a few hours before dawn when Sylvia wakes me.
I only know what time it is because that’s what my game menu tells me.
How did guards know their shifts were over before there were clocks?
If these were the actual days of ancient Greece that inspired the game developers, I would have absolutely no concept of time.
It’s that point in the middle of the night when the temperatures have reached the lowest they’ll get for twenty-four more hours. I’m so grateful that Cait lent me some of her old armor because, even though I’m dressed head to toe in leather, my joints ache from the cold.
Sylvia seems remarkably calm about the weather, though. I suppose her cloak made of heavy fur has a lot to do with it. But when I sit beside her next to the campfire, she actually hands it over to me!
“Oh, no, I appreciate it, but I don’t want you to go cold just for my sake,” I say.
“I’ll be fine,” she says in her typical sweet tone. “One of the favors Artemis gave me is the ability to feel comfort in any weather.”
“Damn, that’s really handy.”
“Definitely,” she responds and uses a stick to move the logs around. When the flames don’t get bigger, she frowns. “Can you go back in the tent and grab another log?”
“Sure thing.”
I do exactly as Sylvia asked, but when I exit the tent, I hear someone whisper something unintelligible to my right. I turn but see no one.
I’m about to write it up as my imagination, when it happens again, but this time I hear, “Lauren.”
Nausea creeps up me. It’s dark, and the only people around are either asleep or next to the fire at the top of the hill. I scurry to climb up the hill but stop when I hear, “It’s Tara with the other earrings.”
I remember we got matching earrings in Thebe so that she and I could communicate from a distance. I’m impressed that they work from this far away.
“Tara? What’s going on?”
“Don’t trust Sylvia,” she hisses urgently.
It hits me then that Tara’s actually whispering. Why? She’s in my ear. Even people close to me can’t hear what she’s saying.
“What do you mean? Sylvia wouldn’t hurt any of us.”
“Yeah, our Sylvia wouldn’t,” Tara whispers, “but that’s not her.”
Panic thunders in my chest. This is even creepier than if it had just been a strange voice whispering my name in the dark. “Why are you whispering?”
“I don’t want the Zeus worshippers to hear me,” she answers.
“They’re alive?” I ask.
“All of them except for Bruce and Dan,” Tara responds. “When they were freed, they killed Bruce and Dan. I had to pretend I was still possessed and on their side.”
“Holy shit! They killed Bruce and Dan?”
“Yeah, Zeus is letting them live because of what their warlock did,” she says.
“The reason I lost control of my mind in the battle is that he possessed me with an eidola. I just heard him bragging how he got me and Sylvia. Once Miko trapped me, mine must have left. I’d already served my purpose but Syl—”
Tara breaks off, and for a heartbeat, I think she’s gone, But then I hear her let out a low sigh. “Shit, I gotta go. I hear them talking about how I’ve been gone too long. I’m going to stay with them as long as I can to keep tabs on what Zeus has planned, okay?”
“Okay,” I reply. “Thanks, Tara.”
She doesn’t respond. I guess she’s gone now.
Sylvia possessed by an eidola? What the fuck is an eidola? And if she is possessed, why hasn’t she tried murdering me in my sleep yet.?She’s had plenty of opportunities. Maybe Tara’s wrong. Maybe the warlock’s spell didn’t work on Sylvia.
Whatever the case may be, I can’t stand at the bottom of this hill any longer. I need to help with the fire.
When I reach Sylvia, I see that she’s talking with Alexander. I’m behind them, and I guess she doesn’t hear me because she doesn’t turn to see me. I pause, considering Tara’s warning and then I pick up on Sylvia’s conversation.
“So what exactly does Aphrodite want Lauren to tell Khione?” she asks. “Is this something that maybe Zeus would want to know?”
Why the hell would an Archer of Artemis give a fuck about what Zeus should know? More than that, why is she concerned with pleasing the god who is actively trying to kill me?
“That is between the cleric and her goddess,” Alexander says.
Sylvia reaches forward and strokes his knee in a blatantly seductive manner, “Come on, you must know something.”
That is not Sylvia. She’s not a seductress. Hell, she’s not even into dudes. She’s got a girlfriend at home that she misses. Tara’s right. Probably the only reason she hasn’t killed me yet is because the eidola possessing her wants to find out more for her god.
Fuck, what am I going to do?
I take a long, steadying breath and plaster on what I hope seems like a genuine smile before I get within view of Sylvia. “Sorry, I took so long,” I say. “As an Archer of Artemis, I’m sure you know when nature calls you gotta answer.”
Sylvia laughs, just as sweetly as ever, but this time I hear the saccharine in it. I pretend I don’t, though. If I don’t play along, she may decide to cut her losses and stab me right now. Better to let her think she’s collecting intel for Zeus.
The urge to feel hopeless about the whole situation threatens to take hold of me, but I shove it aside. If she can lie through her teeth to lead me astray, I can return the favor. If Zeus wants information, he can have as much as he wants, but none of it will be at all reliable.
I put the log into the fire and watch as the flames climb along the length of it.
“Mmm, that’s better,” Sylvia says, holding her hands up to the flame. “I’m not cold, but there’s nothing like feeling heat from a campfire on your palms.”
“Hopefully, being in Ismarus will give us some shelter from the cold weather,” I say. “I mean it’s a city under a winter deity’s protection, right?”
Sylvia nods. “Boreas.” I can see the eagerness in her eyes. I’ve just handed her the perfect opportunity to get information out of me. “You know, Khione is his daughter.”
I shrug and try to sound nonchalant when I say, “Oh, really? That’s interesting.”
“I wonder why Aphrodite wants you talking to her,” she says.
Here’s where I need to poison the well with a lie. Why would Zeus want to know about this quest? What does it matter to him that Khione claims her son? Aphrodite wanted me to keep my lips zipped about it for a reason, though. Perhaps, she doesn’t want anyone knowing where Khione’s son is headed.
“She just wants me to tell Khione that her son is lost, and she needs to go search for him,” I say.
Something crosses over Sylvia’s eyes. It’s mechanical, like when Alexander goes blank and waits for his programming to tell him how to respond.
“Well, I hope she finds him,” Sylvia says at last. “Maybe when we’re done in Ismarus, we can escort her.”
“Yeah,” I say. “Maybe.”