Chapter Eleven
THE DISGRUNTLED LOOK plastered across Andra’s face as she watches us enter the camp gives truth to Olena’s words.
With a nudge and a smirk, I manage to get a low chuckle out of Olena as we deposit our foraged goods with the quartermaster.
Plenty of tinder for the fires and a handful of wild mushrooms that should be edible. Probably.
“Skion. Come here.” Andra’s rainy voice dampens the brief moment of joy in the fading light of the day.
With an eyeroll to Olena which wins another laugh, I join Andra and salute quickly.
She acknowledges me with a brusque nod and starts a slow saunter toward the merchants.
“You and I are joining the commander to escort the merchants into the city to their guild. Armor and blade, no spear. Just because it’s a city doesn’t mean we’re safe. ”
I can’t help but turn and look back toward the forest, barely visible in the distance. A sobering thought to imagine the city might be just as dangerous. Could I do it again? If my life or others were on the line? A specter of the pain from it all seeps in my bones.
“Skion! Did you hear me?” I swivel forward, Andra waiting impatiently.
“Sorry Captain! I was thinking about the forest. I suppose I never thought about a city being as dangerous as that ambush.” For the first time since I met her, Andra softens. Her shoulders drop, weariness creases her eyes, and something I have not seen from her whispers across her face; compassion.
“Cities are a different kind of danger. Keep your eyes open and your head moving. You’ll do fine. Besides,” she says, as notes of fear ease into her voice, “if you can do what you did back there, you won’t be in any danger.”
Compassion and fear? I lack the words to reply. Perhaps I’ve earned a measure of trust. Or at least an uneasy peace.
***
We reach the gates of Nolphi with the sun past the horizon, Nia the god of night laying their blanket of darkness across the sky. The guards were expecting us and we easily pass through without more than a few words from the commander.
Nolphi is oppressive at night. Wooden huts stack on top of each other in a ramshackle fashion, more organically than intentionally. Winding streets with no clear direction, twist and turn as we go deeper into the darkened city.
Haphazard torches and communal fires dot the streets, strange faces peeking out from under hoods of cloaks.
A drunk stumbles out in front of the wagons, causing a slight commotion.
I tighten my grip on the hilt of my blade, ready to draw if needed, despite my ineptitude.
The drunk waves their hands, hiccupping and laughing, and shuffles out of the way.
I shake my head; Andra’s words are getting to me. Not everyone is an enemy.
We finally step into a larger square, where the gloom of the night is thrown fully back. Braziers line the square, music and laughter fills the air, and townsfolk dance in the middle.
“A celebration of our successful and safe return! You must join us once we settle with the merchant’s guild,” one of the wagon drivers shouts down to us, glee at coming home spilling out from his wide smile.
Thankfully, that would take little time; the headquarters for the merchant guild is on the far side of the square. Helia heads inside with the leader as Andra and I stand guard, laborers pouring out of the building to unload the hoard of goods from the overstuffed wagons.
We fend off a few inebriated townsfolk floating our way from the festivities before Helia comes out, grinning from ear to ear, a bulging pouch in one hand.
She throws an arm around me pulling me tight against her toned body.
Goddess, she’s strong and smells divine; the scent of forest pine fills the air.
For the first time in my life, I don’t pull away from the prolonged touch. Even with Menna, I would recoil; the touch an unwelcome reminder of my body. What kind of power does this woman hold to make me feel at ease?
“Fortune favors us!” Helia rejoices, pulling me toward the central square, Andra shuffling to catch up.
“The merchants were so thrilled with our protection that they gave us a bonus on top of what Gaius is supposed to pay us.” With a glint in her eye, Helia releases me and rifles through the coin purse.
The lack of her touch leaves a hole in the pit of my stomach, an absence of calm. A wholly new and unpleasant feeling.
“Captain. Take this back to camp and give it to the quartermaster. They’ll love it!
Come with me Skion. Tonight, we celebrate!
” Helia chucks the purse to Andra, cutting off the flustered rejection that was being prepared.
Laughing, Helia slaps me on the back before disappearing into the crowd toward a taverna.
Andra and I stare at each, blinking to process what just happened.
Sighing, Andra breaks the surreal moment.
“Be careful Skion. Recently when she drinks too much she starts spouting nonsense about the gods. She, ah, also gets flirty. Tends to forget she’s the commander and all that.
Just a friendly warning.” Andra’s mouth quirks to the side, as though speaking from experience.
Without another pause, she walks off, swiping a cloak forgotten by some carousing townie to cover the obvious coin purse in her possession.
***
Drunken patrons bumble into one another; the taverna is a hectic mess of noise and bodies. Is that…? Yeah, that’s a fight off in the corner. Waving two clay tankards above it all is my commander. And Aspect. This is going to be weird.
Half smile on my face, I weave in and out of the partiers toward my destination. Someone bumps into me, pushing me forward through the crowd. Directly into Helia’s chest. Oh gods.
“I’m so sorry! Someone bumped into me and, I just…”
Helia looks down at me, a throaty chuckle seeming to drown out the noise around us. Her cheeks are tinged with whatever is in those cups, black hair loosening from the bun she normally wears on the march. “Little forward, don’t you think? Not that I mind.”
Andra’s warning echoes in my mind as I look up at this fiercely beautiful woman; a good warning of the imbalance of power. Helia shrugs, taking my silence as…something; the red in her cheeks becoming more than just alcohol induced. “What? I said you looked cute when you ate a few days ago.”
Oh. She was flirting before! What do I say? I mean, she’s striking, strong, and genuinely seems to care about her people. But she’s a demi-god and my commander! Not to mention I still need to figure out who I am. Shit! I still haven’t said anything.
“Commander! The private room in back is ready.” I see the wince of embarrassment Helia tries to hide as she leads me to the back. I fucked that up. Haven’t stumbled that hard since Menna and I courted, which seems like ages ago.
The ‘room’, if you could call it that, is a small table in the back, seating no more than four people.
A heavy curtain closes off the space, reducing the noise to a pleasant hum.
Helia slides a cup across the table, not fully meeting my eyes.
A sniff and small sip reveal a strong berry and pine flavor.
Helia snorts at my timidity, seemingly moving on from the awkwardness a moment before.
“I don’t exactly have a lot of experience with alcohol.
We didn’t have much back in Athos. Never even tried wine.
” Helia’s brows shoot up behind her own cup.
I have to say something. Struggling to find the right words, I bumble forward anyways.
“I, uh, don’t exactly have a lot of experience with relationships.
Or dating. Or flirting. It’s not like I’m not interested.
There’s just, uh, things we need to talk through first.” Helia sets down her drink, introspective and focused, despite the haze over her eyes.
Perhaps, even hopeful? She must have downed a few before I was able to find her in the main room.
“Right. Well, what do you know about Aspects?” Headfirst huh? I chew the inside of my lip before answering her question.
“Aspects are demi-gods. More than that, you’re a piece of the god. What that actually means, I don’t know.” Helia swirls her cup, gazing into its illuminating depths, pondering my question, her existence.
“You’re right, more or less. I am literally a piece of Lunos; part of her power, strength, memories, you name it.
We are not born, but created for whatever purposes our greater self deigns.
” It’s one thing to hear the stories, but it’s something else entirely to see the embodiment of legend directly in front of me.
“Created? Wait, how old are you?” Helia swirls her cup, staring into its depths.
“I came to be about five years ago, though the memories Lunos imparted to me put me age-wise about three years older than you.” I can’t hide the shock.
She’s been searching for me for five years?
! What crushing isolation. I watch as she downs the rest of her cup.
Not that I blame her, but what’s that make?
Four? Helia eyes my drink across the counter.
“Either that’s just been water or you can really handle a lot. Thirsty for more?” I slide my drink back her way as she scoops it up, one eyebrow going up as she takes me in, sly smile creeping on Helia’s face.
“You know how to treat a woman. Thought you said you didn’t know how to flirt.” I can feel the heat rush to my head. It’s not like I meant it that way…or did I mean to? Damn it! She scrambles my mind without even trying. I cough, forcing focus; for now.
“You said before that we would talk about the coins. I still don’t understand the connection between the coins and Lunos.
Or me for that matter.” Helia takes a sip, the alcoholic haze settling firmly upon her at this point.
With the flick of her wrist, a gold coin skitters across the table.
My fingers trace the embossed sigil of Solon, the god of the sun.
“There’s a war brewing among the upper and lower pantheons of the gods.
The major players aren’t showing themselves yet, taking actions in the shadows through Aspects like myself.
And the forces they can wield, and those they hire.
” Ice begins to creep along my spine. Solon, the god of the sun. Lunos, the goddess of the moon.
“I see you’re starting to understand what this means.
You, Skion, are a mountain on the scales at the start of open war.
Like I said, my entire existence is to ensure your safety.
After we return to Ionos and close out the contract with the Archon, we will travel to the capital of Hecalon and from there, on to the ancient temple of Lunos; Askepollo.
We must bring you to the seat of her power.
” Helia’s words wash over me like a winter snowstorm in the mountains; sudden and terrifying.
Her eyes flicker in a human way. She knows something more.
“Why am I so important? Why did Lunos choose me?” Helia stares down at her liquor once more, perhaps gathering courage, before facing me.
“My knowledge is limited. Lunos can tell you more in your dreams. Yes, I know about that. She will train you and tell you what you need to know. But what I do know is that you are the Conduit of Lunos, a being of fate and power.”