Chapter Twelve
CONDUIT. THE WORD sounds foreign, unreal, and full of portent.
It rattles around my mind like a stone tumbling down a hillside.
So much so, that Helia has to guide me through the busy taverna and out to the square, after we overstayed our welcome when she swore at the owner for cutting her off.
People are off work now and joining the celebration of the caravan arrival.
I still have no idea what it means, other than the fact that gods want me dead.
Well, that, and the fact I have some kind of power.
I’ll have to visit Lunos in my dreams to find out more.
What a shift in the course of my life. Only a few months ago the biggest worries I had were how to deal with Porto’s abusive rage and finding a way to tell Menna why sex was such a challenge for me, much less a long-term relationship.
I look up at Helia, a literal demi-god, with her hand on my shoulder, jet-black hair loose and dancing with her steps.
I’m to be a pawn in some power struggle of divine beings and yet this person, or being, is my only true lodestone.
Well, maybe Olena and Bellius to an extent.
Andra needs some work though. What a world I’ve joined.
“Heli—” My words come out as a rush of air when a random reveler runs into me, spinning me around.
“Oi! Waaatch it you damn drunk!” The steel in Helia’s voice cuts through the irony of her own drunkenness. So much for talking about how I feel. The man sways easily with the run in, hiccupping quietly.
“Apologies pretty ladieeees! I may, or may not, have had a biiit too much toooo drink.” With all the grace of a wounded oxen, the man stumbles into the crowd, curses flowing in his wake. Ladies. All thoughts of godly war and my part in it fade, my heart skipping to the beat of such a simple word.
“Ladies, huh? Well, your hair has grown a bit since you joined us. Want me to cut it later?” Helia jokes, a friendly smile on her face, not seeing through her own words.
I shrug. What am I supposed to say? That a simple word from a drunken stranger made me feel at peace for the first time in a long time?
Helia leans in, her smile turning mischievous.
“Oooor maybe you fancied our stranger?” I shake my head at her suggestion. She definitely took the wrong thing from my hesitation.
“Not in the least. I don’t find men attractive.
I don’t even want—” I stop from uttering the words that had been bubbling inside for years.
Helia hums to herself thoughtfully, as though piecing together a puzzle in the depths of her mind.
Drunk or no, her perception is keen. She swipes a water skin from someone; undoubtedly filled with not water.
I grab it from her and take a long drag, the spirit burning my throat with cleansing fire, earning Helia’s approval.
Now my whole body is singing, not just my heart.
We wind our way through the center of the square, making a line toward the gate and out to the camp.
The beat of a drum stops us both in our tracks.
Then another, this time accompanied by pan flutes, chirping in the firelight.
Now a lyre, entwining with airy notes. A cheer goes up from the crowd as folk begin to dance.
A steady beat, easy to follow, easy to stumble to; a necessity in this town apparently.
Helia spins me round easily with one hand, sweeping us into the flowing stream of dancers. Laughter writes a story across her cheeks, care and caution thrown to the wind, ignorant of my internal struggles.
I let the music take control, pulled into the river of bodies by my commander. The two of us sway in time with the music, stomping our feet and spinning. The slow beat thrums in my veins, melting away thought. Helia’s laughter somehow weaves its way into the music, harmonious to my ears.
Her smile is radiant, and this time, it reaches her eyes.
I’ve never really had the chance to appreciate it.
Time seems to slow as we spin each other around, her height advantage working well to spin me; not that I mind at all.
But that smile. It’s like the golden rays reflecting off the watery shore of Ionos; glittering in glory and the freedom that nature brings.
An arm hooks into mine, pulling me abruptly away from Helia, jarring me out of a black-haired haze.
“Hey hun! Fancy a dance with me? Or maybe something more, eh?” Despite the red in her face, the stranger pulling me away doesn’t slur as she quickly cuts through to the outer edges of the square. Immediately, I cast my gaze about uneasily, trying to find Helia, my anchor.
“I, uh, I’m here with—” I don’t get to finish.
A muscled forearm wraps around my shoulder, pulling me away from the lady and tight against my savior.
Breathing deeply, the scent of pine dominates my senses.
The firm body holding me captive replaces unease with comfort, knowing exactly who it is.
My back fits perfectly against Helia’s strengthened body.
“This one’s mine.” The growl in her words stokes the fire inside of me into a raging inferno. This is going to get complicated, isn’t it?
With a drunken titter, the woman shrugs and twirls her way back into the crowd, leaving us at the edge of music; at the edge of something new.
For a moment, neither Helia or I move, our chests breathing in time, her arm still comfortably wrapped around me.
That damned liquor is still giving me unearned courage.
Loss shoots through me as Helia finally lets go.
I try to cover it up with a chuckle and a joke.
“I’m yours, huh?” An uncomfortable chuckle escapes from her mouth at my flirty jab, searching for a response. My eyes go wide before I can control them. She meant it. Or least wants to mean it.
“Well, I mean, it was a fast way to get her to leave. But, uh”—Helia flashes a tipsy smile before continuing—“I was flirting earlier, and it seems like you’re interested.
Not to say that you’re mine!” She moans in frustration at herself as a smile creeps its way onto my face.
Breathing deep, almost in meditation, Helia snaps out of her drunken haze as if by magic.
Green eyes full of kindness lock with mine.
“What I mean to say, is that I want to know more about you. You’re brave, kind, and powerful; I want to know more.
But you’ve been through a nightmarish time, not to mention tonight’s, ah, revelations.
Let’s talk about it tomorrow, when you’ve had time to sleep on everything. ”
My smile doesn’t dim, if anything it brightens at her words, aglow with potential.
Surprising myself, I hook my arm in Helia’s and push us toward the road out of the city.
Quiet settles as we leave the square, the once foreboding nature of the city fades into the calmness of night.
The surety of that peace guaranteed by the force of nature next to me.
“How do you do it Helia? You’re the commander of soldiers, fought countless battles, you’re an Aspect; how are you so kind?
So free? And yet, you always seem so alone.
” Her muscles tense for the tiniest of moments, so fast I could have imagined it.
I feel the weight of her sigh in my own chest, realizing I took a step too far.
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to upset you. We can enjoy the quiet. ”
The gates lie ahead and despite the awkwardness of that moment, we settle back into the rhythm of partners who have walked together for countless moons. Finally out of the city, we see the fires of the camp out in the distance.
“You didn’t upset me Skion. It’s just, I’m not as free as you think.
I’ve spent my years knowing that at some point, everything would change.
It’s hard to do anything but live your life to the fullest because of that.
Sometimes, despite the odds, despite the inevitabilities of life, you have to find your joy.
It’s interesting now, how I am starting to find that true joy in the only person who might understand.
” Her words take space in the cool air outside of Nolphi.
The moon hangs high, casting its silver glow upon us.