Chapter Thirty-Five
NO ONE BATS an eye when we leave the group together and head down one of the side hallways. Perspective on rules and relationships tend to change when faced with divine power.
Helia doesn’t say anything, or even take any bites of her food. She leads me down the winding hallway, the eerie blue light casting shadows that come to life only in the corners of my vision. Despite the ethereal nature of the light, I actually get a moment to take in my surroundings.
The obsidian stone-work is sheer everywhere.
Etchings across hallways arches, sigils near room doorways, and even the unadorned walls are all perfectly formed.
As though they weren’t carved but, formed.
Willed into existence rather than hacked at with a tool.
Helia puts a stop to my random musings abruptly entering one of the rooms off the hallway.
My eyes adjust to the semi-darkness as the blue light from the hall illuminates some of the room.
Two stone beds line each of the far walls, any kind of bedding and furs either stolen or have rotted away with the ages.
Helia runs her free hand along the empty wall opposite of the door as if looking for something.
Her other hand comically sways laden with food and trying not to spill anything.
“Two beds huh? Is this how you tell me?” Helia shoots me a did you really say that? look, spoiled by the upward quirk of her lips. I can’t help but giggle; I’m not sure either of us can imagine walking away from each other. At least, not if we survive.
“Oh, don’t worry. I’d be much more dramatic about it.” I snort at her playfulness. Neither of us has time to say anything else, as Helia’s fingers catch on something and press.
A sudden release of air floods the room as a cut out slab of the wall moves backward and slides out of the way. Immediately, blue light sparks to life beyond the threshold revealing a set of stairs leading upward. Dramatic indeed.
“Come on. I want to show you something.” At that, Helia takes the stairs and disappears out of sight. Lunos must have left the knowledge of this passage to Helia, though I’m not sure why.
By the time we reach the top, my calves feel like rocks.
Despite the time with the Spears crafting my muscles, that was a climb I do not want to repeat.
Ever. Yet, it is not the exertion that shortens my breath.
Helia helps me up and out of the passage, onto a flat plateau bathed in starlight.
The light dances across the inky stone, impossible pinpricks across a dark ocean bringing life to the lifeless.
The chill in the night air is a welcome reprieve from the ascent and lends surreality to the twinkling stone.
The space is relatively small, with pillars of the hexagonal obsidian at the edges coming up irregularly around waist height.
Looking out over the edge, the ruins of Askepollo spread out below, clear in the night’s light.
Two narrow staircases, one on each side, lead down the outside of the rock formation and suddenly it clicks.
“An escape route?” Helia nods, before sitting on one of the edge pillars, dangling one foot off the sheer drop.
She gestures with her free hand to join her, a certain melancholy in her shoulders.
I sit, shifting my weight away from the terrifying drop.
We both take a bite of our food, cooled now with our escapade, yet still bursting with flavor.
Helia’s throaty moan of pleasure warms my heart, and my face as a flashback hits me.
Hearing that same sound back in Hecalon. In her room. When she—
“I’m not just saying this because you know”—Helia gestures between us with a knowing smile—“but damn you know how to cook!” Her words bring me back to the present.
Unfortunately. We finish our meals, basking in the romantic setting, even if circumstances put a damper on everything.
For a moment, for this moment, we can sit here and be content.
“I hope you get to open your taverna one day. I’d love to see it, see you in it.
” She must be thinking of tomorrow. Of the end she perceives.
“The Quiet Lake, right?” Joy pulls the corners of my mouth up immediately, pausing any dour thought of tomorrow.
She remembered! I nod, sensing there’s more Helia wants to say.
“I didn’t get to ask last time, but why the name?
It’s unique, and if I have learned anything about you, it’s that there is intention behind everything you do. ”
“Oh. I suppose I never did explain.” My joy dims slightly before I can hide it. Helia, perceptive as ever, puts her hands up in a placating manner.
“You don’t have to! I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” Shaking my head, I try to temper her unease.
“You didn’t. I’ve just…never had to explain it to anyone.
I didn’t understand why I wanted that name when I first thought of it.
But now, now I do.” I look out across the ruins and avoid Helia’s gaze before I lose my nerve.
“It was Itho, buried deep and drowning, screaming at the top of her lungs. Being Skion, being a man when that wasn’t me, was as a lake in a rainstorm.
The first few drops of rain dance on the surface of the water, present yet unnoticeable; a phantom you barely sense.
Slowly, that phantom becomes a nuisance, a disturbance on the surface.
An itch that you can’t scratch, a thirst you can’t slake; you don’t know how.
Then the storm rages, a hurricane, a typhoon, churning the lake.
No longer ignored, no longer an annoyance put off for another day.
No; it seethes and writhes, screaming for it all to stop.
All it wants is peace. All it wants is quiet. ”
My words die, bringing quiet and stillness to the plateau. The starlight doesn’t care, still dancing across the stone. Helia scoots forward until our knees touch and wipes away the tears I hadn’t noticed.
“Hence, The Quiet Lake.” Helia breaks the silence and pulls me into her arms, a bastion of safety.
A place I never expected to find. “Thank you for holding out. Thank you for surviving and finding a different way to find your quiet.” I spend an eternity there, engulfed by her presence.
When that eternity finally ends, Helia nods toward the center of the plateau.
“Let’s go watch the stars.” Helia pushes off her seat at the edge of the world and wraps her generous hands around my waist, gently helping me down. She probably picked up on my hesitation earlier. Despite being hard stone, it doesn’t feel uncomfortable as I lie on my back next to Helia.
“Oh!” What a simply silly word to describe the wonder of Nia’s domain and her infinite blanket of celestial light.
Their twinkle reflects in the space between Helia and I, a bridge of stars connecting us.
I’ve never truly sat and stared at the stars.
I often looked up at the darkness back in Athos.
But I wasn’t looking then, not really. My mind wandered in the what-ifs, the I-wishes.
Now, I have what I want within my grasp. Now, I am in the present.
I roll on my side, and trace my fingers along Helia’s arm. Her hum is content, warm and inviting. I outline her muscles, fingertips tingling along their route, tender and intimate, etching every line into memory.
“Helia?” My voice is a whisper, afraid to break the innate magic of this moment with my fear.
“Mmm?” How can someone make such a simple noise sound divine? I’m head over heels for this woman, aren’t I?
“I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but I want you to know that these past months have been everything to me.
Even if it all comes crashing down, coming into my own and getting to know you will have been worth it.
” Helia turns to face me, the universe reflected in her meadow eyes.
She reaches over and pulls my neck softly forward, our lips embracing.
It’s a deep and smoldering kiss, one of quiet need for each other; a yearning for a knowing of the other.
I shimmy closer and lay my hip against Helia’s, pushing her on her back and taking me along.
“This is familiar.” Helia breaks our kiss, joke on her lips and fire in her eyes. I sit back on her hips, my smile matching hers. My fingers deftly undo the knot of her tunic’s belt and slowly open the folds of the fabric.
“Wow. You really are an Aspect, aren’t you?” Helia barks a laugh at my teasing, embers singing the edges of her voice. I’m right though. Every curve, the slope of her breasts, and each scar crisscrossing her body is perfectly placed; a work of divine art.
“You know you’ve already seen me naked, right?” Now it’s my turn to laugh as I lean back down, hovering above her lips.
“I will always have that reaction.” Helia inhales sharply, as if no one had ever treated her like more than a tool or a good time.
I kiss the base of her neck and work my way up, slowly.
I feel her pulse in the vein along the side, all the way until her ear.
I feel the shudder in her body; I’ve found a weak spot.
I make my inhale raspy, causing another tremor.
I saunter along Helia’s jawline until I claim my prize. Her lips meet mine again, the tips of our tongues touching. Gods, she’s truly divine. Her tongue dances across mine, eliciting a soft moan of pleasure from my throat. I slide my hand up her side to her breast and rub her nipple gently.