Chapter 26
ELIS
Sonah crouched on the riverbank, slurping the water from her cupped hands. Grateful for this one moment of respite, she glanced over her shoulder when one of the men’s laughter burst loud enough to carry to her from their little camp.
Crunching sounded behind her and Sonah turned, expecting to find one of their group. Instead, the wolf she’d befriended after escaping the Rivermen stood staring at her through beautiful emerald eyes.
Easing down so her knees rested on the damp riverbank, Sonah tucked her heels beneath her and smiled at her friend.
“Hello,” she whispered, not wanting to frighten him away. Then she quirked a brow at her own ridiculousness. Scare him away, indeed! Smothering a smile, Sonah leaned forward. “I wondered where you’d gone.”
The wolf ambled closer, stopping a couple of feet away. Sonah set her hands on her thighs and sighed. “Well. I’m glad you found me. My friends found me as well! Most of them, anyway. I hope to find my sister, soon.”
Scrunching her face, she bit her lip as she regarded him for a moment.
“Would you come with me? She’s in Ovenno.”
The wolf opened its mouth and panted softly, its eyes never leaving her face. After a moment, it took two steps closer.
Sonah beamed. “I’m going to take that as a yes.” Without thinking, she reached forward, intending to pet him, when she realized what she was doing and froze. Pulling her hand back slightly, she asked, “May I touch you?”
The wolf cocked its head and waited. Sonah pulled her chin up and shrugged. And I’ll take that as a yes.
Tentatively, she put her hand near his shoulder, pushing down slowly until her fingers prickled on his pelt.
Smiling, Sonah pushed her fingers through the soft fur.
The wolf turned his head to her, startling her.
He pushed his snout against her arm. Sonah grinned and ran her fingers back through his coat, repeating the motion several more times.
She whispered nonsense to him, telling him how he would be her best friend. Well. Besides Terena.
“Do not move.”
Sonah jerked up at the voice. The wolf turned its head, growling low and deep as it moved slowly to face the newcomer.
Melanos stood there, a spear in his right hand leveled at the wolf. Sonah’s pulse exploded in her ears and she lurched upright, hands outstretched as she stared wide-eyed at the god.
“No! Please!”
“Move away, little one.”
“No! This is my friend! My wolf, Melanos.”
“Is that what you are, lycanthropo? A friend?”
The wolf continued to growl as he prowled closer to Melanos.
“I beg you,” Sonah gasped, taking several halting steps forward until she stood next to the brindle wolf. “I beg you, Melanos. Do not harm him. He has done none to me.”
Melanos continued to scowl at the wolf whose hackles stood on end. It lowered its shoulders.
“Please!”
“You’ve not told her, lycanthropo?”
“Who are you talking to? Who is ‘Lycanthropo’?”
“Your wolf is no wolf, little one,” Melanos said softly. “Shift. Now.”
This last was said to the wolf, Melanos’s anger ratcheting to a dangerous point.
Feeling faint, every hair on Sonah’s body stood on end and fire raced down her body. Her mouth opened and, in an otherworldly voice, spoke to the wolf.
“Do as he says, my friend.”
Melanos’s head jerked to her, his mouth dropping open. Sonah gasped and put a hand to her mouth.
What just happened?
A moment later, the wolf began to rise, its body twisting, reshaping, pulling and pushing in a grotesque dance until a man crouched where the wolf once stood. His naked body was hunched over and his dark brown hair shielded his eyes.
Stunned, Sonah gaped at him, then snapped her gaze to Melanos.
The silence dragged until it pressed on her chest and she opened her mouth to suck in a breath. It seemed to break the moment, as Melanos took a step toward them. Tilting his chin in the slightest of acknowledgement, the man lifted his green eyes to Sonah.
She was now certain she would faint.
“You?”
The Riverman who’d captured Sonah looked down at her, green eyes narrowed, before dropping his gaze once more. He stood before her stiff, hands clenched at his sides, and Sonah blushed to the tips of her toes when she realized she’d been staring at his nakedness.
Slapping a hand over her eyes, Sonah unclasped the buckle at her throat and thrust the garment at him. She sighed gratefully when she felt the weight of it leave her hand and turned around.
“Why are you here? What could you possibly have hoped to gain? You must know my friends outnumber you. Were you mocking me? I called you my friend! I thought you were my friend.”
Sonah’s mouth snapped shut after vomiting every thought in her head, the heat of her embarrassment deepening as she thought of her quiet conversations with the wolf. How this man must’ve laughed himself sick at her foolish mutterings.
When the silence stretched to the point she could no longer bear it, Sonah pivoted, relieved to see the warrior’s form covered partially with her much-too-small cloak. His bare legs stood rooted, the muscles bunching as he shifted his weight and Sonah cursed herself for looking.
Lifting her eyes to his, arching an eyebrow as she waited for his response, she saw Melanos move closer to her from the corner of her eye.
The Riverman tilted his head ever so slightly in the god’s direction but looked at her finally.
“I didn’t mean to deceive you,” he started, then pursed his lips as if rethinking his words. After a moment, he returned her gaze. “At first it was to ensure your safety after you left the camp and then—”
“My safety!” Sonah scoffed, glancing at Melanos whose thunderous expression would have leveled a lesser man. As it was, the Riverman’s attention was solely on her. “You were the one who kidnapped me! My safety seemed the least of your concerns when you took me from my friend!”
“I hadn’t planned it,” the man snarled, his nostrils flaring. “I thought you were one of their victims at first.”
“Victims?”
“Explain,” Melanos growled.
The Riverman opened his mouth, glancing at Melanos. Pursing his lips, he took a step forward, meeting the sharp end of Melanos’s spear.
Sonah gasped, her head snapping around to Melanos. “What are you doing?”
“I’m ensuring he stays where he is, lest he find himself without a cock.”
Sonah colored again. “I don’t think that was his intention,” she sputtered.
The Riverman cast Melanos a venomous look. “The men we were following are known in the area as smugglers. They steal children, women,” he spat, turning his glittering eyes to Sonah. “We’d set a trap for them and you stumbled into it.”
“I didn’t—I mean, I wouldn’t—” Sonah mumbled, shifting her gaze between the two. If her face became any hotter, her head would surely explode.
“You did,” the man insisted. “And I thought I was protecting you. Until we made camp and Hector—one of my brothers—recognized you. He told our captain you were the Royal Taster. Sonah Yahn. After that, your fate was sealed.”
“And yet,” Melanos said in an ominous tone, still with his spear at the man’s neck, “you did nothing to stop her escape. Why?”
“Did Pytho send you?” Sonah asked, her eyes searching his face for answers. “She said to find the green-robed man and he’d lead me to the Rivermen. Have you spoken with her?”
“I do not know anyone by that name. As I said, I didn’t know you’d be there.”
“Why did you allow her to escape?” Melanos snapped.
The man squirmed, his feet shifting on the cold ground beneath him.
“Melanos,” Sonah said, her voice firm for the first time since this confrontation began. “Might we continue this conversation closer to the campfire? Perhaps get… what’s your name?”
“Leander,” the Riverman answered.
Sonah lifted a hand. “Leander, right. I remember now. Well, I suggest we get Leander some clothes and food and hear him out.”
Without waiting for Melanos’s agreement, Sonah stomped past both males and made her way back to their campsite.
A few seconds later, she heard the Riverman’s padding footsteps behind her, followed by Melanos’s much heavier tread.
The others looked up when they neared. Fane jumped to his feet, grabbing his sword and yanking it from its scabbard. Color blossomed in his cheeks, staring in disbelief at the newcomer.
“Stand down,” Sonah said, silently patting herself on the back for how imperious she sounded. “He is with us now.”
“That’s yet to be determined, little one,” Melanos barked, but not unkindly.
Which is why she softened her tone when she replied. “He is with us because I say he is, Melanos.”
Sighing, she motioned for Yianni to make room in their circle for Leander to sit and bade Fane to get him some clothes.
When she took her seat beside him, she looked up at Melanos with a quirked brow. “And I’ll thank you to refer to me by my name. ‘Little one’ demeans me.”
“Aye, goddess,” Melanos grumbled, and she twisted her lips in a rueful smile to match his own.
When she looked away, she caught Bethana staring back at her. After a moment, the woman winked.
The Riverman, startled, looked over at her. His expression turned wary, and he glanced at the others around the circle. “Goddess?”
“Aye,” Fane snapped as he threw a bundle of clothes at Leander. “You kidnapped the daughter of Ares. Now talk your way out of that, you worthless maggot.”
VILLADELLE, TURSK
Fane had argued against staying in Elis on their way north to Ovenno.
Leander had agreed, about the only thing the two men had in common.
He’d shared what he knew of troop movements in Elis and Ermanel, suggesting they instead cross into Pyrgos and travel through the independent provinces to reach Ovenno.
A week later, they reached Tursk as the sun kissed the horizon.
Sonah was desperate for a soft, warm bed to sleep in.
And a bath. Gods knew she needed it.
So, she convinced the others to stop in Villadelle for the night. They’d arrived in the late afternoon, and Sonah had immediately requested a bath.
Flopping onto her bed, Sonah closed her eyes and waited for the bathwater to be brought up. Smiling, Sonah recalled Melanos walking into the room with a tub, looking for all the world as if the bulky basin seemed to weigh no more than a bucket.
A knock sounded at her door and she sprang up, excited at the prospect of her relaxing bath. Yanking open the door, Sonah blinked stupidly at the beautiful woman on the other side of the door.
“Bethana,” she said after staring at the nymph. Stepping aside, Sonah gestured for the woman to come in. “I was expecting my bath water.”
Sonah closed the door and turned to face Bethana.
The nymph stood with her delicate hands clasped in front of her, a shy smile on her face.
Her golden hair was plaited in a thick braid falling to her waist. Despite riding as much as the rest of them, the woman seemed refreshed and without the mud-speckled clothes Sonah still wore.
She tugged self-consciously on her own filthy locks that had long since come undone from her braid.
“Aye, I came to offer assistance with your bath, if you’d like,” the woman said in a soft, lyrical voice.
“Uhm,” Sonah scrunched her chin. “I…. thank you, lady, but I do not need help. Though I appreciate the offer.”
Bethana smiled, the enchanting expression making Sonah even more aware of how feral she must look to this woman. Bethana’s iridescent skin flashed teal and blue as she moved within the small room.
“I know you used to be at court, so must be unaccustomed to such a simple life,” Bethana gestured to the sparse bedroom. Sonah glanced over her shoulder at the thin blankets on her bed and the lone armoire that had seen better days.
She shrugged. “Aye, but I’ve adjusted since… you know. Everything.”
Bethana nodded. “Of course. But as the daughter of Ares, I cannot sit by without at least offering my services. As a water nymph, I can make your ablutions more pleasant.”
“Ah, right.” Sonah nodded. “I’d forgotten. While that sounds lovely, I do not wish to put you to work. Just the act of bathing will be such a treasure I fear I might never emerge once inside.”
Bethana laughed. “It is up to you, of course. At the very least, I have a bath oil I’ve prepared for you. It should ease your aches from riding.”
The nymph held out a small jar filled with what looked like honey.
“When did you have time to make this?” Sonah asked even as she held out her hand for the jar.
Bethana winked. “Oh, I have my ways.”
After Sonah thanked her again, Bethana turned back to the door. “If you change your mind about my assisting you, please let me know. I—”
Another knock sounded just as Bethana opened the door. Leander, the Riverman, stood on the other side, hands laden with buckets of steaming water.
Bethana gave Sonah a knowing smile before she inclined her head and moved aside for Leander to enter. Sonah fanned her face, turning toward the bed so Leander would not see how flustered she was of a sudden.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” he muttered as he poured the contents into the waiting tub. The Spartan soldiers came in as well, their heads studiously locked on their chore before they hustled out of the room.
When Sonah turned around, she noted with a startled squeak she and Leander were alone, Bethana and the others nowhere in sight.
“Lady,” Leander said in a raspy voice. “Do you… desire anything else?”
Sonah’s eyes almost popped out of her head.
In a voice more shrill than she intended, she sputtered, “Aye! I desire your departure at once!”
He chuckled and turned to leave. Sonah grabbed a boot she’d discarded near the foot of her bed earlier and chucked it at the door as he closed it.
His deep, throaty laughter on the other side faded long before her heartbeat settled back into its normal rhythm.