Chapter 10
As we made our way up the path, I spotted Auretheos on the porch. He looked comically oversized in one of the delicate wooden chairs. The gold paint on his hands and face was back, making him look like a statue someone had enchanted and then forgotten about. He stood as we approached.
“I hope your trip into town was successful?” he asked. The words were polite enough, but the flatness in his tone made it painfully obvious he couldn’t care less.
“Yes, thank you, it was,” I replied. “Please let me know how I can repay your generosity.”
He gave a vague wave of his hand, brushing the thanks aside like it meant nothing. All right, that was obviously the end of our talk as he disappeared inside the house.
Caelan and I followed him inside, and Auretheos led me to his office.
It was a cozy space with a grand desk at one end of the room and bookcases towards the other.
The floor to ceiling windows offered a stunning view of the valley below, the clouds for once breaking up, giving me an indication of how far up we were.
Caelan and Auretheos went over a few points concerning their everyday business while I took in the view.
I was so entranced by the sight of the valley down below, with its glittering river snaking through a landscape of lush green meadows and trees in orange and red that I didn’t notice Caelan leaving.
Auretheos cleared his throat and as I turned around to face him, looked a bit stiff, standing next to his desk.
“Can I ask you a question about the Lodge?” I asked, coming closer and sitting on the chair opposite his desk.
“Of course, what do you want to know?” he said while sitting down himself. He looked at me expectantly as if he was seriously interested in what I had to say. It was unnerving.
“I was wondering why you only let men work at the house and the temple. It seems like nobody truly knows and it seems odd and also… rather sexist.”
He was surprised. It wasn’t easy to read his facial expressions, but this one emotion was easy to spot. His eyebrows rose up, and he slightly tilted his head to the side. The expression was quickly replaced by his usual neutral look again, but he answered nonetheless.
“You have come to the Gods realm and are about to embark on one of the most dangerous journeys to fight evil and you are worried about the sexism in my temples?” His deep voice was tinged with amusement, but it seemed like he was truly curious.
“I figure we are going to have all day to talk about all of this here,” I gestured towards the maps and documents sprawled about his table, “so I thought I could learn about this place as well.”
Auretheos got up and walked towards a bookcase, seemingly looking for something.
“It’s merely a rule I have put into place a long time ago and it has served me well. You shouldn’t concern yourself with these things.”
Every instinct in my body told me to shut it down.
Nothing good ever came from making a man angry, I had learned this the hard way.
And the version of myself that I had been a mere few days ago would have retreated into herself, would have apologized for being too forward, would have let it go to preserve the peace.
But something about the events of the past few days had changed me.
So I got up and followed him, but when I reached his side, he shrank away. He actually put a few stretches of distance between us, as if standing next to me was somehow disgusting to him. Either I smelled truly despicable, or this God had some serious issues.
“What exactly is your problem, Aurelius?” I asked, barely containing my annoyance. “I get it, I am just a human and female too, but can’t you have the courtesy of treating me with just an ounce of respect? Is that too much to ask of a God?”
His facial expression did not change, but his voice was harder than it had been before.
“You have no idea what you are talking, about and I advise you not to question my motives in my own home. The rules were put into place for a good reason and it has nothing to do with my disdain for females or humans for that matter.”
I took a step towards him, but he backed away behind his desk.
“Are you afraid of me?” I asked incredulously. I could count on two hands the people who had known about my heka at home and most of them were terrified of what I could do. But this guy was a God, he shouldn’t be afraid of a mortal with barely controllable magic.
There was silence for a moment and it looked as if he was silently counting down before answering.
“I am not scared of you. I am not scared of many things in this world. But to answer your question: I am a God and therefore no one is allowed to touch me. I usually try to keep away from people around me, to respect the holy rules.” I pondered his answer for a moment.
It was true, I had not seen him greeting Caelan by handshake, even though they appeared to be friends.
He had kept his distance from us throughout the conversations, and he locked himself up in his study most of the day.
“Is anyone ever allowed to touch you?” I asked.
“That is none of your business, wordsmith,” he responded curtly.
And with that, this discussion was over.
During the next few hours, Auretheos launched into a history lesson that would have put even the most devoted scholar to sleep.
His knowledge was impressive, pulling names and dates out of his head as if it was a recipe for strawberry pie.
By the time he had recounted the first centuries of the primal age, my head felt like it was about to explode.
I had tried to distract him with sneaky side questions, but he had remained his focus and prattled on about one battle or another.
While at first he was seated behind his desk, at some point he began pacing the room while talking, only stopping occasionally to rearrange some books on the shelves.
I only managed to derail his lectures once.
“How exactly are your books organized?” I asked, glancing around his study.
Auretheos hesitated. Just for a heartbeat.
“By author,” he said carefully.
I raised a brow. “Try again.”
He sighed. “By author first. Then by color.”
I stared at him. “That’s… deeply unsettling.”
His mouth twitched. “I prefer the term aesthetically disciplined.”
“So you admit you’re odd.”
“I admit,” he said dryly, “that chaos offends me.”
I laughed. “You reorganized the entire temple library like this, didn’t you? I noticed it the other day.”
“Yes,” he said, entirely unapologetic. “It took months. But now it’s correct.”
I shook my head. “You know most people would use a catalog system.”
He glanced at the shelves, then back at me. “And deprive myself of beauty and order at the same time? Absolutely not.”
The brief pause in his lecture did nothing to improve my headache.
Before I could finish that thought, Auretheos had already launched into another monologue of facts and figures.
I tried my best to pay attention, but as he was wandering up and down the length of the room, I found myself watching his body move underneath the robes.
It was hard to say what kind of shape he was in because the robes kept everything well-hidden within their folds.
His shoulders were wide, that much I could tell and when he gestured the fabric of his robes was slightly straining around his upper arms. He had huge feet judging by the size of his boots, and I could have sworn his ass looked like he had been doing some squats regularly.
My knowledge of Gods was basically non-existent, but I was pretty sure that it was a heavenly offense to lust after a God.
I was so engrossed in watching his backside move that I didn’t even notice that he had stopped talking.
As I looked up to meet his eyes, he raised a quizzical eyebrow.
“As I was saying,” he emphasized, “it’s important for you to understand the layout of the lands and which lord hails over what region.”
Crossing to the desk, he positioned himself beside me, far enough out of reach that there would be no accidental touching.
Bending over the map, he beckoned me closer to look. With a fingertip he traced the different regions of the God Realm, explaining the names of the gods and their areas of expertise.
“Where does your family live?” I asked.
Auretheos did not respond right away, and I thought he might not answer at all.
“My mother was but a vessel to bring me into this world. They took me away from her the minute I was born to raise and protect me at the temple. Last I heard she was alive and well, living in a small village beyond the mountain. I have my sentinels checking in on her regularly, making sure she doesn’t want for anything.
Other than that, I have no biological family” he answered matter-of-factually.
I found myself appreciating the care he showed, even from a distance.
The fact that he still had sentinels watching over her said more than words ever could, that he cared.
It reminded me of my own mother, and of how deeply I valued the bond we shared.
There was comfort in seeing that love reflected in someone else, even if it came in an unusual form.
“Why don’t you go and visit her?” I asked.
Combing through his head of curls with his hands, as if this was a conversation that was draining his energy, he simply said, “It isn’t that easy for a God to simply leave his temple.
At least it isn’t for me. I am not allowed to leave the temple as often as I wish.
But knowing that my mother is safe and happy is all that matters to me.
She has a family of her own now and I won’t make her life more complicated than it needs to be, she has suffered enough bringing me into this world. ”