Chapter 18
It was the second time in two days that I woke up with a huge hangover, only this time I woke up in my bed.
The late afternoon sun was coming through the window and it seemed like peace and order had returned to the house.
My head was throbbing, but I didn’t feel nearly as wobbly as I had the first time around.
I sat up in bed, noticing the water bottle on my nightstand and another small bag with the white powder in it.
I emptied the contents into a glass and filled it up with water.
After downing the glass I went to take a bath and when I emerged I finally felt a little more human again.
I got dressed in a simple blue dress with long sleeves and made my way downstairs.
I steered straight towards Theo’s office, hoping to find out what happened after I had passed out.
The door to his office was open, but when I entered it was only Caelan who looked up from the desk.
“Mae, you are awake! How are you feeling?” he asked and got up to guide me towards the sofa.
“I am fine, just a little headache and generally feeling a little off. Where is Theo, is he all right?” I asked.
Caelan smiled at me. “He is fine, a little banged up, though. He was sitting with you all day yesterday, I only sent him to get some rest a couple of hours ago.”
“Oh,” was all I could think to say. “He looked half dead the last time I saw him,” I said quietly, tears stinging behind my eyes.
Caelan put his hand over mine. “It takes more than a little firecracker to kill a God. But your healing made it easier for him to recover, he was up and walking when we took you both home.”
The door to the study opened and Theo walked in.
His gaze dropped to the table, to Cae’s hand covering mine.
He didn’t pause, he only stepped around us and went to the desk.
“I’m glad to see you up,” he said, settling into his chair. “How are you feeling?”
Cae pulled his hand away and folded both in his lap.
“I am fine, still feeling a little woozy, but the medicine helped,” I answered.
He nodded and leaned back in his chair. “Your mother is well, we took her to a city nearby, she is resting and being taken care of. You might go and visit her soon if you wish,” Theo said. He was back to being the scholar again, with his glasses and impenetrable facade.
I nodded and smiled at him gratefully. He didn’t smile back.
“The Abbot and the others will be here any minute to discuss our next steps. We got some intel from one of the Heralds we captured after Ignara left,” he said.
I looked up in surprise. “Is she alive?”
Theo nodded. “We can’t be sure, but it is unlikely that her injuries were grave enough to kill her. She is a Goddess after all. She will be incapacitated for a while. After all, she doesn’t have a wordsmith healer at her side.”
He finally smiled at me then, his expression a mix of gratitude and maybe… a little pride?
The door opened and Malek and Lythandra strolled in, closely followed by the Abbot. Lythandra came straight over to me, giving me a big hug, asking how I was feeling.
I repeated for the third time now that I was fine and only felt a little groggy.
“Thank the Fates, you were pretty high when we got to you on that field. You kept gushing about—”
Theo got up suddenly, interrupting her mid-sentence. “That’s enough about that Lytha, let’s get to business.”
He looked a little flushed and I winced.
Had I embarrassed him again in my magic drunken state?
If so, Theo clearly didn’t want to talk about it and I was more than all right with that.
It was bad enough that everybody seemed to have witnessed it.
I needed to up my tolerance when it came to my heka.
The meeting took more than an hour and Malek revealed to us what his spies had learned from the Heralds chained up in the temple.
They were mortals, part of a group that called themselves “The Heralds of the Forsaken,” this much we already knew.
The Heralds were a cult that had formed centuries ago.
They had stayed devoted to the old Gods even after the Gods left the mortal realm.
For a long time, they had existed at the fringes of society, holding secretive meetings and simply practicing their religion far away from the eyes of the mortal governments.
But it seemed like something had changed right around the time Auretheos was born. The Herald didn’t have any details of course, but he said that their cult suddenly grew immensely and started operating on a new level.
“What is it they want and why was Ignara there?” the Abbot asked.
“It seems like the cult’s plan is to revive the old Gods, or to bring them back into power.
They believe that only by returning to the old ways, society can be saved from the chaos and decay that now grips the world.
Their true numbers are unknown, but over the past few hundred years we noticed the resurgence of our ancient symbols and rituals all over the mortal world,” Theo finished and we were all silent for a moment.
“How did they hear about the prophecy?” I asked. “The Herald that captured me on my last day at home knew who I was and they intentionally attacked my hometown, trying to draw me out.”
Caelan’s brows furrowed. “That is a good question and there is only one answer. They must be working with the Gods. We kind of already knew this of course, because Ignara was there fighting with them. But the question that remains is who they are working with and in conclusion, who we are fighting against.”
The Abbot huffed. “There certainly are enough Gods stupid enough to engage in such a cult. Many of them never wanted to leave the mortal realm, never wanted to give up their power over the mortals,” he said.
Theo nodded. “I was still very young back then, so I don’t remember much from those days. I will go through the records and see if I can find any hint at who might be behind this.”
Lythandra cleared her throat. “Not a bad idea, but I think it won’t be as easy as that.
I know of Gods who left the mortal realm quite happily, but got bored after a while.
Theo, you never had to give up your gift, you can still make yourself useful.
But Gods like me, we have no purpose anymore now.
So there might be Gods who left willingly but changed their minds after 500 years of boredom. ”
I had never considered before how their lives must have changed after leaving the mortal realm, but it made sense. Many Gods had lost their purpose, and while at first it might have been a relief to take a break, some of them might have struggled to carve out a new life for themselves.
“You are right, Lythandra. I value your point of view. Can you compile a list of Gods who have expressed their displeasure with living over here?” Theo said.
He paused for a moment, then added, “And think about how we might help them—ways to give them purpose again, or at least make their lives more meaningful. Whatever happens with the war, we can’t let them drift into despair. ”
Lythandra nodded, and we switched the topic.
The Heralds had attacked my hometown, and Ignara had been there, showing off her powers in full force.
It was likely that someone had noticed the battle between her and Theo, and it must have been quite a shock for the people.
In their opinion, the Gods were dead and gone, only a mythical thing of the past. But if word got out that the Gods were still alive, it might start another civil war.
We strategized for another hour before we said our goodbyes. As we got up to leave, Auretheos called out to me. “A quick word, Maelis?”
After everyone had left the room, an uncomfortable silence settled between us.
“I wanted to make sure you’re all right again and thank you for what you did yesterday. You were truly brave.”
I swallowed as tears threatened to fall. I didn’t feel brave or helpful, I had only felt fear and shame for not being able to do more.
“There is no need to thank me, you took the brunt of that firewall for me, I think we are even.” I tried to smile, but Theo didn’t return it.
“I want to take you to see your mother soon, if you feel up to it. My way of saying thank you for being my ‘little friend.’” He imitated Ignara’s haughty voice and I had to laugh at that.
“Good, you’re laughing again. I like that,” he said and visibly relaxed.
“I will be away on some meetings for the next two weeks, but let’s meet at Solis in a fortnight. ”
I nodded. “I’d like that. I guess I will see you in two weeks then…”
He smiled. “Good night, wordsmith.”
I already knew that I was going to miss him when he was gone.
* * *
The following two weeks were a blur of activity. Training with Lydia took up most of my days and I was intently aware of the ultimatum the Abbot had set for me. Theo had told me that he would never allow anyone to harness my powers, but I knew the Abbot was watching me with hawk eyes.
Solis was finally here. I got woken up by someone knocking on my door and I crawled out of bed to find a sentinel holding a breakfast tray.
I thanked him and carefully carried it over to my bed.
There was a card next to my coffee mug and I instantly recognized it as Auretheos’ stationary and handwriting.
“Good morning, wordsmith. Step one in saying thank you for being my ‘little friend’
is treating you to a God-made breakfast.
I have to run down to the temple, but I will be back in time.
See you at the stables. Theo”
I smiled brightly and looked at what was on my plate.
There were delicious looking pancakes, crispy bacon and three slices of freshly baked bread with butter.
The coffee smelled heavenly and there even was a tiny glass of juice.
As I lifted the napkin, another note fell out, written on plain white paper.
“He did his best, but his cooking skills are abysmal.
I took the freedom to replace the pancakes and the bacon.