Chapter 6 #2
Oh. I’m taken aback by his attitude. I’d known he was going to be the embodiment of Apathy, I just hadn’t anticipated how difficult it’d be to deal with him. How am I going to do this? How am I going to work with someone who doesn’t want anything to do with me? Who just wants to be left alone?
It gives me an idea.
I creep forward and move my head until I meet his gaze again. “Let me put it this way. Are we bothering you?”
“Very much so.” His sharp gaze focuses on my face. “Especially now with your nattering.”
I grit my teeth and somehow manage to keep smiling. “Take me as your Anchor and I’ll make everyone else leave you alone. And I’ll leave you alone, too.”
The god is quiet for a long moment. Then he gives a shrug. “Oh, very well.”
He holds out his hand, palm up.
Oh. That was all it took? I feel a little better. I smile at him even as I move to place my hand in his. “You won’t regret this, sir.”
“Lord Kalos,” he corrects me. Our hands brush.
Something flickers, like a switch being flipped inside me.
There’s a low humming in my veins, and I know deep in my soul that we’ve been connected in some way.
I’m his now. I feel…strangely heavy. His skin is hot to the touch, burning up with heat.
I let my hand rest on his for just long enough and yank it away.
For some reason, I feel a little queasy. “I’m Elsie.”
“You’ve said. I still don’t care.”
“Of course,” I say, getting to my feet. My head feels hot and throbbing and I’m suddenly thirsty. I smile at him again. “I’ll make sure you’re not bothered.”
He flicks a hand at me, dismissing me.
Right. Okay. I need to go do…whatever it is Anchors do now.
I eye his hand, but it’s no longer fading.
He’s not doing that flexing thing with his fingers, which means my job has been accomplished.
I want to smile, but I don’t know if I can be pleased just yet.
This is just the beginning of whatever is going to happen, but at least I’m on the right path.
Now I can just settle into what I need to do, which is…
stay alive, I suppose. Make sure Kalos remains here in the mortal plane through the Anticipation.
Make sure that Apathy—my charge—remains the dominant Aspect.
And tell everyone to leave him alone. I can do that, surely.
My stomach growls. I take a few more steps, then turn and glance back at Kalos.
He hasn’t moved from his spot on his throne, his legs still sprawled, expression one of vague annoyance.
Leave him alone. That’s what he wants more than anything.
All right, then. I head out of the room with one last look at him and close the doors behind me.
Kina and the priestess watch me with worried gazes as I emerge. Even the guards look concerned.
“Everything’s good,” I reassure them as I lean against the doors. “He’s taken me as his Anchor.”
The priestess gasps and drops to her knees, then presses her forehead to the cobblestones. At her side, Kina looks a bit more skeptical. “You’re certain?”
“I mean, I think so. He agreed that I’d be his as long as I got everyone to leave him alone. Then he put his hand out, and I touched it, and…” I shrug. “Felt like something happened.”
“There’s a way to test things,” Kina says. “Walk as far as you can that way.” She points at the path back through the swamp, the one we’d emerged from.
“What?” I sneeze suddenly and wipe my nose. “Why would I walk away?”
“I just want to see something. The stories speak of something specific that occurs between an Aspect and his Anchor. You can come back if you reach that forked tree on the horizon.” She points, and I gaze out at it with watery eyes.
Walk to a tree. Normally I wouldn’t think twice about it, but I’m aching and tired and so fucking hungry I could eat a horse.
But everyone’s watching me, and if I don’t somehow prove that I’m Lord Kalos’s Anchor, they’ll go in and bother him and I’ll have broken my promise.
So I steel myself, nod, and start to walk toward the path.
The first hundred steps or so are fine. The next hundred, I start to feel an uncomfortable twinge.
I sneeze again and keep going. By the time I hit three or four hundred steps, I’ve lost count.
All I know is that I’m feeling distinctly unwell.
My head is throbbing with what feels like a migraine, I keep sneezing, and my muscles hurt.
I’m not even halfway to the tree before I have to stop. I drop to the ground, shuddering, and clutch my head. It feels as if it’s being ripped open.
“Come back,” Kina yells at me. “Come back, Elsie!”
Oh sure. Just come back, as if my head isn’t exploding.
I moan and manage to stagger to my feet.
I hear her trotting across the cobblestones after me, and I turn in her direction.
One step…two…and my head hurts a little less.
Strange. I move faster, walking as swiftly as possible to return to her side.
When I stagger my way back to the cobblestone edge of the ancient temple grounds, the pain in my head is gone. I rub my brow in wonder. “What…?”
“An Anchor cannot be separated from their Aspect,” Kina says breathlessly. “You have to stay at his side, always. It must be true.”
“What? I didn’t know that!”
“I know. I thought I would test you. Are you hungry?”
I want to be annoyed, but I’m too ravenous. I rub my stomach. “Starving, actually. Must have been all the walking.”
“It’s the bond,” she continues, glancing at the priestess. “The god does not consume food or drink, so you must do so on his behalf.”
“I didn’t know that either,” I say, and sneeze again. I scratch at my arm and glance down. Tiny red bumps are appearing on my skin, centered around my left hand.
The hand he touched.
Did…did that fucker infect me?