Helena watched in a daze as Demeus spoke to the woman in hushed tones. Her palms grew wet and clammy and she could swear that sweat was pouring from her forehead causing her hair to plaster itself against her skin. The innkeeper glanced in her direction once and nodded then turned back to Demeus. She watched as the innkeeper pocketed the coins Demeus had dropped on the table and took a key from the board behind her. She handed the key to Demeus and tilted her head in the direction of the stairs leading to the rooms.
“The rooms are up there,” she said in Eyrotian language.
Helena feared that her heartbeat would be heard because it was so loud she could practically hear the beat of blood in her ears. How was she to quietly tell him that she could not share a room with him, not just because she was married and had a child but because she couldn’t trust herself not to act on the strange attraction she felt towards this man. But he was a fisherman and fishermen were not wealthy people, maybe he only had enough money to pay for one room. If that were the case then it meant she had to restrain herself from thinking too much about him and what she felt from him.
“Helena?”
She suddenly realized that he had been calling her name and there was a crease on his brow as he gazed at her with concern. How long had she been lost in her thoughts for him to be so concerned? She plastered a smile on her lips.
“Yes?”
“I said we should find the room.”
“Certainly,” she responded with a forced laugh. She stepped back and let him lead the way. She could barely think as thoughts of the both of them sharing one room occupied her mind. She swallowed hard as they came to the floor that held the rooms. She watched as he checked each door they passed until they stopped at one in which he slipped the key the innkeeper had given him. There was a click and he pushed the door open to reveal a small dark room with worn but beat curtains, a small bed (how were they to sleep on that?), a washbasin, and a small corner that was supposed to serve as a dressing room.
Demeus held the door open and stepped back. “In you go.”
Helena nodded and stretched her lips into a smile before stepping past him into the room. Was he going to come behind her to strip her clothes off of her now? Kiss her neck and cup her breasts from behind?
The door creaked and she turned around sharply to protest but stopped short when she saw that he hadn’t entered the room, instead he was closing the door behind her.
“Are…are you not coming in?” she asked before she could stop herself.
“No, I figured you would want your privacy. I don’t suppose your father would be happy to know you spent the night with a strange man.” All the while they spoke in the Eyrotian language.
Helena didn’t know whether to be relieved by his concern and integrity or to be disappointed that he wasn’t ravishing her at the moment. She supposed that she was glad to know he hadn’t thought about renting a room for them to stay together but why did some part of her feel strangely unhappy? And where would he sleep since she had seen him collect just one key?
“What about you?” she asked.
“I have a place to stay in the village.”
Oh right! How had she forgotten he was from Eyrotia and therefore would have a home here since this was his homeland? She felt embarrassed at her forgetfulness but covered it up with a nonchalant shrug.
“Okay.”
“I will leave instructions for the innkeeper downstairs to cater to your needs. If you need anything, anything at all tell her, okay?”
She tried not to get drowned inside the strength of the gray storm of his eyes and nodded.
Demeus almost did not want to turn around and leave but he did. He closed the door and walked down the steps. If he didn’t know better he would have thought he saw disappointment in Helena’s eyes when she realized they would not be using the room together. Had she been hoping that they would sleep there together? Had she wanted that? Why was the woman so damn difficult to understand? He had told her he had a place to stay but that had been a lie, he was going to Banjo’s home to stay and if Likia so much as mentioned Helena he would take his god form and to his throne in Eyrotian pantheon to escape the woman’s shenanigans.
He sighed inwardly. Well, he had done the right thing by renting the room for her. It had been necessary for both of them, he didn’t want her father charging at him with a dagger because he could not keep his hands off his daughter so this was the best way to ensure that they never happened. And he would make sure that throughout her stay at Eyrotia, however long she needed to enjoy seeing the kingdom, he would keep his hands away from her.
That night while Helena was nursing a dinner of roasted bird, vegetables, a yellowish stuff that the maid had called cornmeal which had turned out to be surprisingly delicious, with bitter wine, she received some clothes from the innkeeper who said the clothes were a present from Likia, Banjo’s wife. No doubt Banjo must have told his wife about her arrival. But the clothes the woman send left nothing to the imagination if she could even fit into them after her huge dinner.
Helena thanked the innkeeper and folded the clothes on a small table she found in the small dressing room.
Early the next after skillfully escaping Likia’s questions about Helena, Demeus made his way towards the inn hoping Helena was well rested and ready for their first day of sightseeing Eyrotia.
“The dress is not tight, my lady, you’re wearing it the wrong way.” Helena raised an eyebrow at the maid the innkeeper had sent to help her dress. The maid came forward and unbuckled the hooks holding the dress up, she helped Helena locate where to put her hands then buckled it up for her. It was a dark red tunic that stopped at her sandaled feet, over the thick material was a veil of see-through silk that had blew gently in the wind. “You will need this.” The maid pulled a veil from the bundle of clothes Likia had sent to her. She pinned Helena’s hair up and attached the veil to it before wrapping round. “Have you done this before?” Helena asked. The maid giggled. “Yes, my lady, I have taken care of many merchants' daughters. They always love my services.” She brought the mirror from the dressing room and handed it to Helena. Helena gawked at the image she saw. The only time she had ever looked this good was during her wedding feast with Robos. The m
For the millionth time, Demeus squeezed his hands by his side. If the jeweler’s son’s hand touches Helena’s skin anymore under the guise of fastening a jewel piece on her neck or wrist he may be forced to throttle him. And the smile on Helena’s lips gritted his nerve. Why wasn’t she smiling at him like that? She only ever seemed to argue with him and when she wasn’t arguing she was silent and her silence was even worse than her arguments. But with this jeweler’s son, she seemed to be at ease and they were conversing smoothly. “Try this one on,” the jeweler said to her while holding up a nice piece of bracelet with ruby stones encrusted in the silver chain. The ruby stones were the same color as her hair. “This will look beautiful on you,” he said. Demeus had to agree with him. He could already envision the look of the bracelet on Helena’s pale skin. “Bring your hand, my lady, let me help you.” “Let me do it.” It was Demeus who spoke to the surprise of everyone since
Early the next morning Helena got a visitor. When the inn maid came in she announced that someone was outside the room waiting to see her. For just a second Helena’s heart almost stopped beating for fear that her presence was missed at Mount Kpamos and Robos had sent seekers to come and find her but as soon as the fear came it was quickly dispersed as she remembered that Robos did not care where she was or how she lived her life unless he wanted to get between her legs so she asked the maid to let the visitor in since it could either be Robos or Banjo. But it turned out to be Likia, Banjo’s wife. The tall dark woman was wearing a lightweight white tunic with and a bright smile. She looked even more beautiful than she did when Helena met her at the fishermen’s village. “Helena,” she opened her arms wide and hugged Helena like a long-time friend. Helena leaned into the hug. She liked Likia. The woman was genuine and was indeed a good friend. “I see you got the dresses
After wandering all morning they came upon the temples. The square where the temples were located was quite busy as people moved up and down their businesses. Some were entering different temples to present their offerings and offer their prayers, some priests were moving around to attend to the people seeking to make offerings to the gods and some other simply sold things outside different temples. There were temple prostitutes who lingered around calling out to passersby. Helena gazed at the tall, beautiful buildings in awe. There were many temples and she was deeply awed by the beauty of the temples but not surprised because mortals were known to spend their precious possessions pleasing the gods and if pleasing the gods required them to give up their gold and silver they would happily do it because they wanted favors from the said gods. Back at Camelorn, there were temples for her, Robos, Termla, her daughter Ashterah and many other gods of Camelorn. During festivals, the gods w
For the fourth time, Demeus thought he would scream at the top of his lungs if Helena cooed over the beauty of the temples one more time. She acted as though she had been trapped for a long time in a dungeon and this was her first chance at seeing the light and the things it contained. However, he did not know that he wasn’t so far from the truth. Helena’s life at Mount Kpamos could be described as a prison of some sort since she could not do whatever she wanted back at home without being reminded of the wife of who she was. For the first time in a long time, Helena felt genuinely happy and free. The world held a bigger, brighter light that held her transfix and every time she looked back at Demeus and he smiled at her she wanted to grab him and kiss him and thank him for doing this for her. He was so patient, so kind and his ear was open to her every talk. Often times she caught herself reaching down to hold his hand then she caught herself and linked her arm through his. It pained
Helena was beyond confused. One minute she had standing by the stone statue watching her handsome escort being led away by his friend. As she stood waiting for him to come back three people approached her, two men and one beautiful dark-skinned woman between them. Helena realized she was staring at them when the woman smiled at her and she immediately averted her eyes. The woman and her crew came to where she was standing beside the statue. Helena shuffled from foot to foot as she waited. “Aren’t the sculptors of Eyrotia talented?” the woman said to Helena. Her voice was light and melodious like the voice of a singer and Helena immediately felt at ease with her. She turned to see the woman running her hands all over the sculpture in appreciation. When the woman smiled at Helena she smiled back. “I was just saying the same to my companion,” Helena said to her with a wave of her hand towards where Demeus and Torlan had disappeared. The woman’s eyes travelled to where H
Neither Helena nor Demeus spoke as they headed back to the inn. Torlan had departed from them long ago to drink at a tavern. Demeus suspected that his reason for leaving them was beyond his need to fulfill his love for drinking and whoring. He could sense that both Helena and Demeus needed a moment to shake off the shock of being attacked. For Helena, it was her first time experiencing such from mere mortals. For Demeus it was not his first time being attacked since he often disguised himself as a human but he could sense from Helena’s sullen countenance that she was shaken from the experience. As they walked in silence in the busy streets of Eyrotia with the traders calling to people to buy their wares and drunken men falling over one another in the dying light of the day Demeus cast concerned glances towards her. After a while, he pulled her close and draped his arm around her shoulder. She looked up at him with bright blue eyes and smiled. She was extremely grateful for h
Present time. The chiefs of Eyrotia were gathered around the child who was wrapped in a light brown shawl and placed in a woven carrier. Her eyes were open and bright. Her eyes were as fiery red as her hair and they twinkled brightly against the lamp-lit palace interior. Every chief and nobleman present was quiet as they awaited the arrival of the seer who was to come and tell them the meaning of the birth of a child who was so different from both her father and her mother. In the birthing room, Queen Herentik was in tears as she rested on the bundles of clothes the midwives bunched around her to hold her up during birth. Her tears were born of hopelessness for she knew that the prophecy of the seer must come true. A year before she conceived the seer had visited her in the early hours of the morning to tell her about the prophecy sent to him by the gods. In the prophecy was the birth of a child that would bring her sorrow so profound that age would w